Again, Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam were spoke to by the court, but neither of them could make any answer, by reason of dumbness or other fits.
What do you say, Goody Proctor, to these things? A. I take God in heaven to be my witness, that I know nothing of it, no more than the child unborn. Q. Ann Putnam, doth this woman hurt you? A. Yes Sir, a great many times.
Then the accused looked upon them and they fell into fits. Q. She does not bring the book to you, does she? A. Yes Sir, often, and saith she hath made her maid to set her hand to it. Q. Abigail Williams, does this woman hurt you? A. Yes Sir, often. Q. Does she bring the book to you? A. Yes. Q. What would she have you do with it? A. To write in it and I shall be well. Did not you, said Abigail, tell me, that your maid[51] had written? (Proctor) Dear child, it is not so. There is another judgment, dear child. Then Abigail and Ann had fits. By-and-by they cried out, Look you, there is Goody Proctor upon the beam. By-and-by both of them cried out of Goodman Proctor himself, and said he was a wizard. Immediately many, if not all of the bewitched had grievous fits.
Ann Putnam, who hurt these? A. Goodman Proctor and his wife too. Afterwards, some of the afflicted cried: There is Proctor going to take up Mrs. Pope’s feet; and her feet were immediately taken up. Q. What do you say, Goodman Proctor, to these things? A. I know not. I am innocent. Abigail Williams cried out, There is Goodman Proctor going to Mrs. Pope, and immediately said Pope fell into a fit. You see the Devil will deceive you; the children could see what you was going to do before the woman was hurt. I would advise you to repentance, for the Devil is about bringing you out.
Abigail Williams cried out again, There is Goodman Proctor going to hurt Goody Bibber; and immediately Goody Bibber fell into a fit. There was the like of Mary Walcot, and divers others.
Benjamin Gould gave in his testimony, that he had seen Goodman Corey and his wife, Proctor and his wife, Goody Cloyse, Goody Nurse, and Goody Griggs in his chamber last Thursday night. Elizabeth Hubbard was in a trance during the whole examination. During the examination of Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam both made offer to strike at said Proctor; but when Abigail’s hand came near, it opened, whereas it was made up into a fist before, and came down exceeding lightly as it drew near to said Proctor, and at length with open and extended fingers touched Proctor’s hood very lightly. Immediately Abigail cried out, her fingers, her fingers, her fingers burned, and Ann Putnam took on most grievously of her head, and sunk down.[52]
Salem, April 11th, 1692. Mr. Samuel Parris was desired by the honourable Thomas Danforth deputy governor, and the council, to take in writing the aforesaid examinations, and accordingly took and delivered them in; and upon hearing the same, and seeing what was then seen, together with the charge of the afflicted persons, were by the advice of the Council all committed by us.
| John Hathorne, | Assistants. | |
| Jonathan Corwin, |
Facts often appear in their true light in after ages which had been seen in a false one by such as were upon the stage in the time of them. A strong bias is now evidently seen in favor of the accusers, and no measures were taken to discover the fraud. The same prejudice will appear through the whole process.
John the Indian, one of these accusers, was husband to Tituba the first witch complained of. She confessed and was committed to prison. Her husband, no doubt, was convinced he should stand a better chance among the afflicted than the accused. It is most probable some of the women acted from the same principle. As the afflicted increased, so did the accused, of course. Great pains were taken to bring some of them to confess; but in general the accused persisted in their innocency until the prisons were filled. At length the friends of some of the accused urged them to a confession, although they knew they were innocent, the magistrates declaring that confessing was the way to obtain mercy. The first confession, which remains upon the files, is of Deliverance Hobbs, May 11th, 1692, being in prison. She owned everything she was required to do. The confessors, like the accusers, multiplied, the witches having always company with them, who were immediately sent for and examined. No wonder if they were affrighted to the last degree; they owned whatever their friends and magistrates would have them. Thus more than an hundred women, many of them of the most sober, virtuous livers, some of them of very reputable families in the towns of Salem, Beverly, Andover, Billerica, Newbury, were apprehended and examined, and generally committed, although most of them who confessed, after three or four months imprisonment, were admitted to bail. These confessions were all very much of the same tenor. One of them may serve as a specimen.