The Witch of Salem; or, Credulity Run Mad Read online

  CHAPTER XX.

  CONCLUSION.

  How calm, how beautiful comes on The stilly hour, when storms are gone; When warring winds have died away, And clouds, beneath the glancing ray, Melt off, and leave the land and sea Sleeping in bright tranquillity, Fresh as if day again were born, Again upon the lap of Morn. --Moore.

  In his dungeon cell, Charles Stevens learned that the veil of mysterywhich, like a threatening cloud, had enshrouded the life of Cora Waterswas lifted, and the sunlight, for the first time, streamed upon hersoul. She knew a mother's love. Her parents, estranged since herinfancy, were again united. Such incidents are told in song and story,but are seldom known in reality. Charles heard the story in all itsdetails related by his mother on one of her visits. He also learned thatthe colony of Virginia, by royal sanction, had granted a pardon to Mr.George Waters for the "death of one James Martin, late overseer toThomas Hull."

  "I am glad they are happy, mother," the unhappy prisoner said.

  "It is the reward which in the end awaits the just," she said.

  "They have forgotten me."

  "Charles, why say you that?"

  "Had not Cora Waters forgotten me, surely she would have visited mewhile sick and in prison."

  "They have just heard of it," she answered.

  "Just heard of it!" he repeated, amazed. "I have lain here pining inthis dungeon for three long weeks, and you tell me they have but justheard of it."

  "I am assured they have."

  "Mother, that seems impossible. Why, I thought all the world knew it."

  "But few know of it, my son. It seems to be the scheme of theprosecution to keep the matter secret. You have not written. You havesent no message?"

  "No, mother."

  "Then, pray, how could they learn of it save by the merest accident? Apassing stranger bore the news."

  Charles Stevens heaved a sigh.

  "Perhaps 'tis so; but it seemed that my groans and sighs must be heardround the world, yet neither Cora Waters nor Adelpha Leisler, at whoseside I stood a comforter in the dark hours of trouble, has seen fit tooffer me one word of consolation."

  "I trow, Charles, that Adelpha knows it not. Cora is coming."

  "Who hath told you?"

  "A friend from Boston brings information that the Waters brothers, withthe newly found wife and mother and Cora, are coming to Salem to do allin their power to aid you."

  Charles sadly shook his head and said:

  "My poor friends can do nothing for me."

  "They can at least offer you consolation and comfort."

  "Yes; but what more?"

  "That is much."

  "True; and I will appreciate it. I could not think that Cora wouldforget me. Neither would Adelpha, if she knew."

  His mother after waiting some time for her son to resume, at last said:

  "Charles, if your choice were left you, which of the two, Adelpha orCora, would you wed?"

  Charles, smiling, answered:

  "Mother, it is not for one living within the shadow of the scaffold tothink of marriage."

  "Charles, can you really think your case so serious?"

  "I do mother. I know it."

  "Oh, Charles, surely they will not condemn you! They have no proof. Youare innocent."

  "I am innocent, mother; but that is no reason that evidence will not beproduced against me."

  "Yet it will be false."

  "False, of course; yet many have been hung on testimony false as Satanhimself."

  "Oh, Charles, what shall we do?"

  "Trust in the Lord, mother. When all earthly help is gone, we can onlylook to God for aid. I have prayed to him that, if it be his will, thiscup might pass; yet his will, not mine, be done. If I must die a martyrto that woman's falsehood, I pray he may give me sufficient strength toendure the trial."

  The mother fell on the neck of her son, crying:

  "You shall not die! Oh, my son! my son!"

  Charles comforted his mother as well as he could, and she took herleave. All was dark and gloomy. He knew that malice and hatred pursuedhim, caught his throat and would not let go its hold, until it draggedhim to death. He was buried in the midst of his gloomy reflections, whenthe door of his cell opened, and a jailer, entering, said:

  "Another visitor for you, Charles Stevens."

  "Another visitor? Who can it be?" he asked.

  "It is I," and Samuel Parris entered.

  For a moment, Charles Stevens was struck dumb at the audacity of thepastor of Salem in venturing to enter the cell of one whom he hadwronged. Though the power of Mr. Parris was on the wane, it was notwholly gone. He took advantage of the confusion of Charles Stevens tosignal the jailer to leave them, and he went out, closing the iron doorbehind him. Folding his arms on his breast, Parris gazed on theprisoner.

  Charles Stevens, about whose waist was a thick belt of leather, fastenedby a chain to the wall, sat on a miserable cot, his face bowed in hishands. He did not look up at the white, cadaverous face and great,blazing orbs, which gleamed with fury upon him, although he knew fullwell that those eyes were on him.

  "Charles!" the deep sepulchral voice at last spoke.

  "Well?"

  "Look up."

  With a sigh, the young prisoner raised his head. Every movement he madewas accompanied by the rattling of chains.

  "Charles, you will not believe me, when I tell you I am sorry for this."

  "No; I will not."

  "Nevertheless, I am. Charles Stevens, you do not know me; the worldmisjudges me, and all future generations will do the same. Some thingswhich I have done may seem harsh; yet I was commanded of Heaven to dothem."

  "Samuel Parris, if you have come to upbraid me, to gloat over mycaptivity and add to my misery, do so. I am powerless and cannot resistyou; but I do entreat you not to blaspheme your Maker."

  The great eyes of Parris gleamed with sullen fire; his thin lips parted;his breath came short and quick, and for a few moments he was unable toanswer. At last, becoming calmer, he said, in his deep sepulchral voice:

  "Charles, you do not like me?"

  "I confess it."

  "I have rebuked you for your sinful associations, and the wicked dislikerebuke. The devils said to the Saviour, when he would cast them out,'Let us alone; we have naught to do with thee.' Everywhere in this life,the sinner says, 'Leave me alone,' yet it is my calling to go forth andsnatch brands from the burning. Charles, why will you not denounce thechild of that player?"

  "She hath done no wrong."

  "Do you love her?"

  "That is a question you have no right to ask, or expect me to answer."

  "I have read it in your heart."

  "I have no answer."

  "What have you to say in extenuation of your conduct hitherto?"

  "Nothing."

  "Why did you return to Salem?"

  "It is my home."

  "Did you anticipate this accusation?"

  "No."

  "And what do you expect now?"

  "Death."

  "Have you no hope of escaping?"

  "None."

  "But you seem calm and collected."

  "Why should I not?"

  "Most men fear death."

  "True."

  "And do not you?"

  "I would rather live."

  "What would you consent to do to save your life?"

  "Nothing dishonorable."

  "What I am about to propose is by no means dishonorable, but honorableand fair in every particular."

  "Proceed."

  "You are charged with the death of Samuel Williams. Whether you beguilty or not, it is quite clear that Williams is dead. Now it is theduty of some one to care for the widow. She is young----"

  "Hold, Mr. Parris! If you are going to propose that I shall wed SarahWilliams, spare your words; I will not."

  "Charles Stevens, do you seek death?"

  "Charles Stevens, do you seek death?"]


  "None should wed where the heart is not. That bold, unscrupulous womanhas already won my contempt."

  "Have a care!"

  "Go tell her that Charles Stevens prefers death on the gibbet tobecoming her husband."

  Mr. Parris gazed on the helpless prisoner for several minutes, his thinlips curled with a sneering smile.

  "Charles Stevens," he said in low measured tones, "you are a fool. Doyou know what it is to die? Have you counted the cost of a leap in thedark?"

  "No sane man courts death; yet to the Christian, who hath kept God'scommands, the monster is robbed of half his terrors. God has wiselyconstituted us so that we dread death. If we did not, we would not bewilling to endure the misfortunes, disappointments and ills whichafflict us from the cradle to the grave; but the Christian can saywelcome to death in preference to dishonor. I thank my God, SamuelParris, that I can, with the prophets of old, say, O, grave, where isthy victory?"

  "Charles Stevens, have you ever thought that, after all, this, too, maybe a delusion? That the Bible may be only the uninspired work of man,and that there may be no beyond--no God, save in nature?"

  "So you have turned atheist?" cried Charles. "Perhaps you have been oneall along?"

  "Charles Stevens, one cannot help their doubts."

  "One need not be a hypocrite, Mr. Parris. One can even drive doubtsaway. The true Christian never doubts and never fears. Pray for faith,have faith in your prayers, believe and ask God to help your unbelief,and doubts will disappear."

  "Charles, you are too young, too wise to die. Accept Sarah Williams andlive."

  "Never! Away, hypocrite! Schemer, begone!"

  The pastor, quite humbled, turned and went from the prison. There was amalignant gleam in his great wicked eyes, which boded the unfortunateprisoner no good.

  For several weeks longer, Charles Stevens languished in prison. Cora,her father and mother came to Salem and visited him. When Cora Watersgazed on the young man, from whom she had parted a few weeks before inthe full vigor of his young life and strength, and saw him emaciated,weak and pale, so that she scarcely knew him, she broke down and wept.The two were left alone in the cell. Then Charles told her how uncertainwere his chances of life, and how impending his prospects of death. Hecould not quit this life without telling her that he loved her, and thathe wished to live to make her his wife. Though that pleasure was foreverdenied him, it would make his last days more agreeable to know that hislove was returned.

  What answer could she make? She, whose fondest hope this had been, saidnothing; but, with heart overflowing, she threw her arms about theprisoner and burst into tears. Had she won him only to lose him? Was heto be snatched from her side at the very moment that she found him herown?

  "No, no, no! they shall not! they shall not!" she sobbed.

  From that day, Cora shared the imprisonment of her lover, so far as thejailer would permit. She added to his comfort and assured him that herundying love would follow him to the grave. Their hopes rose and sank asthe day of trial drew near.

  The fatal day came at last, and Charles was arraigned before the courtof oyer and terminer on charge of the murder of one Samuel Williams. Heplead not guilty and made every preparation for defense. It was likefighting a masked battery; for they knew not what the evidence would beagainst them. The trial opened, and Sarah Williams, to make the scenemore effective, came dressed in black and looking very pale. She wascalled to the stand and, between tears and sobs, told her sad story ofhow her loving husband had one day quarrelled with the defendant, andthe latter had threatened him. Was any one else present? Yes. John Blyand Mr. Louder were both present when he threatened to kill her husband.Charles Stevens remembered having a slight altercation when he was quitea boy with Mr. Williams; but it was such a trivial matter that he hadforgotten it till now. Then she told that her loving husband feared hewould be slain by Charles Stevens, and that he went away to New Yorkcity on a voyage, and that the same day Charles Stevens had come to herhouse, and had asked her whither her husband had gone, and she had everyevidence to believe he went after him.

  There were other witnesses, who swore that about this time CharlesStevens left the town and was gone away for some time. Charlesremembered that on that occasion he had taken a journey to Rhode Island.

  Then came two strangers, evidently sea-faring men, of the lowest order.They were brutal, unscrupulous and had lived the lives of buccaneers, aswas afterward proved. Both swore that they knew the defendant, althoughhe had never seen either before. They saw the defendant slay SamuelWilliams on Long Island, near the beach, and both gave a graphic accountof his dragging the body along the sand and hurling it into the water,where the tide bore it away. Their statements were corroborative.

  Bly and Louder were next produced, who gave evidence that the defendanthad confessed to them that he had slain Samuel Williams, and thatdefendant was greatly enamored of the murdered man's wife.

  Mr. Parris and others testified to having seen him in the company ofSarah Williams on divers of times, and that he had shown great fondnessfor her.

  "What have you to say to this evidence?" asked the chief justice to theprisoner.

  "I can only say they are all grievous liars."

  "The jury will take notice how the defendant assaults men ofunquestioned character. Even the minister is assailed."

  There was a murmur of discontent, in which even some of the jury joined.

  Judges, jury and prosecutors were all against Charles, and his trialmust result in conviction. The people were excited at the dastardlymurder, and began to complain at the delay in the trial, which woretediously on day after day for nearly a week.

  At last the evidence was all in, and the last argument made. There waseverything against the prisoner. The prosecution had been so skillfullyplanned and executed, that there could be but one result. CharlesStevens was very calm, while Cora was carried away in a faintingcondition. Mr. Waters went to the prisoner to speak with him.

  Charles' face was white as death; but his mind was clear and showed notthe least agitation.

  "There can be but one result," the prisoner said. "An acquittal isimpossible. Be good to Cora and mother, and keep them both away on thatday. It would be too much for them. They would not forget it to theirdying hour."

  Mr. Waters assured him that his last requests should be granted, andspoke a few words of consolation and hope. So many good people of latehad perished on the gibbet, that hanging was no longer ignominious. Thebest and purest had died thus.

  The jury had been out but a few moments, when a great hub-bub arosewithout, and voices could be heard crying:

  "Wait! wait! stay your verdict!"

  A crowd of men rushed into the court room with a tall young man, whoseweather-beaten face indicated a seafaring life, at the head of them. Hiscruel gray eyes, bold manner, as well as the pistols and cutlass at hisbelt, gave him the appearance of a pirate.

  "I am not dead, I trow! Who said I was dead?" he asked.

  "Samuel Williams! Alive!" cried a score of voices.

  "Who said I was murdered?"

  Sarah Williams rose with a shriek and stared at her husband, as if hehad been an apparition, while all the witnesses, including the Rev. Mr.Parris, were covered with confusion. The jury was recalled and SamuelWilliams himself took the stand. He stated:

  "I left my wife, because I could not live with her, and, marry! I wouldprefer hanging to existence with her. I went to New York, where CaptainRobert Kidd was beating up recruits to sail as a privateer in the_Adventurer_ to protect commerce against the French privateers andsea-robbers. I enlisted and then, with one hundred and fifty men, Kidddid good service on the American coast, and we went to the Indian Oceanto attack pirates. Our plunder from the pirates made us long to gainmore booty, and Kidd became a pirate himself. Armed with cutlasses andpistols, we were made to board many vessels, English as well as othernationalities. We went to South America, the West Indies, and finallycame to New York, where Captain Kidd, one dark night, landed onGardi
ner's Island, east of Long Island, with an enormous treasure ofgold, jewels and precious stones, which he buried in the earth. Fromthere we came to Boston. A pardon had been granted for all, save Kidd,who was yesterday arrested and sent to England to be tried.[F] I heardthat a man had been arrested for my murder, and I hastened to save him."

  [Footnote F: Kidd was subsequently tried, condemned, and hung in chains; but his treasure on Gardiner's Island has not to this day been found.]

  The romantic story of the returned pirate produced the most profoundsensation among the people in the court room. The jury had just voted ona verdict of guilty, when they were recalled, and instructed to give averdict of acquittal, which they did. Mr. Parris retired in humiliationand disgrace. Cora fainted in her rescued lover's arms, while Mrs.Stevens, falling on her knees, thanked God that the light of Heaven atlast shone on the path so long dark. Cora's mother came to take her fromthe liberated prisoner; but he would not give her up, holding her untilshe regained consciousness, when all went home together, a happy andunited family.

  Almost in the twinkling of an eye, the delusion was dispelled, and manywho had been wrong hastened, so far as in them lay to make reparation.The bigoted and fanatical, if we may not say hypocritical preachers,were displaced by God-fearing, righteous ministers, who were moreliberal, exercising common sense, and possessing humanity as well asgodliness, which is ever essential to a good minister. They wereliberal, even to the player's child as well as to the playersthemselves.

  George and Henry Waters both became citizens of Salem, and Charles andCora were married three months after the acquittal of the former. Theirlives were eventful, with as much happiness as is commonly allotted tomortals of earth, and they left nine children, all brought up in thefear of the Lord, and lovers of liberty.

  Witchcraft prosecutions were doomed, and shortly after the acquittal ofCharles Stevens in so singular a manner, they altogether ceased toprosecute. The imprisoned witches and wizards were reprieved and setfree. Reluctant to yield, the party of superstition were resolved on oneconviction. The victim selected was Sarah Daston, a woman eighty yearsold, who, for twenty years, had borne the undisputed reputation of awitch. If ever there was a witch in the world, she, it was said, wasone. Her trial was conducted at Charlestown in the presence of a greatthrong. There was more evidence against her than any tried at Salem; butthe common mind disenthralled of the hideous delusion asserted itself,through the jury by a verdict of acquittal.

  Cotton Mather, who was thoroughly imbued with the delusion, to cover hisconfusion, got up a case of witchcraft in his own parish. He averredthat miracles were wrought in Boston. Cotton Mather does not seem tohave been bloodthirsty, though he was more anxious to protect his vanitythan his parishioners, and his bewitched neophyte, profiting by hiscautions, was afflicted by veiled spectres. The imposture was promptlyexposed to ridicule by one who was designated as "a malignant,calumnious, and reproachful man, a coal from hell." It was theuncultured, but rational, Robert Calef. Cotton Mather wrote and spokemuch on the subject of witchcraft, long after the delusion had vanished.

  Cotton Mather.]

  The inexorable indignation of the people of Salem Village drove Parrisfrom the place. Noyes confessed his error and guilt, asked forgivenessand devoted the remainder of his life to deeds of charity. Sewall, oneof the judges, by rising in his pew in the Old South meeting-house on afast day, and reading to the whole congregation a paper, in which hebewailed his great offence, recovered public esteem. Stoughton andCotton Mather never repented. The former lived proud, unsatisfied andunbeloved. The latter attempted to persuade others and himself that hehad not been specially active in the tragedy. His diary proves that hedid not wholly escape the impeachment of conscience, for it is statedthat Cotton Mather, who had sought the foundation of faith in tales ofwonders himself, "had temptations to atheism and to the abandonment ofall religion as a mere delusion."

  As when a storm clears away, it leaves the atmosphere clearer, so thecommon mind of New England became more wise. By employing a cautiousspirit of search, eliminating error, rejecting superstition as tendingtoward cowardice and submission, the people cherished religion as asource of courage and a fountain of freedom, and forever after refusedto separate belief from reason.

  The actual fate of Mr. Parris is not certainly known. Some haveintimated that he died of a loathsome disease, others that, like Judas,he took his own life; but we are assured that he received his share ofearthly torment for his base hypocrisy and cruel wrongs. Most of thepeople who pretended to be afflicted afterward made confessionsadmitting their error. Efforts were made by the legislature to makeamends for some of the great wrongs done at Salem; but such wrongs cannever be righted. The victims of Parris' hate and avarice have slept fortwo hundred years on Witches' Hill, and there await the trump that shallrouse the dead, when the just shall be separated from the unjust.

  Salem Village is peaceful, happy and quiet. In the gentle murmur ofwaves, the whisper of breezes and the laugh of babbling brooks, aboutthe quaint old town, all nature seems to rejoice that the age ofsuperstition has passed.

  THE END.

  Witches Hill.]

  HISTORICAL INDEX.

  Albany resists Leisler, 223

  Albany Convention, resolutions of, 229

  Andover remonstrates against the doings of the witch tribunes, 342

  Andros, governor of New York, claims dominion of Connecticut, 102

  Andros arrives at Hartford for charter, 104

  Andros has a vice-royal commission to rule New York and all New England, 135

  Andros seized, imprisoned and sent to England, 218

  Anne's, Queen, war, 324

  Archdale, governor of the Carolinias, 148

  Arrival of William Penn at Newcastle, 30

  Arrival of Sloughter in the _Beaver_, 228

  Assembly meets at Philadelphia, 36

  Assembly condemns Leisler and Milborne, 231

  Baltimore, Lord. Penn makes satisfactory arrangements with him for Delaware, 34

  Baltimore, Lord, goes to England, 137

  Baltimore, Lord, death of, 139

  Barclay, Quaker author, appointed governor of East Jersey, 142

  Bayard receives Andros, 102

  Bayard and Cortlandt oppose Leisler, 220

  Berkeley, Lord, sells his interest in New Jersey, 140

  Board of Trade and Plantations, 325

  Boll, Captain, and Andros, 102

  Bradford, William, first printer in Philadelphia, 37

  Burroughs, Rev. George, rival of Parris, 330

  Byllinge sells his interest in New Jersey to Penn, 141

  Calvert, Leonard, death of, 139

  Carteret, death of, 142

  Casco, Maine, attacked by Indians, 312

  Catholicism in New York under King James, 216

  Charles II., his reign drawing to a close, 6

  Charles Stuart (the Pretender), 326

  Charter of Connecticut in mahogany box, 107

  Charter Oak, story of, 109

  Church establishment in Maryland, 139

  Circle at Mr. Parris' house, 67

  Cloyse, Mrs., arrested, 328

  Connecticut refuses to surrender charter, 103

  Coode's plot, 137

  Coode in possession of the records of Maryland, 138

  Culpepper, John, surveyor-general of North Carolinia, 147

  Daston, Sarah, acquitted of witchcraft, 380

  Delaware's independent legislature, 1703, 41

  Deliverance Hobbs confesses to being a witch, 330

  Dougan, Colonel, leaves New York, 217

  Duke of Monmouth, 44

  Duke of York, fears of, 6

  Duke of York gives Penn a quitclaim deed to
Delaware, 29

  Duke of York releases the Jerseys, 142

  Dustin, Mr., defending his children, 319

  Dustin, Mrs., captured, 320

  Dustin, Mrs., and fellow-captives slay ten Indians and escape, 322

  Dustin, Hannah, monument of, 324

  Easty, Mary, arrested for a witch, 328

  East Jersey, Barclay appointed governor for, 142

  Ennis, Episcopal preacher, misrepresents Leisler in interest of Nichols, 219

  English Friends purchase New Jersey, 140

  Escape of condemned witches, 302

  Evidence against Rebecca Nurse, 265

  Fenwick's first day in New Jersey, 140

  Fits and witchcraft, 252

  Fletcher succeeds Andros, 115

  Fox, George, founder of Quakers, 25

  Franklin, William, son of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, last royal governor of New Jersey, 144

  Friends, the term applied to Quakers, 25

  Frontenac fitting out expedition against Salmon Falls, 311

  Good, Sarah, and little child arrested as witches, 253

  Governor of New Jersey a tyrant, 144

  Hale, Sir Mathew, on witchcraft, 235

  Haverhill attacked by Indians, 317

  Haverhill a second time attacked, 325

  Heir of James II. to throne, 135

  Holme, Thomas, the surveyor who aided Penn in laying out Philadelphia, 35

  Hyde, Sir Edmund, governor of Jerseys, 144

  Immigrants to South Carolinia, 150

  Indented slaves, 46

  Ingoldsby, Sloughter's captain, 229

  Ingoldsby arrests Leisler and eight of his council, 230

  James II. on the throne of England, 39

  James II. sends agent to Rome to visit the Pope, 40

  Jeffries, judge of the "Bloody Assizes,", 45

  Jerseys, the, surrendered to the crown, 1702, 143

  John, Mr. Parris' West Indian slave, 66

  Jury acquits Rebecca Nurse, 272

  Jury reconsiders verdict and convicts Rebecca Nurse, 273

  Kidd, Captain Robert, the pirate, 377

  Kidd, Captain, fate of, 378

  King William's War, 308

  Kirk hunting Monmouth's rebels, 44

  Laws fashioned by William Penn, 36

  Lawson, Rev. Deodat, at Salem, 276

  Lawson, Rev. Deodat, and the bewitched, 278

  Lawson interrupted in his sermon by the bewitched, 279

  Legislatures in American colonies do not favor the malice of James II., 47

  Leisler, Jacob, 216

  Leisler seizes the garrison of New York, 218

  Leisler sends an address to King William, 219

  Leisler in charge of affairs at New York, 221

  Leisler and Milborne arrested, 250

  Leisler tried and condemned, 231

  Leisler executed, 233

  Leonardson, Samuel, escapes with Mrs. Dustin, 323

  Locke and Cooper's scheme, 145

  Markham, William, sent to take possession of Pennsylvania for William Penn, 28

  Martin, Susanna, accused of being a witch, 246

  Mary, eldest daughter of James II., marries Prince of Orange, 135

  Maryland, how affected by the Revolution of 1688, 136

  Maryland becomes a royal province, 138

  Maryland, seat of government moved to Anne Arundel 139

  Mather, Cotton, 249

  Mather's, Cotton, Mexican argument, 184

  Mather's, Cotton, triumph, 331

  Mather's tendency to atheism, 381

  Milborne, Jacob, son-in-law of Leisler, 219

  Milborne, Jacob, captures Albany, 226

  Milborne hung, 232

  Monk, Duke of Albemarle, created viceroy over empire of North Carolinia, 145

  Monmouth, Duke of, beheaded, 44

  Morris commissioned governor of New Jersey, 144

  Neff, Mrs., nurse to Mrs. Dustin, captured, 320

  New Castle, arrival of Penn at, 30

  New Englanders, character of, 5

  New England settled by fugitives, 351

  New Jersey divided into East and West Jersey, 141

  Nicholson, lieutenant-governor of New York, 210

  Nicholson misrepresents Leisler, 220

  Nicholson made governor of Virginia, 221

  Nicholson, governor of Maryland, sends Mrs. Dustin a silver tankard, 321

  North Carolinia and the navigation act, 146

  Noyes, Rev. Mr., and the eight firebrands of hell, 375

  Nurse, Rebecca, arrested as a witch, 256

  Nurse, Rebecca, trial of, 265

  Nurse, Rebecca, acquitted, 272

  Nurse, Rebecca, convicted and sentenced, 273

  Nurse, Rebecca, excommunicated, 274

  Nurse, Rebecca, hung, 275

  Orange, Prince of, marries Princess Mary, 135

  Parris, Samuel, minister at Salem, 65

  Parris' circle, 251

  Parris propagating the delusion of witchcraft, 258

  Parris, fate of, unknown, 382

  Penn, William, adopts the religion of a Quaker, 26

  Penn's attention drawn to America--his charter, 27

  Penn gets a quitclaim deed to Delaware from Duke of York, 29

  Penn's treaty with the Indians, 31

  Penn's new charter adopted, 36

  Penn returns to England in summer of 1684, 37

  Penn bidding colonists farewell--his departure, 38

  Penn, restored to his rights, returns to America, 40

  Penn, death of, 41

  Pennsylvania, how named, 28

  Pennsylvania divided into three counties, 37

  Persecution of the Monmouth rebels, 47

  Philadelphia, how named and laid out by Penn and Holme, 35

  Phipps reduces Acadia, 314

  Phipps in Massachusetts, 342

  Pilgrims persecute Quakers, 24

  Puritan superstition, 160

  Quakers persecuted by Pilgrims, 24

  Quaker, how the term came to be used, 25

  Rhode Island charter surrendered, 114

  Ryswick, treaty of, 325

  Salem, 2

  Salem witchcraft, 234

  Salmon Falls attacked, 311

  Schenectady attacked by French and Indians, 309

  Sidney, Algernon, aids Penn in drawing up a code of laws for Pennsylvania, 29

  Sloughter, Colonel Henry, commissioned governor of New York, 228

  Sothel, Seth, governor of North Carolinia, 147

  Sothel arrested, tried and convicted, 148

  South Carolinia politics in 1672, 149

  Stoll, Jost, the ensign who bore Leisler's letter to King William, 220

  Stoughton, judge to try witches, 343

  Superstition, the reign of, 328

  Swedes and William Penn, 34

  Tituba, Mr. Parris' slave, 66

  Train-bands summoned, 107

  Treat, Robert, governor of Connecticut, 115

  Uplands (now Chester County), Penn meets assembly at, 34

  Van Cortlandt's burnt offering, 135

  Wadsworth and the Charter Oak, 110

  Walcut, Mary, bitten by a witch, 277

  _Welcome_, name
of Penn's ship, 30

  West Jersey, first popular assembly at Salem, 142

  William and Mary deprive Penn of his rights as governor, 40

  William and Mary's ascension to the throne of England hailed with joy throughout New England, 217

  Williams, Abigail, niece of Mr. Parris, 68

  Williams, Abigail, bewitched, 279

  Winthrop's expedition fails, 314

  Witchcraft, belief in general, 235

  Witchcraft, evidence of, 266

  Witchcraft, trials for, 331

  Witchcraft, doctrine of, 380

  Witch doctor, 236

  Witches hung on Witches' Hill, 275

  CHRONOLOGY.

  PERIOD VII.--AGE OF SUPERSTITION.

  A.D. 1680 TO A.D. 1700.

  1680. CHARLESTON, S. C., founded by the removal of the Carteret Colony.

  1681. PENNSYLVANIA granted to William Penn by Charles II.,--March 4.

  1682. LA SALLE explored the Mississippi to its mouth; named Louisiana. DELAWARE (the three lower counties) granted to William Penn,--Aug. 24. PHILADELPHIA founded by William Penn.

  1684. MASSACHUSETTS' CHARTER declared null and void by English Court,--June 18.

  1685. ACCESSION OF JAMES II. to the throne of Great Britain,--Feb. 6.

  1686. ARRIVAL OF SIR EDMUND ANDROS, Governor of all New England,--Dec. 20.

  1687. CHARTER OF CONNECTICUT concealed in Charter Oak at Hartford,--Oct. 31.

  1689. ACCESSION OF WILLIAM III. AND MARY II. to the throne of Great Britain,--Feb. 13. KING WILLIAM'S WAR, between Great Britain and France,--lasted eight years.

  1690. BURNING OF SCHENECTADY, N. Y., by French and Indians,--Feb. 9. PORT ROYAL taken by the British under Phipps,--May.

  1691. MASSACHUSETTS, Plymouth, Maine, and Nova Scotia united,--Gov. Phipps, Oct. 7. LEISLER AND MILBORNE hung,--May 16.

  1692. PHIPPS' WITCHCRAFT COURT at Salem, Mass. (Twenty persons convicted of witchcraft and put to death.)

  1694. DEATH OF MARY II., Queen of Great Britain,--Dec. 28.

  1697. TREATY OF RYSWICK closed King William's War; no change in territory,--Oct. 30.

  1699. CAPTAIN WILLIAM KIDD, the pirate, at Gardner's Bay, Long Island.

  [Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent use of hyphens has been retained asin the original: Goodwife/Good-wife, firebrands/fire-brands,roadside/road-side, firelight/fire-light, fireplace/fire-place,hubbub/hub-bub, seafaring/sea-faring. Other punctuation and spelling hasbeen standardized.]