Free True Stories From History and Biography by Nathaniel Hawthorne Page B

that the witches were afflicting them.
    These stories spread abroad, and caused great tumult and alarm. From the
foundation of New England, it had been the custom of the inhabitants, in
all matters of doubt and difficulty, to look to their ministers for
council. So they did now; but, unfortunately, the ministers and wise men
were more deluded than the illiterate people. Cotton Mather, a very
learned and eminent clergyman, believed that the whole country was full of
witches and wizards, who had given up their hopes of heaven, and signed a
covenant with the Evil One.
    Nobody could be certain that his nearest neighbor, or most intimate
friend, was not guilty of this imaginary crime. The number of those who
pretended to be afflicted by witchcraft, grew daily more numerous; and
they bore testimony against many of the best and worthiest people. A
minister, named George Burroughs, was among the accused. In the months of
August and September, 1692, he, and nineteen other innocent men and women,
were put to death. The place of execution was a high hill, on the
outskirts of Salem; so that many of the sufferers, as they stood beneath
the gallows, could discern their own habitations in the town.
    The martyrdom of these guiltless persons seemed only to increase the
madness. The afflicted now grew bolder in their accusations. Many people
of rank and wealth were either thrown into prison, or compelled to flee
for their lives. Among these were two sons of old Simon Bradstreet, the
last of the Puritan governors. Mr. Willard, a pious minister of Boston,
was cried out upon as a wizard, in open court. Mrs. Hale, the wife of the
minister of Beverly, was likewise accused. Philip English, a rich merchant
of Salem, found it necessary to take flight, leaving his property and
business in confusion. But a short time afterwards, the Salem people were
glad to invite him back.
    "The boldest thing that the accusers did," continued Grandfather, "was to
cry out against the governor's own beloved wife. Yes; the lady of Sir
William Phips was accused of being a witch, and of flying through the air
to attend witch meetings. When the governor heard this, he probably
trembled, so that our great chair shook beneath him."
    "Dear Grandfather," cried little Alice, clinging closer to his knee, "is
it true that witches ever come in the night-time to frighten little
children?"
    "No, no, dear little Alice," replied Grandfather. "Even if there were any
witches, they would flee away from the presence of a pure-hearted child.
But there are none; and our forefathers soon became convinced, that they
had been led into a terrible delusion. All the prisoners on account of
witchcraft were set free. But the innocent dead could not be restored to
life; and the hill where they were executed, will always remind people of
the saddest and most humiliating passage in our history."
    Grandfather then said, that the next remarkable event, while Sir William
Phips remained in the chair, was the arrival at Boston of an English
fleet, in 1693. It brought an army, which was intended for the conquest of
Canada. But a malignant disease, more fatal than the small-pox, broke out
among the soldiers and sailors, and destroyed the greater part of them.
The infection spread into the town of Boston, and made much havoc there.
This dreadful sickness caused the governor, and Sir Francis Wheeler, who
was commander of the British forces, to give up all thoughts of attacking
Canada.
    "Soon after this," said Grandfather, "Sir William Phips quarrelled with
the captain of an English frigate, and also with the Collector of Boston.
Being a man of violent temper, he gave each of them a sound beating with
his cane."
    "He was a bold fellow," observed Charley, who was himself somewhat
addicted to a similar mode of settling disputes.
    "More bold than wise," replied Grandfather; "for complaints were carried
to the king, and Sir William Phips was summoned to England, to make the
best answer he could. Accordingly he went