1 882. 151 Tra7is. N. V. Ac. Scz. 



and earnest men of the colony, and acted under a profound, though 

 most erroneous, sense of responsibility. They are not to be denounced 

 as judicial murderers of their friends and townspeople, as has been often, 

 and unjustly, done, but must be looked upon as honest and earnest, 

 though sadly mistaken and unenlightened men. 



A large part of the testimony on these trials consisted of that given 

 by various young persons —the so-called "afflicted children'' — to the 

 fact of their having been bewitched by certam suspected individuals ; 

 and these children would be seized with convulsive movements upon 

 being confronted with the persons charged. Here was, apparently, the 

 most positive evidence, plain to all, and given before the eyes of the 

 judges. No other explanation was then known of such facts than that 

 of actual sorcery, which was universally believed to be the result and 

 manifestation of an accursed compact with a personal Evil Spirit. For 

 such diabolical intercourse, the penalty was death ; and with such clear 

 evidence of fact, and with no other explanation of those facts known or 

 imagined, both law and logic 'forced the judges to condemn the accused 

 to death. 



(Dr. Beard here produced two lads, liable to the trance condition, 

 and called their attention to the President of the Society, occupying the 

 Chair ; first one and then the other, with no apparent cause, went into 

 convulsions, from which they were recalled in a moment or two by Dr. 

 Beard, and helped into chairs, where they very speedily passed into 

 a state of sleep.) 



Here, remarked the lecturer, we have illustrated the case of the 

 "afflicted children.'' He read passages from the records of the 

 trials, where precisely such manifestations took place. The accused 

 persons would solemnly deny the exercise or possession of any dia- 

 bolical arts. They would then be asked how it was, in that case, 

 that these children were thrown into such a state, on merely being 

 confronted witn them. To this they could give no answer, save that 

 they knew not indeed, but that still they were innocent. The con- 

 demnation of the accused was then a logical necessity, to the belief 

 of that time. Those who confessed were pardoned or let off with 

 a lighter penalty ; but those who denied, and protested their inno- 

 cence, were sentenced to death as witches. 



The only ground on which this mournful and tragical result could 

 have been avoided, in the state of knowledge and belief two centuries 

 ago, was the question as to the validity of testimony given by those 

 who were possessed or bewitched. This might have afforded an es- 

 cape from the otherwise inevitable consequence, and it is much to the 

 credit of the clergy of that time that they were strongly disposed to 

 urge this doubt and to reject the evidence thus given. Cotton 



