Witchcraft in America. Charles Wentworth Upham
against all the Steps leading thereunto. There are lesser Sorceries which they say, are too frequent in our Land. As it was said in 2 King. 17.9. The Children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right, against the Lord their God. So 'tis to be feared, the Children of New-England have secretly done many things that have been pleasing to the Devil. They say, that in some Towns it has been an usual thing for People to cure Hurts with Spells, or to use detestable Conjurations, with Sieves, Keys, and Pease, and Nails, and Horse-shoes, and I know not what other Implements, to learn the things for which they have a forbidden, and an impious Curiosity. 'Tis in the Devils Name, that such things are done; and in Gods Name I do this day charge them, as vile Impieties. By these Courses 'tis, that People play upon The Hole of the Asp, till that cruelly venemous Asp has pull'd many of them into the deep Hole of Witchcraft it self. It has been acknowledged by some who have sunk the deepest into this horrible Pit, that they began at these little Witchcrafts; on which 'tis pity but the Laws of the English Nation, whereby the incorrigible repetition of those Tricks, is made Felony, were severely Executed. From the like sinful Curiosity it is, that the Prognostications of Judicial Astrology, are so injudiciously regarded by multitudes among us; and altho' the Jugling Astrologers do scarce ever hit right, except it be in such Weighty Judgments, forsooth, as that many Old Men will die such a year, and that there will be many Losses felt by some that venture to Sea, and that there will be much Lying and Cheating in the World; yet their foolish Admirers will not be perswaded but that the Innocent Stars have been concern'd in these Events. It is a disgrace to the English Nation, that the Pamphlets of such idle, futil, trifling Stargazers are so much considered; and the Countenance hereby given to a Study, wherein at last, all is done by Impulse, if any thing be done to any purpose at all, is not a little perillous to the Souls of Men. It is (a Science, I dare not call it, but) a Juggle, whereof the Learned Hall well says, It is presumptuous and unwarrantable, and cry'd ever down by Councils and Fathers, as unlawful, as that which lies in the mid-way between Magick and Imposture, and partakes not a little of both. Men consult the Aspects of Planets, whose Northern or Southern motions receive denominations from a Cælestial Dragon, till the Infernal Dragon at length insinuate into them, with a Poison of Witchcraft that can't be cured. Has there not also been a world of discontent in our Borders? 'Tis no wonder, that the fiery Serpents are so Stinging of us; We have been a most Murmuring Generation. It is not Irrational, to ascribe the late Stupendious growth of Witches among us, partly to the bitter discontents, which Affliction and Poverty has fill'd us with: it is inconceivable, what advantage the Devil gains over men, by discontent. Moreover, the Sin of Unbelief may be reckoned as perhaps the chief Crime of our Land. We are told, God swears in wrath, against them that believe not; and what follows then but this, That the Devil comes unto them in wrath? Never were the offers of the Gospel, more freely tendered, or more basely despised, among any People under the whole Cope of Heaven, than in this N. E. Seems it at all marvellous unto us, that the Devil should get such footing in our Country? Why, 'tis because the Saviour has been slighted here, perhaps more than any where. The Blessed Lord Jesus Christ has been profering to us, Grace, and Glory, and every good thing, and been alluring of us to Accept of Him, with such Terms as these, Undone Sinner, I am All; Art thou willing that I should be thy All? But, as a proof of that Contempt which this Unbelief has cast upon these proffers, I would seriously ask of the so many Hundreds above a Thousand People within these Walls; which of you all, O how few of you, can indeed say, Christ is mine, and I am his, and he is the Beloved of my Soul? I would only say thus much: When the precious and glorious Jesus, is Entreating of us to Receive Him, in all His Offices, with all His Benefits; the Devil minds what Respect we pay unto that Heavenly Lord; if we Refuse Him that speaks from Heaven, then he that, Comes from Hell, does with a sort of claim set in, and cry out, Lord, since this Wretch is not willing that thou shouldst have him, I pray, let me have him. And thus, by the just vengeance of Heaven, the Devil becomes a Master, a Prince, a God, unto the miserable Unbelievers: but O what are many of them then hurried unto! All of these Evil Things, do I now set before you, as Branded with the Mark of the Devil upon them.
V. With Great Regard, with Great Pity, should we Lay to Heart the Condition of those, who are cast into Affliction, by the Great Wrath of the Devil. There is a Number of our Good Neighbours, and some of them very particularly noted for Goodness and Vertue, of whom we may say, Lord, They are vexed with Devils. Their Tortures being primarily Inflicted on their Spirits, may indeed cause the Impressions thereof upon their Bodies to be the less Durable, tho' rather the more Sensible: but they Endure Horrible Things, and many have been actually Murdered. Hard Censures now bestow'd upon these poor Sufferers, cannot but be very Displeasing unto our Lord, who, as He said, about some that had been Butchered by a Pilate, in Luc. 13.2, 3. Think ye that these were Sinners above others, because they suffered such Things? I tell you No, But except ye Repent, ye shall all likewise Perish: Even so, he now says, Think ye that they who now suffer by the Devil, have been greater Sinners than their Neighbours? No, Do you Repent of your own Sins, Lest the Devil come to fall foul of you, as he has done to them. And if this be so, How Rash a thing would it be, if such of the poor Sufferers, as carry it with a Becoming Piety, Seriousness, and Humiliation under their present Suffering, should be unjustly Censured; or have their very Calamity imputed unto them as a Crime? It is an easie thing, for us to fall into the Fault of, Adding Affliction to the Afflicted, and of, Talking to the Grief of those that are already wounded. Nor can it be wisdom to slight the Dangers of such a Fault. In the mean time, We have no Bowels in us, if we do not Compassionate the Distressed County of Essex, now crying to all these Colonies, Have pity on me, O ye my Friends, Have pity on me, for the Hand of the Lord has Touched me, and the Wrath of the Devil has been therewithal turned upon me. But indeed, if an hearty pity be due to any, I am sure, the Difficulties which attend our Honourable Judges, do demand no Inconsiderable share in that Pity. What a Difficult, what an Arduous Task, have those Worthy Personages now upon their Hands? To carry the Knife so exactly, that on the one side, there may be no Innocent Blood Shed, by too unseeing a Zeal for the Children of Israel; and that on the other side, there may be no Shelter given to those Diabolical Works of Darkness, without the Removal whereof we never shall have Peace; or to those Furies whereof several have kill'd more people perhaps than would serve to make a Village: Hic Labor, Hoc Opus est! O what need have we, to be concerned, that the Sins of our Israel, may not provoke the God of Heaven to leave his Davids, unto a wrong Step, in a matter of such Consequence, as is now before them! Our Disingenuous, Uncharitable, Unchristian Reproaching of such Faithful Men, after all, The Prayers and Supplications, with strong Crying and Tears, with which we are daily plying the Throne of Grace, that they may be kept, from what They Fear, is none of the way for our preventing of what We Fear. Nor all this while, ought our Pity to forget such Accused ones, as call for indeed our most Compassionate Pity, till there be fuller Evidences that they are less worthy of it. If Satan have any where maliciously brought upon the Stage, those that have hitherto had a just and good stock of Reputation, for their just and good Living, among us; If the Evil One have obtained a permission to Appear, in the Figure of such as we have cause to think, have hitherto Abstained, even from the Appearance of Evil: It is in Truth, such an Invasion upon Mankind, as may well Raise an Horror in us all: But, O what Compassions are due to such as may come under such Misrepresentations, of the Great Accuser! Who of us can say, what may be shewn in the Glasses of the Great Lying Spirit? Altho' the Usual Providence of God (we praise Him!) keeps us from such a Mishap; yet where have we an Absolute Promise, that we shall every one always be kept from it? As long as Charity is bound to Think no Evil, it will not Hurt us that are Private Persons, to forbear the Judgment which belongs not unto us. Let it rather be our Wish, May the Lord help them to Learn the Lessons, for which they are now put unto so hard a School.
VI. With a Great Zeal,