old women were put to death on the 19th of July. It opened again August the 5th, and on the 19th of the same month four men and one woman were executed; and on the 22d of Septemnber two men and six women were hanged. Eight more were condemned, but these were the last that suffered capitally, at that time. One man refusing to plead to the indictment, was pressed to death as a punishment for his contumacious silence.

The principal immediate effect of these summary and sanguinary proceedings, was to render the accusers more bold, confident, and daring. They began to feel that the lives of the people were in their hands, and seemed at last to have experienced a fiendlike satisfaction in the thought of bringing infamy and death upon the best and most honored citizens of the colony. Among those who suffered was the Rev. Mr. Burroughs, of Salem, whose fate struck a horror through the community, which it required all the art and sophistry of the board of ministers to calm. He was a well-educated man, had received the honors of Harvard University, in 1676, of a spotless life, and no charge of inconsistency as a minister had ever been attempted to be brought against him. On the day before his execution, the unfortunate woman, Margaret Jacobs, who appeared as a witness against him, obtained permission to visit him, when she made a full acknowledgement of her perjury, and entreated him for his forgiveness. This he freely gave her, and spent some time in prayer with her. When the hour arrived for his execution, he was carried in a cart, with other convicts, from the jail to Gallows Hill, about an eighth of a mile toward Danvers. While Mr. Burroughs was on the ladder, a contemporary writer observes, "he made a speech for the clearing of his innocency, with such solemn and serious expressions as were the admiration of all present. His prayer was so well worded, and uttered with such composedness and such fervency of spirit, as was very affecting, and drew tears from many, so that it was apprehended the spectators would hinder the execution. To meet and turn back this state of feeling, the accusers cried out that they saw the Evil Being standing behind him in the form of a black man, and dictating every word he uttered; and the infamous Cotton Mather hurried round among the crowd on horseback, haranguing the people, and saying that it was not to be wondered at that Mr. Burroughs appeared so well, for that the devil often transformed

himself into an angel of light. This artful declaration, together with the outcries and assertions of the accusers, had the intended effect upon the fanatical multitude. When the body was cut down it was dragged by a rope to a hollow place excavated between the rocks, stripped of its garments, thrown with two others into the hole, trampled down by the mob, and finally left uncovered.

Nor did Mather forget those whose orthodoxy was doubtful. The religious toleration granted and enforced by Andross, disclosed the fact that there were some of the Baptist heresy still dwelling among the faithful. When positive proof could not be obtained against the delinquent, spectral evidence was admitted, a term then in use to designate information exhibited to the eyes or conveyed to the ears by spirits or ghosts. These irresponsible informers soon gave notice that the devil was at work among the people, in the shape of a Baptist preacher, making them renounce their baptism, and be dipped anew by him, and reviling and ridiculing the lawful ministers of the elect. The absurdity of these charges naturally led people to inquire if there was not fraud in others. Alarmed at the magnitude of the evil, they paused and conferred with each other on the subject; but that which finally overthrew the power of the informers, was the increasing number of persons of character, station, and influence among the accused. They repeatedly charged the Rev. Mr. Willard, the author of the " Body of Divinity," one of the most respectable ministers of the time. They accused a member of the immediate family of Dr. Increase Mather, who had recently returned from a special embassy to the English court respecting the charter, and was then the President of Harvard College, the man whom Eliot calls the "Father of the New England Clergy." A writer of that period also intimates that they lodged information against the wife of the newly-arrived governor, Sir William Phipps, and implicated one of the judges of the court. Their last accusation (which was preferred against Mrs. Hale, the wife of the minister of the First Church in Beverly) was, in the opinion of the public, the most false and wicked of all, and effectually broke the spell by which they had held the minds of the whole colony in bondage. Her genuine and distinguished virtues had won for her a reputation, and secured in the hearts of the people a confidence, which superstition itself could not sully nor shake. Mr Hale had un

happily been active in all the previous proceedings, but knowing the innocency and piety of his wife, he stood forth between her and the storm he had himself helped to raise. In denouncing Mrs. Hale, the whole community was convinced that the accusers had perjured themselves, and from that moment their power was destroyed. The awful delusion ceased, and a close was put to one of the most tremendous tragedies in the history of real life. There are few if any other instances on record of a revolution of opinion and feelings so sudden, so rapid, and so complete.

During the prevalence of this fanaticism, twenty persons lost their lives by the hand of the executioner, fifty-five escaped death by confessing themselves guilty, one hundred were in prison, and more than two hundred others under accusation. Immediately upon the termination of the excitement, all who were in jail were pardoned. Nothing more was heard of the afflicted, or the confessors. They were never called to account for their malicious impositions and perjury. It was apprehended that a judicial investigation might renew the delusion, and all were anxious to consign the whole subject as speedily and as effectually as possible to oblivion. The state of things which Cotton Mather labored to bring about, in order that he might increase his own influence over an infatuated people, by being regarded by them as mighty to cast out and vanquish evil spirits, and as able to hold Satan himself in chains by his prayers and his piety, brought him at length into such disgrace, that his power was broken down, and he became the object of public ridicule and open insult.

The excitement that had been produced for the purpose of restoring and strengthening the influence of the clerical and spiritual leaders, resulted in effects, which reduced it to a still lower point. Congregationalism then received a shock from which it never afterward fully recovered. The intelligence of the ministers, if not their integrity, was questioned, and doubt, distrust, and infidelity soon struck root amid the ruins of superstition. While their fearful proceedings were in progress, Sir William Phipps arrived with a new charter, the nature of which we shall describe hereafter, and thus were terminated all hopes of the restoration of the old order of things. It forms an important era in colonial history. Hitherto, the people had governed themselves without the control of England. They still continued to do so, as we shall see, in spite of her interference. They grew up in neglect; when re

straint was attempted, they resisted; and the moment they were able, they severed the connection. The Whigs reversed this policy for the remaining colonies; they began with restraint, and ended with neglect and fatal indulgence, which are likely to produce a similar result.*

* Whoever is desirous of further information on this subject, will find ample details in Hutchinson, and the Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society, but the best account is by the Rev. Mr. Upham, from whom I have drawn largely.

CHAPTER V.

REVIEW.

The two most interesting Periods of American History extend, 1st. From the Settlement of Massachusetts to the English Revolution of 1688; 2d. To the Independence of the Colonies in 1783-Review of the first Period-Number and Names of Colonies then settled-Their Population and Commerce-Account of the different Forms of Government then established there-Great Increase of democratic Opinions-Change in Tone of Feeling in Virginia-Some Account of the Church there-Loyalty of Churchmen-State of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York-Effect of the Conduct of New England upon them.

THE two most interesting periods of the colonial history of America extend from the first settlement of Massachusetts to the great English Revolution of 1688, and from thence to the peace of 1783, that insured the independence of the revolted provinces constituting the United States. We have now arrived at the termination of the first, and must pause to review and contemplate it. It is by far the most curious and instructive, inasmuch as during that time the colonies were planted; their constitutions, after various alterations, assumed a definite form; and they were sensibly affected by every change which the innovations of those days introduced into the parent country. If we except Georgia, afterward planted, and Florida, subsequently conquered, the continental colonies were now firmly established, and consisted of Massachusetts, including Plymouth and Maine, Rhode Island (embracing Providence), Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the two Carolinas, and contained about two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, of which at least seventy-five thousand were settled in New England. Their commerce was carried on by twenty-five thousand tons of shipping, which was navigated by two thousand six hundred seamen.

No regular plan of colonization had ever been adopted. Settlements formed by accident or caprice were left to languish or flourish, as the character of the people, or the nature of the soil or climate, happened to operate. They were not trained up,