Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-06-01

Cotton referred.
The o of this trial of n brother
is one of the blacklist marks
against the Rev. Cotton Mather, and its
manifest unlairness and m~alignancy goes
far to Impress any candid reader with the
conviction that he was a man who would
stretch the truth considerably TO serve
his purpose.
Cotton Mathcr records that when the
afflicted testified hat they were biGen by
the spectcr of Burroughs, plain marks Of
teeth, like his and no other PERSONS, APP
pcared ontheir flesh. Some of the afllic-
ted tcsliiedthat in their torm9nts he temp
led them TO como to Il sacrament oil wit
ches, and straightway they saw the witch
cs gathering from all quarters, riding
through the air on broom-tick stecdS.-
One of them was carried TO a high noun
tain, where she endured a temptation
from Burroughs, precisely similar TO that
which Jesus Christ suffered from Satan,
and told in precisely, the same words.
The judges seem TO have thought il in
the line Of their duty TO discomfort and
entrap the prisoner. if possible. When
The witnesses were about to testify, they
would frequently fall into fits and the
court would have TO wait u long time till
thew recovered. On one of these occa-
sions Chief Justice Stoughton asked Bur-
roughs who he thought hindcred the wit
nesses from t~ostifying. He very inno-
Gently answered, that he supposed il
was the devil. How comes the devil SO
10th 10 have any testimony bore against
you, replied the Judge. This, says
Cotton Mathcr, ''cast him into great cor
fusion"
Mr.. Burroughs had buried Two wives.
and the afflicted testified not only that
they saw their spcctres, but were told by
them that they had been murdered by
their husband, and that Two other females
had also been killed by him. The ghosts
of the murdered women appeared TO the
afflicted in the ncXtroom and threw them
into the most horrible commissions.
The most astonishing feats of strength
were told Of against the poor man, such
us lifting barrels of molasscs and cider,
and holding Il heavy gun at arms length
by putting his finger into the muzzIc.
As the testimony against Burroughs
was chiefly that Of the con(essing witch
es, Cotton Malher lorlilies it as follows,
revealing unconsciously the fact that Mr.,
Burroughs was a man Of common sense
piety rather than of cam.
''Judicious writer's have assigned it a
great place in the conviction Of witches,
when persons are %impeached by other
notorious witches 10 be i'll as themselves,
especially if the persons have been much
noted for n~eglecting the worship Of God.
Now, as there might have been tcstimo-
MES enough Of IBIS aniipalhy 10 prayer,
and the other ordinances of God, though
by his profession singularly obliged there
unto; so there now came in against the
prisoner, the testimonies Of several per-
sons, who confessed their own having
been horrible witches, and, eve since
their confessions, had been themselves
terribly tortured by the devils and other
witches, even like the other sufferers, and
therein undergone the pains OF many
deaths for their confessions.
"These now testified, hat G. B. had
OCCll Ut WlAOi hlCSAlbSo WIN ilISlh, uiIN
that he was the person who had seduccd
and compelled them into the snares o.
witchcrali; that he promised them fine
| clothes for doing it; that he brought them
poppc,s and lhorns to stick into those pop.
pets, for the affecting Of other people; ant
that he cXhorled them with the rest o.
the crew, 10 bcwilch all Salem village.
but be sure 10 do it gradually, if they
would prevail in what they did,"
These witchcrall trials seem TO have
often triumphcd over family affection
One of the Witnesses who appeared
against Burroughs was his brolher-in-law
Ruck, who testified that when he and hi,
wife were riding in company with Bur
roughs, the latter being on foot, he step
ped into the woods. They halIooed foI
him, but when he did not come, they
rapidly rode home. On arriving there
they were surprised 10 find him ALREADY
there with II basket Of strawberries, ant
he told them ~whatthcy were saying abou
him on the road. Burroughs said tha
when Ruck and his wife left him, her
was a man with him. This was doubt
less TO account for his picking so many
strawberries so soon. But Ruck dcniel
that there was any man with him. Thu
court sagaciously concluded that there
must have been q man with him, invisi
bic to Ruck, and that this man was O
course, the devil. In this opinion the,
were fully confirmed, when they aske,
Burroughs who the man was, and he wa
confused and could not answer
Mr.. Burroughs had not much 10 say i
reply 10 their silly testimonies, but rea
Il paper proving the folly of the dcIusio
in general, which appears TO have lost il
effect upon the court, on their discover
r ing that it was not original with him.
lie was convicted and sentenced TO I'll