The sun., 1879-03-23


OF George l. q woman and her daughter tho
lnttcr only nino years old were both hanged in
Huntington for sending their souls to the devil
and raising storm by pulling OFT their stock
ings. Indeed tho last execution under tho act
OF James |. cannot be set earlier than 1922,
whom an old woman was burned at the stake In
tho north OF Scotland somo years afterward.
The law WINS not actually repealed until 1896.
and so lato as 1853 an old woman accused OF
bewitching her noighbor's spinning wheel was
tried by n self-appointed jury and stripped to
her shit to bo weighed in the church against
tho parish Bible. Luckily she outweighed 1t
and was acquitted by the populace.
Neither, in considering the sober and un-
clouded judgment evinced by Robert Pike In
the face Of universal credulity. should we over
look tho fact that all tho erudte and eminent
divines OF his own province were arrayed
against him, while their opinions woro forti-
fed by the authority Of the wsest men in
tho parent State. Bishop Hutchinson dis
tinctly intimates that the scholars who made
the authorized version Of tho Biblo intro
duced some phrnscs that favor tho vulgar
notions OF witchcrnft and familiar spirits at tho
particular desire OF King James. The learned
DIR. Henry More was firm believer in tho
power OF commerce with the evil one and tho
third book OF his "Antidote to Atheism 4"
abounds in m0rves unsurpassed by any in
Mathers Mngnalia. The sagacious and temper
ate Bishop Hall likewise proclaimed in ono of
his treatises his faith In tho assumed shapes of
evil spirits. while 30 astute man ns Thomas
Fuller maintained that there arc witches in
the present as IN the past. and that some Of
them ndcnt downright with the devil" As is
we'll known. Sir Thomas Brown. who wrote on
Vulgar Errors. did not reckon tho belief in
" ruf ~ nf "a ms ART hn anf
have forever believed. and do now know.
that there are wtches;' and when two women
were prosecuted for this crime. In 1864. his tes-
timony had no small influence in procuring
their conviction. 1t was on this trial. by the
way. that Sir Mathew Hale. in his charge to the
jury, told them he did not in the least question
the existence OF such q crime as witchcrait.
Indeed we may remind tho writer OF this memoir
that II WIS Hale's very words which Black
stone reproduced in his Commentaries. pub
lished in 1865. We may add that il was book
published after the Restoration by one Of tho
chaplans Of Charles H.. aiterward dgnitary
in the Established Church. which supplied the
magistrates Mt Salem with their most authori-
ttive prcccdents. and ON which the Mathcrs
drew most copiously for wonders Of the invisi-
be world
With such examples II is surprising that the
witchcrait dclusion did not appear in New Eng
land till nearly 1850. and then only in sporadic
cases. Indeed the acute and nagrant phase Of
the iniatuation dates no further back than IG92.
when II broke out in Salem. At this time Rob
ert Pike was 76 years old. and circumstances con-
spired to interest him keenly in the prosecution.
Among tho persons charged with witchcralt
was one Of his lifelong friends who was now
arrested and tried for completely with imps
and devils. Pixies argument did not secure
her acquittal. but his influence seems TO have
secured the ultimate remission OF her sentence,
although four others convicted at the same as
sizes were hanged. The litter containing the
argument addressed 10 one Of the judges in
this proceeding and ascribed on apparently
conclusive evidence TO Pike. Is certainly re-
markable document. Its date shows that II was
written while the public iniatuation and fury
were Mt their height and the Court was sending
10 the gallows its successive cart loads. Al
though the name OF the writer was evidently
well known to the judge. there is no in
junction Of secrecy and no shrinking from
responsibility. According to Mr.. Upham. who
has examined the argument. II is the most cffec-
tive piece Of reasoning that has como down to
us from that age. 1t achieves. he tells us. what
ssaQ9d AeH%5GE1i II accepts m the premises Of its
opponents and admits the prevalent doctrines
writer cfiscinally 1emcishes the principles Of
evidence on which the Court was Proceeding in
reference TO tho spectral testimony" and the
credibity Of the an icted children" generally.
1t appears. too that the precise view pro-
pounded in this letter. rs 10 tho proper conduct
Of such inquiries. was followed by Pike in a
number Of depOsiti)ns taken before himself as
magistrate. When We call 10 mind the state Of
things in Salem at this epoch. when, as one
chroncler declares. terror was in every counte-
nance fear haunted every street." we must con-
cur with the writer OF this memoir that It Is hard
to overrate the intrepidity Of soul displayed by
Robert Pike in this his final warfare against the
most malignant fanaticsm Of his times.
In Buckles ingenious attempt to eliminate
moral causes from the dynamic conditions OF hu-
man progress. and to assign exclusive influence
TO the gradual diffusion OF enlightenment. the
most effective argument was based upon tho
history ofthe doctrine Of religious liberation No
doubt the suppression of Intolerance in It's r,or,,
violent forms is due less TO any quick ening Of
the conscience than toa profounder insight into
the mechanism oil society and general cxpan-
sion oi the intellectual hor2Jn. Not the less must
the primitive apostles 81 an ethical revolution
have Joined to exceptional sagacity moral quail
ltles ol the N Jst sterling and admirable quality.
which shup9 the currents OF opinion, We may
not wholly overlook tho stanch virtues Of those
earlier cXponents, who. like watchers on
height, catch the first far CLEAN Of wisdom. and
who, while blasts Of error blow from every corner
OF the sky. keen the torch Of truth alive. Up and
down the cchtures we sec them, set like beacons
on ~mal coast. that however unpropped and
h' .d-bestead flash out their white lights braycy
amid the night aud tho storm. 1t is nttng that
such men should be honored by those vino reap
whore they have sown. and the descendant of
Robert Pike has performed 50 to speak. u pub
lie as well rs lial duty in preparing such n
record Of an enlightened. tender-hearted. yet
unhinching Puritan as will keep his memory
green. NJ. W. II.
IL there Room for Repentance Amer DcathS
In the form Of brief letter 10 friend,
with the title. The Etdless Future of the Human
Race ID. Appleton a Coz, tho Rev DR.. c. S.
HENRY has contriyed 10 state the question Of
the duration OF punishment in the life TO come
about rs succinctly and as clearly rs could
well be desired. DR.. Henry has long been one
of the most scholarly and vigorous writer's Of
A.. II. ~