The Irish standard., 1891-10-31

81 ebecneS Nurse the First 1ictim Of
sSIsE SS|5 the Delusion.
Resting Place at Salem Of an
siay American NIartyr-First Acquit-
ssSs led, Then Condemned and Dragged
Sssss ssggS " In q Cart to Execution.

ut was in September, 1890. says
writer in the Philadelphia Press. that
paid a visit to Salem, Mass, the scene
VI the witchcraft panic OF 1892. which
tor the fervor and "reminiscences of it's
prosecutions exceeded any like delusion
that ever disgraced the civilized world.
/ had read Upton's history of witch
craft, and filled with weird fancies of
chat bygone age'I found it hard to 30
alize when I! alighted from the train
and walked about the busy street OF
this now thriving town that | was on
The scene of those terrible tragedies OF
that summer time of long ago when
Salem was little village with COM
monplace log houses scattered far apart
on wide grass-grown streets
Through the town and out upon the
country road took my way. Every
hill stood arrayed in garments OF russell
and gold; across the valleys the sun
beams chased the shadows; bird music
alled the air; there was a sigh OF con-
kentment in the rustic of the wind
among the ripe leaves; all nature
seemed to unite in q song Of thanksgiv-
ing that the spiritual nightmare OF two
hundred years ago had been swept
away, never to return.
Presently | came upon tiny burial
place, a roadside spot, shaded by pine
and cedar, and set between two bill
.owy fields. 1t is the final resting-place
of Rebecca Nurse, the Grst victim Of the
witchcraft delusion.
Rebecca Nurse, accused of practic-
ing the black art Of witchcraft," was
IN the first instance acquitted by the
Jury, but afterward the same jury, in
auced by the disapprobation OF the as
sembled multitude and the rebuke of
che Judges, reconsldered their verdict
and condemned her. In the afternoon
Vt the same Gay the poor old woman
was carried in chains to the meeting
house, and there, in the presence OF
vast crowd, Rev Mr.. Noyes proclaimed
her expulsion from the church. pro-
aounced the sentence of eternal death
upon her, formally delivered her over
10 Satan, and consigned her to the
danes Of hell Next day. heavily load
ed with chains, she was dragged IN q
cart to Gallow Hill, and, upon her still
refusing to confess herself a witch and
la league with Satan. was executed ana
thrown in a trench beneath the gibbet.
From the accursed ditch she was
stolen in tue night by her stalwart sons
and son in-law, and though it was
never known exactly where the saint
~ victim was laid, it has always been
vivid tradition in her family that she
rested somewhere in the little burial
ground among her kindred. In the CEN
ter Of this graveyard there is simple
monument of white marble Il was
erected by an association OF women
call the s'Rebecca Nurse association" to
commemorate the heroic conduct and
sublime courage of the Christian mar~
tyr who refused to save her life, rs
many cid, by confessing herself witch,
and it is visited yearly by thousands Of
people who have been touched by her
heroic fortitude,
On The monument is carved the in
sc1iption:
Rebecca Nurse, Yarmouth Eng. 1851; sa
lem, Mass 1929.
OF Christian martyr, who for truth could die
When all around thee owned the hideous lie,
Tao world, removed from superstittcus swsT,
Ia breathing treer tor thy sake to day