New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-28
WITCHCRAFTS BICENTENARY
THE TwO-HyNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF
THE SHAME OF SALEM

which, Tor the sake Oh HlStOTlcdl lHtteii'S
some notice This is the bicentennial anniversary
of what is commonly termed the Salem wien
craft and it is 10 be observed on the odd day. the
Goth of the present month. For the year 1872
was also leap-year, and its February had twenty
nine days And on the 29th-a Monday, too, as
in the present year-there was begun at Saienl'
in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, that historic
witch-hunt which sullies the pages OF early New
England history, and which made famous, though
in widely different ways, the names OF Cotton
Mather and Rebecca Nourse.
"Salcm witchcraft" it is called, and doubtless
always will be. But no term could De greater
missioner In the first place, the alleged WITCH
craft was by no means peculiar 10 the Massacu"-
sets colony IL nothing but continuation
of the strange alterations and decisions that had
for ages been common in the mother country.
inst such "witchcraft" was common enough In
England and Scotland and other European coun-
tries at that time and for many years a1ter. Inc
famous prosecutions at Wurzburg, Bamberg, ana
elsewhere In Germany, occurred III the hfst ana
middle parts of that same century, and were 1resh
in mind at the time OF the Salem trials. AT BAN
berg these prosecutions were begun in 1873, ana
were largely inspired by religious intolerance, the
movers being Catholics and their victims chiefly
Professionals. Between 1925 and 1859 there were
than 600 Of the accused persons were tortured
and burned to death. Among these were many
little girls from seven to ten years old. At Wurz-
bnrg too. the persecution was directed against the
followers of Luther and In 1923 and 1929 hun
dreds of persons were burned at the stake as sor-
cerers But In England itself, under the Puritan
Commonwealth, there one of the greatest
witch-hunts in history. 1t began IN l64o wheh
Dr. Lamb was torn to pieces by London moo.
In the county of Essex, in 1645, many supposed
witches were hanged; and in Suffolk, on August
- of that year, eighteen were sent to the galiows
at once, among them being clergyman OF the Els
tablished Church In 1861 and 1858 there were
many trials and hsngings in Kent and elsewhere;
and others occurred at intervals for many years
thereafter The, famous Sir Matthew Hale pre-
sided at such trial in 1864, and, by expressing
himself as q believer in witchcrsft and by urging
that severe measures be taken against all sorcerers,
did much to prolong and increase the barbarous
quest. which continued all through that century
At the very time of the Salem outbreak the witch
hunts were in fun progress in England. No Won
der. then, that similar superstition for space
found root In the new world 1t had its habitat
chiefly at Danvers, four miles from Salem, and at
Andover However, Salem was the seat of justice
for all that roson and it was in the Salem church,
and in Bedells and Ingersols taverns in that vii
Iage, that the inquistion against the witches was
begun and it was at the old court house in Salem
that the unhappy suspects were tried and hanged
The Salem of to-day, therefore, accepts its re-
sponsibility for this undesirable fame The people
of Danvers have already made some memorial oil
the bicentenary, and on February 20 the people OF
Salem, az represented by the Essex Institute, Will
do likewise. Naturally, tho anniversary is not an
oocasion of. rejoicing. Neither is it one of pro-
fAr 1or
deeds of the witch-nders of two centuries ago. they
werc not exceptional in those days. The
real object Of the commemoration, therefore, is,
as the object of all that is now said or
written on the subject should be, to exemplify and
preserve the truth Of history, to correct false
notions, and to place that uncanny episode in
American colonial life before the present genera
ton in its truest light
OUTBREAK OF THE MANIA.
The Rev Samuel Paris was, in 1892, the
minister Of the church at what is now Danvers.
He had in his employ, as a general house servant.
an Indian woman named Tituba. She was the
first of the "Salem witches" Among the Indians,
then az now. there were medicine men" who pro-
fessed to exert supernatural powers. 1ituba had
not. in embracing Christianity, forgotten her
knowledge of their necromancy. And so it came
10 pass that now and then, to amuse the minister's
children, she would rehearse the weird 1ncanta-
tiops of her tribe. These children were much
impressed by the performances, was natural
mt their age-nine to eleven years-and with the
common minicry Of childhood, they began to
initiate her tricks and gave exhibitions of them
TO their playmates Soon it became genuine
craze among the children of the village, some of
whom. being of nervous temperament, were seri-
ously affected in mind and body. Such perform
ancs could not long remain hidden from the
parents of the children, and when they did become
known the parents were much moved and excited
Accordingly on that fatal Monday, February 20,
1892 four wellknown citizens formally laid the
matter before the Justices in the shape of a COM
plaint aganst Tituba for practising witchcraft.
These citizens were Joseph Hutchinson, Thomas
and Edward Putnam and Thomas Preston. The
justices before whom the complaint was lodged
we're John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin The
alleged victims various little girls, some of
them daughters of the compliments, and the &C
cused were the Indian woman, Tituba, and two
.ybite women of the colony Sarah Osborn and
Sarah Good. Belief in witchcraft WAS well-nigh
universal in these days, and this complaint was
accorlnrly received by the justices as seriously
nc though 1t had been news Of an Indian raid.
Tho very next day, therefore, March 1, they sum-
morea Sarah Good before them for examination,
at The village tavern kept By Nathaniel lngersoll
Blu, so great was the public interest in the case
that great throng assembled, and there was not
room for them In the tavern. The Justices ac-
corainyly went over to the church, and the exam
iuatiou was conducted there. Justice Hawthorne
was foremost in questioning the accused. lie
asked her why she so afflicted the children She
denied that she did it. He asked her then through
whose agency she did it, and she replied that she
did not do it at ALL either directly or Indirectly
Then the children were brought before her. They
all declared that it was she who bewitchcd them.
Ana then. at the instant, they were all stricken
with convul,ions and other nervous disorders, as
though. indeed, bewitched.
MAD wITCH.HUNT
r,ort,,v;tb TIM three women accused were com