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    probably , all believed that the Evil One was let loose in their community , some endeavoured to check his authority by lawful means only , while others abused their influence over the imaginations of the people , and led them to the extreme of superstition ; thus striving to do God service by debasing man .

    A violent religious dissension had , at this time , spread strife through the whole town , and was carried up to the General Court of Nev * England . It was between a large portion of a neighbouring congregation and their pastor , the Rev . Samuel Parris , in whose family the first instance of alleged infliction appeared . It is desirable to explain the precise nature of the infliction , as it was understood at the time and place , that it may be evident how easy the j ugglery became , when once the popular notion of the devil was received as an article of faith .

    * There are several words and expressions that are sometimes used synonymously with witch , although they are not strictly synonymous . The following , for instance : —diviner ^ enchanter , charmer , conjuror , necromancer , fortune-teller , augur , soothsayer , and sorcerer . None of these words convey the same idea our ancestors attached to the word witch . '— « A witch was regarded by

    our fathers as a person who had made an actual , deliberate , and formal compact with Satan ; by which compact it was agreed that she should become his faithful subject , and do what she could in promoting his cause \ and in consideration of this allegiance and service he , on his part , agreed to exercise his supernatural powers in her favour , and communicate to her a portion of those powers . Thus a witch was considered in the light of a person who had transferred allegiance and worship from God to the devil .

    4 The existence of this compact was supposed to confer great additional power on the devil , as well as on his new subject ; for the doctrine seems to have prevailed that , for him to act with effect upon men , the intervention and instrumentality of human cooperation was necessary ; and almost unlimited power was ascribed to the combined exertions of Satan and those of the human

    species in league with him . A witch was believed to have the power , through her compact with the devil , of afflicting , distressing , and rending whomever she would . She could cause them to pine away , and to suffer almost every description of pain and distress . She was also believed to possess the faculty of being present , in her shape or apparition , at a different place from that which her

    actual body occupied . Indeed , an almost indefinite amount of supernatural ability , and a great freedom and variety of methods for its exercise were supposed to result from the diabolical compact . Those upon whom she thus exercised her malignant and mysterious energies , were said to be bewitched . '—( p . 17—19 . ) Such was witchcraft , in the apprehension , not only of the ignorant populace of Salem , but of philosophers and learned men , and makers and administrators of the laws of our own country;—

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    548 On Witchcrafts

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  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1832, page 548, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1818/page/44/