The Penguin Book of Witches (16 page)

[Q]:
What did he say to you then? What did he say you must do?

[A]:
This: he tell me they must meet together.

[Q]:
When did he say you may meet together?

[A]:
He tell me Wednesday next at my master’s house, and then they all meet together and that night I saw them all stand in the corner, all four of them, and the man stand behind me and take hold of me to make me stand still in the hall.

[Q]:
Time of night?

[A]:
A little before prayer time.

[Q]:
What did this man say to you when he took hold of you?

[A]:
He say go into the other room and see the children and do hurt to them and pinch them. And then I went in and would not hurt them a good while. I would not hurt Betty. I loved Betty, but they haul me and make me pinch Betty and the next Abigail and then quickly went away altogether a [illegible] I had pinched them.

[Q]:
Did they pinch?

[A]:
No. But they all looked on and see me pinch them.

[Q]:
Did you go into that room in your own person and all the rest?

[A]:
Yes, and my master did not see us, for they would not let my master see.

[Q]:
Did you go with the company?

[A]:
No. I stayed and the man stayed with me.

[Q]:
What did he then to you?

[A]:
He tell me my master go to prayer and he read in book and he ask me what I remember, but don’t you remember anything.

[Q]:
Did he ask you no more but the first time to serve him or the second time?

[A]:
Yes. He ask me again. And that I serve him six years and he Com[illegible] the next time and show me a book.

[Q]:
And when would he come then?

[A]:
The next Friday and show [illegible] me a book in the daytime, betimes in the morning.

[Q]:
And what book did he bring? A great or little book?

[A]:
He did not show it me, nor would not but had it in his pocket [illegible].

[Q]:
Did not he make you write your name?

[A]:
No, not yet for my [his] mistress called me into the other room.

[Q]:
What did he say you must do in that book?

[A]:
He said write and set my name to it.

[Q]:
Did you write?

[A]:
Yes. Once I made a mark in the book and made it with red like blood.

[Q]:
Did he get it out of your body?

[A]:
He said he must get it out the next time he come again. He give me a pin tied in a stick to do it with, but he no let me blood with it as yet but intended another time when he come again.

[Q]:
Did you see any other marks in his book?

[A]:
Yes, a great many. Some marks red, some yellow. He opened his book. A great many marks in it.

[Q]:
Did he tell you the names of them?

[A]:
Yes, of two, no more: Good and Osburn, and he say they make them marks in that book and he showed them me.

[Q]:
How many marks do you think there was?

[A]:
Nine.
14

[Q]:
Did they write their names?

[A]:
They made marks. Goody Good said she made her mark, but Goody Osburn would not tell. She was cross to me.

[Q]:
When did Good tell you she set her hand to the book?

[A]:
The same day I came hither to prison.

[Q]:
Did you see the man that morning?

[A]:
Yes, a little in the morning and he tell me, tell nothing. If I did he would cut my head off.

[Q]:
Tell us, Tr[torn] how many women did use to come when you rode abroad?

[A]:
Four of them: these two, Osburn and Good, and those two strangers.

[Q]:
You say that there was nine. Did he tell you who they were?

[A]:
No. He no let me see but he tell me I should see them the next time.

[Q]:
What sights did you see?

[A]:
I see a man, a dog, a hog and two cats, a black and red, and the strange monster was Osburn’s that I mentioned before. This was the hairy imp. The man would give it to me, but I would not have it.

[Q]:
Did he show you in the book which was Osburn’s and which was Good’s mark?

[A]:
Yes. I see their marks.

[Q]:
But did he tell the names of the others?

[A]:
No, sir.

[Q]:
And what did he say to you when you made your mark?

[A]:
He said serve me and always serve me. The man with the two women came from Boston.

[Q]:
How many times did you go to Boston?

[A]:
I was going and [illegible]en came back again. I was never at Boston.

[Q]:
Who came back with you again?

[A]:
The man came back with me and the women go away. I was not willing to go.

[Q]:
How far did you go? To what town?

[A]:
I never went to any town. I see no trees, no town.

[Q]:
Did he tell you where the nine lived?

[A]:
Yes. Some in Boston and some here in this town, but he would not tell me who they were.
15

Martha Cory was the wife of Giles Cory and was the first woman accused whose accusation might be termed atypical. She was a full church member at a time when church membership was tantamount to social rank and respect, and meant probable membership in the elect who would advance to heaven. She was married, and not in a scandalous or volatile way. She was moneyed. Once Tituba’s confession planted the seed of the idea that there was a conspiracy in town, suspicion was then free to spread to members of the community who might otherwise have been thought to be above reproach.

Most striking in Martha Cory’s examination was her incredulity that this was really happening to her. In the course of her examination, she claimed that the children were “distracted,” that is, crazy. She laughed during the proceedings. She did not claim to know whether there were or were not witches “in the country.” The magistrates, in turn, pointed to Tituba’s confession as evidence that witches were around, privileging the word of a slave woman over that of a churchwoman.

Martha Cory had publicly suspected that the afflicted girls were lying from the beginning, but her doubt, rather than being heard as a voice of reason within the community, would have been taken by doctrinaire Puritans as an error of faith. To doubt the existence of witches or the Devil was to go against the truth as laid out in the Bible. It was Martha Cory’s very skepticism that made her worthy of suspicion and led to her eventual hanging.

Martha Cory’s Examination
1
21 March, 1691/2

[Mr. Hathorne]:
You are now in the hands of authority. Tell me now why you hurt these persons.

[Martha Cory]:
I do not.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Who doth?

[Martha Cory]:
Pray give me leave to go to prayer.

This request was made sundry times.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
We do not send for you to go to prayer.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
But tell me why you hurt these?

[Martha Cory]:
I am an innocent person; I never had to do with witchcraft since I was born. I am a Gospel woman.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Do not you see these complaints of you?

[Martha Cory]:
The Lord open the eyes of the magistrates and ministers. The Lord show his power to discover the guilty.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Tell us who hurts these children.

[Martha Cory]:
I do not know.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
If you be guilty of this fact do you think you can hide it?

[Martha Cory]:
The Lord knows.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Well, tell us what you know of this matter.

[Martha Cory]:
Why, I am a Gospel woman, and do you think I can have to do with witchcraft too?
2

[Mr. Hathorne]:
How could you tell then that the child was bid to observe what clothes you wore when some came to speak with you?

Cheever interrupted her and bid her not begin with a lie and so Edward Putman declared the matter.
3

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Who told you that?

[Martha Cory]:
He said the child said.

[Cheever]:
You speak falsely.

Then Edward Putman read again.
4

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Why did you ask if the child told what clothes you wore?

[Martha Cory]:
My husband told me the others told.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Who told you about the clothes? Why did you ask that question?

[Martha Cory]:
Because I heard the children told what clothes the other wore.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Goodman Cory, did you tell her?

The old man denied that he told her so.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Did you not say your husband told you so?

[Martha Cory]:
-

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Who hurts these children now? Look upon them.

[Martha Cory]:
I cannot help it.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Did you not say you would tell the truth? Why you asked that question: how come you to the knowledge?

[Martha Cory]:
I did but ask.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
You dare thus to lie in all this assembly.
5

[Mr. Hathorne]:
You are now before authority. I expect the truth. You promised it. Speak now and tell what clothes. [scored out] who told you what clothes?

[Martha Cory]:
Nobody.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
How came you to know that the children would be examined what cloth you wore?

[Martha Cory]:
Because I thought the child was wiser than anybody if she knew.
6

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Give an answer. You said your husband told you.

[Martha Cory]:
He told me the children said I afflicted them.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
How do you know what they came for? Answer me this truly. Will you say how you came to know what they came for?

[Martha Cory]:
I had heard speech that the children said I afflicted them[scored out] troubled them and I thought that they might come to examine.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
But how did you know it?

[Martha Cory]:
I thought they did.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Did not you say you would tell the truth? Who told you what they came for?

[Martha Cory]:
Nobody.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
How did you know?

[Martha Cory]:
I did think so.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
But you said you knew so.

[Children]:
There is a man whispering in her ear.
7

[Mr. Hathorne]:
What did he say to you?

[Martha Cory]:
We must not believe all that these distracted children say.
8

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Cannot he tell [scored out] you tell what that man whispered?

[Martha Cory]:
I saw nobody.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
But did not you hear?

[Martha Cory]:
No.

Here was extreme agony of all the afflicted.
9

[Mr. Hathorne]:
If you expect mercy of God, you must look for it in God’s way by confession.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Do you think to find mercy by aggravating your sins?

[Martha Cory]:
A true thing.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Look for it then in God’s way.

[Martha Cory]:
So I do.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Give glory to God and confess then.

[Martha Cory]:
But I cannot confess.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Do not you see how these afflicted do charge you?

[Martha Cory]:
We must not believe distracted persons.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Who do you improve
10
to hurt them.

[Martha Cory]:
I improved none.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Did not you say our eyes were blinded? You would open them?

[Martha Cory]:
Yes, to accuse the innocent.

Then Crossly
11
gave in evidence.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Why cannot the girl stand before you?

[Martha Cory]:
I do not know.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
What did you mean by that?

[Martha Cory]:
I saw them fall down.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
It seems to be an insulting speech as if they could not stand before you.

[Martha Cory]:
They cannot stand before others.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
But you said they cannot stand before you.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Tell me what was that turning upon the spit by you?

[Martha Cory]:
You believe the children that are distracted. I saw no spit.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Here are more than two that accuse you for witchcraft. What do you say?

[Martha Cory]:
I am innocent.

Then Mr. Hathorne read farther of Crossly’s evidence.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
What did you mean by that the Devil could not stand before you?

She denied it.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
3 or 4 sober witnesses confirmed it.
12

[Martha Cory]:
What can I do? Many rise up against me.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Why, confess!

[Martha Cory]:
So I would if I were guilty.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Here are sober persons. What do you say to them?

[Mr. Hathorne]:
You are a Gospel woman. Will you lie?
13

Abigail cried out,
Next Sabbath is sacrament day, but she shall not come there.

[Martha Cory]:
I do not care.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
You charge these children with distraction. It is a note of distraction when persons vary in a minute, but these fix upon you. This is not the manner of distraction.
14

[Martha Cory]:
When all are against me, what can I help it?

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Now tell me the truth, will you? Why did you say that the magistrates’ and ministers’ eyes were blinded. You would open them.

She laughed and denied it
.
15

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Now tell us how we shall know.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Who doth hurt these if you do not?

[Martha Cory]:
Can an innocent person be guilty?

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Do you deny these words?

[Martha Cory]:
Yes.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Tell who hurts these. We came to be a terror to evildoers.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
You say you would open our eyes. We are blind.

[Martha Cory]:
If you say I am a witch.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
You said you would show us.

She denied it.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Why do you not now show us?

[Martha Cory]:
I cannot tell. I do not know.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
What did you strike the maid at Mr. Thomas Putman’s with?

[Martha Cory]:
I never struck her in my life.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Here are two that see you strike her with an iron rod.

[Martha Cory]:
I had not hand in it.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Who had?

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Do you believe these children are bewitched?

[Martha Cory]:
They may for aught I know I have no hand in it.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
You say you are no witch. Maybe you mean you never covenanted with the Devil. Did you never deal with any familiar?

[Martha Cory]:
No, never.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
What bird was that the children spoke of?

Then witnesses spoke.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
What [illegible] bird was it?

[Martha Cory]:
I know no bird.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
It may be. You have engaged you will not confess, but God knows.

[Martha Cory]:
So he doth.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Do you believe you shall go unpunished?

[Martha Cory]:
I have nothing to do with witchcraft.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Why was you not willing your husband should come to the former session here?

[Martha Cory]:
But he came for all.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Did not you take the saddle off?

[Martha Cory]:
I did not know what it was for.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Did you not know what it was for?

[Martha Cory]:
I did not know that it would be to any benefit.

Somebody said that she would not have them help to find out witches.
16

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Did you not say you would open our eyes? Why do you not?

[Martha Cory]:
I never thought of a witch.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Is it a laughing matter to see these afflicted persons?

She denied it.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Several prove it.

[Martha Cory]:
They are all against me and I cannot help it.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Do not you believe there are witches in the country.

[Martha Cory]:
I do not know that there is any.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
Do not you know that Tituba confessed it?
17

[Martha Cory]:
I did not hear her speak.

[Mr. Hathorne]:
I find you will own nothing without several witnesses and yet you will deny for all.

It was noted when she bit her lip several of the afflicted were bitten.

When she was urged upon it that she bit her lip saith she,
What harm is there in it.