. A history of the United States . WHIPPING AT THE CARTS TAIL. WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 59 60. Witchcraft Delusion. (1648-1693.) — The witchcraftdelusion is something almost incomprehensible to educatedpeople at the present day. Belief in witchcraft came downfrom very early times, and nearly all the nations of Europehad laws against it. As late as 1665 the English Parliamentpassed a law punishing witchcraft with death, under whichnot a few suffered. It wasnot strange that the delusionhad its day in early as 1648 a supposedwitch was executed in Bos-ton, but the great excitementrelative t
. A history of the United States . WHIPPING AT THE CARTS TAIL. WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 59 60. Witchcraft Delusion. (1648-1693.) — The witchcraftdelusion is something almost incomprehensible to educatedpeople at the present day. Belief in witchcraft came downfrom very early times, and nearly all the nations of Europehad laws against it. As late as 1665 the English Parliamentpassed a law punishing witchcraft with death, under whichnot a few suffered. It wasnot strange that the delusionhad its day in early as 1648 a supposedwitch was executed in Bos-ton, but the great excitementrelative to the matter was atSalem in 1692. More thanfifty persons were variouslypersecuted, and twenty, in-cluding a clergyman, hadbeen put to death before thefrenzy spent itself. It wasalmost impossible for theaccused to defend himself,and a charge was equivalentto conviction. While theexcitement lasted, the delu-sion took hold of all ranksand classes, even the mosthighly educated; fortunatelysense of a. THE PILLORY. few revolted aoainst the the time was short, the goodinjustice, and the indis-criminate accusations opened the eyes of others, so that inabout six months (February, 1693), there was a general open-ing of the prison doors and a cessation of charges. One of thejudges who had condemned a number to death annually kepta day of fasting as a token of his repentance. The witchcraft 60 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. delusion in America has attracted so much attention that itis often overlooked that there were many more executionsfor witchcraft in England, where the delusion lasted muchlonger, five persons having been put to death on that accountas late as 1722. 61. Colonial Beliefs and Customs. — It must not be forgottenthat the colonists carried their customs and many of their laws with them from their old homes,and that very different ideas ofthe duty of the state towardsits citizens were entertained inthat day. Almost everybody be-lieved that it was legitimate inthe state to
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