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 CRIMINAL TRIALS 
 
 VOLUME I.
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN. 
 LONDOH; 
 
 A.MAXWEL.L.32 BELLTABD.LIHCOLJTS DR5T.
 
 AMERICAN 
 
 CRIMINAL TRIALS. 
 
 BY PELEG W. CHANDLER, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY AND OF THE 
 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 VOLUME 1. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 TIMOTHY H. CARTER AND COMPANY. 
 LONDON: 
 
 A MAXWELL, 32 BELL YARD LINCOLN'S INN. 
 MDCCCXLIV. 
 
 84436
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1844, 
 
 By PELEG W. CHANDLER, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 PRINTED BY FREEMAN AND BOLLES, 
 WASHINGTON STBEET.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE publication of the following volume may be 
 regarded as an experiment, which, if successful, will 
 demonstrate that the most important and interesting 
 criminal trials, which have taken place in this coun- 
 try, may be rendered acceptable to the general read- 
 er, in the form of abridged narrations divested of the 
 technicalities of legal proceedings. 
 
 In selecting the cases for publication, the author 
 has been chiefly governed by a desire to present those, 
 which might be interesting to the American reader, 
 not only as illustrative of the morals and manners, 
 but as connected with the religious or political his- 
 tory, of the periods in which they occurred ; and, in 
 preparing them for the press, he has attempted to 
 give an account of each case, after a careful exami- 
 nation of all the facts which might throw light upon
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 it, in the form of a narrative accompanied by such 
 general remarks and reflections as naturally suggested 
 themselves to his mind ; no other idea of complete- 
 ness or unity of purpose being entertained, so far as 
 the present work is concerned, than that every trial 
 should contain all the facts, necessary to make it in- 
 telligible by itself and without reference to any other. 
 
 Judicial investigations with a view to the discovery 
 and punishment of crimes, as they involve the best 
 interests of society, always excite an attention com- 
 mensurate with their importance, wherever they are 
 publicly and openly conducted, as in this country and 
 in some of the states of Europe. They exhibit hu- 
 man nature in an infinite variety of positions, and 
 show man " as he is in action and principle, and not 
 as he is usually drawn by poets and speculative phi- 
 losophers." The circumstances of difficulty and 
 danger, with which they surround the accused, effec- 
 tually test and develop the character ; while, at the 
 same time, they severely task the highest energies of 
 the mind, in mortal struggles for victory, liberty, and, 
 not seldom, life itself. Events and transactions, 
 stranger and more wonderful than the fictions of the 
 most fruitful imagination, are not unfrequently re- 
 vealed to view, as realities, in the proceedings of 
 criminal tribunals. 
 
 It is undoubtedly more interesting to witness in 
 person the proceedings of a criminal trial, than it is 
 to read an account of them in a journal or printed
 
 report ; but the latter retains its interest and value, 
 long after the scenes it professes to describe have 
 passed from the memory ; and, being a record of 
 facts, ascertained by a tribunal erected for the ex- 
 press purpose of eliciting the truth, it becomes, in 
 process of time, one of the best sources of personal 
 and general history. It is obvious, however, that 
 reports of criminal trials, though intelligible enough 
 at the time of the events which they record, when 
 all the attendant circumstances are fresh in the pub- 
 lic mind, soon require to be illustrated by facts from 
 cotemporaneous history, in order to be fully under- 
 stood and properly appreciated. But. besides this, 
 as the proceedings in judicial tribunals are exclu- 
 sively directed to the ascertaining of particular facts, 
 they are often meagre in themselves, and afford little 
 or no information concerning many other facts and 
 circumstances, which are essential to enable us to 
 understand the merits of a case. The trial of an 
 offender is but a point in the history of the crime, 
 a single link of the great chain, which binds together 
 its true character and its effects : the remote circum- 
 stances which led to its commission, the actual 
 inducement, the relation of the parties concerned, 
 the detection, and, more than all, the personal 
 history and previous character of the criminal him- 
 self, all become matters of interesting inquiry, in 
 relation to which the naked report of the trial affords 
 no light. There are also many cases, which, at
 
 the time of their occurrence, are so enveloped in 
 mystery, that the guilt or innocence of the accused 
 can only become fully manifest by the lapse of time ; 
 and these need to be investigated by the aid of 
 subsequent as well as cotemporaneous events. From 
 these considerations, it is apparent, that a mere col- 
 lection, however extensive, of criminal trials, repub- 
 lished in their original form, must necessarily be 
 incomplete in many important particulars. 
 
 There are two great collections of criminal trials, 
 which deserve the highest consideration and the 
 most careful examination, as models for an American 
 work, namely, the English State Trials by Howell, 
 and the French Causes Celebres. In the former, 
 which is a mere republication, the cases are given 
 precisely as they were originally published, without 
 any attempt to render them more complete, or to 
 condense them into the form of narratives ; so that 
 the State Trials, however valuable as a work of 
 reference to the historical inquirer or the lawyer, are 
 intolerably dull and unprofitable to the general reader. 
 The French collection, on the other hand, partly 
 from the nature of the cases themselves as well as 
 the mode of their investigation, and partly from the 
 form in which they are given, presents a series of 
 narratives, as interesting and exciting as are to be 
 found in romance or history. 
 
 Another work, of a character and tendency some- 
 what different from those just mentioned, which is
 
 much better known to English and American readers, 
 in general, and has exercised a more decided influ- 
 ence upon society, will be readily recognised as the 
 Newgate Calendar. The plan and object of this col- 
 lection, which has served as a model for a species of 
 literature now unfortunately become popular in this 
 country, are too well known to require any explana- 
 tion, in this place ; or to make it necessary to record 
 here the condemnation pronounced against it by the 
 tribunals of morals and taste. Works of this descrip- 
 tion, which, by their false and glowing pictures of 
 criminal trials, create an admiration for desperate 
 and wicked men, and excite a sympathy for their 
 fate, in minds of kindred depravity, cannot be too 
 strongly deprecated as injurious to the best interests 
 of society. 
 
 The plan of the present work more nearly resem- 
 bles that of the French collection than of any one 
 in our own language. The design is to give a his- 
 torical sketch of each case, upon a careful examina- 
 tion and consideration of all the facts connected with 
 it, in the form of an abridged narrative. But it is 
 obvious, that no general plan of a work like this can 
 be so comprehensive, as not to require to be variously 
 modified in respect to each particular trial. It is true 
 of some criminal trials, that they explain themselves, 
 and then it is only necessary to give a report of the 
 actual proceedings, with an attempt, perhaps, to ad- 
 just the incidents so as to produce the most harmo-
 
 nious or striking effect. In some instances, the trial 
 is the least part of the history of a case, and may be 
 merely mentioned as a collateral fact. In others, the 
 entire interest of the case depends upon the actual pro- 
 ceedings at the trial, and here care must be taken to 
 give the full dramatic effect, by suffering the actors 
 in the exciting scene to speak for themselves. In 
 other cases, the arguments of the advocates at the 
 bar are the chief points of interest, entirely over- 
 shadowing every thing else connected with the trial ; 
 and in these it is necessary to present the facts and 
 circumstances which go to illustrate the arguments. 
 It is manifest, therefore, that every criminal trial must 
 have a plan of its own, in order to keep up the interest 
 of the reader, and to preserve the dramatic effect of 
 the scenes and events which it discloses. 
 
 It will thus be seen, that the plan of this work is 
 somewhat ambitious ; and the execution of it will be 
 vastly more laborious than that of a mere collection 
 of trials, without any attempt to render them more 
 complete, by collating the different reports of each 
 trial, and illustrating it by facts and circumstances 
 drawn from other sources. This labor will be much 
 increased in cases where no regular report has ever 
 been made, which unfortunately is true of many 
 American trials of great interest. The author is sen- 
 sibly impressed with the difficulties of the task which 
 he has undertaken, but he has entered upon it the 
 more willingly, as, from the nature of the work, it
 
 may at any time be relinquished, if his labors become 
 unsatisfactory to the public, or oppressive to himself. 
 Without the expectation of giving his production the 
 character of completeness which belongs to the State 
 Trials, or the hope of infusing into it the spirit and 
 interest which characterize the Causes Celebres, he 
 may yet be permitted to remark, that, if his " trials " 
 should not be found in strict accordance with truth, 
 it will not be for the want of industrious research on 
 his part ; and if they do not prove to be interesting, 
 it will not be for the want of rich materials to render 
 them so. 
 
 There being no necessary connection between 
 the several parts of the intended collection, the 
 volumes of which it is to be composed will be pub- 
 lished separately, as they may from time to time be 
 prepared. For this course the author has high au- 
 thority in the example of a living historian, whose 
 apology he adopts as his own. He is unwilling to 
 travel so long a journey alone, and desires as he pro- 
 ceeds, to correct his own judgment by the criticisms 
 of candor. He also hopes to make to himself friends 
 disposed to place within his reach the sources of in- 
 formation which are essential to success. 
 
 BOSTON, NOVEMBER, 1841.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 
 
 Trial of Anne Hutchinson before the General Court of Massa- 
 chusetts, for sedition and heresy, 1637, 1 
 
 THE QUAKERS. 
 
 Trials of the Quakers before the General Court and Court of 
 Assistants, Massachusetts, 1656 1661, 31 
 
 SALEM WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 Trials for Witchcraft, before the Special Court of Oyer and 
 Terminer, held in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692, 65 
 
 THOMAS MAULE. 
 
 Trial of Thomas Maule before the Superior Court of Massa- 
 chusetts, for a slanderous publication and blasphemy, 1696, 141 
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 
 
 Trial of John Peter Zenger before the Supreme Court of New 
 York, for two libels on the Government, 1735, 151 
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 
 
 Trials of certain Negroes and others before the Supreme Court 
 of New York, for a conspiracy to burn the city and murder 
 the inhabitants, 1741, 211
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LEISLER'S REBELLION. 
 
 Trial of Jacob Leisler before a Special Court of Oyer and Ter- 
 
 miner, for high treason, New York, 1691, 255 
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 
 
 Trial of Nicholas Bayard before a Special Court of Oyer and 
 Terminer, for high treason, New York, 1702, 267 
 
 THE CREW OF THE PITT PACKET. 
 
 Trial of Michael Corbett and others before a Special Court of 
 Vice Admiralty, for murder on the high seas. Boston, 1769, 295 
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 
 
 Trials of certain British Soldiers before the Superior Court of 
 Massachusetts, for the murder of Crispus Attacks and others. 
 Boston, 1770, 301 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Sketch of William. Stoughton, 419 
 
 Professional Life of John Adams, . 421 
 
 Sketch of Josiah Quincy, Jun., 423 
 
 Documents respecting the Trials for Witchcraft, 426 
 
 Advice of the Elders respecting the Quakers, 434 
 
 Petition of William Dyer for the Life of his Wife, . . . . 435 
 
 Note to the Trials of the Quakers, 43G
 
 TRIAL OF ANNE HUTCHINSON 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
 NOVEMBER, 1637.
 
 A particular account of the celebrated antinomian controversy, 
 in the early history of Massachusetts, with which Anne Hutchin- 
 son became completely identified, is contained in a work by Thomas 
 Welde, the minister of Roxbury, published in 1644, and entitled : 
 " A short Story of the Rise, Reign, and Ruin of the Antinomians, 
 Familists, and Libertines, that infected the churches in New Eng- 
 land : And how they were confuted by the Assembly of Ministers 
 there : As also of the Magistrates' Proceedings in Court against 
 them. Together with God's strange, remarkable Judgments from 
 Heaven upon some of the chief Fomenters of these opinions ; and 
 the lamentable death of Mrs. Hutchinson." The subject is con- 
 sidered, in a more general manner, in Hubbard's History of New 
 England ; Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts Bay, and Win- 
 throp's Journal, by Savage ; it also forms an interesting topic of 
 remark in Grahame's and Bancroft's Histories of the United States, 
 and Upham's Life of Henry Vane, in Sparks's American Biography.
 
 TRIAL OF ANNE HUTCHINSON. 
 
 A SHORT time before the election of Henry Vane as 
 governor of Massachusetts, in 1636, there came over 
 from Alford, in the neighborhood of Boston, England, 
 William Hutchinson and his wife Anne Hutchinson, 
 who settled in Boston, Massachusetts, and "joined 
 the church." They were well connected, of good 
 estate and reputation, and received much attention 
 in the colony. Mr. Hutchinson was chosen several 
 times a representative of Boston in the general court. 
 It was the fate of his wife to exert an influence 
 in the infant commonwealth, wholly unexampled in 
 one of her sex, and to kindle a strife, which has 
 rendered her the heroine of a passage in its history, 
 as singular, interesting, and tragical, as any it con- 
 tains. The apparently trifling origin of the difncul* 
 ties, in which she found herself involved soon after 
 her arrival, is not the least remarkable part of her 
 story ; and the mistake of magnifying and punishing
 
 4 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 that as heresy, which was simple impropriety, or, at 
 most, harmless fanaticism, is not the least instruct- 
 ive portion of the history of her trial and condemna- 
 tion. 
 
 By a long established custom in Boston, besides 
 the meetings for worship on the Lord's day, and oc- 
 casional lectures as in other towns, there were frequent 
 private meetings of the brethren of the churches for 
 religious exercises. Mrs. Hutchinson, " a woman of 
 a haughty and fierce carriage, of a nimble wit and 
 active spirit, and a very voluble tongue," submitted 
 with impatience to the regulation by which women, 
 at these meetings, were debarred from the privilege 
 of joining in the debates. She therefore set up a 
 meeting of the sisters also, where she repeated the 
 sermons, preached the Lord's day before, adding her 
 own remarks and expositions. The idea was novel ; 
 her illustrations of scripture were new and striking ; 
 and, being possessed of great subtlety and vivacity 
 of apprehension, she rendered her meetings more 
 interesting to the female portion of the community, 
 than any they attended. Moreover, being " a wo- 
 man very helpful in the times of child-birth, and 
 other occasions of bodily infirmities, and well fur- 
 nished with means for these purposes, she easily in- 
 sinuated herself into the affections of many," who 
 became sincerely and warmly attached to her, and 
 eagerly received all her doctrines. Nor were those 
 who regarded her with favor confined to her own sex. 
 The excellent John Cotton gave her his support and 
 warm approval ; and, Henry Vane, one of the most 
 remarkable men of that age, who had left the halls
 
 ANNE HTJTCHINSON. 5 
 
 of his fathers for the wilderness of New England, 
 that he might more freely enjoy the rights of con- 
 science, and who, at the early age of twenty-four, 
 soon after his arrival in the colony, was chosen its go- 
 vernor, became an open and ardent admirer of Mrs. 
 Hutchinson and her doctrines ; whether for the pur- 
 pose of strengthening himself in a political point of 
 view or from sincere belief, it is not necessary now 
 to inquire. 
 
 At first, these meetings met the entire approbation 
 of the clergy ; but that powerful and somewhat sel- 
 fish class soon began to look upon them with disap- 
 probation. They became jealous of the influence 
 of a custom, which brought a power to bear on the 
 religious feelings and views of the female portion of 
 their people, dangerous to their own authority, and 
 wholly out of their control. They discovered, also, 
 or thought they discovered alarming heresies in the 
 doctrines which Mrs. Hutchinson promulgated. " At 
 first," said one of their number, " all this was well, 
 and suited with the public ministry, which went 
 along in the same way, and all the faithful embraced 
 it, and blessed God for the good success that ap- 
 peared from this discovery. But when she had thus 
 prepared the way by such wholesome truths, then 
 she begins to set forth her own stuff, and taught that 
 no sanctification was any evidence of a good estate, 
 except their justification were first cleared up to 
 them by the immediate witness of the spirit, and that 
 to see any work of grace, (either faith or repentance 
 &c.) before this immediate witness, was a covenant 
 of works : whereupon many good souls that had 
 l*
 
 6 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 been of long approved godliness, were brought to re- 
 nounce all the work of grace in them, and to wait 
 for this immediate revelation : then sprung up also 
 that opinion of the indwelling of the person of the 
 Holy Ghost, and of union with Christ, and justifica- 
 tion before faith, and a denying of any gifts or graces, 
 or inherent qualifications, and that Christ was all, did 
 all, and that the soul remained always as a dead or- 
 gan : but the main and bottom of all, which tended 
 to quench all endeavor, and to bring to a dependence 
 upon an immediate witness of the spirit, without 
 sight of any gift or grace, this stuck fast, and pre- 
 vailed so as it began to be opposed, and she being 
 questioned by some, who marveled that such opin- 
 ions should spread so fast, she made answer, that 
 wherever she came, they must and they should 
 
 It was also asserted, that Mrs. Hutchinson and her 
 adherents, in addition to their original tenets, received 
 that difficult doctrine of the quakers, afterwards so 
 abhorrent to the colonists, that the spirit of God 
 communicates with the minds of believers independ- 
 ently of the written word ; and, in consistency with 
 this, that her hearers received many revelations of 
 future events announced to them by Mrs. Hutch- 
 inson, as equally infallible with the prophecies of 
 scripture. But it has been well remarked, that 
 the accounts, which are transmitted to us of such 
 theological discussions, are always obscured by the 
 cloud of contemporary passion, prejudice, and error. 
 Hasty effusions of passionate zeal are mistaken for 
 deliberate sentiments ; and the excesses of the zealots
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 7 
 
 of a party held up as the standard by which the 
 whole body may fairly be tried. 
 
 The clergy at length became greatly alarmed at 
 the extent to which their authority and influence 
 were threatened ; and they determined to take efficient 
 and energetic measures in opposition to Mrs. Hutch- 
 inson and her doctrines. The first synod ever held 
 in America assembled at Newtown, now Cambridge, 
 to consider this new and extraordinary state of things ; 
 and, after a three weeks' discussion, no less than 
 eighty-two errors were enumerated and condemned. 
 The modern reader is lost in admiration at the in- 
 comprehensible jargon contained in this exposition 
 of false doctrines, and strives in vain to ascertain the 
 practical points of difference between the parties, 
 sufficient to account for the extreme bitterness with 
 which this controversy was conducted on both sides. 
 Enlightened by the experience of religious contro- 
 versies of his own times, he easily concludes, that 
 the matter was attended with difficulties of a personal 
 nature, having their origin in the peculiar character 
 of the colonists of New England, and difficult to be 
 appreciated at the present day. 
 
 The decrees of the synod had little effect on Mrs. 
 Hutchinson. Persuaded of the superior clearness, 
 truth, and simplicity of their system of doctrines, 
 both she and her adherents were impatient of opposi- 
 tion, and attacked the sentiments of their adversaries 
 with an acrimony and invective, which were not 
 likely to be borne with patience. With the eagerness 
 and impetuosity of female feeling, they did not hesi- 
 tate to brand with terms of heretical and contempt-
 
 8 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 uous designation, every inhabitant of the colony, 
 and particularly every minister, whose views did not 
 coincide with their own. 
 
 These religious disputes at length assumed the 
 highest political importance. Nearly all the clergy, 
 except Cotton and John Wheelwright, clustered to- 
 gether in defence of their influence. The latter, a 
 brother-in-law of Mrs. Hutchinson, increased the 
 flame by a fast day's sermon, in 1637, in which he 
 made use of some objectionable expressions ; and he 
 was examined before the general court for sedition and 
 contempt.' In the midst of this excitement, the 
 general elections came on. The struggle for power 
 by rival religious factions, always arduous and severe, 
 was rendered peculiarly interesting at the present 
 time, from the consideration that the arm of civil 
 power would be brought to bear upon the defeated 
 party. The excitement throughout Massachusetts 
 was unprecedented. John Winthrop, the father of 
 the colony, led the opposition, and was supported by 
 all the churches, except those in Boston. Their suc- 
 cess was complete. Winthrop was chosen governor ; 
 Vane and all his party were left out of office. 
 
 1 There is a copy of this sermon among the manuscripts in the 
 archives of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Its character is 
 not such as to justify the charge of sedition and contempt, nor to 
 prevent the present age from regarding the subsequent proceedings 
 against Wheelwright as an example of ecclesiastical tyranny. The 
 reader, curious in relation to the religious discussions of this period, 
 is referred to the first volume of Winthrop's Journal, by Savage. 
 The notes of the distinguished editor, himself a lineal descendant 
 of Anne Hutchinson, are in the highest degree instructive and 
 not less amusing.
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 9 
 
 Most stringent measures were immediately adopted 
 to carry into effect the decrees of the synod and to put 
 an end to the antinomian heresy. The first measure, 
 to prevent the increase of a faction esteemed so 
 dangerous, was a law by the party in power, that 
 none should be received within the jurisdiction, but 
 such as should be allowed by some of the magis- 
 trates. After vainly opposing this act of intolerance, 
 and leaving a memorial of his dissent, Vane returned 
 to England. The court then sent for Wheelwright, 
 and requiring of him an acknowledgment of his 
 offence, he refused it and justified his conduct ; but 
 the court resolved that it tended to disturb the civil 
 peace, disfranchised and banished him, allowing him 
 fourteen days to settle his affairs. He claimed an 
 appeal to the king, but the court resolved, that an 
 appeal did not lie in the case, and he was compelled 
 to leave the colony. Some of his friends were pun- 
 ished in various ways, and a part of them followed 
 him into banishment. 1 
 
 " All these were but young branches, sprung out 
 of an old root ; the court had now to do with the 
 head of this faction, Dux focmina facti, a woman 
 had been the breeder and nourisher of all these dis- 
 tempers, one Mistress Hutchinson ; " and she was 
 next called to take her trial before the general court 
 and many elders, at Newtown, now Cambridge, in No- 
 
 1 They removed to the banks of the Piscataqua, and, at the head 
 of tide waters on that river, they founded the town of Exeter. 
 Wheelwright afterwards removed to Hampton and from thence to 
 Salisbury. He was restored in 1644, upon a slight acknowledgment. 
 He lived to be the oldest minister in the colony, and died in 1680.
 
 10 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 vember, 1637. The proceedings exhibit, in a striking 
 manner, the arbitrary character of this popular tri- 
 bunal, and the entire disregard of the fundamental 
 principles of the common law in the modes of judi- 
 cial procedure at that day. It is impossible to escape 
 the conviction, that Mrs. Hutchinson was tried by 
 men, to whom religious toleration was hateful ; who 
 were previously determined to convict her, and 
 made use of the form of a trial to find some better 
 pretext, than they already had, to accomplish their 
 designs. Accordingly, she was subjected to a most 
 tedious, severe, and trying examination by the gover- 
 nor, the lieutenant governor, and the principal men in 
 the colony, for two days. But during the whole of 
 it, she exhibited a most extraordinary degree of tal- 
 ent, learning, skill and fortitude. " She was cunning 
 as well as fanatical." 1 
 
 (J* You are called here," said governor Winthrop, 
 at the commencement of these extraordinary proceed- 
 ings, " as one of those that have troubled the peace 
 of the commonwealth and the churches here ; you 
 are known to be a woman that hath had a great 
 
 1 A manuscript report of this trial was seen by Hutchinson, the 
 historian of Massachusetts Bay, and is printed in the appendix 
 to his second volume. By whom, and when it was prepared, he 
 does not inform us, if he knew. The account of the proceedings, 
 in Welde's Short Story, is less minute. Welde was a member of 
 the court, and a bitter opponent of Mrs. Hutchinson ; he took 
 an active part against her, on her trial. His work is characterized 
 by the usual bitterness of religious controversial writings of that 
 day. Some of his stories are yet more foolish than false, and more 
 disgusting than either. The edition, London, 1644, is in the Boston 
 Athenaeum ; a second edition, London, 1692, is in the library of 
 Harvard University,
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 11 
 
 share in the promoting and divulging of those opin- 
 ions that are causes of this trouble, and to be nearly 
 joined, not only in affinity and affection, with some 
 of those the court hath taken notice of, and passed 
 censure upon, but you have spoken divers things, as 
 we have been informed, very prejudicial to the honor 
 of the churches and ministers thereof, and you have 
 maintained a meeting and an assembly in your house 
 that hath been condemned by the general assembly 
 as a thing not tolerable nor comely in the sight of 
 God, nor fitting for your sexjand notwithstanding 
 that was cried down, you have continued the same ; 
 therefore we have thought good to send for you to 
 understand how things are, that if you be in an er- 
 roneous way, we may reduce you, that so you may 
 become a profitable member here among us ; other- 
 wise if you be. obstinate in your course, that then the 
 court may take such course that you may trouble us 
 no farther. Therefore I would entreat you to ex- 
 press, whether you do not hold and assent in practice, 
 to the opinions and factions that have been handled 
 in court already, that is to say, whether you do not 
 justify Mr. Wheelwright's sermon and the petition." 1 
 " I am called here," was the appropriate and 
 striking answer of Mrs. Hutchinson, embodying a 
 great principle of the common law, which re- 
 quires every offence to be set forth with clearness 
 
 1 After the court had pronounced Mr. Wheelwright's fast day 
 sermon seditious, a petition or remonstrance was sent to them by 
 a large number of the citizens of Boston, which was also considered 
 to be seditious by the court, and several who signed it were pun- 
 ished.
 
 12 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 and certainty, " to answer before you, but I hear no 
 things laid to my charge." 
 
 " I have told you some already, and more I can 
 tell you." 
 
 " Name one, sir." 
 
 " Have I not named some already ? " 
 
 " What have I said or done ? " 
 
 " Why, for your doings, this, you did harbor and 
 countenance those that are parties in this faction, that 
 you have heard of." 
 
 " That 's matter of conscience, sir." 
 
 " Your conscience you must keep, or it must be 
 kept for you." 
 
 " Must I not, then, entertain the saints, because I 
 must keep my conscience ? " 
 
 " Say, that one brother should commit felony or 
 treason, and come to his other brother's house, if he 
 knows him guilty, and conceals him, he is guilty of 
 the same. It is his conscience to entertain him, but 
 if his conscience comes into act in giving counte- 
 nance and entertainment to him that hath broken the 
 law, he is guilty too. So if you do countenance 
 those that are transgressors of the law, you are in 
 the same fact." 
 
 " What law do they transgress ? " 
 
 " The law of God and of the state." 
 
 " In what particular ? " 
 
 " Why in this among the rest, whereas the Lord 
 doth say honor thy father and thy mother, which in- 
 cludes all in authority ; but these seditious practices 
 of theirs have cast reproach and dishonor on the fa- 
 thers of the commonwealth."
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 13 
 
 " Do I entertain, or maintain them in their actions, 
 wherein they stand against any thing that God hath 
 appointed ? " 
 
 " Yes, you have justified Mr. Wheelwright's ser- 
 mon, for which you know he was convict of sedition, 
 and you have likewise countenanced and encouraged 
 those that had their hands to the petition." 
 
 " I deny it; I am to obey you only in the Lord." 
 
 " You have joined them in the faction." 
 
 " In what faction have I joined with them?" 
 
 " In presenting the petition." 
 
 " But I had not my hand to the petition." 
 
 " You have counseled them." 
 
 "Wherein?" 
 
 " Why, in entertaining them." 
 
 " What breach of law is that, sir ? " 
 
 " Why, dishonoring of parents." 
 
 " But put the case, sir, that I do fear the Lord and 
 my parents, may not I entertain them that fear the 
 Lord, because my parents will not give me leave ? " 
 
 " If they be the fathers of the commonwealth, 
 and they of another religion, if you entertain them, 
 then you dishonor your parents and are justly pun- 
 ishable." 
 
 " If I entertain them as they have dishonored their 
 parents, I do." 
 
 " No, but you by countenancing them above others 
 put honor upon them." 
 
 " I may put honor upon them as the children of 
 God, and as they do honor the Lord." 
 
 " We do not mean to discourse with those of your 
 sex upon this," the governor replied, apparently tired
 
 14 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 of this part of the subject, " you do adhere unto 
 them and do endeavor to set forward this faction, and 
 so you do dishonor us." 
 
 He then took up another subject of complaint 
 against Mrs. Hutchinson ; and that was her weekly 
 meetings. These she defended herself with great 
 skill and ability ; the custom, she said, was to hold 
 private weekly meetings when she first came to 
 the country. She did not go to them, and was 
 called proud ; wherefore she had meetings at her 
 own house. At first they were attended by only five 
 or six ; but being tolerated, the number gradually 
 increased, and she conceived it to be proper for her 
 to hold them according to the doctrine in the second 
 of Titus, where the elder women are to teach the 
 younger. 
 
 " But," said the governor, " the apostle there means 
 privately ; and gives no warrant for such set meetings 
 as yours. Besides, you take it upon yourself to teach 
 many that are elder than yourself. Neither do you 
 teach them that which the apostle commands, 'to 
 keep at home.' " 
 
 " Will it please you to answer this, and to give me 
 a rule, for then I will willingly submit to any truth. 
 If any come to my house to be instructed in the ways 
 of God, what rule have I to put them away?" 
 
 " Suppose," was the answer, " that a hundred 
 men come unto you to be instructed, will you forbear 
 to instruct them ? " 
 
 In answer to this, Mrs. Hutchinson said, that such 
 a course must, in her opinion, be unauthorized by 
 scripture ; but if one man should come to her and
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 15 
 
 ask her instruction upon religious matters, she con- 
 ceived that she might give it to him. 1 
 
 " Here is my authority, Aquila and Priscilla took 
 upon them to instruct Apollo more perfectly, yet he 
 was a man of good parts, but they being better in- 
 structed, might teach him." 
 
 " See how your argument stands," answered the 
 governor, " Priscilla with her husband took Apollo 
 home to instruct him privately, therefore Mistress 
 Hutchinson, without her husband, might teach sixty 
 or eighty ! " 
 
 " I call them not," was the reply, " if they come to 
 me, I may instruct them." 
 
 " Your course," said the governor at length, '< is 
 not to be suffered, for besides, that we find such a 
 course as this to be greatly prejudicial to the state ; 
 besides the occasion that it is to seduce many honest 
 persons that are called to those meetings, and, your 
 opinions being known to be different from the word 
 of God, may seduce many simple souls that resort 
 unto you ; besides that the occasion which hath come 
 of late, hath come from none but such as have fre- 
 quented your meetings, so that now they are flown 
 off from magistrates and ministers, and this since 
 they have come to you ; and, besides, that it will not 
 well stand with the commonwealth that families should 
 be neglected, for so many neighbors and dames and 
 so much time spent ; we see no rule of God for this, 
 we see not that any should have authority to set up 
 
 1 Here the court gave the accused liberty to sit down, "for her 
 countenance discovered some bodily infirmity."
 
 16 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 any other exercises besides what authority hath al- 
 ready set up ; and so what hurt comes of this you will 
 be guilty of and we for suffering you." 
 
 It is perfectly apparent, that the real difficulties in 
 this case had not yet been reached. The views of 
 governor Winthrop were generally sensible, and en- 
 tirely consistent with the mildness and wisdom of 
 that great and good man ; but the offences he had 
 enumerated were clearly insufficient to have caused 
 the previous excitement against Mrs. Hutchinson, or 
 to justify the course the court were determined to 
 pursue. The real trouble was with the clergy. The 
 freedom with which this woman had discussed their 
 characters, as ministers of the truth, was intolerable 
 at that age and in Massachusetts Bay. The com- 
 parisons, also, which she had instituted between her 
 friend Mr. Cotton and the others, were irritating in 
 the extreme. "Mr. Cotton," she was reported to 
 have asserted, " preached a covenant of faith, but 
 the other ministers were under a covenant of works ; 
 they had not the seal of the spirit, so were not able 
 ministers of the New Testament." This becoming 
 public, they advised with Mr. Cotton about it, and a 
 meeting was appointed at his house, during which 
 Mrs. Hutchinson was sent for, and after being ques- 
 tioned, she said, as they asserted, that the fear of 
 man was a snare, and, therefore, she was glad she 
 had this opportunity to open her mind ; thereupon 
 she told them, that there was a wide difference be- 
 twixt Master Cotton's ministry and theirs ; that they 
 could not hold forth a covenant of free grace, because 
 they had not the seal of the spirit, and that they were 
 not able ministers of the New Testament,
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 17 
 
 This conversation was now related by the ministers 
 who heard it, with no little zeal and animation, and 
 they undoubtedly made the most of it ; for the ac- 
 cused denied with firmness and spirit, that she had 
 ever made the remarks in the manner and to the ex- 
 tent that they asserted ; and she required that the 
 witnesses should be sworn to what they had spoken. 
 
 " The ministers," she said, " come in their own 
 cause. Now the Lord hath said that an oath is the 
 end of all controversy ; though there be a sufficient 
 number of witnesses, yet they are not according to 
 the word ; therefore I desire they may speak upon 
 oath." 
 
 " Well," replied the governor, " it is in the liberty 
 of the court, whether they will have an oath or no ; 
 and it is not in this case as in the case of a jury. If 
 they be satisfied, they have sufficient matter to pro- 
 ceed." 
 
 This claim by Mrs. Hutchinson troubled the court 
 exceedingly ; they were also astonished at the hardi- 
 hood, which should doubt the solemn statements of 
 the ministers in matters of fact. 
 
 " An oath," said the deputy from Watertown and 
 a ruling elder there, " is of a high nature, and it is 
 not to be taken but in a controversy ; and, for my 
 part, I am afraid of an oath, and fear that we shall 
 take God's name in vain." 
 
 " We are ready to swear if we may see a way of 
 God in it," said Hugh Peters. 1 
 
 1 The minister of Salem, and most active in the measures taken 
 against Mrs. Hutchinson. " He was a republican of enlarged 
 2"
 
 18 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 " I am persuaded," said another, " that Mrs. 
 Hutchinson and many other godly-minded people 
 will be satisfied without an oath." 
 
 " Admit they should be mistaken," said another, 
 " you would make them sin if you urge them to 
 swear." 
 
 " They are witnesses in their own cause," was the 
 reply ; " if they do accuse me, I desire it may be on 
 oath. An oath is the end of strife, and it is God's 
 ordinance." 
 
 Here there was a great commotion and whispering 
 among the ministers. Some drew back ; others were 
 " animated on." At length, " the court, being weary 
 of the clamor, and that all mouths might be stopped, 
 required three of the ministers to take an oath, and 
 thereupon they confirmed their former testimony." 
 
 One or two spoke in favor of the accused, to the 
 effect, that her speeches had been exaggerated by the 
 witnesses against her. Mr. Coggershall was present 
 at the conversation alluded to, and did not under- 
 stand her to say all that was alleged against her. 
 
 " How dare you look into the court to say such a 
 word ? " said Hugh Peters. 
 
 " Mr. Peters takes it upon him to forbid me, and 
 I shall be silent," was the reply ; and he did not 
 speak again. 
 
 Mr. Cotton, also, denied the accuracy of the wit- 
 nesses in some measure. He ventured to defend the 
 
 spirit, great energy, and popular eloquence j " the same who was 
 afterwards executed in England for high treason, and whose ar- 
 raignment, trial, and execution were scenes of more wanton injus- 
 tice, than the cause in which he was now engaged.
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 19 
 
 accused to some extent, and brought upon his own 
 head much of the feeling against her. He seems at 
 one part of the trial to have been in danger. Dud- 
 ley, the deputy governor, bore hard upon him, and 
 Hugh Peters showed, that he was well disposed to 
 bring him to trial. The other ministers treated him 
 coldly, but he was protected by the governor. 
 
 Mrs. Hutchinson soon avowed sentiments which 
 the court eagerly laid hold of, and which saved them 
 the trouble of further evidence. 
 
 "If you please to give me leave," she said, "I 
 shall give you the ground of what I know to be true. 
 Being much troubled to see the falseness of the con- 
 stitution of the church of England, I had like to have 
 turned separatist ; whereupon I kept a day of solemn 
 humiliation and pondering of the thing ; this scripture 
 was brought unto me he that denies Jesus Christ 
 to be come in the flesh is antichrist this I consid- 
 ered of and in considering found that the papists did 
 not deny him to be come in the flesh, nor we did not 
 deny him who then was antichrist ? Was the Turk 
 antichrist only ? The Lord knows that I could not 
 open scripture ; he must by his prophetical office 
 open it unto me. So, after that, being unsatisfied in 
 the thing, the Lord was pleased to bring this scripture 
 out of the Hebrews. He that denies the testament 
 denies the testator, and in this did open unto me and 
 give me to see, that those which did not teach the 
 new covenant had the spirit of antichrist, and upon 
 this he did discover the ministry unto me, and, ever 
 since, I bless the Lord, he hath let me see which was 
 the clear ministry and which the wrong. Since that
 
 20 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 time I confess I have been more choice, and he hath 
 let me to distinguish between the voice of my beloved 
 and the voice of Moses, the voice of John Baptist 
 and the voice of antichrist, for all those voices are 
 spoken of in scripture. Now, if you do condemn 
 me for speaking what in my conscience I know to be 
 truth, I must commit myself unto the Lord." 
 
 Nowell. How do you know that that was the 
 spirit ? 
 
 Mrs. H. How did Abraham know that it was 
 God that bade him offer his son, being a breach of the 
 sixth commandment? 
 
 Deputy Governor Dudley. By an immediate voice. 
 
 Mrs. H. So to me by an immediate revelation. 
 
 Dudley. How ! an immediate revelation ? 
 
 Mrs. H. By the voice of his own spirit to my 
 soul. I will give you another scripture, Jer. xlvi. 27, 
 28 out of which the Lord showed me what he 
 would do for me and the rest of his servants. But 
 after he was pleased to reveal himself to me, I did 
 presently like Abraham run to Hagar. And, after 
 that, he did let me see the atheism of my own heart, 
 for which I begged of the Lord that it might not re- 
 main in my heart ; and, being thus, he did show me 
 this (a twelvemonth after) which I told you of be- 
 fore. Ever since that time I have been confident of 
 what he revealed unto me. When our teacher came 
 to New England, it was a great trouble unto me, my 
 brother Wheelwright being put by also. I was then 
 much troubled concerning the ministry under which 
 I lived, and then that place in the thirtieth of Isaiah 
 was brought to my mind. " Though the Lord give
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 21 
 
 you the bread of adversity and water of affliction, yet 
 shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any 
 more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers." The 
 Lord giving me this promise, and they being gone, 
 there was none then left that I was able to hear, and 
 I could not be at rest but I must come hither. Yet 
 that place of Isaiah did much follow me, " though the 
 Lord give you the bread of adversity and water of 
 affliction." This place lying I say upon me, then this 
 place in Daniel was brought unto me, and did show 
 me that though I should meet with affliction, yet I 
 am the same God that delivered Daniel out of the 
 lion's den, I will also deliver thee. Therefore, I de- 
 sire you to look to it, for you see this scripture ful- 
 filled this day, and therefore I desire you, that as you 
 tender the Lord and the church and commonwealth, 
 to consider and look what you do. You have power 
 over my body, but the Lord Jesus hath power over 
 my body and soul ; and assure yourselves thus much, 
 you do as much as in you lies to put the Lord 
 Jesus Christ from you, and if you go on in this 
 course you begin, you will bring a curse upon you 
 and your posterity, and the mouth of the Lord hath 
 spoken it. 
 
 " The case is altered," said governor Winthrop, 
 and I see a marvelous providence of God, to bring 
 things to this pass. We have been hearkening about 
 the trial of this thing, and now the mercy of God by 
 a providence hath answered our desires, and made 
 her to lay open herself and the ground of these dis- 
 turbances to be by revelations. There is no use of 
 the ministry of the word nor of any clear call of
 
 22 
 
 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 God by his word, but the groundwork of her reve- 
 lations is the immediate revelation of the spirit and 
 not by the ministry of the word ; and that is the 
 means by which she hath very much abused the coun- 
 try, that they shall look for revelations and are not 
 bound to the ministry of the word, but God will 
 teach them by immediate revelations ; and this hath 
 been the ground of all these tumults and troubles ; 
 and I would that those were all cut off from us that 
 trouble us, for this is the thing that hath been the 
 root of all the mischief." 
 
 " We all consent with you," was the almost unan- 
 imous response of the court. One or two however 
 were not satisfied. One spoke in her favor in a clear 
 and manly style. " I beseech you," he said, in con- 
 clusion, " do not speak so to force things along, for I 
 do not for my own part see any equity in the court 
 in all your proceedings. Here is no law of God that 
 she hath broken, nor any law of the country that she 
 hath broken, and therefore deserves no censure ; and 
 if she say that the elders preach as the apostles did, 
 why they preached a covenant of grace ; and what 
 wrong is that to them, for it is without question that 
 the apostles did preach a covenant of grace, though 
 not with that power, till they received the manifesta- 
 tion of the spirit ; therefore, I pray, consider what you 
 do, for here is no law of God or man broken." 
 
 He was listened to with great impatience, and, by 
 nearly a unanimous vote of the court, Mrs. Hutch- 
 inson was banished out of the liberties, and ordered 
 to be imprisoned till she was sent away. The go- 
 vernor then addressed her.
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 23 
 
 [x Mrs. Hutchinson, the sentence of the court you 
 hear is, that you are banished from out of our juris- 
 diction as being a woman not fit for our society ; 
 and are to be imprisoned till the court shall send you 
 
 "I desire to know," said the wretched woman, 
 " wherefore I am banished ? " 
 
 " Say no more," was the reply, " the court knows 
 wherefore, and is satisfied." 
 
 The sentence was then recorded : " Mrs. Hutch- 
 inson, the wife of William Hutchinson, being con- 
 vented for traducing the ministers and their ministry 
 in the country, she declared voluntarily her revela- 
 tions, and that she should be delivered and the court 
 ruined with their posterity ; and thereupon was ban- 
 ished ; and in the meanwhile was committed to Mr. 
 Joseph Welde, of Roxbury, until the court shall 
 dispose of her." ' 
 
 But the end was not yet. Anne Hutchinson had 
 another trial to undergo, not less trying to her feelings 
 
 1 The arbitrary character and high authority of the general 
 court of Massachusetts, as exhibited in this trial, are worthy of ob- 
 servation. Mr. Washburn has given an interesting account of the 
 jurisdiction of this court, in his Judicial History of Massachusetts. 
 Until the year 163!>, it appears to have exercised the whole power, 
 legislative and judicial, of the colony ; and to have held jurisdiction, 
 both in civil and criminal matters. Lechford,in his Plain Dealing, 
 written about 1G40, says, that " in the general court are tried all 
 actions, civil and criminal, and also ecclesiastical, especially touch- 
 ing non members, and they say that in the general and quarterly 
 courts, they have the power of parliament, king's bench, common 
 pleas, chancery, high commission and star chamber, and all other 
 courts of England." "They have put to death, banished, fined 
 men, cut off men's cars, whipped, imprisoned men, and all these for 
 ecclesiastical and civil offences, and without sufficient record."
 
 24 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 than the one just concluded, and scarcely less impor- 
 tant in its consequences. By consent of the magis- 
 trates, she was summoned from her place of confine- 
 ment, to appear before the church in Boston of which 
 she was a member. Here, in the presence of an 
 assembly, which was very great from all parts of the 
 country, she was called upon to retract no less than 
 twenty-nine errors of doctrine, which were specifi- 
 cally set forth and read to her. The first, that the 
 souls of men are mortal by generation, but become 
 immortal by Christ's purchase, she maintained a long 
 time in the face of the church, and in opposition to 
 all the ministers ; until, at length, a stranger who was 
 present explained to her the difference between the 
 soul and the life, the first being a spiritual substance, 
 and the other the union of that with the body, when 
 she confessed she saw more light than before, and 
 acknowledged her error on this point. The next 
 erroneous doctrine was, that there was no resurrec- 
 tion of the body ; she knew not how Christ could be 
 united to these our fleshy bodies, but she believed 
 that those united to him have in this life two bodies, 
 and that by the resurrection of the body was meant 
 our union with Christ here and hereafter. Upon this 
 point, they could not convince her she was wrong ; 
 and a vote of admonition was passed against her, 
 and also against her two sons, because they persisted 
 in defending her, Mr. Cotton " laying it sadly upon 
 them, that they would give way to their natural 
 affection, as, for preserving her honor, they should 
 make a breach upon the honor of Christ, and up- 
 on their covenant with the church, and withal tear
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 25 
 
 the very bowels of their soul, by hardening her in 
 her sin." ' 
 
 The spirit of this remarkable woman at length be- 
 gan to fail. She felt acutely the desertion of her 
 early friend, Mr. Cotton, and was finally prevailed 
 upon to acknowledge at the next meeting, that she 
 had greatly erred ; that she had slighted the magis- 
 trates at the court, and also the elders of the church ; 
 and she confessed, that when she was on trial, she 
 looked at such failings as she apprehended in the 
 magistrates' proceedings, without having regard to the 
 place they were in ; that the speeches she ,then used 
 about her revelations were rash and without ground ; 
 and she desired the prayers of the church. 
 
 But religious intolerance was not yet satisfied ; the 
 spirit of the age had more to accomplish. Simply to 
 reclaim Mrs. Hutchinson from her errors was not, 
 apparently, the object in view. She was feared by the 
 ministers ; she had been banished by the court ; and 
 some way must be devised to justify her excommuni- 
 cation from the church. Accordingly, the cunning 
 but not unusual course seems to have been adopted 
 by her opponents, of attributing certain inferences to 
 her doctrines as their legitimate results, and then 
 requiring her to renounce these inferences. But 
 she resolutely and firmly denied, that she ever held 
 such sentiments ; " and this she affirmed with such 
 confidence as bred great astonishment in many." 
 
 1 The doctrine of the resurrection of the body, apparently of 
 heathen origin, though incautiously asserted in words by Christians 
 of many communions, I am glad to find so early disputed in Mas- 
 sachusetts. Savage's note to Winthrop, i. 255. 
 3
 
 26 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 She was earnestly pressed on all hands " not to stand 
 so obstinately to maintain so manifest an untruth ; " 
 but with the utmost spirit, she refused to acknowledge 
 that she had ever maintained or believed the opinions 
 now attributed to her, and she was thereupon excom- 
 municated as a liar ! She was commanded to depart 
 out of the assembly ; and, passing the threshold, 
 she said ; " The Lord judge th not as man judgeth, 
 better to be cast out of the church than to deny 
 Christ." " Thus," says a writer of that day, " it hath 
 pleased the Lord tp have compassion on his poor 
 churches here, and to discover this great impostor, 
 an instrument of satan so fitted and trained to his 
 service for interrupting the passage of his kingdom 
 in this part of the world, and poysoning the churches 
 here planted, as no story records the like of a wo- 
 man, since that mentioned in the revelation." ' 
 
 Anne Hutchinson now prepared to leave Massa- 
 chusetts. Meanwhile, the larger number of her 
 friends, led by John Clarke, and William Codding- 
 ton, the same who so ably defended her at the trial, 
 proceeded to the south, designing to make a planta- 
 tion on Long Island, or near Delaware Bay. But 
 Roger Williams welcomed them to his vicinity ; and, 
 in March, 1638, his own influence and the powerful 
 name of Henry Vane, prevailed with Miantonomoh, 
 the chief of the Narragansetts, to obtain for them a 
 
 1 Welde. Cotton Mather, in his account of this matter, says : 
 " It is the work of seducers, that they lead captive silly women ; 
 but what will you say when you hear of subtle women becoming 
 the most remarkable of seducers ? " " Indeed a poyson does never 
 insinuate so quickly, nor operate so strongly, as when women's 
 milk is the vehicle wherein 'tis given." Magnalia, vii. 3.
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 27 
 
 gift of the beautiful island of Rhode Island. But 
 Anne Hutchinson did not long enjoy the protection 
 of the free and liberal institutions established by this 
 band of voluntary exiles, on the soil which they owed 
 to the benevolence of the natives. Recovering from 
 a transient dejection of mind, I adopt the language 
 of a living historian, she had gloried in her suffer- 
 ings as her greatest happiness ; and, making her way 
 through the forest, she traveled by land to the settle- 
 ment of Roger Williams, and from thence joined 
 her friends on the island, sharing with them the hard- 
 ships of early emigrants. Her powerful mind still 
 continued its activity ; young men from the colonies 
 became converts to her opinions ; and she excited 
 such admiration, that to the leaders in Massachusetts 
 it " gave cause of suspicion of witchcraft." She was 
 in a few years left a widow, but was blessed with 
 affectionate children. A tinge of fanaticism pervaded 
 her family ; one of her sons, and Collins, her son-in- 
 law, had ventured to expostulate with the people of 
 Boston on the wrongs of their mother. But would 
 the Puritan magistrates of that day tolerate a censure 
 of their government? Severe imprisonment for 
 many months was the punishment inflicted on the 
 young men for their boldness. Rhode Island itself 
 seemed no longer a safe place of refuge ; and the 
 whole family removed beyond New Haven to East 
 Chester, in the territory of the Dutch. The violent 
 Kieft had provoked an insurrection among the In- 
 dians ; in 1643, the house of Anne Hutchinson was 
 attacked and set on fire ; herself, her son-in-law, and 
 all their family, save one child, perished by the rude 
 weapons of the savages, or in the flames.
 
 28 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Sucli was the fate of Anne Hutchinson ; a woman 
 of extraordinary energy, comprehension and sagacity ; 
 in many of her religious views far beyond the age in 
 which she lived ; in intellectual ability, superior to 
 her sex. It was probably her misfortune to be craftily 
 made use of for political purposes, to sustain the 
 power and authority of Henry Vane, and to draw the 
 affections of the people from those who were their 
 leaders in the wilderness ; and her religious zeal be- 
 came mixed up with political strife. The effect 
 upon her mind of the encouragement she received 
 from those in authority was not favorable. The ad- 
 miration, which was expressed for the depth and vigor 
 of her reasoning powers seems to have elevated in her 
 apprehension the gifts of intellect above the graces 
 of character ; and she ventured upon extremes of 
 doctrinal theology and fantastic theories, with a zeal 
 and enthusiasm worthy of objects more fitting for her 
 sex. 
 
 The merits of her case can scarcely be fairly judged 
 of at the present day. The accounts transmitted to us 
 are obscured by contemporary prejudice and passion ; 
 but it is impossible to doubt that she was one of the 
 most remarkable women of that or any other age. 
 Her understanding was bold, vigorous, and strong ; 
 her perceptions were keen ; and her character, ener- 
 getic and masculine, was not deficient in the graces 
 which adorn the female sex. Her influence upon 
 the colonists, in the apprehension of the fathers of 
 the commonwealth, was dangerous in the extreme ; 
 and they " saw an inevitable necessity to rid her 
 away, except they would be guilty not onely of their
 
 ANNE HUTCHINSON. 29 
 
 own ruine but also of the gospel." Of their right to 
 banish her they entertained no doubt ; and it was a 
 right they had frequently exercised on other occa- 
 sions. The pretence, that it was a mere civil pro- 
 ceeding for the preservation of the authority of the 
 magistrates and the suppression of sedition, without 
 any reference to religious doctrine, personal ill-will, or 
 professional jealousy, will not bear a moment's ex- 
 amination. But it would be most unjust to pronounce 
 judgment upon it by the lights of the present age ; 
 or to visit it with a severity of condemnation, which 
 w r ould show an ignorance of the difficulties, spiritual 
 and natural, with which the fathers of New England 
 had to contend.
 
 
 TRIALS OF THE QUAKERS 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 GENERAL COURT AND COURT OF ASSISTANTS, 
 MASSACHUSETTS, 1656-1 661.
 
 The legal proceedings against the quakers by the colonists of 
 Massachusetts Bay were quite informal, and the original documents 
 which have been preserved, are few and incomplete. It is impos- 
 sible, therefore, to give any thing more than a general statement 
 respecting these trials. The following account of them is derived 
 from the records of the general court ; the papers relating to 
 the subject in the archives of the commonwealth, and the early 
 histories of the period referred to. Of the latter, Bishope's New 
 England Judged, is a quaker authority of great weight. It was 
 written in answer to a declaration of the general court made in 
 1659, in defence of their proceedings. The first part of it was 
 printed in 10(51 ; the second part in 1GG7, and both united were re- 
 printed, with some abbreviation, in 1703. It is a rare book, and I 
 am indebted for a copy of it to the proprietors of the Library of 
 Friends in Lynn. Among the other works which have been ex- 
 amined are Sewel's History of the Quakers, London, second edition, 
 1725 ; Besse's voluminous Collection of the Sufferings of the 
 Quakers, London, 1753 ; Cotton Mather's Magnalia ; Hutchinson's, 
 Hubbard's, and Neale's Histories.
 
 TRIALS OF THE QUAKERS. 
 
 THE " people called quakers " first became known 
 as a distinct religious class in the north of England, 
 about the year 1644. The commencement of the sect 
 was attended with scenes of turbulence and fanati- 
 cism, not unfrequent with the harbingers of a new 
 religious faith, in an age of wild and fantastic theo- 
 ries. It is difficult for us, in the calm and rational 
 deportment of the quakers of the present day, to 
 recognise the successors of those extraordinary en- 
 thusiasts, who first received, from the derision of the 
 world, the title which has since become their sectarian 
 denomination. At a time of universal religious in- 
 tolerance, their doctrines were peculiarly liable to 
 misconstruction ; and from the first they were looked 
 upon with disapprobation and abhorrence by every 
 other religious denomination. Every where in the 
 old world they were exposed to persecution. The 
 codes of that day describe them as an " abominable
 
 34 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 sect ; " and " their principles as inconsistent with any 
 kind of government." Every where they were ex- 
 posed to perpetual dangers and grievous punishments. 
 They were whipped, imprisoned with felons ; kept 
 in dungeons, foul and gloomy ; fined, exiled, sold 
 into colonial bondage. Nor could they reasonably 
 expect a better reception from the inhabitants of 
 New England. 
 
 The colonists of Massachusetts Bay had no idea 
 of religious toleration ; it was preached against as a 
 sin in rulers, which would bring down the judgments 
 of heaven upon the land. They were in fact a cor- 
 poration, existing by virtue of a charter, and pos- 
 sessed of supreme authority for the purpose of car- 
 rying into effect the objects of the grant. Surrounded 
 by new and untried difficulties, and far removed from 
 the restraining influences of the common law of 
 England, they assumed an authority inconsistent 
 with its principles ; and the general court extend- 
 ed its jurisdiction to the thoughts as well as the 
 conduct of all within the reach of its power. The 
 government was founded in certain religious doctrines, 
 a denial of which was an offence against the state of 
 the nature of treason. That a part of their number 
 had a right to change their views of religious doc- 
 trine or civil government never entered into the 
 apprehension of the majority. John Wheelwright 
 ventured upon extremes and was convicted of sedi- 
 tion ; he appealed to the king and was banished. 
 Roger Williams met the same fate. Anne Hutchin- 
 son ventured to doubt, and was thrust out of the 
 jurisdiction as unfit for their society. Would the
 
 THE QUAKERS. 35 
 
 colonists be less lenient towards such of the quakers 
 as first reached these shores ? 
 
 When, in July, 1656, Anne Austin and Mary 
 Fisher arrived in the road against Boston, in a vessel 
 from Barbadoes, their trunks were searched and their 
 books burnt by the hangman. Other indignities they 
 suffered, for which there was no authority by law ; 
 and, after five weeks of close imprisonment, they 
 were thrust out of the jurisdiction, the jailer retain- 
 ing their beds for his fees. 1 Eight other quakers 
 arriving in the colony were immediately imprisoned, 
 and sentence of banishment was passed against them 
 all by the court of assistants ; the master of the ship 
 in which they came being required to take them 
 away. At this time there was no law whatever re- 
 specting quakers. In the following October, a law 
 was made by the general court, which recited, that 
 4 wjiereas there is an accursed sect of heretics lately 
 risen up in the world, which are commonly called 
 quakers, who take upon them to be immediately sent 
 of God, and infallibly assisted by the spirit, to speak 
 and write blasphemous opinions, despising govern- 
 
 1 The ambition of Mary Fisher became enlarged by this treat- 
 ment, and she traveled alone to Adrianople, where, coming near 
 the grand vizier's camp, she sent him word that there was an Eng- 
 lish lady, who had something to declare from the Great God to the 
 great Turk. She was admitted to the sultan Mahomet IV., deliv- 
 ered her message, which was received with gravity, and suffered 
 to depart " without hurt or scoff." Bishope remarks, with compla- 
 cent sarcasm, that she fared better among heathens than among 
 Christians. He probably was not aware, that the Turks regard 
 insane persons as inspired. Kelsey, another quaker, experienced 
 less courtesy. He preached in the streets of Constantinople, and, 
 by advice of the English ambassador, was bastinadoed.
 
 36 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ment, and the order of God in church and common- 
 wealth, speaking evil of dignities, .reproaching and 
 reviling magistrates and ministers:)" and provided 
 that any master of a ship bringJngany known quaker 
 within the jurisdiction, should forfeit one hundred 
 pounds, and should give security to carry such quak- 
 ers back to the place whence he brought them ; and 
 on the arrival of such quakers they were to be se- 
 verely whipped and confined at hard labor in the 
 house of correction. By a subsequent law, persons 
 who should entertain quakers were liable to a fine 
 of forty shillings for every hour's entertainment. 
 Any person defending their "pernicious ways," or 
 attending their meetings was also liable to a fine. 
 Every quaker, after the first conviction, if a man, 
 was to lose one ear, and the second time the other ; 
 if a woman, she was each time to be severely 
 whipped ; and for the third offence both men and 
 women were to have their tongues bored through 
 with a red hot iron. 
 
 Nearly all of these punishments were inflicted 
 upon quakers at different times, but with a directly 
 opposite result from that intended. 1 They con- 
 strued these severities into an invitation for their 
 presence, and their numbers increased in pro- 
 portion to the excitement against them. They 
 
 1 The following warrant was actually carried into execution. 
 "To the marshal general or his deputy. You are to take with 
 you the executioner, and repair to the house of correction, and 
 there see him cut off the right ears of John Copeland, Christopher 
 Holder, and John Rouse, quakers, in execution of the sentence of 
 the court of assistants, for the breach of the law, entitled ' Quak- 
 ers.' Edward Rawson, Secretary."
 
 THE QUAKERS. 37 
 
 gloried in their sufferings ; they were anxious for 
 martyrdom. Imprisoned, flogged, mutilated, threat- 
 ened with punishments yet more severe, they were 
 thrust out of the colony, but returned in the first 
 vessels they could obtain. They proclaimed their 
 doctrines, with a bold and fearless confidence that 
 astonished the people ; and they suffered the indig- 
 nities and cruel punishments inflicted upon them, 
 with such mildness, forbearance, and fortitude, as 
 convinced many of the reality of that INNER LIGHT 
 by which they professed to be constantly guided. At 
 the same time, impartial history records,' that many 
 of the sect, which, at this day, is remarkable for a 
 guarded composure of language, an elaborate still- 
 ness, precision, and propriety of demeanor, were at 
 the time referred to guilty of conduct, " which the 
 experience of a rational and calculating age finds it 
 difficult to conceive." They openly denounced the 
 government of New England as treason. They re- 
 viled at all orders of magistrates and every civil in- 
 stitution. They stigmatized a regular priesthood as 
 a priesthood of Baal. Some of them, in the appre- 
 hension of the colonists, were guilty of the most 
 revolting blasphemy against the sacraments, which 
 they termed carnal and idolatrous observances. They 
 interrupted public worship in a manner as indecent 
 as it was illegal and unbecoming. The female 
 preachers exceeded their male associates in these 
 acts of frenzy and folly, and excited the utmost 
 disgust among a people remarkable for their staid 
 and sober deportment. 
 
 The colonists, incensed beyond measure at this 
 4 
 
 0,1 ion
 
 38 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 conduct, and, alarmed at the swarms of quakers who 
 were intruding themselves upon them, threatened them 
 with new punishments, the intolerable severity of 
 which defeated their own objects. The government of 
 Rhode Island, more wise than that of Massachusetts, 
 though having the same horror of this sect, declined 
 to pass laws against it. " For we find," they said in a 
 letter ! to the general court, " that in those places where 
 these people aforesaid, in this colony, are most of all 
 suffered to declare themselves freely, and are only op- 
 posed by arguments in discourse, there they least of all 
 desire to come, and we are informed, that they begin 
 to loathe this place, for that they are not opposed by 
 the civil authority, but with all patience and meek- 
 ness are suffered to say over their pretended revela- 
 tions and admonitions, nor are they like or able to 
 gain many here to their way ; and surely we find 
 that they delight to be persecuted by civil powers, 
 and when they are so, they are like to gain more ad- 
 herents by the conseyte of their patient sufferings, 
 than by consent to their pernicious sayings." 
 
 In October, 1658, a law was introduced into the 
 general court, providing that every person of the 
 " cursed sect of the quakers," who should be found 
 within the jurisdiction, should be immediately im- 
 prisoned without bail until the next court of assistants,* 
 
 1 It was written in answer to a letter from the commissioners of 
 the United Colonies. The original is in possession of the Massa- 
 chusetts Historical Society. 
 
 2 This court was composed of the " governor, deputy governor, 
 and the rest of the magistrates," and corresponded to the present 
 " governor and council." Its jurisdiction was about as extensive 
 in judicial matters as that of the general court.
 
 THE QUAKERS. 39 
 
 at which they should have a legal trial, and, being 
 convicted to be of the sect of the quakers, should 
 be banished on pain of death/ This law met with 
 great opposition and was~"St first rejected ; but, up- 
 on a reconsideration, it was passed by a majority 
 of one vote, with an amendment that the trial should 
 be by a special jury. It met the strong disapproba- 
 tion of sensible men in Massachusetts and in the 
 other colonies. Two members of the court entered 
 their dissent against it ; and one other who was de- 
 tained at home by sickness would have voted against 
 it, and thus have prevented its passage. The younger 
 Winthrop, governor of Connecticut, expressed much 
 disapprobation at such an extreme proceeding, and 
 made great exertions to prevent the law from being 
 carried into effect. 
 
 There was no lack of victims. Three persons 
 were found within the jurisdiction, who had notori- 
 ously violated the law, and they were immediately 
 imprisoned. Of these, Mary Dyer, an antinomian 
 exile, had twenty years before left the colony with 
 Anne Hutchinson. Marmaduke Stephenson, pre- 
 vious to his banishment, had made a disturbance in 
 Boston. He acknowledged himself to be a quaker, 
 and declared, that in the year 1656, at Shipton, in 
 Yorkshire, as he was at the plough, he heard an au- 
 dible voice ordaining him to be a prophet to the na- 
 tions. William Robinson was from London. At 
 his first examination, he was sentenced to be whipped 
 twenty stripes, for abusing the court. These three 
 having been banished on pain of death, by the court 
 of assistants, Mary Dyer was claimed by her husband
 
 40 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 and taken back to Rhode Island. The other two, hav- 
 ing come within the colony for the purpose of offering 
 up their lives, determined not to depart ; " so they went 
 to Salem and some place thereabout to visit and build 
 up their friends in the faith." As the time drew 
 near for the court to sit, when they knew they would 
 be tried for their lives, they went to Boston, and with 
 them Alice Cowland, " who came to bring linen 
 wherein to wrap the dead bodies of them who were 
 to suffer ; " and others who desired to accompany 
 the sufferers to the end. Mary Dyer also returned 
 from Rhode Island ; and the .three who had thus in- 
 curred the penalty of the law were brought before 
 the general court on the 19th of October, 1659, " for 
 sedition and presumptuous obtruding themselves upon 
 us, notwithstanding their being sentenced to banish- 
 ment on pain of death." They acknowledged them- 
 selves to be quakers who had been banished on pain 
 of death, and, on the next day, they were all con- 
 demned to die. 
 
 When Robinson was sentenced he offered a paper 
 containing a statement, that while he was in Rhode 
 Island, the Lord commanded him to go to Boston 
 and lay down his life there ; that he durst not but 
 obey without inquiring further concerning it, believ- 
 ing that it became him as a child to show obedience 
 to the Lord without any unwillingness ; therefore 
 he remained in their jurisdiction. Stephenson as- 
 serted, that he was commanded by the Lord to leave 
 his wife and children and be a prophet to the nations. 
 He first went to Barbadoes, but hearing that a law 
 had been made in New England, to put the servants
 
 THE QUAKERS. 41 
 
 of the living God to death if they returned from 
 banishment, as he considered the thing and pon- 
 dered it in his heart, immediately there came the 
 word of the Lord unto him saying, " thou knowest 
 not but thou mayest go thither." Soon afterward 
 the word of the Lord came to him saying, " go to 
 Boston with thy friend William Robinson ; " and he 
 obeyed the command not in his own will but in the 
 will of God. Sentence of death was then recorded 
 against the prisoners and they were remanded to jail. 
 The record of these proceedings is as follows. 
 " William Robinson, Marmaduke Stephenson, and 
 Mary Dyer, banished this jurisdiction by the last 
 court of assistants, on pain of death, being com- 
 mitted by order of the general court, were sent 
 for, brought to the bar, acknowledged themselves 
 to be the persons banished ; after a full hearing of 
 what the prisoners could say for themselves, it was 
 put to the question, whether William Robinson, Mar- 
 maduke Stephenson, and Mary Dyer, the persons 
 now in prison, who have been convicted for quakers, 
 and banished this jurisdiction on pain of death, should 
 be put to death according as the law provides in that 
 case ? The court resolved this question in the affirm- 
 ative ; and the governor in open court declared the 
 sentence to William Robinson that was first to the 
 bar ; ' William Robinson, you shall go from hence to 
 the place from whence you came, and from thence 
 to the place of execution, and there and then hang 
 till you be dead.' The like sentence the governor 
 in open court pronounced against Marmaduke Ste- 
 phenson and Mary Dyer, being brought to the bar. 
 4*
 
 42 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 " Whereas William Robinson, Marmaduke Ste- 
 phenson, and Mary Dyer are sentenced by this court 
 to death for their rebellion, &c. ; it is ordered, that 
 the secretary issue out his warrant to Edward Mitch- 
 elson, marshal general, for repairing to the prison on 
 the twenty-seventh of this instant October, and take 
 the said William Hutchinson, Marmaduke Stephen- 
 son, and Mary Dyer into his custody; and then, 
 forthwith, by the aid of Capt. James Oliver, with one 
 hundred soldiers taken out by his order proportion- 
 ately out of each company in Boston, completely 
 armed with pike and musketeers with powder and 
 bullet, to lead them to the place of execution, and 
 there see them hang till they be dead. And in their 
 going, and being there and return, to see all things 
 be carried peaceably and orderly. Warrants issued 
 accordingly. It is ordered that Mr. Zachariah Symmes 
 and Mr. John Norton repair to the prison and render 
 their endeavors to make the prisoners sensible of their 
 approaching danger by the sentence of this court and 
 prepare them for their approaching end." 
 
 On the afternoon of October 22d, the prisoners 
 were led forth to execution, surrounded by a guard 
 of armed men and several horsemen, with drums beat- 
 ing to prevent the multitude from hearing any thing 
 they might say. " Glorious signs of heavenly joy 
 and gladness were beheld in the countenances of 
 those three persons, who walked hand in hand, Mary 
 being the middlemost." Nothing could exceed the 
 exultation with which they went forth to die ; and 
 they called on all to witness that they suffered for the 
 cause of truth. " This," said Mary Dyer, " is an
 
 THE QUAKERS. 43 
 
 hour of the greatest joy I ever knew, no ear can 
 hear, no tongue can utter, and no heart can under- 
 stand the sweet refreshings of the spirit of the Lord 
 which I now feel." The last words of Robinson 
 were, " I suffer for Christ in whom I live and for 
 whom I die." Stephenson said, " This day shall we 
 be at rest with the Lord." Mary Dyer saw her two 
 companions die before her eyes ; and ascended the 
 ladder to meet her own fate. Every thing was 
 ready ; the rope adjusted to her neck, her extremities 
 tied and her face covered, when a faint shout was 
 heard in the distance, which grew stronger and 
 stronger, and was soon caught and repeated by a 
 hundred willing hearts. " A reprieve, a reprieve," 
 was the cry, and the execution was stopped ; but she, 
 whose mind was intently fastened on another world, 
 cried out, that she desired to suffer with her brethren, 
 unless the magistrates would repeal their wicked 
 law. 
 
 She was saved by the intercession of her son, but 
 on the express condition that she should be carried 
 to the place of execution and stand upon the gallows 
 with a rope about her neck, and then be carried out 
 of the colony. She was accordingly taken home to 
 Rhode Island ; but her resolution was still unshaken, 
 and she was again moved to return to the "bloody 
 town of Boston," where she arrived in the spring of 
 1660. This determination of a feeble and aged wo- 
 man, to brave all the terrors of their laws, might well 
 fill the magistrates with astonishment ; but the pride 
 of consistency had already involved them in acts of 
 extreme cruelty, and they thought it impossible now
 
 44 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 to recede. The other executions were considered 
 acts of stern necessity, and caused much discontent; 
 a hope was entertained till the last moment, that the 
 condemned would consent to depart from the juris- 
 diction ; and when Mary Dyer was sent for by the 
 court, after her second return, governor Endicott said, 
 " are you the same Mary Dyer that was here before ? " 
 giving her an opportunity to escape by a denial of 
 the fact, there having been another of the name re- 
 turned from England. But she would make no eva- 
 sion. " I am the same Mary Dyer that was here the 
 last general court." " You will own yourself a 
 quaker, will you not ? " "I own myself to be re- 
 proachfully called so ; " and she was sentenced to be 
 hanged on the morning of the next day. " This is 
 no more than thou saidst before," was her intrepid 
 reply, when the sentence of death was pronounced. 
 " But now," said the governor, " it is to be executed ; 
 therefore prepare yourself, for tomorrow at nine 
 o'clock, you die ! " " I came," was the reply, " in 
 obedience to the will of God, the last general court, 
 desiring you to repeal your unrighteous laws of ban- 
 ishment on pain of death ; and the same is my work 
 now, and earnest request ; although I told you if 
 you refused to repeal them, the Lord would send 
 others of his servants to witness against them." 
 
 At the appointed time on the next day, she was 
 brought forth, and, with a band of soldiers, led 
 through the town, about a mile to the place of exe- 
 cution, 1 the drums beating before and behind her the 
 
 1 These executions are supposed to have taken place on Bos- 
 ton common, probably near where the Hollis street church now 
 stands.
 
 THE QUAKERS. 45 
 
 whole distance. When she was upon the gallows, it 
 was told her, that if she would return home, she 
 might come down and save her life. To which she 
 replied, " Nay, I cannot, for in obedience to the will 
 of the Lord I came, and in his will I abide faithful 
 unto the death." Another said, that she had been 
 there before ; she had the sentence of banishment 
 upon pain of death, and had broken the law in 
 coming again now, and, therefore, she was guilty of 
 her own blood. " Nay," she answered, " I came to 
 keep bloodguiltiness from you, desiring you to 
 repeal the unrighteous and unjust law of banishment 
 upon pain of death, made against the innocent ser- 
 vants of the Lord ; therefore, my blood will be re- 
 quired at your hands, who wilfully do it ; but for 
 those who do it in the simplicity of their hearts, I 
 desire the Lord to forgive them. I came to do the 
 will of my father, and in obedience to his will I stand 
 even to death." A minister who was present then 
 said, " Mary Dyer, repent, O repent, and be not so 
 deluded and carried away by the deceit of the devil." 
 But she answered, " Nay, man, I am not now to 
 repent." She was then asked to have the elders 
 pray for her ; but she said, " I know never an elder 
 here ; " she added that she desired the prayers of all 
 the people of God. " Perhaps," said one scoffingly, 
 " she thinks there is none here." Then looking 
 round she said, " I know but few here." Being 
 again asked to have one of the elders pray for her, 
 she said, " Nay, first a child, then a young man, then 
 a strong man, before an elder in Christ Jesus." She 
 spoke of the other world and of the eternal happi-
 
 46 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ness into which she was about to enter ; and " in this 
 well-disposed condition was turned off, and died a 
 martyr of Christ, being twice led to death, which the 
 first time she expected with undaunted courage, and 
 now suffered with Christian fortitude." " She hangs 
 as a flag for others to take example by," said a mem- 
 ber of the court, as the lifeless body hung suspended 
 from the gallows. 1 
 
 William Leddra was the next who suffered for a 
 violation of this law. After several severe whippings 
 and a tedious imprisonment, he had been banished on 
 pain of death, but soon returned and appeared pub- 
 licly in Boston ; he was immediately seized and 
 chained to a log of wood in prison, where he suffered 
 much from the cold during the winter months. In 
 March, 1661, he was brought to trial before the court 
 of assistants, in Boston. His offence of being a 
 quaker, and returning after banishment on pain of 
 death, was stated to him, when he demanded what 
 evil he had done. The reply was that he had abused 
 authority ; he had refused to take off his hat in court, 
 and would say " thee " and " thou." " Will you put 
 me to death," he asked, " for speaking good English, 
 and for not putting off my clothes ? " "A man may 
 speak treason in good English." " Is it treason to 
 say ' thee ' and ( thou ' to a single person ? " " Will 
 
 1 Probably the person who made this remark, and, who, tradition 
 says, was himself cut off by an untimely end, had not forgotten the 
 antinomian controversy, in which Mary Dyer became obnoxious 
 twenty years before. She left the colony with Anne Hutchinson; 
 and is the same person of whom Welde, in his Short Story, tells such 
 monstrous tales, which are complacently repeated by Cotton Ma- 
 ther in the Magnalia, book vii. chapter 3.
 
 THE QUAKERS. 47 
 
 you return to England ? " demanded Broadstreet. 
 " I have no business there," was the reply. " Then 
 you shall go that way," pointing to the gallows. 
 " Will you put me to death for breathing in the air 
 of your jurisdiction ? What have you against me ? 
 I appeal to the laws of England for my trial. If by 
 them I am guilty, I refuse not to die." But twenty 
 years before it had been " accounted perjury and trea- 
 son to speak of appeals to the king," and a sneering 
 remark was made on the present occasion, which was 
 long remembered by Charles II., whose royal ear it 
 soon reached. " This year you appeal to England ; 
 the next, parliament will send over to inquire ; and 
 the third year, the government of England will be 
 changed." 
 
 At that moment, Winlock Christison, another ban- 
 ished quaker, suddenly and most unexpectedly entered 
 the court, and took his stand by the side of the pris- 
 oner, striking dismay into the minds of all the magis- 
 trates, and for a time interrupting the proceedings of 
 the court. " Are you not the Winlock Christison 
 who was banished on pain of death ? " demanded the 
 governor. " Yea, I am." " What dost thou here 
 then ? " "I am come here," was the answer, " to warn 
 you that you should shed no more innocent blood ; 
 for the blood that you have shed already, cries to the 
 Lord God for vengeance to come upon you." He 
 was immediately committed to prison ; and Leddra 
 was offered his life, if he would promise to depart 
 and return no more. Refusing this, sentence of 
 death was passed upon him, to take effect on the 
 14th of March.
 
 48 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 On the day previous to his execution, he wrote a 
 long farewell letter to his friends, in which he said : 
 " The sweet influences of the morning star, like a flood 
 distilling into my innocent habitation, hath so filled me 
 with the joy of the Lord in the beauty of holiness, 
 that my spirit is as if it did not inhabit a tabernacle 
 of clay, but is wholly swallowed up in the bosom of 
 eternity, from whence it had its being." After a 
 morning lecture on the 14th of March, the governor 
 and a guard of soldiers came to the prison, where 
 the prisoner's irons were removed, and he took leave 
 of his fellow prisoners. Arrived at the gallows, a 
 stranger among the crowd, who had just come by 
 sea, was deeply affected, and endeavored to interrupt 
 the proceedings. " For God's sake," he cried, ad- 
 dressing the multitude in a loud voice, " take not 
 away the man's life ; but remember Gamaliel's coun- 
 sel to the Jews. If this be of man, it will come to 
 naught, but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it : 
 but be careful ye be not found fighters of God." 
 The captain of the guard bade him hold his peace, 
 and he departed with tears, telling them they had no 
 warrant from the word of God, nor power from the 
 king, to hang the man. When the executioner was 
 adjusting the rope to Leddra's neck, he was heard to 
 say, " I commit my righteous cause unto thee, O God." 
 The last words he uttered, were, " Lord Jesus, re- 
 ceive my spirit." The crowd at length dispersed, but 
 a few friends of the deceased who remained caught 
 the body in their arms when it was cut down ; and, 
 after the executioner had stript it of the clothing, 
 they were permitted to pay the last tribute of affec- 
 tion to the remains of their friend.
 
 THE QUAKERS. 49 
 
 When Winlock Christison was brought to trial, he 
 addressed the court with undaunted courage. " By 
 what law will you put me to death ? " " We have a 
 law and by that law you are to die." " Who author- 
 ized you to make that law ? " " We have a patent 
 which gives us the power." " Have you authority 
 to make laws repugnant to the laws of England?" 
 " No." " Then you are gone beyond your bounds. 
 If the king did but know your hearts as God knows 
 them, he would see that they are as rotten towards him 
 as they are towards God. You and I are subjects of the 
 king, and I demand to be tried by the laws of my own 
 nation. There is no law in England to hang quakers." 
 " But there is a law of England to hang Jesuits." " If 
 you put me to death, it is not because I go under the 
 name of a Jesuit, but of a quaker. I appeal to my 
 own nation." " You have broken our law," was the 
 reply, " and we shall try you." The jury immedi- 
 ately returned a verdict of guilty ; but the magistrates 
 were divided in pronouncing sentence. 1 The gover- 
 nor was irritated at their wavering, and on a second 
 vote there appeared a majority for the doom of death. 
 " What do you gain by it ? " said the prisoner, " do 
 not think to weary out the living God by taking away 
 the lives of his servants. For the last man that you 
 have put to death, here are five come in his room. 
 If ye have power to take my life, God can raise up 
 the same principles of life in ten of his servants, and 
 
 1 Probably this hesitation arose from the fact that a letter was 
 received by the court during the trial, from Edward Wharton, 
 another banished quaker, stating that he had returned and was in 
 Salem. He was not sent for by the court. 
 5
 
 50 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 send them among you in my room, that you may 
 have torment upon torment, which is your portion ; 
 for there is no peace to the wicked, saith my God." 
 He was then remanded to prison, and at the next 
 general court, in June, 1661, his case again came up 
 and the following record exhibits the result. " The 
 court, having considered what Wendlock Christo- 
 pherson could say for himself, in reference to his ap- 
 peal from the judgment and sentence of the court of 
 assistants in March last, being brought to the bar, 
 judge meet to order that the governor pronounce 
 sentence of death against him in open court, and to 
 declare, that the time of his execution shall be on 
 the thirteenth day of this month of June, presently 
 after the lecture, by warrant from the governor. 
 Provided, nevertheless, that if the said Christopher- 
 son, any time before his execution, shall desire the 
 court's favor, and, by a writing under his hand, en- 
 gage that he will forthwith depart this jurisdiction, 
 and from thenceforth return no more into it, without 
 first having obtained leave from the general court or 
 council ; he shall thereupon be discharged. The 
 governor in open court, the prisoner being at the bar, 
 pronounced sentence of death against him, and ac- 
 quainted him of the court's favor." The prisoner 
 accepted the clemency of the court upon their own 
 terms, and was discharged. 1 
 
 1 Besse arid other quaker writers represent Christison as remain- 
 ing firm to the last, and the court as releasing him through timidity ; 
 but the following, copied from the original, which is still preserved 
 in the archives of the commonwealth, places the matter right. " I, 
 the condemned man, do give forth under my hand, that if I may
 
 THE QUAKERS. 51 
 
 At the same session of the general court, the fol- 
 lowing order was passed respecting two persons who 
 refused to plead. " Judah ' Browne and Peter Pierson 
 having been indicted at the last court of assistants 
 for quakers, and there standing mute, and refusing 
 to give any answer, and being bound over to this 
 court to answer their contempt, and here standing 
 mute also, the court judge th it meet to order, that 
 they shall by the constable of Boston be forthwith 
 taken out of the prison and stript from the girdle 
 upward by the executioner, and tied to the cart's 
 tail, and whipt through the town with twenty stripes ; 
 and then carried to Roxbury and delivered to the 
 constable there, who is also to tie them, or cause 
 them in like manner to be tied to a cart's tail, and 
 again whip^them through the town with ten stripes, 
 and then carried to Dedham and delivered to the 
 constable there, who is again in like manner to cause 
 them to be tied to the cart's tail and whipped with 
 ten stripes through the town, and from thence 
 
 have my liberty, and have freedom to depart this jurisdiction ; I 
 know not that I shall come into it any more. From the gaol in 
 Boston, 7th day of the 4th month. Winlock Christison." The 
 order of the general court, as entered on the records, was as follows : 
 " Upon the motion of Wendlock Christopherson, the prisoner 
 making known his freedom to depart this jurisdiction ; the court 
 grants and orders him his liberty, he departing this government 
 when he shall be let out of prison as soon as may be." The name 
 of this prisoner is called Christopherson on the records, and by 
 Hutchinson. The early quaker writers call him Christison, and he 
 so called himself, as appears by his signature above. 
 
 1 Bishope and Besse call this person Judith Brown. They are 
 followed by Mr. Abel Gushing, in his Letters on the First Charter, 
 Boston, 1839. The name is Judah on the records of the court and 
 in the original warrant.
 
 52 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 they are immediately to depart this jurisdiction at 
 their peril." Immediately after this order on the 
 records of the general court, without the separation 
 of a line, there is an order by the court for a day of 
 thanksgiving to Almighty God, on the 4th of July, 
 1661, " for the many favors wherewith He hath been 
 pleased to compass us about for so many years past 
 in this remote wilderness ! " 
 
 These executions of quakers had caused the utmost 
 dissatisfaction in Massachusetts, and the magistrates 
 became conscious of their mistake. Public sympathy 
 was turned towards the sufferers ; and the court were 
 obliged to take strong measures to keep away the 
 crowds of citizens, who constantly thronged the win- 
 dows of the prison where they were confined. At 
 every execution, a large body of armed men was in 
 attendance to prevent disturbance, and soldiers were 
 left to guard the town " while the rest of the citizens 
 went to the execution." Meanwhile, accounts of 
 these proceedings had been carried by quakers to the 
 ears of king Charles, and of the contempt which had 
 been expressed for his government at the trial of 
 Leddra. That monarch, who had other reasons for 
 being dissatisfied with the colonists, immediately 
 granted a mandamus directed to all the governors of 
 New England, requiring them to proceed no farther 
 as to corporeal punishments against quakers, but to 
 send them to England, with their respective crimes 
 specifically set forth, to the end, that they might be 
 disposed of according to law. The quakers in Lon- 
 don immediately chartered a vessel, and, the manda- 
 mus being committed to Samuel Shattock, who had
 
 THE QUAKERS. 53 
 
 been banished from Massachusetts on pain of death, 
 he arrived in the harbor of Boston, in six weeks. 
 The king's messenger and the commander of the 
 ship landed on the day after their arrival, and pro- 
 ceeded directly to the governor's house. Admitted 
 to his presence, he ordered Shattock's hat to be re- 
 moved, but, after perusing the letters, restored it, and 
 took off his own. After consultation with the deputy 
 governor, he informed the messenger that they 
 should obey the king's command. In the evening, 
 the passengers of the ship came on shore, and, with 
 their friends in town, held a meeting, " where they 
 returned praises to God for his mercy, manifested in 
 their wonderful deliverance." 
 
 The general court suspended the execution of the 
 laws against quakers, at their next session, but soon 
 revived them so far as respected " vagabond quakers," 
 who were to be seized by any person and carried be- 
 fore the next magistrate of the shire or any commis- 
 sioner, and then sentenced to be stripped naked from 
 the middle upwards, and be tied to a cart's tail in the 
 town where they were found, and whipped through 
 that and the other towns, to the extent of the juris- 
 diction of the colony, provided they should not be 
 whipped through more than three towns ; and the 
 magistrate was to specify the number of stripes to be 
 given. A law, conferring such powers on compara- 
 tively irresponsible persons, was sure to be abused, 
 and cruelties were practised under it which the mo- 
 dern reader finds it difficult to credit. In 1662, 
 three women, Anne Coleman, Mary Tomkins, and 
 Alice Ambrose, were tied to a cart's tail in Dover, 
 5*
 
 54 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 and whipped, with ten stripes in each town, through 
 Dover, Hampton, Salisbury, Newbury, Rowley, 
 Ipswich, Wenham, Lynn, Boston, Roxbury, and 
 Dedham. Elizabeth Hooton, a woman sixty years 
 old, was whipped in Cambridge, Watertown, and 
 Dedham, with ten stripes in each town. She returned 
 again to Boston, when she was sent to the house 
 of correction ; then whipt, led thence to Roxbury, 
 there whipped at a cart's tail, and from thence to 
 Dedham. She again returned, and, after two day's 
 imprisonment, was whipped from the prison-door 
 to the limits of the town, and then sent away for 
 Rhode Island, with a warrant to whip her from town 
 to town. Joseph Nicholson, Jane Willard, and 
 Anne Coleman were whipped through Salem, Bos- 
 ton, and Dedham. It is related that one of the nip- 
 ples of Anne Coleman 's breast was split by the knots 
 of the whip, causing extreme torture. 
 
 The account of these and other equally cruel pro- 
 ceedings under this law, is derived from quaker au- 
 thors, but there is no reason to doubt their general 
 accuracy, although of many of these punishments, 
 being inflicted by the order of local magistrates, there 
 appears to be no record. The same writers mention 
 other occurrences, which, coming from a different 
 source, might well be doubted. In 1665, Lydia War- 
 dell, a respectable married woman, entered stark naked 
 into the church in Newbury, where she formerly wor- 
 shipped, and was highly extolled for her submission 
 to the inward light, that had revealed to her the duty 
 of illustrating the spiritual nakedness of her neigh- 
 bors by this indecent exhibition of her own person.
 
 THE QUAKERS. 55 
 
 " The people," says Besse, the quaker, who wrote long 
 after the excitement attending these scenes had sub- 
 sided, and in another country, " instead of religiously 
 reflecting on their own condition, which she came in 
 that manner to represent to them, fell into a rage, and 
 presently laid hands on her and hurried her away to the 
 court at Ipswich," where she was hastily sentenced to 
 be severely whipped at the next tavern post. She was 
 accordingly stripped and tied with her naked breasts 
 against the splinters of the post, and lashed with 
 more than a score of stripes, "which, though they 
 miserably tore her bruised body, were yet to the great 
 comfort of her husband and friends, who, having 
 unity with her in those sufferings and in the cause of 
 them, stood by to comfort her in so deep a trial." 
 In the same year, Deborah Wilson, a young and re- 
 spectable married woman, made a similar display in 
 the streets of Salem, for which she was sentenced to 
 be tied to the cart's tail and whipped with her mother 
 and sister, who, it was said, had counseled her. 
 Her young husband, who was not a quaker, followed 
 after, sometimes thrusting his hat between the whip 
 and her back. 
 
 In July, 1675, four women and one man were ar- 
 rested in Boston, for " creating a horrible disturb- 
 ance, and," as the warrant set forth, "affrighting 
 people in the south church at the time of the public 
 dispensing of the word on the Lord's day, whereby 
 several women are in danger of miscarrying." Mar- 
 garet Brewster, the leader of the band, appears to 
 have arrived in the town from Barbadoes, on the 
 Lord's day, and, leaving her riding clothes and shoes
 
 56 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 at the door of the south church, she rushed into 
 the house with her female companions, creating an 
 alarm in the astonished assembly, that baffles descrip- 
 tion. She was clothed in sackcloth, with ashes upon 
 her head, and her hair streaming over her shoulders. 
 Her feet were bare, and her face was begrimmed 
 with coal-dust. She announced herself as an illus- 
 tration of the black pox, which she predicted as an 
 approaching judgment on the people. Upon her 
 examination before the magistrates, she said that God 
 had three years since laid this service upon her in 
 Barbadoes and she had her husband's consent to 
 come and perform it. She and her female compan- 
 ions were sentenced to be stripped from the middle 
 upwards and tied to a cart's tail at the south meeting 
 house, and drawn through the town, receiving twenty 
 lashes on their naked backs. 
 
 There are some who dwell with satisfaction on the 
 offences of the quakers, and find in them an extenu- 
 ation of the law, by which four of the sect had suf- 
 fered death ; ' but they may with more propriety be 
 considered as the result of the sanguinary proceed- 
 ings against the quakers, than as the cause of them. 
 It is important to recollect, that, although the quakers 
 had been guilty of acts for which they deserved pun- 
 ishment, and had rendered themselves extremely an- 
 
 1 Even historical writers of acknowledged merit speak of the 
 conduct of some of the quakers in 1G65, as though it led to the 
 passage of laws several years previous. If the quakers had been 
 guilty of such indecencies in 1658, they would unquestionably 
 have been referred to in the preambles to the laws subsequently 
 made, and more especially in the declaration of the general court 
 in 1659. Compare Grahame's History of the United States, i. 299.
 
 THE QUAKERS. 57 
 
 noying to the civil authority, it was not until they 
 had been driven to madness by cruel persecution, 
 that they were guilty of the insane enormities, which, 
 at this day, would consign them to the mad house 
 instead of the whipping post. Deborah Wilson did 
 not go naked through the streets of Salem, until 
 many of her sex had been stripped to the waist by 
 the command of magistrates, and ignominiously 
 dragged at the cart's tail by the sound of the lash on 
 their naked backs, amid the jeers of the bigoted and 
 the vulgar. 1 
 
 Whatever was the conduct of the quakers, the 
 general proceedings against them need no condem- 
 nation at the present day. But the good name and 
 fame of our fathers requires of us to remember, that 
 the more severe laws against this sect were obtained 
 with difficulty. They found few defenders at that 
 day, and were soon universally regarded with regret. 
 " All that can be said of them," says the learned and 
 ingenuous Hubbard, who lived at the time, " amounts 
 to this much ; that the inhabitants of the place hav- 
 ing purchased the country for themselves, they ac- 
 counted it an unreasonable injury for any to come 
 presumptuously, without license, or allowance, to live 
 amongst them, and sow the seeds of their dangerous 
 and perverse principles amongst the inhabitants, 
 
 1 These scenes have not escaped the attention of Whittier, the 
 quaker poet of our day : 
 
 " Old Newbury, had her fields a tongue, 
 And Salem's streets, could tell their story, 
 Of fainting woman borne along, 
 Gashed by the whip, accursed and gory ! "
 
 58 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 tending to the subversion of all that was good, 
 whether sacred or civil ; and therefore thought them- 
 selves bound to hold out the sharp against any that 
 should attempt, without leave, to thrust themselves 
 amongst them ; which renders them that obstinately 
 and wilfully would so do, felones de se, like them 
 that will break into a man's dwelling house, whether 
 he will or no." ' Even Cotton Mather, who was no 
 friend of the quakers, refused to defend the proceed- 
 ings against them. " A great clamor," he says, 
 " hath been raised against New England for their 
 persecution of the quakers ; and if any man will 
 appear in the vindication of it, let him do as he 
 please ; for my part I will not. I am verily persuaded 
 these miserable quakers would in a little while (as we 
 have now seen) have come to nothing, if the civil mag- 
 istrate had not inflicted any civil penalty upon them ; 
 nor do I look upon hereticide as an evangelical way 
 for the extinguishing of heresies." " ' T is true 
 these quakers did manifest an intolerable contempt 
 of authority, and needlessly pull upon themselves a 
 vengeance, from which the authority would gladly 
 have released them, if they would have accepted of 
 a release ; but it is also true, that they were madmen, 
 a sort of lunatics, demoniacs, and enurgumens." * 
 
 After the execution of Stephenson and Robinson, 
 the general court thought it advisable to vindicate 
 the justice of their proceedings ; and for this pur- 
 pose, several papers appear to have been prepared by 
 
 1 This appears in Hubbard's History of New England as if it 
 were a part of the declaration of the general court. 
 8 Magnalia Christi Americana, vii. 4.
 
 THE QUAKERS. 59 
 
 different individuals and sent to the court. Two of 
 them were adopted and are spread out upon their 
 records. The first, which was ordered to be printed, 
 briefly recapitulates the proceedings respecting the 
 quakers, and concludes as follows : " The conside- 
 ration of our gradual proceeding will vindicate us 
 from the clamorous accusation of severity. Our own 
 just and necessary defence calling upon us (other 
 means failing) to offer the point, which these per- 
 sons have violently and wilfully rushed upon; and 
 thereby are become felons de se, which, might it 
 have been prevented, and the sovereign law, salus 
 populi, been preserved. Our former proceedings, as 
 well as the sparing of Mary Dyer upon an inconsid- 
 erable intercession, will manifestly evince we desired 
 their life absent, rather than their death, present." ' 
 
 The second declaration, which was ordered to be 
 sent to the towns by the secretary in writing, was an 
 elaborate production divided into six heads. First : 
 it asserted, that the doctrines of the quakers were 
 destructive of the fundamental truths of religion and 
 the sacred trinity, the person of Christ, and the holy 
 scriptures as a perfect rule of faith and life ; and the 
 commandment of God was plain, that he that pro- 
 fesses to speak sin in the name of the Lord and turn 
 people out of the way which the Lord hath com- 
 manded to walk in, such an one shall be put to death, 
 
 1 This declaration is contained in Hubbard's History of New 
 England. In answer to it, Bishope wrote the first part of his New 
 England Judged. I am not aware, that the other declaration which 
 was sent to the towns in writing, and of which a brief synopsis is 
 given in the text, has ever been printed.
 
 60 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 according to Zacheriah xiii. 3, and Deuteronomy xiii. 
 6, and xviii. 2. Second: it was the command of 
 God, that Christians should obey magistrates, and it 
 was well known that the quakers were far from giving 
 that honor and reverence to magistrates which the 
 Lord required of them, and which good men had 
 given them ; but, on the contrary, they showed con- 
 tempt against them in their very outward gestures 
 and behavior, and some of them at least spared not 
 to belch out railing and cursing speeches. Their 
 case was compared to that of Shimei, whom Solo- 
 mon commanded not to leave Jerusalem, and whom 
 he put to death because he violated the command. 
 " And, therefore," was the conclusion of this head, 
 " if death may be justly inflicted for breach of con- 
 finement, much more for return from banishment, 
 which is these quakers' case." Fourth : there was 
 no man that was possessed of house or land wherein 
 he had just title and propriety of his own, but would 
 account it unreasonably injurious that another, who 
 had no authority therein, should intrude and enter 
 into his house, without his the owner's consent ; yea, 
 and whom the owner doth expressly prohibit and 
 forbid the same ; and if a person insist upon coming 
 in, the owner might, se defendendo, slay him, and his 
 blood would be upon his own head. Had not the 
 keepers and guardian of the commonwealth as much 
 power to take away the lives of such, as, contrary to 
 their prohibition, should invade or intrude into their 
 public possessions or territories. If, then, in such 
 violent and bold attempts the quakers had lost their 
 lives, they might thank themselves as the blameless
 
 THE QUAKERS. 61 
 
 cause and authors of their own death. Fifth : who 
 could make question, but that a man that hath child- 
 dren and family both justly may, and in duty ought 
 to preserve them of his charge, as far as he is able, 
 from the dangerous company of persons infected with 
 the plague or pestilence, or other contagious, noi- 
 some and mortal diseases ; and if such person should 
 offer to intrude into the man's house, amongst his 
 children and family, could any one doubt but the 
 father might withstand such intrusion. Therefore, 
 might not magistrates do the like for their sub- 
 jects, to keep out moral infection ? Sixth : it was the 
 command of the Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples, 
 that when they were persecuted in one city, they 
 should flee into another, and accordingly it was his 
 own practice so to do many a time ; and so also of 
 the saints, and his apostles ; and reason required 
 men so to do when they had liberty, for by refusing 
 they were guilty of tempting God. If, therefore, 
 what had been done against quakers was persecution, 
 what spirit must they be thought to be actuated or 
 led by, who were, in this, acting so contrary to the 
 commandment and authority of Christ and his saints 
 in the case of persecution, which the quakers sup- 
 posed to be their case? If their case were the 
 same, their actings were not the same, but quite con- 
 trary, so that Christ and his saints were led by one 
 spirit, and those people by another. 
 
 The principles and opinions avowed in this decla- 
 ration were not peculiar to the general court of Mas- 
 sachusetts. Religious intolerance was the mistake 
 of the age. The quakers, in particular, were every
 
 62 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 where subjected to severe and unusual punishments. 
 In countries where they were not hanged by express 
 law, they were killed by mobs, and starved in dun- 
 geons, gloomy beyond description. By an act of 
 parliament, in 1662, they were made liable to heavy 
 fines for holding meetings, and for a third offence, to 
 transportation to any of his majesty's colonies. 1 In 
 Virginia, they were by law liable to imprisonment 
 till they should abjure the country, and, for a third re- 
 turn, to death. If no execution took place there, it was 
 not owing to the moderation of the church, or the 
 spirit of the legislature ; but to historical circum- 
 stances, which have not been handed down to us. 2 
 What need to mention the laws against this sect by 
 other colonies, or the severe penalties attached to 
 nonconformity by British statutes of a later date ? 
 
 It is a hard measure to visit upon the colonists of 
 Massachusetts Bay the sins of all Christendom ; and 
 those do not read aright the page of their history 
 who expect extraordinary toleration in the puritans, 
 because they had themselves been driven from their 
 own country. They came to the wilderness of 
 America only for the purpose of enjoying their own 
 religious opinions without hurt or hindrance. They 
 erected a government with this object in view. " It 
 concerneth New England always to remember," was 
 the language of a writer 3 of that day, who spoke by 
 
 ' 13 and 14 of Charles II. ; Statutes at Large, v. 82. 
 
 * Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, Query xvii. 
 
 3 Norton, in his " Heart of New England Rent at the Blasphe- 
 mies of the present Generation," Cambridge, 1059 ; a work which 
 was prepared by order of the general court, and for which the au- 
 thor received the thanks of that body and a grant of land.
 
 THE QUAKERS. 63 
 
 authority, " that originally they are a plantation reli- 
 gious, not a plantation of trade. The profession of 
 the purity of doctrine, worship, and discipline is 
 written upon her forehead." They asked for no 
 converts ; they sought not to enforce their doctrines 
 beyond their own jurisdiction. " Israel shall dwell 
 above;" it was all they asked; and, beyond all 
 question, they had a right, which would be recog- 
 nized at the present day under similar circumstances, 
 to thrust out of their jurisdiction all who directly 
 interfered with and defeated the very objects, which 
 their government was erected to secure to them and 
 their posterity. In endeavoring to control the opin- 
 ions of men, and, more than all, in inflicting severe 
 and cruel punishments for that purpose, they fell into 
 the errors and mistakes of the age in which they lived. 
 To judge of their acts by any other rules than those 
 which that age recognized, would be unjust ; and to 
 try and condemn them by principles, which are only 
 the growth of the two centuries that have since 
 elapsed, would be both unjust and absurd. Admit- 
 ing the colonists to be the best, if not the only, judges 
 of the expediency of their measures to promote the 
 ends they had in view ; and, looking at those ends by 
 the light of principles, by which alone they ought to 
 be judged of; we shall see less cause to censure our 
 ancestors for the severities they inflicted on the quak- 
 ers, than we shall to bless God for the light and lib- 
 erty of an age, in which their offence and their punish- 
 ment would be equally impossible.
 
 TRIALS FOR WITCHCRAFT 
 
 SPECIAL COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, 
 
 SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, 1G92.
 
 At the trials for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, ]G92, the 
 evidence appears to have been reduced to writing and sworn to by 
 the witnesses in open court, in accordance with the colony laws of 
 1639 and 1650. Much of this testimony, together with the indict- 
 ments, orders of the court, death warrants, &c., is still preserved, 
 and has been carefully examined in preparing the following account 
 of those celebrated trials. Immediately subsequent to the trials, a 
 portion of the evidence was collected by Cotton Mather, at the 
 command of governor Phipps, and was published in his Wonders 
 of the Invisible World. Two of the judges certified to the correct- 
 ness of his reports. A work, which is entitled to more considera- 
 tion, was written by Robert Calef, a merchant of Boston, entitled 
 More Wonders of the Invisible World. The author was a sturdy 
 opponent of the received notions respecting witchcraft, and exposed 
 the doctrines of Mather on the subject with great clearness and 
 power. It contains the best account of the Salem Witchcraft of 
 any work of that day. The first edition was published in London, 
 1700. It was republished at Salem, in 1796; and at Boston, in 
 1828. Hutchinson gives a brief account of these trials in his second 
 volume, and appears to have examined some original documents, 
 which are not preserved. The subject has also received the atten- 
 tion of modern historians, and several popular works have been 
 written upon it, with which the public are familiar.
 
 TRIALS FOR WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 THAT mortals may acquire supernatural power, by 
 entering into a compact with evil spirits, has in all 
 ages and countries been credited by the common 
 people, and even by the learned themselves. The 
 gractice, Although ftlways held in detestation and 
 abhorrence, was not proceeded against as a crime 
 with any extraordinary zeal, until 1484 y when pope 
 Innocent VIII. issued a bull directing the inquisitors 
 to be vigilant in searching out and punishing persons 
 guilty of this crime. The mandate of Innocent was 
 enforced by successive bulls of other popes, and his- 
 tory records the horrors which marked their execution 
 for two centuries and a half. In 1515, five hundred 
 witches were burned at Geneva in the period of three 
 months. In one year, one thousand were executed 
 in the diocese of Como ; and it has been calculated,
 
 68 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 that not less that one hundred thousand victims must 
 have suffered in Germany from the date of Innocent's 
 bull to the final extinction of the prosecutions. 1 
 
 In England, the practice of witchcraft was early 
 viewed jwith singular horror, and the course of le- 
 gislation and judicial procedure against it were 
 peculiarly_severe. Individual instances of trial for 
 tfwToffence occur in that country previous to any 
 penal statute against it. In the reign of Henry VIII. 
 it was declared by law to be felony " to practice or 
 cause to be practiced conjuration, enchantment, or 
 sorcery, to get money ; or to consume any person in 
 his body, members, or goods ; or to provoke any per- 
 son to unlawful love ; or, for the despite of Christ, or 
 lucre of money, to pull down any cross ; or to de- 
 clare where goods stolen lie." * 
 
 In the reign of queen Elizabeth, a statute was 
 made, which recited that " many fanatical and devilish^ 
 persons have devised and practiced invocations and 
 conjurations of evil and wicked spirits, and have 
 used and practiced witchcrafts, enchantments, charms 
 and sorceries, to the destruction of the persons and 
 goods of their neighbors, and other subjects of this 
 realm, and for lewd intents and purposes, contrary 
 to the laws of Almighty God, to the peril of their 
 own souls, and to the great infamy and disquietness 
 of this realm ;" and declared that every person guilty 
 of such practices, whereby any person should hap- 
 
 1 Encyclopaedia Americana, Art. Witch 
 
 * 33 Henry VIII., c. 8, (1541) ; Statutes at Large, iii, 347. This 
 statute was repealed by the general words of 1 Edward VI., c. 12 
 4 ; and 1 Mary, stat. 1, c. 1.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 69 
 
 pen to be killed and destroyed, should suffer death 
 without Benefit of clergy. 1 
 
 James I., much celebrated for his knowledge, be- 
 fore his arrival in England, not only examined in 
 person a woman accused of witchcraft, but gave a 
 very formal account of the practices and illusions of 
 evil spirits, the compacts of witches, the ceremonies 
 used by them, the manner of detecting them, and the 
 justice of punishing them. 2 During his reign, a law was 
 passed by the parliament of Great Britain, when Bacon 
 was a member of the house of commons, to the effect, 
 that all persons invoking any evil spirits, or consulting, 
 covenanting with, entertaining, employing, feeding, or 
 rewarding any evil spirit ; or taking up dead bodies 
 from their graves to be used in any witchcraft, sorcery, 
 charm, or enchantment ; or killing, or otherwise hurting 
 any person by such infernal arts, should suffer death. 1 
 fit is estimated that thirty thousand suffered death 
 in England, for suspicion of witchcraft, in one hund- 
 red and fifty years. 4 j In 1647, between two and three 
 hundred persons were indicted for this offence in 
 Suffolk and Essex, and more than half of them were 
 executed. 5 In 1665, at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, 
 Sir Matthew Hale, a man universally renowned for 
 the strength of his understanding and the purity of 
 his character, after a long and anxious examination, 
 
 5 Elizabeth, c. 16 (15012); Statutes at Large, iv, 230. 
 
 Johnson's observations on the tragedy of Macbeth. 
 
 1 James I., c. 12 (1603) ; Statutes at Large, iv, 599. This stat- 
 ute was repealed by the act of 9 George II., c. 5 (1736> 
 
 Howell's State Trials, ii, 1051. 
 
 Ib. ; Hutchinson's Historical Essays concerning Witchcraft, 50, 
 179.
 
 70 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 [sentenced two women, Rose Cullender and Amy 
 Duny, to die for this offence. Their trials were re- 
 ported with great particularity, and correspond re- 
 markably well with those which subsequently took 
 place in New England.' It is related, that the af- 
 flicted persons had severe fits during the trial, and, in 
 the midst of them, when they were wholly deprived 
 of sense and understanding, closing their fists in such 
 a manner that the strongest man in court could not 
 force them open, they would suddenly shriek out 
 and open their hands, on the least touch of one of 
 the supposed witches, which accident would not hap- 
 pen by the touch of any, other person ; and this 
 although they were blinded! A person present ob- 
 jected, that the children might counterfeit this dis- 
 temper ; " wherefore, to avoid this scruple, it was 
 privately desired by the judge, that the Lord Corn- 
 wallis, Sir Edmund Bacon, and Mr. Serjeant Keel- 
 ing, and some other gentlemen then in court, would 
 attend one of the distempered persons in the farther 
 part of the hall, whilst she* was in her fits, and then 
 to send for one of the witches, to try what would 
 then happen, which they did accordingly ; and Amy 
 Duny was conveyed from the bar and brought to the 
 maid. They put an apron before her eyes, and then 
 one other person touched her hand, which produced 
 the same effect as the touch of the witch did in the 
 court, whereupon the gentlemen returned, openly 
 protesting, that they did believe the whole transaction 
 of this business was a mere imposture ; " but their 
 opinion did not save the prisoners. 1 The judicial 
 
 1 Howell's State Trials, vi, 698. '
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 71 
 
 ^ 
 
 proceedings against witchcraft were checked chiefly 
 by the firmness of Lord Holt, who, in ten trials, from 
 1694 to 1701, charged the jury in such a manner as 
 to cause them to bring in verdicts of acquittal. But, 
 long after this, the conviction of the witches of War- 
 bois, in the reign of queen Elizabeth, was commem- 
 orated in an annual sermon at Huntingdon ; ' and, in 
 1716,j[Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, nine years of 
 age, were hanged for selling their souls to the devil, 
 and raising a storm by pulling off stockings and 
 making a lather of soapTJ In Scotland, the execu- 
 tions for this offence are supposed to have been 
 equally numerous. The last victim executed there 
 perished in 1722 ; and the seceders in that country 
 published an act of their associate presbytery, at 
 Edinburgh in 1743 reprinted at Glasgow in 1776 
 denouncing the repeal of the penal laws against 
 witchcraft as a national sin. 3 
 
 The colonists of New England did not pretend to 
 be wiser upon this subject than the rest of Christen- 
 dom, and had no doubt of the reality of a practice, 
 
 1 Johnson's observations on the tragedy of Macbeth. 
 
 1 Encyclopaedia Americana, Art. Witch. 
 
 * Arnot's Criminal Trials in Scotland ; Grahame's History of the 
 United States,!, 392. " The law against witches," says Selden in 
 his Table Talk, " does not prove there be any, but it punishes the 
 malice of those people that use such means to take away men's 
 lives. If one should profess that by turning his hat thrice, and 
 crying ' buz,' he could take away a man's life, (though in truth he 
 could do no such thing.) yet this were a just law made by the 
 state, that whosoever should turn his hat thrice and cry buz," with 
 an intention to take away a man's life, shall be put to death." Bar- 
 ringt.on, in his observations on the statute of 20 Henry VI., thinks 
 ; such a law as that suggested by Selden may be declared to be 
 not only ridiculous and futile, but highly unjust." Howell, ii, 1051.
 
 72 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 which had received the execration of good men in all 
 ages ; which was expressly condemned by the laws 
 of the mother country to the severest of human pun- 
 ishments ; and which, in their apprehension, was clearly 
 recognised in the word of God. In accordance with 
 the opinion of their countrymen, they regarded it 
 with a degree of abhorrence and indignation, corres- 
 ponding with the piety for which they were so re- 
 markably distinguished. But neither in New Eng- 
 land, any more than in the old world, was the belief 
 in witchcraft universal ; and, as early as 1693, Robert 
 Calef, the unlettered Boston merchant, denied the re- 
 ceived opinions on this subject, and exposed a delusion 
 which had so long fastened itself on the public mind, 
 in a style of bold and manly inquiry that commanded 
 attention, and with a vein of sarcasm, that brought 
 upon his head the maledictions of the ministers, and 
 a prosecution by Cotton Mather. Witchcraft, he 
 contended, was manifestly a work of the flesh. To 
 assert that men could enter into a league with evil 
 spirits for the injury of other men, was to make 
 God a party to the compact, or to deny his omnipo- 
 tence. 1 To assert the first, was to make Him a liar. 
 The last was blasphemy. More than half a cen- 
 tury after this, the learned and elegant commentator 
 
 1 The same doctrine was maintained by Reginald Scot, in his 
 Discoverie of Witchcraft, first published in 1584. The copies remain- 
 ing at the time of James, were burned by his command. It was 
 reprinted in 1651 and J6C5. Scot was styled by Glanvil and others, 
 the " Father of the Modern Witch Advocates," the " Gallant of 
 the Old Hags." An elaborate treatise was sent forth in 1677, " The 
 Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft," by John Webster, wherein he 
 defends Scot. D'Israeli.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 73 
 
 on the laws of England, asserted in the halls of one 
 of her universities of learning, that, to deny the act- 
 ual existence of witchcraft and sorcery, was at once 
 flatly to contradict the revealed word of God, in 
 various passages, both of the old and New Testa- 
 ment ; and the thing itself was a truth to which 
 every nation in the world had in its turn borne testi- 
 mony ; l and he concluded with a writer of that day, 
 that in general there had been such a thing as witch- 
 craft, though one could not give credit to any partic- 
 ular modern instance of it.* 
 
 TFrom the earliest periods of the history of New 
 England, the Indians were regarded as worshippers 
 of the devil, and their powwows as wizzards. The 
 first suspicion of witchcraft among the English was 
 about the year 1645. At Springfield, on the Con- 
 necticut river, several persons were supposed to be 
 under an evil hand, but no one was convicted until 
 1650, when a poor wretch, Mary Oliver, after a long 
 examination, was brought to a confession of her guilt, 
 but it does not appear that she was executed^ J^.bout 
 the same time, three persons were executed near 
 Boston, all of whom at their death asserted their in- 
 nocence.^ In 1655, Anne Hibbins, the widow of a 
 magistrate and a man of note in Boston, was tried 
 for this offence before the court of assistants. The 
 jury found her guilty, but the magistrates refused to 
 accept the verdict. The case was carried up to the 
 general court, where the popular voice prevailed, and 
 
 1 Blackstone's Commentaries, iv, GO. 
 Mr. Ad.lison, Spectator, No. 117. 
 
 7
 
 74 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 the prisoner was executed. \~ln 1662, at Hartford, 
 Connecticut, a woman named Greensmith confessed 
 that she had beenjjrpssly familiar with a daemon, 
 and she was executed^ In 1669, Susanna Martin, of 
 Salisbury, was bound over to the court, upon sus- 
 picion of witchcraft, but escaped. She suffered 
 death in 1692. In 1671, Elizabeth Knap, who pos- 
 sessed ventriloquial powers, alarmed the people of 
 Groton, but as her daemon railed at the minister of 
 the town, and other persons of good character, 
 the people would not believe him. .^JJer fraud and 
 imposture were soon discovered. /_Jn 1694, Phil- 
 ip Smith, a judge of the court, a military officer 
 and a representative of the town of Hadley, fan- 
 cied himself under an evil hand, and suspected an 
 old woman, one of his neighbors, as the cause of 
 his sickness. She was dragged from her house by 
 some young men, who hung her up until she was 
 nearly dead ; then rolled her in the snow, and at last 
 buried her in it ; but it happened that she survived, 
 and the melancholy man diecO 
 
 Trials for witchcraft out "of New England, were 
 not common. In 1665, Ralph Hall and his wife 
 were tried for the offence in New York, and ac- 
 quitted. In 1660, in Queen's county, Long Island, 
 Mary Wright was suspected of corresponding with 
 the author of evil. She was arraigned, and it was 
 finally concluded to transport her to the general 
 court of Massachusetts, " where charges of this kind 
 were more common, and the proofs necessary to sup- 
 port them better understood." She was accordingly 
 arraigned there and acquitted of witchcraft, but was
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 75 
 
 convicted of being a quaker, and banished out of the 
 jurisdiction. 1 In Pennsylvania, when William Penn 
 officiated as judge in his new colony, two women, 
 accused of witchcraft, were presented by the grand 
 jury. Without treating the charge with contempt, 
 which the public mind would not have borne, he 
 charged the jury to bring them in guilty of being 
 suspected of witchcraft, which was not a crime that 
 exposed them to the penalty of the law. 9 
 
 Notwithstanding the frequent instances of sup- 
 posed witchcraft in Massachusetts, no person had * 
 suffered death there on that account, for nearly thirty 
 years after the execution of Anne Hibbins. The 
 sentence of this woman was disapproved of by many 
 influential men, and her fate probably prevented fur- 
 ther prosecutions. But in 1685, a very circumstan- 
 tial account of most of the cases above mentioned 
 was published, and many arguments were brought to 
 convince the country, that they were no delusions or 
 impostures, but the effects of a familiarity between the 
 devil and such as he found fit for his instruments ; and, 
 in 1687 or 1688, a more alarming instance occurred 
 than any which had preceded it. fT'our of the child- 
 ren of John Goodwin, a grave man and a good liver 
 at the north part of Boston, were generally believed 
 to be bewitched. The children were all remarkable 
 for ingenuity of character, had been religiously edu- 
 cated, and were thought to be without guile. The 
 eldest was a girl of thirteen or fourteen years. She 
 
 1 Thomson's History of Long Island, 1C2. 
 
 * Life of Cotton Mather, in Sparks's American Biography.
 
 76 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 had charged a laundress with taking away some of 
 the family linen. The mother of the laundress was 
 a low Irish woman, of bad character, and gave th6 
 girl harsh language; soon after which she fell into 
 fits, which were said to have something diabolical in 
 them. One of her sisters, and two brothers, followed 
 her example, and, it is said, were tormented in the 
 same part of their bodies at the same time, although 
 kept in separate apartments, and ignorant of one 
 another's complaints. One or two things were said 
 to be very remarkable ; all their complaints were in 
 the day time, and they slept comfortably all night ; 
 they were struck dead at the sight of the Assembly's 
 Catechism, Cotton's Milk for Babes, and some other 
 good books, but could read in Oxford jests, popish 
 and quaker books, and the common prayer, without 
 any difficulty. Sometimes they would be deaf, then 
 dumb, then blind ; and sometimes all these disorders 
 together would come upon them. Their tongues 
 would be drawn down their throats, then pulled out 
 upon their chins. Their jaws, necks, shoulders, el- 
 bows, and all their joints, would appear to be dislo- 
 cated ; and they would make most piteous outcries of 
 burnings, of being cut with knives, beat, &c., and 
 the marks of wounds were afterwards to be seen. 
 The ministers of Boston and Charlestown kept a day 
 of fasting and prayer at the troubled house ; after 
 which, the youngest child made no more complaints. 
 The others continuing to be afflicted, the magistrates 
 interposed, and the old woman was apprehended, but 
 upon examination would neither confess nor deny, 
 and appeared to be disordered in her senses. Upon
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 77 
 
 the report of physicians that she was compos mentis, she 
 was executed, declaring at her death that the children 
 should not be relieved. The eldest was taken into 
 Cotton Mather's family, where, at first, she behaved 
 orderly, but, after some time, suddenly fell into her 
 fits. A printed account of this aflfair was published, 
 with a preface by Baxter, who says, " the evidence is 
 so convincing, that he must be a very obdurate saddu- 
 cee who will not believe." The credit it obtained was 
 sufficient, together with other preparatives, to dispose 
 the whole country to be easily imposed upon by the 
 more extensive and more tragical scene, which was 
 presently after acted at Salem and other parts of the 
 county of Essex. Glanvil, not many years before, 
 published his witch stories in England ; Perkins and 
 other nonconformists were earlier ; but the great au- 
 thority was that of Sir Matthew Hale, revered in 
 New England, not only for his knowledge in the law, 
 but for his gravity and piety. The trial of the witches 
 in Suffolk was published in 1684. All these books 
 were in New England, and the conformity between 
 the behavior of Goodwin's children and most of the 
 supposed bewitched at Salem, and the behavior of 
 those in England, is so exact, as to leave no room to 
 doubt the stories had been read by the New England 
 persons themselves, or had been told to them by 
 others who had read them. 1 
 
 1 Hutchinson,'from whom this account of Goodwin's children is 
 taken, says they returned to their ordinary behavior; lived to adult 
 age ; made a profession of religion, and the affliction they had been 
 under, they publicly declared to be one motive for it. One of them 
 he knew many years after. She had the character of a very sober,
 
 78 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 The commencement of what is known as the 
 
 " Salem Witchcraft," was in the family of Samuel 
 
 Parris, the minister of Salem village, now Danvers, 
 
 4. in February, 1692. There had been a bitter strife 
 
 between this man and a portion of his people ; and 
 
 the very active part he took in the prosecutions for 
 
 j witchcraft have been justly attributed not less to mo- 
 
 '' tives of revenge than to a blind zeal in the performance 
 
 !of what he considered his duty. A daughter of Mr. 
 Parris, nine years of age, his niece, a girl of less 
 than twelve, and two other girls in the neighborhood, 
 began to make the same sort of complaints that Good- 
 win's children had made, two or three years before. 
 The physicians, having no other way of* accounting for 
 
 v their disorder, pronounced tnem bewitched. An In- 
 dian woman, who had been brought into the country 
 from New Spain, and then lived with Mr. Parris, tried 
 some experiments, which she pretended to have been 
 used to, in her own country, in order to find out the 
 witch. This coming to the children's knowledge, they 
 
 j cried out upon the poor Indian, as appearing to them, 
 pinching, pricking, and tormenting them ; and they fell 
 into fits. /Tituba, the Indian, acknowledged that she 
 had learned how to find out a witch, but denied that 
 she was one herself. Several private fasts were kept 
 at the minister's house, and several, more public, by 
 the whole village, and then a general fast through 
 the colony, to seek to God to rebuke satan. The 
 great notice taken of the children, together with the 
 
 virtuous woman, and never made any acknowledgment of fraud in 
 this transaction.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 79 
 
 pity and compassion of the persons by whom they were 
 visited, not only tended to confirm them in their con- 
 duct, but to draw others into the like. Accordingly, 
 the number of the sufferers soon increased; and, 
 among them, there were two or three women, and 
 some girls old enough for witnesses. These, too, 
 had_ their fits, and T when in them, cried out, not only 
 against Titiihti, hut again at. Sarah Osburn, a melan- 
 choly, distracted old woman, and Sarah Good, an- 
 other old woman who was bed-rid. Tituba having, as 
 if'is "alleged, been scourged by her master, at length 
 confessed herself a witch, and that the two old wo- 
 men were her confederates. The three were then 
 committed to prison ; and Tituba, upon search, was 
 found to have scars upon her back which were called 
 the devil's mark. This took place on the first of 
 March. About three weeks afterwards, two other wo- 
 men^ of good character and church members, Corey 
 and Nurse, were complained of and brought to 
 an examination ; on which these children fell into fits, 
 and the mother of one of them, the wife of Thomas 
 Putman, joined with the children, and complained of 
 Nurse as tormenting her ; she made most terrible 
 shrieks, to the amazement of all the neighborhood. 
 The women, notwithstanding they denied every thing, 
 were sent to prison ; and such was the infatuation, that 
 a child of Sarah Good, about four or five years old, was 
 also committed, being charged with biting some of the 
 afflicted, who showed the print of small teeth on 
 their arms. On April 3d, Mr. Parris took for his 
 text, " Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you 
 is a devil." Sarah Cloyse, supposing it to be occa-
 
 80 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 sioned by Nurse's case, who was her sister, went out 
 of meeting ; and she was, thereupon, complained of 
 for a witch, examined, and committed. Elizabeth 
 Proctor was charged about the same time ; her hus- 
 band accompanied her to her examination, but it 
 cost him his life. Some of the afflicted cried out 
 upon- him also, and they were both committed to 
 prison. 
 
 The subject acquired new interest ; and, to examine 
 Sarah Cloyse and Elizabeth Proctor, the deputy go- 
 vernor and five other magistrates came to Salem. It 
 was a great day ; several ministers were present. 
 Parris officiated ; and, by his own record, it is plain 
 that he himself elicited every accusation. His first 
 witness, John, the Indian servant, husband to Tituba, 
 was rebuked by Sarah Cloyse, as a grievous liar. 
 Abigail Williams, the niece of Parris, was also at 
 hand with her tales : the prisoner had been at the 
 witches' sacrament. Struck with horror, Sarah 
 Cloyse asked for water, and sank down " in a dying, 
 fainting fit." " Her spirit," shouted the band of the 
 afflicted, " is gone to prison to her sister Nurse." 
 Against Elizabeth Proctor, the niece of Parris told 
 stories, yet more foolish than false : the prisoner had 
 invited her to sign the devil's book. " Dear child," 
 exclaimed the accused in her agony, " it is not so. 
 There is another judgment, dear child ; " and her 
 accusers, turning towards her husband, declared that 
 he, too, was a wizzard. All three were committed. 1 
 
 1 Bancroft, iii, 86. A copy of the original record of this exam- 
 ination is preserved in Hutchinson, ii, 27, 1st edit.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 81 
 
 No wonder that the whole country was in a con- 
 sternation, when persons of sober lives and unblem- 
 ished characters were committed, to prison upon 
 sucK" evidence. Nobody was safe. \fhe most effectual 
 way to prevent an accusation, was to become an ac- 
 CII-IT: and. accordingly, the number of the alHictcd 
 increased every day, and the number of the accused 
 in propoi tion/^Ys yet no one had confessed : but at 
 length Deliverance Hobbs owned every thing that 
 was asked of her, and was left unharmed. Then it 
 
 was, that the monstrousdoctrine seems to have been 
 first thought of, that jj^he gallows was to be set up, 
 not for those who professed themselves witches, but 
 for those who rebuked the delusion," not for the 
 guilty, but for the unbelieving. As might be ex- 
 pected, confessions rose in importance. They were 
 the avenue of safe^^Examinations and commit- 
 ments were of daily occurrence, and the whole commu- 
 nity was in a state of terror and alarm, which can more 
 easily be imagined than described. The purest life, 
 the strictest integrity, the most solemn asseverations 
 of innocence, were of no avail. Husband was torn 
 from wife, parents from children, brother from sister ; 
 and, in some cases, the unhappy victims saw in their 
 accusers their nearest and dearest friends ; in one 
 instance, a wife and a daughter accused the husband 
 and father to save themselves, and, in another, a 
 daughter seven years old testified against her i/ 
 mother. 
 
 The manner in which the examinations were con- 
 ducted was eminently calculated to increase the num- 
 ber of the accused and of the accusers. Mr. Parris
 
 82 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 was present at all of them, and was over officious, 
 putting leading questions and artfully entrapping the 
 witnesses into contradictions, by which they became 
 confused, and were eagerly cried out upon as guilty 
 ' of the offence. The appearance of the persons'ac- 
 cused was also carefully noted by the magistrates, 
 and was used in evidence against them at their trials. 
 " As to the method which the Salem justices do 
 take," says a contemporary writer, " it is truly this. 
 A warrant being issued out to apprehend the per- 
 sons that are charged and complained of by trie 
 afflicted children, as they are called ; said persons are 
 brought before the justices, the afflicted being present. 
 The justices ask the apprehended why they afflict 
 these poor children ; to which the apprehended an- 
 swer, they do not afflict them. The justices order 
 the apprehended to look upon the said children, 
 which accordingly they do ; and at the time of that 
 look (I dare not say by that look, as the Salem gen- 
 tlemen do), the afflicted are cast into a fit. ^The ap- 
 prehended are then blinded, and ordered to touch 
 the afflicted ; and, at that touch, though not by that 
 touch (as above), the afflicted do ordinarily come out 
 of their fits, j The afflicted persons then declare and 
 affirm, that the apprehended have afflicted them ' 
 upon which the apprehended persons, though of 
 never so good repute, are forthwith committed t6 
 prison, on suspicion of witchcraft." ' 
 
 The manner of these examinations has also been 
 
 1 Letter of Rev. Thomas Brattle, dated Oct. 2, 1692 ; Coll 
 of the Massachusetts Historical Society, v, 61. 
 
 ections
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 83 
 
 described by an eye witness. The wife of Jonathan 
 Carey, of Charlestown, having been committed to 
 prison, he gave an account of her examination. 1 
 "Having heard, some days, that my wife was accused 
 of witchcraft, being much disturbed at it, by advice 
 we went to Salem village, to see if the afflicted knew 
 her ; we arrived there 24th May ; it happened to be 
 a day appointed for examination ; accordingly, soon 
 after our arrival, Mr. Hathorn and Mr. Curwin, &c., 
 went to the meeting house, which was the place ap- 
 pointed for that work ; the minister began with 
 prayer, and having taken care to get a convenient 
 place, I observed that the afflicted were two girls of 
 about ten y^ears old, and some two or three others of 
 about eighteen ; one of the girls talked most, and 
 could discern mcfre than the rest. The prisoners 
 were called in one by one, and as they came in were 
 cried out upon. The prisoners were placed about 
 seven or eight feet from the justices, and the accusers 
 between the justices and them ; the prisoners were 
 ordered to stand right before the justices, with an 
 officer appointed to hold each hand, lest they should 
 therewith afflict them ; and the prisoners' eyes must 
 be constantly on the justices ; for if they looked on 
 the afflicted, they would either fall into their fits, or 
 cry out of being hurt by them. After an examina- 
 tion of the prisoners, who it was afflicted these girls, 
 &.C., they were put upon saying the Lord's prayer, 
 as a trial of their guilt. After the afflicted seemed 
 to be out of their fits, they would look steadfastly on 
 
 1 Calef, 95, 1st edit.
 
 84 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 some one person, and frequently not speak ; and then 
 the justices said they were struck dumb, and after a 
 little time would speak again ; then the justices said 
 to the accusers, which of you will go and touch the 
 prisoner at the bar? Then the most courageous 
 would adventure, but before they had made three 
 steps would ordinarily fall down as in a fit. The 
 justices ordered that they should be taken up and 
 carried to the prisoner, that she might touch them : 
 and as soon as they were touched by the accused, 
 the justices would say, they are well, before I could 
 discern any alteration ; by which I observed that the 
 justices understood the manner of it. Thus far I 
 was only as a spectator ; my wife also was there part 
 of the time, but no notice taken of her by the afflicted, 
 except once or twice they came to her and asked her 
 name. 
 
 " But I having an opportunity to discourse with Mr. 
 Hale, (with whom I had formerly acquaintance) I 
 took his advice what I had best to do, and desired of 
 him that I might have an opportunity to speak with 
 her that accused my wife ; which he promised should 
 be, I acquainting him that I reposed my trust in him. 
 Accordingly he came to me after the examination 
 was over, and told me I had now an opportunity to 
 speak with the said accuser, viz., Abigail Williams, a 
 girl of eleven or twelve years old ; but that we could 
 not be in private at Mr. Parris's house, as he had 
 promised me ; we went therefore into the ale house, 
 where an Indian man attended us, who it seems was 
 one of the afflicted ; to him we gave some cider ; he 
 showed several scars, that seemed as if they had
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 85 
 
 been long there, and showed them as done by witch- 
 craft, and acquainted us that his wife, who also was 
 a slave, was imprisoned for witchcraft. And now, 
 instead of one accuser, they all came in, and began 
 to tumble down like swine ; and then three women 
 were called in to attend them. We in the room were 
 all at a stand, to see who they would cry out upon ; 
 but in a short time they cried out ' Gary ; ' and imme- 
 diately after a warrant was sent from the justices to 
 bring my wife before them, who were in a chamber, 
 near by, waiting for this. 
 
 " Being brought before the justices, her chief ac- 
 cusers were two girls. My wife declared to the jus- 
 tices, that she never had any knowledge of them * 
 before that day. She was forced to stand with her ' 
 arms stretched out. I requested that I might hold 
 one of her hands, but it was denied me ; then she 
 desired me to wipe the tears from her eyes, and the 
 sweat from her face, which I did ; then she desired 
 she might lean herself on me, saying she should 
 faint. 
 
 " Justice Hathorn replied, she had strength enough 
 to torment those persons, and she should have strength ' 
 enough to stand. I speaking something against their ^ 
 cruel proceedings, they commanded me to be silent, 
 or else I should be turned out of the room. The 
 Indian before mentioned was also brought in, to be 
 one of her accusers : being come in, he now (when 
 before the justice) fell down and tumbled about like 
 a hog, but said nothing. The justices asked the *> 
 girls who afflicted the Indian ; they answered, she,
 
 Ob AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 (meaning my wife) and that she now lay upon him ; 
 the justices ordered her to touch him, in order to his 
 cure, but her head must be turned another way, lest, 
 instead of curing, she should make him worse, by 
 her looking on him, her hand being guided to take 
 hold of his ; but the Indian took hold of her hand, 
 and pulled her down on the floor in a barbarous 
 manner ; then his hand was taken off, and her hand 
 put on his, and the cure was quickly wrought. I, 
 -' being exceedingly troubled at their inhuman dealings, 
 uttered a hasty speech, that Godivould take vengeance 
 on them, and desired that God would deliver us out of 
 the hands of unmerciful men. Then her mittimus 
 was writ. I did with difficulty and charge obtain 
 the liberty of a room, but no beds in it ; if there had 
 been, we could have taken but little rest that night. 
 She was committed to Boston prison ; but I obtained a 
 habeas corpus to remove her to Cambridge prison, 
 which was in our county of Middlesex. Having been 
 there one night, next morning the jailer put irons on 
 her legs (having received such a command ;) the 
 weight of them was about eight pounds ; these irons 
 and her other afflictions soon brought her into con- 
 vulsion fits, so that I thought she would have died 
 that night. I sent to entreat that the irons might be 
 taken off; but all entreaties were vain if it would 
 have saved her life, so that in this condition she must 
 continue. 
 
 The trials at Salem coming on, I went thither, 
 to see how things were managed ; and finding 
 that the spectre evidence was there received, to-
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 87 
 
 \S 
 
 gether with idle, if not malicious stories, against 
 people's lives, I did easily perceive which way the 
 rest would go ; for the same evidence that served for 
 one, would serve for all the rest. I acquainted her 
 with her danger ; and that if she was carried to 
 Salem to be tried, I feared she would never return. 
 I did my utmost that she might have her trial in our 
 own county, I with several others petitioning the 
 judge for it, and were put in hopes of it ; but I soon 
 saw so much, that I understood thereby it was not 
 intended, which put me upon consulting the means 
 of her escape ; which through the goodness of God 
 was effected, and she got to Rhode Island, but soon 
 found herself not safe when there, by reason of the 
 pursuit after her ; from thence she went to New 
 York, along with some others that had escaped their 
 cruel hands ; where we found his excellency, Benja- 
 min Fletcher, Esq., governor, who was very courteous 
 to us. After this, some of my goods were seized, in 
 a friend's hands, with whom I had left them, and 
 myself imprisoned by the sheriff, and kept in custody 
 half a day, and then dismissed; but to speak of 
 their usage of the prisoners, and the inhumanity 
 shown to them at the time of their execution, no 
 sober Christian could bear. They had also trials of 
 cruel mockings ; which is the more, considering what 
 a people for religion, I mean the profession of it, we 
 have been ; those that suffered being many of them 
 church members, and most of them unspotted in 
 their conversation, till their adversary the devil took 
 up this method of accusing them."
 
 88 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 / 
 
 Several of the records of these examinations, 
 taken by Parris and certified by the justices, are still 
 preserved. They exhibit the means taken to entrap 
 those accused, and give evidence of no little acute- 
 ness and courage on their part. When Mary Coffin 
 was brought before the justices, the accusing wit- 
 nesses at first fell into fits, and then asserted that she 
 was the cause of them. 
 
 " What do you say," she was asked, " are you 
 guilty or not guilty ? " 
 
 " I can say before Christ Jesus, I am free." 
 
 " You see these accuse you." 
 
 " There is a God ." 
 
 " What have you done to these children ? " 
 
 " I know nothing." 
 
 " How can you say that you know nothing, when 
 you see these are tormented and accuse you." 
 
 " Would you have me accuse myself ? " 
 
 " Yes ; if you be guilty. How far have you com- 
 plied with Satan, whereby he takes this advantage 
 over you? " 
 
 " Sir, I never complied, but prayed against him all 
 my days. I have no compliance with Satan in this ; 
 what would you have me do ? " 
 
 "Confess if you be guilty." 
 
 " I will say it, if it be my last words. I am clear 
 of this sin." 
 
 The witnesses were immediately struck dumb and 
 fell into fits. When the prisoner's hands were closed, 
 those of the witnesses were closed likewise, and when 
 she bowed her head, their heads were bowed. At
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 89 
 
 length, they shrieked out in a frightful manner, and 
 redoubled their accusations of being tormented by 
 the prisoner. " What say you to this ? " was de- 
 manded of her. " God only knows," was the reply 
 of the poor woman, " it is an evil spirit, but whether 
 it be witchcraft, I do not know ; " and she was com- 
 mitted to jail for trial. 
 
 ^Confession being the easiest mode of escape, many 
 were driven to it by their own fears or the urgent 
 entreaties of their friends. Others, when they saw 
 the distress of those afflicted and heard their solemn 
 declarations, that the shapes or spectres of the ac- 
 cused afflicted them, persuaded themselves that they " 
 were witches ; that evil spirits had in some manner, 
 of which they were ignorant, got possession of their 
 hearts and afflicted others in their shapes ; and they 
 confessed themselves guilt^^mit, in some cases, 
 admissions were extorted by most cruel methods. On 
 one^occasion, two young men would not confess any 
 thing, until they were tied ^together neck and heels, 
 when they accused their own mother. In other in- 
 stances, those accused were led to confession by se- 
 vere and artful examinations before the magistrateglx* 
 Margaret Jacobs, having been thus led into confessing 
 herself a witch, accused Mr. Burroughs, a minister who 
 was subsequently executed, and also her own grand- 
 father ; but, struck with horror, she chose to lose her 
 own life, rather than persist in her confession ; and 
 begged forgiveness of Burroughs, before his execu- 
 tion, who is said to have freely forgiven her ; and 
 recanted all she had said against her grandfather, but 
 8*
 
 90 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 in vain as to his life. 1 Her own life was saved by a 
 disorder in her head, which prevented her trial at 
 the first court ; but before the next court, she made 
 a formal recantation of all she had confessed, and 
 delivered it to the judges. 
 
 " The humble declaration of Margaret Jacobs unto 
 the honored court now sitting at Salem, showeth, that 
 whereas your poor and humble declarant, being 
 closely confined here in Salem gaol, for the crime of 
 witchcraft, which crime, thanks be to the Lord; I am 
 altogether ignorant of, as will appear at the great 
 day of judgment : may it please the honored court, 
 I was cried out upon by some of the possessed per- 
 sons, as afflicting them ; whereupon I was brought to 
 my examination, which persons at the sight of me 
 fell down, which did very much startle and affright 
 me. The Lord above knows I knew nothing, in the 
 least measure, how or who afflicted them ; they told 
 me, without doubt I did, or else they would not fall 
 down at me ; they told me, if I would not confess, I 
 should be put down into the dungeon, and would be 
 hanged, but if I would confess, I should have my 
 
 1 A short time after the execution of Mr. Burroughs and her 
 grandfather, the wretched woman wrote an affecting letter to her 
 father, dated " from the dungeon in Salem prison, August 20, "92." 
 " The reason of my confinement here," she says, " is this, I having, 
 through the magistrates' threatenings, and my own vile and 
 wretched heart, confessed several things contrary to my conscience 
 and knowledge, though to the wounding of my own soul, the Lord 
 pardon me for it ; but oh ! the terrors of a wounded conscience 
 who can bear." " Dear father, let me beg your prayers to the 
 Lord on my behalf, and send us a joyful and happy meeting in 
 heaven. My mother, poor woman, is very crazy, and remembers 
 her kind love to you."
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 91 x 
 
 life ; the which did so affright me, and, with my own 
 vile wicked heart, to save my life, made me make 
 the confession I did, which confession, may it please 
 the honored court, is altogether false and untrue. 
 The very first night after I had made confession, I 
 was in such horror of conscience, that I could not 
 sleep for fear the devil should carry me away for tel- 
 ling such horrid lies. I was, may it please the hon- 
 ored court, sworn to my confession, as I understand 
 since, but then, at that time, was ignorant of it, not 
 knowing what an oath did mean. The Lord, I hope, 
 in whom I trust, out of the abundance of his mercy, 
 will forgive me my false forswearing myself. What 
 I said, was altogether false against my grandfather, 
 and Mr. Burroughs, which I did to save my life and 
 to have my liberty ; but the Lord, charging it to my 
 conscience, made me in so much horror, that I could 
 not contain myself before I had denied my confes- 
 sion, which I did, though I saw nothing but death 
 before me, choosing rather death with a quiet con- 
 science, than to live in such horror, which I could 
 not suffer. Where, upon my denying my con- 
 fession, I was committed to close prison, where 
 I have enjoyed more felicity in spirit, a thousand 
 times, than I did before in my enlargement. And 
 now, may it please your honors, your declarant, 
 having, in part, given your honors a description 
 of my condition, do leave it to your honors' pious 
 and judicious discretions, to take pity and compas- 
 sion on my young and tender years, to act and do 
 with me, as the Lord above and your honors shall 
 see good, having no friend, but the Lord, to plead
 
 92 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 my cause for me ; not being guilty in the least meas- 
 ure of the crime of witchcraft, nor any other sin that 
 deserves death from man ; and your poor and humble 
 declarant shall for ever pray, as she is bound in duty, 
 for your honors' happiness in this life and eternal 
 felicity in the world to come. So prays your honors' 
 declarant." 
 
 The prisoners had been increasing from the middle 
 of February, until June. The jails of Essex and 
 the neighboring counties were full, and there had 
 been no trials. Q|^ May, the new charter and the royal 
 governor, Sir William Phipps, arrived in Boston. The 
 latter, a firm believer in witchcraft, finding the pris- 
 ons filled with victims, charged with this offence, 
 and, urged on by the seeming emergency of the oc- 
 casion, issued his special commission, constituting the 
 persons named in it a court to act in and for the 
 (Counties of Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex. This 
 court, beyond all question an illegal tribunal, be- 
 cause the governor had no shadow of authority to 
 constitute itT^onsisted of seven judges, namely ; 
 William Stoughton, the lieutenant governor, chief 
 justice, Nathaniel Saltonstal, who subsequently re- 
 fused to act, and his place was supplied by Jonathan 
 Curwin, John Richards, Bartholomew Gedney, Wait 
 Winthrop, Samuel Sewall, and Peter Sergeant. The 
 date of their commission was the second of June, 1692, 
 and on the same day the court convened at Salem. 
 It was a popular tribunal ; there was not a lawyer con- 
 cerned in its proceedings. Stoughton and Sewall had 
 been educated clergymen ; Winthrop and Gedney as 
 physicians ; Richards was a merchant ; Sergeant was
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 93 
 
 an influential man in the colony ; and Saltonstal, who 
 refused to proceed against those suspected of witch- 
 craft, was an educated man, graduated at Cambridge, 
 in 1659 ; and afterwards became distinguished as a 
 military commander. 
 
 At the opening of the court at Salem, on the second 
 of June, 1692, the commission of the governor was 
 published, and the oath of office was administered to 
 Thomas Newton as attorney general, and to Stephen 
 Sewall as clerk, ^fke chief justice then delivered a 
 charge to the grand jury, in which he told them 
 they were not to mind whether the bodies of the 
 afflicted were really pined and consumed as was 
 expressed in the indictment, but whether the 
 afflicted did not suffer from the accused such afflic- 
 tions as naturally tended to their being pined and 
 consumed. This, said he, is a pining and consuming 
 in the sense of the law^^ 
 
 The general course of proceedings, at these trials, 
 was entirely consistent with the character of the 
 court and the nature of their business. After plead- 
 ing to the indictment, if the prisoner denied his 
 guilt, the afflicted persons were first brought into 
 
 1 Brattle's letter; Mass. His. Soc. Coll. v, 60. Mr. Washburn, 
 in his Judicial History of Massachusetts, says that Antony Checkley 
 was the attorney general at these trials ; but Thomas Newton appears 
 to have acted in that capacity at the first session of the court on 
 June 2. Checkley's commission from governor Phipps, is dated 
 July 7. 1 find among the papers relating to these trials at Salem, 
 one containing the form of oath administered to Newton as the 
 prosecuting officer, concluding thus : " Salem, June 2, 1692. Tho- 
 mas Newton took the oath aforesaid in open court, before me. Win. 
 Stoughton." It is probable, that Checkley acted as prosecuting 
 officer at the subsequent trials.
 
 94 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 court and sworn as to who afflicted them. Then the 
 confessors, that is, those who had voluntarily ac- 
 knowledged themselves witches, were called upon to 
 tell what they knew of the accused ; " a thing," said 
 Brattle, who wrote at the time, " which I believe was 
 never heard of in this world, that such as confess 
 themselves to be witches, to have renounced God 
 and Christ, and all that is sacred, should yet be al- 
 lowed and ordered to swear by the name of the 
 great God ! "ij^Troclamation was then made for all 
 who could give any testimony, however foreign to 
 the charge, to come into court, and whatever any 
 one volunteered to tell was admitted as evidence^, 
 lj?he next process was to search for " witch .marks,"" 
 the doctrine being that the devil affixed his mark to 
 those in alliance with him, and that this point on 
 the body became callous and dead. This duty was 
 performed by a jury of the same sex, who made a 
 particular return of the appearance of the body, and 
 whether there was any preternatural excrescence. A 
 wart or a mole on the body of a prisoner was often 
 conclusive against him, when the evidence was oth- 
 erwise doubtful. These examinations in the case of 
 women were made by a jury of matrons, aided by 
 a medical man as foreman. They were very mi- 
 nute, and, in some respects, the most cruel and 
 disgusting part of the proceedings. The unhappy 
 prisoners were not only subjected to the mortification 
 of a gross exposure before the jury of examination, 
 but when any witch mark was found, it was punctured 
 with pins to ascertain whether there was any feeling. 
 There were usually several examinations of the same
 
 WITCHCBAFT. 95 
 
 individual. In one instance, a woman was examined 
 at 10 o'clock in the morning, and at 4 o'clock in the 
 afternoon the jury certified that they had again ex- 
 amined her, and that her breast, which " in the 
 morning search appeared to us very full, the nibblis 
 fresh and starting, now at this search all lancke and 
 pendant." Of the nine women who were on this 
 jury, but one could write her name ; the remainder 
 made their marks. 
 
 Evidence was also received respecting the appear- 
 ance of the accused at the preliminary examinations ; 
 and the various signs of witchcraft which then ap- 
 peared were detailed with much particularity. It was 
 a great sign of witchcraft to make an error in the 
 Lotd!s_ prayer, which the accused on those occa- 
 sions were required to repeat, and if they made 
 a single error, it was brought up at their trial as 
 evidence against them. Thus, one repeated the 
 prayer correctly in every particular, excepting that 
 she said " deliver us from all evil," " which was 
 looked upon as if she prayed against what she was 
 now justly under." Upon making another attempt, 
 she said " hollowed be thy name," instead of " hal- 
 lowed be thy name ; " and this " was counted a de- 
 praving the words, as signifying to make void, and so 
 a curse, rather than a prayer." The appearance of 
 the accused, and of those supposed to be bewitched, 
 also had an effect against the prisoner. Sometimes 
 the witnesses were struck dumb for a long time ; at 
 others, they would fall into terrible fits, and were in- 
 sensible to the touch of all but the accused, who they 
 declared tormented them. Sometimes the accused
 
 96 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 were ordered to look on the afflicted, when the latter 
 would be immediately thrown into fits. It was 
 thought that an invisible and impalpable fluid darted 
 from the eyes of the witch and penetrated the brain 
 of the bewitched. A touch by the witch attracted 
 back the malignant fluid, and the sufferers recovered 
 their senses. 1 Another sign of witchcraft, of great 
 consideration, was an inability of the accused to shed 
 tears. 
 
 \There was one species of evidence which was of 
 great effect in these prosecutions, and which it was 
 impossible to rebut. Witnesses were allowed to tes- 
 tify to certain acts of the accused, when the latter 
 were not present in the body ; that they were tor- 
 mented by apparitions or spectres of the accused, 
 which pinched them, robbed them of their goods, 
 caused them to languish and pine away, pricked 
 them ; and they produced Jthe identical pins which 
 were used for this purpose.*/" 
 
 1 Upham's Lectures on Witchcraft, 41. The similarity of these 
 symptoms to those produced by the mesmerism or animal mag- 
 netism of the present day is worthy of observation. 
 
 * They were filed away with the other evidence in these cases, 
 and may be examined at the present day. \The testimony appears 
 to have been reduced to writing. This was^sbmetimes done at the 
 trial, when the witness swore to the correctness of what had been 
 taken down. Sometimes the evidence would seem to have been 
 taken weeks and months before, and the witness would " give it 
 in " at the trial. In other cases, evidence thus taken was used 
 although the witness was not present at the trial. In some in- 
 stances, the testimony was taken and sworn to before the grand 
 jury, and was then used at the triaL^When these " testimonies " 
 were drawn up out of court there was sometimes a certificate by 
 one present as to the appearance of the witnesses, their shrieks, 
 fainting, and passionate exclamations that they were tormented, 
 being all carefully noted at the bottom of the depositions. 

 
 WITCHCRAFT. 97 
 
 Before giving the details of some of these trials, it 
 is proper to remark, that the term tjj^itch ^? had a 
 somewhat different signification at the period referred 
 to, from what it had in more ancient times. It was ap- 
 plied indiscriminately to either sex, and designated 
 (tKose who had made a deliberate and formal contract 
 witn the devil to become his subjecfsj^nd, in conse- 
 quence" of this allegiance, he was supposed to exercise 
 his supernatural powers in their favor, and to com- 
 municate to them a portion of those powers^ It was 
 a wilful transferring of allegiance from God to the 
 devil, by means of a compact usually made by the 
 witch's signing a book presented to her by the other 
 party. 
 
 TRIAL OF BRIDGET BISHOP. 
 
 At the first session of the special court of oyer 
 and terminer, held in June, 1692, but one trial took 
 place. The victim selected for this occasion was 
 Bridget Bishop, or Oliver, a poor and friendless old 
 woman, who had been charged with witchcraft 
 twenty years before. The indictment against her set 
 forth, that on the nineteenth day of April, and at 
 divers other days and times, as well before as after, 
 she used, practiced, and exercised certain detestable 
 arts, called witchcrafts and sorceries, at and within 
 the township of Salem, in, upon, and against one 
 Mercy Lewis, of Salem village; by which wicked 
 arts, the said Mercy Lewis "was hurt, tortured, 
 afflicted, pined, consumed, wasted, and tormented, 
 against the peace of our sovereign lord and lady, the 
 king and queen, and against the form of the statute
 
 98 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 in that case made and provided." There were four 
 other indictments against the prisoner, for the same 
 crime, in afflicting other persons. On her arraign- 
 ment, she pleaded not guilty. 
 
 The fact that the crime had been committed, or 
 that certain persons were bewitched by some one, 
 was considered too notorious to require much proof; 
 and, to fix the crime on the prisoner, the first testi- 
 mony adduced was that of the persons supposed to 
 be bewitched. Several of them testified, that the 
 shape of the prisoner sometimes very grievously 
 pinched, choaked, bit, and afflicted them ; urging 
 them to write their names in a book, which the said 
 spectre called " ours." One of them further testified, 
 that the shape of the prisoner, with another, one day 
 took her from her wheel, and, carrying her to the river 
 side, threatened there to drown her, if she did not 
 sign the book. Others testified, that the said shape 
 did in her threats brag to them, that she had been 
 the death of sundry persons, then by her named. 
 Another testified to the apparition of ghosts to the 
 spectre of the prisoner, crying out, " you murdered 
 us." " About the truth whereof," adds the reporter 
 of this trial, " there was, in the matter of fact, but 
 too much suspicion." 
 
 It was then testified, that at the first examination 
 of the prisoner before the magistrates, the bewitched 
 were extremely tortured. If she did but cast her 
 eyes on them, they were presently cast down ; and 
 this in such a manner that there could be no collusion 
 in the business. But upon the touch of her hand 
 upon them, when they lay in their swoons, they 

 
 WITCHCRAFT. 99 
 
 would immediately revive ; and not upon the touch 
 of any one's else. Moreover, upon some special ac- 
 tions of her body, as the shaking of her head, or the 
 turning of her eyes, they presently and painfully fell 
 into the like postures ; and many of the like acci- 
 dents now fell out, while she was at the bar ; one 
 at the same time testifying, that she said she could 
 not be troubled to see the afflicted thus tormented. 
 There was testimony likewise brought in, that a man 
 striking once at the place where a bewitched person 
 said the shape of this Bishop stood, the bewitched 
 cried out, that he had torn her coat, in the place then 
 particularly specified ; and the woman's coat was 
 found to be torn in the very place. 
 
 Deliverance Hobbs, who had confessed herself to 
 be a witch, testified, that the spectre of the prisoner 
 was then tormenting her on account of her confes- 
 sion, and tempting her to sign the book again, and to 
 deny what she had confessed. She affirmed, that it 
 was the shape of this prisoner, which whipped her 
 with iron rods, to compel her thereunto ; and she 
 affirmed, that this Bishop was at a general meeting 
 of the witches, in a field at Salem village, and there 
 partook of a diabolical sacrament in bread and wine 
 then administered. 
 
 John Cook testified, that about five or six years 
 ago, one morning about sunrise, he was assaulted in 
 his chamber by the shape of this prisoner, which 
 looked on him, grinned at him, and very much hurt 
 him, with a blow on the side of the head ; and, that, 
 on the same day about noon, the same shape walked 
 into the room where he was, and an apple strangely
 
 100 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 flew out of his hand, into the lap of his mother, six 
 or eight feet from him. 
 
 Samuel Gray testified, that about fourteen years 
 ago, he waked on a night, and saw the room where 
 he lay full of light ; and that he then saw plainly 
 a woman between the cradle and the bedside, which 
 looked upon him. He rose and it vanished ; though 
 he found the doors all fast ; looking out at the entry 
 door, he saw the same woman in the same garb 
 again ; and said, " in God's name, what do you come 
 for ? " He went to bed, and had the same woman 
 assaulting him. The child in the cradle gave a great 
 screech, and the woman disappeared. It was long 
 before the child could be quieted ; and though it was 
 a very likely, thriving child, yet from this time it 
 pined away and after divers months died in a sad 
 condition. He knew not Bishop, nor her name ; but 
 when he saw her after this, he knew by her counte- 
 nance, and apparel, and all circumstances, that it was 
 the apparition of this Bishop, which had thus troubled 
 him. 
 
 John Bly and his wife testified, that he bought a 
 sow of Edward Bishop, the husband of the prisoner ; 
 and was to pay the price agreed unto another person. 
 The prisoner being angry that she was thus hindered 
 from fingering the money, quarrelled with Bly ; soon 
 after which, the sow was taken with strange fits, 
 jumping, leaping, and knocking her head against the 
 fence ; she seemed blind and deaf, and would neither 
 eat nor be sucked ; whereupon a neighbor said, she 
 believed the creature was overlooked ; and sundry 
 other circumstances concurred, which made the de- 
 ponents believe that Bishop had bewitched it.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 101 
 
 Richard Cowan testified, that eight years ago, as 
 he lay awake in his bed, with a light burning in the 
 room, he was annoyed with the apparition of the 
 prisoner, and of two more that were strangers to 
 him, who came and oppressed him, so that he could 
 neither stir himself, nor wake any one else ; and that 
 he was the night after molested again in the like 
 manner ; the said Bishop taking him by the throat, 
 and pulling him almost out of the bed. His kinsman 
 offered for this cause to lodge with him ; and, that 
 night, as they were awake discoursing together, the 
 witness was once more visited by the guests, which 
 had formerly been so troublesome, his kinsman being 
 at the same time struck speechless, and unable to 
 move hand or foot. He had laid his sword by him, 
 which those unhappy spectres did strive much to 
 wrest from him, but he held it too fast for them. 
 He then grew able to call the people of his house ; 
 but although they heard him, yet they had not power 
 to speak or stir, until at last, one of the people crying 
 out, " what is the matter? " the spectres all vanished. 
 
 Samuel Shattock testified, that in the year 1680, 
 this Bridget Bishop often came to his house upon 
 such frivolous and foolish errands, that they suspected 
 she came indeed with a purpose of mischief. Pre- 
 sently whereupon, his eldest child, which was of as 
 promising health and sense as any child of its age, 
 began to droop exceedingly ; and the oftener that 
 Bishop came to the house, the worse grew the child. 
 As the child would be standing at the door, he would 
 be thrown and bruised against the stones, by an in- 
 visible hand, and in like sort knock his face against 
 9*
 
 102 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 the sides of the house, and bruise it after a miserable 
 manner. Afterwards, this Bishop would bring him 
 things to dye, whereof he could not imagine any use ; 
 and when she paid him a piece of money, the purse 
 and money were unaccountably conveyed out of a 
 locked box, and never seen more. The child was 
 immediately hereupon taken with terrible fits, whereof 
 his friends thought he would have died. Indeed, he 
 did almost nothing but cry and sleep, for several 
 months together ; and at length his understanding 
 was utterly taken away. Among other symptoms of 
 an enchantment upon him, one was, that there was a 
 board in the garden whereon he would walk ; and 
 all the invitations in the world could never fetch him 
 off. About seventeen or eighteen years after, there 
 came a stranger to the witness's house, who, seeing 
 the child, said, " this poor child is bewitched ; and 
 you have a neighbor living not far off who is a witch." 
 He added, " your neighbor has had a falling out with 
 your wife ; and she said in her heart, your wife is a 
 proud woman, and she would bring down her pride 
 in this child : " He then remembered, that Bishop 
 had parted from his wife in muttering, and menacing 
 terms, a little before the child was taken ill. The 
 aforesaid stranger would needs carry the bewitched 
 boy with him, to Bishop's house, on pretence of buy- 
 ing a pot of cider. The woman entertained him in a 
 furious manner ; and flew also upon the boy, scratch- 
 ing his face till the blood came, and saying : " thou 
 rogue, what, dost thou bring this fellow here to 
 plague me ? " Now, the witness had said before he 
 went, that he would fetch blood of her. Ever after,
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 103 
 
 the boy was followed with grievous fits, which the 
 doctors themselves generally ascribed unto witch- 
 craft ; and wherein he would be thrown still into the 
 fire or water, if he were not constantly looked after ; 
 and the witness verily believed that Bishop was the 
 cause of it. 
 
 John Louder testified, that upon some little con- 
 troversy with Bishop about her fowls, going well to 
 bed, he awoke in the night by moonlight, and saw 
 clearly the likeness of this woman grievously op- 
 pressing him ; in which miserable condition she 
 held him unable to help himself, till near day. He 
 told Bishop of this; but she utterly denied it, and 
 threatened him very much. Quickly after this, being 
 at home on a Lord's day, with the doors shut about 
 him, he saw a black pig approach him ; which endeav- 
 oring to kick, it vanished away. Immediately after, 
 sitting down, he saw a black thing jump in at the 
 window, and come and stand before him. The 
 body was like that of a monkey, the feet like a 
 cock's, but the face much like a man's. He being 
 so extremely affrighted that he could not speak, 
 this monster spoke to him and said : " I am a mes- 
 senger sent unto you, for I understand that you 
 are in some trouble of mind, and if you will be 
 ruled by me, you shall want for nothing in this 
 world." Whereupon he endeavored to clap his 
 hands upon it ; but he could feel no substance, and 
 it jumped out of the window again ; but immediately 
 came in by the porch, though the doors were shut, 
 and said, " you had better take my counsel." He 
 then struck at it with a stick, but struck only the
 
 104 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 groundsel, and broke the stick. The arm with which 
 he struck was presently disabled ; and it vanished 
 away. He presently went out at the back door, and 
 spied this Bishop, in her orchard, going toward her 
 house ; but he had not power to set one foot forward 
 unto her. Whereupon, returning into the house, he 
 was immediately accosted by the monster he had 
 seen before, which goblin was going to fly at him ; 
 whereat he cried out, " the whole armor of God be 
 between me and you ! " So it sprung back, and 
 flew over the apple tree, shaking many apples off 
 the tree in its flying over. At its leap, it flung dirt 
 with its feet against the stomach of the man ; where- 
 on he was then struck dumb, and so continued for 
 three days together. 
 
 "Upon the producing of this testimony," says 
 Cotton Mather, " Bishop denied that she knew this 
 deponent. Yet their two orchards joined, and they 
 had often had their little quarrels for some years to- 
 gether." 
 
 William Stacy testified, that receiving money of this 
 Bishop, for work done by him, he was gone but a 
 matter of three roods from her, and looking for his 
 money found it unaccountably gone from him. Some 
 time after, Bishop asked him whether his father would 
 grind her grist for her ? He demanded why ? She 
 replied, because folks count me a witch. He an- 
 swered ; " no question but he will grind it for you." 
 Being then gone about six roods from her, with a 
 load in his cart, suddenly the off wheel slumpt, and 
 sunk down into an hole, upon plain ground, so that 
 the witness was forced to get help for the recovering
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 105 
 
 of the wheel. But stepping back to look for the hole 
 which might give him this disaster, there was none at 
 all to be found. Some time after, he was waked in 
 the night ; but it seemed as light as day, and he per- 
 fectly saw the shape of this Bishop in the room, 
 troubling of him ; but upon her going out, all was 
 dark again. He charged Bishop afterwards with it, 
 and she denied it not ; but was very angry. Quickly 
 after, this witness having been threatened by Bishop, 
 as he was in a dark night going to the barn, he was 
 very suddenly taken or lifted from the ground, and 
 thrown against a stone wall ; after that, he was again 
 hoisted up, and thrown down a bank, at the end of 
 his house. After this, again passing by this Bishop, 
 his horse, with a small load, striving to draw, all his 
 gears flew to pieces, and the cart fell down, and this 
 deponent going then to lift a bag of corn, of about 
 two bushels, could not budge it with all his might. 
 Many other pranks of this Bishop, the witness was 
 ready to relate. He also testified, that he verily be- 
 lieved the said Bishop was the instrument of his 
 daughter Priscilla's death ; " of which suspicion, 
 pregnant reasons were assigned." 
 
 John Bly and William Ely testified, that being 
 employed by Bridget Bishop to help take down the 
 cellar wall of the old house wherein she formerly lived, 
 they did in holes of the said old wall find several pop- 
 pets, made up of rags and hog's bristles, with headless 
 pins in them, the points being outward ; " whereof 
 the prisoner could now give no account unto the 
 court that was reasonable or tolerable." 
 
 An examination of the prisoner was made by a
 
 106 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 jury of women, who reported that they found a pre- 
 ternatural " tet " upon her body, and on making a 
 second examination within three or four hours, there 
 was no such thing to be seen. 
 
 The poor woman undertook to explain the circum- 
 stances which had been related against her, but she 
 was constantly harrassed ; and, becoming confused, 
 she apparently prevaricated somewhat, and all she 
 said made against her. She seems to have been a 
 woman of violent temper, who had lived on ill terms 
 with her neighbors, for many years, and who had long 
 had the reputation of being a witch. Those of her 
 neighbors, who had suffered from her uncomfortable 
 disposition, were nothing loth to attribute all their 
 misfortunes to her ; and she thus stood little chance 
 of a fair trial. 
 
 She was convicted and sentenced to be hanged, 
 and was remanded to prison to await her doom. " As 
 she was under a guard, passing by the great and 
 spacious meeting house of Salem," Cotton Mather 
 relates this, " she gave a look towards the house ; 
 and immediately a demon, invisibly entering the 
 meeting house, tore down a part of it ; so that though 
 there were no person to be seen there, yet the people 
 at the noise running in found a board, which was 
 strongly fastened with several nails, transported unto 
 another quarter of the house." She was executed 
 on the tenth of June, solemnly protesting her inno- 
 cence to the last. 
 
 After the trial and condemnation of Bridget Bishop, 
 the court adjourned to the thirtieth of June ; and the
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 107 
 
 governor and council thought proper, in the mean 
 time, to take the opinion of several ministers upon 
 the state of things as they then stood. Their return, 
 understood to have been drawn up by Cotton Mather, 
 was as follows. 
 
 " 1 . The afflicted state of our poor neighbors, that 
 are now suffering by molestations from the invisible 
 world, we apprehend so deplorable, that we think 
 their condition calls for the utmost help of all per- 
 sons in their several capacities. 
 
 " 2. We cannot but with all thankfulness acknow- 
 ledge the success, which the merciful God has given 
 to the sedulous and assiduous endeavors of our hon- 
 orable rulers, to defeat the abominable witchcrafts 
 which have been committed in the country, humbly 
 praying, that the discovery of those mysterious and 
 mischievous wickednesses may be perfected. 
 
 " 3. We judge that in the prosecution of these 
 and all such witchcrafts, there is need of a very criti- 
 cal and exquisite caution, lest by too much credulity 
 for things received only upon the devil's authority, 
 there be a door opened for a long train of miserable 
 consequences, and Satan get an advantage over us ; 
 for we should not be ignorant of his devices. 
 
 " 4. As, in complaints upon witchcrafts, there may 
 be matters of inquiry which do not amount unto 
 matters of presumption, and there may be matters of 
 presumption which yet may not be matters of convic- 
 tion, so it is necessary, that all proceedings, thereabout, 
 be managed with an exceeding tenderness toward those 
 that may be complained of, especially if they have been 
 persons formerly of an unblemished reputation.
 
 108 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 " 5. When the first inquiry is made into the cir- 
 cumstances of such as may lie under the just suspi- 
 cion of witchcrafts, we could wish that there may be 
 admitted as little as possible of such noise, company, 
 and openness, as may too hastily expose them that 
 are examined, and that there may be nothing used as 
 a test for the trial of the suspected, the lawfulness 
 whereof may be doubted by the people of God ; but 
 that the directions given by such judicious writers as 
 ^Perkins and Bernard may be observed. 
 
 "6. Presumptions whereupon persons may be 
 committed, and, much more, convictions whereupon 
 persons may be condemned, as guilty of witchcrafts, 
 ought certainly to be more considerable than barely 
 the accused person's being represented by a spectre 
 unto the afflicted ; inasmuch as it is an undoubted 
 and a notorious thing, that a daemon may, by God's 
 permission, appear, even to ill purposes, in the shape 
 of an innocent, yea and a virtuous man. Nor can 
 we esteem alterations made in the sufferers, by a look 
 or touch of the accused, to be an infallible evidence 
 of guilt, but frequently liable to be abused by the 
 devil's legerdemain. 
 
 "1. We know not whether some remarkable af- 
 fronts given the devils, by our disbelieving those tes- 
 timonies whose whole force and strength is from 
 them alone, may not put a period unto the progress 
 of the dreadful calamity begun upon us, in the accu- 
 sation of so many persons, whereof some, we hope, 
 are yet clear from the great transgression laid to their 
 charge. 
 
 " 8. Nevertheless, we cannot but humbly recom-
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 109 
 
 mend, unto the government, the speedy and vigorous 
 prosecutions, of such as have rendered themselves 
 obnoxious, according to the directions given in the 
 laws of God, and the wholesome statutes of the Eng- 
 lish nation, for the detection of witchcrafts." 
 
 More attention was paid to the last article of this re- 
 turn than to any of the others. The exquisite caution 
 proposed received but little attention ; the prosecu- 
 tions were carried on with all possible vigor. Accord- 
 ingly, when the court again met on the thirtieth of 
 June, five women were brought to trial, namely, Sarah 
 Good and Rebecca Nurse, of Salem village, Susannah 
 Martin, 1 of Amesbury, Elizabeth How, of Ipswich, and 
 Sarah Wildes, of Topsfield. They were condemned, 
 and executed on the nineteenth of July. There 
 was no difficulty with any but Rebecca Nurse. She 
 was a member of the church, and of a good charac- 
 ter ; as to her the jury brought in a verdict of not 
 guilty. The accusers made a great clamor, and the 
 court expressed much dissatisfaction. They said the 
 jury must have disregarded the words the prisoner 
 used, when two female witnesses, Mrs. Hobbs and 
 her daughter, appeared against her, which were; 
 " what ! do these persons give in evidence against 
 me now ? they used to come among us ; " which, in 
 the opinion of the court, referred to a witch meeting. 
 
 1 Of Susannah Martin, Cotton Mather says : " This woman was 
 one of the most impudent, scurrilous, wicked creatures in the 
 world ; and she did now, throughout her whole tryal, discover her- 
 self to be such an one. Yet when she was asked what she had to 
 say of hersolf, her chief plea was, that she had led a most vertuous 
 and holy life." Wonders of the Invisible World, 1J6. Calef, 132, 
 1st edit. 
 
 10
 
 110 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 The jury again retired, " but could not tell how to 
 take her words against her," (the foreman afterwards 
 said this,) " till she had a further opportunity to put 
 her sense upon them, if she would take it ; " and 
 the words were again mentioned in court, but the 
 accused making no explanation, the jury no longer 
 hesitated to convict. The poor woman, being in- 
 formed of the use which had been made of her 
 words, gave in a declaration to the court, that when 
 she said Hobbs and her daughter were of her com- 
 pany, she meant no more than that they were pris- 
 oners as well as herself, and ought not to be per- 
 mitted to testify against their fellow prisoners, and 
 that, being hard of hearing and full of grief, she did 
 not know what the foreman of the jury said, and 
 therefore had no opportunity to explain her meaning. 
 The governor, it is said, saw cause to grant a re- 
 prieve, but it met with violent opposition, and was 
 recalled. 1 On the next communion day, she was 
 taken in chains to the meeting house, to be formally 
 excommunicated by Mr. Noyes, her minister, and 
 was hanged with the rest on the nineteenth of July. 
 " But her life and conversation had been such, that the 
 remembrance thereof, in a short time after, wiped off 
 all the reproach occasioned by the civil or ecclesiasti- 
 cal sentence against her." 
 
 At the trial of Sarah Good, it is said that one of 
 the afflicted persons fell into a fit, and, after recovery, 
 cried out <JEat the prisoner had stabbed her and 
 
 1 There is said to have been an organized committee in Salem, 
 whose business it was to carry on these prosecutions, and the re- 
 prieve in Nurse's case was defeated by them.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. Ill 
 
 broke her knife in doing it ; " and a piece of the 
 knife was found upon the afflicted person ; but a 
 young man declared, that, the day before, he broke 
 that very knife and threw away the piece, this afflict- 
 ed person being then present. The court took so 
 much notice of this as to bid her tell no more lies, but 
 to use her as a witness against other prison-- 
 n Sarah Good came to be executed, 
 Noyes, her minister, urged her to confess, and told 
 her she was a witch, and she knew she was a witch ; to 
 which she replied ;^^ypu are a liar I am no more a 
 witch than you are a wizzard, and if you take away my 
 life, God will give you blood to drink." For many 
 years afterwards, the people of Salem had a tradition, 
 that the curse of this poor woman was verified, Mr. 
 Noyes having been choked to death with bloodp/' 
 
 At the next adjournment of the court, on the fifth of 
 August, six persons were brought to trial and were con- 
 demned to be executed on the nineteenth of August, 
 namely, John Proctor, Elizabeth, his wife, and John 
 Willard, of Salem village, George Jacobs, of Salem, 
 Martha Carrier, of Andover, and George Burroughs, 
 of Wells, in the province of Maine. 
 
 A short time before their trial, Proctor addressed a 
 letter from the prison in Salem to the ministers of 
 Boston, in which he implored their intercession with 
 the governor in behalf of himself and the others who 
 were soon to be tried for their lives. " The inno- 
 cency of our cause," he said, " with the enmity of 
 
 1 Calef. A similar fraud in a trial before Sir Matthew Hale is 
 referred to ante, page 70.
 
 112 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 our accusers, and our judges, and jury, whom no- 
 thing but our innocent blood will serve their turn, 
 having condemned us already before our trials, being 
 so much incensed and enraged against us by the 
 devil, makes us bold to beg and implore your favora- 
 ble assistance of this our humble petition to his ex- 
 cellency ; that if it be possible our innocent blood 
 may be spared, which undoubtedly otherwise will be 
 shed, if the Lord doth not mercifully step in. The 
 magistrates, ministers, juries, and all the people in 
 general, being so much enraged and incensed against 
 J^ us by the delusion of the devil, which we can term 
 ' no other, by reason we know in our own consciences, 
 we are all innocent persons. Here are five persons 
 who have lately confessed themselves to be witches, 
 and do accuse some of us of being along with them 
 at a sacrament, since we were committed into close 
 prison, which we know to be lies. Two of the five 
 are Carrier's sons ; young men who would not con- 
 fess any thing till they tied them neck and heels, till 
 the blood was ready to come out of their noses, and 
 it is credibly believed, and reported this was the occa- 
 sion of making them confess that which they never did, 
 by reason they said one had been a witch a month, 
 and another five weeks, and that their mother had 
 made them so, who has been confined here this nine 
 weeks. My son, William Proctor, when he was ex- 
 amined, because he would not confess that he was 
 guilty, when he was innocent, they tied him neck 
 and heels till the blood gushed out at his nose, and 
 would have kept him so twenty-four hours, if one 
 more merciful than the rest had not taken pity on
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 113 
 
 him, and caused him to be unbound. These actions 
 are very like the popish cruelties. They have al- 
 ready undone us in our estates, 1 and that will not 
 serve their turns, without our innocent blood. If it 
 cannot be granted that we can have our trials at 
 Boston, we humbly beg that you would endeavor to 
 have these magistrates changed, and others in their 
 rooms ; begging also and beseeching you would be 
 pleased to be here, if not all, some of you at our 
 trials, hoping thereby you may be the means of 
 saving the shedding our innocent blood, desiring 
 your prayers to the Lord in our behalf, we rest your 
 poor afflicted servants." 
 
 When Proctor came to die, he pleaded hard for a 
 little respite of time, saying that he was not fit to 
 die ; but it was refused. He had requested Noyes 
 to pray with and for him, but that was refused be- 
 cause he would not confess himself a witch. His 
 wife being pregnant was reprieved. 
 
 John Willard, who was executed with the rest, at 
 this time, was formerly employed as an officer in ar- 
 resting those accused of witchcraft ; but becoming 
 
 1 While Proctor and his wife were in prison, the sheriff came to 
 his house and seized all the goods, provisions and cattle that he 
 could come at ; sold some of the cattle at half price ; killed 
 others, and put them up for the West Indies ; threw out the beer 
 out of a barrel, and carried away the barrel ; emptied a pot of broth, 
 and took away the pot, and left nothing in the house for the sup- 
 port of the children. When Jacobs was condemned, the officers 
 seized all he had, and his wife had her wedding ring taken from her, 
 but with great difficulty obtained it again. She was forced to buy 
 provisions of the sheriff, such as he had taken, towards her own 
 support, which not being sufficient, the neighbors, of charity, re- 
 lieved her. Calef, 104, 105.
 
 114 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 dissatisfied, he declined the service, and was himself 
 immediately after accused of being a witch. He 
 escaped as far as Nashua, about forty miles from 
 Salem, but was taken and paid the forfeit of his dis- 
 obedience and want of faith with his life. 
 
 At the original examination of Martha Carrier, 
 two of her children had been tortured into a confes- 
 sion against her ; but Cotton Mather says this evi- 
 dence was not produced against the prisoner, at the 
 trial, inasmuch as there was other evidence enough 
 to proceed upon. At the end of his report of her 
 trial, this unhappy man makes the following " memo- 
 randum. This rampant hag, Martha Carryer, was 
 the person, of whom the confessions of the witches 
 and of her own children, among the rest, agreed 
 that the devil had promised her, she should be queen 
 of hell." J The confession of her daughter, a child 
 of seven years old, is still preserved. 
 
 TRIAL OF GEORGE BURROUGHS. 
 
 George Burroughs was a man of ability and edu- 
 cation, who was graduated at Cambridge, in 1670, 
 and had formerly been a minister in Salem village. 
 His trial and condemnation is one of the darkest 
 transactions, which the annals of crime in this coun- 
 try present. There were at the time vague hints, 
 which became at length positive assertions, of diffi- 
 culties between him and Parris, which render his 
 fate a terrible commentary on the power thrown into 
 the hands of a few designing men by the excited state 
 
 ' Wonders of the Invisible World, 138; Calef, 139, 1st edit.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 115 
 
 of public feeling. Moreover, he boldly denied that 
 there was or could be such a thing as witchcraft in the 
 current sense of the term. He was among the first 
 who were accused, and, after lying in jail several 
 months, he was brought to trial, as before stated, on 
 the fifth of August. The indictment set forth, that 
 the prisoner on the ninth day of May and divers other 
 days, as well before as after, " certain detestable 
 arts, called witchcraft and sorceries, wickedly and 
 feloniously hath used, practised, and exercised, at 
 and within the township of Salem, in the county of 
 Essex aforesaid, in, upon, and against one Anne Put- 
 nam, singlewoman, by which said wicked arts, the said 
 Anne Putnam, the ninth day of May, and divers 
 other days and times, as well before as after, was and 
 is tortured, afflicted, pined, consumed, wasted and tor- 
 mented, against the peace of our sovereign lord and 
 lady, the king and queen, and against the form of 
 the statute in that case made and provided." 
 
 There were three other indictments against the 
 prisoner, to all of which, on his arraignment, he 
 pleaded not guilty. The evidence against him was 
 of a very loose and general nature, consisting in a 
 great measure of things said and done by his shape 
 or apparition, when he was not present as to the 
 body. Attempts were made in this way to prove 
 that the prisoner had murdered two wives and other 
 persons. Testimony was also received respecting 
 great feats of strength performed by the prisoner. 
 But what made against him very much was the ap- 
 pearance of the witnesses, when they gave in their 
 testimony. They fell into terrible fits, and were
 
 116 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 struck dumb. " Who hinders these witnesses," said 
 the chief justice, " from giving their testimony ? " 
 " I suppose the devil," answered Burroughs. " How 
 comes the devil," retorted Stoughton, " so loath to 
 have any testimony borne against you ? " and the 
 question was decisive against him. The following is 
 the testimony of most of the witnesses at this trial, 
 condensed from original documents. 
 
 Anne Putnam. On the ninth of May, 1692, in the 
 evening, I saw the apparition of George Burroughs, 
 who grievously tortured me, and urged me to write 
 in his book, which I refused. He then told me that 
 his two first wives would appear to me presently and 
 tell me a great many lies, but I should not believe 
 them. Immediately there appeared to me the forms 
 of two women in winding sheets and napkins about 
 their heads, at which I was greatly affrighted. They 
 turned their faces towards Mr. Burroughs and looked 
 very red and angry at him, telling him that he had 
 been a cruel man to them, and that their blood cried 
 for vengeance against him. They also told him they 
 should be clothed with white robes in heaven when 
 he should be cast into hell. Immediately he van- 
 ished away, and, as soon as he was gone, the two 
 women turned their faces towards me, looking as 
 pale as a white wall. They said they were Mr. 
 Burroughs's first wives, and that he had murdered 
 them. One of them said she was his first wife, and 
 he stabbed her under the left arm and put a piece of 
 sealing wax on the wound ; and she pulled aside the 
 winding sheet and showed me the place, and also 
 told me that she was in the house where Mr. Parris
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 117 
 
 now lives when it was done. The other told me, 
 that Mr. Burroughs and his present wife killed 
 her in the vessel as she was coming to see her 
 friends, because they would have one another ; and 
 they both charged me that I should tell these things 
 to the magistrates before Mr. Burroughs's face, and 
 if he did not own them, they did not know but they 
 should appear there this morning. Mrs. Lawson and 
 her daughter also appeared to me and told me, that 
 Mr. Burroughs murdered them. This morning there 
 also appeared to me another woman in a winding 
 sheet, and told me, that she was goodman Fuller's 
 first wife, and that Mr. Burroughs killed her because of 
 some difference between her husband and himself. 
 The prisoner, on the ninth of May, also, at his first 
 examination, most grievously tormented and afflicted 
 Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, 
 and Abigail Williams, by pinching, pricking, and 
 choking them. 
 
 Elizabeth Hubbard. One night there appeared to 
 me a little black-bearded man in dark apparel, who told 
 me his name was Burroughs. He took a book out of 
 his pocket, and bade me set my hand to it. I refused. 
 The lines in the book were as red as blood. He then 
 pinched me and went away. He has often appeared 
 to me since and threatened to kill me if I would not 
 sign the book. He tortured me very much by biting, 
 pinching, and squeezing my body, and running pins 
 into me. At his first examination on May ninth, he 
 did most grievously afflict and torment the bodies of 
 Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Anne Putnam, and 
 Abigail Williams. If he did but look upon them, he
 
 118 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 would strike them down or almost choke them to 
 death. I believe in my heart, that Mr. George Bur- 
 roughs is a dreadful wizzard. 
 
 Sarah Viber. On the ninth of May last, as I was 
 going to Salem village, I saw the apparition of a little 
 man, like a minister, with a black coat on, and he 
 pinched me by the arm and bade me go with him, 
 but I would not, and when I came to the village, I 
 saw Mr. George Burroughs, whom I never saw be- 
 fore. Then I knew, that it was his apparition which 
 I had seen in the morning. He tortured me several 
 times during the time of his examination. I also 
 saw him or his appearance torment and afflict Mary 
 Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Anne 
 Putnam and Abigail Williams, by pinching, twisting, 
 and almost choking them to death. I believe in my 
 heart, that he is a dreadful wizzard. 
 
 Mercy Lewis. On the seventh of May last, in the 
 evening, I saw Mr. George Burroughs, who urged me 
 to write in his book. He told me, that the devil was 
 his servant, and mentioned several whom he had be- 
 witched. He tortured me dreadfully and threatened 
 to kill me, for he said I should not witness against 
 him. He also told me I should not see his two wives 
 if he could help it, because I should not witness 
 against him. On the ninth of May, Mr. Burroughs 
 carried me up into an exceeding high mountain and 
 showed me all the kingdoms of the earth, and told 
 me that he would give them all to me, if I would 
 write in his book, and if I would not, he would 
 throw me down and break my neck ; but I told him 
 they were not his to give, and I would not write if 
 he threw me down on a hundred pitchforks.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 119 
 
 Benjamin Hutchinson. On the twenty-first of 
 April, Abigail Williams told me there was a little black 
 minister who lived at Casco Bay, who told her he had 
 killed two wives for himself, and one for Mr. Lawson, 
 and that he could hold out the heaviest gun in Casco 
 Bay in one hand, although any other man can scarcely 
 hold one out in both hands. I asked her where this 
 little man stood. She said just where the cart wheel 
 went along. I had a three grained iron fork in my 
 hand and I threw it where she said he stood, and she 
 presently fell into a fit, and when it was over, said, 
 " you have torn his coat, for I heard it tare." 
 " Whereabouts ? " said I. " On one side " said she. 
 Then we came to the house of lieutenant Ingersol, 
 and I went into the great room. Abigail came in 
 and said, " there he stands." I said " where, where ? " 
 and presently drew my rapier, but he was immedi- 
 ately gone, as she said. Then she said, " there is a 
 gray cat." I struck with my rapier and she fell into 
 a fit. When it was over, she said, " you have killed 
 her." 
 
 Simon Willard. Being at the house of Mr. Law- 
 rence, at Falmouth, in Casco Bay, in September, 
 1689, he was commending the strength of Mr. 
 George Burroughs, saying that none of us could do 
 what he could ; " for," said he, " Mr. Burroughs can 
 hold out this gun with one hand." Mr. Burroughs 
 being present, explained where he took hold of the 
 gun to hold it out, but he did not hold it out then. 
 The gun was near a seven feet barrel and very heavy. 
 I could not hold it out with both hands long enough 
 to take sight. In 1689, being in captain Sargeant's
 
 120 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 garrison, Mr. Burroughs said he had carried a barrel 
 of molasses or cider from a boat to the shore. 
 
 Samuel Webber. About eight years ago I lived at 
 Casco Bay, and George Burroughs was then minister 
 there. Having heard much of his great strength, I 
 conversed with him about it, and he then told me, 
 that he had put his fingers into the bung of a barrel 
 of molasses, lifted it up, and carried it round him, 
 and set it down again. 
 
 Susannah Harris testified, that she formerly lived 
 at the house of Burroughs in Falmouth, and often 
 when he was absent and she had conversed with his 
 wife, he knew what was said and told her on his 
 return. 
 
 There appears to have been some further testimony 
 of which there is no record. The prisoner said but 
 little at his trial. He made some attempt to explain 
 away the testimony against him, but became con- 
 fused, and made contradictory statements. He also 
 handed in a paper to the jury, in which he utterly 
 denied that there was any truth in the received no- 
 tions of witchcraft. The jury returned a verdict of 
 guilty, and he was sentenced to die. 
 
 On the nineteenth of August, he was carried in a 
 cart through the streets of Salem with the others, 
 who were to die. Upon the ladder he made a calm 
 and powerful address to the multitude, in which he 
 asserted his innocence " with such solemn and seri- 
 ous expressions as were to the admiration of all 
 present." He then made a prayer, concluding with 
 the Lord's prayer, which he repeated in a clear, son- 
 orous tone, with entire exactness, and with a fervency
 
 ,;,,-i/i' /llir- 
 
 trial, 
 
 jcvm 772 crr 
 
 2 crroa/n /^ cr 
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 WITCHCRAFT. 121 
 
 that astonished. Many were affected to tears, and 
 it seemed as if the spectators would hinder the exe- 
 cution. But the accusers cried, that the devil assist- 
 ed him ; the execution proceeded, and the husband, 
 the father, and the minister of God, was violently 
 sent to his long home. Cotton Mather, on horse- 
 back in the crowd, addressed the people, declaring 
 that Burroughs was no ordained minister, insisted on 
 his guilt, and asserted that the devil had often been 
 transformed into an angel of light. When the body 
 was cut down, it was dragged by the halter to a 
 hole about a foot deep. It was stripped of its gar- 
 ments, and some old clothing of one executed being 
 put upon the body, it was thrown in with two others, 
 a part of it being left uncovered. 1 
 
 After the death of Burroughs, it was related, that 
 the night before his execution there was a great 
 witch meeting, at which the sacrament was adminis- 
 tered ; that Burroughs was present and took leave of 
 his companions, bidding them hold fast to the faith 
 and make no confessions. 
 
 On the ninth of September, Martha Cory, of Sa- 
 lem village, Mary Easty of Topsfield, Alice Parker 
 and Ann Pudeater, of Salem, Dorcas Hoar, of Bev- 
 erly, and Mary Bradbury, of Salisbury, were tried, 
 and received sentence of death ; and, on the seven- 
 teenth of the same month, Margaret Scott, of Row- 
 ley, Willmet Redd, of Marblehead, Samuel Ward- 
 well, Mary Parker, Mary Lacy, and Ann Foster, of 
 Andover, Abigail Falkner, of Andover, who pleaded 
 pregnancy, Rebecca Eames, of Boxford, and Abigail 
 
 1 Calef. 104. 1st edit. 
 11
 
 122 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Hobbs, of Topsfield, received the same sentence. 
 Of the above, eight were executed on the twenty- 
 second of September, namely, Samuel Wardwell, 
 Martha Cory, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pu- 
 deater, Margaret Scott, and Willmet Redd. 
 
 Wardwell had confessed and was safe ; but he re- 
 tracted his confession, and was condemned, not for 
 witchcraft, but for denying witchcraft. 1 At his exe- 
 cution, while addressing the people, protesting his 
 innocence, the executioner was smoking tobacco, and 
 the smoke coming into his face interrupted his dis- 
 course : " see how the devil wraps him in smoke," 
 was the shout of the accusing witnesses. 
 
 Martha Cory, an ancient and venerable woman, 
 protesting her innocence to the last, "concluded 
 her life with an eminent prayer on the ladder." Her 
 husband, Giles Cory, an octogenarian, seeing that 
 no one escaped, knowing that a trial was but the 
 form of convicting him of a felony, by which his 
 estate would be forfeited, refused to plead, and was 
 condemned to be pressed to death ; the only instance 
 in which the horrible death by the common law judg- 
 ment, for standing mute on arraignment, has been 
 inflicted in America. 4 As the aged frame of the dy- 
 ing man yielded to the dreadful pressure, his tongue 
 
 1 The original record of his confession, as taken September 1, 
 ]6r2, before John Higginson, is still preserved. Under it, in a dif- 
 ferent hand, is written : "Samuel Wardwell owned to the grand 
 inquest thit the above written confession was taken from his 
 mouth ; that he had said it. But he said he belied himself. He 
 also said it was all one ; he knew he should die for it, whether he 
 owned it or not. Sept. 13, lf>[>2." 
 
 8 Washburn's Judicial History of Massachusetts, 142.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 123 
 
 protruded from his mouth, and the sheriff thrust it 
 back again with the point of his cane. 1 
 
 Mary Easty, who was hanged with the others on 
 the twenty-second of September, was a woman of 
 great strength of mind and sweetness of disposition. 
 Before her trial she united with her sister, Sarah 
 Cloyse, in a petition to the court, in which they say : 
 " whereas we two sisters stand now before the hon- 
 ored court, charged with the suspicion of witchcraft, 
 our humble request is, first; that seeing we are 
 neither able to plead our own cause, nor is counsel 
 allowed to those in our condition, that you, who are 
 our judges, would please to be of counsel to us, to 
 direct us wherein we may stand in need. Secondly ; 
 that whereas we are not conscious to ourselves of 
 any guilt in the least degree of that crime whereof 
 we are now accused (in the presence of the living 
 God we speak it, before whose awful tribunal we know 
 we must ere long appear) nor of any other scanda- 
 lous evil or miscarriage inconsistent with Christianity, 
 those who have had the longest and best knowledge 
 of us, being persons of good report, may be suffered 
 to testify upon oath what they know concerning each 
 of us, namely, Mr. Capen, the pastor, and those of the 
 town and church of Topsfield, who are ready to say 
 
 1 Calef, 106. Sewall, one of the judges, in his private journal, 
 under the date of September 19, 1692, narrates the fact, that about 
 noon, Giles Cory was pressed to death for standing mute, and on 
 the following day is this entry : " Now 1 hear from Salem, that 
 about eighteen years ago, he (Cory) was suspected to have stamped 
 and pressed a man to death, but was cleared. It was not remem- 
 bered, until Anne Putnam was told of it by said Cory's spectre, the 
 Sabbath day night before the execution." Washburn, 14b.
 
 124 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 something which we hope may be looked upon as very 
 considerable in this matter ; with the seven children 
 of one of us, namely, Mary Easty, and that it may 
 be produced of like nature in reference to the wife 
 of Peter Cloyse, her sister. Thirdly ; that the testi- 
 mony of witches, or such as are afflicted, as is sup- 
 posed, by witches, may not be improved to condemn 
 us, without other legal evidence concurring. We 
 hope the honored court and jury will be so tender 
 of the lives of such as we are, who have for many 
 years lived under the unblemished reputation of 
 Christianity, as not to condemn them without a fair 
 and equal hearing, of what may be said for us as well 
 as against us. And your poor supplicants shall be 
 bound always to pray." 
 
 After the condemnation of Mary Easty, she sent 
 another petition to the court, which, as an exhibition 
 of the noblest fortitude, united with sweetness of 
 temper, dignity, and resignation, as well as of calm- 
 ness towards those who had selected so many vic- 
 tims from her family, will be read with unqualified 
 admiration by the modern reader. When it is recol- 
 lected, that confession was the sure if not the only 
 means of obtaining the favor of the court, this peti- 
 tion must be regarded as a most affecting appeal by 
 an humble and feeble woman, about to lay down 
 her life in the cause of truth ; and who, a wife and a 
 mother, in circumstances of terrible trial, uttered no 
 word of complaint, but met her fate with a calmness 
 and resignation, which excites the wonder of all who 
 read her story. 
 
 "The humble petition of Mary Easty unto his ex-
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 125 
 
 cellency Sir William Phipps, and to the honorable 
 judge and bench now sitting in judicature in Salem, 
 and the reverend ministers, humbly sheweth : That 
 whereas your poor and humble petitioner, being con- 
 demned to die, doth humbly beg of you to take it 
 into your judicious and pious consideration, that your 
 poor and humble petitioner, knowing my own inno- 
 cency (blessed be the Lord for it) and seeing plainly 
 the wiles and subtilty of my accusers, by myself, can- 
 not but judge charitably of others, that are going the 
 same way with myself, if the Lord step not mightily in. 
 I was confined a whole month on the same account 
 that I am now condemned for, and then cleared by 
 the afflicted persons, as some of your honors know; 
 and in two day's time I was cried out upon by them, 
 and have been confined, and now am condemned to 
 die. The Lord above knows my innocency then, 
 and likewise doth now, as at the great day will be 
 known to men and angels. I petition to your hon- 
 ors not for my own life, for I know I must die, and 
 my appointed time is set ; but the Lord he knows it 
 is, if it be possible, that no more innocent blood may ' 
 be shed, which undoubtedly cannot be avoided in the 
 way and course you go on. I question not but your 
 honors do to the utmost of your powers, in the dis- 
 covery and detecting of witchcraft and witches, and 
 would not be guilty of innocent blood for the world ; 
 but, by my own innocency, I know, you are in the 
 wrong way. The Lord in his infinite mercy direct 
 you in this great work, if it be his blessed will, that 
 no more innocent blood be shed. I would humbly 
 beg of you, that your honors would be pleased to 
 11*
 
 126 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 examine these afflicted persons strictly, and keep 
 them apart some time, and likewise to try some of 
 these confessing witches ; I being confident there are 
 several of them have belied themselves and others, 
 as will appear, if not in this world, I am sure in the 
 world to come, whither I am going ; and I question 
 not, but yourselves will see an alteration in these 
 things. They say myself and others have made a 
 league with the devil ; we cannot confess. I know and 
 the Lord he knows, as will shortly appear, they be- 
 lie me, and so I question not but they do others ; the 
 Lord alone, who is the searcher of all hearts, knows, 
 as I shall answer it at the tribunal seat, that I know 
 not the least thing of witchcraft, therefore I cannot, 
 I durst not belie my own soul. I beg your honors 
 not to deny this my humble petition, from a poor, 
 innocent person, and I question not but the Lord will 
 give a blessing to your endeavors." ' 
 
 The parting scene between this excellent woman 
 and her husband, children, and friends, was "as seri- 
 ous, religious, distinct and affectionate as could well 
 
 1 With the exception of a few slight verbal corrections, this peti- 
 tion is an exact copy from the original, which is still preserved. 
 There is every reason to believe from the appearance of the hand- 
 writing, the paper, arid the corrections, that it was drawn up by 
 the petitioner herself. She was about sixty years old, and the 
 mother of seven children. There is a petition in the state archives, 
 dated September 8, 1719, from her husband to a committee of the 
 general court, in which he states that he is eighty-two years old ; 
 that he believed his wife was entirely innocent of the ofTence for 
 which she suffered ; and that she was five months in prison, during 
 which time he maintained her and visited her constantly twice a 
 week to provide for her necessities; for all which he claims twenty 
 pounds as compensation.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 127 
 
 be expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost 
 all present." She was hanged with the others. 
 " There hang eight fire brands of hell," said Noyes, 
 the minister of Salem, pointing to the bodies hanging 
 on the gallows. 
 
 The court of oyer and terminer never sat again. It 
 was impossible for these atrocities to be longer endured.' 
 The common mind of Massachusetts, more wise than 
 those in authority and influence, became concentrated 
 against such monstrous proceedings, and jurors refused 
 to convict while the judicial power was yet unsatisfied 
 with victims. Already twenty persons had suffered 
 death ; more than fifty had been tortured or terrified 
 into confession ; the jails were full, and hundreds were 
 under suspicion. Where was this to end ? ( More- 
 over, the frauds and imposture attending these, scenes 
 began to be apparent. ) It was observed, that no one 
 of the condemned, confessing witchcraft, had been 
 hanged ; no one who confessed and retracted a con- 
 fession escaped either hanging, or imprisonment for 
 trial. Favoritism had been shown in refusing to listen 
 to accusations, which were directed against friends or 
 partisans. Corrupt means had been used to tempt 
 people to become accusers, and accusations began 
 to be made against the most respectable inhabit- 
 ants of the province and some ministers. 1 It was also 
 
 1 John Bradstreet was accused of bewitching a dog, but made 
 his escape out of the province. The dog was put to death as a < 
 witch. Calef, 109. Even the wife of governor Phipps came under 
 suspicion, probably from the circumstance that when a certain 
 young woman was committed to prison in Boston on suspicion of 
 the offence, the wife of the governor drew up an order for her re- 
 lease, and signed her husband's name to it without his knowledge.
 
 128 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 *** 
 
 jpbserved, that the trials were not fairly conducted. 
 They were but a form to condemn the accused. /(jNIo 
 one brought to the bar escaped, and all who were 
 cried out upon expected death^x'The wife of the 
 wealthiest person in Salem, a merchant, and a man 
 of the highest respectability, being accused, the war- 
 rant was read to her in the evening in her bed cham- 
 ber, and guards were placed round the house. In 
 the morning, she attended the devotions of her family, 
 gave instructions for the education of her children, 
 kissed them, commended them to God, bade them 
 farewell, and committed herself to the sheriff, de- 
 claring her readiness to die. 1 Such a state of things 
 could not continue long, in any age, whilst the essen- 
 tial elements of human nature remain the same. 
 No wonder the miserable creatures who endured 
 these sufferings felt that New England was indeed 
 deserted by God. 
 
 Meanwhile, the court had adjourned to the first 
 Tuesday of November. " Between this and then," 
 wrote Brattle, " will be the great assembly, and this 
 matter will be a peculiar subject of agitation." " Our 
 hopes," he adds, " are here." The representatives 
 of the people must stay the evil or " New England 
 is undone and undone." Nor were these hopes 
 disappointed. The general court assembled about 
 a fortnight after the last hanging of eight at Salem. 
 
 The jailer, suspecting nothing wrong, released the prisoner; but he 
 lost his place for his mistake. 
 
 1 Her husband, Philip English, at first concealed himself, but 
 surrendered himself up ; and subsequently they both escaped to 
 New York. Upham's Lectures, 28.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 129 
 
 Its measures were not in direct opposition to the cur- 
 rent of popular delusion ; but were calculated to give 
 time for reflection, and to afford opportunity for the 
 change which was evidently taking place in public 
 opinion. The statute of James I. against witchcraft, 
 was adopted as the law of the province ; ' the special 
 court of oyer and terminer, which had just adjourned 
 for a short respite from its labors, was abrogated ; 
 and, in its stead, a new tribunal, which was not to 
 assemble until the next January, was established by 
 public law. 
 
 When the court assembled, the grand jury dis- 
 missed more than half of the presentments made to 
 them, but found bills against twenty-six. Of these, 
 three only were found guilty, although the evidence 
 was equally strong as in the previous cases. One of 
 them was the wife of Wardwell, who had been pre- 
 viously convicted and executed on her testimony ; her 
 confession was now used against herself. They were 
 all reprieved. The court next sat at Charlestown, in 
 the same month, where several indictments were 
 found, and the trial of Sarah Daston, a woman of 
 eighty years old, took place. " If ever there were a 
 witch in the world," it was said, "she was one," 
 having been so accounted for thirty years ; and an 
 immense concourse of people assembled to witness 
 the proceedings. But she was acquitted. While the 
 court was sitting, word was brought, that a reprieve 
 had been sent to Salem for seven of the condemned ; 
 upon which Stoughton, the chief justice, exclaimed, 
 
 1 Rejected by the king, William III., when laid before him for 
 his approbation.
 
 130 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 " we were in a way to have cleared the land of these ; 
 who it is obstructs the course of justice, I know not ; 
 the Lord be merciful to the country ; " and thereupon 
 he retired from the bench, and came no more to the 
 court. 
 
 The causes of this change in public opinion are 
 variously stated. Some attribute it to the fact, that 
 the wife of the minister of Beverly being accused, he 
 immediately changed his mind in regard to the pro- 
 priety of the prosecutions, and thenceforward opposed 
 as zealously as he had previously encouraged them. 
 Others relate that the wife of a gentleman in Boston 
 being accused, he brought an action for slander, 
 claiming a thousand pounds damages ; l and that this 
 turned back the current of accusations. But such 
 causes were inadequate to the effect. These inci- 
 dental facts were rather the result of the change that 
 was taking place, than the cause of it. The force of 
 public sentiment, which had hanged one minister, 
 could scarcely have been resisted by the efforts of 
 another. An action at law, sounding in damages, 
 would hardly stop the mouths of accusing witnesses, 
 who professed to have given themselves to the pow- 
 
 1 A similar action was brought in the time of lord Hobart (164G). 
 The report is short and to the purpose: "Marshall v. Steward. 
 Marshall brought an action of the case against Steward, reciting 
 the statute of 1 Jac. of invocation of foul spirits, (which was need- 
 less,) for speaking these words unto him, the devil appears unto 
 "thee every night in the likeness of a black man, riding upon & 
 black horse, and thou conferrest with him, and whatever thou dost 
 ask him he doth give it thee, and that is the reason thou hast so 
 much money.' And after a verdict finding the words, the court 
 gave judgment for the plaintiff." Hobart's Reports, by Curnmings,
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 131 
 
 ers of darkness. The cause of the change is rather 
 to be sought in the principles of our nature, and is to 
 be found partly in that instinctive effort for self-preser- 
 vation, which, in communities of individuals, unites 
 the weak against oppression, and gives courage to the 
 feeble and unprotected. A belief in witchcraft was 
 one of the superstitions of the age ; and the change of 
 public sentiment, which now took place, was not so 
 much a loss of faith in its reality, as a conviction of the 
 uselessness and danger of punishing it by human laws. 
 Of the causes of the transient delusion, which rose so 
 high, and terminated so fatally, among the sober and 
 godly people of New England, no definite explana- 
 tion can, at this distance of time, be given ; but their 
 descendants may be allowed, in the same spirit of 
 trust in providence which distinguished them, to 
 cherish the belief, that it was permitted for purposes 
 of wisdom and benevolence, which could not other- 
 wise have been accomplished. 1 When its work 
 was done it properly ceased. Such moral desola- 
 tions often pass over the face of society ; the thun- 
 der storm does its work ; the atmosphere becomes 
 clear; the sun shines forth and reveals to all the 
 work of death. 
 
 The change in the public mind was complete and 
 universal. Bitter was the lamentation of the whole 
 community for the sad consequences of their rash- 
 ness and delusion ; contrite the repentance of all 
 who had been actors in the tragedy. The indigna- 
 
 1 ;< It is likely,'' says Wynne, " that this frenzy contributed to 
 work off the ill humors of the New England people, to dissipate 
 their bigotry, and to bring them to a more free use of their reason.
 
 132 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 tion of the people, not loud but deep and strong, 
 was directed with resistless force against those who 
 had been particularly active in these insane enormi- 
 ties. Parris, the minister, who had been the chief 
 agent in these acts of frenzy and folly, and who, be- 
 yond all question, made use of the popular feeling 
 to gratify his own malignant feelings of revenge 
 against obnoxious individuals, was compelled to leave 
 his people. No entreaties were of any avail ; the 
 humblest confession could not save him ; it was not 
 fitting that he should minister at the altar of a mer- 
 ciful God, within sight of the graves of those whose 
 entreaties for mercy he had despised. Noyes, the 
 minister of Salem, consecrated his life to deeds of 
 mercy ; made a full confession ; loved and blessed 
 the survivors whom he had injured ; asked forgiveness 
 of all, and was by all forgiven. Cotton Mather, by 
 artful appeals and publications in which he wilfully 
 suppressed the truth, succeeded for a while in deceiv- 
 ing the public, and perhaps himself, as to the encour- 
 agement he had given to the proceedings at Salem. 
 Still eager " to lift up a standard against the infernal 
 enemy," he got up a case of witchcraft in his own 
 parish ; but the imposture was promptly exposed to 
 ridicule by " a malignant, calumnious, and reproachful 
 man," " a coal from hell," the unlettered but rational 
 and intelligent Robert Calef ; and Cotton Mather's 
 sha're in these transactions was properly appreciated 
 long before his death. His diary proves that he did 
 not wholly escape the rising impeachment of the mon- 
 itor within ; and he, who had sought the foundation 
 of faith in tales of wonder, himself " had tempta-
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 133 
 
 tions to atheism, and to the abandonment of all re- 
 ligion as a mere delusion." ' 
 
 The jurors, also, signed and circulated a humble 
 and solemn declaration of regret for the part they 
 had borne in these trials. " We fear," they say, 
 " we have been instrumental, with others, though 
 ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring upon ourselves 
 and this people of the Lord, the guilt of innocent 
 blood." " We do humbly beg forgiveness, first of 
 God for Christ's sake, for this our error, and pray 
 that God would not impute the guilt of it to our- 
 selves nor others ; and we also pray, that we may be 
 considered candidly and aright by the living suffer- 
 ers, as being then under the power of a strong and 
 general delusion, utterly unacquainted with and not 
 experienced in matters of that nature. We do heart- 
 ily ask forgiveness of you all, whom we have justly 
 offended ; and do declare, according to our present 
 minds, we would none of us do such things again, 
 on such grounds, for the whole world ; praying you 
 to accept of this, in way of satisfaction for our 
 offence, and that you would bless the inheritance of 
 the Lord, that he may be entreated for the land." 
 
 Nor was this all. The government of the prov- 
 
 1 Bancroft, iii, 98. There is no good reason to suppose that 
 Mather was entirely insincere in the active part he took in these 
 proceedings. Although cunning, selfish, conceited, arrogant, and 
 intolerant, he was not a cruel man, and he had a real horror of 
 witchcraft. Indeed, the idea that the Salem witchcraft was the 
 result of a combination between a few ministers will not bear a 
 moment's examination, although the extreme to which it was car- 
 ried, was undoubtedly owing to their efforts. 
 12
 
 134 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ince felt with the people, that the anger of a just 
 God was upon them, and a proclamation was issued 
 for a fast on the fourteenth of January, 1696 ; at 
 which all God's people were enjoined to offer up 
 prayers, " that He would show us what we know 
 not, and help us wherein we have done amiss, to 
 do so no more ; and especially whatever mistakes 
 on either hand have been fallen into, either by the 
 body of this people, or any orders of men, referring 
 to the late tragedy raised among us by satan and his 
 instruments, through the awful judgment of God." 
 
 On the day of this public fast, Sewall, one of the 
 judges who sat in all of these cases, sent to the pulpit 
 a paper acknowledging his error in the late proceed- 
 ings, and desiring to humble himself in the sight of 
 God and His people. He stood up in his place in 
 the old south church in Boston while it was read. 
 
 " Samuel Sewall, sensible of the repeated strokes of 
 God upon himself and family, and being sensible that 
 as to guilt contracted upon the opening of the late 
 commission of oyer and terminer at Salem (to which 
 the order for this day relates) he is upon many ac- 
 counts more concerned than any that he knows of, 
 desires to take the blame and the shame of it, asking 
 pardon of men, and especially desiring prayers that 
 God, who has an unlimited authority, would pardon 
 that sin and all other his sins, personal and relative, 
 and according to his infinite benignity and sovereign- 
 ty, and not visit the sin of him or of any other upon 
 himself or any of his, nor upon the land, but that He 
 would powerfully defend him against all temptations
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 135 
 
 to sin for the future, and vouchsafe to him the effica- 
 cious saving conduct of His word and spirit." ' 
 
 Stoughton, the chief justice, and an active pro-- 
 moter of these prosecutions, never repented. When 
 informed of Sewall's confession, he said, that, for 
 himself, when he sat in judgment, he had the fear of 
 God before his eyes, and gave his opinion according 
 to the best of his understanding ; and although it 
 might appear afterwards, that he had been in an 
 error, yet he saw no necessity for a public acknow- 
 ledgment of it. 2 
 
 Nor was the work of restitution confined to that 
 day. Many years afterwards a resolution was adopt- 
 ed by the general court, for the appointment of a 
 committee to make inquiry into the condition and 
 circumstances of individuals and families, that might 
 have suffered from the " calamity of 1692," and a 
 law was made reversing the attainders of those con- 
 victed, and making a grant for and in consideration 
 
 1 In Sewall's diary under the date of April 11 , 1G92, is written : 
 " Went to Salem, where, in the meetinghouse, the persons accused 
 of witchcraft were examined; was a very great assembly ; 'twas 
 awful to see how the afflicted persons were agitated." But in 
 the margin is written with a tremulous hand, probably on a sub- 
 sequent review, the lamenting Latin interjection VCE, Vte, VCR, 
 Holmes's American Annals, i. 446. The frankness and sincerity 
 of his confession atoned for his error ; and he and his descendants 
 long enjoyed the public favor. He was appointed chief justice of 
 the superior cour.t in 1718. He died in 1730, at the age of seventy. 
 
 z He was the first chief justice of the superior court, appointed 
 in 1692. He lived and died a bachelor. Educated a minister, he 
 possessed few legal attainments. He made atonement for his big- 
 otry by contributing, in his life time, to the cause of education. 
 He erected for the use of Harvard College the building known as 
 Stoughton Hall.
 
 136 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 of the losses sustained. In 1712, the church in Sa- 
 lem, to which Rebecca Nurse had belonged, at the 
 solicitation of her son, repealed and reversed its cen- 
 sure by blotting out the record of her excommunica- 
 tion, " that it may no longer be a reproach to her 
 memory, and an occasion of grief to her children." 
 A similar step was taken in reference to Giles Cory, 
 and the like justice was done to the memory of his 
 wife, Martha Cory, by the church at Salem village. 
 The records of that church also contain a most touch- 
 ing and pungent declaration of sorrow and repent- 
 ance, made thirteen years afterwards by Ann Put- 
 nam, already mentioned as one of the principal ac- 
 cusers. 1 
 
 Many of the witnesses confessed their error, and 
 some of them acknowledged that they had been 
 guilty of fraud and imposture ; but none of those 
 who had so unscrupulously sworn away the lives of 
 innocent persons were ever brought to trial for the 
 crime. Some of them, it is related, proved profli- 
 gate persons, abandoned to all vice ; others passed 
 their lives in obscurity and disgrace. The past could 
 not be repaired ; the dead were beyond recall ; and 
 there seemed to be no disposition to renew the agi- 
 tation, or inflict punishment on those who had been 
 instrumental in the calamity. 
 
 
 The most obvious remark, in a legal point of view, 
 which suggests itself respecting these trials, is the 
 singular illegality of the mode in which they were 
 
 1 Upham's Lectures, 25.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 137 
 
 conducted. "The executions for witchcraft must be 
 considered, upon the great principles of the common 
 law, as a series of judicial murders. The tribunal by 
 authority of which they took place existed by no war- 
 rant of law. By the province charter of William and 
 Mary, the general court alone was authorized to es- 
 tablish judicatories ; consequently the act of governor 
 Phipps, in erecting the special court of oyer and ter- 
 miner, was a clear and direct usurpation of power, 
 and the court by which so many lives were sajcrificed 
 was,J>eyond all controversy, an illegal tribunalTZ- 
 "\TJpon the illegality of the general proceedings it is 
 scarcely necessary to remark. Every barrier, erected 
 by the wisdom of the law for the protection of inno- 
 cence, was broken down. Hearsay evidence of the 
 most general character was unscrupulously admitted ; 
 irrelevant testimony was never excluded. What 
 need to point out the utter perversion of law, in the 
 manner of obtaining and using the confessions of 
 those supposed to be bewitched ? Why mention the 
 monstrous doctrine of holding persons of unblemished 
 reputation responsible for the acts of their apparitions 
 or spectres, when they themselves were not present 
 as to the body7^> 
 
 But neither is the common law nor are its professors 
 responsible for these mistaken proceedings. The 
 special court of oyer and terminer was essentially a 
 POPULAR TRIBUNAL. There was not a regular lawyer 
 concerned in its proceedings. The judges were not 
 annoyed by the impertinent interference of advocates ; 
 the jury, untrammelled by the \< quibbles of the law," 
 were left to follow their own feelings and feed the pop- 
 12-
 
 138 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ular excitement. The terrible scenes that ensued speak 
 trumpet-tongued for an inflexible adherence to those 
 rules and technical forms in legal proceedings, which 
 have received the sanction of ages, and are incorpo- 
 rated into our jurisprudence. There is in the law 
 a silent power which protects, while we are least 
 conscious of needing protection ; which saves when 
 we are unconscious of danger. In times of unusual 
 excitement and alarm, when the popular voice, di- 
 rected by some skilful hand, demands a victim, its 
 conservative influence is seen and acknowledged ; it 
 is the ark of safety to which the innocent fly for 
 protection, strong in hope that it will bear them in 
 safety above the troubled waters. But without the 
 assistance of those who have made its principles the 
 study of their lives, and its practice their daily occu- 
 pation, its energies are powerless ; or it may become, 
 in the hands of ignorant and designing men, the 
 most powerful engine of oppression which human 
 ingenuity can invent the most cruel murders and 
 the most unjust punishments having at different times 
 received the sanction of its forms. If it be said, 
 that the learned and pious Sir Matthew Hale tried 
 and condemned witches to death, the reply is at 
 hand, that Lord Holt, equally learned as a lawyer, 
 equally virtuous and conscientious as a man, and 
 free from the religious peculiarities of Hale, opened 
 the eyes of the public in England, to the folly of 
 these trials by applying to them the severe and in- 
 flexible principles of the law. 
 
 The moral phenomena attending the Salem witch- 
 craft form a subject of curious, rather than profitable
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 139 
 
 speculation, which is somewhat foreign to the objects 
 of this work. It may be remarked generally, how- 
 ever, that this delusion, in some of its aspects, has 
 never been satisfactorily explained. Time has rather 
 obscured than thrown light upon the subject ; and it 
 must be placed in that large class of historical facts 
 for which succeeding generations find it impossible 
 to account. That it was attended by fraud and im- 
 posture, and that the people labored under a complete 
 frenzy in their treatment of it, admits of no doubt. 
 But that it was not all fraud and imposture ; that 
 there were certain appearances exhibited which it is 
 impossible to explain upon any principles of natural 
 philosophy then known, or now generally acknow- 
 ledged ; is as well established as any historical fact 
 of which we have any record. " Flashy people," 
 says Cotton Mather, on a review of the proceedings, 
 " may burlesque these things, but when hundreds of 
 the most sober people, in a country where they have 
 as much mother wit certainly as the rest of mankind, 
 know them to be true, nothing but the absurd and 
 fro ward spirit of sadducism can question them." ' 
 
 It is a matter of regret, that contemporary writers 
 upon matters of this sort run into the wildest enthu- 
 siasm and receive every marvellous tale as true ; or, 
 on the other hand, go to the opposite extreme and 
 reject every fact, however well established, which 
 does not comport with their philosophical creed. It 
 is the doctrine of true philosophy, sanctioned by the 
 soundest dictates of religious faith, that the spiritual 
 
 1 Magnalia Christ! Americana, ii, 61.
 
 140 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 and natural worlds, depending upon and acting with 
 each other, are separated by the thinnest veil. It 
 is easier to admit, that human affairs may sometimes 
 reach the extremest limits of the one and pass within 
 the confines of the other, than it is to deny human 
 testimony of the highest order, and discredit the 
 solemn asseverations of the most virtuous of men.
 
 TRIAL OF THOMAS MAULE 
 
 SUPERIOR COURT OF JUDICATURE, 
 
 FOR A SLANDEROUS PUBLICATION AND BLASPHEMY, 
 SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, 1696.
 
 The following trial is chiefly compiled from a work entitled, 
 " Persecutors Maul'd with their Own Weapons." I have seen but 
 one copy of it, which is contained in the library of the Massachu- 
 setts Historical Society. The title page is gone, but the work ap- 
 pears to have been published soon after the trial, in 1696. The 
 book purports to have been written by " Tho. Philathes," but is 
 probably the production of Maule himself. From an examination 
 of the state and court records, the general statements of the au- 
 thor appear to be correct, although the narrative is undoubtedly 
 highly colored. The trial took place at Salern, in 1696, before his 
 Majesty's Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize and Gen- 
 eral Gaol Delivery. The justices present were Thomas Danforth, 
 Elisha Cooke, and Samuel Sewall. William Stoughton, the chief 
 justice, was not present.
 
 HI 
 
 TRIAL OF THOMAS MAULE. 
 
 THE difficulties between the government of Mas- 
 sachusetts and the quakers continued for many years 
 after the more severe laws against the sect had 
 been repealed. They were still regarded as danger- 
 ous intruders in the country ; and they were not 
 disposed to forget the treatment they had formerly 
 received ; but their declamations against those in au- 
 thority were equally bold, if not so noisy, as when 
 they first arrived in the colony. Every misfortune 
 which occurred to the government, they attributed 
 to a special judgment for their own sufferings ; and, 
 instead of sympathizing with others for the troubles 
 incident to all, they kept themselves aloof, as if the 
 dispensations of providence were not intended for 
 their benefit. Their writers busily collected all the 
 public calamities of the province, and held them up 
 as the judgments of heaven, commenting upon them
 
 144 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 with a severity of reproof which was not the less an- 
 noying, that it was somewhat deserved. 1 
 
 Among those who rendered themselves particularly 
 obnoxious on this account, was Thomas Maule, of 
 Salem ; a man of great influence among the quakers. 
 By profession a merchant, he possessed great energy 
 of character united with considerable wit, acute reason- 
 ing powers, and a ready eloquence. He was several 
 times severely punished for his opinions, and as early 
 as 1669, was sentenced to be whipped ten stripes, 
 for saying that Mr. Higginson, the minister of Salem, 
 preached lies, and that his instruction was the doctrine 
 of devils. 2 About the year 1695, he published a 
 book, entitled the " Truth set forth," in which he 
 gave a particular account of " God's judgments upon 
 the persecuting priests and rulers ; " and among them 
 he placed the Salem Witchcraft, which he commented 
 upon in a style of cool and cutting sarcasm, that 
 could scarcely be borne with patience by those in 
 authority, who were very sensitive upon that subject. 
 
 Maule was accordingly arrested by order of the 
 council ; his house was searched, and all the books 
 that were found were destroyed. When brought 
 before the governor and council, in Boston, he re- 
 fused to answer any questions, and demanded to be 
 tried in his own county by a jury of his equals. He 
 was then dismissed on heavy bail, and, at a session 
 
 1 Sewel, the historian of the quakers, mentions as one of the 
 judgments of heaven on the town of Boston, that no wheat could 
 be rai-ed within twenty miles of the place, since the hanging of the 
 quakers in 1659. 
 
 * Felt's Annals of Salem, 236.
 
 THOMAS MAULE. 145 
 
 of the superior court, at Salem, in 1696, the grand 
 jury made the following presentment against him. 
 ." At a superior court held in Salem, for our sovereign 
 lord the king, in the county of Essex, in the pro- 
 vince of the Massachusetts bay in New England, the 
 tenth day of the ninth month, 1696, the grand jury 
 do present Thomas Maule, of Salem, shopkeeper, for 
 publishing or putting forth a book entitled, ' Truth 
 held forth and maintained,' wherein is contained di- 
 vers slanders against the churches and government of 
 this province ; and for saying at the honorable court 
 at Ipswich, in May last, that there was as great mis- 
 takes in the scriptures as in his book." 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Bullivant appeared for the prisoner 
 and put in a plea to the sufficiency of the present- 
 ment, alleging that the matters contained in it were 
 too general and uncertain ; that neither county, year 
 or day were mentioned ; that it was not laid upon 
 oath ; that the king's name was not mentioned ; that 
 if it were true the defendant said that there were as 
 many mistakes in the scriptures as in iiis book, this 
 was not punishable, the presentment not alleging that 
 they were the holy scriptures or word of God, there 
 being profane as well as sacred scriptures, and he 
 might have referred to the former. These points 
 were briefly replied to by Anthony Checkley, 1 the 
 king's attorney, and the plea was overruled by the 
 court. The prisoner was then put upon his defence, 
 and addressed the court in his own behalf. 
 
 1 He was a Boston merchant, and appears by the records to have 
 been a party litigant to several suits while he was attorney general. 
 13
 
 146 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Maule. You who have set yourselves to be judges 
 in this case against me, as you are invested with 
 magisterial power, I respect you ; but wherein you 
 assume to yourselves the power of the bishops' court, 
 as in this case, I no more value you than I do Jack- 
 straw. If you would approve yourselves wise men, 
 you ought to amend the many rents you have already 
 made by the mismanagement of the trust committed 
 to your charge. If you are resolved to make a rod 
 for me, see that it be light for the more care of your 
 own that is to come, for it is said by Him that can- 
 not lie ; " the same measure that men make, the 
 same shall be made to them again." If your power 
 continues long, he that now enjoys a good estate 
 under your government, seven years hence may not 
 be left worth a groat. You are set to watch over the 
 people, but things have come to such a pass by your 
 means, that they have greater need to watch over 
 you. 
 
 Justice Danforth. Gentlemen of the jury : having 
 taken a solemn oath to do the thing that is right in 
 the sight of God as near as you can, you ought well 
 to consider the horrid wickedness of Thomas Maule's 
 setting forth the book now before you, in which there 
 is contained a great deal of blasphemous matter 
 against the churches and government of this pro- 
 vince. You well know, that when the husbandman 
 hath taken great care and labor to fence in his field 
 of wheat, and there comes a ravenous creature and 
 makes a gap through the fence for other like creatures 
 to go through and spoil the corn, and to trample 
 down and lay waste the husbandman's field, he will
 
 THOMAS MAULE. 147 
 
 use his utmost endeavor to destroy such a ravenous 
 creature. How much more are we to preserve the 
 hedge of that good Husbandman, with which He 
 hath, by his ordinances, and good government, fenced 
 and hedged his churches and people in this province ! 
 But this work of Thomas Maule wholly tends to 
 overthrow all good in church and commonwealth, 
 which God has planted amongst his people in this 
 province. The cause and the book is now committed 
 to your hands, to perform your duty relative to the 
 same as God shall enable you. 
 
 Maule. Jurymen, look well to the work which 
 you are now about to do. The case is committed to 
 you, who are to be governed by the king's law. No 
 part of that law have I broken. The book is no evi- 
 dence in law against me, further than you are satis- 
 fied that I have written any thing contrary to sound 
 doctrine and inconsistent with the holy scriptures. 
 If you favor any of the unjust charge of the judges 
 against me, and say there is such matter in the book 
 as they charge me with, you must go to the printer 
 for satisfaction, for I am ignorant of any such matter 
 in the book. My hand is only to my copy, which is 
 in the hands of the printer in another government, 
 and my name in the printed book does not in law 
 prove the same to be Thomas Maule, any more than 
 the spectre evidence is in law sufficient to prove a 
 person accused by such evidence to be a witch. 
 Look well, therefore, to your work, for you have 
 sworn true trial to make and just verdict to give. If 
 you do me injustice the fault will be your own, for 
 these my accusers on the bench are but as clerks to 
 say " amen " to what you do.
 
 148 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 This bold address to the jury accomplished its 
 purpose. They soon returned a verdict of not guilty, 
 at which the judges expressed much dissatisfaction, 
 and asked how they could return such a verdict with 
 the book before them ? They replied, that the book 
 was not sufficient evidence, for Thomas Maule's name 
 was placed there by the printer. Besides, the mat- 
 ter contained in it was not cognizable by them, who 
 were not a jury of divines, which this case required. 
 
 Justice Danforth. Thomas Maule may escape the 
 hands of men, but he has not escaped the hand of 
 God, who will find out all his evils and blasphemies 
 against his church and people ; and has reserved 
 him for further judgment. 
 
 Maule. I am in no way guilty of your charge, 
 but have great cause to praise God for my deliver- 
 ance by the jury who are made instruments of free- 
 ing me out of the hands of them, who have mani- 
 fested their unrighteous works against the people of 
 God and the king's subjects, as their fathers did be- 
 fore them. 
 
 Justice Danforth. Take him away ; take him 
 away. 
 
 The prisoner was then discharged. The record of 
 the case was thus made up. " Thomas Maule of 
 Salem, shopkeeper, indicted by the grand jurors of 
 our sovereign lord the king, upon their oaths, for 
 publishing, or putting forth, a book entitled ' Truth 
 held forth and maintained,' wherein is contained 
 divers slanders against the government and churches 
 of this province, as set out in the indictment, and 
 being arraigned, pleaded not guilty, and for trial put
 
 THOMAS MAULE. 149 
 
 himself on the country ; and a jury being accordingly 
 impannelled and sworn, John Turner, foreman, (no 
 exception being made,) and the indictment read, 
 and pleas fully heard, the jury went forth and re- 
 turned, bringing in their verdict, viz. They find 
 the defendant not guilty according to indictment." 
 
 This trial is chiefly interesting as an exhibition of 
 the independence of the jury, which is in striking con- 
 trast with the conduct of those jurors, who followed 
 implicitly the directions of the court in the trials for 
 witchcraft in 1692. It is probable, that the general 
 feelings of disapprobation, with which those proceed- 
 ings were regarded, did much to render jurors in- 
 dependent of the court, and to cause them to rely 
 more on their own opinions in matters for which 
 they alone were responsible. The allusion of Maule 
 to the witch prosecutions was ingenious ; and his 
 whole defence, although inadequately reported, proves 
 him to have been a man of strong mind, and not un- 
 worthy of the confidence placed in him by his own 
 sect. He died in 1724. 
 
 13*
 
 TRIAL OF JOHN PETER ZENGER 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, 
 
 FOR TWO LIBELS ON THE GOVERNMENT, 
 
 NEW YORK, 1735.
 
 The trial of John Peter Zenger, for a libel, appears to have been 
 published by himself soon after the trial in 1735. It was reprinted 
 in 1756, and again, in 1770. The last mentioned edition is the ear- 
 liest I have been able to find. The title page is as follows : " A 
 Brief Narrative of the Case and Trial of John Peter Zenger, Printer 
 of the New York Weekly Journal, for a Libel. ' In a free state 
 such as ours is, all men ought to enjoy and express their minds 
 freely. Tiberius Caesar.' New York : Reprinted by Joseph Holt, 
 at the Exchange. 1770." The work was reprinted in London in 
 1764. Soon after the first publication of Zenger's trial, some re- 
 marks were published, apparently by a tory lawyer, in which Ham- 
 ilton's speech was most severely and very ably criticised. It was 
 pronounced a species of legal quackery, and the star chamber was 
 declared to be one of the most useful and beneficial institutions that 
 ever existed in England ! The writer asserts, that the doctrines of 
 Mr. Hamilton are so at variance with the law, it could not be im- 
 agined that so wild and idle an harangue could have had any 
 weight, but as the trial had been twice reprinted, and this extraor- 
 dinary declamation had been mentioned with an air of applause and 
 triumph in several newspapers, he thought fit to communicate his 
 remarks to the public. These remarks and Zenger's trial are re- 
 printed in the seventeenth volume of Howell's State Trials.
 
 TRIAL OF JOHN PETER ZENGER. 
 
 SOON after the appointment of William Crosby as 
 governor of New York, in 1732, he found himself in- 
 volved in difficulties of a serious character, which soon 
 placed him in direct collision with the people he was 
 sent to govern, on account of certain illegal and un- 
 warrantable proceedings, in relation to which he asked 
 and would receive no advice from those he was in 
 duty bound to consult. The house of assembly, 
 chosen under royalist influences, took the side of the 
 governor, and the council offered little or no resist- 
 ance to his arbitrary measures. The courts of law 
 were more difficult to manage. Morris, the chief 
 justice, declined to obey an illegal order of the gov- 
 ernor and was displaced, James de Lancey being ap- 
 pointed in his place. Complaints could only be 
 heard through the press. A newspaper was estab- 
 lished to defend the popular cause, in which able 
 and popular writers attacked the governor and every 
 branch of the government with great boldness and
 
 154 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 zeal. The squibs, ballads, and serious charges of the 
 Weekly Journal, irritated the governor and his coun- 
 cil to madness ; and John Peter Zenger, its printer, a 
 poor, but energetic and bold man, rendered himself 
 extremely obnoxious to those in authority. The new 
 chief justice, de Lancey, made strong efforts to pro- 
 cure an indictment against him for a libel. " Some- 
 times," he told the grand jury, " heavy, half witted 
 men get a knack of rhyming, but it is time to break 
 them of it wnen they grow abusive, insolent and ma- 
 licious with it." But the effort was in vain. The 
 grand jury, fresh from the people, could not be in- 
 duced to assist in the oppression of the people's friend. 
 The council then took up the matter, and, having 
 examined four of Zenger's newspapers, pronounced 
 them to be false, scandalous, malicious, and seditious 
 libels, and ordered them to be burned by the common 
 hangman. But when the order was read in the court 
 of quarter sessions, and the sheriff moved for the 
 compliance of the magistrates, the court would not 
 suffer the order to be entered, and the aldermen 
 offered a protest against it, as an arbitrary and illegal 
 injunction. The sheriff then ordered his negro to 
 burn the papers, which was accordingly done. Zen- 
 ger was soon after arrested by order of the council, 
 thrown into jail, and denied pen, ink and paper. His 
 friends procured a writ of habeas corpus, and, upon 
 argument, he was admitted to bail, but the amount 
 was fixed so high that he was unable to procure it, 
 and at the next session of the supreme court, efforts 
 were vainly made by the judges and the attorney 
 general to induce the grand jury to make a present-
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 155 
 
 ment against the prisoner. The attorney general 
 then charged him by information for a misdemeanor 
 in printing, in two numbers of his journal, the follow- 
 ing " false, scandalous, malicious, and seditious libels " 
 of and concerning governor Crosby and his council. 
 " Your appearance in print, at last, gives a pleasure 
 to many, though most wish you had come fairly into 
 the open field, and not appeared behind retrench- 
 ments made of the supposed laws against libelling : 
 these retrenchments, gentlemen, may soon be shown 
 to you and all men to be very weak, and to have 
 neither law nor reason for their foundation, so can- 
 not long stand you in stead : therefore, you had much 
 better as yet leave them, and come to what the peo- 
 ple of this city and province think are the points in 
 question. They think as matters now stand, that' 
 their liberties and properties are precarious, and that 
 slavery is like to be entailed on them and their pos- 
 terity, if some past things be not amended, and this 
 they collect from many past proceedings." " One of 
 our neighbors of New Jersey being in company, ob- 
 serving the strangers of New York full of complaints, 
 endeavored to persuade them to remove into Jersey ; 
 to which it was replied, that would be leaping out of 
 the frying pan into the fire ; for, says he, we both are 
 under the same governor, and your assembly have 
 shown with a witness, what is to be expected from 
 them ; one that was then moving from New York to 
 Pennsylvania, to which place it is reported several 
 considerable men are removing, expressed in terms 
 very moving, much concern for the circumstances of 
 New York, and seemed to think them very much
 
 I 
 
 156 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 owing to the influence that some men had in the ad- 
 ministration ; said he was now going from them, and 
 was not to be hurt by any measures they should 
 take ; but could not help having some concern for 
 the welfare of his countrymen, and should be glad to 
 hear that the assembly would exert themselves as be- 
 come them, by showing that they have the interest 
 of their country more at heart, than the gratification 
 of any private view of any of their members ; or 
 being at all affected by the smiles or frowns of a go- 
 vernor ; both which ought equally to be despised, 
 when the interest of their country is at stake. You, 
 says he, complain of the lawyers, but I think the law 
 itself is at an end. We see men's deeds destroyed, 
 / judges arbitrarily displaced, new courts erected with- 
 out consent of the legislature, by which it seems to 
 me, trials by juries are taken away when a governor 
 pleases ; men of known estates denied their votes, 
 contrary to the received practice of the best exposi- 
 tor of any law. Who is there in that province that 
 can call any thing his own, or enjoy any liberty longer 
 than those in the administration will condescend to 
 let them do it, for which reason I left it, as I believe 
 more will." 
 
 James Alexander and William Smith, the counsel 
 of Zenger, and popular leaders, immediately filed 
 exceptions to the commissions of the judges : first, 
 to the tenure, which was at will and pleasure, instead 
 of during good behavior ; second, to the investi- 
 ture ; third, to the form ; fourth, to the want of 
 evidence that the council concurred with the gover- 
 nor in their appointment. When the counsel of the
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 157 
 
 prisoner presented these exceptions, and moved that 
 they be filed, the chief justice warned them of the 
 consequences. They boldly and firmly answered 
 that they had well considered their course and 
 would abide the consequences. " I am so well sat- 
 isfied," was the declaration of one of them, " of 
 the right of the subject to take exception to the 
 commission of a judge if he think such commission 
 illegal, that I will stake my life on the point. The 
 validity of the exceptions in the present case is 
 another matter. I am ready to argue the point when 
 the court will hear me." The subject was deferred 
 to the next morning, when the counsel of Zenger 
 again asked leave to argue the point. " We will 
 neither hear you, nor allow the exceptions," was the 
 reply of the chief justice ; " you think to gain popu- 
 larity and the applause of the people by opposing 
 this court. The matter has come to the point, that 
 we must leave the bench, or you the bar." An or- 
 der was immediately passed excluding them from 
 any farther practice in the court, and their names 
 were struck from the roll of attorneys. 
 
 Meanwhile, the friends of Zenger secretly sent to 
 Philadelphia and retained, in his behalf, the venera- 
 ble Andrew Hamilton, then about eighty years of 
 age, but in the full possession and enjoyment of his 
 faculties. Hamilton was a distinguished barrister of 
 that day. Educated in England, and in practice 
 there before coming to this country, he had a good 
 knowledge of law as a science, and took the highest 
 rank in his profession. His honor, integrity and 
 ability secured for him the respect and admiration 
 14
 
 158 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 of many who differed from him in opinion. He was 
 an ardent friend of free and liberal institutions, and, 
 fearless of consequences, he denounced the encroach- 
 ments and usurpations of those in authority with a 
 boldness that excited their fear and hatred, while his 
 easy and graceful eloquence, his powers of sarcasm, 
 and his powerful declamations enraptured the peo- 
 ple. 1 Such was the advocate to whom the defence 
 of the New York printer was entrusted. His argu- 
 ment upon this occasion, which was regarded as the 
 most celebrated event of that day, obtained for him 
 complete success upon a ground which was after- 
 wards vainly attempted in England. In the opinion 
 of a patriot of the revolution, this trial, in which Ham- 
 ilton bore so conspicuous a part, was the germ of 
 American freedom, the morning star of that liberty, 
 which subsequently revolutionized America. 2 
 
 The trial took place in the supreme court of New 
 York, on the fourth of August, 1735, before James 
 de Lancey, chief justice, Frederick Felipse, second 
 justice, and a jury. The counsel of the prisoner 
 were Andrew Hamilton, of Philadelphia, and John 
 Chambers of New York. Bradley, the attorney gen- 
 eral, appeared for the prosecution. On his arraign- 
 ment the defendant pleaded not guilty, and witnesses 
 were in attendance to prove the fact, that the papers 
 
 1 Proud, the historian of Pennsylvania, gives his speech upon the 
 occasion of his taking leave of the assembly, of which he had been 
 the speaker, on account of age and infirmities. This was in 1739, 
 about five years after his celebrated defence of Zenger. He died 
 in 1741. 
 
 2 Governeur Morris. Hinton's History of the United States, 
 400.
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 159 
 
 which contained the alleged libels were printed and 
 published by him. The junior counsel of the de- 
 fendant was inclined to call for the proof of these 
 facts, but his associate at once took the higher and 
 more enlarged ground. 
 
 Hamilton. May it please your honor : I am con- 
 cerned in this cause on the part of Mr. Zenger, the 
 defendant. The information against my client was 
 sent to me, a few days before I left home, with some 
 instructions to let me know how far I might rely upon 
 the truth of those parts of the papers set forth in the 
 information, and which are said to be libellous. And 
 though I am perfectly of opinion with the gentleman 
 who has just now spoken, on the same side with me, 
 as to the common course of proceedings, I mean in 
 putting Mr. Attorney upon proving, that my client 
 printed and published those papers mentioned in the 
 information ; yet I cannot think it proper for me, 
 without doing violence to my own principles^to deny 
 the publication of a compjaint^which I think it is 
 the right of every free-born subject to make, when 
 the matters so published can be supported with 
 truth ; and, therefore, I will save Mr. Attorney the 
 trouble of examining his witnesses to that point ; and 
 I do for my client confess, that he both printed and 
 published the two newspapers set forth in the infor- 
 mation ; and I hope in so doing he has committed 
 no crime. 
 
 Attorney General Bradley. Then, if your honor 
 pleases, as Mr. Hamilton has confessed the printing 
 and publishing these libels, I think the jury must 
 find a verdict for the king ; for supposing they were
 
 160 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 true, the law says that they are not the less libellous 
 for that ; indeed, their being true is an aggravation 
 of the crime. 
 
 Hamilton. Not so either, Mr. Attorney, there are 
 two words to that bargain. I hope it is not our bare 
 printing and publishing a paper, that will make it a 
 libel : you will have something more to do, before 
 you make my client a libeller ; for the words them- 
 selves must be libellous, that is, " false, scandalous, 
 and seditious," or else he is not guilty. 
 
 The attorney general, then made an elaborate ar- 
 gument upon the law of libel. He remarked upon 
 the excellency as well as the use of government, and 
 the great regard and reverence which had been con- 
 stantly paid to it, both under the law and the gospel. 
 By government, individuals were protected in their 
 lives, religion and property, and, for these reasons, 
 great care had always been taken to prevent every 
 thing that might tend to scandalize magistrates and 
 others concerned in the administration of govern- 
 ment, especially the supreme magistrate. He men- 
 tioned many instances of punishments inflicted upon 
 those who had attempted to bring the government 
 into contempt by publishing false and scurrilous 
 libels against it, or by speaking evil and scandalous 
 words of men in authority, to the great disturbance 
 of the public peace. A libel, he insisted, was a mali- 
 / 7 cious defamation of any person, expressed either in 
 printing or writing, signs or pictures, to asperse the 
 reputation of one that was alive, or the memory of 
 one that was dead. If he was a private man, the 
 libeller deserved a severe punishment, but if it was
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 161 
 
 against a magistrate or other public person, it was a 
 greater offence ; as this concerned not only the breach 
 of the peace, but the scandal of the government ; for 
 what greater scandal of the government could there 
 be, than to have corrupt or wicked magistrates to be 
 appointed by the king, to govern his subjects under 
 him ? And a greater imputation to the state cannot 
 be, than to surfer such corrupt men to sit in the 
 sacred seat of justice, or to have any concern in the 
 administration of justice: and he insisted, that whether 
 the person defamed was a private man or a magis- 
 trate, whether living or dead, whether the libel was 
 true or false, or if the party against whom it was 
 made was of good or evil fame, it was nevertheless 
 a libel ; for in a settled state of government, the party 
 aggrieved ought to complain for every injury done 
 him, in the ordinary course of the law. As to its 
 publication, the law had taken so great care of men's 
 reputations, that if one maliciously repeated, or sign- 
 ed it, in the presence of another, or delivered the libel 
 or a copy of it over, to scandalize the party, he was 
 to be punished as the publisher of a libel. He said 
 it was likewise evident, that libelling was an offence 
 against the law of God. " Then said Paul, I wist 
 not, brethren, that he was the high priest ; for it 
 is written, thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler 
 of thy people." Acts xxiii. 5. " Presumptuous are 
 they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil 
 of dignities." 2 Pet. ii. 10. He then insisted, that 
 it was clear, both by the law of God and man, 
 that it was a very great offence to speak evil of, 
 or to revile, those in authority over us ; and that 
 
 14*
 
 162 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Mr. Zenger had offended in a most notorious and 
 gross manner, in scandalizing his excellency the gov- 
 ernor, who was the king's immediate representative, 
 and the supreme magistrate of the province. He 
 acknowledged, that the governor and the chief per- 
 sons in the government had directed this prosecu- 
 tion, to put a stop to this scandalous and wicked 
 practice of libelling and defaming his majesty's gov- 
 ernment and disturbing his majesty's peace. 
 
 Hamilton. May it please your honor: I agree 
 with Mr. Attorney, that government is a sacred thing ; 
 but I differ very widely from him when he would 
 insinuate, that the just complaints of a number of 
 men, who suffer under a bad administration, is libel- 
 ling that administration. Had I believed that to be 
 law, I should not have given the court the trouble of 
 hearing any thing I could say in this cause. I own, 
 when I read the information, I had not the art to 
 find out, without the help of Mr. Attorney's inuen- 
 dos, that the governor was the person meant in every 
 period of that newspaper. I was inclined to believe, 
 that they were written by some, who, from an extra- 
 ordinary zeal for liberty, had misconstrued the con- 
 duct of some persons in authority into crimes ; and 
 that Mr. Attorney, from his too great zeal for power, 
 had exhibited this information, to correct the indis- 
 cretion of my client ; and, at the same time, to show 
 his superiors the great concern he had, lest they 
 should be treated with any undue freedom. But 
 from what Mr. Attorney has just now said, that this 
 prosecution was directed by the governor and coun- 
 cil ; and from the extraordinary appearance of peo-
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 163 
 
 pie of all conditions, which I observe in court upon 
 this occasion, I have reason to think, that those in the 
 administration have by this prosecution something 
 more in view, and that the people believe they have 
 a good deal more at stake, than T apprehend : and, 
 there fore, as it has become my duty, to be both plain 
 and particular in this cause, I beg leave to bespeak 
 the patience of the court. 
 
 Is it not surprising to see a subject, upon his re- 
 ceiving a commission from the king to be a governor 
 of a colony in America, immediately imagining him- 
 self to be vested with all the prem^itivcs belonging 
 to the sacred person j)fjhis ij*rince ? and, which is yet 
 more astonishing, to see that a people can be so wild 
 as to allow of, and acknowledge, those prerogatives 
 and exemptions, even to their own destruction ? Is 
 it so hard a matter to distinguish between the majesty 
 of our sovereign, and the power of a governor of the 
 plantations? Is not this making very free with our 
 prince, to apply that regard, obedience, and allegiance 
 to a subject which is due only to our sovereign ? 
 And yet in all the cases which Mr. Attorney has 
 cited, to show the duty and obedience we owe to the 
 supreme magistrate, it is the king which is there 
 meant and understood, though Mr. Attorney is pleased 
 to urge them as authorities to prove the heinousness 
 of Mr. Zenger's offence against the governor of New 
 York. The several plantations -are compared to so 
 many large corporations, and perhaps not improperly ; 
 and can any one give an instance, that the mayor, or 
 head of a corporation, ever put in a claim to the 
 sacred rights of majesty ? Let us not, while we are
 
 164 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 pretending to pay a great regard to our prince and 
 his peace, make bold to transfer that allegiance to a 
 subject, which we owe to our king only. 
 
 What a strange doctrine it is, to press every thing 
 for law here which is so in England ! I believe we 
 should not think it a favor, at present at least, to 
 establish this practice. In England so great a regard 
 and reverence is had to the judges, that, if any man 
 strike another in Westminster Hall, while the judges 
 are sitting, he shall lose his right hand, and forfeit 
 his land and goods, for so doing. And though the 
 judges here claim all the powers and authorities 
 within this government, that a court of king's bench 
 has in England ; yet I believe Mr. Attorney will 
 scarcely say, that such a punishment could be legally 
 inflicted on a man for committing such an offence, in 
 the presence of the judges sitting in any court within 
 the province of New York. The reason is obvious ; 
 a quarrel or riot in New York cannot possibly be 
 attended with those dangerous consequences that it 
 might in Westminster Hall ; nor will it be alleged, 
 that any misbehavior to a governor in the plantations 
 will, or ever ought to be, judged of or punished, as a 
 like undutifulness would be to our sovereign. 
 
 From all which, I hope Mr. Attorney will not think 
 it proper to apply those law cases to support the cause 
 of his governor, which have only been judged where 
 the king's safety or honor was concerned. It will 
 not be denied, that a freeholder in the province of 
 New York has as good a right to the sole and sepa- 
 rate use of his lands, as a freeholder in England, who 
 has a, right to bring an action of trespass against his
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 165 
 
 neighbor, for suffering his horse or cow to come and 
 feed upon his lands or eat his corn, whether inclosed 
 or not inclosed ; and yet I believe it would be looked 
 upon as a strange attempt, for one man here to bring 
 an action against another, whose cattle and horses 
 feed upon his grounds not inclosed, or, indeed, for 
 eating and treading down his corn, if that were not 
 inclosed. Numberless are the instances of this kind 
 that might be given, to show, that what is good law 
 at one time and in one place, is not so at another 
 time and in another place ; so that, I think, the law 
 seems to expect, that in these parts of the world 
 men should take care, by a good fence, to preserve 
 their property from the injury of unruly beasts : and 
 perhaps there may be as good reason why men should 
 take the same care, to make an honest and upright 
 conduct a fence and security against the injury of 
 unruly tongues. 
 
 Attorney General. I do not know what the gen- 
 tleman means, by comparing cases of freeholders in 
 England with the freeholders here. What has this 
 case to do with actions of trespass, or men's fencing 
 their grounds ? The case before the court is, whether 
 Mr. Zenger is guilty of libelling his excellency the 
 governor of New York, and, indeed, the whole admin- 
 istration of the government ? Mr. Hamilton has con- 
 fessed the printing and publishing ; and I think 
 nothing is plainer, than that the words in the infor- 
 mation are scandalous, and tend to sedition, and to 
 disquiet the minds of the people of this province : 
 if such papers are not libels, I think it may be said, 
 there can be no such thing as a libel.
 
 L66 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Hamilton. May it please your honor, I cannot 
 agree with Mr. Attorney : for though I freely ac- 
 knowledge, that there are such things as libels, yet I 
 must insist at the same time, that what my client is 
 charged with is not a libel ; and I observed just now, 
 that Mr. Attorney, in defining a libel, made use of 
 the words scandalous, seditious, and tend to disquiet 
 the people ; but, whether with design or not I will 
 not say, he omitted the word false. 
 
 Attorney General. I think I did not omit the word 
 false ; but it has been said already, that it may be a 
 libel, notwithstanding it may be true. 
 
 Hamilton. In this I must still differ with Mr. At- 
 torney ; for I depend upon, it, we are to be tried 
 upon this information now before the court and jury, 
 and to which we have pleaded not guilty ; and by it 
 we are charged with printing and publishing a cer- 
 tain "false, malicious, seditious and scandalous libel." 
 This word false must have some meaning, or else 
 how came it there ? I hope Mr. Attorney will not 
 say, he put it there by chance, and I am of opinion 
 his information would not be good without it. But 
 to show that it is the principal thing which, in my 
 opinion, makes a libel, I put the case, that the infor- 
 mation had been for printing and publishing a certain 
 true libel, would that be the same thing ? or could 
 Mr. Attorney support such an information by any 
 precedent in the English law? No ;_ the falsehood 
 makes the ^scandal., and both make Ihe libel. And 
 to show the court that I am in good "earnest, and to 
 save the court's time, and Mr. Attorney's trouble, I 
 will agree, that if he can prove the facts charged
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 167 
 
 upon us, to be false, I will own them to be scanda- 
 lous, seditious, and a libel. So the work seems now 
 to be pretty much shortened, and Mr. Attorney has 
 only to prove the words false, in order to make us 
 guilty. 
 
 Attorney General. We have nothing to prove ; 
 you have confessed the printing and publishing ; but 
 if it was necessary, as I insist it is not, how can we 
 prove a negative ? But I hope some regard will be 
 had to the authorities that have been produced ; and 
 that, supposing all the words to be true, yet that will 
 not help them. 
 
 Hamilton. I did expect to hear that a negative 
 cannot be proved ; but every body knows there are 
 many exceptions to that general rule : for if a man 
 is charged with killing another, or stealing his neigh- 
 bor's horse ; if he is innocent in the one case, he 
 may prove the man, said to be killed, to be really 
 alive ; and the horse, said to be stolen, never to have 
 been out of his master's stable, and this I think 
 is proving a negative. But we will save Mr. Attor- 
 ney the trouble of proving a negative, and take the 
 onus probandi upon ourselves, and prove those very 
 papers that are called libels to be true. 
 
 ChieJ Justice de Lancey. You cannot be admit- 
 ted, Mr. Hamilton, to give the truth of a libel in evi- 
 dence ; a libel is not to be justified ; for it is never- 
 theless a libel, that it is true. 
 
 Hamilton. I am sorry the court has so soon re- 
 solved on that piece of law ; I expected first to have 
 been heard to that point. I have not, in all my 
 reading, met with an authority that says, we cannot
 
 168 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 be admitted to give the truth in evidence, upon an 
 information for a libel. 
 
 Chief Justice. The law is clear, that you cannot 
 justify a libel. 
 
 Hamilton. I own that, may it please your honor, 
 to be so; bufy with submission, I understand the 
 word justify there, to be a justification by plea, as it is 
 in the case upon an indictment for murder, or an as- 
 sault and battery; there the prisoner cannot justify, but 
 must plead not guilty : yet it will not be denied but 
 he may be, and always is, admitted to give the truth 
 of the fact, or any other matter, in evidence, which 
 goes to his acquittal ; as in murder he may prove it 
 was in defence of his life, his house, &c. ; and in as- 
 sault and battery, he may give in evidence that the 
 other party struck first, and in both cases he will be 
 acquitted. In this sense I understand the word jus- 
 tify, when applied to the case before the court. 
 
 Chief Justice. Show, I pray, that you can give the 
 truth of a libel in evidence. 
 
 Hamilton. I am ready, both from what I under- 
 stand to be the authorities in the case, and from 
 the reason of the thing, to show that we may law- 
 fully do so. But here I beg leave to observe, that an 
 information for libel is the child, if not born, yet 
 nursed and brought up to full maturity, in the court 
 of star chamber. 
 
 Chief Justice. Mr. Hamilton, you will find your- 
 self mistaken ; for in Coke's Institutes you will find 
 informations for libels, long before the court of star 
 chamber. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton then went into a learned and ex-
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 169 
 
 tended examination of the law of libel, insisting with 
 great energy and animation, that the doctrine, de- 
 claring that truth makes a worse libel than false- 
 hood, was monstrous and ridiculous. He commented 
 upon all the leading English decisions on the subject, 
 and relied particularly on a case in which Lord Chief 
 Justice Holt demanded of a person accused as a 
 libeller : " Can you make it appear they are true ? 
 Have you any witnesses ? You might have had 
 subpoenas for your witnesses against this day. If 
 you take upon you to write such things as you are 
 charged with, it lies upon you to prove them true, at 
 your peril. If you have any witnesses, I will hear 
 them. How came you to write those books which 
 are not true ? If you have any witnesses, produce 
 them. If you can offer any matter to prove what 
 you have wrote, let us hear it." " Now, sir," said 
 Mr. Hamilton, in conclusion, " we have acknow- 
 ledged the printing and publishing of the papers set 
 forth in the information, and agreeably to the rule 
 laid down by Lord Holt, we are ready to prove them 
 to be true, at our peril." The attorney general re- 
 plied very briefly, insisting that the law was clear, 
 that a libel could not be justified by proof that it was 
 true. 
 
 Chief Justice. Mr. Hamilton, the court is of opin- 
 ion, that you ought not to be permitted to prove the 
 facts in the papers ; these are the words of the book : 
 " It is far from being a justification of a libel, that the 
 contents thereof are true, or that the person upon 
 whom it is made had a bad reputation, since the 
 15
 
 170 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 greater appearance there is of truth in any malicious 
 invective, so much the more provoking it is." 
 
 Hamilton. These are star chamber cases, and I 
 was in hopes that practice had been dead with the 
 court. 
 
 Chief Justice. Mr. Hamilton, the court have de- 
 livered their opinion, and we expect you will use us 
 with good manners ; you are not to be permitted to 
 argue against the opinion of the court. 
 
 Hamilton. With submission, I have seen the 
 practice in very great courts, and never heard it 
 deemed unmannerly to 
 
 Chief Justice. After the court have declared their 
 opinion, it is not good manners to insist upon a point, 
 in which you are overruled. 
 
 Hamilton. I will say no more at this time ; the 
 court, I see, is against us on this point ; and that, I 
 hope, I may be allowed to say. 
 
 Chief Justice. Use the court with good manners, 
 and you shall be allowed all the liberty you can rea- 
 sonably desire. 
 
 Hamilton. I thank your honor. Then, gentle- 
 men of the jury, it is to you we must now appeal for 
 witnesses to the truth of the facts we have offered 
 and are denied the liberty to prove ; and let it not 
 seem strange, that I apply myself to you in this 
 manner ; I am warranted so to do both by law and 
 reason. The law supposes you to be summoned, 
 out of the neighborhood where the fact is alleged to 
 be committed ; and the reason of your being taken 
 out of the neighborhood is, because you are supposed
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 171 
 
 to have the best knowledge of the fact that is to be 
 tried ; and, were you to find a verdict against my 
 client, you must take upon you to say, that the papers 
 referred to in the information, and which we acknow- 
 ledge we printed and published, are false, scandalous, 
 and seditious ; but of this I can have no apprehen- 
 sion. You are citizens of New York ; you are really 
 what the law supposes you to be, honest and lawful 
 men ; and the facts which we offer to prove were 
 not committed in a corner ; they are notoriously 
 known to be true ; and therefore in your justice lies 
 our safety. And as we are denied the~HBerty of giv- 
 ing evidence, to prove the truth of what we have pub- 
 lished, I will beg leave to lay it down as a standing 
 rule in such cases, that the suppressing of evidence 
 ought always to be taken for the strongest evidence : 
 and I hope it will have that weight with you. But 
 since we are not admitted to examine our witnesses, 
 I will endeavor to shorten the dispute with Mr. At- 
 torney, and to that end, I desire he would favor us 
 with some standard definition of a libel, by which it 
 may be certainly known, whether a writing be a libel, 
 yea or not. 
 
 Attorney General. The books, I think, have given 
 a very full definition of a libel ; they say it is, in a 
 strict sense, taken for 'a malicious defamation, ex- 
 pressed either in writing or printing, and tending 
 either to blacken the memory of one who is dead, or 
 the reputation of one who is alive, and to expose 
 him to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. But it 
 is said, that in a larger sense the notion of a libel 
 may be applied to any defamation whatsoever, ex-
 
 172 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 pressed either by signs or pictures ; as by fixing up a 
 gallows against a man's door, or by painting him in a 
 shameful and ignominious manner. And since the 
 chief cause, for which the law so severely punishes all 
 offences of this nature, is the direct tendency of them 
 to a breach of the public peace, by provoking the 
 parties injured, their friends and families, to acts of re- 
 venge, which it would be impossible to restrain by the 
 severest laws, were there no redress from public jus- 
 tice for injuries of this kind, which of all others are 
 most sensibly felt ; and since the plain meaning of 
 such scandal, as is expressed by signs or pictures, is 
 as obvious to common sense, and as easily under- 
 stood by every common capacity, and altogether as 
 provoking, as that which is expressed by writing or 
 printing, why should it not be equally criminal ? 
 From the same ground it seems also clearly to fol- 
 low, that 1 ' such scandal as is expressed in a scoffing 
 and ironical manner makes a writing as properly a 
 libel as that which is expressed in direct terms ; as 
 where a writing, in a taunting manner, reckoning up 
 several acts of public charity done by one, says, 
 " You will not play the Jew, nor the hypocrite," and 
 so goes on in a strain of ridicule to insinuate, that 
 what he did was owing to his vain glory ; or where a 
 writing, pretending to recommend to one the charac- 
 ters of several great men for his imitation, instead of 
 taking notice of what they are generally esteemed 
 famous for, pitched on such qualities only which their 
 enemies charge them with the want of, as by propos- 
 ing such a one to be imitated for his courage, who is 
 known to be a great statesman, but no soldier ; and
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 173 
 
 another to be imitated for his learning, who is known 
 to be a great general, but no scholar, &c., which 
 kind of writing is as well understood to mean only 
 to upbraid the parties with the want of these quali- 
 ties, as if it had directly and expressly done so. 1 
 
 Hamilton. Ay, Mr. Attorney ; but what certain 
 standard rule have the books laid down, by which 
 we can certainly know, whether the words or the 
 signs are malicious ? Whether they are defamatory ? 
 Whether. they tend to the breach of the peace ; and 
 are a sufficient ground to provoke a man, his family, 
 or friends, to acts of revenge, especially those of the 
 ironical sort of words ? And what rule have you to 
 know when I write ironically ? I think it would be 
 hard, when I say, such a man is a very worthy, 
 honest gentleman, and of fine understanding, that 
 therefore I meant he was a knave or a fool. 
 
 Attorney General. I think the books are very full ; 
 it is said, in the book just now read ; " That such 
 scandal as is expressed in a scoffing and ironical man- 
 ner, makes a writing as properly a libel, as that which 
 is expressed in direct terms ; as where a writing, in 
 a taunting manner, reckoning up several acts of cha- 
 rity done by one, says, ' You will not play the Jew 
 or the hypocrite ; ' and so goes on to insinuate, that 
 what he did was owing to his vain glory, &c. Which 
 kind of writing is as well understood to mean only to 
 upbraid the parties with the want of these qualities, 
 as if it had directly and expressly done so." I think 
 nothing can be plainer or more full than these words. 
 
 1 1 Hawkins, ch. 73, 1. et seq. 
 15*
 
 174 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Hamilton. I agree the words are very plain, and 
 I shall not scruple to allow (when we are agreed that 
 the words are false and scandalous, and were spoken 
 in an ironical and scoffing manner,) that they 
 are really libellous ; but here still occurs the uncer- 
 tainty, which makes it difficult to know, what 
 words are scandalous, and what not ; for you say, 
 they may be scandalous, true or false: besides, how 
 shall we know whether the words were spoke in a 
 scoffing and ironical manner, or seriously ? Or how 
 can you know, whether the man did not think as he 
 wrote ? For, by your rule, if he did, it is no irony, 
 and consequently no libel. But, under favor, Mr. 
 Attorney, I think the same book, and the same sec- 
 tion, will show us the only rule by which all these 
 things are to be known. The words are these ; 
 "Which kind of writing is as well understood to 
 mean only to upbraid the parties with the want of 
 these qualities, as if they had directly and expressly 
 done so." Here it is plain, the words are scanda- 
 lous, scoffing, and ironical, only as they are under- 
 stood. I know no rule laid down in the books but 
 this : I mean, as the words are understood. 
 
 Chief Justice. Mr. Hamilton, do you think it so 
 hard to know when words are ironical, or spoken in a 
 scoffing manner ? 
 
 Hamilton. I own it may be known ; but I insist, 
 the only rule to know is, as I do or can understand 
 them ; I have no other rule to go by, but as I under- 
 stand them. 
 
 Chief Justice. That is certain. All words are 
 libellous or not, as they are understood. Those who
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 175 
 
 are to judge of the words, must judge whether they 
 are scandalous or ironical, tend to the breach of the 
 peace, or are seditious : there can be no doubt of it. 
 
 Hamilton. I thank your honor ; I am glad to find 
 the court of this opinion. Then it follows that those 
 twelve men must understand the words in the infor- 
 mation to be scandalous, that is to say, false ; for I 
 think it is not pretended that they are of the ironical 
 sort ; and when they understand the words to be so, 
 they will say we are guilty of publishing a false libel, 
 and not otherwise. 
 
 Chief Justice. No, Mr. Hamilton ; the jury may 
 find that Zenger printed and published those papers, 
 and leave it to the court to judge whether they are 
 libellous ; you know this is very common ; it is in the 
 nature of a special verdict, where the jury leave the 
 matter of law to the court. 
 
 Hamilton. I know, may it please your honor, the 
 jury may do so ; but I do likewise know, they may 
 do otherwise. I know they have the right beyond 
 all dispute, to determine both the law and the fact, 
 and where they do not doubt oF the law, they ought 
 to do so. This manner of leaving it to the judgment 
 of the court whether the words are libellous or not, 
 in effect renders juries useless, to say no worse, in 
 many cases ; but this I shall have occasion to speak 
 to by and by; and I "will, with the court's leave, 
 proceed to examine the inconveniencies that must 
 inevitably arise from the doctrines Mr. Attorney has 
 laid down ; and I observe, in support of this prose- 
 cution, he has frequently repeated the words taken 
 from the case de Libellis famosis in the fifth of Coke.
 
 176 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 This is indeed the leading case, to which almost 
 all the other cases upon the subject of libels re- 
 fer ; and I must insist upon saying, that according as 
 this case seems to be understood by the court and 
 Mr. Attorney, it is not law at this day. For though 
 I own it to be base and unworthy, to scandalize any 
 man, yet I think it is even villanous to scandalize a 
 person of public character, and I will go so far into 
 Mr. Attorney's doctrine as to agree, that if the faults, 
 mistakes, nay even the vices of such a person be 
 private and personal, and do not affect the peace of 
 the public, or the liberty or property of our neighbor, 
 it is unmanly and unmannerly to expose them either 
 by word or writing. But when a ruler of a people 
 brings his personal failings, but much more his vices, 
 into his administration, and the people find them- 
 selves affected by them, either in their liberties or 
 properties, that will alter the case mightily ; and all 
 the high things that are said in favor of rulers, and 
 of dignities, and upon the side of power, will not 
 be able to stop people's mouths when they feel 
 themselves oppressed, I mean in a free govern- 
 ment. It is true in times past it was a crime to 
 speak truth, and in that terrible court of star cham- 
 ber, many worthy and brave men suffered for so 
 doing ; and yet even in that court, and in those bad 
 times, a great and good man durst say. what I hope 
 will not be taken amiss of me to say in this place, 
 that the practice of informations for libels is a sword 
 in the hands of a wicked king, and an arrant cow- 
 ard, to cut down and destroy the innocent ; the one 
 cannot, because of his high station, and the other
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 177 
 
 dares not, because of his want of courage, revenge 
 himself in another manner. 
 
 Attorney General. Pray Mr. Hamilton, have a 
 care what you say, do not go too far either; I do 
 not like those liberties. 
 
 Hamilton. Sure, Mr. Attorney, you will not make 
 any applications ; all men agree that we are governed 
 by the best of kings, and I cannot see the meaning 
 of Mr. Attorney's caution ; my well known princi- 
 ples, and the sense I have of the blessings we enjoy 
 under his present majesty, make it impossible for me 
 to err, and I hope, even to be suspected, in that 
 point of duty to my king. May it please your honor, 
 I was saying, that notwithstanding all the duty and 
 reverence claimed by Mr. Attorney to men in au- 
 thority, they are not exempt from observing the rules 
 of common justice, either in their private or public 
 capacities ; the laws of our mother country know no 
 exemption. It is true, men in power are harder to be 
 come at for wrongs they do, either to a private per- 
 son, or to the public ; especially a governor in the 
 plantations, where they insist upon an exemption 
 from answering complaints of any kind in their own 
 government. We are indeed told, and it is true, they 
 are obliged to answer a suit in the king's courts at 
 Westminster, for a wrong done to any person here ; 
 but do we not know how impracticable this is to 
 most men among us, to leave their families, who 
 depend upon their labor and care for their livelihood, 
 and carry evidences to Britain, and at a great, nay, a 
 far greater expense than almost any of us are able to 
 bear, only to prosecute a governor for an injury done
 
 178 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 here. But when the oppression is general, there is 
 no remedy even that way ; no, our constitution has, 
 (blessed be God) given us an opportunity, if not to 
 have such wrongs redressed, yet by our prudence 
 and resolution to prevent in a great measure the 
 committing of such wrongs, by making a governor 
 sensible that it is his interest to be just to those 
 under his care ; for such is the sense, that men in 
 general (I mean freemen) have of common justice, 
 that when they come to know, that a chief magis- 
 trate abuses the power, with which he is trusted for 
 the good of the people, and is attempting to turn 
 that very power against the innocent, whether of 
 high or low degree, I say, mankind in general seldom 
 fail to interpose, and as far as they can, prevent the 
 destruction of their fellow subjects. And has it not 
 often been seen (and I hope it will always be seen) 
 that when the representatives of a free people are by 
 just representations or remonstrances, made sensible 
 of the sufferings of their fellow subjects, by the abuse 
 of power in the hands of a governor, they have de- 
 clared (and loudly too) that they were not obliged 
 by any law to support a governor who goes about to 
 destroy a province or colony, or their privileges, 
 which by his majesty he was appointed, and by the 
 law he is bound, to protect and encourage. But I 
 pray it maybe considered, of what use is this mighty 
 privilege, if every man that suffers must be silent ? 
 And if a man must be taken up as a libeller, for tell- 
 ing his sufferings to his neighbor ? I know it may 
 be answered, have you not a legislature ? Have you 
 not a house of representatives to whom you may
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 179 
 
 complain ? And to this I answer, we have. But 
 what then ? Is an assembly to be troubled with every 
 injury done by a governor ? Or are they to hear of 
 nothing but what those in the administration will 
 please to tell them ? Or what sort of a trial must a 
 man have ? and how is he to be remedied : espe- 
 cially if the case were, as I have known it to happen 
 in America in my time ; that a governor who has 
 places (I will not say pensions, for I believe they 
 seldom give that to another which they can take 
 to themselves) to bestow, and can or will keep the 
 same assembly, after he has modeled them so as to 
 get a majority of the house in his interest, for near 
 twice seven years together? I pray, what redress is 
 to be expected for an honest man, who makes his 
 complaint against a goveraor, to an assembly who 
 may properly enough be said to be made by the same 
 governor against whom the complaint is made ? The 
 thing answers itself. No, it is natural, it is a privi- 
 lege. I will go farther, it is a right which all freemen 
 claim, and are entitled to complain, when they are 
 hurt ; they have a right publicly to remonstrate against 
 abuses of power, in the strongest terms, to put their 
 neighbors upon their guard against the craft or open 
 violence of men in authority, and to assert with 
 courage the sense they have of the blessings of lib- 
 erty, the value they put upon it, and their resolution 
 at all hazards to preserve it as one of the greatest 
 blessings heaven can bestow. And when a house of 
 assembly composed of honest freemen sees the gene- 
 ral bent of the people's inclinations, that is it, which 
 must and will I am sure it ought to weigh with
 
 180 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 a legislature, in spite of all the craft, caressing and 
 cajoling, made use of by a governor, to divert them 
 from hearkening to the voice of their country. 
 
 As we all very well understand the true reason, 
 why gentlemen take so much pains and make such 
 great interest to be appointed governors, so is the 
 design of their appointment not less manifest. We 
 know his majesty's gracious intentions to his subjects ; 
 he desires no more than that his people in the plan- 
 tations should be kept up to their duty and allegiance 
 to the crown of Great Britain, that peace may be 
 preserved amongst them, and justice impartially ad- 
 ministered ; that we may be governed so as to render 
 us useful to our mother country, by encouraging us 
 to make and raise such commodities as may be useful 
 to Great Britain. But will any one say, that all or 
 any of these good ends are to be effected, by a gov- 
 ernor's setting his people together by the ears, and 
 by the assistance of one part of the people plaguing 
 and plundering the other ? The commission which 
 governors bear, while they execute the powers given 
 them, according to the intent of the royal grantor, 
 expressed in their commissions, requires^tnd deserves 
 very great reverence and submission ;^ut when a go- 
 vernor departs from the duty enjoined on him by his 
 sovereign, and acts as if he was less accountable than 
 the royal hand that gave him all that power and 
 honor which he is possessed of; this sets people upon 
 examining and inquiring into the power, authority, 
 and duty of such a magistrate, and to compare those 
 with his conduct ; and just as far as they find he 
 exceeds the bounds of his authority, or falls short in
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 181 
 
 doing impartial justice to the people under his ad- 
 ministration, so far they very often, in returja, come 
 short in their duty to such a governor. '"Tor power 
 alone will not make a man beloved, and I have heard 
 it observed, that the man who was neither good nor 
 wise before his being made a governor, never mended 
 upon his preferment, but has been generally observed 
 to be worse : for men who are not endued with wis- 
 dom and virtue can only be kept in bounds by the 
 law ; and by how much the further they think them- 
 selves out of the reach of the law, by so much the 
 more wicked and cruel men are. I wish there were 
 no instances of the kind at this day. And wherever 
 this happens to be the case of a governor, unhappy 
 are the people under his administration, and in the 
 end he will find himself so too ; for the people will 
 neither love him nor support him. 
 
 I make no doubt but there are those here, who are 
 zealously concerned for the success of this prosecu- 
 tion ; and yet I hope there are not many, and even 
 some of those, I am persuaded (when they consider 
 to what lengths such prosecutions may be carried, 
 and how deeply the liberties of the people may be 
 affected by such means,) will not all abide by their 
 present sentiments ; I say, not all : for the man who 
 from an intimacy and acquaintance with a governor 
 has conceived a personal regard for him, the man 
 who has felt none of the strokes of his power, the 
 man who believes that a governor has a regard for 
 him and confides in him, it is natural for such men 
 to wish well to the affairs of such a governor ; and as 
 they may be men of honor and generosity, they may 
 16
 
 182 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 and no doubt will wish him success, so far as the 
 rights and privileges of their fellow citizens are not 
 affected. But as men of honor, I can apprehend 
 nothing from them ; they will never exceed that 
 point. 
 
 There are others that are under stronger obliga- 
 tions, and those are such as are in some sort engaged 
 in support of a governor's cause, by their own or 
 their relations' dependence on his favor, for some 
 post or preferment ; such men have what is com- 
 monly called duty and gratitude, to influence their 
 inclinations, and oblige them to go his lengths. I 
 know men's interests are very near to them, and they 
 will do much, rather than forego the favor of a gov- 
 ernor, and a livelihood at the same time ; but I can 
 with very just grounds hope, even from those men, 
 whom I will suppose to be men of honor and con- 
 science too, that when they see the liberty of their 
 country is in danger, either by their concurrence, or 
 even by their silence, they will, like Englishmen, 
 and like themselves, freely make a sacrifice of any 
 preferment or favor, rather than be accessary to de- 
 stroying the liberties of their country, and entailing 
 slavery upon their posterity. 
 
 There is indeed another set of men, of whom I 
 have no hopes, I mean such, who lay aside all other 
 considerations, and are ready to join with power in 
 any shapes, and with any man or sort of men, by 
 whose means or interest they may be assisted to 
 gratify their malice and envy against those whom 
 they have been pleased to hate ; and that for no 
 other reason, but because they are men of abilities
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 183 
 
 and integrity, or at least are possessed of some valu- 
 able qualities, far superior to their own. But as envy 
 is the sin of the devil, and therefore very hard, if at 
 all, to be repented of, I will believe there are but few 
 of this detestable and worthless sort of men, nor will 
 their opinions or inclinations have any influence upon 
 this trial. But to proceed ; I beg leave to insist, that 
 the right of complaining or remonstrating is natural ; 
 and the restraint upon this natural right is the law 
 only, and that those restraints can only extend to 
 what is false : for as it is truth alone which can ex- 
 cuse or justify any man for complaining of a bad 
 administration, I as frankly agree, that nothing ought 
 to excuse a man who raises a false charge or accusa- 
 tion, even against a private person, and that no man- 
 ner of allowance ought to be made to him, who does 
 so against a public magistrate. pTruth ought to go- 
 vern the whole affair of libels, ancl yet the party ac- 
 cused runs risk enough even then ; for if he fails of 
 proving every tittle of what he has written, and to 
 the satisfaction of the_court and jury too, he may 
 find to his cost, that when the prosecution is set on 
 foot by men in power, it seldom wants friends to fa- 
 vor it J And from thence, it is said, has arisen the 
 great diversity of opinions among judges, about what 
 words were or were not scandalous or libellous. I 
 believe it will be granted, that there is not greater 
 uncertainty in any part of the law, than about words 
 of scandal ; it would be misspending of the court's 
 time to mention the cases ; they may be said to be 
 numberless ; and therefore the utmost care ought to 
 be taken in following precedents ; and the times
 
 184 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 when the judgments were given, which are quoted 
 for authorities in the case of libels, are much to be 
 regarded. I think it will be agreed, that ever since 
 the time of the star chamber, where the most arbi- 
 trary and destructive judgments and opinions were 
 given, that ever an Englishman heard of, at least in 
 his own country : I say, prosecutions for libels since 
 the time of that arbitrary court, and until the glorious 
 revolution, have generally been set on foot at the in- 
 stance of the crown or its ministers ; and it is no 
 small reproach to the law, that these prosecutions 
 were too often and too much countenanced by the 
 judges, who held their places at pleasure, (a disagree- 
 able tenure to any officer, but a dangerous one in 
 the case of a judge.) To say more to this point 
 may not be proper. And yet I cannot think it un- 
 warrantable, to show the unhappy influence that a 
 sovereign has sometimes had, not only upon judges, 
 but even upon parliaments themselves. 
 
 It has already been shown, how the judges differed 
 in their opinions about the nature of a libel, in the 
 case of the seven bishops. There you see three 
 judges of one opinion, that is, of a wrong opinion, 
 in the judgment of the best men in England, and 
 one judge of a right opinion. How unhappy might 
 it have been for all of us at this day, if that jury had 
 understood the words in that information as the court 
 did ? Or if they had left it to the court, to judge 
 whether the petition of the bishops was or was not a 
 libel ? No, they took upon them, to their immortal 
 honor, to determine both law and fact, and to under- 
 stand the petition of the bishops to be no libel ; that
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 185 
 
 is, to contain no falsehood nor sedition, and there- 
 fore found them not guilty. And remarkable is the 
 case of Sir Samuel Barnardiston, who was fined ten 
 thousand pounds for writing a letter, in which, it 
 may be said, none saw any scandal or falsehood but 
 the court and jury ; for that judgment was after- 
 wards looked upon as a cruel and detestable judg- 
 ment, and therefore was reversed by parliament. 
 Many more instances might be given of the complai- 
 sance of court judges, about those times, and before ; 
 but I will mention only one case more, and that is 
 the case of Sir Edward Hales, who though a Roman 
 Catholic, was by king James II. preferred to be a 
 colonel of his army, notwithstanding the statute of 
 25 Charles II., chapter second, by which it is pro- 
 vided, that every one that accepts of an office, civil 
 or military, &c., shall take the oaths, subscribe the 
 declaration, and take the sacrament, within three 
 months, &c., otherwise he is disabled to hold such 
 office, and the grant for the same to be null and void, 
 and the party to forfeit five hundred pounds. Sir 
 Edward Hales did not take the oaths or sacrament, 
 and was prosecuted for five hundred pounds, for exer- 
 cising the office of a colonel, by the space of three 
 months, without conforming as in the act is directed. 
 Sir Edward pleads, that the king by his letters patents 
 did dispense with his taking the oaths and sacraments, 
 and subscribing the declaration, and had pardoned 
 the forfeiture of five hundred pounds. And whether 
 the king's dispensation was good, against the said 
 act of parliament ? was the question. I shall men- 
 tion no more of this case, than to show how in the 
 1C*
 
 186 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 reign of an arbitrary prince, where judges hold their 
 seats at pleasure, their determinations have not always 
 been such as to make precedents of, but the con- 
 trary ; and so it happened in this case, where it was 
 solemnly judged, that, notwithstanding this act of 
 parliament, made in the strongest terms, for pre- 
 servation of the protestant religion, that yet the king 
 had, by his royal prerogative, a power to dispense 
 with that law ; and Sir Edward Hales was acquitted 
 by the judges accordingly. So the king's dispensing 
 power, being by the judges set up above the act of 
 parliament, this law, which the people looked upon 
 as their chief security against popery and arbitrary 
 power, was by this judgment rendered altogether in- 
 effectual. But this judgment is sufficiently exposed 
 by Sir Edward Atkins, 1 late one of the judges of 
 the court of common pleas, in his enquiry into 
 the king's power of dispensing with penal statutes ; 
 where it is shown, who it was that first invented dis- 
 pensations ; how they came into England ; what ill 
 use has been made of them there ; and all this prin- 
 cipally owing to the countenance given them by the 
 judges. He says of the dispensing power, 2 the pope 
 was the inventor of it ; our kings have borrowed it 
 from them ; and the judges have from time to time 
 nursed and dressed it up, and given it countenance ; 
 and it is still upon the growth, and encroaching, till 
 it has almost subverted all law, and made the regal 
 power absolute, if not dissolute. This seems not 
 
 1 Sir Edward Atkins's Enquiry into the power of dispensing with 
 penal statutes. 
 
 * Postscript to the Enquiry, p. 51.
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 187 
 
 only to show how far judges have been influenced 
 by power, and how little cases of this sort, where 
 the prerogative has been in question in former reigns, 
 are to be relied upon for law : but I think it plainly 
 shows too, that a man may use a greater freedom 
 with the power of his sovereign and the judges in 
 Great Britain, than it seems he may with the power 
 of a governor in the plantations, who is but a fellow 
 subject. Are these words with which we are charged, 
 like these ? Do Mr. Zenger's papers contain any 
 such freedoms with his governor or his council, as Sir 
 Edward Atkins has taken, with the regal power and 
 the judges in England ? And yet I never heard of 
 any information brought against him for these free- 
 doms. 
 
 If then, upon the whole, there is so great an un- 
 certainty among judges, learned and great men, in 
 matters of this kind ; if power has had so great an 
 influence on judges, how cautious ought we to be in 
 determining by their judgments, especially in the 
 plantations, and in the case of libels ? There is 
 heresy in law, as well as in religion, and both have 
 changed very much ; and we well know that it is not 
 two centures ago that a man would have been burnt 
 as an heretic, for owning such opinions in matters of 
 religion, as are publicly written and printed at this 
 day. They are fallible men, it seems, and we take 
 liberty not only to differ from them in religious opin- 
 ions, but to condemn them and their opinions too ; 
 and I must presume, that in taking these freedoms in 
 thinking and speaking about matters of faith or re- 
 ligion, we are in the right : for though it is said there 
 are very great liberties of this kind taken in New
 
 188 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 York, yet I have heard of no information preferred 
 by Mr. Attorney for any offences of this sort. From 
 which I think it is pretty clear, that in New York, a 
 man may make very free with his God, but he must 
 take special care what he says of his governor. It is 
 agreed upon by all men, that this is a reign of lib- 
 erty ; ^and while men keepT within the bounds of 
 truth, I hope they may withNsafety both speak and 
 write their sentiments of the conduct of men in 
 power ; I mean of that part of their conduct only, 
 which affects the liberty or property of the people 
 under their administration ; | were this to be denied, 
 then the next step may make them slaves ; for what 
 notions can be entertained of slavery, beyond that of 
 suffering the greatest injuries and oppressions, with- 
 out the liberty of complaining ; or if they do, to be 
 destroyed, body and estate, for so doing ? 
 
 It is said and insisted on by Mr. Attorney, that 
 government is a sacred thing ; that it is to be sup- 
 ported and reverenced ; it is government that pro- 
 tects our persons and estates ; that prevents treasons, 
 murders, robberies, riots, and all the train of evils that 
 overturns kingdoms and states, and ruins particular 
 persons ; and if those in the administration, espe- 
 cially the supreme magistrate, must have all their 
 conduct censured by private men, government can- 
 not subsist. -This is called a licentiousness not to be 
 tolerated. It is said, that it brings the rulers of the 
 people into contempt, and their authority not to be 
 regarded, and so in the end, the laws cannot be put 
 in execution. These I say, and such as these, are 
 the general topics insisted upon by men in power, 
 and their advocates. But I wish it might be consid-
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 189 
 
 ered at the same time, how often it has happened, 
 that the abuse of power has been the primary cause 
 of these evils, and that it was the injustice and op- 
 pression of these great men, which has commonly 
 brought them into contempt with the people. The 
 craft and art of such men is great, and who, that is 
 the least acquainted with history or law can be igno- 
 rant of the specious pretences, which have often 
 been made use of by men in power, to introduce ar- 
 bitrary rule, and destroy the liberties of a free peo- 
 ple. I will give two instances ; and as they are au- 
 thorities not to be denied, nor can be misunderstood, 
 I presume they will be sufficient. 
 
 The first is a statute of Henry VIT., the preamble 
 of which will prove all, and more than I have al- 
 leged. It begins, " the king our sovereign lord re- 
 membereth how by unlawful maintenances, giving of 
 liveries, signs and tokens, &c., untrue demeanings of 
 sheriffs in making of panels, and other untrue re- 
 turns, by taking of money, by injuries, by great riots 
 and unlawful assemblies : the policy and good rule 
 of this realm is almost subdued ; and for the not 
 punishing these inconveniences, and by occasion of 
 the premises, little or nothing may be found by 
 inquiry, &c., to the increase of murders, &c., and 
 unsureties of all men living, and losses of their lands 
 and goods." ' Here is a fine and specious pretence 
 for introducing the remedy, as it is called, which is 
 provided by this act, that is ; instead of being law- 
 fully accused by twenty-four good and lawful men 
 
 1 Statute of 3 Henry VII., chap. 1.
 
 190 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 of the neighborhood, and afterwards tried by twelve 
 like lawful men, here is a power given to the lord 
 chancellor, lord treasurer, the keeper of the king's 
 privy seal, or two of them, calling to them a bishop, 
 a temporal lord, and other great men mentioned in 
 the act, (who, it is to be observed, were all to be 
 dependants on the court) to receive information 
 against any person for any of the misbehaviors recited 
 in that act, and by their discretion to examine, and 
 to punish them according to their demerit. 
 
 The second statute I proposed to mention, is a sub- 
 sequent act of the same king, the preamble of which 
 has the like fair pretences as the former ; for the 
 king calling to his remembrance the good laws made 
 against the receiving of liveries, &c., unlawful extor- 
 tions, maintenances, embracery, &c., unlawful games, 
 &c., and many other great enormities, and offences 
 committed against many good statutes, to the dis- 
 pleasure of Almighty .God, which, the act says, could 
 not, nor yet can, be conveniently punished by the 
 due order of the law, except it were first found by 
 twelve men, &c., which for the causes aforesaid, will 
 not find nor yet present the truth. And therefore 
 the same statute directs, that the justices of assize, 
 and justices of the peace shall, upon information for 
 the king before them made, have full power, by their 
 discretion, to hear and determine all such offences. 1 
 Here are two statutes that are allowed to have given 
 the deepest wound to the liberties of the people of 
 England, of any that I remember to have been made, 
 
 1 Statute of 11 Henry VII., chap. 3.
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 191 
 
 unless it may be said, that the statute made in the 
 time of Henry VIII., by which his proclamations 
 were to have the effect of laws, might in its conse- 
 quence be worse. And yet we see the plausible pre- 
 tences found out by the great men to procure these 
 acts. And it may justly be said, that by those pre- 
 tences the people of England were cheated or awed 
 into the delivering up their ancient and sacred rights 
 of trials by grand and petit juries. I hope to be 
 excused for this expression, seeing my lord Coke calls 
 it an unjust and strange act, that tended in its exe- 
 cution to the great displeasure of Almighty God, 
 and the utter subversion of the common law. 
 
 These, I think, make out what I alleged, and are 
 flagrant instances of the influence of men in power, 
 even upon the representatives of a whole kingdom. 
 From all which I hope it will be agreed, that it is a 
 duty which all good men owe to their country, to 
 guard against the unhappy influence of ill men when 
 intrusted with power, and especially against their 
 creatures and dependants, who, as they are generally 
 more necessitous, are surely more covetous and cruel. 
 But it is worthy of observation, that though the spirit 
 of liberty was borne down and oppressed in England 
 at that time, yet it was not lost ; for the parliament 
 laid hold of the first opportunity to free the subjects 
 from the many insufferable oppressions and outrages 
 committed upon their persons and estates by color of 
 these acts, the last of which being deemed the most 
 grievous, was repealed in the first year of Henry VIII. 
 Though it is to be observed, that Henry VII. and his 
 creatures reaped such great advantages by the griev-
 
 192 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ous oppressions and exactions, grinding the faces of 
 the poor subjects, as my lord Coke says, by color of 
 this statute by information only, that a repeal of this 
 act could never be obtained during the life of that 
 prince. The other statute, being the favorite law for 
 supporting arbitrary power, was continued much 
 longer. The execution of it was by the great men 
 of the realm ; and how they executed it, the sense of 
 the kingdom, expressed in the statute of the 17th of 
 Charles I. (by which the court of star chamber, .the 
 soil where informations grew rankest was abolished,) 
 will best declare. In that statute, Magna Charta, 
 and the other statutes made in the time of Edward 
 III., which, I think, are no less than five, are particu- 
 larly enumerated as acts, by which the liberties and 
 privileges of the people of England were secured to 
 them, against such oppressive courts as the star cham- 
 ber and others of the like jurisdiction. And the rea- 
 son assigned for their pulling down the star chamber 
 is, " that the proceedings, censures and decrees of 
 the court of star chamber, even though the great 
 men of the realm, nay, and a bishop too (holy man) 
 were judges, had by experience been found to be an 
 intolerable burthen to the subject, and the means to 
 introduce an arbitrary power and government." And 
 therefore, that court was taken away, with all the 
 other courts in that statute mentioned, having like 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 I do not mention this statute, as if, by the taking 
 away the court of star chamber, the remedy for many 
 of the abuses or offences censured there was like- 
 wise taken away ; no, I only intend by it to show,
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 193 
 
 that the people of England saw clearly the danger of 
 trusting their liberties and properties to be tried, 
 even by the greatest men in the kingdom, without 
 the judgment of a jury of their equals. They had 
 felt the terrible effects of leaving it to the judgment 
 of these great men to say what was scandalous and 
 seditious, false or ironical. And if the parliament of 
 England thought this power of judging was too great 
 to be trusted with men of the first rank in the king- 
 dom, without the aid of a jury, how sacred soever 
 their characters might be, and therefore restored to 
 the people their original right of trial by juries, I 
 hope to be excused for insisting, that by the judg- 
 ment of a parliament, from whence no appeal lies, 
 the jury are the proper judges of what is false, at 
 least, if not of what is scandalous and seditious. 
 This is an authority not to be denied ; it is as plain 
 as it is great ; and, to say that this act indeed did 
 restore to the people trial by juries, which was not 
 the practice of the star chamber, but that it did not give 
 the jurors any new authority, or any right to try mat- 
 ters of law, I say this objection will not avail ; for I 
 must insist, that where matter of law is complicated 
 with matter of fact, the jury have a right to deter- 
 mine both. As for instance, upon indictment for 
 murder, the jury may, and almost constantly do, take 
 upon them to judge whether the evidence will amount 
 to murder or manslaughter, and find accordingly ; 
 and I must say I cannot see, why in our case the 
 jury have not at least as good a right to say, whether 
 our newspapers are a libel or no libel, as another jury 
 17
 
 194 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 has to say, whether killing of a man is murder or 
 manslaughter. 
 
 The right of the jury, to find such a verdict as 
 they in their conscience do think is agreeable to their 
 evidence, is supported by the authority of Bushel's 
 case, Vaughan's Reports, p. 135, beyond any doubt. 
 For, in the argument of that case, the chief justice, 
 who delivered the opinion of the court, lays it down 
 for law, 1 " That in all general issues, as upon non cul. 
 in trespass, non tort, mil disseisin in assize, &c., though 
 it is matter of law, whether the defendant is a tres- 
 passer, a disseiser, &c., in the particular cases in issue, 
 yet the jury find not (as in a special verdict) the fact 
 of every case, leaving the law to the court ; but find 
 for the plaintiff or defendant upon the issue to be 
 tried, wherein they resolve both law and fact com- 
 plicately." It appears by the same case, that though 
 the discreet and lawful assistance of the judge, by 
 way of advice to the jury, may be useful ; yet that 
 advice or direction ought always to be upon supposi- 
 tion, and not positive, and upon coercion. The rea- 
 son given in the same book is, " because the judge as 
 judge cannot know what the evidence is which the 
 jury have ; that is, he can only know the evidence 
 given in court ; but the evidence which the jury have, 
 may be of their own knowledge, as they are returned 
 of the neighborhood. They may also know from 
 their own knowledge, that what is sworn in court is 
 not true ; and they may know the witnesses to be 
 
 1 Vaughan's Reports, 150.
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 195 
 
 stigmatized, to which the court may be strangers." 
 But what speaks most to my purpose, is, that suppose 
 the court did really know all the evidence the jury 
 know, yet in that case it is agreed, " that the judge 
 and jury may differ in the result of their evidence as 
 well as two judges may," which often happens. 
 And the judge subjoins the reason, why it is no crime 
 for a jury to differ in opinion from the court, where 
 he says, " That a man cannot see with another's eye, 
 nor hear by another's ear ; no more can a man con- 
 clude or infer the thing by another's understanding 
 or reasoning." From all which I insist it is very 
 plain, " that the jury are by law at liberty (without 
 any affront to the judgment of the court) to find both 
 the law and the fact, in our case," as they did in the 
 case I am speaking to, which I will beg leave just to 
 mention, and it was this. Mr. Penn and Mead be- 
 ing Quakers, and having met in a peaceable manner, 
 after being shut out of their meetinghouse, preached 
 in Grace-church street, in London, to the people of 
 their own persuasion, and for this they were indicted ; 
 and it was said, " that they with other persons, to 
 the number of three hundred, unlawfully and tumult- 
 uously assembled, to the disturbance of the peace," 
 &c. To which they pleaded, not guilty. And 
 the petit jury being sworn to try the issue between 
 the king and the prisoners, that is, whether they 
 were guilty, according to the form of the indictment ; 
 here there was no dispute but they were assembled 
 together, to the number mentioned in the indictment ; 
 but, " whether that meeting together was riotously, 
 tumultuously, and to the disturbance of the peace,
 
 196 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 was the question." And the court told the jury it 
 was, and ordered the jury to find it so : " For," said 
 the court, " the meeting was the matter of fact, and 
 that is confessed, and we tell you it is unlawful, for 
 it is against the statute ; and the meeting being un- 
 lawful, it follows of course that it was tumultuous, 
 and to the disturbance of the peace." But the jury 
 did not think fit to take the court's word for it ; for 
 they could neither find riot, tumult, or any thing 
 tending to the breach of the peace, committed at 
 that meeting ; and they acquitted Mr. Penn and 
 Mead. In doing of which they took upon them to 
 judge both the law and the fact ; at which the court 
 (being themselves true courtiers) were so much 
 offended, that they fined the jury forty marks apiece, 
 and committed them till paid. But Mr. Bushel, who 
 valued the right of a juryman and the liberty of his 
 country more than his own, refused to pay the fine ; 
 and was resolved (though at a great expense and 
 trouble too) to bring, and did bring, his habeas cor- 
 pus, to be relieved from his fine and imprisonment, 
 and he was released accordingly ; and this being the 
 judgment in his case,fjt is established for law, " that 
 the judges, how great soever they be, have no right 
 to fine, imprison, or punish a jury, for not finding a 
 verdict according to the direction of the court.'J/ 
 CAnd this I hope is sufficient to prove, that jurymen 
 are to see with their own eyes, to hear with their 
 own ears, and to make use of their own consciences 
 and understandings, in judging of the lives, liberties 
 or estates of their fellow-subjects. And so I have 
 done with this point. ~?
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 197 
 
 This is the second information for libelling of a 
 governor that I have known in America; and the 
 first, though it may look like a romance, yet, as it 
 is true, I will beg leave to mention it. Governor 
 Nicholson, who happened to be offended with one of 
 his clergy, met him one day upon the road, and, as 
 was usual with him, under the protection of his com- 
 mission, used the parson with the worst of language, 
 threatened to cut off his ears, slit his nose, and at 
 last to shoot him through the head. The parson, 
 being a reverend man, continued all this time un- 
 covered in the heat of the sun, until he found an 
 opportunity to fly for it ; and coming to a neighbor's 
 house, felt himself very ill of a fever, and imme- 
 diately writes for a doctor ; and, that his physician 
 might be the better judge of his distemper, he ac- 
 quainted him with the usage he had received ; con- 
 cluding, that the governor was certainly mad, for 
 that no man in his senses would have behaved in 
 that manner. The doctor unhappily shows the par- 
 son's letter ; the governor came to hear of it ; and so 
 an information was preferred against the poor man, 
 for saying he believed the governor was mad ; and it 
 was laid in the information to be false, scandalous 
 and wicked, and wrote with intent to move sedition 
 among the people, and bring his excellency into con- 
 tempt. But, by an order from the late queen Anne, 
 there was a stop put to that prosecution, with sundry 
 others, set on foot by the same governor, against gen- 
 tlemen of the greatest worth and honor in that gov- 
 ernment. 
 I And may I not be allowed, after all this, to say, 
 
 17*
 
 198 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 that by a little countenance, almost any thing which 
 a man writes, may, with the help of that useful term 
 of art called an innuendo, be construed to be a libel, 
 according to Mr. Attorney's definition of it; that 
 whether the words are spoke of a person of a public 
 character, or of a private man, whether dead or liv- 
 ing, good or bad, true or false, all make a libel ; for, 
 according to Mr. Attorney, after a man hears a 
 writing read, or reads and repeats it, or laughs at it, 
 they are all punishable. /It is true, Mr. Attorney is 
 so good as to allow, after the party knows it to be 
 a libel ; but he is not so kind as to take the man's 
 word for itiT 
 
 If a libel is understood in the large and unlimited 
 sense urged by Mr. Attorney, there is scarce a writing 
 I know that may not be called a libel, or scarce any 
 person safe from being called to an account as a 
 libeller jj for Moses, meek as he was, libelled Cain ; 
 and who is it that has not libelled the devil ? For, 
 according to Mr. Attorney, it is no justification to 
 say one has a bad name. Echard has libelled our 
 good king William. Burnet has libelled, among 
 many others, king Charles and king James, and Ra- 
 pin has libelled them all. How must a man speak or 
 write, or what must he hear, read or sing, or when 
 must he laugh, so^as to be secure from being taken 
 up as a libeller ? [_I sincerely believe, that were some 
 persons to go through the streets of New York now- 
 a-days, and read a part of the Bible, if it was not 
 known to be such, Mr. Attorney, with the help of 
 hig innuendoes, would easily turn it into a libel. \As, 
 for instance, the sixteenth verse of the ninth chapter
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 199 
 
 of Isaiah, " The leaders of the people cause them 
 to err, and they that are led by them are destroyed." 
 But should Mr. Attorney go about to make this a 
 libel, he would read it thus : " The leaders of the 
 people (innuendo, the governor and council of New 
 York) cause them (innuendo, the people of this pro- 
 vince) to err, and they (the people of this province 
 meaning) are destroyed (innuendo, are deceived into 
 the loss of their liberty) which is the 1 worst kind of 
 destruction. Or if some person should publicly re- 
 peat, in a manner not pleasing to his betters, the 
 tenth and eleventh verses of the fifty-fifth chapter of 
 the same book, there Mr. Attorney would have a 
 large field to display his skill, in the artful applica- 
 tion of his innuendoes. The words are, " His watch- 
 men are all blind, they are ignorant ; yea, they are 
 greedy dogs, that can never have enough." But 
 to make them a libel, there is, according to Mr. At- 
 torney's doctrine, no more wanting but the aid of 
 his skill in the right adapting his innuendoes. As, 
 for instance, " His watchmen (innuendo, the govern- 
 or's council and assembly) are blind, they are igno- 
 rant (innuendo, will not see the dangerous designs of 
 his excellency ;) Yea, they (the governor and coun- 
 cil meaning) are greedy dogs, which can never have 
 enough (innuendo, enough of riches and power). 
 /_Such an instance as this seems only fit to be 
 laughed at ; but I may appeal to Mr. Attorney him- 
 self, whether these are not at least equally proper to 
 be applied to his excellency and his ministers, as 
 some of the inferences and inuendoes in his informa- 
 tion against my client. Then if Mr. Attorney is at
 
 200 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 liberty to come into court, and file an information in 
 the king's name, without leave, who is secure, whom 
 he is pleased to prosecute as a libeller YJ And as the 
 crown law is contended for in bad times, there is no 
 remedy for the greatest oppression of this sort, even 
 though the party prosecuted is acquitted with honor. 
 And give me leave to say, as great men as any in 
 Britain have boldly asserted, that the mode of pros- 
 ecuting by information, when a grand jury will not 
 find a bill of indictment, is a national grievance, and 
 greatly inconsistent with that freedom, which the 
 subjects of England enjoy in most other cases. But 
 if we are so unhappy as not to be able to ward off 
 this stroke of power directly, yet let us take care not 
 to be cheated out of our liberties, by forms and ap- 
 pearances ; let us always be sure that the charge in 
 the information is made out clearly, even beyond a 
 doubt ; for though matters in the information may be 
 called form, upon trial, yet they may be, and often 
 have been found to be matters of substance upon 
 giving judgment. 
 
 / Gentlemen, the danger is great, in proportion to 
 the mischief that may happen, through our too great 
 credulity. A proper confidence in a court is com- 
 mendable ; but as the verdict (whatever it is) will be 
 jfllirs, you ought to refer no part of your duty to the 
 discretion of other persons. ; If you should be of 
 opinion, that there is no falsehood in Mr. Zenger's 
 papers, you will, nay (pardon me for the expression) 
 you ought to say so; because you do not know 
 whether others (I mean the court) may be of that 
 opinion. ~~^t is your right to do so, and there is much
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 201 
 
 depending upon your resolution, as well as upon your 
 integrity.J 
 
 The loss of liberty, to a generous mind, is worse 
 than death ; and yet we know there have been those 
 in all ages, who for the sake of preferment, or some 
 imaginary honor, have freely lent a helping hand to 
 oppress, nay to destroy their country. This brings 
 to my mind that saying of the immortal Brutus, when 
 he looked upon the creatures of Caesar, who were 
 very great men, but by no means good men. " You 
 Romans," said Brutus, " if yet I may call you so, 
 consider what you are doing ; remember that you are 
 assisting Caesar to forge those very chains, which one 
 day he will make yourselves wear." This is what 
 every man, that values freedom, ought to consider : 
 he should act by judgment, and not by affection or 
 self-interest ; for, where these prevail, no ties of either 
 country or kindred are regarded ; as, upon the other 
 hand, the man who loves his country prefers its lib- 
 erty to all other considerations, well knowing that 
 without liberty, life is a misery. 
 
 A famous instance of this you will find in the his- 
 tory of another brave Roman of the same name, I 
 mean Lucius Junius Brutus, whose story is well 
 known, and therefore I shall mention no more of it, 
 than only to show the value he put upon the freedom 
 of his country. After this great man, with his fel- 
 low citizens whom he had engaged in the cause, had 
 banished Tarquin the proud, the last king of Rome, 
 from a throne which he ascended by inhuman mur- 
 ders, and possessed by the most dreadful tyranny 
 and proscriptions ; and had by this means amassed
 
 202 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 incredible riches, even sufficient to bribe to his inte- 
 rest, many of the young nobility of Rome, to assist 
 him in recovering the cr'own ; but the plot being dis- 
 covered, the principal conspirators were apprehended, 
 among whom were two of the sons of Junius Brutus. 
 It was absolutely necessary that some should be 
 made examples of, to deter others from attempting 
 the restoring of Tarquin and destroying the liberty 
 of Rome. And to effect this it was, that Lucius 
 Junius Brutus, one of the consuls of Rome, in the 
 presence of the Roman people, sat as judge and con- 
 demned his own sons, as traitors to their country : 
 and, to give the last proof of his exalted virtue, and 
 his love of liberty, he with a firmness of mind, 
 (only becoming so great a man) caused their heads 
 to be struck off in his own presence ; and when he 
 observed, that his rigid virtue occasioned a sort of 
 horror among the people, it is observed he only said, 
 " My fellow citizens, do not think that this proceeds 
 from any want of natural affection : no, the death of 
 the sons of Brutus can affect Brutus only ; but the 
 loss of liberty will affect my country." Thus highly 
 was liberty esteemed in those days, that a father 
 could sacrifice his sons to save his country ! But 
 why do I go to heathen Rome to bring instances of 
 the love of liberty ; the best blood in Britain has 
 been shed in the cause of liberty ; and the freedom 
 we enjoy at this day may be said to be (in a great 
 measure) owing to the glorious stand the famous 
 Hamden, and other of our countrymen, made, against 
 the arbitrary demands and illegal impositions of the 
 times in which they lived ; who, rather than give up
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 203 
 
 the rights of Englishmen, and submit to pay an ille- 
 gal tax, of no more, I think, than three shillings, re- 
 solved to undergo, and for the liberty of their 
 country did undergo, the greatest extremities in that 
 arbitrary and terrible court of star chamber, to whose 
 arbitrary proceedings, (it being composed of the 
 principal men of the realm, and calculated to sup- 
 port arbitrary government) no bounds or limits could 
 be set ; nor could any other hand remove the evil, 
 but a parliament. 
 
 Power may justly be compared to a great river, 
 which, while kept within its due bounds, is both 
 beautiful and useful ; but when it overflows its banks, 
 it is then too impetuous to be stemmed, it bears down 
 all before it, and brings destruction and desolation 
 wherever it comes. If then this is the nature of 
 power, let us at least do our duty, and like wise men 
 (who value freedom) use our utmost care to support 
 liberty, the only bulwark against lawless power, 
 which in all ages has sacrificed to its wild lust and 
 boundless ambition, the blood of the best men that 
 ever lived. 
 
 /I hope to be pardoned, sir, for my zeal upon this 
 occasion ; it is an old and wise caution, that when 
 our neighbor's house is on fire, we ought to take care 
 of our own. For, though, blessed be God, I live in 
 a government where liberty is well understood, and 
 freely enjoyed : yet experience has shown us all (I 
 am sure it has to me) that a bad precedent in one go- 
 verment is soon set up for an authority in another ; 
 and therefore I cannot but think it mine, and every 
 honest man's duty, that (while we pay all due obedi-
 
 204 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ence to men in authority) we ought at the same time 
 to be upon our guard against power, wherever we 
 apprehend that it may affect ourselves or our fellow 
 subjects. 
 
 Lj. am truly very unequal to such an undertaking 
 on many accounts. And you see I labor under the 
 weight of many years, and am borne down with 
 great infirmities of body ; yet, old and weak as T am, 
 I should think it my duty if required, to go to the 
 utmost part of the land, where my service could be 
 of any use in assisting to quench the flame of prose- 
 cutions upon informations, set on foot by the govern- 
 ment, to deprive a people of the right of remon- 
 strating, (and complaining too) of the arbitrary 
 attempts of men in power. Men who injure and 
 oppress the people under their administration provoke 
 them to cry out and complain ; and then make that 
 very complaint the foundation for new oppressions 
 and prosecutions. I wish I could say there were no 
 instances of this kind. But to conclude ; the__o t ues- 
 tion before the court and you, gentlemen of the jury, 
 is not of small nor private concern, it is not . the 
 cause of a poor printer, nor of New York alone, 
 which you are now trying : no ! it may, in its conse- 
 quences, affect every freeman that lives under a Brit- 
 ish government on the main of America. It is the 
 best cause ; it is the cause of liberty ; and I make 
 no doubt but your upright conduct, this day. will not 
 only entitle you to the love and esteem of your fel- 
 low citizens ; but every man who prefers freedom to 
 a life of slavery, will bless and honour you, as men 
 who have baffled the attempts of tyranny ; and by
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 205 
 
 an impartial and uncorrupt verdict, have laid a noble 
 foundation for securing to ourselves, our posterity, 
 and our, neighbors, that, to which nature and the 
 laws of our country have given us a right, the 
 liberty both of exposing and opposing arbitrary 
 power, in these parts of the world, at least, by speak- 
 ing and writing truth. 
 
 The address of Mr. Hamilton was listened to with 
 intense interest by a crowded audience, and was re- 
 ceived with every possible mark of favor. .At the 
 conclusion of it, the attorney general briefly replied ; 
 and the chief justice as briefly charged the jury to 
 the effect, that, as the defendant had confessed the 
 publication of the words complained of, the only 
 question for the jury was, whether the words were 
 libellous, and this, being a question of law, they might 
 safely leave to the court. 1 The jury withdrew, and 
 in a short time returned into court with a verdict of 
 not guilty. 
 
 The verdict was received with shouts. The judges 
 threatened the leader of the tumult with imprisonment ; 
 when a son of admiral Norris declared himself the 
 leader, and invited a repetition of the huzzas. The 
 judges had no time for a reply, for the shouts were 
 instantly repeated, and Mr. Hamilton was conducted 
 from the hall by the crowd to a splendid entertainment. 
 The whole city renewed the compliment at his depart- 
 
 1 The object of the court appears to have been to induce the 
 jury to return a special verdict, that the defendant did publish the 
 papers, and leave the question of libel, or not, to the court; but 
 Hamilton had cautioned them not to do so, but to return a general 
 verdict of not guilty. 
 
 18
 
 206 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ure the next day, and he entered the barge under a 
 salute of cannon. 1 The common council of New York 
 presented him the freedom of the city, " under v a grate- 
 ful sense of the remarkable service done by him to 
 the city and colony, by his learned and generous 2 
 defence of the rights of mankind and the liberty 
 of the press." A splendid gold box, in which 
 to enclose the certificate of the freedom, was also 
 purchased by subscription, on which the arms of 
 the city were engraved, encircled with the words ; 
 " DEMERS.E LEGES TIMEFACTA LIBERTAS HJEC 
 TANDEM EMERGUNT : " in a flying garter within, 
 " NON NUMMIS, VIRTUTE PARATUR :" and on the front, 
 " ITA CUIO.UE EVENIAT UT DE REPUBLICA MERUIT." 
 
 The argument of Mr. Hamilton, although open to 
 criticism, as a legal production, must be regarded as 
 a most able performance, under the circumstances of 
 the case. The law was undoubtedly against him, 
 but his exposition of its difficulties and absurdities 
 was clear and able, while his address to the jury, 
 and his whole management of the defence, were 
 skilful, and well calculated to accomplish the object 
 he had in view. But it was in a political point of 
 view that this trial became of great importance. The 
 political opinions so boldly promulgated by Mr. Ham- 
 ilton within the jurisdiction of the most arbitrary 
 governor in America, and before judges of his own 
 creation, were eagerly responded to by the people of 
 
 1 Dunlap's History of New York, ii. 301. 
 
 2 Mr. Hamilton received no pecuniary compensation for his ser- 
 vices in this trial.
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 207 
 
 the whole country. The result of the trial was pro- 
 claimed as a triumph of the people over arbitrary 
 power, and gave a confidence to infant opinions, 
 which caused it to be regarded as the morning star 
 of American freedom. " But it was not one light 
 alone that ushered in the dawn of our independence : 
 the stars of a whole constellation sang together for 
 
 joy-" 
 
 The doctrines of Mr. Hamilton respecting the law 
 of libel have frequently been agitated since his day, 
 in England and America. In the former country, 
 the doctrine as declared in the court of star chamber, 
 about the beginning of the reign of James I., that 
 the truth of a libel could not be shown by way of 
 justification, because, whether true or false, it was 
 equally dangerous to the public peace, remains to 
 the present day unshaken. 1 
 
 In this country, the subject has been frequently 
 discussed, and with different results. In 1804, a 
 famous case was argued before the supreme court of 
 New York, and the court were equally divided in 
 opinion on the point, whether, on an indictment for 
 a libel, the defendant was entitled to give in evi- 
 dence to the jury the truth of the charges contained 
 in the libel. 2 In Massachusetts, the question came up 
 
 1 Kent's Commentaries on American Law,ii, 18-23 (4th edition), 
 where the cases on this subject are collected. 
 
 * This was the case of Harry Croswell, for a libel on Thomas 
 Jefferson. It was argued with great ability by Alexander Hamil- 
 ton, Harrison, and Van Ness for the defendant. Zenger's case is 
 thus alluded to by them. " The decision in Zenger's case in the
 
 208 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 in 1808, and it was decided, that the publication of 
 a libel, maliciously, and with intent to defame, was 
 clearly a public offence, whether the libel be true or 
 not. 1 The same question was again agitated in 1825, 
 with the same result. 2 In South Carolina, in 1811, 
 it was decided by the court of appeals, that a libel 
 could not be justified by proving its truth. 3 The 
 same principle has been recognised in Louisiana ; 4 
 and the weight of judicial authority undoubtedly is, 
 that the English common law doctrine of libel is the 
 common law doctrine in this country, in all cases in 
 which it has not been expressly controlled by consti- 
 tutional or legislative provisions. 5 But in several of 
 the states, the matter is regulated by express statutes. 
 
 year 1735, was of no great authority. The times were then vio- 
 lent ; no great research or temper were displayed on that occasion 
 by the court, and the decision was reprobated by the public." The 
 libel consisted in a publication, that " Jefferson paid Callender for 
 calling Washington a traitor, a robber, and a perjurer; for calling 
 Adams a hoary headed incendiary ; and for most grossly slandering 
 the private characters of those who he well knew were virtuous." 
 Mr. Justice Kent delivered a learned and elaborate opinion, in 
 which he held, that the defendant was entitled to give in evidence, 
 upon the trial, the truth of the libel ; and that the jury had a right 
 to judge not only of the fact of the publication, but of the whole 
 matter in issue. This trial caused great excitement at the time. 
 It is reported in the appendix to the third volume of Johnson's 
 cases, and was also published in a separate form. 
 
 The rights and duties of juries in such cases are fully and ably 
 discussed by Mr. Baron Maseres, in his " Additional Papers con- 
 cerning the Province of Quebec," (published in 1776,) ii, 395-425. 
 Howell, xvii, 672, note. 
 
 1 Commonwealth v. Chase, (4 Massachusetts Reports, 163.) 
 
 2 Commonwealth v. Blanding, (3 Pickering's Reports, 304.) 
 
 3 State v. Lehre, (2 Rep. Const. Court, 809.) 
 
 4 Territory v. Nugent, (Christy's Digest, tit. Ev. No. 161.) 
 6 Kent's Commentaries, ii, 20.
 
 JOHN PETER ZENGER. 209 
 
 In Massachusetts, the defendant may give in evi- 
 dence, in his defence upon the trial, the truth of the 
 matter contained in the publication alleged to be 
 libellous ; but such evidence is not a sufficient justi- 
 fication, unless the matter alleged to be libellous is 
 shown to have been published from good motives, 
 and for justifiable ends. 1 In the constitutions of 
 Pennsylvania, Delaware, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, 
 Indiana, and Illinois, it is declared, that in prosecu- 
 tions for libels on men in respect to their public offi- 
 cial conduct, the truth may be given in evidence, 
 when the matter published is proper for public in- 
 formation. 2 
 
 1 Revised Statutes of Massachusetts, chapter 133, 
 
 2 Kent's Commentaries, ii, 21. 
 
 18*
 
 TRIALS OF CERTAIN NEGROES AND OTHERS 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, 
 
 >. 
 
 FOR A CONSPIRACY TO BURN THE CITY AND MURDER 
 THE INHABITANTS. 
 
 1741.
 
 A " Journal of the Proceedings in the Detection of the Con- 
 spiracy, formed by some White People, in conjunction with Negro 
 and other Slaves, for Burning the city of New York and Murder- 
 ing the Inhabitants," in 1741, was published by Daniel Horse- 
 manden, the recorder of the city, in 1744. It is a large book of 
 more than two hundred pages, printed in double columns. The 
 historian of this famous " Negro Plot " was the third justice of the 
 supreme court at the time of the events which he records. He 
 was a firm believer in the reality of the conspiracy, and takes great 
 pains to vindicate the proceedings of the magistrates. His work 
 appears to have been prepared with much care and labor, but it 
 possesses little to interest the general reader, being for the most 
 part a collection of evidence and abstracts of court records, thrown 
 together without much system or proper arrangement. This sup- 
 posed " plot," which threw the city of New York into a state of 
 intense excitement and alarm, and resulted in the death of a large 
 number of individuals, is not referred to in much detail by modern 
 historical writers, although Mr. Dunlap, in the second volume of 
 his history of New York, gives a somewhat extended account of it, 
 abridged from Horsemanden's Journal. Mr. Bancroft disposes of 
 it in a few words. " Once," he says, in speaking of the slaves, 
 "an excitement against them raged in New York, through fear of 
 a pretended plot, but the frenzy grew out of a delusion." By 
 others, the subject is not mentioned at all.
 
 THE NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 
 
 IN the year 1741, the city of New York was thrown 
 into the most intense excitement and alarm, by the 
 rumor of a plot by the negro population to burn the 
 city and massacre the inhabitants. The fear of such 
 an event had some foundation in the fact, that negro 
 slavery, at that day, was attended with difficulties and 
 dangers, which, to a certain extent, have since ceased 
 to exist. Most of the slaves were Africans by birth, 
 who had been violently torn from their native land 
 and reduced to servitude. Their spirits were not yet 
 entirely subdued ; and a race, which at this day is 
 remarkable for implicit obedience and quiet submis- 
 sion, were, at the time alluded to, rude, boisterous 
 and vicious, and had in their number many restless 
 and daring spirits, whose influence was justly feared 
 by the white population. 
 
 There had been frequent insurrections in different 
 parts of the country. The Spanish government
 
 214 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 made direct efforts to induce the slaves to revolt. 
 Liberty and protection had been proclaimed to all 
 fugitive negroes from the English by the governor of 
 Florida, and he had actually formed a regiment from 
 the negro refugees, appointing officers from among 
 themselves, allowing them the same pay, and cloth- 
 ing them in the same uniform with the regular troops 
 of Spain. In 1738, a serious revolt took place in 
 South Carolina, and a large number of the insurgents 
 suffered the last infliction of human power and ven- 
 geance. 
 
 The negroes in the largest commercial city of 
 America were peculiarly exposed to the temptations 
 of freedom. They became more intelligent than those 
 in the interior, and their passions were inflamed by 
 familiar intercourse with the lower orders of the 
 white population. As early as 1712, there had been 
 an insurrection of the slaves in New York, who fired 
 a house and murdered several citizens before they 
 were dispersed by the soldiers. Recollection of this, 
 and a general distrust of the negro population, ren- 
 dered the citizens of that city peculiarly suspicious of 
 their movements, and when in 1741, the cry was 
 raised of a NEGRO PLOT, there ensued a scene of con- 
 fusion and alarm, of folly, frenzy and injustice, which 
 scarcely has a parallel in this or any other country. 
 
 In February of that year, the house of a merchant, 
 named Hogg, was robbed, and suspicions were en- 
 tertained of John Hughson, who kept a low tavern 
 where negroes were in the habit of resorting. This 
 man had an indented servant, Mary Burton by name, 
 about sixteen years of age, who gave information
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 215 
 
 against him, and he confessed that a part of the 
 goods were brought to his house, which he delivered 
 up to the magistrate. Peggy Carey, a woman of 
 infamous character, was also implicated in the rob- 
 bery and was committed to prison. Soon after these 
 occurrences, the government house in the fort was 
 discovered to be on fire, at midday, and was burnt, 
 together with the king's chapel, the secretary's office, 
 the barracks, and the stable. The fire was satisfac- 
 torily enough accounted for, but other fires occurring 
 in quick succession, on different days, and some of 
 them being undoubtedly the work of incendiaries, 
 great alarm was excited. 
 
 It happened that a Spanish vessel, partly manned 
 with negroes, had previously been brought into New 
 York as a prize, and all the men had been condemn- 
 ed as slaves in the court of admiralty, and were sold 
 at vendue ; " now these men had the impudence to 
 say, notwithstanding they were black, that they were 
 freemen in their own country, and to grumble at their 
 hard usage in being sold for slaves." One of them 
 had been bought by the owner of a house in which 
 fire was discovered, and a cry was raised among the 
 people, " the Spanish negroes, the Spanish ! take up 
 the Spanish negroes!" They were immediately 
 incarcerated, and a fire occurring in the afternoon of 
 the same day, the rumor became general, that the 
 slaves in a body were concerned in these wicked 
 attempts to burn the city. 
 
 The military were turned out, and sentries were 
 posted in every part of the city, while there was a 
 general search of the houses, and an examination of
 
 216 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 suspicious persons. The lieutenant governor, at the 
 request of the city authorities, offered a reward of 
 one hundred pounds and a full pardon to any free 
 white person who should discover the persons con- 
 cerned in these incendiary acts, and freedom with a 
 reward of twenty pounds to any slave who should 
 make the same discovery. The offer was tempting, 
 and, at the ensuing session of the superior court, 
 Mary Burton, the servant of Hughson, made a state- 
 ment before the grand jury to the effect, that three 
 negroes, Ca3sar, Prince and Cuffee, were accustomed 
 to meet at her master's, and had made a plan to 
 burn the whole city and massacre the inhabitants. 
 She had seen a large number of negroes at the same 
 place, who were all in the conspiracy, and there 
 were in her master's house a quantity of fire arms. 
 The only white persons concerned were her master, 
 his wife, and Peggy Carey. The former was to be 
 king, and Caesar was to be governor. At one of the 
 meetings she heard Cuffee say, " that a great many 
 people had too much, and others too little ; " and he 
 intimated that such an unequal state of things should 
 not long continue. 
 
 When this statement was made known to the 
 court, they immediately summoned all the lawyers in 
 the city 1 to consult upon the measures most proper 
 
 1 There were seven of them besides the attorney general, namely, 
 Messrs. Murray, Alexander, Smith, Chambers, Nichols, Lodge, 
 and Jamison. Messrs. Alexander and Smith, who had been ex- 
 cluded from the bar for their proceedings in Zenger's case (ante, 
 p. 157,) appear to have been restored, and were most actively en- 
 gaged in the prosecutions of the negroes and others, supposed to 
 have been concerned in the " plot."
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 217 
 
 to be adopted in this emergency. By a law of the 
 colony, negroes might be tried for any offence in a 
 summary way ; " but, as this was a plot in which 
 white people were confederated with them, and most 
 probably were the first movers and seducers of the 
 slaves, there was reason to apprehend a deeper de- 
 sign than the slaves themselves were capable of ; and 
 it was judged most advisable that it should be taken 
 under the care of the supreme court." Accordingly 
 application was made to the lieutenant governor for 
 an ordinance to enlarge the term of the supreme 
 court ; and the bar unanimously offered their assist- 
 ance on every trial, in their turn, " as this was con- 
 ceived to be a matter that not only affected the city, 
 but the whole province." 
 
 Meanwhile the examinations and confessions were 
 increasing every day. Peggy Carey, the wretched 
 prostitute, being implicated, was examined by the 
 judges in prison. She was promised pardon and 
 reward if she would confess and expose the rest ; 
 but she said, " that if she should accuse any body of 
 any such thing, she must accuse innocent persons, 
 and wrong her own soul ; " and she denied all know- 
 ledge of the fires. But upon being convicted as a 
 receiver of stolen goods, she " seemed to think it 
 high time to do something to recommend herself to 
 mercy," and made a voluntary confession, in which 
 she changed the scene of the plot from Hughson's to 
 John Romme's, a shoemaker, and the keeper of a 
 low tavern, where she said several negroes used to 
 meet, to whom Romme administered an oath ; and 
 they were to attempt to burn the city, but if they 
 19
 
 218 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 did not succeed, they were to steal all they could, 
 and he was to carry them to a strange country and 
 give them their liberty. All the slaves mentioned by 
 her were immediately arrested. Romme absconded, 
 but was afterwards taken in New Jersey. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth of May, 1741, the negro 
 slaves, Quack and Cuffee, were brought to trial be- 
 fore the supreme court, on a charge of a conspiracy 
 to murder the inhabitants of the city of New York. 
 The principal evidence against them came from Mary 
 Burton. There was also some evidence against them 
 from negroes. 1 The prisoners had no counsel, while 
 the attorney general, assisted by two members of the 
 bar, appeared against them. The evidence had little 
 consistency, and was extremely loose and general. 
 The arguments of the lawyers were chiefly declama- 
 tory respecting the horrible plot, of the existence of 
 which, however, no sufficient evidence was intro- 
 duced. " The monstrous ingratitude of this black 
 tribe," was the language of one of them, in address- 
 ing the jury, " is what exceedingly aggravates their 
 guilt. Their slavery among us is generally softened 
 with great indulgence. They live without care ; 
 and are commonly better clothed and fed, and put 
 to less labor, than the poor of most Christian coun- 
 tries. But notwithstanding all the kindness and 
 tenderness with which they have been treated amongst 
 us, yet this is the second attempt of the same kind, 
 that this brutish and bloody species of mankind have 
 
 1 By a law of the colony, the evidence of slaves was competent 
 against each other. It was not allowed to be used against white 
 men.
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 219 
 
 made within one age." The prisoners were imme- 
 diately convicted, and were sentenced by one of the 
 court, in a brutal address, which is singularly indica- 
 tive of the general excitement on the subject, to be 
 burnt to death. " You that were for destroying us 
 without mercy," he said, " you abject wretches, the 
 outcasts of the nations of the earth, are treated here 
 with tenderness and humanity ; and, I wish I could 
 not say with too great indulgence, for you have 
 grown wanton with excess of liberty, and your idle- 
 ness has proved your ruin, having given you the 
 opportunities of forming this villanous and detestable 
 conspiracy. What hopes can you have of mercy 
 in the other world, for shall not the judge of all the 
 earth do right ? " and he urged them to confess as 
 affording the only hope of mercy. 
 
 The prisoners protested their innocence and utterly 
 denied any knowledge of any plot whatever ; but 
 when they were taken out to execution, the poor 
 creatures were much terrified ; the officers again en- 
 deavored to persuade them to confess, and after they 
 were chained to the stake, and the executioner was 
 ready to apply the torch, they admitted all that was 
 required of them. An attempt was then made to 
 procure a reprieve, but a great multitude had assem- 
 bled to witness the executions, and the excitement 
 was so great, that it was considered impossible to 
 return the prisoners to prison. They were accord- 
 ingly burned at the stake. Although Hughson and 
 his wife had already been tried, and were under sen- 
 tence of death for the felony of receiving stolen 
 goods, it was determined to bring them to another
 
 220 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 trial for being concerned in the conspiracy. Accord- 
 ingly on the fourth of June, 1741, Hughson, his wife, 
 his daughter, and Peggy Carey, were placed at the 
 bar for trial. Mary Burton was at hand with her 
 tales, and Arthur Price, a thief and an infamous 
 character, who had been employed by the magistrates 
 to go to Sarah Hughson and endeavor to make her 
 accuse her father and mother, related a conversation 
 he pretended to have had with her. The prisoners 
 had no counsel, and almost every member of the bar 
 appeared against them. The attorney general made 
 an address to the jury which was full of outrageous 
 invectives against Hughson. " Such a monster," he 
 said, " will this Hughson appear before you, that, for 
 the sake of the plunder he expected by setting in 
 flames the king's house, and this whole city, he, re- 
 morseless he ! counselled and encouraged the com- 
 mitting of all these most astonishing deeds, of dark- 
 ness, cruelty and inhumanity infamous Hughson ! 
 Gentlemen, this is that Hughson, whose name and 
 most detestable conspiracies will no doubt be had in 
 everlasting remembrance, to his eternal reproach, and 
 stand recorded to the latest posterity. This is the 
 man ! This, that grand incendiary ! That arch 
 rebel against God, his king, and his country ! That 
 devil incarnate, and chief agent of the Abaddon of 
 the infernal pit and regions of darkness." ' 
 
 The prisoners severally and solemnly protested 
 their innocence, declared that what the witnesses had 
 
 1 It should be kept in mind that these remarks are reported by 
 one of the judges, who was a firm believer in the plot, and cannot 
 be suspected of throwing ridicule upon the attorney general.
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 221 
 
 said against them was false, and called upon God to 
 witness their asseverations. They were all found 
 guilty, and were sentenced to be hanged. " Good 
 God!" exclaimed the judge, in pronouncing sen- 
 tence, " when I reflect on the disorders, confusion, 
 desolation and havoc, which the effect of your most 
 wicked, most detestable, and diabolical counsels might 
 have produced, had not the hand of our great and 
 good God interposed, it shocks me ; and, you, who 
 would have burnt and destroyed without mercy, ought 
 to be served in a like manner." 
 
 The daughter of Hughson confessed, and was 
 saved. Peggy Carey had confessed, but retracted, 
 and said that what she had confessed was a gross 
 prevarication, and that she had sworn falsely against 
 those she accused. She was accordingly executed. 
 On the evening before her death, she sent for one 
 of the judges, and reiterated to him her statement 
 that she had foresworn herself in regard to the plot. 
 Hughson and his wife asserted their innocence to the 
 last and were executed. When the three came to die, 
 Hughson seemed to expect a rescue. 1 His wife was 
 senseless, and Peggy Carey met her fate with less 
 composure than either of the others. 
 
 1 On the day previous to Hughson's trial, the recorder visited 
 him in prison at his request. He entreated to be sworn, but it was 
 refused, and he then averred that he knew nothing of any con- 
 spiracy, and called God to witness his assertion that he was inno- 
 cent. It is surprising there were not even more confessions ; but 
 some who did confess were executed, and it required considera- 
 ble wit to frame a confession sufficient to satisfy public credulity. 
 If a prisoner did not tell some terrible thing, it was at once said 
 that he kept back a part of the truth and his confession availed 
 him nothing.
 
 222 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Meanwhile the trials were prosecuted with all pos- 
 sible vigor. On the eighth of June, six negroes were 
 condemned to be chained to a stake and burned. On 
 the tenth of June, four more negroes were tried, con- 
 victed, and subsequently received the same sentence. 
 One of them immediately made a confession in court, 
 implicating a large number of negroes. On the thir- 
 teenth of June, five more were convicted, and on 
 the fifteenth of the same month, were sentenced to 
 death. On the seventeenth of June, five of the 
 Spanish negroes were brought to trial. By a law of 
 the province, the testimony of slaves could only be 
 used against each other, and it was used in the pre- 
 sent instance ; but the prisoners complained bitterly 
 of the injustice done them, insisting that they were 
 freemen in their own. country. The court decided, 
 however, that they were slaves, and the evidence of 
 slaves was properly used against them. They were 
 all condemned. On the nineteenth of June, the 
 lieutenant governor offered a full pardon to all who 
 would make confession before the first of July. The 
 poor negroes, being extremely terrified, were anxious 
 to take the only avenue of safety that was offered, 
 and each strove to tell a story as ingenious and hor- 
 rible as he could manufacture. "Now," says the 
 historian of the plot, " many negroes began to squeak, 
 in order to lay hold of the benefit of the proclama- 
 tion. Some who had been apprehended, but not 
 indicted, and many who had been indicted and 
 arraigned, who had pleaded not guilty, were disposed 
 to retract their pleas and plead guilty, and throw
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 223 
 
 themselves on the mercy of the court." ' In one 
 week after the proclamation, there were thirty addi- 
 tional slaves accused, and before the fifteenth of July, 
 forty-six negroes, on their arraignment at different 
 times, pleaded guilty. Suspected slaves were daily 
 arrested, until at length the prison became so full 
 that there was danger of disease, and the court 
 again called in the assistance of the members of the 
 bar, who agreed to bear their respective shares in the 
 fatigue of the several prosecutions. 
 
 The terrible cry of POPERY was now raised, which 
 struck terror to the hearts of all, and led to the sac- 
 rifice of an amiable and interesting clergyman, of 
 whose innocence there can scarcely remain a doubt, 
 so absurd was the charge against him, and so feebly 
 was it supported. As his trial is indicative of the 
 state of feeling at the time, it will be given some- 
 what in detail. 
 
 TRIAL, OF JOHN URY. 
 
 John Ury, the son of a former secretary of the 
 South Sea Company, was a non-juring clergyman, arid 
 a man of education. He came to New York for the 
 purpose of teaching a school. When he was arrested, 
 he denied all knowledge of any plot or even of the 
 witnesses who testified against him ; but Mary Bur- 
 ton, and William Kane, a soldier who had himself 
 been accused and escaped by confession, testified 
 positively, that Ury was in the habit of meeting the 
 negroes at Hughson's, and he was committed to 
 
 1 Ilorsemandcn's Journal, 107.
 
 224 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 prison. His trial took place on the twenty-ninth of 
 July, 1741, before the supreme court. He was 
 charged with having counselled, abetted, and pro- 
 cured a negro slave, named Quack, to set fire to the 
 king's house in the fort. A second indictment 
 charged, that being a priest, made by the authority 
 of the pretended see of Rome, he came into the 
 province and city of New York after the time limited 
 by a law against Jesuits and popish priests. 1 He 
 pleaded not guilty, and prayed a copy of the indict- 
 ments, but a copy of the second only was granted 
 to him. He had no counsel, while there were ar- 
 rayed against him the attorney general and four emi- 
 nent lawyers of the New York bar. 
 
 Attorney general Bradley opened the case on the 
 part of the prosecution as follows : In order to main- 
 tain the charge against the prisoner upon this indict- 
 ment, we shall prove to you, that the prisoner was 
 actually concerned in the plot to burn the king's 
 house, and this city, and murder the inhabitants ; 
 that he has frequently been at Hughson's house, in 
 company with Hughson, his wife, and daughter, and 
 Kerry, and with divers negroes, talking with them 
 about the plot, counselling and encouraging them to 
 burn the king's house, and the town, and to kill the 
 inhabitants ; that he advised them what would be 
 the fittest time to set the English church on fire ; 
 
 1 By this law, passed in the eleventh year of William III., it 
 was provided, that any priest of the church of Rome, who should 
 come into the province after November, 1700, should suffer perpet- 
 ual imprisonment, and if any person so sentenced should break 
 prison, and be afterward retaken, he should suffer death.
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 225 
 
 and that the prisoner, as a popish priest, baptized 
 Hughson, his wife, and daughter, and Kerry, and 
 also divers negroes, and told them that he could for- 
 give sins, and that he forgave them their sins relating 
 to the plot. When he was with the negroes at 
 Hughson's house, he used to make a round ring on 
 the floor with chalk, or some other thing, and stand 
 in the middle of it with a cross in his hand, and 
 swear the negroes into the plot ; and that they should 
 not discover either the plot, or him, or any other per- 
 son concerned in it, though they were to die for it. 
 We shall likewise produce to you a letter from gen- 
 eral Oglethorpe, to his honor our governor, whereby 
 it appears, that some time before the plot broke out 
 here, the Spaniards had employed emissaries to burn 
 all the magazines and considerable towns in the 
 English North America : and that many priests were 
 employed, under pretended appellations of physicians, 
 dancing masters, and such like occupations ; and, 
 under such pretences to get admittance into, and 
 confidence in, families. 
 
 Gentlemen, what I have alleged, and much more, 
 you will hear fully proved against the prisoner by the 
 witnesses for the king, on this trial : but before we 
 enter upon their examination, give me leave to say a 
 few words concerning the heinousness of this pris- 
 oner's offences, and of the popish religion in general ; 
 which I shall speak but very briefly to, as there are 
 several other gentlemen of counsel for the king on 
 this trial, and as I have not had either health or lei- 
 sure to prepare to say much on this occasion. 
 
 Gentlemen, the late dreadful conspiracy to burn
 
 226 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 the king's house, and this whole town, and to kill the 
 inhabitants, which the prisoner, as well as Hughson, 
 advised and encouraged, and swore many the con- 
 spirators to join and bear their parts in, are crimes of 
 too black and inhuman a nature to need any aggra- 
 vation ; and, no doubt, the prisoner's engaging, at the 
 peril of his own life, in so destructive, so bloody, and 
 dangerous an enterprise, proceeded from his being 
 employed in it by other popish priests and emissaries, 
 and his zeal for that murderous religion : for the popish 
 religion is such, that they hold it not only lawful but 
 meritorious, to kill and destroy all that differ in opin- 
 ion from them, if it may any ways serve the interest 
 of their detestable religion ; the whole scheme of 
 .which seems to be a restless endeavor to extirpate all 
 other religions whatsoever, but more especially the 
 protestant religion, which they maliciously call the 
 northern heresy. To attain this wicked end, their 
 first trick is, by subtle arguments to persuade the 
 laity out of their senses, by showing them a seeming 
 necessity for their believing as their church believes, 
 if they tender their own salvation ; and this, with 
 many more frauds, the church of Rome has artfully 
 devised to get an absolute dominion over the con- 
 sciences, that they may the more easily pick the 
 pockets of credulous people : witness the pretended 
 pardons and indulgences of that crafty and deceitful 
 church, and their masses to pray souls out of purga- 
 tory, which they quote (or rather wrest) scripture 
 for, when no such thing is to be found there ; but is 
 a mere invention and cheat of their own to gull the 
 laity of their money.
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 227 
 
 Then they have their doctrine of transubstantia- 
 tion, which is so big with absurdities, that it is shock- 
 ing to the common sense and reason of mankind ; 
 for were that doctrine true, their priests, by a few 
 words of their mouths, can make a god as often as 
 they please ; but then they eat him too ; and this 
 they have the impudence to call honoring and adoring 
 of him. Blasphemous wretches ! For hereby they 
 endeavor to exalt themselves above God himself, in- 
 asmuch as the creator must necessarily be greater 
 than his creature. 
 
 These and many other juggling tricks they have in 
 their hocus pocus, bloody religion ; which have been 
 stripped of all their wretched disguise, and fully ex- 
 posed in their own colors by many eminent divines, 
 but more particularly by the great Dr. Tillotson, 
 whose extraordinary endowments of mind, his inim- 
 itable works, and exemplary piety and charity, have 
 gained him such universal esteem and applause 
 throughout all the protestant world, as, no doubt, will 
 endure as long as the protestant name and religion 
 lasts, which I hope will be to the end of time. 
 
 Gentlemen, when you have heard the witnesses 
 prove what I have alleged against the prisoner, I 
 make no doubt but you will, for your oath's sake, and 
 for your own country's peace and future safety, find 
 him guilty. 
 
 Mary Burton was then called and sworn. 
 
 Chambers of counsel for the king. Mary, give 
 the court and jury an account of what you know 
 concerning this conspiracy, to burn down the town, 
 and murder and destroy the inhabitants ; and what
 
 228 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 part you know the prisoner at the bar acted in it : 
 tell the whole story from the beginning, in your own 
 method, but speak slow, not so hastily as you usually 
 do, that the court and jury may the better understand 
 
 you. 
 
 Mary Burton. I have seen Ury very often at 
 Hughson's, about christmas and new year, and then 
 he staid away about a fortnight or three weeks, and 
 returned again about the time that Hogg's goods came 
 to our house. I have often seen him in company 
 with Hughson, his wife, and daughter, Peggy, and 
 several negroes, talking about the plot, burning the 
 fort first, then the fly, and then the dock : and upon 
 some of the negroes saying, they were afraid of being 
 damned for being concerned in the plot, I heard Ury 
 tell them they need not fear doing it, for that he 
 could forgive them their sins as well as God Almighty, 
 and would forgive them. They were to burn the 
 whole town and to kill the people ; Ury was to be 
 captain of a company of negroes, and he was to 
 begin the fire where he lodged ; once when they 
 were together above stairs, Ury, Hughson, his wife, 
 and Peggy, they called Mary, and I went up ; but 
 when I came up stairs, Ury had a book in his hand, 
 and bade me go away, and asked me what business 
 I had there, and said, they did not call me, they 
 called Mary Hughson ; he was angry, and shut the 
 door to again ; I looked under it ; and there was a 
 black ring upon the floor, and things in it, that 
 seemed to look like rats, I don't know what they 
 were. Another time I heard him talking with the 
 negroes, Quack and others, about the plot ; and he
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 229 
 
 turned the negroes out of the room, and asked me 
 to swear ? I said I would swear, if they would tell 
 me what I was going to swear ; but they would have 
 me swear first; Hughson and his wife went and 
 fetched silks and gold rings, and offered them to me, 
 in case I would swear ; but I would not, and they 
 said, I was a fool ; Ury then told me, he could for- 
 give sins as well as God ; I answered, I thought 
 that was out of his power. One night, some time 
 about new year, I was listening at the door of the 
 room upon the stairs, where were Ury, Hughson, his 
 wife and daughter Sarah, Caesar, Prince, Cuff, and 
 other negroes ; I looked through the door, and saw 
 upon the table a black thing like a child, when Ury 
 had a book in his hand, and was reading, but I did 
 not understand the language ; and having a spoon in 
 my hand, I happened to let it.drop upon the floor ; 
 Ury came out of the room, running after me down 
 stairs ; he fell into a tub of water, which stood at 
 the foot of the stairs, and I ran away. When they 
 were doing any thing extraordinary at nights, they 
 would send me to bed. 
 
 Prisoner. You say, you have seen me several 
 times at Hughson's, what clothes did I usually wear ? 
 
 Mary Burton. I cannot tell what clothes you wore 
 particularly. 
 
 " That is strange, and know me so well." 
 
 ' I have seen you in several clothes, but you chiefly 
 wore a riding coat, and often a brown coat, trimmed 
 with black." 
 
 " I never wore any such coat. What time of the 
 day did I usually come to Hughson's ? "
 
 230 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 " You used chiefly to come in the night time, and 
 when I have been going to bed ; I have seen you 
 undressing in Peggy's room, as if you were to lie 
 there ; but I cannot say that you did, for you were 
 always gone before I was up in the morning." 
 
 " What room was I in when I called Mary, and 
 you came up, as you said ? " 
 
 " In the great room up stairs." 
 
 " What answer did the negroes make, when I 
 offered to forgive them their sins, as you said ? " 
 
 " I don't remember." 
 
 William Kane. 1 I know the prisoner very well, I 
 have seen him at Croker's, at Coffin's, and Hugh- 
 son's, and particularly with Daniel Fagen, Jerry 
 Corker, and one Plummer, and several negroes, at 
 Hughson's. Jerry Corker was one of the first that 
 brought me into the plot. One day before christmas 
 last, I was standing sentry at the governor's door, 
 and Jerry Corker coming out, I being dry, asked him 
 for beer ; Jerry said he would get some ; that he had 
 rum in his pocket, and would make flip ; and then 
 he went in and made it in a copper pot, and told me 
 it was with loaf sugar ; I drank a draught of it ; and 
 when I was relieved at night, Corker came into the 
 guard room, and asked me if I would go to Croker's 
 at the Fighting Cocks, where there was to be a christ- 
 ening by a Romish priest; we went thither, and 
 staid till past ten o'clock, but the people did not 
 come that night. The next night, Corker and I went 
 
 1 This witness, a soldier, had been accused of being one of the 
 conspirators. He denied it at first, but subsequently confessed, 
 and was saved.
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 231 
 
 there again, but the people were not there. The 
 third night we went to New street, to the house of 
 one Coffin, a pedlar ; there they had a child, and 
 Ury christened it, and read Latin. Three acted as 
 priests, and handed the book about. Ury put salt in 
 the child's mouth, sprinkled it thrice, and crossed it. 
 Ury and Corker there endeavored to persuade me to 
 be a Roman catholic ; Ury said, 't was best to be a 
 Roman, they could forgive sins for any thing ever so 
 bad. I told him, I did not believe him ; and Corker 
 told me that Ury and all priests could forgive sins. 
 Ury was present at Hughson's w r hen John Hughson 
 swore me and his father, and brothers, into the plot; 
 there was Quack, and forty or fifty negroes there at 
 the same time ; we were to burn the town, and de- 
 stroy the people. David Johnson was there, and Ury 
 tipped him on the shoulder, and they went into a 
 room together, and staid a quarter of an hour ; and 
 when they came back, Johnson said " we will burn 
 the Dutch, and get their money ; " by Ury's persua- 
 sions that he could forgive sins, many were brought 
 in to be concerned. Ury was near me when I was 
 sworn, and the Hughsons, and I took him to be one 
 of the head ; Ury wanted to christen me, but I would 
 not suffer him, and he would not speak to me, nor 
 before me, for a long time ; for he could not abide 
 me, because I refused to become a Roman, till after 
 he knew that I was concerned in the plot, and even 
 then he did not much care for me. Ury was by, 
 when Hughson swore eight negroes into the plot in 
 a ring ; and it was then talked among them, of burn- 
 ing the fort ; and Quack, who was present, was at
 
 232 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 that time pitched upon to do it, in the presence of 
 Ury, who might, and probably did hear it. Jerry 
 Corker told me, that the English church was intended 
 to be burnt on christmas day last ; but Ury put it 
 off, and said, that when the weather was better, then 
 there would be a fuller congregation. 
 
 Prisoner. You say you have seen me very often, 
 you saw me at Coffin's, you saw me several times at 
 Hughson's, pray what clothes did you see me in ? 
 
 Kane. I have seen you in black, I have seen you 
 in a yellowish great coat, and sometimes in a straight- 
 bodied coat, of much the same color. 
 
 " What time of the day have you seen me at Hugh- 
 son's, and what did I say to you ? " 
 
 " I have seen you there chiefly at night, and you 
 told me, you could forgive me my sins, and there 
 would be no fear of damnation, and you wanted to 
 christen me." 
 
 " You say you saw me christen a child in New 
 street ; how was the child dressed, and what cere- 
 mony did I use, and who was present there then ? " 
 
 " The child was not naked, it was dressed as usual ; 
 and you put it on your left arm, and sprinkled it 
 with water three times, and put salt in its mouth, and 
 crossed it, as I said before ; there were about nine 
 persons present." 
 
 " Did I use any thing besides salt and water ? " 
 
 " Not that I saw." 
 
 " Who were present at the christening ? " 
 
 " Eight or nine persons, I think ; there was Jerry 
 Corker, Daniel Fagen, Coffin, you, the mother of the 
 child, myself, and two or three more."
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 233 
 
 " You say you saw me at Hughson's several times, 
 what room was I usually in ? " 
 
 " Sometimes in one room, and sometimes in an- 
 other." 
 
 " At what times was I there ? " 
 
 " At nights." 
 
 " What habit have you seen me wear ? " 
 
 " A black coat, a yellowish surtout, and sometimes 
 a light-colored, close-bodied cape coat." 
 
 " What did I offer in order to induce you to be- 
 come a Roman catholic ? " 
 
 " Forgiveness of all my sins past, and what I should 
 do in this case ; and I said to you, what a fine thing 
 it is to be of such a religion, when a priest can for- 
 give sins, and send one to heaven." 
 
 Sarah Hughson. 1 I know the prisoner, and have 
 often seen him at my father's, late in last fall chiefly ; 
 I have seen him there at night, in company with ne- 
 groes, when they have been talking of burning the 
 town, and killing the white people. I have seen him 
 make a ring with chalk on the floor, which he made 
 the negroes stand round, and put their left foot in, 
 and he swore them with a cross in his hand, to burn 
 and destroy the town, and to cut their masters' and 
 mistresses throats. He swore Bastian, Cresar, Prince, 
 and Quack ; he swore them to keep secret, and not 
 to discover him or any body else, if they were to die 
 for it. I have heard Ury, and the negroes, talk of 
 
 1 This witness had been convicted and sentenced to death for 
 being concerned in the conspiracy. After repeated efforts had been 
 made to induce her to confess, she at length did so, and was par- 
 doned. 
 
 20
 
 234 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 burning the fort ; and he said, if that did not do, 
 they were to begin at the east end of the town, with 
 a strong easterly wind, and that would go through 
 the whole town. He asked me to swear to the plot, 
 and said, that I should have all my sins forgiven, if 
 I kept all secret ; and he swore me on an English 
 book, and my parents and Peggy were by ; he swore 
 Peggy too ; I heard him tell her, that all the sins 
 which she had committed should be forgiven her ; 
 and he told her, that priests could forgive sins as 
 well as God, if they would follow their directions. 
 He used to christen negroes there ; he christened 
 Caesar, Quack, and other negroes, crossed them on 
 the face, had water and other things ; and he told 
 them, he would absolve them from all their sins. 
 
 Prisoner. How did I swear you ? 
 
 Sarah Hughson. On a book : I believe it was an 
 English book. 
 
 " Who was present when I swore you ? " 
 
 " My parents, Peggy, Kane, and others." 
 
 " You say I baptized several people, pray what 
 ceremony did I use at baptizing ? " 
 
 "When you baptized the negroes, you made a 
 cross upon their faces, and sprinkled water, and you 
 used something else, but I cannot tell what; and 
 you talked in a language which I did not under- 
 stand." 
 
 " Whom did I baptize ? " 
 
 " Caesar, Prince, Bastian, Quack, Cuffee, and seve- 
 ral other negroes." 
 
 The counsel for the king then introduced a: etter 
 from General Oglethorpe, of Georgia, to the lieuten-
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 235 
 
 ant governor of New York, to show a probability that 
 the prisoner was an emissary of Spain. The state- 
 ment in the letter was, that a Spanish prisoner taken 
 in an engagement near Augustine, had given intelli- 
 gence that the Spaniards had employed emissaries to 
 burn all the magazines and considerable towns in 
 North America, thereby to prevent the subsistence of 
 the English fleet in the West Indies ; and that, for 
 this purpose, many priests were employed who pre- 
 tended to be physicians, dancing masters, and in- 
 structers, and under these pretences were to endeavor 
 to gain admittance and confidence in private families. 
 After this letter was read, the counsel for the king 
 said they had no more evidence. 
 
 The prisoner, who was obliged to conduct his own 
 defence, being then asked if he had any witnesses, 
 made a few remarks and requested that Mr. Croker 
 and other witnesses with whom he was acquainted, 
 might be called and sworn. 
 
 Prisoner. As I have lodged at your house for some 
 time, you can best give an account of my manner of 
 life and conversation ; and pray first inform the king's 
 judges and the jury, if you ever saw any negroes come 
 after me. 
 
 Croker. No, I never saw any negroes come after 
 you. 
 
 Prisoner. Pray give an account of what you know 
 of me. 
 
 Croker. Mr. Ury came to my house the summer 
 before last, and staid a week ; he then returned to 
 Burlington, and came back last November, and said, 
 he was going further ; but I prevailed upon him to
 
 236 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 stay, to teach my son Latin, for which I was to give 
 him his lodging and diet. Some time ago he went to 
 Staten Island, and preached there, and said he was 
 paid for it. He lodged at my house from November 
 till a little before Campbell took Hughson's house ; 
 and while he was with me, he kept pretty good hours ; 
 sometimes he came home by eight, or nine, or ten 
 o'clock, and sometimes staid out till eleven or twelve 
 at night. He once went to Brunswick this spring, 
 before the fort was burnt, as I heard, or else I do 
 not know that he lay out of my house. Once talking 
 of negroes, I heard, him say, he did not think them 
 proper objects of salvation. He used to go up stairs 
 sometimes, light a candle in the day time, and lock 
 himself up in a room alone. 
 
 Attorney General. Pray, Mr. Croker, was you in 
 town all the time he lodged at your house ? 
 
 Croker. No, I have been out for a day or so. 
 
 " Pray, Mr. Croker, what hours did the prisoner 
 usually come home at ? " 
 
 " Sometimes sooner and sometimes later : I have 
 known him stay out sometimes till eleven or twelve 
 o'clock, once or twice later ; I asked him why he 
 staid so late, and where he had been ? he commonly 
 told me he had been at Mr. Webb's ; and sometimes 
 at some other private houses." 
 
 " When did Ury come to lodge at your house, and 
 when did he leave it ? 
 
 " He came to my house in November last, and left 
 it a little before Campbell went to live at Hughson's 
 house." 
 
 " Have you ever heard him preach ? "
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. <237 
 
 " Yes, once, and he then said, he was to preach 
 again the next Sunday ; and in his prayer before 
 sermon, he prayed for his majesty king George, and 
 all the royal family." 
 
 Joseph Webb. I have known Mr. Ury since No- 
 vember last ; I was then at work at John Croker's, at 
 the Fighting Cocks, and hearing him reading Latin 
 and English, and thinking he read well, I inquired of 
 Croker who he was ? He told me he was a school- 
 master lately come from Philadelphia ; and from this 
 I became acquainted with him, and asked him if 
 he would teach a child of mine ; he said he would, if 
 Croker would give him the liberty of coming to his 
 house, which Croker agreed to, and I sent my child 
 to him, and he taught him Latin. After this I re- 
 commended him to Colonel Beekman, to teach his 
 daughter to write and cipher ; and growing more inti- 
 mate with him, I observed the poor and mean appear- 
 ance in his habit, and I thought his pocket might be 
 answerable to it ; I gave him an invitation to my 
 house, and told him he should be welcome at my ta- 
 ble noon and night, at any time, when he saw pro- 
 per ; he frequently came to my house accordingly, all 
 the winter after. He used often to stay at my house 
 late in discoursing, sometimes on one subject, some- 
 times on another, and has staid there, now and then, 
 till eleven or twelve at night, and I have often gone 
 home with him to his lodging at those hours. Mr. 
 Ury told me he was a non-juring minister ; having 
 asked him, who ordained him, he answered me, the 
 senior non-juror in England : I have heard him 
 preach, and have heard him say, such a day was his 
 sacrament day, and he must be at sacrament.
 
 238 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Attorney General. Did he say he must take the 
 sacrament, or be at the sacrament, or administer the 
 sacrament ? 
 
 Webb. I cannot be sure, but I remember he said, 
 it was his sacrament day. 
 
 " Was it Sundays or working days he said were 
 his sacrament days ? " 
 
 " I cannot be sure, but I think I have heard him 
 name both." 
 
 " Do you know any thing of his buying of wafers, 
 or going to a confectioner's ? " 
 
 " He asked me for a confectioner's shop, and I 
 showed him Mr. De Brosse's, where he went along 
 with me ; and after he asked for several sorts of 
 sweet meats, he asked for wafers ; which being shown 
 to him, he asked Mr. De Brosse if he made wafers 
 for the Lutheran minister, and he was told he did, 
 but I do not remember that he bought any of them : 
 I have heard him pray and preach several times, but 
 don't remember that ever I heard him pray for king 
 George, but in general terms for the king. I am 
 by trade a carpenter, and Ury applied to me to 
 make him up something in Hughson's house, which 
 I have heard since called an altar. Ury gave me 
 directions for making it, and said, it was a place to 
 lay books on to read, or to put a candle or a bottle and 
 glass on, or other such like common uses ; it was two 
 pieces of board, which formed a triangle, and was 
 raised against the wall, at the bottom of which was 
 a shelf; on each side there was a place to hold a 
 candle." 
 
 " Do you think if a man wanted a shelf or other
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 239 
 
 place to lay a book on to read, or set a bottle or 
 glass on, he would make it in that form ? " 
 
 " I can't say ; people may have odd humors, but I 
 should not." 
 
 " When you made it, what did you take it for ? " 
 
 " I can't say ; I followed his directions." 
 
 " Do you know any thing of Ury's being impris- 
 oned in England ? " 
 
 " Ury did tell me that he was imprisoned in Eng- 
 land ; he said he wrote a book there, and that the 
 critics laid hold of it, picked a hole in it and con- 
 strued it treason ; but if it was, he said, it was con- 
 trary to his intentions." 
 
 " Mr. Webb, in your conversations together, what 
 have you heard him say about negroes ? " 
 
 " We were one day talking about negroes, and I 
 said, I thought they had souls to be saved or lost as 
 well as other people ; Ury said, he thought they 
 were not proper objects of salvation ; I replied, what 
 would you do with them, would you damn them all ? 
 No, says he, leave them to that Great Being that has 
 made them, he knows best what to do with them; 
 says he, they are of a slavish nature, it is the nature 
 of them to be slaves, give them learning, do them all 
 the good you can, and put them beyond the condi- 
 tion of slaves, and in return, they will cut your 
 throats." 
 
 John Campbell and Ann Campbell, his wife, were 
 then called and sworn. 
 
 Prisoner. Mr. Campbell, did you ever see me at 
 Hughson's house before I went there with you, and 
 what passed there?
 
 240 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 John Campbell. I never saw him there till I went 
 to take possession of the house at May day last, and 
 then as we were going there together, he said, he did 
 not know the way thither ; and when we came down, 
 he took Gerardus Comfort's house for it ; as for any 
 thing else, I know nothing more of him, for I took 
 him for a grave, sober, honest man. 
 
 Prisoner. Mrs. Campbell, will you please to give 
 an account of what you know of me, and what 
 passed between Sarah Hughson and me, when we 
 went to take possession of the house. 
 
 Ann Campbell. I went with my husband and Mr. 
 Ury, on May day last, to Hughson's to take posses- 
 sion of the house ; and when we came there, Sarah 
 Hughson, the daughter, was in possession. We told 
 her she must go out of the house ; for that my 
 husband had taken it : whereupon Sarah Hughson 
 swore and cursed at me ; and Mr. Ury said to her, 
 " how dare you talk so impertinently and saucily to 
 an old woman, you impudent hussy? go out of the 
 house, or I '11 turn you out : " Sarah then swore mis- 
 erably, and said, " you have a house now, but shall 
 not have one long." I have often heard him pray 
 and sing psalms ; and he prayed by a sick woman. 
 I never saw any harm by him ; my husband and he 
 were to keep school together. 
 
 Court. Will you ask them any more questions ? 
 
 Prisoner. No, sir, I have nothing more. 
 
 Attorney General. If your honors please, as the 
 prisoner has been now endeavoring to prove he is not 
 a Romish priest, and has already insisted on it as a 
 part of his defence ; I shall beg leave to examine a 
 witness to that point.
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 241 
 
 Court. Call him then, Mr. Attorney. 
 
 Joseph Hildreth, schoolmaster, was then called and 
 sworn. 
 
 Attorney General. Mr. Hildreth, will you give an 
 account of what you know of the prisoner, how you 
 became acquainted with him, and what has passed 
 between him and you in conversation from time to 
 time. 
 
 Hildreth. 1 The way I came to hear of, or know 
 this Mr. Ury, was, that last winter some time in Feb- 
 ruary, I happened to be in company with a friend at 
 Mr. Croker's, and Mr. Webb, joiner, called me aside, 
 asked me what school I had ; and if I would incline 
 to take a partner, one very well versed in the English, 
 Latin and Greek tongues? I answered him, what 
 school I had I could very well manage myself ; I had 
 no inclination for a partner at all. He said he was a 
 good sober sort of a man, and understood his busi- 
 ness very well, and if we could agree, he did not 
 doubt but it would do very well. I answered him, 
 I inclined to be master of my own school alone, 
 though it was not so large as if I had a partner. 
 He, seeing I had no inclination for him, did not tell 
 me who he was. Some time after, about seven or 
 eight weeks, I had a little business on board captain 
 Griffith's, where I met with him and Webb in com- 
 pany, which was the first time I ever spoke to him ; 
 then, after our salutation of each other, he began to 
 ask me some questions concerning my school and 
 
 1 This witness, apparently a rival schoolmaster, had bis evidence 
 committed to writing. 
 21
 
 242 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 method of teaching ; after which we stepped in at 
 Baker's, and took a serious glass together ; at which 
 time he took a small book out of his pocket, (English 
 and Latin) and construed (I think) the 1 17th Psalm ; 
 then laying the book on the table, I took it up, and 
 was going to look on the title page, but he directly 
 seized it out of my hands, and told me I must not 
 look into it, and put it in his pocket. 
 
 Another time, at my school, I had some discourse 
 with him concerning Mr. Whitefield's letter in answer 
 to Mr. Wesley's sermon on free grace ; which let- 
 ter he did not approve of at all, and told me, he be- 
 lieved it was through the great encouragement the 
 negroes had received from Mr. Whitefield, we had all 
 this disturbance ; and that he believed Mr. White- 
 field was more of a Roman than any thing else ; and 
 he believed he came abroad with no good design. 
 Then I asked him what was the signification of a 
 non-juror, as I understood he pretended to be ? And 
 he answered, those that would not take the oaths 
 of allegiance, as he did not. I asked him why? 
 Says he, " can you swear one to be a bastard ? " 
 " No." " No more can they say king James was 
 one ; and the difference between us non-jurors and 
 others is this : we, in the prayer for the king and 
 royal family, mention no names, as they do." I ask- 
 ed him if they prayed for the pretender ? he said, 
 for him, let him be who he will, that was the king ; 
 he mentioned no names. 
 
 At another time, he said, " you talk so much 
 against popery, I believe though you speak so much 
 against it, you will find you have (or I think will
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 243 
 
 have) a pope in your belly ; for," says he, " the abso- 
 lution of the church of Rome is not half so bad as that 
 of the church of England at the visitation of the sick." 
 " But," says I, " I don't approve of their confessing 
 to priests." Says I, " there is a deal of wickedness 
 and deceit in it." Says he, " no, no ; for when any 
 person makes confessions, the priest does not know 
 who they be ; for he does not so much as see them, 
 but only hears and absolves them." " Then," says I, 
 " I was mistaken." " Oh ! " says he, " they speak 
 against the church of Rome, but don't know them ; 
 their priests are the most learned of men ; the articles 
 of the church of England were made in distracted 
 times." And I observed several times he said, " we 
 priests." Says he, " your Roman priests will make 
 you believe, and prove by the plain rules of grammar, 
 that black is white, and white black, and that the 
 wafer and wine is the real body and blood of Christ." 
 
 We were often in company ; but the best part of 
 our discourse was upon salvation by faith alone, 
 which he would not allow, nor predestination ; and 
 he told me, he really believed the moon to be an in- 
 habited planet, and all the stars were inhabited ; or 
 else, says he, I would not repeat that part of the 
 Nicene creed, " begotten of his Father before all 
 worlds ; " and, says he, many texts of scripture con- 
 firm it to be so. 
 
 I was several times since in his company, but do 
 not remember any thing in particular relating to 
 priests ; but the last time I had any thing of dis- 
 course was about two days before I heard him 
 preach, and then in his room ; seeing the altar placed
 
 244 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 in the corner, I asked him what use that was for ? 
 first, he said, only to lay books on, or for a candle to 
 sit and read by ; but I told him I could not think it, 
 for I supposed it for the sacrament by its form and 
 odd color ; I begged him to let me know what it 
 was ; so after some time he seriously told me, it was 
 for the sacrament ; and he told me, I think, every 
 saint's day it was exposed, only covered with a piece 
 of white linen ; and that he administered on some 
 proper days ; and he told me, they received the wa- 
 fer instead of bread, and white instead of red wine. 
 I asked, why the wafer ? Because, says he, the wa- 
 fer is more pure ; and no bread he thought pure 
 enough to represent the body of our Lord ; then go- 
 ing to his small box, says he, I '11 get a piece and 
 you shall taste it if you will ; and he brought me a 
 piece, and I took and eat it. 
 
 I think he told me, that some time before he had 
 baptized a child in the house, but they used more 
 ceremonies than we ; and he talked as if they anoint- 
 ed and washed one another's feet. He told me fur- 
 ther, that at the time of the celebration, or at what 
 time the sacrament was exposed, they had lighted 
 candles burning to represent our Savior as the light of 
 the world. And when I came in to hear him preach, 
 I accordingly saw it as he told me ; for he told 
 me before, that if I came on Sunday evening to hear 
 him, I could see it ; for the sacrament was on the 
 altar covered with a white linen cloth, and there 
 were three candles burning ; but not a minute after 
 I came in, he put out the candles, and put his sacra- 
 ment in his box, and locked them up.
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 245 
 
 The prisoner addressed the court and jury at con- 
 siderable length, and with much ability. He did not 
 venture to deny, that there had been a conspiracy, 
 but pointed out the absurdity of supposing that he 
 was concerned in it. Could any one believe, that he 
 would have remained in the city so long after the 
 discovery of the plot if he were guilty ; especially 
 as he had been warned many days previous to his 
 arrest, that he was regarded with jealousy, there be- 
 ing suspicions that he was a priest? He averred 
 that the suspicion of his being a priest was the cause 
 of his being accused ; but was it probable that the 
 principal actors in this plot would entrust it to men 
 of learning like priests, or that the latter would be- 
 come the associates of slaves in such a nefarious de- 
 sign as that of which he was accused ? In regard to 
 the positive testimony of the witnesses, he contended 
 that they were not entitled to belief. If he was at 
 the bottom of this plot, or the chief actor in it, why 
 had they not before proclaimed it ? Why had they 
 maintained silence for several months until a large 
 number had actually been hanged ? His name had 
 never been whispered by the informers until very re- 
 cently ; their evidence was evidently made up to suit 
 the popular cry against popery. Besides all this, he 
 formerly had a difficulty with Sarah Hughson, one of 
 the witnesses, in consequence of his reproving her 
 for bad language, and she had threatened his life. 
 Was her evidence, under these circumstances, to be 
 used against him ? 
 
 In regard to" the second indictment, that he was a 
 Romish priest, he insisted that there was no evidence 
 21*
 
 246 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 of it whatever ; and he went into a particular exami- 
 nation of the evidence upon that point, concluding as 
 follows : " Gentlemen, the mistake the major part of 
 the world lies under is, their apprehending that a 
 non-juring priest must be a popish priest ; whereas 
 there are no truer protestants, for they are far from 
 having any regard to a pretender, or for setting on 
 the throne a popish prince to be the head of a pro- 
 testanj church. The doctrine they assert and stand 
 by is non-resistance and passive obedience, which is 
 now as vigorously maintained as ever it was in any 
 reign. And I believe there is no non-juror, either 
 clergy or laity, but would show themselves such true 
 subjects to the present king George, as to take the 
 oaths of allegiance and supremacy. I have now no 
 more to say, but hope and pray, that what has been 
 offered will be considered with minds unprejudiced, 
 minds prepossessed with no opinions, with minds in 
 a diligent search after truth. You being gentlemen, 
 I hope, fearing God, reverencing conscience, hating 
 partiality, lovers of truth and innocency, and having 
 a tender regard to life." ' 
 
 The counsel for the king then made a long and 
 excited speech against the prisoner, much of which 
 consisted of invectives against the Roman Catholic 
 religion in general : " The monstrous wickedness of 
 
 1 Horsemanden is unwilling to admit that Ury was a man of 
 education, and in proof of it, he prints his speech from the original 
 draft without punctuation. The historian admits that the prisoner, 
 when he delivered up the paper, apologized that it was written 
 without " stops or pointing;" and adds, "those who were some- 
 what acquainted with the man were of opinion, he was not very 
 capable of making them."
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 247 
 
 this plot," he exclaimed, " would probably among 
 strangers impeach its credit ; but if it be considered 
 as the contrivance of the public enemy, and the inhu- 
 man dictate of a bloody religion, the wonder ceases. 
 What more cruel and unnatural can be conceived, 
 than what Rome has contrived ; yea, what more 
 savage and barbarous, than what popery has attempt- 
 ed, and sometimes executed, for the extirpation of 
 that which the papists call heresy ? We need not go 
 so far from home as the valleys of Piedmont, nor rake 
 into the ashes of the Waldenses and Albigenses, for 
 tragical instances of popish cruelty. We need not 
 remind you of the massacre at Paris, nor the later deso- 
 lations in France, nor mention the horrible slaughters 
 of the duke d'Alva in the low countries. We need 
 not recount the many millions of lives, that in remote 
 countries, and different ages, have been sacrificed to 
 the Roman idol ; nor measure out to you, that ocean of 
 foreign blood with which the scarlet whore hath made 
 herself perpetually drunk. No, gentlemen, the histo- 
 ries of our native country will give us a formidable 
 idea of popery ; and inform us of the detestable prin- 
 ciples of that religion ; witness the blood of our own 
 martyrs, who perished in prisons and at the stake, 
 without beginning higher than my lord Cobham, and 
 recounting their number down to the end of queen 
 Mary's reign. Witness that execrable design to blow 
 up king, lords, and commons, in the gunpowder trea- 
 son, contrived by the papists ; that intestine fire that 
 broke out in the late unnatural civil war, the coals 
 whereof were blown up by them ; the bloody mas- 
 sacre of many thousands of protestants by the Irish
 
 248 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 papists, about the same time ; the restless spirit of 
 that party, which has broke out in plots in almost 
 every reign since the reformation ; the arbitrary 
 and illegal measures that preceded the glorious revo- 
 lution ; and the unnatural rebellion within our mem- 
 ory. These are all evidences of the destructive ten- 
 dency of that bloody religion, which, in order to 
 promote its interests, never boggles at the vilest 
 means, can sanctify the most execrable villanies ; 
 and, to encourage its votaries, will cannonize for 
 saints a Guy Faux and others, some of the greatest 
 monsters of iniquity that ever trod upon the face of 
 the earth ! " 
 
 The jury were out but fifteen minutes and found 
 the prisoner guilty. When he was asked whether 
 he had any thing to say in arrest of judgment, or 
 why sentence of death should not be passed upon 
 him, he answered that he had nothing to say, but re- 
 quested as much time as could be allowed him to 
 settle his private affairs. He was executed on Satur- 
 day, the twenty-ninth of August, 1741. Arrived at 
 the place of execution, he addressed the crowd from 
 the gallows, immediately before he suffered, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Fellow Christians, I am now about to suffer a death, 
 attended with ignominy and pain ; but it is the cup 
 that my heavenly father has put into my hand, and 
 I drink it with pleasure ; it is the cross of my dear 
 redeemer, I bear it with alacrity, knowing that all 
 that live godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer persecu- 
 tion ; and we must be made in some degree partakers 
 of his sufferings, before we can share in the glories
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 249 
 
 of his resurrection ; for he went not up to glory be- 
 fore he ascended mount Calvary ; he did not wear 
 the crown of glory before the crown of thorns. I am 
 to appear before an awful and tremendous God, a 
 being of infinite purity and unerring justice ; a God 
 who by no means will clear the guilty, that cannot 
 be reconciled either to sin or sinners ; in the pres- 
 ence of that God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 
 I lift up my hands, and solemnly protest, I am inno- 
 cent of what is laid to my charge. I appeal to the 
 great God for my non-knowledge of Hughson, his 
 wife, or the creature that was hanged with them. 
 I never saw them living, dying, or dead ; nor ever 
 had I any knowledge or confederacy with white or 
 black, as to any plot : and, upon the memorials of 
 the body and blood of my dearest Lord, in the crea- 
 tures of bread and wine, in which I have commemo- 
 rated the love of my dying Lord, I protest that the 
 witnessess are perjured ; I never knew them but at 
 my trial. But for a removal of all scruples that may 
 arise after my death, I shall give my thoughts on 
 some points. 
 
 First, I firmly believe and attest, that it is not in 
 the power of man to forgive sin ; that it is the pre- 
 rogative only of the great God to dispense pardon 
 for sin ; and that those who dare pretend to such a 
 power, do in some degree commit that great and un- 
 pardonable sin, the sin against the holy spirit ; be- 
 cause they pretend to that power which their own 
 consciences proclaim to be a lie. 
 
 Again, I solemnly attest and believe, that a per- 
 son having committed crimes that have or might
 
 250 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 have proved hurtful or destructive to the peace of 
 society, and does not discover the whole scheme, 
 and all the persons concerned with him, cannot ob- 
 tain pardon from God. And it is not the taking any 
 oath or oaths that ought to hinder him from confess- 
 ing his guilt, and all that he knows about it ; for 
 such obligations are not only sinful, but unpardona- 
 ble, if not broken. Now a person firmly believing 
 this, and knowing that an eternal state of happiness 
 or misery depends upon the performance or non-per- 
 formance of the abovementioned things, cannot, will 
 not trifle with such important affairs. 
 
 I have no more to say by way of clearing my inno- 
 cency, knowing that to a true, Christian, unpreju- 
 diced mind, I must appear guiltless ; but, however, I 
 am not very solicitous about it. I rejoice, and it is 
 now my comfort (and that will support me and pro- 
 tect me from the crowd of evil spirits that I must 
 meet with in my flight to the region of bliss assigned 
 me) that my conscience speaks peace to me. Indeed, 
 it may be shocking to some serious Christians, that 
 the holy God should suffer innocency to be slain by 
 the hands of cruel and bloody persons (I mean the 
 witnesses who swore against me at my trial.) indeed, 
 there may be reasons assigned for it, but as they may 
 be liable to objections, I decline them ; and shall 
 only say, that this is one of the dark providences of 
 the great God, in his wise, just, and good government 
 of this lower world. 
 
 In fine, I depart this waste, this howling wilder- 
 ness, with a mind serene, free from all malice, with a 
 forgiving spirit, so far as the gospel of my dear and
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 251 
 
 only redeemer obliges and enjoins me to, hoping and 
 praying that Jesus, who alone is the giver of repent- 
 ance, will convince, conquer and enlighten my mur- 
 derers' souls, that they may publicly confess their 
 horrid wickedness before God and the world, so that 
 their souls may be saved in the day of the Lord 
 Jesus. 
 
 After the execution of Ury, a day of thanksgiving 
 to Almighty God was observed, by public command, 
 " for the deliverance of his majesty's subjects here 
 from the destruction wherewith they were so gener- 
 ally threatened by the late execrable conspiracy." 
 But the public mind was at rest for a short time only. 
 A few negroes in Queen's county, on Long Island, 
 having formed themselves into a military company, 
 for amusement on the Christmas holidays, a letter 
 was written to the authorities there by the attorney 
 general, and the slaves were severely chastised " for 
 this daring piece of insolence." The cry of a new 
 plot was immediately raised, which resulted in the 
 arrest of several slaves, one of whom was executed. 
 The excitement soon subsided, however, and the 
 prosecutions were becoming unpopular, more espe- 
 cially as Mary Burton, the common informer, began 
 to give out intimations against people of consequence 
 in the city. The last act of the tragedy was the pay- 
 ment to this wretched creature, by the city authori- 
 ties, of the reward of one hundred pounds, originally 
 offered to any one who would disclose the plot. 
 
 The whole number of persons taken into custody 
 on suspicion of being engaged in the conspiracy was
 
 252 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 over one hundred ami fifty. Of these, four white 
 persons were hanged ; eleven negroes were burnt, 
 eighteen were hanged, and fifty were transported 
 and sold, principally in the West Indies. Several 
 persons who were suspected made their escape out 
 of the colony. 
 
 Thus ended the famous negro plot of New York. 
 Upon a review of the evidence, as reported by one 
 jvho had implicit faith in the existence of a con- 
 spiracy to burn the city and murder the inhabitants, 
 we have no difficulty in pronouncing the whole thing 
 to have been a complete delusion. The numerous 
 contradictions, the glaring inconsistencies of the wit- 
 nesses, and the monstrous perversions of law and evi- 
 dence on the part of the magistrates, render argu- 
 ment upon the subject entirely unnecessary ; and it 
 is gratifying to know, that the people of that day did 
 not all of them approve of the acts of folly, injustice 
 and cruelty with which this supposed conspiracy was 
 attended. " There are," exclaims the historian of 
 the plot, " some wanton, wrong-headed persons, who 
 take the liberty to arraign the justice of the proceed- 
 ings, and set up their private opinions in superiority 
 to the court and grand jury, and declare with no 
 small assurance, that there was no plot at all ! " 
 
 Nor is it difficult to account for this delusion. It 
 was the natural result of the condition of society at 
 that day. Domestic slavery, founded in wrong and 
 injustice, must always be attended with peculiar evils, 
 even in its most mitigated form, and it is a question of 
 no easy solution, whether the master or the slave suf- 
 fers most from its influence. Unrestrained control
 
 NEW YORK NEGRO PLOT. 253 
 
 and passive submission are equally injurious to the 
 human character. While the slave is kept at the 
 level of the mere brute, the master finds his safety 
 only in the restraint of brute force, and habits of dis- 
 trust and jealousy are naturally engendered. Servile 
 insurrections, the most dreadful of any which history 
 records, create alarm and consternation, which no 
 open and avowed enemy can accomplish. The peo- 
 ple feel that their enemies are within their bosom. 
 The terror of each man becomes a source of terror 
 to every other ; and, an universal panic being diffused, 
 reason and argument, common sense, and common 
 humanity, lose all their influence. 
 
 Domestic slavery had, in a measure, been forced 
 upon the American colonies against their will. In 
 New York, at the period referred to, the system ex- 
 isted in its least mitigated form, and the severest 
 laws were necessary to keep the slaves, who com- 
 posed one sixth of the population, in subjection. 
 They could not be witnesses against a free man ; 
 they were incapable of purchasing the necessaries of 
 life ; they were punishable by their masters to any 
 extent short of life or limb ; as often as three of them 
 were found together, they were punishable with forty 
 lashes on the bare back, and the same legal liability 
 attended the walking with a club out of the master's 
 ground without a permit ; and two justices might inflict 
 any punishment short of death or amputation, for a 
 blow or the smallest assault upon a Christian or a 
 Jew. 1 
 
 1 Dunlap's History of New York, i. 323. 
 22
 
 254 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Notwithstanding these severe regulations, the slaves 
 were a source of constant anxiety and suspicion to 
 the white population. While the people were in this 
 timorous and jealous disposition, the cry of plot all 
 on a sudden struck their ears ; they were awakened 
 from a slumber, and, like men affrighted, and in the 
 dark, they took every figure for a spectre.
 
 TRIAL OF JACOB LEISLER 
 
 BEFORE A 
 
 SPECIAL COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, 
 
 FOR HIGH TREASON. 
 
 NEW YORK, 1691.
 
 The proceedings of Jacob Leisler and his adherents, which dis- 
 tracted the province of New York, long after the principal actors 
 in the scene had passed from the stage, form a prominent topic of 
 remark in the histories of the period referred to. Smith's History 
 of New York, published in 1732, contains a brief and succinct ac- 
 count of the revolution, commenced by Leisler, and its conse- 
 quences; but Mr. Dunlap, in his late history of that state, has 
 given a more detailed statement, in which some new facts are 
 evolved, and a somewhat different impression is given of the char- 
 acter and proceedings of Leisler, than is received from the works of 
 other writers, who do not appear to have examined the subject with 
 very great particularity. I am not aware that any detailed report 
 of the trial was ever printed, and of the actual proceedings on that 
 occasion but little can now be ascertained.
 
 LEISLER'S REBELLION. 
 
 accession of James II. to the throne of England, 
 in 1685, was regarded with the liveliest satisfaction 
 by the people of New York, who had reason to expect 
 important benefits from one, whom they had regarded 
 as their friend and patron. But they soon found 
 that the king had entirely forgotten, or violated with- 
 out hesitation, the promises he had made under the 
 titles of York and Albany. Their disappointment 
 was the greater, as it soon became apparent that 
 James was determined to make the religion of Rome 
 predominant throughout all his dominions. His big- 
 otry prompted him to deliver up the Indians of the 
 five nations to the influence of the French Jesuits, 
 and the French authorities in Canada undertook with 
 great zeal to chastise, or debauch by intrigue, the 
 tribes who had preferred the English alliance to 
 their own. 
 
 Dongan, the governor of New York, himself a Ro- 
 22"
 
 258 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 man catholic, resisted the intrusion of the French 
 priests into the settlements of the Indians, and, having 
 incurred the displeasure of his royal master, through 
 the repeated complaints of the court of France, he was 
 ordered to deliver up his charge to Sir Edmund An- 
 dros, the governor of Massachusetts. New York was 
 thus subjected to the rule of its ancient tyrant, and 
 the people were mortified at the annexation of the 
 province to the government of New England. 
 
 In the midst of these discontents, intelligence was 
 received of the invasion of England by the prince of 
 Orange, and of the accession of William and Mary 
 to the throne. Notwithstanding the government of 
 Andros had been terminated by a successful insur- 
 rection at Boston, the local authorities of New York 
 indicated a hesitation to comply with the general 
 revolution. Nicholson, the lieutenant governor, re- 
 fused to proclaim William and Mary, and even des- 
 patched a letter to governor Bradstreet, at Boston, 
 commanding the instant release of Andros, and the 
 suppression of the insurrectionary rabble, who had 
 presumed to put him in confinement. A large party 
 broke out into open discontent at this state of things, 
 and found a chief in Jacob Leisler, a merchant of re- 
 spectable standing, and a zealous friend of the pro- 
 testant cause, who had formerly suffered imprison- 
 ment by the order of Andros, for opposing one of his 
 illegal acts while governor of New York. 
 
 The immediate occasion of the revolt was a report 
 in May, 1689, that the papists intended to attack 
 and massacre the people while at church in the fort, 
 and declare for James II. The people assembled in
 
 LEISLER'S REBELLION. 259 
 
 a tumultuous manner, seized upon the fort, which 
 the five captains of the trainbands agreed to keep, 
 each in his turn. A committee of safety was chosen 
 for the immediate government of the province, who 
 signed an agreement to adhere to the prince of 
 Orange, and, with their lives, to support the protest- 
 ant religion. The captains of militia formed a part 
 of this committee, and Leisler' was regarded as the 
 principal in point of age, standing, and mercantile 
 credit. Their declaration, published to the world, 
 avowed their purposes. " As soon as the bearer of 
 orders from the prince of Orange shall let us see his 
 power, then without delay we do intend to obey, not 
 the orders only, but also the bearer thereof." 
 
 The times demanded a leader who possessed the 
 knowledge, address, and firmness of a veteran states- 
 man. Jacob Leisler had none of these. A simple 
 burgher of New York, his education and knowledge 
 of the world were not such as to fit him for the try- 
 ing emergencies in which he was placed. In assum- 
 ing power, he rested chiefly for his support upon the 
 less educated classes of the Dutch ; English dissent- 
 ers were not heartily his friends. The large Dutch 
 landholders, many of the English merchants, the 
 
 ' Hutchinson relates, that a short time before this open revolt, 
 one of Leisler's ships arrived in New York with wines, on which 
 the duties amounted to one hundred pounds, which he refused to 
 pay, " the collector being a papist, and there being no legal au- 
 thority to receive it." Soon after, he excited the people on the 
 east end of Long Island to march to New York to obtain possession 
 of the fort, to prevent its being delivered up to foreigners. When 
 within twelve miles of the city, the lieutenant governor induced 
 them to return to their homes.
 
 260 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 friends of the English church, the cabal that had 
 grown up round the royal governors, were his wary 
 and unrelenting opponents. But his greatest weak- 
 ness was in himself. Too restless to obey, and too 
 passionate to command ; as a presbyterian he was 
 averse to the church of England ; as a man of mid- 
 dling fortunes to the aristocracy ; while, as a Dutch- 
 man and a calvinist, he was an enthusiast for Wil- 
 liam of Orange. 1 
 
 Massachusetts and Connecticut gave countenance 
 to his measures, and his authority was soon generally 
 acknowledged by the middle and lower classes. 
 Nicholson, the lieutenant governor, fled to England, 
 and Courtlandt, the mayor of the city, Colonel Bay- 
 ard, and others of his council, " gentlemen of figure," 
 unable to brook the ascendancy of a man, " mean in 
 his abilities, and inferior in his degree," retired to 
 Albany and seized the fort there, declaring that 
 they held it for William and Mary, but would main- 
 tain no connexion with Leisler. Each party now 
 professed allegiance to the same sovereign, and de- 
 nounced the other as rebels. Leisler sent Milborne, 
 his son-in-law, to Albany to demand the surrender of 
 the fort, which was refused. Afterwards letters were 
 received from England, addressed to Nicholson, or, 
 in his absence., to " such as, for the time being, take 
 care for preserving the peace and administering the 
 law " in New York. After some slight hesitation on 
 the part of the messenger, occasioned by the attempts 
 of the party at Albany to obtain possession of the 
 
 1 Bancroft's History of the United States, iii. 51.
 
 LEISLER'S REBELLION. 261 
 
 despatches, they were delivered to Leisler. They 
 contained a commission to Nicholson, " to do every 
 thing appertaining to the office of lieutenant gover- 
 nor, according to the laws and customs of New York 
 until further orders." Nicholson having left the pro- 
 vince, Leisler considered the commission as directed 
 to himself, and esteemed his authority to have received 
 the royal sanction. By advice of the committee of 
 safety, he now assumed the title of lieutenant gover- 
 nor. To add strength to his party, a convention was 
 summoned of deputies from all the towns to which 
 his influence extended, and various regulations were 
 adopted for the temporary government of the pro- 
 vince. 
 
 Bayard, a member of the Albany convention, be- 
 ing found in New York, was arrested and imprisoned 
 for high misdemeanors, and for certain libellous 
 writings, containing " execrable lies and pernicious 
 falsehoods." The convention at Albany was dis- 
 solved, the members took refuge in the neighboring 
 colonies, and there was soon no open and organized 
 opposition to Leisler's authority. But success was 
 more dangerous to the popular chief than adversity. 
 His vindictive rashness, his want of experience, and 
 more than all, the failure of some of his important 
 measures of government, and the imposition of taxes, 
 were rendering him unpopular with the people. 
 " Destitute of equanimity, his failure was inevitable." 
 The king had received Leisler's messenger in a flat- 
 tering manner ; but Nicholson, who had arrived in 
 England, contrived to poison the royal ear against 
 the man who first raised the standard of the revolu-
 
 262 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 tion in New York, and Leisler vainly waited for any 
 express confirmation of his power, or thanks for his 
 efforts in the cause of his sovereign. 
 
 Sloughter was appointed governor in 1689, but re- 
 mained in England a considerable time afterwards. 
 Meanwhile, Ingolsby, who bore a commission as cap- 
 tain, arrived in New York, in January, 1691, in the ship 
 Beaver. He announced the appointment of Sloughter 
 as governor, and called for a surrender of the fort. 
 Leisler demanded to see his commission, or order from 
 the ministry or governor ; he refused submission to a 
 man who bore no letters or orders from England, 
 and issued a proclamation that on the arrival of the 
 governor, the government should be cheerfully sur- 
 rendered up to him. Ingolsby issued a counter proc- 
 lamation, and besieged the fort. Thus the aristo- 
 cratic party, the determined and wary enemies of 
 Leisler, obtained a leader in an officer of the king. 
 
 On the arrival of the governor, in March, 1691, he 
 sent Ingolsby to demand the surrender of the fort. 
 Leisler's fears for his safety, or his love of power, 
 overcame his prudence, and he refused to obey, thus 
 giving his enemies a pretence for his destruction, 
 which otherwise they would have vainly sought in all 
 his acts. A second demand was made, but Leisler 
 knew that his enemies had obtained the ear of the 
 governor, and, in the effort of folly and despair to 
 secure his own safety, he still hesitated, but sent mes- 
 sengers to the governor, who were immediately seized 
 as rebels. Leisler now abandoned the fort, and was 
 seized and thrown into prison, together with his son- 
 in-law and several of his adherents.
 
 LEISLER'S REBELLION. 263 
 
 The prisoners were immediately brought to trial 
 before a special court of oyer and terminer. Six of 
 the inferior insurgents were convicted of high trea- 
 son, and were subsequently reprieved. Leisler and 
 Milborne denied to the governor the power to institute 
 a tribunal for judging his predecessor, and vainly ap- 
 pealed to the king. The trials proceeded before a 
 tribunal, erected for the purpose of giving the sanc- 
 tions of the law to the determinations of power. 
 Joseph Dudley, 1 the chief justice, had been expelled 
 from Boston by the same general revolution to which 
 Leisler owed his elevation. How could the latter 
 expect a favorable appreciation of his conduct from a 
 tribunal, erected by his enemies, and occupied by an 
 exasperated antagonist? Refusing to plead to the 
 charge against him, he was convicted by the jury, 
 and was condemned to death, with Milbourne, as a 
 rebel and a traitor. 
 
 The governor hesitated to destroy the men, who 
 first raised the standard of William of Orange and 
 protestantism. "Certainly never greater villains 
 lived," he wrote ; but he " resolved to wait for the 
 
 1 He was a native of Massachusetts, and held several offices of 
 trust there. He was a judge at the time of the revolution in 1689, 
 when he was imprisoned, and was sent to England with Andros. 
 In the following year he was appointed chief justice of New York. 
 He was subsequently lieutenant governor of the isle of Wight, and 
 a member of parliament. He returned to Boston in 1702, as go- 
 vernor of Massachusetts. No citizen of New England enjoyed so 
 many public honors and offices. He was a learned man, and, in 
 private life was amiable, dignified, and elegant in his manners. 
 His conduct at the trial of Leisler is a blot on his character, and 
 was the ground of severe charges against him in England. He 
 died in Koxbury, Massachusetts, in 1720, at the age of 70.
 
 264 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 royal pleasure, if by any other means than hanging 
 he could keep the country quiet." But the enemies 
 of Leisler were bent on his death. They invited 
 Sloughter to a feast, and, when his reason was 
 drowned in his cups, he was prevailed on to sign the 
 death warrant ; before he recovered his senses, the 
 prisoners were executed. 
 
 On the sixteenth of May, 1691, amidst a drench- 
 ing rain, Leisler, with his son-in-law, Melbourne, was 
 led to the gallows. Parting with his wife Alice, and 
 his numerous family, he met his death with fortitude, 
 and as became a Christian. At the place of execu- 
 tion, after praise to God, he expressed his sense of 
 his dying state and submitted himself before a just God 
 with humility and hope. He avowed, that, at the 
 request of a committee, chosen by the major part of 
 the inhabitants of the province, he had taken upon 
 him, " to the great grief of relations to be left be- 
 hind," weighty matters of state, " requiring a more 
 wise, cunning, and powerful pilot to govern ; " an 
 undertaking for which his motives were the protestant 
 interest, and the establishment of the government of 
 William and Mary. It was true, he said, that in 
 this endeavor for the public good, several enormities 
 had been committed against his will. He had longed 
 to see a governor sent, to put a period to the disor- 
 ders existing ; some of which, on his part, were com- 
 mitted through ignorance, some through jealous fear, 
 some through misinformation and misconstruction, 
 and some through rashness or passion. For all his 
 offences, he asked pardon of God, and of all persons 
 offended. His enemies he forgave, and prayed that 
 all malice might be buried in the grave.
 
 LEISLER'S REBELLION. 265 
 
 He enjoined upon his friends to forget any injury 
 done to him. He prayed for the good of the pro- 
 vince, and, as his last words, declared, that, as to the 
 matter for which he was condemned, his purpose 
 was for the good of his fellow creatures, according 
 to the understanding and ability which he possessed, 
 by preventing popery and upholding the government 
 of William and Mary. He concluded a prayer for 
 all in authority, by one for comfort to his own afflict- 
 ed family ; and he asked for them the charity of all, 
 and their prayers for himself. 
 
 Being asked by the sheriff " if he was ready ? " 
 he said " yes," and requested that his body might 
 be delivered to his wife ; and, as his family had been 
 educated as Christians, he hoped they would act as 
 such. Turning to Milbourne, 1 he exclaimed, " why 
 must you die ? you have been but as a servant, doing 
 my will ; and, as I am a dying man, I declare before 
 God and the world, that what I have done was for 
 king William and queen Mary, the defence of the 
 protestant religion, and the good of the country." 
 Having again professed his reliance on God, he sig- 
 nified his readiness to depart, and his sufferings were 
 soon ended. 
 
 The populace, overawed by the soldiers, were 
 dreadfully agitated by this painful spectacle. The 
 
 1 Milbourne had not the patience and submission of his father- 
 in-law. Seeing Livingston, one of his enemies, in the crowd, he 
 exclaimed: "you have caused my death: but, before God's tribu- 
 nal, I will implead you for the same." Being asked whether he 
 would not bless the king and queen, he answered : " it is for the 
 king and queen I die, and for the protestant religion." 
 23
 
 266 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 shrieks of fainting women were terrible to hear ; and 
 the torrents of rain added to the gloom and horror of 
 the scene. When the prisoner was dead, his gar- 
 ments were cut in pieces by the crowd, and his hair 
 was divided as the precious relics of a martyr. At 
 the same hour, and in the same town, the members 
 of the council and the judges were revelling in 
 beastly triumph, and with them the governor, insensi- 
 ble at his cups, was delayed until the execution was 
 over! 
 
 Thus perished Jacob Leisler, a victim to party 
 malignity. The first to raise the standard of Wil- 
 liam and Mary, he was the first to suffer as a traitor. 
 The appeal to the king, which had been denied him 
 during his life, was prosecuted after his death by his 
 son. It was held that the forms of law had not been 
 broken in the condemnation, but his estate was re- 
 stored to his family, and an act of parliament, vainly 
 resisted by the judge who condemned him to die, 
 did justice to his memory by reversing the attainder. 
 His violence and incompetency were forgotten in 
 sympathy for the injustice of his death. His friends 
 afterwards formed a powerful and ultimately a suc- 
 cessful party ; and one of his principal enemies was 
 himself condemned, by a court erected for the occa- 
 sion, as a rebel and a traitor.
 
 TRIAL OF NICHOLAS BAYARD 
 
 BEFORE A 
 
 SPECIAL COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, 
 
 FOR HIGH TREASON. 
 
 NEW YORK, 1702.
 
 The trial of Colonel Nicholas Bayard, at New York, for high 
 treason, in 1702, appropriately follows the preceding account of 
 Jacob Leisler's case, in 1691. They explain each other, and are 
 both singularly illustrative of the condition of the province, at the 
 periods when they occurred, distracted as it was by two rival fac- 
 tions, who carried their dissentions to an excess which has no par- 
 allel in this country. The following account is derived from stand- 
 ard historical works, and from a full report of the trial, which ap- 
 pears to have been prepared by Bayard himself or some of his 
 friends, and which is contained in the fourteenth volume of How- 
 ell's State Trials. There is no reason to doubt the general accu- 
 racy of that report, although some of the statements in it should be 
 received with much allowance. The trial, as reported, gives evi- 
 dence of great learning, research, and skill on the part of the pris- 
 oner's counsel, but the discussions which relate to mere ques- 
 tions of abstract law are here omitted.
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 
 
 FOR many years subsequent to the accession of Wil- 
 liam and Mary to the throne of England, the province 
 of New York was agitated by a strife between the 
 rival political parties, so bitter, that the rights of the 
 defeated were grossly violated, and they were not 
 always safe in their liberty and their lives. Jacob 
 Leisler fell a victim to the malignant feelings engen- 
 dered by these contentions in 1691 ; and the pas- 
 sions, excited in his adherents by his melancholy fate, 
 continued long to distract the public councils, and to 
 embitter the social intercourse of the inhabitants of 
 the province. His son, Jacob, unmindful of his 
 father's dying request, made upon the gallows, could 
 never forget or forgive his melancholy death, and lost 
 no opportunity to vindicate his name, and to cast 
 odium upon those who had been instrumental in the 
 wrongs he suffered ; nor was he unsuccessful. 
 
 The " people of figure," or aristocratic party, main- 
 23*
 
 270 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 tained their influence with those in power until the 
 arrival of Lord Bellamont in 1698, as governor of the 
 province. The sympathies of that nobleman had been 
 excited in England by young Leisler, in favor of his 
 adherents, who were thus favored by the governor's 
 countenance and support. At the death of this noble- 
 man, in 1701, the ancient animosities of the rival fac- 
 tions were revived with the utmost zeal and fury. 
 Information being received that Lord Cornbury was 
 to succeed the Earl of Bellamont, the aristocratic 
 party, now in the minority, took measures to secure 
 the new governor to their own interests. Nicholas 
 Bayard who had been long imprisoned by Leisler, and 
 was instrumental in his death, procured addresses to 
 be signed to the king, to the parliament, and to Corn- 
 bury, in which the most scandalous charges of bribery, 
 of public plunder and oppression, were preferred 
 against the lieutenant governor, the chief justice, 'and 
 the assembly, and reflections were liberally cast upon 
 the memory of Lord Bellamont himself. 
 
 When this came to the knowledge of Nanfan, the 
 lieutenant governor, he saw that Bayard had fallen 
 into a pit he had himself prepared for others, and 
 committed him to prison as a traitor ; for that parti- 
 san had procured a law to be made in 1691, when 
 Leisler and his friends were devoted to ruin, which 
 provided, that whenever any person by any manner 
 of ways, or upon any pretence whatsoever, should 
 endeavor, by force of arms, or otherwise, to disturb 
 the peace of government, he should be deemed a 
 traitor. Thus was the leader of the aristocratic 
 party in the power of his enemies, by means of a
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 271 
 
 law of his own, procured years before for their de- 
 struction. What justice could he expect in a trial at 
 that day, and under those circumstances ? 
 
 The party in power, as if conscious that their au- 
 thority and influence would soon be impaired, deter- 
 mined to bring the prisoner to immediate trial, before 
 the arrival of the governor, so that he should not be 
 saved by that functionary, who, there was reason to 
 believe, would espouse his cause. Although Brough- 
 ton, the attorney general, gave a written opinion, that 
 no crime had been committed, a special court of 
 oyer and terminer, consisting of three justices, was 
 immediately erected for the trial of Bayard and one 
 of his adherents. In vain he petitioned that his trial 
 might be delayed until the regular term of the su- 
 preme court. Five days was the utmost delay he 
 could obtain, and, on the nineteenth of February, 
 1702, the court assembled to decide his fate. 
 
 Broughton, the attorney general, refused to prose- 
 cute, and was not present at the trial, for which a 
 minute was made by order of the court, that he had 
 neglected his majesty's service. " It is no wonder," 
 exclaimed Atwood, the chief justice, " the people 
 here contemn his majesty's authority, since the attor- 
 ney general, though commanded to prosecute by the 
 government, hath neglected to do the same, and hath 
 given a judgment and opinion contrary to the lieu- 
 tenant governor and council." The prosecution 
 was accordingly conducted by Weaver, the solicitor 
 general. The prisoner was defended by Messrs. 
 Emot and Nicholl. 
 
 When the grand jury were called, the prisoner's
 
 272 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 counsel objected to some of them, for having declared 
 " that if Bayard's neck was made of gold he should 
 be hanged," at the same time boasting that they were 
 of the jury ; but the objection was immediately over- 
 ruled. A part of the jury insisted that they had a 
 right to deliberate alone, whereupon the solicitor 
 general took down their names and threatened that 
 he " would cause them to be trounced," and the jury 
 broke up in confusion without acting. The solicitor 
 general then complained to the court, that four of the 
 jury insisted that he should not be present at their 
 deliberations, and the court ordered them to be forth- 
 with discharged. Still the jury hesitated to find a 
 bill of indictment, and, when they did return one 
 into court, it was immediately objected that the com- 
 petent number had not voted for it, and it appeared 
 by the statement of eight of the nineteen jurors, that 
 they had not voted in favor of it. But the court de- 
 cided that the indictment had been regularly return- 
 ed ; it was thus a matter of record, and no averment 
 against it could be received. " It is very hard," ex- 
 claimed the counsel for the prisoner, " the court ap- 
 points the foreman of the grand jury, and he may 
 chance to be a person prejudiced against the prison- 
 er, who may sign and return a bill of indictment 
 without the consent of his fellows, and because it is 
 a matter of record, no averment shall be allowed 
 against the bill ! " 
 
 The indictment set forth that the prisoner, on the 
 tenth of December, 1701, "falsely, maliciously, ad- 
 visedly, clandestinely, rebelliously and tratorously," 
 used divers indirect practices and endeavors to pro-
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 273 
 
 cure mutiny and desertion among the soldiers in the 
 fort, and drew numbers of them to sign false and 
 scandalous libels against his majesty's government ; 
 in one or more of which libels, amongst other things, 
 highly reflecting on the last and present administra- 
 tion of the government under his majesty in this 
 province, it was insinuated and declared, that his 
 majesty's subjects within the province were, and had 
 been for some years past, oppressed by persons en- 
 trusted with the administration of the government ; 
 that the government was rendered cheap and vile in 
 the eyes of the people, and that the present general 
 assembly of the province was not a lawful assembly. 
 By which and other scandals in these libels, the 
 prisoner had incited his majesty's subjects in the 
 province to disown the present authority, and to cast 
 off their obedience to his majesty's government. 
 
 The prisoner, upon his arraignment, pleaded not 
 guilty, and desired that he might be allowed two 
 clerks to take the minutes of the trial. The request 
 was denied. " I find it was allowed my lord Russel 
 and others," he said, " to employ clerks. I pray the 
 same liberty." " It was allowed my lord Russel," 
 was the reply, " but you would not be willing to meet 
 with the hardships of his trial." 
 
 The prisoner then sent a petition to the court, in 
 which he set forth the injustice and irregularity of 
 the proceedings against him. The indictment, he 
 said, was not agreed to by any twelve of the grand 
 jury, and he prayed that all the members of the 
 grand jury might be examined by the court upon 
 this point. He also insisted, that, as a matter of
 
 274 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 justice to him, the grand jury ought to have been 
 composed of Englishmen, and of English extraction, 
 of the best character for knowledge, integrity, justice, 
 conscience, and estates ; yet there was not a single 
 Englishman on the jury, but all of them were of Dutch 
 extraction and education, and several of them igno- 
 rant to that degree, that they could neither read nor 
 write, nor understand the English language. He also 
 complained, that the petit jury was principally com- 
 posed of Dutchmen, extremely ignorant of the Eng- 
 lish language. 1 Of course the petition had no effect. 
 The solicitor general then made an introductory 
 harangue to the jury, in which he declaimed against 
 the English and French inhabitants of the colony, 
 including the principal Dutch. He charged the pris- 
 oner with being the head of a faction, a malignant 
 party, who had endeavored to introduce popery and 
 slavery, " disturbers of our Israel," as they had been 
 of the government of Leisler, which, he said, was 
 now justified at home to be legal. He accused them 
 of being a nest of pirates, betrayers of the prince 
 and his laws, a parcel of banditti, who offered the 
 late Earl of Bellamont a reward of ten thousand 
 pounds to connive at piracies. 2 He avowed himself 
 
 1 In this, the strife of party is manifest. Jacob Leisler, it will be 
 recollected, was a Dutchman, and his adherents were principally of 
 that race. Bayard might well object to be tried by those who were 
 not likely to forget the fate of their chief. 
 
 2 These charges, though probably exaggerated by party ani- 
 mosity, were not wholly destitute of foundation. The " people of 
 figure " in New York were more than suspected of favoring the 
 piracies of Kidd and others; and in moral and political honesty, the 
 aristocratic party were inferior, to say the least, to the less educated 
 Leslerians.
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 275 
 
 to be of the Leslerian party, and said he would stand 
 or fall by it. He then detailed the facts he expected 
 to prove, and the witnesses were called and gave in 
 their testimony. 
 
 Samuel Clows. About a fortnight or three weeks 
 before Colonel Bayard's commitment, I happened to 
 come to his house about some business, not at all re- 
 lating to this matter ; concerning which, as we were 
 talking, Colonel Bayard asked me, if I had seen the 
 addresses ? I answered, no. He then showed me 
 three addresses ; the first was to my Lord Cornbury ; 
 the persons addressing in it called themselves inhab- 
 itants of New York, and others distant from it ; and, 
 because some of them could not perhaps be present 
 at his lordship's arrival here, did, by way of address, 
 congratulate his lordship into this government, wish- 
 ing him all health and prosperity here, and that the 
 name of party might be banished from among us. 
 After I had read it, Colonel Bayard asked me, if I 
 had any thing to say against it ? I answered, no, 
 and then signed it. The other two addresses were, 
 one to the king, and the other to the house of com- 
 mons, or to the parliament, I am not positive which ; 
 as I had read them, I remember I made this observa- 
 tion to myself, that they contained nearly both the 
 same things ; and in them, or one of them, to the 
 best of my remembrance, were contained these 
 things, the persons addressing, called themselves Eng- 
 lishmen and others, who, though foreigners, were 
 entitled to the privileges of Englishmen here. It 
 speaks concerning the late revolution here, of which
 
 276 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 I have but a confused idea, and can remember no- 
 thing particular ; afterwards it speaks concerning my 
 Lord Bellamont's administration, in several articles, 
 of which I can remember but one, which is, that the 
 hottest and ignorantest of the people were put into 
 places of trust. Then it speaks concerning the late 
 assembly here, and tells you, that after this assembly 
 had chosen a speaker, some of the representatives were 
 informed that he was an alien ; upon which they 
 made a motion to the house, that that matter might 
 be inquired into ; but that motion being refused, one 
 half of the representatives, or ten of them, left the 
 house ; notwithstanding which, the remaining part 
 of the representatives, with some others they took in, 
 did proceed to make acts ; in one of which acts 
 they gave a sum of money to the lieutenant gover- 
 nor, to tempt him to pass these acts ; and likewise a 
 sum to the chief justice of this province, to find law 
 and form for their proceedings ; and, that these 
 things tended to the rendering the government vile 
 and cheap in the eyes of the people. 
 
 Solicitor General. What names do you remem- 
 ber you saw to the addresses ? 
 
 Clows. I saw several names there ; but whether 
 to all three, or two of them, or only to that of my 
 Lord Cornbury, I cannot say ; but I did, to the best 
 of my remembrance, see the names of Rip van Dam, 
 Matthew Ling, Charles Wooley, Robert Livingstone, 
 and Mr. Anderson ; but I am not certain whether I 
 saw Mr. Jamison's name there or no. When I had 
 read them, I told Colonel Bayard, they contained 
 things done before my time, and I did not therefore
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 277 
 
 think it proper for me to sign them ; upon which he 
 replied, " then do not sign them." 
 
 Solicitor General. I shall read what you said be- 
 fore the council. 
 
 " Do so, if you please." 
 
 " Do you not remember that it was said, that my 
 Lord Bellamont had put the most ingenious and 
 honestest men of the province out of all places of 
 trust ? " 
 
 " No, I cannot remember that." 
 
 " I think you said so before the council." 
 
 "Perhaps I might say something like it when 
 I was before the council, though I do not believe 
 there is any essential difference between what I now 
 say, and what I said to the council ; yet if there 
 be, I hope what I then said will not be taken to my 
 prejudice ; I was then sent for by the governor's 
 letters, which seemed to import, that he had business 
 with me of a far different nature than to examine me 
 about this matter ; so that I was then in a surprise." 
 
 "But you believe what you then spoke was true ? " 
 
 " Without doubt ; and I hope Mr. Cosens took 
 care truly to write down what I then delivered ; but, 
 whether he did express my meaning right or no, I 
 know not ; for I did not look over his notes till the 
 day I saw them at your chamber." 
 
 " Was not the assembly called an illegal assem- 
 bly ; and that they had made acts prejudicial to the 
 country ? " 
 
 "No, I do not remember that." 
 
 " Was it not said that the scum of the people 
 were put into all places of trust ? " 
 24
 
 278 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 " Perhaps I might before the council use the word 
 1 scum ; ' but I now think it was, that the ' hottest ' 
 and ' ignorantest' were put into places of trust." 
 
 " Mr. Clows, pray tell us, what was the reason 
 why you did not sign the other two addresses ? " 
 
 " I think I am not at this time obliged to tell that, 
 as it does not at all affect the matter." 
 
 Chief Justice. Yes, but it does ; you must tell us. 
 
 Witness. One of the chief reasons was, because I 
 then thought, that the saying the assembly had given 
 a gift to the lieutenant governor, to tempt him to 
 pass their acts, was a reflection upon the lieutenant 
 governor ; but it is my judgment now, that it was no 
 reflection at all upon him. 
 
 Solicitor General. How ! and do you not think 
 so now ? 
 
 Chief Justice. He only speaks it as his judgment. 
 
 Solicitor General. Do you not remember, that the 
 assembly was called " The Pretended Assembly ? " 
 
 Witness. No. 
 
 Solicitor General. Do you not remember, it was 
 said, " their illegal proceedings ? " Do you not re- 
 member the word " illegal ? " 
 
 Witness. No, I cannot remember that ; and I de- 
 sired you, at your chamber, to put that word out of 
 the clerk's notes. 
 
 Prisoner. Did I ever ask you to sign them ? 
 
 Witness. No, you did not ; you was so far from 
 doing that, that you rather persuaded me not to sign 
 them ; and so did Madam Bayard, who was then in 
 the room. 
 
 Nicholl. Do you remember any thing of the word 
 " oppression " in the address ?
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 279 
 
 Witness. No, I do not remember that word. 
 
 Solicitor General. That the king's subjects were 
 oppressed here ? 
 
 Nicholl. Was the assembly called an " unlawful 
 assembly ? " 
 
 Witness. No, gentlemen ; I can speak positively 
 to but few of these things ; what I say is, to the best 
 of my remembrance and understanding. 
 
 Peter Odyre. Going by Colonel Bayard's house, 
 one Mr. Bodinot told me, I must step in to Colonel 
 Bayard's, and sign an address to the king ; and as 
 I was going in, I met Colonel Bayard coming forth 
 of his house ; and, going in, I saw the addresses lying 
 on the table. 
 
 Solicitor General. Did Colonel Bayard then per- 
 suade you to sign them ? or, did he tell you it was 
 for your good to sign them ? 
 
 Witness. Colonel Bayard then told me, I might 
 sign if I would, or that I might not ; and the colonel 
 also told me it was for the good of the country ; and 
 that, if I was willing, I might sign them ; if not, I 
 might let them alone ; and then went away. 
 
 W. Richardson. One day drinking at one Spen- 
 cer's, I was desired to go to the coffee house, which 
 I did ; and, when there, I saw a great many people, 
 I believe near a hundred ; and, coming above stairs, 
 I saw papers on the table, which were called " ad- 
 dresses," which I signed with others ; and I saw, 
 among others, Colonel Bayard there ; but he seemed 
 to be no more acting or concerned than any other.
 
 280 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Chief Justice. You are very forgetful of what 
 you swore before the governor and council ; but, to 
 put you in mind of somewhat of it, did nobody tell 
 you what papers were lo be signed ? 
 
 Witness. Nobody at all. 
 
 Solicitor General. How many papers did you 
 sign? 
 
 Witness. I signed three, but did not know what 
 they were, but was told they were addresses to the 
 king, and my Lord Cornbury, and the parliament, 
 but did not read any of them ; but, I think, one of 
 them complained, that the people lay under some 
 hardships here. 
 
 Solicitor General. You declared much more be- 
 fore the council. 
 
 Witness. I was then called suddenly before the 
 council, and was surprised. 
 
 John Bashford. I was at the coffee house, where 
 I saw the papers or addresses, but do not know what 
 they were or contained ; and I signed four or five 
 papers there, but did not stay half a quarter of an 
 hour. When I was there, I saw Colonel Bayard 
 amongst many others in the room, but did not see 
 his name, as I remember, to any of the papers. 
 
 Chief Justice. These witnesses are very unwil- 
 ling, or very forgetful, having given a much different 
 account of things upon their oaths before the gover- 
 nor and council. 
 
 Witness. 1 have now had time to recollect my- 
 self, but was then under a surprise, not knowing 
 what I was sent to for.
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 281 
 
 Michael Christian. I remember, some time since, 
 about Christmas, I believe, I was at the coffee house, 
 where I saw the addresses, with many other people, 
 but cannot tell how many. 
 
 Chief Justice. Do you believe there were more 
 than twenty ? 
 
 Witness. No, I believe there were not. I found 
 three addresses there, and signed them all, but the 
 substance thereof I cannot now remember ; it is a 
 good while since, and therefore I cannot speak posi- 
 tively to it. I remember, a question was asked me 
 at the council, whether there were any complaints in 
 the addresses that the soldiers wanted their pay ? I 
 believe I might then answer something about it, but 
 I do not know any such thing in the addresses, either 
 of the soldiers or their pay. I remember that Col- 
 onel Bayard was then at the coffee house when I 
 signed the addresses, but do not remember that any 
 body desired me to sign. 
 
 Chief Justice. How many hands, Mr. Christian, 
 did you see to the addresses ? 
 
 Witness. I cannot tell how many, but remember 
 Colonel Bayard amongst others was there ; but he 
 never asked me to sign either of the addresses ; nor 
 can I remember that there was any thing concerning 
 either the soldiers or their pay in the addresses. 
 
 Chief Justice. Certainly these gentlemen are very 
 unwilling evidences. Mr. Christian is a gentleman 
 of good learning, and it is strange that he should be 
 so forgetful, that he cannot remember what was given 
 in on his oath before the governor and council ; he 
 has either a weak or a treacherous memory.
 
 282 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 The solicitor general then called witnesses to prove 
 the character of the people " who were drawn in to 
 sign these papers." Some of them it appeared were 
 minors, and many were soldiers of the fort, who ex- 
 pected to be " made free of the city," though they 
 admitted that no one told them so explicitly. 
 
 Solicitor General. I have now proved by the wit- 
 nesses those false and scandalous libels set forth in 
 the indictment, whereby the good, peace, and quiet 
 of the government has been disturbed, which by this 
 act of assembly is high treason. I have likewise 
 proved, that the soldiers were drawn in to sign those 
 scandalous libels, and that some did sign blank 
 rolls, which was listing of soldiers, and is treason. 
 These words in the petition to the lieutenant gover- 
 nor and council, viz. " who we understand, by certain 
 advice we have received from England, to be nomi- 
 nated by his majesty to succeed the late Earl of Bella- 
 mont as our governor," are a disowning and casting off 
 the present authority, and his majesty's government. 
 
 Then the counsel for the prisoner addressed the 
 court and jury in his behalf. 
 
 NicholL Your honor and the jury will please to 
 take notice, that the indictment consists of divers 
 heads ; as, that the prisoner did compass, imagine, 
 contrive, propose and design to defame the peace, 
 good and quiet of this his majesty's government; 
 that he used divers indirect practices and endeavors 
 to procure mutiny and sedition among the soldiers ; 
 that he drew in numbers of them, the said soldiers 
 and others, to sign false and scandalous libels, and
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 283 
 
 that he had signed them himself; that in these libels 
 it is declared, that the subjects in this province are 
 and have been for many years last past, by those 
 entrusted in the administration of the government, 
 oppressed ; and that the government hath been, and 
 is rendered cheap and vile in the eyes of the people ; 
 as, also, that the general assembly of this province is 
 not a lawful assembly ; by which means he hath 
 incited his majesty's subjects to cast off their obedi- 
 ence to his majesty's said government. 
 
 The prisoner is not directly charged here with any 
 fact, except his own signing the said libels, but for 
 endeavors ; the rest are forced conclusions and 
 strained inferences drawn from thence. It is not 
 alleged, that the peace of the government has been 
 disturbed, or that any mutiny or sedition has been 
 amongst the soldiers, or that any one of his majesty's 
 subjects has cast off his obedience to his majesty's 
 said government. By the course of the evidence, it 
 appears, there was an address to the king, an address 
 to the house of commons, and an address to my Lord 
 Cornbury, and a petition or address to the lieutenant 
 governor and council ; but all the evidence is very 
 lame and weak, as to the three first, if we should ad- 
 mit the making or signing of them to be any fault or 
 crime, more especially if the same should amount to 
 treason ; for by none of the evidence does it appear 
 that the prisoner signed these addresses ; here is not 
 so much as the likeness or comparison of hands pro- 
 duced, alleged, or proved ; though if it were, that 
 would not do. 
 
 But I shall not dwell upon the evidence ; it is cer-
 
 284 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 tainly the right of the subject to petition the king, 
 whenever he conceives himself aggrieved. In the 
 Bishops' trial, Mr. Pollexfen says, " I never thought 
 it, nor hath it since been thought by any body else, 
 to be a crime to petition the king." Sergeant Le- 
 vinz affirms, " the subjects have a right of petitioning 
 the king in all their grievances." So say all our 
 books of law ; so says the statute of the 13th of 
 Charles II. ; they may petition. Sir Thomas Powys, 
 then .attorney general, acknowledges that access to 
 the king by petition is open to every body ; the most 
 inferior person is allowed to petition the king. Mr. 
 Justice Holloway says, " it is the birthright of the 
 subject to petition the king." If it is the birthright 
 of the subject to petition the king, to procure or draw 
 in men to do what is their birthright to do can never 
 amount to a crime. 
 
 Chief Justice. I do not say petitioning the king 
 is a crime, but it may be to petition the house of 
 commons in the plantations, where the king governs 
 by prerogative. 
 
 Nicholl. I cannot think it is a crime for the sub- 
 jects of the plantations to petition the house of com- 
 mons ; it is every day's practice. Consult the votes 
 in every session, you will find many addresses, peti- 
 tions, and complaints from the subjects of the planta- 
 tions. It seems to be the right of the subjects to 
 petition the house of commons. The statute of the 
 13th of Charles II. c. 5, restrains the common law ; 
 by that it plainly appears to be the right of the sub- 
 ject to petition the house of commons, or the king. 
 The proviso in that act says, " that neither that act,
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 285 
 
 nor any thing therein contained, shall be construed 
 to extend or hinder any person or persons, not ex- 
 ceeding the number of ten, to present any public or 
 private grievance or complaint to any member of the 
 house of commons after his election, or to the king's 
 majesty." By the act of recognition of William 
 and Mary, declaring the rights and liberties of the 
 subjects, and settling the succession of the crown, 
 it is enacted, amongst other things, " that it is the 
 right of the subject to petition the king ; and all com- 
 mitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are 
 illegal." And they do claim, demand, and insist, upon 
 all and singular the premises, as their undoubted 
 rights and liberties ; and that no declaration, judg- 
 ment, doings or proceedings, to the prejudice of the 
 people, in any the said premises, ought in any wise 
 hereafter to be drawn into consequence or example. 
 Here is no grant of any new privilege, but a claim 
 and acknowledgment of an ancient right ; and peti- 
 tions to the parliament are as ancient as parliaments 
 themselves. If the subjects of the plantations may 
 not petition and complain to their prince, they are in 
 a worse condition than slaves. The cries of the 
 oppressions in the plantations have gone up to 
 heaven, and are again come down upon the earth, 
 and have inspired and moved the king and parlia- 
 ment of England to make a law to check the exor- 
 bitant actions of governors in the plantations, and 
 make them accountable in England for their miscar- 
 riages abroad ; which can never be discovered to the 
 king but by petition. ' 
 
 1 This act provided that if any governor of any colony should be
 
 286 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 This prosecution seems to be made to frustrate and 
 evade this act of parliament. The subject is op- 
 pressed, or conceives himself to be so, and complains 
 of this oppression ; this complaining is made treason ! 
 Here is a strange and fatal dilemma on the subjects 
 of the plantations. They must either suffer their 
 oppressions, or be hanged for traitors if they com- 
 plain ! 
 
 The act of assembly of this country can by no 
 natural or legal construction be extended to make the 
 prisoner culpable. It is plain by the whole purport 
 of the act, that it has made no new treason ; it only 
 recognises the king and queen ; and enacts, that 
 those who shall do any thing destructive to that 
 establishment, by force of arms or otherwise, shall 
 be rebels and traitors ; which they would be without 
 this act. If this address and petition had been to the 
 French king, the thing had been of another nature. 
 By the same construction, every petty battery, or 
 other little trespass, may be a treason. 
 
 The petition of Colonel Bayard and 'the other 
 three is so far from disowning the government, that 
 it is a direct acknowledging of the same. The direc- 
 tion of the petition is, to the lieutenant governor and 
 the council. The expression " that they have advice 
 that Lord Cornbury is to succeed the Earl of Bella- 
 mont" can with no justice or common sense be con- 
 strued to be a disowning and casting off of the gov- 
 
 guilty of oppressing his majesty's subjects beyond the seas, or 
 should be guilty of any other crime or offence, the same should 
 be inquired of by the court of king's bench in England, and such 
 punishments inflicted as were usually inflicted for offences of a 
 like nature committed in England. 

 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 287 
 
 ernment. I think it will hardly be affirmed, that the 
 council succeeded the Earl of Bellamont, and Cap- 
 tain Nanfan 1 the council ; if so, after the Earl of Bel- 
 lamont, who was captain general ? We had seven 
 captains-general ; which is an absurdity, I suppose, 
 none will allege. A familiar example will demon- 
 strate the weakness and falsity of this construction. 
 If a captain of a company be killed or absent, the 
 lieutenant or next officer has the full command of 
 the company, as the captain had, or could have ; but 
 I think no man will say he succeeds the captain, or 
 that when another captain is appointed he succeeds 
 that lieutenant or other officer. So that I cannot 
 think there is any fact or crime alleged or proved 
 against the prisoner, to charge him with this high 
 crime of treason, or indeed with any other crime 
 whatsoever. 
 
 Emot. By your honor's permission, I am of counsel 
 for Colonel Bayard, the prisoner at the bar ; but by 
 reason I am unwilling to spend too much of your 
 time, this trial already having been very long ; and 
 Mr. Nicholl, who is also of the counsel on the same 
 side, having amongst other things made it very evi- 
 dent, that for the subjects to petition his majesty is 
 their ancient and indubitable right ; I shall therefore 
 make it my business only, as near as I can, to de- 
 monstrate to this court and jury, that had the king's 
 counsel made ample proof that all the matters of fact 
 alleged in the indictment, as the signing the addresses, 
 
 1 Some time after the Earl of Bellamont's death, Captain Nanfan, 
 the lieutenant governor, was at Barbadoes.
 
 288 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 and other things therein contained, were true ; yet, 
 in point of law, they cannot amount to that grand 
 crime of high treason. 
 
 He then made an elaborate, learned, and able ar- 
 gument upon the law of treason, in which he exam- 
 ined all the authorities upon the subject, and ex- 
 posed with great clearness and force, the absurdity 
 of supposing the acts of the prisoner to constitute the 
 grave crime of high treason. He then commented 
 upon the act of the assembly, arguing that it had no 
 relation to a case like this ; and contended, in con- 
 clusion, that the jury were judges of law and fact. 
 Matters of law, he admitted, were the most common 
 and proper objects for the determination of the 
 judges, yet as law arose out of and was interwoven 
 and complicated with fact, it could not but fall under 
 the jury's consideration. 1 
 
 Several witnesses were then called in behalf of the 
 prisoner, among them the minister of Trinity church, 
 who testified to his exemplary character, and his 
 attachment to the cause of the king. 
 
 The chief justice then charged the jury. The 
 indictment he said, was founded upon the act of the 
 assembly of New York, confirmed by his majesty, 
 which had power to make acts of treason as well as 
 parliament. The right of petitioning the king was 
 not in dispute, but the manner of doing it made it 
 criminal. It was perfectly plain, that the addresses 
 of the prisoner was a disowning of the present au- 
 
 1 This was many years, it should be recollected, before Andrew 
 Hamilton asserted the same doctrine on the trial of Zenger. S 
 p. 175.
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 289 
 
 thority, and a casting off his majesty's government 
 as it was then established. The drawing in of sol- 
 diers to sign petitions was mutiny and sedition by 
 the law ; and drawing them in on false pretences, in 
 hopes of freedom in the city, and subscribing their 
 names on blank lists, was enlisting soldiers, and 
 might be applied to invite in any foreign power. In 
 conclusion, he strenuously insisted that the facts laid 
 in the indictment were abundantly proved, and con- 
 stituted the offence of high treason, and, therefore, 
 the jury could do no otherwise than find the pris- 
 oner guilty. 
 
 The jury retired, but had not agreed at nine o'clock 
 in the evening. The court adjourned to the suc- 
 ceeding Monday, and the jury had not then agreed 
 upon a verdict, but requested further instructions. 
 The chief justice proceeded to give them, and said 
 he had received letters from the jury, and answered 
 them, which answers were only his private opinion. 
 He said if they were under any difficulty, whether 
 the matters of fact alleged in the indictment, and 
 which were proved to them, were treason or not, 
 they might find the prisoner guilty ; who had his ad- 
 vantage in moving in arrest of judgment, and might 
 be relieved as to matter of law. 
 
 Eniot. This is not fair, to give the jury a handle 
 to find the prisoner guilty, in expectation of relief in 
 arrest of judgment ; for they are judges both of law 
 and fact, as the case is now circumstanced ; if they 
 will enslave themselves and their posterity, and debar 
 themselves of all access to their prince, they will be 
 worse than negroes. 
 25
 
 290 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Chief Justice. This is not to be suffered, to offer 
 these things to the jury after they have received 
 their charge ; therefore be silent. Then proceeding, 
 he renewed his charge to the jury, aggravating the 
 supposed crimes for the space of about half an hour. 
 
 Emot. I pray your honor to be heard one word. 
 (This request he often repeated, and, at last, it was 
 granted him.) The facts laid in the indictment were 
 not proved, as to the disowning and casting off the 
 government, encouraging of mutiny in the soldiers, 
 or disquieting the peace of the government. Ad- 
 dressing the king is the undoubted right of the sub- 
 ject, both by common law and acts of parliament. If 
 the subject, for complaining of grievances, set forth 
 by petition, is to be attainted of high treason, we are 
 in a worse condition than slaves. 
 
 The chief justice checked him, and commanded 
 silence. 
 
 NicholL The act of parliament to punish govern- 
 ors in the plantations for oppressing the subject, is 
 rendered useless and of no effect, if the subjects are 
 deprived of the liberty to complain, and set forth 
 their grievances, by petition to their king. 
 
 The jury again retired and brought in a verdict of 
 guilty. 
 
 The prisoner's counsel immediately moved in arrest 
 of judgment for several reasons, the principal of 
 which was that no act of treason had been commit- 
 ted. These points were argued at great length, but 
 were all overruled by the court. 
 
 Meanwhile, before sentence was passed, the pris- 
 oner made an urgent appeal in a letter he addressed
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 291 
 
 to De Peyster, one of his judges, in which he says : 
 " Believe me, sir, as you may give credit to the words 
 of a dying man, I die with a clear and good con- 
 science, and as free of that horrid crime laid to my 
 charge as the child yet unborn ; and therefore hope 
 God's merciful hand, who has never left nor forsaken 
 me, will continue to support me to the very last, and 
 that I may look death in the face, as a good Christian 
 ought to do ; humbly submitting my all to his most 
 wise, most just, and most merciful dispensations ; for 
 I am sensible there is no more than one death for 
 me, and that, in all probability, considering my age, 
 it might have been very soon, though this tribulation 
 had not befallen me. I shall only add, that I hope 
 in God's mercy for the pardon of all my manifold 
 sins and transgressions, through the only merits of 
 my saviour Jesus Christ ; and that when I shall be 
 no more, he will continue his grace to my dear wife, 
 and my posterity ; and, lastly, that my blood, which 
 is struck at (by your brother's own expressions to 
 myself, and your brother-in-law's to others, both not 
 long since) may be the last to be spilt on account of 
 our dismal and unhappy divisions ; though I fear that 
 out of my ashes such further calamities may arise to 
 this poor bleeding province, as posterity will have 
 cause long to lament ; for it is not to be expected, that 
 all the plots, contrivances and intrigues used in this 
 matter (many of which, I assure you, are already dis- 
 covered,) will have their end with myself : it had been 
 more pardonable to have stabbed me in my sleep, or 
 with Joab's hand, under a pretence of friendship, 
 than to do it with Ahab's, under a color and cloak of
 
 292 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 justice ; and of the two, I leave others to consider, 
 if this latter exceeds not the former ; since it is not 
 to be supposed, that Ahab's was so much out of 
 malice ; but the vineyard being denied him on his 
 offering the worth of it in money, occasioned the 
 innocent to be arraigned and slain for a pretended 
 crime of blasphemy and high treason." 
 
 The prisoner also made a petition to the court, in 
 which he set forth the irregularity of the proceedings 
 against him : first, that the indictment was not re- 
 turned by twelve of the grand jury ; second, that the 
 petit jury were all prejudiced against him on account 
 of the unhappy divisions in the province, and they 
 were extremely ignorant of the English language, 
 scarcely one of them being able to say the Lord's 
 prayer in the English language ; that there was no 
 proof of his signing or encouraging others to sign the 
 petitions, and that the petitions contained nothing 
 treasonable. Another learned argument was heard, 
 but with no different result ; and the chief justice 
 demanded of the prisoner if he had any thing to say 
 why sentence should not be pronounced. 
 
 Prisoner. I have nothing more to offer, than what 
 my counsel have offered, and what is contained in 
 my last petition. 
 
 Chief Justice. I am sorry to find you so impeni- 
 tent of your crime, which is so heinous and abomina- 
 ble in the sight of God and man. You have lately 
 made reflections upon the proceedings of this court 
 against you as if it had been a design to do the job ; 
 comparing your case to that of Naboth's vineyard. 
 But I hope God will open your eyes, that you may 
 be convinced, and repent of the crime.
 
 COLONEL BAYARD'S TREASON. 293 
 
 Then he pronounced sentence in these words : 
 It is considered by the court here, that you be carried 
 to the place from whence you came ; that from 
 thence you be drawn upon an hurdle to the place 
 of execution ; that there you be hanged by the neck, 
 and being alive you be cut down upon the earth, and 
 that your bowels be taken out of your belly, and your 
 privy members be cut off, and you being alive they 
 be burnt before your face ; and that your head be 
 cut off, and that your body be divided into four quar- 
 ters ; and that your head and quarters be placed 
 where our lord the king shall assign. And the Lord 
 have mercy upon your soul. 
 
 " I desire to know," demanded the prisoner, 
 " whether I have leave to answer your honor's 
 speech, made before sentence ? " " No." " Then," 
 he exclaimed, " God's will be done," and was imme- 
 diately removed to prison. 
 
 But the sentence was not carried into execution. 
 Applying, for a reprieve until the pleasure of the king 
 might be known, it was granted to him, and, on the 
 arrival of Lord Cornbury, he was released. All was 
 then reversed. Cornbury avowed himself the friend 
 of the aristocracy. Atwood, the chief justice, and 
 Weaver, the solicitor general, fled to England. Bay- 
 ard was reinstated in all honor and estate, by public 
 command, " as if no such trial had been." Nor did 
 the bitterness of party strife continue long to distract 
 the province as it had done. The vices of the needy 
 and profligate adventurer, who was sent to govern 
 New York, taught the people the necessity and the 
 methods of incipient resistance. They forgot their 
 
 25
 
 294 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 personal animosities in their resistance of oppression, 
 and ceased to favor the violence, rapacity, and oppres- 
 sion of their governor by divisions amongst them- 
 selves. Lord Cornbury, more useful than a better 
 man, destroyed the factions of New York by op- 
 pressing them both, until they united in resistance to 
 himself, and the contest soon began, which resulted 
 in the establishment of a free and independent nation.
 
 TRIAL OF MICHAEL CORBETT AND OTHERS 
 
 BEFORE A 
 
 SPECIAL COURT OF VICE ADMIRALTY, 
 
 MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS. 
 
 BOSTON, 1769.
 
 Of the trial of Michael Corbett and others, seamen on board of a 
 Marblehead brigantine, for the murder of Lieutenant Panton, of 
 his majesty's ship Rose, while attempting to impress them, no au- 
 thentic and detailed report is known to exist, although the trial 
 caused intense excitement at the time. The following account is 
 principally derived from the newspapers of that day, and a few 
 remarks on the subject in the third volume of Hutchinson's History 
 of Massachusetts Bay.
 
 THE CREW OF THE PITT PACKET. 
 
 IN the month of April, 1769, a brigantine, the Pitt 
 Packet, of Marblehead, was boarded as she waa 
 coming in from Europe, seven leagues from land, by 
 a boat from the Rose, man of war, the Boston sta- 
 tion ship, then cruising in order to impress seamen. 
 The seamen of the brigantine, four in number, de- 
 termined not to be impressed, and, having provided 
 themselves with harpoons and other weapons, they 
 shut themselves up in the fore peak, declaring that 
 they preferred death to slavery, and would sacrifice 
 their lives sooner than be taken out of the ship. 
 Panton, the lieutenant of the Rose, seeing the des- 
 perate determination of the men, at first endeavored 
 to persuade them to surrender, and at length pro- 
 mised that he would be content with one of their 
 number. Finding that mild measures were of no 
 avail, he informed them that he should make use of 
 force, and they declared that they would resist unto
 
 298 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 death. A pistol, charged with powder, was then 
 fired at them, which burned the face of Michael Cor- 
 bett, and immediately afterwards another of the num- 
 ber received a shot in the arm. The seamen now 
 became desperate, and repeatedly asserted that they 
 would kill the first man who offered to approach 
 them ; and a man sent in by the lieutenant was con- 
 siderably wounded, and retreated. 
 
 Lieutenant Panton then declared that he would 
 lead the way himself. Corbett warned him not to 
 approach, and called God to witness that if he ad- 
 vanced one step towards them, he should instantly 
 die. The lieutenant, who was a resolute and brave 
 officer, coolly remarked that he had seen many a 
 brave fellow in his life, but would take a pinch of 
 snuff and consider the matter, which, having deliber- 
 ately done, he moved towards the seamen, when Cor- 
 bett, agreeably to his threat, struck him with a har- 
 poon, which cut the jugular vein. The unfortunate 
 officer gasped out that they had taken his life, and 
 immediately expired. The seamen continued to de- 
 fend themselves, but having provided themselves 
 with rum, they became intoxicated and were taken to 
 Boston. Their names were Michael Corbett, Pierce 
 Penning, William Courier, and John Byan. 
 
 They were brought up before a special court of vice 
 admiralty, consisting of crown officers, " commission- 
 ers for the trial of piracies, robberies, and felonies on 
 the high seas," which court had always proceeded 
 without a jury. But James Otis and John Adams, 
 counsel for the prisoners, insisted upon a trial by jury 
 as a matter of right. The point was elaborately ar-
 
 THE CREW OF THE PITT PACKET. 299 
 
 gued by counsel. Governor Bernard, the president 
 of the court, was inclined to favor the trial by jury, 
 and the king's counsel acceded to it ; the only point 
 remaining was the manner of summoning the jurors. 
 But Hutchinson, the chief justice, who was one of 
 the commissioners, being well satisfied that the decis- 
 ion was directly against law, drew up a statement of 
 the case, which convinced the court that they ought 
 to proceed without a jury. 1 
 
 Accordingly, on Tuesday the nineteenth of June, 
 1769, the trial commenced in Boston, before the fol- 
 lowing commissioners : Sir Francis Bernard, gover- 
 nor of Massachusetts ; John Wentworth, governor 
 of New Hampshire ; Samuel Hood, commodore and 
 commander of his majesty's ships ; Thomas Hutchin- 
 
 1 A statute of William III. authorized the court of admiralty to 
 try cases of piracy. The design of the statute was to prevent the 
 trials of piracies by juries in the plantations, at a time when the 
 verdicts of juries had been very partial towards the buccaneers. 
 It was the opinion of the chief justice in the present case, that, 
 according to this statute, the trial must be without a jury. This 
 decision, however correct it might be, was very unpopular at the 
 time, and was one of the many things which served to bring Hutch- 
 inson into popular odium. But whatever may be thought of him 
 as a politician, as a judge his character is deserving of the high- 
 est commendation. Although a graduate of Harvard College, he 
 was engaged in mercantile pursuits, until lie abandoned them for 
 law and politics, but his legal knowledge was highly respectable ; he 
 expressed his ideas clearly, and administered the law without fear 
 or favor, according to his knowledge and ability. As a historian, 
 too, his memory must always be regarded with respect. The impar- 
 tiality and candor, with which he discusses occurrences in which he 
 held a painful position, are worthy of all admiration, while the labo- 
 rious research, the accuracy, and faithfulness of detail, of which his 
 history gives evidence, entitle it to the high consideration with 
 which it is universally regarded at the present day.
 
 300 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 son, lieutenant governor of Massachusetts ; Jonathan 
 Warner and George Jaffrey, of his majesty's council 
 in New Hampshire ; Robert Auchmuty, judge of the 
 court of vice admiralty for Massachusetts ; John An- 
 drews, judge of the court of vice admiralty for Rhode 
 Island ; Andrew Oliver, secretary of the province ; 
 Robert Trail, collector of the port of Portsmouth ; 
 John Nutting, collector of Salem ; Joseph Harrison, 
 collector of Boston. 1 
 
 The trial occupied a week. The fact of the hom- 
 icide was clearly proved ; but it appeared that nei- 
 ther the lieutenant nor any of his superior officers 
 were authorized to impress, by any warrant or special 
 authority from the lords of the admiralty; and the 
 court was unanimously of opinion, that the prisoners 
 had a good right to defend themselves, and that 
 they ought to be acquitted of murder, with which 
 they were charged ; and that, at common law, the 
 killing would not have amounted to manslaughter. 
 
 The prisoners were accordingly discharged, and a 
 midshipman of the Rose was immediately arrested in 
 an action for damages for the wound inflicted in the 
 arm of one of them, and gave bail in the sum of 
 three hundred pounds. 
 
 1 It was with great difficulty that the court was formed, a great part 
 of the gentlemen named in the commission being at a distance; 
 and the inhabitants had the mortification to perceive, that the mem- 
 bers of his majesty's council of this province, all of whom had been 
 included in former commissions, were excluded from the present; 
 while not only the council of a neighboring colony, but even pro 
 tempore collectors, helped to constitute this court. [Boston Evening 
 Post, July 24, 1769.
 
 TRIAL OF CERTAIN BRITISH SOLDIERS 
 
 BEFORE THK 
 
 SUPERIOR COURT OF JUDICATURE, 
 
 FOR THE MURDER OF 
 
 CRISPUS ATTUCKS AND OTHERS. 
 
 BOSTON, 1770.
 
 The collision between the British soldiers and certain citizens 
 of Boston on the evening of March 5th, 1770, resulted in three trials 
 of those engaged in it. The first was that of Captain Preston ; 
 the second, of the soldiers under his command ; and the third, 
 of those who were supposed to have fired from the custom house 
 windows. Of the first and last trials no minutes are known to 
 exist. When that of the soldiers took place, John Hodgson, a short- 
 hand writer, was employed, and from his minutes a very full re- 
 port of the trial, making a volume of more than two hundred 
 pages, was immediately published. This report, with some addi- 
 tions, was reprinted in 1807, and again in 1824. Before the trials 
 took place, a work was published, of which the following is the 
 title page : " A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston, 
 perpetrated in the evening of the fifth day of March, 1770, by sol- 
 diers of the 29th regiment; which, with the 14th regiment, were 
 then quartered there ; with some Cbservations on the State of 
 Things prior to that Catastrpphe. Printed by order of the Town of 
 Boston, and sold by Edes & Gill, in Queen street, and T. & J. 
 Fleet, in Cornhill, 1770." In the appendix to this work, there is a 
 large number of depositions taken in perpetuam relating to the sub- 
 ject. This publication was intended principally for the English 
 market, and the work was sent there by a vessel hired by the town for 
 the purpose. To several of the copies there were appended written 
 certificates of the justices before whom the depositions were taken, 
 that the printed copy annexed was accurate, and also of Lieutenant 
 Governor Hutchinson, under the seal of the province, that the per- 
 sons before whom the depositions were sworn were authorized to 
 administer oaths. A copy of this work, with the certificates ap- 
 pended, was presented to Bowdoin College by James Bowdoin, and 
 is in the library of that institution. The following account of these 
 trials is entitled the " Boston Massacre," not from any inherent pro- 
 priety in that title, but because the transaction was so called at the 
 time of its occurrence, and is generally known by that name at the 
 present day.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 
 
 4 
 
 ON the evening of the fifth of March, 1770, a party 
 of soldiers, of his Britannic majesty's twenty-ninth 
 regiment of foot, fired upon a collection of citizens 
 of Boston, and caused the death of five individuals. 
 The causes of this occurrence, denominated in the 
 language of that day the " Boston massacre," are to 
 be found in the difficulties then existing between 
 Great Britain and the American colonies, and which 
 were every day increasing in consequence. 
 
 Quartering soldiers upon the colonies was never 
 a popular measure in America. The citizens of Bos- 
 ton, in particular, resented it from the first ; and the 
 most sagacious among them predicted the conse- 
 quences, which must inevitably result from this mis- 
 taken policy on the part of ministers. As early as 
 May, 1769, a committee of the general court remon- 
 strated to the governor, that an armament by sea 
 and land, investing Boston, and a military guard
 
 304 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 with cannon pointed at the door of the state house, 
 were inconsistent with that dignity and freedom with 
 which they had a right to deliberate, consult, and 
 determine. In June of the same year, the house 
 passed resolves, by which they declared, among other 
 things, that " the establishment of a standing army in 
 the colony, in time of peace, was an invasion of 
 natural rights ; that a standing army was not known 
 as a part of the British constitution ; and that send- 
 ing an armed force into the colony under pretence 
 of assisting the civil authority was highly dangerous 
 to the people, unprecedented and unconstitutional." 
 
 The policy of government was not changed, how- 
 ever ; and the natural consequences of quartering a 
 foreign soldiery upon an unwilling and spirited peo- 
 ple soon became apparent. Outrages had been 
 committed by some of the soldiers, which were 
 promptly resented by the citizens, and quarrels be- 
 tween them were of frequent occurrence. Every 
 day new circumstances arose which augmented the 
 animosity, and there were not wanting some fiery 
 spirits, who, bitterly resenting the indignity of having 
 soldiers quartered upon the town, were continually 
 exciting the people to quarrel with the troops. 
 
 At length, a private of the twenty-ninth regiment, 
 being provoked by insulting words from one of the 
 workmen at a ropewalk in the town, resented it, and 
 was overpowered. He soon returned with some 
 soldiers, between whom and the ropemakers an affray 
 ensued, which terminated in the defeat of the former, 
 and the wounding of one of their number in a very 
 dangerous manner. This occurrence gave rise to
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 305 
 
 great excitement, and a general expectation of a 
 serious affray between the citizens and the soldiers. 
 
 The commanding officer of the regiment made a 
 formal complaint on the same day, to the lieutenant 
 governor, of the frequent abuses offered to his men, 
 and, in particular, of the conduct of the ropemakers, 
 on the occasion just referred to. On Monday, March 
 fifth, the matter was laid before the council, when 
 several of that body expressed a decided opinion, 
 that the people never would be satisfied with any 
 thing short of the removal of the troops. The coun- 
 cil could not agree upon any advice for the lieuten- 
 ant governor, although there was a strong apprehen- 
 sion of further trouble. 
 
 Early in the evening of that day, it became ap- 
 parent that an unusual excitement prevailed in Bos- 
 ton. Clusters of citizens were observed in earnest 
 conference in various quarters of the town, and par- 
 ties of soldiers were also driving about as if they 
 had something more than usual upon their minds. 
 About eight o'clock one of the bells was rung as 
 if for fire, and soon after large bands of men were 
 seen in motion, hurrying forward with clubs in their 
 hands, and uttering the fiercest imprecations against 
 the soldiers. An attack was soon made by the mob in 
 Dock square upon some soldiers belonging to Murray's 
 barracks, 1 but the latter, after some difficulty, were 
 
 1 Murray's barracks were in Brattle street, in the buildings di- 
 rectly opposite the little alley which leads from the bottom of 
 Cornhill. A sentinel was usually stationed in this alley, (at that 
 day called Boylston's alley,) and on the evening referred to, a few 
 young men, who were disposed to go through the alley, observed 
 26'
 
 306 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 shut up in the barracks by their officers, the mob fol- 
 lowing them to the gate and provoking them by the 
 most abusive epithets. The rioters were then ad- 
 dressed by " a tall large man in a red cloak and 
 white wig," and immediately rushed to King street, 
 now State street. Meanwhile, the sentry before the 
 custom house, in that street, was attacked while on 
 duty. He loaded his gun, and retreated up the steps ; 
 but the people pressed upon him with bitter impreca- 
 tions, and he called on the main guard, within hearing, 
 for protection. 1 Captain Preston, the officer of the 
 day, sent a corporal and six men to protect the sen- 
 tinel, and followed them himself. The mob had now 
 received a great accession of numbers, and the soldiers 
 on their way were hooted at, and pelted with snow 
 balls, ice and sticks. They were then ordered to load. 
 After they had taken their station before the sentinel at 
 the custom house, and were pushing off the people, 
 one of them received a blow with a club, which 
 brought him to the ground. Rising immediately he 
 fired, and the rest, with one or two exceptions, fol- 
 lowed his example. Three men were instantly killed, 
 
 the soldier brandishing his sword against the wall, and striking fire 
 for his own amusement. They offered to pass him, and were chal- 
 lenged, but persisted in their attempt, and one of them received a 
 slight wound in the head. A crowd soon collected, and an attack 
 was made on Murray's barracks. Snow's History of Boston. 
 
 1 The custom house stood at the corner of State and Exchange 
 (then Royal Exchange lane) streets, on the spot where the Union 
 Bank building now stands. On the opposite corner of Exchange 
 street the Royal Exchange tavern stood. The main guard was 
 regularly stationed near the head of State street, directly opposite 
 the door on the south side of the old state house, (then called the 
 town house.) The twenty-ninth regiment was quartered in Water 
 and Atkinson streets.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 307 
 
 five were very dangerously wounded, and a few slight- 
 ly. The citizens fled precipitately from the scene, and 
 the soldiers withdrew to the main guard, which was 
 strengthened by additional companies. Intense ex- 
 citement immediately prevailed throughout all classes 
 of citizens. The streets were filled with people, and 
 there was danger of a general and bloody conflict. 
 But by the judicious efforts of the lieutenant gover- 
 nor, the officers, and many respectable citizens, quiet 
 was restored, and the great body of the people retired 
 to their homes. A court, composed of justices of 
 the peace, was immediately held, and search was 
 made for Captain Preston. After several hours he 
 surrendered himself, and was committed to prison, 
 at three o'clock in the morning, on a charge of mur- 
 der. The soldiers also surrendered, and were com- 
 mitted to prison on the next day. 
 
 The funeral solemnities of those who were killed 
 by the fire of the soldiers were conducted with great 
 pomp and splendor. Crispus Attucks, a mulatto, 
 and James Caldwell, who were strangers in Boston, 
 were borne from Faneuil Hall, Samuel Maverick, 
 a youth of seventeen, from his mother's house in 
 Union street, and Samuel Gray, from his brother's, in 
 Royal Exchange lane. 1 The four hearses formed a 
 junction in King street, at the place where the de- 
 ceased fell, and thence an immense procession march- 
 ed in columns of six deep through the main street to 
 the central (Granary) burying ground, where the four 
 bodies were deposited in one tomb, amidst the solemn 
 
 1 Patrick Can was still alive, although mortally wounded. He 
 died in a few days afterwards.
 
 308 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 tolling of all the bells in Boston and the neighboring 
 towns. 
 
 As might be expected, this tragedy " wrought the 
 whole people of Massachusetts, and above all, the 
 inhabitants of Boston, to the highest pitch of rage 
 and indignation. The populace breathed only ven- 
 geance. Even minds better instructed, and of higher 
 principles than the multitude, in the excitement of 
 the moment, could not endure the doctrine, that it 
 was possible for an armed soldiery to fire upon and 
 kill unarmed citizens, and commit a crime less than 
 murder. Political animosity and natural antipathy to 
 troops stationed in the metropolis, sharpened this 
 vindictive spirit. The friends of the government 
 were either silent, or only expressed regret and lamen- 
 tation at the event. The friends of freedom were 
 loud in their indignation, and clamorous for that jus- 
 tice which declares that blood shall be the penalty 
 of blood." 
 
 Meanwhile there had been several meetings of the 
 people, and a committee was appointed, which pro- 
 ceeded to the examination of witnesses, " in order to 
 show to the world, and especially to the friends of 
 the colonies in England, that there were just grounds 
 for insisting upon the removal of the troops." A 
 narrative was also given of the transaction, which 
 was adopted by the town and was widely distributed, 
 differing materially from the facts as subsequently 
 proved, and calculated to increase the excitement. 
 Under such circumstances, the British soldiers were 
 to be tried for their lives, and serious fears were en- 
 tertained, not only by their friends but by the candid
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 309 
 
 and moderate of all parties, that they would not be 
 dealt with by even-handed justice. 
 
 But among the friends of freedom there were men 
 who viewed this matter in the calm and rational light 
 of truth and justice. Anxious for the honor of the 
 town, doubly anxious for the cause of humanity, they 
 felt an earnest desire that justice should not fall a 
 sacrifice in her own temple. Of these John Adams 
 and Josiah Quincy, junior, deserve most honorable 
 mention. Sympathizing most deeply with the mass 
 of their fellow citizens in their hatred of the instru- 
 ments of their oppressors, and in their detestation of 
 the principles they had been sent hither to maintain, 
 no men had more openly or pathetically appealed to 
 their fellow citizens, or had more studiously excited 
 their resentment, both in the gazettes and in Faneuil 
 Hall, against the troops and their employers. What, 
 then, must have been their surprise, when Captain 
 Preston solicited their professional services in his own 
 behalf, and in that of the soldiers ! To understand the 
 difficulty of their situation, it is necessary to realize 
 the exasperated state of public feeling. The spirit of 
 revenge glowed with a fervor almost universal. On 
 the one hand, were the obligations of humanity, offi- 
 cial duty, and the strong desire that justice should 
 be done ; on the other, the confidence of their po- 
 litical friends, popularity, and that general affection 
 which their public course had attained for them in 
 so remarkable a degree, among their fellow citizens, 
 were to be hazarded. After deliberation and con- 
 sultation with each other and their friends, both of 
 these patriots yielded all personal considerations to
 
 310 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 the higher obligations of humanity and official duty. 
 They braved the fury of the moment, and interposed 
 their learning, talents, and well earned influence, to 
 that torrent of passions, which, for a time, threatened 
 to bear down the landmarks of justice. 1 
 
 The regular time for holding the superior court 
 was the next week after the tragedy in Boston. The 
 grand jury found bills of indictment against Captain 
 Preston and his eight soldiers for wilful murder, but 
 the court thought fit to continue the trials to the next 
 term, when the people would probably be more free 
 from excitement, and a more dispassionate hearing 
 might be expected. But it is related, that a con- 
 siderable number of the most active persons, in all 
 public measures of the town, having dined together, 
 went in a body from table to the superior court, then 
 sitting, and one of their number, in behalf of the 
 town, pressed the bringing on of the trial at the same 
 term with so much spirit, that the judges did not 
 think it advisable to abide by their own order, but 
 appointed a day for the trials, and adjourned the 
 court for that purpose. They did not take place, 
 
 1 Memoirs of Josiah Quincy, Jr., p. 32. Hutchinson insinuates, 
 that the counsel of the soldiers were influenced by sordid motives. 
 He says : " Captain Preston had been well advised to retain two 
 gentlemen of the law, who were strongly attached to the cause 
 of liberty, and to stick at no reasonable fees for that purpose." It is 
 surely no discredit to lawyers, under any circumstances, to receive 
 compensation for their services. But in the present case no amount 
 of fees could compensate these popular leaders for assuming the de- 
 fence of an act so universally condemned. Their motives were the 
 hope of preventing a great wrong; their reward, the consciousness 
 of doing their duty. 

 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 311 
 
 however, until the next term, several months after- 
 wards. 
 
 The case of Captain Thomas Preston first came on 
 for trial before the superior court of judicature, court 
 of assize and general gaol delivery, at Boston, on the 
 twenty-fourth of October, 1770. There were five 
 indictments against him, in which he was charged 
 with being present, aiding, and abetting the murder of 
 Samuel Maverick, Samuel Gray, Crispus Attucks, 
 James Caldwell, and Patrick Carr, on the evening of 
 the fifth of March. 1 A few witnesses testified that 
 he ordered his men to fire, but their evidence was 
 encountered by that of several other witnesses, who 
 stood near to him, and were conversing with him at 
 a different place from that which the witnesses for 
 the crown swore he was in ; and the judges, in sum- 
 ming up the evidence to the jury, were unanimous 
 in their opinion, that he did not order his men to 
 fire, but if he did, they were of opinion, that, from 
 the evidence of many other witnesses, the assault, 
 both on the officer and men while upon duty, was so 
 violent, that the homicide could not amount even to 
 manslaughter, but must be considered as excusable 
 homicide. 4 The jury soon agreed upon a verdict of 
 not guilty. 
 
 1 Records of the court. The names of the jury were, William 
 Frobisher, Joseph Trescott, Neal Mclntire, Thomas Mayo, Josiah 
 Sprague, Joseph Guild, Jonathan Parker, Gilbert Deblois, Philip 
 Dumaresque, William Hill, William Wait Wallis, and James 
 Barrick. 
 
 * Hutchinson, who relates this, probably states the instructions 
 of the court to the jury quite as strongly in favor of the accused as 
 they in truth were.
 
 312 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 The trial occupied about six days. In the course 
 of it, Mr. Quincy pushed the examination and cross- 
 examination of the witnesses to such an extent, that 
 Mr. Adams, in order to check it, told him that if he 
 would not. desist, he should decline to have any thing 
 further to do in the cause. The prisoner and his 
 friends were alarmed, and consulted about engaging 
 other counsel ; but Mr. Adams, sensible that there 
 was sufficient evidence to obtain a favorable verdict 
 from an impartial jury, had no intention to aban- 
 don his client ; he only felt for the honor of the 
 town, which, he apprehended would suffer yet more, 
 if the witnesses were examined too closely and par- 
 ticularly, by which means more truth would be 
 drawn from them than had an immediate con- 
 nection with the soldiers' firing, by or without the 
 orders of the captain. When the trial was ending, 
 Judge Lynde, toward the close of his charge said : 
 " Happy am I to find, after such strict examination, 
 the conduct of the prisoner appear in so fair a light ; 
 yet I feel myself deeply affected, that this affair turns 
 out so much to the disgrace of every person concern- 
 ed against him, and so much to the shame of the 
 town in general." After his acquittal, Captain Pres- 
 ton retired to the castle, and remained there until he 
 sailed for England. 1 
 
 The trial of the eight soldiers, William Wemms, 
 James Hartegan, William McCauley, Hugh White, 
 Matthew Killroy, William Warren, John Carroll, and 
 
 1 Gordon's History of the American Revolution, i. 193. Of this 
 trial it is not known that any minutes ezist.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 313 
 
 Hugh Montgomery, commenced on Saturday, No- 
 vember twelfth, 1770, before the superior court. 1 
 There were five indictments against the prisoners, in 
 which they were charged both as principals and acces- 
 sories with the murder of the five citizens who were 
 killed. The prosecution was conducted by Robert 
 
 1 The justices of the court who were present were Benjamin 
 Lynde, John Gushing, Peter Oliver and Edmund Trowbridge. 
 Hutchinson, the historian, was at that time the chief justice, but 
 had ceased to perform the duties of the office. Lynde, who pre- 
 sided on this occasion, was born in Salem in 1700. He came upon 
 the bench in 1745 ; when Hutchinson was made governor, Lynde 
 succeeded him as chief justice. He resigned the office when he 
 was seventy-two years old, and died at the age of eighty. 
 
 Cushing was born in Scituate in 1G95, and was appointed a judge 
 in 1747. He resigned his office in 1771, and died in 1778, aged 
 eighty-two years. 
 
 Oliver was a native of Boston, born in 1712. He was graduated 
 at Cambridge in 1730, but never studied any profession. He was 
 raised to the superior court, however, after having been a judge of 
 the court of common pleas several years, and was appointed chief jus- 
 tice on the resignation of Judge Lynde in 1772. From his political 
 predilections he became extremely obnoxious to the people. Arti- 
 cles of impeachment were once drawn up against him, but he was 
 protected by the governor. He left the province in 1776, when the 
 troops evacuated Boston, whence he went to England and died in 
 Birmingham in 1791, aged seventy-nine. He was a thorough roy- 
 alist, and, on leaving the country, fully reciprocated with the peo- 
 ple, the hatred with which they regarded him. He was honored 
 with a degree of LL. D. by the university of Oxford. His family 
 and that of Copley, the painter, father of Lord Lyndhurst, were 
 connected by marriage. 
 
 Trowbridge, the remaining judge, was one of the most learned 
 lawyers that ever sat on the bench in Massachusetts. He was 
 born in Newton in 1708, and was graduated at Cambridge at the 
 age of nineteen. He did not lose the popular favor, although 
 inclined to the prerogative party in politics. He remained in the 
 country unmolested by the revolution, and retained the respect of 
 the public through life ; but he retired to private life and died in 
 1793. His memory is still held in respect. 
 27
 
 314 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Treat Paine and Samuel Q,uincy. John Adams, 
 Josiah Quincy, and Sampson Salter Blowers 1 appear- 
 ed as counsel for the prisoners. When the jury was 
 impaneled, ten of the persons returned by the sheriff 
 were challenged peremptorily by the prisoners, and 
 eleven were challenged for cause, and all of them were 
 set aside. Every juryman from the town of Boston 
 being challenged for cause and set aside, there was not 
 an inhabitant of that town on the jury, which was 
 composed of the following individuals : Joseph 
 Mayo, foreman, and Nathaniel Davis, of Roxbury ; 
 Abraham Wheeler and Edward Peirce, of Dorches- 
 ter ; Josiah Thayer, of Braintree ; Benjamin Fisher, 
 of Dedham ; Samuel Davenport and Joseph Haugh- 
 ton, of Milton ; Consider Atherton, of Stoughton ; 
 Jacob Gushing, Jr., Josiah Lane, and Jonathan Burr, 
 of Hingham. 
 
 The case was opened for the crown by Samuel 
 Quincy, and a large number of witnesses were called 
 to prove the allegations in the indictment. They 
 fully identified the prisoners as the soldiers who 
 fired on the people ; but the proof was not very 
 precise as to the actual effect of each soldier's firing, 
 with the exception of Killroy and Montgomery. In 
 regard to the former, a witness testified that he saw 
 him among the soldiers. Samuel Gray was standing 
 near the witness, and after one gun had been fired, the 
 witness cried out to Killroy not to fire, but he imme- 
 
 1 He was graduated at Cambridge in 1763, and was made a bar- 
 rister in 1773 after this trial. Being a royalist he left the province 
 at the revolution, and was subsequently, in 1798, made chief jus- 
 tice of the supreme court of Nova Scotia.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 315 
 
 diately fired, and Gray, who was taking no part in 
 the disturbance, fell dead. It was also testified, that 
 Killroy had previously said he would never miss an 
 opportunity, when he had one, to fire on the inhabit- 
 ants, and that he had wished for an opportunity ever 
 since he landed. It also appeared, that he was one 
 of the soldiers who were engaged in the affray at the 
 ropewalk a few days before the affair in King street. 
 It was also in evidence, that his bayonet was bloody 
 the next morning after the affray. In regard to 
 Montgomery it was testified, that he was the first 
 person who fired. He was struck a violent blow, 
 which brought him to the ground, and his gun flew 
 out of his hand. He immediately recovered it, and 
 instantly fired. A witness declared that he thought 
 he pointed towards Attucks, who fell with two 
 others. 
 
 Witnesses were also introduced to show the origin 
 of the affray, and to prove that the blame was attribu- 
 table to the soldiers, and that the circumstances were 
 not such as to justify them in firing. Their testimony 
 was as follows : 
 
 Joseph Hiller. I was in King street at the time 
 the soldiers fired at the people on the fifth of March. 
 I was at the north end of the town when the bells 
 rung, and when I came to the middle of the town, I 
 was told there was no fire, but a rumpus betwixt the 
 soldiers and the inhabitants. I passed on, the bells 
 still ringing. When I came to Dock square, there 
 were some persons there, who told me it was danger- 
 ous to go up ; they seemed to be like people that 
 were afraid to pass, because of the danger ; others
 
 316 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 were going up ; I went up, and when I got past the 
 alley, the street was very clear of people ; I hardly 
 saw any body. I came to the town-house, and saw 
 about thirty lads. I have often seen more collected 
 for their diversion. I saw the sentry upon the steps 
 of the custom-house door ; I heard him say nothing, 
 but he had his gun waving, as if it was to defend 
 himself, or to exasperate the people. I thought to 
 speak to him, but thinking he might insult me, I de- 
 clined ; I began to go away, and met the party of 
 soldiers coming down ; that made me stop, because 
 when they got to the custom-house there was a 
 noise something like what they call cheers, and the 
 people went more to the middle of the street. After 
 the soldiers had passed through them, I went down 
 again ; as I passed before them there were very few 
 people. I passed without the people, and inclined 
 more to the custom-house, the greater part of the sol- 
 diers being full to my view. I was walking right be- 
 fore them. They had their guns rested on their hips ; 
 when I passed the last man on the left, the first gun 
 was fired from the right. I should think the time 
 might be twenty seconds before the first gun was 
 fired from the time they formed. In a short time 
 there was another, and then very soon another, and 
 then there was a short space of time again, before 
 the last guns were fired. A little boy ran along and 
 cried fire ! fire ! fire ! as people generally do when 
 there is a fire ; a soldier pointed his gun at him and 
 fired,- but did not hit him ; he was the last but one on 
 the left. I did not mind the first gun, thinking it 
 was only powder to scare the people : when the next
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 317 
 
 were fired, they were scattering. After the firing 
 ceased, a little boy came and told us some persons 
 were killed. I saw them lying in the street. I did 
 not imagine it was anybody killed, but supposed that 
 they had been scared and run away, and left their 
 great coats behind them. I saw nothing like an 
 attack that could produce any such consequences. 
 I went to look at the mulatto man, and heard a noise 
 like the cocking of firelocks, but an officer passed 
 before them and said, " do not fire on the inhabi- 
 tants." The street was in a manner clear ; it was as 
 hush as at twelve o'clock at night ; the noise of the 
 cocking seemed to come from the right, and passed 
 on to the left. 
 
 " How many guns were fired ?" 
 
 " Six was the least, and one missed fire." 
 
 " How many soldiers were there ?" 
 
 " Six or eight." 
 
 " Did you see any blows given, or any thing 
 thrown ? " 
 
 " No, and I was there the whole time." 
 
 " Did you see anybody strike the soldiers' guns ?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 "Did you hear any huzzaing when the soldiers 
 came down ?" 
 
 " There seemed to be a huzza, but when I went 
 down and passed them, they were very still. There 
 was shouting when the soldiers first went down, and 
 it was not two minutes before they fired." 
 
 Benjamin Burdick a barber. I was in King 
 street on the evening of the fifth of March. When 
 I first came there, I went immediately up to one of 
 
 27*
 
 318 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 the soldiers, which I take to be that man who is bald 
 on the head (pointing to Montgomery) ; I asked him 
 if any of the soldiers were loaded, he said, " yes ;" 
 I asked him if they were going to fire, he said, " yes, 
 by the eternal God ;" and pushed at me with his 
 bayonet, which I put by with a Highland broad 
 sword which was in my hand. A short time before 
 this, a young man who boarded with me told me 
 that several of the soldiers had a spite at him, and 
 he believed he was in danger. I had seen two of 
 them about my house, one of whom was hearkening at 
 the window. I saw him again near the house, and 
 asked him what he was after : " Was it not you," 
 says I, " that was hearkening at my window last 
 night ?" " What if it was ?" he said. I told him to 
 march off, and he damned me, at which I beat him 
 till he had enough of it, and he then went off. The 
 reason of my carrying a sword was, the soldiers spied 
 the young man in the lane arid dogged him, for he 
 had been very active in the affray at the ropewalks : 
 they said they would sometime or other have satis- 
 faction, and I considered myself liable to be insulted 
 likewise. When alarmed by the cry of fire, and I 
 had got below the house, my wife called after me, 
 and said "it is not fire, it is an affray in King street, 
 if you are going, take this," so I took it, and ran 
 down, and I asked the soldier what I just now told 
 you. I knocked the bayonet with a sword, which 
 I had in my hand ; another pushed at me, and I 
 struck his gun ; my face was now towards the sol- 
 diers. I heard the first gun go off, and then the 
 second gun went off. As I was looking to see if
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 319 
 
 anybody was killed, I saw the tall man standing in a 
 line with me. I saw him fall. 
 
 " How long had the bells been ringing before you 
 came from home ?" 
 
 " I thought it was nine o'clock, and did not think 
 any thing else, till somebody cried fire." 
 
 " Did you strike before the firing ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Did you strike as hard as you could ?" 
 
 " Yes, and hit the lock of his gun, and if I had 
 struck a little lower, I should have left a mark that I 
 could have sworn to." 
 
 " Was the sword in your hand drawn ?" 
 
 " I drew it when the soldier pushed at me, and 
 struck at him as I have mentioned." 
 
 " Which gun went off first ?" 
 
 " I took it to be the right hand man/' 
 
 " Where did that soldier you struck at stand ?" 
 
 " I believe the fourth or fifth man from the corner 
 of Exchange lane." 
 
 " How many soldiers were there ?" 
 
 " I did not count them, it appeared to me there 
 were six or eight." 
 
 " The man that said he would fire by the eternal 
 God, where did he stand ?" 
 
 " He was about the middle." 
 
 " Was you there when the first gun was fired ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " What was the immediate occasion of that ?" 
 
 " I do not know, I had only walked over from 
 Quaker lane till I came to the soldiers, that was all 
 the time I had."
 
 320 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 " Did you see anything extraordinary to induce 
 them to fire that gun ?" 
 
 "Nothing but a short stick was thrown, which 
 seemed to go clear over all their heads. I heard a 
 clattering of their guns, but what was the occasion 
 of it I do not know." 
 
 " Might not their iron ramrods occasion it ?" 
 
 " No, I suppose they knocked one gun against 
 another in taking their places. When the mulatto 
 man was dead, I went up and met Dr. Gardner and 
 Mr. Brindley. I asked them to come and see the 
 mulatto, and as we stooped to take up the man, the 
 soldiers presented their arms again, as if they had 
 been going to fire, Captain Preston came, pushed up 
 their guns, and said, ' stop firing, do not fire.' I 
 went to them to see if I could know their faces 
 again ; Captain Preston looked out between two of 
 them, and spoke to me, which took off my attention 
 from them." 
 
 " From where was that stick thrown ?" 
 
 " From Royal Exchange lane, and it flew over 
 their heads almost as high as the sign." 
 
 " What did you take to be the occasion of the 
 soldier's answer to you ?" 
 
 "I do not know, unless he was affronted at my 
 asking the question of him." 
 
 " Did you see anybody strike the soldiers before 
 you struck with the sword ?" 
 
 " No, I had not time." 
 
 " What distance of time was there between the 
 first and second gun ?" 
 
 " A very short space, I cannot say exactly."
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 321 
 
 Bartholomew Kneeland a merchant. On the 
 fifth of March, I heard the bells ring after nine, and 
 went to the front door, followed by my sister and 
 two others of the family ; I stood there about five 
 minutes, and saw a number of soldiers, about ten or a 
 dozen, coming towards the town pump ; they seemed 
 to make a noise, and one of them got nearly opposite 
 to me, and hallooed, " damn you, what do you do 
 there ?" I made him no answer, he came up to me, 
 and pointed his naked bayonet at my breast, and 
 held it there some time, and told me to get in ; I told 
 him to go along ; he went towards the post office. 
 
 " Do you know what regiment he belonged to ?" 
 
 " To the twenty-ninth." 
 
 " Did he bid you get in when hs asksd you what 
 you did there ?" 
 
 " Yes. In a little while I heard a volley of small 
 arms, which I took to be in King street." 
 
 Nathaniel Thayer sealer of wood. On the even- 
 ing of the fifth of March I heard a very great noise, 
 and my wife said, " you had better go to the door 
 and see what the matter is." I went, and saw about 
 twenty people coming through Boylston's alley. 
 There was a terrible swearing, and they had clubs 
 and swords, and one thing and another ; there came 
 seven soldiers from the main guard without any coats 
 on : driving along, swearing, cursing and damning 
 like wild creatures, saying, " where are they ? Cut 
 them to pieces, slay them all." They came up to 
 my door ; I shut my door and went in ; they went 
 round the back lane to King street ; this was after 
 nine, before any guns were fired.
 
 322 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Nathaniel Appleton a merchant. On the evening 
 of the fifth of March, a little after nine, as I was sit- 
 ting in my house, I heard a considerable noise in the 
 street. I went to the door, and found the chief of 
 the noise was at the bottom of the street. I inquired 
 the reason, and was told the soldiers and inhabitants 
 were fighting ; I waited at the door a minute or two ; 
 people were running down in twos and threes at a 
 time ; at length the noise subsided, and seemed to be 
 down by Dock square ; hearing the bells ring and the 
 cry of fire, I asked where it was ? I was answered 
 there was none, but the inhabitants and soldiers were 
 fighting. There soon came a party of soldiers from 
 the southward, ten or twelve I think ; they had short 
 clothes. I think, I saw some white sleeves amongst 
 them, with bayonets in their hands, but I apprehend- 
 ed no danger from them ; I stood on the step of the 
 door, they appeared to be pushing right down the 
 street. When they got a few rods from the door, 
 their course began to bend towards us ; still I appre- 
 hended nothing but that they were coming to walk 
 on the side of the way ; then they lifted up their 
 weapons, and I began to apprehend danger ; they 
 said something, I do not know what it was, but I 
 went in as fast as I could, and shut the door imme- 
 diately. They were within half a foot of it ; had it 
 been open a second longer they would have had the 
 command of the door ; but I was too quick for them 
 and bolted my. door, went up chamber, looked out of 
 the window, and saw people flying here and there 
 like pigeons, and the soldiers running about like mad 
 men in a fury, till they got to the bottom of the 
 street.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 323 
 
 John Appleton a. young lad, son of Nathaniel Ap- 
 pleton. About nine o'clock I was sent on an errand 
 into King street. I heard a noise and ran out of the 
 shop where I could see what was the matter. I 
 went into the middle of the street, and saw some 
 talking to the sentry ; I thought they were going to 
 quarrel, and came away. Coming to Jenkins's Alley, 
 my brother with me, there came out about tw'enty 
 soldiers with cutlasses in their hands ; my brother fell 
 and they ran past him, and were going to kill me ; I 
 said, " soldiers, spare my life," one of them said, 
 " no, damn you, we will kill you all ; " he lifted his 
 cutlass and struck at my head, but I dodged and got 
 the blow on my shoulder. I believe the cutlass was 
 not drawn, for it rattled on my shoulder as if it had 
 been sheathed. 
 
 Thomas Marshall 1 a tailor. I was at Colonel Jack- 
 son's a few minutes after nine on the fifth of March. 
 When I came out into Dock square, all was quiet ; I 
 saw no persons in the whole square. I came up Royal 
 Exchange lane ; I saw nobody there. I saw the sen- 
 try at the head of it in peace and quietness, nobody 
 troubling. I never saw King street more quiet in 
 my life. I went into my house, where was a kins- 
 man of mine ; I asked him how he did, and while I 
 was speaking, the young man in the shop knocked 
 for me. I went into the shop, and in half a minute, 
 I heard the cry of murder once or twice. " There is 
 mischief," said I, " at a distance ; " " so there is," 
 said he. I opened the front door to see ; but I saw 
 
 1 Colonel Marshall lived in the next house to the custom house.
 
 324 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 nobody. I heard a noise, which seemed to come 
 from Howe's barracks. I stopped a little space, and 
 the first I saw enter King street was a party from the 
 main guard, ten or twelve of whom came rushing out 
 violently, their arms glittering by the moonlight, and 
 crying out " damn them where are they, by Jesus let 
 them come." Some of them turned into Pudding 
 lane, and some went by the townhouse steps ; I went 
 in and told my family to keep themselves easy, for 
 there was no disturbance near the house. I went to 
 the door again, and saw a party about the head of 
 Quaker lane ; they used much the same expressions 
 as the aforesaid party, and cried fire. They passed 
 over the way, and the shade of the moon-light hin- 
 dered me from seeing whether they went down 
 Royal Exchange lane or up towards the town house. 
 Something strikes my mind, I am not positive now, 
 but I think it was that night, there were a few boys 
 round the sentry. I went and said, " boys, you have 
 no business with the sentry, go off," and they went 
 away. I have often seen boys with the sentry, and 
 often heard words. The bells were then ringing, 
 and the people began to collect, as they do at the cry 
 of fire, and I thought it was fire. I had a mind to 
 get my staff and go out, but I had a reluctance, be- 
 cause I had been warned not to go out that night ; 
 but while the people were collecting, I came to the 
 door, and saw them gathering thick from all quarters, 
 forty, fifty, or sixty. When the party came down, I 
 thought it was no more than I had seen every day ; 
 I thought they had come to relieve the sentry ; they 
 seemed to be in a posture of defence, and came
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 325 
 
 through the people. I saw no opposition. When 
 they came up, they passed out 6f the moonlight into 
 the dark, so that I could not see them, but I wonder- 
 ed to find them tarry so long. I heard a gun go off, 
 and thought it was an accident, but in a little time 
 another gun went off, and a third and a fourth, pretty 
 quick, and then the fifth. There seemed to be a 
 small stop in their firing ; I then had no concern, but 
 before the smoke was well away, I saw the people 
 dead on the ground. I saw no opposition when they 
 were drawn up, the people were not near them ; 
 what opposition might be at the lane I could not per- 
 ceive, because the box covered that from my view. 
 Nathaniel Fosdick a hatter. On the evening of 
 the fifth of March, at the cry of fire, I came out of my 
 house, and saw the people running down town. I 
 followed them ; when I got by the town house, I saw 
 some going down King street ; I went down also to 
 the guard house ; I saw a number of the soldiers run- 
 ning ; I asked where the fire was ; nobody answered 
 me. I went down to the middle of King street, and 
 while I stood there, was pushed from behind with a 
 bayonet. I turned round and saw a party of soldiers 
 coming down. I asked one the reason of his pushing 
 at me ; he damned my blood, and bade me stand out 
 of their way. I said I would not, I was doing harm 
 to no man, and would not stand aside for any one ; 
 they passed me some on one side, some on the other. 
 They came to the sentry box, faced round, and 
 formed a circle. I spoke to some of the inhabitants 
 to speak to Preston, to know what the matter was ; 
 somebody spoke to him, but what was said, I do not 
 28
 
 326 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 know. I saw Preston fall back betwixt the fourth 
 and fifth man ; the word was given to fire and im- 
 mediately the right hand man fired ; after that I 
 pushed in towards them, and they ran a bayonet at 
 me and wounded me in the arm. I was pushed 
 twice in the arm by two different bayonets. I 
 knocked off one of them with my stick ; with the 
 other I was wounded in my breast. 
 
 " Were any blows given before the guns were 
 fired ? " 
 
 " No, not where I stood, and I saw two thirds of 
 the soldiers." 
 
 " Did you see any insults offered the soldiers ? " 
 
 " No, none at all." 
 
 After the evidence for the crown was closed, Sam- 
 uel Q,uincy, 1 of counsel for the crown, addressed the 
 court and jury at length upon the facts as proved, 
 which he recapitulated with great particularity, and 
 laid down the law which he considered to be appli- 
 cable to the case. The defence was then opened as 
 follows, by 
 
 JOSIAH QJJINCY, JR. 
 
 May it please your Honors, and you, Gentlemen of the Jury, 
 
 The prisoners at the bar stand indicted for the 
 murder of five of his majesty's liege subjects, as set 
 
 1 He was an elder brother of Josiah Quincy, jr., and an intimate 
 friend of John Adams. He was the last solicitor general of the 
 province, before the revolution. He became a royalist, through 
 jealousy, it is said, of his younger brother, who rose to higher 
 distinction than himself. He left the country at the revolution 
 and went to Antigua, where he was appointed king's attorney, and 
 held the office till his death in 1789.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 327 
 
 forth in the several indictments, which have been 
 read to you. The persons slain, those indictments 
 set forth, as " being in the peace of God, and our 
 lord the king," at the time of the mortal wounds 
 given. 
 
 To these indictments, the prisoners have severally 
 pleaded not guilty, and for their trial have put 
 themselves on God and their country, which country 
 you are : and by their pleas, thus severally pleaded, 
 they are to stand, or fall, according to the evidence 
 which shall respectively apply to them. 
 
 By their plea of not guilty, they throw the burden 
 of proof, as to the fact of killing, upon the crown ; 
 but, upon that being proved, the matter they allege 
 to justify, excuse, or extenuate, must be adduced by 
 them, and supported by legal evidence. The truth 
 of the facts they may thus allege, it is your sole and 
 undoubted province to determine ; but upon the sup- 
 position that those facts shall appear to your satisfac- 
 tion, in the manner we allege, the grand question 
 then to be determined will be, whether such matters, 
 so proved, do, in law, extenuate, excuse, or justify. 
 The decision of this question belongs to another de- 
 partment, namely, the court. This is law, so well 
 known, and acknowledged, that I shall not now de- 
 tain you by a recital of authorities, but only refer you 
 to Foster's Crown Law, where this point is treated 
 with precision, and fixed beyond controversy. It 
 may not be amiss, however, to assure you, that as 
 certain as the cognizance of facts is within your juris- 
 diction, so certain does the law, resulting from these 
 facts, in cases of the present kind, seem to reside
 
 328 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 solely in the court : unless cases, where juries, under 
 direction of the court, give general verdicts, may be 
 denominated exceptions. 
 
 In the case now before us, it will not be contested, 
 that five persons were unfortunately killed, at the 
 time the indictments charge ; and this case will 
 naturally enough divide itself into three main divi- 
 sions of inquiry. 
 
 First. Whether any homicide was committed ? 
 
 Secondly. By whom was it committed ? 
 
 Thirdly. Is there any thing appearing in evi- 
 dence, which will justify, excuse, or extenuate such 
 homicide, by reducing it to that species of offence 
 called manslaughter ? 
 
 Before we enter upon these inquiries, permit me, 
 gentlemen, to remind you of the importance of this 
 trial, as it relates to the prisoners. It is for their 
 lives ! If we consider the number of persons, now 
 on trial, joined with many other circumstances which 
 might be mentioned, it is by far the most important, 
 this country ever saw. Remember the ties you are 
 under to the prisoners, and even to yourselves. The 
 eyes of all are upon you. Patience in hearing this 
 cause is an essential requisite, candor and caution 
 are no less essential. It is tedious and painful to 
 attend a trial of such length ; but remember the time 
 which has been taken up by the crown in the open- 
 ing. By every bond of humanity and justice, we 
 claim an equal indulgence ; nay, it is of high im- 
 portance to your country, that nothing should appear 
 on this trial to impeach our justice, or stain our 
 humanity.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 329 
 
 And here let me remind you of a notion, which 
 has certainly been too prevalent, and guard you 
 against its baneful influence. An opinion has been 
 entertained by many among us, that the life of a sol- 
 dier was of very little value ; of much less value than 
 others of the community. The law, gentlemen, 
 knows no such distinction ; the life of a soldier is 
 viewed, by the equal eye of the law, as estimable 
 as the life of any other citizen. 
 
 I cannot in any other way account for what I 
 mention, than by supposing that the indigence and 
 poverty of a soldier, the toils of his life, the severity 
 of discipline to which he is exposed, the precarious 
 tenure by which he is generally thought to hold his 
 life, in the summary decisions of a court-martial, have 
 conspired to propagate a sentiment of this kind ; but 
 a little attention to the human heart will dissipate 
 such a notion. 
 
 The soldier takes his choice, like all others, of his 
 course of life : he has an equal right, with you, or 
 me, so to do. It is best we should not all think 
 alike. Habit makes all things agreeable ; what at 
 first was irksome, soon becomes pleasing. But does 
 experience teach, that misery begets in general a 
 hatred of life ! By no means : we all reluct at 
 death ; we long for one short space more ; we grasp 
 with anxious solicitude even after a wretched exist- 
 ence. God and nature have implanted this love of 
 life. Expel, therefore, from your breasts an opinion 
 so unwarrantable by any law, human or divine ; let 
 not any thing so injurious to the prisoners, who value 
 life as much as you, let not any thing so repugnant
 
 330 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 to all justice, have influence in this trial. The repu- 
 tation of the country depends much on your conduct, 
 gentlemen ; and, may I not add, justice calls aloud 
 for candor in hearing, and impartiality in deciding, 
 this cause, which has, perhaps, too much engrossed 
 our affections ; and, I speak for one, too much ex- 
 cited our passions. 
 
 The law, by which the prisoners are to be tried, is 
 a law of mercy, a law applying to us all, a law, 
 Blackstone will tell us, " founded in principles that 
 are permanent, uniform, and universal, always con- 
 formable to the feelings of humanity, and the indeli- 
 ble rights of mankind." How ought we all, who are 
 to bear a part in this day, to aim at a strict adher- 
 ence to the principles of this law ; how ought we all 
 to aim at utterly eradicating every undue bias of 
 the judgment ; a bias subversive of all justice and 
 humanity ! 
 
 Another opinion, equally foreign to truth and law, 
 has been adopted by many. It has been thought, 
 that no possible case could happen, in which a sol- 
 dier could fire, without the aid of a civil magistrate. 
 This is a great mistake, a very unhappy mistake 
 indeed ! one, I am afraid, that had its influence on 
 the fatal night, which we all lament. The law, as 
 to the present point, puts the citizen and soldier un- 
 der equal restraint. What will justify and mitigate 
 the action of the one, will do the same to the other. 
 Let us bear this invariably in mind, in examining the 
 evidence. But before we proceed to this examina- 
 tion, let us take a transient view of some occur- 
 rences, preceding, and subsequent to, the melancholy 
 fifth of March.
 
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 331 
 
 About some five or six years ago, it is well known, 
 certain measures were adopted by the British parlia- 
 ment, which gave a general alarm to this continent. 
 Measures were alternately taken in Great Britain, 
 that awakened jealousy, resentment, fortitude, and 
 vigilance. Affairs continued long fluctuating. A 
 sentiment universally prevailed, that our dearest 
 rights were invaded. It is not our business here to 
 inquire touching these delicate points. These are 
 concernments, which, however interesting or impor- 
 tant in themselves, we must keep far away from us, 
 when in a court of law. It poisons justice, when 
 politics tincture its current. 
 
 I need not inform you, how the tide rose, as we 
 were advancing towards the present times. The 
 general attention became more and more roused, 
 people became more and more alike in opinion and 
 practice. A vast majority thought all that was dear 
 was at stake, sentiments of liberty, property, 
 ignominious bondage, all conspire to increase the 
 ferment. At this period the troops land. Let us 
 here pause, and view the citizen, and the soldier. 
 
 The causes of grievance being thus spread far and 
 wide, the inhabitants viewed the soldiery as called in, 
 foreign from their prime institution, to force obe- 
 dience to acts, which were, in general, deemed sub- 
 versive of natural as well as constitutional freedom. 
 With regard to the universal prevalence of ideas of 
 this kind, it does not fall within our present plan, to 
 give you direct, positive evidence. It would be too 
 foreign to the present issue, though pertinent enough, 
 when considered as a clue to springs and motives of
 
 332 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 action, and as an additional aid to form a just judg- 
 ment in our present inquiry. You, gentlemen, who 
 come from the body of the country, are presumed to 
 know these facts, if they are true ; nay, their noto- 
 riety must be such, provided I am not mistaken in 
 my conjecture, that the justness of my observation 
 on this matter must be certainly confirmed by your 
 own experience. I presume not in this, or any other 
 matter of fact, to prescribe to you ; if these senti- 
 ments are wrong, they have no influence ; if right, 
 they ought certainly to have their due weight. 
 
 I say, gentlemen, and appeal to you for the truth 
 of what I say, that many on this continent viewed 
 their chains as already forged ; they saw fetters as 
 prepared ; they beheld the soldiers as fastening, and 
 riveting for ages, the shackles of their bondage. 
 With the justness of these apprehensions, you and I 
 have nothing to do in this place. Disquisitions of 
 this sort are for the senate, and the chamber of coun- 
 cil, they are for statesmen and politicians, who take 
 a latitude in thoughts and action ; but we, gentle- 
 men, are confined in our excursions, by the rigid 
 rules of law. Upon the real, actual existence of 
 these apprehensions, in the community, we may 
 judge ; they are facts falling properly within our cog- 
 nizance, and hitherto may we go, but no farther. It 
 is my duty, and I ought to impress it on your minds ; 
 and, you, gentlemen, ought to retain the impression. 
 You are to determine on the facts coming to your 
 knowledge; you are to think, judge, and act, as 
 jurymen, and not as statesmen. 
 
 Matters being thus circumstanced, what might be
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 333 
 
 expected ? No room was left for cordiality and 
 friendship. Discontent was seated on almost every 
 brow. Instead of that hospitality, which the soldier 
 thought himself entitled to, scorn, contempt, and 
 silent murmurs were his reception. Almost every 
 countenance lowered with a discontented gloom, and 
 scarce an eye but flashed indignant fire. Turn and 
 contemplate the camp. Do we find a more favora- 
 ble appearance ? The soldier had his feelings, his 
 sentiments, and his characteristic passions also. The 
 constitution of our government has provided a stimu- 
 lus for his affections : the pride of conscious virtue, 
 the sense of valor, the point of honor. The law had 
 taught him to think favorably of himself; had taught 
 him to consider himself as peculiarly appointed for 
 the safeguard and defence of his country. He had 
 heard, that he put not off the citizen, when he en- 
 tered the camp ; but because he was a citizen, and 
 wished to continue so, he made himself, for awhile, a 
 soldier. How stinging was it to be stigmatized as 
 the instrument of tyranny and oppression ! How 
 exasperating to be viewed as aiding to inthrall his 
 country ! He felt his heart glow with an ardor, 
 which he tQok for a love of liberty and his country, 
 and had formed to himself no design fatal to its 
 privileges. He recollected, no doubt, that he had 
 heretofore exposed himself for its service. He had 
 bared his bosom in defence of his native soil, and 
 still felt the smart of wounds, received in conflict for 
 his king and country. Could that spirit, which had 
 braved the shafts of foreign battle, brook the keener 
 wounds of civil contest ? The arrows which now
 
 334 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 pierced him, pierced as deep and rankled more than 
 those of former times. 
 
 Is it rational to imagine much harmony could long 
 subsist ? We must take human nature as we find it, 
 and not vainly imagine, that all things are to become 
 new, at such a crisis. There are an order of men in 
 every commonwealth, who never reason, but always 
 act from feeling. That their rights and liberties 
 were filched away one after another, they had often 
 been told. They had been taught by those whom 
 they believed, that the axe was now laid to the root of 
 the tree, and one more stroke would complete its fall. 
 It was in vain to expect to silence or subdue these 
 emotions by reasons, soothings, or dangers. A belief, 
 that nothing could be worse than the calamities 
 which seemed inevitable, had extended itself on all 
 sides, and arguments drawn from such sources had 
 little influence. Each day gave rise to new occur- 
 rences, which increased animosities. Heartburnings, 
 heats, and bickerings became more and more exten- 
 sive. Reciprocal insults soured the temper, mutual 
 injuries embittered the passions. Can we wonder, 
 that when every thing tended to some important ac- 
 tion, the period so soon arrived ? Will not our won- 
 der be increased to find the crisis no sooner taking 
 place, when so many circumstances united to hasten 
 its approach ? To use an allusion somewhat homely, 
 may we not wonder that the acid and the alkali did 
 not sooner ferment ? 
 
 A thought here imperceptibly forces itself on our 
 minds, and we are led to be astonished, that persons so 
 discordant in opinion, and so opposite in views, attach-
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 335 
 
 ments, and connexions, should be stationed together. 
 But, here, gentlemen, we must stop. If we pursue 
 this inquiry, at this time, and in this place, we shall 
 be in danger of doing great injustice. We shall get 
 beyond our limits. The right of quartering troops in 
 this province must be discussed at a different tribu- 
 nal. The constitutional legality, the propriety, the 
 expediency of their appointment, are questions of 
 state, not to be determined, or even agitated by us, 
 in this court. It is enough for us, if the law takes 
 notice of them when thus stationed, if it warrants 
 their continuance, if it protects them in their quar- 
 ters. They were sent here by that authority, which 
 our laws know ; they were quartered here, as I 
 take it, agreeably to an act of the British parlia- 
 ment ; they were ordered here by your sovereign and 
 mine. 
 
 Let me here take a method very common with 
 another order of men. Let me remind you of what 
 is not your duty. 
 
 Gentlemen, great pains have been taken by differ- 
 ent men, with different views, to involve the charac- 
 ter, the conduct, and reputation of the town of Bos- 
 ton, in the present issue. Boston and its inhabitants 
 have no more to do with this cause, than you, or any 
 other members of the community. You are, there- 
 fore, by no means to blend together two things, so 
 essentially different, as the guilt, or innocence, of this 
 town and the prisoners. The inhabitants of Boston, 
 by no rules of law, justice, or common sense, can be 
 supposed answerable, for the unjustifiable conduct of 
 a few individuals, hastily assembled in the streets.
 
 336 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Every populous city, in like circumstances, would be 
 liable to similar commotions, if not worse. No ra- 
 tional or honest man will form any worse opinion of 
 this metropolis, for the transactions of that melancholy 
 night. Who can, who will, unnecessarily interest 
 themselves to justify the rude behavior of a mixt and 
 ungovernable multitude ? May I not appeal to you, 
 and all who have heard this trial thus far, that things 
 already wear a different aspect from what we have 
 been heretofore taught to expect ? Had any one told 
 you, some weeks ago, that the evidence on the crown- 
 side would have appeared in the present light, would 
 you have believed it ? Can any one think it his duty, 
 to espouse the cause of those assembled in King 
 street ? I think not ; but lest my opinion should not 
 have any weight, let me remind you of an author, 
 who, I could wish, were in the hands of all of you ; 
 one whom I trust you will credit. I am sure you 
 ought to love and revere him. I wish his sentiments 
 were engraven in indelible characters on your hearts. 
 You will not suspect him of being unfriendly to lib- 
 erty ; if this cause and its events must be interwoven 
 with a matter so foreign to it. I allude to the third 
 letter of the " Farmer of Pennsylvania," to his coun- 
 trymen. 1 
 
 1 The celebrated " Farmer's Letters " were written against the 
 revenue acts of Great Britain, by John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania. 
 The depth of research, force of argument, and perspicuity of style, 
 which appeared in these letters, made them popular with all classes 
 of readers in America. Dr. Franklin caused them to be reprinted 
 in England, with a commendatory preface from his own pen. 
 Sparks's Life of Franklin, p. 456.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 337 
 
 " The cause of liberty," says that great and good 
 writer, " is a cause of too much dignity to be sullied 
 by turbulence and tumult ; it ought to be maintained 
 in a manner suitable to her nature. Those who en- 
 gage in it should breathe a sedate yet fervent spirit, 
 animating them to actions of prudence, justice, mod- 
 esty, bravery, humanity, and magnanimity." What 
 has there transpired on this trial, savoring of any of 
 these virtues ? Was it justice, or humanity, to attack, 
 insult, ridicule, and abuse a single sentinel on his 
 post? Was it either modest, brave, or magnani- 
 mous, to rush upon the points of fixed bayonets, and 
 trifle, vapor, and provoke, at the very mouths of 
 loaded muskets ? It may be brutal rage, or wanton 
 rashness, but not, surely, any true magnanimity. 
 
 " I hope," says the same eminent writer, "my dear 
 countrymen, that you will in every colony be upon 
 your guard against those, who at any time endeavor 
 to stir you up, under pretence of patriotism, to any 
 measures disrespectful to your sovereign, and our 
 mother country." By this it should seem, as though 
 the " Farmer " never expected any period would ar- 
 rive, when such measures would be warrantable. 
 Now what more disrespectful to our parent country, 
 than to treat with contempt a body of men, stationed, 
 most certainly, by the consent of her supreme legis- 
 lature, the parliament of Britain ? What more dis- 
 respectful to our common sovereign, than to assume 
 the sword of justice, and become the avengers of 
 either public or private wrongs ? Though the sol- 
 diers, who appeared in the earlier part of the even- 
 ing in Corn hill, acted like barbarians and savages, 
 29
 
 338 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 they had now retired, and were confined in their 
 barracks ; what though an impertinent boy had re- 
 ceived unjustifiable correction from the sentinel ; the 
 boy, and the persons in Cornhill, must have recourse 
 only to the law for their redress. Courts of law are 
 styled " vindices injuriarum" the avengers of injuries, 
 and none others are to assume this prerogative. The 
 law erects itself as the supreme, dernier resort, in all 
 complaints of wrong; and nothing could more essen- 
 tially sap our most important interests, than any 
 countenance to such dangerous encroachments on 
 the domains of municipal justice. 
 
 But, finally, to finish with the justly celebrated 
 " Farmer." " Hot, rash, disorderly proceedings in- 
 jure the reputation of a people, as to wisdom, valor, 
 and virtue, without procuring the least benefit." 
 Thus have you the sense of this, with us, great au- 
 thority. And let me ask all those, who have thought 
 the cause of this country connected with the agents of 
 the assembly in King street, whether the proceedings 
 of that unhappy night were hot, rash, or disorderly ? 
 If they were, have they not, in the opinion of this 
 great friend of liberty, injured our reputation, as to 
 wisdom, valor, and virtue ; and that too, without pro- 
 curing the least benefit ? Who then would sacrifice 
 his judgment, and his integrity, to vindicate such 
 proceedings ? 
 
 To what purposes the soldiers were sent ; whether it 
 was a step warranted by sound policy, or not, we shall 
 not inquire ; we are to consider the troops, not as the 
 instruments for wresting our rights, but as fellow citi- 
 zens, who, being to be tried by a law extending to
 
 THE BOSTON. MASSACRE. 339 
 
 every individual, claim a part in its benefits, its privi- 
 leges, its mercy. We must steel ourselves against 
 passions which contaminate the fountain of justice. 
 We ought to recollect, that our present decisions will 
 be scanned, perhaps through all Europe. We must 
 not forget, that we ourselves will have a reflective hour, 
 an hour, in which we shall view things through a 
 different medium, when the pulse will no longer 
 beat with the tumults of the day, when the con- 
 scious pang of having betrayed truth, justice, and 
 integrity, shall bite like a serpent, and sting like an 
 adder. 
 
 Consider, gentlemen, the danger which you, and 
 all of us are in, of being led away by our affections 
 and attachments. We have seen the blood of our 
 fellow men flowing in the streets. We have been 
 told that this blood was wrongfully shed. That is 
 now the point in issue. But let it be borne deep 
 upon our minds, that the prisoners are to be con- 
 demned by the evidence here in court produced 
 against them, and by nothing else. Matters heard 
 or seen abroad, are to have no weight ; in general, 
 they undermine the pillars of justice and truth. It 
 has been our misfortune, that a system of evidence 
 has appeared in the world against us. 1 It is not our 
 
 1 After the occurrence on the fifth of March, a committee, ap- 
 pointed by the inhabitants of Boston, took the depositions of a 
 large number of witnesses, and drew up a statement of the occur- 
 rence. This narrative of the Boston committee was entirely er- 
 roneous in many respects, and the depositions were very different 
 from the testimony of the same witnesses at the trial, when the 
 excitement had somewhat subsided, and they were subjected to a 
 cross-examination.
 
 340 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 business to blame any one for this. It is our misfor- 
 tune, I say. It should be remembered, that we were 
 not present to cross-examine ; and the danger, which 
 results from this publication being in the hands of 
 those who are to pass upon our lives, ought to be 
 guarded against. We say we are innocent, by our 
 plea ; and we are not to be denounced guilty by a 
 new species of evidence, unknown in the English 
 system of criminal law. 
 
 But, as though a series of ex parte evidence was 
 not enough, all the colors of the canvass have been 
 touched, in order to freshen the wounds, and by a 
 transport of imagination, we are made present at the 
 scene of action. The prints exhibited in our houses 
 have added wings to fancy, and, in the fervor of our 
 zeal, reason is in hazard of being lost ; ' for, as was 
 elegantly expressed, by a learned gentleman at the 
 late trial, " the passions of man, nay, his very imagi- 
 nations, are contagious." The pomp of funeral and 
 the horrors of death have been so delineated, as to give 
 a spring to our ideas and inspire a glow incompati- 
 ble with sound deliberative judgment. In this situa- 
 tion, every passion has been alternately predominant. 
 
 1 Immediately after the occurrence, a print was published by 
 Paul Revere, which was circulated through the country. It was 
 very famous in that day, and there were few houses in which it 
 was not an ornament. Copies of it are still seen, and within a 
 few years a new (reduced) engraving of this print was made in 
 Boston. It gives a somewhat false idea of the scene it purports to 
 represent. The soldiers are represented as drawn up in a line be- 
 fore the custom house (on which is a large sign containing the 
 fancy title of BUTCHERS' HALL,) and at the bidding of their com- 
 mander, deliberately firing at the inhabitants, several of whom 
 fall dead in the street.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 341 
 
 They have each in its turn subsided in degree, and 
 then have sometimes given place to despondence, 
 grief, and sorrow. How careful should we be, that 
 we do not mistake the impressions of gloom and mel- 
 ancholy for the dictates of reason and truth. How 
 careful, lest, borne away by a torrent of passion, we 
 make shipwreck of conscience. 
 
 Perhaps you may be told, gentlemen, as I remem- 
 ber it was said, at the late trial, that passions were 
 like the flux and reflux of the sea, the highest tides 
 always producing the lowest ebbs. But let it be 
 noticed, that the tide, in our political ocean, has yet 
 never turned; certainly the current has never set 
 towards the opposite quarter. However similes may 
 illustrate, they never go for proof; though, I be- 
 lieve it will be found, that if the tide of resentment has 
 not risen of late, it has been because it had already 
 reached the summit. In the same mode of phrase- 
 ology, if so homely an expression may be used, per- 
 haps, as the seamen say, it has been high-water 
 slack ; but I am satisfied that the current has not yet 
 altered its course, in favor of the prisoners at the 
 bar. 
 
 Many things yet exist sufficient to keep alive the 
 glow of indignation. I have aimed at securing you 
 against the catching flame. I have endeavored to 
 discharge my duty in this respect. What success 
 will follow those endeavors, depends on you, gentle- 
 men. If being told of your danger will not produce 
 caution, nothing will. If you are determined in 
 opinion, it is vain to say more ; but if you are zealous 
 inquirers after truth, if you are willing to hear with
 
 342 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 impartiality, to examine and judge for yourselves, 
 enough has been said to apprize you of those ave- 
 nues, at which the enemies of truth and justice are 
 most likely to enter, and most easily to beset you. 
 
 Gentlemen of the jury, I shall now, for argument's 
 sake only, take it for granted, that the fact of killing 
 has been proved upon all the prisoners : you are 
 sensible that this is not really true, for as to this point, 
 there are several of the prisoners upon whom the 
 fact is not fixed. But as I shall hereafter take occa- 
 sion to consider the distinct case of each prisoner, as 
 he is affected by the evidence, I at present choose to 
 avoid confusion, and apply myself to the full strength 
 of the crown ; and, upon a supposition, that all the 
 prisoners are answerable for the act of any one, see 
 how the prisoners are chargeable, by the evidence 
 already offered, with the crime of murder ; or 
 rather endeavor to point out to you those facts, ap- 
 pearing by the evidence on the crown side, which 
 will amount, in law, to a justification, an excuse, or 
 at least, an extenuation of their offence ; for, we 
 say, that, give the evidence for the king its full scope 
 and force, and our offence is reduced, at least, to 
 manslaughter ; in which case, we claim the privilege 
 of that law, by the sentence of which, if guilty, we 
 must suffer the pains of death ; a privilege, we can 
 never again claim, a privilege, that by no means im- 
 plies exemption from all punishment ; the offender 
 becomes liable to imprisonment for a year, incurs a 
 forfeiture of all goods and chattels, and, till he re- 
 ceives the judgment of law, is to all intents a felon, 
 subject to all the disabilities and other incidents of a
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 343 
 
 felon. Without taking up time, in attending and 
 discussing points, no way pertinent to the present 
 issue ; without a tedious recapitulation of circum- 
 stances with which, I take it, we have no more con- 
 cern than either of you, gentlemen : I say, passing 
 over all these matters as foreign to this trial, let us 
 state the evidence appearing even from the crown 
 witnesses. 
 
 Mr. Quincy then proceeded to a minute detail 
 of the evidence against the prisoners, pointing out 
 the circumstances which favored them, and com- 
 menting chiefly on the facts which served to refute 
 or invalidate the positions of the counsel for the 
 crown, by showing an assault and attack upon the 
 sentry. He admitted, that there was great excite- 
 ment amongst the soldiers on that evening. Bands 
 of them were driving through the streets, using in- 
 sulting language, and maltreating those citizens whom 
 they met. He was ready to admit, that their con- 
 duct was entirely unjustifiable ; but the prisoners 
 were not of the number who thus acted like ruffians. 
 Nor did it appear, that the soldiers who were guilty 
 of this reprehensible conduct belonged to the twen- 
 ty-ninth regiment. These acts could in no way pre- 
 judice the prisoners. They were foreign to the issue, 
 and, he humbly conceived, ought not to have been 
 mentioned on the present occasion at all. He then 
 stated the proofs he expected to exhibit on the part 
 of the prisoners, to show that all which they did was 
 necessary and proper in self-defence. 
 
 More than fifty witnesses were then examined to
 
 344 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 prove the facts alleged in the defence. From their 
 testimony, it was abundantly evident, that there was 
 unusual excitement amongst all classes of the citi- 
 zens in the beginning of the evening, and there was 
 a general expectation of a serious affray between the 
 soldiers and the town's people. Crowds of people 
 were collected in various parts of the town, armed 
 with clubs' and other deadly weapons. Parties of 
 soldiers were also driving through the streets, armed 
 with bayonets, cutlasses, and clubs, and treating all 
 whom they met in the most insulting manner. In 
 the first part of the evening, several collisions had 
 taken place between the citizens and soldiers, and 
 one near Cornhill, in which the soldiers of the four- 
 teenth regiment were engaged, had become quite 
 serious before the officers were enabled to confine 
 the soldiers in their barracks ; a citizen having re- 
 ceived a severe wound with a cutlass. It was also 
 proved, that the sentry at the custom house was 
 placed there by authority, and could not leave his 
 station ; that he was insulted, pressed upon, and 
 pelted with clubs, snow balls, and oyster shells, and 
 that he frequently threatened the aggressors that he 
 would fire, before he called for the assistance of the 
 main guard. It was also proved, that the soldiers of 
 the main guard, on their way to his assistance, re- 
 ceived the same treatment, but there was no direct 
 evidence that they were ordered to fire by their com- 
 
 1 While the soldiers were stationed in Boston, the citizens were 
 constantly liable to be insulted, and it seems to have been a gen- 
 eral custom for those who were out in the evening to carry walk- 
 ing sticks, &c., for self-defence.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 345 
 
 mander, although they were frequently dared to do it 
 by their assailants. They were accused of cow- 
 ardice ; were called "dastards," "cowards," "lob- 
 sters," in reference to the color of their coats, and 
 "bloody backs," in reference to the custom of flog- 
 ging in the army ; and every conceivable term of 
 insult was thrown at them by the excited crowd by 
 which they were surrounded. 
 
 The full testimony of a few of the witnesses gives 
 a sufficiently correct idea of the facts relied on in 
 the defence. 
 
 Richard Hirons a physician. On the evening of 
 Marcli fifth, a little after eight o'clock, hearing a noise 
 and disturbance in the street, I went out to know what 
 it was, and was told there was a difference between 
 the town's people and soldiers. I saw several soldiers 
 pass and repass, some with bayonets, and some with 
 clubs ; standing at my door, I saw a number of peo- 
 ple running to and fro, across the bottom of the 
 street. I shut my door and went in about eight or 
 ten minutes. I then heard a noise like a single per- 
 son running through Boylston's alley with great vio- 
 lence ; he ran, as I took it, towards the barrack gate, 
 and cried out, " town-born, turn out ; town-born, 
 turn out." I heard this repeated twenty or thirty 
 times ; it was the constant cry. I remember, after 
 coming out the second time, to have heard the voice 
 of a person whom I took to be Ensign Maul say, 
 " who is this fellow, lay hold of him." I did not 
 hear a word pass between the people that went back- 
 wards and forwards, and the sentinel at the barrack
 
 346 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 gate, nor from the sentinel to them : this cry of 
 " town-born, turn out," was repeated for seven or 
 eight minutes, when I heard the voices of a great 
 many more. The collection of such a number, with 
 a noise of the clubs, induced me to lock my door, 
 put out my light in the front part of my house, and 
 to go up stairs into the chamber fronting the bar- 
 racks ; when there, I observed four or five officers 
 of the twenty-ninth regiment standing on their own 
 steps, and there might be some twenty or thirty of 
 the town's people surrounding the steps. About that 
 time, there came a little man, who he was I do not 
 know ; he said, " why do you not keep your soldiers 
 in their barracks ;" they said they had done every 
 thing they possibly could, and would do every thing 
 in their power to keep them in their barracks ; on 
 which he said, " are the inhabitants to be knocked 
 down in the street, are they to be murdered in this 
 manner?" The officers still insisted they had done 
 their utmost, and would do it, to keep the soldiers in 
 their barracks ; the same person then said, " you 
 know the country has been used ill, you know the 
 town has been used ill, we did not send for you, we 
 will not have you here, we will get rid of you," or, 
 " we will drive you away ;" which of the last ex- 
 pressions I cannot say, but it was one or the other. 
 The officers still insisted they had done their utmost, 
 and would do it, to keep the soldiers in their bar- 
 racks, and begged the person to use his interest to 
 disperse the people, that no mischief might happen ; 
 whether he did address the people or not, I cannot 
 say, for the confusion was so great I could not dis-
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 347 
 
 tinguish. Immediately the cry of " home," " home," 
 was mentioned ; I do not recollect seeing any person 
 go away at the first cry, and there was such confu- 
 sion I could not tell what was said, but in five minutes 
 afterwards the cry " home," " home," was repeated, 
 on which the greatest part of them, possibly two 
 thirds, went up Boylston's alley towards the town- 
 house, huzzaing for the main guard. I then observed 
 more of the town's people coming from towards the 
 market ; there was a squabble and noise between 
 the people and the officers, but what was said I 
 could not hear. The next thing I recollect in the 
 affair was, a little boy came down the alley, clapping 
 his hand to his head, and crying he was killed, he was 
 killed ; on which one of the officers took hold of 
 him, and damned him for a little rascal, asking him 
 what business he had out of doors ; the boy seemed 
 to be about seven or eight years old. Some little 
 time after that, I saw a soldier come out of the bar- 
 rack gate with his musket, he went directly facing 
 the alley, in the middle of the street, and kneeled 
 down on one knee, and said, " now, damn your 
 bloods, I will make a lane through you all." While 
 he was presenting, Mr. Maul, an ensign, with either 
 Mr. Dixon, or Mr. Minchin, I do not know which, 
 came after him, immediately laid hold of him, and 
 took the musket from him, shoved him towards the 
 barrack, and I think gave him the musket again, 
 and charged him at his peril to come out again. 
 I do not recollect any discourse that passed between 
 the town's people and officers, there was still such 
 clamor and confusion, that I could not hear what
 
 348 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 passed ; but in a little time either the soldier who 
 came out before, or another, came out again ; he re- 
 peated much the same words as the other, and had 
 his gun in his hand, he did not offer to kneel down, 
 but used the same expressions. He was presenting 
 his firelock, when Mr. Maul knocked him down, took 
 his musket from him, drove him into the barracks, 
 and I think the barrack gate was then shut. About 
 this time I recollect hearing Dr. Cooper's bell ring, and 
 I heard some officer say, " go and stop that bell from 
 ringing ; " whether any body went or not, I cannot 
 say, but it did not ring a great while. About this time 
 I saw Captain Goldfinch, of the fourteenth, on the 
 steps with the officers of the twenty-ninth ; there 
 came up a little man, who he was I do not know, 
 but in a much different manner from what the other 
 did. He requested the soldiers might be kept in 
 their barracks, and that the officers would do every 
 thing in their power to keep them there ; the officers 
 said they had, and would do so : and, as the soldiers 
 were in their barracks, begged the people might go 
 away ; this little man said to the people, gentlemen, 
 you hear what the officers say, that the soldiers are 
 all in their barracks, and you had better go home ; 
 on which the cry was " home, home." Then a great 
 many went up the alley again, and I heard the 
 expression, " let us go to the main guard." Cap- 
 tain Goldfinch was still on the steps ; I heard his 
 voice still talking, and I think he desired every per- 
 son would go away. While he was talking, I heard 
 the report of a musket. In a few seconds I heard 
 the report of a second gun ; presently after that a
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 349 
 
 third ; upon the firing of the first gun, I heard Cap- 
 tain Goldfinch say, " I thought it would come to this, 
 it is time for me to go." I then saw a soldier come 
 down the alley from Cornhill, and go up to the 
 steps where the officers stood. He said, they fired 
 from or upon the main guard. I then heard the 
 drum at the main guard beat to arms. I came down 
 stairs and did not go out till I was sent for to some 
 of the wounded people. I was sent for to Maverick. 
 About two hours before his death, I asked him con- 
 cerning the affair ; he said he went up the lane, and 
 just as he got to the corner, he heard a gun ; he did 
 not retreat back, but went to the town house ; as he 
 was going along he was shot. It seems strange, by 
 the direction of the ball, how he could be killed by 
 the firing at the custom-house ; it wounded a part of 
 the liver, stomach, and intestines, and lodged between 
 the lower ribs, where I cut it out ; the ball must have 
 struck some wall or something else, before it struck 
 him. He was between Royal Exchange lane and the 
 town house, going up towards the town house. 
 
 Benjamin Davis, jun. On the evening of the 
 fifth of March, near the bottom of Royal Exchange 
 lane, I saw a mob by Mr. Greenleaf 's. I went right 
 along into King street, where I saw the sentinel. A 
 barber's boy, who was there crying, said the sentry 
 had struck him, and I asked him what business he 
 had to do it. I went home and staid at the gate in 
 Green's lane some time ; Samuel Gray (one of the 
 persons killed that night in King street) came along, 
 and asked where the fire was ? I said there was no 
 fire, it was the soldiers fighting ; he said, " damn it, 
 30
 
 350 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 I am glad of it, I will knock some of them on the 
 head ; " he ran off, I said to him, " take heed you do 
 not get killed in the affray yourself ; " he said, " do 
 not you fear, damn their bloods." He had a stick 
 under his arm. I do not suppose he could have got 
 into King street two minutes before the firing. 
 
 Alexander Cruckshank a jeweller. On the even- 
 ing of the fifth of March, as the clock struck nine, I 
 came up Royal Exchange lane, and, at the head of 
 the lane, hearing some abusive language by two boys, 
 I stopped at Stone's tavern. They were abusing the 
 sentinel ; before the box stood about twelve or four- 
 teen other boys. I often saw the two boys go towards 
 them and back to the sentinel with a fresh repetition 
 of oaths ; they called him lobster and rascal, wished 
 he was in hell's flames, often and often. I neither 
 heard nor saw the sentinel do any thing to them ; he 
 only said it was his post, and he would maintain it, 
 and if they offered to molest him, he would run them 
 through. Upon his saying this, two boys made up 
 some snow balls, and threw them at the sentinel, who 
 called out "guard," "guard," two or three times, 
 very loud. Upon that, some soldiers came from to- 
 wards the main guard, seven or eight I believe ; they 
 were not of the guard by their having surtout coats 
 on, they came towards the sentinel ; some had bay- 
 onets, some swords, others sticks in their hands ; 
 on their approach, these people, and the boys who 
 stood before the box, went up to the back of the 
 town house, by the barber's shop ; I then crossed 
 King street, and intended to go in by Pudding lane. 
 Three or four of these soldiers came down to me,
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 351 
 
 damned me, and asked who I was ; I said, I was 
 going home peaceably, and interfered with neither 
 one side or another. One of them, with a bayonet 
 or sword, gave me a light stroke over my shoulder, 
 and said, " friend, you had better go home, for by all 
 I can foresee, there will be the devil to pay or blood 
 shed this night ; " they turned and went towards the 
 sentinel, at the custom house. I then went up by 
 the guard house, and when I had passed it a little 
 way, I saw the soldiers who went down before the 
 custom house returning back, with a mob before 
 them, driving them up past the guard house. I step- 
 ped on pretty quick, and endeavored to get into Mr. 
 Jones's (apothecary's) shop. 
 
 " What number of people were there before the 
 soldiers ? " 
 
 " Sixteen or eighteen. Some of them were boys, 
 but the most of them were men from twenty to five- 
 and-twenty years of age, I believe ; Jones's people 
 shut the door and would not let me in ; I went to the 
 side of the brick meetinghouse, and saw two or three 
 boys or lads, pushing at the windows to get in and 
 ring the bell. I went home." 
 
 " Did you take the stroke you received from the 
 soldiers to be in anger ? " 
 
 " No, it was not in anger, it was very light." 
 
 William Davis sergeant major of the fourteenth 
 regiment. On Monday evening, the fifth of March, 
 about eight o'clock, I was going towards the North 
 end in Fore street, near Wentworth's wharf, and saw 
 about two hundred people in the street before me. I 
 then stept aside. I saw several armed with clubs, and
 
 352 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 large sticks, and some had guns ; they came down by 
 twos and threes abreast ; they were a minute in pass- 
 ing me. I saw no soldier in the street. I heard 
 them saying, " damn the dogs, knock them down, we 
 will knock down the first officer or bloody backed ras- 
 cal we shall meet this night." Some of them then said 
 they would go to the southward, and join some of 
 their friends there, and attack the damned scoundrels, 
 and drive them out of the town, for they had no busi- 
 ness here. Apprehending danger if I should be in 
 my regimentals, I went into a house at the North 
 end and changed my dress, and on my return from 
 the North end about nine, coming near Dock square, 
 I heard a great noise, a whistling and rattling of 
 wood. I came near the market place, and saw a 
 great number of people there, knocking against the 
 posts, and tearing up the stalls, saying " damn the 
 lobsters, where are they now." I heard several 
 voices,' some said " let us kill that damned scoundrel 
 of a sentry, and then attack the main guard ; " some 
 said, " let us go to Smith's barracks," others said, 
 " let us go to the ropewalks." They divided ; the 
 largest number went up Royal Exchange lane, and 
 another party up Fitch's alley, and the rest through 
 the main street, up Cornhill. I passed by the Gold- 
 en Ball, I saw no person there but a woman, per- 
 suading a man to stay at home j he said he would 
 not ; he would go amongst them if he lost his life by 
 it. I went into King street; looking towards the 
 custom house, I saw a number of people seemingly 
 in great commotion ; I went towards my barracks, 
 and near the fish stall at Oliver's dock I met a great
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 353 
 
 number of people coming towards King street, with 
 clubs and large sticks. It w r as past nine, for I had 
 heard bells ring before. One of them was loading 
 his piece by Oliver's dock ; he said he would do for 
 some of these scoundrels that night. The people 
 were using threats against the soldiers and commis- 
 sioners, " damn the scoundrels and villains of sol- 
 diers and commissioners, and damn the villain that 
 first sent them to Boston ; they shall not be here two 
 nights longer." I went to my barracks ; the roll 
 had been called, and there was not a man absent, 
 except some officers that quartered in the town, and 
 their servants. Immediately after, I heard, as it were, 
 a gun fired in King street, and afterwards two or 
 three more. 
 
 Nathaniel Russell a chair-maker. On the even- 
 ing of the fifth of March, between nine and ten 
 o'clock, being at my own house and hearing the bells 
 ring, I ran out to know where the fire was. I got 
 from Byles's meeting house down to the South meet- 
 ing house ; I saw a number of men and boys armed 
 with clubs, and fifteen or twenty more coming along ; 
 some were damning the soldiers, that they would 
 destroy them, and sink them, and they would have 
 revenge for something or other, I could not tell what ; 
 that they would drive them before them. Some of 
 the people there said they had been to Rowe's bar- 
 racks, and had driven the soldiers or the sentinel 
 into the barracks. I saw a number of people with 
 clubs, and at a distance a parcel of soldiers at the 
 custom house ; I went down to the right of them 
 where Captain Preston stood ; I had not been there 
 30*
 
 354 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 a minute, before the guns were fired, previous to 
 which, I saw several things thrown at the soldiers, as 
 they stood in a circle by the custom house. Upon 
 these things being thrown, I intended to retreat as 
 fast as I could. I had not got three yards before the 
 guns were fired, first one, then another and so on ; I 
 think there were seven in all. 
 
 " Before you turned, did you see any thing strike 
 the guns?" 
 
 " I did not see, but I heard something strike, and 
 the guns clatter. There was a great noise, the cry 
 was, Jire, damn you fire." 
 
 " Was the cry general? " 
 
 " Yes, it was general." 
 
 " How many people do you imagine were then 
 gathered round the party ? " 
 
 " Fifty or sixty able-bodied men." 
 
 " Did they crowd near the soldiers ? " 
 
 " So near that I think you could not get your hat 
 between them and the bayonets." 
 
 " How many people do you think there might be 
 in the whole ? " 
 
 " About two hundred." 
 
 " Did the soldiers say any thing to the people ? " 
 
 " They never opened their lips ; they stood in a 
 trembling manner, as if they expected nothing but 
 death. They fired first on the right. I was looking 
 on the whole body, there was no one between me 
 and the soldiers that interrupted my sight ; I saw no 
 blows given, or any of the soldiers fall." 
 
 " Might not their trembling proceed from rage as 
 well as fear ? "
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 355 
 
 " It might proceed from both." 
 
 Henry Knox a stationer. I was at the North end, 
 and heard the bells ring. I thought it was fire, and 
 came up as usual to go to the fire. I heard it was 
 not fire, but that the soldiers and inhabitants were 
 fighting. I came by Cornhill, and there were a num- 
 ber of people, an hundred and fifty or two hundred. 
 I asked them what was the matter, they said a num- 
 ber of soldiers had been out with bayonets and cut- 
 lasses, and had attacked and cut the people all down 
 Cornhill, and then retreated to their barrack. A fel- 
 low said they had been cutting fore and aft. The 
 people fell gradually down to Dock square. I came 
 up Cornhill, and went down King street. The senti- 
 nel at the custom house steps was loading his piece ; 
 coming up to the people, they said the sentinel was 
 going to fire. There were at that time about fifteen 
 or twenty people round him. He was waving his 
 piece about, and held it in the position that they 
 call " charged bayonets." I told him if he fired he 
 must die for it ; he said damn them, if they molested 
 him he would fire ; the boys were hallooing " fire and 
 be damned." These boys were seventeen or eighteen 
 years old. I endeavored to keep one fellow off from 
 the sentinel, and either struck him or pushed him 
 away. 
 
 " Did you hear one of the persons say, ' God damn 
 him, we will knock him down for snapping? ' " 
 
 " Yes, I did hear a young fellow, one Usher, about 
 eighteen years of age, say this." 
 
 Benjamin Lee an apprentice. On the evening 
 of the fifth of March I heard that there was fire, and
 
 356 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 went to Dock square. When I came there I heard 
 some in the crowd say, that the town's people had 
 been fighting with the soldiers, and then they huz- 
 zaed for King street. Several beside me went up ; 
 they went up as thick as they could, and some* went 
 up the next lane, and others up Cornhill. As I stood 
 by the sentinel, there was a barber's boy came up 
 and pointed to the sentinel, and said, " there is the 
 son of a bitch that knocked me down ; " on his say- 
 ing this, the people immediately cried out, " kill him, 
 kill him, knock him down." I believe there were as 
 many there as in this court, some boys, some men. 
 The sentinel went up the custom house steps and 
 knocked at the door with the but of his gun, but 
 could n,ot get in ; then he primed and loaded, and 
 leveled it with his hip, and desired the people to 
 stand off, and then called to the main guard to come 
 down to his assistance. 
 " Did he call loud ? " 
 " Yes, very loud." 
 
 " What was the expression he used ? " 
 " Turn out, main guard. Then Captain Preston 
 and nine or ten soldiers came down, and ranged 
 themselves before the sentry box." 
 
 " Did you see any thing thrown at the sentinel ? " 
 " No." 
 
 " Did you hear the people halloo or shout? " 
 " They whistled through their fingers and huzzaed." 
 Andrew, Oliver Wendell's negro. On the evening 
 of the fifth March I was at home. I heard the bells 
 ring, and went to the gate, and saw one of my ac- 
 quaintances ; we ran down to the end of the lane
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 357 
 
 and saw another acquaintance coming up holding his 
 arm. I asked him what was the matter ; he said the 
 soldiers were righting, had got cutlasses, and were 
 killing every body, and that one of them had struck 
 him on the arm, and almost cut it off; he told me I 
 had best not go down ; I said a good club was better 
 than a cutlass, and he had better go down and see if 
 he could not cut some too. I went to the town 
 house, saw the sentinels placed at the main guard 
 standing by Mr. Bowe's corner ; numbers of boys on 
 the other side of the way were throwing snow balls 
 at them. The sentinels were enraged and swearing at 
 the boys ; the boys called them " lobsters," " bloody 
 backs," and hallooed " who buys lobsters ? " Pres- 
 ently I heard three cheers given in King street, and 
 went down to the whipping-post and stood by Wal- 
 do's shop ; I saw a number of people round the sen- 
 tinel at the custom house ; there were also a number 
 of people who stood where I did, and were picking 
 up pieces of sea coal that had been thrown out there- 
 about, and snow balls, and throwing them over at 
 the sentinel. While I was standing there, two or 
 three boys ran out from among the people, and cried, 
 " we have got his gun away, and now we will have 
 him ; " presently I heard three cheers given by the 
 people at the custom house ; I said to my acquaint- 
 ance I would run up and see whether the guard 
 would turn out. I went and saw a file of men, with 
 an officer with a laced hat on before them ; upon 
 that we all went to go towards him, and when we 
 had got about half way to them, the officer said 
 something to them, and they filed off down the street.
 
 358 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Upon that I went in the shade towards the guard 
 house, and followed them down as far as Mr. Peck's 
 corner ; I saw them pass through the crowd, and 
 plant themselves by the custom house. As soon as 
 they got there the people gave three cheers. I went 
 to cross over to where the soldiers were, and as soon 
 as I got a glimpse s of them, I heard somebody huzza 
 and say here is old Murray with the riot act, and 
 they began to pelt with snow balls ; a man set out 
 and run, and I followed him as far as Phillips's corner, 
 and then turned back and went through the people 
 until I got to the head of Royal Exchange lane, right 
 against the soldiers ; the first word I heard was a 
 grenadier saying to a man by me, " Damn you, stand 
 back." He was so near that the grenadier might 
 have run him through if he had slept one step for- 
 ward. While I stopt to look at him, a person came 
 to get through betwixt the grenadier and me, and 
 the soldier had liked to have pricked him ; he turned 
 about and said, " you damned lobster, bloody back, 
 are you going to stab me ; " the soldier said, " by 
 God I will." Presently somebody took hold of me 
 by the shoulder, and told me to go home, or I should 
 be hurt ; at the same time there were a number of 
 people towards the town house, who said, come away 
 and let the guard alone, you have nothing at all to 
 do with them. I turned about and saw the officer 
 standing before the men, and one or two persons en- 
 gaged in talk with him. A number were jumping 
 on the backs of those that were talking with the offi- 
 cer, to get as near as they could. Upon this I went 
 as close to the officer as I could : one of the per-
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 359 
 
 sons who was talking with the officer turned about 
 quick to the people, and said, " Damn him, he is go- 
 ing to fire ; " upon that they gave a shout, and cried 
 out, " fire and be damned, who cares for you, you 
 dare not fire," and began to throw snow balls, and 
 other things which then flew very thick. I saw two 
 or three of them hit, one struck a grenadier on the 
 hat. The people who were right before them had 
 sticks, and as the soldiers were pushing with their 
 guns back and forth, they struck their guns, and one 
 hit a grenadier on the fingers. At this time the peo- 
 ple up at the town house called again, " come away, 
 come away ; " a stout man who stood near me, and 
 right before the grenadiers, as they pushed with their 
 bayonets with the length of their arms, kept striking 
 on their guns. The people seemed to be leaving 
 the soldiers, and to turn from them, when there 
 came down a number from Jackson's corner huz- 
 zaing and crying, " damn them, they dare not fire, 
 we are not afraid of them." One of these people, 
 a stout man with a long, cord wood stick, threw him- 
 self in, and made a blow at the officer. I saw the 
 officer try to ward off the stroke ; whether he struck 
 him or not I do not know ; the stout man then 
 turned round, and struck the grenadier's gun at the 
 captain's right hand, and immediately fell in with his 
 club, and knocked his gun away, and struck him 
 over the head ; the blow came either on the soldier's 
 cheek or hat. This stout man held the bayonet with 
 his left hand, and twitched it and cried, " kill the dogs, 
 knock them over." This was the general cry. The 
 people then crowded in, and upon that, the grena-
 
 360 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 dier gave a twitch back and relieved his gun, and he 
 up with it and began to pay away on the people. I 
 was then between the officer and this grenadier ; I 
 turned to go off, when I heard the word " fire ; " at 
 the word fire, I thought I heard the report of a gun, 
 and upon my hearing the report, I saw the same 
 grenadier swing his gun, and immediately he dis- 
 charged it. 
 
 " Do you know who this stout man was that fell 
 in and struck the grenadier ? " 
 
 " I thought, and still think, it was the mulatto who 
 was shot." 
 
 " Do you know the grenadier who was thus as- 
 saulted, and fired?" 
 
 " I then thought it was Killroy, and I told Mr. 
 Q,uincy so the next morning after the affair happen- 
 ed ; I now think it was he from my best observation, 
 but I can't positively swear it." 
 
 " Did the soldiers of that party, or any of them, 
 step or move out of the rank in which they stood, to 
 push the people ?" 
 
 " No ; and if they had they might have killed me 
 and many others with their bayonets." 
 
 " Did you, as you passed through the people to- 
 wards Royal Exchange lane and the party, see a 
 number of people take up any and every thing they 
 could find in the street, and throw them at the sol- 
 diers?" 
 
 " Yes, I saw ten or fifteen round me do it." 
 
 " Did you yourself pick up every thing you could 
 find, and throw at them ?" 
 
 " Yes, I did."
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 361 
 
 " After the gun was fired, where did you go ? " 
 
 " I ran as fast as I could into the first door I saw 
 open, which I think was Mr. Dehon's ; I was very 
 much frightened." 
 
 Oliver Wendell a merchant. The witness last 
 examined is my servant. His general character for 
 truth is good. I have heard his testimony, and be- 
 lieve it to be true ; he gave the same relation of this 
 matter to me on the same evening, in a quarter of an 
 hour after the affair happened; I then asked him 
 whether our people were to blame, and he said they 
 were. 
 
 " Pray, sir, is it not usual for Andrew to amplify 
 and embellish a story ?" 
 
 " He is a fellow of a lively imagination, and will 
 sometimes amuse the servants in the kitchen, but I 
 never knew him tell a serious lie." 
 
 William Whittington. I was in King street a 
 quarter after nine o'clock on the fifth of March, and 
 two others with me ; in a little while I heard the 
 bells ring, and I made a stop and asked what was 
 the matter ? They said there was a fire. I saw 
 several people with buckets, and I asked them where 
 they were going ? They said there was fire some- 
 where. I came up by Pudding lane, and went in 
 between the guard and guard house, for at this time 
 the main guard was turned out ; I saw Mr. Basset 
 the officer, and Captain Preston ; while I was stand- 
 ing there, some person in the crowd fronting the sol- 
 diers cried out to the guard, " will you stand there 
 and see the sentinel murdered at the custom-house ?" 
 Captain Preston and Mr. Basset were both together ; 
 31
 
 362 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Mr. Basset said to Captain Preston, " what shall I do 
 in this case ?" Said Preston, " take out six or seven 
 of the men, and let them go down to the assistance 
 of the sentry." I think there were six men ordered 
 out of the ranks ; they formed themselves by files, 
 the corporal marched in the front, and the Captain 
 in the rear ; I was at this time on the outside of the 
 soldiers on the left hand, and I kept on the outside 
 from the time they marched from the parade till they 
 came to the custom-house ; but how they formed 
 'themselves when they came there, I did not see ; but 
 when I saw them they were formed in a half circle. 
 I was about two or three yards distance from them. 
 I heard Captain Preston use many entreaties to the 
 populace, begging they would disperse and go home, 
 but what they said I cannot tell ; I heard them hal- 
 loo, " fire !" " fire !" " you dare not fire," " we 
 know you dare not fire." Captain Preston desired 
 them to go home many times ; I departed and saw 
 no more of them. 
 
 Harrison Gray,jun. That evening, upon return- 
 ing home, I saw a number of people round the 
 sentinel, making use of opprobrious language and 
 threatenings ; I desired them to go off, and said the 
 consequence would be fatal if they did not ; some 
 few snow balls were thrown, and abusive language 
 continued, they said, " damn him, let him fire, he 
 can fire but one gun." 
 
 " How many were there ?" 
 
 " There might be from seventy to an hundred, I 
 did not particularly observe ; when I could not pre- 
 vail to get them off, I went to Mr. Payne's. In a
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 363 
 
 little while the party came down, and I saw nothing 
 afterwards ; soon after I heard the guns fired, and 
 Mr. Payne was wounded by one of them. I told 
 the people, the sentinel was on duty, that was his 
 post, that he had a right to walk there, and that he 
 could have enough to relieve him, if he stood in need 
 of it, as he was so near the main guard." 
 
 John Jeffries a surgeon. I was Patrick Carr's 
 surgeon, in company with others. After dressing' 
 his wounds, I advised him never to go again into 
 quarrels and riots. He said he saw many things 
 thrown at the sentry ; he believed they were oyster 
 shells and ice ; he heard the people huzza every time 
 they heard any thing strike that sounded hard ; he 
 then saw some soldiers going down towards the cus- 
 tom-house ; he saw the people pelt them as they 
 went along. After they had got down there, he 
 crossed over towards Warden and Vernon's shop, in 
 order to see what they would do ; as he was passing 
 he was shot, and was taken up and carried home to 
 Mr. Field's by some of his friends. I asked him 
 whether he thought the soldiers would fire ; he told 
 me he thought the soldiers would have fired long be- 
 fore. I then asked him whether he thought the sol- 
 diers were abused a great deal after they went down 
 there ; he said he thought they were. I asked him 
 whether he thought the soldiers would have been 
 hurt if they had not fired ; he said he really thought 
 they would, for he heard many voices cry out, " kill 
 them." I asked him then, meaning to close all, 
 whether he thought they fired in self-defence, or on 
 purpose to destroy the people ; he said he really
 
 364 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 thought they did fire to defend themselves, that he 
 did not blame the man, whoever he was, that shot 
 him. This conversation was on Wednesday. He 
 always gave the same answers to the same questions, 
 every time I visited him. He was informed by me 
 of his dangerous situation. He told me he was a 
 native of Ireland ; that he had frequently seen mobs, 
 and soldiers called upon to quell them. Whenever 
 he mentioned that, he always called himself a fool, 
 that he might have known better, that he had seen 
 soldiers often fire on the people in Ireland, but had 
 never in his life seen them bear half so much before 
 they fired. He lived ten days after he received his 
 wound. I had the last conversation with him about 
 four o'clock in the afternoon preceding the night on 
 which he died, and he then particularly said, he for- 
 gave the man, whoever he was, that shot him ; he 
 was satisfied he had no malice, but fired to defend 
 himself. 
 
 Edward Payne a merchant, 1 produced on the 
 part of the crown. On Monday evening, the fifth 
 of March, I went to Mr. Amory's ; while I was there 
 the bell rang, which I supposed was for nine o'clock ; 
 I looked at the clock, it was twenty minutes after 
 nine. I was going out to inquire where the fire 
 was ; Mr. Taylor came in, and said there was no fire, 
 but he understood the soldiers were coming up to cut 
 
 1 His house was in King street, nearly opposite the custom- 
 house, on the spot where the office of the Massachusetts Fire and 
 Marine Insurance Company now stands. While standing at his 
 door, conversing with Harrison Gray, jun. on the evening referred 
 to, he was wounded in the arm, when the soldiers fired.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 365 
 
 down liberty tree ! I then went out to make in- 
 quiry ; before I had got into King street, I met Mr. 
 Walker the ship carpenter, and asked him what the 
 matter was ; he said the soldiers had sallied out from 
 Smith's barracks, and had fallen on the inhabitants, 
 and had cut and wounded a number of them, but 
 that they were driven into the barracks ; I then went 
 to my house to inform Mrs. Payne that it was not 
 fire, apprehending she might be frightened ; I imme- 
 diately went out again, there was nobody in the 
 street at all ; the sentry at the custom-house was 
 walking as usual, nobody near him ; I went up to- 
 wards the town house, where was a number of peo- 
 ple and inquired of them what the matter was ? They 
 gave me the same account that Mr. Walker did. 
 While I stood there, I heard a noise in Cornhill, and 
 presently I heard a noise of some people coming up 
 Silsby's alley ; at first I imagined it was soldiers, and 
 had some thoughts of retiring up the town house 
 steps, but soon found they were inhabitants. I stood 
 till they came up to me ; I believe there might be 
 twenty at the extent ; some of the persons had sticks, 
 some had not ; I believe there were as many with 
 sticks as without ; they made a considerable noise, 
 and cried, " where are they ? where are they ? " At 
 this time there came up a barber's boy, and said the 
 sentry at the custom-house had knocked down a boy 
 belonging to their shop ; the people then turned 
 about and went down to the sentry ; I was then left 
 as it were alone ; I proceeded towards my own house ; 
 I met Mr. Spear the cooper, he said, do not go away, 
 I am afraid the main guard will come down ; I told 
 31*
 
 366 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 him I was more afraid of those people that had sur- 
 rounded the sentry, and desired him, if he had any 
 influence over them, to endeavor to take them off; 
 and when directly opposite to the custom-house I 
 saw a number of persons going up the steps, and 
 heard a violent knocking at the door ; the sentry 
 stood by the box as I took it ; I stopped to see if they 
 opened the custom-house door to let them in, and 
 found they did not open the door ; I then retired to 
 my own house, and stood on the sill of my door. I 
 remained at my door, and Mr. Harrison Gray came 
 up and stood there talking with me ; the people were 
 crying out, " fire ! fire ! damn you, why do you not 
 fire? " Mr. Gray and I were talking of the foolish- 
 ness of the people in calling the sentry to fire on 
 them ; in about a minute after, I saw a number of 
 soldiers come down from the main guard, and it 
 appeared to me they had their muskets in a hori- 
 zontal posture ; they went towards the custom-house, 
 and shoved the people from the house ; I did not see 
 in what manner they drew up; at this time Mr. 
 Bethune joined us on my steps at the door, and the 
 noise in the street continued much the same as be- 
 fore, " fire ! fire ! damn you, fire ! why do you not 
 fire ? Soon after this, I thought I heard a gun snap, 
 and said to Mr. Gray, " there is a gun snapped, did 
 you not hear it ? " He said " yes ; " immediately a 
 gun went off, I reached to see whether it was loaded 
 with powder, or any body lying dead ; I heard three 
 more, then there was a pause, and I heard the iron 
 rammers go into their guns, and then there were three 
 more discharged, one after another ; it appeared to
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 367 
 
 me there were seven in all ; as soon as the last gun 
 was discharged, I perceived I was wounded, and went 
 into the house. 
 
 The examination of the witnesses for the defend- 
 ants occupied four days. After it was concluded 
 the court adjourned to the following Monday, when 
 Mr. Josiah Quincy, jun. concluded his remarks, as 
 follows : 
 
 May it please your Honors, and you, Gentlemen of the Jury, 
 
 We have at length gone through the evidence in 
 behalf of the prisoners. The witnesses have placed 
 before you that state of facts from which results our 
 defence. The examination has been so lengthy, that 
 I am afraid some painful sensations arise, when you 
 find that you are now to sit and hear the remarks of 
 counsel. But you should reflect, that no more indul- 
 gence is shown to the prisoners now on trial, than 
 has ever been shown in all capital causes ; the trial 
 of one man has often taken up several days : when 
 you consider, therefore, that there are eight lives in 
 issue, the importance of the trial will show the neces- 
 sity of its length. To each of the prisoners different 
 evidence applies, and they each of them draw their 
 defence from different quarters. 
 
 In my former remarks upon opening this cause to 
 you, gentlemen, I pointed out the dangers to which 
 you were exposed. How much need was there for 
 my desire, that you should suspend your judgment 
 till the witnesses were all examined ! How different 
 is the complexion of the cause ! Will not all this
 
 368 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 serve to show every honest man the little truth to be 
 attained in partial hearings ? We have often seen 
 communities complain of ex parte testimonies ; indi- 
 viduals, as well as societies of men, are equally sus- 
 ceptible of injuries of this kind. This trial ought to 
 have another effect ; it should serve to convince us 
 all of the impropriety, nay injustice, of giving a lati- 
 tude in conversation upon topics likely to come 
 under a judicial decision ; the criminality of this con- 
 duct is certainly enhanced, when such loose sallies 
 and discourses are so prevalent as to be likely to 
 touch the life of a citizen. Moreover, there is so 
 little certainty to be obtained by such kind of methods, 
 that I wonder we so often find them practised. In the 
 present case, how great was the prepossession against 
 us ! And I appeal to you, gentlemen, what cause 
 there now is to alter our sentiments. Will any so- 
 ber, prudent man countenance the proceedings of 
 the people in King street ? Can any one justify 
 their conduct ? Is there any one man, or any body 
 of men, who are interested to espouse and support 
 their conduct ? Surely not. But our inquiry must 
 be confined to the legality of their conduct ; and 
 here can be no difficulty. It was certainly illegal, 
 unless many witnesses are directly perjured ; wit- 
 nesses, who have no apparent interest to falsify 
 witnesses, who have given their testimony with can- 
 dor and accuracy witnesses, whose credibility stands 
 untouched whose credibility the counsel for the king 
 do not pretend to impeach, or hint a suggestion to 
 their disadvantage. 
 
 The conduct of the soldiers in Cornhill may well be
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 369 
 
 supposed to have exasperated the minds of all who 
 beheld their behavior. Their actions accumulated 
 guilt, as it flew ; at least, we may well suppose, the 
 incensed people who related them added new colors 
 to the scene. The flame of resentment imperceptibly 
 enkindles, and a common acquaintance with human 
 nature will show it to be no extravagant supposition 
 to imagine that many a moderate man might at such 
 a season, with such sentiments, which I have more 
 than once noticed, hearing such relations and com- 
 plaints I say, do I injure any one, in supposing, 
 that under all these circumstances, a very moderate 
 person, who in ordinary matters acted with singular 
 discretion, should now be drawn imperceptibly away 
 or rather transported into measures, which in a future 
 moment he would condemn and lament. What more 
 natural supposition, than to suppose many an honest 
 mind might at this time fluctuate thus. The soldiers 
 are here ; we wish them away ; we did not send for 
 them ; they have cut and wounded the peaceable in- 
 habitants, and it may be my turn next. At this 
 instant of time, he has a fresh detail of injuries 
 resentment redoubles every successive moment 
 huzza for the main guard ! we are in a moment be- 
 fore the custom-house. No time is given for recol- 
 lection. We find, from the king's evidence, and 
 from our own, the cry was " Here is a soldier !" Not 
 " here is the soldier who has injured us here is 
 the fellow who wounded the man in Cornhill." No, 
 the reasoning or rather ferment seems to be, the sol- 
 diers have committed an outrage, we have an equal 
 right to inflict punishment, or rather revenge, which
 
 370 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 they had to make an assault. They said right, but 
 never considered, that those soldiers had no right at 
 all. These are sentiments natural enough to persons 
 in this state of mind we can easily suppose even 
 good men thinking and acting thus. Very similar to 
 this is the force of Dr. Hiron's testimony, and some 
 others. But our inquiry is, what says the law ? We 
 must calmly inquire, whether this, or any thing like 
 it, is countenanced by the law. What is natural to 
 the man, what are his feelings, are one thing : what 
 is the duty of the citizen, is quite another. Reason 
 must resume her seat, and then we shall hear and 
 obey the voice of the law. 
 
 The law indulges no man in being his own aven- 
 ger. Early, in the history of jurisprudence, we find 
 the sword taken from the party injured, and put into 
 the hands of the magistrate. Were not this the case, 
 punishment would know no bounds in extent or 
 duration. Besides, it saps the very root of distribu- 
 tive justice, when any individual invades the preroga- 
 tive of law, and snatches from the civil magistrate 
 the balance and the rod. How much more are the 
 pillars of security shaken, when a mixt body, assem- 
 bled as those in King street, assume the province of 
 justice, and invade the rights of the citizen ? For it 
 must not be forgotten, that the soldier is a citizen, 
 equally entitled with us all to protection and security. 
 Hence all are alike obliged to pay obedience to the 
 law ; for the price of this protection is the duty of 
 obedience. 
 
 Let it not be apprehended, that I am advancing a 
 doctrine, that a soldier may attack an inhabitant, and
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 371 
 
 he not be allowed to defend himself. No, gentle- 
 men ! if a soldier rush violently through the street, 
 and present a weapon of death in a striking posture, 
 no doubt the person assailed may defend himself, 
 even to taking the life of the assailant. Revenge 
 and a sense of self-preservation instantly take posses- 
 sion of the person thus attacked ; and the law goes 
 not upon the absurd supposition, that a person can in 
 these circumstances unman himself. Hence we find, 
 if a husband, taking his wife in the act of adultery, 
 instantly seizes a deadly weapon and slays the adul- 
 terer, it is not murder. Nay, a fillip upon the nose 
 or forehead, in anger, is supposed by the law to be 
 sufficient provocation to reduce killing to manslaugh- 
 ter. It is, therefore, upon principles like these, prin- 
 ciples, upon which those, who now bear the hardest 
 against us, at other times, so much depend ; it is, I 
 say, upon the right of self-defence and self-preserva- 
 tion we rely for our acquittal. 
 
 Mr. Quincy now entered, at large, upon a review 
 of the appearances in several parts of the town ; he 
 was copious upon the expressions and behavior sworn 
 to. He then, more particularly, recapitulated the 
 evidence touching Murray's barracks, Dock square, 
 and the Market place. He next pursued several 
 parties through the several lanes and streets, till they 
 centered at the scene of action. The testimonies of 
 the witnesses, who swore to the repeated information 
 given the people ; that the sentry and party were on 
 duty ; that they were desired to withdraw, and warn- 
 ed of the consequences ; were in their order consid-
 
 372 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ered. He then remarked at length upon the temper 
 of the sentry, of the party of soldiers, and of the peo- 
 ple surrounding them, and continued as follows : 
 
 May it please your Honors, and you, Gentlemen of the Jury, 
 
 After having thus gone through the evidence, and 
 considered it as applicatory to all and every of the 
 prisoners, the next matter in order seems to be the 
 consideration of the law pertinent upon this evidence. 
 And here, gentlemen, let me again inform you, that 
 the law which is to pass upon these prisoners, is a law 
 adapting itself to the human species, with all their 
 feelings, passions, and infirmities ; a law which does 
 not go upon the absurd supposition, that men are 
 stocks and stones ; or that in the fervor of the blood, 
 a man can act with the deliberation and judgment of 
 a philosopher. No, gentlemen : the law supposes 
 that a principle of resentment, for wise and obvious 
 reasons, is deeply implanted in the human heart ; and 
 not to be eradicated by the efforts of state policy. 
 It, therefore, in some degree, conforms itself to all 
 the workings of the passions, to which it pays a great 
 indulgence, so far as not to be wholly incompatible 
 with the wisdom, good order, and the very being of 
 government. 
 
 Keeping, therefore, this full in view, let us take 
 once more, a very brief and cursory survey of the mat- 
 ters supported by the evidence. And, here, let me ask 
 sober reason what language more opprobrious 
 what actions more exasperating, than those used on 
 this occasion ? Words, I am sensible, are no justifi- 
 cation of blows, but they serve as the grand clues to
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 373 
 
 discover the temper and the designs of the agents ; 
 they serve also to give us light in discerning the ap- 
 prehensions and thoughts of those who are the objects 
 of abuse. 
 
 " You lobster," " you bloody back," " you cow- 
 ard," and " you dastard," are but some of the ex- 
 pressions proved. What words more galling ? What 
 more cutting and provoking to a soldier? To be 
 reminded of the color of his garb, by which he was 
 distinguished from the rest of his fellow citizens ; to 
 be compared to the most despicable animal that 
 crawls upon the earth, was touching indeed a tender 
 point. To be stigmatized with having smarted un- 
 der the lash at the halbert ; to be twitted with so in- 
 famous an ignominy, which was either wholly unde- 
 served, or a grievance which should never have been 
 repeated : I say, to call upon and awaken sensations 
 of this kind, must sting even to madness. But ac- 
 couple these words with the succeeding actions, 
 "You dastard, you coward!" A soldier and a 
 coward ! This was touching, (with a witness) " the 
 point of honor, and the pride of virtue." But while 
 these are as yet fomenting the passions, and swelling 
 the bosom, the attack is made ; and probably the lat- 
 ter words were reiterated at the onset ; at least, were 
 yet sounding in the ear. Gentlemen of the jury, for 
 heaven's sake, let us put ourselves in the same situa- 
 tion ! Would you not spurn at that spiritless insti- 
 tution of society, which should tell you to be a sub- 
 ject at the expense of your manhood ? 
 
 But does the soldier step out of his ranks to seek 
 his revenge ? Not a witness pretends it. Did the
 
 374 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 people come within the points of their bayonets, and 
 strike on the muzzles of the guns ? You have heard 
 the witnesses. 
 
 Does the law allow one member of the community 
 to behave in this manner towards his fellow citizen, 
 and then bid the injured party be calm and mod- 
 erate ? The expressions from one party were 
 " Stand off stand off!" " I am upon my station." 
 " If they molest me upon my post, I will fire." 
 By God I will fire !" Keep off!" These were 
 words likely to produce reflection and procure peace. 
 But had the words on the other hand a similar 
 tendency ? Consider the temper prevalent among 
 all parties at this time. Consider the then situation 
 of the soldiery ; and come to the heat and pressure 
 of the action. The materials are laid, the spark is 
 raised, the fire enkindles, the flame rages, the under- 
 standing is in wild disorder, all prudence and true 
 wisdom are utterly consumed. Does common sense, 
 does the law, expect impossibilities ? Here, to ex- 
 pect equanimity of temper, would be as irrational, as 
 to expect discretion in a mad man. But was any 
 thing done on the part of the assailants, similar to 
 the conduct, warnings, and declarations of the prison- 
 ers ? Answer for yourselves, gentlemen. The words, 
 reiterated all around, stabbed to the heart ; the ac- 
 tions of the assailants tended to a worse end ; to 
 awaken every passion of which the human breast is 
 susceptible. Fear, anger, pride, resentment, revenge, 
 alternately, take possession of the whole man. To 
 expect, under these circumstances, that such words 
 would assuage the tempest, that such actions would
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 375 
 
 allay the flames you might, as rationally, expect 
 the inundations of a torrent would suppress a deluge, 
 or rather, that the flames of Etna would extinguish a 
 conflagration ! 
 
 Prepare, gentlemen of the jury, now to attend to 
 that species of law, which will adapt itself to this 
 trial, with all its singular and aggravating circum- 
 stances ; a law full of benignity, full of compassion, 
 replete with mercy. 
 
 Mr. Q,uincy here went into an elaborate examina- 
 tion and exposition of the law, applying it to the 
 facts, with explanatory comments, and thus con- 
 cluded : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Jury: 
 
 This cause has taken up much of your time, and 
 is likely to take so much more, that I must hasten to 
 a close ; indeed I should not have troubled you, by 
 being thus lengthy, but from a sense of duty to the 
 prisoners ; who, in some sense, may be said to have 
 put their lives into my hands ; whose situation is 
 so peculiar, that we have necessarily taken up more 
 time than ordinary cases would require ; who, under 
 all these circumstances, placed a confidence, which it 
 was my duty not to disappoint ; and which I have 
 aimed at discharging with fidelity. I trust that you, 
 gentlemen, will do the like ; that you will examine 
 and judge with a becoming temper of mind ; remem- 
 bering that, they, who are under oath to declare the 
 whole truth, think and act very differently from by- 
 standers, who, being under no ties of this kind, take
 
 376 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 a latitude which is by no means admissible in a court 
 of law. 
 
 I cannot better close this cause, than by desiring 
 you to consider well the genius and spirit of the law 
 which will be laid down, and to govern yourselves 
 by this great standard of truth. To some purposes, 
 you may be said, gentlemen, to be ministers of jus- 
 tice ; and " ministers," says a learned judge, " ap- 
 pointed for the ends of public justice, should have 
 written on their hearts the solemn engagements of 
 his majesty, at his coronation, to cause law and jus- 
 tice in mercy to be executed in all his judgments." 
 
 " The quality of mercy is not strained ; 
 
 It droppeth like the gentle rain from heaven 
 
 It is twice blessed ; 
 
 It blesses him that gives, and him that takes." 
 
 I leave you, gentlemen, hoping you will be direct- 
 ed in your inquiry and judgment to a right discharge 
 of your duty. We shall all of us, gentlemen, have 
 an hour of cool reflection, when the feelings and 
 agitations of the day shall have subsided ; when 
 we shall view things through a different and a much 
 juster medium. It is then that we all wish an ab- 
 solving conscience.. May you, gentlemen, now act 
 such a part, as will hereafter insure it ; such a part 
 as may occasion the prisoners to rejoice. May the 
 blessing of those, who were in jeopardy of life, 
 come upon you : may the blessing of him, who is not 
 faulty to die, descend and rest upon you and your 
 posterity.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 377 
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 
 May it please your Honors, and you, Gentlemen of the Jury. 
 
 I am for the prisoners at the bar, and shall apolo- 
 gize for it only in the words of the Marquis Beccaria : 
 " If I can but be the instrument of preserving one 
 life, his blessing and tears of transport shall be a 
 sufficient consolation to me, for the contempt of all 
 mankind." As the prisoners stand before you for 
 their lives, it may be proper to recollect with what 
 temper the law requires we should proceed to this 
 trial. The form of proceeding at their arraignment 
 has discovered, that the spirit of the law upon such 
 occasions, is conformable to humanity, to common 
 sense and feeling ; that it is all benignity and can- 
 dor. And the trial commences with the prayer of 
 the court, expressed by the clerk, to the supreme 
 judge of judges, empires, and worlds : u God send 
 you a good deliverance." 
 
 We find, in the rules laid down by the greatest 
 English judges, who have been the brightest of man- 
 kind, that we are to look upon it as more beneficial, 
 that many guilty persons should escape unpunished, 
 than that one innocent person should suffer. The 
 reason is, because it is of more importance to the 
 community, that innocence should be protected, than 
 it is, that guilt should be punished ; for guilt and 
 crimes are so frequent in the world, that all of them 
 cannot be punished ; and many times they happen 
 in such a manner, that it is not of much consequence 
 to the public, whether they are punished or not. 
 32*
 
 378 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 But when innocence itself is brought to the bar and 
 condemned, especially to die, the subject will ex- 
 claim, it is immaterial to me whether I behave well 
 or ill, for virtue itself is no security. And if such a 
 sentiment as this should take place in the mind of 
 the subject, there would be an end to all security 
 whatsoever. I will read the words of the law itself. 
 
 The rules I shall produce to you are from Lord Chief 
 Justice Hale, whose character as a lawyer, as a man 
 of learning and philosophy, and as a Christian, will be 
 disputed by nobody living ; one of the greatest and 
 best characters the English nation ever produced, 
 his words are these : Tutius semper est errare in 
 acquietando, quam in puniendo, ex parte misericordia, 
 quam ex parte justitia ; it is always safer to err in 
 acquitting than punishing, on the part of mercy than 
 the part of justice. The next is from the same au- 
 thority : Tutius erratur ex parte mitiori ; it is always 
 safer to err on the milder side, the side of mercy ; the 
 best rule in doubtful cases, is, rather to incline to 
 acquittal than conviction. Quod dubitas ne feceris ; 
 where you are doubtful never act; that is, if you 
 doubt of the prisoner's guilt, never declare him 
 guilty ; this is always the rule, especially in cases of 
 life. Another rule from the same author is, that in 
 some cases presumptive evidence goes so far as to prove 
 a person guilty, though there is no express proof of 
 the fact to have been committed by him ; but then it 
 must be very warily pressed, for it is better five guilty 
 persons should escape unpunished, than that one 
 innocent person should die. 
 
 The next authority shall be from another judge, of
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 379 
 
 equal character, considering the age wherein he lived ; 
 that is Chancellor Fortescue, writing in praise of the 
 laws of England. This is a very ancient writer on 
 the English law. His words are : " Indeed one would 
 rather, much rather, that twenty guilty persons escape 
 the punishment of death, than one innocent person 
 be condemned, and suffer capitally." Lord Chief 
 Justice Hale says, it is better that five guilty persons 
 escape, than one innocent person suffer. Lord Chan- 
 cellor Fortescue, you see, carries the matter farther, 
 and says, indeed one had rather, much rather, that 
 twenty guilty persons should escape, than one inno- 
 cent person suffer capitally. Indeed, this rule is not 
 peculiar to the English law ; there never was a system 
 of laws in the world, in which this rule did not pre- 
 vail ; it prevailed in the ancient Roman law, and, 
 which is more remarkable, it prevails in the modern 
 Roman law ; even the judges in the courts of inqui- 
 sition, who, with racks, burnings and scourges, exam- 
 ine criminals, even there, they preserve it as a maxim, 
 that it is better the guilty should escape punishment 
 than the innocent suffer : Satins esse nocentem absolvi 
 quam insentem damnari. This is the temper we ought 
 to set out with, and these the rules we are to be gov- 
 erned by. And I shall take it for granted, as a first 
 principle, that the eight prisoners at the bar had 
 better be all acquitted, though we should admit them 
 all to be guilty, than that any one of them should by 
 your verdict be found guilty, being innocent. 
 
 I shall now consider the several divisions of law, 
 under which the evidence will arrange itself. 
 
 The act now before you is homicide, that is,
 
 380 AMERICAN TRIALS 
 
 the killing of one man by another ; the law calls it 
 homicide, but it is not criminal in all cases for one 
 man to slay another. Had the prisoners been on the 
 plains of Abraham, and slain an hundred French- 
 men apiece, the English law would have considered 
 it as a commendable action, virtuous and praise- 
 worthy ; so that every instance of killing a man is 
 not a crime in the eye of the law. 
 
 The law divides homicide into three branches : 
 the first is justifiable, the second excusable, and the 
 third felonious. Felonious homicide is subdivided 
 into two branches ; the first is murder, which is kill- 
 ing with malice aforethought, the second is man- 
 slaughter, which is killing a man on a sudden provo- 
 cation. Here, gentlemen, are four sorts of homicide, 
 and you are to consider, whether all the evidence 
 amounts to the first, second, third, or fourth, of these 
 heads. The fact, was the slaying of five unhappy 
 persons that night ; you are to consider, whether it 
 was justifiable, excusable, or felonious ; and, if feloni- 
 ous, whether it was murder or manslaughter.' One of 
 these four it must be ; you need not divide your 
 attention to any more particulars. I shall, however, 
 before I come to the evidence, show you several au- 
 thorities which will assist you and me in contem- 
 plating the evidence before us. 
 
 I shall begin with justifiable homicide. If an offi- 
 cer, a sheriff, execute a man on the gallows, draws 
 and quarters him, as in case of high treason, and 
 cuts off his head, this is justifiable homicide : it is his 
 duty. So also, gentlemen, the law has planted fences 
 and barriers around every individual ; it is a castle
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 381 
 
 round every man's person, as well as his house. As 
 the love of God and our neighbor comprehends the 
 whole duty of man, so self-love and social compre- 
 hend all the duties we owe to mankind, and the first 
 branch is self-love, which is not only our indisputable 
 right, but our clearest duty ; by the laws of nature, 
 this is interwoven in the heart of every individual ; 
 God Almighty, whose laws we cannot alter, has im- 
 planted it there, and we can annihilate ourselves, as 
 easily as root out this affection for ourselves. It is 
 the first and strongest principle in our nature ; Black- 
 stone calls it " the primary canon in the law of na- 
 ture." That precept of our holy religion, which com- 
 mands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, doth not 
 command us to love our neighbor better than our- 
 selves, or so well ; no Christian divine hath given this 
 interpretation. The precept enjoins, that our benev- 
 olence to our fellow men should be as real and 
 sincere as our affections to ourselves, not that it 
 should be as great in degree. A man is authorized, 
 therefore, by common sense, and the laws of Eng- 
 land, as well as those of nature, to love himself bet- 
 ter than his fellow subject ; if two persons are cast 
 away at sea, and get on a plank, (a case put by Sir 
 Francis Bacon,) and the plank is insufficient to hold 
 them both, the one hath a right to push the other off 
 to save himself. The rules of the common law, 
 therefore, which authorize a man to preserve his own 
 life at the expense of another's, are not contradicted 
 by any divine or moral law. We talk of liberty and 
 property, but, if we cut 'ip the law of self-defence, 
 we cut up the foundation of both, and if we give up
 
 382 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 this, the rest is of very little value ; and, therefore, 
 this principle must be strictly attended to, for what- 
 soever the law pronounces in the case of these eight 
 soldiers will be the law to other persons and after 
 ages. It would have been better if all the persons 
 that have slain mankind in this country, from the 
 beginning to this day, had been acquitted, than that 
 a wrong rule and precedent should be established. 
 
 I shall now read to you a few authorities on this 
 subject of self-defence. Foster, in his Crown Law, 
 says, in the case of justifiable self-defence, the injured 
 party may repel force with force, in defence of his 
 person, habitation, or property, against one who man- 
 ifestly intendeth and endeavoreth, with violence or 
 surprise, to commit a known felony upon either. In 
 these cases, he is not obliged to retreat, but may pur- 
 sue his adversary, till he findeth himself out of dan- 
 ger, and if in a conflict between them he happeneth 
 to kill, such killing is justifiable. The injured per- 
 son may repel force by force against any who endea- 
 vor to commit any kind of felony on him or his ; 
 here the rule is, I have a right to stand on my own 
 defence, if you intend to commit felony. If any of 
 the persons made an attack on these soldiers, with 
 an intention to rob them, if it was but to take their 
 hats feloniously, they had a right to kill them on the 
 spot, and had no business to retreat ; if a robber 
 meets me in the street, and commands me to surren- 
 der my purse, I have a right to kill him without ask- 
 ing questions ; if a person commits a bare assault 
 on me, this will not justify killing ; but if he assaults 
 me in such a manner as to discover an intention to
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 383 
 
 kill me, I have a right to destroy him, that I may put 
 it out of his power to kill me. In the case you will 
 have to consider, I do not know that there was any 
 attempt to steal from these persons ; however, there 
 were some persons concerned, who would probably 
 enough have stolen, if there had been any thing to 
 steal ; and many were there who had no such dispo- 
 sition ; but this is not the point we aim at, the ques- 
 tion is, are you satisfied that the people made the 
 attack in order to kill the soldiers ? If you are satis- 
 fied that the people, whoever they were, made that 
 assault, with a design to kill or maim the soldiers, 
 this was such an assault, as will justify the soldiers 
 killing in their own defence. 
 
 Further, it seems to me we may make another 
 question, whether you are satisfied that their real 
 intention was to kill or maim or not. If any reason- 
 able man, in the situation of one of these soldiers, 
 would have had reason to believe in the time of it, 
 that the people came with an intention to kill him, 
 whether you have this satisfaction now, or not, in 
 your own minds, they were justifiable, or at least ex- 
 cusable, in firing. You and I may be suspicious, that 
 the people who made this assault on the soldiers, did 
 it to put them to flight, on purpose that they might go 
 exulting about the town afterwards in triumph ; but 
 this will not do, you must place yourselves in the 
 situation of Wemms or Killroy, consider yourselves 
 as knowing that the prejudices of the world about 
 you were against you ; that the people about you, 
 thought you came to dragoon them into obedience 
 to statutes, instructions, mandates and edicts, which
 
 384 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 they thoroughly detested ; that many of these people 
 were thoughtless and inconsiderate, old and young, 
 sailors and landmen, negroes and mulattos ; that the 
 soldiers had no friends about them, the rest were in 
 opposition to them ; with all the bells ringing, to call 
 the town together to assist the people in King street, 
 for they knew by that time, that there was no fire ; 
 the people shouting, huzzaing, and making the mob 
 whistle, as they call it, which, when a boy makes it 
 in the street, is no formidable thing, but when made 
 by a multitude, is a most hideous shriek, almost as 
 terrible as an Indian yell ; the people crying " kill 
 them," " kill them," " knock them over ! " heaving 
 snow balls, oyster shells, clubs, white birch sticks 
 three inches and an half in diameter. Consider your- 
 selves in this situation, and then judge whether a 
 reasonable man in the soldiers' situation, would not 
 have concluded they were going to kill him. I be- 
 lieve, if I were to reverse the scene, I should bring it 
 home to our own bosoms ; suppose Colonel Mar- 
 shall, when he came out of his own door, and saw 
 these grenadiers coming down with swords, had 
 thought it proper to have appointed a military watch ; 
 suppose he had assembled Gray and Attucks that 
 were killed, or any other persons in town, and had 
 planted them in that station as a military watch, and 
 there had come from Murray's barracks thirty or forty 
 soldiers, with no other arms than snow balls, cakes 
 of ice, oyster shells, cinders and clubs, and attacked 
 this military watch in this manner, what do you sup- 
 pose would have been the feelings and reasonings of 
 any of our householders ? I confess I believe they
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 385 
 
 would not have borne the one half of what the wit- 
 nesses have sworn the soldiers bore, till they had 
 shot down as many as were necessary to intimidate 
 and disperse the rest; because, the law does not 
 oblige us to bear insults to the danger of our lives, to 
 stand still with such a number of people round us, 
 throwing such things at us, and threatening our lives, 
 until we are disabled to defend ourselves. 
 
 In the case before you, I suppose you will be satis- 
 fied when you come to examine the witnesses, and 
 compare it with the rules of common law, abstracted 
 from all mutiny acts and articles of war, that these 
 soldiers were in such a situation, that they could not 
 help themselves ; people were coming from Royal 
 Exchange lane, and other parts of the town, with 
 clubs, and cord-wood sticks ; the soldiers were plant- 
 ed by the wall of the custom house ; they could not 
 retreat, they were surrounded on all sides, for there 
 were people behind them as well as before them ; 
 there were a number of people in Royal Exchange 
 lane ; the soldiers were so near to the custom house, 
 that they could not retreat, unless they had gone into 
 the brick wall of it. I shall show you presently, that 
 all the party concerned in this unlawful design, were 
 guilty of what any one of them did ; if any body 
 threw a snow ball, it was the act of the whole party ; 
 if any struck with a club, or threw a club, and the 
 club had killed any body, the whole party would 
 have been guilty of murder in law. 
 
 Rules of law should be universally known, what- 
 ever effect they may have on politics. They are 
 rules of common law, the law of the land ; and it is 
 33
 
 386 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 certainly true, that, wherever there is an unlawful as- 
 sembly, let it consist of many persons or a few, every 
 man in it is guilty of every unlawful act committed 
 by any one of the whole party, be they more or be 
 they less, in pursuance of their unlawful design. 
 This is the policy of the law, to discourage and pre- 
 vent riots, insurrections, turbulence and tumults. 
 
 In the continual vicissitudes of human things, 
 amidst the shocks of fortune and the whirls of pas- 
 sion, that take place at certain critical seasons, even 
 in the mildest government, the people are liable to 
 run into riots and tumults. There are church quakes 
 and state quakes, in the moral and political world, as 
 well as earthquakes, storms and tempests, in the 
 physical. Thus much however must be said in favor 
 of the people and of human nature, that it is a gen- 
 eral if not an universal truth, that the aptitude of the 
 people to mutinies, seditions, tumults and insurrec- 
 tions, is in direct proportion to the despotism of the 
 government. In governments completely despotic, 
 where the will of one man is the only law, this dis- 
 position is most prevalent ; in aristocracies, next ; in 
 mixed monarchies, less than in either of the former ; 
 in complete republics, least of all ; and, under the 
 same form of government as in a limited monarchy, 
 for example, the virtue and wisdom of the adminis- 
 tration may generally be measured by the peace and 
 order that are seen among the people. However this 
 may be, such is the imperfection of all things in this 
 world, that no form of government, and perhaps no 
 wisdom or virtue in the administration, can at all 
 times avoid riots and disorders among the people.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 387 
 
 Mr. Adams here went into a learned and elaborate 
 examination of the law applicable to the facts of the 
 case. He insisted, that, by well established princi- 
 ples of the law, in case of an unlawful assembly, all 
 and every one of the assembly are guilty of every un- 
 lawful act, committed by any one of that assembly, 
 in prosecution of the unlawful design ; and, upon this 
 point, he made copious extracts from celebrated wri- 
 ters on criminal law. He then contended, that the 
 assemblies of citizens in the various parts of the town 
 on the evening referred to were unlawful assem- 
 blies they were mobs. " I do not mean," he said, 
 " to apply the word ' rebel ' on this occasion. I 
 have no reason to suppose that there ever was one in 
 Boston, at least among the natives of the country. 
 But rioters are in the same situation, as far as my 
 argument is concerned, and proper officers may sup- 
 press rioters, and so may even private persons." Mr. 
 Adams being fully aware of the feeling against the 
 defendants, because they were soldiers, did not place 
 their defence on the sole ground that they were acting 
 in obedience to orders ; but he considered them as citi- 
 zens who were entitled to the protection of the laws 
 as much as any other citizens. He then argued, 
 that the sentry being attacked in the street by a 
 mob, any persons had a right to go to his assistance, 
 and endeavor to suppress the riot. " Suppose," he 
 said, "a press-gang should come on shore in this 
 town, and assault any sailor, or householder in King 
 street, in order to carry them on board one of his 
 majesty's ships, and impress him without any war- 
 rant, as a seaman in his majesty's service, how far
 
 388 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 do you suppose the inhabitants would think them- 
 selves warranted by law to interpose against that law- 
 less press-gang? I agree that such a press-gang 
 would be as unlawful an assembly as that was in 
 King street. If they were to press an inhabitant, 
 and carry him off for a sailor, would not the inhabit- 
 ants think themselves warranted by law to interpose 
 in behalf of their fellow citizens ? Now, gentlemen, 
 if the soldiers had no right to interpose in the relief 
 of the sentry, the inhabitants would have no right 
 to interpose with regard to the citizen, for whatever 
 is law for a soldier is law for a sailor and for a citi- 
 zen, they all stand upon an equal footing in this re- 
 spect. I believe we shall not have it disputed, that 
 it would be lawful to go into King street and help an 
 honest man there against the press-master. 1 
 
 1 There was more meaning in this allusion to a press-gang than 
 apparent at first sight. The case of the crew on board the Pitt 
 Packet was still fresh in the recollection of the people and there 
 had recently been several instances of impressment in Boston, un- 
 der aggravated circumstances. Cases of this sort had also occurred 
 many years before, which were not forgotten. In the year 1747, 
 several sailors having deserted from a fleet of war lying in the 
 harbor of Nantasket, the commodore thought it reasonable that Bos- 
 ton should supply him with as many men as he had lost, and sent 
 his boats up to town early one morning, and impressed not only as 
 many seamen as could be found on board any of the ships, but 
 swept the wharves also, taking some ship carpenters' apprentices 
 and laboring land men. The people at once resented this conduct. 
 The lower classes in particular were enraged. A mob proceeded 
 to the house of Governor Shirley, where there were some officers of 
 the fleet, and surrounded it. They weie persuaded not to enter, 
 but a deputy sheriff who attempted to exercise his authority was 
 seized and set in the stocks, when the people separated in good 
 humor to go to dinner. In the evening, the mob again assembled, 
 and the seizure of the officers in town was insisted on as the only
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 389 
 
 " Now suppose you should have a jealousy in your 
 minds, that the people who made this attack on the 
 sentry had nothing more in their intention than to 
 take him off his post, and that was threatened by 
 some ; suppose they intended to go a little farther, 
 and tar and feather him, or to ride him (as the phrase 
 is in Hudibras), he would have had a good right to 
 have stood upon his defence, the defence of his lib- 
 erty, and if he could not preserve that without hazard 
 to his own life, he would be warranted in depriving 
 those of life who were endeavoring to deprive him 
 of his ; that is a point I would not give up for my 
 right hand, nay, for my life. 
 
 " Well, I say, if the people did this, or if this was 
 only their intention, surely the officer and soldiers 
 had a right to go to his relief, and therefore they set 
 out upon a lawful errand, they were therefore a law- 
 ful assembly, if we only consider them as private 
 subjects and fellow citizens, without regard to mutiny 
 acts, articles of war, or soldiers' oaths ; a private per- 
 son, or any number of private persons, have a right 
 to go to the assistance of their fellow subject in dis- 
 tress and danger of his life, when assaulted and in 
 danger from a few or a multitude." 
 
 It was not pretended that all who were killed were 
 engaged in the assault on the sDldiers, but he insist- 
 
 effectual method of procuring the release of the inhabitants aboard 
 the ships. A town meeting was soon called, and the riotous pro- 
 ceedings were condemned, but the inhabitants expressed their sense 
 of the great insult and injury by the impressment. The general court 
 passed sundry resolves. The commodore soon released most if not 
 all of the inhabitants who had been impressed, and the squadron 
 sailed. 
 
 33
 
 390 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ed, that, if the soldiers fired in self-defence against 
 those who were actually assaulting them, and others 
 were killed, they were not guilty of murder ; for if it 
 was justifiable or excusable in them to kill any one of 
 the rioters, it was equally justifiable or excusable, if 
 in firing at him they killed another who was inno- 
 cent. So if the provocation was such as to mitigate 
 the guilt to manslaughter, it would equally mitigate 
 the guilt, if they killed an innocent man undesign- 
 edly, in aiming at those who gave the provocation. 
 
 Mr. Adams then entered into an exposition of the 
 law relating to manslaughter, contending that if the 
 killing in this case were not justifiable or excusable. 
 it was done under such circumstances as reduced 
 the offence to manslaughter. " An assault and bat- 
 tery, committed upon a man in such a manner as not 
 to endanger his life, is such a provocation as the law 
 allows to reduce killing down to the crime of man- 
 slaughter. Now the law has been made on more 
 consideration than we are capable of making at pres- 
 ent ; the law considers a man as capable of bearing 
 any thing and every thing but blows. I may re- 
 proach a man as much as I please, I may call him 
 a thief, robber, traitor, scoundrel, coward, lobster, 
 bloody back, and if he kills me it will be murder, if 
 nothing else but words precede ; but if from giving 
 him such kind of language, I proceed to take him by 
 the nose, or fillip him on the forehead, that is an as- 
 sault, that is a blow ; the law will not oblige a man 
 to stand still and bear it ; there is the distinction ; 
 hands off, touch me not ; as soon as you touch me, 
 if I run you through the heart it is but manslaughter ;
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 391 
 
 the utility of this distinction, the more you think of 
 it, the more you will be satisfied with it ; it is an as- 
 sault whenever a blow is struck, let it be ever so 
 slight, and sometimes even without a blow. The 
 law considers man as frail and passionate ; when his 
 passions are touched he will be thrown off his guard ; 
 and therefore the law makes allowances for this frailty, 
 considers him as in a fit of passion, not having the 
 possession of his intellectual faculties ; and conse- 
 quently does not oblige him to measure out his blows 
 with a yardstick, or weigh them in a scale ; let him 
 kill with a sword, gun, or hedge-stake, it is not mur- 
 der, but only manslaughter." 
 
 Mr. Adams proceeded to a minute consideration 
 of every witness in the case, and endeavored to show, 
 that the assault upon the soldiers was sufficiently dan- 
 gerous to justify them in the course they took ; at 
 least, that it was sufficiently provoking to reduce the 
 crime to manslaughter. The soldiers were chained 
 to the spot by the command of their officer. They 
 were bound by their oath to obedience. They could 
 not defend themselves against so many people as 
 were pressing on them. They had every reason to 
 believe their lives were in danger. They were a 
 lawful assembly, and the people attacking them 
 were, by every principle of law, a mob. " We have 
 been entertained," he exclaimed, " with a great va- 
 riety of phrases, to avoid calling this sort of people a 
 mob. Some call them shavers, some call them gen- 
 iuses. The plain English is, gentlemen, most proba- 
 bly, a motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes, and mu- 
 lattoes, Irish teagues and outlandish jack tars. And
 
 392 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 why we should scruple to call such a set of people a 
 mob, I cannot conceive, unless the name is too re- 
 spectable for them. The sun is not about to stand 
 still or go out, nor the rivers to dry up, because there 
 was a mob in Boston on the fifth of March that 
 attacked a party of soldiers. Such things are not 
 new in the world, nor in the British dominions, 
 though they are, comparatively, rarities aijd novelties 
 in this town. Carr, a native of Ireland, had often 
 been concerned in such attacks, and, indeed, from 
 the nature of things, soldiers quartered in a populous 
 town, will always occasion two mobs, where they 
 prevent one. They are wretched conservators of the 
 peace ! " 
 
 But in regard to all but two of the prisoners there 
 was no evidence to convict them even of manslaugh- 
 ter, because there was no direct proof that any but 
 Killroy and Montgomery caused the death of any 
 one. There were eight prisoners charged with the 
 murder of five persons. Now it was fully proved, 
 that one of the prisoners did not fire, and the gun of 
 another flashed. Two, at least, of the prisoners 
 were innocent, and one of these was not known. In 
 this uncertainty, therefore, the jury must acquit all, 
 unless there was positive proof that some of the rest 
 did fire and did cause the death of some who were 
 killed. It was said that there was evidence of this 
 sort against Killroy and Montgomery ; arid proof was 
 introduced to show that the former had uttered 
 threats against the people, and that he had a particu- 
 lar spite against Gray, whom he was supposed to 
 have killed, the latter having been engaged with him
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 393 
 
 in the previous affray at the ropewalks. But the 
 rule of law was, if there had been malice between 
 the two, and at a distance of time afterwards they 
 met, and one of them assaulted the other and was 
 killed in consequence, the law presumed that the 
 killing was upon the provocation, and not on account 
 of the antecedent malice. If, therefore, the assault 
 upon Killroy was so violent as to endanger his life, 
 he had as good a right to defend himself, as if he 
 had never before conceived any malice against Gray. 
 It was true that Hemmingway, the sheriff's coach- 
 man, had sworn, that he knew Killroy and that he 
 heard him say, he would never miss an opportunity 
 of firing upon the inhabitants ; this was to prove 
 that Killroy had preconceived malice in his hea t, 
 not indeed against the unhappy persons who were 
 killed, but against the inhabitants in general ; that 
 he had the spirit not only of a Turk or an Arab, but 
 of the devil. But admitting that this testimony was 
 literally true, and that he had all the malice they 
 would wish to prove, yet, if he was assaulted that 
 night, and his life in danger, he had a right to defend 
 himself as well as another man ; if he had malice 
 before, it did not take away from him the right of 
 defending himself against any aggressor. But it was 
 not at all improbable, that there was some misunder- 
 standing about these loose expressions ; perhaps the 
 man had no thoughts of what his words might im- 
 port ; many a man in his cups, or in anger, which 
 was a short fit of madness, uttered the rashest ex- 
 pressions, who had no such savage disposition in 
 general ; so that there was but little weight in ex-
 
 394 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 pressions uttered at a kitchen fire, before a maid and 
 a coachman, where he might think himself at liberty 
 to talk as much like a bully, a fool, or a madman as 
 he pleased, and that no evil would come of it. 
 
 In regard to Montgomery, the evidence was clear 
 that he was personally assaulted and knocked down 
 before he fired. When the multitude was shouting 
 and huzzaing, and threatening life, the bells ringing, 
 the mob whistling, screaming, and rending like an In- 
 dian yell ; the people from all quarters throwing every 
 species of rubbish they could pick up in the street, 
 and some who were quite on the other side of the 
 street throwing clubs at the whole party ; Montgom- 
 ery in particular smitten with a club and knocked 
 down, and as soon as he could rise and take up his 
 firelock, struck on his breast or shoulder by another 
 club from afar, what could he do ? Did the jury ex- 
 pect he should behave like a stoic philosopher lost in 
 apathy patient as Epictetus, while his master was 
 breaking his legs with a cudgel ? It was impossible 
 they should find him guilty of murder. They must 
 suppose him divested of all human passions, if they 
 did not think him at the least provoked, thrown off 
 his guard, and into the furor brevis, by such treat- 
 ment as this. 
 
 Attucks, whom Montgomery was supposed to have 
 killed, appeared to have undertaken to be the hero 
 of the night, and to lead this army with banners, 
 to form them in the first place in Dock square, and 
 march them up to King street with their clubs. They 
 passed through the main street up to the main guard, 
 in order to make the attack. If this was not an un-
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 395 
 
 lawful assembly, there never was one in the world. 
 Attacks, with his mirmidons, comes round Jackson's 
 corner, and down to the party by the sentry box ; 
 when the soldiers pushed the people off, this man 
 with his party cried, " do not be afraid of them, they 
 dare not fire, kill them! kill them! knock them 
 over ! " and he tried to knock their brains out. It 
 was plain the soldiers did not leave their station, but 
 cried to the people, " stand off." Now to have this 
 reinforcement coming down under the command of a 
 stout mulatto fellow, whose very looks were enough 
 to terrify any person, what had not the soldiers then 
 to fear ? He had hardiness enough to fall in upon 
 them, and with one hand took hold of a bayonet, and 
 with the other knocked the man down. This was 
 the behavior of Attucks ; to whose mad proceedings, 
 in all probability, the dreadful carnage of that night 
 was chiefly to be ascribed. And it was in this man- 
 ner this town had been often treated ; a Carr from 
 Ireland, and an Attucks from Framingham, happen- 
 ing to be here, shall sally out upon their thoughtless 
 enterprises, at the head of such a rabble of negroes 
 and worthless characters as they can collect together, 
 and then there were not wanting persons to ascribe 
 all their doings to the good people of the town. 
 
 v 
 Mr. Adams concluded his argument as follows : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Jury, 
 
 I will enlarge no more on the evidence, but sub- 
 mit it to you. Facts are stubborn things ; and what- 
 ever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the
 
 396 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state 
 of facts and evidence. Nor is the law less stable 
 than the fact ; if an assault was made to endanger 
 their lives, the law is clear, they had a right to kill in 
 their own defence ; if it was not so severe as to en- 
 danger their lives, yet if they were assaulted at all, 
 struck and abused by blows of any sort, by snow 
 balls, oyster shells, cinders, clubs, or sticks of any 
 kind ; this was a provocation, for which the law re- 
 duces the offence of killing down to manslaughter, in 
 consideration of those passions in our nature, which 
 cannot be eradicated. To your candor and justice I 
 submit the prisoners and their cause. 
 
 The law, in all vicissitudes of government, fluctua- 
 tions of the passions, or flights of enthusiasm, will 
 preserve a steady undeviating course ; it will not 
 bend to the uncertain wishes, imaginations, and wan- 
 ton tempers of men. To use the words of a great 
 and worthy man, a patriot, and an hero, an enlight- 
 ened friend of mankind, and a martyr to liberty ; I 
 mean Algernon Sidney, who from his earliest infancy 
 sought a tranquil retirement under the shadow of the 
 tree of liberty, with his tongue, his pen, and his 
 sword : " The law," says he, " no passion can disturb. 
 'T is void of desire and fear, lust and anger. 'T is 
 mens sine affectu ; written reason ; retaining some 
 measure of the divine perfection. It does not enjoin 
 that which pleases a weak, frail man, but without 
 any regard to persons, commands that which is good, 
 and punishes evil in all, whether rich or poor, high 
 or low, 'T is deaf, inexorable, inflexible." On the 
 one hand it is inexorable to the cries and lamentations
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 397 
 
 of the prisoners ; on the other it is deaf, deaf as an 
 adder, to the clamors of the populace. 
 
 The cause was then closed by Robert Treat Paine 1 , 
 on the part of the crown, in an argument of great 
 power and clearness, of which, unfortunately, no au- 
 thentic report was made." It appears, however, from 
 his very copious minutes of the trial, that he com- 
 mented largely on the testimony, with much ingenu- 
 ity and wit ; stating the nature of the crime of mur- 
 der, in so far as it is to be distinguised from man- 
 slaughter or simple homicide ; and insisting that the 
 conduct of the inhabitants was no justification for 
 the firing of the soldiers, or any order of the captain 
 for them to fire ; that the first abuse and riot was 
 from the soldiers at an earlier hour, which called the 
 people together in the centre of the town, who, be- 
 
 1 He was born in Boston in 1731, and was graduated at Harvard 
 College in 1749. About the year 1759, he settled in the practice of 
 law at Taijnton. In 1774, he was chosen a delegate to ronoress, 
 and he was one of the signers of the declaration of independence. 
 During the revolution he was a firm and powerful >upporter of the 
 rights of his country. He was a member of the convention which 
 formed the constitution of Massachusetts, and one of the commit- 
 tee that prepared a draft of it. He was attorney general under 
 this constitution until 1790, when he was appointed a judge of 
 the supreme court, and held the office until 1H03. The remainder 
 of his life he spent in retirement, and died at Boston in 1814, aged 
 eighty-three years. He possessed an original and independent 
 mind, and was celebrated for his wit. He was a profound lawyer 
 and eminently upright. 
 
 * The reason of this is stated to be, that the " person who wrote 
 the trial in short hand, was so fatigued he could not take down 
 what Mr. Paine said." In a late edition of tl.e trial an attempt 
 is made to supply his argument from the notes used by Mr. Paine 
 on the trial, but it is quite incomplete and unsatisfactory. 
 34
 
 398 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ing thus alarmed and agitated, some of them, chiefly 
 boys, addressed the sentinel with threatening and 
 abusive language ; some snow balls were then thrown, 
 and some hustling and pushing, when the crowd was 
 about the sentinel. But the soldiers were not in dan- 
 ger of being beaten or wounded, as the citizens de- 
 signed to act merely on the defensive, and therefore, 
 that the prisoners were justly chargeable with murder. 
 The jury were then charged at length by Mr. Jus- 
 tice Trowbridge, who went into an elaborate exposi- 
 tion of the law, applicable to the case, and con- 
 cluded as follows : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Jury, 
 
 The principal questions for your consideration are 
 these ; 
 
 First. Whether the five persons said to be mur- 
 dered were in fact killed ? And if so, 
 
 Second. Whether they, or either of them were 
 killed by the prisoners, or either of them ? And if 
 they were, then, 
 
 Third. Whether such killing was justifiable, ex- 
 cusable or felonious ? And if the latter, 
 
 Fourth. Whether it was manslaughter or murder ? 
 
 As to the first, you have not only the coroner's 
 inquest, but the testimony of so many witnesses, that 
 the five persons were shot and thereby mortally 
 wounded in the night of the fifth of March last, and 
 that some of them died instantly, and the rest in a 
 few days after, that you doubtless will be satisfied 
 they were all killed. And the same evidence must, 
 I think, also convince you that they were all killed
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 399 
 
 by the party of soldiers that were at the custom 
 house that night, or by some of them. 
 
 Whether the prisoners were there, will therefore 
 be your next inquiry ; for if either of them was not, 
 he must be acquitted. The law does not in this case 
 make the testimony of two witnesses necessary for 
 the jury to settle a fact upon ; if one swears it, and 
 upon his testimony you believe it, that is sufficient 
 evidence for you to find the fact. But if you are 
 satisfied upon the evidence, that all the prisoners 
 were there, yet as each prisoner is severally charged 
 with having killed these five persons, and by his plea 
 has denied the charge, you must be fully satisfied 
 upon the evidence given you, with regard to each 
 prisoner, that he in particular did in fact, or in con- 
 sideration of law, kill one or more of these persons 
 that were slain, or he must be acquitted. 
 
 The way therefore to determine this will be for 
 you to name some one of the prisoners, and then con- 
 sider whether it appears upon the evidence in the 
 case, that he did in fact kill Maverick ; and, then, 
 whether upon the evidence it appears he in fact 
 killed Gray ? And so inquire in the same manner, 
 whether he did in fact kill either of the other three 
 persons? And having noted how it appears upon 
 the evidence with regard to him, you must then pro- 
 ceed in like manner with each of the other prisoners ; 
 and if upon a full consideration of the evidence in 
 the case, you should be in doubt, as to any one of 
 the prisoners having in fact killed either of the per- 
 sons that were slain, you must consider whether he 
 did it in consideration of law? Now all that are
 
 400 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 present, aiding and abetting one person in killing an- 
 other, do, in judgment of law, kill him. The stroke 
 of one is, in consideration of law, the stroke of all. 
 When a number of persons assemble together to do 
 an unlawful act, and in the prosecution of that de- 
 sign one of them kills a man, all the rest of the com- 
 pany are in law considered as abetting him to do it. 
 
 You must therefore inquire how and for what pur- 
 pose the prisoners came together at the custom 
 house, and what they did there before these persons 
 were killed ? 
 
 That a sentry was in fact then placed at the cus- 
 tom house, by order of Colonel Dalrymple, the com- 
 manding officer, as also that one had been placed 
 there for a long time before, is fully proved, and 
 indeed the right to place sentries, it being in time of 
 peace, is the only thing that has been questioned. 
 Upon this, therefore, I would observe, that, as the 
 main design of society is the protection of individu- 
 als by the united strength of the whole community ; 
 so for the sake of unanimity, strength and despatch, 
 the supreme executive power is by the British con- 
 stitution vested in a single person, the king or queen. 
 This single person has sole power of raising fleets or 
 armies ; and a statute passed in the reign of Charles the 
 second declares, that within all his majesty's realms and 
 dominions, the sole supreme government, command, 
 and disposition of the militia, and of all the forces 
 by sea and land, and all forts and places of strength, 
 is and by the law of England ever was the undoubt- 
 ed right of his majesty and his royal predecessors, 
 kings and queens of England; and as Charles the
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 401 
 
 second had this right as king of England, it of course 
 comes to his successors, and our present sovereign 
 lord the king now has it. 
 
 Indeed the bill of rights declares among other 
 things, that the raising or keeping a standing army 
 within the kingdom in a time of peace, unless with 
 the consent of parliament, is against law. And it is 
 said, that upon the same principles whereon that de- 
 claration was founded, it is alike unlawful to be done 
 in any other part of the king's dominions. But be 
 that as it may, the mutiny acts annually made, show 
 the consent of parliament, that the king in time of 
 peace should keep up a standing army not only in 
 the kingdom but in America also. They not only 
 ascertain the number of troops that shall be kept up, 
 but provide for the regulation of such of the king's 
 troops as are in America. And therefore as by these 
 acts the king is empowered to keep up these troops, 
 and he by common law, has the command and dis- 
 position of all forces by sea and land within his do- 
 minions, and is the principal conservator of the peace, 
 he doubtless well might send such part of those troops 
 to this part of his dominions, in order to restore the 
 public peace, or to aid and assist the civil magistrate 
 in preserving of it, as he judged necessary for the 
 purpose ; and if you should think there was no occa- 
 sion for sending any troops here, for either of those 
 purposes that will not alter the case, because the king 
 being the proper judge in that matter, the validity of 
 his order will not depend upon the truth of the repre^ 
 sentations whereon it is founded. The acts not only 
 fix the number of troops to be kept up, but also 
 34*
 
 402 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 establish a law martial for their government. Among 
 other things, the acts subject every officer or soldier 
 that sleeps on his post, or leaves it before he is re- 
 lieved, or disobeys the lawful command of his supe- 
 rior officer, to such punishment as a court martial 
 shall inflict, though it extend to death itself. These 
 troops are and ever since they came here have been 
 under this martial law and subject to as strict regu- 
 lation as in time of war. Placing sentries is a neces- 
 sary part of the regulation of an army ; accordingly a 
 sentry hath in fact been kept at the custom house 
 ever since the troops have been here ; and it is sworn 
 that it was done by order of the commanding officer. 
 If so, you have no reason to doubt but that it was 
 legally done. 
 
 Your next inquiry then will be, whether the sentry 
 so placed at the custom house was attacked ? Many 
 witnesses have sworn that he was. But the counsel 
 for the crown say, that the contrary appears by the 
 testimony of Colonel Marshall and others. 
 
 It is with you to determine this matter upon the 
 whole of the evidence given you. In doing it you 
 ought to reconcile the several testimonies, if by any 
 reasonable construction of the words it may be done. 
 Where some witnesses swear they saw such a thing 
 done, and others swear they were present and did not 
 see it ; if the thing said to be done be such as it may 
 reasonably be supposed some might see and others 
 not, by reason of their want of observation, or par- 
 ticular attention to other matters there, as both may 
 be true, you ought to suppose them to be so, rather 
 than presume that any of the witnesses swear falsely.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 403 
 
 But if witnesses contradict each other, so that their 
 testimonies cannot be reconciled, you must then con- 
 sider the number of the witnesses on each side, their 
 ability, integrity, indifference as to the point in ques- 
 tion, and the probability or improbability arising 
 from the nature of the thing in question, and, upon 
 the whole, settle the fact as you verily believe it to 
 be. If you find the sentry was attacked, the next 
 thing to be considered is, whether the prisoners went 
 to protect him, and if so, whether it was lawful for 
 them so to do. There is a great difference between 
 a common affray, and attacking the king's forces. I 
 think the law in that regard ought to be more gen- 
 erally known here than it seems to be. If upon a 
 sudden quarrel from some affront given or taken, the 
 neighborhood rise and drive the king's forces out of 
 their quarters, it is a great misdemeanor, and if death 
 ensues it may be felony in the assailants, but it is 
 not treason, because there was no intention against 
 the king's person or government ; but attacking the 
 king's forces in opposition to his authority, upon a 
 march or in quarters, is levying war against the king. 
 And resisting the king's forces, if sent to keep the 
 peace, may amount to an overt act of high treason. 
 Though it may be attended with great inconven- 
 iences for private persons, without a peace officer, to 
 make use of arms for suppressing an ordinary riot, 
 yet if the riot be such an one as savors of rebellion, 
 it doubtless may lawfully be done. You have heard 
 what the witnesses deposed respecting the resolution 
 taken to drive the soldiers out of town, " because 
 they had no business here." You have also heard
 
 404 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 what has been testified of the proposals to attack 
 the main guard of the assembling of the people, 
 especially in Dock square, of the huzzaing for the 
 main guard and King street, and of the attacking the 
 sentry. Now if this was done in pursuance of a 
 resolution taken " to drive the soldiers out of the 
 town because they had no business here," I will 
 not now determine whether it was treason or not ; 
 but it certainly was a riot that savored of rebellion : 
 for the suppressing whereof, private persons might not 
 only arm themselves, but make use of their arms, if 
 they could not otherwise suppress it. Much more 
 might the captain of the main guard take a part of the 
 guard, armed as usual, and go with them to protect 
 the sentry. From the evidence, it seems the sentry 
 not only called to the main guard for assistance, but 
 two men went and told them they must send assist- 
 ance directly or the sentry would be murdered. 
 Whereupon the captain gave orders, that a party 
 should go to the assistance of the sentry, and they 
 were drawn out accordingly, led down to the custom 
 house by a corporal, and followed by the captain. 
 Now as this party did not assemble or go there of 
 their own accord, but were sent by their captain to 
 protect the sentry, it must be supposed that was their 
 design in going, until the contrary appears. And 
 although upon the evidence you should not be satis- 
 fied that the sentry was attacked in pursuance of a 
 resolution taken to drive the soldiers out of town, 
 because they had no business here, yet considering 
 the notice given to the captain of the danger the 
 sentry was in, and what the captain himself might
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 405 
 
 then see and observe of the attack upon the sentry, 
 he well might order out such a party, and go with 
 them to protect the sentry ; and it seems to be 
 agreed, that if the prisoners were at the custom house 
 that night, all of them, except the sentry, were of 
 that party. But if they were a lawful assembly when 
 they got to the custom house, yet if afterwards they 
 all agreed to do an unlawful act to the disturbance 
 of the peace, and in prosecution of that design Mav- 
 erick and the rest were killed, all that party will by 
 law be chargeable with each mortal stroke given by 
 either of them, as though they .all had in fact given it. 
 It is said, that while they were at the custom 
 house, before they fired, some of them attempted 
 with their bayonets to stab every one they could 
 come at, without any reason at all for so doing. Such 
 conduct to be sure can neither be justified nor ex- 
 cused. But as the time was so very short, and some of 
 the witnesses declare the people were crowding upon 
 the soldiers, and that they were moving their guns 
 backwards and forwards, crying " stand off," " stand 
 off," without moving from their station, you will con- 
 sider whether this may not be what other witnesses 
 call an attempt to stab the people. But, be that as 
 it may, if the party was a lawful assembly before, 
 this not being the act of the whole would not make 
 it unlawful. The counsel for the crown insist, that 
 the firing upon the people was an unlawful act, in 
 disturbance of the peace, and as the party fired so 
 near together, it must be supposed they previously 
 agreed to do it ; that agreement made them an un- 
 lawful assembly, if they were not so before, and be-
 
 406 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 ing so when they fired, all are chargeable with the 
 killing by any one or more of them. However just 
 this reasoning may be, where there is no apparent 
 cause for their firing, yet it will not hold good where 
 there is. If each of the party had been at the same 
 instant so assaulted as that it would have justified 
 his killing the assailant in defence of his own life, 
 and thereupon each of them had at the same instant 
 fired upon and killed the person that assaulted him, 
 surely it would not have been evidence of a previous 
 agreement to fire, or prove them to be an unlawful 
 assembly ; nor would it have been evidence of such 
 agreement, if the attack was not such as would jus- 
 tify the firing and killing, though it was such an as- 
 sault as would alleviate the offence and reduce it to 
 manslaughter, since there would be as apparent a 
 cause of the firing in one case as in the other, and 
 though not so good a cause, yet such an one as the 
 law in condescension to human frailty greatly re- 
 gards. You will therefore carefully consider what 
 the several witnesses have sworn with regard to the 
 assault made upon the party of soldiers at the custom 
 house, and if you thereupon believe they were before 
 and at the time of their firing attacked by such num- 
 bers, and in such a violent manner as many of the 
 witnesses have positively sworn, you will be able to 
 assign a cause for their firing so near together as 
 they did without supposing a previous agreement so 
 to do. But it is said, that if their firing as they did 
 does not prove a previous agreement to do it, yet it 
 is good evidence of an actual abetment to fire, as 
 one by firing encourages the others to do the like.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 407 
 
 As neither of the soldiers fired more than once, it is 
 evident that he who fired last could not thereby in fact 
 abet or encourage the firing of any of those who fired 
 before him, and so it cannot be evidence of such 
 abetment. And if he who fired first and killed can 
 justify it, because it was lawful for him so to do, 
 surely that same lawful act cannot be evidence of an 
 unlawful abetment. And though he who first fired 
 and killed may not be able to justify the doing it, 
 yet if it appears he had such a cause for the killing 
 as will reduce it to manslaughter, it would be strange 
 indeed if that same act should be evidence of his 
 abetting another who killed without provocation, so 
 as to make him who fired first guilty of murder. 
 The same may be said as to all the intermediate 
 firings ; and as the evidence stands, I do not think 
 it necessary to say how it would be in case the first 
 person fired with little or no provocation. If, there- 
 fore, this party of soldiers when at the custom house 
 were a lawful assembly and continued so until they 
 fired, and their firing was not an actual unlawful 
 abetment of each other to fire, nor evidence of it, 
 they cannot be said in consideration of law to have 
 killed those five persons or either of them, but it must 
 rest on the evidence of the actual killing ; and if so, 
 neither of the prisoners can be found guilty thereof, 
 unless it appears not only that he was of the party, 
 but that he in particular did in fact kill one or more 
 of the persons slain. That the five persons were 
 killed by the party of soldiers or some of them, 
 seems clear upon the evidence, and indeed is not 
 disputed.
 
 408 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Some witnesses have been produced to prove that 
 Montgomery killed Attucks ; and Langford swears 
 Killroy killed Gray, but none of the witnesses under- 
 take to say, that either of the other prisoners in particu- 
 lar killed either of the other three persons, or that all 
 of them did it. On the contrary, it seems that one 
 of the six did not fire, and that another of them fired 
 at a boy as he was running down the street, but 
 missed him (if he had killed him, as the evidence 
 stands, it would have been murder,) but the wit- 
 nesses are not agreed as to the person who fired at 
 the boy, or as to him who did not fire at all. It is 
 highly probable, from the places where the five per- 
 sons killed fell, and their wounds, that they were 
 killed by the discharge of five several guns only. If 
 you are upon the evidence satisfied of that, and also 
 that Montgomery killed Attucks, and Killroy, Gray, 
 it will thence follow that the other three were killed, 
 not by the other six prisoners, but by three of them 
 only ; and therefore they cannot all be found guilty 
 of it. And as the evidence does not show which 
 three killed the three, nor that either of the six in 
 particular killed either of the three, you cannot find 
 either of the six guilty of killing them or either of 
 them. If you are satisfied, upon the evidence given 
 you, that Montgomery killed Attucks, you will pro- 
 ceed to inquire whether it was justifiable, excusable, 
 or felonious homicide, and if the latter, whether it 
 was maliciously done or not. As he is charged with 
 murder, if the fact of killing be proved, all the cir- 
 cumstances of necessity or infirmity are to be satis- 
 factorily proved by him, unless they arise out of the
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 409 
 
 evidence produced against him, for the law presumeth 
 the fact to have been founded in malice until the con- 
 trary appears. 
 
 You will, therefore, carefully consider and weigh 
 the whole of the evidence given you respecting the 
 attack made upon the party of soldiers in general, 
 and upon Montgomery in particular. In doing it, 
 you will observe the rules I have before mentioned, 
 and not forget the part that some of the witnesses 
 took in this unhappy affair, and if, upon the whole, 
 it appears to you that Montgomery was attacked in 
 such a violent manner that his life was in imme- 
 diate danger, or that he had sufficient reason to think 
 it was, and he thereupon fired and killed Attucks for 
 the preservation of his own life, it was justifiable 
 homicide, and he ought to be acquitted. If you do 
 not believe that was the case, but upon the evidence 
 are satisfied that he was by that assembly assaulted 
 with clubs and other weapons, and thereupon fired 
 at the rioters and killed Attucks ; then you ought to 
 find him guilty of manslaughter only. But if, upon 
 the evidence, you believe that Montgomery, without 
 being previously assaulted, fired and killed Attucks ; 
 then you will find him guilty of murder. But you 
 must know that if this party of soldiers, in general, 
 were pelted with snowballs, pieces of ice and sticks, 
 in anger, this without more amounts to an assault, 
 not only upon those that were in fact struck, but 
 upon the whole party ; and is such an assault as 
 will reduce the killing to manslaughter. And if you 
 believe, what some of the witnesses have sworn, that 
 35
 
 410 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 the people round the soldiers, and many of them 
 armed with clubs, crowded upon the soldiers, and 
 with the cry of, " Rush on, kill them, kill them, 
 knock them over," did in fact rush on, strike at them 
 with their clubs, and give Montgomery such a blow, 
 as to knock him down, as some of the witnesses say, 
 or to make him sally, or stagger, as others say, it 
 will be sufficient to show that his life was in imme- 
 diate danger, or that he had sufficient reason to 
 think so. 
 
 It seems that a doctrine has of late been advanced, 
 that soldiers, while on duty, may, upon no occasion 
 whatever, fire upon their fellow subjects, without the 
 order of a civil magistrate. This may possibly ac- 
 count for some of those who attacked the soldiers, 
 saying to them, " You dare not fire, we know you 
 dare not fire." But it ought to be known that the 
 law doth not countenance such an absurd doctrine. 
 A man by becoming a soldier doth not thereby lose 
 the right of self-defence, which is founded in the law 
 of nature. Where any one is, without his own de- 
 fault, reduced to such circumstances that the laws 
 of society cannot avail him, the law considers him 
 "as still, in that instance, under the protection of 
 the law of nature." This rule extends to soldiers as 
 well as others ; nay, while soldiers are in the imme- 
 diate service of the king, and the regular discharge 
 of their duty, they rather come within the reason of 
 civil officers and their assistants, and so are alike 
 under the peculiar protection of the law. 
 
 If you are satisfied upon the evidence, that Killroy 
 killed Gray, you will then inquire, whether it was
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 411 
 
 justifiable, excusable, or felonious homicide, and if 
 the latter, whether it was with or without malice. If 
 the attack was upon the party of soldiers in general, 
 and in the manner I have just mentioned, as some 
 of the witnesses' say it was, it is equally an assault 
 upon all, whether all were in fact struck, or not, and 
 makes no material difference, as to their respective 
 right of firing ; for a man is not obliged to wait until 
 he is killed, or struck, before he makes use of the 
 necessary means of self-defence. If the blows with 
 clubs were, by an enraged multitude, aimed at the 
 party in general, each one might reasonably think his 
 own life in danger ; for though he escaped the first 
 blow, he might reasonably expect more would follow, 
 and could have no assurance that he should be so 
 fortunate as to escape all of them. 
 
 Therefore, I do not see but that Killroy is upon 
 the same footing with Montgomery ; and your verdict 
 must be the same as to both, unless what Hemming- 
 way swears Killroy said, or the affray at the rope- 
 walks, or both, materially vary the case. Hemming- 
 way swears, that he and Killroy were talking about 
 the town's people and the soldiers, and that Killroy 
 said, " He never would miss an opportunity, when 
 he had one, to fire on the inhabitants ; that he had 
 wanted to have an opportunity, ever since he land- 
 ed." But he says he cannot remember what words 
 immediately preceded or followed, or at what par- 
 ticular time the words were uttered, nor does he 
 know whether Killroy was jocular or not. If the 
 witness is not mistaken as to the words, the speech 
 was, at least, very imprudent and foolish. However,
 
 412 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 if Killroy, either in jest or in earnest, uttered those 
 words, yet if the assault upon him was such, as would 
 justify his firing and killing, or alleviate it so as to 
 make it but manslaughter, that will not enhance the 
 killing to murder. And though it has been sworn 
 that Killroy, and other soldiers, had a quarrel with 
 Gray and others, at the ropewalks, a few days before 
 the fifth of March, yet it is not certain that Killroy 
 then knew Gray, or aimed at him in particular. But 
 if Gray encouraged the assault by clapping the assail- 
 ants on their backs, as Hinckley swears he did, and 
 Killroy saw this, and knew him to be one of those 
 that were concerned in the affray at the ropewalks, 
 this very circumstance would have a natural tenden- 
 cy to raise Killroy's passions, and throw him off his 
 guard, much more than if the same things had been 
 done by another person. In the tumult of passion 
 the voice of reason is not heard, and it is owing to 
 the allowance the law makes for human frailty, that 
 all unlawful voluntary homicide is not deemed mur- 
 der. If there be " malice between A and B, and they 
 meet casually, A assaults B, and drives him to the 
 wall, B, in his own defence, kills A, this is se defen- 
 dendo, and shall not be heightened by the former 
 malice into murder or homicide at large, for it was 
 not a killing upon the account of the former malice, 
 but upon a necessity imposed upon him by the as- 
 sault of A." So, upon the same principle, where 
 the assault is such as would make the killing but 
 manslaughter, if there had been no previous quarrel, 
 the killing ought to be attributed to the assault, un- 
 less the evidence clearly shows the contrary ; an
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 413 
 
 assault being known and allowed by law to be a 
 provocation to kill, that will free the party from the 
 guilt of murder ; whereas neither words of reproach, 
 nor actions expressive of contempt, " are a provoca- 
 tion to use such violence," that is, the law doth not 
 allow them to be, without an assault, such a provo- 
 cation as will excuse the killing, or make it any 
 thing less than murder. Upon the same principle, 
 where the assault is such as makes the killing man- 
 slaughter, the killing ought to be attributed to the 
 assault, unless the evidence clearly shows the con- 
 trary. 
 
 This meeting of Killroy and Gray was casual upon 
 the part of Killroy at least ; he was lawfully ordered 
 to the place where he was, and had no right to quit 
 his station without the leave of Captain Preston, nor 
 were any of the party obliged to retreat and give 
 way to the rioters, but might lawfully stand and 
 repel force by force. 
 
 It is needless for me to say what you ought to d\> 
 with regard to the other six prisoners, in case they 
 had gone to the custom-house, not to protect the 
 sentry, but to disturb the peace, or after they got 
 there, and before the firing, had agreed so to do ; or, 
 in case they had actually unlawfully abetted the kill- 
 ing ; because none of these things have been testifi- 
 ed, nor can any of them be deduced from any thing 
 which has been given to you in evidence. 
 
 Having already said much more upon this occa- 
 sion, than I should have thought necessary in a like 
 case, at any other time, I shall add no more. 
 35'
 
 414 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 Each of the other justices also summed up the 
 evidence to the jury very particularly, and gave their 
 opinions of the construction of law upon the evi- 
 dence, but they differed in no material point from 
 Mr. Justice Trowbridge, who, according to the custom 
 of the court, spoke first. The jury withdrew for about 
 two hours and a half, and then returned into court, 
 with a verdict of not guilty as to all the prisoners, 
 except Killroy and Montgomery, who were found 
 not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. 
 They prayed the benefit of clergy, 1 which was allow- 
 ed them, and thereupon they were each of them burnt 
 in the hand, in open court, and were discharged. 
 
 1 Benefit of clergy was a privilege of clergymen, originating 
 in a pious regard for the church, by which the clergy of Catholic 
 countries were either partially or wholly exempted from the juris- 
 diction of the ordinary legal tribunals. It extended in England 
 only to the case of felony ; and, though it was intended to apply 
 only to clerical persons or clerks, yet, as the being able to read 
 was, by the laws of England, considered as sufficient evidence of 
 the clerical character, when the rudiments of learning carne to be 
 diffused, almost every man in the community became entitled to 
 this privilege. A person entitled to the benefit of clergy was for- 
 merly handed over to the ecclesiastical tribunals for trial. But this 
 giving rise to great abuses, the secular judges ordered those who 
 were entitled to the benefit of clergy to be detained in prison until 
 they should be pardoned by the king. By a statute passed in the 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth, persons convicted of felony and entitled 
 to the benefit of clergy were to be discharged from prison, being first 
 branded in the thumb ; if laymen, it was discretionary with the 
 judge to detain them in prison not exceeding one year. At the 
 time of the trial of the British soldiers, manslaughter was within 
 the benefit of elegy, and the punishment was for the offender to be 
 burnt in the hand, and forfeit all his goods and chattels. This pun- 
 ishment was altered in the reign of George IV., to transportation 
 for life, or for a term of years; or imprisonment for a term not 
 exceeding three years.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 415 
 
 On the twelfth of December following, Edward 
 Manwarring, esquire, John Munroe, gentleman, Ham- 
 mond Green, boat-builder, and Thomas Greenwood, 
 laborer, were put upon trial on the charge of being 
 present aiding and assisting in the murder of the 
 citizens who were killed on the fifth of March. The 
 evidence on the part of the crown tended to show 
 that the defendants, or a part of them, fired on the 
 crowd from the custom-house windows at the same 
 time that the soldiers fired in the street. But the 
 principal witness, Charles Bourgat, a French boy and 
 servant of Manwarring, was contradicted in every 
 material point, so that his evidence was not considered 
 worthy of the slightest credit. The jury acquitted 
 all the prisoners without leaving their seats. 
 
 Thus terminated the judicial proceedings in rela- 
 tion to the " Boston Massacre." In the midst of an 
 excitement unparalleled in the history of our country, 
 and in a community where they were regarded with 
 such abhorrence, that they were only saved from 
 summary punishment by the judicious efforts of the 
 friends of law and order, the soldiers had a fair trial, 
 the result of which has stood the test of time and 
 the examination of impartial history. To many calm 
 and rational minds it was not satisfactory, and by the 
 people in general it was bitterly reproved as a gross 
 departure from strict justice and an impartial admin- 
 istration of the law. 1 The nature and extent of the 
 
 1 A few days after the trial, while the court was still in session, 
 an incendiary paper was posted up, in the night, on the door of the 
 town house, complaining of the court for cheating the injured peo-
 
 416 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 feeling against the soldiers can scarcely be appre- 
 ciated at the present day. The people had been 
 misrepresented, wronged, and grievously oppressed. 
 The peace of the town had been destroyed, and the 
 quartering of soldiers in it was regarded as a bitter 
 insult to the inhabitants. When, therefore, unarmed 
 citizens were killed in the public streets, all the feel- 
 ings of bitterness, hatred and revenge, which, until 
 then, had been partially at least restrained from ac- 
 tion, were directed towards the unhappy wretches 
 who were to be tried for their lives. The press 
 teemed with vigorous denunciations of their conduct. 
 They were branded throughout the whole country 
 as murderers ; and even the pulpit fulminated its 
 thunders against them. " Some have whispered a 
 suspicion," was the language of the senior minister 
 of the town, previous to the trial, " that a reprieve 
 from death would be granted, should the guilt of 
 blood be fastened upon some who are supposed to 
 have been actors in this horrid wickedness. 1 But it 
 is a high indignity offered to him who has the power 
 of giving a reprieve, so much as to suspect that he 
 would do it, in the case of blood-guiltiness clearly 
 proved upon any in consequence of a fair and im- 
 partial trial." 
 
 pie with a show of justice, and calling upon them to rise and free 
 the world from such domestic tyrants. It was taken down in the 
 morning, and carried to the court, who were much disturbed, and 
 applied to the lieutenant governor, who laid it before the council, 
 and a proclamation was issued. Hutchinson. 
 
 1 From a statement in Hutchinson, vol. iii. p. 321), it is apparent 
 that the soldiers would have been pardoned, if they had been con- 
 victed of murder. It was even contemplated to omit the burning 
 in the hand.
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 417 
 
 Notwithstanding this unfavorable condition of the 
 public mind, the soldiers were fairly tried ; justice 
 triumphed, and the friends of freedom were saved 
 from the lasting reproach of sanguinary proceedings 
 against defenceless men, who had cast themselves 
 upon the civil power for protection. The result 
 gained for the friends of freedom the respect of the 
 world, and no single occurrence did more to advance 
 the cause of truth and just principles, than what was 
 denominated in the language of that day the Boston 
 Massacre. It caused the immediate withdrawal of 
 the troops from the town of Boston, and the people, 
 feeling that something had been gained, received 
 new confidence in the determination to resist the en- 
 croachments of arbitrary power and mistaken policy. 
 It was determined by the town to celebrate the anni- 
 versary of the fifth of March, to the end that there 
 might be an annual development of the " fatal effects 
 of the policy of standing armies, and the natural ten- 
 dency of quartering regular troops in populous cities 
 in times of peace." 1 On the day of the first cele- 
 
 1 The language of Josiah Quincy, Jun. in the Boston Gazette, 
 February, 1771. The anniversary was observed every year until 
 1784. The names of the orators in their order were James Lovell, 
 Dr. Joseph Warren, Dr. Benjamin Church, John Hancock, Dr. 
 Joseph Warren, Rev. Peter Thacher, Benjamin Hichborn, Jona- 
 than W. Austin, William Tudor, Jonathan Mason, Jun., Thomas 
 Dawea, Jun., George Richards Minot, Dr. Thomas Welsh. Dr. 
 Warren fell at the battle of Bunker hill. The oration of Rev. 
 Peter Thacher was delivered in 1776, when Boston was garrisoned 
 by British troops, and the inhabitants were in the country, which 
 occasioned the oration to be delivered at Watertown. Tradition 
 says, that the oration of John Hancock was written by Dr. Samuel 
 Cooper. The " Boston Orations " were collected in a volume in 
 17ri5 by Peter Edes.
 
 418 AMERICAN TRIALS. 
 
 bration, the bells of the town of Boston were tolled 
 from twelve to one o'clock, at noon, and from nine 
 to ten in the evening, and, during the last, figures to 
 represent the murder of the inhabitants were exhib- 
 ited from a window of a distinguished citizen at the 
 north part of the town. On the recurrence of this 
 anniversary until after the independence of the coun- 
 try was firmly established, the day was always observ- 
 ed in a solemn and striking manner. An oration was 
 delivered by public request, when the orators took 
 occasion to illustrate and enforce the great principles 
 of civil and religious liberty, and the people of Bos- 
 ton were thus prepared for those acts of spirited and 
 determined resistance to the encroachments of the 
 crown, which placed them in the foremost rank of 
 the patriots of that day, and covered the names of 
 some of their number with imperishable fame.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 SKETCH OF WILLIAM STOUGHTON. 
 
 STOUGHTON, the first chief justice of the province of 
 Massachusetts, was born in Dorchester in 1G31, and was graduated 
 at Harvard College in 1650. He was educated for the ministry, 
 and after completing his course of studies here, went to England 
 and, while there, enjoyed a fellowship at the Oxford University. 
 During his remaining in England he preached for some time in the 
 county of Sussex, with considerable success, and continued this 
 employment after his return to New England. He acquired a high 
 reputation as a preacher here, and in 1GG8, was chosen to preach 
 the annual election sermon. He chose for the title of his sermon 
 on that occasion " New England's true interest not to lie," and it 
 was pronounced by a cotemporary to be " among the very best de- 
 livered on that occasion." He returned from England in 1G62, 
 and although he continued to preach until 1671, he was never set- 
 tled over any church. 
 
 The occasion of his discontinuing his clerical engagements was' 
 his election to the office of assistant, which place he held by an- 
 nual reelection until the dissolution of the colonial government in 
 1686. During this period, however, he was absent in England as 
 agent of the colony, a part of the time, having been chosen to that 
 responsible office in 1677. Upon the revocation of the old charter, 
 Stoughton was commissioned under Dudley as deputy president of 
 Massachusetts, and in July, 1686, was placed at the head of the 
 courts of the colony, by order of the president and council, which
 
 420 APPENDIX. 
 
 office he held until the arrival of Andros. In the commission to 
 Andros, Stoughton was named as one of his council, and unfortu- 
 nately for his popularity he consented to accept the office, and 
 thereby lost the confidence of the people, while he failed to gain 
 that of the petty tyrant whom he served. In the new organization 
 of the courts, under Andros, he was placed upon the bench of the 
 superior court, but in a subordinate place to Dudley, the late presi- 
 dent, who was made chief justice of the court. With his accustomed 
 sagacity or good fortune, Stoughton was found among the foremost 
 of those who favored the revolution of 1689. His name stands at 
 the head of those who demanded of Andros a surrender of the 
 government, and he was one of the council of safety 1 who assumed 
 the administration until the people had an opportunity of acting 
 upon the subject. 
 
 The people however had not sufficiently regained their confi- 
 dence in his political integrity to give him any place in the gov- 
 ernment, upon their resuming the old charter, and, until the arrival 
 of the new charter, he seems to have been condemned to the walks 
 of private life. The interval of his retirement from office, how- 
 ever, was short, for upon the granting of the new charter he was 
 appointed lieutenant governor of the province, and from that time 
 till his death filled some of the most important offices in the gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Upon the arrival of Sir William Phipps in 1692, he proceeded to 
 constitute a special court of oyer and terminer for the trial of per- 
 sons accused of witchcraft. It was to consist of five judges, and at 
 the head of these was placed William Stoughton. On no indi- 
 vidual does the responsibility of the sad consummation of that ex- 
 citement rest more heavily than on William Stoughton. On the 
 organization of the superior court under the charter, Stoughton 
 was nominated and unanimously approved by the council as chief 
 justice of that court. He held the office until a short time before 
 his death. During this time he also continued to hold the offices of 
 lieutenant governor and counsellor, and, a part of the time, was 
 commander in chief of the province troops. He erected in his life- 
 time a building for the accommodation of the students of Harvard 
 College, which was taken down in 1780," being an unsubstantial 
 piece of masonry." In 1806, a substantial brick building being 
 
 1 So stated in Washburn's Judicial History of Massachusetts, from which this 
 account is principally derived. But see Quincy's History of Harvard Univer- 
 sity, i. 176.
 
 APPENDIX. 421 
 
 erected by the corporation, the name of Stoughton was given to it. 
 He died at the age of seventy years, greatly lamented, and was 
 buried at Dorchester " with great honor and solemnity and with 
 him much of New England's glory." A Latin epitaph records 
 his virtues, his honors and his name, and still points out his grave 
 in the ancient churchyard of that ancient town. 
 
 THE PROFESSIONAL LIFE OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 The political history of John Adams, the second president of the 
 United States, is too familiar to the general reader to require any 
 notice in this place. His professional career and character are less 
 known. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1755, and studi- 
 ed law with James Putnam, of Worcester, where he was employed 
 for a time in teaching a school. Admitted to the bar in 1758, he 
 commenced the practice of his profession in Braintree, his native 
 town. In 17G5, he removed to Boston. He early engaged in the 
 political struggles of that day, and was far in advance of his con- 
 temporaries in zeal for the popular cause. Notwithstanding his 
 private feelings, he was retained as counsel for the British soldiers 
 in 1770, and defended them with a spirit and ability, which mainly 
 contributed to the just results of those famous trials, and has re- 
 dounded to his own honor and to that of the profession to which 
 he belonged. 
 
 Mr. Adams was actively engaged in professional pursuits until 
 1775. He attended the courts at Falmouth (now Portland) in 
 Maine for twelve successive years before the revolution. He was 
 an intimate friend of Jonathan Sewall, a distinguished lawyer of 
 Boston, until the crisis took place in American affairs. It was 
 while they were at Falmouth in July, 1774, that the separation be- 
 tween them took place They were walking, before breakfast, on 
 the hill at the eastern extremity of the town, conversing upon the 
 alarming condition of the country and its future prospects. Nei- 
 ther could convince the other that his views were erroneous, and 
 they resolved never to converse on the subject any more. Mr. 
 Adams, at that time and under those circumstances, uttered the 
 well known exclamation, "sink or swim, live or die, survive or 
 perish, with my country is my unalterable resolution." He termi- 
 nated the deeply interesting conversation by saying ; " I see we 
 36
 
 422 APPENDIX. 
 
 must part, and with a bleeding heart I say it, I fear forever; but 
 you may depend upon it, that this adieu is the sharpest thorn on 
 which I ever set my foot." Sewall retired to England in 1775, 
 and Mr. Adams did not meet him again until he called on him in 
 London, in 1788, as the ambassador of the United States. While 
 on the same circuit in Maine, Mr. Adams wrote to his wife as fol- 
 lows : " My life has been a continual scene of fatigue, vexation, 
 labor and anxiety. I have four children. I had a pretty estate 
 from my father ; I have been assisted by your father ; I have done 
 the greatest business in the province. I have had the richest clients 
 in the province. Yet I am poor, in comparison with others. This, 
 I confess, is grievous and discouraging. I ought however to be can- 
 did enough to acknowlege that I have been imprudent. I have 
 spent an estate in books ; I have spent a sum of money indiscreetly 
 in a lighter, another in a pew, and a much greater in a house in 
 Boston. These would have been indiscretions, if the impeachment 
 of the judges, the Boston port bill, &c. &c., had never happened ; 
 but by the unfortunate interruption of my business from these 
 causes, those indiscretions became almost fatal to me ; to be sure, 
 much more detrimental. John Lowell, at Newburyport, has built 
 himself a house like the palace of a nobleman, and lives in great 
 splendor. His business is very profitable. In short, every lawyer 
 who has the least appearance of abilities, makes it do in the coun- 
 try. In town, nobody does, or ever can, who either is not obsti- 
 nately determined never to have any connexion with politics, or 
 does not engage on the side of the government, the administration, 
 and the court. Let us, therefore, my dear partner, from that affec- 
 tion which we feel for our lovely babes, apply ourselves, by every 
 way we can, to the cultivation of our farm. Let frugality and 
 industry be our virtues, if they are not of any others. And above 
 all cares of this life, let our anxiety be, to mould the minds and 
 manners of our children. Let us teach them not only to do vir- 
 tuously, but to excel. To excel, they must be taught to be steady, 
 active, and industrious." 
 
 In 1774, Mr. Adams was appointed a delegate to the first conti- 
 nental congress, and in 1775 he was appointed chief justice of 
 Massachusetts. He was detained, however, in a more extended 
 field of public usefulness, and never actually performed any of the 
 duties of his office as judge, and resigned the place the following 
 year. From that time his connection with the judiciary ceased. 
 He afterwards filled the highest office in the nation, and died July 
 4, 1826, at the age of ninety. Mr. Adams was of a middling stat- 
 ure and a full person ; his manner of speaking was generally slow
 
 APPENDIX. 423 
 
 and deliberate, but when excited, he expressed himself with great 
 energy and effect. His mind was strong, his learning accurate and 
 extensive, his ability as a speaker and a writer of a very high 
 order, and his character in private life was above reproach. Amer- 
 ican Jurist, xxv. 65; Letters of John Adams to his wifei. G; Law 
 Reporter, iii. 44. 
 
 SKETCH OF JOSIAH QUINCY, JUN. 
 
 Josiah Quincy, jun., was the son of Josiah Quincy, a merchant in 
 Boston, who, having acquired a handsome fortune, retired to Brain- 
 tree, the seat of his ancestors. His son Josiah was gaduated at 
 Harvard College in 1763. In the same year he commenced the 
 study of the law with Oxenbridge Thacher, Esq. of Boston, one of 
 the most eminent lawyers of that period. Mr. Thacher died in 
 July, 17G5. Mr. Quincy remained in the office during the residue 
 of his student's term, took a general oversight of its concerns, and, 
 on entering his professional career, succeeded to an extensive prac- 
 tice, which his talents, diligence, and fidelity, in a great measure, 
 secured to himself. His industry while a student, and during the 
 first years of his profession, is proved by several manuscript vol- 
 umes, in his own hand, consisting of " Reports of cases and points 
 of law, solemnly adjudged in the Supreme Court of the Province," 
 part of which are original, and part copied from the minutes of 
 eminent lawyers. 
 
 The arguments of Auchmuty, Thacher, Gridley, Otis, Adams, 
 and other distinguished lawyers, with the cases cited, in various 
 important questions, are here abstracted and preserved. 
 
 On commencing the practice of the law, he early became distin- 
 guished for the zeal with which he engaged in the service of his 
 clients, and the learning and eloquence of his arguments both to 
 the court and jury. Otis, Adams, Sewall, and the other great lu- 
 minaries of the bar at that period, were by many years his seniors. 
 His practice, however, soon became extensive, and his high rank 
 as a lawyer was acknowledged by his contemporaries. Although 
 his attachment to professional pursuits was strong, and his atten- 
 tion to his business unremitting, yet the political circumstances f 
 the times were of a character to call into immediate action that 
 love of country, which was the deep-seated passion of his soul.
 
 424 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mr. Quincy became one of the most ardent, influential, and fear- 
 less patriots of that day. His efforts in the cause of liberty, and 
 his personal history, are minutely and graphically described in his 
 memoirs by his son, Josiah Quincy. He died at the age of thirty- 
 one, in April, 1775, at sea, near Cape Ann, on his return from a 
 sea voyage, " within sight of that beloved country which he was 
 not permitted to reach. He expired, not as, a few weeks after- 
 wards, did his friend and copatriot, Warren, in battle, on a field 
 ever memorable and ever glorious, but in solitude, amidst suffer- 
 ing, without associate, and without witness ; yet breathing forth a 
 dying wish for his country, desiring to live only to perform towards 
 her a last and signal service." 
 
 Mr. Quincy was of counsel for the British soldiers engaged in 
 the " Boston Massacre." The following extracts from a correspon- 
 dence, which parental affection and anxiety induced Mr. Quincy's 
 father to commence, will indicate the nature and extent of the 
 sentiment prevalent at that period on the subject. 
 
 To Josiah Quincy, jun., Boston. 
 
 "Braintree, March 22, 1770. 
 " My dear Son, 
 
 " I am under great affliction, at hearing the bitterest reproaches 
 uttered against you, for having become an advocate for those 
 criminals who are charged with the murder of their fellow-citizens. 
 Good God ! Is it possible ? I will not believe it. 
 
 " Just before I returned home from Boston, I knew, indeed, that 
 on the day those criminals were committed to prison, a sergeant 
 had inquired for you at your brother's house, but I had no ap- 
 prehension that it was possible an application would be made to 
 you to undertake their defence. Since then I have been told that 
 you have actually engaged for Captain Presion ; and I have 
 heard the severest reflections made upon the occasion, by men who 
 had just before manifested the highest esteem for you, as one des- 
 tined to be a savior of your country. 
 
 " I must own to you, it has filled the bosom of your aged and 
 infirm parent with anxiety and distress, lest it should not only 
 prove true, but destructive of your reputation and interest ; and I 
 repeat, I will not believe it, unless it be confirmed by your own 
 mouth, or under your own hand. 
 
 " Your anxious and distressed parent, 
 
 " JOSIAH QUINCY."
 
 APPENDIX. 425 
 
 To Josiah Quincy, Esq., Braintree. 
 
 " Boston, March 26, 1770. 
 " Honored Sir, 
 
 " I have little leisure, and less inclination either to know, or to 
 take notice of, those ignorant slanderers, who have dared to utter 
 their ' bitter reproaches ' in your hearing against me, for having 
 become an advocate for criminals charged with murder. But the 
 sting of reproach, when envenomed only by envy and falsehood, 
 will never prove mortal. Before pouring their reproaches into the 
 ear of the aged and infirm, if they had been friends, they would 
 have surely spared a little reflection on the nature of an attorney's 
 oath, and duty ; some trifling scrutiny into the business and dis- 
 charge of his office, and some small portion of patience in viewing 
 my past and future conduct. 
 
 " Let such be told, sir, that these criminals, charged with mur- 
 der, are not yet legally proved guilty, and therefore, however 
 criminal, are entitled, by the laws of God and man, to all legal 
 counsel and aid ; that my duty as a man obliged me to undertake ; 
 that my duty as a lawyer strengthened the obligation ; that from 
 abundant caution, I at first declined being engaged; that after the 
 best advice, and most mature deliberation had determined my 
 judgment, I waited on Captain Preston, and told him that I would 
 afford him my assistance ; but, prior to this, in presence of two of 
 his friends, I made the most explicit declaration to him, of my real 
 opinion, on the contests (as I expressed it to him) of the times, and 
 that my heart and hand were indissolubly attached to the cause of 
 my country ; and finally, that I refused all engagement, until ad- 
 vised and urged to undertake it, by an Adams, a Hancock, a 
 Molineux, a Cushing, a Henshaw, a Pemberton, a Warren, a 
 Cooper, and a Phillips. This and much more might be told with 
 great truth, and I dare affirm, that you, and this whole people will 
 one day REJOICE, that I became an advocate for the aforesaid 
 'criminals,' charged with the murder of our fellow-citizens. 
 
 "I never harbored the expectation, nor any great desire, that all 
 men should speak well of me. To inquire my duty, and to do it, is 
 my aim. Being mortal, I am subject to error; and conscious of 
 this, I wish to be diffident. Being a rational creature, I judge for 
 myself, according to the light afforded me. When a plan of con- 
 duct is formed with an honest deliberation, neither murmuring, 
 slander, nor reproaches move. For my single self, I consider, 
 judge, and with reason hope to be immutable. 
 
 36
 
 426 APPENDIX. 
 
 " There are honest men in all sects, I wish their approba- 
 tion; there are wicked bigots in all parties, I abhor them. 
 " I am, truly and affectionately, your son, 
 
 "JOSIAH QuiNCY, JuN." 
 
 TRIALS FOR WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 Many curious and valuable documents relating to the trials for 
 witchcraft at Salem, in 1692, are still preserved, although in an im- 
 perfect condition. Some of them are in the archives of the com- 
 monwealth, but more are in the office of the clerk of the courts for 
 Essex. It is believed that the original record book of these trials is 
 lost. A copy of it was made several years ago for Ichabod Tucker, 
 Esq., of Salem, but this also is lost or misplaced. Every thing re- 
 lating to these trials possesses an interest, and several of the docu- 
 ments have been copied for insertion in this work. They will be 
 found to be interesting as throwing light not only upon these trials, 
 showing to some extent the forms of judicial proceedings at that 
 day, but they also exhibit the condition of the public mind, and 
 give striking proof of affecting and impassioned eloquence, and dis- 
 play the energies of humble minds powerfully excited by the con- 
 sciousness of being placed in momentous extremities. The author 
 deems it proper, in this place, to express his grateful acknowledge- 
 ments to Mr. Shillaber, clerk of the courts in the county of Essex, 
 and to that laborious and intelligent antiquarian, Mr. J. B. Felt, of 
 Boston, for the facilities which they have afforded him in his inves- 
 tigations. 
 
 FORM OF WARRANT FOR THE ARREST OF PERSONS SUSPECTED 
 OF WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 To the marshall of Essex or deputy or constables in Salem : 
 
 You are in their majesties' names hereby required to apprehend 
 and forthwith to bring before us, Benjamin Procter, the son of John 
 Procter, of Salem, farmer, and Mary Derich, the wife of William 
 Derich of Salem, farmers and husbandmen, and Sarah Pease, the 
 wife of Robert Pease, of Salem, weaver, who all stand charged of 
 having committed sundry acts of witchcraft on the bodys of Mary 
 Warren, Abigail Williams and Eliza Hurlbert of Salem village, 
 whereby great hurt is donne them. In order to their examination
 
 APPENDIX. 427 
 
 relating [to] the above said premises, and hereof you are not to fail. 
 Dated Salem, May the 23d, 1692. 
 
 JOHN HATHORNE, 
 JONATHAN CORWIN. 
 Per order of the Governor and council. 
 
 I do appoint Mr. John Putnam to be my lawful deputy to serve 
 this warrant. 
 
 GEO. HERRICK, Marshall of Essex. 
 
 EXAMINATION OF MARY BLACK. 
 
 The examination of Mary Black, (a negro) at a court held at 
 Salem village 22 April, 1692. By the magistrates of Salem. 
 
 Mary, you are accused of sundry acts of witchcraft : Tell me be 
 you a witch? 
 
 silent. 
 
 How long have you been a witch ? 
 
 I cannot tell. 
 
 But have you been a witch ? 
 
 I cannot tell you. 
 
 Why do you hurt these folks ? 
 
 I hurt nobody. 
 
 Who doth ? 
 
 I do not know. 
 
 Her master, saith a man sat down upon the farm with her 
 about a twelvemonth ago. 
 
 What did the man say to you? 
 
 He said nothing. 
 
 Doth this negroe hurt you ? 
 
 Severall of them said yes. 
 
 Why do you hurt them ? 
 
 I did not hurt them. 
 
 Do you prick sticks ? 
 
 No, I pin my neckcloth. 
 
 Well, take out a pin and pin it again. 
 
 She did so, and severall of the afflicted cried out they were 
 prick 't. Mary Walcott was prick't in the arm till the blood came, 
 Abigail Williams was prick't in the stomach and Mercy Lewis was 
 prick't in the foot. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Parris being desired to take in writing the examina- 
 tion of Mary Black, a negro woman, delivered it as aforesaid. And 
 upon hearing the same and seeing what we did then see together
 
 428 APPENDIX. 
 
 with the charge of the afflicted person then present, we committed 
 
 said Mary Black. 
 
 JOHN HATHORNE, ) . ., 
 JONATHAN CORWIN, 5 ASS1S ts ' 
 
 WARRANT FOR JURY. 
 
 To George Corwin, Gent. Sheriff of the County of Essex. Greeting. 
 You are required in their Majesties names to publish and give 
 notice within your Bailiwicke in the best manner you can of the 
 sitting of their majesties Justices upon a Commissioner of Oyer 
 and terminer at the Town of Salem upon Tuesday next the second 
 of June next at Eight in the morning, for the tryal of all Crimes 
 and offences done and perpetrated within the s-d County, requiring 
 all persons concerned as prosecutors or evidences to give their 
 attendance ; and to return eighteen honest and lawfull men of 
 y'r Bailowick to serve upon the Jury of tryals at the said Court, 
 hereof faile not Dated in Boston, May 30th, 1G92. In the ffourth 
 year of their ma'ties Reign. 
 
 WILLIAM STOCGHTON, 
 SAM'L SEWALL. 
 
 DEATH WARRANT OF BRIDGET BISHOP. (See p. 97.) 
 
 To George Corwin Gent'n high Sheriffe of the County of Essex. 
 
 Greeting. 
 
 Whereas Bridgett Bishop als Olliver the wife of Edward Bishop of 
 Salem in the County of Essex Sawyer at a special Court of Oyer 
 and Terminer held at Salem the second day of this instant month 
 of June for the Countyes of Essex, Middlesex and Suffolk before 
 William Stoughton, Esq. and his Associate Justices of the said 
 Court was Indicted and arraigned upon five severall Indictments 
 for useing, practising and exercising on the nyneteenth day of 
 April last past and divers other dayes and times before and after 
 certaine acts of Witchcraft in and upon the bodyes of Abigail Wil- 
 liams, Ann Putnam Jun Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcot and Eliza- 
 beth Hubbard of Salem village, singlewomen, whereby their bodyes 
 were hurt, afflicted, pined, consumed, wasted and tormented con- 
 trary to the forme of the statute in that Case made and provided. 
 To which Indictm'ts the said Bridgett Bishop pleaded not guilty 
 and for Tryall thereof put herselfe upon God and her Country,
 
 APPENDIX. 429 
 
 whereupon she was found guilty of the ffelonyes and Witchcraft 
 whereof she stood Indicted and sentence of Death accordingly 
 passed ag't her as the Law directs, Execution whereof yet remain- 
 eth to be done. These are therefore in the name of their Maj'ties 
 William and Mary now King and Queen over England, &c. to will 
 and Comand you That upon ffryday next being the Tenth Day of 
 this instant month of June between the houres of Eight and 
 twelve in the aforenoon of the same day you safely conduct the s'd 
 Bridgett Bishop als Olliver from their maj'ties Gaol in Salem 
 afores'd to the place of Execution and there cause her to be hanged 
 by the neck untill she be dead and of your doings herein make 
 returne to the Clerke of the s'd Court and prept. And hereof you 
 are not to faile Given vnder my hand and Scale at Boston the 
 Eighth day of June in the ffourth year of the Reigne of our Sove- 
 reign Lord and Lady William and Mary now King and Queen over 
 England &c Annoq Dm : 1692. 
 
 WM. STOUGHTON. 
 
 June 10th, 1G92. 
 
 According to the Within Written precept I have taken the body 
 of the within named Bridgett Bishop out of their Majesties Gaole 
 in Salem and safely conveighed her to the place provided for her 
 Execution and Caused y'e s'd Brigett to be hanged by the neck 
 untill she was dead and buried in the place [the words in italics are 
 partly erased] all which was according to the time Within Re- 
 quired and So I make Returne by me. 
 
 GEORGE CORWIN, Sheriff. 
 
 INDICTMENT OF WILLIAM BARKER. 
 
 Province of Massachusetts^ Anno R. R. & Regime Gulielmi <fc 
 Bay. Essex, as. in New >Mariae Anglicse,&c. Quarto Annoque 
 England. ) Dom. 1G92. 
 
 The jurors for our sovereign Lord and Lady , the King and Queen, 
 present, that William Barker, of Andover, in the county of Essex, 
 aforesaid, husbandman, about three years last past, in the township 
 of Andover, aforesaid, wickedly, maliciously, and feloniously, by a 
 covenant with the Devill. did make and did sign the Devill's Booke 
 with blood, and gave himself, soule and body, to the Devill. By 
 which wicked and diabolical covenant with the Devill, made in 
 manner and form aforesaid, the said William Barber is become a 
 detestable witch, against the peace of our sovereign Lord and 
 Lady, the King and Queen, their crowne and dignity, and the 
 law, in that case made and provided. 
 (Endorsed) Billa Vera. 
 
 ROBERT PAYNE, Foreman.
 
 430 APPENDIX. 
 
 INDICTMENT OF SAMUEL WARDELL. (Seep. 121.) 
 
 Essex, in the province of ^ Ano. RRs. & Reginse Gulielmi & Ma- 
 the Massachusetts bay, V rise, Anglise, &c. Quarto, Anoq. Dom. 
 in New England, ss. ) 1692. 
 
 The Jurors for our sov. Lord & Lady, the King & Queen, pre- 
 sent Samuel Wardell, of Andover, in the County of Essex, Car- 
 penter About Twenty Years agoe in the Towne of Andover, 
 In the County of Essex aforesaid Wickedly & felloniously he the 
 Said Samuel Wardell with the Evill Speritt the Devill A Couenant 
 did make Wherin he promised to honor Worship & beleiue the 
 devill Contrary to the Stattute of King James the first in that be- 
 halfe made & provided, And against the peace of Soveraigne Lord 
 & Lady the King & Queen, their Crown & dignity. 
 
 FORMS OF DEPOSITIONS. 
 
 The deposition of Mercy Lewis, aged about eighteen years or 
 thereabouts, testifieth and saith, that on the twenty-sixth day of 
 this instant, May, that Goody Reed, of Marblehead, did pinch her, 
 and she hath seen her severall times since, but she could not say 
 she hurt her : and further saith nott. 
 
 The Deposition of Sam : Parris aged about 39 years, & John 
 Putman, sen. aged about 63 years, both of Salem Village, testifyeth 
 and saith, that this 18 instant, June, being at the house of Jonathan 
 Putman whom we found very ill, after a little while Mercy Lewis, 
 sent for on purpose, came into said Jonathan Putman's house, & 
 was presently struck dumb, but being bid to hold up her hand if she 
 saw any of the witches afflict said Jonathan, whereupon she pre- 
 sently lift up her hand, & after fell into a Trance, & when said 
 Mercy came to her self, she said she saw Goody Nurse & Goody 
 Currier holding said Jonathan's head, and farther saith not. 
 Jurat in Curia. 
 
 RETURN OF A JURY OF EXAMINATION. (See p. 94.) 
 
 1692. Salem June 2d aboute 10 in Morning. 
 Wee whose names are Vnder written, being Comanded by Capt. 
 George Corwine Esq. Sheriffe of y'e County of Essex this 2d day 
 of June JG92 for to vew y'e bodyes of Brigett Bishop alias Oliver, 
 Rebeccah Nurse, Elizabeth Procter, Alice Parker, Susanna Mar- 
 tine, Sarah Good. The first three, namely ; Bishop; Nurse ; Proc-
 
 APPENDIX. 431 
 
 ter ; by diligent search have discouered a preternaturall Excres- 
 cence of flesh betweene y'e pudendum and Anus much like to tetta 
 & not vsuall in women, & much Vnlike to y'e other three that 
 hath been searched by vs & y't they were in all y'e three women 
 neer y'e same place. J. BARTON, Chyrurg. 
 
 ALICE X PICKERING, JANE t*j WOOLINGS, 
 
 her marke. her marke. 
 
 MARGERY ^ WILLIAMS, ANNA X STEPHENS, 
 
 her marke. her marke. 
 
 ELIZABETH ><< HILL. ELANOR M HENDERSON. 
 
 her marke. her marke. 
 
 REBECAH x SHARP, LYDIA /. PICKMAN. 
 
 her marke. her marke. 
 
 HANNAH KEZIER. 
 
 Sworne in Court, June 2d, 1692. 
 
 Alt. STEP: SEWALL,Cle. 
 
 Salem, aboute 4 afternoon, June 2d, 1692. 
 
 We whose names are subscribed to y'e within mentioned, upon a 
 second search aboute 3 or 4 houres distance, did find y'e said 
 Brigett Bishop alias Oliver, in a clear & free state from any pre- 
 ternaturall Excrescence, as formerly seen by vs as alsoe Rebecah 
 Nurse, instead of that Excresence within mentioned, it appears 
 only as a dry skin, without sener, & as for Elizabeth Procter 
 which Excresence like a tett Red & fresh, not any thing appears, 
 but only a proper procedentia Anj, & as for Susanna Martine 
 whose breast in y'e morning search appeared to vs very full ; y'e 
 niblis fresh & starting, now at this Searching all Lancke & 
 pendant, which is all at present from y'e within mentioned Sub- 
 scribers, that that piece of flesh of Goodwife Nursys formerly seen 
 is gone & only a dry skin nearer to y'e anus in another place. 
 
 [Signed as above.] 
 
 PETITION OF REBECCA FOX. 
 
 To his excellency Sir Williams Phips, Knt. governor, and the 
 honorable council now sitting at Boston, the humble petition of 
 Rebecca Fox of Cambridge, showeth, That whereas Rebecca Ja- 
 cobs (daughter of your humble petitioner) has a long time, 
 even many months now lyen in prison for witchcraft, and is well 
 known to be a person craz'd, distracted and broken in mind, your
 
 432 APPENDIX. 
 
 humble petitioner does most humbly and earnestly seek unto your 
 excellency and to your honors for relief in this case. 
 
 Your petitioner, who knows well the condition of her poor daugh- 
 ter, together with seveial others of good repute and credit, are 
 ready to offer their oaths, that the said Jacobs is a woman craz'd, 
 distracted, and broken in her mind, and that she has been so these 
 twelve years and upwards. 
 
 However, for (I think) about this half year the said Jacobs has 
 lyen in prison, and yet remains there attended with many sad diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 Christianity and nature do each of them oblige your petitioner to 
 become solicitous in this matter, & although many weighty cases 
 exercise your thoughts, yet your petitioner can have no rest in her 
 mind, till such time as she has offered this addresse on behalf of 
 her daughter. 
 
 Some have dyed already in prison, & others have been danger- 
 ously sick, & how soon others & among them my poor child by 
 the difficulties of this confinement, may be sick & dye, God only 
 knows : She is incapable of making that shift for herself that others 
 can do, <fc such are her circumstances on other accounts that your 
 petitioner who is her tender mother has many secret sorrows & 
 almost overcoming burthens on her mind upon her account, but in 
 the midst of all her perplexities & troubles (next to supplicating to 
 a good & merciful God) your petitioner has no way for help but to 
 make this her afflicted condition known unto you. So not doubt- 
 ing but your excellency and your honors will readily hear the 
 cries & groans of a poor distressed woman & grant what help & 
 enlargment you may, your petitioner heartily begs God's gracious 
 presence with you & subscribes herself in all humble manner, 
 Your sorrowful & distressed petitioner, 
 
 REBECCA Fox. 
 
 PETITION OF ANN PTJDEATER. (See p. 121.) 
 
 The humble Petition of Ann Pudeater unto y'e honoored Judge 
 and Bench now setting in Judicature in Salem humbly sheweth : 
 
 That Whereas your Poor and humble Petitioner being condemn- 
 ed to die, and knowing in my own conscience as I shall shortly 
 answer it before y'e great God of heauen who is the searcher and 
 knower of all hearts : That the Euidence of Jno Best Sen and Jno 
 Best Jun'r and Sam'lt Pickworth w'h was giuen in against me in 
 Court were all of whom altogether false and untrue and besides
 
 APPENDIX. 433 
 
 the abouesaid Jno Best hath been formerly whipt and likewise 
 is recorded for A Lyar I would humbly begg of yo'r honors to 
 Take it into your Judicious and Pious consideration That my life 
 may not be taken away by such false Euidences and witnesses as 
 those be likewise y'e Euidence giuen in against me by Sarah 
 Church and Mary Warren I am altogether ignorant off and know 
 nothing in y'e least measure about it nor nothing else concerning 
 y'e crime of witchcraft for w'ch 1 am condemned to die as will be 
 known to men and angells att the great day of Judgment begging 
 and imploring your prayers att the throne of grace in my behalf 
 and your poor and humble petition'r shall for euer pray as she 
 is bound in duty for y'r honors health and happiness in this life and 
 eternall felicity in y'e world to come. 
 
 GEORGE BURROUGHS. 
 
 (See page 114.) 
 
 Forasmuch as its made manifest that y'e children of Mr. George 
 Burroughs Dece'd by his former wiews did in y'e time of his Im- 
 prisonment administer vnto him necessary things and were at 
 considerable charge thereabout and for his interment and that y'e 
 widow had most or all of y'e personal Estate. In Consideration 
 Whereof Wee y'e Subscribers a Comittee apointed by y'eGenerall 
 Court do Consent agree and order that the Six pounds G'd money 
 yet remain'g of y'e fifty pounds alowed by y'e Gouernment Shall 
 be payd to y'e s'd Children in Equal Shares. 
 
 January 3d, 1712. JOHN APPLETON, 
 
 THOMAS NOTES, 
 STEPHEN SEWALL, 
 NEH. JEWETT. 
 
 Boston April y'e 9 : 
 
 Honnoured Sir : the fauour which i would humbly ask of your 
 honnour at this time is that you would please to let my brother 
 George Burrough haue what remains in your hands on the account 
 of my deceased but Honnoured father Mr. George Burrough. Sir 
 my request is, that it may be don without delay for euery diss- 
 course on this melancholly Subiect doth giue a fresh wound to 
 my bleeding hnrt but i desire to sit down in silence and remain 
 sir your Honnours most obedient seruant RCBEKAH : TOWLE : 
 37
 
 434 APPENDIX. 
 
 PETITION OF MARY TOWNE. 
 
 To the Honored Court now sitting in Salem Right Honored : 
 the constable of Topsfield hath served a warrant on me and two 
 of my sons and two of my sisters to Appear this day at Salem. 
 I humbly beg that your honor will not import any thing concern- 
 ing our not coming as contempt of authority for [several lines 
 illegible] We would come but we are in a starving condition and 
 most of us can scars get of of our bedds we are so wake an not 
 a bell to [illegible] : as for my dalter Rebaka she hath starving 
 fits some times she is knocked down of a soden : 
 
 MARY TOWNE. 
 
 Dat. the 7th of September, 1692. 
 
 ADVICE OF THE ELDERS RESPECTING THE QUAKERS. 
 
 [From the original in the State Archives.] 
 
 The Elders being called to attend the honored General Court 
 at a session held in Boston Nov. 27, 16C1, have unto certain quffi- 
 res, then and there proposed to them, returned their apprehensions 
 as followeth : 
 
 Quaere 1 . Whether the execution of our laws referring to the 
 punishment of the Quakers, as such, shall be suspended pro tern- 
 pore, or what else to be done therein? 
 
 Jlns. Upon his majesties letters [see p. 52] we conceive it expe- 
 dient that execution of death or corporal punishment according 
 as is expressed therein be suspended pro tempore. Provided that 
 some effectual course be also taken in the interim for the restraint 
 of turbulencies in church or state which the king's warrant to our 
 apprehension no ways inhibits, but rather encourageth thereunto. 
 
 Quare 2. Whether the Quakers in prison should be sent for Eng- 
 land with their accusations, or otherwise released out of prison. 
 
 Jlns. We think it much better that the Quakers in prison, should 
 be sent for England with their accusations, than that they should 
 be released out of prison. 
 
 Quare 3. Whether this Court is called to make an humble ad- 
 dress by petition to his majesty in answer to his letters now brought 
 concerning the said Quakers. 
 
 Jlns. To this 3d quaere we answer affirmatively. 
 
 Queere. Whether this Court will send any person or persons to 
 solicit in the country's behalf? 
 
 Jlns. We think this honored court shall do well to send some 
 fit person or persons to solicit in the country's behalf.
 
 APPENDIX. 435 
 
 Qu&re 5. Whether this court will raise any sum of money (and 
 what) to furnish such person or persons, to manage our interests 
 in England ? 
 
 J}ns. We think this honored court shall do well to raise a com- 
 petent sum of money, according to the ability of this place to fur- 
 nish such person or persons to manage our interests in England. 
 
 This was presented to the court by the reverend Mr. Mather in 
 the name of the Elders as their return. 29, 9 mo. 1661. 
 
 PETITION OF WILLIAM DYER FOR THE LIFE OF HIS WIFE. 
 
 [From the original in the State Archives.] 
 
 (See p. 44.) 
 
 Honored Sir, It is no little grief and sadness of heart, that I 
 am necessitated to be so bold as to supplicate your honorable self 
 with the honorable assembly of your general court to extend your 
 mercy and favor once again to me and my children. Little did I 
 dream that ever I should have had occasion to petition you in a 
 matter of this nature ; but so it is, that through the divine provi- 
 dence and your benignity, my son obtained so much pity and 
 mercy at your hands as to enjoy the life of his mother. Now my 
 supplicaiion to your honors is, to beg affectionately the life of my 
 wife. Tis true I have not seen her about this half year, and there- 
 fore cannot tell how in the frame of her spirit she was moved thus 
 again to run so great a hazard to herself and perplexity to me and 
 mine, and all her friends and neighbors. So it is from Shell Island 
 about by Pequid Narragansett and to the town of Providence she 
 secretely and speedily journeyed, and as secretly from thence came 
 to your jurisdiction. Unhappy journey may I say, and woe to 
 that generation say I that gives occasion thus of grief and trouble 
 to those who desire to be quiet, by helping one another (as 1 may 
 say) to hazard their lives for I know not what end or to what pur- 
 pose. If her zeal be so great as thus to adventure, oh let your 
 favor and pity surmount it and save her life. Let not your fore- 
 wonted compassion be conquered by her inconsiderate madness, 
 and how greatly will your renown be spread if by so conquering 
 you become victorious. What shall I say more ? I know you are 
 all sensible of my condition, and let the reflect be, and you will 
 see what my petition is and what will give me and mine peace. 
 Oh let mercy's wings once more soar above justice balance and then 
 whilst I live shall I exalt your goodness. But otherwise, 'twill be a 
 languishing sorrow, yea, so great that I should rather suffer the blow
 
 436 APPENDIX. 
 
 at once, much rather. I shall forbear to trouble your honor with 
 words. Neither am I in a capacity to expatiate myself at present. 
 I only say that yourselves have been and are or may be husbands 
 to wife or wives. So am I. Yea, to one most dearly beloved. 
 Oh do not you deprive me of her, but I pray give her me once 
 again, and I shall be so much obliged forever, that I shall endeavor 
 constantly to offer my thanks, and render your love and honor 
 most renowned. Pity me; 1 beg it with tears, and rest your most 
 humble supplicant. Most honorable sir, let these lines by your favor 
 be my petition to your honorable general court at yresent sitting. 
 
 W. DYER. 
 
 NOTE TO THE TRIALS OF THE QUAKERS. 
 
 On page 53 of the present volume it is stated that Ann Colman, 
 Mary Tompkins, and Alice Ambrose were tied to a cart's tail in 
 Dover and whipped, with ten stripes in each town, through eleven 
 towns. The statement ia not entirely accurate. According to 
 the Quaker writers, a warrant to whip these women through eleven 
 towns was made, but they admit that it was never fully executed, 
 and that the women were in fact whipped through three towns 
 only, which was in conformity to law. The warrant was as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 To the constable of Dover, Hampton, Salisbury, Newbury, Row- 
 ley, Ipswich, Wenham, Linn, Boston, Roxbury, Dedham, and until 
 these vagabond Quakers are carried out of this jurisdiction. 
 
 You and every of you, are required, in the king's majesty's 
 name, to take these vagabond Quakers, Ann Colman, Mary Tomp- 
 kins, Alice Ambrose, and make them fast to the cart's tail, and 
 driving the cart through our several towns, to whip them upon 
 their backs, not exceeding ten stripes apiece, on each of them, in 
 each town, and so to convey them from constable to constable till 
 they come out of this jurisdiction, as you will answer it at your 
 peril ; and this shall be your warrant. 
 
 At Dover dated December 22, 1692. 
 
 Per me, RICHARD WALDEN.
 
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