"
This glance at what transpired on the continent and in England and
Scotland is of value, in the light it throws on the beliefs and
convictions of both Pilgrim and Puritan--Englishmen all--in their new
domain, their implicit reliance on established precedents, their
credulity in witchcraft matters, and their absolute trust in scriptural
and secular authority for their judicial procedure, and the execution of
the grim sentences of the courts, until the revolting work of the
accuser and the searcher, and the delusion of the ministers and
magistrates aflame with mistaken zeal vanished in the sober
afterthought, the reaction of the public mind and conscience, which at
last crushed the machinations of the Devil and his votaries in high
places.
CHAPTER IV
"Hence among all the superstitions that have 'stood over' from primeval
ages, the belief in witchcraft has been the most deeply rooted and the
most tenacious of life. In all times and places until quite lately,
among the most advanced communities, the reality of witchcraft has been
accepted without question, and scarcely any human belief is supported by
so vast a quantity of recorded testimony."
"Considering the fact that the exodus of Puritans to New England
occurred during the reign of Charles I, while the persecutions for
witchcraft were increasing toward a maximum in the mother country, it is
rather strange that so few cases occurred in the New World.
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