"But the worst part of this astonishing Tragedy is ye behind; wherein Sir William Phips, at last, being dropt, as it were from the Machin of Heaven, was an Instrument of easing the Distresses of the Land, now so darkened by the Wrath of the Lord of Hosts. There were very worthy Men upon the spot, where the assault from Hell was first made, who apprehended themselves call'd from the God of Heaven, to sift the business unto the bottom of it; and, indeed, the continual Impressions, which the outcries and the havocks of the afflicted People that lived nigh unto them, caused on their Minds, gave no little Edge to this Apprehension.

"The Persons were Men eminent for Wisdom and Virtue, and they went about their enquiry into the matter as driven unto it, by a Conscience of Duty to God and the World. They did in the first Place, take it for granted, that there are Witches, or, wicked Children of Men, who upon Covenanting with, and Commissioning of Evil Spirits, are attended by their Ministry to accomplish the Things. desired of them: To satisfie them in which perswasion, they had not only the Assertions of the Holy Scripture; Assertions, which the Witch-Advocates cannot evade without shifts, too foolish for any Prudent, or too profane for any Honest Man, to use; and they had not only the wellattested Relations of the gravest Authors from Bodin to Bovet, and from Binsfield to Bromhal and Baxter, to deny all which, would be as reasonable as to turn the Chronicles of all Nations into Romances, of Don Quixot, and the seven Champions; but they had also an Ocular Demonstration in one, who a little before had been executed for Witchcraft, when Joseph Dudley Esquire was the Chief Judge. There was one whose Magical Images were found, and who confessing her Deeds, (when a Jury of Doctors returned her, Compos Mentis) actually shewed the whole Court, by what Ceremonies used unto them, she directed her Familiar Spirits, how and where to Cruciate the Objects of her Malice; and the Experiments being made over and over again, before the whole Court, the Effect followed exactly, in the Hurts done to People at a distance from her. The Existence of such Witches, was now taken for granted by those good Men, wherein so far the generality of reasonable Men, have thought, they

ran well; and they soon received the confessions of some accused Persons to confirm them in it; but then, they took one thing more for granted, wherein 'tis now as generally thought they went out of the Way. The Afflicted People vehemently accused several Persons in several Places, that the Spectres which afflicted them, did exactly resemble Them; until the importunity of the Accusations did provoke the Magistrates to examine them. When many of the accused came upon their Examination, it was found, that the Damons, then a thousand ways abusing of the poor afflicted People, had with a marvellous exactness represented them; yea it was found that many of the accused, but casting their Eye on the afflicted, the afflicted, though their Faces were never so much another way, would fall down and lye in a sort of a swoon, wherein they would continue, whatever Hands were laid upon them, until the Hands of the accused came to touch them, and then they would revive immediately: And it was found, that various kinds of natural Actions done by many of the accused in or to their own Bodies, of Leaning, Bending, Turning Awry, or Squeezing their Hands or the like, were presently attended with the like things præternaturally done upon the Bodies of the Afflicted, though they were so far asunder that the Afflicted could not at all observe the Accused.

"It was also found that the Flesh of the Afflicted was often Bitten, at such a rate, that not only the Print of Teeth would be left on their Flesh, but the very Slaver of Spittle too: And there would appear just such a set of Teeth, as was in the Accused, even such as might be clearly distinguished from other Peoples. And usually the Afflicted went through a terrible deal of seeming Difficulties from the tormenting Spectres, and must be long waited on, before they could get a Breathing Space from their Torments, to give in their Testimonies."

More wonders of the invisible world, or the wonders of the invisible world displayed in five parts. Part 1. An account of the sufferings of Margaret Rule, written by the Rev. C. M. Part 2nd. Several letters to

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the author, &c. and his reply relating to witchcraft. Part 3d. The differences between the inhabitants of Salem village, and Mr. Parris their minister, in NewEngland. Part 4th. Letters of a gentleman uninterested, endeavouring to prove the received opinions about witchcraft to be orthodox, with short essays to their answers. Part 5. A short historical account of matters of fact in that affair. To which is added a postscript relating to a book entitled, the life of Sir William Phips, collected by Robert Calef, merchant of Boston in New-England. London, printed for Nath. Hiller, at the Princes Arms, 1700 4to. pp. 156.

Mr. Calef, the author of this work, deserves great praise for having manfully withstood a delusion, which was so strong, had such powerful patrons, and was so fatal in its consequences, that most persons were afraid to appear in opposition. In his discussion with Cotton Mather, he is as superiour to him in reasoning, as he was in good sense and courage. The work contains all the particulars of the monstrous proceedings in the cases of the witches; fanaticism and fear were both united in the cause, and it is not therefore wonderful, that the cruelty could only be equalled by the absurdity of these transactions. It is impossible to read the account of them without indignation ; and if justice had been done, Mr. Parris, one of the clergymen of Salem, and some of the accusers, and we are not certain but Mr. Mather, who did more than any other person to excite, and after the proceedings were arrested by the government, to renew, these horrible persecutions, would have been executed for having procured the death of so many innocent individuals. We shall only extract two or three sentences from Dr. Mather's account of Margaret Rule, to shew what was the character of the accusers, for Dr. Mather's own account, will be sufficient to give an idea of his protegeè; and no comment is necessary to fix opinion about a man, who laboured with all his might, to make use of wretches like her, to destroy the lives of the innocent. His learning was very considerable, but his folly and his credulity were unlimited. "There was one in the north part of Boston, seized by the evil angels many months after the general storm of the late Inchant

ments was over, and when the country had long lain pretty quiet, both as to molestations and accusations from the invisible world. Her name was Margaret Rule, a young woman, she was born of sober and honest parents, yet living, but what her own character was before her visitation, I can speak with the less confidence of exactness, because I observe, that wherever the Devils have been let loose, to worry any poor creature among us, a great part of the neighbourhood presently set themselves to inquire, and relate all the little vanities of their childhood, with such unequal exaggerations, as to make them appear greater sinners than any whom the Pilate of Hell has not yet preyed upon. But it is affirmed that for about half a year before her visitation, she was observably improved in the hopeful symptoms of a new creature; she was become furiously concerned for the everlasting salvation of her soul, and careful to avoid the snares of evil company." At the time the government interfered and stopt the prosecutions, twenty persons had been executed, eight more condemned; about fifty had confessed themselves to be witches, above an hundred and fifty were in prison, and two hundred more accused.

This country was not the only one that was disgraced by trials and executions for witchcraft. In Sweden, England, and France, similar enormities had taken place a few years before. We may perhaps flatter ourselves that similar crimes cannot be perpetrated again; because the upper classes of society are too enlightened to countenance such atrocious absurdities. There is, however, a great fund of superstition remaining among the ignorant on which knavery and fanaticism may always draw with confidence. In this country and every other, there are still sybils and magicians who are consulted by the vulgar. There is less of this in the United States than in perhaps any other country; there is more than one individual in London and Paris, who obtain a living by telling their fortunes to the credulous, and those who consult them, particularly in the latter city, are not always of the lowest rank. The disgraceful imposture in England, of that poor, lunatick, Joanna Southcote, which lasted so long and terminated last year by her death; is a proof that society owe their security from evils of this nature, to the more enlightened state

of governments in our times. Had there been any interference, either by the ecclesiastical authority, or by the police, as many rash persons desired; the blasphemous and ridiculous absurdities of that woman might have taken deep root, and occasioned lasting mischief. Her followers consisted of tens, some said hundreds of thousands; among them were some clergymen, and many persons of property; all these would have cried out, if government had interfered, and the impostor herself would have been canonized in the belief of her stupid votaries. The extent of the delusion, in times like these, when information is so widely spread, may moderate our censures of our ancestors, who were placed under circumstances so widely different.

In Mr. Calef's observations on the Rev. Dr. Mather's life of Sir W. Phips, there are some interesting particulars of the manner in which the new charter was obtained from the King, the old one having been resumed by a quo warranto.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTH-AMERICAN JOURNAL

Sir,

The uncommon weather which we have experienced since May last, and the late appearances in the sun having excited an unusual degree of attention to meterological observations, the following paper may probably be interesting to a considerable portion of your readers.

There might be some hesitation in repeating the narrative of such singular and unexplained phenomena, were it not for the respectable source from which the information is derived. M. Acharius is a gentleman of scientifick eminence, whose name and reputation are well known, and his communication has a place in the collections of a respectable literary society, of which be is a member. The translation of his paper, which has been obligingly presented to me by Mr. Hauff, is transmitted to you for publication, if you should consider it an acceptable contribution to your valuable miscellany. Some of your readers, perhaps, may be induced to compare the account given by M. Acharius, with