..."[[152]]
Case after case, in which hysteria, fanaticism, cruelty,
injustice, and trickery played their part, was followed up to the
scaffold. In a short time twenty persons had been put to a cruel
death, and the number of the accused grew larger and larger. The
highest position and the noblest character formed no barrier.
Daily the possessed became more bold, more tricky, and more wild.
No plea availed anything. In behalf of several women, whose lives
had been of the purest and gentlest, petitions were presented,
but to no effect. A scriptural text was always ready to aid in
the repression of mercy: it was remembered that "Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light," and above all resounded the
Old Testament injunction, which had sent such multitudes in
Europe to the torture-chamber and the stake, "Thou shalt not
suffer a witch to live."
Such clergymen as Noyes, Parris, and Mather, aided by such
judges as Stoughton and Hathorn, left nothing undone to stimulate
these proceedings.
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