Pietas in patriam the life of His Excellency Sir William Phips, Knt. late Captain…

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 satisfy them in which Persuasion, 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 well-attested Relations of the gravest Authors from Bodin to Bovet, and from Binsfeld to Bromhal and Baxter, to deny all which, would be as reasonable as to turn the Chronicles of all Nations into Romances, of Don Quixote, 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 showed 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 ⟨p. 73⟩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 Daemons, then a thousand ways abusing of the poor afflicted People, had with a marvellous exactness represented them;

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 well-attested Relations of the gravest Authors from Bodin to Bovet, and from Binsfeld 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 Witcheraft, 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