Sir William Phipps.-Cotton Mather.-Salem Witchcraft.- 1. THE new charter was received at Boston, May P'T. II. May 14. 14th, 1692. It was brought over by Sir William P'D. II. Phipps, who brought also his commission, as royal CH. I. governor. He was nominated by the influence of his pastor, Cotton Mather, who received him with great 1692. joy. Phipps was a native of Pemaquid, in Maine. He New was made apprentice to a trade; but being active and Sir Wm. enterprising, he went to England; and, at length, acquired riches and a title, by recovering, with a diving bell, the treasures of a Spanish wreck. 2. The delusion, with respect to witchcraft, was now at its height. The first settlers brought it with them from the mother country. Laws, making witchCHAPTER I.-1. Where was the new charter received? By whom brought over? By whose influence was he nominated 2. What delusion existed? Give some account for governor ? of this delusion? charter. Phipps. Delusion respect ing witch craft. 128 CH. I. THE DAYS OF SUPERSTITION. PT. II. craft a capital crime, existed in England, and were P'D. II. early enacted in Massachusetts. In Springfield in 1645, some individuals were accused and tried, but acquitted. Persons at Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, and Cambridge, were tried, and some actually executed for the supposed offence. But it was at Salem, where this delusion produced its most fatal effects. insuffi grounds. 3. At first, it was old women only, who were suspected of having leagued with the devil, to inflict upon Convic- the persons who complained, the various torments, tions on which they asserted, that they felt. The magistrates cient of the people's choice, had, with Bradstreet, their governor, previous to the arrival of Phipps, discountenanced these persecutions; but the new authorities, under the influence of Cotton Mather, pursued a course which placed the accused in situations, where "they had need to be magicians, not to be convicted of magic." 4. The unhappy persons were confronted with those who accused them, and asked, "why do you afflict And by these children?" If answered, I do not afflict them, incompetent wit- they commanded them to look upon the children, at which they would fall into fits, and then declare they were thus troubled by the persons apprehended. On cuted. evidence no better than this, were twenty persons executed. nesses. 20 exe The court 5. The general court, on assembling, took ground against these proceedings, and abolished the special Oct. court, by which these persons had been condemned. general This court was organised by Phipps, and presided over against by Stoughton, the lieutenant-governor. The public the were addressed on the subject, through the press, by court. the independent Calef, of Boston; and the eyes of men were at length opened. Those who had been imprisoned were set free; and the memory of the transaction soon became, what it still continues to be, a source of national sorrow and humiliation. special 3. Who were first accused? How was it with the people's magistrates, in respect to prosecutions for witchcraft? By whom were they upheld?-4. How did the prosecutions proceed? How many persons suffered death? 5. By what court had these persons been condemned? How was shown the power of the press to do good? EDUCATION ATTENDED TO. 129 6. Not one of the colonies enjoyed a repose so P'T. II. uninterrupted as Connecticut; and therefore none had, P'D. II. in this respect, so great advantages to show the bent CH.1. of the Puritan mind, in regard to the improvement of the human race, by the right training of the young. of Conn. 50 7. As early as 1646, the general court took the mat- 1646 ter in hand. "To the end," say they, "that learning Gen. Ct be not buried in the graves of our forefathers, the Lord assisting our endeavors, it is ordered, that all the families. townships with fifty householders, shall keep a school, and pay for the same in such way as they see fit. And families. further, that if any town has one hundred householders, they shall keep and maintain a grammar school, where young men can be fitted for a university." 100 1654. 8. New Haven had also provided by law for common schools, and in 1654, Mr. Davenport proposed the institution of a college, and the town gave lands for the object. Governor Hopkins, of Connecticut, Yale who, for several years, was alternately with Haynes, College. the chief magistrate of that colony, dying in London, bequeathed, for such an institution, four or five hundred pounds. The school was located at Saybrook. 9. The clergy of Connecticut, feeling the need of a college, nearer than at Cambridge, to furnish learned men as ministers, ten of their number, obtained from 1701. the general assembly, a charter of incorporation; toge- Charter ther with an annual grant of £120. Thus constituted endowas trustees, they held their first meeting at Saybrook; ments. chose officers, and made laws for the infant university. and 10. The location was inconvenient, and more money being subscribed, to fix the college at New Haven than at rival places, it was removed thither, and received at 1717. the same time, accessions, of books for its library College already begun, and in its funds. The most liberal of the donors was Elihu Yale, a native of New Haven, Haven. 6. How was it with Connecticut in respect to education? -7. What did the general court order in 1646?-8. What did Mr. Davenport propose in 1654? What can you say of Governor Hopkins? Where was the school first located? 9. What was obtained for it? By whom? Where did the ten trustees hold their first meeting? What did they do?- 10. Why was the college removed? Why placed at New Haven ? removed to New |