Chapter 1754 Queen of Hell (Twenty-five)

When Little Ann Putnam was accusing Martha Corey, she once said that there was a pale old woman sitting in her grandmother's seat.

In a town like Salem, the prosperity of a family is related to the number and position of their seats in the church. After the witchcraft trials, the number of seats in the church of the Putnam family decreased. The former prophet died in 14

Later, under the auspices of the new pastor, he prayed for forgiveness from those arrested or accused.

In her confession, she mentioned twice, "I acted with others" and three times "I was just a tool."

The pastors were not teenage girls after all, they knew exactly what was going on.

Ever since Ann Putnam said that the devil could shapeshift, and that he changed his appearance but not his gender, it meant that all priests were likely to be accused like Burroughs, and their lives were cut by an invisible sword.

Threatening that if they don't do something, they will be forced to "perform" like the victims standing in the plaintiff's chair.

The King of France had done this trick before, but the French did it more blatantly, capturing the Pope directly in Avilion. Even Incris Mather, who had an unusual relationship with Phipps, also knew how to control others and

What a difference there is between being controlled by someone.

So after discussing it, the priests went to Alden's home in Boston and collected all "evidence" that might be related to the witchcraft accusation.

Of course, professionals destroyed the evidence without leaving any traces. After doing this, the pastors went to the Old South Church in Boston, which is the church hosted by Samuel Conrad. This church is the only church that was simultaneously involved in the Salem incident.

There were pastors and defendants in the church, and John Alden was a long-time patron of the church.

There are many people who don't know how to deal with the choice between life and money. If Philip English had not run away, he would not have lost 1,500 pounds of property.

Cary asked Pastor Hale for help. The pastor's work was not in vain, but it was a pity that the little girls immediately recognized Elizabeth Cary in public, and it was useless to smooth the relationship. Except for some public executions

, and some died of illness in prison. There was an old widower who was accused of his wife regularly paying salary to Pastor James Allen. The pastor also enjoyed the 300 acres of land owned by the Nurse family.

There are some "rules" that women don't have to know, but men have to know, otherwise the whole family will join in. As for the Calley family, a crazy woman appeared. She was only 38 years old, but she said that she had been a witch for 40 years. Not only did she

Her direct line, nephews, and cousins ​​were all sued by her.

It is not that simple to exchange one life for another. The Massachusetts court is not an inquisition. The clergy can only use prayer and fasting to put pressure on the court. At that time, all the prominent people in Boston went there to show their support for prayers.

Support for God's Intervention in the Alden Affair.

Fasting is a Roman Catholic rule. During the reign of Louis XV, the monk Marcillon once led 10 monks to fast in front of the king to let him moderate his life style. This rule does not exist among Protestants, but it does among Puritans.

some.

Fasting does not mean eating nothing, but only eating water and bread. Compared with the Puritan fasting, the banquet is more enjoyable. Abraham Lincoln was the first to declare the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

President, he also left behind a tradition. At that time, his son broke into the cabinet holding a pet turkey, Jack, hoping that he would use the presidential pardon power to pardon the turkey and prevent it from becoming a feast.

But in 1692, there was no president in North America, and the British king on the other side of the ocean couldn't hear people's prayers. After all, the priest was not the wizard the girls accused and could transmit sounds over long distances.

Among those who came to pray, there was one person who was special, that is, the witchcraft judge Samuel Sewell. He was a tall, affable man who also graduated from Harvard University. Compared with being actively involved in

Reverend Noyce, the judge didn't seem to enjoy his job that much, but he also didn't resign from the trial court like Judge Nathaniel Saltonstall.

The chief judge was Stoughton, Hassan, Corwin and Sewell also had to preside over their own courts to deal with so many witchcraft accusations. Among them, Elizabeth Cary was in charge of Sewell's trial. The day she escaped happened to be

The day after the Sheriff of Salem went to Andover to arrest the prisoner, the prison was empty, giving her a chance to escape.

There are people in this world who can ignore the many children of their relatives who are waiting to be fed, and treat the living people standing in front of them as dead people, and then embezzle their relatives' property as God's grace. There are also people who have such uneasy conscience that they can't sleep and go to prison to visit them.

.

On that hot summer day, it had not rained for a long time. On July 20, Alden’s friends prayed all afternoon and sang the Psalms.

"When the people were avenged," thunder suddenly sounded from the sky, and then a heavy rain poured down that night, as if it was going to wash away all the sins.

What sins do babies have? On the contrary, adults need baptism more. When those heavy sins are washed away, it is like a filthy person becomes clean again, and the whole person feels relaxed.

The seriousness of crimes is measured according to different scales. The crime of the same illegal act is more serious than the crime of absconding in fear of crime or assisting in absconding.

is important.

Not only witnesses, juries, but also judges and the law are used as "tools" to manipulate. Faced with such tyranny, what sin does it have for people to choose to escape?

Nine months after all the turmoil had subsided and calm had returned, Philip English returned to Salem. The gorgeous house with many gables was ransacked, and not even a needle was taken from it.

What was left was that the suddenly wealthy businessman restored everything in the house just like Paris did when he first arrived in Salem, then took his wife back and continued to live in Salem.

He no longer went to the nearby Salem chapel, but paddled his canoe to attend Anglican services in Marblehead. Regardless of religious beliefs, he just found it difficult to pray with the people in the town.

.

Aside from the untimely death of his wife, his life returned to normal, he resumed running his business, and spent the next twenty-five years filing for compensation.

He may always remember the pastor who said to him, "Run away, idiot", and his wife who reminded him at the critical moment, but he may never know that after he escaped, a seventy-year-old man took his place.

On the noose.

George Jacobs was a stooped old man who used two canes and limped. He loved to laugh. When the judges introduced the plaintiffs, he invited the girls to speak boldly. He waited eagerly.

The stories they told.

Abigail Wilms provided her confession, but Jacobs laughed. When he was asked what he wanted to defend himself, Jacobs smiled and asked the judge: "Your Excellency, you

Everyone believes that what she said is true? If you can prove that what she said is true, then I will admit that I used witchcraft."

As early as twenty or thirty years ago, Jacobs had been sued for drowning a horse. He claimed that he was trying to drive away the animals that tried to invade his property. At that time, it happened to be the time when the Putnam family and Topps

During a dispute between four Field families over boundaries and logs, a mare ran into the Putnam family barn.

The judges can't do anything to an old man. Perhaps Jacobs's ghost is more lethal than the crutch he wields. Later, Jacobs's former maid Sarah Churchill urged Jacobs to confess earlier.

Booth's eyes did not stay on her body at all, and he ignored her words. Later, Hassan and Corwin asked her questions, so that the interrogation could continue.

"Will Jacobs say family prayers?" the judges asked.

"If he doesn't do it, I know you live an evil life." Sarah scolded the old man.

"I don't worship with my family because I can't read," Jacobs replied.

"This is not an obstacle. Can you recite the Lord's Prayer?" the judge said. "Recite it and let us listen."

The old man with memory loss tried many times, but he stumbled every time. Almost every witness in front of Hassan and Corwin was like this. They are good at putting pressure on the interrogators.

When Jacobs found out he had been convicted, Jacobs yelled, "I'm a wizard, you can tax me, even if I'm a vulture, you can tax me, I didn't do any harm!"

The plaintiff, Moshe Lewis, was beaten black and blue by the ghost of Jacobs. She was urged to sign books and received gold and many other goodies in order to silence her.

"I firmly believe that George Jacobs is the most terrible witch." Lewis said in court, and Jacobs was sent to the Boston Prison along with nine other witches.

Others say that she is not a wizard, but Jacobs admits that she is a wizard. If she admits that she is a wizard, she should confess to other wizards, just like her granddaughter did, in order to survive, but Jacobs said that she can make friends.

Tax.

Do wizards pay taxes to Muggle authorities?

There was once a French nobleman who used an invisibility spell to hide his neck during the Reign of Terror, making the executioner think that his head had fallen to the ground and escaped. There was also a wizard who used a freezing fire spell to deliberately let himself be burned several times.

Ten times, maybe there is a way to escape from hanging.

Not all fears were false. During the trial on May 10, George Jacobs's main accuser, Sarah Churchill, left the court in tears. She wrung her hands anxiously and expressed her grief at high speed.

Ingersoll's niece listens.

She cried and said that although she swore that she had touched the Devil's Book, in fact there was no such thing. Her testimony was "all false." The older woman asked her why she lied. Sarah said that the judges threatened her with

Put her in Salem jail with Burroughs. She would rather perjury than be locked in a dark cave with the wizard.

A week later, on May 17, the first case of witchcraft death occurred. This case almost led to the death of Moses Lewis and the release of Rebecca Nurse. Many people were willing to submit a petition

The signature proves her innocence.

If the defendants turn out to prove that the plaintiff committed perjury, then the defendants can counterclaim for defamation, and no more people will die except Sarah Osborne, who died on May 10th.

Died of illness in a Boston jail.

Isn't Martha Corey more hated than Sarah Osborne? Osborne is just a poor, sick old woman, so why would Sarah Good sue her?

Perhaps it was because Osborne had lost her inheritance just like her, but Good was homeless, while Osborne still had a home and a man who took care of her.

Mark Twain said: A beggar will never envy a billionaire because he knows it is out of reach, but he will definitely envy another beggar who has a higher income than him.

If he had been born hundreds of years earlier, perhaps the coldest winter he experienced would not have been the summer in San Francisco.
Chapter completed!