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C H A P T E R S E V E N Creative Adaptations: Complaints and Confessions Many of the confessors confirme d their confessions wit h very stron g circumstances : A s thei r exac t agreemen t with accusation s o f th e afflicted ; thei r punctua l agreement with their fellow confessors; their relating the times when they covenanted with Satan, and the reasons that moved them thereunto; their Witch meetings, and that the y ha d thei r moc k Sacrament s o f Baptis m and the Supper. —John Hale, "A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft" O nce Tituba an d the two Sarahs were committed to jail in Boston on March 7, th e witchhunt should hav e ended. Th e fate of the trio, followin g previou s practic e in case s o f witchcraft , shoul d then hav e bee n decide d b y popula r will , a consensu s tha t coul d b e expressed throug h jur y trials . Bu t in Marc h of 169 2 there wa s n o legiti mate government in existence an d no process fo r instituting court action. Courts wer e suspended , awaitin g the arriva l of a new governo r with th e authority t o reestablis h governmenta l institutions . Th e Sale m leader s could onl y investigate , no t resolve , conflicts . A t the same time the afflic tions o f the girls worsened a s the month of March drew to a close. The y seemed t o suffer incredible torments at invisible hands all spring. Governor Phips , carryin g a new charter , woul d no t retur n to Massachusetts fro m Englan d unti l th e middl e o f Ma y an d b y th e tim e h e arrived man y mor e peopl e woul d stan d accuse d o f consortin g wit h th e Devil. Twenty-si x people were already under indictment on May 14, the day o f hi s landing , an d eve n mor e wer e unde r investigatio n i n Salem. 1 J 33 134# Creative Adaptations "Many person s wer e grievousl y tormente d b y witches, " Phips observed on hi s arrival , and "the y cried out upo n severa l person s b y name, a s the cause o f thei r torments. " He immediatel y issue d a commission t o establish a special court, Oye r an d Terminer, to hear the cases of those in jail and t o determin e th e guil t o f th e accused . Th e first trial i n tha t cour t would no t b e hear d unti l June 2. 2 Bridge t Bishop, wh o wa s no t amon g the earlies t accused , wa s foun d guilt y i n th e first cour t sessio n an d sentenced t o di e eigh t day s later . Mor e convictions an d execution s fol lowed , unti l Phips called a halt to the use of spectral evidence as proof. The failur e to take immediate lega l action against the accused an d the inability o f th e communit y t o full y resolv e th e witchscar e throug h th e usual institutiona l mean s a t th e beginnin g ma y wel l explai n wha t happened i n th e weeks betwee n Marc h an d May. 3 Bu t a t th e sam e tim e Tituba's testimon y ha d s o heightene d th e sens e o f a n impendin g doo m and a diabolical presence tha t reverberations of her words contributed to a growin g unres t i n th e village . Th e belie f tha t ther e wer e mor e tha n three diabolica l agent s responsibl e fo r th e girls ' physica l an d menta l anguish accentuated the urgency to identify the unknown malefactors. Within days of Tituba's absence from Salem, the witchhunt had taken on incredible dimensions. He r confession had not only fueled th e fears of her Salem audience, bu t gave them reasons to widen the hunt for diabolical culprit...

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