n Mather was the leading champion of the Judges. In his Diary, he
says: "I saw, in most of the Judges, a most charming instance of
prudence and patience; and I know the exemplary prayer and anguish of
soul, wherewith they had sought the direction of heaven, above most
other people; whom I generally saw enchanted into a raging, railing,
scandalous and unreasonable disposition, as the distress increased upon
us. For this cause, _though I could not allow the principles that some
of the Judges had espoused_, yet I could not but speak honorably of
their persons, on all occasions; and my compassion upon the sight of
their difficulties, raised by _my journeys to Salem_, the chief seat of
those diabolical vexations, caused me yet more to do so."

How, as he had not been present at any of the Trials, could he have
given this commendation of the bearing of the Judges, based, as he says,
upon what he had witnessed in visits to Salem? I can think of but one
way in which his statements can be reconciled. Five of the eight Judges
(Saltonstall's seat being vacant) Stoughton, Sewall, Gedney, Corwin and
Hathorne, severally, at different times, sat as Magistrates, at the
Examinations, which occasions were accompanied with vexations and
perplexities, calling for prudence and patience, much more than the
Trials. It is due, therefore, to Mather to suppose that he had
frequented the Examinations, and, thus acquired a right to speak of the
deportment of the Judges, "upon the _sight_ of their difficulties."

Much of the evidence given by the "afflicted children," at the
Examinations, can hardly be accounted for except as drawn from ideas
suggested by Mather, on the spot, so as to reach their ears. In the
testimony of Susannah Sheldon, against John Willard, on the ninth of
May, is the following singular statement: "There appeared to me a
Shining White man." She represents it as a good and friendly angel, or
spirit, accompanied by another "angel from Heaven," protecting her
against the spectre of John Willard.

Prefixed to the London Edition of the _Cases of Conscience_, printed in
1862, is a narrative, by Deodat Lawson, of some remarkable things he saw
and heard, connected with the witchcraft transactions at Salem Village.
In it, is the following statement: "The first of April, Mercy Lewis saw
in her fit, a white man, and was with him in a glorious place, which had
no candles nor sun, yet was full of light and brightness; where was a
great mu