imaginary crime. The number of those who
pretended to be afflicted by witchcraft grew daily more numerous; and
they bore testimony against many of the best and worthiest people. A
minister, named George Burroughs, was among the accused. In the months
of August and September, 1692, he and nineteen other innocent men and
women were put to death. The place of execution was a high hill, on the
outskirts of Salem; so that many of the sufferers, as they stood beneath
the gallows, could discern their own habitations in the town.

The martyrdom of these guiltless persons seemed only to increase the
madness. The afflicted now grew bolder in their accusations. Many people
of rank and wealth were either thrown into prison or compelled to flee
for their lives. Among these were two sons of old Simon Bradstreet, the
last of the Puritan governors. Mr. Willard, a pious minister of Boston,
was cried out upon as a wizard in open court. Mrs. Hale, the wife of
the minister of Beverly, was likewise accused. Philip English, a rich
merchant of Salem, found it necessary to take flight, leaving his
property and business in confusion. But a short time afterwards, the
Salem people were glad to invite him back.

"The boldest thing that the accusers did," continued Grandfather, "was
to cry out against the governor's own beloved wife. Yes, the lady of Sir
William Phips was accused of being a witch and of flying through the
air to attend witch-meetings. When the governor heard this he probably
trembled, so that our great chair shook beneath him."

"Dear Grandfather," cried little Alice, clinging closer to his knee,
"is it true that witches ever come in the night-time to frighten little
children?"

"No, no, dear little Alice," replied Grandfather. "Even if there were
any witches, they would flee away from the presence of a pure-hearted
child. But there are none; and our forefathers soon became convinced
that they had been led into a terrible delusion. All the prisoners on
account of witchcraft were set free. But the innocent dead could not
be restored to life and the hill where they were executed will always
remind people of the saddest and most humiliating passage in our
history."

Grandfather then said that the next remarkable event, while Sir William
Phips remained in the chair, was the arrival at Boston of an English
fleet in 1698. It brought an army which was intended for the conquest of
Canada. But a malignant disease, more fatal than the