The Quakeress, Number II [pp. 660-665]

G6 Te...ers. 2~PE~n
you are condemned to death, I do not want other
means of procuring your liberty. I will devise a
plan of rescue. I will clandestinely release you
from this prison, to which if condemned, you will
be recommitted, and carry you to a tribe of friendly
Indians. They will treat you well, and have the
greater reverence for you in your character of a
witch. But Margaret, I will do this only on one
condition. You say you hate the Quakeress. If
you would be revenged on her, then, to-morrow
when you are brought before your accusers, you
have only to cast upon her, by hints, the imputation
of being leagued with you and Satan in this foolish
witchcraft. You have only to insinuate, that as
Satan himself often assumes the garb of an angel
of light, so this fair girl is a chosen vessel of the
Evil One, made use of by him so that the better he
may conceal under such simplicity and extraordinary beauty, his evil designs upon this portion of
the Lord's heritage.
"Do this for me, Margaret;-it is the last service I will ask of you. Your reward shall come
speedily. Do you consent."
"Aye, Master Brown. I have trusted you too far
to recant. I will trust you again. My fate can
be no worse for it; arnd I tell you once more, I h ate
the Quakeress!"
Having obtained this pledge of her assistance
on the coming day, Brown left her cell with greater hopes of success, and in better spirits than he
have foreseen the effect of a con fession t o the
charge of being leagued with the Evil One; for it
would be to establish beyond a doubt the credibility
of the witnesses, or accusers, and thereby produce
a thorough conviction in the public mind, that the
accused were indeed witches. This portion of the
delusion was, as the sequel proved, as cruel and
awful as it was remarkable. Whoever was accused, whether convicted or not, was pardoned on
confession. Many accordingly confessed themselves bewitched, solemnly making oath in court
that they were leagued with the Arch Fiend. As
they were all innocent, they were, of course, all
perjured. But there were many innocent persons
in the country, who nobly preferred to suffer death
rather than by confessing, say what could not but
be false, and what their consciences could not approve. As fearful of death as men are, it required
more strength of mind and far more moral courage
to withstand resolutely their infatuated accusers
and a blind public opinion, by maintaining their innocence, than to save their lives by perjuring
themselves in confessing a compact with his Satanic Majesty.
Having thus cursorily narrated some of the cir cumstances of the times, sufficient to render our
story intelligible, we will again return to our fair
heroine. The pleasant month of May found this
innocent and unsuspecting girl, profoundly ignorant of the deep-laid plots against her happiness.
Rebecca Danvers was now a perfect picture of
health and beauty. It might be difficult to convey
to a drawing-room beauty of this day any idea of
such perfection of graces as were possessed by this
unta ught child of nature. A regard for truth will
not permit us to follow the fashion of a modern
novelist by saying that her fo rm was l uxuriously
embonpoint, or that her figure rivalled the Venus
de Medicis. It is better to describe her simply as
she was.
She was slightly and delicately formed. Her
light slender person, needed neither stays nor corsets to confine her motions and render her less
agile than nature intended she should be. Even
without such artificial apparatus this favorite of
nature's hand was sufficiently beautiful and interesting. Her step was as gracefill and free as a
fawn's, and she took almost as much delight in
exploring hill and dale, and in leaping over rock and
rill as that same sportive animal. She was not
taller than the medium height of her sex, and was
so exquisitely shaped that she seemed to embody all
that poets have stng of healthful Hebe herself, or
of the nymph-like Camilla. The dark hair, which
seemed modestly to part itself across her forehead
as if it would not conceal the beauty of her fine
brow, fell down in rich ringlets on a neck and
shoulders of alabaster. To describe the beauty
of her face would be impossible, for to speak of
had been for many a long day during his uncer tainty respecting the result of these machina tions. A crisis in his affairs was now fast approach ing, and he had the satisfaction of beholding, if it
could be a satisfaction to a human being, the whole
colony in distress and turmoil at his own unhallowed instigations. The state of the community, at
this time, it would be very difficult to describe.
The true history of the period would inform us, that
additions, by voluntary accessions, and by those
who having been accused themselves, to save their
lives, confessed, and became witnesses against
others, were continually making to the number of
accusers. In the height of the delusion, the prisons
were crowded with supposed witches. All the securities of society were dissolved. Every man's
life was at the mercy of every other man. Children were encouraged to witness against their
parents, and women to bear false testimony against
their husbands. Fear sat on every countenance;
terror and distress were in all hearts; silence pervaded the -streets; many of the people left the
country; all business was at a stand, and the dismal and horrible feeling became general that they
were given over by the Providence of God, to the
dominion of Satan.
Perhaps Brown had no expectation of the delusion
being so fatal in its consequences as the result proved. If so, his advice to Margaret for her conduct
on the day of trial was politic indeed. He must
662
The Quakeress.
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