Harry Potter Morning Light.

Chapter 1754 The Queen of Hell (25)

Ann Putnam Jr. accused Martha Corey of having said that a pale old woman sat in her grandmother's place.

In a town like Salem, a family's prosperity was related to their number and place in the church.After the witchcraft trials, the Putnam family had fewer seats in the church, and the former prophet prayed for forgiveness of those arrested or accused after 14 years under the presidency of the new pastor.

Twice in her confession, "I acted with other people," 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 can change shape, and that he changes appearance but not gender, it means that all priests are likely to be accused like Burroughs, and their lives are killed by an invisible sword. Threats that if they don't do something, they will be forced to "perform" like the victims in the plaintiff's box.

This move was done by the French king before, but the French did it more blatantly, and captured the Pope directly to Avilion. Even Inchs Mather, who had an unusual relationship with Phipps, knew how to control others and What a difference between being in control.

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

Professionals destroyed the evidence without leaving any clues, of course, and after doing this, the pastors went to the Old South Church in Boston, which is the church presided over by Samuel Conrad.This church was the only one in Salem that had both a pastor and a defendant, and John Alden was a longtime patron of the church.

There are many people who don't know what to do when they are faced with the choice of life and money. If Philip English doesn't run, he won't lose 1500 pounds of property.

Cary asked Pastor Hale for help, and the pastor's work was not in vain, but it was a pity that the little girls recognized Elizabeth Cary in public at once, and it was useless to clear up the relationship.In addition to some public executions, there were those who died of illness in prison, and an old widower whose wife was accused of paying regular salaries to the Rev. James Allen, who also owned the Nass' 300 acres of land.

There are some "rules" that women don't need to know, but men have to know, otherwise the whole family will be involved.As for Carli's family, there was a crazy woman. She was only 38 years old but said that she had been a witch for 40 years. Not only her immediate family, but also her nephews and cousins ​​were all sued by her.

It is not so simple to change one life for another. The Massachusetts court is not an inquisition, and the clergy can only use prayer and fasting to put pressure on the court. God's intervention in Alden's favor.

Fasting is a rule of Roman Catholicism. During the period of Louis XV, the monk Marsillon took 10 monks to fast in front of the king, so that his life style would be restrained. There is no such rule among Protestants, but it is true among Puritans. some.

Fasting does not mean eating nothing, but eating only water and bread.Compared with the fasting of the Puritans, the banquet is more pleasant. Abraham Lincoln was the first president to declare the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving. At the same time, he also left a tradition. He broke into the cabinet with a pet turkey Jack, hoping that he would use the presidential amnesty to pardon the turkey and prevent it from becoming a feast.

However, there was no president in North America in 1692, and the King of England on the other side of the ocean could not hear people's prayers. After all, priests were not the wizards accused by girls, and could transmit voices over long distances.

Among those who came to pray there was one special man, the witchcraft judge Samuel Sewell, a heavyset, agreeable man, also a Harvard graduate.The judge seemed less fond of his job than the devoted Reverend Noyce, but he also did not resign from the trial court like Judge Nathaniel Thorntonstall.

The chief judge is Stoughton, and Hassan, Corwin, and Sewell have to preside over their own courts to deal with so many allegations of witchcraft. Among them, Elizabeth Cary is in charge of the trial of Sewell. The day she escaped happened to be The day after Salem's sheriff went to Andover to arrest the prisoner, the jail was empty, which gave her the opportunity to escape.

In this world, there are people who can ignore the many children of their relatives who are waiting to be fed, describe the living person standing in front of them as a dead person, and then embezzle their relatives' property as the grace of God. .

On that hot summer day, when it hadn't rained for a long time, Alden's friends prayed for an afternoon on July 7, singing the hymn of the Psalms, after singing "The Lord is righteous and suffers for all." "Avenging the wronged person", thunder suddenly sounded in the sky, and then the rainstorm poured down that night, as if to wash away all the sins.

What is the fault of a baby?On the contrary, adults need baptism more. When those heavy sins are washed away, it is like a filthy person becoming clean again, and the whole person feels relaxed.

The severity of crimes is measured according to different scales. The crime of the same illegal act is more serious than the crime of absconding and assisting absconding if it is committed out of power, wealth, or relying on relatives and friends to manipulate the law. for major.

Not only witnesses and juries, but even judges and the law have been manipulated as "tools". Faced with such tyranny, what is the sin of people choosing to flee?
Nine months after all the disturbances had subsided and peace had returned, Philip English was back in Salem, that splendid house with many gables, looted without a single needle. remain.The suddenly rich businessman restored everything in the house as Paris did when he first arrived in Salem, then took his wife back and continued to live in Salem.

Instead of going to the nearby Salem Chapel, he canoeed to Marblehead for an Anglican service, regardless of religion, and he just found it hard to pray with the townspeople anymore up.

Aside from the untimely death of his wife, his life returned to normal, he started his business again, and filed for compensation for the next 25 years.

He may always remember the pastor who told him "run away, idiot" and his wife who reminded him at critical moments, but he may never know that after he escaped, a 70-year-old man replaced him. noose.

George Jacobs, a stooped old man who needed two canes and a limp, had a good laugh, and when the judges introduced the plaintiffs, he invited the girls to speak up, and he waited eagerly The stories they tell.

Abigail Wilms provided her statement, but Jacobs laughed. When he was asked what he wanted to defend himself, Jacobs laughed and asked the judge: "My lord, you Everyone believes that what she said is true? If you can prove what she said is true, then I will admit that I used witchcraft."

As early as 30 or [-] years ago, Jacobs was prosecuted for drowning a horse, which he claimed was to drive away animals trying to invade his estate. A mare ran into the Putnam family's barn during a dispute between the four families over borders and logs.

The judges can't do anything to an old man. Perhaps the ghost of Jacobs is more lethal than the crutches he swung. Later, Sarah Churchill, Jacobs's former maid, urged Jacobs to confess earlier. Jacobs Booth didn't look at her at all, and ignored her words, and it was Hassan and Corwin who asked her questions before the interrogation could continue.

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

"He won't do it, I know you live an evil life." Sarah reprimanded the old man.

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

"It's not a hindrance. Can you say the Lord's Prayer?" said the judge. "Let's hear it."

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

When Jacobs learned of his conviction, Jacobs yelled "I'm a wizard and you can tax me, even if I'm a vulture you can tax me, I didn't do any harm!"

Moshe Lewis, the plaintiff, who had been bruised and bruised by Jacobs' ghost, was urged to sign books and received gold and lots of goodies in an attempt to silence her.

"I firmly believe that George Jacobs was the scariest witch of all time," Lewis told the court, before Jacobs was sent to Boston Jail along with nine other witches.

Others say that he is not a wizard, but Jacobs admits that he is a wizard, and if he admits that he is a wizard, then he should confess to other wizards, just like her granddaughter did, so that he can survive, but Jacobs said that he can hand over 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 before he escaped the catastrophe. In addition, there was a wizard who used the freezing fire spell to deliberately burn himself several times. Ten times, there may be a way to escape by hanging.

Not all fears were fake, as Sarah Churchill, George Jacobs' lead accuser, left in tears during May 5's trial, her hands wringing with anxiety, speeding her grief to Ingersoll's niece listens.

She cried and said that although she swore she touched the book of demons, there was no such thing, her testimony was "all false", the older woman asked her why she lied, and Sarah said that the judges threatened her Put her in the Salem Jail with Burroughs, she'd rather perjure herself than be locked in a dark hole with a wizard.

A week later, on May 5th, the first witchcraft death, which nearly cost Moshe Lewis the death and almost freed Rebecca Nurse, many people are willing to contribute to the petition Signed to certify her innocence.

If the defendants turn around and prove that the plaintiff committed perjury, then the defendants can countersuit for defamation and no more people will die except Sarah Osborne, who died on May 5th Died of illness in a Boston jail.

Isn't Martha Corey more hated than Sarah Osborne?Osborne was just a poor, sick old woman, why should Sarah Goode sue her?

Maybe it's because Osborn lost her inheritance like she did, except that Goode was homeless, while Osborne still had a home, and a man to take care of her.

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

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

(End of this chapter)