Today in Salem: If yesterday was a circus of beggars and broken knives, then today is a study in contrasts. Two women are on trial today: the rebellious and impatient Susannah Martin, and the frail and beloved Rebecca Nurse.
The rebellious Susannah Martin stands trial
Susannah’s petticoats rustle as she taps her foot. She’s 71, thinner after two months in jail, and her breathing is raspy. But she’s still hale, standing tall and straight as a pine, as if daring the judges to cut her down. She’s been in court many times before this, once for witchcraft, and has always left with no harm done. She’s sure this will end the same way.
The afflicted girls add to the drama
Susannah quickly realizes that this time is different, though, when the afflicted girls add to their usual screaming and convulsing by vomiting what looks like blood. Frightened and exasperated, Susannah taps her foot more quickly. But the judges take their time questioning the girls, waiting long intervals before the girls are composed enough to answer questions.
Witnesses agree: Susannah Martin might not be a witch; but she could be
Finally it’s time to hear from others, and it’s quickly obvious that Susannah has few friends and many enemies.
One man says 13 of his oxen drowned themselves after he argued with her and called her a witch. Two other men say they’d seen Susannah carrying a dog under one arm, but when they came closer, it turned out to be a keg. Then when they said something about it, their horses began to act strangely.
Another man describes how, 20 years ago, his wife felt prickling in her legs, then stomach cramps, then a swollen throat whenever Susannah came by. She’d testified against Susanna in her first witchcraft trial. Within two months the woman was distracted, distempered, and frenzied in mind.
Another says he’d fallen suddenly mute last summer, and only recovered his speech eight months later when Susannah was arrested.
Then a woman speaks up and says that Susanna had once walked a long way on extremely muddy roads to visit her. But Susannah’s petticoats, and even the soles of her shoes, were strangely dry.
“I’ve led a most virtuous and holy life,” Susannah says, still tapping her foot. But that’s no defense against the contorting, vomiting girls and her angry neighbors. The jury finds Susannah Martin guilty, and condemns her to hang.
The beloved Rebecca Nurse stands trial
The judges recess for lunch at a nearby tavern and, refreshed, reconvene for the trial of the beloved Rebecca Nurse.
Only three accused witches have been tried until now: Bridget Bishop, who was hanged a month ago. Then yesterday, the beggar Sarah Good was tried, but she barely fought against the accusation. And of course this morning there was Susannah Martin, who tried to defend herself, but was overwhelmed by a flood of evidence against her.
An outpouring of support
Rebecca’s trial is different, though. Most of the people in the courtroom haven’t seen Rebecca in the three months that she’s been in jail. Unlike Susannah Martin, she is as fragile as the tiny finch nesting under the eaves of her home, and the crowd is quiet as she’s led in. The judges, shuffling more than twenty depositions, barely look up.
The trial starts poorly enough, when one of the afflicted girls grabs her knee and cries that Rebecca’s specter has right this very moment stabbed her with a pin. But Rebecca’s daughter-in-law quickly stands and shouts that she’d seen the girl pull pins from her own skirts and stab herself with them. With some exceptions, this is the beginning of a remarkable amount of testimony in Rebecca’s defense.
When stories of suspicious infirmities and deaths are presented, influential people counter them, saying that they’d never heard witchcraft mentioned at the time of the events.
Others vouch for Rebecca’s character. One man says he’s known Rebecca for 40 years, and that she’s always acted like a good Christian woman. A married couple describe Rebecca’s concern for the afflicted girls.
Two of Rebecca’s daughters testify that the “witch mark” that had been found on Rebecca’s body was actually an infirmity she’d suffered for many years.
But then the wild child Abigail Hobbs and her stepmother are brought in to testify against her.
The tide turns
Rebecca turns toward her fellow prisoners in surprise.
“What? Do you bring her?” Rebecca asks, surprised. “She is one of us.”
Us. Rebecca Nurse’s entire fate rests in that one small word.
The jury returns a verdict of not guilty, but as soon as it’s announced, the afflicted girls begin shrieking, and the judges take a recess, not sure they agree with the jury’s decision. After some discussion, Chief Justice William Stoughton asks the jury to remember what Rebecca had said: that she’d called the two Hobbs women “one of us.”
The jury asks to reconsider their verdict, but they can’t agree on what Rebecca meant. So they come back to the courtroom and ask her directly.
When you say “one of us” are you identifying with them as a fellow witch, or as a fellow prisoner?
Rebecca sways at the bar, elderly and unwell, looking down at her shaking hands without speaking. The jury foreman repeats the question, but still Rebecca just looks down and says nothing in her defense.
After a short recess, the jury revises its verdict. Guilty.
Later it will become clear the the elderly Rebecca, hard of hearing, hasn’t even heard the question. But it’s too late. Now, even with so many testifying in her defense, she will hang.
Tomorrow in Salem: GUILTY: the neighborly Elizabeth How and the flamboyant Sarah Wilds