In days of long ago, poor women used to pray they might not grow old, fearing charges of witchcraft.

Witches these days are chiefly associated in people's minds with Halloween. In olden days it was believed it was the time of year when witches celebrated their annual carnival, amusing themselves in the company of demons, and playing all sorts of pranks at the expense of unwary human beings.

All of this is today regarded as a mere joke, but the tradition comes down from a period not very far back in history, when it meant dreadful tragedy - a period during which, for more than two and a half centuries, fires for the burning of people accused of witchcraft were kept continually blazing all over Europe. Those were times when poor women used to pray that they might not live long enough to grow old lest they be accused and burnt as witches.

In the absence of knowledge of physical science, any phenomenon not easily explained was attributed to witchcraft. Every misfortune was referred to this cause. If a man's cow dried up, a witch did it. If his horse died, a witch did it. If his barn blew down, a witch did it. If there was sickness in his family, a witch was responsible. Any poor old woman living in the neighborhood was liable to be suspected, and if she was more or less out of her wits, she was sure to be accused. All Europe went crazy on the subject. Anybody who wished to destroy another had only to bring an accusation of witchcraft, and the thing was accomplished. Both politics and religion entered largely into the matter. Joan of Arc, it will be remembered, was burned as a witch. Heretics by thousands were accused of witchcraft and condemned to the stake.

Trials of the accused were always accompanied by torture, by which means they were compelled to confess whatever the inquisitors wanted. Naturally, under the circumstances, the owned up to anything. Some women even acknowledged that they had had children by the devil. Acquittals hardly numbered 1 per cent of those tried. Accusation (which anybody might wantonly bring against anybody else) was practically equivalent to condemnation and sentence. Even the friends and relatives looked on and seemed to approve. To pity a witch was dangerous.

In those days many persons made a trade of witch-finding. One of these, named Matthew Hopkins, about the middle of the fifteenth century, traveled about in England, and in one year brought sixty unfortunates to the stake. He charged each town that he visited 20
shillings for hunting out any witches it might contain, and received in addition 20 shillings a head for executions. The test he used was that of "swimming."
The accused was tied up in a sack and thrown into the water. If she sank and was drowned, the fact proved her innocence; if she floated, she was guilty, and therefore was burned. Legend has it that Hoskins himself was accused of witchcraft, subjected to his own test and then hanged, but there is no evidence to support this.

The mania was in full blast in Europe when the Puritans landed in New England. Its first victim was Margaret Jones, of Charlestown, near Boston. She was an intelligent woman, and having some sensible ideas about medicine, disapproved of wholesale bleeding. She used to work cures by means of herb tonics and other simple prescriptions. This offended doctors, and in 1648 she was tried as a witch, convicted, and hanged.

It was not until 1692 however, that the really frightful outbreak of the mania occurred in Salem Village. Two young girls, nine and twelve years old, the daughter and niece of a clergyman, the Rev. Samuel Parris, began to act strangely, uttering loud and piteous cries,
creeping into holes, and assuming odd postures. Physicians said that they were bewitched. They accused Tituba, a South American slave of the family, of bewitching them, and Mr. Parris beat her until she confessed her guilt. She was hanged.
The children next complained of four other women of excellent character, who were at once thrown into prison. Three other young girls joined the first two in making accusations. The demon of superstition was loose. How much of the testimony of the children was criminal malice and how much hysteria will never be known. During that year, from February to August, 150 people in Salem were accused of witchcraft,
including nine little girls and boys, from five to fourteen years. Nineteen were executed by hanging. No witches were burned at Salem.

For six months the business of Salem was largely at a standstill, the town being half deserted. Nobody felt safe. Finally, however, the young girls, becoming overbold, turned their accusations to such high quarters – actually bringing charges against the wife of a
high official who had been active in the witch-finding movement - that the bubble of superstition broke. As soon as the judges ceased to condemn, there were no more accusations and thus the witch frenzy in Massachusetts came to an end.