6/5/16

I have once heard it said that the tongue is like a rudder. For this
reason one must be careful of not only what they say, but, especially in
the case of the puritans, to whom they say it. For instance, every night
in the kitchen that I work, comments are made which would sound like
down right felonious threats should they be taken out of the jocular
context in which it was presented, and thus great caution is obversed.
Unfortunately, it seems many of the puritans were not so aware of the
possibility that the words they send out into the world might someday
come back to haunt them. In this essay I hope to point out that many
of the accusers were probably motived by the defendants ill speech
towards them. I would also like to note the irony that these people who
offended others in their community through their speech were charged
with crimes for which there was no evidence save for a spoken
testimony.
One form of ill speech which could bring about trouble is an
actual accusation of witchcraft itself. This was the case with Widow
Marshfield. She was accused of witchcraft by Mary Parsons, who was
unable to provide adequate evidence to back it up. Thus Marshfield
sued her for slander and defamation. This trial actually had the
opposite effect because instead to Marshfield getting convicted, people
started to claim that Parsons herself was a witch. Hugh Parsons, who I
might add actually did end up being convicted of witchcraft unlike his

wife, was also known for getting himself in trouble through his
speeches. Specifically he made a threatening speech to Blanche
Bedortha when he said that he didnt like his bricks. Parsons responded
by saying that you needed not have said anything, I spake not to you
but I shall remember you when you little think on it. Rice Bedortha,
Blanches wife, added that she had often heard threatening speech like
this come from Hugh Parsons while he was angry. This alone is
practically enough to convict someone of witchcraft not in the sense of
practicing magic, but in the puritan sense that anyone who harbored
malice and a will to harm another could be considered a witch. Hugh
was said to have made more threatening speech when he entered
anther dispute about bricks, this time with Mr. Moxon. Hugh Parson
even got in trouble for what he didnt say. William Branch had said
that he had heard Parsons speak of getting even with people. At one
point his wife made a comment about how she wished that New
England would be purged of all witches. At this Hugh Parsons said
nothing but made it very apparent that he was angry.
Although Roger Ludlow himself may have deserved an
accusation when he trumped-up charges of lying and witchcraft
against Mary Staple. She herself was questioned not for lying, but for
expressing a cogent skepticism against whether another woman
accused of witchcraft was in fact a witch or not. Even though Mary won

her suit against Ludlow, she still had to deal with lingering rumors
about witchcraft which effected her reputation.
John Bradstreet was another who was convicted of witchcrafts
after accusations of lying. At one point he was also ordered to spend in
hour in the stocks for offending the court with words. However, part
of his sentencing also had to do with his own admission that the had
read from a magical book. His is the first example of someone being
charged not for lying or slandering in their speech, but for telling the
truth.
John Godfrey supposedly made conversation about witches with
Charles Brown. He had also made mention to William Osgood that he
had made a covenant with a new master which Osgood thought
sounded suspiciously like the devil. The most damning piece of
evidence against him, however, did not come from his own speech, but
rather from and accusation made by Daniel Ela. Ela claimed that
Godfrey was simultaneously in both Ipswich and Salisbury at the same
time.