Salem, Septemr. 14, 1711.
Read & Accepted in the House of Represent'ves
Signed JOHN BURRILL Speak'r
Read & Concur'd in Council
Consented to J. DUDLEY.
The following quaint memorandum of the expenses of the commission
is minuted in the report, viz.:--
_Ye Acct of gr servts_
Charges 3 days a peis ourselves & horses 4.0.0.
Entertainment at Salem Mr. Pratts 1.3.0.
Major Sewals attendans & sendg notifications
to all Concerned 1.0.0.
-------
L6.3.0.
It is a grave error into which many modern writers have been drawn,
when alluding to Salem witchcraft, to lay the responsibility of that
dire delusion entirely upon Salem people, as if they alone were to
be held accountable for the dreadful occurrences of 1692. The laws
of England in those days, all the authorities of New England, and,
with but rare exceptions, all the people everywhere throughout the
civilized world, recognized witchcraft as a fact and believed it to
be a crime.
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