It had been months since I was put in jail, and the trials continued. Reverend Hale had been in the jail and was trying to get people to confess to witchcraft so that they would not hang for it. I had heard that Abigail had run away with all of Reverend Parris' money. This made him decide to try and save the lives of those that were accused because he realized that she might have just been pointing fingers at everyone. This made the judges mad but it did not stop them from hanging people.
 |
| The Noose |
I was brought out of my cell by Reverend Hale and he wanted me to talk to John and try to get him to confess to witchcraft and not be hanged. I agreed to talk to him but I told the court that I gave no guarantees. They brought him out of his cell and I told him about who had been killed and who confessed. I also told him about the fact that they pressed Giles Corey to death. He wanted to know what I thought about him confessing and I told him "Whatever you will do, it is a good man that does it." (Pg. 126)
John decided that he wanted his life and he was taken to sign a confession. The judges wanted him to incriminate other while he was saving himself. He would not do this so the court just let the confession relate to him. Then, they wanted to hang the confession on the door of the church. John asked why it had to be hung on the church door and they said it was so that the whole town could see that he confessed. They said that it would have to go on the church door or they would have to kill him. When they said this, he said "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name." (Pg. 133) When he said this, the court asked if his confession was corrupt and he ripped it up. The people of the court proceeded to take him to be hanged.
No comments:
Post a Comment