>From : Margo Burns <margo@ogram.org> >It may seem that way, but according to Mary Beth Norton's book, it was not. >The magistrates spent a great deal of time and care researching English law >on the subject. In fact, it was more common for accusations of witchcraft >to boomerang on an accuser with a countersuit of libel. And one feature of >the trials that made Salem truly unusual was that the magistrates ignored >the precedent that spectral evidence alone could not be enough to convict >someone. On the subject of the use of spectral evidence I recommend the following article (I'm including the abstract for those who may not have access): "SPECTRAL EVIDENCE, NON-SPECTRAL ACTS OF WITCHCRAFT, AND CONFESSION AT SALEM IN 1692" by WENDEL D. CRAKER University of Georgia abstract. It is commonly asserted that people were hanged at Salem on charges of spectral appearance ; and the way to avoid hanging was to confess. Non-spectral acts of witchcraft are regarded as inconsequential to the outcome of the trials. Yet it was the non-spectral acts which provided the one magnet that attracted attention from the court. No one charged only with spectral appearance was even tried. The reprieves granted to confessors were the last decisions the court was allowed to make. This profile provides evidence that the standard claims about the court of oyer and terminer's use of evidence are the reverse of what actually happened, and highlights a number of patterns that have gone unremarked, requiring fresh interpretations." Incidentally, may I make a request: could the listmembers be so kind as to quote only the portion of messages to which they are referring? Sometimes it's difficult, especially if you subscribe to the Digest as I do, to distinguish what's new from what's being quoted. Also, not all of us have unlimited bandwidth, and it's something of a hardship to download a lengthy message, only to find that all but a couple of lines quoted previously posted messages. I'd really appreciate it if others could snip previous messages except where they're being referred to directly. ThankS! Francine Nicholson _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus