But no utterance takes higher rank, or deserves more consideration in its appeal to sanity, justice, and humanity, than the declaration of certain ministers and laymen of Connecticut, in giving their advice and “reasons” for a cessation of the prosecutions for witchcraft in the colonial courts, and for reprieving Mercy Disborough under sentence of death.  This is the remarkable document: 

“Filed:  The ministers aduice about the witches in Fayrfield, 1692.

“As to ye evidences left to our consideration respecting ye two women suspected of witchcraft at Fairfield we offer

“1.  That we cannot but give our concurrance with ye generallity of divines that ye endeavour of conviction of witchcraft by swimming is unlawful and sinfull & therefore it cannot afford any evidence.

“2.  That ye unusuall excresencies found upon their bodies ought not to be allowed as evidence against them without ye approbation of some able physitians.

“3.  Respecting ye evidence of ye afflicted maid we find some things testifyed carrying a suspition of her counterfeiting; Others that plainly intimate her trouble from ye mother which improved by craft may produce ye most of those strange & unusuall effects affirmed of her; & of those things that by some may be thought to be diabolical or effects of witchcraft.  We apprehend her applying of them to these persons merely from ye appearance of their spectres to her to be very uncertain and failable from ye easy deception of her senses & subtile devices of ye devill, wherefore cannot think her a sufficient witnesse; yet we think that her affliction being something strange it well deserves a farther inquiry.

“4.  As to ye other strange accidents as ye dying of cattle &c., we apprehend ye applying of them to these women as matters of witchcraft to be upon very slender & uncertain grounds.

“Hartford JOSEPH ELIOT
“Octobr 1692 TIMOTHY WOODBRIDGE.”

“The rest of ye ministers gave their approbation to ye sum of what is ... above written tho this could not be drawen up before their departure.”

(Above in handwriting of Rev. Timothy Woodbridge.) “Filed:  Reasons of Repreuing Mercy Desbrough.

“To the Honrd Gen:  Assembly of Connecticut Colony sitting in Hartford.  Reasons of repreuing Mercy Disbrough from being put to death until this Court had cognizance of her case.

“First, because wee that repreued her had power by the law so to do.  Secondly, because we had and haue sattisfying reasons that the sentence of death passed against her ought not to be executed which reasons we give to this Court to be judge of

“1st.  The jury that brought her in guilty (which uerdict was the ground of her condemnation) was not the same jury who were first charged with this prisoners deliuerance and who had it in charg many weeks.  Mr. Knowles was on the jury first sworn to try this woman and he was at or about York when the Court sate the second time and when the uerdict was given, the jury was altered and another man sworn.