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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this lively chronicle, historian Francis (Transcendental Utopias) offers a compelling portrait of the decline of Puritan ways in the late 17th century and the ascent of a secular spirit in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Although devout, Samuel Sewall (1652–1730) turned away from an early religious vocation to pursue a career in public office and married into the colony's aristocracy. He found himself catapulted into the limelight as one of nine judges who condemned the alleged witches of Salem in 1692. Francis calls this the turning point in Sewall's life and work. Never convinced that the condemned women were guilty, Sewall felt remorse; in 1697 he walked into a Boston church and offered a public apology, the only one of the three judges to do so. As a result, he was rebuffed by his social circle. Yet, according to Francis, Sewall's courage is magnified by his taking a stand he knew would result in ostracism. In his later years, Sewall wrote tracts opposing the colonists' treatment of Indians and slaves. Francis beautifully captures not only Sewall's personality and significance but also the shifting times in which he lived, when it was becoming no longer possible to "see the world as a simple allegorical struggle between... good and evil." B&w illus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Disquiet about the propriety of the Salem witch trials of 1692 existed even when they were under way, and the affair was quickly terminated when accusations of devilry began to nick the Puritan elite. One of the doubters was Samuel Sewall (1652-1730), a member of the court and a diligent diary keeper. Biographer Francis exploits this primary document to present Sewall as a figure imbued with the Calvinist mentality of the Puritans who shed some of its strictures, at least concerning law; theologically, Sewall remained true. More to the point of reading interest, Francis finds through the diary a genial but psychologically complicated figure who recorded the panoply of daily occurrences, such as his business and legal affairs, harmony and strife in his family, and, after the death of his wife, his courting of widows. Sewall was a remarkable witness to colonial life, but it is his repudiation of his role in the witch trials that centrally engages the author's curiosity. Evocatively detailed and clearly written, Francis' biography will be crucial for students of Salem. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
In this lively chronicle, historian Francis (Transcendental Utopias) offers a compelling portrait of the decline of Puritan ways in the late 17th century and the ascent of a secular spirit in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Although devout, Samuel Sewall (1652–1730) turned away from an early religious vocation to pursue a career in public office and married into the colony's aristocracy. He found himself catapulted into the limelight as one of nine judges who condemned the alleged witches of Salem in 1692. Francis calls this the turning point in Sewall's life and work. Never convinced that the condemned women were guilty, Sewall felt remorse; in 1697 he walked into a Boston church and offered a public apology, the only one of the three judges to do so. As a result, he was rebuffed by his social circle. Yet, according to Francis, Sewall's courage is magnified by his taking a stand he knew would result in ostracism. In his later years, Sewall wrote tracts opposing the colonists' treatment of Indians and slaves. Francis beautifully captures not only Sewall's personality and significance but also the shifting times in which he lived, when it was becoming no longer possible to "see the world as a simple allegorical struggle between... good and evil." B&w illus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Disquiet about the propriety of the Salem witch trials of 1692 existed even when they were under way, and the affair was quickly terminated when accusations of devilry began to nick the Puritan elite. One of the doubters was Samuel Sewall (1652-1730), a member of the court and a diligent diary keeper. Biographer Francis exploits this primary document to present Sewall as a figure imbued with the Calvinist mentality of the Puritans who shed some of its strictures, at least concerning law; theologically, Sewall remained true. More to the point of reading interest, Francis finds through the diary a genial but psychologically complicated figure who recorded the panoply of daily occurrences, such as his business and legal affairs, harmony and strife in his family, and, after the death of his wife, his courting of widows. Sewall was a remarkable witness to colonial life, but it is his repudiation of his role in the witch trials that centrally engages the author's curiosity. Evocatively detailed and clearly written, Francis' biography will be crucial for students of Salem. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
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