1,133 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2015
    1. Music is invaluable where a person has an ear. Where they have not, it should not be attempted.

      Even the best musicians sound like crap at first, TOM.

    2. I need say nothing of household economy, in which the mothers of our country are generally skilled, and generally careful to instruct their daughters.

      Women must be skilled at cleaning because God forbid a man pick up after himself

    3. Music is invaluable where a person has an ear. Where they have not, it should not be attempted.

      If you suck, don't play music

    4. It is an innocent and engaging amusement

      Always gotta be innocent...

    5. that no lady dances after marriage.

      Probably because her happiness dies when she's married to a sexist.

    6. very attractive

      Of course, women's main focus is being attractive.

    7. In the subjoined catalogue, therefore, I have placed the books of both languages indifferently, according as the one or the other offers what is best.

      Is he creating the beginnings of the public education system?

    8. much poetry should not be indulged.

      EVIL.

    9. The result is a bloated imagination, sickly judgment, and disgust towards all the real businesses of life. This mass of trash, however, is not without some distinction; some few modelling their narratives, although fictitious, on the incidents of real life, have been able to make them interesting and useful vehicles of sound morality.

      Wow, he is not fond of literature for means of education. Considering it's a "mass of trash."

    10. This mass of trash, however, is not without some distinction; some few modelling their narratives, although fictitious, on the incidents of real life, have been able to make them interesting and useful vehicles of sound morality.

      He's basically equating fiction to something like the crappy sitcoms of today. And this is all he let's his daughter read--you know, for the life lessons.

    11. and even to direct the course for sons, should their fathers be lost, or incapable, or inattentive.

      Women, even his own daughters, should only educate boys as a last resort.

    1. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites.

      Wow, boldly calling out Christianity here. Too bad he's not as forward-thinking in matters of race...

    2. The man, in whose favour no laws of property exist, probably feels himself less bound to respect those made in favour of others.

      There's some logic!

    3. But they were of the race of whites.

      Yup, don't forget that!

    4. The improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, has been observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not the effect merely of their condition of life.

      Oh sure, slavery and extreme prejudice has NOTHING to do with it.

    5. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry

      AND THEN HIP HOP CAME ALONG. EAT IT, TOM.

    6. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry

      They were never taught how to write or express their ideas, so if there is poetry, there's no evidence of it for you to see, Jefferson.

    7. But never yet could I find that a black had uttered a thought above the level of plain narration; never see even an elementary trait of painting or sculpture.

      Like they have time to cultivate an imagination or speak above the level of "plain narration." All they do is work! I would imagine it's pretty hard to cultivate your own mind when you don't belong to yourself.

    8. so as to prove the existence of a germ in their minds which only wants cultivation.

      Side note: this is a fantastic line.

    9. Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of colour in the one, preferable to that eternal monotony, which reigns in the countenances, that immoveable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race?

      Don't get me wrong, I love candy canes and peppermints as much as the next guy, but what ever happened to good ol' Ebony and Ivory, Tom???

    10. Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which nature has made; and many other circumstances, will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions which will probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race.

      "If we don't enslave them ... we have to kill them, right?"

    11. We will consider them here, on the same stage with the whites, and where the facts are not apocryphal on which a judgment is to be formed.

      Sure, judge them in the place that already thinks they're animals, that's fair.

    12. They are more ardent after their female: but love seems with them to be more an eager desire, than a tender delicate mixture of sentiment and sensation.

      He's making black people sound like animals and not "sophisticated lovers."

    13. They seem to require less sleep. A black, after hard labour through the day, will be induced by the slightest amusements to sit up till midnight, or later, though knowing he must be out with the first dawn of the morning.

      Maybe they want to use some of their time to do something that is partly their own choosing! Sitting up and not working is a luxury!

    14. Whether the black of the negro resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and scarf-skin, or in the scarf-skin itself; whether it proceeds from the colour of the blood, the colour of the bile, or from that of some other secretion, the difference is fixed in nature, and is as real as if its seat and cause were better known to us.

      Such a focus on why black people are the color black. I don't get why it matters. The Native American weren't strictly white, but they're still more accepted...also "scarf-skin" is such a strange term...

    15. they should continue with their parents to a certain age, then be brought up, at the public expence, to tillage, arts or sciences, according to their geniusses, till the females should be eighteen, and the males twenty-one years of age, when they should be colonized to such place as the circumstances of the time should render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of houshold and of the handicraft arts, feeds, pairs of the useful domestic animals, &c. to declare them a free and independant people, and extend to them our alliance and protection, till they shall have acquired strength

      Is this talking about the forced integration of Native Americans into the white society?

    16. hence to construct the best evidence of the derivation of this part of the human race.

      He's very interested in ancestry and the progression of the human race, and races within the human race.

    17. It is to be lamented then, very much to be lamented, that we have suffered so many of the Indian tribes already to extinguish, without our having previously collected and deposited in the records of literature, the general rudiments at least of the languages they spoke.

      It's sad that so many Native Americans are dead because we missed the chance to write down their language? Come on, Jefferson. Priorities.

    18. produce and raise as many children as the white women.

      This makes women sound like a freaking baby production farm. I don't think Native American women pushing as many babies out of their bodies as white women necessarily means their life is better. Childbirth and motherhood are quite hard work, as well.

    19. The women are submitted to unjust drudgery. This I believe is the case with every barbarous people.

      And white women are not oppressed by white men in any way? By this reasoning, white men must be "barbarous people" as well.

    20. who he knows will treat him well

      How does he know that? When have the whites ever treated the Native Americans well (generally)?

    21. reduced to the same diet and exercise

      Still implying that the Native American is "beneath" the white man

    22. …Indian women, when married to white traders, who feed them and their children plentifully and regularly, who exempt them from excessive drudgery, who keep them stationary and unexposed to accident, produce and raise as many children as the white women. Instances are known, under these circumstances, of their rearing a dozen children. An inhuman practice once prevailed in this country of making slaves of the Indians…

      It sounds like he's saying, "We don't need to call these women our 'slaves' because they love work as is ... it's basically how they're programmed! Look at all the mouths they can feed!"

    23. but more from the information of others better acquainted with him, and on whose truth and judgment I can rely.

      Sounds questionable

    24. he meets death with more deliberation,

      Was his genocide HIS deliberation?

    25. The Indian of North America being more within our reach, I can speak of him somewhat from my own knowledge

      Automatically makes me wonder if the upcoming story is entirely accurate. "I can speak of him somewhat from my own knowledge."

    1. It has been the scheme of the Christian church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of Government to hold man in ignorance of his rights.

      Interesting comparison of religion and government...

    2. Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is none more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself, than this thing called Christianity.

      Wow...I wonder how this was taken by his readers, as Christianity was a major religion

    3. A thing which everybody is required to believe, requires that the proof and evidence of it should be equal to all, and universal; and as the public visibility of this last related act was the only evidence that could give sanction to the former part, the whole of it falls to the ground, because that evidence never was given.

      The resurrection of Christ and his ascension into heaven, if it did occur, should have been seen by all the people of Jerusalem, not just a few.

    4. in a supernatural manner, were obliged to take him out again in the same manner, or the first part of the story must have fallen to the ground..

      The story of Christ is not very believable, especially because none of it is told by Christ himself.

    5. The Christian theory is little else than the idolatry of the ancient mythologists, accommodated to the purposes of power and revenue; and it yet remains to reason and philosophy to abolish the amphibious fraud.

      Wow...he's really calling out Christianity here!

    6. But admitting, for the sake of a case, that something has been revealed to a certain person, and not revealed to any other person, it is revelation to that person only. When he tells it to a second person, a second to a third, a third to a fourth, and so on, it ceases to be a revelation to all those persons.

      Hmm..interesting point! One person's revelation can not possibly be another's.

    7. and, for my own part, I disbelieve them all.

      Bold statement against religion...especially for this time period.

    8. EVERY national church or religion has established itself by pretending some special mission from God, communicated to certain individuals.

      Is Paine not religious if he believes that all religions are "pretending to have a special mission"?

    1. which hath stirred up the Indians and Negroes to destroy us

      hmm...so we're definitely only concerned with the white people living on this continent.

    2. Ye that oppose independence now, ye know not what ye do; ye are opening a door to eternal tyranny, by keeping vacant the seat of government.

      To stop tyranny, we must establish an independent government.

    3. But where, says some, is the King of America? I’ll tell you. Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain.

      God is the king of America?

    4. that in America THE LAW IS KING.

      'Merica!

    5. Securing freedom and property to all men, and above all things, the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; with such other matter as is necessary for a charter to contain.

      The Constitution!

    6. A committee of twenty-six members of Congress, viz. two for each colony.

      The beginning of a Senate?

    7. In the next Congress, let a colony be taken by lot from twelve only, omitting that colony from which the president was taken in the former Congress, and so proceeding on till the whole thirteen shall have had their proper rotation.

      Is he suggesting that their should be a president from every colony before there is a president from the same colony that has already had a president?

    8. If there is any true cause of fear respecting independence, it is because no plan is yet laid down.

      The reason there is fear about fighting for independence is because there is no set plan on how they will do it.

    9. But the most powerful of all arguments, is, that nothing but independence, i.e. a continental form of government, can keep the peace of the continent and preserve it inviolate from civil wars.

      So you think, Paine. Just wait 100 years.

    10. Emigrants of property will not choose to come to a country whose form of government hangs but by a thread, and who is every day tottering on the brink of commotion and disturbance

      The issues of being connected with England will keep America from growing.

    11. England consults the good of THIS country, no farther than it answers her OWN purpose.

      England only thinks of America in terms of how it can benefit them, regardless of the effect on the people actually living in America.

    12. Is the power who is jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us?

      The king is jealous!

    13. We may be as effectually enslaved by the want of laws in America, as by submitting to laws made for us in England.

      The inability to make their own laws makes Americans/colonists slaves to England.

    14. America to itself.

      Freedom! America!

    15. but there is something very absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island.

      Good point! Honestly, Paine would definitely convince me to become independent of England...

    16. There was a time when it was proper, and there is a proper time for it to cease.

      Great line!

    17. The business of it will soon be too weighty, and intricate, to be managed with any tolerable degree of convenience, by a power so distant from us, and so very ignorant of us; for if they cannot conquer us, they cannot govern us.

      It is too hard and doesn't make any sense for Britain to run and govern a country that is so far away.

    18. Wherefore, since nothing but blows will do, for God’s sake, let us come to a final separation, and not leave the next generation to be cutting throats, under the violated unmeaning names of parent and child.

      There is no other choice but to fight for independence

    19. It is not in the power of Britain or of Europe to conquer America, if she do not conquer herself by DELAY and TIMIDITY.

      If America delays action because it is scared of the consequences, the country will only be hurting itself by making it easier for other countries to overcome it.

    20. sycophant

      sycophant: a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage

    21. posterity

      He focuses heavily on the effect of a connection with England on future generations.

    22. as we are running the next generation into debt

      I think we've continued this cycle for a few centuries now....

    23. Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America, is a strong and natural proof, that the authority of the one, over the other, was never the design of Heaven

      God placed an ocean between us to show that we should be independent! Now Paine is appealing to his reader's devotional side...clever.

    24. It is the true interest of America to steer clear of European contentions, which she never can do, while by her dependence on Britain, she is made the make-weight in the scale of British politics.

      America does not want to be involved in political issues of Europe, and being connected to Britain forces them to be associated with such issues.

    25. Her trade will always be a protection, and her barrenness of gold and silver secure her from invaders.

      Trade with Europe protects America, but the country's lack of riches also protects it from invaders.

    26. therefore, by the same method of reasoning, England ought to be governed by France.

      There is nothing that comes of the argument that Britain should rule America because everyone, regardless of the country they emigrated from, is of English descent is ridiculous.

    27. and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home, pursues their descendants still.

      Colonists came to America to get away from England, but by staying dependent on England, they submit themselves to the same "tyranny" that made them leave in the first place.

    28. France and Spain never were, nor perhaps ever will be our enemies as AMERICANS, but as our being the subjects of GREAT BRITAIN.

      The connection to Britain is what gives them their identity, and in that identity they also share the same enemies as Britain. If they were independent and no longer considered "British," they'd make their own allies and enemies.

    29. that her motive was INTEREST not ATTACHMENT; that she did not protect us from OUR ENEMIES on OUR ACCOUNT, but from HER ENEMIES on HER OWN ACCOUNT, from those who had no quarrel with us on any OTHER ACCOUNT, and who will always be our enemies on the SAME ACCOUNT

      EMPHASIS

    30. and she would have defended Turkey from the same motive

      It isn't special that Britain has defended America...they would do the same for any country for the sake of trade.

    31. The commerce, by which she hath enriched herself, are the necessaries of life, and will always have a market while eating is the custom of Europe.

      America will always have trade opportunities with Europe because their goods are necessary for life (aka food).

    32. We may as well assert that because a child has thrived upon milk that it is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty.

      Staying dependent on Britain just because it has worked in the past does not promote progression, it just keeps everything the same.

    33. the commencement of hostilities

      I really like this phrase

    34. but of a continent

      Is it though? The colonies do not take up a whole continent...there are other people on the North American continent besides colonists.

    35. and the period of debate is closed. Arms, as the last resource, decide this contest;

      Words will no longer solve these issues...only war!

    1. My soul acquiesced fully in the will of God,

      I like his word flow here and his words seem meaningful. On the other hand I feel like there is way to much expression of love for christ. We all get the point by this time. I really wanted more depth and an actual story but felt like I was being preached at.

    2. It was a pure delight, which fed and satisfied the soul. It was peasure

      While Sarah Pierrepont Edwards' awakening is not quite as sexual as Edwards', there are certainly similar words being used. "Sweet," "delight," "pleasure," "fill," we've seen these words before.

    3. sweet

      I just want to report the return of "sweet." It's in here ten times,

    4. was worth more than all the outward comfort and pleasure, which I had enjoyed in my whole life put together.

      That's one hell of a vision

    5. so that there seemed to be a constant flowing and reflowing of heavenly and divine love, from Christ’s heart to mine

      So much sweetness and feelings of unconditional, consuming love here

    6. But all night I continued in a constant, clear and lively sense of the heavenly sweetness of Christ’s excellent and transcendent love, of his nearness to me, and of my dearness to him; with an inexpressibly sweet calmness of soul in an entire rest in him.

      A religious epiphany/awakening to Christ's power

    1. I had a variety of concerns and exercises about my soul from my childhood;

      what exercises?

    2. sweet,

      He has the word sweet in here 32 times. And four in this paragraph alone.

    3. express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust, and to be full of Christ alone; to love him with a holy and pure love; to trust in him; to live upon him; to serve and follow him; and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly purity

      Sheesh, keep it in your pants, Edwards. The sexual undertones in here are so noticeable and someone mentioned earlier than Edwards often has a hard time expressing his joy in the Lord. Maybe sexual pleasure is his way to express that.

    4. panted

      Freud

    5. opening its bosom to receive the pleasant beams of the sun’s glory

      Ok, I'm going to go full Freud. This really screams "allusion to sexual intercourse" to me.

    6. ejaculatory prayer,

      I am aware of the use of this word in order to indicate sudden speech.

      But...

    7. longings

      I feel like i don't have to say it anymore...

    8. sweet, and gentle

      I'm going to be honest, it sounds like he is describing love-making.

    9. sweetly to represent the loveliness and beauty of Jesus Christ

      interesting choice of words to describe jesus

    10. self­righteous pleasure;

      Trying so hard not to see this as a euphemism for sexual awakening but its so difficult

    11. awakening

      I feel like I need to look at the many meanings of this word.

    12. after my first conversion

      awakening?

    13. The very thought of any joy arising in me, on any consideration of my own amiableness, performances, or experiences, or any goodness of heart or life, is nauseous and detestable to me.

      He doesn't like himself very much...guess tut's why he'd rather be "empty of self" and only find joy in Christ

    14. I cannot bear the thoughts of being no more humble than other Christians.

      Why does he think he is more sinful or more deserving of recognition for his religious experiences than other Christians?

    15. that my repentance was nothing to my sin.

      I guess you just have to cry for your whole life, then.

    16. than by heaping infinite upon infinite, and multiplying infinite by infinite

      So descriptive...

    17. and that I should have by far the lowest place in hell.

      What did he do that was so bad?!

    18. very frequently to such a degree as to hold me in a kind of loud weeping, sometimes for a considerable time together; so that I have often been forced to shut myself up.

      He's really hard on himself for the sins he has committed

    19. The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception … which continued as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud.

      He has a powerful religious vision

    20. I love to think of coming to Christ, to receive salvation of him, poor in spirit, and quite empty of self, humbly exalting him alone; cut off entirely from my own root, in order to grow into, and out of Christ; to have God in Christ to be all in all; and to live by faith in the Son of God, a life of humble, unfeigned confidence in him.

      He wants to be nothing but a follower of Christ. He doesn't want any individuality...he'd rather be "empty of self"

    21. I felt a harmony between something in my heart, and those sweet and powerful words. I seemed often to see so much light exhibited by every sentence, and such a refreshing food communicated, that I could not get along in reading; often dwelling long on one sentence, to see the wonders contained in it; and yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders…

      That's a powerful reaction to reading...a lot of Edwards' descriptions seem over the top. He sounds like a lovesick puppy over Christianity.

    22. The soul of a true Christian

      Does he see himself as a "holy man" because of his feelings towards Christ? Who is he to judge the "soul of a true Christian"?

    23. God’s excellency, his wisdom, his purity and love, seemed to appear in every thing; in the sun, moon, and stars; in the clouds, and blue sky; in the grass, flowers, trees; in the water, and all nature; which used greatly to fix my mind.

      He's entranced by the beauty of the world, and credits all of it to God

    24. that I know not how to express

      He doesn't know how to express many of these feelings

    25. an inward sweetness, that would carry me away, in my contemplations.

      He seems to be quite infatuated with Christ

    26. And my mind was greatly engaged to spend my time in reading and meditating on Christ, on the beauty and excellency of his person, and the lovely way of salvation by free grace in him.

      By studying and meditating on the works of Christ, one can find salvation?

    27. As I read the words, there came into my soul, and was as it were diffused through it, a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from any thing I ever experienced before Never any words of scripture seemed to me as these words did.

      He has a religious epiphany/awakening/calling from reading the words of the Bible.

    28. I was thus convinced, not in the least imagining at the time, nor a long time after, that there was any extraordinary influence of God’s Spirit in it; but only that now I saw further, and my reason apprehended the justice and reasonableness of it. However, my mind rested in it; and it put an end to all those cavils and objections.

      The power of God overcomes those doubts in his mind?

    29. my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, in choosing whom he would to eternal life, and rejecting whom he pleased; leaving them eternally to perish, and be everlastingly tormented in hell. It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me.

      Questioning the Christian religion because of the ways in which it portrays God

    30. I felt a spirit to part with all things in the world, for an interest in Christ.

      Nothing but Christ matters

    31. I was brought wholly to break off all former wicked ways, and all ways of known outward sin; and to apply myself to seek salvation, and practice many religious duties; but without that kind of affection and delight which I had formerly experienced.

      His inner turmoil results in a reconciliation with God

    32. in which he brought me nigh to the grave, and shook me over the pit of hell.

      visions of God trying to scare him back to being faithful

    33. a pleurisy

      a sickness?

    34. and returned like a dog to his vomit

      What a comparison!

    35. and had much self­righteous pleasure; and it was my delight to abound in religious duties.

      Self-righteous pleasure doesn't seem very Christian

    36. I used to pray five times a day in secret

      Why in secret?

    1. nothing that you can do

      But there is something? Edwards said before that believing in God would save them....I'm so done with this guy.

    2. The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you

      Where the hell does he get this stuff? We are bugs? God hates us? I don't think Edwards and I read the same Bible....

    3. The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you

      Where the hell does he get this stuff? We are bugs? God hates us? I don't think Edwards and I read the same Bible....

    4. bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow

      The use of the bow and arrow here to represent God's judgement is interesting: what are the implications of using a weapon to describe God?

    5. nothing but the mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back,

      I want to know how many times he says the same thing in different ways.

    6. were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you

      Yes, thanks Edwards. We get it.

    7. were made for men to serve God with

      I feel that, according to the Bible, it was the other way around. Humans were "above" all living things and they were made to serve us.

    8. he earth would not bear you one moment

      I think this viewpoint is interesting. From the Christian perspective, God created the Earth and all the creatures and then let Adam and Eve name them, it seems like they were created for humans (from the Christian perspective).

    9. APPLICATION The use may be of awakening to unconverted persons in this congregation.

      It kind of sounds like an instruction manual. Application for sermon: to scare the hell out of non-believers

    10. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death,

      I feel like this is an exact promise in the Bible. Edwards really likes scare tactics.

    11. God’s appointed time is not come

      God controls everything, reminds me of Rowlandson

    12. The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire

      God doesn't sound like someone I want to hang out with for eternity

    13. ’tis nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction.

      God takes pleasure in torturing us is what it sounds like

    14. but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are continually rising, and waxing more and more mighty

      The longer you remain wicked (by not truly believing in God), the more of a burden you put on yourself to make up for your sins

    15. the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun don’t willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth don’t willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air don’t willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God’s enemies.

      YOU ARE NOTHING, YOU SINNER!

    16. unconverted persons

      non-believers?

    17. they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold ’em up one moment;

      This is a scary depiction of God...I don't think I'd want to devote my life to a being like this.

    18. tis plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.

      Praying and going through the motions of religion are not enough. You have to truly believe in order to be saved

    19. God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise, to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death

      God never promised to save any person from hell. Instead, keeping you out of hell is in exchange for the devotion of your life to Him

    20. Almost every natural man that hears of hell flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security, he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do; every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters [Pg 84]himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes won’t fail.

      It's human nature to believe that the worst won't happen to you because you will get yourself out of it. Edwards says that the ONLY way to avoid going to hell is to be a devout Christian.

    21. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion.

      People belong to God, whether they believe in him or not. They are His possession.

    22. God is not altogether such a one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so.

      God is not like humans, even though people like to think of him as being similar to them

    23. with many that are now in this congregation

      He's even telling his own congregation that God is angry with them!

    24. So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place

      Everyone but devout & proper Christians are going to burn in hell. It sounds like he's trying to scare people into religion.

    25. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and ’tis nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God’s mere will, that holds it back.

      People always deserve to be punished for their wicked ways...it is only the "merciful" God that keeps them from punishment

    26. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God’s enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces: they are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames.

      Nothing can withstand the all-mighty power of God

    27. There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God.

      Wow...harsh!

    28. God won’t hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall to destruction;

      When God decides the time has come, he will let the people fall to a destruction their own making & he will not help them

    29. hat they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.

      They are liable to fall a lot! They must screw up all the time

    30. arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God’s mere will had in the least degree or in any respect whatsoever any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment.

      What he's describing sounds like something we aren't aren't fully capable of understanding.

    31. void of counsel, having no understanding in them; and that, under all the cultivations of heaven, brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit;

      God lavished them with blessings, and yet they managed to still screw everything up. Maybe they felt entitled because they were God's chosen people.

    1. the Wic­can com­mu­nity is thriv­ing, and witchcraft-related attrac­tions con­tinue to draw the great­est crowds in Salem

      so interesting how everyone loves it now but were hanged if liking it in the past

    2. “facts” are cre­ated by the inter­ac­tion between site, viewer, and a neb­u­lous char­ac­ter called “the past.”

      Seems like a big game of telephone

    1. that the prisoner was the undoing of her, and her Children, by enticing them into the snare of the Devi

      Oh come on, take ownership and stop pointing the finger.

    2. which without any known cause quickly fell down and dy’d.

      Wouldn't she just kill the people and not set her vengeance out for some cows?

    3. and put him to very great Misery:

      Yet sounding so casual about it....even more sketchy

    4. Queen of Heb

      Queen of Hell?

    5. This Rampant Hag

      Wow

    6. Unaccountably ty’d together with a Wheel-band, so fast that without cutting, it could not be loosed: It was done by a Spectre; and the Sufferer affirm’d, it was the Prisoners.

      This happened in the courtroom??

    7. that the prisoner was the undoing of her, and her Children, by enticing them into the snare of the Devil.

      Again, someone just trying to save themselves

    8. Witch-meetings

      Wow, what a creative name for their gatherings

    9. she should within two or three days be poisoned

      Come on, why would she warn her that she was going to be poisoned? It ruins the surprise

    10. Phebe Chandler

      Off topic, but I couldn't help but think of Phoebe and Chandler from "Friends" when I read her name

    11. strangely bewitched

      I'd love to see what "strangely bewitched" cattle act like

    12. lost his Cattle, by strange Deaths

      Did nobody think that the cattle were just sick & infecting each other?

    13. he could thrust a knitting Needle into his wound,

      Well it's never gonna heal like that!

    14. and put him to very great Misery

      Two open sores in the groin area?! Who wouldn't be in very great misery?

    15. a Swelling in his[Pg 156] Foot, and then with a Pain in his Side, and exceedingly tormented. It bred into a Sore, which was launced by Doctor Prescot,

      I wonder how much medical knowledge (or lack thereof) attributed to these accusations. Misdiagnoses can be dangerous...

    16. She would hold his Nose as close to the Grindstone as ever it was held since his Name was Abbot.

      People say crazy things when they're angry...

    17. this Carrier

      Strange that he keeps saying "this Carrier" and not just "Carrier"

    18. This Confession they made with great Shews of Repentance, and with much Demonstration of Truth

      They're just trying to save themselves!

    19. Its no matter though their Necks had been twisted quite off.

      She probably would like to twist these girls' heads off right now

    20. the Poor People

      the accusers?

    21. or her Shape

      Interesting that they suggest that Martha could've been "possessed" or something could've taken over her "shape"

    22. pleading Not Guilty

      Does anyone plead guilty to an accusation of being a witch?

    1. So, he is being honored with a shield but also talks to the devil? Is the devil making all of these things happen?

    2. Is he actually communicating with the devil?

    3. nless written in the Liquor wherewith Witches use to write their Covenants

      Liquor, witchcraft, devils, all in the first paragraph

    4. I want no Defence; for the Historical part of it, I have a Very Great One; the Lieutenant-Governour of New-England having perused it, has done me the Honour of giving me a Shield, under the Umbrage whereof I now dare to walk abroad.

      So, he is going to give his "religious opinion", but is going to attempt to tell just the facts in the "Historical part" of his writings

    5. Dogmatical

      Dogmatical :relating to or of the nature of a dogma or dogmas or any strong set of principles concerning faith, morals, etc., as those laid down by a church; doctrinal:

    6. unvaried Thoughts

      Unbiased truth? Not sure if that's possible as a minister writing about witches.

    7. Good Men in another Country

      Good Englishmen?

    8. I have indeed set myself to countermine the whole PLOT of the Devil, against New-England, in every Branch of it,[Pg 5] as far as one of my darkness, can comprehend such a Work of Darkness.

      He has decided to take on the job of telling about the event of the witch trials the best he can, considering he is a religious man.

    9. No, I hope the Body of this People, are yet in such a Temper, as to be capable of applying their Thoughts, to make a Right Use of the stupendous and prodigious Things that are happening among us

      He hopes that people are smart enough to realize a religious message when they see one?

    10. fenced with Iron, and the Staff of a Spear

      What's with the italics? Is he quoting something?

    11. Cotton Mather
    1. Oh the roaring, and singing and dancing, and yelling of those black creatures in the night, which made the place a lively resemblance of hell. And as miserable was the waste that was there made of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, calves, lambs, roasting pigs, and fowl (which they had plundered in the town), some roasting, some lying and burning, and some boiling to feed our merciless enemies

      Okay, the singing and dancing seems like something that would unify everyone together, yet the indians are being depicted as objects from hell? Why is hell being linked to the indians who enjoy singing and dancing? The whole scene just reminds me of a party so it confused me that Rowalndson represents the Indians are being from hell. What does everyone think about this? Is hell being linked to the Indians because of them being different?

    1. That they are the vanity of vanities, and vexation of spirit, that they are but a shadow, a blast, a bubble, and things of no continuance. That we must rely on God Himself, and our whole dependance must be upon Him.

      very up and down in the god department. one day love, next envy.

    2. squaw

      Woman! Ok makes more sense. Thanks Hannah

    3. My sister’s son was redeemed for four pounds

      i hate seeing money linked with loved ones. Clearly, that's all it's about

    4. The twenty pounds, the price of my redemption, was raised by some Boston gentlemen

      Buying back. oh god here we go!

    5. but desired to wait God’s time, that I might go home quietly, and without fear.

      maybe that was a sign from god

    6. They would eat horse’s guts, and ears, and all sorts of wild birds which they could catch; also bear, venison, beaver, tortoise, frogs, squirrels, dogs, skunks, rattlesnakes; yea, the very bark of trees; besides all sorts of creatures, and provision which they plundered from the English.

      How is all of this edible?

    7. I cannot but remember how the Indians derided the slowness, and dullness of the English army, in its setting out

      I can see where the frustration comes from