“A Modest Enquiry”: When a Community Leader Reconsiders Witchcraft

What happens when a community leader changes his mind in public? Reverend John Hale’s "A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft" (1702) offers a rare, candid window into that transformation. Serving as a minister during the Salem witchcraft crisis, Hale later wrote a measured treatise that scrutinized evidentiary standards, pastoral duty, and the dangers of moral panic.

This lecture places "A Modest Enquiry" in its full context while guiding attendees through key chapters and lesser-known passages. We’ll consider how Hale framed temptation, possession, and providence; how he weighed neighborly testimony; and how his text helped shift New England memory from certainty to conscience. Along the way, we’ll explore Beverly connections, surviving editions, and how the book has been interpreted by scholars and the public.

$10 In person ticket
$5 Virtual link
Tickets available at the attached link

You may also like the following events from Historic Beverly:

• Next Friday, 3rd October, 02:00 pm, The Hannah and the Nautilus: First Naval Engagement of the Revolutionary War in Beverly
• Next Saturday, 4th October, 02:00 pm, Witches and Wards: Magic and Counter Magic in 17th Century England and New England in Beverly
• Next month, 9th October, 07:30 pm, Bewitched at Balch: Chilling Tales & History at Historic Balch House in Beverly