200 years to enlightenment

"Examination of a Witch'' (1853,) by T. H. Matteson, inspired by the Salem trials.

"By 1892, enlightenment had progressed to the point where the Salem {witch} trials were simply an embarrassing blot on the history of New England. They were a part of the past that was best forgotten: a reminder of how far the human race had come in two centuries.''

-- Historian Edmund Morgan