In Act Three, Francis Nurse, John Proctor, and Giles Corey present a petition to the court, signed by ninety-one people who attest that they have known their wives for many years and never saw any sign that the women had dealings with the Devil. Nurse assures Danforth that all are covenanted Christians, a revelation which would typically increase their reliability in Danforth's eyes; nonetheless, Danforth gives the order that all of them be arrested for questioning. At this point, Nurse feels that he has "brought trouble on these people," and Danforth interrupts him, saying,
No, old man, you have not hurt these people if they are of good conscience. But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.
Danforth feels that anyone who objects to the proceedings of and methods used by the...
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court must be someone with something to hide. And if a person has anything to hide, anything he would not want found out by the court, then that personshould be worried. Anyone who objects or questions is automatically suspect because he must be against the workings of God and of justice.
Further, Danforth tells Nurse that
This is a sharp time, now, a precise time -- we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God's grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it. I hope you will be one of those.
In other words, Danforth believes that the light of God is shining on this court, and only those who fear the light of God will criticize it. Anyone who cherishes God's light will praise the court for the work it does to bring truth into this light. Really, Danforth cautions Nurse that he is treading perilously close to the line that divides those who are for the courts from those who are against them, and it will only go badly for him should he cross that line.