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What will happen to the 91 signatories of the testament supporting Elizabeth, Martha Corey, and Rebecca Nurse?

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The 91 signatories supporting Elizabeth, Martha Corey, and Rebecca Nurse will be arrested and questioned by the court. Judge Danforth, influenced by Reverend Parris, views any dissent with suspicion and considers the court's actions as divine. The signatories, honest citizens, face intense interrogation and potential charges of witchcraft, reflecting the hysteria and inflexible authority dominating the trials. Danforth's stance is that one is either with the court or against it, allowing no middle ground.

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The court orders that all ninety-one people be arrested and brought in for questioning. The citizens who signed the testament are in the minority of the community because most are too terrified of the repercussions of any sign of rebellion. Danforth does not want the people to question what the court is doing.

The people who have spoken up are shocked because Rebecca, Martha, and Elizabeth are all upstanding, god-fearing citizens. But the court refuses to listen to any voice of dissension, "A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there will be no road between".

This is true for Hale, as well. Parris sent for Hale because of his experience with this type of situation. Yet, once the momentum of the hysteria caught on, the courts did not want to hear even the expert's ideas because they do not agree with the proceedings that...

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have taken place.

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To accurately answer this question, one should know and understand what has gone before in terms of the court's decisions and its attitude toward witnesses. Judge Danforth has assumed a dictatorial position and his word is law in all senses of the word. His authority cannot be challenged and he has already rhetorically stated that he believes that the voice of God is speaking through the children. This means that he believes that they are, by default, innocent. In his eyes their veracity cannot be questioned and any attempt to do so is regarded with skepticism and suspicion.

It is because of the girls' testimony that Martha Corey, Elizabeth Proctor and Rebecca Nurse have been arrested and charged with consorting with the devil. When John Proctor presents the testament containing the statements of ninety-one citizens vouching for the good character of the three detainees, Danforth is immediately on his guard. He is already suspicious that John Proctor's sole purpose is to disrupt proceedings and is quite skeptical of him since he has failed in trying to bargain with him about Elizabeth being pregnant (he said she could be released for a year if John withdrew his charge about the girls' lying).

When John presents the testament to him, Danforth, at Reverend Parris's desperate urging, orders Mr. Cheever to draw up warrants of arrest for all ninety-one whose names appear in the document. He states that they will be arrested for examination.

This obviously means that the people so named will be apprehended, brought to court and interrogated aggressively. One can assume that Judge Danforth will under no circumstances allow his judgment and authority to be brought into question. He is much too arrogant to even have others consider that he might be wrong. As far as he is concerned, he is an angel of good and, therefore, cannot be tarnished by the stain of indiscretion; God is on his side and he is doing His work.

It is easy to conclude that all of the ninety-one citizens named in the testament will be intimidated by Judge Danforth's authority and his dictatorial posture. They will be at a great disadvantage and will be relentlessly pursued in cross examination. Since these are honest, noble, and hardworking citizens who believe in doing good, their integrity and morality will, more than likely, be brought into question and many of them will, most probably, fold under Danforth's bullying and Reverend Parris's consistent meddling and whining. In the end, many of them may be charged with witchcraft, ironically, just as those who they wish to defend had been.

It is this outcome that is Mr. Nurse's greatest fear. He declares that he has brought trouble to these citizens, but his claim is dismissed by Danforth, who tells him:

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.

These words bring no comfort, though, and must surely strike fear into the hearts of all those who hear them and are there to defend those whom they love. It is at this realization, perhaps, that Mary Warren suddenly sobs. Her reaction foreshadows her later condemnation of John Proctor.  

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The answer to this question can be found in Act III, when John Proctor, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse go to the court and speak to Danforth directly about the arrest of their wives for witchcraft. The testament that Proctor hands to Danforth is the first piece of evidence as to their wives' good character, and includes the names of 91 "covenanted Christians" who have known the women for many years and never seen them engage in any form of witchcraft. Unfortunately, Danforth, encouraged by Parris and Hathorne, see this as suspicious, and orders that each one of these should be arrested for questioning:

Mr. Cheever, have warrants drawn for all of these--arrest for examination.

In Danforth's opinion, if they are good Christians, then they have nothing to fear from the court. In fact, they will be happy to be questioned. He is so full of the opinion that the court is God's hand in Salem that he cannot even see how arresting these 91 people might be considered to be a rather exaggerated response to this situation. This of course supports the theme of hysteria that is raised so powerfully in this work.

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