Phips failed to recognize from the beginning the problems associated with the trials, most notably that innocent people were being convicted and executed on the basis of spectral evidence.
Upon returning to the colony, Phips "found many persons in a strange ferment of dissatisfaction . . . [and] found that the Devill had taken upon him the name and shape of several persons who were doubtless innocent." Phips had been known to play with astrology, and was a believer in the existence of witchcraft. Nevertheless, he knew the court was making grave mistakes, no doubt coming to this conclusion after speaking with Increase Mather who "unequivocally condemned spectral evidence" in Cases of Conscience.
Upon returning to the colony, Phips "found many persons in a strange ferment of dissatisfaction . . . [and] found that the Devill had taken upon him the name and shape of several persons who were doubtless innocent." Phips had been known to play with astrology, and was a believer in the existence of witchcraft. Nevertheless, he knew the court was making grave mistakes, no doubt coming to this conclusion after speaking with Increase Mather who "unequivocally condemned spectral evidence" in Cases of Conscience.
Phips took a stronger role against his lieutenant governor, pardoning eight people whom Stoughton condemned to die, months after the executions had stopped. Phips chastised Stoughton for his ruthless abandonment of order in a letter to the King on February 21, 1693. Though Phips used this letter to defend himself, the fact remains that Phips created the Court due to the insistence of the clerical and political authorities in Boston, for what he thought was a legitimate legal need. Though Phips did eventually put an end to the Court, his failure to control the court's aggressive actions during the summer allowed the persecutions to continue. If Phips is to be judged innocent by history, it is only due to ignorance about the misuse of spectral evidence and his trust in the judgment of his clerical friends, Increase and Cotton Mather, and his lieutenant governor William Stoughton.
Sir William gained enemies over the next couple years by his failure to gain English control over French and Native American forces in New England and Canada. The King recalled him to England where he died of fever on February 13, 1693.