\\X rilK KETUONIMXT OF TIM, YKAH. 
VUo l)!iri:,OH (Im'ii proceeded lo Uic lioiist* oC hiidlc^' A. 
MnsHoy, u mosi (IcIiiilitCiil plMcc, wIkmc IIk; compjiiiy were 
enterUiincd \)y the proprietor mihI iiiciiilx'rs of the Duii- 
vcrs Iniproveniont ISocioty uiid upon his l.-ivvn the hiiicli 
WMs )>Mit:dvcn of and tho afternoon sesyion was hchl. 
vVhont 2. 30 V. M. the meeting was caUed to order by 
the President who stated that it was forty ycnirs, this 
month, since the lirst liehl nu'elinn; of this society was iiekl ; 
of those who attended, about fourteen in number, only 
three or four survive ; thoy came in private carriages and 
visited portions of Wenham and Danvers, the meeting 
was hehl in one of the i)arh)rs of Berry's 'I'avern in Danvers 
Plains and was entirely of a botanical character. Dr. 
Andrew Nichols, Rev. John Lewis Russell, Messrs. G. 
D. Phippen, 8. P. Fowler and others Avere among the 
speakers. Three other meetings were held that season : 
one at the house of A. T. Newhall in Lynntield, one at 
Knowlton's near the ponds in Hamilton, and the third at 
Smith's point, in Manchester. 
Mr. Geo. D. Phippen, being called u})on, gave a further 
account of the first meeting in 1849, with personal remi- 
niscences of those who took part. 
Key. C. B. Rice, of the First church in Danvers, was 
then introduced. He spoke at some length on the subject 
of witchcraft. He exhibited the old church records kept 
by Rev. Samuel Parris, also a piece of a board from the 
Parris House. 
William P. Upham, Esq., followed Mr. Rice on the 
same subject. Mr. Upham thought the lack of a good 
education was the main cause of the witchcraft delusion. 
That the first settlers in this region were men of culture 
for the most part, but after one or two generations had 
passed, there was a decline in knowledge and common 
sense. This, he said, had been confirmed in variousways : 
