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Mr. Pan-is's household consisted, at this time, of himself and 

 wife, his age being 39 years, that of his wife 44 years, a daugh- 

 ter Elizabeth, aged nine years, a niece of eleven years by the 

 name of Abigail Williams, and two servants named John In- 

 dian, and Tituba his wife, both natives of South America, then 

 called New Spain These were held as slaves, and Parris pro- 

 bably came in possession of them, in some of his commercial 

 transactions. By some persons, these Indians have been sup- 

 posed to belong to the aborigines of our country and to have 

 obtained their knowledge of witchcraft from the Indian powows ; 

 but this appears to have been a mistake. Mr. Parris's nearest 

 neighbors were Capt. Jona. Walcut, who had a daughter called 

 Mary, 17 years of age, and his parish clerk. Thomas Putnam, 

 who'had a daughter named Ann, aged 12 years, and a servant 

 girl, living with him, named Mercey Lewis aged 17 yeai-s, 

 Mary Warren, aged 20 years, lived with John Proctor, Eliza- 

 beth Booth, aged 18 years, lived near to John Proctor, Sarah 

 Churchill, aged 20 years, lived in the family of Geo. Jacobs, 

 sen., Susannah Sheldon, aged 18 years, lived in the Village. 

 These girls, together with Abigail Williams, a niece of Mr. 

 Parris, aged 1 1 years, were in the habit of meeting in a circle 

 in the village, to practice palmistry, fortune telling, &c. It 

 appears by evidence, given at the Courts, that some of their 

 parents and guardians did not approve of these meetings. Mary 

 Warren, one of the most violent of the accusing girls, lived as 

 we have before said, with John Proctor, and at last became his 

 principal accuser, upon his examination for witchcraft. Proc- 

 tor, out of all patience with the meetings of the girls, compos- 

 ing this circle, one day said he " was a going to the Village to 

 bring Mary Warren, the jade, home ; for, if let alone, these 

 girls would make us all Devils and Witches together quickley. 

 They should rather be had to the whipping post ; but he would 

 fetch his jade home, and thrash the devil out of her." Proctor 

 said, when Mary Warren was first taken with fits, he kept her 

 close to the wheel, and threatened to thrash her, and then she 

 had no more fits ; but the next day, he being gone from home, 

 she had her fits again. If the accusing girls had been dealt with 

 as John Proctor would have had them, we probably should have 

 had a short story to tell, about Salem Witchcraft. It is at the 

 meeting of this circle of eight girls, for the purpose of practis- 

 ing palmistry and fortune telling, that we discover the germ, 

 or the first origin of the delusion. We have endeavored to fol- 

 low them after the excitement had subsided, for the purpose of 

 ascertaining their character, in after life. One only of this cir- 

 cle, Ann Putnam, confessed her folly, and sought forgiveness. 



