i)o 



worthy gentlemen of Salem, and some neighboring ministers 

 to consult together at his house ; who when they came, and 

 had inquired diligently into the sufierings of the afflicted, con- 

 cluded they were preternatural, and feared the hand of Satan 

 was in them. The advice given to Parris by them was, that 

 he should sit still and wait upon the Providence of God, to see 

 what time might discover ; and to be much in prayer for the 

 discovery of what was yet secret. They also examined Tituba, 

 who confessed the making a cake, and said her mistress in her 

 own country was a witch, and had taught her some means to be 

 used for the discovery of a witch, and for the prevention of 

 being bewitched, &;c. But said she herself, was not a witch. 

 Soon after this, there were two or three private fasts at Parris's 

 house, one of which was kept by the neighboring ministers, and 

 another in public at the village. And one general fast, by 

 order of the General Court, observed throughout the Colony, 

 to seek the Lord, that he would rebuke Satan, and be a light 

 unto his people in this day of darkness. 



It is evident from the account given by Rev. John Hale, 

 who was an eye witness to many of the transactions at Salem 

 village, and one of the ministers called for consultation, that 

 Mr. Parris proceeded with caution at the commencement of the 

 troubles, and was anxious to seek council and advice. He 

 likewise wished to inform himself on the subject of witchcraft, 

 and for that purpose received as a loan from Dea. Robert San- 

 derson, of Boston, a copy of Perkins' works, Avhich treated upon 

 that subject. 



We are among those who believe Mr. Parris was honest in his 

 belief in witchcraft, and that he was not moved in this affair 

 by personal malice, or the desire to promote the cause of relig- 

 ion in his Parish, as has been supposed by the author of the 

 History of Danvers. We have not as yet, found a particle of 

 evidence, that he entertained ill will against those who were 

 accused and executed. 



Mr. Parris, in common with his ministerial brethren, appears 

 to have come, after the confession of Tituba, to the full conclu- 

 sion, that witchcraft had broken out in his Parish, and that the 

 Devil had commenced his operations in his own family ; and as 

 a faithful pastor, he should not hesitate, for a moment, to grap- 

 ple with the enemy. 



It was in this point of view, that we discover the courage of 

 the people of Salem Village, who were engaged in opposing 

 ■what they considered the machinations of the Devil — they 

 supposing that he was the cause, operating through the agency 

 of Witches, of all the torture an<i misery they beheld, and 



