exercises of public worship, on the Lord’s Day, in the meeting-house, it was not strange that people in general yielded to the excitement.  But all did not.  Several members of the family of Francis Nurse, Peter Cloyse and wife, and Joseph Putnam, expressed their disapprobation of such doings being allowed, and absented themselves from meeting.  Perhaps others took the same course; but whoever did were marked, as the sequel will show.

In the mean while the excitement was worked up to the highest pitch.  The families to which several of the “afflicted children” belonged were led to apply themselves to fasting and prayer, on which occasions the neighbors, under the guidance of the minister, would assemble, and unite in invocations to the Divine Being to interpose and deliver them from the snares and dominion of Satan.  The “afflicted children” who might be present would not, as a general thing, interrupt the prayers while in progress, but would break out with their wild outcries and convulsive spasms in the intervals of the service.  In due time, Mr. Parris sent for the neighboring ministers to assemble at his house, and unite with him in devoting a day to solemn religious services and earnest supplications to the throne of Mercy for rescue from the power of the great enemy of souls.  The ministers spent the day in Mr. Parris’s house, and the children performed their feats before their eyes.  The reverend gentlemen were astounded at what they saw, fully corroborated the opinion of Dr. Griggs, and formally declared their belief that the Evil One had commenced his operations with a bolder front and on a broader scale than ever before in this or any other country.

This judgment of the ministers was quickly made known everywhere; and, if doubt remained in any mind, it was suppressed by the irresistible power of an overwhelming public conviction.  Individuals were lost in the universal fanaticism.  Society was dissolved into a wild and excited crowd.  Men and women left their fields, their houses, their labors and employments, to witness the awful unveiling of the demoniac power, and to behold the workings of Satan himself upon the victims of his wrath.

It must be borne in mind, that it was then an established doctrine in theology, philosophy, and law, that the Devil could not operate upon mortals, or mortal affairs, except through the intermediate instrumentality of human beings in confederacy with him, that is, witches or wizards.  The question, of course, in all minds and on all tongues, was, “Who are the agents of the Devil in afflicting these girls?  There must be some among us thus acting, and who are they?” For some time the girls held back from mentioning names; or, if they did, it was prevented from being divulged to the public.  In the mean time, the excitement spread and deepened.  At length the people had become so thoroughly prepared for the work, that it was concluded to begin operations in earnest.  The continued pressure upon the “afflicted children,”