Out of Stock
Overview
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. The Circle in the Minister's House. It would, perhaps be unfair to hold the Reverend Master Parris responsible for the wild doings that went on in the parsonage house during the winter evenings of 1691-2, in the face of his solemn assertion, made several years afterwards, that he was ignorant of them. And yet, how could such things have been without the knowledge either of himself or his wife ? Mistress Parris has come down to us with the reputation of a kindly and discreet woman?nothing having been said to her discredit, so far as I am aware, even by those who had a bitter controversy with her husband. And yet she certainly must have known of the doings of the famous circle, even if she refrained from speaking of them to her husband. At the very bottom of the whole thing, perhaps, were the West Indian slaves?John Indias and his wife Tituba, whom Master Parris had brought with him from Barbadoes. There were two children in the house, a little daughter of nine, named Elizabeth; and Abigail Williams, three years older. These very probably, Tituba often had sought to impress, as is the manner of negro servants, with tales of witchcraft, the evil- eye and evil hand spirits, powwowing, etc. Ann Putnam, another precocious child of twelve, the daughter of a near neighbor, Sergeant Putnam, the parish clerk, also was soon drawn into the knowledge of the savage mysteries. And, before very long, a regular circle of these and older girls was formed for the purpose of amusing and startling themselves with the investigation and performance of forbidden things. At the present day this would not be so reprehensible. We are comparatively an unbelieving generation; and what are called spiritual circles are common, though not always unattended with mischievous r...
| ISBN-13 | 9780217707435 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0217707432 |
| Weight | 0.78 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.54 In |
| List Price | $19.99 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 236 pages |
| Publisher | |
| Published On | 2009-08-01 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
