Mather with great respect; and that
he sincerely and earnestly desired and trusted that satisfaction might
be given and taken, in the interview he so persistently sought--not
merely in reference to the case of Margaret Rule, but to the general
subject of witchcraft, on which they had different apprehensions: "I
have reason to hope for a satisfactory answer to him, who is one that
reverences your person and office."

This language strikingly illustrates the estimate in which Ministers
were held. Reverence for their office and for them, as a body, pervaded
all classes.

On the fifteenth of January, Mather replied complaining, in general
terms, of the narrative contained in Calef's Minutes, as follows: "I do
scarcely find any _one_ thing, in the whole paper, whether respecting my
father or myself, either fairly or truly represented." "The narrative
contains a number of mistakes and falsehoods which, were they wilful and
designed, might justly be termed great lies." He then goes into a
specification of a few particulars, in which he maintains that the
Minutes are incorrect.

On the eighteenth of January, Calef replied, reminding him that he had
taken scarcely any notice of the general subject of diabolical agency;
but that almost the whole of his letter referred to the Minutes of the
meetings, on the thirteenth and nineteenth of September; and he
maintains their substantial accuracy and shows that some of Mather's
strictures were founded upon an incorrect reading of them. In regard to
Mather's different recollection of some points, he expresses his belief
that if his account, in the Minutes, "be not fully exact, it was as near
as memory could bear away." He notices the fact that he finds in
Mather's letter no objection to what related to matters of greatest
concern. Mather had complained that the Minutes reported certain
statements made by Rule, which had been used to his disadvantage; and
Calef suggests, "What can be expected less from the father of lies, by
whom, you judge, she was possest?"

Appended to Mather's letter, are some documents, signed by several
persons, declaring that they had seen Rule lifted up by an invisible
force from the bed to the top of the room, while a strong person threw
his whole weight across her, and several others were trying with all
their might to hold her down or pull her back. Upon these certificates,
Calef remarks: "Upon the whole, I suppose you expect I should believe
it; and if so