and other men
should do. On one of his visits he stayed uncommonly late. It was nearly
ten o'clock when he set off for home. The town had been abed an hour or
more; the night was murky and oppressively still, and corpse-candles were
dancing in the graveyard. Witch times had not been so far agone that he
felt comfortable, and, lest some sprite, bogie, troll, or goblin should
waylay him, he tore an elm branch from a tree that grew before his
sweetheart's house, and flourished it as he walked. He reached home
without experiencing any of the troubles that a superstitious fancy had
conjured. As he was about to cast the branch away a comforting vision of
his loved one came into his mind, and he determined to plant the branch
at his own door, that in the hours of their separation he might be
reminded of her who dwelt beneath the parent tree. He did so. It rooted
and grew, and when the youth and maid had long been married, their
children and grandchildren sported beneath its branches.

SAMUEL SEWALL'S PROPHECY

The peace of Newbury is deemed to be permanently secured by the prophecy
of Samuel Sewall, the young man who married the buxom daughter of
Mint-Master John Hull, and received, as wedding portion, her weight in
fresh-coined pine-tree shillings. He afterward became notorious as one of
the witchcraft judges. The prophecy has not been countervailed, nor is it
likely to be, whether the conditions are kept or not. It runs in this
wise:

"As long as Plum island shall faithfully keep the commanded Post,
Notwithstanding the hectoring words and hard blows of the proud and
boisterous ocean; As long as any Salmon or Sturgeon shall swim in the
streams of Merrimack, or any Perch or Pickeril in Crane Pond; As long as
the Sea Fowl shall know the time of their coming, and not neglect
seasonably to visit the places of their acquaintance; As long as any
Cattel shall be fed with Grass growing in the meadows which doe humbly
bow themselves before Turkie Hill; As long as any Sheep shall walk upon
Old town Hills, and shall from thence look pleasantly down upon the River
Parker and the fruitful Marishes lying beneath; As long as any free and
harmless Doves shall find a White Oak or other Tree within the township
to perch or feed, or build a careless Nest upon, and shall voluntarily
present themselves to perform the office of Gleaners after Barley
Harvest; As long as Nature shall not grow old and dote, but shall
constantly remember to g