ess on the part of the hearers of his services, "Landlord
Nurse" was a member of the committee who had to deal with him, and he
and his relatives were among the majority, who were longing for Mr.
Parris' apparently inevitable departure. So when, through the
machinations of the pastor, the good woman was arrested, they appealed
to him in vain for mercy.

The meeting-house, in which the trial was held, was crowded with
spectators. Neighbor jostled neighbor, and terrible, awe-inspiring
whispers ran over the throng. Prayer was offered, and the court opened,
and Rebecca Nurse, weak and sick, old and infirm as she was, was made to
stand up before that tribunal to plead to the charge of witchcraft. When
her son would have supported his aged mother, he was driven away.

Mr. Parris was the first witness called. The law of evidence, or at
least the practice in Salem at that time, was quite different from the
present. Hearsay testimony was freely admitted in the case of Goody
Nurse. Mr. Parris stated that he was called to see a certain person who
was sick. Mercy Lewis was sent for. She was struck dumb on entering the
chamber. She was asked to hold up her hand, if she saw any of the
witches afflicting the patient. Presently she held up her hand, then
fell into a trance. While coming to herself, she said that she saw the
spectres of Goody Nurse and Goody Carrier having hold of the head of the
sick man. The testimony of Mr. Parris was given in a calm and deliberate
manner calculated to impress the jury with truth. Never did an assassin
whet his dagger with more coolness or with more malice drive it to the
heart of his victim, than did this sanctimonious villain weave the net
of ruin about his victims.

Thomas Putnam, the husband of Ann Putnam, stated that both his wife and
child were bewitched and had most grievous fits, all of which they
charged to Goody Nurse. He described his wife as being sorely attacked
and striving violently with her arms and legs, and presently she would
begin to converse with Good-wife Nurse, saying:

"Goody Nurse, begone! begone! begone! Are you not ashamed, a woman of
your profession, to afflict a poor creature so? What hurt did I ever do
you in my life? You have but two years to live, and then the devil will
torment your soul, for this your name is blotted out of God's book, and
it shall never be put in God's book again. Begone! For shame! Are you
not afraid of what is coming upon you? I know what will