Threescore years and twelve are saying, Spend no more time in general preparation for your labors, because dangers yearly thicken that your perishing outer man must forever leave undone what it fails to accomplish soon. Your future "footprints on the sands of time" will be but few; therefore now start in right direction, and, as best you can, mark the path you travel, and thus give some guidance to future wayfarers journeying toward the goal at which you aim, but lack power to reach. ALLEN PUTNAM. BOSTON, 426 Dudley Street REFERENCES. The principal works quoted from and referred to in the following pages, are-- SALEM WITCHCRAFT, edited by S. P. Fowler, of Danvers; H. P. Ives and A. A. Smith, Salem, 1861. This furnished the citations from Calef, and most of those from Cotton Mather. References are to this edition. HUTCHINSON'S HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. Boston edition 1764 and 1767. UPHAM'S HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT AND SALEM VILLAGE. Boston, Wiggin & Lunt, 1867. WOODWARD'S HISTORICAL SERIES, embracing Annals of Witchcraft in New England by Samuel G. Drake, furnished the citations from Drake. NEW ENGLAND GENEALOGICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN REGISTER, October, 1870, p. 381, was the source of extracts from W. F. Poole. EXPLANATORY NOTE. A subject mysterious as ours will need for its ready comprehension some general knowledge of the imputed attributes and doings of witchcraft's special DEVIL, and of supposed aids and hindrances to his getting access to the visible world; also of demonology and necromancy, of biblical witch and witchcraft, of Protestant Christendom's witch and witchcraft, of spirit, soul, and mental powers, of miracle, spiritualism, Indian worship, and the like. Therefore we wrote out brief dissertations upon those subjects, with a view to have them constitute an opening chapter. But they are somewhat dry, and would, perhaps, keep many readers back from less thought-taxing pages longer than their pleasure will permit. Therefore we postpone presentation of what usually is placed in front, at the same time advising each one who desires to read this work as advantageously as possible, to turn first to our Appendix. In form of definitions, at the close of the dissertations, we placed a summary of some past conceptions, designing thus to indicate, compactly, special stand-points for explanation of witchcraft, on which some of our predecessors have severally taken position. We insert it here. DEFINITIONS. _Biblical._ DEVIL, or SATAN. Any opponent or antagonist, whether seen or unseen. WITCH. Employer of mysterious acquisitions in teaching _heresy_. WITCHCRAFT. Using mysterious acquisitions in teaching _heresy_. _By Cotton Mather._ DEVIL. Heaven-born, fallen, mighty, malignant; and yet _dependent on human help_ to act upon physical man or anything material. WITCH. A _covenanter_ with the devil. WITCHCRAFT. Helping or employing the devil to do harm--either. _By Robert Calef._