convertible to our purpose.

It is the forenoon of a day in summer, shortly after the governor's
arrival; and he stands upon his doorsteps, preparatory to a walk through
the metropolis. Sir William is a stout man, an inch or two below the
middle size, and rather beyond the middle point of life. His dress is
of velvet,--a dark purple, broadly embroidered; and his sword-hilt and
the lion's head of his cane display specimens of the gold from the
Spanish wreck. On his head, in the fashion of the court of Louis XIV.,
is a superb full-bottomed periwig, amid whose heap of ringlets his face
shows like a rough pebble in the setting that befits a diamond. Just
emerging from the door are two footmen,--one an African slave of shining
ebony, the other an English bond-servant, the property of the governor
for a term of years. As Sir William comes down the steps, he is met by
three elderly gentlemen in black, grave and solemn as three tombstones
on a ramble from the burying-ground. These are ministers of the town,
among whom we recognize Dr. Increase Mather, the late provincial agent
at the English court, the author of the present governor's appointment,
and the right arm of his administration. Here follow many bows and a
deal of angular politeness on both sides. Sir William professes his
anxiety to re-enter the house, and give audience to the reverend
gentlemen: they, on the other hand, cannot think of interrupting his
walk; and the courteous dispute is concluded by a junction of the
parties; Sir William and Dr. Mather setting forth side by side, the two
other clergymen forming the centre of the column, and the black and
white footmen bringing up the rear. The business in hand relates to the
dealings of Satan in the town of Salem. Upon this subject, the
principal ministers of the province have been consulted; and these three
eminent persons are their deputies, commissioned to express a doubtful
opinion, implying, upon the whole, an exhortation to speedy and vigorous