“1694, Oct. 27.—­Ruth, daughter to Job Swinnerton (died), and buried the 28th instant, being the Lord’s Day; and the corpse carried by the meeting-house door in time of singing before meeting afternoon, and more at the funeral than at the sermon.”

This illustrates the state of things.  The Swinnerton family were all along opposed to Mr. Parris, and kept remarkably clear from the witchcraft delusion.  Originally, it was not customary to have prayers at funerals.  At any rate, all that Mr. Parris had to do on the occasion was to witness and record the fact, which he indites in the pithy manner in which he often relieves his mind, that more people went to the distant burial-ground than came to hear him preach.  The procession was made up of his opponents; the congregation, of his friends.  At last, Captain John Putnam proposed that each party should choose an equal number from themselves to decide the controversy; and that Major Bartholomew Gedney, from the town, should be invited to act as moderator of the joint meeting.  Both sides agreed, and appointed their representatives.  Major Gedney consented to preside.  But this movement came to nothing, probably owing to the refractoriness of Mr. Parris; for, from that moment, he had no supporters.  The church ceased to act:  its members were merged in the meeting of the inhabitants.  There was no longer any division among them.  The party that had acted as friends of Mr. Parris united thenceforward with his opponents to defend the parish in the suit he had brought against it in the courts.  The controversy was quite protracted.  The Court was determined to uphold him, and expressed its prejudice against the parish, sometimes with considerable severity of manner and action.[A]

[Footnote A:  The following passage is from the parish records:—­

“On the 3d of February, 1693, a warrant was issued for a meeting of the inhabitants of the village, signed by Thomas Preston, Joseph Pope, Joseph Houlton, and John Tarbell, of the standing annual committee, to be held Feb. 14, ’to consider and agree and determine who are capable of voting in our public transactions, by the power given us by the General-court order at our first settlement; and to consider of and make void a vote in our book of records, on the 18th of June, 1689, where there is a salary of sixty-six pounds stated to Mr. Parris, he not complying with it; also to consider of and make void several votes in the book of records on the 10th of October, 1692, where our ministry house and barn and two acres of land seem to be conveyed from us after a fraudulent manner.’”

At this meeting, it was voted, that “all men that are ratable, or hereafter shall be living within that tract of land mentioned in our General-court order, shall have liberty in nominating and appointing a committee, and voting in any of our public concerns.”