Mather, indignant that a person so much his inferior dared dissent from his opinion, at first affected to despise Calef; but, as Calef pressed him more and more closely, Mather denounced him, calling him among other things "A Coal from Hell." All to no purpose: Calef fastened still more firmly upon the flanks of the great theologian.
Thought and reason now began to resume their sway.
The possessed having accused certain men held in very high respect, doubts began to dawn upon the community at large.

Here was the repetition of that which had set men thinking in the German bishoprics when those under trial for witchcraft there had at last, in their desperation or madness, charged the very bishops and the judges upon the bench with sorcery.

The party of reason grew stronger.

The Rev.Mr.
Parris was soon put upon the defensive: for some of the possessed began to confess that they had accused people wrongfully.

Herculean efforts were made by certain of the clergy and devout laity to support the declining belief, but the more thoughtful turned more and more against it; jurymen prominent in convictions solemnly retracted their verdicts and publicly craved pardon of God and man.