Seventeen years ago I wrote a paper, with the title of "Old Salem," which I read one evening to the members of the Ladies' Social Club in Boston. Subsequently I was asked to repeat it in small parties, at which sundry venerable gentlemen joined the young and middle-aged of my audience, to listen to the story of departed days. A few years later I gave it under the same title to a paper published for the benefit of a Salem fair, but it was in many respects altered, as trivial personalities in a private parlor would be impertinent liberties in print.<br><br>With sundry changes and additions, I have at last done what has been so long deferred, and I offer my little book for the amusement of friends who may not be averse to refreshing their memories with harmless gossip. But now a question of propriety arises that is not quite easy to meet.