i am reading "a modest enquiry into the nature of witchcraft" by john
hale 1697 on the website
http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/ModestEnquiry/
and just wondering - why do some of the 's's look like funny 'f's
- i am guessing it has something to do with pronouncation.  i am a
teacher and know the students will ask.

Dear highheelsflipflops,

This so-called "long s" has nothing to do with pronounciation. It is
just a variant of the letter "s" that was used when that letter
appeared at the beginning of or within a word. It was used in
handwriting and print in most European languages, English being only
one of them. Some languages, like German, developed very sophisticated
rules for the use of the "long s".

Read more about it here, in a Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_s

Regards,
Scriptor

thank you!  i've asked librians, history teachers, and ...my very
smart father in law and no one knew!  the article was a great help for
me and i'll pass it on to my students.  this is a great service!