Parris asks Abigail about what had happened in the woods that night. He asks if there was witchcraft involved and if there was somebody naked dancing in the woods.
Standard for means it is written in words: four hundred ans fifty would be the answer.
The answer is:
b. to influence.
Hope that helped
I would say that the intended meaning of that hyperbole is that the speaker thinks that the colonists are being unfairly treated by the British government.