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diff --git a/31511.txt b/31511.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5ac420d --- /dev/null +++ b/31511.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17840 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Witchcraft in England from +1558 to 1718, by Wallace Notestein + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718 + +Author: Wallace Notestein + +Release Date: March 5, 2010 [EBook #31511] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITCHCRAFT *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Brian Janes, Meredith Bach, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + PRIZE ESSAYS + OF THE + AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION + + 1909 + + + + To this Essay was awarded the + Herbert Baxter Adams Prize + in European History + for 1909 + + + + A HISTORY + OF + WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND + FROM 1558 TO 1718 + + BY + WALLACE NOTESTEIN + ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA + + + PUBLISHED BY + THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION + WASHINGTON, 1911 + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1911 + BY THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION + WASHINGTON, D.C. + + THE LORD BALTIMORE PRESS + BALTIMORE, M.D., U.S.A. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In its original form this essay was the dissertation submitted for a +doctorate in philosophy conferred by Yale University in 1908. When first +projected it was the writer's purpose to take up the subject of English +witchcraft under certain general political and social aspects. It was +not long, however, before he began to feel that preliminary to such a +treatment there was necessary a chronological survey of the witch +trials. Those strange and tragic affairs were so closely involved with +the politics, literature, and life of the seventeenth century that one +is surprised to find how few of them have received accurate or complete +record in history. It may be said, in fact, that few subjects have +gathered about themselves so large concretions of misinformation as +English witchcraft. This is largely, of course, because so little +attention has been given to it by serious students of history. The +mistakes and misunderstandings of contemporary writers and of the local +historians have been handed down from county history to county history +until many of them have crept into general works. For this reason it was +determined to attempt a chronological treatment which would give a +narrative history of the more significant trials along with some account +of the progress of opinion. This plan has been adhered to somewhat +strictly, sometimes not without regret upon the part of the writer. It +is his hope later in a series of articles to deal with some of the more +general phases of the subject, with such topics as the use of torture, +the part of the physicians, the contagious nature of the witch alarms, +the relation of Puritanism to persecution, the supposed influence of the +Royal Society, the general causes for the gradual decline of the belief, +and other like questions. It will be seen in the course of the narrative +that some of these matters have been touched upon. + +This study of witchcraft has been limited to a period of about one +hundred and sixty years in English history. The year 1558 has been +chosen as the starting point because almost immediately after the +accession of Elizabeth there began the movement for a new law, a +movement which resulted in the statute of 1563. With that statute the +history of the persecution of witches gathers importance. The year 1718 +has been selected as a concluding date because that year was marked by +the publication of Francis Hutchinson's notable attack upon the belief. +Hutchinson levelled a final and deadly blow at the dying superstition. +Few men of intelligence dared after that avow any belief in the reality +of witchcraft; it is probable that very few even secretly cherished such +a belief. A complete history would of course include a full account both +of the witch trials from Anglo-Saxon times to Elizabeth's accession and +of the various witch-swimming incidents of the eighteenth century. The +latter it has not seemed worth while here to consider. The former would +involve an examination of all English sources from the earliest times +and would mean a study of isolated and unrelated trials occurring at +long intervals (at least, we have record only of such) and chiefly in +church courts. The writer has not undertaken to treat this earlier +period; he must confess to but small knowledge of it. In the few pages +which he has given to it he has attempted nothing more than to sketch +from the most obvious sources an outline of what is currently known as +to English witches and witchcraft prior to the days of Elizabeth. It is +to be hoped that some student of medieval society will at some time make +a thorough investigation of the history of witchcraft in England to the +accession of the great Queen. + +For the study of the period to be covered in this monograph there exists +a wealth of material. It would perhaps not be too much to say that +everything in print and manuscript in England during the last half of +the sixteenth and the entire seventeenth century should be read or at +least glanced over. The writer has limited himself to certain kinds of +material from which he could reasonably expect to glean information. +These sources fall into seven principal categories. Most important of +all are the pamphlets, or chapbooks, dealing with the history of +particular alarms and trials and usually concluding with the details of +confession and execution. Second only to them in importance are the +local or municipal records, usually court files, but sometimes merely +expense accounts. In the memoirs and diaries can be found many mentions +of trials witnessed by the diarist or described to him. The newspapers +of the time, in their eagerness to exploit the unusual, seize gloatingly +upon the stories of witchcraft. The works of local historians and +antiquarians record in their lists of striking and extraordinary events +within their counties or boroughs the several trials and hangings for +the crime. The writers, mainly theologians, who discuss the theory and +doctrine of witchcraft illustrate the principles they lay down by cases +that have fallen under their observation. Lastly, the state papers +contain occasional references to the activities of the Devil and of his +agents in the realm. + +Besides these seven types of material there should be named a few others +less important. From the pamphlet accounts of the criminal dockets at +the Old Bailey and Newgate, leaflets which were published at frequent +intervals after the Restoration, are to be gleaned mentions of perhaps +half a dozen trials for witchcraft. The plays of Dekker, Heywood, and +Shadwell must be used by the student, not because they add information +omitted elsewhere, but because they offer some clue to the way in which +the witches at Edmonton and Lancaster were regarded by the public. If +the pamphlet narrative of the witch of Edmonton had been lost, it might +be possible to reconstruct from the play of Dekker, Ford, and Rowley +some of the outlines of the story. It would be at best a hazardous +undertaking. To reconstruct the trials at Lancaster from the plays of +Heywood and Brome or from that of Shadwell would be quite impossible. +The ballads present a form of evidence much like that of the plays. Like +the plays, they happen all to deal with cases about which we are already +well informed. In general, they seem to follow the narratives and +depositions faithfully. + +No mention has been made of manuscript sources. Those used by the author +have all belonged to one or other of the types of material described. + +It has been remarked that there is current a large body of +misinformation about English witchcraft. It would be ungrateful of the +author not to acknowledge that some very good work has been done on the +theme. The Reverend Francis Hutchinson, as already mentioned, wrote in +1718 an epoch-making history of the subject, a book which is still +useful and can never be wholly displaced. In 1851 Thomas Wright brought +out his _Narratives of Sorcery and Magic_, a work at once entertaining +and learned. Wright wrote largely from original sources and wrote with a +good deal of care. Such blunders as he made were the result of haste and +of the want of those materials which we now possess. Mrs. Lynn Linton's +_Witch Stories_, published first in 1861, is a better book than might be +supposed from a casual glance at it. It was written with no more serious +purpose than to entertain, but it is by no means to be despised. So far +as it goes, it represents careful work. It would be wrong to pass over +Lecky's brilliant essay on witchcraft in his _History of Rationalism_, +valuable of course rather as an interpretation than as an historical +account. Lecky said many things about witchcraft that needed to be said, +and said them well. It is my belief that his verdicts as to the +importance of sundry factors may have to be modified; but, however that +be, the importance of his essay must always be recognized. One must not +omit in passing James Russell Lowell's charming essay on the subject. +Both Lecky and Lowell of course touched English witchcraft but lightly. +Since Mrs. Lynn Linton's no careful treatment of English witchcraft +proper has appeared. In 1907, however, Professor Kittredge published his +_Notes on Witchcraft_, the sixty-seven pages of which with their +footnotes contain a more scrupulous sifting of the evidence as to +witchcraft in England than is to be found in any other treatment. +Professor Kittredge is chiefly interested in English witchcraft as it +relates itself to witchcraft in New England, but his work contains much +that is fresh about the belief in England. As to the role and the +importance of various actors in the drama and as to sundry minor +matters, the writer has found himself forced to divergence of view. He +recognizes nevertheless the importance of Professor Kittredge's +contribution to the study of the whole subject and acknowledges his own +indebtedness to the essay for suggestion and guidance. + +The author cannot hope that the work here presented is final. +Unfortunately there is still hidden away in England an unexplored mass +of local records. Some of them no doubt contain accounts of witch +trials. I have used chiefly such printed and manuscript materials as +were accessible in London and Oxford. Some day perhaps I may find time +to go the rounds of the English counties and search the masses of gaol +delivery records and municipal archives. From the really small amount of +new material on the subject brought to light by the Historical +Manuscripts Commission and by the publication of many municipal records, +it seems improbable that such a search would uncover so many unlisted +trials as seriously to modify the narrative. Nevertheless until such a +search is made no history of the subject has the right to be counted +final. Mr. Charles W. Wallace, the student of Shakespeare, tells me that +in turning over the multitudinous records of the Star Chamber he found a +few witch cases. Professor Kittredge believes that there is still a +great deal of such material to be turned up in private collections and +local archives. Any information on this matter which any student of +English local history can give me will be gratefully received. + +I wish to express my thanks for reading parts of the manuscript to +William Savage Johnson of Kansas University and to Miss Ada Comstock of +the University of Minnesota. For general assistance and advice on the +subject I am under obligations to Professor Wilbur C. Abbott and to +Professor George Burton Adams of Yale University. It is quite impossible +to say how very much I owe to Professor George L. Burr of Cornell. From +cover to cover the book, since the award to it of the Adams Prize, has +profited from his painstaking criticism and wise suggestion. + + + W. N. + +Minneapolis, _October 10, 1911_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + Preface v + + CHAPTER I. + + The Beginnings of English Witchcraft 1 + + CHAPTER II. + + Witchcraft under Elizabeth 33 + + CHAPTER III. + + Reginald Scot 57 + + CHAPTER IV. + + The Exorcists 73 + + CHAPTER V. + + James I and Witchcraft 93 + + CHAPTER VI. + + Notable Jacobean Cases 120 + + CHAPTER VII. + + The Lancashire Witches and Charles I 146 + + CHAPTER VIII. + + Matthew Hopkins 164 + + CHAPTER IX. + + Witchcraft during the Commonwealth and Protectorate 206 + + CHAPTER X. + + The Literature of Witchcraft from 1603 to 1660 227 + + CHAPTER XI. + + Witchcraft under Charles II and James II 254 + + CHAPTER XII. + + Glanvill and Webster and the Literary War over + Witchcraft, 1660-1688 284 + + CHAPTER XIII. + + The Final Decline 313 + + CHAPTER XIV. + + The Close of the Literary Controversy 334 + + Appendices 345 + + A. Pamphlet Literature 345 + + B. List of Persons Sentenced to Death for + Witchcraft during the Reign of James I 383 + + C. List of Cases of Witchcraft, 1558-1717, + with References to Sources and Literature 384 + + Index 421 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH WITCHCRAFT. + + +It has been said by a thoughtful writer that the subject of witchcraft +has hardly received that place which it deserves in the history of +opinions. There has been, of course, a reason for this neglect--the fact +that the belief in witchcraft is no longer existent among intelligent +people and that its history, in consequence, seems to possess rather an +antiquarian than a living interest. No one can tell the story of the +witch trials of sixteenth and seventeenth century England without +digging up a buried past, and the process of exhumation is not always +pleasant. Yet the study of English witchcraft is more than an unsightly +exposure of a forgotten superstition. There were few aspects of +sixteenth and seventeenth century life that were not affected by the +ugly belief. It is quite impossible to grasp the social conditions, it +is impossible to understand the opinions, fears, and hopes of the men +and women who lived in Elizabethan and Stuart England, without some +knowledge of the part played in that age by witchcraft. It was a matter +that concerned all classes from the royal household to the ignorant +denizens of country villages. Privy councillors anxious about their +sovereign and thrifty peasants worrying over their crops, clergymen +alert to detect the Devil in their own parishes, medical quacks eager to +profit by the fear of evil women, justices of the peace zealous to beat +down the works of Satan--all classes, indeed--believed more or less +sincerely in the dangerous powers of human creatures who had +surrendered themselves to the Evil One. + +Witchcraft, in a general and vague sense, was something very old in +English history. In a more specific and limited sense it is a +comparatively modern phenomenon. This leads us to a definition of the +term. It is a definition that can be given adequately only in an +historical way. A group of closely related and somewhat ill defined +conceptions went far back. Some of them, indeed, were to be found in the +Old Testament, many of them in the Latin and Greek writers. The word +witchcraft itself belonged to Anglo-Saxon days. As early as the seventh +century Theodore of Tarsus imposed penances upon magicians and +enchanters, and the laws, from Alfred on, abound with mentions of +witchcraft.[1] From these passages the meaning of the word witch as used +by the early English may be fairly deduced. The word was the current +English term for one who used spells and charms, who was assisted by +evil spirits to accomplish certain ends. It will be seen that this is by +no means the whole meaning of the term in later times. Nothing is yet +said about the transformation of witches into other shapes, and there is +no mention of a compact, implicit or otherwise, with the Devil; there is +no allusion to the nocturnal meetings of the Devil's worshippers and to +the orgies that took place upon those occasions; there is no elaborate +and systematic theological explanation of human relations with demons. + +But these notions were to reach England soon enough. Already there were +germinating in southern Europe ideas out of which the completer notions +were to spring. As early as the close of the ninth century certain +Byzantine traditions were being introduced into the West. There were +legends of men who had made written compacts with the Devil, men whom he +promised to assist in this world in return for their souls in the +next.[2] But, while such stories were current throughout the Middle +Ages, the notion behind them does not seem to have been connected with +the other features of what was to make up the idea of witchcraft until +about the middle of the fourteenth century. It was about that time that +the belief in the "Sabbat" or nocturnal assembly of the witches made its +appearance.[3] The belief grew up that witches rode through the air to +these meetings, that they renounced Christ and engaged in foul forms of +homage to Satan. Lea tells us that towards the close of the century the +University of Paris formulated the theory that a pact with Satan was +inherent in all magic, and judges began to connect this pact with the +old belief in night riders through the air. The countless confessions +that resulted from the carefully framed questions of the judges served +to develop and systematize the theory of the subject. The witch was much +more than a sorcerer. Sorcerers had been those who, through the aid of +evil spirits, by the use of certain words or of representations of +persons or things produced changes above the ordinary course of nature. +"The witch," says Lea, "has abandoned Christianity, has renounced her +baptism, has worshipped Satan as her God, has surrendered herself to +him, body and soul, and exists only to be his instrument in working the +evil to her fellow creatures which he cannot accomplish without a human +agent."[4] This was the final and definite notion of a witch. It was the +conception that controlled European opinion on the subject from the +latter part of the fourteenth to the close of the seventeenth century. +It was, as has been seen, an elaborate theological notion that had grown +out of the comparatively simple and vague ideas to be found in the +scriptural and classical writers. + +It may well be doubted whether this definite and intricate theological +notion of witchcraft reached England so early as the fourteenth century. +Certainly not until a good deal later--if negative evidence is at all +trustworthy--was a clear distinction made between sorcery and +witchcraft. The witches searched for by Henry IV, the professor of +divinity, the friar, the clerk, and the witch of Eye, who were hurried +before the Council of Henry VI, that unfortunate Duchess of Gloucester +who had to walk the streets of London, the Duchess of Bedford, the +conspirators against Edward IV who were supposed to use magic, the +unlucky mistress of Edward IV--none of these who through the course of +two centuries were charged with magical misdeeds were, so far as we +know, accused of those dreadful relations with the Devil, the nauseating +details of which fill out the later narratives of witch history. + +The truth seems to be that the idea of witchcraft was not very clearly +defined and differentiated in the minds of ordinary Englishmen until +after the beginning of legislation upon the subject. It is not +impossible that there were English theologians who could have set forth +the complete philosophy of the belief, but to the average mind sorcery, +conjuration, enchantment, and witchcraft were but evil ways of mastering +nature. All that was changed when laws were passed. With legislation +came greatly increased numbers of accusations; with accusations and +executions came treatises and theory. Continental writers were +consulted, and the whole system and science of the subject were soon +elaborated for all who read. + +With the earlier period, which has been sketched merely by way of +definition, this monograph cannot attempt to deal. It limits itself to a +narrative of the witch trials, and incidentally of opinion as to +witchcraft, after there was definite legislation by Parliament. The +statute of the fifth year of Elizabeth's reign marks a point in the +history of the judicial persecution at which an account may very +naturally begin. The year 1558 has been selected as the date because +from the very opening of the reign which was to be signalized by the +passing of that statute and was to be characterized by a serious effort +to enforce it, the persecution was preparing. + +Up to that time the crime of sorcery had been dealt with in a few early +instances by the common-law courts, occasionally (where politics were +involved) by the privy council, but more usually, it is probable, by the +church. This, indeed, may easily be illustrated from the works of law. +Britton and Fleta include an inquiry about sorcerers as one of the +articles of the sheriff's tourn. A note upon Britton, however, declares +that it is for the ecclesiastical court to try such offenders and to +deliver them to be put to death in the king's court, but that the king +himself may proceed against them if he pleases.[5] While there is some +overlapping of procedure implied by this, the confusion seems to have +been yet greater in actual practice. A brief narrative of some cases +prior to 1558 will illustrate the strangely unsettled state of +procedure. Pollock and Maitland relate several trials to be found in the +early pleas. In 1209 one woman accused another of sorcery in the king's +court and the defendant cleared herself by the ordeal. In 1279 a man +accused of killing a witch who assaulted him in his house was fined, but +only because he had fled away. Walter Langton, Bishop of Lichfield and +treasurer of Edward I, was accused of sorcery and homage to Satan and +cleared himself with the compurgators. In 1325 more than twenty men were +indicted and tried by the king's bench for murder by tormenting a waxen +image. All of them were acquitted. In 1371 there was brought before the +king's bench an inhabitant of Southwark who was charged with sorcery, +but he was finally discharged on swearing that he would never be a +sorcerer.[6] + +It will be observed that these early cases were all of them tried in the +secular courts; but there is no reason to doubt that the ecclesiastical +courts were quite as active, and their zeal must have been quickened by +the statute of 1401, which in cases of heresy made the lay power their +executioner. It was at nearly the same time, however, that the charge of +sorcery began to be frequently used as a political weapon. In such +cases, of course, the accused was usually a person of influence and the +matter was tried in the council. It will be seen, then, that the crime +was one that might fall either under ecclesiastical or conciliar +jurisdiction and the particular circumstances usually determined finally +the jurisdiction. When Henry IV was informed that the diocese of Lincoln +was full of sorcerers, magicians, enchanters, necromancers, diviners, +and soothsayers, he sent a letter to the bishop requiring him to search +for sorcerers and to commit them to prison after conviction, or even +before, if it should seem expedient.[7] This was entrusting the matter +to the church, but the order was given by authority of the king, not +improbably after the matter had been discussed in the council. In the +reign of Henry VI conciliar and ecclesiastical authorities both took +part at different times and in different ways. Thomas Northfield, a +member of the Order of Preachers in Worcester and a professor of +divinity, was brought before the council, together with all suspected +matter belonging to him, and especially his books treating of sorcery. +Pike does not tell us the outcome.[8] In the same year there were +summoned before the council three humbler sorcerers, Margery Jourdemain, +John Virley, a cleric, and John Ashwell, a friar of the Order of the +Holy Cross. It would be hard to say whether the three were in any way +connected with political intrigue. It is possible that they were +suspected of sorcery against the sovereign. They were all, however, +dismissed on giving security.[9] It was only a few years after this +instance of conciliar jurisdiction that a much more important case was +turned over to the clergy. The story of Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of +Gloucester, is a familiar one. It was determined by the enemies of Duke +Humphrey of Gloucester to attack him through his wife, who was believed +to be influential with the young king. The first move was made by +arresting a Roger Bolingbroke who had been connected with the duke and +the duchess, and who was said to be an astronomer or necromancer. It was +declared that he had cast the duchess's horoscope with a view to +ascertaining her chances to the throne. Bolingbroke made confession, and +Eleanor was then brought before "certayne bisshoppis of the kyngis." In +the mean time several lords, members of the privy council, were +authorized to "enquire of al maner tresons, sorcery, and alle othir +thyngis that myghte in eny wise ... concerne harmfulli the kyngis +persone."[10] Bolingbroke and a clergyman, Thomas Southwell, were +indicted of treason with the duchess as accessory. With them was accused +that Margery Jourdemain who had been released ten years before. Eleanor +was then reexamined before the Bishops of London, Lincoln, and Norwich, +she was condemned as guilty, and required to walk barefoot through the +streets of London, which she "dede righte mekely." The rest of her life +she spent in a northern prison. Bolingbroke was executed as a traitor, +and Margery Jourdemain was burnt at Smithfield.[11] + +The case of the Duchess of Bedford--another instance of the connection +between sorcery and political intrigue--fell naturally into the hands of +the council. It was believed by those who could understand in no other +way the king's infatuation that he had been bewitched by the mother of +the queen. The story was whispered from ear to ear until the duchess got +wind of it and complained to the council against her maligners. The +council declared her cleared of suspicion and ordered that the decision +should be "enacted of record."[12] + +The charge of sorcery brought by the protector Richard of Gloucester +against Jane Shore, who had been the mistress of Edward IV, never came +to trial and in consequence illustrates neither ecclesiastical nor +conciliar jurisdiction. It is worthy of note however that the accusation +was preferred by the protector--who was soon to be Richard III--in the +council chamber.[13] + +It will be seen that these cases prove very little as to procedure in +the matter of sorcery and witchcraft. They are cases that arose in a +disturbed period and that concerned chiefly people of note. That they +were tried before the bishops or before the privy council does not mean +that all such charges were brought into those courts. There must have +been less important cases that were never brought before the council or +the great ecclesiastical courts. It seems probable--to reason backward +from later practice--that less important trials were conducted almost +exclusively by the minor church courts.[14] + +This would at first lead us to suspect that, when the state finally +began to legislate against witchcraft by statute, it was endeavoring to +wrest jurisdiction of the crime out of the hands of the church and to +put it into secular hands. Such a supposition, however, there is nothing +to justify. It seems probable, on the contrary, that the statute enacted +in the reign of Henry VIII was passed rather to support the church in +its struggle against sorcery and witchcraft than to limit its +jurisdiction in the matter. It was to assist in checking these +practitioners that the state stepped in. At another point in this +chapter we shall have occasion to note the great interest in sorcery and +all kindred subjects that was springing up over England, and we shall at +times observe some of the manifestations of this interest as well as +some of the causes for it. Here it is necessary only to urge the +importance of this interest as accounting for the passage of a +statute.[15] + +Chapter VIII of 33 Henry VIII states its purpose clearly: "Where," +reads the preamble, "dyvers and sundrie persones unlawfully have devised +and practised Invocacions and conjuracions of Sprites, pretendyng by +suche meanes to understande and get Knowlege for their owne lucre in +what place treasure of golde and Silver shulde or mought be founde or +had ... and also have used and occupied wichecraftes, inchauntmentes and +sorceries to the distruccion of their neighbours persones and goodes." A +description was given of the methods practised, and it was enacted that +the use of any invocation or conjuration of spirits, witchcrafts, +enchantments, or sorceries should be considered felony.[16] It will be +observed that the law made no graduation of offences. Everything was +listed as felony. No later piece of legislation on the subject was so +sweeping in its severity. + +The law remained on the statute-book only six years. In the early part +of the reign of Edward VI, when the protector Somerset was in power, a +policy of great leniency in respect to felonies was proposed. In +December of 1547 a bill was introduced into Parliament to repeal certain +statutes for treason and felony. "This bill being a matter of great +concern to every subject, a committee was appointed, consisting of the +Archbishop of Canterbury, the lord chancellor, the lord chamberlain, the +Marquis of Dorset, the Earls of Shrewsbury and Southampton, the Bishops +of Ely, Lincoln, and Worcester, the Lords Cobham, Clinton, and +Wentworth, with certain of the king's learned council; all which +noblemen were appointed to meet a committee of the Commons ... in order +to treat and commune on the purport of the said bill."[17] The Commons, +it seems, had already prepared a bill of their own, but this they were +willing to drop and the Lords' measure with some amendments was finally +passed. It was under this wide repeal of felonies that chapter VIII of +33 Henry VIII was finally annulled. Whether the question of witchcraft +came up for special consideration or not, we are not informed. We do +know that the Bishops of London, Durham, Ely, Hereford, and Chichester, +took exception to some amendments that were inserted in the act of +repeal,[18] and it is not impossible that they were opposed to repealing +the act against witchcraft. Certainly there is no reason to suppose that +the church was resisting the encroachment of the state in the subject. + +As a matter of fact it is probable that, in the general question of +repeal of felonies, the question of witchcraft received scant +attention. There is indeed an interesting story that seems to point in +that direction and that deserves repeating also as an illustration of +the protector's attitude towards the question. Edward Underhill gives +the narrative in his autobiography: "When we hade dyned, the maior sentt +to [two] off his offycers with me to seke Alene; whome we mett withalle +in Poles, and toke hym with us unto his chamber, wheare we founde +fygures sett to calke the nativetie off the kynge, and a jugementt +gevyne off his deathe, wheroff this folyshe wreche thoughte hymselfe so +sure thatt he and his conselars the papistes bruted it all over. The +kynge laye att Hamtone courte the same tyme, and me lord protector at +the Syone; unto whome I caryed this Alen, with his bokes off +conejuracyons, cearkles, and many thynges beloungynge to thatt dyvlyshe +art, wiche he affyrmed before me lorde was a lawfulle cyens [science], +for the statute agaynst souche was repealed. 'Thow folyshe knave! (sayde +me lorde) yff thou and all thatt be off thy cyens telle me what I shalle +do to-morow, I wylle geve the alle thatt I have'; commaundynge me to +cary hym unto the Tower." Alen was examined about his science and it was +discovered that he was "a very unlearned asse, and a sorcerer, for the +wiche he was worthye hangynge, sayde Mr. Recorde." He was however kept +in the Tower "about the space off a yere, and then by frendshipe +delyvered. So scapithe alwayes the weked."[19] + +But the wicked were not long to escape. The beginning of Elizabeth's +reign saw a serious and successful effort to put on the statute-book +definite and severe penalties for conjuration, sorcery, witchcraft, and +related crimes. The question was taken up in the very first year of the +new reign and a bill was draughted.[20] It was not, however, until 1563 +that the statute was finally passed. It was then enacted that those who +"shall use, practise, or exercise any Witchecrafte, Enchantment, Charme +or Sorcerie, whereby any person shall happen to bee killed or destroyed, +... their Concellors and Aidours, ... shall suffer paynes of Deathe as a +Felon or Felons." It was further declared that those by whose practices +any person was wasted, consumed, or lamed, should suffer for the first +offence one year's imprisonment and should be put in the pillory four +times. For the second offence death was the penalty. It was further +provided that those who by witchcraft presumed to discover treasure or +to find stolen property or to "provoke any person to unlawfull love" +should suffer a year's imprisonment and four appearances in the pillory. + +With this law the history of the prosecution of witchcraft in England as +a secular crime may well begin. The question naturally arises, What was +the occasion of this law? How did it happen that just at this particular +time so drastic a measure was passed and put into operation? Fortunately +part of the evidence exists upon which to frame an answer. The English +churchmen who had been driven out of England during the Marian +persecution had many of them sojourned in Zurich and Geneva, where the +extirpation of witches was in full progress, and had talked over the +matter with eminent Continental theologians. With the accession of +Elizabeth these men returned to England in force and became prominent in +church and state, many of them receiving bishoprics. It is not possible +to show that they all were influential in putting through the statute of +the fifth year of Elizabeth. It is clear that one of them spoke out +plainly on the subject. It can hardly be doubted that he represented the +opinions of many other ecclesiastics who had come under the same +influences during their exile.[21] John Jewel was an Anglican of +Calvinistic sympathies who on his return to England at Elizabeth's +accession had been appointed Bishop of Salisbury. Within a short time he +came to occupy a prominent position in the court. He preached before the +Queen and accompanied her on a visit to Oxford. It was in the course of +one of his first sermons--somewhere between November of 1559 and March +of 1560[22]--that he laid before her his convictions on witchcraft. It +is, he tells her, "the horrible using of your poor subjects," that +forces him to speak. "This kind of people (I mean witches and sorcerers) +within these few last years are marvellously increased within this your +grace's realm. These eyes have seen most evident and manifest marks of +their wickedness. Your grace's subjects pine away even unto death, their +colour fadeth, their flesh rotteth, their speech is benumbed, their +senses are bereft. Wherefore, your poor subjects' most humble petition +unto your highness is, that the laws touching such malefactors may be +put in due execution." + +The church historian, Strype, conjectures that this sermon was the cause +of the law passed in the fifth year of Elizabeth's reign, by which +witchcraft was again made a felony, as it had been in the reign of Henry +VIII.[23] Whatever weight we may attach to Strype's suggestion, we have +every right to believe that Jewel introduced foreign opinion on +witchcraft. Very probably there were many returned exiles as well as +others who brought back word of the crusade on the Continent; but +Jewel's words put the matter formally before the queen and her +government.[24] + +We can trace the effect of the ecclesiastic's appeal still further. The +impression produced by it was responsible probably not only for the +passage of the law but also for the issue of commissions to the justices +of the peace to apprehend all the witches they were able to find in +their jurisdictions.[25] + +It can hardly be doubted that the impression produced by the bishop's +sermon serves in part to explain the beginning of the state's attack +upon witches. Yet one naturally inquires after some other factor in the +problem. Is it not likely that there were in England itself certain +peculiar conditions, certain special circumstances, that served to +forward the attack? To answer that query, we must recall the situation +in England when Elizabeth took the throne. Elizabeth was a Protestant, +and her accession meant the relinquishment of the Catholic hold upon +England. But it was not long before the claims of Mary, Queen of Scots, +began to give the English ministers bad dreams. Catholic and Spanish +plots against the life of Elizabeth kept the government detectives on +the lookout. Perhaps because it was deemed the hardest to circumvent, +the use of conjuration against the life of the queen was most feared. +It was a method too that appealed to conspirators, who never questioned +its efficacy, and who anticipated little risk of discovery. + +To understand why the English government should have been so alarmed at +the efforts of the conjurers, we shall have to go back to the +half-century that preceded the reign of the great queen and review +briefly the rise of those curious traders in mystery. The earlier half +of the fifteenth century, when the witch fires were already lighted in +South Germany, saw the coming of conjurers in England. Their numbers +soon evidenced a growing interest in the supernatural upon the part of +the English and foreshadowed the growing faith in witchcraft. From the +scattered local records the facts have been pieced together to show that +here and there professors of magic powers were beginning to get a +hearing. As they first appear upon the scene, the conjurers may be +grouped in two classes, the position seekers and the treasure seekers. +To the first belong those who used incantations and charms to win the +favor of the powerful, and so to gain advancement for themselves or for +their clients.[26] It was a time when there was every encouragement to +try these means. Men like Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell had risen from +humble rank to the highest places in the state. Their careers seemed +inexplicable, if not uncanny. It was easy to believe that unfair and +unlawful practices had been used. What had been done before could be +done again. So the dealers in magic may have reasoned. At all events, +whatever their mental operations, they experimented with charms which +were to gain the favor of the great, and some of their operations came +to the ears of the court. + +The treasure seekers[27] were more numerous. Every now and then in the +course of English history treasures have been unearthed, many of them +buried in Roman times. Stories of lucky finds had of course gained wide +circulation. Here was the opportunity of the bankrupt adventurer and the +stranded promoter. The treasures could be found by the science of magic. +The notion was closely akin to the still current idea that wells can be +located by the use of hazel wands. But none of the conjurers--and this +seems a curious fact to one familiar with the English stories of the +supernatural--ever lit upon the desired treasure. Their efforts hardly +aroused public interest, least of all alarm. Experimenters, who fifty +years later would have been hurried before the privy council, were +allowed to conjure and dig as they pleased. Henry VIII even sold the +right in one locality, and sold it at a price which showed how lightly +he regarded it.[28] + +Other forms of magic were of course practiced. By the time that +Elizabeth succeeded to the throne, it is safe to say that the practice +of forbidden arts had become wide-spread in England. Reginald Scot a +little later declared that every parish was full of men and women who +claimed to work miracles.[29] Most of them were women, and their +performances read like those of the gipsy fortune-tellers today. +"Cunning women" they called themselves. They were many of them +semi-medical or pseudo-medical practitioners[30] who used herbs and +extracts, and, when those failed, charms and enchantments, to heal the +sick. If they were fairly fortunate, they became known as "good +witches." Particularly in connection with midwifery were their +incantations deemed effective.[31] From such functions it was no far +call to forecast the outcome of love affairs, or to prepare potions +which would ensure love.[32] They became general helpers to the +distressed. They could tell where lost property was to be found, an +undertaking closely related to that of the treasure seekers.[33] + +It was usually in the less serious diseases[34] that these cunning folk +were consulted. They were called upon often indeed--if one fragmentary +evidence may be trusted--to diagnose the diseases and to account for the +deaths of domestic animals.[35] It may very easily be that it was from +the necessity of explaining the deaths of animals that the practitioners +of magic began to talk about witchcraft and to throw out a hint that +some witch was at the back of the matter. It would be in line with +their own pretensions. Were they not good witches? Was it not their +province to overcome the machinations of the black witches, that is, +witches who wrought evil rather than good? The disease of an animal was +hard to prescribe for. A sick horse would hardly respond to the waving +of hands and a jumble of strange words. The animal was, in all +probability, bewitched. + +At any rate, whether in this particular manner or not, it became shortly +the duty of the cunning women to recognize the signs of witchcraft, to +prescribe for it, and if possible to detect the witch. In many cases the +practitioner wisely enough refused to name any one, but described the +appearance of the guilty party and set forth a series of operations by +which to expose her machinations. If certain herbs were plucked and +treated in certain ways, if such and such words were said, the guilty +party would appear at the door. At other times the wise woman gave a +perfectly recognizable description of the guilty one and offered +remedies that would nullify her maleficent influences. No doubt the +party indicated as the witch was very often another of the "good +witches," perhaps a rival. Throughout the records of the superstition +are scattered examples of wise women upon whom suspicion suddenly +lighted, and who were arraigned and sent to the gallows. Beyond question +the suspicion began often with the ill words of a neighbor,[36] perhaps +of a competitor, words that started an attack upon the woman's +reputation that she was unable to repel. + +It is not to be supposed that the art of cunning was confined to the +female sex. Throughout the reign of Elizabeth, the realm was alive with +men who were pretenders to knowledge of mysteries. So closely was the +occupation allied to that of the physician that no such strict line as +now exists between reputable physicians and quack doctors separated the +"good witches" from the regular practicers of medicine. It was so +customary in Elizabethan times for thoroughly reputable and even eminent +medical men to explain baffling cases as the results of witchcraft[37] +that to draw the line of demarcation between them and the pretenders who +suggested by means of a charm or a glass a maleficent agent would be +impossible. Granted the phenomena of conjuration and witchcraft as +facts--and no one had yet disputed them--it was altogether easy to +believe that good witches who antagonized the works of black witches +were more dependable than the family physician, who could but suggest +the cause of sickness. The regular practitioner must often have created +business for his brother of the cunning arts. + +One would like to know what these practicers thought of their own arts. +Certainly some of them accomplished cures. Mental troubles that baffled +the ordinary physician would offer the "good witch" a rare field for +successful endeavor. Such would be able not only to persuade a community +of their good offices, but to deceive themselves. Not all of them, +however, by any means, were self-deceived. Conscious fraud played a part +in a large percentage of cases. One witch was very naive in her +confession of fraud. When suspected of sorcery and cited to court, she +was said to have frankly recited her charm: + + "My lofe in my lappe, + My penny in my purse, + You are never the better, + I am never the worse." + +She was acquitted and doubtless continued to add penny to penny.[38] + +We need not, indeed, be surprised that the state should have been remiss +in punishing a crime so vague in character and so closely related to an +honorable profession. Except where conjuration had affected high +interests of state, it had been practically overlooked by the +government. Now and then throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries there had been isolated plots against the sovereign, in which +conjury had played a conspicuous part. With these few exceptions the +crime had been one left to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. But now the +state was ready to reclaim its jurisdiction over these crimes and to +assume a very positive attitude of hostility towards them. This came +about in a way that has already been briefly indicated. The government +of the queen found itself threatened constantly by plots for making away +with the queen, plots which their instigators hoped would overturn the +Protestant regime and bring England back into the fold. Elizabeth had +hardly mounted her throne when her councillors began to suspect the use +of sorcery and conjuration against her life. As a result they +instituted the most painstaking inquiries into all reported cases of the +sort, especially in and about London and the neighboring counties. Every +Catholic was suspected. Two cases that were taken up within the first +year came to nothing, but a third trial proved more serious. In November +of 1558 Sir Anthony Fortescue,[39] member of a well known Catholic +family, was arrested, together with several accomplices, upon the charge +of casting the horoscope of the queen's life. Fortescue was soon +released, but in 1561 he was again put in custody, this time with two +brothers-in-law, Edmund and Arthur Pole, nephews of the famous cardinal +of that name. The plot that came to light had many ramifications. It was +proposed to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, to Edmund Pole, and from +Flanders to proclaim her Queen of England. In the meantime Elizabeth was +to die a natural death--at least so the conspirators claimed--prophesied +for her by two conjurers, John Prestall and Edmund Cosyn, with the +assistance of a "wicked spryte." It was discovered that the plot +involved the French and Spanish ambassadors. Relations between Paris and +London became strained. The conspirators were tried and sentenced to +death. Fortescue himself, perhaps because he was a second cousin of the +queen and brother of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, seems to have +escaped the gallows.[40] + +The Fortescue affair was, however, but one of many conspiracies on foot +during the time. Throughout the sixties and the seventies the queen's +councillors were on the lookout. Justices of the peace and other +prominent men in the counties were kept informed by the privy council of +reported conjurers, and they were instructed to send in what evidence +they could gather against them. It is remarkable that three-fourths of +the cases that came under investigation were from a territory within +thirty miles of London. Two-thirds of them were from Essex. Not all the +conjurers were charged with plotting against the queen, but that charge +was most common. It is safe to suppose that, in the cases where that +accusation was not preferred, it was nevertheless the alarm of the privy +council for the life of the queen that had prompted the investigation +and arrest. + +Between 1578 and 1582, critical years in the affairs of the Scottish +queen, the anxiety of the London authorities was intense[41]--their +precautions were redoubled. Representatives of the government were sent +out to search for conjurers and were paid well for their services.[42] +The Earl of Shrewsbury, a member of the council who had charge of the +now captive Queen Mary, kept in his employ special detectors of +conjuring.[43] Nothing about Elizabeth's government was better +organized than Cecil's detective service, and the state papers show that +the ferreting out of the conjurers was by no means the least of its +work. It was a service carried on, of course, as quietly as could be, +and yet the cases now and again came to light and made clear to the +public that the government was very fearful of conjurers' attacks upon +the queen. No doubt the activity of the council put all conjurers under +public suspicion and in some degree roused public resentment against +them. + +This brings us back to the point: What had the conjurers to do with +witchcraft? By this time the answer is fairly obvious. The practisers of +the magic arts, the charmers and enchanters, were responsible for +developing the notions of witchcraft. The good witch brought in her +company the black witch. This in itself might never have meant more than +an increased activity in the church courts. But when Protestant England +grew suddenly nervous for the life of the queen, when the conjurers +became a source of danger to the sovereign, and the council commenced +its campaign against them, the conditions had been created in which +witchcraft became at once the most dangerous and detested of crimes. +While the government was busy putting down the conjurers, the aroused +popular sentiment was compelling the justices of the peace and then the +assize judges to hang the witches. + +This cannot be better illustrated than by the Abingdon affair of +1578-1579. Word had been carried to the privy council that Sir Henry +Newell, justice of the peace, had committed some women near Abingdon on +the charge of making waxen images.[44] The government was at once +alarmed and sent a message to Sir Henry and to the Dean of Windsor +instructing them to find out the facts and to discover if the plots were +directed against the queen. The precaution was unnecessary. There was no +ground for believing that the designs of the women accused had included +the queen. Indeed the evidence of guilt of any kind was very flimsy. But +the excitement of the public had been stirred to the highest pitch. The +privy council had shown its fear of the women and all four of them went +to the gallows.[45] + +The same situation that brought about the attack upon witchcraft and +conjuration was no doubt responsible for the transfer of jurisdiction +over the crime. We have already seen that the practice of conjuration +had probably been left largely to the episcopal hierarchy for +punishment.[46] The archdeacons were expected in their visitations to +inquire into the practice of enchantment and magic within the parishes +and to make report.[47] In the reign of Elizabeth it became no light +duty. The church set itself to suppress both the consulter and the +consulted.[48] By the largest number of recorded cases deal of course +with the first class. It was very easy when sick or in trouble to go to +a professed conjurer for help.[49] It was like seeking a physician's +service, as we have seen. The church frowned upon it, but the danger +involved in disobeying the church was not deemed great. The cunning man +or woman was of course the one who ran the great risk. When worst came +to worst and the ecclesiastical power took cognizance of his profession, +the best he could do was to plead that he was a "good witch" and +rendered valuable services to the community.[50] But a good end was in +the eyes of the church no excuse for an evil means. The good witches +were dealers with evil spirits and hence to be repressed. + +Yet the church was very light in its punishments. In the matter of +penalties, indeed, consulter and consulted fared nearly alike, and both +got off easily. Public confession and penance in one or more +specifically designated churches, usually in the nearest parish church, +constituted the customary penalty.[51] In a few instances it was +coupled with the requirement that the criminal should stand in the +pillory, taper in hand, at several places at stated times.[52] The +ecclesiastical records are so full of church penances that a student is +led to wonder how effectual they were in shaming the penitent into +better conduct. It may well be guessed that most of the criminals were +not sensitive souls that would suffer profoundly from the disgrace +incurred. + +The control of matters of this kind was in the hands of the church by +sufferance only. So long as the state was not greatly interested, the +church was permitted to retain its jurisdiction.[53] Doubtless the kings +of England would have claimed the state's right of jurisdiction if it +had become a matter of dispute. The church itself recognized the secular +power in more important cases.[54] In such cases the archdeacon usually +acted with the justice of peace in conducting the examination,[55] as in +rendering sentence. Even then, however, the penalty was as a rule +ecclesiastical. But, with the second half of the sixteenth century, +there arose new conditions which resulted in the transfer of this +control to the state. Henry VIII had broken with Rome and established a +Church of England around the king as a centre. The power of the church +belonged to the king, and, if to the king, to his ministers and his +judges. Hence certain crimes that had been under the control of the +church fell under the jurisdiction of the king's courts.[56] In a more +special way the same change came about through the attack of the privy +council upon the conjurers. What had hitherto been a comparatively +insignificant offence now became a crime against the state and was so +dealt with. + +The change, of course, was not sudden. It was not accomplished in a +year, nor in a decade. It was going on throughout the first half of +Elizabeth's reign. By the beginning of the eighties the church control +was disappearing. After 1585 the state had practically exclusive +jurisdiction.[57] + +We have now finished the attempt to trace the beginning of the definite +movement against witchcraft in England. What witchcraft was, what it +became, how it was to be distinguished from sorcery--these are questions +that we have tried to answer very briefly. We have dealt in a cursory +way with a series of cases extending from Anglo-Saxon days down to the +fifteenth century in order to show how unfixed was the matter of +jurisdiction. We have sought also to explain how Continental opinion was +introduced into England through Jewel and other Marian exiles, to show +what independent forces were operating in England, and to exhibit the +growing influence of the charmers and their relation to the development +of witchcraft; and lastly we have aimed to prove that the special danger +to the queen had no little part in creating the crusade against witches. +These are conclusions of some moment and a caution must be inserted. We +have been treating of a period where facts are few and information +fragmentary. Under such circumstances conclusions can only be tentative. +Perhaps the most that can be said of them is that they are suggestions. + + +[1] Benjamin Thorpe, _Ancient Laws and Institutes of England_ (London, +1840), I, 41; Liebermann, _Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen_ (Halle, 1906), +and passages cited in his _Woerterbuch_ under _wiccan_, _wiccacraeft_; +Thomas Wright, ed., _A Contemporary Narrative of the Proceedings against +Dame Alice Kyteler_ (Camden Soc., London, 1843), introd., i-iii. + +[2] George L. Burr, "The Literature of Witchcraft," printed in _Papers +of the Am. Hist. Assoc._, IV (New York, 1890), 244. + +[3] Henry C. Lea, _History of the Inquisition in Spain_ (New York, +1906-1907), IV, 207; _cf._ his _History of the Inquisition of the Middle +Ages_ (New York, 1888), III, chs. VI, VII. The most elaborate study of +the rise of the delusion is that by J. Hansen, _Zauberwahn, Inquisition +und Hexenprozess im Mittelalter_ (Cologne, 1900). + +[4] Lea, _Inquisition in Spain_, IV, 206. + +[5] Pollock and Maitland, _History of English Law_ (2d ed., Cambridge, +1898), II, 554. + +[6] _Ibid._ See also Wright, ed., _Proceedings against Dame Alice +Kyteler_, introd., ix. + +[7] _Ibid._, x. Lincoln, not Norwich, as Wright's text (followed by +Pollock and Maitland) has it. See the royal letter itself printed in his +footnote, and _cf._ Rymer's _Foedera_ (under date of 2 Jan. 1406) and +the _Calendar of the Patent Rolls_ (Henry IV, vol. III, p. 112). The +bishop was Philip Repington, late the King's chaplain and confessor. + +[8] L. O. Pike, _History of Crime in England_ (London, 1873), I, +355-356. + +[9] _Ibid._ Sir Harris Nicolas, _Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy +Council_ (London, 1834-1837). IV, 114. + +[10] _English Chronicle of the Reigns of Richard II_, etc., edited by J. +S. Davies (Camden Soc., London, 1856), 57-60. + +[11] _Ramsay, Lancaster and York_ (Oxford, 1892), II, 31-35; Wright, +ed., _Proceedings against Dame Alice Kyteler_, introd., xv-xvi, quoting +the Chronicle of London; K. H. Vickers, _Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester_ +(London, 1907), 269-279. + +[12] Wright, ed., _op. cit._, introd., xvi-xvii. + +[13] James Gairdner, _Life and Reign of Richard III_ (2d ed., London, +1879), 81-89. Jane Shore was finally tried before the court of the +Bishop of London. + +[14] Sir J. F. Stephen, _History of the Criminal Law of England_ +(London, 1883), II, 410, gives five instances from Archdeacon Hale's +_Ecclesiastical Precedents_; see extracts from Lincoln Episcopal +Visitations in _Archaeologia_ (Soc. of Antiquaries, London), XLVIII, +254-255, 262; see also articles of visitation, etc., for 1547 and 1559 +in David Wilkins, _Concilia Magnae Britanniae_ (London, 1737), IV, 25, +186, 190. + +[15] An earlier statute had mentioned sorcery and witchcraft in +connection with medical practitioners. The "Act concerning Phesicions +and Surgeons" of 3 Henry VIII, ch. XI, was aimed against quacks. +"Forasmoche as the science and connyng of Physyke and Surgerie to the +perfecte knowlege wherof bee requisite bothe grete lernyng and ripe +experience ys daily ... exercised by a grete multitude of ignoraunt +persones ... soofarfurth that common Artificers as Smythes Wevers and +Women boldely and custumably take upon theim grete curis and thyngys of +great difficultie In the which they partely use socery and which crafte +[_sic_] partely applie such medicyne unto the disease as be verey +noyous," it was required that every candidate to practice medicine +should be examined by the bishop of the diocese (in London by either the +bishop or the Dean of St. Paul's). + +[16] Stephen, _History of Criminal Law_, II, 431, says of this act: +"Hutchinson suggests that this act, which was passed two years after the +act of the Six Articles, was intended as a 'hank upon the reformers,' +that the part of it to which importance was attached was the pulling +down of crosses, which, it seems, was supposed to be practised in +connection with magic. Hutchinson adds that the act was never put into +execution either against witches or reformers. The act was certainly +passed during that period of Henry's reign when he was inclining in the +Roman Catholic direction." The part of the act to which Hutchinson +refers reads as follows: "And for execucion of their saide falce devyses +and practises have made or caused to be made dyvers Images and pictures +of men, women, childrene, Angelles or develles, beastes or fowles, ... +and gyving faithe and credit to suche fantasticall practises have dygged +up and pulled downe an infinite nombre of Crosses within this Realme." + +[17] _Parliamentary History_ (London, 1751-1762), III, 229. + +[18] _Ibid._ + +[19] _Autobiography of Edward Underhill_ (in _Narratives of the Days of +the Reformation_, Camden Soc., London, 1859), 172-175. + +[20] The measure in fact reached the engrossing stage in the Commons. +Both houses, however, adjourned early in April and left it unpassed. + +[21] Several of the bishops who were appointed on Elizabeth's accession +had travelled in South Germany and Switzerland during the Marian period +and had the opportunity of familiarizing themselves with the propaganda +in these parts against witches. Thomas Bentham, who was to be bishop of +Coventry and Lichfield, had retired from England to Zurich and had +afterwards been preacher to the exiles at Basel. John Parkhurst, +appointed bishop of Norwich, had settled in Zurich on Mary's accession. +John Scory, appointed bishop of Hereford, had served as chaplain to the +exiles in Geneva. Richard Cox, appointed bishop of Ely, had visited +Frankfort and Strassburg. Edmund Grindall, who was to be the new bishop +of London, had, during his exile, visited Strassburg, Speier, and +Frankfort. Miles Coverdale, who had been bishop of Exeter but who was +not reappointed, had been in Geneva in the course of his exile. There +were many other churchmen of less importance who at one time or another +during the Marian period visited Zurich. See Bullinger's _Diarium_ +(Basel, 1904) and Pellican's _Chronikon_ (Basel, 1877), _passim_, as +also Theodor Vetter, _Relations between England and Zurich during the +Reformation_ (London, 1904). At Strassburg the persecution raged +somewhat later; but how thoroughly Bucer and his colleagues approved and +urged it is clear from a letter of advice addressed by them in 1538 to +their fellow pastor Schwebel, of Zweibruecken (printed as No. 88 in the +_Centuria Epistolarum_ appended to Schwebel's _Scripta Theologica_, +Zweibruecken, 1605). That Bucer while in England (1549-1551) found also +occasion to utter these views can hardly be doubted. These details I owe +to Professor Burr. + +[22] Various dates have been assigned for Jewel's sermon, but it can be +determined approximately from a passage in the discourse. In the course +of the sermon he remarked: "I would wish that once again, as time should +serve, there might be had a quiet and sober disputation, that each part +might be required to shew their grounds without self will and without +affection, not to maintain or breed contention, ... but only that the +truth may be known.... For, at the last disputation that should have +been, you know which party gave over and would not meddle." This is +clearly an allusion to the Westminster disputation of the last of March, +1559; see John Strype, _Annals of the Reformation_ (London, 1709-1731; +Oxford, 1824), ed. of 1824, I, pt. i, 128. The sermon therefore was +preached after that disputation. It may be further inferred that it was +preached before Jewel's controversy with Cole in March, 1560. The words, +"For at the last disputation ... you know which party gave over and +would not meddle," were hardly written after Cole accepted Jewel's +challenge. It was on the second Sunday before Easter (March 17), 1560, +that Jewel delivered at court the discourse in which he challenged +dispute on four points of church doctrine. On the next day Henry Cole +addressed him a letter in which he asked him why he "yesterday in the +Court and at all other times at Paul's Cross" offered rather to "dispute +in these four points than in the chief matters that lie in question +betwixt the Church of Rome and the Protestants." In replying to Cole on +the 20th of March Jewel wrote that he stood only upon the negative and +again mentioned his offer. On the 31st of March he repeated his +challenge upon the four points, and upon this occasion went very much +into detail in supporting them. Now, in the sermon which we are trying +to date, the sermon in which allusion is made to the prevalence of +witches, the four points are briefly named. It may be reasonably +conjectured that this sermon anticipated the elaboration of the four +points as well as the challenging sermon of March 17. It is as certain +that it was delivered after Jewel's return to London from his visitation +in the west country. On November 2, 1559, he wrote to Peter Martyr: "I +have at last returned to London, with a body worn out by a most +fatiguing journey." See _Zurich Letters_, I (Parker Soc., Cambridge, +1842), 44. It is interesting and significant that he adds: "We found in +all places votive relics of saints, nails with which the infatuated +people dreamed that Christ had been pierced, and I know not what small +fragments of the sacred cross. The number of witches and sorceresses had +everywhere become enormous." Jewel was consecrated Bishop of Salisbury +in the following January, having been nominated in the summer of 1559 +just before his western visitation. The sermon in which he alluded to +witches may have been preached at any time after he returned from the +west, November 2, and before March 17. It would be entirely natural that +in a court sermon delivered by the newly appointed bishop of Salisbury +the prevalence of witchcraft should be mentioned. It does not seem a +rash guess that the sermon was preached soon after his return, perhaps +in December, when the impression of what he had seen in the west was +still fresh in his memory. But it is not necessary to make this +supposition. Though the discourse was delivered some time after March +15, 1559, when the first bill "against Conjurations, Prophecies, etc.," +was brought before the Commons (see _Journal of the House of Commons_, +I, 57), it is not unreasonable to believe that there was some connection +between the discourse and the fortunes of this bill. That connection +seems the more probable on a careful reading of the Commons Journals for +the first sessions of Elizabeth's Parliament. It is evident that the +Elizabethan legislators were working in close cooperation with the +ecclesiastical authorities. Jewel's sermon may be found in his _Works_ +(ed. for the Parker Soc., Cambridge, 1845-1850), II, 1025-1034. (For the +correspondence with Cole see I, 26 ff.) + +For assistance in dating this sermon the writer wishes to express his +special obligation to Professor Burr. + +[23] Strype, _Annals of the Reformation_, I, pt. i, 11. He may, indeed, +mean to ascribe it, not to the sermon, but to the evils alleged by the +sermon. + +[24] In the contemporary account entitled _A True and just Recorde of +the Information, Examination, and Confession of all the Witches taken at +St. Oses.... Written ... by W. W._ (1582), next leaf after B 5, we read: +"there is a man of great cunning and knowledge come over lately unto our +Queenes Maiestie, which hath advertised her what a companie and number +of witches be within Englande." This probably refers to Jewel. + +[25] See _ibid._, B 5 verso: "I and other of her Justices have received +commission for the apprehending of as many as are within these limites." +This was written later, but the event is referred to as following what +must have been Bishop Jewel's sermon. + +[26] Thomas Wright, _Narratives of Sorcery and Magic_ (ed. of N. Y., +1852), 126 ff.; see also his _Elizabeth and her Times_ (London, 1838), +I, 457, letter of Shrewsbury to Burghley. + +[27] Wright, _Narratives_, 130 ff. + +[28] _Ibid._, 134. + +[29] See Reginald Scot, _The Discoverie of Witchcraft_ (London, 1584; +reprinted, Brinsley Nicholson, ed., London, 1886), 4. + +[30] A very typical instance was that in Kent in 1597, see _Archaeologia +Cantiana_ (Kent Archaeological Soc., London), XXVI, 21. Several good +instances are given in the _Hertfordshire County Session Rolls_ +(compiled by W. J. Hardy, London, 1905), I; see also J. Raine, ed., +_Depositions respecting the Rebellion of 1569, Witchcraft, and other +Ecclesiastical Proceedings from the Court of Durham_ (Surtees Soc., +London, 1845), 99, 100. + +[31] J. Raine, ed., _Injunctions and other Ecclesiastical Proceedings of +Richard Barnes, Bishop of Durham_ (Surtees Soc., London, 1850), 18; H. +Owen and J. B. Blakeway, _History of Shrewsbury_ (London, 1825), II, +364, art. 43. + +[32] _Arch. Cant._, XXVI, 19. + +[33] _Hertfordshire Co. Sess. Rolls_, I, 3. + +[34] See _Depositions ... from the Court of Durham_, 99; _Arch. Cant._, +XXVI, 21; W. H. Hale, _Precedents_, etc. (London, 1847), 148, 185. + +[35] Hale, _op. cit._, 163; _Middlesex County Records_, ed. by J. C. +Jeaffreson (London, 1892), I, 84, 94. + +[36] For an instance of how a "wise woman" feared this very thing, see +Hale, _op. cit._, 147. + +[37] See _Witches taken at St. Oses_, E; also Dr. Barrow's opinion in +the pamphlet entitled _The most strange and admirable discoverie of the +three Witches of Warboys, arraigned, convicted and executed at the last +assizes at Huntingdon...._ (London, 1593). + +[38] _Folk Lore Soc. Journal_, II, 157-158, where this story is quoted +from a work by "Wm. Clouues, Mayster in Chirurgery," published in 1588. +He only professed to have "reade" of it, so that it is perhaps just a +pleasant tradition. If it is nothing more than that, it is at least an +interesting evidence of opinion. + +[39] Strype, _Annals of the Reformation_, I, pt. i, 9-10; _Dictionary of +National Biography_, article on Anthony Fortescue, by G. K. Fortescue. + +[40] Strype, _op. cit._, I, pt. i, 546, 555-558; also Wright, _Elizabeth +and her Times_, I, 121, where a letter from Cecil to Sir Thomas Smith is +printed. + +[41] The interest which the privy council showed in sorcery and +witchcraft during the earlier part of the reign is indicated in the +following references: _Acts of the Privy Council_, new series, VII, 6, +22, 200-201; X, 220, 382; XI, 22, 36, 292, 370-371, 427; XII, 21-22, 23, +26, 29, 34, 102, 251; _Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1547-1580_, +137, 142; _id._, _1581-1590_, 29, 220, 246-247; _id._, _Add. 1580-1625_, +120-121; see also John Strype, _Life of Sir Thomas Smith_ (London, 1698; +Oxford, 1820), ed. of 1820, 127-129. The case mentioned in _Cal. St. P., +Dom., 1581-1590_, 29, was probably a result of the activity of the privy +council. The case in _id._, _Add., 1580-1625_, 120-121, is an instance +of where the accused was suspected of both witchcraft and "high treason +touching the supremacy." Nearly all of the above mentioned references to +the activity of the privy council refer to the first half of the reign +and a goodly proportion to the years 1578-1582. + +[42] _Acts P. C._, n. s., XI, 292. + +[43] Strype, _Sir Thomas Smith_, 127-129. + +[44] _A Rehearsall both straung and true of hainous and horrible acts +committed by Elizabeth Stile_, etc. (for full title see appendix). This +pamphlet is in black letter. Its account is confirmed by the reference +in _Acts P. C._, n. s., XI, 22. See also Scot, _Discoverie_, 51, 543. + +[45] An aged widow had been committed to gaol on the testimony of her +neighbors that she was "lewde, malitious, and hurtful to the people." An +ostler, after he had refused to give her relief, had suffered a pain. So +far as the account goes, this was the sum of the evidence against the +woman. Unhappily she waited not on the order of her trial but made +voluble confession and implicated five others, three of whom were +without doubt professional enchanters. She had met, she said, with +Mother Dutten, Mother Devell, and Mother Margaret, and "concluded +several hainous and vilanous practices." The deaths of five persons whom +she named were the outcome of their concerted plans. For the death of a +sixth she avowed entire responsibility. This amazing confession may have +been suggested to her piece by piece, but it was received at full value. +That she included others in her guilt was perhaps because she responded +to the evident interest aroused by such additions, or more likely +because she had grudges unsatisfied. The women were friendless, three of +the four were partially dependent upon alms, there was no one to come to +their help, and they were convicted. The man that had been arraigned, a +"charmer," seems to have gone free. + +[46] _Injunctions ... of ... Bishop of Durham_, 18, 84, 99; Visitations +of Canterbury, in _Arch. Cant._, XXVI; Hale, _Precedents, 1475-1640_, +147, etc. + +[47] Arch. Cant., XXVI, _passim_; Hale, _op. cit._, 147, 148, 163, 185; +Mrs. Lynn Linton, _Witch Stories_ (London, 1861; new ed., 1883), 144. + +[48] See Hale, _op. cit._, 148, 157. + +[49] Hale, _op. cit._, 148; _Depositions ... from the Court of Durham_, +99; _Arch. Cant._, XXVI, 21. + +[50] Hale, _op. cit._, 148, 185. + +[51] _Ibid._, 157. + +[52] _Denham Tracts_ (Folk Lore Soc., London), II, 332; John Sykes, +_Local Record ... of Remarkable Events ... in Northumberland, Durham, ..._ +etc. (2d ed., Newcastle, 1833-1852), I, 79. + +[53] See, for example, _Acts P. C._, n. s., VII, 32 (1558). + +[54] _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1547-1580_, 173. Instance where the Bishop of +London seems to have examined a case and turned it over to the privy +council. + +[55] Rachel Pinder and Agnes Bridges, who pretended to be possessed by +the Devil, were examined before the "person of St. Margarets in +Lothberry," and the Mayor of London, as well as some justices of the +peace. They later made confession before the Archbishop of Canterbury +and some justices of the peace. See the black letter pamphlet, _The +discloysing of a late counterfeyted possession by the devyl in two +maydens within the Citie of London_ [1574]. + +[56] Francis Coxe came before the queen rather than the church. He +narrates his experiences in _A short treatise declaringe the detestable +wickednesse of magicall sciences, ..._ (1561). Yet John Walsh, a man +with a similar record, came before the commissary of the Bishop of +Exeter. See _The Examination of John Walsh before Master Thomas +Williams, Commissary to the Reverend father in God, William, bishop of +Excester, upon certayne Interrogatories touchyng Wytch-crafte and +Sorcerye, in the presence of divers gentlemen and others, the XX of +August, 1566_. + +[57] We say "practically," because instances of church jurisdiction come +to light now and again throughout the seventeenth century. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WITCHCRAFT UNDER ELIZABETH. + + +The year 1566 is hardly less interesting in the history of English +witchcraft than 1563. It has been seen that the new statute passed in +1563 was the beginning of a vigorous prosecution by the state of the +detested agents of the evil one. In 1566 occurred the first important +trial known to us in the new period. That trial deserves note not only +on its own account, but because it was recorded in the first of the long +series of witch chap-books--if we may so call them. A very large +proportion of our information about the execution of the witches is +derived from these crude pamphlets, briefly recounting the trials. The +witch chap-book was a distinct species. In the days when the chronicles +were the only newspapers it was what is now the "extra," brought out to +catch the public before the sensation had lost its flavor. It was of +course a partisan document, usually a vindication of the worthy judge +who had condemned the guilty, with some moral and religious +considerations by the respectable and righteous author. A terribly +serious bit of history it was that he had to tell and he told it grimly +and without pity. Such comedy as lights up the gloomy black-letter pages +was quite unintentional. He told a story too that was full of details +trivial enough in themselves, but details that give many glimpses into +the every-day life of the lower classes in town and country. + +The pamphlet of 1566 was brief and compact of information. It was +entitled _The examination and confession of certaine Wytches at +Chensforde in the Countie of Essex before the Quenes Maiesties Judges +the XXVI daye of July anno 1566_. The trial there recorded is one that +presents some of the most curious and inexplicable features in the +annals of English witchcraft. The personnel of the "size" court is +mysterious. At the first examination "Doctor Cole" and "Master Foscue" +were present. Both men are easily identified. Doctor Cole was the +Reverend Thomas Cole, who had held several places in Essex and had in +1564 been presented to the rectory of Stanford Rivers, about ten miles +from Chelmsford. Master Foscue was unquestionably Sir John Fortescue, +later Chancellor of the Exchequer, and at this time keeper of the great +wardrobe. On the second examination Sir Gilbert Gerard, the queen's +attorney, and John Southcote, justice of the queen's bench, were +present. Why Southcote should be present is perfectly clear. It is not +so easy to understand about the others. Was the attorney-general acting +as presiding officer, or was he conducting the prosecution? The latter +hypothesis is of course more consistent with his position. But what were +the rector of Stanford Rivers and the keeper of the great wardrobe doing +there? Had Doctor Cole been appointed in recognition of the claims of +the church? And the keeper of the wardrobe, what was the part that he +played? One cannot easily escape the conclusion that the case was deemed +one of unusual significance. Perhaps the privy council had heard of +something that alarmed it and had delegated these four men, all known +at Elizabeth's court, to examine into the matter in connection with the +assizes. + +The examinations themselves present features of more interest to the +psychologist than to the historical student. Yet they have some +importance in the understanding of witchcraft as a social phenomenon. +Elizabeth Francis, when examined, confessed with readiness to various +"vilanies." From her grandmother she said she had as a child received a +white spotted cat, named Sathan, whom she had fed, and who gave her what +she asked for. "She desired to have one Andrew Byles to her husband, +which was a man of some welth, and the cat dyd promyse she shold." But +the promise proved illusory. The man left her without marriage and then +she "willed Sathan ... to touch his body, whych he forthewith dyd, +whereof he died." Once again she importuned Satan for a husband. This +time she gained one "not so rich as the other." She bore a daughter to +him, but the marriage was an unhappy one. "They lived not so quietly as +she desyred, beinge stirred to much unquietnes and moved to swearing and +cursinge." Thereupon she employed the spirit to kill her child and to +lame her husband. After keeping the cat fifteen years she turned it over +to Mother Waterhouse, "a pore woman."[1] + +Mother Waterhouse was now examined. She had received the cat and kept it +"a great while in woll in a pot." She had then turned it into a toad. +She had used it to kill geese, hogs, and cattle of her neighbors. At +length she had employed it to kill a neighbor whom she disliked, and +finally her own husband. The woman's eighteen-year-old daughter, Joan, +was now called to the stand and confirmed the fact that her mother kept +a toad. She herself had one day been refused a piece of bread and cheese +by a neighbor's child and had invoked the toad's help. The toad promised +to assist her if she would surrender her soul. She did so. Then the toad +haunted the neighbor's girl in the form of a dog with horns. The mother +was again called to the stand and repeated the curious story told by her +daughter. + +Now the neighbor's child, Agnes Brown, was brought in to testify. Her +story tallied in some of its details with that of the two Waterhouse +women; she had been haunted by the horned dog, and she added certain +descriptions of its conduct that revealed good play of childish +imagination.[2] + +The attorney put some questions, but rather to lead on the witnesses +than to entangle them. He succeeded, however, in creating a violent +altercation between the Waterhouses on the one hand, and Agnes Brown on +the other, over trifling matters of detail.[3] At length he offered to +release Mother Waterhouse if she would make the spirit appear in the +court.[4] The offer was waived. The attorney then asked, "When dyd thye +Cat suck of thy bloud?" "Never," said she. He commanded the jailer to +lift up the "kercher" on the woman's head. He did so and the spots on +her face and nose where she had pricked herself for the evil spirit were +exposed. + +The jury retired. Two days later Agnes Waterhouse suffered the penalty +of the law, not however until she had added to her confessions.[5] + +The case is a baffling one. We can be quite sure that the pamphlet +account is incomplete. One would like to know more about the substance +of fact behind this evidence. Did the parties that were said to have +been killed by witchcraft really die at the times specified? Either the +facts of their deaths were well known in the community and were fitted +with great cleverness into the story Mother Waterhouse told, or the +jurors and the judges neglected the first principles of common sense and +failed to inquire about the facts.[6] The questions asked by the queen's +attorney reveal hardly more than an unintelligent curiosity to know the +rest of the story. He shows just one saving glint of skepticism. He +offered to release Mother Waterhouse if she would materialize her +spirit. + +Mother Waterhouse was her own worst enemy. Her own testimony was the +principal evidence presented against her, and yet she denied guilt on +one particular upon which the attorney-general had interrogated her. +This might lead one to suppose that her answers were the haphazard +replies of a half-witted woman. But the supposition is by no means +consistent with the very definite and clear-cut nature of her testimony. +It is useless to try to unravel the tangles of the case. It is possible +that under some sort of duress--although there is no evidence of +this--she had deliberately concocted a story to fit those of Elizabeth +Francis and Agnes Brown, and that her daughter, hearing her mother's +narrative in court--a very possible thing in that day--had fitted hers +into it. It is conceivable too that Mother Waterhouse had yielded merely +to the wish to amaze her listeners. It is a more probable supposition +that the questions asked of her by the judge were based upon the +accusations already made by Agnes Brown and that they suggested to her +the main outlines of her narrative. + +Elizabeth Francis, who had been the first accused and who had accused +Mother Waterhouse, escaped. Whether it was because she had turned +state's evidence or because she had influential friends in the +community, we do not know. It is possible that the judges recognized +that her confession was unsupported by the testimony of other witnesses. +Such a supposition, however, credits the court with keener +discrimination than seems ever to have been exhibited in such cases in +the sixteenth century.[7] + +But, though Elizabeth Francis had escaped, her reputation as a dangerous +woman in the community was fixed. Thirteen years later she was again put +on trial before the itinerant justices. This brings us to the second +trial of witches at Chelmsford in 1579. Mistress Francis's examination +elicited less than in the first trial. She had cursed a woman "and badde +a mischief to light uppon her." The woman, she understood, was +grievously pained. She followed the course that she had taken before +and began to accuse others. We know very little as to the outcome. At +least one of the women accused went free because "manslaughter or murder +was not objected against her."[8] Three women, however, were condemned +and executed. One of them was almost certainly Elleine Smith, daughter +of a woman hanged as a witch,--another illustration of the persistence +of suspicion against the members of a family. + +The Chelmsford affair of 1579[9] was not unlike that of 1566. There were +the same tales of spirits that assumed animal forms. The young son of +Elleine Smith declared that his mother kept three spirits, Great Dick in +a wicker bottle, Little Dick in a leathern bottle, and Willet in a +wool-pack. Goodwife Webb saw "a thyng like a black Dogge goe out of her +doore." But the general character of the testimony in the second trial +bore no relation to that in the first. There was no agreement of the +different witnesses. The evidence was haphazard. The witch and another +woman had a falling out--fallings out were very common. Next day the +woman was taken ill. This was the sort of unimpeachable testimony that +was to be accepted for a century yet. In the affair of 1566 the judges +had made some attempt at quizzing the witnesses, but in 1579 all +testimony was seemingly rated at par.[10] In both instances the proof +rested mainly upon confession. Every woman executed had made +confessions of guilt. This of course was deemed sufficient. Nevertheless +the courts were beginning to introduce other methods of proving the +accused guilty. The marks on Agnes Waterhouse had been uncovered at the +request of the attorney-general; and at her execution she had been +questioned about her ability to say the Lord's Prayer and other parts of +the service. Neither of these matters was emphasized, but the mention of +them proves that notions were already current that were later to have +great vogue. + +The Chelmsford cases find their greatest significance, however, not as +illustrations of the use and abuse of evidence, but because they +exemplify the continuity of the witch movement. That continuity finds +further illustration in the fact that there was a third alarm at +Chelmsford in 1589, which resulted in three more executions. But in this +case the women involved seem, so far as we know, to have had no +connection with the earlier cases. The fate of Elizabeth Francis and +that of Elleine Smith are more instructive as proof of the long-standing +nature of a community suspicion. Elleine could not escape her mother's +reputation nor Elizabeth her own. + +Both these women seem to have been of low character at any rate. +Elizabeth had admitted illicit amours, and Elleine may very well have +been guilty on the same count.[11] All of the women involved in the two +trials were in circumstances of wretched poverty; most, if not all, of +them were dependent upon begging and the poor relief for support.[12] + +It is easy to imagine the excitement in Essex that these trials must +have produced. The accused had represented a wide territory in the +county. The women had been fetched to Chelmsford from towns as far apart +as Hatfield-Peverel and Maldon. It is not remarkable that three years +later than the affair of 1579 there should have been another outbreak in +the county, this time in a more aggravated form. St. Oses, or St. +Osyth's, to the northeast of Chelmsford, was to be the scene of the most +remarkable affair of its kind in Elizabethan times. The alarm began with +the formulation of charges against a woman of the community. Ursley Kemp +was a poor woman of doubtful reputation. She rendered miscellaneous +services to her neighbors. She acted as midwife, nursed children, and +added to her income by "unwitching" the diseased. Like other women of +the sort, she was looked upon with suspicion. Hence, when she had been +refused the nursing of the child of Grace Thurlow, a servant of that Mr. +Darcy who was later to try her, and when the child soon afterward fell +out of its cradle and broke its neck, the mother suspected Ursley of +witchcraft. Nevertheless she did not refuse her help when she "began to +have a lameness in her bones." Ursley promised to unwitch her and +seemingly kept her word, for the lameness disappeared. Then it was that +the nurse-woman asked for the twelve-pence she had been promised and was +refused. Grace pleaded that she was a "poore and needie woman." Ursley +became angry and threatened to be even with her. The lameness reappeared +and Grace Thurlow was thoroughly convinced that Ursley was to blame. +When the case was carried before the justices of the peace, the accused +woman denied that she was guilty of anything more than unwitching the +afflicted. That she had learned, she said, ten or more years ago from a +woman now deceased. She was committed to the assizes, and Justice Brian +Darcy, whose servant Grace Thurlow had started the trouble, took the +case in hand. He examined her eight-year-old "base son," who gave +damning evidence against his mother. She fed four imps, Tyffin, Tittey, +Piggen, and Jacket. The boy's testimony and the judge's promise that if +she would confess the truth she "would have favour," seemed to break +down the woman's resolution. "Bursting out with weeping she fell upon +her knees and confessed that she had four spirits." Two of them she had +used for laming, two for killing. Not only the details of her son's +evidence, but all the earlier charges, she confirmed step by step, first +in private confessions to the judge and then publicly at the court +sessions. The woman's stories tallied with those of all her accusers[13] +and displayed no little play of imagination in the orientation of +details.[14] Not content with thus entangling herself in a fearful web +of crime, she went on to point out other women guilty of similar +witchcrafts. Four of those whom she named were haled before the justice. +Elizabeth Bennett, who spun wool for a cloth-maker, was one of those +most vehemently accused, but she denied knowledge of any kind of +witchcraft. It had been charged against her that she kept some wool +hidden in a pot under some stones in her house. She denied at first the +possession of this potent and malignant charm; but, influenced by the +gentle urgings of Justice Darcy,[15] she gave way, as Ursley Kemp had +done, and, breaking all restraint, poured forth wild stories of devilish +crimes committed through the assistance of her imps. + +But why should we trace out the confessions, charges, and +counter-charges that followed? The stories that were poured forth +continued to involve a widening group until sixteen persons were under +accusation of the most awful crimes, committed by demoniacal agency. As +at Chelmsford, they were the dregs of the lower classes, women with +illegitimate children, some of them dependent upon public support. It +will be seen that in some respects the panic bore a likeness to those +that had preceded. The spirits, which took extraordinary and bizarre +forms, were the offspring of the same perverted imaginations, but they +had assumed new shapes. Ursley Kemp kept a white lamb, a little gray +cat, a black cat, and a black toad. There were spirits of every sort, +"two little thyngs like horses, one white, the other black'"; six +"spirits like cowes ... as big as rattles"; spirits masquerading as +blackbirds. One spirit strangely enough remained invisible. It will be +observed by the reader that the spirits almost fitted into a color +scheme. Very vivid colors were those preferred in their spirits by these +St. Oses women. The reader can see, too, that the confessions showed the +influence of the great cat tradition. + +We have seen the readiness with which the deluded women made confession. +Some of the confessions were poured forth as from souls long surcharged +with guilt. But not all of them came in this way. Margerie Sammon, who +had testified against one of her neighbors, was finally herself caught +in the web of accusation in which a sister had also been involved. She +was accused by her sister. "I defie thee," she answered, "though thou +art my sister." But her sister drew her aside and "whyspered her in the +eare," after which, with "great submission and many teares," she made a +voluble confession. One wonders about that whispered consultation. Had +her sister perhaps suggested that the justice was offering mercy to +those who confessed? For Justice Darcy was very liberal with his +promises of mercy and absolutely unscrupulous about breaking them.[16] +It is gratifying to be able to record that there was yet a remnant left +who confessed nothing at all and stood stubborn to the last. One of them +was Margaret Grevel, who denied the accusations against her. She "saith +that shee herselfe hath lost severall bruings and bakings of bread, and +also swine, but she never did complaine thereof: saying that shee wished +her gere were at a stay and then shee cared not whether shee were hanged +or burnt or what did become of her." Annis Herd was another who stuck to +her innocence. She could recall various incidents mentioned by her +accusers; it was true that she had talked to Andrew West about getting a +pig, it was true that she had seen Mr. Harrison at his parsonage +gathering plums and had asked for some and been refused. But she denied +that she had any imps or that she had killed any one. + +The use of evidence in this trial would lead one to suppose that in +England no rules of evidence were yet in existence. The testimony of +children ranging in age from six to nine was eagerly received. No +objection indeed was made to the testimony of a neighbor who professed +to have overheard what he deemed an incriminating statement. As a matter +of fact the remark, if made, was harmless enough.[17] Expert evidence +was introduced in a roundabout way by the statement offered in court +that a physician had suspected that a certain case was witchcraft. +Nothing was excluded. The garrulous women had been give free rein to +pile up their silly accusations against one another. Not until the trial +was nearing its end does it seem to have occurred to Brian Darcy to warn +a woman against making false charges. + +It will be recalled that in the Chelmsford trials Mother Waterhouse had +been found to have upon her certain marks, yet little emphasis had been +laid upon them. In the trials of 1582 the proof drawn from these marks +was deemed of the first importance and the judge appointed juries of +women to make examination. No artist has yet dared to paint the picture +of the gloating female inquisitors grouped around their naked and +trembling victim, a scene that was to be enacted in many a witch trial. +And it is well, for the scene would be too repellent and brutal for +reproduction. In the use of these specially instituted juries there was +no care to get unbiassed decisions. One of the inquisitors appointed to +examine Cystley Celles had already served as witness against her. + +It is hard to refrain from an indictment of the hopelessly prejudiced +justice who gathered the evidence.[18] To entrap the defendants seems to +have been his end. In the account which he wrote[19] he seems to have +feared lest the public should fail to understand how his cleverness +ministered to the conviction of the women.[20] + +"There is a man," he wrote, "of great cunning and knowledge come over +lately unto our Queenes Maiestie, which hath advertised her what a +companie and number of witches be within Englande: whereupon I and other +of her Justices have received commission for the apprehending of as many +as are within these limites." No doubt he hoped to attract royal notice +and win favor by his zeal. + +The Chelmsford affairs and that at St. Oses were the three remarkable +trials of their kind in the first part of Elizabeth's reign. They +furnish some evidence of the progress of superstition. The procedure in +1582 reveals considerable advance over that of 1566. The theory of +diabolic agency had been elaborated. The testimony offered was gaining +in complexity and in variety. New proofs of guilt were being introduced +as well as new methods of testing the matter. In the second part of +Elizabeth's reign we have but one trial of unusual interest, that at +Warboys in Huntingdonshire. This, we shall see, continued the +elaboration of the witch procedure. It was a case that attracted +probably more notice at the time than any other in the sixteenth +century. The accidental fancy of a child and the pronouncement of a +baffled physician were in this instance the originating causes of the +trouble. One of the children of Sir Robert Throckmorton, head of a +prominent family in Huntingdonshire, was taken ill. It so happened that +a neighbor, by name Alice Samuel, called at the house and the ailing and +nervous child took the notion that the woman was a witch and cried out +against her. "Did you ever see, sayd the child, one more like a witch +then she is; take off her blacke thrumbd cap, for I cannot abide to +looke on her." Her parents apparently thought nothing of this at the +time. When Dr. Barrow, an eminent physician of Cambridge, having treated +the child for two of the diseases of children, and without success, +asked the mother and father if any witchcraft were suspected, he was +answered in the negative. The Throckmortons were by no means quick to +harbor a suspicion. But when two and then three other children in the +family fell ill and began in the same way to designate Mother Samuel as +a witch, the parents were more willing to heed the hint thrown out by +the physician. The suspected woman was forcibly brought by Gilbert +Pickering, an uncle of the children, into their presence. The children +at once fell upon the ground "strangely tormented," and insisted upon +scratching Mother Samuel's hand. Meantime Lady Cromwell[21] visited at +the Throckmorton house, and, after an interview with Alice Samuel, +suffered in her dreams from her till at length she fell ill and died, +something over a year later. This confirmed what had been suspicion. To +detail all the steps taken to prove Mother Samuel guilty is unnecessary. +A degree of caution was used which was remarkable. Henry Pickering, a +relative, and some of his fellow scholars at Cambridge made an +investigation into the case, but decided with the others that the woman +was guilty. Mother Samuel herself laid the whole trouble to the +children's "wantonness." Again and again she was urged by the children +to confess. "Such were the heavenly and divine speeches of the children +in their fits to this old woman ... as that if a man had heard it he +would not have thought himself better edified at ten sermons." The +parents pleaded with her to admit her responsibility for the constantly +recurring sickness of their children, but she denied bitterly that she +was to blame. She was compelled to live at the Throckmorton house and to +be a witness constantly to the strange behavior of the children. The +poor creature was dragged back and forth, watched and experimented upon +in a dozen ways, until it is little wonder that she grew ill and spent +her nights in groaning. She was implored to confess and told that all +might yet be well. For a long time she persisted in her denial, but at +length in a moment of weakness, when the children had come out of their +fits at her chance exhortation to them, she became convinced that she +was guilty and exclaimed, "O sir, I have been the cause of all this +trouble to your children." The woman, who up to this time had shown some +spirit, had broken down. She now confessed that she had given her soul +to the Devil. A clergyman was hastily sent for, who preached a sermon of +repentance, upon which the distracted woman made a public confession. +But on the next day, after she had been refreshed by sleep and had been +in her own home again, she denied her confession. The constable now +prepared to take the woman as well as her daughter to the Bishop of +Lincoln, and the frightened creature again made a confession. In the +presence of the bishop she reiterated her story in detail and gave the +names of her spirits. She was put in gaol at Huntingdon and with her +were imprisoned her daughter Agnes and her husband John Samuel, who were +now accused by the Throckmorton children, and all three were tried at +the assizes in Huntingdon before Judge Fenner. The facts already +narrated were given in evidence, the seizures of the children at the +appearance of any of the Samuel family[22], the certainty with which the +children could with closed eyes pick Mother Samuel out of a crowd and +scratch her, the confessions of the crazed creature, all these evidences +were given to the court. But the strongest proof was that given in the +presence of the court. The daughter Agnes Samuel was charged to repeat, +"As I am a witch and consenting to the death of Lady Cromwell, I charge +thee, come out of her."[23] At this charge the children would at once +recover from their fits. But a charge phrased negatively, "As I am no +witch," was ineffectual. And the affirmative charge, when tried by some +other person, had no result. This was deemed conclusive proof. The woman +was beyond doubt guilty. The same method was applied with equally +successful issue to the father. When he refused to use the words of the +charge he was warned by the judge that he would endanger his life. He +gave way. + +It is needless to say that the grand jury arraigned all three of the +family and that the "jury of life and death" found them guilty. It +needed but a five hours' trial.[24] The mother was induced to plead +pregnancy as a delay to execution, but after an examination by a jury +was adjudged not pregnant. The daughter had been urged to make the same +defence, but spiritedly replied, "It shall never be said that I was both +a witch and a whore." At the execution the mother made another +confession, in which she implicated her husband, but refused to the end +to accuse her daughter. + +From beginning to end it had been the strong against the weak. Sir +Robert Throckmorton, Sir Henry Cromwell, William Wickham, Bishop of +Lincoln, the justices of the peace, Justice Fenner of the king's court, +the Cambridge scholars, the "Doctor of Divinitie," and two other +clergymen, all were banded together against this poor but respectable +family. In some respects the trial reminds us of one that was to take +place ninety-nine years later in Massachusetts. The part played by the +children in the two instances was very similar. Mother Samuel had hit +the nail on the head when she said that the trouble was due to the +children's "wantonness." Probably the first child had really suffered +from some slight ailment. The others were imitators eager to gain notice +and pleased with their success; and this fact was realized by some +people at the time. "It had been reported by some in the county, those +that thought themselves wise, that this Mother Samuel ... was an old +simple woman, and that one might make her by fayre words confesse what +they would." Moreover the tone of the writer's defense makes it evident +that others beside Mother Samuel laid the action of the Throckmorton +children to "wantonness." And six years later Samuel Harsnett, chaplain +to the Bishop of London and a man already influential, called the +account of the affair "a very ridiculous booke" and evidently believed +the children guilty of the same pretences as William Somers, whose +confessions of imposture he was relating.[25] + +We have already observed that the Warboys affair was the only celebrated +trial of its sort in the last part of Elizabeth's reign--that is, from +the time of Reginald Scot to the accession of James I. This does not +mean that the superstition was waning or that the trials were on the +decrease. The records show that the number of trials was steadily +increasing. They were more widely distributed. London was still the +centre of the belief. Chief-Justice Anderson sent Joan Kerke to Tyburn +and the Middlesex sessions were still occupied with accusations. The +counties adjacent to it could still claim more than two-thirds of the +executions. But a far wider area was infected with the superstition. +Norfolk in East Anglia, Leicester, Nottingham and Derby in the +Midlands, and York and Northumberland in the North were all involved. + +The truth is that there are two tendencies that appear very clearly +towards the last part of Elizabeth's reign. On the one hand the feeling +of the people against witchcraft was growing in intensity, while on the +other the administration at London was inclined to be more lenient. +Pardons and reprieves were issued to women already condemned,[26] while +some attempt was made to curb popular excitement. The attitude of the +queen towards the celebrated John Dee was an instance in point. Dee was +an eminent alchemist, astrologer, and spiritualist of his time. He has +left a diary which shows us his half mystic, half scientific pursuits. +In the earlier part of Mary's reign he had been accused of attempting +poison or magic against the queen and had been imprisoned and examined +by the privy council and by the Star Chamber. At Elizabeth's accession +he had cast the horoscope for her coronation day, and he was said to +have revealed to the queen who were her enemies at foreign courts. More +than once afterwards Dee was called upon by the queen to render her +services when she was ill or when some mysterious design against her +person was feared. While he dealt with many curious things, he had +consistently refused to meddle with conjuring. Indeed he had rebuked the +conjurer Hartley and had refused to help the bewitched Margaret Byrom of +Cleworth in Lancashire. Sometime about 1590 Dee's enemies--and he had +many--put in circulation stories of his success as a conjurer. It was +the more easy to do, because for a long time he had been suspected by +many of unlawful dealings with spirits. His position became dangerous. +He appealed to Elizabeth for protection and she gave him assurance that +he might push on with his studies. Throughout her life the queen +continued to stand by Dee,[27] and it was not until a new sovereign came +to the throne that he again came into danger. But the moral of the +incident is obvious. The privy council, so nervous about the conjurers +in the days of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Catholic and Spanish plots, +was now resting easier and refused to be affrighted. + +We have already referred to the pardons issued as one of the evidences +of the more lenient policy of the government. That policy appeared too +in the lessening rigor of the assize judges. The first half of +Elizabeth's reign had been marked by few acquittals. Nearly half the +cases of which we have record in the second part resulted in the +discharge of the accused. Whether the judges were taking their cue from +the privy council or whether some of them were feeling the same reaction +against the cruelty of the prosecutions, it is certain that there was a +considerable nullifying of the force of the belief. We shall see in the +chapter on Reginald Scot that his _Discoverie of Witchcraft_ was said to +have "affected the magistracy and the clergy." It is hard to lay one's +finger upon influences of this sort, but we can hardly doubt that there +was some connection between Scot's brave indictment of the witch-triers +and the lessening severity of court verdicts. When George Gifford, the +non-conformist clergyman at Maiden, wrote his _Dialogue concerning +Witches_, in which he earnestly deprecated the conviction of so many +witches, he dedicated the book "to the Right Worshipful Maister Robert +Clarke, one of her Maiesties Barons of her Highnesse Court of the +Exchequer," and wrote that he had been "delighted to heare and see the +wise and godly course used upon the seate of justice by your worship, +when such have bene arraigned." Unfortunately there is not much evidence +of this kind. + +One other fact must not be overlooked. A large percentage of the cases +that went against the accused were in towns judicially independent of +the assize courts. At Faversham, at Lynn, at Yarmouth, and at +Leicester[28] the local municipal authorities were to blame for the +hanging of witches. The regular assize courts had nothing to do with the +matter. The case at Faversham in Kent was unusual. Joan Cason was +indicted for bewitching to death a three-year-old child. Eight of her +neighbors, seven of them women, "poore people," testified against her. +The woman took up her own cause with great spirit and exposed the +malicious dealings of her adversaries and also certain controversies +betwixt her and them. "But although she satisfied the bench," says +Holinshed, "and all the jurie touching hir innocencie ... she ... +confessed that a little vermin, being of colour reddish, of stature +lesse than a rat ... did ... haunt her house." She was willing too to +admit illicit relations with one Mason, whose housekeeper she had +been--probably the original cause of her troubles. The jury acquitted +her of witchcraft, but found her guilty of the "invocation of evil +spirits," intending to send her to the pillory. While the mayor was +admonishing her, a lawyer called attention to the point that the +invocation of evil spirits had been made a felony. The mayor sentenced +the woman to execution. But, "because there was no matter of invocation +given in evidence against hir, ... hir execution was staied by the space +of three daies." Sundry preachers tried to wring confessions from her, +but to no purpose. Yet she made so godly an end, says the chronicler, +that "manie now lamented hir death which were before hir utter +enimies."[29] The case illustrates vividly the clumsiness of municipal +court procedure. The mayor's court was unfamiliar with the law and +utterly unable to avert the consequences of its own finding. In the +regular assize courts, Joan Cason would probably have been sentenced to +four public appearances in the pillory. + +The differences between the first half and the second half of +Elizabeth's reign have not been deemed wide enough by the writer to +justify separate treatment. The whole reign was a time when the +superstition was gaining ground. Yet in the span of years from Reginald +Scot to the death of Elizabeth there was enough of reaction to justify a +differentiation of statistics. In both periods, and more particularly in +the first, we may be sure that some of the records have been lost and +that a thorough search of local archives would reveal some trials of +which we have at present no knowledge. It was a time rich in mention of +witch trials, but a time too when but few cases were fully described. +Scot's incidental references to the varied experiences of Sir Roger +Manwood and of his uncle Sir Thomas Scot merely confirm an impression +gained from the literature of the time that the witch executions were +becoming, throughout the seventies and early eighties, too common to be +remarkable. For the second period we have record of probably a larger +percentage of all the cases. For the whole time from 1563, when the new +law went into effect, down to 1603, we have records of nearly fifty +executions. Of these just about two-thirds occurred in the earlier +period, while of the acquittals two-thirds belong to the later period. +It would be rash to attach too much significance to these figures. As a +matter of fact, the records are so incomplete that the actual totals +have little if any meaning and only the proportions can be +considered.[30] Yet it looks as if the forces which caused the +persecution of witches in England were beginning to abate; and it may +fairly be inquired whether some new factor may not have entered into the +situation. It is time to speak of Reginald Scot and of the exorcists. + + +[1] Who from a confession made in 1579 seems to have been her sister. +See the pamphlet _A Detection of damnable driftes, practised by three +Witches arraigned at Chelmsforde in Essex at the last Assizes there +holden, which were executed in Aprill, 1579_ (London, 1579). + +[2] _E. g._: "I was afearde for he [the dog with horns] skypped and +leaped to and fro, and satte on the toppe of a nettle." + +[3] Whether Agnes Waterhouse had a "daggar's knife" and whether the dog +had the face of an ape. + +[4] An offer which indicates that he was acting as judge. + +[5] She was questioned on her church habits. She claimed to be a regular +attendant; she "prayed right hartely there." She admitted, however, that +she prayed "in laten" because Sathan would not let her pray in English. + +[6] There is of course the further possibility that the pamphlet account +was largely invented. A critical examination of the pamphlet tends to +establish its trustworthiness. See appendix A, Sec. 1. + +[7] Alice Chandler was probably hanged at this time. The failure to +mention her name is easily explained when we remember that the pamphlet +was issued in two parts, as soon as possible after the event. Alice +Chandler's case probably did not come up for trial until the two parts +of the pamphlet had already been published. See _A Detection of damnable +driftes_. + +[8] Mother Staunton, who had apparently made some pretensions to the +practice of magic, was arraigned on several charges. She had been +refused her requests by several people, who had thereupon suffered some +ills. + +[9] It is possible that the whole affair started from the whim of a sick +child, who, when she saw Elleine Smith, cried, "Away with the witch." + +[10] A caution here. The pamphlets were hastily compiled and perhaps +left out important facts. + +[11] Her eight-year-old boy was probably illegitimate. + +[12] Mother Waterhouse's knowledge of Latin, if that is more than the +fiction of a Protestant pamphleteer, is rather remarkable. + +[13] Allowance must be made for a very prejudiced reporter, _i. e._, the +judge himself. + +[14] These details were very probably suggested to her by the judge. + +[15] Who promised her also "favour." + +[16] The detestable methods of Justice Darcy come out in the case of a +woman from whom he threatened to remove her imps if she did not confess, +and by that means trapped her into the incriminating statement, "That +shal ye not." + +[17] William Hooke had heard William Newman "bid the said Ales his wife +to beate it away." Comparable with this was the evidence of Margerie +Sammon who "sayeth that the saide widow Hunt did tell her that shee had +harde the said Joan Pechey, being in her house, verie often to chide and +vehemently speaking, ... and sayth that shee went in to see, ... shee +founde no bodie but herselfe alone." + +[18] Reginald Scot, _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, 542, says of this trial, +"In the meane time let anie man with good consideration peruse that +booke published by W. W. and it shall suffice to satisfie him in all +that may be required.... See whether the witnesses be not single, of +what credit, sex, and age they are; namelie lewd miserable and envious +poore people; most of them which speake to anie purpose being old women +and children of the age of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 yeares." + +[19] There can be no doubt that Brian Darcy either wrote the account +himself or dictated it to "W. W." The frequent use of "me," meaning by +that pronoun the judge, indicates that he was responsible. + +[20] It is some relief in this trial to read the testimony of John +Tendering about William Byett. He had a cow "in a strange case." He +could not lift it. He put fire under the cow, she got up and "there +stood still and fell a byting of stickes larger than any man's finger +and after lived and did well." + +[21] Second wife of Sir Henry Cromwell, who was the grandfather of +Oliver. + +[22] The children were strangely inconsistent. At the first they had +fits when Mother Samuel appeared. Later they were troubled unless Mother +Samuel were kept in the house, or unless they were taken to her house. + +[23] This device seems to have been originally suggested by the children +to try Mother Samuel's guilt. + +[24] The clergyman, "Doctor Dorrington," had been one of the leaders in +prosecuting them. + +[25] Harsnett, _Discovery of the Fraudulent Practises of John Darrel_ +(London, 1599), 92, 97. + +[26] Among the manuscripts on witchcraft in the Bodleian Library are +three such pardons of witches for their witchcraft--one of Jane Mortimer +in 1595, one of Rosa Bexwell in 1600, and one of "Alice S.," without +date but under Elizabeth. + +[27] In 1595 he was made warden of the Manchester Collegiate Church. Dee +has in our days found a biographer. See _John Dee_ (1527-1608), by +Charlotte Fell Smith (London, 1909). + +[28] For the particular case, see Mary Bateson, ed., _Records of the +Borough of Leicester_ (Cambridge, 1899), III. 335; for the general +letters patent covering such cases see _id._, II, 365, 366. + +[29] For this story see Ralph Holinshed, _Chronicles of England, +Scotland, and Ireland_ (London, 1577, reprinted 1586-1587 and +1807-1808), ed. of 1807-1808, IV, 891, 893. Faversham was then +"Feversham." + +[30] Justice Anderson, when sentencing a witch to a year's imprisonment, +declared that this was the twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth witch he had +condemned. This is good evidence that the records of many cases have +been lost. See Brit. Mus., Sloane MS. 831, f. 38. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +REGINALD SCOT. + + +From the chronicling of witch trials we turn aside in this chapter to +follow the career of the first great English opponent of the +superstition. We have seen how the attack upon the supposed creatures of +the Devil was growing stronger throughout the reign of Elizabeth. We +shall see how that attack was checked, at least in some degree, by the +resistance of one man. Few men of so quiet and studious life have +wrought so effectively as Reginald Scot. He came of a family well known +in Kent, but not politically aggressive. As a young man he studied at +Hart Hall[1] in Oxford, but left without taking his degree and returned +to Scots-Hall, where he settled down to the routine duties of managing +his estate. He gave himself over, we are told, to husbandry and +gardening and to a solid course of general reading in the obscure +authors that had "by the generality been neglected." In 1574 his studies +in horticulture resulted in the publication of _A Perfect Platforme of a +Hoppe-Garden and necessary instructions for the making and maintaining +thereof_. That the book ministered to a practical interest was evidenced +by the call for three editions within five years. Whether he now applied +himself to the study of that subject which was to be the theme of his +_Discoverie_, we do not know. It was a matter which had doubtless +arrested his attention even earlier and had enlisted a growing interest +upon his part. Not until a decade after his _Hoppe-Garden_, however, did +he put forth the epoch-making _Discoverie_. Nor does it seem likely that +he had been engaged for a long period on the actual composition. Rather, +the style and matter of the book seem to evince traces of hurry in +preparation. If this theory be true--and Mr. Brinsley Nicholson, his +modern commentator, has adduced excellent reasons for accepting +it[2]--there can be but one explanation, the St. Oses affair. That +tragedy, occurring within a short distance of his own home, had no doubt +so outraged his sense of justice, that the work which he had perhaps +long been contemplating he now set himself to complete as soon as +possible.[3] Even he who runs may read in Scot's strong sentences that +he was not writing for instruction only, to propound a new doctrine, but +that he was battling with the single purpose to stop a detestable and +wicked practice. Something of a dilettante in real life, he became in +his writing a man with an absorbing mission. That mission sprang not +indeed from indignation at the St. Oses affair alone. From the days of +childhood his experience had been of a kind to encourage skepticism. He +had been reared in a county where Elizabeth Barton, the Holy Maid of +Kent, first came into prominence, and he had seen the downfall that +followed her public exposure.[4] In the year after he brought out his +_Hoppe-garden_, his county was again stirred by performances of a +supposedly supernatural character. Mildred Norrington, a girl of +seventeen,[5] used ventriloquism with such skill that she convinced two +clergymen and all her neighbors that she was possessed. In answer to +queries, the evil spirit that spoke through Mildred declared that "old +Alice of Westwell"[6] had sent him to possess the girl. Alice, the +spirit admitted, stood guilty of terrible witchcrafts. The demon's word +was taken, and Alice seems to have been "arraigned upon this +evidence."[7] But, through the justices' adroit management of the trial, +the fraud of the accuser was exposed. She confessed herself a pretender +and suffered "condign punishment." This case happened within six miles +of Scot's home and opened his eyes to the possibility of humbug. In the +very same year two pretenders, Agnes Bridges and Rachel Pinder, were +convicted in London. By vomiting pins and straws[8] they had convinced +many that they were bewitched, but the trickery was soon found out and +they were compelled to do public penance at St. Paul's.[9] We are not +told what was the fate of a detestable Mother Baker, who, when consulted +by the parents of a sick girl at New Romney in Kent, accused a neighbor +woman.[10] She said that the woman had made a waxen heart and pricked it +and by this means accomplished her evil purpose. In order to prove her +accusation, she had in the mean time concealed the wax figure of a heart +in the house of the woman she accused, and then pretended to find +it.[11] It is some satisfaction to know that the malicious +creature--who, during the history of witchcraft, had many imitators--was +caught and compelled to confess. + +Scot learned, indeed, by observing marvels of this sort[12]--what it is +strange that many others did not learn--to look upon displays of the +supernatural with a good deal of doubt. How much he had ever believed in +them we do not know. It is not unlikely that in common with his +generation he had, as a young man, held a somewhat ill-defined opinion +about the Devil's use of witches. The belief in that had come down, a +comparatively innocuous tradition, from a primitive period. It was a +subject that had not been raised in speculation or for that matter in +court rooms. But since Scot's early manhood all this had been changed. +England had been swept by a tidal wave of suspicion. Hazy theological +notions had been tightened into rigid convictions. Convictions had +passed into legislative statutes and instructions to judges. The bench, +which had at first acted on the new laws with caution and a desire to +detect imposture, became infected with the fear and grew more ready to +discover witchcraft and to punish it. It is unnecessary to recapitulate +the progress of a movement already traced in the previous chapter. +Suffice it to say that the Kentish gentleman, familiarized with accounts +of imposture, was unwilling to follow the rising current of +superstition. Of course this is merely another way of saying that Scot +was unconventional in his mental operations and thought the subject out +for himself with results variant from those of his own generation. Here +was a new abuse in England, here was a wrong that he had seen spring up +within his own lifetime and in his own part of England. He made it his +mission as far as possible to right the wrong. "For so much," he says, +"as the mightie helpe themselves together, and the poore widowes crie, +though it reach to heaven, is scarse heard here upon earth: I thought +good (according to my poore abilitie) to make intercession, that some +part of common rigor, and some points of hastie judgement may be advised +upon."[13] + +It was indeed a splendid mission and he was singularly well equipped for +it. He had the qualifications--scholarly training and the power of +scientific observation, a background of broad theological and scriptural +information, a familiarity with legal learning and practice, as well as +a command of vigorous and incisive language--which were certain to make +his work effective towards its object. + +That he was a scholar is true in more senses than one. In his use of +deduction from classical writers he was something of a scholastic, in +his willingness to venture into new fields of thought he was a product +of the Renaissance, in his thorough use of research he reminds us of a +modern investigator. He gives in his book a bibliography of the works +consulted by him and one counts over two hundred Latin and thirty +English titles. His reading had covered the whole field of superstition. +To Cornelius Agrippa and to Wierus (Johann Weyer),[14] who had attacked +the tyranny of superstition upon the Continent, he owed an especial +debt. He had not, however, borrowed enough from them to impair in any +serious way the value of his own original contribution. + +In respect to law, Scot was less a student than a man of experience. The +_Discoverie_, however, bristled with references which indicated a legal +way of thinking. He was almost certainly a man who had used the law. +Brinsley Nicholson believes that he had been a justice of the peace. In +any case he had a lawyer's sense of the value of evidence and a lawyer's +way of putting his case. + +No less practical was his knowledge of theology and scripture. Here he +had to meet the baffling problems of the Witch of Endor. The story of +the witch who had called up before the frightened King Saul the spirit +of the dead Samuel and made him speak, stood as a lion in the path of +all opponents of witch persecution. When Scot dared to explain this Old +Testament tale as an instance of ventriloquism, and to compare it to the +celebrated case of Mildred Norrington, he showed a boldness in +interpretation of the Bible far in advance of his contemporaries. + +His anticipation of present-day points of view cropped out perhaps more +in his scientific spirit than in any other way. For years before he put +pen to paper he had been conducting investigations into alleged cases of +conjuring and witchcraft, attending trials,[15] and questioning +clergymen and magistrates. For such observation he was most favorably +situated and he used his position in his community to further his +knowledge. A man almost impertinently curious was this sixteenth-century +student. When he learned of a conjurer whose sentence of death had been +remitted by the queen and who professed penitence for his crimes, he +opened a correspondence and obtained from the man the clear statement +that his conjuries were all impostures. The prisoner referred him to "a +booke written in the old Saxon toong by one Sir John Malborne, a divine +of Oxenford, three hundred yeares past," in which all these trickeries +are cleared up. Scot put forth his best efforts to procure the work from +the parson to whom it had been entrusted, but without success.[16] In +another case he attended the assizes at Rochester, where a woman was on +trial. One of her accusers was the vicar of the parish, who made several +charges, not the least of which was that he could not enunciate clearly +in church owing to enchantment. This explanation Scot carried to her and +she was able to give him an explanation much less creditable to the +clergyman of the ailment, an explanation which Scot found confirmed by +an enquiry among the neighbors. To quiet such rumors in the community +about the nature of the illness the vicar had to procure from London a +medical certificate that it was a lung trouble.[17] + +Can we wonder that a student at such pains to discover the fact as to a +wrong done should have used barbed words in the portrayal of injustice? +Strong convictions spurred on his pen, already taught to shape vigorous +and incisive sentences. Not a stylist, as measured by the highest +Elizabethan standards of charm and mellifluence, he possessed a +clearness and directness which win the modern reader. By his methods of +analysis he displayed a quality of mind akin to and probably influenced +by that of Calvin, while his intellectual attitude showed the stimulus +of the Reformation. + +He was indeed in his own restricted field a reformer. He was not only +the protagonist of a new cause, but a pioneer who had to cut through the +underbrush of opinion a pathway for speculation to follow. So far as +England was concerned, Scot found no philosophy of the subject, no +systematic defences or assaults upon the loosely constructed theory of +demonic agency. It was for him to state in definite terms the beliefs he +was seeking to overthrow. The Roman church knew fairly well by this time +what it meant by witchcraft, but English theologians and philosophers +would hardly have found common ground on any one tenet about the +matter.[18] Without exaggeration it may be asserted that Scot by his +assault all along the front forced the enemy's advance and in some sense +dictated his line of battle. + +The assault was directed indeed against the centre of the opposing +entrenchments, the belief in the continuance of miracles. Scot declared +that with Christ and his apostles the age of miracles had passed, an +opinion which he supported by the authority of Calvin and of St. +Augustine. What was counted the supernatural assumed two forms--the +phenomena exhibited by those whom he classed under the wide term of +"couseners," and the phenomena said to be exhibited by the "poor doting +women" known as witches. The tricks and deceits of the "couseners" he +was at great pains to explain. Not less than one-third of his work is +given up to setting forth the methods of conjurers, card tricks, +sleight-of-hand performances, illusions of magic, materializations of +spirits, and the wonders of alchemy and astrology. In the range of his +information about these subjects, the discoverer was encyclopedic. No +current form of dabbling with the supernatural was left unexposed. + +In his attack upon the phenomena of witchcraft he had a different +problem. He had to deal with phenomena the so-called facts of which were +not susceptible of any material explanation. The theory of a Devil who +had intimate relations with human beings, who controlled them and sent +them out upon maleficent errands, was in its essence a theological +conception and could not be absolutely disproved by scientific +observation. It was necessary instead to attack the idea on its _a +priori_ grounds. This attack Scot attempted to base on the nature of +spirits. Spirits and bodies, he urged, are antithetical and +inconvertible, nor can any one save God give spirit a bodily form. The +Devil, a something beyond our comprehension, cannot change spirit into +body, nor can he himself assume a bodily form, nor has he any power save +that granted him by God for vengeance. This being true, the whole +belief in the Devil's intercourse with witches is undermined. Such, very +briefly, were the philosophic bases of Scot's skepticism. Yet the more +cogent parts of his work were those in which he denied the validity of +any evidence so far offered for the existence of witches. What is +witchcraft? he asked; and his answer is worth quoting. "Witchcraft is in +truth a cousening art, wherin the name of God is abused, prophaned and +blasphemed, and his power attributed to a vile creature. In estimation +of the vulgar people, it is a supernaturall worke, contrived betweene a +corporall old woman, and a spirituall divell. The maner thereof is so +secret, mysticall, and strange, that to this daie there hath never beene +any credible witnes thereof."[19] The want of credible evidence was +indeed a point upon which Scot continually insisted with great force. He +pictured vividly the course which a witchcraft case often ran: "One sort +of such as are said to bee witches are women which be commonly old, +lame, bleare-eied, pale, fowle, and full of wrinkles; ... they are leane +and deformed, shewing melancholie in their faces; ... they are doting, +scolds, mad, divelish.... These miserable wretches are so odious unto +all their neighbors, and so feared, as few dare offend them, or denie +them anie thing they aske: whereby they take upon them, yea, and +sometimes thinke, that they can doo such things as are beyond the +abilitie of humane nature. These go from house to house, and from doore +to doore for a pot of milke, yest, drinke, pottage, or some such +releefe; without the which they could hardlie live.... It falleth out +many times, that neither their necessities, nor their expectation is +answered.... In tract of time the witch waxeth odious and tedious to hir +neighbors; ... she cursseth one, and sometimes another; and that from +the maister of the house, his wife, children, cattell, etc. to the +little pig that lieth in the stie.... Doubtlesse (at length) some of hir +neighbours die, or fall sicke."[20] Then they suspect her, says Scot, +and grow convinced that she is the author of their mishaps. "The witch, +... seeing things sometimes come to passe according to hir wishes, ... +being called before a Justice, ... confesseth that she hath brought such +things to passe. Wherein, not onelie she, but the accuser, and also the +Justice are fowlie deceived and abused."[21] Such indeed was the epitome +of many cases. The process from beginning to end was never better +described; the ease with which confessions were dragged from +weak-spirited women was never pictured more truly. With quite as keen +insight he displayed the motives that animated witnesses and described +the prejudices and fears that worked on jurors and judges. It was, +indeed, upon these factors that he rested the weight of his argument for +the negative.[22] + +The affirmative opinion was grounded, he believed, upon the ignorance of +the common people, "assotted and bewitched" by the jesting or serious +words of poets, by the inventions of "lowd liers and couseners," and by +"tales they have heard from old doting women, or from their mother's +maids, and with whatsoever the grandfoole their ghostlie father or anie +other morrow masse preest had informed them."[23] + +By the same method by which he opposed the belief in witchcraft he +opposed the belief in possession by an evil spirit. The known cases, +when examined, proved frauds. The instances in the New Testament he +seemed inclined to explain by the assumption that possession merely +meant disease.[24] + +That Scot should maintain an absolute negative in the face of all +strange phenomena would have been too much to expect. He seems to have +believed, though not without some difficulty, that stones had in them +"certaine proper vertues which are given them of a speciall influence of +the planets." The unicorn's horn, he thought, had certain curative +properties. And he had heard "by credible report" and the affirmation of +"many grave authors" that "the wound of a man murthered reneweth +bleeding at the presence of a deere freend, or of a mortall enimie."[25] + +His credulity in these points may be disappointing to the reader who +hopes to find in Scot a scientific rationalist. That, of course, he was +not; and his leaning towards superstition on these points makes one ask, +What did he really believe about witchcraft? When all the fraud and +false testimony and self-deception were excluded, what about the +remaining cases of witchcraft? Scot was very careful never to deny _in +toto_ the existence of witches. That would have been to deny the Bible. +What were these witches, then? Doubtless he would have answered that he +had already classified them under two heads: they were either +"couseners" or "poor doting women"--and by "couseners" he seems to have +meant those who used trickery and fraud. In other words, Scot distinctly +implied that there were no real witches--with powers given them by the +Devil. Would he have stood by this when pushed into a corner? It is just +possible that he would have done so, that he understood his own +implications, but hardly dared to utter a straighforward denial of the +reality of witchcraft. It is more likely that he had not altogether +thought himself out. + +The immediate impression of Scot's book we know little about. Such +contemporary comment as we have is neutral.[26] That his book was read +painstakingly by every later writer on the subject, that it shortly +became the great support of one party in the controversy, that King +James deemed it worth while to write an answer, and that on his +accession to the throne he almost certainly ordered the book to be +burned by the common hangman,[27] these are better evidence than +absolutely contemporary notices to show that the _Discoverie_ exerted an +influence. + +We cannot better suggest how radical Scot's position must have seemed to +his own time than by showing the point of view of another opponent of +witchcraft, George Gifford, a non-conformist clergyman.[28] He had read +the _Discoverie_ and probably felt that the theological aspect of the +subject had been neglected. Moreover it had probably been his fortune, +as Scot's, to attend the St. Oses trials. Three years after Scot's book +he brought out _A Discourse of the Subtill Practises of Devilles by +Witches_, and followed it six years later by _A Dialogue concerning +Witches_,[29] a book in which he expounded his opinions in somewhat more +popular fashion. Like Scot, he wrote to end, so far as possible, the +punishment of innocent women;[30] like Scot, he believed that most of +the evidence presented against them was worthless.[31] But on other +points he was far less radical. There were witches. He found them in +the Bible.[32] To be sure they were nothing more than pawns for the +Devil. He uses them "onely for a colour,"[33] that is, puts them forward +to cover his own dealings, and then he deludes them and makes them +"beleeve things which are nothing so."[34] In consequence they +frequently at their executions falsely accuse others of dreadful +witchcrafts. It is all the work of the Devil. But he himself cannot do +anything except through the power of God,[35] who, sometimes for +vengeance upon His enemies and sometimes to try His own people,[36] +permits the Evil One to do harm.[37] + +Gifford of course never made the impression that Scot had made.[38] But +he represented the more conservative position and was the first in a +long line of writers who deprecated persecution while they accepted the +current view as to witchcraft; and therefore he furnishes a standard by +which to measure Scot, who had nothing of the conservative about him. +Scot had many readers and exerted a strong influence even upon those who +disagreed with him; but he had few or none to follow in his steps. It +was not until nearly a century later that there came upon the scene a +man who dared to speak as Scot had spoken. Few men have been so far +ahead of their time. + + +[1] Where George Gifford, who wrote a little later on the subject, was +also a student. + +[2] _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, Nicholson ed., introd., xxxv. + +[3] That at least a part of it was written in 1583 appears from his own +words, where he speaks of the treatise of Leonardus Vairus on +fascination as "now this present yeare 1583 newlie published," _ibid._, +124. + +[4] Elizabeth Barton (1506-1534) suffered from a nervous derangement +which developed into a religious mania. She was taught by some monks, +and then professed to be in communion with the Virgin Mary and performed +miracles at stated times. She denounced Henry VIII's divorce and gained +wide recognition as a champion of the queen and the Catholic church. She +was granted interviews by Archbishop Warham, by Thomas More, and by +Wolsey. She was finally induced by Cranmer to make confession, was +compelled publicly to repeat her confession in various places, and was +then executed; see _Dict. Nat. Biog._ + +[5] Illegitimate child. + +[6] That is, very probably, Alice Norrington, the mother of Mildred. + +[7] _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, 130. + +[8] _Ibid._, 132. + +[9] See _The discloysing of a late counterfeyted possession by the devyl +in two maydens within the Citie of London_; see also Holinshed, +_Chronicles_, ed. of 1807-1808, IV, 325, and John Stow, _Annals ... of +England_ (London, 1615), 678. + +[10] _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, 258, 259. + +[11] The spot she chose for concealing the token of guilt had been +previously searched. + +[12] For another see _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, 132-133. + +[13] In his prefatory epistle "to the Readers." + +[14] An incidental reference to Weyer in "W. W.'s" account of the +_Witches taken at St. Oses_ is interesting: "... whom a learned +Phisitian is not ashamed to avouche innocent, and the Judges that +denounce sentence of death against them no better than hangmen." + +[15] _E. g., Discoverie of Witchcraft_, 5. + +[16] _Ibid._, 466-469. + +[17] _Ibid._, 5-6. + +[18] _Ibid._, 15: "Howbeit you shall understand that few or none are +throughlie persuaded, resolved, or satisfied, that witches can indeed +accomplish all these impossibilities; but some one is bewitched in one +point, and some is coosened in another, untill in fine, all these +impossibilities, and manie mo, are by severall persons affirmed to be +true." + +[19] _Discoverie_, 472. + +[20] _Ibid._, 7-8. + +[21] _Ibid._, 8. + +[22] It was one of the points made by "witchmongers" that the existence +of laws against witches proved there were witches. This argument was +used by Sir Matthew Hale as late as 1664. Scot says on that point: "Yet +I confesse, the customes and lawes almost of all nations doo declare, +that all these miraculous works ... were attributed to the power of +witches. The which lawes, with the executions and judicials thereupon, +and the witches confessions, have beguiled almost the whole world." +_Ibid._, 220. + +[23] _Discoverie_, 471, 472. + +[24] _Ibid._, 512. + +[25] _Ibid._, 303. + +[26] Thomas Nash in his _Four Letters Confuted_ (London, 1593) refers to +it in a non-committal way as a work treating of "the diverse natures and +properties of Divels and Spirits." Gabriel Harvey's _Pierces +Supererogation_ (London, 1593), has the following mention of it: +"Scottes discoovery of Witchcraft dismasketh sundry egregious +impostures, and in certaine principall chapters, and special passages, +hitteth the nayle on the head with a witnesse; howsoever I could have +wished he had either dealt somewhat more curteously with Monsieur +Bodine, or confuted him somewhat more effectually." Professor Burr +informs me that there is in the British Museum (Harleian MSS. 2302) an +incomplete and unpublished reply to Scot. Its handwriting shows it +contemporary or nearly so. It is a series of "Reasons" why witches +should be believed in--the MS. in its present state beginning with the +"5th Reason" and breaking off in the midst of the 108th. + +[27] See Nicholson's opinion on this, pp. xxxvii-xxxix of his +introduction to Scot's book. + +[28] George Gifford was a Church of England clergyman whose Puritan +sympathies at length compelled him to identify himself publicly with the +non-conformist movement in 1584. For two years previous to that time he +had held the living of Maldon in Essex. + +[29] A second edition of this book appeared in 1603. It was reprinted +for the Percy Society in 1842. + +[30] _Dialogue_, ed. of 1603, prefatory letter and L-M 2 verso. + +[31] _Discourse_, D 3 verso, G 4 verso; _Dialogue_, ed. of 1603, K 2-K 2 +verso, L-L 2. See also _ibid._, K 4-K 4 verso: "As not long since a +rugged water spaniell having a chaine, came to a mans doore that had a +saut bitch, and some espied him in the darke, and said it was a thing as +bigge as a colt, and had eyes as great as saucers. Hereupon some came to +charge to him, and did charge him in the name of the Father, the Sonne, +and the Holy Ghost, to tell what he was. The dogge at the last told +them, for he spake in his language, and said, bowgh, and thereby they +did know what he was." + +[32] _Discourse_, in the prefatory letter. + +[33] _Ibid._, F 4 verso, F 5. + +[34] _Dialogue_, ed of 1603, K 2 verso. + +[35] _Ibid._, D 3 verso; _Discourse_, G 3 verso, H 3 verso. + +[36] _Ibid._, D 2 verso. + +[37] Gifford grew very forceful when he described the progress of a case +against a witch: "Some woman doth fal out bitterly with her neighbour: +there followeth some great hurt.... There is a suspicion conceived. +Within fewe yeares after shee is in some jarre with an other. Hee is +also plagued. This is noted of all. Great fame is spread of the matter. +Mother W. is a witch.... Wel, mother W. doth begin to bee very odious +and terrible unto many, her neighbours dare say nothing but yet in their +heartes they wish shee were hanged. Shortly after an other falleth sicke +and doth pine.... The neighbors come to visit him. Well neighbour, sayth +one, do ye not suspect some naughty dealing: did yee never anger mother +W? truly neighbour (sayth he) I have not liked the woman a long tyme. I +can not tell how I should displease her, unlesse it were this other day, +my wife prayed her, and so did I, that shee would keepe her hennes out +of my garden. Wee spake her as fayre as wee could for our lives. I +thinke verely she hath bewitched me. Every body sayth now that mother W. +is a witch in deede.... It is out of all doubt: for there were which saw +a weasil runne from her housward into his yard even a little before hee +fell sicke. The sicke man dieth, and taketh it upon his death that he is +bewitched: then is mother W. apprehended, and sent to prison, shee is +arrayned and condemned, and being at the gallows, taketh it uppon her +death that shee is not gylty." _Discourse_, G 4-G 4 verso. And so, +Gifford explains, the Devil is pleased, for he has put innocent people +into danger, he has caused witnesses to forswear themselves and jurymen +to render false verdicts. + +[38] But his views were warmly seconded by Henry Holland, who in 1590 +issued at Cambridge _A Treatise against Witchcraft_. Holland, however, +was chiefly interested in warning "Masters and Fathers of families that +they may learn the best meanes to purge their houses of all unclean +spirits." It goes without saying that he found himself at variance with +Scot, who, he declared, reduced witchcraft to a "cozening or poisoning +art." In the Scriptures he found the evidence that witches have a real +"confederacie with Satan himself," but he was frank to admit that the +proof of bargains of the sort in his own time could not be given. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE EXORCISTS. + + +In the narrative of English witchcraft the story of the exorcists is a +side-issue. Yet their performances were so closely connected with the +operations of the Devil and of his agents that they cannot be left out +of account in any adequate statement of the subject. And it is +impossible to understand the strength and weakness of the superstition +without a comprehension of the role that the would-be agents for +expelling evil spirits played. That the reign which had seen pass in +procession the bands of conjurers and witches should close with the +exorcists was to be expected. It was their part to complete the cycle of +superstition. If miracles of magic were possible, if conjurers could use +a supernatural power of some sort to assist them in performing wonders, +there was nothing very remarkable about creatures who wrought harm to +their fellows through the agency of evil spirits. And if witches could +send evil spirits to do harm, it followed that those spirits could be +expelled or exorcised by divine assistance. If by prayer to the Devil +demons could be commanded to enter human beings, they could be driven +out by prayer to God. The processes of reasoning were perfectly clear; +and they were easily accepted because they found adequate confirmation +in the New Testament. The gospels were full of narratives of men +possessed with evil spirits who had been freed by the invocation of God. +Of these stories no doubt the most quoted and the one most effective in +moulding opinion was the account of the dispossessed devils who had +entered into a herd of swine and plunged over a steep place into the +sea. + +It must not be supposed that exorcism was a result of belief in +witchcraft. It was as old as the Christian church. It was still made use +of by the Roman church and, indeed, by certain Protestant groups. And +just at this time the Roman church found it a most important instrument +in the struggle against the reformed religions. In England Romanism was +waging a losing war, and had need of all the miracles that it could +claim in order to reestablish its waning credit. The hunted priests who +were being driven out by Whitgift were not unwilling to resort to a +practice which they hoped would regain for them the allegiance of the +common people. During the years 1585-1586 they had conducted what they +considered marvellous works of exorcism in Catholic households of +Buckinghamshire and Middlesex.[1] Great efforts had been made to keep +news of these seances from reaching the ears of the government, but +accounts of them had gained wide circulation and came to the privy +council. That body was of course stimulated to greater activity against +the Catholics.[2] + +As a phase of a suppressed form of religion the matter might never have +assumed any significance. Had not a third-rate Puritan clergyman, John +Darrel, almost by accident hit upon the use of exorcism, the story of +its use would be hardly worth telling.[3] When this young minister was +not more than twenty, but already, as he says, reckoned "a man of hope," +he was asked to cure a seventeen-year-old girl at Mansfield in +Nottingham, Katherine Wright.[4] Her disease called for simple medical +treatment. That was not Darrel's plan of operation. She had an evil +spirit, he declared. From four o'clock in the morning until noon he +prayed over her spirit. He either set going of his own initiative the +opinion that possessed persons could point out witches, or he quickly +availed himself of such a belief already existing. The evil spirit, he +declared, could recognize and even name the witch that had sent it as +well as the witch's confederates. All of this was no doubt suggested to +the possessed girl and she was soon induced to name the witch that +troubled her. This was Margaret Roper, a woman with whom she was upon +bad terms. Margaret Roper was at once taken into custody by the +constable. She happened to be brought before a justice of the peace +possessing more than usual discrimination. He not only discharged +her,[5] but threatened John Darrel with arrest.[6] + +This was in 1586. Darrel disappeared from view for ten years or so, +when he turned up at Burton-upon-Trent, not very far from the scene of +his first operations. Here he volunteered to cure Thomas Darling. The +story is a curious one and too long for repetition. Some facts must, +however, be presented in order to bring the story up to the point at +which Darrel intervened. Thomas Darling, a young Derbyshire boy, had +become ill after returning from a hunt. He was afflicted with +innumerable fits, in which he saw green angels and a green cat. His aunt +very properly consulted a physician, who at the second consultation +thought it possible that the child was bewitched. The aunt failed to +credit the diagnosis. The boy's fits continued and soon took on a +religious character. Between seizures he conversed with godly people. +They soon discovered that the reading of the Scriptures brought on +attacks. This looked very like the Devil's work. The suggestion of the +physician was more seriously regarded. Meanwhile the boy had overheard +the discussion of witchcraft and proceeded to relate a story. He had +met, he said, a "little old woman" in a "gray gown with a black fringe +about the cape, a broad thrimmed hat, and three warts on her face."[7] +Very accidentally, as he claimed, he offended her. She angrily said a +rhyming charm that ended with the words, "I wil goe to heaven, and thou +shalt goe to hell," and stooped to the ground. + +The story produced a sensation. Those who heard it declared at once that +the woman must have been Elizabeth Wright, or her daughter Alse +Gooderidge, women long suspected of witchcraft. Alse was fetched to the +boy. She said she had never seen him, but her presence increased the +violence of his fits. Mother and daughter were carried before two +justices of the peace, who examined them together with Alse's husband +and daughter. The women were searched for special marks in the usual +revolting manner with the usual outcome, but only Alse herself was sent +to gaol.[8] + +The boy grew no better. It was discovered that the reading of certain +verses in the first chapter of John invariably set him off.[9] The +justices of the peace put Alse through several examinations, but with +little result. Two good witches were consulted, but refused to help +unless the family of the bewitched came to see them. + +Meantime a cunning man appeared who promised to prove Alse a witch. In +the presence of "manie worshipfull personages" "he put a paire of new +shooes on her feete, setting her close to the fire till the shooes being +extreame hot might constrayne her through increase of the paine to +confesse." "This," says the writer, "was his ridiculous practice." The +woman "being throghly heated desired a release" and offered to confess, +but, as soon as her feet were cooled, refused. No doubt the justices of +the peace would have repudiated the statement that the illegal process +of torture was used. The methods of the cunning man were really nothing +else. + +The woman was harried day and night by neighbors to bring her to +confess.[10] At length she gave way and, in a series of reluctant +confessions, told a crude story of her wrong-doings that bore some +slight resemblance to the boy's tale, and involved the use of a spirit +in the form of a dog. + +Now it was that John Darrel came upon the ground eager to make a name +for himself. Darling had been ill for three months and was not +improving. Even yet some of the boy's relatives and friends doubted if +he were possessed. Not so Darrel. He at once undertook to pray and fast +for the boy. According to his own account his efforts were singularly +blessed. At all events the boy gradually improved and Darrel claimed the +credit. As for Alse Gooderidge, she was tried at the assizes, convicted +by the jury, and sentenced by Lord Chief-Justice Anderson to +imprisonment. She died soon after.[11] This affair undoubtedly widened +Darrel's reputation. + +Not long after, a notable case of possession in Lancashire afforded him +a new opportunity to attract notice. The case of Nicholas Starchie's +children provoked so much comment at the time that it is perhaps worth +while to go back and bring the narrative up to the point where Darrel +entered.[12] Two of Starchie's children had one day been taken ill most +mysteriously, the girl "with a dumpish and heavie countenance, and with +a certaine fearefull starting and pulling together of her body." The boy +was "compelled to shout" on the way to school. Both grew steadily +worse[13] and the father consulted Edmund Hartley, a noted conjurer of +his time. Hartley quieted the children by the use of charms. When he +realized that his services would be indispensable to the father he made +a pretence of leaving and so forced a promise from Starchie to pay him +40 shillings a year. This ruse was so successful that he raised his +demands. He asked for a house and lot, but was refused. The children +fell ill again. The perplexed parent now went to a physician of +Manchester. But the physician "sawe no signe of sicknes." Dr. Dee, the +famous astrologer and friend of Elizabeth, was summoned. He advised the +help of "godlie preachers."[14] + +Meantime the situation in the afflicted family took a more serious turn. +Besides Mr. Starchie's children, three young wards of his, a servant, +and a visitor, were all taken with the mysterious illness. The modern +reader might suspect that some contagious disease had gripped the +family, but the irregular and intermittent character of the disease +precludes that hypothesis. Darrel in his own pamphlet on the matter +declares that when the parents on one occasion went to a play the +children were quiet, but that when they were engaged in godly exercise +they were tormented, a statement that raises a suspicion that the +disease, like that of the Throckmorton children, was largely imaginary. + +But the divines were at work. They had questioned the conjurer, and had +found that he fumbled "verie ill favouredlie" in the repetition of the +Lord's Prayer. He was haled before a justice of the peace, who began +gathering evidence against him and turned him over to the assizes. There +it came out that he had been wont to kiss the Starchie children, and had +even attempted, although without success, to kiss a maid servant. In +this way he had presumably communicated the evil spirit--a new notion. +The court could find no law, however, upon which to hang him. He had +bewitched the children, but he had bewitched none of them to death, and +therefore had not incurred the death penalty. But the father leaped into +the gap. He remembered that he had seen the conjurer draw a magic circle +and divide it into four parts and that he had bidden the witness step +into the quarters one after another. Making such circles was definitely +mentioned in the law as felony. Hartley denied the charge, but to no +purpose. He was convicted of felony[15]--so far as we can judge, on this +unsupported afterthought of a single witness--and was hanged. Sympathy, +however, would be inappropriate. In the whole history of witchcraft +there were few victims who came so near to deserving their fate. + +This was the story up to the time of Darrel's arrival. With Darrel came +his assistant, George More, pastor of a church in Derbyshire. The two at +once recognized the supernatural character of the case they were to +treat and began religious services for the stricken family. It was to no +effect. "All or most of them joined together in a strange and +supernatural loud whupping that the house and grounde did sounde +therwith again." + +But the exorcists were not by any means disheartened. On the following +day, in company with another minister, they renewed the services and +were able to expel six of the seven spirits. On the third day they +stormed and took the last citadel of Satan. Unhappily the capture was +not permanent. Darrel tells us himself that the woman later became a +Papist[16] and the evil spirit returned. + +The exorcist now turned his skill upon a young apprenticed musician of +Nottingham. According to Darrel's story of the affair,[17] William +Somers had nine years before met an old woman who had threatened him. +Again, more than a year before Darrel came to Nottingham, Somers had had +two encounters with a strange woman "at a deep cole-pit, hard by the +way-side." Soon afterwards he "did use such strang and idle kinde of +gestures in laughing, dancing and such like lighte behaviour, that he +was suspected to be madd." He began to suffer from bodily distortions +and to evince other signs of possession which created no little +excitement in Nottingham. + +Darrel had been sent for by this time. He came at once and with his +usual precipitancy pronounced the case one of possession. Somers, he +said, was suffering for the sins of Nottingham.[18] It was time that +something should be done. Prayer and fasting were instituted. For three +days the youth was preached to and prayed over, while the people of +Nottingham, or some of them at least, joined in the fast. On the third +day came what was deemed a most remarkable exhibition. The preacher +named slowly, one after another, fourteen signs of possession. As he +named them Somers illustrated in turn each form of possession.[19] Here +was confirmatory evidence of a high order. The exorcist had outdone +himself. He now held out promises of deliverance for the subject. For a +quarter of an hour the boy lay as if dead, and then rose up quite well. + +Darrel now took up again the witchfinder's role he had once before +assumed. Somers was encouraged to name the contrivers of his +bewitchment. Through him, Darrel is said to have boasted, they would +expose all the witches in England.[20] They made a most excellent start +at it. Thirteen women were accused by the boy,[21] who would fall into +fits at the sight of a witch, and a general invitation was extended to +prefer charges. But the community was becoming a bit incredulous and +failed to respond. All but two of the accused women were released. + +The witch-discoverer, who in the meantime had been chosen preacher at +St. Mary's in Nottingham, made two serious mistakes. He allowed +accusations to be preferred against Alice Freeman, sister of an +alderman,[22] and he let Somers be taken out of his hands. By the +contrivance of some citizens who doubted the possession, Somers was +placed in the house of correction, on a trumped-up charge that he had +bewitched a Mr. Sterland to death.[23] Removed from the clergyman's +influence, he made confession that his possessions were pretended.[24] +Darrel, he declared, had taught him how to pretend. The matter had now +gained wide notoriety and was taken up by the Anglican church. The +archdeacon of Derby reported the affair to his superiors, and the +Archbishop of York appointed a commission to examine into the case.[25] +Whether from alarm or because he had anew come under Darrel's influence, +Somers refused to confess before the commission and again acted out his +fits with such success that the commission seems to have been convinced +of the reality of his possession.[26] This was a notable victory for the +exorcist. + +But Chief-Justice Anderson of the court of common pleas was now +commencing the assizes at Nottingham and was sitting in judgment on the +case of Alice Freeman. Anderson was a man of intense convictions. He +believed in the reality of witchcraft and had earlier sent at least one +witch to the gallows[27] and one to prison.[28] But he was a man who +hated Puritanism with all his heart, and would at once have suspected +Puritan exorcism. Whether because the arch-instigator against Alice +Freeman was a Puritan, or because the evidence adduced against her was +flimsy, or because Somers, again summoned to court, acknowledged his +fraud,[29] or for all these reasons, Anderson not only dismissed the +case,[30] but he wrote a letter about it to the Archbishop of +Canterbury. Archbishop Whitgift called Darrel and More before the court +of high commission, where the Bishop of London, two of the Lord +Chief-Justices, the master of requests, and other eminent officials +heard the case. It seems fairly certain that Bancroft, the Bishop of +London, really took control of this examination and that he acted quite +as much the part of a prosecutor as that of a judge. One of Darrel's +friends complained bitterly that the exorcist was not allowed to make +"his particular defences" but "was still from time to time cut off by +the Lord Bishop of London."[31] No doubt the bishop may have been +somewhat arbitrary. It was his privilege under the procedure of the +high commission court, and he was dealing with one whom he deemed a very +evident impostor. In fine, a verdict was rendered against the two +clergymen. They were deposed from the ministry and put in close +prison.[32] So great was the stir they had caused that in 1599 Samuel +Harsnett, chaplain to the Bishop of London, published _A Discovery of +the Fraudulent Practises of John Darrel_, a careful resume of the entire +case, with a complete exposure of Darrel's trickery. In this account the +testimony of Somers was given as to the origin of his possession. He +testified before the ecclesiastical court that he had known Darrel +several years before they had met at Nottingham. At their first meeting +he promised, declared Somers, "to tell me some thinges, wherein if I +would be ruled by him, I should not be driven to goe so barely as I +did." Darrel related to Somers the story of Katherine Wright and her +possession, and remarked, "If thou wilt sweare unto me to keepe my +counsell, I will teache thee to doe all those trickes which Katherine +Wright did, and many others that are more straunge." He then illustrated +some of the tricks for the benefit of his pupil and gave him a written +paper of directions. From that time on there were meetings between the +two at various places. The pupil, however, was not altogether successful +with his fits and was once turned out of service as a pretender. He was +then apprenticed to the musician already mentioned, and again met +Darrel, who urged him to go and see Thomas Darling of Burton, "because," +says Somers, "that seeing him in his fittes, I might the better learn to +do them myselfe." Somers met Darrel again and went through with a +series of tricks of possession. It was after all these meetings and +practice that Somers began his career as a possessed person in +Nottingham and was prayed over by Mr. Darrel. Such at least was his +story as told to the ecclesiastical commission. It would be hazardous to +say that the narrative was all true. Certainly it was accepted by +Harsnett, who may be called the official reporter of the proceedings at +Darrel's trial, as substantially true.[33] + +The publication of the _Discovery_ by Harsnett proved indeed to be only +the beginning of a pamphlet controversy which Darrel and his supporters +were but too willing to take up.[34] Harsnett himself after his first +onslaught did not re-enter the contest. The semi-official character of +his writing rendered it unnecessary to refute the statements of a +convicted man. At any rate, he was soon occupied with another production +of similar aim. In 1602 Bishop Bancroft was busily collecting the +materials, in the form of sworn statements, for the exposure of Catholic +pretenders. He turned the material over to his chaplain. Whether the +several examinations of Roman exorcists and their subjects were the +result of a new interest in exposing exorcism on the part of the powers +which had sent Darrel to prison, or whether they were merely a phase of +increased vigilance against the activity of the Roman priests, we cannot +be sure. The first conclusion does not seem improbable. Be that as it +may, the court of high commission got hold of evidence enough to +justify the privy council in authorizing a full publication of the +testimony.[35] Harsnett was deputed to write the account of the Catholic +exorcists which was brought out in 1603 under the title of _A +Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures_. We have not the historical +materials with which to verify the claims made in the book. On the face +of it the case against the Roman priests looks bad. A mass of +examinations was printed which seem to show that the Jesuit Weston and +his confreres in England had been guilty of a great deal of jugglery and +pretence. The Jesuits, however, were wiser in their generation than the +Puritans and had not made charges of witchcraft. For that reason their +performances may be passed over. + +Neither the pretences of the Catholics nor the refutation of them are +very important for our purposes. The exposure of John Darrel was of +significance, because it involved the guilt or innocence of the women he +accused as witches, as well as because the ecclesiastical authorities +took action against him and thereby levelled a blow directly at exorcism +and possession[36] and indirectly at loose charges of witchcraft. +Harsnett's books were the outcome of this affair and the ensuing +exposures of the Catholics, and they were more significant than +anything that had gone before. The Church of England had not committed +itself very definitely on witchcraft, but its spokesman in the attack +upon the Catholic pretenders took no uncertain ground. He was skeptical +not only about exorcism but about witchcraft as well. It is refreshing +and inspiriting to read his hard-flung and pungent words. "Out of +these," he wrote, "is shaped us the true _Idea_ of a Witch, an old +weather-beaten Croane, having her chinne and her knees meeting for age, +walking like a bow leaning on a shaft, hollow-eyed, untoothed, furrowed +on her face, having her lips trembling with the palsie, going mumbling +in the streetes, one that hath forgotten her _pater noster_, and hath +yet a shrewd tongue in her head, to call a drab, a drab. If shee have +learned of an olde wife in a chimnies end: _Pax, max, fax_, for a spel: +or can say _Sir John of Grantams_ curse, for the Millers Eeles, that +were stolne: ... Why then ho, beware, looke about you my neighbours; if +any of you have a sheepe sicke of the giddies, or an hogge of the +mumps, or an horse of the staggers, or a knavish boy of the schoole, or +an idle girle of the wheele, or a young drab of the sullens, and hath +not fat enough for her porredge, nor her father and mother butter enough +for their bread; and she have a little helpe of the _Mother_, +_Epilepsie_, or _Cramp_, ... and then with-all old mother _Nobs_ hath +called her by chaunce 'idle young huswife,' or bid the devil scratch +her, then no doubt but mother _Nobs_ is the witch.... _Horace_ the +Heathen spied long agoe, that a Witch, a Wizard, and a Conjurer were but +bul-beggers to scare fooles.... And _Geoffry Chaucer_, who had his two +eyes, wit, and learning in his head, spying that all these brainlesse +imaginations of witchings, possessings, house-hanting, and the rest, +were the forgeries, cosenages, Imposturs, and legerdemaine of craftie +priests, ... writes in good plaine terms."[37] + +It meant a good deal that Harsnett took such a stand. Scot had been a +voice crying in the wilderness. Harsnett was supported by the powers in +church and state. He was, as has been seen, the chaplain of Bishop +Bancroft,[38] now--from 1604--to become Archbishop of Canterbury. He was +himself to become eminent in English history as master of Pembroke Hall +(Cambridge), vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, Bishop of +Chichester, Bishop of Norwich, and Archbishop of York.[39] Whatever +support he had at the time--and it is very clear that he had the backing +of the English church on the question of exorcism--his later position +and influence must have given great weight not only to his views on +exorcism but to his skepticism about witchcraft.[40] + +His opinions on the subject, so far as can be judged by his few direct +statements and by implications, were quite as radical as those of his +predecessor.[41] As a matter of fact he was a man who read widely[42] +and had pondered deeply on the superstition, but his thought had been +colored by Scot.[43] His assault, however, was less direct and studied +than that of his master. Scot was a man of uncommonly serious +temperament, a plain, blunt-spoken, church-going Englishman who covered +the whole ground of superstition without turning one phrase less serious +than another. His pupil, if so Harsnett may be called, wrote earnestly, +even aggressively, but with a sarcastic and bitter humor that +entertained the reader and was much less likely to convince. The curl +never left his lips. If at times a smile appeared, it was but an +accented sneer. A writer with a feeling indeed for the delicate effects +of word combination, if his humor had been less chilled by hate, if his +wit had been of a lighter and more playful vein, he might have laughed +superstition out of England. When he described the dreadful power of +holy water and frankincense and the book of exorcisms "to scald, broyle +and sizzle the devil," or "the dreadful power of the crosse and +sacrament of the altar to torment the devill and to make him roare," or +"the astonishable power of nicknames, reliques and asses ears,"[44] he +revealed a faculty of fun-making just short of effective humor. + +It would not be fair to leave Harsnett without a word on his place as a +writer. In point of literary distinction his prose style maintains a +high level. In the use of forceful epithet and vivid phrase he is +excelled by no Elizabethan prose writer. Because his writings deal so +largely with dry-as-dust reports of examinations, they have never +attained to that position in English literature which parts of them +merit.[45] + +Harsnett's book was the last chapter in the story of Elizabethan +witchcraft and exorcism. It is hardly too much to say that it was the +first chapter in the literary exploitation of witchcraft. Out of the +_Declaration_ Shakespeare and Ben Jonson mined those ores which when +fused and refined by imagination and fancy were shaped into the shining +forms of art. Shakespearean scholars have pointed out the connection +between the dramatist and the exposer of exorcism. It has indeed been +suggested by one student of Shakespeare that the great playwright was +lending his aid by certain allusions in _Twelfth Night_ to Harsnett's +attempts to pour ridicule on Puritan exorcism.[46] It would be hard to +say how much there is in this suggestion. About Ben Jonson we can speak +more certainly. It is clearly evident that he sneered at Darrel's +pretended possessions. In the third scene of the fifth act of _The Devil +is an Ass_ he makes Mere-craft say: + + It is the easiest thing, Sir, to be done. + As plaine as fizzling: roule but wi' your eyes, + And foame at th' mouth. A little castle-soape + Will do 't, to rub your lips: And then a nutshell, + With toe and touchwood in it to spit fire, + Did you ner'e read, Sir, little _Darrel's_ tricks, + With the boy o' _Burton_, and the 7 in _Lancashire_, + Sommers at _Nottingham_? All these do teach it. + And wee'l give out, Sir, that your wife ha's bewitch'd you. + +This is proof enough, not only that Jonson was in sympathy with the +Anglican assailants of Puritan exorcism, but that he expected to find +others of like opinion among those who listened to his play. And it was +not unreasonable that he should expect this. It is clear enough that the +powers of the Anglican church were behind Harsnett and that their +influence gave his views weight. We have already observed that there +were some evidences in the last part of Elizabeth's reign of a reaction +against witch superstition. Harsnett's book, while directed primarily +against exorcism, is nevertheless another proof of that reaction. + + +[1] Sir George Peckham of Denham near Uxbridge and Lord Vaux of Hackney +were two of the most prominent Catholics who opened their homes for +these performances. See Samuel Harsnett, _Declaration of Egregious +Popish Impostures_ (London, 1603), 7, 8. + +[2] For a discussion of the Catholic exorcists see T. G. Law, "Devil +Hunting in Elizabethan England," in the _Nineteenth Century_ for March, +1894. Peckham's other activities in behalf of his church are discussed +by Dr. R. B. Merriman in "Some Notes on the Treatment of English +Catholics in the Reign of Elizabeth," in the _Am. Hist. Rev._, April, +1908. Dr. Merriman errs, however, in supposing that John Darrel +cooperated with Weston and the Catholic exorcists; _ibid._, note 51. +Darrel was a Puritan and had nothing to do with the Catholic +performances. + +[3] It is quite possible to suppose, however, that its course would have +been run in much the same way at a later time. + +[4] For Harsnett's account of Katherine Wright see his _Discovery of the +Fraudulent Practises of John Darrel_ (London, 1599), 297-315. For +Darrel's story see _The Triall of Maist. Dorrel, or A Collection of +Defences against Allegations ..._ (1599), 15-21. + +[5] See Harsnett, _Discovery_, 310. + +[6] Katherine Wright's evil spirit returned later. + +[7] "I have seene her begging at our doore," he declared, "as for her +name I know it not." + +[8] Harsnett, _Discovery_, 41, 265, deals briefly with the Darling case +and Alse Gooderidge. See also John Darrel, _A Detection of that sinnful, +shamful, lying, and ridiculous discours of Samuel Harshnet_ (1600), +38-40. But the fullest account is a pamphlet at the Lambeth Palace +library. It is entitled _The most wonderfull and true Storie of a +certaine Witch named Alse Gooderidge of Stapenhill.... As also a true +Report of the strange Torments of Thomas Darling...._ (London, 1597). +For a discussion of this pamphlet see appendix A, Sec. 1. + +[9] The boy was visited by a stranger who tried to persuade him that +there were no witches. But this Derbyshire disciple of Scot had come to +the wrong place and his efforts were altogether useless. + +[10] Meantime her mother Elizabeth Wright was also being worried. She +was found on her knees in prayer. No doubt the poor woman was taking +this method of alleviating her distress; but her devotion was +interpreted as worship of the Devil. + +[11] So Darrel says. The pamphleteer Denison, who put together the story +of Alse Gooderidge, wrote "she should have been executed but that her +spirit killed her in prison." + +[12] Darrel gives an extended account of this affair in _A True +Narration of the strange and grevous Vexation by the Devil of seven +persons in Lancashire_ (1600; reprinted in _Somers Tracts_, III), +170-179. See also George More, _A true Discourse concerning the certaine +possession and dispossession of 7 persons in one familie in Lancashire ..._ +(1600), 9 ff. + +[13] Certain matters in connection with this case are interesting. +George More tells us that Mrs. Starchie was an "inheritrix." Some of her +kindred, Papists, prayed for the perishing of her issue. Four of her +children pined away. Mrs. Starchie, when told of their prayers, conveyed +all her property to her husband. She had two children afterwards, the +two that were stricken. It is possible that all this may present some +key to the case, but it is hard to see just how. See More, _A true +Discourse_, 11-12. + +[14] George More, _A true Discourse_, 15; Harsnett, _Discovery_, 22. +While Dee took no part in the affair except that he "sharply reproved +and straitly examined" Hartley, he lent Mr. Hopwood, the justice of the +peace before whom Hartley was brought, his copy of the book of Wierus, +then the collections of exorcisms known as the _Flagellum Daemonum_ and +the _Fustis Daemonum_, and finally the famous _Malleus Maleficarum_. See +Dee's _Private Diary_ (Camden Soc., London, 1843), entries for March 19, +April 15, and August 6, 1597. + +[15] George More, _A true Discourse_, 21; Darrel, _A True Narration_ +(_Somers Tracts_, III), 175. + +[16] Harsnett, _Discovery_, tells us that "certain Seminarie priests" +got hold of her and carried her up and down the country and thereby +"wonne great credit." + +[17] Darrel's account of this affair is in _A True Narration_ (_Somers +Tracts_, III), 179-186. Harsnett takes it up in his _Discovery_, 78-264. + +[18] See deposition of Cooper, in Harsnett, _Discovery_, 114. + +[19] Depositions of Somers and Darrel, _ibid._, 124-125. It must be +recalled that when this was first tried before a commission they were +convinced that it was not imposture. A layman cannot refrain from +suspecting that Darrel had hypnotic control over Somers. + +[20] _Ibid._, 141-142. + +[21] _Ibid._, 141. Harsnett quotes Darrel for this statement. + +[22] _Ibid._, 5; John Darrel, _An Apologie, or defence of the possession +of William Sommers ..._ (1599?), L verso. + +[23] Darrel, _A True Narration_ (_Somers Tracts_, III), 184; see also +his _A brief Apologie proving the possession of William Sommers ..._ +(1599), 17. + +[24] Harsnett, _Discovery_, 7. + +[25] _Ibid._ + +[26] _Ibid._, 8; Darrel, _An Apologie, or defence_, 4; Darrel, _A True +Narration_ (_Somers Tracts_, III), 185. + +[27] _Triall of Maist. Dorrel_, narrative in back of pamphlet. + +[28] Darrel, _A Detection of that sinnful ... discours of Samuel +Harshnet_, 40. And see above, p. 56, note. + +[29] Harsnett, _Discovery_, 8. + +[30] _Ibid._, 320-322; Darrel, _An Apologie, or defence_, L III, says +that the third jury acquitted her. Harsnett refers to the fact that he +was found guilty by the grand inquest. + +[31] _The Triall of Maist. Dorrel_, preface "To the Reader." + +[32] Harsnett, _Discovery_, 9. + +[33] _Ibid._, 78-98. + +[34] Yet Darrel must have realized that he had the worst of it. There is +a pathetic acknowledgment of this in the "Preface to the Reader" of his +publication, _A Survey of Certaine Dialogical Discourses, written by +John Deacon and John Walker ..._ (1602): "But like a tried and +weather-beaten bird [I] wish for quiet corner to rest myself in and to +drye my feathers in the warme sun." + +[35] T. G. Law, "Devil Hunting in Elizabethan England," in _Nineteenth +Century_, March, 1894. + +[36] On the matter of exorcism the position of the Church of England +became fixed by 1604. The question had been a cause of disagreement +among the leaders of the Reformation. The Lutherans retained exorcism in +the baptismal ritual and rivalled the Roman clergy in their exorcism of +the possessed. It was just at the close of the sixteenth century that +there arose in Lutheran Germany a hot struggle between the believers in +exorcism and those who would oust it as a superstition. The Swiss and +Genevan reformers, unlike Luther, had discarded exorcism, declaring it +to have belonged only to the early church, and charging modern instances +to Papist fraud; and with them seem to have agreed their South German +friends. In England baptismal exorcism was at first retained in the +ritual under Edward VI, but in 1552, under Bucer's influence, it was +dropped. Under Elizabeth the yet greater influence of Zurich and Geneva +must have discredited all exorcism, and one finds abundant evidence of +this in the writings of Jewel and his followers. An interesting letter +of Archbishop Parker in 1574 shows his utter incredulity as to +possession in the case of Agnes Bridges and Rachel Pinder of Lothbury; +see Parker's _Correspondence_ (Parker Soc., Cambridge, 1856), 465-466. +His successor, the Calvinistic Whitgift, was almost certainly of the +same mind. Bancroft, the next archbishop of Canterbury, drew up or at +least inspired that epoch-making body of canons enacted by Convocation +in the spring of 1604, the 72d article of which forbids any Anglican +clergyman, without the express consent of his bishop obtained +beforehand, to use exorcism in any fashion under any pretext, on pain of +being counted an impostor and deposed from the ministry. This ended the +matter so far as the English church was concerned. For this resume of +the Protestant and the Anglican attitude toward exorcism I am indebted +to Professor Burr. + +[37] Harsnett, _A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures_ (London, +1605), 136-138. + +[38] It is not impossible that Harsnett was acting as a mouth-piece for +Bancroft. Darrel wrote: "There is no doubt but that S. H. stand for +Samuell Harsnet, chapline to the Bishop of London, but whither he alone, +or his lord and hee, have discovered this counterfeyting and cosonage +there is the question. Some thinke the booke to be the Bishops owne +doing: and many thinke it to be the joynt worke of them both." _A +Detection of that sinnful ... discours of Samuel Harshnet_, 7, 8. + +[39] From 1602 until 1609 he was archdeacon of Essex; see _Victoria +History of Essex_, II, (London, 1907), 46. + +[40] There is a statement by the Reverend John Swan, who wrote in 1603, +that Harsnett's book had been put into the hands of King James, +presumably after his coming to England; see John Swan, _A True and +Breife Report of Mary Glover's Vexation, and of her deliverance ..._ +(1603), "Dedication to the King," 3. One could wish for some +confirmation of this statement. Certainly James would not at that time +have sympathized with Harsnett's views about witches, but his attitude +on several occasions toward those supposed to be possessed by evil +spirits would indicate that he may very well have been influenced by a +reading of the _Discovery_. + +[41] On page 36 of the _Discovery_ Harsnett wrote: "Whether witches can +send devils into men and women (as many doe pretende) is a question +amongst those that write of such matters, and the learneder and sounder +sort doe hold the negative." One does not need to read far in Harsnett +to understand what he thought. + +[42] His scholarship, evident from his books, is attested by Thomas +Fuller, who calls him "a man of great learning, strong parts, and stout +spirit" (_Worthies of England_, ed. of London, 1840, I, 507). + +[43] See his _Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures_, 134-136; his +_Discovery_ also shows the use of Scot. + +[44] Harsnett, _Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures_, 98, 123, +110. + +[45] Read _ibid._, 131-140. + +[46] Joseph Hunter, _New Illustrations of the Life, Studies and Writings +of Shakespeare_ (London, 1845), I, 380-390. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +JAMES I AND WITCHCRAFT. + + +Some one has remarked that witchcraft came into England with the Stuarts +and went out with them. This offhand way of fixing the rise and fall of +a movement has just enough truth about it to cause misconception. +Nothing is easier than to glance at the alarms of Elizabeth's reign and +to see in them accidental outbreaks with little meaning, isolated +affairs presaging a new movement rather than part of it. As a matter of +fact, any such view is superficial. In previous chapters the writer has +endeavored to show just how foreign ideas and conditions at home gave +the impulse to a movement which within a single reign took very definite +form. + +Yet so much was the movement accelerated, such additional impetus was +given it by James I, that the view that James set the superstition going +in England, however superficial, has some truth in it. If Elizabeth had +ever given the matter thought, she had not at least given it many words. +James had very definite opinions on the subject and hesitated not at all +to make them known. His views had weight. It is useless to deny that the +royal position swayed the courts. James's part in the witch persecution +cannot be condoned, save on the ground that he was perfectly honest. He +felt deeply on the matter. It was little wonder. He had grown up in +Scotland in the very midst of the witch alarms. His own life, he +believed, had been imperilled by the machinations of witches. He +believed he had every reason to fear and hate the creatures, and we can +only wonder that he was so moderate as we shall later find him to have +been. The story of the affair that stirred up the Scottish king and his +people has often been told, but it must be included here to make his +attitude explicable. In 1589 he had arranged for a marriage with the +Princess Anne of Denmark. The marriage had been performed by proxy in +July, and it was then provided that the princess was to come to England. +She set out, but was driven on to the coast of Norway by a violent +storm, and detained there by the continuance of the storms. James sailed +to Upsala, and, after a winter in the north of the Continent, brought +his bride to Scotland in the spring, not without encountering more rough +weather. To the people of the time it was quite clear that the ocean was +unfriendly to James's alliance. Had Scotland been ancient Greece, no +doubt Neptune would have been propitiated by a sacrifice. But it was +Scotland, and the ever-to-be-feared Satan was not so easily propitiated. +He had been very active of late in the realm. + +Moreover it was a time when Satanic and other conspiracies were likely +to come to light. The kingdom was unsettled, if not discontented. There +were plots, and rumors of plots. The effort to expose them, as well as +to thwart the attacks of the evil one on the king, led to the conception +and spread of the monstrous story of the conspiracy of Dr. Fian. Dr. +Fian was nothing less than a Scottish Dr. Faustus. He was a schoolmaster +by profession. After a dissolute youth he was said to have given soul to +the Devil. According to the story he gathered around him a motley crowd, +Catholic women of rank, "wise women," and humble peasant people; but it +was a crew ready for evil enterprise. It is not very clear why they were +supposed to have attacked the king; perhaps because of his well known +piety, perhaps because he was a Protestant. In any case they set about, +as the story went, to destroy him, and thought to have found their +opportunity in his trip to Denmark. They would drown him in a storm at +sea. There was a simple expedient for raising a storm, the throwing of +cats into the sea. This Scottish method of sacrificing to Neptune was +duly carried out, and, as we have seen, just fell short of destroying +the king. It was only the piety of the king, as Dr. Fian admitted in his +confession, that overmatched the power of the evil one.[1] + +Such is the story that stirred Scotland from end to end. It is a story +that is easily explained. The confessions were wrung from the supposed +conspirators by the various forms of torture "lately provided for +witches in that country." Geillis Duncane had been tried with "the +torture of the pilliwinkes upon her fingers, which is a grievous +torture, and binding or wrinching her head with a cord or roape." Agnes +Sampson had suffered terrible tortures and shameful indignities until +her womanly modesty could no longer endure it and she confessed +"whatsoever was demanded of her." Dr. Fian was put through the ordinary +forms of torture and was then "put to the most severe and cruel pain in +the world, called the bootes," and thereby was at length induced to +break his silence and to incriminate himself. At another time, when the +king, who examined him in person, saw that the man was stubborn and +denied the confessions already made, he ordered him to be tortured +again. His finger nails were pulled off with a pair of pincers, and +under what was left of them needles were inserted "up to the heads." +This was followed by other tortures too terrible to narrate.[2] + +It is a little hard to understand how it was that the king "took great +delight to be present at the examinations," but throughout the whole +wretched series of trials he was never wanting in zeal. When Barbara +Napier, sister-in-law to the laird of Carshoggil, was to be executed, a +postponement had been granted on account of her approaching +accouchement. Afterwards, "nobody insisting in the pursute of her, she +was set at libertie." It seems also that the jury that had before +condemned her had acquitted her of the main charge, that of treasonable +witchcraft against the king. The king was angered at the default of +justice, went to the Tolbooth, and made an address on the subject. He +spoke of "his own impartiality, the use of witchcraft, the enormity of +the crime, ... the ignorance of thinking such matters mere fantasies, +the cause of his own interference in the matter, the ignorance of the +assizes in the late trial, his own opinion of what witches really +are."[3] + +It was only a few years later that James put that opinion into written +form. All the world knows that the king was a serious student. With +unremitting zeal he studied this matter, and in 1597, seven years after +the Dr. Fian affair, he published his _Daemonologie_.[4] It was expressly +designed to controvert the "damnable opinions of two principally in our +age"--Scot, who "is not ashamed in publick Print to deny that there can +be such a thing as witchcraft," and Wierus, "a German physician," who +"sets out a publicke apologie for all these craft-folkes whereby ... he +plainly bewrayes himself to have been one of that profession." + +It was to be expected that James would be an exponent of the current +system of belief. He had read diligently, if not widely, in the +Continental lore of the subject and had assimilated much of it. He was +Scotch enough to be interested in theology and Stuart enough to have +very definite opinions. James had, too, his own way of putting things. +There was a certain freshness about his treatment, in spite of the fact +that he was ploughing old fields. Nothing illustrates better his +combination of adherence to tradition, of credulity, and of originality +than his views on the transportation of witches, a subject that had long +engaged the theorists in demonology. Witches could be transported, he +believed, by natural means, or they could be carried through the air "by +the force of the spirit which is their conducter," as Habakkuk was +carried by the angel.[5] This much he could accept. But that they could +be transformed into a "little beast or foule" and pierce through +"whatsoever house or Church, though all ordinarie passages be closed," +this he refused to believe. So far, however, there was nothing original +about either his belief or his disbelief. But his suggestion on another +matter was very probably his own. There had been long discussion as to +how far through the air witches could go. It was James's opinion that +they could go only so far as they could retain their breath. + +But it was seldom that the royal demonologist wandered far from the +beaten road. He was a conformist and he felt that the orthodox case +needed defence: so he set about to answer the objectors. To the argument +that it was a strange thing that witches were melancholy and solitary +women (and so, he would have explained, offer the easiest object of +attack) he interposed a flat denial: they are "some of them rich and +worldly-wise, some of them fat or corpulent in their bodies." To the +point that if witches had the power ascribed to them no one but +themselves would be left alive in the world, he answered that such would +be the case, were not the power of the Devil bridled by God. To the plea +that God would not allow his children to be vexed by the Devil, he +replied that God permits the godly who are sleeping in sin to be +troubled; that He even allows the Evil One to vex the righteous for his +own good--a conventional argument that has done service in many a +theological controversy. + +It is a curious circumstance that James seemingly recognized the +reliability of the Romish exorcisms which the Church of England was +about that time beginning to attack. His explanation of them is worthy +of "the wisest fool in Christendom." The Papists could often effect +cures of the possessed, he thought, because "the divell is content to +release the bodily hurting of them, ... thereby to obtain the perpetual +hurt of the soules." + +That James should indulge in religious disquisitions rather than in +points of evidence was to be expected. Although he had given up the +Scottish theology, he never succeeded in getting it thoroughly out of +his system. As to the evidence against the accused, the royal writer was +brief. Two sorts of evidence he thought of value, one "the finding of +their marke, and the trying the insensiblenes thereof, the other is +their fleeting [floating] on the water." The latter sign was based, he +said, on the fact that the water refuses to receive a witch--that is to +say, the pure element would refuse to receive those who had renounced +their baptism.[6] We shall see that the influence of the _Daemonologie_ +can be fairly appraised by measuring the increased use of these two +tests of guilt within his own reign and that of his son. Hitherto the +evidence of the mark had been of rather less importance, while the +ordeal by water was not in use. + +The alleged witch-mark on the body had to do with the contracts between +witches and the Devil. This loathsome side of witch belief we cannot go +into. Suffice it to say that James insisted on the reality of these +contracts and consequently upon the punishment that should be meted to +those who had entered into them. All witches except children should be +sentenced to death. The king shows a trace of conventional moderation, +however, and admits that the magistrates should be careful whom they +condemned. But, while he holds that the innocent should not be +condemned, he warns officials against the sin of failing to convict the +guilty.[7] We shall see that throughout his reign in England he pursued +a course perfectly consistent with these principles. + +A critical estimate of James's book it is somewhat hard to give. +Students of witchcraft have given utterance to the most extravagant but +widely divergent opinions upon it. The writer confesses that he has not +that acquaintance with the witch literature of the Continent which would +enable him to appraise the _Daemonologie_ as to its originality. So good +an authority as Thomas Wright has declared that it is "much inferior to +the other treatises on the subject," and that it was compiled from +foreign works.[8] Doubtless a study of the Continental literature would +warrant, at least in part, this opinion. Yet one gets the impression, +from what may be learned of that great body of writing through the +historians of witchcraft, that James's opinions were in some respects +his own. He had, of course, absorbed the current belief, but he did not +hesitate to give his own interpretation and explanation of phenomena. +That interpretation is not wanting in shrewdness. It seems to one who +has wandered through many tedious defences of the belief in witchcraft +that James's work is as able as any in English prior to the time of +Joseph Glanvill in 1668. One who should read Glanvill and James together +would get a very satisfactory understanding of the position of the +defenders of the superstition. Glanvill insisted upon what he believed +were well authenticated facts of experience. James grounded his belief +upon a course of theoretical reasoning. + +We have already indicated that James's book was influential in its time. +It goes without saying that his position as a sovereign greatly enhanced +its influence. This was particularly true after he took the throne of +England. The dicta that emanated from the executive of the English +nation could not fail to find a wide audience, and especially in England +itself. His work offered a text-book to officials. It was a key to the +character and methods of the new ruler, and those who hoped for +promotion were quick to avail themselves of it. To prosecute witches was +to win the sovereign's approval. The judges were prompted to greater +activity. Moreover, the sanction of royalty gave to popular outbreaks +against suspicious women greater consideration at the hands of the +gentry. And it was in the last analysis the gentry, in the persons of +the justices of the peace, who decided whether or no neighborhood +whispering and rumors should be followed up. + +But the king's most direct influence was in the passing of a new law. +His first Parliament had been in session but eight days when steps were +taken by the House of Lords towards strengthening the statute against +witchcraft. The law in force, passed in the fifth year of Elizabeth's +reign, imposed the death penalty for killing by witchcraft, and a year's +imprisonment for injuring by witchcraft or by allied means. James would +naturally feel that this law was merely one version of the statute +against murder and did not touch the horrible crime of contract with the +Devil and the keeping of imps.[9] Here was a sin beside which the taking +of life was a light offence. It was needful that those who were guilty +of it should suffer the severest penalty of the law, even if they had +not caused the loss of a single life. It was to remedy this defect in +the criminal code that a new statute was introduced. + +It is not worth while to trace the progress of that bill from day to +day. It can be followed in the journals of the Lords and Commons. The +bill went to a large committee that included six earls and twelve +bishops.[10] Perhaps the presence of the bishops was an evidence that +witchcraft was still looked upon as a sin rather than as a crime. It was +a matter upon which the opinion of the church had been received before +and might well be accepted again. It was further arranged that the Lord +Chief-Justice of the common pleas, Sir Edmund Anderson, and the +attorney-general, the later so famous Sir Edward Coke, along with other +eminent jurists, were to act with the committee. Anderson, it will be +recalled, had presided over numerous trials and had both condemned and +released witches. As to Coke's attitude towards this subject, we know +not a thing, save that he served on this committee. The committee seems +to have found enough to do. At any rate the proposed statute underwent +revision.[11] Doubtless the privy council had a hand in the matter;[12] +indeed it is not unlikely that the bill was drawn up under its +direction. On the 9th of June, about two months and a half after its +introduction, the statute passed its final reading in the Lords.[13] It +repealed the statute of Elizabeth's reign and provided that any one who +"shall use, practise or exercise any Invocation or Conjuration of any +evill and wicked Spirit, or shall consult, covenant with, entertaine, +employe, feede, or rewarde any evill and wicked Spirit to or for any +intent or purpose; or take up any dead man, woman, or child, ... to be +imployed or used in any manner of Witchcrafte" should suffer death as a +felon. It further provided that any one who should "take upon him or +them by Witchcrafte ... to tell or declare in what place any treasure of +Golde or Silver should or might be founde ... or where Goods or Things +loste or stollen should be founde or become, or to the intent to provoke +any person to unlawfull love, or wherebie any Cattell or Goods of any +person shall be destroyed, wasted, or impaired, or to hurte or destroy +any person in his or her bodie, although the same be not effected and +done," should for the first offence suffer one year's imprisonment with +four appearances in the pillory, and for the second offence, death. The +law explains itself. Not only the killing of people by the use of evil +spirits, but even the using of evil spirits in such a way as actually +to cause hurt was a capital crime. The second clause punished white +magic and the intent to hurt, even where it "be not effected," by a +year's imprisonment and the pillory. It can be easily seen that one of +the things which the framers of the statute were attempting to +accomplish in their somewhat awkward wording was to make the fact of +witchcraft as a felony depend chiefly upon a single form of evidence, +the testimony to the use of evil spirits. + +We have seen why people with James's convictions about contracts with +the Devil might desire to rest the crime upon this kind of proof.[14] It +can be readily understood, too, how the statute would work in practice. +Hitherto it had been possible to arraign a witch on the accusations of +her neighbors, but it was not possible to send her to the gallows unless +some death in the vicinity could be laid to her charge. The community +that hustled a suspicious woman to court was likely to suffer the +expense of her imprisonment for a year. It had no assurance that it +could be finally rid of her. + +Under the new statute it was only necessary to prove that the woman made +use of evil spirits, and she was put out of the way. It was a simpler +thing to charge a woman with keeping a "familiar" than to accuse her of +murder. The stories that the village gossips gathered in their rounds +had the keeping of "familiars" for their central interest.[15] It was +only necessary to produce a few of these gossips in court and the woman +was doomed. + +To be sure, this is theory. The practical question is, not how would the +law operate, but how did it operate? This brings us again into the +dangerous field of statistics. Now, if we may suppose that the witch +cases known to us are a safe basis of comparison, the reign of James, as +has already been intimated, shows a notable increase in witch executions +over that of Elizabeth. We have records of between forty and fifty +people who suffered for the crime during the reign of James, all but one +of them within the first fifteen years. It will be seen that the average +per year is nearly double that of the executions known to us in the +first part of Elizabeth's rule, and of course several times that of +those known in the last part. This increased number we are at once +inclined to assign to the direct and indirect influence of the new king. +But it may very fairly be asked whether the new statute passed at the +king's suggestion had not been in part responsible for the increased +number. This question can be answered from an examination of those cases +where we have the charges given. Of thirty-seven such cases in the reign +of James I, where the capital sentence was given, seventeen were on +indictments for witchcrafts that had not caused death. In the other +twenty cases, the accused were charged with murder.[16] + +This means that over two-fifths of those who are known to have been +convicted under the new law would have escaped death under the +Elizabethan statute. With all due allowance for the incompleteness of +our statistics, it seems certain that the new law had added very +considerably to the number of capital sentences. Subtract the seventeen +death sentences for crimes of witchcraft that were not murder from the +total number of such sentences, and we have figures not so different +from those of Elizabeth's reign. + +This is a sufficient comment on the effectiveness of the new law as +respects its particularly novel features. A study of the character of +the evidence and of the tests of guilt employed at the various trials +during the reign will show that the phrasing of the law, as well as the +royal directions for trying guilt, influenced the forms of accusation +and the verdicts of the juries. In other words the testimony rendered in +some of the well known trials of the reign offers the best commentary +upon the statute as well as upon the _Daemonologie_. This can be +illustrated from three of the processes employed to determine guilt. The +king had recommended the water ordeal. Up to this time it had not been +employed in English witch cases, so far as we know. The first record of +its use was in 1612, nine years after James ascended the English throne. +In that year there was a "discoverie" of witches at Northampton. Eight +or nine women were accused of torturing a man and his sister and of +laming others. One of them was, at the command of a justice of the +peace, cast into the water with "her hands and feete bound," but "could +not sink to the bottome by any meanes." The same experiment was applied +to Arthur Bill and his parents. He was accused of bewitching a Martha +Aspine. His father and mother had long been considered witches. But the +"matter remaining doubtful that it could not be cleerly tryed upon him," +he (and his parents) were tied with "their thumbes and great toes ... +acrosse" and thrown into the water. The suspicion that was before not +well grounded was now confirmed.[17] To be sure, this was done by the +justices of the peace and we do not know how much it influenced the +assize court.[18] + +These are the only instances given us by the records of James's reign +where this test was employed by the authorities. But in the very next +year after the Northampton affair it was used in the adjoining county of +Bedford by private parties. A land-owner who had suffered ills, as he +thought, from two tenants, Mother Sutton and her daughter, took matters +into his own hands. His men were ordered to strip the two women "in to +their smocks," to tie their arms together, and to throw them into the +water. The precaution of a "roape tyed about their middles" was useless, +for both floated. This was not enough. The mother, tied toe and thumb, +was thrown into the water again. She "sunke not at all, but sitting upon +the water turned round about like a wheele.... And then being taken up, +she as boldly as if she had beene innocent asked them if they could doe +any more to her." + +The use of marks as evidence was not as new as the water ordeal. But it +is a rather curious thing that in the two series of cases involving +water ordeal the other process was also emphasized. In these two +instances it would seem as if the advice of the _Daemonologie_ had been +taken very directly by the accusers.[19] There was one other instance of +this test.[20] The remarkable thing, however, is that in the most +important trial of the time, that at Lancaster in 1612, there was an +utter absence, at least so far as the extant record goes, of female +juries or of reports from them.[21] This method of determining guilt was +not as yet widely accepted in the courts. We can hardly doubt that it +had been definitely forbidden at Lancaster.[22] The evidence of the use +of evil spirits, against which the statute of the first year of James I +had been especially framed, was employed in such a large proportion of +trials that it is not worth while to go over the cases in detail. + +The law forbade to take up any dead person or the skin, bone, or other +part thereof for use in witchcraft. Presumably some instance of this +form of witchcraft had been responsible for the phrase, but we have on +record no case of the sort until a few years after the passage of the +statute. It was one of the principal charges against Johanna Harrison +of Royston in 1606 that the officers found in her possession "all the +bones due to the Anatomy of man and woman."[23] This discovery brought +out other charges and she was hanged. At the famous Lancashire trials in +1612 the arch-witch Chattox was declared to have had in her possession +three scalps and eight teeth. She was guilty on other counts, but she +escaped the executioner by death. + +These are illustrations of the point that the _Daemonologie_ and the +statute of James I find their commentary in the evidence offered at the +trials. It goes without saying that these illustrations represent only a +few of the forms of testimony given in the courts. It may not, +therefore, be amiss to run over some other specimens of the proof that +characterized the witch trials of the reign. With most of them we are +already familiar. The requirement that the witch should repeat certain +words after the justice of the peace was used once in the reign of +James. It was an unusual method at best.[24] A commoner form of proof +was that adduced from the finding or seeing clay or waxen images in the +possession of the accused.[25] The witness who had found such a model on +the premises of the defendant or had seen the defendant handling it, +jumped readily to the conclusion that the image represented some +individual. If it should be asked how we are to account for this sort of +evidence, the answer is an easy one. Every now and then in the annals of +witchcraft it came out that a would-be accuser had hidden a waxen or +clay figure in the house of the person he wished to accuse and had then +found it. No doubt some cases started in this way. No doubt, too, bitter +women with grudges to satisfy did experiment with images and were caught +at it. But this was rare. In the greater number of cases the stories of +images were pure fabrications. To that category belong almost certainly +the tales told at Lancaster.[26] + +"Spectral evidence" we have met with in the Elizabethan period. That +reign saw two or three instances of its employment, and there were more +examples of it in the reign of James. Master Avery of Northampton, who +with his sister was the principal accuser in the trials there, saw in +one of his fits a black wart on the body of Agnes Brown, a wart which +was actually found "upon search."[27] Master Avery saw other spectres, +but the most curious was that of a bloody man desiring him to have mercy +on his Mistress Agnes and to cease impeaching her.[28] At Bedford, +Master Enger's servant had a long story to tell, but the most thrilling +part concerned a visit which the young Mary Sutton (whom he was +accusing) made to him. On a "moonshine night" she came in at the window +in her "accustomed and personall habite and shape" and knitted at his +side. Then drawing nearer, she offered him terms by which he could be +restored to his former health, terms which we are to understand the +virtuous witness refused. It is pleasant to know that Master Enger was +"distrustfull of the truth" of this tale. One fears that these spectres +were not the products of overwrought imagination, as were many others, +but were merely fabrics of elaborate fiction.[29] In any case they were +not the groundwork of the proof. In the Fairfax prosecutions at York in +1622 the charges against the six women accused rested entirely upon a +great tissue of spectral evidence. The three children had talked to the +spectres, had met them outdoors and at church and in the kitchen. The +spectres were remarkably wise and named visitors whom the family did not +know. They struggled with the children, they rolled over them in bed, +they followed them to the neighbors. + +Somewhat akin to the evidence from apparitions was that from the effect +of a witch's glance. This is uncommonly rare in English witchcraft, but +the reign of James offers two instances of it. In Royston, +Hertfordshire, there was "an honest fellow and as boone a companion ... +one that loved the pot with the long necke almost as well as his +prayers." One day when he was drinking with four companions Johanna +Harrison came in and "stood gloating upon them." He went home and at +once fell sick.[30] At Northampton the twelve-year-old Hugh Lucas had +looked "stark" upon Jane Lucas at church and gone into convulsions when +he returned home.[31] + +One other form of proof demands notice. In the trial of Jennet Preston +at York it was testified that the corpse of Mr. Lister, whom she was +believed to have slain by witchcraft, had bled at her presence. The +judge did not overlook this in summarizing the evidence. It was one of +three important counts against the woman, indeed it was, says the +impressive Mr. Potts, quoting the judge, of more consequence than all +the rest.[32] Of course Mistress Preston went to the gallows. + +It will occur to the reader to ask whether any sort of evidence was +ruled out or objected to. On this point we have but slight knowledge. In +reporting the trial of Elizabeth Sawyer of Edmonton in 1621 the Reverend +Henry Goodcole wrote that a piece of thatch from the accused woman's +house was plucked and burned, whereupon the woman presently came upon +the scene.[33] Goodcole characterized this method as an "old ridiculous +custome" and we may guess that he spoke for the judge too. In the +Lancashire cases, Justice Altham, whose credulity knew hardly any +bounds, grew suddenly "suspitious of the accusation of this yong wench, +Jennet Device," who had been piling up charges against Alice Nutter. The +girl was sent out of the room, the witches were mixed up, and Jennet was +required on coming in again to pick out Alice Nutter. Of course that +proved an easy matter.[34] At another time, when Jennet was glibly +enumerating the witches that had assembled at the great meeting at +Malking Tower, the judge suddenly asked her if Joane-a-Downe were there. +But the little girl failed to rise to the bait and answered negatively, +much to the satisfaction of everybody, and especially of the righteous +Mr. Potts.[35] + +This is all we know directly about any tendency to question evidence at +Lancaster in 1612, but a good deal more may be inferred from what is not +there. A comparison of that trial with other contemporary trials will +convince any one that Justices Altham and Bromley must have ruled out +certain forms of evidence. There were no experiments made of any sort +nor any female juries set inspecting.[36] This, indeed, is not to say +that all silly testimony was excluded. There is enough and more of sheer +nonsense in the testimony to prove the contrary. + +We turn now from the question of evidence to a brief consideration of +several less prominent features of Jacobean witchcraft. We shall note +the character of the sentences, the distribution of the trials, the +personnel and position in life of the accused, and lastly the question +of jurisdiction. + +We have in another connection indicated the approximate number of +executions of which we have record in James's reign. That number, we +saw, was certainly over forty and probably approached fifty. It +represented, however, not quite half the total number of cases of +accusation recorded. In consequence the other verdicts and sentences +have significance. Especially is this true of the acquittals. They +amounted to thirty, perhaps to forty. When we add the trials of which we +do not know the outcome, we can guess that the number was close to the +sum total of executions. Legally only one other outcome of a trial was +possible, a year's imprisonment with quarterly appearances in the +pillory. There were three or four instances of this penalty as well as +one case where bond of good behavior was perhaps substituted for +imprisonment.[37] Five pardons were issued,[38] three of them by the +authorities at London, two of them by local powers apparently under +compulsion.[39] + +We come now to consider the personnel, sex, occupations, and positions +in life of the accused. On certain of these matters it is possible to +give statistical conclusions, but such conclusions must be accepted with +great caution. By a count as careful as the insufficient evidence +permits it would seem that about six times as many women were indicted +as men. This was to be expected. It is perhaps less in accord with +tradition that twice as many married women as spinsters seem to have +figured in the witch trials of the Jacobean era. The proportion of +widows to unmarried women was about the same, so that the proportion of +unmarried women among the whole number accused would seem to have been +small. These results must be accepted guardedly, yet more complete +statistics would probably show that the proportion of married women was +even greater.[40] + +The position in life of these people was not unlike that of the same +class in the earlier period. In the account of the Lancashire trials we +shall see that the two families whose quarrels started the trouble were +the lowest of low hill-country people, beggars and charmers, lax in +their morals and cunning in their dealings. The Flower women, mother and +daughter, had been charged with evil living; it was said that Agnes +Brown and her daughter of Northampton had very doubtful reputations; +Mother Sutton of Bedford was alleged to have three illegitimate +children. The rest of the witches of the time were not, however, quite +so low in the scale. They were household servants, poor tenants, "hog +hearders," wives of yeomen, broomsellers, and what not. + +Above this motley peasant crew were a few of various higher ranks. A +schoolmaster who had experimented with sorcery against the king,[41] a +minister who had been "busy with conjuration in his youth,"[42] a lady +charged with sorcery but held for other sin,[43] a conjurer who had +rendered professional services to a passionate countess,[44] these make +up a strange group of witches, and for that matter an unimportant one. +None of their cases were illustrations of the working of witch law; they +were rather stray examples of the connection between superstition, on +the one hand, and politics and court intrigue on the other. Not so, +however, the prosecution of Alice Nutter in the Lancashire trials of +1612. Alice Nutter was a member of a well known county family. "She +was," says Potts, "a rich woman, had a great estate and children of good +hope."[45] She was moreover "of good temper, free from envy and malice." +In spite of all this she was accused of the most desperate crimes and +went to the gallows. Why family connections and influences could not +have saved her is a mystery. + +In another connection we spoke of two witches pardoned by local +authorities at the instance of the government. This brings us to the +question of jurisdiction. The town of Rye had but recently, it would +seem, been granted a charter and certain judicial rights. But when the +town authorities sentenced one woman to death and indicted another for +witchcraft, the Lord Warden interfered with a question as to their +power.[46] The town, after some correspondence, gave way and both women +were pardoned. This was, however, the only instance of disputed +jurisdiction. The local powers in King's Lynn hanged a witch without +interference,[47] and the vicar-general of the Bishop of Durham +proceeded against a "common charmer"[48] with impunity, as of course he +had every right to do. + +There is, in fact, a shred of evidence to show that the memory of +ecclesiastical jurisdiction had not been lost. In the North Riding of +Yorkshire the quarter sessions sentenced Ralph Milner for "sorcerie, +witchcraft, inchantment and telling of fortunes" to confess his fault at +divine service, "that he hath heighlie offended God and deluded men, and +is heartily sorie."[49] There is nothing, of course, in the statute to +authorize this form of punishment, and it is only accounted for as a +reversion to the original ecclesiastical penalty for a crime that seemed +to belong in church courts. + +What we call nowadays mob law had not yet made its appearance--that is, +in connection with witchcraft. We shall see plenty of it when we come to +the early part of the eighteenth century. But there was in 1613 one +significant instance of independence of any jurisdiction, secular or +ecclesiastical. In the famous case at Bedford, Master Enger, whom we +have met before, had been "damnified" in his property to the round sum +of L200. He was at length persuaded that Mother Sutton was to blame. +Without any authority whatsoever he brought her forcibly to his house +and caused her to be scratched.[50] Not only so, but he threw the woman +and her daughter, tied and bound, into his mill-pond to prove their +guilt.[51] In the mean time the wretched creatures had been stripped of +their clothes and examined for marks, under whose oversight we are not +told, but Master Enger was responsible. He should have suffered for all +this, but there is no record of his having done so. On the contrary he +carried the prosecution of the women to a successful issue and saw them +both hanged. + +We now turn to the question of the distribution of witchcraft in the +realm during James's reign. From the incidental references already +given, it will be evident that the trials were distributed over a wide +area. In number executed, Lancashire led with ten, Leicester had nine, +Northampton five or more, Middlesex four,[52] Bedford, Lincoln, York, +Bristol, and Hertford each two; Derby had several, the exact number we +can not learn. These figures of the more serious trials seem to show +that the alarm was drifting from the southeast corner of England towards +the midlands. In the last half of Elizabeth's rule the centre had been +to the north of London in the southern midlands. Now it seems to have +progressed to the northern midlands. Leicester, Derby, and Nottingham +may be selected as the triangle of counties that would fairly represent +the centre of the movement. If the matter were to be determined with +mathematical accuracy, the centre would need to be placed perhaps a +little farther west, for Stafford, Cheshire, Bristol, and the remote +Welsh Carnarvon all experienced witch alarms. In the north, York and +Durham had their share of trials. + +It will be easier to realize what had happened when we discover that, so +far as records go, Kent and Essex were entirely quiet during the period, +and East Anglia almost so. We shall later see that these counties had +not at all forgotten to believe in witchcraft, but the witchfinders had +ceased their activities for a while. + +To be sure, this reasoning from the distribution of trials is a +dangerous proceeding. Witch alarms, on they face of things, seem +haphazard outbursts of excitement. And such no doubt they are in part; +yet one who goes over many cases in order cannot fail to observe that an +outbreak in one county was very likely to be followed by one in the next +county.[53] This is perfectly intelligible to every one familiar with +the essentially contagious character of these scares. The stories spread +from village to village as fast as that personified Rumor of the poet +Vergil, "than which nothing is fleeter"; nor did they halt with the +sheriffs at the county boundaries. + +We have now traced the growth of James's opinions until they found +effect in English law, have seen the practical operation of that law, +and have gone over the forms of evidence, as well as some other features +of the witch trials of his reign. In the next chapter we shall take up +some of the more famous Jacobean cases in detail as examples of witch +alarms. We shall seek to find out how they started and what were the +real causes at work. + + +[1] I have not attempted to give more than a brief resume of this story, +and have used Thomas Wright, _Narratives of Sorcery and Magic_ (London, +1851), I, 181-190, and Mrs. Lynn Linton, _Witch Stories_, 21-34. The +pamphlet about Dr. Fian is a rare one, but may be found in several +libraries. It has been reprinted by the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. +XLIX (1779), by the Roxburghe Club (London, 1816), by Robert Pitcairn, +in his _Criminal Trials in Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1829-1833), vol. I, and +doubtless in many other places. Pitcairn has also printed a part of the +records of his trial. + +[2] This is all based upon the contemporary accounts mentioned above. + +[3] _Register of the Privy Council of Scotland_, IV (Edinburgh, 1881), +644-645, note. + +[4] A fresh edition was brought out at London in 1603. In 1616 it +appeared again as a part of the handsome collection of his _Workes_ +compiled by the Bishop of Winchester. + +[5] This story is to be found in the apocryphal book of Bel and the +Dragon. It played a great part in the discussions of the writers on +witchcraft. + +[6] H. C. Lea, _Superstition and Force_ (4th ed., Philadelphia, 1892), +325 ff., gives some facts about the water ordeal on the Continent. A +sharp dispute over its use in witch cases was just at this time going on +there. + +[7] He recommended torture in finding out the guilty: "And further +experience daily proves how loth they are to confesse without torture, +which witnesseth their guiltinesse," _Daemonologie_, bk. ii, ch. i. + +[8] Wright, _Narratives of Sorcery and Magic_, I, 197. + +[9] Edward Fairfax, _A Discourse of Witchcraft As it was acted in the +Family of Mr. Edward Fairfax ... in the year 1621_ (Philobiblon Soc., +_Miscellanies_, V, ed. R. Monckton Milnes, London, 1858-1859), "Preface +to the Reader," 26, explains the king's motive: His "Majesty found a +defect in the statutes, ... by which none died for Witchcraft but they +only who by that means killed, so that such were executed rather as +murderers than as Witches." + +[10] _Journals of the House of Lords_, II, 269; Wm. Cobbett, +_Parliamentary History_, I, 1017, 1018. + +[11] _Lords' Journal_, II, 271, 316; _Commons' Journal_, I, 203-204. + +[12] _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1603-1610_, 117. + +[13] It had passed the third reading in the Commons on June 7; _Commons' +Journal_, I, 234. + +[14] It can hardly be doubted that the change in the wording of the law +was dictated not only by the desire to simplify the matter of proof but +by a wish to satisfy those theologians who urged that any use of +witchcraft was a "covenant with death" and "an agreement with hell" +(Isaiah xxviii, 18). + +[15] See Southworth case in Thomas Potts, _The Wonderfull Discoverie of +Witches in the countie of Lancaster ..._ (London, 1613; reprinted, +Chetham Soc., 1845), L 2 verso. Cited hereafter as Potts. + +[16] See, below, appendix B. It should be added that six others who had +been condemned by the judges for bewitching a boy were released at +James's command. + +[17] _The Witches of Northamptonshire ..._ C 2 verso. The writer of this +pamphlet, who does not tell the story of the ordeal so fully as the +author of the MS. account, "A briefe abstract of the arraignment of nine +witches at Northampton, July 21, 1612" (Brit. Mus., Sloane, 972), gives, +however, proof of the influence of James in the matter. He says that the +two ways of testing witches are by the marks and "the trying of the +insensiblenesse thereof," and by "their fleeting on the water," which is +an exact quotation from James, although not so indicated. + +[18] The mother and father were apparently not sent to the assize court. + +[19] The female jury was used at Northampton ("women sworn"), also at +Bedford, but by a private party. + +[20] It was used in 1621 on Elizabeth Sawyer of Edmonton. In this case +it was done clearly at the command of the judge who tried her at the Old +Bailey. + +[21] Elizabeth Device, however, confessed that the "said Devill did get +blood under her left arme," which raises a suspicion that this +confession was the result of accusations against her on that score. + +[22] See account in next chapter of the trial at Lancaster. + +[23] This case must be used with hesitation; see below, appendix A, Sec. 3. + +[24] At Warboys the Samuels had been required to repeat: "If I be a +witch and consenting to the death" of such and such a one. Alice Wilson, +at Northampton in 1612, was threatened by the justice with execution, if +she would not say after the minister "I forsake the Devil." She is said +to have averred that she could not say this. See MS. account of the +witches of Northampton. + +[25] Well known is the practice ascribed to witches of making a waxen +image, which was then pricked or melted before the fire, in the belief +that the torments inflicted upon it would be suffered by the individual +it represented. + +[26] Potts, E 3 verso, F 4, G 2; also _The Wonderful Discoverie of the +Witchcrafts of Margaret and Phillip Flower, ..._ (London, 1619), 21. + +[27] See MS. account of the Northampton witches. + +[28] _Ibid._: "Sundry other witches appeared to him.... Hee heard many +of them railing at Jane Lucas, laying the fault on her that they were +thus accused." + +[29] There was practically no spectral evidence in the Lancashire cases. +Lister on his death-bed had cried out against Jennet Preston, and John +Law was tormented with a vision of Alizon Device "both day and night"; +Potts, Y 2 verso. But these were exceptional. + +[30] See _The Most Cruell and Bloody Murther committed by ... Annis +Dell.... With the Severall Witch-crafts ... of one Johane Harrison and +her Daughter_ (London, 1606). + +[31] MS. account of the Northampton witches. + +[32] See Potts, Z 2. + +[33] The dramatist Dekker made use of this; see his _Witch of Edmonton_, +act IV, scene I (Mermaid edition, London, 1904): + + 1st Countreyman.--This thatch is as good as a jury to prove she is a + witch. + + * * * * * + + Justice.-- Come, come: firing her thatch? ridiculous! + Take heed, sirs, what you do; unless your proofs + Come better aimed, instead of turning her + Into a witch, you'll prove yourselves stark fools. + +[34] See Potts, P 2. + +[35] See _ibid._, Q verso. This, however, was the second time that the +judge had tried this ruse; see _ibid._, P 2. + +[36] See above, note 21. + +[37] North Riding Record Soc., _Quarter Sessions Records_ (London, 1883, +etc.), III, 181. + +[38] Two of them, however, were issued to the same woman, one in 1604 +and one in 1610. + +[39] _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, XIII, 4 (Rye), pp. 136-137, 139-140, +144, 147-148. + +[40] The term "spinster" was sometimes used of a married woman. + +[41] _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1619-1623_, 125, Chamberlain to Carleton, +February 26, 1620: "Peacock, a schoolmaster, committed to the Tower and +tortured for practising sorcery upon the King, to infatuate him in Sir +Thos. Lake's business." This is one of those rare cases in which we know +certainly that torture was used. + +[42] Sir Thomas Lake to Viscount Cranbourne, January 20, 1604, Brit. +Mus., Add. MSS., 6177, fol. 403. + +[43] _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1623-1625_, 474, 485, 497. + +[44] T. B. and T. J. Howell, _State Trials_ (London, 1809-1818), II. + +[45] See Potts, O 3 verso. + +[46] See _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, XIII, 4 (Rye), pp. 136-137, +139-140, 144, 147-148. + +[47] See Alexander Roberts, _A Treatise of Witchcraft ..._ (London, +1616), dedicated to the "Maior and Aldermen." + +[48] M. A. Richardson, _Table Book_ (London, 1841-1846), I, 245. + +[49] North Riding Record Soc., _Quarter Sessions Records_, I, 58. + +[50] "... neither had they authoritie to compell her to goe without a +Constable." + +[51] Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 36,674, fol. 148. This is a brief +description of "how to discover a witch." It recommends the water ordeal +and cites the case of Mr. Enger and Mary Sutton. + +[52] In the case of three of these four we know only that they were +sentenced. + +[53] Before the Flower case at Lincoln came the Willimot-Baker cases at +Leicester. The Bedford trial resembled much the Northampton trial of the +previous year. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +NOTABLE JACOBEAN CASES. + + +It is possible to sift, to analyze, and to reconstruct the material +derived from witch trials until some few conclusions about a given +period can be ventured. A large proportion of cases can be proved to +belong in this or that category, a certain percentage of the women can +be shown to possess these or those traits in common. Yet it is quite +thinkable that one might be armed with a quiver full of generalizations, +and fail, withal, to comprehend Jacobean witchcraft. If one could have +asked information on the subject from a Londoner of 1620, he would +probably have heard little about witchcraft in general, but a very great +deal about the Lancashire, Northampton, Leicester, Lincoln, and Fairfax +trials. The Londoner might have been able to tell the stories complete +of all those famous cases. He would have been but poorly informed could +he not have related some of them, and the listener would have caught the +surface drift of those stories. But a witch panic is a subtle thing, not +to be understood by those who do not follow all its deeper sequences. +The springs of the movement, the interaction of cause and effect, the +operation of personal traits, these are factors that must be evaluated, +and they are not factors that can be fitted into a general scheme, +labelled and classified. + +This does not mean that the cases should be examined in chronological +sequence. That is not necessary; for the half-dozen cases that we shall +run over had little or no cause-and-effect connection with one another. +It is convenient, indeed, to make some classification, and the simplest +is that by probable origin, especially as it will enable us to emphasize +that important feature of the trials. Now, by this method the six or +more trials of note may be grouped under three headings: cases that seem +to have originated in the actual practice of magic, cases where the +victims of convulsions and fits started the furor, and cases that were +simply the last stage of bitter quarrels or the result of grudges. + +To the first group belongs the Lancastrian case of 1612, which, however, +may also be classed under the last heading. No case in the course of the +superstition in England gained such wide fame. Upon it Shadwell founded +in part a well-known play, _The Lancashire Witches_, while poets and +writers of prose have referred to it until the two words have been +linked in a phrase that has given them lasting association. It was in +the lonely forest of Pendle among the wild hills of eastern Lancashire +that there lived two hostile families headed by Elizabeth Southerns, or +"Old Demdike," and by Anne Chattox. The latter was a wool carder, "a +very old, withered, spent, and decreped creature," "her lippes ever +chattering"; the former a blind beggar of four-score years, "a generall +agent for the Devell in all these partes," and a "wicked fire-brand of +mischiefe," who had brought up her children and grandchildren to be +witches. Both families professed supernatural practices. Both families +no doubt traded on the fear they inspired. Indeed Dame Chattox was said +to have sold her guarantee to do no harm in return for a fixed annual +payment of "one aghen-dole of meale." + +That there was a feud between the two clans was to be expected. They +were at once neighbors and competitors, and were engaged in a career in +which they must plot each against the other, and suspect each other. +There are hints of other difficulties. Years before there had been a +quarrel over stolen property. Demdike's daughter had missed clothes and +food to the value of 20 shillings, and had later found some of the +clothing in the possession of Chattox's daughter. A more serious +difficulty involved a third family: a member of the Nutter family, +well-to-do people in Lancashire, had sought to seduce old Chattox's +married daughter, and, when repelled, had warned her that when he +inherited the property where she lived she should be evicted. Chattox +had retaliated by seeking to kill Nutter by witchcraft, and had been +further incited thereto by three women, who wished to be rid of Nutter, +in order that "the women, their coosens, might have the land." As a +consequence Nutter had died within three months. The quarrel, indeed, +was three-cornered. It was said that Demdike's daughter had fashioned a +clay picture of a Nutter woman.[1] + +We have all the elements here of a mountain feud; but, in place of the +revolvers and Kentucky moonshine of to-day, we have clay images and +Satanic banquets. The battles were to be fought out with imps of Hell as +participants and with ammunition supplied by the Evil One himself. It +was this connection with a reservoir of untouched demoniacal powers that +made the quarrel of the miserable mountaineers the most celebrated +incident in Lancashire story. Here were charmers and "inchanters," +experienced dealers in magic, struggling against one another. Small +wonder that the community became alarmed and that Roger Nowell, justice +of the peace, suddenly swooped down upon the Pendle families. It was but +a short time before he had four women cooped up in Lancaster castle. In +a few days more he was able to get confessions out of them. They +admitted acquaintance with the Devil and implicated one another. + +Now comes the strange part of the story. According to confessions made +later, Elizabeth Device, not yet shut up, but likely to be at any time, +called a meeting on Good Friday of all the witches in Pendle forest. +They were to come to her home at Malking Tower to plot the delivery of +the imprisoned women by the blowing up of Lancaster castle.[2] The +affair took the form of a dinner; and beef, bacon, and roasted mutton +were served. "All the witches went out of the said House in their owne +shapes and likenesses. And they all, by that they were forth of the +dores, gotten on Horsebacke, like unto Foales, some of one colour, some +of another; and Preston's wife was the last; and, when shee got on +Horsebacke, they all presently vanished out of ... sight." This was the +story, and the various witnesses agreed remarkably well as to its main +details. Those who believed in the "sabbath" of witches must have felt +their opinions confirmed by the testimony of the witnesses at Lancaster. +Even the modern reader, with his skepticism, is somewhat daunted by the +cumulative force of what purports to be the evidence and would fain +rationalize it by supposing that some sort of a meeting actually did +take place at Malking Tower and that some Pendle men and women who had +delved in magic arts till they believed in them did formulate plans for +revenge. But this is not a probable supposition. The concurring evidence +in the Malking Tower story is of no more compelling character than that +to be found in a multitude of Continental stories of witch gatherings +which have been shown to be the outcome of physical or mental pressure +and of leading questions. It seems unnecessary to accept even a +substratum of fact.[3] Probably one of the accused women invented the +story of the witch feast after the model of others of which she had +heard, or developed it under the stimulus of suggestive questions from a +justice. Such a narrative, once started, would spread like wildfire and +the witnesses and the accused who were persuaded to confess might tell +approximately the same story. A careful re-reading of all this evidence +suggests that the various testimonies may indeed have been echoes of the +first narrative. They seem to lack those characteristic differences +which would stamp them as independent accounts. Moreover, when the story +was once started, it is not improbable that the justices and the judges +would assist the witnesses by framing questions based upon the narrative +already given. It cannot be said that the evidence exists upon which to +establish this hypothesis. There is little to show that the witnesses +were adroitly led into their narratives. But we know from other trials +that the method was so often adopted that it is not a far cry to suspect +that it was used at Lancaster. + +It is not worth while to trace out the wearisome details that were +elicited by confession. Those already in prison made confessions that +implicated others, until the busy justices of the peace had shut up +sixteen women and four men to be tried at the assizes. Sir Edward +Bromley and Sir James Altham, who were then on the northern circuit, +reached Lancaster on the sixteenth of August. In the meantime, "Old +Demdike," after a confession of most awful crimes, had died in prison. +All the others were put on trial. Thomas Potts compiled a very careful +abstract of all the testimony taken, perhaps the most detailed account +of a witch trial written in the English language, with the possible +exception of the St. Oses affair. The evidence was in truth of a +somewhat similar type. Secret interviews with the Evil One, promises of +worldly riches, a contract sealed with blood, little shapes of dogs, +cats, and hares, clay pictures that had been dried and had crumpled, +threats and consequent "languishing" and death, these were the trappings +of the stories. The tales were old. Only the Malking Tower incident was +new. But its very novelty gave a plausibility to the stories that were +woven around it. There was not a single person to interpose a doubt. The +cross-examinations were nothing more than feeble attempts to bring out +further charges. + +Though there is in the record little suggestion of the use of pressure +to obtain the confessions, the fact that three were retracted leads to +a suspicion that they had not been given quite freely. There was +doubtless something contagious about the impulse to confess. It is, +nevertheless, a curious circumstance that five members of the two rival +Pendle families made confession, while all the others whom their +confessions had involved stuck to it that they were innocent.[4] Among +those who persisted in denying their guilt Alice Nutter merits special +note. We have already mentioned her in the last chapter as an example of +a well-to-do and well connected woman who fell a victim to the +Lancashire excitement.[5] The evidence against the woman was perhaps the +flimsiest ever offered to a court. Elizabeth Device, daughter of "Old +Demdike," and her two children were the chief accusers. Elizabeth had +seen her present at the Malking Tower meeting. Moreover, she stated that +Alice had helped her mother ("Old Demdike") bewitch a man to death. Her +son had heard his grandmother Demdike narrate the incident. This +testimony and his sister's definite statement that Alice Nutter attended +the Malking Tower meeting established Mistress Nutter's guilt.[6] The +judge, indeed, was "very suspitious of the accusation of this yong +wench, Jennet Device," and, as we have already seen, caused her to be +sent out of the court room till the accused lady could be placed among +other prisoners, when the girl was recalled and required before the +great audience present to pick out the witch, as, of course, she easily +did, and as easily escaped another transparent trap.[7] + +The two children figured prominently from this on. The nine-year-old +girl gave evidence as to events of three years before, while the young +man, who could hardly have been out of his teens,[8] recounted what had +happened twelve years earlier. It was their testimony against their +mother that roused most interest. Although of a circumstantial +character, it fitted in most remarkable fashion into the evidence +already presented.[9] The mother, says the nonchalant pamphleteer, +indignantly "cryed out against the child," cursing her so outrageously +that she was removed from the room while the child kept the stand. It is +useless to waste sympathy upon a mother who was getting at the hands of +her children the same treatment she had given her own mother Demdike. +The Chattox family held together better. Mistress Redfearne had been +carefully shielded in the testimony of her mother Chattox, but she fell +a victim to the accusations of the opposing family. The course of her +trial was remarkable. Denying her guilt with great emphasis, she had by +some wonder been acquitted. But this verdict displeased the people in +attendance upon the trial. Induced by the cries of the people, the court +was persuaded to try her again. The charge against her was exactly the +same, that eighteen years before she had participated in killing +Christopher Nutter with a clay figure. "Old Demdike" had seen her in the +act of making the image, and there was offered also the testimony of +the sister and brother of the dead man, who recalled that Robert Nutter +on his death-bed had accused Anne of his bewitchment.[10] It does not +seem to have occurred to the court that the principle that a person +could not twice be put in jeopardy for the same offence was already an +old principle in English law.[11] The judges were more concerned with +appeasing the people than with recalling old precedents, and sent the +woman to the gallows. + +The Pendle cases were interrupted on the third day by the trial of three +women from Salmesbury, who pleaded not guilty and put themselves "upon +God and their Countrey." The case against them rested upon the testimony +of a single young woman, Grace Sowerbutts, who declared that for the +three years past she had been vexed by the women in question, who "did +violently draw her by the haire of the head, and layd her on the toppe +of a Hay-mowe." This delightfully absurd charge was coupled with some +testimony about the appearances of the accused in animal form. Three men +attempted to bolster up the story; but no "matter of witchcraft" was +proved, says the for once incredulous Mr. Potts. The women seized the +decisive moment. They kneeled before the judge and requested him to +examine Grace Sowerbutts as to who set her on. The judge--who had +seemingly not thought of this before--followed the suggestion. The girl +changed countenance and acknowledged that she had been taught her story. +At the order of the judge she was questioned by a clergyman and two +justices of the peace, who found that she had been coached to tell her +story by a Master Thompson, alias Southworth, a "seminarie priest." So +ended the charges against the Salmesbury witches. + +One would suppose that this verdict might have turned the tide in the +other cases. But the evidence, as Potts is careful to show, lest the +reader should draw a wrong conclusion, was of very different character +in the other trials. They were all finished on the third day of court +and turned over to the jury. Five of the accused, exclusive of those at +Salmesbury, were acquitted, one condemned to a year's imprisonment, and +ten sentenced to death. To this number should be added Jennet Preston, +who had in the preceding month been tried at York for the killing of a +Mr. Lister, and who was named by the Lancaster witnesses as one of the +gang at Malking Tower. + +So ended the Lancashire trials of 1612. The most remarkable event of the +sort in James's reign, they were clearly the outcome of his writings and +policy. Potts asks pointedly: "What hath the King's Maiestie written and +published in his Daemonologie by way of premonition and prevention, which +hath not here by the first or last beene executed, put in practice, or +discovered?" + +Our second group of cases includes those where convulsive and +"possessed" persons had started the alarm. The Northampton, Leicester, +and Lichfield cases were all instances in point. The last two, however, +may be omitted here because they will come up in another connection. The +affair at Northampton in 1612, just a month earlier than the Lancashire +affair, merits notice. Elizabeth Belcher and her brother, "Master +Avery," were the disturbing agents. Mistress Belcher had long been +suffering with an illness that baffled diagnosis. It was suggested to +her that the cause was witchcraft. A list of women reputed to be witches +was repeated to her. The name of Joan Brown seemed to impress her. "Hath +shee done it?" she asked.[12] The name was repeated to her and from that +time she held Joan guilty.[13] Joan and her mother were shut up. +Meantime Master Avery began to take fits and to aid his sister in making +accusation. Between them they soon had accused six women for their +afflictions. The stir brought to the surface the hidden suspicions of +others. There was a witch panic and the justices of the peace[14] +scurried hither and thither till they had fourteen witches locked up in +Northampton. When the trial came off at Northampton, Master Avery was +the hero. He re-enacted the role of the Throckmorton children at Warboys +with great success. When he came to court--he came in a "coch"--he was +at once stricken with convulsions. His torments in court were very +convincing. It is pleasant to know that when he came out of his seizure +he would talk very "discreetly, christianly, and charitably." Master +Avery was versatile, however. His evidence against the women rested by +no means alone on his seizures. He had countless apparitions in which he +saw the accused;[15] he had been mysteriously thrown from a horse; +strangest of all, he had foretold at a certain time that if any one +should go down to the gaol and listen to the voices of the witches, he +could not understand a word. Whereupon a Master of Arts of Trinity +College, Oxford, went off to the prison at the uncanny hour of two in +the morning and "heard a confused noise of much chattering and chiding, +but could not discover a ready word." + +Master Avery had a great deal more to tell, but the jury seem not to +have fully credited him.[16] They convicted Joan Brown and her mother, +however, on the charges of Elizabeth and her brother. Three others were +found guilty upon other counts. None of them, so far as the records go, +and the records were careful on this point, admitted any guilt.[17] The +one young man among those who were hanged bitterly resisted his +conviction from the beginning and died declaring that authority had +turned to tyranny. He might well feel so. His father and mother had both +been tortured by the water ordeal, and his mother had been worried till +she committed suicide in prison. + +This brings us to the third sort of cases, those that were the outcome +of quarrels or grudges. It has already been observed that the Lancashire +affair could very well be reckoned under this heading. It is no +exaggeration to say that a goodly percentage of all other witch trials +in the reign of James could be classified in the same way. Most notable +among them was the famous trial of the Belvoir witches at Lincoln in +1618-1619. The trial has received wide notice because it concerned a +leading family--perhaps the wealthiest in England--the great Catholic +family of Manners, of which the Earl of Rutland was head. The effort to +account for the mysterious illness of his young heir and for that which +had a few years earlier carried off the boy's elder brother led to a +charge of witchcraft against three humble women of the neighborhood. The +Rutland affair shows how easily a suspicion of witchcraft might involve +the fortunes of the lowly with those of the great. Joan Flower and her +two daughters had been employed as charwomen in Belvoir Castle, the home +of the Rutlands. One of the daughters, indeed, had been put in charge of +"the poultrey abroad and the washhouse within dores." But this daughter +seems not to have given satisfaction to the countess in her work, some +other causes of disagreement arose which involved Mother Flower, and +both Mother Flower and her daughter were sent away from the castle. This +was the beginning of the trouble. Mother Flower "cursed them all that +were the cause of this discontentment." Naturally little heed was paid +to her grumblings. Such things were common enough and it did not even +occur to any one, when the eldest son of the earl sickened and died, +that the event was in any way connected with the malice of the Flowers. +It was not until about five years later, when the younger son Francis +fell sick of an illness to prove fatal, that suspicion seems to have +lighted upon the three women.[18] The circumstances that led to their +discharge were then recalled and along with them a mass of idle gossip +and scandal against the women. It was remembered that Mother Joan was +"a monstrous malicious woman, full of oathes, curses, and imprecations +irreligious." Some of her neighbors "dared to affirme that she dealt +with familiar spirits, and terrified them all with curses and threatning +of revenge." At length, in February of 1618/19, on the return of the +earl from attending His Majesty "both at Newmarket before Christmas and +at Christmas at Whitehall," the women were fetched before justices of +the peace, who bound them over to the assizes at Lincoln. Mother Flower +died on the way to Lincoln, but the two daughters were tried there +before Sir Edward Bromley, who had been judge at the Lancashire trials, +and before Sir Henry Hobart. The women made a detailed confession of +weird crimes. There were tales of gloves belonging to the two young sons +of the earl, gloves that had been found in uncanny places and had been +put in hot water and rubbed upon Rutterkin the cat--or spirit. There +were worse stories that will not bear repetition. Needless to say, +Margaret and Philippa Flower were convicted and hanged.[19] + +The Rutland cases have been used to illustrate how the witch accusation +might arise out of a grudge or quarrel. There were three or four other +cases that illustrate this origin of the charge. The first is that of +Johanna Harrison--she has been mentioned in the previous chapter--who +had an "altercation" with a neighbor. Of course she threatened him, he +fell ill, and he scratched her.[20] But here the commonplace tale takes +a new turn. She had him arrested and was awarded five shillings damages +and her costs of suit. No wonder the man fell sick again. Perhaps--but +this cannot be certain--it was the same man who was drinking his ale one +day with his fellows when she entered and stood "gloating" over him. He +turned and said, "Doe you heare, Witch, looke tother waies." The woman +berated him with angry words, and, feeling ill the next morning--he had +been drinking heavily the night before--he dragged her off to the +justice. A few weeks later she and her daughter were hanged at +Hertford.[21] + +The story of Mother Sutton and Master Enger has been referred to in +several connections, but it will bear telling in narrative form. Mother +Sutton was a poor tenant of Master Enger's, "a gentleman of worship," +who often bestowed upon her "food and cloathes." On account of her want +she had been chosen village "hog-heard," and had for twenty years +fulfilled the duties of her office "not without commendations." But it +happened that she quarreled one day with her benefactor, and then his +difficulties began. The tale is almost too trivial for repetition, but +is nevertheless characteristic. Master Enger's servants were taking some +corn to market, when they met "a faire black sowe" grazing. The wayward +beast began turning round "as readily as a Windmill sail at worke; and +as sodainly their horses fell to starting and drawing some one way, some +another." They started off with the cart of corn, but broke from it and +ran away. The servants caught them and went on to Bedford with the load. +But the sow followed. When the corn had been sold, one of the servants +went home, the other stayed with his "boone companions." When he rode +home later, he found the sow grazing outside of town. It ran by his +side, and the horses ran away again. But the servants watched the sow +and saw it enter Mother Sutton's house. Master Enger made light of the +story when it was told to him, and, with remarkable insight for a +character in a witch story, "supposed they were drunke." But a few days +later the same servant fell into conversation with Mother Sutton, when a +beetle came and struck him. He fell into a trance, and then went home +and told his master. The next night the servant said that Mary Sutton +entered his room--the vision we have already described.[22] + +The rest of the story the reader knows from the last chapter. Mother +Sutton and her daughter were put to various ordeals and at length +hanged. Doubtless the imaginative servant, who had in some way, perhaps, +been involved in the original quarrel, gained favor with his master, and +standing in the community.[23] + +The tale of the Bakewell witches is a very curious one and, though not +to be confidently depended upon, may suggest how it was possible to +avail oneself of superstition in order to repay a grudge. A Scotchman +staying at a lodging-house in Bakewell fell in debt to his landlady, who +retained some of his clothes as security. He went to London, concealed +himself in a cellar, and was there found by a watchman, who arrested him +for being in an unoccupied house with felonious intent. He professed to +be dazed and declared that he was at Bakewell in Derbyshire at three +o'clock that morning. He explained it by the fact that he had repeated +certain words which he had heard his lodging-house keeper and her sister +say. The judge was amazed, the man's depositions were taken down, and he +was sent to the justices of Derby. + +All that we really know about the Bakewell affair is that several +witches probably suffered death there in 1607. A local antiquarian has +given this tale of how the alarm started.[24] While it is unlike any +other narrative of witchcraft, it is not necessarily without foundation. + +The reader has doubtless observed that the cases which we have been +describing occurred, all of them with one exception, between 1603 and +1619. In discussing the matter of the distribution of witchcraft in the +last chapter we noted that not only executions for the crime, but even +accusations and indictments, were nearly altogether limited to the first +fifteen years of James's rule. If it is true that there was a rather +sudden falling off of prosecution in the reign of the zealous James, the +fact merits explanation. Fortunately the explanation is not far to seek. +The king's faith in the verity of many of the charges made against +witches had been rudely shaken. As a matter of fact there had always +been a grain of skepticism in his make-up. This had come out even before +he entered England. In 1597 he had become alarmed at the spread of +trials in Scotland and had revoked all the commissions then in force for +the trial of the offence.[25] At the very time when he became king of +England, there were special circumstances that must have had weight with +him. Throughout the last years of Elizabeth's reign there had been, as +we have seen, a morbid interest in demoniacal possession, an interest to +which sensation-mongers were quickly minded to respond. We saw that at +the end of the sixteenth century the Anglican church stepped in to put +down the exorcizing of spirits,[26] largely perhaps because it had been +carried on by Catholics and by a Puritan clergyman. Yet neither +Harsnett's book nor Darrel's imprisonment quite availed to end a +practice which offered at all times to all comers a path to notoriety. +James had not been on the English throne a year when he became +interested in a case of this kind. Mary Glover, a girl alleged to have +been bewitched by a Mother Jackson, was at the king's wish examined by a +skilled physician, Dr. Edward Jorden, who recognized her fits as +disease, brought the girl to a confession, published an account of the +matter, and so saved the life of the woman whom she had accused.[27] + +In the very next year there was a case at Cambridge that gained royal +notice. It is not easy to straighten out the facts from the letters on +the matter, but it seems that two Cambridge maids had a curious disease +suggesting bewitchment.[28] A Franciscan and a Puritan clergyman were, +along with others, suspected. The matter was at once referred to the +king and the government. James directed that examinations be made and +reported to him. This was done. James wormed out of the "principal" some +admission of former dealing with conjuration, but turned the whole thing +over to the courts, where it seems later to have been established that +the disease of the bewitched maidens was "naturall." + +These were but the first of several impostures that interested the king. +A girl at Windsor, another in Hertfordshire, were possessed by the +Devil,[29] two maids at Westminster were "in raptures from the Virgin +Mary and Michael the Archangel,"[30] a priest of Leicestershire was +"possessed of the Blessed Trinity."[31] Such cases--not to mention the +Grace Sowerbutts confessions at Lancaster that were like to end so +tragically--were the excrescences of an intensely religious age. The +reader of early colonial diaries in America will recognize the +resemblance of these to the wonders they report. James took such with +extreme seriousness.[32] The possessed person was summoned to court for +exhibition, or the king went out of his way to see him. It is a matter +of common information that James prided himself on his cleverness. +Having succeeded in detecting certain frauds, he became an expert +detective. In one instance "he ordered it so that a proper courtier made +love to one of these bewitched maids"[33] and soon got her over her +troubles. In another case a woman "strangely affected" by the first +verse of John's Gospel failed to recognize it when read in Greek,[34] +proof positive that the omniscient Devil did not possess her. + +Three instances of exposure of imposture were most notable, those of +Grace Sowerbutts, the boy at Leicester, and the "Boy of Bilston." The +first of these has already been sufficiently discussed in connection +with the Lancashire trials. The second had nothing remarkable about it. +A twelve or thirteen-year-old boy had fits which he said were caused by +spirits sent by several women whom he accused as witches. Nine women +were hanged, while six more were under arrest and would probably have +met the same end, had not the king in his northward progress, while +stopping at Leicester, detected the shamming.[35] Whether or no the boy +was punished we are not told. It is some satisfaction that the judges +were disgraced.[36] + +The boy of Bilston was, if Webster may be believed,[37] the most famous, +if not the most successful, fraud of all. The case was heralded over the +entire realm and thousands came to see. The story is almost an exact +duplicate of earlier narratives of possession. A thirteen-year-old boy +of Bilston in Staffordshire, William Perry, began to have fits and to +accuse a Jane Clarke, whose presence invariably made him worse. He "cast +out of his mouth rags, thred, straw, crooked pins." These were but +single deceptions in a repertoire of varied tricks. Doubtless he had +been trained in his role by a Roman priest. At any rate the Catholics +tried exorcism upon him, but to no purpose. Perhaps some Puritans +experimented with cures which had like result.[38] The boy continued his +spasms and his charges against the witch and she was brought into court +at the July assizes. But Bishop Morton,[39] before whose chancellor the +boy had first been brought, was present, and the judges turned the boy +over to him for further investigation.[40] Then, with the help of his +secretary, he set about to test the boy, and readily exposed his +deception--in most curious fashion too. The boy, like one we have met +before, could not endure the first verse of John's Gospel, but failed to +recognize it when read in the Greek. After that he was secretly watched +and his somewhat elaborate preparations for his pretences were found +out. He was persuaded to confess his trickery in court before Sir Peter +Warburton and Sir Humphrey Winch, "and the face of the County and +Country there assembled,"[41] as well as to beg forgiveness of the women +whom he had accused. + +It will be seen that the records of imposture were well on their way to +rival the records of witchcraft, if not in numbers, at least in the +notice that they received. And the king who had so bitterly arraigned +Reginald Scot was himself becoming the discoverer-general of +England.[42] It is not, then, without being forewarned that we read +Fuller's remarkable statement about the king's change of heart. "The +frequency of such forged possessions wrought such an alteration upon the +judgement of King James that he, receding from what he had written in +his 'Daemonology,' grew first diffident of, and then flatly to deny, the +workings of witches and devils, as but falsehoods and delusions."[43] In +immediate connection with this must be quoted what Francis Osborne has +to say.[44] He was told, he writes, that the king would have gone as far +as to deny any such operations, but out of reasons of state and to +gratify the church.[45] + +Such a conversion is so remarkable that we could wish we had absolutely +contemporary statements of it. As a matter of fact, the statements we +have quoted establish nothing more than a probability, but they +certainly do establish that. Fuller, the church historian, responsible +for the first of the two statements, was a student in Queen's +College[46] at Cambridge during the last four years of James's reign; +Osborne was a man of thirty-two when the king died, and had spent a +part of his young manhood at the court. Their testimony was that of men +who had every opportunity to know about the king's change of +opinion.[47] In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we must +accept, at least provisionally, their statements.[48] And it is easier +to do so in view of the marked falling off of prosecutions that we have +already noted. This indeed is confirmation of a negative sort; but we +have one interesting bit of affirmative proof, the outcome of the trials +at York in 1622. In that year the children of Mr. Edward Fairfax, a +member of the historic Fairfax family of Yorkshire, were seized with +some strange illness, in which they saw again and again the spectres of +six different women. These women were examined by the justices of the +peace and committed to the assizes.[49] In the mean time they had found +able and vigorous defenders in the community. What happened at the April +assizes we no not know, but we know that four of the women were +released, two of them on bond.[50] This was probably a compromise method +of settling the matter. Fairfax was not satisfied. Probably through his +influence the women were again brought up at the August assizes.[51] +Then, at least, as we know beyond a doubt, they were formally tried, +this time upon indictments preferred by Fairfax himself.[52] The judge +warned the jury to be very careful, and, after hearing some of the +evidence, dismissed the women on the ground that the evidence "reached +not to the point of the statute."[53] This seems significant. A man of a +well known county family was utterly baffled in pressing charges in a +case where his own children were involved.[54] It looks as if there were +judges who were following the king's lead in looking out for +imposture.[55] In any case there was, in certain quarters, a public +sentiment against the conviction of witches, a sentiment that made +itself felt. This we shall have occasion to note again in following out +the currents and fluctuations of opinions. + + +[1] Of course the proof that some of the accused really made pretensions +to magic rests upon their own confessions and their accusations of one +another, and might be a part of an intricate tissue of falsehood. But, +granting for the moment the absolute untrustworthiness of the +confessions and accusations there are incidental statements which imply +the practice of magic. For example, Elizabeth Device's young daughter +quoted a long charm which she said her mother had taught her and which +she hardly invented on the spur of the moment. And Demdike was requested +to "amend a sick cow." + +[2] The gunpowder plot, seven years earlier, no doubt gave direction to +this plan, or, perhaps it would be better to say, gave the idea to those +who confessed the plan. + +[3] James Crossley seems to believe that there was "some scintilla of +truth" behind the story. See his edition of Potts, notes, p. 40. + +[4] Among those who never confessed seems to have been Chattox's +daughter, Anne Redfearne. + +[5] See above, p. 116. + +[6] It is a satisfaction to know that Alice died "impenitent," and that +not even her children could "move her to confesse." + +[7] See above, pp. 112-113, and Potts, Q-Q verso. + +[8] See Potts, I. + +[9] It can hardly be doubted that the children had been thoroughly +primed with the stories in circulation against their mother. + +[10] Other witnesses charged her with "many strange practises." + +[11] The principle that a man's life may not twice be put in jeopardy +for the same offence had been pretty well established before 1612. See +Darly's Case, 25 Eliz. (1583), Coke's _Reports_ (ed. Thomas and Fraser, +London, 1826), IV, f. 40; Vaux's Case, 33 Eliz. (1591), _ibid._, f. 45; +Wrote _vs._ Wiggs, 33 Eliz. (1591), _ibid._, f. 47. This principle had +been in process of development for several centuries. See Bracton (ed. +Sir Travers Twiss, London, 1878-1883), II, 417, 433, 437; Britton (ed. +F. M. Nichols, Oxford, 1865), bk. I, cap. xxiv, 5, f. 44 b. + +It must be noted, however, that the statute of 3 Hen. VII, cap. II, +provides that indictments shall be proceeded in, immediately, at the +king's suit, for the death of a man, without waiting for bringing an +appeal; and that the plea of _antefort acquit_ in an indictment shall be +no bar to the prosecuting of an appeal. This law was passed to get +around special legal inconvenience and related only to homicide and to +the single case of prosecution by appeal. In general, then, we may say +that the former-jeopardy doctrine was part of the common law, (1) an +appeal of felony being a bar to subsequent appeal or indictment, (2) an +indictment a bar to a subsequent indictment, and (3) an indictment to a +subsequent appeal, except so far as the statute of 3 Hen. VII., cap. II, +changed the law as respects homicides. For this brief statement I am +indebted to Professor William Underhill Moore of the University of +Wisconsin. + +What Potts has to say about Anne Redfearne's case hardly enables us to +reach a conclusion about the legal aspect of it. + +[12] This is the story in the MS. account (Brit. Mus., Sloane, 972). The +printed narrative of the origin of the affair is somewhat different. +Joan had on one occasion been struck by Mistress Belcher for unbecoming +behavior and had cherished a grudge. No doubt this was a point recalled +against Joan after suspicion had been directed against her. + +[13] In John Cotta's _The Triall of Witchcraft ..._ (London, 1616), +66-67, there is a very interesting statement which probably refers to +this case. Cotta, it will be remembered, was a physician at Northampton. +He wrote: "There is a very rare, but true, description of a Gentlewoman, +about sixe yeares past, cured of divers kinds of convulsions, ... After +she was almost cured, ... but the cure not fully accomplished, it was by +a reputed Wisard whispered ... that the Gentlewoman was meerely +bewitched, supposed Witches were accused and after executed.... In this +last past seventh yeare ... fits are critically again returned." Cotta +says six years ago and the Northampton trials were in 1612, four years +before. It is quite possible, however, that Mistress Belcher began to be +afflicted in 1610. + +[14] One of these was Sir Gilbert Pickering of Tichmarsh, almost +certainly the Gilbert Pickering mentioned as an uncle of the +Throckmorton children at Warboys. See above, pp. 47-48. His hatred of +witches had no doubt been increased by that affair. + +[15] See what is said of spectral evidence in chapter V, above. + +[16] At least there is no evidence that Alice Abbott, Catherine +Gardiner, and Alice Harris, whom he accused, were punished in any way. + +[17] It seems, however, that Arthur Bill, while he sturdily denied +guilt, had been before trapped into some sort of an admission. He had +"unawares confest that he had certaine spirits at command." But this may +mean nothing more than that something he had said had been grossly +misinterpreted. + +[18] Three women of Leicestershire, Anne Baker, Joan Willimot, and Ellen +Greene, who in their confessions implicated the Flowers (they belonged +to parishes neighbor to that of Belvoir, which lies on the shire border) +and whose testimony against them figured in their trials, were at the +same time (Feb.-March, 1618/19) under examination in that county. +Whether these women were authors or victims of the Belvoir suspicions we +do not know. As we have their damning confessions, there is small doubt +as to their fate. + +[19] The women were tried in March, 1618/19. Henry, the elder son of the +earl, was buried at Bottesford, September 26, 1613. John Nichols, +_History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester_ (London, +1795-1815), II, pt. i, 49, note 10. Francis, the second, lingered till +early in 1620. His sister, Lady Katherine, whose delicate health had +also been ascribed to the witches, was now the heiress, and became in +that year the bride of Buckingham, the king's favorite. There is one +aspect of this affair that must not be overlooked. The accusation +against the Flowers cannot have been unknown to the king, who was a +frequent visitor at the seat of the Rutlands. It is hard to believe that +under such circumstances the use of torture, which James had declared +essential to bring out the guilt of the accused witches, was not after +some fashion resorted to. The weird and uncanny confessions go far +towards supporting such an hypothesis. + +[20] _The Most Cruell and Bloody Murther committed by ... Annis Dell, +... with the severall Witch-crafts ... of one Johane Harrison and her +Daughter_, 63. + +[21] This story must be accepted with hesitation; see below, appendix A, +Sec.3. + +[22] See above, pp. 110-111. + +[23] The trial of Elizabeth Sawyer at Edmonton in 1621 had to do with +similar trivialities. Agnes Ratcliffe was washing one day, when a sow +belonging to Elizabeth licked up a bit of her washing soap. She struck +it with a "washing beetle." Of course she fell sick, and on her +death-bed accused Mistress Elizabeth Sawyer, who was afterwards hanged. + +[24] See T. Tindall Wildridge, in William Andrews, _Bygone Derbyshire_ +(Derby, 1892), 180-184. It has been impossible to locate the sources of +this story. J. Charles Cox, who explored the Derby records, seems never +to have discovered anything about the affair. + +[25] See F. Legge, "Witchcraft in Scotland," in the _Scottish Review_, +XVIII, 264. + +[26] See above, ch. IV, especially note 36. + +[27] On Mary Glover see also appendix A, Sec. 2. On other impostures see +Thomas Fuller, _Church History of Britain_ (London, 1655; Oxford, ed. J. +S. Brewer, 1845), ed. of 1845, V, 450; letters given by Edmund Lodge, +_Illustrations of British History, Biography and Manners ..._ (London, +1791), III, 275, 284, 287-288; also _King James, His Apothegms, by B. +A., Gent._ (London, 1643), 8-10. + +[28] _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1603-1610_, 218. + +[29] Fuller, _op. cit._, V, 450. + +[30] _Ibid._; John Gee, _The Foot out of the Snare, or Detection of +Practices and Impostures of Priests and Jesuits in England ..._ (London, +1624), reprinted in _Somers Tracts_, III, 72. + +[31] _Ibid._; Fuller, _op. cit._, V, 450. + +[32] How much more seriously than his courtiers is suggested by an +anecdote of Sir John Harington's: James gravely questioned Sir John why +the Devil did work more with ancient women than with others. "We are +taught thereof in Scripture," gaily answered Sir John, "where it is told +that the Devil walketh in dry places." See his _Nugae Antiquae_ (London, +1769), ed. of London, 1804, I, 368-369. + +[33] Fuller, _op. cit._, V, 451. + +[34] _Ibid._ + +[35] The story of the hangings at Leicester in 1616 has to be put +together from various sources. Our principal authority, however, is in +two letters written by Robert Heyrick of Leicester to his brother +William in 1616, which are to be found in John Nichols, _History and +Antiquities of the County of Leicester_ (London, 1795-1815), II, pt. ii, +471, and in the _Annual Register_ for 1800. See also William Kelly, +_Royal Progresses to Leicester_ (Leicester, 1884), 367-369. Probably +this is the case referred to by Francis Osborne, where the boy was sent +to the Archbishop of Canterbury for further examination. Osborne, who +wrote a good deal later than the events, apparently confused the story +of the Leicester witches with that of the Boy of Bilston--their origins +were similar--and produced a strange account; see his _Miscellany of +Sundry Essays, Paradoxes and Problematicall Discourses_ (London, +1658-1659), 6-9. + +[36] For the disgrace of the judges see _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1611-1618_, +398. + +[37] Webster knew Bishop Morton, and also his secretary, Baddeley, who +had been notary in the case and had written an account of it. See John +Webster, _The Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft_ (London, 1677), 275. + +[38] The Catholics declared that the Puritans tried "syllabub" upon him. +This was perhaps a sarcastic reference to their attempts to cure him by +medicine. + +[39] Then of Lichfield. + +[40] Baddeley, who was Bishop Morton's secretary and who prepared the +narrative of the affair for the printer, says that the woman was freed +by the inquest; Ryc. Baddeley, _The Boy of Bilson ..._ (London, 1622), +61. Arthur Wilson, who tells us that he heard the story "from the +Bishop's own mouth almost thirty years before it was inserted here," +says that the woman was found guilty and condemned to die; Arthur +Wilson, _Life and Reign of James I_ (London, 1653), 107. It is evident +that Baddeley's story is the more trustworthy. It is of course possible, +although not probable, that there were two trials, and that Baddeley +ignored the second one, the outcome of which would have been less +creditable to the bishop. + +[41] Webster, _Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft_, 275. + +[42] See Fairfax, _A Discourse of Witchcraft_ (Philobiblon Soc.): "and +those whose impostures our wise King so lately laid open." See also an +interesting letter from James himself in J. O. Halliwell, _Letters of +the Kings of England_ (London, 1846), II, 124-125. + +[43] Fuller, _Church History of Britain_, V, 452 (ch. X, sect. 4). It is +worthy of note that Peter Heylyn, who, in his _Examen Historicum_ +(London, 1659), sought to pick Fuller to pieces, does not mention this +point. + +[44] See Francis Osborne, _Miscellany_, 4-9. Lucy Aikin, _Memoirs of the +Court of King James the First_ (London, 1823), II, 398-399, gives about +the same story as Fuller and Osborne, and, while the wording is slightly +different, it is probable that they were her sources. + +[45] Arthur Wilson, _op. cit._, 111, tells us: "The King took delight by +the line of his reason to sound the depth of such brutish impostors, and +he discovered many." A writer to the _Gentleman's Magazine_ (LIV, pt. I, +246-247), in 1784, says that he has somewhere read that King James on +his death-bed acknowledged that he had been deceived in his opinion +respecting witchcraft and expressed his concern that so many innocent +persons had suffered on that account. But, as he has forgotten where he +read it, his evidence is of course of small value. + +[46] The college where an annual sermon was preached on the subject of +witchcraft since the Warboys affair. + +[47] Osborne's statement should perhaps be discounted a little on +account of his skepticism. On the other hand he was not such an admirer +of James I as to have given him undue credit. Fuller's opinion was +divided. + +[48] James still believed in witchcraft in 1613, when the malodorous +divorce trial of Lady Essex took place. A careful reading of his words +at that time, however, leaves the impression that he was not nearly so +certain about the possibilities of witchcraft as he had been when he +wrote his book. His position was clearly defensive. It must be +remembered that James in 1613 had a point to be gained and would not +have allowed a possible doubt as to witchcraft to interfere with his +wish for the divorce. See Howell, _State Trials_, II, 806. + +[49] One of them was publicly searched by command of a justice. See +Fairfax, _op. cit._, 138-139. + +[50] _Ibid._, 205. Two of the women had gone home before, _ibid._, 180. + +[51] _Ibid._, 225-234. + +[52] _Ibid._, 234. + +[53] _Ibid._, 237-238. If the women were tried twice, it seems a clear +violation of the principle of former jeopardy. See above, note 11. The +statute of 3 Hen. VII, cap. I, that the plea of _antefort acquit_ was no +bar to the prosecution of an appeal, would not apply in this instance, +as that statute was limited to cases of _homicide_. + +[54] Fairfax was moreover a man for whom the king had a high personal +regard. + +[55] At the August assizes there had been an effort to show that the +children were "counterfeiting." See the _Discourse_, 235-237. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES AND CHARLES I. + + +In his attitude towards superstition, Charles I resembled the later +rather than the earlier James I. No reign up to the Revolution was +marked by so few executions. It was a time of comparative quiet. Here +and there isolated murmurs against suspected creatures of the Devil +roused the justices of the peace to write letters, and even to make +inquiries that as often as not resulted in indefinite commitments, or +brought out the protests of neighbors in favor of the accused. But, if +there were not many cases, they represented a wide area. Middlesex, +Wilts, Somerset, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Lancashire, Durham, +Yorkshire, and Northumberland were among the counties infested. Yet we +can count but six executions, and only four of them rest upon secure +evidence.[1] This is of course to reckon the reign of Charles as not +extending beyond 1642, when the Civil War broke out and the Puritan +leaders assumed responsibility for the government. + +Up to that time there was but one really notable witch alarm in England. +But it was one that illustrated again, as in Essex, the continuity of +the superstition in a given locality. The Lancashire witches of 1633 +were the direct outcome of the Lancashire witches of 1612. The story is +a weird one. An eleven-year-old boy played truant one day to his +cattle-herding, and, as he afterwards told the story, went +plum-gathering. When he came back he had to find a plausible excuse to +present to his parents. Now, the lad had been brought up in the +Blackburn forest, close to Pendle Hill; he had overheard stories of +Malking Tower[2] from the chatter of gossipping women;[3] he had +shivered as suspected women were pointed out to him; he knew the names +of some of them. His imagination, in search for an excuse, caught at the +witch motive[4] and elaborated it with the easy invention of youth.[5] +He had seen two greyhounds come running towards him. They looked like +those owned by two of his neighbors. When he saw that no one was +following them, he set out to hunt with them, and presently a hare rose +very near before him, at the sight whereof he cried "Loo, Loo," but the +dogs would not run. Being very angry, he tied them to a little bush in +the hedge and beat them, and at once, instead of the black greyhound, +"one Dickonson's wife" stood up, and instead of the brown greyhound "a +little boy whom this informer knoweth not." He started to run away, but +the woman stayed him and offered him a piece of silver "much like to a +faire shillinge" if he would not betray her. The conscientious boy +answered "Nay, thou art a witch," "whereupon shee put her hand into her +pocket againe and pulled out a stringe like unto a bridle that gingled, +which shee put upon the litle boyes heade that stood up in the browne +greyhounds steade, whereupon the said boy stood up a white horse." In +true Arabian Nights fashion they mounted and rode away. They came to a +new house called Hoarstones, where there were three score or more +people, and horses of several colors, and a fire with meat roasting. +They had flesh and bread upon a trencher and they drank from glasses. +After the first taste the boy "refused and would have noe more, and said +it was nought." There were other refreshments at the feast. The boy was, +as he afterwards confessed, familiar with the story of the feast at +Malking Tower.[6] + +The names of those present he did not volunteer at first; but, on being +questioned, he named eighteen[7] whom he had seen. The boy confessed +that he had been clever enough to make most of his list from those who +were already suspected by their neighbors. + +It needed but a match to set off the flame of witch-hatred in +Lancashire. The boy's story was quite sufficient. Whether his narrative +was a spontaneous invention of his own, concocted in emergency, as he +asserted in his confession at London, or whether it was a carefully +constructed lie taught him by his father in order to revenge himself +upon some hated neighbors, and perhaps to exact blackmail, as some of +the accused later charged, we shall never know. In later life the boy is +said to have admitted that he had been set on by his father,[8] but the +narrative possesses certain earmarks of a story struck out by a child's +imagination.[9] It is easy enough to reconcile the two theories by +supposing that the boy started the story of his own initiative and that +his father was too shrewd not to realize the opportunity to make a +sensation and perhaps some money. He took the boy before justices of the +peace, who, with the zeal their predecessors had displayed twenty-two +years before, made many arrests.[10] The boy was exhibited from town to +town in Lancashire as a great wonder and witch-detector. It was in the +course of these exhibitions that he was brought to a little town on the +Lancashire border of Yorkshire and was taken to the afternoon church +service, where a young minister, who was long afterwards to become a +famous opponent of the superstition, was discoursing to his +congregation. The boy was held up by those in charge as if to give him +the chance to detect witches among the audience. The minister saw him, +and at the end of the service at once came down to the boy, and without +parley asked him, "Good boy, tell me truly, and in earnest, didst thou +see and hear such things of the meeting of the witches as is reported by +many that thou dost relate?" The boy, as Webster has told the story, was +not given time for reply by the men in charge of him, who protested +against such questions. The lad, they said, had been before two justices +of the peace, and had not been catechized in that fashion.[11] + +A lone skeptic had little chance to beat back the wave of excitement +created by the young Robinson's stories. His success prompted him to +concoct new tales.[12] He had seen Lloynd's wife sitting on a cross-bar +in his father's chimney; he had called to her; she had not come down but +had vanished in the air. Other accounts the boy gave, but none of them +revealed the clear invention of his first narrative. + +He had done his work. The justices of the peace were bringing in the +accused to the assizes at Lancaster. There Robinson was once more called +upon to render his now famous testimony. He was supported by his +father,[13] who gave evidence that on the day he had sent his boy for +the cattle he had gone after him and as he approached had heard him cry +and had found him quite "distracted." When the boy recovered himself, he +had related the story already told. This was the evidence of the father, +and together with that of the son it constituted the most telling piece +of testimony presented. But it served, as was usual in such cases, as an +opening for all those who, for any reason, thought they had grounds of +suspicion against any of their neighbors. It was recalled by one witness +that a neighbor girl could bewitch a pail and make it roll towards her. +We shall later have occasion to note the basis of fact behind this +curious accusation. There was other testimony of an equally damaging +character. But in nearly all the cases stress was laid upon the bodily +marks. In one instance, indeed, nothing else was charged.[14] The reader +will remember that in the Lancaster cases of 1612 the evidence of marks +on the body was notably absent, so notably that we were led to suspect +that it had been ruled out by the judge. That such evidence was now +reckoned important is proof that this particularly dark feature of the +witch superstition was receiving increasing emphasis. + +How many in all were accused we do not know. Webster, writing later, +said that seventeen were found guilty.[15] It is possible that even a +larger number were acquitted. Certainly some were acquitted. A +distinction of some sort was made in the evidence. This makes it all the +harder to understand why the truth of Robinson's stories was not tested +in the same way in which those of Grace Sowerbutts had been tested in +1612. Did that detection of fraud never occur to the judges, or had they +never heard of the famous boy at Bilston? Perhaps not they but the +juries were to blame, for it seems that the court was not altogether +satisfied with the jury's verdict and delayed sentence. Perhaps, indeed, +the judges wrote to London about the matter. Be that as it may, the +privy council decided to take cognizance of an affair that was already +the talk of the realm.[16] Secretaries Coke and Windebank sent +instructions to Henry Bridgeman, Bishop of Chester and successor to that +Morton who had exposed the boy of Bilston, to examine seven of the +condemned witches and to make a report.[17] Bridgeman doubtless knew of +his predecessor's success in exposing fraudulent accusations. Before the +bishop was ready to report, His Majesty sent orders that three or four +of the accused should be brought up to London by a writ of habeas +corpus. Owing to a neglect to insert definite names, there was a +delay.[18] It was during this interval, probably, that Bishop Bridgeman +was able to make his examination. He found three of the seven already +dead and one hopelessly ill. The other three he questioned with great +care. Two of them, Mary Spencer, a girl of twenty, and Frances +Dickonson, the first whom Robinson had accused, made spirited denials. +Mary Spencer avowed that her accusers had been actuated by malice +against her and her parents for several years. At the trial, she had +been unable, she said, to answer for herself, because the noise of the +crowd had been so great as to prevent her from hearing the evidence +against her. As for the charge of bewitching a pail so that it came +running towards her of its own accord, she declared that she used as a +child to roll a pail down-hill and to call it after her as she ran, a +perfectly natural piece of child's play. Frances Dickonson, too, charged +malice upon her accusers, especially upon the father of Edmund Robinson. +Her husband, she said, had been unwilling to sell him a cow without +surety and had so gained his ill-will. She went on to assert that the +elder Robinson had volunteered to withdraw the charges against her if +her husband would pay him forty shillings. This counter charge was +supported by another witness and seemed to make a good deal of an +impression on the ecclesiastic. + +The third woman to be examined by the bishop was a widow of sixty, who +had not been numbered among the original seventeen witches. She +acknowledged that she was a witch, but was, wrote the bishop, "more +often faulting in the particulars of her actions as one having a strong +imagination of the former, but of too weak a memory to retain or relate +the latter." The woman told a commonplace story of a man in black attire +who had come to her six years before and made the usual contract. But +very curiously she could name only one other witch, and professed to +know none of those already in gaol. + +Such were the results of the examinations sent in by the bishop. In the +letter which he sent along, he expressed doubt about the whole matter. +"Conceit and malice," he wrote, "are so powerful with many in those +parts that they will easily afford an oath to work revenge upon their +neighbour." He would, he intimated, have gone further in examining the +counter charges brought by the accused, had it not been that he +hesitated to proceed against the king, that is, the prosecution. + +This report doubtless confirmed the fears of the government. The writs +to the sheriff of Lancaster were redirected, and four of the women were +brought up to London and carried to the "Ship Tavern" at Greenwich, +close to one of the royal residences.[19] Two of His Majesty's surgeons, +Alexander Baker and Sir William Knowles, the latter of whom was +accustomed to examine candidates for the king's touch, together with +five other surgeons and ten certificated midwives, were now ordered to +make a bodily examination of the women, under the direction of the +eminent Harvey,[20] the king's physician, who was later to discover the +circulation of the blood. In the course of this chapter we shall see +that Harvey had long cherished misgivings about witchcraft. Probably by +this time he had come to disbelieve it. One can but wonder if Charles, +already probably aware of Harvey's views, had not intended from his +first step in the Lancashire case to give his physician a chance to +assert his opinion. In any case his report and that of his subordinates +was entirely in favor of the women, except that in the case of Margaret +Johnson (who had confessed) they had found a mark, but one to which they +attached little significance.[21] The women seem to have been carried +before the king himself.[22] We do not know, however, that he expressed +any opinion on the matter. + +The whole affair has one aspect that has been entirely overlooked. +Whatever the verdict of the privy council and of the king may have +been--and it was evidently one of caution--they gave authorization from +the highest quarters for the use of the test of marks on the body. That +proof of witchcraft had been long known in England and had slowly won +its way into judicial procedure until now it was recognized by the +highest powers in the kingdom. To be sure, it was probably their purpose +to annul the reckless convictions in Lancashire, and to break down the +evidence of the female juries; but in doing so they furnished a +precedent for the witch procedure of the civil-war period. + +In the mean time, while the surgeons and midwives were busy over these +four women, the Robinsons, father and son, had come to London at the +summons of the privy council.[23] There the boy was separated from his +father. To a Middlesex justice of the peace appointed by Secretary +Windebank to take his statements he confessed that his entire story was +an invention and had no basis of fact whatever.[24] Both father and son +were imprisoned and proceedings seem to have been instituted against +them by one of the now repentant jurymen who had tried the case.[25] How +long they were kept in prison we do not know. + +One would naturally suppose that the women would be released on their +return to Lancaster, but the sheriff's records show that two years later +there were still nine witches in gaol.[26] Three of them bore the same +names as those whom Robinson pretended to have seen at Hoarstones. At +least one other of the nine had been convicted in 1634, probably more. +Margaret Johnson, the single one to confess, so far as we know, was not +there. She had probably died in prison in the mean time. We have no clue +as to why the women were not released. Perhaps public sentiment at home +made the sheriff unwilling to do it, perhaps the wretched creatures +spent two or more years in prison--for we do not know when they got +out--as a result of judicial negligence, a negligence of which there are +too many examples in the records of the time. More likely the king and +the privy council, while doubting the charges against the women, had +been reluctant to antagonize public sentiment by declaring them +innocent. + +It is disagreeable to have to state that Lancaster was not yet through +with its witches. Early in the next year the Bishop of Chester was again +called upon by the privy council to look into the cases of four women. +There was some delay, during which a dispute took place between the +bishop and the sheriff as to where the bishop should examine the +witches, whether at Wigan, as he proposed, or at Lancaster.[27] One +suspects that the civil authorities of the Duchy of Lancaster may have +resented the bishop's part in the affair. When Bridgeman arrived in +Lancaster he found two of the women already dead. Of the other two, the +one, he wrote, was accused by a man formerly "distracted and lunatic" +and by a woman who was a common beggar; the other had been long reputed +a witch, but he saw no reason to believe it. He had, he admitted, found +a small lump of flesh on her right ear.[28] Alas that the Bishop of +Chester, like the king and the privy council, however much he discounted +the accusations of witchcraft, had not yet wholly rid himself of one of +the darkest and most disagreeable forms of the belief that the Evil One +had bodily communication with his subjects. + +In one respect the affair of 1633-1634 in northern England was singular. +The social and moral character of those accused was distinctly high. Not +that they belonged to any but the peasant class, but that they +represented a good type of farming people. Frances Dickonson's husband +evidently had some property. Mary Spencer insisted that she was +accustomed to go to church and to repeat the sermon to her parents, and +that she was not afraid of death, for she hoped it would make an +entrance for her into heaven. Margaret Johnson was persuaded that a man +and his wife who were in the gaol on Robinson's charges were not +witches, because the man "daily prays and reads and seems a godly man." +With this evidence of religious life, which must have meant something as +to the status of the people in the community, should be coupled the +entire absence of stories of threats at beggars and of quarrels between +bad-tempered and loose-lived women, stories that fill so many dreary +pages of witchcraft records. Nor is there any mention of the practice of +pretended magic. + +In previous chapters we have had occasion to observe the continuity of +superstition in certain localities. It is obvious that Lancashire offers +one of the best illustrations of that principle. The connection between +the alarms of 1612 and 1633-1634 is not a matter of theory, but can be +established by definite proof. It is perhaps not out of order to +inquire, then, why Lancashire should have been so infested with +witches. It is the more necessary when we consider that there were other +witch cases in the country. Nicholas Starchie's children gave rise to +the first of the scares. It seems likely that a certain Utley was hanged +at Lancaster in 1630 for bewitching a gentleman's child.[29] During +Commonwealth days, as we shall find, there was an alarm at Lancaster +that probably cost two witches their lives. No county in England except +Essex had a similar record. No explanation can be offered for the +records of these two counties save that both had been early infected +with a hatred of witches, and that the witches came to be connected, in +tradition, with certain localities within the counties and with certain +families living there. This is, indeed, an explanation that does not +explain. It all comes back to the continuity of superstition. + +We have already referred to the widespread interest in the Lancashire +witches. There are two good illustrations of this interest. When Sir +William Brereton was travelling in Holland in June of 1634, a little +while before the four women had been brought to London, he met King +Charles's sister, the Queen of Bohemia, and at once, apparently, they +began to talk about the great Lancashire discovery.[30] The other +instance of comment on the case was in England. It is one which shows +that playwrights were quite as eager then as now to be abreast of +current topics. Before final judgment had been given on the Lancashire +women, Thomas Heywood and Richard Brome, well known dramatists, had +written a play on the subject which was at once published and "acted at +the Globe on the Bankside by His Majesty's Actors." By some it has been +supposed that this play was an older play founded on the Lancashire +affair of 1612 and warmed over in 1634; but the main incidents and the +characters of the play are so fully copied from the depositions of the +young Robinson and from the charges preferred against Mary Spencer, +Frances Dickonson, and Margaret Johnson, that a layman would at once +pronounce it a play written entirely to order from the affair of 1634. +Nothing unique in the stories was left out. The pail incident--of course +without its rational explanation--was grafted into the play and put upon +the stage. Indeed, a marriage that afforded the hook upon which to hang +a bundle of indecencies, and the story of a virtuous husband who +discovers his wife to be a witch, were the only added motives of +importance. For our purpose the significance of the play lies of course +in its testimony to the general interest--the people of London were +obviously familiar with the details, even, of the charges--and its +probable reflection of London opinion about the case. Throughout the +five acts there were those who maintained that there were no witches, a +recognition of the existence of such an opinion. Of course in the play +they were all, before the curtain fell, convinced of their error. The +authors, who no doubt catered to public sentiment, were not as earnest +as the divines of their day, but they were almost as superstitious. +Heywood showed himself in another work, _The Hierarchie of the Blessed +Angels_,[31] a sincere believer in witchcraft and backed his belief by +the Warboys case. Probably he had read Scot, but he was not at all the +type of man to set himself against the tide. _The late Lancashire +Witches_ no doubt expressed quite accurately London opinion. It was +written, it will be remembered, before the final outcome of the case +could be foreseen. Perhaps Heywood foresaw it, more probably he was +sailing close to the wind of opinion when he wrote in the epilogue, + + ... "Perhaps great mercy may, + After just condemnation, give them day + Of longer life." + +It is easy in discussing the Lancashire affair to miss a central figure. +Frances Dickonson, Mary Spencer, and the others, could they have known +it, owed their lives in all probability to the intellectual independence +of William Harvey. There is a precious story about Harvey in an old +manuscript letter by an unknown writer, that, if trustworthy, throws a +light on the physician's conduct in the case. The letter seems to have +been written by a justice of the peace in southwestern England about +1685.[32] He had had some experience with witches--we have mentioned +them in another connection--and he was prompted by them to tell a story +of Dr. Harvey, with whom he was "very familiarly acquainted." "I once +asked him what his opinion was concerning witchcraft; whether there was +any such thing. Hee told mee he believed there was not." Asked the +reasons for his doubt, Harvey told him that "when he was at Newmercat +with the King [Charles I] he heard there was a woman who dwelt at a lone +house on the borders of the Heath who was reputed a Witch, that he went +alone to her, and found her alone at home.... Hee said shee was very +distrustful at first, but when hee told her he was a vizard, and came +purposely to converse with her in their common trade, then shee easily +believed him; for say'd hee to mee, 'You know I have a very magicall +face.'" The physician asked her where her familiar was and desired to +see him, upon which she brought out a dish of milk and made a chuckling +noise, as toads do, at which a toad came from under the chest and drank +some of the milk. Harvey now laid a plan to get rid of the woman. He +suggested that as fellow witches they ought to drink together, and that +she procure some ale. She went out to a neighboring ale-house, half a +mile away, and Harvey availed himself of her absence to take up the toad +and cut it open. Out came the milk. On a thorough examination he +concluded that the toad "no ways differed from other toades," but that +the melancholy old woman had brought it home some evening and had tamed +it by feeding and had so come to believe it a spirit and her familiar. +When the woman returned and found her "familiar" cut in pieces, she +"flew like a Tigris" at his face. The physician offered her money and +tried to persuade her that her familiar was nothing more than a toad. +When he found that this did not pacify her he took another tack and told +her that he was the king's physician, sent to discover if she were a +witch, and, in case she were, to have her apprehended. With this +explanation, Harvey was able to get away. He related the story to the +king, whose leave he had to go on the expedition. The narrator adds: "I +am certayne this for an argument against spirits or witchcraft is the +best and most experimentall I ever heard." + +Who the justice of the peace was that penned this letter, we are unable +even to guess, nor do we know upon whose authority it was published. We +cannot, therefore, rest upon it with absolute certainty, but we can say +that it possesses several characteristics of a _bona fide_ letter.[33] +If it is such, it gives a new clue to Harvey's conduct in 1634. We of +course cannot be sure that the toad incident happened before that time; +quite possibly it was after the interest aroused by that affair that the +physician made his investigation. At all events, here was a man who had +a scientific way of looking into superstition. + +The advent of such a man was most significant in the history of +witchcraft, perhaps the most significant fact of its kind in the reign +of Charles I. That reign, in spite of the Lancashire affair, was +characterized by the continuance and growth of the witch skepticism,[34] +so prevalent in the last years of the previous reign. Disbelief was not +yet aggressive, it did not block prosecutions, but it hindered their +effectiveness. The gallows was not yet done away with, but its use had +been greatly restrained by the central government. Superstition was +still a bird of prey, but its wings were being clipped.[35] + + +[1] The writer of the _Collection of Modern Relations_ (London, 1693) +speaks of an execution at Oxford, but there is nothing to substantiate +it in the voluminous publications about Oxford; a Middlesex case rests +also on doubtful evidence (see appendix C, 1641). + +[2] _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1634-1635, 152. + +[3] _Ibid._, 141. + +[4] This is of course theory; _cf._ Daudet's story of his childhood in +"_Le Pape est mort_." + +[5] There seem to be five different sources for the original deposition +of young Robinson. Thomas D. Whitaker, _History ... of Whalley_ (3d ed., +1818), 213, has an imperfect transcript of the deposition as given in +the Bodleian, Dodsworth MSS., 61, ff. 45-46. James Crossley in his +introduction to Potts, _Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the countie +of Lancaster_ (Chetham Soc.), lix-lxxii, has copied the deposition given +by Whitaker. Thomas Wright, _Narratives of Sorcery and Magic_, II, +112-114, has given the story from a copy of this and of other +depositions in Lord Londesborough's MSS. Webster prints a third copy, +_Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft_, 347-349. A fourth is in Edward +Baines, _History of the ... county ... of Lancaster_, ed. of 1836, I, +604, and is taken from Brit. Mus., Harleian MSS., cod. 6854, f. 26 b. A +fifth is in the Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS., D, 399, f. 211. Wright's +source we have not in detail, but the other four, while differing +slightly as to punctuation, spelling, and names, agree remarkably well +as to the details of the story. + +[6] _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1634-1635, 152. + +[7] John Stearne, _A Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft ... +together with the Confessions of many of those executed since May 1645_ +(London, 1648), 11, says that in Lancashire "nineteene assembled." +Robinson's deposition as printed by Webster, _Displaying of Supposed +Witchcraft_, gives nineteen names. + +[8] Webster, _op. cit._, 277. + +[9] The boy, in his first examinations at London, said he had made up +the story himself. + +[10] It is a curious thing that one of the justices of the peace was +John Starchie, who had been one of the bewitched boys of the Starchie +family at Cleworth in 1597. See above, ch. IV. See Baines, _Lancaster_, +ed. of 1868-1870, I, 204. + +[11] This incident is related by Webster, _op. cit._, 276-278. Webster +tells us that the boy was yet living when he wrote, and that he himself +had heard the whole story from his mouth more than once. He appends to +his volume the original deposition of the lad (at Padiham, February 10 +1633/4). + +[12] These are given in the same deposition, but the deposition probably +represents the boy's statement at the assizes. + +[13] The father had been a witness at the Lancashire trials in 1612. See +Baines, _Lancaster_, ed. of 1868-1870, I, 204-205. + +[14] That is, of course, so far as we have evidence. It is a little +dangerous to hold to absolute negatives. + +[15] Webster, _op. cit._, 277. Pelham on May 16, 1634, wrote: "It is +said that 19 are condemned and ... 60 already discovered." _Cal. St. P., +Dom._, 1634-1635, 26. + +[16] It had been reported in London that witches had raised a storm from +which Charles had suffered at sea. Pelham's letter, _ibid._ + +[17] _Ibid._, 77. See also Council Register (MS.), Charles I, vol. IV, +p. 658. + +[18] _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, XII, 2, p. 53. The chancellor of the +Duchy of Lancaster wrote in the meantime that the judges had been to see +him. What was to be done with the witches? + +[19] See _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, X, 2, p. 147; and _Cal. St. P., +Dom., 1634-1635_, 98. + +[20] _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1634-1635, 98, 129. See also Council Register +(MS.), Chas. I, vol. V, p. 56. + +[21] _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1634-1635, 129. + +[22] Webster, _op. cit._, 277, says that they were examined "after by +His Majesty and the Council." + +[23] See Council Register (MS.), Charles I, vol. IV, p. 657. + +[24] _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1634-1635_, 141. + +[25] _Ibid._, 152. + +[26] _Farington Papers_ (Chetham Soc, no. 39, 1856), 27. + +[27] _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, XII, 2, p. 77. + +[28] _Ibid._, p. 80. + +[29] Baines, _Lancaster_, ed. of 1868-1870, II, 12. Utley, who was a +professed conjurer, was alleged to have bewitched to death one Assheton. + +[30] _Travels in Holland, the United Provinces, England, Scotland and +Ireland, 1634-1635, by Sir William Brereton, Bart._ (Chetham Soc., no. +1. 1844), 33. + +[31] (London, 1635.) As to Heywood see also chapter X. + +[32] The correspondent who sent a copy of the MS. to the _Gentleman's +Magazine_ signs himself "B. C. T." I have been unable to identify him. +For his account of the MS. and for its contents see _Gentleman's +Magazine_, 1832, pt. I, 405-410, 489-492. + +[33] John Aubrey, _Letters written by Eminent Persons_ (London, 1813), +II, 379, says that Harvey "had made dissections of froggs, toads and a +number of other animals, and had curious observations on them." This +fits in well with the story, and in some measure goes to confirm it. + +[34] For example, in 1637 the Bishop of Bath and Wells sent Joice +Hunniman to Lord Wrottesley to examine her and exonerate her. He did so, +and the bishop wrote thanking him and abusing "certain apparitors who go +about frightening the people." See _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, II, app., +p. 48. For a case of the acquittal of a witch and the exposure of the +pretended convulsions of her accuser, see _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1635_, +477. For example of suits for slander see North Riding Rec. Soc, IV, +182, session July 9, 1640. + +[35] A solitary pamphlet of this period must be mentioned. It was +entitled: _Fearefull Newes from Coventry, or A true Relation and +Lamentable Story of one Thomas Holt of Coventry a Musitian who through +Covetousnesse and immoderate love of money, sold himselfe to the Devill, +with whom he had made a contract for certaine yeares--And also of his +Lamentable end and death, on the 16 day of February 1641_ (London, +1642). The "sad subject of this little treatise" was a musician with +nineteen children. Fearing that he would not be able to provide for +them, he is alleged to have made a contract with the Devil, who finally +broke his neck. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +MATTHEW HOPKINS. + + +In the annals of English witchcraft Matthew Hopkins occupies a place by +himself. For more than two years he was the arch-instigator in +prosecutions which, at least in the numbers of those executed, mark the +high tide of the delusion. His name was one hardly known by his +contemporaries, but he has since become a figure in the annals of +English roguery. Very recently his life has found record among those of +"Twelve Bad Men."[1] + +What we know of him up to the time of his first appearance in his +successful role about March of 1644/5 is soon told. He was the son of +James Hopkins, minister of Wenham[2] in Suffolk. He was "a lawyer of but +little note" at Ipswich, thence removing to Manningtree. Whether he may +have been the Matthew Hopkins of Southwark who complained in 1644 of +inability to pay the taxes[3] is more than doubtful, but there is reason +enough to believe that he found the law no very remunerative profession. +He was ready for some new venture and an accidental circumstance in +Manningtree turned him into a wholly new field of endeavor. He assumed +the role of a witchfinder and is said to have taken the title of +witchfinder-general.[4] + +He had made little or no preparation for the work that now came to his +hand. King James's famous _Daemonologie_ he was familiar with, but he may +have studied it after his first experiences at Manningtree. It seems +somewhat probable, too, that he had read, and indeed been much +influenced by, the account of the Lancashire witches of 1612, as well as +by Richard Bernard's _Advice to Grand Jurymen_. But, if he read the +latter book, he seems altogether to have misinterpreted it. As to his +general information and education, we have no data save the hints to be +gained from his own writings. His letter to John Gaule and the little +brochure which he penned in self-defence reveal a man able to express +himself with some clearness and with a great deal of vigor. There were +force of character and nervous energy behind his defiant words. It is no +exaggeration, as we shall see in following his career, to say that the +witch crusader was a man of action, who might in another field have made +his mark. + +To know something of his religious proclivities would be extremely +interesting. On this point, however, he gives us no clue. But his fellow +worker, John Stearne, was clearly a Puritan[5] and Hopkins was surely of +the same faith. It can hardly be proved, however, that religious zeal +prompted him in his campaign. For a time of spiritual earnestness his +utterances seem rather lukewarm. + +It was in his own town that his attention was first directed towards the +dangers of witchcraft. The witches, he tells us, were accustomed to hold +their meetings near his house. During one of their assemblies he +overheard a witch bid her imps to go to another witch. The other witch, +whose name was thus revealed to him--Elizabeth Clarke, a poor one-legged +creature--was promptly taken into custody on Hopkins's charge.[6] Other +accusations poured in. John Rivet had consulted a cunning woman about +the illness of his wife, and had learned that two neighbors were +responsible. One of these, he was told, dwelt a little above his own +home; "whereupon he beleeved his said wife was bewitched by ... +Elizabeth Clarke, ... for that the said Elizabeth's mother and some +other of her kinsfolke did suffer death for witchcraft." The justices +of the peace[7] accordingly had her "searched by women who had for many +yeares known the Devill's marks," and, when these were found on her, +they bade her custodians "keep her from sleep two or three nights, +expecting in that time to see her familiars."[8] + +Torture is unknown to English law; but, in our day of the "third +degree," nobody needs to be told that what is put out at the door may +steal in at the window. It may be that, in the seventeenth century, the +pious English justices had no suspicion that enforced sleeplessness is a +form of physical torture more nerve-racking and irresistible than the +thumb-screw. Three days and nights of "watching" brought Elizabeth +Clarke to "confess many things"; and when, on the fourth night, her +townsmen Hopkins and Stearne dropped in to fill out from her own lips +the warrants against those she had named as accomplices, she told them +that, if they would stay and do her no hurt, she would call one of her +imps. + +Hopkins told her that he would not allow it, but he stayed. Within a +quarter of an hour the imps appeared, six of them, one after another. +The first was a "white thing in the likeness of a Cat, but not +altogether so big," the second a white dog with some sandy spots and +very short legs, the third, Vinegar Tom, was a greyhound with long legs. +We need not go further into the story. The court records give the +testimony of Hopkins and Stearne. Both have related the affair in their +pamphlets.[9] Six others, four of whom were women, made oath to the +appearances of the imps. In this respect the trial is unique among all +in English history. Eight people testified that they had seen the +imps.[10] Two of them referred elsewhere to what they had seen, and +their accounts agreed substantially.[11] It may be doubted if the +supporting evidence offered at any trial in the seventeenth century in +England went so far towards establishing the actual appearance of the +so-called imps of the witches. + +How are we to account for these phenomena? What was the nature of the +delusion seemingly shared by eight people? It is for the psychologist to +answer. Two explanations occur to the layman. It is not inconceivable +that there were rodents in the gaol--the terrible conditions in the +gaols of the time are too well known to need description--and that the +creatures running about in the dark were easily mistaken by excited +people for something more than natural. It is possible, too, that all +the appearances were the fabric of imagination or invention. The +spectators were all in a state of high expectation of supernatural +appearances. What the over-alert leaders declared they had seen the +others would be sure to have seen. Whether those leaders were themselves +deceived, or easily duped the others by calling out the description of +what they claimed to see, would be hard to guess. To the writer the +latter theory seems less plausible. The accounts of the two are so +clearly independent and yet agree so well in fact that they seem to +weaken the case for collusive imposture. With that a layman may be +permitted to leave the matter. What hypnotic possibilities are inherent +in the story he cannot profess to know. Certainly the accused woman was +not a professed dealer in magic and it is not easy to suspect her of +having hypnotized the watchers. + +Upon Elizabeth Clarke's confessions five other women--"the old beldam" +Anne West, who had "been suspected as a witch many yeers since, and +suffered imprisonment for the same,"[12] her daughter Rebecca,[13] Anne +Leech, her daughter Helen Clarke, and Elizabeth Gooding--were arrested. +As in the case of the first, there was soon abundance of evidence +offered about them. One Richard Edwards bethought himself and remembered +that while crossing a bridge he had heard a cry, "much like the shrieke +of a Polcat," and had been nearly thrown from his horse. He had also +lost some cattle by a mysterious disease. Moreover his child had been +nursed by a goodwife who lived near to Elizabeth Clarke and Elizabeth +Gooding. The child fell sick, "rowling the eyes," and died. He believed +that Anne Leech and Elizabeth Gooding were the cause of its death. His +belief, however, which was offered as an independent piece of +testimony, seems to have rested on Anne Leech's confession, which had +been made before this time and was soon given to the justices of the +peace. Robert Taylor charged Elizabeth Gooding with the death of his +horse, but he too had the suggestion from other witnesses. Prudence Hart +declared that, being in her bed in the night, "something fell down on +her right side." "Being dark she cannot tell in what shape it was, but +she believeth Rebecca West and Anne West the cause of her pains." + +But the accusers could hardly outdo the accused. No sooner was a crime +suggested than they took it upon themselves. It seemed as if the witches +were running a race for position as high criminal. With the exception of +Elizabeth Gooding, who stuck to it that she was not guilty, they +cheerfully confessed that they had lamed their victims, caused them to +"languish," and even killed them. The meetings at Elizabeth Clarke's +house were recalled. Anne Leech remembered that there was a book read +"wherein shee thinks there was no goodnesse."[14] + +So the web of charges and counter-charges was spun until twenty-three or +more women were caught in its meshes. No less than twelve of them +confessed to a share in the most revolting crimes. But there was one +who, in court, retracted her confession.[15] At least five utterly +denied their guilt. Among them was a poor woman who had aroused +suspicion chiefly because a young hare had been seen in front of her +house. She was ready to admit that she had seen the hare, but denied +all the more serious charges.[16] Another of those who would not plead +guilty sought to ward off charges against herself by adding to the +charges accumulated against her mother. Hers was a damning accusation. +Her mother had threatened her and the next night she "felt something +come into the bed about her legges, ... but could not finde anything." +This was as serious evidence as that of one of the justices of the +peace, who testified from the bench that a very honest friend of his had +seen three or four imps come out of Anne West's house in the moonlight. +Hopkins was not to be outshone by the other accusers. He had visited +Colchester castle to interview Rebecca West and had gained her +confession that she had gone through a wedding ceremony with the Devil. + +But why go into details? The evidence was all of a kind. The female +juries figured, as in the trials at Lancaster in 1633, and gave the +results of their harrowing examinations. What with their verdicts and +the mass of accusations and confessions, the justices of the peace were +busy during March, April, and May of 1645. It was not until the +twenty-ninth of July that the trial took place. It was held at +Chelmsford before the justices of the peace and Robert Rich, Earl of +Warwick. Warwick was not an itinerant justice, nor was he, so far as we +know, in any way connected with the judicial system. One of the most +prominent Presbyterians in England, he had in April of this year, as a +result of the "self-denying ordinance," laid down his commission as head +of the navy. He disappears from view until August, when he was again +given work to do. In the mean time occurred the Chelmsford trial. We can +only guess that the earl, who was appointed head of the Eastern +Association less than a month later[17] (August 27), acted in this +instance in a military capacity. The assizes had been suspended. No +doubt some of the justices of the peace pressed upon him the urgency of +the cases to be tried. We may guess that he sat with them in the quarter +sessions, but he seems to have played the role of an itinerant justice. + +No narrative account of the trial proper is extant. Some one who signs +himself "H. F." copied out and printed the evidence taken by the +justices of the peace and inserted in the margins the verdicts. In this +way we know that at least sixteen were condemned, probably two more, and +possibly eleven or twelve more.[18] Of the original sixteen, one was +reprieved, one died before execution, four were hanged at Manningtree +and ten at Chelmsford. + +The cases excited some comment, and it is comment that must not be +passed over, for it will prove of some use later in analyzing the causes +of the outbreak. Arthur Wilson, whom we have mentioned as an historian +of the time, has left his verdict on the trial. "There is nothing," he +wrote, "so crosse to my temper as putting so many witches to death." He +saw nothing, in the women condemned at Chelmsford, "other than poore +mellenchollie ... ill-dieted atrabilious constitutions, whose fancies +working by grosse fumes and vapors might make the imagination readie to +take any impression." Wilson wrestled long with his God over the matter +of witches and came at length to the conclusion that "it did not consist +with the infinite goodnes of the Almightie God to let Satan loose in so +ravenous a way." + +The opinion of a parliamentary journal in London on the twenty-fourth of +July, three days before the Essex executions, shows that the Royalists +were inclined to remark the number of witches in the counties friendly +to Parliament: "It is the ordinary mirth of the Malignants in this City +to discourse of the Association of Witches in the Associated Counties, +but by this they shall understand the truth of the old Proverbe, which +is that where God hath his Church, the Devill hath his Chappell." The +writer goes on, "I am sory to informe you that one of the cheifest of +them was a Parsons Wife (this will be good news with the Papists).... +Her name was Weight.... This Woman (as I heare) was the first +apprehended."[19] It seems, however, that Mrs. "Weight" escaped. Social +and religious influences were not without value. A later pamphleteer +tells us that the case of Mrs. Wayt, a minister's wife, was a "palpable +mistake, for it is well knowne that she is a gentle-woman of a very +godly and religious life."[20] + +Meantime Hopkins had extended his operations into Suffolk. Elizabeth +Clarke and Anne Leech had implicated certain women in that county. Their +charges were carried before the justices of the peace and were the +beginning of a panic which spread like wildfire over the county. + +The methods which the witchfinder-general used are illuminating. Four +searchers were appointed for the county, two men and two women.[21] "In +what Town soever ... there be any person or persons suspected to be +witch or Witches, thither they send for two or all of the said +searchers, who take the partie or parties so suspected into a Roome and +strip him, her, or them, starke naked."[22] The clergyman Gaule has +given us further particulars:[23] "Having taken the suspected Witch, +shee is placed in the middle of a room upon a stool, or Table, +crosse-legg'd, or in some other uneasie posture, to which if she submits +not, she is then bound with cords; there is she watcht and kept without +meat or sleep for the space of 24 hours.... A little hole is likewise +made in the door for the Impe to come in at; and lest it might come in +some lesse discernible shape, they that watch are taught to be ever and +anon sweeping the room, and if they see any spiders or flyes, to kill +them. And if they cannot kill them, then they may be sure they are her +Impes."[24] Hutchinson tells a story of one woman, who, after having +been kept long fasting and without sleep, confessed to keeping an imp +called Nan. But a "very learned ingenious gentleman having indignation +at the thing" drove the people from the house, gave the woman some food, +and sent her to bed. Next morning she knew of no Nan but a pullet she +had. + +The most sensational discovery in Suffolk was that John Lowes, pastor of +Brandeston, was a witch. The case was an extraordinary one and throws a +light on the witch alarms of the time. Lowes was eighty years old, and +had been pastor in the same place for fifty years. He got into trouble, +undoubtedly as a result of his inability to get along with those around +him. As a young man he had been summoned to appear before the synod at +Ipswich for not conforming to the rites of the Established Church.[25] +In the first year of Charles's reign he had been indicted for refusing +to exhibit his musket,[26] and he had twice later been indicted for +witchcraft and once as a common imbarritor.[27] The very fact that he +had been charged with witchcraft before would give color to the charge +when made in 1645. We have indeed a clue to the motives for this +accusation. A parishioner and a neighboring divine afterwards gave it as +their opinion that "Mr. Lowes, being a litigious man, made his +parishioners (too tenacious of their customs) very uneasy, so that they +were glad to take the opportunity of those wicked times to get him +hanged, rather than not get rid of him." Hopkins had afforded them the +opportunity. The witchfinder had taken the parson in hand. He had caused +him to be kept awake several nights together, and had run him backwards +and forwards about the room until he was out of breath. "Then they +rested him a little and then ran him again, and this they did for +several days and nights together, till he was weary of his life and +scarce sensible of what he said or did."[28] He had, when first accused, +denied all charges and challenged proof, but after he had been subjected +to these rigorous methods he made a full confession. He had, he said, +sunk a sailing vessel of Ipswich, making fourteen widows in a quarter of +an hour. The witchfinder had asked him if it did not grieve him to see +so many men cast away in a short time, and he answered: "No, he was +joyfull to see what power his Impes had."[29] He had, he boasted, a +charm to keep him out of gaol and from the gallows. It is too bad that +the crazed man's confidence in his charm was misplaced. His whole wild +confession is an illustration of the effectiveness of the torture. His +fate is indicative of the hysteria of the times and of the advantages +taken of it by malicious people. It was his hostility to the +ecclesiastical and political sympathies of his community that caused his +fall. + +The dementia induced by the torture in Lowes's case showed itself in the +case of others, who made confessions of long careers of murder. "These +and all the rest confessed that cruell malice ... was their chiefe +delight." The accused were being forced by cruel torture to lend their +help to a panic which exceeded any before or after in England. From one +hundred and thirty to two hundred people[30] were soon under accusation +and shut up in Bury gaol. + +News of this reached a Parliament in London that was very much engrossed +with other matters. We cannot do better than to quote the Puritan +biographer Clarke.[31] "A report was carried to the Parliament ... as +if some busie men had made use of some ill Arts to extort such +confession; ... thereupon a special Commission of Oyer and Terminer was +granted for the trial of these Witches." Care was to be used, in +gathering evidence, that confessions should be voluntary and should be +backed by "many collateral circumstances." There were to be no +convictions except upon proof of express compact with the Devil, or upon +evidence of the use of imps, which implied the same thing. Samuel +Fairclough and Edmund Calamy (the elder), both of them Non-Conformist +clergymen of Suffolk,[32] together with Serjeant John Godbolt and the +justices of the peace, were to compose this special court. The court met +about the end of August, a month after the sessions under Warwick at +Chelmsford, and was opened by two sermons preached by Mr. Fairclough in +Bury church. One of the first things done by the special court, quite +possibly at the instigation of the two clergymen, was to put an end to +the swimming test,[33] which had been used on several of the accused, +doubtless by the authority of the justices of the peace. This was of +course in some sense a blow at Hopkins. Nevertheless a great deal of the +evidence which he had gathered must have been taken into account. +Eighteen persons, including two men,[34] were condemned to be +hanged.[35] On the night before their execution, they were confined in a +barn, where they made an agreement not to confess a word at the gallows +the following day, and sang a psalm in confirmation. Next day they +"dyed ... very desperately."[36] But there were still one hundred and +twenty others in gaol[37] awaiting trial. No doubt many forthwith would +have met the same end, had it not been for a lucky chance of the wars. +The king's forces were approaching and the court hastened to adjourn its +sessions.[38] + +But this danger was soon over, and within three weeks' time the court +seems to have resumed its duties.[39] Of this second session we know +nothing at all, save that probably forty or fifty more witches were +condemned, and doubtless executed.[40] What became of the others we can +only guess. Perhaps some were released, some left in gaol indefinitely. + +These things were not done in a corner. Yet so great was the distraction +in England that, if we can trust negative evidence, they excited not a +great deal of notice. Such comments as there were, however, were +indicative of a division of opinion. During the interval between the two +sessions, the _Moderate Intelligencer_, a parliamentary organ that had +sprung up in the time of the Civil War, came out in an editorial on the +affair. "But whence is it that Devils should choose to be conversant +with silly Women that know not their right hands from their left, is the +great wonder.... They will meddle with none but poore old Women: as +appears by what we received this day from Bury.... Divers are condemned +and some executed and more like to be. Life is precious and there is +need of great inquisition before it is taken away."[41] + +This was the sole newspaper reference of which we know, as well as the +only absolutely contemporary mention of these trials. What other +expressions of opinion there were came later. James Howell, a popular +essayist of his time, mentioned the trials in his correspondence as new +proof of the reality of witchcraft.[42] The pious Bishop Hall saw in +them the "prevalency of Satan in these times."[43] Thomas Ady, who in +1656 issued his _Candle in the Dark_, mentioned the "Berry Assizes"[44] +and remarked that some credulous people had published a book about it. +He thought criticism deserved for taking the evidence of the gaoler, +whose profit lay in having the greatest possible number executed.[45] + +We have already described Hopkins as a man of action. Nothing is better +evidence of it than the way in which he hurried back and forth over the +eastern counties. During the last part of May he had probably been +occupied with collecting the evidence against the accused at Bury. Long +before they were tried he was busy elsewhere. We can trace his movements +in outline only, but we know enough of them to appreciate his tremendous +energy. Some time about the beginning of June he must have gone to +Norfolk. Before the twenty-sixth of July twenty witches had been +executed in that county.[46] None of the details of these trials have +been left us. From the rapidity with which they were carried to +completion we may feel fairly certain that the justices of the peace, +seeing no probability of assize sessions in the near future, went ahead +to try cases on their own initiative.[47] On the fifteenth of August the +corporation of Great Yarmouth, at the southern extremity of the Norfolk +coast line, voted to send for Mr. Hopkins, and that he should have his +fee and allowance for his pains,[48] "as he hath in other places." He +came at two different times, once in September and once in December. +Probably the burden of the work was turned over to the four female +assistants, who were granted a shilling a day apiece.[49] Six women were +condemned, one of whom was respited.[50] Later three other women and one +man were indicted, but by this time the furor against them seems to +have abated, and they probably went free.[51] + +Hopkins's further course can be traced with some degree of certainty. +From Yarmouth he probably went to Ipswich, where Mother Lakeland was +burned on September 9 at the instance of the justices of the peace.[52] +Mother Lakeland's death by burning is the second instance we have, +during the Hopkins panic,[53] of this form of sentence. It is explained +by the fact that it was the law in England to burn women who murdered +their husbands. The chief charge against Mother Lakeland, who, by the +way, was a woman quite above the class from which witches were +ordinarily recruited,[54] was that she had bewitched her husband to +death.[55] The crime was "petty treason." + +It is not a wild guess that Hopkins paused long enough in his active +career to write an account of the affair, so well were his principles of +detection presented in a pamphlet soon issued from a London press.[56] +But, at any rate, before Mother Lakeland had been burned he was on his +way to Aldeburgh, where he was already at work on the eighth of +September collecting evidence.[57] Here also he had an assistant, Goody +Phillips, who no doubt continued the work after he left. He was back +again in Aldeburgh on the twentieth of December and the seventh of +January, and the grand result of his work was summarized in the brief +account: "Paid ... eleven shillings for hanging seven witches."[58] + +From Aldeburgh, Hopkins may have journeyed to Stowmarket. We do not know +how many servants of the evil one he discovered here; but, as he was +paid twenty-three pounds[59] for his services, and had received but six +pounds in Aldeburgh, the presumption is that his work here was very +fruitful in results. + +We now lose track of the witchfinder's movements for a while. Probably +he was doubling on his track and attending court sessions. In December +we know that he made his second visit to Yarmouth. From there he may +have gone to King's Lynn, where two witches were hanged this year, and +from there perhaps returned early in January to Aldeburgh and other +places in Suffolk. It is not to be supposed for a moment that his +activities were confined to the towns named. At least fifteen other +places in Suffolk are mentioned by Stearne in his stories of the +witches' confessions.[60] While Hopkins's subordinates probably +represented him in some of the villages, we cannot doubt that the +witchfinder himself visited many towns. + +From East Anglia Hopkins went westward into Cambridgeshire. His arrival +there must have been during either January or February. His reputation, +indeed, had gone ahead of him, and the witches were reported to have +taken steps in advance to prevent detection.[61] But their efforts were +vain. The witchfinder found not less than four or five of the detested +creatures,[62] probably more. We know, however, of only one execution, +that of a woman who fell under suspicion because she kept a tame +frog.[63] + +From Cambridgeshire, Hopkins's course took him, perhaps in March of +1645/6, into Northamptonshire. There he found at least two villages +infested, and he turned up some remarkable evidence. So far in his +crusade, the keeping of imps had been the test infallible upon which the +witchfinder insisted. But at Northampton spectral evidence seems to have +played a considerable part.[64] Hopkins never expresses his opinion on +this variety of evidence, but his co-worker declares that it should be +used with great caution, because "apparitions may proceed from the +phantasie of such as the party use to fear or at least suspect." + +But it was a case in Northamptonshire of a different type that seems to +have made the most lasting impression on Stearne. Cherrie of Thrapston, +"a very aged man," had in a quarrel uttered the wish that his neighbor's +tongue might rot out. The neighbor thereupon suffered from something +which we should probably call cancer of the tongue. Perhaps as yet the +possibilities of suggestion have not been so far sounded that we can +absolutely discredit the physical effects of a malicious wish. It is +much easier, however, to believe the reported utterance imagined after +its supposed effect. At all events, Cherrie was forced to confess that +he had been guilty and he further admitted that he had injured Sir John +Washington, who had been his benefactor at various times.[65] He was +indicted by the grand jury, but died in gaol, very probably by suicide, +on the day when he was to have been tried.[66] + +From Northamptonshire Hopkins's course led him into Huntingdonshire,[67] +a county that seems to have been untroubled by witch alarms since the +Warboys affair of 1593. The justices of the peace took up the quest +eagerly. The evidence that they gathered had but little that was +unusual.[68] Mary Chandler had despatched her imp, Beelzebub, to injure +a neighbor who had failed to invite her to a party. An accused witch who +was questioned about other possible witches offered in evidence a +peculiar piece of testimony. He had a conversation with "Clarke's sonne +of Keiston," who had said to him (the witness): "I doe not beleeve you +die a Witch, for I never saw you at our meetings." This would seem to +have been a clever fiction to ward off charges against himself. But, +strangely enough, the witness declared that he answered "that perhaps +their meetings were at severall places." + +Hopkins did not find it all smooth sailing in the county of Huntingdon. +A clergyman of Great Staughton became outraged at his work and preached +against it. The witchfinder had been invited to visit the town and +hesitated. Meantime he wrote this blustering letter to one of John +Gaule's parishioners. + + "My service to your Worship presented, I have this day received a + Letter, &c.--to come to a Towne called Great Staughton to search + for evil disposed persons called Witches (though I heare your + Minister is farre against us through ignorance) I intend to come + (God willing) the sooner to heare his singular Judgment on the + behalfe of such parties; I have known a Minister in Suffolke preach + as much against their discovery in a Pulpit, and forc'd to recant + it (by the Committee) in the same place. I much marvaile such evill + Members[69] should have any (much more any of the Clergy) who + should daily preach Terrour to convince such Offenders, stand up to + take their parts against such as are Complainants for the King, and + sufferers themselves with their Families and Estates. I intend to + give your Towne a Visite suddenly, I am to come to Kimbolton this + weeke, and it shall bee tenne to one but I will come to your Town + first, but I would certainely know afore whether your Town affords + many Sticklers for such Cattell, or willing to give and afford us + good welcome and entertainment, as other where I have beene, else I + shall wave your Shire (not as yet beginning in any part of it my + selfe) And betake me to such places where I doe and may persist + without controle, but with thankes and recompence."[70] + +This stirred the fighting spirit of the vicar of Great Staughton, and he +answered the witchfinder in a little book which he published shortly +after, and which he dedicated to Colonel Walton of the House of Commons. +We shall have occasion in another chapter to note its point of view. + +In spite of opposition, Hopkins's work in Huntingdonshire prospered. The +justices of the peace were occupied with examinations during March and +April. Perhaps as many as twenty were accused.[71] At least half that +number were examined. Several were executed--we do not know the exact +number--almost certainly at the instance of the justices of the +peace.[72] It is pleasant to know that one was acquitted, even if it was +after she had been twice searched and once put through the swimming +ordeal.[73] + +From Huntingdonshire it is likely that Hopkins and Stearne made their +next excursion into Bedfordshire. We know very little about their +success here. In two villages it would seem that they were able to track +their prey.[74] But they left to others the search which they had +begun.[75] + +The witchfinder had been active for a little over a year. But during the +last months of that time his discoveries had not been so notable. Was +there a falling off in interest? Or was he meeting with increased +opposition among the people? Or did the assize courts, which resumed +their proceedings in the summer of 1646, frown upon him? It is hard to +answer the question without more evidence. But at any rate it is clear +that during the summer and autumn of 1646 he was not actively engaged in +his profession. It is quite possible, indeed, that he was already +suffering from the consumption which was to carry him off in the +following year. And, with the retirement of its moving spirit, the witch +crusade soon came to a close. Almost a twelvemonth later there was a +single[76] discovery of witches. It was in the island of Ely; and the +church courts,[77] the justices of the peace,[78] and the assize +courts,[79] which had now been revived, were able, between them, to hang +a few witches.[80] + +We do not know whether Hopkins participated in the Ely affair or not. It +seems certain that his co-worker, Stearne, had some share in it. But, if +so, it was his last discovery. The work of the two men was ended. They +had been pursuing the pack of witches in the eastern counties since +March of 1644/5. Even the execrations of those who opposed them could +not mar the pleasure they felt in what they had done. Nay, when they +were called upon to defend themselves, they could hardly refrain from +exulting in their achievements. They had indeed every right to exult. +When we come to make up the roll of their victims, we shall see that +their record as witch discoverers surpassed the combined records of all +others. + +It is a mistake to suppose that they had acted in any haphazard way. The +conduct of both men had been based upon perfectly logical deductions +from certain premises. King James's _Daemonologie_ had been their +catechism, the statute against the feeding of imps their book of rules. +Both men started with one fundamental notion, that witchcraft is the +keeping of imps. But this was a thing that could be detected by marks on +the bodies.[81] Both were willing to admit that mistakes could be made +and were often made in assuming that natural bodily marks were the +Devil's marks. There were, however, special indications by which the +difference between the two could be recognized.[82] And the two +witchfinders, of course, possessed that "insight"[83] which was +necessary to make the distinction. The theories upon which they worked +we need not enter into. Suffice it to say that when once they had +proved, as they thought, the keeping of imps, the next step was to watch +those accused of it.[84] "For the watching," says Stearne,[85] "it is +not to use violence or extremity to force them to confesse, but onely +the keeping is, first to see whether any of their spirits, or familiars +come to or neere them." It is clear that both Hopkins and Stearne +recognized the fact that confessions wrung from women by torture are +worthless and were by this explanation defending themselves against the +charge of having used actual torture. There seems to be no adequate +reason for doubting the sincerity of their explanation. Stearne tells us +that the keeping the witches separate is "also to the end that Godly +Divines might discourse with them." "For if any of their society come to +them to discourse with them, they will never confesse."[86] Here, +indeed, is a clue to many confessions. Several men arrayed against one +solitary and weak woman could break her resolution and get from her very +much what they pleased. + +As for starving the witches and keeping them from sleep, Stearne +maintained that these things were done by them only at first. Hopkins +bore the same testimony. "After they had beat their heads together in +the Gaole, and after this use was not allowed of by the Judges and other +Magistrates, it was never since used, which is a yeare and a halfe +since."[87] In other words, the two men had given up the practice +because the parliamentary commission had compelled them to do so. + +The confessions must be received with great caution, Hopkins himself +declared.[88] It is so easy to put words into the witch's mouth. "You +have foure Imps, have you not? She answers affirmatively. 'Yes'.... 'Are +not their names so and so'? 'Yes,' saith she. 'Did you not send such an +Impe to kill my child'? 'Yes,' saith she." This sort of thing has been +too often done, asserted the virtuous witchfinder. He earnestly did +desire that "all Magistrates and Jurors would, a little more than ever +they did, examine witnesses about the interrogated confessions." What a +cautious, circumspect man was this famous witchfinder! The confessions, +he wrote, in which confidence may be placed are when the woman, without +any "hard usages or questions put to her, doth of her owne accord +declare what was the occasion of the Devil's appearing to her."[89] + +The swimming test had been employed by both men in the earlier stages of +their work. "That hath been used," wrote Stearne, "and I durst not goe +about to cleere my selfe of it, because formerly I used it, but it was +at such time of the yeare as when none tooke any harme by it, neither +did I ever doe it but upon their owne request."[90] A thoughtful man was +this Stearne! Latterly he had given up the test--since "Judge Corbolt" +stopped it[91]--and he had come to believe that it was a way of +"distrusting of God's providence." + +It can be seen that the men who had conducted the witch crusade were +able to present a consistent philosophy of their conduct. It was, of +course, a philosophy constructed to meet an attack the force of which +they had to recognize. Hopkins's pamphlet and Stearne's _Confirmation_ +were avowedly written to put their authors right in the eyes of a public +which had turned against them.[92] It seems that this opposition had +first shown itself at their home in Essex. A woman who was undergoing +inquisition had found supporters, and, though she was condemned in spite +of their efforts, was at length reprieved.[93] Her friends turned the +tables by indicting Stearne and some forty others of conspiracy, and +apparently succeeded in driving them from the county.[94] In Bury the +forces of the opposition had appealed to Parliament, and the Commission +of Oyer and Terminer, which, it will be noticed, is never mentioned by +the witchfinders, was sent out to limit their activities. In +Huntingdonshire, we have seen how Hopkins roused a protesting clergyman, +John Gaule. If we may judge from the letter he wrote to one of Gaule's +parishioners, Hopkins had by this time met with enough opposition to +know when it was best to keep out of the way. His boldness was assumed +to cover his fear. + +But it was in Norfolk that the opposition to the witchfinders reached +culmination. There most pungent "queries" were put to Hopkins through +the judges of assize. He was charged with all those cruelties, which, as +we have seen, he attempts to defend. He was further accused of fleecing +the country for his own profit.[95] Hopkins's answer was that he took +the great sum of twenty shillings a town "to maintaine his companie with +3 horses."[96] That this was untrue is sufficiently proved by the +records of Stowmarket where he received twenty-three pounds and his +traveling expenses. At such a rate for the discoveries, we can hardly +doubt that the two men between them cleared from three hundred to a +thousand pounds, not an untidy sum in that day, when a day's work +brought six pence. + +What further action was taken in the matter of the queries "delivered to +the Judges of assize" we do not know. Both Hopkins and Stearne, as we +have seen, went into retirement and set to work to exonerate themselves. +Within the year Hopkins died at his old home in Manningtree. Stearne +says that he died "peaceably, after a long sicknesse of a Consumption." +But tradition soon had it otherwise. Hutchinson says that the story, in +his time, was that Hopkins was finally put to the swimming test himself, +and drowned. According to another tale, which seems to have lingered in +Suffolk, he offered to show the Devil's roll of all the witches in +England and so was detected.[97] Butler, in his _Hudibras_, said of him: + + "Who after proved himself a witch, + And made a rod for his own breech." + +Butler's lines appeared only fifteen years after Hopkin's death, and his +statement is evidence enough that such a tradition was already current. +The tradition is significant. It probably means, not that Hopkins really +paid such a penalty for his career--Stearne's word is good enough proof +to the contrary--but that within his own generation his name had become +an object of detestation. + +John Stearne did not return to Manningtree--he may have been afraid +to--but settled down near Bury, the scene of his greatest successes. + +If the epitaphs of these two men were to be written, their deeds could +be compressed into homely statistics. And this leads us to inquire what +was the sum of their achievement. It has been variously estimated. It is +not an uncommon statement that thirty thousand witches were hanged in +England during the rule of Parliament, and this wild guess has been +copied by reputable authors. In other works the number has been +estimated at three thousand, but this too is careless guesswork. Stearne +himself boasted that he knew of two hundred executions, and Stearne +ought to have known. It is indeed possible that his estimate was too +high. He had a careless habit of confusing condemnations with executions +that makes us suspect that in this estimate he may have been thinking +rather of the number of convictions than of the hangings. Yet his +figures are those of a man who was on the ground, and cannot be lightly +discounted. Moreover, James Howell, writing in 1648, says that "within +the compass of two years, near upon three hundred Witches were arraign'd +and the major part executed in Essex and Suffolk only."[98] If these +estimates be correct--or even if they approach correctness--a remarkable +fact appears. Hopkins and Stearne, in fourteen months' time, sent to the +gallows more witches than all the other witch-hunters of England can be +proved--so far as our present records go--to have hung in the hundred +and sixty years during which the persecution nourished in England. It +must occur to the reader that this crusade was extraordinary. Certainly +it calls for explanation. + +So far as the writer is aware, but one explanation has been offered. It +has been repeated until it has become a commonplace in the history of +witchcraft that the Hopkins crusade was one of the expressions of the +intolerant zeal of the Presbyterian party during its control of +Parliament. This notion is largely due to Francis Hutchinson, who wrote +the first history of English witchcraft. Hutchinson was an Anglican +clergyman, but we need not charge him with partisanship in accusing the +Presbyterians. There was no inconsiderable body of evidence to support +his point of view. The idea was developed by Sir Walter Scott in his +_Letters on Demonology_, but it was left to Lecky, in his classic essay +on witchcraft, to put the case against the Presbyterian Parliament in +its most telling form.[99] His interpretation of the facts has found +general acceptance since. + +It is not hard to understand how this explanation grew up. At a time +when Hutchinson was making his study, Richard Baxter, the most eminent +Puritan of his time, was still a great name among the defenders of +witchcraft.[100] In his pages Hutchinson read how Puritan divines +accompanied the witch-magistrates on their rounds and how a "reading +parson" was one of their victims. Gaule, who opposed them, he seems to +have counted an Anglican. He clearly put some faith in the lines of +_Hudibras_. Probably, however, none of these points weighed so much with +him as the general fact of coincidence in time between the great witch +persecution and Presbyterian rule. It was hard to escape the conclusion +that these two unusual situations must in some way have been connected. + +Neither Hutchinson nor those who followed have called attention to a +point in support of their case which is quite as good proof of their +contention as anything adduced. It was in the eastern counties, where +the Eastern Association had flourished and where Parliament, as well as +the army, found its strongest backing--the counties that stood +consistently against the king--in those counties it was that Hopkins and +Stearne carried on their work.[101] + +It may seem needless in the light of these facts to suggest any other +explanation of the witch crusade. Yet the whole truth has not by any +means been told. It has already been noticed that Hutchinson made some +mistakes. Parson Lowes, who was hanged as a witch at the instance of his +dissatisfied parishioners, was not hanged because he was an +Anglican.[102] And the Presbyterian Parliament had not sent down into +Suffolk a commission to hang witches, but to check the indiscriminate +proceedings that were going on there against witches. Moreover, while it +is true that East Anglia and the counties adjacent, the stronghold of +the Puritans, were the scene of Hopkins's operations, it is quite as +true that in those counties arose that powerful opposition which forced +the witchfinders into retirement. We have noticed in another connection +that the "malignants" were inclined to mock at the number of witches in +the counties friendly to Parliament, but there is nothing to show that +the mockers disbelieved the reality of the witchcrafts.[103] + +It is easy enough to turn some of Hutchinson's reasoning against him, as +well as to weaken the force of other arguments that may be presented on +his side. But, when we have done all this, we still have to face the +unpleasant facts that the witch persecution coincided in time with +Presbyterian rule and in place with Puritan communities. It is very hard +to get around these facts. Nor does the writer believe that they can be +altogether avoided, even if their edge can be somewhat blunted. It was a +time of bitter struggle. The outcome could not yet be forecast. Party +feeling was at a high pitch. The situation may not unfairly be compared +with that in the summer of 1863 during the American civil war. Then the +outbreaks in New York revealed the public tension. The case in 1645 in +the eastern counties was similar. Every energy was directed towards the +prosecution of the war. The strain might very well have shown itself in +other forms than in hunting down the supposed agents of the Devil. As a +matter of fact, the apparitions and devils, the knockings and strange +noises, that filled up the pages of the popular literature were the +indications of an overwrought public mind. Religious belief grew +terribly literal under the tension of the war. The Anglicans were +fighting for their king, the Puritans for their religion. That +religious fervor which very easily deepens into dementia was highly +accentuated.[104] + +Nevertheless, too much importance may have been given to the part played +by Presbyterianism. There is no evidence which makes it certain that the +morbidity of the public would have taken the form of witch-hanging, had +it not been for the leadership of Hopkins and Stearne. The Manningtree +affair started very much as a score of others in other times. It had +just this difference, that two pushing men took the matter up and made +of it an opportunity. The reader who has followed the career of these +men has seen how they seem the backbone of the entire movement. It is +true that the town of Yarmouth invited them of its own initiative to +take up the work there, but not until they had already made themselves +famous in all East Anglia. There is, indeed, too much evidence that +their visits were in nearly every case the result of their own +deliberate purpose to widen the field of their labors. In brief, two +aggressive men had taken advantage of a time of popular excitement and +alarm. They were fortunate in the state of the public mind, but they +seem to have owed more to their own exertions. + +But perhaps to neither factor was their success due so much as to the +want of government in England at this time. We have seen in an earlier +chapter that Charles I and his privy council had put an end to a witch +panic that bade fair to end very tragically. Not that they interfered +with random executions here and there. It was when the numbers involved +became too large that the government stepped in to revise verdicts. +This was what the government of Parliament failed to do. And the reasons +are not far to seek. Parliament was intensely occupied with the war. The +writer believes that it can be proved that, except in so far as +concerned the war, the government of Parliament and the Committee of +Both Kingdoms paid little or no attention to the affairs of the realm. +It is certainly true that they allowed judicial business to go by the +board. The assizes seem to have been almost, if not entirely, suspended +during the last half of the year 1645 and the first half of 1646.[105] +The justices of the peace, who had always shown themselves ready to hunt +down witches, were suffered to go their own gait.[106] To be sure, there +were exceptions. The Earl of Warwick held a court at Chelmsford, but he +was probably acting in a military capacity, and, inexperienced in court +procedure, doubtless depended largely upon the justices of the peace, +who, gathered in quarter sessions, were assisting him. It is true too +that Parliament had sent down a Commission of Oyer and Terminer to Bury, +a commission made up of a serjeant and two clergymen. But these two +cases are, so far as we can discover, the sole instances during these +two years when the justices of the peace were not left to their own +devices. This is significant. Except in Middlesex and in the chartered +towns of England, we have, excepting during this time of war, no records +that witches were ever sentenced to death, save by the judges of assize. + +To put it in a nutshell, England was in a state of judicial +anarchy.[107] Local authorities were in control. But local authorities +had too often been against witches. The coming of Hopkins and Stearne +gave them their chance, and there was no one to say stop. + +This explanation fits in well with the fact, to which we shall advert in +another chapter, that no small proportion of English witch trials took +place in towns possessing separate rights of jurisdiction. This was +especially true in the seventeenth century. The cases in Yarmouth, +King's Lynn, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Berwick, and Canterbury, are all +instances in point. Indeed, the solitary prosecution in Hopkins's own +time in which he had no hand was in one of those towns, Faversham in +Kent. There the mayor and "local jurators" sent not less than three to +the gallows.[108] + +One other aspect of the Hopkins crusade deserves further attention. It +has been shown in the course of the chapter that the practice of torture +was in evidence again and again during this period. The methods were +peculiarly harrowing. At the same time they were methods which the +rationale of the witch belief justified. The theory need hardly be +repeated. It was believed that the witches, bound by a pact with the +Devil, made use of spirits that took animal forms. These imps, as they +were called, were accustomed to visit their mistress once in twenty-four +hours. If the witch, said her persecutors, could be put naked upon a +chair in the middle of the room and kept awake, the imps could not +approach her. Herein lay the supposed reasonableness of the methods in +vogue. And the authorities who were offering this excuse for their use +of torture were not loth to go further. It was, they said, necessary to +walk the creatures in order to keep them awake. It was soon discovered +that the enforced sleeplessness and the walking would after two or three +days and nights produce confessions. Stearne himself describes the +matter graphically: "For the watching," he writes, "it is not to use +violence or extremity to force them to confesse, but onely the keeping +is, first, to see whether any of their spirits or familiars come to or +neere them; for I have found that if the time be come, the spirit or +Impe so called should come, it will be either visible or invisible, if +visible, then it may be discerned by those in the Roome, if invisible, +then by the party. Secondly, it is for this end also, that if the +parties which watch them, be so carefull that none come visible nor +invisible but that may be discerned, if they follow their directions +then the party presently after the time their Familiars should have +come, if they faile, will presently confesse, for then they thinke they +will either come no more or have forsaken them. Thirdly it is also to +the end, that Godly Divines and others might discourse with them, for if +any of their society come to them to discourse with them, they will +never confesse.... But if honest godly people discourse with them, +laying the hainousnesse of their sins to them, and in what condition +they are in without Repentance, and telling them the subtilties of the +Devil, and the mercies of God, these ways will bring them to Confession +without extremity, it will make them break into confession hoping for +mercy."[109] + +Hopkins tells us more about the walking of the witches. In answer to the +objection that the accused were "extraordinarily walked till their feet +were blistered, and so forced through that cruelty to confesse," "he +answered that the purpose was only to keepe them waking: and the reason +was this, when they did lye or sit in a chaire, if they did offer to +couch downe, then the watchers were only to desire them to sit up and +walke about." + +Now, the inference might be drawn from these descriptions that the use +of torture was a new feature of the witchcraft persecutions +characteristic of the Civil War period. There is little evidence that +before that time such methods were in use. A schoolmaster who was +supposed to have used magic against James I had been put to the rack. +There were other cases in which it is conjectured that the method may +have been tried. There is, however, little if any proof of such trial. + +Such an inference would, however, be altogether unjustified. The +absence of evidence of the use of torture by no means establishes the +absence of the practice. It may rather be said that the evidence of the +practice we possess in the Hopkins cases is of such a sort as to lead us +to suspect that it was frequently resorted to. If for these cases we had +only such evidence as in most previous cases has made up our entire sum +of information, we should know nothing of the terrible sufferings +undergone by the poor creatures of Chelmsford and Bury. The confessions +are given in full, as in the accounts of other trials, but no word is +said of the causes that led to them. The difference between these cases +of 1645 and other cases is this, that Hopkins and Stearne accused so +large a body of witches that they stirred up opposition. It is through +those who opposed them and their own replies that we learn about the +tortures inflicted upon the supposed agents of the Devil. + +The significance of this cannot be insisted upon too strongly. A chance +has preserved for us the fact of the tortures of this time. It is +altogether possible--it is almost probable--that, if we had all the +facts, we should find that similar or equally severe methods had been +practised in many other witch cases. + +We have been very minute in our descriptions of the Hopkins crusade, and +by no means brief in our attempt to account for it. But it is safe to +say that it is easily the most important episode in that series of +episodes which makes up the history of English witchcraft. None of them +belong, of course, in the larger progress of historical events. It may +seem to some that we have magnified the point at which they touched the +wider interests of the time. Let it not be forgotten that Hopkins was a +factor in his day and that, however little he may have affected the +larger issues of the times, he was affected by them. It was only the +unusual conditions produced by the Civil Wars that made the great +witchfinder possible. + + +[1] See J. O. Jones, "Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder," in Thomas +Seccombe's _Twelve Bad Men_ (London, 1894). + +[2] See _Notes and Queries_, 1854, II, 285, where a quotation from a +parish register of Mistley-cum-Manningtree is given: "Matthew Hopkins, +son of Mr. James Hopkins, Minister of Wenham, was buried at Mistley +August 12, 1647." See also John Stearne, _A Confirmation and Discovery +of Witchcraft_, 61 (cited hereafter as "Stearne"). + +[3] _Calendar of the Proceedings of the Committee for Advance of Money, +1642-1656_, I, 457. _Cf. Notes and Queries_, 1850, II, 413. + +[4] The oft-repeated statement that he had been given a commission by +Parliament to detect witches seems to rest only on the mocking words of +Butler's _Hudibras_: + + "Hath not this present Parliament + A Ledger to the Devil sent, + Fully empower'd to treat about + Finding revolted Witches out?" + + (_Hudibras_, pt. ii, canto 3.) + +To these lines an early editor added the note: "The Witch-finder in +Suffolk, who in the Presbyterian Times had a Commission to discover +Witches." But he names no authority, and none can be found. It is +probably a confusion with the Commission appointed for the trial of the +witches in Suffolk (see below, p. 178). Even his use of the title +"witch-finder-general" is very doubtful. "Witch-finder" he calls himself +in his book; only the frontispiece has "Witch Finder Generall." Nor is +this title given him by Stearne, Gaule, or any contemporary record. It +is perhaps only a misunderstanding of the phrase of Hopkins's +title-page, "for the benefit of the whole kingdome"--a phrase which, as +the punctuation shows, describes, not the witch-finder, but his book. +Yet in _County Folk Lore, Suffolk_ (Folk Lore Soc., 1893), 178, there is +an extract about John Lowes from a Brandeston MS.: "His chief accuser +was one Hopkins, who called himself Witchfinder-General." But this is of +uncertain date, and may rest on Hutchinson. + +[5] This is evident enough from his incessant use of Scripture and from +the Calvinistic stamp of his theology; but he leaves us no doubt when +(p. 54) he describes the Puritan Fairclough as "an able Orthodox +Divine." + +[6] Matthew Hopkins, _The Discovery of Witches_ (London, 1647), 2--cited +hereafter as "Hopkins." + +[7] One of them was Sir Harbottle Grimston, a baronet of Puritan +ancestry, who had been active in the Long Parliament, but who as a +"moderate man" fell now somewhat into the background. The other was Sir +Thomas Bowes. Both figure a little later as Presbyterian elders. + +[8] Hopkins, 3. + +[9] Hopkins, 2; Stearne, 14-16. + +[10] It must, however, be noted that the oaths of the four women are put +together, and that one of the men deposed merely that he confirmed +Stearne's particulars. + +[11] Although Hopkins omitted in his testimony the first animal seen by +Stearne. He mentioned it later, calling it Holt. Stearne called it +Lought. See Hopkins, 2; Stearne, 15. But Stearne calls it Hoult in his +testimony as reproduced in the _True and exact Relation of the severall +Informations, Examinations and Confessions of the Late Witches ... at +Chelmesford ..._ (London, 1645), 3-4. + +[12] Despite this record Anne West is described by Stearne (p. 39) as +one of the very religious people who make an outward show "as if they +had been Saints on earth." + +[13] The confession of Rebecca West is indeed dated "21" March 1645, the +very day of Elizabeth Clarke's arrest; but all the context suggests that +this is an error. In spite of her confessions, which were of the most +damaging, Rebecca West was eventually acquitted. + +[14] It must not for a moment, however, be forgotten that these +confessions had been wrung from tortured creatures. + +[15] Richard Carter and Henry Cornwall had testified that Margaret Moone +confessed to them. Probably she did, as she was doubtless at that time +under torture. + +[16] The evidence offered against her well suggests on what slender +grounds a witch might be accused. "This Informant saith that the house +where this Informante and the said Mary did dwell together, was haunted +with a Leveret, which did usually sit before the dore: And this +Informant knowing that one Anthony Shalock had an excellent Greyhound +that had killed many Hares; and having heard that a childe of the said +Anthony was much haunted and troubled, and that the mother of the childe +suspected the said Mary to be the cause of it: This Informant went to +the said Anthony Shalock and acquainted him that a Leveret did usually +come and sit before the dore, where this Informant and the said Mary +Greenleife lived, and desired the said Anthony to bring downe his +Greyhound to see if he could kill the said Leveret; and the next day the +said Anthony did accordingly bring his Greyhound, and coursed it, but +whether the dog killed it this Informant knows not: But being a little +before coursed by Good-man Merrils dog, the dog ran at it, but the +Leveret never stirred, and just when the dog came at it, he skipped over +it, and turned about and stood still, and looked on it, and shortly +after that dog languished and dyed." + +[17] See Bulstrode Whitelocke, _Memorials of English Affairs ..._ +(London, 1682; Oxford, 1853), ed. of 1853, I, 501. + +[18] "H. F."'s publication is the _True and exact Relation_ cited above +(note 11). He seems to have written it in the last of May, but inserted +verdicts later in the margin. Arthur Wilson, who was present, says that +18 were executed; Francis Peck, _Desiderata Curiosa_ (London, 1732-1735; +1779), ed. of 1779, II, 476. But Hopkins writes that 29 were condemned +at once and Stearne says about 28; quite possibly there were two trials +at Chelmsford. There is only one other supposition, _i. e._, that +Hopkins and Stearne confused the number originally accused with the +number hanged. For further discussion of the somewhat conflicting +evidence as to the number of these Essex witches and the dates of their +trial see appendix C, under 1645. + +[19] _A Diary or an Exact Journall_, July 24-31, 1645, pp. 5-6. + +[20] _A True Relation of the Araignment of eighteene Witches at St. +Edmundsbury ..._ (London, 1645), 9. + +[21] _Ibid._, 6. + +[22] _Ibid._ + +[23] John Gaule, _Select Cases of Conscience Touching Witches and +Witchcrafts_ (London, 1646), 78, 79. + +[24] Queries 8 and 9 answered by Hopkins to the Norfolk assizes confirm +Gaule's description. See Hopkins, 5. "Query 8. When these ... are fully +discovered, yet that will not serve sufficiently to convict them, but +they must be tortured and kept from sleep two or three nights, to +distract them, and make them say anything; which is a way to tame a +wilde Colt, or Hawke." "Query 9. Beside that unreasonable watching, they +were extraordinarily walked, till their feet were blistered, and so +forced through that cruelty to confess." Hopkins himself admitted the +keeping of Elizabeth Clarke from sleep, but is careful to insert "upon +command from the Justice." Hopkins, 2-3. On p. 5 he again refers to this +point. Stearne, 61, uses the phrase "with consent of the justices." + +[25] Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, _Proceedings_, X, 378. Baxter +seems to have started the notion that Lowes was a "reading parson," or +Anglican. + +[26] _Ibid._ + +[27] See _A Magazine of Scandall, or a heape of wickednesse of two +infamous Ministers_ (London, 1642), where there is a deposition, dated +August 4, 1641, that Lowes had been twice indicted and once arraigned +for witchcraft, and convicted by law as "a common Barrettor" at the +assizes in Suffolk. Stearne, 23, says he was charged as a "common +imbarritor" over thirty years before. + +[28] This account of the torture is given, in a letter to Hutchinson, by +a Mr. Rivet, who had "heard it from them that watched with him." It is +in some measure confirmed by the MS. history of Brandeston quoted in +_County Folk Lore, Suffolk_ (Folk Lore Soc.), 178, which adds the +above-quoted testimony as to his litigiousness. + +[29] Stearne, 24. + +[30] _A True Relation of the Araignment of eighteene Witches_, 5; +_Moderate Intelligencer_, September 4-11, 1645. + +[31] See Samuel Clarke, _Lives of sundry Eminent Persons ..._ (London, +1683), 172. In writing the life of Samuel Fairclough, Clarke used +Fairclough's papers; see _ibid._, 163. + +[32] Fairclough was a Non-Conformist, but not actively sympathetic with +Presbyterianism. Calamy was counted a Presbyterian. + +[33] Hopkins, 5-6; Stearne, 18. + +[34] One of these was Lowes. + +[35] _A True Relation of the Araignment of eighteene Witches._ + +[36] Stearne, 14. + +[37] _A True Relation of the Araignment of eighteene Witches_, 5. + +[38] _Ibid._; Stearne, 25. + +[39] Hutchinson speaks of repeated sessions. Stearne, 25, says: "by +reason of an Allarum at Cambridge, the gaol delivery at Burie St. +Edmunds was adjourned for about three weeks." As a matter of fact, the +king's forces seem not to have got farther east than Bedford and +Cambridge. See Whitelocke, _Memorials_, I, 501. + +[40] Stearne, 11, speaks of 68 condemnations. On p. 14 he tells of 18 +who were executed at Bury, but this may have referred to the first group +only. A MS. history of Brandeston quoted in _County Folk Lore, Suffolk_ +(Folk Lore Soc.), 178, says that Lowes was executed with 59 more. It is +not altogether certain, however, that this testimony is independent. +Nevertheless, it contains pieces of information not in the other +accounts, and so cannot be ignored. + +[41] _Moderate Intelligencer_, September 4-11, 1645. + +[42] Howell, _Familiar Letters_ (I use the ed. of Joseph Jacobs, London +1890-1892) II, 506, 515, 551. The letters quoted are dated as of Feb., +1646 (1647), and Feb., 1647 (1648 of our calendar); but, as is well +known, Howell's dates cannot be trusted. The first was printed in the +volume of his letters published in 1647, the others in that published in +1650. + +[43] Joseph Hall, _Soliloquies_ (London, 1651), 52-53. + +[44] Thomas Ady, _Candle in the Dark_ (London, 1656), 101-105. + +[45] The Rev. John Worthington attended the trial. In mentioning it in +his diary, he made no comment. _Diary and Correspondence of Dr. John +Worthington_, I (Chetham Soc., no. 13, 1847), 22. + +[46] So, at least, says Whitelocke, _Memorials_, I, 487. + +[47] J. G. Nall, _Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft_ (London, 1867), 92, +note, quotes from the Yarmouth assembly book. Nall makes very careless +statements, but his quotations from the assembly book may be depended +upon. + +[48] _Ibid._ + +[49] _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, IX, pt. i, 320. + +[50] The _Collection of Modern Relations_ says that sixteen were hanged, +but this compilation was published forty-seven years after the events: +the number 6 had been changed to 16. One witch seems to have suffered +later, see Stearne, 53. The statement about the 16 witches hanged at +Yarmouth may be found in practically all accounts of English witchcraft, +_e. g._, see the recent essay on Hopkins by J. O. Jones, in Seccombe's +_Twelve Bad Men_, 60. They can all be traced back through various lines +to this source. + +[51] H. Manship, _History of Great Yarmouth_, continued by C. J. Palmer +(Great Yarmouth, 1854-1856), where the Yarmouth records about Hopkins +are given in full. See also H. Harrod, in _Norfolk Archaeology_ (Norfolk +and Norwich Arch. Soc., 1847-1864), IV, 249. + +[52] _The Lawes against Witches and Conjuration ..._ (London, 1645), 4. +J. O. Jones, in his account of Hopkins, _loc. cit._, says that "many +were hanged or burned in Ipswich." I believe that no authority can be +cited for this statement. + +[53] The first is in, _A True Relation of the Araignment of eighteene +Witches_, 5. We of course do not know that the sentence was carried out. + +[54] The master of a ship had been "sutor" for her grandchild; _The +Lawes against Witches_, 8. She was a "professour of Religion, a constant +hearer of the Word for these many years." + +[55] _Ibid._ + +[56] _I. e., The Lawes against Witches_ (London, 1645). See below, +appendix A, Sec. 4. + +[57] N. F. Hele, _Notes or Jottings about Aldeburgh_ (Ipswich, 1890), +43-44. + +[58] This was doubtless the fee to the executioner. Mr. Richard Browne +and Mr. Newgate, who were either the justices of the peace or the local +magistrates, received L4 apiece for their services in trying the +witches. + +[59] A. G. Hollingsworth, _History of Stowmarket_ (Ipswich, 1844), 170. + +[60] For a list of these towns, see below, appendix C, under 1645, +Suffolk. + +[61] Stearne, 45, two instances. + +[62] _Ibid._, 37, 39, 45. + +[63] Thomas Ady, _A Candle in the Dark_, 135. + +[64] Stearne, 39. + +[65] His whole confession reads like the utterance of a tortured man. + +[66] He had previously been found with a rope around his neck. This was +of course attributed to witchcraft. Stearne, 35. + +[67] _Ibid._, 11. + +[68] John Wynnick and Joane Wallis made effective confessions. The +first, when in the heat of passion at the loss of a purse, had signed +his soul away (Stearne, 20-21; see also the pamphlet, the dedication of +which is signed by John Davenport, entitled, _The Witches of Huntingdon, +their Examinations and Confessions ..._ London, 1646, 3). The latter +maintained a troop of imps, among whom Blackeman, Grissell, and +Greedigut figured most prominently. The half-witted creature could not +recall the names on the repetition of her confessions, but this failing +does not seem to have awakened any doubt of her guilt. Stearne could not +avoid noticing that some of those who suffered were very religious. One +woman, who had kept an imp for twenty-one years, "did resort to church +and had a desire to be rid of her unhappy burden." + +[69] _I. e._, witches. + +[70] This letter is printed by Gaule at the opening of his _Select Cases +of Conscience Touching Witches and Witchcrafts_. + +[71] Stearne, 11; _cf._ below, appendix C, 1646 (pp. 405-406). + +[72] That it was done by the justices of the peace is a probable +conclusion from Stearne's language. See his account of Joane Wallis, p. +13, also his account of John Wynnick, pp. 20-21. That the examinations +were in March and April (see John Davenport's account, _The Witches of +Huntingdon_) and the executions in May is a fact confirmatory of this; +see Stearne, 11. But it is more to the point that John Davenport +dedicates his pamphlet to the justices of the peace for the county of +Huntingdon, and says: "You were present, and Judges at the Tryall and +Conviction of them." + +[73] The swimming ordeal was perhaps unofficial; see Stearne, 19. +Another case was that of Elizabeth Chandler, who was "duckt"; _Witches +of Huntingdon_, 8. + +[74] Tilbrooke-bushes, Stearne, 11; Risden, _ibid._, 31. + +[75] This may be inferred from Stearne's words: "but afterward I heard +that she made a very large confession," _ibid._, 31. + +[76] Thomas Wright, John Ashton, J. O. Jones, and the other writers who +have dealt with Hopkins, speak of the Worcester trials, in 1647, in +which four women are said to have been hanged. Their statements are all +based upon a pamphlet, _The Full Tryals, Examination, and Condemnation +of Four Notorious Witches at the Assizes held at Worcester on Tuseday +the 4th of March.... Printed for I. W._ What seems to have been the +first edition of this brochure bears no date. In 1700 another edition +was printed for "J. M." in Fleet Street. Some writer on witchcraft +gained the notion that this pamphlet belonged in the year 1647 and dealt +with events in that year. Wright, John Ashton, and W. H. Davenport Adams +(_Witch, Warlock, and Magician_, London, 1889), all accept this date. An +examination of the pamphlet shows that it was cleverly put together from +the _True and Exact Relation_ of 1645. The four accused bear the names +of four of those accused at Chelmsford, and make, with a few +differences, the same confessions. See below, appendix A, Sec. 4, for a +further discussion of this pamphlet. It is strange that so careful a +student as Thomas Wright should have been deceived by this pamphlet, +especially since he noticed that the confessions were "imitations" of +those in Essex. + +[77] A. Gibbons, ed., _Ely Episcopal Records_ (Lincoln, 1891), 112-113. + +[78] Stearne, 37. + +[79] That there were assizes is proved by the statement that "Moore's +wife" confessed before the "Judge, Bench, and Country," _ibid._, 21-22, +as well as by the reference in the _Ely Episcopal Records_, 113, to the +"assizes." + +[80] Stearne, 17, 21-22. + +[81] For a clear statement of this point of view, see _ibid._, 40-50. + +[82] Stearne, 46-47. + +[83] _Ibid._, 50. + +[84] _Ibid._, 17. + +[85] _Ibid._, 13. + +[86] _Ibid._, 14. + +[87] Hopkins, 5. But Hopkins was not telling the exact truth here. When +he was at Aldeburgh in September (8th) the accused were watched day and +night. See chamberlain's accounts, in N. F. Hele, _Notes or Jottings +about Aldeburgh_, 43. + +[88] Hopkins, 7. + +[89] Hopkins, 9. + +[90] Stearne, 18. Hopkins did not attempt to deny the use of the ordeal. +He supported himself by quoting James; see Hopkins, 6. + +[91] Stearne, 18. He means, of course, Serjeant Godbolt. + +[92] See Stearne, in his preface to the reader, also p. 61; and see also +the complete title of Hopkins's book as given in appendix A (p. 362). + +[93] A similar case was that of Anne Binkes, to whom Stearne refers on +p. 54. He says she confessed to him her guilt. "Was this woman fitting +to live?... I am sure she was living not long since, and acquitted upon +her trial." + +[94] Not until after Stearne was already busy elsewhere. Stearne, 58. + +[95] It would seem, too, that Stearne was sued for recovery of sums paid +him. "Many rather fall upon me for what hath been received; but I hope +such suits will be disannulled." Stearne, 60. + +[96] Hopkins, 11. + +[97] _County Folk Lore, Suffolk_ (Folk Lore Soc.) 176, quoting from J. +T. Varden in the _East Anglian Handbook_ for 1885, p. 89. + +[98] James Howell, _Familiar Letters_, II, 551. Howell, of course, may +easily have counted convictions as executions. Moreover, it was a time +when rumors were flying about, and Howell would not have taken the pains +to sift them. Yet his agreement with Stearne in numbers is remarkable. +Somewhat earlier, (the letter is dated February 3, 1646/7) Howell had +written that "in Essex and Suffolk there were above two hundred indicted +within these two years and above the one half executed" (_ibid._, 506). +But, as noted above, his dates are not to be trusted. + +[99] See his _History of Rationalism_. + +[100] A name no greater, however, than that of Glanvill, who was a +prominent Anglican. + +[101] It does not belong in this connection, but it should be stated, +that one of the strongest reasons for supposing the Presbyterian party +largely responsible for the persecution of witches lies in the large +number of witches in Scotland throughout the whole period of that +party's ascendancy. This is an argument that can hardly be successfully +answered. Yet it is a legitimate question whether the witch-hunting +proclivities of the north were not as much the outcome of Scottish laws +and manners as of Scottish religion. + +[102] The _Magazine of Scandall_, speaking of Lowes and another man, +says: "Their Religion is either none, or else as the wind blows: If the +ceremonies be tending to Popery, none so forward as they, and if there +be orders cleane contrary they shall exceed any Round-head in the Ile of +great Brittain." See also above, pp. 175-177. + +[103] Yet it must not be overlooked that Stearne himself, who must have +known well the religious sympathies of his opponents, asks, p. 58, "And +who are they that have been against the prosecution ... but onely such +as (without offence I may speak it) be enemies to the Church of God?" He +dares not mention names, "not onely for fear of offence, but also for +suits of Law." + +[104] Scott has pictured this very well in _Woodstock_. For a good +example of it see _The [D]Ivell in Kent, or His strange Delusions at +Sandwitch_ (London, 1647). + +[105] See below, note 107. + +[106] The witches of Aldeburgh were tried at the "sessions," N. F. Hele, +_op. cit._, 43-44. Mother Lakeland was probably condemned by the +justices of the peace; see _The Lawes against Witches_. The witches of +Huntingdon were tried by the justices of the peace; see above, note 73. +As for the trials in Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and +Cambridgeshire, it is fairly safe to reason that they were conducted by +the justices of the peace from other evidence which we have that there +were no assizes during the last half of 1645 and the first five months +of 1646; see Whitelocke, _Memorials_, II, 31, 44, 64. + +[107] For a few of the evidences of this situation during these years +see James Thompson, _Leicester_ (Leicester, 1849), 401; _Hist. MSS. +Comm. Reports, Various_, I, 109-110, 322; XIII, 4, p. 216 (note gaps in +the records); Whitelocke, _Memorials_, I, 436; II, 31, 44, 64, 196; III, +152. Innumerable other references could be added to prove this point. F. +A. Inderwick in his _Interregnum_ (London, 1891), 153, goes so far as to +say that "from the autumn of 1642 to the autumn of 1646 no judges went +the circuits." This seems rather a sweeping statement. + +[108] See _The Examination, Confession_, etc. (London, 1645). Joan +Williford, Joan Cariden, and Jane Hott were tried. The first two quickly +confessed to the keeping of imps. Not so Jane Hott, who urged the others +to confess and "stoode to it very perversely that she was cleare." When +put to the swimming test she floated, and is said to have then declared +that the Devil "had sat upon a Cross beame and laughed at her." +Elizabeth Harris was examined, and gave some damaging evidence against +herself. She named several goodwives who had very loose tongues. + +[109] Stearne, 13, 14. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +WITCHCRAFT DURING THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE. + + +We have, in the last chapter, traced the history of witchcraft in +England through the Hopkins episode of 1645-1647. From the trials at Ely +in the autumn of 1647 to the discoveries at Berwick in the summer of +1649 there was a lull in the witch alarms. Then an epidemic broke out in +the north of England. We shall, in this chapter, describe that epidemic +and shall carry the narrative of the important cases from that time to +the Restoration. In doing this we shall mark off two periods, one from +1649 to 1653, when the executions were still numerous, and a second from +1653 to 1659 when there was a rapid falling off, not only in death +penalties for witchcraft, but even in accusations. To be sure, this +division is somewhat artificial, for there was a gradual decline of the +attack throughout the two periods, but the year 1653 more nearly than +any other marks the year when that decline became visible. + +The epidemic of 1649 came from Scotland. Throughout the year the +northern kingdom had been "infested."[1] From one end of that realm to +the other the witch fires had been burning. It was not to be supposed +that they should be suddenly extinguished when they reached the border. +In July the guild of Berwick had invited a Scotchman who had gained +great fame as a "pricker" to come to Berwick, and had promised him +immunity from all violence.[2] He came and proceeded to apply his +methods of detection. They rested upon the assumption that a witch had +insensible spots on her body, and that these could be found by driving +in a pin. By such processes he discovered thirty witches, who were sent +to gaol. Some of them made confessions but refused to admit that they +had injured any one.[3] On the contrary, they had assisted Cromwell, so +some of the more ingenious of them claimed, at the battle of Preston.[4] +Whether this helped their case we do not know, for we are not told the +outcome. It seems almost certain, however, that few, if any, of them +suffered death. But the pricker went back to Scotland with thirty +pounds, the arrangement having been that he was to receive twenty +shillings a witch. + +He was soon called upon again. In December of the same year the town of +Newcastle underwent a scare. Two citizens, probably serjeants, applied +the test with such success that in March (1649/50) a body of citizens +petitioned the common council that some definite steps be taken about +the witches. The council accepted the suggestion and despatched two +serjeants, doubtless the men already engaged in the work, to Scotland to +engage the witch-pricker. He was brought to Newcastle with the definite +contract that he was to have his passage going and coming and twenty +shillings apiece for every witch he found. The magistrates did +everything possible to help him. On his arrival in Newcastle they sent +the bellman through the town inviting every one to make complaints.[5] +In this business-like way they collected thirty women at the town hall, +stripped them, and put them to the pricking test. This cruel, not to say +indelicate, process was carried on with additions that must have proved +highly diverting to the base-minded prickers and onlookers.[6] Fourteen +women and one man were tried (Gardiner says by the assizes) and found +guilty. Without exception they asserted their innocence; but this +availed not. In August of 1650 they were executed on the town moor[7] of +Newcastle.[8] + +The witchfinder continued his activities in the north, but a storm was +rising against him. Henry Ogle, a late member of Parliament, caused him +to be jailed and put under bond to answer the sessions.[9] Unfortunately +the man got away to Scotland, where he later suffered death for his +deeds, probably during the Cromwellian regime in that country.[10] + +We have seen that Henry Ogle had driven the Scotch pricker out of the +country. He participated in another witch affair during this same period +which is quite as much to his credit. The children of George Muschamp, +in Northumberland, had been troubled for two years (1645-1647) with +strange convulsions.[11] The family suspected Dorothy Swinow, who was +the wife of Colonel Swinow. It seems that the colonel's wife had, at +some time, spoken harshly to one of the children. No doubt the sick +little girl heard what they said. At any rate her ravings began to take +the form of accusations against the suspected woman. The family +consulted John Hulton, "who could do more then God allowed," and he +accused Colonel Swinow's wife. But unfortunately for him the child had +been much better during his presence, and he too was suspected. The +mother of the children now rode to a justice of the peace, who sent for +Hulton, but not for Mistress Swinow. Then the woman appealed to the +assizes, but the judge, "falsely informed," took no action. Mrs. +Muschamp was persistent, and in the town of Berwick she was able, at +length, to procure the arrest of the woman she feared. But Dorothy +Swinow was not without friends, who interfered successfully in her +behalf. Mrs. Muschamp now went to a "counsellor," who refused to meddle +with the matter, and then to a judge, who directed her to go to Durham. +She did so and got a warrant; but it was not obeyed. She then procured a +second warrant, and apparently succeeded in getting an indictment. But +it did her little good: Dorothy Swinow was not apprehended. + +One can hardly refrain from smiling a little at the unhappy Mrs. +Muschamp and her zealous assistants, the "physician" and the two +clergymen. But her poor daughters grew worse, and the sick child, who +had before seen angels in her convulsions, now saw the colonel's wife +and cried out in her ravings against the remiss judge.[12] The case is +at once pathetic and amusing, but it has withal a certain significance. +It was not only Mrs. Swinow's social position that saved her, though +that doubtless carried weight. It was the reluctance of the +north-country justices to follow up accusations. Not that they had done +with trials. Two capital sentences at Durham and another at Gateshead, +although perhaps after-effects of the Scotch pricker's activity, showed +that the witch was still feared; but such cases were exceptions. In +general, the cases resulted in acquittals. We shall see, in another +chapter, that the discovery which alarmed Yorkshire and Northumberland +in 1673 almost certainly had this outcome; and the cases tried at that +time formed the last chapter in northern witchcraft. + +But, if hanging witches was not easy in the north, there were still +districts in the southwest of England where it could be done, with few +to say nay. Anne Bodenham,[13] of Fisherton Anger in Wiltshire, had not +the social position of Dorothy Swinow, but she was the wife of a +clothier who had lived "in good fashion," and in her old age she taught +children to read. She had, it seems, been in earlier life an apt pupil +of Dr. Lambe, and had learned from him the practice of magic lore. She +drew magic circles, saw visions of people in a glass, possessed numerous +charms and incantations, and, above all, kept a wonderful magic book. +She attempted to find lost money, to tell the future, and to cure +disease; indeed, she had a varied repertoire of occult performances. + +Now, Mistress Bodenham did all these things for money and roused no +antagonism in her community until she was unfortunate enough to have +dealings with a maid-servant in a Wiltshire family. It is impossible to +get behind the few hints given us by the cautious writer. The members of +the family, evidently one of some standing in Wiltshire, became involved +in a quarrel among themselves. It was believed, indeed, by neighbors +that there had been a conspiracy on the part of some of the family to +poison the mother-in-law. At all events, a maid in the family was +imprisoned for participation in such a plot. It was then that Anne +Bodenham first came into the story. The maid, to judge from the few data +we have, in order to distract attention from her own doings, made a +confession that she had signed a book of the Devil's with her own blood, +all at the instigation of Anne Bodenham. Moreover, Anne, she said, had +offered to send her to London in two hours. This was communicated to a +justice of the peace, who promptly took the accused woman into custody. +The maid-servant, successful thus far, began to simulate fits and to lay +the blame for them on Mistress Anne. Questioned as to what she conceived +her condition, she replied, "Oh very damnable, very wretched." She could +see the Devil, she said, on the housetop looking at her. These fancies +passed as facts, and the accused woman was put to the usual +humiliations. She was searched, examined, and urged to confess. The +narrator of the story made effort after effort to wring from her an +admission of her guilt, but she slipped out of all his traps. Against +her accuser she was very bitter. "She hath undone me ... that am an +honest woman, 'twill break my Husband's heart, he grieves to see me in +these Irons: I did once live in good fashion." + +The case was turned over by the justices of the peace to the assizes at +Salisbury, where Chief Baron John Wylde of the exchequer presided.[14] +The testimony of the maid was brought in, as well as the other +proofs.[15] All we know of the trial is that Anne was condemned, and +that Judge Wylde was so well satisfied with his work that he urged +Edmund Bower, who had begun an account of the case, but had hesitated to +expose himself to "this Censorious Age," to go on with his booklet. That +detestable individual had followed the case closely. After the +condemnation he labored with the woman to make her confess. But no +acknowledgment of guilt could be wrung from the high-spirited Mistress +Bodenham, even when the would-be father confessor held out to her the +false hope of mercy. She made a will giving gifts to thirty people, +declared she had been robbed by her maids in prison, lamented over her +husband's sorrow, and requested that she be buried under the gallows. +Like the McPherson who danced so wantonly and rantingly beneath the +gallows tree, she remained brave-hearted to the end. When the officer +told her she must go with him to the place of execution, she replied, +"Be you ready, I am ready." The narrator closes the account with some +moral reflections. We may close with the observation that there is no +finer instance of womanly courage in the annals of witchcraft than that +of Anne Bodenham. Doubtless she had used charms, and experimented with +glasses; it had been done by those of higher rank than she. + +As for the maid, she had got herself well out of trouble. When Mistress +Bodenham had been hanged, the fits ceased, and she professed great +thankfulness to God and a desire to serve him. + +The case of Joan Peterson, who was tried at the Old Bailey in 1652, is +another instance of the struggle of a spirited woman against too great +odds. Joan, like Mistress Bodenham, kept various kinds of powders and +prescribed physic for ailing neighbors.[16] It was, however, if we may +believe her defender, not on account of her prescriptions, but rather on +account of her refusal to swear falsely, that her downfall came. One +would be glad to know the name of the vigorous defender who after her +execution issued _A Declaration in Answer to severall lying Pamphlets +concerning the Witch of Wapping_. His narrative of the plot against the +accused woman offers a plausible explanation of the affair and is not +improbably trustworthy. As he tells the story, there were certain +relatives of Lady Powell who had been disappointed that her estate had +been bequeathed to Mrs. Anne Levingston. They conspired to get rid of +the heiress, went to a cunning woman, and offered to pay her liberally +if she would swear that Mrs. Levingston had used sorcery to take away +the life of Lady Powell. Unfortunately for the conspirators, the cunning +woman betrayed their schemes. Not discouraged, however, they employed +another woman, who, as their representative, went to Joan Peterson and +offered her a hundred pounds to swear that Mrs. Levingston had procured +from her "certain powders and bags of seeds." Joan refused the +proposition, and the plotters, fearing a second exposure of their plans, +determined that Mistress Peterson should also be put out of the way. +They were able to procure a warrant to have her arrested and searched. +Great pressure was put upon her to confess enough to implicate Mrs. +Levingston and she was given to understand that if she would do so she +would herself be spared. But Joan refused their proffers and went to her +trial. If the narrative may be at all trusted there was little effort to +give her a fair hearing. Witnesses against her were purchased in +advance, strangers were offered money to testify against her, and those +who were to have given evidence on her side were most of them +intimidated into staying away from the trial. Four physicians and two +surgeons signed a certificate that Lady Powell had died from perfectly +natural causes. It was of no avail. Joan was convicted and died bravely, +denying her guilt to the end.[17] Her defender avers that some of the +magistrates in the case were involved in the conspiracy against her. One +of these was Sir John Danvers, a member of Cromwell's council. In the +margin of his account the pamphleteer writes: "Sir John Danvers came and +dined at the Sessions house and had much private discourse with the +Recorder and many of the Justices and came and sate upon the Bench at +her Trial, where he hath seldom or never been for these many years." + +In July of 1652 occurred another trial that attracted notice in its own +time. Six Kentish women were tried at the assizes at Maidstone before +Peter Warburton.[18] We know almost nothing of the evidence offered by +the prosecution save that there was exhibited in the Swan Inn at +Maidstone a piece of flesh which the Devil was said to have given to one +of the accused, and that a waxen image of a little girl figured in the +evidence. Some of the accused confessed that they had used it in order +to kill the child. Search was instituted for it, and it was found, if +the narrator may be trusted, under the door where the witches had said +it would be.[19] The six were all condemned and suffered execution. +Several others were arraigned, but probably escaped trial. + +If the age was as "censorious" of things of this nature as Edmund Bower +had believed it to be, it is rather remarkable that "these proceedings," +which were within a short distance of London, excited so little stir in +that metropolis. Elias Ashmole, founder of the Ashmolean Museum at +Oxford and delver in astrology, attended the trials, with John +Tradescant, traveller and gardener.[20] He left no comments. The +_Faithful Scout_, in its issue of July 30-August 7, mentioned the trial +and the confessions, but refrained from any expression of opinion. + +There were other trials in this period; but they must be passed over +rapidly. The physicians were quite as busy as ever in suggesting +witchcraft. We can detect the hand of a physician in the attribution of +the strange illness of a girl who discharged great quantities of stones +to the contrivance of Catherine Huxley, who was, in consequence, hanged +at Worcester.[21] In a case at Exeter the physician was only indirectly +responsible. When Grace Matthews had consulted him about her husband's +illness, he had apparently given up the case, and directed her to a wise +woman.[22] The wise woman had warned Mistress Matthews of a neighbor +"tall of stature and of a pale face and blinking eye," against whom it +would be well to use certain prescribed remedies. Mrs. Matthews did so, +and roused out the witch, who proved to be a butcher's wife, Joan Baker. +When the witch found her spells thwarted, she turned them against Mrs. +Matthews's maid-servant, who in consequence died. This was part of the +evidence against Joan, and it was confirmed by her own kinsfolk: her +father-in-law had seen her handling toads. She was committed, but we +hear no more of the case. + +That random accusations were not feared as they had been was evidenced +by the boldness of suspected parties in bringing action against their +accusers, even if boldness was sometimes misjudged. We have two actions +of this sort. + +Joan Read of Devizes had been reported to be a witch, and on that +account had been refused by the bakers the privilege of using their +bakeries for her dough.[23] She threw down the glove to her accusers by +demanding that they should be brought by warrant to accuse her. No doubt +she realized that she had good support in her community, and that her +challenge was not likely to be accepted. But a woman near Land's End in +Cornwall seems to have overestimated the support upon which she could +count. She had procured a warrant against her accusers to call the case +before the mayor. The court sided with the accusers and the woman was +brought to trial. Caught herself, she proceeded to ensnare others. As a +result, eight persons were sent to Launceston,[24] and some probably +suffered death.[25] + +We have already seen what a tangled web Mrs. Muschamp wove when she set +out to imprison a colonel's wife. It would be easy to cite cases to show +the same reluctance to follow up prosecution. Four women at Leicester +searched Ann Chettle and found no evidence of guilt.[26] In Durham a +case came up before Justice Henry Tempest.[27] Mary Sykes was accused. +Sara Rodes, a child, awakening from sleep in a fright, had declared to +her mother that "Sikes' wife" had come in "att a hole att the bedd +feete" and taken her by the throat. Of course Sara Rodes fell ill. +Moreover, the witch had been seen riding at midnight on the back of a +cow and at another time flying out of a "mistall windowe." But the +woman, in spite of the unfavorable opinion of the women searchers, went +free. There were cases that seem to have ended the same way at York, at +Leeds, and at Scarborough. They were hints of what we have already +noticed, that the northern counties were changing their attitude.[28] +But a case in Derbyshire deserves more attention because the justice, +Gervase Bennett, was one of the members of Cromwell's council. The case +itself was not in any way unusual. A beggar woman, who had been +liberally supported by those who feared her, was on trial for +witchcraft. Because of Bennett's close relation to the government, we +should be glad to know what he did with the case, but the fact that the +woman's conviction is not among the records makes it probable that she +was not bound over to the assizes.[29] + +We come now to examine the second of the sub-periods into which we have +divided the Interregnum. We have been dealing with the interval between +the war and the establishment of the Protectorate, a time that shaded +off from the dark shadows of internecine struggle towards the high light +of steady peace and security. By 1653 the equilibrium of England had +been restored. Cromwell's government was beginning to run smoothly. The +courts were in full swing. None of those conditions to which we have +attributed the spread of the witch alarms of the Civil Wars were any +longer in operation. It is not surprising, then, that the Protectorate +was one of the most quiet periods in the annals of witchcraft. While the +years 1648-1653 had witnessed thirty executions in England, the period +of the Protectorate saw but half a dozen, and three of these fell within +the somewhat disturbed rule of Richard Cromwell.[30] In other words, +there was a very marked falling off of convictions for witchcraft, a +falling off that had indeed begun before the year 1653. Yet this +diminution of capital sentences does not by any means signify that the +realm was rid of superstition. In Middlesex, in Somerset and Devon, in +York, Northumberland, and Cumberland, the attack upon witches on the +part of the people was going on with undiminished vigor. If no great +discoveries were made, if no nests of the pestilent creatures were +unearthed, the justices of the peace were kept quite as busy with +examinations as ever before. + +To be sure, an analysis of cases proves that a larger proportion of +those haled to court were light offenders, "good witches" whose healing +arts had perhaps been unsuccessful, dealers in magic who had aroused +envy or fear. The court records of Middlesex and York are full of +complaints against the professional enchanters. In most instances they +were dismissed. Now and then a woman was sent to the house of +correction,[31] but even this punishment was the exception. + +Two other kinds of cases appeared with less frequency. We have one very +clear instance at Wakefield, in York, where a quarrel between two tenant +farmers over their highway rights became so bitter that a chance threat +uttered by the loser of the lawsuit, "It shall be a dear day's work for +you," occasioned an accusation of witchcraft.[32] In another instance +the debt of a penny seems to have been the beginning of a hatred between +two impecunious creatures, and this brought on a charge.[33] + +The most common type of case, of course, was that where strange disease +or death played a part. In Yorkshire, in Hertfordshire, and in Cornwall +there were trials based upon a sort of evidence with which the reader is +already quite familiar. It was easy for the morbid mother of a dead +child to recall or imagine angry words spoken to her shortly before the +death of her offspring. It was quite as natural for a sick child to be +alarmed at the sight of a visitor and go into spasms. There was no fixed +rule, however, governing the relation of the afflicted children and the +possible witches. When William Wade was named, Elizabeth Mallory would +fly into fits.[34] When Jane Brooks entered the room, a bewitched youth +of Chard would become hysterical.[35] It was the opposite way with a +victim in Exeter,[36] who remained well only so long as the witch who +caused the trouble stayed with him.[37] + +Closely related to these types of evidence was what has been denominated +spectral evidence, a form of evidence recurrent throughout the history +of English witchcraft. In the time of the Protectorate we have at least +three cases of the kind. The accused woman appeared to the afflicted +individual now in her own form, again in other shapes, as a cat, as a +bee, or as a dog.[38] The identification of a particular face in the +head of a bee must have been a matter of some difficulty, but there is +no ground for supposing that any objection was made to this evidence in +court. At all events, the testimony went down on the official records in +Yorkshire. In Somerset the Jane Brooks case,[39] already referred to, +called forth spectral evidence in a form that must really have been very +convincing. When the bewitched boy cried out that he saw the witch on +the wall, his cousin struck at the place, upon which the boy cried out, +"O Father, Coz Gibson hath cut Jane Brooks's hand, and 'tis bloody." +Now, according to the story, the constable proceeded to the woman's +house and found her hand cut. + +As to the social status of the people involved in the Protectorate +trials there is little to say, other than has been said of many earlier +cases. By far the larger number of those accused, as we have already +pointed out, were charmers and enchanters, people who made a penny here +and twopence there, but who had at best a precarious existence. Some of +them, no doubt, traded on the fear they inspired in their communities +and begged now a loaf of bread and now a pot of beer. They were the same +people who, when begging and enchanting failed, resorted to +stealing.[40] In one of the Yorkshire depositions we have perhaps a hint +of another class from which the witches were recruited. Katherine Earle +struck a Mr. Frank between the shoulders and said, "You are a pretty +gentleman; will you kisse me?" When the man happened to die this +solicitation assumed a serious aspect.[41] + +Witchcraft was indeed so often the outcome of lower-class bickering that +trials involving the upper classes seem worthy of special record. During +the Protectorate there were two rather remarkable trials. In 1656 +William and Mary Wade were accused of bewitching the fourteen-year-old +daughter of Elizabeth Mallory of Studley Hall. The Mallorys were a +prominent family in Yorkshire. The grandfather of the accusing child had +been a member of Parliament and was a well known Royalist colonel. When +Mistress Elizabeth declared that her fits would not cease until Mary +Wade had said that she had done her wrong, Mary Wade was persuaded to +say the words. Elizabeth was well at once, but Mary withdrew her +admission and Elizabeth resumed her fits, indeed "she was paste +holdinge, her extreamaty was such." She now demanded that the two Wades +should be imprisoned, and when they were "both in holde" she became well +again. They were examined by a justice of the peace, but were probably +let off.[42] + +The story of Diana Crosse at Exeter is a more pathetic one. Mrs. Crosse +had once kept a girls' school--could it be that there was some +connection between teaching and witchcraft?[43]--had met with +misfortune, and had at length been reduced to beggary. We have no means +of knowing whether the suspicion of witchcraft antedated her extreme +poverty or not, but it seems quite clear that the former school-teacher +had gained an ill name in the community. She resented bitterly the +attitude of the people, and at one time seems to have appealed to the +mayor. It was perhaps by this very act that she focussed the suspicion +of her neighbors. To go over the details of the trial is not worth +while. Diana Crosse probably escaped execution to eke out the remainder +of her life in beggary.[44] + +The districts of England affected by the delusion during this period +have already been indicated. While there were random cases in Suffolk, +Hertfordshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Cumberland, and Northumberland, by +far the greatest activity seems to have been in Middlesex, Cornwall, and +Yorkshire. To a layman it looks as if the north of England had produced +the greater part of its folk-lore. Certain it is that the witch stories +of Yorkshire, as those of Lancaster at another time, by their mysterious +and romantic elements made the trials of the south seem flat, stale, and +unprofitable. Yet they rarely had as serious results. + +To the historian the Middlesex cases must be more interesting because +they should afford some index of the attitude of the central government. +Unhappily we do not know the fate of the Yorkshire witches, though it +has been surmised, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that they +all escaped execution.[45] In Middlesex we know that during this period +only one woman, so far as our extant records go, was adjudged guilty. +All the rest were let go free. Now, this may be significant and it may +not. It does not seem unreasonable to suppose that the Middlesex quarter +sessions were in harmony with the central government. Yet this can be no +more than a guess. It is not easy to take bearings which will locate the +position of the Cromwellian government. The protector himself was +occupied with weightier matters, and, so far as we know, never uttered a +word on the subject. He was almost certainly responsible for the pardon +of Margaret Gyngell at Salisbury in 1655,[46] yet we cannot be sure that +he was not guided in that case by special circumstances as well as by +the recommendation of subordinates. + +We have but little more evidence as to the attitude of his council of +state. It was three years before the Protectorate was put into operation +that the hesitating sheriff of Cumberland, who had some witches on his +hands, was authorized to go ahead and carry out the law.[47] But on the +other hand it was in the same period that the English commissioners in +Scotland put a quietus on the witch alarms in that kingdom. In fact, one +of their first acts was to take over the accused women from the church +courts and demand the proof against them.[48] When it was found that +they had been tortured into confessions, the commission resolved upon +an enquiry into the conduct of the sheriff, ministers, and tormentors +who had been involved. Several women had been accused. Not one was +condemned. The matter was referred to the council of state, where it +seems likely that the action of the commissioners was ratified. Seven or +eight years later, in the administration of Richard Cromwell, there was +an instance where the council, apparently of its own initiative, ordered +a party of soldiers to arrest a Rutlandshire witch. The case was, +however, dismissed later.[49] + +To draw a definite conclusion from these bits of evidence would be rash. +We can perhaps reason somewhat from the general attitude of the +government. Throughout the Protectorate there was a tendency, which +Cromwell encouraged, to mollify the rigor of the criminal law. Great +numbers of pardons were issued; and when Whitelocke suggested that no +offences should be capital except murder, treason, and rebellion, no one +arose in holy horror to point out the exception of witchcraft,[50] and +the suggestion, though never acted upon, was favorably considered.[51] + +When we consider this general attitude towards crime in connection with +what we have already indicated about the rapid decline in numbers of +witch convictions, it seems a safe guess that the Cromwellian +government, while not greatly interested in witchcraft, was, so far as +interested, inclined towards leniency. + + +[1] Whitelocke, _Memorials_, III, 63, 97, 99, 113. + +[2] See an extract from the Guild Hall Books in John Fuller, _History of +Berwick_ (Edinburgh, 1799), 155-156. + +[3] Thomas Widdrington's letter to Whitelocke (Whitelocke, _Memorials_, +III, 99). Widdrington said the man professed himself "an artist that +way." The writer was evidently somewhat skeptical. + +[4] _Ibid._ + +[5] Ralph Gardiner, _England's Grievance Discovered in Relation to the +Coal Trade_ (London, 1655), 108. + +[6] _Ibid._ + +[7] See John Brand, _History and Antiquities of ... Newcastle_ (London, +1789), II, 478, or the _Chronicon Mirabile_ (London, 1841), 92, for an +extract from the parish registers, giving the names. A witch of rural +Northumberland was executed with them. + +[8] The witches of 1649 were not confined to the north. Two are said to +have been executed at St. Albans, a man and a woman; one woman was tried +in Worcestershire, one at Gloucester, and two in Middlesex. John Palmer +and Elizabeth Knott, who suffered at St. Albans, had gained some +notoriety. Palmer had contracted with the Devil and had persuaded his +kinswoman to assist him in procuring the death of a woman by the use of +clay pictures. Both were probably practitioners in magic. Palmer, even +when in prison, claimed the power of transforming men into beasts. The +woman seems to have been put to the swimming test. Both were condemned. +Palmer, at his execution, gave information about a "whole colledge of +witches," most of them, no doubt, practisers like himself, but his +random accusations were probably passed over. See _The Divels Delusions +or A faithfull relation of John Palmer and Elizabeth Knott ..._ (1649). + +[9] Ralph Gardiner, _op. cit._, 109. + +[10] See _ibid._ At his execution, Gardiner says, he confessed that he +had been the death of 220 witches in Scotland and England. Either the +man was guilty of unseemly and boastful lying, which is very likely, or +Scotland was indeed badly "infested." See above, note 1. + +[11] This narrative is contained in _Wonderfull News from the North, Or +a True Relation of the Sad and Grievous Torments Inflicted upon ... +three Children of Mr. George Muschamp ..._ (London, 1650). + +[12] The story of the case was sent down to London and there published, +where it soon became a classic among the witch-believing clergy. + +[13] See the two pamphlets by Edmond Bower described below in appendix +A, Sec. 5, and Henry More, _Antidote against Atheisme_, bk. III, ch. VII. + +[14] Wylde was not well esteemed as a judge. On the institution of the +protectorate he was not reappointed by Cromwell. + +[15] Aubrey (who had it from an eye-witness) tells us that "the crowd of +spectators made such a noise that the judge could not heare the +prisoner, nor the prisoner the judge; but the words were handed from one +to the other by Mr. R. Chandler and sometimes not truly repeated." John +Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme ..._ (ed. J. Britten, _Folk +Lore Soc. Publications_, IV, 1881), 261. + +[16] For the case see _The Tryall and Examinations of Mrs. Joan Peterson +..._; _The Witch of Wapping, or an Exact ... Relation of the ... +Practises of Joan Peterson ..._; _A Declaration in Answer to severall +lying Pamphlets concerning the Witch of Wapping ..._, (as to these +pamphlets, all printed at London in 1652, see below, appendix A, Sec. 5); +_French Intelligencer_, April 6-13, 1652; _Weekly Intelligencer_, April +6-13, 1652; _The Faithful Scout_, April 9-16, 1652; _Mercurius +Democritus_, April 7-17, 1652. + +[17] The _French Intelligencer_ tells us the story of her execution: +"She seemed to be much dejected, having a melancholy aspect; she seemed +not to be much above 40 years of age, and was not in the least outwardly +deformed, as those kind of creatures usually are." + +[18] For an account of this affair see _A Prodigious and Tragicall +History of the ... Condemnation of six Witches at Maidstone ..._ +(London, 1652). + +[19] It was "supposed," says the narrator, that nine children, besides a +man and a woman, had suffered at their hands, L500 worth of cattle had +been lost, and much corn wrecked at sea. Two of the women made +confession, but not to these things. + +[20] See Ashmole's diary as given in Charles Burman, _Lives of Elias +Ashmole, Esq., and Mr. William Lilly, written by themselves ..._ +(London, 1774), 316. + +[21] In his _Certainty of the World of Spirits_ (London, 1691), 44, 45, +Richard Baxter, who is by no means absolutely reliable, tells us about +this case. It should be understood that it is only a guess of the writer +that the physician was to blame for the accusation; but it much +resembles other cases where the physician started the trouble. + +[22] William Cotton, _Gleanings from the Municipal and Cathedral Records +Relative to the History of the City of Exeter_ (Exeter, 1877), 149-150. + +[23] _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports, Various_, I, 127. + +[24] _Mercurius Politicus_, November 24-December 2, 1653. One of these +witches was perhaps the one mentioned as from Launceston in Cornwall in +R. and O. B. Peter, _The Histories of Launceston and Dunheved_ +(Plymouth, 1885), 285: "the grave in w^ch the wich was buryed." + +[25] Richard Burthogge, _An Essay upon Reason and the Nature of Spirits_ +(London, 1694), 196, writes that he has the confessions in MS. of "a +great number of Witches (some of which were Executed) that were taken by +a Justice of Peace in Cornwall above thirty Years agoe." It does not +seem impossible that this is a reference to the same affair as that +mentioned by the Launceston record. + +[26] _Leicestershire and Rutland Notes and Queries_ (Leicester, 1891, +etc.), I, 247. + +[27] James Raine, ed., _A Selection from the Depositions in Criminal +Cases taken before the Northern Magistrates, from the Originals +preserved in York Castle_ (Surtees Soc., no. 40, 1861), 28-30. Cited +hereafter as _York Depositions_. + +[28] Yet in 1650 there had been a scare at Gateshead which cost the rate +payers L2, of which a significant item was 6 d. for a "grave for a +witch." _Denham Tracts_ (Folk Lore Soc.), II, 338. At Durham, in 1652, +two persons were executed. Richardson, _Table Book_ (London, 1841), I, +286. + +[29] J. C. Cox, _Three Centuries of Derbyshire Annals_ (London, 1890), +II, 88. Cox, however, thinks it probable that she was punished. + +[30] It is of course not altogether safe to reason from the absence of +recorded executions, and it is least safe in the time of the Civil Wars +and the years of recovery. + +[31] _Middlesex County Records_, ed. by J. C. Jeaffreson (London, 1892), +III, 295; _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports, Various_, I, 129. + +[32] _York Depositions_, 74. + +[33] _Hertfordshire County Sessions Rolls_, compiled by W. J. Hardy +(Hertford, 1905), I, 126. It is not absolutely certain in the second +case that the committal was to the house of correction. + +[34] _York Depositions_, 76-77. + +[35] Joseph Glanvill, _Sadducismus Triumphatus_ (London, 1681), pt. ii, +122. + +[36] Cotton, _Gleanings ... relative to the History of ... Exeter_, 152. + +[37] In the famous Warboys case of 1593 it was the witch's presence that +relieved the bewitched of their ailments. + +[38] _York Depositions_, 64-67. + +[39] Glanvill, _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, pt. ii, 120-121. + +[40] _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports, Various_, I, 120. + +[41] _York Depositions_, 69. + +[42] _Ibid._, 75-78. + +[43] See the story of Anne Bodenham. + +[44] Cotton, _Gleanings ... Relative to the History of ... Exeter_, +150-152. + +[45] James Raine, editor of _York Depositions_, writes that he has found +no instance of the conviction of a witch. Preface, xxx. _The Criminal +Chronology of York Castle, with a Register of Criminals capitally +Convicted and Executed_ (York, 1867), contains not a single execution +for witchcraft. + +[46] Inderwick, _Interregnum_, 188-189. + +[47] _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1650, 159. + +[48] There are several secondary accounts of this affair. See F. Legge +in _Scottish Review_, XVIII, 267. But a most important primary source is +a letter from Clarke to Speaker Lenthall, published by the Scottish +History Society in its volume on _Scotland and the Commonwealth_ +(Edinburgh, 1895), 367-369. See also a tract in Brit. Mus. Thomason +collection, _Two Terrible Sea Fights_ (London, 1652). See, too, the +words of Thomas Ady, _A Candle in the Dark_, 105. + +[49] _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1658-1659_, 169. + +[50] When the council of state, however, in 1652 had issued an act of +general pardon, witchcraft had been specifically reserved, along with +murder, treason, piracy, etc. _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1651-1652_, 106. + +[51] Inderwick, _Interregnum_, 231. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT FROM 1603 TO 1660. + + +No small part of our story has been devoted to the writings of Scot, +Gifford, Harsnett, and King James. It is impossible to understand the +significance of the prosecutions without some acquaintance with the +course of opinion on the subject. In this chapter we shall go back as +far as the opening of the reign of James and follow up to the end of the +Commonwealth the special discussions of witchcraft, as well as some of +the more interesting incidental references. It will be recalled that +James's _Daemonologie_ had come out several years before its author +ascended the English throne. With the coming of the Scottish king to +Westminster the work was republished at London. But, while James by +virtue of his position was easily first among those who were writing on +the subject, he by no means occupied the stage alone. Not less than four +other men gained a hearing within the reign and for that reason deserve +consideration. They were Perkins, Cotta, Roberts, and Cooper. + +William Perkins's _Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft_ came first +in order, indeed it was written during the last years of Elizabeth's +reign; but it was not published until 1608, six years after the author's +death.[1] William Perkins was a fellow of Christ's College at Cambridge +and an eminent preacher in that university. He holds a high place among +Puritan divines. His sermons may still be found in the libraries of +older clergymen and citations from them are abundant in commentaries. It +was in the course of one of his university sermons that he took up the +matter of witchcraft. In what year this sermon was preached cannot +definitely be said. That he seems to have read Scot,[2] that however he +does not mention King James's book,[3] are data which lead us to guess +that he may have uttered the discourse between 1584 and 1597. His point +of view was strictly theological and his convictions grounded--as might +be expected--upon scriptural texts. Yet it seems not unfair to suppose +that he was an exponent of opinion at Cambridge, where we have already +seen evidences of strong faith in the reality of witchcraft. It seems no +less likely that a perusal of Reginald Scot's _Discoverie_ prompted the +sermon. Witches nowadays, he admitted, have their patrons. His argument +for the existence of witches was so thoroughly biblical that we need not +go over it. He did not, however, hold to all current conceptions of +them. The power of the evil one to transform human beings into other +shapes he utterly repudiated. The scratching of witches[4] and the +testing of them by water he thought of no value.[5] In this respect it +will be seen that he was in advance of his royal contemporary. About +the bodily marks, the significance of which James so emphasized, Perkins +seems to have been less decided. He believed in the death penalty,[6] +but he warned juries to be very careful as to evidence.[7] Evidence +based upon the accusations of "good witches," upon the statements of the +dying, or upon the charges of those who had suffered ill after threats, +he thought ought to be used with great caution. It is evident that +Perkins--though he doubtless would not have admitted it himself--was +affected by the reading of Scot. Yet it is disappointing to find him +condoning the use of torture[8] in extreme instances.[9] + +A Cambridge man who wrote about a score of years after Perkins put forth +opinions a good deal farther advanced. John Cotta was a "Doctor in +Physicke" at Northampton who had taken his B. A. at Cambridge in 1595, +his M. A. the following year, and his M. D. in 1603. Nine years after +leaving Cambridge he had published _A Short Discoverie of the Unobserved +Dangers_, in which he had devoted a very thoughtful chapter to the +relation between witchcraft and sickness. In 1616 he elaborated his +notions in _The Triall of Witchcraft_,[10] published at London. Like +Perkins he disapproved of the trial by water.[11] He discredited, too, +the evidence of marks, but believed in contracts with the Devil, and +cited as illustrious instances the cases of Merlin and "that infamous +woman," Joan of Arc.[12] But his point of view was of course mainly that +of a medical man. A large number of accusations of witchcraft were due +to the want of medical examination. Many so-called possessions could be +perfectly diagnosed by a physician. He referred to a case where the +supposed witches had been executed and their victim had nevertheless +fallen ill again.[13] Probably this was the case of Mistress Belcher, on +whose account two women had been hanged at Northampton.[14] + +Yet Cotta believed that there were real witches and arraigned Scot for +failing to distinguish the impostors from the true.[15] It was indeed, +he admitted, very hard to discover, except by confession; and even +confession, as he had pointed out in his first work, might be a "meane, +poore and uncertain proofe," because of the Devil's power to induce +false confession.[16] Here the theologian--it was hard for a +seventeenth-century writer not to be a theologian--was cropping out. But +the scientific spirit came to the front again when he made the point +that imagination was too apt to color observations made upon bewitched +and witch.[17] The suggestion that coincidence explained many of the +alleged fulfillments of witch predictions[18] was equally in advance of +his times. + +How, then, were real cases of bewitchment to be recognized? The best +assurance on such matters, Cotta answered, came "whensoever ... the +Physicion shall truely discover a manifest transcending power."[19] In +other words, the Northampton physician believed that his own profession +could best determine these vexed matters. One who has seen the sorry +part played by the physicians up to this time can hardly believe that +their judgment on this point was saner than that of men in other +professions. It may even be questioned if they were more to be depended +upon than the so superstitious clergy. + +In the same year as Cotta's second book, Alexander Roberts, "minister of +God's word at King's Lynn" in Norfolk, brought out _A Treatise of +Witchcraft_ as a sort of introduction to his account of the trial of +Mary Smith of that town and as a justification of her punishment. The +work is merely a restatement of the conventional theology of that time +as applied to witches, exactly such a presentation of it as was to be +expected from an up-country parson who had read Reginald Scot, and could +wield the Scripture against him.[20] + +The following year saw the publication of a work equally theological, +_The Mystery of Witchcraft_, by the Reverend Thomas Cooper, who felt +that his part in discovering "the practise of Anti-Christ in that +hellish Plot of the Gunpowder-treason" enabled him to bring to light +other operations of the Devil. He had indeed some experience in this +work,[21] as well as some acquaintance with the writers on the subject. +But he adds nothing to the discussion unless it be the coupling of the +disbelief in witchcraft with the "Atheisme and Irreligion that overflows +the land." Five years later the book was brought out again under another +title, _Sathan transformed into an Angell of Light, ... [ex]emplified +specially in the Doctrine of Witchcraft_. + +In the account of the trials for witchcraft in the reign of James I the +divorce case of the Countess of Essex was purposely omitted, because in +it the question of witchcraft was after all a subordinate matter. In the +history of opinion, however, the views about witchcraft expressed by the +court that passed upon the divorce can by no means be ignored. It is not +worth while to rehearse the malodorous details of that singular affair. +The petitioner for divorce made the claim that her husband was unable to +consummate the marriage with her and left it to be inferred that he was +bewitched. It will be remembered that King James, anxious to further the +plans of his favorite, Carr, was too willing to have the marriage +annulled and brought great pressure to bear upon the members of the +court. Archbishop Abbot from the beginning of the trial showed himself +unfavorable to the petition of the countess, and James deemed it +necessary to resolve his doubts on the general grounds of the +divorce.[22] On the matter of witchcraft in particular the king wrote: +"for as sure as God is, there be Devils, and some Devils must have some +power, and their power is in this world.... That the Devil's power is +not so universal against us, that I freely confess; but that it is +utterly restrained _quoad nos_, how was then a minister of Geneva +bewitched to death, and were the witches daily punished by our law. If +they can harm none but the papists, we are too charitable for avenging +of them only." This was James's opinion in 1613, and it is worthy of +note that he was much less certain of his ground and much more on the +defensive about witchcraft than the author of the _Daemonologie_ had +been. It can hardly be doubted that he had already been affected by the +more liberal views of the ecclesiastics who surrounded him. Archbishop +Bancroft, who had waged through his chaplain the war on the exorcists, +was not long dead. That chaplain was now Bishop of Chichester and soon +to become Archbishop of York. It would be strange if James had not been +affected to some degree by their opinions. Moreover, by this time he had +begun his career as a discoverer of impostors. + +The change in the king's position must, however, not be overrated. He +maintained his belief in witches and seemed somewhat apprehensive lest +others should doubt it. Archbishop Abbot, whom he was trying to win over +to the divorce, would not have denied James's theories, but he was +exceedingly cautious in his own use of the term _maleficium_. Abbot was +wholly familiar with the history of the Anglican attitude towards +exorcism. There can be little doubt that he was in sympathy with the +policy of his predecessor. It is therefore interesting to read his +carefully worded statement as to the alleged bewitchment of the Earl of +Essex. In his speech defending his refusal and that of three colleagues +to assent to the divorce, he wrote: "One of my lords (my lord of +Winchester) hath avowed it, that he dislikes that _maleficium_; that he +hath read Del Rio, the Jesuit, writing upon that argument, and doth hold +him an idle and fabulous fellow.... Another of my lords (my lord of Ely) +hath assented thereunto, and _maleficium_ must be gone. Now I for my +part will not absolutely deny that witches by God's permission may have +a power over men, to hurt all, or part in them, as by God they shall be +limited; but how shall it appear that this is such a thing in the person +of a man." This was not, of course, an expression of disbelief in the +reality or culpability of witchcraft. It was an expression of great +reluctance to lay much stress upon charges of witchcraft--an expression +upon the part of the highest ecclesiastical authority in England. + +In the reign of Charles I prior to the Civil Wars we have to analyze but +a single contribution to the literature of our subject, that made by +Richard Bernard. Bernard had preached in Nottinghamshire and had gone +from there to Batcombe in Somerset. While yet in Nottinghamshire, in the +early years of James's reign, he had seen something of the +exorcizers.[23] Later he had had to do with the Taunton cases of 1626; +indeed, he seems to have had a prominent part in this affair.[24] +Presumably he had displayed some anxiety lest the witches should not +receive fair treatment, for in his _Guide to Grand-Jurymen ... in cases +of Witchcraft_, published in 1627, he explained the book as a "plaine +countrey Minister's testimony." Owing to his "upright meaning" in his +"painstaking" with one of the witches, a rumor had spread that he +favored witches or "were of Master Scots erroneous opinion that Witches +were silly Melancholikes."[25] He had undertaken in consequence to +familiarize himself with the whole subject and had read nearly all the +discussions in English, as well as all the accounts of trials published +up to that time. His work he dedicated to the two judges at Taunton, Sir +John Walter and Sir John Denham, and to the archdeacon of Wells and the +chancellor of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The book was, indeed, a +truly remarkable patchwork. All shades of opinion from that of the +earnestly disbelieving Scot to that of the earnestly believing Roberts +were embodied. Nevertheless Bernard had a wholesome distrust of +possessions and followed Cotta in thinking that catalepsy and other +related diseases accounted for many of them.[26] He thought, too, that +the Devil very often acted as his own agent without any +intermediary.[27] Like Cotta, he was skeptical as to the water +ordeal;[28] but, strange to say, he accepted the use of a magical glass +to discover "the suspected."[29] He was inclined to believe that the +"apparition of the party suspected, whom the afflicted in their fits +seem to see," was a ground for suspicion. The main aim of his discourse +was, indeed, to warn judges and jurors to be very careful by their +questions and methods of inquiring to separate the innocent from the +guilty.[30] In this contention, indeed in his whole attitude, he was +very nearly the mouthpiece of an age which, while clinging to a belief, +was becoming increasingly cautious of carrying that belief too far into +judicial trial and punishment.[31] + +It is a jump of seventeen years from Bernard of Batcombe to John Gaule. +It cannot be said that Gaule marks a distinct step in the progress of +opinion beyond Bernard. His general position was much the same as that +of his predecessor. His warnings were perhaps more earnest, his +skepticism a little more apparent. In an earlier chapter we have +observed the bold way in which the indignant clergyman of +Huntingdonshire took up Hopkins's challenge in 1646. It was the Hopkins +crusade that called forth his treatise.[32] His little book was in large +part a plea for more caution in the use of evidence. Suspicion was too +lightly entertained against "every poore and peevish olde Creature." +Whenever there was an extraordinary accident, whenever there was a +disease that could not be explained, it was imputed to witchcraft. Such +"Tokens of Tryall" he deemed "altogether unwarrantable, as proceeding +from ignorance, humor, superstition." There were other more reliable +indications by which witches could sometimes be detected, but those +indications were to be used with exceeding caution. Neither the evidence +of the fact--that is, of a league with the Devil--without confession +nor "confession without fact" was to be accounted as certain proof. On +the matter of confession Gaule was extraordinarily skeptical for his +time. It was to be considered whether the party confessing were not +diabolically deluded, whether the confession were not forced, or whether +it were not the result of melancholy. Gaule went even a little further. +Not only was he inclined to suspect confession, but he had serious +doubts about a great part of witch lore. There were stories of +metamorphoses, there were narratives of "tedious journeys upon broomes," +and a hundred other tales from old authors, which the wise Christian +would, he believed, leave with the writers. To believe nothing of them, +however, would be to belittle the Divine attributes. As a matter of fact +there was a very considerable part of the witch theory that Gaule +accepted. His creed came to this: it was unsafe to pronounce such and +such to be witches. While not one in ten was guilty, the tenth was still +to be accounted for.[33] The physician Cotta would have turned the +matter over to the physicians; the clergyman Gaule believed that it +belonged to the province of the "Magistracy and Ministery."[34] + +During the period of the Commonwealth one would have supposed that +intellectual men would be entirely preoccupied with more weighty +matters than the guilt of witches. But the many executions that followed +in the wake of Hopkins and Stearne had invested the subject with a new +interest and brought new warriors into the fray. Half a dozen writers +took up the controversy. On the conservative side three names deserve +mention, two of them not unknown in other connections, Henry More and +Meric Casaubon. For the defence of the accused witches appeared two men +hardly so well known in their time, Robert Filmer and Thomas Ady. + +More was a young Cambridge scholar and divine who was to take rank among +the English philosophers of the seventeenth century. Grounded in Plato +and impregnated with Descartes, he became a little later thoroughly +infected with the Cabalistic philosophy that had entered Europe from the +East. It was the point of view that he acquired in the study of this +mystic Oriental system that gave the peculiar turn to his witchcraft +notions, a turn which through his own writings and those of Glanvill +found wide acceptance. It was in 1653 that More issued _An Antidote to +Atheisme_. The phenomena of witchcraft he reckoned as part of the +evidence for the reality of the spirit world and used them to support +religion, quite in the same manner as Sir Oliver Lodge or Professor +Hyslop would today use psychical research to establish immortality. More +had made investigations for himself, probably at Maidstone. In his own +town of Cambridge there was a story--doubtless a college joke, but he +referred to it in all seriousness--of "Old Strangridge," who "was +carried over Shelford Steeple upon a black Hogge and tore his breeches +upon the weather-cock."[35] He believed that he had absolute proof of +the "nocturnal conventicles" of witches.[36] He had, however, none of +that instinct for scientific observation that had distinguished Scot, +and his researches did not prevent his being easily duped. His +observations are not by any means so entertaining as are his theories. +His effort to account for the instantaneous transportation of witches is +one of the bright spots in the prosy reasonings of the demonologists. +More was a thoroughgoing dualist. Mind and matter were the two separate +entities. Now, the problem that arose at once was this: How can the +souls of witches leave their bodies? "I conceive," he says, "the Divell +gets into their body and by his subtile substance more operative and +searching than any fire or putrifying liquor, melts the yielding +Campages of the body to such a consistency ... and makes it plyable to +his imagination: and then it is as easy for him to work it into what +shape he pleaseth."[37] If he could do that, much more could he enable +men to leave their bodies. Then arose the problem: How does this process +differ from death? The writer was puzzled apparently at his own +question, but reasoned that death was the result of the unfitness of the +body to contain the soul.[38] But no such condition existed when the +Devil was operating; and no doubt the body could be anointed in such +fashion that the soul could leave and return. + +Meric Casaubon, son of the eminent classical scholar and himself a well +known student, was skeptical as to the stories told about the aerial +journeys of witches which More had been at such pains to explain. It was +a matter, he wrote in his _Treatise concerning Enthusiasme_,[39] of much +dispute among learned men. The confessions made were hard to account +for, but he would feel it very wrong to condemn the accused upon that +evidence. We shall meet with Casaubon again.[40] + +Nathaniel Homes, who wrote from his pastoral study at Mary Stayning's in +London, and dedicated his work[41] to Francis Rous, member of +Parliament, was no halfway man. He was a thoroughgoing disciple of +Perkins. His utmost admission--the time had come when one had to make +some concessions--was that evil spirits performed many of their wonders +by tricks of juggling.[42] But he swallowed without effort all the +nonsense about covenants, and was inclined to see in the activities of +the Devil a presage of the last days.[43] + +The reader can readily see that More, Casaubon, and Homes were all on +the defensive. They were compelled to offer explanations of the +mysteries of witchcraft, they were ready enough to make admissions; but +they were nevertheless sticking closely to the main doctrines. It is a +pleasure to turn to the writings of two men of somewhat bolder stamp, +Robert Filmer and Thomas Ady. Sir Robert Filmer was a Kentish knight of +strong royalist views who had written against the limitations of +monarchy and was not afraid to cross swords with Milton and Hobbes on +the origin of government. In 1652 he had attended the Maidstone trials, +where, it will be remembered, six women had been convicted. As Scot had +been stirred by the St. Oses trials, so Filmer was wrought up by what he +had seen at Maidstone,[44] and in the following year he published his +_Advertisement to the Jurymen of England_. He set out to overturn the +treatise of Perkins. As a consequence he dealt with Scripture and the +interpretation of the well known passages in the Old Testament. The +Hebrew witch, Filmer declared, was guilty of nothing more than "lying +prophecies." The Witch of Endor probably used "hollow speaking." In this +suggestion Filmer was following his famous Kentish predecessor.[45] But +Filmer's main interest, like Bernard's and Gaule's before him, was to +warn those who had to try cases to be exceedingly careful. He felt that +a great part of the evidence used was worth little or nothing. + +Thomas Ady's _Candle in the Dark_ was published three years later.[48] +Even more than Filmer, Ady was a disciple of Scot. But he was, indeed, a +student of all English writers on the subject and set about to answer +them one by one. King James, whose book he persistently refused to +believe the king's own handiwork, Cooper, who was a "bloudy persecutor," +Gifford, who "had more of the spirit of truth in him than many," +Perkins, the arch-enemy, Gaule, whose "intentions were godly," but who +was too far "swayed by the common tradition of men,"[47] all of them +were one after another disposed of. Ady stood eminently for good sense. +It was from that point of view that he ridiculed the water ordeal and +the evidence of marks,[48] and that he attacked the cause and effect +relation between threats and illness. "They that make this Objection +must dwell very remote from Neighbours."[49] + +Yet not even Ady was a downright disbeliever. He defended Scot from the +report "that he held an opinion that Witches are not, for it was neither +his Tenent nor is it mine." Alas, Ady does not enlighten us as to just +what was his opinion. Certainly his witches were creatures without +power.[50] What, then, were they? Were they harmless beings with +malevolent minds? Mr. Ady does not answer. + +A hundred years of witchcraft history had not brought to light a man who +was willing to deny in a printed work the existence of witches. +Doubtless such denial might often have been heard in the closet, but it +was never proclaimed on the housetop. Scot had not been so bold--though +one imagines that if he had been quietly questioned in a corner he might +have denied the thing _in toto_--and those who had followed in his steps +never ventured beyond him. + +The controversy, indeed, was waged in most of its aspects along the +lines laid down by the first aggressor. Gifford, Cotta, and Ady had +brought in a few new arguments to be used in attacking superstition, but +in general the assailants looked to Scot. On the other side, only +Perkins and More had contributed anything worth while to the defence +that had been built up. Yet, the reader will notice that there had been +progress. The centre of struggle had shifted to a point within the outer +walls. The water ordeal and the evidence of marks were given up by most, +if not all. The struggle now was over the transportation of witches +through the air and the battle was going badly for the defenders. + +We turn now to the incidental indications of the shifting of opinion. In +one sense this sort of evidence means more than the formal literature. +Yet its fragmentary character at best precludes putting any great stress +upon it. + +If one were to include all the references to witchcraft in the drama of +the period, this discussion might widen out into a long chapter. Over +the passages in the playwrights we must pass with haste; but certain +points must be noted. Shakespeare, in _Macbeth_, which scholars have +usually placed at about 1606, used a great body of witch lore. He used +it, too, with apparent good faith, though to conclude therefrom that he +believed in it himself would be a most dangerous step.[51] Thomas +Middleton, whose _Witch_ probably was written somewhat later, and who is +thought to have drawn on Shakespeare for some of his witch material, +gives absolutely no indication in that play that he did not credit those +tales of witch performances of which he availed himself. The same may be +said of Dekker and of those who collaborated with him in writing _The +Witch of Edmonton_.[52] + +We may go further and say that in none of these three plays is there any +hint that there were disbelievers. But when we come to Ben Jonson we +have a different story. His various plays we cannot here take up. +Suffice it to say, on the authority of careful commentators, that he +openly or covertly ridiculed all the supposedly supernatural phenomena +of his time.[53] Perhaps a search through the obscurer dramatists of the +period might reveal other evidences of skepticism. Such a search we +cannot make. It must, however, be pointed out that Thomas Heywood, in +_The late Lancashire Witches_[54] a play which is described at some +length in an earlier chapter, makes a character say:[55] "It seemes then +you are of opinion that there are witches. For mine own part I can +hardly be induc'd to think there is any such kinde of people."[56] The +speech is the more notable because Heywood's own belief in witchcraft, +as has been observed in another connection, seems beyond doubt. + +The interest in witchcraft among literary men was not confined to the +dramatists. Three prose writers eminent in their time dealt with the +question. Burton, in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_[57] admits that "many +deny witches at all, or, if there be any, they can do no harm." But he +says that on the other side are grouped most "Lawyers, Divines, +Physitians, Philosophers." James Howell, famous letter-writer of the +mid-century, had a similar reverence for authority: "I say ... that he +who denies there are such busy Spirits and such poor passive Creatures +upon whom they work, which commonly are call'd Witches ... shews that he +himself hath a Spirit of Contradiction in him."[58] There are, he says, +laws against witches, laws by Parliament and laws in the Holy Codex. + +Francis Osborne, a literary man whose reputation hardly survived his +century, but an essayist of great fame in his own time,[59] was a man +who made his fortune by sailing against rather than with the wind. It +was conventional to believe in witches and Osborne would not for any +consideration be conventional. He assumed the skeptical attitude,[60] +and perhaps was as influential as any one man in making that attitude +fashionable. + +From these lesser lights of the literary world we may pass to notice the +attitude assumed by three men of influence in their own day, whose +reputations have hardly been dimmed by time, Bacon, Selden, and Hobbes. +Not that their views would be representative of their times, for each of +the three men thought in his own way, and all three were in many +respects in advance of their day. At some time in the reign of James I +Francis Bacon wrote his _Sylva Sylvarum_ and rather incidentally touched +upon witchcraft. He warned judges to be wary about believing the +confessions of witches and the evidence against them. "For the witches +themselves are imaginative and believe oft-times they do that which they +do not; and people are credulous in that point, and ready to impute +accidents and natural operations to witchcraft. It is worthy the +observing, that ... the great wonders which they tell, of carrying in +the air, transporting themselves into other bodies, &c., are still +reported to be wrought, not by incantations, or ceremonies, but by +ointments, and anointing themselves all over. This may justly move a man +to think that these fables are the effects of imagination."[61] + +Surely all this has a skeptical sound. Yet largely on the strength of +another passage, which has been carelessly read, the great Bacon has +been tearfully numbered among the blindest leaders of the blind.[62] A +careful comparison of his various allusions to witchcraft will convince +one that, while he assumed a belief in the practice,[63] partly perhaps +in deference to James's views,[64] he inclined to explain many reported +phenomena from the effects of the imagination[65] and from the operation +of "natural causes" as yet unknown.[66] + +Bacon, though a lawyer and man of affairs, had the point of view of a +philosopher. With John Selden we get more directly the standpoint of a +legal man. In his _Table Talk_[67] that eminent jurist wrote a paragraph +on witches. "The Law against Witches," he declared, "does not prove +there be any; but it punishes the Malice of those people that use such +means to take away mens Lives. If one should profess that by turning his +Hat thrice and crying Buz, he could take away a man's life (though in +truth he could do no such thing) yet this were a just Law made by the +State, that whosoever should turn his Hat thrice and cry Buz, with an +intention to take away a man's life, shall be put to death."[68] As to +the merits of this legal quip the less said the better; but it is +exceedingly hard to see in the passage anything but downright skepticism +as to the witch's power.[69] + +It is not without interest that Selden's point of view was exactly that +of the philosopher Hobbes. There is no man of the seventeenth century, +unless it be Oliver Cromwell or John Milton, whose opinion on this +subject we would rather know than that of Hobbes. In 1651 Hobbes had +issued his great _Leviathan_. It is unnecessary here to insist upon the +widespread influence of that work. Let it be said, however, that Hobbes +was not only to set in motion new philosophies, but that he had been +tutor to Prince Charles[70] and was to become a figure in the reign of +that prince.[71] Hobbes's work was directed against superstition in many +forms, but we need only notice his statement about witchcraft, a +statement that did not by any means escape his contemporaries. "As for +Witches," he wrote, "I think not that their witchcraft is any reall +power; but yet that they are justly punished for the false beliefe they +have that they can do such mischief, joined with their purpose to do it +if they can."[72] Perhaps the great philosopher had in mind those +pretenders to diabolic arts who had suffered punishment, and was so +defending the community that had rid itself of a preying class. In any +case, while he defended the law, he put himself among the disbelievers +in witchcraft. + +From these opinions of the great we may turn to mark the more trivial +indications of the shifting of opinion to be found in the pamphlet +literature. It goes without saying that the pamphlet-writers believed in +that whereof they spoke. It is not in their outspoken faith that we are +interested, but rather in their mention of those opponents at whose +numbers they marvelled, and whose incredulity they undertook to shake. +Nowhere better than in the prefaces of the pamphleteers can evidence be +found of the growing skepticism. The narrator of the Northampton cases +in 1612 avowed it his purpose in writing to convince the "many that +remaine yet in doubt whether there be any Witches or no."[73] That +ardent busybody, Mr. Potts, who reported the Lancaster cases of 1612, +very incidentally lets us know that the kinsfolk and friends of Jennet +Preston, who, it will be remembered, suffered at York, declared the +whole prosecution to be an act of malice.[74] The Yorkshire poet and +gentleman, Edward Fairfax, who made such an ado about the sickness of +his two daughters in 1622 and would have sent six creatures to the +gallows for it, was very frank in describing the opposition he met. The +accused women found supporters among the "best able and most +understanding."[75] There were, he thought, three kinds of people who +were doubters in these matters: those who attributed too much to natural +causes and who were content to call clear cases of bewitchment +convulsions, those who when witchcraft was broached talked about fairies +and "walking ghosts," and lastly those who believed there were no +witches. "Of this opinion I hear and see there be many, some of them men +of worth, religious and honest."[76] + +The pamphlet-writers of James's reign had adjusted themselves to meet +opposition. Those of the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth were prepared +to meet ridicule.[77] "There are some," says the narrator of a Yorkshire +story, "who are of opinion that there are no Divells nor any witches.... +Men in this Age are grown so wicked, that they are apt to believe there +are no greater Divells than themselves."[78] Another writer, to bolster +up his story before a skeptical public, declares that he is "very chary +and hard enough to believe passages of this nature."[79] + +We have said that the narrators of witch stories fortified themselves +against ridicule. That ridicule obviously must have found frequent +expression in conversation, but sometimes it even crept into the +newspapers and tracts of the day. The Civil Wars had developed a regular +London press. We have already met with expressions of serious opinion +from it.[80] But not all were of that sort. In 1654 the _Mercurius +Democritus_, the _Punch_ of its time, took occasion to make fun of the +stories of the supernatural then in circulation. There was, it declared, +a strange story of a trance and apparition, a ghost was said to be +abroad, a woman had hanged herself in a tobacco pipe. With very broad +humor the journal took off the strange reports of the time and concluded +with the warning that in "these distempered times" it was not safe for +an "idle-pated woman" to look up at the skies.[81] + +The same mocking incredulity had manifested itself in 1648 in a little +brochure entitled, _The Devil seen at St. Albans, Being a true Relation +how the Devill was seen there in a Cellar, in the likeness of a Ram; and +how a Butcher came and cut his throat, and sold some of it, and dressed +the rest for himselfe, inviting many to supper, who did eat of it_.[82] +The story was a clever parody of the demon tracts that had come out so +frequently in the exciting times of the wars. The writer made his point +clear when he declared that his story was of equal value with anything +that "Britannicus" ever wrote.[83] The importance of these indications +may be overestimated. But they do mean that there were those bold enough +to make fun. A decade or two later ridicule became a two-edged knife, +cutting superstition right and left. But even under the terribly serious +Puritans skepticism began to avail itself of that weapon, a weapon of +which it could hardly be disarmed. + +In following the history of opinion we must needs mention again some of +the incidents of certain cases dealt with in earlier chapters, incidents +that indicate the growing force of doubt. The reader has hardly +forgotten the outcome of the Lancashire cases in 1633. There Bishop +Bridgeman and the king, if they did not discredit witchcraft, +discredited its manifestation in the particular instance.[84] As for +William Harvey, he had probably given up his faith in the whole business +after the little incident at Newmarket.[85] When we come to the time of +the Civil Wars we cannot forget that Stearne and Hopkins met +opposition, not alone from the Huntingdon minister, but from a large +party in Norfolk, who finally forced the witchfinder to defend himself +in court. Nor can we forget the witch-pricker of Berwick who was sent +a-flying back to his native northern soil, nor the persistent Mrs. +Muschamp who tramped over Northumberland seeking a warrant and finding +none. + +The course of opinion is a circuitous one. We have followed its windings +in and out through more than half a century. We have listened as +respectfully as possible to the vagaries of country parsons and +university preachers, we have heard from scholars, from gentlemen, from +jurists and men of affairs, from physicians and philosophers. It matters +little now what they thought or said, but it did matter then. We have +seen how easy a thing it was to fall into the error that a middle course +was nearest truth. Broad was the way and many there were that walked +therein. Yet even those who travelled that highway found their direction +shifting. For there was progress in opinion. With every decade the +travellers, as well those who strayed aside as those who followed the +crowd, were getting a little nearer to truth. + + +[1] "Printed by Cantrel Legge, Printer to the Universitie of Cambridge" +(1608, 1610). + +[2] See _Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft_, ch. VII, sect. I. + +[3] His literary executor, Thomas Pickering, late of Emmanuel College, +Cambridge, and now "Minister of Finchingfield in Essex," who prepared +the _Discourse_ for the press (both in its separate form and as a part +of Perkins's collected works), and who dedicates it to Sir Edward Coke, +is, however, equally silent as to James, though in his preface he +mentions Scot by name. + +[4] _Ibid._, ch. IV, sect. I. See also ch. II. + +[5] _Ibid._, ch. VII, sect. II. + +[6] _Ibid._, ch. VI. + +[7] _Ibid._, ch. VII, sect. II. + +[8] _Ibid._, ch. VII, sect. II. + +[9] James Mason, "Master of Artes," whose _Anatomie of Sorcerie_ +("printed at London by John Legatte, Printer to the Universitie of +Cambridge," 1612), puts him next to Perkins in chronological order, +needs only mention in passing. He takes the reality of sorcery for +granted, and devotes himself to argument against its use. + +[10] _... Shewing the True and Right Methode of the Discovery._ Cotta +was familiar with the more important trials of his time. He knew of the +Warboys, Lancaster, and York trials and he probably had come into close +contact with the Northampton cases. He had read, too, several of the +books on the subject, such as Scot, Wier, and Perkins. His omission of +King James's work is therefore not only curious but significant. A +second edition of his book was published in 1625. + +[11] See _Triall of Witchcraft_, ch. XIV. + +[12] See _ibid._, p. 48. + +[13] _Ibid._, 66-67. + +[14] See _ibid._, ch. VI. Cotta speaks of the case as six years earlier. + +[15] _Ibid._, 62, 66. + +[16] _A Short Discoverie_, 70. + +[17] _Triall of Witchcraft_, 83-84. + +[18] _A Short Discoverie_, 51-53. + +[19] _Triall of Witchcraft_, 70. + +[20] Roberts's explanation of the proneness of women to witchcraft +deserves mention in passing. Women are more credulous, more curious, +"their complection is softer," they have "greater facility to fall," +greater desire for revenge, and "are of a slippery tongue." _Treatise of +Witchcraft_, 42-43. + +[21] "In Cheshire and Coventry," he tells us. "Hath not Coventrie," he +asks (p. 16), "beene usually haunted by these hellish Sorcerers, where +it was confessed by one of them, that no lesse than three-score were of +that confedracie?... And was I not there enjoyned by a necessity to the +discoverie of this Brood?" + +[22] For the whole case see Howell, _State Trials_, II. + +[23] See article on Bernard in _Dict. Nat. Biog._ + +[24] See below, appendix C, list of witch cases, under 1626. + +[25] See _Guide to Grand-Jurymen_, Dedication. + +[26] _Ibid._, 11-12. + +[27] _Ibid._, 53. + +[28] _Ibid._, 214. + +[29] This he did on the authority of a repentant Mr. Edmonds, of +Cambridge, who had once been questioned by the University authorities +for witchcraft. _Ibid._, 136-138. + +[30] _Guide to Grand-Jurymen_, 22-28. + +[31] He was "for the law, but agin' its enforcement." + +[32] _Select Cases of Conscience Touching Witches and Witchcraft_ +(London, 1646). + +[33] _Ibid._, 92. + +[34] _Ibid._, 94, 97. That Gaule was a Puritan, as has been asserted, +appears from nothing in his book. If he dedicated his _Select Cases_ to +his townsman Colonel Walton, a brother-in-law of Cromwell, and his +_Mag-astro-mancer_ (a later diatribe against current superstitions) to +Oliver himself, there is nothing in his prefatory letters to show him of +their party. Nor does the tone of his writings suggest a Calvinist. That +in 1649 we find Gaule chosen to preach before the assizes of Huntingdon +points perhaps only to his popularity as a leader of the reaction +against the work of Hopkins. + +[35] _Antidote to Atheisme_, 129. + +[36] _Ibid._, 127-130. + +[37] _Ibid._, ch. VIII, 134. + +[38] _Ibid._, 135. + +[39] See p. 118. This _Treatise_ was first published in 1655. Four years +later, in 1659, he published _A True and faithful Relation of what +passed ... between Dr. John Dee, ... and some spirits_. In the preface +to this he announced his intention of writing the work which he later +published as _Of Credulity and Incredulity_. + +[40] In passing we must mention Richard Farnworth, who in 1655 issued a +pamphlet called _Witchcraft Cast out from the Religious Seed and Israel +of God_. Farnworth was a Quaker, and wrote merely to warn his brethren +against magic and sorcery. He never questioned for a moment the facts of +witchcraft and sorcery, nor the Devil's share in them. As for the +witches, they were doomed everlastingly to the lake of fire. + +[41] _Daemonologie and Theologie. The first, the Malady ..., The Second, +The Remedy_ (London, 1650). + +[42] _Ibid._, 42. + +[43] _Ibid._, 16. + +[44] See the Introduction to the _Advertisement_. + +[45] Filmer noted further that the Septuagint translates the Hebrew word +for witch as "an Apothecary, a Druggister, one that compounds poysons." + +[46] London, 1656. + +[47] In Ady's second edition, _A Perfect Discovery of Witches_ (1661), +134, Gaule's book having meanwhile come into his hands, he speaks of +Gaule as "much inclining to the Truth" and yet swayed by traditions and +the authority of the learned. He adds, "Mr. Gaule, if this work of mine +shall come to your hand, as yours hath come to mine, be not angry with +me for writing God's Truth." + +[48] "... few men or women being tied hand and feet together can sink +quite away till they be drowned" (_Candle in the Dark_, 100); "... very +few people in the World are without privie Marks" (_Ibid._, 127). + +[49] _Ibid._, 129. + +[50] In giving "The Reason of the Book" he wrote, "The Grand Errour of +these latter Ages is ascribing power to Witches." + +[51] See a recent discussion of a nearly related topic by Professor +Elmer Stoll in the _Publications_ of the Modern Language Association, +XXII, 201-233. Of the attitude of the English dramatists before +Shakespeare something may be learned from Mr. L. W. Cushman's _The Devil +and the Vice in the English Dramatic Literature before Shakespeare_ +(Halle, 1900). + +[52] About 1622 or soon after. + +[53] See, for instance, Mr. W. S. Johnson's introduction to his edition +of _The Devil is an Ass_ (New York, 1905). + +[54] 1634. This play was written, of course, in cooperation with Brome; +see above, pp. 158-160. For other expressions of Heywood's opinions on +witchcraft see his _Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels_, 598, and his +[Greek: GYNAIKEION]: _or Nine Books of Various History concerning Women_ +(London, 1624), lib. viii, 399, 407, etc. + +[55] Act I, scene 1. + +[56] In another part of the same scene: "They that thinke so dreame," +_i. e._ they who believe in witchcraft. + +[57] First published in 1621--I use, however, Shilleto's ed. of London, +1893, which follows that of 1651-1652; see pt. I, sect. II, memb. I, +sub-sect. 3. + +[58] James Howell, _Familiar Letters_, II, 548. + +[59] His _Advice to a Son_, first published in 1656-1658, went through +edition after edition. It is very entertaining. His strongly enforced +advice not to marry made a sensation among young Oxford men. + +[60] _Works of Francis Osborne_ (London, 1673), 551-553. + +[61] _Works of Bacon_ (ed. Spedding, London, 1857-1858), II, 642-643. + +[62] "The ointment that witches use is reported to be made of the fat of +children digged out of their graves; of the juices of smallage, +wolf-bane, and cinque-foil, mingled with the meal of fine wheat; but I +suppose that the soporiferous medicines are likest to do it." See _Sylva +Sylvarum_, cent. X, 975, in _Works_, ed. Spedding, II, 664. But even +this passage shows Bacon a skeptic. His suggestion that the soporiferous +medicines are likest to do it means that he thinks the delusions of +witches subjective and produced by drugs. For other references to the +subject see _Works_, II, 658, 660; VII, 738. + +[63] _De Argumentis_, bk. II, ch. II, in _Works_, IV, 296; see also +_ibid._, III, 490. + +[64] _Advancement of Learning_, bk. II; _ibid._, III, 490. + +[65] _Works_, IV, 400-401. + +[66] _Ibid._, IV, 296. + +[67] Selden, _Table Talk_ (London, 1689). The book is supposed to have +been written during the last twenty years of Selden's life, that is, +between 1634 and 1654. + +[68] Selden, _Table Talk_, _s. v._ "Witches." + +[69] Nor did Selden believe in possessions. See his essay on Devils in +the _Table Talk_. + +[70] See article on Hobbes in _Dict. Nat. Biog._ + +[71] See, for example, Bishop Burnet's _History of his Own Time_ +(Oxford, 1823), I, 172, 322-323. + +[72] _Leviathan_ (1651), 7. See also his _Dialogue of the Common Laws of +England_, in _Works_ (ed. of London, 1750), 626: "But I desire not to +discourse of that subject; for, though without doubt there is some great +Wickedness signified by those Crimes, yet have I ever found myself too +dull to conceive the nature of them, or how the Devil hath power to do +many things which Witches have been accused of." See also his chapter on +Daemonology in the _Leviathan_, in _Works_, 384. + +[73] He continues, "Some doe maintaine (but how wisely let the wiser +judge) that all Witchcraft spoken of either by holy writers, or +testified by other writers to have beene among the heathen or in later +daies, hath beene and is no more but either meere Cousinage [he had been +reading Scot], or Collusion, so that in the opinion of those men, the +Devill hath never done, nor can do anything by Witches." _The Witches of +Northamptonshire, ..._ A 4. + +[74] Potts, _The Wonderfull Discoverie ..._, X 4 verso. + +[75] Fairfax, _A Discourse of Witchcraft_ (Philobiblon Soc.), 12. + +[76] _Ibid._, 20. + +[77] One notable instance must be mentioned. "H. F.," the narrator of +the Essex affair of 1645 (_A true and exact Relation_) not only +recognized the strong position of those who doubted, but was by no means +extreme himself. "I doubt not," he wrote, "but these things may seeme as +incredible unto some, as they are matter of admiration unto others.... +The greatest doubt and question will be, whether it be in the power of +the Devil to perform such asportation and locall translation of the +bodies of Witches.... And whether these supernaturall works, which are +above the power of man to do, and proper only to Spirits, whether they +are reall or only imaginary and fained." The writer concludes that the +Devil has power to dispose and transport bodies, but, as to changing +them into animals, he thinks these are "but jugling transmutations." + +[78] _The most true and wonderfull Narration of two women bewitched in +Yorkshire; ..._ (1658). + +[79] "Relation of a Memorable Piece of Witchcraft at Welton near +Daventry," in Glanvill, _Sadducismus Triumphatus_ (London, 1681), pt. +ii, 263-268. + +[80] See above, pp. 179-180, for an expression about the persecution in +1645. + +[81] _Mercurius Democritus_, February 8-15, 1654. + +[82] 1648. This must be distinguished from _The Divels Delusion ..._, +1649, (see above, ch. IX, note 8), which deals with two witches executed +at St. Alban's. + +[83] The truth is that the newspapers, pamphlets, etc., were full of +such stories. And they were believed by many intelligent men. He who +runs through Whitelocke's _Memorials_ may read that the man was +exceeding superstitious. Whether it be the report of the horseman seen +in the air or the stories of witches at Berwick, Whitelocke was equally +interested. While he was merely recording the reports of others, there +is not a sign of skepticism. + +[84] See above, pp. 152-157. + +[85] See above, pp. 160-162. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +WITCHCRAFT UNDER CHARLES II AND JAMES II. + + +No period of English history saw a wider interest in both the theory and +the practice of witchcraft than the years that followed the Restoration. +Throughout the course of the twenty-eight years that spanned the second +rule of the Stuarts, the Devil manifested himself in many forms and with +unusual frequency. Especially within the first half of that regime his +appearances were so thrilling in character that the enemies of the new +king might very well have said that the Evil One, like Charles, had come +to his own again. All over the realm the witches were popping up. If the +total number of trials and of executions did not foot up to the figures +of James I's reign or to those of the Civil War, the alarm was +nevertheless more widely distributed than ever before. In no less than +twenty counties of England witches were discovered and fetched to court. +Up to this time, so far at any rate as the printed records show, the +southwestern counties had been but little troubled. Now Somerset, Devon, +and Cornwall were the storm centre of the panic. In the north Yorkshire +began to win for itself the reputation as a centre of activity that had +long been held by Lancashire. Not that the witch was a new criminal in +Yorkshire courts. During the Civil Wars and the troubled years that +followed the discoverers had been active. But with the reign of Charles +II their zeal increased mightily. Yet, if they had never before fetched +in so many "suspected parties" to the court of the justice of the +peace, they had never before been so often baffled by the outcome. Among +the many such cases known to us during this time there is no mention of +a conviction.[1] In Kent there was a flickering revival of the old +hatred of witches. In the year that Charles gained the throne the city +of Canterbury sent some women to the gibbet. Not so in Essex. In that +county not a single case during this period has been left on record. In +Middlesex, a county which from the days of Elizabeth through to the +Restoration had maintained a very even pace--a stray conviction now and +then among many acquittals--the reign of Charles II saw nothing more +serious than some commitments and releases upon bail. In the Midland +counties, where superstition had flourished in the days of James I, +there were now occasional tales of possession and vague charges which +rarely reached the ears of the assize judges. Northampton, where an +incendiary witch was sentenced, constituted the single exception. In +East Anglia there was just enough stir to prove that the days of Matthew +Hopkins had not been forgotten. + +It needs no pointing out that a large proportion of the cases were but a +repetition of earlier trials. If a difference is discernible, it is in +the increased number of accusations that took their start in strange +diseases called possessions. Since the close of the sixteenth century +and the end of John Darrel's activities, the accounts of possession had +fallen off sensibly, but the last third of the seventeenth century saw a +distinct revival of this tendency to assign certain forms of disease to +the operation of the Devil. We have references to many cases, but only +in exceptional instances are the details given. Oliver Heywood, one of +the eminent Dissenters of northern England, fasted and prayed with his +co-workers over the convulsive and hysterical boys and girls in the West +Riding. Nathan Dodgson was left after long fastings in "a very sensible +melting frame,"[2] but the troubles returned and led, as we shall see in +another connection, to very tragic results. The Puritan clergymen do not +seem, however, to have had any highly developed method of exorcism or to +have looked upon cases of possession in a light very different from that +in which they would have looked upon ordinary illnesses. + +Among the Baptists of Yorkshire there was a possession that roused wide +comment. Mary Hall of Little Gaddesden in Hertfordshire, daughter of a +smith, was possessed in the fall of 1663 with two spirits who were said +to have come to her riding down the chimney upon a stick. The spirits +declared through the girl that Goodwife Harwood had sent them, and when +that suspected woman was brought into the girl's presence the spirits +cried out, "Oh, Goodwife Harwood, are you come?--that is well; ... we +have endeavored to choak her but cannot," and, when Mistress Harwood +left, the spirits begged to go with her.[3] + +In Southwark James Barrow, the son of John Barrow, was long possessed, +and neither "doctors, astrologers, nor apothecaries" could help him. He +was taken to the Catholics, but to no purpose. Finally he was cast among +a "poor dispirited people whom the Lord owned as instruments in his hand +to do this great work."[4] By the "poor dispirited people" the Baptists +were almost certainly meant.[5] By their assistance he seems to have +been cured. So also was Hannah Crump of Warwick, who had been afflicted +by witchcraft and put in a London hospital. Through prayer and fasting +she was entirely recovered. + +Mary Hall had been taken to Doctor Woodhouse of Berkhampstead, "a man +famous for curing bewitched persons." Woodhouse's name comes up now and +again in the records of his time. He was in fact a very typical specimen +of the witch doctor. When Mary Hall's case had been submitted to him he +had cut off the ends of her nails and "with somewhat he added" hung them +in the chimney over night before making a diagnosis.[6] He professed to +find stolen goods as well and fell foul of the courts in one instance, +probably because the woman who consulted him could not pay the shilling +fee.[7] He was arraigned and spent a term in prison. No doubt many of +the witch physicians knew the inside of prisons and had returned +afterwards to successful practice. Redman, "whom some say is a +Conjurer, others say, He is an honest and able phisitian," had been in +prison, but nevertheless he had afterwards "abundance of Practice" and +was much talked about "in remote parts," all this in spite of the fact +that he was "unlearned in the languages."[8] + +Usually, of course, the witch doctor was a poor woman who was very happy +to get a penny fee now and then, but who ran a greater risk of the +gallows than her male competitors. Her reputation, which brought her a +little money from the sick and from those who had lost valuables, made +her at the same time a successful beggar. Those whom she importuned were +afraid to refuse her. But she was in constant peril. If she resented ill +treatment, if she gave in ill wishes as much as she took, she was sure +to hear from it before a stern justice of the peace. It can hardly be +doubted that a large proportion, after the Restoration as in every other +period, of those finally hanged for witchcraft, had in fact made claims +to skill in magic arts. Without question some of them had even traded on +the fear they inspired. Not a few of the wretched creatures fetched to +York castle to be tried were "inchanters." + +Very often, indeed, a woman who was nothing more than a midwife, with +some little knowledge of medicine perhaps, would easily be classed by +the public among the regular witch doctors and so come to have a bad +name. Whether she lived up to her name or not--and the temptation to do +so would be great--she would from that time be subject to suspicion, and +might at length become a prey to the justice of the peace. Mrs. Pepper +was no more than a midwife who made also certain simple medical +examinations, but when one of her patients was "strangely handled" she +was taken to court.[9] Margaret Stothard was probably, so far as we can +piece together her story, a woman who had been successful in calming +fretful children and had so gained for herself a reputation as a witch. +Doubtless she had acquired in time a few of the charmer's tricks that +enhanced her reputation and increased her practice. This was all very +well until one of her patients happened to die. Then she was carried to +Newcastle and would probably have suffered death, had it not been for a +wise judge.[10] + +These are typical cases. The would-be healer of the sick ran a risk, and +it was not always alone from failure to cure. If a witch doctor found +himself unable to bring relief to a patient, it was easy to suggest that +some other witch doctor--and such were usually women--was bewitching the +patient. There are many instances, and they are not confined to the +particular period with which we are dealing, in which one "good witch" +started the run on the other's reputation. Even the regular physician +may sometimes have yielded to the temptation to crush competition. + +Of course, when all the cases are considered, only a very small part of +the "good witches" ever fell into the clutches of the law. The law +prescribed very definite penalties for their operations, but in most +instances no action was taken until after a long accumulation of +"suspicious circumstances," and, even if action was taken, the chances, +as we have seen, were by this time distinctly in favor of the accused. + +This is not to say, by any means, that the judges and juries of England +had come over to the side of the witch. The period with which we are +dealing was marked by a variety of decision which betrays the perplexity +of judges and juries. It is true, indeed, that out of from eighty to one +hundred cases where accusations are on record less than twenty witches +were hanged. This does not mean that six times out of every seven the +courts were ruling against the fact of witchcraft. In the case of the +six released there was no very large body of evidence against them to be +considered, or perhaps no strong popular current to be stemmed. In +general, it may be said that the courts were still backing up the law of +James I. + +To show this, it is only necessary to run over some of the leading +trials of the period. We shall briefly take up four trials conducted +respectively by Justice Archer, Chief Baron Hale, Justice Rainsford, and +Justice Raymond. + +Julian Cox, who was but one of the "pestilent brood" of witches ferreted +out in Somerset by the aggressive justice, Robert Hunt, was tried in +1663 at Taunton before Justice Archer.[11] The charges against her +indeed excited such interest all over England, and elicited, upon the +part of disbelievers, so much derision, that it will be worth our while +to go over the principal points of evidence. The chief witness against +her was a huntsman who told a strange tale. He had started a hare and +chased it behind a bush. But when he came to the bush he had found +Julian Cox there, stooped over and quite out of breath. Another witness +had a strange story to tell about her. She had invited him to come up on +her porch and take a pipe of tobacco with her. While he was with her, +smoking, he saw a toad between his legs. On going home he had taken out +a pipe and smoked again and had again seen what looked to be the same +toad between his legs. "He took the Toad out to kill it, and to his +thinking cut it in several pieces, but returning to his Pipe the Toad +still appeared.... At length the Toad cryed, and vanish'd." A third +witness had seen the accused fly in at her window "in her full +proportion." This tissue of evidence was perhaps the absurdest ever used +against even a witch, but the jury brought in a verdict of guilty. It is +not unpleasant to know that Justice Archer met with a good deal of +criticism for his part in the affair. + +In the following year occurred the trials at Bury St. Edmunds, which +derive their interest and importance largely from the position of the +presiding judge, Sir Matthew Hale, who was at this time chief baron of +the exchequer, and was later to be chief justice of the king's bench. He +was allowed, according to the admission of one none too friendly to him, +"on all hands to be the most profound lawyer of his time."[12] Hale had +been a Puritan from his youth, though not of the rigid or theologically +minded sort. In the Civil Wars and the events that followed he had +remained non-partisan. He accepted office from Cromwell, though without +doubt mildly sympathizing with the king. One of those who had assisted +in recalling Charles II, he rose shortly to be chief baron of the +exchequer. Famous for his careful and reasoned interpretation of law, he +was to leave behind him a high reputation for his justice and for the +exceptional precision of his judgments. It is not too much to say that +he was one of the greatest legal figures of his century and that his +decisions served in no small degree to fix the law. + +We should like to know how far he had been brought into contact with the +subject of witchcraft, but we can do no more than guess. His early +career had been moulded in no small degree by Selden, who, as has been +noted in an earlier chapter, believed in the punishment of those who +claimed to be witches. It is not unreasonable to suppose that the +Puritans with whom he had been thrown were all of them ready to quote +Scripture against the minions of Satan. We know that he had read some of +the works of Henry More,[13] and, whether or not familiar with his +chapters on witchcraft, would have deduced from that writer's general +philosophy of spirits the particular application. + +The trial concerned two women of Lowestoft, Amy Duny and Rose Cullender. +The first had been reputed a witch and a "person of very evil +behaviour." She was in all probability related to some of those women +who had suffered at the hands of Hopkins, and to that connection owed +her ill name. Some six or seven years before the date of the trial she +had got herself into trouble while taking care of the child of a +tradesman in Lowestoft. It would seem that, contrary to the orders of +the mother, she had suckled the child. The child had that same night +been attacked by fits, and a witch doctor of Yarmouth, who was +consulted, had prescribed for it. The reader will note that this +"suspicious circumstance" happened seven years earlier, and a large part +of the evidence presented in court concerned what had occurred from five +to seven years before. + +We can not go into the details of a trial which abounded in curious bits +of evidence. The main plot indeed was an old one. The accused woman, +after she had been discharged from employment and reproved, had been +heard to mutter threats, close upon which the children of those she +cursed, who were now the witnesses against her, had fallen ill. Two of +the children had suffered severely and were still afflicted. They had +thrown up pins and even a two-penny nail. The nail, which was duly +offered as an exhibit in court, had been brought to one of the children +by a bee and had been forced into the child's mouth, upon which she +expelled it. This narrative was on a level with the other, that flies +brought crooked pins to the child. Both flies and bee, it will be +understood, were the witches in other form. A similar sort of evidence +was that a toad, which had been found as the result of the witch +doctor's directions, had been thrown into the fire, upon which a sharp +crackling noise ensued. When this incident was testified to in the court +the judge interrupted to ask if after the explosion the substance of the +toad was not to be seen in the fire. He was answered in the negative. On +the next day Amy Duny was found to have her face and body all scorched. +She said to the witness that "she might thank her for it." There can be +no doubt in the world that this testimony of the coincident burning of +the woman and the toad was regarded as damning proof, nor is there any +reason to believe that the court deemed it necessary to go behind the +mere say-so of a single witness for the fact. Along with this sort of +unsubstantial testimony there was presented a monotonous mass of +spectral evidence. Apparitions of the witches were the constant +occasions for the paroxysms of the children. In another connection it +will be observed that this form of proof was becoming increasingly +common in the last part of the seventeenth century. It can hardly be +doubted that in one way or another the use of such evidence at Bury +influenced other trials and more particularly the Salem cases in the New +World, where great importance was attached to evidence of this sort. + +The usual nauseating evidence as to the Devil's marks was introduced by +the testimony of the mother of one of the children bewitched. She had +been, a month before, a member of a jury of matrons appointed by a +justice of the peace to examine the body of the accused. Most damning +proof against the woman had been found. It is very hard for us to +understand why Hale allowed to testify, as one of the jury of examining +matrons, a woman who was at the same time mother of one of the bewitched +children upon whom the prosecution largely depended. + +So far the case for the prosecution had been very strong, but it was in +the final experiments in court, which were expected to clinch the +evidence, that a very serious mishap occurred. A bewitched child, eleven +years old, had been fetched into court. With eyes closed and head +reclining upon the bar she had remained quiet until one of the accused +was brought up, when she at once became frantic in her effort to scratch +her. This was tried again and again and in every instance produced the +same result. The performance must have had telling effect. But there +happened to be present at the trial three Serjeants of the law. One of +them, Serjeant John Kelyng, a few years later to become chief justice of +the king's bench, was "much dissatisfied." He urged the point that the +mere fact that the children were bewitched did not establish their claim +to designate the authors of their misfortune. There were others present +who agreed with Kelyng in suspecting the actions of the girl on the +stand. Baron Hale was induced, at length, to appoint a committee of +several gentlemen, including Serjeant Kelyng, to make trial of the girl +with her eyes covered. An outside party was brought up to her and +touched her hand. The girl was expecting that Amy Duny would be brought +up and flew into the usual paroxysms. This was what the committee had +expected, and they declared their belief that the whole transaction was +a mere imposture. One would have supposed that every one else must come +to the same conclusion, but Mr. Pacy, the girl's father, offered an +explanation of her mistake that seems to have found favor. The maid, he +said, "might be deceived by a suspicion that the Witch touched her when +she did not." One would suppose that this subtle suggestion would have +broken the spell, and that Mr. Pacy would have been laughed out of +court. Alas for the rarity of humor in seventeenth-century court rooms! +Not only was the explanation received seriously, but it was, says the +court reporter, afterwards found to be true. + +In the mean time expert opinion had been called in. It is hard to say +whether Dr. Browne had been requisitioned for the case or merely +happened to be present. At all events, he was called upon to render his +opinion as a medical man. The name of Thomas Browne is one eminent in +English literature and not unknown in the annals of English medicine and +science. More than twenty years earlier he had expressed faith in the +reality of witchcraft.[14] In his _Commonplace Book_, a series of +jottings made throughout his life, he reiterated his belief, but uttered +a doubt as to the connection between possession and witchcraft.[15] + +We should be glad to know at what time Browne wrote this deliverance; +for, when called upon at Bury, he made no application of his principles +of caution. He gave it as his opinion that the bewitchment of the two +girls was genuine. The vomiting of needles and nails reminded him very +much of a recent case in Denmark. For the moment the physician spoke, +when he said that "these swounding Fits were Natural." But it was the +student of seventeenth-century theology who went on: they were +"heightened to a great excess by the subtilty of the Devil, co-operating +with the Malice of these which we term Witches, at whose Instance he +doth these Villanies." + +No doubt Browne's words confirmed the sentiment of the court room and +strengthened the case of the prosecution. But it will not be overlooked +by the careful reader that he did not by any means commit himself as to +the guilt of the parties at the bar. + +When the judge found that the prisoners had "nothing material" to say +for themselves he addressed the jury. Perhaps because he was not +altogether clear in his own mind about the merits of the case, he +refused to sum up the evidence. It is impossible for us to understand +why he did not carry further the tests which had convinced Kelyng of the +fraud, or why he did not ask questions which would have uncovered the +weakness of the testimony. One cannot but suspect that North's criticism +of him, that he had a "leaning towards the Popular" and that he had +gained such "transcendent" authority as not easily to bear +contradiction,[16] was altogether accurate. At all events he passed over +the evidence and went on to declare that there were two problems before +the jury: (1) were these children bewitched, (2) were the prisoners at +the bar guilty of it? As to the existence of witches, he never doubted +it. The Scriptures affirmed it, and all nations provided laws against +such persons. + +On the following Sunday Baron Hale composed a meditation upon the +subject. Unfortunately it was simply a dissertation on Scripture texts +and touched upon the law at no point. + +It is obvious enough to the most casual student that Sir Matthew Hale +had a chance to anticipate the work of Chief Justice Holt and missed it. +In the nineties of the seventeenth century, as we shall see, there was a +man in the chief justiceship who dared to nullify the law of James I. It +is not too much to say that Matthew Hale by a different charge to the +jury could as easily have made the current of judicial decisions run in +favor of accused witches all over England. His weight was thrown in the +other direction, and the witch-triers for a half-century to come invoked +the name of Hale.[17] + +There is an interesting though hardly trustworthy story told by Speaker +Onslow[18]--writing a century later--that Hale "was afterwards much +altered in his notions as to this matter, and had great concern upon him +for what had befallen these persons." This seems the more doubtful +because there is not a shred of proof that Hale's decisions occasioned a +word of criticism among his contemporaries.[19] So great, indeed, was +the spell of his name that not even a man like John Webster dared to +comment upon his decision. Not indeed until nearly the middle of the +eighteenth century does anyone seem to have felt that the decision +called for apology. + +The third noteworthy ruling in this period anent the crime of witchcraft +was made a few years later in Wiltshire by Justice Rainsford. The story, +as he himself told it to a colleague, was this: "A Witch was brought to +Salisbury and tried before him. Sir James Long came to his Chamber, and +made a heavy Complaint of this Witch, and said that if she escaped, his +Estate would not be worth any Thing; for all the People would go away. +It happen'd that the Witch was acquitted, and the Knight continued +extremely concern'd; therefore the Judge, to save the poor Gentleman's +Estate, order'd the Woman to be kept in Gaol, and that the Town should +allow her 2s. 6d. per Week; for which he was very thankful. The very +next Assizes, he came to the Judge to desire his lordship would let her +come back to the Town. And why? They could keep her for 1s. 6d. there; +and, in the Gaol, she cost them a shilling more."[20] Another case +before Justice Rainsford showed him less lenient. By a mere chance we +have a letter, written at the time by one of the justices of the peace +in Malmesbury, which sheds no little light on this affair and on the +legal status of witchcraft at that time.[21] A certain Ann Tilling had +been taken into custody on the complaint of Mrs. Webb of Malmesbury. The +latter's son had swooning fits in which he accused Ann of bewitching +him. Ann Tilling made voluble confession, implicating Elizabeth Peacock +and Judith Witchell, who had, she declared, inveigled her into the +practice of their evil arts. Other witches were named, and in a short +time twelve women and two men were under accusation. But the alderman +of Malmesbury, who was the chief magistrate of that town, deemed it wise +before going further to call in four of the justices of the peace in +that subdivision of the county. Three of these justices of the peace +came and listened to the confessions, and were about to make out a +mittimus for sending eleven of the accused to Salisbury, when the fourth +justice arrived, the man who has given us the story. He was, according +to his own account, not "very credulous in matters of Witchcraft," and +he made a speech to the other justices. "Gentlemen, what is done at this +place, a Borough remote from the centre of this large County, and almost +forty miles from Salisbury, will be expended [_sic_] both by the +Reverend Judges, the learned Counsayle there ..., and the Gentry of the +body of the County, so that if anything be done here rashly, it will be +severely censured." He went on to urge the danger that the boy whose +fits were the cause of so much excitement might be an impostor, and that +Ann Tilling, who had freely confessed, might be in confederacy with the +parents. The skeptical justice, who in spite of his boasted incredulity +was a believer in the reality of witchcraft, was successful with his +colleagues. All the accused were dismissed save Tilling, Peacock, and +Witchell. They were sent to Salisbury and tried before Sir Richard +Rainsford. Elizabeth Peacock, who had been tried on similar charges +before, was dismissed. The other two were sentenced to be hanged.[22] + +Ten years later came a fourth remarkable ruling against witchcraft, this +time by Justice Raymond at Exeter. During the intervening years there +had been cases a-plenty in England and a few hangings, but none that had +attracted comment. It was not until the summer of 1682, when three +Devonshire women were arraigned, tried, and sent to the gallows by +Justice Raymond,[23] that the public again realized that witchcraft was +still upheld by the courts. + +The trials in themselves had no very striking features. At least two of +the three women had been beggars; the other, who had been the first +accused and who had in all probability involved her two companions, had +on two different occasions before been arraigned but let off. The +evidence submitted against them consisted of the usual sworn statements +made by neighbors to the justice of the peace, as well as of hardly +coherent confessions by the accused. The repetition of the Lord's Prayer +was gone through with and the results of examinations by a female jury +were detailed _ad nauseam_. The poor creatures on trial were remarkably +stupid, even for beings of their grade. Their several confessions +tallied with one another in hardly a single point. + +Sir Thomas Raymond and Sir Francis North were the judges present at the +Exeter assizes. Happily the latter has left his impressions of this +trial.[24] He admits that witch trials worried him because the evidence +was usually slight, but the people very intent upon a verdict of guilty. +He was very glad that at Exeter his colleague who sat upon the "crown +side" had to bear the responsibilities.[25] The two women (he seems to +have known of no more) were scarce alive as to sense and understanding, +but were "overwhelm'd with melancholy and waking Dreams." Barring +confessions, the other evidence he considered trifling, and he cites the +testimony of a witness that "he saw a cat leap in at her (the old +woman's) window, when it was twilight; and this Informant farther saith +that he verily believeth the said Cat to be the Devil, and more saith +not." Raymond, declares his colleague, made no nice distinctions as to +the possibility of melancholy women contracting an opinion of themselves +that was false, but left the matter to the jury.[26] + +We have already intimated that the rulings of the courts were by no +means all of them adverse to the witches. Almost contemporaneous with +the far-reaching sentence of Sir Matthew Hale at Bury were the trials in +Somerset, where flies and nails and needles played a similar part, but +where the outcome was very different. A zealous justice of the peace, +Robert Hunt, had for the last eight years been on the lookout for +witches. In 1663 he had turned Julian Cox over to the tender mercies of +Justice Archer. By 1664 he had uncovered a "hellish knot" of the wicked +women and was taking depositions against them, wringing confessions from +them and sending them to gaol with all possible speed.[27] The women +were of the usual class, a herd of poor quarrelsome, bickering females +who went from house to house seeking alms. In the numbers of the accused +the discovery resembled that at Lancaster in 1633-1634, as indeed it did +in other ways. A witch meeting or conventicle was confessed to. The +county was being terrified and entertained by the most horrible tales, +when suddenly a quietus was put upon the affair "by some of them in +authority." A witch chase, which during the Civil Wars would have led to +a tragedy, was cut short, probably through the agency of a privy council +less fearful of popular sentiment than the assize judges. + +The Mompesson case[28] was of no less importance in its time, although +it belongs rather in the annals of trickery than in those of +witchcraft. But the sensation which it caused in England and the +controversy waged over it between the upholders of witchcraft and the +"Sadducees," give the story a considerable interest and render the +outcome of the trial significant. The only case of its sort in its time, +it was nevertheless most typical of the superstition of the time. A +little town in Wiltshire had been disturbed by a stray drummer. The +self-constituted noise-maker was called to account by a stranger in the +village, a Mr. Mompesson of Tedworth, who on examining the man's license +saw that it had been forged and took it away from him. This, at any +rate, was Mr. Mompesson's story as to how he had incurred the ill will +of the man. The drummer took his revenge in a singular way. Within a few +days the Mompesson family at Tedworth began to be annoyed at night by +strange noises or drummings on the roofs. All the phenomena and +manifestations which we associate with a modern haunted-house story were +observed by this alarmed family of the seventeenth century. The little +girls were knocked about in their beds at night, a stout servant was +forcibly held hand and foot, the children's shoes were thrown about, the +chairs glided about the room. It would seem that all this bold +horse-play must soon have been exposed, but it went on merrily. Whenever +any tune was called for, it was given on the drum. The family Bible was +thrown upside down into the ashes. For three weeks, however, the spirits +ceased operations during the lying-in of Mrs. Mompesson. But they +sedulously avoided the family servants, especially when those retainers +happened to be armed with swords. Well they might, for we are told that +on one occasion, after a pistol shot had been fired at the place where +they were heard, blood was found on the spot. In another instance, +according to Mr. Mompesson's own account, there were seen figures, "in +the shape of Men, who, as soon as a Gun was discharg'd, would shuffle +away together into an Arbour." + +It is clear enough that a somewhat clumsy fraud was being imposed upon +Mr. Mompesson. A contemporary writer tells us he was told that it was +done by "two Young Women in the House with a design to scare thence Mr. +Mompesson's Mother."[29] From other sources it is quite certain that the +injured drummer had a hand in the affair. A very similar game had been +played at Woodstock in 1649, and formed a comedy situation of which +Scott makes brilliant use in his novel of that name. Indeed, it is quite +possible that the drummer, who had been a soldier of Cromwell's, was +inspired by a memory of that affair. + +But there was no one to detect the fraud, as at Woodstock. Tedworth +became a Mecca for those interested in the supernatural. One of the +visitors was Joseph Glanvill, at this time a young man of twenty-seven, +later to become a member of the Royal Society and chaplain in ordinary +to the king. The spirits were less noisy; they were always somewhat +restrained before visitors, but scratched on bed sheets and panted in +dog fashion, till Glanvill was thoroughly taken in. For the rest of his +life this psychic experimenter fought a literary war over this case with +those who made fun of it. While we cannot prove it, we may guess with +some confidence that this episode was the beginning of the special +interest in the supernatural upon Glanvill's part which was later to +make him the arch-defender of the witchcraft superstition in his +generation. + +How wide an interest the matter evoked may be judged from the warm +discussions upon it at Cambridge, and from the royal interest in it +which induced Charles to send down a committee of investigation. +Curiously enough, the spirits were singularly and most extraordinarily +quiet when the royal investigators were at work, a fact to which +delighted skeptics pointed with satisfaction. + +One wonders that the drummer, who must have known that his name would be +connected with the affair, failed to realize the risk he was running +from the witch hunters. He was indicted on minor felonies of another +sort, but the charges which Mompesson brought against him seem to have +been passed over. The man was condemned for stealing and was +transported. With his departure the troubles at Tedworth ceased. But the +drummer, in some way, escaped and returned to England. The angry +Mompesson now brought him to the assizes as a felon on the strength of +the statute of James I. Unhappily we have no details of this trial, nor +do we know even the name of the judge; but we do know that the jury gave +a verdict of acquittal. + +In 1671 Cornwall was stirred up over a witch whose crimes were said to +be directed against the state. She had hindered the English fleet in +their war against the Dutch, she had caused a bull to kill one of the +enemies in Parliament of the Non-Conformists, she had been responsible +for the barrenness of the queen. And for all these political crimes the +chief evidence was that some cats had been seen playing ("dancing") near +her house. She was committed, along with several other women who were +accused. Although at the assizes they were all proved to have had cats +and rats about them, they went free.[30] + +In 1682, the same year in which the three women of Devonshire had been +condemned, there was a trial at Southwark, just outside of London, which +resulted in a verdict of acquittal. The case had many of the usual +features, but in two points was unique. Joan Butts was accused of having +bewitched a child that had been taken with fits.[31] Nineteen or twenty +witnesses testified against the witch. One of the witnesses heard her +say that, if she had not bewitched the child, if all the devils in hell +could help her, she would bewitch it. Joan admitted the words, but said +that she had spoken them in passion. She then turned on one of the +witnesses and declared that he had given himself to the Devil, body and +soul. Chief Justice Pemberton was presiding, and he called her to order +for this attack on a witness, and then catechized her as to her means of +knowing the fact. The woman had thoughtlessly laid herself open by her +own words to the most serious suspicion. In spite of this, however, the +jury brought her in not guilty, "to the great amazement of some, ... yet +others who consider the great difficulty in proving a Witch, thought the +jury could do no less than acquit her." + +This was, during the period, the one trial in or near London of which we +have details. There can be no doubt that the courts in London and the +vicinity were beginning to ignore cases of witchcraft. After 1670 there +were no more trials of the sort in Middlesex. + +The reader will remember that Justice North had questioned the equity of +Justice Raymond's decision at Exeter. He has told us the story of a +trial at Taunton-Dean, where he himself had to try a witch.[32] A +ten-year-old girl, who was taking strange fits and spitting out pins, +was the witness against an old man whom she accused of bewitching her. +The defendant made "a Defence as orderly and well expressed as I ever +heard spoke." The judge then asked the justice of the peace who had +committed the man his opinion. He said that he believed the girl, +"doubling herself in her Fit, as being convulsed, bent her Head down +close to her Stomacher, and with her Mouth, took Pins out of the Edge of +that, and then, righting herself a little, spit them into some +By-stander's Hands." "The Sum of it was Malice, Threatening, and +Circumstances of Imposture in the Girl." As the judge went downstairs +after the man had been acquitted, "an hideous old woman" cried to him, +"My Lord, Forty Years ago they would have hang'd me for a Witch, and +they could not; and now they would have hang'd my poor Son." + +The five cases we have cited, while not so celebrated as those on the +other side, were quite as representative of what was going on in +England. It is to be regretted that we have not the records by which to +compute the acquittals of this period. In a large number of cases where +we have depositions we have no statement of the outcome. This is +particularly true of Yorkshire. As has been pointed out in the earlier +part of the chapter, we can be sure that most of these cases were +dismissed or were never brought to trial. + +When we come to the question of the forms of evidence presented during +this period, we have a story that has been told before. Female juries, +convulsive children or child pretenders, we have met them all before. +Two or three differences may nevertheless be noted. The use of spectral +evidence was becoming increasingly common. The spectres, as always, +assumed weird forms. Nicholas Rames's wife (at Longwitton, in the north) +saw Elizabeth Fenwick and the Devil dancing together.[33] A sick boy in +Cornwall saw a "Woman in a blue Jerkin and Red Petticoat with Yellow and +Green patches," who was quickly identified and put in hold.[34] +Sometimes the spectres were more material. Jane Milburne of Newcastle +testified that Dorothy Stranger, in the form of a cat, had leaped upon +her and held her to the ground for a quarter of an hour.[35] A "Barber's +boy" in Cambridge had escaped from a spectral woman in the isle of Ely, +but she followed him to Cambridge and killed him with a blow. "He had +the exact mark in his forehead, being dead, where the Spiritual Woman +did hit him alive."[36] It is unnecessary to multiply cases. The +_Collection of Modern Relations_ is full of the same sort of evidence. + +It has been seen that in nearly every epoch of witch history the +voluntary and involuntary confessions of the accused had greatly +simplified the difficulties of prosecution. The witches whom Matthew +Hopkins discovered were too ready to confess to enormous and unnatural +crimes. In this respect there is a marked change in the period of the +later Stuarts. Elizabeth Style of Somerset in 1663 and the three +Devonshire witches of 1682 were the only ones who made confessions. +Elizabeth Style[37] had probably been "watched," in spite of Glanvill's +statement to the contrary, perhaps somewhat in the same torturing way as +the Suffolk witches whom Hopkins "discovered," and her wild confession +showed the effect. The Devonshire women were half-witted creatures, of +the type that had always been most voluble in confession; but such were +now exceptions. + +This means one of two things. Either the witches of the Restoration were +by some chance a more intelligent set, or they were showing more spirit +than ever before because they had more supporters and fairer treatment +in court. It is quite possible that both suppositions have in them some +elements of truth. As the belief in the powers of witches developed in +form and theory, it came to draw within its radius more groups of +people. In its earlier stages the attack upon the witch had been in part +the community's way of ridding itself of a disreputable member. By the +time that the process of attack had been developed for a century, it had +become less impersonal. Personal hatreds were now more often the +occasion of accusation. Individual malice was playing a larger role. In +consequence those who were accused were more often those who were +capable of fighting for themselves or who had friends to back them. And +those friends were more numerous and zealous because the attitude of the +public and of the courts was more friendly to the accused witch. This +explanation is at best, however, nothing more than a suggestion. We have +not the material for confident generalization. + +One other form of evidence must be mentioned. The town of Newcastle, +which in 1649 had sent to Scotland for a witchfinder, was able in 1673 +to make use of home-grown talent. In this instance it was a woman, Ann +Armstrong, who implicated a score of her neighbors and at length went +around pointing out witches. She was a smooth-witted woman who was +probably taking a shrewd method of turning off charges against herself. +Her testimony dealt with witch gatherings or conventicles held at +various times and places. She told whom she had seen there and what they +had said about their crimes. She told of their feasts and of their +dances. Poor woman, she had herself been compelled to sing for them +while they danced. Nor was this the worst. She had been terribly +misused. She had been often turned into a horse, then bridled and +ridden.[38] + +It would not be worth while to go further into Ann Armstrong's stories. +It is enough to remark that she offered details, as to harm done to +certain individuals in certain ways, which tallied closely with the +sworn statements of those individuals as to what had happened to them at +the times specified. The conclusion cannot be avoided that the female +witchfinder had been at no small pains to get even such minute details +in exact form. She had gathered together all the witch stories of that +part of Northumberland and had embodied them in her account of the +confessions made at the "conventicles." + +What was the ruling of the court on all this evidence we do not know. We +have only one instance in which any evidence was ruled out. That was at +the trial of Julian Cox in 1663. Justice Archer tried an experiment in +that trial, but before doing so he explained to the court that no +account was to be taken of the result in making up their verdict. He had +heard that a witch could not repeat the petition in the Lord's Prayer, +"Lead us not into temptation." The witch indeed failed to meet the +test.[39] + +In the course of this period we have two trials that reveal a connection +between witchcraft and other crimes. Perhaps it would be fairer to say +that the charge of witchcraft was sometimes made when other crimes were +suspected, but could not be proved. The first case concerned a rich +farmer in Northamptonshire who had gained the ill will of a woman named +Ann Foster. Thirty of his sheep were found dead with their "Leggs broke +in pieces, and their Bones all shattered in their Skins." A little later +his house and barns were set on fire. Ann Foster was brought to trial +for using witchcraft against him, confessed to it, and was hanged.[40] + +The other case was at Brightling in Sussex, not far from London. There a +woman who was suspected as the one who had told a servant that Joseph +Cruther's house would be burned--a prophecy which came true very +shortly--was accused as a witch. She had been accused years before at +the Maidstone assizes, but had gone free. This time she was "watched" +for twenty-four hours and four ministers kept a fast over the +affair.[41] + +These cases are worth something as an indication that the charge of +witchcraft was still a method of getting rid of people whom the +community feared. + +At the beginning of this chapter the years 1660 to 1688 were marked off +as constituting a single epoch in the history of the superstition. Yet +those years were by no means characterized by the same sort of court +verdicts. The sixties saw a decided increase over the years of the +Commonwealth in the number of trials and in the number of executions. +The seventies witnessed a rapid dropping off in both figures. Even more +so the eighties. By the close of the eighties the accounts of witchcraft +were exceedingly rare. The decisions of the courts in the matter were in +a state of fluctuation. Two things were happening. The justices of the +peace were growing much more reluctant to send accused witches to the +assize courts; and the itinerant judges as a body were, in spite of the +decisions of Hale and Raymond, more careful in witch trials than ever +before, and more likely to withstand public sentiment. + +The changes of opinion, as reflected in the literature of the time, +especially in the literature of the subject, will show the same +tendencies. We shall take them up in the next chapter. + + +[1] See Raine, ed., _York Depositions_ (Surtees Soc.), preface, xxx. + +[2] Joseph Hunter, _Life of Heywood_ (London, 1842), 167, and Heywood's +_Diaries_, ed. J. H. Turner (Brighouse, 1881-1885), I, 199; III, 100. +Heywood, who was one of the leading Dissenters of his time, must not be +credited with extreme superstition. In noting the death of a boy whom +his parents believed bewitched, he wrote, "Oh that they saw the lords +hand." _Diary_, I, 287. + +[3] William Drage, _Daimonomageia_ (London, 1665), 32-38. + +[4] _The Lord's Arm Stretched Out, ... or a True Relation of the +wonderful Deliverance of James Barrow ..._ (London, 1664). + +[5] Compare Drage, _op. cit._, 36, 39, 42, with _The Lord's Arm +Stretched Out_, 17. Mary Hall, whose cure Drage celebrates, had friends +among the Baptists. Drage seems to connect her case with those of Barrow +and Hannah Crump, both of whom were helped by that "dispirited people" +whom the author of _The Lord's Arm Stretched Out_ exalts. + +[6] Drage, _op. cit._, 34. + +[7] _Yorkshire Notes and Queries_, I (Bradford, 1885), 26. But a +physician in Winchester Park, whom Hannah Crump had consulted, had asked +five pounds to unbewitch her. + +[8] Drage, _op. cit._, 39. + +[9] _York Depositions_, 127. + +[10] See E. Mackenzie, _History of Northumberland_ (Newcastle, 1825), +II, 33-36. We do not know that the woman was excused, but the case was +before Henry Ogle and we may fairly guess the outcome. + +[11] Glanvill, _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, pt. ii, 191-209. + +[12] This is the estimate of him by North, who adds: "and he knew it." +Roger North, _Life of the Rt. Hon. Francis North, Baron of Guilford ..._ +(London, 1742), 62-63. + +[13] _Diary and Correspondence of Dr. John Worthington_, II, pt. I +(Chetham Soc., no. 36, 1855), 155. + +[14] In his _Religio Medici_. See _Sir Thomas Browne's Works_ (ed. S. +Wilkin, London, 1851-1852), II, 43. + +[15] _Ibid._, IV, 389. + +[16] Roger North, _op. cit._, 61. + +[17] Inderwick has given a good illustration of Hale's weakness of +character: "I confess," he says, "to a feeling of pain at finding him in +October, 1660, sitting as a judge at the Old Bailey, trying and +condemning to death batches of the regicides, men under whose orders he +had himself acted, who had been his colleagues in parliament, with whom +he had sat on committees to alter the law." _Interregnum_, 217-218. + +[18] _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, XIV, 9, p. 480. + +[19] Bishop Burnet, in his _Life and Death of Sir Matthew Hale_ (London, +1682), does not seem to have felt called upon to mention the Bury trial +at all. See also Lord Campbell, _Lives of the Chief Justices_ (London, +1849), I, 563-567. + +[20] Roger North, _op. cit._, 130, 131. The story, as here told, +ascribes the event to the year preceding Lord Guilford's first western +circuit--_i. e._, to 1674. But this perhaps need not be taken too +exactly, and the witch was probably that Elizabeth Peacock who was +acquitted in 1670 and again in the case of 1672 described above. At +least the list of "Indictments for witchcraft on the Western Circuit +from 1670 to 1712," published by Inderwick in his _Sidelights on the +Stuarts_ (London, 1888), shows no other acquittal in Wiltshire during +this decade. + +[21] For this letter see the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1832, pt. I, +405-410, 489-402. The story is confirmed in part by Inderwick's finds in +the western Gaol Delivery records. As to the trustworthiness of this +unknown justice of the peace, see above, pp. 160, 162, and notes. + +[22] That the judge was Sir Richard Rainsford appears from Inderwick's +list, mentioned above, note 20. + +[23] _A True and Impartial Relation of the Informations against ... +Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles, and Susanna Edwards_ (London, 1682). +And _The Tryal, Condemnation and Execution of Three Witches ..._ +(London, 1682). See also below, note 26, and appendix A, Sec. 6. + +[24] Roger North, _op. cit._, 130. + +[25] At a trial at the York assizes in 1687 Sir John Reresby seems to +have played about the same part that North played at Exeter. Serjeant +Powell, later to be chief justice, was presiding over the case. "An old +woman was condemned for a witch. Those who were more credulous in points +of this nature than myself, conceived the evidence to be very strong +against her. The boy she was said to have bewitched fell down on a +sudden before all the court when he saw her, and would then as suddenly +return to himself again, and very distinctly relate the several injuries +she had done him: but in all this it was observed the boy was free from +any distortion; that he did not foam at the mouth, and that his fits did +not leave him gradually, but all at once; so that, upon the whole, the +judge thought it proper to reprieve her." _Memoirs and Travels of Sir +John Reresby_ (London, 1813), 329. + +[26] There is indeed some evidence that Raymond wished not to condemn +the women, but yielded nevertheless to public opinion. In a pamphlet +published five years later it is stated that the judge "in his charge to +the jury gave his Opinion that these three poor Women (as he supposed) +were weary of their Lives, and that he thought it proper for them to be +carryed to the Parish from whence they came, and that the Parish should +be charged with their Maintainance; for he thought their oppressing +Poverty had constrained them to wish for Death." Unhappily the neighbors +made such an outcry that the women were found guilty and sentenced. This +is from a later and somewhat untrustworthy account, but it fits in well +with what North says of the case. _The Life and Conversation of +Temperance Floyd, Mary Lloyd_ [sic], _and Susanna Edwards: ..._ (London, +1687). + +[27] The second part of Glanvill's _Sadducismus Triumphatus_ is full of +these depositions. + +[28] For a full account of this affair see Glanvill's _Sadducismus +Triumphatus_, pt. ii, preface and Relation I. Glanvill had investigated +the matter and had diligently collected all the evidence. He was +familiar also with what the "deriders" had to say, and we can discover +their point of view from his answers. See also John Beaumont, _An +Historical, Physiological and Theological Treatise of Spirits, +Apparitions, Witchcrafts, and other Magical Practices_ (London, 1705), +307-309. + +[29] _Ibid._, 309. + +[30] _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1671_, 105, 171. + +[31] We have two accounts of this affair: _Strange and Wonderful News +from Yowell in Surry_ (1681), and _An Account of the Tryal and +Examination of Joan Buts_ (1682). + +[32] Roger North, _op. cit._, 131-132. + +[33] _York Depositions_, 247. + +[34] _A True Account ... of one John Tonken, of Pensans in Cornwall ..._ +(1686). For other examples of spectral evidence see _York Depositions_, +88; Roberts, _Southern Counties_ (London, 1856), 525-526; _Gentleman's +Magazine_, 1832, pt. II, 489. + +[35] _York Depositions_, 112, 113. + +[36] Drage, _Daimonomageia_, 12. + +[37] For an account of her case, see Glanvill, _Sadducismus +Triumphatus_, pt. ii, 127-146. + +[38] _York Depositions_, 191-201. + +[39] For a complete account of the Julian Cox case see Glanvill, +_Sadducismus Triumphatus_, pt. ii, 191-209. + +[40] _A Full and True Relation of the Tryal ... of Ann Foster ..._ +(London, 1674). + +[41] _Sussex Archaeological Collections_, XVIII, 111-113. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +GLANVILL AND WEBSTER AND THE LITERARY WAR OVER WITCHCRAFT, 1660-1688. + + +In an earlier chapter we followed the progress of opinion from James I +to the Restoration. We saw that in the course of little more than a +half-century the centre of the controversy had been considerably +shifted: we noted that there was a growing body of intelligent men who +discredited the stories of witchcraft and were even inclined to laugh at +them. It is now our purpose to go on with the history of opinion from +the point at which we left off to the revolution of 1688. We shall +discover that the body of literature on the subject was enormously +increased. We shall see that a larger and more representative group of +men were expressing themselves on the matter. The controversialists were +no longer bushwhackers, but crafty warriors who joined battle after +looking over the field and measuring their forces. The groundworks of +philosophy were tested, the bases of religious faith examined. The days +of skirmishing about the ordeal of water and the test of the Devil's +marks were gone by. The combatants were now to fight over the reality or +unreality of supernatural phenomena. We shall observe that the battle +was less one-sided than ever before and that the assailants of +superstition, who up to this time had been outnumbered, now fought on at +least even terms with their enemies. We shall see too that the +non-participants and onlookers were more ready than ever before to join +themselves to the party of attack. + +The struggle was indeed a miniature war and in the main was fought very +fairly. But it was natural that those who disbelieved should resort to +ridicule. It was a form of attack to which their opponents exposed +themselves by their faith in the utterly absurd stories of silly women. +Cervantes with his Don Quixote laughed chivalry out of Europe, and there +was a class in society that would willingly have laughed witchcraft out +of England. Their onslaught was one most difficult to repel. +Nevertheless the defenders of witchcraft met the challenge squarely. +With unwearying patience and absolute confidence in their cause they +collected the testimonies for their narratives and then said to those +who laughed: Here are the facts; what are you going to do about them? + +The last chapter told of the alarms in Somerset and in Wilts and showed +what a stir they produced in England. In connection with those affairs +was mentioned the name of that brave researcher, Mr. Glanvill. The +history of the witch literature of this period is little more than an +account of Joseph Glanvill, of his opinions, of his controversies, of +his disciples and his opponents. It is not too much to say that in +Glanvill the superstition found its ablest advocate. In acuteness of +logical distinction, in the cleverness and brilliance of his +intellectual sword-play, he excelled all others before and after who +sought to defend the belief in witchcraft. He was a man entitled to +speak with some authority. A member of Exeter College at Oxford, he had +been in 1664 elected a fellow of the recently founded Royal Society and +was in sympathy with its point of view. At the same time he was a +philosopher of no small influence in his generation. + +His intellectual position is not difficult to determine. He was an +opponent of the Oxford scholasticism and inclined towards a school of +thought represented by Robert Fludd, the two Vaughans, Henry More, and +Van Helmont,[1] men who had drunk deeply of the cabalistic writers, +disciples of Paracelsus and Pico della Mirandola. It would be foolhardy +indeed for a layman to attempt an elucidation of the subtleties either +of this philosophy or of the processes of Glanvill's philosophical +reasoning. His point of view was partially unfolded in the _Scepsis +Scientifica_, published in 1665[2] and dedicated to the Royal Society. +In this treatise he pointed out our present ignorance of phenomena and +our inability to determine their real character, owing to the +subjectivity of our perceptions of them, and insisted consequently upon +the danger of dogmatism. He himself had drawn but a cockle-shell of +water from the ocean of knowledge. His notion of spirit--if his works on +witchcraft may be trusted--seems to have been that it is a light and +invisible form of matter capable of detachment from or infusion into +more solid substances--precisely the idea of Henry More. Religiously, it +would not be far wrong to call him a reconstructionist--to use a much +abused and exceedingly modern term. He did not, indeed, admit the +existence of any gap between religion and science that needed bridging +over, but the trend of his teaching, though he would hardly have +admitted it, was to show that the mysteries of revealed religion belong +in the field of unexplored science.[3] It was his confidence in the far +possibilities opened by investigation in that field, together with the +cabalistic notions he had absorbed, which rendered him so willing to +become a student of psychical phenomena. + +Little wonder, then, that he found the Mompesson and Somerset cases +material to his hand and that he seized upon them eagerly as irrefutable +proof of demoniacal agency. His first task, indeed, was to prove the +alleged facts; these once established, they could be readily fitted into +a comprehensive scheme of reasoning. In 1666 he issued a small volume, +_Some Philosophical Considerations touching Witches and Witchcraft_. +Most of the first edition was burned in the fire of London, but the book +was reprinted. Already by 1668 it had reached a fourth impression.[4] In +this edition the work took the new title _A Blow at Modern Sadducism_, +and it was republished again in 1681 with further additions as +_Sadducismus Triumphatus_, which might be translated "Unbelief +Conquered."[5] The work continued to be called for faster than the +publisher could supply the demand, and went through several more +revisions and reimpressions. One of the most popular books of the +generation, it proved to be Glanvill's greatest title to contemporary +fame. The success of the work was no doubt due in large measure to the +collection of witch stories; but these had been inserted by the author +as the groundwork of his argument. He recognized, as no one on his side +of the controversy had done before, the force of the arguments made by +the opposition. They were good points, but to them all he offered one +short answer--the evidence of proved fact.[6] That such transformations +as were ascribed to the witches were ridiculous, that contracts between +the Devil and agents who were already under his control were absurd, +that the Devil would never put himself at the nod and beck of miserable +women, and that Providence would not permit His children to be thus +buffeted by the evil one: these were the current objections;[7] and to +them all Glanvill replied that one positive fact is worth a thousand +negative arguments. Innumerable frauds had been exposed. Yes, he knew +it,[8] but here were well authenticated cases that were not fraud. +Glanvill put the issue squarely. His confidence in his case at once wins +admiration. He was thoroughly sincere. The fly in the ointment was of +course that his best authenticated cases could not stand any careful +criticism. He had been furnished the narratives which he used by "honest +and honourable friends." Yet, if this scientific investigator could be +duped, as he had been at Tedworth, much more those worthy but credulous +friends whom he quoted. + +From a simple assertion that he was presenting facts Glanvill went on to +make a plea used often nowadays in another connection by defenders of +miracles. If the ordinary mind, he said, could not understand "every +thing done by Mathematics and Mechanical Artifice,"[9] how much more +would even the most knowing of us fail to understand the power of +witches. This proposition, the reader can see, was nothing more than a +working out of one of the principles of his philosophy. There can be no +doubt that he would have taken the same ground about miracles,[10] a +position that must have alarmed many of his contemporaries. + +In spite of his emphasis of fact, Glanvill was as ready as any to enter +into a theological disquisition. Into those rarefied regions of thought +we shall not follow him. It will perhaps not be out of order, however, +to note two or three points that were thoroughly typical of his +reasoning. To the contention that, if a wicked spirit could work harm by +the use of a witch, it should be able to do so without any intermediary +and so to harass all of mankind all of the time, he answered that the +designs of demons are levelled at the soul and can in consequence best +be carried on in secret.[11] To the argument that when one considers the +"vileness of men" one would expect that the evil spirits would practise +their arts not on a few but on a great many, he replied that men are not +liable to be troubled by them till they have forfeited the "tutelary +care and oversight of the better spirits," and, furthermore, spirits +find it difficult to assume such shapes as are necessary for "their +Correspondencie with Witches." It is a hard thing for spirits "to force +their thin and tenuious bodies into a visible consistence.... For, in +this Action, their Bodies must needs be exceedingly compress'd."[12] To +the objection that the belief in evil beings makes it plausible that the +miracles of the Bible were wrought by the agency of devils,[13] he +replied that the miracles of the Gospel are notoriously contrary to the +tendency, aims, and interests of the kingdom of darkness.[14] The +suggestion that witches would not renounce eternal happiness for short +and trivial pleasures here,[15] he silenced by saying that "Mankind acts +sometimes to prodigious degrees of brutishness." + +It is needless to go further in quoting his arguments. Doubtless both +questions and answers seem quibbles to the present-day reader, but the +force of Glanvill's replies from the point of view of his contemporaries +must not be underestimated. He was indeed the first defender of +witchcraft who in any reasoned manner tried to clear up the problems +proposed by the opposition. His answers were without question the best +that could be given. + +It is easy for us to forget the theological background of +seventeenth-century English thought. Given a personal Devil who is +constantly intriguing against the kingdom of God (and who would then +have dared to deny such a premise?), grant that the Devil has +supernatural powers (and there were Scripture texts to prove it), and +it was but a short step to the belief in witches. The truth is that +Glanvill's theories were much more firmly grounded on the bedrock of +seventeenth-century theology than those of his opponents. His opponents +were attempting to use common sense, but it was a sort of common sense +which, however little they saw it, must undermine the current religious +convictions. + +Glanvill was indeed exceedingly up-to-date in his own time. Not but that +he had read the learned old authors. He was familiar with what "the +great Episcopius" had to say, he had dipped into Reginald Scot and +deemed him too "ridiculous" to answer.[16] But he cared far more about +the arguments that he heard advanced in every-day conversation. These +were the arguments that he attempted to answer. His work reflected the +current discussions of the subject. It was, indeed, the growing +opposition among those whom he met that stirred him most. Not without +sadness he recognized that "most of the looser Gentry and small +pretenders to Philosophy and Wit are generally deriders of the belief of +Witches and Apparitions."[17] Like an animal at bay, he turned fiercely +on them. "Let them enjoy the Opinion of their own Superlative +Judgements" and run madly after Scot, Hobbes, and Osborne. It was, in +truth, a danger to religion that he was trying to ward off. One of the +fundamentals of religion was at stake. The denial of witchcraft was a +phase of prevalent atheism. Those that give up the belief in witches, +give up that in the Devil, then that in the immortality of the +soul.[18] The question at issue was the reality of the spirit world. + +It can be seen why the man was tremendously in earnest. One may indeed +wonder if his intensity of feeling on the matter was not responsible for +his accepting as _bona fide_ narratives those which his common sense +should have made him reject. In defending the authenticity of the +remarkable stories told by the accusers of Julian Cox,[19] he was guilty +of a degree of credulity that passes belief. Perhaps the reader will +recall the incident of the hunted rabbit that vanished behind a bush and +was transformed into a panting woman, no other than the accused Julian +Cox. This tale must indeed have strained Glanvill's utmost capacity of +belief. Yet he rose bravely to the occasion. Determined not to give up +any well-supported fact, he urged that probably the Devil had sent a +spirit to take the apparent form of the hare while he had hurried the +woman to the bush and had presumably kept her invisible until she was +found by the boy. It was the Nemesis of a bad cause that its greatest +defender should have let himself indulge in such absurdities. + +In truth we may be permitted to wonder if the philosopher was altogether +true to his own position. In his _Scepsis Scientifica_ he had talked +hopefully about the possibility that science might explain what as yet +seemed supernatural.[20] This came perilously near to saying that the +realms of the supernatural, when explored, would turn out to be natural +and subject to natural law. If this were true, what would become of all +those bulwarks of religion furnished by the wonders of witchcraft? It +looks very much as if Glanvill had let an inconsistency creep into his +philosophy. + +It was two years after Glanvill's first venture that Meric Casaubon +issued his work entitled _Of Credulity and Incredulity in Things +Natural, Civil, and Divine_.[21] On account of illness, however, as he +tells the reader in his preface, he had been unable to complete the +book, and it dealt only with "Things Natural" and "Things Civil." +"Things Divine" became the theme of a separate volume, which appeared in +1670 under the title _Of Credulity and Incredulity in Things Divine and +Spiritual: wherein ... the business of Witches and Witchcraft, against a +late Writer, [is] fully Argued and Disputed_. The interest of this +scholar in the subject of witchcraft was, as we have seen, by no means +recent. When a young rector in Somerset he had attended a trial of +witches, quite possibly the identical trial that had moved Bernard to +appeal to grand jurymen. We have noted in an earlier chapter[22] that +Casaubon in 1654, writing on _Enthusiasm_, had touched lightly upon the +subject. It will be recalled that he had come very near to questioning +the value of confessions. Five years later, in prefacing a _Relation of +what passed between Dr. Dee and some Spirits_, he had anticipated the +conclusions of his _Credulity and Incredulity_. Those conclusions were +mainly in accord with Glanvill. With a good will he admitted that the +denying of witches was a "very plausible cause." Nothing was more liable +to be fraud than the exhibitions given at trials, nothing less +trustworthy than the accounts of what witches had done. Too many cases +originated in the ignorance of ministers who were on the look-out "in +every wild notion or phansie" for a "suggestion of the Devil."[23] But, +like Glanvill, and indeed like the spiritualists of to-day, he insisted +that many cases of fraud do not establish a negative. There is a very +large body of narratives so authentic that to doubt them would be +evidence of infidelity. Casaubon rarely doubted, although he sought to +keep the doubting spirit. It was hard for him not to believe what he had +read or had been told. He was naturally credulous, particularly when he +read the stories of the classical writers. For this attitude of mind he +was hardly to be censured. Criticism was but beginning to be applied to +the tales of Roman and Greek writers. Their works were full of stories +of magic and enchantment, and it was not easy for a seventeenth-century +student to shake himself free from their authority. Nor would Casaubon +have wished to do so. He belonged to the past both by religion and +raining, and he must be reckoned among the upholders of +superstition.[24] + +In the next year, 1669, John Wagstaffe, a graduate of Oriel College who +had applied himself to "the study of learning and politics," issued a +little book, _The Question of Witchcraft Debated_. Wagstaffe was a +university man of no reputation. "A little crooked man and of a +despicable presence," he was dubbed by the Oxford wags the little +wizard.[25] Nevertheless he had something to say and he gained no small +hearing. Many of his arguments were purely theological and need not be +repeated. But he made two good points. The notions about witches find +their origin in "heathen fables." This was an undercutting blow at those +who insisted on the belief in witchcraft as an essential of Christian +faith; and Wagstaffe, moreover, made good his case. His second argument +was one which no less needed to be emphasized. Coincidence, he believed, +accounts for a great deal of the inexplicable in witchcraft +narratives.[26] + +Within two years the book appeared again, much enlarged, and it was +later translated into German. It was answered by two men--by Casaubon in +the second part of his Credulity[27] and by an author who signed himself +"R. T."[28] Casaubon added nothing new, nor did "R. T.," who threshed +over old theological straw. The same can hardly be said of Lodowick +Muggleton, a seventeenth-century Dowie who would fain have been a +prophet of a new dispensation. He put out an exposition of the Witch of +Endor that was entirely rationalistic.[29] Witches, he maintained, had +no spirits but their own wicked imaginations. Saul was simply the dupe +of a woman pretender. + +An antidote to this serious literature may be mentioned in passing. +There was published at London, in 1673,[30] _A Pleasant Treatise of +Witches_, in which a delightful prospect was opened to the reader: "You +shall find nothing here of those Vulgar, Fabulous, and Idle Tales that +are not worth the lending an ear to, nor of those hideous Sawcer-eyed +and Cloven-Footed Divels, that Grandmas affright their children withal, +but only the pleasant and well grounded discourses of the Learned as an +object adequate to thy wise understanding." An outline was offered, but +it was nothing more than a thread upon which to hang good stories. They +were tales of a distant past. There were witches once, of course there +were, but that was in the good old days. Such was the author's +implication. + +Alas that such light treatment was so rare! The subject was, in the +minds of most, not one for laughter. It called for serious +consideration. That point of view came to its own again in _The Doctrine +of Devils proved to be the grand apostacy of these later Times_.[31] The +Dutch translator of this book tells us that it was written by a New +England clergyman.[32] If that be true, the writer must have been one of +the least provincial New Englanders of his century, for he evinces a +remarkable knowledge of the witch alarms and witch discussions in +England. Some of his opinions betray the influence of Scot, as for +instance his interpretation of Christ's casting out of devils.[33] The +term "having a devil" was but a phrase for one distracted. The author +made, however, some new points. He believed that the importance of the +New Testament miracles would be overshadowed by the greater miracles +wrought by the Devil.[34] A more telling argument, at least to a modern +reader, was that the solidarity of society would be endangered by a +belief that made every man afraid of his neighbor.[35] The writer +commends Wagstaffe's work, and writes of Casaubon, "If any one could +possibly have bewitcht me into the Belief of Witchcraft, this reverend +person, of all others, was most like to have done it." He decries the +"proletarian Rabble," and "the great Philosophers" (More and Glanvill, +doubtless), who call themselves Christians and yet hold "an Opinion that +Butchers up Men and Women without Fear or Witt, Sense or Reason, Care or +Conscience, by droves;" but he praises "the reverend judges of England, +now ... much wiser than before," who "give small or no encouragement to +such accusations." + +We come now to the second great figure among the witch-ologists of the +Restoration, John Webster. Glanvill and Webster were protagonist and +antagonist in a drama where the others played somewhat the role of the +Greek chorus. It was in 1677 that Webster put forth _The Displaying of +Supposed Witchcraft_.[36] A Non-Conformist clergyman in his earlier +life, he seems to have turned in later years to the practice of +medicine. From young manhood he had been interested in the subject of +witchcraft. Probably that interest dates from an experience of his one +Sunday afternoon over forty years before he published his book. It will +be recalled that the boy Robinson, accuser of the Lancashire women in +1634, had been brought into his Yorkshire congregation at an afternoon +service and had come off very poorly when cross-questioned by the +curious minister. From that time Webster had been a doubter. Now and +again in the course of his Yorkshire and Lancashire pastorates he had +come into contact with superstition. He was no philosopher, this +Yorkshire doctor of souls and bodies, nor was he more than a country +scientist, and his reasoning against witchcraft fell short--as Professor +Kittredge has clearly pointed out[37]--of scientific rationalism. That +was a high mark and few there were in the seventeenth century who +attained unto it. But it is not too much to say that John Webster was +the heir and successor to Scot. He carried weight by the force of his +attack, if not by its brilliancy.[38] He was by no means always +consistent, but he struck sturdy blows. He was seldom original, but he +felled his opponents. + +Many of his strongest arguments, of course, were old. It was nothing new +that the Witch of Endor was an impostor. It was Muggleton's notion, and +it went back indeed to Scot. The emphasizing of the part played by +imagination was as old as the oldest English opponent of witch +persecution. The explanation of certain strange phenomena +as ventriloquism--a matter that Webster had investigated +painstakingly--this had been urged before. Webster himself did not +believe that new arguments were needed. He had felt that the "impious +and Popish opinions of the too much magnified powers of Demons and +Witches, in this Nation were pretty well quashed and silenced" by +various writers and by the "grave proceedings of many learned judges." +But it was when he found that two "beneficed Ministers," Casaubon and +Glanvill, had "afresh espoused so bad a cause" that he had been impelled +to review their grounds. + +As the reader may already have guessed, Webster, like so many of his +predecessors, dealt largely in theological and scriptural arguments. It +was along this line, indeed, that he made his most important +contribution to the controversy then going on. Glanvill had urged that +disbelief in witchcraft was but one step in the path to atheism. No +witches, no spirits, no immortality, no God, were the sequences of +Glanvill's reasoning. In answer Webster urged that the denial of the +existence of witches--_i. e._, of creatures endued with power from the +Devil to perform supernatural wonders--had nothing to do with the +existence of angels or spirits. We must rely upon other grounds for a +belief in the spirit world. Stories of apparitions are no proof, because +we cannot be sure that those apparitions are made or caused by spirits. +We have no certain ground for believing in a spirit world but the +testimony of Scripture.[39] + +But if we grant the existence of spirits--to modernize the form of +Webster's argument--we do not thereby prove the existence of witches. +The New Testament tells of various sorts of "deceiving Imposters, +Diviners, or Witches," but amongst them all "there were none that had +made a visible league with the Devil." There was no mention of +transformation into cats, dogs, or wolves.[40] It is hard to see how the +most literal students of the Scriptures could have evaded this argument. +The Scriptures said a great deal about the Devil, about demoniacs, and +about witches and magicians--whatever they might mean by those terms. +Why did they not speak at all of the compacts between the Devil and +witches? Why did they leave out the very essential of the witch-monger's +lore? + +All this needed to be urged at a time when the advocates of witchcraft +were crying "Wolf! wolf!" to the Christian people of England. In other +words, Webster was rendering it possible for the purely orthodox to give +up what Glanvill had called a bulwark of religion and still to cling to +their orthodoxy. + +It is much to the credit of Webster that he spoke out plainly concerning +the obscenity of what was extorted from the witches. No one who has not +read for himself can have any notion of the vile character of the +charges and confessions embodied in the witch pamphlets. It is an aspect +of the question which has not been discussed in these pages. Webster +states the facts without exaggeration:[41] "For the most of them are not +credible, by reason of their obscenity and filthiness; for chast ears +would tingle to hear such bawdy and immodest lyes; and what pure and +sober minds would not nauseate and startle to understand such unclean +stories ...? Surely even the impurity of it may be sufficient to +overthrow the credibility of it, especially among Christians." Professor +Burr has said that "it was, indeed, no small part of the evil of the +matter, that it so long debauched the imagination of Christendom."[42] + +We have said that Webster denied the existence of witches, that is, of +those who performed supernatural deeds. But, like Scot, he explicitly +refrained from denying the existence of witches _in toto_. He was, in +fact, much more satisfactory than Scot; for he explained just what was +his residuum of belief. He believed that witches were evil-minded +creatures inspired by the Devil, who by the use of poisons and natural +means unknown to most men harmed and killed their fellow-beings.[43] Of +course he would have insisted that a large proportion of all those +charged with being such were mere dealers in fraud or the victims of +false accusation, but the remainder of the cases he would have explained +in this purely natural way. + +Now, if this was not scientific rationalism, it was at least +straight-out skepticism as to the supernatural in witchcraft. Moreover +there are cases enough in the annals of witchcraft that look very much +as if poison were used. The drawback of course is that Webster, like +Scot, had not disabused his mind of all superstition. Professor +Kittredge in his discussion of Webster has pointed this out carefully. +Webster believed that the bodies of those that had been murdered bleed +at the touch of the murderer. He believed, too, in a sort of "astral +spirit,"[44] and he seems to have been convinced of the truth of +apparitions.[45] These were phenomena that he believed to be +substantiated by experience. On different grounds, by _a priori_ +reasoning from scriptural premises, he arrived at the conclusion that +God makes use of evil angels "as the executioners of his justice to +chasten the godly, and to restrain or destroy the wicked."[46] + +This is and was essentially a theological conception. But there was no +small gap between this and the notion that spirits act in supernatural +ways in our every-day world. And there was nothing more inconsistent in +failing to bridge this gap than in the position of the Christian people +today who believe in a spirit world and yet discredit without +examination all that is offered as new evidence of its existence. + +The truth is that Webster was too busy at destroying the fortifications +of his opponents to take the trouble to build up defences for himself. +But it is not too much to call him the most effective of the seventeenth +century assailants of witch persecution in England.[47] He had this +advantage over all who had gone before, that a large and increasing body +of intelligent people were with him. He spoke in full consciousness of +strong support. It was for his opponents to assume the defensive. + +We have called John Webster's a great name in the literature of our +subject, and we have given our reasons for so thinking. Yet it would be +a mistake to suppose that he created any such sensation in his time as +did his arch-opponent, Glanvill. His work never went into a second +edition. There are but few references to it in the writings of the time, +and those are in works devoted to the defence of the belief. Benjamin +Camfield, a Leicestershire rector, wrote an unimportant book on _Angels +and their Ministries_,[48] and in an appendix assailed Webster. Joseph +Glanvill turned fiercely upon him with new proofs of what he called +facts, and bequeathed the work at his death to Henry More, who in the +several following editions of the _Sadducismus Triumphatus_ attacked him +with no little bitterness. + +We may skip over three lesser writers on witchcraft. During the early +eighties John Brinley, Henry Hallywell, and Richard Bovet launched their +little boats into the sea of controversy. Brinley was a bold plagiarist +of Bernard, Hallywell a logical but dull reasoner from the Bible, Bovet +a weakened solution of Glanvill.[49] + +We turn now from the special literature of witchcraft to a sketch of the +incidental evidences of opinion. Of these we have a larger body than +ever before, too large indeed to handle in detail. It would be idle to +quote from the chap-books on witch episodes their _raisons d'etre_. It +all comes to this: they were written to confute disbelievers. They refer +slightingly and even bitterly to those who oppose belief, not however +without admitting their numbers and influence. It will be more to our +purpose to examine the opinions of men as they uttered them on the +bench, in the pulpit, and in the other walks of practical life. + +We have already had occasion to learn what the judges were thinking. We +listened to Matthew Hale while he uttered the pronouncement that was +heard all over England and even in the North American colonies. The +existence of witches, he affirmed solemnly, is proved by Scripture and +by the universality of laws against them. Justice Rainsford in the +following years and Justice Raymond about twenty years later seem to +have taken Hale's view of the matter. On the other side were to be +reckoned Sir John Reresby and Francis North. Neither of them was quite +outspoken, fearing the rage of the people and the charge of atheism. +Both sought to save the victims of persecution, but rather by exposing +the deceptions of the accusers than by denying witchcraft itself. From +the vast number of acquittals in the seventies and the sudden dropping +off in the number of witch trials in the eighties we know that there +must have been many other judges who were acquitting witches or quietly +ignoring the charges against them. Doubtless Kelyng, who, as a spectator +at Bury, had shown his skepticism as to the accusations, had when he +later became a chief justice been one of those who refused to condemn +witches. + +From scientific men there were few utterances. Although we shall in +another connection show that a goodly number from the Royal Society +cherished very definite beliefs--or disbeliefs--on the subject, we have +the opinions of but two men who were professionally scientists, Sir +Thomas Browne and Sir Robert Boyle. Browne we have already met at the +Bury trial. It may reasonably be questioned whether he was really a man +of science. Certainly he was a physician of eminence. The attitude he +took when an expert witness at Bury, it will be recalled, was quite +consistent with the opinion given in his _Commonplace Book_. "We are +noways doubtful," he wrote, "that there are witches, but have not always +been satisfied in the application of their witchcrafts."[50] So spoke +the famous physician of Norwich. But a man whose opinion was of much +more consequence was Sir Robert Boyle. Boyle was a chemist and "natural +philosopher." He was the discoverer of the air pump, was elected +president of the Royal Society, and was altogether one of the greatest +non-political figures in the reign of Charles II. While he never, so far +as we know, discussed witchcraft in the abstract, he fathered a French +story that was brought into England, the story of the Demon of Mascon. +He turned the story over to Glanvill to be used in his list of authentic +narratives; and, when it was later reported that he had pronounced the +demon story an imposture, he took pains to deny the report in a letter +to Glanvill.[51] + +Of literary men we have, as of scientists, but two. Aubrey, the +"delitescent" antiquarian and Will Wimble of his time, still credited +witchcraft, as he credited all sorts of narratives of ghosts and +apparitions. It was less a matter of reason than of sentiment. The +dramatist Shadwell had the same feeling for literary values. In his +preface to the play, _The Lancashire Witches_, he explained that he +pictured the witches as real lest the people should want "diversion," +and lest he should be called "atheistical by a prevailing party who take +it ill that the power of the Devil should be lessen'd."[52] But +Shadwell, although not seriously interested in any side of the subject +save in its use as literary material, included himself among the group +who had given up belief. + +What philosophers thought we may guess from the all-pervading influence +of Hobbes in this generation. We have already seen, however, that Henry +More,[53] whose influence in his time was not to be despised, wrote +earnestly and often in support of belief. One other philosopher may be +mentioned. Ralph Cudworth, in his _True Intellectual System_, touched on +confederacies with the Devil and remarked in passing that "there hath +been so full an attestation" of these things "that those our so +confident Exploders of them, in this present Age, can hardly escape the +suspicion of having some Hankring towards Atheism."[54] This was +Glanvill over again. It remains to notice the opinions of clergymen. The +history of witch literature has been in no small degree the record of +clerical opinion. Glanvill, Casaubon, Muggleton, Camfield, and Hallywell +were all clergymen. Fortunately we have the opinions of at least half a +dozen other churchmen. It will be remembered that Oliver Heywood, the +famous Non-Conformist preacher of Lancashire, believed, though not too +implicitly, in witchcraft.[55] So did Samuel Clarke, Puritan divine and +hagiographer.[56] On the same side must be reckoned Nathaniel Wanley, +compiler of a curious work on _The Wonders of the Little World_.[57] A +greater name was that of Isaac Barrow, master of Trinity, teacher of +Isaac Newton, and one of the best preachers of his time. He declared +that to suppose all witch stories fictions was to "charge the world with +both extreme Vanity and Malignity."[58] We can cite only one divine on +the other side. This was Samuel Parker, who in his time played many +parts, but who is chiefly remembered as the Bishop of Oxford during the +troubles of James II with the university. Parker was one of the most +disliked ecclesiastics of his time, but he deserves praise at any rate +for his stand as to witchcraft. We do not know the details of his +opinions; indeed we have nothing more than the fact that in a +correspondence with Glanvill he questioned the opinions of that +distinguished protagonist of witchcraft.[59] + +By this time it must be clear that there is possible no hard and fast +discrimination by groups between those that believed in witchcraft and +those that did not. We may say cautiously that through the seventies and +eighties the judges, and probably too the justices of the peace,[60] +were coming to disbelieve. With even greater caution we may venture the +assertion that the clergy, both Anglican and Non-Conformist, were still +clinging to the superstition. Further generalization would be extremely +hazardous. It looks, however, from the evidence already presented, as +well as from some to be given in another connection--in discussing the +Royal Society[61]--as if the scientists had not taken such a stand as +was to be expected of them. + +When we examine the attitude of those who scoffed at the stories vouched +for by Glanvill and More it becomes evident that they assumed that +practically all thinking men were with them. In other words, they +believed that their group comprised the intellectual men of the time. +Now, it would be easy to rush to the conclusion that all men who thought +in conventional ways would favor witchcraft, and that those who took +unconventional views would be arrayed on the other side, but this would +be a mistake. Glanvill was an exceedingly original man, while Muggleton +was uncommonly commonplace; and there were numbered among those who held +to the old opinion men of high intelligence and brilliant talents. + +We must search, then, for some other basis of classification. Glanvill +gives us an interesting suggestion. In withering tone he speaks of the +"looser gentry and lesser pretenders to wit." Here is a possible line of +cleavage. Might it be that the more worldly-minded among the county +families, that those too who comprised what we may call, in the absence +of a better term, the "smart set," and the literary sets of London, were +especially the "deriders" of superstition? It is not hard to believe +that Shadwell, the worldly Bishop Parker, and the polished Sir William +Temple[62] would fairly reflect the opinions of that class. So too the +diarist Pepys, who found Glanvill "not very convincing." We can conceive +how the ridicule of the supernatural might have become the fad of a +certain social group. The Mompesson affair undoubtedly possessed +elements of humor; the wild tales about Amy Duny and Rose Cullender +would have been uncommonly diverting, had they not produced such tragic +results. With the stories spun about Julian Cox the witch accusers could +go no farther. They had reached the culmination of nonsense. Now, it is +conceivable that the clergyman might not see the humor of it, nor the +philosopher, nor the scholar; but the worldly-minded Londoner, who cared +less about texts in Leviticus than did his father, who knew more about +coffee-houses and plays, and who cultivated clever people with +assiduity, had a better developed sense of humor. It was not strange +that he should smile quizzically when told these weird stories from the +country. He may not have pondered very deeply on the abstract question +nor read widely--perhaps he had seen Ady's book or glanced over +Scot's--but, when he met keen men in his group who were laughing quietly +at narratives of witchcraft, he laughed too. And so, quite +unobtrusively, without blare of trumpets, skepticism would slip into +society. It would be useless for Glanvill and More to call aloud, or for +the people to rage. The classes who mingled in the worldly life of the +capital would scoff; and the country gentry who took their cue from them +would follow suit. + +Of course this is theory. It would require a larger body of evidence +than we can hope to gather on this subject to prove that the change of +opinion that was surely taking place spread at first through the higher +social strata and was to reach the lower levels only by slow filtration. +Yet such an hypothesis fits in nicely with certain facts. It has +already been seen that the trials for witchcraft dropped off very +suddenly towards the end of the period we are considering. The drop was +accounted for by the changed attitude of judges and of justices of the +peace. The judges avoided trying witches,[63] the justices were less +diligent in discovering them. But the evidence that we had about men of +other occupations was less encouraging. It looked as if those who +dispensed justice were in advance of the clergy, of the scholars, +physicians, and scientists of their time. Had the Master of Trinity, or +the physician of Norwich, or the discoverer of the air pump been the +justices of the peace for England, it is not incredible that +superstition would have flourished for another generation. Was it +because the men of the law possessed more of the matter-of-factness +supposed to be a heritage of every Englishman? Was it because their +special training gave them a saner outlook? No doubt both elements help +to explain the difference. But is it not possible to believe that the +social grouping of these men had an influence? The itinerant justices +and the justices of the peace were recruited from the gentry, as none of +the other classes were. Men like Reresby and North inherited the +traditions of their class; they spent part of the year in London and +knew the talk of the town. Can we doubt that their decisions were +influenced by that fact? The country justice of the peace was removed +often enough from metropolitan influences, but he was usually quick to +catch the feelings of his own class. + +If our theory be true that the jurists were in advance of other +professions and that they were sprung of a higher stock, it is of course +some confirmation of the larger theory that witchcraft was first +discredited among the gentry. Yet, as we have said before, this is at +best a guess as to how the decline of belief took place and must be +accepted only provisionally. We have seen that there are other +assertions about the progress of thought in this period that may be +ventured with much confidence. There had been great changes of opinion. +It would not be fair to say that the movement towards skepticism had +been accelerated. Rather, the movement which had its inception back in +the days of Reginald Scot and had found in the last days of James I a +second impulse, which had been quietly gaining force in the thirties, +forties, and fifties, was now under full headway. Common sense was +coming into its own. + + +[1] Ferris Greenslet, _Joseph Glanvill_ (New York, 1900), 153. The +writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. Greenslet's +excellent book on Glanvill. + +[2] The _Scepsis Scientifica_ was really _The Vanity of Dogmatising_ +(1661) recast. + +[3] See, for example, the introductory essay by John Owen in his edition +(London, 1885), of the _Scepsis Scientifica_, xxvii, xxix. See also +_Sadducismus Triumphatus_ (citations are all from the edition of 1681), +7, 13. + +[4] So at least says Leslie Stephen, _Dict. Nat. Biog._ Glanvill +himself, in _Essays on Several Important Subjects_ (1676), says that the +sixth essay, "Philosophical Considerations against Modern Sadducism," +had been printed four times already, _i. e._, before 1676. The edition +of 1668 had been revised. + +[5] This edition was dedicated to Charles, Duke of Richmond and Lenox, +since His Grace had been "pleased to commend the first and more +imperfect Edition." + +[6] _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, Preface, F 3 verso, F 4; see also p. 10. +In the second part see Preface, Aa 2--Aa 3. In several other places he +has insisted upon this point. + +[7] See _ibid._, 9 ff., 18 ff., 21 ff., 34 ff. + +[8] _Ibid._, 32, 34. + +[9] _Ibid._, 11-13. + +[10] See, for example, _ibid._, 88-89. + +[11] _Ibid._, 25-27. + +[12] _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, 39. + +[13] _Ibid._, 52-53. + +[14] To the argument that witches are not mentioned in the New Testament +he retorted that neither is North America (_ibid._, 82). + +[15] _Ibid._, 78. + +[16] Nevertheless he took up some of Scot's points. + +[17] _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, Preface. + +[18] _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, pt. ii, 3. + +[19] See _ibid._, pt. ii, Relation VIII. + +[20] _Scepsis Scientifica_ (ed. of 1885), 179. + +[21] London, 1668. It was reprinted in 1672 with the title _A Treatise +proving Spirits, Witches, and Supernatural Operations by pregnant +instances and evidences_. + +[22] See above, pp. 239-240. + +[23] _Of Credulity and Incredulity_, 29, 30. + +[24] He characterizes Reginald Scot as an illiterate wretch, but admits +that he had never read him. It was Wierus whom he chiefly sought to +confute. + +[25] He was given also to "strong and high tasted liquors." Anthony a +Wood, _Athenae Oxonienses_ (London, 1691-1692; 3d ed., with additions, +London, 1813-1820), ed. of 1813-1820, III, 11-14. + +[26] _The Question of Witchcraft Debated_ (London, 1669), 64. + +[27] 1670 (see above, p. 293). + +[28] _The Opinion of Witchcraft Vindicated. In an Answer to a Book +Intituled The Question of Witchcraft Debated_ (London, 1670). + +[29] _A True Interpretation of the Witch of Endor_ (London, 1669). + +[30] "By a Pen neer the Convent of Eluthery." + +[31] London, 1676. + +[32] To Professor Burr I owe my knowledge of this ascription. The +translator (the English Quaker, William Sewel, all his life a resident +of Holland), calls him "N. Orchard, Predikant in Nieuw-Engeland." + +[33] See _Doctrine of Devils_, chaps. VII, VIII, and _cf._ Scot, +_Discoverie of Witchcraft_, 512-514. + +[34] Glanvill had answered a somewhat similar argument, that the +miracles of the Bible were wrought by the agency of the Devil. + +[35] He said also that, if the Devil could take on "men's shapes, forms, +habits, countenances, tones, gates, statures, ages, complexions ... and +act in the shape assumed," there could be absolutely no certainty about +the proceedings of justice. + +[36] The book had been written four years earlier. + +[37] See G. L. Kittredge, "Notes on Witchcraft," in American Antiquarian +Soc., _Proceedings_, n. s., XVIII (1906-1907), 169-176. + +[38] There is, however, no little brilliance and insight in some of +Webster's reasoning. + +[39] _Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft_, 38-41. + +[40] _Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft_, 53. + +[41] _Ibid._, 68. + +[42] _The Witch-Persecutions_ (University of Pennsylvania Translations +and Reprints, vol. III, no. 4), revised ed. (Philadelphia, 1903), p. 1. + +[43] _Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft_, 247-248. + +[44] _Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft_, 308, 312 ff. The astral spirit +which he conceived was not unlike More's and Glanvill's "thin and +tenuous substance." + +[45] _Ibid._, 294 ff. + +[46] _Ibid._, 219-228. + +[47] The author of _The Doctrine of Devils_ (see above, note 32), was +thorough-going enough, but his work seems to have attracted much less +attention. + +[48] London, 1678. + +[49] John Brinley, "Gentleman," brought out in 1680 _A Discovery of the +Impostures of Witches and Astrologers_. Portions of his book would pass +for good thinking until one awakens to the feeling that he has read +something like this before. As a matter of fact Brinley had stolen the +line of thought and much of the phrasing from Richard Bernard (1627, see +above, pp. 234-236), and without giving any credit. A second edition of +Brinley's work was issued in 1686. It was the same in every respect save +that the dedication was omitted and the title changed to _A Discourse +Proving by Scripture and Reason and the Best Authors Ancient and Modern +that there are Witches_. + +Henry Hallywell, a Cambridge master of arts and sometime fellow of +Christ's College, issued in 1681 _Melampronoea, or a Discourse of the +Polity and Kingdom of Darkness, Together with a Solution of the chiefest +Objections brought against the Being of Witches_. Hallywell was another +in the long list of Cambridge men who defended superstition. He set +about to assail the "over-confident Exploders of Immaterial Substances" +by a course of logical deductions from Scripture. His treatise is slow +reading. + +Richard Bovet, "Gentleman," gave the world in 1684 _Pandaemonium, or the +Devil's Cloyster; being a further Blow to Modern Sadduceism_. There was +nothing new about his discussion, which he dedicates to Dr. Henry More. +His attitude was defensive in the extreme. He was consumed with +indignation at disbelievers: "They oppose their simple _ipse dixit_ +against the most unquestionable Testimonies"; they even dare to "affront +that relation of the Daemon of Tedworth." He was indeed cast down over +the situation. He himself relates a very patent instance of witchcraft +in Somerset; yet, despite the fact that numerous physicians agreed on +the matter, no "justice was applyed." One of Bovet's chief purposes in +his work was to show "the Confederacy of several Popes and Roman Priests +with the Devil." He makes one important admission in regard to +witchcraft; namely, that the confessions of witches might sometimes be +the result of "a Deep Melancholy, or some Terrour that they may have +been under." + +[50] _Works_, ed. of 1835-1836, IV, 389. + +[51] For Boyle's opinions see also Webster, _Displaying of Supposed +Witchcraft_, 248. + +[52] He says also: "For my part I am ... somewhat cotive of belief. The +evidences I have represented are natural, viz., slight, and frivolous, +such as poor old women were wont to be hang'd upon." The play may be +found in all editions of Shadwell's works. I have used the rare +privately printed volume in which, under the title of _The Poetry of +Witchcraft_ (Brixton Hill, 1853), J. O. Halliwell [-Phillips] united +this play of Shadwell's with that of Heywood and Brome on _The late +Lancashire Witches_. These two plays, so similar in title, that of +Heywood and Brome in 1634, based on the case of 1633, and that of +Shadwell in 1682, based on the affair of 1612, must not be confused. See +above pp. 121, 158-160, 244-245. + +[53] See above, pp. 238-239. + +[54] _The True Intellectual System of the Universe_ (London, 1678), 702. + +[55] See above, p. 256 and note. + +[56] See his _Lives of Sundry Eminent Persons_ (London, 1683), 172; also +his _Mirrour or Looking Glass, Both for Saints and Sinners_ (London, +1657-1671), I, 35-38; II, 159-183. + +[57] London, 1678; see pp. 515-518. + +[58] _Works_ (ed. of Edinburgh, 1841), II, 162. + +[59] Glanvill, _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, 80. + +[60] By the eighties it is very clear that the justices were ceasing to +press charges against witches. + +[61] In an article to be published separately. + +[62] See his essay "Of Poetry" in his _Works_ (London, 1814), III, +430-431. + +[63] Justice Jeffreys and Justice Herbert both acquitted witches +according to F. A. Inderwick, _Sidelights on the Stuarts_ (2d ed., +London, 1891), 174. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE FINAL DECLINE. + + +In the history of witchcraft the years from 1688 to 1718 may be grouped +together as comprising a period. This is not to say that the year of the +Revolution marked any transition in the course of the superstition. It +did not. But we have ventured to employ it as a convenient date with +which to bound the influences of the Restoration. The year 1718 derives +its importance for us from the publication, in that year, of Francis +Hutchinson's _Historical Essay on Witchcraft_, a book which, it is not +too much to say, gave the final blow to the belief in England.[1] + +We speak of fixing a date by which to bound the influences of the +Restoration. Now, as a matter of fact, there is something arbitrary +about any date. The influences at work during the previous period went +steadily on. The heathen raged, and the people imagined a vain thing. +The great proletariat hated witches as much as ever. But the justices of +the peace and the itinerant judges were getting over their fear of +popular opinion and were refusing to listen to the accusations that were +brought before them. The situation was in some respects the same as it +had been in the later seventies and throughout the eighties. Yet there +were certain features that distinguished the period. One of them was the +increased use of exorcism. The expelling of evil spirits had been a +subject of great controversy almost a century before. The practice had +by no means been forgotten in the mean time, but it had gained little +public notice. Now the dispossessors of the Devil came to the front +again long enough to whet the animosity between Puritans and Anglicans +in Lancashire. But this never became more than a pamphlet controversy. +The other feature of the period was far more significant. The last +executions for witchcraft in England were probably those at Exeter in +1682.[2] For a whole generation the courts had been frowning on witch +prosecution. Now there arose in England judges who definitely nullified +the law on the statute-book. By the decisions of Powell and Parker, and +most of all by those of Holt, the statute of the first year of James I +was practically made obsolete twenty-five or fifty years before its +actual repeal in 1736. We shall see that the gradual breaking down of +the law by the judges did not take place without a struggle. At the +famous trial in Hertford in 1712 the whole subject of the Devil and his +relation to witches came up again in its most definite form, and was +fought out in the court room and at the bar of public opinion. It was, +however, but the last rallying and counter-charging on a battle-field +where Webster and Glanvill had led the hosts at mid-day. The issue, +indeed, was now very specific. Over the abstract question of witchcraft +there was nothing new to be said. Here, however, was a specific +instance. What was to be done with it? Over that there was waged a merry +war. Of course the conclusion was foregone. It had indeed been +anticipated by the action of the bench. + +We shall see that with the nullification of the law the common people +began to take the law into their own hands. We shall note that, as a +consequence, there was an increase in the number of swimming ordeals and +other illegal procedures. + +The story of the Lancashire demonomania is not unlike the story of +William Somers in Nottingham a century before. In this case there was no +John Darrel, and the exorcists were probably honest but deluded men. The +affair started at the village of Surey, near to the superstition-brewing +Pendle Forest. The possessed boy, Richard Dugdale, was a gardener and +servant about nineteen years of age.[3] In April, 1689, he was seized +with fits in which he was asserted to speak Latin and Greek and to +preach against the sins of the place. Whatever his pretensions were, he +seemed a good subject for exorcism. Some of the Catholics are said to +have tampered with him, and then several Puritan clergymen of the +community took him in hand. For eight months they held weekly fasts for +his recovery; but their efforts were not so successful as they had +hoped. They began to suspect witchcraft[4] and were about to take steps +towards the prosecution of the party suspected.[5] This came to +nothing, but Dugdale at length grew better. He was relieved of his fits; +and the clergymen, who had never entirely given up their efforts to cure +him, hastened to claim the credit. More than a dozen of the dissenting +preachers, among them Richard Frankland, Oliver Heywood,[6] and other +well known Puritan leaders in northern England, had lent their support +to Thomas Jollie, who had taken the leading part in the praying and +fasting. From London, Richard Baxter, perhaps the best known Puritan of +his time, had sent a request for some account of the wonder, in order to +insert it in his forthcoming book on the spirit world. This led to a +plan for printing a complete narrative of what had happened; but the +plan was allowed to lapse with the death of Baxter.[7] Meantime, +however, the publication in London of the Mathers' accounts of the New +England trials of 1692[8] caused a new call for the story of Richard +Dugdale. It was prepared and sent to London; and there in some +mysterious way the manuscript was lost.[9] It was, however, rewritten +and appeared in 1697 as _The Surey Demoniack, or an Account of Strange +and Dreadful Actings in and about the Body of Richard Dugdale_. The +preface was signed by six ministers, including those already named; but +the book was probably written by Thomas Jollie and John Carrington.[10] +The reality of the possession was attested by depositions taken before +two Lancashire justices of the peace. The aim of the work was, of +course, to add one more contemporary link to the chain of evidence for +the supernatural. It was clear to the divines who strove with the +possessed boy that his case was of exactly the same sort as those in the +New Testament. Moreover, his recovery was a proof of the power of +prayer. + +Now Non-Conformity was strong in Lancashire, and the Anglican church as +well as the government had for many years been at no little pains to put +it down. Here was a chance to strike the Puritans at one of their +weakest spots, and the Church of England was not slow to use its +opportunity. Zachary Taylor, rector of Wigan and chaplain to the Bishop +of Chester, had already familiarized himself with the methods of the +exorcists. In the previous year he had attacked the Catholics of +Lancashire for an exorcism which they claimed to have accomplished +within his parish.[11] Pleased with his new role, he found in Thomas +Jollie a sheep ready for the shearing.[12] He hastened to publish _The +Surey Impostor_,[13] in which, with a very good will, he made an assault +upon the reality of Dugdale's fits, charged that he had been +pre-instructed by the Catholics, and that the Non-Conformist clergymen +were seeking a rich harvest from the miracles they should work. +Self-glorification was their aim. He made fun of the several divines +engaged in the affair, and accused them of trickery and presumption in +their conduct of the case.[14] + +Of course Taylor was answered, and with a bitterness equal to his own. +Thomas Jollie replied in _A Vindication of the Surey Demoniack_. "I will +not foul my Paper," wrote the mild Jollie, "and offend my reader with +those scurrilous and ridiculous Passages in this Page. O, the +Eructations of an exulcerated Heart! How desperately wicked is the Heart +of Man!"[15] + +We shall not go into the details of the controversy, which really +degenerated into a sectarian squabble.[16] The only discussion of the +subject that approached fairness was by an anonymous writer,[17] who +professed himself impartial and of a different religious persuasion from +Jollie. To be sure, he was a man who believed in possession by spirits. +It may be questioned, too, whether his assumption of fair dealing +towards the Church of England was altogether justified. But, at any +rate, his work was free from invective and displayed moderation. He felt +that the Dissenting clergymen were probably somewhat deluded. But they +had acted, he believed, under good motives in attempting to help one who +had appealed to them. Some of them were not only "serious good Men," but +men well known in the nation. This, indeed, was true. The Dissenters had +laid themselves open to attack, and doubtless some of them saw and +regretted their mistake. At least, it seems not without significance +that neither Oliver Heywood nor Richard Frankland nor any other of the +Dissenters was sure enough of his ground to support Jollie in the +controversy into which he had been led.[18] + +We have gone into some detail about the Dugdale affair because of its +importance in its time, and because it was so essentially characteristic +of the last era of the struggle over the power of the Devil. There were +cases of possession not only in Lancashire but in Somersetshire and in +and around London. Not without a struggle was His Satanic Majesty +surrendering his hold. + +We turn from this controversy to follow the decisions of those eminent +judges who were nullifying the statute against witches. We have already +mentioned three names, those of Holt, Powell, and Parker. This is not +because they were the only jurists who were giving verdicts of +acquittal--we know that there must have been others--but because their +names are linked with significant decisions. Without doubt Chief Justice +Holt did more than any other man in English history to end the +prosecution of witches. Justice Powell was not so brave a man, but he +happened to preside over one of the most bitterly contested of all +trials, and his verdict served to reaffirm the precedents set by Holt. +It was Justice Parker's fortune to try the last case of witchcraft in +England. + +Holt became chief justice of the king's bench on the accession of +William and Mary. Not one of the great names in English judicial rolls, +his decided stand against superstition makes him great in the history of +witchcraft. Where and when he had acquired his skeptical attitude we do +not know. The time was past when such an attitude was unusual. In any +case, from the moment he assumed the chief justiceship he set himself +directly against the punishment of witchcraft. As premier of the English +judiciary his example meant quite as much as his own rulings. And their +cumulative effect was not slight. We know of no less than eleven trials +where as presiding officer he was instrumental in securing a verdict of +acquittal. In London, at Ipswich, at Bury, at Exeter, in Cornwall, and +in other parts of the realm, these verdicts were rendered, and they +could not fail to influence opinion and to affect the decisions of other +judges. Three of the trials we shall go over briefly--those at Bury, +Exeter, and Southwark. + +In 1694 he tried Mother Munnings at Bury St. Edmunds,[19] where his +great predecessor Hale had condemned two women. Mother Munnings had +declared that a landlord should lie nose upward in the church-yard +before the next Saturday, and, sure enough, her prophecy had come true. +Nevertheless, in spite of this and other testimony, she was acquitted. +Two years later Holt tried Elizabeth Horner at Exeter, where Raymond had +condemned three women in 1682. Bishop Trelawny of Exeter had sent his +sub-dean, Launcelot Blackburne (later to be Archbishop of York), to look +into the case, and his report adds something to the account which +Hutchinson has given us.[20] Elizabeth was seen "three nights together +upon a large down in the same place, as if rising out of the ground." It +was certified against her by a witness that she had driven a red-hot +nail "into the witche's left foot-step, upon which she went lame, and, +being search'd, her leg and foot appear'd to be red and fiery." These +testimonies were the "most material against her," as well as the +evidence of the mother of some possessed children, who declared that her +daughter had walked up a wall nine feet high four or five times +backwards and forwards, her face and the fore part of her body parallel +to the ceiling, saying that Betty Horner carried her up. In closing the +narrative the archdeacon wrote without comment: "My Lord Chief Justice +by his questions and manner of hemming up the evidence seem'd to me to +believe nothing of witchery at all, and to disbelieve the fact of +walking up the wall which was sworn by the mother." He added, "the jury +brought her in not guilty." + +The case of Sarah Moordike of London _versus_ Richard Hathaway[21] makes +even clearer the attitude of Holt. Sarah Moordike, or Morduck, had been +accused years before by a Richard Hathaway of causing his illness. On +several occasions he had scratched her. Persecuted by the rabble, she +had betaken herself from Southwark to London. Thither Richard Hathaway +followed her and soon had several churches praying for his recovery. She +had appealed to a magistrate for protection, had been refused, and had +been tried at the assizes in Guildford, where she was acquitted. By this +time, however, a good many people had begun to think Hathaway a cheat. +He was arrested and put under the care of a surgeon, who watched him +closely and soon discovered that the fasts which were a feature of his +pretended fits were false. This was not the first time that he had been +proved an impostor. On an earlier occasion he had been trapped into +scratching a woman whom he erroneously supposed to be Sarah Morduck. In +spite of all exposures, however, he stuck to his pretended fits and was +at length brought before the assizes at Southwark on the charge of +attempting to take away the life of Sarah Moordike for being a witch. It +is refreshing to know that a clergyman, Dr. Martin, had espoused the +cause of the witch and had aided in bringing Hathaway to judgment. Chief +Justice Holt and Baron Hatsell presided over the court,[22] and there +seems to have been no doubt about the outcome. The jury "without going +from the bar" brought Hathaway in guilty.[23] The verdict was +significant. Pretenders had got themselves into trouble before, but were +soon out. The Boy of Bilston had been reproved; the young Robinson, who +would have sent to the gallows a dozen fellow-creatures, thought it hard +that he was kept a few months confined in London.[24] A series of cases +in the reign of Charles I had shown that it was next to impossible to +recover damages for being slandered as a witch, though in the time of +the Commonwealth one woman had come out of a suit with five shillings to +her credit. Of course, when a man of distinction was slandered, +circumstances were altered. At some time very close to the trial of +Hathaway, Elizabeth Hole of Derbyshire was summoned to the assizes for +accusing Sir Henry Hemloke, a well known baronet, of witchcraft.[25] +Such a charge against a man of position was a serious matter. But the +Moordike-Hathaway case was on a plane entirely different from any of +these cases. Sarah Morduck was not a woman of position, yet her accuser +was punished, probably by a long imprisonment. It was a precedent that +would be a greater safeguard to supposed witches than many acquittals. + +Justice Powell was not to wield the authority of Holt: yet he made one +decision the effects of which were far-reaching. It was in the trial of +Jane Wenham at Hertford in 1712. The trial of this woman was in a sense +her own doing. She was a widow who had done washing by the day. For a +long time she had been suspected of witchcraft by a neighboring farmer, +so much so that, when a servant of his began to act queerly, he at once +laid the blame on the widow. Jane applied to Sir Henry Chauncy, justice +of the peace, for a warrant against her accuser. He was let off with a +fine of a shilling, and she was instructed by Mr. Gardiner, the +clergyman, to live more peaceably.[26] So ended the first act. In the +next scene of this dramatic case a female servant of the Reverend Mr. +Gardiner's, a maid just getting well of a broken knee, was discovered +alone in a room undressed "to her shift" and holding a bundle of sticks. +When asked to account for her condition by Mrs. Gardiner, she had a +curious story to tell. "When she was left alone she found a strange +Roaming in her head, ... her Mind ran upon Jane Wenham and she thought +she must run some whither ... she climbed over a Five-Bar-Gate, and ran +along the Highway up a Hill ... as far as a Place called Hackney-Lane, +where she look'd behind her, and saw a little Old Woman Muffled in a +Riding-hood." This dame had asked whither she was going, had told her to +pluck some sticks from an oak tree, had bade her bundle them in her +gown, and, last and most wonderful, had given her a large crooked +pin.[27] Mrs. Gardiner, so the account goes, took the sticks and threw +them into the fire. Presto! Jane Wenham came into the room, pretending +an errand. It was afterwards found out that the errand was fictitious. + +All this raised a stir. The tale was absolutely original, it was no less +remarkable. A maid with a broken knee had run a half-mile and back in +seven minutes, very good time considering the circumstances. On the next +day the maid, despite the knee and the fits she had meantime contracted, +was sent out on an errand. She met Jane Wenham and that woman quite +properly berated her for the stories she had set going, whereupon the +maid's fits were worse than ever. Then, while several people carefully +watched her, she repeated her former long distance run, leaping over a +five-bar gate "as nimbly as a greyhound." + +Jane Wenham was now imprisoned by the justice of the peace, who +collected with all speed the evidence against her. In this he was aided +by the Reverend Francis Bragge, rector of Walkerne, and the Reverend +Mr. Strutt, vicar of Audley. The wretched woman asked the justice to +let her submit to the ordeal of water,[28] but he refused, pronouncing +it illegal and unjustifiable. Meantime, the Rev. Mr. Strutt used the +test of the Lord's Prayer,[29] a test that had been discarded for half a +century. She failed to say the prayer aright, and alleged in excuse that +"she was much disturbed in her head," as well she might be. But other +evidence came in against her rapidly. She had been caught stealing +turnips, and had quite submissively begged pardon, saying that she had +no victuals that day and no money to buy any.[30] On the very next day +the man who gave this evidence had lost one of his sheep and found +another "taken strangely, skipping and standing upon its head."[31] +There were other equally silly scraps of testimony. We need not go into +them. The two officious clergymen busied themselves with her until one +of them was able to wring some sort of a confession from her. It was a +narrative in which she tried to account for the strange conduct of Anne +Thorne and made a failure of it.[32] A few days later, in the presence +of three clergymen and a justice of the peace, she was urged to repeat +her confession but was "full of Equivocations and Evasions," and when +pressed told her examiners that they "lay in wait for her Life." + +Bragge and Strutt had shown a great deal of energy in collecting +evidence. Yet, when the case came to trial, the woman was accused only +of dealing with a spirit in the shape of a cat.[33] This was done on the +advice of a lawyer. Unfortunately we have no details about his reasons, +but it would look very much as if the lawyer recognized that the +testimony collected by the ministers would no longer influence the +court, and believed that the one charge of using a cat as a spirit might +be substantiated. The assizes were largely attended. "So vast a number +of People," writes an eye-witness, "have not been together at the +Assizes in the memory of Man."[34] Besides the evidence brought in by +the justice of the peace, who led the prosecution with vigor, the Rev. +Mr. Bragge, who was not to be repressed because the charges had been +limited, gave some most remarkable testimony about the stuffing of Anne +Thorne's pillow. It was full of cakes of small feathers fastened +together with some viscous matter resembling much the "ointment made of +dead men's flesh" mentioned by Mr. Glanvill. Bragge had done a piece of +research upon the stuff and discovered that the particles were arranged +in geometrical forms with equal numbers in each part.[35] Justice Powell +called for the pillow, but had to be content with the witness's word, +for the pillow had been burnt. Arthur Chauncy, who was probably a +relative of the justice of the peace, offered to show the judge pins +taken from Anne Thorne. It was needless, replied the judge, he supposed +they were crooked pins.[36] The leaders of the prosecution seem to have +felt that the judge was sneering at them throughout the trial. When Anne +Thorne was in a fit, and the Reverend Mr. Chishull, being permitted to +pray over her, read the office for the visitation of the sick, Justice +Powell mockingly commented "That he had heard there were Forms of +Exorcism in the Romish Liturgy, but knew not that we had any in our +Church."[37] It must have been a great disappointment to these Anglican +clergymen that Powell took the case so lightly. When it was testified +against the accused that she was accustomed to fly, Powell is said to +have said to her, "You may, there is no law against flying."[38] This +indeed is quite in keeping with the man as described by Swift: "an old +fellow with grey hairs, who was the merriest old gentleman I ever saw, +spoke pleasing things, and chuckled till he cried again." + +In spite of Powell's obvious opinion on the trial, he could not hinder a +conviction. No doubt the jury were greatly swayed by the crowds. The +judge seems to have gone through the form of condemning the woman, but +took pains to see that she was reprieved.[39] In the mean time her +affair, like that of Richard Dugdale, had become a matter of sectarian +quarrel. It was stated by the enemies of Jane Wenham that she was +supported in prison by the Dissenters,[40] although they said that up to +this time she had never been a church-going woman. It was the Dugdale +case over again, save that the parties were reversed. Then Puritans had +been arrayed on the side of superstition; now some of the Anglicans seem +to have espoused that cause.[41] Of course the stir produced was +greater. Mistress Jane found herself "the discourse of the town" in +London, and a pamphlet controversy ensued that was quite as heated as +that between Thomas Jollie and Zachary Taylor. No less than ten +brochures were issued. The justice of the peace allowed his story of the +case to be published and the Reverend Mr. Bragge rushed into print with +a book that went through five editions. Needless to say, the defenders +of Jane Wenham and of the judge who released her were not hesitant in +replying. A physician who did not sign his name directed crushing +ridicule against the whole affair,[42] while a defender of Justice +Powell considered the case in a mild-mannered fashion: he did not deny +the possibility of witchcraft, but made a keen impeachment of the +trustworthiness of the witnesses against the woman.[43] + +But we cannot linger over the details of this controversy. Justice +Powell had stirred up a hornets' nest of opposition, but it meant +little.[44] The insects could buzz; but their stingers were drawn. + +The last trial for witchcraft was conducted in 1717 at Leicester by +Justice Parker.[45] Curiously enough, the circumstances connected with +it make it evident that crudest forms of superstition were still alive. +Decency forbids that we should narrate the details of the methods used +to demonstrate the guilt of the suspected parties. No less than +twenty-five people banded themselves against "Old woman Norton and +daughter" and put them through tests of the most approved character. It +need hardly be said that the swimming ordeal was tried and that both +creatures "swam like a cork." The persecutors then set to work to "fetch +blood of the witches." In this they had "good success," but the witches +"would be so stubborn, that they were often forced to call the constable +to bring assistance of a number of persons to hold them by force to be +blooded."[46] The "old witch" was also stripped and searched "publickly +before a great number of good women." The most brutal and illegal of all +forms of witch procedure had been revived, as if to celebrate the last +appearance of the Devil. But the rest of the story is pleasanter. When +the case came before the grand jury at the assizes, over which Justice +Parker was presiding, "the bill was not found." + +With this the story of English trials comes to an end. The statute of +James I had been practically quashed, and, though it was not to be taken +from the law books for nineteen years, it now meant nothing. It was very +hard for the great common people to realize what had happened. As the +law was breaking down they had shown an increasing tendency to take +justice into their own hands. In the case with which we have just been +dealing we have seen the accusers infringing the personal rights of the +individual, and calling in the constables to help them in their utterly +unlawful performances. This was not new. As early as 1691, if Hutchinson +may be trusted, there were "several tried by swimming in Suffolk, Essex, +Cambridgeshire, and Northamptonshire and some were drowned." It would be +easy to add other and later accounts,[47] but we must be content with +one.[48] The widow Coman, in Essex, had recently lost her husband; and +her pastor, the Reverend Mr. Boys, went to cheer her in her melancholy. +Because he had heard her accounted a witch he questioned her closely and +received a nonchalant admission of relations with the Devil. That +astounded him. When he sought to inquire more closely, he was put off. +"Butter is eight pence a pound and Cheese a groat a pound," murmured the +woman, and the clergyman left in bewilderment. But he came back in the +afternoon, and she raved so wildly that he concluded her confession was +but "a distraction in her head." Two women, however, worried from her +further and more startling confessions. The minister returned, bringing +with him "Mr. Goldsmith and Mr. Grimes," two of the disbelieving "sparks +of the age." The rest of the story may be told as it is given in another +account, a diary of the time. "July 3d, 1699, the widow Coman was put +into the river to see if she would sinke, ... and she did not sinke but +swim, ... and she was tryed again July 19, and then she swam again. July +24 the widow was tryed a third time by putting her into the river and +she swam. December 27. The widow Coman that was counted a witch was +buried." The intervening links need hardly be supplied, but the Reverend +Mr. Boys has given them: "whether by the cold she got in the water, or +by some other means, she fell very ill and dyed." + +It must have been very diverting, this experimentation by water, and it +had become so popular by the beginning of the eighteenth century that +Chief Justice Holt[49] is said to have ruled that in the future, where +swimming had fatal results, those responsible would be prosecuted for +murder. Such a declaration perhaps caused some disuse of the method for +a time, but it was revived in the second third of the eighteenth +century. + +Popular feeling still arrayed itself against the witch. If the +increasing use of the swimming ordeal was the answer to the +non-enforcement of the Jacobean statute, it was the answer of the +ignorant classes. Their influence was bound to diminish. But another +possible consequence of the breaking down of the law may be suggested. +Mr. Inderwick, who has looked much into English witchcraft, says that +"from 1686 to 1712 ... the charges and convictions of malicious injury +to property in burning haystacks, barns, and houses, and malicious +injuries to persons and to cattle increased enormously."[50] This is +very interesting, if true, and it seems quite in accord with the history +of witchcraft that it should be true. Again and again we have seen that +the charge of witchcraft was a weapon of prosecutors who could not prove +other suspected crimes. As the charges of witchcraft fell off, +accusations for other crimes would naturally be multiplied; and, now +that it was no longer easy to lay everything to the witch of a +community, the number of the accused would also grow. + +We are now at the end of the witch trials. In another chapter we shall +trace the history of opinion through this last period. With the +dismissal of the Norton women at Leicester, the courts were through with +witch trials. + + +[1] See below, pp. 342-343. + +[2] We are assuming that the cases at Northampton in 1705 and at +Huntingdon in 1716 have no basis of fact. At Northampton two women, +according to the pamphlet account, had been hanged and burnt; at +Huntingdon, according to another account, a woman and her daughter. It +is possible that these pamphlets deal with historical events; but the +probabilities are all against that supposition. For a discussion of the +matter in detail see below, appendix A, Sec. 10. + +[3] For his early history see _The Surey Demoniack, ... or, an Account +of Satan's ... Actings, In and about the Body of Richard Dugdale...._ +(London, 1697). + +[4] The Catholics do not seem, so far as the account goes, to have said +anything about witchcraft. + +[5] _The Surey Demoniack_, 49; Zachary Taylor, _The Surey Impostor, +being an answer to a ... Pamphlet, Entituled The Surey Demoniack_ +(London, 1697), 21-22. + +[6] "N. N.," _The Lancashire Levite Rebuked, or a Vindication of the +Dissenters from Popery...._ (London, 1698), 3-4; see also the preface of +_The Surey Demoniack_. + +[7] _Ibid._ + +[8] _The Wonders of the Invisible World: being an Account of the Tryals +of ... Witches ... in New England_ (London, 1693), by Cotton Mather, and +_A Further Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches_ (London, +1693), by Increase Mather. See preface to _The Surey Demoniack_. + +[9] Thomas Jollie told a curious tale about how the manuscript had been +forcibly taken from the man who was carrying it to the press by a group +of armed men on the Strand. See _ibid._ + +[10] Alexander Gordon in his article on Thomas Jollie, _Dict. Nat. +Biog._, says that the pamphlet was drafted by Jollie and expanded by +Carrington. Zachary Taylor, in his answer to it (_The Surey Impostor_), +constantly names Mr. Carrington as the author. "N. N.," in _The +Lancashire Levite Rebuked_, also assumes that Carrington was the author. + +[11] _The Devil Turned Casuist, or the Cheats of Rome Laid open in the +Exorcism of a Despairing Devil...._ By Zachary Taylor, ... (London, +1696). + +[12] It is interesting that Zachary Taylor's father was a +Non-Conformist; see _The Lancashire Levite Rebuked_, 2. + +[13] London, 1697. + +[14] _The Devil Turned Casuist._ + +[15] _A Vindication of the Surey Demoniack_, 17. + +[16] Taylor replied to Jollie's _Vindication of the Surey Demoniack_ in +1698 with a pamphlet entitled _Popery, Superstition, Ignorance and +Knavery ... very fully proved ... in the Surey Imposture_. Then came +_The Lancashire Levite Rebuked_, by the unknown writer, "N. N.," whose +views we give in the text. Taylor seems to have answered in a letter to +"N. N." which called forth a scathing reply (1698) in _The Lancashire +Levite Rebuked, or a Farther Vindication of the Dissenters...._ Taylor's +reply, which came out in 1699, was entitled _Popery, Superstition, +Ignorance, and Knavery Confess'd and fully Proved on the Surey +Dissenters...._ + +[17] "N. N." _The Lancashire Levite Rebuked_. The Rev. Alexander Gordon, +in his article on Zachary Taylor, _Dict. Nat. Biog._, says that +Carrington probably wrote this book. This seems impossible. The author +of the book, in speaking of Mr. Jollie, Mr. R. Fr. [Frankland], and Mr. +O. H. [Oliver Heywood], refers to Mr. C. as having "exposed himself in +so many insignificant Fopperies foisted into his Narrative"--proof +enough that Carrington did not write _The Lancashire Levite Rebuked_. + +[18] Several dissenting clergymen had opposed the publication of _The +Surey Demoniack_, and had sought to have it suppressed. See _The +Lancashire Levite Rebuked_, 2. + +[19] For an account of this case see Francis Hutchinson, _Historical +Essay on Witchcraft_ (London, 1718), 43. Hutchinson had made an +investigation of the case when in Bury, and he had also Holt's notes of +the trial. + +[20] Hutchinson had Holt's notes on this case, as on the preceding; +_ibid._, 45. Blackburne's letter is printed in _Notes and Queries_, 1st +series, XI, 498-499, and reprinted in Brand, _Popular Antiquities_ +(1905), II, 648-649. + +[21] See _The Tryal of Richard Hathaway, ... For endeavouring to take +away the Life of Sarah Morduck, For being a Witch ..._ (London, 1702), +and _A Full and True Account of the Apprehending and Taking of Mrs. +Sarah Moordike, ... accused ... for having Bewitched one Richard +Hetheway ..._; see also Hutchinson, _op. cit._, 224-228. + +[22] _Ibid._, 226. + +[23] A somewhat similar case at Hammersmith met with the same treatment, +if the pamphlet account may be trusted. Susanna Fowles pretended to be +possessed in such a way that she could not use the name of God or +Christ. The application of a red-hot iron to her head in the midst of +her fits was drastic but effectual. She cried out "Oh Lord," and so +proved herself a "notorious Lyar." She was sent to the house of +correction, where, reports the unfeeling pamphleteer, "She is now +beating hemp." Another pamphlet, however, gives a very different +version. According to this account, Susan, under Papist influences, +pretended to be possessed in such a way that she was continually +blaspheming. She was indicted for blasphemy, fined, and sentenced to +stand in the pillory. (For the graphic titles of these contradictory +pamphlets and of a folio broadside on the same subject, see appendix A, +Sec. 7). + +[24] Probably not by any court verdict, but through the privy council. + +[25] See J. C. Cox, _Three Centuries of Derbyshire Annals_ (London, +1890), II, 90. + +[26] _Jane Wenham_ (broadside); see also _A Full and Impartial Account +of the Discovery of Sorcery and Witchcraft, Practis'd by Jane Wenham +..._ (London, 1712). + +[27] This narrative is given in great detail in _A Full and Impartial +Account_. It is of course referred to in nearly all the other pamphlets. + +[28] Jane Wenham (broadside) see also _A Full and Impartial Account_, +12. + +[29] Jane Wenham (broadside); see also _A Full and Impartial Account_, +10. + +[30] Jane Wenham (broadside); see also _A Full and Impartial Account_, +14. + +[31] _Ibid._, 14. + +[32] It was suggested by some who did not believe Jane guilty, that she +confessed from unhappiness and a desire to be out of the world, +_Witchcraft Farther Display'd. Containing (I) An Account of the +Witchcraft practis'd by Jane Wenham, ... An Answer to ... Objections +against the Being and Power of Witches ..._ (London, 1712), 37. + +[33] _A Full and Impartial Account_, 24. + +[34] _An Account of the Tryal, Examination and Condemnation of Jane +Wenham._ + +[35] _A Full and Impartial Account_, 27. + +[36] _A Full and Impartial Account_, 26. + +[37] _Ibid._, 25. + +[38] For this story I have found no contemporary testimony. The earliest +source that I can find is Alexander Chalmers's _Biographical Dictionary_ +(London, 1812-1827), XXV, 248 (_s. v._ Powell). + +[39] After her release she was taken under the protection of Colonel +Plummer of Gilston, who had followed the trial. Hutchinson, _Historical +Essay on Witchcraft_, 130. On his death she was supported by the Earl +and Countess of Cowper, and lived until 1730. Robert Clutterbuck, +_History and Antiquities of the County of Hertford_ (London, 1815-1827), +II, 461, note. + +[40] _Witchcraft Farther Displayed_, introduction. + +[41] See the dedication to Justice Powell in _The Case of the +Hertfordshire Witchcraft Consider'd_ (London, 1712). + +[42] _A Full Confutation of Witchcraft: More particularly of the +Depositions against Jane Wenham.... In a Letter from a Physician in +Hertfordshire, to his Friend in London_ (London, 1712). + +[43] _The Case of the Hertfordshire Witchcraft Consider'd._ For more as +to these discussions see below, ch. XIV. + +[44] It seems, however, that the efforts of Lady Frances ---- to bring +about Jane's execution in spite of the judge were feared by Jane's +friends. See _The Impossibility of Witchcraft, ... In which the +Depositions against Jane Wenham ... are Confuted ..._ (London, 1712), 2d +ed. (in the Bodleian), 36. + +[45] See Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 35,838, f. 404. + +[46] They could "get no blood of them by Scratching so they used great +pins and such Instruments for that purpose." + +[47] See _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports, Various_, I, 160; see also C. J. +Bilson, _County Folk Lore, Leicestershire and Rutland_ (Folk Lore Soc., +1895), 51-52. + +[48] _The Case of Witchcraft at Coggeshall, Essex, in the year 1699. +Being the narrative of the Rev. J. Boys ..._ (London, 1901). + +[49] By some Parker is given the credit. I cannot find the original +authority. + +[50] Inderwick, _Sidelights on the Stuarts_, 174, 175. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE CLOSE OF THE LITERARY CONTROVERSY. + + +In the last chapter we mentioned the controversy over Jane Wenham. In +attempting in this chapter to show the currents and cross-currents of +opinion during the last period of witch history in England, we cannot +omit some account of the pamphlet war over the Hertfordshire witch. It +will not be worth while, however, to take up in detail the arguments of +the upholders of the superstition. The Rev. Mr. Bragge was clearly on +the defensive. There were, he admitted sadly, "several gentlemen who +would not believe that there are any witches since the time of our +Saviour Jesus Christ." He struck the same note when he spoke of those +who disbelieved "on the prejudices of education only." With great +satisfaction the clergyman quoted the decision of Sir Matthew Hale in +1664.[1] + +The opinions of the opposition are more entertaining, if their works did +not have so wide a sale. The physician who wrote to his friend in London +poked fun at the witchmongers. It was dangerous to do so, he admitted, +"especially in the Country, where to make the least Doubt is a Badge of +Infidelity."[2] As for him, he envied the privileges of the town. He +proceeded to take up the case of Anne Thorne. Her seven-minute mile run +with a broken knee was certainly puzzling. "If it was only a violent +Extention of the Rotula, something might be allow'd: but it is hard to +tell what this was, your Country Bone-Setters seldom plaguing their +heads with Distinctions."[3] The "Viciousness of Anne Thorn's +opticks,"[4] the silly character of the clergyman's evidence, and the +spiritual juggles at exorcism,[5] all these things roused his merriment. +As for Jane's confession, it was the result of ensnaring questions.[6] +He seemed to hold the clergy particularly responsible for witch cases +and advised them to be more conversant with the history of diseases and +to inquire more narrowly into the physical causes of things. + +A defender of Justice Powell, probably Henry Stebbing, later an eminent +divine but now a young Cambridge master of arts, entered the +controversy. He was not altogether a skeptic about witchcraft in +general, but his purpose was to show that the evidence against Jane +Wenham was weak. The two chief witnesses, Matthew Gilston and Anne +Thorne, were "much disturbed in their Imaginations." There were many +absurdities in their stories. He cited the story of Anne Thorne's mile +run in seven minutes. Who knew that it was seven minutes? There was no +one timing her when she started. How was it known that she went half a +mile? And, supposing these narratives were true, would they prove +anything? The writer took up piece after piece of the evidence in this +way and showed its absurdity. Some of his criticisms are amusing--he +attacked silly testimony in such a solemn way--yet he had, too, his +sense of fun. It had been alleged, he wrote, that the witch's flesh, +when pricked, emitted no blood, but a thin watery matter. "Mr. Chauncy, +it is like, expected that Jane Wenham's Blood shou'd have been as rich +and as florid as that of Anne Thorne's, or of any other Virgin of about +16. He makes no difference, I see, between the Beef and Mutton Regimen, +and that of Turnips and Water-gruel."[7] Moreover, he urges, it is well +known that fright congeals the blood.[8] + +We need not go further into this discussion. Mr. Bragge and his friends +re-entered the fray at once, and then another writer proved with +elaborate argument that there had never been such a thing as witchcraft. +The controversy was growing dull, but it had not been without value. It +had been, on the whole, an unconventional discussion of the subject and +had shown very clearly the street-corner point of view. But we must turn +to the more formal treatises. Only three of them need be noticed, those +of Richard Baxter, John Beaumont, and Richard Boulton. All of these +writers had been affected by the accounts of the Salem witchcraft in New +England. The opinions of Glanvill and Matthew Hale had been carried to +America and now were brought back to fortify belief in England. Richard +Baxter was most clearly influenced by the accounts of what had happened +in the New World. The Mathers were his friends and fellow Puritans, and +their testimony was not to be doubted for a minute. But Baxter needed no +convincing. He had long preached and written about the danger of +witches. In a sermon on the Holy Ghost in the fifties he had shown a +wide acquaintance with foreign works on demonology.[9] In a _Defence of +the Christian Religion_,[10] written several years later, he recognized +that the malice of the accusers and the melancholy of the accused were +responsible for some cases, but such cases were exceptions. If any one +doubted that there were _bona fide_ cases, let him talk to the judges +and ministers yet living in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Essex. They could tell +him of many of the confessions made in the Hopkins period. Baxter had +not only talked on witchcraft with Puritan ministers, but had +corresponded as well with Glanvill, with whom, although Glanvill was an +Anglican, he seems to have been on very friendly terms.[11] Nor is it +likely that in the many conversations he held with his neighbor, Sir +Matthew Hale,[12] the evidence from witchcraft for a spiritual world had +been neglected. The subject must have come up in his conversations with +another friend, Robert Boyle.[13] Boyle's interest in such matters was +of course a scientific one. Baxter, like Glanvill, looked at them from a +religious point of view. In the classic _Saint's Everlasting Rest_ he +drew his fourth argument for the future happiness and misery of man +from the Devil's compact with witches.[14] To this point he reverted in +his _Dying Thoughts_. His _Certainty of the World of Spirits_, in which +he took up the subject of witchcraft in more detail, was written but a +few months before his death. "When God first awakened me, to think with +preparing seriousness of my Condition after Death, I had not any +observed Doubts of the Reality of Spirits.... But, when God had given me +peace of Conscience, Satan Assaulted me with those worse Temptations.... +I found that my Faith of Supernatural Revelation must be more than a +Believing Man and that if it had not a firm foundation, ... even sure +Evidence of Verity, ... it was not like ... to make my Death to be safe +and comfortable.... I tell the Reader, that he may see why I have taken +this Subject as so necessary, why I am ending my Life with the +publication of these Historical Letters and Collections, which I dare +say have such Evidence as will leave every Sadduce that readeth them, +either convinced, or utterly without excuse."[15] + +By the "Collection" he meant, of course, the narratives brought out in +his _Certainty of the World of Spirits_--published in 1691. It is +unnecessary to review its arguments here. They were an elaboration of +those already used in earlier works. Too much has been made of this +book. Baxter had the fever for publication. It was a lean year when he +dashed off less than two works. His wife told him once that he would +write better if he wrote less. Probably she was thinking of his style, +and she was doubtless right. But it was true, too, of his thinking; and +none of his productions show this more than his hurried book on, spirits +and witches.[16] + +Beaumont and Boulton may be passed over quickly. Beaumont[17] had read +widely in the witch literature of England and other countries;[18] he +had read indeed with some care, as is evidenced by the fact that he had +compared Hopkins's and Stearne's accounts of the same events and found +them not altogether consistent. Nevertheless Beaumont never thought of +questioning the reality of witchcraft phenomena, and his chief aim in +writing was to answer _The World Bewitched_, the great work of a Dutch +theologian, Balthazar Bekker, "who laughs at all these things of this +Nature as done by Humane contrivance."[19] Bekker's bold book was +indeed gaining wide notice; but this reply to it was entirely +commonplace. Richard Boulton, sometime of Brasenose College, published +ten years later, in 1715, _A Compleat History of Magic_. It was a book +thrown together in a haphazard way from earlier authors, and was written +rather to sell than to convince. Seven years later a second edition was +brought out, in which the writer inserted an answer to Hutchinson. + +Before taking up Hutchinson's work we shall turn aside to collect those +stray fragments of opinion that indicate in which direction the wind was +blowing. Among those who wrote on nearly related topics, one +comparatively obscure name deserves mention. Dr. Richard Burthogge +published in 1694 an _Essay upon Reason and the Nature of Spirits_, a +book which was dedicated to John Locke. He touched on witchcraft in +passing. "Most of the relations," he wrote, "do, upon impartial +Examination, prove either Impostures of Malicious, or Mistakes of +Ignorant and Superstitious persons; yet some come so well Attested that +it were to bid defiance to all Human Testimony to refuse them +belief."[20] + +This was the last stand of those who still believed. Shall we, they +asked, discredit all human testimony? It was practically the belief of +Bishop William Lloyd of Worcester, who, while he urged his clergy to +give up their notions about witches, was inclined to believe that the +Devil still operates in the Gentile world and among the Pagans.[21] +Joseph Addison was equally unwilling to take a radical view. "There +are," he wrote in the _Spectator_ for July 14, 1711, "some opinions in +which a man should stand neuter.... It is with this temper of mind that +I consider the subject of witchcraft.... I endeavour to suspend my +belief till I hear more certain accounts.... I believe in general that +there is, and has been, such a thing as witchcraft; but at the same time +can give no credit to any particular instance of it."[22] The force of +credulity among the country people he fully recognized. His Sir Roger de +Coverley, who was a justice of the peace, and his chaplain were, he +said, too often compelled to put an end to the witch-swimming +experiments of the people. + +If this was belief, it was at least a harmless sort. It was almost +exactly the position of James Johnstone, former secretary for Scotland, +who, writing from London to the chancellor of Scotland, declared his +belief in the existence of witches, but called attention to the fact +that the parliaments of France and other judicatories had given up the +trying of them because it was impossible to distinguish possession from +"nature in disorder."[23] + +But there were those who were ready to assert a downright negative. The +Marquis of Halifax in the _Political, Moral and Miscellaneous Thoughts +and Reflections_ which he wrote (or, at least, completed) in 1694, noted +"It is a fundamental ... that there were witches--much shaken of +late."[24] Secretary of State Vernon and the Duke of Shrewsbury were +both of them skeptical about the confessions of witches.[25] Sir +Richard Steele lampooned the belief. "Three young ladies of our town," +he makes his correspondent relate, "were indicted for witchcraft. One by +spirits locked in a bottle and magic herbs drew hundreds of men to her; +the second cut off by night the limbs of dead bodies and, muttering +words, buried them; the third moulded pieces of dough into the shapes of +men, women, and children and then heated them." They "had nothing to say +in their own defence but downright denying the facts, which," the writer +remarks, "is like to avail very little when they come upon their +trials." "The parson," he continued, "will believe nothing of all this; +so that the whole town cries out: 'Shame! that one of his cast should be +such an atheist.'"[26] + +The parson had at length assimilated the skepticism of the jurists and +the gentry. It was, as has been said, an Anglican clergyman who +administered the last great blow to the superstition. Francis +Hutchinson's _Historical Essay on Witchcraft_, published in 1718 (and +again, enlarged, in 1720), must rank with Reginald Scot's _Discoverie_ +as one of the great classics of English witch literature. Hutchinson had +read all the accounts of trials in England--so far as he could find +them--and had systematized them in chronological order, so as to give a +conspectus of the whole subject. So nearly was his point of view that of +our own day that it would be idle to rehearse his arguments. A man with +warm sympathies for the oppressed, he had been led probably by the case +of Jane Wenham, with whom he had talked, to make a personal +investigation of all cases that came at all within the ken of those +living. Whoever shall write the final story of English witchcraft will +find himself still dependent upon this eighteenth-century historian. + +Hutchinson's work was the last chapter in the witch controversy. There +was nothing more to say. + + +[1] _Witchcraft Farther Displayed._ + +[2] _A Full Confutation of Witchcraft_, 4. + +[3] _Ibid._, 11. + +[4] _Ibid._, 38. + +[5] _Ibid._, 5. + +[6] _Ibid._, 23-24. + +[7] _The Case of the Hertfordshire Witchcraft Consider'd_, 72. + +[8] If certain phrases may be trusted, this writer was interested in the +case largely because it had become a cause of sectarian combat and he +hoped to strike at the church. + +[9] See Baxter's _Works_ (London, 1827-1830), XX, 255-271. + +[10] See _ibid._, XXI, 87. + +[11] W. Orme in his _Life of Richard Baxter_ (London, 1830), I, 435, +says that the Baxter MSS. contain several letters from Glanvill to +Baxter. + +[12] _See Memoirs of Richard Baxter_ by Dr. Bates (in _Biographical +Collections, or Lives and Characters from the Works of the Reverend Mr. +Baxter and Dr. Bates_, 1760), II, 51, 73. + +[13] _Ibid._, 26; see also Baxter's _Dying Thoughts_, in _Works_, XVIII, +284, where he refers to the Demon of Mascon, a story for which Boyle, as +we have seen, had stood sponsor in England. + +[14] Ch. VII, sect. iv, in _Works_, XXII, 327. + +[15] _Certainty of the World of Spirits_ (London, 1691), preface. + +[16] Two other collectors of witch stories deserve perhaps a note here, +for each prefaced his collection with a discussion of witchcraft. The +London publisher Nathaniel Crouch, who wrote much for his own press +under the pseudonym of "R. B." (later expanded to "Richard Burton"), +published as early as 1688 (not 1706, as says the _Dict. Nat. Biog._) +_The Kingdom of Darkness: or The History of Daemons, Specters, Witches, +... Containing near Fourscore memorable Relations, ... Together with a +Preface obviating the common Objections and Allegations of the Sadduces +[sic] and Atheists of the Age, ... with Pictures._ Edward Stephens, +first lawyer, then clergyman, but always a pamphleteer, brought out in +1693 _A Collection of Modern Relations concerning Witches and +Witchcraft_, to which was prefaced Sir Matthew Hale's _Meditations +concerning the Mercy of God in preserving us from the Malice and Power +of Evil Angels_ and a dissertation of his own on _Questions concerning +Witchcraft_. + +[17] _An Historical, Physiological, and Theological Treatise of Spirits, +Apparitions, Witchcraft and other Magical Practices_ (London, 1705). +Dedicated to "John, Earl of Carbury." + +[18] See for example, _ibid._, 63, 70, 71, 75, 130-135, 165, 204, 289, +306. + +[19] Balthazar Bekker's _De Betoverde Weereld_ (Leeuwarden and +Amsterdam, 1691-1693), was a most telling attack upon the reality of +witchcraft, and, through various translations, was read all over Europe. +The first part was translated and published in London in 1695 as _The +World Bewitched_, and was republished in 1700 as _The World Turn'd +upside down_. + +[20] _Essay upon Reason and the Nature of Spirits_, 195. + +[21] G. P. R. James, ed., _Letters Illustrative of the Reign of William +III, ... addressed to the Duke of Shrewsbury, by James Vernon, Esq._ +(London, 1841), II, 302-303. + +[22] _Spectator_, no. 117. + +[23] _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, XIV, 3, p. 132. + +[24] H. C. Foxcroft, ed., _Life and Letters of Sir George Savile, +Marquis of Halifax_ (London, 1898), II, 493. + +[25] G. P. R. James, ed., _op. cit._, II, 300. Shrewsbury's opinion may +be inferred from Vernon's reply to him. + +[26] See the _Tatler_, no. 21, May 28, 1709. + + + + +APPENDICES. + + + + +A.--PAMPHLET LITERATURE. + + +Sec. 1.--Witchcraft under Elizabeth (see ch. II). + +A large part of the evidence for the trials of Elizabeth's reign is +derived from the pamphlets issued soon after the trials. These pamphlets +furnish a peculiar species of historical material, and it is a species +so common throughout the history of English witchcraft that it deserves +a brief examination in passing. The pamphlets were written of course by +credulous people who easily accepted what was told them and whose own +powers of observation were untrained. To get at the facts behind their +marvellous accounts demands the greatest care and discrimination. Not +only must the miraculous be ruled out, but the prejudices of the +observer must be taken into account. Did the pamphleteer himself hear +and see what he recorded, or was his account at second hand? Did he +write soon after the events, when they were fresh in his memory? Does +his narrative seem to be that of a painstaking, careful man or +otherwise? These are questions to be answered. In many instances, +however, the pamphlets were not narrative in form, but were merely +abstracts of the court proceedings and testimony. In this case, too, +care must be taken in using them, for the testimony damaging to the +accused was likely to be accented, while the evidence on the other side, +if not suppressed, was not emphasized. In general, however, these +records of depositions are sources whose residuum of fact it is not +difficult to discover. Both in this and in the narrative material the +most valuable points may be gleaned from the incidental references and +statements. The writer has made much use of this incidental matter. The +position of the witch in her community, the real ground of the feeling +against her upon the part of her neighbors, the way in which the alarm +spread, the processes used to elicit confession--inferences of this +sort may, the writer believes, be often made with a good deal of +confidence. We have taken for granted that the pamphlets possess a +substratum of truth. This may not always be the case. The pamphleteer +was writing to sell. A fictitious narrative of witchcraft or of a witch +trial was almost as likely to sell as a true narrative. More than once +in the history of witch literature absolutely imaginary stories were +foisted upon the public. It is necessary to be constantly on guard +against this type of pamphlet. Fortunately nine-tenths of the witch +accounts are corroborated from other sources. The absence of such +corroboration does not mean that an account should be barred out, but +that it should be subjected to the methods of historical criticism, and +that it should be used cautiously even if it pass that test. Happily for +us, the plan of making a witch story to order does not seem to have +occurred to the Elizabethan pamphleteers. So far as we know, all the +pamphlets of that time rest upon actual events. We shall take them up +briefly in order. + +The first was _The examination and confession of certaine Wytches at +Chensforde in the Countie of Essex before the Quenes maiesties Judges, +the XXVI daye of July Anno 1566_. The only original copy of this +pamphlet is in the Lambeth Palace library at London and its binding +bears the initials of R. B. [Richard Bancroft]. The versified +introduction is signed by John Phillips, who presumably was the author. +The pamphlet--a black letter one--was issued, in three parts, from the +press of William Powell at London, two of them on August 13, the third +on August 23, 1566. It has since been reprinted by H. Beigel for the +Philobiblon Society, London, 1864-1865. It gives abstracts of the +confessions and an account of the court interrogatories. There is every +reason to believe that it is in the main an accurate account of what +happened at the Chelmsford trials in 1566. Justice Southcote, Dr. Cole, +Master Foscue, and Attorney-General Gerard are all names we can +identify. Moreover, the one execution narrated is confirmed by the +pamphlet dealing with the trials at Chelmsford in 1579. + +The second pamphlet, also in black letter, deals with the Abingdon cases +of 1579. It is entitled _A Rehearsall both straung and true of hainous +and horrible actes committed by Elizabeth Stile, alias Rockingham, +Mother Dutten, Mother Devell, Mother Margaret. Fower notorious Witches +apprehended at Winsore in the Countie of Barks, and at Abington +arraigned, condemned and executed on the 28 daye of Februarie last anno +1579_. This pamphlet finds confirmation by a reference in the privy +council records to the same event (_Acts P. C._, n. s., XI, 22). +Reginald Scot, in his _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, 17, 543, mentions +another, a book of "Richard Gallis of Windesor" "about certaine witches +of Windsore executed at Abington." This would seem to have been a +different account of the Abingdon affair, because Scot also on p. 51 +speaks of some details of the Abingdon affair as to be found "in a +little pamphlet of the acts and hanging of foure witches in anno 1579." +It is perhaps the one described by Lowndes, _Bibliographer's Manual of +English Literature_ (p. 2959) under the title _The horrible Acts of +Eliz. Style, alias Rockingham, Mother Dutton, Mother Dovell, and Mother +Margaret, 4 Witches executed at Abingdon, 26 Feb. upon Richard Galis_ +(London, 1579) or that mentioned in the Stationers' _Registers_, II +(London, 1875), 352, under date of May 4, 1579, as _A brief treatise +conteyninge the most strange and horrible crueltye of Elizabeth Sule_ +[sic] _alias Bockingham_ [sic] _and hir confederates executed at +Abingdon upon Richard Galis etc._ + +The second Chelmsford trials were also in 1579. The pamphlet account was +called _A Detection of damnable driftes, practised by three Witches +arraigned at Chelmsforde in Essex at the last Assizes there holden, +whiche were executed in Aprill 1579_. There are three references in this +pamphlet to people mentioned in the earlier Chelmsford pamphlet, so that +the two confirm each other. + +The third Chelmsford trials came in 1589 and were narrated in a pamphlet +entitled _The apprehension and confession of three notorious Witches +arraigned and by Justice condemnede in the Countye of Essex the 5 day of +Julye last past_. Joan Cunny was convicted, largely on the evidence of +the two bastard sons of one of her "lewde" daughters. The eldest of +these boys, who was not over ten or twelve, told the court that he had +seen his grandmother cause an oak to be blown up by the roots during a +calm. The charges against Joan Upney concerned chiefly her dealings +with toads, those against Joan Prentice, who lived in an Essex +almshouse, had to do with ferrets. The three women seem to have been +brought first before justices of the peace and were then tried together +and condemned by the "judge of the circuit." This narrative has no +outside confirmation, but the internal evidence for its authenticity is +good. Three men mentioned as sheriff, justice, and landowner can all be +identified as holding those respective positions in the county. + +The narrative of the St. Oses case appeared in 1582. It was called _A +True and just Recorde of the Information, Examination and Confession of +all the Witches taken at St. Oses in the countie of Essex: whereof some +were executed, and other some entreated according to the determination +of Lawe.... Written orderly, as the cases were tryed by evidence, by W. +W._ The pamphlet is merely a record of examinations. It is dedicated to +Justice Darcy; and from slips, where the judge in describing his action +breaks into the first person, it is evident that it was written by the +judge himself. Scot, who wrote two years later, had read this pamphlet, +and knew of the case (_Discoverie_, 49, 542). There are many references +to the case by later writers on witchcraft. + +Eleven years later came the trials which brought out the pamphlet: _The +most strange and admirable discoverie of the three Witches of Warboys, +arraigned, convicted and executed at the last assises at Huntingdon ..._, +London, 1593. Its contents are reprinted by Richard Boulton, in +his _Compleat History of Magick, Sorcery, and Witchcraft_ (London, +1715), I, 49-152. There can be no doubt as to the historical character +of this pamphlet. The Throckmortons, the Cromwells, and the Pickerings +were all well known in Huntingdonshire. An agreement is still preserved +in the archives of the Huntingdon corporation providing that the +corporation shall pay L40 to Queen's College, Cambridge, in order that a +sermon shall be preached on witchcraft at Huntingdon each Lady day. This +was continued for over two hundred years. One of the last sermons on +this endowment was preached in 1795 and attacked the belief in +witchcraft. The record of the contract is still kept in Queen's College, +Brit. Mus. MSS., 5,849, fol. 254. For mention of the affair see Darrel, +_Detection of that sinnful ... discours of Samuel Harshnet_, 36, 39, +110; also Harsnett, _Discovery of the Fraudulent Practises_, 93, 97. +Several Jacobean writers refer to the case. What seems to be another +edition is in the Bodleian: _A True and Particular Observation of a +notable Piece of Witchcraft_--which is the inside heading of the first +edition. The text is the same, but there are differences in the paging. + +Perhaps the most curious of all Elizabethan witch pamphlets is entitled +_The most wonderfull and true Storie of a certaine Witch named Alse +Gooderidge of Stapenhill, who was arraigned and convicted at Darbie, at +the Assizes there. As also a true Report of the strange Torments of +Thomas Darling, a boy of thirteen years of age, that was possessed by +the Devill, with his horrible Fittes and terrible apparitions by him +uttered at Burton upon Trent, in the Countie of Stafford, and of his +marvellous deliverance_, London, 1597. There are two copies of this--the +only ones of which the writer knows--in Lambeth Palace library. They are +exactly alike, page for page, except for the last four lines of the last +page, where the wording differs. The pamphlet is clearly one written by +John Denison as an abstract of an account by Jesse Bee. Harsnett, +_Discovery of the Fraudulent Practices of John Darrel_, 266-269, tells +how these two books were written. Denison is quoted as to certain +insertions made in his manuscript after it left his hands, insertions +which are to be found, he says, on pages 15 and 39. The insertions +complained of by Denison are indeed to be found on the pages indicated +of _The most wonderfull and true Storie of ... Alse Gooderidge_, thus +establishing his authorship of the pamphlet. The account by Bee, of +which this is an abstract, I have not seen. Alse Gooderidge was put +through many examinations and finally died in prison. "She should have +been executed, but that her spirit killed her in prison." John Darrel +was one of those who sought to help the boy who had been bewitched by +Alice. Darrel, however, receives only passing mention from the author of +this pamphlet. The narrative does not agree very well in matters of +detail with the Darrel tracts, although in the main outlines it is +similar to them. It is very crudely put together, and, while it was +doubtless a sincere effort to present the truth, must not be too +implicitly depended upon. + +Two pamphlets are hidden away in the back of the _Triall of Maist. +Dorrel_ (see below, Sec. 2). The first (pp. 92-98) deals with the trial of +Doll Bartham of Shadbrook in Suffolk. She was tried by the chief justice +and hanged the 12th of July, 1599. The second (pp. 99-103) narrates the +trial of Anne Kerke before "Lorde Anderson," the 30th of December, 1599. +She also went to the gallows. + +There are other pamphlets referred to in Lowndes, etc., which we have +been unable to find. One of them is _The Arraignment and Execution of 3 +detestable Witches, John Newell, Joane his wife, and Hellen Calles; two +executed at Barnett, and one at Braynford, 1 Dec. 1595_. A second bears +the title _The severall Facts of Witchcrafte approved on Margaret +Haskett of Stanmore_. 1585. Black letter. Another pamphlet in the same +year deals with what is doubtless the same case. It is _An Account of +Margaret Hacket, a notorious Witch, who consumed a young Man to Death, +rotted his Bowells and back bone asunder, who was executed at Tiborn, 19 +Feb. 1585_. London, 1585. A fourth pamphlet is _The Examination and +Confession of a notorious Witch named Mother Arnold, alias Whitecote, +alias Glastonbury, at the Assise of Burntwood in July, 1574: who was +hanged for Witchcraft at Barking_. 1575. + +The title _The case of Agnes Bridges and Rachel Pinder_, created by +Hazlitt, _Collections and Notes_, 1867-1876, out of the mention by +Holinshed of a printed account, means but _The discloysing_, etc. (see +p. 351). The case--see Holinshed, _Chronicles_ (London, 1808), IV, 325, +and Stow, Annales (London, 1631), p. 678, who put the affair in +1574--was not of witchcraft, but of pretended possession. See above, p. +59. + +To this period must belong also _A true report of three Straunge +Witches, lately found at Newnham Regis_, mentioned by Hazlitt +(_Handbook_, p. 230). I have not seen it; but the printer is given as +"J. Charlewood," and Charlewood printed between 1562 and 1593. The +_Stationers' Registers_, 1570-1587 (London; Shakespeare Soc., 1849), II, +32, mention also the licensing in 1577 of _The Booke of +Witches_--whatever that may have been. + +Among pamphlets dealing with affairs nearly related to witchcraft may be +mentioned the following: + +_A short treatise declaringe the detestable wickednesse of magicall +sciences, as Necromancie, Coniuration of Spirites, Curiouse Astrologie +and such lyke.... Made by Francis Coxe._ [London, 1561.] Black letter. +Coxe had been pardoned by the Queen. + +_The Examination of John Walsh, before Master Thomas Williams, +Commissary to the Reverend father in God, William, bishop of Excester, +upon certayne Interrogatories touchyng Wytch-crafte and Sorcerye, in the +presence of divers gentlemen and others, the XX of August, 1566._ 1566. +Black letter. John Ashton (_The Devil in Britain and America_, London, +1896, p. 202) has called this the "earliest English printed book on +witchcraft pure and simple"; but it did not deal with witches and it was +preceded by the first Chelmsford pamphlet. + +_The discloysing of a late counterfeyted possession by the devyl in two +maydens within the Citie of London._ [1574.] Black letter. The case is +that of Agnes Bridges and Rachel Pinder, mentioned above (pp. 59, 351). + +_The Wonderfull Worke of God shewed upon a Chylde, whose name is William +Withers, being in the Towne of Walsam ... Suffolk, who, being Eleven +Yeeres of age, laye in a Traunce the Space of Tenne Days ... and hath +continued the Space of Three Weeks_, London, 1581. Written by John +Phillips. This pamphlet is mentioned by Sidney Lee in his article on +John Phillips in the _Dict. Nat. Biog._ + +_A Most Wicked worke of a Wretched Witch (the like whereof none can +record these manie yeares in England) wrought on the Person of one +Richard Burt, servant to Maister Edling of Woodhall in the Parrish of +Pinner in the Countie of Myddlesex, a myle beyond Harrow. Latelie +committed in March last, An. 1592 and newly recognized acording to the +truth. By G. B. maister of Artes._ [London, 1593.] See Hazlitt, +Collections and Notes, 1867-1877. The pamphlet may be found in the +library of Lambeth Palace. The story is a curious one; no action seems +to have been taken. + +_A defensative against the poyson of supposed prophecies, not hitherto +confuted by the penne of any man; which being eyther uppon the warrant +and authority of old paynted bookes, expositions of dreames, oracles, +revelations, invocations of damned spirits ... have been causes of great +disorder in the commonwealth and chiefly among the simple and unlearned +people._ Henry Howard, afterwards Earl of Northampton, was the author of +this "defensative." It appeared about 1581-1583, and was revised and +reissued in 1621. + +Three Elizabethan ballads on witches are noted by Hazlitt, +_Bibliographical Collections and Notes_, 2d series (London, 1882): _A +warnynge to wytches_, published in 1585, _The scratchinge of the +wytches_, published in 1579, and _A lamentable songe of Three Wytches of +Warbos, and executed at Huntingdon_, published in 1593. Already in +1562-3 "a boke intituled _A poosye in forme of a visyon, agaynste wytche +Crafte, and Sosyrye_," written "in myter" by John Hall, had been +published (_Stationers' Registers_, 1557-1570, p. 78). + +Some notion of the first step in the Elizabethan procedure against a +witch may be gathered from the specimens of "indictments" given in the +old formula book of William West, _Simboleography_ (pt. ii, first +printed in 1594). Three specimens are given; two are of indictments "For +killing a man by witchcraft upon the statute of Anno 5. of the Queene," +the third is "For bewitching a Horse, whereby he wasted and became +worse." As the documents in such bodies of models are usually genuine +papers with only a suppression of the names, it is probable that the +dates assigned to the indictments noted--the 34th and 35th years of +Elizabeth--are the true ones, and that the initials given, "S. B. de C. +in comit. H. vidua," "Marg' L. de A. in com' E. Spinster," and "Sara B. +de C. in comitatu Eb. vidua," are those of the actual culprits and of +their residences. Yorkshire is clearly one of the counties meant. It +was, moreover, West's own county. + + +Sec. 2.--The Exorcists (see ch. IV). + +The account of Elizabethan exorcism which we have given is necessarily +one-sided. It deals only with the Puritan movement--if Darrel's work may +be so called--and does not treat the Catholic exorcists. We have omitted +the performances of Father Weston and his coadjutors because they had +little or no relation to the subject of witchcraft. Those who wish to +follow up this subject can find a readable discussion of it by T. G. Law +in the _Nineteenth Century_ for March, 1894, "Devil Hunting in +Elizabethan England." + +It is a rather curious fact that the Puritan exorcist has never, except +for a few pages by S. R. Maitland, in his _Puritan Thaumaturgy_ (London, +1842), been made a study. Without doubt he, his supporters, and his +enemies were able between them to make a noise in their own time. To be +convinced of that one need only read the early seventeenth-century +dramatists. It may possibly be that Darrel was not the mere impostor his +enemies pictured him. Despite his trickery it may be that he had really +a certain hypnotic control over William Somers and perhaps over +Katherine Wright. + +Whatever else Darrel may have been, he was a ready pamphleteer. His +career may easily be traced in the various brochures put forth, most of +them from his own pen. Fortunately we have the other side presented by +Samuel Harsnett, and by two obscure clergymen, John Deacon and John +Walker. The following is a tentative list of the printed pamphlets +dealing with the subject: + +_A Breife Narration of the possession, dispossession, and repossession +of William Sommers: and of some proceedings against Mr. John Dorrel +preacher, with aunsweres to such objections.... Together with certaine +depositions taken at Nottingham ..., 1598._ Black letter. This was +written either by Darrel or at his instigation. + +_An Apologie, or defence of the possession of William Sommers, a yong +man of the towne of Nottingham.... By John Darrell, Minister of Christ +Jesus...._ [1599?] Black letter. This work is undated, but, to judge +from the preface, it was probably written soon after both Darrel and +More were imprisoned. It is quite clear too that it was written before +Harsnett's _Discovery of the Fraudulent Practices of John Darrel_, for +Darrel says that he hears that the Bishop of London is writing a book +against him. + +_The Triall of Maist. Dorrel, or A Collection of Defences against +Allegations.... 1599._ This seems written by Darrel himself; but the +Huth catalogue (V, 1643) ascribes it to James Bamford. + +_A brief Apologie proving the possession of William Sommers. Written by +John Dorrel, a faithful Minister of the Gospell, but published without +his knowledge.... 1599._ + +_A Discovery of the Fraudulent Practises of John Darrel, Bacheler of +Artes ..._, London, 1599. The "Epistle to the Reader" is signed "S. H.," +_i. e._, Samuel Harsnett, then chaplain to the Bishop of London. The +book is an exposure, in 324 pages, of Darrel's various impostures, and +is based mainly on the depositions given in his trial at Lambeth. + +_A True Narration of the strange and grevous Vexation by the Devil of +seven persons in Lancashire ..., 1600._ Written by Darrel. Reprinted in +1641 with the title _A True Relation of the grievous handling of William +Somers of Nottingham_. It is again reprinted in the _Somers Tracts_, +III, and is the best known of the pamphlets. + +_A True Discourse concerning the certaine possession and dispossession +of 7 persons in one familie in Lancashire, which also may serve as part +of an Answere to a fayned and false Discoverie.... By George More, +Minister and Preacher of the Worde of God ..., 1600._ More was Darrel's +associate in the Cleworth performances and suffered imprisonment with +him. + +_A Detection of that sinnful, shamful, lying, and ridiculous discours of +Samuel Harshnet._ 1600. This is Darrel's most abusive work. He takes up +Harsnett's points one by one and attempts to answer them. + +_Dialogicall Discourses of Spirits and Divels by John Deacon [and] John +Walker, Preachers_, London, 1601. + +_A Summarie Answere to al the Material Points in any of Master Darel his +bookes, More especiallie to that one Booke of his, intituled, the +Doctrine of the Possession and Dispossession of Demoniaks out of the +word of God. By John Deacon [and] John Walker, Preachers_, London, 1601. +The "one Booke" now answered is a part of Darrel's _A True Narration_. +The _Discourses_ are dedicated to Sir Edmund Anderson and other men +eminent in the government and offer in excuse that "the late bred +broyles ... doe mightilie over-runne the whole Realme." + +_A Survey of Certaine Dialogical Discourses, written by John Deacon and +John Walker ... By John Darrell, minister of the gospel ..., 1602._ + +_The Replie of John Darrell, to the Answer of John Deacon, and John +Walker concerning the doctrine of the Possession and Dispossession of +Demoniakes ..., 1602._ + +Harsnett's second work must not be omitted from our account. In his +famous _Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures_, 1603 and 1605, he +shows to even better advantage than in the earlier work his remarkable +talents as an exposer and gives freer play to his wicked humor. + +_A True and Breife Report of Mary Glover's Vexation, and of her +deliverance by the meanes of fastinge and prayer.... By John Swan, +student in Divinitie ..., 1603._ + +This narrates another exorcism in which a number of clergymen +participated. Swan, the author, in his dedication to the king, takes up +the cudgels vigorously against Harsnett. Elizabeth Jackson was accused +of having bewitched her, and was indicted. Justice Anderson tried the +case and showed himself a confirmed believer in witchcraft. But the king +was of another mind and sent, to examine the girl, a physician, Dr. +Edward Jorden, who detected her imposture and explained it in his +pamphlet, _A briefe discourse of a disease called the Suffocation of the +Mother, Written uppon occasion which hath beene of late taken thereby, +to suspect possession of an evill spirit...._ (London, 1603). He was +opposed by the author of a book still unprinted, "Mary Glover's late +woefull case ... by Stephen Bradwell.... 1603" (Brit. Mus., Sloane, +831). But see also below, appendix C, under 1602-1603. + +One other pamphlet dealing with this same episode must be mentioned. +Hutchinson, _Historical Essay on Witchcraft_, and George Sinclar, +_Satan's Invisible World Discovered_ (Edinburgh, 1685), had seen an +account by the Rev. Lewis Hughes (in his _Certaine Grievances_) of the +case of Mother Jackson, who was accused of bewitching Mary Glover. +Although Hughes's tale was not here published until 1641-2, the events +with which it deals must all have taken place in 1602 or 1603. Sir John +Crook is mentioned as recorder of London and Sir Edmund Anderson as +chief justice. "R. B.," in _The Kingdom of Darkness_ (London, 1688), +gives the story in detail, although misled, like Hutchinson, into +assigning it to 1642. + +It remains to mention certain exorcist pamphlets of which we possess +only the titles: + +_A history of the case of Catherine Wright._ No date; written presumably +by Darrel and given by him to Mrs. Foljambe, afterwards Lady Bowes. See +C. H. and T. Cooper, _Athenae Cantabrigienses_ (Cambridge, 1858-1861), +II, 381. + +Darrel says that there was a book printed about "Margaret Harrison of +Burnham-Ulpe in Norfolk and her vexation by Sathan." See _Detection of +that sinnfull ... discours of Samuel Harshnet_, 36, and _Survey of +Certaine Dialogical Discourses_, 54. + +_The strange Newes out of Sommersetshire, Anno 1584, tearmed, a +dreadfull discourse of the dispossessing of one Margaret Cooper at +Ditchet, from a devill in the likenes of a headlesse beare._ Referred to +by Harsnett, _Discovery of the Fraudulent Practises of John Darrel_, 17. + +A ballad seems to have been written about the Somers case. Extracts from +it are given by Harsnett, _ibid._, 34, 120. + + +Sec. 3.--James I and Witchcraft and Notable Jacobean Cases (see chs. V, +VI). + +_The Most Cruell and Bloody Murther committed by an Innkeepers Wife +called Annis Dell, and her Sonne George Dell, Foure Yeares since.... +With the severall Witch-crafts and most damnable practices of one Iohane +Harrison and her Daughter, upon several persons men and women at +Royston, who were all executed at Hartford the 4 of August last past +1606._ So far as the writer knows, there is no contemporary reference to +confirm the executions mentioned in this pamphlet. The story itself is a +rather curious one with a certain literary flavor. This, however, need +not weigh against it. It seems possible rather than probable that the +narrative is a fabrication. + +_The severall notorious and lewd Cosenages of Iohn West and Alice West, +falsely called the King and Queene of Fayries ... convicted ... 1613_, +London, 1613. This might pass in catalogues as a witch pamphlet. It is +an account of two clever swindlers and of their punishment. + +_The Witches of Northamptonshire._ + + _Agnes Browne_ } _Arthur Bill_ } + _Joane Vaughan_} _Hellen Jenkenson_} _Witches._ + _Mary Barber_ } + +_Who were all executed at Northampton the 22. of July last. 1612._ + +Concerning this same affair there is an account in MS., "A briefe +abstract of the arraignment of nine witches at Northampton, July 21, +1621" (Brit. Mus., Sloane, 972). This narrative has, in common with the +printed narrative, the story of Mistress Belcher's and Master Avery's +sufferings from witchcraft. It mentions also Agnes Brown and Joan Brown +(or Vaughan) who, according to the other account, were hanged. All the +other names are different. But it is nevertheless not hard to reconcile +the two accounts. The "briefe abstract" deals with the testimony taken +before the justices of the peace on two charges; the _Witches of +Northamptonshire_ with the final outcome at the assizes. Three of those +finally hanged were not concerned in the first accusations and were +brought in from outlying districts. On the other hand, most of those who +were first accused by Belcher and Avery seem not to have been indicted. + +_The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the countie of Lancaster. With +the Arraignement and Triall of Nineteene notorious Witches, at the +Assizes and generall Gaole deliverie, holden at the Castle of Lancaster, +upon Munday, the seventeenth of August last, 1612. Before Sir James +Altham, and Sir Edward Bromley.... Together with the Arraignement and +Triall of Jennet Preston, at the Assizes holden at the Castle of Yorke, +the seven and twentieth day of Julie last past.... Published and set +forth by commandement of his Majesties Justices of Assize in the North +Parts. By Thomas Potts, Esq._ London, 1613. Reprinted by the Chetham +Soc, J. Crossley, ed., 1845. Thomas Potts has given us in this book the +fullest of all English witch accounts. No other narrative offers such an +opportunity to examine the character of evidence as well as the court +procedure. Potts was very superstitious, but his account is in good +faith. + +_Witches Apprehended, Examined and Executed, for notable villanies by +them committed both by Land and Water. With a strange and most true +trial how to know whether a woman be a Witch or not._ London, 1613. +Bodleian. + +_A Booke of the Wytches Lately condemned and executed at Bedford, +1612-1613._ I have seen no copy of this pamphlet, the title of which is +given by Edward Arber, _Transcript of the Registers of the Company of +Stationers of London, 1554-1640_ (London, 1875-1894), III, 234b.... The +story is without doubt the same as that told in the preceding pamphlet. +We have no absolutely contemporary reference to this case. Edward +Fairfax, who wrote in 1622, had heard of the case--probably, however, +from the pamphlet itself. But we can be quite certain that the narrative +was based on an actual trial and conviction. Some of the incidental +details given are such as no fabricator would insert. + +In the MS., "How to discover a witch," Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 36,674, f. +148, there is a reference to a detail of Mother Sutton's ordeal not +given in the pamphlet I have used. + +_A Treatise of Witchcraft.... With a true Narration of the Witchcrafts +which Mary Smith, wife of Henry Smith, Glover, did practise ... and +lastly, of her death and execution ... By Alexander Roberts, B. D. and +Preacher of Gods Word at Kings-Linne in Norffolke._ London, 1616. The +case of Mary Smith is taken up at p. 45. This account was dedicated to +the "Maior" and aldermen, etc., of "Kings Linne" and was no doubt +semi-official. It is reprinted in Howell, _State Trials_, II. + +_The Wonderful Discoverie of the Witchcrafts of Margaret and Phillip +Flower, daughters of Joan Flower neere Bever Castle: executed at +Lincolne, March 11, 1618. Who were specially arraigned and condemned +before Sir Henry Hobart and Sir Edward Bromley, Judges of Assize, for +confessing themselves actors in the destruction of Henry, Lord Rosse, +with their damnable practises against others the Children of the Right +Honourable Francis Earle of Rutland. Together with the severall +Examinations and Confessions of Anne Baker, Joan Willimot, and Ellen +Greene, Witches in Leicestershire_, London, 1619. For confirmation of +the Rutlandshire witchcraft see _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1619-1623_, 129; +_Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports, Rutland_, IV, 514. See also _Gentleman's +Magazine_, LXXIV, pt. ii, 909: "On the monument of Francis, sixth earl +of Rutland, in Bottesford church, Leicestershire, it is recorded that by +his second lady he had 'two Sons, both which died in their infancy by +wicked practices and sorcery.'" + +Another pamphlet seems to have been issued about the affair: _Strange +and wonderfull Witchcrafts, discovering the damnable Practises of seven +Witches against the Lives of certain noble Personages and others of this +Kingdom; with an approved Triall how to find out either Witch or any +Apprentise to Witchcraft, 1621._ Another edition in 1635; see Lowndes. + +_The Wonderfull discoverie of Elizabeth Sawyer ... late of Edmonton, her +conviction, condemnation and Death.... Written by Henry Goodcole, +Minister of the word of God, and her continuall Visiter in the Gaole of +Newgate.... 1621._ The Reverend Mr. Goodcole wrote a plain, +unimaginative story, the main facts of which we cannot doubt. They are +supported moreover by Dekker and Ford's play, _The Witch of Edmonton_, +which appeared within a year. Goodcole refers to the "ballets" written +about this case. + +_The Boy of Bilson: or A True Discovery of the Late Notorious Impostures +of Certaine Romish Priests in their pretended Exorcisme, or expulsion of +the Divell out of a young Boy, named William Perry...._ London, 1622. +Preface signed by Ryc. Baddeley. This is an account of a famous +imposture. It is really a pamphlet against the Catholic exorcists. On +pp. 45-54 is given a reprint of the Catholic account of the affair; on +pp. 55-75 the exposure of the imposture is related. We can confirm this +account by Arthur Wilson, _Life and Reign of James I_, 107-111, and by +John Webster, _Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft_, 274. + +_A Discourse of Witchcraft As it was acted in the Family of Mr. Edward +Fairfax of Fuystone in the County of York, in the year 1621._ Edited by +R. Monckton Milnes (the later Lord Houghton) for vol. V of _Miscellanies +of the Philobiblon Soc._ (London, 1858-1859, 299 pages). The editor says +the original MS. is still in existence. Edward Fairfax was a natural +brother of Sir Thomas Fairfax of Denton. He translated into English +verse Tasso's _Jerusalem Delivered_, and accomplished other poetic +feats. His account of his children's bewitchment and of their trances is +very detailed. The book was again published at Harrogate in 1882, under +the title of _Daemonologia: a Discourse on Witchcraft_, with an +introduction and notes by William Grainge. + + +Sec. 4.--Matthew Hopkins (see ch. VIII). + +_A Most certain, strange and true Discovery of a Witch, Being overtaken +by some of the Parliament Forces, as she was standing on a small +Planck-board and sayling on it over the River of Newbury, Together with +the strange and true manner of her death._ 1643. The tale told here is a +curious one. The soldiers saw a woman crossing the river on a plank, +decided that she was a witch, and resolved to shoot her. "She caught +their bullets in her hands and chew'd them." When the "veines that +crosse the temples of the head" were scratched so as to bleed, she lost +her power and was killed by a pistol shot just below the ear. It is not +improbable that this distorted tale was based on an actual happening in +the war. See _Mercurius Civicus_, September 21-28, 1643. + +_A Confirmation and Discovery of Witch-craft ... together with the +Confessions of many of those executed since May 1645.... By John Stearne +..._ London, 1648. + +_The Examination, Confession, Triall, and Execution of Joane Williford, +Joan Cariden and Jane Hott: who were executed at Feversham, in Kent ... +all attested under the hand of Robert Greenstreet, Maior of Feversham._ +London, 1645. This pamphlet has no outside evidence to confirm its +statements, but it has every appearance of being a true record of +examinations. + +_A true and exact Relation of the severall Informations, Examinations, +and Confessions of the late Witches arraigned and executed in the County +of Essex. Who were arraigned and condemned at the late Sessions, holden +at Chelmesford before the Right Honorable Robert, Earle of Warwicke, and +severall of his Majesties Justices of Peace, the 29 of July 1645...._ +London, 1645. Reprinted London, 1837; also embodied in Howell, _State +Trials_. This is a very careful statement of the court examinations, +drawn up by "H. F." In names and details it has points of coincidence +with the _True Relation_ about the Bury affair; see next paragraph +below. It is supported, too, by Arthur Wilson's account of the affair; +see Francis Peck, _Desiderata Curiosa_ (ed. of London, 1779), II, 476. + +_A True Relation of the Araignment of eighteene Witches at St. +Edmundsbury, 27th August 1645.... As also a List of the names of those +that were executed._ London, 1645. There is abundance of corroborative +evidence for the details given in this pamphlet. It fits in with the +account of the Essex witches; its details are amplified by Stearne, +_Confirmation of Witchcraft_, Clarke, _Lives of sundry Eminent Persons_, +John Walker, _Suffering of the Clergy ... in the Grand Rebellion_ +(London, 1714), and others. The narrative was written in the interim +between the first and second trials at Bury. + +_Strange and fearfull newes from Plaisto in the parish of Westham neere +Bow foure miles from London_, London, 1645. Unimportant. + +_The Lawes against Witches and Conjuration, and Some brief Notes and +Observations for the Discovery of Witches. Being very Usefull for these +Times wherein the Devil reignes and prevailes.... Also The Confession of +Mother Lakeland, who was arraigned and condemned for a Witch at Ipswich +in Suffolke.... By authority._ London, 1645. The writer of this pamphlet +acknowledges his indebtedness to Potts, _Discoverie of Witches in the +countie of Lancaster_ (1613), and to Bernard, _Guide to Grand Jurymen_ +(1627). These books had been used by Stearne and doubtless by Hopkins. +This pamphlet expresses Hopkins's ideas, it is written in Hopkins's +style--so far as we know it--and it may have been the work of the +witchfinder himself. That might explain, too, the "by authority" of the +title. + +_Signes and Wonders from Heaven.... Likewise a new discovery of Witches +in Stepney Parish. And how 20. Witches more were executed in Suffolk +this last Assise. Also how the Divell came to Soffarn to a Farmers house +in the habit of a Gentlewoman on horse backe._ London, [1645]. Mentions +the Chelmsford, Suffolk, and Norfolk trials. + +_The Witches of Huntingdon, their Examinations and Confessions ..._, +London, 1646. This work is dedicated to the justices of the peace for +the county of Huntingdon; the dedication is signed by John Davenport. +Three of the witches whose accusations are here presented are mentioned +by Stearne (_Confirmation of Witchcraft_, 11, 13, 20-21, 42). + +_The Discovery of Witches: in answer to severall Queries, lately +Delivered to the Judges of Assize for the County of Norfolk. And now +published by Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder. For the Benefit of the Whole +Kingdome...._ London, 1647. Hopkins's and Stearne's accounts fit into +each other and are the two best sources for ch. VIII. + +_The [D]Ivell in Kent, or His strange Delusions at Sandwitch_, London, +1647. Has nothing to do with witches; shows the spirit of the times. + +_A strange and true Relation of a Young Woman possest with the Devill. +By name Joyce Dovey dwelling at Bewdley neer Worcester ... as it was +certified in a Letter from Mr. James Dalton unto Mr. Tho. Groome, +Ironmonger over against Sepulchres Church in London.... Also a Letter +from Cambridge, wherein is related the late conference between the Devil +(in the shape of a Mr. of Arts) and one Ashbourner, a Scholler of S. +Johns Colledge ... who was afterwards carried away by him and never +heard of since onely his Gown found in the River_, London, 1647. In the +first narrative a woman after hearing a sermon fell into fits. The +second narrative was probably based upon a combination of facts and +rumor. + +_The Full Tryals, Examination and Condemnation of Four Notorious +Witches, At the Assizes held in Worcester on Tuseday the 4th of March +... As also Their Confessions and last Dying Speeches at the place of +Execution, with other Amazing Particulars ..._, London, printed by "I. +W.," no date. Another edition of this pamphlet (in the Bodleian) bears +the date 1700 and was printed for "J. M." in Fleet street. This is a +most interesting example of a made-to-order witch pamphlet. The preface +makes one suspect its character: "the following narrative coming to my +hand." The accused were Rebecca West, Margaret Landis, Susan Cook, and +Rose Hallybread. Now, all these women were tried at Chelmsford in 1645, +and their examinations and confessions printed in _A true and exact +Relation_. The wording has been changed a little, several things have +been added, but the facts are similar; see _A true and exact +Relation_,10, 11, 13-15, 27. When the author of the Worcester pamphlet +came to narrate the execution he wandered away from his text and +invented some new particulars. The women were "burnt at the stak." They +made a "yelling and howling." Two of them were very "stubborn and +refractory." _Cf._ below, Sec. 10. + +_The Devill seen at St. Albans, Being a true Relation How the Devill was +seen there in a Cellar, in the likenesse of a Ram; and how a Butcher +came and cut his throat, and sold some of it, and dressed the rest for +himselfe, inviting many to supper_ ..., 1648. A clever lampoon. + + +Sec. 5.--Commonwealth and Protectorate (see ch. IX). + +_The Divels Delusions or A faithfull relation of John Palmer and +Elizabeth Knott two notorious Witches lately condemned at the Sessions +of Oyer and Terminer in St. Albans ..._, 1649. The narrative purports to +be taken from a letter sent from St. Alban's. It deals with the +practices of two good witches who were finally discovered to be black +witches. The tale has no outside confirmation. + +_Wonderfull News from the North, Or a True Relation of the Sad and +Grievous Torments Inflicted upon the Bodies of three Children of Mr. +George Muschamp, late of the County of Northumberland, by Witchcraft, +... As also the prosecution of the sayd Witches, as by Oaths, and their +own Confessions will appear and by the Indictment found by the Jury +against one of them, at the Sessions of the Peace held at Alnwick, the +24 day of April 1650_, London, 1650. Preface signed: "Thine, Mary +Moore." This pamphlet bears all through the marks of a true narrative. +It is written evidently by a friend of the Mistress Muschamp who had +such difficulty in persuading the north country justices, judges, and +sheriffs to act. The names and the circumstances fit in with other known +facts. + +_The strange Witch at Greenwich haunting a Wench_, 1650. Unimportant. + +_A Strange Witch at Greenwich_, 1650. + +The last two pamphlets are mentioned by Lowndes. The second pamphlet I +have not seen; as, however, Lowndes cites the title of the first +incorrectly, it is very possible that he has given two titles for the +same pamphlet. + +_The Witch of Wapping, or an Exact and Perfect Relation of the Life and +Devilish Practises of Joan Peterson, who dwelt in Spruce Island, near +Wapping; Who was condemned for practising Witchcraft, and sentenced to +be Hanged at Tyburn, on Munday the 11th of April 1652_, London, 1652. + +_A Declaration in Answer to several lying Pamphlets concerning the Witch +of Wapping, ... shewing the Bloudy Plot and wicked Conspiracy of one +Abraham Vandenhemde, Thomas Crompton, Thomas Collet, and others_, +London, 1652. This pamphlet is described above, pp. 214-215. + +_The Tryall and Examinations of Mrs. Joan Peterson before the Honourable +Bench at the Sessions house in the Old Bayley yesterday._ [1652]. This +states the case against Mistress Joan in the title, but (unless the +British Museum copy is imperfect) gives no details. + +_Doctor Lamb's Darling, or Strange and terrible News from Salisbury; +Being A true, exact, and perfect Relation of the great and wonderful +Contract and Engagement made between the Devil, and Mistris Anne +Bodenham; with the manner how she could transform herself into the shape +of a Mastive Dog, a black Lyon, a white Bear, a Woolf, a Bull, and a +Cat.... The Tryal, Examinations, and Confession ... before the Lord +Chief Baron Wild.... By James [Edmond?] Bower, Cleric_, London, 1653. +This is the first account of the affair and is a rather crude one. + +_Doctor Lamb Revived, or, Witchcraft condemn'd in Anne Bodenham ... who +was Arraigned and Executed the Lent Assizes last at Salisbury, before +the Right Honourable the Lord Chief Baron Wild, Judge of the Assize.... +By Edmond Bower, an eye and ear Witness of her Examination and +Confession_, London, 1653. Bower's second and more detailed account. It +is dedicated to the judge by the writer, who had a large part in the +affair and frequently interviewed the witch. He does not present a +record of examinations, but gives a detailed narrative of the entire +affair. He throws out hints about certain phases of the case and rouses +curiosity without satisfying it. His story of Anne Bodenham is, however, +clear and interesting. The celebrated Aubrey refers to the case in his +_Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_, 261. His account, which tallies +well with that of Bower, he seems to have derived from Anthony Ettrick +"of the Middle Temple," who was a "curious observer of the whole +triall." + +_A Prodigious and Tragicall History of the Arraignment, Tryall, +Confession, and Condemnation of six Witches at Maidstone, in Kent, at +the Assizes there held in July, Fryday 30, this present year, 1652. +Before the Right Honourable, Peter Warburton.... Collected from the +Observations of E. G. Gent, a learned person, present at their +Conviction and Condemnation, and digested by H. F. Gent._, London, 1652. +It is a pity that the digesting was not omitted. The account, however, +is trustworthy. Mention is made of this trial by Elias Ashmole in his +_Diary_ (London, 1717) and by _The Faithful Scout_, July 30-August 7, +1652. + +_The most true and wonderfull Narration of two women bewitched in +Yorkshire: Who camming to the Assizes at York to give in Evidence +against the Witch after a most horrible noise to the terror and +amazement of all the beholders, did vomit forth before the Judges, Pins, +wool.... Also a most true Relation of a young Maid ... who ... did ... +vomit forth wadds of straw, with pins a crosse in them, iron Nails, +Needles, ... as it is attested under the hand of that most famour +Phisitian Doctor Henry Heers, ... 1658._ In the Bodleian. The writer of +this pamphlet had little information to give and seems to have got it at +second or third hand. + +_A more Exact Relation of the most lamentable and horrid Contract which +Lydia Rogers, living in Pump-Ally in Wapping, made with the Divel.... +Together with the great pains and prayers of many eminent Divines, ... +1658._ In the Bodleian. This is a "Relation of a woman who heretofore +professing Religion in the purity thereof fel afterwards to be a +sectary, and then to be acquainted with Astrologers, and afterwards with +the Divel himself." A poor woman "naturally inclin'd to melancholy" +believed she had made a contract with the Devil. "Many Ministers are +dayly with her." + +_The Snare of the Devill Discovered: Or, A True and perfect Relation of +the sad and deplorable Condition of Lydia the Wife of John Rogers House +Carpenter, living in Greenbank in Pumpe alley in Wappin.... Also her +Examination by Mr. Johnson the Minister of Wappin, and her Confession. +As also in what a sad Condition she continues...._ London, 1658. Another +tract against the Baptists. In spite of Lydia Rogers's supposed contract +with the Devil, she does not seem to have been brought into court. + +_Strange and Terrible Newes from Cambridge, being A true Relation of the +Quakers bewitching of Mary Philips ... into the shape of a Bay Mare, +riding her from Dinton towards the University. With the manner how she +became visible again ... in her own Likeness and Shape, with her sides +all rent and torn, as if they had been spur-galled, ... and the Names of +the Quakers brought to tryal on Friday last at the Assises held at +Cambridge ..._, London, 1659. This is mentioned by John Ashton in the +bibliographical appendix to his _The Devil in Britain and America_. + +_The Just Devil of Woodstock, or a true narrative of the severall +apparitions, the frights and punishments inflicted upon the Rumpish +commissioners sent thither to survey the manors and houses belonging to +His Majesty._ 1660. Wood, _Athenae Oxonienses_ (ed. of 1817), III, 398, +ascribes this to Thomas Widdowes. It was on the affair described in this +pamphlet that Walter Scott based his novel _Woodstock_. The story given +in the pamphlet may be found in Sinclar's _Satan's Invisible World +Discovered_. The writer has not seen the original pamphlet. + + +Sec. 6.--Charles II and James II (see ch. XI). + +_The Power of Witchcraft, Being a most strange but true Relation of the +most miraculous and wonderful deliverance of one Mr. William Harrison of +Cambden in the County of Gloucester, Steward to the Lady Nowel ..._, +London, 1662. + +_A True and Perfect Account of the Examination, Confession, Tryal, +Condemnation and Execution of Joan Perry and her two Sons ... for the +supposed murder of William Harrison, Gent ..._, London, 1676. These are +really not witchcraft pamphlets. Mr. Harrison disappears, three people +are charged with his murder and hanged. Mr. Harrison comes back from +Turkey in two years and tells a story of his disappearance which leads +to the supposition that he was transported thither by witchcraft. + +_A Tryal of Witches at the assizes held at Bury St. Edmonds for the +County of Suffolk; on the tenth day of March, 1664_, London, 1682; +another edition, 1716. The writer of this tract writes in introducing +it: "This Tryal of Witches hath lain a long time in a private +Gentleman's Hands in the Country, it being given to him by the Person +that took it in the Court for his own satisfaction." This is the much +quoted case before Sir Matthew Hale. The pamphlet presents one of the +most detailed accounts of the court procedure in a witch case. + +_The Lord's Arm Stretched Out in an Answer of Prayer or a True Relation +of the wonderful Deliverance of James Barrow, the Son of John Barrow of +Olaves Southwark_, London, 1664. This seems to be a Baptist pamphlet. + +_The wonder of Suffolke, being a true relation of one that reports he +made a league with the Devil for three years, to do mischief, and now +breaks open houses, robs people daily, ... and can neither be shot nor +taken, but leaps over walls fifteen feet high, runs five or six miles in +a quarter of an hour, and sometimes vanishes in the midst of multitudes +that go to take him. Faithfully written in a letter from a solemn +person, dated not long since, to a friend in Ship-yard, near Temple-bar, +and ready to be attested by hundreds ..._, London, 1677. This is +mentioned in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1829, pt. ii, 584. I have not +seen a copy of the pamphlet. + +_Daimonomageia: a small Treatise of Sicknesses and Diseases from +Witchcraft and Supernatural Causes.... Being useful to others besides +Physicians, in that it confutes Atheistical, Sadducistical, and +Sceptical Principles and Imaginations ..._, London, 1665. Though its +title-page bears no name, the author was undoubtedly that "William +Drage, D. P. [Doctor of Physic] at Hitchin," in Hertfordshire, to whose +larger treatise on medicine (first printed in 1664 as _A Physical +Nosonomy_, then in 1666 as _The Practice of Physick_, and again in 1668 +as _Physical Experiments_) it seems to be a usual appendage. It is so, +at least, in the Cornell copy of the first edition and in the Harvard +copy of the third, and is so described by the _Dict. Nat. Biog._ and by +the British Museum catalogue. + +_Hartford-shire Wonder. Or, Strange News from Ware, Being an Exact and +true Relation of one Jane Stretton ... who hath been visited in a +strange kind of manner by extraordinary and unusual fits ..._, London, +1669. The title gives the clue to this story. The narrator makes it +clear that a certain woman was suspected of the bewitchment. + +_A Magicall Vision, Or a Perfect Discovery of the Fallacies of +Witchcraft, As it was lately represented in a pleasant sweet Dream to a +Holysweet Sister, a faithful and pretious Assertor of the Family of the +Stand-Hups, for preservation of the Saints from being tainted with the +heresies of the Congregation of the Doe-Littles_, London, 1673. I have +not seen this. It is mentioned by Hazlitt, _Bibliographical +Collections_, fourth series, _s. v._ Witchcraft. + +_A Full and True Relation of The Tryal, Condemnation, and Execution of +Ann Foster ... at the place of Execution at Northampton. With the Manner +how she by her Malice and Witchcraft set all the Barns and Corn on Fire +... and bewitched a whole Flock of Sheep ..._, London, 1674. This +narrative has no confirmation from other sources, yet its details are so +susceptible of natural explanation that they warrant a presumption of +its truth. + +_Strange News from Arpington near Bexby in Kent: Being a True Narrative +of a yong Maid who was Possest with several Devils ..._, London, 1679. + +_Strange and Wonderful News from Yowell in Surry; Giving a True and Just +Account of One Elisabeth Burgess, Who was most strangely Bewitched and +Tortured at a sad rate_, London, 1681. + +_An Account of the Tryal and Examination of Joan Buts, for being a +Common Witch and Inchantress, before the Right Honourable Sir Francis +Pemberton, Lord Chief Justice, at the Assizes ... 1682._ Single leaf. + +The four brochures next to be described deal with the same affair and +substantially agree. + +_The Tryal, Condemnation, and Execution of Three Witches, viz. +Temperance Floyd, Mary Floyd, and Susanna Edwards. Who were Arraigned at +Exeter on the 18th of August, 1682...._ London, 1682. Confirmed by the +records of the gaol deliveries examined by Mr. Inderwick (_Side-Lights +on the Stuarts_, p. 192). + +_A True and Impartial Relation of the Informations against Three +Witches, viz. Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles, and Susanna Edwards, who +were Indicted, Arraigned, and Convicted at the Assizes holden ... at ... +Exon, Aug. 14, 1682. With their several Confessions ... as also Their +... Behaviour, at the ... Execution on the Twenty fifth of the said +Month_, London, 1682. This, the fullest account (40 pp.), gives +correctly the names of these three women, whom I still believe the last +put to death for witchcraft in England. + +_Witchcraft discovered and punished. Or the Tryals and Condemnation of +three Notorious Witches, who were Tryed the last Assizes, holden at the +Castle of Exeter ... where they received sentence of Death, for +bewitching severall Persons, destroying Ships at Sea, and Cattel by +Land. To the Tune of Doctor Faustus; or Fortune my Foe._ In the +Roxburghe Collection at the British Museum. Broadside. A ballad of 17 +stanzas (4 lines each) giving the story of the affair. + +_The Life and Conversation of Temperance Floyd, Mary Lloyd and Susanna +Edwards ...; Lately Condemned at Exeter Assizes; together with a full +Account of their first Agreement with the Devil: With the manner how +they prosecuted their devilish Sorceries ..._, London, 1687. + +_A Full and True Account of the Proceedings at the Sessions of Oyer and +Terminer ... which began at the Sessions House in the Old Bayley on +Thursday, June 1st, and Ended on Fryday, June 2nd, 1682. Wherein is +Contained the Tryal of many notorious Malefactors ... but more +especially the Tryall of Jane Kent for Witchcraft_. This pamphlet is a +brief summary of several cases just finished and has every evidence of +being a faithful account. It is to be found in the library of Lincoln's +Inn. + +_Strange and Dreadful News from the Town of Deptford in the County of +Kent, Being a Full, True, and Sad Relation of one Anne Arthur._ 1684/5. +One leaf, folio. + +_Strange newes from Shadwell, being a ... relation of the death of Alice +Fowler, who had for many years been accounted a witch._ London, 1685. 4 +pp. In the library of the Earl of Crawford. I have not seen it. + +_A True Account of a Strange and Wonderful Relation of one John Tonken, +of Pensans in Cornwall, said to be Bewitched by some Women: two of which +on Suspition are committed to Prison_, London, 1686. In the Bodleian. +This narrative is confirmed by Inderwick's records. + +_News from Panier Alley; or a True Relation of Some Pranks the Devil +hath lately play'd with a Plaster Pot there_, London, 1687. In the +Bodleian. A curious tract. No trial. + + +Sec. 7.--The Final Decline, Miscellaneous Pamphlets (see ch. XIII). + +_A faithful narrative of the ... fits which ... Thomas Spatchet ... was +under by witchcraft ..., 1693._ Unimportant. + +_The Second Part of the Boy of Bilson, Or a True and Particular Relation +of the Imposter Susanna Fowles, wife of John Fowles of Hammersmith in +the Co. of Midd., who pretended herself to be possessed_, London, 1698. + +_A Full and True Account Both of the Life: And also the Manner and +Method of carrying on the Delusions, Blasphemies, and Notorious Cheats +of Susan Fowls, as the same was Contrived, Plotted, Invented, and +Managed by wicked Popish Priests and other Papists._ + +_The trial of Susannah Fowles, of Hammersmith, for blaspheming Jesus +Christ, and cursing the Lord's Prayer ..._, London, 1698. + +These three pamphlets tell the story of a woman who was "an impostor and +Notorious Lyar"; they have little to do with witchcraft. See above, ch. +XIII, note 23. + +_The Case of Witchcraft at Coggeshall, Essex, in the year 1699. Being +the Narrative of the Rev. J. Boys, Minister of the Parish._ Printed from +his manuscript in the possession of the publisher (A. Russell Smith), +London, 1901. + +_A True and Impartial Account of the Dark and Hellish Power of +Witchcraft, Lately Exercised on the Body of the Reverend Mr. Wood, +Minister of Bodmyn. In a Letter from a Gentleman there, to his Friend in +Exon, in Confirmation thereof_, Exeter, 1700. + +_A Full and True Account of the Apprehending and Taking of Mrs. Sarah +Moordike, Who is accused for a Witch, Being taken near Paul's Wharf ... +for haveing Bewitched one Richard Hetheway.... With her Examination +before the Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Lane, Sir Owen Buckingham, and +Dr. Hambleton in Bowe-lane._ 1701. This account can be verified and +filled out from the records of the trial of Hathaway, printed in Howell, +_State Trials_, XIV, 639-696. + +_A short Account of the Trial held at Surry Assizes, in the Borough of +Southwark; on an Information against Richard Hathway ... for Riot and +Assault_, London, 1702. + +_The Tryal of Richard Hathaway, upon an Information For being a Cheat +and Impostor, For endeavouring to take away The Life of Sarah Morduck, +For being a Witch at Surry Assizes ..._, London, 1702. + +_A Full and True Account of the Discovering, Apprehending and taking of +a Notorious Witch, who was carried before Justice Bateman in Well-Close +on Sunday, July the 23. Together with her Examination and Commitment to +Bridewel, Clerkenwel_, London, 1704. Signed at the end, "Tho. Greenwel." +Single page. + +_An Account of the Tryals, Examination, and Condemnation of Elinor Shaw +and Mary Phillips ..., 1705._ + +_The Northamptonshire Witches ..., 1705._ + +The second of these is the completer account. They are by the same +author and are probably fabrications; see below, Sec. 10. + +_The Whole Trial of Mrs. Mary Hicks and her Daughter Elizabeth ..., +1716._ See below, Sec. 10. + + +Sec. 8.--The Surey Pamphlets (see ch. XIII). + +_The Devil Turned Casuist, or the Cheats of Rome Laid open in the +Exorcism of a Despairing Devil at the House of Thomas Pennington in +Oriel.... By Zachary Taylor, M. A., Chaplain to the Right reverend +Father in God, Nicholas, Lord Bishop of Chester, and Rector of Wigan_, +London, 1696. + +_The Surey Demoniack, Or an Account of Satan's Strange and Dreadful +Actings, In and about the Body of Richard Dugdale of Surey, near Whalley +in Lancashire. And How he was Dispossest by Gods blessing on the +Fastings and Prayers of divers Ministers and People_, London, 1697. +Fishwick, _Notebook of Jollie_ (Chetham Soc.), p. xxiv says this was +written by Thomas Jollie and John Carrington. The preface is signed by +"Thomas Jolly" and five other clergymen. Probably Jollie wrote the +pamphlet and Carrington revised it. See above, ch. XIII, note 10. Jollie +disclaimed the sole responsibility for it. See his _Vindication_, 7. +Taylor in _The Surey Impostor_ assumes that Carrington wrote _The Surey +Demoniack_; see _e. g._ p. 21. + +_The Surey Imposter, being an answer to a late Fanatical Pamphlet, +entituled The Surey Demoniack._ By Zachary Taylor. London, 1697. + +_A Vindication of the Surey Demoniack as no Imposter: Or, A Reply to a +certain Pamphlet publish'd by Mr. Zach. Taylor, called The Surey +Imposter...._ By T. J., London, 1698. Written by Jollie. + +_Popery, Superstition, Ignorance and Knavery very unjustly by a letter +in the general pretended; but as far as was charg'd very fully proved +upon the Dissenters that were concerned in the Surey Imposture._ 1698. +Written by Zachary Taylor. + +_The Lancashire Levite Rebuked, or a Vindication of the Dissenters from +Popery, Superstition, Ignorance, and Knavery, unjustly Charged on them +by Mr. Zachary Taylor...._ London, 1698. Signed "N. N.;" see above ch. +XIII, note 17. + +_The Lancashire Levite Rebuked, or a Farther Vindication_, 1698. This +seems to have been an answer to a "letter to Mr. N. N." which Taylor had +published. We have, however, no other mention of such a letter. + +_Popery, Superstition, Ignorance, and Knavery, Confess'd and fully +Proved on the Surey Dissenters, from a Second Letter of an Apostate +Friend, to Zach. Taylor. To which is added a Refutation of T. Jollie's +Vindication ..._, London, 1699. Written by Zachary Taylor. + +_A Refutation of Mr. T. Jolly's Vindication of the Devil in Dugdale; Or, +The Surey Demoniack_, London, 1699. + +It is not worth while to give any critical appraisement of these +pamphlets. They were all controversial and all dealt with the case of +Richard Dugdale. Zachary Taylor had the best of it. The Puritan +clergymen who backed up Thomas Jollie in his claims seem gradually to +have withdrawn their support. + + +Sec. 9.--The Wenham Pamphlets (see ch. XIII). + +_An Account of the Tryal, Examination, and Condemnation of Jane Wenham, +on an Indictment of Witchcraft, for Bewitching of Matthew Gilston and +Anne Thorne of Walcorne, in the County of Hertford.... Before the Right +Honourable Mr. Justice Powell, and is ordered for Execution on Saturday +come Sevennight the 15th._ One page. + +_A Full and Impartial Account of the Discovery of Sorcery and +Witchcraft, Practis'd by Jane Wenham of Walkerne in Hertfordshire, upon +the bodies of Anne Thorn, Anne Street, &c.... till she ... receiv'd +Sentence of Death for the same, March 4, 1711-12_, London, 1712. +Anonymous, but confessedly written by Francis Bragge. 1st ed. in Cornell +library and Brit. Mus.; 2d ed. in Brit. Mus.; 3d ed. in Brit. Mus. +(Sloane, 3,943), and Bodleian; 4th ed. in Brit. Mus.; 5th ed. in Harvard +library: all published within the year. + +_Witchcraft Farther Display'd. Containing (I) An Account of the +Witchcraft practis'd by Jane Wenham of Walkerne, in Hertfordshire, since +her Condemnation, upon the bodies of Anne Thorne and Anne Street.... +(II) An Answer to the most general Objections against the Being and +Power of Witches: With some Remarks upon the Case of Jane Wenham in +particular, and on Mr. Justice Powel's procedure therein...._ London, +1712. Introduction signed by "F. B." [Francis Bragge], who was the +author. + +_A Full Confutation of Witchcraft: More particularly of the Depositions +against Jane Wenham, Lately Condemned for a Witch; at Hertford. In which +the Modern Notions of Witches are overthrown, and the Ill Consequences +of such Doctrines are exposed by Arguments; proving that, Witchcraft is +Priestcraft.... In a Letter from a Physician in Hertfordshire, to his +Friend in London._ London, 1712. + +_The Impossibility of Witchcraft, Plainly Proving, From Scripture and +Reason, That there never was a Witch; and that it is both Irrational and +Impious to believe there ever was. In which the Depositions against Jane +Wenham, Lately Try'd and Condemn'd for a Witch, at Hertford, are +Confuted and Expos'd_, London, 1712. 1st ed. in Brit. Mus.; 2d ed., +containing additional material, in the Bodleian. The author of this +pamphlet in his preface intimates that its substance had earlier been +published by him in the _Protestant Post Boy_. + +_The Belief of Witchcraft Vindicated: proving from Scripture, there have +been Witches; and from Reason, that there may be Such still. In answer +to a late Pamphlet, Intituled, The Impossibility of Witchcraft ..._, By +G. R., A. M., London, 1712. + +_The Case of the Hertfordshire Witchcraft Consider'd. Being an +Examination of a Book entitl'd, A Full and Impartial Account ..._, +London, 1712. Dedicated to Sir John Powell. In the Cornell copy of this +booklet a manuscript note on the title-page, in an eighteenth century +hand, ascribes it to "The Rector of Therfield in Hertfordshire, or his +Curate," while at the end of the dedication what seems the same hand has +signed the names, "Henry Stebbing or Thomas Sherlock." But Stebbing was +in 1712 still a fellow at Cambridge, and Sherlock, later Bishop of +London, was Master of the Temple and Chaplain to Queen Anne. See _Dict. +Nat. Biog._ + +_A Defense of the Proceedings against Jane Wenham, wherein the +Possibility and Reality of Witchcraft are Demonstrated from +Scripture.... In Answer to Two Pamphlets, Entituled: (I) The +Impossibility of Witchcraft, etc. (II) A Full Confutation of +Witchcraft_, By Francis Bragge, A. B., ... London, 1712. + +_The Impossibility of Witchcraft Further Demonstrated, Both from +Scripture and Reason ... with some Cursory Remarks on two trifling +Pamphlets in Defence of the existence of Witches_. By the Author of _The +Impossibility of Witchcraft_, 1712. In the Bodleian. + +_Jane Wenham_. Broadside. The writer of this leaflet claims to have +transcribed his account from an account in "Judge Chancy's own hand". +Chauncy was the justice of the peace who with Bragge stood behind the +prosecution. + +It is very hard to straighten out the authorship of these various +pamphlets. The Rev. Mr. Bragge wrote several. The Rev. Mr. Gardiner and +the Rev. Mr. Strutt, who were active in the case, may have written two +of them. The topographer Gough, writing about 1780, declared that the +late Dr. Stebbing had as a young man participated in the controversy. +Francis Hutchinson was an interested spectator, but probably did not +contribute to the literature of the subject. + +A short secondary account is that of W. B. Gerish, _A Hertfordshire +Witch; or the Story of Jane Wenham, the "Wise Woman of Walkern_." + +In the Brit. Mus., Sloane MSS., 3,943, there is a continuation of the +pamphlet discussion, based chiefly, however, upon Glanvill and other +writers. + + +Sec. 10.--Criticism of the Northampton and Huntingdon Pamphlets of 1705 and +1716 (see ch. XIII, note 10). + +_An Account of The Tryals, Examination and Condemnation of Elinor Shaw +and Mary Phillips (Two notorious Witches) on Wednesday the 7th of March +1705, for Bewitching a Woman, and two children.... With an Account of +their strange Confessions._ This is signed, at the end, "Ralph Davis, +March 8, 1705." It was followed very shortly by a completer account, +written after the execution, and entitled: + +_The Northamptonshire Witches, Being a true and faithful account of the +Births, Educations, Lives, and Conversations of Elinor Shaw and Mary +Phillips (The two notorious Witches) That were Executed at Northampton +on Saturday, March the 17th, 1705 ... with their full Confession to the +Minister, and last Dying Speeches at the place of Execution, the like +never before heard of.... Communicated in a Letter last Post, from Mr. +Ralph Davis of Northampton, to Mr. William Simons, Merchantt in London_, +London, 1705. + +With these two pamphlets we wish to compare another, which was +apparently published in 1716 and was entitled: _The Whole Trial and +Examination of Mrs. Mary Hicks and her Daughter Elizabeth, But of Nine +Years of Age, who were Condemn'd the last Assizes held at Huntingdon +for Witchcraft, and there Executed on Saturday, the 28th of July 1716 +... the like never heard before; their Behaviour with several Divines +who came to converse with 'em whilst under their sentence of Death; and +last Dying Speeches and Confession at the place of execution_, London, +1716. There is a copy in the Bodleian Library. + +The two Northamptonshire pamphlets and the Huntingdonshire pamphlet have +been set by themselves because they appear to have been written by one +hand. Moreover, it looks very much as if they were downright +fabrications foisted upon the public by a man who had already in 1700 +made to order an unhistorical pamphlet. To show this, it will be +necessary to review briefly the facts about the Worcester pamphlet +described above, Sec. 4. What seems to be the second edition of a pamphlet +entitled _The full Tryalls, Examinations and Condemnations of Four +Notorious Witches, At the Assizes held at Worcester on Tuseday the 4th +of March_, was published at London with the date 1700. It purports to +tell the story of one of the cases that came up during Matthew Hopkins's +career in 1645-1647. It has been universally accepted--even by Thomas +Wright, Ashton, W. H. D. Adams, and Inderwick. An examination shows, +however, that it was made over from the Chelmsford pamphlet of 1645. The +author shows little ingenuity, for he steals not only the confessions of +four witches at that trial, but their names as well. Rebecca West, +Margaret Landis, Susan Cock, and Rose Hallybread had all been hanged at +Chelmsford and could hardly have been rehanged at Worcester. Practically +all that the writer of the Worcester pamphlet did was to touch over the +confessions and add thrilling details about their executions. + +Now, it looks very much as if the same writer had composed the +Northamptonshire pamphlets of 1705 and the Huntingdonshire pamphlets of +1716. The verbal resemblances are nothing less than remarkable. The +Worcester pamphlet, in its title, tells of "their Confessions and Last +Dying Speeches at the place of execution." The second of the two +Northamptonshire pamphlets (the first was issued before the execution) +speaks of "their full Confession to the Minister, and last Dying +Speeches at the place of Execution." The Huntingdonshire pamphlet closes +the title with "last Dying Speeches and Confession at the place of +Execution." The Worcester pamphlet uses the phrase "with other amazing +Particulars"; the Northamptonshire pamphlet the phrase "the particulars +of their amazing Pranks." The Huntingdon pamphlet has in this case no +similar phrase but the Huntingdon and Northamptonshire pamphlets have +another phrase in common. The Northamptonshire pamphlet says: "the like +never before heard of"; the Huntingdon pamphlet says: "the like never +heard before." + +These resemblances are in the titles. The Northampton and the fabricated +Worcester pamphlets show other similarities in their accounts. The +Northampton women were so "hardened in their Wickedness that they +Publickly boasted that their Master (meaning the Devil) would not suffer +them to be Executed but they found him a Lyer." The Worcester writer +speaks of the "Devil who told them to the Last that he would secure them +from Publick Punishment, but now too late they found him a Lyer as he +was from the beginning of the World." In concluding their narratives the +Northamptonshire and Worcestershire pamphleteers show an interesting +similarity of treatment. The Northampton witches made a "howling and +lamentable noise" on receiving their sentences, the Worcester women made +a "yelling and howling at their executions." + +These resemblances may be fairly characterized as striking. If it be +asked whether the phrases quoted are not conventional in witch +pamphlets, the answer must be in the negative. So far as the writer +knows, these phrases occur in no other of the fifty or more witch +pamphlets. The word "notorious," which occurs in the titles of the +Worcester and Northampton pamphlets, is a common one and would signify +nothing. The other phrases mentioned are characteristic and distinctive. +This similarity suggests that the three pamphlets were written by the +same hand. Since we know that one of the three is a fabrication, we are +led to suspect the credibility of the other two. + +There are, indeed, other reasons for doubting the historicity of these +two. A close scrutiny of the Northampton pamphlet shows that the +witchcrafts there described have the peculiar characteristics of the +witchcrafts in the palmy days of Matthew Hopkins and that the wording of +the descriptions is much the same. The Northampton pamphlet tells of a +"tall black man," who appeared to the two women. A tall black man had +appeared to Rebecca West at Chelmsford in 1645. A much more important +point is that the prisoners at Northampton had been watched at night in +order to keep their imps from coming in. This night-watching was a +process that had never, so far as our records go, been used since the +Hopkins alarm, of which it had been the characteristic feature. Were +there no other resemblance between the Northampton cases and those at +Chelmsford, this similarity would alone lead us to suspect the +credibility of the Northampton pamphlet. Unfortunately the indiscreet +writer of the Northampton narrative lets other phrases belonging to 1645 +creep into his account. + +When the Northampton women were watched, a "little white thing about the +bigness of a Cat" had appeared. But a "white thing about the bignesse of +a Cat" had appeared to the watchers at Chelmsford in 1645. This is not +all. The Northampton witches are said to have killed their victims by +roasting and pricking images, a charge which had once been common, but +which, so far as the writer can recall, had not been used since the +Somerset cases of 1663. It was a charge very commonly used against the +Chelmsford witches whom Matthew Hopkins prosecuted. Moreover the +Northampton witches boasted that "their Master would not suffer them to +be executed." No Chelmsford witch had made that boast; but Mr. Lowes, +who was executed at Bury St. Edmunds (the Bury trial was closely +connected with that at Chelmsford, so closely that the writer who had +read of one would probably have read of the other), had declared that he +had a charm to keep him from the gallows. + +It will be seen that these are close resemblances both in characteristic +features and in wording. But the most perfect resemblance is in a +confession. The two Northampton women describing their imps--creatures, +by the way, that had figured largely in the Hopkins trials--said that +"if the Imps were not constantly imploy'd to do Mischief, they [the +witches] had not their healths; but when they were imploy'd they were +very Heathful and Well." This was almost exactly what Anne Leech had +confessed at Chelmsford. Her words were: "And that when This Examinant +did not send and employ them abroad to do mischief, she had not her +health, but when they were imploy'd, she was healthfull and well." + +We cannot point out the same similarity between the Huntingdonshire +witchcrafts of 1716 and the Chelmsford cases. The narrative of the +Huntingdon case is, however, somewhat remarkable. Mr. Hicks was taking +his nine-year-old daughter to Ipswich one day, when she, seeing a sail +at sea, took a "basin of water," stirred it up, and thereby provoked a +storm that was like to have sunk the ship, had not the father made the +child cease. On the way home, the two passed a "very fine Field of +Corn." "Quoth the child again, 'Father, I can consume all this Corn in +the twinkling of an Eye.' The Father supposing it not in her Power to do +so, he bid to shew her infernal skill." The child did so, and presently +"all the Corn in the Field became Stubble." He questioned her and found +that she had learned witchcraft from her mother. The upshot of it was +that at Mr. Hicks's instance his wife and child were prosecuted and +hanged. The story has been called remarkable. Yet it is not altogether +unique. In 1645 at Bury St. Edmunds just after the Chelmsford trial +there were eighteen witches condemned, and one of them, it will be +remembered, was Parson Lowes of Brandeston in Suffolk, who confessed +that "he bewitched a ship near Harwidge; so that with the extreme +tempestuous Seas raised by blusterous windes the said ship was cast +away, wherein were many passengers, who were by this meanes swallowed up +by the merciless waves." It will be observed that the two stories are +not altogether similar. The Huntingdon narrative is a better tale, and +it would be hardly safe to assert that it drew its inspiration from the +earlier story. Yet, when it is remembered how unusual is the story in +English witch-lore, the supposition gains in probability. There is a +further resemblance in the accounts. The Hicks child had bewitched a +field of corn. One of the Bury witches, in the narrative which tells of +parson Lowes, "confessed that She usually bewitcht standing corne, +whereby there came great loss to the owners thereof." The resemblance is +hardly close enough to merit notice in itself. When taken, however, in +connection with the other resemblances it gives cumulative force to the +supposition that the writer of the Huntingdon pamphlet had gone to the +narratives of the Hopkins cases for his sources. + +There are, however, other reasons for doubting the Huntingdon story. A +writer in _Notes and Queries_, 2d series, V, 503-504, long ago +questioned the narrative because of the mention of a "Judge Wilmot," and +showed that there was no such judge on the bench before 1755. An +examination of the original pamphlet makes it clear, however, that in +this form the objection is worth nothing. The tract speaks only of a +"_Justice_ Wilmot," who, from the wording of the narrative, would seem +to have conducted the examination preliminary to the assizes as a +justice of the peace would. A justice of the peace would doubtless, +however, have belonged to some Huntingdonshire county family. Now, the +writer has searched the various records and histories of +Huntingdonshire--unfortunately they are but too few--and among the +several hundred Huntingdonshire names he has found no Wilmots (and, for +that matter, no Hickes either). This would seem to make the story more +improbable. + +In an earlier number of _Notes and Queries_ (1st series, V, 514), James +Crossley, whose authority as to matters relating to witchcraft is of the +highest, gives cogent reasons why the Huntingdonshire narrative could +not be true. He recalls the fact that Hutchinson, who made a +chronological table of cases, published his work in 1718. Now Hutchinson +had the help of two chief-justices, Parker and King, and of Chief-Baron +Bury in collecting his cases; and yet he says that the last execution +for the crime in England was in 1682. Crossley makes the further strong +point that the case of Jane Wenham in 1712 attracted wide attention and +was the occasion of numerous pamphlets. "It is scarcely possible," he +continues, "that in four years after two persons, one only nine years +old, ... should have been tried and executed for witchcraft without +public attention being called to the circumstance." He adds that +neither the _Historical Register_ for 1716 nor the files of two London +newspapers for that year, though they enumerate other convictions on the +circuit, record the supposed cases. + +It will be seen that exactly the same arguments apply to the Northampton +trials of 1705. Hutchinson had been at extraordinary pains to find out +not only about Jane Wenham, but about the Moordike case of 1702. It is +inconceivable that he should have quite overlooked the execution of two +women at Northampton. + +We have observed that the Northampton, Huntingdon, and Worcester +pamphlets have curious resemblances in wording to one another +(resemblances that point to a common authorship), that the Worcester +narrative can be proved to be fictitious, and that the Huntingdon +narrative almost certainly belongs in the same category. We have shown, +further, that the Northampton and Huntingdon stories present features of +witchcraft characteristic of the Chelmsford and Bury cases of 1645, from +the first of which the material of the Worcester pamphlet is drawn; and +this fact points not only to the common authorship of the three tracts, +but to the imaginary character of the Huntingdon and Northampton cases. + +Against these facts there is to be presented what at first blush seems a +very important piece of evidence. In the _Northamptonshire Historical +Collections_, 1st series (Northampton, 1896), there is a chapter on +witchcraft in Northamptonshire, copied from the _Northamptonshire +Handbook_ for 1867. That chapter goes into the trials of 1705 in detail, +making copious extracts from the pamphlets. In a footnote the writers +say: "To show that the burning actually took place in 1705, it may be +important to mention that there is an item of expense entered in the +overseers' accounts for St. Giles parish for faggots bought for the +purpose." This in itself seems convincing. It seems to dispose of the +whole question at once. There is, however, one fact that instantly casts +a doubt upon this seemingly conclusive evidence. In England, witches +were hanged, not burned. There are not a half-dozen recorded exceptions +to this rule. Mother Lakeland in 1645 was burned. That is easy to +explain. Mother Lakeland had by witchcraft killed her husband. Burning +was the method of execution prescribed by English law for a woman who +killed her husband. The other cases where burnings are said to have +taken place were almost certainly cases that came under this rule. But +it does not seem possible that the Northampton cases came under the +rule. The two women seem to have had no husbands. "Ralph Davis," the +ostensible writer of the account, who professed to have known them from +their early years, and who was apparently glad to defame them in every +possible way, accused them of loose living, but not of adultery, as he +would certainly have done, had he conceived of them as married. It is +hard to avoid the conclusion that they could not have been burned. + +There is a more decisive answer to this argument for the authenticity of +the pamphlet. The supposed confirmation of it in the St. Giles parish +register is probably a blunder. The Reverend R. M. Serjeantson of St. +Peter's Rectory has been kind enough to examine for the writer the +parish register of St. Giles Church. He writes: "The St. Giles accounts +briefly state that _wood_ was bought from time to time--probably for +melting the lead. There is _no_ mention of _faggots_ nor witches in the +Church wardens' overseers-for-the-poor accounts. I carefully turned out +the whole contents of the parish chest." Mr. Serjeantson adds at the +close this extract: "1705 P'd for wood 5/ For taking up the old lead +5/." It goes without saying that Mr. Serjeantson's examination does not +prove that there never was a mention of the faggots bought for burning +witches; but, when all the other evidence is taken into consideration, +this negative evidence does establish a very strong presumption to that +effect. Certainly the supposed passage from the overseers' accounts can +no longer be used to confirm the testimony of the pamphlet. It looks +very much as if the compilers of the _Northamptonshire Handbook_ for +1867 had been careless in their handling of records. + +It seems probable, then, that the pamphlet of 1705 dealing with the +execution of Mary Phillips and Elinor Shaw is a purely fictitious +narrative. The matter derives its importance from the fact that, if the +two executions in 1705 be disproved, the last known execution in England +is put back to 1682, ten years before the Salem affair in Massachusetts. +This would of course have some bearing on a recent contention (G. L. +Kittredge, "Notes on Witchcraft," Am. Antiq. Soc., _Proc._, XVIII), that +"convictions and executions for witchcraft occurred in England after +they had come to an end in Massachusetts." + + + + +B.--LIST OF PERSONS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR WITCHCRAFT DURING THE REIGN +OF JAMES I. + + +1.--Charged with Causing Death. + + 1603. Yorkshire. + Mary Pannel. + 1606. Hertford. + Johanna Harrison and her daughter. + 1612. Northampton. + Helen Jenkinson, Arthur Bill, Mary Barber. + 1612. Lancaster. + Chattox, Eliz. Device, James Device, Alice Nutter, Katherine + Hewitt, Anne Redfearne. + 1612. York. + Jennet Preston. + 1613. Bedford. + Mother Sutton and Mary Sutton. + 1616. Middlesex. + Elizabeth Rutter. + 1616. Middlesex. + Joan Hunt. + 1619. Lincoln. + Margaret and Philippa Flower. + 1621. Edmonton. + Elizabeth Sawyer. + + +2.--Not Charged with Causing Death (so far as shown by records). + + 1607. Rye, Kent. + Two women entertained spirits, "to gain wealth." + 1612. Lancaster. + John and Jane Bulcock, making to waste away. It + was testified against them that at Malking Tower they + consented to murder, but this was apparently not in the + indictment. Acquitted, but later convicted. + Alizon Device, caused to waste away. + Isabel Robey, caused illness. + 1616. Enfield, Middlesex. + Agnes Berrye, laming and causing to languish. + 1616. King's Lynn. + Mary Smith, hanged for causing four people to languish. + 1616. Leicester. + Nine women hanged for bewitching a boy. Six more + condemned on same charge, but pardoned by command + of king. + + +Mixed Cases. + + 1607. Bakewell. + Our evidence as to the Bakewell witches is too incomplete + to assure us that they were not accused of killing + by witchcraft. + 1612. Northampton. + Agnes Brown and Joane Vaughan were indicted for + bewitching Master Avery and Mistress Belcher, "together + with the body of a young child to the death." + + + + +C.--LIST OF CASES OF WITCHCRAFT, 1558-1718, WITH REFERENCES TO SOURCES +AND LITERATURE.[1] + + + 1558. John Thirkle, "taylour, detected of conjuringe," to be + examined. _Acts of Privy Council_, n. s., VII, 6. + + ---- Several persons in London charged with conjuration to + be sent to the Bishop of London for examination. + _Ibid._, 22. + + 1559. Westminster. Certain persons examined on suspicion, + including probably Lady Frances Throgmorton. _Cal. + St. P., Dom., 1547-1580_, 142. + + c. 1559. Lady Chandos's daughter accused and imprisoned + with George Throgmorton. Brit Mus., Add. MSS., + 32,091, fol. 176. + + 1560. Kent. Mother Buske of St. John's suspected by the + church authorities. Visitations of Canterbury in + _Archaeologia Cantiana_, XXVI, 31. + + 1561. Coxe, alias Devon, a Romish priest, examined for magic + and conjuration, and for celebrating mass. Cal. St. + _P., Dom., 1547-1580_, 173. + + ---- London. Ten men brought before the queen and council + on charge of "trespass, contempt, conjuration and + sorceries." Punished with the pillory and required + to renounce such practices for the future. From an + extract quoted in Brit. Mus., Sloane MSS., 3,943, + fol. 19. + + 1565. Dorset. Agnes Mondaye to be apprehended for bewitching + Mistress Chettell. _Acts P. C._, n. s., VII, + 200-201. + + 1565-1573. Durham. Jennet Pereson accused to the church + authorities. _Depositions ... from ... Durham_ (Surtees + Soc.), 99. + + 1566. Chelmsford, Essex. Mother Waterhouse hanged; Alice + Chandler hanged, probably at this time; Elizabeth + Francis probably acquitted. _The examination and + confession of certaine Wytches at Chensforde._ For + the cases of Elizabeth Francis and Alice Chandler + see also _A detection of damnable driftes,_ A iv, A + v, verso. + + ---- Essex. "Boram's wief" probably examined by the + archdeacon. W. H. Hale, _A Series of Precedents + and Proceedings in Criminal Causes, 1475-1640, + extracted from the Act Books of Ecclesiastical + Courts in the Diocese of London_ (London, 1847), + 147. + + 1569. Lyme, Dorset. Ellen Walker accused. Roberts, _Southern + Counties_, 523. + + 1570. Essex. Malter's wife of Theydon Mount and Anne + Vicars of Navestock examined by Sir Thomas Smith. + John Strype, _Life of Sir Thomas Smith_ (ed. of Oxford, + 1820), 97-100. + + 1570-1571. Canterbury. Several witches imprisoned. Mother + Dungeon presented by the grand jury. _Hist. MSS. + Comm. Reports_, IX, pt. 1, 156 b; Wm. Welfitt, + "Civis," _Minutes collected from the Ancient Records + of Canterbury_ (Canterbury, 1801-1802), no. VI. + + ---- ---- Folkestone, Kent. Margaret Browne, accused of + "unlawful practices," banished from town for seven + years, and to be whipped at the cart's tail if found + within six or seven miles of town. S. J. Mackie, + _Descriptive and Historical Account of Folkestone_ + (Folkestone, 1883), 319. + + 1574. Westwell, Kent. "Old Alice" [Norrington?] arraigned + and convicted. Reginald Scot, _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, + 130-131. + + ---- Middlesex. Joan Ellyse of Westminster convicted on + several indictments for witchcraft and sentenced to + be hanged. _Middlesex County Records_, I, 84. + + c. 1574. Jane Thorneton accused by Rachel Pinder, who + however confessed to fraud. _Discloysing of a late + counterfeyted possession._ + + 1575. Burntwood, Staffordshire. Mother Arnold hanged at + Barking. From the title of a pamphlet mentioned + by Lowndes: _The Examination and Confession of a + notorious Witch named Mother Arnold, alias Whitecote, + alias Glastonbury, at the Assise of Burntwood + in July, 1574; who was hanged for Witchcraft at + Barking, 1575._ Mrs. Linton, Witch Stories, 153, + says that many were hanged at this time, but I cannot + find authority for the statement. + + ---- Middlesex. Elizabeth Ducke of Harmondsworth + acquitted. _Middlesex County Records_, I, 94. + + ---- Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Katharine Smythe acquitted. + Henry Harrod, "Notes on the Records of the Corporation + of Great Yarmouth," in _Norfolk Archaeology_, + IV, 248. + + 1577. Seaford, Sussex. Joan Wood presented by the grand + jury. M. A. Lower, "Memorials of Seaford," in + Sussex Archaeological Soc., _Collections_, VII, 98. + + ---- Middlesex. Helen Beriman of Laleham acquitted. + _Middlesex County Records_, I, 103. + + ---- Essex. Henry Chittam of Much Barfield to be tried + for coining false money and conjuring. _Acts P. C._, + n. s., IX, 391; X, 8, 62. + + 1578. Prescall, Sanford, and "one Emerson, a preiste," suspected + of conjuration against the queen. The first + two committed. _Id._, X, 382; see also 344, 373. + + ---- Evidence of the use of sorcery against the queen discovered. + _Cal. St. P., Spanish, 1568-1579_, 611; see + also note to Ben Jonson's _Masque of Queenes_ (London, + Shakespeare Soc., 1848), 71. + + ---- Sussex. "One Tree, bailiff of Lewes, and one Smith + of Chinting" to be examined. _Acts P. C._, n. s., X, 220. + + 1579. Chelmsford, Essex. Three women executed. Mother + Staunton released because "no manslaughter objected + against her." _A Detection of damnable driftes._ + + ---- Abingdon, Berks. Four women hanged; at least two + others and probably more were apprehended. _A + Rehearsall both straung and true of ... acts committed + by Elisabeth Stile ..._; _Acts P. C._, n. s., + XI, 22; Scot, _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, 10, 51, 543. + + ---- Certain persons suspected of sorcery to be examined + by the Bishop of London. _Acts P. C._, n. s., XI, 36. + + ---- Salop, Worcester, and Montgomery. Samuel Cocwra + paid for "searching for certen persons suspected + for conjuracion." _Ibid._, 292. + + ---- Southwark. Simon Pembroke, a conjurer, brought to the + parish church of St. Saviour's to be tried by the + "ordinarie judge for those parties," but falls dead + before the opening of the trial. Holinshed, _Chronicles_ + (ed. of 1586-1587), III, 1271. + + ---- Southampton. Widow Walker tried by the leet jury, + outcome unknown. J. S. Davies, _History of Southampton_ + (Southampton, 1883), 236. + + 1579-1580. Shropshire. Mother Garve punished in the corn + market. Owen and Blakeway, _History of Shrewsbury_, + I, 562. + + 1580. Stanhope, Durham. Ann Emerson accused by the + church officials. _Injunctions ... of ... Bishop of + Durham_ (Surtees Soc.), 126. + + ---- Bucks. John Coleman and his wife examined by four + justices of the peace at the command of the privy + council. They were probably released. _Acts P. C._, n. + s., XI, 427; XII, 29. + + ---- Kent. Several persons to be apprehended for conjuration. + _Id._, XII, 21-23. + + ---- Somerset. Henry Harrison and Thomas Wadham, suspected + of conjuration, to appear before the privy + council. _Ibid._, 22-23. + + ---- Somerset. Henry Fize of Westpenner, detected in conjuration, + brought before the privy council. _Ibid._, 34. + + ---- Essex. "Sondery persones" charged with sorceries and + conjuration. _Acts P. C._, XII, 29, 34. + + 1581. Randoll and four others accused for "conjuring to + know where treasure was hid in the earth." Randoll + and three others found guilty. Randoll alone + executed. Holinshed, _Chronicles_ (London, 1808), + IV, 433. + + 1581. Padstow, Cornwall. Anne Piers accused of witchcraft. + Examination of witnesses. _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1581-1590_, + 29. See also _Acts P. C._, n. s., XIII, 228. + + 1581. Rochester, Kent. Margaret Simmons acquitted. Scot, + _Discoverie_, 5. + + 1581-82. Colchester, Essex. Annis Herd accused before the + "spiritual Courte." _Witches taken at St. Oses_, 1582. + + 1582. St. Osyth, Essex. Sixteen accused, one of whom was a + man. How many were executed uncertain. It seems + to have been a tradition that thirteen were executed. + Scot wrote that seventeen or eighteen were executed. + _Witches taken at St. Oses_, 1582; Scot, _Discoverie_, 543. + + 1582 (or before). "T. E., Maister of Art and practiser both of + physicke, and also in times past, of certeine vaine + sciences," condemned for conjuration, but reprieved. + Scot, _Discoverie_, 466-469. + + 1582. Middlesex. Margery Androwes of Clerkenwell held in + bail. _Middlesex County Records_, I, 133. + + 1582. Durham. Alison Lawe of Hart compelled to do penance. + _Denham Tracts_ (Folk-Lore Soc.), II, 332. + + 1582. Kent. Goodwife Swane of St. John's suspected by the + church authorities. _Archaeol. Cant._, XXVI, 19. + + 1582-83. Nottingham. A certain Batte examined before the + "Meare" of Nottingham. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, + XII, pt. 4, 147. + + 1582-83. King's Lynn. Mother Gabley probably hanged. Excerpt + from parish register of Wells in Norfolk, in + the _Gentleman's Magazine_, LXII (1792), 904. + + 1583. Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire. Three women tried, + one sentenced to a year's imprisonment and the pillory. + J. J. Sheahan, _History of Kingston-upon-Hull_ + (London, 1864), 86. + + 1583. Colchester, Essex. Two women sentenced to a year + in prison and to four appearances in the pillory. E. + L. Cutts, Colchester (London, 1888), 151. Henry + Harrod, _Report on the Records of Colchester_ (Colchester, + 1865), 17; App., 14. + + 1583. St. Peter's, Kent. Ellen Bamfield suspected by the + church authorities. _Archaeol. Cant._, XXVI, 45. + + 1584. Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Elizabeth Butcher (punished + before) and Joan Lingwood condemned to be + hanged. C. J. Palmer, _History of Great Yarmouth_, + I, 273. + + 1584. Staffordshire. An indictment preferred against Jeffrey + Leach. _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1581-1590_, 206. + + 1584. "The oulde witche of Ramsbury" and several other + "oulde witches and sorcerers" suspected. _Cal. St. + P., Dom., 1581-1590_, 220. + + 1584. York. Woman, indicted for witchcraft and "high + treason touching the supremacy," condemned. _Cal. + St. P., Dom., Add. 1580-1625_, 120-121. + + 1584. Middlesex. Elizabeth Bartell of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields + acquitted. _Middlesex County Records_, I, 145. + + 1585. Middlesex. Margaret Hackett of Stanmore executed. + From titles of two pamphlets mentioned by Lowndes, + _The severall Facts of Witchcrafte approved on Margaret + Haskett ..._ 1585, and _An Account of Margaret + Hacket, a notorious Witch ..._ 1585. + + 1585. Middlesex. Joan Barringer of "Harroweelde" (Harrow + Weald) acquitted. _Middlesex County Records_, + I, 157. + + 1585. Dorset. John Meere examined. _Cal. St. P., Dom., + 1581-90_, 246-247. + + 1585-86. Alnwick, Northumberland. Two men and two women + committed to prison on suspicion of killing a sheriff. + _Denham Tracts_, II, 332; _Cal. S. P., Dom., Add. 1580-1625_, 168. + + 1586. Eckington, Derbyshire. Margaret Roper accused. Discharged. + Harsnett, _Discovery of the Fraudulent + Practises of John Darrel_, 310. + + 1586. Faversham, Kent. Jone Cason [Carson] tried before + the mayor, executed. Holinshed, _Chronicles_ (1586-1587), + III, 1560. + + 1587. Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Helena Gill indicted. C. J. + Palmer, _History of Great Yarmouth_, 273. H. Harrod + in _Norfolk Archaeology_, IV, 248, assigns this to + 1597, but it is probably a mistake. + + c. 1588. A woman at R. H. said to have been imprisoned and + to have died before the assizes. Gifford, _Dialogue_ + (London, 1603), C. + + 1589. Chelmsford, Essex. Three women hanged. _The apprehension + and confession of three notorious Witches._ + + 1589. Several persons to be examined about their dealings in + conjuration with an Italian friar. _Acts P. C._, n. s., + XVII, 31-32. + + 1589. Mrs. Deir brought into question for sorcery against + the queen. Charge dismissed. Strype, _Annals of + the Reformation_ (London, 1709-1731), IV, 7-8. + + 1590. Mrs. Dewse suspected of attempting to make use of conjurors. + _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1581-1590, 644. + + 1590. John Bourne, a "sorcerer and seducer," arrested. _Acts + P. C._, n. s., XVIII, 373. + + 1590. Berwick. A Scottish witch imprisoned. John Scott, + _History of Berwick_ (London, 1888), 180; _Archaeologia_, + XXX, 172. + + 1590. Norfolk. Margaret Grame accused before justice of the + peace. Neighbors petition in her behalf. _Hist. MSS. + Comm. Reports, Various_, II, 243-244. + + 1590. King's Lynn. Margaret Read burnt. Benjamin Mackerell, + _History and Antiquities ... of King's Lynn_, + (London, 1738), 231. + + 1590. Edmonton, Middlesex. Certain men taken for witchcraft + and conjuring. Bloodhound used in pursuit + of them. _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1581-1590, 689. + + 1590-91. Hertfordshire. Indictment of Joan White for killing. + _Hertfordshire County Session Rolls_, I, 4. + + 1591. John Prestall suspected. _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1591-1594, + 17-19. + + 1591. Middlesex. Stephen Trefulback of Westminster given + penalty of statute, _i. e._, probably pillory. _Middlesex + County Records_, I, 197. + + 1592. Colchester, Essex. Margaret Rand indicted by grand + jury. Brit. Mus., Stowe MSS., 840, fol. 42. + + 1592. Yorkshire. "Sara B. de C." examined. West, _Symboleography_, + pt. II (London, 1594), ed. of 1611, fol. + 134 verso (reprinted in _County Folk-Lore_, Folk-Lore + Soc., 135). Whether the "S. B. de C. in comit. + H." whose indictment in the same year is printed + also by West may possibly be the same woman can + not be determined. + + 1592. Yorkshire. Margaret L. de A. examined. _Ibid._ + + 1593. Warboys, Huntingdonshire. Mother, daughter and + father Samuel executed. _The most strange and + admirable discoverie of the three Witches of Warboys._ + 1593. See also John Darrel, _A Detection of + that sinnful ... discours of Samuel Harshnet_, 20-21, + 39-40, 110. Harsnett, _Discovery of the Fraudulent + Practises of John Darrel_, 93, 97. + + 1594. Jane Shelley examined for using sorcerers to find the + time of the queen's death. _Hist. MSS. Comm., Cecil._, pt. V, 25. + + 1595. St. Peter's Kent. Two women presented by the church + authorities. Still suspected in 1599. _Archaeol. Cant._, XXVI, 46. + + 1595. Woodbridge, Suffolk. Witches put in the pillory. + _County Folk-Lore, Suffolk_ (Folk-Lore Soc., London, 1895), 193. + + 1595. Jane Mortimer pardoned for witchcraft. Bodleian, + Tanner MSS., CLXVIII, fol. 29. + + 1595. Near Bristol, Somerset. Severall committed for the + Earl of Derby's death. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, + IV, app., 366 b. See also E. Baines's _Lancaster_ + (London, 1870), 273-274 and note. + + 1595. Barnet and Braynford, Herts. Three witches executed. + From title of pamphlet mentioned by Lowndes, + _The Arraignment and Execution of 3 detestable + Witches, John Newell, Joane his wife, and Hellen + Calles: two executed at Barnett and one at Braynford_, + 1 Dec. 1595. + + 1596 (or before). Derbyshire. Elizabeth Wright (mother + of Alice Gooderidge) several times summoned before + the justice of the peace on suspicion. _The + most wonderfull and true Storie of ... Alse Gooderidge_ + (1597). + + 1596. Burton-upon-Trent, Derbyshire. Alice Gooderidge tried + at Derby, convicted. Died in prison. Harsnett, _Discovery + of the fraudulent Practises of John Darrel; + John Darrel, Detection of that sinnful ... discours + of Samuel Harshnet_, 38, 40; _The most wonderfull + and true Storie of ... Alse Gooderidge_ (1597). + + 1596-1597. Leicester. Mother Cooke hanged. Mary Bateson, + _Records of the Borough of Leicester_ (Cambridge, + 1899), III, 335. + + 1596-1597. Lancaster. Hartley condemned and executed. + John Darrel, _True Narration_ (in the _Somers Tracts_, + III), 175, 176; George More, _A True Discourse + concerning the certaine possession ... of 7 persons + ... in Lancashire_, 18-22; John Darrel, _Detection + of that sinnful ... discours of Samuel Harshnet_, 40. + + 1597. Nottingham. Thirteen or more accused by Somers, at + least eight of whom were put in gaol. All but two + discharged. Alice Freeman tried at the assizes and + finally acquitted. John Darrel, _Detection of that + sinnful ... discours of Samuel Harshnet_, 109-111; + _An Apologie or defence of the possession of William + Sommers_, L-L 3; Samuel Harsnett, _Discovery + of the Fraudulent Practises of John Darrel_, 5, 102, + 140-141, 320-322. + + 1597. St. Lawrence, Kent. Sibilla Ferris suspected by the + church authorities. _Archaeol. Cant._, XXVI, 12. + + 1597. Nottingham. William Somers accused of witchcraft as + a ruse to get him into the house of correction. + Darrel, _A True Narration of the ... Vexation ... + of seven persons in Lancashire_, in _Somers Tracts_, + III, 184; also his _Brief Apologie_ (1599), 17. + + 1597. Yorkshire. Elizabeth Melton of Collingham condemned, + pardoned. _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1595-1597, 400. + + 1597. Lancashire. Alice Brerely of Castleton condemned, + pardoned. _Ibid._, 406. + + 1597. Middlesex. Agnes Godfrey of Enfield held by the justice + of the peace on L10 bail. _Middlesex County Records_, I, 237. + + 1597. St. Andrew's in Holborne, Middlesex. Josia Ryley + arraigned. "Po se mortuus in facie curie," _i. e._ + _Posuit se moriturum._ _Ibid._, 225. + + 1597. Middlesex. Helen Spokes of St. Giles-in-the-Fields + acquitted. _Ibid._, 239. + + 1598. Berwick. Richard Swynbourne's wife accused. John + Scott, _History of Berwick_ (London, 1888), 180. + + 1598. St. Peter's, Kent. Two women suspected by the church + officials; one of them presented again the next year. + _Archaeol. Cant._, XXVI, 46. + + 1598. King's Lynn. Elizabeth Housegoe executed. Mackerell, + _History and Antiquities of King's Lynn_, 232. + + 1599. Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Jone Jordan of Shadbrook + tried. Darrel, _A Survey of Certaine Dialogical + Discourses_, 54. + + 1599. Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Joane Nayler tried. _Ibid._ + + 1599. Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Oliffe Bartham of Shadbrook + executed. _The Triall of Maist. Dorrel_, 92-98. + + 1599. London. Anne Kerke of Bokes-wharfe executed at + "Tiburn." _The Triall of Maist. Dorrel_, 99-103. + + 1600. Hertford. A "notable witch" committed to the gaol + at Hertford. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports, Cecil + MSS._, pt. X, 310. + + 1600. Rosa Bexwell pardoned. Bodleian, Tanner MSS., + CLXVIII, fol. 104. + + 1600. Norfolk. Margaret Fraunces committed for a long + time. Probably released by justice of the peace on + new evidence. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, X, pt. + II (Gawdy MSS.), 71. See also below, pp. 400, 401. + + 1600. Ipswich, Suffolk. Several conjurers suspected. _Cal. + St. P., Dom._, 1598-1601, 523. + + 1601. Bishop Burton, York. Two women apprehended for + bewitching a boy. Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 32,496, + fol. 42 b. + + 1601. Middlesex. Richard Nelson of St. Katharine's arraigned. + _Middlesex County Records_, I, 260. + + 1601. Nottingham. Ellen Bark presented at the sessions. + _Records of the Borough of Nottingham_, IV, 260-261. + + 1602. Middlesex. Elizabeth Roberts of West Drayton indicted + on three charges, acquitted. _Middlesex + County Records_, I, 212. + + 1602. Saffron Walden, Essex. Alice Bentley tried before the + quarter sessions. Case probably dismissed. Darrel, + _A Survey of Certaine Dialogical Discourses_, 54. + + temp. Eliz. Northfleet, Kent. Pardon to Alice S. for bewitching + a cow and pigs. Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS., C 404, fol. 205 b. + + temp. Eliz. Woman condemned to prison and pillory. Gifford, + _Dialogue concerning Witches_ (1603), L 4 verso. + + temp. Eliz. Cambridge. Two women perhaps hanged at this + time. Henry More, _Antidote to Atheisme_, III. But + see 1605, Cambridge. + + temp. Eliz. Mother W. of W. H. said to have been executed. + Gifford, _Dialogue concerning Witches_, D 4 verso--E. + + temp. Eliz. Mother W. of Great T. said to have been hanged. + _Ibid._, C 4. + + temp. Eliz. Woman said to have been hanged. _Ibid._, L 3-L 3 verso. + + temp. Eliz. Two women said to have been hanged. _Ibid._, I 3 verso. + + 1602-1603. London. Elizabeth Jackson sentenced, for bewitching + Mary Glover, to four appearances in the pillory + and a year in prison. John Swan, _A True and Breife + Report of Mary Glover's Vexation_; E. Jorden, _A + briefe discourse of ... the Suffocation of the + Mother_, 1603; also a MS., _Marie Glover's late woefull + case ... upon occasion of Doctor Jordens discourse + of the Mother, wherein hee covertly taxeth, + first the Phisitiones which judged her sicknes a vexation + of Sathan and consequently the sentence of + Lawe and proceeding against the Witche who was + discovered to be a meanes thereof, with A defence + of the truthe against D. J. his scandalous Impugnations_, + by Stephen Bradwell, 1603. Brit. Mus., Sloane + MSS., 831. An account by Lewis Hughes, appended + to his _Certaine Grievances_ (1641-2), is quoted + by Sinclar, _Satan's Invisible World Discovered_ + (Edinburgh, 1685), 95-100; and hence Burton (_The + Kingdom of Darkness_) and Hutchinson (_Historical + Essay concerning Witchcraft_) assign a wrong date. + + 1603. Yorkshire. Mary Pannel executed for killing in 1593. + Mayhall, _Annals of Yorkshire_ (London, 1878), I, + 58. See also E. Fairfax, _A Discourse of Witchcraft_, + 179-180. + + 1603. Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Ales Moore in gaol on suspicion. + C. J. Palmer, _History of Great Yarmouth_, II, 70. + + 1604. Wooler, Northumberland. Katherine Thompson and + Anne Nevelson proceeded against by the Vicar General + of the Bishop of Durham. Richardson, _Table + Book_, I, 245; J. Raine, _York Depositions_, 127, note. + + 1605. Cambridge. A witch alarm. Letters of Sir Thomas + Lake to Viscount Cranbourne, January 18, 1604/5, + and of Sir Edward Coke to Viscount Craybourne, + Jan. 29, 1604/5, both in Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 6177, + fol. 403. This probably is the affair referred to in + _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1603-1610, 218. Nor is it impossible + that Henry More had this affair in mind when + he told of two women who were executed in Cambridge + in the time of Elizabeth (see above, temp. + Eliz., Cambridge) and was two or three years astray + in his reckoning. + + 1605. Doncaster, York. Jone Jurdie of Rossington examined. + Depositions in _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1857, pt. I, 593-595. + + 1606. Louth, Lincolnshire. "An Indictment against a Witche." + R. W. Goulding, _Louth Old Corporation Records_ + (Louth, 1891), 54. + + 1606. Hertford. Johanna Harrison and her daughter said to + have been executed. This rests upon the pamphlet + _The Most Cruell and Bloody Murther_, ... See appendix + A, Sec. 3. + + 1606. Richmond, Yorkshire. Ralph Milner ordered by quarter + sessions to make his submission at Mewkarr + Church. _North Riding Record Society_, I, 58. + + 1607. Middlesex. Alice Bradley of Hampstead arraigned on + four bills, acquitted. _Middlesex County Records_, + II, 8. + + 1607. Middlesex. Rose Mersam of Whitecrosse Street acquitted. + _Ibid._, II, 20. + + 1607. Bakewell, Derby. Several women said to have been executed + here. See Robert Simpson, _A Collection of + Fragments illustrative of the History and Antiquities + of Derby_ (Derby, 1826), 90; Glover, _History of + Derby_ (ed. Thos. Noble, 1833), pt. I, vol. II, p. 613; + J. C. Cox, _Three Centuries of Derbyshire Annals_, + II, 88. For what purports to be a detailed account + of the affair see W. Andrews, _Bygone Derbyshire_, + 180-184. + + 1607-11. Rye, Sussex. Two women condemned by local + authorities probably discharged upon interference + from London. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, XIII, + pt. 4, 136-137, 139-140, 147-148. + + 1608. Simon Read pardoned. _Cal. St. P., Dom._, 1603-1610, 406. + + 1610. Norfolk. Christian[a] Weech, pardoned in 1604, now + again pardoned. _Ibid._, 96, 598. Was this the Christiana + Weekes of Cleves Pepper, Wilts, who in 1651 + and 1654 was again and again accused of telling + where lost goods were? See _Hist. MSS. Comm. + Reports, Various_, I, 120. + + 1610. Middlesex. Agnes Godfrey of Enfield, with four bills + against her, acquitted on three, found guilty of killing. + File containing sentence lost. _Middlesex County + Records_, II, 57-58. Acquitted again in 1621. _Ibid._, + 79, 80. + + 1610. Leicestershire. Depositions taken by the sheriff concerning + Randall and other witches. _Hist. MSS. + Comm. Reports_, XII, pt. 4 (_MSS. of the Duke of + Rutland_), I, 422. + + 1611. Carnarvon. Story of witchcraft "committed on six + young maids." Privy Council orders the Bishop of + Bangor and the assize judges to look into it. _Cal. + St. P., Dom., 1611-1618_, 53. + + 1611. Wm. Bate, indicted twenty years before for practising + invocation, etc., for finding treasure, pardoned. _Ibid._, 29. + + 1611. Thirsk, Yorkshire. Elizabeth Cooke presented by quarter + sessions for slight crime related to witchcraft. + _North Riding Record Soc._, I, 213. + + 1612. Lancaster. Margaret Pearson, who in 1612 was sentenced + to a year's imprisonment and the pillory, had + been twice tried before, once for killing, and once for + bewitching a neighbor. Potts, _Wonderfull Discoverie + of Witches in the countie of Lancaster_ + (Chetham Soc., 1845). + + 1612. Lancaster. Ten persons of Pendle sentenced to death, + one to a year's imprisonment; eight acquitted including + three women of Salmesbury. Potts, _Wonderfull + Discoverie of Witches_, Chetham Soc., 1845. + But _cf._ Cooper's words (_Mystery of Witchcraft, + 1617_), 15. + + 1612. York. Jennet Preston sentenced to death. Potts, + _Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches_. + + 1612. Northampton. At least four women and one man + hanged. Many others accused, one of whom died in + gaol. _The Witches of Northamptonshire_, 1612; also + Brit Mus., Sloane MSS., 972, fol. 7. + + 1613. Bedford. Mother Sutton and Mary Sutton, her daughter, + of Milton Miles hanged. _Witches Apprehended, + Examined and Executed_, 1613. See app. A, Sec. 3, + for mention of another pamphlet on the same subject, + _A Booke of the Wytches lately condemned and + executed_. See also _The Wonderful Discoverie of ... + Margaret and Phillip Flower_, preface, and Richard + Bernard, _Guide to Grand Jurymen_, III. + + 1613. Wilts. Margaret Pilton of Warminster, accused at + quarter sessions, probably released. _Hist. MSS. + Comm. Reports, Various_, I, 86-87. + + 1614. Middlesex. Dorothy Magick of St. Andrew's in Holborn + sentenced to a year's imprisonment and four + appearances in the pillory. _Middlesex County Records_, + II, 91, 218. + + 1615. Middlesex. Joan Hunt of Hampstead, who had been, + along with her husband, twice tried and acquitted, + and whose accuser had been ordered to ask forgiveness, + sentenced to be hanged. _Middlesex County + Records_, II, lii, 95, 110, 217-218. + + 1616. Leicester. Nine women hanged on the accusation of a + boy. Six others accused, one of whom died in prison, + five released after the king's examination of the + boy. Robert Heyrick's letters from Leicester, July + 16 and October 15, 1616, reprinted in the _Annual + Register_, 1800, p. 405. See also _Cal. S. P., Dom., + 1611-1618_, 398, and William Kelly, _Royal Progresses + in Leicester_ (Leicester, 1855), pt. II, 15. + + 1616. King's Lynn, Norfolk. Mary Smith hanged. Alexander + Roberts, _Treatise of Witchcraft_ (London, 1616); + Mackerell, _History and Antiquities of King's Lynn_, 233. + + 1616. Middlesex. Elizabeth Rutter of Finchley, for laming + and killing three persons, sentenced to be hanged. + _Middlesex County Records_, II, 108, 218. + + 1616. Middlesex. Margaret Wellan of London accused "upon + suspition to be a witch." Andrew Camfield held in + L40 bail to appear against her. _Middlesex County + Records_, II, 124-125. + + 1617. Middlesex. Agnes Berrye of Enfield sentenced to be + hanged. _Ibid._, 116, 219. + + 1617. Middlesex. Anne Branche of Tottenham arraigned on + four counts, acquitted. _Ibid._, 219. + + 1618. Middlesex. Bridget Meakins acquitted. _Ibid._, 225. + + 1619. Lincoln. Margaret and Philippa Flower hanged. Their + mother, Joan Flower, died on the way to prison. + _The Wonderful Discoverie of the Witchcrafts of + Margaret and Phillip Flower_; J. Nichols, _History + and Antiquities of the County of Leicester_ (1795-1815), + II, pt. I, 49; _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1619-1623_, 129; + _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports, Rutland MSS._, IV, 514. + + 1619. Leicester. Three women, Anne Baker, Joan Willimot, + Ellen Green, accused and confessed. Doubtless executed. + _The Wonderful Discoverie of the Witchcrafts + of Margaret and Phillip Flower_. + + 1619. Middlesex. Agnes Miller of Finchley acquitted. _Middlesex + County Records_, II, 143-144. + + 1620. London. "One Peacock, sometime a schoolmaster and + minister," for bewitching the king, committed to the + Tower and tortured. Williams, _Court and Times + of James I_, II, 202; _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1619-1623_, 125. + + 1620. Leicester. Gilbert Smith, rector of Swithland, accused of + witchcraft among other things. _Leicestershire and + Rutland Notes and Queries_, I, 247. + + 1620. Padiham, Lancashire. Witches in prison. _House and + Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths_, pt. II. (Chetham + Soc., 1856), 240. + + 1620. Staffordshire. Woman accused on charges of the "boy + of Bilson" acquitted. _The Boy of Bilson_ (London, + 1622); Arthur Wilson, _Life and Reign of James I_, + 107-112; Webster, _Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft_, + 274-275. + + 1621. Edmonton, Middlesex. Elizabeth Sawyer hanged. _The + wonderfull discoverie of Elizabeth Sawyer_, by + Henry Goodcole (1621). + + 1621. Middlesex. Anne Beaver, accused of murder on six + counts, acquitted. _Middlesex County Records_, II, + 72-73. Acquitted again in 1625. _Ibid._, III, 2. + + 1622. York. Six women indicted for bewitching Edward Fairfax's + children. At April assizes two were released + upon bond, two and probably four discharged. At + the August assizes they were again acquitted. Fairfax, + _A Discourse of Witchcraft_ (Philobiblon Soc., + London, 1858-1859). + + 1622. Middlesex. Margaret Russel, alias "Countess," committed + to Newgate by Sir Wm. Slingsby on a charge + by Lady Jennings of injuring her daughter. Dr. Napier + diagnosed the daughter's illness as epilepsy. + Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 36,674, fol. 134. + + 1623. Yorkshire. Elizabeth Crearey of North Allerton sentenced + to be set in the pillory once a quarter. Thirsk + Quarter Sessions Records in _North Riding Record + Society_ (London, 1885), III, 177, 181. + + 1624. Bristol. Two witches said to have been executed. John + Latimer, _The Annals of Bristol in the Seventeenth + Century_ (Bristol, 1900), 91. Latimer quotes from + another "annalist." + + temp. Jac. I? Two women said to have been hanged. Story + doubtful. Edward Poeton, _Winnowing of White + Witchcraft_ (Brit. Mus., Sloane MSS., 1,954), 41-42. + + temp. Jac. I. Norfolk. Joane Harvey accused for scratching + "an olde witche" there, "Mother Francis nowe + deade." Mother Francis had before been imprisoned + at Norwich. Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 28,223, fol. 15. + + temp. Jac. I. Warwickshire. Coventry haunted by "hellish sorcerers." + "The pestilent brood" also in Cheshire. + Thomas Cooper, _The Mystery of Witchcraft_ (1617),13, 16. + + temp. Jac. I. Norwich. Witches probably accused for illness + of a child. Possibly Mother Francis was one of + them. Cooper, _ibid._, "Epistle Dedicatorie." + + 1626. Taunton, Somerset. Edmund Bull and Joan Greedie + accused. Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 36,674, fol. 189; + Wright, _Narratives of Sorcery and Magic_, II, 139-143. + See also Richard Bernard, _Guide to Grand + Jurymen_, "Epistle Dedicatorie." + + 1627. Durham. Sara Hathericke and Jane Urwen accused + before the Consistory Court. _Folk-Lore Journal_ + (London, 1887), V, 158. Quoted by Edward Peacock + from the records of the Consistory Court of Durham. + + 1627. Linneston, Lancaster. Elizabeth Londesdale accused. + Certificate of neighbors in her favor. _Hist. MSS. + Comm. Reports_, XIV, pt. 4 (_Kenyon MSS._), 36. + + 1628. Leepish, Northumberland. Jane Robson committed. + Mackenzie, _History of Northumberland_ (Newcastle, + 1825), 36. Mackenzie copies from the Mickleton MS. + + 1630. Lancaster. A certain Utley said to have been hanged + for bewitching Richard Assheton. E. Baines, _Lancaster_ + (ed. of 1868-1870), II, 12. + + 1630. Sandwich, Kent. Woman hanged. Wm. Boys, _Collections + for an History of Sandwich in Kent_ (Canterbury, + 1792), 707. + + c. 1630. Wilts. "John Barlowes wife" said to have been executed. + MS. letter of 1685-86 printed in the _Gentleman's + Magazine_, 1832, pt. I, 405-410. + + 1633. Louth, Lincolnshire. Witch alarm; two searchers appointed. + One witch indicted. Goulding, _Louth + Old Corporation Records_, 54. + + c. 1633. Lancaster. The father and mother of Mary Spencer + condemned. _Cal. S. P., Dom., 1634-1635_, 79. + + 1633. Norfolk. Woman accused. No arrest made. _Hist. + MSS. Comm. Reports_, X, pt. 2 (_Gawdy MSS._), p. 144. + + 1633-34. Lancaster. Several witches, probably seventeen, + tried and condemned. Reprieved by the king. For + the many references to this affair see above, chap. + VII, footnotes. + + 1634. Yorkshire. Four women of West Ayton presented for + telling "per veneficationem vel incantationem" + where certain stolen clothes were to be found. + Thirsk Quarter Sessions Records in _North Riding + Record Society_, IV, 20. + + 1635. Lancaster. Four witches condemned. Privy Council + orders Bishop Bridgeman to examine them. Two + died in gaol. The others probably reprieved. _Hist. + MSS. Comm. Reports_, XII, 2 (_Cowper MSS._, II), + 77, 80. + + 1635. Leicester. Agnes Tedsall acquitted. _Leicestershire and + Rutland Notes and Queries_, I, 247. + + 1635. ----. Mary Prowting, who was a plaintiff before the + Star Chamber, accused of witchcraft. Accuser, who + was one of the defendants, exposed. _Cal. St. P., + Dom., 1635_, 476-477. + + c. 1637. Bedford. Goodwife Rose "ducked," probably by officials. + Wm. Drage, _Daimonomageia_ (London, 1665), 41. + + 1637. Staffordshire. Joice Hunniman committed, almost certainly + released. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, II, App., 48 b. + + 1637-38. Lathom, Lancashire. Anne Spencer examined and + probably committed. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, + XIV, 4 (_Kenyon MSS._), 55. + + 1638. Middlesex. Alice Bastard arraigned on two charges. + Acquitted. _Middlesex County Records_, III, 112-113. + + 1641. Middlesex. One Hammond of Westminster tried and + perhaps hanged. John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme + and Judaisme_ (Folk-Lore Soc.), 61. + + temp. Carol I. Oxford. Woman perhaps executed. This + story is given at third hand in _A Collection of Modern + Relations_ (London, 1693), 48-49. + + temp. Carol, I. Somerset. One or more hanged. Later the + bewitched person, who may have been Edmund Bull + (see above, _s. v._ 1626, Taunton), hanged also as a + witch. Meric Casaubon, _Of Credulity and Incredulity_ + (London, 1668), 170-171. + + temp. Carol. I? Taunton Dean. Woman acquitted. North, + _Life of North_, 131. + + 1642. Middlesex. Nicholas Culpepper of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, + acquitted. _Middlesex County Records_, III, 85. + + 1643. Newbury, Berks. A woman supposed to be a witch + probably shot here by the parliament forces. _A + Most certain, strange and true Discovery of a Witch_ + ... 1643; _Mercurius Aulicus_, Oct. 1-8, 1643; _Mercurius + Civicus_, Sept. 21-28, 1643; _Certaine Informations_, + Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 1643; _Mercurius Britannicus_, + Oct. 10-17, 1643. + + 1644. Sandwich, Kent. "The widow Drew hanged for a + witch." W. Boys, _Collections for an History of + Sandwich_, 714. + + 1645 (July). Chelmsford, Essex. Sixteen certainly condemned, + probably two more. Possibly eleven or twelve more + at another assize. _A true and exact Relation ... + of ... the late Witches ... at Chelmesford_ (1645); + Arthur Wilson, in Peck, _Desiderata Curiosa_, II, + 76; Hopkins, _Discovery of Witches_, 2-3; Stearne, + _Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft_, 14, 16, + 36, 38, 58, etc.; _Signes and Wonders from Heaven_ + (1645), 2; "R. B." _The Kingdom of Darkness_ + (London, 1688). The fate of the several Essex + witches is recorded by the _True and Exact Relation_ + in marginal notes printed opposite their depositions + (but omitted in the reprint of that pamphlet in Howell's + _State Trials_). "R. B.," in _The Kingdom of + Darkness_, though his knowledge of the Essex cases + is ascribed to the pamphlet, gives details as to the + time and place of the executions which are often in + strange conflict with its testimony. + + 1645 (July). Norfolk. Twenty witches said to have been + executed. Whitelocke, _Memorials_, I, 487. _A Perfect + Diurnal_ (July 21-28, 1645) says that there has been + a "tryall of the Norfolke witches, about 40 of them + and 20 already executed." _Signes and Wonders from + Heaven_ says that "there were 40 witches arraigned + for their lives and 20 executed." + + 1645. Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Sixteen women and two + men executed Aug. 27. Forty or fifty more probably + executed a few weeks later. A very large number + arraigned. A manuscript (Brit. Mus., Add. + MSS., 27,402, fol. 104 ff.) mentions over forty true + bills and fifteen or more bills not found. _A True + Relation of the Araignment of eighteene Witches at + St. Edmundsbury_ (1645); Clarke, _Lives of Sundry + Eminent Persons_, 172; _County Folk-Lore, Suffolk_ + (Folk-Lore Soc.), 178; Ady, _A Candle in the Dark_, + 104-105, 114; _Moderate Intelligencer_, Sept. 4-11, + 1645; _Scottish Dove_, Aug. 29-Sept. 6, 1645. + + Stearne mentions several names not mentioned in + the _True Relation_--names probably belonging to + those in the second group of the accused. Of + most of them he has quoted the confession without + stating the outcome of the cases. They are + Hempstead of Creeting, Ratcliffe of Shelley, Randall + of Lavenham, Bedford of Rattlesden, Wright + of Hitcham, Ruceulver of Powstead, Greenliefe of + Barton, Bush of Barton, Cricke of Hitcham, Richmond + of Bramford, Hammer of Needham, Boreham + of Sudbury, Scarfe of Rattlesden, King of + Acton, Bysack of Waldingfield, Binkes of Haverhill. + In addition to these Stearne speaks of Elizabeth + Hubbard of Stowmarket. Two others from + Stowmarket were tried, "Goody Mils" and "Goody + Low." Hollingsworth, _History of Stowmarket_ + (Ipswich, 1844), 171. + + 1645. Melford, Suffolk. Alexander Sussums made confession. + Stearne, 36. + + 1645. Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. At least nine women indicted, + five of whom were condemned. Three women + acquitted and one man. Many others presented. C. + J. Palmer, _History of Great Yarmouth_, I, 273-274. + _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, IX, App., pt. I, 320 a; + Henry Harrod in _Norfolk Archaeol._, IV, 249-251. + + 1645. Cornwall. Anne Jeffries confined in Bodmin gaol and + starved by order of a justice of the peace. She + was said to be intimate with the "airy people" and + to cause marvellous cures. We do not know the + charge against her. Finally discharged. William + Turner, _Remarkable Providences_ (London, 1697), + ch. 82. + + 1645. Ipswich, Suffolk. Mother Lakeland burnt. _The Lawes + against Witches_ (1645). + + 1645. King's Lynn, Norfolk. Dorothy Lee and Grace Wright + hanged. Mackerell, _History and Antiquities of + King's Lynn_, 236. + + 1645. Aldeburgh, Norfolk. Seven witches hanged. Quotations + from the chamberlain's accounts in N. F. + Hele, _Notes or Jottings about Aldeburgh_, 43-44. + + 1645. Faversham, Kent. Three women hanged, a fourth tried, + by the local authorities. _The Examination, Confession, + Triall and Execution of Joane Williford, Joan + Cariden and Jane Hott_ (1645). + + 1645. Rye, Sussex. Martha Bruff and Anne Howsell ordered + by the "mayor of Rye and others" to be put to the + ordeal of water. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, XIII, + pt. 4, 216. + + 1645. Middlesex. Several witches of Stepney accused. _Signes + and Wonders from Heaven_, 2-3. + + 1645-46. Cambridgeshire. Several accused, at least one or + two of whom were executed. Ady, _Candle in the + Dark_, 135; Stearne, 39, 45; H. More, _Antidote + against Atheisme_, 128-129. This may have been + what is referred to in Glanvill's _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, + pt. ii, 208-209. + + 1646. Northamptonshire. Several witches hanged. One died + in prison. Stearne, 11, 23, 34-35. + + 1646. Huntingdonshire. Many accused, of whom at least + ten were examined and several executed, among + them John Wynnick. One woman swam and was + released. John Davenport, _Witches of Huntingdon_ + (London, 1646); H. More, _Antidote against Atheisme_, + 125; Stearne, 11, 13, 17, 19, 20-21, 39, 42. + + 1646. Bedfordshire. Elizabeth Gurrey of Risden made confession. + Stearne says a Huntingdonshire witch confessed + that "at Tilbrooke bushes in Bedfordshier + ... there met above twenty at one time." Huntingdonshire + witches seem meant, but perhaps not alone. + Stearne, 11, 31. + + c. 1646. Yarmouth, Norfolk. Stearne mentions a woman + who suffered here. Stearne, 53. + + 1646. Heptenstall, Yorkshire. Elizabeth Crossley, Mary + Midgley, and two other women examined before two + justices of the peace. _York Depositions_, 6-9. + + 1647. Ely, Cambridgeshire. Stearne mentions "those executed + at Elie, a little before Michaelmas last, ... + also one at Chatterish there, one at March there, + and another at Wimblington there, now lately found, + still to be tryed"; and again "one Moores wife of + Sutton, in the Isle of Elie," who "confessed her + selfe guilty" and was executed; and yet again "one + at Heddenham in the Isle of Ely," who "made a + very large Confession" and must have paid the + penalty. Stearne, 17, 21, 37; Gibbons, _Ely Episcopal + Records_ (Lincoln, 1891), 112-113. + + 1647. Middlesex. Helen Howson acquitted. _Middlesex County + Records_, III, 124. + + 1648. Middlesex. Bill against Katharine Fisher of Stratford-at-Bow + ignored. _Middlesex County Records_, III, 102. + + 1648. Norwich, Norfolk. Two women burnt. P. Browne, + _History of Norwich_ (Norwich, 1814), 38. + + 1649. Worcester. A Lancashire witch said to have been tried; + perhaps remanded to Lancashire. _A Collection of + Modern Relations._ The writer says that he received + the account from a "Person of Quality" who + attended the trial. + + 1649. Middlesex. Elizabeth Smythe of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields + acquitted. _Middlesex County Records_, III, 191. + + 1649. Middlesex. Dorothy Brumley acquitted. _Ibid._ + + 1649. St. Albans. John Palmer and Elizabeth Knott said to + have been hanged for witches. _The Divels Delusion_ (1649). + + 1649. Berwick. Thirty women, examined on the accusation + of a Scotch witch-finder, committed to prison. + Whitelocke, _Memorials_, III, 99; John Fuller, _History + of Berwick_ (Edinburgh, 1799), 155-156, giving extracts + from the Guild Hall Books; John Sykes, + _Local Records_ (Newcastle, 1833), I, 103-105. + + 1649. Gloucester. Witch tried at the assizes. _A Collection of + Modern Relations_, 52. + + 1649-50. Yorkshire. Mary Sykes and Susan Beaumont committed + and searched. The former acquitted, bill + against the latter ignored. _York Depositions_, 28. + + 1649-50. Durham. Several witches at Gateshead examined, + and carried to Durham for trial; "a grave for a + witch." Sykes, _Local Records_, I, 105; or _Denham + Tracts_ (Folk-Lore Soc.), II, 338. + + 1649-50. Newcastle. Thirty witches accused. Fourteen + women and one man hanged, together with a witch + from the county of Northumberland. Ralph Gardiner, + _England's Grievance_ (London, 1655), 108; + Sykes, _Local Records_, I, 103; John Brand, _History + and Antiquities of Newcastle_ (London, 1789), II, + 477-478; Whitelocke, _Memorials_, III, 128; _Chronicon + Mirabile_ (London, 1841), 92. + + 1650. Yorkshire. Ann Hudson of Skipsey charged. _York + Depositions_, 38, note. + + 1650. Cumberland. A "discovery of witches." Sheriff perplexed. + _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1650_, 159. + + 1650. Derbyshire. Ann Wagg of Ilkeston committed for + trial. J. C. Cox, _Three Centuries of Derbyshire + Annals_, II, 88. + + 1650. Middlesex. Joan Roberts acquitted. _Middlesex County + Records_, III, 284. + + 1650. Stratford-at-Bow, Middlesex. Witch said to have been + apprehended, but "escaped the law." Glanvill, + _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, pt. ii, Relation XX. + + 1650. Middlesex. Joan Allen sentenced to be hanged. _Middlesex + County Records_, III, 284. _The Weekly Intelligencer_, + Oct. 7, 1650, refers to the hanging of a witch + at the Old Bailey, probably Joan. + + 1650. Leicester. Anne Chettle searched and acquitted. Tried + again two years later. Result unknown. _Leicestershire + and Rutland Notes and Queries_, I, 247; James + Thompson, _Leicester_ (Leicester, 1849), 406. + + 1650. Alnwick. Dorothy Swinow, wife of a colonel, indicted. + Nothing further came of it. _Wonderfull News from + the North_ (1650). + + 1650. Middlesex. Elizabeth Smith acquitted. _Middlesex + County Records_, III, 284. + + c. 1650-60. St. Alban's, Herts. Two witches suspected and + probably tried. Drage, _Daimonomageia_ (1665), 40-41. + + 1651. Yorkshire. Margaret Morton acquitted. _York Depositions_, 38. + + 1651. Middlesex. Elizabeth Lanam of Stepney acquitted. + _Middlesex County Records_, III, 202, 285. + + 1651. Colchester, Essex. John Lock sentenced to one year's + imprisonment and four appearances in the pillory. + Brit. Mus., Stowe MSS., 840, fol. 43. + + 1652. Yorkshire. Hester France of Huddersfield accused before + the justice of the peace. _York Depositions_, 51. + + 1652. Maidstone, Kent. Six women hanged, others indicted. + _A Prodigious and Tragicall History of the Arraignment + ... of six Witches at Maidstone ..._ by + "H. F. Gent.," 1652; _The Faithful Scout_, July 30-Aug. + 7, 1652; Ashmole's Diary in _Lives of Ashmole + and Lilly_ (London, 1774), 316. + + 1652. Middlesex. Joan Peterson of Wapping acquitted on + one charge, found guilty on another, and hanged. + _Middlesex County Records_, III, 287; _The Witch of + Wapping_; _A Declaration in Answer to several lying + Pamphlets concerning the Witch of Wapping_; _The + Tryall and Examinations of Mrs. Joan Peterson_; + _French Intelligencer_, Apr. 6-13, 1652; _Mercurius + Democritus_, Apr. 7-14, 1652; _Weekly Intelligencer_, + April 6-13, 1652; _Faithful Scout_, Apr. 9-16, 1652. + + 1652. London. Susan Simpson acquitted. _A True and Perfect + List of the Names of those Prisoners in Newgate_ + (London, 1652). + + 1652. Worcester. Catherine Huxley of Evesham, charged + with bewitching a nine-year-old girl, hanged. Baxter, + _Certainty of the World of Spirits_ (London, 1691), + 44-45. Baxter's narrative was sent him by "the now + Minister of the place." + + 1652. Middlesex. Temperance Fossett of Whitechapel acquitted. + _Middlesex County Records_, III, 208, 288. + + 1652. Middlesex. Margery Scott of St Martin's-in-the-Fields + acquitted. _Ibid._, 209. + + 1652. Scarborough, Yorkshire. Anne Marchant or Hunnam + accused and searched. J. B. Baker, _History of + Scarborough_ (London, 1882), 481, using local + records. + + 1652. Durham. Francis Adamson and ---- Powle executed. + Richardson, _Table Book_, I, 286. + + 1652. Exeter, Devonshire. Joan Baker committed. Cotton, + _Gleanings ... Relative to the History of ... Exeter_ + (Exeter, 1877), 149. + + 1652. Wilts. William Starr accused and searched. _Hist. + MSS. Comm. Reports_, _Various_, I, 127. + + 1652-53. Cornwall. A witch near Land's End accused, and + accuses others. Eight sent to Launceston gaol. Some + probably executed (see above, p. 218 and footnotes + 24, 25). _Mercurius Politicus_, Nov. 24-Dec. 2, + 1653; R. and O. B. Peter, _The Histories of Launceston + and Dunheved_ (Plymouth, 1885), 285. See + also Burthogge, _Essay upon Reason and the Nature + of Spirits_ (London, 1694), 196. + + 1653. Wilts. Joan Baker of the Devizes makes complaint + because two persons have reported her to be a witch. + _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, _Various_, I, 127. Is this + the Joan Baker of Exeter mentioned a few lines + above? + + 1653. Wilts. Joan Price of Malmesbury and Elizabeth Beeman + of the Devizes indicted, the latter committed + to the assizes. _Ibid._ + + 1653. Yorkshire. Elizabeth Lambe accused. _York Depositions_, 58. + + 1653. Middlesex. Elizabeth Newman of Whitechapel acquitted + on one charge, found guilty on another, and + sentenced to be hanged. _Middlesex County Records_, + III, 217, 218, 289. + + 1653. Middlesex. Barbara Bartle of Stepney acquitted. _Ibid._, 216. + + 1653. Leeds, Yorkshire. Isabel Emott indicted for witchcraft + upon cattle. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, IX, pt. 1, 325 b. + + 1653. Salisbury, Wilts. Anne Bodenham of Fisherton Anger + hanged. _Doctor Lamb Revived_; _Doctor Lamb's + Darling_; _Aubrey, Folk-Lore and Gentilisme_ (Folk-Lore + Soc.), 261; Henry More, _An Antidote against + Atheisme_, bk. III, chap. VII. + + 1654. Yorkshire. Anne Greene of Gargrave examined. _York + Depositions_, 64-65. + + 1654. Yorkshire. Elizabeth Roberts of Beverley examined. + _Ibid._, 67. + + 1654. Wilts. Christiana Weekes of Cleves Pepper, who had + been twice before accused in recent sessions, charged + with telling where lost goods could be found. + "Other conjurers" charged at the same time. + _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, _Various_, I, 120. See + above, 1610, Norfolk. + + 1654. Exeter. Diana Crosse committed. Cotton, _Gleanings + ... Relative to the History of ... Exeter_, 150. + + 1654. Wilts. Elizabeth Loudon committed on suspicion. + _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, _Various_, I, 129. + + 1654. Whitechapel, Middlesex. Grace Boxe, arraigned on three + charges, acquitted. Acquitted again in 1656. _Middlesex + County Records_, III, 223, 293. + + 1655. Yorkshire. Katherine Earle committed and searched. + _York Depositions_, 69. + + 1655. Salisbury. Margaret Gyngell convicted. Pardoned by + the Lord Protector. F. A. Inderwick, _The Interregnum_, + 188-189. + + 1655. Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Mother and daughter + Boram said to have been hanged. Hutchinson, _An + Historical Essay concerning Witchcraft_, 38. + + 1656. Yorkshire. Jennet and George Benton of Wakefield + examined. _York Depositions_, 74. + + 1656. Yorkshire. William and Mary Wade committed for + bewitching the daughter of Lady Mallory. _York + Depositions_, 75-78. + + 1657. Middlesex. Katharine Evans of Fulham acquitted. + _Middlesex County Records_, III, 263. + + 1657. Middlesex. Elizabeth Crowley of Stepney acquitted, + but detained in the house of correction. _Middlesex + County Records_, III, 266, 295. + + 1657. Gisborough, Yorkshire. Robert Conyers, "gent.," accused. + _North Riding Record Society_, V, 259. + + 1658. Exeter. Thomas Harvey of Oakham, Rutlandshire, + "apprehended by order of Council by a party of + soldiers," acquitted at Exeter assizes, but detained + in custody. _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1658-1659_, 169. + + 1658. Chard, Somerset. Jane Brooks of Shepton Mallet + hanged. Glanvill, _Sadducismus Triumphatus_ (1681), + pt. ii, 120-122. (Glanvill used Hunt's book of + examinations). J. E. Farbrother, _Shepton Mallet; + notes on its history, ancient, descriptive and natural_ + (1860), 141. + + 1658. Exeter. Joan Furnace accused. Cotton, _Gleanings ... + Relative to the History of ... Exeter_, 152. + + 1658. Yorkshire. Some women said to have been accused by + two maids. The woman "cast" by the jury. The + judges gave a "respite." Story not entirely trustworthy. + _The most true and wonderfull Narration + of two women bewitched in Yorkshire ..._ (1658). + + 1658. Wapping, Middlesex. Lydia Rogers accused. _A More + Exact Relation of the most lamentable and horrid + Contract which Lydia Rogers ... made with the + Divel_ (1658). See app. A, Sec. 5, for another tract. + + 1658. Northamptonshire. Some witches of Welton said to + have been examined. Glanvill, _Sadducismus Triumphatus_ + (1681), pt. ii, 263-268. + + 1658. Salisbury, Wilts. The widow Orchard said to have + been executed. From a MS. letter of 1685-86, + printed in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1832, pt. I, + 405-410. + + 1659. Norwich, Norfolk. Mary Oliver burnt. P. Brown, + _History of Norwich_, 39. Francis Blomefield, _An + Essay towards a Topographical History of the + County of Norfolk_ (London, 1805-1810), III, 401. + + 1659. Middlesex. Elizabeth Kennett of Stepney accused. _Middlesex + County Records_, III, 278, 299. + + 1659. Hertfordshire. "Goody Free" accused of killing by + witchcraft. _Hertfordshire County Sessions Rolls_, + I, 126, 129. + + 1659-1660. Northumberland. Elizabeth Simpson of Tynemouth + accused. _York Depositions_, 82. + + 1660. Worcester. Joan Bibb of Rushock received L20 damages + for being ducked. _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1856, + pt. I, 39, from a letter of J. Noake of Worcester, + who used the Townshend MSS. + + 1660. Worcester. A widow and her two daughters, and a + man, from Kidderminster, tried. "Little proved." + Copied from the Townshend MSS. by Nash, in his + _Collections for the History of Worcestershire_ (1781-1799), + II, 38. + + 1660. Newcastle. Two suspected women detained in prison. + Extracts from the Municipal Accounts of Newcastle-upon-Tyne + in M. A. Richardson, _Reprints of Rare + Tracts ... illustrative of the History of the Northern + Counties_ (Newcastle, 1843-1847), III, 57. + + 1660. Canterbury, Kent. Several witches said to have been + executed. W. Welfitt ("Civis"), _Minutes of Canterbury_ + (Canterbury, 1801-1802), no. X. + + c. 1660. Sussex. A woman who had been formerly tried at + Maidstone watched and searched. MS. quoted in + _Sussex Archaeol. Collections_, XVIII, 111-113; see + also Samuel Clarke, _A Mirrour or Looking Glasse + both for Saints and Sinners_, II, 593-596. + + 1661. Hertfordshire. Frances Bailey of Broxbourn complained + of abuse by those who believed her a witch. + _Hertfordshire County Sessions Rolls_, I, 137. + + 1661. Newcastle. Jane Watson examined before the mayor. + _York Depositions_, 92-93. + + 1661. Newcastle. Margaret Catherwood and two other + women examined before the mayor. _Ibid._, 88. + + 1663. Somerset. Elizabeth Style died before execution. Glanvill, + _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, pt. ii, 127-146. For + copies of three depositions about Elizabeth Style, + see _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1837, pt. ii, 256-257. + + 1663. Taunton, Somerset. Julian Cox hanged. Glanvill, + _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, pt. ii, 191-198. + + 1663-64. Newcastle. Dorothy Stranger accused before the + mayor. _York Depositions_, 112-114. + + 1664. Somerset. A "hellish knot" of witches (Hutchinson + says twelve) accused before justice of the peace + Robert Hunt. His discovery stopped by "some of + them in authority." Glanvill, _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, + pt. ii, 256-257. But see case of Elizabeth Style above. + + 1664. Somerset. A witch condemned at the assizes. She may + have been one of those brought before Hunt. _Cal. + St. P., Dom., 1663-1664_, 552. + + 1664. Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Rose Cullender and Amy + Duny condemned. _A Tryal of Witches at ... Bury + St. Edmunds_ (1682). + + 1664. Newcastle. Jane Simpson, Isabell Atcheson and Katharine + Curry accused before the mayor. _York Depositions_, 124. + + 1664. York. Alice Huson and Doll Dilby tried. Both made + confessions. Copied for _A Collection of Modern Relations_ + (see p. 52) from a paper written by the justice + of the peace, Corbet. + + 1665. Wilts. Jone Mereweather of Weeke in Bishop's Cannings + committed. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, _Various_, I, 147. + + 1665. Newcastle. Mrs. Pepper accused before the mayor. + _York Depositions_, 127. + + 1665. Three persons convicted of murder and executed for + killing a supposed witch. Joseph Hunter, _Life of + Heywood_ (London, 1842), 167-168, note. + + 1666. Lancashire. Four witches of Haigh examined, two + committed but probably acquitted. _Cal. St. P., Dom., + 1665-1666_, 225. + + 1667. Newcastle, Northumberland. Emmy Gaskin of Landgate + accused before the mayor. _York Depositions_, 154. + + 1667. Norfolk. A fortune-teller or conjuror condemned to + imprisonment. _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1667_, 30. + + 1667. Ipswich, Suffolk. Two witches possibly imprisoned. + Story doubtful. _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1667-1668_, 4. + + 1667. Devizes, Wilts. "An old woman" imprisoned, charged + with bewitching by making and pricking an image. + Blagrave, _Astrological Practice_ (London 1689), + 90, 103. + + 1667. Lancashire. Widow Bridge and her sister, Margaret + Loy, both of Liverpool, accused. _The Moore Rental_ + (Chetham Soc., 1847), 59-60. + + 1668. Durham. Alice Armstrong of Strotton tried, but almost + certainly acquitted. Tried twice again in the next + year with the same result. Sykes, _Local Records_, II, 369. + + 1668. Warwick. Many witches "said to be in hold." _Cal. St. + P., Dom., 1668-1669_, 25. + + 1669. Hertfordshire. John Allen of Stondon indicted for calling + Joan Mills a witch. _Hertfordshire County Sessions Rolls_, I, 217. + + 1670. Yorkshire. Anne Wilkinson acquitted. _York Depositions_, + 176 and note. + + 1670. Latton Wilts. Jane Townshend accused. _Hist. MSS. + Comm. Reports, Various_. I, 150-151. + + 1670. Wilts. Elizabeth Peacock acquitted. See Inderwick's + list of witch trials in the western circuit, in his + _Sidelights on the Stuarts_ (London, 1888), 190-194. + Hereafter the reference "Inderwick" will mean + this list. See also above, p. 269, note. + + 1670. Devonshire. Elizabeth Eburye and Aliena Walter acquitted. + Inderwick. + + 1670. Somerset. Anne Slade acquitted on two indictments. + Inderwick. + + 1670. Bucks. Ann Clarke reprieved. _Cal. St. P., Dom., 1670_, 388. + + 1671. Devonshire. Johanna Elford acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1671. Devonshire. Margaret Heddon acquitted on two indictments. + Inderwick. + + 1671. Falmouth. Several witches acquitted. _Cal. St. P., Dom., + 1671_, 105, 171. Perhaps identical with the three, two + men and a woman, mentioned by Inderwick as acquitted + in Cornwall. + + 1672. Somerset. Margaret Stevens acquitted on two indictments. + Inderwick. + + 1672. Devonshire. Phelippa Bruen acquitted on four indictments. + Inderwick. + + 1672. Wilts. Elizabeth Mills acquitted on two indictments. + Inderwick. + + 1672. Wilts. Elizabeth Peacock, who had been acquitted two + years before, acquitted on five indictments. Judith + Witchell acquitted on two, found guilty on a third. + She and Ann Tilling sentenced to execution. They + must have been reprieved. Inderwick; _Gentleman's + Magazine_, 1832, pt. II, p. 489-492. + + 1673. Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Durham. At least + twenty-three women and six men accused to various + justices of the peace by Ann Armstrong, who confessed + to being present at witch meetings, and who + acted as a witch discoverer. Some of those whom + she accused were accused by others. Margaret Milburne, + whom she seems not to have mentioned, also + accused, _York Depositions_, 191-202. + + 1674. Northampton. Ann Foster said to have been hanged + for destroying sheep and burning barns by witchcraft. + _A Full and True Relation of The Tryal, Condemnation, + and Execution of Ann Foster_ (1674). + + 1674. Middlesex. Elizabeth Row of Hackney held in bail for + her appearance at Quarter Sessions. _Middlesex + County Records_, IV, 42-43. + + 1674. Southton, Somerset. John and Agnes Knipp acquitted. + Inderwick. + + 1674? (see above, p. 269, note). Salisbury. Woman acquitted, + but kept in gaol. North, _Life of North_, 130, 131. + + 1674-75. Lancashire. Joseph Hinchcliffe and his wife bound + over to appear at the assizes. He committed suicide + and his wife died soon after. _York Depositions_, + 208; Oliver Heywood's _Diary_ (1881-1885), I, 362. + + 1675. Southton, Somerset. Martha Rylens acquitted on five + indictments. Inderwick. + + 1676. Devonshire. Susannah Daye acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1676. Cornwall. Mary Clarkson acquitted. Inderwick. + + c. 1679. Ely, Cambridgeshire. Witch condemned, but reprieved. + Hutchinson, _Historical Essay concerning Witchcraft_, 41. + + c. 1680. Somerset. Anna Rawlins acquitted. Inderwick. + + c. 1680. Derbyshire. Elizabeth Hole of Wingerworth accused + and committed for charging a baronet with witchcraft. + J. C. Cox, _Three Centuries of Derbyshire Annals_, II, 90. + + 1680. Yorkshire, Elizabeth Fenwick of Longwitton acquitted. + _York Depositions_, 247. + + 1682. London. Jane Kent acquitted. _A Full and True Account + ... but more especially the Tryall of Jane Kent for + Witchcraft_ (1682). + + 1682. Surrey. Joan Butts acquitted. _Strange and Wonderfull + News from Yowell in Surry_ (1681); _An Account + of the Tryal and Examination of Joan Buts_ (1682). + + 1682. Devonshire. Temperance Lloyd acquitted on one indictment, + found guilty on another. Susanna Edwards + and Mary Trembles found guilty. All three executed. + Inderwick; North, _Life of North_, 130; see + also app. A, Sec. 6, above. + + 1682-88. Northumberland. Margaret Stothard of Edlingham + accused. E. Mackenzie, _History of Northumberland_, + II, 33-36. + + 1683. London. Jane Dodson acquitted. _An Account of the + Whole Proceedings at the Sessions Holden at the + Sessions House in the Old Baily ..._ (1683). + + 1683. Somerset. Elenora, Susannah, and Marie Harris, and + Anna Clarke acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1684. Devonshire. Alicia Molland found guilty. Inderwick. + + 1685. Devonshire. Jane Vallet acquitted on three indictments. + Inderwick. + + temp. Carol. II. Devonshire. Agnes Ryder of Woodbury accused, + probably committed. A. H. A. Hamilton, + _Quarter Sessions chiefly in Devon_ (London, 1878), 220. + + temp. Carol. II. Ipswich, Suffolk. A woman in prison. William + Drage, _Daimonomageia_, 11. + + temp. Carol. II. Herts. Two suspected witches of Baldock + ducked. _Ibid._, 40. + + temp. Carol. II. St. Albans, Herts. Man and woman imprisoned. + Woman ducked. _Ibid._ + + temp. Carol. II. Taunton Dean, Somerset. Man acquitted. + North, _Life of North_, 131. + + 1685-86. Malmesbury, Wilts. Fourteen persons accused, among + whom were the three women, Peacock, Tilling and + Witchell, who had been tried in 1672. Eleven set at + liberty; Peacock, Tilling and Witchell kept in prison + awhile, probably released eventually. _Gentleman's + Magazine_, 1832, pt. I, 489-492. + + 1686. Somerset. Honora Phippan acquitted on two indictments. + Inderwick. + + 1686. Cornwall. Jane Noal, alias Nickless, alias Nicholas, + and Betty Seeze committed to Launceston gaol for + bewitching a fifteen-year-old boy. We know from + Inderwick that Jane Nicholas was acquitted. _A + True Account of ... John Tonken of Pensans in + Cornwall_ (1686). + + 1687. York. Witch condemned, probably reprieved. _Memoirs + and Travels of Sir John Reresby_ (London, 1812), 329. + + 1687. Dorset. Dewnes Knumerton and Elizabeth Hengler acquitted. + Inderwick. For examination of first see + Roberts, _Southern Counties_, 525-526. + + 1687. Wilts. M. Parle acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1687. Devonshire. Abigail Handford acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1689. Wilts. Margareta Young condemned but reprieved. + Christiana Dunne acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1690. Taunton, Somerset. Elizabeth Farrier (Carrier), Margaret + Coombes and Ann Moore committed. Coombes + died in prison at Brewton. The other two acquitted + at the assizes. Inderwick; Baxter, _Certainty + of the World of Spirits_, 74-75. + + 1692. Wilts. Woman committed. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, + _Various_, I, 160. + + 1693. Suffolk. Widow Chambers of Upaston committed, died + in gaol. Hutchinson, _Historical Essay concerning + Witchcraft_, 42. + + 1693-94. Devonshire. Dorothy Case acquitted on three indictments. + Inderwick. + + 1693-94. Devonshire. Katherine Williams acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1694. Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Mother Munnings of Hartis + acquitted. Hutchinson, _op. cit._, 43. + + 1694. Somerset. Action brought against three men for swimming + Margaret Waddam. _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, _Various_, I, 160. + + 1694. Ipswich, Suffolk. Margaret Elnore acquitted. Hutchinson, 44. + + 1694. Kent. Ann Hart of Sandwich convicted, but went free + under a general act of pardon. W. Boys, _Collections + for an History of Sandwich_, 718. + + 1694-95. Devonshire. Clara Roach acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1695. Launceston, Cornwall. Mary Guy or Daye acquitted. + Hutchinson, 44-45; Inderwick gives the name as + Maria Daye (or Guy) and puts the trial in Devonshire + in 1696. + + 1696. Devonshire. Elizabeth Horner acquitted on three indictments, + Hutchinson, 45; Inderwick. See also + letter from sub-dean Blackburne to the Bishop of + Exeter in Brand, _Popular Antiquities_ (ed. of 1905), + II, 648-649. + + 1698-99. Wilts. Ruth Young acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1700. Dorset. Anne Grantly and Margaretta Way acquitted. + Inderwick. + + 1700-10. Lancashire. A woman of Chowbent searched and + committed. Died before the assizes. MS. quoted by + Harland and Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folk-Lore_ + (London, 1867), 207; also E. Baines, _Lancaster_, + II, 203. + + 1701. Southwark. Sarah Morduck, who had been before acquitted + at Guildford, and who had unsuccessfully appealed + to a justice in London against her persecutor, + tried and acquitted. Hutchinson, 46. _The + Tryal of Richard Hathaway_ (1702); _A Full and + True Account of the Apprehending and Taking of + Mrs. Sarah Moordike_ (1701); _A short Account of + the Trial held at Surry Assizes, in the Borough of + Southwark_ (1702). See above, app. A, Sec. 7. + + 1701. Kingston, Surrey. Woman acquitted. _Notes and + Queries_ (April 10, 1909), quoting from the _London + Post_ of Aug. 1-4, 1701. + + 1701-02. Devonshire. Susanna Hanover acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1702-03. Wilts. Joanna Tanner acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1704. Middlesex. Sarah Griffiths committed to Bridewell. + _A Full and True Account ... of a Notorious Witch_ + (London, 1704). + + 1705. Northampton. Two women said to have been burned + here. Story improbable. See above, appendix A, Sec. 10. + + 1707. Somerset. Maria Stevens acquitted. Inderwick. + + 1712. Hertford. Jane Wenham condemned, but reprieved. + See footnotes to chapter XIII and app. A, Sec. 9. + + 1716. Huntingdon. Two witches, a mother and daughter, + said to have been executed here. Story improbable. + See above, app. A, Sec. 10. + + 1717. Leicester. Jane Clark and her daughter said to have + been tried. _Leicestershire and Rutland Notes and + Queries_, I, 247. + + 1717. Leicester. Mother Norton and her daughter acquitted. + Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 35,838, fol. 404. + + +I am unwilling to close this work without an expression of my gratitude +to the libraries, on both sides of the sea, which have so generously +welcomed me to the use of their books and pamphlets on English +witchcraft--many of them excessively rare and precious. They have made +possible this study. My debt is especially great to the libraries of the +British Museum and of Lambeth Palace at London, to the Bodleian Library +at Oxford, and in America to the Boston Athenaeum and to the university +libraries of Yale and Harvard. To the unrivalled White collection at +Cornell my obligation is deepest of all. + + +[1] The references in this list, together with the account, in appendix +A, of the pamphlet literature of witchcraft, are designed to take the +place of a formal bibliography. That the list of cases here given is +complete can hardly be hoped. Crude though its materials compel it to +be, the author believes it may prove useful. He hopes in the course of +time to make it more complete, and to that end will gladly welcome +information respecting other trials. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Abbot, George, Archbishop of Canterbury, 141 n., 233-234 + + Abbott, Alice, 132 n. + + Abingdon, 27, 347, 387 + + _Account of the ... Proceedings ... in the Old Baily_, cited, 416 + + Acton, 404 + + _Acts of the Privy Council_, cited, 26 n., 28 n., 30 n., 347, 384, 385, + 388, 390 + + Adams, W. H. Davenport, cited, 188 n., 376 + + Adamson, Francis, 409 + + Addison, Joseph, 340-341 + + Ady, Thomas, 238, 241-242, 310. + Cited, 180, 184 n., 225 n., 404 + + Agrippa, Cornelius, 62 + + Aikin, Lucy, cited, 143 n. + + Aldeburgh, 182, 183, 191 n., 193, 200 n., 405 + + Alene, case of, 13 + + Alfred the Great, 2 + + Allen, Joan, 408, 414 + + Alnwick, 390, 408 + + Altham, Sir James, 112, 113, 125 + + Anderson, Sir Edmund, 51, 56 n., 78, 84, 102, 350, 354, 355 + + Andrews, William, cited, 137 n., 396 + + Anne, Princess of Denmark, her marriage to James I, 94 + + _Annual Register_, cited, 141 n., 398 + + _Archaeologia_, cited, 10 n., 391 + + _Archaeologia Cantiana_, cited, 21 n., 29 n., 385, 389, 392, 393 + + Archer, John, 273, 282; + conducts Cox trial, 260-261 + + Armstrong, Ann, 281-282, 415 + + Arnold, Mother, 386 + + Ashmole, Elias, cited, 216, 365, 408 + + Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford, 216 + + Ashton, John, cited, 188 n., 351, 366, 376 + + Ashwell, John, 7 + + Aspine, Martha, 107 + + Assembly, the witch. _See_ Sabbath + + Assheton, R., 158 n., 401 + + Atcheson, Isabell, 413 + + Aubrey, John, his credulity, 306. + Cited, 162 n., 212 n., 365, 402, 410 + + Audley, vicar of, 326 + + _Autobiography of Edward Underhill_, cited, 13 n. + + Avery, "Master," 110, 130-132, 357, 384 + + + B., R. _See_ Burton, Richard. + + Bacon, Francis, 246-247. + Cited, 246 n., 247 n. + + Baddeley, Richard, 141 n., 142 n., 359 + + Bailey, Frances, 412 + + Bailey, the Old, 108 n. + + Baines, Edward, cited, 147 n., 149 n., 150 n., 158 n., 392, 401, 419 + + Baker, Alexander, 154 + + Baker, Anne, 133 n., 399 + + Baker, J. B., cited, 409 + + Baker, Joan, of Devizes, 217, 409 + + Baker, Joan, of Exeter, 409 + + Baker, Mother, 59-60 + + Bakewell, affair of, 137, 384, 396 + + Baldock, 417 + + Bamfield, Ellen, 389 + + Bamford, James, 353 + + Bancroft, Richard, as Bishop of London, 84-89; + as Archbishop of Canterbury, 88 n., 89, 233, 346, 353 + + Bangor, Bishop of, 397 + + Barber, Mary, 383 + + Bark, Ellen, 394 + + Barking, 386 + + Barlowe, wife of John, 401 + + Barnet, 392 + + Barringer, Joan, 390 + + Barrow, Dr., of Cambridge, 47 + + Barrow, Isaac, 308 and n., 311 + + Barrow, James, 256-237 + + Barrow, John, 256 + + Bartell, Elizabeth, 389 + + Bartham, Doll, 350 + + Bartham, Oliffe, 394 + + Bartle, Barbara, 410 + + Barton, 404 + + Barton, Elizabeth, the "Holy Maid of Kent," 58 + + Basel, 15 n. + + Bastard, Alice, 402 + + Batcombe, 34, 236 + + Bate, William, 397 + + Bates, Dr., cited, 337 n. + + Bateson, Mary, cited, 392 + + Bath and Wells, Bishop of, 162 n. + + Bath and Wells, chancellor of the Bishop of, 235 + + Batte, 38 + + Baxter, Richard, 196, 316, 336-339. + Cited, 216 n., 337 n., 409, 418 + + Beaumont, John, 336, 339. + Cited, 273 n., 275 n. + + Beaumont, Susan, 407 + + Beaver, Anne, 400 + + Bedford, Duchess of, 4, 9, 49 + + Bedford, trials at, no, 117, 135-136, 383, 398, 402, 404 + + Bedfordshire, 107, 115, 118, 119, 179 n., 187, 200 n., 406 + + Bee, Jesse, 349 + + Beeman, Elizabeth, 409 + + Beigel, H., 346 + + Bekker, Balthazar, 339 + + Bel and the Dragon, book of, 97 + + Belcher, Elizabeth, 130-132, 230, 357, 384 + + Belvoir Castle, witchcraft at, 132-134 + + Bennett, Elizabeth, 42-43 + + Bennett, Gervase, 219 + + Bentham, Thomas, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, 15 n. + + Bentley, Alice, 394 + + Benton, George, 411 + + Benton, Jennet, 411 + + Beriman, Helen, 387 + + Berkhampstead, 257 + + Berks, 387, 403 + + Bernard, Richard, 165, 234-236, 241, 293, 303 n., 361, 401. + Cited, 398 + + Berrye, Agnes, 384, 399 + + Berwick, 201, 206, 207, 209, 252 n., 253, 391, 393, 407 + + Beverley, 410 + + Bexwell, Rosa, 52 n., 394 + + Bibb, Joan, 412 + + Bill, Arthur, 106-107, 132 n., 383 + + Bilson, boy of. _See_ Bilston + + Bilson, Thomas, Bishop of Winchester, 234 + + Bilston, boy of, 140, 141-142, 151, 152, 323, 400 + + Binkes, Anne, 192 n., 404 + + Bishop Burton, 394 + + Bishop's Cannings, 413 + + Blackburne, Launcelot, 321, 418 + + Blackmail, charge of, 149, 153 + + Blagrave, Joseph, cited, 414 + + Blomefield, Francis, cited, 412 + + Bodenham, Anne, trial of, 210-213, 363, 410 + + Bodine (Bodin), 69 n. + + Bodmin, 405 + + Bohemia, Queen of, 158 + + Bokes-wharfe, 394 + + Bolingbroke, Roger, 8, 9 + + Boram, mother and daughter, 411 + + Boram, wife of, 385 + + Boreham of Sudbury, 404 + + Bottesford, 134 n. + + Boulton, Richard, 336, 339-340, 348 + + Bourne, John, 390 + + Bovet, Richard, 303 and n. + + Bower, Edmond, 212, 216, 364, 365 + + Bowes, Lady, 356 + + Bowes, Sir Thomas, 167 n. + + Boxe, Grace, 410 + + Boyle, Sir Robert, 337 and n.; + opinions of, 305-306 and n. + + Boys, the Rev. Mr., 331-332 + + Boys, William, cited 401, 403, 418 + + Bracton, cited, 128 n. + + Bradley, Alice, 396 + + Bradwell, Stephen, cited, 395 + + Bragge, Francis, 325-336, 373-375 + + Bramford, 404 + + Branche, Anne, 399 + + Brand, John, cited, 208 n., 321 n., 407 + + Brandeston, 175, 179 n., 379 + + Braynford, 392 + + Brerely, Alice, 393 + + Brereton, Sir William, 158. + Cited, 158 n. + + Brewton, 418 + + Bridewell, 419 + + Bridge, widow, 414 + + Bridgeman, Henry, Bishop of Chester, 152-157, 402 + + Bridges, Agnes, 30 n., 59, 88 n., 351 + + Brightling, 282 + + Brinley, John, 303 + + Bristol, 118, 392, 400 + + Britannicus, 252 + + Britton, 5, 6. + Cited, 128 + + Brome, Richard, 159, 244, 306 + + Bromley, Sir Edward, 113, 125, 134 + + Brooks, Jane, 221, 222, 411 + + Brown, Agnes, trial of, 35, 36, 110, 115, 357, 384 + + Brown, Joan, 130, 131, 132, 357 + + Browne, Margaret, 386 + + Browne, P., cited, 406 + + Browne, Richard, 183 n. + + Browne, Sir Thomas, 266-267, 305, 311 + + Broxbourn, 412 + + Bruen, Philippa, 415 + + Bruff, Martha, 405 + + Brumley, Dorothy, 406 + + Bucer, Martin, 15 n., 88 n. + + Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, 134 n. + + Buckinghamshire, 74, 388, 415 + + Bulcock, Jane and John, 383 + + Bull, Edmund, 401, 402 + + Bullinger, 15 n. + + Burghley, William Cecil, Lord, 19 n., 25 n., 27 + + Burman, Charles, cited, 216 n. + + Burnet, Bishop Gilbert, 248 n. + Cited, 268 n. + + Burnham-Ulpe, 356 + + Burntwood, 386 + + Burr, George L., cited, 3 n. + + Burthogge, Richard, 340. + Cited, 218 n., 409 + + Burton, Richard ("R. B."), 339 n. + Cited, 395, 403 + + Burton, Robert, 245 + + Burton, boy of, named by Ben Jonson, 92. + _See also_ Darling, Thomas + + Burton-upon-Trent, 76, 85, 392 + + Bury, Thomas, 380 + + Bury St. Edmunds, 177-181, 192, 194, 200, 204, 261-267, 305, 321, 361, + 378, 379, 393, 394, 404, 411, 413, 418 + + Bush, of Barton, 404 + + Buske, Mother, 385 + + Butcher, Elizabeth, 389 + + Butler's _Hudibras_ on Matthew Hopkins, 165, 194 + + Butts, Joan, trial of, 277, 416 + + Byett, William, 46 n. + + Byles, Andrew, 35 + + Byrom, Margaret, 52 + + Bysack, of Waldingfield, 404 + + + Calamy, Edmund, the elder, 178 + + _Calendar of Patent Rolls_, cited, 7 n. + + _Calendar of the Proceedings of the Committee for the Advance of Money_, + cited, 164 n. + + _Calendars of State Papers_, cited, 26 n. and _passim_ + + Calvin, 64, 65, 87 n. + + Cambridge, 139, 179 n., 279, 396 + + Cambridge University, 48, 89, 228, 229, 235, 238, 276, 374; + Queen's College, 143, 348; + Christ's College, 227; + Emmanuel College, 228 n.; + Trinity College, 308 + + Cambridgeshire, 111, 184, 200 n., 331, 405, 406, 416 + + Camfield, Andrew, 399 + + Camfield, Benjamin, 303, 307 + + Canterbury, 201, 255, 385, 386, 412 + + Canterbury, Archbishop of. + _See_ Warham, William; + Cranmer, Thomas; + Parker, Matthew; + Grindall, Edmund; + Whitgift, John; + Bancroft, Richard; + Abbot, George + + Carbury, John, Earl of, 339 n. + + Cariden, Joan, 201 n., 405 + + Carnarvon, 118, 397 + + Carr, Robert, 232 + + Carrier, Elizabeth, 418 + + Carrington, John, 317, 319 n., 372 + + Carshoggil, laird of, 96 + + Carter, Richard, 170 n. + + Casaubon, Meric, 238-240, 293-299, 307. + Cited, 240 n., 293 n., 294 n., 403 + + Cason, Joan, trial of, 54, 390 + + Castleton, 393 + + Cecil, William, Lord Burghley. _See_ Burghley + + Celles, Cystley, 45 + + _Certaine Informations_, cited, 403 + + Chalmers, Alexander, cited, 328 n. + + Chamberlain, letter of, 115 n. + + Chambers, widow, 418 + + Chandler, Alice, case of, 38 n., 385 + + Chandler, Elizabeth, 187 n. + + Chandler, Mary, 185 + + Chandler, R., 212 + + Chandos, daughter of Lady, 385 + + Chapbook, the witch, 33 + + Chard, 221, 411 + + Charles I, 146, 152, 154, 158, 161, 199, 234, 323; + growth of skepticism as to witches in his reign, 162-163 + + Charles II, 248, 254, 262, 276, 306; + witchcraft in his reign, 255 + + Charlewood, J., 350 + + Chatterish, 406 + + Chattox, Anne, 109, 121-122, 126 n., 127, 383 + + Chaucer, Geoffrey, 89 + + Chauncy, Arthur, 327 + + Chauncy, Sir Henry, 324, 326, 375 + + Chelmsford, 34-41, 43, 46, 166-174, 178, 188 n., 200, 204, 346, 363, 376, + 378, 385, 387, 390, 400, 403; + trials of 1566 at, 34-38, 385; + trials of 1579 at, 38-40, 387; + trials of 1589 at, 40, 390; + trials of 1645 at, 166-174, 403 + + Cherrie, of Thrapston, case of, 184-185 + + Cheshire, 118, 232 n. + + Chester, Bishop of. _See_ Bridgeman, Henry + + Chettell, "Mistress," 385 + + Chettle, Anne, 218, 408 + + Chichester, Bishop of, 12. + _See also_ Harsnett, Samuel + + Chinting, 387 + + Chishull, the Rev. Mr., 328 + + Chittam, Henry, 387 + + Chowbent, 419 + + Christ's College, Cambridge, 227 + + _Chronicon Mirabile_, cited, 208 n., 407 + + Church, the trials for sorcery under, 6-8; + statute of Henry VIII not aimed to limit, 10; + state ready to reclaim jurisdiction from, 24; + penalties under, 28, 30; + gradual transfer to state of witchcraft cases, 30-31 + + Clarke, of Keiston, 185-186 + + Clarke, Ann, 415, 417 + + Clarke, Elizabeth, 166-175 + + Clarke, Helen, 169 + + Clarke, Jane, 141-142, 419 + + Clarke, Sir Robert, 54 + + Clarke, Samuel, cited, 177, 307, 361, 404, 412 + + Clarke, William, his letter to Speaker Lenthall, 225 n. + + Clarkson, Mary, 416 + + Clerkenwell, 389 + + Cleves, Pepper, 397, 410 + + Cleworth, 52, 149 n. + + Clinton, Lord, 12 + + Clouues, William, 24 n. + + Clutterbuck, Robert, cited, 328 n. + + Cobbett, William, cited, 102 n. + + Cobham, Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, 4, 8 + + Cobham, Lord, 12 + + Cock, Susan, 362, 376 + + Cocwra, Samuel, 387 + + Coke, Sir Edward, 102, 152, 228. + Cited, 128 n., 396 + + Colchester, 388, 389, 391, 408 + + Cole, Henry, Jewel's controversy with, 16 n. + + Cole, Thomas, 34, 346 + + Coleman, John, 388 + + _Collection of Modern Relations_, 279, 339 n. + Cited, 146 n., 181 n., 402, 406, 407, 413 + + Collingham, 393 + + Coman, widow, case of, 331-332 + + Commission of Oyer and Terminer, 178, 192, 200 + + Committee of Both Kingdoms, 200 + + Commons' _Journal_, cited, 17 n., 103 n. + + Conyers, Robert, 411 + + Cooke, Elizabeth, 397 + + Cooke, Mother, 392 + + Coombes, Margaret, 418 + + Cooper, C. H. and T., cited, 356 + + Cooper, John, 82 n. + + Cooper, Thomas, 227, 231-232, 242. + Cited, 398, 401 + + Corbet, 413 + + Corbolt. _See_ Godbolt + + Cornwall, 217, 218, 221, 224, 254, 276-277, 279, 320, 388, 405, 409, 415, + 416, 417, 418 + + Cornwall, Henry, 170 n. + + Cosyn, Edmund, 25 + + Cotta, John, 227, 229-231, 235, 237, 243. + Cited, 130 n., 230 n., 231 n. + + Cotton, William, cited, 217 n., 221 n., 224 n., 409, 410, 411 + + Council of State, 215, 219, 225, 226 + + _Council Register_, cited, 152 n., 154 n., 155 n. + + "Countess" (Margaret Russel), 400 + + _County Folk Lore, Suffolk_, cited, 165 n., 176 n., 179 n., 194 n., 392, + 404 + + Court of High Commission, 84, 86-87 + + Coventry, 232 n., 400 + + Coventry and Lichfield, Bishop of. _See_ Bentham, Thomas + + Coverdale, Miles, 15 n. + + Coverley, Sir Roger de, 341 + + Cowper, Earl and Countess of, 328 n. + + Cox, John Charles, cited, 137 n., 219 n., 324 n., 396 + + Cox, Julian, trial of, 260-261, 273, 282, 292, 310, 413 + + Cox, Richard, 15 n. + + Coxe, Francis, trial of, 31 n., 351, 385 + + Cranbourne, Viscount, 115 n., 396 + + Cranmer, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, 12, 58 n. + + Crearey, Elizabeth, 400 + + Creeting, 404 + + Cricke, 404 + + _Criminal Chronology of York Castle_, cited, 224 + + Cromwell, Sir Henry, 48, 50 + + Cromwell, Lady, 48 + + Cromwell, Oliver, 48 n., 207, 212 n., 215, 219, 226, 237 n., 275 + + Cromwell, Richard, 220, 226 + + Cromwell, Thomas, 19 + + Crosse, Diana, 223-224, 410 + + Crossley, Elizabeth, 406, 411 + + Crossley, James, cited, 124 n., 147 n., 357, 380 + + Crouch, Nathaniel, 339 n. + + Crump, Hannah, 257 + + Cruther, Joseph, 282 + + Cudworth, Ralph, 307 + + Cullender, Rose, 262, 310, 413 + + Culpepper, Nicholas, 403 + + Cumberland, 220, 224, 225, 407 + + Cunny, Joan, 347 + + Curry, Katharine, 413 + + Cushman, L. W., cited, 244 n. + + + Damages awarded accused, 324 + + Danvers, Sir John, 215 + + Darcy, Brian, 41, 42, 44 n., 45, 46 n., 348 + + Darling, Thomas, 76-78, 80, 85 + + Darrel, John, 74-87, 92, 138, 255, 315, 349, 352-356. + Cited, 391, 392, 393, 394 + + Davenport, John, 187 n., 362 + + Daventry, 251 + + Davies, J. S., cited, 8 n. + + Davis, Ralph, 375, 382 + + Daye, Mary, 418 + + Daye, Susannah, 416 + + Deacon, John, 353, 354 + + Dee, John, 52-53, 79 + + Deir, Mrs., 390 + + Dekker, Thomas, 244. + Cited, 112 n., 359 + + Del Rio, 234 + + Demdike, Old (Elizabeth Southerns), 121-128 + + Denham, 74 n. + + Denham, Sir John, 235 + + _Denham Tracts_, cited, 30 n., 219 n., 389, 390, 407 + + Denison, John, 78 n., 349 + + Denton, 360 + + Derby, 392 + + Derby, Archdeacon of, 83 + + Derby, Earl of, 392 + + Derbyshire, 52, 81, 118, 137, 219, 324, 390, 392, 396, 407 + + Descartes, 238 + + Devell, Mother, 28 n. + + Device, Alizon, 111 n., 384 + + Device, Elizabeth, 108 n., 122-126, 383 + + Device, James, 126-127, 383 + + Device, Jennet, 113, 126-127 + + Devizes, 217, 409, 414 + + Devonshire, 254, 277, 409, 414-419 + + Dewse, Mrs., 390 + + _Diary, A, or an Exact Journall_, cited, 174 n. + + Dickonson, Frances, 147, 152-160 + + Dilby, Doll, 413 + + Distribution of witchcraft, 118-119, 146, 224, 254-255 + + _Doctrine of Devils, The_, 296-297, 302 n. + + Dodgson, Nathan, 256 + + Dodson, Jane, 416 + + Doncaster, 396 + + Dorrington, Doctor, 50 n. + + Dorset, 385, 390, 417, 419 + + Dorset, Marquis of, 12 + + Drage, William, 367. + Cited, 256-258 n., 279 n., 402, 408, 417 + + Drew, widow, 403 + + Ducke, Elizabeth, 386 + + Dugdale, Richard, 315-320, 329, 373 + + Duncane, Geillis, torture of, 95 + + Dungeon, Mother, 386 + + Dunne, Christiana, 418 + + Duny, Amy, trial of, 262-267, 310, 413 + + Durham, 119, 146, 210, 218, 219 n., 388, 389, 395, 401, 407, 409, 414, 415 + + Durham, Bishop of, 12; + his _Injunctions,_ cited, 388 + + _Durham, Depositions ... from the Court of_, cited, 21 n., 29 n., 385 + + Durham, vicar-general of the Bishop of, 117 + + Dutten, Mother, 28 n. + + + E., T., "Maister of Art," 388 + + Earle, Katherine, 223, 410 + + East Anglia, 51, 119, 184, 197, 255 + + Eburye, Elizabeth, 414 + + Eckington, 390 + + Edlingham, 416 + + Edmonds, Mr., 235 n. + + Edmonton, 108, 112, 136 n., 383, 391, 400 + + Edward I, 6 + + Edward IV, 4, 9 + + Edward VI, 12, 88 + + Edwards, Richard, 169-170 + + Edwards, Susanna, 271-272, 368-369, 416 + + Elford, Johanna, 415 + + Elizabeth, 35-92, 93; + number of executions in her reign compared with number under James, + 105-106; + spectral evidence in her reign, 110; + distribution of witch cases, 118 + + Ellyse, Joan, 386 + + Elnore, Margaret, 418 + + Ely, 189, 279, 406, 416 + + Ely, Bishop of, 12, 15 n., 234 + + Emerson, a priest, 387 + + Emerson, Ann, 388 + + Emott, Isabel, 410 + + Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 228 n. + + Endor, witch of, Scot's explanation of, 62; + Filmer's explanation of, 241; + Muggleton's explanation of, 295; + Webster's explanation of, 298 + + Enfield, 384, 393, 399 + + Enger, Master, 110-111, 117, 118 and n., 135-136 + + Essex, 26, 41, 70 n., 90 n., 119, 146, 158, 166-174, 192, 195, 228 n., + 331-332, 337, 385, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 394, 403, 408 + + Essex, Countess of, 144 n., 232-234 + + Essex, Earl of, 234 + + Ettrick, Anthony, 365 + + Evans, Katharine, 411 + + Evesham, 409 + + Exeter, 31 n., 216, 221, 223, 270-272, 278, 320-321, 409, 410, 411 + + Exeter, Bishop of, 418 + + Exeter College, Oxford, 285 + + Eye, witch of, 4 + + + F., H., 172, 361 + + Fairclough, Samuel, 166 n., 177, 178 + + Fairfax, Edward, 111, 144-145, 249-250, 358, 359. + Cited, 102 n., 142 n., 250 n., 395, 400 + + Fairfax, Sir Thomas, 360 + + _Faithful Scout, The_, cited, 213 n., 216, 365, 408 + + Falmouth, 415 + + Farbrother, J. E., cited, 411 + + _Farington Papers_, cited, 155 n. + + Farnworth, Richard, 240 n. + + Farrier, Elizabeth, 118 + + Faversham, 54, 201, 390, 405 + + Female juries, 108, 113, 171, 264, 271, 279, 330 + + Fenner, Edward, in Warboys trials, 49-50 + + Fenwick, Elizabeth, 279, 416 + + Ferris, Sibilla, 393 + + Fian, Dr., 94-96 + + Filmer, Sir Robert, 238, 241. + Cited, 241 n. + + Finchingfield, 228 n. + + Finchley, 399 + + Fisher, Katharine, 406 + + Fisherton-Anger, 211, 410 + + Fishwick, cited, 372 + + Fize, Henry, 388 + + _Flagellum Daemonum_, 79 n. + + Fleta, 5 + + Flower, Joan and her daughters (Margaret and Philippa), case of, 115, + 119 n., 132-134, 383, 399 + + Fludd, Robert, 286 + + Foljambe, Mrs. _See_ Bowes, Lady + + _Folk Lore Journal, The_, cited, 24 n., 401 + + Folkestone, 386 + + Ford, John, 359 + + Fortescue, Sir Anthony, case of, 25 + + Fortescue, Sir John, 34, 346 + + "Foscue, Master." _See_ Fortescue, Sir John + + Fossett, Temperance, 409 + + Foster, Ann, trial of, 282, 415 + + Fowles, Susanna, case of, 323 n. + + Foxcroft, H. C., cited, 341 n. + + France, Hester, 408 + + Francis, Elizabeth, her two trials, 35-40, 385 + + Francis, Mother, 400, 401 + + Frankfort, 15 n. + + Frankland, Richard, 316, 319 + + Fraunces, Margaret, 394 + + Free, Goody, 412 + + Freeman, Alice, 84, 393 + + Freeman, Mary, 83 + + _French Intelligencer_, cited, 213 n., 215 n., 408 + + Fulham, 411 + + Fuller, John, cited, 207 n., 407 + + Fuller, Thomas, cited, 90 n., 139 n., 140 n., 143, 144 + + _Fustis Daemonum_, cited, 79 n. + + + Gabley, Mother, 389 + + Gaddesden, Little, 256 + + Gairdner, James, cited, 9 n. + + Gallis, Richard, 347 + + Gardiner, Mr. and Mrs., 324 + + Gardiner, the Rev. Mr., 375 + + Gardiner, Catherine, 132 n. + + Gardiner, Ralph, cited, 208, 209 n., 407 + + Gargrave, 410 + + Garve, Mother, 387 + + Gaskin, Emmy, 414 + + Gateshead, 210, 219 n., 407 + + Gaule, John, 165, 174-175, 186-187, 192, 196, 236-237, 241, 242 + + Gee, John, cited, 139 n. + + Geneva, 14, 15, 87 n., 233 + + _Gentleman's Magazine_, cited, 95 n., 143 n., 160 n., 269 n., 279 n., 359, + 367, 389, 396, 401, 412, 413, 415, 417 + + Gerard, Sir Gilbert, 34, 346 + + Gerish, W. B., cited, 375 + + Gibbons, A., cited, 189 n., 406 + + Gibson, "Coz.," 222 + + Gifford, George, 54, 57 n., 70-72, 242, 243. + Cited, 390, 394, 395 + + Gill, Helena, 390 + + Gilston, 328 n. + + Gilston, Matthew, 335 + + Gisborough, 411 + + Glance of a witch, instances of, 111, 112, 135 + + Glanvill, Joseph, 101, 196 n., 238, 273-276, 285-293, 297, 299, 300, 303, + 306, 307, 309, 310, 314, 327, 336, 337. + Cited, 221 n., 222 n., 251 n., 260 n., 308 n., 405, 408, 411, 413 + + Globe theatre, The, 159 + + Gloucester, 208, 407 + + Gloucester, Duchess of, 4, 8 + + Gloucester, Richard of, 9 + + Glover, Mary, 138, 355, 395 + + Glover, Stephen, cited, 396 + + Godbolt, John, 178, 192 + + Godfrey, Agnes, 393, 397 + + Goldsmith, Mr., 332 + + "Good Witches," 21-27, 29, 220, 229, 259-260 + + Goodcole, Henry, 112, 359 + + Gooderidge, Alse, 76-78, 349, 392 + + Gooding, Elizabeth, 169-170 + + Gough, Richard, 375 + + Goulding, R. W., cited, 396, 401 + + Gordon, Rev. Alexander, cited, 317 n., 319 n. + + Grainge, William, 360 + + Grame, Margaret, 391 + + "Grantam's curse," 88 + + Grantly, Anne, 419 + + Great Staughton, 186-187 + + "Great T.," "Mother W. of," 395 + + Great Yarmouth, 181, 386. + _See also_ Yarmouth + + Greedie, Joan, 401 + + Green, Ellen, 399 + + Greene, Anne, 410 + + Greene, Ellen, 133 n. + + Greenleife, Mary (of Alresford), 170-171 + + "Greenliefe of Barton," 404 + + Greenslet, Ferris, cited, 286 n. + + Greenwel, Thomas, 371 + + Greenwich, 154 + + Grevell, Margaret, 44 + + Griffiths, Sarah, 419 + + Grimes, Mr., 332 + + Grimston, Sir Harbottle, 167 n. + + Grindall, Edmund, Bp. of London, then Abp. of Canterbury, 15 n. + + Guildford, 322 + + Guilford, Baron. _See_ Francis North + + Gunpowder Plot, 123, 232 + + Gurney, Elizabeth, 406 + + Guy, Mary, 418 + + Gyngell, Margaret, 225, 410 + + + Habakkuk, transportation of, 97 + + Hackett, Margaret, 390 + + Hackney, 415 + + Haigh, 414 + + Hale, Sir Matthew, 67, 261-268, 283, 304, 321, 334, 336, 337, 339 n., 367 + + Hale, William H., cited, 10 n., 21 n., 22 n., 29 n., 385 + + Halifax, Marquis of, opinion of, 341 + + Hall, John, 352 + + Hall, Joseph, Bishop, 180 + + Hall, Mary, 256, 257 + + Halliwell-Phillips, J. O., 142 n., 306 n. + + Hallybread, Rose, 362, 376 + + Hallywell, Henry, 303 and n., 304, 307 + + Hamilton, A. H. A., cited, 417 + + Hammer, 404 + + Hammersmith, case at, 323 n. + + Hammond, of Westminster, 402 + + Hampstead, 396, 398 + + Hampton Court, 13 + + Handford, Abigail, 418 + + Hanover, Susanna, 419 + + Hansen, J., cited, 3 n. + + Harington, Sir John, 140 n. + + Harland and Wilkinson, cited, 419 + + Harmondsworth, 386 + + Harris, Alice, 132 n. + + Harris, Eleonora, 417 + + Harris, Elizabeth, 201 n. + + Harris, Marie, 417 + + Harris, Susannah, 419 + + Harrison, Mr., 44 + + Harrison, Henry, 388 + + Harrison, Johanna, of Royston, 108-109, 111, 135, 383, 396 + + Harrison, Margaret, 356 + + Harrison, William, 367 + + Harrod, H., cited, 182 n., 386, 389, 390, 405 + + Harrogate, 360 + + Harrow, Weald, 390 + + Harsnett, Samuel, later Abp. of York, 12, 51, 85-92, 138, 227, 233, 349, + 353-356. + Cited, 390-393 + + Hart, 389 + + Hart, Anne, 418 + + Hart, Prudence, 170 + + Hart Hall, Oxford, 57 + + Hartis, 418 + + Hartley, Edmund, 52, 79-80, 392 + + Harvey, Gabriel, 69 n. + + Harvey, Joane, 400 + + Harvey, Thomas, 411 + + Harvey, William, 154, 160-162 + + Harwood, Goodwife, 256 + + Hatfield Peverel, 41 + + Hathaway, Richard, 322-324, 371 + + Hathericke, Sara, 401 + + Hatsell, Sir Henry, 323 + + Haverhill, 404 + + Hazlitt, W. C., cited, 350-352, 368 + + Heddenham, 406 + + Heddon, Margaret, 415 + + Hele, N. F., cited, 183 n., 191 n., 200 n., 405 + + Hemloke, Sir Henry, 324 + + Hempstead, 404 + + Hengler, Elizabeth, 417 + + Henry IV, 4, 7 + + Henry VI, 4, 7 + + Henry VIII, 20, 30, 58 n. + _See also_ Statutes. + + Heptenstall, 406 + + Herbert, Sir Edward, 311 n. + + Herd, Annis, 44, 388 + + Hereford, Bishop of, 12, 15 n. + + Hertford, trials at 134-135, 314, 324-330, 383, 394, 396, 419 + + Hertfordshire, 118, 367, 374, 391, 392, 408, 412, 414, 417 + + _Hertfordshire County Sessions, Rolls_, cited, 21 n., 221 n., 391, 412, + 414 + + Hewitt, Katherine, 383 + + Heylyn, Peter, cited, 143 n. + + Heyrick, Robert, 141, 398 + + Heywood, Oliver, 256, 307, 316, 319. + Cited, 416 + + Heywood, Thomas, 306 n.; + play of, 158-159; + opinions expressed in play of, 244-245. + Cited, 244 n. + + Hicke, Mr., 379 + + Hinchcliffe, Joseph, 416 + + _Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports_, cited, 114 n., and _passim_ thereafter + + Hitcham, 404 + + Hitchin, 367 + + Hoarstones, 148, 156 + + Hobart, Sir Henry, 134 + + Hobbes, Thomas, 241, 246-249, 291, 307 + + Holborn, 393, 398 + + Hole, Elizabeth, case of, 324 + + Holinshed, cited, 54-55, 59 n., 350, 387, 388, 390 + + Holland, Henry, 72 n. + + Hollingsworth, A. G., cited, 183 n., 404 + + Holt, Sir John, 267; + nullified statute of James I; + gave repeated acquittals, 320-323; + his ruling on the water ordeal, 332 + + Homes, Nathaniel, opinions of, 240. + Cited, 240 n. + + Hooke, William, 45 n. + + Hopkins, James, 164 + + Hopkins, Matthew, 164-205, 339, 376, 378 + + Hopwood, Mr., 79 n. + + Horace, 89 + + Horner, Elizabeth, 321-322, 418 + + Hott, Jane, 201 n., 405 + + Houghton, Lord, 359 + + Housegoe, Elizabeth, 393 + + Howard, Henry, later Earl of Northampton, 352 + + Howell, James, 180, 195, 245 + + Howell, T. B. and T. J., cited, 116 n., 144 n., 233 n. + + Howsell, Anne, 405 + + Howson, Helen, 406 + + Hubbard, Elizabeth, 404 + + Huddersfield, 408 + + Hudson, Ann, 407 + + Hughes, Lewis, 355, 395 + + Hulton, John, 209 + + Humphrey, of Gloucester, Duke, 8 + + Hunnam, Anne, 409 + + Hunniman, Joice, 162 n., 402 + + Hunt, widow, 45 n. + + Hunt, Joan, 383, 398 + + Hunt, Robert, 260, 273, 411, 413 + + Hunter, Joseph, cited, 92 n., 256 n., 413 + + Huntingdon, 49-51, 185 n., 200 n., 237 n., 314 n., 348, 362, 375, 383, 419 + + Huntingdonshire, 47-51, 185-187, 192, 236, 348, 375-383, 405 + + Huson, Alice, 413 + + Hutchinson, Francis, 175, 195-198, 313, 321, 331, 340-343, 355, 375, 380, + 381. + Cited, 11 n., 179 n., 321-323 n., 328 n., 395, 411, 413, 416, 418 + + Huxley, Catherine, 216, 409 + + + Ilkeston, 407 + + Images, alleged use of in witchcraft, 6, 59-60, 109-110, 125-127 + + Incendiarism ascribed to witchcraft, 282-283, 333 + + Inderwick, F. A., cited, 201 n., 225 n., 226 n., 268 n., 269 n., 270 n., + 311 n., 333, 376, 410, 414-419 + + Ipswich, 164, 175, 182, 320, 394, 405, 414, 417, 418 + + + Jackson, Elizabeth, 138, 355, 395 + + James I, 69, 90 n., 93-119, 130, 132, 134, 137-145, 146, 165, 189, 203, + 227, 228, 229 n., 232, 234, 241-242, 247, 250, 254, 255, 260, 267, 276, + 312, 314, 331. + His Scottish experience, 93-96; + his _Daemonologie_, 97-101; + his statute and its effect, 101-109; + distribution of witchcraft in his realm, 118-119; + his changing attitude, 138-145 + + James II, 308 + + James, G. P. R., cited, 340 n., 342 n. + + Jeffreys, George, Baron, 311 n. + + Jeffries, Anne, 405 + + Jenkinson, Helen, 383 + + Jennings, Lady, 400 + + Jeopardy, neglect of legal restriction on, 128 and n., 145 n. + + Jewel, John, Bishop of Salisbury, 15-17 + + Joan of Arc, 230 + + Johnson, Margaret, 154, 156, 157, 159 + + Johnson, W. S., cited, 244 n. + + Johnstone, James, 341 + + Jollie, Thomas, 316-319, 329, 372-373 + + Jones, J. O., cited, 164 n., 181 n., 182 n., 188 n. + + Jonson, Ben, 91-92, 244, 387 + + Jordan, Jane, 393 + + Jorden, Dr. Edward, 138, 355, 395 + + Jourdemain, Margery, 7-9 + + Jurdie, Jone, 396 + + + Keiston, 185 + + Kelly, William, cited, 141 n., 398 + + Kelyng, Sir John, 265, 267, 305 + + Kemp, Ursley, trial of, 41, 43 + + Kennet, Elizabeth, 412 + + Kent, 21 n., 54, 57, 60, 119, 201, 255, 350, 383, 385, 386, 388, 389, 390, + 392, 393, 394, 401, 403, 405, 408, 412, 416, 418 + + Kent, Holy Maid of. _See_ Barton, Elizabeth + + Kerke, Anne, 394 + + Kerke, Joan, 51 + + Kidderminster, 412 + + Kimbolton, 186 + + King, of Acton, 404 + + King, Peter, 380 + + King's Lynn, 54, 116-117, 183, 231, 358, 384, 389, 391, 393, 399, 405 + + Kingston, 419 + + Kingston-upon-Hull, 389 + + Kittredge, G. L., cited, 298, 301, 383 + + Knipp, Agnes and John, 415 + + Knott, Elizabeth, 208 n., 407 + + Knowles, Sir William, 154 + + Knumerton, Dewnes, 417 + + + Lake, Sir Thomas, 115 n., 396 + + Lakeland, Mother, 182, 200 n., 381, 405 + + Laleham, 387 + + Lambe, Dr., 211 + + Lambe, Elizabeth, 410 + + Lambeth, 354 + + Lanam, Elizabeth, 408 + + Lancashire, 52, 78-81, 92, 108-113, 115-116, 118, 120-130, 146-160, + 307, 314-319, 393, 399, 402, 406, 414, 416, 419; + Starchie affair, 78-81, 92; + trials of 1612, 120-130; + trials of 1634, 146-156; + Dugdale affair of 1689, 315-319 + + Lancaster, 120, 151, 156, 158, 171, 224, 229 n., 273, 383, 392, 397, 401, 402 + + Lancaster, chancellor of the Duchy of, 152 n. + + Landgate, 414 + + Landis, Margaret, 362, 376 + + Land's End, 217-218, 409 + + Langton, Walter, 6 + + Lathom, 402 + + Latimer, John, cited, 400 + + Latton, 414 + + Launceston, 218 n., 409, 418 + + Lavenham, 404 + + Law, John, 111 n. + + Law, T. G., cited, 74 n., 87 n., 353 + + Lawe, Alison, 389 + + Lea, H. C., his definition of a witch, 4. + Cited, 3 n., 99 n. + + Leach, Jeffrey, 389 + + Lecky, W. E. H., 196 + + Lee, Dorothy, 405 + + Leech, Anne, 170, 174, 379 + + Leeds, 219, 410 + + Leepish, 401 + + Legge, cited, 138 n., 225 n. + + Leicester, 54, 119 n., 120, 140-141, 218, 330-331, 384, 392, 398, 399, + 402, 408, 419 + + _Leicester, Records of the Borough of_, cited, 54 n. + + Leicestershire, 51, 118, 133 n., 146, 359, 397 + + _Leicestershire and Rutland, Notes and Queries_, cited, 218 n., 399, 402, + 408, 419 + + Levingston, Anne, 214 + + Lewes, 387 + + Lichfield, Bishop of (Walter Langton), 6; + (Thomas Morton), 141-142, 152 + + Liebermann, F., cited, 2 n. + + Lincoln, 118, 119 n., 120; + trials of 1618-1619, 132, 383, 399 + + Lincoln, Bishop of, 7, 8, 12, 49, 50 + + Lincolnshire, 396, 401 + + Lingwood, Joan, 389 + + Linneston, 401 + + Linton, Mrs. Lynn, cited, 29 n., 95 n., 386 + + Lister, Mr., 111 note, 112, 129 + + Little Gaddesden, 256 + + Liverpool, 414 + + Lloyd, Temperance, 271-272, 368-369, 416 + + Lloyd, William, Bishop of Worcester, 340 + + Lloynd's wife, 150 + + Lock, John, 408 + + Locke, John, 340 + + Lodge, Edmund, cited, 139 n. + + Lodge, Sir Oliver, 238 + + Londesdale, Elizabeth, 401 + + London, 9, 25, 26, 30 n., 51, 59, 154, 159, 160, 173, 177, 210 n., 216, + 277-278, 309, 320, 322, 323, 329, 384, 385, 394, 395, 399, 409, 416 + + London, Bishop of, 8, 9 n., 12, 30 n., 84, 384, 387. + _See also_ Grindall, E.; Bancroft, R. + + _London Post_, cited, 419 + + Long, Sir James, 268 + + Longwitton, 279, 416 + + Lords' _Journal_, cited, 102 n., 103 n. + + Lord's Prayer, testing of witches by, 40, 80, 271, 282, 326 + + Lothbury, 30 n., 88 n. + + Loudon, Elizabeth, 410 + + Louth, 396, 401 + + Low, Goody, 404 + + Lower, M. A., cited, 386 + + Lowes, John, case of, 165 n., 175-179, 197, 378, 379 + + Lowestoft, 262, 263 + + Lowndes, cited, 347, 350, 359, 364, 386, 390, 392 + + Loy, Margaret, 414 + + Lucas, Hugh, 112 + + Lucas, Jane, 110 n., 112 + + Luther, Martin, attitude of, towards exorcism, 87 n. + + Lyme, 385 + + Lynn. _See_ King's Lynn + + + Mackenzie, E., cited, 259 n., 401, 416 + + Mackerell, Benjamin, cited, 391, 393, 399, 405 + + Mackie, S. J., cited, 386 + + _Magazine of Scandall_, cited, 176 n., 197 n. + + Magick, Dorothy, 398 + + Maidstone, cases at, 215-216, 238, 241, 283, 408, 412 + + Maitland, S. R., cited, 353 + + Malborne, Sir John, book of, 63 + + Maldon, 41, 54, 70 n. + + Malking Tower, meeting of witches at, 113, 123-129, 147, 148, 383 + + Mallory, Lady Elizabeth, 223, 411 + + Malmesbury, alarm at, 269-270, 409, 417 + + Malter, wife of, 385 + + Manchester, 79 + + Manners, Francis, Earl of Rutland, 132-134, 359 + + Manners, Lord Francis, 133, 134 n. + + Manners, Lord Henry, 134 n. + + Manners, Lady Katherine, 134 n. + + Manningtree, 164, 165, 173, 193, 194 + + Mansfield, 75 + + Manship, cited, 182 n. + + Manwood, Sir Roger, 56 + + Marchant, Anne, 409 + + Margaret, Mother, 28 n. + + Marks, use of as a test of witchcraft, 36, 40, 45, 77, 99, 108, 151, + 154-155, 156-157, 167, 190, 218, 229, 230, 242, 243, 264, 284, 330 + + Martin, Dr., 323 + + Mary I, 14, 15 n., 52 + + Mary, Queen of Scots, 18, 25, 26, 53 + + Mascon, Demon of, 306, 337 n. + + Mason, of Faversham, 54 + + Mason, James, and his opinions, 229 n. + + Massachusetts, trials in, 50, 264, 316, 382 + + Mathers, the (Cotton and Increase), 316, 336 + + Matthews, Grace, 216-217 + + Mayhall, John, cited, 395 + + Meakins, Bridget, 399 + + Meere, John, 390 + + Melford, 404 + + Melton, Elizabeth, 393 + + _Mercurius Aulicus_, cited, 403 + + _Mercurius Civicus_, cited, 360, 403 + + _Mercurius Democritus_, cited, 213 n., 251 n., 408 + + _Mercurius Politicus_, cited, 218 n., 409 + + Mereweather, Jone, 413 + + Merlin, 230 + + Merril, Goodman, 171 n. + + Merriman, R. B., cited, 74 n. + + Mersam, Rose, 396 + + Mewkarr Church, 396 + + Middlesex, 51, 74, 118, 146, 174, 201, 208 n., 220, 224, 225, 278, + 383-387, 389-394, 396-400, 402, 403, 405-412, 415, 419 + + _Middlesex County Records_, cited, 21 n., 220 n., 386, and _passim_ + thereafter + + Middleton, Thomas, 244 + + Midgley, Mary, 406 + + Midwife as a witch, 21 and n., 41, 258-259 + + Milburne, Jane, 279 + + Milburne, Margaret, 415 + + Miller, Agnes, 399 + + Mills, Elizabeth, 415 + + Mills, Joan, 414 + + Milner, Ralph, 117, 396 + + Milnes, R. Monckton, 102 n., 359 + + Mils, Goody, 404 + + Milton, John, 241, 278 + + Milton, Miles, 398 + + Mistley-cum-Manningtree, 164 n. + + Mob law, 117, 315 + + _Moderate Intelligencer_, its opinion of the Bury executions in 1645, + 179-180. + Cited, 177 n., 180 n., 404 + + Molland, Alicia, 417 + + Mompesson affair, 273, 276, 310 + + Mondaye, Agnes, 385 + + Montague, James, Bp. of Winchester, 97 n. + + Montgomery, 387 + + Moone, Margaret, 170 n. + + Moordike, Sarah, case of, 322-324, 419 + + Moore, wife of, 189 n., 406 + + Moore, Ales, 395 + + Moore, Ann, 418 + + Moore, Mary, 363 + + _Moore Rental, The_, cited, 414 + + Morduck, Sarah. _See_ Moordike + + More, George, 81, 84-85, 353, 354. + Cited, 78 n., 79 n., 80 n., 392 + + More, Henry, 238-240, 243, 262, 286, 297, 303, 307, 309, 310. + Cited, 211 n., 239, 394, 396, 405, 410 + + More, Sir Thomas, 59 n. + + Mortimer, Jane, 52 n., 392 + + Morton, Margaret, 408 + + Morton, Thomas, Bishop of Lichfield, 141 n., 142, 152 + + Much, Barfield, 387 + + Muggleton, Lodowick, and witchcraft, 295, 298, 307, 309. + Cited, 295 n. + + Munnings, Mother, trial of, 321, 418 + + Muschamp, Mrs., 210, 218, 253, 363 + + Muschamp, George, 209, 210 + + + N., N., 318 n., 372 + + Nall, J. G., cited, 181 n. + + Napier, Dr., 400 + + Napier, Barbara, 96 + + Nash, J. R., cited, 412 + + Nash, Thomas, cited, 69 n. + + Navestock, 385 + + Naylor, Joane, 394 + + Needham, 404 + + Nelson, Richard, 394 + + Nevelson, Anne, 395 + + New England. _See_ Massachusetts + + New Romney, 59 + + Newbury, 403 + + Newcastle, 201, 207-208, 259, 279, 281, 407, 412, 413, 414 + + Newell, Sir Henry, 27, 28 + + Newgate, 183 n., 400 + + _Newgate, A True and Perfect List of the Prisoners in_, cited, 409 + + Newman, Ales, 45 n. + + Newman, Elizabeth, 410 + + Newman, William, 45 n. + + Newmarket, 134, 161 + + Newton, Isaac, 308 + + Nicholas (or Nickless), Jane, 417 + + Nichols, John, cited, 134 n., 141 n., 399 + + Nicholson, Brinsley, 58, 62, 70 n. + + Nicolas, Sir Harris, cited, 8 n. + + Noake, J., 412 + + Noal, Jane, 417 + + Norfolk, 193, 200 n., 231, 253, 337, 356, 386, 389-391, 394, 395, 397, + 399-401, 403-406, 410, 412, 414 + + _Norfolk Archaeology_, cited, 182, 386, 390, 405 + + Norrington, Alice, 59, 386 + + Norrington, Mildred, 59, 62 + + North, Francis, Baron Guilford, 269 n., 271, 272, 278, 305, 311 + + North, Roger, 267. + Cited, 261 n., 269 n., 271 n., 278 n., 403, 416, 417 + + North Allerton, 400 + + North Riding (of Yorkshire), 117 + + North Riding Record Society, 114 n., 117 n., 162 n. + + Northampton, 106-112, 115, 118, 119 n., 120, 130-132, 184, 229, 230, 255, + 314 n., 357, 375-383, 415, 419 + + Northampton, Henry Howard, Earl of, 352 + + Northamptonshire, 184, 200 n., 282, 331, 405, 411 + + _Northamptonshire Handbook_, 381-382 + + _Northamptonshire Historical Collections_, 381 + + Northfield, Thomas, 7 + + Northfleet, 394 + + Northumberland, 52, 146, 208 n., 209, 210, 220, 224, 282, 390, 395, 401, + 407, 412, 414, 415, 416 + + Norton, mother and daughter, 330, 333, 419 + + Norwich, 7 n., 400, 401, 406, 412 + + Norwich, Bishop of, 7 n., 8, 15 n., 89 + + _Notes and Queries_, cited, 164 n., 321 n., 380, 418, 419 + + Nottingham, 75, 81-86, 118, 315, 389, 393, 394 + + _Nottingham, Records of the Borough of_, cited, 394 + + Nottinghamshire, 51, 234 + + Nowell, Roger, 123 + + Nutter, Alice, trial of, 113, 116, 126-127, 383 + + Nutter, Christopher, 127 + + Nutter, Robert, 128 + + + Oakham, 411 + + Ogle, Henry, 208, 209, 259 n. + + Old Bailey, 108 n., 213 + + Oliver, Mary, 412 + + Onslow, Speaker, 268 + + Orchard, widow, 412 + + Orchard, N., 296 n. + + Oriel College, Oxford, 294 + + Orme, W., cited, 337 n. + + Osborne, Francis, 143-144, 245-246, 291. + Cited, 141 n., 143, 246 n. + + Owen, John, cited, 287 n. + + Owen, and Blakeway, cited, 21 n., 387 + + Oxford, Samuel Parker, Bishop of, 308, 309 + + Oxford, 15, 63, 146 n., 216, 285, 402 + + Oxford University, 131, 216, 285; + Hart Hall, 57; + Oriel College, 294; + Trinity College, 131-132 + + + Pacy, Mr., 265 + + Padiham, 150 n., 399 + + Padston, 388 + + Palmer, C. J., cited, 182 n., 389, 390 + + Palmer, John, 208 n. + + Pannel, Mary, 383, 395 + + Paracelsus, 286 + + Paris, University of, formulated theory concerning pacts with Satan, 3 + + Parker, Matthew, Archbishop of Canterbury, 30, 88 n. + + Parker, Samuel, Bishop of Oxford, 308, 309 + + Parker, Thomas, Earl of Macclesfield, 314, 320, 330-331, 332 n., 380 + + Parkhurst, John, Bishop of Norwich, 15 n. + + Parle, M., 417 + + _Parliamentary History_, cited, 12 n., 102 n. + + Peacock, a schoolmaster, tortured, 115 n., 399 + + Peacock, Edward, 401 + + Peacock, Elizabeth, 269, 270, 414, 415, 417 + + Pearson, Margaret, 397 + + Pechey, Joan, 45 n. + + Peck, Francis, cited, 172 n., 403 + + Peckham, Sir George, 74 n. + + Pelham, 151 n. + + Pellican, cited, 15 n. + + Pemberton, Sir Francis, 277 + + Pembroke, Simon, 387 + + Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, 89 + + Pendle Hill, or Forest, 121, 147, 315, 397 + + Pepper, Mrs., 259, 413 + + Pepys, Samuel, 309 + + Pereson, Jennet, 385 + + _Perfect Diurnal, A_, cited, 403 + + Perkins, William, 227-230, 240, 241, 242, 243 + + Perry, William, the "boy of Bilston," 140-142 + + Peter Martyr, 16 n. + + Peter, R. and O. B., cited, 218 n., 409 + + Peterson, Joan, case of, 213-215, 408 + + Petty treason, its penalty not to be confused with that of witchcraft, 182 + + Phillips, Goody, 183 + + Phillips, John, 346, 351 + + Phillips, Mary, 382 + + Phippan, Honora, 417 + + Pickering, Gilbert, 47, 131 n. + + Pickering, Sir Gilbert, 131 n. + + Pickering, Henry, 48 + + Pickering, Thomas, 228 n. + + Pickerings, the, 348 + + Pico della Mirandola, 286 + + Piers, Anne, 388 + + Pike, L. O., cited, 7 + + Pillory, punishment of, 30, 55, 104, 114 + + Pilton, Margaret, 398 + + Pinder, Rachel, 30 n., 59, 88, 351, 386 + + Pitcairn, Robert, cited, 95 n. + + Plato, 238 + + _Pleasant Treatise of Witches, A_, 296 + + Plummer, Colonel, 328 n. + + Poeton, Edward, cited, 400 + + Pole, Arthur, 25 + + Pole, Edmund, 25 + + Pollock and Maitland, cited, 6 and n., 7 n. + + Popham, Sir John, 354 + + Potts, Thomas, 112, 113, 116, 125, 129, 130, 249, 357-358, 361. + Cited, 105-128 n., _passim_, 397, 398 + + Powell, Sir John, 272 n., 314, 320, 324, 327-328, 329, 330, 335, 374 + + Powell, Lady, 214-215 + + Powell, William, 346 + + Powle, ----, 409 + + Powstead, 404 + + Pregnancy, plea of, in delay of execution, 50, 96 + + Prentice, Joan, 348 + + Presbyterian party, its part in Hopkins crusade, 195-201 + + Prestall, John, 25, 387, 397 + + Preston, Jennet, 111 n., 112, 129, 249, 383, 398 + + Price, Joan, 409 + + Privy Council, its dealings with sorcerers, in the later Middle Ages, + 4-10; + its campaign against conjurers under Elizabeth, 26-27; + the Abingdon trials, 27-28, 30 n.; + the Chelmsford trials, 34; + Dee's case, 53-54; + Darrel's, 87; + its part in the statute of James I, 103; + in the Lancashire trials of 1633, 152, 155, 156; + in the Somerset cases of 1664, 273. + _See also Acts of the Privy Council_ and _Council Register_. + + _Protestant Post Boy, The_, 374 + + Prowting, Mary, 402 + + + Queen's College, Cambridge, 143, 348 + + + R., G., 374 + + R., H., 390 + + Rainsford, Sir Richard, 260, 268-269, 269-270, 304 + + Rames, Nicholas, wife of, 279 + + Ramsay, Sir J. R., cited, 9 n. + + Ramsbury, 389 + + Rand, Margaret, 391 + + Randall, 397 + + Randall, of Lavenham, 404 + + Randoll, 388 + + Ratcliffe, 404 + + Ratcliffe, Agnes, 136 n. + + Rattlesden, 404 + + Rawlins, Anna, 416 + + Raymond, Sir Thomas, 260, 270-271, 271-272, 278, 283, 304, 321 + + Read, Joan, 217 + + Read, Margaret, 391 + + Read, Simon, 397 + + Redfearne, Anne, 126 n., 127-128, 383 + + Redman, 258 + + Repington, Philip, Bp. of Lincoln, 7 + + Reresby, Sir John, 272 n., 305, 311. + Cited, 417 + + Rhymes, Witch, 24, 76 + + Rich, Robert, Earl of Warwick, 172, 178, 200 + + Richard III, 9 + + Richardson, M. A., cited, 117 n., 219 n., 395, 409, 412 + + Richmond, of Bramford, 404 + + Richmond (Yorkshire), 396 + + Richmond and Lenox, Duke of, 287 + + Risden, 188 n., 406 + + Rivet, John, 166 + + Roach, Clara, 418 + + Roberts, Alexander, 227, 231, 235. + Cited, 117 n., 231 n., 399. + + Roberts, Elizabeth, 394, 410 + + Roberts, George, cited, 279 n., 385, 417 + + Roberts, Joan, 407 + + Robey, Isabel, 384 + + Robinson, Edmund, 146-157, 298, 323 + + Robson, Jane, 401 + + Rochester, 63, 388 + + Rodes, Sara, 218 + + Rogers, Lydia, 366, 411 + + Roper, Margaret, 75, 390 + + Rose, Goodwife, 402 + + Rossington, 396 + + Rous, Francis, 240 + + Row, Elizabeth, 415 + + Roxburghe Club, cited, 95 n. + + Royal Society, the, 275, 285, 286, 305, 306, 308-309 + + Royston, 109, 111 + + Ruceulver, 404 + + Rushock, 412 + + Russel, Margaret, 400 + + Rutland, Earl of. _See_ Manners + + Rutlandshire, 411 + + Rutter, Elizabeth, 383, 399 + + Ryder, Agnes, 417 + + Rye, 116, 383, 397, 405 + + Rylens, Martha, 416 + + Ryley, Josia, 393 + + Rymer, cited, 7 + + + S., Alice, 52 n., 394 + + Sabbath, the Witch, 3, 113, 123-124, 148, 166, 170, 186, 239, 273, 281-282 + + Saffron Walden, 394 + + Saint Alban's, 208 n., 252 n., 363, 407, 408, 417 + + Saint Andrew's in Holborne, 393, 398 + + Saint Giles's, Northampton, 382 + + Saint Giles-in-the-Fields, 393 + + Saint John's, Kent, 385, 389 + + Saint Katharine's, 394 + + Saint Lawrence, 393 + + Saint Leonard's, Shoreditch, 403 + + Saint Martin's-in-the-Fields, 389, 406, 409 + + Saint Mary's, Nottingham, 83 + + Saint Osyth's, 41-46, 58, 70, 125, 388 + + Saint Paul's, 13; + public penance in, 59 + + Saint Paul's, Dean of, 11 n. + + Saint Peter's, Kent, 389, 392, 393 + + Saint Saviour's, Southwark, 387 + + Salem. _See_ Massachusetts + + Salisbury, 212, 225, 268, 270-271, 410, 412 + + Salisbury, Bishop of. _See_ Jewel, John + + Salmesbury, witches of, 128-129, 398 + + Salop (Shropshire), 387 + + Sammon, Margerie, 43, 44, 45 n. + + Sampson, Agnes, torture of, 95 + + Samuel, Agnes, 49 + + Samuel, Alice, trial of, 47-51 + + Samuel, John, 49 + + Samuel, Mother. _See_ Alice Samuel + + Samuels, the (of Warboys), 109, 391 + + Sandwich, 401, 403, 418 + + Sanford, 387 + + Sawyer, Elizabeth, trial of, 108 n., 112, 136 n., 383, 400 + + Scarborough, 219, 409 + + Scarfe, of Rattlesden, 404 + + Schwebel, Johann, 15 n. + + Scory, John, Bishop of Hereford, 15 n. + + Scot, Margery, 409 + + Scot, Reginald, 51, 55, 57-72, 89, 90, 97, 142, 160, 227, 228-231, 235, + 239, 241, 242, 243, 249, 291, 294 n., 296, 298, 301, 310, 312, 342. + Cited, 20 n., 28 n., 46 n., 296 n., 347, 348, 386, 387, 388 + + Scot, Sir Thomas, 56 + + _Scotland, Register of the Privy Council of_, cited 96 n. + + _Scotland and the Commonwealth_, cited, 225 + + Scots-Hall, 57 + + Scott, John, cited, 391, 393 + + Scott, Sir Walter, 196, 275. + Cited, 199 n., 366 + + _Scottish Dove, The_, cited, 404 + + Seaford, 386 + + Seccombe, Thomas, cited, 164 n., 181 n. + + Seeze, Betty, 417 + + Selden, John, 246-248, 262. + Cited, 247 n., 248 n. + + Serjeantson, Rev. R. M., 382 + + Sewel, William, 296 n. + + Shadbrook, 350, 393, 394 + + Shadwell, Thomas, 121, 309; + his opinions, 306-307 + + Shakespeare, William, used Harsnett, 91; + allusions in _Twelfth Night_ of, 92; + his witch-lore, 243 + + Shalock, Anthony, 171 n. + + Shaw, Elinor, 382 + + Sheahan, J. J., cited, 389 + + Shelley, 404 + + Shelley, Jane, 391 + + Shepton, Mallet, 411 + + Sherlock, Thomas, 374 + + Ship Tavern, at Greenwich, 154 + + Shore, Jane, 9 + + Shoreditch, 403 + + Shrewsbury, Earl of, 12, 19 n., 26 + + Shrewsbury, Duke of, 341 + + Shropshire (Salop), 387 + + _Shuttleworths, House and Farm Accounts of the_, cited, 399 + + Simmons, Margaret, 388 + + Simpson, Elizabeth, 412 + + Simpson, Jane, 413 + + Simpson, Robert, cited, 396 + + Simpson, Susan, 409 + + Sinclar (or Sinclair), George, cited, 355, 366, 395 + + Skipsey, 407 + + Slade, Anne, 414 + + Slingsby, Sir William, 400 + + Smith, of Chinting, 387 + + Smith, Charlotte Fell, cited, 53 n. + + Smith, Elizabeth, 408 + + Smith, Elleine, 39 n., 40 + + Smith, Gilbert, 399 + + Smith, Mary, 231, 358, 384, 399 + + Smith, Sir Thomas, 25 n., 385 + + Smithfield, 9 + + Smythe, Elizabeth, 406 + + Smythe, Katharine, 386 + + Somers, William, 51, 81-86, 92, 315, 353, 393 + + Somerset, 146, 220, 222, 224, 234, 254, 260, 273, 280, 285, 293, 320, 388, + 392, 393, 401, 402, 411, 413-419 + + Somerset, the protector, repeal of felonies during his protectorate, 12; + attitude of, 13 + + Sorcery, distinguished from witchcraft, 3-4 + + Southampton, 387 + + Southampton, Earl of, 12 + + Southcole, Justice, 346 + + Southcote, John, 34 + + Southerns, Elizabeth. _See_ Demdike + + Southton, 415, 416 + + Southwark, 164, 256, 277, 321, 323, 387, 419 + + Southwell, Thomas, 8 + + Southworth. _See_ Master Thompson + + Sowerbutts, Grace, part in Salmesbury cases, 128-129, 139, 140, 151 + + _Spectator, The_, 341 n. + + Spectral evidence, 110-111, 131 n., 184, 218, 221-222, 235-236, 263-264, + 279, 279 n. + + Speier, 15 n. + + Spencer, Anne, 402 + + Spencer, Mary, 152, 157, 159, 160, 401 + + Spokes, Helen, 393 + + Staffordshire, 118, 141, 146, 386, 389, 400, 402 + + Stanford Rivers, 34 + + Stanhope, 388 + + Stanmore, 390 + + Star Chamber, Dee examined by the, 52 + + Starchie, Mrs., 79 n. + + Starchie, John, 149 n. + + Starchie, Nicholas, children of, 78-81, 158 + + Starr, William, 409 + + Stationers' _Registers_, cited, 347, 350, 352, 358 + + Statutes: + 1 Edward VI, cap. xii (repeal of felonies), 12; + 3 Henry VIII, cap. xi, 10 n.; + 33 Henry VIII, cap. viii, 10-12; + 5 Elizabeth, cap. xvi, 5, 14, 15, 17, 101-102; + 1 James I, cap. xii, 102-104, 314 + + Staunton, Mother, 39 n., 387 + + Stearne, John, 164-205 _passim_ (in text and notes), 339, 361, 362, 404. + Cited, 403-406. + + Stebbing, Henry, 335, 374, 375 + + Steele, Sir Richard, 342 + + Stephen, Sir J. F., cited, 10 n., 11 n. + + Stephen, Leslie, cited, 287 n. + + Stephens, Edward, 339 n. + + Stepney, 405, 408, 410, 411, 412 + + Sterland, Mr., 83 + + Stevens, Margaret, 415 + + Stevens, Maria, 419 + + Stoll, Elmer, cited, 244 n. + + Stonden, 414 + + Stothard, Margaret, 259, 416 + + Stow, John, cited, 59 n., 350 + + Stowmarket, 183, 404 + + Stranger, Dorothy, 279, 413 + + Strangridge, Old, 238 + + Strassburg, 15 n. + + Stratford-at-Bow, 406, 407 + + Strotton, 414 + + Strutt, the Rev. Mr., 326, 327, 375 + + Strype, John, cited, 16 n., 17 n., 25 n., 26 n., 27 n., 385, 390 + + Stuart, Charles, Duke of Richmond and Lenox, 287 + + Studley Hall, 223 + + Style, Elizabeth, 280, 413 + + Sudbury, 404 + + Suffolk, 164, 165 n., 175, 176 n., 183, 194, 195, 197, 224, 337, 350, 379, + 392, 393, 394, 404, 405, 411, 413, 414, 417, 418 + + _Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, Proceedings of_, 176 n. + + Surey, affair of. _See_ Dugdale + + Surrey, 416, 419 + + Sussex, 282, 386, 387, 397, 405, 412 + + _Sussex Archaeological Collections_, 283 n., 386, 412 + + Sussums, Alexander, 404 + + Sutton, 406 + + Sutton, Mary, 110-111, 118 n., 136, 383, 398 + + Sutton, Mother, 107-108, 115, 117, 135-136, 358, 383, 398 + + Swan, John, 90 n., 355. + Cited, 395 + + Swan Inn, Maidstone, 215 + + Swane, Goodwife, 389 + + Swinow, Colonel, 209 + + Swinow, Dorothy, 209-210, 211, 408 + + Swithland, 399 + + Swynbourne, Richard, wife of, 393 + + Sykes, John, cited, 30 n., 407, 414 + + Sykes, Mary, 218, 407 + + + T., R., 295 + + Talbot, Charles, Duke of Shrewsbury, 341-342 + + Talbot, George, Earl of Shrewsbury, 19 n., 26 + + Tanner, Joanna, 419 + + _Tatler, The_, 342 n. + + Taunton, 234, 235, 260, 401, 403, 413, 417, 418 + + Taunton-Dean, 278, 417 + + Taylor, Robert, 170 + + Taylor, Zachary, 317-318, 329, 372, 373 + + Tedsall, Agnes, 402 + + Tedworth, affair of, 274-276, 303 n. + + Tempest, Henry, 218 + + Temple, Sir William, 309 + + Tendering, John, 46 n. + + Test of bleeding of dead body, 112, 301; + of repetition of certain words, 49, 109; + of thatch-burning, 112; + of swimming (see Water, ordeal of) + + Theodore of Tarsus, 2 + + Therfield, 374 + + Theydon, Mount, 385 + + Thievery and Witchcraft, 122, 222, 326 + + Thirple, 374 + + Thirsk, 397 + + Thompson, James, cited, 201 n., 408 + + Thompson, Katherine, 395 + + Thompson, Master, 129 + + Thorne, Anne, accuser of Jane Wenham, 324-330, 334-336 + + Thorneton, Jane, 386 + + Thorpe, Benjamin, cited, 2 n. + + Thrapston, 184-185 + + Throckmorton, Sir Robert, 47, 50 + + Throckmortons, the, 348 + + Throgmorton, George, 385 + + Throgmorton, Lady Frances, 384 + + Thurlow, Grace, 41, 42 + + Tichmarsh, 131 n. + + Tilbrooke-bushes, 188 n. + + Tilling, Ann, 269-270, 415, 417 + + Tolbooth, the, 96 + + Torture, of Alse Gooderidge, 77; + by the bootes, 96; + of Peacock, 115 n., 203; + perhaps used at Lincoln, 134; + unknown to English law, 167; + of Lowes, by walking, 176-177; + Hopkins's and Stearne's theory and practice as to, 202-204; + advocated by Perkins, 229; + by scratching, 330; + by swimming (see Water, ordeal of) + + Tottenham, 399 + + Towns, independent jurisdiction of, 54-55, 116-117, 201 + + Townshend, Jane, 414 + + Tradescant, John, 216 + + Transportation of witches through the air, 3, 97, 239, 246 + + Treasure-seekers, 20 + + Tree, 387 + + Trefulback, Stephen, 391 + + Trelawny, Sir Jonathan, Bishop of Exeter, 321 + + Trembles, Mary, 271-272, 368-369, 416 + + Trinity College, Oxford, 131-132; + Master of. _See_ Isaac Barrow + + Turner, William, cited, 405 + + _Twelfth Night_, allusions in, 92 + + _Two Terrible Sea-Fights_, cited, 225 n. + + Tyburn, 51, 394 + + Tynemouth, 412 + + + _Underhill, Edward, Autobiography of_, cited, 13 + + Upaston, 418 + + Upney, Joan, 347 + + Upsala, 94 + + Urwen, Jane, 401 + + Utley, hanged at Lancaster, 158, 401 + + Uxbridge, 74 n. + + + Vairus, Leonardus, 58 n. + + Vallet, Jane, 417 + + Van Helmont, 286 + + Varden, J. T., cited, 194 n. + + Vaughan, Joan, 384 + + Vaughans, the two (Henry and Thomas), 286 + + Vaux, Lord, 74 n. + + Vernon, James, 341-342 + + Vetter, Theodor, cited, 15 n. + + Vicars, Anne, 383 + + Vickers, K. H., cited, 9 n. + + _Victoria History of Essex_, cited, 90 n. + + Virley, John, 7 + + + W., Mother, of Great T., 395 + + W., Mother, of W. H., 395 + + "W. W." and the St. Osyth's pamphlet, 46, 62 n. + + Waddam, Margaret, 418 + + Wade, Mary, 223, 411 + + Wade, William, 221, 223, 411 + + Wadham, Thomas, 388 + + Wagg, Ann, 407 + + Wagstaffe, John, 294-295, 297 + + Wakefield, 220-221, 411 + + Waldingfield, 404 + + Walker, widow, 387 + + Walker, Ellen, 385 + + Walker, John, 353, 354 + + Walker, John (another), cited, 361 + + Walkerne, 325 + + Wallis, Joane, 185 n., 187 n. + + Walsh, John, trial of, 31 n. + + Walter, Aliena, 414 + + Walter, Sir John, 235 + + Walton, Colonel Valentine, 187, 237 n. + + Wanley, Nathaniel, 307. + Cited, 308 n. + + Wapping, 408, 411 + + Warboys, trials at, 47-51, 109 n., 131, 143, 160, 185, 221, 229 n., 391 + + Warburton, Sir Peter, 142 + + Warburton, Peter, 215 + + Warden of the Cinque Ports, 116 + + Warham, William, Abp. of Canterbury, 58 n. + + Warminster, 398 + + Warwick, 257, 414 + + Warwick, Earl of. _See_ Rich + + Washington, Sir John, 185 + + "Watching" of witches, practised by Hopkins and Stearne, 167; + Gaule's description, 175; + Stearne's explanation, 190; + Stearne's description, 202; + probably practised on Elizabeth Style, 280; + practised on a Sussex woman, 283 + + Water, ordeal of, James recommends it, 99; + its use on the Continent, 99 n.; + in reign of James, 106-108, 118 n., 132; + stopped in Suffolk, 178; + in Huntingdonshire, 187; + its use by Hopkins and Stearne, 191-192; + story that Hopkins was put to it, 194; + use at Faversham, 201 n.; + Perkins's opinion, 228; + Cotta's, 230; + Bernard's, 235; + Ady's, 242; + its decline, 243, 284; + increased use of it as an illegal process, 315, 331; + forbidden in Jane Wenham's case, 326; + at Leicester, 330; + in Essex, 331-332; + by Holt or Parker, 332; + by Addison's Sir Roger de Coverley and his chaplain, 341 + + Waterhouse, Mother Agnes, trial of, 35-38, 40 n., 45, 385 + + Waterhouse, Joan, 36 + + Watson, Jane, 413 + + Way, Margaretta, 419 + + Wayt, Mrs., 174 + + Webb, Mrs., 269 + + Webb, Goodwife, 39 + + Webster, John, 141, 147 n., 148-151, 151, 268, 297-303, 314. + Cited, 306 n., 359, 400 + + Weech, Christian, 397 + + Weeke, 413 + + Weekes, Christiana, 397, 410 + + _Weekly Intelligencer_, cited, 213 n., 408 + + Weight, Mrs., 174 + + Welfitt, William, cited, 412 + + Wellam, Margaret, 399 + + Wells, 389 + + Wells, Archdeacon of, 235 + + Welton, 251, 411 + + Wenham, 164 + + Wenham, Jane, trial of, 324-330, 380, 381, 419; + controversy over, 334-336; + her trial the occasion of Hutchinson's book, 342-343 + + Wentworth, Lord, 12 + + West, Andrew, 44 + + West, Anne, 169, and n., 171 + + West, Rebecca, 169, 170, 171, 362, 376 + + West, William, cited, 352, 391 + + West Ayton, 402 + + West Drayton, 394 + + West Riding, Yorkshire, 256 + + Westminster, disputation of, 16 n.; + cases at, 139, 384, 386, 391, 402 + + Weston, Father, 74 n., 87, 352 + + Westpenner, 388 + + Westwell, Old Alice of, 59, 386 + + Weyer (Wier, Wierus), Johann, 62, 79 n., 97, 229 n. + + Whitaker, Thomas D., cited, 147 n. + + White, Joan, 391 + + Whitechapel, 409-410 + + Whitecrosse Street, 396 + + Whitgift, John, Archbishop of Canterbury, 74, 84, 88 n. + + Whitehall, 134 + + Whitelocke, Bulstrode, 226, 252 n. + Cited, 172 n., 179 n., 181 n., 201 n., 206 n., 207 n., 403, 407 + + Wickham, William, Bishop of Lincoln, 50 + + Widdowes, Thomas, cited, 366 + + Widdrington, Thomas, 207 n. + + Wier, Wierus. _See_ Weyer + + Wigan, 156 + + Wildridge, T. T., cited, 137 n. + + Wilkins, David, cited, 10 n. + + Wilkinson, Anne, 414 + + Williams, Katherine, 418 + + Williams, Robert, cited, 399 + + Williford, Joan, 201 n., 405 + + Willimot, Joan, 119 n., 133 n., 399 + + Wilson, Alice, 109 n. + + Wilson, Arthur, 143 n., 172 n., 173. + Cited, 359, 400, 403 + + Wilts, 146, 211, 224, 268, 269 n., 274, 285, 397, 398, 401, 409, 410, + 412-414, 417-419 + + Wimblington, 406 + + Winch, Sir Humphrey, 142 + + Winchester, Bishop of. _See_ Thomas Bilson, and James Montague + + Winchester Park, 257 n. + + Windebank, Secretary, 152, 155 + + Windsor, 139, 347 + + Windsor, Dean of, and Abingdon trials, 28 + + Wingerworth, 416 + + Witchall, Judith, 269, 270, 415, 417 + + Witchfinder, Darrel as a, 75-83; + Hopkins as a, 165-205; + a Scotch pricker as a, 206-208; + Ann Armstrong as a, 281-282 + + Wolsey, Thomas, Abp. of York, 19, 59 n. + + Women, proportion of to men in indictments for witchcraft, 114; + of wives to spinsters and to widows, 114-115 + + Wood, Anthony a, cited, 295 n., 366 + + Wood, Joan, 386 + + Woodbridge, 392 + + Woodbury, 417 + + Woodhouse, Doctor, 257 + + Woodstock, 275 + + Wooler, 395 + + Worcester, 7, 216, 376, 387, 406, 409, 412 + + Worcester, Bishop of, 12, 340 + + Worcestershire, 208 n. + + Worthington, John, cited, 180 n. + + Wright, Elizabeth, 76, 78 n., 392 + + Wright, Grace, 405 + + Wright, Katherine, 75, 85, 353 + + Wright, Thomas, 100, 188 n., 376. + Cited, 2 n., 6 n., 7 n., 9 n., 19 n., 25 n., 95 n., 100 n., 147 n., 401 + + Wrottesley, Lord, 162 n. + + Wylde, John, 212 + + Wynnick, John, 185 n., 187 n., 405 + + + Yarmouth, 54, 181, 183, 199, 201, 263, 406. + _See also_ Yarmouth, Great + + Yarmouth, Great, 389, 390, 395, 404 + + York, 111, 112, 119, 129, 144, 218, 220, 229 n., 249, 383, 389, 394, 398, + 400, 413, 417 + + York, Archbishop of, 83 + + York Castle, 258 + + _York Depositions_, 218 n. + Cited, _passim_ thereafter + + Yorkshire, 52, 118, 144, 146, 149-150, 210, 221, 222, 223, 254, 256, 278, + 352, 383, 389, 391, 393, 395-397, 400, 402, 406-411, 414-416 + + _Yorkshire Notes and Queries_, cited, 257 n. + + Young, Margareta, 418 + + Young, Ruth, 418 + + + Zurich, 14, 15 n., 87 n. + + _Zurich Letters_, cited, 17 n. + + Zweibruecken, 15 n. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Witchcraft in England +from 1558 to 1718, by Wallace Notestein + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITCHCRAFT *** + +***** This file should be named 31511.txt or 31511.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/5/1/31511/ + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Brian Janes, Meredith Bach, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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