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You can search through the full text of this book on the web \n\nat |http : //books . google . com/| \n\n\n\n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND \nMAGICIAN \n\n\n\nDistorical Sbetcbes of Aagfc sua Mitcbctatt \nin Englan!) anB Scotland \n\n\n\nW. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY \n\n\n\n>.r \n\n\n\nA zn \n\n\n\n69yby5 \n\n\n\n\u2022 - m \u2022 \u2022 \u2022* \n\n\u2022 \u2022!\u2022*\u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \n\n\n\n\u2022 \u2022 \n\n\n\n.*\u2022.\u2022\u2022'\u2022 \n\n\n\n\n\n\nk \u2022 \n\n\n\n\u2022 ' \u2022 \n\n\n\n\u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \n\n\n\n1. \u2022 \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE. \n\n\n\nThe following pages may be regarded as a contribu- \ntion towards that ' History of Human Error ' which \nwas undertaken by Mr. Augustine Caxton. I fear \nthat many minds will have to devote all their energies \nto the work, if it is ever to be brought to completion ; \nand, indeed, it may plausibly be argued that its \ncompletion would be an impossibility, since every \ngeneration adds something to the melancholy record \u2014 \n* pulveris exigui parva munera.' However this may \nbe, little more remains to be said on the subjects \nwhich I have here considered from the standpoint of \na sympathetic though incredulous observer. Alchemy, \nMagic, Witchcraft \u2014 how exhaustively they have been \ninvestigated will appear from the list of authorities \nwhich I have drawn up for the reader's convenience. \nThey have been studied by * adepts/ and by critics, \nas realities and as delusions ; and almost the last \nword would seem to have been said by Science \u2014 \nthough not on the side of the adepts, who still con- \ntinue to dream of the Hermetic philosophy, to lose \nthemselves in fanciful pictures, theurgic and occult, \nand to write about the mysteries of magic with a \n\n\n\naimplicitj of faith which we may wonder at, but : \nbound to respect. \n\nIt has not been my purpose, in the present volume, \nto attempt a general history of magic and alchemy, or \nii scientific inquiry into their psychological aspects. I \nhave confined myself to a sketch of their progress in I \nEngland, and to a narrative of the lives of our prin- \ncipal magicians. This occupies the first part. The \nsecond is devoted to an historical review of witchcraft \nin Great Britain, and an examination into the most \nremarkable Witch-Trials, in which I have endeavoured \nto bring out their peculiar features, presenting much \nof the evidence adduced, and in some cases the so- \ncalled confessions of the victims, in the original \nlanguage. I believe that the details, notwithstanding \nthe reticence imposed upon me by considerations of \ndelicacy and decorum, will surprise the reader, and \nthat he will readily admit the profound interest \nattaching to them, morally and intellectually. I \nhave added a chapter on the ' Literature of Witchcraft, ' \nwhich, I hope, is tolerably exhaustive, and now offer \nthe whole as an effort to present, in a popular and \nreadable form, the result of careful and conscientious \nstudy extending over many years. \n\nW. H. D. A. \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. \n\nPAOE \n\nPROGRESS OF ALCHEMY IN EUROPE - - - 1 \n\n\n\nBOOK I. \nTHE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. \n\nCHAPTER \n\nI. ROGER BACON : THE TRUE AND THE LEGENDARY - 27 \n\nIL THE STORY OF DR. JOHN DEE - - - 59 \n\nin. DR. DEE'S DIARY - - - - - 93 \n\nIV. MAGIC AND IMPOSTURE: A COUPLE OF KNAVES - 102 \nV. THE LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICL4NS : WILLIAM \n\nLILLY ----.. 128 \n\nVI. ENGLISH ROSICRUCIANS - - - - 181 \n\nBOOK II. \n\nWITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT, \n\nI, EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND - 203 \nII. WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH \n\nCENTURY ------ 244 \n\nin. THE DECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND - - 292 \n\nIV. THE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND - - - 303 \n\nV. THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT - - - 378 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. \n\nPROGRESS OF ALCHEMY IN EUROPE. \n\nThe word xvfj^^ia \u2014 ^from which we derive our English \nword * chemistry ' \u2014 first occurs, it is said, in the \nLexicon of Suidas, a Greek writer who flourished in \nthe eleventh century. Here is his definition of it : \n\n' Chemistry is the art of preparing gold and silver. The books \nconcerning it were sought out and burnt by Diocletian, on account \nof the new plots directed against him by the Egyptians. He \nbehaved towards them with great cruelty in his search after the \ntreatises written by the ancients, his purpose being to prevent \nthem from growing rich by a knowledge of this art, lest, em- \nboldened by measureless wealth, they should be induced to resist \nthe Soman supremacy.' \n\nSome authorities assert, however, that this art, or \npretended art, is of much greater antiquity than \nSuidas knew of ; and Scaliger refers to a Greek \nmanuscript by Zozomen, of the fifth century, which \nis entitled ' A Faithful Description of the Secret and \nDivine Art of Making Gold and Silver.' We may \nassume that as soon as mankind had begun to set an \nartificial value upon these metals, and had acquired \n\n1 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nBome knowledge of chemical elements, their combina- \ntions and permutations, they would entertain a desire \nto multiply them in measureless q iinntities. Dr. \nShaw speaks of no fewer than eif,fhty-nine ancient i \nmanuscripts, scattered through the European libraries, \n\u25a0which are all occupied with ' the chemical art,' or \n' the holy art,' or, as it is sometimes called, ' the \nphilosopher's stone ' ; and a fair conclusion seems to \nbe that ' between the fifth century and the taking of \nConstantinople in the fifteenth, the Greeks believed in \nthe possibility of making gold and silver,' and calledj \nthe supposed process, or processes, chemistry. \" \n\nThe delusion was taken up by the Arabians when, \nunder their Abasside Khalifs, they entered upon the \ncultivation of scientific knowledge. The Arabians con- \nveyed it into Spain, whence its diffusion over Chris- \ntendom was a simple work of time, sure if gradual. \nFrom the eleventh to the sixteenth century, alchemy \nwas more or less eagerly studied by the scholars of \nGermany, Italy, France, and England ; and the \nvolumes in which they recorded both their learning \nand their ignorance, the little they knew and the \nmore they did not know, compose quite a considerable \nlibrary. One hundred and twenty-two are enumerated \nin the ' Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa,' of Mangetus, a \ndry-as-dust kind of compilation, in two huge volumes, \nprinted at Geneva in 1702. Any individual who \nhas time and patience to expend ad /if/ituTii, cannot \ndesire a fairer field of exercise than the ' Bibliotheca.' \nOne very natural result of all this vain research and \nprofitless inquiry was a keen anxiety on the part of \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. \n\n\n\nvictims to dignify their labours by claiming for their \n' sciences, falsely so-called,' a venerable and mys- \nterious origin. They accordingly asserted that the \nfounder or creator was Hermes Trismegistus, whom \nsome of them professed to identify with Chanaan, the \nson of Ham, whose son Mizraim first occupied and \npeopled Egypt. Now, it is clear that any person \nmight legitimately devote his nights and days to the \npursuit of a science invented, or originally taught, \nl\u00bby no less itiustrioua an ancient than Hennes \nTrismegistus. But to clothe it with the awe of a \nstill greater antiquity, they affirmed that its principles \nhad been discovered, engraved in Phcenician char- \nacters, on an emerald tablet which Alexander the \nGreat exhumed from the philosopher's tomb. Un- \nfortunately, as is always the case, the tablet was lost ; \nbut we are expected to believe that two Latin versions \nof the inscription had happily been preserved. One \nof these may be Englished as hereinunder : \n\n1. I speak no frivolous things, but only what is \ntrue and most certain. \n\n2. What is below resembles that which is above, \nand what is above resembles that which is below, \nto accomplish the one thing of all things most \nwonderful. \n\n3. And as all things proceeded from the medita- \ntion of the One God, so were all things generated \nfrom this one thing by the disposition of Nature, \n\n4. Its father is Sol, its mother Lujia ; it was \nengendered in the womb by the air, and nourished -by \nthe earth. \n\n1\u20142 \n\n\n\n4 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n5. It is the cause of all the jierfection of things ' \nthroughout the whole world. \n\n6. It arrives at the highest perfection of powers if j \nit be reduced into earth. \n\n7. Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from \nthe gross, acting with great caution. \n\n8. Ascend with the highest wisdom from earth \nto heaven, and thence descend again to earth, and \nbind together the powers of things superior and \nthings inferior. So sliall you compass the glory of \nthe whole world, and divest yourself of the abjectnesa \nof humanity. \n\n9. This thing has more fortitude than fortitude \nitself, since it will overcome everything subtle and \npenetrate everything solid. \n\n10. All that the world contains was created by it. \n\n11. Hence proceed things wonderful which in this \nwise were established. \n\n12. For this reason the name of Hermes Tris- \nmegistus was be,?towed upon me, because I am master \nof three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. \n\n13. This is what I had to say concerning the moat \nadmirable process of the chemical art. \n\nThese oracular utterances are so vague and obscure \nthat an enthusiast may read into them almost any mean- \ning he chooses ; but there seems a general consensus of \nopinion that they refer to the ' universal medicine ' \nof the earlier alchemists. This, however, is of no \ngreat importance, since it is certain they were \ninvented by some ingenious hand as late as the \nfifteenth century. Another forgery of a similar kind \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTIOX. 5 \n\nia the ' Tractatus Aureus de Lapidis Physici Secrelis,\" \nalso attributed to Hermes ; it professes to describe \nthe process of making this ' universal medicine,' or \n' philosopher's stone,' and the formulary is thus \ntranslated by Thomson : \n\n' Take of moisture an ounce and a half ; of meridional redness \u2014 \nthat is, the soul of the sun\u2014 a fourth part, that is, half an ounce ; \nof j'ellon- sage likewise half an ounce ; and of auripi^eotum \nhalf an ounce ; making in all three ounces.' \n\nSuch a recipe does not seem to help forward an \nenthusiastic student to any material extent. \n\nTHE EARLIER ALCHEMISTS. \n\nIt is in the erudite writings of the great Arabian \nphysician, Gebir \u2014 that is, Abu ilouspah Djafar, sur- \nnamed Al Soji, or The Wise\u2014that the science of \nalchemy, or chemistry (at hrst the two were identi- \ncal), first assumes a definite shape. Gebir flourished \nin the early part of the eighth century, and wrote, it \nis said, upwards of five hundred treatises on the \nphilosopher's stone and the elixir of life. In reference \nto the latter mysterious potion, which possessed the \nwonderful power of conferring immortal }OUth on \nthose who drank of it, one may remark that it was \nthe necessary complement of the philosopher's stone, \nfor what would be the use of an unlimited faculty of \nmaking gold and silver unless one could be sure of \nan immortality in which to enjoy its exercise ? \nGebir's pi-incipal work, the 'SummEe Perfectionis,' \ncontaining instructions for students in search of the \ntwo great secrets, has been translated into several \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\nkSjuropean languages ; and an English version, by \nr Richard Russell, the alchemist, was published in \n1686. \n\nGrebir lays down, as a primary principle, that all \nmetals are compounds of mercury and sulphur. They \nall labour under disease, he says, except gold, which ia \nthe one metal gifted with perfect health. Therefore, a \npreparation of it would dispel every ill which flesh is \nheir to, as well as the maladies of plants. We may \nexcuse his extravagances, however, in consideration \nof the services he rendered to science by his discovery \nof corrosive sublimate, red oxide of mercury, white \noxide of arsenic, nitric acid, oxide of copper, and \nnitrate of silver, all of which originally issued from \nGebir's laboratory. \n\nBriefly speaking, the hypothesis assumed by the \nalchemists was this : all the metals are compounds, \nand the baser contain the same .elements as gold, \ncontiminated, indeed, with various impurities, but \ncapable, when these have been purged away, of assum- \ning all its properties and characters. The substance \nwhich was to eff'ect this purifying process they \ncalled the philosopher's stone {lapii pUUosophorum), \nthough, as a matter of fact, it is always described \nas a powder \u2014 a powder red-coloured, and smelling \nstrongly. Few of the alchemists, however, venture \non a distinct statement that they had discovered or \npossessed this substance. \n\nThe arch-quack Paracelsus makes the assertion, of \ncourse ; unblushing mendacity was part of his stock- \nin-trade ; and he pretends even to define the methods \n\n\n\nISTKODUCTIOW. \n\n\n\nby which it may be realized. Unfortunately, to \nordinary mortals his description is absolutely un- \nintelligible. Others there are who affirm that they \nhad seen it, and seen it in operation, transmuting \nlead, quicksilver, and other of the inferior metals into \nruddy gold. One wonders that they did not claim a \nshare in a process which involved such boundless \npotentialities of wealth ! \n\nHelvetius, the physician, though no believer in the \nmagical art, tells the following wild story in his \n'Vilnius Aureus': \n\nOn December 26, 1666, a stranger called upon him, \nand, after discussing the supposed properties of the \nuniversal medicine, showed him a yellow powder, \nwhich he declared to be the lapis, and also five large \nplates of gold, which, he said, were the product of its \naction. Naturally enough, Helvetius begged for a \nfew grains of this marvellous powder, or that the \nstranger would at least exhibit its potency in his \npresence. He refused, however, but promised that he \nwould return in six weeks. He kept his promise, \nand then, after much entreaty, gave Helvetius a pinch \nof the powder \u2014 about as much as a rape-seed. The \nphysician expressed his fear that so minute a quantity \nwould not convert as much as four grains of lead ; \nwhereupon the stranger broke off one-half, and \ndeclared that the remainder was more than sufficient \nfor the purpose. U uring their first conference, \nHelvetius had contrived to conceal a httle of the \npowder beneath his thumb-nail. This he dropped into \nsome molten lead, but it was nearly all exhaled in \n\n\n\n8 WITCH, WAltT.OCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\nsmoke, and the residue was simply of a vitreous \ncharacter. \n\nOn mentioning this circumstance to his visitor, he \nexplained that the powder should have been enclosed \nin wax before it was throT\\'n into the molten lead, \nto prevent the fumes of the lead from affecting it. \nHe added that he would come back next day, and \nshow him how to make the projection ; but as he \nfailed to appear, Helvetius. in the presence of hiawife \nand eon, put six drachma of lead into a crucible, and \nas soon as the lead was melted, flung into it the \natoms of powder given to him by his mysterious \nvisitor, having first rolled them up in a little ball of \nwax. At the end of a quarter of an hour he found \nthe lead transmuted (so he avers) into gold. Its \ncolour at first was a deep green ; but the mixture, \nwhen poured into a conical vessel, turned blood-red, \nand, after cooling, acquired the true tint of gold. A \ngoldsmith who examined it pronounced it to be \ngenuine. Helvetius requested Purelius, the keeper \nof the Dutch Mint, to test its value ; and two \ndrachms, after being exposed to aquafortis, were \nfound to have increased a couple of scruples in weight \u2014 \nan increase doubtlessly owing to the silver, which still \nremained enveloped in the gold, despite the action of \nthe aquafortis. \n\nIt is obvious that this narrative is a complete \nmystification, and that either the stranger was a \nmj^h or Helvetius was the victim of a decep- \ntion. \n\nThe recipes that the alchemists formulate \u2014 ^those, \n\n\n\nn \n\n\n\nISTRODUCTION. \n\n\n\nthat is, who profess to have discovered the stone, \nor to have known somebody who enjoyed so rare a \nfortune \u2014 are always unintelligible or impracticable. \nWhat is to be understood, for example, of the follow- \ning elaborate process, or series of processes, which \nare recorded by Mangetus, in his preface to the \nponderous ' Bibliotheca Chemica ' (to ivhich reference \nhas already been made) 1 \n\n1. Prepare a quantity of spirits of wine, so free \nfrom water as to be wholly combustible, and so \nvolatile that a drop of it, if let fall, will evaporate \nbefore it reaches the ground. This constitutes the \nfirst menstruum. \n\n2. Take pure mercury, revived in the usual \nmanner from cinnabar ; put it into a glass vessel \nwith common salt and distilled vinegar ; shake \nviolently, and when the vinegar turns black, pour it \noff, and add fresh vinegar. Shake again, and con- \ntinue these repeated shakings and additions until \nthe mercury no longer turns the vinegar black ; \nthe mercury will then be quite pure and very \nbrilliant. \n\n3. Take of this mercury four parts ; of sublimed \nmercury {mercurii meteoresati \u2014 probably corrosive \nBublimateJ, prepared with your own hands, eight \nparts ; triturate them together in a wooden mortar \nwith a wooden pestle, till all the grains of running \nmercury disappear. (This process is truly described \nas 'tedious and rather difficult.') \n\n4. The mi.\\ture thus prepared is to be put into a \nsand-bath, and exposed to a subliming heat, which \n\n\n\n10 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WABLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nis to be gradually increased until the whole sublimes. \nCollect the sublimed matter, pat it again into the \nsand-bath, and sublime a second time ; this process \nmust be repeated five times. The product is a very \nsweet crystallized sublimate, constituting the sal \nsapienlum, or wise men's salt (probably calomel), and \npossessing wonderful proi>erties. \n\n5. Grind it in a wooden mortar, reducing it to \npowder ; put this powder into a glass retort, and \npour upon it the spirit of wine (see No. 1) till it \nstands about three tinger-breadths above the powder. \nSeal the retort hermetically, and expose it to a very ' \ngentle heat for seventy-four hours, shaking it several \ntimes a day ; tlien distil with a gentle heat, and the \nspirit of wine will paea over, together with spirit of \nmercury. Keep this liquid in a well-stoppered bottle, \nlest it should evaporate. More spirit of wine is to \nbe poured upon the residual salt, and after digestion \nmust be distilled off, as before ; and this operation \nmust be repeated until all the salt is dissolved and \ngiven off with the spirit of wine. A great work \nwill then have been accomplished ! For the mercury, \nhaving to some extent been rendered volatile, will \ngradually become 6t to receive the tincture of gold \nand silver. Now return thanks to God, who has \nhitherto crowned your wonderful work with success. \nNor is this wonderful work enveloped in Cimmerian \ndarkness ; it is clearer than the sun, though preceding \nwriters have sought to impose upon us with parables, \nhieroglyphs, fables, and enigmas. \n\n6. Take this mercurial spirit, which contains our \n\n\n\nINTHODCCTION. \n\n\n\n11 \n\n\n\nmagical steel in its belly (sic), and put it into a glass \nretort, to which a receiver must be well and care- \nfully adjusted ; draw off the spirit by a very gentle \nheat, and in the bottom of the retort will remain \nthe quintessence or soul of mercury. This is to be \nsublimed by applying a stronger heat to tlie retort \nthat it may become volatile, as all the philosophers \naffirm ; \n\n' Si fixum solvas facieaque volare aolutum, \nEt voluurum figas faciet te vJvere tutum.' \n\nThis is our luna, our fountain, in which ' the king ' \nand ' the queen ' may bathe. Preserve this precious \nquintessence of mercury, which is exceedingly volatile, \nin a well-closed vessel for further use. \n\n8. Let us now proceed to the production of common \ngold, which we shall communicate clearly and dis- \ntinctly, without digression or obscurity, in order \nthat from this common gold we may obtain our \nphilosophical gold, just as from common mercury we \nhave obtained, by the foregoing processes, phil<> \nsophical mercury. In the name of God, then, take \ncommon gold, purified in the usual way by antimony, \nand reduce it into small grains, which must be \nwashed with salt and vinegar until they are quite \npure. Take one part of this gold, and pour on it \nthree parts of the quintessence of mercury : as philo- \nsophers reckon from seven to ten, so do we also \nreckon our number as philosophical, and begin mth \nthree and one. Let them be married together, like \nhusband and wife, to produce children of their own \nkind, and you will see the common gold sink and \n\n\n\n12 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nplainly dissolve. Now the marriage is consara- \nmated ; and two things are converted into one. \nThus the philosophical sulphur is at hand, as the \npliilosophers say : ' The sulphur being dissolved, the \nstone is at hand.' Take then, in the name of God, \nour philosophical vessel, in which the king and \nqueen embrace each other as in a bedchamber, and \nleave it till the water is converted into earth ; then \npeace is concluded between the water and the fire \u2014 \u25a0 \nthen the elements no longer possess anything con- \ntrary to each other \u2014 because, when the elements are \nconverted into earth, they cease to be antagonistic ; \nfor in earth all elements are at rest. The philosophers \nsay : ' When you shall see the water coagulate, believe \nthat your knowledge is true, and that all your opera- \ntions are truly philosophical.' Our gold ia no longer \ncommon, but philosophical, through the processes it \nhas undergone : at first, it was exceedingly ' fixed ' \n{Jixum); then exceedingly volatile; and again, ex- \nceedingly fixed : the entire science depends upon the \nchange of the elements. The gold, at first a metal, \nis now a sulphur, capable of converting all metals \ninto its own sulphur. And our tincture is wholly \nconverted into sulphur, which possesses the energy \nof curing every disease ; this is our universal \nmedicine against all the most deplorable ills of the \nhuman body. Therefore, return infinite thanks to \nAlmighty God for all the good things which He hath \nbestowed upon us. \n\n9. In this great work of ours, two methods of \nfermentation and projection are wanting, without \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. 13 \n\nwhich the uninitiated will not readily follow out our \nprocess. The mode of fermentation : Of the sulphur \nalready described take one part, and project it upon \nthree parts of very pure gold fused in a furnace. \nIn a moment you will see the gold, by the force of \nthe sulphur, converted into a red sulphur of an \ninferior quality to the primary sulphur. Take one \npart of this, and project it upon three parts of fused \ngold ; the whole will again be converted into a \nsulphur or a fixable mass ; mixing one part of this \nwith three parts of gold, you will have a malleable \nand extensible metal. If you find it so, it is well ; if \nnot, add more sulphur, and it will again pass into a etate \nof sulphur. Now our sulphur will sufficiently be fer- \nmented, or our medicine brought into a metallic nature. \n\n10. The method of projection is this : Take of \nthe fermented sulphur one part, and project it upon \ntwo parts of mercury, heated in a crucible, and you \nwill have a perfect metal ; if its colour be not suffi- \nciently deep, fuse it again, and add more fermented \nsulphur, and thus it will gain colour. If it become \nfrangible, add a sufficient quantity of mercury, and it \nwill be perfect. \n\nThus, friend, you have a description of the \nuniversal medicine, not only for curing diseases and \nprolonging life, but also for transmuting all metals \ninto gold. Give thanks, therefore, to Almighty \nGod, who, taking pity on human calamities, hath at \nlast revealed this inestimable treasure, and made it \nknown for the common benefit of all. \n\nSuch is the jargon \u25a0witli which these so-called \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nphilosophers imposerl upon their dupes, and, to some \nextent perhaps, upon themselves. As Dr. Thomson \npoints out, the philosopher's atone prepared bj this \nelaborate process could hardly have been anything \nelse than an amalyam of (jold. Chloride of gold it \ncould not have contained, because such a prepara- \ntion, instead of acting medicinally, would have \nproved a most virulent poison. Of course, amalgam \nof gold, if projected into melted lead or tin, and \nafterwards cupellated, would leave a portion of gold \n\u2014 that is, exactly the amount which existed previously \nin the amatyam. Impostors may, therefore, have \navailed themselves of it to persuade the credulous \nthat it was really the philosopher's stone ; but the \nalchemists who prepared tlie amalgam must have \nknown that it contained gold.* \n\nIt is well known that the mediaeval magicians, \nnecromancers, conjurers \u2014 call them by what name you \nwill \u2014 who adopted alchemy as an instrument of im- \nposition, and by no means in the spirit of philosophical \ninquiry and research which had characterized their \npredecessors, resorted to various ingenious devices in \norder to maintain their bold upon their victims. \nSometimes they made use of crucibles with false \nbottoms \u2014 at the real bottom they concealed a portion \nof oxide of gold or silver covered with powdered \nsulphur, which had been rendered adhesive by a little \ngummed water or wax. When heat was applied the \nfalse bottom melted away, and the oxide of gold or \n\n* Cf. Stahl, ' Fundatuenta Chimife,' cap. ' De Lapide Philoao- \nphoram '; and Kircher, ' Mundus Subterraneas.' \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. 15 \n\nsilver eventually appeared as the product of the \noperation at the bottom of the crucible. Some- \ntimes they made a hole in a lump of charcoal, and \nfilling it with oxide of gold or silver, stopped up \nthe orifice with wax ; or they soaked charcoal in \na solution of these metals ; or they stirred the raisture \nin the crucible with hollow rods, containing oxide of \ngold or silver, closed up at the bottom with wax. A \n&ithful representation of the stratagems to which the \npseudo-alchemist resorted, that his dupes might not \nrecover too soon from their delusion, is furnished by \nBen Jonson in his comedy of ' The Alchemist,' and his \nmasque of ' Mercury vindicated from the Alchemists.' \nThe dramatist was thoroughly conversant with the \ntechnicalities of the pretended science, and also with \nthe deceptions of its professors. In the masque he \nputs into the mouth of Mercury an indignant protest : \n' The mischief a secret any of thom knows, above the con- \nsumiDg of coals and drawing of uaquebagh ; howsoever they may \npretend, under the apecioua names of Gebir, Arnold, Lully, or \nBombast of Hohenheiro, to commit miracles in art, and treason \nagainst nature! Aa if the title of |>hilosi)pher, that creature of \nglory, were to he fetched out of a fnrnace !' \n\nBut while the world is full of fools, it is too much \nto expect there shall be any lack of knaves to prey \nupon them! \n\n\n\nIN THE MIDDLE AGES. \n\nThe first of the great European alchemists I take \nto have been \n\nAlberttis Mafinus or Alhertits Teutonicius {Frater \nAlbertus de Colonia and Albertus Grotus, as he is also \n\n\n\nlb WITCH, WAKLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\ncalled), a man of remarkable intellectual energy and ' \nexceptional force of character, who has sometimes, \nand not without justice, been termed the founder of \nthe Schoolmen. Neither the place nor the date of his \nbirth is authentically known, but he was still in his \nyoung manhood when, about 1222, he was appointed \nto the chair of theology at Padua, and became a \nmember of the Dominican Order. He did not long \nretain the professorship, and, departing from Padua, \ntaught with great success in Uatisbon, Koln, Strass- \nburg, and Paris, residing in the last-named city for \nthree years, together with his illustrious disciple, \nThomas Aquinas. In 1260 he was appointed to the \nSee of Ratiabon, though he had not previously held \nanj' ecclesiastical dignity, but soon resigned, on the \nground ihat its duties interfered vexatiously with his \nstudies. Twenty years later, at a ripe old age, he \ndied, leaving behind him, as monuments of his per- \nsistent industry and intellectual subtlety, one-and- \ntwenty ponderous folios, which include commentariea \non Aristotle, on the Scriptures, and on Dionysius the \nAreopagite. Among his minor works occurs a treatise \non alchemy, which seems to show that he was a \ndevout believer in the science. \n\nFrom the marvellous stories of his thaumaturgic \nexploits which have come dovra to us, we may infer \nthat he had attained a considerable amount of skill in \nexperimental chemistry. The bnizen statue which he \nanimated, and the garrulity of which was so offensive \nthat Thomas Aquinas one day seized a hammer, and, \nprovoked beyond all endurance, smashed it to pieces, \n\n\n\nINTRODDCTior^. \n\n\n\n17 \n\n\n\nma}' be a reminiscence of his powers as a ventriloquist. \nAnd the follomng story may hint at an effective mani- \npulation of the camera obxcna'a : Count WilHam of \nHolland and King of the liomans happening to pas3 \nthrough Kiiln, Albertus invited him and his courtiers \nto his house to partake of refreshment. It was mid- \nwinter ; but on arriving at the philosopher's resi- \ndence they found the tables spread in the open \ngarden, where snowdrifts lay several feet in depth. \nIndignant at so frugal a reception, they were on the \npoint of leaving, when Albertus appeared, and by his \ncourtesies induced them to remain. Immediately the \nscene was lighted up with the sunshine of summer, a \nwarm and balmy air stole through the whispering \nboughs, the frost and snow vanished, the melodies of \nthe lark dropped from the sky like golilen rain. But \nas soon as the ieast came to an end the sunshint; \nfaded, tlie birds ceased their song, clouds gathered \ndarkling over the firmament, an icy blast shrieked \nthrough the gibbei-ing branches, and the snow fell in \nblinding showers, so that the philosopher's guests \nwere glad to fold their cloaks about them and retreat \ninto the kitchen to grow warm before its blazing fire. \n\nWas this some clever scenic deception, or is the \nwhole a fiction ? \n\nA knowledge of the secret of the Elixir Vit(E was \npossessed {it is said) by Alain de f/sle, or Alanus de \nInaulis ; but either he did not avail himself of it, or \n&iled to compound a sufficient quantity of the magic \npotion, fur he died under the sacred roof of Citeaux, \nin 1298, at the advanced age of 110. \n\n2 \n\n\n\n18 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nArnold de Villeneuve, who attained, in the thir- \nteenth century, some distinction as a physician, an \nastronomer, an astrologer, and an alchemist \u2014 and was \nreally a capable man of science, as science was then \nunderstood \u2014 formulates an elaborate recipe for rejuve- \nnating one's self, which, however, does not seem to \nhave been very successful in his own case, since he \ndied before he was 70. Perhaps he was as disgusted \nwith the compound as (in the well-known epitaph) \nthe infant was with this mundane sphere \u2014 he 'liked \nit not, and died.' I think there are many who would \nforfeit longevity rather than partake of it. \n\n' Twice or thrice a week you must anoint your \nbody thoroughly with the manna of cassia ; and every \nnight, before going to bed, you must place over your \nheart a plaster, composed of a certain quantity (or, \nrather, uncertain, for definite and precise proportions \nare never particularized) of Oriental safiron, red rose- \nleaves, sandal-wood, aloes, and amber, liquefied in oil \nof roses and the best white wax. During the day \nthis must be kept in a leaden casket. You must next \npen up in a court, where the water is sweet and the \nair pure, sixteen chickens, if you are of a sanguine \ntemperament ; twenty-five, if phlegmatic ; and thirty, \nif melancholic. Of these you are to eat one a day, \nafter they have been fattened in such a manner as to \nhave absorbed into their system the qualities which \nwill ensure your longevity; for which purpose they \nare first to be kept without food until almost starved, \nand then gorged with a broth of serpents and vinegar, \nthickened with wheat and beans, for at least two \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. \n\n\n\n19 \n\n\n\nmonths. When they are served at your table you \n\u25a0will drink a raoderate quantity of white wine or claret \n\nto assist digestion.' \n\nI shoiild think it would be needed! \n\nAmong the alchemists must be included Pietro \n(i'Apono. He was an eminent physician ; but, being \naccused of heresy, was thrown into prison and died \nthere. His ecclesiastical persecutors, however, burned \nhis bones rather than be entirelj' disappointed of their \nanto dafi. Like most of the mediieval physicians, he \nindulged in alchemical and astrological speculations ; \nbut they proved to Pietro d'Apono neither pleasurable \nnor profitable, It was reputed of him that iie bad \nsummoned a number of evil spirits ; and, on their \nobeying his call, had shut them up in seven crystal \nvases, where he detained them until he had occasion \nfor their services. In his selection of them he seems \nto have displayed a commendably catholic taste and \nlove of knowledge ; for one was an expert in poetry, \nanother in painting, a third in philosophy, a fourth in \nphysic, a fifth in astrology, a sixth in music, and a \nBeventh in alchemy. So that when he required in- \nI fltruction in either of these arts or sciences, he simply \ntapped the proper crystal vase and laid on a spirit. \n\nThe story seems to be a fanciful allusion to the \nvarious acquirements of Pietro d'Apono ; but if in- \ntended at first as a kind of allegory, it came in due \ntime to be accepted Hterally. \n\nI pass on to the great Spanish alchemist and magi- \ni cian, Raymond Lulhj, or Lulli, who was scarcely inferior \n\n\n\n20 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nin fame, or the qualities which merited fame, even to \nAlbertus Magnus, He was a man, not only of wide, but \nof accurate scholarship ; and the two or three hundred \ntreatises which proceeded from his pen traversed the \nentire circle of the learning of his age, dealing with \nalmost every conceivable subject from medicine to \nmorals, from astronomy to theology, and from alchemy \nto civil and canon law. His life had its romantic \naspects, and his death (in 1315 ?) was invested with \nsomething of the glory of martyrdom ; for while he waa \npreaching to the Moslems at Bona, the mob fell upon \nhim with a storm of stones, and though he was still \nalive when rescued by some Genoese merchants, and \nconveyed on board their vessel, he died of the injuries \nhe had received before it arrived in a Spanish port. \n\nThere seems little reason to believe that Lulli \nvisited England about 1312, on the invitation of \nEdward TL Dickenson, in his work on ' The Quint- \nessences of the Philosophers,' asserts that his \nlaboratory was established in Westminster Abbey \u2014 \nthat is, in the cloisters \u2014 and that some time after his \nreturn to the Continent a large quantity of gold-dust \nwas found in the cell he had occupieil. Langlet du \nFresnoy contends that it was through the interven- \ntion of John Cremer, Abbot of Westminster, a perse- \nvering seeker after the liijm philoHUphoruni, that he \ncame to England, Cremer having described him to \nKing Edward as a man of extraordinary powerr\". \nRobert Constantino, in his ' Nomenclator Scriptorum \nMedicorum ' (1515), professes to have discovered \nthat Lulli resided for some time in London, and \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTIU^J. 21 \n\nmade gold in the Tower, and that he had seen some gold \npieces of his making, which were known in England \nas the nobles of Raymond, or rose-nobles. But the \ngreat objections to these very precise statements rests \non two facta pointed out by Mr. Waite, that the rose- \nnoble, so called because a rose was stamped on each \nside of it, was first coined in 1465, in the reign of \nEdward IV., and that there never was an Abliot \nCremer of Westminster. \n\nJean de Meung is also included among the alche- \nmietB ; but he bequeathed to posterity in his glorious \npoem of the ' Roman de la Rose ' something very \nmuch more precious than would have been any \nformula for making gold. In one sense he was in- \ndeed an alchemist, and possessed the secret of the \nuniversal medicine ; for in his poem his genius has \ntrans-muted into purest gold the base ore of popular \ntraditions and legends. \n\nSome of the stories which Langlet du Fresnoy tells \noi Nicholas Flamel were probably invented long after \nhis death, or else we should have to brand him as a \nmost audacious knave. One of those amazing narra- \ntives pretends that he bought for a couple of florins \nan old and curious volume, the leaves of which\u2014 three \ntimes seven (this sounds better than twenty-one) in \nnumber\u2014 were made from the bark of trees. Each \npeventb leaf bore an allegorical picture \u2014 the first re- \npresenting a serpent swallowing rods, the second a \ncross with a serpent crucified upon it, and the third a \nfountain in a desert, surrounded by creeping serpents. \n\n\n\n22 \n\n\n\nWITCU, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nWho, think you, was the author of this mysterious \nvolume ? No less illustrious a person than Abraham \nthe patriarch, Hebrew, prince, philosopher, priest, \nLevite, and magian, who, as it was written in Latin, \nmust have miraculously acquired his foreknowledge \nof a tongue which, in his time, had no existence. A \nperusal of its mystic pages convinced Flamel that \nhe had had the good fortune to discover a complete \nmanual on the art of transmutation of metals, in \nwhich all the necessary vessels were indicated, and \nthe processes described. But there was one serious \ndifficulty to be overcome: the book assumed, as a \nmatter of course, that the student was already in \npossession of that all-important agent of transmuta- \ntion, the philosopher's stone. \n\nCareful study led Flamel to the conclusion that the \nsecret of the stone was hidden in certain allegorical \ndrawings on the fourth and fifth leaves ; but, then, to \ndecipher these was beyond his powers. He sub- \nmitted them to all the learned savants and alchemical \nadepts he could get hold of : they proved to be no \nwiser than himself, while some of them actually \nlaughed at Abraham's posthumous publication as \nworthless gibberish. Flamel, however, clung fast to \nhis conviction of the inestimable value of his ' find,' \nand daily pondered over the two cryptic illustrationB, \nwhich may thus be described : On the first page of \nthe fourth leaf Mercury was contending with a figure, \nwhich might be either Saturn or Time \u2014 probably the \nlatter, as he carried on his head the emblematical \nhour-glass, and in his hand the not less emblematical \n\n\n\nINTttODUCTIO.V. \n\n\n\n23 \n\n\n\nacythe. On the second stage a flower upon a moun- \ntain-top presented the unusual combination of a blue \nstalk, with red and white blossoms, and leaves of \npure gold The wind appeared to blow it about very \nharshly, and a gruesome company of dragons and \ngriflins encompassed it. \n\nUpon the study of these provokingly obscure \ndesigns Flamel fruitlessly expended the leisure time \nof thrice seven years : after which, oa the advice of \nhis wife, he repaired to Spain to seek the assistance of \nsome erudite Jewish rabbi. He had been wandering \nfrom place to place for a couple of years, when he \nmet, somewhere in Leon, a learned Hebrew phyt-ician, \nnamed Cancbes, who agreed to return with him to \nParis, and there examine Abraham's volume. \nCanches was deeply versed in all the lore of the \nCabala, and Flamel hung with delight on the words \nof wisdom that dropped from his eloquent lips. But \nat Orleans Canches was taken ill with a malady of \nwhich he died, and Plamel found his way home, a \nsadder, if not a wiser, man. He resumed his study \nof the book, but for two more years could get no clue \nto its meaning. In the third year, recalling some \ndeliverance of his departed friend, the rabbi, he per- \nceived that all his experiments had hitherto proceeded \nupon erroneous principles. He repeated them upon \na different basis, and in a few months brought them \nto a successful issue. On January 13, 1382, he con- \nverted mercury into silver, and on April 25 into \ngold. Well might he cry in triumph, ' Eureka !' \nThe great secret, the sublime magistery was his : he \n\n\n\n24 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nhad discovered the art of transmuting metals into \ngold and silver, and, so long as he kept it to himself, \nhad at his command the source of inexhaustible \nwealth. \n\nAt this time Nicholas Flamel, it is said, was about \neighty years old. His admirers assert that he also \ndiscovered the elixir of immortal life; Imt, as he died \nin 14J9, at the age (it is alleged) of 116, he must \nhave been content with the merest sip of it 1 Why \ndid he not reveal its ingredients for the general benefit \nof our afflicted humanity ? His immense wealth he \nbequeathed to churches and hospitals, thus making a \nbetter use of it after death than he had made of it in \nhis lifetime. For it is said that Flamel was a usurer, \nand that his philosopher's stone was ' cent per cent.' \nIt is true enough that he dabbled in alchemy, and pro- \nbably he made his alchemical experiments usefiil in \nconnection with his usurious transactions. \n\n\n\nBOOK I. \n\n\n\nTHE ENGLISH MAGICIANS \n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] ROGER BACON. 27 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER L \n\nROGER BACON: THE TRUE AND THE LEGENDARY, \n\nIt was in the early years of the fourteenth century \nthat the two pseudo- sciences of alchemy and astrology, \nthe supposititious sisters of chemistry and astronomy, \nmade their way into England. At first their pro- \ngress was by no means so rapid as it had been on the \nContinent; for in England, as yet, there was no \neducated class prepared to give their leisure to the \nwork of experimental investigation. A solitary \nscholar here and there lighted his torch at the altar- \nfire which the Continental philosophers kept burning \nwith so much diligence and curiosity, and was \ngenerally rewarded for his heterodox enthusiasm by \nthe persecution of the Church and the prejudice of \nthe vulgar. But by degrees the new sciences in- \ncreased the number of their adherents, and the more \nactive intellects of the time embraced the theory \nof astral influences, and were fascinated by the delu- \nsion of the philosopher's stone. Many a secret \nfurnace blazed day and night with the charmed \nflames which were to resolve the metals into their \noriginal elements, and place the pale student in \n\n\n\n28 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK t \n\npossession of the coveted magistenum, or ' universal \nmedicine.' At length the alchemists became a suffi- \nciently numerous and important body to draw the \nattention of the Government, which regarded their \nproceedings with suspicion, from a fear that the , \nresult might injuriously affect the coinage. In 1434 \nthe Legislature enacted that the making of gold or \nsilver should be treated as a felony. But the Parlia- \nment was influenced by a very different motive from \nthat of the King and his Council, its patriotic fears \nbeing awakened lest the Executive, enabled by the \nnew science to incrense without limit the pecuniary \nresources of the Crown, should be rendered inde- \npendent of Parliamentary control. \n\nIn the course of a few years, however, broader and I \nmore enlightened views prevailed ; and it came to \nbe acknowledged that scientific research ought to \nbe relieved from legislative interference. In 1455 \nHenry VI. issued four patents in succession to certain \nknights, London citizens, chemists, monks, mass- \npriests, and others, granting them leave and license \nto undertake the discovery nf the philosopher's stone, \n' to the great benefit of the realm, and the enabling \nthe King to pay all the debts of the Crown in real \ngold and silver.' On the remarkable fact that these \npatents were issued to ecclesiastics as well as laymen, \nPrynne afterwards remarked, with true theological \nacridity, that they were so included because they \nwere ' such good artists in transubstantiating bread \nand wine in the Eucharist, and were, therefore, the \nmore likely to be able to effect the transmutation of \n\n\n\nCHAP, l] \n\n\n\nROGER BACON. \n\n\n\n29 \n\n\n\nbase metals into better.' Nothing came of the \npatents. The practical common-sense of Englishmen \nnever took very kindly to the alchemical delusion, \nand Chaucer very faithfully describes the contempt \nwith which it was generally regarded. Enthusiasts \nthere were, no doubt, who 6rmly believed in it. and \nknaves who made a profit out of it, and dupes who \nwere preyed upon by the knaves ; and bo it languished \non through the sixteentli and seventeenth centuries. \nIt seems at one time to have amused the shrewd \nintellect of Queen Elizabeth, and at another to have \ncaught the volatile fancy of the second ViUiers, Duke \nof Buckingham. But alchemy was, in the main, the \nmodus Vivendi of quacks and cheats, of such im- \npostors as Ben Jonson has drawn so powerfully in his \ngreat comedy \u2014 a Subtle, a Face, and a Doll Common, \nwho, in the Sir Epicure Mammons of the time, found \ntheir appropriate victims. These creatures played \non the greed and credulity of their dupes with suc- \ncessful audacity, and excited their imaginations by \nextravagant promises. Thus, Ben Jonson's hero runs \nriot with glowing anticipations of what the alchemical \nma/}iiiterium can effect. \n\n' Do you think I fablo with you I I assure you, \nHe that has once the flower of the Bun, \nThe perfect ruby, which we call Elixir, \nNot only can do that, but, by its virtue, \nCan confer honour, love, respect, long life ; \nGive safety, valour, yes, and victory. \nTo whom he will. In eight-and- twenty days \nrit matce an old man of fourscore a child. . . . \n\nTib the secret \nOf nature naturized 'gainst all infections. \n\n\n\n30 WITCH, WAHLOCK, AND MAQICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nCures all diseases coming of all causes ; \n\nA month's grief in a day, a year's in twelve, \n\nAnd of what age soever in a month.' \nThe EDjrlish alchemists, however, with a few ex- \nceptions, depended for a livelihood chiefly on their ' \nsale of mag^c charms, love-philters, and even more \ndangerous potions, and on horoscope- casting, and \nfortune-telling by the hand or by cards. They acted, \nalso, as agents in many a dark intrigue and unlawful \nproject, heing generally at the disposal of the highest \nbidder, and seldom shrinking from any crime. \n\nThe earliest name of note on the roll of the English \nmagicians, necromancers and alchemists is that of \n\nROGER BACON. \n\nThis great man has some claim to be considered the \nEither of experimental philosophy, since it was he \u2022 \nwho first laid down the principles upon which phy- \neical investigation should be conducted. Speaking \nof science, he says, in language far in advance of his \ntimes : ' There are two modes of knomng \u2014 by argu- \nment and by experiment. Argument winds up a \nquestion, but does not lead us to acquiesce in, or feel \ncertain of, the contemplation of truth, unless the \ntruth be proved and con6rmed by experience.' To \nExperimental Science he ascribed three differentiating \ncharacters : ' First, she tests by experiment the grand \nconclusions of all other sciences. Next, she discovers, \nwith reference to the ideas connected with other \nsciences, splendid truths, to which these sciences \nwithout assistance are unable to attain. Her third \nprerogative is, that, unaided by the other sciences, \n\n\n\nCHAP. I,] \n\n\n\nROGER BACON. \n\n\n\n31 \n\n\n\nI aod of herself, she can investigate the secrets of \n\n\\ nature.' These truths, now accepted as trite and \nself-evident, ranked, in Roger Bacon's day, as novel \nand important discoveries. \n\nHe was born at Ilchester, in Somersetshire, in 1214. \n\n* Of his lineage, parentage, and early education we \nknow nothing, except that he must have been very \nyoung when he went to Oxford, for he took orders \nthere before he was twenty. Joining the Franciscan \n\nI brotherhood, he appHed himself to the study of \nGreek, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic : but his genius \n\nI chiefly inclined towards the pursuit of the natural \nsciences, in which he obtained such a mastery that \nhis contemporaries accorded to him the flattering \ntitle of ' The Admirable Doctor.' His lectures \ngathered round him a crowd of admiring disciples ; \nuntil the boldness of their speculations aroused the \nsuspicion of the ecclesiastical authorities, and in 1257 \nthey were prohibited by the General of his Order. \n\nI Then Pope Innocent IV. interfered, interdicting him \nfrom the publication of his writings, and placing him \nunder close supervision. He remained in tliis state \nof tutelage until Clement IV., a man of more liberal \nviews, assumed the triple tiara, who not only released \nhim from his irksome restraints, but desired him to \ncompose a treatise on the sciences. This was the origin \nof Bacon's ' Opus Majus,' ' Opus Minus ' and ' Opus \nTertius,' which he completed in a year and a half, and \ndespatched to Rome. In 1267 he was allowed to \nreturn to Oxford, where he wrote his ' Compendium \nStudii PhilosophiiE.' His vigorous advocacy of new \n\n\n\n32 WITCH, WARLOCK. AXD MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nmethods of scientific inve:^tigation, or, perhaps, his \nunsparing exposure of the ignorance and vices of the \nmonks and the clergy, again brought down upon him \nthe heavy arm of the ecclesiastical tyranny. Hia \nworks were condemned by the General of his Order, \nand in 1278, during the pontificate of Nicholas III., \nhe was thro^vn into prison, where he was detained for \nseveral years. It is said that he was not released \nuntil 1292, the year in which he published his latest \nproduction, the ' Compendium Studii Theologiie.' \nTwo years afterwards he died. \n\nIn many respects Bacon was greatly in advance of \nhis contemporaries, but his general repute Ignores hia \nreal and important services to philosophy, and builds \nup a glittering fabric upon mechanical discoveries and \ninventions to which, it is to be feared, he cannot lay \nclaim. As Professor Adamson puts it, he certainly \ndescribes a method of constructing a telescope, but \nnot so as to justify the conclusion that he himself \nwas in possession of that instrument. The invention \nof gunpowder has been attributed to him on the \nstrength of a passage in one of his works, which, if \nfairly interpreted, disposes at once of the pretension ; \nbesides, it was already known to the Arabs. Burning- \nglasses were in common use ; and there is no proof \nthat he made spectacles, altliough he was probably \nacquainted with the principle of their construction. \nIt is not to be denied, liowever, that in his interesting \ntreatise on ' The Secrets of Nature and Art,'* he ex- \n\n* Epiatola Fratris Rogerii Daconia de Secretts Operilms Artia et \nNatune et de Nulliut\u00ab Magie. \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\nROGER BACON. \n\n\n\n33 \n\n\n\nhibite every sign of a far-seeing and lively intelligence, \nand foreshadows the possibility of some of our great \nmodern inventions. But, like ao many master-minds \nof the ^liddle Ages, he was imable wholly to resist \nthe fascinations of alchemy and astrology. He believed \nI that various parts of the human body were influenced \nby the stars, and that the mind was thus stimulated \nto particular acts, without any relaxation or inter- \nruption of free will. His * Mirror of Alchemy,' of \nwhich a translation into French was executed by ' a \nGentleman of Dauphin^,' and printed in L507, abso- \nlutely bristles with crude and unfounded theories \u2014 as, \nfor instance, that Nature, in the formation of metallic \nveins, tends constantly to the production of gold, but \nis impeded hy various accidents, and in this way \ncreates metals in which impurities mingle with the \nfundamental substances. The mitin elements, he says, \nare quicksilver and sulphur ; and from these all \nmetals and minerals are compounded. Gold he de- \nscribes as a perfect metal, produced from a pure, \nfixed, clear, and red quicksilver; and from a sulphur \nalso pure, fixed, and red, not incandescent and un- \nalloyed. Iron is unclean and imperfect, because \nengendered of a quicksilver which is impure, too \nmuch congealed, earthy, incandescent, white and red, \nand of a similar variety of sulphur. The 'stone,' or \nsubstance, by which the transmutation of the imper- \nfect into the perfect metals was to be eff'ected must be \nmade, in the main, he said, of sulphur and mercury. \n\nIt is not easy to determine how soon an atmosphere \nof legend gathered around the figure of 'the Admirable \n\n3 \n\n\n\n34 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L I \n\nDoctor ;' but undoubtedly it originated quite as much \nin his astrological errors as in bis scientific experi- \nments. Some of the myths of which he is the tradi- \ntional hero belong to a very much earlier period, as, for \ninstance, that of his Brazen Head, which appears in the \nold romance of ' Valentine and Orson,' as well as in \nthe history of Albertus Magnus. Gower, too, in his \n' Confessio Amantis,' relates bow a Brazen Head was \nfiibricated by Bishop Grosseteste. It was customary \nin those days to ascribe all kinds of marvels to men \nwho obtained a repute for exceptional learning, and \nBishop Grosseteste's Brazen Head was as purely a \nfiction as Roger Bacon's. This is Gower's account \n' For of tile greti clerk Grosteat \n\nI rede how busy that he was \n\nUpon the clergie a^n head of brass \n\nTo forge ; and make it fortelle \n\nOf such^ thiDgts aa befelle. \n\nAod seven ycrhs besiDease \n\nHe laid^, but for the lach^aae* \n\nOf half a minute of an hour . . . \n\nHe lost^ all that he hadde do.' \nStow tells a story of a Head of Clay, made at \nOxford in the reign of Edward II,, which, at an \nappointed time, spoke the mysterious words, ' Caput \ndecidetur \u2014 caput elevabitur. Pedes elevabuntur supra \ncaput' Returning to Roger Bacon's supposed in- \nvention, we find an ingenious though improbable \nexplanation suggested by Sir Thomas Browne, in his \n' ^'ulgar Errors ' : \n\n' Every one,' he says, ' is filled with the Btory of Friar Bacon, \nthat made a Brazen Head to speak these words, \" TivM is.\" \n\u2022 Laches, ovcraight. \n\n\n\n^ \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nI.] HOGEK BACON. 3d \n\nWhich, though there went not the like relations, is surely too \nliterally received, and waa but a, mystical fa^ble coDcerning the \nphilosopher's great work, wherein he eminently laboured : imply- \ning no more by the copper head, than the vessel wherein it waa \nwrought ; and by the words it apake, than the opportimity to be \nwatched, about the tempiis orl'is, or birth of the magical child, or \n\" phili>30phic8l King\" of Lnlliua, the rising of the \"terra foliata\" \nof Anioldiia ; when the earth, sufficiently impregnated with tha \nwater, ascendeth white and splendent. Which not observed, the \nwork ia irrecoverably lost. . . . Now letting slip the critical \nopportunity, he missed the intended treasure : which had he \nobtained, he might have made out the tradition of making a \nhrazen wall about England : that is, the most powerful defence or \nstrongest fortification which gold could have effected.' \n\nAn interpretation of the popular myth which is \nabout a3 ingenious and far-fetched as Lord Bacon's \nexpositions of the ' Fables of the Ancients,' of which \nit may be said that they poasess every merit but that \nof probability ! \n\nBacon's Brazen Head, however, took hold of the \npopular fancy. It survived for centuries, and the \nallusions to it in our literature are sufficiently \nnumerous. Cob, in Ben Jonson's comedy of ' Every \nMan in hia Humour,' exclaims : ' Oh, an my house \nwere the Brazen Head now! 'Faith, it would e'en \nspeak Mo' fools yet !' And we read in Greene's ' Tu \n\nQuoque ' : \n\n' Look to yourself, sir ; \nThe brazen head has spoke, and I must hare you.' \n\nLord Bacon used it happily in his ' Apology to the \nQueen,' when Elizabeth would have punished the \nEarl of Essex for his misconduct in Ireland : \u2014 \n' Whereunto I said (to the end utterly to divert her), \n\" Madam, if you will have me speak to you in this \n\n\n\n36 WITCn, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\nargument, I must speak to you as Friar Bacon's head \nspake, that said 6rst, ' Time is,' and then, ' Time u-as, \nand ' Time would never be,' for certainly \" (said I) \" it \nis now far too late ; the matter is cold, and hath \ntaken too much wind.\" ' Butler introduces it in his \n'Hudibrae': \u2014 'Quoth he, \"My head's not made of \nbrass, as Friar Bacon's noddle was.\" ' And Pope, in \n' The Dunciad,' writes : \u2014 ' Bacon trembled for his \nbrazen head.' A William Terite, in 1604, gave to \nthe world some verse, entitled ' A Piece of Friar \nBacon's Brazen-head's Prophecie.' And, in our own \ntime, William Blackworth Praed has written ' The \nChaunt of the Brazen Head,' which, in his prose \nmotto, he (in the person of Friar Bacon) addresses \nas ' the brazen companion of his solitary hours.' \n\n'the famous HISTORIE OF FHIAB BACON.' \n\nTowards the end of the sixteenth century, the \nvarious legends which had taken Friar Bacon as their \ncentral figure were brought together in a connected \nform, and wrought, along with other stories of magic \nand sorcery, into a continuous narrative, which \nbecame immensely popular. It was entitled, ' The \nFamous Historic of Friar Bacon : Conteyning the \nWonderful Thinges that he Did in his Life ; also the \nManner of his Death ; with the Lives and Deaths of \nthe Two Conjurers, Bungye and Vandermast,' and haa \nbeen reprinted by Mr. Thorns, in his ' Early English \nRomances.' \n\nAccording to this entertaining authority, the Friar \nwas ' bom in the West part of England, and was \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nI \n\nI \n\n\n\nCHAP, L] HISTORY OF FRIAR BACON. 37 \n\nBonne to a wealthy farmer, who put him to the schoole \nto the parson of the towne where he was borne ; not \nwith intent that hee should turne fryer (as hee did), \nbut to get so much understanding, that he might \nmanage the better the wealth hee was to leave him. \nBut young Bacon took his learning so fast, that the \npriest could not teach him any more, which made him \ndesire his master that he would speake to his father \nto put him to Oxford, that he might not lose that \nlittle learning that he had gained. . , . The father \naffected to doubt his son's capacity, and designed him \nstilt to follow the same calling as himself; but the \nstudent had no inclination to drive fat oxen or consort \nwith unlettered hinds, and stole away to \"a cloister\" \nsome twenty miles off, where the monks cordially \nwelcomed him. Continuing the pursuit of knowledge \nwith great avidity, he attained to such repute that the \nauthorities of Oxford University invited him to repair \nthither. He accepted the invitation, and grew so \nexcellent in the secrets of Art and Nature, that not \nEngland only, but all Christendom, admired him.' \n\nThere, in the seclusion of his cell, he made the \nBrazen Head on which rests his legendary fame. \n\n'Beading one day of the mnay conquests of England, he \nbethought iitmselfe how he might keepe it hereafter from the \nlike conquests, and so make himstjlfe famous hereafter to all \npoateritiea. Thia, after great study, hee found could he no way \nBO well done as one ; which was to make a head of braaae, and if \nhe could make this head to eppake, and heare it when it speakes, \nthen might hee be able to wall all England about with braase.* \n\n* This patriotic sentiment would seem to show that the book \n8 written or published about the time of the Spanish Armada. \n\n\n\n38 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAUICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\nTo this purpose he got one Fryer Buogey to assist him, who was \na {jrcat scholar and & magician, but not to bee compared to \nFryer Bacoa : these two with great study and painea bo framed a \nhead of brasse, that in the inward parts thereof there was all \nthings like us in a naturall man's head, Thra being done, they \nwere as farre from perfection of the worke as tliey were before, \nfor they knew not how to give those parts that they had made \nmotion, without which it was imposHble that it should speake : \nmany bookes they read, but yet coulde not finde out any hope of \nwhat they sought, that at the last they concluded to raise a spirit, \nand to know of him that which they cotilde not attaine to by \ntheir owne studies. To do this they prepared all things ready, \nand went one evening to a wood thereby, and after many cere- \nmonies used, they spake the words of conjuration ; which the \nDevi!] straight obeyed, and appeared unto them, asking what \nihey would 1 \" Know,\" said Fryer Bacon, \" that wee have made \nan artiliciall head of brasse, which we would have to speake, to \nthe furtherance of which wee have raised thee ; and being I'aised, \nwee will here keepo thee, unlesse thou tell to us the way and \nmanner how to make this head to spcaka\" The Devill told him \nthat he had not that power of himselfe. \" Beginner of lyes,\" said \nFryer Bacon, \" I know that thou dost dissemble, and therefore \ntell it ua quickly, or else wee will here bind thee to remaine \nduring our pleasures.\" At these threatenings the Devill con- \nsented to doe it, and told them, that with a continual fume of \nthe six hottest simples it should have motion, and in one month \nspace speak ; the time of the moneth or day hee knew not : also \nhee told them, that if they heard ib not before it had done speak- \ning, all their labour should he lost. They being satisfied, licensed \nths spirit for to depart. \n\n'Then went these two learned fryers home agaiut-, and pre- \npared the simples ready, and made the fume, and with continuall \nwatching attended when this Brazen Head would speake. Thus \nwatched they for three weekes without any rest, so that they were \n80 weary and sleepy that they could not any longer retraine from \nrest. Then called Fryer Bacon his man Miles, and told him that \nit was not unknown to him what poines Fryer Bungey and \nhimselfe had taken for three weekes space, onely to make and to \nheare the Brazen Head speake, which if they did not, then had \nthey lost all their labour, and all England had a great lossa \nthereby ; therefore hee intreated Miles that he would watch \n\n\n\nCHAP. 1.] HISTORY OF FKIAK BACON. 39 \n\nwhilst that they slept, and call them if the head speake. \" Fear \nnot, good master,\" said Miles, \" I will not sleepe, but barken and \nattend upon the head, and if it doe chance to Bpeake, I will call \nyou ; therefore I pray take yon both your rests and let mee alone \nfor watching this head.\" After Fryer Bacon had given hina a \ngreat charge the second time, Fryer Bungey and he went to \nsleepe, and Miles was lefte alone to watch the Brazen Head. \nMiles, to keepe him from sleeping, got a tabor and pipe, and \nbeing merry disposed, with his owne musicke kept from sleeping \nat last, After some noyae the head spaVe these two words, \n\"Time is.\" Miles, hearing it to speake no more, thought his \nmaster would be angry if hee waked him for that, and therefore \nhe let them both sleepe, and began to raocke the head in this \nmanner i \" Thou brazen-faced Head, hath my master tooke all \nthese paines about thee, and now dost thou reijuite him with two \nwords. Time is) Had hee watched with a lawyer so long as \nhee bath watched with thee, he wuuld have given him more and \nbetter words than thou hast yet. If thou canst speake no wiaen \nthey shal sleepe till doomes day for me : Time IS ! I know Time \nis, and that you shall heare, Goodman Bra/enface. \n' \" Time is for some to eate. \n\nTime is for some to sleepe. \nTime is for some to laugh. \nTime is f-jr some to weepe. \n' \" Time is for some to sing, \nTime is for some to pray. \nTime is for some to creepe. \n\nThat have drunken all the day, \n'\"Do yoQ tell us, copper-nose, when Time isl I hope we \nBchollers know our times, when to drink drunkc, when to kiss \nour hostess, when to goe on her score, and when to pay it \u2014 that \ntime comes seldome.\" After halfe an boure had passed, the \nHead did speake againe, two words, which were these, \"Time \nWAS.\" Miles respected these words as little as he did the former, \nand woidd not wake them, but still scoffed at the Brazen Head \nthat it bad learned no bettor words, and have such a tutor as his \nmaster ; and in scorne of it sung this song ; \n' \" Time was when thou, a kettle, \nwert tilled with better matter ; \nBut Fryer Bacon did thee spoyle \nwhen be thy sides did batter. \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\n\n\n' \"Time was when conacience dwelled \nwith men of occupation ; \nTime was when lawyers did not thrive \nso well by men's vexation. \n' \" Time was when kings and beggars \nof one poore stuff had being ; \nTime was when office kept no knaves- \u25a0 \nthat time it was worth seeing. \n' \" Time was a bowle of water \ndid give the face reflection ; \nTime was when women knew no paint, \nwhich now they call complexion. \n\n' \" Time was ! I know that, brazen-face, without your tolling ; \nI know Time was, and I know what things there was when Time \nwas ; and if you speake no wiser, no master shall be waked for \nmee.\" Thus Miles talked and sung till another halfe-houre was \ngone : then the Brazen Head spake again these words, \"Time IS \nPAST;\" and therewith fell downe, and presently followed a \nterrible noyse, with strange flashes of fire, so that Miles was halfe \ndead with feare. At this noyso the two Fryers awaked, and \nwondred to see the whole roome so full of smoake ; but that \nbeing vanished, they might perceive the Brazen Head broken \nand lying on the ground. At this sight they grieved, and called \nMUes to know how this came. Miles, halfe dead with feare, \nsaid that it fell doune of itselfe, and that with the noyse and fire \nthat followed he was almost frighted out of his wita. Fryer Bacon \nasked him if hee did not speake 1 \" Yes,\" quoth Miles, \" it spake, \nbut to no purpose : I!e have a parret speake better in that time \nthat you have been teaching this Brazen Head.\" \n\n' \" Out on thee, villaine !\" said Fryer Bacon ; \" thon hast undone \nUS both : hadst thou but called us when it did speake, all England \nhad been walled round about with brasse, to its glory and our \neternal fames. What were the words it spake 1\" \" Very few,\" \nsaid Miles, \" and those were none of the wisest that I have heard \nneither. First he said, ' Time is.' \" \" Hadst thou called us then,\" \nsaid Fryer Bacon, \" we had been made for ever,\" \" Then,\" said \nMiles, \" half-an-hour after it spake againe, and said, ' Time was.' \" \n\"And wouldst thou not call us then!\" said Bungey. \" Alas 1' \nsaid Miles, \" I thought hee would have told me some long tale, \nand then 1 purposed to have called you : then half-an-houre after \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\n\n\nHISTORY OF FRIAR BACON. \n\n\n\n41 \n\n\n\nbe cried, ' TlUE I3 past,' and made such a ooyse that hee hath \nwaked you himselfe, ineo thinkea.\" At this Fryer Bacon was in \nsuch a rage that hee would have beaten liis man, but he waa \nrestrained by Bungey : bat nevertheksse, for his punishment, he \nwith hia art struck him dumbe for one whole month's spoaa. \nThus the greate worke of these learned fryers waa overthrown, to \ntheir great griefes, by this simple feUow.' \n\nThe historian goes on to relate many instances of \nFriar Bacon's thaiimaturgical powers. He captures \na town which the king had hesieged for three months \nwithout success. He puts to shame a German con- \njuror named Vandermast, and he performs wonders \nin love affairs ; but at length a fatal result to one of \nhis magical e.\\ploits induces him to break to pieces \nhis wonderful glass and doff his conjurer's robe. \nThen, receiving intelligence of the deaths of Vander- \nmast and Friar liungey, he falls into a deep grief, \nBO that for three days he refuses to j)artake of food, \nand keeps his chamber. \n\n' In the time that Fryer Bacon kept his Chamber, hee fell into \ndivers meditations ; sometimes into the vanity of Arts and \nSciences ; then would he coiidemne himselfe for studying of \nthose things that were so contrary to hia Order aoules health ; \nand would say, That magicke made a man a Devill : sometimes \nwould hee meditate on divinity; then would hee cry out upon \nhimselfe for neglecting the study of it, and for studying magicke : \nsometime would he mtdiiate on the shortnesse of maua lift, then \nwould he condemue himselfe fur sjiending a time so short, so ill as \nbe bad done his : so would he gue from one thing to another, and \nin all condemne his funuer studies.' \n\n' And that the world should know how truly he did repent his \nwicked life, he caused to be made a great fire ; and sending fur \nmany of his friends, schullers, and others, he spake to them after \nthis manner : My good fiiends and fellow students, it is not \nunknown to you, how that through ray Art I have attained to \nthat credit, that few men living ever had : of the wonders that I \n\n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\nhave (lone, all England can speak, both King and Ci \nhave unlocked the BBcrett of Art and Nature, and lot the world \nBee those things that have laycn hid since the death of Herroea,* \nthat rare and profound philosopher : my studies have fonnd the \nsecrets of the Starres ; the bookes that I have made of them do \nserve for precedents ti> our greatest Doctors, so excellent hath my \njudgment been therein. I likewise have found out the secrets of \nTrees, Plants, and Stones, with their several uses : yet all Ihia \nknowledge of mine I estpeme so lightly, that I wish that I were \nignorant and knew nothing, for the knowledge of these things (as \nI have tmly found) serveth not to better a man in goodnesae, but \nonely to make him proude and thinke too well of himeelfe. What \nhath all my knowledge of Nature's secrets gained rao 1 Onely \nthis, the loase of a better knowledge, the losse of Divine Studies, \nwhich makes the immortal part of man (his soule) blessed. I have \nfound that my knowledge has hecne a heavy burden, and has kept \ndowne my good thoughts ; but I will remove the cause, which are \nthese Bookes, which I doe purpose here before you all to bume. \nThey all intreated him to spare the bookes, because in them there \nwore those things that after-ages might receive great benefit by. \nHe would not hearken unto them, hut threw them all into the \nSre, and in that flame burnt the greatest learning in the world. \nThen did he dispose of all his goods ; some part he gave to poor \nscliollers, and some he gave to other poore folkes : nothing left he \nfor himselfe : then caused hee to be made in the Church-Wall a \nCell, where he locked himselfe in, and there remained till his \nDeath. Hia time hee spent in prayer, meditation, and such Divine \nexercises, and did seeke by all means to perswade men from the \nstudy of Magicke. Thus lived hee some two years space in that \n\n\u2022 Hermes Trismcgistus ('thrice great'), a fabulous Chaldean \nphilosopher, to whom I have already made referenco. The \nnumerous writings which bear his name were really composed by \nthe Egyptian Platonists ; but the mediaeval alchemists pretend to \nrecognise in him the founder of their art. Gower, in his ' Con- \nfessio Amantis,' says : \n\n' Of whom if I the nam^s calle, \nHermes was one the first of alle, \nTo whom this Art is most applied.' \nThe name of Hermes was chosen because of the supposed magical \npowers of the god of the caduceus. \n\n\n\nCHAP, r.] HIdTORY OF FRIAR BACON. 43 \n\nCell, never comming forth : his meat and drink he received in at \nIt window, and at that window he had discourse with those that \ncame to him ; hia grave he digged with his owue nayles, and was \nthere layed when he dyed. Thus was the Life and Doath of this \nfamous Fryer, who lived most part of his life a Magician, and \ndyed a true Penitent Sinner and Anchorite,' \n\nUpon this popular romance Greene, one of the best \nof the second-class Elizabethan dramatists, founded \nhis rattling comedy, entitled ' The Historye of Fryer \nBacon and Fryer Bungay,' which was written, it \nwould seem, in 1589, first acted about lo92, and \npublished in 1594. He does not servilely follow the \nold story-book, but introduces an under-plot of his \nown, in which is shown the love of Prince Edward \nfor Margaret, the ' Fair Maid of Fressingfield,' whom \nthe Prince finally surrenders to the man she loves, \nhis favourite and friend, Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. \n\nGreene's comedy. \n\nIn Scene L, which takes place near Framlingliam, \nin Suffolk, we find Prince Edward eloquently expa- \ntiating on the charms of the Fair Maid to an audience \nof his courtiers, one of whom advises him, if he would \nprove successful in his suit, to seek the assistance of \nFriar Bacon, a 'brave necromancer,\" who 'can make \nwomen of devils, and juggle cats into coster- \nmongers.'* The Prince acts upon this advice. \n\nScene H. introduces us to Friar Bacon's cell at \n\nBrasenose College, Oxford (an obvious anachronism, \n\nas the college was not founded until long after Bacon's \n\ntime). Enter Bacon and his poor scholar, Miles, \n\n* That is, costard, or apple, mongers. \n\n\n\nI kabitare libros in \nis to dwell among \n\n\n\ne suspect, \n\n\n\n44 WITCH, WAKLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\nwith books under his arm ; also three doctors of \nOxford : Burden, MasoD, and Clement. \n\nBacon. Miles, where are you 1 \n\nMiles. Hie sum, dodimme el reverendisdim Dodor. (Here I am, \nmost learned and reverend Doctor.) \n\nBacon. Ailvliali twslros libros meos de necromanlia f (Hast thou \nbrought my hooka of necromancy t) \n\nMiles. \u00a3cee quam Itonum el qvam jucundun \nununi / (See how good and how pleasant it \nhooka together !) \n\nBacon. Now, masters of our academic state \nThat rule in Oxford, viceroys in your place. \nWhose heads contain maps of the liberal arts, \nSpending your time in depths of IcarnM skill, \nWhy flock you thus to Bacon's secret cell, \nA friar newly stalled in Brazen-nosel \nSay what's your mind, that I may make reply. \n\nBurden. Bacon, we hear that long i \nThat thou art read in Magic's mystery \nIn pyromancy,* to divine by flames ; \nTo tell by hydromaucy, ebbs and tides ; \nBy aeromancy to discover doubts, \u2014 \nTo plain out questions, as Apollo did. \n\nBacon. Well, Master Burden, what of all this 1 \nMilks. Marry, sir, he doth but fulfil, by rehearsing \nnames, the fable of the ' Fox and the Grapes' i that \nabove us pertains nothing to us. \n\nBurd. I tell thee. Bacon, Oxford makes report, \nNay, England, and the Court of Henry says \nThou'rt making of a Brazen Head by art, \nWhich shall unfold strange doubts and aphoriBms, \nAnd read a lecture in philosophy : \nAnd, by the help of devils and ghastly flends, \nThou mean'st, ere many years or days be past, \nTo compass England with a wall of brass. \nBacon. And what of this J \n\nMiles. What of this, master ! why, he doth sjwak mystically ; \nfor he knows, if your skill fail to make a Brazen Head, yet \n\n* See Appendix to the present chapter, p. 5S. \n\n\n\nof tbesa ^^^1 \nwhich ia ^^^H \n\n\n\nCHAP, l] Greene's comedy. 45 \n\nMaB'\u00abr Waters' strong ale will fit hia time to make him have a \ncopper nose. . . . \n\nBacon. Seeing you come aa friends unto the friar, \nEeaolve you, doctors, Bacon can by books \nMake storming Boreas thunder from hts cave. \nAnd dim fair Luna to a dark eclipse. \nThe great arch-ruler, potentate of hell, \nTumbles when Bacon bids him, or hie fiends \nBow to the force of his pentageron.*, . . \nI have contrived and framed a head of brass \n(I made Belcephon hammer out the stuff), \nAnd that by art shall read philosophy : \nAnd I will strengthen England by my skill. \nThat if ton Ccesara lived and reigned in Rome, \nWith all the legions Europe doth contain, \nThey should not touch a grass of English ground : \nThe work that Ninus reared at Babylon, \nThe brazen walla framed by Semiramis, \nCarved out like to the portal of the sun, \nShall not be such as rings the English strand \nFrom Dover to the market-place of Rye. \n\nIn this patriotic resolution of the potent friar the \nreader will trace the influence of the national enthu- \nsiasm awakened, only a few years before Greene's \ncomedy was written and produced, by the menace of \nthe Spanish Armada. \n\nIt is unnecessary to quote the remainder of this \nBcene, in which Bacon proves his magical skill at \nthe expense of the jealous Burden. Scene III. \npasses at Harleston Fair, and introduces Lacy, Earl \nof Lincoln, disguised as a rustic, and the comely \n\n\u2022 The pentageron, or pentagramma, is a mystic figure pro- \nduced by prolonging the sides of a regular pentagon till they \nintersect one another. It can be drawn without a break in the \ndrawing, and, viewed from five sides, exhibits the form of the \nletter A (penb-alpha), or the figure of the fifth \nEuclid's First Book. \n\n\n\n\ntr M \n\n\n\n>ne lorm oi me ^k \n\n\n\n46 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAUICIiN. [BOOK t \n\n\n\nMargaret. In Scene IV., at Hampton Court, Henry IIL \nreceives Elinor of Castile, who is betrothed to his son, \nPrince Edward, and arranges with her father, the \nEiii]>eror, a competition between the great German \nmagician, Jaques Vandermast, and Friar Bacon, ' Eng- \nland's only flower.' In Scene V. we pass on to \nOxford, where some comic incidents occur between \nPrince Edward (in disguise) and his courtiers ; and \nin Scene VI. to Friar Bacon's cell, where the friar \nshows the Prince in his 'glass prospective,' or magic \nmirror, the figures of Margaret, Friar Bungay, and \nEarl Lacy, and reveals the progress of Lacy's suit to \nthe rustic beauty. Bacon summons Bungay to Ox- \nford \u2014 straddling on a devil's back \u2014 and the scene \nthen changes to the Regent-house, and degenerates \ninto the rudest farce. At Fressingfield, in Scene VIIL, \nwe tind Prince Edward threatening to slay Earl Lacy \nunless he gives up to him the Fair Maid of Fressing- \nfield ; but, after a struggle, his better nature prevails, \nand he retires from his suit, leaving Margaret to \nbecome the Countess of Lincoln. Scene IX. carries \nus back to Oxford, where Henry IIL, the Emperor, \nand a goodly company have assembled to witness the \ntrial of skill between the English and the German \nmagicians \u2014 the first international competition on \nrecord ! \u2014 in which, of course, Vandermast is put to \nridicule. \n\nPassing over Scene X. as unimportant, we return, \nin Scene XL, to Bacon's cell, where the great magician \nis lying on his bed, with a white wand in one hand, a \nbook in the other, and beside him a lighted lamp. \n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] GREENES COMEDY. 47 \n\nThe Brazen Head is there, with Miles, armed, keeping \nwatch over it. Here the dramatist closely follows \nthe old story. The firiar falls asleep; the head speaks \nonce and twice, and ililes fails to wake his master. \nIt speaks the third time. ' A lightning flashes forth, \nand a hand appears that breaks down the head with a \nhammer.' Bacon awakes to lament over the ruin of \nhis work, and load the careless Miles with unavailing \nreproaches. But the whole scene is characteristic \nenough to merit transcription : \n\nScene XL\u2014 Friar Boom's CeU. \nFriak Bacon w dincortreS Iging on a bed, with a whilt \nslick in (mf hand, a book in lite other, and a lamp lighted \nbeside htm ; and the Brazen Head, and Miles wUh \nweapons hf him. \n\nBacon. Miles, where are you I \n\nMiles. Here, sir. \n\nBacon. How chance you tarry so long 1 \n\nMiles. Think you that the watching of the Brazen Head craves \nno furniture 1 I warrant yoa, air, I have so armed myself that if \nall your devils come. 1 will not fear them an inch. \n\nBacon. Miles, \nThou know'st that I have dived into hell, \nAnd sought the darkest palaces of fiends ; \nThat with my magic spells great Belcephon \nHath left his lodge and kneeled at my coll ; \nThe rafters of the earth rent from the poles, \nAnd three-fonn'ii Luna hid her silver looks, \nTumbling upon her concave continent, \nWhen Bikcoti read upon his magic book. \nWith seven years' tossing necromantic charms. \nPoring upon dark Hecat'a principles. \nI have framed out a monstrous head of brass, \nThat, by the enchanting forces of the devil, \nShall teil out strange and um-outh aphorisms, \nAnd girt fair England with a wall of brass. \nBungay and I have watch'd these threescore days, \n\n\n\n48 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nAnd now our vital spirits crave some rest : \n\nIf Argus lived and had his hundred eyes, \n\nThey could not over-watch Phobetor's* night \n\nNow, Miles, in thee rests Friar Bacon's weal : \n\nThe honour and renown of all his life \n\nHangs in the watching of this Brazen Head ; \n\nTherefore I charge thee by the immortal God \n\nThat holds the souls of men within his fist, \n\nThis night thou watch ; for ere the morning star \n\nSends out his glorious glister on the north \n\nThe Head will speak. Then, Miles, upon thy life \n\nWake me ; for then by magic art I'll work \n\nTo end my seven years' task with excellence. \n\nIf that n wink but shut thy watchful eye, \n\nThen farewell Bacon's glory and his fame ! \n\nDraw close the curtains, Miles : now, for thy life, \n\nBe watchful, and . . . (Falls asleep.) \n\nMiles. So ; I thought you would talk yourself asleep anon ; \nand 'tis no marvel, for Bungay on the days, and he on the nights, \nhave watched just these ten and fifty days : now this is the night, \nand 'tis my task, and no more. Now, Jesus bless me, what a \ngoodly head it is ! and a nose ! You talk of Nos\\ aviem glori- \nJUare ; but here's a nose that I warrant may be called Nos aviem \npopidare for the people of the parish. Well, I am furnished with \nweapons : now, sir, I will set me down by a post, and make it aa \ngood as a watchman to wake me, if I chance to slumber. I \nthought, Goodman Head, I would call you out of your m\u00abn*nto.J \nPassion o' God, I have almost bruke ray pate! {A great noise.) \nUp, Miles, to your task ; take your brown-hill in your hand ; \nhere's some of your master's hobgoblins abroad. \n\nThe Brazen Head {sjieakt:). Time is. \n\nMiLra. Time is ! Why. Master Brazen-Head, you have such a \ncapital nose, and answer you with syllables, ' Time is '1 Is this \nmy master's cunning, to spend seven years' study about 'Time \nis \"t Well, sir, it may be we shall have some better orations \n\n\u2022 From the Greek if^Sof, fear ; tpoSiirpa, bugbears. \n\nt Bad puns were evidently common on the stage before the \ndays of Victorian burlesque. \n\nI So Shakespeare, ' 1 Hen. IV.,' ill Falstaff says : ' I make as \ngood use of it as many a man doth of a death's head, or a memento \nhouse.' \n\n\n\nI CHAP. I.] \n\n\n\nGREENES COMEDY. \n\n\n\n49 \n\n\n\n' of it anoQ : well, I'll watch you as narrowly as ever you were \nwatched, and I'll play w-itli you as the nightingale with the glow- \nworm ; I'll Bet a prick against my breaaL* Now rest there, \nMiles. Lord have mercy upon me, I have almost killed myself. \n(A greai noise.) Up, Miles ; hat how they rumble. \n\nThe Braze-v Head {loquilur). Time was. \n\nMiles. Well, Friar Bacon, you have spent your seven years' \nstudy well, that can make your Head speak but two words at \nonce, ' Time waa.' Yea, marry, time was when my master was a \nwise man ; but that was before ho began to make the Brazen \nHead. You shall lie while you ache, an your head speak no \nbetter. Well, I will watch, and walk up and down, and be a \nperipatetiani and a philosopher of Aristotle's stamp. {A great \ntunae.) What, a fresh noise I Take thy pistols in hand, MUea. \n{A lightning flashes forth, and a Sand appears tlial breaks doton the \nHead with a hammer.) Master, master, up ! Hell's broken loose ! \nYour Head speaks ; and there's such a thunder and lightning, \nthat I warrant all Osford is up in arms. Out of your bed, and \n' take a brownbill in your hand ; the latter day is come. \n\nBacon. Miles, I come. (Rises aiui comes forward.) \n\n0, passing warily watched ! \nBacon will make thee next himself in love. \nWhen spake the Head 1 \n\nMiles. When spake the Head 1 Did you not say that he \nshould tell strange principles of philosophy 1 Why, sir, it speaks \nhut two words at a time. \n\nBacon. Why, villain, hath it spoken ol^ 1 \n\nMills. Oft ! ay, marry hath it, thrice ; but in all those three \ntimes it hath uttered but seven words. \n\nBacon. As how I \n\nMiles. Marry, sir, the fii'st time he sajd, 'Time is,' as if Fabiua \nGommentatar:^ should have pronounced a sentence ; then he said, \n\n\u2022 So in the ' Passionate Pilgrim ': \n\n' Save the nightingale alone : \nShe, poor bird, as all forlorn. \nLeaned her breast uptill a thorn.' \nt A peripatetic, or walking philosopher. Observe the facetioua- \nnesB in 'Aristotle's slamp.' Aristotle was the founder of the \nPeripatetics. \n\nI FabiuB Cvmdator, or the Delayer, so called from the policy of \ndelay which he opposed to the vigorous movementa of Hannibal. \n\n4 \n\n\n\n50 WITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\n' Time was ;' and the third time, with thunder and lightning, \nin great cholor, he aaid, ' Time is past' \n\nBacon. 'Tis piist, indeed. Ah, villain ! Time is past ; \nMy life, my fame, my s^\"Ty, are all past. \nBacon, \n\nThe turrets of thy hope are ruined down, \nThy seven years' study Ueth in the dust : \nThy Brazen Head lies broken through a slave \nThat watched, and would not when the Head did will. \nWhat said the Head Rrst ? \n\nMiles. Even, sir, 'Time is,' \n\nBacon. Villain, if thou hadst called to Bacon then. \nIf thou hadet watched, aod waked the sleepy friar, \nThe Brazen Head had uttered aphorisms, \nAnd England had been circled round with brass : \nBut proud Aatnonoth,* ruler of the North, \nAnd Demogorgon,t master of the Fates, \nGrudge that a mortal mau should work so much. \nHell trembled at my deep-commanding spells, \nFiends frowned to see a man their over-match ; \nBacon might boast more than a man might boast ; \nBut now the braves! of Bacon have an end. \n\nOne would suppose that the humour here, such as it is, would \nhardly be perceptible to a theatrical audienca \n\n* In the old German ' Faustbuch,' the title of ' Prince of the \nNorth ' is given to Beelzebub. \n\nt Detnogorgon, or Dcmiourgos \u2014 the creative principle of evil \u2014 \nfigures largely in literature. He is first mentioned by Lactantitis, \nin the fourth century ; then by Boccaccio, Boiardo, Tasso (' Gieru- \nsalemme Liberata '), and Ariosto (' Orlando Furioso '). Marlowe \nSpeaks, in ' Tambiirlaine,' of ' Gorgou, prince of HelL' Spenser, \nin ' The Faery Queen,' refers to \u2014 \n\n' Great Gorgon, prince of darkupss and dead night. \nAt which CocytUB quakes, and Styx is put to flight.' \nMiltou, in ' Paradise Lost,' alludes to ' the dreaded name of \nDemogorgon.\" Dryden says : ' When the moon arises, and \nDemogorgon walks his round.' And he is one of the dramatis \npersona: of Shelley's ' Prometheus Unbound ': ' Demogorgon, a \ntremendous gloom. ... A mighty Darkness, filling the seat of \npower.' \n\n\\ Boasts. So in Peelo's 'Edward I.': 'As thou to England \nbrought'st thy Scottish braves.' \n\n\n\nCHAP. 1 \n\n\n\nGREENES COMEDY. \n\n\n\n51 \n\n\n\nEurope's conceit of Bacon hath an end, \nHis seven years' practice sorteth to ill end : \nAnd, villain, sith my glory liatb an end, \nI will appoint thee to some fatal end.* \nVillain, avoid ! get thee from Bacon's sight I \nVagrant, go, roam and range about the world, \nAnd perish aa a vagabond on earth I \n\nMiLBS. Why, than, air, you forbid me your service J \n\nBacon. Wy service, villain, with a. fatal curse, \nThat direful plagues and mischief fall on thee. \n\nMilks. Tis no matter, 1 am against you with the old proverb, \n' The more the fox is cursed, the better he fares.\" God be with \nyou, sir : I'll take but a book in my hand, a wide-sleeved gown \non my back, and a crowned capt on my head, and see if I can \nmerit promotion. \n\nBacon. Some fiend or gliost haunt on thy weary steps. \nUntil they do transport thee quick to Hell ! \nFor Bacon shall have never any day, \nTo lose the fame nod honour of his Head. \n\n[Exeunt. \n\nScene XIL passes in King Heniy's Court, and the \nroyal consent is given to Earl Lacy's marriage with \nthe Fair Maid, which is fixed to take place on the \nsame day as Prince Edward's marriage to the Princess \nElinor. In Scene XIII. we again go back to Bacon's \ncell. The friar is bewailing the destruction of his \nBrazen Head to Friar Bungay, when two young gentle- \nmen, named Lambert and Sealsby, enter, in order to \nlook into the 'glass prospective,' and see how their \nfathers are faring. Unhappily, at this very moment, \nthe elder Lambert and Sealsby, having quarrelled, are \nengaged 'in combat hard by Fressingfield,' and stab \neach other to the death, whereupon their sons imme- \n\n* This reiteration of the same final word, for the sake of \nemphasis, is found in Shakespeare. \nt A comer or college cap. \n\n\n\n52 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \\ \n\ndiately come to blows, with a like fatal result. Bacon, \ndeeply affected, breaks the magic crystal which has \nbeen the unwitting cause of so sad a catastrophe, \nexpresses his regret that he ever dabbled in the un- \nholy science, and announces his resolve to spend the \nremainder of his life ' in pure devotion.' \n. At Fressingfieid, in Scene XIV., the opportune \narrival of Lacy and his friends prevents Margaret \nfrom carrying out her intention of retiring to the \nnunnery at Framlingham, and with obliging readiness \nshe consents to marry the Earl. Scene XV. shifts to \nBacon's cell, where a devil complains that the friar \nhath raised him from the darkest deep to search about \nthe world for Miles, liis man, and torment him in \npunishment for his neglect of orders. \n\nMiles makes his appearance, and after some comic \ndialogue, intended to tickle the ears of the ground- \nlings, mounts astride the demon's back, and goes off \n\nto ! In Scene XVI., and last, we return to the \n\nCourt, where royalty makes a splendid show, and the \ntwo brides \u2014 the Princess Elinor and the Countess \nMargaret \u2014 display their rival charms. Of course the \nredoubtable friar is present, and in his concluding \nspeech leaps over a couple of centuries to make a \nglowing compliment to Queen Elizabeth, which seems \nworth quotation : \n\n' I find by deep preBcieoce of mine art, \nWhich once I tempered in my secret cell. \nThat here where Brute did build his Troynovant,* \n\n* An alluaion to the old legend that Brut, or Brutus, great- \ngrandson of .^neaa, founded New Troy (Troynovant), or \nLondon. \n\n\n\nCHAP, l] GREENES COMEDY. \n\nFrom forth the royal garden of a King \n\nShall flourish out so rich and fair a bud, \n\nWhoao brightness shall deface proud Phtebus' flower, \n\nAnd overshadow Albion with her leaves. \n\nTill then Mars shall be master of the field, \n\nBut then the stormy threats of war shall ceaae : \n\nThe horse shall stamp as careless of the pike, \n\nDrums shall be turned to timbrels of delight ; \n\nWith wealthy favours Plenty shall enrich \n\nThe strand that gladded wandering Brute to see. \n\nAnd peace from heaven shall harbour in these leaves \n\nThat gorgeous beautify this matchless flower : \n\nApollo's heliotropian* then shall stoop. \n\nAnd Venus' hyacinlht shall vail her top ; \n\nJuno shall shut her gilliflowers up, \n\nAnd Pallas' bay shall 'bash her brightest green ; \n\nCeres' carnation, in consort with those. \n\nShall stoop and wonder at Diana's rose. { \n\nSo much for Greene's comedy of 'Friar Bacon and \nFriar Bungay' \u2014 not, on the whole, a bad piece of \nwork. \n\nAmong the earlier English alchemists I may next \nname, in chronological order, George Ripley, canon \nof Bridlington, who, in 1471, dedicated to King Ed- \nward III. his once celebrated ' Compound of Alchemy ; \nor. The Twelve Gates leading to the Discovery of the \nPhilosopher's Stone.' These 'gates,' each of which \nhe describes in detail, but with little enlightenment to \nthe uninitiated reader, are : \u2014 1. Calcination; 2. Solu- \ntion ; 3. Separation ; 4. Conjunction ; 5. Putrefac- \n\n\u2666 Probably the reference is to the sunflower, \n\nt The classic writers usually identify the hyacinth with \nApollo. \n\nX The rose, that is, of the Virgin Queen \u2014 an English Diana \u2014 \nElizabeth. In Shakespeare's ' Midsummer Night's Dream' (Act iv., \nscene 1) ve read of ' Diana's bud.' \n\n\n\n54 \n\n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, \n\n\n\ntion ; 6. Congelation : 7. Cibation ; 8. Sublimation ; \n9. Fermentation; 10. Exaltation ; 11. Multiplication ; \nand 12. Projection. In his old age Ripley learned \nwisdom, and frankly acknowledged that he had wasted \nhie life upon an empty pursuit. He requested all \nmen, if they met with any of the tive-and -twenty \ntreatises of which he was the author, to consign them \nto the flames as absolutely vain and worthless. \n\nYet there is a wild story that he actually discovered \nthe 'magisterium,' and was thereby enabled to send a \ngift of \u00a3100.000 to the Knights of St. John, to assist \nthem in their defence of Rhodes against the Turks. \n\n\n\nd \n\n\n\nThomas Norton, of Bristol, was the author of ' The \nOrdinall of Alchemy' (printed in London in 16.52). \nHe is said to have been u pupil of Ripley, under \nwhom (at the age of 28) he studied for forty days, \nand in that short time acquired a thorough know- \nledge of 'the perfection of chemistry.' Ripley, how- \never, refused to instruct so j'oung a man in the \nmaster-secret of the great science, and the process \nfrom ' the white ' to ' the red powder.' so that Norton \nwas compelled to rely on his own skill and industry, \nTwice in his labours a sad disappointment overtook \nhim. On one occasion he had almost completed the \ntincture, wdien the servant whom he employed to \nlook after the furnace decamped with it, supposing \nthat it was fit for use. On another it was stolen by \nthe wife of William Canning, Mayor of Bristol, who \nimmediately sprang into immense wealth, and as some \namends, I suppose, for his ill-gotten gains, built the \n\n\n\nCBAP. I.] THOMAS DALTON. 03 \n\nbeautiful steeple of the church of St. Mary, Kedcliffe \n\u2014 the church afterwards connected with the sad story \nof (Jhatterton. As for Norton, he seems to have lived \nin poverty and died in poverty (1477). \n\nThe ' Ordinall of Alchemy ' is a tedious panegyric \nof the science, interspersed with a good deal of the \nvague talk about white and red atones and the philo- \nsophical magnesia in which ' the adepts ' delighted. \n\nTo Norton we owe our scanty knowledge of Thomas \nDalton, who flourished rtl)out the middle of the \nfifteenth century. He had the reputation of being a \ndevout Churchman until he was accused by a certain \nDebois of possessing the ]iowder of projection, Debois \nroundly asserted tliat Norton had made him a thousand \npounds of gold (lucky man ! ) in less than twelve hours. \nWhereupon Dahon simply said, ' Sir, you are for- \nBworn.' His explanation was that he had received \nthe powder from a canon of Lichiield, on undertaking \nnot to use it until after the canon's death ; and that \nsince he had been so troubled by his possession of it, \nthat he had secretly destroyed it. One Thomas Her- \nbert, a squire of King Kdward, waylaid the unfortu- \nnate man, and shut him up in the castle of Gloucester, \nputting heavy pressure upon him to make the coveted \ntincture. But this Dalton would not and could not \ndo ; and after a captivity of four years, Herbert \nordered him to be brought out and executed in his \npresence. He obeyed the harsh summons with great \ndelight, exclaiming, 'Blessed art Thou, Lord Jesus! \nI have been too long absent from Thee, The science \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\n56 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L'l \n\nThou gavest me I have kept without ever abusing it ; \nI have found no one fit to be my heir ; wherefore, j \nsweet Lord, I will restore Thy gift to Thee again.' \n\n' Then, after some devout prayer, with a smiling \ncountenance he desired the executioner to proceed. \nTears gushed from the eyes of Herbert when he \nbeheld him so willing to die, and saw that no \ningenuity could wrest his secret from him. He gave \norders for his release. His imprisonment and threat- \nened execution were contrived without the King's \nknowledge to intimidate him into compliance. The \niniquitous devices having failed, Herbert did not dare \nto take away his life. Dalton rose from the block i \nwith a heavy countenance, and returned to his abbey, I \nmuch grieved at the further prolongation of his \nearthly sojourn. Herbert died shortly after this \natrocious act of tyranny, and Debois also came to an \nuntimely end. His father, Sir John Deboie, was slain I \nat the battle of Tewkesbury, May' 4, 1471 ; and two \ndays after, as recorded in Stow's \"Annales,\" he himself \n(James Debois) was taken, with several others of the \nLancastrian party, from a church where they bad fled \nfor sanctuary, and was beheaded on the spot.' \n\n\n\nAPPENDIX TO CHAPTEE I. \n\nThe ancient ma^c included various kinds of divinaliou, of \nvhicli the principal may here be catalogued : \n\nAeromanty, or divination from the air. If the wind blew from \nthe east, it signified good fortune (which is certainly not the \ngeneral opinion 1)^ from the west, evil; from the south, calamity; \nfrom the north, diecloeure of what was secret ; from ail quarters \nsimultaueonsly (!), hail and rain. \n\n\n\nAPPENDIX TO CHAPTER I. \n\n\n\n57 \n\n\n\nAxinomanci/i practised by the Greeks, more particularly for the \npurpose of discovering erimtnala. An axe jiaJsed upon a stake, or \nan agate on a red-hot axe, wa^ supposed by its movement to \nindicate the offender. Or the nameE of euspected persons were \ncalled out, and the movement of the axe at a particular name was \nunderstood to certify guilt. \n\nBdinnancy, in use among the Arabs, was practised by means of \naiTDWB, which were shot otf, with written labels attached to them; \nand the inscription on the arrow first picked up was accepted us \nprophetic \n\nBibilomaiwy, divining by means of the Bible, survived to a \ncomparatively recent period. The passage which first caught the \nQye, on a Bible being opened haphazard, was supposed to indi- \ncate the future. This was identical with the Sorles Virgiliaiue, \nthe only difference being that in the latter, Virgil took the \nplace of the Bible. Everybody knows in connection with the \nSortes the story of Charles L and Lord Falkland. \n\nBolammanru, divining by means of plants and flowers, can \nhardly be said to be extinct even now. In Goethe's ' Fauel,' \nGretclien seeks to discover whether Faust returns her affection \nby plucking, one after another, the petals of a star-flower {sleritr \nbltttne, perhaps the china-aster), while she utters the alternate \nrefrains, ' He loves me !' ' He loves mo not !' as she plucks the \nlast petal, exclaiming rapturously, ' He loves me !' According to \nTheocritus, the Greeks used the poppy-flower for this purpose. \n\nCuprwmancy, divination by smoke, the ancients practised in two \nways : they threw seeds of jasmine or poppy in the fire, watching \nthe motion and density of the smoke they emitted, or they \nobserved the saciiticial smoke. If the smoke was thin, and shot \nup in a straight line, it was a good omea \n\nCheirouiancy (or Palmistry), divination by the hand, was worked \nup into an elaborate system by Paracelsus, Cardan, and others. \nIt has long been practised by the gipsies, by itinerant fortune-tellers, \nand other cheats ; und recently an attempt has been made to \ngive it a fashionable character. \n\nC'oscinotnancff was practised by means of a sieve and a pair of \nshears or forceps. The forceps or shears were used to suspend a \nsieve, which moved (like the axe in axinomancy) whan the name \nof a guilty person was mentioned. \n\nCryniallomancy, divining by means of a crystal globe, mirror, or \nberyl Of this science of prediction, Dr. Dee was the great \n\n\n\nas \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAHLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\n\n\nEnglish profeaaor ; but the reader will doubtless remember the \nstory of the Earl of Surrey and his fair ' Geraldine.' \n\nGemnaiicij, divination by casting pebbles on the ground. \n\nJlydTfimancy, divination by water, in which the diviner showed \nthe figure of an absent person. ' In this you conjure the spirits \ninto water; there they are constrained to show IheniBelves, as \nMarcus Varro testifieth, when he writeth liow he had seen a boy \n!d the water, who announced to him in a hundred and fifty versea \nthe end of the Mithridatic war.' \n\nOneiroiiia-ncff, divination by dreams, is still credited by old \nwomen of both sexes. Absurdly baseless as it is, it found be- \nlievers in the old time among men of culture and intellectual \n(orce. Archbishop Laud attached so much importance to his \ndreams that he frequently recorded them in bis diary ; and even \nLord Bacon seems to have thought that a prophetic meaning \nwas occasionally concealed in them. \n\nOnycliiimancy, or Onymancy, divination by means of the nails of \nBD unpolluted boy. \n\nPyromancy, divination by lire. ' The wife of Cicero is said, \nwhen, after performing sacrifice, she saw a flame suddenly leap \nforth from the ashes, to have prophefied the conatilship to her \nhusband for the same year.' Othei-s resorted to the blaze of a \ntorch of pitch, which was painted with certain colours. It was a \ngood omen if the flame ran into a jKiint ; bad when it divided. \nA thin-tongued flame announced glory ; if it went out, it signified \ndanger ; if it hissed, misfortune. \n\nRahdomaitcij, divination by the rod or wand, is mentioned by \nEzekiel. The use of a hazel-rod to trace the existence of water \nor of a seam of coal seems a survival of this practice. But \nenough of these follies : \n\n\u25a0 Necro-, pj'ro-, geo-, hydro-, cheiro-, coscinomancy, \nWith oUier vau and superstitious sciences.' \n\nTomkis, ' Albumazar,' ii, 3. \n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF DR. JOHN DEE. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. \n\n\n\nTHE STORT OF DR. JOUN DEE. \n\n\n\nThe world must always feel curious to know the \nexact moment when its great men first drew the \nbreath of life ; and it is satisfactory, therefore, to be \nable to state, on the weighty authority of Dr. Thomas \nSmith, that Dr. John Dee, the famous magician and \n'philosopher,' was born at forty minutes past four \no'clock on the morning of July 13, 1527. Accord- \ning to the picturesque practice of latter-day biographers, \nhere I ought to describe a glorious summer sunrise, \nthe golden light spreading over hill and jwsture, the \nbland warm air stealing into the chamber where lay \nthe mother and her infant ; but I forbear, as, for all I \nknow, this particular July morning may have been \ncloudy, cold, and wet ; be.'-ides, John, the son of \nRowland Dee, was bom in London. From like want \nof information I refrain from comments on Master \nDee's early bringing-up and education. But it is re- \nported that he gave proof of so exceptional a capacity, \nand of such a love of letters, that, at the early age of \nfifteen, he was sent to the University of Cambridge, to \nstudy the classics and the old scholastic philosophy. \n\n\n\n60 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\nThere, for three yeart\", he was so vehemently bent, he ] \nsays, on the acquisition of learning, that he spent ' \neighteen hours a day on his books, reserving two only \nfor his meals and recreation, and four for sleep \u2014 an \nunhealthy division of time, which probably over- \nstimulated his cerebral system and predisposed him to \ndelusions and caprices of the imagination. Having \ntaken his degree of B.A., he crossed the seas in 1547 \n' to speak and confer ' with certain learned men, chiefly \nmathematicians, such as Gemma Frisius, Gerardus \nMercator, Gaspar a Morica, and Antonius Gogara ; of \nwhom the only one now remembered is Mercator, as \nthe inventor of a method of laying down hydro- \ngraphical charts, in which the parallels and meridians \nintersect each other at right angles. After spending \nsome months in the Low Countries he returned home, \nbringing with him 'the first astronomer's staff of \nbrass that was made of Gemma Frisius' devising, the \ntwo great globes of Gerardus Mercator's making, and \nthe astronomer's ring of brass {as Gemma Frisius had \nnewly framed it).' \n\nReturning to the classic shades of Granta, he began \nto record his observations of ' the heavenly influences \nin this elemental portion of the world ;' and I suppose \nit was in recognition of his scientific scholarship that \nHenry VIII. appointed him to a fellowship at Trinity \nCollege, and Greek under-reader. In the latter \ncapacity he superintended, in 1548, the performance \nof the 'E(f.i)vi) of Aristophanes, introducing among \n'the effects' an artificial scaraliteus, which ascended, \nwith a man and his wallet of provisions on its back, \n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF DR. JOHN DEE. \n\n\n\n61 \n\n\n\nto Jupiter's palace. This ingenious bit of mechanism \ndelighted the spectators, but, after the manner of the \ntime, was ascribed to Dee's occultiam, and he found it \nconvenient to retire to the Continent (l-\">-i8), residing \nfor awhile at Louvain, and devoting himself to hermetic \nresearches, and afterwards at Paris (1580), where he \ndelivered scientific lectures to large and distinguished \naudiences. ' My auditory in Rhemes CoUeilge,' he \nsays, ' was so great, and the most part older than my \nselfe, that the mathematicall schooles could not hold \nthem ; for many were faine, without the schooles, at \nthe windowes, to be auditors and spectators, as they \nbeat could help themselves thereto. I did also dictate \nupon every proposition, beside the first exposition. \nAnd by the first foure principal! definitions represent- \ning to the eyes (which by imagination onely are \nexactly to be conceived), a greater wonder arose among \nthe beholders, than of my Aristophanes ScarabEeus \nmounting up to the top of Trinity-hall in Cambridge.' \nThe accomplishments of this brilliant scientific \nmountebank being noised abroad over all Europe, the \nwonderful story reached the remote Court of the \nMuscovite, who offered him, if he would take up his \nresidence at Moscow, a stipend of \u00a32,0(*(J per annum, \nhis diet also to be allowed to him free out of ' the \nEmperor's own kitchen, and his place to be ranked \namongst the highest sort of the nobility there, and of \nhis privy councillars/ Was ever scholar so tempted \nbefore or since ? In those times, the Russian Court \nseems to have field savants and scholars in as \nmuch esteem as nowadays it holds primu-ilonnns and \n\n\n\n62 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\nballermes. Dee also received advantageous proposals \nfrom four successive Emperors of Germany (Charles V., \nFerdinand, Maximilian II., and Rudolph IL), but the \nMuscovite's outbade them all. A residence in the \nheart of Russia had no attraction, however, for the \nOxford scholar, who, in 15.51, returned to England \nwith a halo of fame playing round his bead (to speak \nfiguratively, as Dee himself loved to do), which \nrecommended him to the celebrated Greek professor \nat Cambridge, Sir John Cheke. Cheke introduced \nhim to Mr. Secretary Cecil, as well as to Edward VI., \nwho bestowed ujxin him a pension of 100 crowns per \nannum (speedily exchanged, in 1553, for the Rectory \nof Upton- upon -Severn). At first he met with favour \nfrom Queen Mary ; but the close correspondence he \nmaintained with the Princess Elizabeth, who ap- \npreciated his multifarious acholarsbip, exposed him \nto suspicion, and he was accused of practising against \nthe Queen's life by divers enchantments. Arrested \nand imprisoned (at Hampton Court), he was subjected \nto rigorous examinations, and as no charge of treason \ncould be proved against him, was remitted to Bishop \nBonner as a possible heretic. But his enemies failed \nagain in their malicious intent, and in 1555 be received \nhis liberty. Imprisonment and suffering had not \nquenched his activity of temper, and almost imme- \ndiately upon his release he solicited the Queen's assent \nto a plan for the restoration and preservation of \ncertain precious manuscripts of classical antiquity. \nHe solicited in vain. \n\nWhen Elizabeth came to the throne, Dee, as a \n\n\n\nCHAP, n.] THE STURY OF DR. JOHN DEE. 63 \n\nproficient in the occult arts, was consulted by Dudley \n(afterwards Earl of Leicester) as to the most suit- \nable and auspicious day for her coronation. She \ntestified to her own belief in his skill by employing \nhim, when her image in wax had been discovered in \nLincoln's Inn Fields, to counteract the evil charm. \nBut he owed her favour, we may assume, much \nmore to his learning, which was really extensive, \nthan to his supposed magical powers. He tells us \nthat, shortly before her coronation, she summoned \nhim to Whitehall, remarking to his patrons, Dudley \nand the Earl of Pembroke. ' Where my brother hath \ngiven him a crown, I will give him a noble.' She \nwas certainly more liberal to Dee than to many of \nher servants who were much more deserving. In \nDecember, 1564, she granted him the reversion of \nthe Deanery of Gloucester. Not long afterwards \nhis friends recommended him for the Provostship of \nEton College. 'Favourable answers' were returned, \nbut he never received the Provostship. He ob- \ntained permission, however, to hold for ten years the \ntwo rectories of Upton and Long Ledenham. Later \nin her reign (July, 1583), when two great nobles \ninvited themselves to dine with liim, he was com- \npelled to decline the honour on account of his poverty. \nThe Queen, on being apprised of this incident, sent \nhim a present of forty angels of gold. We shall come \nupon other proofs of her generosity. \n\nDee was travelling on the Continent in 1571, and \non his way througli Lorraine was seized with a \ndangerous sickness ; whereupon the Queen not only \n\n\n\n64 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\n\n\nsent ' carefully and with great speed ' two of her \nphysicians, but also the honourable Lord Sidney \n' in a manner to tend on him,' and ' to discern how \nhis health bettered, and to comfort him from her \nMajesty with divers very pithy speeches and gracious, \nand also with divers rarities to eat, to increase his \nhealth and strength.' Philosophers and men of letters, \nwhen they are ailing, meet with no such pleasant \nattentions nowadays ! But the list of Elizabeth's \nbounties is not yet ended. The much -travelling \nscholar, who saw almost as much of cities and men \nand manners as Odysseus himself, had wandered \ninto the farthest parts of the kingdom of Bohemia ; \nand that no evil might come to him, or his com- \npanion, or thwr families, she sent them her most \nprincely and royal letters of safe-conduct. After \nhis return home, a little before Christmas, 1589, \nhearing that he was unable to keep house as liberally \nas became his position and repute, she promised to \nassist him with the gift of a hundred pounds, and \nonce or twice repeated the promise on his coming \ninto her presence, Fift}' pounds he did receive, \nwith which to keep his Christmas merrily, but what \nbecame of the other moiety he was never able to \ndiscover. A malignant influence frequently inter- \nposed, it would seem, between the Queen's benevolence \nin intention and her charity in action ; and the un- \nfortunate doctor was sometimes tantalized with \npromises of good things which failed to be realized. \nOn the whole, however, I do not think he had much \nto complain of; and the reproach of parsimony so \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] THE STORY OF DR. JOHN UEE. 65 \n\noften levelled at great Gloriana would certainly not \napply to her treatment of Dr. Dee. \n\nShe honoured him with several visits at Mortlake, \nwhere he had a pleasant house close by the river- \nside, and a little to the westward of the church \u2014 \nsurrounded by gardens and green fields, with bright \nprospects of the shining river. Elizabeth always \ncame down from Whitehall on horseback, attended \nby a brave retinue of courtiers ; and as she passed \nalong, her loyal subjects stood at their doors, or \nlined the roadside, making respectful bows and \ncurtseys, and crying, ' God save the Queen !' One \nof these royal visits was made on March 10, 1675, \nthe Queen desiring to see the doctor's famous \nlibrary ; but learning that he had buried his wife \nonly four houi's before, she refused to enter the \nhouse. Dee, however, submitted to her inspection \nhis raa^c crystal, or ' black stone,' and exhibited \nsome of its marvellous properties ; her Majesty, for \nthe better examination of the same, being taken down \nfrom her horse ' by the Earl of Leicester, by the \nChurch wall of Mortlack.' \n\nShe was at Dr. Dee's again on September 17, \n1580. This time she came from Richmond in her \neoach, a wonderfully cumbrous vehicle, drawn by \nsix horses ; 'and when she was against my garden \nin the fielde,' sa}'s the doctor, ' her Majestie staide \nthere a good while, and then came into the street at \nthe great gate of the field, where her Majestie \nespied me at my dore, making reverent and dutiful! \nobeysance unto her, and with her band her Majestie \n\n5 \n\n\n\n66 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L | \n\n\n\nbeckoned for me to come to her, and I came to her \ncoach side ; her Majestic then very speedily pulled \noff her glove, and gave me her hand to kiss ; and \nto be sliort, her Majestic wished me to resort \noftener to her Court, and by some of her Privy \nChamber to give her Majestic to wete (know) when I \ncame there.' \n\nAnother visit took place on October 10, 1580 : \u2014 \n' The Queenes Majestic to my great comfort {hord. \nquinta) came with her train from the Court, and at \nmy dore graciously calling me unto her, on horseback \nexhorted me briefly to take my mother's death \npatiently ; and withal told me, that the Lord \nTreasurer had greatly commended my doings for her \ntitle royall, which he had to examine. The which \ntitle in two rolls of velome parchment his Honour \nhad some houres before brought home, and delivered \nto Mr. Hudson for me to receive at my coming from \nray mother's buriall at church. Her Majestic re- \nmembered also then, how at my wives burial! it was \nher fortune likewise to call upon me at my house, as \nbefore is noted.' \n\nDee's library' \u2014 as libraries went then \u2014 was not \nunworthy of royal inspection. Its proud possessor \ncomputed it to be worth \u00a32,000, which, at the \npresent value of money, ivould be equal, I suppose, \nto \u00a310,000. It consisted of about 4,000 volumes, \nbound and unbound, a fourth part being MSS. He \n8])eak8 of four ' written books ' \u2014 one in Greek, two \nin French, and one in High Dutch \u2014 as having cost \nhim \u00a3533, and inquires triumphantly what must \n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF DR. JOHN DEE. \n\n\n\n67 \n\n\n\nhave been the value of some hundred of the best of \nall the other written books, some of which were the \nautoi/niphia of excellent and iseldom-heard-of authors ? \nHe adds tbat he spent upwards of forty years in \ncollecting this library from divers places beyond \nthe seas, and with much research and labour in \nEngland. \n\nOf the ' precious books ' thus collected, Dee does \nnot mention the titles ; but he has recorded the rare \nand exquisitely made ' instruments mathematical ' \nwhich belonged to him : An excellent, strong, and \nfair quadrant, first made by that famous Richard \nChancellor who boldly carried hia discovery-ships \npast the Icy Cape, and anchored them in the White \nSea. There was also an excellent radius astro- \nnomicus, of ten feet in length, the staff and cross \nvery curiously divided into equal parts, after Richard \nChancellor's quadrant manner. Item, two globes of \nMercator's best making : on tiie celestial sphere Dee, \nwith hia own band, had set down divers comets, \ntheir places and motions, according to his individual \nobservation. Item, divers other instruments, as \nthe theorie of the eighth sphere, the ninth and \ntenth, with an horizon and meridian of copper, made \nby Mercator specially for Dr. Dee. Item, sea-com- \npasses of different kinds. Item, a magnet-stone, \ncommonly called a loadstone, of great virtue. \nAlso an excellent watch-clock, made by one Dibhley, \n' a notable workman, long since dead,' by which the \ntime might sensibly be measured in the seconds of \nan hour \u2014 that is, not to fail the 360th part of an \n\n\n\n68 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [uoOK I, \n\nhour. AVe need not dwell upon his store of docu- \nmentB relating to Irish and Welsh estates, and of \nancient seals of arms ; bnt my curiosity, I confess, \nis somewhat stirred by his reference to ' a great \nbladder,' with about four pounds weight of ' a very \nsweetish thing,' like a brownish gum, in it, arti- \nficially prepared by thirty times purifying, which the \ndoctor valued at upwards of a hundred crowns. \n\n\n\nWhile engaged in learned studies and corre- \nspondence with learned men, Dee found time to \nindulge in those wild eemi- mystical, transcendental \nvisions which engaged the imagination of so many \nmediaeval students. The secret of 'the philosopher's \nstone ' led him into fascinating regions of specula- \ntion, and the ecstasies of Rosicrueianism dazzled him \nwith the idea of holding communication with the \ninhabitants of the other world. How far he was \nsincere in these pursuits, how far he imparted into \nthem a spirit of charlatanry, I think it is impossilile \nto determine. Perhaps one may venture to say \nthat, if to some small extent an impostor, he was, to \na much larger extent, a dupe ; that if he deceived \nothers, he also deceived himself ; nor is he, as \nbiography teaches, the only striking example of the \ncredulous enthusiast who mingles with bis enthu- \nsiasm, more or less unconsciously, a leaven of \nhypocrisy. As early as 1571 he complains, in the \npreface to bis ' English Euclid,' that he is jeered at \nby the populace as a conjurer. By degrees, it is \nevident, he begins to feel a pride in his magical \n\n\n\nCHAP. II,] THE STORY OF DK, JOHN DEE, \n\n\n\n69 \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nattainments. He records with the utmost gravity \nhis remarkable dreams, and endeavours to read the \nfuture by them. He insists, moreover, on strange \nnoises which he hears in his chamber. In those \n\u2022 days a favourite method of summoning the spirits \nwas to bring them into a glass or stone which had \nbeen prepared for the purpose ; and in his diary, \nunder the date of May 25, 1381, he records\u2014 for the \nfirst time \u2014 that he had held intercourse in this way \nwith supra- mundane beings. \n\nCombining with his hermetico-magical speculations \nreligious exercises of great fervour, he was thus en- \ngaged, one day in November, 1582, when suddenly \nupon his startled vision rose the angel Uriel ' at the \nwest window of hie laboratory,' and presented him \nwith a translucent stone, or crystal, of convex shape, \npossessing the wonderful property of introducing its \nowner to the closest possible communication with the \nworld of spirits. It was necessary at times that this \nso-called mirror should be turned in different posi- \ntions before the observer could secure the right focus; \nand then the spirits appeared on its surface, or in \ndifferent parts of the room by reason of its action. \nFurther, only one person, whom Dee calls the skryei; \nor seer, could discover the spirits, or hear and inter- \npret their voices, just as there can be but one medium, \nI believe, at a spiritualistic seance of the present day. \nBut, of course, it was requisite that, while the medium \nwas absorbed in his all-important task, some person \nshould be at hand to describe what he saw, or pro- \nfessed to see, and commit to paper what he heard, or \n\n\n\n70 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. J \n\n\n\nprofessed to hear ; and a seer with a lively imagina- \ntion and a fluent tongue could go very far in both I \ndirections. This humbler, secondary position Dee re- \nserved for himself. Probably his invention was not \nsufficiently fertile for the part of a medium, or else he \nwas too much in earnest to practise an intentional \ndeception. As the crystal showed him nothing, he \nhimself said bo, and looked about for someone more \nsympathetic, or less conscientious. His choice fell at \nfirst on a man named Barnabas Saul, and he records \nin his diary how, on October 9, 1581, this man 'was \nBtrangely troubled by a spiritual creature about mid- \nnight.' In a MS. prraerved in the British Museum, \nhe relates some practices which took place on \nDecember '2, beginning his account with this state- \nment : * I willed the skryer, named Saul, to looke into \nmy great crystalline globe, if God had sent his holy \nangel Azrael, or no.' But Saul was a fellow of small \naccount, with a very limited inventive faculty, and on \nMarch 6, 1582,he was obliged to confess 'that he neither \nheard nor saw any spiritual creature any more.' Dee \nand his inefficient, unintelligent skryer then quarrelled, \nand the latter was dismissed, leaving behind him an \nunsavoury reputation. \n\n\n\nEDWARD KELLY. \n\nSoon afterwards our magician made the acquaint- \nance of a certain Edward Kelly (or Talbot), who was \nin every way fitted for the mediumistic role. He was \nclever, plausible, impudent, unscrupulous, and a \nmost accomplished liar. A native of Worcester, \n\n\n\n:t.] \n\n\n\nEDWAHD KELLY. \n\n\n\n71 \n\n\n\nwhere he was born in 1555, he was bred up, accord- \ning to one account, as a druggist, according to \nanother as a lawyer; but all accounts agree that he \nbecame an adept in every kind of knavery. He was \npilloried, and lost his ears (or at least was condemned \nto lose them) at Lancaster, for the offence of coining, \nor for forgery ; afterwards retired to AVales, assumed \nthe name of Kelly, and practised as a conjurer and \nalchemist. A story is told of him which illustrates the \nman's unhesitating audacity, or, at all events, the \nnotoriety of his character: that he carried with him \none night into the park of Walton -le- Dale, near \nPreston, a man who thirsted after a knowledge of the \nfuture, and, when certain incantations had been com- \npleted, caused his servants to dig up a corpse, in- \nterred only the day before, that he might compel it to \nanswer his questions. \n\nHow he got introduced to Dr. Dee I do not profess \nto know; but I am certainly disinclined to accept the \nwonderful narrative which Jlr, Waite renders in so \nagreeable a style\u2014 that Kelly, during his Welsh \nsojourn, was shown an old manuscript which his \nlandlord, an innkeeper, had obtained under peculiar \ncircumstances. ' It had been discovered in the tomb \nof a bishop who had been buried in a neighbouring \nchurch, and whose tomb had been sacrilegiously up- \ntorn by some fanatics,' in the hope of securing the \ntreasures reported to be concealed within it. They \nfound nothing, however, but the aforesaid manuscript, \nand two small ivory bottles, respectively containing a \nponderous white and red powder. ' These pearls \n\n\n\n\u00bb \n\n\n\n72 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\nbeyond price were rejected by the pigs of apostasy : \none of them was shattered on the spot, and its \nruddy, celestine contents for the most part lost. The \nremnant, together with the remaining bottle and the \nunintelligible manuscript, were speedily disposed of \nto the innkeeper in exchange for a skinful of wine. \nThe innkeeper, in his turn, parted with them for one \npound sterling to Master Edward Kelly, who, \nlieving he had obtiiined a hermetic treasure, hastened \nto London to submit it to Dr. Dee. \n\nThis accomplished and daring knave was engaged \nby the credulous doctor us Lis skryer, at a salary of \n\u00a350 perannum, with 'board and lodging,' and all ex- \npenses paid. These were liberal tsrma ; but it must be \nadmitted that Kelly earned them. Now, indeed, the \ncrystal began to jut^tify its reputation ! Spirits \ncame as thick as blackberries, and voices as numerous \nas those of rumour ! Kelly's amazing fertility of \nfancy never failed his employer, upon whose confi- \ndence he established an extraordinary bold, by judici- \nously hinting doubts as to the propriety of the work \nhe had undertaken. How could a man be other than \ntrustworthy, when he frankly expressed his sus- \npicions of the malafiden of the spirits who responded \nto the summons of the crystal ? It was impossible \u2014 \n80 the doctor argued \u2014 that so candid a medium \ncould be an impostor, and while resenting the impu- \ntations cast upon the ' spiritual creatures,' he came to \nbelieve all the more strongly in the man who \nslandered them. The difference of opinion gave rise, \nof course, to an occasional quarrel. On one occasion \n\n\n\nEDWARD KELLY. \n\n\n\n73 \n\n\n\n^ April, 1582) Kelly specially provoked his em- \nployer by roundly asserting that the spirits were \ndemons sent to lure them to their destruction ; and \nby complaining that he was contineJ in Dee's house \nas in a prison, and that it would he better for him to \nbe near Cotsall Plain, where he might walk abroad \nwithout danger. \n\nSome time in 1583 a certain ' Lord Lasky,' that is, \nAlbert Laski or Alasco, prince or waiwode of Siradia \nin Poland, and a guest at Elizabeth's Court, made \nfrequent visits to Dee's house, and was admitted to \nthe spirit exhibitions of the crystal. It has been sug- \ngested that Kelly had conceived some ambitious pro- \njects, which he hoped to realize through the agency \nof this Polish noble, and that he made use of the \ncrystal to work upon his imagination. Thence- \nforward the spirits were continually hinting at great \nEuropean revolutions, and uttering vague predictions \nof some extraordinary good fortune whiuh was in pre- \nparation for Alasco. On May 28 Dee and Kelly \nwere sitting in the doctor's study, discussing the \nprince's affairs, when suddenly ap[)eared \u2014 perhaps it \nwas an optical trick of the ingenious Kelly \u2014 ' a \nspiritual creature, like a pretty girl of seven or nine \nyears of age, attired on her head, with her hair rowled \nup before, and hanging down very long beliind, with \na gown of soy, changeable green and red, and with a \ntrain ; she seemed to play up and down, and seemed \nto go in and out behind my books, lying in heaps ; \nand as she should ever go between them, the books \nseemed to give place sufficiently, dividing one heap \n\n\n\n74 \n\n\n\nWITCU, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK U. \n\n\n\nfrom the other while ahe passed between them. \nAnd BO I considered, and heard the diverse reports \nwhich E. K. made unto this pretty maid, and I said, \n\" Whose maiden are you ?\" ' Here follows the con- \nversation \u2014 inane and purposeless enough, and yet \ndeemed worthy of preservation by the credulous , \ndoctor : \n\n\n\nDOCTOR DliE's CONVERSATIOX Wmi THE BPIErTUAL CREATURE. \n\nShe. Whose man are you ) \n\nDee. I am th\u00ab servant of God, both by my bound duty, and \nalso (I hope) by His adoption. \n\nA Voice. Yoa shall be beaten if you tell. \n\nShk Au not I a fine maiden ! give me leave to play in your \nhouee ; my mother told me she would come and dwell here. \n\n{She loent up and dmtn iritk meet lieily geiiures of a young \ngirl playing by /lerself, anJ divers limes ajiother spoAa \nto hxr from Oie comer of my ^vdy by a greai perspective \nglasse, but twne was seen beside herself.) \n\nSua Shall I J I will (^Noa she seemed to answer me in the \nforesaid corner of my study.) I pray you let me tarry a little i \n(faking to we in the foresaid comer.) \n\nDee Tell me what you are. \n\nShe. I pray you let me play with you a little, and I will tell \nyoii who I am. \n\nDek In the name of Jeeua then, tell me. \n\nSue. 1 rejoice iu the name of Jesus, and I am a poor little \nmaiden ; I am the last but one of my mother's children ; I have \nlittle baby children at home. \n\nDee. Where ia your home 1 \n\nSue. I dare not tell you where I dwell, I shall be beaten. \n\nDee. You shall not be beaten for telling the truth to them that \nlove the truth ; to the Eternal Truth all creatures must be \nobedient \n\nShe. I warrant you I will be obedient ; my sisters say they \nmust all come and dwell with you. \n\nDee. I desire that they who love God should dwell with me, \nand I with them. \n\nShe. I love you now you talk of God. \n\n\n\nEDWARD KELLV. \n\n\n\n75 \n\n\n\nDek. Your eldest sister\u2014 her name is Esimfli. \n\nShk, My sister is not so short as you make her. \n\nDee. 0, 1 cry you mercy ! she is to be pronouDced EsimiU ! \n\nKelly. She smtleth; one calls her, Baying, Come away, \nmaiden. \n\nShe. I will read over my gentlewomen first ; my master Dee \nwill teach me if I say amiss. \n\nDZE. Read over yuur gentlewomen, as it pleaselh you. \n\nShe. I have gentlemen and gentlewomen ; look jou here. \n\nKelly. She bringeth a little book out of her pocket. She \npointeth to a picture in the book. \n\n8H\u00a3. Is not this a pretty man ? \n\nDee. What is his name I \n\nShe. My (mother) saith his name is Edward : look you, he \nbath a crown upon his head ; my mother saith that this man was \nDuke of York. \n\n\n\nAnd 80 on. \n\nThe question here suggests itself. Was this passage \nof nonsense Dr. Dee's own invention ? And has he \ncompiled it for the deception of posterity ? I do not \nbelieve it. It is my firm conviction that he recorded \nin perfect good faith \u2014 though I own my opinion is \nnot very complimentary to his intelligence \u2014 the ex- \ntravagant rigmarole dictated to him by the arch- \nknave Kelly, who, very possibly, added to his many \ningenuities some skill in the practices of the ventrilo- \nquist. No great amount of artifice can have been \nnecessary for successfully deceiving so admirable a \nBubject for deception as the credulous Dee. It is \nprobable that Dee may sometimes have susj>ected he \nwas being imposed upon ; but we may be sure he \nwas verj' unwilling to admit it, and that he did his \nbest to banish from his mind so unwelcome a sus- \npicion. As for Kelly, it seems clear that he had con- \n\n\n\n76 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK r. \n\nceived some widely amhitious and daring scheme, \nwhich, as I have said, he hoped to carry out through \nthe instrumentaHty of Alasco, whose interest he \nendeavoured to stimulate by flattering his vanity, and \nrepresenting the spiritual creature as in possession of \na pedigree which traced his descent from the old \nNorman family of the Lacys. \n\nWith an easy invention which would have done \ncredit to the most prolific of romancists, he daily \ndeveloped the characters of his pretended visions.* \nConsulting the crystal on June 2, he professed to \nsee a spirit in the garb of a husbandman, and this \nspirit rhodoniontaded in mystical language about \nthe great work Alasco was predestined to accomplish \nin the conversion and regeneration of the world. \nBefore this invisible fictionist retired into his former \nobscurity, Dee petitioned him to use his influence on \nbehalf of a woman who had committed suicide, and \nof another who had dreamed of a treasure hidden in a \ncellar. Other interviews succeeded, in the course of \nwhich much more was said about the coming purifi- \ncation of humanity, and it was announced that a new \ncode of laws, moral and religious, would be entrusted \n\n* ' Adeo viro prse creJulo errors jam factus sui impos at \nmente captus, et Diemones, quo arctlus borrendis hisce Sacris \n&dhiereEceiit illius ambttiooi vanie Humma; potestalJs in Patria \nadipiscendce ape et expeclatione lene euDtia ilium non solius \nPolonife sed alt\u00abriiu quoquo regni, id eal primo Polonise, deiiide \naltcrius, viz. Moldaviee Kegem fore, et sub quo magnie univem \nmundi mutattonea iocepturas esse, Judceos convortendos, et ab illo \nSar^inos et Ethiiicos vexillo crucU auperatidoa, focili ludifi- \ncareutur.' \u2014 Dr. Thomas Smith, 'YiUe Eruilitissimorum ac lllus- \ntrium Virorum,\" Loudou, 1707. ' Vita Joaunia Dee,' p. 25. \n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] \n\n\n\nEDWARD KELLY. \n\n\n\n77 \n\n\n\nto Dee and his companious. What a pity that this \ncode was never forthcoming ! A third spirit, a \nmaiden named Galerah, made her appearance, all \nwhose revelations bore upon Alasco, and the great- \nness for wliich he was reserved : ' I say unto thee, his \nname is in the Book of Life. The sun shall not passe \nhis course before he he a king. His counsel shall \nbreed alteration of his State, yea, of the whole world. \nWhat wouldst thou know of him ?' \n\n'If his kingdom shall be of Poland,' answered Dee. \n' in what land else ?' \n\n' Of two kingdoms,' answered Galerah. \n' Which ? I beseech you.' \n\n* The one thou hast repeated, and the other he \nBeeketh as his right' \n\n' God grant bira,' exclaimed the pious doctor, \n' sufficient direction to do all things so as may please \nthe highest of his calling.' \n\n\u25a0 He shall want no direction,' replied Galerah, 'in \nanything he desireth.' \n\nWhether Kelly's invention began to fail him, or \nwhether it was a desire to increase his influence over \nhis dupe, I will not decide ; but at this time he \nrevived his pretended conscientious scruples against \ndealing with spirits, whom he calumniously declared \nto be ministers of Satan, and intimated his intention \nof departing from the unhallowed precincts of Mort- \nlake. But the doctor could not bear with equanimity \nthe loss of a skryer who rendered such valuable service, \nand watched his movements with the vigilance of \nalarm. It was towards the end of June, the month \n\n\n\n78 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\n\n\nmade memorable by such important revelations, that \nKelly announced, one day, his design of riding from \nMortlake to Islington, on some private business. \nThe doctor's fears were at once awakened, and he fell \ninto a condition of nervous excitement, which, no \ndoubt, was exactly what Kelly had hoped to pro- \nvoke. ' I asked him,' says Dee, ' why he so hasted to \nride thither, and I said if it were to ride to Mr. \nHenry Lee, I would go thither also, to be acquainted \nwith him, seeing now I had so good leisure, being \neased of the book writing. Then he said, that one \ntold him, the other day, that the Duke (Alasco) did \nbut flatter him, and told him other things, both \nagainst the Duke and me. I answered for the Duke \nand myself, and also said that if the forty pounds' \nannuity which Mr. Lee did offer him was the chief \ncause of his minde settinji that way (contrary to \nmany of his former promises to me), that then I \nwould assure him of fifty pounds yearly, and would \ndo my best, by following of ray suit, to bring it to \npass as soon as I possibly could, and thereupon did \nmake him promise upon the Bible. Then Edward \nKelly again upon the same Bible did sweare unto me \nconstant friendship, and never to forsake me ; and, \nmoreover, said that unless this had so fallen outj he \nwould have gone beyond the seas, taking ship at \nNewcastle within eight days next. And so we plight \nour faith each to other, taking each other by the \nhand upon these points of brotherly and friendly \nfidelity during life, which covenant I beseech God \nto turn to His honour, glory, and service, and the \n\n\n\nCHAP, II.] \n\n\n\nEDWARD KELLY. \n\n\n\n79 \n\n\n\ncomfort of our brethren (His cliildren) here on \nearth.' \n\nThis coucordat, however, was of brief duration, \nKelly, who seems to have been in fear of arrest,* still \nthreatened to quit Dee's service ; and by adroit \npressure of this kind, and by unlimited promises to \nAlasco, succeeded in persuading his two confederates \nto leave England clandestinely, and seek an asylum \non Alasco's Polish estates. Dee took with him his \nsecond wife, Jane Fromond, to whom he had been \nmarried in February, 1578, his son Arthur (then \nabout four years old), and his children by his first \nwife. Kelly was also accompanied by his wife and \nfamily. \n\nOn the night of September 21, 1583, in a storm \nof rain and wind, they left Mortlake by water, \nand dropped down the river to a point four or five \nmiles below Gravesend, where they embarked on \nboard a Danish ship, which they had hired to take \nthem to Holland. But the violence of the gale was \nsuch that they were glad to transfer themselves, after \na narrow escape fi\"om shipwreck, to some fishing- \nsmacks, which landed them at Queenborough, in the \nIsle of Sheppey, in safety. There they remained until \nthe gale abated, and then crossed the Channel to \nBrill on the 30th. Proceeding through Holland and \nFriesland to Embden and Bremen, they thence made \ntheir way to Stettin, in Pomerania, arriving on \nChristmas Day, and remaining until the middle of \nJanuary. \n\n* He waa suspected of coining false money, but Dr. Dee \ndeclares he was innoceut (June, 1683.) \n\n\n\n80 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nMeanwhile, Kelly was careful not to intermit those \nrevelations from the crystal which kept alive the \nflame of credulous hope in the bosom of his two \ndupes, and he was especially careful to stimulate the \nambition of Alsisco, whose impoverished finances \ncould ill bear the burden imposed upon them of \nsupporting so considerable a company. They reached \nSiradia on February 3, 1684, and there the spirits \nsuddenly changed the tone of their communications ; \nfor Kelly, having unexpectedly discovered that \nAlasco's resources were on the brink of exhaustion, \nwas accordingly prepared to fling him aside with- \nout remorse. The first spiritual communication \nwas to the effect that, on account of his sins, he \nwould no longer be charged with the regeneration of \nthe world, but he was promised possession of the \nKingdom of Moldavia. The next was an order to \nDee and his companions to leave Siradia, and repair \nto Cracow, where Kelly hoped, no doubt, to get rid \nof the Polish prince more easily. Then the spirits \nbegan to speak at shorter intervals, their messages \nvarying greatly in tone and purport, according, I \nsuppose, as Alasco's pecuniary supplies increased or \ndiminished ; but eventually, when all had suffered \nseverely from want of money, for it would seem that \ntheir tinctures and powders never yielded tbem as \nmuch as an ounce of gold, the spirits summarily \ndismissed the unfortunate Alasco, ordered Dee and \nKelly to repair to Prague, and entrusted Dee with a \nDivine communication to Rudolph IL, the Emperor \nof Grermany. \n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] EDWARD KELLY. 81 \n\nQuarrels often occurred between the two adepts \nduring the Cracow period. In these Kelly wag \ninvariably the prime mover, and hie object was \nalways the same : to confirm his influence over the \nman he had so egregiously duped. At Prague, Dee \nwas received by the Imperial Court with the distinc- \ntion due to his well-known acholarship ; but no \ncredence was given to his mission from the spirita, \nand liis pretensions as a magician were politely \nignored. Nor was he assisted with any pecuniary \nbenevolences ; and the man who through his crystal \nand his skryer had apparently unlimited control over \nthe inhabitants of the spiritual world could not count \nwith any degree of certainty upon his daily bread. \nHe failed, moreover, to obtain a second interview \nwith tlie Emperor. On attending at the palace, he \nwas informed that the Emperor had gone to his \ncountry seat, or else that he had just ridden forth to \nenjoy the pleasures of the chase, or that his imperfect \nacquaintance with the Latin tongue prevented him \nfrom conferring with Dee personally ; and eventually, \nat the instigation of the Papal nuncio, Dee was ordered \nto depart from the Imperial territories (May, 1586). \n\nThe discredited magician then betook himself to \nErfurt, and afterwards to Cassel. He would fain \nhave visited Italy, where he anticipated a cordial \nwelcome at those Courts which patronized letters \nand the arts, but he was privately warned that at \nRome an accusation of heresy and magic had been \npreferred against him, and he had no desire to fall \ninto the fangs of the Inquisition. In the autumn \n\n6 \n\n\n\n82 WITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1. 1 \n\nof 1586, the Imperial prohibition having apparently * \nbeen withdrawn, he followed Kelly into Bohemia j \nand in the following year we find both of them , \ninstalled as guests of a wealthy nobleman, named \nRosenberg, at his castle of Trebona. Here they \nrenewed their intercourse with the spirit world, and \ntheir operations in the transmutation of metals. \nDee records how, on December 9, he reached the \npoint of projection ! Cutting a piece out of a brass \nwarming-pan, he converted it \u2014 by merely heating it \nin the fire, and pouring on it a few drops of the \nmagical eHxir \u2014 a kind of red oil, according to some \nauthorities \u2014 into solid, shining silver. And there \ngoes an idle story that he sent both the pan and the \npiece of silver to Queen Elizabeth, so that, with her \nown eyes, she might eee how exactly they tallied, \nand that the piece had really been cut out of the \npan I About the same time, it is said, the two \nmagicians launched into a profuse expenditure, \u2014 \nKelly, on one of his maid-servants getting married, \ngiWng away gold rings to the value of \u00a34,000, Yet, \nmeanwhile, Dee and Kelly were engaged in sharp \ncontentions, because the spirits fulfilled none of the \npromises made by the latter, who, his invention \n(I suppose) being exhausted, resolved, in April, \n1587, to resign his ofilice of ' skryer,' and young \nArthur Dee then made an attempt to act in his \n\n\n\nThe conclusion I have arrived at, after studying \nthe careers and characters of our two worthies, is \nthat they were wholly unfitted for each other's \n\n\n\nCHAP. U.] EDWARD KELLY. 83 \n\nsociety ; a barrier of ' incompatibility ' rose straitly \nbetween them. Dee was in earnest ; Kelly was \npractising a sham. Dee pursued a shadow which \nbe believed to be a substance ; Kelly knew that the \nshadow was nothing more than a shadow. Dee waa \n\u25a0 B man of rare scholarship and considerable intel- \n' lectual power, though of a credulous and supersti- \ntious temper ; Kelly was superficial and ignorant, \nbut clever, astute, and ingenious, and by no means \nprone to fall into delusions. The la\u00abt experiment \nwhich he made on Dee's simple-mindedness stamps \nthe man as the rogue and knave he was ; while it \nillustrates the truth of the preacher's complaint that \nthere is nothing new under the sun. The doctrine \nof free marriage propounded by American enthusiasts \nwas a remanet from the ethical system of Mr. Edward \nKelly. \n\nKelly had long been on bad terms with his wife, \nand had conceived a passionate attachment towards \nMrs. Dee, who was young and charming, graceful in \nperson, and attractive in manner. To gratify his \ndesires, he resorted to his old machinery of the \ncrystal and the spirits, and soon obtained a revela- \ntion that it was the Divine pleasure he and Dr. Dee \nshould exchange partners. Demoralized and abased \nas Dee had become through his intercourse with \nKelly, he shrank at first from a proposal so contrary \nto the teaching and tenor of the religion he pro- \nfessed, and suggested that the revelation could \nmean nothing more than that they ought to live on \n\n\n\n84 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\na footing of cordial iriendshlp. But the spirits \ninsisted on a literal interpretation of their com- \nmand. Dee yielded, comparing himself with much \nunction to Abraham, who, in obedience to the Divine \nwill, consented to the sacrifice of Isaac. The parallel, \nhowever, did not hold good, for Abraham saved his \nflon, whereas Dr. Dee lost his wife I \n\nIt was then Kelly's turn to affect a superior \nmorality, and he earnestly protested that the spirits \ncould not be messengers fi-om heaven, but were \nservants of Satan. Whereupon they then declared that \nhe was no longer worthy to act as their interpreter. \nBut why dwell longer on this unpleasant farce ? By \nvarious means of cajolery and trickery, Kelly con- \ntrived to accomplish his design. \n\nThis communistic arrangement, however, did not \nlong work satisfactorily \u2014 at least, so far as the ladies \nwere concerned ; and one can easily understand that \nMrs. Dee would object to the inferior position she \noccupied as Kelly's paramour. However this may be, \nDeeand Kelly parted company in January, 1589 ; the \nformer, according to his o^vn account, delivering up to \nthe latter the mysterious elixir and other substances \nwhich they had made use of in the transmutation of \nmetals. Dee had begun to turn his eyes wistfiilly \ntowards his native country, and welcomed with un- \nfeigned delight a gracious message from Queen Eliza- \nbeth, assuring him of a friendly reception. In the \nspring he took his departure from Trebona ; and it \nis said that he travelled with a pomp and circum- \nstance worthy of an ambassador, though it is difficult \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nCHAP. U.J EDWARD KELLY. 85 \n\nto reconcile tbis statement with his constant com- \nplaints of poverty. Perhaps, after all, his three \ncoaches, with four horses to each coach, his two or \nthree waggons loaded with baggage and stores, \nand his hired escort of sis to twent}'-four soldiers, \nwhose business it was to protect him from the \nenemies he supposed to be lying in wait for him, \nexisted only, like the philosopher's stone, in the \nimagination ! He landed at Gravesend on Decem- \nber \"2, was kindly received by the Queen at Richmond \na day or two afterwards, and before the year had run \nout was once more quietly settled in his house ' near \nthe riverside ' at llortlake. \n\nKelly, whom the Emperor Maximilian II. had \nknighted and created Marshal of lioheraia, so strong \na conviction of his hermetic abilities had he impressed \non the Imperial mind, remained in Germany. But \nthe ingenious, plausible rogue was kept under such \nrigid restraint, in order that he might prepare an \nadequate quantity of the transmuting stone or \npowder, that he wearied of it, and one night en- \ndeavoured to escape. Tearing up the sheets of his \nbed, he twisted them into a rope, mth which to \nlower himself from the tower where he was confined. \nBut he was a man of some hulk ; the rope gave way \nbeneath his weight, and falling to the ground, he \nreceived such severe injuries that in a few days he \nexpired (1593). \n\nDee's lat\u00abr life was, as Godwin remarks, ' bound \nin shallows and miseries.' He had forfeited the \n\n\n\n86 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\n\n\nrespect of serious-minded men by his unworthy con- \nfederacy with an unscrupulous adventurer. The \nQueen still treated him with some degree of con- \nsideration, though she had lost all faith in his \nmagical powers, and occasionally sent him assistance. \nThe unfortunate man never ceased to weary her with \nthe repetition of his trials and troubles, and strongly \ncomplained that he had been deprived of the income \nof his two small benefices during hie six years' \nresidence on the Continent. He related the sad tale \nof the destruction of his library and apparatus by \nan ignorant mob, which had broken into his house \nimmediately after his departure from England, ex- \ncited by the rumours of his strange magical practices. \nHe enumerated the expenses of his homeward \njourney, arguing that, as it had been undertaken by \nthe Queen's conmiand, she ought to reimburse him. \nAt last (in 1.592) the Queen appointed two members \nof her Privy Council to inquire into the particulars \nof his allegations. These particulars he accordingly \nput together in a curious narrative, which bore the \nlong-winded title of : \n\n' The Compendious Rehearsall of John Bee, his dutiful Declam' \ncion and Proof of the Coiiree and Eace of his Studious Lyfe, for \nthe Space of Halfe an Hundred Yeares, now (by God's Favour and \nHelpe) fully spent, and of the veiy great Injuries, Damages, and \nIndignities, which for those last nyne Years he hath in England \nsustained (contrary to Her Majesties very gracious Will and \nexpress Commandment), made unto the Two Honourable Com- \nmissionerB, by Her Moat Excellent Majesty thereto assigned, \naccording to the intent of the most humble Supplication of the \nsaid John, exhibited to Her Most Gracious Majestie at Hampton \nCourt, Anno 1592, November 9.' \n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] \n\n\n\nEUWAKU KELLY. \n\n\n\n87 \n\n\n\nIt has been remarked that in this ' CompeDclioua \nRehearsal ' he alludes neither to his magic crystal, \nwith its spiritualistic properties, nor to the wonderful \npowder or elixir of transmutation. He founds his \nclaim to the Queen's patronage solely upon his \nintellectual eminence and acknowledged scholarship. \nNor does he allude to his Continental experiences, \nexcept BO far as relates to his homeward journey. \nBut he is careful to recapitulate all his services, and \nthe encomiastic notices they had drawn from various \nquarters, while he details his losses with the moat \nelaborate minuteness. The quaintest part of his \nlamentable and most fervent petition is, however, its \nconclusion. Having shown that he has tried and ex- \nhausted every means of raising money for the support \nof his family, he concludes : \n\n'Therefore, seeing the blinded lady. Fortune, doth not goveme \nin this common wealth, bat jjistitia and pnidenlut, and that in belter \norder than inTuUie'a \" RepubIica,\"or bookes of offices, they are laied \nforth to be followed and performed, most reverently and earnestly \n(yea, in manner with bloody tearea of heart), 1 and my wife, our \nseaven children, and our servants (seaventeene of ua in all) do this \nday make our petition unto your Honors, that upon all godly, \ncharitable, and just respects had of all that, which this day you \nhave seene, hoard, and perceived, you wJU make such report unto \nher Most Excellent Majestie (with humble request for speedy \nreliefes) that we be not constrained to do or suffer otherwise than \nbecometh Christians, and true, and faithful!, and obedient subjects \nto doe or suffer ; and all for want of due main tey nance.' \n\nThe main object Dee had in view was the master- \nship of St. Cross's Hospital, which Elizabeth had \nformerly promised him. This he never received ; \nbut in December, 1594, he was appointed to the \n\n\n\n88 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nChancellorship of St. Paul's Cathedral, which in the \nfollowing year he exchanged for the wardenship of \nthe College at Manchester. He still continued his \nresearches into supernatural mysteries, employing \nseveral persons in succession as 'skryers'; but he \nfound no one so fertile in invention as Kelly, and the \ncrystal uttered notliing more oracular than answers \nto questions about lovers' quarrels, hidden treasures, \nand petty thefts \u2014 the common stock-in-trade of the \nconjurer. In 1602 or 1604, he retired from hia \nManchester appointment, and sought the quiet and \nseclusion of his favourite Mortlake. His renown as \n' a magician ' had greatly increased \u2014 not a little, it \nwould seem, to his annoyance; for on June 5, 1604, \nwe find that he presented a petition to James I. at \nGreenwich, soliciting his royal protection against the \nwrong done to him by enemies who mocked him as \n' a conjurer, or caller, or invocator of devils.' and \nsolemnly asserting that ' of all the great number of \nthe very strange and frivolous fables or histories \nreported and told of him (as to have been of hia \ndoing) none were true.' It is said that the treat- \nment Dee experienced at this time was tlie primary \ncause of the Act passed against personal slander \n(1604) \u2014 a proof of legislative wisdom which drew \nfrom Dee a versified expression of gratitude\u2014 in \nwhich, let us hope, the sincerity of the gratitude is \nnot to be measured by tlie quality of the verse. It is \naddressed to ' the Honorable Members of the \nCommons in the Present Parliament,' and here is a \nspecimen of it, which will show that, though Dee's \n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] EDWABD KELLY, 89 \n\ncrystal might summoQ the spirits, it had no control \nover the Muses: \n\n' The honour, due unto you all, \n\nAnd reverence, to you each one \nI do first yield most spe-ci-all ; \n\nGrant me this time to heare my mone. \n\n' Now (if you will) full well you may \n\nFowle sclaundrous tongues for ever tame ; \nAnd heljie the truth to heare some sway \nIn just defence of a good name.' \n\nThenceforward Dee sinks into almost total ob- \nBcurity. His last years were probably spent in great \ntribulation ; and the man who had dreamed of con- \nverting, Midas-like, all he touched into gold, seems fre- \nquently to have wanted bread. It was a melancholy \nending to a career which might have bten both useful \nand brilliant, if his various scholarship and mental \nenergy had not been expended upon a delusion. Un- \nfortunately for himself, Dee, with all his excellent \ngifts, wanted that greatest gift of all, a sound judgment. \nHis excitable fancy and credulous temper made him \nthe dupe of his own wishes, and eventually the tool \nof a knave far inferior to himself in intellectual power, \nbut surpassing him in strength of will, in force of \ncharacter, in audacity and inventiveness. Both \nknave and dupe made but sorry work of their lives. \nKelly, as we have seen, broke his neck in attempting \nto escape from a German prison, and Dee expired in \nwant and dishonour, without a friend to receive his \nlast sigh. \n\nHe died at Mortlake in 1608, and was buried in \n\n\n\n90 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [BOOK 1 \n\n\n\nthe chancel of Mortlake Church, where, long after- \nwards, Aubrey, the gossiping antiquary, was shown \nan old marble slab as belonging to his tomb. \n\nHis son Arthur, after acting as physician to the , \nCzar of Russia and to our own Charles I., established \nhimself in practice at Norwich, where he died. \nAnthony Wood solemnly records that this Arthur, in \nhis boyhood, had frequently played with quoits of \ngold, which his father had cast at Prague by means \nof his ' stone philosophical,' How often Dee must \nhave longed for some of those ' quoits ' in bis last sad \ndays at Mortlake, when he sold his books, one by \none, to keep himself from starvation! \n\nAfter Dee's death, his fame as a magician under- \nwent an extraordinary reWval; and in 1G59, when \nthe country was looking forward to the immediate \nrestoration of its Stuart line of kings, the learned \nDr. Meric Cataubon thought proper to publish, in \na formidable folio volume, the doctor's elaborate re- \nport of his \u2014 or rather Kelly's \u2014 supposed conferences \nwith the spirits \u2014 a notable book, as being the initial \nproduct of spiritualism in English literature. In \nhis preface Casaubon remarks that, though Dee's \n' carriage in certain respects seemed to lay in works of \ndarkness, yet all was tendered by him to kings and \nprinces, and by all (England alone excepted) was \nlistened to for a good while with good respect, and by \nsome for a long time embraced and entertained.' \nAnd he adds that ' the fame of it made the Pope \nbestir himself, and filled all, both learned and un- \nlearned, with great wonder and astonishment, . . . \n\n\n\nIP. u.] \n\n\n\nEDWARD KELLY. \n\n\n\nAs a whole, it is undoubtedly not to lie paralleled in \nits kind in any age or country.' \n\n\n\nNOTE. \n\nIn the curious 'Apologia' published by Dee, in I59J>, in the \nform of ft letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 'containing a \nmost briefe Discourse Apologeticoll, with a pUino Demonstration \nand formal Protestation, for the lawful!, siucere, very faitbfuU \nand Chriatian course of the Philosophic all studies and exercises of \na certaine studious Gentleman, an ancient Servant to her most \nexcellent Maiesty Royal!,' he furnishes a list of 'sundry Bookes \nand Treatises ' of which he was the author. The best Icnown of \nhis printed worlcs is the ' Monas Hieroglypliica, Mathematics, \nAnagogicS que explicata ' {lf>64), dedicated to the Emperor \nMaximilian. Then there are ' Propie deumata Aphoristica ;' \n' The British Monarchy,' otherwise called the ' Petty Navy \nBoyall : for the politique security, abundant wealth, and the \ntriumphant state of this kingdom (with God's favour) procuring ' \n(1576) ; and ' Paralaticm Commentation is, Praxcoaque Nucleus \nquidam' (1573). His unpublished manuscripts range over a wide \nfield of astronomical, philosophical, and logical inquiry. The \nmost important seem to be ' The first great volume of famous and \nrich Discoveries,' containing a good deal of speculation about \nSolomon and his Ophirian voyage ; ' Prester John, and the first \ngreat Cham;' 'The Brytish Complement of the perfect Art of \nNavigation ;' ' The Art of Logicke, in English ;' and ' De Hominia \nCorpore, Spiritu, et Anima : sive Microcosnu'cum totius Philo \nsophiae Naturalis Compendium.' \n\nThe character drawn of Dr. Deo by his learned biographer. Dr. \nThomas Smith, by no means confirms the traditional notion of \nhim as a crafty and credulous practiser in the Black Art. It is, \non the contrary, the portrait of a just and upright man, grave in \nhis demeanour, modest in his manners, abstemious in his habits ; \na man of studious disposition and benevolent temper ; a man held \nin such high esteem by his neighbours that he was called upon to \narbitrate when any differences arose between them ; a fervent \nChristian, attentive to all the ofSces of the Church, and zealous in \nthe defence of her faith. \n\nHere is the original : ' Si mores exterioremque vitje cultum \ncontemplemur, non quicquam ipsi in probrum et ignominium verti \n\n\n\n92 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I \n\n\n\npossit; ut pote sobrius, probus, affectibus sedatis, compositisquo \nmoribus, ab oinni luxu et gula liber, justi et mquj studioSia- \nsimus, erga pauperca beneficus, vicinis facilis et benignua, \nquorum litea, atriaque partibus contendentium ad ilium tantjuam \nad sapientum arbitrum appellaotibus, moderari et desiderc solebat : \nin publicifl sacris ccetibuB et in orationibus frequens, articulorum \nChriatianfe fidei, in quibus omnes Ortbodoxl conveniunt, strenuua \naesertor, zelo in hfereses, ^ primitiva Ecclesia damnatas, flagrans, \ninqui Peccorum, qui virginitatem B. Mariie ante partum Cbristl \nin dubium vocavit, accerim6 invectua : licet de controvereiis inter \nBomanenses et Reformatos circa roliqua doctrinie capita non adeo \nsemperoB^ solicitua, quin sibi in Polonia et Bohemia, ubi religio \nista dominatur, Misate interease et communlcare licere putaverit, \nin Anglia, uti antea, post redditum, omnibus Ecclesiie Anglicanae \nritibua conformia.' It must be admitted that Dr. Smith's Latin is \nnot exactly ' conformed ' to the Ciceronian model. \n\n\n\nDE. DEES DIARY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. \n\n\n\nI AM not prepared to say, with its modern editor, \nthat Dr. Dee's Diary* sets the scholar magician's \ncharacter in its true light more clearly than anything \nthat has yet been printed; but I concede that it \nreveals in a very striking and interesting manner the \npeculiar features of his character \u2014 his superstitious \ncredulity, and his combination of shrewdness and \nsimplicity \u2014 as well as his interesting habits. I shall \ntherefore extract a few passages to assist the reader in \nforming his opinion of a man who was certainly in \nmany respects remarkable. \n\n(i.) I begin with the entries for 1577: \n\n' 1577, January 16th.\u2014 The Erie of Leicester, Mr. Phihp Sidney, \nMr. Dyer.t etc., came to my house (at Mortlake). \n\n' 1577. January 22nd. \u2014 The Erie of BedfonI came to my house. \n\n' 1577, March 11th. ^My fall uppon my right nuckel bone, fioi-a \n9 fere mane, wyth oyle of Hypericou (Hiji>ericum, or St John's \nWort) in twenty-four howera cased ahove all hope : God be \nthanked for such His goodness of (to 1) His creatures. \n\n* 'The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee,' edited by J. 0. Halliwell \n(Phillippa) for the Camden Society, 1842. \n\nt This was Sir Edward Dyer, the friend of Spenser and Sidney, \nremembered by his poem ' My Mmd to me a Kingdom is.' \n\n\n\n94 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOUK I. \n\n' 1577, March 34th. \u2014 Alexander Simon, the Ninevite, came to \nme, and promised me his service into Persia. \n\n'1577, May lat, \u2014 I received from Mr. William Harbut of \nSt Gillian his notsa uppon my \" Monas.\"* \n\n'1577, May 2nd. \u2014 I understode of one Vincent Murfryn his \nabbominahle misusing me hehinde my back ; Mr. Thomas Besbich \ntold me his father is one of the cokeE of the Court \n\n'1577, May 20th. \u2014 I hyred the barber of Cheswik, Walter \nHooper, to kepe my liedges and knotB in as good order aa he saw \nthem then, and that to be done with twice cutting in the yere at \nthe least, and he to have yerely five shillings, meat and drink. \n\n' 1577, June 26th.- \u2014 Eien Lyne gave me a quarter's warning. \n\n'1577, August 19, \u2014 The \" Hexameron Brytanicum \" put to \nprinting. (Published in 1577 with the title of \" General and \nRare Memorials pertayning to the perfect Art of Navigation.\") \n\n' 1577, November 3rd.\u2014 WilHam Rogers of Mortlak about 7 of \nthe clok in the morning, cut hia own throte, by the fUnde ha \nhistigator. \n\n' 1577, November 6th. \u2014 Sir Umfrey Gilbertt cam to me to \nMortlak. \n\n' 1577, November 22nd.\u2014 I rod to Windsor to the Q. Majestie. \n\n' 1577, November 25th. \u2014 I spake with the Qucne hma quinla; \nI spoke with Mr. Secretary WalBingham.1 I declared to the \nQuene her title to Greenland, Estotiland, and Friealand. \n\n' 1577, December lat \u2014 I spoke with Sir Christopher Hatton ; \nhe wax made Knight that day. \n\n' 1577, December -th. \u2014 I went from the Courte at Wyndaore, \n\n'1577, December 30th. \u2014 Inexpliseima ilia calumnia de R. \nEdwardo, iniquiasima aliqua ex parte in me denunciebatur : ante \naliquoa elapsoa diro, aed , . . sua aapientia me innocentem.' \n\nI cannot ascertain of what calumny against \nEdward VI. Dee had been accused ; but it is to be \nhoped that his wish was fulfilled, and that he was \nacquitted of it before many dajs had elapsed. \n\nI have omitted some items relating to moneys \n\n\u2022 The 'Monas Hieroglyphica.' \n\nt The celebrated navigator, whose heroic death is one of our \nwqrthiest traditions. \n\nI A warm and steady friend to Dr. Dee. \n\n\n\nCHAP. III.] \n\n\n\nDB. DEE 8 DIARY. \n\n\n\n95 \n\n\n\nborrowed. It is sufficiently plain, however, that Dee \nnever intended his Diary for the curious eyes of the \npublic, and that it mainly consists of such memoranda \nas a man jots down for his private and personal use. \nAssuredly, many of these would never have been re- \ncorded if Dee had known or conjectured that an \ninquisitive antiquarian, some three centuries later, \nwould exhume the confidential pages, print them in \nimperishable type, and expose them to the world's \ncold gaze. It seems rather bard upon Dr. Dee that \nhis private affairs should thus Iiave become every- \nbody's property ! Perhaps, after all, the best thing a \nman can do who keeps a diary is to commit it to the \nflames before he shuffles off his mortal coil, lest some \nlaborious editor should eventually lay hands upon it, \nand publish it to the housetops with all its sins upon it ! \nBut as in Dr. Dee's case the offence has been committed, \nI will not debar my readers from profiting by it. \n\n(ii.) 1578-1581. \n\n' 157S, June 30th.\u2014 I told Mr. Daniel Rogers, Mr. Hackluyt of \nthe Middle Temple being by, that Kyng Arthur and King Maty, \nboth of them, did conquer Gelindia, lately called Friseland, which \nhe so noted presently in his written copy of Mon . . . thensis (T), \nfor he had no printed boke thereof.' \n\nWhat a pity Dr. Dee has not recorded his authority \nfor King Arthur's Northern conquests! The Mr. \nHackluyt here mentioned is the industrious compiler \nof the well-known collection of early voyages. \n\nOccasionally Dee relates bis dreams, as on Sep- \ntember 10, 1579: 'My dream of being naked, and \nmy skyn all overwrought with work, like some kinde \nof tuft mockado, with crosses blue and red ; and on \n\n\n\n96 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\n\n\nmy left arme, about the arme, in a wreath, this word \nI red \u2014 mne me nihil potestis facere.' \n\nSometimes he resorts to Greek characters while \nusing English words: \n\n' 1579, December 9th. \u2014 &ii wjr ,111 mif Spt/ui tar tn xa/j, ro 't^ \ncc\u00bb3 Tou^id tp, aaiiy, \"MieTf/i; ^tt, ytv ap xaixiirfj af X,'^^' ^\"^ 'ufi* \nliusr /3e Xayapiai ; ^t tp yaS x'l\"< ' ''\"\u2022 ^\u00b0 '\"^'^- \"^ ^'> ^\"^ -\" \n\n' 1579, December 28th. \u2014 I reveled to Roger Coke the gret \nsecret of the elbdr of the salt 0^ axinJ-t, o.i wr^oi a. vripti.' \n\nOther entries refer to this Mr. Roger Coke, or \nCooke, who seems to have been Dee's pupil or appren- \ntice, and at one time to Iiave enjoyed his conOdeDce. \nThey quarrelled seriously in 1581. \n\n'1581, September 5th. \u2014 Roger Cook, who had byn with me \nfrom hia 14 years of i^e till 28, of a melancholik nature, pycking \nand deviaing occasions of just cause to depart on the auddayn, \nabout 4 of the clok in the afteruone retjuested of me lycenae to \ndepart, wheriippon rose whott words between us ; and he, imagin- \ning with himself lliat he had, the 12 of July, deaerved my great \ndispleasure, and finding himself barred from view of my philo- \nBOphicall dealing with Mr, Henrik, thought that he was utterly \nrecast from intended goodneas toward him. Notwithstanding \nRoger Cook hia unseamely dealing, I promised him, if he used \nhimself toward roe now in hia absens, one hundred pounds as \nBone as of my own clene hability I myght spare so much ; and \nmoreover, if he uaed himaelf well in life toward God and the \nworld, I promised bim some pretty alchimicall experiments, \nwhereuppim he might honestly live.' \n\n'1581, September 7th. \u2014 Roger Cook went for altogether from \n\n\n\nIn February, 1601, however, this quarrel was \nmade up. \n\n(iii.) Of the learned doctor's colossal credulity the \nDiary supplies some curious proofs : \n\n' 1681, March 8th. \u2014 It wae the 8 day, being Wenaday, hora \nnoctia 10-11, the strange noyse in my chamber of knocking ; and \n\n\n\nCHAP. III.] DR. dee's diary. 97 \n\n&e voyce, ten times repeted, somewhat like the shriek of an owle, \nbut more longly drawn, and more softly, as it were in my \nchamber. \n\n' 1581, August 3rd. \u2014 All the night very strange knocking and \nnppin^ in my chamber. August 4th, and this night likewise. \n\n' 158!, October 9th. \u2014 Barnabas Saul, lying in the . . . hall, \nVas strangely trubled by a Bpirituall creature about mydnight. \n\n' 1582, May 20th. \u2014 Robertus Gardinerus Salopiensis lactam \nnihi attulit minimum de materia lapidis, divinitus sibi revelatus \nde qua. \n\n' 1582, May 23rd. \u2014 Robert Gardiner declared unto me hora 4J \nK certeyn great philosophical! secret, as he had termed it, of a \nl^irituall creature, and was this day willed to come to me and \ndeclare it, which was solemnly done, and with common prayer. \n\n90, August 22nd. \u2014 Ann, my nurse, had long been tempted \nby a wycked spirit : but this day it was evident how she was \npossessed of him. God is, bath byn, and shall be her protector \nuid deliverer ! Amen. \n\n' 1590, August 25th. \u2014 Anne Frank was sorowful, well com- \nforted, and stayed in God's mercyes acknowledging. \n\n' 1590, August 2(3th.^At night I anoynted (in the name of \nJesus) her brest with the holy oyle. \n\n' 1590, August 30tb. \u2014 In the morning she required to be \nBnoynted, and I did very devoutly prepare myself, and pray for \nvirtue and powr, and Christ his blessing of the oyle to the expul- \nsion of the wycked, and then twyce anoynted, the wycked one \ndid rest a while.' \n\nThe holy oil, however, proved of no effect. The \npoor creature was insane. On September 8 she made \nan attempt to drown herself, but was prevented. On \nthe 29th she eluded the dexterity of her keeper, and \ncut her throat. \n\n(iv.) Occasionally we meet with references to \nhistoric events and names, but, unfortunately, they \nare few: \n\n'1581, February 23rd. \u2014 I made acquayntance with Joannes \nBodonius, in the Chamber of Presence at Westminster, the \nambassador being by from Monsieur.' \n\n7 \n\n\n\n98 \u25a0WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [boo \n\nBodonius, or Bodin, was the well-known writer \nupon witchcraft. \n\n'1581, March 23rd.\u2014 At Mortlak came to me Hugh Smyth, \nwho had returned from Magellan strayghts and Vaygats, \n\n\u20221581, July 12th.\u2014 The Erie of Leicester fell fowly out with \nthe Erie of Sussex, Lord Chamberlayn, calling each other trayter, \nwhereuppon both were commanded to kepa theyr chamber at \nGreenwich, wher the court was.' \n\nThis was the historic quarrel, of which Sir Walter \nScott has made such eifective use in his ' Kenil- \nworth.' \n\n'1583, January 13th. \u2014 On Sonday, the stage at Paris Garden \nfell dawn all at once, being full of people beholding the bo&r- \nbayting. Many being killed thereby, more hurt, and all amased. \nThe godly expownd it as a due plage of God for the wickedness \nther used, and the Sabath day so profanely spent.' \n\nThis popular Sahbatarian argument, which occa- \nsionally crops up even in our own days, had been \nhumorously anticipaterl, half a century before, by Sir \nThomas More, in his 'Dyalo^ue' (1529): 'At Beverley \nlate, much of the people being at a bear-baiting, \nthe church fell suddenly down at evening-time, and \noverwhelmed some that were in it. A good fellow \nthat after heard the tale told \u2014 \" So,\" quoth he, \" now \nyou may see what it is to be at evening prayers when \nyou should be at the bear-baiting!\" ' \n\nThe Paris Garden Theatre at Bankside had been \nerected expressly for exhibitions of bear-baiting. \nThe charge for admission was a j^nny at the gate, a \npenny at the entry of the scaffold or platform, and a \npenny for ' quiet standing.' During the Common- \nwealth this cruel sport was prohibited ; but it was \n\n\n\nCHAP. III.] DR. DEES DIARY. 99 \n\nrevived at the Restoration, and not finally suppressed \nuntil 1835. \n\n' 1583, January 23rd. \u2014 The Ryght Honorable Mr. Secretary \nWaleinghatn came to my howse, where by good luk he found Mr. \nAdrian Gilbert (of the famous Devonshire family of seamen), and \nso talk was begonne of North West Straights discovery. \n\n' 1583, February 1 1th. \u2014 -The Quene lying at Richmond went to \nMr. Secretary Walsingham to dinner ; she coming by my dore, \ngraciously called me to her, and so I went by her boi^e side, as \nfar as where Mr. Hudson dwelt. E^ iLaiten a|(3 [is e^-jnvpfXi tip \nfiovrenvplt orcirE : ii^i ^laSaiartt ifir. \n\n'1583, March 6th.\u2014 I, and Mr. Adrian Gilbert and John \nDavis (the Arctic discoverer), did mete with Mr. AJderman \nBarnes, Mr. Tounsoa, Mr. Young and Mr. Hudson, about the \nN. W. voyage. \n\n' 1583, April 18th. \u2014 The Quene went from Richmond toward \nGreenwich, and at her going on horsbak, being new up, she called \nfor me by Mr. Rawly (Sir Walter Raleigh) his putting her in \nmynde, and she sayd, \" quod defertur non aufertur,\" and gave me \nher right band to kiss. \n\n' 1590, May 18th.\u2014 The two gentlemen, the unckle Mr. \nKicbard Candisli (Cavendish), and his nephew, the most famous \nMr. Thomas Candish, who had sayled round about the world, did \nvisit me at Mortlake. \n\n' 1590, December 4th. \u2014 The Quene's Majestie called for me at \nmy dore, circa 3J a meridie as she passed by, and I met her at \nEst Shene gate, where she graciously, putting down her mask, did \nsay with mery chere, \"I thank thee, Dee; there wus never \npromisae made, hut it was broken or kept.\" I understode her \nMajesty to mean of the hundred angels she promised to have \naent me this day, as she yesternight told Mr. Richard Candish. \n\n' 1595, October 9th.\u2014 I dynod with Sir Walter fiawlegh at \nDurham House.' \n\n(v.) Some of the entries which refer to Dee's con- \nnection with Lasco and Kelly are interesting : \n\n'1583, March 18th.\u2014 Mr. North from Poland, after he had \nhyn with the Quene he came to me. I received salutation from \nAJaski, Palatine in Poland. \n\n' 1583, May 13th. \u2014 I became acquaynted with Albertus Laski \n7\u20142 \n\n\n\n100 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGtCIAN. [bOOK I \n\n\n\nat 7j at night, in the Erie of Leicester hia chamber, in the court \nat Greenwich. \n\n' 1S83, May 18th.\u2014 The Prince Albertua Laski came to me at \nMortlake, with onely two men. He came at aftemone, and \ntarryed supper, and after sone set. \n\n' 1583, June 15th. \u2014 About 5 of the clok cum the Polonian \nprince. Lord Albert Laaky, down from Bisliatn, where he had \nlodged the night before, being returned from Oxford, whither he \nhad gon of purpose to see the nniversityes, wher he was very \nhonorably used and enterteyned. He had in his company Lord \nKussell, Sir Phihp Sydney, and other gentlemen : he was rowed \nby the Queue's men, he had the barge covered with the Quene's \ncloth, the Queue's trnmpeters, etc. He came of ]juqiose to do \nme honour, for which God be praysed ! \n\n' 1583, September 21st \u2014 We went from Mortlake, and bo the \nLord Albert Lasky, I, Mr. E. Kelly, our ivives, my children and \nfamilie, we went toward our two ships attending for us, seven or \neight myle below Gravesende. \n\n' 1586, September 14th. \u2014 Trebonam venimua. \n\n' 1586, October 18th. \u2014 E. K. reeeasit a Trehona versus Pragam \ncumi delatus ; raansit hie per tres hebdoraadaa. \n\n' 1586, December 19th. \u2014 Ad gratificandam Domino Edouardo \nGarlando, ot Francisco euo fratri, qui Edouardua nuncius mihi \nmissus erot ab Imperatoro Moschoriie ut ad ilium venirem, E. K. \nfecit i)roleolem (1) lapidis in proportione uniua . , . gravi arenie \nsuper quod vulgaris oz. et J et producta est optim^ auri oz. fere : \nquod aurum post distribuimus a crucibolo una dedimus Edouardo. \n\n' 1587, January 18th\u2014 Eedlit E. K. a Praga. E. K. brought \nwith him from the Lord Kosenberg to my wyfe a cha}-ne and \nj'uell estemed at 300 ducketies ; 200 the juell stones, aod 100 the \ngold. \n\n' 1587, September 28th.\u2014 I delivered to Mr. Ed. Kelley \n(earnestly requiring it as his part) the half of all the animall \nwhich was made. It is to weigh 30 oz. ; he wayed it himself in \nmy chamber ; he howght his waights purposely for it My lord \nhad spoken to me before for some, but Mr. Kelly had not \nspoken. \n\n' 1587, October 28th and 29th.-John Carp did begyn to make \nfurnaces over the gate, and he used of my rownd hricka, and for \nthe yron pot was contented now to use the lesser bricks, 60 to \nmake a furnace. \n\n\n\nCHAP. III.] \n\n\n\n\u2022t)B.: ^^'i ^MUflTt \n\n\n\nll^O io>. \n\n\n\n' 1587, November 8th. \u2014 E. K terribilis expostulatio, accusatio, \netc, bora tenia a meridie. \n\n' 1587, December 13tb.\u2014 Aftemone somewhat, Mr. Ed. Kelly \n[did] hia lamp overthrow, the spirit of wyne long spent to nere, \nand the glas being doI stayed with buks about it, as it was wont \nto be ; and the same glass eo Hitting on one side, the spirit was \nspilled out. and burnt all that was on the table where it stode, \nlynDen and written bokes,\u2014 as the bok of Zachariaa, with the \n\" Alkanor\" that 1 translated out of French, for aome by [boyT] \nspirituall cohUI not ; \" Rowlasohy,\" his third boke of waters \npbiloBophicall ; the boke called \" Angelicum Opus ;\" all in \npictures of the work from the beginning to the end ; the copy of \nthe man of Badwise \"Conclusions for the Tranamution of \nMetalls ;\" and 40 leaves in 4to,, entitled \" Extraotiones Dunstat,\" \nwhich he himself extracted and noted out of Dunatan his boke, \nand the very boke of Dunstan was but cast on the bed hard by \nfrom the table.' \n\nThis ao-called 'Book of St. Dunstan' was one \nwhicli Kelly professed to have bought from a Welsh \ninnkeeper, who, it was alleged, had found it among \nthe ruins of Glastonbury. \n\n' 1588, February 8th. \u2014 Mr. K K., at aiue of the clok, aftemone, \nsent for me to his laboratory over the gate to see bow he distilled \nsericon, according as in tyme past and of late he heard of me out \nof Ripley. God lend his heart to all charity and virtue ! \n\n' 1588, August 24th. \u2014 Vidi divinam aquam demonstration e \nmagnifici domini et amici mei incomparahilis D[omini] Ed. Kelii \nante meridiem tertia hora. \n\n' 1588, December 7th. \u2014 yfiur ippt>S\u00bbiT Tftiiimi finf ij.au, ari rvuo \nmtKti pof St iity.'* \n\n' This Diary, written in a very small and illegible hand on the \nmargins of old almanacs, was discovered by Mr. W. U. Black in \nthe Asbmolean Library at Oxford. \n\n\n\n.':J0S.^ \u2022'\u2022\u2022*4^Tcsi, viiliook/MJrft-laAmcrAN. [book l \n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. \n\n\n\nMAGIC AND IMPOSTURE \u2014 A COUPLE OF KHAVBS. \n\nThe secrecy, the mystery, and the supernatural pre- \ntensions associated with the so-called occult sciences \nnecessarily recommended them to the knave and \nthe cheat as instruments of imposition. If some of \nthe earlier professors of Hermeticism, the first seekers \nafter the philosophical stone, were sincere in their \nconvictions, and actuated by pure and lofty motives, \nit is certain that their successors were mostly dis- \nhonest adventurers, bent upon turning to their \npersonal advantage the credulous weakness of their \nfellow- creatures. With some of these the chief object \nwas money ; others may have craved distinction and \ninfluence ; others may have sought the gratification \nof passions more degrading even than avarice or \nambition. At all events, alchemy became a synonym \nfor fraud : a magician was accepted as, by right of \nhis vocation, an impostor ; and the poet and the \ndramatist pursued him with the whips of satire, \ninvective, and ridicule, while the law prepared for \nhim the penalties usually inflicted upon criminals. \nThese penalties, it is true, he very frequently con- \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\nJJAOIC AND IMPOSTURE. \n\n\n\ntrived to elude ; in many instances, by the exercise of \ncraft and cunning ; in others, by the protection of \npowerful personages, to whom he had rendered ques- \ntionable services; and again in others, because the \nagent of the law did not care to hunt him down so \nlong as he forbore to bring upon himself the glare of \npublicity. Thus it came to pass that generation after \ngeneration saw the alchemist still practising his un- \nwholesome trade, and probably he retained a good deal \nof his old notoriety down to as late a date as the \nbeginning of the eightfienth century. It must be \nadmitted, however, that his alchemical pursuits \ngradually sank into obscurity, and that it was more \nin the character of an astrologer, and as a manufac- \nturer of love-potions and philtres, of charms and \nwaxen images \u2014 not to say as a pimp and a bawd \u2014 \nthat he looked for clients. In the Spectator, for in- \nstance, that admirable mirror of English social life in \nthe early part of the eighteenth century, you will find \nno reference to alchemy or the alchemist ; but in the \nGuardian Addison's light humour plays readily enough \nround the delusions or deceptions of the astrologer. \nThe reader will remember the btter which Addison \npretends to have received with great satisfaction from \nan astrologer in Moorfields. And in contemporary \nliterature generally, it will be found that the augut-t \ninquirer into the secrets of nature, who aimed at the \ntransmutation of metals and the possession of im- \nmortal youth, had by this time been succeeded by an \nobscure and vulgar cheat, who beguiled the ignorant \nand weak by his jargon about planetary bodies, and \n\n\n\n104 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I \n\n\n\nhis cheap stock-in-trade of a wig and a gown, a \nwand, a horoscope or two, and a few coloured viala. \nThis ' modern magician ' is, indeed, a cooimon char- \nacter in eighteenth -century fiction. \n\nBut a century earlier the magician retained some \nlittle of the ' pomp and circumstance ' of the old \nmagic, and was still the confidant of princes and \nnobles, and not seldom the depository of State secrets \ninvolving the reputation and the honour of men and \nwomen of the highest position. So much as this \nmay be truly asserted of Simon Forman, who \nflourished in the dark and criminal period of the \nreign of James I., when the foul practices of mediseval \nItaly were transferred for the first and last time to an \nEnglish Court. Forman was born at Quidham, a \nvillage near Wilton, in Wilts, in 1552. Little is \nknown of his early years ; but he seems to have \nreceived a good education at the Sarum Grammar \nSchool, and afterwards to have been apprenticed to a \ndruggist in that ancient city. Endowed with con- \nsiderable natural gifts and an ambitious temper, he \nmade his way to Oxford, and was entered at Magda- \nlene College, but owing to lack of means was unable \nto remain as a student for more than two years. To \nimprove his knowledge of astrology, astronomy, and \nmedicine, he visited Portugal, the Low Countries, \nand the East. \n\nOn his return he began to practise as a physician \nin Philpot Lane, London ; but. as he held no \ndiploma, was four times imprisoned and fined as a \nquack. Eventually he found himself compelled to \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] MAGIC AND IMPOSTURE. 1U5 \n\ntake the degree of M,D. at Cambridge (June 27, \n1603) ; after which he settled in Lambeth, and carried \non the twofold profession of physician and astrologer. \nIn his comedy of ' The Silent Woman,' Ben Jonson \nmakes one of his characters say : ' I would say thou \nhadst the best philtre in the world, and could do \nmore than Madam Medea or Doctor Forman,' whence \nwe may infer that the medicines he compounded were \nnot of the orthodox kind or approved by the faculty. \nLovers resorted to him for potions which should \nsoften obdurate hearts ; beauties for powders and \nwashes which might preserve their waning charms ; \nmarried women for drugs to relieve them of the \nreproach of sterility ; rakes who desired to corrupt \nvirtue, and impatient heirs who longed for immediate \npossession of their fortunes, for compounds which \nshonld enfeeble, or even kill. Such was the character \nof Doctor Forman'a sinister * practice.' Among those \nwho sought his unscrupulous assistance was the in- \n&mous Countess of Essex, though Forman died \nbefore her nefarious schemes reached the stage of \nfruition. \n\nHis death, which took place on the 12th of Sep- \ntember, 1611, was attended fit is said) by remark- \nable circumstances. The Sunday night previous, ' his \nwife and he being at supper in their garden-house, \nshe being pleasant, told him she had been informed \nhe could resolve whether man or wife should die \nfirst. \"Whether shall I,\" quoth she, \"bury you or \nno '(\" \" Oh, Truais,\" for so he called her, \" thou shalt \nbury me, but thou wilt much repent it.\" \" Yea, but \n\n\n\n106 \n\n\n\nWIICH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\n\n\nhow long first ?\" \" I shall die,\" said he, \" on Thurs- \nday night.\" Monday came ; all was well. Tuesday \ncame, he not sick. Wednesday came, aod still he \nwas well, with which his impertinent wife did much \ntwit him in his teeth. Thursday came, and dinner \nwas ended, he very well ; he went down to the water- \nside, and took a pair of oars to go to some buildings \nhe was in hand with in Puddle Dock. Being in the \nmiddle of the Thames, he presently fell down, only \nsaying, \" An impost, an impost,\" and so died. A \nmost sad storm of wind immediately following.' \n\nIt seems as if these men could never die without \nbringing down upon the earth a grievous storm or \ntem]}est ! The preceding story, however, partakes \ntoo much of the marvellous to be very easily accepted. \n\nAccording to Anthony Wood, this renowned \nmagician was 'a person that in horary questions, \nespecially theft, was very judicious and fortunate' \n(in other words, he was well served by his spies and \ninstruments) ; 'so, also, in sickness, which was \nindeed his masterpiece ; and had good success in \nresolving questions about marriage, and in other \nquestions very intricate. He professed to his wife \nthat there would be much trouble about Sir Robert \nCarr, Earl of Somerset, and the Lady Frances, his \nwife, who frequently resorted to him, and from whose \ncompany he would sometimes lock himself in his \nstudy one whole day. He had compounded things \nupon the desire of Mrs. Anne Turner, to make the \nsaid Sir Kobert Carr calid quo ad hanc, and Robert, \nEarl of Esbex frigid quo ad hanc ; that his, to his wife \n\n\n\n4 \n\ni \n\n\n\nUHAP. IV.] \n\n\n\nA CAUSE C^LfcBRE. \n\n\n\nthe Lady Frances, who had a mind to get rid of him \nand be wedded to the said Sir Robert. He had also \ncert^ pictures in wax, representing Sir Robert and \nthe said Lady, to cause a love between each other, \nwith other such like things.' \n\nA CAUSE C^LEBRE. \n\nLady Frances Howard, second daughter of the \nEarl of Suffolk, was married, at the age of thirteen, \nto Robert, Earl of Essex, who was only a year older. \nThe alliance was dictated by political considerations, \nand had been recommended by the King, who did \nnot fail to attend the gorgeous festivities that cele- \nbrated the occasion (January 5th, 1606). As it was \ndesirable that the boy-bridegroom should be separated \nfor awhile from his child- wife, the young Earl was sent \nto travel on the Continent, and he did not return to \nclaim his rights as a husband until shortly after \nChristmas, 1609, when he had just passed his \neighteenth birthday. In the interval his wife had \ndeveloped into one of the most beautiful, and, unfor- \ntunately, one of the most dissolute, women in \nEngland. Naturally impetuous, self-willed, and un- \nscrupulous, she had received neither firm guidance nor \nwise advice at the hands of a coarse and avaricious \nmother. Nor was James's Court a place for the cul- \ntivation of the virtues of modesty and self-restraint. \nThe young Countess, therefore, placed no control upon \nher passions, and had already become notorious for her \ndisregard of tliose obligations which her sex usually \nesteem as sacred. At one time she intrigued with \n\n\n\n\n108 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L.J \n\n\n\nPrince Henry, but he dismissed her in angry disgust \nat her numerous infidelities. Finally, she crossed \nthe path of the King's handsome favourite, Sir Robert \nCiirr, and a guilty passion sprang up between them. \nIt is painful to record that it was encouraged by her \ngreat-uncle, Lord Northampton, who hoped through \nCarr's influence to better his position at Court ; and \nit was probably at his mansion in the Strand that the \nplot was framed of which I am about to tell the issue. \nBut the meetings between the two lovers sometimes \ntook place at the house of one of Carr's agents, a. \nman named Coppinger. \n\nAt first, when Essex returned, the Countess re- \nfused to live with him ; but her parents ultimately \ncompelled her to treat liim as her husband, and even \nto accompany him to. his country seat at Chartley. \nThere she remained for three years, wretched with an \ninconceivable wretchedness, and animated with wild \ndreams of escape from the husband she hated to the \nparamour she loved. \n\nFor this purpose she sought the assistance of Mrs. \nAnne Turner, the widow of a respectable physician, \nand a woman of considerable personal charms, who \nhad become the mistress of Sir Arthur Mainwaring.* \nMrs. Turner introduced her to Dr. Simon Forman, \nand an agreement was made that Forman should \n\n* This woman has a place in the recordB of faafaion as iotro- \nducer of the Eovelty of yellow-atarching the exteiisive niffa \nwliich were then generally worn. When Lord Chief Justice \nCuke Bentenced her to death (as we shall hereafter see) for her \nshare in the murder of Overbury, he ordered that 'as she waa the \nperson who had brought yellow-starched ruffs into vogue, she \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] \n\n\n\nA CAUSE C6LEBRE. \n\n\n\n109 \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nexercise his magical powers to fix young Carr's affec- \ntions irrevocably upon the Countess. The intercourse \nbetween the astrologer and the ladies became very \nfrequent, and the former exercised all his skill to \ncarry out their desires. At a later period, Mrs. \nForman deposed in court ' that Mr\u00ab. Turner and her \nhusband would sometimes be locked up in his study \nfor three or four hours together,' and the Countess \nlearned to speak of him as her ' sweet father.' \n\nThe Countess next conceived the most flagitious \ndesigns against her husband's health ; and, to carry \nthem out, again sought the assistance of her un- \nscrupulous quack, who accordingly set to work, \nmade waxen images, invented new charms, supplied \ndrugs to be administered in the Earl's drinks, and \nwashes in which his linen was to be steeped. These \nmeasures, however, did not prove effectual, and \nletters addressed by the Countess at this time to \nMrs. Turner and Dr. Forman complain that ' my lord \nis very well as ever he was,' while reiterating the sad \nstory of her hatred towards him, and her design to \nbe rid of him at all hazards. In the midst of the \nintrigue came the sudden death of Dr. Forman, who \nseems to have felt no little anxiety as to his share in \nit, and, on one occasion, as we have seen, professed \nto his wife ' that there would be much trouble about \nCarr and the Countess of Essex, who frequently \nresorted unto him, and from whose company he would \n\neliould be hanged in that dreaa, that the same might end in shame \nand detestation.' As the hangman was also adorned with yellow \nruffa, it ia no wonder that Coke's prediction waa amply fulfilled. \n\n\n\n110 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book L \n\nBometimes lock himself m his study a whole day.' \nMrs. Forman, when, at a later date, examined in \ncourt, deposed 'that Mrs. Turner came to her house \nimmediately after her husband's death, and did de- \nmand certain pictures which were in her husband's \nstudy, namely, one picture in wax, very mysteriously \napparelled in silk and satin ; as also another made in \nthe form of a naked woman, spreading and laying \nforth her hair in a jrlass, which Mrs. Turner did con- \nfidently affirm to be in a box, and she knew in what \npart of the room in the study they were.' We also \nlearn that Forman, in reply to the Countess's re- \nproaches, averred that the devil, as he was informed, \nhad no power over the person of the Earl of Essex. \nThe Countess, however, was not to be diverted from \nher object, and, after Forman's death, employed two \nor three other conjurers \u2014 one Gresham, and a Doctor \nLavoire, or Savory, being specially mentioned. \n\nWhat followed has left a dark and shameful stain \non the record of the reign of -Tames I. The King \npersonally interfered on behalf of his favourite, and \nresolved that Essex should be compelled to surrender \nhis wife. For this purpose the Countess was in- \nBtructed to bring against him a charge of conjugal \nincapacity ; and a Commission of right reverend pre- \nlates and learned lawyers, under the presidency \u2014 one \nblushes to write it- \u2014 of Abbot, Archbishop of Canter- \nbury, was appointed to investigate the loathsome \ndetails. A jury of matrons was empanelled to deter- \nmine the virginity of Lady Essex, and, as a pure \nyoung girl was substituted in her place, their verdict \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] A CAUSE C^LfeBRE, \n\nwas, of course, in the affirmative! As for the Com- \nmission, it decided, after long debates, by a majority \nof seven to five, that the Lady Frances was entitled \nto a divorce \u2014 the majority being obtained, however, \nonly by the King's active exercise of his personal influ- \nence (September, 1613). The lady having thus been \nset free from her vows by a most shameless intrigue, \nJames hurried on a marriage between her and his \nfavourite, and on St. Stephen's Day it was cele- \nbrated with great splendour. In the interval Carr \nhad been raised to the rank and title of Earl of \nSomerset, and his wife had previously been made \nViscountfisa Rochester. \n\nA strenuous opponent of these unhallowed nuptials \nhad been found in the person of Sir Thomas Over- \nbury, a young man of brilliant parts, who stood \ntowards Somerset in much the same relation that \nSomerset stood towards the King. At the outset he \nhad looked with no disfavour on his patron's intrigue \nwith Lady Frances, but had actually composed the \nlove-letters which went to her in the Earl's name ; \nbut, for reasons not clearly understood, he assumed a \nhostile attitude when the marriage was proposed. As \nhe had acquired a knowledge of secrets which would \nhave made him a dangerous ivitness before the Divorce \nCommission, the intriguers felt the necessity of getting \nhim out of the way. Accordingly, the King pressed \nupon him a diplomatic appointment on the Continent, \nand when this was refused committed him to the \nTower. There he lingered for some months in failing \nhealth until a dose of poison terminated bis sufferings \n\n\n\n112 WITCH, WABLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book 1. \n\non September 13, 1G13, rather more than three months \nbefore the completion of the marriage he had striven \nineffectually to prevent. This poison was unquestion- \nably administered at the instigation of Lady Essex, \nthough under what circumstances it is not easy to \ndetermine. The most probable supposition seems to \nbe that an assistant of Lobell, a French apothecary \nwho attended Overbury, was bribed to administer the \nfatal drug. \n\nFor two years the murder thus foully committed \nremained unknown, but in the summer of 1615, when \nJames's affection for Somerset was rapidly declining, \nand a new and more splendid favourite had risen in \nthe person of George Villiers, some information of the \ncrime was conveyed to the King by his secretary, \nWinwood, How Winwood obtained this information \nis still a mystery ; but we may, perhaps, conjecture \nthat he received it from the apothecary's boy, who, \nbeing taken ill at Flushing, may have sought to \nrelieve his conscience by confession. A few weeks \nafterwards, Helwys, the Lieutenant of the Tower, \nunder an impression that the whole matter had been \ndiscovered, acknowledged that frequent attempts had \nbeen made to poison Overbury in his food, but that \nhe had succeeded in defeating them until the apothe- \ncary's boy eluded his vigilance. Who sent the poison \nhe did not know. The only person whose name he \nhad heard in connection with it was Mrs. Turner, and \nthe agent employed to convey it was, he said, a \ncertain Richard Weston, a former servant of Mrs, \nTurner, who had been admitted into the Tower as a \n\n\n\nCHAP, rv,] \n\n\n\nA CAUSE c6li;BRE. \n\n\n\nkeeper, and entrusted with the immediate charge of \nOverbury. \n\nOn being examined, Weston at first denied all \nknowledge of the affair ; but eventually he confessed \nthat, having been rebuked by Helwys, he had thrown \naway the medicaments with which he had been en- \ntrusted ; and next he accused Lady Somerset of \ninstigating him to administer to Overbury a poison, \nwhich would be forwarded to him for that purpose. \nThen one Rawlins, a servant of the Earl, gave infor- \nmation that he had been similarly employed. As \nsoon as Somerset heard that he was implicated, he \nwrote to the King protesting his innocence, and de- \nclaring that a conspiracy had been hatched against \nhim. But many suspicious particulars being dis- \ncovered, he was committed to the custody of Sir \nOliver St. John ; while Weston, on October 23, was \nput on his trial for the murder of Overbury, and \nfound guilty, though no evidence was adduced against \nbiin which would have satisfied a modern jury. \n\nOn November 7 Mrs. Turner was brought before \nthe Court. Her trial excited the most profound \ncuriosity, and Westminster Hall was crowded by an \neager multitude, who shuddered with superstitious \nemotion when the instruments employed by Forman \nin his magical rites were exposed to view.\" It would \n\n* Arthur Wilson, in his ' Memoira,' furnishes a strange account \nof the practices in which Lady Essex, Mrs. Turner, and the con- \njurer took part ' The Countess of Essex,\" he says, ' to strengthen \nher designs, finds out one of her own stamp, Mrs, Turner, a doctor \nof physic's widow, a woman whom prodigality and looseness had \nbrought low ; yet her pride would make her fly any pitch, rather \n\n\n\n114 \u25a0WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\nseem that Mrs, Turner, when arrested, immediately \nsent her maid to Forman's widow, to urge her to \n\nthan fall into the jaws of Want. These two counsel together how \nthey might stop the ciirrent of the Earl'e afTection towarde his \nwife, &nd make a clear passage for the Viscount in his place. To \neffect which, one Dr. Fonnan, a reputed conjurer (living at \nLambeth) is found out; the women declare to him their grievances; \nhe promises sudden help, and, to amuse them, frames manj little \npictures of hrass and wax^ \u2014 some like the Viscount and Countess, \nwhom he must unite and strengthen, others like the Earl of Essex, \nwhom he must dehilitate and weaken ; and then with philtrous \npowders, and such drugs, he works upon their persons. And to \npractise what effects his arts would produce, Mrs. Turner, that \nloved Sir Arthur Manwaring (a gentleman then attending the \nPrince), and willing to keep him to her, gave him some of the \npowder, which wrought so violently with him, that through a \nstorm of rain and thunder he rode fifteen miles one dark night \nto her house, scarce knowing where he was till ha was there. \nSuch is the devilish and mad rage of lust, heightened with art \nand fancy. \n\n' These things, matured and ripened hy this juggler Fonnan, \ngave them assurance of happy hopes. Her courtly incitements, \nthat drew the Viscount to observe her, she imputed to the \noperation of those drugs he had tasted ; and that harshness and \nstubborn comportment she expressed to her husband, making \nhim (weary of such entertainments) to absent himself, she thought \nproceeded from the effects of those unknown potions and powders \nthat were administered to him. So apt is the imagination to take \nimpressions of those things we are willing to believe. \n\n' The good Eavl, finding his wife nurseled in the Court, and seeing \nno possibility to reduce her to reason till she were estranged from tlie \nrelish and taste of the delights she sucked in there, made his con- \ndition again known to her father. The old man, being troubled with \nMs daughter's disobedience, embittered her, being near him, with \nwearisome and continued chidings, to wean her from the sweets \nBhe doted upon, and with much ado forced her into the country. \nBut how harsh was the parting, being sent away from the place \nwhere she grew and flourished 1 Yet she left all her engines and \nimps behind her : the old doctor and his confederate, Mrs. Turner, \nmust he her two supporters. She blazons all her miseries to them \n\n\n\nCHAP, rv.] A CAUSE C^LfeBRE. US \n\nburn \u2014 before the Privy Council sent to search her \nhouse \u2014 any of her husband's papers that might con- \ntain dangerous secrets. She acted on the advice, but \noverlooked a few documents of great importance, in- \ncluding a couple of letters written by Lady Essex to \nMrs. Turner and Forman, The various articles \nseized in Forraan's house referred, however, not to \nthe murder of Overbury, but to the conjurations em- \nployed against the Earls of Somerset and Essex. \n' There was shewed in Court,' says a contemporary \nreport, ' certaine pictures of a man and a woman made \nin lead, and also a moulde of brasse wherein they \nwere cast, a blacke scarfe alsoe full of white crosses, \nwhich Mrs, Turner had in her custody/ besides ' in- \nchanted paps and other pictures.* There was also a \nparcel of Forman's written charms and incantations. \n'In some of those parchments the deviU had par- \nticular names, who were conjured to torment the lord \nSomersett and Sir Arthur Mannering, if theire loves \n\nat her depart, and moistens the way with lier tears. Chartley \nwas an hundred miles from her happiness; and a little time thus \nlost is her eternity. When she came thither, though in the \npleasantest part of the summer, she sliut herself up in her \nchamher, not suffering a beam of light to peep upon hor dark \nthoughts. If she stirred out of her chamber, it was in the dead \nof the night, when sleep had taken possession of all others but \nthose about her. In this implacable, sad, and discontented \nhumour, she continued some months, always murmuring against, \nbut never giving the least civil respect to, her husband, which the \ngood man sufiered patiently, being loth to be the divulger of hia \nown misery ; yet, having a manly courage, ho would sometimes \nbreak into a little passion to see himself slighted and neglected ; \nbut having never found better from her, it was the easier to bear \nwith her,' \n\n\n\n116 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\nshould not contynue, the one to the Countesse, the \nother to Mra. Turner.' Visions of a dingy room \nhaunted by demons, who bad been summoned from \nthe infernal depths by Forman's potent spells, stimu- \nlated the imagination of the excited crowd until they \ncame to believe that the fiends were actually there in \nthe Court, listening in wrath to the exposure of their \nagents ; and, behold ! in the very heat and flush of \nthis extravagant credulity, a sudden crack was heard \nin one of the platforms or scaffolds, causing ' a great \nfear, tumult, and commotion amongst the spectators \nand through the hall, every one fearing hurt, as if the \ndevil had been present and grown angry to have his \nworkmanship known by such as were not his own \nscholars.' The narrator adds that there was also a \nnote showed in Court, made by Dr. Forman, and \nwritten on parchment, signifying what ladies loved \nwhat lords ; but the Lord Chief Justice would not \nsuffer it to be read openly. This ' note,' or hook, was a \ndiary of the doctor's dealings with the persons named ; \nand a scandalous tradition affirms that the Lord Chief \nJustice would not have it read because bis wife's name \nwas the first which caught bis eye when he glanced \nat the contents. \n\nMrs. Turner's conviction followed as a matter of \ncourse upon Weston's. There was no diiBculty in \nproving that she had been concerned in his pro- \nceedings, and that if he had committed a crime she \nwas particeps crimmis. Both she and Weston died \nwith an acknowledgment on their lips that they \nwere justly punished. Her end, according to all \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] \n\n\n\nA CA.XJSE C&LtBRB. \n\n\n\n117 \n\n\n\naccounts, was sufficiently edifying. Bishop Good- \nman quotes the narrative of an eye-witness, one \nMr. John Castle, in which we read that, ' if detesta- \ntion of painted pride, lust, malice, powdered hair, \nyellow bands, and the rest of the wardrobe of Court \nvanities ; if deep sighs, tears, confessions, ejacula- \ntions of the soul, admonitions of all sorts of \npeople to make God and an unspotted conscience \nalways our friends ; if the protestation of faith and \nhope to he washed by the same Saviour and the like \nmercies that Magdalene was, be signs and demon- \nstrations of a blessed penitent, then I will tell you \nthat this poor broken woman went a cruce ad \ngloriam, and now enjoys the presence of her and our \nRedeemer. Her body being taken down by her \nbrother, one Norton, servant to the Prince, was in a \ncoach conveyed to St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, where, \nin the evening of the same day, she had an honest \nand a decent burial.' Her sad fate seems to have \nappealed strongly to public sympathy, and to have \ndrawn a veil of oblivion over the sins and follies \nof her misspent life. A contemporary versiher \nspeaks of her in language worthy of a Lucretia : \n\n' how the cruel cord did misbecome \nHer comely neck I and yet by Law'a just doom \nHad been her death. Those locks, like golden thread, \nThat used in youth to enshrine her globe-like head, \nHung careless down ; and that delightful limb. \nHer snow-white nimble hand, that used to trim \nThose tresses up, now spitefully did tear \nAnd rend the same ; nor did she now forbear \nTo beat that breast of more than lily-white. \nWhich sometime was the bed of aweet delight. \n\n\n\n118 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book L \n\nFrom those two springs where joy did whilom dwell, \nGrief's pearly drops upon her pale cheek fell.' \n\nThe next to suffer ^vas an apothecary named \nFranklin, from whom the poison had been procured. \n* Bel'ore he was executed, he threw out wild hints of \nthe existence of a plot far exceeding in villainy that \nwhich was in course of investigation. He tried to \ninduce all who would listen to him to believe that \nhe knew of a conspiracy in which many great lords \nwere concerned ; and that not only the late Prince \n[Henry] had been removed by unfiiir means, but that \na plan had been made to get rid of the Electress \nPalatine and her husband. As, however, all this \nwas evidently only dictated by a hope of escaping the \ngallows, he was allowed to share with the others a \nfate which he richly deserved.\" \n\n\n\nAfter the execution of these smaller culprits, some \nmonths elapsed before Bacon, as Attorney -General, \nwas directed to proceed against the greater. It was \nnot until May 24, 1616, that the Countess of \nSomerset was put upon her trial before the High \nSteward's Court in Westminster Hall. Contem- \nporary testimony differs strangely as to her behaviour. \nOne authority says that, whilst the indictment was \nbeing read, she turned pale and trembled, and when \nWeston's name was mentioned hid her face behind \nher fan. Another remarks : ' She won pity by her \nsober demeanour, which, in my opinion,' he adds, \n' was more curious and confident than was fit for a \nlady in such distress, yet she shed, or made show of \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV,] \n\n\n\nA CAUSE CtLkBHE. \n\n\n\nsome tears, divers times.' The evidence agaiost her \nwas too strong to be confuted, and she pleaded guilty. \nWhen the judge asked her if she had anything to \nsay in arrest of judgment, she replied, in low, \nalmost inaudible tones, that she could not extenuate \nher fault. She implored mercy, and begged that \nthe lords would intercede with the King on her \nbehalf Sentence was then pronounced, and the \nprisoner sent back to the Tower, to await the King's \ndecision. \n\nOn the following day the Earl was tried. Bacon \nagain acted as prosecutor, and in his opening speech \nhe said that the evidence to be brought forward by \nthe Government would prove four points: I. That \nSomerset bore malice against Overbury before the \nlatter's imprisonment ; 2, That he devised the plan \nby which that imprisonment was effected ; 3. That \nhe actually sent poisons to the Tower ; 4. That \nhe had made strenuous efforts to conceal the proofs \nof hie guilt. He added that he himself would \nundertake the management of the case on the first \ntwo points, leaving his subordinates, Montague and \nCrew, to deal with the third and fourth. \n\nBacon had chosen for himself a comparatively easy \ntask. The ill-feeling that had existed between \nOverbury and his patron was beyond doubt ; while \nit was conclusively shown, and, indeed, hardly dis- \nputed, that Somerset had had a hand in Overbury's \nimprisonmenc, and in the appointment of Helwys \nand Weston as his custodians. Passages from Lord \nNorthampton's letters to the Earl proved the exist- \n\n\n\n\n\n120 WITCe, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nence of a plot m which both were mixed up, and \nthat Helwys had expressed an opinion that Over- \nbury's death would be a satisfactory termination of \nthe imbroglio. But he might probably have based \nthis opinion on the fact that Overbury was seriously \nill, and his recovery more than doubtful. \n\nWhen Bacon had concluded his part of the case, \nEllesraere, who presided, urged Somerset to confess \nhia guilt. ' No, my lord,' said the Earl calmly, \n' I came hither with a resolution to defend myself.' \n\nMontague then endeavoured to demonstrate that \nthe poison of which Overbury died had been adminis- \ntered with Somerset's knowledge. But he could \nget no further than this : that Somerset had been \nin the habit of sending powders, as well as tarts and \njellies, to Overbury ; but he did not, and could not \nprove that the powders were poisonous. Nor was \nSerjeant Crew able to advance the case beyond the \npoint reached by Bacon ; he could argue only on the \nassumption of Somerset's guilt, which his colleagues \nhad failed to establish. \n\nIn our own day it would be held that the case for \nthe prosecution had completely broken down ; and I \nmust add my conviction that Somerset was in no \nway privy to Overbury's murder. He had assented \nto his imprisonment, because he was weary of his \nimportunity ; but he still retained a kindly feeling \ntowards him, and was evidently grieved at the \nserious nature of his illness. As a matter of fact, \nit was not proved even that Overbury died of \npoison, though I admit that this is put beyond \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, IV,] A CAUSE C^X&BRE. \n\n\n\ndoubt by collateral circurastanceB. Somerset's posi- \ntion, however, before judges who were more or less \nhostilely disposed, with the agents of the Crown bent \non obtaining his conviction, and he himself without \nlegal advisers, was both difficult and dangerous. He \nwas embarrassed by the necessity of keeping back \npart of his case. He was unable to tell the whole \ntruth about Overbury's imprisonment. He could \nnot make known all that had passed between Lady \nEeses and himself before marriage, or that Over- \nbury had been committed to the Tower to prevent \nhim from giving evidence which would have certainly \nquashed Lady Essex's proceedings for a divorce. \nAnd, in truth, if he mustered up courage to tell \nthis tale of shame, he could not hope that the peers, \nmost of whom were his enemies, would give credence \nto it, or that, if they believed it. they would refrain \n&om delivering an adverse verdict. \n\nYet he bore himself with courage and ability, \nwhen, by the flickering light of torches, for the day \nhad gone down, he rose to make his defence. Ac- \nknowledging that he had consented to Overbury's \nimprisonment in order that he might throw no \nobstacles in the way of his marriage with Lady \nEssex, he firmly denied that he had known anything \nof attempts to poison him. The tarts he had sent \nwere wholesome, and of a kind to which Overbury \nwas partial ; if any had been tampered with, he was \nunaware of it. The powders he had received from \nSir Robert Killigrew, and simply sent them on ; and \nOverbury had admitted, in a letter which was before \n\n\n\n\n122 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nthe Court, that they had done him no mischief. \nHere Crew interrupted : The three powders from \nKilligrew had been duly accounted for ; but there \nwas a fourth powder, which had not been accounted \nfor, and had {it was assumed) contained poison. \nNow, it was improbable that the Earl could re- \nmember the exact history of every powder sent to \nOverbury two years before, and, besides, it was a \nmere assumption on the part of the prosecution that \nthis fourth powder was poison. But Somerset'fl \ninability to meet this point was made the most of, \nand gave the peers a sufficient pretest for declaring \nhim guilty. The Earl received his sentence with \nthe composure he had exhibited throughout the \narduous day, which had shown how a nature \nenervated by luxury and indulgence can be braced \nup by the chill air of adversity, and contented him- \nself with expressing a hope that the Court would \nintercede with the King for mercy. \n\nI have dwelt at some length on the details of this \ncelebrated trial because it is the last (in English \njurisprudence) in which men and women of rank \nhave been mixed up with the secret practices of the \nmagician ; though, for other reasons, it is one of \nvery unusual interest In briefly concluding the \nrecital, I may state that James was greatly relieved \nwhen the trial was over, and he found that nothing \ndamaging to himself had been disclosed. It is \ncertain that Somerset was in possession of some \ndark secret, the revelation of which was much \ndreaded by the King ; so that precautions had even \n\n\n\nIP. IV.] \n\n\n\nDR. LAMBE. \n\n\n\n123 \n\n\n\nbeen taken, or at all events meditated, to remove \nhim from the Court if he entered upon the dangerous \ntopic, and to continue the trial in hla absence. He \nwould probably have been silenced by force. The \nEarl, however, refrained from hazardous disclosures, \nand James could breathe in peace. \n\nOn July 13, the King pardoned Lady Somerset, \nwho was certainly the guiltiest of all concerned. \nThe Earl was left in prison, with sentence of death \nsuspended over him for several years, in order, no \ndoubt, to terrify him into silence. A few months \nbefore his death, James appears to have satisfied \nhimself that he bad nothing to fear, and ordered the \nEarl's release (January, 1622). Had he lived, he \nwould probably have restored him to his former in- \nfluence and favour.* \n\n\n\nDR. LAMBE. \n\nA worthy successor to Simon Forman appeared in \nDr. Lambe, or Lamb, who, in the first two Stuart \nreigns, attained a wide celebrity as an astrologer and \na quack doctor. A curious story respecting his pre- \ntended magical powers is related by Richard Baxter \nin his ' Certainty of the World of Spirits ' (1691). \nMeeting two acquaintances in the street, who \nevidently desired some experience of his skill in the \noccult art, he invited them home with him, and \n\n* See ' The State Trials ;' ' The Carew Letters ;' Spedding, \n' Life and Letters of Lord Bacon ;' Amos, ' The Grand Oyer of \nPoiaoDing;\" and S. K. Gardiner, 'History of England,' voL iv., \n1607-1616. \n\n\n\n124 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book I. \n\n\n\nushered them into an inner chamber. There, to their \namazement, a tree sprang up before their eyes in the \nmiddle of the floor. Before they had ceased to \n\u25a0wonder at this sight surprising, three diminutive men \nentered, with tiny axes in their hands, and, nimbly \nsetting to work, soon felled the tree. The doctor \nthen dismissed his gueeta, who went away with a \nconviction that he was as potent a necromancer as \nRoger Bacon or Cornelius Agrippa. \n\nThat same night a tremendous gale arose, so that \nthe house of one of Lambe's visitors rocked to and \nfro, threatening to topple over with a crash, and bury \nthe man and his wife in the ruins. In great terror \nhis wife inquired, ' Were you not at Dr. Lambe'a \nto-day ?' The husband acknowledged that it was so. \n' And did you bring anything away from his house?' \nYes: when the dwarfs felled the tree, he had been \nfoolish enough to pick up some of the chips, and put \nthem in his pocket. Here was the cause of the hurri- \ncane! With all speed he got rid of the chips; the \nstorm immediately subsided, and the remainder of the \nnight was spent in undisturbed repose. \n\nLambe was notorious for the lewdness of his life \nand his evil habits. But bis supposed skill and \nsuccess as a soothsayer led to his being frequently \nconsulted by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, \nwith the result that each helped to swell the volume \nof the other's unpopularity. The Puritans were \nangered at the Duke's resort to a man of Lambe'e \ncharacter and calling ; the populace hated Lambe as \nthe tool and instrument of the Duke. In 1628 the \n\n\n\nCHAP. IT.] DR. LAMBE. 125 \n\nbrilliant favourite of Charles I, was the best-hated \nman in England, and every slander was hurled at \nhim that the resources of political animosity could \nsupply. The ballads of the time \u2014 an indisputably \nsatisfactory barometer of public opinion \u2014 inveighed \nbitterly and even furiously against his luxuriouaness, \nhis love of dress, his vanity, his immorality, and his \nproved incompetence as soldier and statesman. He \nwas accused of having poisoned Lords Hamilton, \nLennox, Southampton, Oxford, even Jaraes I, him- \nsel\u00a3 He had sat in his boaf, out of the reach of \ndanger, while his soldiers perished under the guns of \nR6. He had corrupted the chastest women in England \nby means of the love-philtre which Dr. Lambe con- \ncocted for him. In a word, the air was full of the \ndarkest and dreadest accusations. \n\nLambe's connection with the Duke brought on a \ncatastrophe which his magical art failed to foresee or \nprevent. He was returning, one summer evening \u2014 it \nwas June 13 \u2014 from the play at the Fortune Theatre, \nwhen he was recognised by a company of London \nprentices. With a fine scent for the game, they \ncrowded round the unfortunate magician, and hooted \nat him as the Duke's devil, hustling him to and fro, \nand treating him with cruel roughness. To save \nhimself from further violence, he hired some sailors \nto escort him to a tavern in Moorgate Street, where \nhe supped. On going forth again, he found that \nmany of his persecutors lingered about the door; and, \nbursting into a violent rage, he threatened them with \nhis vengeance, and told them ' he would make them \n\n\n\n\n126 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\ndance naked.' Still guarded by his sailors, he \nhurried homeward, with the moh close at his heels, \nshouting and gesticulating, and increasing every \nminute both in numbers and fury. In the Old \nJewry he turned to face them with his protectors ; \nbut this movement of defence, construed into one of \ndefiance, stimulated the passions of the populace to an \nungovernable pitch ; they made a rush at him, fi^m \nwhich he took refuge in the Windmill tavern. A \nvolley of stones smashed against pane and door ; and \nwith shouts, screams, and yells, they demanded that \nhe should be given up. But the landlord, a man of \ncourage and humanity, would not throw the poor \nwretch to his pursuers as the huntsman throws the \ncaptured fox to the fangs of his hounds. He detained \nhim for some time, and then he pro^'ided him with a \ndisguise before he would suffer him to leave. The \nprecaution was useless, for hate is keen of vision; \nthe man was recognised ; the pursuit was resumed, \nand he was hunted through the streets, pale and \ntrembling with terror, his dress disordered and soiled, \nuntil he again sought an asylum. The master of this \nhouse, however, fell into a paroxysm of alarm, and \ndismissed him hastily, with four constables as a body- \nguard. But what could these avail against hundreds? \nThey were swept aside \u2014 the doctor, bleeding and \nexhausted, was flung to the ground, and sticks and \nstones rained blows upon him until he was no longer \nable to ask for mere}\". One of his eyes was heaten \nout of its socket; and when he was rescued at length \nby a posse of constables and soldiers, and conveyed to \n\n\n\nCBAP. IV.] \n\n\n\nDR. LA31BE. \n\n\n\n127 \n\n\n\nthe Compter prison, it was a dying man who was \nborne unconsciouB across its threshold. \n\nSuch was the miserable ending of Dr. Lambe. \nCharles I. was much affected when he heard of it ; \nfor he aaw that it was a terrible indication of the \npopular hostility against Lambe's patron. The \nmurderers had not scrupled to say that if the Duke \nhad been there they would have handled him worse; \nthey would have minced his flesh, so that every one \nof them might have had a piece. Summoning to his \npresence the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, the King \nbade them discover the offenders ; and when they \nfailed in what was an impossible task, he imposed \na heavy 6ne upon the City. \n\nThe ballad- writers of the day found in the magi- \ncian's fate an occasion for attacking Buckingham: \none of them, commenting on his supposed contempt \nfor Parliament, puts the following arrogant defiance \ninto his mouth : \n\n' Meddle with common matters, common wrongs, \nTo th' House of Commons common things belong. . , \nLeave him the oar that hest knows how to roir \nAnd State to him that the best State doth know. , . \nThough Lambe be dead, I'll stand, and you ahall Bee \nI'll smile at them that can but bark at me.' \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGXOIAN. [bOOK I. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. \n\nTHE LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS: WILLIAM \nLILLY. \n\n'Lilly was a promiaent, and, in the opinion of many of his \ncontemporaries, a very important personage in the moat eventful \nperiod of English history. He was a principal actor in the \nfarcical scenes which diversified the bloody tragedy of civil war; \nand while the King and the Parliament were striving for mastery \nin the field, he was deciding their destinies in the closet. The \nweak and the credulous of both parties who sought to be \ninstructed in \" destiny's dark counsels,\" flocked to consult the \n\" wily Archimagus,\" who, with exemplary impartiality, meted out \nvictory and good fortune to his clients, according to the extent of \ntheir faith and the weight of their purses. A few profane \nCavaliers might make his name the burthen of their malignant \nrhymes \u2014 a few of the more scrupulous among the saints might \nkeep aloof in sanctified abhorrence of the \" Stygian sophister \" \u2014 \nbut the great majority of the people lent a wiUing and reverential \near to his prophecies and prognostications. Nothing was too high \nor too low, too mighty or too insignificant, for the grasp of hia \ngenius. The stars, his informants, were as communicative on the \nmost trivial as on the most important subjects. If a scheme was \nset on foot to rescue the King, or to retrieve a stray trinket ; to \nrestore the royal authority, or to make a frail damsel an honest \nwoman ; to cure the nation of anarchy, or a lap-dog of a surfeit \n\u2014 William Lilly was the oracle to he consulted. His almanacks \nwere spelled over in the tavern, and quoted in the Senate ; they \nnerved the arm of the soldier, and rounded the period of the \norator. The fashionable beauty, dashing along in her calash from \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\nLAST OP THE ENGLISH MAGICTANS, \n\n\n\n129 \n\n\n\nSt James's or the Mall, and the prim atarched dame from Watling \nStreet or Bucklersbury, with a staid foot-boy, in a plush jerkin, \nplodding behind her \u2014 the reigning toast among \" the men of wit \nabout town,\" and the leading groaner in a tabernacle concert \u2014 \nglided alternately into the study of the trusty wizard, and poured \ninto his attentive ear strange tales of love, or trade, or treason. \nThe Roundhead stalked in at one door, whilst the Cavalier was \nhurried out at the other. \n\n' The confessions of a man so variously consulted and trusted, \nif written with the candour of a Cardan or a Rousseau, would \nindeed be invaluable. The \" Memoirs of William Lilly, though \ndeficient in this particular, yet contain a variety of curious and \ninteresting anecdotes of himself and his contemporaries, which, \nwhen the vanity of the writer or the truth of his art is not con- \ncerned, may be received with implicit credence. \n\n'The simplicity and apparent candour of his narrative might \ninduce a hasty reader of this book to believe him a well-meaning \nbat somewhat silly personage, the dupe of liis own speculations \u2014 \nthe deceiver of himself as well as of others. But an attentive \nexamination of the events of his life, even as recorded by himself, \nwill not warrant so favourable an interpretation. His systematic \nand successful attention to his own interest, his dexterity in \nkeeping on \"the windy side of the law,\" his perfect political \npliability, and his presence of mind and fertility of resources \nwhen entangled in difficulties, indicate an accomplished impostor, \nnot a crazy enthusiast. It is very possible and probable that, at \nthe outset of his career, he was a real behever in the truth and \nlawfulness of his art, and that he afterwards felt no inclination \nto part vrith so plessant and so profitable a delusion . . Of his \nsuccess in deception, the present rtarrative exhibits abundant proofa \nThe number of his dupes was not confined to the vulgar and illiter- \nate, hut included individuals of real worth and learning, of hostile \nparties and sects, who courted his acquaintance and respected his \npredictions. His proceedings were deemed of sufficient import- \nance to be twice made the subject of a Parliamentary inquiry ; \nand even after the Restoration \u2014 when a little more scepticism, if \nnot more wisdom, might have been expected \u2014 wo find him \nexamined liy a Committee of the House of Commons respecting \nhis foreknowledge of the Great Fire of London. \\Ve know not \nwhether it \" should more move our anger or our mirth \" to see \nour assemblage of British Senators \u2014 the contemporaries of \n\n\n\n130 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nHampden and Falkland, of Milton and Clarendon, in an age \nwhich moved into action bo many and Buch mighty enei^es \u2014 \ngravely engaged in ascertaining the cause of a great national \ncalamity from the prescience of a knavish fortune-teller, and \npuzzling their wisdoms to interpret the symbolical flames which \nblazed in the misshapen woodcuts of his oracular publications. \n\n' Ab a aet-off against these honours may be mentioned the \nvinilent and unceasing attacks of almost all the party scribblers \nof the day ; but their abuse he shared in common with men \nwhose talents and virtues have outlived the malice of their con- \ntemporaries.' \u2014 Hetrospective Review. \n\nWilliam Lilly was born at Diseworth, in Leicester- \nshire, on May 1, 1602. He came of an old and re- \nputable family of the yeoman class, and his father \nwas at one time a man of substance, though, from \ncauses unexplained, he fell into a state of great im- \npoverishment. William from the first was intended \nto be a scholar, and at the age of eleven was sent to \nthe grammar-school at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where he \nmade a fair progress in his classical studies. In bis \nsixteenth year he began to be much troubled in his \ndreams regarding his chances of future salvation, and \nfelt a large concern for the spiritual welfare of Iiia \nparents, He frequently spent the night in weeping \nand praying, and in an agony of fear lest his sins \nshould offend God. That in this exhibition of early \npiety he was already preparing for his career of self- \nhypocrisy and deception, I will not be censorious \nenough to assert ; but in after-life his conscience was \ncertainly much less sensitive, and he ceased to trouble \nhimself about the souls of any of bis kith and kin. \n\nHe was about eighteen when the collapse of his \nfetber's circumstances compelled him to leave school. \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 131 \n\nHe had used his time and opportunities so well that \nhe had gained the highest form, and the highest place \non that form. He spoke Latin as readily as his \nnative tongue; could improvise verses upon any \ntheme \u2014 all kinds of verses, hexameter, pentameter, \nphalenciac, ianibic, sapphic \u2014 so that if any ingenious \nyouth came from remote schools to hold public dis- \nputations, Lilly was always selected as the Ashby-de- \nla-Zoucli champion, and in that capacity invariably \nwon distinction. ' If any minister came to examine \nus,' he said, ' I was brought forth against him, nor \nwould I argue with him unless in the Latin tongue, \nwhich I found few could well speak without breaking \nPiiscian's head ; which, if once they did, I would \ncomplain to my master, Non bene intdliget linguare \nLatinam, nee prorsus loquitur. In the derivation of \nwords, I found most of them defective; nor, indeed, \nwere any of them good grammarians. All and every \nof those scholars who were of my form and stand- \ning went to Cambridge, and proved excellent divines ; \nonly I, poor William Lilly, was not so happy ; \nfortime then fro^\\'ning upon my father's present con- \ndition, ho not in any capacity to maintain me at the \nUniversity.' \n\nThe res angustw domi pressing heavily upon the \nquick-witted, ingenious, and active young fellow, he \nset forth \u2014 as so many Dick Whittingtons have done \nbefore and since \u2014 to make his fortune in London \nCity. His purse held only 20s., with which he pur- \nchased a new suit \u2014 hose, doublets, trunk, and the \nlike \u2014 and with a donation from his friends of IDs., he \n9\u20142 \n\n\n\n132 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1. \n\n\n\ntook leave of his father (' then in Leicester gaol for \ndebt *) on April 4th, and tramping his way to London, \nin company with ' Bradshaw tlie carrier,' arrived \nthere on the 9th. When he had gratified the carrier \nand his servants, his capital was reduced to 7s. 6d. \nin money, a suit of clothes on his back, two shirts, \nthree bands, one pair of shoes, and as many stockings. \nThe master to whom he had been recommended \u2014 \nLeicestershire bom, like himself\u2014 a certain Gilbert \nAVright, received him kindly, purchasing for him a \nnew cloak \u2014 a welcome addition to Lilly's scanty \nwardrobe; and Lilly then settled down, contentedly \nenough, to his laborious duties, though they were \nhardly of a kind to gratify the tastes of an earnest \nscholar. ' My work,' he says, ' was to go before my \nmaster to church ; to attend my master when he \nwent abroad; to make clean his shoes; sweep the \nstreet ; help to drive bucks when he washed ; fetch \nwater in a tub fi-om the Thames (I have helped to \ncarry eighteen tubs of water in one morning) ; weed \nthe garden ; all manner of drudgeries I willingly per- \nformed ; scrape trenchers,' etc. \n\n\n\nIn 1624 his mistress (he says) died of cancer in \nthe breast, and he came into possession \u2014 by way of \nlegacy, I suppose \u2014 of a small scarlet bag belonging \nto her, which contained some rare and curious things. \nAmong others, several sigils, amulets, or charms: \nsome of Jupiter in trine, others of the nature of \nVenus ; some of iron, and one of gold \u2014 pure angel \ngold, of the bigness of a thirty-shilling piece of King \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 1S3 \n\nJames's coinage. In the circumference, on one side, \nwas engraven, Vicit Leo de h-ibu Jud^F Teb-agram- \nmato}i, and within the middle a holy Iamb. In the \ncircumference on the obverse side were Amraphel and \nthree +^.+, and in the centre, Sancfwt Peirus Alpha \net Omei/a. \n\nAccording to Lilly, this sigil was framed under the \nfollowing circumtstancea : \n\n' His mistreBs's former husband travelling into Sussex, happened \nto lodge in an inn, and to lie in a chamber thereof, wherein, not \nmany mouths before, a country grazier had lain, and in the night \ncut bis own throat. After this night's lodging he was per- \npetaally, and for many years, followed by a spirit, which vocally \nand articulately provoked him to cut his throat. He was used \nfrequently to say, \" I defy thee, I defy thee,\" and to spit at the \nspirit. This spirit followed him many years, he not making any- \nbody acquainted with it ; at last ho grew melancholy and discon- \ntented, which being carefully observed by his wife, she many \ntimes hearing him pronounce, \" I defy thee,\" desired him to \nacquaint her with the cau^e of his distemper, which he then did. \nAway she went to Dr. Simon Forman, who lived then in Lambeth, \nand acquaints him with it ; who having framed this sigil, and \nhanged it about his neck, he wearing it continually until he died, \nwas never more molested by the spirit. I sold the sigil for \nthirty-two shillings, but transcribed the words verbatim as 1 have \nrelated.' \n\nLilly continued some time longer in the service \nof Master Gilbert Wright. When the plague broke \nout in London in 1625, he, with a fellow -servant, \nwas left in charge of his employer's house. He seems \nto have taken things easily enough, notwithstanding \nthe sorrow and suffering that surrounded him on \nevery side. Purchasing a bass-viol, he hired a master \nto instruct him in playing it ; the intervals he spent \nin bowling in Lincoln's Inn Fields, with Wat the \n\n\n\n134 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1 \n\n\n\nCobbler, Dick the Blacksmith, and sucb-like com- \npaniona. ' We have sometimes been at our work at \nsis in the morning, and so continued till three or \nfour in the afternoon, many times without bread or \ndrink all that while. Sometimes 1 went to church \nand heard funeral sermons, of which there was then \ngreat plenty. At other times I went early to St. \nAntholin's, in London, where there was every morn- \ning a sermon. The most able people of the whole \ncity and suburbs were out of town ; if any remained, \nit were such as were engaged by parish officers to \nremain ; no habit of a gentleman or woman con- \ntinued ; the woeful calamity of that year was \ngrievous, people dying in the open fields and in open \nstreets. At last, in August, the bills of mortality so \nincreased, that very few people had thoughts of \nsurviving the contagion. The Sunday before the \ngreat bill came forth, which was of five thousand and \nodd hundreds, there was appointed a sacrament at \nClement Danes'; during the distributing whereof I \ndo very well remember we sang thirteen parts of the \n119th Psalm. One -Jacob, our minister (for we bad \nthree that day, the communion was so great), fell sick \nas he was giving the sacrament, went home, and vras \nburied of the plague the Thursday following.' \n\nHaving been led by various circumstances to apply \nhimself to the study of astrology, he sought a guide \nand teacher in the person of one Master Evans, whom \nhe describes as poor, ignorant, boastful, drunken, and \nknavish ; he had a character, or reputation, however, \nfor erecting a figure (or horoscope) predicting future \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENOLISU MAGICIANS. \n\n\n\n135 \n\n\n\nevents, discovering secrets, restoring stolen goods, \nand even for raising spirits, when it so pleased him. \nOf this crafty cheat he relates an extraordinary story. \nSome time before Lilly became acquainted with him, \nLord Bothwell and Sir Renelm Digby visited him at \nhis lodgings in the Minories, in order that they \nmight enjoy what is nowadays called a spiritualistic \nstance.' The magician drew the mysterious circle, \nand placed himself and his visitors within it. He \nbegan liis invocations ; but suddenly Evans was \ncaught up from the others, and transferred, he knew \nnot how, to Battersea Fields, near the Thames. Next \nmorning a countryman discovered him there, fast \nasleep, and, having roused him, informed him, in \nanswer to his inquiries, where he was. Evans in the \nafternoon sent a messenger to his wife, to acquaint \nher with his safety, and dispel the apprehensions she \nmight reasonably entertain. Just as the messenger \narrived. Sir Kenelm Digby also arrived, not un- \nnaturally curious to learn the issue of the preceding \nday's adventure. This monstrous story Evans told \nto Lilly, who, I suppose, affected to believe it, and \nasked him how such an issue chanced to attend on \nhis experiment. Because, the knave replied, in per- \nforming the invocation rites, he had carelessly \nomitted the necessary suffumigation, and at this \nomission the spirit had taken offence. It is evident \nthat the spirits insist on being treated with due \nregard to etiquette. \n\nLilly, by the way, records some quaint biographical \nparticulars respecting the astrologers of his time j \n\n\n\n136 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\n\n\nthey are not of a nature, however, to elevate our \nideas of the profession. One would almost suppose \nthat free intercourse with the inhabitants of the \nunseen world had an exceptionally bad effect on the \nmorals and manners of the mortals who enjoyed it ; \nor else the spirits must have had a penchant for low \nsociety. Lilly speaks of one William Poole, who \nwas a nibbler at astrological science, and, in addition, \na gardener, an apparitor, a drawer of lime, a plas- \nterer, a bricklayer ; in fact, he bragged of knowing no \nfewer than seventeen trades \u2014 such was the versatility \nof his genius ! It is pleasant to know that this won- \nderfully clever fellow could condescend to ' drolling,' \nand even to writing poetry (heaven save the mark!), \nof which Lilly, in his desire to astonish posterity, has \npreserved a specimen. Master Poole's rhymes, how- \never, are much too offensively coarse to be transferred \nto these pages. \n\nThis man of many callings died about 1651 or \n1652, at St. Mary Overy's, in Southwark, and Lilly \nquotes a portion of his last will and testament : \n\n' Item. I give to Dr. Arder all my books, and one manuscript \nof my own, worth onu hundred of Lilly's Introduction. \n\n'lUm. If Dr. Ardor gives my wife anything that ia mine, I \nwish the D \u2014 1 may fetch him body and soul.' \n\nTerrified at this uncompromising malediction, the \ndoctor handed over all the deceased conjurer's books \nand goods to Lilly, who in his turn handed them \nover to the widow ; and in this way Poole's curse \nwas eluded, and his widow got her rights. \n\nThe true name of this Dr. Arder, it seems, was \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 137 \n\nKichard Delahay. He had originally practised as an \nattorney ; but ialling into poverty, and being driven \nfrom his Derbyshire home by the Countess of Shrews- \nburyj he turned to astrology and physic, and looked \nround about him for patients, though with no very \ngreat success. He had at one time known a Charles \nSledd, a friend of Dr. Dee, ' who used the crystal, \nand had a very perfect sight ' \u2014 in modern parlance, \nwas a good medium. \n\nDr. Arder often declared to LUly that an angel \nhad on one occasion offered him a lease of life for a \nthousand years, but for some unexplained reasons he \ndeclined the valuable freehold. However, he out- \nlived the Psalmist's span, dying at the ripe old age \nof eighty. \n\nA much more famous magician was John Booker, \nwho, in 1632 and 1633, gained a great notoriety by \nhis prediction of a solar eclipae in the nineteenth \ndegree of Aries, 1633, taken out of ' Leuitiusde Magnis \nConjunctionibus,' namely, ' Reges et Principes,' etc., \nboth the King of Bohemia and Gustavus, King of \nSweden, dying during 'the effects of that eclipse.' \n\nJohn Booker was born at Manchester, of good \nparentage, in 1601, In his youth he attained a very \nconsiderable proficiency in the Latin tongue. From \nhis early years we may take it that he was destined \nto become an astrologer \u2014 he showed so great a \nfancy (otherwise inexplicable !) for poring over old \nalmanacks. In his teens he was despatched to \nLondon to serve his apprenticeship to a haberdasher \n\n\n\n\n138 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\n\n\nin Lawrence Lana But whether he contracted a \ndistaste for the trade, or lacked the capital to start \non hia own account, he abandoned it on reaching \nmanhood, and started as a writing-master at Hadley, \nin Middlesex. It is said that he wrote singularly \nwell, ' both Secretary and Roman.\" Later in life he \nofficiated as clerk to Sir Christopher Clithero, Alder- \nman of London, and Justice of the Peace, and also to \nSir Hugh Hammersley, Alderman, and in these \nresponsible positions became well known to many \ncitizens who, like Cowper's John Gilpin, were ' of \ncredit and renown.' \n\nIn star-craft, this John Booker was a past master ! \nHis verses upon the months, framed according to their \ndiiferent astrological significations, ' being blessed \nwith success, according to his predictions,' made him \nknown all over England. He was a man of ' great \nhonesty,' abhorring any deceit in the art iie loved and \nstudied. So says Lilly ; but it is certain that if an \nastrologer be in earnest, he must deceive himself, if \nhe do not deceive others. This Booker had much \ngood fortune in detecting thefts, and was not less an \nadept in resolving love-questions. His knowledge of \nastronomy was by no means limited ; he understood \na good deal of physic ; was a great advocate of the \nantimonial cup, whose properties were first dis- \ncovered by Basil Valentine ; not unskilled in chemis- \ntry, though he did not practise it. He died in the \nsweet odour of a good reputation in 1667, leaving \nbehind him a tolerable library (which was purchased \nby Elias Ashmole, the antiquary), a widow, four \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. \n\n\n\n139 \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nchildren, and the MSS. of his annual prognostica- \ntions. During the Long Parliament period he pub- \nlished his 'Bellum Hibemicale,' which is described \nas ' a very sober and judicious book,' and, not long \nbefore his death, a small treatise on Easter Day, \nwherein he displayed a laudable erudition. \n\nLilly has also something to say about a Master \nNicholas Fiske, licentiate in physic, who carae of a \ngood old family, and was born near Framlingham, in \nSutFolk. He was educated for the University, but \npi*eferred staying at home, and studying astrology \nand medicine, which he afterwards practised at Col- \nchester, and at several places in London. \n\n' He was a peraoD very studious, laborious, of good appre- \nhension, aod had by his own iadnstry obtained both in astrology, \nphysic, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and algebra, singular \njudgment : ho would in astrology resolve horary questions very \nsoundly, but was ever diffident of his own abilities. He was ai- \nqniaitely skilful in the art of directions upon nativities, and had \na good genius in performing judgment thereupon ; but very un- \nhappy he was that he hud no genius in teaching his scholars, for \nhe never perfected any. His own son Matthew hath ofton told \nme that when his father did teach any scholars in his time, they \nwould principally learn of him. lie had ScoTfio ascending {I), and \nwas secretly envious to those be thought had more parts than \nhimself. However, I must be ingenuous, and do affirm that by \nfrequent conversation with him I came to know which were the \nbest authors, and much to enlarge my judgment, especially in the \nart of directions : he visited me most days once after I became \nacquainted with him, and would communicate his most doubtful \nquestions unto me, and accept of my judgment therein rather \nthan his own.' \n\nResuming his own life-story, Lilly records an \nimportant purchase which he made in 1634 \u2014 the \n\n\n\n\n140 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1. \n\ngreat astrological treatise, the * Ars N^otaria,' a large i \nparchment volume, enriched with the names and ' \npictures of those angels which are thought and be- \nlieved by wise men to teach and instruct in all the \nseveral liberal sciences \u2014 as if heaven were a scientific \nacademy, with the angels giving lectures as professora i \nof astrology, medicine, mathematics, and the like ! \nNext he describes how he sought to extend his fame \nas a magician by attempting the discovery of a \nquantity of treasure alleged to have been concealed \nin the cloister of Westminster Abbey ; and having \nobtained permission from the authorities, he repaired \nthither, one winter night, accompanied by several \ngentlemen, and by one John Scott, a supposed expert \nin the use of the Mosaical or divining rods. The \nhazel rods were duly played round about the cloister, \nand on the west side turned one over the other, a \nproof that the treasure lay there. The labourers, \nafter digging to a depth of six feet, came upon a \ncoffin ; but as it was not heavy, Lilly refrained from \nopening it, an omission which he afterwards regretted. \nFrom the cloister they proceeded to the Abbey \nChurch, where, upon a sudden, so fierce, so high, so \nblustering and loud a wind burst forth, that they \nfeared the west end of the church would fall upon \nthem. Their rods would not move at all ; the \ncandles and torches, all but one, were extinguished, \nor burned very dimly. John Scott, Lilly's partner, \nwas amazed, turned pale, and knew not what to think \nor do, until Lilly gave command to dismiss the \ndemons. This being done, all was quiet again, and the \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. l41 \n\nparty returned home about midnight. \" I could never \nsince be induced,\" says Master Lilly, with sublime \nimpertinence, * to join with any in such-like actions. \nThe true miscarriage of the business,' he adds, * was \nby reason of so many people being present at the \noperation ; for there were about thirty, some laughing, \nothers deriding, so that if we had not dismissed the \ndemons, I believe most part of the Abbey Church had \nbeen blown down ! Secrecy and intelligent operators,' \nhe adds, ' with a strong confidence and knowledge of \nwhat they are doing, are best for this work.' They \nare, at all events, for conspiracy and collusion. \n\nIn reading a narrative like this, one finds it not \neasy to satisfy one's self how far it has been written in \ngood faith, or how far it is compounded of credulity \nor of conscious deception \u2014 how far the writer has \nunwittingly imposed upon himself, or is knowingly \nimposing upon the reader. That Lilly should gravely \ntransmit to posterity such a record, if aware that it \nwas an audacious invention, seems hardly credible ; \nand yet it is still less credible that a man so shrewd \nand keen-witted should believe in the operations of \ndemons, and in their directing a blast of wind against \nthe Abbey Church because they resented his search \nfor a hidden treasure, to which they at least could have \nno claim ! As great wit to madness nearly is allied, \nso is there a dangerous proximity between credulity \nand imposture, and the man who begins by being a \ndupe often ends by becoming a knave. Perhaps \nthere are times when the axiom should be reversed. \n\nLilly's astrological pursuits appear to have affected \n\n\n\n142 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\n\n\nhis health : he j^rew lean and haggard, and suffered \nmuch from hypochondria ; so that, at length, he \nresolved to try the curative effects of country air, \nand removed, in the spring of 1636, to Hersham, a \nquiet and picturesque liamlet, near Walton-on-the- \nThames. He did not give up his London house, \nhowever, until thirty years later (1665). when he \nfinally settled at Hersham as a country gentleman, \nand a person of no small consideration. \n\nHaving recovered his health in his rural quarters, \nour great magician returned to London, and practised \nopenly his favourite art. But a secret intelligence \napprising him that he was not sufficiently an adept, \nhe again withdrew into the countrj', where he \nremained for a couple of years, immersed, I suppose, \nin occult studies. We may take it that he really \nentered on a professional career in 1644, when a \n' happy thought ' inspired him to bring out the first \nyearly issue of hia prophetical almanac, or ' Merlinus \nAnglicuB Junior.' In his usual abrupt and dis- \njointed style he gives the following account of \nhis publication i ' I had given, one day, the copy \nthereof unto the then Mr. [afterwards Sir Bui- \nstrode] Whitlocke, who by accident was reading \nthereof in tlie House of Commons, Ere the Speaker \ntook the chair, one looked upon it, and so did many, \nand got copies thereof; which, when I heard, I \nappUed myself to Jolin Booker to license it, for then \nhe was licenser of all mathematical hooks. ... He \nwondered at the book, make many impertinent obli- \nterations, formed many objections, swore it was not \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 143 \n\npossible to distinguish betwixt King and Parliament \n[0 shrewd John Booker !] ; at last licensed it accord- \ning to his own fancy. I delivered it unto the printer, \nwho being an arch Presbyterian, had five of the \nministry to inspect it, wJio coidd make nolhinff of it, \nbut said that it might be printed, for in that I \nmeddled not with their Dagon. The first impression \nwas sold in less than one week. When I presented \nsome [copies] to the members of Parliament, I com- \nplained of John Booker, the licenser, who had defaced \nmy book ; they gave me order forthwith to reprint it \nas I would, and let me know if any durst resist me \nin the reprinting or adding what I thought fit : so \nthe second time it came forth as I would have it.' \n\nIn June, 1644, Lilly published his ' Supernatural \nSight,' and also ' The White King's Prophecy,' of \nwhich, in three days, eighteen hundred copies were \nsold. He issued the second volume of his ' Pro- \nphetical Merlin,' in which he made use of the King's \nnativity, and discovering that his ascendant was \napproaching to the quadrature of Mars about June, \n1645, delivered himself of this oracular utterance, \nas ambiguous as any that every fell from the lips of \nthe Pythian priestess : \n\n' If now we fight, a victory stealeth upon us \u2014 ' \n\nwhich he afterwards boasted to be a clear prediction of \nthe defeat of Charles I. at Naseby, and, of course, would \nequally well have served to have explained a royal \nvictory, Whitlocke, in his ' Memorials of Affairs in \nhis own Times,' states that he met the astrologer in \n\n\n\n144 WJTCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book L I \n\nthe spring of 1646, and jestingly asking him what \nevents were likely to take place, Lilly repeated this \nprophecy of a victory. He remarks that in 1648 \nsome of Lilly's prognostications ' fell out very \nstrangely, particularly as to the King's fall from his \nhorse about this time.' But it would have been \nstrange if a man so well informed of public affairs, \nand so shrewd, as William Lilly, had never been \nright in his forecasts. And a lucky coincidence will \nset an astrologer up in credit for a long time, his \nnumerous failures being forgotten. \n\nIn this same memorable and eventfiil year he pub- \nlished his ' Starry Messenger,' with an interpretation \nof three mock suns, or parhelia, which had been \nseen in London on the 29th of May, 1644, King \nCharles IL's birthday. Complaint was immediately \nmade to the Parliamentary Committee of Examina- \ntion that it contained treasonable and scandalous \nmatter. Lilly was summoned before the Committee, \nbut several of his friends were upon it, and voted the \ncharges against iiLm frivolous \u2014 as, indeed, they were \u2014 \nso that he met with his usual good fortune, and came \noff with flying colours. \n\nAll the English astrologers of the old school seem \nto have been startled and confounded by the inno- \nvations of this dashing young magician, with his \nyearly almanacks and political predictions and self- \nadvertisement, especially a certain Mr. William \nHodges, who lived near Wolverhampton, and can- \ndidly confessed that Lilly did more by astrology than \nhe himself could do by the crystal, though he under- \n\n\n\nJ \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. \n\n\n\n1 Enj \n\n\n\n145 \n\n\n\nstood its use as well as any man ii \na strong royalist, he could never strike out any good \nfortune for the King's party \u2014 the stars in their \ncourses fought against Charles Stuart. The angels \nwhom he interviewed by means of the crystal were \nItaphael, Gabriel, and Ariel ; but his life was wanting \nin the purity and holiness which ought to have been \nconspicuous in a man who was favoured by corarauni- \ncations from such high celestial sources. \n\nA proof of his skill is related by Lilly on the \nauthority of Lilly's partner, John Scott. \n\nScott had some knowledge of surgery and physic ; \nso had Will Hodges, who had at one time been a \nschoolmaster. Having some business at Wolver- \nhampton, Scott stayed for a few weeks with Hodges, \nand assisted him in dressing wounds, letting blood, \nand other chirurgical matters. When on the point \nof returning to London, he asked Hodges to show \nhim the face and figure of the woman he should \nmarry. Hodges carried him into a field near his \nhouse, pulled out his crystal, bade Scott set his foot \nagainst his, and, after a pause, desired him to look \ninto the crystal, and describe what he saw there. \n\n' T see,' saith Scott, ' a ruddy-complexioned wench, \nin a red waistcoat, drawing a can of beer.' \n\n' She will be your wife,' cried Hodges. \n\n' You are mistaken, sir,' rejoined Scott. ' So soon \nas I come to London, I am engaged to marry a tall \ngentlewoman in the Old Bailey.' \n\n' You will marry the red gentlewoman,' replied \nHodges, with an air of imperturbable assurance. \n\n10 \n\n\n\n\n146 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nOn returning to London, Scott, to his great \nastonishment, found that his tall gentlewoman had \njilted him, and taken to herself another husband. \nTwo years afterwards, in the course of a Kentish \njourney, he refreshed himself at an inn in Canter- \nbury ; fell in love with its ruddy-complexioned bar- \nmaid ; and, when he married her, remembered her \nred waistcoat, her avocation, and Mr. Hodges ' his \ncrystal.' \n\nAn amusing story is told of this man Hodges. \n\nA neighbour of his, who had lost his horse, re- \ncovered the animal by acting upon the astrologer's \nadvice. Some years afterwards he unluckily conceived \nthe idea of playing upon the wise man a practical joke, \nand obtained the co-operation of one of his friends. \nHe had certainly recovered bis horse, he said, in the \nway Hodges had shown him, but it was purely a \nchance, and would not happen again. ' So come, let \nus play him a trick. 1 will leave some boy or other \nat the town's end with my horse, and we will then \ncall on Hodges and put him to the test.' \n\nThis was done, and Hodges said it was true the \nhorse was lost, and would never be recovered. \n\n' I thought what fine skill you had,' laughed the \ngentleman; my horse is walking in a lane at the \ntown's end.' \n\nWhereupon Hodges, with an oath, as was his evil \nhabit, asserted that the horse was gone, and that his \nowner would never see him again. Ridiculing the \nwise man without mercy, the gentleman departed, \nand hastened to the town's end, and there, at the \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 147 \n\nappointed place, the boy lay stretched upon the \nground, fast asleep, with the bridle round his arm, \nbut the horse was gone ! \n\nBack to Hodges hurried the chap-fallen squire, \nashamed of his incredulity, and eagerly seeking \nassistance. But no ; the conjurer swore freely \u2014 ' Be \ngone \u2014 be gone about your business ; go and look for \nyour horse.\" He went and he looked, east and west, \nand north and south, but his horse saw never more. \n\nLet us next hear what Lilly has to tell us of \nDr. Napper, the parson of Great Lindford, in Buck- \ninghamshire, the advowson of which parish belonged \nto him. He sprang from a good old stock, according \nto the witness of King James himself. For when his \nbrother, Robert Napjier, an opulent Turkey merchant, \nwas to be made a baronet in James's reign, some \ndispute arose whether he could prove himself a gen- \ntleman for three or more descents. ' By my soul,' \nexclaimed the King, ' I will certify for Napper, that \nhe is of above three hundred years' standing in his \nfamily ; all of them, by my soul, gentlemen I' The \nparson was legitimately and truly master of arts ; \nbis claim to the title of doctor, however, seems to \nhave been d ubious. Miscarrying one day in the pulpit, \nhe never after ventured into it, but all bis lifetime \nkept in his house some excellent scholar to officiate \nfor him, allowing him a good salar}'. Lilly speaks \nhighly of his sanctity of life and knowledge of medi- \ncine, and avers that he cured the falling sickness by \nconstellated rings, and other diseases by amulets, \n10\u20142 \n\n\n\n148 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\nThe parents of a maid who suffered severely from \nthe falling sickness applied to him, on one occasion, \nfor a cure. He fashioned for her a constellated ring, \nupon wearing of which she completely recovered. \nHer parents chanced to make known the cure to some \nscrupulous divines, who immediately protested that \nit was done by enchantment. ' Cast away the ring,' \nthey said ; ' it's diabolical I God cannot bless you, if \nyou do not cast it awaj'.' The ring was thrown into \na well, and the maid was again afflicted with her \nepilepsy, enduring the old pain and misery for a \nweary time. At last the parents caused the well to \nbe emptied, and regained the ring, which the maid \nagain made use of, and recovered from her fits. Thus \nthings went on for a year or two, until the Puritan \ndivines, hearing that she had resumed the ring, in- \nsisted with iier parents until they threw the ring away \naltogether ; whereupon the fits returned with such \nviolence that they betook themselves to the doctor, told \ntheir story, acknowledged their fault, and once more \nbesought his assistance. But he could not be per- \nsuaded to render it, observing that those who despised \nGod's mercies were not capable or not worthy of \nenjoying them. \n\nWe do not dismiss this story as entirely apocryphal, \nknowing that, in the cure or mitigation of nervous \ndiseases, the imagination exercises a wonderful in- \nfluence. There are well-authenticated instances of \n'faith healing' not a whit less extraordinary than \nthis case described by Lilly of the maiden and the \nring. It would be trivial, perhaps, to hint that a \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 149 \n\ngood many maidens have been cured of some, at \nleast, of their ailments by a ring. \n\n\n\nIn 1646 Lilly printed a collection of prophecies, \nwith the explanation and verification of ' Aquila ; or, \nTlie White King's Prophecy,' as also the nati\\'ities \nof Archbishop Laud and the Earl of Strafford, and a \nlearned speech, which the latter intended to have \nspoken on the scaffold. In the following year he \ncompleted his ' Introd uction unto Astrology,' or \n' Christian Astrology,' and was summoned, along \nwith John Booker, to the head-quarters of Fairfax, \nat Windsor, They were conveyed thither in great \npomp and circumstance, with a coach and four \nhorses, welcomed in hearty fashion, and feasted in \na garden where General Fairfax lodged. In the \ncourse of their interview with the general he said to \nthem : \n\n' Thai God had blessed the army with many signal victories, \nand yet their work was not finished. He hoped God would go \nalong with them until Hia work was done. They sought not \ntbemaelves, but the welfare and tranquillity of the good people \nand whole nation; and, for that end, were resolved to Bacrifioe \nboth their lives and their own fortunes. As for the art that Lilly \nand Booker etudied, he hoped it was lawful and agreeable to \nGod's Word : he himself understood it not, but doubted not they \nboth feared God, and therefore had a good opinion of them both.' \n\nLilly replied : \n\n'My lord, I am glad to see you here at this time. Certainly, \nboth the people of God, and all others of this nation, are very \nsensible of God's mercy, love, and favour unto them, in directing \nthe Parliament to nominate and elect you General of their armiea, \na pereon so religious, so valiant. \n\n\n\n150 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAX. \n\n\n\n[\u00bb \n\n\n\n'The several unexpected victories obtained under your Excel- \nlency's conduct will eternize the same unto all posterity. \n\n'We are confident of God's going along with you and your \narmy until the great work, for which Ue ordained you both, is \nfully perfected, which we hope will be the conquering and sub- \nVBi-sion of your and the Parliament's enemies ; and then a quiet \nsettlement and firm peace over all the nation unto God's glory, \nand full satisfaction of tender consciences. \n\n' Sir, as for ourselves, we trust in God ; and, aa Christians, we \nbelieve in Him. We do not study any art hut what is lawful \nand consonant to the Scriptures, Fathers, and antiquity, which \nwe humbly desire you to believe.' \n\nThey afterwards paid a visit to Hugh Peters, the \nfamous Puritan ecclesiastic, who had lodgings in the \nCastle. They found him reading ' an idle pamphlet,' \nwhich he had received from London that morning. \n' Lilly, thou art herein,' he exclaimed. ' Are not you \nthere also ?' ' Yes, that I am,' he answered. \n\nThe stanza relating to Lilly ran as follows : \n\n' From th\" oracles of the Sibyls so silly. \nThe curst predictions of William Lilly, \nAnd Dr. Sibbald's Shoe-Lane Philly, \n\nGood Lord, deliver me.' \n\nAfter much conference with Hugh Peters, and \nsome private discourse betwixt the two ' not to be \ndivulged,' they parted, and JIaster Lilly returned to \nLondon. \n\nIn 1647 he published ' The World's Catastrophe,' \n' The Prophecies of Ambrose Merlin ' (both or which \nwere translated by EUas Ashmole), and ' Trithemius \nof the Government of the World, by the Presiding \nAngels ' \u2014 all three tracts in one volume. \n\nNotwithstanding his services to the Parliamentary \ncause, Lilly secretly retained a strong attachment \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n/.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 151 \n\ntowards Charles I., and he was consulted by Mrs. \nWhorwood, a lady who enjoyed the royal confidence, \nas to the best place for the concealment of the Kin;:;, \nwhen he escaped from Hampton Court. After the \nusual sham of 'erecting a figure' had been gone \nthrough, Lilly advised that a safe asylum might be \nfound in Essex, about twenty miles fi-om London. \n' She liked iny judgment very well,' he says, and \nbeing herself of sharp judgment, remembered a place \nin Essex about that distance, where was an excellent \nhouse, and all conveniences for his reception. But, \neither guided by an irresistible destiny, or misled by \nAshburnbam, whose good faith has been sometimes \ndoubted, he went away in the night-time westward, \nand surrendered himself to Colonel Hammond, in the \nIsle of Wight. \n\nWith another unfortunate episode in the King's \nlater career, Lilly was also connected. During the \nKing's confinement at Carisbrooke the Kentishmen, \nin considerable nambera, rose in arms, and joined \nwith Lord Goring ; at the same time many of the \nbest ships revolted, and a movement on behalf of the \nKing was begun among the citizens of London. \n' His Majesty then laid bis design to escape out of \nprison by sawing the iron bar of his chamber \nwindow ; a small ship was provided, and anchored \nnot far from the Castle, to bring him into Sussex ; \nhorses were provided ready to carry him through \nSussex into Kent, so that he might be at the head of \nthe army in Kent, and from thence to march imme- \ndiately to London, where thousands then would have \n\n\n\n152 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bouK I. \n\narmed for him,' Lilly was brought acquainted with \nthe plot, and employed a locksmith in Bow Lane to \nmake a saw for cutting asunder the iron bar, and \nalso procured a supply of aqua fortis. But, as every- \nbody knows, the King was unable to force his body \nthrough the narrow casement, even after the removal \nof the bar, and the plot failed. \n\nWhen the Parliament sent Commiesioners into the \nIsland to negotiate with Charles the terms of a con- \ncordat, of whom Lord Sayewas one, Lady Whorwood \nagain sought Lilly's assistance and advice. After \nperusing his 'figure,'' he told her the Commissioners \nwould arrive in the Island on such a date ; elected a \nday and hour when the King would receive the Com- \nmissioners and their propositions ; and as soon as \nthese were read, advised the King to sign them, and in \nall haste to accompany the Commissioners to London. \nThe army being then far removed from the capital, \nand the citizene stoutly enraged against the Parlia- \nmentary leaders, Charles promised lie would do so. \nBut, unfortunately, he allowed Lord Save to dis- \nsuade him from signing the propositions, on the \nassurance that he had a powerful party both in the \nHouse of Lords and the House of Commons, who \nwould see that he obtained more favourable condi- \ntJODS. Thus was lost almost his last chance of \nretaining hie crown, and bafHing the designs of hia \nenemies. \n\nWhilst the King, in his last days, was at Windsor \nCastle, on one occasion, when he was taking the air \nupon the leads, he looked through Captain Wharton's \n\n\n\nIJIIAP. V.J LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 153 \n\n'Almanack.' 'My book,' saith he, 'speaks well as \nto the weather.' A Master William Allen, who was \nstanding by, inquired, ' What saith his antagomst, \nMr, Lilly ?' ' I do not care for Lilly,' remarked his \nMajesty, ' he has always been against me,' infusing \nsome bitterness into his expressions. ' Sir,' observed \nAllen, 'the man is an honest man, and writes but \nwhat his art informs him.' ' I believe it,' said his \nMajesty, ' and that Lilly understands astrology as \nwell as any man in Eurojje.' \n\nIn 16-18 the Council of State acknowledged Lilly's \nservices with a grant of \u00a350, and a pension of \u00a3100 \na year, which, however, he received for two years \nonly. \n\nIn the following January, while the King lay at \nSt. James's House, Lilly began his observations, be \ntells us, in the following oracular fashion: \n\n' I am serious, I ! eg and expect justice ; either fear \nor )^hame begins to question offenders. \n\n' The lofty cedars begin to divine a thundering \nhurricane is at hand ; God elevates man contempt- \nible. \n\n' Our demigods are sensible, we begin to dislike \ntheir actions very much in London ; more tn the \ncountry. \n\n' Blessed be God, who encourages His servants, \nmakes them valiant, and of undaunted spirit to go on \nwith His decrees : upon a sudden, great expectations \narise, and men generally believe a quiet and calm \ntime draws nigh.' \n\n\n\n154 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book I. \n\nOur garrulous and egotistical conjurer, who seems \nreally to have believed that he exercised a considerable \ninfluence upon the course of events, though his posi- \ntion was no more important than that of the fly upon \nthe wheel, evidently wished to connect these com- \nmonjtlaces with the execution of Charles I. : \n\n' In Christmas holidays,' he writes, ' the Lord Gray \nof Groby, and Hugh Peters, sent for me to Somerset \nHouse, with directions to bring them two of my \nalmanacks. I did so, Peters and he read January's \nobservations. \" If we are not fools and knaves,\" \nsaith he, \" we shall do justice.\" Then they whispered. \n/ undei'stood not their meaning until fm Majesty was \nbeheaded. They applied what I wrote of justice to \nbe understood of his Majesty, ichich teas contrary to \nmy intention ; for Jupiter, the first day of January, \nbecame direct; and Libra is a sign signifying justice. \nI implored for justice generally upon such as had \ncheated in their places, being treasurers and such-like \noflScers. I had not then heard the least intimation of \nbringing the King unto trial, and yet the first day \nthereof I was casually there, it being upon a Saturday. \nFor going to Westminster every Saturday in the \nafternoon, in these times, at Whitehall I casually met \nPeters. \" Come, Lilly, wilt thou go hear the King \ntried?\" \"WhenP\" said I. \"Now \u2014 just now; go \nwith me.\" I did so, and was permitted by the guard \nof soldiers to pass up to the King's Bench. Within \none quarter of an hour came the judges ; presently \nhis Majesty, who spoke excellently well, and majes- \ntically, without impediment in the least when he \n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH iLAGICIANS. LOO \n\napoke. I saw the silver top of his staff unexpectedly \nfall to the ground, which was took up by Mr. Rush- \nworth ; aud then I heard Bradsbaw, the judge, say to \nhis Majesty: \"Sir, instead of answering the Court, \nyou interrogate their power, wliich becomes not one \nin your condition,'\" These words pierced my heart \nand soul, to hear a subject thus audaciously to re- \nprehend his Sovereign, who ever and anon replied with \ngreat magnanimity and prudence.' \n\nLilly tells us that during the siege of Colchester he \nand his fellow-astrologer, Booker, were sent for, to \nencourage the soldiers by their vaticinations, and in \nthis they succeeded, as they assured them the town \nwould soon be surrendered \u2014 which was actually the \ncase. Our prophet, however, if he could have ob- \ntained leave to enter the town, would have carried all \nhis sympathies, and all his knowledge of the condi- \ntion of affairs in the Parliament's army, to Sir Charles \nLucas, the Royalist Governor. He had a narrow \nescape with his life during his sojourn in the camp of \nthe besiegers. A couple of guns had been placed so \nas to command St. Mary's Church, and had done \ngreat injury to it. One afternoon he was standing in \nthe redoubt and talking with the cannoneer, when \nthe latter cried out for everybody to look to iiimself, \nas he could see through his glass that there was a \npiece in the Castle loaded and directed against his \nwork, and ready to be discharged. Lilly ran in hot \nhaste under an old ash-tree, and immediately the \ncannon-shot came hissing over their heads. ' No \ndanger now,' said the gunner, ' but begone, for there \n\n\n\n156 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book I. \n\n\n\nare five more loading !' And bo it was. Two \nhours later those cannon were fired, and unluckily \nkilled the cannoneer who had given Lilly a timely \nwarning. \n\nThe practice of astrology must have been exceed- \ningly lucrative, for Lilly is known to have acquired a \nconsiderable fortune. In 1651 he expended \u00a31,030 in \nthe purchase of fee-farm rents, equal in value to \u00a3120 \nper annum. And in the following year he bought \nhis house at Hers^ham, with some lands and buildings, \nfor \u00a3950. In the same year he published liis ' Annus \nTenebrosus,' a title which he chose not ' because of the \ngreat obscurity of the solar eclipse,' but in allusion to \n' those underhand and clandestine counsels held in \nEngland by the soldiery, of which he would never, \nexcept in generals, give information to any Parliament \nman.' Unfortunately, Lilly's knowledge was always \nembodied ' in generals,' and the misty vagueness of \nhis vaticinations renders it impossible for the reader \nto pin them down to any definite meaning. You \nmay apply them to all events \u2014 or to none. Their \nelastic indications of things good and evil may be \nmade to suit the events of the nineteenth century \nalmost as well as those of the seventeenth. \n\nMany characters Mr. AVilliam Lilly must be owned \nto have represented with great success. But that all- \nessential one \u2014 if we desire to secure the confidence of \nour contemporaries, and the respect of posterity \u2014 of \nan honest man, I fear he was never able to personate \nsuccessfully. Of the craft and cunning he could at \ntimes display he records a striking illustration \u2014 \n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\nCHAP. T.] LAST OF THE ESGLISD ALAOICrANS. \\o7 \n\nevidently with entire satisfaction to hims^f, and \napparentlj never suspecting that it might not be so \nfavourably regardeii by others, and especially by \nthose plain, conunonplace people who make no pre- \ntensions to hermetic learning or occult knowledge, \nbnt have certain unsophisticated ideas as to the laws \nof morality and fair dealing. \n\nIn his 1651 ' Almanack ' he asserted that the Par- \nliament stood upon tottering foundations, and that \nthe soUUery and commonalty would combine against \nit \u2014 a conclusion at which every intelligent onlooker \nmust by that time have arrived, without 'erecting a \nfigure' or consulting the starry heavens. \n\nThis previous attempt at forecasting the future ' lay \nfor a whole week,' says its author, ' in the Parliament \nHouse, much criticised by the Presbyterians ; one \ndisliking this sentence, another that, and others dis- \nliking the whole. In the end a motion was made \nthat it should be examined by a Committee of the \nHouse, with instructions to report concerning its \nerrors. \n\n' A messenger attached me by a warrant from that \nCommittee. I had private notice ere the messenger \ncame, and hasted unto Mr. Speaker Lcnthall, ever my \nfriend. He was exceeding glad to see me, told me \nwhat was done, called for \" Anglicus,\" marked the \npassages which tormented the Presbyterians so highly. \n1 presently sent for Mr. Warren, the printer, an \nassured cavalier, obliterated what was most offensive, \nput in other more significant words, and desired only \nto have six amended against next morning, which \n\n\n\n: \n\n\n\nk \n\n\n\n158 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\nvery honestly he brought me. I told him my design \nwas to deny the book found fault with, to own only \nthe six books. I told him I doubted he would be \nexamined. \"Hang them!\" said he; \"they are all \nrogues. I'll swear myself to the devil ere they shall \nhave an advantage against you, by my oath.\" \n\n' The day after, I appeared before the Committee. \nAt first they showed me the true \" Anglicus,\" and \nasked if I wrote and printed it' \n\nLilly, after pretending to inspect it, denied all \nknowledge of it, asserting that it must have been \nwritten with a view to do him injury by some \nmalicious Presbyterian, at the same time producing \nthe six amended copies, to the great surprise and per- \nplexity of the Committee. The majority, however, \nwere inclined to send him to prison, and some had \nproposed Newgate, others the Gate House, when one \nBrown, of Sussex, who had been influenced to favour \nLilly, remarked that neither to Newgate nor the Gate \nHouse were the Parliament accustomed to send their \nprisoners, and suggested that the most convenient \nand legitimate course would be for the Sergeant-at- \nArms to take this Mr. Lilly into custody. \n\n' Mr. Strickland, who had for many years been the \nParliament's ambassador or agent in Holland, when \nhe saw how they inclined, spoke thus: \n\n' \" I came purposely into the Committee this day \nto see the man who is so famous in those parts where \nI have so long continued. I assure you his name is \nfamous over all Europe. I come to do him justice. \n\nbook is produced by ue, and said to be his ; he \n\n\n\nus ; he J \n\n\n\nLAST OP THE ENGLISH MAGICEANS. \n\n\n\n159 \n\n\n\ndenies it ; we have not proved it, yet will commit \nhim. Truly this is great injustice. It is likely he \nwill write next year, and acquaint the whole world \nwith our injustice, and so well he may. It is ray \nopinion, first to prove the book to be his ere he be \ncommitted.\" \n\n' Another old friend of mine spoke thus : \n' \" You do not know the many services this man \nhath done for the Parliament these many years, or \nhow many times, in our greatest distresses, on ap- \nplying unto him, he hath refreshed our languishing \nexpectations ; he never failed us of comfort in our \nmost unhappy distresses. I assure you his writings \nhave kept up the spirits both of the soldiery, the \nhonest people of this nation, and many of us Parlia- \nment men ; and at last, for a slip of his pen (if it were \nhis), to be thus violent against him, I must tell you. \nI fear the consequence urged out of the book will \nprove effectually true. It is ray counsel to admonish \nhim hereafter to be more wary, and for the present to \ndismiss hira.\" \n\n' Notwithstanding anything that was spoken on \nmy behalf, I was ordered to stand committed to the \nSergeant-at-Arms. The messenger attached my \nperson said I was his prisoner. As he was carrying \nme away, be was called to bring me again. Oliver \nCromwell, Lieutenant- General of the army, having \nnever seen me, caused me to be produced again, when \nhe steadfastly beheld me for a good space, and then I \nwent with the messenger; but instantly a young \nclerk of that Committee asks the messenger what he \n\n\n\n1(30 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book I. \n\ndid with me. Where is the warrant? Until that is \nsigned you cannot seize Mr. Lilly, or shall [not]. \nWill you have an action of false imprisonment against \nyou? So I escaped that night, but next day stayed \nthe warrant. That night Oliver Cromwell went to \n\nMr. R , my friend, and said : \" What, never a man \n\nto take Lilly's cause in hand but yourself ? None to \ntake his part but you? He shall not be long there.\" \nHugh Peters spoke much in my behalf to the Com- \nmittee, but they were resolved to lodge me in the \nSergeant's custody. One Millington, a drunken \nmember, was much my enemy, and so was Cawley \nand Chichester, a deformed fellow, unto whom I had \ndone several courtesies. \n\n' First thirteen days I was a prisoner, and though \nevery day of the Committee's sitting I had a petition \nto deliver, yet so many churlish Presbyterians still \nappeared I could not get it accepted. The last day \nof the thirteen, Mr. Joseph Ash was made chairman, \nunto whom my cause being related, he took my peti- \ntion, and said I should be bailed in despite of them \nall, but desired I would procure as many friends as I \ncould to be there. Sir Arthur Haselrig and Major \nGalloway, a person of excellent parts, appeared for me, \nand many more of my old friends came in. After two \nwhole hours' arguing of my cause by Sir Arthur and \nMajor Galloway, and other friends, the matter came \nto this point: I should he bailed, and a Committee \nnominated to examine the printer. The order of the \nCommittee being brought afterwards to him who \nshould be Chairman, he sent me word, do what I \n\n\n\n\nCRAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 161 \n\nwould, he would see all the knaves hanged, or he \nwould examine the printer. This is the truth of the \nstory.' \n\nLilly's biographer, howevar anxious he may be to \nimitate biographers generally, and whitewash his \nhero, feels that in this episode of his life the great \nseer fell miserably below the heroic standard, and \nwas guilty of pusillanimous as well as unveracious \nand dishonourable conduct. Yet LiUy is evidently \nunaware of the unfavourable light in which he has \nshown himself, and ambles along in an easy and \nwell-satisfied mood, aa if to the sound of universal \napplause. \n\nOn February 26, 1G54, Lilly lost his second wife, \nand I regret to say he seems to have borne the loss \nwith astonishing equanimity. On April 20 Crom- \nwell expelled from the House our astrologer's great \nenemies, the Parliament men, and thereby won bis \nmost cordial applause. He breaks out, indeed, into a \nburst of devotional praise \u2014 Gloria Patri \u2014 as if for \nsome special and never-to-be-forgotten mercy. A \nGerman physician, then resident in London, sent to \nhim the following epigram: \n\nStrophe Mlcaica: Qfneroso Domino Gulielmo LilUo Aslrdogo, de \ndissoliUo super Parliummto : \n\n' Quod caloulaati Sydere prievio, \nMilea peregit numine conscio ; \nGentis vidamua nunc Senatum \nMarti togaque gravi leviatum.' \n\nHis widower's weeds, if he ever wore them, he \nsoon discarded, marrying his third wife in October, \n\n11 \n\n\n\n1 \n\n\n\n162 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book I, \n\n\n\neight months after the decease of his second. This, \nhis latest partner and helpmate, was signified in his \nnativity, he says, by Jupiter in Libra, which seema \nto have been a great comfort to him, and perhaps to \nhis wife also. ' Jupiter in Libra ' sounds as well, \nindeed, as 'that blessed word, Mesopotamia.' \n\nIn reference to the restoration of Charles II., in \n1660, LiUy unearths an old prophecy attributed to \nAmbrose Merlin, and written, he says, 990 years \nbefore. \n\n' He calls King James the Lion of Righteousness, \nand aaith, when he died, or was dead, there would \nreign a noble White King ; this was Charles I. \nThe prophet discovers all his troubles, his flying \nup and down, his imprisonment, his death, and \ncalls him Aquila. What concerns Charles II. is,' \nsays Lilly, ' the subject of our discourse ; in the Latin \ncopy it is thus : \n\n' Deinde ah Avstro veniet cum Sole super liyneos equos, \net super spumantem inundationeni marv^^Pullus Aquilce \nnavigaiis in Bntanniam. \n\n' Et applicans statim tunc altam domum Aquilm \nsitiens, et cito aliam sitiet \n\n'Deinde Pullus Aquilce nidificahit in summa rupe \ntotius Britajinice ; Jiecjuveiiis occidet, nee ad seiiem vivet.' \n\nThis, in an old copy, is Englished thus : \n\n'After then shall come through the south with \nthe sun, on horse of tree, and upon all waves of the \nsea, the Chicken of the Eagle, sailing into Britain, \nand arriving anon to the house of the Eagle, he shall \nshow fellowship to these beasts. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 163 \n\n' After, the Chicken of the Eagle shall nestle in the \nhighest rock of all Britain : nay, he shall nought be \nslain young ; nay, he nought come old.' \n\nMaster William Lilly then supplies an explana- \ntion, or, as he calls it, a verification, of these vener- \nable predictions. We shall give it in his own \nwords : \n\n' His Majesty being in the Low Countries when \nthe Lord-General had restored the secluded members, \nthe Parliament sent part of the royal navy to bring \nhim for England, which they did in May, 16G0. \nHolland is east from England, so he came with the \nsun J but he landed at Dover, a port in the south \npart of England. Wooden horses are the English \nships. \n\n' Tunc nidijicabit in summo rupium. \n\n' The Lord-General, and most of the gentry in \nEngland, met him in Kent, and brought him unto \nLondon, then to AVhite-hall. \n\n'Here, by the highest Rooch (some write Rock) \nis intended London, being the metropolis of all \nEngland. \n\n' Since which time, unto this very day, I write this \nstory, he hath reigned in England, and long may he \ndo hereafter.' (Written on December 20, 1667.) \n\nLilly quotes a prophecy, printed in 1588, in Greek \ncharacters, which exactly deciphered, he says, the \nlong troubles the English nation endured from 1641 \nto 1660, but he omits to tell ua where he saw it, or \nwho was its author. It ended in the following \nmysterious &8hion : \n\n11\u20142 \n\n\n\n164 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I \n\n\n\n' And after that ehall come a dreadful dead man, \nand with him a royal G ' (it is gamma, r, in the \nGreek, intending C in the Latin, being the third \nletter in the alphabet), ' of the best blood in the \nworld, and he shall have the crown, and ehall set \nEngland in the right way, and put out all heresies.' \n\nTo a man who could read the secrets of the stars, \nand divine the events of the future, there was, of \ncourse, nothing mysterious or obscure in these lines, \nand their meaning he had no difficulty in determin- \ning. Monkery having been extinguished above \neighty or ninety years, and the Lord- General's name \nbeing Monk, what more clear than that he must be \nthe ' dead man ' ? And as for the royal T, or C, who \ncame of the best blood of the world, it was evident \nthat he could be no other than Charles IL ? The \nunlearned reader, who has neither the stars nor \nthe crystal to assist him, will, nevertheless, arrive at \nthe conclusion that if prophecies can be interpreted \nin this liberal fashion, there is nothing to prevent \neven him from assuming the role of an interpreter ! \n\nBut let it be noted that, according to our brilliant \nmagicians, ' these two prophecies were not given \nvocally by the angels, but by inspection of the crystal \nin types and figures, or by apparition, the circular \nway, where, at some distance, the angels appear, \nrepresenting by forms, shapes, and motions, what is \ndemanded. It is very rare, yea, even in our days, \nfor any operator or master to have the angels speak \narticulately ; when they do speak, it is like the Irish^ \nmuck in the throaV \n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 165 \n\nIn June, 1660, Lilly wa8 summoned before a \nCommittee of the House of Commons to answer to \nan inquiry concerning the esecutioner employed to \nbehead Charles I. Here is his account of the \nexamination : \n\n* God's providence appeared very much for me that \nday, for walking in Westminster Hall, Mr. Hichard \nPennington, son to my old friend, Mr. William \nPennington, met me, and inquiring the cause of my \nbeing there, said no more, but walked up and down \nthe Hall, and related my kindness to his father unto \nvery many Parliament men of Cheshire and Lancashire, \nYorkshire, Cumberland, and those northern counties, \nwho numerously came up into the Speaker's chamber, \nand bade me be of good comfort ; at last he meets \nMr, Weston, one of the three [the two others were \nMr. Prinn and Colonel King] unto whom my matter \nwas referred for examination, who told Mr. Penning- \nton that he came purposely to punish me, and would \nhe bitter against me ; but hearing it related, namely, \nmy singular kindness and preservation of old Mr. \nPennington's estate, to the value of \u00a36,000 or \n\u00a37,000, \u25a0\u25a0 I will do him all the good I can.\" says he. \n\" I thought he had never done any good ; let me see \nhim, and let him stand behind me where I sit.\" I \ndid so. At my first appearance, many of the young \nmembers aflFronted me highly, and demanded several \nscurrilous questions. Mr. Weston held a paper \nbefore his mouth ; bade me answer nobody but Mr. \nPrinn ; I obeyed his command, and saved myself \nmuch trouble thereby ; and when Mr. Prinn put any \n\n\n\n166 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. \n\ndifficult or doubtful query unto me, Mr. Weston \nprompted me with a fit answer. At last, after \nalmost one hour's tugging, I desired to be fully heard \nwhat I could say as to the person who cut Charles I.'s \nhead off. Liberty being given me to speak, I related \nwhat follows, viz. : \n\n' That the next Sunday but one after Charles I. \nwas beheaded, Robert Spavin, Secretary unto Lieu- \ntenant-Greneral Cromwell at that time, invited himself \nto dine with me, and brought Anthony Peirson and \nseveral others along with him to dinner: that their \nprincipal discourse all dinner-time was only who it \nwaB that beheaded the King. One said it was the \ncommon hangman ; another, Hugh Peters ; others \nalso were nominated, but none concluded. Robert \nSpavin, so soon as dinner was done, took me by the \nhand, and carried me to the south window : saith he, \n*' These are all mistaken, they have not named the \nman that did the fact: it was Lieutenant- Colonel \nJoyce. I was in the room when he fitted himself for \nthe work, stood behind him when he did it; when \ndone, went in again with him. There is no man \nknows this but my master, namely, Cromwell, Com- \nmissary Ireton, and myself.\" \" Doth not Mr. Rush- \nworth know it?\" said I. \" No, he doth not know it,\" \neaith Spavin. The same thing Spavin since had \noften related unto me when we were alone. Mr. \nPrinn did, with much civility, make a report hereof \nin the House; yet Norfolk, the Serjeant, after my \ndischarge, kept me two days longer in arrest, pur- \nposely to get money of me. He had six pounds, and \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS, \n\n\n\n167 \n\n\n\nhis messenger forty shillinga ; and yet I was attached \nbut upon Sunday, examined on Tuesday, and then \ndischarged, though the covetous Serjeant detained me \nuntil Thursday, liy means of a friend, I cried quit- \ntance with Norfolk, which friend was to pay liim his \nsalary at that time, and abated Norfolk three pounds, \nwhich he spent every penny at one dinner, without \ninviting the wretched Serjeant; but in the latter end \nof the year, when the King's Judges were arraigned \nat the Old Bailey, Norfolk warned me to attend, \nbelieving I could give information concerning Hugh \nPeters. At the Sessions I attended during its con- \ntinuance, but was never called or examined. There \nI heard Harrison, Scott, Clement, Peters, Marker, \nScroop, and others of the King's Judges, and Cook \nthe Solicitor, who excellently defended himself; I \nsay, I did hear what they could say for themselves, \nand after heard the sentence of condemnation pro- \nnounced against them by the incomparably modest \nand learned Judge Bridgman, now Lord Keeper of \nthe Great Seal of England.' \n\nIn spite of Spavin's circumstantial statement, as \nrecorded by Lilly, it is now conclusively established \nthat the executioner of Charles I. was Richard \nBrandon, the common executioner, who had previ- \nously beheaded the Earl of StraflFord. It is said that \nhe was afterwards seized with poignant remorse for \nthe act, and died in great mental suft'ering. His \nbody was carried to the grave amid the execrations of \nan excited and angry populace. \n\nThough our astrologer, as we have seen, was at \n\n\n\n168 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nheart a Royalist, bis services towards the Parlia \nmentary cause were sufficiently conspicuous to ex- \npose him after the Restoration to a. good deal of \npersecution ; and he found it advisable to sue out his \npardon under the Great Seal, which cost him, as he \ntakes care to tell us, \u00a313 6s. 8d. \n\nHe claimed to have foreseen the Restoration, and \nall the good things which flowed \u2014 or were exjiected \nto have flowed \u2014 from that ' auspicious event.' In \npage 111 of his 'Prophetical Merlin,' published in \n16-14, dwelling upon three sextile aspects of Saturn \nand Jupiter made in 1659 and 1660, he says: ' This, \ntheir friendly salutation, comforts us in England: \nevery man now possesses his own vineyard ; our \nyoung youth grow up unto man's estate, and our old \nmen live their full years ; our nobles and gentlemen \nrest again ; our yeomanry, many years disconsolated, \nnow take pleasure in their husbandry. The merchant \nsends out ships, and hatii prosperous returns ; the \nmechanic hath quick trading ; here is almost a new \nworld ; new laws, new lords. Now any county of \nEngland shall shed no more tears, but rejoice with \nand in the many blessings God gives or affords her \nannually.' \n\nHe also wrote, he says, to Sir Edward Walker, \nGarter King-at-Arms in 1059, when, by the way, the \nrestoration of Charles II. was an event that loomed in \nthe near future, and was anticipated by every man of \nordinary political sagacitj- : ' Tu, Dominusque vestfir \nvidebitis Angliam, infra duos annis ' (You^and your \nLord shall see England within two years). ' For \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. IbU \n\nin 1662,' adds the arch impostor, in his strange \nastrological jargon, ' his moon came by direction to \nthe body of the sun.' \n\n' But he came in upon the ascendant directed unto the \nti'ine of Sol and antiscion of Jupitei-.' \n\nNo doubt he did. Who would presume to contra- \ndict our English Merlin ? \n\nIn 1663 and 1664 he served as churchwarden \u2014 \nsurely the first and last astrologer wlio filled that re- \nspectable office \u2014 of Walton-upon- Thames, settling as \nwell as he could the afi'airs of that ' distracted parish ' \nupon his own charges. \n\nAn absurdly frivolous accusation was brought \nagainst him in the year 1666. He was once more sum- \nmoned before a Committee of the House of Commons, \nbecause in bis book, ' Monarchy or No Monarchy,' \npublished in i6ol, he had introduced sixteen plates, \nof which the eigiith represented persons digging \ngraves, with coffins and other emblems of mortality, \nand the thirteenth a city in flames. Hence it was \ninferred that he must have had something to do with \nthe Great Fire which had destroyed so large a part of \nLondon, if not with the Plague, which had almost \ndepopulated it. The chairman, Sir Robert Burke, \non his coming into the Committee's presence, ad- \ndressed him thus: \n\n' Mr. Lilly, this Committee thought fit to summon \nyou to appear before them this day, to know if you \ncan say anything as to the cause of the late Fire, or \nwhether there might be any design therein. You \nare called the rather hither, because in a book of \n\n\n\n170 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK h ] \n\nyours, long aince printed, you hinted some such \nthing by one of your hieroglyphics.' \n\nM'^hereto Mr. Lilly replied, with a firm assumption \nof superior wisdom and oracular knowledge: \n\n' May it please your Honours, \u2014 After the behead- \ning of the late King, considering that in the three \nBubeequent years the Parliament acted nothing which \nconcerned tlie settlement of the nation in peace ; and \nseeing the generality of people dissatisfied, the \ncitizens of London disconteuted, the soldiery prone \nto mutiny, I was desirous, according to the best \nknowledge God bad given me, to make inquiry by \nthe art I studied, what might from that time happen \nunto the Parliament and nation in general. At last, \nhaving satisfied myself as well as 1 could, and per- \nfected my judgment therein, I thought it most con- \nvenient to signify m}' intentions and conceptions \nthereof in Forms, Shapes, Types, Hieroglyphics, etc., \nwithout any commentary, that so my judgment might \nbe concealed from the vulgar, and made manifest only \nunto the wise. I herein imitating the examples of \nmany wise philosophers who had done the like.' \n\n' Sir Robert,' saith one, ' Lilly is yet svh vestilntlo.' \n\n' Having found, sir,' continued Lilly, ' that the \ncity of London should be sadly afflicted mth a great \nplague, and not long after with an exorbitant Fire, I \nframed those two hieroglyphics as represented in the \nbook, which in efiect have proved very true.' \n\n' Did you foresee the year ?' inquired a member of \nthe Committee. \n\n' I did not,' said Lilly, ' nor was deeirous ; of that \n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 171 \n\nI made no scrutiny. Now, sir,' he proceeded, \n' whether there was any design of burning the \ncityj or any employed to that purpose, I must deal \ningenuously with you, that since the Fire, I have \ntaken much pains in the search thereof, but can- \nnot or could not give myself any the least satisfac- \ntion therein. I conclude, that it was the only finger \nof God ; but what instruments he used thereunto, I \nam ignorant.' \n\nIn lfi65 Lilly finally left London, and settling \ndown at Hersham, applied himself to the study of \nmedicine, in which he arrived at so competent a \ndegree of knowledge, assisted by diligent observation \nand experiment, that, in October, 1670, on a testi- \nmonial from two physicians of the College in London, \nbe obtained from the Archbishop of Canterbury a \nlicense to practise. In his new profession this clever, \nplausible fellow was, of course, successful. Every \nSaturday he rode to Kingston, whither the poorer \nsort flocked to him from all the countryside, and be \ndispensed his advice and prescriptions freely and \nwithout charge. From those in a better social \nposition he now and then took a shilling, and some- \ntimes half a crown, if it were offered to him ; but he \nnever demanded a fee. And, indeed, his charity \ntowards the poor seems to have been real and \nunaffected. He displayed the greatest care in con- \nsidering and weighing their particular cases, and in \napplying proper remedies for their infirmities \u2014 a line \nof conduct which gained him deserved popularity. \n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\n172 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK I. \n\nGifted with a robust constitution, he enjoyed good \nhealth far on into old age. He seems to have had no \nserious illness until he was past his seventy-second \nbirthday, and from this attack he recovered com- \npletely. In November, 1675, he was less fortunate, \na severe attack of fever reducing him to a condition \nof great physical weakness, and so affecting his eye- \nsight that thenceforward he was compelled to employ \nthe services of an amanuensis in drawing up his \nannual astrological budget. After an attack of \ndysentery, in the spring of 1681, he became totally \nblind ; a few weeks later he was seized with paralysis ; \nand on June i) he passed away, ' without any show \nof trouble or pangs.' \n\nHe was buried, on the ibllowing evening, in the \nchancel of Walton Churcli, where Elias Ashmole, a \nmonth later, placed a slab of fair black marble ('which \ncost him six pounds four shillings and sixpence'), \nwith the following epitaph, in honour of his departed \nfriend: 'Ne Oblivione conteretur Urna Gulielmi \nLiLLii, Astrologi Peritissimi Qui Fatis cesait, Quinto \nIdus Junii, Anno Christi Juliano, mdclxxxi, Hoc \nilli posuit amoris Monumentum Elias Ashmole, \nArmiger.' There is a pagan flavour about the \nphrases ' Qui Fatis cesait,' and ' Quinto Idus Junii,' and \nthey read oddly enough within the walls of a Chris- \ntian church. \n\nThere are two sides to every shield. As r^ards \n\n^ our astrologer, the last of the English magicians who \n\nheld a position of influence, let us first take the silver \n\n\u00bb side, as presented in the eulogistic verse of Master \n\n\n\nCH-U*. v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. 173 \n\nGeorge Smalridge, scholar at Westminster. Thus \n\nit is that he describes his hero's capacity and \npotentiality. ' Our prophet's gone,' be exclaims in \nlugubrious tones \u2014 \n\n' No longer may our ears \nBe charmed with musick of th' harmoDious spheres : \nLet sun and moon withdraw, leave gloomy night \nTo show their Nuncio's fate, who gave more light \nTo th' erring world, than all the feeble rays \nOf BUn or moon ; taught ns to know thoso daya \nBright Titan makes ; followed the hasty sun \nThrough all his circuits ; knew the uncoostant moon, \nAnd more constant ebbings of the flood ; \nAnd what is most uncertain, th' factious brood. \nFlowing in civil broils ; by the heavens could date \nThe flux and refiux of our dubious state. \nHe saw the eclipse of sun, and change of moon \nHe saw ; but seeing would not shun his own : \nEclipsed he was, that he might shine more bright, \nAnd only changed to give a fuller light. \nHe having viewed the sky, and glorious train \nOf gilded stars, scorned longer to remain \nIn earthly prisons : could he a village love \nWhom the twelve houses waited for above f \n\nThe other side of the shield is turned towards us \nby Butler, who, in his ' Hudibras,' paints Lilly with \nall the dark enduring colours which a keen wit could \nplace at the disposal of political prejudice. When \nHudibras is unable to solve 'the problems of his \nfete,' Ralpho, his squire, advises him to apply to the \nfamous thaumaturgist. He says: \n\n' Not far from hence doth dwell \n\nA cunning man, hight Sidrophel, \n\nThat deals in Destiny's dark counsels, \n\nAnd sage opinions of the Mood sells ; \n\nTo whom all people, far and near, \n\nOn deep importances repair : \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AtfD MAGICIAN. [boOK L \n\nWhen brass and pewter hap to stray. \nAnd linen slinks out o' the way ; \nWhen geese and puUen are aoduced, \nAnd sows of sucking pigs are choused ; \nWhen cattle feel indisposition, \nAnd need th' opinion of physician ; \nWhen murrain reigns in hogs or sheep, \nAnd chickens languish of the pip ; \nWhen yeast and outward means do fail. \nAnd have no pow'r to work on ale ; \nWhen butter does refuse to come, \nAnd love proves cross and humoursome ; \nTo him with questions, and with urine. \nThey for discov'ry flock, or curing.' \n\nAfter this humorous reductio ad absurdum of Lilly's \npretensions as an astrologer, the satirist proceeds to \nallude to his dealings with the Puritan party: \n\n'Do not our great Reformers use \nThis Sidrophel to forebode news ; \nTo write of victories next year. \nAnd castles taken, yet i' th' air 1 \nOf battles (ought at sea, aud ships \nSunk, two years hence, the last eclipse ?' \n\nThe satirist then devotes himself to a minute \nexposure of Lilly's pretensions : \n\n'He had been long t'warda mathematics. \nOptica, philosophy, and statics ; \nMagic, horoscopy, astrology. \nAnd was old dog at physiology; \nBut as a dog that turns the spit \nBestirs himself, and plies his feet \nTo climb the wheel, but all in vain. \nHis own weight bringB him down again, \nAnd still he's in the self-same place \nWhere at his setting out he was ; \nSo in the circle of the arte \nDid he advance his nat'ral ports . . . \n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCHAI', v.] LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS. \n\n\n\n175 \n\n\n\nWhate'er he laboured to appear, \nHifl underataadiDg still was clear ; \nYet noDe a deeper knowledge boasted, \nSince old Hodge Bacon and Bob Grosted.' \n\n(Robert Grosti-te, IJisliop of Lincoln yemp. \nHenry 111.], whose learning procured him among \nthe ignorant the reputation of being a conjurer.) \n\n' He had read Dee's prefaces before \nThe Dev'l and Euclid o'er and o'er ; \nAnd all tb' intrigues 'twixt him and Kelly, \nLaseus, and th' Emperor, would tell ye ; \nBut mth the moon was more farailiar \nThan e'er was aJmanack well-willer; \nHer secrets nnderstood ao clear, \nThat some believed he had been there; \nKnew wheu she was in fittest mood \nFor cutting corns or lettiug blood \u25a0 . ,' \n\nContinuing his enumeration of the conjurer's \nvarious and versatile achievements, the poet Bays \nhe can \u2014 \n\n' Cure warts and corns with application \nOf med'cinea to th' imagination ; \nFright agues into dogs, and scare \nWith rhymes the toothache and catarrh ; \nChase evil spirits away by dint \nOf sickle, horse-shoe, hallow flint ; \nSpit fire out of a walnut-shell. \nWhich made the Roman slaves rebel ; \nAnd fire a mine in China here \nWith sympathetic gunpowder. \nHe knew whats'ever's to be known. \nBut much more than he knew would own . . . \nHow many diffrent spccieses \nOf maggots breed in rotten cheese ; \nAnd which are next of kiu to those \nEngendered in a chandler's nose ; \nOr those not seen, but understood. \nThat live in vinegar and wood.' \n\n\n\nlyfi WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK L \n\nIn the course of the long dialogue that takes place I \nbetween Hudibras and the astrologer, Butler con- \ntrives to introduce a clever and trenchant exposure \nof the follies and absurdities, the impositions and \nassumptions, of the art of magic. With reference to \nthe pretensions of astrologers, he observes that \u2014 \n\n' There's but the twinkling of a star \nBetween a man of peace and war, \nA thief and justice, fool and knave, \nA huffing officer and a slave, \nA crafty lawyer and pick-pocket, \nA great philosopher and a blockhead, \nA formal preacher and a player, \nA leam'd physician and man-a!ayer ; \nAs if men from the stars did suck \nOld ago, diseases, and ilt-luck, \nWit, tolly, honour, virtue, vice, \nTrade, travel, women, claps, and dice ; \nAnd draw, with the first air they breathe. \nBattle and murder, sudden death. \nAre not these fine commodities \nTo be imported from the skies. \nAnd vended here among the rabble. \nFor staple goods and warrantable 1 \nLike money by the Druids borrowed \nIn th' other world to be restored.\" \n\nThe character of Lilly is to some extent a problem, \nand I confess it is not one of easy or direct solution. \nAs I have already hinted, it is always difficult to draw \nthe line between contcious and unconscious imposture \n\u2014 to determine when a man who has imposed upon \nhimself begins to impose upon others. But was \nLilly self-deceived? Or was he openly and knowingly \na fraud and a cheat? For myself I cannot answer \neither question in the affirmative. I do not think he \n\n\n\nd \n\n\n\nLAST OF THE ENOLISH MAGICIAN'i. \n\n\n\n177 \n\n\n\nvras entirely innocent of deception, but I also believe \nthat he wag not wholly a rogue. I think he had a \nlingering confidence in the reality of his horoscopes, \nhi3 figures, his stellar prophecies ; though at the \nsame time he did not scruple to trade on the credulity \nof his contemporaries by assuming to himself a power \nand a capacity which he did not possess, and knew \nthat he did not possess. Despite his vocation, he \nseems to have lived decently, and in good repute. \nThe activity of his enemies failed to bring against him \nany serious charges, and we know that he enjoyed \nthe support of men of light and leading, who would \nhave stood aloof from a common charlatan or a vulgar \nknave. He was, it is certain, a very shrewd and \nquick observer, with a keen eye for the signs of tho \ntimes, and a wide knowledge of human nature; and \nhis success in his peculiar craft was largely due to \nthis alertness of vision, this practical knowledge, and \nto the ingenuity and readiness with which he mode \nuse of all the resources at his command. \n\n\n\nNOTE.\u2014 DR. DEE'S M.\\GIC CRYSTAL. \n\nHorace Walpole gives an .imuaiDg aucoutit of Kelly's famous \ncrystal, and of the useful part it played io a burglary committecl \nat Mb house in Arlington Street in the spring of 1771. At the \ntime, he was taking his ease at his Strawberry Hill villa, near Ted- \n(lingtOQ, when a courier brought him news of what had occurred. \nWriting to his friend, Sir Horace Mann, March 22, he says : \n\n' I was a good quarter of an hour before I recollected that it \nwas very becoming to have philosophy enough not to care about \nwhat one doca care for; if you don't csre, there is no philosophy \nin bearing it. I despatched my upper servant, breakfasted, fed \nthe bantams as usual, and made no more hurry to town than \nCincinnatus would if he had lost a Iwskct of turnips. I left in \n\n12 \n\n\n\n17S \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I \n\n\n\nmy (Irawera \u00a3270 of bank billa and three bundreJ guineas, not \nto mention all my gold and silver coins, some inestimable \nminiatarea, a little plate, and a good deal of furniture, under no \nguard but that of two maidens. . . . \n\n' When I arrived, my surprise was by no meana diminished. I \nfound in three difTeront chambers three cabinets, a large chest, and \na glass case of china wide open, the locka not picked, but forced, \nand the doors of them broken to pieces. You will wonder that \nthis should surprise me, when I had been prepared for it. Oh, \nthe miracle was that I did not find, nor to this time have found, \nthe least thing missing ! In the cabinet of modern medals there \nwere, and ao there are stiil, a series of English coins, with down- \nright John Trot guineas, half-guineas, shillings, sixpences, and \nevery kind of current money. Not a single piece was removed. \nJust so in the Roman and Greek cabinet, though in the latter \nwere some drawers of papers, which they had tumbled and \nscattered about the floor. A great exchequer desk, that belonged \nto my father, was in the same i-oom., Not being able to force the \nJock, the phdosophers (for thieves that steal nothing deserve the \ntitle much more than Ciiicinnatus or I) had wrenched a great \nflapper of brass with such violence as to break it into seven \npieces. The trunk contained a now set of chairs of French \ntapestry, two screens, rolls of prints, and a suit of silver stuff \nthat I bad made for the King's wedding. All was turned topsy- \nturvy, and nothing stolen. The glass ca^e and cabint^t of shells \nhad been handled as roughly by these impotent gallants. Another \nlittle table with drawers, in which, by the way, the key was left, \nhad been opened too, and a metal standish, that they ought to \nhave taken for silver, and a silver hand-candlestick that stood \nupon it, were untouched. Some ]>lBte in the pantry, and all \nmy linen just come from the wash, had no more charms for them \nthan gold or silver. In short, I could not help laughing, especially \nas the only two luovahles neglected were another little table with \ndrawers and the money, and a writing-bos with the bank-notes, \nboth in the same room where they made the first havoc In \nshort, they had broken out a panel in the door of the area, and \nuiibaired atid unholte<l it, and gone out at the street-door, which \nthey left wide open at five o'clock in the morning. A passenger \nhad found it so, and alarmed the maids, one of whom ran naked \niuto the street, and by her cries waked my Lord Eomney, who \nlives opposite. The poor creature was in fits for two days, but at \n\n\n\nJ \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] \n\n\n\n179 \n\n\n\nfirst, fintliny my coaulimakor'a appreatico in the street, had sent \nhim to Mr. Canw;iy, who immeJiattily despatched him to me \nhefore he knew how little damage I had received, the whole \nof which conaiata in repairing the doors aad looks of my cabint^ts \nand coffers, \n\n' All London is reasoning on this marvellous adventure, and not \none argumeut presents itself that some other does not contradict. \nI insist that I have a talisman. You must know that last winter, \nbeing asked by Lord Vere to assist in settling Lady Betty \nCrermaine's auction, I found in an old catalogue of her collection \nthis article, \" Tlie Black btoae into which Dr. Dee used to call his \nspirlls.\" Dr. Dee, you must know, waa a great conjurer in the \ndays of Queen Elizabeth, and has written a folio of the dialogues \nhe held with his imps. I asked eagerly for this stone ; Lord Vere \nsaid he knew of no such thing, but if found, it should certainly \nbe at mj service. Alas, the stone was gone ! This winter I was \nagain employed by Lord Frederick Campbell, for I am an absolute \nauctioneer, to do him the same service about his father's (the \nDuke of Argyll's) collection. Among other odd things, he \nproduced a round piece of shining black marble in a leathern \ncase as big us the crown of a hat, and asked me what that possibly \ncould be i I screamed out, \" Oh, Lord 1 1 am the only man in \nEngland that can tell you ! . . . It is Dr. Dee's ' Black Stone.\" \" \nIt certainly is; Lady Betty had formerly given away or sold, \ntime out of miud, fur she was a thousand years old, that part of \nthe Peterboruugh collection which contained natural philosophy. \nSo, or since, the Black Stone had wandered into an auction, fur \nthe lotted paper was still on it. The Duke of Argyll, who \nbought everything, bought iL Lord Frederick [Campbell] gave \nit to me ; and if it was uot this magical stone, which is only of \nhigh-polished coal, that preserved my chattels, in truth I cannot \nguess what did.'* \n\nAt the great Strawberry Hill sale, in 1842, which dispersed the \nWalpoleCollection, it was described in the catalogue as 'a singularly \ninteresting and curious relic of the superstition of our ancestors \n\u2014 the celebrated Speculum of Kennel 0ml, highly polished, in a \nleathern case. It is remarkable for having been used to deceive \nthe mob (!) by the celebrated Dr. Dee, the conjurer, in the reign \nof Qiieeii Elizabeth,' etc. \n\n\n\n' Horace Walpole (Earl of Orford), ' Letters,' v. 290, el seq. \n12\u20142 \n\n\n\n180 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\nThe authorities of the British Museum purchased this 'relic of \nthe superstition of our ancestors ' for the sum of twelve guineas. \nIt is neither more nor less than what it has been described, a \npolished piece of cannel-coal, and thus explains the allusion in \nButler's ' Hudibras ' : \n\n* Kelly did all his feats upon \nThe devil's looking-glass \u2014 a stone.' \n\n\n\nENGLISH B0SICRUCIAJ4S. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. \n\n\n\nENGLISH UOSICEUCIANS. \n\n\n\nIt is not very easy to trace the origin of the Roaicru- \ncian Brotherhood. It is not easy, indeed, to get at \nthe true derivation of the name ' Rosicrucian.' Some \nauthorities refer it to that of the ostensible founder of \nthe society, the mysterious Christian Rosenkreuse, but \nwho can prove that such an individual ever existed ? \nOthers borrow it from the Latin word ros, dew, and \ncTiLi; a cross, and explain it thus : ' Dew,' of all \nnatural bodies, was esteemed the most powerful \nsolvent of gold ; and ' the cross,' in the old chemical \nlanguage, signified b'f/ht, because the figure of a cross \nexhibits at the same time the three letters which form \nthe word Iilt. ' Now, lux is called the seed, or \nmenstruum, of the red dragon ; or, in other words, \nthat gross and corporeal light, which, when properly \ndigested and modified, produces gold.' So that, \naccording to this derivation, a Rosicrucian is one who \nby the intervention and assistance of the ' dew ' seeks \nfor ' light ' \u2014 that is, the philosopher's stone. But such \nan etymology is evidently too fanciful, and assumes \ntoo much to be readily accepted, and we try a third \n\n\n\nucn ^H \n\n\n\n182 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\n\n\nderivation, namely, from rosa and crux ; in support \nof which may be adduced the oldest official docu- \nments of the brotherhood, which style it the ' Broe- \nderschafft des Roosen Creutzes,' or Rose- Crucians, or \n' Fratres Rosatas Crucis ;' \u25a0while the symbol of the \norder is ' a red rose on a cross.' Both the rose and \nthe cross possess a copious emblematic history, and \ntheir choice by a secret society, which clothed its \nbeliefs and fancies in allegorical language, is by no \nmeans difficult to understand. ' The rose,' says \nEliphas Levi, in his ' Histoirc de !a Magie,' ' which \nfrom time immemorial has been the symbol of beauty \nand life, of love and pleasure, expressed in a mystical \nmanner all the protestations of the Renaissance. It \nwas the flesh revolting against tlie oppression of the \nspirit; it was Nature declaring herself to be, like \nGrace, the daughter of God ; it was Love refusing to \nbe stifled by celibacy ; it was Life desu-ing to be no \nlonger barren ; it was Humanity aspiring to a natural \nreligion, full of love and reason, founded on the reve- \nlation of the harmonies of existence of which the rose \nwns for initiatesthe livingand blooming symbol. . . . \nTlie reunion of the rose and the cross \u2014 such was the \nproblem proposed by supreme initiation, and, in efi^ect, \noccult philosophy, being the universal synthesis, \nshould take into account all the phenomena of Being. \nIt may be doubted, however, whether this ingenious \nsymbolism has anything at all to do witli Rosicru- \ncianism ; but it is not the less a fact that the rose \nand the cross were chosen because they were recog- \nnised emblems. And probably because the rose typi- \n\n\n\n\nENGLISH ROSIcaaciANS. \n\n\n\n183 \n\n\n\nfied secrecy, while tlie cross was a protest against the \ntyranny and superstition of the Papacy. \n\nWe hear nothing of Rosicrucianism until the \nbeginning of the seventeenth century. The earlier \nalchemists knew nothing of its theosophic doctrines ; \nand the earlier Rosicrucians did not dabble in alchemy. \nThe connection between the two w^as established at a \nlater date ; when the quest of the ' elixir of life ' and the \n' philosopher's stone ' was grafted upon the mj'sticism \nwhich had taken up the ancient teaching of tlie \nAlexandrian Platonists, combining with it much of \nthe allegorical jargon of Paracelsus, and something \nof the theology of Luther and the German Reformers, \nThe antiquity claimed for the brotherhood in the \n' Fama Fraternitatis ' is purely a myth. For my \nown part, I must regard as its virtual founder \u2014 \nthough he may not have been its actual initiator \u2014 \nthe celebrated Johann Valentine Andreas, who with \nwide and profound learning united a lively imagina- \ntion, and was, moreover, a man of pure and lofty \npurpose. The regeneration of humanity, the extirpa- \ntion of the vices and follies which had sprung up in \nthe dark sliadow of the medieval Church, was the \ndream of his life ; and it is beyond doubt that he \nhoped to realize it by secret societies bound together \nfor the purpose of reforming the morals of the age \nand inspiring men with a love of wisdom. This is \nproved by three of hiR acknowledged works, namely, \n' Reipublica) Christianapolitanaj Descriptio,' ' Turris \nBabel, sive Judiciorum de Fraternitate RosaeesB \nCrucis Chaos,' and 'Christians Societatis Idea'; and \n\n\n\n184 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAKLUCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\n[BC \n\n\n\n1 venture to think, though Mr. Waite will not have \nit so, that the author of these works was al60 the \nauthor of the 'Fama,' as well as of the 'Confessio \nFratemitatis* and the ' Nuptos Chymica;,' in which he \ngathered up all the floating dreams and traditions \nbearing on his subject, and gave to them a certain \nform and order, infusing into them a fascinating \npoetical colouring, and inspiring them with his own \nidealistic sj>ecuIations. \n\n* Akin to the school of the ancient Fire- Believers,' \nsays Ennemoser, 'and of the magnetisls of a later \nperiod, of the same cast as those sjieculators and \nsearchers into the mysteries of Kature, drawing from \nthe same well, are the theosophists of the sixteenth \nand seventeenth centuries. These practised chemistry, \nby which they asserted they could explore the pro- \nfoundest secrets of Nature. As they strove, above all \nearthly knowledge, after the Divine, and sought the \nDivine light and fire, through which all men can \nacquire the true wisdom, they were called the Fire- \nPhilosopherij {philosophi pet- igncm).' They were \nidentical with the Rosicrucians, and in the books of \nthe later Rofeicrucians we meet with the same mys- \nticism and transcendental philosophy as in theirs. \n\nWhether we agi'ee in accepting Andreas as the \nfounder of the order, or as simply its hierophant, we \nmust admit that the rise of Ilosicrucianism dates from \nthe publication of the 'Fama' and the 'Confessio \nFraternitatis.' They produced an immense sensation, \npassed through several editions, and were devoured \nby multitudes of eager readers, ' In the library at \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.] ENGLISH ROSICRDCIiNS. 185 \n\nGottingen,' saya De Quincey (adapting from Professor \nBuhle), ' there is a botly of letters addressed to the \nimaginary order of Father Rosy Cross, from 1614 to \n1G17, by persona offering themselves as members. \n... As certificates of their qualifications, most of \nthe candidates have enclosed specimens of their skill \nin alchemy and cabalism. . . . Many other literary \npersons there were at that day who forbore to write \nletters to the society, but threw out small pamphlets \ncontaining their opinions of the order, and of its place \nof residence.' \n\nIt is not my business, however, to write a history \nof Rosicrucianism, I have desired simply to say so \nmuch about its origin as will serve as a preface to \nmy account of the principal English members of the \nbrotherhood. The reader who would know more \nabout its origin and extension, its pretensions and \nprofessors, may consult Heckethorn's ' Secret Socie- \nties of all Ages and Countries,' Ennemoser's ' History \nof Magic,' Thomas de Quincey's essay on ' Rosicrucians \nand Freemasons,' and Arthur Edward Waite's ' Real \nHistory of the Rosicrucians.' * \n\nThe greatest English Rosicrucian, and most dis- \ntinguished of the disciples of Paracelsus, was Robei-t \nFludd (or Flood, or l)e Fluctibus), a man of singular \nerudition, of great though misdirected capacity, and \nof a vivid and fertile imagination. \n\nThe second son of Sir Thomas Flood, Treasurer \nof War to Queen Elizabeth, he was born at Milgate \n* See also Louis Figuier's ' L'Alchimio et lea Alchimi6Ws,' & \npopular and agreeable aarvey ; and the more erudite work of Pro- \nfessor Buble. \n\n\n\n1 \n\nI \n\n\n\n186 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [nooK L \n\n\n\nHouse, in the parish of Bersted, Rent, in the year \n1574. At the age of seventeen he was entered of \nSt. John's College, Oxford. His Cither had originally \nintended him for a militar}- life, but finding that his \ninclinations led him into the peaceful paths of scholar- \nship, he forbore to oppose them, and the youth entered \nupon a particular study of medicine, which drew him, \nno doubt, into a pursuit of alchemy and chemistry. \nHaving graduated both in the arts and sciences, he \nwent abroad, and for six years travelled over France, \nGermany, Italy, and Spain, making the acquaintance \nof the principal Continental scholars, as well as of the \nenthusiasts who belonged to the theosophic school of \nthe divine Paracelsus, and the adepts who dabbled in \nthe secrets of the Cabala. Returning to England in \n1605, he became a member of the College of Physicians, \nand settled down to practise in Coleman Street, London, \nwhere, about 1616, he was visited by the celebrated \nGerman alchemist, Michael llaier. \n\nHis active imagination stimulated by his know- \nledge of the Rosicrucian doctrines, he resolved on \nrevealing to his countrymen the true light of science \nand wisdom. He had already, as a believer in the \ntheory of magnetism, introduced into England the \ncelebrated ' weapon salve ' of Paracelsus, ^^'hich healed \nthe severest wound by sympathy \u2014 not being applied \nto the wound itself, but to the weapon or instrument \nthat had caused it. The recipe, as formulated by \nParacelsus, would hardly be approved by modem \npractitioners: ' Take of moss growing on the head of \na thief who has been hanged and left in the air, of \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.] ENGLISH ROSICRUCtANS. \n\nreal mummy, of human blood still warm, one ounce \neach ; of human suet, two ounces ; of linseed-oil, tur- \npentine, and Armenian bole, of each two drachms. \nMix together thoroughly in a mortar, and keep the \nsalve in a narrow oblong um.' This, or, I presume, \nsome similar compound, Fludd tried with success in \nseveral cases, and no wonder ; for while the eword \nwas anointed and put away, the wound was well \nwashed and carefully bandaged \u2014 a process which has \nbeen known to succeed in our own day without the \nintervention of any salve whatever ! Fludd contended \nthat every disease might be cured by the magnet if it \nwere properly applied ; but that as every man had, \nlike the earth, a north pole and a south, magnetism \ncould be produced only when bis body occupied a \nboreal position. The salve, at all events, grew into \ninstant favour. Among other believers in its virtues \nwas Sir Kenelm Digby, who, however, converted the \nsalve into a powder, which he named ' the powder of \nsympathy.' But it had its incredulous opponents, of \nwhom the most strenuous was a certain Pastor Foster, \nwho published an invective entitled ' Hyplocrisma \nSpongus ; or, A Sponge to Wipe Away the Weapon \nSalve,' and affirmed that it was as bad as witchcraft \nto use or recommend such an unguent, that its in- \nventor, the devil, would at the Last Day claim \nevery person who had meddled with it. ' The devil,' \nhe said, 'gave it to Paracelsus, Paracelsus to the \nEmperor, the Emperor to a courtier, the courtier to \nBaptista Porta, and Baptista Porta to Doctor Fludd, \na doctor of physic, yet living and practising in the \n\n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\n18 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\n\n\nfamous city of London, who now stands tooth and ] \nnail for it.' Tooth and nail Dr. Fludd met his ad- \nversary, and the public were infinitely amused by the \nvehemence of his style in his pamphlet, ' The Spung- \ning of Parson Foster's Spunge ; wherein the Spunge- \ncarrier's immodest Carriage and Behaviour towards < \nhis Brethren is detected ; the hitter Flames of his \nSlanderous Reports are, by the sharp Vinegar of | \nTruth, corrected and quite extinguished ; and, lastly, I \nthe Virtuous Validity of his Spunge in wiping away \nthe Weapon Salve, is crushed out and clean abolislied.' \n\nIn all the dreams of the mediasval philosophy \u2014 in j \nthe philosopher's stone and the stone philosophic, in I \nthe universal alkahest, in the magical ' elixir vitte ' \u2014 > i \nDr. Fludd was a serious believer. It was a favourite \nhypothesis of his that all things depended on two \nprinciples \u2014 condensation, or the boreal principle, and \nrare/action, the southern or austral. The human \nbody, he averred, was governed by a number of \ndemons, whom he distributed over a rhomhoidal \nfigure. Further, he taught that every disease had \nits own particular demon, the evil influence of which \ncould be neutralized only by the assistance of the \ndemon placed opposite to it in the rhomboid. The \ndoctrines of the Rosicrucian brotherhood he defended \nwith a charming enthusiasm, and when they had \nbeen attacked by Libavius and others, he set them \nforth in what he conceived to be their true light in his \n' Apologia Compendiaria Fraternitatem de Rosea- \nCruce suspicionia et infamis Maculis Aspersam,\" etc. \n(published at Leyden in 1616) \u2014 a work which entitles \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.] ENGLISH ROSICRCJCIANS. 189 \n\nhim to be regarded as the high-priest of their mysteries. \nIt was severely criticised, however, by contemporary \nmen of science, as by Kepler, Gassendus (in hia \n' Epistolica Exercitalio '), and Mersenne, whose search- \ning analysis of the pretensions of the fraternity pro- \nvoked from Fludd an elaborate reply, entitled ' Sum- \nmum Bonum, quod est MagiJE, Cabals, Alchemiae, \nFratrum RosetD-Crucis verorum, et adversus Mer- \nsenium Calumniatorem.'* \n\nIn addition to the foregoing works, Fludd gave to \nthe world: \n\n1. ' Utriusquc Cosmi, Mnjoris et Minoris, Technica \nHistoria,' 2 vols., folio, Oppenhelm, 1616; 2, ' Trac- \ntatus Apologeticus Integritatem Societatis de Rosea- \nCruce Defendens,' Leyden, 1617; 3. ' Monochordon \nMundi Syraphoniacum, seu Replicatio ad Apologiam \nJohannis Kepleri,' Frankfort, 1620; 4. ' Anatomiaa \nAmphitheatrum effigie triplic! Deslgnatum,' Frank- \nfort, 1623 ; ii, ' Philosophia Sacra et vere Christiana. \nseu Meteorologica Cosmica,' Frankfort, ] 626 ; 6. \n* Medicina Catholica, seu Mysterlum Artis Medicandi \nSacrarium,' Frankfort, 1631 ; 7. 'Integrum Morborum \nMysterium,' Frankfort, 1631 ; 8. 'Clavis Pliilosophiie \net AlchymisB,' Frankfort, 1633 ; 9. ' Philosophia \nMosaica,' Goudac, 1638 ; and 10. ' Pathologia Dsemo- \nniaca,' Goudac, 1640, \n\nThe last two treatises were posthumous publications, \n* This is Bometimes aacribeil to Joachim Fritz, but no one can \ndoubt that virtually it is Fiudd's, who accompanied it with a \ndefence of his general philosophical teaching, entitled 'Sophiffi \ncum Moria Certaraen,' But whose waa ' the Wiadom,' and whose \n' the Folly ' 1 \n\n\n\n190 WITCH, WARLOCK, AXD MAGICIAN. [BOOK I. ' \n\nFludd died in London in 1G37, and was buried in \nBersted Church, where an imposing monument per- \npetuates his memory. It represents him seated, with \nhis hand on a book, from the perusal of which his \nhead has just been lifted. Just below are two volumes \n(there were eight originally) in marble, inscribed \nrespectively, 'Mysterium Cabalisticum ' and ' Philo- \nsophia Sacra.' The epitaph runs as follows: ' viii. \nDie Mensis vii. A\" D\"', m.d.c.xxxvii. Odoribvs vana \nvaporat crypta tegit cineres nee speciosa tros qvod \nmortale minvs tibi. Te committimvs vnvm ingenii \nvivent hie monvmeuti t\\\"i nam tibi qvi siniilis scrlbit \nmoritvrqve sepvlchrvm pro tola eternvm posteritate \nfecit. Hoc monvmentvm Thomas Flood Gore Courti \nin-curam apud Cantianos armiger infu?lIcisBimuui in \ncharissimi patrvi svi memoriam erexit die Mensis \nAvgveti, M.D.c.xxxvn.' \n\nI shall not weary the reader with an analysis of \nany of Fludd's elaborately mystical productions. \nThpy are as dead as anything can be, and no power \nthat I know of could breathe into them the breath of \nlife. 15ut I may quote a few specimen or sample \nsentences, so to speak, which will afford an idea of \ntheir style and tone : \n\n' Particulars are frequently fallible, but universal \nnever. Occult philosopiiy lays bare Nature in her \ncomplete nakedness, and alone contemplates the wis- \ndom of universal 8 by the eyes of intelligence. Accus- \ntomed to partake of the rivers which flow from the \nFountain of Life, it is unacquainted with grossness \nand with clouded waters.' \n\n\n\n\nENULISH ROS1CRUCIAX8. \n\n\n\n191 \n\n\n\nIn reference to Music, which be says stands in the \n(>umc relation to arithmetic as medicine to natural \npliilosophy, he revives the Pythagorean idea of the \nharmony of the universe : ' What is this music (of \nmen) compared with that deep and true music of the \nwise, whereby the proportions of natural things are \ninvestigated, the harnionical concord and the qualities \nof the whole world are revealed, by which also con- \nnected things are bound together, peace establishc*! \nbetween conflicting elements, and whereby each star \nU perpetually suspended in its appointed place by its \nweight and strength, and by the harmony of its \nherent spirit.' \n\nLiff/ii. \u2014 ' Nothing in this world can be accom- \nplished without the mediation or divine act of light.' \n\nMagic. \u2014 ' That most occult and secret department \nof physics, by which the mystical properties of \nnatural substances are extracted, we term Natural \nMagic. The wise kings who (led by the new star \nfrom the east) sought the infant Christ, arc called \nMagi, because they had attained a perfect knowledge \nof natural things, whether celestial or sublunar. This \nbranch of the Magi also includes Solomon, since he \nwas versed in tlie arcane virtues and properties of \nall substances, and is said to have understood the \nnature of every plant, from the cedar to the hyssop. \nMagicians who are proficient in the mathematical \ndivision construct marvellous machines by means of \ntheir geometrical knowledge ; such were the flying \ndove of Archytas, and the brazen heads of Roger \nBacon and Albertus Magnus, which are said to have \n\n\n\n192 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAKIjOCK, and MAGICIAN'. [BOOK I \n\n\n\nspoken, Venefic magic is familiar with potions, \nphiltres, and with the various preparations of poisons; \nit is, in a measure, included in the natural division, \nbecause a knowledge of the properties of natural \nthings is requisite to produce its results. Necromantic \nmagic is divided into Goetic, maleficent, and theurgic. \nThe first consists in diabolical commerce with un- \nclean spirits, in rites of criminal curios^itj, in illicit \nsongs and invocations, and in the invocation of the \nsouls of the dead. The second is the adjuration of \nthe devils by the virtue of Divine names. The third \npretends to be governed by good angels and the \nDivine will, but its wonders are most frequently \nperformed by evil spirits, who assume the names of \nGod and of the angels. This department of necro- \nmancy can, however, be performed by natural powers, \ndefinite rites and ceremonies, whereby celestial and \nDivine virtues are reconciled and drawn to us ; the \nancient Magi formulated in their secret books many \nrules of this doctrine. The last species of magic is \nthe thaumaturgic, begetting illusory phenomena : by \nthis art the Magi produced their phantasms and other \nmarvels.' \n\nThe Creation. \u2014 ' According to Fludd's philosophy,' \nsays Mr. Waite, ' the whole universe was fashioned \nafter the pattern of an arclietypal world which existed \nin the Divine ideality, and was framed out of unity \nin a threefold manner. The Eternal Monad or Unity, \nwithout any regression from His own central pro- \nfundity, compasses complicitly the three cosmical \ndimensions, namely, root, square, and cube. If we \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.] EXGLISH ROSICRUCIANS. 193 \n\nmultiply unity as a root, in itself, it will produce \nonly unity for its square, which being again multi- \nplied in itself, brings forth a cube, which is one with \nroot and square. Thus we have three branches \ndiffering in formal progression, yet one imity in \nwhicli all things remain potentially, and that after a \nmost abstruse manner. The archetypal world was \nmade by the egression of one out of one. and by the \nregression of that one, so emitted into itself by \nemanation. According to this ideal image, or \narchetypal world, our universe was subsequently \nfashioned as a true type and exemplar of the Divine \nPattern ; for out of unity in His abstract existence, \nviz., as it was hidden in the dark chaos, or potential \nmass, the bright flame of all formal being did shine \nforth, and the spirit of wisdom, proceeding from \nthem both, conjoined the formal emanation with tlie \npotential matter, so that by the union of the divine \nemanation of light, and the substantial darkness, \nwhich was water, the heavens were made of old, and \nthe whole world,'* \n\n\n\nTHOMAS VAUGUAN. \n\nAnother English Rosicrucian to whom allusion \nmust briefly be made is Thomas Vaughan, who in \nhis writings assumes the more classical appellation of \nEugenius Philalethes (' truth-lover '), and in his \ntravels was known as Carnobius in Holland, and \nDoctor Zheil in America. He was born about \nlt!12 ; was educated at O.xford ; wandered afterwards \n* Waite, ' History of the l^sicruciaQs,' p. 385. \n13 \n\n\n\n194 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\n\n\nthrough many countries ; emhraced the delusions of \nalchemy and the Rosy Cross; accreted round his per- \nsonality a number of wihl and extravapfant stories; and \nfinally disappeared into such complete oblivion that \nthe time and place of his death are aUke unknown. \n\nThe writings attributed to him are: 1. ' Anthro- \nposophia Magica ; or, A Discourse of the Nature of \nMan and bis State after Death ; ' and ' Anima \nMagica Absconditu ; or, A Discourse of the Univer- \nsall Spirit of Nature,' London, 1650. 2. ' Magia \nAdamica ; or, The Antiquities of Magic,' same place \nand date. 3. ' The Man-Mouse taken in a Trap ;' \na reply to Henry More, who had criticised his \n' Anthropopophia Magica.' 4. ' Lumen de Lumine ; \nor, A New Magicall Light discovered and communi- \ncated to tlie \"World,' London, 1651. b. ' The Second \nWash ; or, The Moor Scoured Once More, being a \ncharitable Cure for the Distractions of Abazononiastix ' \n[Henry More], London, 1651. 6, 'The Fame and \nConfession of the Fraternity of R. C, with a Preface \nannexed thereto, and a short declaration of their \nphysicidl work,' London, 1652. 7. 'Euphrates; or, \nThe Waters of the East, being a Short Discourse of \nthat Great Fountain whose water flows from Fire, \nand carries in it the beams of the Sun and Moon,' \nLondon, 1656. 8. ' A Brief Natural History,' Lon- \ndon, 1669. And 9, ' Introitus Apertus ad Occlu- \nsiim Regis Palatiuni. Fhilalethse Tractatus Tres : \ni. Metallorum Jletaraorjjhosis ; ii, Brevis Manductio \nad Rubrium Ccelestem ; iii. Fons Chymicse Veritatia,' \nLondon, 1678. \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.] TUOMAS VAUUHAN. 193 \n\nA'^augiian seems to have led a wandering life, and \nto have fallen ' often into great perplexities and \ndangers from the mere suspicion that he possessed \nextraordioary secrets.' The suspicion, I should say, \nwas abundantly justified, since he made gold at will, \nand knew the composition of the wonderful elixir ! \nOn one occasion, he tells us, he went to a goMsuiith, \ndesiring to sell him twelve hundred marks' worth of \ngold ; but the goldsmith at first sight pronounced \nthat it had never come out of any mine, hut was the \nproduction of art, seeing that it was not of the \nstandard of any known kingdom. Vaughan adds \nthat he was so confounded at this statement \u2014 though, \nsurely, he must have expected it \u2014 that he at once \ndeparted, leaving the gold behind him. But the \nstrangest part of his history is, that a writer in 174!) \nspeaks of him as living then, at the respectahle oM \nage of 137. ' A person of great credit at Nuremherg. \nin Germany, affirms that he conversed with him hut \na year or two ago. Nay, it is further asserted that \nthis very individual is the president of the Illum- \ninated in Europe, and that he sits as such in all their \nannual meetings.' Mayhap he is sitting at them \nstill ! Only if he have discovered, not only the secret \nof the transmutation of metals, but that of the inde- \nfinite prolongation of life, is it not cruelly selfish of \nhim to withhold it \u2014 we will not say from the world \nat large, which deserves to be punished for its \nscepticism and incredulity, but from the meml)ers \nof his own fraternity ? \n\n13\u20142 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAltLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK L \n\n\n\nJOHN HETDON. \n\nThe English Rosicrucians are few in number \u2014 ran \ngurgite in vaslo nantes \u2014 and when I have added John \nHeydon to Vaughan and Fludd, I shall have named \nthe most distinguished. Heydon was the author of \n* The Wise Man's Crown ; or, The Glory of the Rosie \nCross' (1664); 'The Holy Guide, leading the Way \nto Unite Art and Nature, with the Rosie Cross Un- \ncovered ' (1662) ; and ' A New Method of Rosicrucian \nPhysic; by John Heydon, the Servant of God and \nthe Secretary of Nature ' (1658). In the last-named \nhe describes himself as an attorney \u2014 who will not pity \nhis clients, if he had any ? \u2014 practising at Westminster \nHall all term times as long as he lived, and in the \nvacations devoting himself to alchemical and Rosi- \ncrucian speculation. His introduction (' An Apologue \nfor an Epilogue ') is full of such outrageous non- \nsense as to suggest suspicion of bis sanity. He \nspeaks of Jloses, Elias, and Ezekiel as the prophets \nand founders of Rosicrucianism. Its present believers, \nhe says, may be few in number, but their position is \nincomparably glorious. They are the e}es and ears \nof the great King of the universe, seeing aU things \nand hearing all things ; they are seraphically illumin- \nated ; they belong to the holy company of em- \nbodied souls and immortal angels ; they can assume \nany shape at will, and possess the power of working \nmiracles. They can walk in the air, banish epidemics \nfrom stricken cities, pacify the most violent storms, \nheal every disease, and turn all metals into gold. \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.J \n\n\n\nJOBN HEYDON. \n\n\n\n197 \n\n\n\nHe had known, he says, two illustrious brethren, \nnamed Williams and Walford, and had seen them per- \nform miracles \u2014 a statement which brands him either \nas a knave or a dupe. ' I desired one of them to tell \nme,' he says, ' whether my complexion were capable \nof the society of my good genius. \"When I see you \nagain,\" said he (which was when he pleased to come \nto me, for I knew not where to go to him), \" I will \ntell you.\" When I saw him afterwards, he said: \n\" You should pray to God : for a good and holy man \ncan offer no greater or more acceptai>le service to \nGod than the oblation of himself \u2014 his soul.\" He said \nalso, that the good genii were the benign eyes of God, \nrunning to and fro in the world, and with love and \npity beholding the innocent endeavours of harmless \nand single-hearted men, ever ready to do them good \nand to help them.' \n\nHeydon advocated, without enforcing his precepts \nby example, the Rosicrucian dogma, that men could \nlive without eating and drinking, affirming that all \nof us could exist in the same manner as the singular \npeople dwelling near the source of the Ganges, \ndescribed by his namesake, Sir Christopher Heydon* \n(but certainly by no other traveller), who had no \nmouths, and therefore could not eat, but lived by the \nbreath of their nostrils \u2014 except when they went on a \nfar journey, and then, to recuperate their strength, they \ninhaled the scent of flowers, He dilated on the 'fine \nforeign fatness' which characterized really pure air \u2014 the \n\n* Author of 'A Defence of Judicial! Astrologie,' printed at \nCambridge in 1603. \n\n\n\nlys \n\n\n\nwrrun, warlock, and magician, [booki. \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nair being impregnated with it by the sunbeams \u2014 and \naffirmed that it should suffice for the nourishment of \nthe majority of mankind. He was not unwilling, \nhowever, that iieople with gross appetites should eat \nanimal food, but declared it to be unnecessary for \nthem, and that a much more efficacious mode would \nbe to use the meat, nicely cooked, as a plaster on the \npit of the stomach. By adopting this external treat- \nment, they would incur no risk of introducing \ndiseases, as they did by the broad and open gate of \nthe mouth, as anj'one might see by the example of \ndrink ; for so long as a man sat in water, he knew \nno thir&t. He had been acquainted \u2014 so he declared \n\u2014 with many Rosicrucians who, by using wine as a \nbath, had fasted from solid food for several years. \nAnd, as a matter of fact, one might fast all one's life, \nthough prolonged for 300 years, if one ate no meat, \nand so avoided all risk of infection by disease. \n\nGrowing confidential in reference to bis imaginary \nfraternity, he states that its chiefs always carried \nabout with them their symbol, the R.C., an ebony \ncross, flourished and decked with roses of gold ; the \ncross typifying Christ's suffisring for the sins of man- \nkind, and the golden roses the glory and beauty of His \nResurrection. This symbol was carried in succession \nto Jfecca, Mount Calvary, Mount Sinai, Haran, and \nthroe other places, which I cannot pretend to identify \n\u2014 Casele, Apamia, and Chaulatcau Viciosa Cannuch : \nthese were the meeting-places of the brotherhood. \n\n' The Rosie Crucian Pliysick or Medicines,' says \nthis bravely -mendacious gentleman, ' 1 happily and \n\n\n\n\n\u25a0. V,.] \n\n\n\nJOHN HEYDON. \n\n\n\n199 \n\n\n\nunexpectedly light u[Kin in Arnbin, wliich will \nprove a restoration of health to all that are afflicted \nwith sickness which we ordinarily call natural, \nand all other diseases. These men have no small \ninsight into the body : Walford, AVilliams, and \nothers of the Fraternity now living, may bear up in \nthe same likely equipaj^e with those noble Pivine \nSpirits their Predecessors; though the unskilfulness \nin men commonly acknowledges more of supernatural \nassistance in hot, unsettled fiincies, and perplexed \nmelancholy, than in the calm and distinct use of \nreason ; yet, for mine own part, I look upon these \nRosie Crucians above all men truly inspired, and \nmore than any that professed themselves so this \nsixteen hundred years, and I am ravished with admi- \nration of theii' miracles and tranaccndant mechanical \ninventions, for the solving the Pha?nomenon of the \nworld. I may, without oflFence, therefore, compare \nthem with Bezaliel, Aholiab, those skilful workers of \nthe Tabernacle, who, as Moses testifies, were filled \nwith the Spirit of God, and therefore were of an ex- \ncellent understanding to find out all manner of \ncurious work.' \n\nThe pl.iin fact is that Heydon's books are JicHojis \u2014 \npurely imaginative work, based on some rough and \nready knowledge of the old alchemy and the new \nmagic; partly allegorical and mystical, such as a \nquick invention might readily conceive under the \ninfluence of theosophic study, and partly borrowed \nfrom Henry More, and other ^Titers of the same \nstamp. The island inhabited by Rosi crucians, which \nhe describes in the introduction to ' The Holy Guide,' \n\n\n\n\n200 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1 \n\nwas evidently suggested by Sir Thomas More's \n' Utopia,' and Bacon's ' New Atlantis.' It would be \neasy to point out his obligations elsewhere. \n\nI may add, in bringing this chapter to a close, tbat \nDr. Edmund Dickenson, one of Charles II.'s physi- \ncians, professed to be a member of the brotherhood, \nand wrote a book upon one of their supposed \ndoctrines, entitled ' De Quinta Essentia Pbiloso- \nphorum,' which was printed at Oxford in I68f). \n\nWhatever may be our opinion of Rosicrucianism, \nwhich, I Ijelieve, still finds some believers and adepts \nin this country, we nrast acknowledge that the litera- \nture of poetry and fiction is indebted to it consider- \nably. The machinery of Pope's exquisite poem, \n' The Rape of the Lock,' was borrowed from Para- \ncelsus and Jacob Buhmen \u2014 not directly, it is true, \nbut through the medium of the Abb\u00ab de Villars' \nsparkling romance, ' Le Comte de Gabalis.' ' Accord- \ning to those gentlemen,\" says Pope, ' the four elements \nare inhabited by spirits, which they call s^'lphs, \ngnomes, nymphs, and salamanders.' \n\nThe Eosicrucian water-nymph supplied La Motte \nFouque with the idea of that graceful and lovely \ncreation, ' Undine,' and Sir Walter Scott has invested \nhis ' White Lady of Avenel ' with some of her attri- \nbutes. \n\nWilliam Godwin's romance of St, Leon' turns on \nthe Rosicrucian fancy of immortal life ; while Lord \nLytton's ' Zanoni ' is practically a Rosicrucian fiction. \nThe influence of the Rosicrucian writers is ako appa- \nrent in the same author's ' A Strange Story.' \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n\nBOOK II. \n\n\n\nWITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\nCHAP, l] early history OF WITCBCRAFT. 203 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER I. \n\nEARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND. \n\nTo various conspicuous and easily intelligible causes \nthe witch and the warlock, like the necromancer and \nthe astrologer, owed their power with the multitude. \nFirst, there was the eager desire which humanity not \nunnaturally feels to tear aside the veil of Isis, and \nobtain some knowledge of that Other World which is \nhidden so completely from it. Next must be taken \ninto account man's greed for temporal advantages, \nhis anxiety to direct the course of events to his \npersonal benefit; and, lastly, his malice against his \nfellows. Thus we see that the influence enjoyed by \nthe sorcerer and the magician had its origin in the \nunlawful passions of humanity, in whose history the \npages that treat of witches and witchcraft are painful \nand humiliatin\u00ab: readinor. \n\nTo define the limit between the special functions of \nthe magician and the witch is somewhat difficult, \nmore especially as the position of the witch gradually \ndecreased in reputation and importance. There is a \ngreat gulf between the witch of Endor, or the witch \nof classical antiquity, or the witch of the Norse Sagas, \n\n\n\n204 WITCH, WARLOCKj AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\nor the witch of the Saxons, and the English or \nScottish witch of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- \nturies. The former were surrounded with an atmo- \nsphere of dread and mystery ; tlie latter was the \ncreature of vulgar and commonplace traditions. In \nthe early age of witchcraft, the witch, like the magi- \ncian, summoned spirits from the vasty deep, dis- \ncovered the hiding-places of concealed treasures, \nstruck down men or beasts by her spells, or covered \nthe heavens with clouds and let loose the winds of \ndestruction and desolation. Both could blight the \npromise of the harvest, baffle the plans of their \nenemies, or wither the health of their victims. But \nwhile the magician was frequently a man of ability \nand learning, and belonged to the cultured classes, \nthe witch was almost always a woman of the lower \norders, ignorant and uneducated, though occasionally \nladies of high rank, and even ecclesiastics, have been \naccused of practising withcraft. \n\nWhile witchcraft was a power in the land, the \nwitch, or warlock, was popularly supposed to be the \ndirect instrument, and, indeed, the bond-slave, of the \nEvil One, fulfilling his behests in virtue of a com- \npact, written in letters of blood, by which the witch \nmade over her soul to the Infernal Power in return \nfor the enjoyment of supernatural prerogatives for a \nfixed period. This treaty having been concluded, \nthe witch received a mark on some part of the body, \nwhich was thenceforward insensible of pain \u2014 the \nstigma or devil's mark, by which he might know hie \nown again. A familiar imp ur spirit was assigned to \n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, r.] EARLy HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. 205 \n\nher, generally in the form of an animal, and more \nparticularly in that of a black cat or dog. Round \nthis general idea were gathered a number of horrible \nand unclean conceptions, on which, happily, it will not \nbe necessary to enlarge. The devil, it was said, re- \nsorted to carnal communication with his servants, \nbeing denominated succubus when the favourite was \na female, and incubus when a male was chosen. It \nwas alleged, too, that on certain occasions the devil, \nwith his familiars, and the great company of witches \nand warlocks whose souls he had bought, assembled \nin the dead of night in some remote and savage \nwilderness, to hold that frightful carnival of the \nWitches' Sabbat which Goethe has depicted so power- \nfully in the second part of ' Faust.' The human \nimagination has not invented, I think, any scene \nmore horrible, more degrading, or more bestial. We \nmay suppose, however, that it was not conceived by \nany single mind, or even people, or in any single \ngeneration, but that it gradually took up additional \ndetails from different nations, at different times, until \nit was developed into the terrible whole presented by \nthe mediajval writers. \n\nThis wild and awfiil revel was called the Sabbat \nbecause it took place after midnight on Friday ; that \nis, on the Jewish Sabbath \u2014 a curious illustration of \nthe popular antipathy against the Jews, \n\nThe spot where it was held never bloomed again \nwith flower or herb ; the burning feet of the demons \nblighted it for ever. \n\nWitch or warlock who failed to obey the summons \n\n\n\n206 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book II. \n\n\n\nof the master was lashed by devils with rods made of \nscorpions or serpents, in chastisement of his or her \ncontumacy. \n\nThe guests repaired thither, according to the belief \nentertained in France and England, upon broom- \nsticks ; but in Spain and Italy it was thought that \nthe devil himself, in the shape of a goat, conveyed \nthem on his back, which he contracted or elongated \naccording to the number he carried. The witch, \nwhen starting on her aerial journey, would not quit \nher house by door or window ; but astride on her \nbroomstick made her exit by the chimney. During her \nabsence, to prevent the suspicions of her neighbours \nfrom being aroused, an inferior demon assumed the \nsemblance of her person, and lay in her bed, pre- \ntending to be ill or asleqi. \n\nA curious story may here be introduced. In \nApril, 1611, a Provencal cur^, named Gaurifidi, was \naccused of sorcery Iiefore the Parliament of Ais. In \nthe course of trial much was said in proof of the \npower of the demons. Several ivitnesses asserted \nthat Gaurifidi, after rubbing himself with a magic \noil, repaired to the Sabbat, and afterwards returned \nto bis chamber down the chimney. One day, when \nthis sort of thing was exciting the imagination of the \njudges, an extraordinary noise was heard in the \nchimney of the hall, terminating suddenly in the \napparition of a tall black man, who shook his head \nvigorously. The judges, thinking the devil had \ncome in person to the rescue of his servant, took to \ntheir heels, with the exception of one Thorm, the \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. 207 \n\nreporter, who was so hemmed in by his desk that he \nwas unable to move. Terror-stricken at the sight before \nhim, with his body all of a tremble, and his eyes \nstarting from his head, he made repeated signs of the \ncross, until the supposed fiend was equal]}' alarmed, \nsince he could not understand the cause of the \nreporter's evident perturbation. On recovering from \nhis embarrassment he made himself known \u2014 he \nwas a sweep, who had been operating on a chimney \non the roof above, but, when ready to return, had \nmistaken the entrance, and thus unwillingly intruded \nhimself into the chamber of the Parliament. \n\nThe unclean ceremonies of the Witches' Sabbat \nwere ' inaugurated ' by Satan, who, in his favourite \nassumption of a huge he-goat (a suggestion, no \ndoubt, from Biblical imagery), with one face in front, \nand another between his haunches, took his place \nupon his throne. After all present had done homage \nby kissing him on the posterior face, he appointed a \nmaster of the ceremonies, and, attended by him, made \na personal examination of any guest to ascertain if he \nor she bore the stigma, which indicated his right o( \nownership. Any who were found without it receiveti \nthe mark at once from the master of the ceremonies, \nwhile the devil bestowed on them a nickname. \nThereafter all began to dance and sing with wild \nextravagance \u2014 \n\n' There is no rest to-night for anyone ; \nWhen one dance ends another is begun ' \u2014 \n\nuntil some neophyte arrived, and sought admission \ninto the circle of tlie initiated. Silence prevailed \n\n\n\n208 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK U. \n\nwiiile the newcomer went through the usual form of \ndenying her salvation, spitting upon the Bible, kissing \nthe devil, and swearing obedience to him in all things. \nThe dancing then renewed its furj', and a hoarse chorus \n\nwent up of \u2014 \n\n' Alegremoa, alegremOB, \nQue gcnte va teDemoa !' \n\nWhen spent with the violent exercise, they sat \ndown, and, like the witches In ' Macbeth,' related \nthe evil things each had done since the last Sabbat, \nthose who had not been sufficiently active being \nchastised by Satan himself until they were drenched \nin blood. A dance of toads was the next entertain- \nment. The}' sprang up out of the earth by thousands, \nand danced on their hlnd-lega while Satan played on \nthe bagpipes or the trumpet, after which they solicited \nthe witches to reward them for their exertions by \nfeeding them icith the fiesk of unhaptized babes. Was \nthere ever a more curious mixture of the grotesque \nand the horrible ? At a stamp fi-om the devil's foot \nthey returned to the earth whence they came, and a \nbanquet was served up, the nature of which the reader \nmay be left to imagine ! Dancing was afterwards \nresumed, while those who had no partiality for the \npastime found amusement in burlesquing the sacra- \nment of baptism, the toads being again summoned \nand sprinkled with holy water, while the devil made \nthe sign of the cross, and the witches cried out in \nchorus : ' In nomine Patrica, Aragueaco Patrica, \nagora, agora ! Valentia, jurando gome guito goustia !' \nthat is, 'In the name of Patrick, Patrick of Aragon \nnow, now, all our ills are over!' \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n209 \n\n\n\nSometimes the devil would cause the witches to \nstrip themselves, and dance before him in their \nnakedness, each with a cat tied round her neck, and \nanother suspended from her body like a tail. At \ncockcrow the whole phantasmagoria vanished. \n\nOne cannot help wondering who first conceived \nthe idea of these horrid saturnalia. Did it spring \nfrom the diseased imagination of some half-mad monk, \nbrooding in the solitude of his silent cell, who \ngathered up all these unclean and grim images and \nworked them into so ghastly a picture? They are \npartly heathen, partly Christian ; partly classical, \npartly Teutonic \u2014 a strange and unwholesome com- \npound, as ' thick and slab ' as the hell-broth mixed by \nthe hags on ' the blasted heath ' ! \n\nIn these pages 1 am concerned only with our own \n' tight little island,' into which the superstition was \nmost certainly introduced by the northern invaders. \nIt would derive strength and consistency from the \nteaching of the Old Testament, which distinctly \nrecognises the existence of witchcraft. * Let not a \nwitch live !' is the command given in Exo:lus \n(chapter xxii.) ; and similar threats against witches, \nwizards and the like frequently occur in the books \nof Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Says Sir William \nBlackstone: ' To deny the possibility, nay, the actual \nexistence of witchcraft and sorcery, is at once flatly \nto contradict the revealed Word of God in various \npassages of the Old and New Testaments, and the \nthing itself is a truth to which every nation in the \nworld hath, in its turn, borne testimony, either by \n\nli \n\n\n\n210 WITCH, WARLOCK, AKD MAGICIAN. [BOOK II, \n\nexample seemingly well attested, or by prohibitory \nlaws, which at least suppose the possibility of a \ncommerce with evil spirits.' The Church at a very \nearly period admitted its existence, and fulminated \nagainst all who practised it. The fourth canon of the \nCouncil of Auserre, in 525, stringently prohibited all \nresort to sorcerers, diviners, augurs, and the like. A \ncanon of the Council held at Berkhanipstead in 696 \ncondemned to corporal punishment, or mulcted in a \nfine, every person who made sacrifices to the evil \nBpirits. Under the name of sortileguim, the offence \nwas treated eventually as a kind of heresy, for which, \non the first occasion, the offender, if penitent, was \npunished by the Ecclesiastical Courts ; but if there \nwere no abjuration, or a relapse after abjuration, she \nwas handed over to the secular power to be executed \nby authority of the writ de heretico comburendo. At a \nlater date, statutes against witchcraft were enacted \nby Parliament, and the offence was both tried and \npunished by the civil ]K)wer, Such statutes were \npassed in the reigns of Henry VIII., Elizabeth, an(i \nJames I. Legislation derives its chief support from \npublic opinion ; and these statutes are a proof that \nthe existence of witchcraft was generally believed in. \n' For centuries in this country,' says Mr. Inderwick, \n'strange as it may now appear, a denial of the exist- \nence of such demoniacal agency was deemed equal to \na confession of atheism, and to a disbelief in the \nHoly Scriptures themselves. Not only did Lord \nChancellors, Lord Keepers, benches of liihhops, and \nParliament after Parliament attest the truth and the \n\n\n\nEAIILY HISTORY OF WiTCUCflAFF. \n\n\n\nexistence of witchcraft, but Addison, writing as late \nas 1711, in the pages of the Spectator, after describinij \nhimself as hardly pressed by the arguments on both \nsides of this question, expresses his own belief that \nthere is, and has been, witchcraft in the land.' At \nthe same time, it is pleasant to remember that there \nhave almost always been a few minds, bolder and more \nenlightened than the rest, to protest against a credulity \nwhich led to acts of the greatest inhumanity, and \nfostered a grotesque and dangerous superstition. \n\nIt is in the twelfth century that we first obtain, in \nEngland, any distinct indications of the nature of \nthis su|wrstition, and it is then we first meet with \nthe written compact between the devil and his victim. \nThe story of the old woman of Berkeley, with whicli \nSouthey's ballad has made everybody familiar, is \nrelated b}- William of Malmesbury, on the authority \nof a friend wlio professed to have been an eye-witnes'; \nof the facts. When the devil, we read, announced to \nthe witch that the term of her compact had nearly \nexpired, she summoned to her presence the monks of \nthe neighbouring monastery and her children, con- \nfessed her sins, acknowledged her criminal compact, \nand displayed a curious anxiety lest Satan should \nsecure her body as well as her soul. ' Sew me in a \nstag's hide,* she said, ' and, placing me in a stone \ncoffin, shut me in with lead and iron. Load this \nwith a heavy stone, and fasten down the whole with \nthree iron chains. Let fifty psalms be ssung by night, \nand fifty masses be said by day, to baffle the power \nof the demons, and if you can thus protect my body \n14-2 \n\n\n\n212 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK U. \n\nfor three nights, on the fourth day you may safely \nbury it in the ground.' These precautions, though \nreligiously observed, proved ineffectual. On the first \nnight the monks bravely resisted the efforts of the \nfiends, who, however, on the second night, renewed \nthe attack with increased vehemence, burst open the \ngates of the monastery, and rent asunder two of the \nchains which held down the coffin. On the third \nnight, so terrible was the hurly-burly, that the \nmonastery shook to its foundations, and the terror- \nstricken priests paused, aghast, in the midst of their \nministrations. Then the doors flew apart, and into \nthe sacred place stalked a demon, who rose head and \nshoulders above his fellows. Stopping at the coffin, \nhe, in a terrible voice, commanded the dead to rise. \nThe woman answered that she was bound by the \nthird chain : whereupon the demon put his foot on the \ncoflin, the chain snapped like a threiid, the coffin-lid \nfell off, the witch arose, and was hurried to the church- \ndoor, where the demon, mounting a huge black horse, \nswung his victim on to the crupper, and galloped \naway into the darkness with the swiftness of an arrow, \nwhile her shrieks resounded through the air. \n\nThere are many allusions in the old monastic \nchronicles which illustrate the development of public \nopinion in refercnce to witches and their craft. Thus, \nJohn of Salisbury describes the nocturnal assemblies \nof the witches, the presence of Satan, the banquet, \nand the punishment or reward of the guests according \nto the failure or abundance of their zeal. William of \nMalmesbury tells us that on the highroad to Rome \n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n2L3 \n\n\n\ndwelt a couple of beldams, of ill repute, who enticed \nthe weary traveller into their wretched hovel, and by \ntheir incantations transformed him into a horse, a \ndog, or some other animal \u2014 similar to tbe transforma- \ntions we read of in Oriental tales \u2014 and that this \nanimal they sold to the first comer, in this way \npicking up a tolerable livelihood. One day, a \njongleur, or mountebank, asked for a night's lodging, \nand when he disclosed liis vocation to the two hags, \nthey informed him that they had an ass of remarkable \ncapacity, which, indeed, could do everything but speak, \nand tbat they were willing to sell it. The sum asked \nwas large, but the ass displayed such wonderful in- \ntelligence tliat the jongleur gladly paid it, and de- \nparted, taking with him the a?8 and a piece of advice \nfrom the old women \u2014 not to let the ass go near run- \nning water. For some time all went well, the ass \nbecame an immense attraction, and the jongleur was \ngrowing passing rich, when, in one of his drunken \ntits, he allowed the animal to escape. Running directly \nto the nearest stream, it plunged in, and immediately \nresumed its original shape as a handsome young man, \nwho explained that he had been transformed by the \nspells of the two crones. \n\nThe lirst trial for witchcraft in England occurred \nin the tenth year of King John, when, as recorded in \nthe \u2022 Abbreviatio Placitorum,' Agnes, wife of Ado the \nmerchant, accused one Gideon of the crime ; but he \nproved his innocence by the ordeal of red-hot iron. \nThe tir-ft trial which has been reported with any \ndegree of particularity belongs to the year 1324. \n\n\n\n214 WITCU, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [book II. \n\nSome citizens of Coventry, it would appear, had \nsuffered severely at the hands of the prior, who had \nbeen supported in his exactions by the two Despensers, \nEdward II. 's unworthy favourites. In revenge, they \nplotted the death of the prior, the favouriteSj and the \nKing. For this purpose they sought the assistance \nof a famous magician of Coventry, named Master \nJohn of Nottingham, and his man, Robert Marshall \nof Leicester, The conspiracy was revealed by the \nsaid Robert Marshall, probably because his pecuniary \nreward was unsatisfactory, and he averred that John \nof Nottingham and himself, having agreed to carry \nout the desire of the citizens, the latter, on Sunday, \nMarch 13, brought an instalment of the stipulated \nfee, together with seven pounds of wax and two \nyards of canvas ; that with this wax he and his \nmaster made seven images, representing respectively \nthe King (with his crown), the two Despensers, the \njirior, his caterer, and his steward, and one Richard \nde Lowe \u2014 the last named being introduced merely \nas a lay-figure on which to test the efficacy of the \ncharm. \n\nThe two wizards retired to an old ruined house at \nShorteley Park, about half a league from Coventry, \nwhere they remained at work for several days, and \niibont midnight on the Friday following Holy Cross \nDny, the said Master John gave to the said Robert a \nsharp-pointed leaden branch, and commanded him to \nins ert it about two inches deep in the forehead of the \nimage representing Richard de Lowe, this being \nintended as an experiment It was done, and next \n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCHAFT. \n\nmorning Master John sent liis servant to Lowe's \nhouse to inquire after his condition, who found faim \nscreaming and crying 'Harrow!' He had lost his \nmemory, and knew no one, and in this state he con- \ntinued until dawn on the Sunday before Ascension, \nwlien Master John withdrew the branch from the \nforehead of the image and thrust it into the heart. \nThere it remained until the following Wednesday, \nwhen the unfortunate man expired. Such was Robert \nMarshall's fable, as told before the judges; but ap- \nparently it met with little credence, and the trial, after \nseveral adjournments, fell to the ground. \n\nWonderful stories are told by the later clironiclers \nof a certain Eudo de Stella, who had acquired great \nnotoriety as a sorcerer. AVilliam of Newbury says \nthat his ' diabolical charms ' collected a large com- \npany of disciples, whom he carried with him from \nplace to place, adding to their number wherever he \nstopped. At times he encamped in the heart of a \nwood, where sumptuous tables were^suddenly spread \nwith all kinds of dainty dishes and fragrant wines, \nand every wish breathed by the meanest guest was im- \nmediately fulfilled. Some of Eudo's followers, however, \nconfided to our authority that there was a strange \nwant of solidity in these magically- supplied viands, and \nthat though they ate of them continually, they were \nnever satisfied. But it appears that wlioever once \ntasted of the sorcerer's meats, or received from him a \ngift, thereby became enrolled among his followers. \nAnd the chronicler supplies this irrefutable proof: A \nknight of his acquaintance paid a visit to the wizard, \n\n\n\n\n216 WITCH, WARLfCK, AN'D MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\nand endeavoured to tarn him from his evil practices. \nWhen he departed, Eudo presented his squire with \na handsome hawk, which the knight, observing. \nadvised him to cast away. Not so the squire: he \nrejoiced in his high-mettled hird ; but they had \nscarcely got out of sight of the wizard's camp before \nthe hawk's talons gripped him more and more \nclosely, and at last it flew away with him, and he was \nnever more heard of. \n\nThe trial of Dame Alicia Kyteler, or Le Poer, \ntakes us across the seas, but it furnishes too many \ninteresting particulars to be entirely ignored. \nHutchinson informs us that, in 1324, Bishop de \nLenirede, of Ossory, in the course of a visitation of \nhis diocese, came to learn that, in the city of Kil- \nkenny, there had long resided certain persons \naddicted to various kinds of witchcraft; and that the \nchief offender among them was a Dame Alicia \nKyteler. As she was a woman of considerable \n\u25a0wealth, which might prove of great benefit to the \nChurch, the episcopal zeal blazed up strongly, and \nshe and her accoraplicea were ordered to be put upon \ntheir trial. \n\nThe accusation against them was divided into \nseven distinct heads : \n\nFirst: That, in order to give effect to their sorcery, \nthey were wont altogether to deny the faith of Christ \nand of the Church for a year or month, according as \nthe object to he attained was greater or less, so that \nduring this longer or shorter period they believed in \nnothing that the Church beheved, and abstained from \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n217 \n\n\n\nworshipping Christ's body, from entering a church, \nfrom hearing Mass, and from participating in the \nSacrament. Second : That they propitiated the \ndemons with sacrifices of living animals, which they \ntore limb from limb, and offered, by scattering them \nin cross-roads, to a certain demon, Robert Artisson \n{Jilius Artis), who was ' one of the poorer cla^^s of \nhell.' Third: That by their sorceries they sought \nresponses and oracles from demons. Fourth : That \nthey used the ceremonies of the Church in their \nnocturnal meetings, pronouncing, ttith lighted \ncandles of wax, sentence of excommunication even \nagainst the persons of their own husbands, namin;; \nexpressly ever}' member, from the sole of the foot to \nthe top of the head, and at length extinguishing thu \ncandles with the exclamation, 'Fi! fi! fi ! Amen!' \nFifth: That with the intestines and other inner \nparts of cocks sacrificed to the demons, with ' certain \nhorrible worms,' various herbs, the nails of dead men, \nthe hair, brains, and clothes of children who had died \nunbaptized, and \u25a0 other things too disgusting to \nmention, boilud in the skull of a certain robber who \nhad been beheaded, on a fire made of oak-sticks. \nthey had invented powders and ointments, and also \ncandles of fat boiled in the said skull, with certain \ncharms, which things were to be instrumental in ex- \nciting love or hatred, and in killing or torturing the \nbodies of faithful Christians, and for various other \nunlawful purposes. Sixth : That the sons and \ndaughters of the four husbands of the same Dame \nAlice had made their complaint to the Bishop, that \n\n\n\n218 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK ttl \n\nshe, by such sorcery, bail procured the death of her \nhusbands, and had so beguiled and infatuated them, \nthat they had given all their property to her and her \n(\u25a0on [by her first husband, William Outlawe], to the \nperpetual impoverishment of their own sons and heirs : \ninsomuch that her present [and fourth] husband, Sir \nJohn Le Poer, was reduced to a most miserable con- \ndition of body by her ointments, powders, and other \nmagical preparations ; but, being warned by her \nmaidservant, he had forcibly taken from his wife the \nkeys of her house, in which he found a bag filled \nwith the ' detestable ' articles above mentioned, which \nhe had sent to the Bishop. Seventh: That there \nexisted an unholy connection between the said Lady \nAlice and the demon called Robert Artisson, who \nsometimes appeared to her in the form of a cat, \nsometimes in that of a black shaggy dog, and at \nothers in the form of a black man, with two tall \ncompanions as black as himself, each carrying in his \nhand a rod of iron. Some of the old chroniclers \nembroider upon this charge the fanciful details that \nher offering to the demon was nine red cocks' and \nnine peacocks' eyes, wbicii were paid on a certain \nstone bridge at a cross-road ; that she had a magical \nointment,* which she rubbed upon a coulter or \n\n* So inDucIerq's 'Memoirea' ('Collect du Pantheon'), p. 141, \nwB read of a case at Arras, in which the sorcerers were accused of \nusing Eueh an ointment: 'D'ung oignement que le diable lewr \navoit baillS, ils oindoient une vergue de bois bien petite, et leurs \npalmes et leurs mains, puis mectoient celle virgiielte entre leurs \njanibea, et tantost ils e'en volvJent oil ils vouUvient estre, pur- \ndesseures bonnes villes, bois et came; et les portoit le diable \nau lieu oCt lis debvoient faire Icur aasembl6e.' \n\n\n\n\nM \n\n\n\nKaRLY history of WITCaCRAFT. \n\n\n\nplough handle, in order that the said coulter might \ncarry her and her companions whithersoever they \nwished to go ; that in her house was found a conse- \ncrated wafer, with the devil's name written upon it ; \nand that, sweeping the streets of Kilkenny between \ncomplin and twilight, she raked up all the ordure \ntowards the doors of her son, William Outlawe, \nsaying to herself: \n\n' To the house of William my son, \nHie all the wealth of Kilienny town.' \n\nThe lady, rejoicing in powerful friends and \nadvisers, de6ed the Bishop and all his works. She \nwas excommunicated, and her son summoned to \nappear before the Bishop for the offence of harbouring \nand concealing her ; but Dame Alice's friends re- \ntaliated by throwing the Bishop into prison for \nseveral days. He revenged himself by placing the \nwhole diocese under an interdict, and again summon- \ning William Outlawe to appear on a certain day ; but \nbefore the day arrived, he in his turn was cited before \nthe Lord Justice, to answer for having imposed an \ninterdict on his diocese, and to defend himself against \naccusations submitted by the seneschal. The Bishop \n])leaded that it was unsafe for him to tra%'el; but the \nplea was not allowed, and, to save himself from further \nmolestation, he recalled the interdict. \n\nThe quarrel was not yet fought out. On the \nMonday following the octave of Easter, the seneschal, \nArnold de la Poer, held his judicial court in the \nAssize Hall at Kilkenny. Thither repaired the \nBishop, and, though refused admission, he forced his \n\n\n\n220 WITCH, WARLOCK, AKD MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\nway in, robed in full pontificals, carrying in hie hand \nthe Host in pys of gold, and attended by a numerous \ntrain of friars and clergy. But he was received with \na storm of insults and reproaches, which compelled \nhim to retire. Upon his repeated protests, however, \nand at the intercession of some influential personages, \nhis return was permitted. Beiug ordered to take \nhis stand at the criminal's bar, he exclaimed that \nChrist had never been treated so before, since He \nstood at the bar before Pontius Pilate ; and he loudly \ncalled upon the seneschal to order the arrest of the \npersons accused of sorcery, and their deliverance into \nhis hands. When the seneschal abruptly refused, \nhe opened the book of the decretals, and saith, ' You, \nSir Arnold, are a knight, and instructed in letters, \nand that you may not have the excuse of ignorance, \nwe are prepared to prove by these decretals that you \nand your otficials are bound to obey our order la this \nmatter, under heavy penalties.' \n\n' Go to the church with your decretals,' replied the \nseneschal, ' and preach there, for none of us here will \nlisten to you.' \n\nIn the Bishop's character there must have been a \nfine strain of perseverance, for all these rebuifs failed \nto baffle him, and he actually succeeded, after a suc- \ncession of disappointments and a constant renewal of \ndifficulties, in obtaining permission to bring the \nalleged offenders to trial. Most of them suffered \nimprisonment j but Dame Alice escaped him, being \nBecretly conveyed to England. Of all concerned in \nthe affair, only one was punished Petronelta of \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] EARLY HISTOKY OF WITCOCBAFT. 221 \n\nMeath, who was selected aa a scapegoat, probably \nbecause she had neither friends nor means of de- \nfence. \n\nBy order of the Bishop she was six times flogged, \nafter which the poor tortured victim made a confes- \neion, in which she declared not only her own guilt, \nbut that of everybody against whom the Bishop had \nproceeded. She affirmed that in all Britain, nay, \nindeed, in the whole world, was no one more skilled \nin magical practices than Dame Alice Kyteler. She \nwas brought to admit the truth \u2014 though in her heart \nshe must have known its absolute falsehood* \u2014 of \nthe episcopal indictment, and pretended that she bad \nbeen present at the sacrifices to the Evil One \u2014 that \nshe had assisted in making the unguents with the \nunsavoury materials already mentioned, and that \nwith these unguents different effects were produced \nupon different jicrsons \u2014 the faces of certain ladies, \nfor instance, being made to ap]>ear horned like goats ; \nthat she had been present at the nocturnal revelries, \nand, with her mistress's assistance, had frequently \npronounced sentence of excommunication against her \nown husband, with all due magical rites ; tiiat she \nhad attended Dame Alice in her assignations with \nthe demon, Robert Artis^on, and had seen acts of an \nimmorality so foul that I dare not allude to it pass \n\n* That is, of sacrificing to the Evil One, of meeting the demon \nItobert Artisson, and eo on ; though it is quite possible that \nstrange unguents were mode and adminiHtered to different persons, \nand that Dame Alice and her companions played at b \nSome of the so-called witches, as we shall see, encouraged the \ndeception on account of the influence it gave them. \n\n\n\n\n222 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1!. \n\nbetween them. Having been coerced and tortured \ninto this amazingly wild and fictitious confession, \nthe poor \\voman was declared guilty, sentenced, and \nburned alive, the first victim of the witchcraft delu- \nsion in Ireland. \n\n\n\nIt is worthy of observation that the mind of the \npublic was roused to a much stronger feeling of \nhostility against witchcraft than against magic. \nAlchemists, astrologers, fortune-tellers, diviners, and \nthe like, might incur suspicion, and sometimes punish- \nment ; but, on the whole, they were treated with \ntolerance, and even with distinction. For this \ninequality of treatment two or three reasons suggest \nthemselves. In the crime of witchcraft the central \nfeature was the compact with the demon, and it was \nnatural that men should resent an act which entailed \nthe eternal loss of the soul. Again, witchcraft, much \nmore frequently than magic, was the instrument of \npersonal ill-feeling, and was more generally directed \nagainst the lower classes. The magician seldom used \nhis power except when liberally paid by an employer ; \nthe witch, it was thought, exercised her skill for the \ngratification of her own malice. However this may \nbe, an imputation of witchcraft became, in the fifteenth \ncentury, a formidable affair, ensuring the death or \nruin of the unfortunate individual against whom it \nwas made. There was no little difficulty in defend- \ning one's self; and in truth, once made, it clung to \nits victim like a Nessus's shirt, and with a result as \ndeadly. \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] EARLY UESTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. 223 \n\nIts value as a political 'move' was shown in the \npersecution of the Knights Templars, and, in our \nown history, in Cardinal Beaufort's intrigue against \nHumphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who governed Eng- \nland as Protector during the minority of Henry VI. \n\nThe Cardinal struck at the Duke through his \nbeautiful wife, Eleanor Cobham. In July, 1441, two \necclesiastics, Roger Bolingbroke, and Thomas South- \nwell, a canon of St. Stephen's Chapel, were arrested \non a charge of high treason ; ' for it was said that \nthe said Master Roger should labour to consume the \nKing's person by way of necromancy ; and that the \ngaid Master Thomas should say masses upon certain \ninstruments with the which the said Master Roger \nshould use his said craft of necromancy.' Bolingbroke \nwas a scholar, an adept in natural science, and an \nardent student of astronomy : William of Worcester \ndescribes him as one of the most famous clerks of \nthe world. One Sunday, after having undergone \nrigorous examination, he was conveyed to St. Paul's \nCross, where he was mounted ' on a high stage above \nall men's heads in Paul's Churchyard, whiles tlie \nsermon endured, holding a sword in hts right hand \nand a sceptre in his left, arrayed in a marvellous \narray, wherein he was wont to sit when he wrought \nhia necromancy.' \n\nThe Duchess of Gloucester, meanwhile, perceiving \nthat her ruin was intended, fled to sanctuary at \nWestminster. Before the King's Council Boling- \nbroke was brought to confess that he had plied his \nmagical trade at the Duchess's inbtigation, 'to know \n\n\n\n224 \n\n\n\nWlTCii, WARI-OCK, AXD MAGICIAN. [a \n\n\n\nwhat should fall of her, and to what estate she should \ncome.' In other words, he had cast her horoscope, \na proceeding common enough in those daj's, and one \nwhich had no treasonable complexion. The Cardinal's \nparty, however, seized upon Bolingbroke's confession, \nand made euch use of it that the unfortunate lady \nwas cited to appear before an ecclesiastical tribunal \ncomposed of Cbicbeley, Archbishop of Canterbury, \nCardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, Cardinal \nKemp, Archbishop of York, and Ayscough, Bishop \nof Salisbury, on Julj- 2, ' to answer to divers articles \nof necromancy, of ivitchcraft or sorcery, of heresy, and \nof treason.' Bolingbroke was brought forward as a \nwitness, and repeated that the Duchess 'first stirred \nhim to labour in his necromanc}'.' \n\nAfter this, he and Southwell were indicted as prin- \ncipals of treason, and the Duchess as accessory, \nthough, if his story were true, their positions should \nhave been reversed. At the same time, a woman \nnamed Margery Goodman, and known as the ' Witch \nof Eye,' was burned at Smithfield because in former \ndays she bad given potions and philtres to Eleanor \nCobham, to enable her to secure the Duke of Glouces- \nter's affections. Roger Bolingbroke was hung, drawn, \nand quartered, according to the barbarous custom of \nthe age ; Southwell escaped a similar fate i>y dying \nin the Tower before the day appointed for his trial. \nThe charge of high treason brought against them \nrested entirely on the allegation that, at the Duchess's \nrequest, they had made a waxen image to resemble \nthe King, and had placed it before a fire, that, as \n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] EAKLV HISTORY OF WITCHCRAIT. 225 \n\nit gradually melted, eo might the King gradually \nlanguish away and die. As for the Duchesa, she was \nsentenced to do penance, which she fulfilled 'right \nmeekly, bo that the more part of the people had her \nin great compassion,' on Monday, Novemher 13, \n1441, walking barefoot, with a lighted taper in her \nhand, from Temple Bar to St. Paul's, where she \noffered the taper at the high altar. She repealed the \npenance on the Wednesday and Friday following, \nwalking to St. Paul's by different routes, and on each \noccasion was accompanied by the Lord Mayor, the \nsheriffs, and the various guilds, and by a multitude \nof people, whom the repute of her beauty and her \nsorrows had attracted, so that what was intended for \na humiliation became really a triumph. She was \nafterwards imprisoned in Chester Castle, and thence \ntransferred to the Isle of Man. \n\nThe charge of sorcery which Richard III. brought \nagainst Lord Hastings, accusing him of having wasted \nhis left arm, though from his birth it had been fleshless, \ndry, and withered, is made the basis of an effective \nscene in Shakespeare's ' Richard III,' His brother's \nwidow. Queen Elizabeth Woodville, was included in \nthe charge, and Jane Shore was named as her accom- \nplice. This frail beauty was brought before the \nCouncil, and accused of having ' endeavoured the ruin \nand destruction of the Protector in several ways,' and \nparticularly ' by witchcraft had decayed his body, \nand with the Lord Hastings had contrived to assas- \nsinate him.' The indictment, however, was not sus- \n\n15 \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n226 \n\n\n\nWlTCtl, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\n\n\ntained, and her offence was reduced to that of lewd \nliving. Whereupon she was handed over to the \nBishop of London to do public penance for her sin \non Sunday morning in St, Paul's Cathedral churchJ \nClothed in a white sheet, with a was taper in her \nhand, and a cross borne before her, she was led in \nprocession from the episcopal palace to the cathedral, \nwhere she made open confession of her fault. The \nmoral effect of this exhibition seems to have been \nconsiderably marred by the beauty of the penitent, \nwhich produced upon the multitude an impression \nsimilar to that which the bared bosom of Phryne \nproduced upon her judges in the days of old. \n\nIn 1480 Pope Innocent VIIL issued a Bull en- \njoining the detection, trial, and punishment (by burn- \ning) of witches. This was the first formal recognition \nof witchcraft by the head of the Church. In England \nthe first Act of Parliament levelled at it was passed \nin 1541. Ten years later two more statutes were \nenacted, one relating to false prophecies, and the \nother to conjuration, witchcraft and sorcery. But in \nno one of these was witchcraft condemned tjua witch- \ncraft; they were directed against those who, by means \nof spells, incantations, or compacts with the devil, \nthreatened the lives and properties of their neigh- \nbours. When, in 15G1, Sir Edward Waldegrave, one \nof Mary Stuart's councillors, was arrested by order of \nSecretary Cecil as 'a mass-monger,' the Bishop of \nLondon, to whom he was remitted, felt no disposi- \ntion to inflict a heavy penalty for hearing or saying \nof mass ; but, on inquiry, he discovered that the \n\n\n\nCHAP, I.] E.VRLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. 227 \n\nofficiating priest had been concerned in concocting ' a \nlove-philtre,' and he then decided that sorcery would \nafford a safer ground for process. He applied, there- \nfore, to Chief Justice Catlin, to learn what might be \nthe law in such cases, and was astonished when he \nwas told that no legal provision had been made for \nthem. Previousl}' they came before the Church \nCourts ; but these had been deprived of their powers \nby the Reformation, and the onl}' precedent be could \niind for moving in the matter belonged to the reign \nof Edward III., and was thus entered on the roll: \n\n' Ung hommc f ut prinae en Southwark avec iing teste et ung \nviaaige dung homme morte avec ung lyvre do sorcerie en son \nmale et fut amesn^ en banke du Roy devant Knyvet Justice, mais \nnuUe indictment fut vera lui, por qui loa ckrkea luy fierement \njurement que Jamais ne feroit Borcerie en apres, et fut delyvoii \ndel prison, et le teste et leg lyvrea furent arses a Totebyil a li-s \ncostages da prisonnier.' (That is : A man was taken in South- \nwark, with a dead man'a skull and a book of sorcery in hie \nwallet, and was brought up at the King's Beoch before Knyret \nJustice; bnt no indictment was laid against him, for that the \nclerks made him swear be would meddle no more with sorcery, \nand the bead and the books were burnt at Tothill Fields at the \nprisoner's charge.) \n\nBut in the following year Parliament passed an \nAct which defined witchcraft as a capital crime. \nwhether it was or was not exerted to the injury of tho \nlives, limbs, and possessions of the lieges. Thence- \nforward the persecution of witches took its place \namong English institutions. During the latter years \nof Elizabeth's ragn several instances occurred. Thus, \non July 25, 1589, three witches were burnt at Chelms- \nford. The popular mind was gradually familiarized \nwith the idea of witchcraft, and led to concentrate its \n15\u20142 \n\n\n\n228 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK H. \n\nattention on the individual marks, or characteristics, \nwhich were supposed to indicate its professors. Even \namong the higher classes a belief in its existence \nbecame very general, and it is startling to find a man \nlike the learned and pious Bishop Jewell, in a sermon \nbefore Queen Elizabeth, saying : ' It may please your \nGrace to understand that intches and sorcerers within \nthese last four years are marvellously increased within \nthis your Grace's realm. Your Grace's subjects pine \naway even unto the death ; their colour fadeth ; their \nflesh rottetii ; their speech is benumbed ; their senses \nare bereft ! 1 pray God they may never practise further \nthan upon the subject !' (1598). \n\nThe mtches in ' Macbeth ' \u2014 those weird sisters \nwho met at midnight upon the blasted heath, and in \ntheir caldron brewed bo deadly a ' hell-broth ' \u2014 par- \ntake of the dignity of the poet's genius, and belong \nto the vast ideal world of his imagination. No such \nmidnight hags crossed the paths of ordinary mortals. \nThe Elizabethan witch, who scared her neighbours in \ntown and village, and flourished on their combined \nignorance and superstition, a])pears, however, in ' The \nMerry Wives of Windsor,' where Master Ford de- \nscribes ' the fat woman of Brentford ' as ' a witch, a \nquean, an old cozening quean !' He adds: ' Have I \nnot forbid her my house? She comes of errands, \ndoes she? We are simple men; we do not know \nwhat's brought to pass under the profession of for- \ntune-telling. She works by charms, by spells, by \nthe figure ; and such daubery as this is beyond our \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n229 \n\n\n\nelement.' Most of Master Ford's contemporaries, I \nfear, were, in this matter, ' simple men.' Even per- \nsons of rank and learning, of position and refinement, \nwere as credulous as tlieir poorer, more ignorant, and \nmore vulgar neighbours ; were just as ready to believe \nthat an untaught village crone had made a compact \nwith the devil, and bartered her soul for the right of \nstraddling across a broom or changing herself into a \nblack cat ! \n\n\n\nNear Warboise, in Huntingdonshire, in 1593, lived \ntwo gentlemen of good estate \u2014 Mr. Throgmorton and \nSir Samuel Cromwell. The former had five daughters, \nof whom the eldest, Joan, was possessed with a lively \nimagination, which busied itself constantly with ghosts \nand witches. On one occasion, when she passed the \ncottage of an old and infirm woman, known as Mother \nSamuel, the good dame, with a black cap on her head, \nwas sitting at her door knitting. Mistress Joan ex- \nclaimed that she was a witch, hurried home, went into \nconvulsions, and declared that Mother Samuel had \nbewitched her. In due course, her sisters followed \nher example, and they too laid the blame of their fits \non Mother Samuel. The parents, not less infatuated \nthan the children, lent ready ears to their wild tales, \nand carried them to Lady Cromwell, who, as a friend \nof Mrs. Throgmorton, took the matter up right \nearnestly, and resolved that the supposed witch \nshould he put to the ordeal. Sir Samuel was by \nno means unwilling; and the children, encouraged \nby this prompt credulity, let loose their fertile inven- \n\n\n\n\n230 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\n\n\ntioDB. They declared that Mother Samuel sent a \nlegion of evil spirits to torment them incessantly. \nStrange to say, these spirits iiad made known their \nnames, which, though grotesque, had nothing of a \ndemoniac character about them \u2014 ' First Smack,' \n'Second Smack,' 'Third Smack,' 'Blue,' 'Catch,' \n* Hardname,' and ' Pluck ' \u2014 names invented, of course, \nby the young people themselves. \n\nAt length the aggrieved Tbrogmorton, summoning \nall his courage, repaired to Mother Samuel's humble \nresidence, seized upon the unhappy old crone, and \ndragged her into his own grounds, where Lady Crom- \nwell and Mrs. Throgmorton and her children thrust \nlong pins into her body to see if they could draw \nblood. With unmeasured violence, Lady Cromwell \ntore the old woman's cap from her head, and plucked \nout a handful of her gray hair, which she gave to \nMrs. Throgmorton to burn, as a charm that would \nprotect her from all further evil practices. Smarting \nunder these injuries, the poor old woman, in a moment \nof passion, invoked a curse upon her torturers \u2014 a \ncurse afterwards remembered against her, though at \nthe time she was allowed to depart. For more than \na year her life was made miserable by the incessant \npersecution inflicted upon her by the two hostile \nfamilies, who, on their part, declared that her demons \nbrought upon them all kinds of physical ills, pre- \nvented their ewes and cows from bearing, and turned \nthe milk sour in the dairy-pans. It so happened \nthat Lady Cromwell was seized with a sudden illness, \nof which she died, and though some fifteen months \n\n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n231 \n\n\n\nhad elapsed since the utterance of the curse, on poor \nMother Samuel was placed the responsibility. Sir \nSamuel Cromwell, therefore, felt called upon to punish \nher for her ill-doing. \n\nBy this time the old woman, partly through listen- \ning to the incessant repetition of the charges against \nher, and partly, i>erbapb, from a weak delight in the \nnotoriety she had attained, had come to believe, or to \nthink she believed, that she was really the witch \neverybody declared her to be \u2014 just as a young \nversifier is sometimes deluded into a conviction of \nhis poetic genius through unwisely crediting the \neulogies of an admiring circle of friends and relatives. \nOn one occasion, she was forcibly conveyed into Mrs. \nThrogmorton's house when Joan was in one of her \nfrequently- recurring fits, and ordered to exorcise the \ndemon that was troubling the maid, with the formula: \n' As I am a witch, and the causer of Lady Cromwell's \ndeath, I charge thee, fiend, to come out of her!' The \npoor creature did as she was told, and confesised, \nbesides, xhat her husband and her daughter were her \nassociates in witchcraft, and that all three had sold \ntheir souls to the devil. On this confession the whole \nfamily were arrested, and sent to Huntingdon Gaol. \nSoon afterwards they were tried before Mr. Justice \nFenner, and put to the torture. \n\nIn her agony the old woman confessed anything \nthat waa required of her \u2014 she was a witch, she had \nbewitched the Throgmortons, she bad caused the \ndeath of Lady Cromwell. Her husband and her \ndaughter, stronger- minded, resolutely asserted their \n\n\n\n\u25a0232 \n\n\n\nWnCU, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\n\n\ninnocence. Ignorance, however, wouhl not be denied \nits victims ; all three were sentenced to be hanged, \nand to have their bodies burned. The daughter, who \nwas young and coraely, was regarded compassionately \nby many persons, and advised to gain at least a \nrespite by pleading pregnancy. She indignantly \nrefused to sacrifice her good name. They might \nfalsely call her a witch, she exclaimed, but they \nshould not be able to say that she had acknowledged \nherself to be a harlot. Her old mother, however, \ncaught at the idea, and openly asserted that she was \n\u25a0 with child, the court breaking out into loud laughter, \nin which she fatuously joined. The three victims \nsuffered on April 7, 1595. \n\nOut of the confiscated property of the Samuels, Sir \nSamuel Cromwell, as lord of the manor, received a \nsum of \u00a310, which he converted mto an annual rent- \ncharge of 40b. for the endowment of an annual sermon \nor lecture on the iniquity of witchcraft, to be delivered \nby a D.D. or B.D. of Queen's College, Cambridge. \nThis strange memorial of a shameful and ignorant \nsuperstition was discontinued early in the eighteenth \ncentury. \n\nIn 1594, Ferdinando, Earl of Derby, died in and \nfrom the firm conviction that he was mortally be- \nwitched, though he had no knowledge of the person \nwho had so bewitched him. \n\nAbout the same time there lived in an obscure part \nof Lancashire, not far from Pendle, two families of \nthe names of Dundike and Chattox respectively, who \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n233 \n\n\n\nboth pretended to enjoy supernatural privileges, and \nwere therefore as bitterly antagonistic as if they had \nbelonged to different political factions. Their neigh- \nbours, however, seem to have believed in the superior \nclaims of the head of the Dundike family, Mother \nDundike, who pretended that she had enjoyed her \nunhallowed powers for half a century. The year in \nwhich occurred the incidents I am about to describe \nwas, so to speak, her jubilee. \n\nMother Dundike must have been a woman of lively \nimagination, if we may form conclusions from her \ngraphic account of tlie circumstances attending her \ninitiation into the great army of ' the devil's own.' One \nday, when returning from a begging expedition, she \nwas accosted by a boy, dressed in a parti-coloured gar- \nment of black and white, who proved to be a demon, \nor evil spirit, and promised her that, in return for the \ngift of her soul, she should have anything and every- \nthing she desired. On inquiring his name, she was \ntold it was Tib; and here I may note that the \n' princes and potentates ' of the nether world seem to \nhave had a great predilection for monosyllabic names, \nand names of a vulgar and commonplace character. \nThe upshot of the conversation between Tib and the \nwoman was the surrender of lier soul on the liberal \nconditions proml&ed, and for the next five or six years \nthe said devil frequently appeared unto her ' about \ndaylight-gate ' (near evening), and asked what she \nwould have or do. With wonderful unselfishness she \nreplied, ' Kothing,' Towards the end of the sixth \nyear, on a quiet Sabbath morning, while she lay \n\n\n\n234 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\nasleep, Tib came in the shape of a brown dog, forced \nhimself to her knee, and, as she wore no other gar- \nment than a smock, succeeded in drawing blood. \nAwaking suddenly, she exclaimed, ' Jesu, save my \ncliild !' but had not the jjower to say, * Jesu, save mel' \nWhereupon the brown dog vanished, and for a space \nof eight weeks she was ' almost stark mad.' \n\nThe matter-of-fact style which distinguishes Mother \nDundike's confession may also be traced in the state- \nments of her children and grandchildren, who all \nspeak as if witchcraft were an everyday reality, and \nas if evil spirits in various common disguises went to \nand fro in the land with edifying regularity. Let us \nturn to the evidence, if such it may be called, of \nAlison Device, a girl of about thirteen or fourteen \nyears of age. Incriminating her grandmother with- \nout scruple, she declared that when they were on the \ntramp, the old woman frequently persuaded her to \nallow a devil or ' familiar ' to suck at some part of her \nbody, after which she might have and do what she \nwould \u2014 though, strange to say, neither she nor any- \none else ever availed themselves of their powers to \nimprove their material condition, but lingered on in \npoverty and privation. James Device, one of Mother \nDundike's grandsons, said that on Shrove Tuesday \nshe bade him go to church to receive the sacrament \u2014 \nnot, however, to eat the consecrated bread, but to \nbringi it away, and deliver it to 'such a Thing' as \nshould meet him on his way homeward. But be dis- \nobeyed the injunction, and ate the sacred bread. On \nhis way home, when about fifty yards from the \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n235 \n\n\n\nchurch, he was met by a ' Thing in the shape of a \nhare,' which asked him whether he had brought the \nbread according to his grandmother's directions. He \nanswered that he had not; and therefore the Thing \nthreatened to rend him in pieces, but he got rid of it \nby calling upon God. \n\nSome few days later, hard by the new church in \nPendle, a Thing appeared to him like to a brown dog, \nasked him for his soul, and promised in return that \nhe should be avenged on his enemies. The virtuous \nyouth replied, somewhat equlvocatingly, that his soul \nwas not his to give, but belonged to his Saviour Jesus \nChrist; as much aa was his to give, however, he was \ncontented to dispose of. Two or three days later \nJames Device had occasion to go to Cave Hall, where \na Mrs. Towneley angrily accused him of having stolen \nsome of her turf, and drove hira from her door with \nviolence. When the devil next appeared \u2014 this time \nlike a IJack dog \u2014 he found James Device in the right \ntemper for a deed of wickedness. We was instructed \nto make an image of clay like Mrs. Towneley ; which \nhe did, and dried it the same night by the fire, and \ndaily for a week crumbled away the said image, and \ntwo days after it was all gone Mrs. Towneley died ! \nIn the following Lent, one John Duckworth, of the \nLaunde, promised him an old shirt ; but when young \nDevice went to his house for tlie gift, he was denied, \nand sent away with contumely. The spirit ' Dandy' \nthen appeared to hira, and exclaimed; 'Thou didst \ntouch the man Duckworth,' which he, James Device, \ndenied; but the spirit persisted: ' Yes; thou didst \n\n\n\n236 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\ntouch him, and therefore he is in my power.' Device \nthen agreed Avith the demon that the said Duckworth \nshould meet with the same fate as Mrs. Towiieley, \nand in the following week he died. \n\nIt is a curious fact that the old woman Chattox, the \nhead of the rival Ctction of practitioners in witchcraft, \naccused Mother Dundike of having inveigled her into \nthe ranks of the devil's servants. This was about 1597 \nor 1598. To Jtrs. Chattox the Evil One appeared \u2014 as \nhe has appeared to too many of her sex \u2014 in the shape \nof a man. Time, midnight ; place, Elizabeth Dun- \ndike's tumble-down cottage. He asked, as usual, for \nher soul, which she at first refused, but afterwards, at \nMother Dundike's advice and solicitation, agreed to \npart with. ' Whereupon the said wicked spirit then \nsaid unto her, that he must have one part of her body \nfor him to suck upon ; the which she denied then to \ngrant unto him; and withal asked him, what part of \nher body he would have for that use ; who said, he \nwould have a place of her right aide, near to her ribs, \nfor him to suck upon ; whereunto she assented. And \nshe further said that, at the same time, there was a \nThing in the likeness of a spotted bitch, that came \nwith the said spirit unto the said Dundike, which did \nthen speak unto her in Anne Chattox's hearing, and \nsaid, that she sliould have gold, silver, and worldly \nwealth at her will; and at the same time she saitli \nthere was victuals, viz., flesh, butter, cheese, bread, \nand drink, and bid them eat enough. And after their \neating, the devil called Fancy, and the other spirit \n\n\n\nCHAP. I.] EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAtT. 237 \n\ncalling himself Tib carried the remnant away. And \nslie saith, that although they did eat, they were never \nthe fuller nor better for the same ; and that at their \nsaid banquet the said spirits gave them light to see \nwhat they did, although they had neither fire nor \ncandle-light; and that there be both she-spirits and \n(he-)devils.' \n\nIn a later chapter I shall have occasion to refer \nto the confesaions of the various persons impli- \ncated in this ' Great Oyer ' of witchcraft. What \ncomes out very strongly in them is the hostility \nwhich existed between the Chattoses and the Dun- \ndikes, and their respective adherents. In Pendle \nForest there were evidently two distinct ])arties, one \nof which sought the favour and sustained the pre- \ntensions of Mother Dundike, the other being not less \nsteadfast in allegiance to Mother Chattox. As to \nthese two beldams, it is clear enough that they \nencouraged the popular credulity, resorted to many \ningenious expedients for the purpose of supporting \ntheir influence, and unscrupulously employed that \ninfluence in furtherance of their personal aims. They \nknowingly played at a sham game of commerce with \nthe devil, and enjoyed the fear and awe with which \ntheir neighbours looked up to them. It flattered \ntheir vanity ; and perhaps they played the game so \nlong as to deceive themselves. ' Human passions are \nalways to a certain degree infectious. Perceiving \nthe hatred of their neighbours, they began to think \nthat they were worthy objects of detestation and \nterror, that their imprecations had a real effect, and \n\n\n\n238 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\ntheir curses killed. The hrown horrors of the forest \nwere favourable to visions, and they sometimes almost \nbelieved that they met the foe of mankind in the \nnight.' To the delusions of the imagination, especi- \nally when suggested by pride and vanity, there are no \nmeans of putting a limit ; and it is quite possible that \nin time these women gave credence to their own absurd \ninventions, and saw a demon or familiar spirit 'm \nevery hare or black or brown dog that accidentally \ncrossed their path. \n\nFor awhile the witches created a reign of terror in \nthe forest. But the interlacing animosities which \ngradually sprang up between its inhabitants were the \nfertile source of so much disorder that, at length, a \ncount)' magistrate of more than ordinary energy, \nRoger Novvell, Esq., described as a verj' honest and \nreligious gentleman, conceived the idea that, by sup- \npressing them, he should do the State good ser'vice. \nAccordingly he ordered the arrest of Dundike and \nChattox, Alison Device, and Anne Redfern, and each, \nin the hope of saving her life, having made a full \nconfession, he committed them to Lancaster Castle, \non Ajuil 2, 3 612, to take their trials at the next \nassizes. \n\nNo attempt was made, however, to search Malkin \nTower. This lonely ruin was regarded with super- \nstitious dread by the peasantry, who durst never \napproach it, on account of the strange unearthly \nnoises and the weird creatures that haunted its wild \nrecesses. James Device, when examined afterwards \nby Nowell, deposed that about a month before hie \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n'239 \n\n\n\narrest, as he was going towards his mother's house in \nthe twilight, he met a brown dog coming from it, \nand, of course, a brown dog was the disguise of an \nevil spirit. About two or three nights after, he \nheard a great number of children shrieking and \ncrying pitifully in the same uncanny neighbourhood ; \nand at a later date his ears were shocked by a loud \nyelling, 'like unto a great number of cats.' We \nhave heard the same sounds ourselves, at night, in \nplaces which did not profess to be haunted ! It is \nvery possible that Dame Dundike, who was obviously \na crafty old woman, with much knowledge of human \nnature, had something to do with these noises and \nappearances, for it was to her interest to maintain \nthe eerie reputation of the Tower, and prevent the \nintrusion of inquisitive visitors. With all her little \nsecrets, it was natural enough she should say, ' Procul \neste, profani,' while she would necessarily seize every \nopportunity of extending and strengthening her \nauthority. \n\nIt was the general belief that the Malkin Tower \nwas the place where the witches annually kept their \nSabbath on Good Friday, and in 1612, after Dame \nDundike's arrest, they met there as usual, in excep- \ntionally large numbers, and, after the usual feasting, \nconferred together on ' the situation ' \u2014 to use a slang \nphrase of the present day, Elizabeth Device pre- \nsided, and asked their advice as to the best method \nof obtaining her mother's release. There must have \nbeen some daring spirits among those old women ; \nfor it was proposed \u2014 so runs the record \u2014 to kill \n\n\n\n240 WITCU, WARLOCK. AND MAGICIAN, [book n. \n\nLovel, the gaoler of Lancaster Castle, and another \nman of the name of Lister, accomplish an informal \n'gaol-delivery,' and blow up the prison ! Even with \nthe help of their familiars, they would have found this \na difBcult and dangerous enterprise, and we do not \nwonder that the proposal met with general disfa^'o^^. \nSeldom, if ever, do conspirators meet without a \ntraitor in their midst ; and on this occasion there \nwas a traitor in Malkin Tower in the person of \nJanet Device, the youngest daughter of Alison \nDevice, and grand-daughter of the unfortunate old \nwoman who was lying ill and weak in Lancaster \nGaol, A girl of only nine years of age, she was aa i \nexperienced liar and thoroughly unscrupulous ; and \nhaving\" been bribed by Justice Nowell, she informed \nagainst the persons present at this meeting, and \nsecured their arrest. The number of prisoners at \nLancaster was increased to twelve, among whom were \nElizabeth Device, her son James, and Alice Nutter, of \nRough Lea, a lady of good family and fair estate. \nThere is good reason to believe that the last-named \nwas in no way implicated in the doings of the so- \ncallod witches, but that she was introduced by Janet \nDevice to gratify the greed of some of her relatives \u2014 \nwho, in the event of her death, would inherit her \nproperty \u2014 and the ill-feeling of Justice Nowell, \nwhom she had worsted in a dispute about the \nboundary of their respective lands. The charges \nagainst her were trivial, and amounted to no more \nthan that she had been present at the Malkin Tower \nconvention, and had joined with Mother Dundike and \n\n\n\nCHAP, r.] EAULY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT. 241 \n\nElizabeth Device in bewitching to death an old man \nnamed Mitton. The only witnesses against her were \nJanet and Elizabeth Device, neither of whom was \nworthy of credence. \n\nBlind old Mother Dundike escaped the terrible \npenalty of an unrighteous law by dying in prison \nbefore the day of trial. But justice must have been \nwell satisfied with its tale of victims. Foremost \namong them was Mother Chattox, the head of the \nanti-Dundike faction \u2014 ' a very old, withered, spent, \nand decrepit creature,' whose sight was almost gone, \nand whose lips chattered with the meaningless babble \nof senility. When judgment was pronounced upon \nher, she uttered a wild, mcoherent prayer for Divine \nmercy, and besought the judge to have pity upon \nAnne Redferu, her daughter. The next person for \ntrial was Elizabeth Device, who is described as \nhaving been branded ' with a preposterous mark in \nnature, even from her birth, which was her left eye \nstanding lower than the other ; the one looking \ndown, the other looking up ; so strangely deformed \nthat the best that were present in tbat honourable \nassembly and great audience did affirm they had not \noften seen the like.' When this woman discovered \nthat the principal witness against her was her own \nchild, she broke out into such a storm of curses and \nreproaches tbat the proceedings came to a sudden \nstop, and she had to be removed from the court \nbefore her daughter could summon up courage to \nrepeat the fictions she had learned or concocted. \nThe woman was, of course, found guilty, as were \n\n16 \n\n\n\n\u25a0 \n\n\n\n242 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGXCrAN. [BOOK n. \n\nalso James and Alison Device, Alice Nutter, Anne \nRedfern, Katherine Hewit, John and Jane Balcock, \nall of Pendle, and Isabel Roby. of Win die, most of \nwhom strenuously asserted their innocence to the last. \nOn August 13, the day after their trial, the}' were \nburnt ' at the common place of execution, near to \nLancaster ' \u2014 the unhappy victims of the ignorance, \nsuperstition, and barbarity of the age. \n\nJanet Device, aa King's evidence, obtained a par- \ndon, though she acknowledged to have taken part in \nthe practices of her parents, and confessed to having \nlearned from her mother two prayers, one to cure the \nbewitched, and the other to get drink. The former, \nwhich is obviously a pasticcio of the old Romtm \nCatholic hymns and traditional rhymes, runs as \nfollows : \n\n'Upon Good Friday, I will fast while I may \n\nUntai I heare them knell \n\nOur Lord's owne bell. \n\nLord in His messe \n\nWith Hia twelve Apostles good, \n\nWhat hath He in His hand 1 \n\nLigh in leath wand : \n\nWhat hath He in His other hand ? \n\nHeaven's door key. \n\nOpen, open, Heaven's door keys ! \n\nStark, stark, hell door. \n\nLet Criznen child \n\nGoe to its mother mild ; \n\nWhat is yonder that crests a light so farmdly 1 \n\nThine owne deare Sonne that's nailed to the Tree. \n\nHe is naild sore by the heart and hand. \n\nAnd holy harne panne. \n\nWell is that man \n\nThat Fry day spell can, \n\nHia child to leame ; \n\n\n\nCHAP. L] EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAJT. 243 \n\nA crosse of blew and another of red. \n\nAs good Lord was to the Roode. \n\nGabriel laid him downe to sleepe \n\nUpon the ground of holy weepe ; \n\nGood Lord came walking by. \n\nSleep'st thou, wak'st thou, Gabriel f \n\nNoy Lord, I am sted with sticks and stake \n\nThat I can neither sleepe nor wake : \n\nRise up, Gabriel, and goe with me. \n\nThe stick nor the stake shall never dure thee. \n\nSweet Jesus, our Lord. Amen ! \n\nThe other prayer consisted only of the Latin \nphrase : * Crucifixus hoc signuni vitam seternam. \nAmen/* \n\n\u2666 Thomas Pott's 'Wonderful Discoverie of Witches in the \nGountie of Lancashire' (1615), reprinted by the Chetham \nSociety, 1845. \n\n\n\n16\u20142 \n\n\n\n\u25a0WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\n[book i \n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. \n\nWITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND IN THE 17TH CENTUBT. \n\nThe acceGBion of James I., a professed demonologist, \nand an expert in all matters relating to witchcraft, \ngave a great impulse to the persecution of witches in \nEngland. ' Poor old women and girla of tender age \nwere walked, swum, shaved, and tortured; the \ngallows creaked and the fires blazed.' In accordance \nwith the well-known economic law, that the demand \ncreates the supply, it was found that, in proportion \nas trials and tortures increased, so did the number \nof witches, until half the old hags in England sup- \nposed themselves, or were supposed by others, to \nhave marie compacts with the devil. Legislation \nthen augmented its severity, and Parliament, in com- \npliance with the wishes of the new King, passed an \nAct by which sorcery and witchcraft were made \nfelony, without bene6t of clergy. For some years \nthe country was witoh-ridden, and it is appalling to \nthink of the hundreds of hapless, ignorant, and \ninnocent creatures who were cruelly done to death \nunder the influence of this extraordinary mania. \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] WITCHCRAFT IN THE 17TH CENTtTRY. 245 \n\nA remarkable cnse tried at King's Lynn in 1606 \nis reported in Howell's ' State Trials.' I avail myself \nof the summary furnished by Mr. Inderwick. \n\nMarie, wife of Henry Smith, grocer, confessed, \nunder examination, that, being indignant with some \nof her neighbours because they prospered in their \ntrade more than she did, she oftentimes cursed them; \nand that once, while she was thus engaged, the devil \nappeared in the form of a black man, and willed that \nshe should continue in her malice, envy, and hatred, \nbanning and cursing, and then he would see that she \nwas revenged upon all to whom she wished evil. \nThere was, of course, a compact insisted upon : that \nshe should renoimce God, and embrace the devil and \nall his works. After this he appeared frequently \u2014 \nonce as a mist, once as a ball of fire, and twice he \nvisited her in prison with a pair of horns, advising \nher to make no confession, but to rely upon him. \n\nThe evidence of the acts of witchcraft was as \nfollows ; \n\nJohn Oakton, a sailor, having struck her boy, she \ncursed him roundly, and hoped his fingers would rot \noff, which took place, it was said, two years after- \nwards. \n\nShe quarrelled with Elizabeth Hancock about a \nhen, alleging that Elizabeth had stolen it. \"When the \nsaid EUzabeth denied the: theft, she bade her go in- \ndoors, for she would repent it; and that same night \nElizabeth had pains all over her body, and her bed \njumped up and down for the space of an hour or \nmore. Elizabeth then consulted her father, and was \n\n\n\n246 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK Ii:J \n\n\n\ntaken by h\\m to a wizard named Drake, who taught! \nher how to concoct a witch-cake with all the nastiestj \ningredients imaginable, and to apply it, with certain I \nwords and conjm-ations, to the afflicted parts. For | \nthe time Elizabeth was cured ; but some time after- \nwards, when she had been married to one Jama \nScott, a great cat began to go about her house, and] \nhaving done some harm, Scott thrust it twiceJ \nthrough with his sword. As it still ran to and fro, 1 \nhe smote it with all his might upon its head, but] \ncould not kill it, for it leaped upwards almost a yard,!l \nand then crept down. Even when put into a ha^fl \nand dragged to the muck-hill, it moved and 8tirred|l \nand the next morning was nowhere to be found. 1 \nAnd this same cat, it was afterwards sworn, sat or \nthe chest of Cicely Balye, and nearly sutfbcaled heri3 \nbecause she had quarrelled with the witch about her\"! \nmanner of sweeping before her door ; and the said \nwitch called the said Cicely ' a fat-tailed sow,' and \nsaid her fatness would shortly be abated, as, indeed, \nit was. \n\nEdmund Newton swore that he had been afflicted \nwith various sicknesses, and had been banged in the \nface with dirty cloths, because he had undersold \nMarie Smith in Dutch cheeses. She also sent to him \na person clothed in russet, with a little bush beard \nand a cloven foot, together with her imps, a toad, and \na crab. One of his servants took the toad and put \nit into the fire, when it made a groaning noise for a \nquarter of an hour before it was consumed, ' during \nwhich time Marie Smith, who sent it, did endure (as \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] WITCHUUAFT IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 247 \n\nwas reported) torturing pains, testifj-ing the grief \nshe felt by the outcries she then made.' \n\nUpon this evidence \u2014 such as it was \u2014 and upon her \nown confession, Marie Smith was convicted and sen- \ntenced to death. On the scaffold she humbly acknow- \nledged her sins, prayed earnestly that God might \nforgave her the wrongs she had done her neighbours, \nand asked that a hymn of her own choosing \u2014 ' Lord, \nturn not away Thy face ' \u2014 might be sung. Then \nshe died calmly. It is, no doubt, a curious fact \u2014 if, \nindeed, it be a fiict, but the evidence is by no means \nsatisfactory \u2014 that she confessed to various acts of \nwitchcraft, and to having made a compact with the \ndevil; but even this alleged confession cannot receive \nour credence when we reflect on the inherent absurdity \nand impossibility of the whole affair. \n\nIn 1619, Joan Flower and her two daughters, \nMargaretta and Philippa, formerly servants at iJelvoir \nCastle, were tried before Judges Hobart and Bromley, \non a charge of having bewitched to death two sons \nof the sixth Earl of Rutland, and found guilty. The \nmother died in prison ; the two daughters were \nexecuted at Lincoln. \n\n\n\nTHE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. \n\nMy chronological survey next brings me to the \nfamous case of the Lancashire witches. \n\nI have already told the story of the Dundikes and \nthe Chattoxes, and their exploits in Pendle Forest. \nIn the same locality, two- and- twenty years later, \n\n\n\n\n248 \n\n\n\nlived ; \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [book IL \n\n\n\n: of the 1 \n\n\n\n! of Robir \n\n\n\nwhom it \n\n\n\ni name i \n\noccurred that the prevalent belief in witchcraft \nmight be turned to account against his neighboura. \nIn tills design he made his son \u2014 a lad about eleven \nyears old \u2014 his instrument. After he had been \nproperly trained, he was instructed by his father, on \nFebruary 10, 1633, to go before two justices of the \npeace, and make the following declaration : \n\nThat, on All Saints' Day, while gathering wild \nplums in Wheatley Lane, he saw a black greyhound \nand a brown scamper across the fields. They came \nup to him familiarly, and he then discovered that \neach wore a collar shining like gold. As no one \naccompanied them, he concluded that they had \nbroken loose from their kennels ; and as at that \nmoment a hare started up only a few paces from him, \nhe thought he would set them to hunt it, but his \nefforts were all in vain ; and in his wrath he took the \nstrings that hung from their collars, tied both to a \nlittle hush, and then whipped them, AVhereupon, in \nthe place of the black greyhound, started up the wife \nof a man named Dickinson, and in that of the brown \na little boy. In his amazement, young Robinson {so \nhe said) would have run away, but he was stayed by \nMistress Dickinson, who pulled out of her pocket ' a \npiece of silver much like untoafine shilling,\" and offered \nit to him, if he promised to he silent. But he refused, \nexclaiming; 'Nay, thou art a witch!' Whereupon, \nshe again put her hand in her pocket, and drew forth \na string like a jingling bridle, which she put over the \nhead of the small boy, and, behold, he was turned \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. 1L] \n\n\n\nTHE LASCASHIRE WITCHES. \n\n\n\n249 \n\n\n\ninto a white horse, with a change as quick as that of \na Bcene in a pantomime. Upon tins white horse the \nwoman placed, by force, young Robinson, and rode \nwith him as far as the Hoar-Stonee \u2014 a house at \nwhich the witches congregated together \u2014 where \ndivers persons stood about the door, while others \nwere riding towards it on horses of different colours. \nThese dismounted, and, having tied up their horses, \nall went into the house, accompanied by their friends, \nto the number of threescore. At a blazing fire some \nmeat was roastint^, and a young woman gave Robin- \nson flesh and bread upon a trencher, and drink in a \nglass, which, after the first taste, he refused, and \nwould have no more, saying it was nought. Pre- \nsently, observing that certain of the company re- \npaired to an adjoining barn, he followed, and saw sis \nof them on their knees, pulling at six several ropes \nwhich were fastened to the top of the house, with the \nresult that joints of meat smoking hot, lumps of \nbutter, and milk ' syleing,' or straining from the said \nropes, fell into basins placed underneath them. When \nthese six were weary, came other six, and pulled \nright lustily ; and all the time they were pulling they \nmade such foul faces that they frightened the peep- \ning lad, so that he was glad to steal out and run \nhome. \n\nNo sooner was his escape discovered than a party \nof the witches, including Dickinson's wife, the wife of \na man named Loynds, and Janet Device, took up the \npursuit, and over field and scaur hurried headlong, \nnearly overtaking him at a spot called Boggard Hole, \n\n\n\n250 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\nwhen the opportune appearance of a couple of horse- \nmen induced them to abandon their quarry. But \nyoung Robinson was not yet ' out of the wood.' In \nthe evening he was despatched by his father to bring \nhome the cattle, and on the way, in a 6eld called the \nOUere, he fell in with a boy who picked a quarrel \nwith him, and they fought togetlier until the blood \nflowed from his ears, when, happening to look down, \nhe saw that his antagonist had cloven feet, and, much \naffrighted, set off at full speed to execute his commis- \nsion. Perceiving a light like that of a lantern, he \nhastened towards it, in the belief it was carried by a \nneighbour ; but on arriving at the place of its shining \nhe found there a woman whom he recognised as the \nwife of Loynds, and immediately turned back. Falling \nin again with the cloven-footed boy, he thought it \nprudent to take to his heels, but not before he had \nreceived a blow on the back which pained him sorely. \n\nIn support of this extraordinary story, the elder \nKobinson deposed that he had certainly sent his son \nto bring in the kine ; that, thinking he was away too \nlong, he had gone in search of him, and discovered \nhim in such a distracted condition that he knew \nneither his father nor where he was, and so continued \nfor very nearly a quarter of an hour before he came \nto himself. \n\nThe persons implicated by the boy Robinson were \nimmediately arrested, and confined in Lancaster \nCastle. Some of them \u2014 for he told various stories, \nand in each introduced new characters \u2014 he did not \nknow by name, but he protested that on seeing them \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. 11.] THE LANCASHIRt: WITCHES. 251 \n\nhe should recognise them, and for this purpose he \nwas carried about to the churches in the surrounding \ndistrict to examine the congregations. The method \nadopted is thus described by Webster: 'It carae to \npass that this said boy was brought into the church \nof Kildwick, a large parish church, where I (Ijeing \nthen curate there) was preaching in the afternoon, \nand was set upon a stall (he being but about ten or \neleven years old) to look about hira, which moved \nsome little disturbance in the congregation for awhile. \nAnd, after prayers, I inquiring what the matter was. \nthe people told me it was the boy that discovered \nwitches, upon which I went to the house where be \nwas to stay all night, where I found him and two \nvery unlikely persons that did conduct bim and \nmanage his business. I desired to have some dis- \ncourse with the boy in private, but they utterly \nrefused. Then, in the presence of a great many \npeople, I took the boy near me and said: \"Good boy, \ntell me truly, and in earnest, didst thou see and hear \nsuch strange things of the meeting of witches as is \nreported by many that thou dost relate, or did not \nsome 2)erson teach thee to say such things of thy- \nself ?\" But the two men, not giving the boy leave to \nanswer, did pluck hira from me, and said he had been \nexamined by two able justices of the peace, and they \ndid never ask him such a question ; to whom I replied, \nthe persons accused therefore had the more wrong.' \n\nIn all, some eighteen women, married and single \u2014 \nthe charge was generally made against women, as \nprobably less capable of self-defence, and more im- \n\n\n\n^ at I \n\n\n\n252 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\npressionable than men \u2014 were brought to trial at Lan- \ncaster Assizes. There was really no evidence against \nthem but the boy Robinson's, and to sustain it his \nunfortunate victims were examined for the stigmata, \nor devil-marks, which, of course, were found in ample \nquantity. Against seventeen a verdict of guilty was \nreturned, one or two being convicted on their own \nconfessions \u2014 the most perplexing incident in the \nwhole case, for as these confessions were unquestion- \nably false, they who made them were really lying \naicay their own lives. By what impulse of morbid \nvanity, or diseased craving for notoriety, or strange \nmental delusion, were they inspired ? And whence \ncame the wild and even foul ideas which formed the \nstaple of their delirious narratives ? How did these \nquiet, stolid, unlettered Lancashire peasant-women \nbecome possessed of inventions worthy of the grimmest \nof German tales of diablene f It is easier to ask these \nquestions than to answer them ; but when the witch \nmania was once kindled in a neighbourhood it seems, \nlike a pestilential atmosphere, to have stricken with \ndisease every mind that was predisposed to the recep- \ntion of unwholesome impressions. \n\nThe confession of Margaret Johnson, made on \nMarch 9, 1613, has been printed before, but it has so \nstrong a psychological interest that I cannot omit it \nhere. It may be taken as a type of the confessions \nmade by the victims of credulity under similar cir- \ncumstances : \n\nBetweene seven or eight yearea since, shee being in her house \nat Marsden in gre&te passion and anger, and discontented, and \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] TUE LANCASlllKE WITCHES. \n\n\n\n253 \n\n\n\nwithall oppressed with some want, there appeared luito her a. \nspirit or deviil in the similitude and propni'tion of a man, \napparelled in a suite of black, tied about vith silke poiotes, wboe \noffered her, yS shee would give him her aoule, hee would supply \nall her wantes, aud bring to her whatsoever shee wanted or \nneeded, and at her appointment would helpe her to kill and \nrevenge her either of men or beastee, or what she desired ; and, \nafter a sollicitation or two, shee contracted and condicioned with \nthe said deviil or spiritt for her aoule. And the said devitl bad \nher call him by the name of M^million, and when shee called \nhee would bee ready to doe her will. And she euith that in all \nher taike and conference shee called the said ^lemillion faer god. \n\n'And shee futther soith that shee was not at t,he greate \nmeetings of the witches at Hare-stones in the forest of Pendle \non AH Saintes Day last past, but saith shee was at a second \nmeetinge the Sunday after All Saintes Da> at the place aforesaid, \nwhere there was at that time betweene thirty and forty witches, \nwhich did all ride to the same meetinge. And thead of the said \nmeetinge was to consult ibr the killing and hunting of men and \nheastes ; and that there was one deviil or spiritt that was more \ngreate and grand deviil than the rest, aud yff ani\u00ab witch desired \nto have such an one, they might have such an one to kill or hurt \nanie body. And she further saith, that such vaiches as have sharpe \nbuanes are genemUi/ for Ike tievUl to prick them wUh irhich have no \npapps nor duggs, but raiselh blood from the place pricked with Ihf, \nboane, which tcilclies aremure greate and grand witches thanthey which \nhave papps or dugs (.'). And shee being further asked what \npersons were at their last meetinge, she named one Carpnell and \nhis wife, Rason and his wife, Pickhamer and his wife, Duffy and \nhis wife, and one Jane Carbonell, whereof Pickhamer's wife is thn \nmost greate, grand, and anorcyent witch ; and that one witch alone \ncan kill a beast, and yf they bid their spiritt or deviil to goe and \npricke or hurt anie man in anie particular place, hee presently will \ndoe it. Aud that their spiritts have usually knowledge of their \nbodies. And shee further saith the men witches have women \nspiritts, and women witches have men spiritts ; that Good \nFriday is one of their constant daies of their generoll meetinge, \nand that on Good Friday last they had a meetinge neere Pendle \nwater-side ; and saith that their spirit doeth teil them where \ntheir meetinge must bee, and in what place ; and saith that if a \nwitch desire to be in anie place upon a soddaine, that, on a dogg. \n\n\n\n\u25a0254 WITCH, WARLOCK, AXD MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\nor a tod, or a. catt, their spiritt will presently convey them \nthither, or into (itiie room in anie man's house. \n\n' But shee eaith it is not the suhstaoce of their bodies thut \ndoeth goG into anie sufh roomes, hut their spiritts that assume \nsuch shape and forme. And shee further saith that the devill, \nafter hee begins to sucke, will make a papp or a dug in a short \ntime, and the matter hee sucketh is blood. And further saith \nthat the devill can raise foiUe wether and stormes, and soe hee did \nat their meetinges. And ahee further saiih that when the devill \ncame to suck her pappe, he came to her in the likeness of a catt, \nsometimes of one coUour, and sometimes of another. And since \nthis trotible befell her, her spirit hath left her, and shee ncTor saw \nhim since.' \n\nHappily, the judge who presided at the trial of \nthese deluded and persecuted unfortunates was dis- \nsatisfied with the evidence, and reprieved them until \nhe had time to communicate with the Privy Council, \nby whose orders Bridgman, Bishop of Chester, pro- \nceeded to examine into the imncipal cases. Three of \nthe supposed criminals, however, had died of anxiety \nand suffering before the work of investigation began, \nand a fourth was sick beyond recovery. The cases \ninto which the Bishop inquired were those of Margaret \nJohnson, Frances Dicconson, or Dickinson, Mary \nSpencer, and Mrs. Hargrave. Margaret Johnson the \ngood Biebop describes as a widow of sixty, who was \ndeeply penitent. ' I will not add,' she said, ' sin to sin. \nI have already done enough, yea, too much, and will \nnot increase it. I pray God I may repent.' This \nvictim of hallucination had confessed herself to be a \nwitch, as we have seen, and was characterized by the \nBishop as 'more often faulting in the particulars of \nher actions.' Frances Dicconson, however, and Mary \nSpencer, absolutely denied the truth of the accusa- \n\n\n\nCHAP. 11.] THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 255 \n\ntiotiB brought against them. Frances, according to \nthe boy Robinson, had changed herself into a dog ; \nbut it transpired that she bad had a quarrel with the \nelder Robinson. Mary Spencer, a young woman of \ntwenty, said that Robinson cherished much ill-feeling \nagainst her parents, who had been convicted of mtch- \ncraft at the last assizes, and had since died. She \nrepeated the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed, \nand declared that she defied the devil and all his \nworks. A story had been set afloat that she used to \ncall her pail to follow her as she ran. The truth was \nthat she often trundled it down-hill, and called to it \nin jest to come after her if she outstripped it. She \ncould have explained every circumstance in court, \n' but the wind was so loud and the throng so great, \nthat she could not hear the evidence against her.' \n\nThis last touch, as Mr. S. R. Gardiner remarks, \ncompletes the tragedy of the situation. ' History,' as \nhe says, ' occupies itself perforce mainly with the \nsorrows of the educated classes, whose own peers \nhave left the records of their wrongs. Into the \nsufferings of the mass of the people, except when \nthey have been lashed by long-continued injustice \ninto frenzy, it is hard to gain a glimpse. For once \nthe veil is lifted, and we see, as by a lightning flash, \nthe forlorn and unfriended girl, to whom the inhuman \nlaws of her country denied the services of an advocate, \nbaffled by the noisy babble around her in her eflTorts \nto speak a word on behalf of her innocence. The \nvery Bishop who examined her was under the influ- \nence of the legal superstition that every accused \n\n\n\n\u2022256 WITUH, WAKLOCK, AND MALJiCIAN. [BOOK 0.1 \n\n1 the enemy of the King. He had heard\u00bbJ \n\n\n\nperson \n\nhe said, that the father of the boy Robinson had \noffered, for forty shillings, to withdraw his charge \nagainst Frances Dicconson, \" but such evidence being, \nas the lawyers speak, against the King,\" he \" thought \nit not meet without further authority to examine.\" \n\nThe Bishop, however, like the judge, was dia- \nflatisfied with the evidence; and the accused persons \nwere eventually sent up to London, where they were \nexamined by the King's physicians, the Bishops, the \nPrivy Council, and by King Charles himself. Some \nmedical men and midwives reported that Margaret \nJobnBon was deceived in her idea that she bore on \nher body a sign or mark that her blood had been \nsucked. Doubts as to the truth of the boy Robinson's \nstory being freely entert.iined, he was separated from \nhis father, and he then revealed the whole invention \nto the King's coachman. He had heard stories told \nof witches and their doings, and out of these had \nconcocted his ghastly fiction to save himself a whip- \nping for having neglected to bring home his mother's \ncows. His father, perceiving at once how much might \nbe made out of the tale, took it up and expanded it ; \nmanipulated it so as to serve his feelings of revenge or \navarice, and then taught the boy how to repeat the en- \nhirged and improved version. It was all a lie \u2014 from \nbeginning to end. The day on which he pretended to \nhave been carried to the Witches' Sabbath at the Hoar- \nStones, he was a mile distant, gathering plums in a \nfarmer's orchard. The accused were then admitted \nto the King's presence, and assured that their lives \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, n.] THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. \n\n\n\n257 \n\n\n\nwere safe. Further than this Charles seems to have \nbeen unable to go ; for as late as 1636 these innocent \nand ill-treated persons were stIU lying in Lancaster \nCastle. It is satisfactory to state, however, that both \nthe boy Robinson and his father were thrown into \nprison. \n\nFresh cases of witchcraft sprang up in the Pendle \ndistrict, and early in 1636 four more women were \ncondemned to death at the Lancaster Assizes. Bishop \nBridgman, who was again directed to make inquiries, \nfound that two of them had died in gaol, and that of \nthe two others, one had been convicted on a mad- \nman's evidence, and that of a woman of ill fame ; \nwhile the only proof alleged against the other was \nthat a fleshy excrescence of the size of a hazel-nut \ngrew on her right ear, and the end of it, being bloody, \nwas supposed to have been sucked by a familiar \nspirit. The two women seem to have been pardoned ; \nbut, as in the former case, public opinion set too \nstrongly against them to admit of their being released. \n\n\n\nTHE WITCHES OF SALMESBURY. \n\nThe singular circumstances connected with the \nsupposed outbreak of witchcraft in Pendle Forest \nhave, to a great extent, obscured the strange case of \nthe witches of Salmesbury, though it presents several \nfeatures worthy of consideration. \n\nThree persons were accused \u2014 Jennet Bierley, Ellen \nBierley, and Jane Southworth \u2014 and their supposed \nvictim was one Grace Sowerbutts. In the language \n\n17 \n\n\n\n258 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAKLOCK., AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK a \n\n\n\nk \n\n\n\nof Mr, Thomas Potts, they were led into error by \n' a subtle practice and conspiracy of a seminary priest, \nor Jesuit, whereof this county of Lancaster liath good \nstore, who by reason of the general entertainment \nthey find, and great maintenance they have, resort \nhither, being far from the eye of Justice, and, there- \nfore, procul a fulmine.^ At their trial, which took \nplace before Mr. Justice Bromley at Lancaster, on \nWednesday, August 19, the evidence of Grace Sower- \nbutts was to the following effect : \n\nThat for the space of some years past (at the time \nof the trial she was only fourteen) she had been \nhaunted and vexed by four women, namely, Jennet \nBierley, her grandmother, Ellen Bierley, wife to \nHenry Bierley, Jane Southworth, and a certain Old \nDorwife. Lately, these four women drew her by the \nhair of her head, and laid her on the top of a hay- \nmow in the said Henry Bierley's barn. Not long \nafter, Jennet Bierley met her near her house, first \nappealing in her own likeness, and after that as a \nblack dog, and when she, Grace Sowerbutts, went \nover a stile, she picked her off. However, she was \nnot hurt, and, springing to her feet, she continued \nher way to her aunt's at Osbaldeston, That evening \nshe told her father what had occurred. On Saturday, \nApril 4, going towards Salmesbury Butt to meet her \nmother, she fell in, at a place called the Two Briggs, \nwith Jennet Biertey, first in her own shape, and after- \nwards in the likeness of a two-legged black dog ; and \nthis dog kept close by her side until they came to a \npool of water, when it spake, and endeavoured to \n\n\n\n\nCIUP. ir.] THE WITCHES OF SALMESEURY. \n\n\n\n259 \n\n\n\npersuade her to drown herself therein, saying it \nwas a fair and an easy death. Whereupon, she \nthought there came to her one in a white sheet, and \ncarried her away from the pool, nnd in a short space \nof time both the white thini; and the black dog de- \nparted ; but after Grace had crossed two or three \nfields, the black dog re-appeared, and conveyed her \ninto Hugh Walshman's bam close at hand, laid her \nupon the floor, covered her with straw on her body \nand hay on her head, and lay down on the top of the \nstraw \u2014 for how long a time Grace was unable to \ndetermine; because, she said, her speech and senses \nwere taken from her. When she recovered her con- \nsciousness, she was lying on a bed in Walshman's \nhouse, haWng been removed thither by some frieuda \nwho had found her in the barn within a few hours of \nher having been taken there. As it was Monday \nnight when she came to her senses, she had been in \nher trance or swoon, according to her marvellous \nstory, for about forty-eight Iiours. \n\nOn the following day, Tuesday, her parents fetched \nher home ; but at the Two Brlggs Jennet and Ellen \nBierley appeared in tlieir own shapes, and she fell \ndown in another trance, remaining unable to speak or \nwalk until the following Friday. \n\nAll this was remarkable enough, but Grace Sower- \nbutts \u2014 or the person who had tutored her \u2014 felt it was \nnot sufficiently grim or gruesome to make much \nimpression on a Lancasliire jury, accustomed in witch \ntrials to much more harrowing details. She pro- \nceeded, therefore, to recall an incident of a more \n17\u20142 \n\n\n\n\n260 \n\n\n\n\"WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [noOKfl \n\n\n\nL good while, f \n\n\n\ns the \n\n\n\nattractive character, \ntrance busineaa occurred, she accompanied her aunt, \nEllen Bierley, and her grandmother, Jennet Bierley, to \nthe house of one Thomas Walshman. It was night, \nand all the household were asleep, but the doors flew \nopen, and the unexpected visitors entered. Grace \nand Ellen Bierley remained below, while Jennet \nmade her way to the sleeping-room of Thomas \nWalshman and his wife, and thence brought a little \nchild, which, as Grace supposed, must have been in \nbed with its father and mother. Having thrust a \nnail into its navel, she afterwards inserted a quill, \nand sucked for a good while ( !) ; then replaced the \nchild with its parents, who, of course, had never \nroused from their sleep. The child did not cry when \nit was thus abused, but thenceforth languished, and \nsoon afterwards died. And on the night after its \nburial, the said Jennet and KUen Bierley, taking \nGrace Sowerbutts with them, went to Salniesbury \nchurchyard, took up the body, and carried it to \nJennet's house, where a portion of it was boiled in a \npot, and a portion broiled on the coals. Of both \nportions Jennet and Ellen partook, and would have \nhad Grace join them in the ghoul-like repast, but she \nrefused. Afterwards Jennet and Ellen seethed the \nbones in a pot, and with the fat that came from them \nsaid they would anoint their bodies, so that they \nmight sometimes change themselves into other \nshapes. \n\nThe next story told by this abandoned girl is too \nfoul and coarse for these pages, and we pass on to the \n\n\n\n\nCHAI'. II.] THE WITCHES OF SALMBSBURY. \n\n\n\n261 \n\n\n\nconclusion of her evidence. On a certain occaBion, \nshe said, Jane Southworth, a widow, met her at the \ndoor of her father's house, carried her to the loft, and \nlaid her upon the floor, where she was found by \nher father unconscious, and unconscious she remained \ntill the nest day. The widow Southworth then \nvisited her a^^ain, took her out of bed, and placed her \nupon the top of a hayrick, three or four yards from \nthe ground. She waa discovered in this position by \na nei^'hbour's wife, and laid in her bed again, but \nremained speechless and senseless as before for two or \nthree days. A week or so after her recovery, Jane \nSouthworth paid lier a third visit, took her away \nfrom her home, and laid her in a ditch near the house, \nwith her face downwards. The usual process \nfollowed: she was discovered and put to bed, but \ncontinued unconscious \u2014 this time, however, only for \na day and a night. And, further, on the Tuesday \nbefore the trial, the said Jane Southworth came again \nto her father's house, took her and carried her into \nthe barn, and thrust her head amongst ' a company of \nboards' which were standing there, where she was \nsoon afterwards found, and, being again placed in a \nbed, remained in her old fit until the Thursday night \nfollowing. \n\nAfter Grace Sowerbutts had finished her evidence, \nThomas AValshman was called, who proved that his \nchild died when about a year old, but of what disease \nhe knew not ; and that Grace Sowerbutts had been \nfound in his father's barn, and afterwards carried into \nhis house, where she lay till the Monday night 'as if \n\n\n\n262 \n\n\n\nWITCH, \u25a0WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\n\n\nsbe had been dead.' Then one John Singleton's \ndeposition was taken : That he had often heard his \nold master, Sir John Southworth, say, touching the \nwidow Southworth, that she was, as he thouj^ht, an \nevil woman and a witch, and that he was sorry for \nher husband, who was his kinsman, for he believed \nshe would kill him. And that the said Sir John, in \ncoming or going between Preston and his own house \nat Salmesbury, mostly avoided passing the old wife's \nresidence, though it was the nearest way, entirely \nout of fear of the said wife. (Brave Sir John !) \n\nThis evidence, it is clear, failed to prove against \nthe prisoners a single direct act of witchcratl ; but so \ncredulous were judge and jury in matters of this \nkind, that, notwithstanding the vague and suspicious \ncharacter of the testimony brought forward, it would \nhave gone hard with the accused, but for an acci- \ndental question which disclosed the fact that the girl, \nGrace Sowerbutts, had been jirompted in her inco- \nherent narrative, and taught to sham her fits of \nunconsciousness, by a Roman priest or Jesuit, named \nThompson or Southworth, who was actuated by \nmotives of fanaticism. \n\n* How well this project,' exclaims the indignant \nPotts, ' to take away the lives of these innocent poor \ncreatures by practice and villainy, to induce a young \nscholar to commit perjury, to accuse her own grand- \nmother, aunt, etc., agrees either with the title of a \nJesuit or the duty of a religious Priest, who should \nrather profess sincerity and innocency than practise \ntreachery'. But this was liiwful, for they are heretics \n\n\n\nCHAP, il] the witches of SALMESBURY. 263 \n\naccursed, to leave the company of priests, to frequent \nchurches, hear the word of God preached, and profess \nreligion sincerely.' The horrors which he taught \nhis promising pupil, Thompson probably gathered \nfrom the pages of Bodin and Delrio, or some of the \nother deraonologista. Potts continues: \n\n' Who did not condemn these women upon this \nevidence, and hold them guilty of this so foul and \nhorrible murder ? But Alaiighty God, who in His \nprovidence had provided means for their deliverance, \nalthough the priest, by the help of the Devil, had \nprovided false witnesses to accuse them ; yet God \nhad prepared and placed in the seat of justice an \nupright judge to sit in judgment upon their lives, \nwho after he had heard all the evidence at large \nagainst the prisoners for the King's Majesty, demanded \nof them what answer they could make. They humbly \nupon their knees, with weeping tears, desired him \nfor God's cause to examine Grace Sowerbutts, who \nset her on, or by whose means this accusation came \nagainst them.' \n\nThe countenance of Grace Sowerbutts immediately \nunderwent a great change, and the witnesses began \nto quarrel and accuse one another. The judge put \nsome questions to the girl, who, for the life of her, \ncould make no direct or intelligible answer, saying, \nwith obvious hesitation, that she was put to a master \nto learn, but he had told her nothing of this. \n\n' But here,' continues Potts, ' as his lordship's care \nand pains was great to discover the practices of those \nodious witches of the Forest of Pendle, and other \n\n\n\n\n264 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\nplaces, now upon their tribunal before him; so was \nhe desirous to discover this damuable practice to \naccuse these poor women and bring their lives in \ndanger, and thereby to deliver the innocent. \n\n'And as he openly delivered it upon the bench, in \nthe hearing of a great audience : That if a Priest or \nJesuit had a hand in one end of it, there would \nappear to be knavery and practice in the other end \nof it. And that it might better appear to the whole \nworld, examined Thomas Sowerbutts what [the] \nMaster taught his daughter: in general terms, he \ndenied all. \n\n' The wench had nothing to say, but her Master \ntold her nothing of this. In the end, some that were \npresent told hia lordship the truth, and the prisoners \ninformed him how she went to learn with one \nThompson, a Seminary Priest, who had instructed \nand taught her this accusation against them, because \nthey were once obstinate Papists, and now came to \nChurch. Here is the discovery of this Priest, and of \nhis whole practice. Still this fire increased more and \nmore, and one witness accusing another, all things \nwere laid open at large. \n\n' In the end his lordship took away the girl from \nher father, and committed her to Mr. Leigh, a very \nreligious preacher, and Mr. Chlsnal, two Justices of \nthe Peace, to be carefully examined.' \n\nThe examination was as follows: \n\n' Being demanded whether the accusation she laid \nupon her grandmother, Jennet Bierley, Ellen Bierley, \nand Jane Southworth. of witchcraft, namely, of the \n\n\n\nCHAP. 11.] THE WITCUES OV SALMtSBUBV. 265 \n\nkilling of the child of Thomas Walshman with a nail \nin the navel, the boiling, eating, and oiling, thereby \nto transform themselves into divers shapes, was true ; \nshe doth utterly deny the same : or that ever she saw \nany such practices done by them. \n\n' She further saith, that one Master Thompson, \nwhich she taketh to be Master Christopher South- \nworth, to whom she was sent to learn her prayers, \ndid persuade, counsel, and advise her, to deal as \nformerly hath been said against her said Grandmother, \nAunt, and Southworth's wife. \n\n' And further she confesseth and saith, that she \nnever did know, or saw any Devils, nor any other \nVisions, as formerly by her hath been alleged and \ninformed. \n\n' Also she confesseth and Balth, that she was not \nthrown or cast upon the hen-ruff and hay-mow in \nthe barn, but that she went up upon the Mow herself \nby the wall-side. \n\n' Being further demanded whether she ever was at \nthe Church, she saith, she was not, but promised here- \nafter to go to the Church, and that very willingly.' \n\nThe three accused were also examined, and declared \ntheir belief that Grace Sowerbutts had been trained \nby the priest to accuse them of witchcraft, because \nthey ' would not be dissuaded from the Church.' \n\n' These examinations being taken, they were brought \ninto the Court, and there openly in the presence of \nthis great audience published and declared to the \njury of life and death ; and thereupon the gentlemen \nof their jury required to consider of them. For \n\n\n\n266 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\nalthough they stood upon their Trial, for matter of \nfact of witchcraft, murther, and much more of the \nlike nature: yet in respect all their accusations did \nappear to be practice, they were now to consider of \nthem and to acquit them. Thus were these poor \ninnocent creatures, by tlie great care and pains of thia \nhonourable Judge, delivered from the danger of this \nconspiracy; this bloody practice of the Priest laid \nopen : of whose fact I may lawfully say, Etiam si ego \ntaciiero clamabunt lapidcs. \n\n' These are but ordinary with Priests and Jesuits: \nno respect of blood, kindred, or friendship can move \nthem to forbear their conspiracies; for when he had \nlaboured treacherously to seduce and convert them, \nand yet could do no good, then devised he this \nmoans. \n\n' God of His great mercy deliver us all from them \nand their damnable conspiracies : and when any of his \nMajesty's subjects, so free and innocent as these, shall \ncome in question, grant them as honourable a trial, \nas reverend and worthy a judge to sit in judgment \nupon them, and in the end as speedy a deliverance. \n\n' And for that which I have heard of them, seen with \nmy eyes, and taken pains to read of them, my humble \nprayer shall be to God Almighty, Vt convertantur \nne pe7-eant. Aut confundantur ne noceant.'* \n\n\n\nh \n\n\n\nI pass on to a remarkable trial for witchcraft which \ntook place at Taimton Assizes in August, 1626, one \n\nPotts, ' Wonderful Discorerie of Witches in the Countie of \nLancaBter'{1613). \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] THE WITCHES OF TADNTON. 2G7 \n\nEdward Ball aoJ Joan Greedie being charged with \nhaving practised upon a certain Edward Dinham. \n\nIt seems that the complainant, when under the \nwitch-spell, possessed no fewer than three voices \u2014 \nnamely, his own natural voice, and two artificial \nvoices, of which one was shrill and pleasant, the \nother deadly and hollow. These two voices belonged \nrespectively to the good and evil spirits which \nalternately prevailed over him. As it is said that \nthey spoke without any movement of the lips or \ntongue, it is probable the man was a natural ventrilo- \nquist, and made use of his gift to imperil the lives of \nBall and Greedie, against whom he may have enter- \ntained a hostile feeling. He gave the following \nspecimen of the conversation which took place \nbetween him and his spirits: \n\nGood Spirit. How comes this man to bo thus tormented 1 \n\nBad Spirit. Ho U bewitched. \n\nGood. Who hath done it 1 \n\nBad. That I may not toll. \n\nGood. Aske him agayne. \n\nDinham. Come, come, prithee, tell me who hath bewitched me \n\nBad. a woman in greene cloatbes and a black hatt, with a \nlarge poll ; and a man in a gray suite, with blue stockings. \n\nGood. But where are they 1 \n\nBad. She is at her bouse, and hee is at a taveroe in Yeohall \n[Youghal] in Ireland. \n\nGood. But what are their names 1 \n\nBad. Nay, that I will not tell. \n\nGood. Then tell half of their names. \n\nBad. The one is Johan, and the other Edward. \n\nGood. Nowe tell me the other half. \n\nBad. That I may noL \n\nGood. Asko him agayne. \n\nDiNHAM. Come, come, prithee, tell me the other half. \n\nBad. The one is Greedie, and the other Ball. \n\n\n\n268 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\n\n\n1^^ \n\n\n\nThis information having been obtained, a messenger \nis sent to a certain house, where the unfortunate Joan \nis straightway arrested. The conversation, if this \nabsurd rigmarole can he so called, was afterwards \nresumed, the man conveniently going into one of his \n'fits ' for the purpose: \n\nGood. But are these witches 1 \n\nBad. Yes ; that they ara \n\nGood. Howe came they to bee soe ) \n\nBad. By discent. \n\nGood, But howe by diacent! \n\nBad. From the grandmother to the mother, and from the \nmother to the ohi!di-en. \n\nGood. But howc aree they soe I \n\nBad. They aree bound to ub, and wee to them. \n\nGood. Lett mee see the bond. \n\nBad. Thou shalt not. \n\nGood. Lett mee eee it, and if I like I will Beale alsoe. \n\nBad. Thou shalt, if thou wilt not reveale the contontea \nthereot \n\nGood. I will not. \n\nAs usual, the Good Spirit gets its way, and the \nbond is produced, drairing from the Good Spirit an \nexclamation of anguish: 'Alas! oh, pittifuU, pitti- \nfuU, piitifuU ! Wbat? eight seales, bloody scales \u2014 \nfour dead, and four alive ? Ah, miserable !' \n\nDiNHAM. Come, come, prithee, tell me, Why did they bewitch \nmel \nBad. Because thou didst call Johane Greedie witche. \nDiNHAM. Why, is sheo not a witche 1 \nBad. Yes ; but thou shouldost not have said ace. \nGood. But why did Bail bewitche him i \nBad. Because Greedie waa not atronge enough. \n\n\n\nA messenger is now sent after Ball ; but on reach- \ning his hiding-place, he finds that the poor man has \n\n\n\n\nTHE WITCHES OF TArxTOS. \n\n\n\n269 \n\n\n\njust escaped, and he meets with people who had seen \nhis fltffht. Dinham and his voices tlien join in a \ndiscourse, from which it appears that before they \nbewitched Dinliam they had been guilty of various \n' evil practices,' and had compassed the death of, at \nleast, one of their victims. Sis days afterwards \nDinham has another ' fit/ and a second unsuccessful \neffort is made to track and arrest Ball. Disgusted \nwith this failure, the Good Spirit strenuously opposes \nthe Evil Spirit in his resolve to secure Dinham's \nsoul : \n\nBad. I vdll have him, or else I will torment htm eight tjrmea \n\nGood. Thou shalt not have thy will in all thinges ; thou ahalt \ntorment him but four times more. \n\nBad. I will have thy aoule. \n\nGood. If thou wilt answer me three questions, I will seale and \ngoe with thee. \n\nBad. I will. \n\nGood. Who made the world t \n\nBad. God. \n\nGood, Who created mankynde t \n\nBad. God. \n\nGood. Wherefore was Christ Joaua His precious blood shed 1 \n\nBad. rie no more of that. \n\n\n\nHere the patient was seized with the most violent \nconvulsions, foaming at the mouth, and struggling \nwith clenched hands and contorted limbs. \n\nAnother fit came off a few days afterwards, and in \nthis Dinham was exposed to a double temptation : \n\nBad. If thou wilt give me thy Boule, I will give thee gold \nenough. \n\nGood. Thy gold will Bcald my fiogera. \n\n\n\n270 \n\n\n\nWITCEi, WAIILOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [buoK I \n\n\n\nBad, If thou ivilt give me thy aoule, I will give thee dice, and \nthou shall winne infinite somes of treasure by play. \n\nGood. If thou canat make every letter in this booke [a Prayer- \nbook which Dinham held in bis haod] a die, I nill. \n\nBad. That I cannott. \n\nGood. Laudes, laudes, laudes ! \n\nBad. Thou ahalt have ladies enough \u2014 kdiee, ladies, ladies I . . . \n\nGood. If thou canst make every letter in this book a Iadie,I will \n\nHere the Bad Spirit made an attempt to cast away \nthe book, but, after a violent struj^gle, was defeated; \nand then the Good Spirit celebrated his victory in \n' the sweetest musicke that ever was beard.' Even- \ntually Ball was captured, and Dinham then declared \nthat his ' two voices ' ceased to trouble him. Greedie \nand Ball were both committed for trial, but no record \nexists of their execution, and we may hope that they \nwere acquitted of charges supported by such absurd \nand fallacious evidence. \n\n\n\nEdward Fairfax, a man of ability and culture \u2014 the \nrefined and melodious translator of Tasso's Christian \nepic \u2014 prosecuted six of bis neighbours at York \nAssizes, in 1622, for practising witchcraft on his \nchildren. The grand jury found a true bill against \nthem, and the accused were brought to trial. But \nthe judge, who had been privately furnished with a \ncertificate of their ' sober behaviour,' contrived so to \ninfluence the jury as to obtain a verdict of acquittal. \nThe ijoet afterwards published an elaborate defence \nof his conduct. His folly may be excused, per- \nhaps, since even such men as Raleigh and Bacon \ninclined towards a belief in witchcraft ; and \njudicious Evelyn makes it one of his principal com- \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IL] TUE WITCBES OF TAUNTON. \n\n\n\n271 \n\n\n\nplaints against solitude that it created witches. \nHobbes, in his ' Leviathau,' takes, however, a more \nenlightened view: 'As for witches,' he says, 'I \nthink not that their witchcraft is any real power ; but \nyet that they are justly punished for the false belief \nthey have that they can do such mischief, joined \nwith their purpose to do it if they can.' \n\n\n\nEven the stir and tumult of the Civil War did not \nsuspend the persecuting activity of a degraded super- \nstition. In 1644 eight witches of Manningtree, in \nEssex, were accused of holding witches' meetings \nevery Friday night ; were searched for teats and \ndevils' marks, convicted, and, with twenty-nine of \ntheir fellows, hung. In the following year there \nwere more hangings in Essex ; and in Norfolk a \nscore of witches suffered. In 1650 a woman was \nhung at the Old Bailey as a witch. ' She was found \nto have under her armpits those marks by which \nwitches are discovered to entertain their familiars.' \nIn April, 1652, .lean Peterson, the witch of Wapping, \nwas hung at Tyburn ; and in July of the same year \nsix witches perished at Maidstone, \n\nIn 1653 Alice Bodenham. a domestic servant, was \ntried at Salisbury before Chief Justice Wilde, and \nconvicted. It is not certain, however, that she was \nexecuted. \n\nIn 1658 Jane Brooks was executed for practising \nwitchcraft on a boy of twelve, named Henry James, \nat Chard, in Somersetshire; in 1663 Julian Co-x, at \nTaunton, for a simil.nr offence. \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK U. J \n\n\n\nTHE witch-finder: MATTHEW HOPKINS. \n\nThe severe legislation against witchcraft had thus \nthe effect \u2014 which invariably attends legislation when \nit becomes unduly repressive \u2014 of increasing the \noffence it had been designed to exterminate. It was \nattended, also, by another result, which is equally \ncommon \u2014 bringing to the front a number of infonnera \nwho, at the cost of many innocent lives, turned it to \ntheir personal advantage. Of these witch-finders, the \nmost notorious was Matthew Hopkins, of Manning- \ntree, in Essex. When he first started his infamous \ntrade, I cannot ascertain, but his success would Beem \nto have been immediate. His earliest victims he \nfound in his own neighbourhood. But, as his reputa- \ntion grew, he extended his operations over the whole \nof Esses; and in a very short time, if any case of \nsupposed witchcraft occurred, the neighbours sent for \nMatthew Hopkins as an acknowledged expert, whose \nskill would infalliby detect the guilty person. \n\nHis first apjjearance at the assizes was in the spring \nof 1(>45, when he accused an unfortunate old woman, \nnamed Elizabeth Clarke. To collect evidence against \nher, he watched her by night in a room in a \nMr. Edwards's house, in which she was illegally \ndetained. At her trial he had the audacity to afHrm \nthat, on the third night of his watching, after he had \nrefused her the society of one of her imps, she con- \nfessed to him that, some six or seven years before, she \nhad given herself over to the devil, who visited her in \nthe form of ' a proper gentleman, with a hazel beard.' \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\nCHAP. H.J MATTHEW HOPKINS. 273 \n\nSoon after this, he said, a little dog came in \u2014 fiit, \nabort-legged, and with sandy spots besprinkled on the \nwhite ground-colour of its tub-like body. When he \nprevented it from ajiproaching the woman \u2014 who \ndeclared it was Jacmara, one of her imps \u2014 it straight- \nway vanished. Next came a greyhound, which she \ncalled Vinegar Tom ; and next a polecat. Improving \nin fluent and fertile mendacity, Hopkins went on to \nassert that, on returning home that night, about ten \nof the clock, accompanied by his own greyhound, he \nsaw his dog give a leap and a bound, and hark \naway as if hunting a hare; and on following him, he \nespied a little white animal, about the size of a \nkitten, and observed that his greyhound stood aloof \n&om it in fright; and hy-and-by this imp or kitten \ndanced about the dog, and, as he supposed, bit a piece \nfrom its shoulder, for the greyhound came to him \nshrieking and crying, and bleeding from a great \nwound. Hopkins further stated that, going into his \nyard that same night, he saw a Black Thing, shaped \nlike a cat, but thrice as big, sitting in a strawberry -bed, \nwith its eyes fixed upon him. When he approached \nit, the Thing leajwd over the pale towards him, as \nhe thought, but, on the contrary, ran quite through \nthe yard, with his greyhound after it, to a great gate, \nwhich was underset ' with a pair of tumbril strings,' \nthrew it wide open, and then vanished, while his dog \nreturned to him, shaking and trembling exceedingly. \n\nIn these unholy vigils of his, Hopkins was accom- \npanied by one ' John Sterne, of Manningtree, gentle- \nman,' who, as a matter of course, confirmed all his \n\nIS \n\n\n\n274 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [BOOK II. \n\nstatements, and added the interesting detail that the \nthird imp was called Sack- and- Sugar. The two \nwretches forced their way into the house of another \nwoman, named Rebecca West, from whom they \nextracted a confession that the first time she saw the \ndevil, he came to her at night, told her he must be \nher husband, and finally married her ! The cruel \ntortures to which these and so many other unhappy \nfemales were exposed must undoubtedly have told on \ntheir nervous systems, producing a condition of \nhysteria, and filling their minds with hallucinations, \nwhich, perhaps, may partly have been suggested by the \n'leading questions' of the witch-finders themselves. \nIt is to he observed that their confessions wore a \nstriking similarity, and that all the names mentioned of \nthe so-called imps or familiars were of a ludicrous \ncharacter, such as Prick - ear, Frog, Ilobin, and \nSparrow. Then the excitement caused b}- these trials \nso wrought on the public mind that witnesses were \neasily found to testify \u2014 apparently in good faith \u2014 to \nthe evil things done by tlie accused, and even to \nswear that they had seen their familiars. Thus one \nman declared that, passing at daybreak by the house \nof a certain Anne West, he was surprised to find her \ndoor open. Looking in, he descried three or four \nThingF, like black rabbits, one of which ran after him. \nHe seized and tried to kill him, but in his hands the \nThing seemed a mere piece of wool, which extended \nlengthwise without any apparent injury. Full speed \nhe made for a neighbouring spring, in which he tried \nto drown him, but as soon as he put the Thing in the \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, il.] MATTHEW HOl'KIN'S. 275 \n\nwater, he vanished from his sight. Returning to the \nhouse, he saw Anne West standing at the door ' in \nher smock,' and asked her why she sent her imp \nto trouble him, but received no answer. \n\nHis experiments having proved successful, Hopkins \ntook up witch-finding as a vocation, one which pro- \nvided him with the means of a comfortable livelihood, \nwhile it gratified his ambition by making him the \nterror of many and the admiration of more, investing \nhim with just that kind of power which is delightful \nto a;narrow and commonplace mind. Assuming the \ntitle of ' Witch-finder-Gcneral,\" and taking with him' \nJohn Sterne, and a woman, whose business it was \nto examine accused females for the devil's marks, \nhe travelled through the counties of Essex, Norfolk, \nHuntingdon, and Sussex. \n\nHe was at Bury, in Suffolk, in August, 1645, and \ntliere, on tlie 27th, no fewer tlian eighteen witches \nwere executed at once through his instrumentality. \nA hundred and twenty more were to have been tried, \nbut the approach of the royal troops led to the \nadjournment of the Assize. In one year this whole- \nsale murderer caused the death of sixty poor creatures. \nThe ' test ' he generally adopted was that of ' swim- \nming,' which James I. recommends with much \nunction in his ' Demonologie.' The hands and feet of \nthe accused were tied together crosswise, the thumb of \nihe right hand to the big toe of the left foot, and vice \nI'ersd. She was then wrapped up in a large sheet or \nblanket, and laid upon her back in a pond or river. \nIf she sank, she was innocent, but established her \n18\u2014^ \n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\n27(j WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\ninnocence at the cost of her life ; if she floated, which \nwas generally the case, as her clothes afforded a \ntemporary support, she was pronounced giiUty, and \nhanged with all possihle expedition. \n\nAnother ' test ' was the repetitioa of the Lord's \nPrayer, which, it was believed, no witch could \naccomplish. Woe to the unfortunate creature who, \nin her nervousness, faltered over a syllable or stumbled \nat a word ! Again she was forced into some awkward \nand painful attitude, bound with cords, and kept food- \nless and sleepless for four-and- twenty hours. Or she \nwas walked continuously up and down a room, an \nattendant holding each ami, until she dropped with \nfatigue. Sometimes she was weighed against the \nchurch Bible, obtaining her deliverance if she proved \nto be lieavier. But this last-named test was too \nlenient for the Witch-finder-General, who preferred \nthe swimming ordeal. \n\nOne of his victims at Bury was a venerable clergy- \nman, named Lowes, who had been Vicar of lirandes- \nton, near Framlingham, for fift}' yeare. ' After he was \nfound with the marks,' says Sterne, ' in his con- \nfession ' \u2014 when made, to whom, or under what cir- \ncumstances, we are not informed \u2014 ' he confessed that \nin pride of heart to be equal, or rather above God, \nthe devil took advantage of him, and he covenanted \nwith the devil, and sealed it with his blood, and had \nthose familiars or spiriis which sucked on the marks \nfound on his body, and did much harm both by sea \nand land, especially by sea ; for be confessed that he, \nbeing at Lungar Fort [Landguard Fortj, in Suffolk, \n\n\n\n\nCUAP. n.] MATTHEW HOPKINS. 277 \n\nwhere he preached, as he walked upon the wall or \nworks there, he saw a great sail of ships pass by, and \nthat, as they were sailing by, one of liis three imps, \nnamely, his yellow one, forthwith ajipeared to him, \nand aeked him what he should do, and he bade him go \nand sink such a ship, and showed his imp a new ship \namong the middle of the rest (as I remember), one \nthat belonged to Ipswich ; so he confessed the imp \nwent forthwith away, and he stood still and viewed \nthe sliips on tlie sea as they were a-sailing, and per- \nceived that ship immediately to be in more trouble \nand danger than the rest ; for he said the water was \nmore boisterous near that than the rest, tumbling up \nand down with waves, as if water had been boiled in \na pot, and soon after (he said), in a short time, it \nsunk directly down into the sea as he stood and \nviewed it, when all the rest sailed down in safety ; \nthen he confessed he made fourteen widows in one \nquarter of an hour. Then Mr. Hopkins, as be told \nme (for he took his confession), asked him if it did \nnot grieve him to see so man}' men cast away in a \nshort time, and that be should be the cause of so \nmany poor widows on a sudden ; but he swore by \nhis Maker he was joj'ful to see what power his imps \nbad: and so likewise confessed many other mischiefs, \nand had a chann to keep him out of the jail and \nbanging, as lie paraphrased it himself; but therein \nthe devil deceived him, for he was hanged that Michael- \nmas time, 1645, at Bury St. Edmunds.' Poor old \nman! This so-called confession has a very dubious \nair about it, and reads a-* if it had been invented by \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\n278 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN'. [BOOK n. \n\n\n\nMatthew Hopkins, who, as Sterne naively acknow- \nledges, * took the confessions,' apparently without \nany witness or reporter being present. \n\nThe Witch-finder-General, when on his expedi- \ntions of inquiry, assumed the style of a man of \nfortune. He put up always at the best inns, and \nlived in the most luxurious fashion, which he could \nwell afford to do, as, when invited to visit a town, \nhe insisted on payment of his expenses for board and \nlodging, and a fee of twenty shillings. This sum he \nclaimed under any circumstances; but if he succeeded \nin detecting any witches, he demanded another fee of \ntwenty shillings for each one brought to execution. \nGenerally his pretensions were admitted without \ndemur ; but occasionally he encountered a sturdy \nopjjonent, like the Rev. Mr. Gaul, of Great Staughton, \nin Huntingdonshire, who attacked him in a briskly- \nwritten pamphlet as an intolerable nuisance. Hopkins \nreplied by an angry letter to one of the magistrates \nof the town, in which be said : ' I am to come to \nKimbolton this week, and it shall be ten to one but I \nwill come to your town first ; but I would certainly \nknow afore whether your town affords many sticklers \nfor such cattle [i.e. witches], or [is] willing to give \nand afford us good welcome and entertainment, as \nother where I have been, else I shall waive your \nshire {not as yet beginning in any part of it myself), \nand betake me to such places where I do and may \npersist without control, but with thanks and recom- \npense.' \n\nNeither Mr. Gaul nor the magistrates of Great \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] MATTHEW HOPKINS. 279 \n\nStaughton showed any ansietj in regard to the witch- \nfinder's threat. On the contrary, Mr. Gaul returned to \nthe charge in a second pamphlet, entitled ' Select Cases \nof Conscience touching Witches and Witchcraft/ in \nwhich, while admitting the existence of witches \u2014 for \nhe was not above the superstition of his age and \ncountry \u2014 he vigorously attacked Hopkins for accus- \ning persons on insufficient evidence, and denounced \nthe atrocious cruelties of which he and his associates \nwere guilty. I have no doubt that this manly \nlanguage helped to bring about a wholesome change \nof public opinion, In the eastern counties so bitter a \nfeeling of resentment arose, that Hopkins found it \nadvisable to seek fresh woods and pastures new. In \nthe spring of 16-17 he was at Worcester, where four un- \nfortunates were condemned on the evidence of himself \nand his associates, But the indignation against him \ndeepened and extended, and he hastily returned to \nhis native town, trembling for his wretched life. \nThere he printed a defence of his conduct, under the \ntitle of ' The Discovery of Witclies, in answer to \nseveral queries lately delivered to the Judge of Assize \nfor the county of Norfolk ; published by Matthew \nHopkins, witch-finder, for the benefit of the whole \nkingdom,' His death occurred shortly afterwards. \nAccording to Sterne, he died the death of a righteous \nman, having ' no trouble of conscience for what he \nhad done, as was falsely reported for him.' But the \nmore generally accepted account is an instance of \n' poetical justice ' \u2014 of Nemesis satisfied \u2014 which 1 \nheartily hope is authentic. It is said that he was \n\n\n\n280 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\n\n\nsurrounded by a mob in a Suffolk village, and accused \nof being himself a wizard, and of having, by his \ntricks of sorcery, cheated the devil out of a memoran- \ndum-book, in which were entered the names of all the \nwitches in England. ' Thus,' cried the populace, \n'you find out witches, not by God's name, but by \nthe devirs.' He denied the charge ; but his accusers \ndetermined that he should he subjected to his \nfavourite test. He was stripped; his thumbs and toes \nwere tied together ; he was wrapped in a blanket, and \ncast into a pond. Whether he was drowned, or \nwhether he floated, was taken up, tried, sentenced, \nand executed, authorities do not agree; but they \nagree that he never more disturbed the peace of the \nrealm as a witch-finder. \n\nButler has found a niche for this knave, among \nother knaves, in his ' Hudibraa ' : \n\n\n\ntthe engineer hoist with his own petard \u2014 happily a by \nno means infrequent mode of retribution. \nSterne, the witch-finder's colleague, not unnaturally \nshared in the public disfavour, and in defence of him- \n\n\n\n' Hath not this present Farliamciit \nA lieger to the Devil eent, \nFul^. tmpflw^red to eet about \nFi(Sing revolted witches out 1 \nfVtn lias ho Dot nithin a year \nHaogeii threesgOre of them in one shire I \nSome ooljC-isr not being drowned. \nAnd some for sitting above ground \nWhole days and nights upon their breeches, \nAnd, feeling pain, were hanged for witches. . \nWho proved himself at length a witch. \nAnd made a rod for hie own breech ' \u2014 \n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] A GAOL-DELIVERY. 281 \n\nself and his deceased partner gave to the world a \n' Confirmation and Discovery of AVitchcraft,' in which \nhe acknowledges to have been concerned in the detec- \ntion and condemnation of some 200 witches in the \ncounties of Essex, Suffolk, Northampton, Huntingdon, \nBedford, Norfolk and Cambridge, and the Isle of Ely. \nHe adds that ' in many places I never received penny \nas 3'et, nor any like, notwithstanding I have bonds \nfor satisfaction, except I should sin; but many rather \nfall upon me for what hath been received, but I hope \nsuch suits will be disannulled, and that when I have \nbeen out of moneys for towns in charges and otherwise, \nsuch course will he taken that I may be satisfied and \npaid with reason.' One can hardly admire sufficiently \nthe brazen effrontery of this appeal ! \n\n\n\nThe number of persons imprisoned on suspicion of \nwitchcraft grew so large as to excite the alarm of the \nGovernment, who issued struigen^ .orders to the \ncountry magistrates to commit for triol persons \nbrought before them on this [ charge, ^d forbade \nthem to exercise summary jurisdiction. 'Eventually \na commission was given to the EarfdT Warwick, and \nothers, to hold a gaol-delivery at Chelmsford. Lord \nWarwick, who had done good service to the State as \nLord High Admiral, was sagacious and fair-minded. \nBut with him went Dr. Edmund Calaray, the eminent \nPuritan divine, to see that no injustice was done to \nthe parties accused. This proved an unfortunate \nchoice; for Calamy, who, in his sermon before the \njudges, bad ^larged on the enormity of the sin of \n\n\n\n\n282 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I \n\n\n\nwitchcraft, sat on the bench with them, and unhappily \ninfluenced their deliberations in the direction of \nseverity. As a result, sixteen persona were hanged \nat Yarmouth, fifteen at Chelmsford, besides some \nsixty at various places in Suffolk. \n\nWhitlocke, in his ' Memorials,' speaks of many \n'witches' as having been put upon their trial at \nNewcastle, through the agency of a man whom he \ncalls ' the Witch-finder.' Another of the imitators of \nHopkins, a Mr. Shaw, parson of Rusock, came to \ncondign humiliation (1660). Having instigated some \nbucolic barbarians to put an old woman, named Joan \nBibb, to the water-ordeal, she swam right vigorously \nin the pool, and struggled with her assailants so \nstrenuously that she effected her escape. Afterwards \nshe brought an action against the parson for insti- \ngating the outrage, and obtained \u00a320 damages. \n\nIn 1664, Elizabeth Styles, of Bayford, Somerset- \nshire, was convicted and sentenced to death, but \ndied in prison before the day fixed for her execution. \nIt is said that she made a voluntary confession\u2014 \nwithout inducement or torture \u2014 in the presence of \nthe magistrates and ^several divines \u2014 another case \n(if it be true) of the morbid eelf-delusion which in \ntimes of popular excitement makes so many victims. \n\n\n\nOne feels the necessity of Bpeaking with some \ndegree of moderation respecting the credulity of the \nignorant and uneducated classes, when one finds so \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] AT BaRY ST. EDMUNDS. 283 \n\nsound a lawyer and 80 admirable a Christian as Sir \nMatthew Hale infected by the mania. No other blot, \nI suppose, ia to be found on his fame and character ; \nand that he should have incurred this indelible stain, \nand fallen into so pitiable an error, is a problem by \nno means easy of solution. \n\nAt the Lent Assize, in 1 6G4, at Bury St. Edmunds, \ntwo aged women, named Rose Cullender and Amy \nDuny were brought before him on a charge of having \nbewitched seven persons. The nature of the evidence \non which it was founded the reader will appreciate \nfrom the following examples : \n\nSamuel Pacey, of Lowestoft, a man of good repute \nfor sobriety and other homely virtues, having been \nsworn, said : That on Thursday, October 10 last, his \nyounger daughter Deborah, about nine years old, fell \nsuddenly so lame that she could not stand on her \nfeet, and so continued till the 17th, when she asked \nto be carried to a bank which ovei'looked the sea, and \nwhile she was sitting there, Amy Duny came to the \nwitness's house to buy some herrings, but was denied. \nTwice more she called, but being always denied, went \naway grumbling and discontented. At this instant \nof time the child was seized with terrible fits; com- \nplained of a pain in her stomach, as if she were being \npricked with pins, shrieking out ' with a voice like a \nwhelp/ and thus continuing until the 30th. This \nwitness added that Amy Duny, being known as a \nwitcli, and his child having, in the intervals of her \nfits, constantly exclaimed against her as the cause of \nher sufferings, saying that the said Amy did appear \n\n\n\n284 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, ANU MAGICIAN. [BOOK n.l \n\n\n\n) her and frighten her, be beffl \n\n\n\n; the said \n\n\n\n)egan to suspect 1 \nAmy, and accused her in plain terms of injuring his \nchild, and got her ' set in the stocks.' Two days \nafterwards, his daughter Ehzabeth was seized with \nsimilar fits; and both she and her sister complained \nthat they were tormented by various persons in the \ntown of bad character, but more particularly by \nAmy Duny, and by another reputed witch, Rose \nCullender. \n\nAnother witness deposed that she had heard the \ntwo children cry out against these persons, who, they \nsaid, threatened to increase their torments tenfold if \nthey told tales of them. ' At some times the children \nwould see Things run up and down the house in the \nappearance of mice; and one of them suddenly \nsnapped one with the tongs, and threw it in the fire, \nand it screeched out like a bat. At another time, the \nyounger child, being out of her fits, went out of doors \nto take a little fresh air, and presently a little Thing \nlike a bee flew upon her face, and would have gone \ninto her mouth, whereupon the child ran in all haste \nto the door to get into the house again, shrieking out \nin a most terrible manner; whereupon this deponent \nmade haste to come to her, but before she could reach \nher, the child fell into her swooning fit, and, at last, \nwith much pain and straining, vomited up a twopenny \nnail with a broad head ; and after that the child had \nraised up the nail she came to her understanding, and \nbeing demanded by this deponent how she came by \nthis nail, she answered that the bee brought this nail \nand forced it into her mouth.' \n\n\n\n\nLHAP. ir.] AT BURY ST. EDMUNDS. 285 \n\nSucli evidence as this failing to satisfy Serjeant \nKeeling, and several magistrates who were present, \nof the guilt of the accused, it was resolved to resort \nto demonstration by experiment. The persons be- \nwitched were brought into court to touch the two \nold women; and it was observed (says Hutchinson) \nthat when the former were in the midst of their fits, \nfind to all men's apprehension wholly deprived of all \nsense and understanding, closing their fists in such a \nmanner as that the strongest man could not force \nthem open, yet, at the least touch of one of the \nsupposed witches \u2014 Rose Cullender, by name \u2014 they \nwould suddenly shriek out, opening their hands, \nwhich accident would not happen at any other \nperson's touch. ' And lest they might privately see \nwhen they were touched by the said Rose Cullender, \nthey were blinded with their own aprons, and the \ntouching took the same effect as before. There was \nan ingenious person that objected there might be a \ngreat fallacy in this experiment, and there ought not \nto be any stress put upon this to convict the parties, \nfor the children might countei-feit this their dis- \ntemper, and, perceiving what was done to them, they \nmight in such manner suddenly alter the erection \nand gesture of their bodies, on purpose to induce \njiersons to believe that they were not natural, but \nwrought strangely by the touch of tlie prisoners. \nA\\'^herefore, to avoid this scruple, it was privately \ndesired by the judge that the Lord Cornwallis, Sir \nEdmund Bacon, and Mr. Serjeant Keeling, and some \nother gentleman then in court, would attend one of \n\n\n\n286 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAULOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\n\n\nthe distempered persons in the farthest part of the \nhall whilst she was in her fits, and then to send for ' \none of the witches to try what would then happen, \nwhich they did accordingly ; and Amy Duny was \nbrought fi'om the bar, and conveyed to the maid. \nThey then put an apron before her eyes ; and then \none other person touched her hand, which produced \nthe same effect as the touch of the witch did in the \ncourt. Whereupon the gentlemen returned, openly \nprotesting that they did believe the whole transaction \nof the business was a mere imposture.' As, in truth, ] \nit was. \n\nIt is remarkable that Sir Matthew Hale was still \nunconvinced. He invited the opinion of Sir Thomas \nBrowne, a man of great learning and ability \u2014 the \nauthor of the ' Eeligio Medici,' and other justly \nfamous works \u2014 who admitted that the fits were \nnatural, but thought them ' heightened by the devil \nco-operating with the malice of the witches, at whose \ninstance he did the villanies.' Sir Matthew then \ncharged the jury. There were, he said, two questions \nto be considered : First, whether or not these \nchildren were bewitched ? And, second, whether \nthe prisoners at the bar had been guilty of bewitching \nthem 1 Tfiat there were such creatures as witches, he \ndid not doubt; and he appealed to the Scriptures, \nwhich had affirmed so much, and also to the wisdom \nof all nations, which had enacted laws against such \npersons. Such, too, he said, had been the judgment \nof this kingdom, as appeared by that Act of Parlia- \nment which had provided punishment proportionable \n\n\n\nCHAP. 11.] AT BURY ST. EDMUNDd. 287 \n\nto the quality of the offeoce. He desired them to \npay strict attention to the evidence, and implored the \ngreat God of heaven to direct their hearts in ao \nweighty a matter ; for to condemn the innocent, and \nset free the guilty, was ' an abomination to the \nLord.' \n\nAfter a charge of this description, the j ury \nnaturally brought in a verdict of ' Guilty,' Sentence \nof death was pronounced ; and the two poor old \nwomen, protesting to the last their innocence, suffered \non the gallows. Who will not regret the part played \nby Sir Matthew Hale in this judicial murder ? It is \nno excuse to say that he did but share in the popular \nbelief One expects of such a man that he will rise \nsuperior to the errors of ordinary minds ; that he \nwill be guided by broader and more enlightened \nviews \u2014 by more humane and generous sympathies. \nInstead of attempting an apology which no act can \nrender satisfactory, it is better to admit, with Sir \nMichael Foster, rbat 'this great and good man was \nbetrayed, notivithstanding the rectitude of his inten- \ntions, into a great mistake, under the strong bias of \nearly prejudices.' \n\nGradually, however, a disbelief in witchcraft grew \nup in the public mind, aa intellectual inquiry widened \nits scope, and the relations of man to the Unseen \nWorld came to be better understood. Among the \neducated classes the old superstition expired much \nmore rapidly than among the poorer ; and so we find \nthat though convictions became rarer, committals and \ntrials continued tolerably frequent until the closing \n\n\n\n\n288 WITCH, WAKLOCK, AND MAULCIAN. [boOK IF. \n\nyears of the eighteenth ccQtury. To the ghastly roll \nof victims, however, additions continued to be made. \nThus in August, 1683, three women, named Temper- \nance Lloyd, Susannah Edwards, and Mary Trembles, \nwere tried at Exeter before Lord Chief Justice North \nand Mr. Justice Raymond, convicted of various acta \nof witchcraft, and sentenced to death. Before their \ntrial they had confessed to frequent interviews with \nthe devil, who appeared in the shape of a black man \nas long (or as short) as a man's arm ; and one of \nthem acknowledged to have caused the death of \nfour persons by witchcraft. Some portion of these \nmonstrous lictioDs they recanted under the gallows; \nbut even on the brink of the grave they persisted in \nclaiming the character of witches, and in asserting \nthat they had had personal intercourse with the \ndevil. \n\nIn March, 168i, Alicia Welland was tried before \nChief Baron Montague at Exeter, convicted, and \nexecuted. \n\nTo estimate the extent to which the belief in \nwitchcraft, during the latter part of the seventeenth \ncentury, ojxjrated against the lives of the accused, \nMr. Inderwick has searched the records of the \nWestern Circuit, from 1G70 to 1712 inclusive, and \nascertained that out of fifty-two persons tried in that \nperiod on various charges of witchcraft, only seven \nwere convicted, and one of these seven was reprieved. \n< What occurred on the Western,' he remarks, ' pro- \nbably went on at each of the several circuits into \nwhich the country was then divided; and one cannot \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.] SOME ACQUITTALS. 289 \n\ndoubt that in Norfolk, SuflFoIk, Essex, Huntlngdoa, \nand Lancashire, where the witches mostly abounded, \nthe charges and convictions were far more numerous \nthan in the West. The judges apj>ear, however, not \nto have taken the line of Sir Matthew Hale, but, as \nSir as possible, to have prevented convictions. \nIndeed, Lord Jeffreys \u2014 who, when not engaged on \npolitical business, was at least as good a judge as \nany of his contemporaries \u2014 and Chief Justice Herbert, \ntried and obtained acquittals of witches in 1G85 and \n1686 at the very time that they were engaged on the \nBloody Assize in slaughtering the participators in \nMonmouth's rebellion. It is also a remarkable fact \nthat, from 1686 to 1712, when charges of witchcraft \ngradually ceased, charges and convictions of malicious \ninjury to property in burning haystacks, barns, and \nhouses, and malicious injuries to persons and to \ncattle, increased enormously, these being the sort of \naccusations finely made against the witches before \nthis date.' \n\nI think there can be little doubt that many evil- \ndisposed persons availed themselves of the prevalent \nbelief in witchcraft as a cover for their depredations \non the property of their neighbours, diverting sus- \npicion from themselves to the poor wretches who, \nthrough accidental circumstances, had acquired \nnotoriety as the devil's accomplices. It would also \nseem probable that not a few of the reputed witches \nsimilarly turned to account their bad reputation. It \nis not impossible, indeed, that there may be a certain \ndegree of truth in the tales told of the witches' \n\n19 \n\n\n\n290 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK U. \n\nmeetings, and that in some rural neighbourhoods the \nindividuals suspected of being witches occasionally \nassembled at an appointed rendezvous to consult \nupon their position and their line of operations. \nThe practices at these gatherings may not always \nhave been kept within the limits of decency and \ndecorum ; and in this way the loathsome details with \nwhich every account of the witches' meetings are \nembellished may have had a real foundation. \n\nThat the judges at length began persistently to \ndiscourage convictions for witchcraft is seen in the \naction of Lord Chief Justice Holt at the Bury St. \nEdmunds Assize in 1694. An old woman, known as \nMother Munnings, of Harks, in Suffolk, was brought \nbefore him, and the witnesses against her retailed the \nvillage talk \u2014 how that her landlord, Thomas Purnel, \nwho, to get her out of the house she bad rented from \nhim, had removed the street-door, was told that ' his \nnose should lie upward in the churchyard ' before the \n. following Saturday ; and how that he was taken ill \non the Monday, died on the Tuesday, and was buried \non the Thursday. How that she had a familiar in \nthe shape of a polecat, and how that a neighbour, \npeeping in at her window one night, saw her take \nout of her basket a couple of imps \u2014 the oue black, \nthe other white. And how that a woman, named \nSarah Wager, having quarrelled with her, was \nstricken dumb and lame. All this tittle-tattle was \nbrushed aside La bis charge by the strong common- \nsense of the judge; and the jury, under his direction, \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, il\"! those acquittals. 291 \n\nreturned a verdict of ' Not guilty/ Dr. Hutchinson \nremarks : * Upon particular inquiry of several in or \nnear the town, I find most are satisfied that it is a \nvery right judgment. She lived about two years \nafter, without doing any known harm to anybody, \nand died declaring her innocence. Her landlord was \na consumptive-spent man, and the words not exactly \nas they swore them, and the whole thing seventeen \nyears before. . . . The white imp is believed to have \nbeen a lock of wool, taken out of her basket to \nspin ; and its shadow^ it is supposed, was the black \none.' \n\nIn the same year (1694) a woman, named \nMargaret Elmore, was tried at Ipswich ; in 1695 one \nMary Gay at Launceston; and in 1696 one Elizabeth \nHume at Exeter ; but in each case, under the \ndirection of Chief Justice Holt, a verdict of acquittal \nwas declared. Thus the seventeenth century went \nits way in an unaccustomed atmosphere of justice \nand humanity. \n\n\n\n19\u20142 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\n\n\nb \n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. \n\nTHE DECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND. \n\nThe boDOur of discouraging prosecutiona for witch- \ncraft belongs in tbe first place to France, wbich \nabolished them as early as 1672, and for sonae years \npreviously had refrained Irom sending any victims to \ntbe scaffold or the stake. In England, the same effect \nwas partly due, perhaps, to the cynical Imraour of the \nCourt of Charles II., where many, who before ventured \nonly to doubt, no longer hesitated to treat the subject \nwith ridicule. ' Although,' says Mr. \"Wright, ' works \nlike those of Baxter and Glanvil had still their \nweight with many people, yet in the controversy \nwhich was now carried on through the instrumentality \nof the press, those who wrote against the popular \ncreed had certainly the best of tlie argument. Still, it \nhappened from their form and character that the books \nwritten to expose tbe absurdity of tbe belief in \nsorcery were restricted in their circulation to the \nmore educated classes, while popular tracts in defence \nof witchcraft and collections ol cases were printed in a \ncheaper form, and widely distributed among that class \nin society where the belief was most firmly rooted. The \n\n\n\nDECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n293 \n\n\n\neffect of these popular publications has continued in \nsome districts down to the present day. Thus the \npress, the natural tendency of which was to enlighten \nmankind, was made to increase ignorance by pandering \nto the credulity of the multitude.' \n\nI have spoken of the seventeenth century as going \nout in an atmosphere of justice and humanity. But \nan ancient superstition dies hard, and the eighteenth \ncentury, when it dawned upon the earth, found the \nbelief in witchcraft still widely extended in England. \nEven men of education could not wlioUy surrender \ntheir adhesion to it. We read mth surprise Addi- \nson's opinion in Tlie Spectator, ' that the arguments \npress equally on both sides,' and see him balancing \nhimself between the two aspects of the subject in a \ncurious state of mental indecision. 'When I hear the \nrelations that are made from all parts of the world,' he \nsays, ' I cannot forbear thinking that there is such an \nintercourse and commerce with evil spirits, as that \nwhich we express by the name of witchcraft. But \nwhen 1 consider,' he adds, ' that the ignorant and \ncredulous parts of the world abound most in these \nrelations, and that the persons among us who are \nsupposed to engage in such an infernal commerce are \npeople of a weak understanding and crazed imagina- \ntion, and at the same time reflect upon the many \nimpostures and delusions of this nature that have \nbeen detected in all ages, I endeavour to suspend my \nbelief till I hear more certain accounts than any which \nhave yet come to my knowledge.' And then he \ncomes to a halting and unsatisfactory conclusion, \n\n\n\n294 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAKLOCK, ASD MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\n\n\nTrhich will seem almost grotesque to the reader of the \npreceding pages, with their details of sucnibi and \nincubi, imps and familiars, black cats, pole-cats, goats, \nand the like : ' In short, when I consider the ques- \ntion, whether there are such persons in the world as \nwe call witches, my mind is divided between two \nopposite opinions, or, rather (to speak my thoughts \nfreely), I believe in general that there is, and has \nbeen, such a thing as witchcraft, but, at the same time, \ncan give no credit to any particular instance of it.' \n\nAddison goes on to draw the picture of a witch of \nthe period, ' Moll White,' who lived in the neighbour- \nhood of Sir Roger de Coverley, ' a wrinkled hag, with \nage grown double.' This old woman had the reputa- \ntion of a witch all over the country ; her lips were \nobserved to be always in motion, and there was not a \nswitch about her house which her neighbours did not \nbelieve had carried her several hundreds of miles. \n' If she chanced to stumble, they always found sticks \nor straws that lay in the figure of a cross before her. \nIf she made any mistake at church, and cried Amen \nin a wrong place, they never failed to conclude that \nshe was saying her prayers backwards. There was \nnot a maid in the parish that would take a pin of her, \nthough she should offer a bag of money with it. . . . \nIf the dairy-maid does not make her butter to come \n80 soon as she would have it, Moll White is at the \nbottom of the chum. If a horse sweats in the stable, \nMoll White has been upon his back. If a hare makes \nan unexpected escape from the hounds, the huntsman \ncurses Moll White. . . . \n\n\n\nCHAP. III.] DECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT. 295 \n\n' I have been the more particular in this account,' \nsays Addison, ' because I know there is scarce a \nvillage in England that has not a Moll White in it, \nWhen an old woman begins to dote, and grow \nchargeable to a parish, she is generally turned into a \nwitch, and fills the whole country with extravagant \nfancies, imaginary distemjjers, and terrifying dreams. \nIn the meantime, the poor wretch that is the innocent \noccasion of so many evils begins to be frighted at \nherself, and sometimes confesses secret commerces and \nfiimiliarities that her imagination forms in a delirious \nold age. This frequently cuts off charity from the \ngreatest objects of compassion, and inspires people \nwith a malevolence towards those poor decrepit parts \nof our species in whom human nature is defaced by \ninfirmity and dotage.' \n\nOn March 2, 1703, one Richard Hathaway, apprentice \nto Thomas Wiling, a blacksmith in Southwark, was \ntried before Chief Justice Holt at the Surrey Assizes, \nas a cheat and an impostor, having pretended that he \nhad been bewitched by Sarah Morduck, wife of a \nThames waterman, so that he had been unable to eat \nor drink for the space of ten weeks together ; had \nsuffered various pains; had constantly vomited nails \nand crooked pins; had at times been deprived of \nspeech and sight, and all through the \"wicked cunning \nof Sarah Morduck ; further, that he was from time to \ntime relieved of hia ailments by scratching the said \nSarah, and drawing blood from her. On these charges \nSarah had been committed by the magistrates, and was \n\n\n\nk \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK n. \n\ntried as a witch at the Guildford Assizes in February, \n1701. It was then proved in her defence that \nPr. Martin, minister, of the parish of Southwark, \nhearing of Hathaway's troubles and method of obtain- \ning relief, had resolved to put the matter to a fair \ntest; and repairing to Hathaway's room, in one of his \nsemi-conscious and wholly blind intervals, had, in the \npresence of many witnesses, pretended to give to the \nsupposed sufferer the arm of Sarah Morduck, when it \nwas really that of a woman whom he had called in \nfrom the street. Hathaway, in ignorance of the trick \nplayed upon him, scratched the wrong arm, and _ \nimmediately professed to recover his sight and senses. \u25a0 \nOn finding his deception discovered, Hathaway looked ^ \ngreatly ashamed, and attempted no defence or excuse, \nwhen Dr. Martin severely reproached him for his conduct. \nThe populace, however, remained unconvinced, and \n\u25a0^\u25a0hen Dr. Martin and his friends had departed, accom- \npanied Hathaway to the house of Sarah Morduck, \nwhom they savagely ill-treated. They then declared \nthat the woman who had lent herself as a subject for \nexperiment was also a witch, and loaded her with \ncontumely, while her husband gave her a beating. It \nfurther appeared that, on one occasion, when Hathaway * \nalleged he had been vomiting crooked pins and nails, \nhe had been searched, and hundreds of packets of \npins and nails found in his pockets, and on his hands \nbeing tied behind him, the vomiting immediately \nceased. Eventually the jury acquitted Sarah Mor- \nduck, and branded Hathaway as a cheat and an \nimpostor. The lower classes, however, received the \n\n\n\nDECLINE OF W ETC ECU A FT. \n\n\n\n297 \n\n\n\nverdict with contempt, mobbed Dr. Martin, and \nraised a collection for Hathaway as for a man of \nmany virtues whom fortune had ill-treated. A magis- \ntrate, Sir Thomas Lane, who sided with the mob, sum- \nmoned Sarah Morduck before him, and after she had \nbeen scratched by Hathaway in his presence, ordered \nher to be examined for devil-marks by two women \nand a doctor. Though none could be detected, his \nprejudice was so extreme that he committed her as a \nwitch to tbe M'^ood Street Compter, refusing bail to the \nextent of \u00a3500. Dr. Martin, with other gentlemen, \nagain came to her assistance, and ultimately she was \nreleased on reasonable surety. \n\nThe Government now thought it time to support \nthe cause of justice, and, carrying out the verdict of \nthe Guildford jury, indicted Hathaway as a cheat, \nand himself and his friends for assaulting Sarah \nMorduck. In addition to the evidence previously \nadduced, it was shown that, l>eing in bad health, he \nhad been placed in the custody of a Dr. Kenny, a \nsurgeon, who, desiring to test the truth of his fasting, \nmade holes in the partition wall of his compartment, \nand watched his proceedings for about a fortnight, \nduring which period, while pretending to fast, he was \nobserved to feed heartily on the food conveyed to \nhim, and once, having received an extra allowance of \nwhisky, he got tipsy, played a tune on the tongs, and \ndanced before the fire. At the trial a Dr. Hamilton \nwas called for the defence ; but, Balaam-like, he \nbanned rather than blessed, for having affirmed that \nthe man's festilig was the chief evidence of witchcraft, \n\n\n\n298 \"WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK n. \n\n' Doctor,' said the Chief Justice, ' do you think it \npossible for a man to fast a fortnight?' 'I think \nnot.' he replied. ' Can all the devils in hell help a \nman to fast bo long?' 'No, my lord,' said the \ndoctor ; ' I think not.' These answers were con- \nclusive; and without leaving the bos, the jury found \nHathaway guilty, and he was sentenced by Chief \nJustice Holt to pay a fine of one hundred marks, to \nstand in the pillory on the following Sunday for two \nhours at Southwark, the same on the Tuesday at the \nRoyal Exchange, the same on the Wednesday at \nTemple Bar, the nest day to be whipped at the \nHouse of Correction, and afterwards to be imprisoned \nwith hard labour for six months. \n\nTwo reputed witches, Eleanor Shaw and Mary \nPhillips, were executed at Northampton on March 17, \n170o ; and on July 22, 1712, five Northamptonshire \n\nwitches, Agnes Brown, Helen Jenkinson, A Bill, \n\nJoan Vaughan, and Mary Barber, suffered at the same \nplace. \n\nIt is generally believed that the last time an \nEnglish jury brought in a verdict of guilty in a case \nof witchcraft was in 1712, when a poor Hertfordshire \npeasant woman, named Jane \"Wenham, was tried \nbefore Mr. Justice Powell, sixteen witnesses, includ- \ning three clergymen, supporting the accusation. The \nevidence was absurd and fi-ivolous ; but, in spite of \nits frivolousness and absurdity, and the poor woman's \nfervent protestations of innocence, and the judge's \nstrong summing-up in her favour, a Hertfordshire \njury convicted her. The judge was compelled by the \n\n\n\nCHAP. III.] DECLINE Of WITCHCRAFT. 299 \n\nlaw to pronounce sentence of death, but he lost no \ntime in obtaining from the Queen a pardon for the \nunfortunate woman. But, on emerging from her \nprison, she was treated by the mob with savage \nferocity ; and, to save her from being lynched, \nColonel Plumer, of Gilson, took her into his service, \nin which she continued for many years, earning and \npreserving the esteem of all who knew her. \n\nBut there Is a record of an execution for witchcraft, \nthat of Mary Hicks and her daughter, taking place in \n1716 (July 28) ; and though it is not indubitably \nestablished, I do not think its authenticity can well \nbe doubted. \n\nIn January, 1736, an old woman of Frome, re- \nputed to he a witch, was dragged from her sick-bed, \nput astride on a saddle, and kept in a mill-pond for \nnearly an hour, in the presence of upwards of 200 \npeople. The story goes that she swam like a cork, \nbut on being taken out of the water expired imme- \ndiately. A coroner's inquest was held on the body, \nand three persons were committed for trial for man- \nslaughter ; but it is probable that they escaped punish- \nment, as nobody seems to have been willing to appear \nin the witness-box against them. \n\nAmong the vulgar, indeed, the superstition was \nbard to kill. In the middle of the last century, a \npoor man and bis wife, of the name of Osborne, each \nabout seventy years of age, lived at Tring, in Hert- \nfordshire. On one occasion. Mother Osborne, as she \nwas commonly called, went to a dairyman, appropri- \nately named Butterfield, and asked for some butter- \n\n\n\n\n300 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [book IL \n\n\n\nmilk ; but was harshly repulsed, and informed that he \nhad scarcely enough for his hogs. The woman replied \nwith asperity that the Pretender (it was in the '45 that \nthis took place) would soon have him and his hogs. It \nwas customary then to connect the Pretender and the \ndevil in one's thoughts and aspirations ; and the \nignorant rustics soon afterwards, when Butterfield's \ncalves sictened, declared that Mother Osborne had \nbewitched them, with the assistance of the devil. \nLater, when Butterfield, who had given up his farm \nand taken to an ale-house, suffered much from fits, \nMother Osborne was again declai-ed to be the cause \n(1751), and he was advised to send to Northampton- \nshire for an old woman, a white witch, to baffle her \nspells. The white witch came, confirmed, of course, \nthe popular prejudice, and advised that six men, ai-med \nwith staves and pitchforks, should watch Butterfield's \nhouse by day and night. The affair would here, per- \nhaps, have ended ; but some jiersons thought they \ncould turn it to their pecuniary advantage, and, \naccordingly, made public notification that a witch \nwould be ducked on April 22. On the appointed \nday hundreds flocked to the scene of entertainment. \nThe parish officers had removed the two Osbornea \nfor safety to the church ; and the mob, in revenge, \nseized the governor of the workhouse, and, collecting \na heap of straw, threatened to drown him, and set \nfire to the town, unless they were given up. In a \npanic of fear the parish officers gave way, and the two \npoor creatures were immediately stripped naked, their \nthumbs tied to their toes, and, each being wrapped \n\n\n\nIP. iil] \n\n\n\nDECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n301 \n\n\n\nin a coarse sheet, were dragged a couple of miles, and \nthen flung into a muddy stream. Colley, a chimney- \nsweep, observing that the woman did not sink, \nstepped into the pool, and turned her over several \ntimes with a stick, until the sheet fell off, and her \nnakedness was exposed. In this miserable state \u2014 \nexhausted with fatigue and terror, sick witli shame, \nhalf choked with mud \u2014 she was flung upon the \nbank ; and her persecutors \u2014 alas for the cruelty of \nignorance! \u2014 kicked and beat her until she died. \nHer husband also sank under his barbarous maltreat- \nment. It is satisfactory to know that Colley, as the \nworst offender, was brought to trial on a charge of \nwilful murder, found guilty, and most righteously \nhanged. The crowd, however, who witnessed his \nexecution, lamented him as a martyr, unjustly \npunished for ha\\'ing delivered the world from one of \nSatan's servants, and overwhelmed with execrations \nthe sheriff whose duty it was to see that the behests \nof the law were carried out. \n\nIn February, 1759, Susannah Hannaker, of \nWingrove, Wilts, was put to the ordeal of \nweighing, but fortunately for herself outweiglied \nthe church Bible, against which she was tested. \nIn June, 1760, at Leicester; in June, 1785, at \nNorthampton; and in April, 1829, at Monmouth, \npersons were tried for ducking supposed witches. \nSimilar cases have occurred in our own time. On \nSeptember 4, 18G3, a paralytic Frenchman died of \nan illness induced by his having been ducked as a \nwizard in a pond at Castle Hedingham, in Essex. \n\n\n\n302 \n\n\n\nWITCU, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. (BOOK IL \n\n\n\nAnd an aged woman, named Anne Turner, reputed \nto be a witch, was killed by a man, partially insane, \nat the village of Long Compton, in Warwickshire, on \nSeptember 17, 1875. But the reader needs no further \nillustrations of the longevity of human error, or the \nterrible vitality of prejudice, especially among the \nuneducated. The thuumaturgist or necromancer, \nwith his wand, his magic circle, his alembics and \ncrucibles, disappeared long ago, because, as I have \nalready pointed out, his support depended upon a \nclass of society whose intelligence was rapidly \ndeveloped by the healthy influences of literature \nand science ; but the sham astrologer and the pseudo- \nwitch linger still in obscure corners, because they \nfind their prey among the credulous and the ignorant. \nThe more widely we extend the bounds of knowledge, \nthe more certainly shall we prevent the recrudescence \nof such forms of imposture and aspects of delusion as \nin the preceding pages I have attempted to describe. \n\n\n\nTHE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. \n\n\n\nTHE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND. \n\n\n\nAmong the people of Scotland, a more serious-minded \nand imaginative race than the English, the super- \nstition of witchcraft was deeply rooted at an early \nperiod. Its development was encouraged not only \nby the idiosyncrasies of the national character, but \nalso by the nature of the country and the climate in \nwhich they lived. The lofty mountains, with their \nmisty summits and shadowy ravines \u2014 their deep \nobscure glens \u2014 were the fitting homes of the ivildest \nfancies, the eeriest legends; and the storm crashing \nthrough the forests, and the surf beating on tlie rocky \nshore, suggested to the ear of the peasant or the \nfisherman the voices of unseen creatures \u2014 of the \ndread spirits of the waters and the air. To men who \nbelieved in kelpie and wraith and the second sight, \na belief in witch and warlock was easy enough. And \nit was not until the Calvinist reformers imported \ninto Scotland their austere and rigid creed, with its \nliteral interpretation of Biblical imagorj-, that witch- \ncraft came to be regarded as a crime. It was not \nuntil 1563 that the Parliament of Scotland passed a \n\n\n\n304 WITCH, WAULOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [boOK U. \n\nstatute constituting 'witchcraft and dealinfj with \nwitches ' a capital offence. It is true that persons \naccused of witchcraft had already suffered death \u2014 as \nthe Earl of Mar, brother of James III., who was \nsuspected of intriguing with witches and sorcerers in \norder to compass his brother's death, and Lady \nGlamis, in 1532, charged with a similar plot against \nJames V, \u2014 but in both these cases it was the treason \nwhich was punished rather than the .sorcery. I \n\nIn the Scottish criminal records the first person \nwho suffei'ed death for the practice of witchcraft was \na Janet Bowman, in 1572, No particulars of her \noffence are given ; and against her name are written \nonly the significant words, ' convict and byrnt.' \n\nA remarkable case, that of Bessie Dunlop, belongs \nto 1576.* She was the wife of an Ayrshire peasant, \nAndrew Jack. According to her own statement, she \nwas going one day from her house to the yard of \nMonkcastle, driving her cows to the pasture, and \ngreeting over her troubles \u2014 for she had a milch-cow \nnigli sick to death, and her husband and child were \nlying ill, and she herself had but recently risen from \nchildbed \u2014 when a strange man met her, and saluted her \nwith the words, ' Gude day, Bessie !' She answered \ncivilly, and, in replj' to his questions, acquainted him \nwith her anxieties ; whereupon he informed her that \nher cow, her two sheep, and her child would die, but \nthat her gude man would recover. She described \nthis stranger in graphic language as ' an honest, wele- \n\n* PitcairD, ' Crimical Trials,' i. 49-58. This chapter is mainly \nfounded on Uie reports in Fitcairn. \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] THE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND. 305 \n\nelderlie man, gray bairdit, and had ane gray coat \nwith Lumbart slevia of the auld fassoun ; ane pair of \ngray brekis and quhyte schankis, gartaurt above the \nknee ; ane black bonnet on bis beid, cloise -behind \nand plane before, ivitb silkin laissis drawin throw the \nlippis thairof; and ane quhj-te wand in his hand.' \nHe told Bessie that his name was Thomas Reid, and \nthat he had been killed at the Battle of Pinkie. \nExtraordinary as was this information, it did not \nseem improbable to her when she noted the manner \nof bis disappearance through the yard of Monkcastle : \n* I thocht he gait in at ane narroware boill of the \ndyke [wall], nor ony erdUe man culd haif gaun \nthrow ; and swa I was sumthing fleit [terri6ed].' \n\nThomas Reid's sinister predictions were duly ful- \nfilled. Soon afterwards, he again met Bessie, and \nboldly invited her to deny her religion, and the faith \nin which she was christened, in return for certain \nworldly advantages. But Bessie steadfastly refused. \n\nThis visitor of hers was under no fear of the \nordinance which is supposed to limit the mundane \nexcursions of ' spiritual creatures ' to the hours \nbetween sunset and cockcrow j for he generally made \nhis appearance at mid-day. It is not less tingular \nthat he made no objection to the presence of humanity. \nOn one occasion he called at her house, where she sat \nconversing M'ith her husband and three tailors, and, \ninvisible to them, jjlucked her by the apron, and led \nher to the door, and thence up the bill-end, where he \nbade her stand, and be silent, whatever she might \nhear or see. And suddenly she beheld twelve \n\n20 \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\n306 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAK\". [book U. \n\npersons, eight women and four men ; tlie men clad \nin ffentlemen's clothing, and the women with plaids \nround about them, very seemly to look at. Thomas \nwas among them. They bade her sit down, and \nsaid ; ' Welcome, Bessie ; wilt thou go mth us ?' But \nshe made no answer, and after some conversation \namong themselves, they disappeared in a hideous \nwhirlwind. \n\nWhen Thomas returned, he informed her that the \npersons she had seen were the ' good wights,' who \ndwell in the Court of Faery, and he brought her an \ninvitation to accompany them tliither \u2014 an invitation \nwhich he repeated with much earnestness. She \nanswered, with true Scotch caution: 'She saw no \nprofit to gang that kind of gates, unless she knew \nwherefore,' \n\n' Seest thou not me,' he rejoined, 'worth meat and \nworth clothes, and good enough like in person ?' \n\nThe prospect, however, could not beguile her; and \nshe continued firm in her simjjle resolve to dwell \nwith her husband and bairns, whom slie had no wish \nto abandon. Off went Thomas in a storm of anger ; \nhut before long he recovered his temper, and \nresumed his visits, showing himself willing to ' fetch \nand carry ' at her request, and always treating her \nwith the deference due to a wife and mother. The \nonly benefit she derived from this friendship was, she \nsaid, the means of curing diseases and recovering \nstolen property, so tliat her witchcraft was of the \nf-implest, innocentest kind. There was no compact \nwith the devil, and it injured nobody- \u2014 except doctors \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] THE \"WITCHES OF SCOTLAND. 3U7 \n\nand thieves. Yet for yielding to tliis hallucination \u2014 \nthe product of a vivid imagination, stimulated, we \nsuspect, by much solitary reverie \u2014 Bessie Dunlop \nwas 'convyct and byrnt.' Mayhap, as she was led \nto the death-fire, she may have dreamed that she had \ndone better to have gone with Thomas Keid to the \nCourt of Faiiry ! \n\n\n\nThe combination of the fairy folklore with the \ngloomier inventions of witchcraft occurs again in the \ncase of Alison Pierson (1588). There was a certain \n\"William Simpson, a great scholar and physician, and \na native of Stirling. While but a child, he was \ntaken away from his parents ' by a man of Egypt, a \ngiant,' who led him away to Egypt with him, ' where \nhe remained by the space of twelve years before he \ncame home again.' On his return, he made the \nacquaintance of Alison, who was a near relative, and \ncured her of certain ailments ; but soon afterwards, \nless fortunate in treating himself, he died. Some \nmonths had passed when, one day as Alison was \nlying on her bed, sick and alone, she was suddenly \naddressed by a man in green clothes, who told her \nthat, if she would be faithful, he would do her good. \nIq her first alarm, she cried for help, but no one hear- \ning, she called upon the Divine Name, when her \nvisitor immediately disappeared. Before long, he \ncame to her again, attended by many men and \nwomen; and compelling her to accompany them, they \nset off in a gay procession to Lothian, where they \nfound puncheons of wine, with drinking-aups, and \n20\u20142 \n\n\n\n308 \n\n\n\nWITCn, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK | \n\n\n\nenjoyed themselves right heartily. Thenceforward \nshe was on the friendliest terms with the ' good neigh- \nbours,' even visiting the Fairy Queen at her court, \nwhere, according to her own account, she was made \nmuch of, was treated, indeed, as ' one of themselves,' \nand allowed to see them compounding wonderful \nhealing- salves in miniature pans over tiny fires. \n\nIt would seem that tliis woman had acquired a con- \nsiderable knowledge of ' herbs and simples,' and that \nthe medicines she made up effected remarkable cures. \nNo doubt it was for the purpose of enhancing the \nvalue of her concoctions that she professed to have \nobtained the secret of them from the fairies. So great \nwas her repute for medicinal skill, that the Archbishop \nof St. Andrews sought her advice in a dangerous \nillness, and, by her directions, ate 'a sodden food,' \nand at two draughts absorbed a quart of good claret \nwine, which she had previously medicated, greatly \nbenefiting thereby. \n\nAlison had a fertile fancy and a fluent tongue, and \ntold stories of the fairies and their doings which did \ncredit lo her invention. It does not appear that she \ninjured anybody, except, perhaps, by her drugs, but, \nthen, even the faculty sometimes do that! But, like \nBessie Dunlop, she was convicted of witchcraft, and \nburned. The surprising thing about this and similar \ncases is, that the poor woman should have assisted in \nher own condemnation by devising such extraordinary \nfictions. What was the use of tbera ? A prisoner on \na charge which, if proved against her, meant a terrible \ndeath, what object did she expect to gain ? Was it \n\n\n\n\nTHE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND. \n\n\n\n309 \n\n\n\nall done for the sake of the temporary surprise and \nastooishment her tale created ? that she might be \nthe heroine of an hour ? \u2014 Men have, we know, their \nstrange ambitions, but if this were Alison Pierson's, \nit was one of the very strangest. \n\nIn the next case I shall bring forward, that of \nDame Fowlis, we come upon the trail of actual crime. \nDame Fowlis, second wife of the chief of the clan \nMunro, was by birth a Roise or Ross, of Balnagown. \nTo effect the aggrandisement of her own family, she \nplotted the death of Robert, her husband's eldest son, \nin order to marry his wealthy widow to her brother, \nGeorge Roise or Ross, laird of Balnagown ; but as \nhe, too, was married, it was necessary to get rid of his \nwife also. For this ' double event,' she employed, with \nlittle attempt at concealment, three 'notorious witches' \n\u2014 Agnes Ro}', Christian Roy, and Marjory Nayre \nMac Allister, alias Loskie Loncart \u2014 besides one William \nMacGillivordam, and several other persons of dubious \nreputation. About Midsummer, 1576, Agnes Roy \nwas despatched to bring Loskie Loncart into Dame \nFowlis' presence. The result of this interview was \nsoon apparent. Clay images of the two doomed \nindividuals were made, and exposed to the usual \nsorceries ; while MacGillivordam obtained a supply of \npoison from Aberdeen, which the cook was bribed to \nput into a dish intended for the lady of Balnagown's \ntable. It did not prove mortal, as anticipated, but \nafflicted the unfortunate lady with a long and severe \nillness. Dame Fowlis, however, felt no remorse, but \n\n\n\n310 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I \n\n\n\ncontinued her plots, gradually widening their scope \nuntil she resolved to kill all her husband's children by \nhis first wife, in order to secure the inheritance for \nher own. In May, 1577, she Instructed Macgilli- \nvordam to procure a large quantity of poison. He \nrefused, unless his brother was made pri\\'y to the \ntransaction. I suppose this was done, as the poison \nwas obtained, and proved to be so deadly in its nature \nthat two persons \u2014 a woman and a hoy \u2014 were killed \nby accidentally tasting of it. \n\nFoiled in her scheme, Dame Fowlis resorted to the \npractices of witchcraft, and bought, in June, for five \nshillings, 'an elf arrow-head' \u2014 that is, a rude flint \nimplement \u2014 belonging to the neolithic age. On \nJuly 2, she and her accomplices met together in \nsecret conclave ; and having made an image of butter \nto resemble Robert Munro, they placed it against the \nwall ; and then, with the elf arrow-head, Loskie \nLoncart shot at it for eight times, hut each time with- \nout success, a proof that the familiars of the devil, \nlike their master, could not always Iiit the mark. \nMeeting a second time for the same purpose, they \nmade an image of clay, at which Loskie shot twelve \ntimes in succession, invariably missing, to the great \ndisappointment of all concerned. The failure was \nascribed to the elf arrow-head, and in August another \nwas procured ; two figures of clay were also made, for \nRobert Munro and for Lady Balnagown, respectively ; \nat the latter Dame Fowlis shot twice, and at the \nformer Loskie Loncart shot thrice ; but the shooting \nwas no better than before, and the two images being \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] THE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND. \n\naccidentally broken, the charm was destroyed. It \nwas proposed to try poison again, but by this time \nthe authorities had \"\u25a0ained information of what was \ngoing on, and towards the end of November, Christian \nRoy, who had been present at the third meeting, was \narrested. Being put to the torture, she confe \neverything, and, together with some of her con- \nfederates, was convicted of witchcraft and burnt. \nDame Fowlis, who assuredly was not the least guilty \nperson, escaped to Caithness, but, after remaining in \nconcealment for nine months, was allowed to return to \nher home. In 1,t88, her husband died, and was \nsucceeded in bis estates by Robert Munro, who \nrevived the charge of witchcraft against his step- \nmother, and obtained a commission for her examina- \ntion and that of her surviving accomplices. Dame \nFowlis was put on her trial on July 22, 1590 ; but she \nhad money and friends, and contrived to obtain a ver- \ndict of acquittal. \n\nIt is oae of the most remarkable features of this re- \nmarkable case that, as soon as her acquittal was pro- \nnounced, a newtrial was opened, in which the defendant \nwas her other stepson, Hector Munro,* who had been, \nonly an hour before, the principal witness against her. \nThe allegations against him were: first, that, during the \nBore sickness of his brother, in the summer of 1588, he \nhad consulted with ' three notorious and common \nwitches' respecting the best means of curing him, and \nhad sheltered them for several days, until compelled by \nhis father to send them about their business; and, \n' I'iCcairii, III atih; i. 192, 203, 285. \n\n\n\n312 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAKLOCK, ASH MAGICIAN'. [BOOK H. J \n\n\n\nseconf], that falling- ill himself, in January, 1559, he \nhad caused a certain Marion ilaclngaruch, ' one of the ] \nmost notorious and rank witches in the whole realm,' \nto be brought to him, and who, after administering \nthree draughts of water out of three stones which she \ncarried with her, declared that his sole chance of , \nrecovery lay in the sacrifice of ' the principal man of | \nhia blood.' After due consultation, they decided that ' \ntliis vicarious sufferer must be Georg;e Munro, his \nstep - brother, the eldest son of Dame Fowlis. \nMessengers were accordingly sent in search of him. , \nApprehending no evil, he obeyed the call, and five \ndays afterwards arrived at the liouse of Hector , \nMunro. Following the directions of the witch, \nHector received his brother in silence, giving him his , \nleft hand, and taking him by the right hand, and i \nuttering no word of greeting until he had spoken. \nGeorge, astounded by the chillness of his reception, \nwhich be could not but contrast with the warmth of \nthe invitations, remained in his brother's sick-room an \nhour without speaking. At last he asked Hector how \nhe felt. ' The better that you have come to visit \nme,' replied Hector, and then was again silent, for bo , \nthe witch had ordained. An hour after midnight \nappeared Marion Maclngaruch, with several assist- \nants; and, arming themselves with spades, they re- \npaired to a nook of ground at the sea-side, situated \nbetween the boundaries of the estates of the two \nlairds, and there, removing the turf, they dug a grave \nof the size of the invalid. \n\nMari(\u00abi returned to the house, and gave directions \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] TUE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND. 313 \n\nto her confederates as to the parts they were to play \nin the startling scene which was j-et to be enacted. \nIt was represented to her that if George died \nsuddenly suspicions would be arou.sed, with a result \ndangerous to all concerned ; and she thereupon under- \ntook that he should be spared until April 17 next \nthereafter. Hector was then wrapped up in a couple \nof blankets, and carried to the grave in silence. In \nsilence he was deposited in it, and the turf lightly \nlaid upon him, while Marion stationed herself by his \nside. His foster-mother, one Christiana Neill Day- \nzell, then took a young lad by the hand, and ran the \nbreadth of nine ridges, afterwards inquiring of the \nwitch ' who might be her choice,' and receiving for \nanswer, ' That Hector was her choice to live, and his \nbrother George to die for him.* This ceremony was \nthrice repeated, and the sick man was then taken \nfrom the grave, and carried home, the most absolute \nsilence still being maintained. \n\nSuch an experience on a bitter January night \nmight well have proved fatal to the subject of it ; \nbut, strange to say, Hector Munro recovered \u2014 \nprobably from the effect on his imagination of rites \nso peculiar and impressive ; whereas, in the month \nof April, George Munro was seized with a grievous \nillness, of which, in the following June, he died. \nGrateful for the cure she had effected. Hector received \nthe witch Marion into high favour, installing her at \nhis uncle's house of Kildrummadyis, entertaining her \n* as if she had been his spouse, and giving her such \npre-eminence in the county that none durst offend \n\n\n\n314 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\nher.' But it is the nature of such unhallowed con- \nfederacies to surrender, eooner or later, their dark, \ndread secrets. Whispers spread abroad, {gradually \nshaping themselves into a connected story which \ninvited judicial investigatioii. A warrant was issued \nfor the arrest of Marion Muclngurach ; but for some \ntime Hector Munro contrived to conceal her, until \nDame Fowlis discovered and made known that she \nwas lying in the house at Fowlis, She was arrested j \nand, making a full confession of her actions, was \nsentenced to death, and hurnt. Hector Munro. \nhowever, was more fortunate, and obtained hia \nacquittal. \n\nJAMES I. Asn TDE WITCHES. \n\nThese, and other cases of witchcraft which, as the \nmania extended, occurred in various parts of the \ncountry, attracted the attention of King James, and \nmade a profound impre.=sion upon him. Taking up \nthe study of the subject with enthusiasm, he inquired \ninto the demonology of France and Germany, where \nit had been matured into a science; and this so \nthoroughly that he became, as already stated, an \nexpert, and M'as really entitled to pronounce authori- \ntative decisions. His example, however, had a dis- \nastrous effect, confirming and deepening the popular \ncredulity to such an extent that the common people, \nfor a time, might have been divided into two great \nclasses \u2014 witches and witch-6nders. That in such \ncircumstances many acts of cruelty should be per- \npetrated was inevitable. So complete was the de- \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAMES 1. AND THE WiTCHJiS. Jl5 \n\nmoralizatlon, that the most trivial physical or mental \npeculiarity was held to be an indubitable witch-mark, \nand young and old were hurried to the stake like \nsheep to the slaughter. \n\nIn August, 1589, King James was married, by \nproxy, to Princess Anne of Denmark ; and the im- \npatient monarch was eagerly awaiting the arrival of \nhis bride from Copenhagen, when the unwelcome \nintelligence reached him that the vessels conveying \nher and her suite had been overtaken by a storm, \nand, after a narrow escape from destruction, had put \ninto tlie port of Upsal, in Norway, with the intention \nof remaining there until the follomng spring. The \neager bridegroom, summoning up all his courage \u2014 \nhe had no love for the sea \u2014 resolved to go in search \nof his queen, and, having found her, to conduct her \nto her new home. At Upsal the marriage was duly \nsolemnized; and husband and wife then voyage^ to \nCopenhagen, where tliey spent the winter. The \nhomeward voyage was not undertaken until the \nfollowing spring; and it was on May Day, 1590, \nthat James and his Queen landed at Leith, after an \nexperience of the sea which confirmed James's dis- \ntaste for it. \n\nThe political disorder of the country, and the bold \nwhich the new superstition had obtained upon the \nminds of the people, encouraged the circulation of \ndark mysterious rumours in connection with the \nKing's unfavourable passage ; and a general belief \nsoon came to he established that the tempestuous \nweather which had so seriously affected it was due to \n\n\n\n\n316 WITCH, WARLUCK, AND MAGICIAN, [BOOK II. \n\nthe intervention of supernatural powers, at the in- \nstigation of human treachery. Suspicion fixed at \nlength upon the Earl of Bothwell, who was arrested \nand committed to prison; but in June, 1391, con- \ntrived to make his escape, and conceal himself in the \nremote recesses of the Highlands. Not long after- \nwards, some curious circumstances attending certain \ncures which a servant girl^ \u2014 GeilHs, or Gillies, \nDuncan \u2014 had performed, led to her being suspected \nof witchcraft ; and this suspicion opened up a series \nof investigations, which revealed the esistence of an \nextraordinary conspiracy against the King's life. \n\nGeillis Duncan was in the employment of David \nSeton, deputy-bailiff of the small town of Tranent, \nin Haddingtonshire. Unlike the witch of English \nrural life, she was young, comely, and fair-com- \nplexioned ; and the only ground on which the idea \nof witchcraft was associated mth her was the \nwonderful quickness with which she had cured some \nsick and diseased persons, the fact being that she was \nwell acquainted with the healing properties of herbs. \nWhen her master severely interrogated her, she at \nonce denied all knowledge of the mysteries of the \nMack art. He then, without leave or license, put \nher to the torture ; she still continued to protest her \ninnocence. It was a popular conviction that no \nwitch would confess so long as the devil-mark on \nher body remained undiscovered. She was subjected \nto an indecent examination \u2014 the stigma was found \n(said the examiners) on her throat; she was again \nsubjected to the torture. The outraged girl's forti- \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. 317 \n\ntude then gave way ; she acknowledged whatever her \npersecutors wished to learn. Yes, she was a witch I \nShe had made a compact with the devil ; all her \ncures had been effected by his assistance\u2014 quite a \nnew feature in the character of Satan, who has not \ngenerally been suspected of any compassionate feeling \ntowards suffering humanity. That she had done \ngood instead of harm availed the imfortimate Geillis \nnothing. She was committed to prison ; and the \ntorture being a third time applied, made a fuller \nconfession, in which she named her accomplices or \nconfederates, some forty in number, residing in \ndifferent parts of Lothian. Their arrest and ex- \namination disclosed the particulars of one of the \nstrangest intrigues ever concocted. \n\nThe principal parties in it were Dr. Fian, or Frain, \na reputed wizard, also known as John Cunningham ; \na grave matron, named Agnes Sampson ; Euphemia \nMacalzean, daughter of Lord Cliftonhall ; and \nBarbara Napier. Fian, or Cunningham, was a \nschoolmaster of Tranent, and a man of ability and \neducation ; but his life had been evil \u2014 he was a \nvendor of poisons \u2014 and, though innocent of the pre- \nposterous crimes alleged against him, had dabbled in \nthe practices of the so-called sorcery. When a \ntwisted cord was bound round his bursting temples, \nhe would confess nothing ; and, exasperated by his \nfortitude, the authorities subjected him to the terrible \ntorture of Uhe boots.' Even this he endured in \nsilence, until exhausted nature came to his relief \nwith an interval of unconsciousness. He was then \n\n\n\n318 \n\n\n\nWIICH, WARLOCK, AMD MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\n\n\nk \n\n\n\nreleased ; restoratives were applied ; and, while he \nhovered on the border of sensibility, he was induced \nto sign ' a full confession.' Being remanded to his \nprison, he contrived, two days afterwards, to escape; \nbut was recaptured, and brought before the High \nCourt of Justiciary, King James himself being \npresent. Fian strenuously repudiated the so-called \nconfession which had been foisted upon him in his \nswonn, declaring that his signature had been obtained \nby a fraud. Whereupon King James, enraged at \nwhat he conceived to be the man's stubborn wilful- \nness, ordered him again to the torture. His finger- \nnails were torn out with pincers, and long needles \nthrust into the quick ; but the courageous man made \nno sign. He was then subjected once more to the \nbarbarous 'boots,' in which he continued so long, \nand endured so many blows, that 'his legs were \ncrushed and beaten together as small as might be, \nand the bones and flesh so bruised, that the blood \nand marrow spouted forth in great abundance, \nwherebj' they were made unserviceable for ever.\" \n\nAs ultimately extorted from the unfortunate Fian, \nhis confession shows a remarkable mixture of impos- \nture and self-deception \u2014 a patchwork of the false- \nhoods he believed and those he invented. Singularly \ngrotesque is his account of his introduction to the \ndevil: He was lodging at Tranent, in the house of \none Thomas Trumblll, who had offended him by \nneglecting to ' sparge ' or whitewash his chamber, as \nhe had promised ; and, while lying in his bed, medi- \ntating how he might be revenged of the said Thomas, \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAME3 I. AND THE WITCHES. \n\n\n\n319 \n\n\n\nthe devil, clothed in white raiment, suddenly appeared, \nand said : ' Will ye be my servant, and adore me \nand all my servants, and ye shall never want ?' \nNever want ! The bribe to a poor Scotch dominie \nwas immense ; Fian could not withstand it, and at \nonce enlisted among 'the Devil's Own.' As his first \nact of service, he had the pleasure of burning down \nMaster Trumbill's house. The nest night Beelzebub \npaid him another visit, and put his mark upon him \nwith a rod. Thereafter ho was found lying in his \nchamber in a trance, during which, he said, he was \ncarried in the spirit over many mountains, and \naccomplished an aerial circumnavigation of the globe. \nIn the future he attended all the nightly conferences \nof witches and fiends held throughout Lothian, dis- \nplaying BO much energy and capacity that the devil \nappointed him to be his 'registrar and secretary.' \n\nThe first convention at which he was present \nassembled in the parish church of North Berwick, a \nbreezy, picturesque seaport at the mouth of the Forth, \nabout sixteen miles from Preston Pans. Satan occu- \npied the pulpit, and delivered ' a sermon of doubtful \nspeeches,' designed for their encouragement His \nservants, he said, should never want, and should ail \nnothing, so long as their hairs were on, and they let \nno tears fall from their eyes. He bade them spare \nnot to do evil, and advised them to eat, drink, and \nhe merry: after which edifying discourse they did \nhomage to him in the usual indecent manner. Fian, \nas I have said, was an evil-living man, and needed \nno exhortation fi-om the devil to do wicked things. \n\n\n\n320 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\n\n\n^L aft. \n\n\n\nIn the coarse of his testimony he invented, as was so \nfrequently the strange practice of persons accused of \nwitchcraft, the most extravagant fictions \u2014 as, for \ninstance: One night he supped at the miller's, a few \nmiles from Tranent; and as it was late when the \nrevel ended, one of the miller's men carried him home \non horseback. To light them on their way through \nthe (lark of night, Fian raised up four candles on the \nhorse's ears, and one on the staff which his guide \ncarried ; their great brightness made the midnight \nappear aa noonday; but the miller's man was so \nterrified by the phenomenon that, on his return home, \nhe fell dead. \n\nLet us next turn to the confession of Agnes \nSampson, ' the wise wife of Keith,' as she was \npopularly called. She was charged with having \ndone grave injury to persons who had incurred her \ndispleasure ; but she seems, when all fictitious details \nare thrust aside, to have been simply a shrewd and \nsagacious old Scotchwoman, with much force of \ncharacter, who made a decent living as a herb-doctor. \nArchbishop Spottiswoode describes her as matronly \nin appearance, and grave of demeanour, and adds \nthat she was composed in her answers. Yet were \nthose answers the wildest and most extraordinary \nutterances imaginable, and, if they be truly recorded, \nthey convict her of unscrupulous audacity and un- \nfailing ingenuity. \n\nShe affirmed that her service to the devil began \nafter her husband's death, when he apjieared to her \nin mortal likeness, and commanded her to renounce \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. 321 \n\nChrist, and obey him as her master. For the sake of \nthe riches he promised to herself and her children, \nshe consented ; and thereafter he came in the guise of \na dog, of which she asked questions, always receiving \nappropriate replies. On one occasion, having been \nsummoned by the Lady Edmaaton, who was l^'ing \nsick, she went out into the garden at night, and \ncalled the devil bj' his terrestrial or mundane alias \nof Elva. He bounded over the stone wall in the \nlikenesB of a dog, and approached her so close that \nshe was friglitened, and charged him by 'the law he \nbelieved in ' to keep his distance. She then asked \nhim if the lady would recover ; he replied in the \nnegative. In bis turn he inquired where the gentle- \nwomen, her daughters, were ; and being informed \nthat they were to meet her in the garden, said that \none of them should be his leman. ' Not so,' \nexclaimed the wise wife undauntedly ; and the devil \nthen went away howling, like a whipjied schoolboy, \nand kid himself in the well until after supper. The \nyoung gentlewomen coming into the bloom and per- \nfumes of the garden, he suddenly emerged, seized the \nLady Torsenye, and attempted to drag her into the \nwell; but Agnes gripped him firmly, and by her \nsuperior strength delivered her from his clutches. \nThen, with a terrible yell, he disappeared. \n\nYet another story: Agnes, with Geillis Duncan \nand other witches, desiring to be revenged on the \ndeputy bailiff, met on the !)ridge at FowUstruther, \nand dropped a cord into the river, Agnes Sampson \ncrying, 'Hail! Holloa!' Immediately they felt the \n\n21 \n\n\n\n322 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK n. \n\n\n\nI \n\ntr \n\n\n\nend of the cord dragged down by a great weight ; \nand on drawing it up, up came the devil along with \nit ! He inquired if they had all been good servants, \nand gave them a charm to blight Seton and hia \nproperty ; but it was accidentally diverted in its operor \ntion, and fell upon another person \u2014 a touch of realisi^i \nworthy of Defoe ! \n\nEuphemia Macnlzean, a lady of high social position, \ndaughter and heiress of Lord Cliftonhall (who was \neminent as lai\\'yer, statesman, and scholar), seems to \nhave been involved in this welter of intrigue, con- \nspiracy, and deception, through her adherence to \nBothwell's faction, and her devotion to the Roman \ncommunion. Her confession was aa grotesque and \nunveracious as that of any of her associates. She was \nmade a witch (she said) through the agency of an \nIrishwoman 'with a fallen uose,' and, to perfect her- \nself in the craft, had paid another witch, who resided \nin St. Ninian's Row, Edinburgh, for ' inaugurating ' \nher with 'the girth of ane gret bikar,' revolving it \n' oft round her head and neck, and ofttimes round her \nhead.' She was accused of having administered poison \nto her husband, her father-in-law, and some other \npersons ; and whatever may be thought of the allega- \ntions of sorcery and witchcraft, this heavier charge \nseems to have been well-founded. Euphemia said \nthat her acquaintance with Agnes Sampson began \nwith her first accouchement, when she applied to her \nto mitigate her pains, and she did so by transferring \nthem to a dog. At her second accouchement, Agnes \ntransferred them to a cat \n\n\n\n^ \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, rv.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. 323 \n\nAs a determined enemy of the Protestant religion, \nSatan was inimical to King James's marriage with a \nProtestant princess, and to break up an alliance which \nwould greatly limit his power for evil, he determined \nto sink the ship that carried the newly-married couple \non their homeward voyage. His first device was to \nhang over the sea a very dense mist, in the hope that \nthe royal ship would miss her course, and strike on \nsome dangerous rock. When this device failed, \nDr. Fian was ordered to summon all the witches to \nmeet their master at the haunted kirk of North \nBerwick. Accordingly, on Ail- Hallow-mass Eve, \nthey assembled there to the number of two hundred ; \nand each one embarking in 'a riddle,' or sieve,* they \nsailed over the ocean 'very substantially,' carrying \nwith them flagons of wine, and making merry, \nand drinking 'by the way.' After sailing about for \nsome time, they met with their master, bearing in \nhis claws a cat, which had previously been drawn \nnine times through the fire. Handing it to one of \nthe warlocks, he bade him cast it into the sea, and \nshout ' Hola !' whereupon the ocean became con- \nvulsed, and the waters seethed, and the billows rose \nlike heaving mountains. On through the storm \nsailed this eerie company until they reached the \nScottish coast, where they landed, and, joining hands. \ndanced in procession to the kirk of North Berwick. \nGeillis Duncan going before them, playing a reel \nupon her Jew's-harp, or trump \u2014 formerly a favourite \n\n\u2666 So the witch in ' Macbeth ' (Act I., bc. 3) saye : \n'In a sieve I'll thither sail.' \n\n\n\n324 \n\n\n\nWITCB, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\n\n\nL \n\n\n\nmusical instrument with the Scotch peaaantry \u2014 and \nsinging ; \n\n' Cummer, go ye before ; cummer, go ye ; \nGif ye will not go before, cummer, let me !' \n\nHaving arrived at their rendezvous, they danced \nround it ' withershins ' \u2014 that is, in reverse of the J \napparent motion of the sun. Dr. Fian then blew ' \ninto the keyhole of the door, which opened im- \nmediately, and all the witches and warlocks entered \nin. It was pitch-dark ; but Fian lighted the tapers \nby merely blowing on them, and their sudden blaze \nrevealed the devil in the pnlpit, attired in a black \ngown and hat. The deMcription given of the fiend \nreveals the stern imagination of the North, and is \ncharacteristic of the ' weird sisters ' of Scotland, \nwho form, as Dr. Burton remarks, so grand a con- \ntrast to ' the vulgar grovelling parochial witches of \nEngland.' His body was hard as iron ; his &ce \nterrible, with a nose like an eagle's beak ; his eyes \nglared like 6re : hia voice was gruff as the sound of \nthe east ivind ; his hands and legs were covered with \nhair, and his hands and feet were armed with long \nclaws. On beholding him, witches and warlocks, \nwith one accord, cried : ' All hail, master !' He then \ncalled over their names, and demanded of them \nseverally whether they had been good and faithful \nservants, and what measure of success had attended \ntheir operations against the lives of King James and \nhis bride \u2014 which surely he ought to have known ! \nGray Malkin, a foolish old warlock, who officiated as \nbeadle or janitor, heedlessly answered. That nothing \n\n\n\n\nv-1 \n\n\n\nJAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. \n\n\n\nwled the King yet, God be thanked ! At which the \ndevil, in a fury, leaped from the pulpit, and lustily \nsmote him on the ears. He then resumed hia \nposition, and delivered his sermon, commanding \nthem to act faithfully in their service, and do all the \nevil they could. Euphemia Macalzean and Agnes \nSampson summoned up courage enough to ask him \nwhether he had brought an image or picture of the \nKing, that, by pricking it with pins, they might \ninflict upon its living pattern all kinds of pain and \ndisease. The devil was fain to acknowledge that he \nhad forgotten it, and was soundly rated by Euphemia \nfor his carelessness, Agnes Sampson and several \nother women seizing the opportunity to load him \nwitli reproaches on their respective accounts. \n\nOn another occasion, according to Agnes Sampson, \nshe, Dr. Fian, and a wizard of some energy, named \nRobert Grierson, with several others, left Grierson's \nhouse at Preston Pans in a boat, and went out to sea \nto * a tryst.' Embarking on board a fihip, they \ndrank copiously of good wine and ale, after which \nthey sank the ship and her crew, and returned home. \nAnd again, sailing from North Berwick in a boat like \na chimney, they saw the devil \u2014 in shape and size \nresembling a huge hayrick \u2014 rolling over the great \nwaves in front of them. They went on board a \nvessel called The Grace of God, where they enjoyed, \nas before, an abundance of wine and ' other good \ncheer.' On leaving it, the devil, who was under- \nneath the ship, raised an evil wind, and it perished. \n\nSome of these stories proved to be too highly \n\n\n\n326 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK n. \n\n\n\ncoloured even for the credulity of King James ; and \nhe rightly enough exclaimed that the witches were, \nlike their master, 'extraordinary liars.' It is said, \nhowever, that he changed his opinion after Agnes \nSampson, in a private conference which he accorded \nto her, related the details of a conversation hetween \nhimself and the Queen that had taken place under \nsuch circumstances as to ensure inviolable secrecy. \nIt is curious that a verj' similar story is told of \nJeanne Dare \u2014 whom our ancestors burned as a witch \n\u2014 and King Charles VI. of Franca \n\nDespite the machinations of the devil and the \nwitches, King James and Queen Anne, as we know, \nescaped every peril, and reached Leith in safety. The \ndevil sourly remarked that James was ' a man of \nGod,' and was evidently inclined to let him alone \nseverely ; but the Preston Pans conspirators, in- \nstigated, perhaps, by some powerful ]>ersonages who \nkept prudently in the background, resolved on \nanother attempt against their sovereign's life. On \nLammas Eve (July 31, 1.590), nine of the ring- \nleaders, including Dr. Fian, Agnes Sampson, \nEuphemia Macalzean, and Barbara Napier, with some \nthirty confederates, assembled at the New Haven, \nbetween Musselburgh and Preston Pans, at a spot \ncalled the Fairy Holes, where they were met by the \ndevil in the shape of a black man, which was \n'thought most meet to do the turn for the which \nthey were convened.' Agnes Sampson at once pro- \nposed that they should make a final effort for the \nKing's destruction. The devil took an unfavourable \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAJiES I. AND THE WITCHES. \n\n\n\n327 \n\n\n\nview of the prospects of their schemes ; but he \npromised them a waxen image, and directed them \nto hang up and roast a toad, and to lay its drippings \n\u2014 mixed with strong wash, an adder's skin, and *the \nthing on the forehead of a new-foaled foal ' \u2014 in \nJames's path, or to suspend it in such a position \nthat it might drip upon his body. This precious \ninjunction was duly obeyed, and the toad hung up \nwhere the dripping would fell upon the King, \n' during his Majesty's being at the Brig of Dee, the \nday before the common bell rang, for fear the Earl \nBothwell should have entered Edinburgh.' But the \ndevil's foreboding was fulfilled, and the conspirators \nmissed their aim, the King happening to take a \ndifferent route to that by which he had been ex- \npected. \n\nIt is useless to repeat more of these wild and \ndesperate stories, or to inquire too closely into their \norigin. Fact and fiction are so mixed up in them, \nand the embellishments are so many and so bold, \nthat it is difficult to get at the nucleus of truth ; but, \nsetting aside the witch or supernatural element, we \nseem driven to the conclusion that these persons had \ncombined together for some nefarious purpose. \nWhether they intended to compass the King's death \nby the superstitious practices which the credulity of \nthe age supposed to be effective, or whether these \npractices were intended as a cover for surer means, \ncannot now be determined. Nor can we pretend to \nsay whether all who were implicated in the plot by \nthe confession of GeilUs Duncan were really guilty. \n\n\n\n328 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK n. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Fian, at all events, protested his innocence to the \nlast ; and with regard to him and others, the \nevidence adduced was painfull}- inadequate. But \nthej were all convicted and sentenced to death. In \nthe case of Barbara Napier, the majority of the jury \nat 6rst acquitted her on the principal charges ; but \nthe King was highly indignant, and threatened them \nwith a trial for ' wilful error upon an assize.' To \navoid the consequences, they threw themselves upon \nthe King's mercy, and were benevolently ' pai'doned.' \nPoor Barbara Napier ^va8 hanged. So was Dr. \nFian, on Castle Hill, Edinburgh (in January, 1592), \nand burned afterwards. So were Agnes Sampson, \nAgnes Thomson, and their real or supposed con- \nfederates. The punishment of Euphemia Macalzean \nwas exceptionally severe. Instead of the ordinary \nsentence, directing the criminal to be first strangled \nand then burnt, it was ordered that she should be \n'bound to a stiikc, and burned in ashes, quick to the \ndeath.' This fate befell her on June 25, 1591. \n\nIt was an unhappy result of this remarkable trial \nthat it confirmed King James in his belief that he \npossessed a rare faculty for the detection of witches \nand the discovery of witchcraft. Continuing his in- \nvestigation of the subject with fanatical zeal, he \npublished in Edinburgh, in 1597, the outcome ot his \nresearches in his ' Diemonologie ' \u2014 an elaborate \ntreatise, written in the form of a dialogue, the spirit \nof which may be inferred from its author's prefatory \nobservations : ' The fearful aboimding,' he says, ' at \nthis time and in this country, of these detestable \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n\nCEAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. \n\nslaves of the devil, the witches or enchanterp, hath \nmoved tne (beloved reader) to despatch in post this \nfollowing treatise of mine, not in any wise (as I \nprotest) to serve for a show of mine own learning \nand ingene, but only (moved of conscience) to press \nthereby, so far as i can, to resolve the doubting \nhearts of many, both that such assaults of Satan are \nmost certainly practised, and that the instrument \nthereof merits most severely to be punished, against \nthe damnable opinions of two, principally in our \nage ; whereof the one called Scot, an Englishman, is \nnot ashamed in public print to deny that there can \nbe such thing as witchcraft, and so maintains the \nold error of the Sadducees in denying of spirits. \nThe other, called Wierus. a German physician, seta \nout a public apology for all these crafts-folks, where- \nby procuring for them impunity, he plainly betrays \nhimself to have been one of that profession.' \n\nNot only is King James fully convinced of the \nexistence of witchcraft, but he is determined to treat \nit as a capital crime. 'Witches,' he affirms, 'ought to \nbe put to death, according to the laws of God, the \ncivil and imperial law, and the municipal law of all \nChristian nations ; yea, to spare the life, and not \nstrike whom God bids strike, and so severely punish \nBo odious a treason against God, is not only unlawful, \nbut, doubtless, as great a sin in the magistrate as was \nSaul's sparing Agag.' Conscious that the evidence \nbrought against the unfortunate victims was generally \nof the weakest possible character, he contends that \nbecause the crime is generally abominable, evidence in \n\n\n\n330 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK n. \n\nproof of it may be accepted which would be refused \nin other offences ; as, for example, that of young \nchildren who are ignorant of the nature of an oath, \nand that of persons of notoriously ill-repute. And \nthe sole chance of escape which he offers to the \naccused is that of the ordeal. ' Two good helps,' he \nsays, ' may be used: the one is the finding of their \nmarks, and the trying the inseneiblenesa thereof; the \nother is their floating on the water, for, as in a secret \nmurther, if the dead carcase be at any time thereafter \nhandled by the murtherer, it will gush out of blood, \nas if the blood were raging to the Heaven, for revenge \nof the murtherer (God having appointed that secret \nsupernatural sign for trial of that secret unnatural \ncrime), so that it appears that God hath appointed \n(for a supernatural sign of the monstrous impiety \nof witches), that the water shall reftise to receive \nthem in her bosom that have shaken off them the \nsacred water of baptism, and wilfully refused the \nbenefit thereof ; no, not so much as their eyes are \nable to shed tears at every light occasion when they \nwill ; yea, although it were dissembling like the \ncrocodiles, God not permitting them to dissemble \ntheir obstinacy in so horrible a crime.' \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nEncouraged by the practice and teaching of their \nsovereign, the people of Scotland, whom the anthro- \npomorphism of their reUglous creed naturally pre- \ndisposed to believe in the personal appearances of the \ndevil, undertook a regular campaign against those ill- \nfated individuals whom malice or ignorance, or their \n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCEAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. 331 \n\nown mental or physical peculiarities, or other causee, \nbranded as his bond-slaves and accomplices. Religious \nanimosity, moreover, was a powerful factor in stimu- \nlating and sustaining the mania ; and the Scotch \nCalvinist enjoyed a double gratification when some \npoor old woman was burned both as a witch and a \nEoman Catholic. It has been calculated that, in the \nperiod of thirty-nine years, between the enactment of \nthe Statute of Queen Mary and the accession of James \nto the English throne, the average number of persons \nexecuted for witchcraft was 200 annually, making an \naggregate of nearly 8,000. For the first nine years \nabout 30 or 40 suffered yearly ; but latterly the annual \ndeath-roll mounted up to 400 and 500. James at \nlast grew alarmed at the prevalence of witchcraft \nin hia kingdom, and seems to have devoted no small \nportion of hia time to attempts to detect and ex- \nterminate it. \n\nIn 1591 the Earl of Bothwell was imprisoned for \nhaving conspired the King's death by sorcery, in \nconjunction with a warlock named Richie Graham. \nGraham was burned on March 8, 1592. Bothwell \nwas not brought to trial until August 10, 1593, \nwhen several witches bore testimony against him, \nbut he obtained an acquittal. \n\nIn 1597, on November 12, four women were tried by \nthe High Court of Justiciary, in Edinburgh, on various \ncharges of witchcraft. Their names are recorded as \nChristina Livingstone, Janet Stewart, Bessie Aikin, \nand Christina Sadler. Their trials, however, present \nno special features of interest. \n\n\n\n332 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK n. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPassing over half a century, we come to the recru- \ndescence of the witch-mania, which followed on the \nrestoration of Charles II. Mr. R. Burns Begg has \nrecently edited for the Society of Antiquaries of \nScotland a report of various witch trials in Forfar \nand Kincardineshire, in the opening years of that \nmonarch's reign, which supplies some further illus- \ntrations of the characterif-tics of Scottish witchcraft. \nHere we meet with the strange word ' Covin ' or \n'Coven' (apparently connected with 'Covenant' or \n' Convention ') as applied to an organization or guild \nof witches. In 16(32 the Judge-General- Depute for \nScotland tried thirteen ' Coviners,' who had been \ndetected by the efforts of a committee consisting of \nthe ministers and schoolmasters of the district, \ntogether with the ' Laird of TulUbole.' Of these \nthirteen unfortunate victims only one was a man. \nAll were found guilty by the jury, and sentenced to \ndeath. Eleven suffered at the stake ; one died before \nthe day of execution, and one was respited on account \nof her pregnancy. The evidence was of the usual \nextraordinary tenor, and the so-called ' confessions ' \nof the accused were not less puzzling than in other \ncases. In Mr, Begg's opinion, which seems to me \nwell founded, there really wis in and around the \nCrook of Devon a local Covin, or regularly organized \nband of so-called witches who acted under the direc- \ntion of a person whom they believed to be Satan. \nHe suggests that at this period there would be many \nwild and nnscrupulous characters, disbanded soldiers, \nand others, who found their profit in the ' blinded \n\n\n\n\nJAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. \n\n\n\n333 \n\n\n\nallegiance' of the witches and warlocks. The diffi- \nculty is, what icas this profit ? The witches do not \nseem to have paid anything in money or in kind. \nThere are allusions which point to acts of immorality, \nand in several instances one can understand that \npersonal enmities were gratified ; but on the whole \nthe personators of Satan had scant reward for all their \ntrouble. And how was it that they were never \ndenounced by any of their victims ? How was it \nthat the vigilance which detected the witches never \ntripped up their master ? How are we to explain \nthe diversity of Satan'a appearances ? At one time he \nwas ' ane bonnie lad ;' at another, an ' unco-like man, \nin black-coloured clothes and ane blue bonnet ;' at \nanother, a ' black iron-hard man ;' and yet again, \n'ane little man in rough gray clothes.' Occasionally \nhe brought with him a pi]ier, and the witches danced \ntogether, and the ground under them was all fire- \nflaughts, and Andrew Watson bad his usual staff in \nhis hand, and although he is a blind man, yet danced \nhe as nimbly as any of the company, and made also \ngreat merriment by singing his old ballads ; and \nIsabel Shyrrie did sing her song called ' Tinkletum, \nTankletum.' Alas, that no obliging pen has trans- \nmitted 'Tinkletum, Tankletum' to posterity! One \ncould point to a good many songs which the world \ncould have better spared. ' Tinkletum, Tankletum' \n\u2014 there is something amazingly suggestive in the \nwords; possibilities of liumoiir, perhaps of satire ; \nhumour and satire which might have secured for \nIsabel Shyrrie a place among Scottish poetesses, \n\n\n\n334 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\n\n\nwhereas now she comes before us in no more attrac- \ntive character than that of a Coviner \u2014 a deluded or \nself-deluding witch. \n\nLet us next betake ourselves to the East Coast, \nand make the acquaintance of Isabel Gowdie, whose \n' confessions ' are among the most extraordinary \ndocuments to be met with even in the records o \nScottish witchcraft. It is impossible, I think, to \noverrate their psychological interest. The first is, \nperhaps, the most curious; and as no summary or \ncondensation would do justice to its details, I shall \nplace it before the reader m extenso, with no other \nalteration than that of Englishing the si>elling. It \nwas made at Auldearn on April 13, 1662, in presence \nof the parish minister, the sheriff-depute of Nairn, \nand nine lairds and farmers of good position : \n\n'As I was going betwixt the towns (i.e.,farm8tead- \nings) of Drumdeevin and The Heads, I met with the \nDevil, and there covenanted in a manner with him ; \nand I promised to meet him, in the night-time, in the \nKirk of Auldearn,* which I did. And the first thhig \nI did there that night, I denied my baptism, and did \nput the one of my hands to the crown of my head, \nand the other to the sole of my foot, and then \nrenounced all betwixt my two bands over to the \n\n\n\n\n\u2666 It is a Bingular circumatance, as Pitcaira remarks, that ia \nalmost all the confessions of witches, or at least of the Scottish \nwitches, their initiation, and many of their meetings, are said to \nhave taken place within churches, churchyards, and consecrated \nground ; and a certain ritual, in imitation, or mockery, of the \nforms of the Church, is uniformly aaid to have been gone through. \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. 335 \n\nDevil. He was in the Reader's desk, and a black book \nin his hand. Margaret Brodie, in Auldearn, held me \nup to the Devil to be baptized by him, and he marked \nme in the shoulder, and sucked out my blood at that \nmark, and spouted it in his hand, and, sprinkling it \non my head, said, '* I baptize thee, Janet, in my own \nname !\" And within awhile we all removed. The \nnext time that I met with him was in the New \nWards of Inshoch. ... He was a mickle, black, \nrough [hirsute] man, very cold; and I found his \nnature all cold within me as spring- wall- water.* \nSometimes he had boots, and sometimes shoes on \nhis feet ; but still his feet are forked and cloven. He \nwould be sometimes with us like a deer or a roe. \nJohn Taylor and Janet Breadhead, his wife, in \nBelmakeith, . . . Douglas, and I myself, met in the \nkirkyard of Nairn, and we raised an imchristened \nchild out of its grave ; and at the end of Bradley's \ncomfieldland, just opposite to the Mill of Nairn, we \ntook the said child, with the nails of our fingers and \ntoes, pickles of all sorts of grain, and blades of kail \n[colewort], and hacked them all very small, mixed \ntogether; and did put a part thereof among the \nmuck-heaps, and thereby took away the fruit of his \ncorns, etc., and we parted it among two of our Covins. \nWhen we take corns at Lammas, we take but about \ntwo sheaves, when the corns are full ; or two stalks of \nkail, or thereby, and that gives us the fruit of the \ncorn-land or kail-yard, where they grew. And it \n\n* In the Forfarshire reports, alluded to on p. 332, the witches \nalways speak of the devil's body and kiss as deadly cold. \n\n\n\n336 \n\n\n\nWlTCn, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK 1L \n\n\n\nmay be, we mil keep it until Yule or Pasche, and \nthen divide it amongst us. There are thirteen jwrsons \n[the usual number] in my Covin. \n\n' The last time that our Covin met, we, and another \nCovin, were dancing at the Hill of Earlseat ; and \nbefore that, betwixt Moynes and Bowglioll ; and \nbefore that we were beyond the Mickle-burn ; and the \ndther Covin being at the Downle-bills, we went from \nbeyond the Mickle-burn, and went beside them, to the \nhouses at the Wood-End of Iiishoch ; and within a \nwliile went home to our houses. Before Candlemas \nwe went he-east Kinloss, and there we yoked a plough \nof paddocks [frogs]. The Devil held the plough, and \nJohn Young, in Mebostown, our Officer, did drive \nthe plough. Paddocks did draw the plough as oxen ; \nguickem wor sowmes [dog-grass served for traces] ; a \nriglon's [ram's] horn was a coulter, and a piece of a \nriglon's horn was a sock. We went two several times \nabout; and all we of the Covin went still up and \ndown with the plough, praying to the Devil for the \nfruit of that land, and that thistles and briars might \ngrow there. \n\n' When we go to any house, we take meat and \ndrink ; and we fill up the barrels with our own .... \nao^ain ; and we put besoms in our beds with our , \nhusbands, till we return again to thera. We were in , \nthe Earl of Moray's house in Darnaway, and we got I \nenough there, and did eat and drink of the best, and \nbrought part with us. We went in at the windows. \n\nhad a little horse, and would say, \" Horse and \nBattock, in the Devil's name !\" And then we would ] \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. 337 \n\nfly away, where we would, like as straws would fly \nupon a highway. We will fly like straws where we \nplease; wild straws and corn-straws will be horses to \nus, and we put them betwixt our feet and say, \n\" Horse and Hattock, in the Devil's name !\" And \nwhen any see these straws in a whirlwind, and do \nnot sanctify themselves, we may shoot them dead at \nour pleasure. Any that are shot by us, their souls \nwill go to Heaven, but their bodies remain with us, \nand will fly as horses to us, as small as straws.* \n\n' I was in the Downie Hills, and got meat there from \nthe Queen of Fairy, more than I could eat. The \nQueen of Fairy is heavily clothed in white linen, and \nin white and lemon clothes, etc. ; and the King of \nFairy is a brave man, well favoured, and broad-faced, \netc. There were elf-bulls, routing and skirling up \nand down there, and they affrighted me. \n\n' When we take away any cow's milk, we pull the \ntail, and twine it and plait it the wrong way, in the \nDevil's name; and we draw the tedder (so made) in \nbetwixt the cow's hinder-feet, and out betwixt the \ncow's fore-feet, in the Devil's name, and thereby take \nwith us the cow's milk. We take sheep's milk even \nso [in the same manner]. The way to take or give \nback the milk again, is to cut that tedder. When we \ntake away the strength of any person's ale, and give \n\n* Pitcairn remarks, with justice, that the above details are, \nperhaps, in alt respects the most extraordinary in the history of \nwitchcraft of this or of any other countrj-. Isabel Gowdie must \nhave been a woman with a powerful and rank imagination, who, \nhad she lived in the present day, might, perhaps, have produced \na work of fiction of tlie achool of Zola. \n\n\n\n\n\n\u2022338 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [booK II. \n\nit to another, we take a little quantity out of each \nbarrel or stand of ale, and put it in a stoop in the \nDevil's name, and in his name, with our own hands, \nput it amongst another's ale, and ^ive her the strength \nand substance and \" heall \" of her neighbour's ale. \nAnd to keep the ale from us, that we have no power \nover it, is to sanctify it well. We get all this ]>ower \nfrom the Devil; and when we seek it from him, we \nwill him to be \" our Lord.\" \n\n' John Taylor, and Janet Breadhead, his wife, in \nBelmakeith, Bessie Wilson in Aulderne, and Margaret \nWilson, spouse to Donald Callam in Aulderne, and I, \nmade a picture of clay, to destroy the Laird of Park's \nmale children. John Taylor brought home tlie clay \nin his plaid nook [the corner of his plaid] ; his wife \nbroke it very small, like meal, and sifted it with a \nsieve, and poured in water among it. in the Devil's \nname, and wrought it very sure, like rye-bout [a stir- \nabout made of rye-flour] ; and made of it a picture of \nthe laird's sons. It had all the parts and marks of a \nchild, such as head, eyes, nose, hands, feet, mouth, \nand little lips. It wanted no mark of a child, and \nthe hands of it folded down by its sides. It was like \na pow [lump of dough], or a flayed eg)-ya [a sucking- \npig, which has been scalded and scraped]. We laid \nthe face of it to the fire, till it strakned [shrivelled], \nand a clear fire round about it, till it was red like a \ncoal. After that, we would roast it now and then ; \neach other day tliere would be a picL'e of it well \nroasted. The Laird of Park's whole male children \nby it are to sufi^er, if it be not gotten and brokin, as \n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCEAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. 339 \n\nwell as those that are born and dead already. It was \nstill put in and taken out of the fire in the Devil's \nname. It was hung up upon a crock. It is yet in \nJohn Taylor's liouse, and it has a cradle of clay about \nit. Only John Taylor and hi\u00bb wife, Janet Bread- \nhead, Bessie and Margaret Wilson in Aulderne, and \nMargaret Brodie, these, and I, were only at the \nmaking of it. All the multitude of our number of \nwitches, of all the Covins, kent [kenned, knew] all of \nit, at our next meeting after it was made. And the \nwitches yet that are overtaken have their own jwwers, \nand our powers which we had before ive were taken, \nboth. But now I have no power at all. \n\n' Margaret Kyllie, in .... is one of the other \nCovin: Meslie Hirdall, spouse to Alexander Koss, in \nLoanhead, is one of them ; her skin is fiery. Isabel \nNicol, in Lochley, is one of my Covin. Alexander \nElder, in Earlseat, ami Janet Finlay, his spouse, are \nof my Covin. Margaret Haslum, in Moynes, is one ; \nMargaret Brodie, in Aulderne, Bessie and Margaret \nWilson there, and Jane Martin there, and Elspet \nNishie, spouse to John Matiiew there, are of my \nCovin. The said Jane Martin is the JIaiden of our \nCovin. John Young, in Mebestown, is Officer to \nour Covin. \n\n' Elspet Chisholm, and Isabel More, in Aulderne, \nMaggie Brodie .... and I, went into Alexander \nCumling's litt-house [dye-house], in Aulderne. I \nwent in, in the likeness of a ken [jackdaw] ; the said \nElspet Chisholm was in the shape of a cat. Isabel \nMore was a hare, and Maggie Brodie a cat, and .... \n22\u20142 \n\n\n\n340 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\nWe took a thread of each colour of yam that was on \nthe said Alexander Cumliog's litt-fatt [dyeing-vat], \nand did cDst three knots on each thread, in the Dcvirs \nname, and did put the threads in the vat, withersones \nabout in the vat in the Devil's name, and thereby \ntook the whole strength of the vat away, that it \ncould litt [dye] nothing but only black, according to \nthe colour of the Devil, in whose name we took away \nthe strength of the right colours that were in the vat.' \n\nThe second confession, made at Aulderne, on May 3, \n1G62, is not less remarkable than the foregoing : \n\n'. , , . After that time there would meet but some- \ntimes a Covin [i.e., thirteen], sometimes more, some- \ntimes less ; but a Grand Meeting would be about the \nend of each Quarter. There is thirteen persons in each \nCovin; and each of us has one Sprite to wnit upon us, \nwhen we please to call upon him, I remember not all \nthe Sprites' names, but there is one called Swin^ which \nwaits upon the said Margaret Wilsou in Aulderne ; he \nis still [ever] clothed in grass-green ; and the said \nMargfiret Wilson has a nickname, called \" Pickle \nnearest the wind.\" The next Sprite is called \" Rosie,\" \nwho waits upon Bessie Wilson, in Aulderne; he is \nstill clothed in yellow ; and her nickname is \" Through \nthe comyard.\" . , . The third Sprite is called \"The \nRoaring Lion,\" who waits upon Isabel Nicol, in \nLochlors ; and [he is still clothed*] in sea-green ; \nher nickname is \"Bessie Rule.\" The fourth Sprite is \n\n* There arc mutilaliona in the original manuscript, and tin \nbracketed words are conjectural. \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAMEB I. AND THE WITCHES. 341 \n\ncalled \" Mak Hector,\" who [waits upon Jane*] \nMartin, daughter to the said Margaret Wilson ; he is a \nyoung-like devil, clothed still in grass-green. [Jane \nMartin is*] Maiden to the Covin that I am of; and \nher nickname is \" Over the dyke with it,\" because tlie \nDevil [always takes the*] Maiden in his hand nix \ntime we damn \" Gillatrypes ;\" and when he would leap \nfrom . . .* he and she will say, \"Over the dyke with \nit !\" The name of the fifth Sprite is \" Robert the \n[Rule,\" and he is etill clothed in*] sad-dun, and seems \nto be a Commander of the rest of the Sprites ; and \nhe waits upon Margaret Brodie, in Aulderne. [The \nname of the saxt Sprite] is called \"Thief of Hell \nwait upon Herself;\" and he waits also on the said \nBessie Wilson. The name of the seventh [Sprite is \ncalled] \" The Read Reiver;\" and he is my own Spirit, \nthat waits on myself, and is still clothed in black. \nThe eighth Spirit [is called] \"' Robert the Jackis,\" still \nclothed in dun, and seems to be aged. He is a \nglaiked, glowked Spirit ! The woman's [nickname] \nthat he waits on is \"Able and Stout !\" [This was \nBessie Hay.] The ninth Spirit is called \" Laing,\" \nand the woman's nickname that he waits upon is \n\" Bessie Bold \" [Elspet Nishie]. The tenth Spirit is \nnamed \" Thomas a Fiurie,\" etc. There will be many \nother Devils, waiting upon [our] Master Devil; but \nhe is bigger and more awful than the rest of the \nDevils, and they all reverence him. I will ken \n\n\u2022 There are mutilations in the original manuscript, and the \nbracketed worda are conjectural. \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n342 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\nthem all, one by one, from others, when they appear \nlike a man. \n\n' When we raise the wind, we take a rag of cloth, \nand wet it in water; and we take a beetle and knock \nthe rag on a stone, and we say thrice over; \n\n' \" I knock this rag upon this stane, \n\nTo raise the winrl, in the Devil's name ; \nIt shall not lie until I please again !\" \n\nWhen we would lay the wind, we dry the rag, and \nsay (thrice over) : \n\n\n\n\" We lay the wind in the Devil's name, \n[It shall not] rise while we [or I] like to raise it again I\" \n\n\n\n4 \n\n\n\n\nAnd if the wind will not lie instantly [after we say \nthis], we call upon our Spirit, and say to him: \n\n' \"Thief I Thief ! conjure the wind, aod cause it to [lie I . . .]\" \nWe have no power of rain, but we will raise the wind \nwhen we please. He made us believe [ . . -] that \nthere was no God beside him. \n\n' As for Elf arrow-heads, the Devil shapes them \nwith his own hand [and afterwards delivers them ?J \nto Elf-boys, who \" whyttis and dightis \" [shapes and \ntrims] them with a sharp thing like a packing-needle; \nbut [when I was in Elf land ?] I saw them whytting \nand dighting them. When I was in the Elves' \nhouses, they will have very . . . them whytting and \ndighting ; and the Devil gives them to us, each of us \nso many, when . . . Those that dightis them are \nlittle ones, hollow, and boss-hacked [humped-backed]. \nThey 8|>eak gowstie [roughly] like. When the \nDevil gives them to us, he says : \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. 343 \n\n\" ' Shoot these in my name, \n\nAnd they shall not go heall hame !\" \n\nAnd when we shoot these arrows (we say) : \n\n\" ' I shoot }'ou man in the Devil's name, \n\nHe shall not win heall hame ! \nAnd this shall be always true ; \nThere shall not be one hit of him on lieiw \" [on life, alive]. \n\n' We have no bow to shoot with, but spang [jerk] \nthem from the nails of our thumbs. Sometimes we \nwill miss ; but if they twitch [touch], be it beast, or \nman, or woman, it will kill, tho' they had a jack [a \ncoat of armour] upon them. When we go in the \nshape of a hare, we say thrice over : \n\n' \" I shall go into a hare. \n\nWith sorrow, and such, and miukle care ; \nAnd I shall go in the Devil's name, \nAy, until I come home [again !].\" \n\nAnd instantly we start in a hare. And when we \nwould be out of that shape, we will say: \n\n' \" Hare ! hare I God send thee care I \nI am in a hare's likeness just now, \nBut I shall be in a woman's likeness even [now].\" \n\nWhen we would go in the likeness of a cat, we say \nthrice over : \n\n'\"I shall go [intill ane cat], \n\n[With sorrow, and such, and a black] shot I \nAnd I shall go in the Devil's name, \nAy, until I come home again !\" \n\nAnd if we [would go in a crow, then] we say thrice \nover: \n\n\n\n\n344 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK IL \n\n' \" I ahall go indll a crow, \n\nWith Borrow, and such, and a black [thraw ! \nAnd I abal] go in the Devil'a name,] \nAy, until I come home again !\" \n\nAnd when we would be out of these shapes, we say : \n\n' \" Cat, cat [or crow, crow], God send thee a black shot [or black \nthi&wl] \n\nI was a cat [or crow] just now, \nBut I Bhall be [in a woman's likeness even now]. \nCat, cat \" [as supra]. \n\nIf we go in the shape of a cat, a crow, a hare, or \nany other likeness, etc., to any of our neighbours' \nhouses, being witches, we will say : \n\n\n\n' \" [I (or we) conjure] thee go with us [or \n\n\n\n..]\u00bbi \n\n\n\nAnd presently they become as we are, either cats, \nbares, crows, etc., and go [with us whither we would. \nWhen] we would ride, we take windle-straws, or \nbeen-stakes [hean-atalks], and put them betwixt our \nfeet, and say thrice : \n\n' \" Horse and Hattock, horse and go. \nHorse and pellatris, ho ! ho !\" \n\nAnd immediately we fly away wherever we would; \nand lest our husbands should miss us out of our beds, \nwe put in a besom, or a three-legged stool, beside \nthem, and say thrice over : \n\n< \" I lay down this besom [or stool] in the Devil's name. \nLet it not stir till I come home again !\" \n\nAnd immediately it seems a woman, by the side of our \nhusband. \n\n\n\nk \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV,] JAMES I. AVD THE WITCHES. 345 \n\n' \"We cannot tarn in[to] the likeness of [a lamb or \na dove?] \\^^len my husband sold beef, I used to \nput a swallow's feather in the head of the beast, and \n\n[say thrice], \n\n' \" [I] put out thia beef in the Devil's name, \n\nThat tnickle silver and good price come hame I\" \n\n' I did even so [whenever I put] forth either liorse, \nnolt [cattle], webs [of cloth], or any other thing to \nbe sold, and still put in this feather, and said the \n[same words thrice] over, to cause the commodities \nBell well, and .... thrice over \u2014 \n\n' \" Our Lord to hunting he [ia gone] \n\nmarble stone. \n\nHo sent word to Saint Knitt . . .\" \n\n' When we would heal any sore or broken limb, \nwe say thrice over .... \n\n' \"He put the blood to the blood, till all up stood ; \nThe lith to the lith, Till ail took nith ; \nOur Lady charmed her dearly Son, With her tooth and her \n\ntongue, \nAnd her ten fingers \u2014 \nIn the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost !\" \n\n' And this we say thrice over, stroking the sore, \nand it becomes whole. 2ndlie. For the Bean-Shaw \n[bone-shaw, i.e., the sciatica], or pain in the haunch: \n\"We are here three Maidens charming for the bean- \nshaw; the man of the Midle-earth, blew beaver, land- \nfever, maneris of stooris, the Lord fleigged (terrified) \nthe Fiend ivith his holy candles and yard foot-stone ! \nThere she sits, and here she is gone ! Let her never \n\n\n\n346 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGK;IAN. [BOOK IIv \n\n\n\ncome here again !\" 3rdli. For the fevers, we eay \nthrice over, \" I forbid the quaking-fevers, the sea- \nfevers, the land-fevers, and all the fevers that God \nordained, out of the head, out of the heart, out of the \nback, out of tlie sides, out of the knees, out of the \nthighs, from the points of the fingers to the nibs of \nthe toes; net fall the fevers go, [some] to the hill, \nsome to the heep, some to the stone, some to the \nstock. In St. Peter's name, St. Paul's name, and all \nthe Saints of Heaven. In the name of the Father, \nthe Son, and of the Holy Ghost!\" And when we \ntook the fruit of the fishes from the fishers, we went \nto the shore before the boat would come to it; and \nwe would say, on the shore-side, three several times \nover: \n\n' \" The fishera are gone to the aea. \n\nAnd tbey will bring home fish to me ; \n\nThey will bring them home intill the boat, \n\nBut they shall get of them but the Gmaller sort !\" \n\n\n\nf \n\n\n\nSo we either steal a fish, or buy a fish, or get a fish \nfrom them [for naught], one or more. And with \nthat we have all the fruit of the whole fishes in the \nboat, and the fishes that the fishermen themselves will \nhave will be but froth, etc. \n\n' The first voyage that ever I went with the rest of \nour Covins was [to] Ploughlands ; and there we shot \na man betwixt the plough-stilts, and he presently \nfell to the ground, upon his nose and his mouth ; and \nthen the Devil gave me an arrow, and caused me \nshoot a woman in that field; which I did, and she fell \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. \n\n\n\n347 \n\n\n\ndown dead.* In winter of 1660, when Mr. Harry \nForbes, Minister at Aulderne, was sick, we made a \nbag of the galls, flesh, and guts of toads, pickles of \nbarley, parings of the nails of fingers and toes, the \nliver of a hare, and bits of clouts. We steeped all \nthis together, all night among water, all backed (or \nminced up) through other. And when we did put it \namong the water, Satan was with us, and learned ua \nthe words following, to say thrice over. Tiiey are \nthus : \n\n' 1st. \" He is lying in his bed ; he is lying sick and sore ; \n\nLet him He intill his bed two months and [three] d.iya \nmore I \n' 2nd. \" Let him he intill his bed ; let him lie intill it eick nnd \naore ; \nLet him lie intill his bed months two and three days \nmorel \n' 3rd. \" He shall he intill bis bed, he shall lie in it sick and sorr ; \nHe shall lie intill his bed two months and three days \n\n\n\n' When we had learned all these words from the \nDevil, as said is, we fell all down n])on our knees, \nwith our hair down over our shoulders and eyes, and \nour hands lifted up, and our eyes [upon] the Devil, \nand said the foresaid words thrice over to the Devil, \nstrictly, against [the recovery of] Master Harry \nForbes [from his sickness]. In the night time we \ncame in to Mr. Harry Forbes's chamber, where he \nlay, with our hands all smeared out of the bag, to \nswing it upon Mr. Harry, when he was sick in his \n\n* These, it \\e needless to say, were pure inventions, and by no \nmeans amusing ones. \n\n\n\n\n348 WITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGlCtAK. [BOOK IL \n\nbed; and in the daytime [one of our] number, who \nwas most familiar and intimate with him, to wring or \nswing the bag [upon the said Mr. Harry, as we \ncould] not prevail in the night time against him, \nwhich was accordingly done. Any of ... . comes in \nto your houses, or are set to do you evil, they will look \nnncouth - like, thrown .... burly -like, and their \nclothes standing out. The Maiden of our Covin, \nJane Martin, was [. . . . We] do no great matter \nwithout our Maiden. \n\n'And if a child be forespoken [bewitched], we take \nthe cradle .... through it thrice, and then a dog \nthrough it; and then shake the belt above the fire \n[. . . . and then cast it] down on the ground, till a \ndog or cat go over it, that the sickness may come \n[. . . . upon the dog or cat].' \n\n\n\n\nWith these extended quotations the reader will \nprobably be satisfied, and in concluding my account \nof Isabel Gowdie, I must now adopt a process of \ncondensation. \n\nAmong other freaks and fancies of a disordered \nimagination, Isabel declared that she merited to be \nstretched upon a rack of iron, and that if torn to \npieces by wild horses, the punishment would not \nexceed the measure of her iniquities. These iniquities \ncomprehended every act attributed by the superstition \nof the time to the servants of the devil, which had \nbeen carefully gathered up by this monomaniac fi-om \ncontemporary witch-tradition. The cruellest thing \nwas, that she involved so large a number of innocent \n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. 349 \n\npersons in the peril into which she herself had reck- \nlessly plunged, naming nearly fifty women, and I for- \nget how many men, as her associates or accomplices. \nShe affirmed that they dug up from their graves the \nbodies of unbaptized infants, and having dismembered \nthem, made use of the limbs in their incantations. \nThat when they wished to destroy an enemy's crops, \nthey yoked toads to his plough ; and on the following \nnight the devil, with this strange team, drove furrows \ninto the land, and blasted it eflfectually. The devil, \nit would seem, was so long and so incessantly occu- \npied with high affairs in Scotland, that surely the \nrest of the world must have escaped meanwhile the \nevils of his interference ! Witches, added Isabel, were \nable to assume almost any shape, but their usual \nchoice was that of a hare, or perhaps a cat. There \nwas some risk in either assumption. Once it hap- \npened that Isabel, in her disguise of a hare, was hotly \npursued by a pack of hounds, and narrowly escaped \nwith her life. When she reached her cottage-door \nshe could feel the hot breath of her pursuers on her \nhaunches ; but, contriving to slip behind a chest, she \nfound time to speak the magic words which alone \ncould restore her to her natural shape, namely : \n\n' \" Hare I hare ! God send thee care ! \nI am in a hare's likeness now; \nBut I shall be a woman e'en now. \nHare 1 hare ! God send thee care T \n\nIf witches, while wearing the shape of hare or cat, \nwere bitten by the dogs, they always retained the \n\n\n\n\n\n\na50 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK U. \n\nmarks on their human bodies. ^Vlien the devil \ncalled a convention of his servants, each proceeded I \nthrough the air \u2014 like the witches of Lapland aud \nother countries \u2014 astride on a broomstick [or it \nmight be on a corn or bean straw], re])eating as they \nwent the rhyme : \n\n' Horse and paddock, horse and go, \nHorse and pellatris, ho ! ho !' \n\nThey usually left behind them a broom, or three- \nlegged stool, which, pro|)erIy charmed and placed in 1 \nbed, assumed a likeness to themselves until \nreturned, and prevented suspicion. Tliis seems toj \nhave been the practice of witches every wher&il \nWitches specially favoured by their master were pro-1 \nvided with a couple of imps as attendants, whol \nboasted such very mundane names as ' The Roaring 1 \nLion,' ' Thief of Hell,' ' Ranting Roarer,' and 'Care for \nNought ' \u2014 a great improvement on the vulgar mono- \nsyllables worn by the English imps \u2014 and were dressed, \nas already described, in distinguishing liveries : sea- \ngreen, pea-green, grass-green, sad-dun, and yellow. \nThe witches were never allowed \u2014 at least, not in the \ninfernal presence \u2014 to call themselves, or one another, \nby their baptismal names, but were required to use \nthe api)ellations bestowed on the devil when he re- \nbaptized them, such as 'Blue Kail,' 'Raise the Wind,' \n' Batter-them-down Maggie,' and ' Able and Stout.' \nThe reader will find in the reports of the trial much \nmore of this grotesque nonsense \u2014 the vapourings of \na distempered brain. The judges, however, took it \n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCASE OF JANET WISHAHT. \n\n\n\nseriously, and Isabel Gowdie, or Gilbert, and many of \nher presumed accomplices, were duly strangled and \nburned (in April, 1662). \n\nCASE OF JANET WISHABT. \n\nThe case of Janet Wiahart, wife of John Leyis, \ncarries us away to the North of Scotlanrl. It presents \nsome peculiai' features, and therefore I shall put it \nbefore the reader, with no more abridgment than is \nabsolutely needful. It is of much earlier date than \nthe preceding,* \n\n' i. In the month of April, or thereabout, in 1.S91, \nin the \"gricking\" of the day, [that is, in the dawn,] \nJanet Wishart, on her way back from the blockhouse \nand Fattie, where she had been holding conference \nwith the devil, pursued Alexander Thomson, mariner, \ncoming forth of Aberdeen to his ship, ran between \nhim and Alexander Fidler, under the Castle Hill, as \nswift, it appeared to him. as an arrow could be shot \nforth of a bow, going betwixt him and the snn, and \ncast her \" cantrips\" in his way. Whereupon, the said \nAlexander Thomson took an immediate \" fear and \ntrembling,\" and was forced to hasten home, take to \nhis bed, and lie there for the space of a month, so \nthat none believed he would live;~one half of the \nday burning in his body, as if he had been roasting \nin an oven, with an extreme feverish thirst, \" so that \nhe could never be satisfied of drink,\" the other half of \ntlie day melting away his body with an extra- \nordinarily cold sweat. And Thomson, knowing she \n\n\u2022 From the ' Becords of the Burgli of Aberdeen,' printed for the \nSpalding Club, 1841, \n\n\n\n35-2 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK H. \u25a0 \n\n\n\nb \n\n\n\nhad cast this kind of witchcraft upon him, sent hi \nwife to thi-eaten her, that, unless she at once relievecl' \nhim, he would see that she was burnt. And she, \nfearing; lest he shouUI accuse her, sent him by the two \nwomen a certain kind of beer and some other drugs \nto drink, after which Thomson mended daily, and re- \ncovered his former health,' \n\nIt is to be noted that Janet flatly denied thei \ncoming of Mrs. Thomson on any such errand. \n\n' ii. Seven years before, on St. Bartholomew's Day, \nwhen Andrew Ardes, webster [weaver], in his playi \ntook a linen towel, and put it about the said Janet*! \nneck, not fearing any evil from her, or that she wouli \nbe offended, Janet, \"in a devilish fury and wodnea \n[madness], exclaimed, \" Why teasest thou me ? \nThou shalt die! I shall give bread to my bairns \nthis towmound [twelvemonth], but thou shalt not \nbide a month with thine to give them bread.\" And \nimmediately after the said Andrew's departure from \nher, he took to his bed for the s])ace of eight days: \nthe one half of the day roasting in his whole body as \nin a furnace, and the other half \u25a0nith a vehement \nsweat melting away ; so that, by her cruel murther \nand witchcraft, the said Andrew Ardes died within \neight days. And the day after his departure, his \nwidow, \" contracting a high displeasure,\" took to her \nbed, and within a month deceased ; so that all their \nbairns are now begging their meat.' \n\nThis was testified to be true by Elsj>eth Kivin, \nspouse to James Mar, mariner, but was denied by \nthe accused. \n\n\n\nd \n\n\n\nCASE OF JANET WISHART. \n\n\n\n353 \n\n\n\n' iii. Twenty-four years ago, in the month oi May, \nwhen she dwelt on the School Hill, next to Adam \nMair's, she was descried by Andrew Brabner the \nyounger, John Leslie, of the Gallowgate, Robert \nSanders, ^vright, Andrew Simson, tailor, and one \nJohnson, who were then schoolboys, stealing forth \nfrom the said Adam Mair's yard, at two in the morn- \ning, \"greyn growand bear\"; and instantly, being \npointed out by the said scholars to the wife of the \nsaid Adam, she, in her fury, burst forth upon the \nscholars: \"Well have ye schemed me, but I sliall \ngar the best of you repent!\" And she added that, \nere four in the afternoon, she would make as many \nwonder at them as should see them. Upon the same \nday, between two and three in the afternoon, the said \nscholars passed to the Old Watergang in tiie Links to \nwash themselves ; and after they had done so, and \ndried, the said John Leslie and Johnson took a race \nbeside the Watergang, and desperately threw them- \nselves into the midst of the Watergang, and were \ndrowned, through the witchcraft which Janet had \ncast upon them. And thus, as she had promised, she \ndid murder them.' \n\nThis was testified by Robert Sanders and Andrew \nSimson, but was denied by the accused. \n\n' iv. Sixteen years since, or thereby, she [the accused] \nand Malcolm Carr's wife, having fallen at variance \nand discord, she openly vowed that the latter should \nbe confined to her bed for a year and a day, and \nshould not make for herself a single cake : immedi- \nately after which discord, the said Malcolm's wife \n\n\n\nJ34 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II. \n\nwent to her own house, sought her bed, and lay half \na year bed-stricken by the \"Witchcraft Janet had cast \nupon her, according to her promise ; one half of the \nday burning up her whole body as in a fiery furnace, \nthe other half melting away her body with an extra- \nordinary sweat, with a, congealed coldness.' \n\nV. She was also accused of lending to Meryann \nNasmlth a pair of head-sheets in childbed, into which \nshe put her witchcraft : which sheets, as soon as she \nknew they had taken heat about the woman's head, \nimmediately she went and took them from her ; and \nbefore she [Janet] was well out of the house, Mery- \nann went out of her mind, and was bound hand and \nfoot for three days. \n\nvi. Three years since, or thereby, James Ailhows, \nhaving been a long time in her service, Janet desired \nhim to continue with her, and on his refusing, ' Gang \nwhere you please,' she said, ' I will see that you do \nnot earn a single cake of bread for a year and a day.' \nAnd as soon as he quitted her service, he was seized \nwith an extremely heavy sickness and (wodnes) \ndelirium, with a continual burning heat and cold \nsweating, and lay bedfast half a year, according to \nher promise, through the devilish witchcraft; she had \ncast upon him. So that be was compelled to send to \nBenia for another witch to take the witchcraft from \nhim : who came to this town and washed him in \nwater running souths and put him through a girth, \nwith some other ceremonies that she used. And he \npaid her seventeen marks, and by her help recovered \nhealth again. \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, rv.] CASE OP JAN\"ET W18HART. 355 \n\nvii. For twenty years past she continually and \nnightly, after eleven o'clock, when her husband and \nservants had; gone to their beds, put on a great fire, \nand kept it up all night, and eat before it using \nwitchcraft, altogether contrary to the nature of well- \nliving persons. And on those nights when she did \nnot make up the fire, she went out of the house, and \nstayed away all night where she pleased. \n\nviii. She caused . . . ., then in her service, and \nlately shepherd to Mr. Alexander Eraser, to take \ncertain drugs of witchcraft made by her, such as old \nshoon, and cast them in the fire of John Club, stabler, \nher neighbour ; since which time, through her witch- \ncraft, the said John Club has become completely im- \npoverished. \n\nix. She and Janet Patton having fallen into \nvariance and discord, Janet Patton called the witch \n' Karling.' to whom she answered that she would \ngive her to understand if she was a witch, and would \ntry her skill upon her. And immediately afterwards, \nJanet Patton [like everybody else concerned in these \nmysterious doings] took to her bed, ivith a vehement, \ngreat, and extraordinary sickness, for one half the day, \nfrom her middle up, burning as in a fiery furnace, \nwith an insatiable drought, which she could not slake ; \nthe other half-day, melting away with sweat, and from \nher middle down as cold as ice, so that through the \nwitchcraft cast upon her she died within a month. \n\nX. The particulars given of the case of James \nLowe, stabler, are almost the same. He refiised to \nlend his kill and barn, and on the same day he was \n23\u20142 \n\n\n\n356 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK D \n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\nseized with this remarkable sickneBS \u2014 half a dajj \nburning hot, and half a day ice-cold. On his death^ \nbed he accused Janet AVishart of being the cause c \nhis misfortune, saying, \" That if he had lent to hei \nhis kill and kilbarn, he wald haf bene ane lewand! \nman.\" His mfe and only son died of the same kii \nof disease, and his whole gear, amounting to mor< \nthan \u00a33,000, was altogether wracked and thrown awayJ \nso that there was left no memory of the said Jamet \nsuccession of his body, nor of their gear. \n\nxi. John Pyet, stabler, is named as another victim,! \n\nxii. There is an air of novelty about the next case, j \nthat of John Allan, cutler, Janet Wishart's son-in-law. \nQuarrelling with his wife, he ' dang ' her, ' where- \nupon Mistress Allan complained to her mother, who \nimmediately betook herself to her son-in-law's house, \n' bostit ' him, and promised to gar him repent that \never he saw or kent her. Shortly afterwards, either \nshe or the devil her master, in the likeness of a brown \ntyke, came nightly for five or six weeks to bis \nwindow, forced it open, leaped upon the said John, \ndang and buffeted him, while always sparing his \nwife, who lay in bed with him, so that the said John \nbecame half-wod and furious. And this persecution \ncontinued, until he threatened to inform the ministry \nand kirk-session. \n\nxiii. The next case must be given verbatim, it is \nso striking an example of ignorant prejudice: \n\nFour years since, or thereby, she came in to Walter \nMealing's dwelling-house, in the Castlegate of Aber- \ndeen, to buy wool, which they refused to sell. There- \n\n\n\nd \n\n\n\nCHAP, ir.] CASE OF JANET WISHART. \n\n\n\n357 \n\n\n\nafter, slie came to the said Walter's bairn, sitting on \nher mother's knee, and the said Walter played with \n* her. And she said, \" This is a comely child, a fine \nchild,\" without any further words, and would not \nsay \"God save her!\" And before she reached the \nstair-foot, the bairn, bv her witchcraft, in presence of \nboth her father and mother, \" cast her gall,\" changed \nher colour like dead, and became as weak as \"ane \npair of glwffis,\" and melted continually away with an \nextraordinary sweating and extreme drought, which \nthat same day eight days, at the same hour, she came \nin first, and then the bairn departed. And for no \nrequest nor command of the said Walter, nor others \nwhom he directed, she would not come in again to \nthe house to \" visie \" the bairn, although she was oft \nand divers times sent for, both by the father and \nmother of the bairn, and so by her witchcraft she \nmurdered the bairn.' \n\nxiv. On Yule Eve, in '94, at three in the morning, \nJanet, remaining in Gilbert JIackay's stair in the \nBroadgate, perceived Bessie Schives, spouse of Robert \nBlinschell, going forth of her own house to the \ndwelling-house of James Davidson, notary, to his \nwife, who was in travail. She came down the stair, \nand cast her cantrips and witchcraft in her way, and \nthe said Bessie being in perfect health of body, and \nas blithe and merry as ever she was in her days, \nwhen she went out of the same James Davidson's \nhouse, or ever she could win up her own stair, took a \ngreat fear and trembling that she might scarcely win \nup her own stair, and immediately after her up- \n\n\n\n358 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK I \n\n\n\ncoming, went to her naked bed, lay continually for \nthe space of eighteen weeks fast bed-sick, bewitched \nby Janet Wishart, the one half-day roasting as in a \nfiery furnace, with an extraordinary kind of drought, \nthat she could not be slaked, and the other half-day \nin an extraordinary kind of sweating, melting, and \nconsuming her body, as a white burning candle, \nwhich kind of sicknesB is a sjiecial point of witch- \ncraft; and the said Bessie Schives saw none other \nbut Janet only, who is holden and reputed a common \nwitch. \n\nXV. At Midsummer was a year or thereby, Elspeth \nRdd, her daughter-in-law, came into her house at \nthree in the morning, and found her sitting, mother \nnaked as she was born, at the fireside, and another \nold wife siclike mother naked, sitting between her \nshoulders [ !], making their cantrips, whom the said \nElspeth seeing, after she said 'God speed,' immedi- \nately went out of the house ; thereafter, on the same \nday, returned again, and asked of her, what she was \ndoing with that old wife ? To whom she answered, \nthat she was charming her. And as soon as the said \nElspeth went forth again from Janet Wishart's house, \nimmediately she took an extraordinary kind of sick- \nness, and became 'like a dead senseless fool,' and so \ncontinued for half a year. \n\nxvi. She [Janet] and her daughter, Violet Leyis, \ndesired .... her woman to go with her said \ndaughter, at twelve o'clock at night, to tlie gallows, \nand cut down the dead man hanging thereon, and \ntake a part of all his members from him, and bum \n\n\n\n1 bum i \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.J CASE OF JANET WISHAET. \n\n\n\nsay \n\n\n\nthe corpse, which her servant would not cJo, and, \ntherefore, she was instantly sent away. \n\nxvii. The following deposition is, however, the \nmost singular of all ; \n\nTwelve years since, or thereby, Janet came into \nKatherine Rattray's, behind the Tolbooth, and while \nshe was drinking in the said Katherine's cellar, \nKatherine reproved her for drinking in her house, \nbecause, she said, she was a witch. Whereupon, she \ntook a cup full of ale, and cast it in her face, and said \nthat if she were indeed a witch, the said Katherine \nshould have proof of it ; and immediately after she \nhad quitted the cellar, the barm of the said Katherine's \nale all sank to the bottom of the stand, and no had abaid \n[a bead] thereon during the space of sixteen weeks. \nAnd the said Katherine finding herself ' skaithit,' \ncomplained to her daughter, Katherine Ewin, who \nwas then in close acquaintance with Janet, that she \nhad bewitched her mother's ale; and immediately \nthereafter the said Katherine Ewin called on Janet, \nand said, ' Why bewitched you my mother's ale ?' and \nrequested her to help the same again. Which Janet \npromised, if Katherine Ewin obeyed her instructions \n.... to rise early before the sun, without com- \nmending herself to God, or speaking, and neither \nsuining herself nor her son sucking on her breast ; to \ngo, still without speaking, to the said Katherine \nRattray's house, and not to cross any water, nor \nwash her hands; and enter into the said Katherine \nRattray's house, where she would find her servant \nbrewing, and say to her thrice, ' I to God, and thou \n\n\n\n\n360 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [boOK O. \u25a0 \n\n\n\n\n\n\nto the devil !' and to restore the same barm where it \nwas again; 'and to take up thrie dwattis on the \nsoutht end of the ^auttreyia, and thalr scho suld find \nane peice of claithe, fowr newikit, with greyn, red, i \nand blew, and thrie corss of clewir girss, and cast the \nsame in the fyir; qubilk beand cassin in, Iier barm \nsuld be restorit to hir againe, lyik as it wa3 restorit \nin effect.' And the said Katherine Ewin, when , \ncracking [gossiping] with her neighbours, said she \ncould learn them a charm she had gotten from Janet \nWishart, which when the latter heard, she promised \nto do her an evil turn, and immediately her son, suck- \ning on her breast, died. And at her first browst, or \nbrewing, thereafter, the whole wort being played and \nput in ' lumes,' the doors fast, and the keys at her \nown belt, the whole wort was taken away, and the \nhaill lumes fundin dry, and the floor dry, and she \ncould never get trial where it yird to. And when the \nsaid Katherine complained to the said Janet Wishart, \nand dang herself and her good man both, for injuries \ndone to her by taking of her son's life and her wort \n[which Katherine seems to have thought of about \nequal value], she promised that all should be well, \ngiving her her draff for payment. And the said \nKatherine, with her husband Ambrose Gordon, being \nin their beds, could not for the space of twenty days \nbe quit of a cat, lying nightly in their bed, between \nthe two, and taking a great bite out of Ambrose's \narm, as yet the place testifies, and when they gave up \nthe draff, the cat went away. \n\nSome fourteen more charges were brought against \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, rv.] CASE OF JANET \\VISHART. 361 \n\nher. She was tried on February 17, 1596, before the \nProvost and BailUes of Aberdeen, and found {guilty \nupon eighteen counts of being a common witch and \nsorcerer. Sentence of death by burning was recorded \nagainst her, and she suffered on the same day as \nanother reputed witch, Isabel Cocker. The expenses \nof their execution are preserved in the account-books \nof the Dean of Guild, 1596-1597, and prove that \nwitch-burning was a luxury scarcely mthin the reach \nof the many. \n\nJANETT WISCHART AND ISSBEL COCKER. \n\nItem. For twentie loades of peattes to burne \n\nthame xlsh. \n\nHem. For ane Boile of Coillis xxiiiisft. \n\nItem. For four Tar barrellis xxviiA. viiiii \n\nItem. For fyrand Iron barrellis xmh. viiirf. \n\nItem. For a fitaik and dressing of it xvi^ \n\nItem. For four fudoms [fathoms ?] of Towis ... iiiisA, \nItem. For careing the peittis, coillis, and bairellia \n\nto the Hill Tiiis^ iiiifi^ \n\nItem. To on Justice for their execution ... xiii^. iiiii. \n\n\n\ncWwshiHijtgs, \n\n\n\nOn several occasions commissions were issued by \nthe King, in favour of the Provost and some of the \nBaillies of the burgh, and the Sheriff of the county, \nfor the purpose of ' haulding Justice Courtis on \nWitches and Sorceraris.\" These commissioners gave \nwarrants in their turn to the minister and elders of \neach parish in the shire, to examine parties suspected \nof witchcraft, and to frame a ' dittay ' or indictment \nagainst such persons. It was an inevitable result that \n\n\n\n362 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAOIGIAN. [bOOK H. \n\n\n\nL . \n\n\n\nall the scandalous gossip of the community was \nassiduously collected ; while any individual who had \nbecome, from whatsoever cause, an object of jealousy \nor dislike to her neighbours, was overwhelmed by a \nmass of hearsay or fictitious evidence, and by the \nconscious or unconscious exaggerations of ignorance, \ncredulity, or malice. \n\nAs an example of the kind of stuff stirred up by \nthis parochial inquisition, I shall take the return \nfurnished to the commissioners by Mr. John Kosa, \nminister of Lumphanan : \n\n'i. Elspet Strathauchim, in Wartbeil, is indicted to \nhave charmed Maggie Clarke, spouse to Patrick \nBunny, for the fevers, this last year, with \" ane sleipth \nand ane thrum \" [a sleeve and thread]. She is indicted, \nthis last Hallow e'en, to have brought forth of the \nhouse a burning coal, and buried the same in her own \nyard. She is indicted to have bewitched Adam \nGordon, in \"Wark, and to have been the cause of his \ndeath, and that because, she coming out of his service \nwithout his leave, he detained some of her gear, which \nshe promised to do ; and after his death wanted [to \nhave it believed] that she bad gotten \" assythment \" of \nhim. She is indicted to have said to Marcus Gillam, \nat the Burn of Camphil, that none of his bairns \nshould live, because he would not marry her; which \nis come to pass, for two of them are dead. She is \nindicted continually to have resorted to Margaret \nBaine her company. \n\nii. Isabel Forbes. \u2014 She is indicted to have \nbewitched Gilbert Makim, in Glen Mallock, with a \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] A PAROCHIAL IKfJUlSITION. 3tj3 \n\nspindle, a \" rok,\" and a \"foil ;\" as Isabel Ritchie like- \nwise testified. \n\n' iii. James Og is indicted to have passed on Rud- \nday, five years since, through Alexander Cobain's \ncom, and have taken nine stones from his \"avine rig \" \n[corn-rick], and cast on the said Alexander's \"rig,\" \nand to have taken nine \"lokis\" [handfuls] of meal \nfrom the said Alexander's \" rig,\" and cast on his own. \nHe is indicted to have bewitched a cow belonging to \nthe said Alexander, which he bought from Kristane \nBurnet, of Cloak ; this cow, though his wife had \nreceived milk from her the first night, and the morn- \ning thereafter, gave no milk fix>m that time forth, but \ndied within half a year. He is indicted to have \npassed, five years since, on Lammas-Day, through \nthe said Alexander's corn, and having \"gaine nyne \nspan,\" to have struck the corn with nine strokes of a \nwhite wand, so that nothing grew that year but \n'* fichakis.\" He is indicted that, in the year aforesaid \nor thereabouts, having com to dry, he borrowed fire \nfrom his neighbour, haiffing of his avine them \npresently; and took a \"brine\" of the corn on his \nback, and cast it three times \" woodersonis \" [or \n\" withersonis,\" ut supra, that is, west to east, in the \ndirection contrary to the sun's course] above the \n\" kill.\" He is indicted that, three years since, \nAlexander Cobaine being in Leith, with the Laird \nof Cors, his \" wittual,\" he came up early one morn- \ning, at the back of the said Alexander's yard, with \na dish full of water in his hand, and to have cast the \nwater in the gate to the said Alexander's door, and \n\n\n\n364 \n\n\n\n\u25a0WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [bOOK IL \n\n\n\n\n\n\nthen perceiving that David Duguid, servant to the \nsaid Alexander, was beholding him, to have fled \nsuddenly ; which the said David also testifies. \n\n' iv. Agnes Frew. \u2014 She is indicted to have taken \nthree hairs out of her own cow's tail, and to have cut \nthe same in small pieces, and to have put them in her \ncow's throat, which thereafter gave milk, and the \nneighbours' none. Also, she is indicted that [she \ntook] William Browne's calf in her axter, and \" \ncharmed the same, as, also, she took the clins [hoofs]] | \nfrom forefeitt afF it, with a piece of \" euerry bing,\" \nand caused the said William's wife to \" yeird \" the , \nsame ; which the said William's wife confessed, albeit ' \nnot in this manner. Also, she took up Alexander ] \nTailzier's calf, lately [directly] after it was calved, and i \ncarried it three times about the cow. Also, she waa\" ] \nseen casting a horse's fosser on a cow, \n\n' v. Isabel Rohy. \u2014 She is indicted to have bidden her | \ngudeman, when he went to St. Fergus to buy cattle, \nthat if he bought any before his home-coming, he should \ngo three times \" woodersonis \" about them, and then \ntake three \" ruggis \" off a dry hillock, and fetch home \nto her. Also, that dwelling at Ardmair, there came in \na poor man craving alms, to whom she offered milk, \nbut he refused it, because, as he then presently said, ' \nshe had three folks' milk and her own in the pan ; and ; \nwhen Elsjiet Mackay, then present, wondered at it, \nhe said, \" Marvel not, for she has thy farrow kye*B i \nmilk also in her pan.\" Also, she is commonly seen \nin the form of a hare, passing through the town, for \nas soon as the hare vanishes out of sight, she appears,* i \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] A PAHOCHIAL INQUISITION. 365 \n\n' vi. Margaret Rianch, in Green Cottis, was seen in \nthe dawn of the day by James Stevens embracing \nevery nook of John Donaldson's house three times, \nwho continually thereafter was diseased, and at last \ndied. She said to John Ritchie, when he took a tack \n[a piece of ground] in the Green Cottis, that his gear \nfrom that day forth should continually decay, and so \nit came to pass. Also, she cast a number of stones \nin a tub, amongst water, which thereafter was seen \ndancing. When she clips her sheep, she turns the \nbowl of the shears three times in their mouth. Also, \nJames Stevens saw her meeting John Donaldson's \n\" hoggs \" \u00a3sheep a year old] in the burn of the Green \nCottis, and casting the water out between her feet \nbackward, in the sheep's face, and so they all died. \nAlso she confessed to Patrick Gordon, of Kincragie, \nand James Gordon, of Drumgase, that the devil was in \nthe bed between her and William Ritchie, her harlot, \nand he was upon them both, and that if she happened \nto die for witchcraft, that he [Ritchie] should also die, \nfor if she was a devil, be was too. \n\n' There are three of these persons, Elspeet Strath- \nauchim, James Og, and Agnes Frew, whose accusa- \ntions the Presbytery of Kincardine, within ^vhose \nbounds they dwell, counted insufficient, having duly \nconsidered the whole circumstances, always remitted \nthem to the trial of an assize, if the judges thought it \nexpedient. \n\n' [Signed] Mr. Jhone Ros, \n\n' Minister at Lumphanan.' \n\n\n\n366 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK n. \n\nIt would not be easy to find a more painful exhibi- \ntion of clerical ignorance and incapacity. Probably \nmany of the alle<);ations which Mr, John Ross records j \nare true, as the practice of charms was common ] \nenough among; the peasantry both of Scotland and j \nEngland, and is even yet not wholly extinct ; but, \ntaken altogether, they did not amount to witchcraft, the , \nvery essence of which was a compatit with the devil, \nand in no one of the preceding cases is such a compact ' \nmentioned. And one must take the existence of the j \ngross superstition and credulity which is here J \ndisclosed to be irrefutable testimony that, as a pastor ] \nand teacher, Mr. John Ross was a signal failure at j \nLumphanan. \n\nI have already alluded to those pathetic instances of 1 \nself-delusion in which the reputed witch has been her ] \nown enemy, and furnished the evidence needed for her I \ncondemnation in her own confession \u2014 a confession of I \nacts which she must have known had never occurred; J \nbuilding up a strange fabric of fiction, and jierishing ] \nbeneath its weight. It would seem as if some of 1 \nthese unfortunate women came to believe in them- \nselves because they found that others believed in ] \nthem, and assumed that they really possessed the | \npowers of witchcraft because their neighbours insisted { \nthat it was so. Nor will this be thought such an i \nimprobable explanation when it is remembered that I \nhistory affords more than one example of prophets J \nand founders of new religions whom the enthusiastic I \ndevotion of their followers has persuaded into a J \n\n\n\nCHAP, rv.] A PAROCHIAL INQUISITION. \n\n\n\n367 \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nbelief in the authenticity of the credentials which \nthey themselves had originally forged, and the truth \nof the revelations which they had invented. \n\nFrom this point of view a profound interest \nattaches to the official ' dittay ' or accusation against \none Helen Fra?er, who was convicted and sentenced to \ndeath in April, 1597, since it shows that f-he was \ncondemned principally upon the evidence which she \nherself supplied : \n\n*i. John Ramsay, in Kewburght, being sick of a \nconsuming disease, sent to her house, in Aikinshill. \nto seek relief, and was told by her that she would do \nwhat lay in her power for the recovery of his health ; \nbut bade him keep secret whatever she spake or did, \nbecause the world was evil, and spoke no good of \nsuch mediciners. She commanded the said John to \nrise early in the morning, to eat \" sourrakis \" about \nsunrise, while the dew was still upon them; also to eat \n\"valcars,\" and to make \"lavrie \" kale and soup. More- \nover, to sit down in a door, before the fowls flew to their \nroost, and to open his breast, that when the fowls flew \nto the roost over him he might receive the wind of \ntheir wings about his breast, for that was very profit- \nable to loose his heart-pipes, which were closed. But \nbefore his departure from her, she made him sit down, \nbare-headed, on a stool, and said an orison thrice upon \nhis head, in which she named the Devil. \n\n' U. Item. \u2014 The said Helen publicly confessed in \nFoverne, after her apprehension, that she was a \ncommon abuser of the people; and that, further, to \nsustain' herself and her bairns, she pretended know- \n\n\n\nh \n\nI \n\n\n\nWlTOfl, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [boOK U.I \n\nledge which she had not, and undertook to do things I \nwhich she could not. This wau her answer, when she I \nwas accused by the minister of Fovenie, for that she \nabused the people, and when he inquired the cause of \nher evil report throughout the whole country. This \nshe confessed upon the green of Foverne, before the] \nlaird, the minister, and reader of Foverne, Patric^.1 \nFindlay in Newburght, and James Menzies at thef \nNew Mills of Foverne. \n\n'iii. Item. \u2014 Janet Ingram, wife to Adam Finnic, \ndwelling for the time at the West burn, in Balhelueia, \nbeing sick, and affirming herself to be bewitched, fop i \nshe herself was esteemed by all men to be a witch, she \nsent for the said Helen Frazer to cure her. The said , \nHelen came, and tarried with her till her departure \nand burial, and at her coming assured the said Janet ' \nthat within a short time she would be well enough. \nBut the sickness of the said Janet increased, and was \nturned into a horrible fury and madness, in such sort ' \nthat she always and incessantly blasphemed, and \npressed at all times to climb up the wall after the \n\" heillis\" and scraped the wall with her hands. After \nthat she had been grievously vexed for the space of ' \ntwo days from the coming of Helen Frazer, her \nmediciner, to Iier, she departed this life. Being dead, \nher husband went to charge his neighbours to convey I \nher burial, but before his returning, or the coming of \nany neighbour to the carrying of the corpse, the said \nHelen Frazer, together with two or three daughters of \nthe said Janet (whereof one yet living, to wit, Malye \nFinnic, in the Blairtoun of Balhelueis, ia counted a \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] A PAROCHIAL INQniSITlON. 3(J9 \n\nwitch), had taken up the corpse, and had carried her, \nthey alone, the half of the distance to the kirk, until \nthey came to the Moor of Cowhill ; when the said \nAdam and others his neighbours came to them, and at \ntheir coming the said Helen fled away through the \nmosB to Aikinahill, and went no further towards the \nkirk. \n\n' iv. Item. \u2014 A hor.se of Duncan Alexander, in New- \nburcht, being bewitched, the said Helen translated \nthe sickness from the horse to a young cow of \nthe said Duncan ; which cow died, and was cast \ninto the burn of the Newburcht, for no man would \neat her, \n\n'v. Item. \u2014 The said Helen made a compact with \ncertain laxis fishers of the Newburcht, at the kirk of \nFoverne, in Mallie Skryne's house, and promised to \ncause them to fish well, and to that efl^ect received of \nthem a piece of salmon to handle at her pleasure for \naccomplishing the matter. Upon the morrow she \ncame to the Newburcht, to the house of John \nFerguson, a laxis fisher, and delivered unto hira in a \ncloset four cuts of salmon with a penny ; after that \nshe called him out of his own house, from the com- \npany that was there drinking with him, and bade him \nput the same in the horn of his coble, and he should \nhave a dozen of fish at the first shot ; which came to \npass. \n\n' vi. Item. \u2014 The said Helen, by witchcraft, enticed \nGilbert Davidson, son to William Davidson, in \nLytoune of Meanye, to love and marry Margaret \nStrauthachin (in the Hill of Balgrescho) du-ectly \n\n24 \n\n\n\n370 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [boOK IL \n\nagainst the will of his parents, to the utter wreck \nof the said Gilbert. \n\n'vii. Iteni. \u2014 At the desire of the said Margaret \nStrauthaehin, by witchcraft, the said Helen made \nCatherine Fetcbil, wife to William Davidson, furious, \nbecause she was against the marriage, and took \nthe strength of her left side and arm from her ; in \nthe which fu rj- and feebleness the said Catherine \ndied, \n\n' viii. Item. \u2014 The said Helen, at the desire of the \nforesaid Margaret Strauthaehin, bewitched William \nHill, dwelling for the time at the Hill of Balgrescho, \nthrough which he died in a fury [i.e., a fit of \ndelirium]. \n\n*ix. Moreover, at the desire foresaid, the said Helen \nby witchcraft slew an ox belonging to the said William ; \nfor while Patrick Hill, son to the said William, and \nherd to his father, called in the cattle to the fold, at \ntwelve o'clock, the said Helen was sitting in the yeite, \nand immediately after the outcoming of the cattle out \nof the fold, the best ox of the whole herd instantly died. \n\n' X. Item \u2014 The sai<l Helen counselled Christane \nHenderson, vulgarly called mickle Christane, to put \none hand to the crown of her head, and the other to \nthe sole of her foot, and so surrender whatever was \nbetween her hands, and she should want nothing that \nshe could wish or desire. \n\n' xi. Item. \u2014 The said Christane Henderson, being \nhenwife in Foverne, the young fowls died thick ; for \nremedy whereof, the said Helen bade the said \nChristane take all the chickens or young fowls, and \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] \n\n\n\nPAROCHIAL INQUISITION. \n\n\n\n371 \n\n\n\ndraw them thfough the link of the crook, and take \nthe hindmost, and slay with a fiery stick, which thing \nbeing practised, none died thereafter that year. \n\n' xii. Item. \u2014 When the said Helen was dwelling in \nthe Moorhill of Foverne, there came .1 hare betimes, \nand sucked a milch cow pertaining to William \nFindlay, at the Mill of the Newburght, whose bouse \nwas directly afornent tbe said Helen's house, on the \nother side of the Burn of Foverne, wherethrough the \ncow pined away, and gave blood instead of milk, \nThis miscliief was by all men attributed to the s;iid \nHelen, and she herself cannot deny but she was \ncommonly evil spoken of for it. and affirmed, after her \napprehension at Foverne, that she was so slandered. \n\n' xiii. Item. \u2014 When Alexander Hardy, inAikinshill, \ndeparted this life, it grieved and troubled his con- \nscience very mickle, that he had been a defender of the \nsaid Helen, and especially that he, accompanied with \nMalcolm Forbes, travailed, against their conscience, \nwith sundry of the assessors when she suffered an \nassize, and especially with the Chancellor of the \nAssize, in her favour, he knowing evidently her to be \nguilty of death. \n\n' xiv. Item. \u2014 The said Helen being a domestic in \nthe said Alexander Hardy's house, disagreed with \none of the said Alexander's servants, named Andrew \nSkene, and intending to bewitch the said servant, the \nevil fell upon Alexander, and he died thereof, \n\n'xv. Item. \u2014 When Kobert Goudyne, now in \nBalgrescho, was dwelling in Blairtoun of Balhe- \nluies, a discord fell out betwixt Elizabeth Dempster, \n24\u20142 \n\n\n\n\n^k the li \n\n\n\n372 WITCB, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [BOOK lt| \n\nnurse to the said Robert for the time, and Christane \nHenderson, one of the said Helen's familiars, as her \nown confession aforesaid purports, and the country \nwell knows. Upon the which discord, the said \nChristane threatened the said Elizabeth with an evil \nturn, and to the performing thereof, brought the said \nHelen Frazer to the said Robert's house, and caused \nher to repair oft thereto. After what time, immedi- \nately both the said Elizabeth and the infant to whom \nshe gave suck, by the devilry of the said Helen, fell \ninto a consuming sickness, whereof both died. And \nalso Elspet Cheyne, spouse to the said Robert, fell into \nthe selfsame sickness, and was heavily diseased thereby \nfor the space of two years before the recovery of his \nhealth. \n\n'xvi. Item. \u2014 By witchcraft the said Helen abstracted \nand withdrew the love and affection of Andrew Tilli- \ndufF of Rainstoune, from his spouse Isabel Cheyne, to \nMargaret Neilson, and so mightily bewitched hira, \nthat he could never be reconciled with his wife, or \nremove his affection from the said harlot ; and when \nthe said Margaret was begotten with child, the said \nHelen conveyed her away to Cromar to obscure the \nfact. \n\n'xvii. Ttciii. \u2014 Wherever the said Helen is known, or \nhas repaired there many years bygone, she has been, \nand is reported by all, of whatsoever estate or sex, to \nbe a common and abominable witch, and to have \nlearned the same of the late Maly Skene, spouse to \nthe late Cowper Watson, with whom, during her life- \ntime, the said Helen had continual society. The \n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.] A PAROCHIAL INQUISITION, 873 \n\nsaid Maly was bruited to be a rank witch, and her \nsaid husband suffered death for the same crime. \n\n* xviii. Item. \u2014 When Robert Merchant, in the New- \nbrucht, had contracted marriage, and holden house \nfor the space of two years with the late Christane \nWhite, it happened to him to pass to the Moorhill of \nFoverne, to sow com to the late Isabel Bruce, the \nrelict of the late Alexander Frazer, the said Helen \nFrazer being familiar and actually resident in the \nhouse of the said Isabel, she was there at his coming : \nfrom the which time forth the said Robert found his \naffection violently and extraordinainly drawn away from \nthe said Christane to the said Isabel^ a great love being \nbetwixt. him and the said Christane always thereto- \nfore, and no break of love, or discord, fitUing out or \nintervening upon either of their parts, which thing \nthe country supposed and spake to be brought about \nby the unlawful travails of the said Helen. \n\n'[Signed] Thomas Tilideff, \n\n' Minister, at Fovem, with my hand. \n\n\u2022 Item. \u2014 A common witch by open voice and corner \nmon feme.' \n\nI have given this * dittay ' in full, from a convic- \ntion that no summary would do justice to its terrible \nsimplicity. Upon the evidence which it afforded, \nHelen Frazer was brought before the Court of \nJusticiary, in Aberdeen, on April 21, 1597, and \nfound guilty in * fourteen points of witchcraft and \n3orcery.' \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK Iti \n\n\n\n\nk \n\n\n\nThe buroing of witches went merrily on, &\u25a0 \nthe authorities of Aberdeen were comi>elleii to \nan adequate stock of fuel. We note in the municij \naccounts, under the date of March lU, that tbi \nwas ' bocht be the comptar, and laid in be him \nthe seller in the Chappell of the Castel hill, ane \nchalder of coillis, price thairof, with the hieing and \nmetting of the same, xvi/(6, iiiisA.' As is usually the \ncase, the frequency of these sad exhibitions whetted at \nfirst the public appetite for them ; it grew by what it \nfed on. One of the items of exjwnse in the execution \nof a witch named Margaret Clerk, is for carrying of \n' four sparris, to wiikntand the press of the pepUl, \nquhairof thair was twa broken, viiis. viiid.' \n\nAmong the victims committed to the flames in \n1396-97, we read the names of* Katherine Fergus and \n[Sculdr], Issobel Richie, Margaret Og, Helene Rodger, \nElspet Hendersoun, Katherine Gerard, Christin Reid, \nJenet Grant, Helene Frasser, Katherine Ferrers, Helene \nGray, Agnes Vobster, Jonat Douglas, Agnes Smelie, \nKatherine Alshensur, and ane other witche, callit \n1 . . .' \u2014 seventeen in all. That during their ita- \nprisonment they were treated with barbarous rigouTj \nmay be inferred from the following entries: \n\nItem. To Alexander Reid, smyth, for twa pair of \nacheckellis to the Witches in the Stepill ... xxxiiiA. \n\nIletn. To John Justice, for imrniug vpon the clteik \n\n' of four scureroll persouis suspect of witchcraft \n\nand baneschit xxvisA. viiiif, \n\nItem. Givin to Alexander Home for macking of \njoggis, slapUlU, avd locfds to the witches, during \n\nthe haill tytne forsaid xlvi^i. viiiii. \n\nExpense on Witches auch^acore, xUi/i. xvii^. iiiuC \n\n\n\n\\ \n\n\n\nWITCH MANIA CJ ABEEDEEN. \n\n\n\n375 \n\n\n\nOn September 21, 1597, the Provost, Baillies \nand Council of Aberdeen considered the faithfulness \nshown by William Dun, the Dean of Guild, in the \ndischarge of his duty, 'and, besides this, his extra- \nordinarilif takinif pains in the burning of the gi'eat \nnumber of the mtches burnt this year, and on the four \npirates, and bigging of the port on the Brig of Dee, \nrepairing of the Grey Friars kirk and steeple thereof, \nand thereby has been abstracted from his trade of \nmerchandise, continually since he was elected in the \nsaid office. Therefore, in recompense of his extra- \nordinary pains, and in satisfaction thereof (not to \ninduce anj' preparative to Deans of Guild to crave a \nrecompense hereafter), but to encourage others to \ntravail as diligently in the discharge of their office, \ngranted and assigned to him the sum of forty-seven \npounds three shillings and fourpence, owing by him \nof the rest of his compt of the unlawis [fines] of the \npersons convict for slaying of black fish, and dis- \ncharged him thereof by their presents for ever.' \n\nAt length a wholesome reaction took place ; the \npublic grew weary of the number of executions, and, \nencouraged by this changes of sentiment, person \naccused of witchcraft boldly rebutted the charge, and \nlaid complaints against their accusers for defamation \nof character. In official circles, it is true, a belief in \nthe alleged crime lingered long. As late as 1669, \n'the new and old Councils taking into their serious \nconsideration that many malefices were committed \nand done by several persons in this town, who are \nmala fama, and suspected guilty of witchcraft upon \n\n\n\n376 WITCH, WAELOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [book II. \n\nmany of the inhabitaots of this tofrn, several ways, \nand that it will be necessary for suppressing the like \nin time coming, and for punisiiing the said j>ersonB \nwho Ehall be found guilty ; therefore they do unanim- \nously conclude and ordain that any such person, who \nis suspect of the like malefices, may be seized upon, \nand put in prisoun, and that a Commission be sent \nfor, for putting of them to trial, that condign justice \nmay be executed, upon them, as the nature of the \noffence does merit.' No more victims, however, were \nsacrificed ; nor does it appear that any accusation of \nwitchcraft was preferred. \n\nAccording to Sir Walter Scott, a woman was burnt \nas a witch in Scotland as late as 1722, by Captain \nRoss, sheriff-depute of Sutherland ; but this was, \nhappily, an exceptional barbarity, and for some years \npreviously the pastime of witch-burning hadpractically \nbeen extinct. It is a curious fact that educated Scotch- \nmen, as I have already noted, retained their super- \nstition long after the common people had abandoned \nit. In 1730, Professor Forbes, of Glasgow, published \nhis ' Institutes of tlie Law of Scotland,\" in which he \nBpoke of witchcraft as * that black art whereby strange \nand wonderful things are wrought by power derived \nfrom the devil,' and added : ' Nothing seems plainer to \nme than that there may be and have been witches, \nand that perhaps such are now actually ejtisting.' \nSix years later, the Seceders from the Church of \nScotland, who professed to be the true representatives \nof its teaching, strongly condeumed the repeal of the \nlaws against witchcraft, as 'contrary,' they said, 'to i \n\n\n\nCSHAP, IV.] DECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT. 377 \n\nthe express letter of the law of God.' But they were \nhopelessly behind the time; public opinion, as the \nresult of increased intelligence, had numbered witch- \ncraft among the superstitions of the past, and we may \nconfidently predict that its revival is impossible. \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK lb j \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. \n\nTHE LITEEATUEE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\nIt should teach us humility when we find a belief in ] \nwitchcraft and demonology entertained not only by ] \nthe uneducated and unintelligent classes, but also by \nthe men of light and leading, the scholar, the 1 \nphilosopher, the legislator, who might have been ' \nexpected to have risen above so degrading a super- \nBtition, It would be manifestly unfair to direct our \nreproaches at the credulous prejudices of the multitude | \nwhen Francis Bacon, the great apostle of the experi- \nmental philosophy, accepts the crude teaching of bis I \nroyal master's ' Demonologie,' and actually discusses I \nthe ingredients of the celebrated 'witches' ointment,' 1 \nopining that they should all be of a soporiferous ] \ncharacter, such as henbane, hemlock, moonsbad^ j \nmandrake, opium, tobacco, and saffron. The weak- \nness of Sir Matthew Hale, to which reference has beea I \nmade iu a previous chapter, we cannot very stronglyJ \ncondemn, when we know that it was shared by Sir I \nThomas Browne, who bad so keen an eye for th^ \nerrors of the common people, and whose fine anil \nliberal genius throws so genial a light over the pa| \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LtTERATUBE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n379 \n\n\n\npf the ' Religio Medici.' In his ' History of the \nWorld,' that consummate statesman, poet, and scholar, \nSir Walter Raleigh, gravely supports the vulgar \nopinions which nowadays every Board School \nalumnus would reject with disdain. Even the \nphilosopher of Malmesbury, the sagacious author of \n' The Leviathan/ Thomas Hobbes, was infected by \nthe prevalent delusion. Dr. Cudworth, to whom we \nowe the acute reasoning of the treatises on ' Moral \nGood and Evil,' and ' The True Intellectual System \nof the Universe,' firmly holds that the guilt of a \nreputed witch might be determined by her inability \nor unwillingness to repeat the Lord's Prayer. \nStrangest of it all is it to find the pure and lofty \nspirit of Henry More, tlie founder of the school of \nEnglish Platonists, yielding to the genera! super- \nstition. With large additions of his own, he re- \npublished the Rev. Joseph Glanvill's notorious work, \n' Sadducismue Triumpbatus ' \u2014 a pitiful example of \nthe extent to which a fine intellect may be led \nastray, tliough Mr. Lecky thinks it the most power- \nful defence of witchcraft ever published. And the \nsober and fair-minded Robert Boyle, in the midst of \nhis scientific researches, found time to listen, with \nbreathless interest, to ' stories of witches at Oxford, \nand devils at Muston.' \n\nAmong the Continental authorities on witchcraft, \nthe chief of those who may be called its advocates \nare, Martin Antonio Delrto (1551-160&), who pub- \nlished, in the clo&ing years of the sixteenth century, \nhis ' Digquisitionarum Magicarum Libri Sex,' a for- \n\n\n\n380 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL-I \n\n\n\n1^^^ the( \n\n\n\nmidable folio, brimful of credulity and ingenuity, I \nwhich was translated into French by Duchesne in | \n1611, and has been industriously pilfered from by \nnumerous later writers. Delrio has no pretensions \nto critical judgment ; he swallows the most monstrous _ \ninventions with astounding facility. \n\nReference must also be made to the writings \u25a0 \nRemigiuH, included in Fez' 'Thesaurus Anecdotorum i \nNovissimus,' and to the great work by H. Institor j \nand J. Sprenger, ' Malleus Maleficarum,\" as well as t \nBasin, Molitor (' Dialogus de Laniiia'), and othea \nauthors, to be found in the 1582 edition of 'Mallei \nquorundam Maleficarum,' published at Frankfort. \n\nOn the same side we find the great philosophioM \nlawyer and historian John Bodin (1530-lo96), th\u00ab.l \nauthor of the ' EepuhlicEe,' and the ' Methodus ad | \nfacilem Historiarum Cognitionem.' In his ' Demono- j \nmanie des Sorcius ' he recommends the burning ofl \nwitches and wizards with an earnestness which should j \nhave gone far to compensate for his heterodoxy on ] \nother points of belief and practice. He informs us \nthat from his thirty-seventh year he had been attended J \nby a familiar spirit or demon, which touched his ear I \nwhenever he was about to do anything of which hia J \nconscience disapproved; and he quotes passages from J \nthe Psalms, Job, and Isaiah, to prove that spirits 1 \nindicate their presence to men by touching and even^ \npulling their ears, and not only by vocal utterances. \n\nAlso, Thomas Erasttis (1521-1583), physician i \ncontroversialist, who took so busy a part in \ntheological dissensions of his time. In 1677 \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WlTCHCRAtT. \n\n\n\n381 \n\n\n\npublished a tract (' De Lamiis'} on the lawfulness of \nputting witches to death. Ic is strange that he should \nhavi; been mastered iiy the gross imposture of witch- \ncraft, when he could expose mth trenchant force the \npretensions of alchemists, astrologers, and Rosi- \ncrucians. \n\nHappily, the cause of humanity, truth and toler- \nance was not without its eager and capable defenders. \nThe earliest I take to have l>een the Dutch physician, \nWieiiis, who, in his treatise ' De Praastigiis/ pub- \nlished at Basel in 1564, vigorously attacked the cruel \nprejudice that had doomed so many unhappy creatures \nto the stake. He did not, however, deny the existence \nof witchcraft, but demanded mercy for those who \npractised it on the ground that they were the de\\irs \nvictims, not his servants. That he should have \nbeen wholly devoid of credulity would have been \nmore than one could rightly have expected of a \ndisciple of Cornelius Agrippa. \n\nA stronger and much more successful assailant \nappeared in Reginald Scot (died 1599), a younger \nson of Sir John Scot, of Scot's Hall, near Smeeth, who \npublished his celebrated ' Discoverie of Witchcraft ' in \n1584 \u2014 a book which, in any age, would have been \nremarkable for its sweet humanity, breadth of view, \nand moderation of tone, as well as for its literary \nexcellencies. One wonders where this quiet Kentish \ngentleman, whose chief occupations appear to have \nbeen gardening and planting, accumulated his eru- \ndition, and how, in the iiice uf the superstitions of \nhis contemporaries, he arrived at such large and \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n382 WITCH, WABLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOpK IL \n\nliberal concluGions. The scope of his great work is \nindicated in its lengthy title : ' The Discoverie \nof \"Witchcraft, wherein the lewd dealing of Witches \nand Witchmongers is notablie detected, the knaverie \nof conjurers, the impietie of enchanters, the follie of \nsoothsaiers, the impudent falsehood of couseners. the l \ninfidelitie of atheists, the pestilent practices of Pytho- J \njiists, the curiositie of figure-casters [horoscopefl \nmakers], the vanitie of dreamers, the beggarlie i \nof Alcuinystrie, the abhomination of idolatrie, \nhorrible art of poisoning, the vertue and power OO \nnaturall magike, and all the conveyances of Legierde*B \nmain and juggling are deciphered: and many othe; \nthings opened, which have long lain hidden, howheiw \nverie necessarie to be knowne. Heerevnto is added t \ntreatise upon the Nature and Substance of Spirits and! \nDevils, etc. ; all latelie written by Reginald Scot. \nEsquire. 1 John iv. 1: \" Believe not everie spirit^i \nbut trie the spirits, whether they are of God; \nmany false prophets are gone out into the world.'\" \n\nFrom a book so well known \u2014 a new edition hai \nrecently appeared \u2014 it is needless to make extracts^ \nhut I transcril^e a brief passage in illustration of tfaafl \nvivacity and manliness of the writer: \n\n' I, therefore (at this time), do only desire you \u25a0 \nconsider of my report concerning the evidence that 1 \ncommonly brought before j'ou against them, See fin \nwhether the evidence be not frivolous, and whetb \nthe proofs brought against them be not incredible \nconsisting of guesses, presumptions, and impost \nbilities contrary to reason, Scripture, and nature, \nalso what persons complain upon them, whether theji \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n383 \n\n\n\nbe not of the basest, the unwisest, and the most faith- \nless kind of people. Also, may it please you, to weigh \nwhat accusations and crimes they lay to their charge, \nnamely : She was at my house of late, she would have \nhad a pot of milk, she departed in a chafe because she \nhad it not, she railed, she cursed, she mumbled and \nwhispered; and, finally, she said she would be even \nwith me: and soon after my child, my cow, my sow, \nor my pullet died, or was stranfjely taken. Nay (if it \nplease your Worship), I have further proof: I was \nwith a wise woman, and she told me I had an ill \nneighbour, and that she would come to my house ere \nit was long, and so did she; and that she had a mark \nabout her waist, and so had she; God forgive me, \nmy stomach hath gone against her a great while. \nHer mother before her was counted a witch ; she hath \nbeen beaten and scratched by the face till blood was \ndrawn upon her, because she hath been suspected, and \nafterwards some of those persons were said to amend. \nThese are the certainties that I hear in their evidences. \n'Note, also, how easily they may be brought to \nconfess that which they never did, nor lieth in the \npower of man to do ; and then see whether I have \ncause to write as I do. Further, if you shall see that \ninfidelity, poperj', and many other manifest heresies \nbe backed and shouldered, and their professors ani- \nmated and heartened, by yielding to creatures such \ninfinite power as is wrested out of God's hand, and \nattributed to witches: finally, if you shall perceive \nthat I have faithfully and truly delivered and set \ndown the condition and state of the witch, and also \nof the witchmonger, and have confuted by reason and \n\n\n\n384 \n\n\n\nWITCB, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I \n\n\n\n1 \n\n\n\nlaw, and by the Word of God itself, all mine adversary's \nobjectiona tind arguments ; tben let me have your \ncountenance against them that maliciously oppose \nthemselves against me, \n\n' My greatest adversaries are young ignorance and \nold custom. For what folly soever tract of time hath \nfostered, it is so superatitiously pursued of some, a3 \nthough no error could be acquainted uith custom. \nBut if the law of nations would join with such \ncustom, to the maintenance of ignorance and to the \nsuppressing of knowledge, the civilest country in \nthe world would soon become barbarous. For as \nknowledge and time discovereth errors, so doth euper- \netition and ignorance in time breed them.' \n\nIn another fine passage Scot says: \n\n' God that knoweth my heart is witness, and \nyou that read my book shall see, that my drift \nand purpose in this enterprise tendeth only to \nthese respects. First, that the glory and power of \nGod be not so abridged and abused, as to be thrust \ninto the hand or lip of a lewd old woman, wliereby \nthe work of the Creator should be attributed to the \npower of a creature. Secondly, that the religion of \nthe Gospel may be seen to stand without such peevish \ntrumpery. Thirdly, that lawful favour and Christian \ncompassion be rather used towards these poor souls \nthan rigour and extremity. Because they which are \ncommonly accused of witchcraft are the least sufficient \nof all other jjersons to speak for tliemselves, as having \nthe most base and simple education of all others ; the \nextremity of their age giving them leave to dote, their \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THK LITERATURE OF WITCHCBAFT. 385 \n\npoverty to beg, their wrongs to chide and threaten \n(as being void of any other way of revenge), their \nhumour melancholical to be full of imaginations, from \nwhence chiefly proceedeth the vanity of their con- \nfessions, as that they can transform themselves and \nothers into ape?, owls, asses, dogs, cats, etc ; that \nthey can fly in the air, kill .children with charms, \nhinder the coming of butter, etc. \n\n' And for so much as the mighty help themselves \ntogether, and the poor widow's cry, though it reach \nto heaven, is scarce heard here upon earth, I thought \ngood (according to my poor ability) to make inter- \ncession, that some part of common rigour and some \npoints of hasty judgment may be advised upon. For \nthe world is now at that stay (as Brentius, in a most \ngodly sermon, in these words aftirmeth). that even, as \nwhen the heathen jteraecuted the Christians, if any \nwere .iccused to believe in Christ, the common people \ncried Ad leonem ; so now, of any woman, be she never \nso honest, be she accused of witchcraft, they cry Ad \niijnem.' \n\nScot's attack upon the credulity of his contempo- \nraries, strenuous and capable as it was, did not bear \nmuch fruit at the time ; while it exposed him to \ncharges of Atheism and Sadduceeism from several \nsmall critics, who were supported by the authority of \nJames I., and, at a later date, of Dr. Meric Casaubon. \nHe found a fellow-labourer, however, in his work of \nhumanity, in the Rev. George Gifford. of Maldon, \nEssex, who in 1593 published 'A Dialogue concem- \n\n25 \n\n\n\n386 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [booiC I \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\ning Witches and Witchcraft, in which 'is layed open \nhow craftily the Divell deceiveth not only the Witches \nbut Many other, and so leadeth them awaie into \nManie Great Errours.' It will be seen from the title \nthat the writer does not adopt the uncompromising \nline of Reginald Scot, but inclines rather to the \nstandpoint of Wierus. There is, however, a good \ndeal of ability in his treatment of the question ; and \nsome account of the * Dialogue' reprinted by the Percy \nSociety in 1842, should be interesting, I think, to the \nreader. \n\nThe interlocutors are named Samuel, Daniel, \nSamuel's wife, M, B,, a schoolmaster, and the good- \nwife R. \n\nThe dialogue opens with Samuel and Daniel, the \nformer of whom is a fanatical believer in witches, \n' These evil-favoured old witches,' he says, ' do trouble \nme.' He repeats the common rumour that there is \nscarcely a town or village in the shire but has one or \ntwo witches in it. ' In good sooth,' he adds, \" I may \ntell it to you as to my friend, when I go but into \nmy closes, I am afraid, for I see now and then a hare, \nwhich my conscience giveth me is a witch, or some \nwitch's spirit, she stareth so upon me. And sometime \nI see an ugly weasel run through my yard; and there \nis a foul, great cat sometimes in my bam, which I \nhave no liking unto.' Having introduced his friend, \nwho ia less credulous than himself, to his wife and \nhis home, he promotes an argument between him and \nanother friend, M. B., a schoolmaster, on this qu(Estio \nvexata. \n\n\n\n\nCHAF. v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. 387 \n\nM. B. Starts with a good deal of fervour : \n\n' The word of God doth show plainly that there be witches, \nand commandetli they should be put to death. Experience hath \ntaught too many what harms they do. And if any have the gift \nto minister help against them, shall we refuse it )' \n\nBut after some discussion he agrees, at Daniel's \ninstance, to consider the subject in a spirit of sober \nargument; and the first question tliey take up is: \n' Are there witches that work by the Devil ?' The \n\nconversation then proceeds as follows : \n\nDaniel. It ia so evident by the Scriptures, and in all experience, \nthat there be witches which work by the devil, or rather, I may \nBay, the devil worketh by tliem, that such as go about to prove \nthe contrary, do show themselves but cavillers. \n\nM. B. I am glad we agree on that point ; I hope wo shall in \nthe rest What say you to this t That the witches have their \nspirits. Some hath one ; some hath more, aa two, three, four, or \nfive. Some in one likeness and some in another, as like cats, \nweasets, toads, or mice, whom they nourish with milk or with a \nchicken, or by letting them suck now and then a drop of blood, \nwhom they call if they be offended with any, and send them to \nhurt them in their bodies, yea, to kill them, and to kill their \ncattle. \n\nD.INIEL. Here is great deceit, and great illusion ; iiere the \nDevil leadeth the ignorant people into foni errors, by which be \ndraweth them headlong into many grievous sins. \n\nM. R Nay, then, I see you are awry, if you deny these things, \nand say they be but illusions. ... I did dwell in a village within \nthese five years where there was a man of good wealth, and sud- \ndenly, within ten days' space, he had three kine died, his gelding, \nworth ten pounds, fell lame, he was himself taken with a great \npain in his back, and a child of seven years old died. He sent to \nthe woman at E. H., and she said ho was plagued by a witch, \nadding, moreover, that there were three women witches in that \ntown, and one man witch, willing him to look whom he most \nBiispected. He suspected an old woman, and caused her to be \ncarried before a justice of peace and examined. With much ado \nat the last she confessed all, Which was this ia effect \u2014 that she \n25\u20142 \n\n\n\nh^m ^'' \n\n\n\nSS8 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [bc \n\nhad three spirits, one like a cat, which she called Ligld/oot ; another \nlike a toad, which she called Lanch ; the third like a vreiuel, \n\"which she called Makeakifl, This Lightfoot, she said, one Mother \nBailey, of W., sold her above sixteen years ago, for an oven-cake, \naud told her the cat would do her good service ; if she would, she \nmight send her of her errands. This cat was with her but a \nwhile, but the weasel and the toad came and offered their service. \nThe cat would kill kine, the weasel would kill horses, the toad \nwould plague men in their bodies. She sent them all three (as \nshe confessed) against this man. She was committed to the \nprifion, and there she died before the assizes. \n\nDaniel then strikes into the conversation, enlarging \non the Scriptural description of devils as ' mighty and \nterrible spirits, full of rage and power and cruelty' \u2014 \nprincipalities and powers, the rulers of the dartness \nof this world \u2014 and forcibly insisting that if spirits so \nawful and potential as these assumed the shapes of \nsuch paltry vermin as cat8, mice, toads, and weasels, \nit must be out of subtilty to cover and hide the \nmighty tyranny and power which they exercise over \nthe hearts of the wicked. And he argues that such \nspirits would never deign to be a witch's servant or \nto do her bidding. M. B. contends, however, that, \nalthough he be lord, yet is he content to serve her \nturn; and the witches confess, he says, that they call \nforth their demons, and send them on what errands \nthey please, and hire them to hurt in their bodies and \ntheir cattle those against whom they cherish angry \nand revengeful feelings. 'I am sorry,' says Daniel \nmildly, ' you are so far awry ; it is a pity any man \nshould be in such error, especially a man that hath \nJearning, and should teach others knowledge.' \n\nAfter some further disputation, M. H. is brought to \n\n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n389 \n\n\n\nadmit that God giveth the devils power to plague :ind \nseduce because of man's wickedness ; but he asks \nwhether a godly, faithful man or woman may not be \nbewitched. We see, he sajs, that the devil had \npower given him of old, as over Job. But Daniel \nwill not admit that this is a case in point, because it \n18 not said that the devil dealt with Job through \nthe agency of witches. Thereupon Samuel, perceiv- \ning the drift of his argument to be that the devil has \nno need to act by inetruraeuts so mean and even \ndegraded, and would assuredly never be at tlieir com- \nmand; that, consequently, there can be no witchcraft, \nbecause there is no necessity for it, suddenly inter- \nposes: \n\n'With your leave, M. B., I would ask two or three questions of \nmy friend. There was but seven rnilea hence, at W. H., one M, ; \nthe man was of good wealth, and well accounted of among his \nneighbours. He pined away with sickness half a year, and at \nlast died. After he was dead, his wife suspected ill-dealing, She \nwent to a cunning man, who told her that her husband died of \nwitchery, and asked her if she did not suspect any. Yes, there \nwas one woman she did not hke, one Mother W. ; her husband \nand she fell out, and ho fell sick within two days after, and never \nrecovered. He showed her the woman as plain in a gloss as we \nsee one another, and taught her how she might bring her to \nconfess. Well, she followed his counsel, went homo, caused her \nto be apprehended and carried before a justice of peace. Ho \nexamined her so wisely that in the end she confessed she killed \nthe maa She was sent to prison, she was arraigned, condemned, \nand executed ; and upon the ladder she seemed very penitent, \ndesiring all the world to forgive her. She said sho had a spirit in \nthe likeness of a yellow dun cat. This cat came niito her, as she \nsaid, as she sat by the lire, when she was fallen out witli a \nneighbour of hers, and wished that the vengeance of God might \nlight upon him and his. The cat bade hor not be afraid ; she \nwould do her no harm. She had served a dame live years in' \n\n\n\n\n390 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK Ibl \n\nKent that was now dead, and, if alie would, she would be her \naervanL \" And whereas,\" said the cat, \" such a uiaa hath mis- \nused thee, if thou wilt I will plague him in his cattla\" She \nsent the cat ; she killed three bogs and one cow, The man, \nBuappcting, bunil a pig alive, and, as she Bald, her cat would never \ngo thither any more, Afterward she fell out with that M. She \nBent her cat, who told her that she had given him that which he \nshould never recover ; and, indeed, the man died. Now, do you \nnot think the woman spoke the truth in all this 1 Would tho \nwoman accuse herself falsely at her death 1 Did not the cat \nbecome her servant 1 Did not she send herl Did she not \nplague and kill both man and beast 1 What should a man think \nof this ? \n\nDaniel. You propound a particular example, and let us \nexamine everything in it touching the witch. You say the cat \ncame to her when she was in a great rage with one of her \nneighbours, and did curse, wishing the vengeance of God to fall \nupon him and his. \n\nSam. Siie said so, indeed. I heard her with my own ears, for \nI was at tbe execution. \n\nDan. Then tell me who set her in such a deviiiah rage, 80 to \ncurse and ban, as to wish that tbe vengeance of Gud might light \nupon him ami his t Did not the cat! \n\nSam. Truly I think that tho devil wrought that in her. \n\nDan. Very well. Then, you see, tbe cat is the beginning of \nthis play. \n\nSam. Call you it a play ) It was no play to some. \n\nDan. Indeed, the witch at last had better have wrought hard \nthan been at her play. But I mean Satan did play the juggler ; \nfor doth be not olTer his service 1 Doth lie not move her to send \nhim to plague the man 1 Tell me, is she so forward to send, as \nhe is to be senti Or do you not take it that he ruleth in her \nheart, and even wholly directeth it to this matter I \n\nSam. I am fully perauaded he ruleth her heart. \n\nDan. Then was she his drudge, and nut Ite her servant He \nneedeth not to be hired and entreated ; for if her heart were to \nBend him anywhere, unto such as he knowetb he cannot hurt, nor \nseeth how to make any show that he hurteth them, he can \nquickly turn her from that. Well, the cat goeth and killeth the \nDati, certain hogs, and a cow. Uow could she tell that the cat \ndid it ? \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] TUB LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n391 \n\n\n\nSau. Hovr could she tell t ^Vhy, he told her, m&n, and she \nsaw dud heard that ho lost his cattle. \n\nDan. The cat would lie \u2014 would she not ? for thoy say such \nGate are liarB. \n\nSam. I do not trust the cat'B words, but hecause the thing fell \nout BO. \n\nDan. Because the hogs and the cow died, are you sure the cat \ndid kill them 1 Might they not die ol' some natural causes, as \nyou see both men and beasts are well, and die suddeuly t \n\nla this way the dialogue proceeds, with a good deal \nof ingenuity and some degree of dramatic spirit ; and \nthough the reasoning is not without its fallacies, yet \nit is sufficiently clear and forcible, on the whole, as a \nprotest on the side of liberality and tolerance. \n\nThe next branch of the subject taken up for con- \nsideration is ' the help and remedy ' that is sought for \nagainst witches ' at the hands of cunning men ;' \nDaniel contending that, if the cunning men can \nrender any assistance, it must be through the devil's \ninstrumentality, and, therefore. Christian men are not \njustified in availing themselves of it. The alleged \ncures performed by witches, Daniel refers to the \ninfluence of the imagination ; and in this category he \ntells an amusing story. ' There was a person in \nLondon,' he say, ' acquainted with the magician Fento. \nNow, this Fento had a black dog, whom he called \nBomelius. This party alterwards had a conceit that \nBomeliuB was a devil, and that he felt him within \nhim. He was in heaviness, and made Iiis moan to \none of his acquaintances, who had a merry head, and \ntold him he had a friend could remove liomelius. \nHe bade Mm prepare a breakfast, and he would bring \nhim. Then this was the cure : he (the friend) made \n\n\n\n392 \n\n\n\nWITUH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK II,- \n\n\n\nhim be stripped naked and stand by a good fire, and \nthough he were fat enough of himself, basted him i \nover with butter against the fire, and made him wear a \nsleek-stone next his skin under his belly, and the man \nhad immediate relief, and gave him afterwards great \nthankfi.' \n\n'The conceit, or imagination, does much,' continues \nDaniel, ' even when there is no apparent disease. A \nman feareth he is bewitched ; it troubleth all the \npowers of his mind, and that distempereth his body, \nmaking great alterations in it, and bringeth sundry \ngriefs. Now, when his mind is freed from such \nimaginations, his bodily griefs, which flew from the \nsame, are eased. And a multitude of Satan's is of \nthe same character.' \n\nTlie conversation next turns upon the danger of \nshedding innocent blood, which is inseparable from \nthe execution of alleged witches ; while juries, saya \nDaniel, must become guilty of shedding innocent \nblood by condemning as guilty, and that upon their \nsolemn oath, such as be suspected upon vain sur- \nmises, and imaginations, and illusions, rising from \nblindness and infidelity, and fear of Satan which is \nin the ignorant sort. \n\nM. B. If you take it that this is one craft of Satan to bring many \nto be guilty of innocent blood, and even upon their oaths, which \nis horrible, what would you have the judges and juries to do, \nwhen they are arraigned of suspicion to be witches 1 \n\nDan. What would I have them do ! I would wish them to be \nmost wary and circumspect that they be not guilty of innocent \nblood. And that is, to condemn none but upon sure ground, and \ninfallible proof ; because presumptions shall not warrant or ezcaae \nthem before God, if guiltless blood be shed. \n\n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATUUE OF WITCHCRAFr. 393 \n\nReplying to observations made by the school-' \nmaster. Daniel nontinues : \n\n'You bring two reasons to prove that io convicting witches \nlikelihoods and presumptions ought to be of force more than \nabout thieves or murderers. The first, Ijecause their dealing is \nsecret ; the other, because the devil will not let them confess. \nIndeed, men, imaginiag that winches do work strange mischiefs, \nburn in desire to have them hanged, as hoping then to be free ; \nand then, upon such persuasions us you mention, they suppose it \nis a very good work to put to death all which are suspected. \nBut, touching thieves and murderers, let men take heed how \nthey deal upon presumptions, unless they be very strong ; for we \nsee that juries sometimes do condemn such as be guiltless, which \nis a hard thing, especially as they are upon their oath. And in \nwitches, above all other, the people had need to be strong, becaiise \nthere ia greater sleight of Satan to pursue the guiltless into death \nthan in the other. Here is special care and wisdom to be used. \nAnd so likewise for their confessing. Satan doth gain more hy \ntheir confession than by their denial, and therefore rather be- \nwrayeth them himself, and forceth them unto confession oftener \nthau unto denial' \n\nSamuel at first is reluctant to accept this state- \nment. It has always been his belief that the devil is \nmuch angered when witches confess and betray \nmatters ; and in confirmation of this belief, or at \nleast as aome excuse for it, he relates an anecdote. \nOf course, one woman had suspected another to be a \nwitch. She prevailed upon a gentleman to send for \nthe suspected person, and having accused her in his \npresence, left him to admonish her with due severity, \nand to persuade her to renounce the devil and all his \nworks. While he was thus engageii, and she was \nstoutly denying the accusation brought against her, \na weasel or lobster suddenly made its appearance. \n'Look,' paid the gentleman, * yonder is thy spirit.' \n\n\n\n\"WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [moK IL 1 \n\n\n\n' Ah, master !' \n\n\n\nI replied, ' that is a vermin ; there.l \n\n\n\nt \n\n\n\nhe many of them everywhere.' Well, as they \u25a0 \ntowards it, it vanished out of sight ; by-and-hy i \nappeared, and looked upon them. ' Surely,' said the \ngentleman, ' it is thy spirit ;' but she still denied, \nand with that her mouth was drawn awry. Then he \npressed her further, and she confessed all. She con- \nfessed she had hurt and killed by sending her spirit. \nThe gentleman, not being a magistrate, allowed her \nto go home, and then disclosed the affair to a justice. \nWhen she reached home another witch accosted her, \nand said : ' Ah, thou beast, what hast thou done ? \nThou hast betrayed us all. What remedy now?' said \nshe. ' What remedy ?' said the other ; ' send thy \nspirit and touch him.' She sent her spirit, and of a \nsudden the gentleman had, as it were, a flash of fire \nabout him : he lifted up his heart to God, and felt no \nhurt. The spirit returned, and said he could not \nhurt him, because he had faith. 'What then,' said \nthe other witch, ' hath he nothing that thou mayes-t \ntouch ?' 'He hath a child,' said the other. 'Send \nthy spirit,' said hhe, ' and touch the child.' She sent \nher spirit ; the child was in great pain, and died. \nThe witches were hanged, and confessed, \n\nDaniel, by an ingenious analysis, soon dismisses this \nabsurd story, which, like all such stories, he takes \nto be further evidence of Satan's craft, and no dis- \nproof at all of the argument he has laid down. \nThen,' says Samuel, ' I will tell you of another thing \n\u25a0which was done of late. \n\n' A woman suspected of being a witch, and uf \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. 395 \n\nhaving done harm among the cattle, was examined \nand brought to confess that she had a spirit, which \nresided in a hollow tree, and spoke to her out of a \nhole in the trunk. And whenever she was offended \nwith any persons she went to that tree and sent her \nspirit to kill their cattle. She was persuaded to \nconfess her faults openly, and to promise that she \nwould utterly forsake such ungodly ways : after she \nhad made this open confession, the spirit came unto \nher, being alone. \" Ah !\" said he, \"thou hast confessed \nand betrayed all. I could turn it to rend thee in \npieces :\" with that she was afraid, and went away, \nand got her into company. Within some few weeks \nafter she fell out greatlj' into anger against one man. \nTowards the tree she goeth, and before she came at \nit \u2014 \" Oh !\" said the spirit, \" wherefore comest thou ? \nWho hath angered thee ?\" \" Such a man,\" said the \nwitch. \" And what wouldest thou have me do ?\" \nsaid the spirit. \"He hath,\" saith she, \"two horses \ngoing yonder ; touch them, or one of them.\" Well, I \nthink even that night one of the horses died, and the \nother was little better. Indeed, the}' recovered again \nthat one which was not dead, but in very evil ca&e. \nNow methinketh it is plain : he was angry that she \nhad betrayed all. And yet when she came to the \ntree he let go all displeasure and went readily.\" \n\nThere is much common-sense, as we should nowa- \ndays call it, in Daniel's comments on this extra- \nordinarily wild story. ' Do you think,' he is repre- \nsented as saying, \u2022 that Satan lodgeth in a hollow \ntree ? Is he become so lazy and idle ? Hath he \n\n\n\n[1 op w \n\n\u25a0^ G. \n^^^^^^V witcl \n\n\n\n396 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1 \n\nleft off to be as a roaring lion, seeking whom he niaj^J \ndevour ? Hath he put off the bloody and cruel \nnature of the fiery dragon, so that he mindeth na \nharm but when an angry woman entreats him to go! \nkill a cow or a horse ? Is he become so doting withi \nage that man shall espy . his craft \u2014 yea, be found! \ncraftier than he is ?' \n\nAnd now for the winding-up of Parson Gifford'oB \n' Dialogue.' 'Tis to be wished that all the parsonM \nof his time had been equally sensible and courageous^r \n\nM. B. I could bo content to hear mote in these matters ; I setfa \nhow fondly I have erred. But seeing you must be gone, I hops'! \nwe Bhall meet here again at some other time, God keep you ! \n\nSam. I am bound to give you great thankB. And, I pray you, J \nVhen occasion serveth, that you come this way. Let lis see yotT'l \n&t my house. \n\nM. B. I thought there flad not been such subtle practices of I \nthe devil, nor so great sins as he leadeth men into. \n\nSaai. It is strange to see how many thousands are carried^ \naway, and deceived, yea, many that are very wise men. \n\nM. B. The devil is too craftv for the wiae.st, unless theyhaTB.I \nthe light of God's ^Vo^d. \n\nSamuel's Wife. Husband, yonder cometh the goodwife K. \n\nSam. I wish she had come sooner. \n\nGoODWiFK R. Ho, who is within, by your leave 1 \n\nSamuel's Wife. I would you had come a little sooner ; herd \nwas one even now that said you were a witch. \n\nGoodwife R. Was there one said I am a witch 1 You i \nbut jest. \n\nSamuel's Wife. Nay, I promise you he was in good earnest \n\nGoodwife R. I a witch ) I defy him that Buith it, thou( \" \nhe be a lord. I would all the witches in the land were hanged,,! \nand their spirits by them. \n\nM. B. Would you not be glad, if their spirits were \nop with them, to have a gown furred with some of their skins t \n\nGoodwife R. Out upon them. There were few ! \n\nSam. Wife, why didst thou say that the goodwife K. is i \nwitch t He did not say so. \n\n\n\nCHAI'. v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n397 \n\n\n\nSamuel's Wife. Huabaud, I did mark hia words welt eoough ; \nhe said she is a witch. \n\nSail He doth not know her, and how could he say she is a \nwitch ? \n\nSamuel's Wife. What though he did not know her 1 Did he \nnot say that she played the witch that lieated the spit red hot, \nand thrust it into her cream when the butter would not uomel \n\nSaal Indeed, wife, thou sayest true. He said that was a \nthing taught by the devil, as also the burning of a hen, or of a \nhog alive, and all such like devices. \n\nGottDWiFE R. Is that witchcraft ) Some Scripture man hath \ntold you so. Did the devil teach it t Nay, the good woman at \nE. H. taught it my husband : she doth more good in one year \nthan all those Scripture men will do so long as they live. \n\nM. B. Who do you think taught it the cunning woman at \nR. H.) \n\nGoODWiFE R. It is a gift winch God hath given her. I \nthink the Holy Spirit of Goil doth teach her. \n\nM. B. You do not think, then, that the devii doth teach her'l \n\nGoODWiFE R How should I think that the devil doth teach \nhert Did you ever hear that the devil did teach any good \nthing T \n\nM. B. Do you know that was a good thing ? \n\nGooDWit'E R. Was it not a good thing to drive the evil spirit \nout of any mani \n\nM. B. Do you think the devil wiis afraid of your spitl \n\nGooDWiFE R. I know he was driven away, and we have been \nrid of him ever since. \n\nM. B. Can a spit hurt him 1 \n\nGooDWiFE R. It doth hurt him, or it hurteth the witch: one \nof them, I am sura : for he cometh no more. Either she can get \nhim come no more, because it hurteth Lim : or else she wUl let \nhim come no more, because it hurteth her. \n\nM. B. It is certain that spirits cannot be hurt but with \nspiritual weapons ; therefore your spit cannot fray nor hurt the \ndevil And how can it hurt the witch 1 You did not think she \nwas in your cream, did you 1 \n\nGooDWiFE R Some think she is there, and therefore when \nthey thrust in the spit they say : ' If thou beest here, have at \nthine eye.' \n\nM. B. If she were in your cream, your butter was not very \ncleanly. \n\n\n\nM mabe Eiich \n\n\u25a0 they reiidy \n\nr^^^^^^ that can lei \n\n\n\n398 WITCH, WAKLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [boOK I \n\nGOODWIFE E. You are merrily disposed, M, B. I know yon \nare of my mind, though you put these questions to me. For I \nam sure none hath counselled more to go to the cunning folk \nthau you, \n\nM, B. I Ti-as of your ntind, but I am not now, for I see hw \nfoolish I was. I am aoiry that 1 offended so grievously us 1 \ncounsel any for to seek unto devils. \n\nGooDWiFE R. Why, M. B., who liath schooled you to-dayT \nI am sure you were of another miud no longer agone than yeateiv \nday. \n\nSamuel's Wifk Truly, goodwife R., I think my husband ia \nturned also -. here hath been one reasoning with them three or \nfour hours. \n\nGoodwife R. Is your husband turned, tool I would you \nmight lose all your hens one after another, and then I would \nshe would set her spirit upon your durks and your geese, and \nleave you not one alive. Will you come to defend witches 1 . , , \nM. B. You tliiuk the devil cau kill men's cattle, and lame both \nman and beast at his pkasure: you think if the witch entreat \nhim and send him, he will go, and if she will not have him go, he \nwill not meddle. And you think when he doth come, you can \ndrive him away with a hot spit, or with burning a live hen or a \npig- \n\nGoodwife K. Never tell me I think bo, for you yourself have \nthought so ; and let them say what they can, all the Scripture \nmen in the world shall never persuade me otherwise. \n\nM. B. I do wonder, not so much at your ignorance as at this, ' \nthat I was ever of the same mind that you are, and could not eea \nmine own folly. \n\nGoodwife ft. Folly ! how wise you are become of a suddenl \nI know that their spirits lie lurking, for they foster them ; and \nwhen anybody hath angered them, then they call them forth and \nsend them. And look what they bid them do, or hire them to j \ndo, that shall be done : as when she is angry, the spirit will ask \nher, * What shall I do 1' ' Such a man hath misused mo,' saitb \nshe ; ' go, kill his cow ' ; by-and-by he goeth and doeth it. ' Go, \nkill such a woman's hens ' ; down go they. And some of them I \nare not content to do these lesser harms ; but they will say, ' C \nmake such a man lame, kill him, or kill his child.' Then i \nthey ready, and will do anything; and I think they be happjH \nthat can learn to drive them away. \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATQRE OP WTTCHCRiFT. 399 \n\nM. B. If I should reason with you out of the words of God, \nyou should seo that oil this ia false, which you say. The devil \ncaiiDoi kill nor hurt anything ; no, not so much as s, poor hen. \nIf he had power, who can escape him 1 Would he tarry to be \nsent or entreated hy a woman 1 He is a stirrer up unto all \nharms and mischiefs, \n\nGouDWiFE E. ^\\'hat will you tell me of God's word t Doth \nnot God's word say there be witches ! and do not you think God \ndoth suffer bad people 1 Are you a turncoat ? Fare you well ; I \nwill no longer talk with you. \n\nM. B. She is wilful indeed. I will leave you also. \n\nSamuel. I thank you for your good company. \n\nAbout the same time that Gilford was endeavour- \ning to teach his countrymen a more excellent way of \ndealing with the vexed questions of denionology and \nwitchcraft, a Dutch minister, named Bekker, scandal- \nized the orthodox by a frank denial of all power \nwhatsoever to the devil, and, consequently, to the \n\u25a0witches and warlocks who were supposed to be at one \nand the same time his servants and yet his employers. \nHis ' Monde Enchant^ ' (originally written in Dutch) \nconsist^i of four ponderou.s volumes, remarkable for \nprolixity and repetition, as well as for a certain \noriginality of argument. There was no just ground, \nhowever, as Hallam remarks, for throwing imputa- \ntions on the author's religious sincerity. He shared, \nhowever, the opprobrium that attaches to all who \ndeviate in theology from the orthodox path; and it \nmust be admitted that his Scriptural explanations in \nthe case of the demoniacs and the like are more \ningenious than satisfactory. \n\nA violent trumpet-note on the side of intolerance \nwas blown by King James I. in 1597 in his famous \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n\n400 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1 \n\n' Diemonoli _ \n\ndialogue, and numbers about eightj\" closely- printed \npages. James, as the reader has seen, had had ample \npersonal experience of witches and their 'cantrips,' \nand had 'got up' the subject with a commendable \namount of thoroughness. He divides witches into \neight classes, who severally work their evil designs \nagainst mankind ; then be subdivides into white and \nblack witches, of whom the former are the more \ndangerous; and again into 'acted' and ' pacted ' \nwitches, the former depending for their power \ntheir supernatural gifts, and the latter having made \ncompact with Satan contrary to ' all rules and orders \nof nature, art or grace.' Further, the demons have a \nclassification of their own ; some of the higher ranks \nof the demonarchy looking down contemptuously \nenough on those of the inferior grades, who consist \nof 'the damned souls of departed conjurers.' These \n' damned souls ' discharge all kinds of mean and \nservile offices \u2014 bringing fire from heaven for the \nconvenience of their employers ; conveying bodies \nthrough tlie air; conjuring corn from one field into \nanother; imparting a show of life to dead bodies; \nand raising the wind for witches to sell to their \nnautical customers \u2014 who received pieces of knotted \nrope, and, untying the first knot, secured a favourable \nbreeze, for the second a moderate wind, and for the \nthird a violent gale. \n\nAfter describing the rites in vogue on the con- \nclusion of a compact between witch and devil, King \n\n\n\nJames enlarges on other points of ceremonial, such \n\n\n\nore \n\ners ' \n\n\n\nlUUlUI, BUUU II \n\n\n\nUHAP. v.] THE LITEKATUBK OF WITCHCRAFT. 401 \n\naa the making of various magic circles \u2014 sometiraes \nround, sometimes triangular, sometimes quadrangular j \ntbe use of boly water and crosses in ridicule of the \npapists ; and the oflFer to the demons of some living \nanimal. He adds that the great witches' meetings \nfrequently took place in churches : and he says that \nthe witches mutter and hurriedly mumble through \ntheir conjurations 'like a priest despatching a hunt- \ning masse' ; and that if they step out of a circle in a \nsudden alarm at the horrible appearance assumed by \nthe demon, he fliea off with them body and soul. \n\nThe royal expert proceeds to indicate the means \nby which you may detect a witch. ' There are two \ngood helpes that may be used for their trials ; the \none is the finding of their marke and the trying the \ninsensibility thereof. Tbe other is their fleeting on \nthe water : for as in a secret murther, if tbe dead \ncarkasse be at any time thereafter handled by the \nmurtherer, it will gush out of blood, aa if the blood \nwere crying to the heaven for revenge of the \nmurtherer, God having appoynted that secret super- \nnaturale eigne for triale of that secret unnaturale \ncrime, so it appears that God hath appoynted (for a \nsupernaturale signe of the monstrous impietie of \nwitches) that the water shall refuse to receive tbem \nin her bosome that have shaken off thein the sacred \nwater of Baptism and willingly refused the benefit \nthereof: no, not so much aa their eies are able to \nshed teares (threaten and torture them as you please) \nwhile first they repent (God not permitting tbem to \ndissemble their ohstinacie in so horrible a crime), \n\n21) \n\n\n\n\n402 WITCH, WARLOCK, ASD aiAGICIAN. [BOOK 1 \n\nalbeit the womenkind especially be able other waies \nto shed teares at ever}' light occasion wlien they will, \nyea altho' it were dissemblingly like the crocodiles.' \n\nIncidentally, our witch-hunting King offers an \nexplanation oi\" a peculiarity which, no doubt, our \nreaders have already noted \u2014 the great numerical \nsuperiority of witches over warlocks. ' The reason \nie easie,' be says ; ' for as that sex is frailer than \nman is, so is it easier to be intrapped in the grosse \nsnares of the devil, \u2014 as was over well prooved to be \ntrue by the serpente decei\\'ing of Eva at the begin- \nning, which makes him the homelier with that sex \nsensine [ever since].' \n\nAs regards the external appearance of witches, he \nremarks that they are not generally melancholic ; \n' but some are rich and worldly wise, some are fet \nand corpulent, and moat part are given over unto the \npleasures of the flesh ; and further experience daily \nproves how loth they are to confess without torture, \nwhich witnesseth their guiltincsse.' He concludes \nby asking, ' Who is safe ?' and replies that the only \nsafe jxirson is the magistrate, when assiduously em- \nployed in bringing witches to justice. One Reginald \nScot, Esq., however, hop-grower and brewer of \nSmeetb, in Kent, a persistent disbeliever in and \nridiculer of witchcraft, who had the courage to break \nlances with the King and the bench of Bishops in \ncontemporary pamphlets, and is called by the King \nan 'Englishman of damnable opiniones,' iiTcverently \nanswered this question by saying that the only safe \nperson was the King himself, as his sex prevented \n\n\n\nX prevent\u00abd^^| \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATUEE OF WCTCHCRAFT. 403 \n\nhis being taken for a witch, and the whole kingdom \nwas satisfied that he was no conjurer. \n\nIn 1616, John Cotta, a Northampton physician, \npublished a forcibly written attack on the vulgar \ndelusion, under the title of 'The Trial of Witchcraft,' \nwhich reached a second (and enlarged) edition in \n1624. Cotta waH also the author of a fierce blast \nagainst quacks \u2014 'Discovery of the Dangers of \nignorant Practisers of Phj'sick in England,' 1612; \nand of a not less vehement attack on the aurum \npofahile of the chemists, entitled, ' Cotta contra \nAntonium, or An Ant. Anthony,' 1623. \n\nThere is a lively work by John Gaul, preacher of \nthe Word at Great Haughton, in the county of \nHuntingdon \u2014 ' Select Cases of Conscience touching \nWitches and Witchcraft,' 1646, which is worth \nlooking into. Gaul was a courageous and persevering \nopponent of the great witch-finder, Hopkins. \n\nThe unhappy victims of popular prejudice found a \nstrenuous champion also in Sir Robert Filmer, who, \nin 1653, published his 'Advertisement to the Jury- \nmen of England, touching Witches, together with a \nDifference between an English and Hebrew Witch, \nFilraer is best known to students by his ' Patriarcha,' \nan apology for the paternal government of kings, \nwhich does violence to all constitutional principles, \nbut has at least the negative merit of obvious sincerity \non the part of its writer. It is somewhat surprising \nto find a mind like Filmer's, fettered as it was by so \n26\u20142 \n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\n404 WITCH, WABLOCK, ANU MAGICIAN, [buOK I \n\nmany prejudices and a slavish adherence to preacrip \ntion, openly urging the cause of tolerance \nenlightenment, and vigorously demolishing the sbai \narguments by which the believers in witchcrai \nendeavoured to support their grotesque theories. \n\nThree years later followed on the same side \ncertain Thomas Ady, M.A., who, with considerabM \nvivacity, fulminated against the witch-mongers i \nwitch- torturers in his tractate, ' A Candle \nDark ; or, A Treatise concerning the Nature \nWitches and Witchcraft : being Advice to Judgi \nSheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and Grand Jurymei \nwhat to do before they pass sentence on such as i \narraigned for their lives as Witches.' The quaintly* \nworded dedication ran as follows : \n\n' To the Prince of the Kings of the Earth. It jfl \nthe manner of men, heavenly King, to dedican \ntheir books to some great men. therebj- to have th^ \nworks protected and countenanced among them ; bm \nThou only art able by Thy Holy Spirit of Truth, \ndefend Thy Truth, and to make it take impression r \nthe heart and understanding of men. Unto Th \nalone do I dedicate tliis work, entreating Thy Ma \nHigh Majesty to grant that, whoever shall open 1 \nbook, Thy Holy Spirit may so possess their undei \nstanding as that the Spirit of error may depart from \nthem, and that they may read and try Thy Truth by \nthe touchstone of Thy Truth, the Holy Scriptures ; \nand finding that Truth, may embrace it and forsake \ntheir darksome inventions of Anti-Christ, that have \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n405 \n\n\n\ndeluded and defiled the natioas now and in former \nages. Enlighten the world, Thou art the Light of \nthe World, and let darkness be no more in the world, \nnow or in any future age ; but make all people to \nwalk as children of the light for ever ; and destroy \nAnti-Christ that hath deceived the nations, and save \nus the residue by Thyself alone ; and let not Satan \nany more delude us, for the Truth is thine for ever,' \n\n\n\nIn 16f.9 John WagstafFe published ' The Question \nof Witchcraft Debated.' According to Wood, be was \nthe son of John WagstafFe, a London citizen ; was \nborn in Cheiipside ; entered as a commoner of Oriel \nCollege, Oxford, towards the end of 1649 ; took the \ndegrees in Arts, and applied himself to the study of \npolitics and other learning. ' At length lieing raised \nfrom an academical life to the inheritance of Hasland \nby the death of an uncle, who died without male \nissue, he spent his life afterwards in single estate.' \nHe died in 1677. Wood describes him as ' a little \ncrooked man, and of a despicalile presence. He was \nlaughed at by the boys of this University because, as \nthey said, he himself looked like a little wizard.' \n\nHis book is illuminated throughout l>y the generous \nsympathies of a large and liberal mind. His perora- \ntion has been described, and not unjustly, as ' lofty ' \nand ' memorable,' and, when animated by a noble \nearnestness, the writer's language rises into posi- \ntive eloquence. ' I cannot think,' he says, ' without \ntrembling and horror on the vast numbers of people \nthat in several ages and several countries have been \n\n\n\nkL' \n\n\n\n406 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK I \n\nsacrificed unto this cold opinion. Thousands, ten \nthousands, are upon record to have been slain, and \nmany of them not with simple deaths, but horrid, \nexquisite tortures. And yet, how many are there \nmore who have undergone the same fate, of whom \nwe have no memorial extant ? Since therefore the \nopinion of witchcraft is a mere stranger unto \nScripture, and wholly alien from true religion ; since \nit is ridiculous by asserting fables and impossibilities; \nsince it appears, when duly considered, to be at! \nbloody and fiiU of dangerous consequence unto the \nlives and safety of men ; I hope that with this my \ndiscourse, opposing an absurd and pernicious error, \nI cannot at all disoblige any sober, unbiased person, \nespecially if he be of such ingenuity as to have freed \nhimself from a slavish subjection unto those preju- \ndicial opinions which custom and eilucation do with \ntoo much tyranny impose, \n\n' If the doctrine of witchcraft should be carried up \nto a heiglit, and the inquisition after it should be \nentrusted in the hands of ambitious, covetous, and \nmalicious men, it would prove of far more fatal con- \nsequences unto the lives and safety of mankind than \nthat ancient heathenish custom of sacrificing men \nunto idol gods, insomuch that we stand in need of \nanother Heracles Liberator, who, as the former freed \nthe world from human sacrifice, should, in like \nmanner, travel fi-om country to country, and by his \nall -commanding authority free it from this evil and \nbase custom of torturing people to confess themselves \nwitches, and burning them after extorted confessions. \n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE UTERATDRE OF WITCHCRAFT. 40/ \n\nSurely tlie blood of men ought not to be so cheap, \nnor so easily to be shed by those who, under the \nname of God, do gratify exorbitant passions and \nsel6sh ends ; for mthout question, under thia side \nheaven, there ia nothing so sacred as the life of man, \nfor the preservation whereof all policies and forms \nof government, all laws and magistrates are most \nespecially ordained. Wherefore I presume that this \ndiscourse of mine, attempting to prove the vanity \nand impossibility of witchcraft, is so fiir from any \ndeserved censure and blame, that it rather deserves \ncommendation and praise, if I can in the least measure \ncontribute to the saving of the lives of men.' \n\nMeric Casaubon, a man of abundant learning and \nnot less abundant auperstition, attempted a reply to \nWagstafie in his treatise ' Of Credulity and Incredulity \nin Things Divine and Spiritual' (1670). \n\n\n\nAt Thornton, in the parish of Caswold, Yorkshire, \nwas born, on the 3rd of February, 1610, one of the \nablest and most successful of the adversaries of the \nwitch-maniacs, John Webster. It is supposed that \nhe was educated at Cambridge; but the first event \nin his career of which we have any certain knowledge \nIS his admission to holy orders in the Church of \nEngland by Or. Morton, Bishop of Durham. In \n163-1 we find him officiating as curate at Kildnick in \nCraven, and nine years later as Master of the Free \nGrammar School at Clitheroe. He seems afterwards \nto have held for a time a military chaplaincy, then to \n\n\n\n408 \n\n\n\nWITCH. WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [book II. 1 \n\n\n\n\nhave withdrawn from the Church of England, and] \ntaken refuge in some form of Dissent. In 1653 his^ \nnew religious views found expression in his ' Saints' *\u25a0 \nGuide,' and in 1654, in ' The Judgment Set and the I \nBooks Opened,' a series of sermons which he had J \noriginally preached at All Hallows' Church in Lom \nbard Street. It was in this church the incidenfci \noccurred which Wood lias recorded : ' On the 12th of ' \nOctober, 1653, William Erbury, with John Webster, \nsometime a Cambridge scholnr, endeavoured to knock , \ndown learning and the ministry both together in &I \ndisputation that they then had against two ministers! \nin a church in Lombard Street, London. Erbury4 \nthen declared that the wisest ministers and the purest'! \nchurches were at that time befooled, confounded, and J \ndefiled by reason of learning. Another wliile hei \nsaid that the ministry were monsters, beasts, asses,] \ngreedy dogs, false prophets, and that they are thel \nBeast with seven heads and ten horns. The samel \nperson also spoke out and said that Babylon iai \nthe Church in her ministers, and that the Great! \nW^hore is the Church in lier worship, etc., so that J \nwith him there was an end of ministers and churches'l \nand ordinations altogether. While these things were'l \nbabbled to and fro, the multitude, being of various I \nopinions, began to mutter, and many to cry out, and! \nimmediately it came to a meeting or tumult (call it! \nwhich you please), wherein the women bore away the J \nbell, but lost some of them their kerchiefs ; and the I \ndispute being hot, there was more danger of pulling ] \n;own the church than the ministry.' \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. 409 \n\nIn 1G54, our iconoclastic entliusiast strongly\u2014 but \nnot without good reason \u2014 assailed the educational \nsystem then in vogue at Oxford and Cambridge in \nhis treatise, ' Academiarum Examen,' which created \nquite a sensation in ' polite circles,' fluttering the \ndove-cots of the rulers of the two Universities. Very \ncurious, however, are its sympathetic references to \nthe old Hermetic mysteries, Rosicnicianism, and \nastrology, to the fanciful abstractions and dreamy \nspeculations of Paracelsus, Van Helmont, Fludd, and \nDr. Dee. One cannot but wonder that so acute and \nvigorous an intellect should have allowed itself to be \nentangled in the delusions of the occult sciences. \nBut his study of the works of the old philosophers \nwas, no doubt, the original motive of the laborious \nresearch which resulted in his ' Metallographia ; or, \nA History of Metals' (1671). In this learned and \ncomprehensive treatise are declared ' the signs of Ores \nand Minerals, both before and after Digging, the \ncauses and manner of their generations, their kinds, \nsorts, and differences ; with the description of sundry \nnew Metals, or Semi-Metals, and many other things \npertaining to Mineral Knowledge. As also the hand- \nling and showing of their Vegetability, and the dis- \ncussion of the most difficult Questions belonging to \nMystical ChjTnistry, as of the Philosopher's Gold, \ntheir Mercury, the Liquor Alkahest, Aurum potabile, \nand such like. Gathered forth of the most approved \nAuthors that have written in Greek, Latin, or High \nDutch, with some Observations and Discoveries of the \nAuthor Himself. By John Webster, Practitioner in \n\n\n\n\n410 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1 \n\nPhysick and Cliirurgery. \" Qui pnncipia naturalia \nin seipso ignoraverit, hie jam multum retnotus est ab \narte nostra, quoniam nan kabet radiam veram super \nquam mtmtionem suamfimdit.\" Geber. Sum. Perfect., \nlib. L, p. 21; \n\nIn 1677, Webster, wbo bad abandoned the cure of \nsouls for that of bodies, produced the work which \nentitles him to honourable mention in these pagea. \nAccording to the fashion of the day, ifs title was \nalmost as long as a table of contents. I transcribe \nit here in extenso : \n\n' The Displaying of supposed Witchcraft, Wherein \nis affirmed that thero are many sorts of Deceivers and \nImpostors. And Divers persons under a passive \nDelusion of Melancholy and Fancy. But that there \nis a Corporeal League made betwixt the Devil and the \nWitch, Or that he sucks on the Witches Body, has \nCarnal Copulation, or that Witches are turned into \nCats or Dogs, raise Tempests or the like, is utterly \ndenied and disproved, Wherein also is handled the \nExistence of Angels and Spirits, the Truth of Appari- \ntions, the Nature of Astral and Sidereal Spirits, the \nForce of Charms and Philters ; with other Abstruse \nMatters. By John \\A'\"ebster, Practitioner in Physic. \n\" Falsw etenim opiniones Uominum prcsoceupantes, non \nsolum sufdos sedutccecosfaciunt,itaitt videre nequeant, \nqucB aliis perspicua apparent.\" Galen, lib. viii., de \nComp. Med. London. Printed by I. M., and are to \nbe sold by the Booksellers in London, 1677.' \n\nWebster, who was evidently a man of restless and \ninquiring intellect, and independent judgment, died \n\n\n\naied J \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. 411 \n\non June 18, 1682, and was buried in St. Margaret's, \nClitheroe, where his monument may still be seen. Its \nsingular inscription must have been devised by some \nastrological sympathizer : \n\nQui hanc figuram intelligunt \nMe etiam intellexisse, intelligent. \n\nHere follows a mysterious figure of the sun, with \nseveral circles and much astrological lettering, which \nit is unnecessary to reproduce. The inscription con- \ntinues : \n\nHie jacet ignotus mundo mersus que tumultus \nInvidise, semper mens tamen aequa fecit, \nMulta tulit veterum ut sciret secreta sophorum \nAc tandem vires noverit ignis aquae. \n\nJohannes Hyphantes sive Webster. \n\nIn villa Spinosa supermontana, in \n\nParochia silvse cuculatae, in agro \n\nEboracensi, natus 1610, Feb. 3. \n\nErgastulum animse deposuit 1682, Junii 18. \n\nAnnoq. setatis suse 72 currente. \nSicq. peroravit moriens mundo huic valedicens, \nAurea pax vivis, requies setema sepultis. \n\nIn 1728, Andrew Millar, at the sign of The \nBuchanan's Head, against St. Clement's Church in \nthe Strand, published ' A System of Magick : or, A \nHistory of the Black Art,' by Daniel Defoe ; a book \nwhich, though it by no means justifies its title, is \none of more than passing interest, partly from the \nrenown of its author, and partly from the light it \nthrows on the popularity of magic among the English \nmiddle classes in the earlier years of the eighteenth \n\n\n\n412 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN\". [booK tl.,| \n\ncentury. As it has not been reprinted for the last \nfifty years, and is not very generally known, some \nglimpses of the stuff it is made of may be acceptable toj \nthe curious reader.* \n\nIn his preface Defoe lavishes a good deal of cod-' \ntempt on contemporary pretenders to the character of \nmagician, who by sham magical practices imposed on a \npublic ignorant, and therefore credulous. Magicians, \nhe says,in the first ages were wise men ; in the middle \nages, madmen ; in these latter ages, they are cunning \nmen. In the earliest times they were honest ; in the \nmiddle time, rogues ; in these last times, fools. At \nfirst they dealt with nature ; then Avith the devil ; \nand now, not with the devil or with nature either. \nIn the first ages the magicians were wiser than the \npeople ; in the second age wickeder than the people ; \nand in thi.s later age the people are both worse and \nwickeder than the magicians. Like many other \ngeneralizations, this one of Defoe's is more pointed \nthan true ; and it is evident that the so-called magi- \ncians could not have flourished had there not been an \nignorant class who readily accepted their pretensions. \n\nDefoe's account of the origin of magic is so vague \nas to suggest that he knew very little of the sub- \nject he was writing about. ' I have traced it,' he says, \n' as far back as antiquity gives us any clue to dis- \ncover it by : it seems to have its beginning in the \nignorance and curiosity of the darkest ages of the \nworld, when miracle and something wonderful was \n\n*\u25a0 Some amhoritiea doubt the authorship ; but the internal \nI evidence aeema to ma to juatify the cUim made for it aa Defoe'b \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. 413 \n\nexpected to confirm every advanced notion ; and \nwhen the wise men, having racked their invention to \nthe utmost, called in the devil to their assistance for \nwant of better help ; and those that did not run into \nSatan's measures, and give themselves up to the \ninfernal, yet trod so near, and upon the very verge \nof Hell, that it was hard to distinguish between the \nmagician and the devil, and thus they have gone \non ever since : so that almost all the dispute between \nus and the magicians is that they say they converse \nwith good spirits, and we say if they deal with any \nspirits, it is with the devil.' \n\nHere the greatness of his theme stimulates Defoe \ninto poetry, which diflfers very little, however, from \nhis prose, so that a brief specimen will content \neverybody : \n\n' Hail ! dangerous science, falsely called sublime, \nWhich treads upon the very brink of crime. \nHelps mimic, Satan's mountebank of state, \nDeals with more devils than Heaven did e'er create. \nThe infernal juggling-box, by Heaven designed. \nTo put the grand parade upon mankind. \nThe deviPs first game which he in Eden played. \nWhen he harangued to Eve in masquerade.' \n\nDividing his treatise into two parts, our author, in \nthe introduction to Part I., discusses the meaning of \nthe principal terms in magical lore ; who, and what \nkind of people, the magicians were ; and the mean- \ning originally given to the words ' magic ' and \n* magician.' As a matter of course, he strays back \nto the old Chaldean days, when a magician, he says, \nwas simply a mathematician, a man of science, who, \n\n\n\n414 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK al \n\n\n\n\nStored with knowledge and learning, was a kind of \nwalkinff dictionary to other people, instructing the \nrest of mankind on subjects of which they werej \nignorant : a wise man, in fact, whointer|ireted omens^.J \nill signs, tokens, and dreams ; understood the sij \nof the times, the face of the heavens, and \ninfluences of the superior luminaries there. Whea \nall this wisdom became more common, and the maj \nhad communicated much of their knowledge to th^ \npeople at large, their succe.'isors, still aspiring to ; \nposition above, and apart from, the rest of the world \nwere compelled to push their studies further, tm \ninquire into nature, to view the aspect of the heavenSj \nto calculate the motions of the stars, and more ] \nticularly to dwell upon their influences in humai \naffairs \u2014 thus creating the science of astrology. BnJ \nthese men neither bad, nor pretended to have, \ncompact or correspondence with the devil or witi \nany of his works. They were men of thought, or, i \nyou please, men of deeper thinking than the ordinal \nsort ; they studied the sciences, inquired into \nworks of nature and providence, studied the meanir \nand end of things, the causes and events, and < \nsequently were able to see further into the ordinal \ncourse and causes both of things about them, anfld \nthings above them, than other men. \n\nSuch were the world's gray forefathers, \nmagicians of the elder time, in whom was fc \n* an excellent spirit of wisdom,' There were c \nnot less learned \u2014 whose studies took a different direc\u00ab| \ntion ; who inquired into the structure and orgai \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. 415 \n\ntion of the human body ; who investigated the origin, \nthe progress, and the causes of diseases and dis- \ntempers, both in men and women ; who sought out \nthe physical or medicinal virtues of drugs and plants ; \nand as by these means they made daily discoveries in \nnature, of which the world, until then, was ignorant, \nand by which they performed astonishing cures, they \nnaturally gained the esteem and reverence of the \npeople. \n\nSir Walter Raleigh contends that only the word \n* magic,' and not the magical art, is derived from \nSimon Magus. He adds that Simon's name was not \nMagus, a magician, but Gors, a person familiar with \nevil spirits ; and that he usurped the title of Simon \nthe Magician simply because it was then a good and \nhonourable title. Defoe avails himself of Raleigh's \nauthority to sustain his own opinion, that there is \na manifest diflference between magic, which is wisdom \nand supernatural knowledge, and the witchcraft and \nconjuring which we now understand by the word. \n\nIn his second chapter Defoe classifies the magic of \nthe ancients under three heads : i. Natural, which \nincluded the knowledge of the stars, of the motions \nof the planetary bodies, and their revolutions and \ninfluences ; that is to say, the study of nature, of \nphilosophy, and astronomy ; ii. Artificial or Rational^ \nin which was included the knowledge of all judicial \nastrology, the casting or calculating nativities, and the \ncure of diseases \u2014 ( 1 ) by particular charms and figures \nplaced in this or that position ; (2) by herbs gathered \nat this or that particular crisis of time ; (3) by saying \n\n\n\n\n416 WITCH, WAKLOCK, AND MAGICIAN, [booK n. \n\nsuch and such words over the patient ; (4) hy such \nand such gestures ; (5) bj- striking the flesh in such \nand such a manner, and innumerable such-like pieces \nof mimicry, working not upon the disease itself, but \nupon the imagination of the patient, and so afl'ecting \nthe cure hy the power of nature, though that nature \nwere set in operation by the weakest and simplest \nmethods imaginable ; and, iii. DiuboUcal, which was \nwrought b}' and with the concurrence of the devil, \ncarried on by a correspondence with evil spirits \u2014 \nwith their help, presence, and personal assistance \u2014 and \npractised chiefly by their priests. Defoe argues that \nthe ancients at iirat were acquainted only with the \npurer form of magic, and that, therefore, sorcery and \nwitchcraft were of much later develo])ment. The \ncause and motive of this development be traces in his \nthird chapter (' Of the Reason and Occasion which \nbrought the ancient honest Magi, whose original \nstudy was philosophy, astronomy, and the works of \nnature, to turn sorcerers and wizards, and deal \nwith the Devil, and how their Conversation began'). \nEgyptologists will find Defoe's comments upon \nEgyptian magic refreshingly simple and unhistorical, \nand his identifications of the Pyramids with magical \npractices is wildly vague and hypothetical. Of the \nmagic which was really taught and practised amonfj \nthe ancient people of Egypt, Defoe, of course, knows \nnothing. He tells us, however, that the Jews learned \nit from them. He goes on to speculate as to the time \nwhen that close intercourse began between the devil \nand his servants on earth which is the foundation of \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. 417 \n\nthe later or diabolical magic, and concludes that his \nfirst visible appearance on this mundane stage was \nas the enemy of Job. Thence he is led to inquire, \nin his fourth chapter, what shapes the devil assumed \non his first appearances to the magicians and others, \nin the dawn of the world's historj^, and whether he is \nor has been allowed to assume a human shape or no. \nAnd he suggests that his earliest acquaintance with \nmankind was made through dreams, and that by this \nmethod he contrived to infuse into men's minds an \ninfinite variety of corrupt imaginations, wicked desires, \nand abhorrent conclusions and resolutions, with some \nridiculous, foolish, and absurd things at the same \ntime. \n\nDefoe then proceeds to tell an Oriental story, which, \ndoubtlessly, is his own invention : \n\nAli Albrahazen, a Persian wizard, had. it is said, \nthis kind of intercourse with the devil. He was a \nSabean by birth, and had obtained a wonderful reputa- \ntion for his witchcraft, so that he was sent for by the \nKing of Persia upon extraordinary occasions, such as \nthe interpretation of a dream, or of an apparition, like \nthat of Belshazzar's handwriting, or of some meteor \nor eclipse, and he never failed to give the King satis- \nfection. For whether his utterances were true or \nfalse, he couched them always in such ambiguous \nterms that something of what he predicted might \ncertainly be deduced from his words, and so seem to \nimport that he had eflfectually revealed it, whether he \nhad really done so or not. \n\nThis Ali, wandering alone in the desert, and \n\n27 \n\n\n\n418 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. \n\n\n\ni \n\n\n\nmusing much upon the appearance of a fiery meteor, \nwhich, to the great terror of the country, had flamed \nin the heavens everj' night for nearly a month, sought \nto apprehend its sifrnificance, and what it should por- \ntend to the world ; but, failing to do so, he aat down, ,. \nweary and disheartened, in the shade of a spreadii \npalm. Breathing to himself a strong desire thai \nBome spirit from the other world would generously \nassist him to arrive at the true meaning of a phenome- \nnon BO remarkable, he fell asleep. And, lo ! in his \nBleep he dreamed a dreara, and the dream was this : \nthat a tall man came to him, a tall man of sage and \nvenerable aspect, with a pleasing smile upon bis \ncountenance ; and, addressing him by his name, told \nhim that he was prepared to answer his questions, and \nto explain to him the signification of the great and \nterrible fire in the air which was terrifying all Arabia \nand Persia. \n\nHis explanation proved to be of an astronomical \ncharacter. These fiery appearances, he said, were \ncollections of vajxjur exhaled by the influence of the \nsun from earth or sea. As to their importance to \nhuman aflfairs, it was simply this : that sometimes by \ntheir propinquity to the earth, and their power of \nattraction, or by their dissipation of aqueous vapours, \nthey occasioned great droughts and insupportable \nheats ; while, at other times, they distilled heavy and \nunusual rains, by condensing, in an extraordinary \nmanner, the vapours they had absorbed. And he \nadded; 'Go thou and warn thy nation that this fiery \nmeteor portends an excessive drought and &mine ; for \n\n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE UTEBATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. 419 \n\nknow that by the strong exhalation of the vapours of \ntlie earth, occasioned by the meteor's unusual nearness \nto it, the necessary rains will be withheld, and to a \nlong drought, as a matter of course, famine and \nscarcity of corn succeed. Thus, by judging accord- \ning to the rules of natural causes, thou shalt predict \nwhat shall certainly come to pass, and slialt obtain \nthe reputation thou so ardently desirest of being a \nwise man and a great magician.' \n\n' This prediction,' said Ali, ' was all very well an \nregarded Arabia ; but would it apply also to Persia ?' \n' No,' replied the devil ; for All's interlocutor was no \nless distinguished a personage \u2014 fiery meteors froni \nthe same causes sometimes produced contrary events ; \nand he might repair to the Persian Court, and pre- \ndict the advent of excessive rains and floods, which \nwould greatly injure the fruits of the earth, and occa- \nsion want and scarcity. ' Thus, if either of these \nsucceed, as it is most probable, thou shalt assuredly \nbe received as a sage magician in one country, if not \nin the other ; also, to both of them thou mayept \nsuggest, as a probability only, that the consequence \nmay be a plague or infection among the people, \nwhich is ordinarily the effect as well of excessive \nwet as of excessive heat. If this happens, thou shalt \ngain the reputation thou desirest ; and if not, seeing \nthou didst not positively foretell it, thou shalt not \nincur the ignominy of a false prediction.' \n\nAli was very grateful for the devil's assistance, and \nfailed not to ask how, at need, he might again secure \nit. He was told to come again to the palm-tree, and \n\n\n\n420 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK 1 \n\n\n\n\nto go around it fifteen times, calling him thrice by \nhis name each time : at the end of the fifteenth cir- \ncumambulation he would find himself overtaken by \ndrowsineas ; whereupon he should lie down with his \nface to the south, and he would receive a visit fi-om \nhim in vision. The devil further told him the magic \nname by which he was to summon him. \n\nThe magician's predictions were duly made and \nduly fulfilled. Thenceforward he maintained a con- \nstant communication with the devil, who, strange to \nsay, seems not to have exacted anything from him in \nreturn for his valuable, but hazardous, assistance. \n\nDefoe's fift;h chapter contains a, further account of \nthe devil's conduct in imitating divine inspirations ; \ndescribes the difference between the genuine and the \nfalse ; and dwells upon signs and wonders, fictitious \nas well as real. In chapter the sixth our author \ntreats of the first practices of magic and witchcraft \nas a diabolical art, and explains how it was handed \non to the Egyptians and Phtenicians, by whom it was \nopenly encouraged. He offers some amusing remarks \non the methods adopted by magicians for summoning \nthe devil, who seems to be at once their servant and \nmaster. In parts of India they go up, he says, to the \nsummit of some particular mountain, where they call \nhim with a little kettledrum, jut.t as the good old \nwives in England hive their bees, except that they \nI>eat it on the wrong side. Then they pronounce \ncertain words which they call ' charms,' and the devil \nappears without fail. \n\nIt is not easy to discover in hifctory what words \n\n\n\nA \n\n\n\nCHAP. V.J THE LITfiRATURE OP WITCHCRAFT. 421 \n\nwere used for charms in Egjrpt and Arabia for so \nmany ages. It is certain they differed in different \ncountries ; and it is certain they differed as the \nmagicians acted together or individually. Nor are \nwe less at a loss to understand what the devil could \nmean by suffering such words, or any words at all, to \ncharm, summon, alarm, or arouse him. The Greeks \nhave left us, he says, a word which was used by the \nmagicians of antiquity pretty frequently \u2014 that famous \ntrine or triangular word. Abracadabra : \n\nABRACADAB K^A, \n\nABRAGADABR \n\nABRACADAB^ \n\nABRAGADA \n\nA B R A C AnD, \n\nA B R A C A \n\nA B R A C \n\nA B R A^ \n\nA B R \nA B \n\nA^ \n\n* There is abundance of learned puzzle among the \nancients to find out the signification of this word : \nthe subtle position of the letters gave a kind of \nreverence to them, because they read it as it were \nevery way, upwards and downwards, backwards and \nforwards, and many will have it still that the devil \nput them together : nay, they begin at last to think it \nwas old Legion's surname, and whenever he was \ncalled by that name, he used to come very readily ; \nfor which reason the old women in their chimney- \ncorners would be horribly afiraid of saying it often \nover together, for if they should say it a certain \n\n\n\n422 \n\n\n\nWITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK ] \n\n\n\nnumber of times, they had a notion it would certaiiily\u00ab \nraise the devil. \n\n' They say, on the contrary, that it was invente \nby one Basilides, a learned Greek ; that it containedi \nthe great and awful name of the Divinity ; and that ' \nit was used for many years for the opposing the \nspells and charms of the Pagans ; that is, the \ndiabolical spells and charms of the pagan magi-\u00ab \ncians.\" \n\nIn the seventh chapter we read of the practice and \nprogress of magic, as it is now explained to be a \ndiabolical art ; how it spread itself in the world, and , \nby what degrees it grew up to the height which ifl \nhas since attained. \n\n\n\nThe introduction to the second part of Defoe*a \nwork is devoted to an exposition of the Black Ar( \n' as it really is,' and sets forth ' wliy there are several^ \ndiffering practices of it in the several parts of t \nworld, and what those practices are ; as, also, what it^ \ncontained in it in general.' He defines it as ' a ne^ \ngeneral term for all the branches of that corresponJ \ndence which mankind lias maintained, or does, orB \ncan carry on, between himself and the devil, betww \nthis and the infernal world,' And he enumerate \nthese branches as : Divining, or Soothsaying ; Ohi \nserving of Times; Using Enchantment; Witchcraftm \nChai-ming, or Setih^g of Spells ; Dealing with Famtliai \nSpirits; Wizardising, or Sorcery ; and Necromancy. \n\nThe first chapter treats of Modern Magic, or tb \nBlack Art in its present practice and perfection. \n\n\n\nCHAP, v.] THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. 423 \n\nIn the second chapter the scene is changed : as the \ndevil acted at first with his Black Art without the \nmagicians, so the magicians seem now to carry it on \nwithout the devil. This is written in Defoe's best \nstyle of sober irony. 'The magicians/ he says, \n* were formerly the devil's servants, but now they \nare his masters, and that to such a degree, that it is \nbut drawing a circle, castmg a few figures, muttering \na little Arabic, and up comes the devil, as readily as \nthe drawer at a tavern, with a Ifye call^ sir ? or like \na Scotch caude [caddie?], with Whafs your honour's \nundly sir? Nay, as the learned in the art say, he \nmust come, he can't help it : then as to tempting, he \nis quite out of doors. And I think, as the Old \nParliament did by the bishops, we may e'en vote him \nuseless. In a word, there is no manner of occasion , \nfor him : mankind are as froward as he can wish and \ndesire of them ; nay, some cunning men tell us we \nsin faster than the devil can keep pace with us : as \nwitness the late witty and moderately wicked Lady \n. . . ., who blest her stars that the devil never \ntempted her to anything ; he understood himself \nbetter, for she knew well enough how to sin without \nhim, and that it would be losing his time to talk to \nher.' \n\nDefoe furnishes an entertaining account of his \nconversation with a countryman, who had been to a \nmaorician at Oundle. Whether true or fictitious, the \nnarrative shows that many of the favourite tricks \nperformed at spiritualistic siances in our own time \nwere well known in Defoe's : \n\n\n\n424 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK H. \n\nCountryman. I saw my old gentleman in a great chair, and \ntwo more in chairs at some distance, and three great candles, and \na great sheet of white paper upon the floor between them ; every \none of them had a long white wand in their hands, the lower end \nof which touched the sheet of paper. \n\nDefoe And were the candles upon the ground too ? \n\nC. Yes, all of them. \n\nD. There was a great deal of ceremony about you, I assure \nyou. \n\nC. I think so, too, but it is not done yet : immediately I heard \nthe little door stir, as if it was opening, and away I skipped as \nsoftly as I could tread, and got into my chair again, and sat there \nas gravely as if I had never stirred out of it. I was no sooner \nset, but the door opened indeed, and the old gentleman came out \nas before, and turning to me, said, ' Sit still, don't ye stir ;' and at \nthat word the other two that were with him in the room walked \nout after him, one after another, across the room, as if to go out \nat the other door where I came in ; but at the further end of the \nroom they stopped, and turned their faces to one another, and \ntalked ; but it was some devil's language of their own, for I could \nunderstand nothing of it. \n\nD. And now I suppose you were frighted in earnest 1 \n\nC. Ay, so I was ; but it was worse yet, for they had not stood \nlong together, but the great elbow-chair, which the old gentleman \nsat in at the little table just by me, began to dir of itsdf ; at which \nthe old gentleman, knowing I should be afraid, came to me, and \nsaid, ' Sit still, don't you stir, all will be well ; you shall have no \nharm ;' at which he gave his chair a kick with his foot, and saith, \n' Go f with some other words, and other language ; and away tcent \nthe obedient chair, sliding^ two of Us legs on the ground, and the other \ntwo off y as if somebody had dragged it by that part. \n\nD. And so, no doubt, they did, though you could not see it. \n\nC. And as soon as the chair was dragged or moved to the end \nof the room, where the three, I know not what to call 'em, were, \ntwo other chairs did the like from the other side of the room, and \nso they all sat down, and talked together a good while ; at last \nthe door at that end of the room opened too, and they all were \ngone in a moment, without rising out of their chairs ; for I am \nsure they did not rise to go out, as other folks do. \n\nD. What did you think of yourself when you saw the chair stir \nso near you t \n\n\n\nCHAP. V,] THE LITERATURE UF WITCHCRAFT. 425 \n\nC. Think ! nay, I did not tlmik ; I was dead, to be sure I was \ndead, with the fright, and expected I should be carried away, \nchair and all, the uext moment. Then it was, 1 say, that my hair \nwould have lifted off my hat, if it bad been on, I am sure it \nwould. \n\nD. Well, but when tbey were all gone, you came to yourself \nagain, I suppose 1 \n\nC. To tell you the truth, master, I am not come to myself yet. \n\nD. But go on, let me know how it ended. \n\nC. Why, after a little while, my old man came in aRain, called \nbis man to set the chairs to rights, and then sat him down at the \ntable, spoko cheerfully to me, and asked me if I would drink, \nwhich I refused, though I was a-dry indeed. I believe the fright \nhod made me dry ; but aa I never bad been used to drink with \nthe devil, I didn't know what to think of it, so I let it alone. \n\nIn his third chapter (' Of the present pretences of \nthe Magicians; how they defend themselves; and \nsome examples of their practice ') Defoe has a lively \naccount of a contemporary magician, a Dr. Bowman, \nof Kent, who seems to have been a firm believer in \nivhat is now called Spiritualism. He was a green old \nman, who went about in a long black velvet gown \nand a cap, with a long beard, and his upper lip \ntrimmed 'with a kind of muschato.' He strongly \nrepudiated an}' kind of correspondence or intercourse \nwith the devil ; but hinted that he derived much \nassistance from the good spirits which people the \ninvisible world. After dwelling on the follies of the \nlearaed, and the superstitions of the ignorant, this \nlordly conjurer said: ' You see how that we, men of \nart, who have studied the sacred sciences, suffer by \nthe errors of common fame ; they take us all for \ndevil-mongers, damned rogues, and conjurers.' \n\nThe fourth chapter discusses the doctrine of \n\n\n\n426 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGIO[AN. [BOOK U.I \n\nspirits as it ie understood by the magicians ; how fa^ \nit may be supposed there may be an intercourse wit! \nsuperior beings, apart from any familiarity with 1 \ndeWl or the spirits of evil ; with a transition to th) \npresent times. \n\nAnd so much for the ' Art of Magic ' as expounder \nby Daniel Defoe. \n\nIn 1718 appeared Bishop Hutchinson's ' Historici \nEssay concerning Witchcraft,' a book ^v^itte^ in i \nmost liberal and tolerant spirit, and, at the same tim^ \nwith so much comprehensiveness and exactitude, that^ \nlater writers have availed themselves freely of its \nstores. \n\nReference may also be made to \u2014 \n\nJohn Beaumont, ' Treatise of Spirits, Apparitions, \nWitchcrafts, and other Magical Practices,' 1705. \n\nJames Braid (of Manchester), ' Magic, Witchcraft, \nAnimal Magnetism, Hypnotism, and Electro-Biology' \n(1852), in which there is very little about witch- \ncraft, but a good deal about the influence of the \nimagination. \n\nJ. C. Colquhoun, ' History of Magic, Witchcraft, \nand Animal Magnetism/ 18ol. \n\nRev. Joseph Glanvill, ' Sadducismus Triumphatus; \nor, A full and plain Evidence concerning Witches and \nApparitions,' 1670. \n\nSir Walter Scott, ' Letters on Demonology and \nWitchcraft,' 1831. \n\nHoward Williams, ' The Superstitions of Witch- \ncraft,' 1865. \n\n\n\n\nTHE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. \n\n\n\n427 \n\n\n\nIt may be a convenience to the reader if I indicate \nsome of tlie principal foreign authorities on this \nsubject. Such as \u2014 Institor and Sprenger's great \nwork. 'Malleus Maleficarum ' (Nuremberg, 1494); \nThe monk Heisterhach's (CBEsarius) ' Dialogus Mi- \nraculomm ' (ed. by Strange), 1851; Cannaert's \n' ]'rocea des Sorcieres en Belgique,' 1848 ; Dr. W. G. \nSoldan's ' Geschichte der Hexenprocesse ' (1843) ; \nG. C. Horst's ' Zauber-Bibliothek, oder die Zauberei, \nTheurgie und Mantik, Zauberei, Hexen und Hexen \nprocessen, Diimonen. Gespenster und Geisterer- \nscheinungen,' in 6 vols., 1821 \u2014 a most learned and \nexhaustive work, brimful of recondite lore; Collin de \nPlancy's ' Dictionnaire Infernal ; ou Repertoire Uni- \nversel des Etres, des Livres, et des Choses qui tiennent \naux Apparitions, aux Divinations, a la Magie,' etc., \n1844 ; Michelet's ' La Sorci^re ' is, of course, bril- \nliantly written ; R. Reuss's ' La Sorcellerie au xvi\". \net xvii\". Siecle,' 1872; Tartarotti'a 'Del Congresso \nNotturno delle Lamie,' 1749; F. Perreaud's * De- \nnionologie, ou Traits dea Demons et Sorciers,' \n1655; H. Boguet's ' Discours des Sorciers,' 16-10 \n(very rare) ; and Cotton Mather's ' Wonders of the \nInvisible World,' 1695 \u2014 a monument of credulity, \nprejudice, and bigotry. \n\n\n\nROOKS ON MAGIC. \n\n\n\nIt may also be convenient to the reader if I enumerate \na few of the priucijjal authorities on the history of \nMagic, Sorcery, and Alchemy. A very exhaustive \nlist will be found in the ' Bibliotheca Magica et Pneu- \n\n\n\n423 WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. [BOOK IL \n\nmatica,' by Graeesel, 1843 ; and an ' Alphabetical \nCatalogue of Works on Hermetic Philosophy and \nAlchemy is appended to the ' Lives of Alchemystical \nPhilosophers,' by Arthur Edward Waite, 1888. For \nordinary purposes the following will be found suffi- \ncient : Langlet du Fresnoy, ' Histoire de la Philo- \nsophie Hermdtique,' 1742 ; Gabriel Naude, ' Apologie \npour les Grands Homraes fiiussement soup^onnes de \nMagie,' 1625; Martin Antoine Delrio, ' Disquisi- \ntionum Magicarum, libri sex,' 1599; L. F. Alfred \nMaury, ' La Magie et I'Astrologie dans 1' Antiquity et \nau Moyen Age,' etc., 1860; Eus, Salverte, 'Sciences \nOccultes,' ed. by Littrt^, 1S56 (eee the English trans- \nlation, ' Philosophy of Magic,' with Notes by Dr. A. \nTodd Thomson, 1846) ; Abbe de Villars, ' EntretienS \ndu Comte de Gabalis ' (' Voyages Imaginaires,' tome 34 ). \nEnglished as ' The Count de Gabalis : being a divert- \ning History of the Rosicrucian Doctrine of Spirits,' \netc., 1714; Elias Ashmole, ' Theatrum Chemicum \nBritannicum ;' Roger Bacon, ' Mirror of Alchemy,' \n1597 ; Louis Figuier, ' Histoire de I'AIchimie et les \nAlchimistes,' 1865; Arthur Edward Waite, 'The \nReal History of the Rosicrucian s,' 1887; Hargrave \nJennings, ' The Rosier iicians,' new edit. ; William \nGodwin, \"Lives of the Necromancers,' 1834; Dr. T. \nThomson, 'History of Chemistry,' 1831 ; 'Encyclo- \npaedia Britannica,' in locis ; Dr. Kopp, ' Geschichte \nder Chemie ;' G. Rodwell, ' Birth of Chemistry,' 1874 ; \nHaerfor, ' Histoire de la Chimie,' etc., etc.","title":"Witch, warlock, and magician; historical sketches of magic and witchcraft in England and Scotland","tradition":"Witchcraft & Wicca History","translated_text":null,"word_count":122932}