(_For the Mirror_.)
--Why should the envious world
Throw all their scandalous malice upon me?
'Cause I am poor, deform'd, and ignorant;
And like a bow, buckled and bent together,
By some more strong in mischiefs than myself:
Must I for that be made a common sink
For all the filth and rubbish of men's tongues,
To fall and run into? some call me witch;
And, being ignorant of myself, they go
About to teach me how to be one; urging
That my bad tongue (by their bad usage made so)
Forespeaks their cattle, doth bewitch their corn,
Themselves, their servants, and their babes at nurse;
This they enforce upon me; and in part
Make me to credit it. _Witch of Edmonton._
The belief in witchcraft may be considered as forming a prominent and
important feature in the history of the human mind. It is certainly one
link of the degrading chain of superstitions which have long enslaved
mankind, but which are now quivering to their fall. The desire for power
to pry into hidden things, and more especially events to come, is
inherent in the human race, and has always been considered as of no
ordinary importance, and rendered the supposed possessors objects of
reverence and fear. The belief in astrology, or the power to read in the
stars the knowledge of futurity, from time immemorial has been
considered as the most difficult of attainment, and important in its
results. And by the aid of a little supernatural machinery, both
magicians and astrologers exercised the most unlimited influence over
the understandings of their adherents. An astrologer, only two or three
centuries since, was a regular appendage to the establishments of
princes and nobles. Sir Walter Scott has drawn an interesting portrait
of one in _Kenilworth_; and the eagerness with which the Earl of
Leicester listened to his doctrines and predictions, affords a good
specimen of the manners of those times. The movements of the heavenly
bodies, (imperfectly as they were then understood,) seemed to afford the
most plausible vehicle for these "oracles of human destiny;" and even
now, while we are tracing these lines, the red and glaring appearance of
the planet Mars, shining so beautifully in the south-east, is considered
by the many as a forerunner and sign of long wars and much bloodshed:
These dreams and terrors magical,
These miracles and witches,
Night walking sprites, et cetera,
Esteem them not two rushes.
Mankind are universally prone to the belief in omens, and the casual
occurrence of certain contingent circumstances soon creates the easiest
of theories. Should a bird of good omen, in ancient times, perch on the
standard, or hover about an army, the omen was of good import, and
favourable to conquest. Should a raven or crow accidentally fly over the
field of action, the spirits of the combatants would be proportionably
depressed. Should a planet be shining in its brilliancy at the birth of
any one whose fortunes rose to pre-eminence, it was always thought to
exert an influence over his future destiny. Such was the origin of many
of our later superstitions, which "grew with their growth, and
strengthened with their strength," till the more extensive introduction
of the art of printing partly dissipated the illusion. It has been
remarked, therefore, that the existence of the parent stock of the
subject more immediately under our consideration, witchcraft, may be
traced to a very remote period indeed. It is, however, needless to enter
into any remarks on those witches mentioned in the Scriptures. The
earliest dabbler of the _genus_, as a contemporary writer observes, is
said to be Zoroaster, thought to be the king of the Bactrians, who
flourished about 3,800 years ago, or A.M. 2000. He is supposed to have
been well versed in the arts of divination and astrology, and was the
origin of the Persian magi. "At his birth," remarks an old writer, "he
laughed; and his head did so beat, that it struck back the midwife's
hand--a good sign of abundance of spirits, which are the best
instruments of a ready wit." The _magi_ in Persia, the Brahmins in
India, the Chaldae in Assyria, the magicians of Arabia, the priesthood
of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and the Druids of Britain, were all members
of a class which comprised astrology, omens, divination, conjuration,
portents, chiromancy, and sorcery; and all united in the pursuit of
enslaving mankind for the purposes of gain and power, with artfully
devised schemes, and a skilful series of impostures; and we can easily
imagine the influence they must have exercised over the minds of their
proselytes, when we bear in mind the effect produced by similar
contrivances in later days. The enchantress Theoris of Athens seems to
have been the first witch that had recourse to charms. Demosthenes uses
the terms both of witchery and imposture in speaking of her. This witch
was put to death by the Athenians--an accomplice having displayed to
them the charms, &c., by which she wrought her miracles. Our Saviour's
words, that _faith_ can remove mountains, are applicable particularly to
the supposed powers of witchcraft; and the influence of charms and
amulets in averting disease is well known. We have alluded, in our first
paper, to the trial of Rose Cullender and Amy Duny, at Norwich, for
witchcraft; and we now give the speech of Sir Thomas Browne, the
celebrated physician of that period, (1664,) to whom, in consequence of
defect in the proof, the case was referred, which was the cause of their
conviction. Sir Thomas Browne offered it as his opinion, "that the
devil, in such cases, did work upon the bodies of men and women, upon a
natural foundation, (that is) to stir up and excite such humours
superabounding in their bodies to a great excess, whereby he did, in an
extraordinary manner, afflict them with such distempers as their bodies
were most subject to, as particularly appeared in the children of
Dorothy Dunent, (one of the indictments against the prisoners being for
their bewitchment;) for he conceived that these swooning fits were
natural, and nothing else but that they call the mother, but _only
heightened to a great excess by the subtilty of the devil co-operating
with the malice of these, which we term witches, at whose instance he
doth the villanies_."
The ceremony of initiation to the dreadful vocation and great powers of
witchcraft was attended with considerable form and mystery:--
----They call me hag and witch.
What is the name? When, and by what art learned?
With what spell, what charm or invocation,
May the thing call'd _familiar_ be purchas'd?
The older and more ugly the performer in these appalling ceremonies, the
better. Some witches seem to have had the devil quite at their beck; but
his visits to most of them appear to have been "few and far between."
The convention (remarks John Gaule, an old writer) for such a solemn
initiation being proclaimed (by some herald imp) to some others of the
confederation, on some great holy or Lord's day, they meet in some
church, either before the consecrated bell hath tolled, or else very
late, after all the services are past and over. "The party, in some
vesture for that purpose, is presented by some confederate or familiar
to the prince of devills, sitting now in a throne of infernall majesty,
appearing in the form of a man, only labouring to hide his cloven foot.
To whom, after bowing and homage done, a petition is presented to be
received into his association and protection; and first, if the witch be
outwardly Christian, baptism must be renounced, and the party must be
re-baptised in the devill's name, and a new name is also imposed by him,
and here must be godfathers too ... But above all he is very busie with
his long nails, in scraping and scratching those places of the forehead
where the signe of the crosse was made, or where the chrisme was laid.
Instead of both which, he impresses or inures the mark of the beast (the
devill's flesh brand) upon one or other part of the body. Further, the
witch (for her part) vows, either by word of mouth, or peradventure by
writing, (and that in her owne bloode,) to give both body and soul to
the devill, to deny and defy God the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost; but especially the blessed Virgin, convitiating her with one
infamous nickname or other; to abhor the word and sacraments, but
especially to spit at the saying of masse; to spurn at the crosse, and
tread saints' images under feet; and as much as possibly they may, to
profane all saints' reliques, holy water, consecrated salt, wax, &c.; to
be sure to fast on Sundays, and eat flesh on Fridays; not to confess
their sins, whatsoever they do, especially to a priest; to separate from
the Catholic church, and despise his vicar's primacy; to attend the
devill's nocturnal conventicles, sabbaths, and sacrifices; to take him
for their god, worship, invoke, and obey him; to devote their children
to him, and to labour all that they may to bring others into the same
confederacy. Then the devill, for his part, promises to be always
present with them, to serve them at their beck; that they shall have
their wills upon any body; that they shall have what riches, honours,
and pleasures they can imagine; and if any be so wary as to think of
their future being, he tells them they shall be princes ruling in the
aire, or shall be but turned into impes at worst. Then he preaches to
them to be mindful of their covenant, and not to fail to revenge
themselves upon their enemies, Then, he commends to them (for this
purpose) an imp, or familiar in the shape of a cat, &c. After this they
shake hands, embrace in arms, dance, feast, and banquet, according as
the devill hath provided in imitation of the supper. Nay, ofttimes he
marries them ere they part, either to himselfe, or to their familiar, or
to one another, and that by the Book of Common Prayer, as a pretender to
witch-finding told me, in the presence of many." After this they part,
and a general meeting is held thrice a year, on some holy day; they are
"conveyed to it as swift as the winds from the remotest parts of the
earth, where they that have done the most execrable mischiefe, and can
brag of it, make most merry with the devill;" while the "indiligent" are
jeered and derided by the devil and the others. Non-attendance was
severely punished by the culprits being beaten on the soles of the feet,
whipped with iron rods, "pinched and sucked by their familiars till
their heart's blood come--till they repent them of their sloth, &c."
Many regulations were, however, to be observed after the above
initiatory ceremony, which we have given at length in consequence of its
singularity. There existed a community or commonwealth, of "fallen
angels" or spirits, with the various titles of kings, dukes, &c.,
prelates and knights, of which the head was _Baal_, "who, when he was
conjured up, appeared with three heads, one like a man, one like a toad,
and one like a cat." The title of king conferred no extra power; indeed,
_Agares_, "the first duke, came in the likeness of a faire old man,
riding upon a crocodile, and carrying a hawk on his fist"--_Marbas_, who
appeared in the form of a "mightie lion"--_Amon_, "a great and mightie
marques, who came abroad in the likeness of a wolf, having a serpent's
taile, and breathing out and spitting flames of fire," and was one of
the "best and kindest of devills," with sixty-five more of these
master-spirits, enumerated in _Scot_, "appeared to be entirely and
exclusively appropriated to the service of witches," were alike
possessed of nearly similar power, and had many hundreds of legions of
devils (each legion 6,666 in number) at their command.
There were stated times for each rank of devils to be called on, for
they aught not to be invoked "rashly or at all seasons;" and the
following extracts from Reginald Scot are fully explanatory of the
formalities to be observed on these occasions:--
"_The houres wherein the principal devills may be raised.--_A king may
be raised from the third houre till noone, and from the ninth hour till
evening. Dukes may be raised from the first hour till noon, and clear
weather is to be observed. Marquesses may be raised from the ninth hour
till compline, and from compline till the end of day. Countes, or
earles, may be raised at any hour of the day, so it be in the woodes or
fieldes, where men resort not. Prelates likewise may be raised at any
houre of the day. A president may not be raised at any hour of the day,
except the king, whom he obeyeth, be invocated; nor at the shutting in
of the evening. Knights from day-dawning till sun-rising, or from
even-song till sun-set.
"_The forme of adjuring and citing the spirits aforesaid to
appeare_.--When you will have any spirit, you must knowe his name and
office; you must also fast and be cleane from all pollution three or
foure days before; so will the spirit be more obedient unto you. Then
make a circle, and call up the spirit with great intention, rehearse in
your owne name, and your companion's, (for one must alwaies be with
you,) this prayer following; and so no spirit shall annoy you, and your
purpose shall take effect. And note how thw prayer agreeth with popish
charmes and conjurations."
The prayer alluded to (see _Scot's Discovery_, b. 15, c. 2) is of the
most diabolical and blasphemous nature. A contemporary writer observes,
that there is not the least doubt but that the witches of the olden time
observed all the formalities of these ridiculous and disgusting
ceremonies to the very letter. In later times, however, though the
formalities were quite simple, yet the hag of the sixteenth century
exercised her vocation with all its ancient potency.
The broomstick has been the theme of many a story connected with this
subject:--
As men in sleep, though motionless they lie,
Fledged by a dream, believe they mount and fly;
So witches some enchanted wand bestride
And think they through the airy regions ride.
But the reason of its possessing such extensive powers of locomotion, or
rather aërostation, is not generally understood. The witches either
steal or dig dead children out of their graves, which are then seethed
in a cauldron, and the ointment and liquid so produced, enables them,
"observing certain ceremonies, to immediately become a master, or rather
a mistresse, in the practise or faculty" of flying in the air:--
High in, air, amid the rising storm
----wrapt in midnight
Her doubtful form appears and fades!
Her spirits are abroad! they do her bidding!
Hark to that shriek!
In addition to the above, they possessed another very useful faculty,
for the transfer of the patent of which, I doubt not scores of
adventurers would have given a tolerable consideration. It is briefly
that of "sailing in an egg-shell, a cockle, or a muscle-shell, through
and under the tempestuous seas."
From the length to which this article has extended, I must reserve an
account of witch-finders, charms, dreams, and confessions, &c. for the
next and concluding paper. VYVYAN.
* * * * *
Spirit of Discovery.
* * * * *
_Paper from Straw_.
At a recent meeting of the Royal Institution, there were exhibited some
specimens of paper manufactured from straw, by a new process.
_Hardening Steel_.
From the observation of travellers, that the manufacture of Damascus
blades was carried on only during the time when the north winds
occurred, M. Anozoff made experiments on the hardening of steel
instruments, by putting them, when heated, into a powerful current of
air, instead of quenching them in water. From the experiments already
made, he expects ultimate success. He finds that, for very sharp-edged
instruments, this method is much better than the ordinary one; that the
colder the air and the more rapid its stream, the greater is the effect.
The effect varies with the thickness of the mass to be hardened. The
method succeeds well with case-hardened goods.-- _From the French_.
_Detection of Blood_.
A controversy has recently taken place in Paris, relative to the
efficacy of certain chemical means of ascertaining whether dried spots
or stains of matter suspected to be blood, are or were blood, or not. M.
Orfila gives various chemical characters of blood under such
circumstances, which he thinks sufficient to enable an accurate
discrimination. This opinion is opposed by M. Raspail, who states, that
all the indications supposed to belong to true blood, may be obtained
from, linen rags, dipped, not into blood, but into a mixture of white of
egg and infusion of madder, and that, therefore, the indications are
injurious rather than useful.
_Cedars of Lebanon_.
Mr. Wolff, the missionary, counted on Mount Lebanus, thirteen large and
ancient cedars, besides the numerous small ones, in the whole 387
trees. The largest of these trees was about 15 feet high, not one-third
of the height of hundreds of English cedars; for instance, those at
Whitton, Pain's Hill, Caenwood, and Juniper Hall, near Dorking.
_Leeches_.
In the _Medical Repository_, a case is quoted, where some leeches, which
had been employed first on a syphylitic patient and afterwards on an
infant, communicated the disease to the latter.
_Stinging Flies_.
There is a fly which exteriorly much resembles the house-fly, and which
is often very troublesome about this time; this is called the stinging
fly, one of the greatest plagues to cattle, as well as to persons
wearing thin stockings.
_Mont Blanc_.
The height of Mont Blanc and of the Lake of Geneva has lately been
carefully ascertained by M. Roger, an officer of engineers in the
service of the Swiss Confederation. The summit of the mountain appears
to be 4,435 metres, or 14,542 English feet above the Lake of Geneva, and
the surface of the Lake 367 metres, or 1,233 English feet above the sea.
The mountain is, therefore, 15,775 feet above the level of the sea.
_Bird Catching_.
The golden-crested wren may be taken by striking the bough upon which it
is sitting, sharply, with a stone or stick. The timid bird immediately
drops to the ground, and generally dead. As their skins are tender,
those who want them for stuffing will find this preferable to using the
gun.--_Mag. Nat. Hist._
_Shower of Herrings in Ross-shire_.
In April last, as Major Forbes, of Fodderty, in Strathpfeffer, was
traversing a field on his farm, he found a considerable portion of the
ground covered with herring fry, of from three to four inches in length.
The fish were fresh and entire, and had no appearance of being dropped
by birds--a medium by which they must have been bruised and mutilated.
The only rational conjecture that can be formed of the circumstance is,
that the fish were transported thither in a water-spout--a phenomenon
that has before occurred in the same county. The Firth of Dengwall lies
at a distance of three miles from the place in question; but no
obstruction occurs between the field and the sea, the whole is a level
strath or plain, and water spouts have been known to travel even farther
than this.--_Inverness Courier._
_Spanish Asses_.
The Duke of Buckingham has, at his seat at Avington, a team of Spanish
asses, resembling the zebra in appearance, which are extremely
tractable, and take more freely to the collar than any of our native
species.
_Drawing Instrument_.
An ingenious invention of this description was recently exhibited at the
Royal Institution. A pencil and a small bead are so connected together
by means of a thread passing over pullies, that if a person, looking
through an eye-piece, will hold the pencil upon a sheet of paper, and
then, watching the bead, will move his hand, so that the bead shall
trace the lines of any object that is selected or looked at, he will
find that, whilst he has been doing this, he has also made a drawing of
the subject upon the paper; for the pencil and the bead describe exactly
the same lines, though upon different planes. Thus, a drawing is made,
without even looking at the paper, but solely at the object.
_White Cats_.
In a recent number we quoted from _Loudon's Gardener's Magazine_, that
"white cats with blue eyes are always deaf," of which extraordinary fact
there is the following confirmation in the _Magazine of Natural
History_, No. 2, likewise conducted by Mr. Loudon:--"Some years ago a
white cat of the Persian kind (probably not a thorough-bred one)
procured from Lord Dudley's at Hindley, was kept in my family as a
favourite. The animal was a female, quite white, and perfectly deaf. She
produced, at various times, many litters of kittens, of which,
generally, some were quite white, others more or less mottled, tabby,
&c. But the extraordinary circumstance is, that of the offspring
produced at one and the same birth, such as, like the mother, were
entirely white, were, like her, invariably deaf; while those that had
the least speck of colour on their fur, as invariably possessed the
usual faculty of hearing--" _W. T. Bree, Allersley Rectory, near
Coventry_.
_Ultramarine_.
A French journal announces a discovery of the method of making
Ultramarine, by which means the public are supplied with the article at
one guinea per ounce, the colour having hitherto been sold from two
guineas to two pounds ten shillings per ounce.
_Indication of Storms_.
Professor Scott, of Sandhurst College, observed in Shetland, that
drinking-glasses placed in an inverted position upon a shelf in a
cupboard, on the ground floor of Belmont House, occasionally emitted
sounds as if they were tapped with a knife, or raised up a little, and
then let fall on the shelf. These sounds preceded wind, and when they
occurred, boats and vessels were immediately secured. The strength of
the sound is said to be proportional to the tempest that
follows.--_Brewster's Jour._
_To preserve Wine in draught._
M. Imery, of Toulouse, gives the following simple means of preserving
wine in draught for a considerable time; it is sufficient to pour into
the cask a flask of fine olive oil. The wine may thus continue in
draught for more than a year. The oil spread in a thin layer upon the
surface of the wine, hinders the evaporation of its alcoholic part, and
prevents it from combining with the atmospheric air, which would not
only turn the wine sour, but change its constituent parts.
_Union of the Atlantic and Pacific._
A letter from Amsterdam states, that the project of cutting a canal, to
unite the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean, is about to be revived.
_Vesuvius._
An eruption took place on the morning of last March 22nd. An eye-witness
writes "the cone of the mountain puts you in mind of an immense piece of
artillery, firing red-hot stones, and ashes, and smoke into the
atmosphere; or, of a huge animal in pain, groaning;, crying, and
vomiting; or, like an immense whale in the arctic circle, blowing after
it has been struck with several harpoons."
_Bees in Mourning._
A correspondent in _Loudon's Magazine of Natural History_, states that
in the neighbourhood of Coventry, there is a superstitious belief, that
in the event of the death of any of the family, it is necessary to
inform the bees of the circumstance, otherwise they will desert the
hive, and seek out other quarters.
_Rare Insects._
There exists in Livonia, a very rare insect, which is not met with in
more northern countries, and whose existence was for a long time
considered doubtful, called the _Furia Infernalis._ It is so small that
it is very difficult to distinguish it by the naked eye; and its sting
produces a swelling, which, unless a proper remedy be applied, proves
mortal.
During the hay harvest, other insects named _Meggar,_ occasion great
injury both to men and beasts. They are of the size of a grain of sand.
At sunset they appear in great numbers, descend in a perpendicular line,
pierce the strongest linen, and cause an itching, and pustules, which if
scratched, become dangerous. Cattle, which breathe these insects, are
attacked with swellings in the throat, which destroy them, unless
promptly relieved.
* * * * *