Effects. I have read of a Man that at the sight of his own Son, who was
no Wizzard would fall into Fits. There are that find in their Natures an
averseness to some Persons whom they never saw before, of which they can
give no better an account than he in _Martial_, concerning _Sabidius_.
_Non Amo te Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare._
That some Persons at the Sight of Bruit-Creatures, Cats, Spiders, _&c._
nay, at the sight of Cheeses, Milk, Apples, will fall into Fits, is too
well known to be denied. _Pensingius_ in his Learned Discourse _De
Pulvere Sympathetico_, p. 128. saith, there was one in the City of
_Groning_ that could not bear the sight of a Swine's Head: And that he
knew another who was not able to look on the Picture thereof. _Amatus
Lusitanus_ speaks of one that at the sight of a Rose would swoon away:
This proveth that the falling into a Fit at the sight of another is not
always a sign of Witchcraft. It may proceed from Nature, and the Power
of Imagination.
To conclude; Judicious _Casuists_[73] have determined, that to make use
of those _Media_ to come to the Knowledge of any Matter, which have no
such power in them by Nature, nor by Divine Institution is an Implicit
going to the Devil to make a discovery: Now there is no natural Power in
the Look or Touch of a Person to bewitch another; nor is this by Divine
Institution the means whereby Witchcraft is discovered: Therefore it is
an unwarrantable Practice.
We proceed now to the third Case proposed to Consideration; If the
things which have been mentioned are not infallible Proofs of Guilt in
the accused Party, it is then Queried, _Whether there are any
Discoveries of this Crime, which Jurors and Judges may with a safe
Conscience proceed upon to the Conviction and Condemnation of the
Persons under Suspicion?_
Let me here premise Two things,
1. The Evidence in this Crime ought to be as clear as in any other
Crimes of a Capital nature. The Word of God does no where intimate, that
a less clear Evidence, or that fewer or other Witnesses may be taken as
sufficient to convict a Man of Sorcery, which would not be enough to
convict him were he charged with another evil worthy of Death, _Numb.
35.30._ if we may not take the Oath of a distracted Person, or of a
possessed Person in a Case of Murder, Theft, Felony of any sort, then
neither may we do it in the Case of Witchcraft.
2. Let me premise this also, that there have been ways of trying Witches
long used in many Nations, especially in the dark times of Paganism and
Popery, which the righteous God never approved of. But which (as
judicious Mr. _Perkins_ expresseth it in plain _English_) were invented
by the Devil, that so innocent Persons might be condemned, and some
notorious Witches escape: Yea, many Superstitious and Magical
experiments have been used to try Witches by: Of this sort is that of
scratching the Witch, or seething the Urine of the Bewitched Person, or
making a Witch-cake with that Urine: And that tryal of putting their
Hands into scalding Water, to see if it will not hurt them: And that of
sticking an Awl under the Seat of the suspected Party, yea, and that way
of discovering Witches by tying their Hands and Feet, and casting them
on the Water, to try whether they will sink or swim: I did publickly
bear my Testimony against this Superstition in a Book printed at
_Boston_ eight Years past.
I hear that of late some in a Neighbour Colony have been playing with
this Diabolical invention: It is to be lamented, that in such a _Land of
Uprightness_ as _New-England_ once was, a Practice which Protestant
Writers generally condemn as sinful, and which the more sober and
learned Men amongst Papists themselves have not only judged unlawful,
but (to express it in their own terms) to be no less than a _Mortal
Sin_, should ever be heard of. Were it not that the coming of Christ to
judge the Earth draweth near, I should think that such Practices are an
unhappy Omen that the Devil and Pagans will get these dark Territories
into their Possession again: But that I may not be thought to have no
reason for my calling the impleaded Experiment into Question, I have
these things further to alledge against it.
1. It has been rejected long agone, by Christian Nations as a thing
Superstitious and Diabolical: In _Italy_ and _Spain_ it is wholly
disused; and [74]in the _Low-Countries_, and in _France_, where the
Judges are Men of Learning. In some parts of _Germany_ old _Paganism_
Customs are observed more than in other Countries, nevertheless all the
[75]_Academies_ throughout _Germany_ have disapproved of this way of
Purgation.
2. The Devil is in it, all Superstition is from him; and when Secret
things, or latent Crimes, are discovered by superstitious Practices,
some Compact and Communion with the Devil is the Cause of it, as
_Austin_[76] has truly intimated; and so it is here; for if a Witch
cannot be drowned, this must proceed either from some natural Cause,
which it doth not, for it is against Nature for Humane Bodies, when
Hands and Feet are tied, not to sink under the Water: Besides, they that
plead for this Superstition, say that if Witches happen to be condemned
for some other Crime and not for Witchcraft, they will not swim like a
Cork above Water, which Cause sheweth that the Cause of this Natation is
not _Physical_: And if not, then either it must proceed from a Divine
Miracle to save a Witch from drowning; or lastly, it must be a
diabolical Wonder: This superstitious Experiment is commonly known by
the Name of, _The Vulgar Probation_, because it was never appointed by
any lawful Authority, but from the Suggestion of the Devil taken up by
the rude Rabble: And some [77]learned Men are of Opinion, that the first
_Explorator_ (_being a white Witch_) did explicitely covenant with the
Devil, that he should discover latent Crimes in this way: And that it is
by Virtue of that first Contract that the Devil goeth to work to keep
his Servants from sinking, when this Ceremony of his ordaining is used.
Moreover, we know that _Diabolus est Dei Simia_, the Devil seeks to
imitate Divine Miracles. We read in Ecclesiastical Story, that some of
the Martyrs when they were by Persecutors ordered to be drowned, prov'd
to be immersible: This Miracle would the Devil imitate in causing
Witches, who are his Martyrs, not to sink when they are cast into the
Waters.
3. This way of Purgation is of the same nature with the old _Ordeals_ of
the Pagans. If Men were accused with any Crime, to clear their
innocency, they were to take an hot Iron into their Hands, or to suffer
scalding Water to be poured down their Throats, and if they received no
hurt thereby they were acquitted. This was the Devil's Invention, and
many times (as the Devil would have it) they that submitted to these
Tryals suffered no inconvenience. Nevertheless, it is astonishing to
think what innocent Blood has been shed in the World by means of this
_Satanical_ device. Witches have often (as [78]_Sprenger_ observes)
desired that they might stand or fall by this Tryal by hot Iron, and
sometimes come off well: Indeed, this _Ordeal_ was used in other Cases,
and not in Cases of Witchcraft only: And so was the _Vulgar
Probation_ by casting into the Water practiced upon Persons accused[79]
with other Crimes as well as that of Witchcraft: How it came to be
restrained to that of Witchcraft I cannot tell; it is as supernatural
for a Body whose Hands and Feet are tied to swim above the Water, as it
is for their Hands not to feel a red hot Iron. If the one of these
_Ordeals_ is lawful to be used, then so is the other too: But as for the
fiery _Ordeal_ it is rejected and exploded out of the World; for the
same reason then the tryal by Water should be so.
4. It is a tempting of God when Men put the Innocency of their
Fellow-Creatures upon such tryals; to desire the Almighty to shew a
Miracle to clear the Innocent, or to convict the Guilty is a most
presumptuous tempting of him. Was it not a Miracle when _Peter_ was kept
from sinking under the Water by the Omnipotency of Christ? As for Satan,
we know that his Ambition is to make his Servants believe that his Power
is equal to God's, and that therefore he can preserve whom he pleaseth.
I have read[80] of certain Magicians, who were seen walking on the
Water: If then guilty Persons shall float on the Waters, either it is
the Devil that causes them to do so, (as no doubt it is) and what have
Men to do to set the Devil on work; or else it is a Divine Miracle, like
that of _Peter's_ not sinking, or that of the Iron that swam at the Word
of _Elisha_. And shall Men try whether God will work a Miracle to make a
discovery? If a Crime cannot be found out but by Miracle, it is not for
any Judge on Earth to usurp that Judgment which is reserved for the
Divine Throne.
5. This pretended Gift of Immersibility attending Witches, is a most
fallible deceitful thing; for many a Witch has sunk under the Water.
_Godelmannus_[81] giveth an account of six notorious and clearly
convicted Witches, that when they were brought to their _vulgar
Probation_, sunk down under the Water like other Persons; _Althusius_
affirms the like concerning others; in the _Bohemian_ History[82] it is
related, that _Uratslaus_ the King of _Bohemia_, extirpated Witches out
of his Kingdom, some of which he delivered to the Ax, others of them to
the Fire, and others of them he caused to be drowned: If Witches are
immersible, how came they to die by drowning in _Bohemia_? Besides, it
has sometimes been known that Persons who have floated on the Water when
the Hangman has made the Experiment on them, have sunk down like a
Stone, when others have made the tryal.
6. The Reasons commonly alledged for this Superstition are of no moment:
It is said they hate the Water; whereas they have many times desired
that they might be cast on the Water in order to their purgation: It is
alledged, that Water is used in _Baptism_, therefore Witches swim: A
weak Phansie; all the Water in the World is not consecrated Water.
Cannot Witches eat Bread or drink Wine, notwithstanding those Elements
are made use of in the Blessed Sacrament: But (say some) the Devils by
sucking of them make them so light that the Water bears them; whereas
some Witches are twice as heavy as many an innocent Person: Well, but
then they are possessed with the Devil: Suppose so; Is the Devil afraid
if they should sink, that he should be drowned with them? But why then
were the _Gadarens_ Hogs drowned when the Devil was in them.
These things being premised, I answer the Question affirmatively; _There
are Proofs for the Conviction of Witches which Jurors may with a safe
Conscience proceed upon, so as to bring them in guilty._ The Scripture
which saith, _Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live_, clearly implies,
that some in the World may be known and proved to be Witches: For until
they be so, they may and must be suffered to live. Moreover we find in
Scripture, that some have been convicted and executed for Witches: For
_Saul cut off those that had familiar Spirits, and the Wizzards out of
the Land_, _1 Sam. 28.9._
It may be wondered that _Saul_ who did like him that said, _Flectere si
nequeo Superos Acheronta Movebo_, should cause the Wizzards in the Land
to be put to death. The _Jewish Rabbies_ say, the reason was, because
those Wizzards foretold that _David_ should be King. It is (as Mr.
_Gaul_ observes[83]) the Opinion of some learned Protestants, that
_Saul_ in his Zeal did over do: And that under the Pretext[84] of
Witches he slew the _Gibeonites_, for which that Judgment followed, _2
Sam. 21.1._ _Neither_ (saith Mr. _Gaule_) _want we the storied Examples
of God's Judgments upon those that defamed, prosecuted and executed them
for Witches, that indeed were none._ But we have in the Scripture the
Example of a better Man than _Saul_ to encourage us to make enquiry
after Wizzards and Witches in order to their Conviction and Execution.
This did the rarest King that ever lived caused to be done, _viz._
_Josiah_, _2 Kings 23.24._ _The Workers with familiar Spirits and the
Wizzards, that were spied in the Land of +Judah+, did +Josiah+ put away,
that he might perform the Words of the Law._ It seems there were some
that sought to hide those Workers of Iniquity, but that incomparable
King spied them out, and rid the Land and the World of them.
_Q._ But then the Enquiry is, _What is sufficient Proof?_
_A._ This Case has been with great Judgment answered by several Divines
of our own, particularly by Mr. _Perkins_, and Mr. _Bernard_; also Mr.
_John Gaul_ a worthy Minister at _Staughton_, in the County of
_Huntington_, has published a very Judicious Discourse, called, _Select
Cases of Conscience touching Witches and Witchcrafts_, Printed at
_London_ A.D. 1646. wherein he does with great Prudence and Evidence of
Scripture light handle this and other Cases: Such Jurors as can obtain
those Books, I would advise them to read, and seriously as in the fear
of God to consider them, and so far as they keep to the Law and to the
Testimony, and speak according to that Word, receive the Light which is
in them. But the Books being now rare to be had, let me express my
Concurrence with them in these two particulars.
1. _That a free and voluntary Confession of the Crime made by the Person
suspected and accused after Examination, is a sufficient Ground of
Conviction._
Indeed, If Persons are Distracted, or under the Power of _Phrenetick
Melancholy_, that alters the Case; but the Jurors that examine them, and
their Neighbours that know them, may easily determine that Case; or if
Confession be extorted,[85] the Evidence is not so clear and convictive;
but if any Persons out of Remorse of Conscience, or from a Touch of God
in their Spirits, confess and shew their Deeds, as the Converted
Magicians in _Ephesus_ did, _Acts 19.18, 19._ nothing can be more clear.
Suppose a Man to be suspected for Murder, or for committing a Rape, or
the like nefandous Wickedness, if he does freely confess the Accusation,
that's ground enough to Condemn him. The Scripture approveth of Judging
the wicked Servant out of his own Mouth, _Luke 19.22._ It is by some
objected, that Persons in Discontent may falsly accuse themselves. I
say, if they do so, and it cannot be proved that they are false Accusers
of themselves, they ought to dye for their Wickedness, and their Blood
will be upon their own Heads; the Jury, the Judges, and the Land is
Clear: I have read a very sad and amazing, and yet a true Story to this
purpose.
There was in the Year 1649, in a Town called _Lauder_ in _Scotland_, a
certain woman accused and imprisoned on suspicion of Witchcraft, when
others in the same Prison with her were Convicted, and their Execution
ordered to be on the Monday following, she desired to speak with a
Minister, to whom she declared freely that she was guilty of Witchcraft,
acknowledging also many other Crimes committed by her, desiring that she
might die with the rest: She said particularly that she had Covenanted
with the Devil, and was become his Servant about twenty years before,
and that he kissed her and gave her a Name, but that since he had never
owned her. Several Ministers who were jealous that she accused herself
untruly, charged it on her Conscience, telling her that they doubted she
was under a Temptation of the Devil to destroy her own Body and Soul,
and adjuring her in the Name of God to declare the Truth:
Notwithstanding all this, she stifly adhered to what she had said, and
was on Monday morning Condemned, and ordered to be Executed that day.
When she came to the place of Execution, she was silent until the
Prayers were ended, then going to the Stake where she was to be Burnt,
she thus expressed herself, _All you that see me this day! Know ye that
I am to die as a Witch, by my own Confession! and I free all Men,
especially the Ministers and Magistrates, from the guilt of my Blood, I
take it wholly on my self, and as I must make answer to the God of
Heaven, I declare I am as free from Witchcraft as any Child, but being
accused by a Malicious Woman, and Imprisoned under the Name of a Witch,
my Husband and Friends disowned me, and seeing no hope of ever being in
Credit again, through the Temptation of the Devil, I made that
Confession to destroy my own Life, being weary of it, and chusing rather
to Die than to Live._ This her lamentable Speech did astonish all the
Spectators, few of whom could restrain from Tears. The Truth of this
Relation (saith my Author[86]) is certainly attested by a worthy Divine
now living, who was an Eye and an Ear-Witness of the whole matter; but
thus did that miserable Creature suffer Death, and this was a just
Execution. When the _Amalekite_ confessed that he killed _Saul_, whom he
had no legal Authority to meddle with, although 'tis probable that he
belyed himself, _David_ gave order for his Execution, and said to him,
_Thy Blood be upon thy Head, for thy Mouth hath Testified against thee_,
_2 Sam. 1.16._ But as for the Testimony of Confessing Witches against
others, the case is not so clear as against themselves, they are not
such credible Witnesses, as in a Case of Life and Death is to be
desired: It is beyond dispute, that the Devil makes his Witches to dream
strange things of themselves and others which are not so. There was (as
Authors beyond Exception relate) in appearance a sumptuous Feast
prepared, the Wine and Meat set forth in Vessels of Gold; a certain
Person whom an amorous young Man had fallen in Love with, was
represented and supposed to be really there; but _Apollonius
Tyanaeus_[87] discovered the Witchery of the Business, and in an instant
all vanished, and nothing but dirty Coals were to be seen: The like to
this is mentioned in the _Arausican_ Council. There were certain Women
that imagined they rode upon Beasts in the Night, and that they had
_Diana_ and _Herodius_ in company with them, besides a Troop of other
Persons; the Council giveth this Sentence on it; _Satanas qui se
transfigurat in Angelum Lucis, transformat se in diversarum personarum
species, & mentem quam captivam tenet, in somnis deludit._ Satan
transforms himself into the likeness of divers Persons, and deludes the
Souls that are his Captives with Dreams and Fancies; see Dr. _Willet_ on
_1 Sam. 28._ _p. 165_. What Credit can be given to those that say they
can turn Men into Horses? If so, they can as well turn Horses into Men;
but all the Witches on Earth in Conjunction with all the Devils in
Hell, can never make or unmake a rational Soul, and then they cannot
transform a Bruit into a Man, nor a Man into a Bruit; so that this
Transmutation is fantastical. The Devil may and often does impose on the
Imaginations of his Witches and Vassals, that they believe themselves to
be Converted into Beasts, and reverted into Men again; as
_Nebuchadnezzar_ whilst under the Power of a Daemon really imagined
himself to be an Ox, and would lye out of Doors and eat Grass: The Devil
has inflicted on many a Man the Disease called _Lycanthropia_, from
whence they have made lamentable Complaints of their being Wolves: In a
word, there is no more Reality in what many Witches confess of strange
things seen or done by them, whilst Satan had them in his full Power,
than there is in _Lucian's_ ridiculous Fable of his being Bewitched into
an _Asse_, and what strange Feats he then played; so that what such
persons relate concerning Persons and Things at Witch-meetings, ought
not to be received with too much Credulity.
I could mention dismal Instances of Innocent Blood which has been shed
by means of the Lies of some Confessing Witches; there is a very sad
Story mentioned in the Preface to the Relation of the Witchcrafts in
_Sweedland_, how that in the Year 1676, at _Stockholm_, a young Woman
accused her own Mother (who had indeed been a very bad Woman, but not
guilty of Witchcraft,) and Swore that she had carried her to the
Nocturnal Meetings of Witches, upon which the Mother was burnt to Death.
Soon after the Daughter came crying and howling before the Judges in
open Court, declaring, that to be revenged on her Mother for an Offence
received, she had falsely accused her with a Crime which she was not
guilty of; for which she also was justly Executed. A most wicked Man in
_France_ freely confessed himself to be a Magician, and accused many
others, whose Lives were thereupon taken from them; and a whole Province
had like to have been ruined thereby, but the Impostor was discovered:
The Confessing pretended Wizzard was burnt at _Paris_ in the year 1668.
I shall only take notice further of an awful Example mentioned by A. B.
_Spotswood_ in his History of _Scotland_, p. 449. His words are these,
'This Summer (_viz._ Anno 1597.) there was a great business for the
Tryal of Witches, amongst others, one _Margaret Atkin_ being apprehended
on suspicion, and threatned with Torture, did confess herself Guilty;
being examined touching her Associates in that Trade, she named a few,
and perceiving her Delations find Credit, made offer to detect all of
that sort, and to purge the Country of them; so she might have her Life
granted: For the reason of her Knowledge, she said, _That they had a
secret mark all of that sort in their Eyes, whereby she could surely
tell, how soon she looked upon any, whether they were Witches or not;_
and in this she was so readily believed, that for the space of 3 or 4
Months she was carried from Town to Town to make Discoveries in that
kind; many were brought in question by her Delations, especially at
_Glasgow_, where _diverse Innocent Women, through the Credulity of the
Minister Mr. +John Cowper+, were condemned and put to Death_; in the end
she was found to be a meer deceiver, and sent back to _Fife_, where she
was first apprehended: At her Tryal she affirmed all to be false that
she had confessed of herself or others, and persisted in this to her
Death, which made many fore-think their too great forwardness that way,
and moved the King to recall his Commission given out against such
Persons, discharging all Proceedings against them, except in case of a
voluntary Confession, till a solid Order should be taken by the Estates
touching the form that should be kept in their Tryal.' Thus that famous
Historian.
2. _If two credible Persons shall affirm upon Oath that they have seen
the party accused speaking such words, or doing things which none but
such as have Familiarity with the Devil ever did or can do, that's a
sufficient Ground for Conviction._