forwardness this new intended impression of the story of the Dæmon of
Tedworth (see p. 223) was, which will undeceive the world touching that
fame spread abroad, as if Mr. _Mompesson_ and yourself had acknowledged
the business to have been a meer trick or imposture. But the story, with
your ingenious considerations about witchcraft, being so often printed
already, he said it behoved him to take care how he ventured on a new
impression, unless he had some new matter of that kind to add, which
might make this edition the more certainly saleable; and therefore he
expected the issue of that noised story of the spectre at _Exeter_, seen
so oft for the discovery of a murther committed some thirty years ago.
But the event of this business, as to juridical process, not answering
expectation, he was discouraged from making use of it, many things being
reported to him from thence in favour of the party most concerned. But I
am told of one Mrs. _Britton_, her appearing to her maid after her
death, very well attested, though not of such a tragical event as that
of _Exeter_, which he thought considerable. But of discoveries of
murther I never met with any story more plain and unexceptionable than
that in Mr. John Webster his display of supposed Witchcraft: the book
indeed itself, I confess, is but a weak and impertinent piece; but that
story weighty and convincing, and such as himself, (though otherwise an
affected caviller against almost all stories of witchcraft and
apparitions,) is constrained to assent to, as you shall see from his own
confession. I shall, for your better ease, or because you may not haply
have the book, transcribe it out of the writer himself, though it be
something, chap. 16, page 298, about the year of our Lord 1632, (as near
as I can remember, having lost my notes and the copy of the letters to
Serjeant _Hutton_, but I am sure that I do most perfectly remember the
substance of the story.)
“Near unto Chester-le-Street, there lived one _Walker_, a yeoman of good
estate, and a widower, who had a young woman to his kinswoman, that kept
his house, who was by the neighbours suspected to be with child, and was
towards the dark of the evening one night sent away with one Mark Sharp,
who was a collier, or one that digged coals underground, and one that
had been born in _Blakeburn_ hundred, in _Lancashire_; and so she was
not heard of a long time, and no noise or tittle was made about it. In
the winter time after, one _James Graham_, or _Grime_, (for so in that
country they call them) being a miller, and living about 2 miles from
the place where _Walker_ lived, was one night alone in the mill very
late grinding corn, and about 12 or 1 a clock at night, he came down
stairs from having been putting corn in the hopper: the mill doors being
shut, there stood a woman upon the midst of the floor with her hair
about her head hanging down and all bloody, with five large wounds on
her head. He being much affrighted and amazed, began to bless himself,
and at last asked her who she was and what she wanted? To which she
said, _I am the spirit of such a woman who lived with Walker, and being
got with child by him, he promised to send me to a private place, where
I should be well lookt too till I was brought in bed and well again, and
then I should come again and keep his house. And accordingly_, said the
apparition, _I was one night late sent away with one Mark Sharp, who
upon a moor_, naming a place that the miller knew, _slew me with a pick,
such as men dig coals withal, and gave me these five wounds, and after
threw my body into a coal pit hard by, and hid the pick under a bank;
and his shoes and stockings being bloody, he endeavoured to wash ’em;
but seeing the blood would not forth, he hid them there_. And the
apparition further told the miller, that he must be the man to reveal
it, or else that she must still appear and haunt him. The miller
returned home very sad and heavy, but spoke not one word of what he had
seen, but eschewed as much as he could to stay in the mill within night
without company, thinking thereby to escape the seeing again of that
frightful apparition. But notwithstanding, one night when it began to be
dark, the apparition met him again, and seemed very fierce and cruel,
and threatened him, that if he did not reveal the murder she would
continually pursue and haunt him; yet for all this, he still concealed
it until _St. Thomas’s Eve_, before _Christmas_, when being soon after
sun-set in his garden, she appeared again, and then so threatened him,
and affrighted him, that he faithfully promised to reveal it next
morning. In the morning he went to a magistrate and made the whole
matter known with all the circumstances; and diligent search being made,
the body was found in a coal pit, with five wounds in the head, and the
pick, and shoes and stockings yet bloody, in every circumstance as the
apparition had related to the miller; whereupon Walker and Mark Sharp
were both apprehended, but would confess nothing. At the assizes
following, I think it was at Durham, they were arraigned, found guilty,
condemned, and executed; but I could never hear they confest the fact.
There were some that reported the apparition did appear to the judge or
the foreman of the jury, who was alive in Chester-le-Street about ten
years ago, as I have been credibly informed, but of that I know no
certainty: there are many persons yet alive that can remember this
strange murder and the discovery of it; for it was, and sometimes yet
is, as much discoursed of in the North Country as any that almost has
ever been heard of, and the relation printed, though now not to be
gotten. I relate this with great confidence, (though I may fail in some
of the circumstances) because I saw and read the letter that was sent to
sergeant _Hutton_, who then lived at _Goldsbrugh_, in _Yorkshire_, from
the judge before whom _Walker_ and _Mark Sharp_ were tried, and by whom
they were condemned, and had a copy of it until about the year 1658,
when I had it, and many other books and papers taken from me; and this I
confess to be one of the most convincing stories, being of undoubted
verity, that ever I read, heard, or knew of, and carrieth with it the
most evident force to make the most incredulous to be satisfied that
there are really sometimes such things as apparitions.” Thus far he.
“This story is so considerable that I make mention of it in my Scholea,
on the Immortality of the Soul, in my _Volumen Philosophicum_, tom. 2,
which I acquainting a friend of mine with, a prudent, intelligent
person, Dr. J. D. he of his own accord offered me, it being a thing of
much consequence, to send to a friend of his in the north for greater
assurance of the truth of the narrative, which motion I willingly
embracing, he did accordingly. The answer to this letter from his friend
_Mr. Sheperdson_, is this: _I have done_ what I can to inform myself of
the passage of _Sharpe and Walker; there are very few men that I could
meet that were then men, or at the tryal, saving these two in the
inclosed paper, both men at that time, and both at the trial; and for
Mr. Lumley, he lived next door to Walker, and what he hath given under
his hand, can depose if there were occasion. The other gentleman writ
his attestation with his own hand; but I being not there got not his
name to it. I could have sent you twenty hands that could have said thus
much and more by hearsay, but I thought those most proper that could
speak from their own eyes and ears._ Thus far (continues Dr. More,) Mr.
Sheperdson, the Doctor’s discreet and faithful intelligencer. Now for
_Mr. Lumly_, or _Mr. Lumley_. Being an ancient gentleman, and at the
trial of _Walker_ and _Sharp_ upon the murder of _Anne Walker_, saith,
That he doth very well remember that the said Anne was servant to
_Walker_, and that she was supposed to be with child, but would not
disclose by whom; but being removed to her aunt’s in the same town
called _Dame Caire_, told her aunt (Dame Caire) that he that got her
with child, would take care both of her and it, and bid her not trouble
herself. After some time she had been at her aunt’s, it was observed
that Sharp came to Lumley one night, being a sworn brother of the said
Walker’s; and they two that night called her forth from her aunt’s
house, which night she was murdered; about fourteen days after the
murder, there appeared to one Graime, a fuller, at his mill, six miles
from _Lumley_, the likeness of a woman with her hair about her head, and
the appearance of five wounds in her head, as the said Graime gave it in
evidence; that that appearance bid him go to a justice of peace, and
relate to him, how that Walker and Sharp had murthered her in such a
place as she was murthered; but he, fearing to disclose a thing of that
nature against a person of credit as Walker was, would not have done it;
upon which the said Graime did go to a justice of peace and related the
whole matter[50]. Whereupon the justice of peace granted warrants
against _Walker_ and _Sharp_, and committed them to a prison; but they
found bail to appear at the next assizes, at which they came to their
trial, and upon evidence of the circumstances, with that of Graime of
the appearance, they were both found guilty and executed.
“The other testimony is that of _Mr. James Smart and William Lumley, of
the city of Durham_, who saith, that the trial of _Sharp_ and _Walker_
was in the month of _August_ 1631, before judge _Davenport_. One Mr.
Fanhair gave it in evidence upon oath, that he saw the likeness of a
child stand upon Walker’s shoulders during the time of the trial, at
which time the judge was very much troubled, and gave sentence that
night the trial was, which was a thing never used in Durham before nor
after; out of which two testimonies several things may be counted or
supplied in Mr. Webster’s story, though it be evident enough that in the
main they agree; for that is but a small disagreement as to the years,
when Mr. Webster says about the year of our Lord 1632, and Mr. Fanhair,
1631. But unless at Durham they have assizes but once in the year, I
understand not so well how Sharp and Walker should be apprehended some
little time after St. Thomas’s day, as Mr. Webster has, and be tried the
next assizes at Durham, and yet that be in August, according to Mr.
Smart’s testimony. Out of Mr. Lumley’s testimony the christian name of
the young woman is supplied, as also the name of the town near
Chester-le-Street, namely, Lumley: the circumstance also of Walker’s
sending away his kinswoman with Mark Sharp are supplied out of Mr.
Lumley’s narrative, and the time rectified, by telling it was about
fourteen days till the spectre after the murder, when as Mr. Webster
makes it a long time.”
We shall not follow the learned Doctor through the whole of his letter,
which principally now consists in rectifying some little discrepancies
in the account of the murder of Anne Walker, and the execution of the
murderers, upon circumstantial evidence, supported by the miller’s story
of the apparition, between the account given by Mr. Webster, and that
here related by Lumley and Sharp. Mr. Webster’s account, it would
appear, was taken from a letter written by Judge Davenport to Sergeant
Hutton, giving a detailed narrative of the whole proceeding as far as
came within his judicial observation, and the exercise of his functions;
which it also appears Dr. More likewise saw; a copy of which, he states,
he had in fact by him for some considerable time, but which he
unfortunately lost: his account, therefore, is from sheer recollection
of the contents of this letter, but as there is very little difference
in the material points, unless with respect to the date of the year,
between the account given by Webster, and that related from the Doctor’s
memory, we shall offer no further observation than that the whole
savours so much of other similar stories, the result of superstition and
ignorance, that it claims an equal proportion of credit: for if, at the
time we allude to, they would hang, burn, or drown a woman for a witch,
either upon her own evidence, or that of some of her malignant and less
peaceably disposed neighbours, it cannot be matter of surprise, that two
individuals, for a crime really committed, should be hanged as murderers
upon the testimony of the apparition of a murdered person, given through
the organ of a miller, who resided only six miles from the spot.
That Dr. Henry More was not only an enthusiast and a visionary, (both of
which united in the same person, constitute a canting madman) but also a
humorous kind of fellow when he chose to be jocular, and it would appear
he was by no means incapable of relaxing the gravity of his countenance
as occasion served him, may be still further inferred from the following
extracts of the sequel of his letter to the Reverend Joseph Glanvil:—
“This story of Anne Walker, (says Dr. M.) I think you will do well to
put amongst your additions in the new impression of your new edition of
your Dæmon of Tedworth, it being so excellently well attested, AND SO
UNEXCEPTIONABLE IN EVERY RESPECT; and hasten as fast as you can that
impression, to undeceive the half-witted world, who so much exult and
triumph in the extinguishing the belief of that narration, as if the
crying down the truth of that of the Dæmon of Tedworth, were indeed the
very slaying of the devil, and that they may now, with more gaiety and
security than ever, sing in a loud note, that mad drunken catch—
Hay ho! the Devil is dead, &c.
Which wild song, though it may seem a piece of levity to mention, yet,
believe me, the application thereof bears a sober and weighty intimation
along with it, _viz._ that these sort of people are very horribly afraid
that there should be any spirit, lest there should be a devil, and an
account after this life; and therefore they are impatient of any thing
that implies it, that they may with a more full swing, and with all
security from an after reckoning, indulge their own lusts and humours;
and I know by long experience that nothing rouses them so much out of
that dull lethargy of atheism and sadducism, as narrations of this kind,
for they being of a thick and gross spirit, the most subtle and solid
deductions of reason does little execution upon them; but this sort of
sensible experiments cuts them and stings them very sore, and so
startles them, that a less considerable story by far than this of the
drummer of Tedworth, or of Ann Walker, a Doctor of Physic cryed out
presently, _if this be true I have been in a wrong box all this time,
and must begin my account anew_.
“And I remember an old gentleman, in the country, of my acquaintance, an
excellent justice of peace, and a piece of a mathematician, but what
kind of a philosopher he was you may understand from a rhyme of his own
making, which he commended to me at my taking horse in his yard; which
rhyme is this:—
Ens _is nothing till sense finds out;
Sense ends in nothing, so naught goes about_.
Which rhyme of his was so rapturous to himself, that at the reciting of
the second verse the old man turned himself about upon his toe as nimbly
as one may observe a dry leaf whisked round in the corner of an orchard
walk, by some little whirlwind. With this philosopher I have had many
discourses concerning the immortality of the soul and its destruction:
when I have run him quite down by reason, he would but laugh at me, and
say, this is logic, H., calling me by my christian name; to which I
replied, this is reason, Father L., (for I used and some others to call
him) but it seems you are for the new lights and the immediate
inspirations, which I confess he was as little for as for the other; but
I said so only in the way of drollery to him in those times, but truth
is, nothing but palpable experience would move him, and being a bold
man, and fearing nothing, he told me he had used all the magical
ceremonies of conjuration he could to raise the devil or a spirit, and
had a most earnest desire to meet with one, but never could do it. But
this he told me, when he did not so much as think of it, while his
servant was pulling off his boots in the hall, some invisible hand gave
him such a clap upon the back that it made all ring again; so, thought
he, I am invited to converse with a spirit; and therefore so soon as his
boots were off and his shoes on, out he goes into the yard and next
field to find out the spirit that had given him this familiar slap on
the back, but found him neither in the yard nor the next field to it.
“But though he did not feel this stroke, albeit he thought it afterwards
(finding nothing came of it) a mere delusion; yet not long before his
death it had more force with him than all the philosophical arguments I
could use to him, though I could wind him and non-plus him as I pleased;
but yet all my arguments, how solid soever, made no impression upon him,
wherefore after several reflections of this nature, whereby I would
prove to him the soul’s distinction from the body, and its immortality,
when nothing of such subtile considerations did any more execution in
his mind, than some lightening is said to do, though it melts the sword
on the fuzzy consistency of the scabbard: _Well, said I, Father L.,
though none of these things move you, I have something still behind, and
what yourself has acknowledged to me to be true, that may do the
business: do you remember the clap on your back, when your servant was
pulling off your boots in the hall? Assure yourself_, said I, _Father
L., that goblin will be the first that will bid you welcome in the other
world_. Upon that his countenance changed most sensibly, and he was more
confounded with rubbing up of his memory than with all the rational and
philosophical argumentations that I could produce.”
How the various commentators on holy writ have reconciled to their minds
the existence of spirits, witches, hobgoblins, devils, &c. we are unable
to decide, for the want of a folio before us; but, if there are none of
this evil-boding fraternity “wandering in air” at the present day, they
must be all swamped in the Red sea, ready to be conjured up from the
“vasty deep,” by the king of spirits alone; for as sure as the Bible is
the word of truth, we find therein such descriptions of spirits,
apparitions, witches, and devils, as would make an ordinary man’s hair
stand on end. And it is from this source alone that Dr. More argues for
their existence, and which he has fully corroborated by his old hobby,
“The Dæmon of Tedworth,” and the unfortunate Anne Walker.
“Indeed (says the learned divine) if there were any modesty left in
mankind, the histories of the Bible might abundantly assure men of the
existence of angels and spirits.”
In another place he observes, “I look upon it as a special piece of
providence that there are ever and anon such fresh examples of
apparitions and witchcraft, as may rub up and awaken their benumbed and
lethargic minds into a suspicion at least, if not assurance, that there
are other intelligent beings besides those that are clothed in heavy
earth or clay; in this I say, methinks the divine providence does
plainly interest the powers of the dark kingdom, permitting wicked men
and women, and vagrant spirits of that kingdom, to make leagues or
covenant one with another, the confession of witches against their own
lives being so palpable an evidence, besides the miraculous feats they
play, that there are bad spirits, which will necessarily open a door to
the belief that there are good ones, and lastly that there is a God.”
There is beyond a doubt much plausibility, supported by strong and
appropriate argument, in this declaration of the Doctor’s. But as it is
not our province to confute or explain texts or passages of Scripture,
much less to warp them round to particular purposes, we shall reply by
observing that, although we do not entirely concur in the belief of the
non-existence of witches, apparitions, &c. at an earlier period of the
world; we do, from our very souls, sincerely believe that there are no
guests of this description, at the present day, either in the water or
roaming about at large and invisible, on _terra firma_; or floating
abroad in ether, holding, or capable of holding, converse or communion,
either by word, deed, or sign, with the beings of this earth, civilized
or uncivilized, beyond those destined by the God of heaven to constitute
the different orders, classes, and genera of its accustomed and intended
inhabitants. However, as we live in a tolerant mixed age, we have no
fault to find with those who may attach faith to the opposite side of
our creed.
We shall now, previous to laying before our readers some of those dismal
stories of witches, wizards, apparitions, &c. of the days of yore, give
the postscript to Dr. More’s letter to the author of “Saducismus
Triumphatus;” a postscript, in fact, that might with more propriety be
styled a treatise on the subject it relates to; but the rarity of the
document, as well as its curiosity and the great learning and ingenuity
it betrays, will, we feel assured, be received as an apology for
bringing it under their view in this part of our paper, on the subject
matter it bears so strongly upon. We give it the more cheerfully as it
exemplifies certain passages of Scripture that have never been handled,
at least so well, by after-writers who have attempted the illustration.
_Witchcraft proved by the following texts of Scripture._
Exodus, c. xxii, v. 18. _Thou shalt not suffer a_ WITCH _to live_.
2 Chronicles, c. xxxiii, v. 6. _And he caused his children to pass
through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; also he observed
times, and used_ ENCHANTMENTS, _and used_ WITCHCRAFT, _and dealt with a_
FAMILIAR SPIRIT, _and with_ WIZARDS: _he wrought much evil in the sight
of the Lord, to provoke him to anger_.
Galatians, c. v, v. 20. _Idolatry_, WITCHCRAFT, _hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies_.
Micah, c. v, v. 12. I will cut off WITCHCRAFTS out of thine hand; and
thou shalt have no more soothsayers.
Acts, c. xiii, v. 6, 8. ¶ And when they had gone through the isle unto
Paphos, they found a certain Sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose
name _was_ Bar-jesus.
But Elymas the Sorcerer, (for so is his name by interpretation,)
withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
Acts, c. viii, v. 9. ¶ But there was a certain man called Simon, which
before time in the same city used Sorcery, and bewitched the people of
Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one.
DEUTERONOMY, c. xviii, v. 10, 11. There shall not be found among you
_any one_, that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire,
or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a
witch.
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a necromancer.
12. For all that do these things are an abomination: and because of
these abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them from before thee.
_Dr. More’s Postscript._
The following scarce, curious, and learned document, long since out of
print, forms a postscript written by Dr. More, who, it appears,
strenuously advocated the existence of preternatural agencies, against
the opinion of many eminent men, who wrote, at that time, on the same
subject; and however much the belief in witches, &c. may have been
depreciated of later years, we will venture to say that few of the
present day, layman or divine, could take up his pen, and offer so
learned a refutation against, as Dr. More has here done in support of
his opinions founded on Scripture.