witches, who are confessing to him the names of their imps
and familiars, is copied from Caulfield's _Memoirs of
Remarkable Persons_, 1794, where it is taken from an
extremely rare print.
It is consoling to think that this impostor perished in his own snare. Mr.
Gaul's exposure and his own rapacity weakened his influence among the
magistrates; and the populace, who began to find that not even the most
virtuous and innocent were secure from his persecution, looked upon him
with undisguised aversion. He was beset by a mob at a village in Suffolk,
and accused of being himself a wizard. An old reproach was brought against
him, that he had, by means of sorcery, cheated the devil out of a certain
memorandum-book, in which he, Satan, had entered the names of all the
witches in England. "Thus," said the populace, "you find out witches, not
by God's aid, but by the devil's." In vain he denied his guilt. The
populace longed to put him to his own test. He was speedily stripped, and
his thumbs and toes tied together. He was then placed in a blanket, and
cast into a pond. Some say that he floated, and that he was taken out,
tried, and executed upon no other proof of his guilt. Others assert that
he was drowned. This much is positive, that there was an end of him. As no
judicial entry of his trial and execution is to be found in any register,
it appears most probable that he expired by the hands of the mob. Butler
has immortalised this scamp in the following lines of his _Hudibras_:
"Hath not this present Parliament
A lieger to the devil sent,
Fully empower'd to treat about
Finding revolted witches out?
And has he not within a year
Hang'd threescore of them in one shire?
Some only for not being drown'd,
And some for sitting above ground
Whole days and nights upon their breeches,
And feeling pain, were hang'd for witches;
And some for putting knavish tricks
Upon green geese or turkey chicks;
Or pigs that suddenly deceased
Of griefs unnatural, as he guessed;
Who proved himself at length a witch,
And made a rod for his own breech."
In Scotland also witch-finding became a trade. They were known under the
designation of "common prickers," and, like Hopkins, received a fee for
each witch they discovered. At the trial of Janet Peaston, in 1646, the
magistrates of Dalkeith "caused John Kincaid of Tranent, the common
pricker, to exercise his craft upon her. He found two marks of the devil's
making; for she could not feel the pin when it was put into either of the
said marks, nor did the marks bleed when the pin was taken out again. When
she was asked where she thought the pins were put in her, she pointed to a
part of her body distant from the real place. They were pins of three
inches in length."[33]
[33] Pitcairn's _Records of Justiciary_.
These common prickers became at last so numerous that they were considered
nuisances. The judges refused to take their evidence; and in 1678 the
privy council of Scotland condescended to hear the complaint of an honest
woman who had been indecently exposed by one of them, and expressed their
opinion that common prickers were common cheats.
But such an opinion was not formed in high places before hundreds of
innocent persons had fallen victims. The parliaments had encouraged the
delusion both in England and Scotland; and by arming these fellows with a
sort of authority, had in a manner forced the magistrates and ministers to
receive their evidence. The fate of one poor old gentleman, who fell a
victim to the arts of Hopkins in 1646, deserves to be recorded. Mr. Louis,
a venerable clergyman, upwards of seventy years of age, and who had been
rector of Framlingham, in Suffolk, for fifty years, excited suspicion that
he was a wizard. Being a violent royalist, he was likely to meet with no
sympathy at that time; and even his own parishioners, whom he had served
so long and so faithfully, turned their backs upon him as soon as he was
accused. Placed under the hands of Hopkins, who knew so well how to bring
the refractory to confession, the old man, the light of whose intellect
had become somewhat dimmed from age, confessed that he was a wizard. He
said he had two imps that continually excited him to do evil; and that one
day, when he was walking on the sea-coast, one of them prompted him to
express a wish that a ship, whose sails were just visible in the distance,
might sink. He consented, and saw the vessel sink before his eyes. He was,
upon this confession, tried and condemned. On his trial, the flame of
reason burned up as brightly as ever. He denied all that had been alleged
against him, and cross-examined Hopkins with great tact and severity.
After his condemnation, he begged that the funeral service of the Church
might be read for him. The request was refused, and he repeated it for
himself from memory as he was led to the scaffold.
A poor woman in Scotland was executed upon evidence even less strong than
this. John Bain, a common pricker, swore that, as he passed her door, he
heard her talking to the devil. She said, in defence, that it was a
foolish practice she had of talking to herself, and several of her
neighbours corroborated her statement; but the evidence of the pricker was
received. He swore that none ever talked to themselves who were not
witches. The devil's mark being found upon her, the additional testimony
of her guilt was deemed conclusive, and she was "convict and brynt."
From the year 1652 to 1682, these trials diminished annually in number,
and acquittals were by no means so rare as they had been. To doubt in
witchcraft was no longer dangerous. Before country justices, condemnations
on the most absurd evidence still continued; but when the judges of the
land had to charge the jury, they took a more humane and philosophical
view. By degrees, the educated classes (comprised in those days within
very narrow limits) openly expressed their unbelief of modern witchcraft,
although they were not bold enough to deny its existence altogether.
Between them and the believers in the old doctrine fierce arguments
ensued, and the sceptics were designated Sadducees. To convince them, the
learned and Reverend Joseph Glanvil wrote his well-known work,
_Sadducismus Triumphatus_, and _The Collection of Relations_; the first
part intended as a philosophical inquiry into witchcraft, and the power of
the devil "to assume a mortal shape:" the latter containing what he
considered a multitude of well-authenticated modern instances.
[Illustration: SIR MATTHEW HALE.]
But though progress was made, it was slow. In 1664, the venerable Sir
Matthew Hale condemned two women, named Amy Duny and Rose Cullender, to
the stake at St. Edmondsbury, upon evidence the most ridiculous. These two
old women, whose ugliness gave their neighbours the first idea that they
were witches, went to a shop to purchase herrings, and were refused.
Indignant at the prejudice against them, they were not sparing of their
abuse. Shortly afterward, the daughter of the herring-dealer fell sick,
and a cry was raised that she was bewitched by the old women who had been
refused the herrings. This girl was subject to epileptic fits. To discover
the guilt of Amy Duny and Rose Cullender, the girl's eyes were blinded
closely with a shawl, and the witches were commanded to touch her. They
did so, and she was immediately seized with a fit. Upon this evidence they
were sent to prison. The girl was afterwards touched by an indifferent
person, and the force of her imagination was so great, that, thinking it
was again the witches, she fell down in a violent fit as before. This,
however, was not received in favour of the accused.
The following extract, from the published reports of the trial, will shew
the sort of evidence which was received:
"Samuel Pacey, of Leystoff (a good, sober man), being sworn, said that, on
Thursday the 10th of October last, his younger daughter, Deborah, about
nine years old, was suddenly taken so lame that she could not stand on her
legs, and so continued till the 17th of the same month, when the child
desired to be carried to a bank on the east side of the house, looking
towards the sea; and, while she was sitting there, Amy Duny came to this
examinant's house to buy some herrings, but was denied. Then she came
twice more, but, being as often denied, she went away discontented and
grumbling. At this instant of time, the child was taken with terrible
fits, complaining of a pain in her stomach, as if she was pricked with
pins, shrieking out with a voice like a whelp, and thus continued till the
30th of the same month. This examinant further saith, that Amy Duny,
having long had the reputation of a witch, and his child having, in the
intervals of her fits, constantly cried out on her as the cause of her
disorder, saying, that the said Amy did appear to her and fright her; he
himself did suspect the said Amy to be a witch, and charged her with being
the cause of his child's illness, and set her in the stocks. Two days
after, his daughter Elizabeth was taken with such strange fits, that they
could not force open her mouth without a tap; and the younger child being
in the same condition, they used to her the same remedy. Both children
grievously complained that Amy Duny and another woman, whose habit and
looks they described, did appear to them and torment them, and would cry
out, 'There stands Amy Duny! There stands Rose Cullender!' the other
person who afflicted them. Their fits were not alike. Sometimes they were
lame on the right side; sometimes on the left; and sometimes so sore, that
they could not bear to be touched. Sometimes they were perfectly well in
other respects, but they could not _hear_; at other times they could not
_see_. Sometimes they lost their speech for one, two, and once for eight
days together. At times they had swooning fits, and, when they could
speak, were taken with a fit of coughing, and vomited phlegm and crooked
pins; and once a great twopenny nail, with above forty pins; which nail
he, the examinant, saw vomited up, with many of the pins. The nail and
pins were produced in the court. Thus the children continued for two
months, during which time the examinant often made them read in the New
Testament, and observed, when they came to the words _Lord Jesus_, or
_Christ_, they could not pronounce them, but fell into a fit. When they
came to the word _Satan_, or _devil_, they would point, and say, 'This
bites, but makes me speak right well.' Finding his children thus tormented
without hopes of recovery, he sent them to his sister, Margaret Arnold, at
Yarmouth, being willing to try whether change of air would help them.
"Margaret Arnold was the next witness. Being sworn, she said, that about
the 30th of November, Elizabeth and Deborah Pacey came to her house, with
her brother, who told her what had happened, and that he thought his
children bewitched. She, this examinant, did not much regard it, supposing
the children had played tricks, and put the pins into their mouths
themselves. She therefore took all the pins from their clothes, sewing
them with thread instead of pinning them. But, notwithstanding, they
raised, at times, at least thirty pins in her presence, and had terrible
fits; in which fits they would cry out upon Amy Duny and Rose Cullender,
saying, that they saw them and heard them threatening, as before; that
they saw things like mice running about the house; and one of them catched
one, and threw it into the fire, which made a noise like a rat. Another
time the younger child, being out of doors, a thing like a bee would have
forced itself into her mouth, at which the child ran screaming into the
house, and before this examinant could come at her, fell into a fit, and
vomited a twopenny nail, with a broad head. After that, this examinant
asked the child how she came by this nail, when she answered, 'The bee
brought the nail, and forced it into my mouth.' At other times, the eldest
child told this examinant that she saw flies bring her crooked pins. She
would then fall into a fit, and vomit such pins. One time the said child
said she saw a mouse, and crept under the table to look for it; and
afterwards, the child seemed to put something into her apron, saying, 'She
had caught it.' She then ran to the fire, and threw it in, on which there
did appear to this examinant something like a flash of gunpowder, although
she does own she saw nothing in the child's hand. Once the child, being
speechless, but otherwise very sensible, ran up and down the house,
crying, 'Hush! hush!' as if she had seen poultry; but this examinant saw
nothing. At last the child catched at something, and threw it into the
fire. Afterwards, when the child could speak, this examinant asked her
what she saw at the time? She answered that she saw a duck. Another time
the youngest child said, after a fit, that Amy Duny had been with her, and
tempted her to drown herself, or cut her throat, or otherwise destroy
herself. Another time they both cried out upon Amy Duny and Rose
Cullender, saying, 'Why don't you come yourselves? Why do you send your
imps to torment us?'"
The celebrated Sir Thomas Brown, the author of _Vulgar Errors_, was also
examined as a witness upon the trial. Being desired to give his opinion of
the three persons in court, he said he was clearly of opinion that they
were bewitched. He said there had lately been a discovery of witches in
Denmark, who used the same way of tormenting persons, by conveying crooked
pins, needles, and nails into their bodies. That he thought, in such
cases, the devil acted upon human bodies by natural means, namely, by
exciting and stirring up the superabundant humours; he did afflict them in
a more surprising manner by the same diseases their bodies were usually
subject to; that these fits might be natural, only raised to a great
degree by the subtlety of the devil, co-operating with the malice of these
witches.
[Illustration: SIR THOMAS BROWN.]
The evidence being concluded, Sir Matthew Hale addressed the jury. He
said, he would waive repeating the evidence, to prevent any mistake, and
told the jury there were two things they had to inquire into. First,
Whether or not these children were bewitched; secondly, Whether these
women did bewitch them. He said, he did not in the least doubt there were
witches; first, Because the Scriptures affirmed it; secondly, Because the
wisdom of all nations, particularly our own, had provided laws against
witchcraft, which implied their belief of such a crime. He desired them
strictly to observe the evidence, and begged of God to direct their hearts
in the weighty concern they had in hand, since, to condemn the innocent
and let the guilty go free are both an abomination to the Lord.
The jury then retired, and in about half an hour returned a verdict of
guilty upon all the indictments, being thirteen in number. The next
morning the children came with their father to the lodgings of Sir Matthew
Hale, very well, and quite restored to their usual health. Mr. Pacey,
being asked at what time their health began to improve, replied, that they
were quite well in half an hour after the conviction of the prisoners.
Many attempts were made to induce the unfortunate women to confess their
guilt; but in vain, and they were both hanged.
Eleven trials were instituted before Chief Justice Holt for witchcraft,
between the years 1694 and 1701. The evidence was of the usual character;
but Holt appealed so successfully in each case to the common sense of the
jury, that they were every one acquitted. A general feeling seemed to
pervade the country that blood enough had been shed upon these absurd
charges. Now and then, the flame of persecution burnt up in a remote
district; but these instances were no longer looked upon as mere matters
of course. They appear, on the contrary, to have excited much attention; a
sure proof, if no other were to be obtained, that they were becoming
unfrequent.
A case of witchcraft was tried in 1711, before Lord Chief Justice Powell;
in which, however, the jury persisted in a verdict of guilty, though the
evidence was of the usual absurd and contradictory character, and the
enlightened judge did all in his power to bring them to a right
conclusion. The accused person was one Jane Wenham, better known as the
Witch of Walkerne; and the persons who were alleged to have suffered from
her witchcraft were two young women, named Thorne and Street. A witness,
named Mr. Arthur Chauncy, deposed, that he had seen Ann Thorne in several
of her fits, and that she always recovered upon prayers being said, or if
Jane Wenham came to her. He related, that he had pricked the prisoner
several times in the arms, but could never fetch any blood from her; that
he had seen her vomit pins, when there were none in her clothes or within
her reach; and that he had preserved several of them, which he was ready
to produce. The judge, however, told him that was needless, _as he
supposed they were crooked pins_.
Mr. Francis Bragge, another witness, deposed, that strange "cakes" of
bewitched feathers having been taken from Ann Thorne's pillow, he was
anxious to see them. He went into a room where some of these feathers
were, and took two of the cakes, and compared them together. They were
both of a circular figure, something larger than a crown piece; and he
observed that the small feathers were placed in a nice and curious order,
at equal distances from each other, making so many radii of the circle, in
the centre of which the quill-ends of the feathers met. He counted the
number of these feathers, and found them to be exactly thirty-two in each
cake. He afterwards endeavoured to pull off two or three of them, and
observed that they were all fastened together by a sort of viscous matter,
which would stretch seven or eight times in a thread before it broke.
Having taken off several of these feathers, he removed the viscous matter
with his fingers, and found under it, in the centre, some short hairs,
black and grey, matted together, which he verily believed to be cat's
hair. He also said, that Jane Wenham confessed to him that she had
bewitched the pillow, and had practised witchcraft for sixteen years.
The judge interrupted the witness at this stage, and said, he should very
much like to see an enchanted feather, and seemed to wonder when he was
told that none of these strange cakes had been preserved. His lordship
asked the witness why he did not keep one or two of them, and was informed
that they had all been burnt, in order to relieve the bewitched person of
the pains she suffered, which could not be so well effected by any other
means.
A man, named Thomas Ireland, deposed, that hearing several times a great
noise of cats crying and screaming about his house, he went out and
frightened them away, and they all ran towards the cottage of Jane Wenham.
One of them he swore positively had a face very like Jane Wenham's.
Another man, named Burville, gave similar evidence, and swore that he had
often seen a cat with Jane Wenham's face. Upon one occasion he was in Ann
Thorne's chamber, when several cats came in, and among them the cat above
stated. This witness would have favoured the court with a much longer
statement, but was stopped by the judge, who said he had heard quite
enough.
The prisoner, in her defence, said nothing, but that "she was a clear
woman." The learned judge then summed up, leaving it to the jury to
determine whether such evidence as they had heard was sufficient to take
away the prisoner's life upon the indictment. After a long deliberation
they brought in their verdict, that she was guilty upon the evidence. The
judge then asked them whether they found her guilty upon the indictment of
conversing with the devil in the shape of a cat? The sapient foreman very
gravely answered, "We find her guilty of _that_." The learned judge then
very reluctantly proceeded to pass sentence of death; but, by his
persevering exertions, a pardon was at last obtained, and the wretched old
woman was set at liberty.
In the year 1716, a woman and her daughter--the latter only nine years of
age--were hanged at Huntingdon for selling their souls to the devil, and
raising a storm by pulling off their stockings and making a lather of
soap. This appears to have been the last judicial execution in England.
From that time to the year 1736, the populace raised at intervals the old
cry, and more than once endangered the lives of poor women by dragging
them through ponds on suspicion; but the philosophy of those who, from
their position, sooner or later give the tone to the opinions and morals
of the poor, was silently working a cure for the evil. The fear of witches
ceased to be epidemic, and became individual, lingering only in minds
fettered by inveterate prejudice or brutalising superstition. In the year
1736, the penal statute of James I. was finally blotted from the
statute-book, and suffered no longer to disgrace the advancing
intelligence of the country. Pretenders to witchcraft, fortune-tellers,
conjurors, and all their train, were liable only to the common punishment
of rogues and impostors--imprisonment and the pillory.