_How the Syndicus Dom. Michelson arrived, and prepared his
defence of my poor child._
The next day, at about three o'clock P.M., _Dom. Syndicus_
came driving up, and got out of his coach at my inn. He had a huge
bag full of books with him, but was not so friendly in his manner
as was usual with him, but very grave and silent. And after he had
saluted me in my own room, and had asked how it was possible for
my child to have come to such misfortune, I related to him the
whole affair, whereat, however, he only shook his head. On my
asking him whether he would not see my child that same day, he
answered, "Nay;" he would rather first study the _Acta_. And
after he had eaten of some wild duck which my old Ilse had roasted
for him, he would tarry no longer, but straightway went up to the
castle, whence he did not return till the following afternoon. His
manner was not more friendly now than at his first coming, and I
followed him with sighs when he asked me to lead him to my
daughter. As we went in with the constable, and I, for the first
time, saw my child in chains before me--she who in her whole life
had never hurt a worm--I again felt as though I should die for
very grief. But she smiled and cried out to _Dom. Syndicus_,
"Are you indeed the good angel who will cause my chains to fall
from my hands, as was done of yore to St. Peter?" [Footnote: The
Acts of the Apostles, xii. 7.] To which he replied, with a sigh,
"May the Almighty God grant it;" and as, save the chair whereon my
child sat against the wall, there was none other in the dungeon
(which was a filthy and stinking hole, wherein were more wood-lice
than ever I saw in my life), _Dom. Syndicus_ and I sat down
on her bed, which had been left for her at my prayer; and he
ordered the constable to go his ways, until he should call him
back. Hereupon he asked my child what she had to say in her
justification; and she had not gone far in her defence when I
perceived, from the shadow at the door, that some one must be
standing without. I therefore went quickly to the door, which was
half open, and found the impudent constable, who stood there to
listen. This so angered _Dom. Syndicus_ that he snatched up
his staff in order to hasten his going, but the arch-rogue took to
his heels as soon as he saw this. My child took this opportunity
to tell her worshipful _defensor_ what she had suffered from
the impudence of this fellow, and to beg that some other constable
might be set over her, seeing that this one had come to her last
night again with evil designs, so that she at last had shrieked
aloud and beaten him on the head with her chains; whereupon he had
left her. This _Dom. Syndicus_ promised to obtain for her;
but with regard to the _defensio_, wherewith she now went on,
he thought it would be better to make no further mention of the
_impetus_ which the sheriff had made on her chastity. "For,"
said he, "as the princely central court at Wolgast has to give
sentence upon thee, this statement would do thee far more harm
than good, seeing that the _præses_ thereof is a cousin of
the sheriff, and ofttimes goes a hunting with him. Besides, thou
being charged with a capital crime hast no _fides_,
especially as thou canst bring no witnesses against him. Thou
couldst, therefore, gain no belief even if thou didst confirm the
charge on the rack, wherefrom, moreover, I am come hither to save
thee by my _defensio_." These reasons seemed sufficient to us
both, and we resolved to leave vengeance to Almighty God, who
seeth in secret, and to complain of our wrongs to Him, as we might
not complain to men. But all my daughter said about old
Lizzie--_item_, of the good report wherein she herself had,
till now, stood with everybody--he said he would write down, and
add thereunto as much and as well of his own as he was able, so
as, by the help of Almighty God, to save her from the torture.
That she was to make herself easy and commend herself to God;
within two days he hoped to have his _defensio_ ready and to
read it to her. And now, when he called the constable back again,
the fellow did not come, but sent his wife to lock the prison, and
I took leave of my child with many tears: _Dom. Syndicus_
told the woman the while what her impudent rogue of a husband had
done, that she might let him hear more of it. Then he sent the
woman away again and came back to my daughter, saying that he had
forgotten to ascertain whether she really knew the Latin tongue,
and that she was to say her _defensio_ over again in Latin,
if she was able. Hereupon she began and went on therewith for a
quarter of an hour or more, in such wise that not only _Dom.
Syndicus_ but I myself also was amazed, seeing that she did not
stop for a single word, save the word "hedgehog," which we both
had forgotten at the moment when she asked us what it was.
_Summa.--Dom. Syndicus_ grew far more gracious when she had
finished her oration, and took leave of her, promising that he
would set to work forthwith.
After this I did not see him again till the morning of the third
day at ten o'clock, seeing that he sat at work in a room at the
castle, which the sheriff had given him, and also ate there, as he
sent me word by old Ilse when she carried him his breakfast next
day.
At the above-named time, he sent the new constable for me, who,
meanwhile, had been fetched from Uzdom at his desire. For the
sheriff was exceeding wroth when he heard that the impudent fellow
had attempted my child in the prison, and cried out in a rage,
"S'death and 'ouns, I'll mend thy coaxing!" Whereupon he gave him
a sound threshing with a dog-whip he held in his hand, to make
sure that she should be at peace from him.
But, alas! the new constable was even worse than the old, as will
be shown hereafter. His name was Master Köppner, and he was a tall
fellow with a grim face, and a mouth so wide that at every word he
said the spittle ran out at the corners, and stuck in his long
beard like soapsuds, so that my child had an especial fear and
loathing of him. Moreover, on all occasions he seemed to laugh in
mockery and scorn, as he did when he opened the prison-door to us,
and saw my poor child sitting in her grief and distress. But he
straightway left us without waiting to be told, whereupon _Dom.
Syndicus_ drew his defence out of his pocket, and read it to
us; we have remembered the main points thereof, and I will recount
them here, but most of the _auctores_ we have forgotten.
1. He began by saying that my daughter had ever till now stood in
good repute, as not only the whole village, but even my servants,
bore witness; _ergo_, she could not be a witch, inasmuch as
the Saviour hath said, "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matt. vii.).
2. With regard to the witchcraft in the village, that belike was
the contrivance of old Lizzie, seeing that she bore a great hatred
towards _Rea_, and had long been in evil repute, for that the
parishioners dared not to speak out, only from fear of the old
witch; wherefore Zuter her little girl must be examined, who had
heard old Lizzie her goodman tell her she had a familiar spirit,
and that he would tell it to the parson; for that notwithstanding
the above-named was but a child, still it was written in Ps.
viii., "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained
strength...;" and the Saviour Himself appealed (Matt. xxi.) to the
testimony of little children.
3. Furthermore, old Lizzie might have bewitched the crops; item,
the fruit-trees, inasmuch as none could believe that _Rea_,
who had ever shown herself a dutiful child, would have bewitched
her own father's corn, or made caterpillars come on his trees; for
no one, according to Scripture, can serve two masters.
4. _Item_, she (old Lizzie) might very well have been the
woodpecker that was seen by _Rea_ and old Paasch on the
Streckelberg, and herself have given over her goodman to the evil
one for fear of the parson, inasmuch as Spitzel, _De
Expugnatione Orci_, asserts; _item_, the _Malleus
Malesicarum_ [Footnote: The celebrated "Hammer for Witches" of
Innocent VIII, which appeared 1489, and gave directions for the
whole course of proceeding to be observed at trials for
witchcraft.] proves beyond doubt, that the wicked children of
Satan ofttimes change themselves into all manner of beasts, as the
foul fiend himself likewise seduced our first parents in the shape
of a serpent (Gen. iii).
5. That old Lizzie had most likely made the wild weather when
_Dom. Consul_ was coming home with _Rea_ from the
Streckelberg, seeing it was impossible that _Rea_ could have
done it, as she was sitting in the coach, whereas witches when
they raise storms always stand in the water and throw it over
their heads backwards; _item_, beat the stones soundly with a
stick, as Hannold relates. Wherefore she too, may be, knew best
about the frog and the hedgehog.
6. That _Rea_ was erroneously charged with that as a
_crimen_ which ought rather to serve as her justification,
namely, her sudden riches. For the _Malleus Malesicarum_
expressly says that a witch can never grow rich, seeing that
Satan, to do dishonour to God, always buys them for a vile price,
so that they should not betray themselves by their riches.
[Footnote: The original words of the "Hammer for Witches," tom. i.
quest. 18, in answer to the questions, _Cur malefic non
ditentur?_ are, _Ut juxta complacentiam dæmonis in
contumeliam Creatoris, quantum possibile est, pro vilissimo pretio
emantur, et secundo, ne in divitas notentur_.] Wherefore that as
_Rea_ had grown rich, she could not have got her wealth from
the foul fiend, but it must be true that she had found amber on
the mountain; that the spells of old Lizzie might have been the
cause why they could not find the vein of amber again, or that the
sea might have washed away the cliff below, as often happens,
whereupon the top had slipped down, so that only a _miraculum
naturale_ had taken place. The proof which he brought forward
from Scripture we have quite forgotten, seeing it was but
middling.
7. With regard to her re-baptism, the old hag had said herself
that she had not seen the devil or any other spirit or man about
_Rea_, wherefore she might in truth have been only naturally
bathing, in order to greet the King of Sweden next day, seeing
that the weather was hot, and that bathing was not of itself
sufficient to impair the modesty of a maiden. For that she had as
little thought any would see her as Bathsheba the daughter of
Eliam, and wife of Uriah the Hittite, who in like manner did bathe
herself, as is written (2 Sam. xi. 2), without knowing that David
could see her. Neither could her mark be a mark given by Satan,
inasmuch as there was feeling therein; _ergo_, it must be a
natural mole, and it was a lie that she had it not before bathing.
Moreover, that on this point the old harlot was nowise to be
believed, seeing that she had fallen from one contradiction into
another about it, as stated in the _Acta_.
8. Neither was it just to accuse _Rea_ of having bewitched
Paasch his little daughter; for as old Lizzie was going in and out
of the room, nay, even sat herself down on the little girl her
belly when the pastor went to see her, it most likely was that
wicked woman (who was known to have a great spite against
_Rea_) that contrived the spell through the power of the foul
fiend, and by permission of the all-just God; for that Satan was
"a liar and the father of it," as our Lord Christ says (John
viii.).
9. With regard to the appearance of the foul fiend on the mountain
in the shape of a hairy giant, that indeed was the heaviest
_gravamen_, inasmuch as not only old Lizzie, but likewise
three trustworthy witnesses, had seen him. But who could tell
whether it was not old Lizzie herself who had contrived this
devilish apparition in order to ruin her enemy altogether; for
that notwithstanding the apparition was not the young nobleman, as
_Rea_ had declared it to be, it still was very likely that
she had not lied, but had mistaken Satan for the young lord, as he
appeared in his shape; _exemplum_, for this was to be found
even in Scripture: for that all _Theologi_ of the whole
Protestant Church were agreed, that the vision which the witch of
Endor showed to King Saul was not Samuel himself, but the
arch-fiend; nevertheless, Saul had taken it for Samuel. In like
manner the old harlot might have conjured up the devil before
_Rea_, who did not perceive that it was not the young lord,
but Satan, who had put on that shape in order to seduce her; for
as _Rea_ was a fair woman, none could wonder that the devil
gave himself more trouble for her than for an old withered hag,
seeing he has ever sought after fair women to lie with them.
[Footnote: Gen. vi. 2.]
Lastly, he argued that _Rea_ was in nowise marked as a witch,
for that she neither had bleared and squinting eyes nor a hooked
nose, whereas old Lizzie had both, which Theophrastus Paracelsus
declares to be an unfailing mark of a witch, saying, "Nature
marketh none thus unless by abortion, for these are the chiefest
signs whereby witches be known whom the spirit _Asiendens_
hath subdued unto himself."
When _Dom. Syndicus_ had read his _defensio_, my
daughter was so rejoiced thereat that she would have kissed his
hand, but he snatched it from her and breathed upon it thrice,
whereby we could easily see that he himself was nowise in earnest
with his _defensio_. Soon after he took leave in an
ill-humour, after commending her to the care of the Most High, and
begged that I would make my farewell as short as might be, seeing
that he purposed to return home that very day, the which, alas! I
very unwillingly did.