AS a Belief in Witchcraft is not entirely exploded, it may be
interesting to examine a few of the early Definitions of it.
One of the earliest Lexicographers, or Expounders of English Words, was
Edward Phillips, the Nephew of John Milton. It is said that Phillips
made up his Work from Milton's Preparation in the same Line. However
that might be, it is quite clear that many of his Definitions have that
Clearness and Precision for which Milton is so remarkable. Phillips's
third (and I believe his last) Edition of "The New World of Words" was
printed in 1671. In that we find Witchcraft thus defined: "A certain
evill Art, whereby with the Assistance of the Devil, or evill Spirits,
some Wonders may be wrought, which exceed the common Apprehension of
Men: It cometh from the Dutch Word _Wiechelen_, that is, to divine, or
guesse; it is called in Latin Veneficium, in Greek _Pharmaceia_, i.e.
the Art of making Poisons."
In 1706, John Kersey published the sixth Edition of Philips's Work,
greatly augmented; though the Definition of _Witchcraft_ is cut down to
a few Words, thus: "The Black Art, whereby with the Assistance of the
Devil, or evil Spirits, some Wonders may be wrought, which exceed the
common Apprehensions of Men."
Phillips does not define a _Witch_, but he says a "Wizard is a Witch,
a cunning Man, one that telleth where things are that were lost. Some
think it comes from the Saxon Word _Witega_, i.e. a Prophet."
Kersey defines a Witch, an old Hag, or Woman that deals with Familiar
Spirits; and a Wizard "a Sorceror, or Inchanter; a Cunning Man," &c.,
as before.
In 1674, Thomas Blount published the fourth Edition of his
"Glossographia, or Dictionary of hard Words." He says, "Witch is
derived from the Dutch _Witchelen_, or _Wiichelen_, which properly
signifies whinnyng and neighing like a Horse; also to foretell or
prophecy; and _Wiichelen_, signifies a Soothsayer; for that the Germans
(from whom our Ancestors the Saxons usually descended) did principally
(as Tacitus tells us) divine and foretel Things to come by the
whinnying and neighing of their Horses; _Hinitus_ and _Trenitus_ are
his Words."
Witchcraft is not defined by Blount himself; while under the Article
_Witch_, he extracts from Master William Perkins: "Witchcraft is an
Art serving for the working of Wonders by the Assistance of the Devil,
so far as God will permit." To make the Definition of Witchcraft
still more plain, Mr. Blount extracts thus from an old Author named
_Delrio_,[1] who defines Witchcraft to be "An Art, which by the Power
of a Contract, entred into with the Devil, some Wonders are wrought,
which pass the common Understanding of Men."
As we approach a later Age, Lexicographers are pretty careful in their
Definitions of Witchcraft. Bailey, in his folio Dictionary of 1730,
says it is "the Art of bewitching, enchanting, divining, &c."
Johnson, though a Believer in Witchcraft, shirks the Definition of it
thus: "The Practice of Witches. _Bacon_. Power, more than natural.
_Sidney_."
Noah Webster published a Dictionary of the English Language in 1806, in
which he says a _Witch_ is "a Woman accused of magical Arts, a Hag."
Witchcraft, "the Practice of Witches, a Charm." The great Lexicographer
must have marvelled at these Definitions in his later Years; if so, he
fails to make due Atonement in his incomparable "Unabridged." But the
learned Editor of the "Imperial Dictionary,"[2] Dr. Ogilvie, appears to
have taken such Liberty with Dr. Webster's Work as to bring it up to
the Standard of the Times, especially in that Class of Words in which
_Witchcraft_ is prominent. His Definition is so much to the Point,
so clear, and so well expressed, that it is, though long, extracted
entire: "WITCHCRAFT, the Practice of Witches; Sorcery; Enchantments;
Intercourse with the Devil; a supernatural Power, which Persons were
formerly supposed to obtain Possession of by entering into Compact with
the Devil. Indeed it was fully believed that they gave themselves
up to him, Body and Soul, while he engaged that they should want for
Nothing and be able to assume whatever Shape they pleased, to visit
and torment their Enemies, and accomplish their infernal Purposes.
As soon as the Bargain was concluded, the Devil was said to deliver
to the Witch an Imp or familiar Spirit, to be ready at call, and to
do whatever it was directed. By the Aid of this Imp and the Devil
together, the Witch, who was almost always an old Woman, was enabled
to transport herself through the Air on a Broom-stick or a Spit, and
to transform herself into various Shapes, particularly those of Cats
and Hares; to inflict Diseases on whomsoever she pleased, and to punish
her Enemies in a Variety of Ways. The Belief of Witchcraft is very
ancient. It was universally believed in Europe till the 16th Century,
and even maintained its Ground with tolerable Firmness till the Middle
of the 17th Century. Vast Numbers of reputed Witches were condemned to
be burned every Year, so that in England alone it is computed that no
fewer than 30,000 of them suffered at the Stake."
Dr. Ogilvie closes his Definition with one Extract from Shakespeare:
"He hath a Witchcraft
Over the King in's Tongue."
It cannot be denied that the Existence of Witchcraft is as fully taught
in the Bible as Slavery. The Light of Science has extinguished the one,
while the other yet struggles against Fate.[3] To urge the Authority
of the Bible, that Slavery is a divine Institution, and therefore
should be sustained, is just as reasonable as it would be to urge the
Existence of Witches; and were there as many Interests at Stake in
keeping alive Witchcraft, it would find as many Advocates, doubtless,
as Slavery.
At first, Voices against Witchcraft were faint and few. Such was the
Bewilderment of the human Mind in early Ages that Men hardly dared to
think in Opposition to the Superstitions of the Multitude. Yet there
were always some who doubted the delegated Power of the Devil, though
they were not often lavish enough of their own Safety to let their
Disbelief be known. Still, there are, no Doubt, some "dark Corners
of the Earth" where it would not be entirely safe for one to declare
publicly that there is no such Matter as Witchcraft. Nor is this so
much to be wondered at, when, at the present Day, and in a Portion
of our own Country, a Man cannot speak against Slavery, but at the
Peril of his Life. This is no new Aspect growing out of the present
Rebellion, but it has been thus many Years.
Few Men dared to speak boldly against the Existence of Witchcraft
before the Year 1700. Though they disbelieved in it they were afraid
to attack it. They began by endeavouring to show the Insufficiency of
the Evidence relied upon in particular Cases. In this Way, Frauds were
detected and exposed, and the Eyes of Judges were opened.
Among the early and successful Combatants of Witchcraft in England was
Sir Robert Filmer. This Gentleman, though he out-went Machiavel himself
in Arguments to uphold Despotism, yet he entered a pretty effectual
Demurrer against the Prerogative of the Devil, as attempted to be
manifested in the Persons of aged Matrons. Lancashire was distinguished
above all other Counties in England in Sir Robert's Time for its
Production of Witches; but when his native County, Kent, was scourged
by the imaginary Arts of Satan, he thought it Time to make a public
Declaration of his Views in Regard to the Nature of the Evidence made
Use of for the Conviction of Witches. He therefore prepared a Treatise
which he entitled "An Advertisement to the Jury-men of England,
touching Witches," printed in 1680, but whether it was ever printed
before does not appear from this Impression. In this Work he criticises
the Productions of some of the prominent Authors in Favor of Witchcraft
with much Ability.
To the Assertion that Witches act under a Contract with the Devil, Mr.
Filmer observes, "That the Agreement between the Witch and the Devil
they call a Covenant, and yet neither of the Parties are any Way bound
to perform their Part; and the Devil, without Doubt, notwithstanding
all his Craft, hath far the worst Part of the Bargain. The Bargain runs
thus in Master Perkins's Work: 'The Witch as a Slave binds herself by
Vow to believe in the Devil, and to give him either Body, or Soul, or
both, under his Hand-writing, or some Part of his Blood. The Devil
promiseth to be ready at his Vassal's Command, to appear in the
Likeness of any Creature, to consult and to aid him for the procuring
of Pleasure, Honor, Wealth, or Preferment; to go for him, to carry him
any whither, and to do any Command.' Whereby we see the Devil is not
to have Benefit of his Bargain till the Death of the Witch. In the
Meantime, he is to appear always at the Witche's Command, to go for him
[or her], to carry him any whither, and to do any Command; which argues
the Devil to be the Witche's Slave, and not the Witch the Devil's
Slave. And though it be true which Delrio affirmeth, 'That the Devil is
at Liberty to perform or break his Compact, for that no Man can compel
him to keep his Promise;' yet on the other Side, it is as possible for
the Witch to frustrate the Devil's Contract, if he or she have so much
Grace as to repent; the which there may be good Cause to do, if the
Devil be found not to perform his Promise. Besides, a Witch may many
Times require that to be done by the Devil, which God permits not the
Devil to do; thus against his Will the Devil may lose his Credit, and
give Occasion of Repentance, though he endeavor to the utmost of his
Power to bring to pass whatsoever he hath promised; and so fail of the
Benefit of his Bargain, though he have the Hand-writing, or some Part
of the Blood of the Witch for his Security, or the Solemnity before
Witnesses, as Delrio imagineth."
Thus much is given to show in what Manner the Advocates of Witchcraft
were combatted, without denying the actual Existence of it. It was as
much as could be safely advanced in the seventeenth Century. To have
come out boldly, and denied the Thing altogether, would have been to
proclaim a Disbelief of the Teachings of the Bible; and this would
have defeated the very Object sought to be attained. It has, beyond
Question, occurred to all thinking Men in every Age, that Witches and
Devils could not have a Being without God's Permission; that if they
did or do exist, it is his Pleasure that they should; that, therefore,
if God wished to destroy such Miscreants he would do it by making
War on them himself, instead of compelling Mankind to fight them
blindfolded for all Eternity, or during the World's Existence.
There are few Readers probably who have not heard of a Book upon
Witchcraft by a royal Hand--a King of England. James I wrote a Book
to which he gave the Title, _Dæmonologie_. To those who have not
studied the State of Society in England for a Century or so before
the Emigration of our Fathers to New England, and consequently cannot
comprehend the Kind and Degree of Knowledge and Intelligence possessed
by the People; it will seem incredible how they were bound down by
such childish and utterly puerile Stuff as was put forth by James
in his Work on Witchcraft. Nursery Tales of a later Day are quite
as easily believed to be realities as the Witch Stories of a former
Age, and the Allegories of Bunyan are much easier transformed to
Realities. That so weak and absurd a Production as the _Dæmonologie_
reflects the Understanding and Literature of our Fathers, must be not
a little humiliating to their Descendants to the latest Posterity.
The _Dæmonologie_ was printed at Edinburgh, in Quarto, six Years
before James came to the Crown of England, namely, in 1593. His Work
corresponded with the Times in which it was written. Here is a Specimen
of its Contents: "The Devil teaches Witches how to make Pictures of
Wax and Clay, that by the roasting thereof, the Persons that they bear
the Name of, may be continually melted or dried away by continual
Sickness ... not that any of these Means which he teacheth them (except
Poisons, which are composed of Things natural) can of themselves help
any to these Turns they are imployed in.... That Witches can bewitch,
and take the Life of Men or Women by roasting of the Pictures [Images]
which is very possible to their Master to perform; for although that
Instrument of Wax have no Virtue in the Turn doing, yet may he not very
well, by that same Measure that his conjured Slave melts that Wax at
the Fire, may he not, I say, at these same Times, subtilly as a Spirit,
so weaken and scatter the Spirits of Life of the Patient, as may make
him on the one Part for Faintness to sweat out the Humours of his Body;
and on the other Part, for the not concurring of these Spirits which
cause his Digestion, so debilitate his Stomach, that his Humour radical
continually sweating out on the one Part, and no new good Suck being
put in the Place thereof for Lack of Digestion on the other, he at last
shall vanish away even as his Picture will do at the Fire."
The Reader will hardly desire any more from such a royal Source; but
even royal Nonsense may sometimes be Necessary upon historical Points,
and we must listen to their incoherent Jargon, however much we hold
them in Contempt. It was during the Reign of this King that New
England began to be settled, and the Settlers were his Subjects, and
with them came the Superstitions common to the People of England.
In James's Book he lays down Rules for determining who were Witches,
and great Numbers were executed in Pursuance of those Rules. No sooner
was that benighted King seated upon the English Throne, but the
following Statute was passed: "If any Person or Persons shall use,
practice, or exercise any Invocation, or Conjuration of any evil and
wicked Spirit, or shall consult, covenant with, entertain, employ,
feed or reward any evil and wicked Spirit, to or for any Intent and
Purpose: or take up any dead Man, Woman or Child, out of his, her or
their Grave, or any other Place where the dead Body resteth, or the
Skin, Bone or any Part of the dead Person, to be employed or used in
any Manner of Witchcraft, Sorcery, Charm, or Inchantment; or shall
use, practice or exercise any Witchcraft; or shall use, practice or
exercise any Witchcraft, Inchantment, Charm or Sorcery, whereby any
Person shall be killed, destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined or lamed in
his or her Body, or any Part thereof; that then every such Offender or
Offenders, their Aiders, Abettors, and Counsellors, being of any the
said Offenders duly and lawfully convicted and attainted, shall suffer
Pains of Death as a Felon or Felons."
This Law does not materially differ from that enacted in the fifth Year
of Elizabeth; yet there is a Clause in the older one, declaring that,
"If any Person shall take upon him by Witchcraft, Inchantment, Charm
or Sorcery, to tell or declare in what Place any Treasure of Gold or
Silver should or might be found or hid in the Earth, or other secret
Places, or where Goods, or Things lost or stolen should be found or
be come: Or to the Intent to provoke any Person to unlawful Love, or
whereby any Cattle or Goods of any Person shall be destroyed, wasted or
impaired; or to destroy or hurt any Person in his, or her Body, though
the same be not effected, &c. a Year's Imprisonment, and Pillory, &c.
and the second Conviction, Death."
In the early Laws of Massachusetts, adopted in 1641, Witchcraft is thus
briefly dealt with: "If any Man or Woman be a Witch (that is hath or
consulteth with a familiar Spirit) they shall be put to Death." These
Laws were called _The Body of Liberties_, and were drawn up by the
famous Minister of Boston, John Cotton. He made them conform to the
Bible, and Passages of Scripture stand against each Law in the Margin.
Against this is found, Deut. xiii, 6, 10--xvii, 2, 6. Ex. xxii, 20.
In Plymouth Colony as late as 1671, nearly the same Law was enacted. It
differed only by saying, "If any Christian (so called) be a Witch," &c.
If Sir Robert Filmer had seen our Laws, he would, perhaps, have
indulged in a few Observations upon them. The Plymouth People seem to
have looked a little farther than the learned Minister of Boston, as
appears by the Proviso thrown in, that a _Christian_ could not be a
Witch. Of course the Judges were to determine the Point of Christian
or no Christian, assuming that a Christian Judge could not err or be
mistaken.
One of the Advocates of Witchcraft having asserted that a Person cannot
make the necessary Contract with the Devil to become a Witch, without
renouncing God and Baptism, "it will follow," says Filmer, "that none
can be Witches but such as have first been Christians. And what shall
be said then of all those idolatrous Nations, of Lapland, Finland,
and divers Parts of Africa, and many other heathenish Nations, which
Travellers report to be full of Witches? And indeed, what Need or
Benefit can the Devil gain by contracting with those Idolators, who are
surer his own than any Covenant can make them?"
Witchcraft, as formerly believed in, was the Art of working Wonders
or Miracles, and some of its Expounders asserted, that the Power of
effecting Wonders does not flow from the Skill of the Witch, but is
derived wholly from the Devil, whom the Witch has Command over, by
Virtue of a Contract. Whereupon Sir Robert Filmer sensibly remarks,
"that the Devil is really the Worker of the Wonder, and the Witch but
the Counsellor, Persuader or Commander of it, and only accessory before
the Fact, and the Devil only Principal. Now the Difficulty will be,
how the Accessory can be duly and lawfully convicted and attainted
according as the Statute requires, unless the Devil, who is the
Principle, be first convicted, or at least, outlawed; which cannot be,
because the Devil can never be lawfully summoned according to the Rules
of our Common Law."
In this Manner Witchcraft was successfully assailed, because it was
a Species of reasoning that did not directly interfere with the
Superstitions and Prejudices of the People. But the March of Mind
amongst the Masses was slow, and Trials for Witchcraft continued in
England for twenty Years after Sir Robert Filmer wrote.
For one hundred Years, 1580 to 1680, in Germany alone, 1,000 Persons a
Year, on an Average, were, upon good Authority, said to have suffered
Death for the imaginary Crime of Witchcraft. Executions in that Country
began to abate about 1694; the last Execution, being of a poor Nun, in
1749. And it may be remarked in this Connection, that immediately after
the miserable James published his Work on Witchcraft, 600 Persons were
put to a cruel Death for being Witches.
"Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live," is a Command, and it was once
considered as much to be regarded as any other Command in the Bible.
That there were Witches in the World was as plain, and as much to be
believed, as that there were Spirits of any Kind whatever. Whoever
believed in the Immortality of the Soul, believed in the Immortality
of bad Souls as well as good. Soul is another Word for Spirit; hence
good Spirits and bad Spirits. Witches were bad Spirits, but whether
they originated _in_ Mankind, or whether they were sent there to take
Possession of the human Body, and to exclude a better Tenant, has not
been satisfactorily settled by Psychologists and Metaphysicians. But
one Thing seems to be well established, and that is, that quite as many
bad Spirits find Habitations in the Sons and Daughters of these Days,
as at any former Period. Fortunately it was found out, at length, that
destroying the Tenement of a bad Spirit, did not destroy that Spirit.
But this was not thought of until Thousands had been put to Death.
It will doubtless be said by many, that if ever there were Witches in
the World, there are Witches now. This Point it is not intended to
argue. There were always those who denied the Existence of Witches; or,
what amounted to the same Thing, they would never allow that there was
sufficient Evidence produced to prove that _Craft_ against any who were
accused of it. Persons who thus question all Court Proceedings, where
Witchcraft was attempted to be detected, were regarded as unfit for
good Society, and unworthy of its Protection.
Those who were for "ridding the Land" of Witches, thought those
who questioned the Legality of their Proceedings, were, at least,
Infidels, in the most obnoxious Sense, and they were generally treated
as such, and were to be shunned by Society. Thus it fared with MR.
ROBERT CALEF, who, during the Prosecutions and Executions of the People
accused in Massachusetts, as will be seen in the Progress of the
present Work.
It is scarcely conceivable by even the partially enlightened of the
present Age, that only one hundred and fifty Years ago our Ancestors
were, in some respects, so slightly removed from Barbarity and heathen
Darkness. Superstition will give Way only to mental Culture; but there
may be considerable mental Culture, and also much Superstition; for
Persons may be educated in many Things when those very Things are
founded in Error. Certain Premises are taken for granted, because no
Data exist, or at least insufficient Data, to investigate them and the
Foundations on which they rest. This is still the Case, but it was more
so in Times past.
Barbarous Nations, as the Aborigines of any Country, are Slaves to
the same Kind of Superstition as that which caused the Executions
for Witchcraft by the Governments of Old and New England. Even many
of those who opposed the Prosecutions for that imaginary Crime, were
not free from the same Superstitions with the Advocates of it. They
believed in Witchcraft, and only argued the Want of Evidence against
it. This gave them a decided Disadvantage, because the Evidence was,
in many Cases, apparently so overwhelming; insomuch, that "the learned
Baxter" wrote to Dr. Increase Mather, declaring, "The Evidence is so
convincing, that he must be a very obdurate Sadducee who will not
believe it." Hence if there were some Persons who did not believe the
strange and unnatural Things alleged to have been performed by Persons
charged with Witchcraft they were treated as "obdurate Sadducees,"
whose Unbelief was only a Pretence. Times have so much changed,
that it is not necessary to make the Admissions which the Opposers
of Witchcraft formerly made. Then, to deny the Existence of it was
precisely the same as to deny that the Bible was a Revelation from God.
Therefore, as was before observed, those who opposed the Prosecutions
for Witchcraft, labored under a great Disadvantage. The Belief in it
being nearly universal, the solitary Individual who dared to stem so
popular a Torrent, now looked upon clearly as a Delusion, had nothing
to expect on all Hands, but Obloquy, Derision and Contempt.
From all which, Nothing is easier to be discerned than this--wherever
Ignorance is the greatest, there Superstition prevails most; that
therefore it follows of course, that Ignorance and Superstition are the
Parents of Witchcraft.
It never occurred to Believers in Witchcraft, it would seem, that
if Witches really existed, a Prosecution against them could no more
reach them than it would the Air in a Bubble or the Breath which they
breathed; for if they possessed the Power claimed for them, they also
had the Power to abandon the Bodies they possessed the Moment it was
decided to punish them in such Bodies; and thus disconcert all Attempts
to obstruct their Craft.
The Advocates of Witchcraft affirm that it is by Virtue of a League
with the Devil that the Witch is enabled to carry on her Operations;
and that the Devil, God's great Enemy, is allowed to commission
Witches, that they may also counteract his (God's) Purposes by
ensnaring Souls, as though the Devil had not Power enough to do the
whole Mischief himself; and thus in a sneakingly indirect Way make a
Cats-paw of some demented old Woman, or other simple Person.
In the midst of the Proceedings against the People charged with being
Witches, and while several Jails were crowded with those unfortunate
Persons, a very serious Question arose, which, of itself, was
calculated to cause the most violent of the Prosecutors to stay their
bloody Hands, and to ask themselves, what they had been doing? and if,
after all, there was not a Possibility that they had been guilty of
shedding innocent Blood? The Question was a very simple and natural
one, namely, Is it not possible for a Witch to appear in the Shape of
an innocent Person? As soon as this Question was started, there was
quite a Shock in the Community, and the Men accounted the wisest in the
Land stood still for a Time, and looked inquiringly upon one another.
As long as the afflicted Persons accused only the Poor and Friendless,
Nothing appears to have been thought of the Possibility that such
Persons could be innocent of the Charges preferred against them. But,
when at length, Persons considered of unblemished Lives, standing among
the first in the Community, came to be accused, then the Case wore
a different Aspect; then it was that the before mentioned important
Question came up. This Question divided the People, and from that
Division Safety resulted. In this Instance, the common Order of Things
was reversed; Safety came from a Division, and not from Union. Hence a
new Proverb is derived--In Union there may be Error, while Division may
elicit the Truth.
The People, thus brought to a Stand, had a little Time for reflection.
This, some improved to the Advantage of themselves, while others
improved it for the Advantage of the Public. Some had been so strenuous
in their Efforts to convict accused Persons, that it was now very
difficult for them, even to suspend their Efforts without giving their
Opponents an immediate Advantage over them; that even though the Judges
of the Courts who tried the accused, had been guided mainly by "Mr.
Perkins's Rules for the Discovery of Witches," on a careful Inspection
of those Rules at this Day, it is difficult to see how Convictions were
forced out of them.
Nevertheless, strong Ground having been taken that Witches existed, and
Persons reputed Witches having been prosecuted with the utmost Rigor,
and unrelenting Perseverance for a long Time, the chief Agents in
these bloody Proceedings, firm in their Convictions that they had done
righteously, deemed it incumbent upon themselves to keep the People to
the same Opinions. This was the Origin of this unfortunate Book, "_The
Wonders of the Invisible World_;" the chief Part, or perhaps all of
which, was composed while above one hundred poor People in and about
Salem and Boston were suffering a wretched imprisonment in the filthy
and barbarous Jails of those Days, to which Jails and Prisons of our
Days are in Comparison, Palaces. It was doubtless no sooner determined
that the Proceedings against the Witches should be given to the World,
than the Person was designated who should perform that Service. And
from the very opening of that Work it is at once discovered, that it
was intended as a "Defence" of what had been already done, as well as
to urge a Continuance of those Proceedings, "until the Land was fully
purged of the Demons which infested it."
For a long Period, the Publication of Books detailing the Doings and
Prosecutions of Witches seems to have extended rather than abridged
the Belief in Witchcraft. This may be accounted for in Part from the
Consideration that the Teachers of the People were themselves groveling
in the Mire of Superstition. A more particular Reference to some of
the Works best known somewhat more than two Centuries ago shall here
follow.
One Thomas Cooper published in 1617, a Work of this Title, "The Mystery
of Witchcraft. Discouering, the Truth, Nature, Occasions, Growth and
Power thereof. Together with the Detection and Punishment of the same.
As also, the Seuerall Stratagems of Sathan, ensnaring the poore Soule
by this desperate Practize of annoying the Bodie: with the seueral Vses
thereof to the Church of Christ. Very necessary for the redeeming of
these atheisticall and secure Times."
This Author dedicated his Work to the "Maior and Corporation of the
Ancient Citie of Chester," &c., in which Dedication we find the
following, which, throwing some Light on the reverend Dealer in
Darkness, is extracted. He commences, "Diuers, and verie weighty haue
been the Motiues (right Worshipfull) to induce mee to the Dedication of
these my Labors in this kinde vnto your Worships.
"The first is, because my first Calling from the Vniversitie, to employ
my Ministrie for the Edification of the Saints, was by the Gouernors of
your famous Citie, to succeed that painefull and profitable Teacher,
Maister Harrison, who was thence called by the King's most Excellent
Maiestie, to be one of the sixe Teachers to those barren and needfull
Places of the Country of Lancashire. And therefore, hauing both kind
intertainment among you; and by some of you being furthered to a more
settled Pastorall Charge in that Countie, I could not but leave some
Memoriall of my Thankefulnesse vnto you herein.
"Secondly, my free Admission to that Pastorall Charge, together with
the singular Providence of God, in directing my Ministrie for the
informing and reforming of that ignorant People, who never before
enioyed any constant Ministrie, as also his admirable Protection and
Deliuerance of me from vnreasonable Men, that vsed all their Force and
Cunning to hinder the Proceedings of the Gospel of Christ."
These Extracts are made because they give a Glimpse of the Life and
Character of an Author, second only to King James as a Cultivator of
Witchcraft. His Book is a small Duodecimo of 368 Pages, in the Close
of which he says, "to the wise and humble Reader, I am not ashamed
to acknowledge, that which thou canst not but discerne; that I have
borrowed most of my Grounds from his Maiesties Dæmonologie, Mr.
Perkins, Mr. Gifford, and others." And this truly may be added, "the
Blind were led by the Blind," in the fullest Sense of the Maxim. Master
Cooper further remarks upon the Labors of his royal Predecessor and
others in these Words, "they have waded before mee heerein, to confirme
the Authoritie thereof, against the Atheisme of these evill Dayes: that
so each might have the perfect Honour of their owne Paines."[4]
In his second Chapter he says, "it is proued that there haue beene,
are, and shall be Witches to the World's End: both by sound Testimony,
1st, from the Word; 2d, from Antiquity; 3d, from pregnant Reasons, and
so such Obiections answered, as seeme to contradict this Truth."
This most singularly superstitious Writer says there were good Witches
as well as bad ones; that these good Witches are called the _unbinding_
ones; because they undo what the bad Witch does, and yet is allowed to
do good Offices with the Consent of the Devil.[5]
Good Witches performed wonderful Cures, according to the Belief of
those Days. Even Burton[6] says, "they can effect such Cures, the
maine Question is whether it be lawful in a desperate Case, to crave
their Help, or ask a Wizard's Advice. 'Tis a common Practice of some
Men to go first to a Witch, and then to a Physitian. If one cannot
help the other shall." And Paracelsus declared, "that it mattered not
whether a sick Person were helped by God or Devil, so that he were
eased." Some, however, demurred to this, and affirmed that it was
better to die than be cured by a Witch or a Sorcerer.
Further to illustrate the Subject, I shall have Recourse to Mr. Nathan
Drake's _Shakespeare, and his Times_. That chief of Expounders of
the "Immortal Bard," having had occasion to review the Subject of
Witchcraft, and having made so clear and valuable an Analysis of it in
his Examination of the Witches of Shakespeare, as is nowhere else to be
found, I am, as will be the Readers of this Introduction, I apprehend,
fortunate in being able to avail myself of the Labors of that eminent
Scholar and able Antiquary.
The Play of Macbeth is founded on a Species of Superstition that,
during the Life-time of Shakespeare, prevailed in England and Scotland,
in a Degree until then unknown. In the 33d Year of Henry VIII, was
enacted a Statute which adjudged all Witchcraft and Sorcery to be
Felony without the Benefit of Clergy; but at the Commencement of
the Reign of Elizabeth, the Evil seems to have been greatly on the
Increase, for Bishop Jewel, preaching before the Queen, in 1558, tells
her, "It may please your Grace to understand that Witches and Sorcerers
within these few last Years are marvelously increased within your
Grace's Realm. Your Grace's Subjects pine away, even unto the Death,
their Colour fadeth, their Flesh rotteth, their Speech is benumbed,
their Senses are bereft, I pray God they may never practice further
then upon the Subject."[7] How prevalent the Delusion had become, in
the Year 1584, we have the most ample Testimony in the ingenious Work
of Reginald Scot, entitled "The Discoverie of Witchcraft," which was
written as the sensible and humane Author has informed us, "in behalfe
of the Poore, the Aged, and the Simple,"[8] and it reflects singular
Discredit on the Age in which it was produced, that a Detection so
complete, both with regard to Argument and Fact, should have failed in
effecting its Purpose. But the Infatuation had seized all Ranks, with
an Influence which rivaled that resulting from an Article of religious
Faith, and Scot begins his Work with the Observation, that "the Fables
of Witchcraft have taken so fast hold and deepe Root in the Heart of
Man, that fewe or none can, now adaies, with Patience indure the Hand
and Correction of God. For if any Adversitie, Greefe, Sicknesse, Losse
of Children, Corne, Cattell, or Libertie happen unto them; by and by
they exclaime uppon Witches;--insomuch as a Clap of Thunder, or a Gale
of Wind is no sooner heard, but either they run to ring Bells, or crie
out to burne Witches;"[9] and in his second Chapter, he declares, "I
have heard to my greefe some of the Minesterie affirme, that they have
had in their Parish at one Instant xvij or xviij Witches: meaning such
as could work Miracles supernaturallie,"[10] a Declaration which, in
a subsequent Part of his Book, he more particularly applies, when he
informs us, that xvij or xviij were condemned at once at St. Osees
in the County of Essex, being a whole Parish, though of no great
Quantitie."[11]
The Mischief, however, was but in Progress, and received a rapid
Acceleration from the Publication of the _Dæmonologie_ of King James,
at Edinburgh, in the Year 1597. The Origin of this very curious
Treatise was probably laid in the royal Mind, in Consequence of the
supposed Detection of a Conspiracy of 200 Witches with Dr. Fian,
"Register to the Devil," at their Head, to bewitch and drown His
Majesty, on his Return from Denmark, in 1590. James attended the
Examination of these poor Wretches with the most eager Curiosity, and
the most willing Credulity; and, when Agnis Tompson confessed, that
she, with other Witches, to the Number just mentioned, went altogether
by Sea, each one in her Riddle, or Sieve, with Flagons of Wine,
making merry and drinking by the Way, to the Kirk of North Berwick,
in Lothian, where, when they had landed, they took Hands and danced,
singing all with one Voice:
"Commer [Gossip] go ye before, commer goe ye
Gif ye will not go before, commer let me."
And "that Geilis Duncane did go before them, playing said Reel on a
Jew's Trump." James sent for Duncane, and listened with Delight to his
Performance of the Witches' Reel on the Jews-harp!
On Agnis, however, asserting, that the Devil had met them at the Kirk,
His Majesty could not avoid expressing some Doubts; when, taking him
aside, she "declared unto him the very Words which had passed between
him and his Queen on the first Night of their Marriage, with their
Answer each to other; whereat the King wondered greatly, and swore by
the living God, that he believed all the Devils in Hell could not have
discovered the same."[12]
That the Particulars elicited from the Confessions of these unfortunate
Beings, which, it is said, "made the King in a wonderful Admiration,"
formed the Basis of the _Dæmonologie_, may be therefore readily
admitted. It is also to be deplored, that, weak and absurd as this
Production now appears to us, its Effect on the Age of its Birth, and
a Century afterwards, were extensive and melancholy in the extreme.
It contributed, indeed, more than any other Work on the Subject, to
rivet the Fetters of Credulity; and scarcely had a twelve month elapsed
from its Publication, before its Result was visible in the Destruction
in Scotland, of not less than 600 human Beings at once, for this
imaginary Crime![13]
The Succession of James to the Throne of Elizabeth served but to
propagate the Contagion; for no sooner had he reached this Country,
than his Dæmonologie reappeared from an English Press, being printed
in London, in 1603, in Quarto, and with a Preface to the Reader, which
commences by informing him of the "fearfull abounding at this Time in
this Country, of these detestable Slaves of the Devel, the Witches, or
Enchanters;"[14] a Declaration which, during the Course of the same
Year, was accompanied by a new Statute against Witches, one Clause of
which enacts, that, "Any one that shall use, practice, or exercise any
Invocation or Conjuration of any evill or wicked Spirit, or consult,
covenant with, entertaine or employ, feede or reward, any evill or
wicked Spirit, to or for any Intent or Purpose; or take up any dead
Man, Woman or Child, out of his, her, or their Grave, or any other
Place where the dead Body resteth, or the Skin, Bone, or other Part of
any dead Person, to be employed or used in any Manner of Witchcraft,
Sorcery, Charme, or Enchantment; or shall use, practice, or exercise
any Witchcraft, Enchantment, Charme, or Sorcery, whereby any Person
shall be killed, destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined, or lamed, in his
or her Body, or any Part thereof, such Offenders, duly and lawfully
convicted and attainted, shall suffer Death."