Abingdon, Nov. 1850.
_A Test of Witchcraft._--Among the many tests applied for the discovery of
witchcraft was the following. It is, I believe, a singular instance, and
but little known to the public. It was resorted to as recently as 1759, and
may be found in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of that year.
"One _Susannah Hannokes_, an elderly woman of Wingrove, near
Ayleshbury, was accused by a neighbour for bewitching her
spinning-wheel, so that she could not make it go round, and offered to
make oath of it before a majistrate; on which the husband, to justify
his wife, insisted upon her being tried by the Church Bible, and that
the accuser should be present: accordingly she was conducted to the
parish church, where she was stript of all her cloathes to her shift
and undercoat, and weighed against the Bible; when, to the no small
mortification of her accuser, she outweighed it, and was honorably
acquitted of the charge."