April 2. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



327 



specified. Perhaps it may be interesting to some : 

 of your readers. 



The Exam ofJone Coward of Wareham, taken 

 upon Oath the 28 March, 1638. 



Who sayth, y* about Midsomer last past one Mary 

 Sheapheard of Wareham did pull of one of this 

 ExraPs stockings, and within 2 bowers after this 

 Exnt was taken in all her limbs that she could 

 not stur hand or foot, where upon this Exnt con- 

 sidered that the fors*^ Mary Sheapheard had done 

 her that hurt, and forth w*'' cryed out upon the 

 sayd Mary Shep. (though the sayd M. Shep. was 

 not present), where upon this Exml's mother went 

 unto the house of M. Shep. to perswaed her to 

 come downe to this Exnt ; but the sayd M. Shep. 

 would not. Whereupon this Exnt's mother went 

 unto the Mayor of the Town, who comanded the 

 s"^ M. Shep. to goe to this Exant. At length the 

 s** Ma. Shep. accordingly did (and being coe), she 

 did wring this Exnt by the hande, and_p*sently 

 this Exnt recouered. Ffurther, this Exnt sayth, 

 y* about y* 24 of July next foUowinge, this Exnt 

 was taken in y^ like manner j" second time, w"^ 

 her hands and feet wrested about, and so sent for 

 the s"* M. Shep., who instantly pulled the Exnt 

 by the hands, and p^sently the Exnt recovered 

 again. Jone Coward. 



Joane Coward de Warha, spinster - £xx. 

 To appear and give evidence at the next assizes 

 agnt Ma. Sheapheard. 



The Exam of Ann Trew, single woman, of Ware- 

 ham, taken iipon Oath as afors'^. 



Who sayth, y* on y® 16'^ of March last past she 

 saw Mary Shep. come into y® house of Joh. Gil- 

 lingame, and likewise saw Ed. Gillingame come 

 down bare-footed very well, without any lamnesse 

 or sickness at all, and p'^sently after y® sayd Mary 

 Shep. had pulled on the legginge upon the legge 

 of y^ s*^ Ed. Gill., he fell instantly both lame and 

 sick. Further, this Exnt asked the s"* Ed. Gill, 

 (in the time of his sickness) what Ma. Shep. did 

 unto him, who answered, she did put her hand 

 upon his thigh. Ann Teew. 



Anne Trew de Warha, spinster - - £xx, 



To appear and give evidence at next assizes agnt 

 M. Shepheard. 



I should like to know if the effect of her sup- 

 posed sorcery could be attributed to mesmerism. 

 The document in my possession appears to be 

 original, as Jone Coward's signature is in a dif- 

 ferent hand to that of the examination. J. C. M. 



Spetisbury. 



ST. AUGU8TIN AND BAXTER. 



I am not aware that any author has pointed out 

 a remarkable coincidence in the Confessions of 

 St. Augustin and of Baxter : 



" Divers sins I was addicted to, and oft committed 

 against my conscience, which, for the warning of 

 others, I will here confess to my shame. I was much 

 addicted to the excessive and gluttonous eating of 

 apples and pears, which, I think, laid the foundation 



of the imbecility and flatulency of my stomach 



To this end, and to concur with naughty boys that 

 gloried in evil, I have oft gone into other men's or- 

 chards and stolen the fruit, when I had enough at 



home These were my sins in my childhood, as 



to which conscience troubled me for a great while 

 before they were overcome." 



Sir W. Scott cites the above passages in his 

 Life of Dry den, with sharp comments on the rigid 

 scruples of the Puritans : 



" How is it possible," he says, " to forgive Baxter 

 for the affectation with which he records the enormities 

 of his childhood ? . . . . Can any one read this con- 

 fession without thinking of Tartufife, who subjected 

 himself to penance for killing a flea with too much 

 anger? . . . ." 



It probably did not occur to the biographer, 

 that no less illustrious a saint than Augustin, to 

 whom Puritanism can hardly be imputed, had 

 made a parallel confession of like early depravity 

 many centuries before. Enlarging on his own 

 puerile delinquencies, and indeed on the wicked- 

 ness of children in general, he confesses that, in 

 company with other "naughty boys " (" nequissimi 

 adolescentuli"), he not only stole apples, but stole 

 them for the mere pleasure of the thing, and when 

 he " had enough at home" : 



" Id furatus sum quod mihi abundabat, et multo 

 melius. Nee ea re volebam frui quam furto appete- 

 bam ; sed ipso furto et peccato. Arbor erat pirus in 

 vicinia vinese nostrse pomis onusta, nee forma nee 

 sapore illecebrosis. Ad banc excutiendam atque aspor- 

 tandam, nequissimi adolescentuli perreximus nocte in- 

 tempesta ; et abstulimus inde onera ingentia, non ad 

 nostras epulas, sed vel projicienda porcis, etiamsi ali- 



quid inde comedimus Ecce cor meum, Deus 



mens, ecce cor meum, quod miseratus es in imo 

 abyssi !" — Confessionum, lib. ii. cap. iv. 



In comparing the two cases, the balance of 

 juvenile depravity is very much against the great 

 Doctor of Grace. He does not seem to have had 

 even a fondness for fruit to plead in extenuation 

 of his larceny. He robbed orchards by wholesale 

 of apples, which, by his own admission, had no 

 attractions either of form or flavour to tempt him. 

 Yet the two anecdotes are so much alike, that one 

 would be inclined to suspect one story of being a 

 mere recoction of the other if it were possible to 

 doubt the veracity of Richard Baxter. 



