By C. R. Straton, FES. 153 
to have been a self-constituted public prosecutor of the most 
dangerous kind. The Bull of Pope Innocent VIII. says :—“ It 
has come to our ears that numbers of both sexes do not avoid to 
have intercourse with the infernal fiends and that by their sorceries 
they afflict both man and beast, that they blight the marriage bed, 
destroy the births of women, and the increase of cattle, they blast 
the corn on the ground, the fruits of the trees, the grass and the 
herbs of the field: the Inquisitors are therefore called upon to 
“convict, imprison, and punish.”” They seem to have entered into 
this work with great zest, for in Geneva in one year five hundred 
*“ Protestant witches” were burnt, and in Como athousand. There 
is no doubt that the secret meetings of the Waldenses gave a ground 
of suspicion which the Inquisitors were not slow to avail themselves 
of. In Sweden the things done in Heaven’s name took a revolting 
turn. In one village more than sixty children were tried, fifteen 
were burnt, thirty-six were lashed every Sunday for a year at the 
Church door, and twenty very young ones for three Sundays only. 
Then public prayers were offered that Heaven might be pleased to 
restrain the power of the Devil. 
In England the Bishops’ Articles of Visitation directed enquiry 
to be made “ whether you have any who use enchantments, witch- 
craft, sorcery, or any like craft invented by the Devil.” The Pope 
rather resented the secular courts’ interference with witchcraft, and 
considered that these trials belonged to the ecclesiastical courts, 
indeed the fees for exorcism amounted to a very considerable sum. 
The Calvinists did not believe in the rite of exorcism; they were, 
nevertheless, equally bitter against witches, although the Pope’s 
Bulls began to associate “ Witches and Heretics” in a common 
excommunication. The method of exorcism employed by the 
Calvinists was “by strong prayer.” A committee took turns, 
_ relieving each other, and praying loudly and fervently until the 
devil was cast out. One demon resisted for a whole year, and had 
finally to be given up. This was evidently very trying to the 
_ persons who were supposed to be possessed, and a canon was pro- 
_ mulgated forbidding ministers any longer to try and expel devils 
‘ 
* 
: 
without a licence from the bishop. 
M 2 
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