665 
As the huntsman lives at. Warboys, 
Mr. Pratt extracts an account of the 
famous witches of that village. If his 
other extracts had been made trom books 
equally rare, or equally interesting, we 
‘should set a higher value upon his vo- 
jume than it‘at present deserves, Some 
good observations upon this superstition 
are annexed. A very excellent passage 
upon the same subject might have been 
appended as a note from Cato’s letters, 
a work written upon temporary politics, 
but containing much matter of sterling 
and permanent value. ‘The names of 
Gordon and Trenchard should be dear 
to all lovers of civil and ecclesiastical 
freedom. Here we will quote a good 
anecdote from Mr. Pratt. 
<¢ Tt is not many vears since an inhabitant 
of Boston, in New England, took a fancy to 
accuse his neighbour of witchcraft, and the 
crime being clearly proved, the poor culprit 
suffered according to law. The contagion 
spread, and their Sessions-house was crowded 
with witches, as much as our Old Bailey 
with pick-pockets. To the tribe it brought 
fees, and so far was well. But a man having 
been cheated by his lawyer, made oath that 
said lawyer was a wizard. ‘This was too 
much, the clan was in danger. The Court 
had a special meeting, and unanimously de- 
termined, that they would not receive any 
more information against wizards. The bye- 
law had the effect of a charm, and sorcery 
was no more.” 
A. similar circumstance occurred 
within our own knowledge. In some 
extensive mines in Wales the men fre- 
quently saw the devil, and when once he 
had been seen the men would never 
work any more during that day. This 
evil became serious, for old Beelzebub 
repeated his visits as often as ifhe hada 
design to injure the proprietor. That 
gentleman at last called hismen together, 
told them that it was very certain that 
the devil never appeared to any body 
who had net deserved to be so terrified, 
and that as he would keep no rogues 
about him, he was resolved to discharge 
the first mam that saw the devil again. 
The remedy was as efficient as\if he had 
turned a stream of holy water into the 
mine. i 
This subject leads Mr, Pratt to an 
entimeration of our popular superstitions, 
which is well terminated by the follow- 
ings.) 10k 
«< But the grand saothsayers of the present 
day amongst us are the Almenack-makers, 
MISCELLANIES. , 
and of these the immortal Moore is lord of) 
the ascendant. This sublime personage en- 
joys, in one respect, a prerogative said to be 
attached only to our Sovereigns. The King 
of England, and Moore, the almanack-maker, 
never die; nay, the Jatter has in one point 
the advantage: the successors of royal per- 
sonages, though represented generally by the 
word king, have their Christian appellations 
of John, Henry, William, and George, but 
this immutable conjuror in chief is always 
one and the same, Francis Moore, Physician! 
He is the creed. of the common people of 
England in ail matters that relate either to 
time or occurrence, peace or war, fair wea- 
ther or foul. He can count the rain and 
snow that have fallen upon the face of our 
island, in the course of our winter's solstice, 
to a single fleat or drop ; and he knows as in- 
timately what is doing in the sun, moon, and 
planets, as what is transacting in this nether 
sphere. He is, likewise, in the secret of first 
and second causes, and is as familiar with the 
planets and conjunctions as he is with the 
man inthe moon. But notwithstanding this 
universal knowledge, terrestrial and celestial, 
you will be charmed with his modesty—con- 
sidering how dogmatic and dictatorial most 
great men are—when I tell you, that al- 
though he knows to the nicety of a fraction 
how many potentates will be hurled from 
their thrones, and how many usurpers will 
seize the sceptre—for he is to the full as great, 
‘a politician as_he is an astrologer—he offers 
every thing with the diffidence that charac- 
terizes a truly great mind. In a word, he is 
our only vox stellarum, hieroglyphical, chro- 
nological, meteorological, and ecliptical phi- 
losopher, since his first rising amongst us to 
this present almauack for the year of human 
redemption. Of course the dispersion of his 
predictions exceeds that of any other conju- 
ror of the empire, in the ratio of atleast a 
hundred to one. How, indeed, should it be 
otherwise, ‘since he is looked upon 2s oracu- 
Jar in all things; and I.could not but smile 
the other day, when, on going into the sho 
of one of my principal booksellers to enquire 
after a work which has of late much attract- 
ed public notice, I was informed that the 
suecess of the book I asked for would, in 
point of sale, vield but to one author alive or 
dead; and that one, said the bookseller 
gravely, is the celebrated and_ everlasting 
‘rancis Moore, philosepher, physician, astro- 
nomer, and alinanack-maker !” 
This amusing paragraph is an ad. 
mirable specimen of the puff by induc- 
tion. . The appendix contains a very cu- 
rious addition to this part in these 
jtems. . 
«© 1. Three hundred and fifty thousand. of. 
Moore's Almanack are sold yearly! 
«© 2. In order to prepare so large an edi- 
tion, it is necessary to be four months work~ 
ing at press! 
