WITCHCRAFT. 



169 



tempted to enter the house of her master, at two 

 c clock in the morning, over the rails. She was 

 exquisitely dressed, and wore an elegant satin 

 oonnet, which belonged to her mistress, and put 

 on her curls and finery, in order to attend a &quot; hop&quot; 

 in the neighbourhood, and acknowledged that she 

 had been walking for an hour or two up and down 

 the streets in conversation with her friend. In 

 the course of the investigation it was stated, that 

 there was found in the corner of her box, wrapped 

 Uj&amp;gt; carefully, a document which might have led to 

 those unseasonable and unfortunate assignations, 

 which at last terminated in her being brought to 

 the watch-house. A paper was handed lo the 

 Lord Mayor, in which was folded a card, on 

 which was written the following words, 



&quot; Mrs. Smith, No. 49, Wentworth Street, 

 Dress Maker.&quot; 



&quot; Lawful questions resolved.&quot; 

 The paper was an answer to the question, 

 &quot; What sort of a husband shall I have, and how 

 soon shall I have him?&quot; It stated, that the 

 &quot; interrogator should have a nice respectable 

 tradesman, who should be a most tender husband, 

 and be tha father of six children, of which she 

 should be the happy mother ; thai, certain 

 planets were visible at their birth, and, in conjunc 

 tion at the time, a symptom that betokened felicity , 

 and that the union should take place as surely as 

 he or she (the person who wrote the paper) had 

 the power rf predicting.&quot; Morning Chronicle, 

 Sept.Sd, 1829. 



The above are only specimens of many similar 

 occurrences which are occasionally recorded in 

 the daily papers. The pernicious tendency of 

 astrological predictions on those who are weak 

 enough to give them credit, is sufficiently appa 

 rent in the cases now stated ; having in the one 

 case alienated the affections of a young woman 

 from her hv? ^nd, and produced contention and 

 family discora, and in the other, tantalized a 

 vain young female, and brought her into suspi 

 cious and disgraceful circumstances, which may 

 lay the foundation of her ruin, and render her 

 miserable for life. 



No. V. Illustrations of some of the opinions and 

 practices of our ancestors in relation to witch 

 craft. P. 22. 



By witchcraft was generally understood, a 

 supernatural power, of which persons were sup 

 posed to obtain the possession, by entering into 

 a compact with the devil. They gave them 

 selves up to him, body and soul ; and he engag 

 ed hat ihey shou d want for nothing, and that he 

 would avenge them upon all their enemies. As 

 soon as the bargain was concluded, the devil de 

 livered to the witcli an imp, or familiar spirit, 

 to be ready at a call, and to do whatever it was 

 directed. By the assistance of this imp, and of 

 the dvil together, the witch, who was almost 

 alw&amp;lt;f an old woman, was enabled to transport 



herself through the air, on a broomstick, or a spit, 

 to distant places to attend the meetings oi the 

 witches. At these meetings the devil always 

 presided. They were enabled also to transform 

 themselves into various shapes, particularly to 

 assume the forms of cats arvd hares, in which 

 they most delighted ; to inflict diseases on whom 

 soever they thought proper, and to punish their 

 enemies in a variety of ways. Witchcraft was 

 universally believed in Europe, till the sixteenth 

 century, and maintained its ground with tolerable 

 firmness till the middle of the seventeenth, nay, 

 in some countries on the continent, till the mid 

 dle of the eighteenth century. Vast numbers of 

 reputed witches were convicted and condemned 

 to be burnt every year. The methods of dis 

 covering them were various. One was to weigh 

 the supposed criminal against the church Bible, 

 which, if she was guilty, would preponderate; 

 another, by making her attempt to say the Lord s 

 Prayer, this no witch was able to repeat en 

 tirely, but would omit some part, or sentence 

 thereof. It is remarkable, that all witches did 

 not hesitate at the same part, some leaving out 

 one part, and some another. Teats, through 

 which the imps sucked, were indubitable marks 

 of a witch ; these were always raw, and also 

 insensible, and, if squeezed, sometimes yielded a 

 drop of blood. A witch could not weep more 

 than three tears, and that only out of the left eye. 

 This want of tears was, by the witch-finders, 

 and, even by some judges, considered as a very 

 substantial proof of guilt. Swimming a witch 

 was another kind of popular ordeal generally 

 practised. For this she vyas stripped naked, 

 and cross-bound, the right thumb to the left toe, 

 and the left thumb to the right toe. Thus pre 

 pared, she was thrown into a pond or river, in 

 which, if guilty, she could not sink ; for hav 

 ing, by her compact with the devil, renounced 

 the benefit of the water of baptism, that ele 

 ment, in its turn, renounced her, and refused to 

 receive her into its bosom. There were two 

 other ordeals by Jire, by which witches were 

 discovered ; the first by burning the thatch of the 

 house of the suspected witch, the other, by 

 burning any animal supposed to be bewitched by 

 her, as a hog or an ox. These, it was held, would 

 force a witch to confess. 



The trial by the stool was another method used 

 for the detection of witches. It was thus ma 

 naged : Having taken the suspected witch, she 

 was placed in the middle of a room, upon a 

 stool, or table, cross-legged, or in some other un 

 easy posture ; to which, if she did iot submit, she 

 was then bound with cords, there she was 

 watched, and kept without meat or sleep for 

 twenty-fo :r hours, (for, they said, that within 

 that time they should see her imp come and 

 suck.) A little hole was likewise made in the 

 door for imps to come in at, and, lest, it should 

 come in some less discernible shape, they thai 



