172 



APPENDIX. 



character in that part of the country, was on very 

 bad terms with Raimboult, who passed for a sor 

 cerer. Some time ago, the wife of Poirier had 

 fallen sick, as well as several of his cattle. Pui- 

 rier did not doubt for aninstant, that these sick 

 nesses were the effect of sorcery. He came to 

 Angers, and consulted a pretended diviner, a 

 miserable victim of monomania, who gave him 

 a full water-bottle, and told him to take it home 

 with him, and put it in the very best place of his 

 house. &quot; At such an hour, said the diviner, 

 &quot; you should recite such and such prayers before 

 my water-bottle, and then you will see in the 

 water it contains, the likeness of him who has 

 bewitched your wife and your catlle.&quot; Poirier 

 followed these orders precisely; and it is only 

 too probable that his imagination being pre-oc- 

 cupie.d with the idea, this wretched man fancied 

 he saw his brother-in-law in the water-bottle of 

 the guilty diviner, and thought he was doing a 

 service to his country in delivering it from a being 

 whom he regarded as the friend and favourite of 

 the devil. Copiedfrom a Paris paper, in Morn 

 ing Chron. Sept. 23, 1828. 



The following occurrence, in another Depart 

 ment of France, happened nearly about the same 

 time as the preceding, 



&quot; It appears that in the department of Lot 

 and Garonne, and particularly in some of the 

 communes of the district of Marmande, the 

 belief of sorcery is common among the people. 

 John Sabathe, a peasant, with plenty of money, 

 living in the vicinity of Clairac, had a sick 

 daughter: medicine had failed, which is nothing 

 extraordinary ; but there remained magic, and 

 Sabathe greatly relied upon it. He applied to 

 Rose Peres, who enjoyed the reputation of being 

 a witch. He stated the condition of his daugh 

 ter; the witch replied, she would go and visit 

 her. She went the next morning to Sabathe s 

 residence, saw the sick girl, and declared she 

 was bewitched. [Perhaps she was not so far 

 wrong either, for some witnesses, who were no 

 doubt very spiteful, gave it as their opinion that 

 love had entered a little into this affair.] What 

 ever was the cause of her illness, the witch pro 

 mised to relieve her, and said, that the thing was 

 not without a remedy. She told them to light 

 a great fire, and they would see why afterwards. 

 Little as we are initiated into the secrets of 

 magic, we know that odd numbers, especially 

 the number three, have singular virtues ; there 

 fore 3 multiplied by 3 must be a number prodi 

 giously powerful. It was apparently for this 

 ;ason that the witch required nine large pebble 

 stones, which she put inlo the fire, and kept there 

 till they were red hot : she then threw them into 

 a Kettle full of water, and the mysterious vapour 

 that arose served to perfume the pntient. that was 

 yiug over it. But this was only the preamble 

 of ceremonies much more important. She had 

 a tab .e brought to her ; it was covered with a 



cloth, ard two lighted candles placed on it ; them 

 was even an end of wax that had been used in 

 the church ; a hammer was placed symme.rical- 

 ly between the two candles, and on one side of the 

 table the witch laid, with a grave and mysterious 

 air, the formidable book of magic, so well known 

 by the name of Little Albert. She still wanted 

 one thing; it was a plate filled with water, in 

 which a sum of 400 francs (161. sterling) was to 

 be deposited. The plate was brought ; as tc 

 the sum, we may remark, how difficult magic 

 must be to practise, and what attention is requi 

 site to its details. Crown pieces of six francs 

 were about to be put into the water, when the 

 witch called out, Take care what you are do 

 ing ; it is crown pieces of Jive francs that are 

 wanted. She was instantly obeyed, the crowns 

 of five francs are at the bottom of the plate. 



&quot; Things being in this state, every body left 

 the house. The witch remained alone for about 

 half an hour ; she then re-opened the doors, and 

 said they might re-enter. She added, that all 

 had succeeded, but that the malignant spirit that 

 had appeared had carried away the 400 francs on 

 withdrawing. The witch s husband then arri 

 ved ; his wife told him that the assembly was 

 made. It s all well, said he ; but thy sister 

 is at thy house, and she wants to see you. and we 

 must go there. They went, accordingly ; Saba 

 the and his family a little stupified, and the pa 

 tient in the same slate as before. These were 

 the facts which were made known to the Court 

 by indirect evidence, for these good folks took 

 care to make no complaint, for fear of the witches. 

 The Court sentenced her to imprisonment fbi 

 three years, and a fine of fifty francs. She had 

 been charged before the Royal Court of A gen for 

 swindling, under pretence of practising witchcraft. 

 Some years ago, the same Court sentenced 

 to close imprisonment three or four women, living 

 in the neighbourhood of Villereal, for having put 

 on the fire and half-burned a pretended witch, 

 who would not cure them of a disease she had 

 given them.&quot; GazettedfS Tribunaux, as quoted 

 in Morn. Chron. Sept. 28,1829. 



In both the above cases we perceive an im 

 plicit belief in the powers of divination and sor 

 cery, a belief which appears to be general among 

 the lower ranks of society ; and it would appear 

 that the profession of witch or sorcerer is pretty 

 common in the principal towns in France. In the 

 one instance this belief led tc a most atrocious 

 murder, and in the other to a dexterous robbery ; 

 and, in this latter case, it would seem, that, not 

 withstanding the palpable imposture that was 

 practised on Sabathe and his family, these sim 

 ple people still believed in the supernatural pow 

 ers of the sorceress who had so barefacedly rob 

 bed them, for &quot; they took care to make no com 

 plaint, for fear of the witches&quot; Nearly akin to 

 s the notions under consideration, is the following 

 superstition relating to bees, 



