1/4 TJ^^ S^^ok of Cats, 



natural result of this cruel proceeding, but which 

 was received by judge and jury, at that time, of 

 the poor toad being an imp ! 



Hutchinson, in his essay on witchcraft, says : — 

 " It was very requisite that these witch-finders 

 should take care to go to no towns but where they 

 might do what they would without being con- 

 trolled by sticklers ; but if the times had not been 

 as they were, they would have found but few towns 

 where they might be suffered to use the trial of 

 the stool, which was as bad as most tortures. Do 

 but imagine a poor old creature, under all the 

 weakness and infirmities of old age, set like a fool 

 in the middle of a room, with a rabble of ten 

 towns about her home ; then her legs tied across, 

 that all the weight of her body might rest upon 

 her seat. By that means, after some hours, the 

 circulation of the blood would be stopped, and her 

 sitting would be as painful as the wooden horse* 

 Then must she continue in pain four-and-twenty 

 hours, without either sleep or meat ; and since this 

 was their ungodly way of trial, what wonder was 

 it if, when they were weary of their lives, they con- 

 fessed many tales that would please them, and 

 many times they knew not what." 



Hopkins' favourite and ultimate method of 



