46 INTRODUCTORY 



coast of Norway upon the bodies of which it 

 was thought two Gothic letters appeared. They 

 were taken to Copenhagen, and given to 

 Frederick II., who regarded them as an omen 

 of his approaching death. He consulted certain 

 wise men who interpreted the letters to mean, 

 " You will not fish for herrings so well in future 

 as other nations." Various other learned 

 people, including Professors of Rostock and 

 several of the universities of Germany, were 

 consulted without a more satisfactory inter- 

 pretation being forthcoming. A French mathe- 

 matician at Copenhagen is said to have pub- 

 lished a large volume dealing with the pro- 

 phecy, while another person published a work 

 in which he interpreted the omen as meaning 

 that all Europe would shortly suffer a great 

 catastrophe. 



As the outcome of a quarrel about some 

 herrings two women were accused of being 

 witches, were tried at the Bury St. Edmunds 

 Assizes in March, 1664, convicted, and hanged. 

 Sir Matthew Hale, the judge, was impressed 

 with the worthlessness of the accusation, but 

 the jury were influenced by the opinion of Dr. 

 Thomas Browne, ** the most famous physician 

 of his time," who happened to be in court. 

 This was Sir Thomas Browne, of Norwich 

 (*'Religio Medici," ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica," 

 etc.). He declared that in his opinion '^ the devil 

 had co-operated with the malice of the accused." 

 With the exception of the three Exeter witches 



