WEIGHED AGAINST THE BIBLE 167 



make oath of it before a magistrate, on which her 

 husband, in order to justify his wife, insisted on her 

 being tried on the church Bible, and that the accuser 

 should be present. Accordingly the woman was 

 taken to the parish church, where she was stripped 

 of all clothing except her shift and undercoat, and 

 weighed against the Bible, when, to the mortification 

 of her accuser, she outweighed the Holy Scriptures, 

 and was honourably acquitted of the charge ! 



On October 28, 1762, a number of people sur- 

 rounded the house of John Pitchers, at Langdon, in 

 Kent, dragged out his wife, believing her to have 

 bewitched a boy named Ladd, thirteen years old. 

 They compelled her to go to the boy's father's 

 house, forcing her into a room which the boy already 

 occupied, scratched her arms and face in a cruel 

 manner, in order 'to draw the blood of the witch,' 

 and then threatened to swim her. They were, 

 however, prevented by some of the less barbarous 

 spectators from proceeding to this extremity, and 

 the poor woman's life was preserved. As to the 

 persons concerned in carrying on the imposture, 

 particularly a man named Beard, with Ladd's wife, 

 they were taken before a magistrate, who compelled 

 them to make compensation to the alleged ' witch.' 

 The mob then dispersed, and the country became 

 quieted. The boy, who, of course, was ' in it,' 

 pretended to void pins and needles from his body, 

 and his father and mother collected money from 

 people whose compassion was excited by the 

 melancholy story. At the winter assizes of 1769 it 



