By C. R. Stratm, RJE.S. 



153 



to have been a self-constituted public prosecutor of the most 

 dangerous kind. The Bull of Pope Innocent VIII. says : — " It 

 has come to our ears that numbers of both sexes do not avoid to 

 have intercourse with the infernal fiends and that by their sorceries 

 they afflict both man and beast, that they blight the marriage bed, 

 destroy the births of women, and the increase of cattle, they blast 

 the corn on the ground, the fruits of the trees, the grass and the 

 herbs of the field : " the Inquisitors are therefore called upon to 

 " convict, imprison, and punish." They seem to have entered into 

 this work with great zest, for in Geneva in one year five hundred 

 " Protestant witches " were burnt, and in Como a thousand. There 

 is no doubt that the secret meetings of the Waldenses gave a ground 

 of suspicion which the Inquisitors were not slow to avail themselves 

 of. In Sweden the things done in Heaven's name took a revolting 

 turn. In one village more than sixty children were tried, fifteen 

 were burnt, thirty-six were lashed every Sunday for a year at the 

 Church door, and twenty very young ones for three Sundays only. 

 Then public prayers were offered that Heaven might be pleased to 

 restrain the power of the Devil. 



In England the Bishops' Articles of Visitation directed enquiry 

 to be made " whether you have any who use enchantments, witch- 

 craft, sorcery, or any like craft invented by the Devil." The Pope 

 rather resented the secular courts' interference with witchcraft, and 

 considered that these trials belonged to the ecclesiastical courts, 

 indeed the fees for exorcism amounted to a very considerable sum. 

 The Calvinists did not believe in the rite of exorcism ; they were, 

 nevertheless, equally bitter against witches, although the Pope's 

 Bulls began to associate " Witches and Heretics " in a common 

 excommunication. The method of exorcism employed by the 

 Calvinists was " by strong prayer." A committee took tens, 

 relieving each other, and praying loudly and fervently until the 

 devil was cast out. One demon resisted for a whole year, and had 

 finally to be given up. This was evidently very trying to the 

 persons who were supposed to be possessed, and a canon was pro- 

 mulgated forbidding ministers any longer to try and expel devils 

 without a licence from the bishop. 



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