watched were taught to be ever and anon sweep ing the room, and, if they saw any spiders or flies, to kill them, if they could not kill them, then they might be sure they were imps. If witches, under examination or torture, would not confess, all their apparel was changed, and every hair of their body shaven off with a sharp razor, lest they should secret magical charms to prevent their confessing. It was a maxim, too, in these proceedings, that witches were most apt to confess on Fridays. By such trials as these, and by the accusations of children, old women, and fools, were thousands of unhappy women, condemned for witchcraft, and burned at the stake. A work, written by M Thoest, was published a few years ago at Mentz, entitled, "The History of Magic, Demons, Sorcerers," &c. which contains an affecting narrative of the numbers that have suffered for the pretended crime of magic and witchcraft. The cases enumerated are proved from unequivocal authority. In these excesses of the magistrates, it appears, that female sorcerers have been the greatest sufferers. Among other curious articles in the collection, we learn, that Christopher de Runtzow, a gentleman of Holstein, whose heated imagination had misled his understanding, consigned eighteen persons to the flames at one time, the victims of a merciless superstition. In a village called Lindheim, containing about six hundred inhabitants, not less than thirty were destroyed by fire, in the narrow interval between the years 1661 and 1665, making a twentieth part of the whole population consumed in four years. In this inhuman conduct towards an unhappy class of persons, the author points out Wurtzburg as having frequently been subject to well-merited reproach. It appears from the Acta Magica of Naubers, that between the years 1627 and 1629, one hundred and twenty-seven individuals perished in similar instances of cruelty practised by their brother men. The principal objects of such nefarious dealings were old women, or travellers, and frequently poor children, from nine to ten years of age. Occasionally such outrages have been perpetrated on persons of some consequence,-proficients in knowledge above the general standard of the age, or such as had acquired property by their industry and genius. Among many others in these shocking details, are the respectable names of fourteen vicars, two young gentlemen, some counsellors, the largest or most corpulent man in Wurtzburg, and his wife, the handsomest woman in the city, and a student or scholar engaged in the study of foreign languages. Those innocent sufferers were frequently put to the torture. But what must our feelings and principles incline us to think of an enormity here brought to our recollection, in the instance of a poor girl, Maria Renata, who suffered so late as in the year 1749! The extent of the judicial murders for witch craft is far greater than most persons, who have not studied the history of demonology, can form any idea. From the period in which Pope Innocent VIII. in 1484, issued his bull against witchcraft, to the middle of the seventeenth century, if we believe the testimonies of contemporary historians, Europe was little better than a large suburb or outwork of Pandemonium, one half of the population being either bewitching or bewitched. Delrio tells us, that five hundred witches were executed in Geneva, in three months, about the year 1515. "A thousand,” says Bartholomeus de Spina, "were executed in one year, in the diocese of Como, and they went on burning at the rate of a hundred per annum for some time after. In Lorraine, from 1580 to 1595, Remigius boasts of having burnt nine hundred. In France, the executions for the same crime were fifteen hundred and twenty. In Wurtzburg and Treves, the amount of executions in the course of the century preceding 1628, is reckoned to be 15,700. It has been calculated that in Germany alone, the number of victims that perished, from the date of Innocent's bull to the eighteenth century, considerably exceeds one hundred thousand. The executions were at first confined to crazed old women, or unhappy foreigners, but at length the witchcraft phrenzy rose to such a pitch, and spread so extensively, that the lives of more exalted victims were threatened. Noblemen and abbots, presidents of courts and professors, began to swell the catalogue, and no man felt secure that he might not suddenly be compelled, by torture, to bear witness against his own innocent wife and children. In the Catholic canton of Glarus, in Switzerland, it is said, that a witch was burnt, even so late as the year 1786! It is impossible for any rational and humane mind to peruse such a list as the above, without shuddering and horror. How dreadful the results to which ignorance and superstition have led!-and how astonishing the consideration,—that judges, lawyers, ministers of religion, nobles, and persons of all ranks should have given their sanction, without the least remorse, to such cruelties and legalized murders! In Pitcairn's "Criminal Trials," referred to in the text, a variety of curious documents is contained, respecting the proceedings of the Justiciary Court in Scotland against witchcraft, sorcery, and incantation. One of these trials relates to a gentleman of family, Mr. Hector Monro of Fowies, who was "indytit and accusit" of "soreerie, incantationnis, or wichecraft." This trial contains a complete specimen of the superstition of the age. Mr. Hector, it would appear, had sent for "Johne M'Connielly-gar and his wyffes, and Johne Bunes wyffe, in Lytell Alteis, thre notorious and commoune witches." They had been sent for to assist in restoring the health of Robert Monro, a brother of the said Mr. Hector, who entertained them for five days. It is said in the indictment, that they "poillit the hair of Robert Monro, his brotheris head, and plait the naillis of his fingeris and tais," and is socht be thair develisch meanes to have cureit him of his sickness;" but it would appear, that the weird sisters were by no means successful, and were compelled to decamp, for "they wald haif vsit furth the rest of thair develisch craft was nocht they ferit to tarie with him (Hector Monro) be ressone of his fader, quha wald haif apprehendit thame; and they declarit to him that he was owre lang in sending for thame, swa that they cald do na guid to the said Robert Monro." Mr. Hector, however, fell sick himself, and had recourse to the hags for a cure; and as he had an eye to the patrimony of his father, to which he could not succeed as he was a younger son, he began some incantations, in concert with the bags, to deprive his elder brother, George Monro, of life, and for this he was "delatit," also of "slaughter." The indictment, which is a most remarkable document, is too long for insertion. Jonett Grant, Jonett Clark, and Bessie Roy, nurse to the "Laird of Boquhave," are the three next ladies who were called to account for being "fylit" of witchcraft. The two Jonetts seem to have been in partnership; and if the indictments are to be credited, they were guilty of no fewer than six "crewal murthers," by witchcraft, of the "slavchter and destructionne of saxtene heid of nolt, of raising the devil, of making men eunuchs by witchcraft," &c. For such hardened sinners as the two Jonetts, no mercy was to be expected, and accordingly they were condemned to be "tane to the Castle hill of Edinburg, and there werriet at ane staik, and their body to be burnt to assis." Bessie Roy, however, came off with flying colours, although she was also indicted as "ane commoune thief," by means of the "enchantment and slicht of the diuill."-The following is the title of a pamphlet republished by Mr. Pitcairn, containing a most extraordinary narrative. "Newes from Scotland, declaring the damnable life of Doctor Fean, a notable sorcerer, who was burned at Edinburg in Janurie last, 1591, which doctor was register to the deuill, that sundrie times preached at North Barricke kirk, to a number of notorious witches," &c. The poor woman who was most cruelly treated was Euphane Mackalsane, a notable witch, who appears to have been so notorious as to be "bound to ane staik, and brunt to assis, quick to the death." "This," says Mr. Pitcairn," was the severest sentence ever pronounced by the court, even in the most atrocious cases," but poor Euphane died, nevertheless, with all the heroism and devotedness of a martyr. See Edin. Lit. Gaz. July 1829. ous and even ridiculous. That there ever were witches, that is, persons endowed with such powers as are usually ascribed to witches, is what no rational and enlightened mind can for a moment admit. The actions imputed to them are either absurd or impossible. To suppose an ignorant old woman, or indeed any human being, capable of transforming herself into a cat or a hare, is to suppose her capable of counteracting the laws of nature, which is competent to none but the Supreme Ruler of the world. We might almost as soon believe that such a being is capable of creating the universe. It presents a most humiliating picture of the imbecility of the human mind, that such absurdities should ever have been believed; and certainly conveys no very favourable idea of the humanity of our ancestors, when they inflicted, without remorse, so many shocking cruelties, especially on the tender sex, for such fancied crimes. Yet, absurd as the doctrine of witchcraft certainly is, it is a lamentable fact, that vast multitudes of our fellowmen, both in our own country and in other lands, are still believers in sorcery and witchcraft, of which an instance or two is stated in the following note. No. VI.-Proofs that the belief in witchcraft is still prevalent among certain classes of society. To attempt a serious refutation of the doctrines of witchcraft, would be altogether superflu Notwithstanding the degree of information which prevails in the nineteenth century, it is a melancholy consideration that superstition, and a belief in the efficacy of certain incantations, still prevail to a considerable extent, even in the most enlightened countries. The following recent occurrences will tend to corroborate this position, and at the same time show the perni cious consequences which frequently result from such a belief. The On the 2d September 1829, Laurent Raimboult, a farmer in the hamlet of Redoire, Com mune of Champtre, in France, spent the day in measuring wheat at the house of Poirier, his brother-in-law. About eight o'clock in the evening, he left to go to his own house, which was about half a league from Poirier's house. He carried a bag containing the measure he had been using, and a box holding his dinner, which he had not opened; for he had stated his inten tion not to eat till he returned home. next morning his corpse was found in a meadow, bordered by a wood, and not very far from his own house. His body was horribly mutilated, his clothes stained with blood, and there was a large wound on the back part of his head. All the wounds showed that he had been struck by several persons armed with contusive weapons. Near him the ground had not been trod upon; his bag and the things it contained were carefully laid by his side: all proved that he had not been robbed. Poirier, who has always had a good character in that part of the country, was on very bad terms with Raimboult, who passed for a sorcerer. Some time ago, the wife of Poirier had fallen sick, as well as several of his cattle. Poi rier did not doubt for aninstant, that these sicknesses 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. "At such an hour," said the diviner, "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 cattle." Poirier followed these orders precisely; and it is only too probable that his imagination being pre-occupied 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.-Copied from a Paris paper, in Morning Chron. Sept. 23, 1829. The following occurrence, in another Department of France, happened nearly about the same time as the preceding. "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 daughter;-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.] Whatever was the cause of her illness, the witch promised 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, wo know that odd numbers, especially the number three, have singular virtues; therefore 3 multiplied by 3 must be a number prodigiously powerful. It was apparently for this reason that the witch required nine large pebble stones, which she put into 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 patient that was lying over it. But this was only the preamble of ceremonies much more important. She had a table brought to her; it was covered with a cloth, and two lighted candles placed on it; there was even an end of wax that had been used in the church; a hammer was placed symmetrically 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 magie must be to practise, and what attention is requisite 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 doing; it is crown pieces of five francs that are wanted.' She was instantly obeyed,—the crowns of five francs are at the bottom of the plate. "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 arrived; 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; Sabathe and his family a little stupified, and the patient in the same state 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 for three years, and a fine of fifty francs. She had been charged before the Royal Court of Agen 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."-Gazette des Tribunaux, as quoted in Morn. Chron. Sept. 28,1829. In both the above cases we perceive an implicit belief in the powers of divination and sorcery, 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 to a most atrocious murder, and in the other to a dexterous robbery ; and, in this latter case, it would seem, that, notwithstanding the palpable imposture that was practised on Sabathe and his family, these simple people still believed in the supernatural powers of the sorceress who had so barefacedly robbed them, for "they took care to make no complaint, for fear of the witches."-Nearly akin to the notions under consideration, is the following superstition relating to bees. The practice of informing bees of any death that takes place in a family, is well known, and still prevails among the lower orders in England. The disastrous consequences to be apprehended from non-compliance with this strange custom is, that the bees will dwindle and die. The manner of communicating the intelligence to the lit tle community, with due form and ceremony, is this-to take the key of the house, and knock with it three times against the hive, telling the inmates, at the same time that their master or mistress, &c. (as the case may be) is dead! Mr. Loudon says, when in Bedfordshire lately, we were informed of an old man who sung a psalm last year in front of some hives which were not doing well, but which, he said, would thrive in consequence of that ceremony.-Magazine of Nat. Hist. for 1828. The Constitutionnel (January 1828) states, that under the influence of the Jesuits, and with the countenance of the authorities, &c. the most brutifying tales of superstition and fanaticism are printed and circulated in the provinces of France. One of the ridiculous narratives to which it al ludes, details the fate of a blaspheming baker, who, being infected with the heresies of the Revolution, had addicted himself to the commission of every kind of impiety. While his oven one day was heated, and he was about to put the bread into it, he vented his usual oaths in the presence of two neighbours; when, lo! the dough miraculously refused to enter, and the baker was seized with a cold shivering, of which he died in two days. In his will he left 600 francs to the church, confessed his enormities, and besought the prayers of his friends.-In another, we are told of the discovery of a miraculous image, which will be a permanent source of ecclesiastical revenue. This image is that of a saint, which has been for the last two centuries concealed in a rock. It was discovered by means of a little white bird perched upon a brilliant crucifix, which guarded the spot. Since the discovery, the lame walk, the sick are healed, and the blind recover their sight, by resorting to the consecrated ground. It is not above fifteen or sixteen years ago since the late Alexander Davidson, A. M., lecturer on experimental philosophy and chemistry, when in Ireland, was much annoyed by the superstitious belief in necromancy and infernal agency which still prevails among a large portion of the lower orders in that country. When delivering a course of lectures in a small town not far from Londonderry, the rumour of the experiments he performed spread among the body of the people, many of whom had listened at the outside of the hall in which he lectured, to the loud detonations produced by electrical and other experiments, particularly the explosions of hydrogen gas. The great majority of the inhabitants believed he was an astrologer and necromancer, and considered it dangerous to have the slightest intercourse with his family, even in the way of buying and selling. One morning his servant-maid was sent out for bread and groceries for breakfast. After a considerable time, she returned with a pitiful countenance and a heavy heart, and declared that not an article of any description could be obtained. "What," says Mr. D., " is there no tea, sugar, or bread in the whole village?" "O yes," replied the maid, "there is plenty of every thing we want, but nobody will sell us an article; they say we are all witches and wizards and necromancers, and it's no canny to tak ony o' your money." Mr. Davidson and family, in this case, might have starved, had he not bethought himself of employing the servant of an acquaintance, who was one of his auditors, to procure, in her master's name, the requisite provisions; and this plan he was obliged to adopt during the remainder of his stay in that place. At another time his boots required to be repaired; the servant took them to a shoemaker, and they were received by one of the female branches of his family; but when the shoemaker understood to whom they belonged, he stormed, and was indignant at their receiving any thing from such a dangerous individual. The servant soon after returned to inquire if the boots were repaired. "Is the astrologer's boots mendit?" one of the family vociferated. "No," was the reply, "they are not mendit, nor do we intend to mend them, or have any thing to do with them." The shoemaker's wife desired the servant to come in, and lift the boots herself; "for," said she, "I will not touch them;" and it appears that both the shoemaker and his family had been afraid even to put their fingers upon them, and doubtless imagined that the very circumstance of their having been received into the house would operate as an evil omen.-On the day previous to his leaving that place, he sent his servant to engage a chaiso to carry them to the next town. The servant told the landlady of the inn (which was the only one from which a carriage could be procured) that her master wished to hire a chaise for to-morrow to carry them to N. The landlady told her it could not be granted. "For what reason?" said the maid. "You know very well what is the reason," said the landlady, in a very emphatical tone. After the servant returned with this reply, Mr. Davidson himself went to the inn, when the following dialogue took place between him and the landlady:-"Well,madam, can you give me a chaise to-morrow to carry me to Newry?” “No; for our horses are very tired, as they have been out all day, and they cannot go to-morrow." "O dear, madam, is that the only reason? You know very well I can make them go." The landlady, putting on a grave countenance, replied with emphasis, "We all know that very well. We know that you I could sink the town, if you chose to do it. But I shall give you the chaise, to carry you out of the place, and make the town rid of you; butit is more for fear of you than love to you that I consent to grant you my chaise."-Such were the absurd and superstitious notions prevalent among the lower class of the Irish in 1814 or 1815; and these were not the only instances in which they were manifested, but only specimens of what frequently occurred in other parts of that country. However clearly persons of education and intelligence may perceive the absurdity and futility of the superstitious notions and practices to which I have now referred,—it is a fact, well known to those who have been conversant among the lower orders of society, that they still prevail to a very considerable extent among the untutored ranks, even of our own country. Nothing but a more assiduous cultivation of the rational powers, and a universal diffusion of useful knowledge among the inferior classes of society, can be expected thoroughly to undermine and eradicate such opinions, and to prevent the baneful and pernicious consequences to which they lead. No. VII.-Circumstances which have occasion ally led to the belief of Spectres and Appari tions. P. 23. It is certain, that indistinct vision and optical illusions have, in many instances, been the sources of terror, and have produced a belief of supernatural appearances. When we have no other mode of judging of an unknown object but by the angle it forms in the eye, its magnitude will uniformly increase in proportion to its nearness. If it appears, when at the distance of forty or fifty paces, to be only a few feet high, its height, when within three or four feet of the eye, will appear to be above forty times greater, or many fathoms in dimension. An object of this kind, must naturally excite terror and astonishment in the spectator, till he approaches and recognises it by actual feeling; for the moment a man knows an object, the gigantic appearance it assumed in the eye, instantly diminishes, and its apparent magnitude is reduced to its real dimensions. But if, instead of approaching such an object, the spectator flies from it, he can have no other idea of it, but from the image which it formed in the eye; and in this case, he may affirm with truth, that he saw an object terrible in its aspect, and enormous in its size. Such illusions frequently occur, when persons are walking through desert and unfrequented tracts of country, surrounded with a fog, or in the dusk of the evening, when a solitary tree, a bush, an old wall, a cairn of stones, a sheep or a cow, may appear as phantoms of a monstrous size. The writer of an article in the "Encyclopædia Britannica," states, that " he was passing the Frith of Forth at Queensferry, one morning which was extremely foggy. Though the water is only two miles broad, the boat did not get within sight of the southern shore, till it approached very near it; he then saw to his great surprise, a large per pendicular rock, where he knew the shore was low and almost flat. As the boat advanced little nearer, the rock seemed to split perpendicularly into portions, which separated at liule distances from one another; he next saw these perpendicular divisions move, and upon approaching a little nearer, found it was a number of people standing on the beach, waiting the arrival of the ferry boat." Spectres are frequently occasioned by opium. Gassendi, the philosopher, found a number of people going to put a man to death for having intercourse with the devil, a crime which the poor wretch readily acknowledged. Gassendi begged of the people, that they would permit him first to examine the wizard, before putting him to death. They did so, and Gassendi, upon examination, found, that the man firmly believed himself guilty of this impossible crime; he even offered to Gassendi to introduce him to the devil. The philosopher agreed, and when midnight came, the man gave him a pill, which he said it was necessary to swallow before setting off. Gassendi took the pill, but gave it to his dog: The man having swallowed his, fell into a profound sleep, during which he seemed much agitated by dreams; the dog was affected in a similar manner. When the man awoke he congratulated Gassendi on the favourable reception he had met with from his sable highness. It was with difficulty Gassendi convinced him that the whole was a dream, the effect of soporific medicines, and that he had never stirred from one spot during the whole night. Drunkenness has also the power of creating ap paritions. Drunkenness seldom or never excites fear; and, therefore, it may at first sight seem strange, that persons should imagine they see ghosts when under the influence of intoxication. But it is observable, that the ghosts which the drunkard imagines he sees, he beholds not with the same terror and alarm, as men that are sober; he is not afraid of them; he has the courage to converse with them, and even to fight them, if they give him provocation. Like Burns' “Tam o' Shanter," give him" fair play—he cares na' de'ils a bodle." A man returning home intoxicat ed, affirmed, that he had met with the devil; and that, after a severe encounter, he had vanquished him, and brought him to the ground, to which he had nailed him fast, by driving his staff through his body. Next morning, the staff was found stuck with great violence into a heap of turfs! Dreams may be considered as another source of apparitions. While the mind is under the influence of a dream, it considers it as much a reality, as it does any particular action when awake; and, therefore, if a person of a weak superstitious mind should have a very lively dream which interests his passions, it may make so deep an im |