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diff --git a/38763-8.txt b/38763-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ef3af6 --- /dev/null +++ b/38763-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12638 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Witch, Warlock, and Magician, by +William Henry Davenport Adams + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Witch, Warlock, and Magician + Historical Sketches of Magic and Witchcraft in England and Scotland + +Author: William Henry Davenport Adams + +Release Date: February 4, 2012 [EBook #38763] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN *** + + + + +Produced by Irma Špehar, Sam W. and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Greek text has been transliterated and is surrounded with + signs, +e.g. +biblos+. + +Characters with a macron (straight line) above are indicated as [=x], +where x is the letter. + +Characters with a caron (v shaped symbol) above are indicated as [vx], +where x is the letter. + +Superscripted characters are surrounded with braces, e.g. D{ni}. + +There is one instance of a symbol, indicated with {+++}, which in the +original text appeared as three + signs arranged in an inverted +triangle. + + + + + WITCH, WARLOCK, AND + MAGICIAN + + Historical Sketches of Magic and Witchcraft + in England and Scotland + + BY + W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS + + + 'Dreams and the light imaginings of men' + Shelley + + + J. W. BOUTON + 706 & 1152 BROADWAY + NEW YORK + 1889 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The following pages may be regarded as a contribution towards that +'History of Human Error' which was undertaken by Mr. Augustine Caxton. +I fear that many minds will have to devote all their energies to the +work, if it is ever to be brought to completion; and, indeed, it may +plausibly be argued that its completion would be an impossibility, +since every generation adds something to the melancholy +record--'pulveris exigui parva munera.' However this may be, little +more remains to be said on the subjects which I have here considered +from the standpoint of a sympathetic though incredulous observer. +Alchemy, Magic, Witchcraft--how exhaustively they have been +investigated will appear from the list of authorities which I have +drawn up for the reader's convenience. They have been studied by +'adepts,' and by critics, as realities and as delusions; and almost +the last word would seem to have been said by Science--though not on +the side of the adepts, who still continue to dream of the Hermetic +philosophy, to lose themselves in fanciful pictures, theurgic and +occult, and to write about the mysteries of magic with a simplicity +of faith which we may wonder at, but are bound to respect. + +It has not been my purpose, in the present volume, to attempt a +general history of magic and alchemy, or a scientific inquiry into +their psychological aspects. I have confined myself to a sketch of +their progress in England, and to a narrative of the lives of our +principal magicians. This occupies the first part. The second is +devoted to an historical review of witchcraft in Great Britain, and an +examination into the most remarkable Witch-Trials, in which I have +endeavoured to bring out their peculiar features, presenting much of +the evidence adduced, and in some cases the so-called confessions of +the victims, in the original language. I believe that the details, +notwithstanding the reticence imposed upon me by considerations of +delicacy and decorum, will surprise the reader, and that he will +readily admit the profound interest attaching to them, morally and +intellectually. I have added a chapter on the 'Literature of +Witchcraft,' which, I hope, is tolerably exhaustive, and now offer the +whole as an effort to present, in a popular and readable form, the +result of careful and conscientious study extending over many years. + + W. H. D. A. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTION. + + PAGE + PROGRESS OF ALCHEMY IN EUROPE 1 + + + BOOK I. + + _THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS._ + + CHAPTER + + I. ROGER BACON: THE TRUE AND THE LEGENDARY 27 + + II. THE STORY OF DR. JOHN DEE 59 + + III. DR. DEE'S DIARY 93 + + IV. MAGIC AND IMPOSTURE: A COUPLE OF KNAVES 102 + + V. THE LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS: WILLIAM LILLY 128 + + VI. ENGLISH ROSICRUCIANS 181 + + + BOOK II. + + _WITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT._ + + I. EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND 203 + + II. WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 244 + + III. THE DECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND 292 + + IV. THE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND 303 + + V. THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT 378 + + + + +WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +PROGRESS OF ALCHEMY IN EUROPE. + +The word +chêmeia+--from which we derive our English word +'chemistry'--first occurs, it is said, in the Lexicon of Suidas, a +Greek writer who flourished in the eleventh century. Here is his +definition of it: + + 'Chemistry is the art of preparing gold and silver. The books + concerning it were sought out and burnt by Diocletian, on + account of the new plots directed against him by the + Egyptians. He behaved towards them with great cruelty in his + search after the treatises written by the ancients, his + purpose being to prevent them from growing rich by a + knowledge of this art, lest, emboldened by measureless + wealth, they should be induced to resist the Roman + supremacy.' + +Some authorities assert, however, that this art, or pretended art, is +of much greater antiquity than Suidas knew of; and Scaliger refers to +a Greek manuscript by Zozomen, of the fifth century, which is entitled +'A Faithful Description of the Secret and Divine Art of Making Gold +and Silver.' We may assume that as soon as mankind had begun to set an +artificial value upon these metals, and had acquired some knowledge +of chemical elements, their combinations and permutations, they would +entertain a desire to multiply them in measureless quantities. Dr. +Shaw speaks of no fewer than eighty-nine ancient manuscripts, +scattered through the European libraries, which are all occupied with +'the chemical art,' or 'the holy art,' or, as it is sometimes called, +'the philosopher's stone'; and a fair conclusion seems to be that +'between the fifth century and the taking of Constantinople in the +fifteenth, the Greeks believed in the possibility of making gold and +silver,' and called the supposed process, or processes, _chemistry_. + +The delusion was taken up by the Arabians when, under their Abasside +Khalifs, they entered upon the cultivation of scientific knowledge. +The Arabians conveyed it into Spain, whence its diffusion over +Christendom was a simple work of time, sure if gradual. From the +eleventh to the sixteenth century, alchemy was more or less eagerly +studied by the scholars of Germany, Italy, France, and England; and +the volumes in which they recorded both their learning and their +ignorance, the little they knew and the more they did not know, +compose quite a considerable library. One hundred and twenty-two are +enumerated in the 'Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa,' of Mangetus, a +dry-as-dust kind of compilation, in two huge volumes, printed at +Geneva in 1702. Any individual who has time and patience to expend _ad +libitum_, cannot desire a fairer field of exercise than the +'Bibliotheca.' One very natural result of all this vain research and +profitless inquiry was a keen anxiety on the part of victims to +dignify their labours by claiming for their 'sciences, falsely +so-called,' a venerable and mysterious origin. They accordingly +asserted that the founder or creator was Hermes Trismegistus, whom +some of them professed to identify with Chanaan, the son of Ham, whose +son Mizraim first occupied and peopled Egypt. Now, it is clear that +any person might legitimately devote his nights and days to the +pursuit of a science invented, or originally taught, by no less +illustrious an ancient than Hermes Trismegistus. But to clothe it with +the awe of a still greater antiquity, they affirmed that its +principles had been discovered, engraved in Phoenician characters, +on an emerald tablet which Alexander the Great exhumed from the +philosopher's tomb. Unfortunately, as is always the case, the tablet +was lost; but we are expected to believe that two Latin versions of +the inscription had happily been preserved. One of these may be +Englished as hereinunder: + +1. I speak no frivolous things, but only what is true and most +certain. + +2. What is below resembles that which is above, and what is above +resembles that which is below, to accomplish the one thing of all +things most wonderful. + +3. And as all things proceeded from the meditation of the One God, so +were all things generated from this one thing by the disposition of +Nature. + +4. Its father is _Sol_, its mother _Luna_; it was engendered in the +womb by the air, and nourished by the earth. + +5. It is the cause of all the perfection of things throughout the +whole world. + +6. It arrives at the highest perfection of powers if it be reduced +into earth. + +7. Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, acting +with great caution. + +8. Ascend with the highest wisdom from earth to heaven, and thence +descend again to earth, and bind together the powers of things +superior and things inferior. So shall you compass the glory of the +whole world, and divest yourself of the abjectness of humanity. + +9. This thing has more fortitude than fortitude itself, since it will +overcome everything subtle and penetrate everything solid. + +10. All that the world contains was created by it. + +11. Hence proceed things wonderful which in this wise were +established. + +12. For this reason the name of Hermes Trismegistus was bestowed upon +me, because I am master of three parts of the philosophy of the whole +world. + +13. This is what I had to say concerning the most admirable process of +the chemical art. + +These oracular utterances are so vague and obscure that an enthusiast +may read into them almost any meaning he chooses; but there seems a +general consensus of opinion that they refer to the 'universal +medicine' of the earlier alchemists. This, however, is of no great +importance, since it is certain they were invented by some ingenious +hand as late as the fifteenth century. Another forgery of a similar +kind is the 'Tractatus Aureus de Lapidis Physici Secretis,' also +attributed to Hermes; it professes to describe the process of making +this 'universal medicine,' or 'philosopher's stone,' and the formulary +is thus translated by Thomson: + + 'Take of moisture an ounce and a half; of meridional + redness--that is, the soul of the sun--a fourth part, that + is, half an ounce; of yellow sage likewise half an ounce; and + of auripigmentum half an ounce; making in all three ounces.' + +Such a recipe does not seem to help forward an enthusiastic student to +any material extent. + + +THE EARLIER ALCHEMISTS. + +It is in the erudite writings of the great Arabian physician, +Gebir--that is, Abu Moussah Djafar, surnamed _Al Sofi_, or The +Wise--that the science of alchemy, or chemistry (at first the two were +identical), first assumes a definite shape. Gebir flourished in the +early part of the eighth century, and wrote, it is said, upwards of +five hundred treatises on the philosopher's stone and the elixir of +life. In reference to the latter mysterious potion, which possessed +the wonderful power of conferring immortal youth on those who drank of +it, one may remark that it was the necessary complement of the +philosopher's stone, for what would be the use of an unlimited faculty +of making gold and silver unless one could be sure of an immortality +in which to enjoy its exercise? Gebir's principal work, the 'Summæ +Perfectionis,' containing instructions for students in search of the +two great secrets, has been translated into several European +languages; and an English version, by Richard Russell, the alchemist, +was published in 1686. + +Gebir lays down, as a primary principle, that all metals are compounds +of mercury and sulphur. They all labour under disease, he says, except +gold, which is the one metal gifted with perfect health. Therefore, a +preparation of it would dispel every ill which flesh is heir to, as +well as the maladies of plants. We may excuse his extravagances, +however, in consideration of the services he rendered to science by +his discovery of corrosive sublimate, red oxide of mercury, white +oxide of arsenic, nitric acid, oxide of copper, and nitrate of silver, +all of which originally issued from Gebir's laboratory. + +Briefly speaking, the hypothesis assumed by the alchemists was this: +all the metals are compounds, and the baser contain the same elements +as gold, contaminated, indeed, with various impurities, but capable, +when these have been purged away, of assuming all its properties and +characters. The substance which was to effect this purifying process +they called the philosopher's stone (_lapis philosophorum_), though, +as a matter of fact, it is always described as a _powder_--a powder +red-coloured, and smelling strongly. Few of the alchemists, however, +venture on a distinct statement that they had discovered or possessed +this substance. + +The arch-quack Paracelsus makes the assertion, of course; unblushing +mendacity was part of his stock-in-trade; and he pretends even to +define the methods by which it may be realized. Unfortunately, to +ordinary mortals his description is absolutely unintelligible. Others +there are who affirm that they had seen it, and seen it in operation, +transmuting lead, quicksilver, and other of the inferior metals into +ruddy gold. One wonders that they did not claim a share in a process +which involved such boundless potentialities of wealth! + +Helvetius, the physician, though no believer in the magical art, tells +the following wild story in his 'Vitulus Aureus': + +On December 26, 1666, a stranger called upon him, and, after +discussing the supposed properties of the universal medicine, showed +him a yellow powder, which he declared to be the _lapis_, and also +five large plates of gold, which, he said, were the product of its +action. Naturally enough, Helvetius begged for a few grains of this +marvellous powder, or that the stranger would at least exhibit its +potency in his presence. He refused, however, but promised that he +would return in six weeks. He kept his promise, and then, after much +entreaty, gave Helvetius a pinch of the powder--about as much as a +rape-seed. The physician expressed his fear that so minute a quantity +would not convert as much as four grains of lead; whereupon the +stranger broke off one-half, and declared that the remainder was more +than sufficient for the purpose. During their first conference, +Helvetius had contrived to conceal a little of the powder beneath his +thumb-nail. This he dropped into some molten lead, but it was nearly +all exhaled in smoke, and the residue was simply of a vitreous +character. + +On mentioning this circumstance to his visitor, he explained that the +powder should have been enclosed in wax before it was thrown into the +molten lead, to prevent the fumes of the lead from affecting it. He +added that he would come back next day, and show him how to make the +projection; but as he failed to appear, Helvetius, in the presence of +his wife and son, put six drachms of lead into a crucible, and as soon +as the lead was melted, flung into it the atoms of powder given to him +by his mysterious visitor, having first rolled them up in a little +ball of wax. At the end of a quarter of an hour he found the lead +transmuted (so he avers) into gold. Its colour at first was a deep +green; but the mixture, when poured into a conical vessel, turned +blood-red, and, after cooling, acquired the true tint of gold. A +goldsmith who examined it pronounced it to be genuine. Helvetius +requested Purelius, the keeper of the Dutch Mint, to test its value; +and two drachms, after being exposed to aquafortis, were found to have +increased a couple of scruples in weight--an increase doubtlessly +owing to the silver, which still remained enveloped in the gold, +despite the action of the aquafortis. + +It is obvious that this narrative is a complete mystification, and +that either the stranger was a myth or Helvetius was the victim of a +deception. + +The recipes that the alchemists formulate--those, that is, who +profess to have discovered the stone, or to have known somebody who +enjoyed so rare a fortune--are always unintelligible or impracticable. +What is to be understood, for example, of the following elaborate +process, or series of processes, which are recorded by Mangetus, in +his preface to the ponderous 'Bibliotheca Chemica' (to which reference +has already been made)? + +1. Prepare a quantity of spirits of wine, so free from water as to be +wholly combustible, and so volatile that a drop of it, if let fall, +will evaporate before it reaches the ground. This constitutes the +first menstruum. + +2. Take pure mercury, revived in the usual manner from cinnabar; put +it into a glass vessel with common salt and distilled vinegar; shake +violently, and when the vinegar turns black, pour it off, and add +fresh vinegar. Shake again, and continue these repeated shakings and +additions until the mercury no longer turns the vinegar black; the +mercury will then be quite pure and very brilliant. + +3. Take of this mercury four parts; of sublimed mercury (_mercurii +meteoresati_--probably corrosive sublimate), prepared with your own +hands, eight parts; triturate them together in a wooden mortar with a +wooden pestle, till all the grains of running mercury disappear. (This +process is truly described as 'tedious and rather difficult.') + +4. The mixture thus prepared is to be put into a sand-bath, and +exposed to a subliming heat, which is to be gradually increased until +the whole sublimes. Collect the sublimed matter, put it again into the +sand-bath, and sublime a second time; this process must be repeated +five times. The product is a very sweet crystallized sublimate, +constituting the _sal sapientum_, or wise men's salt (probably +calomel), and possessing wonderful properties. + +5. Grind it in a wooden mortar, reducing it to powder; put this powder +into a glass retort, and pour upon it the spirit of wine (see No. 1) +till it stands about three finger-breadths above the powder. Seal the +retort hermetically, and expose it to a very gentle heat for +seventy-four hours, shaking it several times a day; then distil with a +gentle heat, and the spirit of wine will pass over, together with +spirit of mercury. Keep this liquid in a well-stoppered bottle, lest +it should evaporate. More spirit of wine is to be poured upon the +residual salt, and after digestion must be distilled off, as before; +and this operation must be repeated until all the salt is dissolved +and given off with the spirit of wine. A great work will then have +been accomplished! For the mercury, having to some extent been +rendered volatile, will gradually become fit to receive the tincture +of gold and silver. Now return thanks to God, who has hitherto crowned +your wonderful work with success. Nor is this wonderful work enveloped +in Cimmerian darkness; it is clearer than the sun, though preceding +writers have sought to impose upon us with parables, hieroglyphs, +fables, and enigmas. + +6. Take this mercurial spirit, which contains our magical steel in +its belly (_sic_), and put it into a glass retort, to which a receiver +must be well and carefully adjusted; draw off the spirit by a very +gentle heat, and in the bottom of the retort will remain the +quintessence or soul of mercury. This is to be sublimed by applying a +stronger heat to the retort that it may become volatile, as all the +philosophers affirm: + + 'Si fixum solvas faciesque volare solutum, + Et volucrum figas faciet te vivere tutum.' + +This is our _luna_, our fountain, in which 'the king' and 'the queen' +may bathe. Preserve this precious quintessence of mercury, which is +exceedingly volatile, in a well-closed vessel for further use. + +8. Let us now proceed to the production of common gold, which we shall +communicate clearly and distinctly, without digression or obscurity, +in order that from this common gold we may obtain our philosophical +gold, just as from common mercury we have obtained, by the foregoing +processes, philosophical mercury. In the name of God, then, take +common gold, purified in the usual way by antimony, and reduce it into +small grains, which must be washed with salt and vinegar until they +are quite pure. Take one part of this gold, and pour on it three parts +of the quintessence of mercury: as philosophers reckon from seven to +ten, so do we also reckon our number as philosophical, and begin with +three and one. Let them be married together, like husband and wife, to +produce children of their own kind, and you will see the common gold +sink and plainly dissolve. Now the marriage is consummated; and two +things are converted into one. Thus the philosophical sulphur is at +hand, as the philosophers say: 'The sulphur being dissolved, the stone +is at hand.' Take then, in the name of God, our philosophical vessel, +in which the king and queen embrace each other as in a bedchamber, and +leave it till the water is converted into earth; then peace is +concluded between the water and the fire--then the elements no longer +possess anything contrary to each other--because, when the elements +are converted into earth, they cease to be antagonistic; for in earth +all elements are at rest. The philosophers say: 'When you shall see +the water coagulate, believe that your knowledge is true, and that all +your operations are truly philosophical.' Our gold is no longer +common, but philosophical, through the processes it has undergone: at +first, it was exceedingly 'fixed' (_fixum_); then exceedingly +volatile; and again, exceedingly fixed: the entire science depends +upon the change of the elements. The gold, at first a metal, is now a +sulphur, capable of converting all metals into its own sulphur. And +our tincture is wholly converted into sulphur, which possesses the +energy of curing every disease; this is our universal medicine against +all the most deplorable ills of the human body. Therefore, return +infinite thanks to Almighty God for all the good things which He hath +bestowed upon us. + +9. In this great work of ours, two methods of fermentation and +projection are wanting, without which the uninitiated will not +readily follow out our process. The mode of fermentation: Of the +sulphur already described take one part, and project it upon three +parts of very pure gold fused in a furnace. In a moment you will see +the gold, by the force of the sulphur, converted into a red sulphur of +an inferior quality to the primary sulphur. Take one part of this, and +project it upon three parts of fused gold; the whole will again be +converted into a sulphur or a fixable mass; mixing one part of this +with three parts of gold, you will have a malleable and extensible +metal. If you find it so, it is well; if not, add more sulphur, and it +will again pass into a state of sulphur. Now our sulphur will +sufficiently be fermented, or our medicine brought into a metallic +nature. + +10. The method of projection is this: Take of the fermented sulphur +one part, and project it upon two parts of mercury, heated in a +crucible, and you will have a perfect metal; if its colour be not +sufficiently deep, fuse it again, and add more fermented sulphur, and +thus it will gain colour. If it become frangible, add a sufficient +quantity of mercury, and it will be perfect. + +Thus, friend, you have a description of the universal medicine, not +only for curing diseases and prolonging life, but also for transmuting +all metals into gold. Give thanks, therefore, to Almighty God, who, +taking pity on human calamities, hath at last revealed this +inestimable treasure, and made it known for the common benefit of all. + +Such is the jargon with which these so-called philosophers imposed +upon their dupes, and, to some extent perhaps, upon themselves. As Dr. +Thomson points out, the philosopher's stone prepared by this elaborate +process could hardly have been anything else than _an amalgam of +gold_. Chloride of gold it could not have contained, because such a +preparation, instead of acting medicinally, would have proved a most +virulent poison. Of course, amalgam of gold, if projected into melted +lead or tin, and afterwards cupellated, would leave a portion of +gold--that is, exactly the amount _which existed previously in the +amalgam_. Impostors may, therefore, have availed themselves of it to +persuade the credulous that it was really the philosopher's stone; but +the alchemists who prepared the amalgam must have known that it +contained gold.[1] + +It is well known that the mediæval magicians, necromancers, +conjurers--call them by what name you will--who adopted alchemy as an +instrument of imposition, and by no means in the spirit of +philosophical inquiry and research which had characterized their +predecessors, resorted to various ingenious devices in order to +maintain their hold upon their victims. Sometimes they made use of +crucibles with false bottoms--at the real bottom they concealed a +portion of oxide of gold or silver covered with powdered sulphur, +which had been rendered adhesive by a little gummed water or wax. When +heat was applied the false bottom melted away, and the oxide of gold +or silver eventually appeared as the product of the operation at the +bottom of the crucible. Sometimes they made a hole in a lump of +charcoal, and filling it with oxide of gold or silver, stopped up the +orifice with wax; or they soaked charcoal in a solution of these +metals; or they stirred the mixture in the crucible with hollow rods, +containing oxide of gold or silver, closed up at the bottom with wax. +A faithful representation of the stratagems to which the +pseudo-alchemist resorted, that his dupes might not recover too soon +from their delusion, is furnished by Ben Jonson in his comedy of 'The +Alchemist,' and his masque of 'Mercury vindicated from the +Alchemists.' The dramatist was thoroughly conversant with the +technicalities of the pretended science, and also with the deceptions +of its professors. In the masque he puts into the mouth of Mercury an +indignant protest: + + 'The mischief a secret any of them knows, above the consuming + of coals and drawing of usquebagh; howsoever they may + pretend, under the specious names of Gebir, Arnold, Lully, or + Bombast of Hohenheim, to commit miracles in art, and treason + against nature! As if the title of philosopher, that creature + of glory, were to be fetched out of a furnace!' + +But while the world is full of fools, it is too much to expect there +shall be any lack of knaves to prey upon them! + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] _Cf._ Stahl, 'Fundamenta Chimiæ,' cap. 'De Lapide Philosophorum'; +and Kircher, 'Mundus Subterraneus.' + + +IN THE MIDDLE AGES. + +The first of the great European alchemists I take to have been + +_Albertus Magnus_ or _Albertus Teutonicus_ (_Frater Albertus de +Colonia_ and _Albertus Grotus_, as he is also called), a man of +remarkable intellectual energy and exceptional force of character, who +has sometimes, and not without justice, been termed the founder of the +Schoolmen. Neither the place nor the date of his birth is +authentically known, but he was still in his young manhood when, about +1222, he was appointed to the chair of theology at Padua, and became a +member of the Dominican Order. He did not long retain the +professorship, and, departing from Padua, taught with great success in +Ratisbon, Köln, Strassburg, and Paris, residing in the last-named city +for three years, together with his illustrious disciple, Thomas +Aquinas. In 1260 he was appointed to the See of Ratisbon, though he +had not previously held any ecclesiastical dignity, but soon resigned, +on the ground that its duties interfered vexatiously with his studies. +Twenty years later, at a ripe old age, he died, leaving behind him, as +monuments of his persistent industry and intellectual subtlety, +one-and-twenty ponderous folios, which include commentaries on +Aristotle, on the Scriptures, and on Dionysius the Areopagite. Among +his minor works occurs a treatise on alchemy, which seems to show that +he was a devout believer in the science. + +From the marvellous stories of his thaumaturgic exploits which have +come down to us, we may infer that he had attained a considerable +amount of skill in experimental chemistry. The brazen statue which he +animated, and the garrulity of which was so offensive that Thomas +Aquinas one day seized a hammer, and, provoked beyond all endurance, +smashed it to pieces, may be a reminiscence of his powers as a +ventriloquist. And the following story may hint at an effective +manipulation of the _camera obscura_: Count William of Holland and +King of the Romans happening to pass through Köln, Albertus invited +him and his courtiers to his house to partake of refreshment. It was +mid-winter; but on arriving at the philosopher's residence they found +the tables spread in the open garden, where snowdrifts lay several +feet in depth. Indignant at so frugal a reception, they were on the +point of leaving, when Albertus appeared, and by his courtesies +induced them to remain. Immediately the scene was lighted up with the +sunshine of summer, a warm and balmy air stole through the whispering +boughs, the frost and snow vanished, the melodies of the lark dropped +from the sky like golden rain. But as soon as the feast came to an end +the sunshine faded, the birds ceased their song, clouds gathered +darkling over the firmament, an icy blast shrieked through the +gibbering branches, and the snow fell in blinding showers, so that the +philosopher's guests were glad to fold their cloaks about them and +retreat into the kitchen to grow warm before its blazing fire. + +Was this some clever scenic deception, or is the whole a fiction? + +A knowledge of the secret of the _Elixir Vitæ_ was possessed (it is +said) by _Alain de l'Isle_, or Alanus de Insulis; but either he did +not avail himself of it, or failed to compound a sufficient quantity +of the magic potion, for he died under the sacred roof of Citeaux, in +1298, at the advanced age of 110. + +_Arnold de Villeneuve_, who attained, in the thirteenth century, some +distinction as a physician, an astronomer, an astrologer, and an +alchemist--and was really a capable man of science, as science was +then understood--formulates an elaborate recipe for rejuvenating one's +self, which, however, does not seem to have been very successful in +his own case, since he died before he was 70. Perhaps he was as +disgusted with the compound as (in the well-known epitaph) the infant +was with this mundane sphere--he 'liked it not, and died.' I think +there are many who would forfeit longevity rather than partake of it. + +'Twice or thrice a week you must anoint your body thoroughly with the +manna of cassia; and every night, before going to bed, you must place +over your heart a plaster, composed of a certain quantity (or, rather, +uncertain, for definite and precise proportions are never +particularized) of Oriental saffron, red rose-leaves, sandal-wood, +aloes, and amber, liquefied in oil of roses and the best white wax. +During the day this must be kept in a leaden casket. You must next pen +up in a court, where the water is sweet and the air pure, sixteen +chickens, if you are of a sanguine temperament; twenty-five, if +phlegmatic; and thirty, if melancholic. Of these you are to eat one a +day, after they have been fattened in such a manner as to have +absorbed into their system the qualities which will ensure your +longevity; for which purpose they are first to be kept without food +until almost starved, and then gorged with a broth of serpents and +vinegar, thickened with wheat and beans, for at least two months. +When they are served at your table you will drink a moderate quantity +of white wine or claret to assist digestion.' + +I should think it would be needed! + + * * * * * + +Among the alchemists must be included _Pietro d'Apono_. He was an +eminent physician; but, being accused of heresy, was thrown into +prison and died there. His ecclesiastical persecutors, however, burned +his bones rather than be entirely disappointed of their _auto da fé_. +Like most of the mediæval physicians, he indulged in alchemical and +astrological speculations; but they proved to Pietro d'Apono neither +pleasurable nor profitable. It was reputed of him that he had summoned +a number of evil spirits; and, on their obeying his call, had shut +them up in seven crystal vases, where he detained them until he had +occasion for their services. In his selection of them he seems to have +displayed a commendably catholic taste and love of knowledge; for one +was an expert in poetry, another in painting, a third in philosophy, a +fourth in physic, a fifth in astrology, a sixth in music, and a +seventh in alchemy. So that when he required instruction in either of +these arts or sciences, he simply tapped the proper crystal vase and +laid on a spirit. + +The story seems to be a fanciful allusion to the various acquirements +of Pietro d'Apono; but if intended at first as a kind of allegory, it +came in due time to be accepted literally. + + * * * * * + +I pass on to the great Spanish alchemist and magician, _Raymond +Lully_, or Lulli, who was scarcely inferior in fame, or the qualities +which merited fame, even to Albertus Magnus. He was a man, not only of +wide, but of accurate scholarship; and the two or three hundred +treatises which proceeded from his pen traversed the entire circle of +the learning of his age, dealing with almost every conceivable subject +from medicine to morals, from astronomy to theology, and from alchemy +to civil and canon law. His life had its romantic aspects, and his +death (in 1315?) was invested with something of the glory of +martyrdom; for while he was preaching to the Moslems at Bona, the mob +fell upon him with a storm of stones, and though he was still alive +when rescued by some Genoese merchants, and conveyed on board their +vessel, he died of the injuries he had received before it arrived in a +Spanish port. + +There seems little reason to believe that Lulli visited England about +1312, on the invitation of Edward II. Dickenson, in his work on 'The +Quintessences of the Philosophers,' asserts that his laboratory was +established in Westminster Abbey--that is, in the cloisters--and that +some time after his return to the Continent a large quantity of +gold-dust was found in the cell he had occupied. Langlet du Fresnoy +contends that it was through the intervention of John Cremer, Abbot of +Westminster, a persevering seeker after the _lapis philosophorum_, +that he came to England, Cremer having described him to King Edward as +a man of extraordinary powers. Robert Constantine, in his 'Nomenclator +Scriptorum Medicorum' (1515), professes to have discovered that Lulli +resided for some time in London, and made gold in the Tower, and that +he had seen some gold pieces of his making, which were known in +England as the nobles of Raymond, or rose-nobles. But the great +objections to these very precise statements rests on two facts pointed +out by Mr. Waite, that the rose-noble, so called because a rose was +stamped on each side of it, was first coined in 1465, in the reign of +Edward IV., and that there never was an Abbot Cremer of Westminster. + + * * * * * + +_Jean de Meung_ is also included among the alchemists; but he +bequeathed to posterity in his glorious poem of the 'Roman de la Rose' +something very much more precious than would have been any formula for +making gold. In one sense he was indeed an alchemist, and possessed +the secret of the universal medicine; for in his poem his genius has +transmuted into purest gold the base ore of popular traditions and +legends. + +Some of the stories which Langlet du Fresnoy tells of _Nicholas +Flamel_ were probably invented long after his death, or else we should +have to brand him as a most audacious knave. One of those amazing +narratives pretends that he bought for a couple of florins an old and +curious volume, the leaves of which--three times seven (this sounds +better than twenty-one) in number--were made from the bark of trees. +Each seventh leaf bore an allegorical picture--the first representing +a serpent swallowing rods, the second a cross with a serpent crucified +upon it, and the third a fountain in a desert, surrounded by creeping +serpents. Who, think you, was the author of this mysterious volume? +No less illustrious a person than Abraham the patriarch, Hebrew, +prince, philosopher, priest, Levite, and magian, who, as it was +written in Latin, must have miraculously acquired his foreknowledge of +a tongue which, in his time, had no existence. A perusal of its mystic +pages convinced Flamel that he had had the good fortune to discover a +complete manual on the art of transmutation of metals, in which all +the necessary vessels were indicated, and the processes described. But +there was one serious difficulty to be overcome: the book assumed, as +a matter of course, that the student was already in possession of that +all-important agent of transmutation, the philosopher's stone. + +Careful study led Flamel to the conclusion that the secret of the +stone was hidden in certain allegorical drawings on the fourth and +fifth leaves; but, then, to decipher these was beyond his powers. He +submitted them to all the learned savants and alchemical adepts he +could get hold of: they proved to be no wiser than himself, while some +of them actually laughed at Abraham's posthumous publication as +worthless gibberish. Flamel, however, clung fast to his conviction of +the inestimable value of his 'find,' and daily pondered over the two +cryptic illustrations, which may thus be described: On the first page +of the fourth leaf Mercury was contending with a figure, which might +be either Saturn or Time--probably the latter, as he carried on his +head the emblematical hour-glass, and in his hand the not less +emblematical scythe. On the second stage a flower upon a mountain-top +presented the unusual combination of a blue stalk, with red and white +blossoms, and leaves of pure gold. The wind appeared to blow it about +very harshly, and a gruesome company of dragons and griffins +encompassed it. + +Upon the study of these provokingly obscure designs Flamel fruitlessly +expended the leisure time of thrice seven years: after which, on the +advice of his wife, he repaired to Spain to seek the assistance of +some erudite Jewish rabbi. He had been wandering from place to place +for a couple of years, when he met, somewhere in Leon, a learned +Hebrew physician, named Canches, who agreed to return with him to +Paris, and there examine Abraham's volume. Canches was deeply versed +in all the lore of the Cabala, and Flamel hung with delight on the +words of wisdom that dropped from his eloquent lips. But at Orleans +Canches was taken ill with a malady of which he died, and Flamel found +his way home, a sadder, if not a wiser, man. He resumed his study of +the book, but for two more years could get no clue to its meaning. In +the third year, recalling some deliverance of his departed friend, the +rabbi, he perceived that all his experiments had hitherto proceeded +upon erroneous principles. He repeated them upon a different basis, +and in a few months brought them to a successful issue. On January 13, +1382, he converted mercury into silver, and on April 25 into gold. +Well might he cry in triumph, 'Eureka!' The great secret, the sublime +magistery was his: he had discovered the art of transmuting metals +into gold and silver, and, so long as he kept it to himself, had at +his command the source of inexhaustible wealth. + +At this time Nicholas Flamel, it is said, was about eighty years old. +His admirers assert that he also discovered the elixir of immortal +life; but, as he died in 1419, at the age (it is alleged) of 116, he +must have been content with the merest sip of it! Why did he not +reveal its ingredients for the general benefit of our afflicted +humanity? His immense wealth he bequeathed to churches and hospitals, +thus making a better use of it after death than he had made of it in +his lifetime. For it is said that Flamel was a usurer, and that his +philosopher's stone was 'cent per cent.' It is true enough that he +dabbled in alchemy, and probably he made his alchemical experiments +useful in connection with his usurious transactions. + + + + +BOOK I. + +_THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS._ + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ROGER BACON: THE TRUE AND THE LEGENDARY. + + +It was in the early years of the fourteenth century that the two +pseudo-sciences of alchemy and astrology, the supposititious sisters +of chemistry and astronomy, made their way into England. At first +their progress was by no means so rapid as it had been on the +Continent; for in England, as yet, there was no educated class +prepared to give their leisure to the work of experimental +investigation. A solitary scholar here and there lighted his torch at +the altar-fire which the Continental philosophers kept burning with so +much diligence and curiosity, and was generally rewarded for his +heterodox enthusiasm by the persecution of the Church and the +prejudice of the vulgar. But by degrees the new sciences increased the +number of their adherents, and the more active intellects of the time +embraced the theory of astral influences, and were fascinated by the +delusion of the philosopher's stone. Many a secret furnace blazed day +and night with the charmed flames which were to resolve the metals +into their original elements, and place the pale student in +possession of the coveted _magisterium_, or 'universal medicine.' At +length the alchemists became a sufficiently numerous and important +body to draw the attention of the Government, which regarded their +proceedings with suspicion, from a fear that the result might +injuriously affect the coinage. In 1434 the Legislature enacted that +the making of gold or silver should be treated as a felony. But the +Parliament was influenced by a very different motive from that of the +King and his Council, its patriotic fears being awakened lest the +Executive, enabled by the new science to increase without limit the +pecuniary resources of the Crown, should be rendered independent of +Parliamentary control. + +In the course of a few years, however, broader and more enlightened +views prevailed; and it came to be acknowledged that scientific +research ought to be relieved from legislative interference. In 1455 +Henry VI. issued four patents in succession to certain knights, London +citizens, chemists, monks, mass-priests, and others, granting them +leave and license to undertake the discovery of the philosopher's +stone, 'to the great benefit of the realm, and the enabling the King +to pay all the debts of the Crown in _real gold and silver_.' On the +remarkable fact that these patents were issued to ecclesiastics as +well as laymen, Prynne afterwards remarked, with true theological +acridity, that they were so included because they were 'such good +artists in transubstantiating bread and wine in the Eucharist, and +were, therefore, the more likely to be able to effect the +transmutation of base metals into better.' Nothing came of the +patents. The practical common-sense of Englishmen never took very +kindly to the alchemical delusion, and Chaucer very faithfully +describes the contempt with which it was generally regarded. +Enthusiasts there were, no doubt, who firmly believed in it, and +knaves who made a profit out of it, and dupes who were preyed upon by +the knaves; and so it languished on through the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries. It seems at one time to have amused the shrewd +intellect of Queen Elizabeth, and at another to have caught the +volatile fancy of the second Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. But alchemy +was, in the main, the _modus vivendi_ of quacks and cheats, of such +impostors as Ben Jonson has drawn so powerfully in his great comedy--a +Subtle, a Face, and a Doll Common, who, in the Sir Epicure Mammons of +the time, found their appropriate victims. These creatures played on +the greed and credulity of their dupes with successful audacity, and +excited their imaginations by extravagant promises. Thus, Ben Jonson's +hero runs riot with glowing anticipations of what the alchemical +_magisterium_ can effect. + + 'Do you think I fable with you? I assure you, + He that has once the flower of the sun, + The perfect ruby, which we call _Elixir_, + Not only can do that, but, by its virtue, + Can confer honour, love, respect, long life; + Give safety, valour, yes, and victory, + To whom he will. In eight-and-twenty days + I'll make an old man of fourscore a child.... + 'Tis the secret + Of nature naturized 'gainst all infections, + Cures all diseases coming of all causes; + A month's grief in a day, a year's in twelve, + And of what age soever in a month.' + +The English alchemists, however, with a few exceptions, depended for a +livelihood chiefly on their sale of magic charms, love-philters, and +even more dangerous potions, and on horoscope-casting, and +fortune-telling by the hand or by cards. They acted, also, as agents +in many a dark intrigue and unlawful project, being generally at the +disposal of the highest bidder, and seldom shrinking from any crime. + + * * * * * + +The earliest name of note on the roll of the English magicians, +necromancers and alchemists is that of + + +ROGER BACON. + +This great man has some claim to be considered the father of +experimental philosophy, since it was he who first laid down the +principles upon which physical investigation should be conducted. +Speaking of science, he says, in language far in advance of his times: +'There are two modes of knowing--by argument and by experiment. +Argument winds up a question, but does not lead us to acquiesce in, or +feel certain of, the contemplation of truth, unless the truth be +proved and confirmed by experience.' To Experimental Science he +ascribed three differentiating characters: 'First, she tests by +experiment the grand conclusions of all other sciences. Next, she +discovers, with reference to the ideas connected with other sciences, +splendid truths, to which these sciences without assistance are unable +to attain. Her third prerogative is, that, unaided by the other +sciences, and of herself, she can investigate the secrets of nature.' +These truths, now accepted as trite and self-evident, ranked, in Roger +Bacon's day, as novel and important discoveries. + +He was born at Ilchester, in Somersetshire, in 1214. Of his lineage, +parentage, and early education we know nothing, except that he must +have been very young when he went to Oxford, for he took orders there +before he was twenty. Joining the Franciscan brotherhood, he applied +himself to the study of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic; but his +genius chiefly inclined towards the pursuit of the natural sciences, +in which he obtained such a mastery that his contemporaries accorded +to him the flattering title of 'The Admirable Doctor.' His lectures +gathered round him a crowd of admiring disciples; until the boldness +of their speculations aroused the suspicion of the ecclesiastical +authorities, and in 1257 they were prohibited by the General of his +Order. Then Pope Innocent IV. interfered, interdicting him from the +publication of his writings, and placing him under close supervision. +He remained in this state of tutelage until Clement IV., a man of more +liberal views, assumed the triple tiara, who not only released him +from his irksome restraints, but desired him to compose a treatise on +the sciences. This was the origin of Bacon's 'Opus Majus,' 'Opus +Minus' and 'Opus Tertius,' which he completed in a year and a half, +and despatched to Rome. In 1267 he was allowed to return to Oxford, +where he wrote his 'Compendium Studii Philosophiæ.' His vigorous +advocacy of new methods of scientific investigation, or, perhaps, his +unsparing exposure of the ignorance and vices of the monks and the +clergy, again brought down upon him the heavy arm of the +ecclesiastical tyranny. His works were condemned by the General of his +Order, and in 1278, during the pontificate of Nicholas III., he was +thrown into prison, where he was detained for several years. It is +said that he was not released until 1292, the year in which he +published his latest production, the 'Compendium Studii Theologiæ.' +Two years afterwards he died. + +In many respects Bacon was greatly in advance of his contemporaries, +but his general repute ignores his real and important services to +philosophy, and builds up a glittering fabric upon mechanical +discoveries and inventions to which, it is to be feared, he cannot lay +claim. As Professor Adamson puts it, he certainly describes a method +of constructing a telescope, but not so as to justify the conclusion +that he himself was in possession of that instrument. The invention of +gunpowder has been attributed to him on the strength of a passage in +one of his works, which, if fairly interpreted, disposes at once of +the pretension; besides, it was already known to the Arabs. +Burning-glasses were in common use; and there is no proof that he made +spectacles, although he was probably acquainted with the principle of +their construction. It is not to be denied, however, that in his +interesting treatise on 'The Secrets of Nature and Art,'[2] he +exhibits every sign of a far-seeing and lively intelligence, and +foreshadows the possibility of some of our great modern inventions. +But, like so many master-minds of the Middle Ages, he was unable +wholly to resist the fascinations of alchemy and astrology. He +believed that various parts of the human body were influenced by the +stars, and that the mind was thus stimulated to particular acts, +without any relaxation or interruption of free will. His 'Mirror of +Alchemy,' of which a translation into French was executed by 'a +Gentleman of Dauphiné,' and printed in 1507, absolutely bristles with +crude and unfounded theories--as, for instance, that Nature, in the +formation of metallic veins, tends constantly to the production of +gold, but is impeded by various accidents, and in this way creates +metals in which impurities mingle with the fundamental substances. The +main elements, he says, are quicksilver and sulphur; and from these +all metals and minerals are compounded. Gold he describes as a perfect +metal, produced from a pure, fixed, clear, and red quicksilver; and +from a sulphur also pure, fixed, and red, not incandescent and +unalloyed. Iron is unclean and imperfect, because engendered of a +quicksilver which is impure, too much congealed, earthy, incandescent, +white and red, and of a similar variety of sulphur. The 'stone,' or +substance, by which the transmutation of the imperfect into the +perfect metals was to be effected must be made, in the main, he said, +of sulphur and mercury. + +It is not easy to determine how soon an atmosphere of legend gathered +around the figure of 'the Admirable Doctor;' but undoubtedly it +originated quite as much in his astrological errors as in his +scientific experiments. Some of the myths of which he is the +traditional hero belong to a very much earlier period, as, for +instance, that of his Brazen Head, which appears in the old romance of +'Valentine and Orson,' as well as in the history of Albertus Magnus. +Gower, too, in his 'Confessio Amantis,' relates how a Brazen Head was +fabricated by Bishop Grosseteste. It was customary in those days to +ascribe all kinds of marvels to men who obtained a repute for +exceptional learning, and Bishop Grosseteste's Brazen Head was as +purely a fiction as Roger Bacon's. This is Gower's account: + + 'For of the gretè clerk Grostest + I rede how busy that he was + Upon the clergie an head of brass + To forgè; and make it fortelle + Of suchè thingès as befelle. + And seven yerès besinesse + He laidè, but for the lachèsse[3] + Of half a minute of an hour ... + He lostè all that he hadde do.' + +Stow tells a story of a Head of Clay, made at Oxford in the reign of +Edward II., which, at an appointed time, spoke the mysterious words, +'Caput decidetur--caput elevabitur. Pedes elevabuntur supra caput.' +Returning to Roger Bacon's supposed invention, we find an ingenious +though improbable explanation suggested by Sir Thomas Browne, in his +'Vulgar Errors': + + 'Every one,' he says, 'is filled with the story of Friar + Bacon, that made a Brazen Head to speak these words, "_Time + is_." Which, though there went not the like relations, is + surely too literally received, and was but a mystical fable + concerning the philosopher's great work, wherein he eminently + laboured: implying no more by the copper head, than the + vessel wherein it was wrought; and by the words it spake, + than the opportunity to be watched, about the _tempus ortus_, + or birth of the magical child, or "philosophical King" of + Lullius, the rising of the "terra foliata" of Arnoldus; when + the earth, sufficiently impregnated with the water, ascendeth + white and splendent. Which not observed, the work is + irrecoverably lost.... Now letting slip the critical + opportunity, he missed the intended treasure: which had he + obtained, he might have made out the tradition of making a + brazen wall about England: that is, the most powerful defence + or strongest fortification which gold could have effected.' + +An interpretation of the popular myth which is about as ingenious and +far-fetched as Lord Bacon's expositions of the 'Fables of the +Ancients,' of which it may be said that they possess every merit but +that of probability! + +Bacon's Brazen Head, however, took hold of the popular fancy. It +survived for centuries, and the allusions to it in our literature are +sufficiently numerous. Cob, in Ben Jonson's comedy of 'Every Man in +his Humour,' exclaims: 'Oh, an my house were the Brazen Head now! +'Faith, it would e'en speak _Mo' fools yet_!' And we read in Greene's +'Tu Quoque': + + 'Look to yourself, sir; + The brazen head has spoke, and I must have you.' + +Lord Bacon used it happily in his 'Apology to the Queen,' when +Elizabeth would have punished the Earl of Essex for his misconduct in +Ireland:--'Whereunto I said (to the end utterly to divert her), +"Madam, if you will have me speak to you in this argument, I must +speak to you as Friar Bacon's head spake, that said first, '_Time +is_,' and then, '_Time was_,' and '_Time would never be_,' for +certainly" (said I) "it is now far too late; the matter is cold, and +hath taken too much wind."' Butler introduces it in his +'Hudibras':--'Quoth he, "My head's not made of brass, as Friar Bacon's +noddle was."' And Pope, in 'The Dunciad,' writes:--'Bacon trembled for +his brazen head.' A William Terite, in 1604, gave to the world some +verse, entitled 'A Piece of Friar Bacon's Brazen-head's Prophecie.' +And, in our own time, William Blackworth Praed has written 'The Chaunt +of the Brazen Head,' which, in his prose motto, he (in the person of +Friar Bacon) addresses as 'the brazen companion of his solitary +hours.' + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Epistola Fratris Rogerii Baconis de Secretis Operibus Artis et +Naturæ et de Nullitate Magiæ. + +[3] _Laches_, oversight. + + +'THE FAMOUS HISTORIE OF FRIAR BACON.' + +Towards the end of the sixteenth century, the various legends which +had taken Friar Bacon as their central figure were brought together in +a connected form, and wrought, along with other stories of magic and +sorcery, into a continuous narrative, which became immensely popular. +It was entitled, 'The Famous Historie of Friar Bacon: Conteyning the +Wonderful Thinges that he Did in his Life; also the Manner of his +Death; with the Lives and Deaths of the Two Conjurers, Bungye and +Vandermast,' and has been reprinted by Mr. Thoms, in his 'Early +English Romances.' + +According to this entertaining authority, the Friar was 'born in the +West part of England, and was sonne to a wealthy farmer, who put him +to the schoole to the parson of the towne where he was borne; not with +intent that hee should turne fryer (as hee did), but to get so much +understanding, that he might manage the better the wealth hee was to +leave him. But young Bacon took his learning so fast, that the priest +could not teach him any more, which made him desire his master that he +would speake to his father to put him to Oxford, that he might not +lose that little learning that he had gained.... The father affected +to doubt his son's capacity, and designed him still to follow the same +calling as himself; but the student had no inclination to drive fat +oxen or consort with unlettered hinds, and stole away to "a cloister" +some twenty miles off, where the monks cordially welcomed him. +Continuing the pursuit of knowledge with great avidity, he attained to +such repute that the authorities of Oxford University invited him to +repair thither. He accepted the invitation, and grew so excellent in +the secrets of Art and Nature, that not England only, but all +Christendom, admired him.' + +There, in the seclusion of his cell, he made the Brazen Head on which +rests his legendary fame. + + 'Reading one day of the many conquests of England, he + bethought himselfe how he might keepe it hereafter from the + like conquests, and so make himselfe famous hereafter to all + posterities. This, after great study, hee found could be no + way so well done as one; which was to make a head of brasse, + and if he could make this head to speake, and heare it when + it speakes, then might hee be able to wall all England about + with brasse.[4] To this purpose he got one Fryer Bungey to + assist him, who was a great scholar and a magician, but not + to bee compared to Fryer Bacon: these two with great study + and paines so framed a head of brasse, that in the inward + parts thereof there was all things like as in a naturall + man's head. This being done, they were as farre from + perfection of the worke as they were before, for they knew + not how to give those parts that they had made motion, + without which it was impossible that it should speake: many + bookes they read, but yet coulde not finde out any hope of + what they sought, that at the last they concluded to raise a + spirit, and to know of him that which they coulde not attaine + to by their owne studies. To do this they prepared all things + ready, and went one evening to a wood thereby, and after many + ceremonies used, they spake the words of conjuration; which + the Devill straight obeyed, and appeared unto them, asking + what they would? "Know," said Fryer Bacon, "that wee have + made an artificiall head of brasse, which we would have to + speake, to the furtherance of which wee have raised thee; and + being raised, wee will here keepe thee, unlesse thou tell to + us the way and manner how to make this head to speake." The + Devill told him that he had not that power of himselfe. + "Beginner of lyes," said Fryer Bacon, "I know that thou dost + dissemble, and therefore tell it us quickly, or else wee will + here bind thee to remaine during our pleasures." At these + threatenings the Devill consented to doe it, and told them, + that with a continual fume of the six hottest simples it + should have motion, and in one month space speak; the time of + the moneth or day hee knew not: also hee told them, that if + they heard it not before it had done speaking, all their + labour should be lost. They being satisfied, licensed the + spirit for to depart. + + 'Then went these two learned fryers home againe, and prepared + the simples ready, and made the fume, and with continuall + watching attended when this Brazen Head would speake. Thus + watched they for three weekes without any rest, so that they + were so weary and sleepy that they could not any longer + refraine from rest. Then called Fryer Bacon his man Miles, + and told him that it was not unknown to him what paines Fryer + Bungey and himselfe had taken for three weekes space, onely + to make and to heare the Brazen Head speake, which if they + did not, then had they lost all their labour, and all England + had a great losse thereby; therefore hee intreated Miles that + he would watch whilst that they slept, and call them if the + head speake. "Fear not, good master," said Miles, "I will not + sleepe, but harken and attend upon the head, and if it doe + chance to speake, I will call you; therefore I pray take you + both your rests and let mee alone for watching this head." + After Fryer Bacon had given him a great charge the second + time, Fryer Bungey and he went to sleepe, and Miles was lefte + alone to watch the Brazen Head. Miles, to keepe him from + sleeping, got a tabor and pipe, and being merry disposed, + with his owne musicke kept from sleeping at last. After some + noyse the head spake these two words, "TIME IS." Miles, + hearing it to speake no more, thought his master would be + angry if hee waked him for that, and therefore he let them + both sleepe, and began to mocke the head in this manner: + "Thou brazen-faced Head, hath my master tooke all these + paines about thee, and now dost thou requite him with two + words, TIME IS? Had hee watched with a lawyer so long as hee + hath watched with thee, he would have given him more and + better words than thou hast yet. If thou canst speake no + wiser, they shal sleepe till doomes day for me: TIME IS! I + know Time is, and that you shall heare, Goodman Brazen-face. + + '"Time is for some to eate, + Time is for some to sleepe, + Time is for some to laugh, + Time is for some to weepe. + + '"Time is for some to sing, + Time is for some to pray, + Time is for some to creepe, + That have drunken all the day. + + '"Do you tell us, copper-nose, when TIME IS? I hope we + schollers know our times, when to drink drunke, when to kiss + our hostess, when to goe on her score, and when to pay + it--that time comes seldome." After halfe an houre had + passed, the Head did speake againe, two words, which were + these, "TIME WAS." Miles respected these words as little as + he did the former, and would not wake them, but still scoffed + at the Brazen Head that it had learned no better words, and + have such a tutor as his master: and in scorne of it sung + this song: + + '"Time was when thou, a kettle, + wert filled with better matter; + But Fryer Bacon did thee spoyle + when he thy sides did batter. + + '"Time was when conscience dwelled + with men of occupation; + Time was when lawyers did not thrive + so well by men's vexation. + + '"Time was when kings and beggars + of one poore stuff had being; + Time was when office kept no knaves-- + that time it was worth seeing. + + '"Time was a bowle of water + did give the face reflection; + Time was when women knew no paint, + which now they call complexion. + + '"TIME WAS! I know that, brazen-face, without your telling; I + know Time was, and I know what things there was when Time + was; and if you speake no wiser, no master shall be waked for + mee." Thus Miles talked and sung till another halfe-houre was + gone: then the Brazen Head spake again these words, "TIME IS + PAST;" and therewith fell downe, and presently followed a + terrible noyse, with strange flashes of fire, so that Miles + was halfe dead with feare. At this noyse the two Fryers + awaked, and wondred to see the whole roome so full of smoake; + but that being vanished, they might perceive the Brazen Head + broken and lying on the ground. At this sight they grieved, + and called Miles to know how this came. Miles, halfe dead + with feare, said that it fell doune of itselfe, and that with + the noyse and fire that followed he was almost frighted out + of his wits. Fryer Bacon asked him if hee did not speake? + "Yes," quoth Miles, "it spake, but to no purpose: He have a + parret speake better in that time that you have been teaching + this Brazen Head." + + '"Out on thee, villaine!" said Fryer Bacon; "thou hast undone + us both: hadst thou but called us when it did speake, all + England had been walled round about with brasse, to its glory + and our eternal fames. What were the words it spake?" "Very + few," said Miles, "and those were none of the wisest that I + have heard neither. First he said, 'TIME IS.'" "Hadst thou + called us then," said Fryer Bacon, "we had been made for + ever." "Then," said Miles, "half-an-hour after it spake + againe, and said, 'TIME WAS.'" "And wouldst thou not call us + then?" said Bungey. "Alas!" said Miles, "I thought hee would + have told me some long tale, and then I purposed to have + called you: then half-an-houre after he cried, 'TIME IS + PAST,' and made such a noyse that hee hath waked you + himselfe, mee thinkes." At this Fryer Bacon was in such a + rage that hee would have beaten his man, but he was + restrained by Bungey: but neverthelesse, for his punishment, + he with his art struck him dumbe for one whole month's space. + Thus the greate worke of these learned fryers was overthrown, + to their great griefes, by this simple fellow.' + +The historian goes on to relate many instances of Friar Bacon's +thaumaturgical powers. He captures a town which the king had besieged +for three months without success. He puts to shame a German conjuror +named Vandermast, and he performs wonders in love affairs; but at +length a fatal result to one of his magical exploits induces him to +break to pieces his wonderful glass and doff his conjurer's robe. +Then, receiving intelligence of the deaths of Vandermast and Friar +Bungey, he falls into a deep grief, so that for three days he refuses +to partake of food, and keeps his chamber. + + 'In the time that Fryer Bacon kept his Chamber, hee fell into + divers meditations; sometimes into the vanity of Arts and + Sciences; then would he condemne himselfe for studying of + those things that were so contrary to his Order soules + health; and would say, That magicke made a man a Devill: + sometimes would hee meditate on divinity; then would hee cry + out upon himselfe for neglecting the study of it, and for + studying magicke: sometime would he meditate on the + shortnesse of mans life, then would he condemne himself for + spending a time so short, so ill as he had done his: so would + he goe from one thing to another, and in all condemne his + former studies. + + 'And that the world should know how truly he did repent his + wicked life, he caused to be made a great fire; and sending + for many of his friends, schollers, and others, he spake to + them after this manner: My good friends and fellow students, + it is not unknown to you, how that through my Art I have + attained to that credit, that few men living ever had: of the + wonders that I have done, all England can speak, both King + and Commons: I have unlocked the secrets of Art and Nature, + and let the world see those things that have layen hid since + the death of Hermes,[5] that rare and profound philosopher: + my studies have found the secrets of the Starres; the bookes + that I have made of them do serve for precedents to our + greatest Doctors, so excellent hath my judgment been therein. + I likewise have found out the secrets of Trees, Plants, and + Stones, with their several uses; yet all this knowledge of + mine I esteeme so lightly, that I wish that I were ignorant + and knew nothing, for the knowledge of these things (as I + have truly found) serveth not to better a man in goodnesse, + but onely to make him proude and thinke too well of himselfe. + What hath all my knowledge of Nature's secrets gained me? + Onely this, the losse of a better knowledge, the losse of + Divine Studies, which makes the immortal part of man (his + soule) blessed. I have found that my knowledge has beene a + heavy burden, and has kept downe my good thoughts; but I will + remove the cause, which are these Bookes, which I doe purpose + here before you all to burne. They all intreated him to spare + the bookes, because in them there were those things that + after-ages might receive great benefit by. He would not + hearken unto them, but threw them all into the fire, and in + that flame burnt the greatest learning in the world. Then did + he dispose of all his goods; some part he gave to poor + schollers, and some he gave to other poore folkes: nothing + left he for himselfe: then caused hee to be made in the + Church-Wall a Cell, where he locked himselfe in, and there + remained till his Death. His time hee spent in prayer, + meditation, and such Divine exercises, and did seeke by all + means to perswade men from the study of Magicke. Thus lived + hee some two years space in that Cell, never comming forth: + his meat and drink he received in at a window, and at that + window he had discourse with those that came to him; his + grave he digged with his owne nayles, and was there layed + when he dyed. Thus was the Life and Death of this famous + Fryer, who lived most part of his life a Magician, and dyed a + true Penitent Sinner and Anchorite.' + +Upon this popular romance Greene, one of the best of the second-class +Elizabethan dramatists, founded his rattling comedy, entitled 'The +Historye of Fryer Bacon and Fryer Bungay,' which was written, it would +seem, in 1589, first acted about 1592, and published in 1594. He does +not servilely follow the old story-book, but introduces an under-plot +of his own, in which is shown the love of Prince Edward for Margaret, +the 'Fair Maid of Fressingfield,' whom the Prince finally surrenders +to the man she loves, his favourite and friend, Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] This patriotic sentiment would seem to show that the book was +written or published about the time of the Spanish Armada. + +[5] Hermes Trismegistus ('thrice great'), a fabulous Chaldean +philosopher, to whom I have already made reference. The numerous +writings which bear his name were really composed by the Egyptian +Platonists; but the mediæval alchemists pretend to recognise in him +the founder of their art. Gower, in his 'Confessio Amantis,' says: + + 'Of whom if I the namès calle, + Hermes was one the first of alle, + To whom this Art is most applied.' + +The name of Hermes was chosen because of the supposed magical powers +of the god of the caduceus. + + +GREENE'S COMEDY. + +In Scene I., which takes place near Framlingham, in Suffolk, we find +Prince Edward eloquently expatiating on the charms of the Fair Maid to +an audience of his courtiers, one of whom advises him, if he would +prove successful in his suit, to seek the assistance of Friar Bacon, a +'brave necromancer,' who 'can make women of devils, and juggle cats +into coster-mongers.'[6] The Prince acts upon this advice. + +Scene II. introduces us to Friar Bacon's cell at Brasenose College, +Oxford (an obvious anachronism, as the college was not founded until +long after Bacon's time). Enter Bacon and his poor scholar, Miles, +with books under his arm; also three doctors of Oxford: Burden, Mason, +and Clement. + + BACON. Miles, where are you? + + MILES. _Hic sum, doctissime et reverendissime Doctor._ (Here + I am, most learned and reverend Doctor.) + + BACON. _Attulisti nostros libros meos de necromantia?_ (Hast + thou brought my books of necromancy?) + + MILES. _Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum habitare libros in + unum!_ (See how good and how pleasant it is to dwell among + books together!) + + BACON. Now, masters of our academic state + That rule in Oxford, viceroys in your place, + Whose heads contain maps of the liberal arts, + Spending your time in depths of learnèd skill, + Why flock you thus to Bacon's secret cell, + A friar newly stalled in Brazen-nose? + Say what's your mind, that I may make reply. + + BURDEN. Bacon, we hear that long we have suspect, + That thou art read in Magic's mystery: + In pyromancy,[7] to divine by flames; + To tell by hydromancy, ebbs and tides; + By aeromancy to discover doubts,-- + To plain out questions, as Apollo did. + + BACON. Well, Master Burden, what of all this? + + MILES. Marry, sir, he doth but fulfil, by rehearsing of these + names, the fable of the 'Fox and the Grapes': that which is + above us pertains nothing to us. + + BURD. I tell thee, Bacon, Oxford makes report, + Nay, England, and the Court of Henry says + Thou'rt making of a Brazen Head by art, + Which shall unfold strange doubts and aphorisms, + And read a lecture in philosophy: + And, by the help of devils and ghastly fiends, + Thou mean'st, ere many years or days be past, + To compass England with a wall of brass. + + BACON. And what of this? + + MILES. What of this, master! why, he doth speak mystically; + for he knows, if your skill fail to make a Brazen Head, yet + Master Waters' strong ale will fit his time to make him have + a copper nose.... + + BACON. Seeing you come as friends unto the friar, + Resolve you, doctors, Bacon can by books + Make storming Boreas thunder from his cave, + And dim fair Luna to a dark eclipse. + The great arch-ruler, potentate of hell, + Tumbles when Bacon bids him, or his fiends + Bow to the force of his pentageron.[8] ... + I have contrived and framed a head of brass + (I made Belcephon hammer out the stuff), + And that by art shall read philosophy: + And I will strengthen England by my skill, + That if ten Cæsars lived and reigned in Rome, + With all the legions Europe doth contain, + They should not touch a grass of English ground: + The work that Ninus reared at Babylon, + The brazen walls framed by Semiramis, + Carved out like to the portal of the sun, + Shall not be such as rings the English strand + From Dover to the market-place of Rye. + +In this patriotic resolution of the potent friar the reader will trace +the influence of the national enthusiasm awakened, only a few years +before Greene's comedy was written and produced, by the menace of the +Spanish Armada. + +It is unnecessary to quote the remainder of this scene, in which Bacon +proves his magical skill at the expense of the jealous Burden. Scene +III. passes at Harleston Fair, and introduces Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, +disguised as a rustic, and the comely Margaret. In Scene IV., at +Hampton Court, Henry III. receives Elinor of Castile, who is betrothed +to his son, Prince Edward, and arranges with her father, the Emperor, +a competition between the great German magician, Jaques Vandermast, +and Friar Bacon, 'England's only flower.' In Scene V. we pass on to +Oxford, where some comic incidents occur between Prince Edward (in +disguise) and his courtiers; and in Scene VI. to Friar Bacon's cell, +where the friar shows the Prince in his 'glass prospective,' or magic +mirror, the figures of Margaret, Friar Bungay, and Earl Lacy, and +reveals the progress of Lacy's suit to the rustic beauty. Bacon +summons Bungay to Oxford--straddling on a devil's back--and the scene +then changes to the Regent-house, and degenerates into the rudest +farce. At Fressingfield, in Scene VIII., we find Prince Edward +threatening to slay Earl Lacy unless he gives up to him the Fair Maid +of Fressingfield; but, after a struggle, his better nature prevails, +and he retires from his suit, leaving Margaret to become the Countess +of Lincoln. Scene IX. carries us back to Oxford, where Henry III., the +Emperor, and a goodly company have assembled to witness the trial of +skill between the English and the German magicians--the first +international competition on record!--in which, of course, Vandermast +is put to ridicule. + +Passing over Scene X. as unimportant, we return, in Scene XI., to +Bacon's cell, where the great magician is lying on his bed, with a +white wand in one hand, a book in the other, and beside him a lighted +lamp. The Brazen Head is there, with Miles, armed, keeping watch over +it. Here the dramatist closely follows the old story. The friar falls +asleep; the head speaks once and twice, and Miles fails to wake his +master. It speaks the third time. 'A lightning flashes forth, and a +hand appears that breaks down the head with a hammer.' Bacon awakes to +lament over the ruin of his work, and load the careless Miles with +unavailing reproaches. But the whole scene is characteristic enough to +merit transcription: + + Scene XI.--_Friar Bacon's Cell._ + + _FRIAR BACON is discovered lying on a bed, with a white stick + in one hand, a book in the other, and a lamp lighted beside + him; and the BRAZEN HEAD, and MILES with weapons by him._ + + BACON. Miles, where are you? + + MILES. Here, sir. + + BACON. How chance you tarry so long? + + MILES. Think you that the watching of the Brazen Head craves + no furniture? I warrant you, sir, I have so armed myself + that if all your devils come, I will not fear them an inch. + + BACON. Miles, + Thou know'st that I have divèd into hell, + And sought the darkest palaces of fiends; + That with my magic spells great Belcephon + Hath left his lodge and kneelèd at my cell; + The rafters of the earth rent from the poles, + And three-form'd Luna hid her silver looks, + Tumbling upon her concave continent, + When Bacon read upon his magic book. + With seven years' tossing necromantic charms, + Poring upon dark Hecat's principles, + I have framed out a monstrous head of brass, + That, by the enchanting forces of the devil, + Shall tell out strange and uncouth aphorisms, + And girt fair England with a wall of brass. + Bungay and I have watch'd these threescore days, + And now our vital spirits crave some rest: + If Argus lived and had his hundred eyes, + They could not over-watch Phobetor's[9] night. + Now, Miles, in thee rests Friar Bacon's weal: + The honour and renown of all his life + Hangs in the watching of this Brazen Head; + Therefore I charge thee by the immortal God + That holds the souls of men within his fist, + This night thou watch; for ere the morning star + Sends out his glorious glister on the north + The Head will speak. Then, Miles, upon thy life + Wake me; for then by magic art I'll work + To end my seven years' task with excellence. + If that a wink but shut thy watchful eye, + Then farewell Bacon's glory and his fame! + Draw close the curtains, Miles: now, for thy life, + Be watchful, and ... (_Falls asleep._) + + MILES. So; I thought you would talk yourself asleep anon; and + 'tis no marvel, for Bungay on the days, and he on the nights, + have watched just these ten and fifty days: now this is the + night, and 'tis my task, and no more. Now, Jesus bless me, + what a goodly head it is! and a nose! You talk of _Nos[10] + autem glorificare_; but here's a nose that I warrant may be + called _Nos autem populare_ for the people of the parish. + Well, I am furnished with weapons: now, sir, I will set me + down by a post, and make it as good as a watchman to wake me, + if I chance to slumber. I thought, Goodman Head, I would call + you out of your _memento_.[11] Passion o' God, I have almost + broke my pate! (_A great noise._) Up, Miles, to your task; + take your brown-bill in your hand; here's some of your + master's hobgoblins abroad. + + THE BRAZEN HEAD (_speaks_). Time is. + + MILES. Time is! Why, Master Brazen-Head, you have such a + capital nose, and answer you with syllables, 'Time is'? Is + this my master's cunning, to spend seven years' study about + 'Time is'? Well, sir, it may be we shall have some better + orations of it anon: well, I'll watch you as narrowly as + ever you were watched, and I'll play with you as the + nightingale with the glow-worm; I'll set a prick against my + breast.[12] Now rest there, Miles. Lord have mercy upon me, I + have almost killed myself. (_A great noise._) Up, Miles; list + how they rumble. + + THE BRAZEN HEAD (_loquitur_). Time was. + + MILES. Well, Friar Bacon, you have spent your seven years' + study well, that can make your Head speak but two words at + once, 'Time was.' Yea, marry, time was when my master was a + wise man; but that was before he began to make the Brazen + Head. You shall lie while you ache, an your head speak no + better. Well, I will watch, and walk up and down, and be a + peripatetian[13] and a philosopher of Aristotle's stamp. (_A + great noise._) What, a fresh noise? Take thy pistols in hand, + Miles. (_A lightning flashes forth, and a Hand appears that + breaks down the HEAD with a hammer._) Master, master, up! + Hell's broken loose! Your Head speaks; and there's such a + thunder and lightning, that I warrant all Oxford is up in + arms. Out of your bed, and take a brownbill in your hand; the + latter day is come. + + BACON. Miles, I come. (_Rises and comes forward._) + + O, passing warily watched! + Bacon will make thee next himself in love. + When spake the Head? + + MILES. When spake the Head? Did you not say that he should + tell strange principles of philosophy? Why, sir, it speaks + but two words at a time. + + BACON. Why, villain, hath it spoken oft? + + MILES. Oft! ay, marry hath it, thrice; but in all those three + times it hath uttered but seven words. + + BACON. As how? + + MILES. Marry, sir, the first time he said, 'Time is,' as if + Fabius Commentator[14] should have pronounced a sentence; + then he said, 'Time was;' and the third time, with thunder + and lightning, as in great choler, he said, 'Time is past.' + + BACON. 'Tis past, indeed. Ah, villain! Time is past; + My life, my fame, my glory, are all past. + Bacon, + The turrets of thy hope are ruined down, + Thy seven years' study lieth in the dust: + Thy Brazen Head lies broken through a slave + That watched, and would not when the Head did will. + What said the Head first? + + MILES. Even, sir, 'Time is.' + + BACON. Villain, if thou hadst called to Bacon then, + If thou hadst watched, and waked the sleepy friar, + The Brazen Head had uttered aphorisms, + And England had been circled round with brass: + But proud Asmenoth,[15] ruler of the North, + And Demogorgon,[16] master of the Fates, + Grudge that a mortal man should work so much. + Hell trembled at my deep-commanding spells, + Fiends frowned to see a man their over-match; + Bacon might boast more than a man might boast; + But now the braves[17] of Bacon have an end, + Europe's conceit of Bacon hath an end, + His seven years' practice sorteth to ill end: + And, villain, sith my glory hath an end, + I will appoint thee to some fatal end.[18] + Villain, avoid! get thee from Bacon's sight! + Vagrant, go, roam and range about the world, + And perish as a vagabond on earth! + + MILES. Why, then, sir, you forbid me your service? + + BACON. My service, villain, with a fatal curse, + That direful plagues and mischief fall on thee. + + MILES. 'Tis no matter, I am against you with the old proverb, + 'The more the fox is cursed, the better he fares.' God be + with you, sir: I'll take but a book in my hand, a + wide-sleeved gown on my back, and a crowned cap[19] on my + head, and see if I can merit promotion. + + BACON. Some fiend or ghost haunt on thy weary steps, + Until they do transport thee quick to Hell! + For Bacon shall have never any day, + To lose the fame and honour of his Head. + + [_Exeunt._ + +Scene XII. passes in King Henry's Court, and the royal consent is +given to Earl Lacy's marriage with the Fair Maid, which is fixed to +take place on the same day as Prince Edward's marriage to the Princess +Elinor. In Scene XIII. we again go back to Bacon's cell. The friar is +bewailing the destruction of his Brazen Head to Friar Bungay, when two +young gentlemen, named Lambert and Sealsby, enter, in order to look +into the 'glass prospective,' and see how their fathers are faring. +Unhappily, at this very moment, the elder Lambert and Sealsby, having +quarrelled, are engaged 'in combat hard by Fressingfield,' and stab +each other to the death, whereupon their sons immediately come to +blows, with a like fatal result. Bacon, deeply affected, breaks the +magic crystal which has been the unwitting cause of so sad a +catastrophe, expresses his regret that he ever dabbled in the unholy +science, and announces his resolve to spend the remainder of his life +'in pure devotion.' + +At Fressingfield, in Scene XIV., the opportune arrival of Lacy and his +friends prevents Margaret from carrying out her intention of retiring +to the nunnery at Framlingham, and with obliging readiness she +consents to marry the Earl. Scene XV. shifts to Bacon's cell, where a +devil complains that the friar hath raised him from the darkest deep +to search about the world for Miles, his man, and torment him in +punishment for his neglect of orders. + +Miles makes his appearance, and after some comic dialogue, intended to +tickle the ears of the groundlings, mounts astride the demon's back, +and goes off to ----! In Scene XVI., and last, we return to the Court, +where royalty makes a splendid show, and the two brides--the Princess +Elinor and the Countess Margaret--display their rival charms. Of +course the redoubtable friar is present, and in his concluding speech +leaps over a couple of centuries to make a glowing compliment to Queen +Elizabeth, which seems worth quotation: + + 'I find by deep prescience of mine art, + Which once I tempered in my secret cell, + That here where Brute did build his Troynovant,[20] + From forth the royal garden of a King + Shall flourish out so rich and fair a bud, + Whose brightness shall deface proud Phoebus' flower, + And overshadow Albion with her leaves. + Till then Mars shall be master of the field, + But then the stormy threats of war shall cease: + The horse shall stamp as careless of the pike, + Drums shall be turned to timbrels of delight; + With wealthy favours Plenty shall enrich + The strand that gladded wandering Brute to see, + And peace from heaven shall harbour in these leaves + That gorgeous beautify this matchless flower: + Apollo's heliotropian[21] then shall stoop, + And Venus' hyacinth[22] shall vail her top; + Juno shall shut her gilliflowers up, + And Pallas' bay shall 'bash her brightest green; + Ceres' carnation, in consort with those, + Shall stoop and wonder at Diana's rose.'[23] + +So much for Greene's comedy of 'Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay'--not, on +the whole, a bad piece of work. + + * * * * * + +Among the earlier English alchemists I may next name, in chronological +order, George Ripley, canon of Bridlington, who, in 1471, dedicated to +King Edward III. his once celebrated 'Compound of Alchemy; or, The +Twelve Gates leading to the Discovery of the Philosopher's Stone.' +These 'gates,' each of which he describes in detail, but with little +enlightenment to the uninitiated reader, are:--1. Calcination; 2. +Solution; 3. Separation; 4. Conjunction; 5. Putrefaction; 6. +Congelation; 7. Cibation; 8. Sublimation; 9. Fermentation; 10. +Exaltation; 11. Multiplication; and 12. Projection. In his old age +Ripley learned wisdom, and frankly acknowledged that he had wasted his +life upon an empty pursuit. He requested all men, if they met with any +of the five-and-twenty treatises of which he was the author, to +consign them to the flames as absolutely vain and worthless. + +Yet there is a wild story that he actually discovered the +'magisterium,' and was thereby enabled to send a gift of £100,000 to +the Knights of St. John, to assist them in their defence of Rhodes +against the Turks. + + * * * * * + +Thomas Norton, of Bristol, was the author of 'The Ordinall of Alchemy' +(printed in London in 1652). He is said to have been a pupil of +Ripley, under whom (at the age of 28) he studied for forty days, and +in that short time acquired a thorough knowledge of 'the perfection of +chemistry.' Ripley, however, refused to instruct so young a man in the +master-secret of the great science, and the process from 'the white' +to 'the red powder,' so that Norton was compelled to rely on his own +skill and industry. Twice in his labours a sad disappointment overtook +him. On one occasion he had almost completed the tincture, when the +servant whom he employed to look after the furnace decamped with it, +supposing that it was fit for use. On another it was stolen by the +wife of William Canning, Mayor of Bristol, who immediately sprang into +immense wealth, and as some amends, I suppose, for his ill-gotten +gains, built the beautiful steeple of the church of St. Mary, +Redcliffe--the church afterwards connected with the sad story of +Chatterton. As for Norton, he seems to have lived in poverty and died +in poverty (1477). + +The 'Ordinall of Alchemy' is a tedious panegyric of the science, +interspersed with a good deal of the vague talk about white and red +stones and the philosophical magnesia in which 'the adepts' delighted. + + * * * * * + +To Norton we owe our scanty knowledge of Thomas Dalton, who flourished +about the middle of the fifteenth century. He had the reputation of +being a devout Churchman until he was accused by a certain Debois of +possessing the powder of projection. Debois roundly asserted that +Norton had made him a thousand pounds of gold (lucky man!) in less +than twelve hours. Whereupon Dalton simply said, 'Sir, you are +forsworn.' His explanation was that he had received the powder from a +canon of Lichfield, on undertaking not to use it until after the +canon's death; and that since he had been so troubled by his +possession of it, that he had secretly destroyed it. One Thomas +Herbert, a squire of King Edward, waylaid the unfortunate man, and +shut him up in the castle of Gloucester, putting heavy pressure upon +him to make the coveted tincture. But this Dalton would not and could +not do; and after a captivity of four years, Herbert ordered him to be +brought out and executed in his presence. He obeyed the harsh summons +with great delight, exclaiming, 'Blessed art Thou, Lord Jesus! I have +been too long absent from Thee. The science Thou gavest me I have +kept without ever abusing it; I have found no one fit to be my heir; +wherefore, sweet Lord, I will restore Thy gift to Thee again.' + +'Then, after some devout prayer, with a smiling countenance he desired +the executioner to proceed. Tears gushed from the eyes of Herbert when +he beheld him so willing to die, and saw that no ingenuity could wrest +his secret from him. He gave orders for his release. His imprisonment +and threatened execution were contrived without the King's knowledge +to intimidate him into compliance. The iniquitous devices having +failed, Herbert did not dare to take away his life. Dalton rose from +the block with a heavy countenance, and returned to his abbey, much +grieved at the further prolongation of his earthly sojourn. Herbert +died shortly after this atrocious act of tyranny, and Debois also came +to an untimely end. His father, Sir John Debois, was slain at the +battle of Tewkesbury, May 4, 1471; and two days after, as recorded in +Stow's "Annales," he himself (James Debois) was taken, with several +others of the Lancastrian party, from a church where they had fled for +sanctuary, and was beheaded on the spot.' + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] That is, costard, or apple, mongers. + +[7] See Appendix to the present chapter, p. 58. + +[8] The pentageron, or pentagramma, is a mystic figure produced by +prolonging the sides of a regular pentagon till they intersect one +another. It can be drawn without a break in the drawing, and, viewed +from five sides, exhibits the form of the letter A (pent-alpha), or +the figure of the fifth proposition in Euclid's First Book. + +[9] From the Greek +phobos+, fear; +phobêtra+, bugbears. + +[10] Bad puns were evidently common on the stage before the days of +Victorian burlesque. + +[11] So Shakespeare, '1 Hen. IV.,' iii. Falstaff says: 'I make as good +use of it as many a man doth of a death's head, or a memento house.' + +[12] So in the 'Passionate Pilgrim': + + 'Save the nightingale alone: + She, poor bird, as all forlorn, + Leaned her breast uptill a thorn.' + +[13] A _peripatetic_, or walking philosopher. Observe the +facetiousness in 'Aristotle's _stamp_.' Aristotle was the founder of +the Peripatetics. + +[14] Fabius _Cunctator_, or the Delayer, so called from the policy of +delay which he opposed to the vigorous movements of Hannibal. One +would suppose that the humour here, such as it is, would hardly be +perceptible to a theatrical audience. + +[15] In the old German 'Faustbuch,' the title of 'Prince of the North' +is given to Beelzebub. + +[16] _Demogorgon_, or _Demiourgos_--the creative principle of +evil--figures largely in literature. He is first mentioned by +Lactantius, in the fourth century; then by Boccaccio, Boiardo, Tasso +('Gierusalemme Liberata'), and Ariosto ('Orlando Furioso'). Marlowe +speaks, in 'Tamburlaine,' of 'Gorgon, prince of Hell.' Spenser, in +'The Faery Queen,' refers to-- + + 'Great Gorgon, prince of darkness and dead night, + At which Cocytus quakes, and Styx is put to flight.' + +Milton, in 'Paradise Lost,' alludes to 'the dreaded name of +Demogorgon.' Dryden says: 'When the moon arises, and Demogorgon walks +his round.' And he is one of the _dramatis personæ_ of Shelley's +'Prometheus Unbound': 'Demogorgon, a tremendous gloom.... A mighty +Darkness, filling the seat of power.' + +[17] Boasts. So in Peele's 'Edward I': 'As thou to England brought'st +thy Scottish braves.' + +[18] This reiteration of the same final word, for the sake of +emphasis, is found in Shakespeare. + +[19] A corner or college cap. + +[20] An allusion to the old legend that Brut, or Brutus, +great-grandson of Æneas, founded New Troy (Troynovant), or London. + +[21] Probably the reference is to the sunflower. + +[22] The classic writers usually identify the hyacinth with Apollo. + +[23] The rose, that is, of the Virgin Queen--an English +Diana--Elizabeth. In Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream' +(Act iv., scene 1) we read of 'Diana's bud.' + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I. + +The ancient magic included various kinds of divination, of which the +principal may here be catalogued: + +_Aeromancy_, or divination from the air. If the wind blew from the +east, it signified good fortune (which is certainly not the general +opinion!); from the west, evil; from the south, calamity; from the +north, disclosure of what was secret; from all quarters simultaneously +(!), hail and rain. + +_Axinomancy_, practised by the Greeks, more particularly for the +purpose of discovering criminals. An axe poised upon a stake, or an +agate on a red-hot axe, was supposed by its movement to indicate the +offender. Or the names of suspected persons were called out, and the +movement of the axe at a particular name was understood to certify +guilt. + +_Belomancy_, in use among the Arabs, was practised by means of arrows, +which were shot off, with written labels attached to them; and the +inscription on the arrow first picked up was accepted as prophetic. + +_Bibliomancy_, divining by means of the Bible, survived to a +comparatively recent period. The passage which first caught the eye, +on a Bible being opened haphazard, was supposed to indicate the +future. This was identical with the _Sortes Virgilianæ_, the only +difference being that in the latter, Virgil took the place of the +Bible. Everybody knows in connection with the Sortes the story of +Charles I. and Lord Falkland. + +_Botanomancy_, divining by means of plants and flowers, can hardly be +said to be extinct even now. In Goethe's 'Faust,' Gretchen seeks to +discover whether Faust returns her affection by plucking, one after +another, the petals of a star-flower (_sternblume_, perhaps the +china-aster), while she utters the alternate refrains, 'He loves me!' +'He loves me not!' as she plucks the last petal, exclaiming +rapturously, 'He loves me!' According to Theocritus, the Greeks used +the poppy-flower for this purpose. + +_Capnomancy_, divination by smoke, the ancients practised in two ways: +they threw seeds of jasmine or poppy in the fire, watching the motion +and density of the smoke they emitted, or they observed the +sacrificial smoke. If the smoke was thin, and shot up in a straight +line, it was a good omen. + +_Cheiromancy_ (or Palmistry), divination by the hand, was worked up +into an elaborate system by Paracelsus, Cardan, and others. It has +long been practised by the gipsies, by itinerant fortune-tellers, and +other cheats; and recently an attempt has been made to give it a +fashionable character. + +_Coscinomancy_ was practised by means of a sieve and a pair of shears +or forceps. The forceps or shears were used to suspend a sieve, which +moved (like the axe in axinomancy) when the name of a guilty person +was mentioned. + +_Crystallomancy_, divining by means of a crystal globe, mirror, or +beryl. Of this science of prediction, Dr. Dee was the great English +professor; but the reader will doubtless remember the story of the +Earl of Surrey and his fair 'Geraldine.' + +_Geomancy_, divination by casting pebbles on the ground. + +_Hydromancy_, divination by water, in which the diviner showed the +figure of an absent person. 'In this you conjure the spirits into +water; there they are constrained to show themselves, as Marcus Varro +testifieth, when he writeth how he had seen a boy in the water, who +announced to him in a hundred and fifty verses the end of the +Mithridatic war.' + +_Oneiromancy_, divination by dreams, is still credited by old women of +both sexes. Absurdly baseless as it is, it found believers in the old +time among men of culture and intellectual force. Archbishop Laud +attached so much importance to his dreams that he frequently recorded +them in his diary; and even Lord Bacon seems to have thought that a +prophetic meaning was occasionally concealed in them. + +_Onychomancy_, or _Onymancy_, divination by means of the nails of an +unpolluted boy. + +_Pyromancy_, divination by fire. 'The wife of Cicero is said, when, +after performing sacrifice, she saw a flame suddenly leap forth from +the ashes, to have prophesied the consulship to her husband for the +same year.' Others resorted to the blaze of a torch of pitch, which +was painted with certain colours. It was a good omen if the flame ran +into a point; bad when it divided. A thin-tongued flame announced +glory; if it went out, it signified danger; if it hissed, misfortune. + +_Rabdomancy_, divination by the rod or wand, is mentioned by Ezekiel. +The use of a hazel-rod to trace the existence of water or of a seam of +coal seems a survival of this practice. But enough of these follies: + + 'Necro-, pyro-, geo-, hydro-, cheiro-, coscinomancy, + With other vain and superstitious sciences.' + Tomkis, 'Albumazar,' ii. 3. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE STORY OF DR. JOHN DEE. + + +The world must always feel curious to know the exact moment when its +great men first drew the breath of life; and it is satisfactory, +therefore, to be able to state, on the weighty authority of Dr. Thomas +Smith, that Dr. John Dee, the famous magician and 'philosopher,' was +born at forty minutes past four o'clock on the morning of July 13, +1527. According to the picturesque practice of latter-day biographers, +here I ought to describe a glorious summer sunrise, the golden light +spreading over hill and pasture, the bland warm air stealing into the +chamber where lay the mother and her infant; but I forbear, as, for +all I know, this particular July morning may have been cloudy, cold, +and wet; besides, John, the son of Rowland Dee, was born in London. +From like want of information I refrain from comments on Master Dee's +early bringing-up and education. But it is reported that he gave proof +of so exceptional a capacity, and of such a love of letters, that, at +the early age of fifteen, he was sent to the University of Cambridge, +to study the classics and the old scholastic philosophy. There, for +three years, he was so vehemently bent, he says, on the acquisition of +learning, that he spent eighteen hours a day on his books, reserving +two only for his meals and recreation, and four for sleep--an +unhealthy division of time, which probably over-stimulated his +cerebral system and predisposed him to delusions and caprices of the +imagination. Having taken his degree of B.A., he crossed the seas in +1547 'to speak and confer' with certain learned men, chiefly +mathematicians, such as Gemma Frisius, Gerardus Mercator, Gaspar a +Morica, and Antonius Gogara; of whom the only one now remembered is +Mercator, as the inventor of a method of laying down hydrographical +charts, in which the parallels and meridians intersect each other at +right angles. After spending some months in the Low Countries he +returned home, bringing with him 'the first astronomer's staff of +brass that was made of Gemma Frisius' devising, the two great globes +of Gerardus Mercator's making, and the astronomer's ring of brass (as +Gemma Frisius had newly framed it).' + +Returning to the classic shades of Granta, he began to record his +observations of 'the heavenly influences in this elemental portion of +the world;' and I suppose it was in recognition of his scientific +scholarship that Henry VIII. appointed him to a fellowship at Trinity +College, and Greek under-reader. In the latter capacity he +superintended, in 1548, the performance of the +Eirênê+ of +Aristophanes, introducing among 'the effects' an artificial scarabæus, +which ascended, with a man and his wallet of provisions on its back, +to Jupiter's palace. This ingenious bit of mechanism delighted the +spectators, but, after the manner of the time, was ascribed to Dee's +occultism, and he found it convenient to retire to the Continent +(1548), residing for awhile at Louvain, and devoting himself to +hermetic researches, and afterwards at Paris (1580), where he +delivered scientific lectures to large and distinguished audiences. +'My auditory in Rhemes Colledge,' he says, 'was so great, and the most +part older than my selfe, that the mathematicall schooles could not +hold them; for many were faine, without the schooles, at the windowes, +to be auditors and spectators, as they best could help themselves +thereto. I did also dictate upon every proposition, beside the first +exposition. And by the first foure principall definitions representing +to the eyes (which by imagination onely are exactly to be conceived), +a greater wonder arose among the beholders, than of my Aristophanes +Scarabæus mounting up to the top of Trinity-hall in Cambridge.' + +The accomplishments of this brilliant scientific mountebank being +noised abroad over all Europe, the wonderful story reached the remote +Court of the Muscovite, who offered him, if he would take up his +residence at Moscow, a stipend of £2,000 per annum, his diet also to be +allowed to him free out of 'the Emperor's own kitchen, and his place to +be ranked amongst the highest sort of the nobility there, and of his +privy councillors.' Was ever scholar so tempted before or since? In +those times, the Russian Court seems to have held _savants_ and +scholars in as much esteem as nowadays it holds _prima-donnas_ and +_ballerines_. Dee also received advantageous proposals from four +successive Emperors of Germany (Charles V., Ferdinand, Maximilian II., +and Rudolph II.), but the Muscovite's outbade them all. A residence in +the heart of Russia had no attraction, however, for the Oxford scholar, +who, in 1551, returned to England with a halo of fame playing round his +head (to speak figuratively, as Dee himself loved to do), which +recommended him to the celebrated Greek professor at Cambridge, Sir +John Cheke. Cheke introduced him to Mr. Secretary Cecil, as well as to +Edward VI., who bestowed upon him a pension of 100 crowns per annum +(speedily exchanged, in 1553, for the Rectory of Upton-upon-Severn). At +first he met with favour from Queen Mary; but the close correspondence +he maintained with the Princess Elizabeth, who appreciated his +multifarious scholarship, exposed him to suspicion, and he was accused +of practising against the Queen's life by divers enchantments. Arrested +and imprisoned (at Hampton Court), he was subjected to rigorous +examinations, and as no charge of treason could be proved against him, +was remitted to Bishop Bonner as a possible heretic. But his enemies +failed again in their malicious intent, and in 1555 he received his +liberty. Imprisonment and suffering had not quenched his activity of +temper, and almost immediately upon his release he solicited the +Queen's assent to a plan for the restoration and preservation of +certain precious manuscripts of classical antiquity. He solicited in +vain. + +When Elizabeth came to the throne, Dee, as a proficient in the occult +arts, was consulted by Dudley (afterwards Earl of Leicester) as to the +most suitable and auspicious day for her coronation. She testified to +her own belief in his skill by employing him, when her image in wax +had been discovered in Lincoln's Inn Fields, to counteract the evil +charm. But he owed her favour, we may assume, much more to his +learning, which was really extensive, than to his supposed magical +powers. He tells us that, shortly before her coronation, she summoned +him to Whitehall, remarking to his patrons, Dudley and the Earl of +Pembroke, 'Where my brother hath given him a crown, I will give him a +noble.' She was certainly more liberal to Dee than to many of her +servants who were much more deserving. In December, 1564, she granted +him the reversion of the Deanery of Gloucester. Not long afterwards +his friends recommended him for the Provostship of Eton College. +'Favourable answers' were returned, but he never received the +Provostship. He obtained permission, however, to hold for ten years +the two rectories of Upton and Long Ledenham. Later in her reign +(July, 1583), when two great nobles invited themselves to dine with +him, he was compelled to decline the honour on account of his poverty. +The Queen, on being apprised of this incident, sent him a present of +forty angels of gold. We shall come upon other proofs of her +generosity. + +Dee was travelling on the Continent in 1571, and on his way through +Lorraine was seized with a dangerous sickness; whereupon the Queen not +only sent 'carefully and with great speed' two of her physicians, but +also the honourable Lord Sidney 'in a manner to tend on him,' and 'to +discern how his health bettered, and to comfort him from her Majesty +with divers very pithy speeches and gracious, and also with divers +rarities to eat, to increase his health and strength.' Philosophers +and men of letters, when they are ailing, meet with no such pleasant +attentions nowadays! But the list of Elizabeth's bounties is not yet +ended. The much-travelling scholar, who saw almost as much of cities +and men and manners as Odysseus himself, had wandered into the +farthest parts of the kingdom of Bohemia; and that no evil might come +to him, or his companion, or their families, she sent them her most +princely and royal letters of safe-conduct. After his return home, a +little before Christmas, 1589, hearing that he was unable to keep +house as liberally as became his position and repute, she promised to +assist him with the gift of a hundred pounds, and once or twice +repeated the promise on his coming into her presence. Fifty pounds he +_did_ receive, with which to keep his Christmas merrily, but what +became of the other moiety he was never able to discover. A malignant +influence frequently interposed, it would seem, between the Queen's +benevolence in intention and her charity in action; and the +unfortunate doctor was sometimes tantalized with promises of good +things which failed to be realized. On the whole, however, I do not +think he had much to complain of; and the reproach of parsimony so +often levelled at great Gloriana would certainly not apply to her +treatment of Dr. Dee. + +She honoured him with several visits at Mortlake, where he had a +pleasant house close by the riverside, and a little to the westward of +the church--surrounded by gardens and green fields, with bright +prospects of the shining river. Elizabeth always came down from +Whitehall on horseback, attended by a brave retinue of courtiers; and +as she passed along, her loyal subjects stood at their doors, or lined +the roadside, making respectful bows and curtseys, and crying, 'God +save the Queen!' One of these royal visits was made on March 10, 1575, +the Queen desiring to see the doctor's famous library; but learning +that he had buried his wife only four hours before, she refused to +enter the house. Dee, however, submitted to her inspection his magic +crystal, or 'black stone,' and exhibited some of its marvellous +properties; her Majesty, for the better examination of the same, being +taken down from her horse 'by the Earl of Leicester, by the Church +wall of Mortlack.' + +She was at Dr. Dee's again on September 17, 1580. This time she came +from Richmond in her coach, a wonderfully cumbrous vehicle, drawn by +six horses; 'and when she was against my garden in the fielde,' says +the doctor, 'her Majestie staide there a good while, and then came +into the street at the great gate of the field, where her Majestie +espied me at my dore, making reverent and dutifull obeysance unto her, +and with her hand her Majestie beckoned for me to come to her, and I +came to her coach side; her Majestie then very speedily pulled off her +glove, and gave me her hand to kiss; and to be short, her Majestie +wished me to resort oftener to her Court, and by some of her Privy +Chamber to give her Majestie to wete (know) when I came there.' + +Another visit took place on October 10, 1580:--'The Queenes Majestie +to my great comfort (_horâ quintâ_) came with her train from the +Court, and at my dore graciously calling me unto her, on horseback +exhorted me briefly to take my mother's death patiently; and withal +told me, that the Lord Treasurer had greatly commended my doings for +her title royall, which he had to examine. The which title in two +rolls of velome parchment his Honour had some houres before brought +home, and delivered to Mr. Hudson for me to receive at my coming from +my mother's buriall at church. Her Majestie remembered also then, how +at my wives buriall it was her fortune likewise to call upon me at my +house, as before is noted.' + +Dee's library--as libraries went then--was not unworthy of royal +inspection. Its proud possessor computed it to be worth £2,000, which, +at the present value of money, would be equal, I suppose, to £10,000. +It consisted of about 4,000 volumes, bound and unbound, a fourth part +being MSS. He speaks of four 'written books'--one in Greek, two in +French, and one in High Dutch--as having cost him £533, and inquires +triumphantly what must have been the value of some hundred of the +best of all the other written books, some of which were the +_autographia_ of excellent and seldom-heard-of authors? He adds that +he spent upwards of forty years in collecting this library from divers +places beyond the seas, and with much research and labour in England. + +Of the 'precious books' thus collected, Dee does not mention the +titles; but he has recorded the rare and exquisitely made 'instruments +mathematical' which belonged to him: An excellent, strong, and fair +quadrant, first made by that famous Richard Chancellor who boldly +carried his discovery-ships past the Icy Cape, and anchored them in +the White Sea. There was also an excellent _radius astronomicus_, of +ten feet in length, the staff and cross very curiously divided into +equal parts, after Richard Chancellor's quadrant manner. Item, two +globes of Mercator's best making: on the celestial sphere Dee, with +his own hand, had set down divers comets, their places and motions, +according to his individual observation. Item, divers other +instruments, as the theorie of the eighth sphere, the ninth and tenth, +with an horizon and meridian of copper, made by Mercator specially for +Dr. Dee. Item, sea-compasses of different kinds. Item, a magnet-stone, +commonly called a loadstone, of great virtue. Also an excellent +watch-clock, made by one Dibbley, 'a notable workman, long since +dead,' by which the time might sensibly be measured in the seconds of +an hour--that is, not to fail the 360th part of an hour. We need not +dwell upon his store of documents relating to Irish and Welsh estates, +and of ancient seals of arms; but my curiosity, I confess, is somewhat +stirred by his reference to 'a great bladder,' with about four pounds +weight of 'a very sweetish thing,' like a brownish gum, in it, +artificially prepared by thirty times purifying, which the doctor +valued at upwards of a hundred crowns. + + * * * * * + +While engaged in learned studies and correspondence with learned men, +Dee found time to indulge in those wild semi-mystical, transcendental +visions which engaged the imagination of so many mediæval students. +The secret of 'the philosopher's stone' led him into fascinating +regions of speculation, and the ecstasies of Rosicrucianism dazzled +him with the idea of holding communication with the inhabitants of the +other world. How far he was sincere in these pursuits, how far he +imparted into them a spirit of charlatanry, I think it is impossible +to determine. Perhaps one may venture to say that, if to some small +extent an impostor, he was, to a much larger extent, a dupe; that if +he deceived others, he also deceived himself; nor is he, as biography +teaches, the only striking example of the credulous enthusiast who +mingles with his enthusiasm, more or less unconsciously, a leaven of +hypocrisy. As early as 1571 he complains, in the preface to his +'English Euclid,' that he is jeered at by the populace as a conjurer. +By degrees, it is evident, he begins to feel a pride in his magical +attainments. He records with the utmost gravity his remarkable dreams, +and endeavours to read the future by them. He insists, moreover, on +strange noises which he hears in his chamber. In those days a +favourite method of summoning the spirits was to bring them into a +glass or stone which had been prepared for the purpose; and in his +diary, under the date of May 25, 1581, he records--for the first +time--that he had held intercourse in this way with supra-mundane +beings. + +Combining with his hermetico-magical speculations religious exercises +of great fervour, he was thus engaged, one day in November, 1582, when +suddenly upon his startled vision rose the angel Uriel 'at the west +window of his laboratory,' and presented him with a translucent stone, +or crystal, of convex shape, possessing the wonderful property of +introducing its owner to the closest possible communication with the +world of spirits. It was necessary at times that this so-called mirror +should be turned in different positions before the observer could +secure the right focus; and then the spirits appeared on its surface, +or in different parts of the room by reason of its action. Further, +only one person, whom Dee calls the _skryer_, or seer, could discover +the spirits, or hear and interpret their voices, just as there can be +but one medium, I believe, at a spiritualistic séance of the present +day. But, of course, it was requisite that, while the medium was +absorbed in his all-important task, some person should be at hand to +describe what he saw, or professed to see, and commit to paper what he +heard, or professed to hear; and a seer with a lively imagination and +a fluent tongue could go very far in both directions. This humbler, +secondary position Dee reserved for himself. Probably his invention +was not sufficiently fertile for the part of a medium, or else he was +too much in earnest to practise an intentional deception. As the +crystal showed him nothing, he himself said so, and looked about for +someone more sympathetic, or less conscientious. His choice fell at +first on a man named Barnabas Saul, and he records in his diary how, +on October 9, 1581, this man 'was strangely troubled by a spiritual +creature about midnight.' In a MS. preserved in the British Museum, he +relates some practices which took place on December 2, beginning his +account with this statement: 'I willed the skryer, named Saul, to +looke into my great crystalline globe, if God had sent his holy angel +Azrael, or no.' But Saul was a fellow of small account, with a very +limited inventive faculty, and on March 6, 1582, he was obliged to +confess 'that he neither heard nor saw any spiritual creature any +more.' Dee and his inefficient, unintelligent skryer then quarrelled, +and the latter was dismissed, leaving behind him an unsavoury +reputation. + + +EDWARD KELLY. + +Soon afterwards our magician made the acquaintance of a certain Edward +Kelly (or Talbot), who was in every way fitted for the mediumistic +_rôle_. He was clever, plausible, impudent, unscrupulous, and a most +accomplished liar. A native of Worcester, where he was born in 1555, +he was bred up, according to one account, as a druggist, according to +another as a lawyer; but all accounts agree that he became an adept in +every kind of knavery. He was pilloried, and lost his ears (or at +least was condemned to lose them) at Lancaster, for the offence of +coining, or for forgery; afterwards retired to Wales, assumed the name +of Kelly, and practised as a conjurer and alchemist. A story is told +of him which illustrates the man's unhesitating audacity, or, at all +events, the notoriety of his character: that he carried with him one +night into the park of Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, a man who +thirsted after a knowledge of the future, and, when certain +incantations had been completed, caused his servants to dig up a +corpse, interred only the day before, that he might compel it to +answer his questions. + +How he got introduced to Dr. Dee I do not profess to know; but I am +certainly disinclined to accept the wonderful narrative which Mr. +Waite renders in so agreeable a style--that Kelly, during his Welsh +sojourn, was shown an old manuscript which his landlord, an innkeeper, +had obtained under peculiar circumstances. 'It had been discovered in +the tomb of a bishop who had been buried in a neighbouring church, and +whose tomb had been sacrilegiously up-torn by some fanatics,' in the +hope of securing the treasures reported to be concealed within it. +They found nothing, however, but the aforesaid manuscript, and two +small ivory bottles, respectively containing a ponderous white and red +powder. 'These pearls beyond price were rejected by the pigs of +apostasy: one of them was shattered on the spot, and its ruddy, +celestine contents for the most part lost. The remnant, together with +the remaining bottle and the unintelligible manuscript, were speedily +disposed of to the innkeeper in exchange for a skinful of wine.' The +innkeeper, in his turn, parted with them for one pound sterling to +Master Edward Kelly, who, believing he had obtained a hermetic +treasure, hastened to London to submit it to Dr. Dee. + +This accomplished and daring knave was engaged by the credulous doctor +as his skryer, at a salary of £50 per annum, with 'board and lodging,' +and all expenses paid. These were liberal terms; but it must be +admitted that Kelly earned them. Now, indeed, the crystal began to +justify its reputation! Spirits came as thick as blackberries, and +voices as numerous as those of rumour! Kelly's amazing fertility of +fancy never failed his employer, upon whose confidence he established +an extraordinary hold, by judiciously hinting doubts as to the +propriety of the work he had undertaken. How could a man be other than +trustworthy, when he frankly expressed his suspicions of the _mala +fides_ of the spirits who responded to the summons of the crystal? It +was impossible--so the doctor argued--that so candid a medium could be +an impostor, and while resenting the imputations cast upon the +'spiritual creatures,' he came to believe all the more strongly in the +man who slandered them. The difference of opinion gave rise, of +course, to an occasional quarrel. On one occasion (in April, 1582) +Kelly specially provoked his employer by roundly asserting that the +spirits were demons sent to lure them to their destruction; and by +complaining that he was confined in Dee's house as in a prison, and +that it would be better for him to be near Cotsall Plain, where he +might walk abroad without danger. + +Some time in 1583 a certain 'Lord Lasky,' that is, Albert Laski or +Alasco, prince or waiwode of Siradia in Poland, and a guest at +Elizabeth's Court, made frequent visits to Dee's house, and was +admitted to the spirit exhibitions of the crystal. It has been +suggested that Kelly had conceived some ambitious projects, which he +hoped to realize through the agency of this Polish noble, and that he +made use of the crystal to work upon his imagination. Thenceforward +the spirits were continually hinting at great European revolutions, +and uttering vague predictions of some extraordinary good fortune +which was in preparation for Alasco. On May 28 Dee and Kelly were +sitting in the doctor's study, discussing the prince's affairs, when +suddenly appeared--perhaps it was an optical trick of the ingenious +Kelly--'a spiritual creature, like a pretty girl of seven or nine +years of age, attired on her head, with her hair rowled up before, and +hanging down very long behind, with a gown of soy, changeable green +and red, and with a train; she seemed to play up and down, and seemed +to go in and out behind my books, lying in heaps; and as she should +ever go between them, the books seemed to give place sufficiently, +dividing one heap from the other while she passed between them. And +so I considered, and heard the diverse reports which E. K. made unto +this pretty maid, and I said, "Whose maiden are you?"' Here follows +the conversation--inane and purposeless enough, and yet deemed worthy +of preservation by the credulous doctor: + + DOCTOR DEE'S CONVERSATION WITH THE SPIRITUAL CREATURE. + + SHE. Whose man are you? + + DEE. I am the servant of God, both by my bound duty, and also + (I hope) by His adoption. + + A VOICE. You shall be beaten if you tell. + + SHE. Am not I a fine maiden? give me leave to play in your + house; my mother told me she would come and dwell here. + + (_She went up and down with most lively gestures of a young + girl playing by herself, and divers times another spake to + her from the corner of my study by a great perspective + glasse, but none was seen beside herself._) + + SHE. Shall I? I will. (_Now she seemed to answer me in the + foresaid corner of my study._) I pray you let me tarry a + little? (_Speaking to me in the foresaid corner._) + + DEE. Tell me what you are. + + SHE. I pray you let me play with you a little, and I will + tell you who I am. + + DEE. In the name of Jesus then, tell me. + + SHE. I rejoice in the name of Jesus, and I am a poor little + maiden; I am the last but one of my mother's children; I have + little baby children at home. + + DEE. Where is your home? + + SHE. I dare not tell you where I dwell, I shall be beaten. + + DEE. You shall not be beaten for telling the truth to them + that love the truth; to the Eternal Truth all creatures must + be obedient. + + SHE. I warrant you I will be obedient; my sisters say they + must all come and dwell with you. + + DEE. I desire that they who love God should dwell with me, + and I with them. + + SHE. I love you now you talk of God. + + DEE. Your eldest sister--her name is Esim[ve]li. + + SHE. My sister is not so short as you make her. + + DEE. O, I cry you mercy! she is to be pronounced Esim[=i]li! + + KELLY. She smileth; one calls her, saying, Come away, maiden. + + SHE. I will read over my gentlewomen first; my master Dee + will teach me if I say amiss. + + DEE. Read over your gentlewomen, as it pleaseth you. + + SHE. I have gentlemen and gentlewomen; look you here. + + KELLY. She bringeth a little book out of her pocket. She + pointeth to a picture in the book. + + SHE. Is not this a pretty man? + + DEE. What is his name? + + SHE. My (mother) saith his name is Edward: look you, he hath + a crown upon his head; my mother saith that this man was Duke + of York. + +And so on. + +The question here suggests itself, Was this passage of nonsense Dr. +Dee's own invention? And has he compiled it for the deception of +posterity? I do not believe it. It is my firm conviction that he +recorded in perfect good faith--though I own my opinion is not very +complimentary to his intelligence--the extravagant rigmarole dictated +to him by the arch-knave Kelly, who, very possibly, added to his many +ingenuities some skill in the practices of the ventriloquist. No great +amount of artifice can have been necessary for successfully deceiving +so admirable a subject for deception as the credulous Dee. It is +probable that Dee may sometimes have suspected he was being imposed +upon; but we may be sure he was very unwilling to admit it, and that +he did his best to banish from his mind so unwelcome a suspicion. As +for Kelly, it seems clear that he had conceived some widely ambitious +and daring scheme, which, as I have said, he hoped to carry out +through the instrumentality of Alasco, whose interest he endeavoured +to stimulate by flattering his vanity, and representing the spiritual +creature as in possession of a pedigree which traced his descent from +the old Norman family of the Lacys. + +With an easy invention which would have done credit to the most +prolific of romancists, he daily developed the characters of his +pretended visions.[24] Consulting the crystal on June 2, he professed +to see a spirit in the garb of a husbandman, and this spirit +rhodomontaded in mystical language about the great work Alasco was +predestined to accomplish in the conversion and regeneration of the +world. Before this invisible fictionist retired into his former +obscurity, Dee petitioned him to use his influence on behalf of a +woman who had committed suicide, and of another who had dreamed of a +treasure hidden in a cellar. Other interviews succeeded, in the course +of which much more was said about the coming purification of humanity, +and it was announced that a new code of laws, moral and religious, +would be entrusted to Dee and his companions. What a pity that this +code was never forthcoming! A third spirit, a maiden named Galerah, +made her appearance, all whose revelations bore upon Alasco, and the +greatness for which he was reserved: 'I say unto thee, his name is in +the Book of Life. The sun shall not passe his course before he be a +king. His counsel shall breed alteration of his State, yea, of the +whole world. What wouldst thou know of him?' + +'If his kingdom shall be of Poland,' answered Dee, 'in what land +else?' + +'Of two kingdoms,' answered Galerah. + +'Which? I beseech you.' + +'The one thou hast repeated, and the other he seeketh as his right.' + +'God grant him,' exclaimed the pious doctor, 'sufficient direction to +do all things so as may please the highest of his calling.' + +'He shall want no direction,' replied Galerah, 'in anything he +desireth.' + +Whether Kelly's invention began to fail him, or whether it was a +desire to increase his influence over his dupe, I will not decide; but +at this time he revived his pretended conscientious scruples against +dealing with spirits, whom he calumniously declared to be ministers of +Satan, and intimated his intention of departing from the unhallowed +precincts of Mortlake. But the doctor could not bear with equanimity +the loss of a skryer who rendered such valuable service, and watched +his movements with the vigilance of alarm. It was towards the end of +June, the month made memorable by such important revelations, that +Kelly announced, one day, his design of riding from Mortlake to +Islington, on some private business. The doctor's fears were at once +awakened, and he fell into a condition of nervous excitement, which, +no doubt, was exactly what Kelly had hoped to provoke. 'I asked him,' +says Dee, 'why he so hasted to ride thither, and I said if it were to +ride to Mr. Henry Lee, I would go thither also, to be acquainted with +him, seeing now I had so good leisure, being eased of the book +writing. Then he said, that one told him, the other day, that the Duke +(Alasco) did but flatter him, and told him other things, both against +the Duke and me. I answered for the Duke and myself, and also said +that if the forty pounds' annuity which Mr. Lee did offer him was the +chief cause of his minde setting that way (contrary to many of his +former promises to me), that then I would assure him of fifty pounds +yearly, and would do my best, by following of my suit, to bring it to +pass as soon as I possibly could, and thereupon did make him promise +upon the Bible. Then Edward Kelly again upon the same Bible did sweare +unto me constant friendship, and never to forsake me; and, moreover, +said that unless this had so fallen out, he would have gone beyond the +seas, taking ship at Newcastle within eight days next. And so we +plight our faith each to other, taking each other by the hand upon +these points of brotherly and friendly fidelity during life, which +covenant I beseech God to turn to His honour, glory, and service, and +the comfort of our brethren (His children) here on earth.' + +This concordat, however, was of brief duration. Kelly, who seems to +have been in fear of arrest,[25] still threatened to quit Dee's +service; and by adroit pressure of this kind, and by unlimited +promises to Alasco, succeeded in persuading his two confederates to +leave England clandestinely, and seek an asylum on Alasco's Polish +estates. Dee took with him his second wife, Jane Fromond, to whom he +had been married in February, 1578, his son Arthur (then about four +years old), and his children by his first wife. Kelly was also +accompanied by his wife and family. + +On the night of September 21, 1583, in a storm of rain and wind, they +left Mortlake by water, and dropped down the river to a point four or +five miles below Gravesend, where they embarked on board a Danish +ship, which they had hired to take them to Holland. But the violence +of the gale was such that they were glad to transfer themselves, after +a narrow escape from shipwreck, to some fishing-smacks, which landed +them at Queenborough, in the Isle of Sheppey, in safety. There they +remained until the gale abated, and then crossed the Channel to Brill +on the 30th. Proceeding through Holland and Friesland to Embden and +Bremen, they thence made their way to Stettin, in Pomerania, arriving +on Christmas Day, and remaining until the middle of January. + +Meanwhile, Kelly was careful not to intermit those revelations from +the crystal which kept alive the flame of credulous hope in the bosom +of his two dupes, and he was especially careful to stimulate the +ambition of Alasco, whose impoverished finances could ill bear the +burden imposed upon them of supporting so considerable a company. They +reached Siradia on February 3, 1584, and there the spirits suddenly +changed the tone of their communications; for Kelly, having +unexpectedly discovered that Alasco's resources were on the brink of +exhaustion, was accordingly prepared to fling him aside without +remorse. The first spiritual communication was to the effect that, on +account of his sins, he would no longer be charged with the +regeneration of the world, but he was promised possession of the +Kingdom of Moldavia. The next was an order to Dee and his companions +to leave Siradia, and repair to Cracow, where Kelly hoped, no doubt, +to get rid of the Polish prince more easily. Then the spirits began to +speak at shorter intervals, their messages varying greatly in tone and +purport, according, I suppose, as Alasco's pecuniary supplies +increased or diminished; but eventually, when all had suffered +severely from want of money, for it would seem that their tinctures +and powders never yielded them as much as an ounce of gold, the +spirits summarily dismissed the unfortunate Alasco, ordered Dee and +Kelly to repair to Prague, and entrusted Dee with a Divine +communication to Rudolph II., the Emperor of Germany. + +Quarrels often occurred between the two adepts during the Cracow +period. In these Kelly was invariably the prime mover, and his object +was always the same: to confirm his influence over the man he had so +egregiously duped. At Prague, Dee was received by the Imperial Court +with the distinction due to his well-known scholarship; but no +credence was given to his mission from the spirits, and his +pretensions as a magician were politely ignored. Nor was he assisted +with any pecuniary benevolences; and the man who through his crystal +and his skryer had apparently unlimited control over the inhabitants +of the spiritual world could not count with any degree of certainty +upon his daily bread. He failed, moreover, to obtain a second +interview with the Emperor. On attending at the palace, he was +informed that the Emperor had gone to his country seat, or else that +he had just ridden forth to enjoy the pleasures of the chase, or that +his imperfect acquaintance with the Latin tongue prevented him from +conferring with Dee personally; and eventually, at the instigation of +the Papal nuncio, Dee was ordered to depart from the Imperial +territories (May, 1586). + +The discredited magician then betook himself to Erfurt, and afterwards +to Cassel. He would fain have visited Italy, where he anticipated a +cordial welcome at those Courts which patronized letters and the arts, +but he was privately warned that at Rome an accusation of heresy and +magic had been preferred against him, and he had no desire to fall +into the fangs of the Inquisition. In the autumn of 1586, the +Imperial prohibition having apparently been withdrawn, he followed +Kelly into Bohemia; and in the following year we find both of them +installed as guests of a wealthy nobleman, named Rosenberg, at his +castle of Trebona. Here they renewed their intercourse with the spirit +world, and their operations in the transmutation of metals. Dee +records how, on December 9, he reached the point of projection! +Cutting a piece out of a brass warming-pan, he converted it--by merely +heating it in the fire, and pouring on it a few drops of the magical +elixir--a kind of red oil, according to some authorities--into solid, +shining silver. And there goes an idle story that he sent both the pan +and the piece of silver to Queen Elizabeth, so that, with her own +eyes, she might see how exactly they tallied, and that the piece had +really been cut out of the pan! About the same time, it is said, the +two magicians launched into a profuse expenditure,--Kelly, on one of +his maid-servants getting married, giving away gold rings to the value +of £4,000. Yet, meanwhile, Dee and Kelly were engaged in sharp +contentions, because the spirits fulfilled none of the promises made +by the latter, who, his invention (I suppose) being exhausted, +resolved, in April, 1587, to resign his office of 'skryer,' and young +Arthur Dee then made an attempt to act in his stead. + +The conclusion I have arrived at, after studying the careers and +characters of our two worthies, is that they were wholly unfitted for +each other's society; a barrier of 'incompatibility' rose straitly +between them. Dee was in earnest; Kelly was practising a sham. Dee +pursued a shadow which he believed to be a substance; Kelly knew that +the shadow was nothing more than a shadow. Dee was a man of rare +scholarship and considerable intellectual power, though of a credulous +and superstitious temper; Kelly was superficial and ignorant, but +clever, astute, and ingenious, and by no means prone to fall into +delusions. The last experiment which he made on Dee's simple-mindedness +stamps the man as the rogue and knave he was; while it illustrates the +truth of the preacher's complaint that there is nothing new under the +sun. The doctrine of free marriage propounded by American enthusiasts +was a _remanet_ from the ethical system of Mr. Edward Kelly. + + * * * * * + +Kelly had long been on bad terms with his wife, and had conceived a +passionate attachment towards Mrs. Dee, who was young and charming, +graceful in person, and attractive in manner. To gratify his desires, +he resorted to his old machinery of the crystal and the spirits, and +soon obtained a revelation that it was the Divine pleasure he and Dr. +Dee should exchange partners. Demoralized and abased as Dee had become +through his intercourse with Kelly, he shrank at first from a proposal +so contrary to the teaching and tenor of the religion he professed, +and suggested that the revelation could mean nothing more than that +they ought to live on a footing of cordial friendship. But the +spirits insisted on a literal interpretation of their command. Dee +yielded, comparing himself with much unction to Abraham, who, in +obedience to the Divine will, consented to the sacrifice of Isaac. The +parallel, however, did not hold good, for Abraham saved his son, +whereas Dr. Dee lost his wife! + +It was then Kelly's turn to affect a superior morality, and he +earnestly protested that the spirits could not be messengers from +heaven, but were servants of Satan. Whereupon they then declared that +he was no longer worthy to act as their interpreter. But why dwell +longer on this unpleasant farce? By various means of cajolery and +trickery, Kelly contrived to accomplish his design. + +This communistic arrangement, however, did not long work +satisfactorily--at least, so far as the ladies were concerned; and one +can easily understand that Mrs. Dee would object to the inferior +position she occupied as Kelly's paramour. However this may be, Dee +and Kelly parted company in January, 1589; the former, according to +his own account, delivering up to the latter the mysterious elixir and +other substances which they had made use of in the transmutation of +metals. Dee had begun to turn his eyes wistfully towards his native +country, and welcomed with unfeigned delight a gracious message from +Queen Elizabeth, assuring him of a friendly reception. In the spring +he took his departure from Trebona; and it is said that he travelled +with a pomp and circumstance worthy of an ambassador, though it is +difficult to reconcile this statement with his constant complaints of +poverty. Perhaps, after all, his three coaches, with four horses to +each coach, his two or three waggons loaded with baggage and stores, +and his hired escort of six to twenty-four soldiers, whose business it +was to protect him from the enemies he supposed to be lying in wait +for him, existed only, like the philosopher's stone, in the +imagination! He landed at Gravesend on December 2, was kindly received +by the Queen at Richmond a day or two afterwards, and before the year +had run out was once more quietly settled in his house 'near the +riverside' at Mortlake. + +Kelly, whom the Emperor Maximilian II. had knighted and created +Marshal of Bohemia, so strong a conviction of his hermetic abilities +had he impressed on the Imperial mind, remained in Germany. But the +ingenious, plausible rogue was kept under such rigid restraint, in +order that he might prepare an adequate quantity of the transmuting +stone or powder, that he wearied of it, and one night endeavoured to +escape. Tearing up the sheets of his bed, he twisted them into a rope, +with which to lower himself from the tower where he was confined. But +he was a man of some bulk; the rope gave way beneath his weight, and +falling to the ground, he received such severe injuries that in a few +days he expired (1593). + +Dee's later life was, as Godwin remarks, 'bound in shallows and +miseries.' He had forfeited the respect of serious-minded men by his +unworthy confederacy with an unscrupulous adventurer. The Queen still +treated him with some degree of consideration, though she had lost all +faith in his magical powers, and occasionally sent him assistance. The +unfortunate man never ceased to weary her with the repetition of his +trials and troubles, and strongly complained that he had been deprived +of the income of his two small benefices during his six years' +residence on the Continent. He related the sad tale of the destruction +of his library and apparatus by an ignorant mob, which had broken into +his house immediately after his departure from England, excited by the +rumours of his strange magical practices. He enumerated the expenses +of his homeward journey, arguing that, as it had been undertaken by +the Queen's command, she ought to reimburse him. At last (in 1592) the +Queen appointed two members of her Privy Council to inquire into the +particulars of his allegations. These particulars he accordingly put +together in a curious narrative, which bore the long-winded title of: + + 'The Compendious Rehearsall of John Dee, his dutiful + Declaracion and Proof of the Course and Race of his Studious + Lyfe, for the Space of Halfe an Hundred Yeares, now (by God's + Favour and Helpe) fully spent, and of the very great + Injuries, Damages, and Indignities, which for those last nyne + Years he hath in England sustained (contrary to Her Majesties + very gracious Will and express Commandment), made unto the + Two Honourable Commissioners, by Her Most Excellent Majesty + thereto assigned, according to the intent of the most humble + Supplication of the said John, exhibited to Her Most Gracious + Majestie at Hampton Court, Anno 1592, November 9.' + +It has been remarked that in this 'Compendious Rehearsal' he alludes +neither to his magic crystal, with its spiritualistic properties, nor +to the wonderful powder or elixir of transmutation. He founds his +claim to the Queen's patronage solely upon his intellectual eminence +and acknowledged scholarship. Nor does he allude to his Continental +experiences, except so far as relates to his homeward journey. But he +is careful to recapitulate all his services, and the encomiastic +notices they had drawn from various quarters, while he details his +losses with the most elaborate minuteness. The quaintest part of his +lamentable and most fervent petition is, however, its conclusion. +Having shown that he has tried and exhausted every means of raising +money for the support of his family, he concludes: + + 'Therefore, seeing the blinded lady, Fortune, doth not + governe in this commonwealth, but _justitia_ and _prudentia_, + and that in better order than in Tullie's "Republica," or + bookes of offices, they are laied forth to be followed and + performed, most reverently and earnestly (yea, in manner with + bloody teares of heart), I and my wife, our seaven children, + and our servants (seaventeene of us in all) do this day make + our petition unto your Honors, that upon all godly, + charitable, and just respects had of all that, which this day + you have seene, heard, and perceived, you will make such + report unto her Most Excellent Majestie (with humble request + for speedy reliefes) that we be not constrained to do or + suffer otherwise than becometh Christians, and true, and + faithfull, and obedient subjects to doe or suffer; and all + for want of due mainteynance.' + +The main object Dee had in view was the mastership of St. Cross's +Hospital, which Elizabeth had formerly promised him. This he never +received; but in December, 1594, he was appointed to the +Chancellorship of St. Paul's Cathedral, which in the following year he +exchanged for the wardenship of the College at Manchester. He still +continued his researches into supernatural mysteries, employing +several persons in succession as 'skryers'; but he found no one so +fertile in invention as Kelly, and the crystal uttered nothing more +oracular than answers to questions about lovers' quarrels, hidden +treasures, and petty thefts--the common stock-in-trade of the +conjurer. In 1602 or 1604, he retired from his Manchester appointment, +and sought the quiet and seclusion of his favourite Mortlake. His +renown as 'a magician' had greatly increased--not a little, it would +seem, to his annoyance; for on June 5, 1604, we find that he presented +a petition to James I. at Greenwich, soliciting his royal protection +against the wrong done to him by enemies who mocked him as 'a +conjurer, or caller, or invocator of devils,' and solemnly asserting +that 'of all the great number of the very strange and frivolous fables +or histories reported and told of him (as to have been of his doing) +none were true.' It is said that the treatment Dee experienced at this +time was the primary cause of the Act passed against personal slander +(1604)--a proof of legislative wisdom which drew from Dee a versified +expression of gratitude--in which, let us hope, the sincerity of the +gratitude is not to be measured by the quality of the verse. It is +addressed to 'the Honorable Members of the Commons in the Present +Parliament,' and here is a specimen of it, which will show that, +though Dee's crystal might summon the spirits, it had no control over +the Muses: + + 'The honour, due unto you all, + And reverence, to you each one + I do first yield most spe-ci-all; + Grant me this time to heare my mone. + + 'Now (if you will) full well you may + Fowle sclaundrous tongues for ever tame; + And helpe the truth to beare some sway + In just defence of a good name.' + +Thenceforward Dee sinks into almost total obscurity. His last years +were probably spent in great tribulation; and the man who had dreamed +of converting, Midas-like, all he touched into gold, seems frequently +to have wanted bread. It was a melancholy ending to a career which +might have been both useful and brilliant, if his various scholarship +and mental energy had not been expended upon a delusion. Unfortunately +for himself, Dee, with all his excellent gifts, wanted that greatest +gift of all, a sound judgment. His excitable fancy and credulous +temper made him the dupe of his own wishes, and eventually the tool of +a knave far inferior to himself in intellectual power, but surpassing +him in strength of will, in force of character, in audacity and +inventiveness. Both knave and dupe made but sorry work of their lives. +Kelly, as we have seen, broke his neck in attempting to escape from a +German prison, and Dee expired in want and dishonour, without a friend +to receive his last sigh. + +He died at Mortlake in 1608, and was buried in the chancel of +Mortlake Church, where, long afterwards, Aubrey, the gossiping +antiquary, was shown an old marble slab as belonging to his tomb. + +His son Arthur, after acting as physician to the Czar of Russia and to +our own Charles I., established himself in practice at Norwich, where +he died. Anthony Wood solemnly records that this Arthur, in his +boyhood, had frequently played with quoits of gold, which his father +had cast at Prague by means of his 'stone philosophical.' How often +Dee must have longed for some of those 'quoits' in his last sad days +at Mortlake, when he sold his books, one by one, to keep himself from +starvation! + +After Dee's death, his fame as a magician underwent an extraordinary +revival; and in 1659, when the country was looking forward to the +immediate restoration of its Stuart line of kings, the learned Dr. +Meric Casaubon thought proper to publish, in a formidable folio +volume, the doctor's elaborate report of his--or rather +Kelly's--supposed conferences with the spirits--a notable book, as +being the initial product of spiritualism in English literature. In +his preface Casaubon remarks that, though Dee's 'carriage in certain +respects seemed to lay in works of darkness, yet all was tendered by +him to kings and princes, and by all (England alone excepted) was +listened to for a good while with good respect, and by some for a long +time embraced and entertained.' And he adds that 'the fame of it made +the Pope bestir himself, and filled all, both learned and unlearned, +with great wonder and astonishment.... As a whole, it is undoubtedly +not to be paralleled in its kind in any age or country.' + +FOOTNOTES: + +[24] 'Adeo viro præ credulo errore jam factus sui impos et mente +captus, et Dæmones, quo arctius horrendis hisce Sacris adhærescent +illius ambitioni vanæ summæ potestatis in Patria adipiscendæ spe et +expectatione lene euntis illum non solius Poloniæ sed alterius quoque +regni, id est primo Poloniæ, deinde alterius, viz. Moldaviæ Regem +fore, et sub quo magnæ universi mundi mutationes incepturas esse, +Judæos convertendos, et ab illo Saræmos et Ethnicos vexillo crucis +superandos, facili ludificarentur.'--Dr. Thomas Smith, 'Vitæ +Eruditissimorum ac Illustrium Virorum,' London, 1707. 'Vita Joannis +Dee,' p. 25. + +[25] He was suspected of coining false money, but Dr. Dee declares he +was innocent. (June, 1583.) + + +NOTE. + +In the curious 'Apologia' published by Dee, in 1595, in the form of a +letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 'containing a most briefe +Discourse Apologeticall, with a plaine Demonstration and formal +Protestation, for the lawfull, sincere, very faithfull and Christian +course of the Philosophicall studies and exercises of a certaine +studious Gentleman, an ancient Servant to her most excellent Maiesty +Royall,' he furnishes a list of 'sundry Bookes and Treatises' of which +he was the author. The best known of his printed works is the 'Monas +Hieroglyphica, Mathematicè, Anagogicè que explicata' (1564), dedicated +to the Emperor Maximilian. Then there are 'Propæ deumata Aphoristica;' +'The British Monarchy,' otherwise called the 'Petty Navy Royall: for +the politique security, abundant wealth, and the triumphant state of +this kingdom (with God's favour) procuring' (1576); and 'Paralaticæ +Commentationis, Praxcosque Nucleus quidam' (1573). His unpublished +manuscripts range over a wide field of astronomical, philosophical, +and logical inquiry. The most important seem to be 'The first great +volume of famous and rich Discoveries,' containing a good deal of +speculation about Solomon and his Ophirian voyage; 'Prester John, and +the first great Cham;' 'The Brytish Complement of the perfect Art of +Navigation;' 'The Art of Logicke, in English;' and 'De Hominis +Corpore, Spiritu, et Anima: sive Microcosmicum totius Philosophiæ +Naturalis Compendium.' + +The character drawn of Dr. Dee by his learned biographer, Dr. Thomas +Smith, by no means confirms the traditional notion of him as a crafty +and credulous practiser in the Black Art. It is, on the contrary, the +portrait of a just and upright man, grave in his demeanour, modest in +his manners, abstemious in his habits; a man of studious disposition +and benevolent temper; a man held in such high esteem by his +neighbours that he was called upon to arbitrate when any differences +arose between them; a fervent Christian, attentive to all the offices +of the Church, and zealous in the defence of her faith. + +Here is the original: 'Si mores exterioremque vitæ cultum +contemplemur, non quicquam ipsi in probrum et ignominium verti +possit; ut pote sobrius, probus, affectibus sedatis, compositisque +moribus, ab omni luxu et gulâ liber, justi et æqui studiosissimus, +erga pauperes beneficus, vicinis facilis et benignus, quorum lites, +atrisque partibus contendentium ad illum tanquam ad sapientum arbitrum +appellantibus, moderari et desidere solebat: in publicis sacris +coetibus et in orationibus frequens, articulorum Christianæ fidei, +in quibus omnes Orthodoxi conveniunt, strenuus assertor, zelo in +hæreses, à primitiva Ecclesia damnatas, flagrans, inqui Pecc[=o]rum, +qui virginitatem B. Mariæ ante partum Christi in dubium vocavit, +accerimè invectus: licet de controversiis inter Romanenses et +Reformatos circa reliqua doctrinæ capita non adeo semperosè solicitus, +quin sibi in Polonia et Bohemia, ubi religio ista dominatur, Missæ +interesse et communicare licere putaverit, in Anglia, uti antea, post +redditum, omnibus Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ ritibus conformis.' It must be +admitted that Dr. Smith's Latin is not exactly 'conformed' to the +Ciceronian model. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +DR. DEE'S DIARY. + + +I am not prepared to say, with its modern editor, that Dr. Dee's +Diary[26] sets the scholar magician's character in its true light more +clearly than anything that has yet been printed; but I concede that it +reveals in a very striking and interesting manner the peculiar +features of his character--his superstitious credulity, and his +combination of shrewdness and simplicity--as well as his interesting +habits. I shall therefore extract a few passages to assist the reader +in forming his opinion of a man who was certainly in many respects +remarkable. + +(i.) I begin with the entries for 1577: + + '1577, January 16th.--The Erle of Leicester, Mr. Philip + Sidney, Mr. Dyer,[27] etc., came to my house (at Mortlake). + + '1577, January 22nd.--The Erle of Bedford came to my house. + + '1577, March 11th.--My fall uppon my right nuckel bone, _hora + 9 fere mane_, wyth oyle of Hypericon (_Hypericum_, or St. + John's Wort) in twenty-four howers eased above all hope: God + be thanked for such His goodness of (to?) His creatures. + + '1577, March 24th.--Alexander Simon, the Ninevite, came to + me, and promised me his service into Persia. + + '1577, May 1st.--I received from Mr. William Harbut of St. + Gillian his notes uppon my "Monas."[28] + + '1577, May 2nd.--I understode of one Vincent Murfryn his + abbominable misusing me behinde my back; Mr. Thomas Besbich + told me his father is one of the cokes of the Court. + + '1577, May 20th.--I hyred the barber of Cheswik, Walter + Hooper, to kepe my hedges and knots in as good order as he + saw them then, and that to be done with twice cutting in the + yere at the least, and he to have yerely five shillings, meat + and drink. + + '1577, June 26th.--Elen Lyne gave me a quarter's warning. + + '1577, August 19.--The "Hexameron Brytanicum" put to + printing. (Published in 1577 with the title of "General and + Rare Memorials pertayning to the perfect Art of Navigation.") + + '1577, November 3rd.--William Rogers of Mortlak about 7 of + the clok in the morning, cut his own throte, _by the fiende + his instigator_. + + '1577, November 6th.--Sir Umfrey Gilbert[29] cam to me to + Mortlak. + + '1577, November 22nd.--I rod to Windsor to the Q. Majestie. + + '1577, November 25th.--I spake with the Quene _hora quinta_; + I spoke with Mr. Secretary Walsingham.[30] I declared to the + Quene her title to Greenland, Estotiland, and Friesland. + + '1577, December 1st.--I spoke with Sir Christopher Hatton; he + was made Knight that day. + + '1577, December --th.--I went from the Courte at Wyndsore. + + '1577, December 30th.--Inexplissima illa calumnia de R. + Edwardo, iniquissima aliqua ex parte in me denunciebatur: + ante aliquos elapsos diro, sed ... sua sapientia me + innocentem.' + +I cannot ascertain of what calumny against Edward VI. Dee had been +accused; but it is to be hoped that his wish was fulfilled, and that +he was acquitted of it before many days had elapsed. + +I have omitted some items relating to moneys borrowed. It is +sufficiently plain, however, that Dee never intended his Diary for the +curious eyes of the public, and that it mainly consists of such +memoranda as a man jots down for his private and personal use. +Assuredly, many of these would never have been recorded if Dee had +known or conjectured that an inquisitive antiquarian, some three +centuries later, would exhume the confidential pages, print them in +imperishable type, and expose them to the world's cold gaze. It seems +rather hard upon Dr. Dee that his private affairs should thus have +become everybody's property! Perhaps, after all, the best thing a man +can do who keeps a diary is to commit it to the flames before he +shuffles off his mortal coil, lest some laborious editor should +eventually lay hands upon it, and publish it to the housetops with all +its sins upon it! But as in Dr. Dee's case the offence has been +committed, I will not debar my readers from profiting by it. + +(ii.) 1578-1581. + + '1578, June 30th.--I told Mr. Daniel Rogers, Mr. Hackluyt of + the Middle Temple being by, that Kyng Arthur and King Maty, + both of them, did conquer Gelindia, lately called Friseland, + which he so noted presently in his written copy of Mon ... + thensis (?), for he had no printed boke thereof.' + +What a pity Dr. Dee has not recorded his authority for King Arthur's +Northern conquests! The Mr. Hackluyt here mentioned is the industrious +compiler of the well-known collection of early voyages. + +Occasionally Dee relates his dreams, as on September 10, 1579: 'My +dream of being naked, and my skyn all overwrought with work, like some +kinde of tuft mockado, with crosses blue and red; and on my left +arme, about the arme, in a wreath, this word I red--_sine me nihil +potestis facere_.' + +Sometimes he resorts to Greek characters while using English words: + + '1579, December 9th.--+This nigt mi uuiph dremid that one kam + to 'er and touched 'er, saing, "Mistres Dee, gou ar konkeined + oph child, uos name must be Zacharias; be oph god chere, he + sal do uuel as this doth!"+ + + '1579, December 28th.--I reveled to Roger Coke the gret + secret of the elixir of the salt +oph aketels, one uppon a + undred+.' + +Other entries refer to this Mr. Roger Coke, or Cooke, who seems to +have been Dee's pupil or apprentice, and at one time to have enjoyed +his confidence. They quarrelled seriously in 1581. + + '1581, September 5th.--Roger Cook, who had byn with me from + his 14 years of age till 28, of a melancholik nature, pycking + and devising occasions of just cause to depart on the + suddayn, about 4 of the clok in the afternone requested of me + lycense to depart, wheruppon rose whott words between us; and + he, imagining with himself that he had, the 12 of July, + deserved my great displeasure, and finding himself barred + from view of my philosophicall dealing with Mr. Henrik, + thought that he was utterly recast from intended goodness + toward him. Notwithstanding Roger Cook his unseamely dealing, + I promised him, if he used himself toward me now in his + absens, one hundred pounds as sone as of my own clene + hability I myght spare so much; and moreover, if he used + himself well in life toward God and the world, I promised him + some pretty alchimicall experiments, whereuppon he might + honestly live. + + '1581, September 7th.--Roger Cook went for altogether from + me.' + +In February, 1601, however, this quarrel was made up. + +(iii.) Of the learned doctor's colossal credulity the Diary supplies +some curious proofs: + + '1581, March 8th.--It was the 8 day, being Wensday, hora + noctis 10-11, the strange noyse in my chamber of knocking; + and the voyce, ten times repeted, somewhat like the shriek + of an owle, but more longly drawn, and more softly, as it + were in my chamber. + + '1581, August 3rd.--All the night very strange knocking and + rapping in my chamber. August 4th, and this night likewise. + + '1581, October 9th.--Barnabas Saul, lying in the ... hall, + was strangely trubled by a spirituall creature about + mydnight. + + '1582, May 20th.--Robertus Gardinerus Salopiensis lactum mihi + attulit minimum de materia lapidis, divinitus sibi revelatus + de qua. + + '1582, May 23rd.--Robert Gardiner declared unto me hora 4½ a + certeyn great philosophicall secret, as he had termed it, of + a spirituall creature, and was this day willed to come to me + and declare it, which was solemnly done, and with common + prayer. + + '1590, August 22nd.--Ann, my nurse, had long been tempted by + a wycked spirit: but this day it was evident how she was + possessed of him. God is, hath byn, and shall be her + protector and deliverer! Amen. + + '1590, August 25th.--Anne Frank was sorowful, well comforted, + and stayed in God's mercyes acknowledging. + + '1590, August 26th.--At night I anoynted (in the name of + Jesus) her brest with the holy oyle. + + '1590, August 30th.--In the morning she required to be + anoynted, and I did very devoutly prepare myself, and pray + for virtue and powr, and Christ his blessing of the oyle to + the expulsion of the wycked, and then twyce anoynted, the + wycked one did rest a while.' + +The holy oil, however, proved of no effect. The poor creature was +insane. On September 8 she made an attempt to drown herself, but was +prevented. On the 29th she eluded the dexterity of her keeper, and cut +her throat. + +(iv.) Occasionally we meet with references to historic events and +names, but, unfortunately, they are few: + + '1581, February 23rd.--I made acquayntance with Joannes + Bodonius, in the Chamber of Presence at Westminster, the + ambassador being by from Monsieur.' + +Bodonius, or Bodin, was the well-known writer upon witchcraft. + + '1581, March 23rd.--At Mortlak came to me Hugh Smyth, who had + returned from Magellan strayghts and Vaygatz. + + '1581, July 12th.--The Erle of Leicester fell fowly out with + the Erle of Sussex, Lord Chamberlayn, calling each other + trayter, whereuppon both were commanded to kepe theyr chamber + at Greenwich, wher the court was.' + +This was the historic quarrel, of which Sir Walter Scott has made such +effective use in his 'Kenilworth.' + + '1583, January 13th.--On Sonday, the stage at Paris Garden + fell down all at once, being full of people beholding the + bear-bayting. Many being killed thereby, more hurt, and all + amased. The godly expownd it as a due plage of God for the + wickedness ther used, and the Sabath day so profanely spent.' + +This popular Sabbatarian argument, which occasionally crops up even in +our own days, had been humorously anticipated, half a century before, +by Sir Thomas More, in his 'Dyalogue' (1529): 'At Beverley late, much +of the people being at a bear-baiting, the church fell suddenly down +at evening-time, and overwhelmed some that were in it. A good fellow +that after heard the tale told--"So," quoth he, "now you may see what +it is to be at evening prayers when you should be at the +bear-baiting!"' + +The Paris Garden Theatre at Bankside had been erected expressly for +exhibitions of bear-baiting. The charge for admission was a penny at +the gate, a penny at the entry of the scaffold or platform, and a +penny for 'quiet standing.' During the Commonwealth this cruel sport +was prohibited; but it was revived at the Restoration, and not +finally suppressed until 1835. + + '1583, January 23rd.--The Ryght Honorable Mr. Secretary + Walsingham came to my howse, where by good luk he found Mr. + Adrian Gilbert (of the famous Devonshire family of seamen), + and so talk was begonne of North West Straights discovery. + + '1583, February 11th.--The Quene lying at Richmond went to + Mr. Secretary Walsingham to dinner; she coming by my dore, + graciously called me to her, and so I went by her horse side, + as far as where Mr. Hudson dwelt. +Er maiesti axed me + obyskyreli oph mounsieuris state: dixe bisthanatos erit.+ + + '1583, March 6th.--I, and Mr. Adrian Gilbert and John Davis + (the Arctic discoverer), did mete with Mr. Alderman Barnes, + Mr. Tounson, Mr. Young and Mr. Hudson, about the N. W. + voyage. + + '1583, April 18th.--The Quene went from Richmond toward + Greenwich, and at her going on horsbak, being new up, she + called for me by Mr. Rawly (Sir Walter Raleigh) his putting + her in mynde, and she sayd, "quod defertur non aufertur," and + gave me her right hand to kiss. + + '1590, May 18th.--The two gentlemen, the unckle Mr. Richard + Candish (Cavendish), and his nephew, the most famous Mr. + Thomas Candish, who had sayled round about the world, did + visit me at Mortlake. + + '1590, December 4th.--The Quene's Majestie called for me at + my dore, circa 3½ a meridie as she passed by, and I met her + at Est Shene gate, where she graciously, putting down her + mask, did say with mery chere, "I thank thee, Dee; there wus + never promisse made, but it was broken or kept." I understode + her Majesty to mean of the hundred angels she promised to + have sent me this day, as she yesternight told Mr. Richard + Candish. + + '1595, October 9th.--I dyned with Sir Walter Rawlegh at + Durham House.' + +(v.) Some of the entries which refer to Dee's connection with Lasco +and Kelly are interesting: + + '1583, March 18th.--Mr. North from Poland, after he had byn + with the Quene he came to me. I received salutation from + Alaski, Palatine in Poland. + + '1583, May 13th.--I became acquaynted with Albertus Laski at + 7½ at night, in the Erle of Leicester his chamber, in the + court at Greenwich. + + '1583, May 18th.--The Prince Albertus Laski came to me at + Mortlake, with onely two men. He came at afternone, and + tarryed supper, and after sone set. + + '1583, June 15th.--About 5 of the clok cum the Polonian + prince, Lord Albert Lasky, down from Bisham, where he had + lodged the night before, being returned from Oxford, whither + he had gon of purpose to see the universityes, wher he was + very honorably used and enterteyned. He had in his company + Lord Russell, Sir Philip Sydney, and other gentlemen: he was + rowed by the Quene's men, he had the barge covered with the + Quene's cloth, the Quene's trumpeters, etc. He came of + purpose to do me honour, for which God be praysed! + + '1583, September 21st.--We went from Mortlake, and so the + Lord Albert Lasky, I, Mr. E. Kelly, our wives, my children + and familie, we went toward our two ships attending for us, + seven or eight myle below Gravesende. + + '1586, September 14th.--Trebonam venimus. + + '1586, October 18th.--E. K. recessit a Trebona versus Pragam + curru delatus; mansit hic per tres hebdomadas. + + '1586, December 19th.--Ad gratificandam Domino Edouardo + Garlando, et Francisco suo fratri, qui Edouardus nuncius mihi + missus erat ab Imperatore Moschoriæ ut ad illum venirem, + E. K. fecit proleolem (?) lapidis in proportione unius ... + gravi arenæ super quod vulgaris oz. et ½ et producta est + optimè auri oz. fere: quod aurum post distribuimus a + crucibolo una dedimus Edouardo. + + '1587, January 18th.--Rediit E. K. a Praga. E. K. brought + with him from the Lord Rosenberg to my wyfe a chayne and + juell estemed at 300 duckettes; 200 the juell stones, and 100 + the gold. + + '1587, September 28th.--I delivered to Mr. Ed. Kelley + (earnestly requiring it as his part) the half of all the + animall which was made. It is to weigh 20 oz.; he wayed it + himself in my chamber: he bowght his waights purposely for + it. My lord had spoken to me before for some, but Mr. Kelly + had not spoken. + + '1587, October 28th and 29th.--John Carp did begyn to make + furnaces over the gate, and he used of my rownd bricks, and + for the yron pot was contented now to use the lesser bricks, + 60 to make a furnace. + + '1587, November 8th.--E. K terribilis expostulatio, + accusatio, etc., hora tertia a meridie. + + '1587, December 12th.--Afternone somewhat, Mr. Ed. Kelly + [did] his lamp overthrow, the spirit of wyne long spent to + nere, and the glas being not stayed with buks about it, as it + was wont to be; and the same glass so flitting on one side, + the spirit was spilled out, and burnt all that was on the + table where it stode, lynnen and written bokes,--as the bok + of Zacharias, with the "Alkanor" that I translated out of + French, for some by [boy?] spirituall could not; "Rowlaschy," + his third boke of waters philosophicall; the boke called + "Angelicum Opus;" all in pictures of the work from the + beginning to the end; the copy of the man of Badwise + "Conclusions for the Transmution of Metalls;" and 40 leaves + in 4to., entitled "Extractiones Dunstat," which he himself + extracted and noted out of Dunstan his boke, and the very + boke of Dunstan was but cast on the bed hard by from the + table.' + +This so-called 'Book of St. Dunstan' was one which Kelly professed to +have bought from a Welsh innkeeper, who, it was alleged, had found it +among the ruins of Glastonbury. + + '1588, February 8th.--Mr. E. K., at nine of the clok, + afternone, sent for me to his laboratory over the gate to see + how he distilled sericon, according as in tyme past and of + late he heard of me out of Ripley. God lend his heart to all + charity and virtue! + + '1588, August 24th.--Vidi divinam aquam demonstratione + magnifici domini et amici mei incomparabilis D[omini] Ed. + Kelii ante meridiem tertia hora. + + '1588, December 7th.--+great phrendkip promisid phor mani, + and tuuo ounkes phor the thing.+'[31] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[26] 'The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee,' edited by J. O. Halliwell +(Phillipps) for the Camden Society, 1842. + +[27] This was Sir Edward Dyer, the friend of Spenser and Sidney, +remembered by his poem 'My Mind to me a Kingdom is.' + +[28] The 'Monas Hieroglyphica.' + +[29] The celebrated navigator, whose heroic death is one of our +worthiest traditions. + +[30] A warm and steady friend to Dr. Dee. + +[31] This Diary, written in a very small and illegible hand on the +margins of old almanacs, was discovered by Mr. W. H. Black in the +Ashmolean Library at Oxford. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +MAGIC AND IMPOSTURE--A COUPLE OF KNAVES. + + +The secrecy, the mystery, and the supernatural pretensions associated +with the so-called occult sciences necessarily recommended them to the +knave and the cheat as instruments of imposition. If some of the +earlier professors of Hermeticism, the first seekers after the +philosophical stone, were sincere in their convictions, and actuated +by pure and lofty motives, it is certain that their successors were +mostly dishonest adventurers, bent upon turning to their personal +advantage the credulous weakness of their fellow-creatures. With some +of these the chief object was money; others may have craved +distinction and influence; others may have sought the gratification of +passions more degrading even than avarice or ambition. At all events, +alchemy became a synonym for fraud: a magician was accepted as, by +right of his vocation, an impostor; and the poet and the dramatist +pursued him with the whips of satire, invective, and ridicule, while +the law prepared for him the penalties usually inflicted upon +criminals. These penalties, it is true, he very frequently contrived +to elude; in many instances, by the exercise of craft and cunning; in +others, by the protection of powerful personages, to whom he had +rendered questionable services; and again in others, because the agent +of the law did not care to hunt him down so long as he forbore to +bring upon himself the glare of publicity. Thus it came to pass that +generation after generation saw the alchemist still practising his +unwholesome trade, and probably he retained a good deal of his old +notoriety down to as late a date as the beginning of the eighteenth +century. It must be admitted, however, that his alchemical pursuits +gradually sank into obscurity, and that it was more in the character +of an astrologer, and as a manufacturer of love-potions and philtres, +of charms and waxen images--not to say as a pimp and a bawd--that he +looked for clients. In the _Spectator_, for instance, that admirable +mirror of English social life in the early part of the eighteenth +century, you will find no reference to alchemy or the alchemist; but +in the _Guardian_ Addison's light humour plays readily enough round +the delusions or deceptions of the astrologer. The reader will +remember the letter which Addison pretends to have received with great +satisfaction from an astrologer in Moorfields. And in contemporary +literature generally, it will be found that the august inquirer into +the secrets of nature, who aimed at the transmutation of metals, and +the possession of immortal youth, had by this time been succeeded by +an obscure and vulgar cheat, who beguiled the ignorant and weak by his +jargon about planetary bodies, and his cheap stock-in-trade of a wig +and a gown, a wand, a horoscope or two, and a few coloured vials. This +'modern magician' is, indeed, a common character in eighteenth-century +fiction. + +But a century earlier the magician retained some little of the 'pomp +and circumstance' of the old magic, and was still the confidant of +princes and nobles, and not seldom the depository of State secrets +involving the reputation and the honour of men and women of the +highest position. So much as this may be truly asserted of Simon +Forman, who flourished in the dark and criminal period of the reign of +James I., when the foul practices of mediæval Italy were transferred +for the first and last time to an English Court. Forman was born at +Quidham, a village near Wilton, in Wilts, in 1552. Little is known of +his early years; but he seems to have received a good education at the +Sarum Grammar School, and afterwards to have been apprenticed to a +druggist in that ancient city. Endowed with considerable natural gifts +and an ambitious temper, he made his way to Oxford, and was entered at +Magdalene College, but owing to lack of means was unable to remain as +a student for more than two years. To improve his knowledge of +astrology, astronomy, and medicine, he visited Portugal, the Low +Countries, and the East. + +On his return he began to practise as a physician in Philpot Lane, +London; but, as he held no diploma, was four times imprisoned and +fined as a quack. Eventually he found himself compelled to take the +degree of M.D. at Cambridge (June 27, 1603); after which he settled in +Lambeth, and carried on the twofold profession of physician and +astrologer. In his comedy of 'The Silent Woman,' Ben Jonson makes one +of his characters say: 'I would say thou hadst the best philtre in the +world, and could do more than Madam Medea or Doctor Forman,' whence we +may infer that the medicines he compounded were not of the orthodox +kind or approved by the faculty. Lovers resorted to him for potions +which should soften obdurate hearts; beauties for powders and washes +which might preserve their waning charms; married women for drugs to +relieve them of the reproach of sterility; rakes who desired to +corrupt virtue, and impatient heirs who longed for immediate +possession of their fortunes, for compounds which should enfeeble, or +even kill. Such was the character of Doctor Forman's sinister +'practice.' Among those who sought his unscrupulous assistance was the +infamous Countess of Essex, though Forman died before her nefarious +schemes reached the stage of fruition. + +His death, which took place on the 12th of September, 1611, was +attended (it is said) by remarkable circumstances. The Sunday night +previous, 'his wife and he being at supper in their garden-house, she +being pleasant, told him she had been informed he could resolve +whether man or wife should die first. "Whether shall I," quoth she, +"bury you or no?" "Oh, Truais," for so he called her, "thou shalt bury +me, but thou wilt much repent it." "Yea, but how long first?" "I +shall die," said he, "on Thursday night." Monday came; all was well. +Tuesday came, he not sick. Wednesday came, and still he was well, with +which his impertinent wife did much twit him in his teeth. Thursday +came, and dinner was ended, he very well; he went down to the +water-side, and took a pair of oars to go to some buildings he was in +hand with in Puddle Dock. Being in the middle of the Thames, he +presently fell down, only saying, "An impost, an impost," and so died. +A most sad storm of wind immediately following.' + +It seems as if these men could never die without bringing down upon +the earth a grievous storm or tempest! The preceding story, however, +partakes too much of the marvellous to be very easily accepted. + +According to Anthony Wood, this renowned magician was 'a person that +in horary questions, especially theft, was very judicious and +fortunate' (in other words, he was well served by his spies and +instruments); 'so, also, in sickness, which was indeed his +masterpiece; and had good success in resolving questions about +marriage, and in other questions very intricate. He professed to his +wife that there would be much trouble about Sir Robert Carr, Earl of +Somerset, and the Lady Frances, his wife, who frequently resorted to +him, and from whose company he would sometimes lock himself in his +study one whole day. He had compounded things upon the desire of Mrs. +Anne Turner, to make the said Sir Robert Carr calid _quo ad hanc_, and +Robert, Earl of Essex frigid _quo ad hanc_; that his, to his wife the +Lady Frances, who had a mind to get rid of him and be wedded to the +said Sir Robert. He had also certain pictures in wax, representing Sir +Robert and the said Lady, to cause a love between each other, with +other such like things.' + + +A CAUSE CÉLÈBRE. + +Lady Frances Howard, second daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, was +married, at the age of thirteen, to Robert, Earl of Essex, who was +only a year older. The alliance was dictated by political +considerations, and had been recommended by the King, who did not fail +to attend the gorgeous festivities that celebrated the occasion +(January 5th, 1606). As it was desirable that the boy-bridegroom +should be separated for awhile from his child-wife, the young Earl was +sent to travel on the Continent, and he did not return to claim his +rights as a husband until shortly after Christmas, 1609, when he had +just passed his eighteenth birthday. In the interval his wife had +developed into one of the most beautiful, and, unfortunately, one of +the most dissolute, women in England. Naturally impetuous, +self-willed, and unscrupulous, she had received neither firm guidance +nor wise advice at the hands of a coarse and avaricious mother. Nor +was James's Court a place for the cultivation of the virtues of +modesty and self-restraint. The young Countess, therefore, placed no +control upon her passions, and had already become notorious for her +disregard of those obligations which her sex usually esteem as sacred. +At one time she intrigued with Prince Henry, but he dismissed her in +angry disgust at her numerous infidelities. Finally, she crossed the +path of the King's handsome favourite, Sir Robert Carr, and a guilty +passion sprang up between them. It is painful to record that it was +encouraged by her great-uncle, Lord Northampton, who hoped through +Carr's influence to better his position at Court; and it was probably +at his mansion in the Strand that the plot was framed of which I am +about to tell the issue. But the meetings between the two lovers +sometimes took place at the house of one of Carr's agents, a man named +Coppinger. + +At first, when Essex returned, the Countess refused to live with him; +but her parents ultimately compelled her to treat him as her husband, +and even to accompany him to his country seat at Chartley. There she +remained for three years, wretched with an inconceivable wretchedness, +and animated with wild dreams of escape from the husband she hated to +the paramour she loved. + +For this purpose she sought the assistance of Mrs. Anne Turner, the +widow of a respectable physician, and a woman of considerable personal +charms, who had become the mistress of Sir Arthur Mainwaring.[32] Mrs. +Turner introduced her to Dr. Simon Forman, and an agreement was made +that Forman should exercise his magical powers to fix young Carr's +affections irrevocably upon the Countess. The intercourse between the +astrologer and the ladies became very frequent, and the former +exercised all his skill to carry out their desires. At a later period, +Mrs. Forman deposed in court 'that Mrs. Turner and her husband would +sometimes be locked up in his study for three or four hours together,' +and the Countess learned to speak of him as her 'sweet father.' + +The Countess next conceived the most flagitious designs against her +husband's health; and, to carry them out, again sought the assistance +of her unscrupulous quack, who accordingly set to work, made waxen +images, invented new charms, supplied drugs to be administered in the +Earl's drinks, and washes in which his linen was to be steeped. These +measures, however, did not prove effectual, and letters addressed by +the Countess at this time to Mrs. Turner and Dr. Forman complain that +'my lord is very well as ever he was,' while reiterating the sad story +of her hatred towards him, and her design to be rid of him at all +hazards. In the midst of the intrigue came the sudden death of Dr. +Forman, who seems to have felt no little anxiety as to his share in +it, and, on one occasion, as we have seen, professed to his wife 'that +there would be much trouble about Carr and the Countess of Essex, who +frequently resorted unto him, and from whose company he would +sometimes lock himself in his study a whole day.' Mrs. Forman, when, +at a later date, examined in court, deposed 'that Mrs. Turner came to +her house immediately after her husband's death, and did demand +certain pictures which were in her husband's study, namely, one +picture in wax, very mysteriously apparelled in silk and satin; as +also another made in the form of a naked woman, spreading and laying +forth her hair in a glass, which Mrs. Turner did confidently affirm to +be in a box, and she knew in what part of the room in the study they +were.' We also learn that Forman, in reply to the Countess's +reproaches, averred that the devil, as he was informed, had no power +over the person of the Earl of Essex. The Countess, however, was not +to be diverted from her object, and, after Forman's death, employed +two or three other conjurers--one Gresham, and a Doctor Lavoire, or +Savory, being specially mentioned. + +What followed has left a dark and shameful stain on the record of the +reign of James I. The King personally interfered on behalf of his +favourite, and resolved that Essex should be compelled to surrender +his wife. For this purpose the Countess was instructed to bring +against him a charge of conjugal incapacity; and a Commission of right +reverend prelates and learned lawyers, under the presidency--one +blushes to write it--of Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, was appointed +to investigate the loathsome details. A jury of matrons was empanelled +to determine the virginity of Lady Essex, and, as a pure young girl +was substituted in her place, their verdict was, of course, in the +affirmative! As for the Commission, it decided, after long debates, by +a majority of seven to five, that the Lady Frances was entitled to a +divorce--the majority being obtained, however, only by the King's +active exercise of his personal influence (September, 1613). The lady +having thus been set free from her vows by a most shameless intrigue, +James hurried on a marriage between her and his favourite, and on St. +Stephen's Day it was celebrated with great splendour. In the interval +Carr had been raised to the rank and title of Earl of Somerset, and +his wife had previously been made Viscountess Rochester. + +A strenuous opponent of these unhallowed nuptials had been found in +the person of Sir Thomas Overbury, a young man of brilliant parts, who +stood towards Somerset in much the same relation that Somerset stood +towards the King. At the outset he had looked with no disfavour on his +patron's intrigue with Lady Frances, but had actually composed the +love-letters which went to her in the Earl's name; but, for reasons +not clearly understood, he assumed a hostile attitude when the +marriage was proposed. As he had acquired a knowledge of secrets which +would have made him a dangerous witness before the Divorce Commission, +the intriguers felt the necessity of getting him out of the way. +Accordingly, the King pressed upon him a diplomatic appointment on the +Continent, and when this was refused committed him to the Tower. There +he lingered for some months in failing health until a dose of poison +terminated his sufferings on September 13, 1613, rather more than +three months before the completion of the marriage he had striven +ineffectually to prevent. This poison was unquestionably administered +at the instigation of Lady Essex, though under what circumstances it +is not easy to determine. The most probable supposition seems to be +that an assistant of Lobell, a French apothecary who attended +Overbury, was bribed to administer the fatal drug. + +For two years the murder thus foully committed remained unknown, but +in the summer of 1615, when James's affection for Somerset was rapidly +declining, and a new and more splendid favourite had risen in the +person of George Villiers, some information of the crime was conveyed +to the King by his secretary, Winwood. How Winwood obtained this +information is still a mystery; but we may, perhaps, conjecture that +he received it from the apothecary's boy, who, being taken ill at +Flushing, may have sought to relieve his conscience by confession. A +few weeks afterwards, Helwys, the Lieutenant of the Tower, under an +impression that the whole matter had been discovered, acknowledged +that frequent attempts had been made to poison Overbury in his food, +but that he had succeeded in defeating them until the apothecary's boy +eluded his vigilance. Who sent the poison he did not know. The only +person whose name he had heard in connection with it was Mrs. Turner, +and the agent employed to convey it was, he said, a certain Richard +Weston, a former servant of Mrs. Turner, who had been admitted into +the Tower as a keeper, and entrusted with the immediate charge of +Overbury. + +On being examined, Weston at first denied all knowledge of the affair; +but eventually he confessed that, having been rebuked by Helwys, he +had thrown away the medicaments with which he had been entrusted; and +next he accused Lady Somerset of instigating him to administer to +Overbury a poison, which would be forwarded to him for that purpose. +Then one Rawlins, a servant of the Earl, gave information that he had +been similarly employed. As soon as Somerset heard that he was +implicated, he wrote to the King protesting his innocence, and +declaring that a conspiracy had been hatched against him. But many +suspicious particulars being discovered, he was committed to the +custody of Sir Oliver St. John; while Weston, on October 23, was put +on his trial for the murder of Overbury, and found guilty, though no +evidence was adduced against him which would have satisfied a modern +jury. + +On November 7 Mrs. Turner was brought before the Court. Her trial +excited the most profound curiosity, and Westminster Hall was crowded +by an eager multitude, who shuddered with superstitious emotion when +the instruments employed by Forman in his magical rites were exposed +to view.[33] It would seem that Mrs. Turner, when arrested, +immediately sent her maid to Forman's widow, to urge her to +burn--before the Privy Council sent to search her house--any of her +husband's papers that might contain dangerous secrets. She acted on +the advice, but overlooked a few documents of great importance, +including a couple of letters written by Lady Essex to Mrs. Turner and +Forman. The various articles seized in Forman's house referred, +however, not to the murder of Overbury, but to the conjurations +employed against the Earls of Somerset and Essex. 'There was shewed in +Court,' says a contemporary report, 'certaine pictures of a man and a +woman made in lead, and also a moulde of brasse wherein they were +cast, a blacke scarfe alsoe full of white crosses, which Mrs. Turner +had in her custody,' besides 'inchanted paps and other pictures.' +There was also a parcel of Forman's written charms and incantations. +'In some of those parchments the devill had particular names, who were +conjured to torment the lord Somersett and Sir Arthur Mannering, if +theire loves should not contynue, the one to the Countesse, the other +to Mrs. Turner.' Visions of a dingy room haunted by demons, who had +been summoned from the infernal depths by Forman's potent spells, +stimulated the imagination of the excited crowd until they came to +believe that the fiends were actually there in the Court, listening in +wrath to the exposure of their agents; and, behold! in the very heat +and flush of this extravagant credulity, a sudden crack was heard in +one of the platforms or scaffolds, causing 'a great fear, tumult, and +commotion amongst the spectators and through the hall, every one +fearing hurt, as if the devil had been present and grown angry to have +his workmanship known by such as were not his own scholars.' The +narrator adds that there was also a note showed in Court, made by Dr. +Forman, and written on parchment, signifying what ladies loved what +lords; but the Lord Chief Justice would not suffer it to be read +openly. This 'note,' or book, was a diary of the doctor's dealings +with the persons named; and a scandalous tradition affirms that the +Lord Chief Justice would not have it read because his wife's name was +the first which caught his eye when he glanced at the contents. + +Mrs. Turner's conviction followed as a matter of course upon Weston's. +There was no difficulty in proving that she had been concerned in his +proceedings, and that if he had committed a crime she was _particeps +criminis_. Both she and Weston died with an acknowledgment on their +lips that they were justly punished. Her end, according to all +accounts, was sufficiently edifying. Bishop Goodman quotes the +narrative of an eye-witness, one Mr. John Castle, in which we read +that, 'if detestation of painted pride, lust, malice, powdered hair, +yellow bands, and the rest of the wardrobe of Court vanities; if deep +sighs, tears, confessions, ejaculations of the soul, admonitions of +all sorts of people to make God and an unspotted conscience always our +friends; if the protestation of faith and hope to be washed by the +same Saviour and the like mercies that Magdalene was, be signs and +demonstrations of a blessed penitent, then I will tell you that this +poor broken woman went _a cruce ad gloriam_, and now enjoys the +presence of her and our Redeemer. Her body being taken down by her +brother, one Norton, servant to the Prince, was in a coach conveyed to +St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, where, in the evening of the same day, she +had an honest and a decent burial.' Her sad fate seems to have +appealed strongly to public sympathy, and to have drawn a veil of +oblivion over the sins and follies of her misspent life. A +contemporary versifier speaks of her in language worthy of a Lucretia: + + 'O how the cruel cord did misbecome + Her comely neck! and yet by Law's just doom + Had been her death. Those locks, like golden thread, + That used in youth to enshrine her globe-like head, + Hung careless down; and that delightful limb, + Her snow-white nimble hand, that used to trim + Those tresses up, now spitefully did tear + And rend the same; nor did she now forbear + To beat that breast of more than lily-white, + Which sometime was the bed of sweet delight. + From those two springs where joy did whilom dwell, + Grief's pearly drops upon her pale cheek fell.' + +The next to suffer was an apothecary named Franklin, from whom the +poison had been procured. 'Before he was executed, he threw out wild +hints of the existence of a plot far exceeding in villainy that which +was in course of investigation. He tried to induce all who would +listen to him to believe that he knew of a conspiracy in which many +great lords were concerned; and that not only the late Prince [Henry] +had been removed by unfair means, but that a plan had been made to get +rid of the Electress Palatine and her husband. As, however, all this +was evidently only dictated by a hope of escaping the gallows, he was +allowed to share with the others a fate which he richly deserved.' + + * * * * * + +After the execution of these smaller culprits, some months elapsed +before Bacon, as Attorney-General, was directed to proceed against the +greater. It was not until May 24, 1616, that the Countess of Somerset +was put upon her trial before the High Steward's Court in Westminster +Hall. Contemporary testimony differs strangely as to her behaviour. +One authority says that, whilst the indictment was being read, she +turned pale and trembled, and when Weston's name was mentioned hid her +face behind her fan. Another remarks: 'She won pity by her sober +demeanour, which, in my opinion,' he adds, 'was more curious and +confident than was fit for a lady in such distress, yet she shed, or +made show of some tears, divers times.' The evidence against her was +too strong to be confuted, and she pleaded guilty. When the judge +asked her if she had anything to say in arrest of judgment, she +replied, in low, almost inaudible tones, that she could not extenuate +her fault. She implored mercy, and begged that the lords would +intercede with the King on her behalf. Sentence was then pronounced, +and the prisoner sent back to the Tower, to await the King's decision. + +On the following day the Earl was tried. Bacon again acted as +prosecutor, and in his opening speech he said that the evidence to be +brought forward by the Government would prove four points: 1. That +Somerset bore malice against Overbury before the latter's +imprisonment; 2. That he devised the plan by which that imprisonment +was effected; 3. That he actually sent poisons to the Tower; 4. That +he had made strenuous efforts to conceal the proofs of his guilt. He +added that he himself would undertake the management of the case on +the first two points, leaving his subordinates, Montague and Crew, to +deal with the third and fourth. + +Bacon had chosen for himself a comparatively easy task. The +ill-feeling that had existed between Overbury and his patron was +beyond doubt; while it was conclusively shown, and, indeed, hardly +disputed, that Somerset had had a hand in Overbury's imprisonment, and +in the appointment of Helwys and Weston as his custodians. Passages +from Lord Northampton's letters to the Earl proved the existence of a +plot in which both were mixed up, and that Helwys had expressed an +opinion that Overbury's death would be a satisfactory termination of +the imbroglio. But he might probably have based this opinion on the +fact that Overbury was seriously ill, and his recovery more than +doubtful. + +When Bacon had concluded his part of the case, Ellesmere, who +presided, urged Somerset to confess his guilt. 'No, my lord,' said the +Earl calmly, 'I came hither with a resolution to defend myself.' + +Montague then endeavoured to demonstrate that the poison of which +Overbury died had been administered with Somerset's knowledge. But he +could get no further than this: that Somerset had been in the habit of +sending powders, as well as tarts and jellies, to Overbury; but he did +not, and could not prove that the powders were poisonous. Nor was +Serjeant Crew able to advance the case beyond the point reached by +Bacon; he could argue only on the assumption of Somerset's guilt, +which his colleagues had failed to establish. + +In our own day it would be held that the case for the prosecution had +completely broken down; and I must add my conviction that Somerset was +in no way privy to Overbury's murder. He had assented to his +imprisonment, because he was weary of his importunity; but he still +retained a kindly feeling towards him, and was evidently grieved at +the serious nature of his illness. As a matter of fact, it was not +proved even that Overbury died of poison, though I admit that this is +put beyond doubt by collateral circumstances. Somerset's position, +however, before judges who were more or less hostilely disposed, with +the agents of the Crown bent on obtaining his conviction, and he +himself without legal advisers, was both difficult and dangerous. He +was embarrassed by the necessity of keeping back part of his case. He +was unable to tell the whole truth about Overbury's imprisonment. He +could not make known all that had passed between Lady Essex and +himself before marriage, or that Overbury had been committed to the +Tower to prevent him from giving evidence which would have certainly +quashed Lady Essex's proceedings for a divorce. And, in truth, if he +mustered up courage to tell this tale of shame, he could not hope that +the peers, most of whom were his enemies, would give credence to it, +or that, if they believed it, they would refrain from delivering an +adverse verdict. + +Yet he bore himself with courage and ability, when, by the flickering +light of torches, for the day had gone down, he rose to make his +defence. Acknowledging that he had consented to Overbury's +imprisonment in order that he might throw no obstacles in the way of +his marriage with Lady Essex, he firmly denied that he had known +anything of attempts to poison him. The tarts he had sent were +wholesome, and of a kind to which Overbury was partial; if any had +been tampered with, he was unaware of it. The powders he had received +from Sir Robert Killigrew, and simply sent them on; and Overbury had +admitted, in a letter which was before the Court, that they had done +him no mischief. Here Crew interrupted: The three powders from +Killigrew had been duly accounted for; but there was a fourth powder, +which had not been accounted for, and had (it was assumed) contained +poison. Now, it was improbable that the Earl could remember the exact +history of every powder sent to Overbury two years before, and, +besides, it was a mere assumption on the part of the prosecution that +this fourth powder was poison. But Somerset's inability to meet this +point was made the most of, and gave the peers a sufficient pretext +for declaring him guilty. The Earl received his sentence with the +composure he had exhibited throughout the arduous day, which had shown +how a nature enervated by luxury and indulgence can be braced up by +the chill air of adversity, and contented himself with expressing a +hope that the Court would intercede with the King for mercy. + +I have dwelt at some length on the details of this celebrated trial +because it is the last (in English jurisprudence) in which men and +women of rank have been mixed up with the secret practices of the +magician; though, for other reasons, it is one of very unusual +interest. In briefly concluding the recital, I may state that James +was greatly relieved when the trial was over, and he found that +nothing damaging to himself had been disclosed. It is certain that +Somerset was in possession of some dark secret, the revelation of +which was much dreaded by the King; so that precautions had even been +taken, or at all events meditated, to remove him from the Court if he +entered upon the dangerous topic, and to continue the trial in his +absence. He would probably have been silenced by force. The Earl, +however, refrained from hazardous disclosures, and James could breathe +in peace. + +On July 13, the King pardoned Lady Somerset, who was certainly the +guiltiest of all concerned. The Earl was left in prison, with sentence +of death suspended over him for several years, in order, no doubt, to +terrify him into silence. A few months before his death, James appears +to have satisfied himself that he had nothing to fear, and ordered the +Earl's release (January, 1622). Had he lived, he would probably have +restored him to his former influence and favour.[34] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[32] This woman has a place in the records of fashion as introducer of +the novelty of yellow-starching the extensive ruffs which were then +generally worn. When Lord Chief Justice Coke sentenced her to death +(as we shall hereafter see) for her share in the murder of Overbury, +he ordered that 'as she was the person who had brought yellow-starched +ruffs into vogue, she should be hanged in that dress, that the same +might end in shame and detestation.' As the hangman was also adorned +with yellow ruffs, it is no wonder that Coke's prediction was amply +fulfilled. + +[33] Arthur Wilson, in his 'Memoirs,' furnishes a strange account of +the practices in which Lady Essex, Mrs. Turner, and the conjurer took +part. 'The Countess of Essex,' he says, 'to strengthen her designs, +finds out one of her own stamp, Mrs. Turner, a doctor of physic's +widow, a woman whom prodigality and looseness had brought low; yet her +pride would make her fly any pitch, rather than fall into the jaws of +Want. These two counsel together how they might stop the current of +the Earl's affection towards his wife, and make a clear passage for +the Viscount in his place. To effect which, one Dr. Forman, a reputed +conjurer (living at Lambeth) is found out; the women declare to him +their grievances; he promises sudden help, and, to amuse them, frames +many little pictures of brass and wax--some like the Viscount and +Countess, whom he must unite and strengthen, others like the Earl of +Essex, whom he must debilitate and weaken; and then with philtrous +powders, and such drugs, he works upon their persons. And to practise +what effects his arts would produce, Mrs. Turner, that loved Sir +Arthur Manwaring (a gentleman then attending the Prince), and willing +to keep him to her, gave him some of the powder, which wrought so +violently with him, that through a storm of rain and thunder he rode +fifteen miles one dark night to her house, scarce knowing where he was +till he was there. Such is the devilish and mad rage of lust, +heightened with art and fancy. + +'These things, matured and ripened by this juggler Forman, gave them +assurance of happy hopes. Her courtly incitements, that drew the +Viscount to observe her, she imputed to the operation of those drugs +he had tasted; and that harshness and stubborn comportment she +expressed to her husband, making him (weary of such entertainments) to +absent himself, she thought proceeded from the effects of those +unknown potions and powders that were administered to him. So apt is +the imagination to take impressions of those things we are willing to +believe. + +'The good Earl, finding his wife nurseled in the Court, and seeing no +possibility to reduce her to reason till she were estranged from the +relish and taste of the delights she sucked in there, made his +condition again known to her father. The old man, being troubled with +his daughter's disobedience, embittered her, being near him, with +wearisome and continued chidings, to wean her from the sweets she +doted upon, and with much ado forced her into the country. But how +harsh was the parting, being sent away from the place where she grew +and flourished! Yet she left all her engines and imps behind her: the +old doctor and his confederate, Mrs. Turner, must be her two +supporters. She blazons all her miseries to them at her depart, and +moistens the way with her tears. Chartley was an hundred miles from +her happiness; and a little time thus lost is her eternity. When she +came thither, though in the pleasantest part of the summer, she shut +herself up in her chamber, not suffering a beam of light to peep upon +her dark thoughts. If she stirred out of her chamber, it was in the +dead of the night, when sleep had taken possession of all others but +those about her. In this implacable, sad, and discontented humour, she +continued some months, always murmuring against, but never giving the +least civil respect to, her husband, which the good man suffered +patiently, being loth to be the divulger of his own misery; yet, +having a manly courage, he would sometimes break into a little passion +to see himself slighted and neglected; but having never found better +from her, it was the easier to bear with her.' + +[34] See 'The State Trials;' 'The Carew Letters;' Spedding, 'Life and +Letters of Lord Bacon;' Amos, 'The Grand Oyer of Poisoning;' and S. R. +Gardiner, 'History of England,' vol. iv., 1607-1616. + + +DR. LAMBE. + +A worthy successor to Simon Forman appeared in Dr. Lambe, or Lamb, +who, in the first two Stuart reigns, attained a wide celebrity as an +astrologer and a quack doctor. A curious story respecting his +pretended magical powers is related by Richard Baxter in his +'Certainty of the World of Spirits' (1691). Meeting two acquaintances +in the street, who evidently desired some experience of his skill in +the occult art, he invited them home with him, and ushered them into +an inner chamber. There, to their amazement, a tree sprang up before +their eyes in the middle of the floor. Before they had ceased to +wonder at this sight surprising, three diminutive men entered, with +tiny axes in their hands, and, nimbly setting to work, soon felled the +tree. The doctor then dismissed his guests, who went away with a +conviction that he was as potent a necromancer as Roger Bacon or +Cornelius Agrippa. + +That same night a tremendous gale arose, so that the house of one of +Lambe's visitors rocked to and fro, threatening to topple over with a +crash, and bury the man and his wife in the ruins. In great terror his +wife inquired, 'Were you not at Dr. Lambe's to-day?' The husband +acknowledged that it was so. 'And did you bring anything away from his +house?' Yes: when the dwarfs felled the tree, he had been foolish +enough to pick up some of the chips, and put them in his pocket. Here +was the cause of the hurricane! With all speed he got rid of the +chips; the storm immediately subsided, and the remainder of the night +was spent in undisturbed repose. + +Lambe was notorious for the lewdness of his life and his evil habits. +But his supposed skill and success as a soothsayer led to his being +frequently consulted by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, with the +result that each helped to swell the volume of the other's +unpopularity. The Puritans were angered at the Duke's resort to a man +of Lambe's character and calling; the populace hated Lambe as the tool +and instrument of the Duke. In 1628 the brilliant favourite of +Charles I. was the best-hated man in England, and every slander was +hurled at him that the resources of political animosity could supply. +The ballads of the time--an indisputably satisfactory barometer of +public opinion--inveighed bitterly and even furiously against his +luxuriousness, his love of dress, his vanity, his immorality, and his +proved incompetence as soldier and statesman. He was accused of having +poisoned Lords Hamilton, Lennox, Southampton, Oxford, even James I. +himself. He had sat in his boat, out of the reach of danger, while his +soldiers perished under the guns of Ré. He had corrupted the chastest +women in England by means of the love-philtre which Dr. Lambe +concocted for him. In a word, the air was full of the darkest and +dreadest accusations. + +Lambe's connection with the Duke brought on a catastrophe which his +magical art failed to foresee or prevent. He was returning, one summer +evening--it was June 13--from the play at the Fortune Theatre, when he +was recognised by a company of London prentices. With a fine scent for +the game, they crowded round the unfortunate magician, and hooted at +him as the Duke's devil, hustling him to and fro, and treating him +with cruel roughness. To save himself from further violence, he hired +some sailors to escort him to a tavern in Moorgate Street, where he +supped. On going forth again, he found that many of his persecutors +lingered about the door; and, bursting into a violent rage, he +threatened them with his vengeance, and told them 'he would make them +dance naked.' Still guarded by his sailors, he hurried homeward, with +the mob close at his heels, shouting and gesticulating, and increasing +every minute both in numbers and fury. In the Old Jewry he turned to +face them with his protectors; but this movement of defence, construed +into one of defiance, stimulated the passions of the populace to an +ungovernable pitch; they made a rush at him, from which he took refuge +in the Windmill tavern. A volley of stones smashed against pane and +door; and with shouts, screams, and yells, they demanded that he +should be given up. But the landlord, a man of courage and humanity, +would not throw the poor wretch to his pursuers as the huntsman throws +the captured fox to the fangs of his hounds. He detained him for some +time, and then he provided him with a disguise before he would suffer +him to leave. The precaution was useless, for hate is keen of vision: +the man was recognised; the pursuit was resumed, and he was hunted +through the streets, pale and trembling with terror, his dress +disordered and soiled, until he again sought an asylum. The master of +this house, however, fell into a paroxysm of alarm, and dismissed him +hastily, with four constables as a bodyguard. But what could these +avail against hundreds? They were swept aside--the doctor, bleeding +and exhausted, was flung to the ground, and sticks and stones rained +blows upon him until he was no longer able to ask for mercy. One of +his eyes was beaten out of its socket; and when he was rescued at +length by a posse of constables and soldiers, and conveyed to the +Compter prison, it was a dying man who was borne unconscious across +its threshold. + +Such was the miserable ending of Dr. Lambe. Charles I. was much +affected when he heard of it; for he saw that it was a terrible +indication of the popular hostility against Lambe's patron. The +murderers had not scrupled to say that if the Duke had been there they +would have handled him worse; they would have minced his flesh, so +that every one of them might have had a piece. Summoning to his +presence the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, the King bade them discover the +offenders; and when they failed in what was an impossible task, he +imposed a heavy fine upon the City. + +The ballad-writers of the day found in the magician's fate an occasion +for attacking Buckingham: one of them, commenting on his supposed +contempt for Parliament, puts the following arrogant defiance into his +mouth: + + 'Meddle with common matters, common wrongs, + To th' House of Commons common things belong ... + Leave him the oar that best knows how to row + And State to him that the best State doth know ... + Though Lambe be dead, _I'll_ stand, and you shall see + I'll smile at them that can but bark at me.' + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE LAST OF THE ENGLISH MAGICIANS: WILLIAM LILLY. + + + 'Lilly was a prominent, and, in the opinion of many of his + contemporaries, a very important personage in the most + eventful period of English history. He was a principal actor + in the farcical scenes which diversified the bloody tragedy + of civil war; and while the King and the Parliament were + striving for mastery in the field, he was deciding their + destinies in the closet. The weak and the credulous of both + parties who sought to be instructed in "destiny's dark + counsels," flocked to consult the "wily Archimagus," who, + with exemplary impartiality, meted out victory and good + fortune to his clients, according to the extent of their + faith and the weight of their purses. A few profane Cavaliers + might make his name the burthen of their malignant rhymes--a + few of the more scrupulous among the saints might keep aloof + in sanctified abhorrence of the "Stygian sophister"--but the + great majority of the people lent a willing and reverential + ear to his prophecies and prognostications. Nothing was too + high or too low, too mighty or too insignificant, for the + grasp of his genius. The stars, his informants, were as + communicative on the most trivial as on the most important + subjects. If a scheme was set on foot to rescue the King, or + to retrieve a stray trinket; to restore the royal authority, + or to make a frail damsel an honest woman; to cure the nation + of anarchy, or a lap-dog of a surfeit--William Lilly was the + oracle to be consulted. His almanacks were spelled over in + the tavern, and quoted in the Senate; they nerved the arm of + the soldier, and rounded the period of the orator. The + fashionable beauty, dashing along in her calash from St. + James's or the Mall, and the prim starched dame from Watling + Street or Bucklersbury, with a staid foot-boy, in a plush + jerkin, plodding behind her--the reigning toast among "the + men of wit about town," and the leading groaner in a + tabernacle concert--glided alternately into the study of the + trusty wizard, and poured into his attentive ear strange + tales of love, or trade, or treason. The Roundhead stalked in + at one door, whilst the Cavalier was hurried out at the + other. + + 'The confessions of a man so variously consulted and trusted, + if written with the candour of a Cardan or a Rousseau, would + indeed be invaluable. The "Memoirs of William Lilly," though + deficient in this particular, yet contain a variety of + curious and interesting anecdotes of himself and his + contemporaries, which, when the vanity of the writer or the + truth of his art is not concerned, may be received with + implicit credence. + + 'The simplicity and apparent candour of his narrative might + induce a hasty reader of this book to believe him a + well-meaning but somewhat silly personage, the dupe of his + own speculations--the deceiver of himself as well as of + others. But an attentive examination of the events of his + life, even as recorded by himself, will not warrant so + favourable an interpretation. His systematic and successful + attention to his own interest, his dexterity in keeping on + "the windy side of the law," his perfect political + pliability, and his presence of mind and fertility of + resources when entangled in difficulties, indicate an + accomplished impostor, not a crazy enthusiast. It is very + possible and probable that, at the outset of his career, he + was a real believer in the truth and lawfulness of his art, + and that he afterwards felt no inclination to part with so + pleasant and so profitable a delusion.... Of his success in + deception, the present narrative exhibits abundant proofs. + The number of his dupes was not confined to the vulgar and + illiterate, but included individuals of real worth and + learning, of hostile parties and sects, who courted his + acquaintance and respected his predictions. His proceedings + were deemed of sufficient importance to be twice made the + subject of a Parliamentary inquiry; and even after the + Restoration--when a little more scepticism, if not more + wisdom, might have been expected--we find him examined by a + Committee of the House of Commons respecting his + foreknowledge of the Great Fire of London. We know not + whether it "should more move our anger or our mirth" to see + our assemblage of British Senators--the contemporaries of + Hampden and Falkland, of Milton and Clarendon, in an age + which moved into action so many and such mighty + energies--gravely engaged in ascertaining the cause of a + great national calamity from the prescience of a knavish + fortune-teller, and puzzling their wisdoms to interpret the + symbolical flames which blazed in the misshapen woodcuts of + his oracular publications. + + 'As a set-off against these honours may be mentioned the + virulent and unceasing attacks of almost all the party + scribblers of the day; but their abuse he shared in common + with men whose talents and virtues have outlived the malice + of their contemporaries.'--_Retrospective Review._ + +William Lilly was born at Diseworth, in Leicestershire, on May 1, +1602. He came of an old and reputable family of the yeoman class, and +his father was at one time a man of substance, though, from causes +unexplained, he fell into a state of great impoverishment. William +from the first was intended to be a scholar, and at the age of eleven +was sent to the grammar-school at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where he made a +fair progress in his classical studies. In his sixteenth year he began +to be much troubled in his dreams regarding his chances of future +salvation, and felt a large concern for the spiritual welfare of his +parents. He frequently spent the night in weeping and praying, and in +an agony of fear lest his sins should offend God. That in this +exhibition of early piety he was already preparing for his career of +self-hypocrisy and deception, I will not be censorious enough to +assert; but in after-life his conscience was certainly much less +sensitive, and he ceased to trouble himself about the souls of any of +his kith and kin. + +He was about eighteen when the collapse of his father's circumstances +compelled him to leave school. He had used his time and opportunities +so well that he had gained the highest form, and the highest place on +that form. He spoke Latin as readily as his native tongue; could +improvise verses upon any theme--all kinds of verses, hexameter, +pentameter, phalenciac, iambic, sapphic--so that if any ingenious +youth came from remote schools to hold public disputations, Lilly was +always selected as the Ashby-de-la-Zouch champion, and in that +capacity invariably won distinction. 'If any minister came to examine +us,' he said, 'I was brought forth against him, nor would I argue with +him unless in the Latin tongue, which I found few could well speak +without breaking Priscian's head; which, if once they did, I would +complain to my master, _Non bene intelliget linguare Latinam, nec +prorsus loquitur_. In the derivation of words, I found most of them +defective; nor, indeed, were any of them good grammarians. All and +every of those scholars who were of my form and standing went to +Cambridge, and proved excellent divines; only I, poor William Lilly, +was not so happy; fortune then frowning upon my father's present +condition, he not in any capacity to maintain me at the University.' + +The _res angustæ domi_ pressing heavily upon the quick-witted, +ingenious, and active young fellow, he set forth--as so many Dick +Whittingtons have done before and since--to make his fortune in London +City. His purse held only 20s., with which he purchased a new +suit--hose, doublets, trunk, and the like--and with a donation from +his friends of 10s., he took leave of his father ('then in Leicester +gaol for debt') on April 4th, and tramping his way to London, in +company with 'Bradshaw the carrier,' arrived there on the 9th. When he +had gratified the carrier and his servants, his capital was reduced to +7s. 6d. in money, a suit of clothes on his back, two shirts, three +bands, one pair of shoes, and as many stockings. The master to whom he +had been recommended--Leicestershire born, like himself--a certain +Gilbert Wright, received him kindly, purchasing for him a new cloak--a +welcome addition to Lilly's scanty wardrobe; and Lilly then settled +down, contentedly enough, to his laborious duties, though they were +hardly of a kind to gratify the tastes of an earnest scholar. 'My +work,' he says, 'was to go before my master to church; to attend my +master when he went abroad; to make clean his shoes; sweep the street; +help to drive bucks when he washed; fetch water in a tub from the +Thames (I have helped to carry eighteen tubs of water in one morning); +weed the garden; all manner of drudgeries I willingly performed; +scrape trenchers,' etc. + + * * * * * + +In 1624 his mistress (he says) died of cancer in the breast, and he +came into possession--by way of legacy, I suppose--of a small scarlet +bag belonging to her, which contained some rare and curious things. +Among others, several sigils, amulets, or charms: some of Jupiter in +trine, others of the nature of Venus; some of iron, and one of +gold--pure angel gold, of the bigness of a thirty-shilling piece of +King James's coinage. In the circumference, on one side, was +engraven, _Vicit Leo de tribu Judæ Tetragrammaton_, and within the +middle a holy lamb. In the circumference on the obverse side were +Amraphel and three {+++}, and in the centre, _Sanctus Petrus Alpha et +Omega_. + +According to Lilly, this sigil was framed under the following +circumstances: + + 'His mistress's former husband travelling into Sussex, + happened to lodge in an inn, and to lie in a chamber thereof, + wherein, not many months before, a country grazier had lain, + and in the night cut his own throat. After this night's + lodging he was perpetually, and for many years, followed by a + spirit, which vocally and articulately provoked him to cut + his throat. He was used frequently to say, "I defy thee, I + defy thee," and to spit at the spirit. This spirit followed + him many years, he not making anybody acquainted with it; at + last he grew melancholy and discontented, which being + carefully observed by his wife, she many times hearing him + pronounce, "I defy thee," desired him to acquaint her with + the cause of his distemper, which he then did. Away she went + to Dr. Simon Forman, who lived then in Lambeth, and acquaints + him with it; who having framed this sigil, and hanged it + about his neck, he wearing it continually until he died, was + never more molested by the spirit. I sold the sigil for + thirty-two shillings, but transcribed the words _verbatim_ as + I have related.' + +Lilly continued some time longer in the service of Master Gilbert +Wright. When the plague broke out in London in 1625, he, with a +fellow-servant, was left in charge of his employer's house. He seems +to have taken things easily enough, notwithstanding the sorrow and +suffering that surrounded him on every side. Purchasing a bass-viol, +he hired a master to instruct him in playing it; the intervals he +spent in bowling in Lincoln's Inn Fields, with Wat the Cobbler, Dick +the Blacksmith, and such-like companions. 'We have sometimes been at +our work at six in the morning, and so continued till three or four in +the afternoon, many times without bread or drink all that while. +Sometimes I went to church and heard funeral sermons, of which there +was then great plenty. At other times I went early to St. Antholin's, +in London, where there was every morning a sermon. The most able +people of the whole city and suburbs were out of town; if any +remained, it were such as were engaged by parish officers to remain; +no habit of a gentleman or woman continued; the woeful calamity of +that year was grievous, people dying in the open fields and in open +streets. At last, in August, the bills of mortality so increased, that +very few people had thoughts of surviving the contagion. The Sunday +before the great bill came forth, which was of five thousand and odd +hundreds, there was appointed a sacrament at Clement Danes'; during +the distributing whereof I do very well remember we sang thirteen +parts of the 119th Psalm. One Jacob, our minister (for we had three +that day, the communion was so great), fell sick as he was giving the +sacrament, went home, and was buried of the plague the Thursday +following.' + +Having been led by various circumstances to apply himself to the study +of astrology, he sought a guide and teacher in the person of one +Master Evans, whom he describes as poor, ignorant, boastful, drunken, +and knavish; he had a character, or reputation, however, for erecting +a figure (or horoscope) predicting future events, discovering +secrets, restoring stolen goods, and even for raising spirits, when it +so pleased him. Of this crafty cheat he relates an extraordinary +story. Some time before Lilly became acquainted with him, Lord +Bothwell and Sir Kenelm Digby visited him at his lodgings in the +Minories, in order that they might enjoy what is nowadays called a +'spiritualistic séance.' The magician drew the mysterious circle, and +placed himself and his visitors within it. He began his invocations; +but suddenly Evans was caught up from the others, and transferred, he +knew not how, to Battersea Fields, near the Thames. Next morning a +countryman discovered him there, fast asleep, and, having roused him, +informed him, in answer to his inquiries, where he was. Evans in the +afternoon sent a messenger to his wife, to acquaint her with his +safety, and dispel the apprehensions she might reasonably entertain. +Just as the messenger arrived, Sir Kenelm Digby also arrived, not +unnaturally curious to learn the issue of the preceding day's +adventure. This monstrous story Evans told to Lilly, who, I suppose, +affected to believe it, and asked him how such an issue chanced to +attend on his experiment. Because, the knave replied, in performing +the invocation rites, he had carelessly omitted the necessary +suffumigation, and at this omission the spirit had taken offence. It +is evident that the spirits insist on being treated with due regard to +etiquette. + +Lilly, by the way, records some quaint biographical particulars +respecting the astrologers of his time; they are not of a nature, +however, to elevate our ideas of the profession. One would almost +suppose that free intercourse with the inhabitants of the unseen world +had an exceptionally bad effect on the morals and manners of the +mortals who enjoyed it; or else the spirits must have had a penchant +for low society. Lilly speaks of one William Poole, who was a nibbler +at astrological science, and, in addition, a gardener, an apparitor, a +drawer of lime, a plasterer, a bricklayer; in fact, he bragged of +knowing no fewer than seventeen trades--such was the versatility of +his genius! It is pleasant to know that this wonderfully clever fellow +could condescend to 'drolling,' and even to writing poetry (heaven +save the mark!), of which Lilly, in his desire to astonish posterity, +has preserved a specimen. Master Poole's rhymes, however, are much too +offensively coarse to be transferred to these pages. + +This man of many callings died about 1651 or 1652, at St. Mary +Overy's, in Southwark, and Lilly quotes a portion of his last will and +testament: + + '_Item._ I give to Dr. Arder all my books, and one manuscript + of my own, worth one hundred of Lilly's Introduction. + + '_Item._ If Dr. Arder gives my wife anything that is mine, I + wish the D--l may fetch him body and soul.' + +Terrified at this uncompromising malediction, the doctor handed over +all the deceased conjurer's books and goods to Lilly, who in his turn +handed them over to the widow; and in this way Poole's curse was +eluded, and his widow got her rights. + +The true name of this Dr. Arder, it seems, was Richard Delahay. He +had originally practised as an attorney; but falling into poverty, and +being driven from his Derbyshire home by the Countess of Shrewsbury, +he turned to astrology and physic, and looked round about him for +patients, though with no very great success. He had at one time known +a Charles Sledd, a friend of Dr. Dee, 'who used the crystal, and had a +very perfect sight'--in modern parlance, was a good medium. + +Dr. Arder often declared to Lilly that an angel had on one occasion +offered him a lease of life for a thousand years, but for some +unexplained reasons he declined the valuable freehold. However, he +outlived the Psalmist's span, dying at the ripe old age of eighty. + + * * * * * + +A much more famous magician was John Booker, who, in 1632 and 1633, +gained a great notoriety by his prediction of a solar eclipse in the +nineteenth degree of Aries, 1633, taken out of 'Leuitius de Magnis +Conjunctionibus,' namely, 'O Reges et Principes,' etc., both the King +of Bohemia and Gustavus, King of Sweden, dying during 'the effects of +that eclipse.' + +John Booker was born at Manchester, of good parentage, in 1601. In his +youth he attained a very considerable proficiency in the Latin tongue. +From his early years we may take it that he was destined to become an +astrologer--he showed so great a fancy (otherwise inexplicable!) for +poring over old almanacks. In his teens he was despatched to London to +serve his apprenticeship to a haberdasher in Lawrence Lane. But +whether he contracted a distaste for the trade, or lacked the capital +to start on his own account, he abandoned it on reaching manhood, and +started as a writing-master at Hadley, in Middlesex. It is said that +he wrote singularly well, 'both Secretary and Roman.' Later in life he +officiated as clerk to Sir Christopher Clithero, Alderman of London, +and Justice of the Peace, and also to Sir Hugh Hammersley, Alderman, +and in these responsible positions became well known to many citizens +who, like Cowper's John Gilpin, were 'of credit and renown.' + +In star-craft this John Booker was a past master! His verses upon the +months, framed according to their different astrological +significations, 'being blessed with success, according to his +predictions,' made him known all over England. He was a man of 'great +honesty,' abhorring any deceit in the art he loved and studied. So +says Lilly; but it is certain that if an astrologer be in earnest, he +must deceive himself, if he do not deceive others. This Booker had +much good fortune in detecting thefts, and was not less an adept in +resolving love-questions. His knowledge of astronomy was by no means +limited; he understood a good deal of physic; was a great advocate of +the antimonial cup, whose properties were first discovered by Basil +Valentine; not unskilled in chemistry, though he did not practise it. +He died in the sweet odour of a good reputation in 1667, leaving +behind him a tolerable library (which was purchased by Elias Ashmole, +the antiquary), a widow, four children, and the MSS. of his annual +prognostications. During the Long Parliament period he published his +'Bellum Hibernicale,' which is described as 'a very sober and +judicious book,' and, not long before his death, a small treatise on +Easter Day, wherein he displayed a laudable erudition. + + * * * * * + +Lilly has also something to say about a Master Nicholas Fiske, +licentiate in physic, who came of a good old family, and was born near +Framlingham, in Suffolk. He was educated for the University, but +preferred staying at home, and studying astrology and medicine, which +he afterwards practised at Colchester, and at several places in +London. + + 'He was a person very studious, laborious, of good + apprehension, and had by his own industry obtained both in + astrology, physic, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and + algebra, singular judgment: he would in astrology resolve + horary questions very soundly, but was ever diffident of his + own abilities. He was exquisitely skilful in the art of + directions upon nativities, and had a good genius in + performing judgment thereupon; but very unhappy he was that + he had no genius in teaching his scholars, for he never + perfected any. His own son Matthew hath often told me that + when his father did teach any scholars in his time, they + would principally learn of him. _He had Scorpio ascending + (!)_, and was secretly envious to those he thought had more + parts than himself. However, I must be ingenuous, and do + affirm that by frequent conversation with him I came to know + which were the best authors, and much to enlarge my judgment, + especially in the art of directions: he visited me most days + once after I became acquainted with him, and would + communicate his most doubtful questions unto me, and accept + of my judgment therein rather than his own.' + +Resuming his own life-story, Lilly records an important purchase which +he made in 1634--the great astrological treatise, the 'Ars Notaria,' +a large parchment volume, enriched with the names and pictures of +those angels which are thought and believed by wise men to teach and +instruct in all the several liberal sciences--as if heaven were a +scientific academy, with the angels giving lectures as professors of +astrology, medicine, mathematics, and the like! Next he describes how +he sought to extend his fame as a magician by attempting the discovery +of a quantity of treasure alleged to have been concealed in the +cloister of Westminster Abbey; and having obtained permission from the +authorities, he repaired thither, one winter night, accompanied by +several gentlemen, and by one John Scott, a supposed expert in the use +of the Mosaical or divining rods. The hazel rods were duly played +round about the cloister, and on the west side turned one over the +other, a proof that the treasure lay there. The labourers, after +digging to a depth of six feet, came upon a coffin; but as it was not +heavy, Lilly refrained from opening it, an omission which he +afterwards regretted. From the cloister they proceeded to the Abbey +Church, where, upon a sudden, so fierce, so high, so blustering and +loud a wind burst forth, that they feared the west end of the church +would fall upon them. Their rods would not move at all; the candles +and torches, all but one, were extinguished, or burned very dimly. +John Scott, Lilly's partner, was amazed, turned pale, and knew not +what to think or do, until Lilly gave command to dismiss the demons. +This being done, all was quiet again, and the party returned home +about midnight. 'I could never since be induced,' says Master Lilly, +with sublime impertinence, 'to join with any in such-like actions. The +true miscarriage of the business,' he adds, 'was by reason of so many +people being present at the operation; for there were about thirty, +some laughing, others deriding, _so that if we had not dismissed the +demons, I believe most part of the Abbey Church had been blown down_! +Secrecy and intelligent operators,' he adds, 'with a strong confidence +and knowledge of what they are doing, are best for this work.' They +are, at all events, for conspiracy and collusion. + +In reading a narrative like this, one finds it not easy to satisfy +one's self how far it has been written in good faith, or how far it is +compounded of credulity or of conscious deception--how far the writer +has unwittingly imposed upon himself, or is knowingly imposing upon +the reader. That Lilly should gravely transmit to posterity such a +record, if aware that it was an audacious invention, seems hardly +credible; and yet it is still less credible that a man so shrewd and +keen-witted should believe in the operations of demons, and in their +directing a blast of wind against the Abbey Church because they +resented his search for a hidden treasure, to which they at least +could have no claim! As great wit to madness nearly is allied, so is +there a dangerous proximity between credulity and imposture, and the +man who begins by being a dupe often ends by becoming a knave. Perhaps +there are times when the axiom should be reversed. + +Lilly's astrological pursuits appear to have affected his health: he +grew lean and haggard, and suffered much from hypochondria; so that, +at length, he resolved to try the curative effects of country air, and +removed, in the spring of 1636, to Hersham, a quiet and picturesque +hamlet, near Walton-on-the-Thames. He did not give up his London +house, however, until thirty years later (1665), when he finally +settled at Hersham as a country gentleman, and a person of no small +consideration. + +Having recovered his health in his rural quarters, our great magician +returned to London, and practised openly his favourite art. But a +secret intelligence apprising him that he was not sufficiently an +adept, he again withdrew into the country, where he remained for a +couple of years, immersed, I suppose, in occult studies. We may take +it that he really entered on a professional career in 1644, when a +'happy thought' inspired him to bring out the first yearly issue of +his prophetical almanac, or 'Merlinus Anglicus Junior.' In his usual +abrupt and disjointed style he gives the following account of his +publication: 'I had given, one day, the copy thereof unto the then Mr. +[afterwards Sir Bulstrode] Whitlocke, who by accident was reading +thereof in the House of Commons. Ere the Speaker took the chair, one +looked upon it, and so did many, and got copies thereof; which, when I +heard, I applied myself to John Booker to license it, for then he was +licenser of all mathematical books.... He wondered at the book, made +many impertinent obliterations, formed many objections, swore it was +not possible to distinguish betwixt King and Parliament [O shrewd +John Booker!]; at last licensed it according to his own fancy. I +delivered it unto the printer, who being an arch Presbyterian, had +five of the ministry to inspect it, _who could make nothing of it_, +but said that it might be printed, for in that I meddled not with +their Dagon. The first impression was sold in less than one week. When +I presented some [copies] to the members of Parliament, I complained +of John Booker, the licenser, who had defaced my book; they gave me +order forthwith to reprint it as I would, and let me know if any durst +resist me in the reprinting or adding what I thought fit: so the +second time it came forth as I would have it.' + +In June, 1644, Lilly published his 'Supernatural Sight,' and also 'The +White King's Prophecy,' of which, in three days, eighteen hundred +copies were sold. He issued the second volume of his 'Prophetical +Merlin,' in which he made use of the King's nativity, and discovering +that _his ascendant was approaching to the quadrature of Mars about +June, 1645_, delivered himself of this oracular utterance, as +ambiguous as any that ever fell from the lips of the Pythian +priestess: + + 'If now we fight, a victory stealeth upon us--' + +which he afterwards boasted to be a clear prediction of the defeat of +Charles I. at Naseby, and, of course, would equally well have served +to have explained a royal victory. Whitlocke, in his 'Memorials of +Affairs in his own Times,' states that he met the astrologer in the +spring of 1645, and jestingly asking him what events were likely to +take place, Lilly repeated this prophecy of a victory. He remarks that +in 1648 some of Lilly's prognostications 'fell out very strangely, +particularly as to the King's fall from his horse about this time.' +But it would have been strange if a man so well informed of public +affairs, and so shrewd, as William Lilly, had never been right in his +forecasts. And a lucky coincidence will set an astrologer up in credit +for a long time, his numerous failures being forgotten. + +In this same memorable and eventful year he published his 'Starry +Messenger,' with an interpretation of three mock suns, or _parhelia_, +which had been seen in London on the 29th of May, 1644, King Charles +II.'s birthday. Complaint was immediately made to the Parliamentary +Committee of Examination that it contained treasonable and scandalous +matter. Lilly was summoned before the Committee, but several of his +friends were upon it, and voted the charges against him frivolous--as, +indeed, they were--so that he met with his usual good fortune, and +came off with flying colours. + +All the English astrologers of the old school seem to have been +startled and confounded by the innovations of this dashing young +magician, with his yearly almanacks and political predictions and +self-advertisement, especially a certain Mr. William Hodges, who lived +near Wolverhampton, and candidly confessed that Lilly did more by +astrology than he himself could do by the crystal, though he +understood its use as well as any man in England. Though a strong +royalist, he could never strike out any good fortune for the King's +party--the stars in their courses fought against Charles Stuart. The +angels whom he interviewed by means of the crystal were Raphael, +Gabriel, and Ariel; but his life was wanting in the purity and +holiness which ought to have been conspicuous in a man who was +favoured by communications from such high celestial sources. + +A proof of his skill is related by Lilly on the authority of Lilly's +partner, John Scott. + +Scott had some knowledge of surgery and physic; so had Will Hodges, +who had at one time been a schoolmaster. Having some business at +Wolverhampton, Scott stayed for a few weeks with Hodges, and assisted +him in dressing wounds, letting blood, and other chirurgical matters. +When on the point of returning to London, he asked Hodges to show him +the face and figure of the woman he should marry. Hodges carried him +into a field near his house, pulled out his crystal, bade Scott set +his foot against his, and, after a pause, desired him to look into the +crystal, and describe what he saw there. + +'I see,' saith Scott, 'a ruddy-complexioned wench, in a red waistcoat, +drawing a can of beer.' + +'She will be your wife,' cried Hodges. + +'You are mistaken, sir,' rejoined Scott. 'So soon as I come to London, +I am engaged to marry a tall gentlewoman in the Old Bailey.' + +'You will marry the red gentlewoman,' replied Hodges, with an air of +imperturbable assurance. + +On returning to London, Scott, to his great astonishment, found that +his tall gentlewoman had jilted him, and taken to herself another +husband. Two years afterwards, in the course of a Kentish journey, he +refreshed himself at an inn in Canterbury; fell in love with its +ruddy-complexioned barmaid; and, when he married her, remembered her +red waistcoat, her avocation, and Mr. Hodges 'his crystal.' + +An amusing story is told of this man Hodges. + +A neighbour of his, who had lost his horse, recovered the animal by +acting upon the astrologer's advice. Some years afterwards he +unluckily conceived the idea of playing upon the wise man a practical +joke, and obtained the co-operation of one of his friends. He had +certainly recovered his horse, he said, in the way Hodges had shown +him, but it was purely a chance, and would not happen again. 'So come, +let us play him a trick. I will leave some boy or other at the town's +end with my horse, and we will then call on Hodges and put him to the +test.' + +This was done, and Hodges said it was true the horse was lost, and +would never be recovered. + +'I thought what fine skill you had,' laughed the gentleman; 'my horse +is walking in a lane at the town's end.' + +Whereupon Hodges, with an oath, as was his evil habit, asserted that +the horse was gone, and that his owner would never see him again. +Ridiculing the wise man without mercy, the gentleman departed, and +hastened to the town's end, and there, at the appointed place, the +boy lay stretched upon the ground, fast asleep, with the bridle round +his arm, but the horse was gone! + +Back to Hodges hurried the chap-fallen squire, ashamed of his +incredulity, and eagerly seeking assistance. But no; the conjurer +swore freely--'Be gone--be gone about your business; go and look for +your horse.' He went and he looked, east and west, and north and +south, but his horse saw never more. + + * * * * * + +Let us next hear what Lilly has to tell us of Dr. Napper, the parson +of Great Lindford, in Buckinghamshire, the advowson of which parish +belonged to him. He sprang from a good old stock, according to the +witness of King James himself. For when his brother, Robert Napper, an +opulent Turkey merchant, was to be made a baronet in James's reign, +some dispute arose whether he could prove himself a gentleman for +three or more descents. 'By my soul,' exclaimed the King, 'I will +certify for Napper, that he is of above three hundred years' standing +in his family; all of them, by my soul, gentlemen!' The parson was +legitimately and truly master of arts; his claim to the title of +doctor, however, seems to have been dubious. Miscarrying one day in +the pulpit, he never after ventured into it, but all his lifetime kept +in his house some excellent scholar to officiate for him, allowing him +a good salary. Lilly speaks highly of his sanctity of life and +knowledge of medicine, and avers that he cured the falling sickness by +constellated rings, and other diseases by amulets. + +The parents of a maid who suffered severely from the falling sickness +applied to him, on one occasion, for a cure. He fashioned for her a +constellated ring, upon wearing of which she completely recovered. Her +parents chanced to make known the cure to some scrupulous divines, who +immediately protested that it was done by enchantment. 'Cast away the +ring,' they said; 'it's diabolical! God cannot bless you, if you do +not cast it away.' The ring was thrown into a well, and the maid was +again afflicted with her epilepsy, enduring the old pain and misery +for a weary time. At last the parents caused the well to be emptied, +and regained the ring, which the maid again made use of, and recovered +from her fits. Thus things went on for a year or two, until the +Puritan divines, hearing that she had resumed the ring, insisted with +her parents until they threw the ring away altogether; whereupon the +fits returned with such violence that they betook themselves to the +doctor, told their story, acknowledged their fault, and once more +besought his assistance. But he could not be persuaded to render it, +observing that those who despised God's mercies were not capable or +not worthy of enjoying them. + +We do not dismiss this story as entirely apocryphal, knowing that, in +the cure or mitigation of nervous diseases, the imagination exercises +a wonderful influence. There are well-authenticated instances of +'faith healing' not a whit less extraordinary than this case described +by Lilly of the maiden and the ring. It would be trivial, perhaps, to +hint that a good many maidens have been cured of some, at least, of +their ailments by _a ring_. + + * * * * * + +In 1646 Lilly printed a collection of prophecies, with the explanation +and verification of 'Aquila; or, The White King's Prophecy,' as also +the nativities of Archbishop Laud and the Earl of Strafford, and a +learned speech, which the latter intended to have spoken on the +scaffold. In the following year he completed his 'Introduction unto +Astrology,' or 'Christian Astrology,' and was summoned, along with +John Booker, to the head-quarters of Fairfax, at Windsor. They were +conveyed thither in great pomp and circumstance, with a coach and four +horses, welcomed in hearty fashion, and feasted in a garden where +General Fairfax lodged. In the course of their interview with the +general he said to them: + + 'That God had blessed the army with many signal victories, + and yet their work was not finished. He hoped God would go + along with them until His work was done. They sought not + themselves, but the welfare and tranquillity of the good + people and whole nation; and, for that end, were resolved to + sacrifice both their lives and their own fortunes. As for the + art that Lilly and Booker studied, he hoped it was lawful and + agreeable to God's Word: he himself understood it not, but + doubted not they both feared God, and therefore had a good + opinion of them both.' + +Lilly replied: + + 'My lord, I am glad to see you here at this time. Certainly, + both the people of God, and all others of this nation, are + very sensible of God's mercy, love, and favour unto them, in + directing the Parliament to nominate and elect you General of + their armies, a person so religious, so valiant. + + 'The several unexpected victories obtained under your + Excellency's conduct will eternize the same unto all + posterity. + + 'We are confident of God's going along with you and your army + until the great work, for which He ordained you both, is + fully perfected, which we hope will be the conquering and + subversion of your and the Parliament's enemies; and then a + quiet settlement and firm peace over all the nation unto + God's glory, and full satisfaction of tender consciences. + + 'Sir, as for ourselves, we trust in God; and, as Christians, + we believe in Him. We do not study any art but what is lawful + and consonant to the Scriptures, Fathers, and antiquity, + which we humbly desire you to believe.' + +They afterwards paid a visit to Hugh Peters, the famous Puritan +ecclesiastic, who had lodgings in the Castle. They found him reading +'an idle pamphlet,' which he had received from London that morning. +'Lilly, thou art herein,' he exclaimed. 'Are not you there also?' +'Yes, that I am,' he answered. + +The stanza relating to Lilly ran as follows: + + 'From th' oracles of the Sibyls so silly, + The curst predictions of William Lilly, + And Dr. Sibbald's Shoe-Lane Philly, + Good Lord, deliver me.' + +After much conference with Hugh Peters, and some private discourse +betwixt the two 'not to be divulged,' they parted, and Master Lilly +returned to London. + +In 1647 he published 'The World's Catastrophe,' 'The Prophecies of +Ambrose Merlin' (both of which were translated by Elias Ashmole), and +'Trithemius of the Government of the World, by the Presiding +Angels'--all three tracts in one volume. + +Notwithstanding his services to the Parliamentary cause, Lilly +secretly retained a strong attachment towards Charles I., and he was +consulted by Mrs. Whorwood, a lady who enjoyed the royal confidence, +as to the best place for the concealment of the King, when he escaped +from Hampton Court. After the usual sham of 'erecting a figure' had +been gone through, Lilly advised that a safe asylum might be found in +Essex, about twenty miles from London. 'She liked my judgment very +well,' he says, and being herself of sharp judgment, remembered a +place in Essex about that distance, where was an excellent house, and +all conveniences for his reception. But, either guided by an +irresistible destiny, or misled by Ashburnham, whose good faith has +been sometimes doubted, he went away in the night-time westward, and +surrendered himself to Colonel Hammond, in the Isle of Wight. + +With another unfortunate episode in the King's later career, Lilly was +also connected. During the King's confinement at Carisbrooke the +Kentishmen, in considerable numbers, rose in arms, and joined with +Lord Goring; at the same time many of the best ships revolted, and a +movement on behalf of the King was begun among the citizens of London. +'His Majesty then laid his design to escape out of prison by sawing +the iron bar of his chamber window; a small ship was provided, and +anchored not far from the Castle, to bring him into Sussex; horses +were provided ready to carry him through Sussex into Kent, so that he +might be at the head of the army in Kent, and from thence to march +immediately to London, where thousands then would have armed for +him.' Lilly was brought acquainted with the plot, and employed a +locksmith in Bow Lane to make a saw for cutting asunder the iron bar, +and also procured a supply of aqua fortis. But, as everybody knows, +the King was unable to force his body through the narrow casement, +even after the removal of the bar, and the plot failed. + +When the Parliament sent Commissioners into the Island to negotiate +with Charles the terms of a concordat, of whom Lord Saye was one, Lady +Whorwood again sought Lilly's assistance and advice. After perusing +his 'figure,' he told her the Commissioners would arrive in the Island +on such a date; elected a day and hour when the King would receive the +Commissioners and their propositions; and as soon as these were read, +advised the King to sign them, and in all haste to accompany the +Commissioners to London. The army being then far removed from the +capital, and the citizens stoutly enraged against the Parliamentary +leaders, Charles promised he would do so. But, unfortunately, he +allowed Lord Saye to dissuade him from signing the propositions, on +the assurance that he had a powerful party both in the House of Lords +and the House of Commons, who would see that he obtained more +favourable conditions. Thus was lost almost his last chance of +retaining his crown, and baffling the designs of his enemies. + +Whilst the King, in his last days, was at Windsor Castle, on one +occasion, when he was taking the air upon the leads, he looked through +Captain Wharton's 'Almanack.' 'My book,' saith he, 'speaks well as to +the weather.' A Master William Allen, who was standing by, inquired, +'What saith his antagonist, Mr. Lilly?' 'I do not care for Lilly,' +remarked his Majesty, 'he has always been against me,' infusing some +bitterness into his expressions. 'Sir,' observed Allen, 'the man is an +honest man, and writes but what his art informs him.' 'I believe it,' +said his Majesty, 'and that Lilly understands astrology as well as any +man in Europe.' + + * * * * * + +In 1648 the Council of State acknowledged Lilly's services with a +grant of £50, and a pension of £100 a year, which, however, he +received for two years only. + +In the following January, while the King lay at St. James's House, +Lilly began his observations, he tells us, in the following oracular +fashion: + +'I am serious, I beg and expect justice; either fear or shame begins +to question offenders. + +'The lofty cedars begin to divine a thundering hurricane is at hand; +God elevates man contemptible. + +'Our demigods are sensible, we begin to dislike their actions very +much in London; more in the country. + +'Blessed be God, who encourages His servants, makes them valiant, and +of undaunted spirit to go on with His decrees: upon a sudden, great +expectations arise, and men generally believe a quiet and calm time +draws nigh.' + +Our garrulous and egotistical conjurer, who seems really to have +believed that he exercised a considerable influence upon the course of +events, though his position was no more important than that of the fly +upon the wheel, evidently wished to connect these commonplaces with +the execution of Charles I.: + +'In Christmas holidays,' he writes, 'the Lord Gray of Groby, and Hugh +Peters, sent for me to Somerset House, with directions to bring them +two of my almanacks. I did so. Peters and he read January's +observations. "If we are not fools and knaves," saith he, "we shall do +justice." Then they whispered. _I understood not their meaning until +his Majesty _was beheaded_._ They applied what I wrote of justice to +be understood of his Majesty, _which was contrary to my intention_; +for Jupiter, the first day of January, became direct; and Libra is a +sign signifying justice. I implored for justice generally upon such as +had cheated in their places, being treasurers and such-like officers. +I had not then heard the least intimation of bringing the King unto +trial, and yet the first day thereof I was casually there, it being +upon a Saturday. For going to Westminster every Saturday in the +afternoon, in these times, at Whitehall I casually met Peters. "Come, +Lilly, wilt thou go hear the King tried?" "When?" said I. "Now--just +now; go with me." I did so, and was permitted by the guard of soldiers +to pass up to the King's Bench. Within one quarter of an hour came the +judges; presently his Majesty, who spoke excellently well, and +majestically, without impediment in the least when he spoke. I saw +the silver top of his staff unexpectedly fall to the ground, which was +took up by Mr. Rushworth; and then I heard Bradshaw, the judge, say to +his Majesty: "Sir, instead of answering the Court, you interrogate +their power, which becomes not one in your condition." These words +pierced my heart and soul, to hear a subject thus audaciously to +reprehend his Sovereign, who ever and anon replied with great +magnanimity and prudence.' + +Lilly tells us that during the siege of Colchester he and his +fellow-astrologer, Booker, were sent for, to encourage the soldiers by +their vaticinations, and in this they succeeded, as they assured them +the town would soon be surrendered--which was actually the case. Our +prophet, however, if he could have obtained leave to enter the town, +would have carried all his sympathies, and all his knowledge of the +condition of affairs in the Parliament's army, to Sir Charles Lucas, +the Royalist Governor. He had a narrow escape with his life during his +sojourn in the camp of the besiegers. A couple of guns had been placed +so as to command St. Mary's Church, and had done great injury to it. +One afternoon he was standing in the redoubt and talking with the +cannoneer, when the latter cried out for everybody to look to himself, +as he could see through his glass that there was a piece in the Castle +loaded and directed against his work, and ready to be discharged. +Lilly ran in hot haste under an old ash-tree, and immediately the +cannon-shot came hissing over their heads. 'No danger now,' said the +gunner, 'but begone, for there are five more loading!' And so it was. +Two hours later those cannon were fired, and unluckily killed the +cannoneer who had given Lilly a timely warning. + +The practice of astrology must have been exceedingly lucrative, for +Lilly is known to have acquired a considerable fortune. In 1651 he +expended £1,030 in the purchase of fee-farm rents, equal in value to +£120 per annum. And in the following year he bought his house at +Hersham, with some lands and buildings, for £950. In the same year he +published his 'Annus Tenebrosus,' a title which he chose _not_ +'because of the great obscurity of the solar eclipse,' but in allusion +to 'those underhand and clandestine counsels held in England by the +soldiery, of which he would never, except _in generals_, give +information to any Parliament man.' Unfortunately, Lilly's knowledge +was always embodied 'in generals,' and the misty vagueness of his +vaticinations renders it impossible for the reader to pin them down to +any definite meaning. You may apply them to all events--or to none. +Their elastic indications of things good and evil may be made to suit +the events of the nineteenth century almost as well as those of the +seventeenth. + +Many characters Mr. William Lilly must be owned to have represented +with great success. But that all-essential one--if we desire to secure +the confidence of our contemporaries, and the respect of posterity--of +_an honest man_, I fear he was never able to personate successfully. +Of the craft and cunning he could at times display he records a +striking illustration--evidently with entire satisfaction to himself, +and apparently never suspecting that it might not be so favourably +regarded by others, and especially by those plain, commonplace people +who make no pretensions to hermetic learning or occult knowledge, but +have certain unsophisticated ideas as to the laws of morality and fair +dealing. + +In his 1651 'Almanack' he asserted that the Parliament stood upon +tottering foundations, and that the soldiery and commonalty would +combine against it--a conclusion at which every intelligent onlooker +must by that time have arrived, without 'erecting a figure' or +consulting the starry heavens. + +This previous attempt at forecasting the future 'lay for a whole +week,' says its author, 'in the Parliament House, much criticised by +the Presbyterians; one disliking this sentence, another that, and +others disliking the whole. In the end a motion was made that it +should be examined by a Committee of the House, with instructions to +report concerning its errors. + +'A messenger attached me by a warrant from that Committee. I had +private notice ere the messenger came, and hasted unto Mr. Speaker +Lenthall, ever my friend. He was exceeding glad to see me, told me +what was done, called for "Anglicus," marked the passages which +tormented the Presbyterians so highly. I presently sent for Mr. +Warren, the printer, an assured cavalier, obliterated what was most +offensive, put in other more significant words, and desired only to +have six amended against next morning, which very honestly he brought +me. I told him my design was to deny the book found fault with, to own +only the six books. I told him I doubted he would be examined. "Hang +them!" said he; "they are all rogues. I'll swear myself to the devil +ere they shall have an advantage against you, by my oath." + +'The day after, I appeared before the Committee. At first they showed +me the true "Anglicus," and asked if I wrote and printed it.' + +Lilly, after pretending to inspect it, denied all knowledge of it, +asserting that it must have been written with a view to do him injury +by some malicious Presbyterian, at the same time producing the six +amended copies, to the great surprise and perplexity of the Committee. +The majority, however, were inclined to send him to prison, and some +had proposed Newgate, others the Gate House, when one Brown, of +Sussex, who had been influenced to favour Lilly, remarked that neither +to Newgate nor the Gate House were the Parliament accustomed to send +their prisoners, and suggested that the most convenient and legitimate +course would be for the Sergeant-at-Arms to take this Mr. Lilly into +custody. + +'Mr. Strickland, who had for many years been the Parliament's +ambassador or agent in Holland, when he saw how they inclined, spoke +thus: + +'"I came purposely into the Committee this day to see the man who is +so famous in those parts where I have so long continued. I assure you +his name is famous over all Europe. I come to do him justice. A book +is produced by us, and said to be his; he denies it; we have not +proved it, yet will commit him. Truly this is great injustice. It is +likely he will write next year, and acquaint the whole world with our +injustice, and so well he may. It is my opinion, first to prove the +book to be his ere he be committed." + +'Another old friend of mine spoke thus: + +'"You do not know the many services this man hath done for the +Parliament these many years, or how many times, in our greatest +distresses, on applying unto him, he hath refreshed our languishing +expectations; he never failed us of comfort in our most unhappy +distresses. I assure you his writings have kept up the spirits both of +the soldiery, the honest people of this nation, and many of us +Parliament men; and at last, for a slip of his pen (if it were his), +to be thus violent against him, I must tell you, I fear the +consequence urged out of the book will prove effectually true. It is +my counsel to admonish him hereafter to be more wary, and for the +present to dismiss him." + +'Notwithstanding anything that was spoken on my behalf, I was ordered +to stand committed to the Sergeant-at-Arms. The messenger attached my +person said I was his prisoner. As he was carrying me away, he was +called to bring me again. Oliver Cromwell, Lieutenant-General of the +army, having never seen me, caused me to be produced again, when he +steadfastly beheld me for a good space, and then I went with the +messenger; but instantly a young clerk of that Committee asks the +messenger what he did with me. Where is the warrant? Until that is +signed you cannot seize Mr. Lilly, or shall [not]. Will you have an +action of false imprisonment against you? So I escaped that night, but +next day stayed the warrant. That night Oliver Cromwell went to Mr. +R----, my friend, and said: "What, never a man to take Lilly's cause +in hand but yourself? None to take his part but you? He shall not be +long there." Hugh Peters spoke much in my behalf to the Committee, but +they were resolved to lodge me in the Sergeant's custody. One +Millington, a drunken member, was much my enemy, and so was Cawley and +Chichester, a deformed fellow, unto whom I had done several +courtesies. + +'First thirteen days I was a prisoner, and though every day of the +Committee's sitting I had a petition to deliver, yet so many churlish +Presbyterians still appeared I could not get it accepted. The last day +of the thirteen, Mr. Joseph Ash was made chairman, unto whom my cause +being related, he took my petition, and said I should be bailed in +despite of them all, but desired I would procure as many friends as I +could to be there. Sir Arthur Haselrig and Major Galloway, a person of +excellent parts, appeared for me, and many more of my old friends came +in. After two whole hours' arguing of my cause by Sir Arthur and Major +Galloway, and other friends, the matter came to this point: I should +be bailed, and a Committee nominated to examine the printer. The order +of the Committee being brought afterwards to him who should be +Chairman, he sent me word, do what I would, he would see all the +knaves hanged, or he would examine the printer. This is the truth of +the story.' + +Lilly's biographer, however anxious he may be to imitate biographers +generally, and whitewash his hero, feels that in this episode of his +life the great seer fell miserably below the heroic standard, and was +guilty of pusillanimous as well as unveracious and dishonourable +conduct. Yet Lilly is evidently unaware of the unfavourable light in +which he has shown himself, and ambles along in an easy and +well-satisfied mood, as if to the sound of universal applause. + +On February 26, 1654, Lilly lost his second wife, and I regret to say +he seems to have borne the loss with astonishing equanimity. On April +20 Cromwell expelled from the House our astrologer's great enemies, +the Parliament men, and thereby won his most cordial applause. He +breaks out, indeed, into a burst of devotional praise--Gloria +Patri--as if for some special and never-to-be-forgotten mercy. A +German physician, then resident in London, sent to him the following +epigram: + + _Strophe Alcaica: Generoso Domino Gulielmo Lillio + Astrologo, de dissoluto super Parliamento:_ + + 'Quod calculasti Sydere prævio, + Miles peregit numine conscio; + Gentis videmus nunc Senatum + Marti togaque gravi leviatum.' + +His widower's weeds, if he ever wore them, he soon discarded, marrying +his third wife in October, eight months after the decease of his +second. This, his latest partner and helpmate, was signified in his +nativity, he says, by _Jupiter in Libra_, which seems to have been a +great comfort to him, and perhaps to his wife also. 'Jupiter in Libra' +sounds as well, indeed, as 'that blessed word, Mesopotamia.' + +In reference to the restoration of Charles II., in 1660, Lilly +unearths an old prophecy attributed to Ambrose Merlin, and written, he +says, 990 years before. + +'He calls King James the Lion of Righteousness, and saith, when he +died, or was dead, there would reign a noble White King; this was +Charles I. The prophet discovers all his troubles, his flying up and +down, his imprisonment, his death, and calls him Aquila. What concerns +Charles II. is,' says Lilly, 'the subject of our discourse; in the +Latin copy it is thus: + +'_Deinde ab Austro veniet cum Sole super ligneos equos, et super +spumantem inundationem maris, Pullus Aquilæ navigans in Britanniam._ + +'_Et applicans statim tunc altam domum Aquilæ sitiens, et cito aliam +sitiet._ + +'_Deinde Pullus Aquilæ nidificabit in summa rupe totius Britanniæ: nec +juvenis occidet, nec ad senem vivet._' + +This, in an old copy, is Englished thus: + +'After then shall come through the south with the sun, on horse of +tree, and upon all waves of the sea, the Chicken of the Eagle, sailing +into Britain, and arriving anon to the house of the Eagle, he shall +show fellowship to these beasts. + +'After, the Chicken of the Eagle shall nestle in the highest rock of +all Britain: nay, he shall nought be slain young; nay, he nought come +old.' + +Master William Lilly then supplies an explanation, or, as he calls it, +a verification, of these venerable predictions. We shall give it in +his own words: + +'His Majesty being in the Low Countries when the Lord-General had +restored the secluded members, the Parliament sent part of the royal +navy to bring him for England, which they did in May, 1660. Holland is +east from England, so he came with the sun; but he landed at Dover, a +port in the south part of England. Wooden horses are the English +ships. + +'_Tunc nidificabit in summo rupium._ + +'The Lord-General, and most of the gentry in England, met him in Kent, +and brought him unto London, then to White-hall. + +'Here, by the highest Rooch (some write Rock) is intended London, +being the metropolis of all England. + +'Since which time, unto this very day, I write this story, he hath +reigned in England, and long may he do hereafter.' (Written on +December 20, 1667.) + +Lilly quotes a prophecy, printed in 1588, in Greek characters, which +exactly deciphered, he says, the long troubles the English nation +endured from 1641 to 1660, but he omits to tell us where he saw it or +who was its author. It ended in the following mysterious fashion: + +'And after that shall come a dreadful dead man, and with him a royal +G' (it is gamma, +G+, in the Greek, intending C in the Latin, being +the third letter in the alphabet), 'of the best blood in the world, +and he shall have the crown, and shall set England in the right way, +and put out all heresies.' + +To a man who could read the secrets of the stars, and divine the +events of the future, there was, of course, nothing mysterious or +obscure in these lines, and their meaning he had no difficulty in +determining. Monkery having been extinguished above eighty or ninety +years, and the Lord-General's name being _Monk_, what more clear than +that he must be the 'dead man'? And as for the royal +G+, or C, who +came of the best blood of the world, it was evident that he could be +no other than Charles II.? The unlearned reader, who has neither the +stars nor the crystal to assist him, will, nevertheless, arrive at the +conclusion that if prophecies can be interpreted in this liberal +fashion, there is nothing to prevent even him from assuming the _rôle_ +of an interpreter! + +But let it be noted that, according to our brilliant magicians, 'these +two prophecies were not given vocally by the angels, but by inspection +of the crystal in types and figures, or by apparition, the circular +way, where, at some distance, the angels appear, representing by +forms, shapes, and motions, what is demanded. It is very rare, yea, +even in our days, for any operator or master to have the angels speak +articulately; _when they do speak, it is like the Irish, much in the +throat_.' + +In June, 1660, Lilly was summoned before a Committee of the House of +Commons to answer to an inquiry concerning the executioner employed to +behead Charles I. Here is his account of the examination: + +'God's providence appeared very much for me that day, for walking in +Westminster Hall, Mr. Richard Pennington, son to my old friend, Mr. +William Pennington, met me, and inquiring the cause of my being there, +said no more, but walked up and down the Hall, and related my kindness +to his father unto very many Parliament men of Cheshire and +Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumberland, and those northern counties, who +numerously came up into the Speaker's chamber, and bade me be of good +comfort; at last he meets Mr. Weston, one of the three [the two others +were Mr. Prinn and Colonel King] unto whom my matter was referred for +examination, who told Mr. Pennington that he came purposely to punish +me, and would be bitter against me; but hearing it related, namely, my +singular kindness and preservation of old Mr. Pennington's estate, to +the value of £6,000 or £7,000, "I will do him all the good I can," +says he. "I thought he had never done any good; let me see him, and +let him stand behind me where I sit." I did so. At my first +appearance, many of the young members affronted me highly, and +demanded several scurrilous questions. Mr. Weston held a paper before +his mouth; bade me answer nobody but Mr. Prinn; I obeyed his command, +and saved myself much trouble thereby; and when Mr. Prinn put any +difficult or doubtful query unto me, Mr. Weston prompted me with a fit +answer. At last, after almost one hour's tugging, I desired to be +fully heard what I could say as to the person who cut Charles I.'s +head off. Liberty being given me to speak, I related what follows, +viz.: + +'That the next Sunday but one after Charles I. was beheaded, Robert +Spavin, Secretary unto Lieutenant-General Cromwell at that time, +invited himself to dine with me, and brought Anthony Peirson and +several others along with him to dinner: that their principal +discourse all dinner-time was only who it was that beheaded the King. +One said it was the common hangman; another, Hugh Peters; others also +were nominated, but none concluded. Robert Spavin, so soon as dinner +was done, took me by the hand, and carried me to the south window: +saith he, "These are all mistaken, they have not named the man that +did the fact: it was Lieutenant-Colonel Joyce. I was in the room when +he fitted himself for the work, stood behind him when he did it; when +done, went in again with him. There is no man knows this but my +master, namely, Cromwell, Commissary Ireton, and myself." "Doth not +Mr. Rushworth know it?" said I. "No, he doth not know it," saith +Spavin. The same thing Spavin since had often related unto me when we +were alone. Mr. Prinn did, with much civility, make a report hereof in +the House; yet Norfolk, the Serjeant, after my discharge, kept me two +days longer in arrest, purposely to get money of me. He had six +pounds, and his messenger forty shillings; and yet I was attached but +upon Sunday, examined on Tuesday, and then discharged, though the +covetous Serjeant detained me until Thursday. By means of a friend, I +cried quittance with Norfolk, which friend was to pay him his salary +at that time, and abated Norfolk three pounds, which he spent every +penny at one dinner, without inviting the wretched Serjeant; but in +the latter end of the year, when the King's Judges were arraigned at +the Old Bailey, Norfolk warned me to attend, believing I could give +information concerning Hugh Peters. At the Sessions I attended during +its continuance, but was never called or examined. There I heard +Harrison, Scott, Clement, Peters, Harker, Scroop, and others of the +King's Judges, and Cook the Solicitor, who excellently defended +himself; I say, I did hear what they could say for themselves, and +after heard the sentence of condemnation pronounced against them by +the incomparably modest and learned Judge Bridgman, now Lord Keeper of +the Great Seal of England.' + +In spite of Spavin's circumstantial statement, as recorded by Lilly, +it is now conclusively established that the executioner of Charles I. +was Richard Brandon, the common executioner, who had previously +beheaded the Earl of Strafford. It is said that he was afterwards +seized with poignant remorse for the act, and died in great mental +suffering. His body was carried to the grave amid the execrations of +an excited and angry populace. + +Though our astrologer, as we have seen, was at heart a Royalist, his +services towards the Parliamentary cause were sufficiently conspicuous +to expose him after the Restoration to a good deal of persecution; and +he found it advisable to sue out his pardon under the Great Seal, +which cost him, as he takes care to tell us, £13 6s. 8d. + +He claimed to have foreseen the Restoration, and all the good things +which flowed--or were expected to have flowed--from that 'auspicious +event.' In page 111 of his 'Prophetical Merlin,' published in 1644, +dwelling upon three sextile aspects of Saturn and Jupiter made in 1659 +and 1660, he says: 'This, their friendly salutation, comforts us in +England: every man now possesses his own vineyard; our young youth +grow up unto man's estate, and our old men live their full years; our +nobles and gentlemen rest again; our yeomanry, many years +disconsolated, now take pleasure in their husbandry. The merchant +sends out ships, and hath prosperous returns; the mechanic hath quick +trading; here is almost a new world; new laws, new lords. Now any +county of England shall shed no more tears, but rejoice with and in +the many blessings God gives or affords her annually.' + +He also wrote, he says, to Sir Edward Walker, Garter King-at-Arms in +1659, when, by the way, the restoration of Charles II. was an event +that loomed in the near future, and was anticipated by every man of +ordinary political sagacity: 'Tu, Dominusque vester videbitis Angliam, +infra duos annis' (You and your Lord shall see England within two +years). 'For in 1662,' adds the arch impostor, in his strange +astrological jargon, 'his moon came by direction to the body of the +sun.' + +'_But he came in upon the ascendant directed unto the trine of Sol and +antiscion of Jupiter._' + +No doubt he did. Who would presume to contradict our English Merlin? + +In 1663 and 1664 he served as churchwarden--surely the first and last +astrologer who filled that respectable office--of Walton-upon-Thames, +settling as well as he could the affairs of that 'distracted parish' +upon his own charges. + +An absurdly frivolous accusation was brought against him in the year +1666. He was once more summoned before a Committee of the House of +Commons, because in his book, 'Monarchy or No Monarchy,' published in +1651, he had introduced sixteen plates, of which the eighth +represented persons digging graves, with coffins and other emblems of +mortality, and the thirteenth a city in flames. Hence it was inferred +that he must have had something to do with the Great Fire which had +destroyed so large a part of London, if not with the Plague, which had +almost depopulated it. The chairman, Sir Robert Burke, on his coming +into the Committee's presence, addressed him thus: + +'Mr. Lilly, this Committee thought fit to summon you to appear before +them this day, to know if you can say anything as to the cause of the +late Fire, or whether there might be any design therein. You are +called the rather hither, because in a book of yours, long since +printed, you hinted some such thing by one of your hieroglyphics.' + +Whereto Mr. Lilly replied, with a firm assumption of superior wisdom +and oracular knowledge: + +'May it please your Honours,--After the beheading of the late King, +considering that in the three subsequent years the Parliament acted +nothing which concerned the settlement of the nation in peace; and +seeing the generality of people dissatisfied, the citizens of London +discontented, the soldiery prone to mutiny, I was desirous, according +to the best knowledge God had given me, to make inquiry by the art I +studied, what might from that time happen unto the Parliament and +nation in general. At last, having satisfied myself as well as I +could, and perfected my judgment therein, I thought it most convenient +to signify my intentions and conceptions thereof in Forms, Shapes, +Types, Hieroglyphics, etc., without any commentary, that so my +judgment might be concealed from the vulgar, and made manifest only +unto the wise. I herein imitating the examples of many wise +philosophers who had done the like.' + +'Sir Robert,' saith one, 'Lilly is yet _sub vestibulo_.' + +'Having found, sir,' continued Lilly, 'that the city of London should +be sadly afflicted with a great plague, and not long after with an +exorbitant Fire, I framed those two hieroglyphics as represented in +the book, which in effect have proved very true.' + +'Did you foresee the year?' inquired a member of the Committee. + +'I did not,' said Lilly, 'nor was desirous; of that I made no +scrutiny. Now, sir,' he proceeded, 'whether there was any design of +burning the city, or any employed to that purpose, I must deal +ingenuously with you, that since the Fire, I have taken much pains in +the search thereof, but cannot or could not give myself any the least +satisfaction therein. I conclude, that it was the only finger of God; +but what instruments he used thereunto, I am ignorant.' + + * * * * * + +In 1665 Lilly finally left London, and settling down at Hersham, +applied himself to the study of medicine, in which he arrived at so +competent a degree of knowledge, assisted by diligent observation and +experiment, that, in October, 1670, on a testimonial from two +physicians of the College in London, he obtained from the Archbishop +of Canterbury a license to practise. In his new profession this +clever, plausible fellow was, of course, successful. Every Saturday he +rode to Kingston, whither the poorer sort flocked to him from all the +countryside, and he dispensed his advice and prescriptions freely and +without charge. From those in a better social position he now and then +took a shilling, and sometimes half a crown, if it were offered to +him; but he never demanded a fee. And, indeed, his charity towards the +poor seems to have been real and unaffected. He displayed the greatest +care in considering and weighing their particular cases, and in +applying proper remedies for their infirmities--a line of conduct +which gained him deserved popularity. + +Gifted with a robust constitution, he enjoyed good health far on into +old age. He seems to have had no serious illness until he was past his +seventy-second birthday, and from this attack he recovered completely. +In November, 1675, he was less fortunate, a severe attack of fever +reducing him to a condition of great physical weakness, and so +affecting his eyesight that thenceforward he was compelled to employ +the services of an amanuensis in drawing up his annual astrological +budget. After an attack of dysentery, in the spring of 1681, he became +totally blind; a few weeks later he was seized with paralysis; and on +June 9 he passed away, 'without any show of trouble or pangs.' + +He was buried, on the following evening, in the chancel of Walton +Church, where Elias Ashmole, a month later, placed a slab of fair +black marble ('which cost him six pounds four shillings and +sixpence'), with the following epitaph, in honour of his departed +friend: 'Ne Oblivione conteretur Urna GULIELMI LILLII, Astrologi +Peritissimi Qui Fatis cessit, Quinto Idus Junii, Anno Christi Juliano, +MDCLXXXI, Hoc illi posuit amoris Monumentum ELIAS ASHMOLE, Armiger.' +There is a pagan flavour about the phrases 'Qui Fatis cessit,' and +'Quinto Idus Junii,' and they read oddly enough within the walls of a +Christian church. + +There are two sides to every shield. As regards our astrologer, the +last of the English magicians who held a position of influence, let us +first take the silver side, as presented in the eulogistic verse of +Master George Smalridge, scholar at Westminster. Thus it is that he +describes his hero's capacity and potentiality. 'Our prophet's gone,' +he exclaims in lugubrious tones-- + + 'No longer may our ears + Be charmed with musick of th' harmonious spheres: + Let sun and moon withdraw, leave gloomy night + To show their Nuncio's fate, who gave more light + To th' erring world, than all the feeble rays + Of sun or moon; taught us to know those days + Bright Titan makes; followed the hasty sun + Through all his circuits; knew the unconstant moon, + And more constant ebbings of the flood; + And what is most uncertain, th' factious brood, + Flowing in civil broils: by the heavens could date + The flux and reflux of our dubious state. + He saw the eclipse of sun, and change of moon + He saw; but seeing would not shun his own: + Eclipsed he was, that he might shine more bright, + And only changed to give a fuller light. + He having viewed the sky, and glorious train + Of gilded stars, scorned longer to remain + In earthly prisons: could he a village love + Whom the twelve houses waited for above?' + +The other side of the shield is turned towards us by Butler, who, in +his 'Hudibras,' paints Lilly with all the dark enduring colours which +a keen wit could place at the disposal of political prejudice. When +Hudibras is unable to solve 'the problems of his fate,' Ralpho, his +squire, advises him to apply to the famous thaumaturgist. He says: + + 'Not far from hence doth dwell + A cunning man, hight Sidrophel, + That deals in Destiny's dark counsels, + And sage opinions of the Moon sells; + To whom all people, far and near, + On deep importances repair: + When brass and pewter hap to stray, + And linen slinks out o' the way; + When geese and pullen are seduced, + And sows of sucking pigs are choused; + When cattle feel indisposition, + And need th' opinion of physician; + When murrain reigns in hogs or sheep, + And chickens languish of the pip; + When yeast and outward means do fail, + And have no pow'r to work on ale; + When butter does refuse to come, + And love proves cross and humoursome; + To him with questions, and with urine, + They for discov'ry flock, or curing.' + +After this humorous _reductio ad absurdum_ of Lilly's pretensions as +an astrologer, the satirist proceeds to allude to his dealings with +the Puritan party: + + 'Do not our great Reformers use + This Sidrophel to forebode news; + To write of victories next year, + And castles taken, yet i' th' air? + Of battles fought at sea, and ships + Sunk, two years hence, the last eclipse?' + +The satirist then devotes himself to a minute exposure of Lilly's +pretensions: + + 'He had been long t'wards mathematics, + Optics, philosophy, and statics; + Magic, horoscopy, astrology, + And was old dog at physiology; + But as a dog that turns the spit + Bestirs himself, and plies his feet + To climb the wheel, but all in vain, + His own weight brings him down again, + And still he's in the self-same place + Where at his setting out he was; + So in the circle of the arts + Did he advance his nat'ral parts ... + Whate'er he laboured to appear, + His understanding still was clear; + Yet none a deeper knowledge boasted, + Since old Hodge Bacon and Bob Grosted.' + +(Robert Grostête, Bishop of Lincoln [_temp._ Henry III.], whose +learning procured him among the ignorant the reputation of being a +conjurer.) + + 'He had read Dee's prefaces before + The Dev'l and Euclid o'er and o'er; + And all th' intrigues 'twixt him and Kelly, + Lascus, and th' Emperor, would tell ye; + But with the moon was more familiar + Than e'er was almanack well-willer; + Her secrets understood so clear, + That some believed he had been there; + Knew when she was in fittest mood + For cutting corns or letting blood ...' + +Continuing his enumeration of the conjurer's various and versatile +achievements, the poet says he can-- + + 'Cure warts and corns with application + Of med'cines to th' imagination; + Fright agues into dogs, and scare + With rhymes the toothache and catarrh; + Chase evil spirits away by dint + Of sickle, horse-shoe, hollow flint; + Spit fire out of a walnut-shell, + Which made the Roman slaves rebel; + And fire a mine in China here + With sympathetic gunpowder. + He knew whats'ever's to be known, + But much more than he knew would own ... + How many diff'rent specieses + Of maggots breed in rotten cheese; + And which are next of kin to those + Engendered in a chandler's nose; + Or those not seen, but understood, + That live in vinegar and wood.' + +In the course of the long dialogue that takes place between Hudibras +and the astrologer, Butler contrives to introduce a clever and +trenchant exposure of the follies and absurdities, the impositions and +assumptions, of the art of magic. With reference to the pretensions of +astrologers, he observes that-- + + 'There's but the twinkling of a star + Between a man of peace and war, + A thief and justice, fool and knave, + A huffing officer and a slave, + A crafty lawyer and pick-pocket, + A great philosopher and a blockhead, + A formal preacher and a player, + A learn'd physician and man-slayer; + As if men from the stars did suck + Old age, diseases, and ill-luck, + Wit, folly, honour, virtue, vice, + Trade, travel, women, claps, and dice; + And draw, with the first air they breathe, + Battle and murder, sudden death. + Are not these fine commodities + To be imported from the skies, + And vended here among the rabble, + For staple goods and warrantable? + Like money by the Druids borrowed + In th' other world to be restored.' + +The character of Lilly is to some extent a problem, and I confess it +is not one of easy or direct solution. As I have already hinted, it is +always difficult to draw the line between conscious and unconscious +imposture--to determine when a man who has imposed upon himself begins +to impose upon others. But was Lilly self-deceived? Or was he openly +and knowingly a fraud and a cheat? For myself I cannot answer either +question in the affirmative. I do not think he was entirely innocent +of deception, but I also believe that he was not wholly a rogue. I +think he had a lingering confidence in the reality of his horoscopes, +his figures, his stellar prophecies; though at the same time he did +not scruple to trade on the credulity of his contemporaries by +assuming to himself a power and a capacity which he did not possess, +and knew that he did not possess. Despite his vocation, he seems to +have lived decently, and in good repute. The activity of his enemies +failed to bring against him any serious charges, and we know that he +enjoyed the support of men of light and leading, who would have stood +aloof from a common charlatan or a vulgar knave. He was, it is +certain, a very shrewd and quick observer, with a keen eye for the +signs of the times, and a wide knowledge of human nature; and his +success in his peculiar craft was largely due to this alertness of +vision, this practical knowledge, and to the ingenuity and readiness +with which he made use of all the resources at his command. + + +NOTE.--DR. DEE'S MAGIC CRYSTAL. + +Horace Walpole gives an amusing account of Kelly's famous crystal, and +of the useful part it played in a burglary committed at his house in +Arlington Street in the spring of 1771. At the time, he was taking his +ease at his Strawberry Hill villa, near Teddington, when a courier +brought him news of what had occurred. Writing to his friend, Sir +Horace Mann, March 22, he says: + +'I was a good quarter of an hour before I recollected that it was very +becoming to have philosophy enough not to care about what one does +care for; if you don't care, there is no philosophy in bearing it. I +despatched my upper servant, breakfasted, fed the bantams as usual, +and made no more hurry to town than Cincinnatus would if he had lost a +basket of turnips. I left in my drawers £270 of bank bills and three +hundred guineas, not to mention all my gold and silver coins, some +inestimable miniatures, a little plate, and a good deal of furniture, +under no guard but that of two maidens.... + +'When I arrived, my surprise was by no means diminished. I found in +three different chambers three cabinets, a large chest, and a glass +case of china wide open, the locks not picked, but forced, and the +doors of them broken to pieces. You will wonder that this should +surprise me, when I had been prepared for it. Oh, the miracle was that +I did not find, nor to this time have found, the least thing missing! +In the cabinet of modern medals there were, and so there are still, a +series of English coins, with downright John Trot guineas, +half-guineas, shillings, sixpences, and every kind of current money. +Not a single piece was removed. Just so in the Roman and Greek +cabinet, though in the latter were some drawers of papers, which they +had tumbled and scattered about the floor. A great exchequer desk, +that belonged to my father, was in the same room. Not being able to +force the lock, the philosophers (for thieves that steal nothing +deserve the title much more than Cincinnatus or I) had wrenched a +great flapper of brass with such violence as to break it into seven +pieces. The trunk contained a new set of chairs of French tapestry, +two screens, rolls of prints, and a suit of silver stuff that I had +made for the King's wedding. All was turned topsy-turvy, and nothing +stolen. The glass case and cabinet of shells had been handled as +roughly by these impotent gallants. Another little table with drawers, +in which, by the way, the key was left, had been opened too, and a +metal standish, that they ought to have taken for silver, and a silver +hand-candlestick that stood upon it, were untouched. Some plate in the +pantry, and all my linen just come from the wash, had no more charms +for them than gold or silver. In short, I could not help laughing, +especially as the only two movables neglected were another little +table with drawers and the money, and a writing-box with the +bank-notes, both in the same room where they made the first havoc. In +short, they had broken out a panel in the door of the area, and +unbarred and unbolted it, and gone out at the street-door, which they +left wide open at five o'clock in the morning. A passenger had found +it so, and alarmed the maids, one of whom ran naked into the street, +and by her cries waked my Lord Romney, who lives opposite. The poor +creature was in fits for two days, but at first, finding my +coachmaker's apprentice in the street, had sent him to Mr. Conway, who +immediately despatched him to me before he knew how little damage I +had received, the whole of which consists in repairing the doors and +locks of my cabinets and coffers. + +'All London is reasoning on this marvellous adventure, and not one +argument presents itself that some other does not contradict. I insist +that I have a talisman. You must know that last winter, being asked by +Lord Vere to assist in settling Lady Betty Germaine's auction, I found +in an old catalogue of her collection this article, "_The Black Stone +into which Dr. Dee used to call his spirits_." Dr. Dee, you must know, +was a great conjurer in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and has written a +folio of the dialogues he held with his imps. I asked eagerly for this +stone; Lord Vere said he knew of no such thing, but if found, it +should certainly be at my service. Alas, the stone was gone! This +winter I was again employed by Lord Frederick Campbell, for I am an +absolute auctioneer, to do him the same service about his father's +(the Duke of Argyll's) collection. Among other odd things, he produced +a round piece of shining black marble in a leathern case as big as the +crown of a hat, and asked me what that possibly could be? I screamed +out, "Oh, Lord! I am the only man in England that can tell you!... It +is Dr. Dee's 'Black Stone.'" It certainly is; Lady Betty had formerly +given away or sold, time out of mind, for she was a thousand years +old, that part of the Peterborough collection which contained natural +philosophy. So, or since, the Black Stone had wandered into an +auction, for the lotted paper was still on it. The Duke of Argyll, who +bought everything, bought it. Lord Frederick [Campbell] gave it to me; +and if it was not this magical stone, which is only of high-polished +coal, that preserved my chattels, in truth I cannot guess what +did.'[35] + +At the great Strawberry Hill sale, in 1842, which dispersed the +Walpole Collection, it was described in the catalogue as 'a singularly +interesting and curious relic of the superstition of our +ancestors--the celebrated _Speculum of Kennel Coal_, highly polished, +in a leathern case. It is remarkable for having been used to deceive +the mob (!) by the celebrated Dr. Dee, the conjurer, in the reign of +Queen Elizabeth,' etc. + +The authorities of the British Museum purchased this 'relic of the +superstition of our ancestors' for the sum of twelve guineas. It is +neither more nor less than what it has been described, a polished +piece of cannel-coal, and thus explains the allusion in Butler's +'Hudibras': + + 'Kelly did all his feats upon + The devil's looking-glass--a stone.' + +FOOTNOTE: + +[35] Horace Walpole (Earl of Orford), 'Letters,' v. 290, _et seq._ + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ENGLISH ROSICRUCIANS. + + +It is not very easy to trace the origin of the Rosicrucian +Brotherhood. It is not easy, indeed, to get at the true derivation of +the name 'Rosicrucian.' Some authorities refer it to that of the +ostensible founder of the society, the mysterious Christian +Rosenkreuse, but who can prove that such an individual ever existed? +Others borrow it from the Latin word _ros_, dew, and _crux_, a cross, +and explain it thus: 'Dew,' of all natural bodies, was esteemed the +most powerful solvent of gold; and 'the cross,' in the old chemical +language, signified _light_, because the figure of a cross exhibits at +the same time the three letters which form the word _lux_. 'Now, lux +is called the seed, or menstruum, of the red dragon; or, in other +words, that gross and corporeal light, which, when properly digested +and modified, produces gold.' So that, according to this derivation, a +Rosicrucian is one who by the intervention and assistance of the 'dew' +seeks for 'light'--that is, the philosopher's stone. But such an +etymology is evidently too fanciful, and assumes too much to be +readily accepted, and we try a third derivation, namely, from _rosa_ +and _crux_; in support of which may be adduced the oldest official +documents of the brotherhood, which style it the 'Broederschafft des +Roosen Creutzes,' or Rose-Crucians, or 'Fratres Rosatæ Crucis;' while +the symbol of the order is 'a red rose on a cross.' Both the rose and +the cross possess a copious emblematic history, and their choice by a +secret society, which clothed its beliefs and fancies in allegorical +language, is by no means difficult to understand. 'The rose,' says +Eliphas Levi, in his 'Histoire de la Magie,' 'which from time +immemorial has been the symbol of beauty and life, of love and +pleasure, expressed in a mystical manner all the protestations of the +Renaissance. It was the flesh revolting against the oppression of the +spirit; it was Nature declaring herself to be, like Grace, the +daughter of God; it was Love refusing to be stifled by celibacy; it +was Life desiring to be no longer barren; it was Humanity aspiring to +a natural religion, full of love and reason, founded on the revelation +of the harmonies of existence of which the rose was for initiates the +living and blooming symbol....' The reunion of the rose and the +cross--such was the problem proposed by supreme initiation, and, in +effect, occult philosophy, being the universal synthesis, should take +into account all the phenomena of Being. It may be doubted, however, +whether this ingenious symbolism has anything at all to do with +Rosicrucianism; but it is not the less a fact that the rose and the +cross were chosen because they were recognised emblems. And probably +because the rose typified secrecy, while the cross was a protest +against the tyranny and superstition of the Papacy. + +We hear nothing of Rosicrucianism until the beginning of the +seventeenth century. The earlier alchemists knew nothing of its +theosophic doctrines; and the earlier Rosicrucians did not dabble in +alchemy. The connection between the two was established at a later +date; when the quest of the 'elixir of life' and the 'philosopher's +stone' was grafted upon the mysticism which had taken up the ancient +teaching of the Alexandrian Platonists, combining with it much of the +allegorical jargon of Paracelsus, and something of the theology of +Luther and the German Reformers. The antiquity claimed for the +brotherhood in the 'Fama Fraternitatis' is purely a myth. For my own +part, I must regard as its virtual founder--though he may not have +been its actual initiator--the celebrated Johann Valentine Andreas, +who with wide and profound learning united a lively imagination, and +was, moreover, a man of pure and lofty purpose. The regeneration of +humanity, the extirpation of the vices and follies which had sprung up +in the dark shadow of the mediæval Church, was the dream of his life; +and it is beyond doubt that he hoped to realize it by secret societies +bound together for the purpose of reforming the morals of the age and +inspiring men with a love of wisdom. This is proved by three of his +acknowledged works, namely, 'Reipublicæ Christianapolitanæ +Descriptio,' 'Turris Babel, sive Judiciorum de Fraternitate Rosaceæ +Crucis Chaos,' and 'Christianæ Societatis Idea'; and I venture to +think, though Mr. Waite will not have it so, that the author of these +works was also the author of the 'Fama,' as well as of the 'Confessio +Fraternitatis' and the 'Nuptæ Chymicæ,' in which he gathered up all +the floating dreams and traditions bearing on his subject, and gave to +them a certain form and order, infusing into them a fascinating +poetical colouring, and inspiring them with his own idealistic +speculations. + +'Akin to the school of the ancient Fire-Believers,' says Ennemoser, +'and of the magnetists of a later period, of the same cast as those +speculators and searchers into the mysteries of Nature, drawing from +the same well, are the theosophists of the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries. These practised chemistry, by which they asserted they +could explore the profoundest secrets of Nature. As they strove, above +all earthly knowledge, after the Divine, and sought the Divine light +and fire, through which all men can acquire the true wisdom, they were +called the Fire-Philosophers (_philosophi per ignem_).' They were +identical with the Rosicrucians, and in the books of the later +Rosicrucians we meet with the same mysticism and transcendental +philosophy as in theirs. + +Whether we agree in accepting Andreas as the founder of the order, or +as simply its hierophant, we must admit that the rise of +Rosicrucianism dates from the publication of the 'Fama' and the +'Confessio Fraternitatis.' They produced an immense sensation, passed +through several editions, and were devoured by multitudes of eager +readers. 'In the library at Gottingen,' says De Quincey (adapting +from Professor Buhle), 'there is a body of letters addressed to the +imaginary order of Father Rosy Cross, from 1614 to 1617, by persons +offering themselves as members.... As certificates of their +qualifications, most of the candidates have enclosed specimens of +their skill in alchemy and cabalism.... Many other literary persons +there were at that day who forbore to write letters to the society, +but threw out small pamphlets containing their opinions of the order, +and of its place of residence.' + +It is not my business, however, to write a history of Rosicrucianism. +I have desired simply to say so much about its origin as will serve as +a preface to my account of the principal English members of the +brotherhood. The reader who would know more about its origin and +extension, its pretensions and professors, may consult Heckethorn's +'Secret Societies of all Ages and Countries,' Ennemoser's 'History of +Magic,' Thomas de Quincey's essay on 'Rosicrucians and Freemasons,' +and Arthur Edward Waite's 'Real History of the Rosicrucians.'[36] + +The greatest English Rosicrucian, and most distinguished of the +disciples of Paracelsus, was Robert Fludd (or Flood, or De Fluctibus), +a man of singular erudition, of great though misdirected capacity, and +of a vivid and fertile imagination. + +The second son of Sir Thomas Flood, Treasurer of War to Queen +Elizabeth, he was born at Milgate House, in the parish of Bersted, +Kent, in the year 1574. At the age of seventeen he was entered of St. +John's College, Oxford. His father had originally intended him for a +military life, but finding that his inclinations led him into the +peaceful paths of scholarship, he forbore to oppose them, and the +youth entered upon a particular study of medicine, which drew him, no +doubt, into a pursuit of alchemy and chemistry. Having graduated both +in the arts and sciences, he went abroad, and for six years travelled +over France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, making the acquaintance of the +principal Continental scholars, as well as of the enthusiasts who +belonged to the theosophic school of the divine Paracelsus, and the +adepts who dabbled in the secrets of the Cabala. Returning to England +in 1605, he became a member of the College of Physicians, and settled +down to practise in Coleman Street, London, where, about 1616, he was +visited by the celebrated German alchemist, Michael Maier. + +His active imagination stimulated by his knowledge of the Rosicrucian +doctrines, he resolved on revealing to his countrymen the true light +of science and wisdom. He had already, as a believer in the theory of +magnetism, introduced into England the celebrated 'weapon salve' of +Paracelsus, which healed the severest wound by sympathy--not being +applied to the wound itself, but to the weapon or instrument that had +caused it. The recipe, as formulated by Paracelsus, would hardly be +approved by modern practitioners: 'Take of moss growing on the head of +a thief who has been hanged and left in the air, of real mummy, of +human blood still warm, one ounce each; of human suet, two ounces; of +linseed-oil, turpentine, and Armenian bole, of each two drachms. Mix +together thoroughly in a mortar, and keep the salve in a narrow oblong +urn.' This, or, I presume, some similar compound, Fludd tried with +success in several cases, and no wonder; for while the sword was +anointed and put away, the wound was well washed and carefully +bandaged--a process which has been known to succeed in our own day +without the intervention of any salve whatever! Fludd contended that +every disease might be cured by the magnet if it were properly +applied; but that as every man had, like the earth, a north pole and a +south, magnetism could be produced only when his body occupied a +boreal position. The salve, at all events, grew into instant favour. +Among other believers in its virtues was Sir Kenelm Digby, who, +however, converted the salve into a powder, which he named 'the powder +of sympathy.' But it had its incredulous opponents, of whom the most +strenuous was a certain Pastor Foster, who published an invective +entitled 'Hyplocrisma Spongus; or, A Sponge to Wipe Away the Weapon +Salve,' and affirmed that it was as bad as witchcraft to use or +recommend such an unguent, that its inventor, the devil, would at the +Last Day claim every person who had meddled with it. 'The devil,' he +said, 'gave it to Paracelsus, Paracelsus to the Emperor, the Emperor +to a courtier, the courtier to Baptista Porta, and Baptista Porta to +Doctor Fludd, a doctor of physic, yet living and practising in the +famous city of London, who now stands tooth and nail for it.' Tooth +and nail Dr. Fludd met his adversary, and the public were infinitely +amused by the vehemence of his style in his pamphlet, 'The Spunging of +Parson Foster's Spunge; wherein the Spunge-carrier's immodest Carriage +and Behaviour towards his Brethren is detected; the bitter Flames of +his Slanderous Reports are, by the sharp Vinegar of Truth, corrected +and quite extinguished; and, lastly, the Virtuous Validity of his +Spunge in wiping away the Weapon Salve, is crushed out and clean +abolished.' + +In all the dreams of the mediæval philosophy--in the philosopher's +stone and the stone philosophic, in the universal alkahest, in the +magical 'elixir vitæ'--Dr. Fludd was a serious believer. It was a +favourite hypothesis of his that all things depended on two +principles--_condensation_, or the boreal principle, and _rarefaction_, +the southern or austral. The human body, he averred, was governed by a +number of demons, whom he distributed over a rhomboidal figure. +Further, he taught that every disease had its own particular demon, the +evil influence of which could be neutralized only by the assistance of +the demon placed opposite to it in the rhomboid. The doctrines of the +Rosicrucian brotherhood he defended with a charming enthusiasm, and +when they had been attacked by Libavius and others, he set them forth +in what he conceived to be their true light in his 'Apologia +Compendiaria Fraternitatem de Rosea-Cruce suspicionis et infamiæ +Maculis Aspersam,' etc. (published at Leyden in 1616)--a work which +entitles him to be regarded as the high-priest of their mysteries. It +was severely criticised, however, by contemporary men of science, as by +Kepler, Gassendus (in his 'Epistolica Exercitatio'), and Mersenne, +whose searching analysis of the pretensions of the fraternity provoked +from Fludd an elaborate reply, entitled 'Summum Bonum, quod est Magiæ, +Cabalæ, Alchemiæ, Fratrum Roseæ-Crucis verorum, et adversus Mersenium +Calumniatorem.'[37] + +In addition to the foregoing works, Fludd gave to the world: + +1. 'Utriusque Cosmi, Majoris et Minoris, Technica Historia,' 2 vols., +folio, Oppenheim, 1616; 2. 'Tractatus Apologeticus Integritatem +Societatis de Rosea-Cruce Defendens,' Leyden, 1617; 3. 'Monochordon +Mundi Symphoniacum, seu Replicatio ad Apologiam Johannis Kepleri,' +Frankfort, 1620; 4. 'Anatomiæ Amphitheatrum effigie triplici +Designatum,' Frankfort, 1623; 5. 'Philosophia Sacra et vere +Christiana, seu Meteorologica Cosmica,' Frankfort, 1626; 6. 'Medicina +Catholica, seu Mysterium Artis Medicandi Sacrarium,' Frankfort, 1631; +7. 'Integrum Morborum Mysterium,' Frankfort, 1631; 8. 'Clavis +Philosophiæ et Alchymiæ,' Frankfort, 1633; 9. 'Philosophia Mosaica,' +Goudac, 1638; and 10. 'Pathologia Dæmoniaca,' Goudac, 1640. + +The last two treatises were posthumous publications. Fludd died in +London in 1637, and was buried in Bersted Church, where an imposing +monument perpetuates his memory. It represents him seated, with his +hand on a book, from the perusal of which his head has just been +lifted. Just below are two volumes (there were eight originally) in +marble, inscribed respectively, 'Mysterium Cabalisticum' and +'Philosophia Sacra.' The epitaph runs as follows: 'viii. Die Mensis +vii. A{o} D{ni}, M.D.C.XXXVII. Odoribvs vana vaporat crypta tegit +cineres nee speciosa tros qvod mortale minvs tibi. Te committimvs vnvm +ingenii vivent hic monvmenti tvi nam tibi qvi similis scribit +moritvrqve sepvlchrvm pro tota eternvm posteritate facit. Hoc +monvmentvm Thomas Flood Gore Courti in-coram apud Cantianos armiger +infoelicissimum in charissimi patrvi svi memoriam erexit die Mensis +Avgvsti, M.D.C.XXXVII.' + +I shall not weary the reader with an analysis of any of Fludd's +elaborately mystical productions. They are as dead as anything can be, +and no power that I know of could breathe into them the breath of +life. But I may quote a few specimen or sample sentences, so to speak, +which will afford an idea of their style and tone: + +'Particulars are frequently fallible, but universal never. Occult +philosophy lays bare Nature in her complete nakedness, and alone +contemplates the wisdom of universals by the eyes of intelligence. +Accustomed to partake of the rivers which flow from the Fountain of +Life, it is unacquainted with grossness and with clouded waters.' + +In reference to Music, which he says stands in the same relation to +arithmetic as medicine to natural philosophy, he revives the +Pythagorean idea of the harmony of the universe: 'What is this music +(of men) compared with that deep and true music of the wise, whereby +the proportions of natural things are investigated, the harmonical +concord and the qualities of the whole world are revealed, by which +also connected things are bound together, peace established between +conflicting elements, and whereby each star is perpetually suspended +in its appointed place by its weight and strength, and by the harmony +of its herent spirit.' + +_Light._--'Nothing in this world can be accomplished without the +mediation or divine act of light.' + +_Magic._--'That most occult and secret department of physics, by which +the mystical properties of natural substances are extracted, we term +Natural Magic. The wise kings who (led by the new star from the east) +sought the infant Christ, are called Magi, because they had attained a +perfect knowledge of natural things, whether celestial or sublunar. +This branch of the Magi also includes Solomon, since he was versed in +the arcane virtues and properties of all substances, and is said to +have understood the nature of every plant, from the cedar to the +hyssop. Magicians who are proficient in the mathematical division +construct marvellous machines by means of their geometrical knowledge; +such were the flying dove of Archytas, and the brazen heads of Roger +Bacon and Albertus Magnus, which are said to have spoken. Venefic +magic is familiar with potions, philtres, and with the various +preparations of poisons; it is, in a measure, included in the natural +division, because a knowledge of the properties of natural things is +requisite to produce its results. Necromantic magic is divided into +Goëtic, maleficent, and theurgic. The first consists in diabolical +commerce with unclean spirits, in rites of criminal curiosity, in +illicit songs and invocations, and in the invocation of the souls of +the dead. The second is the adjuration of the devils by the virtue of +Divine names. The third pretends to be governed by good angels and the +Divine will, but its wonders are most frequently performed by evil +spirits, who assume the names of God and of the angels. This +department of necromancy can, however, be performed by natural powers, +definite rites and ceremonies, whereby celestial and Divine virtues +are reconciled and drawn to us; the ancient Magi formulated in their +secret books many rules of this doctrine. The last species of magic is +the thaumaturgic, begetting illusory phenomena; by this art the Magi +produced their phantasms and other marvels.' + +_The Creation._--'According to Fludd's philosophy,' says Mr. Waite, +'the whole universe was fashioned after the pattern of an archetypal +world which existed in the Divine ideality, and was framed out of +unity in a threefold manner. The Eternal Monad or Unity, without any +regression from His own central profundity, compasses complicitly the +three cosmical dimensions, namely, root, square, and cube. If we +multiply unity as a root, in itself, it will produce only unity for +its square, which being again multiplied in itself, brings forth a +cube, which is one with root and square. Thus we have three branches +differing in formal progression, yet one unity in which all things +remain potentially, and that after a most abstruse manner. The +archetypal world was made by the egression of one out of one, and by +the regression of that one, so emitted into itself by emanation. +According to this ideal image, or archetypal world, our universe was +subsequently fashioned as a true type and exemplar of the Divine +Pattern; for out of unity in His abstract existence, viz., as it was +hidden in the dark chaos, or potential mass, the bright flame of all +formal being did shine forth, and the spirit of wisdom, proceeding +from them both, conjoined the formal emanation with the potential +matter, so that by the union of the divine emanation of light, and the +substantial darkness, which was water, the heavens were made of old, +and the whole world.'[38] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[36] See also Louis Figuier's 'L'Alchimie et les Alchimistes,' a +popular and agreeable survey; and the more erudite work of Professor +Buhle. + +[37] This is sometimes ascribed to Joachim Fritz, but no one can doubt +that virtually it is Fludd's, who accompanied it with a defence of his +general philosophical teaching, entitled 'Sophiæ cum Moriâ Certamen.' +But whose was 'the Wisdom,' and whose 'the Folly'? + +[38] Waite, 'History of the Rosicrucians,' p. 385. + + +THOMAS VAUGHAN. + +Another English Rosicrucian to whom allusion must briefly be made is +Thomas Vaughan, who in his writings assumes the more classical +appellation of Eugenius Philalethes ('truth-lover'), and in his +travels was known as Carnobius in Holland, and Doctor Zheil in +America. He was born about 1612; was educated at Oxford; wandered +afterwards through many countries; embraced the delusions of alchemy +and the Rosy Cross; accreted round his personality a number of wild +and extravagant stories; and finally disappeared into such complete +oblivion that the time and place of his death are alike unknown. + +The writings attributed to him are: 1. 'Anthroposophia Magica; or, A +Discourse of the Nature of Man and his State after Death;' and 'Anima +Magica Abscondita; or, A Discourse of the Universall Spirit of +Nature,' London, 1650. 2. 'Magia Adamica; or, The Antiquities of +Magic,' same place and date. 3. 'The Man-Mouse taken in a Trap;' a +reply to Henry More, who had criticised his 'Anthroposophia Magica.' +4. 'Lumen de Lumine; or, A New Magicall Light discovered and +communicated to the World,' London, 1651. 5. 'The Second Wash; or, The +Moor Scoured Once More, being a charitable Cure for the Distractions +of Abazonomastix' [Henry More], London, 1651. 6. 'The Fame and +Confession of the Fraternity of R. C., with a Preface annexed thereto, +and a short declaration of their physicall work,' London, 1652. 7. +'Euphrates; or, The Waters of the East, being a Short Discourse of +that Great Fountain whose water flows from Fire, and carries in it the +beams of the Sun and Moon,' London, 1656. 8. 'A Brief Natural +History,' London, 1669. And 9. 'Introitus Apertus ad Occlusum Regis +Palatium. Philalethæ Tractatus Tres: i. Metallorum Metamorphosis; ii. +Brevis Manductio ad Rubrium Coelestem; iii. Fons Chymicæ Veritatis,' +London, 1678. + +Vaughan seems to have led a wandering life, and to have fallen 'often +into great perplexities and dangers from the mere suspicion that he +possessed extraordinary secrets.' The suspicion, I should say, was +abundantly justified, since he made gold at will, and knew the +composition of the wonderful elixir! On one occasion, he tells us, he +went to a goldsmith, desiring to sell him twelve hundred marks' worth +of gold; but the goldsmith at first sight pronounced that it had never +come out of any mine, but was the production of art, seeing that it +was not of the standard of any known kingdom. Vaughan adds that he was +so confounded at this statement--though, surely, he must have expected +it--that he at once departed, _leaving the gold behind him_. But the +strangest part of his history is, that a writer in 1749 speaks of him +as living _then_, at the respectable old age of 137. 'A person of +great credit at Nuremberg, in Germany, affirms that he conversed with +him but a year or two ago. Nay, it is further asserted that this very +individual is the president of the Illuminated in Europe, and that he +sits as such in all their annual meetings.' Mayhap he is sitting at +them still! Only if he have discovered, not only the secret of the +transmutation of metals, but that of the indefinite prolongation of +life, is it not cruelly selfish of him to withhold it--we will not say +from the world at large, which deserves to be punished for its +scepticism and incredulity, but from the members of his own +fraternity? + + +JOHN HEYDON. + +The English Rosicrucians are few in number--_rari gurgite in vasto +nantes_--and when I have added John Heydon to Vaughan and Fludd, I +shall have named the most distinguished. Heydon was the author of 'The +Wise Man's Crown; or, The Glory of the Rosie Cross' (1664); 'The Holy +Guide, leading the Way to Unite Art and Nature, with the Rosie Cross +Uncovered' (1662); and 'A New Method of Rosicrucian Physic; by John +Heydon, the Servant of God and the Secretary of Nature' (1658). In the +last-named he describes himself as an attorney--who will not pity his +clients, if he had any?--practising at Westminster Hall all term times +as long as he lived, and in the vacations devoting himself to +alchemical and Rosicrucian speculation. His introduction ('An Apologue +for an Epilogue') is full of such outrageous nonsense as to suggest +suspicion of his sanity. He speaks of Moses, Elias, and Ezekiel as the +prophets and founders of Rosicrucianism. Its present believers, he +says, may be few in number, but their position is incomparably +glorious. They are the eyes and ears of the great King of the +universe, seeing all things and hearing all things; they are +seraphically illuminated; they belong to the holy company of embodied +souls and immortal angels; they can assume any shape at will, and +possess the power of working miracles. They can walk in the air, +banish epidemics from stricken cities, pacify the most violent storms, +heal every disease, and turn all metals into gold. He had known, he +says, two illustrious brethren, named Williams and Walford, and had +seen them perform miracles--a statement which brands him either as a +knave or a dupe. 'I desired one of them to tell me,' he says, 'whether +my complexion were capable of the society of my good genius. "When I +see you again," said he (which was when he pleased to come to me, for +I knew not where to go to him), "I will tell you." When I saw him +afterwards, he said: "You should pray to God: for a good and holy man +can offer no greater or more acceptable service to God than the +oblation of himself--his soul." He said also, that the good genii were +the benign eyes of God, running to and fro in the world, and with love +and pity beholding the innocent endeavours of harmless and +single-hearted men, ever ready to do them good and to help them.' + +Heydon advocated, without enforcing his precepts by example, the +Rosicrucian dogma, that men could live without eating and drinking, +affirming that all of us could exist in the same manner as the +singular people dwelling near the source of the Ganges, described by +his namesake, Sir Christopher Heydon[39] (but certainly by no other +traveller), who had no mouths, and therefore could not eat, but lived +by the breath of their nostrils--except when they went on a far +journey, and then, to recuperate their strength, they inhaled the +scent of flowers. He dilated on the 'fine foreign fatness' which +characterized really pure air--the air being impregnated with it by +the sunbeams--and affirmed that it should suffice for the nourishment +of the majority of mankind. He was not unwilling, however, that people +with gross appetites should eat animal food, but declared it to be +unnecessary for them, and that a much more efficacious mode would be +to use the meat, nicely cooked, as a plaster on the pit of the +stomach. By adopting this external treatment, they would incur no risk +of introducing diseases, as they did by the broad and open gate of the +mouth, as anyone might see by the example of drink; for so long as a +man sat in water, he knew no thirst. He had been acquainted--so he +declared--with many Rosicrucians who, by using wine as a bath, had +fasted from solid food for several years. And, as a matter of fact, +one might fast all one's life, though prolonged for 300 years, if one +ate no meat, and so avoided all risk of infection by disease. + +Growing confidential in reference to his imaginary fraternity, he +states that its chiefs always carried about with them their symbol, +the R.C., an ebony cross, flourished and decked with roses of gold; +the cross typifying Christ's suffering for the sins of mankind, and +the golden roses the glory and beauty of His Resurrection. This symbol +was carried in succession to Mecca, Mount Calvary, Mount Sinai, Haran, +and three other places, which I cannot pretend to identify--Casele, +Apamia, and Chaulateau Viciosa Caunuch: these were the meeting-places +of the brotherhood. + +'The Rosie Crucian Physick or Medicines,' says this bravely-mendacious +gentleman, 'I happily and unexpectedly light upon in Arabia, which +will prove a restoration of health to all that are afflicted with +sickness which we ordinarily call natural, and all other diseases. +These men have no small insight into the body: Walford, Williams, and +others of the Fraternity now living, may bear up in the same likely +equipage with those noble Divine Spirits their Predecessors; though +the unskilfulness in men commonly acknowledges more of supernatural +assistance in hot, unsettled fancies, and perplexed melancholy, than +in the calm and distinct use of reason; yet, for mine own part, I look +upon these Rosie Crucians above all men truly inspired, and more than +any that professed themselves so this sixteen hundred years, and I am +ravished with admiration of their miracles and transcendant mechanical +inventions, for the solving the Phænomenon of the world. I may, +without offence, therefore, compare them with Bezaliel, Aholiab, those +skilful workers of the Tabernacle, who, as Moses testifies, were +filled with the Spirit of God, and therefore were of an excellent +understanding to find out all manner of curious work.' + +The plain fact is that Heydon's books are _fictions_--purely +imaginative work, based on some rough and ready knowledge of the old +alchemy and the new magic; partly allegorical and mystical, such as a +quick invention might readily conceive under the influence of +theosophic study, and partly borrowed from Henry More, and other +writers of the same stamp. The island inhabited by Rosicrucians, which +he describes in the introduction to 'The Holy Guide,' was evidently +suggested by Sir Thomas More's 'Utopia,' and Bacon's 'New Atlantis.' +It would be easy to point out his obligations elsewhere. + +I may add, in bringing this chapter to a close, that Dr. Edmund +Dickenson, one of Charles II.'s physicians, professed to be a member +of the brotherhood, and wrote a book upon one of their supposed +doctrines, entitled 'De Quinta Essentia Philosophorum,' which was +printed at Oxford in 1686. + + * * * * * + +Whatever may be our opinion of Rosicrucianism, which, I believe, still +finds some believers and adepts in this country, we must acknowledge +that the literature of poetry and fiction is indebted to it +considerably. The machinery of Pope's exquisite poem, 'The Rape of the +Lock,' was borrowed from Paracelsus and Jacob Böhmen--not directly, it +is true, but through the medium of the Abbé de Villars' sparkling +romance, 'Le Comte de Gabalis.' 'According to those gentlemen,' says +Pope, 'the four elements are inhabited by spirits, which they call +sylphs, gnomes, nymphs, and salamanders.' + +The Rosicrucian water-nymph supplied La Motte Fouqué with the idea of +that graceful and lovely creation, 'Undine,' and Sir Walter Scott has +invested his 'White Lady of Avenel' with some of her attributes. + +William Godwin's romance of 'St. Leon' turns on the Rosicrucian fancy +of immortal life; while Lord Lytton's 'Zanoni' is practically a +Rosicrucian fiction. The influence of the Rosicrucian writers is also +apparent in the same author's 'A Strange Story.' + +FOOTNOTE: + +[39] Author of 'A Defence of Judiciall Astrologie,' printed at +Cambridge in 1603. + + + + +BOOK II. + +_WITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT._ + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +EARLY HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND. + + +To various conspicuous and easily intelligible causes the witch and +the warlock, like the necromancer and the astrologer, owed their power +with the multitude. First, there was the eager desire which humanity +not unnaturally feels to tear aside the veil of Isis, and obtain some +knowledge of that Other World which is hidden so completely from it. +Next must be taken into account man's greed for temporal advantages, +his anxiety to direct the course of events to his personal benefit; +and, lastly, his malice against his fellows. Thus we see that the +influence enjoyed by the sorcerer and the magician had its origin in +the unlawful passions of humanity, in whose history the pages that +treat of witches and witchcraft are painful and humiliating reading. + +To define the limit between the special functions of the magician and +the witch is somewhat difficult, more especially as the position of +the witch gradually decreased in reputation and importance. There is a +great gulf between the witch of Endor, or the witch of classical +antiquity, or the witch of the Norse Sagas, or the witch of the +Saxons, and the English or Scottish witch of the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries. The former were surrounded with an atmosphere +of dread and mystery; the latter was the creature of vulgar and +commonplace traditions. In the early age of witchcraft, the witch, +like the magician, summoned spirits from the vasty deep, discovered +the hiding-places of concealed treasures, struck down men or beasts by +her spells, or covered the heavens with clouds and let loose the winds +of destruction and desolation. Both could blight the promise of the +harvest, baffle the plans of their enemies, or wither the health of +their victims. But while the magician was frequently a man of ability +and learning, and belonged to the cultured classes, the witch was +almost always a woman of the lower orders, ignorant and uneducated, +though occasionally ladies of high rank, and even ecclesiastics, have +been accused of practising witchcraft. + +While witchcraft was a power in the land, the witch, or warlock, was +popularly supposed to be the direct instrument, and, indeed, the +bond-slave, of the Evil One, fulfilling his behests in virtue of a +compact, written in letters of blood, by which the witch made over her +soul to the Infernal Power in return for the enjoyment of supernatural +prerogatives for a fixed period. This treaty having been concluded, +the witch received a mark on some part of the body, which was +thenceforward insensible of pain--the stigma or devil's mark, by which +he might know his own again. A familiar imp or spirit was assigned to +her, generally in the form of an animal, and more particularly in that +of a black cat or dog. Round this general idea were gathered a number +of horrible and unclean conceptions, on which, happily, it will not be +necessary to enlarge. The devil, it was said, resorted to carnal +communication with his servants, being denominated _succubus_ when the +favourite was a female, and _incubus_ when a male was chosen. It was +alleged, too, that on certain occasions the devil, with his familiars, +and the great company of witches and warlocks whose souls he had +bought, assembled in the dead of night in some remote and savage +wilderness, to hold that frightful carnival of the Witches' Sabbat +which Goethe has depicted so powerfully in the second part of 'Faust.' +The human imagination has not invented, I think, any scene more +horrible, more degrading, or more bestial. We may suppose, however, +that it was not conceived by any single mind, or even people, or in +any single generation, but that it gradually took up additional +details from different nations, at different times, until it was +developed into the terrible whole presented by the mediæval writers. + +This wild and awful revel was called the Sabbat because it took place +after midnight on Friday; that is, on the Jewish Sabbath--a curious +illustration of the popular antipathy against the Jews. + +The spot where it was held never bloomed again with flower or herb; +the burning feet of the demons blighted it for ever. + +Witch or warlock who failed to obey the summons of the master was +lashed by devils with rods made of scorpions or serpents, in +chastisement of his or her contumacy. + +The guests repaired thither, according to the belief entertained in +France and England, upon broomsticks; but in Spain and Italy it was +thought that the devil himself, in the shape of a goat, conveyed them +on his back, which he contracted or elongated according to the number +he carried. The witch, when starting on her aerial journey, would not +quit her house by door or window; but astride on her broomstick made +her exit by the chimney. During her absence, to prevent the suspicions +of her neighbours from being aroused, an inferior demon assumed the +semblance of her person, and lay in her bed, pretending to be ill or +asleep. + +A curious story may here be introduced. In April, 1611, a Provençal +curé, named Gaurifidi, was accused of sorcery before the Parliament of +Aix. In the course of trial much was said in proof of the power of the +demons. Several witnesses asserted that Gaurifidi, after rubbing +himself with a magic oil, repaired to the Sabbat, and afterwards +returned to his chamber down the chimney. One day, when this sort of +thing was exciting the imagination of the judges, an extraordinary +noise was heard in the chimney of the hall, terminating suddenly in +the apparition of a tall black man, who shook his head vigorously. The +judges, thinking the devil had come in person to the rescue of his +servant, took to their heels, with the exception of one Thorm, the +reporter, who was so hemmed in by his desk that he was unable to move. +Terror-stricken at the sight before him, with his body all of a +tremble, and his eyes starting from his head, he made repeated signs +of the cross, until the supposed fiend was equally alarmed, since he +could not understand the cause of the reporter's evident perturbation. +On recovering from his embarrassment he made himself known--he was a +sweep, who had been operating on a chimney on the roof above, but, +when ready to return, had mistaken the entrance, and thus unwillingly +intruded himself into the chamber of the Parliament. + + * * * * * + +The unclean ceremonies of the Witches' Sabbat were 'inaugurated' by +Satan, who, in his favourite assumption of a huge he-goat (a +suggestion, no doubt, from Biblical imagery), with one face in front, +and another between his haunches, took his place upon his throne. +After all present had done homage by kissing him on the posterior +face, he appointed a master of the ceremonies, and, attended by him, +made a personal examination of any guest to ascertain if he or she +bore the stigma, which indicated his right of ownership. Any who were +found without it received the mark at once from the master of the +ceremonies, while the devil bestowed on them a nickname. Thereafter +all began to dance and sing with wild extravagance-- + + 'There is no rest to-night for anyone: + When one dance ends another is begun'-- + +until some neophyte arrived, and sought admission into the circle of +the initiated. Silence prevailed while the newcomer went through the +usual form of denying her salvation, spitting upon the Bible, kissing +the devil, and swearing obedience to him in all things. The dancing +then renewed its fury, and a hoarse chorus went up of-- + + 'Alegremos, alegremos, + Que gente va tenemos!' + +When spent with the violent exercise, they sat down, and, like the +witches in 'Macbeth,' related the evil things each had done since the +last Sabbat, those who had not been sufficiently active being +chastised by Satan himself until they were drenched in blood. A dance +of toads was the next entertainment. They sprang up out of the earth +by thousands, and danced on their hind-legs while Satan played on the +bagpipes or the trumpet, after which they solicited the witches to +reward them for their exertions by feeding them _with the flesh of +unbaptized babes_. Was there ever a more curious mixture of the +grotesque and the horrible? At a stamp from the devil's foot they +returned to the earth whence they came, and a banquet was served up, +the nature of which the reader may be left to imagine! Dancing was +afterwards resumed, while those who had no partiality for the pastime +found amusement in burlesquing the sacrament of baptism, the toads +being again summoned and sprinkled with holy water, while the devil +made the sign of the cross, and the witches cried out in chorus: 'In +nomine Patricâ, Aragueaco Patrica, agora, agora! Valentia, jurando +gome guito goustia!' that is, 'In the name of Patrick, Patrick of +Aragon now, now, all our ills are over!' + +Sometimes the devil would cause the witches to strip themselves, and +dance before him in their nakedness, each with a cat tied round her +neck, and another suspended from her body like a tail. At cockcrow the +whole phantasmagoria vanished. + +One cannot help wondering who first conceived the idea of these horrid +saturnalia. Did it spring from the diseased imagination of some +half-mad monk, brooding in the solitude of his silent cell, who +gathered up all these unclean and grim images and worked them into so +ghastly a picture? They are partly heathen, partly Christian; partly +classical, partly Teutonic--a strange and unwholesome compound, as +'thick and slab' as the hell-broth mixed by the hags on 'the blasted +heath'! + +In these pages I am concerned only with our own 'tight little island,' +into which the superstition was most certainly introduced by the +northern invaders. It would derive strength and consistency from the +teaching of the Old Testament, which distinctly recognises the +existence of witchcraft. 'Let not a witch live!' is the command given +in Exodus (chapter xxii.); and similar threats against witches, +wizards and the like frequently occur in the books of Leviticus and +Deuteronomy. Says Sir William Blackstone: 'To deny the possibility, +nay, the actual existence of witchcraft and sorcery, is at once flatly +to contradict the revealed Word of God in various passages of the Old +and New Testaments, and the thing itself is a truth to which every +nation in the world hath, in its turn, borne testimony, either by +example seemingly well attested, or by prohibitory laws, which at +least suppose the possibility of a commerce with evil spirits.' The +Church at a very early period admitted its existence, and fulminated +against all who practised it. The fourth canon of the Council of +Auxerre, in 525, stringently prohibited all resort to sorcerers, +diviners, augurs, and the like. A canon of the Council held at +Berkhampstead in 696 condemned to corporal punishment, or mulcted in a +fine, every person who made sacrifices to the evil spirits. Under the +name of _sortilegium_, the offence was treated eventually as a kind of +heresy, for which, on the first occasion, the offender, if penitent, +was punished by the Ecclesiastical Courts; but if there were no +abjuration, or a relapse after abjuration, she was handed over to the +secular power to be executed by authority of the writ _de heretico +comburendo_. At a later date, statutes against witchcraft were enacted +by Parliament, and the offence was both tried and punished by the +civil power. Such statutes were passed in the reigns of Henry VIII., +Elizabeth, and James I. Legislation derives its chief support from +public opinion; and these statutes are a proof that the existence of +witchcraft was generally believed in. 'For centuries in this country,' +says Mr. Inderwick, 'strange as it may now appear, a denial of the +existence of such demoniacal agency was deemed equal to a confession +of atheism, and to a disbelief in the Holy Scriptures themselves. Not +only did Lord Chancellors, Lord Keepers, benches of Bishops, and +Parliament after Parliament attest the truth and the existence of +witchcraft, but Addison, writing as late as 1711, in the pages of the +_Spectator_, after describing himself as hardly pressed by the +arguments on both sides of this question, expresses his own belief +that there is, and has been, witchcraft in the land.' At the same +time, it is pleasant to remember that there have almost always been a +few minds, bolder and more enlightened than the rest, to protest +against a credulity which led to acts of the greatest inhumanity, and +fostered a grotesque and dangerous superstition. + +It is in the twelfth century that we first obtain, in England, any +distinct indications of the nature of this superstition, and it is +then we first meet with the written compact between the devil and his +victim. The story of the old woman of Berkeley, with which Southey's +ballad has made everybody familiar, is related by William of +Malmesbury, on the authority of a friend who professed to have been an +eye-witness of the facts. When the devil, we read, announced to the +witch that the term of her compact had nearly expired, she summoned to +her presence the monks of the neighbouring monastery and her children, +confessed her sins, acknowledged her criminal compact, and displayed a +curious anxiety lest Satan should secure her body as well as her soul. +'Sew me in a stag's hide,' she said, 'and, placing me in a stone +coffin, shut me in with lead and iron. Load this with a heavy stone, +and fasten down the whole with three iron chains. Let fifty psalms be +sung by night, and fifty masses be said by day, to baffle the power of +the demons, and if you can thus protect my body for three nights, on +the fourth day you may safely bury it in the ground.' These +precautions, though religiously observed, proved ineffectual. On the +first night the monks bravely resisted the efforts of the fiends, who, +however, on the second night, renewed the attack with increased +vehemence, burst open the gates of the monastery, and rent asunder two +of the chains which held down the coffin. On the third night, so +terrible was the hurly-burly, that the monastery shook to its +foundations, and the terror-stricken priests paused, aghast, in the +midst of their ministrations. Then the doors flew apart, and into the +sacred place stalked a demon, who rose head and shoulders above his +fellows. Stopping at the coffin, he, in a terrible voice, commanded +the dead to rise. The woman answered that she was bound by the third +chain: whereupon the demon put his foot on the coffin, the chain +snapped like a thread, the coffin-lid fell off, the witch arose, and +was hurried to the church-door, where the demon, mounting a huge black +horse, swung his victim on to the crupper, and galloped away into the +darkness with the swiftness of an arrow, while her shrieks resounded +through the air. + +There are many allusions in the old monastic chronicles which +illustrate the development of public opinion in reference to witches +and their craft. Thus, John of Salisbury describes the nocturnal +assemblies of the witches, the presence of Satan, the banquet, and the +punishment or reward of the guests according to the failure or +abundance of their zeal. William of Malmesbury tells us that on the +highroad to Rome dwelt a couple of beldams, of ill repute, who +enticed the weary traveller into their wretched hovel, and by their +incantations transformed him into a horse, a dog, or some other +animal--similar to the transformations we read of in Oriental +tales--and that this animal they sold to the first comer, in this way +picking up a tolerable livelihood. One day, a jongleur, or mountebank, +asked for a night's lodging, and when he disclosed his vocation to the +two hags, they informed him that they had an ass of remarkable +capacity, which, indeed, could do everything but speak, and that they +were willing to sell it. The sum asked was large, but the ass +displayed such wonderful intelligence that the jongleur gladly paid +it, and departed, taking with him the ass and a piece of advice from +the old women--not to let the ass go near running water. For some time +all went well, the ass became an immense attraction, and the jongleur +was growing passing rich, when, in one of his drunken fits, he allowed +the animal to escape. Running directly to the nearest stream, it +plunged in, and immediately resumed its original shape as a handsome +young man, who explained that he had been transformed by the spells of +the two crones. + +The first trial for witchcraft in England occurred in the tenth year +of King John, when, as recorded in the 'Abbreviatio Placitorum,' +Agnes, wife of Ado the merchant, accused one Gideon of the crime; but +he proved his innocence by the ordeal of red-hot iron. The first trial +which has been reported with any degree of particularity belongs to +the year 1324. Some citizens of Coventry, it would appear, had +suffered severely at the hands of the prior, who had been supported in +his exactions by the two Despensers, Edward II.'s unworthy favourites. +In revenge, they plotted the death of the prior, the favourites, and +the King. For this purpose they sought the assistance of a famous +magician of Coventry, named Master John of Nottingham, and his man, +Robert Marshall of Leicester. The conspiracy was revealed by the said +Robert Marshall, probably because his pecuniary reward was +unsatisfactory, and he averred that John of Nottingham and himself, +having agreed to carry out the desire of the citizens, the latter, on +Sunday, March 13, brought an instalment of the stipulated fee, +together with seven pounds of wax and two yards of canvas; that with +this wax he and his master made seven images, representing +respectively the King (with his crown), the two Despensers, the prior, +his caterer, and his steward, and one Richard de Lowe--the last named +being introduced merely as a lay-figure on which to test the efficacy +of the charm. + +The two wizards retired to an old ruined house at Shorteley Park, +about half a league from Coventry, where they remained at work for +several days, and about midnight on the Friday following Holy Cross +Day, the said Master John gave to the said Robert a sharp-pointed +leaden branch, and commanded him to insert it about two inches deep in +the forehead of the image representing Richard de Lowe, this being +intended as an experiment. It was done, and next morning Master John +sent his servant to Lowe's house to inquire after his condition, who +found him screaming and crying 'Harrow!' He had lost his memory, and +knew no one, and in this state he continued until dawn on the Sunday +before Ascension, when Master John withdrew the branch from the +forehead of the image and thrust it into the heart. There it remained +until the following Wednesday, when the unfortunate man expired. Such +was Robert Marshall's fable, as told before the judges; but apparently +it met with little credence, and the trial, after several +adjournments, fell to the ground. + +Wonderful stories are told by the later chroniclers of a certain Eudo +de Stella, who had acquired great notoriety as a sorcerer. William of +Newbury says that his 'diabolical charms' collected a large company of +disciples, whom he carried with him from place to place, adding to +their number wherever he stopped. At times he encamped in the heart of +a wood, where sumptuous tables were suddenly spread with all kinds of +dainty dishes and fragrant wines, and every wish breathed by the +meanest guest was immediately fulfilled. Some of Eudo's followers, +however, confided to our authority that there was a strange want of +solidity in these magically-supplied viands, and that though they ate +of them continually, they were never satisfied. But it appears that +whoever once tasted of the sorcerer's meats, or received from him a +gift, thereby became enrolled among his followers. And the chronicler +supplies this irrefutable proof: A knight of his acquaintance paid a +visit to the wizard, and endeavoured to turn him from his evil +practices. When he departed, Eudo presented his squire with a handsome +hawk, which the knight, observing, advised him to cast away. Not so +the squire: he rejoiced in his high-mettled bird; but they had +scarcely got out of sight of the wizard's camp before the hawk's +talons gripped him more and more closely, and at last it flew away +with him, and he was never more heard of. + +The trial of Dame Alicia Kyteler, or Le Poer, takes us across the +seas, but it furnishes too many interesting particulars to be entirely +ignored. Hutchinson informs us that, in 1324, Bishop de Ledrede, of +Ossory, in the course of a visitation of his diocese, came to learn +that, in the city of Kilkenny, there had long resided certain persons +addicted to various kinds of witchcraft; and that the chief offender +among them was a Dame Alicia Kyteler. As she was a woman of +considerable wealth, which might prove of great benefit to the Church, +the episcopal zeal blazed up strongly, and she and her accomplices +were ordered to be put upon their trial. + +The accusation against them was divided into seven distinct heads: + +First: That, in order to give effect to their sorcery, they were wont +altogether to deny the faith of Christ and of the Church for a year or +month, according as the object to be attained was greater or less, so +that during this longer or shorter period they believed in nothing +that the Church believed, and abstained from worshipping Christ's +body, from entering a church, from hearing Mass, and from +participating in the Sacrament. Second: That they propitiated the +demons with sacrifices of living animals, which they tore limb from +limb, and offered, by scattering them in cross-roads, to a certain +demon, Robert Artisson (_filius Artis_), who was 'one of the poorer +class of hell.' Third: That by their sorceries they sought responses +and oracles from demons. Fourth: That they used the ceremonies of the +Church in their nocturnal meetings, pronouncing, with lighted candles +of wax, sentence of excommunication even against the persons of their +own husbands, naming expressly every member, from the sole of the foot +to the top of the head, and at length extinguishing the candles with +the exclamation, 'Fi! fi! fi! Amen!' Fifth: That with the intestines +and other inner parts of cocks sacrificed to the demons, with 'certain +horrible worms,' various herbs, the nails of dead men, the hair, +brains, and clothes of children who had died unbaptized, and other +things too disgusting to mention, boiled in the skull of a certain +robber who had been beheaded, on a fire made of oak-sticks, they had +invented powders and ointments, and also candles of fat boiled in the +said skull, with certain charms, which things were to be instrumental +in exciting love or hatred, and in killing or torturing the bodies of +faithful Christians, and for various other unlawful purposes. Sixth: +That the sons and daughters of the four husbands of the same Dame +Alice had made their complaint to the Bishop, that she, by such +sorcery, had procured the death of her husbands, and had so beguiled +and infatuated them, that they had given all their property to her and +her son [by her first husband, William Outlawe], to the perpetual +impoverishment of their own sons and heirs: insomuch that her present +[and fourth] husband, Sir John Le Poer, was reduced to a most +miserable condition of body by her ointments, powders, and other +magical preparations; but, being warned by her maidservant, he had +forcibly taken from his wife the keys of her house, in which he found +a bag filled with the 'detestable' articles above mentioned, which he +had sent to the Bishop. Seventh: That there existed an unholy +connection between the said Lady Alice and the demon called Robert +Artisson, who sometimes appeared to her in the form of a cat, +sometimes in that of a black shaggy dog, and at others in the form of +a black man, with two tall companions as black as himself, each +carrying in his hand a rod of iron. Some of the old chroniclers +embroider upon this charge the fanciful details that her offering to +the demon was nine red cocks' and nine peacocks' eyes, which were paid +on a certain stone bridge at a cross-road; that she had a magical +ointment,[40] which she rubbed upon a coulter or plough handle, in +order that the said coulter might carry her and her companions +whithersoever they wished to go; that in her house was found a +consecrated wafer, with the devil's name written upon it; and that, +sweeping the streets of Kilkenny between complin and twilight, she +raked up all the ordure towards the doors of her son, William Outlawe, +saying to herself: + + 'To the house of William my son, + Hie all the wealth of Kilkenny town.' + +The lady, rejoicing in powerful friends and advisers, defied the +Bishop and all his works. She was excommunicated, and her son summoned +to appear before the Bishop for the offence of harbouring and +concealing her; but Dame Alice's friends retaliated by throwing the +Bishop into prison for several days. He revenged himself by placing +the whole diocese under an interdict, and again summoning William +Outlawe to appear on a certain day; but before the day arrived, he in +his turn was cited before the Lord Justice, to answer for having +imposed an interdict on his diocese, and to defend himself against +accusations submitted by the seneschal. The Bishop pleaded that it was +unsafe for him to travel; but the plea was not allowed, and, to save +himself from further molestation, he recalled the interdict. + +The quarrel was not yet fought out. On the Monday following the octave +of Easter, the seneschal, Arnold de la Poer, held his judicial court +in the Assize Hall at Kilkenny. Thither repaired the Bishop, and, +though refused admission, he forced his way in, robed in full +pontificals, carrying in his hand the Host in pyx of gold, and +attended by a numerous train of friars and clergy. But he was received +with a storm of insults and reproaches, which compelled him to retire. +Upon his repeated protests, however, and at the intercession of some +influential personages, his return was permitted. Being ordered to +take his stand at the criminal's bar, he exclaimed that Christ had +never been treated so before, since He stood at the bar before Pontius +Pilate; and he loudly called upon the seneschal to order the arrest of +the persons accused of sorcery, and their deliverance into his hands. +When the seneschal abruptly refused, he opened the book of the +decretals, and saith, 'You, Sir Arnold, are a knight, and instructed +in letters, and that you may not have the excuse of ignorance, we are +prepared to prove by these decretals that you and your officials are +bound to obey our order in this matter, under heavy penalties.' + +'Go to the church with your decretals,' replied the seneschal, 'and +preach there, for none of us here will listen to you.' + +In the Bishop's character there must have been a fine strain of +perseverance, for all these rebuffs failed to baffle him, and he +actually succeeded, after a succession of disappointments and a +constant renewal of difficulties, in obtaining permission to bring the +alleged offenders to trial. Most of them suffered imprisonment; but +Dame Alice escaped him, being secretly conveyed to England. Of all +concerned in the affair, only one was punished: Petronella of Meath, +who was selected as a scapegoat, probably because she had neither +friends nor means of defence. + +By order of the Bishop she was six times flogged, after which the poor +tortured victim made a confession, in which she declared not only her +own guilt, but that of everybody against whom the Bishop had +proceeded. She affirmed that in all Britain, nay, indeed, in the whole +world, was no one more skilled in magical practices than Dame Alice +Kyteler. She was brought to admit the truth--though in her heart she +must have known its absolute falsehood[41]--of the episcopal +indictment, and pretended that she had been present at the sacrifices +to the Evil One--that she had assisted in making the unguents with the +unsavoury materials already mentioned, and that with these unguents +different effects were produced upon different persons--the faces of +certain ladies, for instance, being made to appear horned like goats; +that she had been present at the nocturnal revelries, and, with her +mistress's assistance, had frequently pronounced sentence of +excommunication against her own husband, with all due magical rites; +that she had attended Dame Alice in her assignations with the demon, +Robert Artisson, and had seen acts of an immorality so foul that I +dare not allude to it pass between them. Having been coerced and +tortured into this amazingly wild and fictitious confession, the poor +woman was declared guilty, sentenced, and burned alive, the first +victim of the witchcraft delusion in Ireland. + + * * * * * + +It is worthy of observation that the mind of the public was roused to +a much stronger feeling of hostility against witchcraft than against +magic. Alchemists, astrologers, fortune-tellers, diviners, and the +like, might incur suspicion, and sometimes punishment; but, on the +whole, they were treated with tolerance, and even with distinction. +For this inequality of treatment two or three reasons suggest +themselves. In the crime of witchcraft the central feature was the +compact with the demon, and it was natural that men should resent an +act which entailed the eternal loss of the soul. Again, witchcraft, +much more frequently than magic, was the instrument of personal +ill-feeling, and was more generally directed against the lower +classes. The magician seldom used his power except when liberally paid +by an employer; the witch, it was thought, exercised her skill for the +gratification of her own malice. However this may be, an imputation of +witchcraft became, in the fifteenth century, a formidable affair, +ensuring the death or ruin of the unfortunate individual against whom +it was made. There was no little difficulty in defending one's self; +and in truth, once made, it clung to its victim like a Nessus's shirt, +and with a result as deadly. + +Its value as a political 'move' was shown in the persecution of the +Knights Templars, and, in our own history, in Cardinal Beaufort's +intrigue against Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who governed England as +Protector during the minority of Henry VI. + +The Cardinal struck at the Duke through his beautiful wife, Eleanor +Cobham. In July, 1441, two ecclesiastics, Roger Bolingbroke, and +Thomas Southwell, a canon of St. Stephen's Chapel, were arrested on a +charge of high treason; 'for it was said that the said Master Roger +should labour to consume the King's person by way of necromancy; and +that the said Master Thomas should say masses upon certain instruments +with the which the said Master Roger should use his said craft of +necromancy.' Bolingbroke was a scholar, an adept in natural science, +and an ardent student of astronomy: William of Worcester describes him +as one of the most famous clerks of the world. One Sunday, after +having undergone rigorous examination, he was conveyed to St. Paul's +Cross, where he was mounted 'on a high stage above all men's heads in +Paul's Churchyard, whiles the sermon endured, holding a sword in his +right hand and a sceptre in his left, arrayed in a marvellous array, +wherein he was wont to sit when he wrought his necromancy.' + +The Duchess of Gloucester, meanwhile, perceiving that her ruin was +intended, fled to sanctuary at Westminster. Before the King's Council +Bolingbroke was brought to confess that he had plied his magical trade +at the Duchess's instigation, 'to know what should fall of her, and +to what estate she should come.' In other words, he had cast her +horoscope, a proceeding common enough in those days, and one which had +no treasonable complexion. The Cardinal's party, however, seized upon +Bolingbroke's confession, and made such use of it that the unfortunate +lady was cited to appear before an ecclesiastical tribunal composed of +Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of +Winchester, Cardinal Kemp, Archbishop of York, and Ayscough, Bishop of +Salisbury, on July 2, 'to answer to divers articles of necromancy, of +witchcraft or sorcery, of heresy, and of treason.' Bolingbroke was +brought forward as a witness, and repeated that the Duchess 'first +stirred him to labour in his necromancy.' + +After this, he and Southwell were indicted as principals of treason, +and the Duchess as accessory, though, if his story were true, their +positions should have been reversed. At the same time, a woman named +Margery Goodman, and known as the 'Witch of Eye,' was burned at +Smithfield because in former days she had given potions and philtres +to Eleanor Cobham, to enable her to secure the Duke of Gloucester's +affections. Roger Bolingbroke was hung, drawn, and quartered, +according to the barbarous custom of the age; Southwell escaped a +similar fate by dying in the Tower before the day appointed for his +trial. The charge of high treason brought against them rested entirely +on the allegation that, at the Duchess's request, they had made a +waxen image to resemble the King, and had placed it before a fire, +that, as it gradually melted, so might the King gradually languish +away and die. As for the Duchess, she was sentenced to do penance, +which she fulfilled 'right meekly, so that the more part of the people +had her in great compassion,' on Monday, November 13, 1441, walking +barefoot, with a lighted taper in her hand, from Temple Bar to St. +Paul's, where she offered the taper at the high altar. She repeated +the penance on the Wednesday and Friday following, walking to St. +Paul's by different routes, and on each occasion was accompanied by +the Lord Mayor, the sheriffs, and the various guilds, and by a +multitude of people, whom the repute of her beauty and her sorrows had +attracted, so that what was intended for a humiliation became really a +triumph. She was afterwards imprisoned in Chester Castle, and thence +transferred to the Isle of Man. + + * * * * * + +The charge of sorcery which Richard III. brought against Lord +Hastings, accusing him of having wasted his left arm, though from his +birth it had been fleshless, dry, and withered, is made the basis of +an effective scene in Shakespeare's 'Richard III.' His brother's +widow, Queen Elizabeth Woodville, was included in the charge, and Jane +Shore was named as her accomplice. This frail beauty was brought +before the Council, and accused of having 'endeavoured the ruin and +destruction of the Protector in several ways,' and particularly 'by +witchcraft had decayed his body, and with the Lord Hastings had +contrived to assassinate him.' The indictment, however, was not +sustained, and her offence was reduced to that of lewd living. +Whereupon she was handed over to the Bishop of London to do public +penance for her sin on Sunday morning in St. Paul's Cathedral church. +Clothed in a white sheet, with a wax taper in her hand, and a cross +borne before her, she was led in procession from the episcopal palace +to the cathedral, where she made open confession of her fault. The +moral effect of this exhibition seems to have been considerably marred +by the beauty of the penitent, which produced upon the multitude an +impression similar to that which the bared bosom of Phryne produced +upon her judges in the days of old. + +In 1480 Pope Innocent VIII. issued a Bull enjoining the detection, +trial, and punishment (by burning) of witches. This was the first +formal recognition of witchcraft by the head of the Church. In England +the first Act of Parliament levelled at it was passed in 1541. Ten +years later two more statutes were enacted, one relating to false +prophecies, and the other to conjuration, witchcraft and sorcery. But +in no one of these was witchcraft condemned _qua_ witchcraft; they +were directed against those who, by means of spells, incantations, or +compacts with the devil, threatened the lives and properties of their +neighbours. When, in 1561, Sir Edward Waldegrave, one of Mary Stuart's +councillors, was arrested by order of Secretary Cecil as 'a +mass-monger,' the Bishop of London, to whom he was remitted, felt no +disposition to inflict a heavy penalty for hearing or saying of mass; +but, on inquiry, he discovered that the officiating priest had been +concerned in concocting 'a love-philtre,' and he then decided that +sorcery would afford a safer ground for process. He applied, +therefore, to Chief Justice Catlin, to learn what might be the law in +such cases, and was astonished when he was told that no legal +provision had been made for them. Previously they came before the +Church Courts; but these had been deprived of their powers by the +Reformation, and the only precedent he could find for moving in the +matter belonged to the reign of Edward III., and was thus entered on +the roll: + + 'Ung homme fut prinse en Southwark avec ung teste et ung + visaige dung homme morte avec ung lyvre de sorcerie en son + male et fut amesné en banke du Roy devant Knyvet Justice, + mais nulle indictment fut vers lui, por qui les clerkes luy + fierement jurement que jamais ne feroit sorcerie en après, et + fut delyvon del prison, et le teste et les lyvres furent + arses a Totehyll a les costages du prisonnier.' (That is: A + man was taken in Southwark, with a dead man's skull and a + book of sorcery in his wallet, and was brought up at the + King's Bench before Knyvet Justice; but no indictment was + laid against him, for that the clerks made him swear he would + meddle no more with sorcery, and the head and the books were + burnt at Tothill Fields at the prisoner's charge.) + +But in the following year Parliament passed an Act which defined +witchcraft as a capital crime, whether it was or was not exerted to +the injury of the lives, limbs, and possessions of the lieges. +Thenceforward the persecution of witches took its place among English +institutions. During the latter years of Elizabeth's reign several +instances occurred. Thus, on July 25, 1589, three witches were burnt +at Chelmsford. The popular mind was gradually familiarized with the +idea of witchcraft, and led to concentrate its attention on the +individual marks, or characteristics, which were supposed to indicate +its professors. Even among the higher classes a belief in its +existence became very general, and it is startling to find a man like +the learned and pious Bishop Jewell, in a sermon before Queen +Elizabeth, saying: 'It may please your Grace to understand that +witches and sorcerers within these last four years are marvellously +increased within this your Grace's realm. Your Grace's subjects pine +away even unto the death; their colour fadeth; their flesh rotteth; +their speech is benumbed; their senses are bereft! I pray God they may +never practise further than upon the subject!' (1598). + + * * * * * + +The witches in 'Macbeth'--those weird sisters who met at midnight upon +the blasted heath, and in their caldron brewed so deadly a +'hell-broth'--partake of the dignity of the poet's genius, and belong +to the vast ideal world of his imagination. No such midnight hags +crossed the paths of ordinary mortals. The Elizabethan witch, who +scared her neighbours in town and village, and flourished on their +combined ignorance and superstition, appears, however, in 'The Merry +Wives of Windsor,' where Master Ford describes 'the fat woman of +Brentford' as 'a witch, a quean, an old cozening quean!' He adds: +'Have I not forbid her my house? She comes of errands, does she? We +are simple men; we do not know what's brought to pass under the +profession of fortune-telling. She works by charms, by spells, by the +figure; and such daubery as this is beyond our element.' Most of +Master Ford's contemporaries, I fear, were, in this matter, 'simple +men.' Even persons of rank and learning, of position and refinement, +were as credulous as their poorer, more ignorant, and more vulgar +neighbours; were just as ready to believe that an untaught village +crone had made a compact with the devil, and bartered her soul for the +right of straddling across a broom or changing herself into a black +cat! + + * * * * * + +Near Warboise, in Huntingdonshire, in 1593, lived two gentlemen of +good estate--Mr. Throgmorton and Sir Samuel Cromwell. The former had +five daughters, of whom the eldest, Joan, was possessed with a lively +imagination, which busied itself constantly with ghosts and witches. +On one occasion, when she passed the cottage of an old and infirm +woman, known as Mother Samuel, the good dame, with a black cap on her +head, was sitting at her door knitting. Mistress Joan exclaimed that +she was a witch, hurried home, went into convulsions, and declared +that Mother Samuel had bewitched her. In due course, her sisters +followed her example, and they too laid the blame of their fits on +Mother Samuel. The parents, not less infatuated than the children, +lent ready ears to their wild tales, and carried them to Lady +Cromwell, who, as a friend of Mrs. Throgmorton, took the matter up +right earnestly, and resolved that the supposed witch should be put to +the ordeal. Sir Samuel was by no means unwilling; and the children, +encouraged by this prompt credulity, let loose their fertile +inventions. They declared that Mother Samuel sent a legion of evil +spirits to torment them incessantly. Strange to say, these spirits had +made known their names, which, though grotesque, had nothing of a +demoniac character about them--'First Smack,' 'Second Smack,' 'Third +Smack,' 'Blue,' 'Catch,' 'Hardname,' and 'Pluck'--names invented, of +course, by the young people themselves. + +At length the aggrieved Throgmorton, summoning all his courage, +repaired to Mother Samuel's humble residence, seized upon the unhappy +old crone, and dragged her into his own grounds, where Lady Cromwell +and Mrs. Throgmorton and her children thrust long pins into her body +to see if they could draw blood. With unmeasured violence, Lady +Cromwell tore the old woman's cap from her head, and plucked out a +handful of her gray hair, which she gave to Mrs. Throgmorton to burn, +as a charm that would protect her from all further evil practices. +Smarting under these injuries, the poor old woman, in a moment of +passion, invoked a curse upon her torturers--a curse afterwards +remembered against her, though at the time she was allowed to depart. +For more than a year her life was made miserable by the incessant +persecution inflicted upon her by the two hostile families, who, on +their part, declared that her demons brought upon them all kinds of +physical ills, prevented their ewes and cows from bearing, and turned +the milk sour in the dairy-pans. It so happened that Lady Cromwell was +seized with a sudden illness, of which she died, and though some +fifteen months had elapsed since the utterance of the curse, on poor +Mother Samuel was placed the responsibility. Sir Samuel Cromwell, +therefore, felt called upon to punish her for her ill-doing. + +By this time the old woman, partly through listening to the incessant +repetition of the charges against her, and partly, perhaps, from a +weak delight in the notoriety she had attained, had come to believe, +or to think she believed, that she was really the witch everybody +declared her to be--just as a young versifier is sometimes deluded +into a conviction of his poetic genius through unwisely crediting the +eulogies of an admiring circle of friends and relatives. On one +occasion, she was forcibly conveyed into Mrs. Throgmorton's house when +Joan was in one of her frequently-recurring fits, and ordered to +exorcise the demon that was troubling the maid, with the formula: 'As +I am a witch, and the causer of Lady Cromwell's death, I charge thee, +fiend, to come out of her!' The poor creature did as she was told, and +confessed, besides, that her husband and her daughter were her +associates in witchcraft, and that all three had sold their souls to +the devil. On this confession the whole family were arrested, and sent +to Huntingdon Gaol. Soon afterwards they were tried before Mr. Justice +Fenner, and put to the torture. + +In her agony the old woman confessed anything that was required of +her--she was a witch, she had bewitched the Throgmortons, she had +caused the death of Lady Cromwell. Her husband and her daughter, +stronger-minded, resolutely asserted their innocence. Ignorance, +however, would not be denied its victims; all three were sentenced to +be hanged, and to have their bodies burned. The daughter, who was +young and comely, was regarded compassionately by many persons, and +advised to gain at least a respite by pleading pregnancy. She +indignantly refused to sacrifice her good name. They might falsely +call her a witch, she exclaimed, but they should not be able to say +that she had acknowledged herself to be a harlot. Her old mother, +however, caught at the idea, and openly asserted that she was with +child, the court breaking out into loud laughter, in which she +fatuously joined. The three victims suffered on April 7, 1595. + +Out of the confiscated property of the Samuels, Sir Samuel Cromwell, +as lord of the manor, received a sum of £40, which he converted into +an annual rent-charge of 40s. for the endowment of an annual sermon or +lecture on the iniquity of witchcraft, to be delivered by a D.D. or +B.D. of Queen's College, Cambridge. This strange memorial of a +shameful and ignorant superstition was discontinued early in the +eighteenth century. + + * * * * * + +In 1594, Ferdinando, Earl of Derby, died in and from the firm +conviction that he was mortally bewitched, though he had no knowledge +of the person who had so bewitched him. + + * * * * * + +About the same time there lived in an obscure part of Lancashire, not +far from Pendle, two families of the names of Dundike and Chattox +respectively, who both pretended to enjoy supernatural privileges, +and were therefore as bitterly antagonistic as if they had belonged to +different political factions. Their neighbours, however, seem to have +believed in the superior claims of the head of the Dundike family, +Mother Dundike, who pretended that she had enjoyed her unhallowed +powers for half a century. The year in which occurred the incidents I +am about to describe was, so to speak, her jubilee. + +Mother Dundike must have been a woman of lively imagination, if we may +form conclusions from her graphic account of the circumstances +attending her initiation into the great army of 'the devil's own.' One +day, when returning from a begging expedition, she was accosted by a +boy, dressed in a parti-coloured garment of black and white, who +proved to be a demon, or evil spirit, and promised her that, in return +for the gift of her soul, she should have anything and everything she +desired. On inquiring his name, she was told it was Tib; and here I +may note that the 'princes and potentates' of the nether world seem to +have had a great predilection for monosyllabic names, and names of a +vulgar and commonplace character. The upshot of the conversation +between Tib and the woman was the surrender of her soul on the liberal +conditions promised, and for the next five or six years the said devil +frequently appeared unto her 'about daylight-gate' (near evening), and +asked what she would have or do. With wonderful unselfishness she +replied, 'Nothing.' Towards the end of the sixth year, on a quiet +Sabbath morning, while she lay asleep, Tib came in the shape of a +brown dog, forced himself to her knee, and, as she wore no other +garment than a smock, succeeded in drawing blood. Awaking suddenly, +she exclaimed, 'Jesu, save my child!' but had not the power to say, +'Jesu, save _me_!' Whereupon the brown dog vanished, and for a space +of eight weeks she was 'almost stark mad.' + +The matter-of-fact style which distinguishes Mother Dundike's +confession may also be traced in the statements of her children and +grandchildren, who all speak as if witchcraft were an everyday +reality, and as if evil spirits in various common disguises went to +and fro in the land with edifying regularity. Let us turn to the +evidence, if such it may be called, of Alison Device, a girl of about +thirteen or fourteen years of age. Incriminating her grandmother +without scruple, she declared that when they were on the tramp, the +old woman frequently persuaded her to allow a devil or 'familiar' to +suck at some part of her body, after which she might have and do what +she would--though, strange to say, neither she nor anyone else ever +availed themselves of their powers to improve their material +condition, but lingered on in poverty and privation. James Device, one +of Mother Dundike's grandsons, said that on Shrove Tuesday she bade +him go to church to receive the sacrament--not, however, to eat the +consecrated bread, but to bring it away, and deliver it to 'such a +Thing' as should meet him on his way homeward. But he disobeyed the +injunction, and ate the sacred bread. On his way home, when about +fifty yards from the church, he was met by a 'Thing in the shape of a +hare,' which asked him whether he had brought the bread according to +his grandmother's directions. He answered that he had not; and +therefore the Thing threatened to rend him in pieces, but he got rid +of it by calling upon God. + +Some few days later, hard by the new church in Pendle, a Thing +appeared to him like to a brown dog, asked him for his soul, and +promised in return that he should be avenged on his enemies. The +virtuous youth replied, somewhat equivocatingly, that his soul was not +his to give, but belonged to his Saviour Jesus Christ; as much as was +his to give, however, he was contented to dispose of. Two or three +days later James Device had occasion to go to Cave Hall, where a Mrs. +Towneley angrily accused him of having stolen some of her turf, and +drove him from her door with violence. When the devil next +appeared--this time like a _black_ dog--he found James Device in the +right temper for a deed of wickedness. He was instructed to make an +image of clay like Mrs. Towneley; which he did, and dried it the same +night by the fire, and daily for a week crumbled away the said image, +and two days after it was all gone Mrs. Towneley died! In the +following Lent, one John Duckworth, of the Launde, promised him an old +shirt; but when young Device went to his house for the gift, he was +denied, and sent away with contumely. The spirit 'Dandy' then appeared +to him, and exclaimed: 'Thou didst touch the man Duckworth,' which he, +James Device, denied; but the spirit persisted: 'Yes; thou _didst_ +touch him, and therefore he is in my power.' Device then agreed with +the demon that the said Duckworth should meet with the same fate as +Mrs. Towneley, and in the following week he died. + + * * * * * + +It is a curious fact that the old woman Chattox, the head of the rival +faction of practitioners in witchcraft, accused Mother Dundike of +having inveigled her into the ranks of the devil's servants. This was +about 1597 or 1598. To Mrs. Chattox the Evil One appeared--as he has +appeared to too many of her sex--in the shape of a man. Time, +midnight; place, Elizabeth Dundike's tumble-down cottage. He asked, as +usual, for her soul, which she at first refused, but afterwards, at +Mother Dundike's advice and solicitation, agreed to part with. +'Whereupon the said wicked spirit then said unto her, that he must +have one part of her body for him to suck upon; the which she denied +then to grant unto him; and withal asked him, what part of her body he +would have for that use; who said, he would have a place of her right +side, near to her ribs, for him to suck upon; whereunto she assented. +And she further said that, at the same time, there was a Thing in the +likeness of a spotted bitch, that came with the said spirit unto the +said Dundike, which did then speak unto her in Anne Chattox's hearing, +and said, that she should have gold, silver, and worldly wealth at her +will; and at the same time she saith there was victuals, viz., flesh, +butter, cheese, bread, and drink, and bid them eat enough. And after +their eating, the devil called Fancy, and the other spirit calling +himself Tib carried the remnant away. And she saith, that although +they did eat, they were never the fuller nor better for the same; and +that at their said banquet the said spirits gave them light to see +what they did, although they had neither fire nor candle-light; and +that there be both she-spirits and (he-)devils.' + +In a later chapter I shall have occasion to refer to the confessions +of the various persons implicated in this 'Great Oyer' of witchcraft. +What comes out very strongly in them is the hostility which existed +between the Chattoxes and the Dundikes, and their respective +adherents. In Pendle Forest there were evidently two distinct parties, +one of which sought the favour and sustained the pretensions of Mother +Dundike, the other being not less steadfast in allegiance to Mother +Chattox. As to these two beldams, it is clear enough that they +encouraged the popular credulity, resorted to many ingenious +expedients for the purpose of supporting their influence, and +unscrupulously employed that influence in furtherance of their +personal aims. They knowingly played at a sham game of commerce with +the devil, and enjoyed the fear and awe with which their neighbours +looked up to them. It flattered their vanity; and perhaps they played +the game so long as to deceive themselves. 'Human passions are always +to a certain degree infectious. Perceiving the hatred of their +neighbours, they began to think that they were worthy objects of +detestation and terror, that their imprecations had a real effect, +and their curses killed. The brown horrors of the forest were +favourable to visions, and they sometimes almost believed that they +met the foe of mankind in the night.' To the delusions of the +imagination, especially when suggested by pride and vanity, there are +no means of putting a limit; and it is quite possible that in time +these women gave credence to their own absurd inventions, and saw a +demon or familiar spirit in every hare or black or brown dog that +accidentally crossed their path. + +For awhile the witches created a reign of terror in the forest. But +the interlacing animosities which gradually sprang up between its +inhabitants were the fertile source of so much disorder that, at +length, a county magistrate of more than ordinary energy, Roger +Nowell, Esq., described as a very honest and religious gentleman, +conceived the idea that, by suppressing them, he should do the State +good service. Accordingly he ordered the arrest of Dundike and +Chattox, Alison Device, and Anne Redfern, and each, in the hope of +saving her life, having made a full confession, he committed them to +Lancaster Castle, on April 2, 1612, to take their trials at the next +assizes. + +No attempt was made, however, to search Malkin Tower. This lonely ruin +was regarded with superstitious dread by the peasantry, who durst +never approach it, on account of the strange unearthly noises and the +weird creatures that haunted its wild recesses. James Device, when +examined afterwards by Nowell, deposed that about a month before his +arrest, as he was going towards his mother's house in the twilight, he +met a brown dog coming from it, and, of course, a brown dog was the +disguise of an evil spirit. About two or three nights after, he heard +a great number of children shrieking and crying pitifully in the same +uncanny neighbourhood; and at a later date his ears were shocked by a +loud yelling, 'like unto a great number of cats.' We have heard the +same sounds ourselves, at night, in places which did not profess to be +haunted! It is very possible that Dame Dundike, who was obviously a +crafty old woman, with much knowledge of human nature, had something +to do with these noises and appearances, for it was to her interest to +maintain the eerie reputation of the Tower, and prevent the intrusion +of inquisitive visitors. With all her little secrets, it was natural +enough she should say, '_Procul este, profani_,' while she would +necessarily seize every opportunity of extending and strengthening her +authority. + +It was the general belief that the Malkin Tower was the place where +the witches annually kept their Sabbath on Good Friday, and in 1612, +after Dame Dundike's arrest, they met there as usual, in exceptionally +large numbers, and, after the usual feasting, conferred together on +'the situation'--to use a slang phrase of the present day. Elizabeth +Device presided, and asked their advice as to the best method of +obtaining her mother's release. There must have been some daring +spirits among those old women; for it was proposed--so runs the +record--to kill Lovel, the gaoler of Lancaster Castle, and another +man of the name of Lister, accomplish an informal 'gaol-delivery,' and +blow up the prison! Even with the help of their familiars, they would +have found this a difficult and dangerous enterprise, and we do not +wonder that the proposal met with general disfavour. + +Seldom, if ever, do conspirators meet without a traitor in their +midst; and on this occasion there was a traitor in Malkin Tower in the +person of Janet Device, the youngest daughter of Alison Device, and +grand-daughter of the unfortunate old woman who was lying ill and weak +in Lancaster Gaol. A girl of only nine years of age, she was an +experienced liar and thoroughly unscrupulous; and having been bribed +by Justice Nowell, she informed against the persons present at this +meeting, and secured their arrest. The number of prisoners at +Lancaster was increased to twelve, among whom were Elizabeth Device, +her son James, and Alice Nutter, of Rough Lea, a lady of good family +and fair estate. There is good reason to believe that the last-named +was in no way implicated in the doings of the so-called witches, but +that she was introduced by Janet Device to gratify the greed of some +of her relatives--who, in the event of her death, would inherit her +property--and the ill-feeling of Justice Nowell, whom she had worsted +in a dispute about the boundary of their respective lands. The charges +against her were trivial, and amounted to no more than that she had +been present at the Malkin Tower convention, and had joined with +Mother Dundike and Elizabeth Device in bewitching to death an old man +named Mitton. The only witnesses against her were Janet and Elizabeth +Device, neither of whom was worthy of credence. + +Blind old Mother Dundike escaped the terrible penalty of an +unrighteous law by dying in prison before the day of trial. But +justice must have been well satisfied with its tale of victims. +Foremost among them was Mother Chattox, the head of the anti-Dundike +faction--'a very old, withered, spent, and decrepit creature,' whose +sight was almost gone, and whose lips chattered with the meaningless +babble of senility. When judgment was pronounced upon her, she uttered +a wild, incoherent prayer for Divine mercy, and besought the judge to +have pity upon Anne Redfern, her daughter. The next person for trial +was Elizabeth Device, who is described as having been branded 'with a +preposterous mark in nature, even from her birth, which was her left +eye standing lower than the other; the one looking down, the other +looking up; so strangely deformed that the best that were present in +that honourable assembly and great audience did affirm they had not +often seen the like.' When this woman discovered that the principal +witness against her was her own child, she broke out into such a storm +of curses and reproaches that the proceedings came to a sudden stop, +and she had to be removed from the court before her daughter could +summon up courage to repeat the fictions she had learned or concocted. +The woman was, of course, found guilty, as were also James and Alison +Device, Alice Nutter, Anne Redfern, Katherine Hewit, John and Jane +Balcock, all of Pendle, and Isabel Roby, of Windle, most of whom +strenuously asserted their innocence to the last. On August 13, the +day after their trial, they were burnt 'at the common place of +execution, near to Lancaster'--the unhappy victims of the ignorance, +superstition, and barbarity of the age. + +Janet Device, as King's evidence, obtained a pardon, though she +acknowledged to have taken part in the practices of her parents, and +confessed to having learned from her mother two prayers, one to cure +the bewitched, and the other to get drink. The former, which is +obviously a _pasticcio_ of the old Roman Catholic hymns and +traditional rhymes, runs as follows: + + 'Upon Good Friday, I will fast while I may + Untill I heare them knell + Our Lord's owne bell. + Lord in His messe + With His twelve Apostles good, + What hath He in His hand? + Ligh in leath wand: + What hath He in His other hand? + Heaven's door key. + Open, open, Heaven's door keys! + Stark, stark, hell door. + Let Criznen child + Goe to its mother mild; + What is yonder that crests a light so farrndly? + Thine owne deare Sonne that's nailed to the Tree. + He is naild sore by the heart and hand, + And holy harne panne. + Well is that man + That Fryday spell can, + His child to learne; + A crosse of blew and another of red, + As good Lord was to the Roode. + Gabriel laid him downe to sleepe + Upon the ground of holy weepe; + Good Lord came walking by. + Sleep'st thou, wak'st thou, Gabriel? + No, Lord, I am sted with sticks and stake + That I can neither sleepe nor wake: + Rise up, Gabriel, and goe with me, + The stick nor the stake shall never dure thee. + Sweet Jesus, our Lord. Amen!' + +The other prayer consisted only of the Latin phrase: 'Crucifixus hoc +signum vitam æternam. Amen.'[42] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[40] So in Duclerq's 'Memoires' ('Collect. du Panthéon'), p. 141, we +read of a case at Arras, in which the sorcerers were accused of using +such an ointment: 'D'ung oignement que le diable leur avoit baillé, +ils oindoient une vergue de bois bien petite, et leurs palmes et leurs +mains, puis mectoient celle virguelte entre leurs jambes, et tantost +ils s'en volvient où ils voullvient estre, purdesseures bonnes villes, +bois et cams; et les portoit le diable au lieu où ils debvoient faire +leur assemblée.' + +[41] That is, of sacrificing to the Evil One, of meeting the demon +Robert Artisson, and so on; though it is quite possible that strange +unguents were made and administered to different persons, and that +Dame Alice and her companions played at being sorcerers. Some of the +so-called witches, as we shall see, encouraged the deception on +account of the influence it gave them. + +[42] Thomas Pott's 'Wonderful Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of +Lancashire' (1615), reprinted by the Chetham Society, 1845. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND IN THE 17TH CENTURY. + + +The accession of James I., a professed demonologist, and an expert in +all matters relating to witchcraft, gave a great impulse to the +persecution of witches in England. 'Poor old women and girls of tender +age were walked, swum, shaved, and tortured; the gallows creaked and +the fires blazed.' In accordance with the well-known economic law, +that the demand creates the supply, it was found that, in proportion +as trials and tortures increased, so did the number of witches, until +half the old hags in England supposed themselves, or were supposed by +others, to have made compacts with the devil. Legislation then +augmented its severity, and Parliament, in compliance with the wishes +of the new King, passed an Act by which sorcery and witchcraft were +made felony, without benefit of clergy. For some years the country was +witch-ridden, and it is appalling to think of the hundreds of hapless, +ignorant, and innocent creatures who were cruelly done to death under +the influence of this extraordinary mania. + +A remarkable case tried at King's Lynn in 1606 is reported in +Howell's 'State Trials.' I avail myself of the summary furnished by +Mr. Inderwick. + +Marie, wife of Henry Smith, grocer, confessed, under examination, +that, being indignant with some of her neighbours because they +prospered in their trade more than she did, she oftentimes cursed +them; and that once, while she was thus engaged, the devil appeared in +the form of a black man, and willed that she should continue in her +malice, envy, and hatred, banning and cursing, and then he would see +that she was revenged upon all to whom she wished evil. There was, of +course, a compact insisted upon: that she should renounce God, and +embrace the devil and all his works. After this he appeared +frequently--once as a mist, once as a ball of fire, and twice he +visited her in prison with a pair of horns, advising her to make no +confession, but to rely upon him. + +The evidence of the acts of witchcraft was as follows: + +John Oakton, a sailor, having struck her boy, she cursed him roundly, +and hoped his fingers would rot off, which took place, it was said, +two years afterwards. + +She quarrelled with Elizabeth Hancock about a hen, alleging that +Elizabeth had stolen it. When the said Elizabeth denied the theft, she +bade her go indoors, for she would repent it; and that same night +Elizabeth had pains all over her body, and her bed jumped up and down +for the space of an hour or more. Elizabeth then consulted her father, +and was taken by him to a wizard named Drake, who taught her how to +concoct a witch-cake with all the nastiest ingredients imaginable, and +to apply it, with certain words and conjurations, to the afflicted +parts. For the time Elizabeth was cured; but some time afterwards, +when she had been married to one James Scott, a great cat began to go +about her house, and having done some harm, Scott thrust it twice +through with his sword. As it still ran to and fro, he smote it with +all his might upon its head, but could not kill it, for it leaped +upwards almost a yard, and then crept down. Even when put into a bag, +and dragged to the muck-hill, it moved and stirred, and the next +morning was nowhere to be found. And this same cat, it was afterwards +sworn, sat on the chest of Cicely Balye, and nearly suffocated her, +because she had quarrelled with the witch about her manner of sweeping +before her door; and the said witch called the said Cicely 'a +fat-tailed sow,' and said her fatness would shortly be abated, as, +indeed, it was. + +Edmund Newton swore that he had been afflicted with various +sicknesses, and had been banged in the face with dirty cloths, because +he had undersold Marie Smith in Dutch cheeses. She also sent to him a +person clothed in russet, with a little bush beard and a cloven foot, +together with her imps, a toad, and a crab. One of his servants took +the toad and put it into the fire, when it made a groaning noise for a +quarter of an hour before it was consumed, 'during which time Marie +Smith, who sent it, did endure (as was reported) torturing pains, +testifying the grief she felt by the outcries she then made.' + +Upon this evidence--such as it was--and upon her own confession, Marie +Smith was convicted and sentenced to death. On the scaffold she humbly +acknowledged her sins, prayed earnestly that God might forgive her the +wrongs she had done her neighbours, and asked that a hymn of her own +choosing--'Lord, turn not away Thy face'--might be sung. Then she died +calmly. It is, no doubt, a curious fact--if, indeed, it _be_ a fact, +but the evidence is by no means satisfactory--that she confessed to +various acts of witchcraft, and to having made a compact with the +devil; but even this alleged confession cannot receive our credence +when we reflect on the inherent absurdity and impossibility of the +whole affair. + + * * * * * + +In 1619, Joan Flower and her two daughters, Margaretta and Philippa, +formerly servants at Belvoir Castle, were tried before Judges Hobart +and Bromley, on a charge of having bewitched to death two sons of the +sixth Earl of Rutland, and found guilty. The mother died in prison; +the two daughters were executed at Lincoln. + + +THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. + +My chronological survey next brings me to the famous case of the +Lancashire witches. + +I have already told the story of the Dundikes and the Chattoxes, and +their exploits in Pendle Forest. In the same locality, two-and-twenty +years later, lived a man of the name of Robinson, to whom it occurred +that the prevalent belief in witchcraft might be turned to account +against his neighbours. In this design he made his son--a lad about +eleven years old--his instrument. After he had been properly trained, +he was instructed by his father, on February 10, 1633, to go before +two justices of the peace, and make the following declaration: + +That, on All Saints' Day, while gathering wild plums in Wheatley Lane, +he saw a black greyhound and a brown scamper across the fields. They +came up to him familiarly, and he then discovered that each wore a +collar shining like gold. As no one accompanied them, he concluded +that they had broken loose from their kennels; and as at that moment a +hare started up only a few paces from him, he thought he would set +them to hunt it, but his efforts were all in vain; and in his wrath he +took the strings that hung from their collars, tied both to a little +bush, and then whipped them. Whereupon, in the place of the black +greyhound, started up the wife of a man named Dickinson, and in that +of the brown a little boy. In his amazement, young Robinson (so he +said) would have run away, but he was stayed by Mistress Dickinson, +who pulled out of her pocket 'a piece of silver much like unto a fine +shilling,' and offered it to him, if he promised to be silent. But he +refused, exclaiming: 'Nay, thou art a witch!' Whereupon, she again put +her hand in her pocket, and drew forth a string like a jingling +bridle, which she put over the head of the small boy, and, behold, he +was turned into a white horse, with a change as quick as that of a +scene in a pantomime. Upon this white horse the woman placed, by +force, young Robinson, and rode with him as far as the Hoar-Stones--a +house at which the witches congregated together--where divers persons +stood about the door, while others were riding towards it on horses of +different colours. These dismounted, and, having tied up their horses, +all went into the house, accompanied by their friends, to the number +of threescore. At a blazing fire some meat was roasting, and a young +woman gave Robinson flesh and bread upon a trencher, and drink in a +glass, which, after the first taste, he refused, and would have no +more, saying it was nought. Presently, observing that certain of the +company repaired to an adjoining barn, he followed, and saw six of +them on their knees, pulling at six several ropes which were fastened +to the top of the house, with the result that joints of meat smoking +hot, lumps of butter, and milk 'syleing,' or straining from the said +ropes, fell into basins placed underneath them. When these six were +weary, came other six, and pulled right lustily; and all the time they +were pulling they made such foul faces that they frightened the +peeping lad, so that he was glad to steal out and run home. + +No sooner was his escape discovered than a party of the witches, +including Dickinson's wife, the wife of a man named Loynds, and Janet +Device, took up the pursuit, and over field and scaur hurried +headlong, nearly overtaking him at a spot called Boggard Hole, when +the opportune appearance of a couple of horsemen induced them to +abandon their quarry. But young Robinson was not yet 'out of the +wood.' In the evening he was despatched by his father to bring home +the cattle, and on the way, in a field called the Ollers, he fell in +with a boy who picked a quarrel with him, and they fought together +until the blood flowed from his ears, when, happening to look down, he +saw that his antagonist had cloven feet, and, much affrighted, set off +at full speed to execute his commission. Perceiving a light like that +of a lantern, he hastened towards it, in the belief it was carried by +a neighbour; but on arriving at the place of its shining he found +there a woman whom he recognised as the wife of Loynds, and +immediately turned back. Falling in again with the cloven-footed boy, +he thought it prudent to take to his heels, but not before he had +received a blow on the back which pained him sorely. + +In support of this extraordinary story, the elder Robinson deposed +that he had certainly sent his son to bring in the kine; that, +thinking he was away too long, he had gone in search of him, and +discovered him in such a distracted condition that he knew neither his +father nor where he was, and so continued for very nearly a quarter of +an hour before he came to himself. + +The persons implicated by the boy Robinson were immediately arrested, +and confined in Lancaster Castle. Some of them--for he told various +stories, and in each introduced new characters--he did not know by +name, but he protested that on seeing them he should recognise them, +and for this purpose he was carried about to the churches in the +surrounding district to examine the congregations. The method adopted +is thus described by Webster: 'It came to pass that this said boy was +brought into the church of Kildwick, a large parish church, where I +(being then curate there) was preaching in the afternoon, and was set +upon a stall (he being but about ten or eleven years old) to look +about him, which moved some little disturbance in the congregation for +awhile. And, after prayers, I inquiring what the matter was, the +people told me it was the boy that discovered witches, upon which I +went to the house where he was to stay all night, where I found him +and two very unlikely persons that did conduct him and manage his +business. I desired to have some discourse with the boy in private, +but they utterly refused. Then, in the presence of a great many +people, I took the boy near me and said: "Good boy, tell me truly, and +in earnest, didst thou see and hear such strange things of the meeting +of witches as is reported by many that thou dost relate, or did not +some person teach thee to say such things of thyself?" But the two +men, not giving the boy leave to answer, did pluck him from me, and +said he had been examined by two able justices of the peace, and they +did never ask him such a question; to whom I replied, the persons +accused therefore had the more wrong.' + +In all, some eighteen women, married and single--the charge was +generally made against women, as probably less capable of +self-defence, and more impressionable than men--were brought to trial +at Lancaster Assizes. There was really no evidence against them but +the boy Robinson's, and to sustain it his unfortunate victims were +examined for the _stigmata_, or devil-marks, which, of course, were +found in ample quantity. Against seventeen a verdict of guilty was +returned, one or two being convicted on their own confessions--the +most perplexing incident in the whole case, for as these confessions +were unquestionably false, they who made them were really _lying away +their own lives_. By what impulse of morbid vanity, or diseased +craving for notoriety, or strange mental delusion, were they inspired? +And whence came the wild and even foul ideas which formed the staple +of their delirious narratives? How did these quiet, stolid, unlettered +Lancashire peasant-women become possessed of inventions worthy of the +grimmest of German tales of _diablerie_? It is easier to ask these +questions than to answer them; but when the witch mania was once +kindled in a neighbourhood it seems, like a pestilential atmosphere, +to have stricken with disease every mind that was predisposed to the +reception of unwholesome impressions. + +The confession of Margaret Johnson, made on March 9, 1613, has been +printed before, but it has so strong a psychological interest that I +cannot omit it here. It may be taken as a type of the confessions made +by the victims of credulity under similar circumstances: + + 'Betweene seven or eight yeares since, shee being in her + house at Marsden in greate passion and anger, and + discontented, and withall oppressed with some want, there + appeared unto her a spirit or devill in the similitude and + proportion of a man, apparelled in a suite of black, tied + about with silke pointes, whoe offered her, yff shee would + give him her soule, hee would supply all her wantes, and + bring to her whatsoever shee wanted or needed, and at her + appointment would helpe her to kill and revenge her either of + men or beastes, or what she desired; and, after a + sollicitation or two, shee contracted and condicioned with + the said devill or spiritt for her soule. And the said devill + bad her call him by the name of Memillion, and when shee + called hee would bee ready to doe her will. And she saith + that in all her talke and conference shee called the said + Memillion her god. + + 'And shee further saith that shee was not at the greate + meetinge of the witches at Hare-stones in the forest of + Pendle on All Saintes Day last past, but saith shee was at a + second meetinge the Sunday after All Saintes Day at the place + aforesaid, where there was at that time betweene thirty and + forty witches, which did all ride to the same meetinge. And + thead of the said meetinge was to consult for the killing and + hunting of men and beastes; and that there was one devill or + spiritt that was more greate and grand devill than the rest, + and yff anie witch desired to have such an one, they might + have such an one to kill or hurt anie body. And she further + saith, that _such witches as have sharpe boanes are generally + for the devill to prick them with which have no papps nor + duggs, but raiseth blood from the place pricked with the + boane, which witches are more greate and grand witches than + they which have papps or dugs (!)_. And shee being further + asked what persons were at their last meetinge, she named one + Carpnell and his wife, Rason and his wife, Pickhamer and his + wife, Duffy and his wife, and one Jane Carbonell, whereof + Pickhamer's wife is the most greate, grand, and anorcyent + witch; and that one witch alone can kill a beast, and yf they + bid their spiritt or devill to goe and pricke or hurt anie + man in anie particular place, hee presently will doe it. And + that their spiritts have usually knowledge of their bodies. + And shee further saith the men witches have women spiritts, + and women witches have men spiritts; that Good Friday is one + of their constant daies of their generall meetinge, and that + on Good Friday last they had a meetinge neere Pendle + water-side; and saith that their spirit doeth tell them where + their meetinge must bee, and in what place; and saith that if + a witch desire to be in anie place upon a soddaine, that, on + a dogg, or a tod, or a catt, their spiritt will presently + convey them thither, or into anie room in anie man's house. + + 'But shee saith it is not the substance of their bodies that + doeth goe into anie such roomes, but their spiritts that + assume such shape and forme. And shee further saith that the + devill, after hee begins to sucke, will make a papp or a dug + in a short time, and the matter hee sucketh is blood. And + further saith that the devill can raise foule wether and + stormes, and soe hee did at their meetinges. And shee further + saith that when the devill came to suck her pappe, he came to + her in the likeness of a catt, sometimes of one collour, and + sometimes of another. And since this trouble befell her, her + spirit hath left her, and shee never saw him since.' + +Happily, the judge who presided at the trial of these deluded and +persecuted unfortunates was dissatisfied with the evidence, and +reprieved them until he had time to communicate with the Privy +Council, by whose orders Bridgman, Bishop of Chester, proceeded to +examine into the principal cases. Three of the supposed criminals, +however, had died of anxiety and suffering before the work of +investigation began, and a fourth was sick beyond recovery. The cases +into which the Bishop inquired were those of Margaret Johnson, Frances +Dicconson, or Dickinson, Mary Spencer, and Mrs. Hargrave. Margaret +Johnson the good Bishop describes as a widow of sixty, who was deeply +penitent. 'I will not add,' she said, 'sin to sin. I have already done +enough, yea, too much, and will not increase it. I pray God I may +repent.' This victim of hallucination had confessed herself to be a +witch, as we have seen, and was characterized by the Bishop as 'more +often faulting in the particulars of her actions.' Frances Dicconson, +however, and Mary Spencer, absolutely denied the truth of the +accusations brought against them. Frances, according to the boy +Robinson, had changed herself into a dog; but it transpired that she +had had a quarrel with the elder Robinson. Mary Spencer, a young woman +of twenty, said that Robinson cherished much ill-feeling against her +parents, who had been convicted of witchcraft at the last assizes, and +had since died. She repeated the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' +Creed, and declared that she defied the devil and all his works. A +story had been set afloat that she used to call her pail to follow her +as she ran. The truth was that she often trundled it down-hill, and +called to it in jest to come after her if she outstripped it. She +could have explained every circumstance in court, 'but the wind was so +loud and the throng so great, _that she could not hear the evidence +against her_.' + +This last touch, as Mr. S. R. Gardiner remarks, completes the tragedy +of the situation. 'History,' as he says, 'occupies itself perforce +mainly with the sorrows of the educated classes, whose own peers have +left the records of their wrongs. Into the sufferings of the mass of +the people, except when they have been lashed by long-continued +injustice into frenzy, it is hard to gain a glimpse. For once the veil +is lifted, and we see, as by a lightning flash, the forlorn and +unfriended girl, to whom the inhuman laws of her country denied the +services of an advocate, baffled by the noisy babble around her in her +efforts to speak a word on behalf of her innocence. The very Bishop +who examined her was under the influence of the legal superstition +that every accused person was the enemy of the King. He had heard, he +said, that the father of the boy Robinson had offered, for forty +shillings, to withdraw his charge against Frances Dicconson, "but such +evidence being, as the lawyers speak, against the King," he "thought +it not meet without further authority to examine."' + +The Bishop, however, like the judge, was dissatisfied with the +evidence; and the accused persons were eventually sent up to London, +where they were examined by the King's physicians, the Bishops, the +Privy Council, and by King Charles himself. Some medical men and +midwives reported that Margaret Johnson was deceived in her idea that +she bore on her body a sign or mark that her blood had been sucked. +Doubts as to the truth of the boy Robinson's story being freely +entertained, he was separated from his father, and he then revealed +the whole invention to the King's coachman. He had heard stories told +of witches and their doings, and out of these had concocted his +ghastly fiction to save himself a whipping for having neglected to +bring home his mother's cows. His father, perceiving at once how much +might be made out of the tale, took it up and expanded it; manipulated +it so as to serve his feelings of revenge or avarice, and then taught +the boy how to repeat the enlarged and improved version. It was all a +lie--from beginning to end. The day on which he pretended to have been +carried to the Witches' Sabbath at the Hoar-Stones, he was a mile +distant, gathering plums in a farmer's orchard. The accused were then +admitted to the King's presence, and assured that their lives were +safe. Further than this Charles seems to have been unable to go; for +as late as 1636 these innocent and ill-treated persons were still +lying in Lancaster Castle. It is satisfactory to state, however, that +both the boy Robinson and his father were thrown into prison. + +Fresh cases of witchcraft sprang up in the Pendle district, and early +in 1636 four more women were condemned to death at the Lancaster +Assizes. Bishop Bridgman, who was again directed to make inquiries, +found that two of them had died in gaol, and that of the two others, +one had been convicted on a madman's evidence, and that of a woman of +ill fame; while the only proof alleged against the other was that a +fleshy excrescence of the size of a hazel-nut grew on her right ear, +and the end of it, being bloody, was supposed to have been sucked by a +familiar spirit. The two women seem to have been pardoned; but, as in +the former case, public opinion set too strongly against them to admit +of their being released. + + +THE WITCHES OF SALMESBURY. + +The singular circumstances connected with the supposed outbreak of +witchcraft in Pendle Forest have, to a great extent, obscured the +strange case of the witches of Salmesbury, though it presents several +features worthy of consideration. + +Three persons were accused--Jennet Bierley, Ellen Bierley, and Jane +Southworth--and their supposed victim was one Grace Sowerbutts. In the +language of Mr. Thomas Potts, they were led into error by 'a subtle +practice and conspiracy of a seminary priest, or Jesuit, whereof this +county of Lancaster hath good store, who by reason of the general +entertainment they find, and great maintenance they have, resort +hither, being far from the eye of Justice, and, therefore, _procul a +fulmine_.' At their trial, which took place before Mr. Justice Bromley +at Lancaster, on Wednesday, August 19, the evidence of Grace +Sowerbutts was to the following effect: + +That for the space of _some years past_ (at the time of the trial she +was only fourteen) she had been haunted and vexed by four women, +namely, Jennet Bierley, her grandmother, Ellen Bierley, wife to Henry +Bierley, Jane Southworth, and a certain Old Dorwife. Lately, these +four women drew her by the hair of her head, and laid her on the top +of a hay-mow in the said Henry Bierley's barn. Not long after, Jennet +Bierley met her near her house, first appearing in her own likeness, +and after that as a black dog, and when she, Grace Sowerbutts, went +over a stile, she picked her off. However, she was not hurt, and, +springing to her feet, she continued her way to her aunt's at +Osbaldeston. That evening she told her father what had occurred. On +Saturday, April 4, going towards Salmesbury Butt to meet her mother, +she fell in, at a place called the Two Briggs, with Jennet Bierley, +first in her own shape, and afterwards in the likeness of a two-legged +black dog; and this dog kept close by her side until they came to a +pool of water, when it spake, and endeavoured to persuade her to +drown herself therein, saying it was a fair and an easy death. +Whereupon, she thought there came to her one in a white sheet, and +carried her away from the pool, and in a short space of time both the +white thing and the black dog departed; but after Grace had crossed +two or three fields, the black dog re-appeared, and conveyed her into +Hugh Walshman's barn close at hand, laid her upon the floor, covered +her with straw on her body and hay on her head, and lay down on the +top of the straw--for how long a time Grace was unable to determine; +because, she said, her speech and senses were taken from her. When she +recovered her consciousness, she was lying on a bed in Walshman's +house, having been removed thither by some friends who had found her +in the barn within a few hours of her having been taken there. As it +was Monday night when she came to her senses, she had been in her +trance or swoon, according to her marvellous story, for about +forty-eight hours. + +On the following day, Tuesday, her parents fetched her home; but at +the Two Briggs Jennet and Ellen Bierley appeared in their own shapes, +and she fell down in another trance, remaining unable to speak or walk +until the following Friday. + +All this was remarkable enough, but Grace Sowerbutts--or the person +who had tutored her--felt it was not sufficiently grim or gruesome to +make much impression on a Lancashire jury, accustomed in witch trials +to much more harrowing details. She proceeded, therefore, to recall an +incident of a more attractive character. A good while, she said, +before the trance business occurred, she accompanied her aunt, Ellen +Bierley, and her grandmother, Jennet Bierley, to the house of one +Thomas Walshman. It was night, and all the household were asleep, but +the doors flew open, and the unexpected visitors entered. Grace and +Ellen Bierley remained below, while Jennet made her way to the +sleeping-room of Thomas Walshman and his wife, and thence brought a +little child, which, as Grace supposed, must have been in bed with its +father and mother. Having thrust a nail into its navel, she afterwards +inserted a quill, and sucked for a good while(!); then replaced the +child with its parents, who, of course, had never roused from their +sleep. The child did not cry when it was thus abused, but thenceforth +languished, and soon afterwards died. And on the night after its +burial, the said Jennet and Ellen Bierley, taking Grace Sowerbutts +with them, went to Salmesbury churchyard, took up the body, and +carried it to Jennet's house, where a portion of it was boiled in a +pot, and a portion broiled on the coals. Of both portions Jennet and +Ellen partook, and would have had Grace join them in the ghoul-like +repast, but she refused. Afterwards Jennet and Ellen seethed the bones +in a pot, and with the fat that came from them said they would anoint +their bodies, so that they might sometimes change themselves into +other shapes. + +The next story told by this abandoned girl is too foul and coarse for +these pages, and we pass on to the conclusion of her evidence. On a +certain occasion, she said, Jane Southworth, a widow, met her at the +door of her father's house, carried her to the loft, and laid her upon +the floor, where she was found by her father unconscious, and +unconscious she remained till the next day. The widow Southworth then +visited her again, took her out of bed, and placed her upon the top of +a hayrick, three or four yards from the ground. She was discovered in +this position by a neighbour's wife, and laid in her bed again, but +remained speechless and senseless as before for two or three days. A +week or so after her recovery, Jane Southworth paid her a third visit, +took her away from her home, and laid her in a ditch near the house, +with her face downwards. The usual process followed: she was +discovered and put to bed, but continued unconscious--this time, +however, only for a day and a night. And, further, on the Tuesday +before the trial, the said Jane Southworth came again to her father's +house, took her and carried her into the barn, and thrust her head +amongst 'a company of boards' which were standing there, where she was +soon afterwards found, and, being again placed in a bed, remained in +her old fit until the Thursday night following. + +After Grace Sowerbutts had finished her evidence, Thomas Walshman was +called, who proved that his child died when about a year old, but of +what disease he knew not; and that Grace Sowerbutts had been found in +his father's barn, and afterwards carried into his house, where she +lay till the Monday night 'as if she had been dead.' Then one John +Singleton's deposition was taken: That he had often heard his old +master, Sir John Southworth, say, touching the widow Southworth, that +she was, as he thought, an evil woman and a witch, and that he was +sorry for her husband, who was his kinsman, for he believed she would +kill him. And that the said Sir John, in coming or going between +Preston and his own house at Salmesbury, mostly avoided passing the +old wife's residence, though it was the nearest way, entirely _out of +fear of the said wife_. (Brave Sir John!) + +This evidence, it is clear, failed to prove against the prisoners a +single direct act of witchcraft; but so credulous were judge and jury +in matters of this kind, that, notwithstanding the vague and +suspicious character of the testimony brought forward, it would have +gone hard with the accused, but for an accidental question which +disclosed the fact that the girl, Grace Sowerbutts, had been prompted +in her incoherent narrative, and taught to sham her fits of +unconsciousness, by a Roman priest or Jesuit, named Thompson or +Southworth, who was actuated by motives of fanaticism. + +'How well this project,' exclaims the indignant Potts, 'to take away +the lives of these innocent poor creatures by practice and villainy, +to induce a young scholar to commit perjury, to accuse her own +grandmother, aunt, etc., agrees either with the title of a Jesuit or +the duty of a religious Priest, who should rather profess sincerity +and innocency than practise treachery. But this was lawful, for they +are heretics accursed, to leave the company of priests, to frequent +churches, hear the word of God preached, and profess religion +sincerely.' The horrors which he taught his promising pupil, Thompson +probably gathered from the pages of Bodin and Delrio, or some of the +other demonologists. Potts continues: + +'Who did not condemn these women upon this evidence, and hold them +guilty of this so foul and horrible murder? But Almighty God, who in +His providence had provided means for their deliverance, although the +priest, by the help of the Devil, had provided false witnesses to +accuse them; yet God had prepared and placed in the seat of justice an +upright judge to sit in judgment upon their lives, who after he had +heard all the evidence at large against the prisoners for the King's +Majesty, demanded of them what answer they could make. They humbly +upon their knees, with weeping tears, desired him for God's cause to +examine Grace Sowerbutts, who set her on, or by whose means this +accusation came against them.' + +The countenance of Grace Sowerbutts immediately underwent a great +change, and the witnesses began to quarrel and accuse one another. The +judge put some questions to the girl, who, for the life of her, could +make no direct or intelligible answer, saying, with obvious +hesitation, that she was put to a master to learn, but he had told her +nothing of this. + +'But here,' continues Potts, 'as his lordship's care and pains was +great to discover the practices of those odious witches of the Forest +of Pendle, and other places, now upon their tribunal before him; so +was he desirous to discover this damnable practice to accuse these +poor women and bring their lives in danger, and thereby to deliver the +innocent. + +'And as he openly delivered it upon the bench, in the hearing of a +great audience: That if a Priest or Jesuit had a hand in one end of +it, there would appear to be knavery and practice in the other end of +it. And that it might better appear to the whole world, examined +Thomas Sowerbutts what [the] Master taught his daughter: in general +terms, he denied all. + +'The wench had nothing to say, but her Master told her nothing of +this. In the end, some that were present told his lordship the truth, +and the prisoners informed him how she went to learn with one +Thompson, a Seminary Priest, who had instructed and taught her this +accusation against them, because they were once obstinate Papists, and +now came to Church. Here is the discovery of this Priest, and of his +whole practice. Still this fire increased more and more, and one +witness accusing another, all things were laid open at large. + +'In the end his lordship took away the girl from her father, and +committed her to Mr. Leigh, a very religious preacher, and Mr. +Chisnal, two Justices of the Peace, to be carefully examined.' + +The examination was as follows: + +'Being demanded whether the accusation she laid upon her grandmother, +Jennet Bierley, Ellen Bierley, and Jane Southworth, of witchcraft, +namely, of the killing of the child of Thomas Walshman with a nail in +the navel, the boiling, eating, and oiling, thereby to transform +themselves into divers shapes, was true; she doth utterly deny the +same: or that ever she saw any such practices done by them. + +'She further saith, that one Master Thompson, which she taketh to be +Master Christopher Southworth, to whom she was sent to learn her +prayers, did persuade, counsel, and advise her, to deal as formerly +hath been said against her said Grandmother, Aunt, and Southworth's +wife. + +'And further she confesseth and saith, that she never did know, or saw +any Devils, nor any other Visions, as formerly by her hath been +alleged and informed. + +'Also she confesseth and saith, that she was not thrown or cast upon +the hen-ruff and hay-mow in the barn, but that she went up upon the +Mow herself by the wall-side. + +'Being further demanded whether she ever was at the Church, she saith, +she was not, but promised hereafter to go to the Church, and that very +willingly.' + +The three accused were also examined, and declared their belief that +Grace Sowerbutts had been trained by the priest to accuse them of +witchcraft, because they 'would not be dissuaded from the Church.' + +'These examinations being taken, they were brought into the Court, and +there openly in the presence of this great audience published and +declared to the jury of life and death; and thereupon the gentlemen of +their jury required to consider of them. For although they stood upon +their Trial, for matter of fact of witchcraft, murther, and much more +of the like nature: yet in respect all their accusations did appear to +be practice, they were now to consider of them and to acquit them. +Thus were these poor innocent creatures, by the great care and pains +of this honourable Judge, delivered from the danger of this +conspiracy; this bloody practice of the Priest laid open: of whose +fact I may lawfully say, _Etiam si ego tacuero clamabunt lapides_. + +'These are but ordinary with Priests and Jesuits: no respect of blood, +kindred, or friendship can move them to forbear their conspiracies; +for when he had laboured treacherously to seduce and convert them, and +yet could do no good, then devised he this means. + +'God of His great mercy deliver us all from them and their damnable +conspiracies: and when any of his Majesty's subjects, so free and +innocent as these, shall come in question, grant them as honourable a +trial, as reverend and worthy a judge to sit in judgment upon them, +and in the end as speedy a deliverance. + +'And for that which I have heard of them, seen with my eyes, and taken +pains to read of them, my humble prayer shall be to God Almighty, _Vt +convertantur ne pereant. Aut confundantur ne noceant._'[43] + + * * * * * + +I pass on to a remarkable trial for witchcraft which took place at +Taunton Assizes in August, 1626, one Edward Ball and Joan Greedie +being charged with having practised upon a certain Edward Dinham. + +It seems that the complainant, when under the witch-spell, possessed +no fewer than three voices--namely, his own natural voice, and two +artificial voices, of which one was shrill and pleasant, the other +deadly and hollow. These two voices belonged respectively to the good +and evil spirits which alternately prevailed over him. As it is said +that they spoke without any movement of the lips or tongue, it is +probable the man was a natural ventriloquist, and made use of his gift +to imperil the lives of Ball and Greedie, against whom he may have +entertained a hostile feeling. He gave the following specimen of the +conversation which took place between him and his spirits: + + GOOD SPIRIT. How comes this man to be thus tormented? + + BAD SPIRIT. He is bewitched. + + GOOD. Who hath done it? + + BAD. That I may not tell. + + GOOD. Aske him agayne. + + DINHAM. Come, come, prithee, tell me who hath bewitched me. + + BAD. A woman in greene cloathes and a black hatt, with a + large poll; and a man in a gray suite, with blue stockings. + + GOOD. But where are they? + + BAD. She is at her house, and hee is at a taverne in Yeohall + [Youghal] in Ireland. + + GOOD. But what are their names? + + BAD. Nay, that I will not tell. + + GOOD. Then tell half of their names. + + BAD. The one is Johan, and the other Edward. + + GOOD. Nowe tell me the other half. + + BAD. That I may not. + + GOOD. Aske him agayne. + + DINHAM. Come, come, prithee, tell me the other half. + + BAD. The one is Greedie, and the other Ball. + +This information having been obtained, a messenger is sent to a +certain house, where the unfortunate Joan is straightway arrested. The +conversation, if this absurd rigmarole can be so called, was +afterwards resumed, the man conveniently going into one of his 'fits' +for the purpose: + + GOOD. But are these witches? + + BAD. Yes; that they are. + + GOOD. Howe came they to bee soe? + + BAD. By discent. + + GOOD. But howe by discent? + + BAD. From the grandmother to the mother, and from the mother + to the children. + + GOOD. But howe aree they soe? + + BAD. They aree bound to us, and wee to them. + + GOOD. Lett mee see the bond. + + BAD. Thou shalt not. + + GOOD. Lett mee see it, and if I like I will seale alsoe. + + BAD. Thou shalt, if thou wilt not reveale the contentes + thereof. + + GOOD. I will not. + +As usual, the Good Spirit gets its way, and the bond is produced, +drawing from the Good Spirit an exclamation of anguish: 'Alas! oh, +pittifull, pittifull, pittifull! What? eight seales, bloody +seales--four dead, and four alive? Ah, miserable!' + + DINHAM. Come, come, prithee, tell me, Why did they bewitch + me? + + BAD. Because thou didst call Johane Greedie witche. + + DINHAM. Why, is shee not a witche? + + BAD. Yes; but thou shouldest not have said soe. + + GOOD. But why did Ball bewitche him? + + BAD. Because Greedie was not stronge enough. + +A messenger is now sent after Ball; but on reaching his hiding-place, +he finds that the poor man has just escaped, and he meets with people +who had seen his flight. Dinham and his voices then join in a +discourse, from which it appears that before they bewitched Dinham +they had been guilty of various 'evil practices,' and had compassed +the death of, at least, one of their victims. Six days afterwards +Dinham has another 'fit,' and a second unsuccessful effort is made to +track and arrest Ball. Disgusted with this failure, the Good Spirit +strenuously opposes the Evil Spirit in his resolve to secure Dinham's +soul: + + BAD. I will have him, or else I will torment him eight tymes + more. + + GOOD. Thou shalt not have thy will in all thinges; thou shalt + torment him but four times more. + + BAD. I will have thy soule. + + GOOD. If thou wilt answer me three questions, I will seale + and goe with thee. + + BAD. I will. + + GOOD. Who made the world? + + BAD. God. + + GOOD. Who created mankynde? + + BAD. God. + + GOOD. Wherefore was Christ Jesus His precious blood shed? + + BAD. I'le no more of that. + +Here the patient was seized with the most violent convulsions, foaming +at the mouth, and struggling with clenched hands and contorted limbs. + +Another fit came off a few days afterwards, and in this Dinham was +exposed to a double temptation: + + BAD. If thou wilt give me thy soule, I will give thee gold + enough. + + GOOD. Thy gold will scald my fingers. + + BAD. If thou wilt give me thy soule, I will give thee dice, + and thou shalt winne infinite somes of treasure by play. + + GOOD. If thou canst make every letter in this booke [a + Prayer-book which Dinham held in his hand] a die, I will. + + BAD. That I cannott. + + GOOD. Laudes, laudes, laudes! + + BAD. Thou shalt have _ladies_ enough--ladies, ladies, + ladies!... + + GOOD. If thou canst make every letter in this book a ladie, I + will. + +Here the Bad Spirit made an attempt to cast away the book, but, after +a violent struggle, was defeated; and then the Good Spirit celebrated +his victory in 'the sweetest musicke that ever was heard.' Eventually +Ball was captured, and Dinham then declared that his 'two voices' +ceased to trouble him. Greedie and Ball were both committed for trial, +but no record exists of their execution, and we may hope that they +were acquitted of charges supported by such absurd and fallacious +evidence. + + * * * * * + +Edward Fairfax, a man of ability and culture--the refined and +melodious translator of Tasso's Christian epic--prosecuted six of his +neighbours at York Assizes, in 1622, for practising witchcraft on his +children. The grand jury found a true bill against them, and the +accused were brought to trial. But the judge, who had been privately +furnished with a certificate of their 'sober behaviour,' contrived so +to influence the jury as to obtain a verdict of acquittal. The poet +afterwards published an elaborate defence of his conduct. His folly +may be excused, perhaps, since even such men as Raleigh and Bacon +inclined towards a belief in witchcraft; and the judicious Evelyn +makes it one of his principal complaints against solitude that it +created witches. Hobbes, in his 'Leviathan,' takes, however, a more +enlightened view: 'As for witches,' he says, 'I think not that their +witchcraft is any real power; but yet that they are justly punished +for the false belief they have that they can do such mischief, joined +with their purpose to do it if they can.' + + * * * * * + +Even the stir and tumult of the Civil War did not suspend the +persecuting activity of a degraded superstition. In 1644 eight witches +of Manningtree, in Essex, were accused of holding witches' meetings +every Friday night; were searched for teats and devils' marks, +convicted, and, with twenty-nine of their fellows, hung. In the +following year there were more hangings in Essex; and in Norfolk a +score of witches suffered. In 1650 a woman was hung at the Old Bailey +as a witch. 'She was found to have under her armpits those marks by +which witches are discovered to entertain their familiars.' In April, +1652, Jean Peterson, the witch of Wapping, was hung at Tyburn; and in +July of the same year six witches perished at Maidstone. + +In 1653 Alice Bodenham, a domestic servant, was tried at Salisbury +before Chief Justice Wilde, and convicted. It is not certain, however, +that she was executed. + +In 1658 Jane Brooks was executed for practising witchcraft on a boy of +twelve, named Henry James, at Chard, in Somersetshire; in 1663 Julian +Cox, at Taunton, for a similar offence. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[43] Potts, 'Wonderful Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of +Lancaster' (1613). + + +THE WITCH-FINDER: MATTHEW HOPKINS. + +The severe legislation against witchcraft had thus the effect--which +invariably attends legislation when it becomes unduly repressive--of +increasing the offence it had been designed to exterminate. It was +attended, also, by another result, which is equally common--bringing +to the front a number of informers who, at the cost of many innocent +lives, turned it to their personal advantage. Of these witch-finders, +the most notorious was Matthew Hopkins, of Manningtree, in Essex. When +he first started his infamous trade, I cannot ascertain, but his +success would seem to have been immediate. His earliest victims he +found in his own neighbourhood. But, as his reputation grew, he +extended his operations over the whole of Essex; and in a very short +time, if any case of supposed witchcraft occurred, the neighbours sent +for Matthew Hopkins as an acknowledged expert, whose skill would +infallibly detect the guilty person. + +His first appearance at the assizes was in the spring of 1645, when he +accused an unfortunate old woman, named Elizabeth Clarke. To collect +evidence against her, he watched her by night in a room in a Mr. +Edwards's house, in which she was illegally detained. At her trial he +had the audacity to affirm that, on the third night of his watching, +after he had refused her the society of one of her imps, she confessed +to him that, some six or seven years before, she had given herself +over to the devil, who visited her in the form of 'a proper gentleman, +with a hazel beard.' Soon after this, he said, a little dog came +in--fat, short-legged, and with sandy spots besprinkled on the white +ground-colour of its tub-like body. When he prevented it from +approaching the woman--who declared it was Jacmara, one of her +imps--it straightway vanished. Next came a greyhound, which she called +Vinegar Tom; and next a polecat. Improving in fluent and fertile +mendacity, Hopkins went on to assert that, on returning home that +night, about ten of the clock, accompanied by his own greyhound, he +saw his dog give a leap and a bound, and hark away as if hunting a +hare; and on following him, he espied a little white animal, about the +size of a kitten, and observed that his greyhound stood aloof from it +in fright; and by-and-by this imp or kitten danced about the dog, and, +as he supposed, bit a piece from its shoulder, for the greyhound came +to him shrieking and crying, and bleeding from a great wound. Hopkins +further stated that, going into his yard that same night, he saw a +Black Thing, shaped like a cat, but thrice as big, sitting in a +strawberry-bed, with its eyes fixed upon him. When he approached it, +the Thing leaped over the pale towards him, as he thought, but, on the +contrary, ran quite through the yard, with his greyhound after it, to +a great gate, which was underset 'with a pair of tumbril strings,' +threw it wide open, and then vanished, while his dog returned to him, +shaking and trembling exceedingly. + +In these unholy vigils of his, Hopkins was accompanied by one 'John +Sterne, of Manningtree, gentleman,' who, as a matter of course, +confirmed all his statements, and added the interesting detail that +the third imp was called Sack-and-Sugar. The two wretches forced their +way into the house of another woman, named Rebecca West, from whom +they extracted a confession that the first time she saw the devil, he +came to her at night, told her he must be her husband, and finally +married her! The cruel tortures to which these and so many other +unhappy females were exposed must undoubtedly have told on their +nervous systems, producing a condition of hysteria, and filling their +minds with hallucinations, which, perhaps, may partly have been +suggested by the 'leading questions' of the witch-finders themselves. +It is to be observed that their confessions wore a striking +similarity, and that all the names mentioned of the so-called imps or +familiars were of a ludicrous character, such as Prick-ear, Frog, +Robin, and Sparrow. Then the excitement caused by these trials so +wrought on the public mind that witnesses were easily found to +testify--apparently in good faith--to the evil things done by the +accused, and even to swear that they had seen their familiars. Thus +one man declared that, passing at daybreak by the house of a certain +Anne West, he was surprised to find her door open. Looking in, he +descried three or four Things, like black rabbits, one of which ran +after him. He seized and tried to kill him, but in his hands the Thing +seemed a mere piece of wool, which extended lengthwise without any +apparent injury. Full speed he made for a neighbouring spring, in +which he tried to drown him, but as soon as he put the Thing in the +water, he vanished from his sight. Returning to the house, he saw Anne +West standing at the door 'in her smock,' and asked her why she sent +her imp to trouble him, but received no answer. + +His experiments having proved successful, Hopkins took up +witch-finding as a vocation, one which provided him with the means of +a comfortable livelihood, while it gratified his ambition by making +him the terror of many and the admiration of more, investing him with +just that kind of power which is delightful to a narrow and +commonplace mind. Assuming the title of 'Witch-finder-General,' and +taking with him John Sterne, and a woman, whose business it was to +examine accused females for the devil's marks, he travelled through +the counties of Essex, Norfolk, Huntingdon, and Sussex. + +He was at Bury, in Suffolk, in August, 1645, and there, on the 27th, +no fewer than eighteen witches were executed at once through his +instrumentality. A hundred and twenty more were to have been tried, +but the approach of the royal troops led to the adjournment of the +Assize. In one year this wholesale murderer caused the death of sixty +poor creatures. The 'test' he generally adopted was that of +'swimming,' which James I. recommends with much unction in his +'Demonologie.' The hands and feet of the accused were tied together +crosswise, the thumb of the right hand to the big toe of the left +foot, and _vice versâ_. She was then wrapped up in a large sheet or +blanket, and laid upon her back in a pond or river. If she sank, she +was innocent, but established her innocence at the cost of her life; +if she floated, which was generally the case, as her clothes afforded +a temporary support, she was pronounced guilty, and hanged with all +possible expedition. + +Another 'test' was the repetition of the Lord's Prayer, which, it was +believed, no witch could accomplish. Woe to the unfortunate creature +who, in her nervousness, faltered over a syllable or stumbled at a +word! Again she was forced into some awkward and painful attitude, +bound with cords, and kept foodless and sleepless for four-and-twenty +hours. Or she was walked continuously up and down a room, an attendant +holding each arm, until she dropped with fatigue. Sometimes she was +weighed against the church Bible, obtaining her deliverance if she +proved to be heavier. But this last-named test was too lenient for the +Witch-finder-General, who preferred the swimming ordeal. + +One of his victims at Bury was a venerable clergyman, named Lowes, who +had been Vicar of Brandeston, near Framlingham, for fifty years. +'After he was found with the marks,' says Sterne, 'in his +confession'--when made, to whom, or under what circumstances, we are +not informed--'he confessed that in pride of heart to be equal, or +rather above God, the devil took advantage of him, and he covenanted +with the devil, and sealed it with his blood, and had those familiars +or spirits which sucked on the marks found on his body, and did much +harm both by sea and land, especially by sea; for he confessed that +he, being at Lungar Fort [Landguard Fort], in Suffolk, where he +preached, as he walked upon the wall or works there, he saw a great +sail of ships pass by, and that, as they were sailing by, one of his +three imps, namely, his yellow one, forthwith appeared to him, and +asked him what he should do, and he bade him go and sink such a ship, +and showed his imp a new ship among the middle of the rest (as I +remember), one that belonged to Ipswich; so he confessed the imp went +forthwith away, and he stood still and viewed the ships on the sea as +they were a-sailing, and perceived that ship immediately to be in more +trouble and danger than the rest; for he said the water was more +boisterous near that than the rest, tumbling up and down with waves, +as if water had been boiled in a pot, and soon after (he said), in a +short time, it sunk directly down into the sea as he stood and viewed +it, when all the rest sailed down in safety; then he confessed he made +fourteen widows in one quarter of an hour. Then Mr. Hopkins, as he +told me (for he took his confession), asked him if it did not grieve +him to see so many men cast away in a short time, and that he should +be the cause of so many poor widows on a sudden; but he swore by his +Maker he was joyful to see what power his imps had: and so likewise +confessed many other mischiefs, and had a charm to keep him out of the +jail and hanging, as he paraphrased it himself; but therein the devil +deceived him, for he was hanged that Michaelmas time, 1645, at Bury +St. Edmunds.' Poor old man! This so-called confession has a very +dubious air about it, and reads as if it had been invented by Matthew +Hopkins, who, as Sterne naïvely acknowledges, 'took the confessions,' +apparently without any witness or reporter being present. + +The Witch-finder-General, when on his expeditions of inquiry, assumed +the style of a man of fortune. He put up always at the best inns, and +lived in the most luxurious fashion, which he could well afford to do, +as, when invited to visit a town, he insisted on payment of his +expenses for board and lodging, and a fee of twenty shillings. This +sum he claimed under any circumstances; but if he succeeded in +detecting any witches, he demanded another fee of twenty shillings for +each one brought to execution. Generally his pretensions were admitted +without demur; but occasionally he encountered a sturdy opponent, like +the Rev. Mr. Gaul, of Great Staughton, in Huntingdonshire, who +attacked him in a briskly-written pamphlet as an intolerable nuisance. +Hopkins replied by an angry letter to one of the magistrates of the +town, in which he said: 'I am to come to Kimbolton this week, and it +shall be ten to one but I will come to your town first; but I would +certainly know afore whether your town affords many sticklers for such +cattle [_i.e._ witches], or [is] willing to give and afford us good +welcome and entertainment, as other where I have been, else I shall +waive your shire (not as yet beginning in any part of it myself), and +betake me to such places where I do and may persist without control, +but with thanks and recompense.' + +Neither Mr. Gaul nor the magistrates of Great Staughton showed any +anxiety in regard to the witch-finder's threat. On the contrary, Mr. +Gaul returned to the charge in a second pamphlet, entitled 'Select +Cases of Conscience touching Witches and Witchcraft,' in which, while +admitting the existence of witches--for he was not above the +superstition of his age and country--he vigorously attacked Hopkins +for accusing persons on insufficient evidence, and denounced the +atrocious cruelties of which he and his associates were guilty. I have +no doubt that this manly language helped to bring about a wholesome +change of public opinion. In the eastern counties so bitter a feeling +of resentment arose, that Hopkins found it advisable to seek fresh +woods and pastures new. In the spring of 1647 he was at Worcester, +where four unfortunates were condemned on the evidence of himself and +his associates. But the indignation against him deepened and extended, +and he hastily returned to his native town, trembling for his wretched +life. There he printed a defence of his conduct, under the title of +'The Discovery of Witches, in answer to several queries lately +delivered to the Judge of Assize for the county of Norfolk; published +by Matthew Hopkins, witch-finder, for the benefit of the whole +kingdom.' His death occurred shortly afterwards. According to Sterne, +he died the death of a righteous man, having 'no trouble of conscience +for what he had done, as was falsely reported for him.' But the more +generally accepted account is an instance of 'poetical justice'--of +Nemesis satisfied--which I heartily hope is authentic. It is said that +he was surrounded by a mob in a Suffolk village, and accused of being +himself a wizard, and of having, by his tricks of sorcery, cheated the +devil out of a memorandum-book, in which were entered the names of all +the witches in England. 'Thus,' cried the populace, 'you find out +witches, not by God's name, but by the devil's.' He denied the charge; +but his accusers determined that he should be subjected to his +favourite test. He was stripped; his thumbs and toes were tied +together; he was wrapped in a blanket, and cast into a pond. Whether +he was drowned, or whether he floated, was taken up, tried, sentenced, +and executed, authorities do not agree; but they agree that he never +more disturbed the peace of the realm as a witch-finder. + +Butler has found a niche for this knave, among other knaves, in his +'Hudibras': + + 'Hath not this present Parliament + A lieger to the Devil sent, + Fully empowered to set about + Finding revolted witches out? + And has he not within a year + Hanged threescore of them in one shire? + Some only for not being drowned, + And some for sitting above ground + Whole days and nights upon their breeches, + And, feeling pain, were hanged for witches ... + Who proved himself at length a witch, + And made a rod for his own breech'-- + +the engineer hoist with his own petard--happily a by no means +infrequent mode of retribution. + +Sterne, the witch-finder's colleague, not unnaturally shared in the +public disfavour, and in defence of himself and his deceased partner +gave to the world a 'Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft,' in +which he acknowledges to have been concerned in the detection and +condemnation of some 200 witches in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, +Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Norfolk and Cambridge, and the Isle +of Ely. He adds that 'in many places I never received penny as yet, +nor any like, notwithstanding I have bonds for satisfaction, except I +should sin; but many rather fall upon me for what hath been received, +but I hope such suits will be disannulled, and that when I have been +out of moneys for towns in charges and otherwise, such course will be +taken that I may be satisfied and paid with reason.' One can hardly +admire sufficiently the brazen effrontery of this appeal! + + * * * * * + +The number of persons imprisoned on suspicion of witchcraft grew so +large as to excite the alarm of the Government, who issued stringent +orders to the country magistrates to commit for trial persons brought +before them on this charge, and forbade them to exercise summary +jurisdiction. Eventually a commission was given to the Earl of +Warwick, and others, to hold a gaol-delivery at Chelmsford. Lord +Warwick, who had done good service to the State as Lord High Admiral, +was sagacious and fair-minded. But with him went Dr. Edmund Calamy, +the eminent Puritan divine, to see that no injustice was done to the +parties accused. This proved an unfortunate choice; for Calamy, who, +in his sermon before the judges, had enlarged on the enormity of the +sin of witchcraft, sat on the bench with them, and unhappily +influenced their deliberations in the direction of severity. As a +result, sixteen persons were hanged at Yarmouth, fifteen at +Chelmsford, besides some sixty at various places in Suffolk. + + * * * * * + +Whitlocke, in his 'Memorials,' speaks of many 'witches' as having been +put upon their trial at Newcastle, through the agency of a man whom he +calls 'the Witch-finder.' Another of the imitators of Hopkins, a Mr. +Shaw, parson of Rusock, came to condign humiliation (1660). Having +instigated some bucolic barbarians to put an old woman, named Joan +Bibb, to the water-ordeal, she swam right vigorously in the pool, and +struggled with her assailants so strenuously that she effected her +escape. Afterwards she brought an action against the parson for +instigating the outrage, and obtained £20 damages. + + * * * * * + +In 1664, Elizabeth Styles, of Bayford, Somersetshire, was convicted and +sentenced to death, but died in prison before the day fixed for her +execution. It is said that she made a voluntary confession--without +inducement or torture--in the presence of the magistrates and several +divines--another case (if it be true) of the morbid self-delusion which +in times of popular excitement makes so many victims. + + * * * * * + +One feels the necessity of speaking with some degree of moderation +respecting the credulity of the ignorant and uneducated classes, when +one finds so sound a lawyer and so admirable a Christian as Sir +Matthew Hale infected by the mania. No other blot, I suppose, is to be +found on his fame and character; and that he should have incurred this +indelible stain, and fallen into so pitiable an error, is a problem by +no means easy of solution. + +At the Lent Assize, in 1664, at Bury St. Edmunds, two aged women, +named Rose Cullender and Amy Duny were brought before him on a charge +of having bewitched seven persons. The nature of the evidence on which +it was founded the reader will appreciate from the following examples: + +Samuel Pacey, of Lowestoft, a man of good repute for sobriety and +other homely virtues, having been sworn, said: That on Thursday, +October 10 last, his younger daughter Deborah, about nine years old, +fell suddenly so lame that she could not stand on her feet, and so +continued till the 17th, when she asked to be carried to a bank which +overlooked the sea, and while she was sitting there, Amy Duny came to +the witness's house to buy some herrings, but was denied. Twice more +she called, but being always denied, went away grumbling and +discontented. At this instant of time the child was seized with +terrible fits; complained of a pain in her stomach, as if she were +being pricked with pins, shrieking out 'with a voice like a whelp,' +and thus continuing until the 30th. This witness added that Amy Duny, +being known as a witch, and his child having, in the intervals of her +fits, constantly exclaimed against her as the cause of her sufferings, +saying that the said Amy did appear to her and frighten her, he began +to suspect the said Amy, and accused her in plain terms of injuring +his child, and got her 'set in the stocks.' Two days afterwards, his +daughter Elizabeth was seized with similar fits; and both she and her +sister complained that they were tormented by various persons in the +town of bad character, but more particularly by Amy Duny, and by +another reputed witch, Rose Cullender. + +Another witness deposed that she had heard the two children cry out +against these persons, who, they said, threatened to increase their +torments tenfold if they told tales of them. 'At some times the +children would see Things run up and down the house in the appearance +of mice; and one of them suddenly snapped one with the tongs, and +threw it in the fire, and it screeched out like a bat. At another +time, the younger child, being out of her fits, went out of doors to +take a little fresh air, and presently a little Thing like a bee flew +upon her face, and would have gone into her mouth, whereupon the child +ran in all haste to the door to get into the house again, shrieking +out in a most terrible manner; whereupon this deponent made haste to +come to her, but before she could reach her, the child fell into her +swooning fit, and, at last, with much pain and straining, vomited up a +twopenny nail with a broad head; and after that the child had raised +up the nail she came to her understanding, and being demanded by this +deponent how she came by this nail, she answered that the bee brought +this nail and forced it into her mouth.' + +Such evidence as this failing to satisfy Serjeant Keeling, and +several magistrates who were present, of the guilt of the accused, it +was resolved to resort to demonstration by experiment. The persons +bewitched were brought into court to touch the two old women; and it +was observed (says Hutchinson) that when the former were in the midst +of their fits, and to all men's apprehension wholly deprived of all +sense and understanding, closing their fists in such a manner as that +the strongest man could not force them open, yet, at the least touch +of one of the supposed witches--Rose Cullender, by name--they would +suddenly shriek out, opening their hands, which accident would not +happen at any other person's touch. 'And lest they might privately see +when they were touched by the said Rose Cullender, they were blinded +with their own aprons, and the touching took the same effect as +before. There was an ingenious person that objected there might be a +great fallacy in this experiment, and there ought not to be any stress +put upon this to convict the parties, for the children might +counterfeit this their distemper, and, perceiving what was done to +them, they might in such manner suddenly alter the erection and +gesture of their bodies, on purpose to induce persons to believe that +they were not natural, but wrought strangely by the touch of the +prisoners. Wherefore, to avoid this scruple, it was privately desired +by the judge that the Lord Cornwallis, Sir Edmund Bacon, and Mr. +Serjeant Keeling, and some other gentleman then in court, would attend +one of the distempered persons in the farthest part of the hall +whilst she was in her fits, and then to send for one of the witches to +try what would then happen, which they did accordingly; and Amy Duny +was brought from the bar, and conveyed to the maid. They then put an +apron before her eyes; and then one other person touched her hand, +which produced the same effect as the touch of the witch did in the +court. Whereupon the gentlemen returned, openly protesting that they +did believe the whole transaction of the business was a mere +imposture.' As, in truth, it was. + +It is remarkable that Sir Matthew Hale was still unconvinced. He +invited the opinion of Sir Thomas Browne, a man of great learning and +ability--the author of the 'Religio Medici,' and other justly famous +works--who admitted that the fits were natural, but thought them +'heightened by the devil co-operating with the malice of the witches, +at whose instance he did the villanies.' Sir Matthew then charged the +jury. There were, he said, two questions to be considered: First, +whether or not these children were bewitched? And, second, whether the +prisoners at the bar had been guilty of bewitching them? _That there +were such creatures as witches, he did not doubt_; and he appealed to +the Scriptures, which had affirmed so much, and also to the wisdom of +all nations, which had enacted laws against such persons. Such, too, +he said, had been the judgment of this kingdom, as appeared by that +Act of Parliament which had provided punishment proportionable to the +quality of the offence. He desired them to pay strict attention to the +evidence, and implored the great God of heaven to direct their hearts +in so weighty a matter; for to condemn the innocent, and set free the +guilty, was 'an abomination to the Lord.' + +After a charge of this description, the jury naturally brought in a +verdict of 'Guilty.' Sentence of death was pronounced; and the two +poor old women, protesting to the last their innocence, suffered on +the gallows. Who will not regret the part played by Sir Matthew Hale +in this judicial murder? It is no excuse to say that he did but share +in the popular belief. One expects of such a man that he will rise +superior to the errors of ordinary minds; that he will be guided by +broader and more enlightened views--by more humane and generous +sympathies. Instead of attempting an apology which no act can render +satisfactory, it is better to admit, with Sir Michael Foster, that +'this great and good man was betrayed, notwithstanding the rectitude +of his intentions, into a great mistake, under the strong bias of +early prejudices.' + +Gradually, however, a disbelief in witchcraft grew up in the public +mind, as intellectual inquiry widened its scope, and the relations of +man to the Unseen World came to be better understood. Among the +educated classes the old superstition expired much more rapidly than +among the poorer; and so we find that though convictions became rarer, +committals and trials continued tolerably frequent until the closing +years of the eighteenth century. To the ghastly roll of victims, +however, additions continued to be made. Thus in August, 1682, three +women, named Temperance Lloyd, Susannah Edwards, and Mary Trembles, +were tried at Exeter before Lord Chief Justice North and Mr. Justice +Raymond, convicted of various acts of witchcraft, and sentenced to +death. Before their trial they had confessed to frequent interviews +with the devil, who appeared in the shape of a black man as long (or +as short) as a man's arm; and one of them acknowledged to have caused +the death of four persons by witchcraft. Some portion of these +monstrous fictions they recanted under the gallows; but even on the +brink of the grave they persisted in claiming the character of +witches, and in asserting that they had had personal intercourse with +the devil. + +In March, 1684, Alicia Welland was tried before Chief Baron Montague +at Exeter, convicted, and executed. + +To estimate the extent to which the belief in witchcraft, during the +latter part of the seventeenth century, operated against the lives of +the accused, Mr. Inderwick has searched the records of the Western +Circuit, from 1670 to 1712 inclusive, and ascertained that out of +fifty-two persons tried in that period on various charges of +witchcraft, only seven were convicted, and one of these seven was +reprieved. 'What occurred on the Western,' he remarks, 'probably went +on at each of the several circuits into which the country was then +divided; and one cannot doubt that in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, +Huntingdon, and Lancashire, where the witches mostly abounded, the +charges and convictions were far more numerous than in the West. The +judges appear, however, not to have taken the line of Sir Matthew +Hale, but, as far as possible, to have prevented convictions. Indeed, +Lord Jeffreys--who, when not engaged on political business, was at +least as good a judge as any of his contemporaries--and Chief Justice +Herbert, tried and obtained acquittals of witches in 1685 and 1686 at +the very time that they were engaged on the Bloody Assize in +slaughtering the participators in Monmouth's rebellion. It is also a +remarkable fact that, from 1686 to 1712, when charges of witchcraft +gradually ceased, charges and convictions of malicious injury to +property in burning haystacks, barns, and houses, and malicious +injuries to persons and to cattle, increased enormously, these being +the sort of accusations freely made against the witches before this +date.' + +I think there can be little doubt that many evil-disposed persons +availed themselves of the prevalent belief in witchcraft as a cover +for their depredations on the property of their neighbours, diverting +suspicion from themselves to the poor wretches who, through accidental +circumstances, had acquired notoriety as the devil's accomplices. It +would also seem probable that not a few of the reputed witches +similarly turned to account their bad reputation. It is not +impossible, indeed, that there may be a certain degree of truth in the +tales told of the witches' meetings, and that in some rural +neighbourhoods the individuals suspected of being witches occasionally +assembled at an appointed rendezvous to consult upon their position +and their line of operations. The practices at these gatherings may +not always have been kept within the limits of decency and decorum; +and in this way the loathsome details with which every account of the +witches' meetings are embellished may have had a real foundation. + + * * * * * + +That the judges at length began persistently to discourage convictions +for witchcraft is seen in the action of Lord Chief Justice Holt at the +Bury St. Edmunds Assize in 1694. An old woman, known as Mother +Munnings, of Harks, in Suffolk, was brought before him, and the +witnesses against her retailed the village talk--how that her +landlord, Thomas Purnel, who, to get her out of the house she had +rented from him, had removed the street-door, was told that 'his nose +should lie upward in the churchyard' before the following Saturday; +and how that he was taken ill on the Monday, died on the Tuesday, and +was buried on the Thursday. How that she had a familiar in the shape +of a polecat, and how that a neighbour, peeping in at her window one +night, saw her take out of her basket a couple of imps--the one black, +the other white. And how that a woman, named Sarah Wager, having +quarrelled with her, was stricken dumb and lame. All this +tittle-tattle was brushed aside in his charge by the strong +common-sense of the judge; and the jury, under his direction, +returned a verdict of 'Not guilty.' Dr. Hutchinson remarks: 'Upon +particular inquiry of several in or near the town, I find most are +satisfied that it is a very right judgment. She lived about two years +after, without doing any known harm to anybody, and died declaring her +innocence. Her landlord was a consumptive-spent man, and the words not +exactly as they swore them, and the whole thing seventeen years +before.... The white imp is believed to have been a lock of wool, +taken out of her basket to spin; and its shadow, it is supposed, was +the black one.' + +In the same year (1694) a woman, named Margaret Elmore, was tried at +Ipswich; in 1695 one Mary Gay at Launceston; and in 1696 one Elizabeth +Hume at Exeter; but in each case, under the direction of Chief Justice +Holt, a verdict of acquittal was declared. Thus the seventeenth +century went its way in an unaccustomed atmosphere of justice and +humanity. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE DECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND. + + +The honour of discouraging prosecutions for witchcraft belongs in the +first place to France, which abolished them as early as 1672, and for +some years previously had refrained from sending any victims to the +scaffold or the stake. In England, the same effect was partly due, +perhaps, to the cynical humour of the Court of Charles II., where +many, who before ventured only to doubt, no longer hesitated to treat +the subject with ridicule. 'Although,' says Mr. Wright, 'works like +those of Baxter and Glanvil had still their weight with many people, +yet in the controversy which was now carried on through the +instrumentality of the press, those who wrote against the popular +creed had certainly the best of the argument. Still, it happened from +their form and character that the books written to expose the +absurdity of the belief in sorcery were restricted in their +circulation to the more educated classes, while popular tracts in +defence of witchcraft and collections of cases were printed in a +cheaper form, and widely distributed among that class in society where +the belief was most firmly rooted. The effect of these popular +publications has continued in some districts down to the present day. +Thus the press, the natural tendency of which was to enlighten +mankind, was made to increase ignorance by pandering to the credulity +of the multitude.' + +I have spoken of the seventeenth century as going out in an atmosphere +of justice and humanity. But an ancient superstition dies hard, and +the eighteenth century, when it dawned upon the earth, found the +belief in witchcraft still widely extended in England. Even men of +education could not wholly surrender their adhesion to it. We read +with surprise Addison's opinion in _The Spectator_, 'that the +arguments press equally on both sides,' and see him balancing himself +between the two aspects of the subject in a curious state of mental +indecision. 'When I hear the relations that are made from all parts of +the world,' he says, 'I cannot forbear thinking that there is such an +intercourse and commerce with evil spirits, as that which we express +by the name of witchcraft. But when I consider,' he adds, 'that the +ignorant and credulous parts of the world abound most in these +relations, and that the persons among us who are supposed to engage in +such an infernal commerce are people of a weak understanding and +crazed imagination, and at the same time reflect upon the many +impostures and delusions of this nature that have been detected in all +ages, I endeavour to suspend my belief till I hear more certain +accounts than any which have yet come to my knowledge.' And then he +comes to a halting and unsatisfactory conclusion, which will seem +almost grotesque to the reader of the preceding pages, with their +details of _succubi_ and _incubi_, imps and familiars, black cats, +pole-cats, goats, and the like: 'In short, when I consider the +question, whether there are such persons in the world as we call +witches, my mind is divided between two opposite opinions, or, rather +(to speak my thoughts freely), I believe in general that there is, and +has been, such a thing as witchcraft, but, at the same time, can give +no credit to any particular instance of it.' + +Addison goes on to draw the picture of a witch of the period, 'Moll +White,' who lived in the neighbourhood of Sir Roger de Coverley, 'a +wrinkled hag, with age grown double.' This old woman had the +reputation of a witch all over the country; her lips were observed to +be always in motion, and there was not a switch about her house which +her neighbours did not believe had carried her several hundreds of +miles. 'If she chanced to stumble, they always found sticks or straws +that lay in the figure of a cross before her. If she made any mistake +at church, and cried Amen in a wrong place, they never failed to +conclude that she was saying her prayers backwards. There was not a +maid in the parish that would take a pin of her, though she should +offer a bag of money with it.... If the dairy-maid does not make her +butter to come so soon as she would have it, Moll White is at the +bottom of the churn. If a horse sweats in the stable, Moll White has +been upon his back. If a hare makes an unexpected escape from the +hounds, the huntsman curses Moll White.... + +'I have been the more particular in this account,' says Addison, +'because I know there is scarce a village in England that has not a +Moll White in it. When an old woman begins to dote, and grow +chargeable to a parish, she is generally turned into a witch, and +fills the whole country with extravagant fancies, imaginary +distempers, and terrifying dreams. In the meantime, the poor wretch +that is the innocent occasion of so many evils begins to be frighted +at herself, and sometimes confesses secret commerces and familiarities +that her imagination forms in a delirious old age. This frequently +cuts off charity from the greatest objects of compassion, and inspires +people with a malevolence towards those poor decrepit parts of our +species in whom human nature is defaced by infirmity and dotage.' + + * * * * * + +On March 2, 1703, one Richard Hathaway, apprentice to Thomas Wiling, a +blacksmith in Southwark, was tried before Chief Justice Holt at the +Surrey Assizes, as a cheat and an impostor, having pretended that he +had been bewitched by Sarah Morduck, wife of a Thames waterman, so +that he had been unable to eat or drink for the space of ten weeks +together; had suffered various pains; had constantly vomited nails and +crooked pins; had at times been deprived of speech and sight, and all +through the wicked cunning of Sarah Morduck; further, that he was from +time to time relieved of his ailments by scratching the said Sarah, +and drawing blood from her. On these charges Sarah had been committed +by the magistrates, and was tried as a witch at the Guildford Assizes +in February, 1701. It was then proved in her defence that Dr. Martin, +minister, of the parish of Southwark, hearing of Hathaway's troubles +and method of obtaining relief, had resolved to put the matter to a +fair test; and repairing to Hathaway's room, in one of his +semi-conscious and wholly blind intervals, had, in the presence of +many witnesses, pretended to give to the supposed sufferer the arm of +Sarah Morduck, when it was really that of a woman whom he had called +in from the street. Hathaway, in ignorance of the trick played upon +him, scratched the wrong arm, and immediately professed to recover his +sight and senses. On finding his deception discovered, Hathaway looked +greatly ashamed, and attempted no defence or excuse, when Dr. Martin +severely reproached him for his conduct. + +The populace, however, remained unconvinced, and when Dr. Martin and +his friends had departed, accompanied Hathaway to the house of Sarah +Morduck, whom they savagely ill-treated. They then declared that the +woman who had lent herself as a subject for experiment was also a +witch, and loaded her with contumely, while her husband gave her a +beating. It further appeared that, on one occasion, when Hathaway +alleged he had been vomiting crooked pins and nails, he had been +searched, and hundreds of packets of pins and nails found in his +pockets, and on his hands being tied behind him, the vomiting +immediately ceased. Eventually the jury acquitted Sarah Morduck, and +branded Hathaway as a cheat and an impostor. The lower classes, +however, received the verdict with contempt, mobbed Dr. Martin, and +raised a collection for Hathaway as for a man of many virtues whom +fortune had ill-treated. A magistrate, Sir Thomas Lane, who sided with +the mob, summoned Sarah Morduck before him, and after she had been +scratched by Hathaway in his presence, ordered her to be examined for +devil-marks by two women and a doctor. Though none could be detected, +his prejudice was so extreme that he committed her as a witch to the +Wood Street Compter, refusing bail to the extent of £500. Dr. Martin, +with other gentlemen, again came to her assistance, and ultimately she +was released on reasonable surety. + +The Government now thought it time to support the cause of justice, +and, carrying out the verdict of the Guildford jury, indicted Hathaway +as a cheat, and himself and his friends for assaulting Sarah Morduck. +In addition to the evidence previously adduced, it was shown that, +being in bad health, he had been placed in the custody of a Dr. Kenny, +a surgeon, who, desiring to test the truth of his fasting, made holes +in the partition wall of his compartment, and watched his proceedings +for about a fortnight, during which period, while pretending to fast, +he was observed to feed heartily on the food conveyed to him, and +once, having received an extra allowance of whisky, he got tipsy, +played a tune on the tongs, and danced before the fire. At the trial a +Dr. Hamilton was called for the defence; but, Balaam-like, he banned +rather than blessed, for having affirmed that the man's fasting was +the chief evidence of witchcraft, 'Doctor,' said the Chief Justice, +'do you think it possible for a man to fast a fortnight?' 'I think +not,' he replied. 'Can all the devils in hell help a man to fast so +long?' 'No, my lord,' said the doctor; 'I think not.' These answers +were conclusive; and without leaving the box, the jury found Hathaway +guilty, and he was sentenced by Chief Justice Holt to pay a fine of +one hundred marks, to stand in the pillory on the following Sunday for +two hours at Southwark, the same on the Tuesday at the Royal Exchange, +the same on the Wednesday at Temple Bar, the next day to be whipped at +the House of Correction, and afterwards to be imprisoned with hard +labour for six months. + +Two reputed witches, Eleanor Shaw and Mary Phillips, were executed at +Northampton on March 17, 1705; and on July 22, 1712, five +Northamptonshire witches, Agnes Brown, Helen Jenkinson, A...... Bill, +Joan Vaughan, and Mary Barber, suffered at the same place. + +It is generally believed that the last time an English jury brought in +a verdict of guilty in a case of witchcraft was in 1712, when a poor +Hertfordshire peasant woman, named Jane Wenham, was tried before Mr. +Justice Powell, sixteen witnesses, including three clergymen, +supporting the accusation. The evidence was absurd and frivolous; but, +in spite of its frivolousness and absurdity, and the poor woman's +fervent protestations of innocence, and the judge's strong summing-up +in her favour, a Hertfordshire jury convicted her. The judge was +compelled by the law to pronounce sentence of death, but he lost no +time in obtaining from the Queen a pardon for the unfortunate woman. +But, on emerging from her prison, she was treated by the mob with +savage ferocity; and, to save her from being lynched, Colonel Plumer, +of Gilson, took her into his service, in which she continued for many +years, earning and preserving the esteem of all who knew her. + +But there is a record of an execution for witchcraft, that of Mary +Hicks and her daughter, taking place in 1716 (July 28); and though it +is not indubitably established, I do not think its authenticity can +well be doubted. + +In January, 1736, an old woman of Frome, reputed to be a witch, was +dragged from her sick-bed, put astride on a saddle, and kept in a +mill-pond for nearly an hour, in the presence of upwards of 200 +people. The story goes that she swam like a cork, but on being taken +out of the water expired immediately. A coroner's inquest was held on +the body, and three persons were committed for trial for manslaughter; +but it is probable that they escaped punishment, as nobody seems to +have been willing to appear in the witness-box against them. + +Among the vulgar, indeed, the superstition was hard to kill. In the +middle of the last century, a poor man and his wife, of the name of +Osborne, each about seventy years of age, lived at Tring, in +Hertfordshire. On one occasion, Mother Osborne, as she was commonly +called, went to a dairyman, appropriately named Butterfield, and asked +for some buttermilk; but was harshly repulsed, and informed that he +had scarcely enough for his hogs. The woman replied with asperity that +the Pretender (it was in the '45 that this took place) would soon have +him and his hogs. It was customary then to connect the Pretender and +the devil in one's thoughts and aspirations; and the ignorant rustics +soon afterwards, when Butterfield's calves sickened, declared that +Mother Osborne had bewitched them, with the assistance of the devil. +Later, when Butterfield, who had given up his farm and taken to an +ale-house, suffered much from fits, Mother Osborne was again declared +to be the cause (1751), and he was advised to send to Northamptonshire +for an old woman, a white witch, to baffle her spells. The white witch +came, confirmed, of course, the popular prejudice, and advised that +six men, armed with staves and pitchforks, should watch Butterfield's +house by day and night. The affair would here, perhaps, have ended; +but some persons thought they could turn it to their pecuniary +advantage, and, accordingly, made public notification that a witch +would be ducked on April 22. On the appointed day hundreds flocked to +the scene of entertainment. The parish officers had removed the two +Osbornes for safety to the church; and the mob, in revenge, seized the +governor of the workhouse, and, collecting a heap of straw, threatened +to drown him, and set fire to the town, unless they were given up. In +a panic of fear the parish officers gave way, and the two poor +creatures were immediately stripped naked, their thumbs tied to their +toes, and, each being wrapped in a coarse sheet, were dragged a +couple of miles, and then flung into a muddy stream. Colley, a +chimney-sweep, observing that the woman did not sink, stepped into the +pool, and turned her over several times with a stick, until the sheet +fell off, and her nakedness was exposed. In this miserable +state--exhausted with fatigue and terror, sick with shame, half choked +with mud--she was flung upon the bank; and her persecutors--alas for +the cruelty of ignorance!--kicked and beat her until she died. Her +husband also sank under his barbarous maltreatment. It is satisfactory +to know that Colley, as the worst offender, was brought to trial on a +charge of wilful murder, found guilty, and most righteously hanged. +The crowd, however, who witnessed his execution, lamented him as a +martyr, unjustly punished for having delivered the world from one of +Satan's servants, and overwhelmed with execrations the sheriff whose +duty it was to see that the behests of the law were carried out. + +In February, 1759, Susannah Hannaker, of Wingrove, Wilts, was put to +the ordeal of weighing, but fortunately for herself outweighed the +church Bible, against which she was tested. In June, 1760, at +Leicester; in June, 1785, at Northampton; and in April, 1829, at +Monmouth, persons were tried for ducking supposed witches. Similar +cases have occurred in our own time. On September 4, 1863, a paralytic +Frenchman died of an illness induced by his having been ducked as a +wizard in a pond at Castle Hedingham, in Essex. And an aged woman, +named Anne Turner, reputed to be a witch, was killed by a man, +partially insane, at the village of Long Compton, in Warwickshire, on +September 17, 1875. But the reader needs no further illustrations of +the longevity of human error, or the terrible vitality of prejudice, +especially among the uneducated. The thaumaturgist or necromancer, +with his wand, his magic circle, his alembics and crucibles, +disappeared long ago, because, as I have already pointed out, his +support depended upon a class of society whose intelligence was +rapidly developed by the healthy influences of literature and science; +but the sham astrologer and the pseudo-witch linger still in obscure +corners, because they find their prey among the credulous and the +ignorant. The more widely we extend the bounds of knowledge, the more +certainly shall we prevent the recrudescence of such forms of +imposture and aspects of delusion as in the preceding pages I have +attempted to describe. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND. + + +Among the people of Scotland, a more serious-minded and imaginative +race than the English, the superstition of witchcraft was deeply +rooted at an early period. Its development was encouraged not only by +the idiosyncrasies of the national character, but also by the nature +of the country and the climate in which they lived. The lofty +mountains, with their misty summits and shadowy ravines--their deep +obscure glens--were the fitting homes of the wildest fancies, the +eëriest legends; and the storm crashing through the forests, and the +surf beating on the rocky shore, suggested to the ear of the peasant +or the fisherman the voices of unseen creatures--of the dread spirits +of the waters and the air. To men who believed in kelpie and wraith +and the second sight, a belief in witch and warlock was easy enough. +And it was not until the Calvinist reformers imported into Scotland +their austere and rigid creed, with its literal interpretation of +Biblical imagery, that witchcraft came to be regarded as a crime. It +was not until 1563 that the Parliament of Scotland passed a statute +constituting 'witchcraft and dealing with witches' a capital offence. +It is true that persons accused of witchcraft had already suffered +death--as the Earl of Mar, brother of James III., who was suspected of +intriguing with witches and sorcerers in order to compass his +brother's death, and Lady Glamis, in 1532, charged with a similar plot +against James V.--but in both these cases it was the _treason_ which +was punished rather than the _sorcery_. + +In the Scottish criminal records the first person who suffered death +for the practice of witchcraft was a Janet Bowman, in 1572. No +particulars of her offence are given; and against her name are written +only the significant words, 'convict and byrnt.' + +A remarkable case, that of Bessie Dunlop, belongs to 1576.[44] She was +the wife of an Ayrshire peasant, Andrew Jack. According to her own +statement, she was going one day from her house to the yard of +Monkcastle, driving her cows to the pasture, and greeting over her +troubles--for she had a milch-cow nigh sick to death, and her husband +and child were lying ill, and she herself had but recently risen from +childbed--when a strange man met her, and saluted her with the words, +'Gude day, Bessie!' She answered civilly, and, in reply to his +questions, acquainted him with her anxieties; whereupon he informed +her that her cow, her two sheep, and her child would die, but that her +gude man would recover. She described this stranger in graphic +language as 'an honest, wele-elderlie man, gray bairdit, and had ane +gray coat with Lumbart slevis of the auld fassoun; ane pair of gray +brekis and quhyte schankis, gartaurt above the knee; ane black bonnet +on his heid, cloise behind and plane before, with silkin laissis +drawin throw the lippis thairof; and ane quhyte wand in his hand.' He +told Bessie that his name was _Thomas Reid_, and that he had been +killed at the Battle of Pinkie. Extraordinary as was this information, +it did not seem improbable to her when she noted the manner of his +disappearance through the yard of Monkcastle: 'I thocht he gait in at +ane narroware hoill of the dyke [wall], nor ony erdlie man culd haif +gaun throw; and swa I was sumthing fleit [terrified].' + +Thomas Reid's sinister predictions were duly fulfilled. Soon +afterwards, he again met Bessie, and boldly invited her to deny her +religion, and the faith in which she was christened, in return for +certain worldly advantages. But Bessie steadfastly refused. + +This visitor of hers was under no fear of the ordinance which is +supposed to limit the mundane excursions of 'spiritual creatures' to +the hours between sunset and cockcrow; for he generally made his +appearance at mid-day. It is not less singular that he made no +objection to the presence of humanity. On one occasion he called at +her house, where she sat conversing with her husband _and three +tailors_, and, invisible to them, plucked her by the apron, and led +her to the door, and thence up the hill-end, where he bade her stand, +and be silent, whatever she might hear or see. And suddenly she beheld +twelve persons, eight women and four men; the men clad in gentlemen's +clothing, and the women with plaids round about them, very seemly to +look at. Thomas was among them. They bade her sit down, and said: +'Welcome, Bessie; wilt thou go with us?' But she made no answer, and +after some conversation among themselves, they disappeared in a +hideous whirlwind. + +When Thomas returned, he informed her that the persons she had seen +were the 'good wights,' who dwell in the Court of Faëry, and he +brought her an invitation to accompany them thither--an invitation +which he repeated with much earnestness. She answered, with true +Scotch caution: 'She saw no profit to gang that kind of gates, unless +she knew wherefore.' + +'Seest thou not me,' he rejoined, 'worth meat and worth clothes, and +good enough like in person?' + +The prospect, however, could not beguile her; and she continued firm +in her simple resolve to dwell with her husband and bairns, whom she +had no wish to abandon. Off went Thomas in a storm of anger; but +before long he recovered his temper, and resumed his visits, showing +himself willing to 'fetch and carry' at her request, and always +treating her with the deference due to a wife and mother. The only +benefit she derived from this friendship was, she said, the means of +curing diseases and recovering stolen property, so that her witchcraft +was of the simplest, innocentest kind. There was no compact with the +devil, and it injured nobody--except doctors and thieves. Yet for +yielding to this hallucination--the product of a vivid imagination, +stimulated, we suspect, by much solitary reverie--Bessie Dunlop was +'convyct and byrnt.' Mayhap, as she was led to the death-fire, she may +have dreamed that she had done better to have gone with Thomas Reid to +the Court of Faëry! + + * * * * * + +The combination of the fairy folklore with the gloomier inventions of +witchcraft occurs again in the case of Alison Pierson (1588). There +was a certain William Simpson, a great scholar and physician, and a +native of Stirling. While but a child, he was taken away from his +parents 'by a man of Egypt, a giant,' who led him away to Egypt with +him, 'where he remained by the space of twelve years before he came +home again.' On his return, he made the acquaintance of Alison, who +was a near relative, and cured her of certain ailments; but soon +afterwards, less fortunate in treating himself, he died. Some months +had passed when, one day as Alison was lying on her bed, sick and +alone, she was suddenly addressed by a man in green clothes, who told +her that, if she would be faithful, he would do her good. In her first +alarm, she cried for help, but no one hearing, she called upon the +Divine Name, when her visitor immediately disappeared. Before long, he +came to her again, attended by many men and women; and compelling her +to accompany them, they set off in a gay procession to Lothian, where +they found puncheons of wine, with drinking-cups, and enjoyed +themselves right heartily. Thenceforward she was on the friendliest +terms with the 'good neighbours,' even visiting the Fairy Queen at her +court, where, according to her own account, she was made much of, was +treated, indeed, as 'one of themselves,' and allowed to see them +compounding wonderful healing-salves in miniature pans over tiny +fires. + +It would seem that this woman had acquired a considerable knowledge of +'herbs and simples,' and that the medicines she made up effected +remarkable cures. No doubt it was for the purpose of enhancing the +value of her concoctions that she professed to have obtained the +secret of them from the fairies. So great was her repute for medicinal +skill, that the Archbishop of St. Andrews sought her advice in a +dangerous illness, and, by her directions, ate 'a sodden food,' and at +two draughts absorbed a quart of good claret wine, which she had +previously medicated, greatly benefiting thereby. + +Alison had a fertile fancy and a fluent tongue, and told stories of +the fairies and their doings which did credit to her invention. It +does not appear that she injured anybody, except, perhaps, by her +drugs, but, then, even the faculty sometimes do _that_! But, like +Bessie Dunlop, she was convicted of witchcraft, and burned. The +surprising thing about this and similar cases is, that the poor woman +should have assisted in her own condemnation by devising such +extraordinary fictions. What was the use of them? A prisoner on a +charge which, if proved against her, meant a terrible death, what +object did she expect to gain? Was it all done for the sake of the +temporary surprise and astonishment her tale created? that she might +be the heroine of an hour?--Men have, we know, their strange +ambitions, but if this were Alison Pierson's, it was one of the very +strangest. + + * * * * * + +In the next case I shall bring forward, that of Dame Fowlis, we come +upon the trail of actual crime. Dame Fowlis, second wife of the chief +of the clan Munro, was by birth a Roise or Ross, of Balnagown. To +effect the aggrandisement of her own family, she plotted the death of +Robert, her husband's eldest son, in order to marry his wealthy widow +to her brother, George Roise or Ross, laird of Balnagown; but as he, +too, was married, it was necessary to get rid of _his_ wife also. For +this 'double event,' she employed, with little attempt at concealment, +three 'notorious witches'--Agnes Roy, Christian Roy, and Marjory Nayre +MacAllister, alias Loskie Loncart--besides one William MacGillivordam, +and several other persons of dubious reputation. About Midsummer, +1576, Agnes Roy was despatched to bring Loskie Loncart into Dame +Fowlis' presence. The result of this interview was soon apparent. Clay +images of the two doomed individuals were made, and exposed to the +usual sorceries; while MacGillivordam obtained a supply of poison from +Aberdeen, which the cook was bribed to put into a dish intended for +the lady of Balnagown's table. It did not prove mortal, as +anticipated, but afflicted the unfortunate lady with a long and severe +illness. Dame Fowlis, however, felt no remorse, but continued her +plots, gradually widening their scope until she resolved to kill all +her husband's children by his first wife, in order to secure the +inheritance for her own. In May, 1577, she instructed MacGillivordam +to procure a large quantity of poison. He refused, unless his brother +was made privy to the transaction. I suppose this was done, as the +poison was obtained, and proved to be so deadly in its nature that two +persons--a woman and a boy--were killed by accidentally tasting of it. + +Foiled in her scheme, Dame Fowlis resorted to the practices of +witchcraft, and bought, in June, for five shillings, 'an elf +arrow-head'--that is, a rude flint implement--belonging to the +neolithic age. On July 2, she and her accomplices met together in +secret conclave; and having made an image of butter to resemble Robert +Munro, they placed it against the wall; and then, with the elf +arrow-head, Loskie Loncart shot at it for eight times, but each time +without success, a proof that the familiars of the devil, like their +master, could not always hit the mark. Meeting a second time for the +same purpose, they made an image of clay, at which Loskie shot twelve +times in succession, invariably missing, to the great disappointment +of all concerned. The failure was ascribed to the elf arrow-head, and +in August another was procured; two figures of clay were also made, +for Robert Munro and for Lady Balnagown, respectively; at the latter +Dame Fowlis shot twice, and at the former Loskie Loncart shot thrice; +but the shooting was no better than before, and the two images being +accidentally broken, the charm was destroyed. It was proposed to try +poison again, but by this time the authorities had gained information +of what was going on, and towards the end of November, Christian Roy, +who had been present at the third meeting, was arrested. Being put to +the torture, she confessed everything, and, together with some of her +confederates, was convicted of witchcraft and burnt. Dame Fowlis, who +assuredly was not the least guilty person, escaped to Caithness, but, +after remaining in concealment for nine months, was allowed to return +to her home. In 1588, her husband died, and was succeeded in his +estates by Robert Munro, who revived the charge of witchcraft against +his step-mother, and obtained a commission for her examination and +that of her surviving accomplices. Dame Fowlis was put on her trial on +July 22, 1590; but she had money and friends, and contrived to obtain +a verdict of acquittal. + +It is one of the most remarkable features of this remarkable case +that, as soon as her acquittal was pronounced, a new trial was opened, +in which the defendant was her other stepson, Hector Munro,[45] who +had been, only an hour before, the principal witness against her. The +allegations against him were: first, that, during the sore sickness of +his brother, in the summer of 1588, he had consulted with 'three +notorious and common witches' respecting the best means of curing him, +and had sheltered them for several days, until compelled by his father +to send them about their business; and, second, that falling ill +himself, in January, 1559, he had caused a certain Marion MacIngaruch, +'one of the most notorious and rank witches in the whole realm,' to be +brought to him, and who, after administering three draughts of water +out of three stones which she carried with her, declared that his sole +chance of recovery lay in the sacrifice of 'the principal man of his +blood.' After due consultation, they decided that this vicarious +sufferer must be George Munro, his step-brother, the eldest son of +Dame Fowlis. Messengers were accordingly sent in search of him. +Apprehending no evil, he obeyed the call, and five days afterwards +arrived at the house of Hector Munro. Following the directions of the +witch, Hector received his brother in silence, giving him his left +hand, and taking him by the right hand, and uttering no word of +greeting until he had spoken. George, astounded by the chillness of +his reception, which he could not but contrast with the warmth of the +invitations, remained in his brother's sick-room an hour without +speaking. At last he asked Hector how he felt. 'The better that you +have come to visit me,' replied Hector, and then was again silent, for +so the witch had ordained. An hour after midnight appeared Marion +MacIngaruch, with several assistants; and, arming themselves with +spades, they repaired to a nook of ground at the sea-side, situated +between the boundaries of the estates of the two lairds, and there, +removing the turf, they dug a grave of the size of the invalid. + +Marion returned to the house, and gave directions to her confederates +as to the parts they were to play in the startling scene which was yet +to be enacted. It was represented to her that if George died suddenly +suspicions would be aroused, with a result dangerous to all concerned; +and she thereupon undertook that he should be spared until April 17 +next thereafter. Hector was then wrapped up in a couple of blankets, +and carried to the grave in silence. In silence he was deposited in +it, and the turf lightly laid upon him, while Marion stationed herself +by his side. His foster-mother, one Christiana Neill Dayzell, then +took a young lad by the hand, and ran the breadth of nine ridges, +afterwards inquiring of the witch 'who might be her choice,' and +receiving for answer, 'That Hector was her choice to live, and his +brother George to die for him.' This ceremony was thrice repeated, and +the sick man was then taken from the grave, and carried home, the most +absolute silence still being maintained. + +Such an experience on a bitter January night might well have proved +fatal to the subject of it; but, strange to say, Hector Munro +recovered--probably from the effect on his imagination of rites so +peculiar and impressive; whereas, in the month of April, George Munro +was seized with a grievous illness, of which, in the following June, +he died. Grateful for the cure she had effected, Hector received the +witch Marion into high favour, installing her at his uncle's house of +Kildrummadyis, entertaining her 'as if she had been his spouse, and +giving her such pre-eminence in the county that none durst offend +her.' But it is the nature of such unhallowed confederacies to +surrender, sooner or later, their dark, dread secrets. Whispers spread +abroad, gradually shaping themselves into a connected story which +invited judicial investigation. A warrant was issued for the arrest of +Marion MacIngaruch; but for some time Hector Munro contrived to +conceal her, until Dame Fowlis discovered and made known that she was +lying in the house at Fowlis. She was arrested; and, making a full +confession of her actions, was sentenced to death, and burnt. Hector +Munro, however, was more fortunate, and obtained his acquittal. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[44] Pitcairn, 'Criminal Trials,' i. 49-58. This chapter is mainly +founded on the reports in Pitcairn. + +[45] Pitcairn, _ut ante_, i. 192, 202, 285. + + +JAMES I. AND THE WITCHES. + +These, and other cases of witchcraft which, as the mania extended, +occurred in various parts of the country, attracted the attention of +King James, and made a profound impression upon him. Taking up the +study of the subject with enthusiasm, he inquired into the demonology +of France and Germany, where it had been matured into a science; and +this so thoroughly that he became, as already stated, an expert, and +was really entitled to pronounce authoritative decisions. His example, +however, had a disastrous effect, confirming and deepening the popular +credulity to such an extent that the common people, for a time, might +have been divided into two great classes--witches and witch-finders. +That in such circumstances many acts of cruelty should be perpetrated +was inevitable. So complete was the demoralization, that the most +trivial physical or mental peculiarity was held to be an indubitable +witch-mark, and young and old were hurried to the stake like sheep to +the slaughter. + +In August, 1589, King James was married, by proxy, to Princess Anne of +Denmark; and the impatient monarch was eagerly awaiting the arrival of +his bride from Copenhagen, when the unwelcome intelligence reached him +that the vessels conveying her and her suite had been overtaken by a +storm, and, after a narrow escape from destruction, had put into the +port of Upsal, in Norway, with the intention of remaining there until +the following spring. The eager bridegroom, summoning up all his +courage--he had no love for the sea--resolved to go in search of his +queen, and, having found her, to conduct her to her new home. At Upsal +the marriage was duly solemnized; and husband and wife then voyaged to +Copenhagen, where they spent the winter. The homeward voyage was not +undertaken until the following spring; and it was on May Day, 1590, +that James and his Queen landed at Leith, after an experience of the +sea which confirmed James's distaste for it. + +The political disorder of the country, and the hold which the new +superstition had obtained upon the minds of the people, encouraged the +circulation of dark mysterious rumours in connection with the King's +unfavourable passage; and a general belief soon came to be established +that the tempestuous weather which had so seriously affected it was +due to the intervention of supernatural powers, at the instigation of +human treachery. Suspicion fixed at length upon the Earl of Bothwell, +who was arrested and committed to prison; but in June, 1591, contrived +to make his escape, and conceal himself in the remote recesses of the +Highlands. Not long afterwards, some curious circumstances attending +certain cures which a servant girl--Geillis, or Gillies, Duncan--had +performed, led to her being suspected of witchcraft; and this +suspicion opened up a series of investigations, which revealed the +existence of an extraordinary conspiracy against the King's life. + +Geillis Duncan was in the employment of David Seton, deputy-bailiff of +the small town of Tranent, in Haddingtonshire. Unlike the witch of +English rural life, she was young, comely, and fair-complexioned; and +the only ground on which the idea of witchcraft was associated with +her was the wonderful quickness with which she had cured some sick and +diseased persons, the fact being that she was well acquainted with the +healing properties of herbs. When her master severely interrogated +her, she at once denied all knowledge of the mysteries of the black +art. He then, without leave or license, put her to the torture; she +still continued to protest her innocence. It was a popular conviction +that no witch would confess so long as the devil-mark on her body +remained undiscovered. She was subjected to an indecent +examination--the stigma was found (said the examiners) on her throat; +she was again subjected to the torture. The outraged girl's fortitude +then gave way; she acknowledged whatever her persecutors wished to +learn. Yes, she _was_ a _witch_! She had made a compact with the +devil; all her cures had been effected by his assistance--quite a new +feature in the character of Satan, who has not generally been +suspected of any compassionate feeling towards suffering humanity. +That she had done good instead of harm availed the unfortunate Geillis +nothing. She was committed to prison; and the torture being a third +time applied, made a fuller confession, in which she named her +accomplices or confederates, some forty in number, residing in +different parts of Lothian. Their arrest and examination disclosed the +particulars of one of the strangest intrigues ever concocted. + +The principal parties in it were Dr. Fian, or Frain, a reputed wizard, +also known as John Cunningham; a grave matron, named Agnes Sampson; +Euphemia Macalzean, daughter of Lord Cliftonhall; and Barbara Napier. +Fian, or Cunningham, was a schoolmaster of Tranent, and a man of +ability and education; but his life had been evil--he was a vendor of +poisons--and, though innocent of the preposterous crimes alleged +against him, had dabbled in the practices of the so-called sorcery. +When a twisted cord was bound round his bursting temples, he would +confess nothing; and, exasperated by his fortitude, the authorities +subjected him to the terrible torture of 'the boots.' Even this he +endured in silence, until exhausted nature came to his relief with an +interval of unconsciousness. He was then released; restoratives were +applied; and, while he hovered on the border of sensibility, he was +induced to sign 'a full confession.' Being remanded to his prison, he +contrived, two days afterwards, to escape; but was recaptured, and +brought before the High Court of Justiciary, King James himself being +present. Fian strenuously repudiated the so-called confession which +had been foisted upon him in his swoon, declaring that his signature +had been obtained by a fraud. Whereupon King James, enraged at what he +conceived to be the man's stubborn wilfulness, ordered him again to +the torture. His fingernails were torn out with pincers, and long +needles thrust into the quick; but the courageous man made no sign. He +was then subjected once more to the barbarous 'boots,' in which he +continued so long, and endured so many blows, that 'his legs were +crushed and beaten together as small as might be, and the bones and +flesh so bruised, that the blood and marrow spouted forth in great +abundance, whereby they were made unserviceable for ever.' + +As ultimately extorted from the unfortunate Fian, his confession shows +a remarkable mixture of imposture and self-deception--a patchwork of +the falsehoods he believed and those he invented. Singularly grotesque +is his account of his introduction to the devil: He was lodging at +Tranent, in the house of one Thomas Trumbill, who had offended him by +neglecting to 'sparge' or whitewash his chamber, as he had promised; +and, while lying in his bed, meditating how he might be revenged of +the said Thomas, the devil, _clothed in white raiment_, suddenly +appeared, and said: 'Will ye be my servant, and adore me and all my +servants, and ye shall never want?' Never want! The bribe to a poor +Scotch dominie was immense; Fian could not withstand it, and at once +enlisted among 'the Devil's Own.' As his first act of service, he had +the pleasure of burning down Master Trumbill's house. The next night +Beelzebub paid him another visit, and put his mark upon him with a +rod. Thereafter he was found lying in his chamber in a trance, during +which, he said, he was carried in the spirit over many mountains, and +accomplished an aërial circumnavigation of the globe. In the future he +attended all the nightly conferences of witches and fiends held +throughout Lothian, displaying so much energy and capacity that the +devil appointed him to be his 'registrar and secretary.' + +The first convention at which he was present assembled in the parish +church of North Berwick, a breezy, picturesque seaport at the mouth of +the Forth, about sixteen miles from Preston Pans. Satan occupied the +pulpit, and delivered 'a sermon of doubtful speeches,' designed for +their encouragement. His servants, he said, should never want, and +should ail nothing, so long as their hairs were on, and they let no +tears fall from their eyes. He bade them spare not to do evil, and +advised them to eat, drink, and be merry: after which edifying +discourse they did homage to him in the usual indecent manner. Fian, +as I have said, was an evil-living man, and needed no exhortation from +the devil to do wicked things. In the course of his testimony he +invented, as was so frequently the strange practice of persons accused +of witchcraft, the most extravagant fictions--as, for instance: One +night he supped at the miller's, a few miles from Tranent; and as it +was late when the revel ended, one of the miller's men carried him +home on horseback. To light them on their way through the dark of +night, Fian raised up four candles on the horse's ears, and one on the +staff which his guide carried; their great brightness made the +midnight appear as noonday; but the miller's man was so terrified by +the phenomenon that, on his return home, he fell dead. + +Let us next turn to the confession of Agnes Sampson, 'the wise wife of +Keith,' as she was popularly called. She was charged with having done +grave injury to persons who had incurred her displeasure; but she +seems, when all fictitious details are thrust aside, to have been +simply a shrewd and sagacious old Scotchwoman, with much force of +character, who made a decent living as a herb-doctor. Archbishop +Spottiswoode describes her as matronly in appearance, and grave of +demeanour, and adds that she was composed in her answers. Yet were +those answers the wildest and most extraordinary utterances +imaginable, and, if they be truly recorded, they convict her of +unscrupulous audacity and unfailing ingenuity. + +She affirmed that her service to the devil began after her husband's +death, when he appeared to her in mortal likeness, and commanded her +to renounce Christ, and obey him as her master. For the sake of the +riches he promised to herself and her children, she consented; and +thereafter he came in the guise of a dog, of which she asked +questions, always receiving appropriate replies. On one occasion, +having been summoned by the Lady Edmaston, who was lying sick, she +went out into the garden at night, and called the devil by his +terrestrial or mundane _alias_ of Elva. He bounded over the stone wall +in the likeness of a dog, and approached her so close that she was +frightened, and charged him by 'the law he believed in' to keep his +distance. She then asked him if the lady would recover; he replied in +the negative. In his turn he inquired where the gentlewomen, her +daughters, were; and being informed that they were to meet her in the +garden, said that one of them should be his leman. 'Not so,' exclaimed +the wise wife undauntedly; and the devil then went away howling, like +a whipped schoolboy, and _hid himself in the well_ until after supper. +The young gentlewomen coming into the bloom and perfumes of the +garden, he suddenly emerged, seized the Lady Torsenye, and attempted +to drag her into the well; but Agnes gripped him firmly, and by her +superior strength delivered her from his clutches. Then, with a +terrible yell, he disappeared. + +Yet another story: Agnes, with Geillis Duncan and other witches, +desiring to be revenged on the deputy bailiff, met on the bridge at +Fowlistruther, and dropped a cord into the river, Agnes Sampson +crying, 'Hail! Holloa!' Immediately they felt the end of the cord +dragged down by a great weight; and on drawing it up, up came the +devil along with it! He inquired if they had all been good servants, +and gave them a charm to blight Seton and his property; but _it was +accidentally diverted in its operation, and fell upon another +person_--a touch of realism worthy of Defoe! + +Euphemia Macalzean, a lady of high social position, daughter and +heiress of Lord Cliftonhall (who was eminent as lawyer, statesman, and +scholar), seems to have been involved in this welter of intrigue, +conspiracy, and deception, through her adherence to Bothwell's +faction, and her devotion to the Roman communion. Her confession was +as grotesque and unveracious as that of any of her associates. She was +made a witch (she said) through the agency of an Irishwoman 'with a +fallen nose,' and, to perfect herself in the craft, had paid another +witch, who resided in St. Ninian's Row, Edinburgh, for 'inaugurating' +her with 'the girth of ane gret bikar,' revolving it 'oft round her +head and neck, and ofttimes round her head.' She was accused of having +administered poison to her husband, her father-in-law, and some other +persons; and whatever may be thought of the allegations of sorcery and +witchcraft, this heavier charge seems to have been well-founded. +Euphemia said that her acquaintance with Agnes Sampson began with her +first accouchement, when she applied to her to mitigate her pains, and +she did so by transferring them to a dog. At her second accouchement, +Agnes transferred them to a cat. + +As a determined enemy of the Protestant religion, Satan was inimical +to King James's marriage with a Protestant princess, and to break up +an alliance which would greatly limit his power for evil, he +determined to sink the ship that carried the newly-married couple on +their homeward voyage. His first device was to hang over the sea a +very dense mist, in the hope that the royal ship would miss her +course, and strike on some dangerous rock. When this device failed, +Dr. Fian was ordered to summon all the witches to meet their master at +the haunted kirk of North Berwick. Accordingly, on All-Hallow-mass +Eve, they assembled there to the number of two hundred; and each one +embarking in 'a riddle,' or sieve,[46] they sailed over the ocean +'very substantially,' carrying with them flagons of wine, and making +merry, and drinking 'by the way.' After sailing about for some time, +they met with their master, bearing in his claws a cat, which had +previously been drawn nine times through the fire. Handing it to one +of the warlocks, he bade him cast it into the sea, and shout 'Hola!' +whereupon the ocean became convulsed, and the waters seethed, and the +billows rose like heaving mountains. On through the storm sailed this +eerie company until they reached the Scottish coast, where they +landed, and, joining hands, danced in procession to the kirk of North +Berwick, Geillis Duncan going before them, playing a reel upon her +Jew's-harp, or trump--formerly a favourite musical instrument with +the Scotch peasantry--and singing: + + 'Cummer, go ye before; cummer, go ye; + Gif ye will not go before, cummer, let me!' + +Having arrived at their rendezvous, they danced round it +'withershins'--that is, in reverse of the apparent motion of the sun. +Dr. Fian then blew into the keyhole of the door, which opened +immediately, and all the witches and warlocks entered in. It was +pitch-dark; but Fian lighted the tapers by merely blowing on them, and +their sudden blaze revealed the devil in the pulpit, attired in a +black gown and hat. The description given of the fiend reveals the +stern imagination of the North, and is characteristic of the 'weird +sisters' of Scotland, who form, as Dr. Burton remarks, so grand a +contrast to 'the vulgar grovelling parochial witches of England.' His +body was hard as iron; his face terrible, with a nose like an eagle's +beak; his eyes glared like fire; his voice was gruff as the sound of +the east wind; his hands and legs were covered with hair, and his +hands and feet were armed with long claws. On beholding him, witches +and warlocks, with one accord, cried: 'All hail, master!' He then +called over their names, and demanded of them severally whether they +had been good and faithful servants, and what measure of success had +attended their operations against the lives of King James and his +bride--which surely he ought to have known! Gray Malkin, a foolish old +warlock, who officiated as beadle or janitor, heedlessly answered, +That nothing ailed the King yet, God be thanked! At which the devil, +in a fury, leaped from the pulpit, and lustily smote him on the ears. +He then resumed his position, and delivered his sermon, commanding +them to act faithfully in their service, and do all the evil they +could. Euphemia Macalzean and Agnes Sampson summoned up courage enough +to ask him whether he had brought an image or picture of the King, +that, by pricking it with pins, they might inflict upon its living +pattern all kinds of pain and disease. The devil was fain to +acknowledge that he had forgotten it, and was soundly rated by +Euphemia for his carelessness, Agnes Sampson and several other women +seizing the opportunity to load him with reproaches on their +respective accounts. + +On another occasion, according to Agnes Sampson, she, Dr. Fian, and a +wizard of some energy, named Robert Grierson, with several others, +left Grierson's house at Preston Pans in a boat, and went out to sea +to 'a tryst.' Embarking on board a ship, they drank copiously of good +wine and ale, after which they sank the ship and her crew, and +returned home. And again, sailing from North Berwick in a boat like a +chimney, they saw the devil--in shape and size resembling a huge +hayrick--rolling over the great waves in front of them. They went on +board a vessel called _The Grace of God_, where they enjoyed, as +before, an abundance of wine and 'other good cheer.' On leaving it, +the devil, who was underneath the ship, raised an evil wind, and it +perished. + +Some of these stories proved to be too highly coloured even for the +credulity of King James; and he rightly enough exclaimed that the +witches were, like their master, 'extraordinary liars.' It is said, +however, that he changed his opinion after Agnes Sampson, in a private +conference which he accorded to her, related the details of a +conversation between himself and the Queen that had taken place under +such circumstances as to ensure inviolable secrecy. It is curious that +a very similar story is told of Jeanne Darc--whom our ancestors burned +as a witch--and King Charles VI. of France. + +Despite the machinations of the devil and the witches, King James and +Queen Anne, as we know, escaped every peril, and reached Leith in +safety. The devil sourly remarked that James was 'a man of God,' and +was evidently inclined to let him alone severely; but the Preston Pans +conspirators, instigated, perhaps, by some powerful personages who +kept prudently in the background, resolved on another attempt against +their sovereign's life. On Lammas Eve (July 31, 1590), nine of the +ringleaders, including Dr. Fian, Agnes Sampson, Euphemia Macalzean, +and Barbara Napier, with some thirty confederates, assembled at the +New Haven, between Musselburgh and Preston Pans, at a spot called the +Fairy Holes, where they were met by the devil in the shape of a black +man, which was 'thought most meet to do the turn for the which they +were convened.' Agnes Sampson at once proposed that they should make a +final effort for the King's destruction. The devil took an +unfavourable view of the prospects of their schemes; but he promised +them a waxen image, and directed them to hang up and roast a toad, and +to lay its drippings--mixed with strong wash, an adder's skin, and +'the thing on the forehead of a new-foaled foal'--in James's path, or +to suspend it in such a position that it might drip upon his body. +This precious injunction was duly obeyed, and the toad hung up where +the dripping would fall upon the King, 'during his Majesty's being at +the Brig of Dee, the day before the common bell rang, for fear the +Earl Bothwell should have entered Edinburgh.' But the devil's +foreboding was fulfilled, and the conspirators missed their aim, the +King happening to take a different route to that by which he had been +expected. + +It is useless to repeat more of these wild and desperate stories, or +to inquire too closely into their origin. Fact and fiction are so +mixed up in them, and the embellishments are so many and so bold, that +it is difficult to get at the nucleus of truth; but, setting aside the +witch or supernatural element, we seem driven to the conclusion that +these persons had combined together for some nefarious purpose. +Whether they intended to compass the King's death by the superstitious +practices which the credulity of the age supposed to be effective, or +whether these practices were intended as a cover for surer means, +cannot now be determined. Nor can we pretend to say whether all who +were implicated in the plot by the confession of Geillis Duncan were +really guilty. Dr. Fian, at all events, protested his innocence to +the last; and with regard to him and others, the evidence adduced was +painfully inadequate. But they were all convicted and sentenced to +death. In the case of Barbara Napier, the majority of the jury at +first acquitted her on the principal charges; but the King was highly +indignant, and threatened them with a trial for 'wilful error upon an +assize.' To avoid the consequences, they threw themselves upon the +King's mercy, and were benevolently 'pardoned.' Poor Barbara Napier +was hanged. So was Dr. Fian, on Castle Hill, Edinburgh (in January, +1592), and burned afterwards. So were Agnes Sampson, Agnes Thomson, +and their real or supposed confederates. The punishment of Euphemia +Macalzean was exceptionally severe. Instead of the ordinary sentence, +directing the criminal to be first strangled and then burnt, it was +ordered that she should be 'bound to a stake, and burned in ashes, +_quick_ to the death.' This fate befell her on June 25, 1591. + +It was an unhappy result of this remarkable trial that it confirmed +King James in his belief that he possessed a rare faculty for the +detection of witches and the discovery of witchcraft. Continuing his +investigation of the subject with fanatical zeal, he published in +Edinburgh, in 1597, the outcome of his researches in his +'Dæmonologie'--an elaborate treatise, written in the form of a +dialogue, the spirit of which may be inferred from its author's +prefatory observations: 'The fearful abounding,' he says, 'at this +time and in this country, of these detestable slaves of the devil, +the witches or enchanters, hath moved me (beloved reader) to despatch +in post this following treatise of mine, not in any wise (as I +protest) to serve for a show of mine own learning and ingene, but only +(moved of conscience) to press thereby, so far as I can, to resolve +the doubting hearts of many, both that such assaults of Satan are most +certainly practised, and that the instrument thereof merits most +severely to be punished, against the damnable opinions of two, +principally in our age; whereof the one called Scot, an Englishman, is +not ashamed in public print to deny that there can be such thing as +witchcraft, and so maintains the old error of the Sadducees in denying +of spirits. The other, called Wierus, a German physician, sets out a +public apology for all these crafts-folks, whereby procuring for them +impunity, he plainly betrays himself to have been one of that +profession.' + +Not only is King James fully convinced of the existence of witchcraft, +but he is determined to treat it as a capital crime. 'Witches,' he +affirms, 'ought to be put to death, according to the laws of God, the +civil and imperial law, and the municipal law of all Christian +nations; yea, to spare the life, and not strike whom God bids strike, +and so severely punish so odious a treason against God, is not only +unlawful, but, doubtless, as great a sin in the magistrate as was +Saul's sparing Agag.' Conscious that the evidence brought against the +unfortunate victims was generally of the weakest possible character, +he contends that because the crime is generally abominable, evidence +in proof of it may be accepted which would be refused in other +offences; as, for example, that of young children who are ignorant of +the nature of an oath, and that of persons of notoriously ill-repute. +And the sole chance of escape which he offers to the accused is that +of the ordeal. 'Two good helps,' he says, 'may be used: the one is the +finding of their marks, and the trying the insensibleness thereof; the +other is their floating on the water, for, as in a secret murther, if +the dead carcase be at any time thereafter handled by the murtherer, +it will gush out of blood, as if the blood were raging to the Heaven, +for revenge of the murtherer (God having appointed that secret +supernatural sign for trial of that secret unnatural crime), so that +it appears that God hath appointed (for a supernatural sign of the +monstrous impiety of witches), that the water shall refuse to receive +them in her bosom that have shaken off them the sacred water of +baptism, and wilfully refused the benefit thereof; no, not so much as +their eyes are able to shed tears at every light occasion when they +will; yea, although it were dissembling like the crocodiles, God not +permitting them to dissemble their obstinacy in so horrible a crime.' + + * * * * * + +Encouraged by the practice and teaching of their sovereign, the people +of Scotland, whom the anthropomorphism of their religious creed +naturally predisposed to believe in the personal appearances of the +devil, undertook a regular campaign against those ill-fated +individuals whom malice or ignorance, or their own mental or physical +peculiarities, or other causes, branded as his bond-slaves and +accomplices. Religious animosity, moreover, was a powerful factor in +stimulating and sustaining the mania; and the Scotch Calvinist enjoyed +a double gratification when some poor old woman was burned both as a +witch and a Roman Catholic. It has been calculated that, in the period +of thirty-nine years, between the enactment of the Statute of Queen +Mary and the accession of James to the English throne, the average +number of persons executed for witchcraft was 200 annually, making an +aggregate of nearly 8,000. For the first nine years about 30 or 40 +suffered yearly; but latterly the annual death-roll mounted up to 400 +and 500. James at last grew alarmed at the prevalence of witchcraft in +his kingdom, and seems to have devoted no small portion of his time to +attempts to detect and exterminate it. + +In 1591 the Earl of Bothwell was imprisoned for having conspired the +King's death by sorcery, in conjunction with a warlock named Richie +Graham. Graham was burned on March 8, 1592. Bothwell was not brought +to trial until August 10, 1593, when several witches bore testimony +against him, but he obtained an acquittal. + +In 1597, on November 12, four women were tried by the High Court of +Justiciary, in Edinburgh, on various charges of witchcraft. Their +names are recorded as Christina Livingstone, Janet Stewart, Bessie +Aikin, and Christina Sadler. Their trials, however, present no special +features of interest. + +Passing over half a century, we come to the recrudescence of the +witch-mania, which followed on the restoration of Charles II. Mr. R. +Burns Begg has recently edited for the Society of Antiquaries of +Scotland a report of various witch trials in Forfar and +Kincardineshire, in the opening years of that monarch's reign, which +supplies some further illustrations of the characteristics of Scottish +witchcraft. Here we meet with the strange word 'Covin' or 'Coven' +(apparently connected with 'Covenant' or 'Convention') as applied to +an organization or guild of witches. In 1662 the Judge-General-Depute +for Scotland tried thirteen 'Coviners,' who had been detected by the +efforts of a committee consisting of the ministers and schoolmasters +of the district, together with the 'Laird of Tullibole.' Of these +thirteen unfortunate victims only one was a man. All were found guilty +by the jury, and sentenced to death. Eleven suffered at the stake; one +died before the day of execution, and one was respited on account of +her pregnancy. The evidence was of the usual extraordinary tenor, and +the so-called 'confessions' of the accused were not less puzzling than +in other cases. In Mr. Begg's opinion, which seems to me well founded, +there really _was_ in and around the Crook of Devon a local Covin, or +regularly organized band of so-called witches who acted under the +direction of a person whom they believed to be Satan. He suggests that +at this period there would be many wild and unscrupulous characters, +disbanded soldiers, and others, who found their profit in the +'blinded allegiance' of the witches and warlocks. The difficulty is, +what _was_ this profit? The witches do not seem to have paid anything +in money or in kind. There are allusions which point to acts of +immorality, and in several instances one can understand that personal +enmities were gratified; but on the whole the personators of Satan had +scant reward for all their trouble. And how was it that they were +never denounced by any of their victims? How was it that the vigilance +which detected the witches never tripped up their master? How are we +to explain the diversity of Satan's appearances? At one time he was +'ane bonnie lad;' at another, an 'unco-like man, in black-coloured +clothes and ane blue bonnet;' at another, a 'black iron-hard man;' and +yet again, 'ane little man in rough gray clothes.' Occasionally he +brought with him a piper, and the witches danced together, and the +ground under them was all fireflaughts, and Andrew Watson had his +usual staff in his hand, and although he is a blind man, yet danced he +as nimbly as any of the company, and made also great merriment by +singing his old ballads; and Isabel Shyrrie did sing her song called +'Tinkletum, Tankletum.' Alas, that no obliging pen has transmitted +'Tinkletum, Tankletum' to posterity! One could point to a good many +songs which the world could have better spared. 'Tinkletum, +Tankletum'--there is something amazingly suggestive in the words; +possibilities of humour, perhaps of satire; humour and satire which +might have secured for Isabel Shyrrie a place among Scottish +poetesses, whereas now she comes before us in no more attractive +character than that of a Coviner--a deluded or self-deluding witch. + +Let us next betake ourselves to the East Coast, and make the +acquaintance of Isabel Gowdie, whose 'confessions' are among the most +extraordinary documents to be met with even in the records of Scottish +witchcraft. It is impossible, I think, to overrate their psychological +interest. The first is, perhaps, the most curious; and as no summary +or condensation would do justice to its details, I shall place it +before the reader _in extenso_, with no other alteration than that of +Englishing the spelling. It was made at Auldearn on April 13, 1662, in +presence of the parish minister, the sheriff-depute of Nairn, and nine +lairds and farmers of good position: + +'As I was going betwixt the towns (_i.e._, farmsteadings) of +Drumdeevin and The Heads, I met with the Devil, and there covenanted +in a manner with him; and I promised to meet him, in the night-time, +in the Kirk of Auldearn,[47] which I did. And the first thing I did +there that night, I denied my baptism, and did put the one of my hands +to the crown of my head, and the other to the sole of my foot, and +then renounced all betwixt my two hands over to the Devil. He was in +the Reader's desk, and a black book in his hand. Margaret Brodie, in +Auldearn, held me up to the Devil to be baptized by him, and he marked +me in the shoulder, and sucked out my blood at that mark, and spouted +it in his hand, and, sprinkling it on my head, said, "I baptize thee, +Janet, in my own name!" And within awhile we all removed. The next +time that I met with him was in the New Wards of Inshoch.... He was a +mickle, black, rough [hirsute] man, very cold; and I found his nature +all cold within me as spring-wall-water.[48] Sometimes he had boots, +and sometimes shoes on his feet; but still his feet are forked and +cloven. He would be sometimes with us like a deer or a roe. John +Taylor and Janet Breadhead, his wife, in Belmakeith, ... Douglas, and +I myself, met in the kirkyard of Nairn, and we raised an unchristened +child out of its grave; and at the end of Bradley's cornfieldland, +just opposite to the Mill of Nairn, we took the said child, with the +nails of our fingers and toes, pickles of all sorts of grain, and +blades of kail [colewort], and hacked them all very small, mixed +together; and did put a part thereof among the muck-heaps, and thereby +took away the fruit of his corns, etc., and we parted it among two of +our Covins. When we take corns at Lammas, we take but about two +sheaves, when the corns are full; or two stalks of kail, or thereby, +and that gives us the fruit of the corn-land or kail-yard, where they +grew. And it may be, we will keep it until Yule or Pasche, and then +divide it amongst us. There are thirteen persons [the usual number] in +my Covin. + +'The last time that our Covin met, we, and another Covin, were dancing +at the Hill of Earlseat; and before that, betwixt Moynes and Bowgholl; +and before that we were beyond the Mickle-burn; and the other Covin +being at the Downie-hills, we went from beyond the Mickle-burn, and +went beside them, to the houses at the Wood-End of Inshoch; and within +a while went home to our houses. Before Candlemas we went be-east +Kinloss, and there we yoked a plough of paddocks [frogs]. The Devil +held the plough, and John Young, in Mebestown, our Officer, did drive +the plough. Paddocks did draw the plough as oxen; _quickens wor +sowmes_ [dog-grass served for traces]; a riglon's [ram's] horn was a +coulter, and a piece of a riglon's horn was a sock. We went two +several times about; and all we of the Covin went still up and down +with the plough, praying to the Devil for the fruit of that land, and +that thistles and briars might grow there. + +'When we go to any house, we take meat and drink; and we fill up the +barrels with our own ... again; and we put besoms in our beds with our +husbands, till we return again to them. We were in the Earl of Moray's +house in Darnaway, and we got enough there, and did eat and drink of +the best, and brought part with us. We went in at the windows. I had a +little horse, and would say, "Horse and Hattock, in the Devil's name!" +And then we would fly away, where we would, like as straws would fly +upon a highway. We will fly like straws where we please; wild straws +and corn-straws will be horses to us, and we put them betwixt our feet +and say, "Horse and Hattock, in the Devil's name!" And when any see +these straws in a whirlwind, and do not sanctify themselves, we may +shoot them dead at our pleasure. Any that are shot by us, their souls +will go to Heaven, but their bodies remain with us, and will fly as +horses to us, as small as straws.[49] + +'I was in the Downie Hills, and got meat there from the Queen of +Fairy, more than I could eat. The Queen of Fairy is heavily clothed in +white linen, and in white and lemon clothes, etc.; and the King of +Fairy is a brave man, well favoured, and broad-faced, etc. There were +elf-bulls, routing and skirling up and down there, and they affrighted +me. + +'When we take away any cow's milk, we pull the tail, and twine it and +plait it the wrong way, in the Devil's name; and we draw the tedder +(so made) in betwixt the cow's hinder-feet, and out betwixt the cow's +fore-feet, in the Devil's name, and thereby take with us the cow's +milk. We take sheep's milk even so [in the same manner]. The way to +take or give back the milk again, is to cut that tedder. When we take +away the strength of any person's ale, and give it to another, we +take a little quantity out of each barrel or stand of ale, and put it +in a stoop in the Devil's name, and in his name, with our own hands, +put it amongst another's ale, and give her the strength and substance +and "heall" of her neighbour's ale. And to keep the ale from us, that +we have no power over it, is to sanctify it well. We get all this +power from the Devil; and when we seek it from him, we will him to be +"our Lord." + +'John Taylor, and Janet Breadhead, his wife, in Belmakeith, Bessie +Wilson in Aulderne, and Margaret Wilson, spouse to Donald Callam in +Aulderne, and I, made a picture of clay, to destroy the Laird of +Park's male children. John Taylor brought home the clay in his plaid +nook [the corner of his plaid]; his wife broke it very small, like +meal, and sifted it with a sieve, and poured in water among it, in the +Devil's name, and wrought it very sure, like rye-bout [a stir-about +made of rye-flour]; and made of it a picture of the laird's sons. It +had all the parts and marks of a child, such as head, eyes, nose, +hands, feet, mouth, and little lips. It wanted no mark of a child, and +the hands of it folded down by its sides. It was like a pow [lump of +dough], or a flayed _egrya_ [a sucking-pig, which has been scalded and +scraped]. We laid the face of it to the fire, till it strakned +[shrivelled], and a clear fire round about it, till it was red like a +coal. After that, we would roast it now and then; each other day there +would be a piece of it well roasted. The Laird of Park's whole male +children by it are to suffer, if it be not gotten and brokin, as well +as those that are born and dead already. It was still put in and taken +out of the fire in the Devil's name. It was hung up upon a crock. It +is yet in John Taylor's house, and it has a cradle of clay about it. +Only John Taylor and his wife, Janet Breadhead, Bessie and Margaret +Wilson in Aulderne, and Margaret Brodie, these, and I, were only at +the making of it. All the multitude of our number of witches, of all +the Covins, kent [_kenned_, knew] all of it, at our next meeting after +it was made. And the witches yet that are overtaken have their own +powers, and our powers which we had before we were taken, both. But +now I have no power at all. + +'Margaret Kyllie, in ... is one of the other Covin; Meslie Hirdall, +spouse to Alexander Ross, in Loanhead, is one of them; her skin is +fiery. Isabel Nicol, in Lochley, is one of my Covin. Alexander Elder, +in Earlseat, and Janet Finlay, his spouse, are of my Covin. Margaret +Haslum, in Moynes, is one; Margaret Brodie, in Aulderne, Bessie and +Margaret Wilson there, and Jane Martin there, and Elspet Nishie, +spouse to John Mathew there, are of my Covin. The said Jane Martin is +the Maiden of our Covin. John Young, in Mebestown, is Officer to our +Covin. + +'Elspet Chisholm, and Isabel More, in Aulderne, Maggie Brodie ... and +I, went into Alexander Cumling's litt-house [dye-house], in Aulderne. +I went in, in the likeness of a ken [jackdaw]; the said Elspet +Chisholm was in the shape of a cat. Isabel More was a hare, and Maggie +Brodie a cat, and.... We took a thread of each colour of yarn that +was on the said Alexander Cumling's litt-fatt [dyeing-vat], and did +cast three knots on each thread, in the Devil's name, and did put the +threads in the vat, _withersones_ about in the vat in the Devil's +name, and thereby took the whole strength of the vat away, that it +could litt [dye] nothing but only black, according to the colour of +the Devil, in whose name we took away the strength of the right +colours that were in the vat.' + + * * * * * + +The second confession, made at Aulderne, on May 3, 1662, is not less +remarkable than the foregoing: + +'... After that time there would meet but sometimes a Covin [_i.e._, +thirteen], sometimes more, sometimes less; but a Grand Meeting would +be about the end of each Quarter. There is thirteen persons in each +Covin; and each of us has one Sprite to wait upon us, when we please +to call upon him. I remember not all the Sprites' names, but there is +one called _Swin_, which waits upon the said Margaret Wilson in +Aulderne; he is still [ever] clothed in grass-green; and the said +Margaret Wilson has a nickname, called "Pickle nearest the wind." The +next Sprite is called "Rosie," who waits upon Bessie Wilson, in +Aulderne; he is still clothed in yellow; and her nickname is "Through +the cornyard." ... The third Sprite is called "The Roaring Lion," who +waits upon Isabel Nicol, in Lochlors; and [he is still clothed[50]] in +sea-green; her nickname is "Bessie Rule." The fourth Sprite is called +"Mak Hector," who [waits upon Jane[50]] Martin, daughter to the said +Margaret Wilson; he is a young-like devil, clothed still in +grass-green. [Jane Martin is[50]] Maiden to the Covin that I am of; +and her nickname is "Over the dyke with it," because the Devil [always +takes the[50]] Maiden in his hand nix time we damn "Gillatrypes;" and +when he would leap from ...[50] he and she will say, "Over the dyke +with it!" The name of the fifth Sprite is "Robert the [Rule," and he +is still clothed in[50]] sad-dun, and seems to be a Commander of the +rest of the Sprites; and he waits upon Margaret Brodie, in Aulderne. +[The name of the saxt Sprite] is called "Thief of Hell wait upon +Herself;" and he waits also on the said Bessie Wilson. The name of the +seventh [Sprite is called] "The Read Reiver;" and he is my own Spirit, +that waits on myself, and is still clothed in black. The eighth Spirit +[is called] "Robert the Jackis," still clothed in dun, and seems to be +aged. He is a glaiked, glowked Spirit! The woman's [nickname] that he +waits on is "Able and Stout!" [This was Bessie Hay.] The ninth Spirit +is called "Laing," and the woman's nickname that he waits upon is +"Bessie Bold" [Elspet Nishie]. The tenth Spirit is named "Thomas a +Fiarie," etc. There will be many other Devils, waiting upon [our] +Master Devil; but he is bigger and more awful than the rest of the +Devils, and they all reverence him. I will ken them all, one by one, +from others, when they appear like a man. + +'When we raise the wind, we take a rag of cloth, and wet it in water; +and we take a beetle and knock the rag on a stone, and we say thrice +over: + + '"I knock this rag upon this stane, + To raise the wind, in the Devil's name; + It shall not lie until I please again!" + +When we would lay the wind, we dry the rag, and say (thrice over): + + '"We lay the wind in the Devil's name, + [It shall not] rise while we [or I] like to raise it again!" + +And if the wind will not lie instantly [after we say this], we call +upon our Spirit, and say to him: + + '"Thief! Thief! conjure the wind, and cause it to [lie?...]" + +We have no power of rain, but we will raise the wind when we please. +He made us believe [...] that there was no God beside him. + +'As for Elf arrow-heads, the Devil shapes them with his own hand [and +afterwards delivers them?] to Elf-boys, who "whyttis and dightis" +[shapes and trims] them with a sharp thing like a packing-needle; but +[when I was in Elf-land?] I saw them whytting and dighting them. When +I was in the Elves' houses, they will have very ... them whytting and +dighting; and the Devil gives them to us, each of us so many, when.... +Those that dightis them are little ones, hollow, and boss-backed +[humped-backed]. They speak gowstie [roughly] like. When the Devil +gives them to us, he says: + + '"Shoot these in my name, + And they shall not go heall hame!" + +And when we shoot these arrows (we say): + + '"I shoot you man in the Devil's name, + He shall not win heall hame! + And this shall be always true; + There shall not be one bit of him on lieiw" [on life, alive]. + +'We have no bow to shoot with, but spang [jerk] them from the nails of +our thumbs. Sometimes we will miss; but if they twitch [touch], be it +beast, or man, or woman, it will kill, tho' they had a jack [a coat of +armour] upon them. When we go in the shape of a hare, we say thrice +over: + + '"I shall go into a hare, + With sorrow, and such, and mickle care; + And I shall go in the Devil's name, + Ay, until I come home [again!]." + +And instantly we start in a hare. And when we would be out of that +shape, we will say: + + '"Hare! hare! God send thee care! + I am in a hare's likeness just now, + But I shall be in a woman's likeness even [now]." + +When we would go in the likeness of a cat, we say thrice over: + + '"I shall go [intill ane cat], + [With sorrow, and such, and a black] shot! + And I shall go in the Devil's name, + Ay, until I come home again!" + +And if we [would go in a crow, then] we say thrice over: + + '"I shall go intill a crow, + With sorrow, and such, and a black [thraw! + And I shall go in the Devil's name,] + Ay, until I come home again!" + +And when we would be out of these shapes, we say: + + '"Cat, cat [or crow, crow], God send thee a black shot [or black + thraw!] + I was a cat [or crow] just now, + But I shall be [in a woman's likeness even now]. + Cat, cat" [as _supra_]. + +If we go in the shape of a cat, a crow, a hare, or any other likeness, +etc., to any of our neighbours' houses, being witches, we will say: + + '"[I (or we) conjure] thee go with us [or me]!" + +And presently they become as we are, either cats, hares, crows, etc., +and go [with us whither we would. When] we would ride, we take +windle-straws, or been-stakes [bean-stalks], and put them betwixt our +feet, and say thrice: + + '"Horse and Hattock, horse and go, + Horse and pellatris, ho! ho!" + +And immediately we fly away wherever we would; and lest our husbands +should miss us out of our beds, we put in a besom, or a three-legged +stool, beside them, and say thrice over: + + '"I lay down this besom [or stool] in the Devil's name, + Let it not stir till I come home again!" + +And immediately it seems a woman, by the side of our husband. + +'We cannot turn in[to] the likeness of [a lamb or a dove?] When my +husband sold beef, I used to put a swallow's feather in the head of +the beast, and [say thrice], + + '"[I] put out this beef in the Devil's name, + That mickle silver and good price come hame!" + +'I did even so [whenever I put] forth either horse, nolt [cattle], +webs [of cloth], or any other thing to be sold, and still put in this +feather, and said the [same words thrice] over, to cause the +commodities sell well, and ... thrice over-- + + '"Our Lord to hunting he [is gone] + .......... marble stone, + He sent word to Saint Knitt ..." + +'When we would heal any sore or broken limb, we say thrice over.... + + '"He put the blood to the blood, till all up stood; + The lith to the lith, Till all took nith; + Our Lady charmed her dearly Son, With her tooth and her tongue, + And her ten fingers-- + In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost!" + +'And this we say thrice over, stroking the sore, and it becomes whole. +2ndlie. For the Bean-Shaw [bone-shaw, _i.e._, the sciatica], or pain +in the haunch: "We are here three Maidens charming for the bean-shaw; +the man of the Midle-earth, blew beaver, land-fever, maneris of +stooris, the Lord fleigged (terrified) the Fiend with his holy candles +and yard foot-stone! There she sits, and here she is gone! Let her +never come here again!" 3rdli. For the fevers, we say thrice over, "I +forbid the quaking-fevers, the sea-fevers, the land-fevers, and all +the fevers that God ordained, out of the head, out of the heart, out +of the back, out of the sides, out of the knees, out of the thighs, +from the points of the fingers to the nibs of the toes; net fall the +fevers go, [some] to the hill, some to the heep, some to the stone, +some to the stock. In St. Peter's name, St. Paul's name, and all the +Saints of Heaven. In the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy +Ghost!" And when we took the fruit of the fishes from the fishers, we +went to the shore before the boat would come to it; and we would say, +on the shore-side, three several times over: + + '"The fishers are gone to the sea, + And they will bring home fish to me; + They will bring them home intill the boat, + But they shall get of them but the smaller sort!" + +So we either steal a fish, or buy a fish, or get a fish from them [for +naught], one or more. And with that we have all the fruit of the whole +fishes in the boat, and the fishes that the fishermen themselves will +have will be but froth, etc. + +'The first voyage that ever I went with the rest of our Covins was +[to] Ploughlands; and there we shot a man betwixt the plough-stilts, +and he presently fell to the ground, upon his nose and his mouth; and +then the Devil gave me an arrow, and caused me shoot a woman in that +field; which I did, and she fell down dead.[51] In winter of 1660, +when Mr. Harry Forbes, Minister at Aulderne, was sick, we made a bag +of the galls, flesh, and guts of toads, pickles of barley, parings of +the nails of fingers and toes, the liver of a hare, and bits of +clouts. We steeped all this together, all night among water, all +hacked (or minced up) through other. And when we did put it among the +water, Satan was with us, and learned us the words following, to say +thrice over. They are thus: + + '1st. "He is lying in his bed; he is lying sick and sore; + Let him lie intill his bed two months and [three] days more! + + '2nd. "Let him lie intill his bed; let him lie intill it sick and sore; + Let him lie intill his bed months two and three days more! + + '3rd. "He shall lie intill his bed, he shall lie in it sick and sore; + He shall lie intill his bed two months and three days more!" + +'When we had learned all these words from the Devil, as said is, we +fell all down upon our knees, with our hair down over our shoulders +and eyes, and our hands lifted up, and our eyes [upon] the Devil, and +said the foresaid words thrice over to the Devil, strictly, against +[the recovery of] Master Harry Forbes [from his sickness]. In the +night time we came in to Mr. Harry Forbes's chamber, where he lay, +with our hands all smeared out of the bag, to swing it upon Mr. Harry, +when he was sick in his bed; and in the daytime [one of our] number, +who was most familiar and intimate with him, to wring or swing the bag +[upon the said Mr. Harry, as we could] not prevail in the night time +against him, which was accordingly done. Any of ... comes in to your +houses, or are set to do you evil, they will look uncouth--like, +thrown ... hurly-like, and their clothes standing out. The Maiden of +our Covin, Jane Martin, was [.... We] do no great matter without our +Maiden. + +'And if a child be forespoken [bewitched], we take the cradle ... +through it thrice, and then a dog through it; and then shake the belt +above the fire [... and then cast it] down on the ground, till a dog +or cat go over it, that the sickness may come [... upon the dog or +cat].' + + * * * * * + +With these extended quotations the reader will probably be satisfied, +and in concluding my account of Isabel Gowdie, I must now adopt a +process of condensation. + +Among other freaks and fancies of a disordered imagination, Isabel +declared that she merited to be stretched upon a rack of iron, and +that if torn to pieces by wild horses, the punishment would not exceed +the measure of her iniquities. These iniquities comprehended every act +attributed by the superstition of the time to the servants of the +devil, which had been carefully gathered up by this monomaniac from +contemporary witch-tradition. The cruellest thing was, that she +involved so large a number of innocent persons in the peril into +which she herself had recklessly plunged, naming nearly fifty women, +and I forget how many men, as her associates or accomplices. She +affirmed that they dug up from their graves the bodies of unbaptized +infants, and having dismembered them, made use of the limbs in their +incantations. That when they wished to destroy an enemy's crops, they +yoked toads to his plough; and on the following night the devil, with +this strange team, drove furrows into the land, and blasted it +effectually. The devil, it would seem, was so long and so incessantly +occupied with high affairs in Scotland, that surely the rest of the +world must have escaped meanwhile the evils of his interference! +Witches, added Isabel, were able to assume almost any shape, but their +usual choice was that of a hare, or perhaps a cat. There was some risk +in either assumption. Once it happened that Isabel, in her disguise of +a hare, was hotly pursued by a pack of hounds, and narrowly escaped +with her life. When she reached her cottage-door she could feel the +hot breath of her pursuers on her haunches; but, contriving to slip +behind a chest, she found time to speak the magic words which alone +could restore her to her natural shape, namely: + + 'Hare! hare! God send thee care! + I am in a hare's likeness now; + But I shall be a woman e'en now. + Hare! hare! God send thee care!' + +If witches, while wearing the shape of hare or cat, were bitten by the +dogs, they always retained the marks on their human bodies. When the +devil called a convention of his servants, each proceeded through the +air--like the witches of Lapland and other countries--astride on a +broomstick [or it might be on a corn or bean straw], repeating as they +went the rhyme: + + 'Horse and paddock, horse and go, + Horse and pellatris, ho! ho!' + +They usually left behind them a broom, or three-legged stool, which, +properly charmed and placed in bed, assumed a likeness to themselves +until they returned, and prevented suspicion. This seems to have been +the practice of witches everywhere. Witches specially favoured by +their master were provided with a couple of imps as attendants, who +boasted such very mundane names as 'The Roaring Lion,' 'Thief of +Hell,' 'Ranting Roarer,' and 'Care for Nought'--a great improvement on +the vulgar monosyllables worn by the English imps--and were dressed, +as already described, in distinguishing liveries: sea-green, +pea-green, grass-green, sad-dun, and yellow. The witches were never +allowed--at least, not in the infernal presence--to call themselves, +or one another, by their baptismal names, but were required to use the +appellations bestowed on the devil when he rebaptized them, such as +'Blue Kail,' 'Raise the Wind,' 'Batter-them-down Maggie,' and 'Able +and Stout.' The reader will find in the reports of the trial much more +of this grotesque nonsense--the vapourings of a distempered brain. The +judges, however, took it seriously, and Isabel Gowdie, or Gilbert, +and many of her presumed accomplices, were duly strangled and burned +(in April, 1662). + +FOOTNOTES: + +[46] So the witch in 'Macbeth' (Act I., sc. 3) says: + + 'In a sieve I'll thither sail.' + +[47] It is a singular circumstance, as Pitcairn remarks, that in +almost all the confessions of witches, or at least of the Scottish +witches, their initiation, and many of their meetings, are said to +have taken place within churches, churchyards, and consecrated ground; +and a certain ritual, in imitation, or mockery, of the forms of the +Church, is uniformly said to have been gone through. + +[48] In the Forfarshire reports, alluded to on p. 332, the witches +always speak of the devil's body and kiss as deadly cold. + +[49] Pitcairn remarks, with justice, that the above details are, +perhaps, in all respects the most extraordinary in the history of +witchcraft of this or of any other country. Isabel Gowdie must have +been a woman with a powerful and rank imagination, who, had she lived +in the present day, might, perhaps, have produced a work of fiction of +the school of Zola. + +[50] There are mutilations in the original manuscript, and the +bracketed words are conjectural. + +[51] These, it is needless to say, were pure inventions, and by no +means amusing ones. + + +CASE OF JANET WISHART. + +The case of Janet Wishart, wife of John Leyis, carries us away to the +North of Scotland. It presents some peculiar features, and therefore I +shall put it before the reader, with no more abridgment than is +absolutely needful. It is of much earlier date than the preceding.[52] + +'i. In the month of April, or thereabout, in 1591, in the "gricking" +of the day, [that is, in the dawn,] Janet Wishart, on her way back +from the blockhouse and Fattie, where she had been holding conference +with the devil, pursued Alexander Thomson, mariner, coming forth of +Aberdeen to his ship, ran between him and Alexander Fidler, under the +Castle Hill, as swift, it appeared to him, as an arrow could be shot +forth of a bow, going betwixt him and the sun, and cast her "cantrips" +in his way. Whereupon, the said Alexander Thomson took an immediate +"fear and trembling," and was forced to hasten home, take to his bed, +and lie there for the space of a month, so that none believed he would +live;--one half of the day burning in his body, as if he had been +roasting in an oven, with an extreme feverish thirst, "so that he +could never be satisfied of drink," the other half of the day melting +away his body with an extraordinarily cold sweat. And Thomson, knowing +she had cast this kind of witchcraft upon him, sent his wife to +threaten her, that, unless she at once relieved him, he would see that +she was burnt. And she, fearing lest he should accuse her, sent him by +the two women a certain kind of beer and some other drugs to drink, +after which Thomson mended daily, and recovered his former health.' + +It is to be noted that Janet flatly denied the coming of Mrs. Thomson +on any such errand. + +'ii. Seven years before, on St. Bartholomew's Day, when Andrew Ardes, +webster [weaver], in his play, took a linen towel, and put it about +the said Janet's neck, not fearing any evil from her, or that she +would be offended, Janet, "in a devilish fury and wodnes" [madness], +exclaimed, "Why teasest thou me? Thou shalt die! I shall give bread to +my bairns this towmound [twelvemonth], but thou shalt not bide a month +with thine to give them bread." And immediately after the said +Andrew's departure from her, he took to his bed for the space of eight +days: the one half of the day roasting in his whole body as in a +furnace, and the other half with a vehement sweat melting away; so +that, by her cruel murther and witchcraft, the said Andrew Ardes died +within eight days. And the day after his departure, his widow, +"contracting a high displeasure," took to her bed, and within a month +deceased; so that all their bairns are now begging their meat.' + +This was testified to be true by Elspeth Ewin, spouse to James Mar, +mariner, but was denied by the accused. + +'iii. Twenty-four years ago, in the month of May, when she dwelt on +the School Hill, next to Adam Mair's, she was descried by Andrew +Brabner the younger, John Leslie, of the Gallowgate, Robert Sanders, +wright, Andrew Simson, tailor, and one Johnson, who were then +schoolboys, stealing forth from the said Adam Mair's yard, at two in +the morning, "greyn growand bear;" and instantly, being pointed out by +the said scholars to the wife of the said Adam, she, in her fury, +burst forth upon the scholars: "Well have ye schemed me, but I shall +gar the best of you repent!" And she added that, ere four in the +afternoon, she would make as many wonder at them as should see them. +Upon the same day, between two and three in the afternoon, the said +scholars passed to the Old Watergang in the Links to wash themselves; +and after they had done so, and dried, the said John Leslie and +Johnson took a race beside the Watergang, and desperately threw +themselves into the midst of the Watergang, and were drowned, through +the witchcraft which Janet had cast upon them. And thus, as she had +promised, she did murder them.' + +This was testified by Robert Sanders and Andrew Simson, but was denied +by the accused. + +'iv. Sixteen years since, or thereby, she [the accused] and Malcolm +Carr's wife, having fallen at variance and discord, she openly vowed +that the latter should be confined to her bed for a year and a day, +and should not make for herself a single cake: immediately after which +discord, the said Malcolm's wife went to her own house, sought her +bed, and lay half a year bed-stricken by the witchcraft Janet had cast +upon her, according to her promise; one half of the day burning up her +whole body as in a fiery furnace, the other half melting away her body +with an extraordinary sweat, with a _congealed coldness_.' + +v. She was also accused of lending to Meryann Nasmith a pair of +head-sheets in childbed, into which she put her witchcraft: which +sheets, as soon as she knew they had taken heat about the woman's +head, immediately she went and took them from her; and before she +[Janet] was well out of the house, Meryann went out of her mind, and +was bound hand and foot for three days. + +vi. Three years since, or thereby, James Ailhows, having been a long +time in her service, Janet desired him to continue with her, and on +his refusing, 'Gang where you please,' she said, 'I will see that you +do not earn a single cake of bread for a year and a day.' And as soon +as he quitted her service, he was seized with an extremely heavy +sickness and (wodnes) delirium, with a continual burning heat and cold +sweating, and lay bedfast half a year, according to her promise, +through the devilish witchcraft she had cast upon him. So that he was +compelled to send to Benia for another witch to take the witchcraft +from him: who came to this town and washed him in water _running +south_, and put him through a girth, with some other ceremonies that +she used. And he paid her seventeen marks, and by her help recovered +health again. + +vii. For twenty years past she continually and nightly, after eleven +o'clock, when her husband and servants had gone to their beds, put on +a great fire, and kept it up all night, and sat before it using +witchcraft, altogether contrary to the nature of well-living persons. +And on those nights when she did not make up the fire, she went out of +the house, and stayed away all night where she pleased. + +viii. She caused ...., then in her service, and lately shepherd to Mr. +Alexander Fraser, to take certain drugs of witchcraft made by her, +such as old shoon, and cast them in the fire of John Club, stabler, +her neighbour; since which time, through her witchcraft, the said John +Club has become completely impoverished. + +ix. She and Janet Patton having fallen into variance and discord, +Janet Patton called the witch 'Karling,' to whom she answered that she +would give her to understand if she was a witch, and would try her +skill upon her. And immediately afterwards, Janet Patton [like +everybody else concerned in these mysterious doings] took to her bed, +with a vehement, great, and extraordinary sickness, for one half the +day, from her middle up, burning as in a fiery furnace, with an +insatiable drought, which she could not slake; the other half-day, +melting away with sweat, and from her middle down as cold as ice, so +that through the witchcraft cast upon her she died within a month. + +x. The particulars given of the case of James Lowe, stabler, are +almost the same. He refused to lend his kill and barn, and on the same +day he was seized with this remarkable sickness--half a day burning +hot, and half a day ice-cold. On his death-bed he accused Janet +Wishart of being the cause of his misfortune, saying, "That if he had +lent to her his kill and kilbarn, he wald haf bene ane lewand man." +His wife and only son died of the same kind of disease, and his whole +gear, amounting to more than £3,000, was altogether wracked and thrown +away, so that there was left no memory of the said James, succession +of his body, nor of their gear. + +xi. John Pyet, stabler, is named as another victim. + +xii. There is an air of novelty about the next case, that of John +Allan, cutler, Janet Wishart's son-in-law. Quarrelling with his wife, +he 'dang' her, 'whereupon Mistress Allan complained to her mother, who +immediately betook herself to her son-in-law's house, 'bostit' him, +and promised to gar him repent that ever he saw or kent her. Shortly +afterwards, either she or the devil her master, in the likeness of a +brown tyke, came nightly for five or six weeks to his window, forced +it open, leaped upon the said John, dang and buffeted him, while +always sparing his wife, who lay in bed with him, so that the said +John became half-wod and furious.' And this persecution continued, +until he threatened to inform the ministry and kirk-session. + +xiii. The next case must be given verbatim, it is so striking an +example of ignorant prejudice: + +'Four years since, or thereby, she came in to Walter Mealing's +dwelling-house, in the Castlegate of Aberdeen, to buy wool, which they +refused to sell. Thereafter, she came to the said Walter's bairn, +sitting on her mother's knee, and the said Walter played with her. And +she said, "This is a comely child, a fine child," without any further +words, and would not say "God save her!" And before she reached the +stair-foot, the bairn, by her witchcraft, in presence of both her +father and mother, "cast her gall," changed her colour like dead, and +became as weak as "ane pair of glwffis," and melted continually away +with an extraordinary sweating and extreme drought, which that same +day eight days, at the same hour, she came in first, and then the +bairn departed. And for no request nor command of the said Walter, nor +others whom he directed, she would not come in again to the house to +"visie" the bairn, although she was oft and divers times sent for, +both by the father and mother of the bairn, and so by her witchcraft +she murdered the bairn.' + +xiv. On Yule Eve, in '94, at three in the morning, Janet, remaining in +Gilbert Mackay's stair in the Broadgate, perceived Bessie Schives, +spouse of Robert Blinschell, going forth of her own house to the +dwelling-house of James Davidson, notary, to his wife, who was in +travail. She came down the stair, and cast her cantrips and witchcraft +in her way, and the said Bessie being in perfect health of body, and +as blithe and merry as ever she was in her days, when she went out of +the same James Davidson's house, or ever she could win up her own +stair, took a great fear and trembling that she might scarcely win up +her own stair, and immediately after her up-coming, went to her naked +bed, lay continually for the space of eighteen weeks fast bed-sick, +bewitched by Janet Wishart, the one half-day roasting as in a fiery +furnace, with an extraordinary kind of drought, that she could not be +slaked, and the other half-day in an extraordinary kind of sweating, +melting, and consuming her body, as a white burning candle, which kind +of sickness is a special point of witchcraft; and the said Bessie +Schives saw none other but Janet only, who is holden and reputed a +common witch. + +xv. At Midsummer was a year or thereby, Elspeth Reid, her +daughter-in-law, came into her house at three in the morning, and +found her sitting, mother naked as she was born, at the fireside, and +another old wife siclike mother naked, sitting between her +shoulders[!], making their cantrips, whom the said Elspeth seeing, +after she said 'God speed,' immediately went out of the house; +thereafter, on the same day, returned again, and asked of her, what +she was doing with that old wife? To whom she answered, that she was +charming her. And as soon as the said Elspeth went forth again from +Janet Wishart's house, immediately she took an extraordinary kind of +sickness, and became 'like a dead senseless fool,' and so continued +for half a year. + +xvi. She [Janet] and her daughter, Violet Leyis, desired ... her woman +to go with her said daughter, at twelve o'clock at night, to the +gallows, and cut down the dead man hanging thereon, and take a part of +all his members from him, and burn the corpse, which her servant +would not do, and, therefore, she was instantly sent away. + +xvii. The following deposition is, however, the most singular of all: + +Twelve years since, or thereby, Janet came into Katherine Rattray's, +behind the Tolbooth, and while she was drinking in the said +Katherine's cellar, Katherine reproved her for drinking in her house, +because, she said, she was a witch. Whereupon, she took a cup full of +ale, and cast it in her face, and said that if she were indeed a +witch, the said Katherine should have proof of it; and immediately +after she had quitted the cellar, the barm of the said Katherine's ale +all sank to the bottom of the stand, and no had abaid [a bead] thereon +during the space of sixteen weeks. And the said Katherine finding +herself 'skaithit,' complained to her daughter, Katherine Ewin, who +was then in close acquaintance with Janet, that she had bewitched her +mother's ale; and immediately thereafter the said Katherine Ewin +called on Janet, and said, 'Why bewitched you my mother's ale?' and +requested her to help the same again. Which Janet promised, if +Katherine Ewin obeyed her instructions ... to rise early before the +sun, without commending herself to God, or speaking, and neither +suining herself nor her son sucking on her breast; to go, still +without speaking, to the said Katherine Rattray's house, and not to +cross any water, nor wash her hands; and enter into the said Katherine +Rattray's house, where she would find her servant brewing, and say to +her thrice, 'I to God, and thou to the devil!' and to restore the +same barm where it was again; 'and to take up thrie dwattis on the +southt end of the gauttreyis, and thair scho suld find ane peice of +claithe, fowr newikit, with greyn, red, and blew, and thrie corss of +clewir girss, and cast the same in the fyir; quhilk beand cassin in, +her barm suld be restorit to hir againe, lyik as it was restorit in +effect.' And the said Katherine Ewin, when cracking [gossiping] with +her neighbours, said she could learn them a charm she had gotten from +Janet Wishart, which when the latter heard, she promised to do her an +evil turn, and immediately her son, sucking on her breast, died. And +at her first browst, or brewing, thereafter, the whole wort being +played and put in 'lumes,' the doors fast, and the keys at her own +belt, the whole wort was taken away, and the haill lumes fundin dry, +and the floor dry, and she could never get trial where it yird to. And +when the said Katherine complained to the said Janet Wishart, and dang +herself and her good man both, for injuries done to her by taking of +her son's life and her wort [which Katherine seems to have thought of +about equal value], she promised that all should be well, giving her +her draff for payment. And the said Katherine, with her husband +Ambrose Gordon, being in their beds, could not for the space of twenty +days be quit of a cat, lying nightly in their bed, between the two, +and taking a great bite out of Ambrose's arm, as yet the place +testifies, and when they gave up the draff, the cat went away. + +Some fourteen more charges were brought against her. She was tried on +February 17, 1596, before the Provost and Baillies of Aberdeen, and +found guilty upon eighteen counts of being a common witch and +sorcerer. Sentence of death by burning was recorded against her, and +she suffered on the same day as another reputed witch, Isabel Cocker. +The expenses of their execution are preserved in the account-books of +the Dean of Guild, 1596-1597, and prove that witch-burning was a +luxury scarcely within the reach of the many. + + +JANETT WISCHART AND ISSBEL COCKER. + + _Item._ For twentie loades of peattes to burne + thame xl_sh._ + _Item._ For ane Boile of Coillis xxiiii_sh._ + _Item._ For four Tar barrellis xxvi_sh._ viii_d._ + _Item._ For fyr and Iron barrellis xvi_sh._ viii_d._ + _Item._ For a staik and dressing of it xvi_sh._ + _Item._ For four fudoms [fathoms?] of Towis iiii_sh._ + _Item._ For careing the peittis, coillis, and + barrellis to the Hill viii_sh._ iiii_d._ + _Item._ To on Justice for their execution xiii_sh._ iiii_d._ + -------------------- + cliv _shillings_. + -------------------- + +On several occasions commissions were issued by the King, in favour of +the Provost and some of the Baillies of the burgh, and the Sheriff of +the county, for the purpose of 'haulding Justice Courtis on Witches +and Sorceraris.' These commissioners gave warrants in their turn to +the minister and elders of each parish in the shire, to examine +parties suspected of witchcraft, and to frame a 'dittay' or indictment +against such persons. It was an inevitable result that all the +scandalous gossip of the community was assiduously collected; while +any individual who had become, from whatsoever cause, an object of +jealousy or dislike to her neighbours, was overwhelmed by a mass of +hearsay or fictitious evidence, and by the conscious or unconscious +exaggerations of ignorance, credulity, or malice. + +As an example of the kind of stuff stirred up by this parochial +inquisition, I shall take the return furnished to the commissioners by +Mr. John Ross, minister of Lumphanan: + +'i. _Elspet Strathauchim_, in Wartheil, is indicted to have charmed +Maggie Clarke, spouse to Patrick Bunny, for the fevers, this last +year, with "ane sleipth and ane thrum" [a sleeve and thread]. She is +indicted, this last Hallow e'en, to have brought forth of the house a +burning coal, and buried the same in her own yard. She is indicted to +have bewitched Adam Gordon, in Wark, and to have been the cause of his +death, and that because, she coming out of his service without his +leave, he detained some of her gear, which she promised to do; and +after his death wanted [to have it believed] that she had gotten +"assythment" of him. She is indicted to have said to Marcus Gillam, at +the Burn of Camphil, that none of his bairns should live, because he +would not marry her; which is come to pass, for two of them are dead. +She is indicted continually to have resorted to Margaret Baine her +company. + +'ii. _Isabel Forbes._--She is indicted to have bewitched Gilbert +Makim, in Glen Mallock, with a spindle, a "rok," and a "foil;" as +Isabel Ritchie likewise testified. + +'iii. _James Og_ is indicted to have passed on Rud-day, five years +since, through Alexander Cobain's corn, and have taken nine stones +from his "avine rig" [corn-rick], and cast on the said Alexander's +"rig," and to have taken nine "lokis" [handfuls] of meal from the said +Alexander's "rig," and cast on his own. He is indicted to have +bewitched a cow belonging to the said Alexander, which he bought from +Kristane Burnet, of Cloak; this cow, though his wife had received milk +from her the first night, and the morning thereafter, gave no milk +from that time forth, but died within half a year. He is indicted to +have passed, five years since, on Lammas-Day, through the said +Alexander's corn, and having "gaine nyne span," to have struck the +corn with nine strokes of a white wand, so that nothing grew that year +but "fichakis." He is indicted that, in the year aforesaid or +thereabouts, having corn to dry, he borrowed fire from his neighbour, +haiffing of his avine them presently; and took a "brine" of the corn +on his back, and cast it three times "woodersonis" [or "withersonis," +_ut supra_, that is, west to east, in the direction contrary to the +sun's course] above the "kill." He is indicted that, three years +since, Alexander Cobaine being in Leith, with the Laird of Cors, his +"wittual," he came up early one morning, at the back of the said +Alexander's yard, with a dish full of water in his hand, and to have +cast the water in the gate to the said Alexander's door, and then +perceiving that David Duguid, servant to the said Alexander, was +beholding him, to have fled suddenly; which the said David also +testifies. + +'iv. _Agnes Frew._--She is indicted to have taken three hairs out of +her own cow's tail, and to have cut the same in small pieces, and to +have put them in her cow's throat, which thereafter gave milk, and the +neighbours' none. Also, she is indicted that [she took] William +Browne's calf in her axter, and charmed the same, as, also, she took +the clins [hoofs] from forefeitt aff it, with a piece of "euerry +bing," and caused the said William's wife to "yeird" the same; which +the said William's wife confessed, albeit not in this manner. Also, +she took up Alexander Tailzier's calf, lately [directly] after it was +calved, and carried it three times about the cow. Also, she was seen +casting a horse's fosser on a cow. + +'v. _Isabel Roby._--She is indicted to have bidden her gudeman, when +he went to St. Fergus to buy cattle, that if he bought any before his +home-coming, he should go three times "woodersonis" about them, and +then take three "ruggis" off a dry hillock, and fetch home to her. +Also, that dwelling at Ardmair, there came in a poor man craving alms, +to whom she offered milk, but he refused it, because, as he then +presently said, she had three folks' milk and her own in the pan; and +when Elspet Mackay, then present, wondered at it, he said, "Marvel +not, for she has thy farrow kye's milk also in her pan." Also, she is +commonly seen in the form of a hare, passing through the town, for as +soon as the hare vanishes out of sight, she appears. + +'vi. _Margaret Rianch_, in Green Cottis, was seen in the dawn of the +day by James Stevens embracing every nook of John Donaldson's house +three times, who continually thereafter was diseased, and at last +died. She said to John Ritchie, when he took a tack [a piece of +ground] in the Green Cottis, that his gear from that day forth should +continually decay, and so it came to pass. Also, she cast a number of +stones in a tub, amongst water, which thereafter was seen dancing. +When she clips her sheep, she turns the bowl of the shears three times +in their mouth. Also, James Stevens saw her meeting John Donaldson's +"hoggs" [sheep a year old] in the burn of the Green Cottis, and +casting the water out between her feet backward, in the sheep's face, +and so they all died. Also she confessed to Patrick Gordon, of +Kincragie, and James Gordon, of Drumgase, that the devil was in the +bed between her and William Ritchie, her harlot, and he was upon them +both, and that if she happened to die for witchcraft, that he +[Ritchie] should also die, for if she was a devil, he was too. + +'There are three of these persons, Elspeet Strathauchim, James Og, and +Agnes Frew, whose accusations the Presbytery of Kincardine, within +whose bounds they dwell, counted insufficient, having duly considered +the whole circumstances, always remitted them to the trial of an +assize, if the judges thought it expedient. + + '[Signed] Mr. Jhone Ros, + 'Minister at Lumphanan.' + +It would not be easy to find a more painful exhibition of clerical +ignorance and incapacity. Probably many of the allegations which Mr. +John Ross records are true, as the practice of charms was common +enough among the peasantry both of Scotland and England, and is even +yet not wholly extinct; but, taken altogether, they did not amount to +witchcraft, the very essence of which was a compact with the devil, +and in no one of the preceding cases is such a compact mentioned. And +one must take the existence of the gross superstition and credulity +which is here disclosed to be irrefutable testimony that, as a pastor +and teacher, Mr. John Ross was a signal failure at Lumphanan. + + * * * * * + +I have already alluded to those pathetic instances of self-delusion in +which the reputed witch has been her own enemy, and furnished the +evidence needed for her condemnation in her own confession--a +confession of acts which she must have known had never occurred; +building up a strange fabric of fiction, and perishing beneath its +weight. It would seem as if some of these unfortunate women came to +believe in themselves because they found that others believed in them, +and assumed that they really possessed the powers of witchcraft +because their neighbours insisted that it was so. Nor will this be +thought such an improbable explanation when it is remembered that +history affords more than one example of prophets and founders of new +religions whom the enthusiastic devotion of their followers has +persuaded into a belief in the authenticity of the credentials which +they themselves had originally forged, and the truth of the +revelations which they had invented. + +From this point of view a profound interest attaches to the official +'dittay' or accusation against one Helen Fraser, who was convicted and +sentenced to death in April, 1597, since it shows that she was +condemned principally upon the evidence which she herself supplied: + +'i. John Ramsay, in Newburght, being sick of a consuming disease, sent +to her house, in Aikinshill, to seek relief, and was told by her that +she would do what lay in her power for the recovery of his health; but +bade him keep secret whatever she spake or did, because the world was +evil, and spoke no good of such mediciners. She commanded the said +John to rise early in the morning, to eat "sourrakis" about sunrise, +while the dew was still upon them; also to eat "valcars," and to make +"lavrie" kale and soup. Moreover, to sit down in a door, before the +fowls flew to their roost, and to open his breast, that when the fowls +flew to the roost over him he might receive the wind of their wings +about his breast, for that was very profitable to loose his +heart-pipes, which were closed. But before his departure from her, she +made him sit down, bare-headed, on a stool, and said an orison thrice +upon his head, in which she named the Devil. + +'ii. _Item._--The said Helen publicly confessed in Foverne, after her +apprehension, that she was a common abuser of the people; and that, +further, to sustain herself and her bairns, she pretended knowledge +which she had not, and undertook to do things which she could not. +This was her answer, when she was accused by the minister of Foverne, +for that she abused the people, and when he inquired the cause of her +evil report throughout the whole country. This she confessed upon the +green of Foverne, before the laird, the minister, and reader of +Foverne, Patrick Findlay in Newburght, and James Menzies at the New +Mills of Foverne. + +'iii. _Item._--Janet Ingram, wife to Adam Finnie, dwelling for the +time at the West burn, in Balhelueis, being sick, and affirming +herself to be bewitched, for she herself was esteemed by all men to be +a witch, she sent for the said Helen Frazer to cure her. The said +Helen came, and tarried with her till her departure and burial, and at +her coming assured the said Janet that within a short time she would +be well enough. But the sickness of the said Janet increased, and was +turned into a horrible fury and madness, in such sort that she always +and incessantly blasphemed, and pressed at all times to climb up the +wall after the "heillis" and scraped the wall with her hands. After +that she had been grievously vexed for the space of two days from the +coming of Helen Frazer, her mediciner, to her, she departed this life. +Being dead, her husband went to charge his neighbours to convey her +burial, but before his returning, or the coming of any neighbour to +the carrying of the corpse, the said Helen Frazer, together with two +or three daughters of the said Janet (whereof one yet living, to wit, +Malye Finnie, in the Blairtoun of Balhelueis, is counted a witch), +had taken up the corpse, and had carried her, they alone, the half of +the distance to the kirk, until they came to the Moor of Cowhill; when +the said Adam and others his neighbours came to them, and at their +coming the said Helen fled away through the moss to Aikinshill, and +went no further towards the kirk. + +'iv. _Item._--A horse of Duncan Alexander, in Newburcht, being +bewitched, the said Helen translated the sickness from the horse to a +young cow of the said Duncan; which cow died, and was cast into the +burn of the Newburcht, for no man would eat her. + +'v. _Item._--The said Helen made a compact with certain laxis fishers +of the Newburcht, at the kirk of Foverne, in Mallie Skryne's house, +and promised to cause them to fish well, and to that effect received +of them a piece of salmon to handle at her pleasure for accomplishing +the matter. Upon the morrow she came to the Newburcht, to the house of +John Ferguson, a laxis fisher, and delivered unto him in a closet four +cuts of salmon with a penny; after that she called him out of his own +house, from the company that was there drinking with him, and bade him +put the same in the horn of his coble, and he should have a dozen of +fish at the first shot; which came to pass. + +'vi. _Item._--The said Helen, by witchcraft, enticed Gilbert Davidson, +son to William Davidson, in Lytoune of Meanye, to love and marry +Margaret Strauthachin (in the Hill of Balgrescho) directly against +the will of his parents, to the utter wreck of the said Gilbert. + +'vii. _Item._--At the desire of the said Margaret Strauthachin, by +witchcraft, the said Helen made Catherine Fetchil, wife to William +Davidson, furious, because she was against the marriage, and took the +strength of her left side and arm from her; in the which fury and +feebleness the said Catherine died. + +'viii. _Item._--The said Helen, at the desire of the foresaid Margaret +Strauthachin, bewitched William Hill, dwelling for the time at the +Hill of Balgrescho, through which he died in a fury [_i.e._, a fit of +delirium]. + +'ix. Moreover, at the desire foresaid, the said Helen by witchcraft +slew an ox belonging to the said William; for while Patrick Hill, son +to the said William, and herd to his father, called in the cattle to +the fold, at twelve o'clock, the said Helen was sitting in the yeite, +and immediately after the outcoming of the cattle out of the fold, the +best ox of the whole herd instantly died. + +'x. _Item._--The said Helen counselled Christane Henderson, vulgarly +called mickle Christane, to put one hand to the crown of her head, and +the other to the sole of her foot, and so surrender whatever was +between her hands, and she should want nothing that she could wish or +desire. + +'xi. _Item._--The said Christane Henderson, being henwife in Foverne, +the young fowls died thick; for remedy whereof, the said Helen bade +the said Christane take all the chickens or young fowls, and draw +them through the link of the crook, and take the hindmost, and slay +with a fiery stick, which thing being practised, none died thereafter +that year. + +'xii. _Item._--When the said Helen was dwelling in the Moorhill of +Foverne, there came a hare betimes, and sucked a milch cow pertaining +to William Findlay, at the Mill of the Newburght, whose house was +directly afornent the said Helen's house, on the other side of the +Burn of Foverne, wherethrough the cow pined away, and gave blood +instead of milk. This mischief was by all men attributed to the said +Helen, and she herself cannot deny but she was commonly evil spoken of +for it, and affirmed, after her apprehension at Foverne, that she was +so slandered. + +'xiii. _Item._--When Alexander Hardy, in Aikinshill, departed this +life, it grieved and troubled his conscience very mickle, that he had +been a defender of the said Helen, and especially that he, accompanied +with Malcolm Forbes, travailed, against their conscience, with sundry +of the assessors when she suffered an assize, and especially with the +Chancellor of the Assize, in her favour, he knowing evidently her to +be guilty of death. + +'xiv. _Item._--The said Helen being a domestic in the said Alexander +Hardy's house, disagreed with one of the said Alexander's servants, +named Andrew Skene, and intending to bewitch the said servant, the +evil fell upon Alexander, and he died thereof. + +'xv. _Item._--When Robert Goudyne, now in Balgrescho, was dwelling in +Blairtoun of Balheluies, a discord fell out betwixt Elizabeth +Dempster, nurse to the said Robert for the time, and Christane +Henderson, one of the said Helen's familiars, as her own confession +aforesaid purports, and the country well knows. Upon the which +discord, the said Christane threatened the said Elizabeth with an evil +turn, and to the performing thereof, brought the said Helen Frazer to +the said Robert's house, and caused her to repair oft thereto. After +what time, immediately both the said Elizabeth and the infant to whom +she gave suck, by the devilry of the said Helen, fell into a consuming +sickness, whereof both died. And also Elspet Cheyne, spouse to the +said Robert, fell into the selfsame sickness, and was heavily diseased +thereby for the space of two years before the recovery of his health. + +'xvi. _Item._--By witchcraft the said Helen abstracted and withdrew +the love and affection of Andrew Tilliduff of Rainstoune, from his +spouse Isabel Cheyne, to Margaret Neilson, and so mightily bewitched +him, that he could never be reconciled with his wife, or remove his +affection from the said harlot; and when the said Margaret was +begotten with child, the said Helen conveyed her away to Cromar to +obscure the fact. + +'xvii. _Item._--Wherever the said Helen is known, or has repaired +there many years bygone, she has been, and is reported by all, of +whatsoever estate or sex, to be a common and abominable witch, and to +have learned the same of the late Maly Skene, spouse to the late +Cowper Watson, with whom, during her lifetime, the said Helen had +continual society. The said Maly was bruited to be a rank witch, and +her said husband suffered death for the same crime. + +'xviii. _Item._--When Robert Merchant, in the Newbrucht, had +contracted marriage, and holden house for the space of two years with +the late Christane White, it happened to him to pass to the Moorhill +of Foverne, to sow corn to the late Isabel Bruce, the relict of the +late Alexander Frazer, the said Helen Frazer being familiar and +actually resident in the house of the said Isabel, she was there at +his coming: from the which time forth the said Robert _found his +affection violently and extraordinarily drawn away from the said +Christane to the said Isabel_, a great love being betwixt him and the +said Christane always theretofore, and no break of love, or discord, +falling out or intervening upon either of their parts, which thing the +country supposed and spake to be brought about by the unlawful +travails of the said Helen. + + '[Signed] Thomas Tilideff, + 'Minister, at Fovern, with my hand. + +'_Item._--A common witch by open voice and common fame.' + + * * * * * + +I have given this 'dittay' in full, from a conviction that no summary +would do justice to its terrible simplicity. Upon the evidence which +it afforded, Helen Frazer was brought before the Court of Justiciary, +in Aberdeen, on April 21, 1597, and found guilty in 'fourteen points +of witchcraft and sorcery.' + +The burning of witches went merrily on, so that the authorities of +Aberdeen were compelled to get in an adequate stock of fuel. We note +in the municipal accounts, under the date of March 10, that there was +'bocht be the comptar, and laid in be him in the seller in the +Chappell of the Castel hill, ane chalder of coillis, price thairof, +with the bieing and metting of the same, xvi_lib._ iiii_sh._' As is +usually the case, the frequency of these sad exhibitions whetted at +first the public appetite for them; it grew by what it fed on. One of +the items of expense in the execution of a witch named Margaret Clerk, +is for carrying of 'four sparris, _to withstand the press of the +pepill_, quhairof thair was twa broken, viiis. viiid.' + +Among the victims committed to the flames in 1596-97, we read the +names of 'Katherine Fergus and [Sculdr], Issobel Richie, Margaret Og, +Helene Rodger, Elspet Hendersoun, Katherine Gerard, Christin Reid, +Jenet Grant, Helene Frasser, Katherine Ferrers, Helene Gray, Agnes +Vobster, Jonat Douglas, Agnes Smelie, Katherine Alshensur, and ane +other witche, callit ....'--seventeen in all. That during their +imprisonment they were treated with barbarous rigour, may be inferred +from the following entries: + + _Item._ To Alexander Reid, smyth, for _twa + pair of scheckellis_ to the Witches in the + Stepill xxxii_sh._ + + _Item._ To John Justice, for _burning vpon the + cheik_ of four seurerall personis suspect of + witchcraft and baneschit xxvi_sh._ viii_d._ + + _Item._ Givin to Alexander Home for macking + of _joggis, stapillis, and lockis_ to the + witches, during the haill tyme forsaid xlvi_sh._ viii_d._ + + Expense on Witches aucht-score, xlii_li._ xvii_sh._ iiii_d._ + +On September 21, 1597, the Provost, Baillies and Council of Aberdeen +considered the faithfulness shown by William Dun, the Dean of Guild, +in the discharge of his duty, 'and, besides this, _his extraordinarily +taking pains in the burning of the great number of the witches burnt +this year_, and on the four pirates, and bigging of the port on the +Brig of Dee, repairing of the Grey Friars kirk and steeple thereof, +and thereby has been abstracted from his trade of merchandise, +continually since he was elected in the said office. Therefore, in +recompense of his extraordinary pains, and in satisfaction thereof +(not to induce any preparative to Deans of Guild to crave a recompense +hereafter), but to encourage others to travail as diligently in the +discharge of their office, granted and assigned to him the sum of +forty-seven pounds three shillings and fourpence, owing by him of the +rest of his compt of the unlawis [fines] of the persons convict for +slaying of black fish, and discharged him thereof by their presents +for ever.' + +At length a wholesome reaction took place; the public grew weary of +the number of executions, and, encouraged by this change of +sentiment, persons accused of witchcraft boldly rebutted the charge, +and laid complaints against their accusers for defamation of +character. In official circles, it is true, a belief in the alleged +crime lingered long. As late as 1669, 'the new and old Councils taking +into their serious consideration that many malefices were committed +and done by several persons in this town, who are _mala fama_, and +suspected guilty of witchcraft upon many of the inhabitants of this +town, several ways, and that it will be necessary for suppressing the +like in time coming, and for punishing the said persons who shall be +found guilty; therefore they do unanimously conclude and ordain that +any such person, who is suspect of the like malefices, may be seized +upon, and put in prisoun, and that a Commission be sent for, for +putting of them to trial, that condign justice may be executed upon +them, as the nature of the offence does merit.' No more victims, +however, were sacrificed; nor does it appear that any accusation of +witchcraft was preferred. + +According to Sir Walter Scott, a woman was burnt as a witch in +Scotland as late as 1722, by Captain Ross, sheriff-depute of +Sutherland; but this was, happily, an exceptional barbarity, and for +some years previously the pastime of witch-burning had practically +been extinct. It is a curious fact that educated Scotchmen, as I have +already noted, retained their superstition long after the common +people had abandoned it. In 1730, Professor Forbes, of Glasgow, +published his 'Institutes of the Law of Scotland,' in which he spoke +of witchcraft as 'that black art whereby strange and wonderful things +are wrought by power derived from the devil,' and added: 'Nothing +seems plainer to me than that there may be and have been witches, and +that perhaps such are now actually existing.' Six years later, the +Seceders from the Church of Scotland, who professed to be the true +representatives of its teaching, strongly condemned the repeal of the +laws against witchcraft, as 'contrary,' they said, 'to the express +letter of the law of God.' But they were hopelessly behind the time; +public opinion, as the result of increased intelligence, had numbered +witchcraft among the superstitions of the past, and we may confidently +predict that its revival is impossible. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[52] From the 'Records of the Burgh of Aberdeen,' printed for the +Spalding Club, 1841. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE LITERATURE OF WITCHCRAFT. + + +It should teach us humility when we find a belief in witchcraft and +demonology entertained not only by the uneducated and unintelligent +classes, but also by the men of light and leading, the scholar, the +philosopher, the legislator, who might have been expected to have +risen above so degrading a superstition. It would be manifestly unfair +to direct our reproaches at the credulous prejudices of the multitude +when Francis Bacon, the great apostle of the experimental philosophy, +accepts the crude teaching of his royal master's 'Demonologie,' and +actually discusses the ingredients of the celebrated 'witches' +ointment,' opining that they should all be of a soporiferous +character, such as henbane, hemlock, moonshade, mandrake, opium, +tobacco, and saffron. The weakness of Sir Matthew Hale, to which +reference has been made in a previous chapter, we cannot very strongly +condemn, when we know that it was shared by Sir Thomas Browne, who had +so keen an eye for the errors of the common people, and whose fine and +liberal genius throws so genial a light over the pages of the +'Religio Medici.' In his 'History of the World,' that consummate +statesman, poet, and scholar, Sir Walter Raleigh, gravely supports the +vulgar opinions which nowadays every Board School _alumnus_ would +reject with disdain. Even the philosopher of Malmesbury, the sagacious +author of 'The Leviathan,' Thomas Hobbes, was infected by the +prevalent delusion. Dr. Cudworth, to whom we owe the acute reasoning +of the treatises on 'Moral Good and Evil,' and 'The True Intellectual +System of the Universe,' firmly holds that the guilt of a reputed +witch might be determined by her inability or unwillingness to repeat +the Lord's Prayer. Strangest of it all is it to find the pure and +lofty spirit of Henry More, the founder of the school of English +Platonists, yielding to the general superstition. With large additions +of his own, he republished the Rev. Joseph Glanvill's notorious work, +'Sadducismus Triumphatus'--a pitiful example of the extent to which a +fine intellect may be led astray, though Mr. Lecky thinks it the most +powerful defence of witchcraft ever published. And the sober and +fair-minded Robert Boyle, in the midst of his scientific researches, +found time to listen, with breathless interest, to 'stories of witches +at Oxford, and devils at Muston.' + +Among the Continental authorities on witchcraft, the chief of those +who may be called its advocates are, _Martin Antonio Delrio_ +(1551-1608), who published, in the closing years of the sixteenth +century, his 'Disquisitionarum Magicarum Libri Sex,' a formidable +folio, brimful of credulity and ingenuity, which was translated into +French by Duchesne in 1611, and has been industriously pilfered from +by numerous later writers. Delrio has no pretensions to critical +judgment; he swallows the most monstrous inventions with astounding +facility. + +Reference must also be made to the writings of Remigius, included in +Pez' 'Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novissimus,' and to the great work by H. +Institor and J. Sprenger, 'Malleus Maleficarum,' as well as to Basin, +Molitor ('Dialogus de Lamiis'), and other authors, to be found in the +1582 edition of 'Mallei quorundam Maleficarum,' published at +Frankfort. + +On the same side we find the great philosophical lawyer and historian +_John Bodin_ (1530-1596), the author of the 'Republicæ,' and the +'Methodus ad facilem Historiarum Cognitionem.' In his 'Demonomanie des +Sorcius' he recommends the burning of witches and wizards with an +earnestness which should have gone far to compensate for his +heterodoxy on other points of belief and practice. He informs us that +from his thirty-seventh year he had been attended by a familiar spirit +or demon, which touched his ear whenever he was about to do anything +of which his conscience disapproved; and he quotes passages from the +Psalms, Job, and Isaiah, to prove that spirits indicate their presence +to men by touching and even pulling their ears, and not only by vocal +utterances. + +Also, _Thomas Erastus_ (1524-1583), physician and controversialist, +who took so busy a part in the theological dissensions of his time. In +1577 he published a tract ('De Lamiis') on the lawfulness of putting +witches to death. It is strange that he should have been mastered by +the gross imposture of witchcraft, when he could expose with trenchant +force the pretensions of alchemists, astrologers, and Rosicrucians. + +Happily, the cause of humanity, truth and tolerance was not without +its eager and capable defenders. The earliest I take to have been the +Dutch physician, _Wierus_, who, in his treatise 'De Præstigiis,' +published at Basel in 1564, vigorously attacked the cruel prejudice +that had doomed so many unhappy creatures to the stake. He did not, +however, deny the _existence_ of witchcraft, but demanded mercy for +those who practised it on the ground that they were the devil's +victims, not his servants. That he should have been wholly devoid of +credulity would have been more than one could rightly have expected of +a disciple of Cornelius Agrippa. + +A stronger and much more successful assailant appeared in _Reginald +Scot_ (died 1599), a younger son of Sir John Scot, of Scot's Hall, +near Smeeth, who published his celebrated 'Discoverie of Witchcraft' +in 1584--a book which, in any age, would have been remarkable for its +sweet humanity, breadth of view, and moderation of tone, as well as +for its literary excellencies. One wonders where this quiet Kentish +gentleman, whose chief occupations appear to have been gardening and +planting, accumulated his erudition, and how, in the face of the +superstitions of his contemporaries, he arrived at such large and +liberal conclusions. The scope of his great work is indicated in its +lengthy title: 'The Discoverie of Witchcraft, wherein the lewd dealing +of Witches and Witchmongers is notablie detected, the knaverie of +conjurers, the impietie of enchanters, the follie of soothsaiers, the +impudent falsehood of couseners, the infidelitie of atheists, the +pestilent practices of Pythonists, the curiositie of figure-casters +[horoscope-makers], the vanitie of dreamers, the beggarlie art of +Alcumystrie, the abhomination of idolatrie, the horrible art of +poisoning, the vertue and power of naturall magike, and all the +conveyances of Legierdemain and juggling are deciphered: and many +other things opened, which have long lain hidden, howbeit verie +necessarie to be knowne. Heerevnto is added a treatise upon the Nature +and Substance of Spirits and Devils, etc.: all latelie written by +Reginald Scot, Esquire. 1 John iv. 1: "Believe not everie spirit, but +trie the spirits, whether they are of God; for many false prophets are +gone out into the world."' + +From a book so well known--a new edition has recently appeared--it is +needless to make extracts; but I transcribe a brief passage in +illustration of the vivacity and manliness of the writer: + +'I, therefore (at this time), do only desire you to consider of my +report concerning the evidence that is commonly brought before you +against them. See first whether the evidence be not frivolous, and +whether the proofs brought against them be not incredible, consisting +of guesses, presumptions, and impossibilities contrary to reason, +Scripture, and nature. See also what persons complain upon them, +whether they be not of the basest, the unwisest, and the most +faithless kind of people. Also, may it please you, to weigh what +accusations and crimes they lay to their charge, namely: She was at my +house of late, she would have had a pot of milk, she departed in a +chafe because she had it not, she railed, she cursed, she mumbled and +whispered; and, finally, she said she would be even with me: and soon +after my child, my cow, my sow, or my pullet died, or was strangely +taken. Nay (if it please your Worship), I have further proof: I was +with a wise woman, and she told me I had an ill neighbour, and that +she would come to my house ere it was long, and so did she; and that +she had a mark about her waist, and so had she: God forgive me, my +stomach hath gone against her a great while. Her mother before her was +counted a witch; she hath been beaten and scratched by the face till +blood was drawn upon her, because she hath been suspected, and +afterwards some of those persons were said to amend. These are the +certainties that I hear in their evidences. + +'Note, also, how easily they may be brought to confess that which they +never did, nor lieth in the power of man to do; and then see whether I +have cause to write as I do. Further, if you shall see that +infidelity, popery, and many other manifest heresies be backed and +shouldered, and their professors animated and heartened, by yielding +to creatures such infinite power as is wrested out of God's hand, and +attributed to witches: finally, if you shall perceive that I have +faithfully and truly delivered and set down the condition and state of +the witch, and also of the witchmonger, and have confuted by reason +and law, and by the Word of God itself, all mine adversary's +objections and arguments; then let me have your countenance against +them that maliciously oppose themselves against me. + +'My greatest adversaries are young ignorance and old custom. For what +folly soever tract of time hath fostered, it is so superstitiously +pursued of some, as though no error could be acquainted with custom. +But if the law of nations would join with such custom, to the +maintenance of ignorance and to the suppressing of knowledge, the +civilest country in the world would soon become barbarous. For as +knowledge and time discovereth errors, so doth superstition and +ignorance in time breed them.' + +In another fine passage Scot says: + +'God that knoweth my heart is witness, and you that read my book shall +see, that my drift and purpose in this enterprise tendeth only to +these respects. First, that the glory and power of God be not so +abridged and abused, as to be thrust into the hand or lip of a lewd +old woman, whereby the work of the Creator should be attributed to the +power of a creature. Secondly, that the religion of the Gospel may be +seen to stand without such peevish trumpery. Thirdly, that lawful +favour and Christian compassion be rather used towards these poor +souls than rigour and extremity. Because they which are commonly +accused of witchcraft are the least sufficient of all other persons to +speak for themselves, as having the most base and simple education of +all others; the extremity of their age giving them leave to dote, +their poverty to beg, their wrongs to chide and threaten (as being +void of any other way of revenge), their humour melancholical to be +full of imaginations, from whence chiefly proceedeth the vanity of +their confessions, as that they can transform themselves and others +into apes, owls, asses, dogs, cats, etc.; that they can fly in the +air, kill children with charms, hinder the coming of butter, etc. + +'And for so much as the mighty help themselves together, and the poor +widow's cry, though it reach to heaven, is scarce heard here upon +earth, I thought good (according to my poor ability) to make +intercession, that some part of common rigour and some points of hasty +judgment may be advised upon. For the world is now at that stay (as +Brentius, in a most godly sermon, in these words affirmeth), that +even, as when the heathen persecuted the Christians, if any were +accused to believe in Christ, the common people cried _Ad leonem_; so +now, of any woman, be she never so honest, be she accused of +witchcraft, they cry _Ad ignem_.' + + * * * * * + +Scot's attack upon the credulity of his contemporaries, strenuous and +capable as it was, did not bear much fruit at the time; while it +exposed him to charges of Atheism and Sadduceeism from several small +critics, who were supported by the authority of James I., and, at a +later date, of Dr. Meric Casaubon. He found a fellow-labourer, +however, in his work of humanity, in the _Rev. George Gifford_, of +Maldon, Essex, who in 1593 published 'A Dialogue concerning Witches +and Witchcraft,' in which 'is layed open how craftily the Divell +deceiveth not only the Witches but Many other, and so leadeth them +awaie into Manie Great Errours.' It will be seen from the title that +the writer does not adopt the uncompromising line of Reginald Scot, +but inclines rather to the standpoint of Wierus. There is, however, a +good deal of ability in his treatment of the question; and some +account of the 'Dialogue' reprinted by the Percy Society in 1842, +should be interesting, I think, to the reader. + + * * * * * + +The interlocutors are named Samuel, Daniel, Samuel's wife, M. B., a +schoolmaster, and the goodwife R. + +The dialogue opens with Samuel and Daniel, the former of whom is a +fanatical believer in witches. 'These evil-favoured old witches,' he +says, 'do trouble me.' He repeats the common rumour that there is +scarcely a town or village in the shire but has one or two witches in +it. 'In good sooth,' he adds, 'I may tell it to you as to my friend, +when I go but into my closes, I am afraid, for I see now and then a +hare, which my conscience giveth me is a witch, or some witch's +spirit, she stareth so upon me. And sometime I see an ugly weasel run +through my yard; and there is a foul, great cat sometimes in my barn, +which I have no liking unto.' Having introduced his friend, who is +less credulous than himself, to his wife and his home, he promotes an +argument between him and another friend, M. B., a schoolmaster, on +this _quæstio vexata_. + +M. B. starts with a good deal of fervour: + + 'The word of God doth show plainly that there be witches, and + commandeth they should be put to death. Experience hath + taught too many what harms they do. And if any have the gift + to minister help against them, shall we refuse it?' + +But after some discussion he agrees, at Daniel's instance, to consider +the subject in a spirit of sober argument; and the first question they +take up is: 'Are there witches that work by the Devil?' The +conversation then proceeds as follows: + + DANIEL. It is so evident by the Scriptures, and in all + experience, that there be witches which work by the devil, or + rather, I may say, the devil worketh by them, that such as go + about to prove the contrary, do show themselves but + cavillers. + + M. B. I am glad we agree on that point; I hope we shall in + the rest. What say you to this? That the witches have their + spirits. Some hath one; some hath more, as two, three, four, + or five. Some in one likeness and some in another, as like + cats, weasels, toads, or mice, whom they nourish with milk or + with a chicken, or by letting them suck now and then a drop + of blood, whom they call if they be offended with any, and + send them to hurt them in their bodies, yea, to kill them, + and to kill their cattle. + + DANIEL. Here is great deceit, and great illusion; here the + Devil leadeth the ignorant people into foul errors, by which + he draweth them headlong into many grievous sins. + + M. B. Nay, then, I see you are awry, if you deny these + things, and say they be but illusions.... I did dwell in a + village within these five years where there was a man of good + wealth, and suddenly, within ten days' space, he had three + kine died, his gelding, worth ten pounds, fell lame, he was + himself taken with a great pain in his back, and a child of + seven years old died. He sent to the woman at R. H., and she + said he was plagued by a witch, adding, moreover, that there + were three women witches in that town, and one man witch, + willing him to look whom he most suspected. He suspected an + old woman, and caused her to be carried before a justice of + peace and examined. With much ado at the last she confessed + all, which was this in effect--that she had three spirits, + one like a cat, which she called _Lightfoot_; another like a + toad, which she called _Lunch_; the third like a weasel, + which she called _Makeshift_. This Lightfoot, she said, one + Mother Bailey, of W., sold her above sixteen years ago, for + an oven-cake, and told her the cat would do her good service; + if she would, she might send her of her errands. This cat was + with her but a while, but the weasel and the toad came and + offered their service. The cat would kill kine, the weasel + would kill horses, the toad would plague men in their bodies. + She sent them all three (as she confessed) against this man. + She was committed to the prison, and there she died before + the assizes. + +Daniel then strikes into the conversation, enlarging on the Scriptural +description of devils as 'mighty and terrible spirits, full of rage +and power and cruelty'--principalities and powers, the rulers of the +darkness of this world--and forcibly insisting that if spirits so +awful and potential as these assumed the shapes of such paltry vermin +as cats, mice, toads, and weasels, it must be out of subtilty to cover +and hide the mighty tyranny and power which they exercise over the +hearts of the wicked. And he argues that such spirits would never +deign to be a witch's servant or to do her bidding. M. B. contends, +however, that, although he be lord, yet is he content to serve her +turn; and the witches confess, he says, that they call forth their +demons, and send them on what errands they please, and hire them to +hurt in their bodies and their cattle those against whom they cherish +angry and revengeful feelings. 'I am sorry,' says Daniel mildly, 'you +are so far awry; it is a pity any man should be in such error, +especially a man that hath learning, and should teach others +knowledge.' + +After some further disputation, M. B. is brought to admit that God +giveth the devils power to plague and seduce because of man's +wickedness; but he asks whether a godly, faithful man or woman may not +be bewitched. We see, he says, that the devil had power given him of +old, as over Job. But Daniel will not admit that this is a case in +point, because it is not said that the devil dealt with Job through +the agency of witches. Thereupon Samuel, perceiving the drift of his +argument to be that the devil has no need to act by instruments so +mean and even degraded, and would assuredly never be at their command; +that, consequently, there can be no witchcraft, because there is no +necessity for it, suddenly interposes: + + 'With your leave, M. B., I would ask two or three questions + of my friend. There was but seven miles hence, at W. H., one + M.; the man was of good wealth, and well accounted of among + his neighbours. He pined away with sickness half a year, and + at last died. After he was dead, his wife suspected + ill-dealing. She went to a cunning man, who told her that her + husband died of witchery, and asked her if she did not + suspect any. Yes, there was one woman she did not like, one + Mother W.; her husband and she fell out, and he fell sick + within two days after, and never recovered. He showed her the + woman as plain in a glass as we see one another, and taught + her how she might bring her to confess. Well, she followed + his counsel, went home, caused her to be apprehended and + carried before a justice of peace. He examined her so wisely + that in the end she confessed she killed the man. She was + sent to prison, she was arraigned, condemned, and executed; + and upon the ladder she seemed very penitent, desiring all + the world to forgive her. She said she had a spirit in the + likeness of a yellow dun cat. This cat came unto her, as she + said, as she sat by the fire, when she was fallen out with a + neighbour of hers, and wished that the vengeance of God might + light upon him and his. The cat bade her not be afraid; she + would do her no harm. She had served a dame five years in + Kent that was now dead, and, if she would, she would be her + servant. "And whereas," said the cat, "such a man hath + misused thee, if thou wilt I will plague him in his cattle." + She sent the cat; she killed three hogs and one cow. The man, + suspecting, _burnt a pig alive_, and, as she said, her cat + would never go thither any more. Afterward she fell out with + that M. She sent her cat, who told her that she had given him + that which he should never recover; and, indeed, the man + died. Now, do you not think the woman spoke the truth in all + this? Would the woman accuse herself falsely at her death? + Did not the cat become her servant? Did not she send her? Did + she not plague and kill both man and beast? What should a man + think of this? + + DANIEL. You propound a particular example, and let us examine + everything in it touching the witch. You say the cat came to + her when she was in a great rage with one of her neighbours, + and did curse, wishing the vengeance of God to fall upon him + and his. + + SAM. She said so, indeed. I heard her with my own ears, for I + was at the execution. + + DAN. Then tell me who set her in such a devilish rage, so to + curse and ban, as to wish that the vengeance of God might + light upon him and his? Did not the cat? + + SAM. Truly I think that the devil wrought that in her. + + DAN. Very well. Then, you see, the cat is the beginning of + this play. + + SAM. Call you it a play? It was no play to some. + + DAN. Indeed, the witch at last had better have wrought hard + than been at her play. But I mean Satan did play the juggler; + for doth he not offer his service? Doth he not move her to + send him to plague the man? Tell me, is she so forward to + send, as he is to be sent? Or do you not take it that he + ruleth in her heart, and even wholly directeth it to this + matter? + + SAM. I am fully persuaded he ruleth her heart. + + DAN. _Then was she his drudge, and not he her servant._ He + needeth not to be hired and entreated; for if her heart were + to send him anywhere, unto such as he knoweth he cannot hurt, + nor seeth how to make any show that he hurteth them, he can + quickly turn her from that. Well, the cat goeth and killeth + the man, certain hogs, and a cow. How could she tell that the + cat did it? + + SAM. How could she tell? Why, he told her, man, and she saw + and heard that he lost his cattle. + + DAN. The cat would lie--would she not? for they say such cats + are liars. + + SAM. I do not trust the cat's words, but because the thing + fell out so. + + DAN. Because the hogs and the cow died, are you sure the cat + did kill them? Might they not die of some natural causes, as + you see both men and beasts are well, and die suddenly? + +In this way the dialogue proceeds, with a good deal of ingenuity and +some degree of dramatic spirit; and though the reasoning is not +without its fallacies, yet it is sufficiently clear and forcible, on +the whole, as a protest on the side of liberality and tolerance. + +The next branch of the subject taken up for consideration is 'the help +and remedy' that is sought for against witches 'at the hands of +cunning men;' Daniel contending that, if the cunning men can render +any assistance, it must be through the devil's instrumentality, and, +therefore, Christian men are not justified in availing themselves of +it. The alleged cures performed by witches, Daniel refers to the +influence of the imagination; and in this category he tells an amusing +story. 'There was a person in London,' he say, 'acquainted with the +magician Fento. Now, this Fento had a black dog, whom he called +Bomelius. This party afterwards had a conceit that Bomelius was a +devil, and that he felt him within him. He was in heaviness, and made +his moan to one of his acquaintances, who had a merry head, and told +him he had a friend could remove Bomelius. He bade him prepare a +breakfast, and he would bring him. Then this was the cure: he (the +friend) made him be stripped naked and stand by a good fire, and +though he were fat enough of himself, basted him all over with butter +against the fire, and made him wear a sleek-stone next his skin under +his belly, and the man had immediate relief, and gave him afterwards +great thanks.' + +'The conceit, or imagination, does much,' continues Daniel, 'even when +there is no apparent disease. A man feareth he is bewitched; it +troubleth all the powers of his mind, and that distempereth his body, +making great alterations in it, and bringeth sundry griefs. Now, when +his mind is freed from such imaginations, his bodily griefs, which +flew from the same, are eased. And a multitude of Satan's is of the +same character.' + +The conversation next turns upon the danger of shedding innocent +blood, which is inseparable from the execution of alleged witches; +while juries, says Daniel, must become guilty of shedding innocent +blood by condemning as guilty, and that upon their solemn oath, such +as be suspected upon vain surmises, and imaginations, and illusions, +rising from blindness and infidelity, and fear of Satan which is in +the ignorant sort. + + M. B. If you take it that this is one craft of Satan to bring + many to be guilty of innocent blood, and even upon their + oaths, which is horrible, what would you have the judges and + juries to do, when they are arraigned of suspicion to be + witches? + + DAN. What would I have them do? I would wish them to be most + wary and circumspect that they be not guilty of innocent + blood. And that is, to condemn none but upon sure ground, and + infallible proof; because presumptions shall not warrant or + excuse them before God, if guiltless blood be shed. + +Replying to observations made by the schoolmaster, Daniel continues: + + 'You bring two reasons to prove that in convicting witches + likelihoods and presumptions ought to be of force more than + about thieves or murderers. The first, because their dealing + is secret; the other, because the devil will not let them + confess. Indeed, men, imagining that witches do work strange + mischiefs, burn in desire to have them hanged, as hoping then + to be free; and then, upon such persuasions as you mention, + they suppose it is a very good work to put to death all which + are suspected. But, touching thieves and murderers, let men + take heed how they deal upon presumptions, unless they be + very strong; for we see that juries sometimes do condemn such + as be guiltless, which is a hard thing, especially as they + are upon their oath. And in witches, above all other, the + people had need to be strong, because there is greater + sleight of Satan to pursue the guiltless into death than in + the other. Here is special care and wisdom to be used. And so + likewise for their confessing. Satan doth gain more by their + confession than by their denial, and therefore rather + bewrayeth them himself, and forceth them unto confession + oftener than unto denial.' + +Samuel at first is reluctant to accept this statement. It has always +been his belief that the devil is much angered when witches confess +and betray matters; and in confirmation of this belief, or at least as +some excuse for it, he relates an anecdote. Of course, one woman had +suspected another to be a witch. She prevailed upon a gentleman to +send for the suspected person, and having accused her in his presence, +left him to admonish her with due severity, and to persuade her to +renounce the devil and all his works. While he was thus engaged, and +she was stoutly denying the accusation brought against her, a weasel +or lobster suddenly made its appearance. 'Look,' said the gentleman, +'yonder is thy spirit.' 'Ah, master!' she replied, 'that is a vermin; +there be many of them everywhere.' Well, as they went towards it, it +vanished out of sight; by-and-by it re-appeared, and looked upon them. +'Surely,' said the gentleman, 'it is thy spirit;' but she still +denied, and with that her mouth was drawn awry. Then he pressed her +further, and she confessed all. She confessed she had hurt and killed +by sending her spirit. The gentleman, not being a magistrate, allowed +her to go home, and then disclosed the affair to a justice. When she +reached home another witch accosted her, and said: 'Ah, thou beast, +what hast thou done? Thou hast betrayed us all. What remedy now?' said +she. 'What remedy?' said the other; 'send thy spirit and touch him.' +She sent her spirit, and of a sudden the gentleman had, as it were, a +flash of fire about him: he lifted up his heart to God, and felt no +hurt. The spirit returned, and said he could not hurt him, because he +had faith. 'What then,' said the other witch, 'hath he nothing that +thou mayest touch?' 'He hath a child,' said the other. 'Send thy +spirit,' said she, 'and touch the child.' She sent her spirit; the +child was in great pain, and died. The witches were hanged, and +confessed. + +Daniel, by an ingenious analysis, soon dismisses this absurd story, +which, like all such stories, he takes to be further evidence of +Satan's craft, and no disproof at all of the argument he has laid +down. 'Then,' says Samuel, 'I will tell you of another thing which was +done of late. + +'A woman suspected of being a witch, and of having done harm among +the cattle, was examined and brought to confess that she had a spirit, +which resided in a hollow tree, and spoke to her out of a hole in the +trunk. And whenever she was offended with any persons she went to that +tree and sent her spirit to kill their cattle. She was persuaded to +confess her faults openly, and to promise that she would utterly +forsake such ungodly ways: after she had made this open confession, +the spirit came unto her, being alone. "Ah!" said he, "thou hast +confessed and betrayed all. I could turn it to rend thee in pieces:" +with that she was afraid, and went away, and got her into company. +Within some few weeks after she fell out greatly into anger against +one man. Towards the tree she goeth, and before she came at it--"Oh!" +said the spirit, "wherefore comest thou? Who hath angered thee?" "Such +a man," said the witch. "And what wouldest thou have me do?" said the +spirit. "He hath," saith she, "two horses going yonder; touch them, or +one of them." Well, I think even that night one of the horses died, +and the other was little better. Indeed, they recovered again that one +which was not dead, but in very evil case. Now methinketh it is plain: +he was angry that she had betrayed all. And yet when she came to the +tree he let go all displeasure and went readily.' + +There is much common-sense, as we should nowadays call it, in Daniel's +comments on this extraordinarily wild story. 'Do you think,' he is +represented as saying, 'that Satan lodgeth in a hollow tree? Is he +become so lazy and idle? Hath he left off to be as a roaring lion, +seeking whom he may devour? Hath he put off the bloody and cruel +nature of the fiery dragon, so that he mindeth no harm but when an +angry woman entreats him to go kill a cow or a horse? Is he become so +doting with age that man shall espy his craft--yea, be found craftier +than he is?' + +And now for the winding-up of Parson Gifford's 'Dialogue.' 'Tis to be +wished that all the parsons of his time had been equally sensible and +courageous. + + M. B. I could be content to hear more in these matters; I see + how fondly I have erred. But seeing you must be gone, I hope + we shall meet here again at some other time. God keep you! + + SAM. I am bound to give you great thanks. And, I pray you, + when occasion serveth, that you come this way. Let us see you + at my house. + + M. B. I thought there had not been such subtle practices of + the devil, nor so great sins as he leadeth men into. + + SAM. It is strange to see how many thousands are carried + away, and deceived, yea, many that are very wise men. + + M. B. The devil is too crafty for the wisest, unless they + have the light of God's Word. + + SAMUEL'S WIFE. Husband, yonder cometh the goodwife R. + + SAM. I wish she had come sooner. + + GOODWIFE R. Ho, who is within, by your leave? + + SAMUEL'S WIFE. I would you had come a little sooner; here was + one even now that said you were a witch. + + GOODWIFE R. Was there one said I am a witch? You do but jest. + + SAMUEL'S WIFE. Nay, I promise you he was in good earnest. + + GOODWIFE R. I a witch? I defy him that saith it, though he be + a lord. I would all the witches in the land were hanged, and + their spirits by them. + + M. B. Would you not be glad, if their spirits were hanged up + with them, to have a gown furred with some of their skins? + + GOODWIFE R. Out upon them. There were few! + + SAM. Wife, why didst thou say that the goodwife R. is a + witch? He did not say so. + + SAMUEL'S WIFE. Husband, I did mark his words well enough; he + said she is a witch. + + SAM. He doth not know her, and how could he say she is a + witch? + + SAMUEL'S WIFE. What though he did not know her? Did he not + say that she played the witch that heated the spit red hot, + and thrust it into her cream when the butter would not come? + + SAM. Indeed, wife, thou sayest true. He said that was a thing + taught by the devil, as also the burning of a hen, or of a + hog alive, and all such like devices. + + GOODWIFE R. Is that witchcraft? Some Scripture man hath told + you so. Did the devil teach it? Nay, the good woman at R. H. + taught it my husband: she doth more good in one year than all + those Scripture men will do so long as they live. + + M. B. Who do you think taught it the cunning woman at R. H.? + + GOODWIFE R. It is a gift which God hath given her. I think + the Holy Spirit of God doth teach her. + + M. B. You do not think, then, that the devil doth teach her? + + GOODWIFE R. How should I think that the devil doth teach her? + Did you ever hear that the devil did teach any good thing? + + M. B. Do you know that was a good thing? + + GOODWIFE R. Was it not a good thing to drive the evil spirit + out of any man? + + M. B. Do you think the devil was afraid of your spit? + + GOODWIFE R. I know he was driven away, and we have been rid + of him ever since. + + M. B. Can a spit hurt him? + + GOODWIFE R. It doth hurt him, or it hurteth the witch: one of + them, I am sure: for he cometh no more. Either she can get + him come no more, because it hurteth him: or else she will + let him come no more, because it hurteth her. + + M. B. It is certain that spirits cannot be hurt but with + spiritual weapons: therefore your spit cannot fray nor hurt + the devil. And how can it hurt the witch? You did not think + she was in your cream, did you? + + GOODWIFE R. Some think she is there, and therefore when they + thrust in the spit they say: 'If thou beest here, have at + thine eye.' + + M. B. If she were in your cream, your butter was not very + cleanly. + + GOODWIFE R. You are merrily disposed, M. B. I know you are + of my mind, though you put these questions to me. For I am + sure none hath counselled more to go to the cunning folk than + you. + + M. B. I _was_ of your mind, but I am not now, for I see how + foolish I was. I am sorry that I offended so grievously as to + counsel any for to seek unto devils. + + GOODWIFE R. Why, M. B., who hath schooled you to-day? I am + sure you were of another mind no longer agone than yesterday. + + SAMUEL'S WIFE. Truly, goodwife R., I think my husband is + turned also: here hath been one reasoning with them three or + four hours. + + GOODWIFE R. Is your husband turned, too? I would you might + lose all your hens one after another, and then I would she + would set her spirit upon your ducks and your geese, and + leave you not one alive. Will you come to defend witches?... + + M. B. You think the devil can kill men's cattle, and lame + both man and beast at his pleasure: you think if the witch + entreat him and send him, he will go, and if she will not + have him go, he will not meddle. And you think when he doth + come, you can drive him away with a hot spit, or with burning + a live hen or a pig. + + GOODWIFE R. Never tell me I think so, for you yourself have + thought so; and let them say what they can, all the Scripture + men in the world shall never persuade me otherwise. + + M. B. I do wonder, not so much at your ignorance as at this, + that I was ever of the same mind that you are, and could not + see mine own folly. + + GOODWIFE R. Folly! how wise you are become of a sudden! I + know that their spirits lie lurking, for they foster them; + and when anybody hath angered them, then they call them forth + and send them. And look what they bid them do, or hire them + to do, that shall be done: as when she is angry, the spirit + will ask her, 'What shall I do?' 'Such a man hath misused + me,' saith she; 'go, kill his cow'; by-and-by he goeth and + doeth it. 'Go, kill such a woman's hens'; down go they. And + some of them are not content to do these lesser harms; but + they will say, 'Go, make such a man lame, kill him, or kill + his child.' Then are they ready, and will do anything; and I + think they be happy that can learn to drive them away. + + M. B. If I should reason with you out of the words of God, + you should see that all this is false, which you say. The + devil cannot kill nor hurt anything; no, not so much as a + poor hen. If he had power, who can escape him? Would he tarry + to be sent or entreated by a woman? He is a stirrer up unto + all harms and mischiefs. + + GOODWIFE R. What will you tell me of God's word? Doth not + God's word say there be witches? and do not you think God + doth suffer bad people? Are you a turncoat? Fare you well; I + will no longer talk with you. + + M. B. She is wilful indeed. I will leave you also. + + SAMUEL. I thank you for your good company. + +About the same time that Gifford was endeavouring to teach his +countrymen a more excellent way of dealing with the vexed questions of +demonology and witchcraft, a Dutch minister, named Bekker, scandalized +the orthodox by a frank denial of all power whatsoever to the devil, +and, consequently, to the witches and warlocks who were supposed to be +at one and the same time his servants and yet his employers. His +'Monde Enchanté' (originally written in Dutch) consists of four +ponderous volumes, remarkable for prolixity and repetition, as well as +for a certain originality of argument. There was no just ground, +however, as Hallam remarks, for throwing imputations on the author's +religious sincerity. He shared, however, the opprobrium that attaches +to all who deviate in theology from the orthodox path; and it must be +admitted that his Scriptural explanations in the case of the demoniacs +and the like are more ingenious than satisfactory. + + * * * * * + +A violent trumpet-note on the side of intolerance was blown by King +James I. in 1597 in his famous 'Dæmonologia.' It is written in the +form of a dialogue, and numbers about eighty closely-printed pages. +James, as the reader has seen, had had ample personal experience of +witches and their 'cantrips,' and had 'got up' the subject with a +commendable amount of thoroughness. He divides witches into eight +classes, who severally work their evil designs against mankind; then he +subdivides into white and black witches, of whom the former are the +more dangerous; and again into 'acted' and 'pacted' witches, the former +depending for their power on their supernatural gifts, and the latter +having made a compact with Satan contrary to 'all rules and orders of +nature, art or grace.' Further, the demons have a classification of +their own; some of the higher ranks of the demonarchy looking down +contemptuously enough on those of the inferior grades, who consist of +'the damned souls of departed conjurers.' These 'damned souls' +discharge all kinds of mean and servile offices--bringing fire from +heaven for the convenience of their employers; conveying bodies through +the air; conjuring corn from one field into another; imparting a show +of life to dead bodies; and raising the wind for witches to sell to +their nautical customers--who received pieces of knotted rope, and, +untying the first knot, secured a favourable breeze, for the second a +moderate wind, and for the third a violent gale. + +After describing the rites in vogue on the conclusion of a compact +between witch and devil, King James enlarges on other points of +ceremonial, such as the making of various magic circles--sometimes +round, sometimes triangular, sometimes quadrangular; the use of holy +water and crosses in ridicule of the papists; and the offer to the +demons of some living animal. He adds that the great witches' meetings +frequently took place in churches: and he says that the witches mutter +and hurriedly mumble through their conjurations 'like a priest +despatching a hunting masse'; and that if they step out of a circle in +a sudden alarm at the horrible appearance assumed by the demon, he +flies off with them body and soul. + +The royal expert proceeds to indicate the means by which you may +detect a witch. 'There are two good helpes that may be used for their +trials; the one is the finding of their marke and the trying the +insensibility thereof. The other is their fleeting on the water: for +as in a secret murther, if the dead carkasse be at any time thereafter +handled by the murtherer, it will gush out of blood, as if the blood +were crying to the heaven for revenge of the murtherer, God having +appoynted that secret supernaturale signe for triale of that secret +unnaturale crime, so it appears that God hath appoynted (for a +supernaturale signe of the monstrous impietie of witches) that the +water shall refuse to receive them in her bosome that have shaken off +them the sacred water of Baptism and willingly refused the benefit +thereof: no, not so much as their eies are able to shed teares +(threaten and torture them as you please) while first they repent (God +not permitting them to dissemble their obstinacie in so horrible a +crime), albeit the womenkind especially be able other waies to shed +teares at every light occasion when they will, yea altho' it were +dissemblingly like the crocodiles.' + +Incidentally, our witch-hunting King offers an explanation of a +peculiarity which, no doubt, our readers have already noted--the great +numerical superiority of witches over warlocks. 'The reason is easie,' +he says; 'for as that sex is frailer than man is, so is it easier to +be intrapped in the grosse snares of the devil,--as was over well +prooved to be true by the serpente deceiving of Eva at the beginning, +which makes him the homelier with that sex sensine [ever since].' + +As regards the external appearance of witches, he remarks that they +are not generally melancholic; 'but some are rich and worldly wise, +some are fat and corpulent, and most part are given over unto the +pleasures of the flesh; and further experience daily proves how loth +they are to confess without torture, which witnesseth their +guiltinesse.' He concludes by asking, 'Who is safe?' and replies that +the only safe person is the magistrate, when assiduously employed in +bringing witches to justice. One Reginald Scot, Esq., however, +hop-grower and brewer of Smeeth, in Kent, a persistent disbeliever in +and ridiculer of witchcraft, who had the courage to break lances with +the King and the bench of Bishops in contemporary pamphlets, and is +called by the King an 'Englishman of damnable opiniones,' irreverently +answered this question by saying that the only safe person was the +King himself, as his sex prevented his being taken for a witch, and +the whole kingdom was satisfied that he was no conjurer. + + * * * * * + +In 1616, John Cotta, a Northampton physician, published a forcibly +written attack on the vulgar delusion, under the title of 'The Trial +of Witchcraft,' which reached a second (and enlarged) edition in 1624. +Cotta was also the author of a fierce blast against quacks--'Discovery +of the Dangers of ignorant Practisers of Physick in England,' 1612; +and of a not less vehement attack on the _aurum potabile_ of the +chemists, entitled, 'Cotta contra Antonium, or An Ant. Anthony,' 1623. + + * * * * * + +There is a lively work by John Gaul, preacher of the Word at Great +Haughton, in the county of Huntingdon--'Select Cases of Conscience +touching Witches and Witchcraft,' 1646, which is worth looking into. +Gaul was a courageous and persevering opponent of the great +witch-finder, Hopkins. + + * * * * * + +The unhappy victims of popular prejudice found a strenuous champion +also in Sir Robert Filmer, who, in 1653, published his 'Advertisement +to the Jurymen of England, touching Witches, together with a +Difference between an English and Hebrew Witch.' Filmer is best known +to students by his 'Patriarcha,' an apology for the paternal +government of kings, which does violence to all constitutional +principles, but has at least the negative merit of obvious sincerity +on the part of its writer. It is somewhat surprising to find a mind +like Filmer's, fettered as it was by so many prejudices and a slavish +adherence to prescription, openly urging the cause of tolerance and +enlightenment, and vigorously demolishing the sham arguments by which +the believers in witchcraft endeavoured to support their grotesque +theories. + + * * * * * + +Three years later followed on the same side a certain Thomas Ady, +M.A., who, with considerable vivacity, fulminated against the +witch-mongers and witch-torturers in his tractate, 'A Candle in the +Dark; or, A Treatise concerning the Nature of Witches and Witchcraft: +being Advice to Judges, Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and Grand +Jurymen, what to do before they pass sentence on such as are arraigned +for their lives as Witches.' The quaintly-worded dedication ran as +follows: + +'To the Prince of the Kings of the Earth. It is the manner of men, O +heavenly King, to dedicate their books to some great men, thereby to +have their works protected and countenanced among them; but Thou only +art able by Thy Holy Spirit of Truth, to defend Thy Truth, and to make +it take impression in the heart and understanding of men. Unto Thee +alone do I dedicate this work, entreating Thy Most High Majesty to +grant that, whoever shall open this book, Thy Holy Spirit may so +possess their understanding as that the Spirit of error may depart +from them, and that they may read and try Thy Truth by the touchstone +of Thy Truth, the Holy Scriptures; and finding that Truth, may embrace +it and forsake their darksome inventions of Anti-Christ, that have +deluded and defiled the nations now and in former ages. Enlighten the +world, Thou art the Light of the World, and let darkness be no more in +the world, now or in any future age; but make all people to walk as +children of the light for ever; and destroy Anti-Christ that hath +deceived the nations, and save us the residue by Thyself alone; and +let not Satan any more delude us, for the Truth is thine for ever.' + + * * * * * + +In 1669 John Wagstaffe published 'The Question of Witchcraft Debated.' +According to Wood, he was the son of John Wagstaffe, a London citizen; +was born in Cheapside; entered as a commoner of Oriel College, Oxford, +towards the end of 1649; took the degrees in Arts, and applied himself +to the study of politics and other learning. 'At length being raised +from an academical life to the inheritance of Hasland by the death of +an uncle, who died without male issue, he spent his life afterwards in +single estate.' He died in 1677. Wood describes him as 'a little +crooked man, and of a despicable presence. He was laughed at by the +boys of this University because, as they said, he himself looked like +a little wizard.' + +His book is illuminated throughout by the generous sympathies of a +large and liberal mind. His peroration has been described, and not +unjustly, as 'lofty' and 'memorable,' and, when animated by a noble +earnestness, the writer's language rises into positive eloquence. 'I +cannot think,' he says, 'without trembling and horror on the vast +numbers of people that in several ages and several countries have +been sacrificed unto this cold opinion. Thousands, ten thousands, are +upon record to have been slain, and many of them not with simple +deaths, but horrid, exquisite tortures. And yet, how many are there +more who have undergone the same fate, of whom we have no memorial +extant? Since therefore the opinion of witchcraft is a mere stranger +unto Scripture, and wholly alien from true religion; since it is +ridiculous by asserting fables and impossibilities; since it appears, +when duly considered, to be all bloody and full of dangerous +consequence unto the lives and safety of men; I hope that with this my +discourse, opposing an absurd and pernicious error, I cannot at all +disoblige any sober, unbiased person, especially if he be of such +ingenuity as to have freed himself from a slavish subjection unto +those prejudicial opinions which custom and education do with too much +tyranny impose. + +'If the doctrine of witchcraft should be carried up to a height, and +the inquisition after it should be entrusted in the hands of +ambitious, covetous, and malicious men, it would prove of far more +fatal consequences unto the lives and safety of mankind than that +ancient heathenish custom of sacrificing men unto idol gods, insomuch +that we stand in need of another Heracles Liberator, who, as the +former freed the world from human sacrifice, should, in like manner, +travel from country to country, and by his all-commanding authority +free it from this evil and base custom of torturing people to confess +themselves witches, and burning them after extorted confessions. +Surely the blood of men ought not to be so cheap, nor so easily to be +shed by those who, under the name of God, do gratify exorbitant +passions and selfish ends; for without question, under this side +heaven, there is nothing so sacred as the life of man, for the +preservation whereof all policies and forms of government, all laws +and magistrates are most especially ordained. Wherefore I presume that +this discourse of mine, attempting to prove the vanity and +impossibility of witchcraft, is so far from any deserved censure and +blame, that it rather deserves commendation and praise, if I can in +the least measure contribute to the saving of the lives of men.' + + * * * * * + +Meric Casaubon, a man of abundant learning and not less abundant +superstition, attempted a reply to Wagstaffe in his treatise 'Of +Credulity and Incredulity in Things Divine and Spiritual' (1670). + + * * * * * + +At Thornton, in the parish of Caswold, Yorkshire, was born, on the 3rd +of February, 1610, one of the ablest and most successful of the +adversaries of the witch-maniacs, John Webster. It is supposed that he +was educated at Cambridge; but the first event in his career of which +we have any certain knowledge is his admission to holy orders in the +Church of England by Dr. Morton, Bishop of Durham. In 1634 we find him +officiating as curate at Kildwick in Craven, and nine years later as +Master of the Free Grammar School at Clitheroe. He seems afterwards to +have held for a time a military chaplaincy, then to have withdrawn +from the Church of England, and taken refuge in some form of Dissent. +In 1653 his new religious views found expression in his 'Saints' +Guide,' and in 1654, in 'The Judgment Set and the Books Opened,' a +series of sermons which he had originally preached at All Hallows' +Church in Lombard Street. It was in this church the incident occurred +which Wood has recorded: 'On the 12th of October, 1653, William +Erbury, with John Webster, sometime a Cambridge scholar, endeavoured +to knock down learning and the ministry both together in a disputation +that they then had against two ministers in a church in Lombard +Street, London. Erbury then declared that the wisest ministers and the +purest churches were at that time befooled, confounded, and defiled by +reason of learning. Another while he said that the ministry were +monsters, beasts, asses, greedy dogs, false prophets, and that they +are the Beast with seven heads and ten horns. The same person also +spoke out and said that Babylon is the Church in her ministers, and +that the Great Whore is the Church in her worship, etc., so that with +him there was an end of ministers and churches and ordinations +altogether. While these things were babbled to and fro, the multitude, +being of various opinions, began to mutter, and many to cry out, and +immediately it came to a meeting or tumult (call it which you please), +wherein the women bore away the bell, but lost some of them their +kerchiefs; and the dispute being hot, there was more danger of pulling +down the church than the ministry.' + +In 1654, our iconoclastic enthusiast strongly--but not without good +reason--assailed the educational system then in vogue at Oxford and +Cambridge in his treatise, 'Academiarum Examen,' which created quite a +sensation in 'polite circles,' fluttering the dove-cots of the rulers +of the two Universities. Very curious, however, are its sympathetic +references to the old Hermetic mysteries, Rosicrucianism, and +astrology, to the fanciful abstractions and dreamy speculations of +Paracelsus, Van Helmont, Fludd, and Dr. Dee. One cannot but wonder +that so acute and vigorous an intellect should have allowed itself to +be entangled in the delusions of the occult sciences. But his study of +the works of the old philosophers was, no doubt, the original motive +of the laborious research which resulted in his 'Metallographia; or, A +History of Metals' (1671). In this learned and comprehensive treatise +are declared 'the signs of Ores and Minerals, both before and after +Digging, the causes and manner of their generations, their kinds, +sorts, and differences; with the description of sundry new Metals, or +Semi-Metals, and many other things pertaining to Mineral Knowledge. As +also the handling and showing of their Vegetability, and the +discussion of the most difficult Questions belonging to Mystical +Chymistry, as of the Philosopher's Gold, their Mercury, the Liquor +Alkahest, Aurum potabile, and such like. Gathered forth of the most +approved Authors that have written in Greek, Latin, or High Dutch, +with some Observations and Discoveries of the Author Himself. By John +Webster, Practitioner in Physick and Chirurgery. "_Qui principia +naturalia in seipso ignoraverit, hic jam multum remotus est ab arte +nostra, quoniam non habet radiam veram super quam intentionem suam +fundit._" Geber, Sum. Perfect., lib. i., p. 21.' + +In 1677, Webster, who had abandoned the cure of souls for that of +bodies, produced the work which entitles him to honourable mention in +these pages. According to the fashion of the day, its title was almost +as long as a table of contents. I transcribe it here _in extenso_: + +'_The Displaying of supposed Witchcraft_, Wherein is affirmed that +there are many sorts of Deceivers and Impostors. And Divers persons +under a passive Delusion of Melancholy and Fancy. But that there is a +Corporeal League made betwixt the Devil and the Witch, Or that he +sucks on the Witches Body, has Carnal Copulation, or that Witches are +turned into Cats or Dogs, raise Tempests or the like, is utterly +denied and disproved. Wherein also is handled the Existence of Angels +and Spirits, the Truth of Apparitions, the Nature of Astral and +Sidereal Spirits, the Force of Charms and Philters; with other +Abstruse Matters. By John Webster, Practitioner in Physic. "_Falsæ +etenim opiniones Hominum præoccupantes, non solum surdos sed ut cæcos +faciunt, ita ut videre nequeant, quæ aliis perspicua apparent._" +Galen, lib. viii., de Comp. Med. London. Printed by I. M., and are to +be sold by the Booksellers in London, 1677.' + +Webster, who was evidently a man of restless and inquiring intellect, +and independent judgment, died on June 18, 1682, and was buried in +St. Margaret's, Clitheroe, where his monument may still be seen. Its +singular inscription must have been devised by some astrological +sympathizer: + + Qui hanc figuram intelligunt + Me etiam intellexisse, intelligent. + +Here follows a mysterious figure of the sun, with several circles and +much astrological lettering, which it is unnecessary to reproduce. The +inscription continues: + + Hic jacet ignotus mundo mersus que tumultus + Invidiæ, semper mens tamen æqua fecit, + Multa tulit veterum ut sciret secreta sophorum + Ac tandem vires noverit ignis aquæ. + + Johannes Hyphantes sive Webster. + In villa Spinosa supermontana, in + Parochia silvæ cuculatæ, in agro + Eboracensi, natus 1610, Feb. 3. + Ergastulum animæ deposuit 1682, Junii 18. + Annoq. ætatis suæ 72 currente. + Sicq. peroravit moriens mundo huic valedicens, + Aurea pax vivis, requies æterna sepultis. + +In 1728, Andrew Millar, at the sign of The Buchanan's Head, against +St. Clement's Church in the Strand, published 'A System of Magick: or, +A History of the Black Art,' by Daniel Defoe; a book which, though it +by no means justifies its title, is one of more than passing interest, +partly from the renown of its author, and partly from the light it +throws on the popularity of magic among the English middle classes in +the earlier years of the eighteenth century. As it has not been +reprinted for the last fifty years, and is not very generally known, +some glimpses of the stuff it is made of may be acceptable to the +curious reader.[53] + +In his preface Defoe lavishes a good deal of contempt on contemporary +pretenders to the character of magician, who by sham magical practices +imposed on a public ignorant, and therefore credulous. Magicians, he +says, in the first ages were wise men; in the middle ages, madmen; in +these latter ages, they are cunning men. In the earliest times they +were honest; in the middle time, rogues; in these last times, fools. +At first they dealt with nature; then with the devil; and now, not +with the devil or with nature either. In the first ages the magicians +were wiser than the people; in the second age wickeder than the +people; and in this later age the people are both worse and wickeder +than the magicians. Like many other generalizations, this one of +Defoe's is more pointed than true; and it is evident that the +so-called magicians could not have flourished had there not been an +ignorant class who readily accepted their pretensions. + +Defoe's account of the origin of magic is so vague as to suggest that +he knew very little of the subject he was writing about. 'I have +traced it,' he says, 'as far back as antiquity gives us any clue to +discover it by: it seems to have its beginning in the ignorance and +curiosity of the darkest ages of the world, when miracle and something +wonderful was expected to confirm every advanced notion; and when the +wise men, having racked their invention to the utmost, called in the +devil to their assistance for want of better help; and those that did +not run into Satan's measures, and give themselves up to the infernal, +yet trod so near, and upon the very verge of Hell, that it was hard to +distinguish between the magician and the devil, and thus they have +gone on ever since: so that almost all the dispute between us and the +magicians is that they say they converse with good spirits, and we say +if they deal with any spirits, it is with the devil.' + +Here the greatness of his theme stimulates Defoe into poetry, which +differs very little, however, from his prose, so that a brief specimen +will content everybody: + + 'Hail! dangerous science, falsely called sublime, + Which treads upon the very brink of crime. + Hell's mimic, Satan's mountebank of state, + Deals with more devils than Heaven did e'er create. + The infernal juggling-box, by Heaven designed, + To put the grand parade upon mankind. + The devil's first game which he in Eden played, + When he harangued to Eve in masquerade.' + +Dividing his treatise into two parts, our author, in the introduction +to Part I., discusses the meaning of the principal terms in magical +lore; who, and what kind of people, the magicians were; and the +meaning originally given to the words 'magic' and 'magician.' As a +matter of course, he strays back to the old Chaldean days, when a +magician, he says, was simply a mathematician, a man of science, who, +stored with knowledge and learning, was a kind of walking dictionary +to other people, instructing the rest of mankind on subjects of which +they were ignorant; a wise man, in fact, who interpreted omens, ill +signs, tokens, and dreams; understood the signs of the times, the face +of the heavens, and the influences of the superior luminaries there. +When all this wisdom became more common, and the magi had communicated +much of their knowledge to the people at large, their successors, +still aspiring to a position above, and apart from, the rest of the +world, were compelled to push their studies further, to inquire into +nature, to view the aspect of the heavens, to calculate the motions of +the stars, and more particularly to dwell upon their influences in +human affairs--thus creating the science of astrology. But these men +neither had, nor pretended to have, any compact or correspondence with +the devil or with any of his works. They were men of thought, or, if +you please, men of deeper thinking than the ordinary sort; they +studied the sciences, inquired into the works of nature and +providence, studied the meaning and end of things, the causes and +events, and consequently were able to see further into the ordinary +course and causes both of things about them, and things above them, +than other men. + +Such were the world's gray forefathers, the magicians of the elder +time, in whom was found 'an excellent spirit of wisdom.' There were +others--not less learned--whose studies took a different direction; +who inquired into the structure and organization of the human body; +who investigated the origin, the progress, and the causes of diseases +and distempers, both in men and women; who sought out the physical or +medicinal virtues of drugs and plants; and as by these means they made +daily discoveries in nature, of which the world, until then, was +ignorant, and by which they performed astonishing cures, they +naturally gained the esteem and reverence of the people. + +Sir Walter Raleigh contends that only the word 'magic,' and not the +magical art, is derived from Simon Magus. He adds that Simon's name +was not Magus, a magician, but Gors, a person familiar with evil +spirits; and that he usurped the title of Simon the Magician simply +because it was then a good and honourable title. Defoe avails himself +of Raleigh's authority to sustain his own opinion, that there is a +manifest difference between _magic_, which is wisdom and supernatural +knowledge, and the witchcraft and conjuring which we now understand by +the word. + +In his second chapter Defoe classifies the magic of the ancients under +three heads: i. _Natural_, which included the knowledge of the stars, +of the motions of the planetary bodies, and their revolutions and +influences; that is to say, the study of nature, of philosophy, and +astronomy; ii. _Artificial_ or _Rational_, in which was included the +knowledge of all judicial astrology, the casting or calculating +nativities, and the cure of diseases--(1) by particular charms and +figures placed in this or that position; (2) by herbs gathered at this +or that particular crisis of time; (3) by saying such and such words +over the patient; (4) by such and such gestures; (5) by striking the +flesh in such and such a manner, and innumerable such-like pieces of +mimicry, working not upon the disease itself, but upon the imagination +of the patient, and so affecting the cure by the power of nature, +though that nature were set in operation by the weakest and simplest +methods imaginable; and, iii. _Diabolical_, which was wrought by and +with the concurrence of the devil, carried on by a correspondence with +evil spirits--with their help, presence, and personal assistance--and +practised chiefly by their priests. Defoe argues that the ancients at +first were acquainted only with the purer form of magic, and that, +therefore, sorcery and witchcraft were of much later development. The +cause and motive of this development he traces in his third chapter +('Of the Reason and Occasion which brought the ancient honest Magi, +whose original study was philosophy, astronomy, and the works of +nature, to turn sorcerers and wizards, and deal with the Devil, and +how their Conversation began'). Egyptologists will find Defoe's +comments upon Egyptian magic refreshingly simple and unhistorical, and +his identifications of the Pyramids with magical practices is wildly +vague and hypothetical. Of the magic which was really taught and +practised among the ancient people of Egypt, Defoe, of course, knows +nothing. He tells us, however, that the Jews learned it from them. He +goes on to speculate as to the time when that close intercourse began +between the devil and his servants on earth which is the foundation +of the later or diabolical magic, and concludes that his first +visible appearance on this mundane stage was as the enemy of Job. +Thence he is led to inquire, in his fourth chapter, what shapes the +devil assumed on his first appearances to the magicians and others, in +the dawn of the world's history, and whether he is or has been allowed +to assume a human shape or no. And he suggests that his earliest +acquaintance with mankind was made through dreams, and that by this +method he contrived to infuse into men's minds an infinite variety of +corrupt imaginations, wicked desires, and abhorrent conclusions and +resolutions, with some ridiculous, foolish, and absurd things at the +same time. + +Defoe then proceeds to tell an Oriental story, which, doubtlessly, is +his own invention: + +Ali Albrahazen, a Persian wizard, had, it is said, this kind of +intercourse with the devil. He was a Sabean by birth, and had obtained +a wonderful reputation for his witchcraft, so that he was sent for by +the King of Persia upon extraordinary occasions, such as the +interpretation of a dream, or of an apparition, like that of +Belshazzar's handwriting, or of some meteor or eclipse, and he never +failed to give the King satisfaction. For whether his utterances were +true or false, he couched them always in such ambiguous terms that +something of what he predicted might certainly be deduced from his +words, and so seem to import that he had effectually revealed it, +whether he had really done so or not. + +This Ali, wandering alone in the desert, and musing much upon the +appearance of a fiery meteor, which, to the great terror of the +country, had flamed in the heavens every night for nearly a month, +sought to apprehend its significance, and what it should portend to +the world; but, failing to do so, he sat down, weary and disheartened, +in the shade of a spreading palm. Breathing to himself a strong desire +that some spirit from the other world would generously assist him to +arrive at the true meaning of a phenomenon so remarkable, he fell +asleep. And, lo! in his sleep he dreamed a dream, and the dream was +this: that a tall man came to him, a tall man of sage and venerable +aspect, with a pleasing smile upon his countenance; and, addressing +him by his name, told him that he was prepared to answer his +questions, and to explain to him the signification of the great and +terrible fire in the air which was terrifying all Arabia and Persia. + +His explanation proved to be of an astronomical character. These fiery +appearances, he said, were collections of vapour exhaled by the +influence of the sun from earth or sea. As to their importance to +human affairs, it was simply this: that sometimes by their propinquity +to the earth, and their power of attraction, or by their dissipation +of aqueous vapours, they occasioned great droughts and insupportable +heats; while, at other times, they distilled heavy and unusual rains, +by condensing, in an extraordinary manner, the vapours they had +absorbed. And he added: 'Go thou and warn thy nation that this fiery +meteor portends an excessive drought and famine; for know that by the +strong exhalation of the vapours of the earth, occasioned by the +meteor's unusual nearness to it, the necessary rains will be withheld, +and to a long drought, as a matter of course, famine and scarcity of +corn succeed. Thus, by judging according to the rules of natural +causes, thou shalt predict what shall certainly come to pass, and +shalt obtain the reputation thou so ardently desirest of being a wise +man and a great magician.' + +'This prediction,' said Ali, 'was all very well as regarded Arabia; +but would it apply also to Persia?' 'No,' replied the devil; for Ali's +interlocutor was no less distinguished a personage--fiery meteors from +the same causes sometimes produced contrary events; and he might +repair to the Persian Court, and predict the advent of excessive rains +and floods, which would greatly injure the fruits of the earth, and +occasion want and scarcity. 'Thus, if either of these succeed, as it +is most probable, thou shalt assuredly be received as a sage magician +in one country, if not in the other; also, to both of them thou mayest +suggest, as a probability only, that the consequence may be a plague +or infection among the people, which is ordinarily the effect as well +of excessive wet as of excessive heat. If this happens, thou shalt +gain the reputation thou desirest; and if not, seeing thou didst not +positively foretell it, thou shalt not incur the ignominy of a false +prediction.' + +Ali was very grateful for the devil's assistance, and failed not to +ask how, at need, he might again secure it. He was told to come again +to the palm-tree, and to go around it fifteen times, calling him +thrice by his name each time: at the end of the fifteenth +circumambulation he would find himself overtaken by drowsiness; +whereupon he should lie down with his face to the south, and he would +receive a visit from him in vision. The devil further told him the +magic name by which he was to summon him. + +The magician's predictions were duly made and duly fulfilled. +Thenceforward he maintained a constant communication with the devil, +who, strange to say, seems not to have exacted anything from him in +return for his valuable, but hazardous, assistance. + +Defoe's fifth chapter contains a further account of the devil's +conduct in imitating divine inspirations; describes the difference +between the genuine and the false; and dwells upon signs and wonders, +fictitious as well as real. In chapter the sixth our author treats of +the first practices of magic and witchcraft as a diabolical art, and +explains how it was handed on to the Egyptians and Phoenicians, by +whom it was openly encouraged. He offers some amusing remarks on the +methods adopted by magicians for summoning the devil, who seems to be +at once their servant and master. In parts of India they go up, he +says, to the summit of some particular mountain, where they call him +with a little kettledrum, just as the good old wives in England hive +their bees, except that they beat it on the wrong side. Then they +pronounce certain words which they call 'charms,' and the devil +appears without fail. + +It is not easy to discover in history what words were used for charms +in Egypt and Arabia for so many ages. It is certain they differed in +different countries; and it is certain they differed as the magicians +acted together or individually. Nor are we less at a loss to +understand what the devil could mean by suffering such words, or any +words at all, to charm, summon, alarm, or arouse him. The Greeks have +left us, he says, a word which was used by the magicians of antiquity +pretty frequently--that famous trine or triangular word, Abracadabra: + + A B R A C A D A B R A + A B R A C A D A B R + A B R A C A D A B + A B R A C A D A + A B R A C A D + A B R A C A + A B R A C + A B R A + A B R + A B + A + +'There is abundance of learned puzzle among the ancients to find out +the signification of this word: the subtle position of the letters +gave a kind of reverence to them, because they read it as it were +every way, upwards and downwards, backwards and forwards, and many +will have it still _that the devil put them together_: nay, they begin +at last to think it was old Legion's surname, and whenever he was +called by that name, he used to come very readily; for which reason +the old women in their chimney-corners would be horribly afraid of +saying it often over together, for if they should say it a certain +number of times, they had a notion it would certainly raise the devil. + +'They say, on the contrary, that it was invented by one Basilides, a +learned Greek; that it contained the great and awful name of the +Divinity; and that it was used for many years for the opposing the +spells and charms of the Pagans; that is, the diabolical spells and +charms of the pagan magicians.' + +In the seventh chapter we read of the practice and progress of magic, +as it is now explained to be a diabolical art; how it spread itself in +the world, and by what degrees it grew up to the height which it has +since attained. + + * * * * * + +The introduction to the second part of Defoe's work is devoted to an +exposition of the Black Art 'as it really is,' and sets forth 'why +there are several differing practices of it in the several parts of +the world, and what those practices are; as, also, what is contained +in it in general.' He defines it as 'a new general term for all the +branches of that correspondence which mankind has maintained, or does, +or can carry on, between himself and the devil, between this and the +infernal world.' And he enumerates these branches as: _Divining_, or +_Soothsaying_; _Observing of Times_; _Using Enchantment_; +_Witchcraft_; _Charming_, or _Setting of Spells_; _Dealing with +Familiar Spirits_; _Wizardising_, or _Sorcery_; and _Necromancy_. + +The first chapter treats of Modern Magic, or the Black Art in its +present practice and perfection. + +In the second chapter the scene is changed: as the devil acted at +first with his Black Art without the magicians, so the magicians seem +now to carry it on without the devil. This is written in Defoe's best +style of sober irony. 'The magicians,' he says, 'were formerly the +devil's servants, but now they are his masters, and that to such a +degree, that it is but drawing a circle, casting a few figures, +muttering a little Arabic, and up comes the devil, as readily as the +drawer at a tavern, with a _D'ye call, sir?_ or like a Scotch caude +[caddie?], with _What's your honour's wull, sir?_ Nay, as the learned +in the art say, he must come, he can't help it: then as to tempting, +he is quite out of doors. And I think, as the Old Parliament did by +the bishops, we may e'en vote him useless. In a word, there is no +manner of occasion for him: mankind are as froward as he can wish and +desire of them; nay, some cunning men tell us we sin faster than the +devil can keep pace with us: as witness the late witty and moderately +wicked Lady ...., who blest her stars that the devil never tempted her +to anything; he understood himself better, for she knew well enough +how to sin without him, and that it would be losing his time to talk +to her.' + +Defoe furnishes an entertaining account of his conversation with a +countryman, who had been to a magician at Oundle. Whether true or +fictitious, the narrative shows that many of the favourite tricks +performed at spiritualistic _séances_ in our own time were well known +in Defoe's: + + COUNTRYMAN. I saw my old gentleman in a great chair, and two + more in chairs at some distance, and three great candles, and + a great sheet of white paper upon the floor between them; + every one of them had a long white wand in their hands, the + lower end of which touched the sheet of paper. + + DEFOE. And were the candles upon the ground too? + + C. Yes, all of them. + + D. There was a great deal of ceremony about you, I assure + you. + + C. I think so, too, but it is not done yet: immediately I + heard the little door stir, as if it was opening, and away I + skipped as softly as I could tread, and got into my chair + again, and sat there as gravely as if I had never stirred out + of it. I was no sooner set, but the door opened indeed, and + the old gentleman came out as before, and turning to me, + said, 'Sit still, don't ye stir;' and at that word the other + two that were with him in the room walked out after him, one + after another, across the room, as if to go out at the other + door where I came in; but at the further end of the room they + stopped, and turned their faces to one another, and talked; + but it was some devil's language of their own, for I could + understand nothing of it. + + D. And now I suppose you were frighted in earnest? + + C. Ay, so I was; but it was worse yet, for they had not stood + long together, but the great elbow-chair, which the old + gentleman sat in at the little table just by me, _began to + stir of itself_; at which the old gentleman, knowing I should + be afraid, came to me, and said, 'Sit still, don't you stir, + all will be well; you shall have no harm;' at which he gave + his chair a kick with his foot, and saith, 'Go!' with some + other words, and other language; _and away went the obedient + chair, sliding, two of its legs on the ground, and the other + two off, as if somebody had dragged it by that part_. + + D. And so, no doubt, they did, though you could not see it. + + C. And as soon as the chair was dragged or moved to the end + of the room, where the three, I know not what to call 'em, + were, two other chairs did the like from the other side of + the room, and so they all sat down, and talked together a + good while; at last the door at that end of the room opened + too, and they all were gone in a moment, without rising out + of their chairs; for I am sure they did not rise to go out, + as other folks do. + + D. What did you think of yourself when you saw the chair stir + so near you? + + C. Think! nay, I did not think; I was dead, to be sure I was + dead, with the fright, and expected I should be carried away, + chair and all, the next moment. Then it was, I say, that my + hair would have lifted off my hat, if it had been on, I am + sure it would. + + D. Well, but when they were all gone, you came to yourself + again, I suppose? + + C. To tell you the truth, master, I am not come to myself + yet. + + D. But go on, let me know how it ended. + + C. Why, after a little while, my old man came in again, + called his man to set the chairs to rights, and then sat him + down at the table, spoke cheerfully to me, and asked me if I + would drink, which I refused, though I was a-dry indeed. I + believe the fright had made me dry; but as I never had been + used to drink with the devil, I didn't know what to think of + it, so I let it alone. + +In his third chapter ('Of the present pretences of the Magicians; how +they defend themselves; and some examples of their practice') Defoe +has a lively account of a contemporary magician, a Dr. Bowman, of +Kent, who seems to have been a firm believer in what is now called +Spiritualism. He was a green old man, who went about in a long black +velvet gown and a cap, with a long beard, and his upper lip trimmed +'with a kind of muschato.' He strongly repudiated any kind of +correspondence or intercourse with the devil; but hinted that he +derived much assistance from the good spirits which people the +invisible world. After dwelling on the follies of the learned, and the +superstitions of the ignorant, this lordly conjurer said: 'You see how +that we, men of art, who have studied the sacred sciences, suffer by +the errors of common fame; they take us all for devil-mongers, damned +rogues, and conjurers.' + +The fourth chapter discusses the doctrine of spirits as it is +understood by the magicians; how far it may be supposed there may be +an intercourse with superior beings, apart from any familiarity with +the devil or the spirits of evil; with a transition to the present +times. + +And so much for the 'Art of Magic' as expounded by Daniel Defoe. + + * * * * * + +In 1718 appeared Bishop Hutchinson's 'Historical Essay concerning +Witchcraft,' a book written in a most liberal and tolerant spirit, +and, at the same time, with so much comprehensiveness and exactitude, +that later writers have availed themselves freely of its stores. + +Reference may also be made to-- + +John Beaumont, 'Treatise of Spirits, Apparitions, Witchcrafts, and +other Magical Practices,' 1705. + +James Braid (of Manchester), 'Magic, Witchcraft, Animal Magnetism, +Hypnotism, and Electro-Biology' (1852), in which there is very little +about witchcraft, but a good deal about the influence of the +imagination. + +J. C. Colquhoun, 'History of Magic, Witchcraft, and Animal Magnetism,' +1851. + +Rev. Joseph Glanvill, 'Sadducismus Triumphatus; or, A full and plain +Evidence concerning Witches and Apparitions,' 1670. + +Sir Walter Scott, 'Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft,' 1831. + +Howard Williams, 'The Superstitions of Witchcraft,' 1865. + +It may be a convenience to the reader if I indicate some of the +principal foreign authorities on this subject. Such as--Institor and +Sprenger's great work, 'Malleus Maleficarum' (Nuremberg, 1494); The +monk Heisterbach's (Cæsarius) 'Dialogus Miraculorum' (ed. by +Strange), 1851; Cannaert's 'Procès des Sorcières en Belgique,' 1848; +Dr. W. G. Soldan's 'Geschichte der Hexenprocesse' (1843); G. C. +Horst's 'Zauber-Bibliothek, oder die Zauberei, Theurgie und Mantik, +Zauberei, Hexen und Hexenprocessen, Dämonen, Gespenster und +Geistererscheinungen,' in 6 vols., 1821--a most learned and +exhaustive work, brimful of recondite lore; Collin de Plancy's +'Dictionnaire Infernal; ou Répertoire Universel des Etres, des +Livres, et des Choses qui tiennent aux Apparitions, aux Divinations, +à la Magie,' etc., 1844; Michelet's 'La Sorcière' is, of course, +brilliantly written; R. Reuss's 'La Sorcellerie au xvi{e}. et +xvii{e}. Siècle,' 1872; Tartarotti's 'Del Congresso Notturno delle +Lamie,' 1749; F. Perreaud's 'Demonologie, ou Traité des Démons et +Sorciers,' 1655; H. Boguet's 'Discours des Sorciers,' 1610 (very +rare); and Cotton Mather's 'Wonders of the Invisible World,' 1695--a +monument of credulity, prejudice, and bigotry. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[53] Some authorities doubt the authorship; but the internal evidence +seems to me to justify the claim made for it as Defoe's. + + +BOOKS ON MAGIC. + +It may also be convenient to the reader if I enumerate a few of the +principal authorities on the history of Magic, Sorcery, and Alchemy. A +very exhaustive list will be found in the 'Bibliotheca Magica et +Pneumatica,' by Graessel, 1843; and an 'Alphabetical Catalogue of +Works on Hermetic Philosophy and Alchemy' is appended to the 'Lives of +Alchemystical Philosophers,' by Arthur Edward Waite, 1888. For +ordinary purposes the following will be found sufficient: Langlet du +Fresnoy, 'Histoire de la Philosophie Hermétique,' 1742; Gabriel Naudé, +'Apologie pour les Grands Hommes faussement soupçonnés de Magie,' +1625; Martin Antoine Delrio, 'Disquisitionum Magicarum, libri sex,' +1599; L. F. Alfred Maury, 'La Magie et l'Astrologie dans l'Antiquité +et au Moyen Age,' etc., 1860; Eus. Salverte, 'Sciences Occultes,' ed. +by Littré, 1856 (see the English translation, 'Philosophy of Magic,' +with Notes by Dr. A. Todd Thomson, 1846); Abbé de Villars, 'Entretiens +du Comte de Gabalis' ('Voyages Imaginaires,' tome 34), Englished as +'The Count de Gabalis: being a diverting History of the Rosicrucian +Doctrine of Spirits,' etc., 1714; Elias Ashmole, 'Theatrum Chemicum +Britannicum;' Roger Bacon, 'Mirror of Alchemy,' 1597; Louis Figuier, +'Histoire de l'Alchimie et les Alchimistes,' 1865; Arthur Edward +Waite, 'The Real History of the Rosicrucians,' 1887; Hargrave +Jennings, 'The Rosicrucians,' new edit.; William Godwin, 'Lives of the +Necromancers,' 1834; Dr. T. Thomson, 'History of Chemistry,' 1831; +'Encyclopædia Britannica,' _in locis_; Dr. Kopp, 'Geschichte der +Chemie;' G. Rodwell, 'Birth of Chemistry,' 1874; Haerfor, 'Histoire de +la Chimie,' etc., etc. + + +BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD. + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Variations in spelling, hyphenation and accent usage are preserved as +printed. + +Minor punctuation errors have been repaired. + +Page 253 includes the phrase "And thead of the said meetinge was to +consult ...". Another source of the quotation uses 'thend' instead +of 'thead'. Although 'thead' may be a typographic error, as there is +no way to be certain it is preserved as printed. + +The following amendments have been made: + + Page 65--1675 amended to 1575--"One of these royal visits was + made on March 10, 1575, ..." + + Page 142--make amended to made--"... made many impertinent + obliterations, formed many objections, ..." + + Page 143--every amended to ever--"... as any that ever fell + from the lips of the Pythian priestess: ..." + + Page 150--or amended to of--"... (both of which were + translated by Elias Ashmole), ..." + + Page 204--withcraft amended to witchcraft--"... and even + ecclesiastics, have been accused of practising witchcraft." + + Page 272--infalliby amended to infallibly--"... whose skill + would infallibly detect the guilty person." + + Page 310--Macgillivordam amended to MacGillivordam--"she + instructed MacGillivordam to procure a large quantity of + poison." + + Page 314--MacIngurach amended to MacIngaruch--"A warrant was + issued for the arrest of Marion MacIngaruch; ..." + + Page 375--changes amended to change, and person amended to + persons--"... encouraged by this change of sentiment, persons + accused of witchcraft ..." + + Page 428--soupçonnès amended to soupçonnés--"... 'Apologie + pour les Grands Hommes faussement soupçonnés de Magie,' ..." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Witch, Warlock, and Magician, by +William Henry Davenport Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITCH, WARLOCK, AND MAGICIAN *** + +***** This file should be named 38763-8.txt or 38763-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/7/6/38763/ + +Produced by Irma Špehar, Sam W. and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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