The Sun.
London, England, 1825-07-19 00:00:00

WITCHCRAFT.

(From the Suffolk Herald. )
N'o longer ago than Saturday se'tiniglit, a man
was "swam for a wizard," at Wickham-Skeith, in this county,
in the presence of some hundreds of people ! ! The particulars,
as we learn, are these :—ln that parish lives Isaac Stebbings,
a little spare man, about 67 years old, who obtains a livelihood
as a huckster ; and hard by his cottage lives a thatcher, whose
wife, unfortunately, is afflicted in mind. In the same parish
there happens to be a farmer, whose mind is occasionally dis-
turbed. As in former days of gross credulity and ignorance,
some one or other put forth the surmise, that these two afflicted
persons were bewitched, and Stebbings was spoken of as the-
' worker of the mischief." Story soon grew on story ; and ac-
cumulated hearsays were accepted, among the vulgar in the
neighbourhood, as " proof undeniable." Among other:things
it was said, that the friends of the afflicted woman had recourse
to the means recorded in witchcraft annals for detecting the de-
vil's agent ; and whilst the frying. pan operation was going on
at night, Stebbings came dancing up to the door, In his denial
of this circumstance, Stebbings admitted that he did once call
at his neighbour's with mackerel for sale, at four o'clock in the
morning, before the family were up, and this admission was
taken to be as much as he was likely to make. Besides this, the
village shoemaker persisted, that one morning, as'Stebbings
passed 2 or 3 times before his house, he could not "make" his
wax—the ingredients would neither melt nor mix. Dubbed a
wizard beyond all doubt, poor Stebbings, ignorant as his beigh.
hours, and teased beyoned bearing,proposedat length of hititsell,
thegoodold-fashioned ordeal of"sink or swirn."Theproposal was
readily caught at. Time and place were agreed on—the follow.
ing Saturday, at two o'clock, in a large pond, called the
Grimmer, on Wickam-green. Four men were appointed to
walk into the water with him, and the cone table of the parish
engaged to attend and keep the peace. The sides of the pond
were crowded with spectators—men, women, and children.—
Stebbings had on his breeches and shirt, and when the men bad
walked with him into the water breast-high, they lifted him up.
and laid him flat upon his back on the water. Stebbings moved
.neither hand nor foot, and continued in that position for ten
minutes. This was the first trial, and the spectators called
out, " give him another." Another trial was accordingly
given, for the same length of time, and with the same result.
" Try him again, and dip him under the water," was then
the cry. They (lid so ; one of the four men pressed his
chest, and down went-his head, whilst lip came his heels;—
in a word, he was like a piece of cork in the water. These
trials kept the poor old fellow three quarters of an hour in
the pond, and he came out " more dead than alive." Still,
some'were not satisfied. Another man, they said, of his age
and size, ought to be swam with him. Stebbings agreed even
to this, for he was determined to get rid of the imputation, or
(lie. The following Saturday was appointed for the purpose,
and a man called Toni Wilden, of Becton parish, near by,
was named for his companion. The story now got more wind,
and hundreds of people from all the neighbouring parishes at-
tended to witness the second ordeal. But, in the interval, the
clergyman of the parish, and the two churchwardens, had in.
terfered, and the swimmers were kept away, to the no small
vexation and disappointment of the deluded multitude. It
is now gravely told, that at the very time Stebbings was
swam, the afflicted farmer alluded to above was unusually per.
curbed 9 • he cried out, " I can see the imps all about me ; I
must frighten them away with my voice ;" and his delusion
and his noise, as Stebbings did not sink, are put down to his
account. To complete the affair, a respectable farmer in a
neighbouring parish has been, it is said, to some " cunning
man," and learnt to a certainty that Stebbings is a wizard.--
The sum 3/. was paid for this intelligence, upon the assurance
that Stebbings should be " killed by inches !" We have given
up a larger space to this foolish affair than, in the opinion of
some, it may deserve; but, if we may ue allowed to feel with
others for the honour and character of the age, surely we may
for the county in which we live. Exposure, though unpleasant,
is often salutary.

LAUDABLE CONDUCT OF A CLEItGYM ANT.—OD
Sunday morning last, just after divine service, a poor little girl,
who had accidentally fallen into the River Thames, was, w:th
the assistance of drags, raised from the watery deep near one of
the wharfs in Tooley-street, Southwark. A vast concourse of
people immediately assembled, amongst whom was a gentle-
man dressed like a clergyman, and who, we were afterwards
informed, was the Reverend Dr. Kenney, the Rector of the
parish, perceiving the distressed state of mind of the unhappy
father (who was present at the time his child was dragged out,
of the water), had robbed him of all energy, and the multitude
not appearing to know what to do, the Rev. Doctor caused the
'unfortunate little girl to be immediately taken to the nearest.
druggist'sshop,where he had her instantly stripped, and wrapped
in flannel blankets, which he had himself fetched from his own
house. Nor did his praiseworthy exertions rest here. No medical
man being at hand, the Rev. Doctor lost no time in sending
messengers in pursuit of one, while he rubbed down the poor
little girl with his own hands, and applied hot water bottles to
different parts of her body. Professional assistance at length
arrived, when the necessary measures for restoring animation
were about to be taken ; but the father of the child (a poor
Irishman) was unfortunately so obstinate in his determination
not to allow them to be pursued, declaring that he would r•o•
have his child injured ; Coat all the exertions of the Rev. Dec-
tor and the rest werecompletely thrown away. Had these mea-
sures been employed, there was no doubt but that the child
would have been restored ; as it is, she has been made the vic-
tim of a barbarous prejudice.—(Morning Paper.)
COMMENCEMENT OF TILE HattvtsT.—A field of
Oats, the property of Mr. Shims, of the Field,
near this City, was cut last week. The field
contained twelve acres, and was sown with last
year's seed. Mr. JONES, of the Black Swan, in
this City, also yesterday cut a field of nye.—
(llereford Independent.)

THE LONDON JOURNAI.I.

DAILY_

Extracts from the Mornzag, Papers, July 19,1825.

THE T I KES.]
- _

Intelligence from Calcutta arrived in the course
of yesterday, detailing the military movements
which had taken place, and developing the pro-
posed enterprizes of the British forces along the
whole hostile frontier from North to South. In
Assam, a recent conquest of the Burmese, Co-'
lone! Richards has got possession, after some
smart fighting, of the fort of Rungpoor, which '1
commands the capital of the country Ghurgong,
upon the Dhekur. This conquest is held by the
British Commander to be of great importance, as
it passes for the key of the whole country of
Assam, and covers the northern flank of the Bur-1
mese dominions. It is likewise conjectured that
the Assamese, who have groaned under the bloody
tyranny of the Bormans, will be eager to throw
off the yoke, to place themselves under the Com-
pany's protection. The next point of attack is
Cachar, the contiguous province to Assam, and
immediately to the southward, where Briga-
dier-General Shuldham struggles with con-
siderable difficulties in undertakidg a march
upon Munnipore, the capital, lying north by west
of Ammarapoora about WO miles. The route of
Brigadier-General Shuldham is described, or con.
jectured rather, to be obstructed by jungles and
other natural defences, of a nature almost imprac-
ticable, while it is said, on the other hand, that
the pioneers of his division have pushed their
way to within twenty-four miles of Munni-
pore. The attack upon the maritime province
of Aracan was likely to be impeded for want of
draught and provision bullocks ; and thus a de-
lay to be produced about the centre of the Bri-
tish chain of operations. The Peguese, long the
regular enemy of Ava, and more recently its un-
willing subjects, have discovered a strong ten-
dency to profit by the present opportunity,
and with the assistance of the British arms, to
shake themselves free from their oppressors.—
The Siamese, who have a common feeling of hatred
to the Burmans, and of dependence on England,
are likewise deserting the King of Ava, and esta-
blishing a friendly concert with our officers. A
disorganization of the Burmese dominion towards
the south is therefore talked of as an event to be
hoped for, if no new calamity should befal the
arms of the Company—an occurrence the less,
we trust, to be apprehended, from the increased
knowledge obtained by our troops of the charac-
ter of Burman warfare, and of the declining
spirit and judgment with which the enemy ap-
pears to act. From Rangoon an expedition is
preparing to advance along the Irrawaddy, under
the command of Sir A. Campbell, and with the
hope, as stated, of combining his movements with
those on the side of Cheduba ; but from the
great extent of the line to be traversed, and the
unknown difficulties which may intersect it, a com-
bined attempt in that quarter must be of a de-
scription the most uncertain and hazardous.
The inhabitants, it is said, are returning to Ran-
goon, which, from the promptitude and integrity
of our payments for provisions, is represented as
being once more abundantly supplied. Upon the
whole it may be understood from the present in-
telligence, that our general prospects of success
in this barbarian conflict are better than we should
hitherto have been justified in considering them,
but at the game time it is very clear that a plan
of invasion so broken up and multifarious; re-
quiring a separation of every corps engaged in it
from every other, to such a distance as to annihi-
late all chance of reciprocal support, must have
been founded on a clear assurance that the
enemy whom we had to encounter was ignorant
of the first principles of military knowledge and
power, and utterly incapable of employing the
most obvious expedient, that of a concentration
of force, for the overthrow of a system of attack
the most exposeci of all others to disaster, and the
most gravely condemned as a system, by all wri-
ters on the art of war.