Litchfield enquirer., 1844-02-22
Fron, the Haytford Couwant.
LECTURE BEFORE THE HISTORICAL
 SOCIETY,"

very interesting Lecture was given last eve ming, before this society, by E. Champion Bacon, Esq.,, of Litchfield, upon W9tchcrGJt especially
 Witchcraft as at has eriSted ie Connecticut, He commenced by speaking of the belief which, with more or less of strength, fastens upon every human mind, of the existence of spirits, freed from mor tality,-a belief founded upon our own concioaS- ness of an existence within us. From this belief proceeds the idea that the spirit, when once de- parted, may sometimes return again and hold com munion with mortal man. Connect this spirit with
 some shadowy resemblance to ourselves; and we
 have the belief in ghosts-a belief which in differ ent degrees was found among the Greeks, the na- tons of Asia, Chinese, Egyptians, the Romans and 1 Scandinavians
 } The Lecture- passed by the character of the ap- partitions mentioned in Scripture History,-the fai
 ry supersttions of the old world and the shocking
 belief in the existence of vampyres, and proceeded
 to notice Witchcra, in its ordinary acceptation, "an art, serving for the working of wonders, by the assistance of the Devil, so far as God will permit He then gave an outline of the English statutes
 touching the offence of Witchcralt,- which ofigi- naly, as enacted, in the reign of Henry sh punish- ed it, aoittom 6enett of clergy, and so on through
 EizabeM and James 1St., until the reign of George k2d., when all laws upon this subject were abolish 1 ed In Heland, witchcraft is still under severe statute law.
 The Lecturer then presented his subject under five divisions.
 First, The mode of becoming witch. | Second, The different sorts of witches Third, The powers with which witches were endowed.
 Fourth, The means of averting their evil influ- | ences.
 | Fifth, The modes adopted for their detection and | trial.
 | After stating the method by which one became witch and the character of three kinds of witches, black white, and grey, he proceeded to some illus trations of the powers they exercised-ther abllI- x,,t t1 pfa md fn nr
 hatred to transfer disease from to another, and
 to destroy life itself. When inhcting their tor
 ments, witches only be seen, by the subject, or | victim, tormented.
 l He then alluded to the means which were adop- | ted to avert their inhuence,-driving nails into doors as among the Romans, and the fastening the
 horseshoe over door ways,-a device which IS not
 even yet, fallen into entire neglect. 1 The methods of detecting witchcraft were no
 less amusing than unsafe,-by searching upon the
 body of the witch for the spots where the devil had
 placed his signet, by weighing the suspected per-
 son against the Bible causing them to repeat the
 Lords Prayer, to whether they could go through | it, without faltering, &c.
 | Great men, and good men, in the English courts
 were impressed with the belief in witchcraft,-a-
 mong whom he instanced the case of Sir Matthew | Hale.
 The last execution for witcbcraft, in England, was in 16S2. though in 1707, woman was there ducked to death a witch.
 | The last execution in Scotland, for the same crime, was 1727. Thus, after sketch of what had been believed in Europe, upon the subject of witchcraft, and the manner in which it has been punished, the Lectu- to the sad account of the subject as it has been exhibited in New England.
 In New Plymouth and Massachusetts, there were laws making witchcraft a capital offence. The first execution of this kind in Massachusetts in June 18th, 164S. It was upon Alice Jones, of Charlestown, though she was executed at Boston, at which time says Winthrop, in his Journal ,there was very great tempest at Connecticut" The Lecturer then passed to consideration of the witchcraft deluson, which so memorably pre- vailed at Salem and several of the adjacent towns, in 1692. It made it's melancholy appearance in the family of Mir. Paris, then minister of Salem village, upon the person of his daughter and niece. The evil influence was at length traced to an IDd- an woman, servant in his family ,--who confessed that she was witch. She was thrown into pris- on, and not discharged, until the delusOn passed away. Sir Walter Scott erroneously says, in his essay on Demonology, that she was executed. This case was the leader of accusations which created general alarm, and threw many into prison.
 Several cases were quoted from the Massachu- setts Historical Collections, showing the severity and extent to which the laws were enforced against offenders. One magistrate, named Dudley Brad 1 street, issued forty warrants. to apptehend witches and on refusing to issue more, was accused of nine murders, and saved himself by flight. The delu- | sion prevailed at Salem, for fifteen months. From June to September, 1892, (both months inclusiye(