The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1865-11-11
The Persecution Of the Witche.


s, From a recent London work called "Hi,
e tory OF the Else and Influence of the Spir
f OF hationalism in Europe" We take the 70
lowing graphic account of The persec cution ,
heretics:
\ "Nations that were completev separate
by position, by interests, and by characte,
on this one question were united. In Al
most every province of Germany. but especi
ally In those where clerical influence pre
) dominated, the persecution ragged with fear
tui insanity. Seven thousand victims ar,
sand to have been burned at Treves, six hun
dred by single Bishop of Ramberg, and
eieA1 hundred IN single year in the Bishop
ric at Wurizburg. In France. decrees were
passed on the subject by The Parlianents O,
farls, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Rheims, Rouep.
Duon and Rennes, and they were all follow.
ed by harvest of blood At Toulouse. the
seat OF the inquistion, four hundred persons
perlshed TOR sorcery at single execution.
and hfty at Douay in single year. Remv,
Judge OF Nancy, bcasted that he had put
to death eight hundred witches in sixte..
years The execution that i9,qt - AT
words OF an old wrii::cr, almost infinite"
The fugiilves who escaped to Spain were
there seized and burned by the i,..nuistion.
'H ''"I N'ui'til thS persecution prcdu 10 tHC
smallest towns, and the belief was so deeply
rooted In the ropala. mind, that {. sorcercr
was bsrnt as late as 1880. Torauemada devot-
ID himself to the extirpation of witchcraft as
zzalously as 20 the extirpation fheresy, and
he wrote y book up.H" the enormi,y of the
crime In Italy ricusan~ hersons were ex.
ecuted in single year in tut Pro'.,"ce oi
Como and in other part. Of the country,
the severity of the irquiStors al last created
an absolute rebellion. The same scenes
were enacted in the viii valleys of S~itzer-
land and Savoy. Ia Geneva, which wa. then
ruled by Bishop, five hundred alleged
witches were execuiel In three months
forty-eght were burnt III Constance or Raw
ensburg. and eighty in the little town Of
Valley, in Savoy. In 1910, seventy persons
were condemueGi II Sedeu, aLd large pro-
portion of them burnt. And tncSe are only
a few Of the more salient events in that long
series of prosecutions which extended Ger
almost every country, and continued for cen
turies with unabated fury. The Church OF
Rome procla med IN every way that IN
her power the reality and the continued eX- |
istence OF the crime. She strained every
nerve to stimulate the prosecution. She |
taught bv all her organs that tn spare q
witch was u direct insult to the Almighty, !
and 10 her ceaseiess oXcrtious is to be al
tributcd b? far the greater portion OF the
blood that was shed. in 1854 Pope Innocent /
VIII. issued a bull which gave a fearful I'M.
petus to the prosecution, anC he it was who /,
commissioned the InqusIior Sp-enger, whose
book was long the recognized manual on the /
subject, and who Is SAID To- have condemned /
hundreds to death everv year. Similar bulls I
were issued BIZ julius H. il. 1904, and by |
Adrian VI. in 1923. long series of Pro- I
yincial Coyuciis asserted the existeace OF
sorcery. and mathematical hose who resort, /
ed to it. The universal practice OF he I
Church was to place magic and s0rceTy
an ouG the reserved cases and at Pronos to
declare magicians and sorcerers excommuhi- |
Gated; and form OF exorcsm was s)lemSly |
inserted ia the ritual. Almost all the great |
works that were writtcnin favor of tn, ex- |
ecutions were written by the ecclesiasiics. /
Almost all the lay works on the same side I
were dedicated To, and sanctioned by ec- /
clesia>tical dignitarieS. Ecclcsiastica. tn !
bunals condemned thousands - death. aud F.,
countless Bishops exeried all their Influence |
to multiply the yicti rs. In word, TOR /
maIy centuries it was universally believed I
that the continued existence of WiiChcrati /
formed integral part of the teachings Of
the church, and that the persecution which /
ragged through Europe was supported BY the /
whole stress of her inf;,iLility.
''Such was the attitude OF the CAurch Of
Rome with reference to this subject, gu; on
this ground The Reformers had no conflict !
with their opponents. The creduEty which /
Luther manifested on all matters connected |
with dabOlical intervention. was amazing.
even to this age /: and, when speaking OF !
witchc:att his language was emph4tic aud
uahesi,atng Il would have 40 coEh passion
on these witches he exclaimed. II would
burn them ally In England the establish
me Mt of the Reformation was the signal for
an immediate outburst of the superstition;
an6 there. as elsewhere, it, deciu. was re-
presented by the clergy the direft conse-
queuce and the exact measure of the pro-
gress of religious scePtcSm. In Scotland,
where the Reformed ministers exercised
greater influence than in anv other country.
and where the witch trials fell almost entire
" into their hands. the p persecution was pro-
portiona,ely atrocious. Probably THE ablest
defender of the belief was Glanvi. a clergy
man of the English Establishment; and one
of the most influential was Baxter, the great
est of the Puritans. 1t spread. with Puritan
ism. into the New World and the executions
in Massachusetts, form one of the darkest
pages in the history of America The great
est religious leader of the last century was
among the latest It's supporters" (Vol i.
p 81