The Democratic advocate., 1866-09-13
EsIMINsTER MD. -THuRsDAY sIzP1ElIBER l3. ls00
I.SrseerlIon 70 the yVIlcI.sg.

EerseCu1f0Ea on ftsc Wllchtsts
From recent Loniion work called
laIIistory Of the Rise and Influence q
tie Spirit Of Ratiouslism 10 Europe, :,
We t,kc the following graphic account
| Of tlie persecution Of hcretics:
Nations that were completely separa.
tod by position by interest, BY charac-
Tor, on this one question were united.
ID aInost every province Of Germany:
but especially In those where clerical
influence pfedominatcd, the pefsecu-
tion ragged With fearful intensity Sew
CO Thousand victims are said 10 have
been burned At Treyes, six lrnpdfcd by
4 single bishop Of Ksnlberg, aud eight
hundred il d single year IL the bishop
ric Of Wurtsburg. In France deerces
were passed on the subject By the Par
Iinncnts % Paris, Toulouse, bordeaux,
Rhiins, Kouen, Djon, aud Rennes, and
they were al followed BY a harvest Of
blood. AT Toulouse, four hundred
persons pcrished for sorccry IN a single
yeur. Kenny. Judge d Nance, boosted
thnt be had put to death cighiecR hun-
dfcd witches 10 sixteen years
The execution that took place at Par
Is III few months, were, ID the emi-
phatic words Of an old writer, almost
Infinite The iagitiyes who escaped
10 Spain were there seized and huFucd.
10 that country tho persecution spread
to the smallest towns, andthebehcfwas.
90 deeply rooted IN tho popular mind
.that so1cereF was burnt IS late as
i7su. ToFqasnlada devoted himself to
The extirpation Of witcheraft az zeal.
Snsiy ~ 20 the cxtirpa,ion Of hefesys
and he wrote hook upon the enornlity
of the crime. Ia lsaly thousand per-
SONS weTa executed ID single year la
the province VI Couno. aud 10 other parts
Of she country the severity Of the IN
qaisitdrs az last crcaled 40 absolute re-
bollion. The same scenes wcFc enacted
ii tbs Wild valleys Of Switzerland aud
SAVOY. IN Gencya, which was then
Fllicd BY Biftop, 5U0 alleged witches
we're executed 10 three months; IS
we're buFntHt Constance oF Ragensburg.
and go in ths lttle town Of Valley, IN
Savoy.
III iG70, seventy pepoas were con-
iemned III Sweden, and 4 large ppf
iion of ihenl burnt And these arc on
Is fcw 81 the more silent events in
that Iopg series og prosecutions which
eSlended oyer almost every country,
aud continued sor centuries with una.
batca Guty. Almost a.i tho great works
that wara written IN favor ot tho dxeen.
tious zero written by the ecolcsiasties.
Almost All tbs lay wprsa on the same
side wcye disileatei tl aud sanctioned
by cclgsiassieal dignisaFics Ecelesias.
tical Ii bauals eeuianned thouBaads to
dessh, aisd countless bishops cxrFted all
their iaauenee 70 multiply the victims.
Ina vord, fog many eeutaFies il was
ualYcfsally believed that the continued
existeaco ofMischcrait formed an Site
gral part Of chs teaehing Of ,he Church,
aud ihat ihe persecution Which ragged
through EaFppa vas supported BY tho
whole stress 6E her inlallibilily
saeh was the attitude of the Church
Of Rome withfufesenee 10 shis subject,
bat ou this ground the lsaformera had
no cpalliet with their opponents. TIE
crodalNy of Lutllar manifested on All
sa5iters connected With diaboiical 10
logytntian, was rmaziag esea for his
agc AID whee speaking of witchnEait.
his languages wss emphatic end unhes
itating II weuld hayc % eoippassion
on these wilohos Iie exclaimed. ~
would burn fhdm al !" Ia England
tie cssal,lisbment Of ihc determination
Nas tho agaal loF an iinlnediaic cat
hagee of the superstition aad there, as
elsewhere, i,s dccliue WIS repFeaculed
by The clergy u The rfogrcss of religious
skepiieism
Ia Scotland. where the Reform mine
isicrs exercised groaier influence than
10 any other eanplfy, cad Where The
witch irials fell almost eutirclY into
their hands, tho pcracehtien was pro
portisDa,oly atroeioiis. Probably the
ablest defender Of the belief was Clan.
VII, olergymap Of the English catab.
lislnaenl and one of the most inaaen-
iial was Baxter, the greatest Of the
Pnritsns Il spread With Puritanism
into the New World. and tho cxeci-
tions In Massachusetts, form one Of the
darkest pages in the history of Ameri-
ca The greatest religious header Of
the last century was among the latest
Of is supporters.