, 1870-08-07
WITCHES In THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY,
Ctlrlotl> d;crrn.an n &l1purssItio,ax


"1tchcrHft III tiermaDt ut tho uterent time,
hut the foliuwing are ucverthaIcss facts. The
Heidelberg Journal of the 23d Of April savA,
literally persec,ltions for wit.l1crail exist
here, and sro. unfortunately. nothing uncom-
1non. Not very many days ago woman Gv-
ing Just outside Vi tue city found her~elf COM
PEELED to seek protection fFnin the repeated
accusations made by Two young married wo-
men, who asserted flat r1.o l,nd iHwitched
their clNklren." This IL all that We k.,ew Of
the case. which made the rounds Of tho press
unguett!oletl. witch case Of greater inter-
cet happened on tho 5th Of tho Hatne month at
Stenzlau, near Uirscl,au, Prussia, which VIC
translate az given by tho German papers:
In Ste1lzlau there lived for many years
three women. who we're decrie.l AZ witches II.
widows, al having reached pretty old age.
ami lived together in llttIe tto,,se given to
them NJ dwelling ly tue proprietor Of the
distinct Nothing particular Is known al,out
tht ir moce Of lie. Last fail youpg and
beautiful eirl OF about ~ ycalA Of age
was the daughter OF 4 widow namcd B.ch0f.
%, the day after he1 arrival ono of the thrcn
old women, Fran ksause. one OF tho most
feared Of the cltcle, gave the girl piece Of
days afterwa5il the girl became sick, and
grew vurse day t,y aay. Tho Fri had two
arnthe1s, the one 4o1,lier Of 1866, tho other
Young fellow Of twenty years- They wevd
vcry Iaurii excited A',out the .ickness Of their
tisf+r, which they thought could only have been
lac-:ncri by Tho @1acnn giSen TO her by tho
witch TAsy determined to make the lat
ter withdraw tho scnchaptu,ent,' and to this
en-! they were told t,s their mother that Syl-
vcrter night was tho most appropriate time
for this procedure. Tho night cane, and the
two fellows led the old witch krause to tho
bedside Of their sisser. and asked her il she
won,d take hack the disease. .;he declared
tint tho WIS unable to do 70; wlleTeupon the
two men heat ller in feariul manner with
eticka and kniyes. a week after this ovcnt
tho sister died.
~On the Gil, Of April the two brothers were
brought up for trial. They sworo that they
| Dai lot heatcu the witch bnt tha1 their
! sistsr lad lono so- DR.. 1reuse, OF Dirschau.
however. proved that tho girl who had ruf-
! tcr.tl from typhua, was reduced TO = skeleton
unable to move. Ito testified, also, th,t he
attended Fran kEaus* after her maltrehtuent:
| and fonnd a number Of wau,lds, many OF
them prodncAl t,s knivca. OIL her head nama
rlsctt sud hack. Fran krauso herself was
then called, She is si1ty-slsee years old. has
dressed in black. mid woro black
hood with white fdll upon her head.
Ii was not to be denied that she enaM have
NeIl tsken part in the witch sceuo Of Macbath.
She solemn!y asserted that sha had not be-
witclel tho girl; but she WAS inclined to be-
lieve that rome one e1se mu.t have douo it.
She thcu related how tho two rrpthcrs had
malt1eated her. The hrosher who had form.
erly been = soldier then made the strange
rlroposi'ion totlIecoust that the wotnan hIause
should swear 10 her Innocence in the village
| church between twelve loaded guns. II sht
hworc falsely one OF tie Weapons would go OF
| and fehd her to bell. The court declined K
adopt this mode Of proof, and sentenced the
brothers, on account Of violent assault viii
l nt.A;,
prisonment."
sun another case is reported in tho column
| Of the Cologne 2tilanJ within the past week
given on the authority Of the Drombclg e.
tsr,g. In The famity pt a vi11aser Of Icelitz
i'll the Trussisn lruvince OF Tos<n. there dict
| wife: ehort1y after son died: then the fatho1
and Lastly, the mother herself Another raetn
her OF The family was also very i'll, The first
| named deceased. whose CHIEF occupation ha'
] lctn telling fortune Gy means Of CARDS. Ga'
I enjoyed the reputation during life Of lcinl
wiicl,, and tho supers.itious people we1'
now firmly convinced shat she had caused th
DEATHS Of all the members OF tho family. !!
Few dzyt after nil had been inferred some pei
so1's actually did attcnpt to get At tho corps
| grave in tLc churchy.ra, in order to sever III
head from the body. and thus banish tho orl
tnckaptincnt, 20 a. to preserve the Other sic
member from impending death! Had it nc
tteen f1r tie inteFveutiun OF SOHO rntions
! Guman 1'einss this riece Of superstition woul
l,avc been sccomCl.sl,ctl.
. The variety Of su1crssitions prevalent is a
. most AZ great H tl:c,1 number. It Is no: Ion
4 ago that little child ut Essen, rrussla, va
bitten ty . mad dog, and tho parents, nc
+ having faith IN medical means, took it to III
) Cologne Cathtasnl. in order that ecc,esiAstics
3 remedies might 30 applied On Tho retur
4 journey lsyarophohia arre.red, aud Inc ci,il
4 died on reaching home. II Fruhs,ockheiu, ,
4 Lower Frsrconia- there lives = married coapl
= named Gavnanu. to whom two strange wotne
y made known that sn enchanted child n.
tuea in their hosrs Thsh n1s n7t hs b relea., lie
With money r1, ama ,hcn Inc e pe.sapis h az az
:. neissSosl,ood gave mency 10 .he extent
i some tvo hundred .nd t,ftE dollars. Tor Vii, Viii
n The end ws- that the two strangers dirappcs
4 cd suddenly with the money. Aud have ncv
J. shown their faces again in tho region. It
% surprising. indeed almost incredible. that 50
il | pnpezrti.ions have no deep root in the rop
ts lAr mind, get such is the case.