Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1874-06-17
a Treatise on Witches,

lean DOMINION that certain man and
his wife were burnt with fire. they hav-
ing been accused and convicted of
witchcraft. 1t seems barely possible
that in this age of the world such an
act can be justified. Surely it could
not in these United States, because the
people here are endowed With light and
knowledge, and have more charity
toward their neighbor than to first sus-
pect, and in their ignorant credulity to
arrest, try, and convict, and that per
haps because OF their great prejudices
against their neighbor, and even lack
ing ample proof. But this is in exact
accord with the human mind, that man
loves a lie better than the truth the
fulfllment of proverb that ''lie will
travel thousand miles while truth is
getting his boots on" thus verifying
the fact that man cannot retain forever
that image of God in his heart which is
divine; but in his lack of faith and
natural infrmity and weakness of mind
he can be persuaded through the arts
and facina tions of the evil one to be-
lieve the lie first.
Yet | admit tha. | am one of those
who firmly believe that there was a
time when witches did exist, and have
Biblical authority for my faith. offer
you few texts, thus: Exodus % Is;
Deut. Is 10; Sam. Is: %; Chron.
33 6; 2 Kings 8: % Micah 5; II;
Neh. 81 t. These are a few of the
texts on witches. Then comes wizards,
supposed to mean the masculine. who
was eoDjurer or enchanter, or deceiv-
er by his arts and devices, while they
of the feminine we're regarded as the
witch actual. Then there was the
necromancer, who would converse with
the ghosts of the dead, conjurer, &c,
as having familiar spirits, &c. All of
these are forbidden. | suppose the
Spiritualists of the present day are
closely allied TO some Of these, and
ought not to be tolerated in an enligh
ened country.
But l will now bring this subject
down to more modern times, as for in
stance, in our own New England States,
or rather colonies. | have something
to say from my memory, part of which
was written and part oral. The latter
| gathered from those who lived during
the latter part of the last century. In
those days there was we'll established
faith in witches and witchcraft. When
small boy, some neighbors would
come and spend the forepart of the
night in social conversation, which
would run on feats performed by cer-
tain ones in the late war of the Revolu-
tion and its many singular incidents,
&C.. and of the late !eputed witch
craft of our own ueighborhCod. You
must bear in mind that there we're con-
paratively few neighbors then, and they
far from each other, and, oh, how glad
" would they meet and take their So
cial drink Of whisky, which was then
more common in every family than
sweet milk is now. And here there
we're horses and cows bewitched every
year, AMI the people believed it; and
sometimes even children were bewltched
or at least the people said SO, and
believed it. So it don't matter at all
whether thing be true or false, if only
it is believed, it answers the purpose
with those who originated it. If coun-
terfeit money passes, 1t answers the
purpose for which it was made. So If
people will believe in witches and
witchcraft, l ask, by what means can
they be dissuaded from that belief,
have seen horses names in one
nights time so completely and com
pactly interviewer and plated and mat
ted that it could not be unraveled. |:
a man would try during a whole day,
ne could not unravel that hair. A COW
supposed to be witch-shnt once died.
l saw her opened and skinned. Inside
her body was found ball of hair,
which appeared as hard as a green ap-
pie. 1t appeared of red COW hair, and
one hair could not be pulled out of that
ball without breaking it of, SO tightly
were they sodden together. The bal
was about two inches in diameter. The
skin or hide was every whit sound, yet
between two ribs the flesh was torn
near where the ball lay in the COW wher
opened. In a certain old log mill il
what is now Perry county, after nigh
many cats of all colors would be seer
dancing on the floor from the light o
the lamp, but the very moment th'
miller would open the mill room doc
they all vanished through the crevice
of the chunking and daubbing, whicl
had craked and fallen out. j nigh
|. tell Of hundred other strange witcl