The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-10-02
WHITE WITCHES.
A. CURIOUS INCIDENT.

Wehave received from an eminent Amer
lean iurist the following interesting nara
tive
Near the close of the seventeenth centu-
ny that renowned Judge, Sir John Holt,
Lord Chief Justice of England, esteemed
10y his contemporaries, as well as by men
of after-ages, as an embodiment both Of
the law and of justice, was presiding at
the assizes lreld in his native county of Ok
ford \ decrepit old woman was put on
trial, charged with the crime of witchcraft.
The history of the case, the oflenSe Of which
the prisoner was alleged to be guilty, weIe
Laid before the jury by the Attorney Gen
eral prosecuting for the Crown. The Chief
Justice listened to the opening of the case
with unusual earnestness, for there was
recalled To his memory a curious incident
connected with his own early life. When
! a student at the University of Oxford his
habits were wild and Irregular, and he
gave no promise Of his gleat future emil
nence. Ia company with several other
young students lac Lad been for several
days on a carouse through some of the
country places in .he vicinity of Oxford.
Young Holt had separated himself from
his companions, and riding up to way
side inn, without any money il his pocket,
lie yet directed his horse To be fed and an
ample dinner prepared for himself. Stroll
ing into the kitchen, lac noticed the daugh-
ter of the hostess was sick, and was told by
her mother that she was a great sufferer
/ from fever and ague, and that the doctors
had been unable to cure her. The young
colegian at once declared his ability to ef-
! feet cure. Taking piece of parchment,
he wrote upon it a caba!istic word in the
/ Greek characters, bound it tightly upon
/ the wrist of the girl, and then assured her
/ that while she retained it she would have
/ no further return of ber chills aud fever.
/ He remained at the inn for several days,
, and the girl had no return of her sickness.
I When demanding his bill, the grateful
mother said she had no charge against
/ him, and only regretted that her limited
means would not permit her to make him
more ample payment for the healing of her
! daughter. He rode away in triumph. And
now, as he sat on the bench as the Lord
! Chief Justice of England, he knew that
the decrepit old woman on trial for her
life before him was the daughter Of the
| woman who kept the wsy-side inn, and
upon whose wrist he had bound the parch-
ment charm forty years before.
+ She had followed in his own footsteps,
and had been using the charm for the ben
! eft Of her neighbors and friends. The
/ Chief Justice called her up, and as she un-
! folded some old greasy rags, she presented
to him the well-worn parchment with the
cabalistic word in his own handwriting
written upon it. 1t is needless to add that
the woman was at once discharged. IL
the great Chief Justice had previously en-
tertained any doubts on The subject Of
; witchcraft, they were removed.
There is a curious sequel to the incident
! above related. Some twenty-five years ago
the writer of this article was sitting ia the
private Office in Wall street of the late Mr..
s., then a wealthy retired merchant,
! aud acting president of one Of the principal
| Wall street banks. He was quaint, Gu
rious man, fond of the marvellous, and dis
posed to believe ili spiIitualism, then first
coming into prominent notice. Our con-
versation had been continued fer some
| time, discussing Scottish second-sight, su-
pernatural appearances, and especially
Kidd's buried treasures, when he suddenly
changed the subject, saying, abruptly, 81
can cure the fever and ague." On asking
how, he produced small piece of parch-
| ment with a cabalistic word written it
in the Greek characters, saying it must be
| bound on the wrist, and the disease will
disappear or 60 away. He did not tell me
| how or when he had obtained the wonder
ful charm Nor was at that time aware
| of the trial before referred to, and sure L
| am that he could have had no knowledge
of it. A hundred and fifty years had come
and gone since the fallacy had been exposed
by Lord Chief Justice Holt. II is probable
that at some time during the folty years
preceding that trial the woman possessing
J the pretended charm had communicated
the secret, and given copy to some friend
ernigrating to America, and that 1t may
have been handed down through successive
! generations. and perhaps in some cases sf-
! fectinc cures 10y and through the imagina-
tion. 1t has been said that sometimes vio-
lent exercise and sometimes strong impress
sions oa the mind VIII ward of attacks of
what are called fits of ague.- HdrPer's
EfGgdzine for October.
| FoReoT HER BABY.-A curious incident
recently occurred on a western train AS
the cars we've moving away from the Terrs