The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-09-24
Earirk.
WHITE WITCHES-A CURIOUS IN
CIDENT

CIDENT.
We have received from an eminont
American jurist the following interesting
narrative:
Near the close Of tho seventeeth centu-
~ that renowned judges, Sir John Holt,
Lord Chief Justice of England, esteemed
by his contemporaries, as well as by men
Of atter-ages, as an embodiment both of
ihe law and of justice, was presiding at
the assize, held in and for his native
county of Oxford. A decrepit old wo-
man was put on trial, charged with the
crime of Witchcraft. The history of the
ease, the Offense of which the prisoner
was alleged to be guilty, were laid before
the jury by the Attorney General prose-
cutting for the Crown. The Chief Justice
listened to the opening of the case with
unusual earnestness, for there was recall
cd 10 his memory a curious incident con-
nected with his own early life. When
student at the University of Oxford his
habits were wild and irregular, and he
gave no promise of his great future emf
nence. In company with several other
young students he had been for several
0aya on a carouse through some of the
country places in the vicinity of Oxford.
Young Holt had separated himself from
his companions, and riding up to a way
side inn, without any money in his pock-
q, he yet directed his horse to be fed
and an ample dinner prepared for him
self. Strolling into the kitchen, he no.
ticed the daughter 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 una
BILE to cure her. The young collegian at
once declared his ability to effect cure.
Taking piece of parchment, he wrote
upon II cabalistic word in the Greek
characters, bound it tightly upon the
wrist of the girl, and then assured her
that while she retained it she woull
have no further return of her chills and
fever. He remained at the inn for sew
eral days, and the girl had no return of
her sickness. When demanding his bill,
the grateful mother said she had no
charge against him, and only regretted
that her limited means would not per-
nit her to make him more ample pay
ment for the healing of her daughter. He
rode away in triumph And now, as he
sat on the bench as the Lord Chief JUS
tice of England, he knew that the decrep-
it old woman on trial for her life before
him was the daughter of the woman who
kept the way-side inn, and upon whose
wrist he had bound the parchment charm
forty years before.
She had followed in his own footsteps,
and had been using the charm for the
benefit Of her neighbOrs and friends. The
Chief Justice called her up, and as she
unt0lded some old greasy rags, she pre-
sented to him the well-wOrn parchment
with the cabalistiC word in his own hand
writing written upon it. 1t is needless
TO add that the woman was at once dis.
charged. If the great Chief Justice had
previously entertained any doubts on
the subject of witchcraft, they were now
removed.
There is curious sequel to the incl
dent above related. Some twenty-five
years ago the writer Of this article was
sitting in the private office in Wall Street
Of the late Mr. S., then a wealthy re-
tired merchant, and acting president of
one of the principal Wall Street banks.
lie was quaint, curious man, fond of
the marvellous, and disposed to belief in
spiritualism, then first coming into prom
inent notice. Our conversation had been
continued for some time, discussing Scot
tish second-sight, supernatural appearan-
ces, and especially Kidds buried treas
ures, when he suddenly changed thesub-
iect, saying, abruptly, a can cure the fe.
yer and ague." On asking how, he pro-
duced a small piece of parchment with a
eabalistic word written on it in the Greek
characters, saying it must be bound on
the wrist, and the disease will disappear
or 90 away. He did not tell me how or
when he had obtained the wonderful
charm. Nor was at that time aware o A
the trial before referred to, and sure
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. 1t
is probable that at some time during the
forty years preceding that trial the wO-
man possessing the pretended charm had
communicated the secret, and given u
copy to some friend emigratingtO Ameri-
ca, and that it may have been handed
down through successive generations,
and perhaps in some cases eiiecting cures
by and through the imagination. 1t has
been said that sometimes violent eXer-
else and sometimes strong impressions
on the mind will ward of attacks Of what
are called fits Of ague.-EDIToR's DRAWER
-, TJg..,,a1s ag00g-ing fl,. (lafoLfs