The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-12-30

AMI, HrOpr1etOr =
I II a1T-h gaiL --asa.i-aLsiii2 lEia1a1a an1
sD,.AIAIYl,,,s'D1[EC.EMB|ERs33 "a y, I
The Beiief IN Witchecraft ace XII In y England. ndan
! -!Gl5 pug nsTt; Hrt&9fRtG i1a3Sf j d
a belief in witchcraft fingered in
most OF the villages which I was wass1frnli ii the
habit q fyisitiag, II yknewlit to he !, fact
that whatever subtitle. disease laid hold
OF either man Or BEAST. o9tl 81 Whatever fssl
tality hefea a familys it WAS by.seme laid
70 the charge, of an evil-eye, Or to the
wicked ohaehinations III q Woman III
league with the Wieked, One. There
must be many who buy the wisdom of
theEss wisesnaa1f and wise IsTodt woman m %
else the latter; equld ;nobElay up the
riches which they do. 1t is not more
than ten years since afwofaan died III one
OF sosT Large West Yorkshire towns who
had for many years fiourished on the
superstitioas scfedafsy ! Of ekef feHowVl
creatures She combined othe wisdom
! Of the astrologer with the skill of the
medical e0tanist, afids under tfienSsfis4l
OF parcel of drieaphefbs, she received
pay toras prescriptions for stlieedissoll-
ton OF spell of sWitchery, or for a well
drawnldp nativity!G At 6lffs Ewitch's
death a. aTeqng1 w0manI who had lived
with her from childhood, and had acted
as servant o and 2 cof9paniofi, iAbecane
heiEess TO her sessions. sEyery drawer
IN the house was crammed with rich and
costly dresses and shawls ;alid the Cup. CUP
beaEds contained over sthree dozen silver
or sllver-gilt tea and coffee-pots, with a
vast nunnbefo Of silver 7eeipss and silver
sn0ogonsmall the pres tstiens of wealthy
ladies', whose fortunes She had told, Or
whom she had delivef'ed. 1ceording t6'
theiys belle, BY her occult ineantati ieas.r
from the power OF some evil Spell, But
are net'such pefso4is hethse4ves snforei
Wogthy of punishment thans the s. WISE
one, seeing that, were it not for the
purchasers Of such like WisaoffiI6f p6s|G
er there, would be none ta, sell it? ?.saIc,l.
During his residence in rural places.
the writ6ri came Into cbntaee witlfnoE d
feW who had been at one. time or.other
IN mind, body, or estate, under the sup
posedpowefE Of mitehcraftg TRel ivfseif,'
unlike the generality of spch, folks, WAS
not always old or ugly. Sitting one day
imthe house ofia respee tables mech aiife.
he WAS startled by the, sudden, actor. of
the mechaniicc's s wife, Who, f rising IN " from
thessaatfby ythe efireside o rush edTin nh6fo
tai fear toward the;door. where; seizipg
by the shoulders a goodly-fook wom-
an, Whb that moment tssssssin the acsiof
entering the house >, she pulled her oyer
the threshold, saying with a qIu1iivering
lip and flashing eye; Come in here i
ta dare tRotla bogeAsh,s thour, oThe
womanr eyicteds the door was put to,
with a bang and the poor old lady fe-
toek hetspIace at tEe fireside, trembling
in every limb, FNeed I ,sadd, thar, the:
elected woman was, in the iudSment
of'the ejeotor, Ia 'aeritable witch m0Re
form, or entering into The body 81 ,.a, cat
on hare, hurting msoevsrishelistedai
1t. was my lot, while resident in
rural parts to lodge for a time with a
sihgular couple, ,mhose belief inlwitchs
craft. and indeed, in all sorts, of, super,
firnied!oi Myubedroom9 had. BEEN snaade
by y1i cutting of q ASP smal peytiqA4I9f q large,
room BY q Partition of thin Wood; and,
as the room was penssro1the 1eslates q
ceiling of lath and 4papsE-was put over
my, portion thereof ~ This sounded,
when touched, like a drum One night
Itwas awaked out Of sleeps BY fheaSfn9oa "a
tanbourine- like noise overhead ,roccars
stoned BY something going ACROSS this
ceilings f'then Q the asometk hing ~ Isabed
down on TO the room foar, srameersd
down stairs, and away into the Street
OUT of'ansopen wfndoW. yiimsi siHs nTf;
| u:::Oraas saidiI ssitis only . stray, cat;,,,
and SO tried to get to get to sleep again.
But 8aon Btiieards M p:h0stessaioh the
tIo0r, aad seen she iNassr sr5.saui bend atggork
and corAers.I IkneM her 'scafeAlwouldi
be fruitless ons$ sosit-was; but in a
whiles on returning TO sher bed q long,
earnest, whispered dialogue was held
between her, ana hef l6Iws'd 1ffoofff ffoofffs fb TTeTt
nAtt breakfast, next, morning. bvli lieving
that something more was thought about
nay Visitor BY them thai1 bgf m yself,, r
asked the old lady what had led her to,
make SO diligent d search after the cat.
iassshe Had niadA lsTu3luaf1nE Iid99z
ol l0oking nae earnestly in the face she.
said: 'sUgh! A cat, we cali it! IL ali
he'd aigot hod oh's,9ah wad A-eleave its
IskplllYi thil tlTGezpeint. lPekeH see E0s.
an a-laid its carkase on. tn dur -stahe;
IAN it wad a-been vary sso6n Reported
at woman had-bseA -Ssnd deead i bed
vii heDskvA eleagedH1o7sm rnO -yi
- What! Do you really believe that,
the Cot and g woman Are Wso6meh6M
NAKED Viz 1giol GIG 9Iiaanpasnoo has
:. All knaw yo'll do nowt but laugh
at me bdt ah've ssuffefeTf sfno6re thatif
Iopybodys skRsws fra ssich-iake .efstufss,,
an ah dunnot want yo to be hurt by
EN- whale yo' I've Wi lis. Wesre Ill a
|haa agbrihoodJl'ol II no1Cv naiou
A few weeks after this. incident was
,passfng tie house Just as 1t Vas bIecofiiIa
ing dark; and, slylys Locking 1prer, the
|window-curtain, ! saw my hostess sit
ting on low stool with her chin in the
palm of Her light hand, and fief elbow
resting1 onlsherI Knee, staining intd
t5s5bps the tfsi IL had l9ss entered pRoa Ros
the relies of boyis1l, IRrEiux ssfspnr yiu