The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1886-11-18
AN AGE OF SUPERSTITION.

FROM The EVIL ONE.
Whether it was owing to the i'm
proved means of spreading intelli-
gence afforded by the invention of
printing or to the excitement of mems
minds consequent upon the political
and social events of the time, the SIX
teenth century was prolific in stories
of wonderful sights in the heavens
and on the earth OF the many mar
velous accounts then circulated, We
/ select the following. which forms the
subject of tract by Abraham Flem-
ing and puIports to have been taken
/ from the evidence of eye-witnessess.
/ The account is entitled: "A Strange
and Terrible Wunder Wrought Very
Late in the Parish Cpurch of Bungay
namely, the fourth of this August
, in the We're of Our Lord 1877 with
the appearance of an horrible shaped
thing sensibly perceived OF the people
then and there assembled" The ac-
count is couched in terms appropriate
/ to the solemnity of a special NANTES
tation from the spiritual world, and Is
interspersed with calculations express
sive of the awe which filled the PEG
pies minds at their witnessing the oc-
currences described, but the incidents,
briefly told, are as follows: A storm
of extraordinary fury was raging
while the congregation was assembl-
ed at devine service; rain came down
like a deluge, lightning flashed, thun
der pealed so that not only dumb
creatures were disputed, but SENSE
less things void of all life and feeling
shook and trembled;'' in other words,
the fabric and furniture of the build
ing were shaken by the violence of
! the storm.
While the tempest was at its height
a visitor from the lower regions (as
the narrator evidently believed) made
his appearance III the midst of the
congregation, in the form, ''as they
might discerne it, of dog Of black
color, the sight whereof, together
with the fearful flashes of fire which
then were scene, moved such admira
ton in the mindes of the assemble
that they thought doome's day was
already come" The evil one IN
such a likenesse' ran with eXtraOrdin
airy speed down the body of the church
among the people. Passing between
two persons who were on their knees
apparently engaged in prayer he
wrung the necbs Of both of them in an
instant, SO that they died where they
knelt. As he passed by another man
he gave him such grippe on the back
that theTewithal he was presently
drawen togither and shrUlnk up as it
were a piece Of lether scorched IN a hot
fire; or as he mouth Of a purse or bag
drawn togither with a string" This
man, however, did not die. Mean
while the parish clerk, who was clean
ing out the gutter Of the church, also
saw the horrible shaped thing" and
was struck to the ground with vlo-
lent clap Of thunder, but beyond this
fall was not harmed The stones of
the church door, On being afterward
examined, bore evidence of the power
OF the demon in the marks Of his claws
or talons; and all the wires, the
wheels, and other things belonging to
the clock were wrung in sunder and
broken III pieces.
A similar Occurance Is stated to
have been witnessed the same day at
Bribery, Il village seven miles from
Bungay. In this case the demon
planted himself on the rood-loft, from
which he flung himself down into the
church, and after killing two men and
a lad, and burning the hand of anoth
er person, few out Of the church ''in
a hideous likeness"
Before dismissing this story as a IA
bic, bred OF the imagination of people
terTor-stricken by the storm, let US
compare il with the account of occur
renee which took place on Malvern
hills on the list Of July, 1926. A part
| ty had taken refuge in an iron-roofed
hut from an impending storm, and
were about to partake of refreshment
when the storm came on. A gentle
man who was standing at the eastern
entrance-the storm had come from
the west-saw what seemed to him to
be ball of fire moving along the sur
face of the ground. 1t came up and
entered the hut, forcing him. as it did
50, several PAGES forward from the
doorway. An explosion followed, des-
cribed by the inhabitants Of the Will
age at the foot Of the hill Great Nal
vern) as terrific On going in, as soon
as he had recovered from the shock,
to look after his sisters, he found them
on the floor fainting, as he thought,
from terror. Two of them had died
instantly, and a third lady and Others
of the party were injured. An exam
innation of the hut showed a large
crack in the side opposite to that al
which the fireball had entered, lead
ing up to a window, and the iron ROOT
above this was indented.
The correspondence of the leading
circumstances of this account with
Fleming's story is remarkable; hao
the Malvern incident occurred IN the
superstitious sixteenth century instead
| OF the scientific nineteenth it would nc
!. doubt have been regarded as a super
natural visitation, and have furnis he'd
Just such marvellous story as that OF
Bunray. In both cases something
was seen to enter building during a
thunderstorm, killing two persons IN
stantiy and iniuring others, disappear
with a noise described in the one case
as a violent clap of thunder and III
} the other as a terrific explosion, and
} leaving behind visible marks of its
progress on the material of the build
!. ing. In each instance, too, a person
stationed outside saw something
which drove him from his place, but
otherwise did not harm him, and III
both cases the body, whatever 1t was,
which seemed to be the immediate
source of the mischief, had progress
sive motion, which. though swift,
could be followed by the eye: The
chief point of difference is in the ap,
pearance presented by the vehicle OF
the destructive agent. In the one