The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-06-27
FAITH IN WIrCHCRAfr.
A CHAPTER OF HISTORY ASTOUND-
ING TO MODERN NOTIONS.

ono of the Decisions of the Good Old
rlmes"-what an English Newspaper
ssys-Pcnalties Inflicted nv Church and
stste-The Puritans.
At Christmas time, according to Shake
.-earo or Marccllus, no witch has power a.
charm. 50 hallowed and 80 gracious ia the
time There j. perhaps no chapter Of history
,,ore painful or m0rc astounding to ouT
roosle-n notions than that devoted 20 witch
,-.r ThcdeluSon was not like one Of those
s,,ddon outbreaks Of fanaticisn which spring
mn nobody knows ho.s, ana die away as sud
d-olv: It was regarded as a lasting evil to lie
FINISHED with the sevcrest penalties Of the
church and Of the state And for the mos;
ro,t the peOnle who persisted under this reign
II terror were women. They wcrc ccncr-
olly old and ugly, and had fomilio- spirits to
dothcir errands. bpt sometimes young and
fair women suffered on tho rack and at the
sake under the terrible tmpuation Of witch
craft
70 - accused Il this crime was in Tnost
c.S.s 70 be condemned for IL; and. indeed.
there seemed little chance Of an escape, for
tic tests 20 which accused persons were put
io order 70 try their innocence generally
rrovef mortal To throw an old woi:Ian
into the water and. IL she sinks, t. Save hcr
character at tho expense Of her life, is hardly
kind t. the old woman. Almost any cau-s
slvcoa es q reason for hIIninC old women.
Two. for example, were burned at Constance
as the supposed authors Of great storm, and
another for destroying a ships sea by means
Of spells They were never burnt, we he
bcva. without confession; but then 1t was
nh, custom to torture them Jll they did con
e>s
Ouenoial le form Of witohcraft, which has
teen admirably turned 10 poetic account by
Pos,etti. was TO form a waxtn image Of some
1erson obnoxious To the witch, and as this
i,no~c was gradually mcltei oy the fire, soft
was supposed would the victims life fade
away OF this form Of sorcery Eleanor
Gotham. wife If Dukc Humphrey, was &c
cusci. and iioiiingshcd relates that she was
condemned TO DO open TeDarce in the city Of
llmdon. and afterward 10 suffer perpetual
l.nprSonmcnt in the Isle of Liam A kind Of
,9rrery similar % that for which Eleanor
Gotham suffered led to the execution, IN
JOS. ~ two women In Lincoln, who were
s.ttotave bewitcEcd Lord Rose 20 death
us buryug his glove; and "os that glove did
~-t and waste. so did tho liver Of the said
lord rlt and waste
I'm the Fifteenth century Pope Innocent
VII issued "a bull against witchcraft, EN-
towering inquisitors 10 seek for witches and
u burn them. and the agreeable vocation
must have been pursued with a zeSt. for one
lun.Slt0r burned forty-one witches IN one
YEAR aud another burned 100 1t Is stated
;nat tens Of thousands Of victims have SUI.
f,rcd for this imaginarysr In the do
c,se az Como 1909 were burned in Il year at
tie beginning of the Sixteenth century, and
al the same time 800 persisted in Geneva IN
three months The belief in witchcratt and
the iut0lerable cTuelties caused by this belief
were not confined to the papal church. In
The Seventeenth century the Puritans IN
New England hanged a number Of persons as
well as two dogs for this imaginary crime.
and for two years Hopkins the witch
finder. drove flOurishiHg trade in Essex
la 200 Years $1,000 witches are said to have
been DESTROYED in England and as recently
rs l7l6 when the town was enjoying the wit
and satire Of the "QWcn Anne men,
woman and her child years of age were
hanged at Huntingdon. Addison, with
mind that vavered between superstition and
good sense. said lie could not fOrbear belev-
Ing lin such commerce with evil spirits ns
that hich we express by the name Of witch
craft" while, at the samo time, he could
give no credit TO any particular modern in
stance OF it." This conclusion is quoted 10y
Blackstone in the fourth volume of his
"Commentarics.'
Scotland, which is regarded "a an enlight-
ened part Of the empire, held with the ut
most tenacity its faith in witchcraft. The
Scotch, vigorous people, put their bands
10 the work heartily. u was easy 70 find
victims, since. as We have said already, they
were tortured until they confessed. Take
one instance out Of thousands Isabel Craw-
ford. after the minister had made earnest
prayers 20 God for opening her closed heart,
was tortured with iron bars laid upon her
bare slins, her feet being in the stocks. For
a time she bore the torture admirably. though
about ,Airty stone Of iron were Land on her
legs. bur an moving the bars 70 another part
Of her Lins size broke out into horrible cries,
and confessed t. Intercourse with the devil
She was condemned, Of curse, and at the
place Of execution openly denied her former
confession. It is calculated that 1000 per-
sens were burned in Scotland in the last
forty wears of the Sixteenth century.
\ century later witch epidemic broke
out il the village Of Mohra, in Sweden. a
humber of children were said to be be
,yitchcd and familia. with the devil, who
was described rs wearing gray coat, red
and blue stockings, q red beard and high
crowped hat. The witches kept this exactins
parsonage supplied with children, and If
shey did not procure him q good many they
had no peace or quiet for him" The poor
wretches were doomed to have no more
peace or quiet in this world. Seventy were
condemned to death, twenty-three werc
burned ia a single FIRE az Mohra.
IL is noteworthy that belief IN this fright
ful superstition. which DESTROYED more limo
cent persons than the 50 called Holy Office,
was held by men of great intellectual power
by Erasmus, Bacon and the judicioas
Hooker, by Sir Edward Coke. Sir Thomas
Browne Baxter and SIR Mathew Hale
Illustrated London News
The Paimy Days of Minstreisy.
was reading that the wife of Jack HaV-
erly. the once well known negro minstrel