The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-11-10
NJ MEDIAEVAL WITCHCRAFT
IN ENGLAND AND
SCOTLAND.

1t was in the Twelfth century that
the medieval conception of witch
first arose. A seventeenth century
writer gives us the following defini-
tion:-"A witch is one that worketh
by the Devil, or by some devilish or
curious Art, either hurting or healing,
revealing Things secret or foretelIin !.
Things to come which the Devil hath
devised to entangle and snare Mans
Souls withal unto Damnation." The
medieval idea with regard to witches
was as follows: 1t was supposed that
an internal campact was drawn be-
tween the witch and the devil In re-
turn for the gift Of her soul, he bestow-
ed upon her certain magical powers,
which she might use either for good or
for evil. By her spells she could raise
tempests, blight crops, and bring down
pestilence upon man and beast. Form
ing a waxen image in the shape of her
enemy, she could cause his life to ebb
away as the effigy melted before slow
fire, or, she could make him endure ag-
onizing pain, as she stuck pins into
the vital parts OF the figure. She
could cure diseases, if she so willed it;
but such diseases had usually been
caused by the evil spirits with whom
she was allied; and hence no gratitude
was due to her for banlshing them. 1t
was believed that at various well-known
meeting places, the devil presided over
the Black Mass, with its inverted rit-
ual, obscene COMPUTATIONS and dances,
all the mysterious rites Of the Witches
Sabbath. According to traditions, we
find that an altar was erected to the
devil on the hill, and thither the witches
flew on broomsticks. Here, maaquer-
aiding as a he-goat, he presided over a
profane ritual; Christ was denied, and
offerings were made to the Spirit of
the Earth and the God of Freedom.
The Mass was rehearsal upside down,
and the worshippers jumped through
fires, by way of indicating their scorn
for the flames of hell. The absence of
contemporary evidence makes it impos-
sible for us to tell whether the Black
Mass as described above, really exist
ed. 1t seems probable that the whole
alleged system of devil-worship was
(to begin with, at all eyents) merely
secret midnight celebration of pagan
rites, and that the lofty structure of
diabolical superstition which charac-
terized medieval times was built upon
an extremely small and doubtful
foundation of fact.
In the thirteenth century, many
books were written OF witchcraft, and
various convenient ways were devised,
whereby heretics might he burnt as
witches and wizards. Those WHO own
ed to the crime of sorcery were pun
ished for their admitted guilt; those
who would not confess were condemn
ed as hardened sinners. In the univer-
sal panic that attended the terrible
visitation OF the Black Death, in the
mil lie o. the fourteenth century, belief
in the Satanic power increased, some
attributing the plague to the machina-
tions of witches; and an awful season
that woman united her evil forces with
those of the fallen angels who were
perpetually wandering round the world
seeking to do evil; it was from them
that she learned her arts Of poisoning
andliove compelling;it was with their aid
that she brought famine and pestilence
upon mankind. So strongly were the
minds of men imbued with the belief
in evil spirits, that they saw the agency
of the devil in every thing, and the
world seemed dominated by regular
epidemic of diabolical possession. Prior
to 1881, trials for witchcraft were con-
Quoted by the secular authorities. In
this year change took place, when
Innocent VIII. published his celebrat-
ed bull, giving a formal sanction for
the persecution of witches. Following
upon this, 1889 was published the
"HeNenhammer,' which systematical-
ly determined the whole idea of WITCH
craft, and served as handbook for the
succeeding prosecutions. *
The witch trials in Scotland scarce
ly fall behind the Continental persecu-
tions in their ingenious cruelty, and
the reason of this is not far to seek.
Lecky says: Scotch witchcraft was
but tho result of Scotch Puritanism,
and it faithfully reflected tue character
of its parent" A religion ofterrorism,
dark and intolerant, produced multi
tude of victims. The Calvanists, while
objecting to exorcism on the score that
it was the means of casting out devils
by the power of the devil, 10y no means
erred on the side OF. humanity when
inflicting their secular punish
ments
The most celebrated trials which
took place under the act of 1904,
drawn up by Bacon and Coke, were
those OF the Lancashire witches in 1912
and 1884. Thomas Potts, clerk in the
court, who was present at the trial OF
TO, {io1