forthwith to her mother (being in the same town) and acquainted her with what she had seen; but being extremely terrified, she fell extreme sick, much grieved at her stomach; and that night, being in bed with another young woman, she suddenly shrieked, and fell into such extreme fits, as if she were distracted, crying out against Rose Cullender; saying, she would come to bed to her. She continued in this manner, beating and wearing herself, insomuch that this deponent was glad to get help to attend her. In her intervals she would declare, That some time she saw Rose Cullender, at another time with a great dog with her. She also vomitted up divers crooked pins, and sometimes she was stricken with blindness, and another time she was dumb, and so she appeared to be in the court when the trial of the prisoners was; for she was not able to speak her knowledge; but being brought into the court at the trial, she suddenly fell into her fits, and being carried out of court again, within the space of half an hour she came to herself, and recovered her speech, and thereupon was immediately brought into the court, and asked by the court whether she was in a condition to take an oath, and to give evidence-she said she could But when she was sworn and asked what she could say against either of the prisoners? before she could make any answer, she fell into her fits, screeking out in a miserable manner, crying, Burn her, burn her, which was all the words she could speak.

This was the substance of the evidence giving against the prisoners concerning the bewitching of the children before mentioned. At the hearing this evidence, there were divers known persons, as Mr. Serjeant Keeling, Mr. Serjeant Earl, and Mr. Serjeant Barnard present. Mr. Serjeant Keeling seemed much unsatisfied with it, and thought it not sufficient to convict the prisoners. Brown, of Norwich, a person of great knowledge, after this evidence given, and upon view of the three persons

Dr.

in court, was desired to give his opinion what he conceived of them, and he was clearly of opinion that the persons were bewitched; and said that in Denmark there had been lately a great discovery of witches, who used the same way of afflicting persons, by conveying pins into them, and crooked as these pins were, with needles and nails. And his opinion was, that the devil in such cases, did work upon the bodies of men and women, upon a natural foundation (that is) to stir up, and excite such humours superabounding in their bodies to a great excess, whereby he did, in an extraordinary manner afflict them with such distempers as their bodies were most subject to, as particularly appeared in these children, for he conceived that these swooning fits were natural, and nothing else but that they call the mother, but only height ened to a great excess by the subtilty of the devil, co-operating with the malice of these whom we term witches, at whose instance he doth these villainies.

During the time of the trial there were some experiments made with the persons afflicted, by bringing the persons to touch them; and it was observed, that when they were in the midst of their fits, to all men's apprehension wholly deprived of all sense and understanding, closing their fist in such a manner as that the strongest man in the court could not force them open, yet by the least touch of one of these supposed witches, they would suddenly shriek out, opening their hands. At least they might privately see when they were touched, they were blinded by their own aprons, and the touching took the same effect as before. There was an ingenious person objected, there might be a great fallacy in this experiment; wherefore it was privately desired by the judge, that the Lord Cornwallis, Sir Edmund Bacon, and Mr. Serjeant Keeling, and some other gentlemen there in the court, would attend one of the distempered persons in the farthest part of the hall, while she was in her fits, and then to send for one of the witches, to try what would then happen, and they did accordingly: and Amy

Duny was conveyed from the bar and brought to the maid: they put an apron before her eyes, and then one other person touched her hand, which produced the same effect as the touch of the witch did in court. Whereupon the gentlemen returned, openly protesting that they did believe the whole of this business was a mere imposture. This put the court and all persons into a stand. But at length Mr. Pacey did declare, that possibly the maid might be deceived by a suspicion that the witch touched her when she did not. This saying of Mr. Pacey was thought to be true, for when his daughter was fully recovered, she was asked, whether she did hear and understand any thing that was done and acted in the court, during the time she lay as one deprived of her understanding? And she said she did: and by the opinions of some, this experiment (which others would have a fallacy) was rather a confirmation that the parties were really bewitched.

John Soam of Leystoff, aforesaid, yeoman, déposed, that not long since, in harvest time, he had three carts which brought home his harvest, and as they were going into the field to load, one of the carts wrenched the window of Rose Cullender's house, whereupon she came out in a great rage, and threatened this deponent for doing that wrong; and so they passed along into the fields, and loaded all the three carts. The other two carts returned safe home and back again, twice loaded, that day afterwards, but as to the cart which touched Rose Cullender's house, after it was loaded, it was overturned twice or thrice that day; and after they had loaded it again, the second or third time, as they brought it through the gate which leadeth from out of the field into the town, the cart stuck so fast in the gateshead, that they could not possibly get it through, but were enforced to cut down the posts of the gate to make the cart pass through, although they could not perceive that the cart did of either side touch the gate posts. And this deponent farther saith, that after they had

got it through the gateway, they did with much difficulty get it home into the yard; but for all that they could do, they could not get the cart near unto the place where they should unload the corn, but were fain to unload it at a great distance from the place, and when they began to u load, they found much difficulty therein, it being so hard a labour that they were tired that first came, and when others came to assist them, their noses burst forth a bleeding; so they were fain to desist and leave it until the next morning, and then they unloaded it without any difficulty at all.

Robert Sherringham also deposeth against Rose Cullender, that about two years since, passing along the street with his cart and horses, the axletree of his cart touched her house, and broke down some part of it; at which she was very much displeased, threatening him that his horses should suffer for it; and so it happened, for all those horses, being four in number, died. This was the substance of the whole evidence given against the prisoners at the bar; and the jury departed from the bar, and within the space of half an hour returned and brought them in guilty, This was upon Thursday in the afternoon, March 13th, 1662. The next morning the three children with their parents, came to Lord Chief Baron Hale's lodgings, who all of them spake perfectly, and were in as good health as ever they were. And their friends were asked at what time they were restored thus to their speech and health? And Mr. Pacey did affirm that within less than half an hour after the witches were convicted, they were all of them restored, and slept well that might, feeling no pain. In conclusion, the judge and all the court were fully satisfied with the verdict, and thereupon gave judgment against the witches that they should be hanged. And they were executed on Monday, the 17th of March following, but they confessed nothing.

From the evidence delivered on this extraordinary trial, the modern reader may form some faint notion of the deplorable ignorance and superstition which prevailed. That witchcraft was habitually practised, no person in court seemed to doubt; indeed the disbelief in magic, if openly expressed in those times, would have brought the epithet of eptic, heretic, and blasphemer, upon any individual hardened enough to deny that species of infernal intercourse, which the sacred historian attributes to the Witch of Endor. The judge appears to have received the depositions of the witnesses without making any comment on the impossibility, not to say the absurdity of their declarations.

So strongly was Sir Matthew Hale imbued with the superstition and prejudice of his time, that he gave credit to the idle tale told by Dorothy Durent, in which that witness details the mode of cure recommended by Doctor Jacob, and the awful consequences which resulted from hanging up the child's blanket in the chimney corner during the day. It is quite unnecessary to make any remarks on the spitting up of pins, the impossibility of pronouncing the words "Jesus" and " God," and the facility with which the children uttered "Satan" and " Devil;" nor to ridicule the