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Article THE UNIVERSALITY OF SUPERSTITION. ← Page 8 of 20 →
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The Universality Of Superstition.
extinguished , secured immunity from the eA'il influence of AA'itchcraft . To guard against such noxious practices , however , arose the class termed Avitchfinders . In 1649 a Scotchman examined thirty accused Avomen in the Town-hall of NeAvcastle , most of whom he condemned ; ancl subsequently carried his trade into
other parts of Northumberland , receiving £ 3 for every witch convicted . This man confessed at the galloAvs that he had caused the death of two hundred and seventy women in England and Scotland . During the following eighty years these wretches became more numerous ancl better organized , and Avent about the country as regular practitioners . Brandin his descrition
, p of Banff , gives the following account of one of this class : — "It is the good fortune of this country to be provided Avith an anticonjuror that defeats both them and their sable patron in tlieir combined efforts . His fame is widely diffused , and wherever he goes , crescit eundo . If the spouse is jealous of her husband , he is consulted . If a near connection lies confined to the bed
of sickness , it is in vain to expect relief without the balsamic medicine of the anti-conjuror . If a person happens to be deprived of his senses , the deranged cells of the brains must be adjusted by his magic charms . If a farmer loses his cattle , the houses must be sprinkled with water by him . In searching for latent mischief , this gentleman never fails to find little parcels of heterogenous ingredients lurking in the Avails , consisting of the legs of mice and the Avings of bats ; all the Avork of the witches . "
In the year 1751 , an old woman xvas drowned as a sorceress at Mailston-green , Tring . The chief actor in this affair , and who collected money among the spectators of the sight , was hung in chains for the murder . In 1823 three xvere arraigned at the Taunton assizes for assaulting Ann Burgess , a reputed xvitch , whom they accused of bewitching the daughter of one
of them . Again , in 1825 , one Isaac Stebbings xvas " swam for a xvizard" ( being so adjudged by a cunning man of the neighbourhood ) , in the presence of hundreds of people . The particulars of this occurrence appeared in the Times of July 19 th of that year . Comment is needless on such facts as thesebut who will
; say that the spirit xxdiich tended to belief in sorcery is not still in existence ; or that the same blind credulity has not , for example , been manifested by the ignorant classes in our OAVU day , Avhen they have been led to credit the mystical prophetic inspirations of Johanna Southcote , Avith the divinations of Nixon and Mother Shipton ? Who xvill say that it is extinct , or that the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Universality Of Superstition.
extinguished , secured immunity from the eA'il influence of AA'itchcraft . To guard against such noxious practices , however , arose the class termed Avitchfinders . In 1649 a Scotchman examined thirty accused Avomen in the Town-hall of NeAvcastle , most of whom he condemned ; ancl subsequently carried his trade into
other parts of Northumberland , receiving £ 3 for every witch convicted . This man confessed at the galloAvs that he had caused the death of two hundred and seventy women in England and Scotland . During the following eighty years these wretches became more numerous ancl better organized , and Avent about the country as regular practitioners . Brandin his descrition
, p of Banff , gives the following account of one of this class : — "It is the good fortune of this country to be provided Avith an anticonjuror that defeats both them and their sable patron in tlieir combined efforts . His fame is widely diffused , and wherever he goes , crescit eundo . If the spouse is jealous of her husband , he is consulted . If a near connection lies confined to the bed
of sickness , it is in vain to expect relief without the balsamic medicine of the anti-conjuror . If a person happens to be deprived of his senses , the deranged cells of the brains must be adjusted by his magic charms . If a farmer loses his cattle , the houses must be sprinkled with water by him . In searching for latent mischief , this gentleman never fails to find little parcels of heterogenous ingredients lurking in the Avails , consisting of the legs of mice and the Avings of bats ; all the Avork of the witches . "
In the year 1751 , an old woman xvas drowned as a sorceress at Mailston-green , Tring . The chief actor in this affair , and who collected money among the spectators of the sight , was hung in chains for the murder . In 1823 three xvere arraigned at the Taunton assizes for assaulting Ann Burgess , a reputed xvitch , whom they accused of bewitching the daughter of one
of them . Again , in 1825 , one Isaac Stebbings xvas " swam for a xvizard" ( being so adjudged by a cunning man of the neighbourhood ) , in the presence of hundreds of people . The particulars of this occurrence appeared in the Times of July 19 th of that year . Comment is needless on such facts as thesebut who will
; say that the spirit xxdiich tended to belief in sorcery is not still in existence ; or that the same blind credulity has not , for example , been manifested by the ignorant classes in our OAVU day , Avhen they have been led to credit the mystical prophetic inspirations of Johanna Southcote , Avith the divinations of Nixon and Mother Shipton ? Who xvill say that it is extinct , or that the