"thought it to have been*. At the fame time, the commiffioners, who examined the nature of the boy's fits, were all terrified by feeing a black dog in the room, belonging to a Spurrier, which they took for the devilt. In 1633, feventeen perfons were condemned at Lancaster affizes, on the evidence of a boy, who afterwards confeffed himself to be an impoftor; Webfter fays he heard this confeffion from the boy's own mouth.

This fecond clafs of witneffes got money from the well-difpofed ‡, and therefore are of no

credit.

Demonologists, indeed, profefs themselves willing to give up all inftances where any deception can be pointed out, and confine themselves to those which are not circumftantially disproved; they exult particularly in the ftory of Mompeffon, which is published at great length, in the Saducifmus Triumphatus. It is true that no impofition was ever difcovered in that affair, but it is a strong prefumption against the demoniacal nature of the difturbances, that when the King fent fome Gentlemen to inquire into them, every thing was quiet during their refidence in the house. Glanville excufes this, by faying that

The Robin fons, who accufed feventeen at Lancaster, went from parish to parish, and received contributionsHutchinfon.

VOL. III.

F

the

the noises sometimes ceafed for weeks together, but, conscious of the weakness of this apology, he adds, that probably the devil did not think it for his intereft, to give the wicked courtiers any proof of his existence.

When the confeffions of the perfons accused were obtained by torture, it is evident that no dependance could be placed on them; it is painful to read what Wierus and Hutchinfon have collected on this fubject. The credit of the Suffolk trials, on which Baxter infists, is totally destroyed, by the evidence which Dr. Hutchinfon produces, of Hopkins the witch finder having fubfifted by that practice. But let us hear fome of these confeffing witches fpeak for themselves. Six of the women accufed in New England, affign the following reafons for having confeffed; that they were furprized and frightened out of their judgment, by being fuddenly feized and put in prifon; that their relations perfuaded them that confeffion was the only ftep by which

their lives could be faved; "And indeed that "confeffion that it is faid we made, was no other "than what was fuggefted to us by fome Gentle"men, they telling us we were witches, and "they knew it, and we knew it, and they knew "that we knew it, which made us think that it "was fo, and our understanding, our reafon and "our faculties being almost gone, we were not "capable of judging of our condition; and moft

of

of what we faid was but a confenting to what

"they faid. Some time after, when we had "been better compofed, they telling us what we "had confeffed, we did profefs that we were "innocent and ignorant of fuch things." Several other confeffions, recorded by authors, are the language of total imbecility, or madness. An old woman, mentioned in Hutchinfon's Chronological View, confeffed that the had. killed several perfons, even when interrogated, purposely, whether he had killed fome who were then alive and in good health†. Wierus relates that a judge demanded of a famous witch, then in chains, by what means a man could be preserved from the force of forcery; to which the seriously replied, by keeping together all his old fhoest. The unhappy lunatic was burnt alive. By fimilar confeffions, the doctrine of the lycanthropia was fupported: it was not surprizing that hypochondriacal perfons fhould believe themselves transformed into wolves, and should dream of eating young children, but what fhall we think of the judges who burnt them, on the ftrength of thofe confeffions, and registered their trials as folemn precedents? On this occafion, the unwary avowal of Bodinus fhould not be forgotten : we must be severe in punishing witches, fays he,

* Hutchinson, p. 110, 11.

+ P. 58.

F༢

↑ Wier p. 712.

for

for the populace would ftone a magiftrate who inclined to fhew them mercy*.

The folemn meetings of witches are fuppofed to be put beyond all doubt, by the numerous confeffions of criminals, who have defcribed their ceremonies, named the times and places of meeting, and the perfons present, and who have agreed in their relations, though separately delivered (N). But I would observe, first, that the circumftances told of thofe feftivals are ridiculous and incredible in themselves; for they are reprefented as gloomy and horrible, yet with a mixture of childish and extravagant fancies, more likely to difguft and alienate than to conciliate the minds of the guests. They have every appearance of uneafy dreams; fometimes the devil and his fubjects fay mass, fometimes he preaches to them, more commonly he was seen in form of a black goat, furrounded by imps in a thousand frightful fhapes; but none of thefe forms are new, they all refemble known quadrupeds or reptiles. Secondly, I obferve, that there is direct proof furnished even by demonologifts, that all thefe fuppofed journies and entertainments are nothing more than dreams. Perfons accused of witchcraft have been repeatedly watched, about the time which they had fixed for the meeting; they have been feen to

* Demonom. p. 317.

Hoffman in particular.

anoint themselves with foporific compofitions, after which they fell into profound fleep, and on awaking several hours afterwards, they have related their journey through the air, their amusement at the festival, and have named the perfons whom they faw there. In the inftance told by Hoffman, the dreamer was chained to the floor. Common fenfe would reft satisfied here, but the enthufiafm of demonology has invented more than one theory to get rid of thefe untoward facts. Dr. Henry More, as was formerly mentioned, believed that the aftral fpirit only was carried away: other demonologists imagined that the witch was really removed to the place of meeting, but that a cacodemon was left in her room, as an Edway, to delude the fpectators. Thirdly, fome ftories of the feftivals are evidently tricks. Such is that related by Bodinus, with much gravity: a man is found in a Gentleman's cellar, and apprehended as a thief; he declares his wife had brought him thither to a witch-meeting, and on his pronouncing the name of God, fhe and all her companions had vanifhed, and left him inclofed. His wife is immediately seized, on this righteous evidence, and hanged, with feveral other perfons, named as present at the meeting.

4. It may ftill farther confirm the preceding obfervations, if we remark that the fuccefs of F 3

all