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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
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<P>WITCHCRAFTS, Strange and Wonderfull: Di&s;covering the damnable practi&s;es of &s;even Witches, again&s;t the lives of certaine Noble Per&s;onages, and other of this Kingdome, as &s;hall appeare in this lamentable Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>With an approved triall how to finde out either Witch, or any Apprenti&s;e to Witch-craft.</P>
<P><FIGURE>
<FIGDESC>depiction of witches</FIGDESC>
</FIGURE></P>
<P>Imprinted at London, by <HI>M. F.</HI> for <HI>Thomas Lambert</HI> at the Hor&s;hooe neere the Ho&s;pitall Gate in <HI>Smithfield.</HI> 1635.</P>
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<HEAD>WITCHCRAFTS, Strange and Wonderfull.</HEAD>
<P>_MY meaning is not to make any contentious Arguments about the di&s;cour&s;es, di&s;tinction or definition of Witch-craft, the power of Deuills, the nature of Spirits, the force of Charmes, the &s;ecrets of Incantation, and &s;uch like; becau&s;e the Scriptures are full of prohibitions to this purpo&s;e, and proclaimes death to the pre&s;umptuous attempters of the &s;ame: Be&s;ides, both Princes, (yea, our owne learned and mo&s;t judicious King) Philo&s;ophers, Poets, Chronologers, Hi&s;toriographers, and many worthy Writers, have concurred and concluded in this; that divers impious and facinorous mi&s;chiefes have beene effectua|ted through the in&s;truments of the deuil, by permi&s;&s;ion of God, &s;o that the Actors of the &s;ame have carried away the opinion of the world, to doe that which they did by Witch-craft; or at lea&s;t to be e&s;teemed Witches, for bringing &s;uch and &s;uch things to pa&s;&s;e: For how&s;oever, the learned have charactered delin|quents in this kinde, by titles of &s;undry &s;orts, and mo&s;t &s;ignifi|cant attributes; as <HI>Pythoni&s;&s;ae,</HI> dealing with artificiall charmes; <HI>Magi,</HI> anciently reputed &s;o, for extraordinary wi&s;edome and knowledge in the &s;ecrets of Simples, and Hearbes; <HI>Chaldei</HI> famous for A&s;tronomie, and A&s;trologie; <HI>Negromancers,</HI> for pra|cti&s;ing to rai&s;e dead bodies, and by them to foretell euents of the earth; <HI>Geomantici,</HI> for conver&s;ing with Spirits, and u&s;ing In|cantations; <HI>Genethliaci,</HI> for pre&s;uming on the calculating of Nativities; or, if you will, a&s;&s;uming the credit of Figure-ca&s;t|ing; <HI>Ventriloqui,</HI> for &s;peaking with hollow voyces, as if they were po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with Devills; <HI>Venefici,</HI> for dealing with poy&s;on, and either killings, or curing that way: For you mu&s;t under&s;tand, however the Profe&s;&s;ors afore&s;aid, practi&s;e murther and mi&s;|chiefe;
<PB REF="3">
yet many times, they pretend cures and pre&s;ervation; with many others, carrying the &s;hew of great learning and ad|mired knowledge; yet have they all but one familiar terme with us in Engli&s;h, called Witches. As for the conceit of Wi&s;e-men, or Wi&s;e-women, they are all meerely co&s;eners and decei|vers; &s;o that if they make you beleeve, that by their meanes you &s;hall heare of things lo&s;t or &s;tolne, it is either done by Confede|racie, or put off by protraction, to deceive you of your money.</P>
<P>Onely (as I &s;aid before) there bee certaine men and women growne in yeares, and over-growne with Melancholie and A|thei&s;me, who out of a malicious di&s;po&s;ition again&s;t their betters or others thriving by them; but mo&s;t times from a heart-burn|ing de&s;ire of revenge, having entertained &s;ome impre&s;&s;ion of di&s;plea&s;ure, and unkindne&s;&s;e, &s;tudie nothing but mi&s;chiefe and exoticke practi&s;es of loath&s;ome Arts and Sciences: yet I mu&s;t needs &s;ay, that &s;ometimes the fained reputation of wi&s;edome, cunning, and to be reputed a dangerous &amp; skilfull per&s;on, hath &s;o prevailed with divers, that they have taken upon them indeed to know more than God ever afforded any creature, and to performe no le&s;&s;e than the Creator both of heaven and earth; making you beleeve with <HI>Medea,</HI> that they can rai&s;e tempe&s;ts, turne the Sunne into blood, pull the Moone out of her Sphere, and &s;aile ouer the Sea in a cockell &s;hell, according to the Poet:
<Q><L>Flectere &s;i neueam Superos, Acheronta movebo.</L>
<L>If Art doe faile to move the Gods</L>
<L>con&s;ent unto my minde:</L>
<L>I will the Devils rai&s;e, to doe</L>
<L>what they can in their kinde.</L></Q></P>
<P>But how&s;oever &s;peciall per&s;ons are tran&s;ported with an opi|nion of their owne worth, &amp; prevailing in this kinde, yet by la|mentable experience, we know too wel, what mon&s;trous effects have been produced, even to the horror of the hearers, and dam|nation, of their owne &s;oules, by &s;uch kinde of people: For as it is in the tale of the envious man, that put out one of his eyes to have his companion lo&s;e both; &s;o fareth it with them and wor&s;e, to give away their &s;oules to be revenged of their adver|&s;aries
<PB REF="3">
bodies, where in the mon&s;trous &s;ubtlety of the Devill is &s;o apparent, that it is wonderfull one way to relate, and lamen|table another way to ob&s;erve the &s;ame. For no &s;ooner &s;hall &s;uch motives poy&s;on the inward conceit or apprehen&s;ion of &s;uch damnable caitiffes: But then &s;teppeth forth the Devill, and not onely &s;heweth them the way, but pre&s;cribeth the manner of ef|fecting the &s;ame, with facility and ea&s;ine&s;&s;e, a&s;&s;uring that bee him&s;elfe Will attend them in &s;ome familiar &s;hape of Rat, Cat, Toad, Bird, Cricket, &amp;c. yea effectuate what&s;oever they &s;hal de|mand or de&s;ire; and for their better a&s;&s;urance and corroboration of their credulity they &s;hall have palpable and forcible touches of &s;ucking, pinching, ki&s;&s;ing, clo&s;ing, colling, and &s;uch like. whereupon, without any feare of God or man, knowledge of Chri&s;t, hope of redemption, confidence of mercy, or true be|liefe, that there is any other thing to be looked after but this pre|&s;ent world; according to that Athei&s;ticall po&s;ition of <HI>Epicurus:</HI>
<Q><L>Ede, bibe, lude, po&s;t mortem nulla voluptas.</L>
<L>Eat, drinke, &s;port, play, and take thy plea&s;ures re&s;t:</L>
<L>For after death who knowes what &s;hall be be&s;t.</L></Q>
they admit of tho&s;e execrable conditions of commutation of &s;oules for the entertaining of the &s;pirits, and &s;o fall to their abominable practi&s;es, continuing in the &s;ame till God laugh them to &s;corne, and will by no meanes &s;uffer them to abu&s;e his holy Name, nor deceive others by their prophane lives any lon|ger: Witne&s;&s;e for the generall, tho&s;e infinite Treati&s;es of many of them convinced by Law, and condemned to death, to the fearefull example of all carnall and hypocriticall Chri&s;tians: but more e&s;pecially you may over-looke (if you plea&s;e) that lear|ned Di&s;cour&s;e of <HI>Daemonology,</HI> compo&s;ed in forme of a Dia|logue, by the high and mighty Prince, <HI>Iames</HI> by the grace of God, King of <HI>England, Scotland, France,</HI> and <HI>Ireland, &amp;c.</HI> and printed (as I take it) according to the copie of <HI>Edenburgh,</HI> 1603. As al&s;o a Treati&s;e of Witch-craft made by that learned <HI>Mr. Alexander Roberts,</HI> Preacher at Kings-Linne in Norfolke, 1615, upon the di&s;covery of the Witchcrafts of <HI>Mary Smith,</HI> wife of <HI>Henry Smith</HI> Glover, with her vocall contract between
<PB REF="4">
the Devill and her &s;elfe, in &s;olemne termes, and &s;uch like impo|&s;turing filthine&s;&s;e; with many hurts and mi&s;chiefes which thereby &s;he procured. As al&s;o a certaine di&s;covery 1611. made by <HI>Iohn Cotta</HI> Doctor of Phy&s;icke in Northampton, of Empe|ricks, women about &s;icke per&s;ons, Quack&s;alvars, and Fugitives, which &s;eeme to worke iugling wonders; Surgeons, Apotheca|ries, practi&s;ers by Spels, the true di&s;covery of Witch-craft, e&s;|pecially in the &s;icke, with many in&s;tances of that kinde: Wi|zards, and &s;ervants of Phy&s;icians, who may be called, mini&s;tring helpers: To this he hath added, the Methodian learned decei|ver, or heretick phy&s;ician; A&s;trologers, Ephemerides-ma&s;ters, Conjecters by urine, Travellers: and la&s;t of all, the true Arti&s;t his right de&s;cription and election. As al&s;o a Dialogue concer|ning Witches and Witch-craft, compo&s;ed by <HI>George Gifford,</HI> Mini&s;ter of Gods word in Maldon, 1603. wherein the cunning of the Devill is di&s;covered, both concerning the deceiving of Witches, and &s;educing of others into many great errors: As al&s;o an ancient Di&s;cour&s;e of the fearefull practi&s;es of foure no|torious French Witches, with the manner of their &s;trange exe|cution. As al&s;o the &s;everall and damnable practi&s;es of Mother <HI>Sutton</HI> of Milton Mills in the County of Bedford, and <HI>Mary Sutton</HI> her daughter, who were arraigned, condemned and ex|ecuted for the &s;ame. As al&s;o, 1612. the wonderfull di&s;covery of Witches in Lanca&s;hire, being 19. in number, notorious for many infamed actions, and conuicted before <HI>Sir Iames Altham,</HI> and <HI>Sir Edward Bromley,</HI> Barons of the Exchequer: together with the Arraignement and triall of <HI>Iennet Pre&s;ton</HI> at Yorke, with her fearefull execution for the murthering of <HI>Mr. Lister</HI> by Witch-craft, with infinite other relations concerning the generall conuiction of Witches, &amp; their practi&s;es, &amp; condemna|tion of the particular opinion of &s;ome men, who &s;uppo&s;e there be none at all, or at lea&s;t, that they doe not per&s;onally or truely effect &s;uch things as are imputed unto them, and which out of &s;ome dangerous impre&s;&s;ion of Melancholy, Vaine glory, or &s;ome other di&s;ea&s;ed operation, they a&s;&s;ume to them&s;elves by rea&s;on of a former Contract with the Devill. And &s;o much for the certainty of Story, and fearefulne&s;&s;e of the truth concerning
<PB REF="4">
the damnable practi&s;es of Witches, and cunning of the Devill to deceiue them.</P>
<P>But yet becau&s;e the minde of man may be carried away with many idle conjectures, either that women confe&s;&s;ed the&s;e things by extremity of torture, or that ancient examples are by this time forgotten (although the particulars are upon record, for the benefit of all po&s;terity:) Or that they were be&s;ides them|&s;elves, or &s;ubject to &s;ome weake device or other; rather to bring in que&s;tion the integrity of ju&s;tice, than to make odious the lives of &s;uch horrible offenders: I have pre&s;umed to pre|&s;ent on the Stage of verity, for the good of my Countrey, and the love of truth, the late wofull Tragedie of the de&s;truction of the Right Honourable the Earle of <HI>Rutlands</HI> children, who (to his eternall prai&s;e) proceeded yet both religiou&s;ly and charita|bly again&s;t the offenders, leaving their pro&s;ecution to the Law, and &s;ubmitting him&s;elfe and deplorable ca&s;e to the providence of God, who afflicteth his be&s;t &s;ervants with puni&s;hments, and many times, &s;endeth extraordinary vengeance as well on the innocent, as the bad de&s;erver, to manife&s;t his glory: There|fore by way of Caution I adui&s;e thee (gentle Reader) what|&s;oever thou art, to take heed how thou doe&s;t either de&s;pi&s;e the power of God in his creatures, or vilipend the &s;ubtletic and fu|ry of the Devill, as Gods in&s;trument of vengeance, con&s;idering that Truth in de&s;pight of gaine-&s;ayers will prevaile, according to that principle; <HI>Magna e&s;t veritas &amp; praevalebit.</HI></P>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The Story followes.</HEAD>
<P>AFter the Right Honourable <HI>Sir Francis Manners</HI> &s;uc|ceeded his brother in the Earledome of <HI>Rutland:</HI> and &s;o not onely tooke po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of <HI>Beaver Ca&s;tle,</HI> but of all other his Demeanes, Lord&s;hips, Townes, Man|nors, Lands, and Revenues appropriate to the &s;ame Earledome: he proceeded &s;o honourably in the cour&s;e of his life, as neither di&s;placing Tenants, di&s;charging Servants, nor denying the ac|ce&s;&s;e of the poore; but welcomming of &s;trangers, and perfor|ming
<PB REF="5">
all the duties of a noble Lord, that he fa&s;tened as it were unto him&s;elfe the love and good opinion of the Countrey; wherein hee walked the more cheerfully and remarkably, be|cau&s;e his Honourable Counte&s;&s;e marched arme in arme with him in the &s;ame race: So that <HI>Beaver Ca&s;tle</HI> was a continuall Palace of entertainement, and a dayly receptacle for all &s;orts both rich and poore, e&s;pecially &s;uch ancient people as neighbou|red the &s;ame: among&s;t whom, one <HI>Ioan Flower</HI> with her daugh|ters, <HI>Margaret</HI> and <HI>Phillip,</HI> were not onely releeved at the fir&s;t from thence, but quickly entertained as Chair-women, and <HI>Margaret</HI> admitted as a continuall dweller in the Ca&s;tle, look|ing both to the Poultrey abroad, and the Wa&s;h-hou&s;e within doores: In which life they continued with equall corre&s;pon|dency, till &s;omething was di&s;covered to he noble Lady, which concerned the mi&s;demeanour of the&s;e women. And although &s;uch Honourable per&s;ons &s;hall not want of all &s;orts of people, either to bring them newes, tales, reports, or to &s;erve their turne in all Offices what&s;oever; &s;o that it may well be &s;aid of them, as it is of great Kings and Princes, that they have large hands, wide eares, and piercing &s;ights, to di&s;cover the un&s;wept cor|ners of their remote&s;t confines, to reach even to their farthe&s;t borders, and to under&s;tand the &s;ecrets of their meane&s;t Sub|jects: yet in this matter, neither were they bu&s;ie-bodies, flatte|rers, malicious politicians, underminers, nor &s;upplanters one of anothers good fortune: but went &s;imply to worke, as regar|ding the honour of the Earle and his Lady, and &s;o by degrees gave light to their under&s;tanding to apprehend their com|plaints. Fir&s;t, that <HI>Ioane Flower</HI> the mother, was a mon&s;trous malicious woman, full of oathes, cur&s;es, and imprecations irre|ligious and for any thing they &s;aw by her, a plaine Athei&s;t: be|&s;ides, of late dayes, her very countenance was e&s;tranged, her eyes were fiery and hollow, her &s;peech fell and envious, her de|meanour &s;trange and exoticke, and her conver&s;ation &s;eque&s;tred; &s;o that the whole cour&s;e of her life gave great &s;u&s;pition that &s;he was a notorious Witch: yea, &s;ome of her neighbours dared to affirme, that &s;he dealt with familiar &s;pirits, and terrified them all with cur&s;es and threatning of revenge, if there were never
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&s;o little cau&s;e of di&s;plea&s;ure and unkindne&s;&s;e. Concerning <HI>Mar|garet,</HI> that &s;hee often re&s;orted from the Ca&s;tle to her mother, bringing &s;uch provi&s;ion as they thought was unbefitting for a &s;ervant to purloine, and comming at &s;uch un&s;ea&s;onable houres, that they could not but conjecture &s;ome mi&s;chiefe be|tweene them, and that their extraordinary riot and expences tended both to rob the Lady, and to maintaine certaine de|bau&s;ht and ba&s;e company, which frequented this <HI>Ioane Flowers</HI> hou&s;e the mother, and &s;pecially her younge&s;t daughter. Concer|ning <HI>Phillip,</HI> that &s;he was lewdly tran&s;ported with the love of one <HI>Thomas Symp&s;on,</HI> who pre&s;umed to &s;ay, that &s;he had bewit|ched him; for he had no power to leave her, and was (as hee &s;uppo&s;ed) maruellou&s;ly altered both in minde and bodie, &s;ince her acquainted company. The&s;e complaints began many yeares before either their conviction, or publike apprehen&s;ion: Not|with&s;tanding, &s;uch was the honour of this Earle and his Lady; &s;uch was the cunning of this mon&s;trous woman in ob&s;ervation towards them; &s;uch was the &s;ubtlety of the Devill to bring his purpo&s;es to pa&s;&s;e: &s;uch was the effect of a damnable womans wit and malicious envy, that all things were carried away in the &s;mooth channel of liking and good entertainment on every &s;ide, untill the Earle by degrees conceived &s;ome mi&s;like again&s;t her; and &s;o, peradventure e&s;tranged him&s;elfe from that familia|rity and accu&s;tomed conferences hee was wont to have with her: untill one <HI>Peake</HI> offered her &s;ome wrong; again&s;t whom &s;he complained, but found that my Lord did not affect her cla|morous and malicious information: untill one <HI>Mr. Vava&s;or</HI> a|bandoned her company, as either &s;u&s;picious of her lewd life, or di&s;ta&s;ted with his owne mi&s;liking of &s;uch ba&s;e and poore Crea|tures, whom no body loved but the Earles hou&s;hold; untill the Counte&s;&s;e mi&s;conceiving of her daughter <HI>Margaret,</HI> and di&s;|coverig &s;ome undecencies both in her life and neglect of her bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, di&s;charged her from lying any more in the Ca&s;tle, yet gave her forty &s;hillings, a bol&s;ter, and a mattre&s;&s;e of wooll; commanding her to goe home; untill the &s;lackne&s;&s;e of her re|payring to the Ca&s;tle, as &s;he was wont, did turne her love and
<PB REF="6">
liking toward this Honourable Earle and his Family, into hate and rancour: whereupon de&s;pighted to be &s;o neglected, and ex|probrated by her neighbours for her daughters ca&s;ting out of doores, and other conceived di&s;plea&s;ures, &s;hee grew pa&s;t all &s;hame and womanhood, and many times cur&s;ed them all that were the cau&s;e of this di&s;contentment, and made her &s;o loath|&s;ome, to her former familiar friends &amp; beneficiall acquaintance.</P>
<P>When the Devill perceived the in ficious di&s;po&s;ition of this wretch, and that &s;he and her daughters might ea&s;ily be made in&s;truments to inlarge his kingdome, and be as it were the ex|ecutioners of his vengeance; not caring whether it lighted up|on innocents or no, hee came more neerer unto them, and in plaine termes, to come quickly to the purpo&s;e, offered them his &s;ervice, and that in &s;uch a manner as they might ea&s;ily com|mand what they plea&s;ed: For hee would attend you in &s;uch pretty formes of Dog, Cat, or Rat, that they &s;hould neither be terrified, nor any body el&s;e &s;u&s;pitious of the matter. Vpon this they agree; and (as it &s;hould &s;ee me) give away their &s;oules for the &s;ervice of &s;uch Spirits, as he had promi&s;ed them; which filthy conditions were ratified with abominable ki&s;&s;es, and an odious &s;acrifice of blood, not leaving out certaine charmes and conjurations, with which the Deuill deceived them, as though nothing could be done without ceremony, and a &s;olemnity of orderly ratification. By this time doth Satan triumph, and go|eth away &s;atisfied to have caught &s;uch fi&s;h in the net of his il|lu&s;ions: By this time are tho&s;e women Devills incarnate, and grow proud againe in their cunning and artificiall power to doe what mi&s;chiefe they li&s;ted: By this time they learne the man|ner of Incantations, Spells, and Charmes: By this time they kill what Cattell they li&s;t, and under the covert of flattery and familiar entertainement, keepe hidden the &s;tinging Serpent of malice, and a venomous inclination to mi&s;chiefe: By this time is the Earle and his family threatned, and mu&s;t feele the burthen of a terrible tempe&s;t, which from the&s;e womens devili&s;h de|vi&s;es fell upon him, he neither &s;u&s;pecting nor under&s;tanding the &s;ame: By this time both him&s;elfe and his honourable Coun|te&s;&s;e are many times subject to &s;ickne&s;&s;e and extraordinary
<PB REF="6">
convul&s;ions, which they taking as gentle corrections from the hand of God, &s;ubmit with quietne&s;&s;e to his mercy, and &s;tudy nothing more, then a glorifie their Creator in heaven, and beare his cro&s;&s;es on earth.</P>
<P>At la&s;t, as malice increa&s;ed in the&s;e damnable women; &s;o his family felt the &s;mart of their revenge and inficious di&s;po&s;i|tion. For his elde&s;t Sonne <HI>Henry</HI> Lord <HI>Ro&s;&s;e</HI> &s;ickened very &s;trangely, and after a while died: and his next, named <HI>Francis</HI> Lord <HI>Ro&s;&s;e,</HI> accordingly, was &s;everely tormented by them and mo&s;t barbarou&s;ly and inhumanely tortured by a &s;trange &s;icke|ne&s;&s;e: not long after the Lady <HI>Katherine</HI> was &s;et upon by their dangerous and divelli&s;h practi&s;es, and many times in great danger of life; through extreame maladies and unu&s;uall fits. Nay (as it &s;hould &s;eeme, and they afterward confe&s;&s;ed) both the Earle and his Counte&s;&s;e were brought into their &s;nares as they imagined, and indeed determined to keepe them from ha|ving any more children. Oh unheard of wickene&s;&s;e and mi&s;|chievous damnation! Notwith&s;tanding all this did the noble Earle attend his Maje&s;ty, both at New-Market before Chri&s;t|mas, and at Chri&s;tmas at Whitehall; bearing the lo&s;&s;e of his children mo&s;t nobly, and little &s;u&s;pecting that they had mi&s;car|ried by Witch-craft, or &s;uch like inventions of the Devill, un|till it plea&s;ed God to di&s;cover the villanous practi&s;es of the&s;e bad women, and to command the Devill from executing any further vengeance on innocents, but leave them to their &s;hames, and the hands of Ju&s;tice, that they might not onely be confoun|ded for their villanous practi&s;es, but remaine as a notorious ex|ample to all ages of his judgement and fury. Thus were they apprehended about Chri&s;tmas; and carried to Lincolne Jayle, after due examination before &s;ufficient Ju&s;tices of the Peace, and di&s;creet Magi&s;trates, who wondered at their audacious wickedne&s;&s;e; but <HI>Ioan Flower</HI> the mother, before conviction (as they &s;ay) called for bread and butter, and wi&s;hed it might never goe through her if &s;hee were guilty of that whereupon &s;he was examined; &s;o mumbling it in her month, never &s;pake more words after, but fell downe and died as &s;he was carried to Lincolne Jayle, with an horrible excrutiation of &s;oule and
<PB REF="7">
body, and was buried at Anca&s;ter.</P>
<P>When the Earle heard of their apprehen&s;ions, hee ha&s;ted downe with his brother Sir <HI>George,</HI> and &s;ometimes examining them him&s;elfe, and &s;ometimes &s;ending them to others; at la&s;t left them to the triall of the Law, before the Judges of A&s;&s;ize at <HI>Lincolne;</HI> and &s;o they were convicted of murther, and executed accordingly, about the 11. of March, to the terror of all the be|holders, and example of &s;uch di&s;&s;olute and abhominable crea|tures: and becau&s;e yee &s;hall have both cau&s;e to glorifie God for this di&s;covery, and occa&s;ion to apprehend the &s;trangene&s;&s;e of their lives, and truth of their proceedings: I thought it both meet and convenient to lay open their owne Examinations and Evidences again&s;t one another, with the manner of their pro|ceeding and revenges, with other particulars belonging to the true and plaine di&s;covery of their villany and Witch-craft.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The Examination of <HI>Anne Baker</HI> of <HI>Bottesford</HI> in the County of <HI>Leice&s;ter Spin&s;ter,</HI> taken March 1. 1618. by the right Hono|rable <HI>Francis</HI> Earle of Rutland, Sir <HI>George Manners</HI> Knight two of his Maje&s;ties Iu&s;tices of the Peace for the County of Lincolne, and <HI>Samuel Fleming</HI> Doctor of Divinity, one of his Maje&s;ties Iu&s;tices of the Peace for the County of Leice&s;ter a|fore&s;aid.</HEAD>
<P>SHee &s;aith, That there are foure colours of Planets, Blacke, Yellew, Greene, and Blew: and that Blacke is alwayes Death, and that &s;he &s;aw the Blew Planet &s;trike <HI>Thomas Faire|barne,</HI> the elde&s;t &s;onne unto <HI>William Fairebarne,</HI> of Bottesford afore&s;aid by the <HI>Pin&s;old</HI> there, within the which time the &s;aid <HI>William Fairebarne</HI> did beat her and brake her head, whereup|on the &s;aid <HI>Thomas Fairebarne</HI> did mend. And being asked who did &s;end that Planet? an&s;wered it was not I.</P>
<P>Further &s;he &s;aith, That &s;he &s;aw a hand appeare unto her, and that &s;hee heard a voyce in the aire &s;aid unto her, <HI>Anne Baker,</HI> &s;ave thy &s;elfe, for to morrow thou and thy Ma&s;ter mu&s;t bee &s;laine: and the next day her Ma&s;ter and &s;he were in a Cart to|gether; and &s;uddenly &s;hee &s;aw a fla&s;h of fire, and &s;hee &s;aid her
<PB REF="7">
prayers, and the fire went away and &s;hortly after a Crow came and picked upon her cloathes, and &s;hee &s;aid her prayers againe, and bade the Crow goe to whom hee was &s;ent and the Crow went unto her Ma&s;ter, and did beat him to death, and &s;he with her prayers recovered him to life; but he was &s;icke a fortnight after, and &s;aith, that if &s;he had not had more knowledge then her Ma&s;ter, both hee and &s;hee and all the Cattell had beene &s;laine.</P>
<P>Being examined concerning a childe of <HI>Anne Stannidge,</HI> which &s;hee was &s;u&s;pected to have bewitched to death; &s;aith, the &s;aid Anne Stannidge did deliver her childle into her hands, and that &s;he did lay it upon her skirt, but did no harme unto it: And being charged by the mother of the childe, that up|on the burning of the haire and the pairing of the nailes of the &s;aid childe, the &s;aid <HI>Anne Baker</HI> came in and &s;et her downe, and for one houres &s;pace could &s;peake nothing, confe&s;&s;eth &s;he came into the hou&s;e of the &s;aid <HI>Anne Stannidge</HI> in great paine, but did not know of the burning of the haire and nailes of the &s;aid childe; but &s;aid &s;hee was &s;o &s;icke that &s;hee did not know whither &s;he went.</P>
<P>Being charged that &s;hee bewitched <HI>Elizabeth Hough,</HI> the wife of <HI>William Hough</HI> to death, for that &s;he angred her in gi|ving her almes of her &s;econd bread; confe&s;&s;eth that &s;hee was angry with her and &s;aid &s;he might have given her of her better bread, for &s;he had gone too often on her errands, but more &s;he &s;aith not.</P>
<P>This Examinate confe&s;&s;eth that &s;he came to <HI>Ioane Gylles</HI> hou&s;e, her childe being &s;icke, and that &s;hee intreated this Exa|minate to looke on her childe, and to tell her whether it was fore&s;poken or no, and this Examinate &s;aid it was fore&s;poken; but when the &s;aid childe died &s;he cannot tell.</P>
<P>And being asked concerning <HI>Nortley</HI> carrying of his childe home unto his owne hou&s;e, where the &s;aid <HI>Anne Baker</HI> was, &s;he asked him who gave the &s;aid childe that loafe, hee told her <HI>Anthony Gill,</HI> to whom this Examinate &s;aid, he might have had a childe of his owne if hee would have &s;ought in time for it; which words &s;he confe&s;&s;ed &s;he did &s;peake.</P>
<P><PB REF="8">
Being blamed by <HI>Henry Mills</HI> in this &s;ort; A fire &s;et on you, I have had two or three ill nights: to whom &s;he made an&s;were, you &s;hould have let me alone then, which &s;he confe&s;&s;eth.</P>
<P>The &s;aid <HI>Anne Baker,</HI> March 2. 1618. confe&s;&s;eth before <HI>Sa|muel Fleming</HI> Doctor of Divinity, that about 3. yeares agoe, &s;he went into Northampton&s;hire, and that at her comming backe againe one <HI>Peakes</HI> wife and <HI>Denis</HI> his wife of Belvoyre told her that my young L. <HI>Henry</HI> was dead, and that there was a glove of the &s;aid Lord buried in the ground; and as that glove did rot and wa&s;t, &s;o did the liver of the &s;aid lord rot and wa&s;t.</P>
<P>Further &s;he &s;aid, March 3, 1618. before Sir <HI>George Manners</HI> Knight, and <HI>Samuel Fleming</HI> Doctor of Divinity, that &s;he hath a &s;pirit which hath the &s;hape of a white dogge, which &s;he cal|leth her good &s;pirit.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Samuel Fleming</HI> te&s;t.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The Examination of <HI>Ioane Willimot,</HI> taken the 28. of February, in the 16. yeare of the reigne of our Soveraigne Lord <HI>Iames,</HI> over <HI>England</HI> King, &amp;c. and over <HI>Scotland</HI> the 52. before <HI>A|lexander Amcots</HI> E&s;quire, one of his Maji&s;tise Iu&s;tices of the Peace of the &s;aid Parts and County.</HEAD>
<P>THis Examinat &s;aith, That <HI>Ioane Flower</HI> told her that my Lord of <HI>Rutland</HI> had dealt badly with her, and that they had put away her daughter, and that although &s;hee could not have her will of my Lord him&s;elfe, yet &s;he had &s;pied my Lords Sonne, and had &s;trick on him to the heart. And &s;hee &s;aith, that my Lords &s;onne was &s;tricken with a white Spirit, and that &s;he can cure &s;ome that &s;end unto her, and that &s;ome reward her for her paines, and of &s;ome &s;he taketh nothing.</P>
<P>Shee further &s;aith, That upon Friday night la&s;t, her Spirit came to her and told her, That there was a bad woman at <HI>Dee|ping</HI> who had given her &s;oule to the Devill: and that her &s;aid Spirit did then appeare unto her in a more ugly for me then it had formerly done, and that it urged her much to give it &s;ome|thing, although it were but a piece of her girdle, and told her that it had taken great paines for her, but &s;hee &s;aith that &s;hee
<PB REF="8">
would give it nothing, and told it that &s;hee had &s;ent it to no place, but onely to &s;ee how my Lord <HI>Ro&s;&s;e</HI> did, and that her &s;pi|rit told her, that he &s;hould doe well.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The Examination of the &s;aid <HI>Ioane Willimot,</HI> taken the &s;econd day of March, in the yeare above &s;aid, before the &s;aid <HI>Alexan|der Amcots.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THis Examinate &s;aith, That &s;hee hath a Spirit which &s;hee calleth <HI>Pretty,</HI> which was given unto her by <HI>William Berry</HI> of <HI>Langholme</HI> in <HI>Rutland &s;hire,</HI> whom &s;he &s;erved three yeares, and that her Ma&s;ter when hee gave it unto her, willed her to open her mouth, and hee would blow into her a Fairy which &s;hould doe her good; and that &s;hoe opened her mouth; and he did blow into her mouth and pre&s;ently after his blowing, there came out of her mouth a Spirit, which &s;tood upon the ground in the &s;hape and forme of a woman, which Spirit did aske of her her &s;oule, which &s;hee then promi&s;ed unto it, being willed thereunto by by her Ma&s;ter. She further confe&s;&s;eth, That &s;he never hurt any body, but did helpe divers that &s;ent for her, which were &s;tricken or fore-&s;poken: and that her Spirit came weeke|ly to her and would tell her of divers per&s;ons which were &s;tric|ken and fore &s;poken. And &s;he &s;aith, That the u&s;e which &s;hee had of the Spirit was to know, how tho&s;e did which &s;hee had undertaken to amend; and that &s;he did helpe them by certaine prayers which &s;hee u&s;ed, and not by her owne Spirit: neither did &s;he imploy her Spirit in any thing, but onely to bring word how tho&s;e did which &s;he had undertaken to cure.</P>
<P>And &s;he further &s;aith, That her Spirit came unto her this la&s;t night (as &s;hee thought) in the forme of a woman, mumbling, but &s;hee could not under&s;tand what it &s;aid. And being asked whether &s;hee were not in a dreame or &s;lumber when &s;hee thought &s;he &s;aw it, &s;he &s;aid no, and that &s;he was as walking as at this pre&s;ent.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Alexander Amoors. Thomas Robin&s;on. <HI>te&s;t.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The Examination of <HI>Joane Willimot</HI> of Goadby in the County of Leice&s;ter widow, taken the 17. of March, 1618. by Sir
<PB REF="9">
<HI>Henry Ha&s;tings</HI> Knight, and <HI>Samuel Fleming</HI> Doctor of Di|vinity, two of his Maje&s;ites Iu&s;tices of the Peace of the &s;aid County of Leice&s;ter.</HEAD>
<P>SHe &s;aith, That &s;he told one <HI>Cookes</HI> wife, of <HI>Stathorne</HI> in the &s;aid County Labourer, that <HI>Iohn Patchet</HI> might have had his child alive, if he would haue &s;ought forth for it in time, and if it were not death &s;tricken in her wayes, and that <HI>Patchets</HI> wife had an evill thing within her, which &s;hould make an end of her, and that &s;he knew by her girdle.</P>
<P>Shee &s;aith further, That <HI>Gamaliel Greete</HI> of <HI>Waltham</HI> in the &s;aid County Shepherd, had a Spirit like a white Mou&s;e put in|to him, in his &s;wearing; and that if hee did looke upon any thing with an intent to hurt, it &s;hould be hurt, and that he had marke on his left, arme, which was cut away; and that her owne Spirit did tell her all this before it went from her.</P>
<P>Further &s;hee &s;aith, That <HI>Ioane Flower, Margaret Flower,</HI> and &s;he, did meet about a weeke before <HI>Ioane Flowers</HI> apprehen&s;ion in <HI>Blackborrow hill,</HI> and went from thence home to the &s;aid <HI>Ioane Flowers</HI> hou&s;e and there &s;hee &s;aw two Spirits, one like a Rat, and the other like an Owle; and one of them did &s;ucke under, her right eare, as &s;he thought: and the &s;aid <HI>Ioane</HI> told her, that her Spirit did &s;ay, &s;he chould neither be hanged nor burnt.</P>
<P>Further, &s;he &s;aith, That the &s;aid <HI>Ioatie Flower</HI> did take up &s;ome earth and &s;pit upon it, and did worke it with her finger, and put it up into her pur&s;e, and &s;aid, Though &s;he could not hurt the Lord him&s;elfe yet &s;he had &s;ped his &s;onne, which is dead.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>H. Ha&s;tings. Samuel Fleming.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The Examination of <HI>Ellen Greene</HI> of <HI>Stathorne</HI> in the County of Leice&s;ter, taken the <HI>17.</HI> of March <HI>1618.</HI> by Sir <HI>Henry Ha&s;t|ings</HI> Knight, and <HI>Samuel Fleming</HI> Doctor of Divinity.</HEAD>
<P>SHe &s;aith, That one <HI>Ioane Willimot</HI> of <HI>Goadby</HI> came about &s;ixe yeares &s;ince, to her in the Wowlds, and per&s;waded this Examinate to for&s;ake God, and betake her to the Devill, and &s;he would give her, two Spirits, to which &s;he gave her con&s;ent and thereupon the &s;aid <HI>Ioane Willimot</HI> called two Spirits, one in the likenes of a Kitlin, and the other of a Moldiwarp, the fir&s;t the &s;aid <HI>Willmot</HI> called <HI>Pu&s;&s;e,</HI> the other <HI>Hiffe, hiffe,</HI> and they
<PB REF="9">
pre&s;ently came to her, and &s;he departing left them with this Ex|aminate, and they lept on her &s;houlder, and the Kitlin &s;uckt un|der her right eare on her necke, and the Moldiwarp on the left &s;ide, in the like place. After they had &s;uckt her, &s;hee &s;ent the Kitlin to a Baker of that Towne, who&s;e name &s;he remembers not, who had called her Witch and &s;tricken her; and bade her &s;aid Spirit goe and bewitch him to death: the Moldiwarp &s;he then bade goe to <HI>Anne Daw&s;e</HI> of the &s;ame Towne, and bewitch her to death, becau&s;e &s;hee had; called this Examinate Witch, whore, jade, &amp;c. and within one fortnight after they both died.</P>
<P>And further this Examinate &s;aith, That &s;he &s;ent both her Spi|rits to <HI>Stonesby,</HI> to one <HI>Willi&s;on</HI> a husband-man, and <HI>Robert Wil|liman</HI> a husbandmans &s;onne, and bade the Kitlin goe to <HI>Willi&s;on</HI> and bewitch him to death, and the Moldiwarp to the other, and bewitch him to death, which they did; and within ten dayes they died. The&s;e foure were bewitched while this Examinate dwelt at <HI>Waltham</HI> afore&s;aid.</P>
<P>About three yeares &s;ince, this Examinate removed thence to <HI>Stathorne,</HI> where &s;he now dwelt: upon a difference betweene the &s;aid <HI>Willimot</HI> and the wife of <HI>Iohn Patchet</HI> of the &s;aid <HI>Sta|thorne</HI> Yeoman, &s;he the &s;aid <HI>Willimot</HI> called her this Examinate to goe and touch the &s;aid <HI>Iohn Patchets</HI> wife and her childe, which &s;he did, touching the &s;aid <HI>Iohn Patchets</HI> wife in her bed, and the child in the Grace-wifes armes, and then &s;ent her &s;aid Spirits to bewitch them to death, which they did, and &s;o the woman lay langui&s;hing by the &s;pace of a moneth and more, for then &s;he died; the child died the next day after &s;he touched it.</P>
<P>And &s;hee further &s;aith, That the &s;aid <HI>Ioane Willimot,</HI> had a Spirit &s;ucking on her, under the left flanke, in the likene&s;&s;e of a little white dogge, which this Examinate &s;aith, that &s;hee &s;aw the &s;ame &s;ucking in Barley-harve&s;t la&s;t, being then at the hou&s;e of the &s;aid <HI>Ioane Willimot,</HI></P>
<P>And for her &s;elfe, this Examinate further &s;aith, That &s;he gave her &s;oule, the Deuill, to have the&s;e Spirits at her command; for a confirmation whereof, &s;he &s;uffered them to &s;ucke her al|wayes as afore&s;aid, about the Change and full of the Moone.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>H. Ha&s;tings. Samuel Fleming.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<PB REF="10">
<HEAD>The Examination of <HI>Philip Flower,</HI> &s;i&s;ter of <HI>Margaret Flower,</HI> and daughters of <HI>Ioane Flower,</HI> before Sir <HI>William Pelham,</HI> and Ma&s;ter <HI>Butler,</HI> Iu&s;tices of the Peace, <HI>February 4. 1618.</HI> Which was brought in at the A&s;&s;izes as evidence against her &s;i&s;ter <HI>Margaret.</HI></HEAD>
<P>SHe &s;aith, That her mother and her &s;i&s;ter maliced the Earle of <HI>Rutland,</HI> his Counte&s;&s;e, and cheir children, becau&s;e her &s;i&s;ter <HI>Margaret</HI> was put out of the Ladies &s;ervice of Laundry, and exempted from other &s;ervices about the hou&s;e, whereupon her &s;aid &s;i&s;ter; by the commandement of her mother, brought from the Ca&s;tle the right hand glove of the Lord <HI>Henry Ro&s;&s;e,</HI> which &s;he delivered to her mother; who pre&s;ently rubd it on the backe of her Spirit <HI>Rutterkin,</HI> then put it into hot boy|ling water, afterward &s;he pricked it often, and buried it in the yard, wi&s;hing the Lord <HI>Ro&s;&s;e</HI> might never thrive, and &s;o her &s;i&s;ter <HI>Margaret</HI> continued with her mother, where &s;he often &s;aw the Cat <HI>Rutterkin</HI> leape on her &s;houlder, and &s;uck her neck.</P>
<P>Shee further confe&s;&s;ed, that &s;he heard her mother often cur&s;e the Earle and his Lady, and thereupon would boyle feathers and blood together, u&s;ing many Devilli&s;h &s;peeches and &s;trange ge&s;tures.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The Examination of <HI>Margaret Flower.</HI></HEAD>
<P>SHe &s;aith and confe&s;&s;eth, That about foure or five yeare &s;ince her mother &s;ent her, for the right hand glove of <HI>Henry</HI> Lord <HI>Ro&s;&s;e,</HI> afterward that her mother bade her goe againe into the Ca&s;tle of <HI>Bever,</HI> and bring downe the glove or &s;ome other thing of <HI>Henry</HI> Lord <HI>Ro&s;&s;e,</HI> and &s;he askt what to doe? Her mo|ther replied, to hurt my Lord <HI>Ro&s;&s;e:</HI> whereupon &s;hee brought downe a glove, and delivered the &s;ame to her mother, who &s;tro|ked <HI>Rutterkin</HI> her Cat with it; after it was dipt in hot water, and &s;o prickt it often, after which <HI>Henry</HI> Lord <HI>Ro&s;&s;e</HI> fell &s;icke within a weeke, and was much tormented with the &s;ame.</P>
<P>Shee further faith, That finding a glove about two or three yeares &s;ince of <HI>Francis</HI> Lord <HI>Ro&s;&s;e,</HI> on a dunghill, &s;hee delive|red it to her mother, who put it into hot water and after tooke it out and rubd it on <HI>Rutterkin</HI> the Cat, and bad him goe up|wards, and after her mother buried it in the yard, and &s;aid a
<PB REF="10">
mi&s;chiefe light on him, but hee will mend againe.</P>
<P>Shee further &s;aith, That her mother, and &s;hee, and her &s;i&s;ter agreed together to bewitch the Earle and his Lady, that they might have no more children: and being demanded the cau&s;e of their malice and ill-will; &s;hee &s;aith, that about foure yeares &s;ince, the Counte&s;&s;e (growing into &s;ome mi&s;like with her) gave her forty &s;hillings, a bol&s;ter, and an attre&s;&s;e, and bade her lie at home, and come no more to dwell at the Ca&s;tle; which &s;he not onely tooke in ill-part, but grudged at it exceedingly, &s;wea|ring in her heart to be revenged. After this her mother com|plained to the Earle again&s;t one <HI>Peake,</HI> who had offred her &s;ome wrong, wherein &s;hee conceived that the Earle tooke not her part, as &s;he expected, which di&s;like with the re&s;t, exa&s;perated her di&s;plea&s;ure again&s;t him, and &s;o &s;he watched an opportunity to bee revenged: whereupon &s;hee tooke wooll out of the &s;aid mattre&s;&s;e, and a paire of gloves, which were given her by Ma|&s;ter <HI>Vava&s;or,</HI> and put them into warme water, mingling them with &s;ome blood, and &s;tirring it together, then &s;hee tooke the wooll and gloves out of the water, and rubd them on the belly of <HI>Rutterkin</HI> her Cat, &s;aying, the Lord and the Lady &s;hould have more children, but it would be long fir&s;t.</P>
<P>Shee further confe&s;&s;eth, that by her mothers commandment, &s;he brought to her a piece of a handkerchiefe of the Lady <HI>Ka|therine</HI> the Earles daughter, and her mother put it into hot wa|ter, and then taking it out, rubd it on <HI>Rutterkin,</HI> bidding him flie, and goe; whereupon <HI>Rutterkin</HI> whined and cried Mew: whereupon &s;he &s;aid, that <HI>Rutterkin</HI> had no power over the La|dy <HI>Katherine</HI> to hurt her.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Another Examination of <HI>Philip Flower,</HI> before <HI>Francis</HI> Earle of Rutland, <HI>Francis</HI> Lord Willoughby of <HI>Ersby,</HI> Sir <HI>George Manners,</HI> and Sir <HI>William Pelham.</HI></HEAD>
<P>SHee confe&s;&s;eth and &s;aith, That &s;hee hath a Spirit &s;ucking on her in the forme of a white Rat, which keepeth her left brea&s;t, and hath &s;o done for three or foure yeares, and concer|ning the agreement betwixt her Spirit and her &s;elfe, &s;hee con|fe&s;&s;eth and &s;aith, That when it came fir&s;t unto her, &s;he gave her
<PB REF="11">
&s;oule to it, and it promi&s;ed to doe her good, and cau&s;e <HI>Thomas Simp&s;on</HI> to love her, if &s;hee would &s;uffer it to &s;ucke her, which &s;he agreed unto; and &s;o the la&s;t, time it &s;uckt was on Tue&s;day at night, the 23. of February.</P>
<P><HI>Margaret Flower,</HI> at the &s;ame time confe&s;&s;eth, that &s;he hath two familiar Spirits &s;ucking on her, the one white, the other blacke &s;potted; the white &s;ucked under her left brea&s;t, and the blacke &s;potted within the inward parts of her &s;ecrets. When &s;hee fir&s;t entertained them &s;hee promi&s;ed them her &s;oule, and they covenanted to doe all things which &s;hee commanded them, &amp;c.</P>
<P>Shee further &s;aith, That about the 30. of <HI>Ianuary</HI> la&s;t pa&s;t, being Saturday, foure Devills appeared unto her in <HI>Lincolne</HI> Jayle, at eleven on twelve a clocke at midnight: The one &s;tood at her beds feet, with a blacke head like an Ape, and &s;pake un|to her, but what, &s;he cannot well remember, at which &s;he was very angry becau&s;e hee would &s;peake no plainer, or let her un|der&s;tand his meaning: the other three were <HI>Rutterkin, Little Robin,</HI> and <HI>Spirit;</HI> but &s;he never mi&s;tru&s;ted them, nor &s;u&s;pected her &s;elfe till then.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>THe&s;e Examinations and &s;ome others were taken and cha|rily pre&s;erved for the contriving of &s;ufficient evidences again&s;t them, and when the Judges of A&s;&s;ize came downe to Lincolne about the fir&s;t wecke of <HI>March,</HI> being Sir <HI>Henry Ho|bert,</HI> Lord chiefe Ju&s;tice of the Common-Pleas, and Sir <HI>Ed|ward Bromely,</HI> one of the Barons of the Exchequer, they were pre&s;ented unto them, who not onely wondred at the wicked|ne&s;&s;e of the&s;e per&s;ons, but were amazed at their practi&s;es and horrible contracts with the Devill to damne their owne &s;oules: And although the Right Honourable Earle had &s;ufficient griefe for the lo&s;&s;e of his children; yet no doubt it was the greater to con&s;ider the maner, and how it plea&s;ed God to inflict on him &s;uch a fa&s;hion of vi&s;itation: Be&s;ides, as it amazed the hearers to under&s;tand the particulars, and the circum&s;tances of this devilli&s;h contract was it as wonderfull to &s;ee their de&s;perate
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impenitency, and horrible di&s;traction, according to the re&s;t of that &s;ort, exclaiming again&s;t the Devill for deluding them, and now breaking promi&s;e with them, when they &s;tood in mo&s;t need of his helpe.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding all the&s;e aggravations, &s;uch was the un|paralleld magnanimity, wi&s;edome, and patience of this gene|rous Noble-man, that he urged nothing again&s;t them more then their owne confe&s;&s;ions, and &s;o quietly left them to judiciall triall, de&s;iring of God mercy for their &s;oules, and of men cha|rity to cen&s;ure them in their condemnation: but God is not mocked, and &s;o gave them over to judgement, nor man &s;o refor|med, but for the Earles &s;ake, they cur&s;ed them to that place which they them&s;elves long before had bargained for.</P>
<P>What now remaines (gentle Reader) but for thee to make u&s;e of &s;o wonderfull a &s;tory, and remarkeable an accident, out of which, to draw to a conclusion, thou maye&s;t collect the&s;e particulas: Fir&s;t, that God is the &s;upreame Commander of all things, and permitteth wonderfull actions in the World, for the triall of the godly, the puni&s;hment of the wicked, and his owne glory: of which man &s;hall never attaine to know the rea|&s;on or occa&s;ion. Secondly, that the Devill is the meere &s;er|vant and agent of God, to pro&s;ecute what&s;oever he &s;hall com|mand rather then give leave unto; limiting him yet thus farre in his owne nature, that he can goe no further then the bounds within which he is hedged. Thirdly, that this God hath pu|ni&s;hments, <HI>ad correctionem,</HI> that is to &s;ay, cha&s;ti&s;ements of the godly, <HI>&amp; Ad ruinam, Videlicet,</HI> judgements again&s;t the wicked, wherein yet man mu&s;t di&s;claime any knowledge, and for&s;ake prejudicate opinions. For the very ju&s;t &s;hall be tried like gold, and no man exempted from ca&s;tigation whom God doth love. Fourthly, that this Devill, though hee bee Gods in&s;trument, yet worketh altogether by deceit: for as he was a lier from the beginning; &s;o let no man tru&s;t him, becau&s;e hee aimes at the confu&s;ion of all mankinde, Fifthly, that the wicked (however they may thriue and pro&s;per for a time) yet in the end are &s;ure to be payed home, either with puni&s;hment in this life or in the life to come, or both, as a finall reward of men&s;trous impicty.
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Sixthly, that man in his frailty mu&s;t not pre&s;ume of pro&s;perity, but prepare a kind of &s;tooping under the hand of God, when it plea&s;eth him to &s;trike or puni&s;h us. Seventhly, that there is no murmuring nor repining again&s;t God, but quietly to tolerate his inflictings, when&s;oever they chance, of which this worthy Earle is a memorable example to all men and ages. Eightly, that the puni&s;hments of the wicked are &s;o many warnings to all irregular &s;inners to amend their lives, and avoid the judge|ment to come, by penitency, and newne&s;&s;e of life. Ninthly, that though man could bee content to pa&s;&s;e over bla&s;phemies and offences again&s;t the Statutes of Princes, yet God will over|take them in their owne walkes, and pull them backe by the &s;leeve into a &s;laughter-hou&s;e, as here you know the evidences again&s;t the&s;e people tooke life and power from their owne Confe&s;&s;ions. Tenthly, and la&s;t of all, that private opinion cannot prevaile again&s;t publike cen&s;ures: for here you &s;ee the learned and religious Judges cried out with our Saviour, <HI>Ex ore tuo.</HI> Therefore though it were &s;o, that neither Witch nor Devill could doe the&s;e things, yet <HI>Let not a Witch live,</HI> &s;aith God, and <HI>Let them die</HI> (&s;aith the Law of <HI>England) that have conver&s;ati|on with &s;pirits, and pre&s;ume to bla&s;pheme the Name of God with &s;pels and incantations.</HI> O then you &s;onnes of men, take war|ning by the&s;e examples; and either divert your &s;teps from the broad way of de&s;truction, and irrecoverable gulfe of damnati|on, or with <HI>Io&s;uahs</HI> coun&s;ell to <HI>Achan,</HI> Ble&s;&s;e God for the di&s;|covery of wickedne&s;&s;e, and take thy death patiently, as the pre|vention of thy future judgement, and &s;aving innocents from puni&s;hment, who otherwi&s;e may be &s;u&s;pected without a cau&s;e.</P>
<Q>Vtinam tam facile vera invenire po&s;&s;em, quam fal&s;a con|vincere.</Q>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The triall of a Witch.</HEAD>
<P>Now as touching the triall and di&s;covery of a Witch (then which these cannot be any pre&s;ident more nece&s;&s;ary and be|hoovefull
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for us) there are divers opinions holden; As &s;ome by the pricking of a &s;harpe knife, naule, or other pointed instrument under the &s;toole or &s;eate on which the Witch &s;itteth (for thereon &s;hee is not able to &s;it or abide) others by &s;cratching, or drawing of blood from the Witch, by either party that is grieved, or the next of blood to the &s;ame, and others by fire; as by burning any relique or principall ornament belonging to the &s;u&s;pected Witch, which &s;hall no &s;ooner bee on fire, but the Witch will pre&s;ently come running to behold it; and of the&s;e, trials have beene made both in <HI>Hartford&s;hire, Northampton&s;hire,</HI> and <HI>Huntington&s;hire;</HI> But the on&eacute;ly a&s;&s;ured and ab&s;olute perfect way to finde her out, is to take the Witch or party &s;u&s;pected either to &s;ome Mildam, Pond, Lake or deepe River, and &s;tripping her to her &s;mocke, tie her armes acro&s;&s;e, onely let her legs have free liberty; then fa&s;tening arope about her middle which with the helpe of by &s;tanders may be ever ready to &s;ave her from drowning (in ca&s;e &s;he &s;inke) throw her in|to the water, and if &s;hee &s;wimme aloft and not &s;incke, then draw her foorth, and have &s;ome hone&s;t and di&s;creet women neere, which may pre&s;ently &s;earch her for the &s;ecret marke of Witches, as Teates, blood-moales, moi&s;t warts, and the like, which found, then the &s;econd time (binding her right thumbe to her left toe, and her left thumbe to her right toe) throw her into the water againe (with the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the former rope to &s;ave her, if &s;hee &s;hould chance to &s;incke) and if then &s;hee &s;wim againe and doe not &s;incke you may mo&s;t a&s;&s;uredly re&s;olve &s;he is a Witch: and of this many preg|nant and true proofes have beene made, as namely by one Ma&s;ter <HI>Enger</HI> of Bedford&s;hire, upon the per&s;on of <HI>Mary Sutton</HI> (a notable Witch) whom he ca&s;t into his Mildam at <HI>Milton</HI> Mills, and found the effect as hath beene declared, and for her Witchcraft was there condemned and executed, and as this &s;o I could recite a world of others in the &s;ame nature. But the trueth is &s;o manife&s;t that it needeth no flouri&s;h to adorne it.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
