,il est bon de connaitre les delires de 
l'esprit humain4  ,chaque people  a ses 
folies plus ou moins grossieres4        
,,millot          ,,memories ,,of       
,,extraordinary ,,popular ,,delusions   
,,vol ,,ii4      ,,by    ,,charles      
,,mackay          ,,contents ,,of ,,the 
,,second ,,volume4      ,,the ,,crusades
    ,,the ,,witch ,,mania    ,,the      
,,slow ,,poisoners    ,,haunted ,,houses
          ,,the ,,crusades 4444         
,they heard1 and up they sprung upon the
 wing    ,innumerable4 ,as when the     
potent rod    ,of ,amram's son1 in      
,egypt's evil day1    ,waved round the  
coast1 up call'd a pitchy cloud    ,of  
locusts1 warping on the eastern wind    
,that o'er the realm of impious ,pharaoh
 hung    ,like night1 and darken'd all  
the realm of ,nile1    ,so numberless   
were they4    99    99    99    99      
99     99     99     99     99     99   
99    ,all in a moment through the gloom
 were seen    ,ten thousand banners rise
 into the air1    ,with orient colours  

waving4 ,with them rose    ,a forest    
huge of spears2 and thronging helms     
,appear'd1 and serried shields1 in thick
 array1    ,of depth immeasurable4      
,paradise ,lost4      ,every age has its
 peculiar folly--some scheme1 project1  
or phantasy  into which it plunges1     
spurred on either by the love of gain1  
the  necessity of excitement1 or the    
mere force of imitation4 ,failing in    
these1 it has some madness1 to which it 
is goaded by political or  religious    
causes1 or both combined4 ,every one of 
these causes  influenced the ,crusades1 
and conspired to render them the most   
extraordinary instance upon record of   
the extent to which popular  enthusiasm 
can be carried4 ,history in her solemn  
page informs us1 that  the crusaders    
were but ignorant and savage men1 that  
their motives were  those of bigotry    
unmitigated1 and that their pathway was 
one of blood  and tears4 ,romance1 on   
the other hand1 dilates upon their piety
 and  heroism and pourtrays in her most 

glowing and impassioned hues their      
virtue and magnanimity1 the imperishable
 honour they acquired for  themselves1  
and the great services they rendered to 
,christianity4  ,in  the following pages
 we shall ransack the stores of both1 to
 discover  the true spirit that animated
 the motley multitude who took up arms  
in  the service of the ,cross1 leaving  
history to vouch for facts1 but not     
disdaining the aid of contemporary      
poetry and romance to throw light  upon 
feelings1 motives1 and opinions4    ,in 
order to understand thoroughly the state
 of public feeling in ,europe  at the   
time when ,peter the ,hermit preached   
the holy war1 it will be  necessary to  
go back for many years anterior to that 
event4 ,we must  make acquaintance with 
the pilgrims of the eighth1 ninth1 and  
tenth  centuries1 and learn the tales   
they told of the dangers they had       
passed1 and the wonders they had seen4  
,pilgrimages to the ,holy ,land  seem at
 first to have been undertaken by       

converted ,jews1 and by  ,christian     
devotees of lively imagination1 pining  
with a natural  curiosity to visit the  
scenes which of all others were most    
interesting  in their eyes4 ,the pious  
and the impious alike flocked to        
,jerusalem1--the one class to feast     
their sight on the scenes hallowed  by  
the life and sufferings of their ,lord1 
and the other1 because it  soon became a
 generally received opinion1 that such a
 pilgrimage was  sufficient to rub off  
the long score of sins1 however         
atrocious4  ,another and very numerous  
class of pilgrims were the idle and     
roving1  who visited ,palestine then as 
the moderns visit ,italy or ,switzerland
  now1 because it was the fashion1 and  
because they might please their  vanity 
by retailing1 on their return1 the      
adventures they had met with4  ,but the 
really pious formed the great majority4 
,every year their  numbers increased1   
until at last they became so numerous as
 to be  called the armies of the ,lord4 

,full of enthusiasm1 they set the       
danger and difficulty of the way at     
defiance1 and lingered with holy        
rapture on every scene described in the 
,evangelists4 ,to them it was  bliss    
indeed to drink the clear waters of the 
,jordan1 or be baptized in  the same    
stream where ,john had baptized the     
,saviour4 ,they wandered with  awe and  
pleasure in the purlieus of the ,temple1
 on the solemn ,mount of  ,olives1 or   
the awful ,calvary1 where a ,god had    
bled for sinful men4 ,to  these pilgrims
 every object was precious4 ,relics were
 eagerly sought  after2 flagons of water
 from ,jordan1 or paniers of mould from 
the hill  of the ,crucifixion1 were     
brought home1 and sold at extravagant   
prices  to churches and monasteries4    
,more apocryphical relics1 such as the  
wood  of the true cross1 the tears of   
the ,virgin ,mary1 the hems of her      
garments1 the toe-nails and hair of the 
,apostles--even the tents that  ,paul   
had helped to manufacture--were         

exhibited for sale by the knavish  in   
,palestine1 and brought back to ,europe 
with wondrous cost and care4  ,a grove  
of a hundred oaks would not have        
furnished all the wood sold in  little  
morsels as remnants of the true cross2  
and the tears of ,mary1 if  collected   
together1 would have filled a cistern4  
,for upwards of two hundred years the   
pilgrims met with no impediment in      
,palestine4 ,the enlightened ,haroun ,al
 ,reschid1 and his more immediate       
successors1 encouraged the stream which 
brought so much wealth into  ,syria1 and
 treated the wayfarers with the utmost  
courtesy4  ,the race of  ,fatemite      
caliphs1--who1 although in other        
respects as tolerant1 were  more        
distressed for money1 or more           
unscrupulous in obtaining it1 than      
their predecessors of the house of      
,abbas1--imposed a tax of a bezant  for 
each pilgrim that entered ,jerusalem4   
,this was a serious hardship  upon the  
poorer sort1 who had begged their weary 

way across ,europe1 and  arrived at the 
bourne of all their hopes without a     
coin4 ,a great outcry  was immediately  
raised1 but still the tax was rigorously
 levied4 ,the  pilgrims unable to pay   
were compelled to remain at the gate of 
the holy  city until some rich devotee  
arriving with his train1 paid the tax   
and  let them in4 ,robert of ,normandy1 
father of ,william the ,conqueror1 who1 
in common with many other nobles of the 
highest rank1 undertook the  pilgrimage1
 found on his arrival scores of pilgrims
 at the gate1  anxiously expecting his  
coming to pay the tax for them4 ,upon no
  occasion was such a boon refused4     
,the sums drawn from this source were a 
mine of wealth to the ,moslem  governors
 of ,palestine1 imposed as the tax had  
been at a time when  pilgrimages had    
become more numerous than ever4 ,a      
strange idea had  taken possession of   
the popular mind at the close of the    
tenth and  commencement of the eleventh 
century4 ,it was universally believed   

that  the end of the world was at hand2 
that the thousand years of the          
,apocalypse were near completion1 and   
that ,jesus ,christ would descend  upon 
,jerusalem to judge mankind4 ,all       
,christendom was in commotion4 ,a  panic
 terror seized upon the weak1 the       
credulous1 and the guilty1 who  in those
 days formed more than nineteen         
twentieths of the population4           
,forsaking their homes1 kindred1 and    
occupation1 they crowded to  ,jerusalem 
to await the coming of the ,lord1       
lightened1 as they imagined1  of a load 
of sin by their weary pilgrimage4 ,to   
increase the panic1 the  stars were     
observed to fall from heaven1           
earthquakes to shake the land1  and     
violent hurricanes to blow down the     
forests4 ,all these1 and more           
especially the meteoric phenomena1 were 
looked upon as the forerunners  of the  
approaching judgments4 ,not a meteor    
shot athwart the horizon  that did not  
fill a district with alarm1 and send    

away to ,jerusalem a  score of pilgrims1
 with staff in hand and wallet on their 
back1 praying  as they went for the     
remission of their sins4  ,men1 women1  
and even  children1 trudged in droves to
 the holy city1 in expectation of the   
day  when the heavens would open1 and   
the ,son of ,god descend in his glory4  
,this extraordinary delusion1 while it  
augmented the numbers1 increased  also  
the hardships of the pilgrims4 ,beggars 
became so numerous on all  the highways 
between the west of ,europe and         
,constantinople that the  monks1 the    
great alms-givers upon these occasions1 
would have brought  starvation within   
sight of their own doors1 if they had   
not economized  their resources1 and    
left the devotees to shift for          
themselves as they  could4 ,hundreds of 
them were glad to subsist upon the      
berries that  ripened by the road1 who1 
before this great flux1 might have      
shared the  bread and flesh of the      
monasteries4    ,but this was not the   

greatest of their difficulties4 ,on     
their arrival  in ,jerusalem they found 
that a sterner race had obtained        
possession of  the ,holy ,land4 ,the    
caliphs of ,bagdad had been succeeded by
 the harsh  ,turks of the race of       
,seljook1 who looked upon the pilgrims  
with  contempt and aversion4 ,the ,turks
 of the eleventh century were more      
ferocious and less scrupulous than the  
,saracens of the tenth4 ,they were      
annoyed at the immense number of        
pilgrims who overran the country1 and   
still more so because they showed no    
intention of quitting it4 ,the  hourly  
expectation of the last judgment kept   
them waiting2 and the  ,turks1          
apprehensive of being at last driven    
from the soil by the swarms  that were  
still arriving1 heaped up difficulties  
in their way4  ,persecution of every    
kind awaited them4 ,they were plundered1
 and beaten  with stripes1 and kept in  
suspense for months at the gates of     
,jerusalem1 unable to pay the golden    

bezant that was to facilitate their     
entrance4    ,when the first epidemic   
terror of the day of judgment began to  
subside1  a few pilgrims ventured to    
return to ,europe1 their hearts big with
  indignation at the insults they had   
suffered4 ,everywhere as they passed    
they related to a sympathizing auditory 
the wrongs of ,christendom4  ,strange to
 say1 even these recitals increased the 
mania for pilgrimage4  ,the greater the 
dangers of the way1 the more chance that
 sins of deep  dye would be atoned for4 
,difficulty and suffering only          
heightened the  merit1 and fresh hordes 
issued from every town and village1 to  
win  favour in the sight of ,heaven by a
 visit to the holy sepulchre4 ,thus  did
 things continue during the whole of the
 eleventh century4    ,the train that   
was to explode so fearfully was now     
laid1 and there  wanted but the hand to 
apply the torch4 ,at last the man       
appeared upon  the scene4 ,like all who 
have ever achieved so great an end1     

,peter the  hermit was exactly suited to
 the age2 neither behind it1 nor in     
advance  of it2 but acute enough to     
penetrate its mystery ere it was        
discovered  by any other4 ,enthusiastic1
 chivalrous1 bigoted1 and1 if not       
insane1  not far removed from insanity1 
he was the very prototype of the time4  
,true enthusiasm is always persevering  
and always eloquent1 and these  two     
qualities were united in no common      
degree in the person of this            
extraordinary preacher4 ,he was a monk  
of ,amiens1 and ere he assumed the  hood
 had served as a soldier4 ,he is        
represented as having been ill  favoured
 and low in stature1 but with an eye of 
surpassing brightness  and intelligence4
 ,having been seized with the mania of  
the age1 he  visited ,jerusalem1 and    
remained there till his blood boiled to 
see the  cruel persecution heaped upon  
the devotees4 ,on his return home he    
shook  the world by the eloquent story  
of their wrongs4    ,before entering    

into any further details of the         
astounding results of  his preaching1 it
 will be advisable to cast a glance at  
the state of  the mind of ,europe1 that 
we may understand all the better the    
causes of  his success4 ,first of all1  
there was the priesthood1 which1        
exercising  as it did the most          
conspicuous influence upon the fortunes 
of society1  claims the largest share of
 attention4 ,religion was the ruling    
idea of  that day1 and the only         
civiliser capable of taming such wolves 
as then  constituted the flock of the   
faithful4 ,the clergy were all in all2  
and  though they kept the popular mind  
in the most slavish subjection with     
regard to religious matters1 they       
furnished it with the means of  defence 
against all other oppression except     
their own4 ,in the  ecclesiastical ranks
 were concentrated all the true piety1  
all the  learning1 all the wisdom of the
 time2 and1 as a natural consequence1 a 
great portion of power1 which their very

 wisdom perpetually incited  them to    
extend4 ,the people knew nothing of     
kings and nobles1 except in  the way of 
injuries inflicted4 ,the first ruled    
for1 or more properly  speaking against1
 the barons1 and the barons only existed
 to brave the  power of the kings1 or to
 trample with their iron heels upon the 
neck  of prostrate democracy4 ,the      
latter had no friend but the clergy1 and
  these1 though they necessarily        
instilled the superstition from which   
they themselves were not exempt1 yet    
taught the cheering doctrine that  all  
men were equal in the sight of heaven4  
,thus1 while ,feudalism told  them they 
had no rights in this world1 ,religion  
told them they had  every right in the  
next4 ,with this consolation they were  
for the time  content1 for political    
ideas had as yet taken no root4 ,when   
the clergy1  for other reasons1         
recommended the ,crusade1 the people    
joined in it  with enthusiasm4 ,the     
subject of ,palestine filled all minds2 

the  pilgrims' tales of two centuries   
warmed every imagination2 and when      
their friends1 their guides1 and their  
instructors preached a war so  much in  
accordance with their own prejudices and
 modes of thinking1 the  enthusiasm rose
 into a frenzy4    ,but while religion  
inspired the masses1 another agent was  
at work upon  the nobility4 ,these were 
fierce and lawless2 tainted with every  
vice1  endowed with no virtue1 and      
redeemed by one good quality alone1 that
 of  courage4 ,the only religion they   
felt was the religion of fear4  ,that   
and their overboiling turbulence alike  
combined to guide them to the  ,holy    
,land4 ,most of them had sins enough to 
answer for4 ,they lived with  their hand
 against every man2 and with no law but 
their own passions4  ,they set at       
defiance the secular power of the       
clergy1 but their hearts  quailed at the
 awful denunciations of the pulpit with 
regard to the  life to come4 ,war was   
the business and the delight of their   

existence2  and when they were promised 
remission of all their sins upon the    
easy  condition of following their      
favourite bent1 is it to be wondered at 
that they rushed with enthusiasm to the 
onslaught1 and became as  zealous in the
 service of the ,cross as the great     
majority of the  people1 who were swayed
 by more purely religious motives8      
,fanaticism  and the love of battle     
alike impelled them to the war1 while   
the kings  and princes of ,europe had   
still another motive for encouraging    
their  zeal4 ,policy opened their eyes  
to the great advantages which would     
accrue to themselves1 by the absence of 
so many restless1 intriguing1  and      
blood-thirsty men1 whose insolence it   
required more than the small  power of  
royalty to restrain within due bounds4  
,thus every motive was  favourable to   
the ,crusades4 ,every class of society  
was alike incited to  join or encourage 
the war2 kings and the clergy by policy1
 the nobles  by turbulence and the love 

of dominion1 and the people by religious
  zeal and the concentrated enthusiasm  
of two centuries1 skilfully  directed by
 their only instructors4    ,it was in  
,palestine itself that ,peter the       
,hermit first conceived the  grand idea 
of rousing the powers of ,christendom to
 rescue the  ,christians of the ,east   
from the thraldom of the ,mussulmans1   
and the  sepulchre of ,jesus from the   
rude hands of the infidel4 ,the subject 
engrossed his whole mind4 ,even in the  
visions of the night he was full  of it4
 ,one dream made such an impression upon
 him1 that he devoutly  believed the    
,saviour of the world himself appeared  
before him1 and  promised him aid and   
protection in his holy undertaking4 ,if 
his zeal  had ever wavered before1 this 
was sufficient to fix it for ever4      
,peter1 after he had performed all the  
penances and duties of his  pilgrimage1 
demanded an interview with ,simeon1 the 
,patriarch of the  ,greek ,church at    
,jerusalem4 ,though the latter was a    

heretic in ,peter's  eyes1 yet he was   
still a ,christian1 and felt as acutely 
as himself for  the persecutions heaped 
by the ,turks upon the followers of     
,jesus4 ,the  good prelate entered fully
 into his views1 and1 at his suggestion1
  wrote letters to the ,pope1 and to the
 most influential monarchs of           
,christendom1 detailing the sorrows of  
the faithful1 and urging them to  take  
up arms in their defence4 ,peter was not
 a laggard in the work4  ,taking an     
affectionate farewell of the ,patriarch1
 he returned in all  haste to ,italy4   
,pope ,urban ,,ii4 occupied the         
apostolic chair4 ,it was at  that time  
far from being an easy seat4 ,his       
predecessor1 ,gregory1 had  bequeathed  
him a host of disputes with the ,emperor
 ,henry ,,iv4 of  ,germany1 and he had  
made ,philip ,i4 of ,france his enemy by
 his strenuous  opposition to an        
adulterous connexion formed by that     
monarch4 ,so many  dangers encompassed  
him about1 that the ,vatican was no     

secure abode1  and he had taken refuge  
in ,apulia1 under the protection of the 
renowned  ,robert ,guiscard4 ,thither   
,peter appears to have followed him1    
though in  what spot their meeting took 
place is not stated with any precision  
by  ancient chroniclers or modern       
historians4  ,urban received him most   
kindly2 read1 with tears in his eyes1   
the epistle from the ,patriarch         
,simeon1 and listened to the eloquent   
story of the ,hermit with an  attention 
which showed how deeply he sympathised  
with the woes of the  ,christian church4
 ,enthusiasm is contagious1 and the     
,pope appears to  have caught it        
instantly from one whose zeal was so    
unbounded4 ,giving  the ,hermit full    
powers1 he sent him abroad to preach the
 holy war to  all the nations and       
potentates of ,christendom4  ,the       
,hermit preached1  and countless        
thousands answered to his call4         
,france1 ,germany1 and  ,italy started  
at his voice1 and prepared for the      

deliverance of ,zion4  ,one of the early
 historians of the ,crusade1 who was    
himself an  eye-witness of the rapture  
of ,europe1 ,guibert de ,nogent         
describes the  personal appearance of   
the ,hermit at this time4  ,he says1    
that there  appeared to be something of 
divine in every thing which he said or  
did4  ,the people so highly reverenced  
him1 that they plucked hairs from the   
mane of his mule1 that they might keep  
them as relics4 ,while preaching1  he   
wore in general a woollen tunic1 with a 
dark-coloured mantle1 which  fell down  
to his heels4 ,his arms and feet were   
bare1 and he ate neither  flesh nor     
bread1 supporting himself chiefly upon  
fish and wine4 ,he set  out1 says the   
chronicler1 from whence ,i know not2 but
 we saw him  passing through the towns  
and villages1 preaching every where1 and
 the  people surrounding him in crowds1 
loading him with offerings1 and         
celebrating his sanctity with such great
 praises that ,i never remember  to have

 seen such honours bestowed upon any    
one4 ,thus he went on1  untired1        
inflexible1 and full of devotion1       
communicating his own  madness to his   
hearers1 until ,europe was stirred from 
its very depths4    ,while the ,hermit  
was appealing with such signal success  
to the people1  the ,pope appealed with 
as much success to those who were to    
become the  chiefs and leaders of the   
expedition4 ,his first step was to call 
a  council at ,placentia1 in the autumn 
of the year #ajie4 ,here1 in the        
assembly of the clergy1 the ,pope       
debated the grand scheme1 and gave      
audience to emissaries who had been sent
 from ,constantinople by the  ,emperor  
of the ,east to detail the progress made
 by the ,turks in their  design of      
establishing themselves in ,europe4 ,the
 clergy were of course  unanimous in    
support of the ,crusade1 and the council
 separated1 each  individual member of  
it being empowered to preach it to his  
people4    ,but ,italy could not be     

expected to furnish all the aid         
required2 and  the ,pope crossed the    
,alps to inspire the fierce and powerful
 nobility  and chivalrous population of 
,gaul4 ,his boldness in entering the    
territory1 and placing himself in the   
power of his foe1 ,king ,philip of      
,france1 is not the least surprising    
feature of his mission4  ,some have     
imagined that cool policy alone actuated
 him1 while others assert1 that  it was 
mere zeal1 as warm and as blind as that 
of ,peter the ,hermit4 ,the  latter     
opinion seems to be the true one4       
,society did not calculate the          
consequences of what it was doing4      
,every man seemed to act from impulse   
only2 and the ,pope1 in throwing himself
 into the heart of ,france1 acted  as   
much from impulse as the thousands who  
responded to his call4 ,a  council was  
eventually summoned to meet him at      
,clermont1 in ,auvergne1  to consider   
the state of the church1 reform abuses1 
and1 above all1  make preparations for  

the war4 ,it was in the midst of an     
extremely cold  winter1 and the ground  
was covered with snow4 ,during seven    
days the  council sat with closed doors1
 while immense crowds from all parts of 
,france flocked into the town1 in       
expectation that the ,pope himself      
would address the people4 ,all the towns
 and villages for miles around  were    
filled with the multitude2 even the     
fields were encumbered with  people1    
who1 unable to procure lodging1 pitched 
their tents under the  trees and by the 
way-side4 ,all the neighbourhood        
presented the  appearance of a vast     
camp4    ,during the seven days'        
deliberation1 a sentence of             
excommunication was  passed upon ,king  
,philip for adultery with ,bertrade de  
,montfort1  ,countess of ,anjou1 and for
 disobedience to the supreme authority  
of the  apostolic see4 ,this bold step  
impressed the people with reverence for 
so stern a church1 which in the         
discharge of its duty showed itself no  

respecter of persons4 ,their love and   
their fear were alike increased1  and   
they were prepared to listen with more  
intense devotion to the  preaching of so
 righteous and inflexible a pastor4 ,the
 great square  before the cathedral     
church of ,clermont became every instant
 more  densely crowded as the hour drew 
nigh when the ,pope was to address the  
populace4 ,issuing from the church in   
his frill canonicals1 surrounded  by his
 cardinals and bishops in all the       
splendour of ,romish  ecclesiastical    
costume1 the ,pope stood before the     
populace on a high  scaffolding erected 
for the occasion1 and covered with      
scarlet cloth4  ,a brilliant array of   
bishops and cardinals surrounded him2   
and among  them1 humbler in rank1 but   
more important in the world's eye1 the  
,hermit ,peter1 dressed in his simple   
and austere habiliments4  ,historians   
differ as to whether or not ,peter      
addressed the crowd1 but  as all agree  
that he was present1 it seems reasonable

 to suppose that  he spoke4 ,but it was 
the oration of the ,pope that was most  
important4  ,as he lifted up his hands  
to ensure attention1 every voice        
immediately  became still4 ,he began by 
detailing the miseries endured by their 
brethren in the ,holy ,land2 how the    
plains of ,palestine were desolated  by 
the outrageous heathen1 who with the    
sword and the firebrand carried  wailing
 into the dwellings and flames into the 
possessions of the  faithful2 how       
,christian wives and daughters were     
defiled by pagan lust2  how the altars  
of the true ,god were desecrated1 and   
the relics of the  saints trodden under 
foot4 ,you1 continued the eloquent      
pontiff1 7and  ,urban the ,second was   
one of the most eloquent men of the     
day17 you1  who hear me1 and who have   
received the true faith1 and been       
endowed by  ,god with power1 and        
strength1 and greatness of soul1--whose 
ancestors  have been the prop of        
,christendom1 and whose kings have put a

 barrier  against the progress of the   
infidel1--,i call upon you to wipe off  
these  impurities from the face of the  
earth1 and lift your oppressed          
fellow-christians from the depths into  
which they have been trampled4  ,the    
sepulchre of ,christ is possessed by the
 heathen1 the sacred places  dishonoured
 by their vileness4 ,oh1 brave knights  
and faithful people6  offspring of      
invincible fathers6 ye will not         
degenerate from your  ancient renown4   
,ye will not be restrained from         
embarking in this great  cause by the   
tender ties of wife or little ones1 but 
will remember the  words of the ,saviour
 of the world himself1 ',whosoever loves
 father and  mother more than me is not 
worthy of me4  ,whosoever shall abandon 
for  my name's sake his house1 or his   
brethren1 or his sisters1 or his        
father1 or his mother1 or his wife1 or  
his children1 or his lands1  shall      
receive a hundredfold1 and shall inherit
 eternal life4'    ,the warmth of the   

pontiff communicated itself to the      
crowd1 and the  enthusiasm of the people
 broke out several times ere he         
concluded his  address4 ,he went on to  
pourtray1 not only the spiritual but the
  temporal advantages1 that should      
accrue to those who took up arms in  the
 service of the ,cross4 ,palestine was1 
he said1 a land flowing with  milk and  
honey1 and precious in the sight of     
,god1 as the scene of the  grand events 
which had saved mankind4 ,that land1 he 
promised1 should be  divided among them4
 ,moreover1 they should have full pardon
 for all  their offences1 either against
 ,god or man4 ,go1 then1 he added1 in   
expiation of your sins2 and go assured1 
that after this world shall  have passed
 away1 imperishable glory shall be yours
 in the world which  is to come4 ,the   
enthusiasm was no longer to be          
restrained1 and loud  shouts interrupted
 the speaker2 the people exclaiming as  
if with one  voice1 ,dieu le veult6     
,dieu le veult6 ,with great presence of 

mind  ,urban took advantage of the      
outburst1 and as soon as silence was    
obtained1 continued3 ,dear brethren1    
to-day is shown forth in you that  which
 the ,lord has said by his evangelist1  
',when two or three are  gathered       
together in my name1 there will ,i be in
 the midst of them to  bless them4' ,if 
the ,lord ,god had not been in your     
souls1 you would not  all have          
pronounced the same words2 or rather    
,god himself pronounced  them by your   
lips1 for it was ,he that put them in   
your hearts4 ,be they1  then1 your      
war-cry in the combat1 for those words  
came forth from ,god4  ,let the army of 
the ,lord when it rushes upon ,his      
enemies shout but that  one cry1 ',dieu 
le veult6 ,dieu le veult6'  ,let whoever
 is inclined to  devote himself to this 
holy cause make it a solemn engagement1 
and bear  the cross of the ,lord either 
on his breast or his brow till he set   
out1  and let him who is ready to begin 
his march place the holy emblem on  his 

shoulders1 in memory of that precept of 
our ,saviour1 ',he who does  not take up
 his cross and follow me is not worthy  
of me4'    ,the news of this council    
spread to the remotest parts of ,europe 
in an  incredibly short space of time4  
,long before the fleetest horseman could
  have brought the intelligence it was  
known by the people in distant          
provinces1 a fact which was considered  
as nothing less than  supernatural4 ,but
 the subject was in everybody's mouth1  
and the minds  of men were prepared for 
the result4 ,the enthusiastic only      
asserted  what they wished1 and the     
event tallied with their prediction4    
,this  was1 however1 quite enough in    
those days for a miracle1 and as a      
miracle every one regarded it4    ,for  
several months after the council of     
,clermont1 ,france and ,germany         
presented a singular spectacle4 ,the    
pious1 the fanatic1 the needy1 the      
dissolute1 the young and the old1 even  
women and children1 and the halt  and   

lame1 enrolled themselves by hundreds4  
,in every village the clergy  were      
busied in keeping up the excitement1    
promising eternal rewards to  those who 
assumed the red cross1 and fulminating  
the most awful  denunciations against   
all the worldly-minded who refused or   
even  hesitated4 ,every debtor who      
joined the crusade was freed by the     
papal  edict from the claims of his     
creditors2 outlaws of every grade were  
made equal with the honest upon the same
 conditions4  ,the property of  those   
who went was placed under the protection
 of the church1 and ,st4  ,paul and ,st4
 ,peter themselves were believed to     
descend from their high  abode1 to watch
 over the chattels of the absent        
pilgrims4 ,signs and  portents were seen
 in the air to increase the fervour of  
the multitude4  ,an aurora-borealis of  
unusual brilliancy appeared1 and        
thousands of the  crusaders came out to 
gaze upon it1 prostrating themselves    
upon the  earth in adoration4 ,it was   

thought to be a sure prognostic of the  
interposition of the ,most ,high2 and a 
representation of his armies  fighting  
with and overthrowing the infidels4     
,reports of wonders were  everywhere    
rife4 ,a monk had seen two gigantic     
warriors on horseback1  the one         
representing a ,christian and the other 
a ,turk1 fighting in the  sky with      
flaming swords1 the ,christian of course
 overcoming the ,paynim4  ,myriads of   
stars were said to have fallen from     
heaven1 each  representing the fall of a
 ,pagan foe4  ,it was believed at the   
same time  that the ,emperor            
,charlemagne would rise from the grave1 
and lead on to  victory the embattled   
armies of the ,lord4 ,a singular feature
 of the  popular madness was the        
enthusiasm of the women4 ,everywhere    
they  encouraged their lovers and       
husbands to forsake all things for the  
holy  war4 ,many of them burned the sign
 of the cross upon their breasts and    
arms1 and coloured the wound with a red 

dye1 as a lasting memorial of  their    
zeal4 ,others1 still more zealous1      
impressed the mark by the same  means   
upon the tender limbs of young children 
and infants at the breast4    ,guibert  
de ,nogent tells of a monk who made a   
large incision upon his  forehead in the
 form of a cross1 which he coloured with
 some powerful  ingredient1 telling the 
people that an angel had done it when he
 was  asleep4 ,this monk appears to have
 been more of a rogue than a fool1 for  
he contrived to fare more sumptuously   
than any of his brother pilgrims1  upon 
the strength of his sanctity4 ,the      
crusaders everywhere gave him  presents 
of food and money1 and he became quite  
fat ere he arrived at  ,jerusalem1      
notwithstanding the fatigues of the way4
 ,if he had  acknowledged in the first  
place that he had made the wound        
himself1 he  would not have been thought
 more holy than his fellows2 but the    
story  of the angel was a clincher4     
,all those who had property of any      

description rushed to the mart to       
change it into hard cash4 ,lands and    
houses could be had for a quarter  of   
their value1 while arms and             
accoutrements of war rose in the same   
proportion4 ,corn1 which had been       
excessively dear in anticipation of a   
year of scarcity1 suddenly became       
plentiful2 and such was the  diminution 
in the value of provisions1 that seven  
sheep were sold for  five               
deniers4,guibert de ,nogent ,the nobles 
mortgaged their estates for  mere       
trifles to ,jews and unbelievers1 or    
conferred charters of immunity  upon the
 towns and communes within their fiefs1 
for sums which1 a few  years previously1
 they would have rejected with disdain4 
,the farmer  endeavoured to sell his    
plough1 and the artisan his tools1 to   
purchase  a sword for the deliverance of
 ,jerusalem4 ,women disposed of their   
trinkets for the same purpose4 ,during  
the spring and summer of this  year     
7#ajif7 the roads teemed with crusaders1

 all hastening to the towns  and        
villages appointed as the rendezvous of 
the district4 ,some were on  horseback1 
some in carts1 and some came down the   
rivers in boats and  rafts1 bringing    
their wives and children1 all eager to  
go to ,jerusalem4  ,very few knew where 
,jerusalem was4 ,some thought it fifty  
thousand miles  away1 while others      
imagined that it was but a month's      
journey1 while at  sight of every town  
or castle1 the children exclaimed1 ,is  
that  ,jerusalem8 ,is that the city8    
,guibert de ,nogent  ,parties of knights
  and nobles might be seen travelling   
eastward1 and amusing themselves as     
they went with the knightly diversion of
 hawking to lighten the  fatigues of the
 way4    ,guibert de ,nogent1 who did   
not write from hearsay1 but from actual 
observation1 says1 the enthusiasm was so
 contagious1 that when any one  heard   
the orders of the ,pontiff1 he went     
instantly to solicit his  neighbours and
 friends to join with him in the way of 

,god1 for so  they called the proposed  
expedition4 ,the ,counts ,palatine were 
full of  the desire to undertake the    
journey1 and all the inferior knights   
were  animated with the same zeal4 ,even
 the poor caught the flame so  ardently1
 that no one paused to think of the     
inadequacy of his means1  or to consider
 whether he ought to yield up his house 
and his vine and  his fields4 ,each one 
set about selling his property1 at as   
low a price  as if he had been held in  
some horrible captivity1 and sought to  
pay  his ransom without loss of time4   
,those who had not determined upon the  
journey1 joked and laughed at those who 
were thus disposing of their  goods at  
such ruinous prices1 prophesying that   
the expedition would be  miserable and  
their return worse4 ,but they held this 
language only for  a day4 ,the next1    
they were suddenly seized with the same 
frenzy as the  rest4 ,those who had been
 loudest in their jeers gave up all     
their  property for a few crowns1 and   

set out with those they had so laughed  
at a few hours before4 ,in most cases   
the laugh was turned against them1  for 
when it became known that a man was     
hesitating1 his more zealous  neighbours
 sent him a present of a knitting needle
 or a distaff1 to  show their contempt  
of him4 ,there was no resisting this1 so
 that the  fear of ridicule contributed 
its fair contingent to the armies of the
  ,lord4    ,another effect of the      
crusade was1 the religious obedience    
with which  it inspired the people and  
the nobility for that singular          
institution  ,the ,truce of ,god4  ,at  
the commencement of the eleventh        
century1 the  clergy of ,france1        
sympathizing for the woes of the people1
 but unable  to diminish them1 by       
repressing the rapacity and insolence of
 the  feudal chiefs1 endeavoured to     
promote universal good-will by the      
promulgation of the famous ,peace of    
,god4 ,all who conformed to it  bound   
themselves by oath not to take revenge  

for any injury1 not to  enjoy the fruits
 of property usurped from others1 nor to
 use deadly  weapons2 in reward of which
 they would receive remission of all    
their  sins4 ,however benevolent the    
intention of this ,peace1 it led to     
nothing but perjury1 and violence       
reigned as uncontrolled as before4 ,in  
the year #ajda another attempt was made 
to soften the angry passions of  the    
semi-barbarous chiefs1 and the ,truce of
 ,god was solemnly  proclaimed4 ,the    
truce lasted from the ,wednesday evening
 to the ,monday  morning of every week1 
in which interval it was strictly       
forbidden to  recur to violence on any  
pretext1 or to seek revenge for any     
injury4 ,it  was impossible to civilize 
men by these means2 few even promised to
  become peaceable for so unconscionable
 a period as five days a week2  or1 if  
they did1 they made ample amends on the 
two days left open to  them4 ,the truce 
was afterwards shortened from the       
,saturday evening to  the ,monday       

morning2 but little or no diminution of 
violence and  bloodshed was the         
consequence4 ,at the council of         
,clermont1 ,urban ,,ii4  again solemnly 
proclaimed the truce4 ,so strong was the
 religious  feeling1 that every one     
hastened to obey4 ,all minor passions   
disappeared before the grand passion of 
crusading2 the noble ceased to  oppress1
 the robber to plunder1 and the people  
to complain2 but one  idea was in all   
hearts1 and there seemed to be no room  
for any other4    ,the encampments of   
these heterogeneous multitudes offered a
 singular  aspect4 ,those vassals who   
ranged themselves under the banners of  
their  lord1 erected tents around his   
castle2 while those who undertook the   
war on their own account1 constructed   
booths and huts in the  neighbourhood of
 the towns or villages1 preparatory to  
their joining  some popular leader of   
the expedition4 ,the meadows of ,france 
were  covered with tents4 ,as the       
belligerents were to have remission of  

all  their sins on their arrival in     
,palestine1 hundreds of them gave       
themselves up to the most unbounded     
licentiousness3 the courtezan1 with  the
 red cross upon her shoulders1 plied her
 shameless trade with  sensual pilgrims1
 without scruple on either side3 the    
lover of good  cheer gave loose rein to 
his appetite1 and drunkenness and       
debauchery  flourished4 ,their zeal in  
the service of the ,lord was to wipe out
 all  faults and follies1 and they had  
the same surety of salvation as the     
rigid anchorite4 ,this reasoning had    
charms for the ignorant1 and the  sounds
 of lewd revelry and the voice of prayer
 rose at the same instant  from the     
camp4    ,it is now time to speak of the
 leaders of the expedition4 ,great      
multitudes ranged themselves under the  
command of ,peter the ,hermit1  whom1 as
 the originator1 they considered the    
most appropriate leader of  the war4    
,others joined the banner of a bold     
adventurer1 whom history  has dignified 

with no other name than that of ,gautier
 sans ,avoir1 or  ,walter the           
,pennyless1 but who is represented as   
having been of noble  family1 and well  
skilled in the art of war4 ,a third     
multitude from  ,germany flocked around 
the standard of a monk1 named           
,gottschalk1 of  whom nothing is known1 
except that he was a fanatic of the     
deepest dye4  ,all these bands1 which   
together are said to have amounted to   
three  hundred thousand men1 women1 and 
children1 were composed of the vilest   
rascality of ,europe4 ,without          
discipline1 principle1 or true courage1 
they rushed through the nations like a  
pestilence1 spreading terror and  death 
wherever they went4 ,the first multitude
 that set forth was led by  ,walter the 
,pennyless early in the spring of #ajif1
 within a very few  months after the    
,council of ,clermont4 ,each man of that
 irregular host  aspired to be his own  
master3 like their nominal leader1 each 
was poor  to penury1 and trusted for    

subsistence on his journey to the       
chances of  the road4 ,rolling through  
,germany like a tide1 they entered      
,hungary1  where1 at first1 they were   
received with some degree of kindness by
 the  people4 ,the latter had not yet   
caught sufficient of the fire of        
enthusiasm to join the crusade          
themselves1 but were willing enough to  
forward the cause by aiding those       
embarked in it4 ,unfortunately1 this    
good understanding did not last long4   
,the swarm were not contented with  food
 for their necessities1 but craved for  
luxuries also3 they attacked  and       
plundered the dwellings of the country  
people1 and thought nothing  of murder  
where resistance was offered4 ,on their 
arrival before ,semlin1  the outraged   
,hungarians collected in large numbers1 
and1 attacking the  rear of the         
crusading host1 slew a great many of the
 stragglers1 and1  taking away their    
arms and crosses1 affixed them as       
trophies to the  walls of the city4     

,walter appears to have been in no mood 
or condition  to make reprisals2 for his
 army1 destructive as a plague of       
locusts  when plunder urged them on1    
were useless against any regular attack 
from a determined enemy4  ,their rear   
continued to be thus harassed by  the   
wrathful ,hungarians until they were    
fairly out of their territory4  ,on his 
entrance into ,bulgaria1 ,walter met    
with no better fate2 the  cities and    
towns refused to let him pass2 the      
villages denied him  provisions2 and the
 citizens and country people uniting1   
slaughtered  his followers by hundreds4 
,the progress of the army was more like 
a  retreat than an advance2 but as it   
was impossible to stand still1  ,walter 
continued his course till he arrived at 
,constantinople1 with a  force which    
famine and the sword had diminished to  
one-third of its  original number4      
,the greater multitude1 led by the      
enthusiastic ,hermit1 followed close    
upon his heels1 with a bulky train of   

baggage1 and women and children1        
sufficient to form a host of themselves4
 ,if it were possible to find a  rabble 
more vile than the army of ,walter the  
,pennyless it was that led  by ,peter   
the ,hermit4 ,being better provided with
 means1 they were not  reduced to the   
necessity of pillage in their progress  
through ,hungary2  and had they taken   
any other route than that which led     
through ,semlin1  might perhaps have    
traversed the country without           
molestation4 ,on their  arrival before  
that city1 their fury was raised at     
seeing the arms and  red crosses of     
their predecessors hanging as trophies  
over the gates4  ,their pent-up ferocity
 exploded at the sight4  ,the city was  
tumultuously attacked1 and the besiegers
 entering1 not by dint of  bravery1 but 
of superior numbers1 it was given up to 
all the horrors  which follow when      
,victory1 ,brutality1 and               
,licentiousness are linked  together4   
,every evil passion was allowed to revel

 with impunity1 and  revenge1 lust1 and 
avarice1--each had its hundred victims  
in unhappy  ,semlin4 ,any maniac can    
kindle a conflagration1 but it requires 
many  wise men to put it out4 ,peter the
 ,hermit had blown the popular fury     
into a flame1 but to cool it again was  
beyond his power4 ,his followers  rioted
 unrestrained1 until the fear of        
retaliation warned them to  desist4     
,when the ,king of ,hungary was informed
 of the disasters of  ,semlin1 he       
marched with a sufficient force to      
chastise the ,hermit1 who  at the news  
broke up his camp and retreated towards 
the ,morava1 a broad  and rapid stream  
that joins the ,danube a few miles to   
the eastward of  ,belgrade4 ,here a     
party of indignant ,bulgarians awaited  
him1 and so  harassed him as to make the
 passage of the river a task both of    
difficulty and danger4 ,great numbers of
 his infatuated followers  perished in  
the waters1 and many fell under the     
swords of the  ,bulgarians4 ,the ancient

 chronicles do not mention the amount of
 the  ,hermit's loss at this passage1   
but represent it in general terms as    
very great4    ,at ,nissa the ,duke of  
,bulgaria fortified himself1 in fear of 
an assault2  but ,peter1 having learned 
a little wisdom from experience1 thought
 it  best to avoid hostilities4 ,he     
passed three nights in quietness under  
the walls1 and the duke1 not wishing to 
exasperate unnecessarily so  fierce and 
rapacious a host1 allowed the           
townspeople to supply them  with        
provisions4 ,peter took his departure   
peaceably on the following  morning1 but
 some ,german vagabonds falling behind  
the main body of the  army1 set fire to 
the mills and house of a ,bulgarian1    
with whom1 it  appears1 they had had    
some dispute on the previous evening4   
,the  citizens of ,nissa1 who had       
throughout mistrusted the crusaders1 and
  were prepared for the worst1 sallied  
out immediately1 and took signal        
vengeance4 ,the spoilers were cut to    

pieces1 and the townspeople  pursuing   
the ,hermit1 captured all the women and 
children who had lagged  in the rear1   
and a great quantity of baggage4 ,peter 
hereupon turned  round and marched back 
to ,nissa1 to demand explanation of the 
,duke of  ,bulgaria4 ,the latter fairly 
stated the provocation given1 and the   
,hermit could urge nothing in palliation
 of so gross an outrage4 ,a  negotiation
 was entered into which promised to be  
successful1 and the  ,bulgarians were   
about to deliver up the women and       
children when a party  of undisciplined 
crusaders1 acting solely upon their own 
suggestion1  endeavoured to scale the   
walls and seize upon the town4 ,peter in
 vain  exerted his authority2 the       
confusion became general1 and after a   
short  but desperate battle1 the        
crusaders threw down their arms and fled
 in  all directions4 ,their vast host   
was completely routed1 the slaughter    
being so great among them as to be      
counted1 not by hundreds1 but by        

thousands4    ,it is said that the      
,hermit fled from this fatal field to a 
forest a few  miles from ,nissa1        
abandoned by every human creature4 ,it  
would be  curious to know whether1 after
 so dire a reverse1      4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 ,his enpierced breast    ,sharp    
sorrow did in thousand pieces rive1     
or whether his fiery zeal still rose    
superior to calamity1 and pictured  the 
eventual triumph of his cause4 ,he1 so  
lately the leader of a  hundred thousand
 men1 was now a solitary skulker in the 
forests1 liable  at every instant to be 
discovered by some pursuing ,bulgarian1 
and cut  off in mid career4 ,chance at  
last brought him within sight of an     
eminence where two or three of his      
bravest knights had collected five      
hundred of the stragglers4 ,these gladly
 received the ,hermit1 and a            
consultation having taken place1 it was 
resolved to gather together the         
scattered remnants of the army4 ,fires  
were lighted on the hill1 and  scouts   

sent out in all directions for the      
fugitives4 ,horns were sounded  at      
intervals to make known that friends    
were near1 and before nightfall  the    
,hermit saw himself at the head of seven
 thousand men4  ,during the  succeeding 
day he was joined by twenty thousand    
more1 and with this  miserable remnant  
of his force he pursued his route       
towards  ,constantinople4 ,the bones of 
the rest mouldered in the forests of    
,bulgaria4    ,on his arrival at        
,constantinople1 where he found ,walter 
the ,pennyless  awaiting him1 he was    
hospitably received by the ,emperor     
,alexius4 ,it  might have been expected 
that the sad reverses they had undergone
 would  have taught his followers common
 prudence2 but1 unhappily for them1     
their turbulence and love of plunder    
were not to be restrained4  ,although   
they were surrounded by friends1 by whom
 all their wants were  liberally        
supplied1 they could not refrain from   
rapine4 ,in vain the  ,hermit exhorted  

them to tranquillity2 he possessed no   
more power over  them1 in subduing their
 passions1 than the obscurest soldier of
 the  host1 ,they set fire to several   
public buildings in ,constantinople1 out
  of pure mischief1 and stripped the    
lead from the roofs of the churches1    
which1 they afterwards sold for old     
metal in the purlieus of the city4      
,from this time may be dated the        
aversion which the ,emperor ,alexius    
entertained for the crusaders1 and which
 was afterwards manifested in  all his  
actions1 even when he had to deal with  
the chivalrous and more  honourable     
armies which arrived after the ,hermit4 
,he seems to have  imagined that the    
,turks themselves were enemies less     
formidable to his  power than these     
outpourings of the refuse of ,europe3 he
 soon found a  pretext to hurry them    
into ,asia ,minor4 ,peter crossed the   
,bosphorus with  ,walter1 but the       
excesses of his followers were such1    
that1 despairing  of accomplishing any  

good end by remaining at their head1 he 
left them  to themselves1 and returned  
to ,constantinople1 on the pretext of   
making  arrangements with the government
 of ,alexius for a proper supply of     
provisions4 ,the crusaders1 forgetting  
that they were in the enemy's  country1 
and that union1 above all things1 was   
desirable1 gave  themselves up to       
dissensions4 ,violent disputes arose    
between the  ,lombards and ,normans1    
commanded by ,walter the ,pennyless1 and
 the ,franks  and ,germans1 led out by  
,peter4 ,the latter separated themselves
 from the  former1 and1 choosing for    
their leader one ,reinaldo1 or          
,reinhold1  marched forward1 and took   
possession of the fortress of           
,exorogorgon4  ,the ,sultan ,solimaun   
was on the alert1 with a superior force4
 ,a party of  crusaders1 which had been 
detached from the fort1 and stationed at
 a  little distance as an ambuscade1    
were surprised and cut to pieces1 and   
,exorogorgon invested on all sides4 ,the

 siege was protracted for eight  days1  
during which the ,christians suffered   
the most acute agony from  the want of  
water4 ,it is hard to say how long the  
hope of succour or  the energy of       
despair would have enabled them to hold 
out3 their  treacherous leader cut the  
matter short by renouncing the          
,christian  faith1 and delivering up the
 fort into the hands of the ,sultan4 ,he
 was  followed by two or three of his   
officers2 all the rest1 refusing to     
become ,mahometans1 were ruthlessly put 
to the sword4 ,thus perished the  last  
wretched remnant of the vast multitude  
which had traversed ,europe  with ,peter
 the ,hermit4    ,walter the ,pennyless 
and his multitude met as miserable a    
fate4 ,on the  news of the disasters of 
,exorogorgon1 they demanded to be led   
instantly  against the ,turks4 ,walter1 
who only wanted good soldiers to have   
made a  good general1 was cooler of     
head1 and saw all the dangers of such a 
step4 ,his force was wholly insufficient

 to make any decisive movement  in a    
country where the enemy was so much     
superior1 and where1 in case  of defeat1
 he had no secure position to fall back 
upon2 and he  therefore expressed his   
opinion against advancing until the     
arrival of  reinforcements4 ,this       
prudent counsel found no favour3 the    
army loudly  expressed their            
dissatisfaction at their chief1 and     
prepared to march  forward without him4 
,upon this1 the brave ,walter put       
himself at their  head1 and rushed to   
destruction4 ,proceeding towards ,nice1 
the modern  ,isnik1 he was intercepted  
by the army of the ,sultan3 a fierce    
battle  ensued in which the ,turks made 
fearful havoc2 out of twenty-five       
thousand ,christians1 twenty-two        
thousand were slain1 and among them     
,gautier himself1 who fell pierced by   
seven mortal wounds4 ,the remaining     
three thousand retreated upon ,civitot1 
where they intrenched themselves4       
,disgusted as was ,peter the ,hermit at 

the excesses of the multitude1  who1 at 
his call1 had forsaken ,europe1 his     
heart was moved with grief  and pity at 
their misfortunes4 ,all his former zeal 
revived3 casting  himself at the feet of
 the ,emperor ,alexius1 he implored him1
 with tears  in his eyes1 to send relief
 to the few survivors at ,civitot4 ,the 
,emperor consented1 and a force was     
sent1 which arrived just in time to     
save them from destruction4 ,the ,turks 
had beleaguered the place1 and  the     
crusaders were reduced to the last      
extremity4  ,negotiations were  entered 
into1 and the last three thousand were  
conducted in safety to  ,constantinople4
 ,alexius had suffered too much by their
 former excesses  to be very desirous of
 retaining them in his capital3 he      
therefore  caused them all to be        
disarmed1 and1 furnishing each with a   
sum of  money1 he sent them back to     
their own country4  ,while these events 
were  taking place1 fresh hordes were   
issuing from the woods and wilds of     

,germany1 all bent for the ,holy ,land4 
,they were commanded by a fanatical     
priest1 named ,gottschalk1 who1 like    
,gautier and ,peter the ,hermit1 took   
his way through ,hungary4 ,history is   
extremely meagre in her details of  the 
conduct and fate of this host1 which    
amounted to at least one  hundred       
thousand men4 ,robbery and murder seem  
to have journeyed with  them1 and the   
poor ,hungarians were rendered almost   
desperate by their  numbers and         
rapacity4 ,karloman1 the king of the    
country1 made a bold  effort to get rid 
of them2 for the resentment of his      
people had arrived  at such a height1   
that nothing short of the total         
extermination of the  crusaders would   
satisfy them4  ,gottschalk had to pay   
the penalty1 not  only for the ravages  
of his own bands1 but for those of the  
swarms that  had come before him4 ,he   
and his army were induced1 by some means
 or  other1 to lay down their arms3 the 
savage ,hungarians1 seeing them thus    

defenceless1 set upon them1 and         
slaughtered them in great numbers4 ,how 
many escaped their arrows1 we are not   
informed2 but not one of them  reached  
,palestine4    ,other swarms1 under     
nameless leaders1 issued from ,germany  
and ,france1  more brutal and more      
frantic than any that had preceded them4
  ,their  fanaticism surpassed by far   
the wildest freaks of the followers of  
the  ,hermit4 ,in bands1 varying in     
numbers from one to five thousand1 they 
traversed the country in all directions1
 bent upon plunder and  massacre4 ,they 
wore the symbol of the crusade upon     
their shoulders1 but  inveighed against 
the folly of proceeding to the ,holy    
,land to destroy  the ,turks1 while they
 left behind them so many ,jews1 the    
still more  inveterate enemies of       
,christ4 ,they swore fierce vengeance   
against this  unhappy race1 and murdered
 all the ,hebrews they could lay their  
hands  on1 first subjecting them to the 
most horrible mutilation4  ,according   

to the testimony of ,albert ,aquensis1  
they lived among each other in the  most
 shameless profligacy1 and their vice   
was only exceeded by their              
superstition4 ,whenever they were in    
search of ,jews1 they were preceded  by 
a goose and goat1 which they believed to
 be holy1 and animated with  divine     
power to discover the retreats of the   
unbelievers4 ,in ,germany  alone they   
slaughtered more than a thousand ,jews1 
notwithstanding all  the efforts of the 
clergy to save them4 ,so dreadful was   
the cruelty of  their tormentors1 that  
great numbers of ,jews committed        
self-destruction  to avoid falling into 
their hands4    ,again it fell to the   
lot of the ,hungarians to deliver       
,europe from these  pests4 ,when there  
were no more ,jews to murder1 the bands 
collected in  one body1 and took the old
 route to the ,holy ,land1 a route      
stained with  the blood of three hundred
 thousand who had gone before1 and      
destined  also to receive theirs4 ,the  

number of these swarms has never been   
stated2 but so many of them perished in 
,hungary1 that contemporary  writers1   
despairing of giving any adequate idea  
of their multitudes1  state that the    
fields were actually heaped with their  
corpses1 and that  for miles in its     
course the waters of the ,danube were   
dyed with their  blood4 ,it was at      
,mersburg1 on the ,danube1 that the     
greatest slaughter  took place1--a      
slaughter so great as to amount almost  
to extermination4  ,the ,hungarians for 
a while disputed the passage of the     
river1 but the  crusaders forced their  
way across1 and attacking the city with 
the  blind courage of madness1 succeeded
 in making a breach in the walls4 ,at   
this moment of victory an unaccountable 
fear came over them4 ,throwing  down    
their arms they fled panic-stricken1 no 
one knew why1 and no one  knew whither4 
,the ,hungarians followed1 sword in     
hand1 and cut them down  without        
remorse1 and in such numbers1 that the  

stream of the ,danube is  said to have  
been choked up by their unburied bodies4
    ,this was the worst paroxysm of the 
madness of ,europe2 and this passed1    
her chivalry stepped upon the scene4    
,men of cool heads1 mature plans1  and  
invincible courage stood forward to lead
 and direct the grand  movement of      
,europe upon ,asia4 ,it is upon these   
men that romance has  lavished her most 
admiring epithets1 leaving to the       
condemnation of  history the vileness   
and brutality of those who went before4 
,of these  leaders the most             
distinguished were ,godfrey of ,bouillon
 ,duke of  ,lorraine1 and ,raymond      
,count of ,toulouse4 ,four other chiefs 
of the royal  blood of ,europe also     
assumed the ,cross1 and led each his    
army to the  ,holy ,land3 ,hugh1 ,count 
of ,vermandois1 brother of the ,king of 
,france2  ,robert1 ,duke of ,normandy1  
the elder brother of ,william ,rufus2   
,robert  ,count of ,flanders1 and       
,boemund ,prince of ,tarentum1 eldest   

son of the  celebrated ,robert          
,guiscard4 ,these men were all tinged   
with the  fanaticism of the age1 but    
none of them acted entirely from        
religious  motives4 ,they were neither  
utterly reckless like ,gautier sans     
,avoir1  crazy like ,peter the ,hermit1 
nor brutal like ,gottschalk the ,monk1  
but  possessed each of these qualities  
in a milder form2 their valour being    
tempered by caution1 their religious    
zeal by worldly views1 and their        
ferocity by the spirit of chivalry4     
,they saw whither led the torrent of    
the public will2 and it being neither   
their wish nor their interest to  stem  
it1 they allowed themselves to be       
carried with it1 in the hope  that it   
would lead them at last to a haven of   
aggrandizement4 ,around  them           
congregated many minor chiefs1 the      
flower of the nobility of  ,france and  
,italy1 with some few from ,germany1    
,england1 and ,spain4 ,it  was wisely   
conjectured that armies so numerous     

would find a difficulty  in procuring   
provisions if they all journeyed by the 
same road4 ,they1  therefore1 resolved  
to separate1 ,godfrey de ,bouillon      
proceeding through  ,hungary and        
,bulgaria1 the ,count of ,toulouse      
through ,lombardy and  ,dalmatia1 and   
the other leaders through ,apulia to    
,constantinople1 where  the several     
divisions were to reunite4 ,the forces  
under these leaders  have been variously
 estimated4 ,the ,princess ,anna        
,comnena talks of them  as having been  
as numerous as the sands on the         
sea-shore1 or the stars  in the         
firmament4 ,fulcher of ,chartres is more
 satisfactory1 and  exaggerates less    
magnificently1 when he states1 that all 
the divisions1  when they had sat down  
before ,nice in ,bithynia1 amounted to  
one hundred  thousand horsemen1 and six 
hundred thousand men on foot1 exclusive 
of  the priests1 women and children4    
,gibbon is of opinion that this amount  
is exaggerated2 but thinks the actual   

numbers did not fall very far  short of 
the calculation4 ,the ,princess ,anna   
afterwards gives the number  of those   
under ,godfrey of ,bouillon as eighty   
thousand foot and horse2  and supposing 
that each of the other chiefs led an    
army as numerous1  the total would be   
near half a million4 ,this must be over 
rather than  under the mark1 as the army
 of ,godfrey of ,bouillon was           
confessedly the  largest when it set    
out1 and suffered less by the way than  
any other4    ,the ,count of ,vermandois
 was the first who set foot on the      
,grecian  territory4 ,on his arrival at 
,durazzo he was received with every mark
 of  respect and courtesy by the agents 
of the ,emperor1 and his followers  were
 abundantly supplied with provisions4   
,suddenly however1 and without  cause   
assigned1 the ,count was arrested by    
order of the ,emperor ,alexius1  and    
conveyed a close prisoner to            
,constantinople4  ,various motives have 
been assigned by different authors as   

having induced the ,emperor to  this    
treacherous and imprudent proceeding4   
,by every writer he has been  condemned 
for so flagrant a breach of hospitality 
and justice4 ,the most  probable reason 
for his conduct appears to be that      
suggested by ,guibert  of ,nogent1 who  
states that ,alexius1 fearful of the    
designs of the  crusaders upon his      
throne1 resorted to this extremity in   
order  afterwards to force the ,count to
 take the oath of allegiance to him1 as 
the price of his liberation4  ,the      
example of a prince so eminent as the   
brother of the ,king of ,france1 would1 
he thought1 be readily followed  by the 
other chiefs of the ,crusade4 ,in the   
result he was wofully  disappointed1 as 
every man deserves to be who commits    
positive evil  that doubtful good may   
ensue4  ,but this line of policy        
accorded well  enough with the          
narrowmindedness of the ,emperor1 who1  
in the enervating  atmosphere of his    
highly civilized and luxurious court1   

dreaded the  influx of the hardy and    
ambitious warriors of the ,west1 and    
strove to  nibble away by unworthy      
means1 the power which he had not energy
 enough  to confront4 ,if danger to     
himself had existed from the residence  
of the  chiefs in his dominions1 he     
might easily have averted it1 by the    
simple  means of placing himself at the 
head of the ,european movement1 and     
directing its energies to their avowed  
object1 the conquest of the ,holy       
,land4  ,but the ,emperor1 instead of   
being1 as he might have been1 the  lord 
and leader of the ,crusades1 which he   
had himself aided in no  inconsiderable 
degree to suscitate by his embassies to 
the ,pope1 became  the slave of men who 
hated and despised him4 ,no doubt the   
barbarous  excesses of the followers of 
,gautier and ,peter the ,hermit made him
 look  upon the whole body of them with 
disgust1 but it was the disgust of a    
little mind1 which is glad of any excuse
 to palliate or justify its own         

irresolution and love of ease4          
,godfrey of ,bouillon traversed ,hungary
 in the most quiet and orderly  manner4 
,on his arrival at ,mersburg he found   
the country strewed with  the mangled   
corpses of the ,jew-killers1 and        
demanded of the ,king of  ,hungary for  
what reason his people had set upon     
them4 ,the latter  detailed the         
atrocities they had committed1 and made 
it so evident to  ,godfrey that the     
,hungarians had only acted in           
self-defence1 that the  high-minded     
leader declared himself satisfied and   
passed on1 without  giving or receiving 
molestation4 ,on his arrival at         
,philippopoli1 he was  informed for the 
first time of the imprisonment of the   
,count of  ,vermandois4 ,he immediately 
sent messengers to the ,emperor1        
demanding  the ,count's release1 and    
threatening1 in case of refusal1 to lay 
waste  the country with fire and sword4 
,after waiting a day at ,philippopoli he
  marched on to ,adrianople1 where he   

was met by his messengers returning     
with the ,emperor's refusal4 ,godfrey1  
the bravest and most determined of  the 
leaders of the ,crusade1 was not a man  
to swerve from his word1 and  the       
country was given up to pillage4        
,alexius here committed another         
blunder4 ,no sooner did he learn from   
dire experience that the crusader  was  
not an utterer of idle threats1 than he 
consented to the release of  the        
prisoner4 ,as he had been unjust in the 
first instance1 he became  cowardly in  
the second1 and taught his enemies 7for 
so the crusaders  were forced to        
consider themselves7 a lesson which they
 took care to  remember to his cost1    
that they could hope nothing from his   
sense of  justice1 but every thing from 
his fears4 ,godfrey remained encamped   
for  several weeks in the neighbourhood 
of ,constantinople1 to the great        
annoyance of ,alexius1 who sought by    
every means to extort from him the      
homage he had extorted from ,vermandois4

 ,sometimes he acted as if at  open and 
declared war with the crusaders1 and    
sent his troops against  them4          
,sometimes he refused to supply them    
with food1 and ordered the  markets to  
be shut against them1 while at other    
times he was all for  peace and         
goodwill1 and sent costly presents to   
,godfrey4 ,the honest1  straightforward 
crusader was at last so wearied by his  
false kindness1  and so pestered by his 
attacks1 that1 allowing his indignation 
to get  the better of his judgment1 he  
gave up the country around              
,constantinople to be plundered by his  
soldiers4 ,for six days the flames  of  
the farm-houses around struck terror    
into the heart of ,alexius1 but  as     
,godfrey anticipated they convinced him 
of his error4  ,fearing that            
,constantinople itself would be the next
 object of attack1 he sent  messengers  
to demand an interview with ,godfrey1   
offering at the same  time to leave his 
son as a hostage for his good faith4    

,godfrey agreed  to meet him1 and1      
whether to put an end to these useless  
dissensions1  or for some other         
unexplained reason1 he rendered homage  
to ,alexius as  his liege lord4 ,he was 
thereupon loaded with honours1 and1     
according to  a singular custom of that 
age1 underwent the ceremony of the      
adoption  of honour1 as son to the      
,emperor4  ,godfrey1 and his brother    
,baudouin  de ,bouillon1 conducted      
themselves with proper courtesy on this 
occasion1 but were not able to restrain 
the insolence of their  followers1 who  
did not conceive themselves bound to    
keep any terms with  a man so insincere 
as he had shown himself4 ,one barbarous 
chieftain1  ,count ,robert of ,paris1   
carried his insolence so far as to seat 
himself  upon the throne1 an insult     
which ,alexius merely resented with a   
sneer1  but which did not induce him to 
look with less mistrust upon the hordes 
that were still advancing4    ,it is    
impossible1 notwithstanding his         

treachery1 to avoid feeling some        
compassion for the ,emperor1 whose life 
at this time was rendered one  long     
scene of misery by the presumption of   
the crusaders1 and his not  altogether  
groundless fears of the evil they might 
inflict upon him1  should any untoward  
circumstance force the current of their 
ambition to  the conquest of his empire4
 ,his daughter1 ,anna ,comnena1         
feelingly  deplores his state of life at
 this time1 and a learned ,german1 ,m4  
,wilken's ,geschichte der ,kreuzzuge4 in
 a recent work1 describes it1 on  the   
authority of the ,princess1 in the      
following manner3--    ,to avoid all    
occasion of offence to the ,crusaders1  
,alexius complied  with all their whims1
 and their 7on many occasions7          
unreasonable  demands1 even at the      
expense of great bodily exertion1 at a  
time when  he was suffering severely    
under the gout1 which eventually brought
 him  to his grave4 ,no crusader who    
desired an interview with him was       

refused  access3 he listened with the   
utmost patience to the long-winded      
harangues which their loquacity or zeal 
continually wearied him with3  he       
endured1 without expressing any         
impatience1 the unbecoming and  haughty 
language which they permitted themselves
 to employ towards him1  and severely   
reprimanded his officers when they      
undertook to defend the  dignity of the 
,imperial station from these rude       
assaults2 for he  trembled with         
apprehension at the slightest disputes1 
lest they might  become the occasion of 
greater evil4 ,though the ,counts often 
appeared  before him with trains        
altogether unsuitable to their dignity  
and to  his--sometimes with an entire   
troop1 which completely filled the      
,royal  apartment--the ,emperor held his
 peace4  ,he listened to them at all    
hours2 he often seated himself on his   
throne at day-break to attend to  their 
wishes and requests1 and the evening    
twilight saw him still in  the same     

place4 ,very frequently he could not    
snatch time to refresh  himself with    
meat and drink4 ,during many nights he  
could not obtain any  repose1 and was   
obliged to indulge in an unrefreshing   
sleep upon his  throne1 with his head   
resting on his hands4 ,even this slumber
 was  continually disturbed by the      
appearance and harangues of some        
newly-arrived rude knights4 ,when all   
the courtiers1 wearied out by the       
efforts of the day and by               
night-watching1 could no longer keep    
themselves on their feet1 and sank down 
exhausted--some upon benches  and others
 on the floor--,alexius still rallied   
his strength to listen  with seeming    
attention to the wearisome chatter of   
the ,latins1 that  they might have no   
occasion or pretext for discontent4 ,in 
such a state  of fear and anxiety1 how  
could ,alexius comport himself with     
dignity and  like an ,emperor8          
,alexius1 however1 had himself to blame1
 in a great measure1 for the            

indignities he suffered3 owing to his   
insincerity1 the crusaders  mistrusted  
him so much1 that it became at last a   
common saying1 that  the ,turks and     
,saracens were not such inveterate foes 
to the ,western or  ,latin ,christians  
as the ,emperor ,alexius and the        
,greeks4,wilken ,it  would be needless  
in this sketch1 which does not profess  
to be so much  a history of the         
,crusades as of the madness of ,europe1 
from which they  sprang1 to detail the  
various acts of bribery and             
intimidation1  cajolery and hostility1  
by which ,alexius contrived to make each
 of the  leaders in succession1 as they 
arrived1 take the oath of allegiance to 
him as their ,suzerain4 ,one way or     
another he exacted from each the  barren
 homage on which he had set his heart1  
and they were then allowed  to proceed  
into ,asia ,minor4 ,one only1 ,raymond  
de ,st4 ,gilles1 ,count of  ,toulouse1  
obstinately refused the homage4         
,their residence in ,constantinople was 

productive of no good to the  armies of 
the ,cross4 ,bickerings and contentions 
on the one hand1 and  the influence of a
 depraved and luxurious court on the    
other1 destroyed  the elasticity of     
their spirits1 and cooled the first     
ardour of their  enthusiasm4 ,at one    
time the army of the ,count of ,toulouse
 was on the  point of disbanding itself2
 and1 had not their leader energetically
  removed them across the ,bosphorus1   
this would have been the result4  ,once 
in ,asia1 their spirits in some degree  
revived1 and the presence of  danger and
 difficulty nerved them to the work they
 had undertaken4 ,the  first operation  
of the war was the siege of ,nice1 to   
gain possession of  which all their     
efforts were directed4    ,godfrey of   
,bouillon and the ,count of ,vermandois 
were joined under its  walls by each    
host in succession1 as it left          
,constantinople4 ,among the  celebrated 
crusaders who fought at this siege1 we  
find1 besides the  leaders already      

mentioned1 the brave and generous       
,tancred1 whose name  and fame have been
 immortalized in the ,gerusalemme       
,liberata1 the  valorous ,bishop of     
,puy1 ,baldwin1 afterwards ,king of     
,jerusalem1 and  ,peter the ,hermit1 now
 an almost solitary soldier1 shorn of   
all the  power and influence he had     
formerly possessed4 ,kilij ,aslaun1 the 
,sultan  of ,roum1 and chief of the     
,seljukian ,turks1 whose deeds1         
surrounded by  the false halo of        
romance1 are familiar to the readers of 
,tasso1 under  the name of ,soliman1    
marched to defend this city1 but was    
defeated  after several obstinate       
engagements1 in which the ,christians   
showed a  degree of heroism that quite  
astonished him4 ,the ,turkish chief had 
expected to find a wild undisciplined   
multitude1 like that under ,peter  the  
,hermit1 without leaders capable of     
enforcing obedience2 instead of  which  
he found the most experienced leaders of
 the age at the head of  armies that had

 just fanaticism enough to be ferocious1
 but not enough  to render them         
ungovernable4 ,in these engagements1    
many hundreds fell  on both sides2 and  
on both sides the most revolting        
barbarity was  practised3 the crusaders 
cut off the heads of the fallen         
,mussulmans1  and sent them in paniers  
to ,constantinople1 as trophies of their
  victory4 ,after the temporary defeat  
of ,kilij ,aslaun1 the siege of ,nice   
was carried on with redoubled vigour4   
,the ,turks defended themselves  with   
the greatest obstinacy1 and discharged  
showers of poisoned arrows  upon the    
crusaders4 ,when any unfortunate wretch 
was killed under the  walls1 they let   
down iron hooks from above1 and drew the
 body up1  which1 after stripping and   
mutilating1 they threw back again at the
  besiegers4 ,the latter were well      
supplied with provisions1 and for       
six-and-thirty days the siege continued 
without any relaxation of the  efforts  
on either side4 ,many tales are told of 

the almost superhuman  heroism of the   
,christian leaders--how one man put a   
thousand to flight2  and how the arrows 
of the faithful never missed their mark4
  ,one  anecdote of ,godfrey of         
,bouillon1 related by ,albert of ,aix1  
is worth  recording1 not only as showing
 the high opinion entertained of his    
valour1 but as showing the contagious   
credulity of the armies--a  credulity   
which as often led them to the very     
verge of defeat1 as it  incited them to 
victory4 ,one ,turk1 of gigantic        
stature1 took his  station day by day on
 the battlements of ,nice1 and1 bearing 
an enormous  bow1 committed great havoc 
among the ,christian host4 ,not a shaft 
he  sped1 but bore death upon its point2
 and1 although the ,crusaders aimed     
repeatedly at his breast1 and he stood  
in the most exposed position1  their    
arrows fell harmless at his feet4 ,he   
seemed to be invulnerable to  attack2   
and a report was soon spread abroad1    
that he was no other than  the ,arch    

,fiend himself1 and that mortal hand    
could not prevail against  him4 ,godfrey
 of ,bouillon1 who had no faith in the  
supernatural  character of the          
,mussulman1 determined1 if possible1 to 
put an end to  the dismay which was     
rapidly paralyzing the exertions of his 
best  soldiers4 ,taking a huge          
cross-bow1 he stood forward in front of 
the  army1 to try the steadiness of his 
hand against the much-dreaded  archer3  
the shaft was aimed directly at his     
heart1 and took fatal  effect4 ,the     
,moslem fell amid the groans of the     
besieged1 and the shouts  of ,deus      
adjuva6 ,deus adjuva6 the war-cry of the
 besiegers4    ,at last the crusaders   
imagined that they had overcome all     
obstacles1  and were preparing to take  
possession of the city1 when to their   
great  astonishment they saw the flag of
 the ,emperor ,alexius flying from the  
battlements4 ,an emissary of the        
,emperor1 named ,faticius or ,tatin1 had
  contrived to gain admission with a    

body of ,greek troops at a point  which 
the crusaders had left unprotected1 and 
had persuaded the ,turks  to surrender  
to him rather than to the crusading     
forces4 ,the greatest  indignation      
prevailed in the army when this         
stratagem was discovered1  and the      
soldiers were1 with the utmost          
difficulty1 prevented from  renewing the
 attack and besieging the ,greek        
emissary4    ,the army1 however1        
continued its march1 and by some means  
or other was  broken into two divisions2
 some historians say accidentally1      
,fulcher  of ,chartres4--,guibert de    
,nogent4--,vital4 while others affirm by
 mutual  consent1 and for the           
convenience of obtaining provisions on  
the way4  ,william of                   
,tyre4--,mills4--,wilken1 c4 ,the one   
division was composed  of the forces    
under ,bohemund1 ,tancred1 and the ,duke
 of ,normandy2 while  the other1 which  
took a route at some distance on the    
right1 was  commanded by ,godfrey of    

,bouillon and the other chiefs4 ,the    
,sultan of  ,roum1 who1 after his losses
 at ,nice1 had been silently making     
great  efforts to crush the crusaders at
 one blow1 collected in a very short    
time all the multitudinous tribes that  
owed him allegiance1 and with an  army  
which1 according to a moderate          
calculation1 amounted to two  hundred   
thousand men1 chiefly cavalry1 he fell  
upon the first division  of the         
,christian host in the valley of        
,dorylaeum4 ,it was early in the        
morning of the #ast of ,july #ajig1 when
 the crusaders saw the first  companies 
of the ,turkish horsemen pouring down   
upon them from the  hills4 ,bohemund had
 hardly time to set himself in order1   
and transport  his sick and helpless to 
the rear1 when the overwhelming force of
 the  ,orientals was upon him4 ,the     
,christian army1 composed principally of
 men  on foot1 gave way on all sides1   
and the hoofs of the ,turkish steeds1   
and the poisoned arrows of their bowmen1

 mowed them down by hundreds4  ,after   
having lost the flower of their         
chivalry1 the ,christians  retreated    
upon their baggage1 when a dreadful     
slaughter took place4  ,neither women   
nor children1 nor the sick1 were spared4
 ,just as they  were reduced to the last
 extremity1 ,godfrey of ,bouillon and   
the ,count  of ,toulouse made their     
appearance on the field1 and turned the 
tide of  battle4 ,after an obstinate    
engagement the ,turks fled1 and their   
rich  camp fell into the bands of the   
enemy4 ,the loss of the crusaders       
amounted to about four thousand men1    
with several chiefs of renown1  among   
whom were ,count ,robert of ,paris and  
,william the brother of  ,tancred4 ,the 
loss of the ,turks1 which did not exceed
 this number1  taught them to pursue a  
different mode of warfare4 ,the ,sultan 
was far  from being defeated4 ,with his 
still gigantic army1 he laid waste all  
the country on either side of the       
crusaders4 ,the latter1 who were        

unaware of the tactics of the enemy1    
found plenty of provisions in the       
,turkish camp2 but so far from          
economizing these resources1 they gave  
themselves up for several days to the   
most unbounded extravagance4 ,they  soon
 paid dearly for their heedlessness4    
,in the ravaged country of  ,phrygia1   
through which they advanced towards     
,antiochetta1 they suffered  dreadfully 
for want of food for themselves and     
pasture for their  cattle4 ,above them  
was a scorching sun1 almost sufficient  
of itself to  dry up the freshness of   
the land1 a task which the firebrands of
 the  ,sultan had but too surely        
effected1 and water was not to be had   
after  the first day of their march4    
,the pilgrims died at the rate of five  
hundred a-day4 ,the horses of the       
knights perished on the road1 and the   
baggage which they had aided to         
transport1 was either placed upon dogs1 
sheep1 and swine1 or abandoned          
altogether4 ,in some of the calamities  

that afterwards befell them1 the        
,christians gave themselves up to the   
most reckless profligacy2 but upon this 
occasion1 the dissensions which         
prosperity had engendered1 were all     
forgotten4 ,religion1 often             
disregarded1 arose in the stern presence
 of misfortune1 and cheered  them as    
they died by the promises of eternal    
felicity4    ,at length they reached    
,antiochetta1 where they found water in 
abundance1 and pastures for their       
expiring cattle4 ,plenty once more      
surrounded them1 and here they pitched  
their tents4 ,untaught by the  bitter   
experience of famine1 they again gave   
themselves up to luxury  and waste4     
,on the #ahth of ,october they sat down 
before the strong city of ,antioch1  the
 siege of which1 and the events to which
 it gave rise1 are among the  most      
extraordinary incidents of the ,crusade4
 ,the city1 which is  situated on an    
eminence1 and washed by the river       
,orontes1 is naturally  a very strong   

position1 and the ,turkish garrison were
 well supplied  with provisions to      
endure a long siege4 ,in this respect   
the ,christians  were also fortunate1   
but1 unluckily for themselves1 unwise4  
,their  force amounted to three hundred 
thousand fighting men2 and we are       
informed by ,raymond d',argilles1 that  
they had so much provision1 that  they  
threw away the greater part of every    
animal they killed1 being so  dainty1   
that they would only eat particular     
parts of the beast4 ,so  insane was     
their extravagance1 that in less than   
ten days famine began  to stare them in 
the face4 ,after making a fruitless     
attempt to gain  possession of the city 
by a coup de main1 they1 starving       
themselves1  sat down to starve out the 
enemy4 ,but with want came a cooling of 
enthusiasm4 ,the chiefs began to grow   
weary of the expedition4 ,baldwin  had  
previously detached himself from the    
main body of the army1 and1  proceeding 
to ,edessa1 had intrigued himself into  

the supreme power in  that little       
principality4 ,the other leaders were   
animated with less  zeal than           
heretofore4 ,stephen of ,chartres and   
,hugh of ,vermandois began  to waver1   
unable to endure the privations which   
their own folly and  profusion had      
brought upon them4 ,even ,peter the     
,hermit became sick at  heart ere all   
was over4 ,when the famine had become so
 urgent that they  were reduced to eat  
human flesh in the extremity of their   
hunger1  ,bohemund and ,robert of       
,flanders set forth on an expedition to 
procure a  supply4 ,they were in a      
slight degree successful2 but the relief
 they  brought was not economized1 and  
in two days they were as destitute as   
before4 ,faticius1 the ,greek commander 
and representative of ,alexius1         
deserted with his division under        
pretence of seeking for food1 and his   
example was followed by various bodies  
of crusaders4    ,misery was rife among 
those who remained1 and they strove to  

alleviate  it by a diligent attention to
 signs and omens4 ,these1 with          
extraordinary visions seen by the       
enthusiastic1 alternately cheered and   
depressed them according as they        
foretold the triumph or pictured the    
reverses of the ,cross4 ,at one time a  
violent hurricane arose1 levelling      
great trees with the ground1 and blowing
 down the tents of the  ,christian      
leaders4 ,at another time an earthquake 
shook the camp1 and  was thought to     
prognosticate some great impending evil 
to the cause of  ,christendom4 ,but a   
comet which appeared shortly afterwards1
 raised them  from the despondency into 
which they had fallen2 their lively     
imaginations making it assume the form  
of a flaming cross leading them  on to  
victory4 ,famine was not the least of   
the evils they endured4  ,unwholesome   
food1 and the impure air from the       
neighbouring marshes1  engendered       
pestilential diseases1 which carried    
them off more rapidly  than the arrows  

of the enemy4 ,a thousand of them died  
in a day1 and it  became at last a      
matter of extreme difficulty to afford  
them burial4 ,to  add to their misery1  
each man grew suspicious of his         
neighbour2 for the  camp was infested by
 ,turkish spies1 who conveyed daily to  
the besieged  intelligence of the       
movements and distresses of the enemy4  
,with a  ferocity1 engendered by        
despair1 ,bohemund caused two spies1    
whom he had  detected1 to be roasted    
alive in presence of the army1 and      
within sight  of the battlements of     
,antioch4 ,but even this example failed 
to reduce  their numbers1 and the ,turks
 continued to be as well informed as the
  ,christians themselves of all that was
 passing in the camp4    ,the news of   
the arrival of a reinforcement of       
soldiers from ,europe1  with an abundant
 stock of provisions1 came to cheer them
 when reduced  to the last extremity4   
,the welcome succour landed at ,st4     
,simeon1 the  port of ,antioch1 and     

about six miles from that city4         
,thitherwards the  famishing crusaders  
proceeded in tumultuous bands1 followed 
by ,bohemund  and the ,count of         
,toulouse1 with strong detachments of   
their retainers  and vassals1 to escort 
the supplies in safety to the camp4 ,the
 garrison  of ,antioch1 forewarned of   
this arrival1 was on the alert1 and a   
corps  of ,turkish archers was          
despatched to lie in ambuscade among the
  mountains and intercept their return4 
,bohemund1 laden with provisions1  was  
encountered in the rocky passes by the  
,turkish host4 ,great numbers  of his   
followers were slain1 and he himself had
 just time to escape to  the camp with  
the news of his defeat4 ,godfrey of     
,bouillon1 the ,duke of  ,normandy1 and 
the other leaders had heard the rumour  
of this battle1  and were at that       
instant preparing for the rescue4 ,the  
army was  immediately in motion1        
animated both by zeal and by hunger1 and
 marched  so rapidly as to intercept the

 victorious ,turks before they had time 
to  reach ,antioch with their spoil4 ,a 
fierce battle ensued1 which lasted  from
 noon till the going down of the sun4   
,the ,christians gained and  maintained 
the advantage1 each man fighting as if  
upon himself alone  had depended the    
fortune of the day4 ,hundreds of ,turks 
perished in the  ,orontes1 and more than
 two thousand were left dead upon the   
field of  battle4 ,all the provision was
 recaptured and brought in safety to the
  camp1 whither the crusaders returned  
singing ,allelulia6 or shouting  ,deus  
adjuva6 ,deus adjuva6    ,this relief   
lasted for some days1 and1 had it been  
duly economized1  would have lasted much
 longer2 but the chiefs had no          
authority1 and  were unable to exercise 
any control over its distribution4      
,famine again  approached with rapid    
strides1 and ,stephen ,count of ,blois1 
not liking  the prospect1 withdrew from 
the camp1 with four thousand of his     
retainers1 and established himself at   

,alexandretta4 ,the moral influence  of 
this desertion was highly prejudicial   
upon those who remained2 and  ,bohemund1
 the most impatient and ambitious of the
 chiefs1 foresaw that1  unless speedily 
checked1 it would lead to the utter     
failure of the  expedition4 ,it was     
necessary to act decisively2 the army   
murmured at  the length of the siege1   
and the ,sultan was collecting his      
forces to  crush them4 ,against the     
efforts of the crusaders ,antioch might 
have  held out for months2 but treason  
within effected that1 which courage     
without might have striven for in vain4 
,baghasihan1 the ,turkish ,prince or    
,emir of ,antioch1 had under his        
command an ,armenian of the name of     
,phirouz1 whom he had intrusted with    
the defence of a tower on that part of  
the city wall which overlooked  the     
passes of the mountains4 ,bohemund1 by  
means of a spy who had  embraced the    
,christian religion1 and to whom he had 
given his own name  at baptism1 kept up 

a daily communication with this captain1
 and made  him the most magnificent     
promises of reward1 if he would deliver 
up his  post to the ,christian knights4 
,whether the proposal was first made by 
,bohemund or by the ,armenian is        
uncertain1 but that a good understanding
  soon existed between them1 is         
undoubted2 and a night was fixed for the
  execution of the project4 ,bohemund   
communicated the scheme to ,godfrey  and
 the ,count of ,toulouse1 with the      
stipulation that1 if the city were  won1
 he1 as the soul of the enterprise1     
should enjoy the dignity of  ,prince of 
,antioch4 ,the other leaders hesitated3 
ambition and jealousy  prompted them to 
refuse their aid in furthering the views
 of the  intriguer4 ,more mature        
consideration decided them to acquiesce1
 and  seven hundred of the bravest      
knights were chosen for the expedition1 
the real object of which1 for fear of   
spies1 was kept a profound secret  from 
the rest of the army4 ,when all was     

ready1 a report was  promulgated1 that  
the seven hundred were intended to form 
an ambuscade  for a division of the     
,sultan's army1 which was stated to be  
approaching4    ,every thing favoured   
the treacherous project of the ,armenian
 captain1  who1 on his solitary         
watchtower1 received due intimation of  
the  approach of the crusaders4 ,the    
night was dark and stormy2 not a star   
was visible above1 and the wind howled  
so furiously as to overpower all  other 
sounds3 the rain fell in torrents1 and  
the watchers on the towers  adjoining to
 that of ,phirouz could not hear the    
tramp of the armed  knights for the     
wind1 nor see them for the obscurity of 
the night and  the dismalness of the    
weather4 ,when within shot of the walls1
 ,bohemund  sent forward an interpreter 
to confer with the ,armenian4 ,the      
latter  urged them to make haste1 and   
seize the favourable interval1 as armed 
men1 with lighted torches1 patrolled the
 battlements every half hour1  and at   

that instant they had just passed4  ,the
 chiefs were instantly at  the foot of  
the wall3 ,phirouz let down a rope2     
,bohemund attached it to  the end of a  
ladder of hides1 which was then raised  
by the ,armenian1  and held while the   
knights mounted4 ,a momentary fear came 
over the  spirits of the adventurers1   
and every one hesitated4 ,at last       
,bohemund1  ,vide ,william of ,tyre4    
encouraged by ,phirouz from above1      
ascended a  few steps on the ladder1 and
 was followed by ,godfrey1 ,count       
,robert of  ,flanders1 and a number of  
other knights4 ,as they advanced1 others
  pressed forward1 until their weight   
became too great for the ladder1  which1
 breaking1 precipitated about a dozen of
 them to the ground1  where they fell   
one upon the other1 making a great      
clatter with their  heavy coats of mail4
 ,for a moment they thought that all was
 lost2 but  the wind made so loud a     
howling as it swept in fierce gusts     
through the  mountain gorges--and the   

,orontes1 swollen by the rain1 rushed so
  noisily along--that the guards heard  
nothing4 ,the ladder was easily         
repaired1 and the knights ascended two  
at a time1 and reached the  platform in 
safety1 ,when sixty of them had thus    
ascended1 the torch of  the coming      
patrol was seen to gleam at the angle of
 the wall4 ,hiding  themselves behind a 
buttress1 they awaited his coming in    
breathless  silence4 ,as soon as he     
arrived at arm's length1 he was suddenly
 seized1  and1 before he could open his 
lips to raise an alarm1 the silence of  
death closed them up for ever4  ,they   
next descended rapidly the spiral       
staircase of the tower1 and1 opening the
 portal1 admitted the whole of  their   
companions4 ,raymond of ,toulouse1 who1 
cognizant of the whole  plan1 had been  
left behind with the main body of the   
army1 heard at  this instant the signal 
horn1 which announced that an entry had 
been  effected1 and1 leading on his     
legions1 the town was attacked from     

within and without4    ,imagination     
cannot conceive a scene more dreadful   
than that presented  by the devoted city
 of ,antioch on that night of horror4   
,the crusaders  fought with a blind     
fury1 which fanaticism and suffering    
alike incited4  ,men1 women1 and        
children were indiscriminately          
slaughtered till the  streets ran in    
gore4 ,darkness increased the           
destruction1 for when  morning dawned   
the crusaders found themselves with     
their swords at the  breasts of their   
fellow-soldiers1 whom they had mistaken 
for foes4 ,the  ,turkish commander fled1
 first to the citadel1 and that becoming
  insecure1 to the mountains1 whither he
 was pursued and slain1 his grey  head  
brought back to ,antioch as a trophy4   
,at daylight the massacre  ceased1 and  
the crusaders gave themselves up to     
plunder4 ,they found  gold1 and jewels1 
and silks1 and velvets in abundance1    
but1 of  provisions1 which were of more 
importance to them1 they found but      

little of any kind4 ,corn was           
excessively scarce1 and they discovered 
to  their sorrow that in this respect   
the besieged had been but little  better
 off than the besiegers4    ,before they
 had time to instal themselves in their 
new position1 and  take the necessary   
measures for procuring a supply1 the    
city was  invested by the ,turks4 ,the  
,sultan of ,persia had raised an immense
 army1  which he intrusted to the       
command of ,kerbogha1 the ,emir of      
,mosul1 with  instructions to sweep the 
,christian locusts from the face of the 
land4  ,the ,emir effected junction with
 ,kilij ,aslaun1 and the two armies     
surrounded the city4 ,discouragement    
took complete possession of the         
,christian host1 and numbers of them    
contrived to elude the vigilance of  the
 besiegers1 and escape to ,count        
,stephen of ,blots at ,alexandretta1 to 
whom they related the most exaggerated  
tales of the misery they had  endured1  
and the utter hopelessness of continuing

 the war4 ,stephen  forthwith broke up  
his camp and retreated towards          
,constantinople4 ,on  his way he was met
 by the ,emperor ,alexius1 at the head  
of a  considerable force1 hastening to  
take possession of the conquests made   
by the ,christians in ,asia4 ,as soon as
 he heard of their woeful plight1  he   
turned back1 and proceeded with the     
,count of ,blots to  ,constantinople1   
leaving the remnant of the crusaders to 
shift for  themselves4    ,the news of  
this defection increased the            
discouragement at ,antioch4 ,all  the   
useless horses of the army had been     
slain and eaten1 and dogs1  cats1 and   
rats were sold at enormous prices4 ,even
 vermin were becoming  scarce4 ,with    
increasing famine came a pestilence1 so 
that in a short  time but sixty thousand
 remained of the three hundred thousand 
that had  originally invested ,antioch4 
,but this bitter extremity1 while it    
annihilated the energy of the host1 only
 served to knit the leaders  more firmly

 together2 and ,bohemund1 ,godfrey1 and 
,tancred swore never to  desert the     
cause as long as life lasted4 ,the      
former strove in vain to  reanimate the 
courage of his followers4 ,they were    
weary and sick at  heart1 and his       
menaces and promises were alike thrown  
away4 ,some of  them had shut themselves
 up in the houses1 and refused to come  
forth4  ,bohemund1 to drive them to     
their duty1 set fire to the whole       
quarter1  and many of them perished in  
the flames1 while the rest of the army  
looked on with the utmost indifference4 
,bohemund1 animated himself by a        
worldly spirit1 did not know the true   
character of the crusaders1 nor         
understand the religious madness which  
had brought them in such shoals  from   
,europe4 ,a priest1 more clear-sighted1 
devised a scheme which  restored all    
their confidence1 and inspired them with
 a courage so  wonderful as to make the 
poor sixty thousand emaciated1 sick1 and
  starving zealots1 put to flight the   

well-fed and six times as numerous      
legions of the ,sultan of ,persia4      
,this priest1 a native of ,provence1 was
 named ,peter ,barthelemy1 and  whether 
he were a knave or an enthusiast1 or    
both2 a principal1 or a  tool in the    
hands of others1 will ever remain a     
matter of doubt4  ,certain it is1       
however1 that he was the means of       
raising the siege of  ,antioch1 and     
causing the eventual triumph of the     
armies of the ,cross4  ,when the        
strength of the crusaders was completely
 broken by their  sufferings1 and hope  
had fled from every bosom1 ,peter came  
to ,count  ,raymond of ,toulouse1 and   
demanded an interview on matters of     
serious  moment4 ,he was immediately    
admitted4 ,he said that1 some weeks     
previously1 at the time the ,christians 
were besieging ,antioch1 he was         
reposing alone in his tent1 when he was 
startled by the shock of the            
earthquake1 which had so alarmed the    
whole host4 ,through violent terror  of 

the shock he could only ejaculate1 ,god 
help me6 when turning round  he saw two 
men standing before him1 whom he at once
 recognized by the  halo of glory around
 them as beings of another world4 ,one  
of them  appeared to be an aged man1    
with reddish hair sprinkled with grey1  
black eyes1 and a long flowing grey     
beard4 ,the other was younger1  larger1 
and handsomer1 and had something more   
divine in his aspect4 ,the  elderly man 
alone spoke1 and informed him that he   
was the ,holy ,apostle  ,st4 ,andrew1   
and desired him to seek out the ,count  
,raymond1 the ,bishop  of ,puy1 and     
,raymond of ,altopulto1 and ask them why
 the ,bishop did not  exhort the people1
 and sign them with the cross which he  
bore4 ,the  ,apostle then took him1     
naked in his shirt as he was1 and       
transported  him through the air into   
the heart of the city of ,antioch1 where
 he led  him into the church of ,st4    
,peter1 at that time a ,saracen mosque4 
,the  ,apostle made him stop by the     

pillar close to the steps by which they 
ascend on the south side to the altar1  
where hung two lamps1 which gave  out a 
light brighter than that of the noonday 
sun2 the younger man1  whom he did not  
at that time know1 standing afar off1   
near the steps of  the altar4 ,the      
,apostle then descended into the ground 
and brought up a  lance1 which he gave  
into his hand1 telling him that it was  
the very  lance that had opened the side
 whence had flowed the salvation of the 
world4 ,with tears of joy he held the   
holy lance1 and implored the  ,apostle  
to allow him to take it away and deliver
 it into the hands of  ,count ,raymond4 
,the ,apostle refused1 and buried the   
lance again in the  ground1 commanding  
him1 when the city was won from the     
infidels1 to go  with twelve chosen men1
 and dig it up again in the same place4 
,the  ,apostle then transported him back
 to his tent1 and the two vanished  from
 his sight4 ,he had neglected1 he said1 
to deliver this message1  afraid that   

his wonderful tale would not obtain     
credence from men of  such high rank4   
,after some days he again saw the holy  
vision1 as he was  gone out of the camp 
to look for food4  ,this time the divine
 eyes of  the younger looked            
reproachfully upon him4 ,he implored the
 ,apostle to  choose some one else more 
fitted for the mission1 but the ,apostle
  refused1 and smote him with a disorder
 of the eyes1 as a punishment for  his  
disobedience4 ,with an obstinacy        
unaccountable even to himself1 he  had  
still delayed4 ,a third time the        
,apostle and his companion had  appeared
 to him1 as he was in a tent with his   
master ,william at ,st4  ,simeon4 ,on   
that occasion ,st4 ,andrew told him to  
bear his command to the  ,count of      
,toulouse not to bathe in the waters of 
the ,jordan when he came  to it1 but to 
cross over in a boat1 clad in a shirt   
and breeches of  linen1 which he should 
sprinkle with the sacred waters of the  
river4  ,these clothes he was afterwards

 to preserve along with the holy lance4 
,his master ,william1 although he could 
not see the saint1 distinctly  heard the
 voice giving orders to that effect4    
,again he neglected to  execute the     
commission1 and again the saints        
appeared to him1 when he  was at the    
port of ,mamistra1 about to sail for    
,cyprus1 and ,st4 ,andrew  threatened   
him with eternal perdition if he refused
 longer4 ,upon this  he made up his mind
 to divulge all that had been revealed  
to him4    ,the ,count of ,toulouse1    
who1 in all probability1 concocted this 
precious  tale with the priest1 appeared
 struck with the recital1 and sent      
immediately for the ,bishop of ,puy and 
,raymond of ,altapulto4 ,the ,bishop  at
 once expressed his disbelief of the    
whole story1 and refused to have        
anything to do in the matter4 ,the      
,count of ,toulouse1 on the contrary1   
saw abundant motives1 if not for        
believing1 for pretending to believe2   
and1 in the end1 he so impressed upon   

the mind of the ,bishop the  advantage  
that might be derived from it1 in       
working up the popular mind  to its     
former excitement1 that the latter      
reluctantly agreed to make  search in   
due form for the holy weapon4 ,the day  
after the morrow was  fixed upon for the
 ceremony1 and1 in the mean time1 ,peter
 was consigned  to the care of ,raymond1
 the ,count's chaplain1 in order that no
 profane  curiosity might have an       
opportunity of cross-examining him1 and 
putting  him to a nonplus4    ,twelve   
devout men were forthwith chosen for the
 undertaking1 among whom  were the      
,count of ,toulouse and his chaplain4   
,they began digging at  sunrise1 and    
continued unwearied till near sunset1   
without finding the  lance2--they might 
have dug till this day with no better   
success1 had  not ,peter himself sprung 
into the pit1 praying to ,god to bring  
the  lance to light1 for the            
strengthening and victory of his people4
 ,those  who hide know where to find2   

and so it was with ,peter1 for both he  
and  the lance found their way into the 
hole at the same time4 ,on a sudden1  he
 and ,raymond1 the chaplain1 beheld its 
point in the earth1 and  ,raymond1      
drawing it forth1 kissed it with tears  
of joy1 in sight of the  multitude which
 had assembled in the church4 ,it was   
immediately  enveloped in a rich purple 
cloth1 already prepared to receive it1  
and  exhibited in this state to the     
faithful1 who made the building resound 
with their shouts of gladness4    ,peter
 had another vision the same night1 and 
became from that day forth  dreamer of  
dreams1 in general1 to the army4 ,he    
stated on the  following day1 that the  
,apostle ,andrew and the youth with the 
divine  aspect appeared to him again1   
and directed that the ,count of         
,toulouse1  as a reward for his         
persevering piety1 should carry the     
,holy ,lance at  the head of the army1  
and that the day on which it was found  
should be  observed as a solemn festival

 throughout ,christendom4 ,st4  ,andrew 
showed him1 at the same time1 the holes 
in the feet and hands of his  benign    
companion2 and he became convinced that 
he stood in the awful  presence of ,,the
 ,,redeemer4    ,peter gained so much   
credit by his visions that dreaming     
became  contagious4 ,other monks beside 
himself were visited by the saints1 who 
promised victory to the host if it would
 valiantly hold out to the  last1 and   
crowns of eternal glory to those who    
fell in the fight4 ,two  deserters1     
wearied of the fatigues and privations  
of the war1 who had  stealthily left the
 camp1 suddenly returned1 and seeking   
,bohemund1 told  him that they had been 
met by two apparitions1 who1 with great 
anger1  had commanded them to return4   
,the one of them said1 that he          
recognized  his brother1 who had been   
killed in battle some months before1 and
 that  he had a halo of glory around his
 head4 ,the other1 still more hardy1    
asserted that the apparition which had  

spoken to him was the ,saviour  himself1
 who had promised eternal happiness as  
his reward if he  returned to his duty1 
but the pains of eternal fire if he     
rejected the  cross4 ,no one thought of 
disbelieving these men4 ,the courage of 
the  army immediately revived2          
despondency gave way to hope2 every arm 
grew  strong again1 and the pangs of    
hunger were for a time disregarded4 ,the
  enthusiasm which had led them from    
,europe burned forth once more as       
brightly as ever1 and they demanded1    
with loud cries1 to be led against  the 
enemy4 ,the leaders were not unwilling4 
,in a battle lay their only  chance of  
salvation2 and although ,godfrey1       
,bohemund1 and ,tancred  received the   
story of the lance with much suspicion1 
they were too wise  to throw discredit  
upon an imposture which bade fair to    
open the gates  of victory4    ,peter   
the ,hermit was previously sent to the  
camp of ,kerbogha to propose  that the  
quarrel between the two religions should

 be decided by a  chosen number of the  
bravest soldiers of each army4 ,kerbogha
 turned  from him with a look of        
contempt1 and said he could agree to no 
proposals from a set of such miserable  
beggars and robbers4 ,with this         
uncourteous answer ,peter returned to   
,antioch4 ,preparations were            
immediately commenced for an attack upon
 the enemy3 the latter  continued to be 
perfectly well informed of all the      
proceedings of the  ,christian camp4    
,the citadel of ,antioch1 which remained
 in their  possession1 overlooked the   
town1 and the commander of the fortress 
could distinctly see all that was       
passing within4 ,on the morning of the  
#bhth of ,june #ajih a black flag1      
hoisted from its highest tower1         
announced to the besieging army that the
 ,christians were about to sally  forth4
    ,the ,moslem leaders knew the sad   
inroads that famine and disease had     
made upon the numbers of the foe3 they  
knew that not above two hundred  of the 

knights had horses to ride upon1 and    
that the foot soldiers were  sick and   
emaciated2 but they did not know the    
almost incredible valour  which         
superstition had infused into their     
hearts4  ,the story of the  lance they  
treated with the most supreme contempt1 
and1 secure of an  easy victory1 they   
gave themselves no trouble in preparing 
for the  onslaught4 ,it is related that 
,kerbogha was playing a game at chess1  
when the black flag on the citadel gave 
warning of the enemy's  approach1 and   
that1 with true oriental coolness1 he   
insisted upon  finishing the game ere he
 bestowed any of his attention upon a   
foe so  unworthy4 ,the defeat of his    
advanced post of two thousand men       
aroused  him from his apathy4    ,the   
crusaders1 after this first victory1    
advanced joyfully towards the           
mountains1 hoping to draw the ,turks to 
a place where their cavalry  would be   
unable to manoeuvre4 ,their spirits were
 light and their  courage high1 as led  

on by the ,duke of ,normandy1 ,count    
,robert of  ,flanders1 and ,hugh of     
,vermandois1 they came within sight of  
the  splendid camp of the enemy4        
,godfrey of ,bouillon and ,adhemar1     
,bishop of  ,puy1 followed immediately  
after these leaders1 the latter clad in 
complete armour1 and bearing the ,holy  
,lance within sight of the whole  army3 
,bohemund and ,tancred brought up the   
rear4    ,kerbogha1 aware at last that  
his enemy was not so despicable1 took   
vigorous measures to remedy his mistake1
 and1 preparing himself to meet  the    
,christians in front1 he despatched the 
,sultan ,soliman1 of ,roum1 to  attack  
them in the rear4 ,to conceal this      
movement1 he set fire to the  dried     
weeds and grass with which the ground   
was covered1 and ,soliman1  taking a    
wide circuit with his cavalry1          
succeeded1 under cover of the  smoke1 in
 making good his position in the rear4  
,the battle raged  furiously in front2  
the arrows of the ,turks fell thick as  

hail1 and  their well-trained squadrons 
trod the crusaders under their hoofs    
like  stubble4 ,still the affray was    
doubtful2 for the ,christians had the   
advantage of the ground1 and were       
rapidly gaining upon the enemy1 when    
the overwhelming forces of ,soliman     
arrived in the rear4  ,godfrey and      
,tancred flew to the rescue of          
,bohemund1 spreading dismay in the      
,turkish  ranks by their fierce         
impetuosity4 ,the ,bishop of ,puy was   
left almost  alone with the ,provencals 
to oppose the legions commanded by      
,kerbogha  in person2 but the presence  
of the ,holy ,lance made a hero of the  
meanest soldier in his train4 ,still1   
however1 the numbers of the enemy       
seemed interminable4 ,the ,christians1  
attacked on every side1 began at  last  
to give way1 and the ,turks made sure of
 victory4    ,at this moment a cry was  
raised in the ,christian host that the  
saints  were fighting on their side4    
,the battle-field was clear of the smoke

  from the burning weeds1 which had     
curled away1 and hung in white clouds   
of fantastic shape on the brow of the   
distant mountains4 ,some  imaginative   
zealot1 seeing this dimly through the   
dust of the battle1  called out to his  
fellows1 to look at the army of saints1 
clothed in  white1 and riding upon white
 horses1 that were pouring over the     
hills  to the rescue4 ,all eyes were    
immediately turned to the distant smoke2
  faith was in every heart2 and the old 
battle-cry1 ,god wills it6 ,god  wills  
it6 resounded through the field1 as     
every soldier1 believing that  ,god was 
visibly sending ,his armies to his aid1 
fought with an energy  unfelt before4 ,a
 panic seized the ,persian and ,turkish 
hosts1 and they  gave way in all        
directions4 ,in vain ,kerbogha tried to 
rally them4 ,fear  is more contagious   
than enthusiasm1 and they fled over the 
mountains  like deer pursued by the     
hounds4 ,the two leaders1 seeing the    
uselessness of further efforts1 fled    

with the rest2 and that immense  army   
was scattered over ,palestine1 leaving  
nearly seventy thousand of  its dead    
upon the field of battle4    ,their     
magnificent camp fell into the hands of 
the enemy1 with its rich  stores of     
corn1 and its droves of sheep and oxen4 
,jewels1 gold1 and  rich velvets in     
abundance were distributed among the    
army4 ,tancred  followed the fugitives  
over the hills1 and reaped as much      
plunder as  those who had remained in   
the camp4 ,the way1 as they fled1 was   
covered  with valuables1 and horses of  
the finest breed of ,arabia became so   
plentiful1 that every knight of the     
,christians was provided with a  steed4 
,the crusaders1 in this battle1         
acknowledge to have lost nearly  ten    
thousand men4    ,their return to       
,antioch was one of joy indeed3 the     
citadel was  surrendered at once1 and   
many of the ,turkish garrison embraced  
the  ,christian faith1 and the rest were
 suffered to depart4 ,a solemn          

thanksgiving was offered up by the      
,bishop of ,puy1 in which the whole     
army joined1 and the ,holy ,lance was   
visited by every soldier4    ,the       
enthusiasm lasted for some days1 and the
 army loudly demanded to be  led forward
 to ,jerusalem1 the grand goal of all   
their wishes3 but none  of their leaders
 was anxious to move2--the more prudent 
among them1  such as ,godfrey and       
,tancred1 for reasons of expediency2 and
 the more  ambitious1 such as the ,count
 of ,toulouse and ,bohemund1 for reasons
 of  self-interest4 ,violent dissensions
 sprang up again between all the        
chiefs4 ,raymond of ,toulouse1 who was  
left at ,antioch to guard the town1  had
 summoned the citadel to surrender1 as  
soon as he saw that there was  no fear  
of any attack upon the part of the      
,persians2 and the other  chiefs found1 
upon their return1 his banner waving on 
its walls4 ,this  had given great       
offence to ,bohemund1 who had stipulated
 the  principality of ,antioch as his   

reward for winning the town in the first
  instance4 ,godfrey and ,tancred       
supported his claim1 and1 after a great 
deal of bickering1 the flag of ,raymond 
was lowered from the tower1 and  that of
 ,bohemund hoisted in its stead1 who    
assumed from that time the  title of    
,prince of ,antioch4 ,raymond1 however1 
persisted in retaining  possession of   
one of the city gates and its adjacent  
towers1 which he  held for several      
months1 to the great annoyance of       
,bohemund and the  scandal of the army4 
,the ,count became in consequence       
extremely  unpopular1 although his      
ambition was not a whit more            
unreasonable than  that of ,bohemund    
himself1 nor of ,baldwin1 who had taken 
up his quarters  at ,edessa1 where he   
exercised the functions of a petty      
sovereign4    ,the fate of ,peter       
,barthelemy deserves to be recorded4    
,honours and  consideration had come    
thick upon him after the affair of the  
lance1  and he consequently felt bound  

in conscience to continue the dreams    
which had made him a personage of so    
much importance4 ,the mischief of  it   
was1 that like many other liars he had a
 very bad memory1 and he  contrived to  
make his dreams contradict each other in
 the most palpable  manner4 ,st4 ,john  
one night appeared to him1 and told one 
tale1 while1 a  week after1 ,st4 ,paul  
told a totally different story1 and held
 out hopes  quite incompatible with     
those of his apostolic brother4 ,the    
credulity  of that age had a wide maw1  
and ,peter's visions must have been     
absurd  and outrageous indeed1 when the 
very men who had believed in the lance  
refused to swallow any more of his      
wonders4  ,bohemund at last1 for the    
purpose of annoying the ,count of       
,toulouse1 challenged poor ,peter to    
prove the truth of his story of the     
lance by the fiery ordeal4 ,peter  could
 not refuse a trial so common in that   
age1 and being besides  encouraged by   
the ,count and his chaplain1 ,raymond1  

an early day was  appointed for the     
ceremony4 ,the previous night was spent 
in prayer and  fasting1 according to    
custom1 and ,peter came forth in the    
morning  bearing the lance in his hand1 
and walked boldly up to the fire4 ,the  
whole army gathered round1 impatient for
 the result1 many thousands  still      
believing that the lance was genuine and
 ,peter a holy man4  ,prayers having    
been said by ,raymond d',agilles1 ,peter
 walked into the  flames1 and had got   
nearly through1 when pain caused him to 
lose his  presence of mind3 the heat too
 affected his eyes1 and1 in his anguish1
  he turned round unwittingly1 and      
passed through the fire again1 instead  
of stepping out of it1 as he should have
 done4 ,the result was1 that he  was    
burned so severely1 that he never       
recovered1 and1 after lingering  for    
some days1 he expired in great agony4   
,most of the soldiers were suffering    
either from wounds1 disease1 or         
weariness1 and it was resolved by       

,godfrey1--the tacitly acknowledged     
chief of the enterprize1--that the army 
should have time to refresh  itself ere 
they advanced upon ,jerusalem4 ,it was  
now ,july1 and he  proposed that they   
should pass the hot months of ,august   
and ,september  within the walls of     
,antioch1 and march forward in ,october 
with renewed  vigour1 and numbers       
increased by fresh arrivals from        
,europe4 ,this  advice was finally      
adopted1 although the enthusiasts of the
 army  continued to murmur at the delay4
 ,in the mean time the ,count of        
,vermandois was sent upon an embassy to 
the ,emperor ,alexius at                
,constantinople1 to reproach him for his
 base desertion of the cause1  and urge 
him to send the reinforcements he had   
promised4 ,the ,count  faithfully       
executed his mission1 7of which1 by the 
way1 ,alexius took no  notice whatever17
 and remained for some time at          
,constantinople1 till  his zeal1 never  
very violent1 totally evaporated4 ,he   

then returned to  ,france1 sick of the  
,crusade1 and determined to intermeddle 
with it no  more4    ,the chiefs1 though
 they had determined to stay at ,antioch
 for two  months1 could not remain quiet
 for so long a time4 ,they would1 in all
  probability1 have fallen upon each    
other1 had there been no ,turks in      
,palestine upon whom they might vent    
their impetuosity4 ,godfrey  proceeded  
to ,edessa1 to aid his brother ,baldwin 
in expelling the  ,saracens from his    
principality1 and the other leaders     
carried on  separate hostilities against
 them as caprice or ambition dictated4  
,at  length the impatience of the army  
to be led against ,jerusalem became so  
great that the chiefs could no longer   
delay1 and ,raymond1 ,tancred1 and      
,robert of ,normandy marched forward    
with their divisions1 and laid siege  to
 the small but strong town of ,marah4   
,with their usual improvidence1  they   
had not food enough to last a           
beleaguering army for a week4 ,they     

suffered great privations in            
consequence1 till ,bohemund came to     
their  aid and took the town by storm4  
,in connexion with this siege1 the      
chronicler1 ,raymond d',agilles1 7the   
same ,raymond1 the chaplain1 who        
figured in the affair of the ,holy      
,lance17 relates a legend1 in the  truth
 of which he devoutly believed1 and upon
 which ,tasso has founded  one of the   
most beautiful passages of his poem4 ,it
 is worth preserving1  as showing the   
spirit of the age and the source of the 
extraordinary  courage manifested by the
 crusaders on occasions of extreme      
difficulty4  ,one day1 says ,raymond1   
,anselme de ,ribeaumont beheld young    
,engelram1  the son of the ,count de    
,st4 ,paul1 who had been killed at      
,marsh1 enter  his tent4 ',how is it1'  
said ,anselme to him1 'that you1 whom ,i
 saw lying  dead on the field of battle1
 are full of life8'--',you must know1'  
replied ,engelram1 'that those who fight
 for ,jesus ,christ never  die4'--',but 

whence1' resumed ,anselme1 'comes that  
strange brightness  that surrounds you8'
 ,upon this ,engelram pointed to the    
sky1 where  ,anselme saw a palace of    
diamond and crystal4  ',it is thence1'  
said he1  'that ,i derive the beauty    
which surprises you4 ,my dwelling is    
there2 a  still finer one is prepared   
for you1 and you shall soon come to     
inhabit  it4 ,farewell6 we shall meet   
again to-morrow4' ,with these words     
,engelram  returned to heaven4 ,anselme1
 struck by the vision1 sent the next    
morning for the priests1 received the   
sacrament2 and although full of  health1
 took a last farewell of all his        
friends1 telling them that he  was about
 to leave this world4 ,a few hours      
afterwards1 the enemy having  made a    
sortie1 ,anselme went out against them  
sword in hand1 and was  struck on the   
forehead by a stone from a ,turkish     
sling1 which sent him  to heaven1 to the
 beautiful palace that was prepared for 
him4    ,new disputes arose between the 

,prince of ,antioch and the ,count of   
,toulouse with regard to the capture of 
this town1 which were with the  utmost  
difficulty appeased by the other chiefs4
 ,delays also took place  in the        
progress of the army1 especially before 
,arches1 and the soldiery  were so      
exasperated that they were on the point 
of choosing new leaders  to conduct them
 to ,jerusalem4 ,godfrey1 upon this1 set
 fire to his camp  at ,arches1 and      
marched forward4 ,he was immediately    
joined by hundreds  of the ,provencals  
of the ,count of ,toulouse4 ,the latter1
 seeing the turn  affairs were taking1  
hastened after them1 and the whole host 
proceeded  towards the holy city1 so    
long desired amid sorrow1 and suffering1
 and  danger4 ,at ,emmaus they were met 
by a deputation from the ,christians of 
,bethlehem1 praying for immediate aid   
against the oppression of the  infidels4
 ,the very name of ,bethlehem1 the      
birthplace of the ,saviour1  was music  
to their ears1 and many of them wept    

with joy to think they  were approaching
 a spot so hallowed4  ,albert of ,aix   
informs us that  their hearts were so   
touched that sleep was banished from the
 camp1 and  that1 instead of waiting    
till the morning's dawn to recommence   
their  march1 they set out shortly after
 midnight1 full of hope and  enthusiasm4
 ,for upwards of four hours the         
mail-clad legions tramped  steadfastly  
forward in the dark1 and when the sun   
arose in unclouded  splendour1 the      
towers and pinnacles of ,jerusalem      
gleamed upon their  sight4 ,all the     
tender feelings of their nature were    
touched2 no longer  brutal fanatics1 but
 meek and humble pilgrims1 they knelt   
down upon the  sod1 and with tears in   
their eyes1 exclaimed to one another1   
,jerusalem6 ,jerusalem6 ,some of them   
kissed the holy ground1 others          
stretched themselves at full length upon
 it1 in order that their bodies  might  
come in contact with the greatest       
possible extent of it1 and  others      

prayed aloud4 ,the women and children   
who had followed the camp  from ,europe1
 and shared in all its dangers1         
fatigues1 and privations1  were more    
boisterous in their joy2 the former from
 long-nourished  enthusiasm1 and the    
latter from mere imitation1 ,guibert de 
,nogent  relates a curious instance of  
the imitativeness of these juvenile     
crusaders4 ,he says that1 during the    
siege of ,antioch1 the ,christian and   
,saracen boys used to issue forth every 
evening from the town and camp  in great
 numbers under the command of captains  
chosen from among  themselves4 ,armed   
with sticks instead of swords1 and      
stones instead of  arrows1 they ranged  
themselves in battle order1 and shouting
 each the  war-cry of their country1    
fought with the utmost desperation4     
,some of  them lost their eyes1 and many
 became cripples for life from the      
injuries they received on these         
occasions4 and prayed1 and wept1 and    
laughed till they almost put the more   

sober to the blush4    ,the first       
ebullition of their gladness having     
subsided1 the army  marched forward1 and
 invested the city on all sides4 ,the   
assault was  almost immediately begun2  
but after the ,christians had lost some 
of  their bravest knights1 that mode of 
attack was abandoned1 and the army      
commenced its preparations for a regular
 siege4 ,mangonels1 moveable  towers1   
and battering rams1 together with a     
machine called a sow1 made  of wood1 and
 covered with raw hides1 inside of which
 miners worked to  undermine the walls1 
were forthwith constructed2 and to      
restore the  courage and discipline of  
the army1 which had suffered from the   
unworthy dissensions of the chiefs1 the 
latter held out the hand of  friendship 
to each other1 and ,tancred and the     
,count of ,toulouse  embraced in sight  
of the whole camp4 ,the clergy aided the
 cause with  their powerful voice1 and  
preached union and goodwill to the      
highest  and the lowest4 ,a solemn      

procession was also ordered round the   
city1 in  which the entire army joined1 
prayers being offered up at every spot  
which gospel records had taught them to 
consider as peculiarly sacred4    ,the  
,saracens upon the ramparts beheld all  
these manifestations without  alarm4 ,to
 incense the ,christians1 whom they     
despised1 they constructed  rude        
crosses1 and fixed them upon the walls1 
and spat upon and pelted  them with dirt
 and stones4 ,this insult to the symbol 
of their faith  raised the wrath of the 
crusaders to that height that bravery   
became  ferocity and enthusiasm madness4
 ,when all the engines of war were      
completed the attack was recommenced1   
and every soldier of the  ,christian    
army fought with a vigour which the     
sense of private wrong  invariably      
inspires4 ,every man had been personally
 outraged1 and the  knights worked at   
the battering-rams with as much         
readiness as the  meanest soldiers4 ,the
 ,saracen arrows and balls of fire fell 

thick and  fast among them1 but the     
tremendous rams still heaved against the
  walls1 while the best marksmen of the 
host were busily employed in the        
several floors of the moveable towers in
 dealing death among the ,turks  upon   
the battlements4 ,godfrey1 ,raymond1    
,tancred1 and ,robert of  ,normandy1    
each upon his tower1 fought for hours   
with unwearied energy1  often repulsed1 
but ever ready to renew the struggle4   
,the ,turks1 no  longer despising the   
enemy1 defended themselves with the     
utmost skill  and bravery till darkness 
brought a cessation of hostilities4     
,short was  the sleep that night in the 
,christian camp4 ,the priests offered up
  solemn prayers in the midst of the    
attentive soldiery for the triumph  of  
the ,cross in this last great struggle1 
and as soon as morning dawned  every one
 was in readiness for the affray4 ,the  
women and children lent  their aid1 the 
latter running unconcerned to and fro   
while the arrows  fell fast around them1

 bearing water to the thirsty           
combatants4 ,the  saints were believed  
to be aiding their efforts1 and the     
army1  impressed with this idea1        
surmounted difficulties under which a   
force  thrice as numerous1 but without  
their faith1 would have quailed and     
been defeated4 ,raymond of ,toulouse at 
last forced his way into the city  by   
escalade1 while at the very same moment 
,tancred and ,robert of  ,normandy      
succeeded in bursting open one of the   
gates4 ,the ,turks flew to  repair the  
mischief1 and ,godfrey of ,bouillon1    
seeing the battlements  comparatively   
deserted1 let down the drawbridge of his
 moveable tower1  and sprang forward1   
followed by all the knights of his      
train4 ,in an  instant after1 the banner
 of the ,cross floated upon the walls of
  ,jerusalem4 ,the crusaders1 raising   
once more their redoubtable war-cry1    
rushed on from every side1 and the city 
was taken4 ,the battle raged in  the    
streets for several hours1 and the      

,christians1 remembering their  insulted
 faith1 gave no quarter to young or old1
 male or female1 sick  or strong4 ,not  
one of the leaders thought himself at   
liberty to issue  orders for staying the
 carnage1 and if he had1 he would not   
have been  obeyed4 ,the ,saracens fled  
in great numbers to the mosque of       
,soliman1  but they had not time to     
fortify themselves within it ere the    
,christians were upon them4 ,ten        
thousand persons are said to have       
perished in that building alone4        
,peter the ,hermit1 who had remained so 
long under the veil of neglect1  was    
repaid that day for all his zeal and all
 his sufferings4  ,as soon  as the      
battle was over1 the ,christians of     
,jerusalem issued forth from  their     
hiding-places to welcome their          
deliverers4 ,they instantly  recognized 
the ,hermit as the pilgrim who1 years   
before1 had spoken to  them so          
eloquently of the wrongs and insults    
they had endured1 and  promised to stir 

up the princes and people of ,europe in 
their behalf4  ,they clung to the skirts
 of his garments in the fervour of their
  gratitude1 and vowed to remember him  
for ever in their prayers4 ,many of     
them shed tears about his neck1 and     
attributed the deliverance of           
,jerusalem solely to his courage and    
perseverance4 ,peter afterwards held    
some ecclesiastical office in the ,holy 
,city1 but what it was1 or what  was his
 ultimate fate1 history has forgotten to
 inform us4 ,some say  that he returned 
to ,france and founded a monastery1 but 
the story does  not rest upon sufficient
 authority4    ,the grand object for    
which the popular swarms of ,europe had 
forsaken  their homes was now           
accomplished4 ,the ,moslem mosques of   
,jerusalem were  converted into churches
 for a purer faith1 and the mount of    
,calvary and  the sepulchre of ,christ  
were profaned no longer by the presence 
or the  power of the infidel4 ,popular  
frenzy had fulfilled its mission1 and1  

as  a natural consequence1 it began to  
subside from that time forth4 ,the  news
 of the capture of ,jerusalem brought   
numbers of pilgrims from  ,europe1 and1 
among others1 ,stephen ,count of        
,chartres and ,hugh of  ,vermandois1 to 
atone for their desertion2 but nothing  
like the former  enthusiasm existed     
among the nations4    ,thus then ends   
the history of the first ,crusade4 ,for 
the better  understanding of the second1
 it will be necessary to describe the   
interval between them1 and to enter into
 a slight sketch of the history  of     
,jerusalem under its ,latin kings1 the  
long and fruitless wars they  continued 
to wage with the unvanquished ,saracens1
 and the poor and  miserable results    
which sprang from so vast an expenditure
 of zeal1 and  so deplorable a waste of 
human life4    ,the necessity of having 
some recognized chief was soon felt by  
the  crusaders1 and ,godfrey de         
,bouillon1 less ambitious than          
,bohemund1 or  ,raymond of ,toulouse1   

gave his cold consent to wield a sceptre
 which the  latter chiefs would have    
clutched with eagerness4 ,he was hardly 
invested with the royal mantle before   
the ,saracens menaced his capital4      
,with much vigour and judgment he       
exerted himself to follow up the        
advantages he had gained1 and marching  
out to meet the enemy before  they had  
time to besiege him in ,jerusalem1 he   
gave them battle at  ,ascalon1 and      
defeated them with great loss4 ,he did  
not1 however1 live  long to enjoy his   
new dignity1 being seized with a fatal  
illness when  he had only reigned nine  
months4 ,to him succeeded his brother1  
,baldwin  of ,edessa4 ,the latter       
monarch did much to improve the         
condition of  ,jerusalem and to extend  
its territory1 but was not able to make 
a firm  footing for his successors4 ,for
 fifty years1 in which the history of   
,jerusalem is full of interest to the   
historical student1 the crusaders  were 
exposed to fierce and constant          

hostilities1 often gaining battles  and 
territory1 and as often losing them1 but
 becoming every day weaker  and more    
divided1 while the ,saracens became     
stronger and more united to  harass and 
root them out4  ,the battles of this    
period were of the most  chivalrous     
character1 and deeds of heroism were    
done by the handful of  brave knights   
that remained in ,syria1 which have     
hardly their parallel  in the annals of 
war4 ,in the course of time1 however1   
the ,christians  could not avoid feeling
 some respect for the courage1 and      
admiration  for the polished manners and
 advanced civilization of the ,saracens1
 so  much superior to the rudeness and  
semi-barbarism of ,europe at that day4  
,difference of faith did not prevent    
them from forming alliances with  the   
dark-eyed maidens of the ,east4 ,one of 
the first to set the example  of taking 
a ,paynim spouse was ,king ,baldwin     
himself1 and these  connexions in time  
became1 not only frequent1 but almost   

universal1  among such of the knights as
 had resolved to spend their lives in   
,palestine4 ,these ,eastern ladies were 
obliged1 however1 to submit to the      
ceremony of baptism before they could be
 received to the arms of a  ,christian  
lord4  ,these1 and their offspring1     
naturally looked upon the  ,saracens    
with less hatred than did the zealots   
who conquered ,jerusalem1  and who      
thought it a sin deserving the wrath of 
,god to spare an  unbeliever4 ,we find1 
in consequence1 that the most obstinate 
battles  waged during the reigns of the 
later ,kings of ,jerusalem were fought  
by  the new and raw levies who from time
 to time arrived from ,europe1 lured  by
 the hope of glory1 or spurred by       
fanaticism4 ,the latter broke  without  
scruple the truces established between  
the original settlers  and the          
,saracens1 and drew down severe         
retaliation upon many thousands  of     
their brethren in the faith1 whose      
prudence was stronger than their  zeal1 

and whose chief desire was to live in   
peace4    ,things remained in this      
unsatisfactory state till the close of  
the year  #aade1 when ,edessa1 the      
strong frontier town of the ,christian  
kingdom1  fell into the bauds of the    
,saracens4 ,the latter were commanded by
  ,zenghi1 a powerful and enterprising  
monarch1 and1 after his death1 by  his  
son ,nourheddin1 as powerful and        
enterprising as his father4 ,an         
unsuccessful attempt was made by the    
,count of ,edessa to regain the         
fortress1 but ,nourheddin1 with a large 
army1 came to the rescue1 and  after    
defeating the ,count with great         
slaughter1 marched into ,edessa and     
caused its fortifications to be rased to
 the ground1 that the town  might never 
more be a bulwark of defence for the    
kingdom of ,jerusalem4  ,the road to the
 capital was now open1 and consternation
 seized the  hearts of the ,christians4 
,nourheddin1 it was known1 was only     
waiting  for a favourable opportunity to

 advance upon ,jerusalem1 and the armies
  of the ,cross1 weakened and divided1  
were not in a condition to make any     
available resistance4 ,the clergy were  
filled with grief and alarm1 and  wrote 
repeated letters to the ,pope and the   
sovereigns of ,europe1 urging  the      
expediency of a new ,crusade for the    
relief of ,jerusalem4 ,by far the       
greater number of the priests of        
,palestine were natives of ,france1 and 
these naturally looked first to their   
own country4 ,the solicitations  they   
sent to ,louis the ,seventh were urgent 
and oft repeated1 and the  chivalry of  
,france began to talk once more of      
arming in the defence of  the birthplace
 of ,jesus4 ,the kings of ,europe1 whose
 interest it had not  been to take any  
part in the first ,crusade1 began to    
bestir themselves  in this2 and a man   
appeared1 eloquent as ,peter the        
,hermit1 to arouse  the people as he had
 done4    ,we find1 however1 that the   
enthusiasm of the second did not equal  

that  of the first ,crusade3 in fact1   
the mania had reached its climax in the 
time of ,peter the ,hermit1 and         
decreased regularly from that period4   
,the  third ,crusade was less general   
than the second1 and the fourth than the
  third1 and so on1 until the public    
enthusiasm was quite extinct1 and       
,jerusalem returned at last to the      
dominion of its old masters without a   
convulsion in ,christendom4 ,various    
reasons have been assigned for this2    
and one very generally put forward is1  
that ,europe was wearied with  continued
 struggles1 and had become sick of      
precipitating itself upon  ,asia4 ,m4   
,guizot1 in his admirable lectures upon 
,european civilization1  successfully   
combats this opinion1 and offers one of 
his own1 which is  far more             
satisfactory4 ,he says1 in his eighth   
lecture1 ,it has been  often repeated1  
that ,europe was tired of continually   
invading ,asia4  ,this expression       
appears to me exceedingly incorrect4 ,it

 is not possible  that human beings can 
be wearied with what they have not      
done--that the  labours of their        
forefathers can fatigue them4 ,weariness
 is a personal1  not an inherited       
feeling4 ,the men of the thirteenth     
century were not  fatigued by the       
,crusades of the twelfth4 ,they were    
influenced by  another cause4 ,a great  
change had taken place in ideas1        
sentiments1 and  social conditions4 ,the
 same desires and the same wants were no
 longer  felt4 ,the same things were no 
longer believed4 ,the people refused to 
believe what their ancestors were       
persuaded of4    ,this is1 in fact1 the 
secret of the change2 and its truth     
becomes more  apparent as we advance in 
the history of the ,crusades1 and       
compare the  state of the public mind at
 the different periods when ,godfrey of 
,bouillon1 ,louis ,,vii4 and ,richard   
,i4 were chiefs and leaders of the      
movement4 ,the ,crusades themselves were
 the means of operating a great  change 

in national ideas1 and advancing the    
civilization of ,europe4 ,in  the time  
of ,godfrey1 the nobles were            
all-powerful and all-oppressive1  and   
equally obnoxious to kings and people4  
,during their absence along  with that  
portion of the community the deepest    
sunk in ignorance and  superstition1    
both kings and people fortified         
themselves against the  renewal of      
aristocratic tyranny1 and in proportion 
as they became free1  became civilized4 
,it was during this period that in      
,france1 the grand  centre of the       
crusading madness1 the communes began to
 acquire  strength1 and the monarch to  
possess a tangible and not a merely     
theoretic authority4 ,order and comfort 
began to take root1 and1 when  the      
second ,crusade was preached1 men were  
in consequence much less  willing to    
abandon their homes than they had been  
during the first4  ,such pilgrims as had
 returned from the ,holy ,land came back
 with minds  more liberal and expanded  

than when they set out4 ,they had come  
in  contact with a people more civilized
 than themselves2 they had seen         
something more of the world1 and had    
lost some portion1 however small1  of   
the prejudice and bigotry of ignorance4 
,the institution of chivalry  had also  
exercised its humanizing influence1 and 
coming bright and  fresh through the    
ordeal of the ,crusades1 had softened   
the character  and improved the hearts  
of the aristocratic order4 ,the         
,trouveres and  ,troubadours1 singing of
 love and war in strains pleasing to    
every class  of society1 helped to root 
out the gloomy superstitions which1 at  
the  first ,crusade1 filled the minds of
 all those who were able to think4  ,men
 became in consequence less exclusively 
under the mental thraldom of  the       
priesthood1 and lost much of the        
credulity which formerly  distinguished 
them4    ,the ,crusades appear never to 
have excited so much attention in       
,england  as on the continent of        

,europe2 not because the people were    
less  fanatical than their neighbours1  
but because they were occupied in       
matters of graver interest4 ,the        
,english were suffering too severely    
from the recent successful invasion of  
their soil1 to have much  sympathy to   
bestow upon the distresses of people so 
far away as the  ,christians of         
,palestine2 and we find that they took  
no part in the  first ,crusade1 and very
 little in the second4 ,even then those 
who  engaged in it were chiefly ,norman 
knights and their vassals1 and not  the 
,saxon franklins and population1 who no 
doubt thought1 in their  sorrow1 as many
 wise men have thought since1 that      
charity should begin  at home4          
,germany was productive of more zeal in 
the cause1 and her raw1  uncivilized    
hordes continued to issue forth under   
the banners of the  ,cross in numbers   
apparently undiminished1 when the       
enthusiasm had long  been on the wane in
 other countries4 ,they were sunk at    

that time in a  deeper slough of        
barbarism than the livelier nations     
around them1 and  took1 in consequence1 
a longer period to free themselves from 
their  prejudices4 ,in fact1 the second 
,crusade drew its chief supplies of men 
from that quarter1 where alone the      
expedition can be said to have  retained
 any portion of popularity4    ,such was
 the state of the mind of ,europe when  
,pope ,eugenius1 moved by  the          
reiterated entreaties of the ,christians
 of ,syria1 commissioned ,st4  ,bernard 
to preach a new crusade4 ,st4 ,bernard  
was a man eminently  qualified for the  
mission4 ,he was endowed with an        
eloquence of the  highest order1 could  
move an auditory to tears1 or laughter1 
or fury1  as it pleased him1 and had led
 a life of such rigid and self-denying  
virtue1 that not even calumny could lift
 her finger and point it at  him4 ,he   
had renounced high prospects in the     
church1 and contented  himself with the 
simple abbacy of ,clairvaux1 in order   

that he might  have the leisure he      
desired1 to raise his powerful voice    
against abuses  wherever he found them4 
,vice met in him an austere and         
uncompromising  reprover2 no man was too
 high for his reproach1 and none too low
 for  his sympathy4 ,he was just as well
 suited for his age as ,peter the       
,hermit had been for the age preceding4 
,he appealed more to the reason1  his   
predecessor to the passions2 ,peter the 
,hermit collected a mob1  while ,st4    
,bernard collected an army4 ,both were  
endowed with equal zeal  and            
perseverance1 springing1 in the one1    
from impulse1 and in the other  from    
conviction1 and a desire to increase the
 influence of the church1  that great   
body of which he was a pillar and an    
ornament4    ,one of the first converts 
he made was in himself a host4 ,louis   
,,vii4 was  both superstitious and      
tyrannical1 and1 in a fit of remorse for
 the  infamous slaughter he had         
authorised at the sacking of ,vitry1 he 

made a  vow to undertake the journey to 
the ,holy ,land4 ,the sacking of ,vitry 
reflects indelible disgrace upon ,louis 
,,vii4 ,his predecessors had been  long 
engaged in resistance to the outrageous 
powers assumed by the  ,popes1 and      
,louis continued the same policy4 ,the  
ecclesiastical chapter  of ,bourges1    
having elected an ,archbishop without   
his consent1 he  proclaimed the election
 to be invalid1 and took severe and     
prompt  measures against the refractory 
clergy4 ,thibault1 ,count de ,champagne1
  took up arms in defence of the ,papal 
authority1 and intrenched himself  in   
the town of ,vitry4 ,louis was          
immediately in the field to chastise    
the rebel1 and he besieged the town with
 so much vigour1 that the ,count  was   
forced to surrender4 ,upwards of        
thirteen hundred of the  inhabitants1   
fully one half of whom were women and   
children1 took  refuge in the church2   
and1 when the gates of the city were    
opened1 and  all resistance had ceased1 

,louis inhumanly gave orders to set fire
 to  the church1 and a thousand persons 
perished in the flames4 ,he was in  this
 disposition when ,st4 ,bernard began to
 preach1 and wanted but  little         
persuasion to embark in the cause4 ,his 
example had great  influence upon the   
nobility1 who1 impoverished as many of  
them were by  the sacrifices made by    
their fathers in the holy wars1 were    
anxious to  repair their ruined fortunes
 by conquests on a foreign shore4 ,these
  took the field with such vassals as   
they could command1 and1 in a very      
short time1 an army was raised amounting
 to two hundred thousand men4  ,at      
,vezelai the monarch received the cross 
from the hands of ,st4  ,bernard1 on a  
platform elevated in sight of all the   
people4 ,several  nobles1 three bishops1
 and his ,queen1 ,eleanor of ,aquitaine1
 were  present at this ceremony1 and    
enrolled themselves under the banners of
  the ,cross1 ,st4 ,bernard cutting up  
his red sacerdotal vestments1 and       

making crosses of them1 to be sewn on   
the shoulders of the people4 ,an        
exhortation from the ,pope was read to  
the multitude1 granting remission  of   
their sins to all who should join the   
,crusade1 and directing that no  man on 
that holy pilgrimage should encumber    
himself with heavy baggage  and vain    
superfluities1 and that the nobles      
should not travel with dogs  or falcons1
 to lead them from the direct road1 as  
had happened to so  many during the     
first ,crusade4    ,the command of the  
army was offered to ,st4 ,bernard2 but  
he wisely  refused to accept a station  
for which his habits had unqualified    
him4  ,after consecrating ,louis with   
great solemnity1 at ,st4 ,denis1 as     
chief  of the expedition1 he continued  
his course through the country1         
stirring up the people wherever he went4
 ,so high an opinion was  entertained of
 his sanctity1 that he was thought to be
 animated by the  spirit of prophecy1   
and to be gifted with the power of      

working  miracles4 ,many women1 excited 
by his eloquence1 and encouraged by his 
predictions1 forsook their husbands and 
children1 and1 clothing  themselves in  
male attire1 hastened to the war4 ,st4  
,bernard himself  wrote a letter to the 
,pope1 detailing his success1 and       
stating1 that in  several towns there   
did not remain a single male inhabitant 
capable of  bearing arms1 and that      
everywhere castles and towns were to be 
seen  filled with women weeping for     
their absent husbands4 ,but in spite of 
this apparent enthusiasm1 the numbers   
who really took up arms were            
inconsiderable1 and not to be compared  
to the swarms of the first  ,crusade4 ,a
 levy of no more than two hundred       
thousand men1 which was the  utmost the 
number amounted to1 could hardly have   
depopulated a country  like ,france to  
the extent mentioned by ,st4 ,bernard4  
,his description of  the state of the   
country appears1 therefore1 to have been
 much more  poetical than true4         

,suger1 the able minister of ,louis1    
endeavoured to dissuade him from        
undertaking so long a journey at a time 
when his own dominions so much  needed  
his presence4 ,but the king was pricked 
in his conscience by the  cruelties of  
,vitry1 and was anxious to make the only
 reparation which  the religion of that 
day considered sufficient4 ,he was      
desirous  moreover of testifying to the 
world1 that though he could brave the   
temporal power of the church when it    
encroached upon his prerogatives1  he   
could render all due obedience to its   
spiritual decrees whenever it  suited   
his interest or tallied with his        
prejudices to so do4 ,suger1  therefore1
 implored in vain1 and ,louis received  
the pilgrim's staff at  ,st4 ,denis1 and
 made all preparations for his          
pilgrimage4    ,in the mean time ,st4   
,bernard passed into ,germany1 where    
similar success  attended his preaching4
 ,the renown of his sanctity had gone   
before him1  and he found everywhere an 

admiring audience4 ,thousands of people1
 who  could not understand a word he    
said1 flocked around him to catch a     
glimpse of so holy a man2 and the       
knights enrolled themselves in great    
numbers in the service of the ,cross1   
each receiving from his hands the       
symbol of the cause4 ,but the people    
were not led away as in the days of     
,gottschalk4 ,we do not find that they  
rose in such tremendous masses of  two  
and three hundred thousand men1 swarming
 over the country like a  plague of     
locusts4 ,still the enthusiasm was very 
great4 ,the  extraordinary tales that   
were told and believed of the miracles  
worked  by the preacher brought the     
country people from far and near4       
,devils  were said to vanish at his     
sight1 and diseases of the most         
malignant  nature to be cured by his    
touch4 ,philip1 ,archdeacon of the      
cathedral  of ,liege1 wrote a detailed  
account of all the miracles performed by
 ,st4  ,bernard during thirty-four days 

of his mission4 ,they averaged about ten
  per day4 ,the disciples of ,st4       
,bernard complained bitterly that the   
people flocked around their master in   
such numbers1 that they could not  see  
half the miracles he performed4 ,but    
they willingly trusted the eyes  of     
others1 as far as faith in the miracles 
went1 and seemed to vie with  each other
 whose credulity should be greatest4    
,the ,emperor ,conrad  caught at last   
the contagion from his subjects1 and    
declared his  intention to follow the   
,cross4    ,the preparations were       
carried on so vigorously under the      
orders of  ,conrad1 that in less than   
three months he found himself at the    
head of  an army containing at least one
 hundred and fifty thousand effective   
men1 besides a great number of women who
 followed their husbands and  lovers to 
the war4 ,one troop of them rode in the 
attitude and armour of  men3 their chief
 wore gilt spurs and buskins1 and thence
 acquired the  epithet of the           

golden-footed lady4 ,conrad was ready to
 set out long  before the ,french       
,monarch1 and in the month of ,june     
#aadg1 he arrived  before               
,constantinople1 having passed through  
,hungary and ,bulgaria  without offence 
to the inhabitants4    ,manuel          
,comnenus1 the ,greek ,emperor1         
successor not only to the throne1  but  
to the policy of ,alexius1 looked with  
alarm upon the new levies who  had come 
to eat up his capital and imperil its   
tranquillity4 ,too weak  to refuse them 
a passage through his dominions1 too    
distrustful of them  to make them       
welcome when they came1 and too little  
assured of the  advantages likely to    
result to himself from the war1 to feign
 a  friendship which he did not feel1   
the ,greek ,emperor gave offence at the 
very outset4 ,his subjects1 in the pride
 of superior civilization1  called the  
,germans barbarians1 while the latter1  
who1 if  semi-barbarous1 were at least  
honest and straight-forward1 retorted   

upon the ,greeks by calling them        
double-faced knaves and traitors4       
,disputes continually arose between     
them1 and ,conrad1 who had preserved  so
 much good order among his followers    
during their passage1 was unable  to    
restrain their indignation when they    
arrived at ,constantinople4 ,for  some  
offence or other which the ,greeks had  
given them1 but which is  rather hinted 
at than stated by the scanty historians 
of the day1 the  ,germans broke into the
 magnificent pleasure garden of the     
,emperor1  where he had a valuable      
collection of tame animals1 for which   
the  grounds had been laid out in woods1
 caverns1 groves1 and streams1 that     
each might follow in captivity his      
natural habits4 ,the enraged ,germans1  
meriting the name of barbarians that had
 been bestowed upon them1 laid  waste   
this pleasant retreat1 and killed or let
 loose the valuable  animals it         
contained4 ,manuel1 who is said to have 
beheld the  devastation from his palace 

windows without power or courage to     
prevent  it1 was completely disgusted   
with his guests1 and resolved1 like his 
predecessor ,alexius1 to get rid of them
 on the first opportunity4 ,he  sent a  
message to ,conrad respectfully desiring
 an interview1 but the  ,german refused 
to trust himself within the walls of    
,constantinople4 ,the  ,greek ,emperor1 
on his part1 thought it compatible      
neither with his  dignity nor his safety
 to seek the ,german1 and several days  
were spent  in insincere negotiations4  
,manuel at length agreed to furnish the 
crusading army with guides to conduct it
 through ,asia ,minor2 and ,conrad      
passed over the ,hellespont with his    
forces1 the advanced guard being        
commanded by himself1 and the rear by   
the warlike ,bishop of ,freysinghen4    
,historians are almost unanimous in     
their belief that the wily ,greek  gave 
instructions to his guides to lead the  
army of the ,german ,emperor  into      
dangers and difficulties4 ,it is        

certain1 that instead of guiding  them  
through such districts of ,asia ,minor  
as afforded water and  provisions1 they 
led them into the wilds of ,cappadocia1 
where neither  was to be procured1 and  
where they were suddenly attacked by the
  ,sultaun of the ,seljukian ,turks1 at 
the head of an immense force4  ,the     
guides1 whose treachery is apparent from
 this fact alone1 fled at the  first    
sight of the ,turkish army1 and the     
,christians were left to wage  unequal  
warfare with their enemy1 entangled and 
bewildered in desert  wilds4 ,toiling in
 their heavy mail1 the ,germans could   
make but little  effective resistance to
 the attacks of the ,turkish light      
horse1 who  were down upon them one     
instant1 and out of sight the next4 ,now
 in the  front and now in the rear1 the 
agile foe showered his arrows upon them1
  enticing them into swamps and hollows1
 from which they could only  extricate  
themselves after long struggles and     
great losses4 ,the  ,germans1 confounded

 by this mode of warfare1 lost all      
conception of the  direction they were  
pursuing1 and went back instead of      
forward4  ,suffering at the same time   
for want of provisions1 they fell an    
easy  prey to their pursuers4 ,count    
,bernhard1 one of the bravest leaders of
  the ,german expedition1 was           
surrounded1 with his whole division1 not
 one  of whom escaped the ,turkish      
arrows4 ,the ,emperor himself had nearly
  fallen a victim1 and was twice        
severely wounded4 ,so persevering was   
the  enemy1 and so little able were the 
,germans to make even a show of         
resistance1 that when ,conrad at last   
reached the city of ,nice1 he found     
that1 instead of being at the head of an
 imposing force of one hundred  thousand
 foot and seventy thousand horse1 he had
 but fifty or sixty  thousand men1 and  
these in the most worn and wearied      
condition4    ,totally ignorant of the  
treachery of the ,greek ,emperor1       
although he had  been warned to beware  

of it1 ,louis ,,vii4 proceeded1 at the  
head of his  army1 through ,worms and   
,ratisbon1 towards ,constantinople4 ,at 
,ratisbon  he was met by a deputation   
from ,manuel1 bearing letters so full of
  hyperbole and flattery1 that ,louis is
 reported to have blushed when  they    
were read to him by the ,bishop of      
,langres4 ,the object of the  deputation
 was to obtain from the ,french ,king a 
promise to pass through  the ,grecian   
territories in a peaceable and friendly 
manner1 and to  yield to the ,greek     
,emperor any conquest he might make in  
,asia ,minor4  ,the first part of the   
proposition was immediately acceded to1 
but no  notice was taken of the second  
and more unreasonable4 ,louis marched   
on1  and1 passing through ,hungary1     
pitched his tents in the outskirts of   
,constantinople4    ,on his arrival1    
,manuel sent him a friendly invitation  
to enter the  city1 at the head of a    
small train4 ,louis at once accepted it1
 and was  met by the ,emperor at the    

porch of his palace4 ,the fairest       
promises  were made2 every art that     
flattery could suggest was resorted to1 
and  every argument employed1 to induce 
him to yield his future conquests to    
the ,greek4 ,louis obstinately refused  
to pledge himself1 and returned to  his 
army1 convinced that the ,emperor was a 
man not to be trusted4  ,negotiations   
were1 however1 continued for several    
days1 to the great  dissatisfaction of  
the ,french army4 ,the news that arrived
 of a treaty  entered into between      
,manuel and the ,turkish ,sultan changed
 their  dissatisfaction into fury1 and  
the leaders demanded to be led against  
,constantinople1 swearing that they     
would raze the treacherous city to  the 
ground4 ,louis did not feel inclined to 
accede to this proposal1  and1 breaking 
up his camp1 he crossed over into ,asia4
    ,here he heard1 for the first time1 
of the mishaps of the ,german  ,emperor1
 whom he found in a woeful plight under 
the walls of ,nice4 ,the  two monarchs  

united their forces1 and marched        
together along the  sea-coast to        
,ephesus2 but ,conrad1 jealous1 it would
 appear1 of the  superior numbers of the
 ,french1 and not liking to sink into a 
vassal1  for the time being1 of his     
rival1 withdrew abruptly with the       
remnant of  his legions1 and returned to
 ,constantinople4 ,manuel was all smiles
 and  courtesy4 ,he condoled with the   
,german so feelingly upon his losses1   
and  cursed the stupidity or treachery  
of the guides with such apparent        
heartiness1 that ,conrad was half       
inclined to believe in his sincerity4   
,louis1 marching onward in the direction
 of ,jerusalem1 came up with the  enemy 
on the banks of the ,meander4 ,the      
,turks contested the passage of  the    
river1 but the ,french bribed a peasant 
to point out a ford lower  down3        
crossing the river without difficulty1  
they attacked the ,turks  with much     
vigour1 and put them to flight4 ,whether
 the ,turks were really  defeated1 or   

merely pretended to be so1 is doubtful2 
but the latter  supposition seems to be 
the true one4 ,it is probable that it   
was part  of a concerted plan to draw   
the invaders onwards to more            
unfavourable  ground1 where their       
destruction might be more certain4 ,if  
such were the  scheme1 it succeeded to  
the heart's wish of its projectors4 ,the
  crusaders1 on the third day after     
their victory1 arrived at a steep       
mountain-pass1 on the summit of which   
the ,turkish host lay concealed so      
artfully1 that not the slightest vestige
 of their presence could be  perceived4 
,with labouring steps and slow1 they    
toiled up the steep  ascent1 when       
suddenly a tremendous fragment of rock  
came bounding down  the precipices with 
an awful crash1 bearing dismay and death
 before it4  ,at the same instant the   
,turkish archers started from their     
hiding-places1 and discharged a shower  
of arrows upon the foot  soldiers1 who  
fell by hundreds at a time4 ,the arrows 

rebounded  harmlessly against the iron  
mail of the knights1 which the ,turks   
observing1 took aim at their steeds1 and
 horse and rider fell down the  steep   
into the rapid torrent which rushed     
below4 ,louis1 who commanded  the       
rear-guard1 received the first          
intimation of the onslaught from the    
sight of his wounded and flying         
soldiers1 and1 not knowing the numbers  
of the enemy1 he pushed vigorously      
forward to stay1 by his presence1  the  
panic which had taken possession of his 
army4 ,all his efforts were  in vain4   
,immense stones continued to be hurled  
upon them as they  advanced1 bearing men
 and horse before them2 and those who   
succeeded in  forcing their way to the  
top1 were met hand-to-hand by the       
,turks1 and  cast down headlong upon    
their companions4 ,louis himself fought 
with the  energy of desperation1 but had
 great difficulty to avoid falling into 
the enemy's hands4 ,he escaped at last  
under cover of the night1 with  the     

remnant of his forces1 and took up his  
position before ,attalia4  ,here he     
restored the discipline and the courage 
of his disorganized and  disheartened   
followers1 and debated with his captains
 the plan that was  to be pursued4      
,after suffering severely both from     
disease and famine1  it was resolved    
that they should march to ,antioch1     
which still remained  an independent    
principality under the successors of    
,bohemund of  ,tarentum4  ,at this time 
the sovereignty was vested in the person
 of  ,raymond1 the uncle of ,eleanor of 
,aquitaine4 ,this ,prince1 presuming    
upon  his relationship to the ,french   
,queen1 endeavoured to withdraw ,louis  
from the grand object of the            
,crusade--the defence of the kingdom of 
,jerusalem1 and secure his co-operation 
in extending the limits and the  power  
of his principality of ,antioch4 ,the   
,prince of ,tripoli formed a  similar   
design1 but ,louis rejected the offers  
of both1 and marched  after a short     

delay to ,jerusalem4 ,the ,emperor      
,conrad was there before  him1 having   
left ,constantinople with promises of   
assistance from ,manuel  ,comnenus2     
assistance which never arrived1 and was 
never intended4    ,a great council of  
the ,christian princes of ,palestine and
 the leaders  of the ,crusade was then  
summoned1 to discuss the future         
operations of  the war4 ,it was         
ultimately determined that it would     
further the cause  of the ,cross in a   
greater degree if the united armies1    
instead of  proceeding to ,edessa1 laid 
siege to the city of ,damascus1 and     
drove the  ,saracens from that strong   
position4 ,this was a bold scheme1 and1 
had it  been boldly followed out1 would 
have insured1 in all probability1 the   
success of the war4 ,but the ,christian 
leaders never learned from  experience  
the necessity of union1 that very soul  
of great enterprises4  ,though they all 
agreed upon the policy of the plan1 yet 
every one had  his own notions as to the

 means of executing it4 ,the ,princes of
 ,antioch  and ,tripoli were jealous of 
each other1 and of the ,king of         
,jerusalem4  ,the ,emperor ,conrad was  
jealous of the ,king of ,france1 and the
 ,king of  ,france was disgusted with   
them all4 ,but he had come out to       
,palestine in  accordance with a solemn 
vow2 his religion1 though it may be     
called  bigotry1 was sincere2 and he    
determined to remain to the very last   
moment that a chance was left1 of       
effecting any good for the cause he  had
 set his heart on4    ,the siege of     
,damascus was accordingly commenced1 and
 with so much  ability and vigour that  
the ,christians gained a considerable   
advantage  at the very outset4 ,for     
weeks the siege was pressed1 till the   
shattered  fortifications and           
diminishing resistance of the besieged  
gave evidence  that the city could not  
hold out much longer4 ,at that moment   
the insane  jealousy of the leaders led 
to dissensions that soon caused the     

utter  failure1 not only of the siege1  
but of the ,crusade4 ,a modern          
cookery-book1 in giving a recipe for    
cooking a hare1 says1 first catch  your 
hare1 and then kill it2 a maxim of      
indisputable wisdom4 ,the  ,christian   
chiefs on this occasion had not so much 
sagacity1 for they  began a violent     
dispute among themselves for the        
possession of a city  which was still   
unconquered4 ,there being already a     
,prince of ,antioch  and a ,prince of   
,tripoli1 twenty claimants started for  
the principality  of ,damascus1 and a   
grand council of the leaders was held to
 determine  the individual on whom the  
honour should devolve4 ,many valuable   
days  were wasted in this discussion1   
the enemy in the mean while gaining     
strength from their inactivity4 ,it was 
at length1 after a stormy  deliberation1
 agreed that ,count ,robert of          
,flanders1 who had twice  visited the   
,holy ,land1 should be invested with the
 dignity4 ,the other  claimants refused 

to recognise him1 or to co-operate in   
the siege1  until a more equitable      
arrangement had been made4 ,suspicion   
filled the  camp2 the most sinister     
rumours of intrigues and treachery were 
set  afloat2 and the discontented       
candidates withdrew at last to the other
  side of the city1 and commenced       
operations on their own account1        
without a probability of success4 ,they 
were soon joined by the rest of  the    
army4 ,the consequence was that the     
weakest side of the city1 and  that on  
which they had already made considerable
 progress in the work  of demolition1   
was left uncovered4 ,the enemy was      
prompt to profit by  the mistake1 and   
received an abundant supply of          
provisions1 and  refortified the walls1 
before the crusaders came to their      
senses again4  ,when this desirable     
event happened1 it was too late4 ,saph  
,eddin1 the  powerful ,emir of ,mousoul1
 was in the neighbourhood1 at the head  
of a  large army1 advancing by forced   

marches to the relief of the city4 ,the 
siege was abruptly abandoned1 and the   
foolish crusaders returned to           
,jerusalem1 having done nothing to      
weaken the enemy1 but every thing to    
weaken themselves4    ,the freshness of 
enthusiasm had now completely           
subsided2--even the  meanest soldiers   
were sick at heart4 ,conrad1 from whose 
fierce zeal at  the outset so much might
 have been expected1 was wearied with   
reverses1  and returned to ,europe with 
the poor remnant of his host4  ,louis   
lingered a short time longer1 for very  
shame1 but the pressing  solicitations  
of his minister ,suger induced him to   
return to ,france4  ,thus ended the     
second ,crusade4 ,its history is but a  
chronicle of  defeats4 ,it left the     
kingdom of ,jerusalem in a worse state  
than when it  quitted ,europe1 and      
gained nothing but disgrace for its     
leaders and  discouragement for all     
concerned4    ,st4 ,bernard1 who had    
prophesied a result so different1 fell  

after this  into some disrepute1 and    
experienced1 like many other prophets1  
the  fate of being without honour in his
 own country4 ,what made the matter     
worse1 he could not obtain it in any    
other4 ,still1 however1 there were  not 
wanting zealous advocates to stand      
forward in his behalf1 and stem  the    
tide of incredulity1 which1 unopposed1  
would have carried away his  reputation4
 ,the ,bishop of ,freysinghen declared  
that prophets were not  always able to  
prophesy1 and that the vices of the     
crusaders drew down  the wrath of       
,heaven upon them4 ,but the most        
ingenious excuse ever made  for ,st4    
,bernard is to be found in his life by  
,geoffroi de ,clairvaux1  where he      
pertinaciously insists that the ,crusade
 was not unfortunate4  ,st4 ,bernard1 he
 says1 had prophesied a happy result1   
and that result  could not be considered
 other than happy which had peopled     
heaven with  so glorious an army of     
martyrs4 ,geoffroi was a cunning        

pleader1 and1 no  doubt1 convinced a few
 of the zealous2 but plain people1 who  
were not  wanting even in those days1   
retained their own opinion1 or1 what    
amounts to the same thing1 were         
convinced against their will4    ,we now
 come to the consideration of the third 
,crusade1 and of the  causes which      
rendered it necessary4 ,the epidemic    
frenzy1 which had been  cooling ever    
since the issue of the first expedition1
 was now extinct1  or very nearly so1   
and the nations of ,europe looked with  
cold  indifference upon the armaments of
 their princes4 ,but chivalry had       
flourished in its natural element of    
war1 and was now in all its glory4  ,it 
continued to supply armies for the ,holy
 ,land when the popular ranks  refused  
to deliver up their able-bodied swarms4 
,poetry1 which1 more  than religion1    
inspired the third ,crusade1 was then   
but caviare to the  million1 who had    
other matters1 of sterner import1 to    
claim all their  attention4 ,but the    

knights and their retainers listened    
with delight to  the martial and amatory
 strains of the minstrels1 minnesangers1
  trouveres1 and troubadours1 and burned
 to win favour in ladies' eyes by       
showing prowess in ,holy ,land4 ,the    
third was truly the romantic era of  the
 ,crusades4 ,men fought then1 not so    
much for the sepulchre of ,jesus1  and  
the maintenance of a ,christian kingdom 
in the ,east1 as to gain  glory for     
themselves in the best1 and almost only 
field1 where glory  could be obtained4  
,they fought1 not as zealots1 but as    
soldiers2 not  for religion1 but for    
honour2 not for the crown of martyrdom1 
but for  the favour of the lovely4      
,it is not necessary to enter into a    
detail of the events by which  ,saladin 
attained the sovereignty of the ,east1  
or how1 after a  succession of          
engagements1 he planted the ,moslem     
banner once more upon  the battlements  
of ,jerusalem4 ,the ,christian knights  
and population1  including the grand    

orders of ,st4 ,john1 the ,hospitallers1
 and the  ,templars1 were sunk in an    
abyss of vice1 and torn by unworthy     
jealousies and dissensions1 were unable 
to resist the well-trained  armies which
 the wise and mighty ,saladin brought   
forward to crush them4  ,but the news of
 their fall created a painful sensation 
among the  chivalry of ,europe1 whose   
noblest members were linked to the      
dwellers  in ,palestine by many ties1   
both of blood and friendship4 ,the news 
of  the great battle of ,tiberias1 in   
which ,saladin defeated the ,christian  
host with terrible slaughter1 arrived   
first in ,europe1 and was followed  in  
quick succession by that of the capture 
of ,jerusalem1 ,antioch1  ,tripoli1 and 
other cities4 ,dismay seized upon the   
clergy4 ,the ,pope  7,urban ,,iii47 was 
so affected by the news that he pined   
away for grief1  and was scarcely seen  
to smile again1 until he sank into the  
sleep of  death4 ,james of              
,vitry--,william de ,nangis4 ,his       

successor1 ,gregory  ,,viii4 felt the   
loss as acutely1 but had better strength
 to bear it1 and  instructed all the    
clergy of the ,christian world to stir  
up the people  to arms for the recovery 
of the ,holy ,sepulchre4 ,william1      
,archbishop of  ,tyre1 a humble follower
 in the path of ,peter the ,hermit1 left
 ,palestine  to preach to the ,kings of 
,europe the miseries he had witnessed1  
and to  incite them to the rescue4 ,the 
renowned ,frederick ,barbarossa1 the    
,emperor of ,germany1 speedily collected
 an army1 and passing over into  ,syria 
with less delay than had ever before    
awaited a crusading force1  defeated the
 ,saracens1 and took possession of the  
city of ,iconium4 ,he  was unfortunately
 cut off in the middle of his successful
 career1 by  imprudently bathing in the 
,cydnus ,the desire of comparing two    
great  men has tempted many writers to  
drown ,frederick in the river ,cydnus1  
in  which ,alexander so imprudently     
bathed 7,q4 ,curt4 lib4 iii4 c4 #d1     

#e473  but1 from the march of the       
,emperor1 ,i rather judge that his      
,saleph is  the ,calycadnus1 a stream of
 less fame1 but of a longer             
course4--,gibbon  while he was          
overheated1 and the ,duke of ,suabia    
took the command of the  expedition4    
,the latter did not prove so able a     
general1 and met with  nothing but      
reverses1 although he was enabled to    
maintain a footing at  ,antioch until   
assistance arrived from ,europe4        
,henry ,,ii4 of ,england and ,philip    
,augustus of ,france1 at the head of    
their chivalry1 supported the ,crusade  
with all their influence1 until  wars   
and dissensions nearer home estranged   
them from it for a time4  ,the two kings
 met at ,gisors in ,normandy in the     
month of ,january #aahh1  accompanied by
 a brilliant train of knights and       
warriors4 ,william of  ,tyre was        
present1 and expounded the cause of the 
,cross with  considerable eloquence1 and
 the whole assembly bound themselves by 

oath  to proceed to ,jerusalem4 ,it was 
agreed at the same time that a tax1     
called ,saladin's tithe1 and consisting 
of the tenth part of all  possessions1  
whether landed or personal1 should be   
enforced over  ,christendom1 upon every 
one who was either unable or unwilling  
to  assume the ,cross4 ,the lord of     
every feof1 whether lay or              
ecclesiastical1 was charged to raise the
 tithe within his own  jurisdiction2 and
 any one who refused to pay his quota1  
became by that  act the bondsman and    
absolute property of his lord4 ,at the  
same time  the greatest indulgence was  
shown to those who assumed the ,cross2  
no  man was at liberty to stay them by  
process of any kind1 whether for  debt1 
or robbery1 or murder4 ,the ,king of    
,france1 at the breaking up of  the     
conference1 summoned a parliament at    
,paris1 where these resolutions  were   
solemnly confirmed1 while ,henry ,,ii4  
did the same for his ,norman            
possessions at ,rouen1 and for ,england 

at ,geddington1 in  ,northamptonshire4  
,to use the words of an ancient         
chronicler1 ,stowe4  he held a          
parliament about the voyage into the    
,holy ,land1 and troubled  the whole    
land with the paying of tithes towards  
it4    ,but it was not ,england only    
that was troubled by the tax4 ,the      
people  of ,france also looked upon it  
with no pleasant feelings1 and appear   
from that time forth to have changed    
their indifference for the ,crusade     
into aversion4 ,even the clergy1 who    
were exceedingly willing that other     
people should contribute half1 or even  
all their goods in furtherance  of their
 favourite scheme1 were not at all      
anxious to contribute a  single sous    
themselves4 ,millot ,elemens de         
l',histoire de ,france4  relates that   
several of them cried out against the   
impost4  ,among the  rest the clergy of 
,rheims were called upon to pay their   
quota1 but sent  a deputation to the    
,king1 begging him to be contented with 

the aid of  their prayers1 as they were 
too poor to contribute in any other     
shape4  ,philip ,augustus knew better1  
and by way of giving them a lesson1     
employed three nobles of the vicinity to
 lay waste the church lands4  ,the      
clergy1 informed of the outrage1 applied
 to the ,king for redress4  ,i will aid 
you with my prayers1 said the ,monarch  
condescendingly1  and will intreat those
 gentlemen to let the church alone4 ,he 
did as  he had promised1 but in such a  
manner1 that the nobles1 who appreciated
  the joke1 continued their devastations
 as before4 ,again the clergy  applied  
to the ,king4 ,what would you have of   
me8 he replied1 in answer  to their     
remonstrances3 ,you gave me your prayers
 in my necessity1 and  ,i have given you
 mine in yours4 ,the clergy understood  
the argument1  and thought it the wiser 
course to pay their quota of ,saladin's 
tithe  without further parley4    ,this 
anecdote shows the unpopularity of the  
,crusade4 ,if the clergy  disliked to   

contribute1 it is no wonder that the    
people felt still  greater antipathy4   
,but the chivalry of ,europe was eager  
for the affray3  the tithe was          
rigorously collected1 and armies from   
,england1 ,france1  ,burgundy1 ,italy1  
,flanders1 and ,germany1 were soon in   
the field2 ,the two  kings who were to  
have led it1 were1 however1 drawn into  
broils by an  aggression of ,richard2   
,duke of ,guienne1 better known as      
,richard ,coeur  de ,lion1 upon the     
territory of the ,count of ,toulouse1   
and the proposed  journey to ,palestine 
was delayed4 ,war continued to rage     
between ,france  and ,england1 and with 
so little probability of a speedy       
termination1  that many of the nobles1  
bound to the ,crusade1 left the two     
,monarchs to  settle their differences  
at their leisure1 and proceeded to      
,palestine  without them4    ,death at  
last stepped in and removed ,henry ,,ii4
 from the hostility of  his foes1 and   
the treachery and ingratitude of his    

children4 ,his son  ,richard immediately
 concluded an alliance with ,philip     
,augustus1 and the  two young1 valiant1 
and impetuous ,monarchs1 united all     
their energies  to forward the ,crusade4
 ,they met with a numerous and brilliant
 retinue  at ,nonancourt in ,normandy1  
where1 in sight of their assembled      
chivalry1  they embraced as brothers1   
and swore to live as friends and true   
allies1 until a period of forty days    
after their return from the ,holy       
,land4 ,with a view of purging their    
camp from the follies and vices  which  
had proved so ruinous to preceding      
expeditions1 they drew up a  code of    
laws for the government of the army4    
,gambling had been carried  to a great  
extent1 and had proved the fruitful     
source of quarrels and  bloodshed1 and  
one of their laws prohibited any person 
in the army1  beneath the degree of a   
knight1 from playing at any game for    
money4  ,strutt's ,sports and ,pastimes4
 ,knights and clergymen might play for  

money1 but no one was permitted to lose 
or gain more than twenty  shillings in a
 day1 under a penalty of one hundred    
shillings4 ,the  personal attendants of 
the ,monarchs were also allowed to play 
to the  same extent4 ,the penalty in    
their case for infraction was that they 
should be whipped naked through the army
 for the space of three days4  ,any     
crusader1 who struck another and drew   
blood1 was ordered to have  his hand cut
 off2 and whoever slew a brother        
crusader was condemned to  be tied alive
 to the corpse of his victim and buried 
with him4 ,no young  women were allowed 
to follow the army1 to the great sorrow 
of many  vicious and of many virtuous   
dames1 who had not courage to elude the 
decree by dressing in male attire4  ,but
 many high-minded and  affectionate     
maidens and matrons1 bearing the sword  
or the spear1  followed their husbands  
and lovers to the war in spite of ,king 
,richard1  and in defiance of danger4   
,the only women allowed to accompany the

 army  in their own habiliments1 were   
washerwomen1 of fifty years complete1   
and any others of the fair sex who had  
reached the same age4    ,these rules   
having been promulgated1 the two        
monarchs marched together  to ,lyons1   
where they separated1 agreeing to meet  
again at ,messina4  ,philip proceeded   
across the ,alps to ,genoa1 where he    
took ship1 and was  conveyed in safety  
to the place of rendezvous4 ,richard    
turned in the  direction of ,marseilles1
 where he also took ship for ,messina4  
,his  impetuous disposition hurried him 
into many squabbles by the way1 and  his
 knights and followers1 for the most    
part as brave and as foolish as         
himself1 imitated him very zealously in 
this particular4  ,at ,messina  the     
,sicilians charged the most exorbitant  
prices for every necessary of  life4    
,richard's army in vain remonstrated4   
,from words they came to  blows1 and1 as
 a last resource1 plundered the         
,sicilians1 since they  could not trade 

with them4 ,continual battles were the  
consequence1 in  one of which ,lebrun1  
the favourite attendant of ,richard1    
lost his life4  ,the peasantry from far 
and near came flocking to the aid of the
  townspeople1 and the battle soon      
became general4  ,richard1 irritated at 
the loss of his favourite1 and incited  
by a report that ,tancred1 the  ,king of
 ,sicily1 was fighting at the head of   
his own people1 joined the  melee with  
his boldest knights1 and1 beating back  
the ,sicilians1  attacked the city1     
sword in hand1 stormed the battlements1 
tore down  the flag of ,sicily1 and     
planted his own in its stead4 ,this     
collision  gave great offence to the    
,king of ,france1 who became from that  
time  jealous of ,richard1 and          
apprehensive that his design was not so 
much to  re-establish the ,christian    
,kingdom of ,jerusalem1 as to make      
conquests  for himself4 ,he1 however1   
exerted his influence to restore peace  
between the ,english and ,sicilians1 and

 shortly afterwards set sail for  ,acre1
 with distrust of his ally germinating  
in his heart4    ,richard remained      
behind for some weeks1 in a state of    
inactivity quite  unaccountable in one  
of his temperament4 ,he appears to have 
had no more  squabbles with the         
,sicilians1 but to have lived an easy   
luxurious life1  forgetting1 in the lap 
of pleasure1 the objects for which he   
had  quitted his own dominions and the  
dangerous laxity he was introducing     
into his army4 ,the superstition of his 
soldiers recalled him at length  to a   
sense of his duty3 a comet was seen for 
several successive nights1  which was   
thought to menace them with the         
vengeance of ,heaven for their  delay4  
,shooting stars gave them similar       
warning2 and a fanatic1 of the  name of 
,joachim1 with his drawn sword in his   
hand1 and his long hair  streaming      
wildly over his shoulders1 went through 
the camp1 howling all  night long1 and  
predicting plague1 famine1 and every    

other calamity1 if  they did not set out
 immediately4  ,richard did not deem it 
prudent to  neglect the intimations2    
and1 after doing humble penance for his 
remissness1 he set sail for ,acre4    ,a
 violent storm dispersed his fleet1 but 
he arrived safely at ,rhodes  with the  
principal part of the armament4 ,here he
 learned that three of  his ships had   
been stranded on the rocky coasts of    
,cyprus1 and that the  ruler of the     
island1 ,isaac ,comnenus1 had permitted 
his people to  pillage the unfortunate  
crews1 and had refused shelter to his   
betrothed  bride1 the ,princess         
,berengaria1 and his sister1 who1 in one
 of the  vessels1 had been driven by    
stress of weather into the port of      
,limisso4  ,the fiery monarch swore to  
be revenged1 and1 collecting all his    
vessels1 sailed back to ,limisso4 ,isaac
 ,comnenus refused to apologize or      
explain1 and ,richard1 in no mood to be 
trifled with1 landed on the  island1    
routed with great loss the forces sent  

to oppose him1 and laid  the whole      
country under contribution4    ,on his  
arrival at ,acre1 he found the whole of 
the chivalry of ,europe  there before   
him4 ,guy of ,lusignan1 the ,king of    
,jerusalem1 had long  before collected  
the bold ,knights of the ,temple1 the   
,hospital1 and ,st4  ,john1 and had laid
 siege to ,acre1 which was resolutely   
defended by the  ,sultan ,saladin1 with 
an army magnificent both for its numbers
 and its  discipline4 ,for nearly two   
years the crusaders had pushed the      
siege1  and made efforts almost         
superhuman to dislodge the enemy4       
,various  battles had taken place in the
 open fields with no decisive advantage 
to either party1 and ,guy of ,lusignan  
had begun to despair of taking  that    
strong position without aid from        
,europe4 ,his joy was extreme on  the   
arrival of ,philip with all his         
chivalry1 and he only awaited the       
coming of ,coeur de ,lion to make one   
last decisive attack upon the town4     

,when the fleet of ,england was first   
seen approaching the shores of  ,syria1 
a universal shout arose from the        
,christian camp2 and when  ,richard     
landed with his train1 one louder still 
pierced to the very  mountains of the   
south1 where ,saladin lay with all his  
army4    ,it may be remarked as         
characteristic of this ,crusade1 that   
the  ,christians and the ,moslems no    
longer looked upon each other as        
barbarians1 to whom mercy was a crime4  
,each host entertained the  highest     
admiration for the bravery and          
magnanimity of the other1 and in  their 
occasional truces met upon the most     
friendly terms4 ,the ,moslem  warriors  
were full of courtesy to the ,christian 
knights1 and had no  other regret than  
to think that such fine fellows were not
 ,mahomedans4  ,the ,christians1 with a 
feeling precisely similar1 extolled to  
the skies  the nobleness of the         
,saracens1 and sighed to think that such
 generosity  and valour should be       

sullied by disbelief in the ,gospel of  
,jesus4 ,but  when the strife began1 all
 these feelings disappeared1 and the    
struggle  became mortal4    ,the        
jealousy excited in the mind of ,philip 
by the events of ,messina  still        
rankled1 and the two monarchs refused to
 act in concert4  ,instead  of making a 
joint attack upon the town1 the ,french 
monarch assailed it  alone1 and was     
repulsed4 ,richard did the same1 and    
with the same  result4 ,philip tried to 
seduce the soldiers of ,richard from    
their  allegiance by the offer of three 
gold pieces per month to every knight   
who would forsake the banners of        
,england for those of ,france4  ,richard
  met the bribe by another1 and promised
 four pieces to every ,french  knight   
who should join the ,lion of ,england4  
,in this unworthy rivalry  their time   
was wasted1 to the great detriment of   
the discipline and  efficiency of their 
followers4 ,some good was nevertheless  
effected2 for  the mere presence of two 

such armies prevented the besieged city 
from  receiving supplies1 and the       
inhabitants were reduced by famine to   
the  most woeful straits4 ,saladin did  
not deem it prudent to risk a general   
engagement by coming to their relief1   
but preferred to wait till  dissension  
had weakened his enemy1 and made him an 
easy prey4 ,perhaps  if he had been     
aware of the real extent of the         
extremity in ,acre1 he  would have      
changed his plan2 but1 cut off from the 
town1 he did not  know their misery till
 it was too late4 ,after a short truce  
the city  capitulated upon terms so     
severe that ,saladin afterwards refused 
to  ratify them4 ,the chief conditions  
were1 that the precious wood of the     
true cross1 captured by the ,moslems in 
,jerusalem1 should be restored2  that a 
sum of two hundred thousand gold pieces 
should be paid2 and that  all the       
,christian prisoners in ,acre should be 
released1 together with  two hundred    
knights and a thousand soldiers1        

detained in captivity by  ,saladin4 ,the
 eastern monarch1 as may be well        
conceived1 did not set  much store on   
the wood of the cross1 but was          
nevertheless anxious to  keep it1 as he 
knew its possession by the ,christians  
would do more than  a victory to restore
 their courage4 ,he refused1 therefore1 
to deliver  it up1 or to accede to any  
of the conditions2 and ,richard1 as he  
had  previously threatened1 barbarously 
ordered all the ,saracen prisoners in   
his power to be put to death4    ,the   
possession of the city only caused new  
and unhappy dissensions  between the    
,christian leaders4 ,the ,archduke of   
,austria unjustifiably  hoisted his flag
 on one of the towers of ,acre1 which   
,richard no sooner  saw than he tore it 
down with his own hands1 and trampled it
 under his  feet4 ,philip1 though he did
 not sympathise with the ,archduke1 was 
piqued at the assumption of ,richard1   
and the breach between the two  monarchs
 became wider than ever4 ,a foolish     

dispute arose at the same  time between 
,guy of ,lusignan and ,conrad of        
,montferrat for the crown of            
,jerusalem4 ,the inferior knights were  
not slow to imitate the pernicious      
example1 and jealousy1 distrust1 and    
ill-will reigned in the ,christian      
camp4 ,in the midst of this confusion   
the ,king of ,france suddenly  announced
 his intention to return to his own     
country4 ,richard was  filled with      
indignation1 and exclaimed1 ,eternal    
shame light on him1  and on all ,france1
 if1 for any cause1 he leave this work  
unfinished6  ,but ,philip was not to be 
stayed4 ,his health had suffered by his 
residence in the ,east1 and1 ambitious  
of playing a first part1 he  preferred  
to play none at all1 than to play second
 to ,king ,richard4  ,leaving a small   
detachment of ,burgundians behind1 he   
returned to ,france  with the remainder 
of his army2 and ,coeur de ,lion1       
without feeling1 in  the multitude of   
his rivals1 that he had lost the        

greatest1 became  painfully convinced   
that the right arm of the enterprize was
 lopped off4    ,after his departure1   
,richard re-fortified ,acre1 restored   
the ,christian  worship in the churches1
 and1 leaving a ,christian garrison to  
protect  it1 marched along the sea-coast
 towards ,ascalon4 ,saladin was on the  
alert1 and sent his light horse to      
attack the rear of the ,christian  army1
 while he himself1 miscalculating their 
weakness since the  defection of        
,philip1 endeavoured to force them to a 
general engagement4  ,the rival armies  
met near ,azotus4 ,a fierce battle      
ensued1 in which  ,saladin was defeated 
and put to flight1 and the road to      
,jerusalem left  free for the crusaders4
    ,again discord exerted its baleful  
influence1 and prevented ,richard from  
following up his victory4 ,his opinion  
was constantly opposed by the  other    
leaders1 all jealous of his bravery and 
influence2 and the army1  instead of    
marching to ,jerusalem1 or even to      

,ascalon1 as was first  intended1       
proceeded to ,jaffa1 and remained in    
idleness until ,saladin  was again in a 
condition to wage war against them4     
,many months were spent in fruitless    
hostilities and as fruitless            
negotiations4 ,richard's wish was to    
recapture ,jerusalem2 but there were    
difficulties in the way1 which even his 
bold spirit could not conquer4  ,his own
 intolerable pride was not the least    
cause of the evil2 for it  estranged    
many a generous spirit1 who would have  
been willing to  co-operate with him in 
all cordiality4 ,at length it was agreed
 to march  to the ,holy ,city2 but the  
progress made was so slow and painful1  
that  the soldiers murmured1 and the    
leaders meditated retreat4 ,the weather 
was hot and dry1 and there was little   
water to be procured4 ,saladin had      
choked up the wells and cisterns on the 
route1 and the army had not  zeal enough
 to push forward amid such privation4   
,at ,bethlehem a  council was held1 to  

debate whether they should retreat or   
advance4  ,retreat was decided upon1 and
 immediately commenced4 ,it is said1    
that  ,richard was first led to a hill1 
whence he could obtain a sight of the   
towers of ,jerusalem1 and that he was so
 affected at being so near it1  and so  
unable to relieve it1 that he hid his   
face behind his shield1  and sobbed     
aloud4    ,the army separated into two  
divisions1 the smaller falling back upon
  ,jaffa1 and the larger1 commanded by  
,richard and the ,duke of ,burgundy1    
returning to ,acre4 ,before the ,english
 monarch had made all his  preparations 
for his return to ,europe1 a messenger  
reached ,acre with  the intelligence    
that ,jaffa was besieged by ,saladin1   
and that1 unless  relieved immediately1 
the city would be taken4 ,the ,french1  
under the  ,duke of ,burgundy1 were so  
wearied with the war1 that they refused 
to  aid their brethren in ,jaffa4       
,richard1 blushing with shame at their  
pusillanimity1 called his ,english to   

the rescue1 and arrived just in  time to
 save the city4 ,his very name put the  
,saracens to flight1 so  great was their
 dread of his prowess4 ,saladin regarded
 him with the  warmest admiration1 and  
when ,richard1 after his victory1       
demanded  peace1 willingly acceded4 ,a  
truce was concluded for three years and 
eight months1 during which ,christian   
pilgrims were to enjoy the liberty  of  
visiting ,jerusalem without hindrance or
 payment of any tax4 ,the  crusaders    
were allowed to retain the cities of    
,tyre and ,jaffa1 with the  country     
intervening4 ,saladin1 with a princely  
generosity1 invited many  of the        
,christians to visit ,jerusalem2 and    
several of the leaders took  advantage  
of his offer to feast their eyes upon a 
spot which all  considered so sacred4   
,many of them were entertained for days 
in the  ,sultan's own palace1 from which
 they returned with their tongues laden 
with the praises of the noble infidel4  
,richard and ,saladin never met1  though

 the impression that they did will      
remain on many minds1 who have  been    
dazzled by the glorious fiction of ,sir 
,walter ,scott4 ,but each  admired the  
prowess and nobleness of soul of his    
rival1 and agreed to  terms far less    
onerous than either would have accepted1
 had this mutual  admiration not        
existed4,richard left a high reputation 
in ,palestine4 ,so  much terror did his 
name occasion1 that the women of ,syria 
used it to  frighten their children for 
ages afterwards4 ,every disobedient brat
  became still when told that ,king     
,richard was coming4 ,even men shared   
the panic that his name created2 and a  
hundred years afterwards1  whenever a   
horse shied at any object in the way1   
his rider would  exclaim1 ,what6 dost   
thou think ,king ,richard is in the     
bush8    ,the ,king of ,england no      
longer delayed his departure1 for       
messengers  from his own country brought
 imperative news that his presence was  
required to defeat the intrigues that   

were fomenting against his crown4  ,his 
long imprisonment in the ,austrian      
dominions and final ransom are  too well
 known to be dwelt upon4 ,and thus ended
 the third ,crusade1 less  destructive  
of human life than the two first1 but   
quite as useless4    ,the flame of      
popular enthusiasm now burned pale      
indeed1 and all the  efforts of popes   
and potentates were insufficient to     
rekindle it4  ,at  last1 after          
flickering unsteadily1 like a lamp      
expiring in the socket1  it burned up   
brightly for one final instant1 and was 
extinguished for  ever4    ,the fourth  
,crusade1 as connected with popular     
feeling1 requires little  or no notice4 
,at the death of ,saladin1 which        
happened a year after the  conclusion of
 his truce with ,richard of ,england1   
his vast empire fell  to pieces4 ,his   
brother ,saif ,eddin1 or ,saphaddin1    
seized upon ,syria1 in  the possession  
of which he was troubled by the sons of 
,saladin4 ,when  this intelligence      

reached ,europe1 the ,pope1 ,celestine  
,,iii4 judged the  moment favourable for
 preaching a new ,crusade4 ,but every   
nation in  ,europe was unwilling and    
cold towards it4 ,the people had no     
ardour1 and  ,kings were occupied with  
more weighty matters at home4 ,the only 
,monarch  of ,europe who encouraged it  
was the ,emperor ,henry of ,germany1    
under  whose auspices the ,dukes of     
,saxony and ,bavaria took the field at  
the  head of a considerable force4 ,they
 landed in ,palestine1 and found        
anything but a welcome from the         
,christian inhabitants4 ,under the mild 
sway of ,saladin1 they had enjoyed      
repose and toleration1 and both were    
endangered by the arrival of the        
,germans4 ,they looked upon them in     
consequence as over-officious intruders1
 and gave them no encouragement  in the 
warfare against ,saphaddin4 ,the result 
of this ,crusade was even  more         
disastrous than the last--for the       
,germans contrived not only to  embitter

 the ,saracens against the ,christians  
of ,judea1 but to lose the  strong city 
of ,jaffa1 and cause the destruction of 
nine-tenths of the  army with which they
 had quitted ,europe4 ,and so ended the 
fourth  ,crusade4    ,the fifth was more
 important1 and had a result which its  
projectors  never dreamed of--no less   
than the sacking of ,constantinople1 and
 the  placing of a ,french dynasty upon 
the imperial throne of the eastern      
,caesars4 ,each succeeding ,pope1       
however much he may have differed from  
his predecessors on other points1       
zealously agreed in one1 that of        
maintaining by every possible means the 
papal ascendancy4 ,no scheme was  so    
likely to aid in this endeavour as the  
,crusades4 ,as long as they  could      
persuade the kings and nobles of ,europe
 to fight and die in  ,syria1 their own 
sway was secured over the minds of men  
at home4 ,such  being their object1 they
 never inquired whether a ,crusade was  
or was  not likely to be successful1    

whether the time were well or ill       
chosen1  or whether men and money could 
be procured in sufficient abundance4    
,pope ,innocent ,,iii4 would have been  
proud if he could have bent the         
refractory ,monarchs of ,england and    
,france into so much submission4 ,but   
,john and ,philip ,augustus were both   
engaged4 ,both had deeply offended  the 
church1 and had been laid under her ban1
 and both were occupied in  important   
reforms at home2 ,philip in bestowing   
immunities upon his  subjects1 and ,john
 in having them forced from him4 ,the   
emissaries of  the ,pope therefore plied
 them in vain2--but as in the first and 
second  ,crusades1 the eloquence of a   
powerful preacher incited the nobility1 
and through them a certain portion of   
the people1 ,foulque1 ,bishop of        
,neuilly1 an ambitious and enterprizing 
prelate1 entered fully into the  views  
of the ,court of ,rome1 and preached the
 ,crusade wherever he could  find an    
audience4  ,chance favoured him to a    

degree he did not himself  expect1 for  
he had in general found but few         
proselytes1 and those few  but cold in  
the cause4 ,theobald1 ,count of         
,champagne1 had instituted a  grand     
tournament1 to which he had invited all 
the nobles from far and  near4  ,upwards
 of two thousand knights were present   
with their  retainers1 besides a vast   
concourse of people to witness the      
sports4 ,in  the midst of the           
festivities ,foulque arrived upon the   
spot1 and  conceiving the opportunity to
 be a favourable one1 he addressed the  
multitude in eloquent language1 and     
passionately called upon them to  enrol 
themselves for the new ,crusade4 ,the   
,count de ,champagne1 young1  ardent1   
and easily excited1 received the cross  
at his hands4 ,the  enthusiasm spread   
rapidly4 ,charles ,count of ,blois      
followed the example1  and of the two   
thousand knights present1 scarcely one  
hundred and fifty  refused4 ,the popular
 phrensy seemed on the point of breaking

 out as in  the days of yore4 ,the      
,count of ,flanders1 the ,count of ,bar1
 the ,duke of  ,burgundy1 and the       
,marquis of ,montferrat1 brought all    
their vassals to  swell the train1 and  
in a very short space of time an        
effective army  was on foot and ready to
 march to ,palestine4    ,the dangers of
 an overland journey were too well      
understood1 and the  crusaders          
endeavoured to make a contract with some
 of the ,italian  states to convey them 
over in their vessels4 ,dandolo1 the    
aged ,doge of  ,venice1 offered them the
 galleys of the ,republic2 but the      
crusaders1 on  their arrival in that    
city1 found themselves too poor to pay  
even half  the sum demanded4 ,every     
means was tried to raise money2 the     
crusaders  melted down their plate1 and 
ladies gave up their trinkets4          
,contributions were solicited from the  
faithful1 but came in so slowly1  as to 
make it evident to all concerned1 that  
the faithful of ,europe  were           

outnumbered by the prudent4 ,as a last  
resource1 ,dandolo offered to  convey   
them to ,palestine at the expense of the
 ,republic1 if they would  previously   
aid in the recapture of the city of     
,zara1 which had been  seized from the  
,venetians a short time previously by   
the ,king of  ,hungary4 ,the crusaders  
consented1 much to the displeasure of   
the ,pope1  who threatened              
excommunication upon all who should be  
turned aside from  the voyage to        
,jerusalem4 ,but notwithstanding the    
fulminations of the  church1 the        
expedition never reached ,palestine4    
,the siege of ,zara was  speedily       
undertaken4 ,after a long and brave     
defence1 the city  surrendered at       
discretion1 and the crusaders were free1
 if they had so  chosen it1 to use their
 swords against the ,saracens4 ,but the 
ambition  of the chiefs had been        
directed1 by unforeseen circumstances1  
elsewhere4    ,after the death of       
,manuel ,comnenus1 the ,greek empire had

 fallen a prey  to intestine divisions4 
,his son ,alexius ,,ii4 had succeeded   
him1 but was  murdered after a very     
short reign by his uncle ,andronicus1   
who seized  upon the throne4 ,his reign 
also was but of short duration4  ,isaac 
,angelus1 a member of the same family1  
took up arms against the usurper1  and  
having defeated and captured him in a   
pitched battle1 had him put  to death4  
,he also mounted the throne only to be  
cast down from it4 ,his  brother        
,alexius deposed him1 and to            
incapacitate him from reigning1 put  out
 his eyes1 and shut him up in a dungeon4
 ,neither was ,alexius ,,iii4  allowed  
to remain in peaceable possession of the
 throne2 the son of the  unhappy ,isaac1
 whose name also was ,alexius1 fled from
 ,constantinople1  and hearing that the 
crusaders had undertaken the siege of   
,zara1 made  them the most magnificent  
offers if they would afterwards aid him 
in  deposing his uncle4 ,his offers     
were1 that if by their means he was     

re-established in his father's          
dominions1 he would place the ,greek    
church under the authority of the ,pope 
of ,rome1 lend the whole force of  the  
,greek ,empire to the conquest of       
,palestine1 and distribute two  hundred 
thousand marks of silver among the      
crusading army4 ,the offer  was         
accepted1 with a proviso on the part of 
some of the leaders1 that  they should  
be free to abandon the design1 if it met
 with the  disapproval of the ,pope4    
,but this was not to be feared4 ,the    
submission  of the schismatic ,greeks to
 the ,see of ,rome was a greater bribe  
to the  ,pontiff1 than the utter        
annihilation of the ,saracen power in   
,palestine  would have been4    ,the    
crusaders were soon in movement for the 
imperial city4 ,their  operations were  
skilfully and courageously directed1 and
 spread such  dismay as to paralyse the 
efforts of the usurper to retain        
possession  of his throne4 ,after a vain
 resistance1 he abandoned the city to   

its  fate1 and fled no one knew whither4
 ,the aged and blind ,isaac was taken   
from his dungeon by his subjects1 and   
placed upon the throne ere the          
crusaders were apprized of the flight of
 his rival4 ,his son ,alexius ,,iv4  was
 afterwards associated with him in the  
sovereignty4    ,but the conditions of  
the treaty gave offence to the ,grecian 
people1  whose prelates refused to place
 themselves under the dominion of the   
,see of ,rome4 ,alexius at first        
endeavoured to persuade his subjects to 
submission1 and prayed the crusaders to 
remain in ,constantinople until  they   
had fortified him in the possession of a
 throne which was yet far  from secure4 
,he soon became unpopular with his      
subjects2 and breaking  faith with      
regard to the subsidies1 he offended the
 crusaders4 ,war was  at length declared
 upon him by both parties2 by his people
 for his  tyranny1 and by his former    
friends for his treachery4 ,he was      
seized in  his palace by his own guards 

and thrown into prison1 while the       
crusaders were making ready to besiege  
his capital4 ,the ,greeks  immediately  
proceeded to the election of a new      
,monarch2 and looking  about for a man  
with courage1 energy1 and perseverance1 
they fixed upon  ,alexius ,ducas1 who1  
with almost every bad quality1 was      
possessed of the  virtues they needed4  
,he ascended the throne under the name  
of  ,murzuphlis4 ,one of his first acts 
was to rid himself of his youngest      
predecessor--a broken heart had already 
removed the blind old ,isaac--no  longer
 a stumbling block in his way--and the  
young ,alexius was soon  after put to   
death in his prison4    ,war to the     
knife was now declared between the      
,greeks and the ,franks1  and early in  
the spring of the year #abjd1           
preparations were commenced  for an     
assault upon ,constantinople4 ,the      
,french and ,venetians entered  into a  
treaty for the division of the spoils   
among their soldiery1 for  so confident 

were they of success1 that failure never
 once entered into  their calculations4 
,this confidence led them on to victory1
 while the  ,greeks1 cowardly as        
treacherous people always are1 were     
paralysed by a  foreboding of evil4 ,it 
has been a matter of astonishment to all
  historians1 that ,murzuphlis1 with the
 reputation for courage which he  had   
acquired1 and the immense resources at  
his disposal1 took no better  measures  
to repel the onset of the crusaders4    
,their numbers were as a  mere handful  
in comparison with those which he could 
have brought  against them2 and if they 
had the hopes of plunder to lead them   
on1 the  ,greeks had their homes to     
fight for1 and their very existence as a
  nation to protect4 ,after an impetuous
 assault1 repulsed for one day1  but    
renewed with double impetuosity on      
another1 the crusaders lashed  their    
vessels against the walls1 slew every   
man who opposed them1 and1  with little 
loss to themselves1 entered the city4   

,murzuphlis fled1 and  ,constantinople  
was given over to be pillaged by the    
victors4 ,the wealth  they found was    
enormous4 ,in money alone there was     
sufficient to  distribute twenty marks  
of silver to each knight1 ten to each   
squire or  servant at arms1 and five to 
each archer4 ,jewels1 velvets1 silks1   
and  every luxury of attire1 with rare  
wines and fruits1 and valuable          
merchandise of every description1 also  
fell into their hands1 and were  bought 
by the trading ,venetians1 and the      
proceeds distributed among the  army4   
,two thousand persons were put to the   
sword2 but had there been  less plunder 
to take up the attention of the victors1
 the slaughter  would in all probability
 have been much greater4    ,in many of 
the bloody wars which defile the page of
 history1 we find  that soldiers1       
utterly reckless of the works of ,god1  
will destroy his  masterpiece1 man1 with
 unsparing brutality1 but linger with   
respect  around the beautiful works of  

art4 ,they will slaughter women and     
children1 but spare a picture2 will hew 
down the sick1 the helpless1  and the   
hoary-headed1 but refrain from injuring 
a fine piece of  sculpture4 ,the        
,latins1 on their entrance into         
,constantinople1 respected  neither the 
works of ,god nor man1 but vented their 
brutal ferocity upon  the one and       
satisfied their avarice upon the other4 
,many beautiful  bronze statues1 above  
all price as works of art1 were broken  
into  pieces to be sold as old metal4   
,the finely-chiselled marble1 which     
could be put to no such vile uses1 was  
also destroyed1 with a  recklessness2 if
 possible1 still more atrocious4 ,the   
following is a  list of some of the     
works of art thus destroyed1 from       
,nicetas1 a  contemporary ,greek        
author3--#ast4 ,a colossal ,juno1 from  
the forum of  ,constantine1 the head of 
which was so large that four horses     
could  scarcely draw it from the place  
where it stood to the palace4 #b;d4 ,the

  statue of ,paris presenting the apple 
to ,venus4 #c;d4 ,an immense bronze     
pyramid1 crowned by a female figure1    
which turned with the wind4 #dth4  ,the 
colossal statue of ,bellerophon1 in     
bronze1 which was broken down  and cast 
into the furnace4 ,under the inner nail 
of the horse's hind  foot on the left   
side1 was found a seal wrapped in a     
woollen cloth4  #eth4 ,a figure of      
,hercules1 by ,lysimachus1 of such vast 
dimensions that  the thumb was equal in 
circumference to the waist of a man4    
#fth4 ,the  ,ass and his driver1 cast by
 order of ,augustus after the battle of 
,actium1 in commemoration of his having 
discovered the position of  ,antony     
through the means of an ass-driver4     
#gth4 ,the ,wolf suckling the  twins of 
,rome4 #hth4 ,the ,gladiator in combat  
with a lion4 #ith4 ,the  ,hippopotamus4 
#ajth4 ,the ,sphinxes4 #aath4 ,an eagle 
fighting with a  serpent4 #abth4 ,a     
beautiful statue of ,helen4 #acth4 ,a   
group1 with a  monster somewhat         

resembling a bull1 engaged in deadly    
conflict with a  serpent2 and many other
 works of art1 too numerous to mention4 
,the carnage being over1 and the spoil  
distributed1 six persons were  chosen   
from among the ,franks and six from     
among the ,venetians1 who were  to meet 
and elect an ,emperor1 previously       
binding themselves by oath to  select   
the individual best qualified among the 
candidates4  ,the choice  wavered       
between ,baldwin1 ,count of ,flanders1  
and ,boniface1 ,marquis of  ,montferrat1
 but fell eventually upon the former4   
,he was straightway  robed in the       
imperial purple1 and became the founder 
of a new dynasty4  ,he did not live long
 to enjoy his power1 or to consolidate  
it for his  successors1 who1 in their   
turn1 were soon swept away4 ,in less    
than  sixty years the rule of the       
,franks at ,constantinople was brought  
to as  sudden and disastrous a          
termination as the reign of ,murzuphlis3
 and  this was the grand result of the  

fifth ,crusade4    ,pope ,innocent      
,,iii1 although he had looked with no   
very unfavourable eye  upon these       
proceedings1 regretted that nothing had 
been done for the  relief of the ,holy  
,land2 still1 upon every convenient     
occasion1 he  enforced the necessity of 
a new ,crusade4 ,until the year #abac1  
his  exhortations had no other effect   
than to keep the subject in the mind  of
 ,europe4 ,every spring and summer1     
detachments of pilgrims continued  to   
set out for ,palestine to the aid of    
their brethren1 but not in  sufficient  
numbers to be of much service4 ,these   
periodical passages  were called the    
passagiuum ,martii1 or the passage of   
,march1 and the  passagium ,johannis1 or
 the passage of the festival of ,st4    
,john4 ,these  did not consist entirely 
of soldiers1 armed against the ,saracen1
 but of  pilgrims led by devotion1 and  
in performance of their vows1 bearing   
nothing with them but their staff and   
their wallet4 ,early in the spring  of  

#abac a more extraordinary body of      
crusaders was raised in ,france and     
,germany4 ,an immense number of boys and
 girls1 amounting1 according to  some   
accounts1 to thirty thousand1 were      
incited by the persuasion of  two monks 
to undertake the journey to ,palestine4 
,they were1 no doubt1  composed of the  
idle and deserted children who generally
 swarm in great  cities1 nurtured in    
vice and daring1 and ready for anything4
 ,the object  of the monks seems to have
 been the atrocious one of inveigling   
them  into slave ships1 on pretence of  
sending them to ,syria1 and selling     
them for slaves on the coast of ,africa4
 ,see ,jacob de ,voragine and           
,albericus4 ,great numbers of these poor
 victims were shipped at  ,marseilles2  
but the vessels1 with the exception of  
two or three1 were  wrecked on the      
shores of ,italy1 and every soul        
perished4 ,the remainder  arrived safely
 in ,africa1 and were bought up as      
slaves1 and sent off  into the interior 

of the country4 ,another detachment     
arrived at ,genoa2  but the accomplices 
in this horrid plot having taken no     
measures at  that port1 expecting them  
all at ,marseilles1 they were induced to
  return to their homes by the ,genoese4
    ,fuller1 in his quaint history of   
the ,holy ,warre1 says that this        
,crusade was done by the instinct of the
 devil2 and he adds a reason1  which may
 provoke mirth now1 but which was put   
forth by the worthy  historian in all   
soberness and sincerity4 ,he says1 the  
devil1 being  cloyed with the murdering 
of men1 desired a cordial of children's 
blood  to comfort his weak stomach2 as  
epicures1 when tired of mutton1 resort  
to lamb for a change4    ,it appears    
from other authors that the preaching of
 the vile monks had  such an effect upon
 these deluded children that they ran   
about the  country1 exclaiming1 ,o1     
,lord ,jesus1 restore thy cross to us6  
and that  neither bolts nor bars1 the   
fear of fathers1 nor the love of        

mothers1  was sufficient to restrain    
them from journeying to ,jerusalem4     
,the details of these strange           
proceedings are exceedingly meagre and  
confused1 and none of the contemporary  
writers who mention the subject  have   
thought it worth while to state the     
names of the monks who  originated the  
scheme1 or the fate they met for their  
wickedness4  ,two  merchants of         
,marseilles1 who were to have shared in 
the profits1 were1  it is said1 brought 
to justice for some other crime1 and    
suffered  death2 but we are not informed
 whether they divulged any circumstances
  relating to this matter4    ,pope     
,innocent ,,iii does not seem to have   
been aware that the causes of  this     
juvenile ,crusade were such as have been
 stated1 for1 upon being  informed that 
numbers of them had taken the ,cross1   
and were marching to  the ,holy ,land1  
he exclaimed1 ,these children are awake1
 while we  sleep6 ,he imagined1         
apparently1 that the mind of ,europe was

 still bent  on the recovery of         
,palestine1 and that the zeal of these  
children  implied a sort of reproach    
upon his own lukewarmness4 ,very soon   
afterwards1 he bestirred himself with   
more activity1 and sent an  encyclical  
letter to the clergy of ,christendom1   
urging them to preach a  new ,crusade4  
,as usual1 a number of adventurous      
nobles1 who had nothing  else to do1    
enrolled themselves with their          
retainers4 ,at a council of  ,lateran1  
which was held while these bands were   
collecting1 ,innocent  announced that he
 himself would take the ,cross1 and lead
 the armies of  ,christ to the defence  
of his sepulchre4 ,in all probability he
 would  have done so1 for he was zealous
 enough2 but death stepped in1 and      
destroyed his project ere it was ripe4  
,his successor encouraged the  ,crusade1
 though he refused to accompany it2 and 
the armament continued  in ,france1     
,england1 and ,germany4 ,no leaders of  
any importance joined it  from the      

former countries4 ,andrew1 ,king of     
,hungary1 was the only  monarch who had 
leisure or inclination to leave his     
dominions4 ,the  ,dukes of ,austria and 
,bavaria joined him with a considerable 
army of  ,germans1 and marching to      
,spalatro1 took ship for ,cyprus1 and   
from  thence to ,acre4    ,the whole    
conduct of the ,king of ,hungary was    
marked by pusillanimity  and            
irresolution4 ,he found himself in the  
,holy ,land at the head of a  very      
efficient army2 the ,saracens were taken
 by surprise1 and were for  some weeks  
unprepared to offer any resistance to   
his arms4 ,he defeated  the first body  
sent to oppose him1 and marched towards 
,mount ,tabor1  with the intention of   
seizing upon an important fortress which
 the  ,saracens had recently            
constructed4 ,he arrived without        
impediment at the  ,mount1 and might    
have easily taken it2 but a sudden fit  
of cowardice  came over him1 and he     
returned to ,acre without striking a    

blow4 ,he very  soon afterwards         
abandoned the enterprise altogether1 and
 returned to  his own country4    ,tardy
 reinforcements arrived at intervals    
from ,europe2 and the ,duke of          
,austria1 now the chief leader of the   
expedition1 had still sufficient  forces
 at his command to trouble the ,saracens
 very seriously4 ,it was  resolved by   
him1 in council with the other chiefs1  
that the whole  energy of the ,crusade  
should be directed upon ,egypt1 the seat
 of the  ,saracen power in its          
relationship to ,palestine1 and from    
whence were  drawn the continual levies 
that were brought against them by the   
,sultan4 ,damietta1 which commanded the 
river ,nile1 and was one of the  most   
important cities of ,egypt1 was chosen  
as the first point of  attack4 ,the     
siege was forthwith commenced1 and      
carried on with  considerable energy1   
until the crusaders gained possession of
 a tower1  which projected into the     
middle of the stream1 and was looked    

upon as  the very key of the city4      
,while congratulating themselves upon   
this success1 and wasting in  revelry   
the time which should have been employed
 in pushing the  advantage1 they        
received the news of the death of the   
wise ,sultan  ,saphaddin4 ,his two sons1
 ,camhel and ,cohreddin1 divided his    
empire  between them4 ,syria and        
,palestine fell to the share of         
,cohreddin1 while  ,egypt was consigned 
to the other brother1 who had for some  
time  exercised the functions of        
,lieutenant of that country4 ,being     
unpopular  among the ,egyptians1 they   
revolted against him1 giving the        
crusaders a  finer opportunity for      
making a conquest than they had ever    
enjoyed  before4 ,but1 quarrelsome and  
licentious as they had been from time   
immemorial1 they did not see that the   
favourable moment had come2 or1  seeing1
 could not profit by it4 ,while they    
were revelling or fighting  among       
themselves1 under the walls of          

,damietta1 the revolt was put down1  and
 ,camhel firmly established on the      
throne of ,egypt4 ,in conjunction  with 
his brother1 ,cohreddin1 his next care  
was to drive the ,christians  from      
,damietta1 and1 for upwards of three    
months1 they bent all their  efforts to 
throw in supplies to the besieged1 or   
draw on the besiegers  to a general     
engagement4 ,in neither were they       
successful2 and the  famine in ,damietta
 became so dreadful1 that vermin of     
every description  were thought         
luxuries1 and sold for exorbitant       
prices4 ,a dead dog  became more        
valuable than a live ox in time of      
prosperity4 ,unwholesome  food brought  
on disease1 and the city could hold out 
no longer1 for  absolute want of men to 
defend the walls4    ,cohreddin and     
,camhel were alike interested in the    
preservation of so  important a         
position1 and1 convinced of the certain 
fate of the city1  they opened a        
conference with the crusading chiefs1   

offering to yield  the whole of         
,palestine to the ,christians1 upon the 
sole condition of  the evacuation of    
,egypt4 ,with a blindness and           
wrong-headedness almost  incredible1    
these advantageous terms were refused1  
chiefly through the  persuasion of      
,cardinal ,pelagius1 an ignorant and    
obstinate fanatic1 who  urged upon the  
,duke of ,austria and the ,french and   
,english leaders1 that  infidels never  
kept their word2 that their offers were 
deceptive1 and  merely intended to      
betray4 ,the conferences were brought to
 an abrupt  termination by the          
crusaders1 and a last attack made upon  
the walls of  ,damietta4 ,the besieged  
made but slight resistance1 for they had
 no  hope1 and the ,christians entered  
the city1 and found1 out of seventy     
thousand people1 but three thousand     
remaining3 so fearful had been the      
ravages of the twin fiends1 plague and  
famine4    ,several months were spent in
 ,damietta4 ,the climate either weakened

 the  frames or obscured the            
understandings of the ,christians2 for1 
after  their conquest1 they lost all    
energy1 and abandoned themselves more   
unscrupulously than ever to riot and    
debauchery4 ,john of ,brienne1 who1  by 
right of his wife1 was the nominal      
sovereign of ,jerusalem1 was so         
disgusted with the pusillanimity1       
arrogance1 and dissensions of the       
chiefs1 that he withdrew entirely from  
them1 and retired to ,acre4  ,large     
bodies also returned to ,europe1 and    
,cardinal ,pelagius was left at  liberty
 to blast the whole enterprise whenever 
it pleased him4 ,he  managed to         
conciliate ,john of ,brienne1 and       
marched forward with these  combined    
forces to attack ,cairo4 ,it was only   
when he had approached  within a few    
hours' march of that city1 that he      
discovered the  inadequacy of his army4 
,he turned back immediately1 but the    
,nile had  risen since his departure2   
the sluices were opened1 and there was  

no  means of reaching ,damietta4 ,in    
this strait1 he sued for the peace he   
had formerly spurned1 and1 happily for  
himself1 found the generous  brothers1  
,camhel and ,cohreddin1 still willing to
 grant it4 ,damietta was  soon          
afterwards given up1 and the ,cardinal  
returned to ,europe4  ,john of  ,brienne
 retired to ,acre1 to mourn the loss of 
his kingdom1 embittered  against the    
folly of his pretended friends1 who had 
ruined where they  should have aided    
him4 ,and thus ended the sixth ,crusade4
    ,the seventh was more successful4   
,frederic ,,ii1 ,emperor of ,germany1   
had  often vowed to lead his armies to  
the defence of ,palestine1 but was as   
often deterred from the journey by      
matters of more pressing importance4    
,cohreddin was a mild and enlightened   
monarch1 and the ,christians of  ,syria 
enjoyed repose and toleration under his 
rule3 but ,john of ,brienne  was not    
willing to lose his kingdom without an  
effort2 and the ,popes in  ,europe were 

ever willing to embroil the nations for 
the sake of  extending their own power4 
,no monarch of that age was capable of  
rendering more effective assistance than
 ,frederic of ,germany4 ,to  inspire him
 with more zeal1 it was proposed that he
 should wed the  young ,princess1       
,violante1 daughter of ,john of         
,brienne1 and heiress of  the kingdom of
 ,jerusalem4 ,frederic consented with   
joy and eagerness4  ,the ,princess was  
brought from ,acre to ,rome without     
delay1 and her  marriage celebrated on a
 scale of great magnificence4 ,her      
father1 ,john  of ,brienne1 abdicated   
all his rights in favour of his         
son-in-law1 and  ,jerusalem had once    
more a king1 who had not only the will1 
but the  power1 to enforce his claims4  
,preparations for the new crusade were  
immediately commenced1 and in the course
 of six months the ,emperor was  at the 
head of a well-disciplined army of sixty
 thousand men4 ,matthew  ,paris informs 
us1 that an army of the same amount was 

gathered in  ,england2 and most of the  
writers upon the ,crusades adopt his    
statement4  ,when ,john of ,brienne was 
in ,england1 before his daughter's      
marriage  with the ,emperor was thought 
of1 praying for the aid of ,henry ,,iii4
 and  his nobles to recover his lost    
kingdom1 he did not meet with much      
encouragement4 ,grafton1 in his         
,chronicle1 says1 he departed again     
without any great comfort4 ,but when a  
man of more influence in  ,european     
politics appeared upon the scene1 the   
,english nobles were as  ready to       
sacrifice themselves in the cause as    
they had been in the time  of ,coeur de 
,lion4    ,the army of ,frederic        
encamped at ,brundusium2 but a          
pestilential disease  having made its   
appearance among them1 their departure  
was delayed for  several months4 ,in the
 mean time the ,empress ,violante died  
in  child-bed4 ,john of ,brienne1 who   
had already repented of his abdication1 
and was besides incensed against        

,frederic for many acts of neglect and  
insult1 no sooner saw the only tie which
 bound them1 severed by the  death of   
his daughter1 than he began to bestir   
himself1 and make  interest with the    
,pope to undo what he had done1 and     
regain the  honorary crown he had       
renounced4 ,pope ,gregory the ,ninth1 a 
man of a  proud1 unconciliating1 and    
revengeful character1 owed the ,emperor 
a  grudge for many an act of            
disobedience to his authority1 and      
encouraged  the overtures of ,john of   
,brienne more than he should have done4 
,frederic1 however1 despised them both1 
and1 as soon as his army was            
convalescent1 set sail for ,acre4 ,he   
had not been many days at sea1 when  he 
was himself attacked with the malady1   
and obliged to return to  ,otranto1 the 
nearest port4 ,gregory1 who had by this 
time decided in the  interest of ,john  
of ,brienne1 excommunicated the ,emperor
 for returning  from so holy an         
expedition on any pretext whatever4     

,frederic at first  treated the         
excommunication with supreme contempt2  
but when he got  well1 he gave his      
,holiness to understand that he was not 
to be outraged  with impunity1 and sent 
some of his troops to ravage the ,papal 
territories4 ,this1 however1 only made  
the matter worse1 and ,gregory          
despatched messengers to ,palestine1    
forbidding the faithful1 under  severe  
pains and penalties1 to hold any        
intercourse with the  excommunicated    
,emperor4 ,thus between them both1 the  
scheme which they  had so much at heart 
bade fair to be as effectually ruined as
 even the  ,saracens could have wished4 
,frederic still continued his zeal in   
the  ,crusade1 for he was now ,king of  
,jerusalem1 and fought for himself1 and 
not for ,christendom1 or its            
representative1 ,pope ,gregory4 ,hearing
 that  ,john of ,brienne was preparing  
to leave ,europe1 he lost no time in    
taking his own departure1 and arrived   
safely at ,acre4 ,it was here that  he  

first experienced the evil effects of   
excommunication4 ,the  ,christians of   
,palestine refused to aid him in any    
way1 and looked with  distrust1 if not  
with abhorrence1 upon him4 ,the         
,templars1 ,hospitallers1  and other    
knights1 shared at first the general    
feeling2 but they were  not men to yield
 a blind obedience to a distant         
potentate1 especially  when it          
compromised their own interests4 ,when1 
therefore1 ,frederic  prepared to march 
upon ,jerusalem without them1 they      
joined his banners  to a man4    ,it is 
said1 that previous to quitting ,europe1
 the ,german ,emperor had  commenced a  
negotiation with the ,sultan ,camhel for
 the restoration of  the ,holy ,land1   
and that ,camhel1 who was jealous of the
 ambition of his  brother ,cohreddin1   
was willing to stipulate to that effect1
 on  condition of being secured by      
,frederic in the possession of the more 
important territory of ,egypt4 ,but     
before the crusaders reached            

,palestine1 ,camhel was relieved from   
all fears by the death of his  brother4 
,he nevertheless did not think it worth 
while to contest with  the crusaders the
 barren corner of the earth which had   
already been  dyed with so much         
,christian and ,saracen blood1 and      
proposed a truce of  three years1 only  
stipulating1 in addition1 that the      
,moslems should be  allowed to worship  
freely in the ,temple of ,jerusalem4    
,this happy  termination did not satisfy
 the bigoted ,christians of ,palestine4 
,the  tolerance they fought for         
themselves1 they were not willing to    
extend  to others1 and they complained  
bitterly of the privilege of free       
worship allowed to their opponents4     
,unmerited good fortune had made  them  
insolent1 and they contested the right  
of the ,emperor to become a  party to   
any treaty1 as long as he remained under
 the ecclesiastical  ban4 ,frederic was 
disgusted with his new subjects2 but1 as
 the ,templars  and ,hospitallers       

remained true to him1 he marched to     
,jerusalem to be  crowned4 ,all the     
churches were shut against him1 and he  
could not even  find a priest to        
officiate at his coronation4 ,he had    
despised the ,papal  authority too long 
to quail at it now1 when it was so      
unjustifiably  exerted1 and1 as there   
was nobody to crown him1 he very wisely 
crowned  himself4 ,he took the royal    
diadem from the altar with his own      
hands1  and boldly and proudly placed it
 on his brow4 ,no shouts of an          
applauding populace made the welkin     
ring1 no hymns of praise and  triumph   
resounded from the ministers of         
religion2 but a thousand swords  started
 from their scabbards1 to testify that  
their owners would defend  the new      
monarch to the death4    ,it was hardly 
to be expected that he would renounce   
for any long period  the dominion of his
 native land for the uneasy crown and   
barren soil of  ,palestine4 ,he had seen
 quite enough of his new subjects before

 he was  six months among them1 and more
 important interests called him home4   
,john of ,brienne1 openly leagued with  
,pope ,gregory against him1 was         
actually employed in ravaging his       
territories at the head of a papal      
army4 ,this intelligence decided his    
return4 ,as a preliminary step1 he  made
 those who had contemned his authority  
feel1 to their sorrow1 that  he was     
their master4 ,he then set sail1 loaded 
with the curses of  ,palestine4 ,and    
thus ended the seventh ,crusade1 which1 
in spite of every  obstacle and         
disadvantage1 had been productive of    
more real service to  the ,holy ,land   
than any that had gone before2 a result 
solely  attributable to the bravery of  
,frederic and the generosity of the     
,sultan ,camhel4    ,soon after the     
,emperor's departure a new claimant     
started for the  throne of ,jerusalem1  
in the person of ,alice1 ,queen of      
,cyprus1 and  half-sister of the ,mary  
who1 by her marriage1 had transferred   

her right  to ,john of ,brienne4 ,the   
grand military orders1 however1 clung to
  ,frederic1 and ,alice was obliged to  
withdraw4    ,so peaceful a termination 
to the ,crusade did not give unmixed    
pleasure  in ,europe4 ,the chivalry of  
,france and ,england were unable to     
rest1 and  long before the conclusion of
 the truce1 were collecting their armies
  for an eighth expedition4 ,in         
,palestine1 also1 the contentment was   
far  from universal4 ,many petty        
,mahomedan states in the immediate      
vicinity  were not parties to the truce1
 and harassed the frontier towns        
incessantly4 ,the ,templars1 ever       
turbulent1 waged bitter war with the    
,sultan of ,aleppo1 and in the end were 
almost exterminated4 ,so great was  the 
slaughter among them that ,europe       
resounded with the sad story of  their  
fate1 and many a noble knight took arms 
to prevent the total  destruction of an 
order associated with so many high and  
inspiring  remembrances4 ,camhel1 seeing

 the preparations that were making1     
thought  that his generosity had been   
sufficiently shown1 and the very day the
  truce was at an end assumed the       
offensive1 and marching forward to      
,jerusalem took possession of it1 after 
routing the scanty forces of the        
,christians4 ,before this intelligence  
reached ,europe a large body of         
crusaders was on the march1 headed by   
the ,king of ,navarre1 the ,duke of     
,burgundy1 the ,count de ,bretagne1 and 
other leaders4 ,on their arrival1  they 
learned that ,jerusalem had been taken1 
but that the ,sultan was  dead1 and his 
kingdom torn by rival claimants to the  
supreme power4 ,the  dissensions of     
their foes ought to have made them      
united1 but1 as in  all previous        
,crusades1 each feudal chief was master 
of his own host1  and acted upon his own
 responsibility1 and without reference  
to any  general plan4 ,the consequence  
was that nothing could be done4 ,a      
temporary advantage was gained by one   

leader1 who had no means of  improving  
it1 while another was defeated1 without 
means of retrieving  himself4 ,thus the 
war lingered till the battle of ,gaza1  
when the ,king  of ,navarre was defeated
 with great loss1 and compelled to save 
himself  from total destruction by      
entering into a hard and oppressive     
treaty  with the ,emir of ,karac4    ,at
 this crisis aid arrived from ,england1 
commanded by ,richard ,earl of          
,cornwall1 the namesake of ,coeur de    
,lion1 and inheritor of his valour4     
,his army was strong1 and full of hope4 
,they had confidence in  themselves and 
in their leader1 and looked like men    
accustomed to  victory4 ,their coming   
changed the aspect of affairs4 ,the new 
,sultan of  ,egypt was at war with the  
,sultan of ,damascus1 and had not forces
 to  oppose two enemies so powerful4 ,he
 therefore sent messengers to meet  the 
,english ,earl1 offering an exchange of 
prisoners and the complete  cession of  
the ,holy ,land4 ,richard1 who had not  

come to fight for the  mere sake of     
fighting1 agreed at once to terms so    
advantageous1 and  became the deliverer 
of ,palestine without striking a blow4  
,the ,sultan  of ,egypt then turned his 
whole force against his ,moslem enemies1
 and  the ,earl of ,cornwall returned to
 ,europe4 ,thus ended the eighth        
,crusade1  the most beneficial of all4  
,christendom had no further pretence for
  sending her fierce levies to the      
,east4 ,to all appearance1 the holy wars
  were at an end3 the ,christians had   
entire possession of ,jerusalem1        
,tripoli1 ,antioch1 ,edessa1 ,acre1     
,jaffa1 and1 in fact1 of nearly all     
,judea2 and1 could they have been at    
peace among themselves1 they might  have
 overcome1 without great difficulty1 the
 jealousy and hostility of  their       
neighhours4 ,a circumstance1 as         
unforeseen as it was disastrous1        
blasted this fair prospect1 and         
reillumed1 for the last time1 the       
fervour and fury of the ,crusades4      

,gengis ,khan and his successors had    
swept over ,asia like a tropical  storm1
 overturning in their progress the      
landmarks of ages4 ,kingdom  after      
kingdom was cast down as they issued1   
innumerable1 from the far  recesses of  
the ,north and ,east1 and1 among others1
 the empire of  ,korasmin was overrun by
 these all-conquering hordes4 ,the      
,korasmins1 a  fierce1 uncivilized race1
 thus driven from their homes1 spread   
themselves1 in their turn1 over the     
south of ,asia with fire and sword1  in 
search of a resting place4 ,in their    
impetuous course they directed          
themselves towards ,egypt1 whose        
,sultan1 unable to withstand the swarm  
that had cast their longing eyes on the 
fertile valleys of the ,nile1           
endeavoured to turn them from their     
course4 ,for this purpose1 he sent      
emissaries to ,barbaquan1 their leader1 
inviting them to settle in  ,palestine2 
and the offer being accepted by the wild
 horde1 they entered  the country before

 the ,christians received the slightest 
intimation of  their coming4 ,it was as 
sudden as it was overwhelming4          
,onwards1 like  the simoom1 they came1  
burning and slaying1 and were at the    
walls of  ,jerusalem before the         
inhabitants had time to look round them4
 ,they  spared neither life nor         
property2 they slew women and children1 
and  priests at the altar1 and profaned 
even the graves of those who had  slept 
for ages4 ,they tore down every vestige 
of the ,christian faith1  and committed 
horrors unparalleled in the history of  
warfare4 ,about  seven thousand of the  
inhabitants of ,jerusalem sought safety 
in  retreat2 but before they were out of
 sight1 the banner of the ,cross was    
hoisted upon the walls by the savage foe
 to decoy them back4 ,the  artifice was 
but too successful4 ,the poor fugitives 
imagined that help  had arrived from    
another direction1 and turned back to   
regain their  homes4 ,nearly the whole  
of them were massacred1 and the streets 

of  ,jerusalem ran with blood4    ,the  
,templars1 ,hospitallers1 and ,teutonic 
knights forgot their long and  bitter   
animosities1 and joined hand in hand to 
rout out this desolating  foe4 ,they    
intrenched themselves in ,jaffa with all
 the chivalry of  ,palestine that yet   
remained1 and endeavoured to engage the 
,sultans of  ,emissa and ,damascus to   
assist them against the common enemy4   
,the aid  obtained from the ,moslems    
amounted at first to only four thousand 
men1  but with these reinforcements     
,walter of ,brienne1 the ,lord of       
,jaffa1  resolved to give battle to the 
,korasrains4 ,the conflict was as deadly
  as despair on the one side1 and       
unmitigated ferocity on the other1      
could make it4 ,it lasted with varying  
fortune for two days1 when the  ,sultan 
of ,emissa fled to his fortifications1  
and ,walter of ,brienne fell  into the  
enemy's hands4 ,the brave knight was    
suspended by the arms to a  cross in    
sight of the walls of ,jaffa1 and the   

,korasminian leader  declared that he   
should remain in that position until the
 city  surrendered4 ,walter raised his  
feeble voice1 not to advise surrender1  
but to command his soldiers to hold out 
to the last4 ,but his gallantry  was    
unavailing4 ,so great had been the      
slaughter1 that out of the grand  array 
of knights1 there now remained but      
sixteen ,hospitallers1  thirty-three    
,templars1 and three ,teutonic          
cavaliers4 ,these with the sad  remnant 
of the army fled to ,acre1 and the      
,korasmins were masters of  ,palestine4 
,the ,sultans of ,syria preferred the   
,christians to this fierce horde for    
their neighbours4 ,even the ,sultan of  
,egypt began to regret the aid he  had  
given to such barbarous foes1 and united
 with those of ,emissa and  ,damascus to
 root them from the land4 ,the          
,korasmins amounted to but  twenty      
thousand men1 and were unable to resist 
the determined hostility  which         
encompassed them on every side4 ,the    

,sultans defeated them in  several      
engagements1 and the peasantry rose up  
in masses to take  vengeance upon them4 
,gradually their numbers were           
diminished4 ,no mercy  was shown them in
 defeat4 ,barbaquan1 their leader1 was  
slain1 and after  five years of         
desperate struggles they were finally   
extirpated1 and  ,palestine became once 
more the territory of the ,mussulmans4  
,a short time previous to this          
devastating irruption1 ,louis ,,ix4     
fell  sick in ,paris1 and dreamed in the
 delirium of his fever that he saw the  
,christian and ,moslem hosts fighting   
before ,jerusalem1 and the  ,christians 
defeated with great slaughter4 ,the     
dream made a great  impression on his   
superstitious mind1 and he made a solemn
 vow that if  ever he recovered his     
health1 he would take a pilgrimage to   
the ,holy  ,land4 ,when the news of the 
misfortunes of ,palestine1 and the awful
  massacres at ,jerusalem and ,jaffa1   
arrived in ,europe1 ,st4 ,louis         

remembered him of his dream4 ,more      
persuaded than ever1 that it was an     
intimation direct from ,heaven1 he      
prepared to take the ,cross at the  head
 of his armies1 and march to the        
deliverance of the ,holy ,sepulchre4    
,from that moment he doffed the royal   
mantle of purple and ermine1 and        
dressed in the sober serge becoming a   
pilgrim4 ,all his thoughts were         
directed to the fulfilment of his       
design1 and although his kingdom  could 
but ill spare him1 he made every        
preparation to leave it4 ,pope          
,innocent ,,iv4 applauded his zeal and  
afforded him every assistance4 ,he      
wrote to ,henry ,,iii4 of ,england to   
forward the cause in his dominions1  and
 called upon the clergy and laity all   
over ,europe to contribute  towards it4 
,william ,longsword1 the celebrated     
,earl of ,salisbury1 took  the ,cross at
 the head of a great number of valiant  
knights and  soldiers4 ,but the         
fanaticism of the people was not to be  

awakened  either in ,france or ,england4
 ,great armies were raised1 but the     
masses  no longer sympathized4 ,taxation
 had been the great cooler of zeal4 ,it 
was no longer a disgrace even to a      
knight if he refused to take the        
,cross4 ,rutebeuf1 a ,french minstrel1  
who flourished about this time  7#abej71
 composed a dialogue between a crusader 
and a non-crusader1  which the reader   
will find translated in ,way's          
,fabliaux4 ,the crusader  uses every    
argument to persuade the non-crusader to
 take up arms1 and  forsake every thing1
 in the holy cause2 but it is evident   
from the  greater force of the arguments
 used by the noncrusader1 that he was   
the  favourite of the minstrel4 ,to a   
most urgent solicitation of his friend1 
the crusader1 he replies1      ,i read  
thee right1 thou boldest good      ,to  
this same land ,i straight should hie1  
,and win it back with mickle blood1     
,nor gaine one foot of soil thereby4    
,while here dejected and forlorn1    ,my

 wife and babes are left to mourn2      
,my goodly mansion rudely marred1       
,all trusted to my dogs to guard4       
,but ,i1 fair comrade1 well ,i wot      
,an ancient saw1 of pregnant wit1       
,doth bid us keep what we have got1     
,and troth ,i mean to follow it4        
,this being the general feeling1 it is  
not to be wondered at that ,louis  ,,ix4
 was occupied fully three years in      
organizing his forces1 and in  making   
the necessary preparations for his      
departure4 ,when all was ready  he set  
sail for ,cyprus1 accompanied by his    
,queen1 his two brothers1 the  ,counts  
d',anjou and d',artois1 and a long train
 of the noblest chivalry  of ,france4   
,his third brother1 the ,count de       
,poitiers1 remained behind to  collect  
another corps of crusaders1 and followed
 him in a few months  afterwards4 ,the  
army united at ,cyprus1 and amounted to 
fifty thousand  men1 exclusive of the   
,english crusaders under ,william       
,longsword4 ,again1  a pestilential     

disease made its appearance1 to which   
many hundreds fell  victims4 ,it was in 
consequence found necessary to remain in
 ,cyprus  until the spring4 ,louis then 
embarked for ,egypt with his whole host2
  but a violent tempest separated his   
fleet1 and he arrived before  ,damietta 
with only a few thousand men4 ,they     
were1 however1 impetuous  and full of   
hope2 and although the ,sultan ,melick  
,shah was drawn up on  the shore with a 
force infinitely superior1 it was       
resolved to attempt  a landing without  
waiting the arrival of the rest of the  
army4 ,louis  himself in wild impatience
 sprang from his boat1 and waded on     
shore2  while his army1 inspired by his 
enthusiastic bravery1 followed1         
shouting the old war-cry of the first   
crusaders1 ,dieu le veut6 ,dieu le      
veut6 ,a panic seized the ,turks4 ,a    
body of their cavalry attempted to  bear
 down upon the crusaders1 but the       
knights fixed their large shields  deep 
in the sands of the shore1 and rested   

their lances upon them1 so  that they   
projected above1 and formed a barrier so
 imposing1 that the  ,turks1 afraid to  
breast it1 turned round and fairly took 
to flight4 ,at  the moment of this      
panic1 a false report was spread in the 
,saracen  host1 that the ,sultan had    
been slain4 ,the confusion immediately  
became  general--the deroute was        
complete3 ,damietta itself was          
abandoned1 and  the same night the      
victorious crusaders fixed their        
headquarters in  that city4 ,the        
soldiers who had been separated from    
their chief by the  tempest1 arrived    
shortly afterwards2 and ,louis was in a 
position to  justify the hope1 not only 
of the conquest of ,palestine1 but of   
,egypt  itself4    ,but too much        
confidence proved the bane of his army4 
,they thought1 as  they had accomplished
 so much1 that nothing more remained to 
be done1  and gave themselves up to ease
 and luxury4 ,when1 by the command of   
,louis1 they marched towards ,cairo1    

they were no longer the same men2       
success1 instead of inspiring1 had      
unnerved them2 debauchery had  brought  
on disease1 and disease was aggravated  
by the heat of a climate  to which none 
of them were accustomed4 ,their progress
 towards ,massoura1  on the road to     
,cairo1 was checked by the ,thanisian   
canal1 on the banks  of which the       
,saracens were drawn up to dispute the  
passage4  ,louis gave  orders that a    
bridge should be thrown across2 and the 
operations  commenced under cover of two
 cat-castles1 or high moveable towers4  
,the  ,saracens soon destroyed them by  
throwing quantities of ,greek fire1 the 
artillery of that day1 upon them1 and   
,louis was forced to think of some      
other means of effecting his design4 ,a 
peasant agreed1 for a  considerable     
bribe1 to point out a ford where the    
army might wade  across1 and the ,count 
d',artois was despatched with fourteen  
hundred men  to attempt it1 while ,louis
 remained to face the ,saracens with the

 main  body of the army4 ,the ,count    
d',artois got safely over1 and defeated 
the  detachment that had been sent to   
oppose his landing4  ,flushed with the  
victory1 the brave ,count forgot the    
inferiority of his numbers1 and  pursued
 the panic-stricken enemy into          
,massoura4 ,he was now completely  cut  
off from the aid of his                 
brother-crusaders1 which the ,moslems   
perceiving1 took courage and returned   
upon him1 with a force swollen by  the  
garrison of ,massoura1 and by           
reinforcements from the surrounding     
districts4 ,the battle now became hand  
to hand4  ,the ,christians fought  with 
the energy of desperate men1 but the    
continually increasing  numbers of the  
foe surrounded them completely1 and cut 
off all hope1  either of victory or     
escape4 ,the ,count d',artois was among 
the foremost  of the slain1 and when    
,louis arrived to the rescue1 the brave 
advance-guard was nearly cut to pieces4 
,of the fourteen hundred but  three     

hundred remained4 ,the fury of the      
battle was now increased  threefold4    
,the ,french ,king and his troops       
performed prodigies of  valour1 and the 
,saracens1 under the command of the     
,emir ,ceccidun1  fought as if they were
 determined to exterminate1 in one last 
decisive  effort1 the new ,european     
swarm that had settled upon their coast4
 ,at  the fall of the evening dews the  
,christians were masters of the field   
of ,massoura1 and flattered themselves  
that they were the victors4  ,self-love 
would not suffer them to confess that   
the ,saracens had  withdrawn1 and not   
retreated2 but their leaders were too   
wofully  convinced that that fatal field
 had completed the disorganization of   
the ,christian army1 and that all hopes 
of future conquest were at an  end4     
,impressed with this truth1 the         
crusaders sued for peace4 ,the ,sultan  
insisted upon the immediate evacuation  
of ,damietta1 and that ,louis  himself  
should be delivered as hostage for the  

fulfilment of the  condition4 ,his army 
at once refused1 and the negotiations   
were broken  off4 ,it was now resolved  
to attempt a retreat2 but the agile     
,saracens1  now in the front and now in 
the rear1 rendered it a matter of       
extreme  difficulty1 and cut off the    
stragglers in great numbers4 ,hundreds  
of  them were drowned in the ,nile2 and 
sickness and famine worked sad  ravage  
upon those who escaped all other        
casualties4 ,louis himself was  so      
weakened by disease1 fatigue1 and       
discouragement that he was hardly  able 
to sit upon his horse4 ,in the confusion
 of the flight he was  separated from   
his attendants1 and left a total        
stranger upon the sands  of ,egypt1     
sick1 weary1 and almost friendless4 ,one
 knight1 ,geffry de  ,sergines1 alone   
attended him1 and led him to a miserable
 hut in a small  village1 where for     
several days he lay in the hourly       
expectation of  death4 ,he was at last  
discovered and taken prisoner by the    

,saracens1  who treated him with all the
 honour due to his rank and all the pity
  due to his misfortunes4 ,under their  
care his health rapidly improved1  and  
the next consideration was that of his  
ransom4    ,the ,saracens demanded1     
besides money1 the cession of ,acre1    
,tripoli1 and  other cities of          
,palestine4 ,louis unhesitatingly       
refused1 and conducted  himself with so 
much pride and courage that the ,sultan 
declared he was  the proudest infidel he
 had ever beheld4 ,after a good deal of 
haggling1  the ,sultan agreed to waive  
these conditions1 and a treaty was      
finally  concluded4 ,the city of        
,damietta was restored2 a truce of ten  
years  agreed upon1 and ten thousand    
golden bezants paid for the release of  
,louis and the liberation of all the    
captives4 ,louis then withdrew to       
,jaffa1 and spent two years in putting  
that city1 and ,cesarea1 with the  other
 possessions of the ,christians in      
,palestine1 into a proper state  of     

defence4 ,he then returned to his own   
country1 with great reputation  as a    
saint1 but very little as a soldier4    
,matthew ,paris informs us that1 in the 
year #abej1 while ,louis was in  ,egypt1
 thousands of the ,english were resolved
 to go to the holy war1  had not the    
,king strictly guarded his ports and    
kept his people from  running out of    
doors4 ,when the news arrived of the    
reverses and  captivity of the ,french  
,king1 their ardour cooled2 and the     
,crusade was  sung of only1 but not     
spoken of4    ,in ,france1 a very       
different feeling was the result4 ,the  
news of the  ,king's capture spread     
consternation through the country4 ,a   
fanatic monk  of ,citeaux suddenly      
appeared in the villages1 preaching to  
the people1  and announcing that the    
,holy ,virgin1 accompanied by a whole   
army of  saints and martyrs1 had        
appeared to him1 and commanded him to   
stir up  the shepherds and farm         
labourers to the defence of the ,cross4 

,to them  only was his discourse        
addressed1 and his eloquence was such   
that  thousands flocked around him1     
ready to follow wherever he should lead4
  ,the pastures and the corn-fields were
 deserted1 and the shepherds1 or        
pastoureaux1 as they were termed1 became
 at last so numerous as to  amount to   
upwards of fifty thousand1--,millot says
 one hundred thousand  men4 ,elemens de 
l',histoire de ,france4 ,the ,queen     
,blanche1 who governed  as ,regent      
during the absence of the ,king1        
encouraged at first the  armies of the  
pastoureaux2 but they soon gave way to  
such vile excesses  that the peaceably  
disposed were driven to resistance4     
,robbery1 murder1  and violation marked 
their path2 and all good men1 assisted  
by the  government1 united in putting   
them down4  ,they were finally          
dispersed1  but not before three        
thousand of them had been massacred4    
,many authors  say that the slaughter   
was still greater4    ,the ten years'   

truce concluded in #abfd1 and ,st4      
,louis was urged by two  powerful       
motives to undertake a second expedition
 for the relief of  ,palestine4 ,these  
were fanaticism on the one hand1 and a  
desire of  retrieving his military fame 
on the other1 which had suffered more   
than  his parasites liked to remind him 
of4 ,the ,pope1 of course1 encouraged   
his design1 and once more the chivalry  
of ,europe began to bestir  themselves4 
,in #abfh1 ,edward1 the heir of the     
,english monarchy1  announced his       
determination to join the ,crusade2 and 
the ,pope 7,clement  ,,iv47 wrote to the
 prelates and clergy to aid the cause by
 their  persuasions and their revenues4 
,in ,england1 they agreed to contribute 
a  tenth of their possessions2 and by a 
parliamentary order1 a twentieth  was   
taken from the corn and moveables of all
 the laity at ,michaelmas4    ,in spite 
of the remonstrances of the few         
clearheaded statesmen who  surrounded   
him1 urging the ruin that might in      

consequence fall upon his  then         
prosperous kingdom1 ,louis made every   
preparation for his  departure4 ,the    
warlike nobility were nothing loth1 and 
in the spring of  #abgj1 the ,king set  
sail with an army of sixty thousand men4
 ,he was  driven by stress of weather   
into ,sardinia1 and while there1 a      
change in  his plans took place4        
,instead of proceeding to ,acre1 as he  
originally  intended1 he shaped his     
course for ,tunis1 on the ,african      
coast4 ,the  ,king of ,tunis had some   
time previously expressed himself       
favourably  disposed towards the        
,christians and their religion1 and     
,louis1 it  appears1 had hopes of       
converting him1 and securing his aid    
against the  ,sultan of ,egypt4 ,what   
honour would be mine1 he used to say1 if
 ,i  could become godfather to this     
,mussulman ,king4 ,filled with this idea
  he landed in ,africa1 near the site of
 the city of ,carthage1 but found  that 
he had reckoned without his host4 ,the  

,king of ,tunis had no  thoughts of     
renouncing his religion1 nor intention  
of aiding the  ,crusaders in any way4   
,on the contrary1 he opposed their      
landing with  all the forces that could 
be collected on so sudden an emergency4 
,the  ,french1 however1 made good their 
first position1 and defeated the        
,moslems with considerable loss4 ,they  
also gained some advantage over  the    
reinforcements that were sent to oppose 
them2 but an infectious  flux appeared  
in the army1 and put a stop to all      
future victories4 ,the  soldiers died at
 the rate of a hundred in a day4 ,the   
enemy1 at the same  time1 made as great 
havoc as the plague4 ,st4 ,louis himself
 was one of  the first attacked by the  
disease4 ,his constitution had been     
weakened  by fatigues1 and even before  
he left ,france he was unable to bear   
the  full weight of his armour4 ,it was 
soon evident to his sorrowing  soldiers 
that their beloved monarch could not    
long survive4  ,he  lingered for some   

days1 and died in ,carthage1 in the     
fifty-sixth year  of his age1 deeply    
regretted by his army and his subjects1 
and leaving  behind him one of the most 
singular reputations in history4 ,he is 
the  model-king of ecclesiastical       
writers1 in whose eyes his very defects 
became virtues1 because they were       
manifested in furtherance of their      
cause4 ,more unprejudiced historians1   
while they condemn his fanaticism1      
admit that he was endowed with many high
 and rare qualities2 that he  was in no 
one point behind his age1 and1 in many1 
in advance of it4    ,his brother1      
,charles of ,anjou1 in consequence of a 
revolution in  ,sicily1 had become ,king
 of that country4 ,before he heard of   
the death  of ,louis1 he had sailed from
 ,messina with large reinforcements4 ,on
 his  landing near ,carthage1 he        
advanced at the head of his army1 amid  
the  martial music of drums and         
trumpets4 ,he was soon informed how     
inopportune was his rejoicing1 and shed 

tears before his whole army1  such as no
 warrior would have been ashamed to     
shed4 ,a peace was  speedily agreed upon
 with the ,king of ,tunis1 and the      
armies of ,france  and ,sicily returned 
to their homes4    ,so little favour had
 the ,crusade found in ,england1 that   
even the  exertions of the heir to the  
throne had only collected a small force 
of  fifteen hundred men4 ,with these few
 ,prince ,edward sailed from ,dover to  
,bourdeaux1 in the expectation that he  
would find the ,french ,king in  that   
city4 ,st4 ,louis1 however1 had left a  
few weeks previously2 upon  which       
,edward followed him to ,sardinia1 and  
afterwards to ,tunis4 ,before  his      
arrival in ,africa1 ,st4 ,louis was no  
more1 and peace had been  concluded     
between ,france and ,tunis4 ,he         
determined1 however1 not to  relinquish 
the ,crusade4 ,returning to ,sicily1 he 
passed the winter in  that country1 and 
endeavoured to augment his little army4 
,in the spring  he set sail for         

,palestine1 and arrived in safety at    
,acre4 ,the  ,christians were torn1 as  
usual1 by mutual jealousies and         
animosities4  ,the two great military   
orders were as virulent and as          
intractable as  ever2 opposed to each   
other1 and to all the world4 ,the       
arrival of  ,edward had the effect of   
causing them to lay aside their unworthy
  contention1 and of uniting heart to   
heart1 in one last effort for the       
deliverance of their adopted country4 ,a
 force of six thousand effective        
warriors was soon formed to join those  
of the ,english prince1 and             
preparations were made for the renewal  
of hostilities4 ,the ,sultan1  ,bibars  
or ,bendocdar1 ,mills1 in his history1  
gives the name of this  chief as ,al    
,malek al ,dhaker ,rokneddin ,abulfeth  
,bibars al ,ali al  ,bundokdari al      
,salehi4 a fierce ,mamluke1 who had been
 placed on the  throne by a bloody      
revolution1 was at war with all his     
neighbours1 and  unable1 for that       

reason1 to concentrate his whole        
strength against  them4 ,edward took    
advantage of this2 and marching boldly  
forward to  ,nazareth1 defeated the     
,turks and gained possession of that    
city4 ,this  was the whole amount of his
 successes4 ,the hot weather engendered 
disease among his troops1 and he        
himself1 the life and soul of the       
expedition1 fell sick among the first4  
,he had been ill for some time1  and was
 slowly recovering1 when a messenger    
desired to speak with him  on important 
matters1 and to deliver some despatches 
into his own hand4  ,while the ,prince  
was occupied in examining them1 the     
traitorous  messenger drew a dagger from
 his belt1 and stabbed him in the       
breast4  ,the wound fortunately was not 
deep1 and ,edward had gained a portion  
of  his strength4 ,he struggled with the
 assassin1 and put him to death with    
his own dagger1 at the same time calling
 loudly for assistance4  ,the  reader   
will recognise the incident which ,sir  

,walter ,scott has  introduced into his 
beautiful romance1 ,the ,talisman1 and  
which1 with  the licence claimed by     
poets and romancers1 he represents as   
having  befallen ,king ,richard ,i4 ,his
 attendants came at his call1 and found 
him bleeding profusely1 and ascertained 
on inspection that the dagger  was      
poisoned4 ,means were instantly taken to
 purify the wound2 and an  antidote was 
sent by the ,grand ,master of the       
,templars which removed all  danger from
 the effects of the poison4 ,camden1 in 
his history1 has  adopted the more      
popular1 and certainly more beautiful1  
version of this  story1 which says that 
the ,princess ,eleonora1 in her love for
 her  gallant husband1 sucked the poison
 from his wound at the risk of her  own 
life3 to use the words of old ,fuller1  
,it is a pity so pretty a  story should 
not be true2 and that so sovereign a    
remedy as a woman's  tongue1 anointed   
with the virtue of loving affection1    
should not have  performed the good     

deed4    ,edward suspected1 and         
doubtless not without reason1 that the  
assassin  was employed by the ,sultan of
 ,egypt4 ,but it amounted to suspicion  
only2  and by the sudden death of the   
assassin1 the principal clue to the     
discovery of the truth was lost for     
ever4 ,edward1 on his recovery1         
prepared to resume the offensive2 but   
the ,sultan1 embarrassed by the  defence
 of interests which1 for the time being1
 he considered of more  importance1 made
 offers of peace to the crusaders4      
,this proof of  weakness on the part of 
the enemy was calculated to render a man
 of  ,edward's temperament more anxious 
to prosecute the war2 but he had also   
other interests to defend4 ,news arrived
 in ,palestine of the death of  his     
father1 ,king ,henry ,,iii2 and his     
presence being necessary in  ,england1  
he agreed to the terms of the ,sultan4  
,these were1 that the  ,christians      
should be allowed to retain their       
possessions in the ,holy  ,land1 and    

that a truce of ten years should be     
proclaimed4 ,edward then  set sail for  
,england2 and thus ended the last       
,crusade4    ,the after-fate of the     
,holy ,land may be told in a few words4 
,the  ,christians1 unmindful of their   
past sufferings and of the jealous      
neighbours they had to deal with1 first 
broke the truce by plundering  some     
,egyptian traders near ,margat4 ,the    
,sultan immediately revenged the        
outrage by taking possession of ,margat1
 and war once more raged between  the   
nations4 ,margat made a gallant defence1
 but no reinforcements  arrived from    
,europe to prevent its fall4 ,tripoli   
was the next1 and  other cities in      
succession1 until at last ,acre was the 
only city of  ,palestine that remained  
in possession of the ,christians4       
,the ,grand ,master of the ,templars    
collected together his small and        
devoted band2 and with the trifling aid 
afforded by the ,king of ,cyprus1       
prepared to defend to the death the last

 possession of his order4  ,europe was  
deaf to his cry for aid1 the numbers of 
the foe were  overwhelming1 and devoted 
bravery was of no avail4 ,in that       
disastrous  siege the ,christians were  
all but exterminated4 ,the ,king of     
,cyprus fled  when he saw that          
resistance was vain1 and the ,grand     
,master fell at the  head of his        
knights1 pierced with a hundred wounds4 
,seven ,templars1 and  as many          
,hospitallets1 alone escaped from the   
dreadful carnage4 ,the  victorious      
,moslems then set fire to the city1 and 
the rule of the  ,christians in         
,palestine was brought to a close for   
ever4    ,this intelligence spread alarm
 and sorrow among the clergy of ,europe1
  who endeavoured to rouse once more the
 energy and enthusiasm of the  nations1 
in the cause of the ,holy ,land3 but the
 popular mania had run  its career2 the 
spark of zeal had burned its appointed  
time1 and was  never again to be        
re-illumined4 ,here and there a solitary

 knight  announced his determination to 
take up arms1 and now and then a king   
gave cold encouragement to the scheme2  
but it dropped almost as soon as  spoken
 of1 to be renewed again1 still more    
feebly1 at some longer  interval4       
,now what was the grand result of all   
these struggles8 ,europe expended       
millions of her treasures1 and the blood
 of two millions of her  children2 and a
 handful of quarrelsome knights retained
 possession of  ,palestine for about one
 hundred years6 ,even had ,christendom  
retained it  to this day1 the advantage1
 if confined to that1 would have been   
too  dearly purchased4 ,but             
notwithstanding the fanaticism that     
originated1  and the folly that         
conducted them1 the ,crusades were not  
productive of  unmitigated evil4 ,the   
feudal chiefs became better members of  
society1  by coming in contact1 in      
,asia1 with a civilization superior to  
their  own2 the people secured some     
small instalments of their rights2      

kings1  no longer at war with their     
nobility1 had time to pass some good    
laws2  the human mind learned some      
little wisdom from hard experience1 and1
  casting off the slough of superstition
 in which the ,roman clergy had so  long
 enveloped it1 became prepared to       
receive the seeds of the  approaching   
,reformation4 ,thus did the all-wise    
,disposer of events bring  good out of  
evil1 and advance the civilization and  
ultimate happiness  of the nations of   
the ,west1 by means of the very         
fanaticism that had  led them against   
the ,east4 ,but the whole subject is one
 of absorbing  interest2 and if carried 
fully out in all its bearings1 would    
consume  more space than the plan of    
this work will allow4 ,the philosophic  
student will draw his own conclusions2  
and he can have no better field  for the
 exercise of his powers than this       
,european madness2 its  advantages and  
disadvantages2 its causes and results4  
,,the ,,witch ,,mania4      ,what wrath 

of gods1 or wicked influence    ,of     
tears1 conspiring wretched men t'       
afflict1    ,hath pour'd on earth this  
noyous pestilence1    ,that mortal minds
 doth inwardly infect    ,with love of  
blindness and of ignorance8             
,spencer's ,tears of the ,muses4        
,countrymen3 ,hang her6--beat her6--kill
 her6    ,justice3 ,how now8 ,forbear   
this violence6    ,mother ,sawyer3 ,a   
crew of villains--a knot of bloody      
hangmen6                   set to       
torment me6--,i know not why4           
,justice3 ,alas6 neighbour ,banks1 are  
you a ringleader in mischief8           
,fie ,i to abuse an aged woman6         
,banks3 ,woman6--a she hell-cat1 a      
witch6 ,to prove her one1 we no         
sooner set fire on the thatch of her    
house1 but in she came                  
running1 as if the ,devil had sent her  
in a barrel of           gunpowder4     
,ford's ,witch of ,edmonton4      ,the  
belief that disembodied spirits may be  
permitted to revisit this  world1 has   

its foundation upon that sublime hope of
 immortality1 which  is at once the     
chief solace and greatest triumph of our
 reason4  ,even  if revelation did not  
teach us1 we feel that we have that     
within us  which shall never die2 and   
all our experience of this life but     
makes us  cling the more fondly to that 
one repaying hope4 ,but in the early    
days  of little knowledge1 this grand   
belief became the source of a whole     
train of superstitions1 which1 in their 
turn1 became the fount from  whence     
flowed a deluge of blood and horror4    
,europe1 for a period of two  centuries 
and a half1 brooded upon the idea1 not  
only that parted  spirits walked the    
earth to meddle in the affairs of men1  
but that men  had power to summon evil  
spirits to their aid to work woe upon   
their  fellows4 ,an epidemic terror     
seized upon the nations2 no man thought 
himself secure1 either in his person or 
possessions1 from the  machinations of  
the devil and his agents4 ,every        

calamity that befell  him1 he attributed
 to a witch4 ,if a storm arose and blew 
down his barn1  it was witchcraft2 if   
his cattle died of a murrain-if disease 
fastened  upon his limbs1 or death      
entered suddenly1 and snatched a beloved
 face  from his hearth--they were not   
visitations of ,providence1 but the     
works  of some neighbouring hag1 whose  
wretchedness or insanity caused the     
ignorant to raise their finger1 and     
point at her as a witch4 ,the word  was 
upon everybody's tongue--,france1       
,italy1 ,germany1 ,england1 ,scotland1  
and the far ,north1 successively ran mad
 upon this subject1 and for a  long     
series of years1 furnished their        
tribunals with so many trials for       
witchcraft that other crimes were seldom
 or never spoken of4 ,thousands  upon   
thousands of unhappy persons fell       
victims to this cruel and absurd        
delusion4 ,in many cities of ,germany1  
as will be shown more fully in its  due 
place hereafter1 the average number of  

executions for this  pretended crime1   
was six hundred annually1 or two every  
day1 if we  leave out the ,sundays1     
when1 it is to be supposed1 that even   
this  madness refrained from its work4  
,a misunderstanding of the famous text  
of the ,mosaic law1 ,thou shalt  not    
suffer a witch to live1 no doubt led    
many conscientious men  astray1 whose   
superstition1 warm enough before1 wanted
 but a little  corroboration to blaze   
out with desolating fury4 ,in all ages  
of the  world men have tried to hold    
converse with superior beings2 and to   
pierce1 by their means1 the secrets of  
futurity4 ,in the time of ,moses1  it is
 evident that there were impostors1 who 
trafficked upon the  credulity of       
mankind1 and insulted the supreme       
majesty of the true ,god  by pretending 
to the power of divination4 ,hence the  
law which ,moses1 by  ,divine command1  
promulgated against these criminals2 but
 it did not  follow1 as the             
superstitious monomaniacs of the middle 

ages imagined1  that the ,bible         
established the existence of the power  
of divination by  its edicts against    
those who pretended to it4 ,from the    
best  authorities1 it appears that the  
,hebrew word1 which has been rendered1  
venefica1 and witch1 means a poisoner   
and divineress--a dabbler in  spells1 or
 fortune-teller4 ,the modern witch was a
 very different  character1 and joined  
to her pretended power of foretelling   
future  events that of working evil upon
 the life1 limbs1 and possessions of    
mankind4 ,this power was only to be     
acquired by an express compact1  signed 
in blood1 with the devil himself1 by    
which the wizard or witch  renounced    
baptism1 and sold his or her immortal   
soul to the evil one1  without any      
saving clause of redemption4    ,there  
are so many wondrous appearances in     
nature1 for which science and           
philosophy cannot1 even now1 account1   
that it is not surprising that1  when   
natural laws were still less understood1

 men should have  attributed to         
supernatural agency every appearance    
which they could not  otherwise explain4
 ,the merest tyro now understands       
various phenomena  which the wisest of  
old could not fathom4 ,the schoolboy    
knows why1 upon  high mountains1 there  
should1 on certain occasions1 appear    
three or  four suns in the firmament at 
once2 and why the figure of a traveller 
upon one eminence should be reproduced1 
inverted1 and of a gigantic  stature1   
upon another4 ,we all know the strange  
pranks which imagination  can play in   
certain diseases--that the hypochondriac
 can see visions  and spectres1 and that
 there have been cases in which men were
  perfectly persuaded that they were    
teapots4 ,science has lifted up the     
veil1 and rolled away all the fantastic 
horrors in which our  forefathers       
shrouded these and similar cases4 ,the  
man who now imagines  himself a wolf1 is
 sent to the hospital1 instead of to the
 stake1 as in  the days of the witch    

mania2 and earth1 air1 and sea are      
unpeopled of  the grotesque spirits that
 were once believed to haunt them4      
,before entering further into the       
history of ,witchcraft1 it may be as    
well if we consider the absurd          
impersonation of the evil principle     
formed by the monks in their legends4   
,we must make acquaintance with  the    
primum mobile1 and understand what sort 
of a personage it was1 who  gave the    
witches1 in exchange for their souls1   
the power to torment  their             
fellow-creatures4 ,the popular notion of
 the devil was1 that he  was a large1   
ill-formed1 hairy sprite1 with horns1 a 
long tail1 cloven  feet1 and dragon's   
wings4 ,in this shape he was constantly 
brought on  the stage by the monks in   
their early miracles and mysteries4 ,in 
these representations he was an         
important personage1 and answered the   
purpose of the clown in the modern      
pantomime4 ,the great fun for the       
people was to see him well belaboured by

 the saints with clubs or  cudgels1 and 
to hear him howl with pain as he limped 
off1 maimed by the  blow of some        
vigorous anchorite4 ,st4 ,dunstan       
generally served him the  glorious trick
 for which he is renowned--catching hold
 of his nose with  a pair of red-hot    
pincers1 till      ,rocks and distant   
dells resounded with his cries4    ,some
 of the saints spat in his face1 to his 
very great annoyance2 and  others       
chopped pieces off his tail1 which1     
however1 always grew on  again4 ,this   
was paying him in his own coin1 and     
amused the populace  mightily2 for they 
all remembered the scurvy tricks he had 
played them  and their forefathers4 ,it 
was believed that he endeavoured to trip
  people up1 by laying his long         
invisible tail in their way1 and giving 
it a sudden whisk when their legs were  
over it2--that he used to get  drunk1   
and swear like a trooper1 and be so     
mischievous in his cups as  to raise    
tempests and earthquakes1 to destroy the

 fruits of the earth  and the barns and 
homesteads of true believers2--that he  
used to run  invisible spits into people
 by way of amusing himself in the long  
winter evenings1 and to proceed to      
taverns and regale himself with the     
best1 offering in payment pieces of gold
 which1 on the dawn of the  following   
morning1 invariably turned into slates4 
,sometimes1 disguised  as a large drake1
 he used to lurk among the bulrushes1   
and frighten the  weary traveller out of
 his wits by his awful quack4 ,the      
reader will  remember the lines of      
,burns in his address to the ,de'il1    
which so  well express the popular      
notion on this point--      ,ae dreary1 
windy1 winter night1    ,the stars shot 
down wi' sklentin light1    ,wi' you1   
mysel1 ,i got a fright           ,ayont 
the lough2    ,ye1 like a rash-bush1    
stood in sight           ,wi' waving    
sough4      ,the cudgel in my nieve did 
shake1    ,each bristled hair stood like
 a stake1    ,when wi' an eldritch      

stour1 'quaick6 quaick6'                
,among the springs    ,awa ye           
squatter'd1 like a drake1           ,on 
whistling wings4    ,in all the stories 
circulated and believed about him1 he   
was  represented as an ugly1 petty1     
mischievous spirit1 who rejoiced in     
playing off all manner of fantastic     
tricks upon poor humanity4 ,milton      
seems to have been the first who        
succeeded in giving any but a  ludicrous
 description of him4 ,the sublime pride 
which is the  quintessence of evil1 was 
unconceived before his time4 ,all other 
limners made him merely grotesque1 but  
,milton made him awful4 ,in this  the   
monks showed themselves but miserable   
romancers2 for their object  undoubtedly
 was to represent the fiend as terrible 
as possible3 but  there was nothing     
grand about their ,satan2 on the        
contrary1 he was a  low mean devil1 whom
 it was easy to circumvent and fine fun 
to play  tricks with4 ,but1 as is well  
and eloquently remarked by a modern     

writer1 ,see article on ,demonology1 in 
the sixth volume of the ,foreign        
,quarterly ,review4 the subject has also
 its serious side4  ,an ,indian  deity1 
with its wild distorted shape and       
grotesque attitude1 appears  merely     
ridiculous when separated from its      
accessories and viewed by  daylight in a
 museum2 but restore it to the darkness 
of its own hideous  temple1 bring back  
to our recollection the victims that    
have bled upon  its altar1 or been      
crushed beneath its ear1 and our sense  
of the  ridiculous subsides into        
aversion and horror4 ,so1 while the     
superstitious dreams of former times are
 regarded as mere speculative           
insanities1 we may be for a moment      
amused with the wild incoherences of    
the patients2 but1 when we reflect1 that
 out of these hideous  misconceptions of
 the principle of evil arose the belief 
in  witchcraft--that this was no dead   
faith1 but one operating on the whole   
being of society1 urging on the wisest  

and the mildest to deeds of  murder1 or 
cruelties scarcely less than            
murder--that the learned and  the       
beautiful1 young and old1 male and      
female1 were devoted by its  influence  
to the stake and the scaffold--every    
feeling disappears1  except that of     
astonishment that such things could be1 
and humiliation  at the thought that the
 delusion was as lasting as it was      
universal4    ,besides this chief       
personage1 there was an infinite number 
of inferior  demons1 who played         
conspicuous parts in the creed of       
witchcraft4 ,the  pages of ,bekker1     
,leloyer1 ,bodin1 ,delrio1 and ,de      
,lancre abound with  descriptions of the
 qualities of these imps and the        
functions which  were assigned them4    
,from these authors1 three of whom were 
commissioners for the trial of witches1 
and who wrote from the  confessions made
 by the supposed criminals and the      
evidence delivered  against them1 and   
from the more recent work of ,m4 ,jules 

,garinet1 the  following summary of the 
creed has been1 with great pains1       
extracted4  ,the student who is desirous
 of knowing more1 is referred to the    
works  in question2 he will find enough 
in every leaf to make his blood curdle  
with shame and horror3 but the purity of
 these pages shall not be  soiled by    
anything so ineffably humiliating and   
disgusting as a  complete exposition of 
them2 what is here culled will be a     
sufficient  sample of the popular       
belief1 and the reader would but lose   
time who  should seek in the writings of
 the ,demonologists for more ample      
details4 ,he will gain nothing by       
lifting the veil which covers their     
unutterable obscenities1 unless1 like   
,sterne1 he wishes to gather fresh      
evidence of what a beast man is4 ,in    
that case1 he will find plenty  there to
 convince him that the beast would be   
libelled by the  comparison4    ,it was 
thought that the earth swarmed with     
millions of demons of both  sexes1 many 

of whom1 like the human race1 traced    
their lineage up to  ,adam1 who1 after  
the fall1 was led astray by devils1     
assuming the forms  of beautiful women  
to deceive him4 ,these demons increased 
and  multiplied1 among themselves1 with 
the most extraordinary rapidity4  ,their
 bodies were of the thin air1 and they  
could pass though the  hardest          
substances with the greatest ease4 ,they
 had no fixed residence  or abiding     
place1 but were tossed to and fro in the
 immensity of space4  ,when thrown      
together in great multitudes1 they      
excited whirlwinds in  the air and      
tempests in the waters1 and took delight
 in destroying the  beauty of nature and
 the monuments of the industry of man4  
,although  they increased among         
themselves like ordinary creatures1     
their numbers  were daily augmented by  
the souls of wicked men--of children    
still-born--of women who died in        
childbed1 and of persons killed in      
duels4 ,the whole air was supposed to be

 full of them1 and many  unfortunate men
 and women drew them by thousands into  
their mouths and  nostrils at every     
inspiration2 and the demons1 lodging in 
their bowels  or other parts of their   
bodies1 tormented them with pains and   
diseases  of every kind1 and sent them  
frightful dreams4 ,st4  ,gregory of     
,nice  relates a story of a nun who     
forgot to say her benedicite1 and make  
the  sign of the cross1 before she sat  
down to supper1 and who1 in             
consequence1 swallowed a demon concealed
 among the leaves of a lettuce4  ,most  
persons said the number of these demons 
was so great that they  could not be    
counted1 but ,wierus asserted that they 
amounted to no more  than seven         
millions1 four hundred and five         
thousand1 nine hundred1 and  twenty-six2
 and that they were divided into        
seventy-two companies or  battalions1 to
 each of which there was a prince or    
captain4 ,they could  assume any shape  
they pleased4 ,when they were male1 they

 were called  incubi2 and when female1  
succubi4 ,they sometimes made themselves
  hideous2 and at other times1 they     
assumed shapes of such transcendant     
loveliness1 that mortal eyes never saw  
beauty to compete with theirs4          
,although the devil and his legions     
could appear to mankind at any time1  it
 was generally understood that he       
preferred the night between ,friday  and
 ,saturday4 ,if ,satan himself appeared 
in human shape1 he was never  perfectly1
 and in all respects1 like a man4 ,he   
was either too black or  too white--too 
large or too small1 or some of his limbs
 were out of  proportion to the rest of 
his body4 ,most commonly his feet were  
deformed2 and he was obliged to curl up 
and conceal his tall in some  part of   
his habiliments2 for1 take what shape he
 would1 he could not  get rid of that   
encumbrance4 ,he sometimes changed      
himself into a tree  or a river2 and    
upon one occasion he transformed himself
 into a  barrister1 as we learn from    

,wierus1 book iv1 chapter ix4 ,in the   
reign  of ,philippe le ,bel1 he appeared
 to a monk in the shape of a dark man1  
riding a tall black horse--then as a    
friar--afterwards as an ass1 and        
finally as a coach-wheel4 ,instances are
 not rare in which both he and  his     
inferior demons have taken the form of  
handsome young men2 and1  successfully  
concealing their tails1 have married    
beautiful young  women1 who have had    
children by them4 ,such children were   
easily  recognizable by their continual 
shrieking--by their requiring five      
nurses to suckle them1 and by their     
never growing fat4    ,all these demons 
were at the command of any individual1  
who would give  up his immortal soul to 
the prince of evil for the privilege of 
enjoying their services for a stated    
period4 ,the wizard or witch could  send
 them to execute the most difficult     
missions3 whatever the witch  commanded 
was performed1 except it was a good     
action1 in which case the  order was    

disobeyed1 and evil worked upon herself 
instead4    ,at intervals1 according to 
the pleasure of ,satan1 there was a     
general  meeting of the demons and all  
the witches4 ,this meeting was called   
the  ,sabbath1 from its taking place on 
the ,saturday or immediately after      
midnight on ,fridays4 ,these ,sabbaths  
were sometimes held for one  district1  
sometimes for another1 and once at      
least1 every year1 it was  held on the  
,brocken1 or among other high mountains1
 as a general  sabbath of the fiends for
 the whole of ,christendom4    ,the     
devil generally chose a place where four
 roads met1 as the scene of  this       
assembly1 or if that was not convenient1
 the neighbourhood of a  lake4 ,upon    
this spot nothing would ever afterwards 
grow1 as the hot  feet of the demons and
 witches burnt the principle of         
fecundity from  the earth1 and rendered 
it barren for ever4 ,when orders had    
been once  issued for the meeting of the
 ,sabbath1 all the wizards and witches  

who  failed to attend it were lashed by 
demons with a rod made of serpents  or  
scorpions1 as a punishment for their    
inattention or want of  punctuality4    
,in ,france and ,england1 the witches   
were supposed to ride uniformly upon    
broomsticks2 but in ,italy and ,spain1  
the devil himself1 in the shape of  a   
goat1 used to transport them on his     
back1 which lengthened or  shortened    
according to the number of witches he   
was desirous of  accommodating4 ,no     
witch1 when proceeding to the ,sabbath1 
could get out  by a door or window1 were
 she to try ever so much4 ,their general
 mode  of ingress was by the keyhole1   
and of egress1 by the chimney1 up which 
they flew1 broom and all1 with the      
greatest ease4 ,to prevent the  absence 
of the witches from being noticed by    
their neighbours1 some  inferior demon  
was commanded to assume their shapes and
 lie in their  beds1 feigning illness1  
until the ,sabbath was over4    ,when   
all the wizards and witches had arrived 

at the place of  rendezvous1 the        
infernal ceremonies of the ,sabbath     
began4 ,satan1 having  assumed his      
favourite shape of a large he-goat1 with
 a face in front  and another in his    
haunches1 took his seat upon a throne2  
and all  present1 in succession1 paid   
their respects to him1 and kissed him in
  his face behind4 ,this done1 he       
appointed a master of the ceremonies1 in
  company with whom he made a personal  
examination of all the wizards and      
witches1 to see whether they had the    
secret mark about them by which  they   
were stamped as the devil's own4 ,this  
mark was always insensible  to pain4    
,those who had not yet been marked1     
received the mark from the  master of   
the ceremonies2 the devil at the same   
time bestowing  nicknames upon them4    
,this done1 they all began to sing and  
dance in the  most furious manner1 until
 some one arrived who was anxious to be 
admitted into their society4 ,they were 
then silent for a while1 until  the     

new-comer had denied his salvation1     
kissed the devil1 spat upon the  ,bible1
 and sworn obedience to him in all      
things4 ,they then began  dancing again 
with all their might1 and singing these 
words1      ,alegremos1 ,alegremos6     
,que gente va tenemos6    ,in the course
 of an hour or two1 they generally      
became wearied of this  violent         
exercise1 and then they all sat down and
 recounted the evil  deeds they had done
 since their last meeting4 ,those who   
had not been  malicious and mischievous 
enough towards their fellow-creatures1  
received personal chastisement from     
,satan himself1 who flogged them  with  
thorns or scorpions till they were      
covered with blood1 and unable  to sit  
or stand4    ,when this ceremony was    
concluded1 they were all amused by a    
dance of  toads4 ,thousands of these    
creatures sprang out of the earth2 and  
standing on their hind-legs1 danced1    
while the devil played the  bagpipes or 
the trumpet4 ,these toads were all      

endowed with the faculty  of speech1 and
 entreated the witches to reward them   
with the flesh of  unbaptized babes for 
their exertions to give them pleasure4  
,the witches  promised compliance4 ,the 
devil bade them remember to keep their  
word2  and then stamping his foot1      
caused all the toads to sink into the   
earth  in an instant4 ,the place being  
thus cleared1 preparation was made for  
the banquet1 where all manner of        
disgusting things were served up and    
greedily devoured by the demons and     
witches2 although the latter were       
sometimes regaled with choice meats and 
expensive wines from golden  plates and 
crystal goblets2 but they were never    
thus favoured unless  they had done an  
extraordinary number of evil deeds since
 the last  period of meeting4    ,after 
the feast1 they began dancing again2 but
 such as had no relish  for any more    
exercise in that way1 amused themselves 
by mocking the  holy sacrament of       
baptism4 ,for this purpose1 the toads   

were again  called up1 and sprinkled    
with filthy water2 the devil making the 
sign  of the cross1 and all the witches 
calling out1 ,in nomine ,patrica1       
,aragueaco ,petrica1 agora6 agora6      
,valentia1 jouando goure gaits  goustia6
 which meant1 ,in the name of ,patrick1 
,petrick of  ,aragon1--now1 now1 all our
 ills are over6    ,when the devil      
wished to be particularly amused1 he    
made the witches  strip off their       
clothes and dance before him1 each with 
a cat tied  round her neck1 and another 
dangling from her body in form of a     
tail4  ,when the cock crew1 they all    
disappeared1 and the ,sabbath was ended4
    ,this is a summary of the belief    
which prevailed for many centuries      
nearly all over ,europe1 and which is   
far from eradicated even at this  day4  
,it was varied in some respects in      
several countries1 but the main  points 
were the same in ,france1 ,germany1     
,great ,britain1 ,italy1 ,spain1  and   
the far ,north of ,europe4    ,the early

 annals of ,france abound with stories  
of supposed sorcery1 but  it was not    
until the time of ,charlemagne that the 
crime acquired any  great importance4   
,this monarch1 says ,m4 ,jules ,garinet1
 ,histoire de  la ,magie en ,france4    
,rois de la seconde race1 page #bi4 had 
several  times given orders that all    
necromancers1 astrologers1 and witches  
should be driven from his states2 but as
 the number of criminals  augmented     
daily1 he found it necessary at last to 
resort to severer  measures4 ,in        
consequence1 he published several       
edicts1 which may be  found at length in
 the ',capitulaire de ,baluse4' ,by     
these1 every sort of  magic1            
enchantment1 and witchcraft was         
forbidden2 and the punishment of  death 
decreed against those who in any way    
evoked the devil--compounded            
love-philters--afflicted either man or  
woman with barrenness--troubled  the    
atmosphere--excited tempests--destroyed 
the fruits of the  earth--dried up the  

milk of cows1 or tormented their        
fellow-creatures  with sores and        
diseases4 ,all persons found guilty of  
exercising these  execrable arts1 were  
to be executed immediately upon         
conviction1 that  the earth might be rid
 of the burthen and curse of their      
presence2 and  those even who consulted 
them might also be punished with death4 
,m4  ,michaud1 in his ,history of the   
,crusades1 ,m4 ,guinguene1 in his       
,literary ,history of ,italy1 and some  
other critics1 have objected to         
,tasso's poem1 that he has attributed to
 the ,crusaders a belief in  magic1     
which did not exist at that time4 ,if   
these critics had referred  to the      
,edicts of ,charlemagne1 they would have
 seen that ,tasso was  right1 and that a
 disposition too eager to spy out       
imperfections in a  great work was      
leading themselves into error4    ,after
 this time1 prosecutions for witchcraft 
are continually mentioned1  especially  
by the ,french historians4 ,it was a    

crime imputed with so  much ease1 and   
repelled with so much difficulty1 that  
the powerful1  whenever they wanted to  
ruin the weak1 and could fix no other   
imputation upon them1 had only to accuse
 them of witchcraft to ensure  their    
destruction4 ,instances1 in which this  
crime was made the pretext  for the most
 violent persecution1 both of           
individuals and of  communities1 whose  
real offences were purely political or  
religious1  must be familiar to every   
reader4 ,the extermination of the       
,stedinger1  in #abcd2 of the ,templars1
 from #acjg to #acac2 the execution of  
,joan of  ,arc1 in #adbi2 and the       
unhappy scenes of ,arras1 in #adei2 are 
the most  prominent4 ,the first of these
 is perhaps the least known1 but is not 
among the least remarkable4 ,the        
following account1 from ,dr4 ,kortum's  
interesting history                     
,entstehungsgeschichte der              
freistadlischen ,bunde  im ,mittelalter1
 von ,dr4 ,f4 ,kortum4 #ahbg4 of the    

republican  confederacies of the ,middle
 ,ages1 will show the horrible          
convenience of  imputations of          
witchcraft1 when royal or priestly      
wolves wanted a  pretext for a quarrel  
with the sheep4    ,the ,frieslanders1  
inhabiting the district from the ,weser 
to the  ,zuydersee1 had long been       
celebrated for their attachment to      
freedom1  and their successful struggles
 in its defence4 ,as early as the       
eleventh  century1 they had formed a    
general confederacy against the         
encroachments of the ,normans and the   
,saxons1 which was divided into  seven  
seelands1 holding annually a diet under 
a large oaktree at  ,aurich1 near the   
,upstalboom4 ,here they managed their   
own affairs1  without the control of the
 clergy and ambitious nobles who        
surrounded  them1 to the great scandal  
of the latter4 ,they already had true   
notions  of a representative government4
 ,the deputies of the people levied the 
necessary taxes1 deliberated on the     

affairs of the community1 and           
performed1 in their simple and          
patriarchal manner2 nearly all the      
functions of the representative         
assemblies of the present day4 ,finally1
  the ,archbishop of ,bremen1 together  
with the ,count of ,oldenburg and  other
 neighbouring potentates1 formed a      
league against that section of  the     
,frieslanders1 known by the name of the 
,stedinger1 and succeeded1  after       
harassing them1 and sowing dissensions  
among them for many years1  in bringing 
them under the yoke4 ,but the           
,stedinger1 devotedly attached  to their
 ancient laws1 by which they had        
attained a degree of civil and          
religious liberty very uncommon in that 
age1 did not submit without a  violent  
struggle4 ,they arose in insurrection1  
in the year #abjd1 in  defence of the   
ancient customs of their                
country--refused to pay taxes  to the   
feudal chiefs1 or tithes to the clergy1 
who had forced  themselves into their   

peaceful retreats1 and drove out many of
 their  oppressors4 ,for a period of    
eight-and-twenty years the brave        
,stedinger  continued the struggle      
single-handed against the forces of the 
,archbishops of ,bremen and the ,counts 
of ,oldenburg1 and destroyed1 in  the   
year #abcb1 the strong castle of        
,slutterberg1 near ,delmenhorst1  built 
by the latter nobleman as a position    
from which he could send out  his       
marauders to plunder and destroy the    
possessions of the peasantry4    ,the   
invincible courage of these poor people 
proving too strong for  their oppressors
 to cope with by the ordinary means of  
warfare1 the  ,archbishop of ,bremen    
applied to ,pope ,gregory ,,ix4 for his 
spiritual aid  against them4 ,that      
prelate entered cordially into the      
cause1 and  launching forth his anathema
 against the ,stedinger as heretics and 
witches1 encouraged all true believers  
to assist in their  extermination4 ,a   
large body of thieves and fanatics broke

 into their  country in the year #abcc1 
killing and burning wherever they went1 
and  not sparing either women or        
children1 the sick or the aged1 in their
  rage4 ,the ,stedinger1 however1       
rallied in great force1 routed their    
invaders1 and killed in battle their    
leader1 ,count ,burckhardt of           
,oldenburg1 with many inferior          
chieftains4    ,again the pope was      
applied to1 and a crusade against the   
,stedinger was  preached in all that    
part of ,germany4 ,the pope wrote to all
 the bishops  and leaders of the        
faithful an exhortation to arm1 to root 
out from the  land those abominable     
witches and wizards4 ,the ,stedinger1   
said his  ,holiness1 seduced by the     
devil1 have abjured all the laws of ,god
 and  man2 slandered the                
,church--insulted the holy              
sacraments--consulted  witches to raise 
evil spirits--shed blood like           
water--taken the lives  of priests1 and 
concocted an infernal scheme to         

propagate the worship  of the devil1    
whom they adore under the name of       
,asmodi4 ,the devil  appears to them in 
different shapes2 sometimes as a goose  
or a duck1  and at others in the figure 
of a pale1 black-eyed youth1 with a     
melancholy aspect1 whose embrace fills  
their hearts with eternal hatred        
against the holy church of ,christ4     
,this devil presides at their           
,sabbaths1 when they all kiss him and   
dance around him4 ,he then  envelopes   
them in total darkness1 and they all1   
male and female1 give  themselves up to 
the grossest and most disgusting        
debauchery4    ,in consequence of these 
letters of the pope1 the ,emperor of    
,germany1  ,frederic ,,ii1 also         
pronounced his ban against them4 ,the   
,bishops of  ,ratzebourg1 ,lubeck1      
,osnabruek1 ,munster1 and ,minden took  
up arms to  exterminate them1 aided by  
the ,duke of ,brabant1 the ,counts of   
,holland1  of ,cloves1 of the ,mark1 of 
,oldenburg1 of ,egmond1 of ,diest1 and  

many  other powerful nobles4 ,an army of
 forty thousand men was soon  collected1
 which marched1 under the command of the
 ,duke of ,brabant1  into the country of
 the ,stedinger4 ,the latter mustered   
vigorously in  defence of their lives   
and liberties1 but could raise no       
greater force1  including every man     
capable of bearing arms1 than eleven    
thousand men  to cope against the       
overwhelming numbers of their foe4      
,they fought  with the energy of        
despair1 but all in vain4 ,eight        
thousand of them  were slain on the     
field of battle2 the whole race was     
exterminated2 and  the enraged          
conquerors scoured the country in all   
directions--slew the  women and children
 and old men--drove away the            
cattle--fired the woods  and cottages1  
and made a total waste of the land4     
,just as absurd and effectual was the   
charge brought against the  ,templars in
 #acjg1 when they had rendered          
themselves obnoxious to the  potentates 

and prelacy of ,christendom4 ,their     
wealth1 their power1 their  pride1 and  
their insolence had raised up enemies on
 every side2 and  every sort of         
accusation was made against them1 but   
failed to work  their overthrow1 until  
the terrible cry of witchcraft was let  
loose  upon them4 ,this effected its    
object1 and the ,templars were          
extirpated4  ,they were accused of      
having sold their souls to the devil1   
and of  celebrating all the infernal    
mysteries of the witches' ,sabbath4 ,it 
was  pretended that1 when they admitted 
a novice into their order1 they  forced 
him to renounce his salvation and curse 
,jesus ,christ2 that they  then made him
 submit to many unholy and disgusting   
ceremonies1 and  forced him to kiss the 
,superior on the cheek1 the navel1 and  
the  breech2 and spit three times upon a
 crucifix4 ,that all the members were   
forbidden to have connexion with women1 
but might give themselves up  without   
restraint to every species of           

unmentionable debauchery4  ,that  when1 
by any mischance1 a ,templar infringed  
this order1 and a child was  born1 the  
whole order met1 and tossed it about    
like a shuttlecock from  one to the     
other until it expired2 that they then  
roasted it by a slow  fire1 and with the
 fat which trickled from it anointed the
 hair and  beard of a large image of the
 devil4 ,it was also said that1 when one
 of  the knights died1 his body was     
burnt into a powder1 and then mixed with
  wine and drunk by every member of the 
order4 ,philip ,,iv1 who1 to  exercise  
his own implacable hatred1 invented1 in 
all probability1 the  greater part of   
these charges1 issued orders for the    
immediate arrest  of all the ,templars  
in his dominions4 ,the pope afterwards  
took up the  cause with almost as much  
fervour as the ,king of ,france2 and in 
every  part of ,europe1 the ,templars   
were thrown into prison and their goods 
and estates confiscated4 ,hundreds of   
them1 when put to the rack1  confessed  

even the most preposterous of the       
charges against them1 and  by so doing1 
increased the popular clamour and the   
hopes of their  enemies4 ,it is true    
that1 when removed from the rack1 they  
denied all  they had previously         
confessed2 but this circumstance only   
increased the  outcry1 and was numbered 
as an additional crime against them4    
,they were  considered in a worse light 
than before1 and condemned forthwith to 
the  flames1 as relapsed heretics4      
,fifty-nine of these unfortunate victims
  were all burned together by a slow    
fire in a field in the suburbs of       
,paris1 protesting to the very last     
moment of their lives1 their  innocence 
of the crimes imputed to them1 and      
refusing to accept of  pardon upon      
condition of acknowledging themselves   
guilty4 ,similar  scenes were enacted in
 the provinces2 and for four years1     
hardly a  month passed without          
witnessing the execution of one or more 
of these  unhappy men4 ,finally1 in     

#acac1 the last scene of this tragedy   
closed by  the burning of the           
,grand-,master1 ,jacques de ,molay1 and 
his companion1  ,guy1 the ,commander of 
,normandy4 ,anything more atrocious it  
is  impossible to conceive2 disgraceful 
alike to the monarch who  originated1   
the pope who supported1 and the age     
which tolerated the  monstrous iniquity4
 ,that the malice of a few could invent 
such a  charge1 is a humiliating thought
 for the lover of his species2 but that 
millions of mankind should credit it1 is
 still more so4    ,the execution of    
,joan of ,arc is the next most notorious
 example which  history affords us1 of  
the imputation of witchcraft against a  
political  enemy4 ,instances of similar 
persecution1 in which this crime was    
made  the pretext for the gratification 
of political or religious hatred1  might
 be multiplied to a great extent4 ,but  
it is better to proceed at  once to the 
consideration of the bull of ,pope      
,innocent1 the torch that  set fire to  

the longlaid train1 and caused so       
fearful an explosion over  the          
,christian world4 ,it will be necessary1
 however1 to go back for some  years    
anterior to that event1 the better to   
understand the motives that  influenced 
the ,church in the promulgation of that 
fearful document4    ,towards the close 
of the fourteenth and beginning of the  
fifteenth  century1 many witches were   
burned in different parts of ,europe4   
,as a  natural consequence of the severe
 persecution1 the crime1 or the         
pretenders to it1 increased4 ,those who 
found themselves accused and  threatened
 with the penalties1 if they happened to
 be persons of a bad  and malicious     
disposition1 wished they had the power  
imputed to them1  that they might be    
revenged upon their persecutors4        
,numerous instances  are upon record of 
half-crazed persons being found         
muttering the spells  which were        
supposed to raise the evil one4 ,when   
religion and law alike  recognized the  

crime1 it is no wonder that the weak in 
reason and the  strong in imagination1  
especially when they were of a nervous  
temperament1 fancied themselves endued  
with the terrible powers of  which all  
the world was speaking4 ,the belief of  
their neighbours did  not lag behind    
their own1 and execution was the speedy 
consequence4    ,as the fear of         
witchcraft increased1 the ,catholic     
clergy strove to fix  the imputation of 
it upon those religious sects1 the      
pioneers of the  ,reformation1 who began
 about this time to be formidable to the
 ,church  of ,rome4 ,if a charge of     
heresy could not ensure their           
destruction1 that  of sorcery and       
witchcraft never failed4 ,in the year   
#adei1 a devoted  congregation of the   
,waldenses1 at ,arras1 who used to      
repair at night to  worship ,god in     
their own manner in solitary places1    
fell victims to an  accusation of       
sorcery4 ,it was rumored in ,arras that 
in the desert  places to which they     

retired1 the devil appeared before them 
in human  form1 and read from a large   
book his laws and ordinances1 to which  
they  all promised obedience2 that he   
then distributed money and food among   
them1 to bind them to his service1 which
 done1 they gave themselves up  to every
 species of lewdness and debauchery4    
,upon these rumours1  several creditable
 persons in ,arras were seized and      
imprisoned1  together with a number of  
decrepit and idiotic old women4 ,the    
rack1  that convenient instrument for   
making the accused confess anything1 was
  of course put in requisition4         
,monstrelet1 in his ,chronicle1 says    
that  they were tortured until some of  
them admitted the truth of the whole    
accusations1 and said besides1 that they
 had seen and recognized1 in  their     
nocturnal assemblies1 many persons of   
rank2 many prelates1  seigneurs1        
governors of bailliages1 and mayors of  
cities1 being such  names as the        
examiners had themselves suggested to   

the victims4 ,several  who had been thus
 informed against1 were thrown into     
prison1 and so  horribly tortured1 that 
reason fled1 and1 in their ravings of   
pain1  they also confessed their        
midnight meetings with the devil1 and   
the  oaths they had taken to serve him4 
,upon these confessions judgment was    
pronounced3 the poor old women1 as usual
 in such cases1 were hanged and  burned 
in the market-place2 the more wealthy   
delinquents were allowed  to escape1    
upon payment of large sums4 ,it was soon
 after universally  recognized that     
these trials had been conducted in the  
most odious  manner1 and that the judges
 had motives of private vengeance       
against  many of the more influential   
persons who had been implicated4 ,the   
,parliament of ,paris afterwards        
declared the sentence illegal1 and the  
judges iniquitous2 but its arret was too
 late to be of service even to  those   
who had paid the fine1 or to punish the 
authorities who had  misconducted       

themselves2 for it was not delivered    
until thirty-two  years after the       
executions had taken place4    ,in the  
mean time1 accusations of witchcraft    
spread rapidly in ,france1  ,italy1 and 
,germany4 ,strange to say1 that although
 in the first instance  chiefly directed
 against heretics1 the latter were as   
firm believers in  the crime as even the
 ,catholics themselves4 ,in after times 
we also find  that the ,lutherans and   
,calvinists became greater witchburners 
than ever  the ,romanists had been3 so  
deeply was the prejudice rooted4 ,every 
other  point of belief was in dispute1  
but that was considered by every sect   
to be as well established as the        
authenticity of the ,scriptures1 or the 
existence of a ,god4    ,but at this    
early period of the epidemic the        
persecutions were directed  by the heads
 of the ,catholic ,church4 ,the spread  
of heresy betokened1 it  was thought1   
the coming of ,antichrist4 ,florimond1  
in his work  concerning the ,antichrist1

 lets us fully into the secret of these 
prosecutions4 ,he says1 ,all who have   
afforded us some signs of the  approach 
of ,antichrist agree that the increase  
of sorcery and  witchcraft is to        
distinguish the melancholy period of his
 advent2 and  was ever age so afflicted 
as ours8 ,the seats destined for        
criminals in  our courts of justice are 
blackened with persons accused of this  
guilt4  ,there are not judges enough to 
try them4 ,our dungeons are gorged with 
them4 ,no day passes that we do not     
render our tribunals bloody by the      
dooms which we pronounce1 or in which we
 do not return to our homes1            
discountenanted and terrified at the    
horrible confessions which we have      
heard4 ,and the devil is accounted so   
good a master1 that we cannot  commit so
 great a number of his slaves to the    
flames1 but what there  shall arise from
 their ashes a sufficient number to     
supply their place4    ,florimond here  
spoke the general opinion of the ,church

 of ,rome2 but it  never suggested      
itself to the mind of any person engaged
 in these  trials1 that if it were      
indeed a devil1 who raised up so many   
new  witches to fill the places of those
 consumed1 it was no other than one  in 
their own employ--the devil of          
persecution4 ,but so it was4  ,the more 
they burned1 the more they found to     
burn2 until it became a common  prayer  
with women in the humbler walks of life1
 that they might never  live to grow    
old4 ,it was sufficient to be aged1     
poor1 and ill-tempered1  to ensure death
 at the stake or the scaffold4    ,in   
the year #adhg there was a severe storm 
in ,switzerland1 which laid  waste the  
country for four miles around           
,constance4 ,two wretched old  women1   
whom the popular voice had long accused 
of witchcraft1 were  arrested on the    
preposterous charge of having raised the
 tempest4 ,the  rack was displayed1 and 
the two poor creatures extended upon it4
 ,in  reply to various leading questions

 from their tormentors1 they owned1  in 
their agony1 that they were in the      
constant habit of meeting the  devil1   
that they had sold their souls to him1  
and that at their command  he had raised
 the tempest4 ,upon this insane and     
blasphemous charge they  were condemned 
to die4 ,in the criminal registers of   
,constance there  stands against the    
name of each the simple but significant 
phrase1  convicta et combusta4    ,this 
case and hundreds of others were duly   
reported to the  ecclesiastical powers4 
,there happened at that time to be a    
,pontiff at  the head of the ,church who
 had given much of his attention to the 
subject of witchcraft1 and who1 with the
 intent of rooting out the  crime1 did  
more to increase it than any other man  
that ever lived4  ,john ,baptist ,cibo1 
elected to the ,papacy in #adhe1 under  
the designation  of ,innocent ,,viii1   
was sincerely alarmed at the number of  
witches1 and  launched forth his        
terrible manifesto against them4 ,in his

 celebrated  bull of #adhh1 he called   
the nations of ,europe to the rescue of 
the  church of ,christ upon earth1      
emperilled by the arts of ,satan1 and   
set  forth the horrors that had reached 
his ears2 how that numbers of both      
sexes had intercourse with the infernal 
fiends2 how by their sorceries  they    
afflicted both man and beast2 how they  
blighted the marriage bed1  destroyed   
the births of women and the increase of 
cattle2 and how they  blasted the corn  
on the ground1 the grapes of the        
vineyard1 the fruits  of the trees1 and 
the herbs of the field4 ,in order that  
criminals so  atrocious might no longer 
pollute the earth1 he appointed         
inquisitors  in every country1 armed    
with the apostolic power to convict and 
punish4    ,it was now that the ,witch  
,mania1 properly so called1 may be said 
to  have fairly commenced4 ,immediately 
a class of men sprang up in ,europe1    
who made it the sole business of their  
lives to discover and burn the  witches4

 ,sprenger1 in ,germany1 was the most   
celebrated of these  national scourges4 
,in his notorious work1 the ,malleus    
,maleficarum1 he  laid down a regular   
form of trial1 and appointed a course of
  examination by which the inquisitors  
in other countries might best  discover 
the guilty4 ,the questions1 which were  
always enforced by  torture1 were of the
 most absurd and disgusting nature4     
,the  inquisitors were required to ask  
the suspected whether they had  midnight
 meetings with the devil8 whether they  
attended the witch's  sabbath on the    
,brocken8 whether they had their        
familiar spirits8  whether they could   
raise whirlwinds and call down the      
lightning8 and  whether they had sexual 
intercourse with ,satan8    ,straightway
 the inquisitors set to work2 ,cumarius1
 in ,italy1 burned  forty-one poor women
 in one province alone1 and ,sprenger1  
in ,germany1  burned a number which can 
never be ascertained correctly1 but     
which1 it  is agreed on all hands1      

amounted to more than five hundred in a 
year4  ,the great resemblance between   
the confessions of the unhappy victims  
was regarded as a new proof of the      
existence of the crime4 ,but this is    
not astonishing4 ,the same questions    
from the ,malleus ,maleficarum1  were   
put to them all1 and torture never      
failed to educe the answer  required by 
the inquisitor4 ,numbers of people whose
 imaginations were  filled with these   
horrors1 went further in the way of     
confession than  even their tormenters  
anticipated1 in the hope that they would
 thereby  be saved from the rack1 and   
put out of their misery at once4 ,some  
confessed that they had had children by 
the devil2 but no one1 who had  ever    
been a mother1 gave utterance to such a 
frantic imagining1 even in  the         
extremity of her anguish4 ,the childless
 only confessed it1 and were  burned    
instanter as unworthy to live4    ,for  
fear the zeal of the enemies of ,satan  
should cool1 successive ,popes          

appointed new commissions4 ,one was     
appointed by ,alexander ,,vi1 in #adid2 
another by ,leo ,x1 in #aeba1 and a     
third by ,adrian ,,vi1 in #aebb4  ,they 
were all armed with the same powers to  
hunt out and destroy1 and  executed     
their fearful functions but too rigidly4
 ,in ,geneva alone five  hundred persons
 were burned in the years #aeae and     
#aeaf1 under the title  of ,protestant  
witches4 ,it would appear that their    
chief crime was  heresy1 and their      
witchcraft merely an aggravation4       
,bartolomeo de ,spina  has a list still 
more fearful4 ,he informs us that1 in   
the year #aebd1 no  less than a thousand
 persons suffered death for witchcraft  
in the  district of ,como1 and that for 
several years afterwards the average    
number of victims exceeded a hundred    
annually4 ,one inquisitor1  ,remigius1  
took great credit to himself for having1
 during fifteen  years1 convicted and   
burned nine hundred4    ,in ,france1    
about the year #aebj1 fires for the     

execution of witches  blazed in almost  
every town4 ,danaeus1 in his ,dialogues 
of ,witches1  says they were so numerous
 that it would be next to impossible to 
tell  the number of them4 ,so deep was  
the thraldom of the human mind1 that    
the friends and relatives of the accused
 parties looked on and  approved4 ,the  
wife or sister of a murderer might      
sympathise in his  fate1 but the wives  
and husbands of sorcerers and witches   
had no pity4  ,the truth is that pity   
was dangerous1 for it was thought no one
 could  have compassion on the          
sufferings of a witch who was not a     
dabbler in  the art3 to have wept for a 
witch would have insured the stake4 ,in 
some  districts1 however1 the           
exasperation of the people broke out1 in
 spite  of superstition4 ,the inquisitor
 of a rural township in ,piedmont burned
  the victims so plentifully1 and so    
fast1 that there was not a family in    
the place which did not lose a member4  
,the people at last arose1 and  the     

inquisitor was but too happy to escape  
from the country with whole  limbs4 ,the
 ,archbishop of the diocese proceeded   
afterwards to the trial  of such as the 
inquisitor had left in prison4    ,some 
of the charges were so utterly          
preposterous that the poor wretches     
were at once liberated2 others met a    
harder1 but the usual fate4 ,some  of   
them were accused of having joined the  
witches' dance at midnight  under a     
blasted oak1 where they had been seen by
 creditable people4 ,the  husbands of   
several of these women 7two of whom were
 young and  beautiful7 swore positively 
that at the time stated their wives were
  comfortably asleep in their arms2 but 
it was all in vain4 ,their word  was    
taken1 but the ,archbishop told them    
they had been deceived by the  devil and
 their own senses4 ,it was true they    
might have had the  semblance of their  
wives in their beds1 but the originals  
were far  away1 at the devil's dance    
under the oak4 ,the honest fellows were 

confounded1 and their wives burned      
forthwith4    ,in the year #aefa1 five  
poor women of ,verneuil were accused of 
transforming themselves into cats1 and  
in that shape attending the  sabbath of 
the fiends--prowling around ,satan1 who 
presided over them in  the form of a    
goat1 and dancing1 to amuse him1 upon   
his back4 ,they were  found guilty1 and 
burned4 ,bodin1 page #ie4 ,garinet1 page
 #abe4  ,anti-demon de ,serclier1 page  
#cdf4    ,in #aefd1 three wizards and a 
witch appeared before the ,presidents   
,salvert and ,d',avanton3 they          
confessed1 when extended on the rack1   
that  they anointed the sheep-pens with 
infernal unguents to kill the           
sheep--that they attended the sabbath1  
where they saw a great black  goat1     
which spoke to them1 and made them kiss 
him1 each holding a  lighted candle in  
his hand while he performed the         
ceremony4 ,they were  all executed at   
,poitiers4    ,in #aega1 the celebrated 
sorcerer1 ,trois ,echelles1 was burned  

in the  ,place de ,greve1 in ,paris4 ,he
 confessed1 in the presence of ,charles 
,,ix1  and of the ,marshals de          
,montmorency1 ,de ,retz1 and the ,sieur 
du ,mazille1  physician to the ,king1   
that he could perform the most wonderful
 things  by the aid of a devil to whom  
he had sold himself4 ,he described at   
great length the saturnalia of the      
fiends--the sacrifices which they       
offered up--the debaucheries they       
committed with the young and handsome   
witches1 and the various modes of       
preparing the infernal unguent for      
blighting cattle4 ,he said he had       
upwards of twelve hundred accomplices   
in the crime of witchcraft in various   
parts of ,france1 whom he named to  the 
,king1 and many of whom were afterwards 
arrested and suffered  execution4    ,at
 ,dole1 two years afterwards1 ,gilles   
,garnier1 a native of ,lyons1 was       
indicted for being a loupgarou1 or      
man-wolf1 and for prowling in that      
shape about the country at night to     

devour little children4 ,the  indictment
 against him1 as read by ,henri ,camus1 
doctor of laws and  counsellor of the   
,king1 was to the effect that he1       
,gilles ,garnier1 had  seized upon a    
little girl1 twelve years of age1 whom  
he drew into a  vineyard and there      
killed1 partly with his teeth and partly
 with his  hands1 seeming like wolf's   
paws--that from thence he trailed her   
bleeding body along the ground with his 
teeth into the wood of ,la  ,serre1     
where he ate the greatest portion of her
 at one meal1 and  carried the remainder
 home to his wife2 that1 upon another   
occasion1  eight days before the        
festival of ,all ,saints1 he was seen to
 seize  another child in his teeth1 and 
would have devoured her had she not     
been rescued by the country-people--and 
that the said child died a few  days    
afterwards of the injuries he had       
inflicted2 that fifteen days  after the 
same festival of ,all ,saints1 being    
again in the shape of a  wolf1 he       

devoured a boy thirteen years of age1   
having previously torn  off his leg and 
thigh with his teeth1 and hid them away 
for his  breakfast on the morrow4 ,he   
was1 furthermore1 indicted for giving   
way  to the same diabolical and         
unnatural propensities even in his shape
 of  a man1 and that he had strangled a 
boy in a wood with the intention of     
eating him1 which crime he would have   
effected if he had not been seen  by the
 neighhours and prevented4    ,gilles   
,garnier was put to the rack1 after     
fifty witnesses had deposed  against    
him3 he confessed everything that was   
laid to his charge4 ,he  was1 thereupon1
 brought back into the presence of his  
judges1 when ,dr4  ,camus1 in the name  
of the ,parliament of ,dole1 pronounced 
the following  sentence3--    ,seeing   
that ,gilles ,garnier has1 by the       
testimony of credible  witnesses1 and by
 his own spontaneous confession1 been   
proved guilty of  the abominable crimes 
of lycanthropy and witchcraft1 this     

court  condemns him1 the said ,gilles1  
to be this day taken in a cart from this
  spot to the place of execution1       
accompanied by the executioner 7maitre  
executeur de la haute justice71 where   
he1 by the said executioner1  shall be  
tied to a stake and burned alive1 and   
that his ashes be then  scattered to the
 winds4 ,the ,court further condemns    
him1 the said  ,gilles1 to the costs of 
this prosecution4    ,given at ,dole1   
this #ahth day of ,january1 #aegc4      
,in #aegh1 the ,parliament of ,paris was
 occupied for several days with the     
trial of a man1 named ,jacques ,roller4 
,he1 also1 was found guilty of  being a 
loup-garou1 and in that shape devouring 
a little boy4 ,he was  burnt alive in   
the ,place de ,greve4    ,in #aegi1 so  
much alarm was excited in the           
neighbourhood of ,melun by the  increase
 of witches and loup-garous1 that a     
council was held to devise  some        
measures to stay the evil4 ,a decree was
 passed1 that all witches1  and         

consulters with witches1 should be      
punished with death2 and not  only      
those1 but fortune-tellers and conjurors
 of every kind4  ,the  ,parliament of   
,rouen took up the same question in the 
following year1  and decreed that the   
possession of a grimoire1 or book of    
spells1 was  sufficient evidence of     
witchcraft2 and that all persons on whom
 such  books were found should be burned
 alive4 ,three councils were held in    
different parts of ,france in the year  
#aehc1 all in relation to the same      
subject4 ,the ,parliament of ,bourdeaux 
issued strict injunctions to all        
curates and clergy whatever1 to use     
redoubled efforts to root out the  crime
 of witchcraft4 ,the ,parliament of     
,tours was equally peremptory1  and     
feared the judgments of an offended     
,god1 if all these dealers with  the    
devil were not swept from the face of   
the land4 ,the ,parliament of  ,rheims  
was particularly severe against the     
noueurs d'aiguillette1 or  tyers of the 

knot2 people of both sexes1 who took    
pleasure in  preventing the consummation
 of marriage1 that they might counteract
 the  command of ,god to our first      
parents1 to increase and multiply4 ,this
  ,parliament held it to be sinful to   
wear amulets to preserve from           
witchcraft2 and that this practice might
 not be continued within its            
jurisdiction1 drew up a form of         
exorcism1 which would more effectually  
defeat the agents of the devil1 and put 
them to flight4    ,a case of           
witchcraft1 which created a great       
sensation in its day1  occurred in      
#aehh1 at a village in the mountains of 
,auvergne1 about two  leagues from      
,apchon4 ,a gentleman of that place     
being at his window1  there passed a    
friend of his who had been out hunting1 
and who was then  returning to his own  
house4 ,the gentleman asked his friend  
what sport  he had had2 upon which the  
latter informed him that he had been    
attacked in the plain by a large and    

savage wolf1 which he had shot at1      
without wounding2 and that he had then  
drawn out his hunting-knife and  cut off
 the animal's fore-paw1 as it sprang    
upon his neck to devour  him4 ,the      
huntsman1 upon this1 put his hand into  
his bag to pull out the  paw1 but was   
shocked to find that it was a woman's   
hand1 with a  wedding-ring on the       
finger4 ,the gentleman immediately      
recognized his  wife's ring1 which1 says
 the indictment against her1 made him   
begin  to suspect some evil of her4 ,he 
immediately went in search of her1 and  
found her sitting by the fire in the    
kitchen1 with her arm hidden  underneath
 her apron4 ,he tore off her apron with 
great vehemence1 and  found that she had
 no hand1 and that the stump was even   
then bleeding4  ,she was given into     
custody1 and burned at ,riom in presence
 of some  thousands of spectators4      
,tablier4 ,see also ,boguet1 ,discours  
sur les  ,sorciers2 and ,m4 ,jules      
,garinet1 ,histoire de la ,magie1 page  

#aej4    ,in the midst of these         
executions1 rare were the gleams of     
mercy2 few  instances are upon record of
 any acquittal taking place when the    
charge  was witchcraft4 ,the discharge  
of fourteen persons by the ,parliament  
of  ,paris1 in the year #aehi1 is almost
 a solitary example of a return to      
reason4 ,fourteen persons1 condemned to 
death for witchcraft1 appealed  against 
the judgment to the ,parliament of      
,paris1 which for political  reasons had
 been exiled to ,tours4 ,the ,parliament
 named four  commissioners1 ,pierre     
,pigray1 the ,king's surgeon1 and       
,messieurs ,leroi1  ,renard1 and        
,falaiseau1 the ,king's physicians1 to  
visit and examine  these witches1 and   
see whether they had the mark of the    
devil upon  them4 ,pigray1 who relates  
the circumstance in his work on         
,surgery1 book  vii1 chapter the tenth1 
says the visit was made in presence of  
two  counsellors of the court4 ,the     
witches were all stripped naked1 and the

  physicians examined their bodies very 
diligently1 pricking them in all  the   
marks they could find1 to see whether   
they were insensible to pain1  which was
 always considered a certain proof of   
guilt4 ,they were1  however1 very       
sensible of the pricking1 and some of   
them called out  very lustily when the  
pins were driven into them4 ,we found   
them1  continues ,pierre ,pigray1 to be 
very poor1 stupid people1 and some of   
them insane2 many of them were quite    
indifferent about life1 and one or  two 
of them desired death as a relief for   
their sufferings4 ,our opinion  was1    
that they stood more in need of medicine
 than of punishment1 and  so we reported
 to the ,parliament4 ,their case was1   
thereupon1 taken into  further          
consideration1 and the ,parliament1     
after mature counsel amongst  all the   
members1 ordered the poor creatures to  
be sent to their homes1  without        
inflicting any punishment upon them4    
,such was the dreadful state of ,italy1 

,germany1 and ,france1 during the       
sixteenth century1 which was far from   
being the worst crisis of the  popular  
madness with regard to witchcraft4 ,let 
us see what was the  state of ,england  
during the same period4 ,the            
,reformation1 which in its  progress had
 rooted out so many errors1 stopped     
short at this1 the  greatest error of   
all4 ,luther and ,calvin were as firm   
believers in  witchcraft as ,pope       
,innocent himself1 and their followers  
showed  themselves more zealous         
persecutors than the ,romanists4 ,dr4   
,hutchinson1  in his work on            
,witchcraft1 asserts that the mania     
manifested itself  later in ,england1   
and raged with less virulence than on   
the ,continent4  ,the first assertion   
only is true2 but though the persecution
 began  later both in ,england and      
,scotland1 its progress was as fearful  
as  elsewhere4    ,it was not until more
 than fifty years after the issuing of  
the ,bull of  ,innocent ,,viii4 that the

 ,legislature of ,england thought fit to
 make any  more severe enactments       
against sorcery than those already in   
operation4  ,the statute of #aeda was   
the first that specified the particular 
crime  of witchcraft4 ,at a much earlier
 period1 many persons had suffered      
death for sorcery in addition to other  
offences2 but no executions took  place 
for attending the witches' sabbath1     
raising tempests1 afflicting  cattle    
with barrenness1 and all the fantastic  
trumpery of the  ,continent4 ,two       
statutes were passed in #aeea2 the      
first1 relating to  false prophecies1   
caused mainly1 no doubt1 by the         
impositions of  ,elizabeth ,barton1 the 
,holy ,maid of ,kent1 in #aecd1 and the 
second  against conjuration1 witchcraft1
 and sorcery4 ,but even this enactment  
did not consider witchcraft as penal in 
itself1 and only condemned to  death    
those who by means of spells1           
incantations1 or contracts with the     
devil1 attempted the lives of their     

neighbours4 ,the statute of  ,elizabeth1
 in #aefb1 at last recognized witchcraft
 as a crime of the  highest magnitude1  
whether exerted or not to the injury of 
the lives1  limbs1 and possessions of   
the community4 ,from that date1 the     
persecution may be fairly said to have  
commenced in ,england4 ,it reached  its 
climax in the early part of the         
seventeenth century1 which was the      
hottest period of the mania all over    
,europe4    ,a few cases of witch       
persecution in the sixteenth century    
will enable  the reader to form a more  
accurate idea of the progress of this   
great  error than if he plunged at once 
into that busy period of its history    
when ,matthew ,hopkins and his          
coadjutors exercised their infernal     
calling4 ,several instances occur in    
,england during the latter years of  the
 reign of ,elizabeth4 ,at this time the 
public mind had become pretty  familiar 
with the details of the crime4 ,bishop  
,jewell1 in his sermons  before ,her    

,majesty1 used constantly to conclude   
them by a fervent  prayer that she might
 be preserved from witches4 ,upon one   
occasion1 in  #aeih1 his words were1 ,it
 may please your ,grace to understand   
that  witches and sorcerers1 within     
these last four years1 are marvellously 
increased within this your ,grace's     
realm4 ,your ,grace's subjects pine     
away even unto the death2 their colour  
fadeth--their flesh  rotteth--their     
speech is benumbed--their senses are    
bereft6 ,i pray ,god  they may never    
practise further than upon the subject6 
,by degrees1 an epidemic terror of      
witchcraft spread into the villages4    
,in proportion as the doctrines of the  
,puritans took root this dread          
increased1 and1 of course1 brought      
persecution in its train4 ,the ,church  
of ,england has claimed1 and is entitled
 to the merit1 of having been  less     
influenced in these matters than any    
other sect of ,christians2 but  still   
they were tainted with the superstition 

of the age4 ,one of the  most flagrant  
instances of cruelty and delusion upon  
record was  consummated under the       
authority of the ,church1 and           
commemorated till a  very late period by
 an annual lecture at the ,university of
 ,cambridge4    ,this is the celebrated 
case of the ,witches of ,warbois1 who   
were  executed about thirty-two years   
after the passing of the statute of     
,elizabeth4 ,although in the interval   
but few trials are recorded1 there  is1 
unfortunately1 but too much evidence to 
show the extreme length to  which the   
popular prejudice was carried4 ,many    
women lost their lives in  every part of
 ,england without being brought to trial
 at all1 from the  injuries received at 
the hands of the people4 ,the number of 
these can  never be ascertained4    ,the
 case of the ,witches of ,warbois merits
 to be detailed at length1 not  only    
from the importance attached to it for  
so many years by the  learned of the    
,university1 but from the singular      

absurdity of the  evidence upon which   
men1 sensible in all other respects1    
could condemn  their fellow-creatures to
 the scaffold4    ,the principal actors 
in this strange drama were the families 
of ,sir  ,samuel ,cromwell and a ,mr4   
,throgmorton1 both gentlemen of landed  
property near ,warbois1 in the county of
 ,huntingdon4 ,mr4 ,throgmorton had     
several daughters1 the eldest of whom1  
,mistress ,joan1 was an  imaginative and
 melancholy girl1 whose head was filled 
with stories of  ghosts and witches4    
,upon one occasion she chanced to pass  
the cottage  of one ,mrs4 or1 as she was
 called1 ,mother ,samuel1 a very aged1 a
 very  poor1 and a very ugly woman4     
,mother ,samuel was sitting at her door 
knitting1 with a black cap upon her     
head1 when this silly young lady        
passed1 and taking her eyes from her    
work she looked steadfastly at  her4    
,mistress ,joan immediately fancied that
 she felt sudden pains in  all her      
limbs1 and from that day forth1 never   

ceased to tell her  sisters1 and        
everybody about her1 that ,mother       
,samuel had bewitched her4  ,the other  
children took up the cry1 and actually  
frightened themselves  into fits        
whenever they passed within sight of    
this terrible old woman4    ,mr4 and    
,mrs4 ,throgmorton1 not a whir wiser    
than their children1  believed all the  
absurd tales they had been told2 and    
,lady ,cromwell1 a  gossip of ,mrs4     
,throgmorton1 made herself very active  
in the business1  and determined to     
bring the witch to the ordeal4 ,the     
sapient ,sir ,samuel  joined in the     
scheme2 and the children thus encouraged
 gave loose reins  to their             
imaginations1 which seem to have been of
 the liveliest4 ,they  soon invented a  
whole host of evil spirits1 and names   
for them besides1  which1 they said1    
were sent by ,mother ,samuel to torment 
them  continually4 ,seven spirits       
especially1 they said1 were raised from 
hell  by this wicked woman to throw them

 into fits2 and as the children were    
actually subject to fits1 their mother  
and her commeres gave the more  credit  
to the story4 ,the names of these       
spirits were1 ,first ,smack1  ,second   
,smack1 ,third ,smack1 ,blue1 ,catch1   
,hardname1 and ,pluck4    ,throgmorton1 
the father1 was so pestered by these    
idle fancies1 and yet  so well inclined 
to believe them1 that he marched        
valiantly forth to  the hut where       
,mother ,samuel resided with her husband
 and daughter1 and  dragged her forcibly
 into his own grounds4 ,lady ,cromwell1 
,mrs4  ,throgmorton1 and the girls were 
in waiting1 armed with long pins to     
prick the witch1 and see if they could  
draw blood from her4 ,lady  ,cromwell1  
who seems to have been the most violent 
of the party1 tore  the old woman's cap 
off her head1 and plucking out a handful
 of her  grey hair1 gave it to ,mrs4    
,throgmorton to burn1 as a charm which  
would  preserve them all from her future
 machinations4 ,it was no wonder that   

the poor creature1 subjected to this    
rough usage1 should give vent to  an    
involuntary curse upon her tormentors4  
,she did so1 and her curse was  never   
forgotten4 ,her hair1 however1 was      
supposed to be a grand  specific1 and   
she was allowed to depart1 half dead    
with terror and ill  usage4 ,for more   
than a year1 the families of ,cromwell  
and ,throgmorton  continued to persecute
 her1 and to assert that her imps       
afflicted them  with pains and fits1    
turned the milk sour in their pans1 and 
prevented  their cows and ewes from     
bearing4 ,in the midst of these         
fooleries1 ,lady  ,cromwell was taken   
ill and died4 ,it was then remembered   
that her death  had taken place exactly 
a year and a quarter since she was      
cursed by  ,mother ,samuel1 and that on 
several occasions she had dreamed of the
  witch and a black cat1 the latter     
being of course the arch-enemy of       
mankind himself4    ,sir ,samuel        
,cromwell now conceived himself bound to

 take more energetic  measures against  
the sorceress1 since he had lost his    
wife by her  means4 ,the year and a     
quarter and the black cat were proofs   
positive4  ,all the neighbours had taken
 up the cry of witchcraft against       
,mother  ,samuel2 and her personal      
appearance1 unfortunately for her1 the  
very  ideal of what a witch ought to be1
 increased the popular suspicion4 ,it   
would appear that at last the poor woman
 believed1 even to her own              
disadvantage1 that she was what         
everybody represented her to be4 ,being 
forcibly brought into ,mr4              
,throgmorton's house1 when his daughter 
,joan  was in one of her customary fits1
 she was commanded by him and ,sir      
,samuel ,cromwell to expel the devil    
from the young lady4  ,she was told  to 
repeat her exorcism1 and to add1 as ,i  
am a witch1 and the causer of  ,lady    
,cromwell's death1 ,i charge thee1      
fiend1 to come out of her6 ,she  did as 
was required of her1 and moreover       

confessed that her husband and  daughter
 were leagued with her in witchcraft1   
and had1 like her1 sold  their souls to 
the devil4 ,the whole family were       
immediately arrested1  and sent to      
,huntingdon to prison4    ,the trial was
 instituted shortly afterwards before   
,mr4 ,justice ,fenner1  when all the    
crazy girls of ,mr4 ,throgmorton's      
family gave evidence  against ,mother   
,samuel and her family4 ,they were all  
three put to the  torture4 ,the old     
woman confessed in her anguish that she 
was a  witch--that she had cast her     
spells upon the young ladies1 and that  
she  had caused the death of ,lady      
,cromwell4 ,the father and daughter1    
stronger in mind than their unfortunate 
wife and parent1 refused to  confess    
anything1 and asserted their innocence  
to the last4 ,they were  all three      
condemned to be hanged1 and their bodies
 burned4 ,the  daughter1 who was young  
and good-looking1 excited the pity of   
many  persons1 and she was advised to   

plead pregnancy1 that she might gain at 
least a respite from death4 ,the poor   
girl refused proudly1 on the  ground    
that she would not be accounted both a  
witch and a strumpet4  ,her half-witted 
old mother caught at the idea of a few  
weeks' longer  life1 and asserted that  
she was pregnant4 ,the court was        
convulsed with  laughter1 in which the  
wretched victim herself joined1 and this
 was  accounted an additional proof that
 she was a witch4 ,the whole family     
were executed on the #gth of ,april1    
#aeic4    ,sir ,samuel ,cromwell1 as    
lord of the manor1 received the sum of  
#dj  pounds out of the confiscated      
property of the ,samuels1 which he      
turned  into a rent-charge of #dj       
shillings yearly1 for the endowment of  
an  annual sermon or lecture upon the   
enormity of witchcraft1 and this case   
in particular1 to be preached by a      
doctor or bachelor of divinity of       
,queen's ,college1 ,cambridge4 ,i have  
not been able to ascertain the exact    

date at which this annual lecture was   
discontinued1 but it appears to  have   
been preached so late as #agah1 when    
,dr4 ,hutchinson published his  work    
upon witchcraft4    ,to carry on in     
proper chronological order the history  
of the witch  delusion in the ,british  
isles1 it will be necessary to examine  
into  what was taking place in ,scotland
 during all that part of the sixteenth  
century anterior to the accession of    
,james ,,vi4 to the crown of ,england4  
,we naturally expect that the           
,scotch1--a people renowned from the    
earliest times for their powers of      
imagination1--should be more deeply     
imbued with this gloomy superstition    
than their neighhours of the  ,south4   
,the nature of their soil and climate   
tended to encourage the  dreams of early
 ignorance4 ,ghosts1 goblins1 wraiths1  
kelpies1 and a  whole host of spiritual 
beings1 were familiar to the dwellers by
 the  misty glens of the ,highlands and 
the romantic streams of the ,lowlands4  

,their deeds1 whether of good or ill1   
were enshrined in song1 and took a      
greater hold upon the imagination       
because verse had sanctified them4  ,but
 it was not till the religious reformers
 began the practice of  straining       
,scripture to the severest extremes1    
that the arm of the law  was called upon
 to punish witchcraft as a crime per se4
 ,what ,pope  ,innocent ,,viii4 had done
 for ,germany and ,france1 the preachers
 of the  ,reformation did for the       
,scottish people4 ,witchcraft1 instead  
of being a  mere article of faith1      
became enrolled in the statute book2 and
 all  good subjects and true ,christians
 were called upon to take arms against  
it4 ,the ninth ,parliament of ,queen    
,mary passed an act in #aefc1 which     
decreed the punishment of death against 
witches and consulters with  witches1   
and immediately the whole bulk of the   
people were smitten with  an epidemic   
fear of the devil and his mortal agents4
  ,persons in the  highest ranks of life

 shared and encouraged the delusion of  
the vulgar4  ,many were themselves      
accused of witchcraft2 and noble ladies 
were shown  to have dabbled in mystic   
arts1 and proved to the world that1 if  
they  were not witches1 it was not for  
want of the will4    ,among the dames   
who became notorious for endeavouring to
 effect their  wicked ends by the       
devil's aid1 may be mentioned the       
celebrated ,lady  ,buccleugh1 of        
,branxholme1 familiar to all the readers
 of ,sir ,walter  ,scott2 the ,countess 
of ,lothian1 the ,countess of ,angus1   
the ,countess of  ,athol1 ,lady ,kerr1  
the ,countess of ,huntley1 ,euphemia    
,macalzean 7the  daughter of ,lord      
,cliftonhall71 and ,lady ,fowlis4 ,among
 the celebrated of  the other sex who   
were accused of wizzardism was ,sir     
,lewis ,ballantyne1  the ,lord ,justice 
,clerk for ,scotland1 who1 if we may    
believe ,scot of  ,scotstarvet1 dealt by
 curiosity with a warlock called        
,richard  ,grahame1 and prayed him to   

raise the devil4 ,the warlock consented1
 and  raised him in propria persona1 in 
the yard of his house in the            
,canongate1 at sight of whom the ,lord  
,justice ,clerk was so terrified  that  
he took sickness and thereof died4 ,by  
such idle reports as these  did the     
envious ruin the reputation of those    
they hated1 though it  would appear in  
this case that ,sir ,lewis had been fool
 enough to make  the attempt of which he
 was accused1 and that the success of   
the  experiment was the only apocryphal 
part of the story4    ,the enemies of   
,john ,knox invented a similar tale1    
which found ready  credence among the   
,roman ,catholics2 glad to attach any   
stigma to that  grand scourge of the    
vices of their church4 ,it was reported 
that he and  his secretary went into the
 churchyard of ,st4 ,andrew's with the  
intent  to raise some sanctes2 but that1
 by a mistake in their conjurations1    
they raised the great fiend himself1    
instead of the saints they wished  to   

consult4 ,the popular rumour added that 
,knox's secretary was so  frightened at 
the great horns1 goggle eyes1 and long  
tail of ,satan1  that he went mad1 and  
shortly afterwards died4 ,knox himself  
was built  of sterner stuff1 and was not
 to be frightened4    ,the first name   
that occurs in the records of the ,high 
,court of  ,justiciary of persons tried 
or executed for witchcraft is that of   
,janet  ,bowman1 in #aegb1 nine years   
after the passing of the act of ,mary4  
,no  particulars of her crimes are      
given1 and against her name there only  
stand the words1 convict and brynt4 ,it 
is not1 however1 to be  inferred that1  
in this interval1 no trials or          
executions took place2  for it appears  
on the authority of documents of        
unquestioned  authenticity in the       
,advocates' ,library at ,edinburgh1     
,foreign ,quarterly  ,review1 vol4 vi4  
page #da4 that the ,privy ,council made 
a practice of  granting commissions to  
resident gentlemen and ministers1 in    

every part  of ,scotland1 to examine1   
try1 and execute witches within their   
own  parishes4 ,no records of those who 
suffered from the sentence of these     
tribunals have been preserved2 but if   
popular tradition may be  believed1 even
 to the amount of one-fourth of its     
assertions1 their  number was fearful4  
,after the year #aegb1 the entries of   
executions for  witchcraft in the       
records of the ,high ,court become more 
frequent1 but  do not average more than 
one per annum2 another proof that trials
 for  this offence were in general      
entrusted to the local magistracy4 ,the 
latter appear to have ordered witches to
 the stake with as little  compunction1 
and after as summary a mode1 as modern  
justices of the  peace order a poacher  
to the stocks4    ,as ,james ,,vi4      
advanced in manhood1 he took great      
interest in the witch  trials4 ,one of  
them especially1 that of ,gellie        
,duncan1 ,dr4 ,fian1 and  their         
accomplices1 in the year #aeia1         

engrossed his whole attention1 and  no  
doubt suggested in some degree1 the     
famous work on ,demonology which  he    
wrote shortly afterwards4 ,as these     
witches had made an attempt upon  his   
own life1 it is not surprising1 with his
 habits1 that he should  have watched   
the case closely1 or become strengthened
 in his prejudice  and superstition by  
its singular details4 ,no other trial   
that could be  selected would give so   
fair an idea of the delusions of the    
,scottish  people as this4 ,whether we  
consider the number of victims1 the     
absurdity of the evidence1 and the real 
villany of some of the persons          
implicated1 it is equally extraordinary4
    ,gellie ,duncan1 the prime witch in 
these proceedings1 was servant to the   
,deputy ,bailiff of ,tranent1 a small   
town in ,hadingtonshire1 about ten      
miles from ,edinburgh4 ,though neither  
old nor ugly 7as witches usually  were71
 but young and good-looking1 her        
neighbours1 from some suspicious  parts 

of her behaviour1 had long considered   
her a witch4 ,she had1 it  appears1 some
 pretensions to the healing art4 ,some  
cures which she  effected were so       
sudden1 that the worthy ,bailiff1 her   
master1 who1 like  his neighbours1      
mistrusted her1 considered them no less 
than  miraculous4 ,in order to discover 
the truth1 he put her to the torture2   
but she obstinately refused to confess  
that she had dealings with the  devil4  
,it was the popular belief that no witch
 would confess as long as  the mark     
which ,satan had put upon her remained  
undiscovered upon her  body4 ,somebody  
present reminded the torturing ,bailie  
of this fact1 and  on examination1 the  
devil's mark was found upon the throat  
of poor  ,gellie4 ,she was put to the   
torture again1 and her fortitude giving 
way  under the extremity of her anguish1
 she confessed that she was indeed a    
witch--that she had sold her soul to the
 devil1 and effected all her  cures by  
his aid4 ,this was something new in the 

witch creed1 according  to which1 the   
devil delighted more in laying diseases 
on1 than in  taking them off2 but       
,gellie ,duncan fared no better on that 
account4 ,the  torture was still        
applied1 until she had named all her    
accomplices1  among whom were one       
,cunningham1 a reputed wizard1 known by 
the name of  ,dr4 ,fian1 a grave and    
matron-like witch1 named ,agnes         
,sampson1 ,euphemia  ,macalzean1 the    
daughter of ,lord ,cliftonhall1 already 
mentioned1 and  nearly forty other      
persons1 some of whom were the wives of 
respectable  individuals in the city of 
,edinburgh4 ,every one of these persons 
was  arrested1 and the whole realm of   
,scotland thrown into commotion by the  
extraordinary nature of the disclosures 
which were anticipated4    ,about two   
years previous to this time1 ,james had 
suddenly left his  kingdom1 and         
proceeded gallantly to ,denmark1 to     
fetch over his bride1  the ,princess of 
,denmark1 who had been detained by      

contrary weather in  the harbour of     
,upslo4 ,after remaining for some months
 in ,copenhagen1 he  set sail with his  
young bride1 and arrived safely in      
,leith1 on the #ast  of ,may #aeij1     
having experienced a most boisterous    
passage1 and been  nearly wrecked4 ,as  
soon as the arrest of ,gellie ,duncan   
and ,fian became  known in ,scotland1 it
 was reported by everybody who pretended
 to be  well-informed that these witches
 and their associates had1 by the       
devil's means1 raised the storms which  
had endangered the lives of the  ,king  
and ,queen4 ,gellie1 in her torture1 had
 confessed that such was the  fact1 and 
the whole kingdom waited aghast and     
open-mouthed for the  corroboration     
about to be furnished by the trial4     
,agnes ,sampson1 the grave and          
matron-like witch implicated by ,gellie 
,duncan1 was put to the horrible torture
 of the pilliewinkis4  ,she laid  bare  
all the secrets of the sisterhood before
 she had suffered an hour1  and         

confessed that ,gellie ,duncan1 ,dr4    
,fian1 ,marion ,lineup1 ,euphemia       
,macalzean1 herself1 and upwards of two 
hundred witches and warlocks1  used to  
assemble at midnight in the kirk of     
,north ,berwick1 where they  met the    
devil2 that they had plotted there to   
attempt the ,king's life2  that they    
were incited to this by the old fiend   
himself1 who had  asserted with a       
thundering oath that ,james was the     
greatest enemy he  ever had1 and that   
there would be no peace for the devil's 
children  upon earth until he were got  
rid of2 that the devil upon these       
occasions always liked to have a little 
music1 and that ,gellie ,duncan  used to
 play a reel before him on a trump or   
,jew's harp1 to which all  the witches  
danced4    ,james was highly flattered  
at the idea that the devil should have  
said  that he was the greatest enemy he 
ever had4 ,he sent for ,gellie ,duncan  
to the palace1 and made her play before 
him the same reel which she had  played 

at the witches' dance in the kirk4      
,dr4 ,fian1 or rather ,cunningham1 a    
petty schoolmaster at ,tranent1 was  put
 to the torture among the rest4 ,he was 
a man who had led an infamous  life1 was
 a compounder of and dealer in poisons1 
and a pretender to  magic4 ,though not  
guilty of the preposterous crimes laid  
to his charge1  there is no doubt that  
he was a sorcerer in will1 though not in
 deed1  and that he deserved all the    
misery he endured4  ,when put on the    
rack1  he would confess nothing1 and    
held out so long unmoved1 that the      
severe  torture of the boots was        
resolved upon4 ,he endured this till    
exhausted  nature could bear no longer1 
when ,insensibility kindly stepped in to
  his aid4 ,when it was seen that he was
 utterly powerless1 and that his  tongue
 cleaved to the roof of his mouth1 he   
was released4 ,restoratives  were       
administered2 and during the first faint
 gleam of returning  consciousness1 he  
was prevailed upon to sign1 ere he well 

knew what he  was about1 a full         
confession1 in strict accordance with   
those of ,gellie  ,duncan and ,agnes    
,sampson4 ,he was then remanded to his  
prison1 from  which1 after two days1 he 
managed1 somehow or other1 to escape4   
,he was  soon recaptured1 and brought   
before the ,court of ,justiciary1 ,james
  himself being present4 ,fian now      
denied all the circumstances of the     
written confession which he had signed2 
whereupon the ,king1 enraged at  his    
stubborn wilfulness1 ordered him once   
more to the torture4 ,his  finger nails 
were riven out with pincers1 and long   
needles thrust up to  the eye into the  
quick2 but still he did not wince4 ,he  
was then  consigned again to the boots1 
in which1 to quote a pamphlet published 
at the time1 ,news from ,scotland1      
declaring the damnable life of ,dr4     
,fian4 he continued so long1 and abode  
so many blows in them1 that his  legs   
were crushed and beaten together as     
small as might be1 and the  bones and   

flesh so bruised1 that the blood and    
marrow spouted forth in  great          
abundance1 whereby they were made       
unserviceable for ever4    ,the         
astonishing similarity of the           
confessions of all the persons          
implicated in these proceedings has     
often been remarked4 ,it would  appear  
that they actually endeavoured to cause 
the ,king's death by  their spells and  
sorceries4 ,fian1 who was acquainted    
with all the usual  tricks of his       
profession1 deceived them with pretended
 apparitions1 so  that many of them were
 really convinced that they had seen the
 devil4  ,the sum of their confessions  
was to the following effect3--          
,satan1 who was1 of course1 a great foe 
of the reformed religion1 was  alarmed  
that ,king ,james should marry a        
,protestant princess4 ,to avert  the    
consequences to the realms of evil1 he  
had determined to put an end  to the    
,king and his bride by raising a storm  
on their voyage home4  ,satan1 first of 

all1 sent a thick mist over the waters1 
in the hope  that the ,king's vessel    
might be stranded on the coast amid the 
darkness4 ,this failing1 ,dr4 ,fian1    
who1 from his superior scholarship1  was
 advanced to the dignity of the devil's 
secretary1 was commanded to  summon all 
the witches to meet their master1 each  
one sailing on a  sieve on the high     
seas4    ,on ,all-hallowmas ,eve1 they  
assembled to the number of upwards of   
two  hundred1 including ,gellie ,duncan1
 ,agnes ,sampson1 ,euphemia ,macalzean1 
one ,barbara ,napier1 and several       
warlocks2 and each embarking in a       
riddle1 or sieve1 they sailed over the  
ocean very substantially4  ,after       
cruising about for some time1 they met  
with the fiend1 bearing in  his claws a 
cat1 which had been previously drawn    
nine times through the  fire4 ,this he  
delivered to one of the warlocks1       
telling him to cast it  into the sea1   
and cry ,hola6 ,this was done with all  
solemnity1 and  immediately the ocean   

became convulsed--the waters hissed     
loudly1 and  the waves rose mountains   
high1      ,twisting their arms to the  
dun-coloured heaven4    ,the witches    
sailed gallantly through the tempest    
they had raised1 and  landing on the    
coast of ,scotland1 took their sieves in
 their hands1 and  marched on in        
procession to the haunted kirk of ,north
 ,berwick1 where  the devil had resolved
 to hold a preaching4 ,gellie ,duncan1  
the musician  of the party1 tripped on  
before1 playing on her ,jew's harp1 and 
singing1      ,cummer1 go ye before1    
,cummer1 go ye2    ,gif ye will not go  
before1 ,cummer1 let me6    ,arrived at 
the kirk1 they paced around it          
withershins1 that is1 in  reverse of the
 apparent motion of the sun4 ,dr4 ,fian 
then blew into the  key-hole of the     
door1 which opened immediately1 and all 
the witches  entered4 ,as it was pitch  
dark1 ,fian blew with his mouth upon the
  candles1 which immediately lighted1   
and the devil was seen occupying  the   

pulpit4 ,he was attired in a black gown 
and hat1 and the witches  saluted him1  
by crying1 ,all hail1 master6 ,his body 
was hard1 like  iron2 his face terrible2
 his nose1 like the beak of an eagle2 he
 had  great burning eyes2 his hands and 
legs were hairy2 and he had long  claws 
upon his hands and feet1 and spake with 
an exceedingly gruff  voice4 ,before    
commencing his sermon1 he called over   
the names of his  congregation1         
demanding whether they had been good    
servants1 and what  success had attended
 their operations against the life of   
the ,king and  his bride4    ,gray      
,meill1 a crazy old warlock1 who acted  
as beadle or doorkeeper1 was  silly     
enough to answer1 that nothing ailed the
 ,king yet1 ,god be  thanked2 upon which
 the devil1 in a rage1 stepped down from
 the  pulpit1 and boxed his ears for    
him4 ,he then remounted1 and commenced  
the preaching1 commanding them to be    
dutiful servants to him1 and do  all the
 evil they could4 ,euphemia ,macalzean  

and ,agnes ,sampson1 bolder  than the   
rest1 asked him whether he had brought  
the image or picture of  ,king ,james1  
that they might1 by pricking it1 cause  
pains and diseases  to fall upon him4   
,the father of lies spoke truth for     
once1 and  confessed that he had        
forgotten it2 upon which ,euphemia      
,macalzean  upbraided him loudly for his
 carelessness4 ,the devil1 however1 took
 it  all in good part1 although ,agnes  
,sampson and several other women let    
loose their tongues at him immediately4 
,when they had done scolding1 he        
invited them all to a grand             
entertainment4 ,a newly buried corpse   
was  dug up1 and divided among them1    
which was all they had in the way of    
edibles4 ,he was more liberal in the    
matter of drink1 and gave them so  much 
excellent wine that they soon became    
jolly4  ,gellie ,duncan then  played the
 old tune upon her trump1 and the devil 
himself led off the  dance with         
,euphemia ,mac alzean4 ,thus they kept  

up the sport till the  cock crew4       
,agnes ,sampson1 the wise woman of      
,keith1 as she was called1 added some   
other particulars in her confession4    
,she stated1 that on a previous         
occasion1 she had raised an awful       
tempest in the sea1 by throwing a cat   
into it1 with four joints of men tied to
 its feet4 ,she said also1 that  on     
their grand attempt to drown ,king      
,james1 they did not meet with the      
devil after cruising about1 but that he 
had accompanied them from the  first1   
and that she had seen him dimly in the  
distance1 rolling himself  before them  
over the great waves1 in shape and size 
not unlike a huge  haystack4 ,they met  
with a foreign ship richly laden with   
wines and  other good things1 which they
 boarded1 and sunk after they had drunk 
all the wine1 and made themselves quite 
merry4    ,some of these disclosures    
were too much even for the abundant     
faith of  ,king ,james1 and he more than
 once exclaimed1 that the witches were  

like  their master1 extreme lyars4 ,but 
they confessed many other things of  a  
less preposterous nature1 and of which  
they were1 no doubt1 really  guilty4    
,agnes ,sampson said she was to have    
taken the ,king's life by  anointing his
 linen with a strong poison4 ,gellie    
,duncan used to  threaten her neighbours
 by saying she would send the devil     
after them2  and many persons of weaker 
minds than usual were frightened into   
fits  by her1 and rendered subject to   
them for the remainder of their lives4  
,dr4 ,finn also made no scruple in      
aiding and abetting murder1 and would   
rid any person of an enemy by means of  
poison1 who could pay him his  fee for  
it4 ,euphemia ,macalzean also was far   
from being pure4 ,there is  no doubt    
that she meditated the ,king's death1   
and used such means to  compass it as   
the superstition of the age directed4   
,she was a devoted  partizan of         
,bothwell1 who was accused by many of   
the witches as having  consulted them on

 the period of the ,king's death4 ,they 
were all found  guilty1 and sentenced to
 be hanged and burned4 ,barbara ,napier1
 though  found guilty upon other counts1
 was acquitted upon the charge of having
  been present at the great             
witch-meeting in ,berwick kirk4 ,the    
,king was  highly displeased1 and       
threatened to have the jury indicted for
 a  wilful error upon an assize4 ,they  
accordingly reconsidered their  verdict1
 and threw themselves upon the ,king's  
mercy for the fault they  had committed4
  ,james was satisfied1 and ,barbara    
,napier was hanged  along with ,gellie  
,duncan1 ,agnes ,sampson1 ,dr4 ,fian1   
and five-and-twenty  others4 ,euphemia  
,macalzean met a harder fate4 ,her      
connexion with the  bold and obnoxious  
,bothwell1 and her share in poisoning   
one or two  individuals who had stood in
 her way1 were thought deserving of the 
severest punishment the law could       
inflict4 ,instead of the ordinary       
sentence1 directing the criminal to be  

first strangled and then burned1  the   
wretched woman was doomed to be bound to
 a stake1 and burned in  ashes1 quick to
 the death4 ,this cruel sentence was    
executed on the  #beth of ,june #aeia4  
,these trials had the most pernicious   
consequences all over ,scotland4  ,the  
lairds and ministers in their districts1
 armed with due power from  the privy   
council1 tried and condemned old women  
after the most summary  fashion4 ,those 
who still clung to the ancient faith of 
,rome were the  severest sufferers1 as  
it was thought1 after the disclosures of
 the  fierce enmity borne by the devil  
towards a ,protestant ,king and his     
,protestant wife1 that all the          
,catholics were leagued with the powers 
of  evil to work woe on the realm of    
,scotland4  ,upon a very moderate       
calculation1 it is presumed that from   
the passing of the act of ,queen  ,mary 
till the accession of ,james to the     
throne of ,england1 a period of         
thirty-nine years1 the average number of

 executions for witchcraft in  ,scotland
 was two hundred annually1 or upwards of
 seventeen thousand  altogether4 ,for   
the first nine years the number was not 
one quarter so  great2 but towards the  
years #aeij to #aeic1 the number must   
have been  more than four hundred4 ,the 
case last cited was one of an           
extraordinary  character4 ,the general  
aspect of the trials will be better seen
 from  that of ,isabel ,gowdie1 which1  
as it would be both wearisome and       
disgusting to go through them all1 is   
cited as a fair specimen1  although it  
took place at a date somewhat later than
 the reign of  ,james4 ,this woman1     
wearied of her life by the persecutions 
of her  neighbours1 voluntarily gave    
herself up to justice1 and made a       
confession1 embodying the whole         
witch-creed of the period4 ,she was     
undoubtedly a monomaniac of the most    
extraordinary kind4 ,she said that  she 
deserved to be stretched upon an iron   
rack1 and that her crimes  could never  

be atoned for1 even if she were to be   
drawn asunder by wild  horses4 ,she     
named a long list of her associates1    
including nearly fifty  women and a few 
warlocks4 ,they dug up the graves of    
unchristened  infants1 whose limbs were 
serviceable in their enchantments4 ,when
 they  wanted to destroy the crops of an
 enemy1 they yoked toads to his  plough1
 and on the following night ,satan      
himself ploughed the land with  his     
team1 and blasted it for the season4    
,the witches had power to  assume almost
 any shape2 but they generally chose    
either that of a cat  or a hare1        
oftenest the latter4 ,isabel said1 that 
on one occasion1 when  she was in this  
disguise1 she was sore pressed by a pack
 of hounds1 and  had a very narrow      
escape with her life4 ,she reached her  
own door at  last1 feeling the hot      
breath of the pursuing dogs at her      
haunches4 ,she  managed1 however1 to    
hide herself behind a chest1 and got    
time to  pronounce the magic words that 

could alone restore her to her proper   
shape4 ,they were3--      ,hare6 hare6  
,god send thee care6       ,i am in a   
hare's likeness now2       ,but ,i shall
 be a woman e'en now6    ,hare6 hare6   
,god send thee care6    ,if witches1    
when in this shape1 were bitten by the  
dogs1 they always  retained the marks in
 their human form2 but she had never    
heard that  any witch had been bitten to
 death4 ,when the devil appointed any   
general meeting of the witches1 the     
custom was that they should proceed     
through the air mounted on broomsticks1 
or on corn or bean-straws1  pronouncing 
as they went3--      ,horse and partook1
 horse and go1    ,horse and pellats1   
ho6 ho6 ho6    ,they generally left     
behind them a broom1 or a three-legged  
stool1  which1 when placed in their beds
 and duly charmed1 assumed the human    
shape till their return4 ,this was done 
that the neighhours might not  know when
 they were absent4    ,she added1 that  
the devil furnished his favourite       

witches with servant  imps to attend    
upon them4 ,these imps were called ,the 
,roaring ,lion1  ,thief of ,hell1       
,wait-upon-,herself1 ,ranting ,roarer1  
,care-for-,naught1 c4 and were known by 
their liveries1 which were  generally   
yellow1 sad-dun1 sea-green1 pea-green1  
or grass-green4 ,satan  never called the
 witches by the names they had received 
at baptism2  neither were they allowed1 
in his presence1 so to designate each   
other4  ,such a breach of the infernal  
etiquette assuredly drew down his most  
severe displeasure4 ,but as some        
designation was necessary1 he           
re-baptized them in their own blood by  
the names of ,able-and-,stout1          
,over-the-dike-with-it1 ,raise-the-wind1
 ,pickle-nearest-the-wind1              
,batter-them-down-,maggy1 ,blow-,kale1  
and such like4 ,the devil himself  was  
not very particular what name they      
called him so that it was not  ,black   
,john4 ,if any witch was unthinking     
enough to utter these words1  he would  

rush out upon her1 and beat and buffet  
her unmercifully1 or  tear her flesh    
with a wool-card4 ,other names he did   
not care about2 and  once gave          
instructions to a noted warlock that    
whenever he wanted his  aid1 he was to  
strike the ground three times and       
exclaim1 ,rise up1  foul thief6    ,upon
 this confession many persons were      
executed4 ,so strong was the  popular   
feeling1 that no one once accused of    
witchcraft was acquitted2  at least1    
acquittals did not average one in a     
hundred trials4  ,witch-finding1 or     
witch-pricking became a trade1 and a set
 of mercenary  vagabonds roamed about   
the country1 provided with long pins to 
run into  the flesh of supposed         
criminals4 ,it was no unusual thing     
then1 nor is  it now1 that in aged      
persons there should be some spot on the
 body  totally devoid of feeling4 ,it   
was the object of the witchpricker to   
discover this spot1 and the unhappy     
wight who did not bleed when  pricked   

upon it1 was doomed to the death4 ,if   
not immediately cast into  prison1 her  
life was rendered miserable by the      
persecution of her  neighbours4 ,it is  
recorded of many poor women1 that the   
annoyances they  endured in this way    
were so excessive1 that they preferred  
death4 ,sir  ,george ,mackenzie1 the    
,lord ,advocate1 at the time when       
witch-trials were  so frequent1 and     
himself a devout believer in the crime1 
relates1 in  his ,criminal ,law1 first  
published in #afgh1 some remarkable     
instances  of it4 ,he says1 ,i went1    
when ,i was a justice-depute1 to examine
 some  women who had confessed          
judicially3 and one of them1 who was a  
silly  creature1 told me1 under secrecy1
 that she had not confessed because  she
 was guilty1 but being a poor creature  
who wrought for her meat1 and  being    
defamed for a witch1 she knew she should
 starve2 for no person  thereafter would
 either give her meat or lodging1 and   
that all men  would beat her and set    

dogs at her2 and that1 therefore1 she   
desired to  be out of the world2        
whereupon she wept most bitterly1 and   
upon her  knees called ,god to witness  
to what she said4 ,sir ,george1 though  
not  wholly elevated above the          
prejudices of his age upon this subject1
 was  clearsighted enough to see the    
danger to society of the undue          
encouragement given to the              
witch-prosecutions4 ,he was convinced   
that  three-fourths of them were unjust 
and unfounded4 ,he says1 in the work    
already quoted1 that the persons who    
were in general accused of this  crime1 
were poor ignorant men and women1 who   
did not understand the  nature of the   
accusation1 and who mistook their own   
superstitious fears  for witchcraft4    
,one poor wretch1 a weaver1 confessed   
that he was a  warlock1 and1 being asked
 why1 he replied1 because he had seen   
the  devil dancing1 like a fly1 about   
the candle6 ,a simple woman1 who1       
because she was called a witch1 believed

 that she was1 asked the judge  upon the
 bench1 whether a person might be a     
witch and not know it8 ,sir  ,george    
adds1 that all the supposed criminals   
were subjected to severe  torture in    
prison from their gaolers1 who thought  
they did ,god good  service by vexing   
and tormenting them2 and ,i know1 says  
this humane  and enlightened magistrate1
 that this usage was the ground of all  
their confession2 and albeit1 the poor  
miscreants cannot prove this  usage1 the
 actors in it being the only witnesses1 
yet the judge should  be jealous of it1 
as that which did at first elicit the   
confession1 and  for fear of which they 
dare not retract it4 ,another author1   
,satan's  ,invisible ,world discovered1 
by the ,rev4 ,g4 ,sinclair4 also a firm 
believer in witchcraft1 gives a still   
more lamentable instance of a  woman who
 preferred execution as a witch to live 
on under the  imputation4 ,this woman1  
who knew that three others were to be   
strangled  and burned on an early day1  

sent for the minister of the parish1 and
  confessed that she had sold her soul  
to ,satan4 ,whereupon being called      
before the judges1 she was condemned to 
die with the rest4 ,being  carried forth
 to the place of execution1 she remained
 silent during the  first1 second1 and  
third prayer1 and then1 perceiving that 
there  remained no more but to rise and 
go to the stake1 she lifted up her      
body1 and1 with a loud voice1 cried out1
 ,now all you that see me this  day1    
know that ,i am now to die as a witch1  
by my own confession1 and ,i  free all  
men1 especially the ministers and       
magistrates1 of the guilt of  my blood4 
,i take it wholly upon myself4 ,my blood
 be upon my own head4  ,and1 as ,i must 
make answer to the ,god of heaven       
presently1 ,i declare ,i  am as free of 
witchcraft as any child4 ,but1 being    
delated by a  malicious woman1 and put  
in prison under the name of a witch1    
disowned  by my husband and friends1 and
 seeing no ground of hope of ever coming

  out again1 ,i made up that confession 
to destroy my own life1 being  weary of 
it1 and choosing rather to die than to  
live4 ,as a proof of  the singular      
obstinacy and blindness of the believers
 in witches1 it  may be stated1 that the
 minister who relates this story only   
saw in the  dying speech of the unhappy 
woman an additional proof that she was a
  witch4 ,true indeed is it1 that none  
are so blind as those who will not  see4
    ,it is time1 however1 to return to  
,james ,,vi1 who is fairly entitled to  
share with ,pope ,innocent1 ,sprenger1  
,bodinus1 and ,matthew ,hopkins the     
glory or the odium of being at the same 
time a chief enemy and chief  encourager
 of witchcraft4 ,towards the close of   
the sixteenth century1  many learned    
men1 both on the ,continent and in the  
isles of ,britain1  had endeavoured to  
disabuse the public mind on this        
subject4  ,the most  celebrated were    
,wierus in ,germany1 ,pietro d',apone in
 ,italy1 and  ,reginald ,scot in        

,england4 ,their works excited the      
attention of the  zealous ,james1 who1  
mindful of the involuntary compliment   
which his  merits had extorted from the 
devil1 was ambitious to deserve it by   
still continuing his greatest enemie4   
,in the year #aeig he published1  in    
,edinburgh1 his famous treatise on      
,demonology4 ,its design may be         
gathered from the following passage in  
the introduction4 ,the fearful          
abounding1 says the ,king1 at this time1
 and in this country1 of these          
detestable slaves of the devil1 the     
witches1 or enchanters1 hath moved  me1 
beloved reader1 to despatch in post this
 following treatise of  mine1 not in any
 wise1 as ,i protest1 to serve for a    
show of mine own  learning and ingene   
7ingenuity71 but only 7moved of         
conscience7 to  press thereby1 so far as
 ,i can1 to resolve the doubting hearts 
of many2  both that such assaults of    
,satan are most certainly practised1 and
 that  the instrument thereof merits    

most severely to be punished1 against   
the  damnable opinions of two1          
principally in our age1 whereof the one1
  called ,scot1 an ,englishman1 is not  
ashamed1 in public print1 to deny  that 
there can be such thing as witchcraft1  
and so maintains the old  error of the  
,sadducees1 in denying of spirits4 ,the 
other1 called  ,wierus1 a ,german       
physician1 sets out a public apology for
 all these  crafts-folks1 whereby       
procuring for them impunity1 he plainly 
betrays  himself to have been one of    
that profession4 ,in other parts of this
  treatise1 which the author had put    
into the form of a dialogue to make  it 
more pleasant and facile1 he says1      
,witches ought to be put to  death1     
according to the law of ,god1 the civil 
and imperial law1 and the  municipal law
 of all ,christian nations3 yea1 to     
spare the life1 and not  strike whom    
,god bids strike1 and so severely punish
 in so odious a  treason against ,god1  
is not only unlawful1 but doubtless as  

great a sin  in the magistrate1 as was  
,saul's sparing ,agag4 ,he says also1   
that the  crime is so abominable1 that  
it may be proved by evidence which would
  not be received against any other     
offenders1--young children1 who knew    
not the nature of an oath1 and persons  
of an infamous character1 being         
sufficient witnesses against them2 but  
lest the innocent should be  accused of 
a crime so difficult to be acquitted of1
 he recommends that  in all cases the   
ordeal should be resorted to4  ,he says1
 ,two good  helps may be used3 the one  
is1 the finding of their mark1 and the  
trying the insensibleness thereof2 the  
other is their floating on the  water2  
for1 as in a secret murther1 if the dead
 carcass be at any time  thereafter     
handled by the murtherer1 it will gush  
out of blood1 as if  the blood were     
crying to ,heaven for revenge of the    
murtherer1 7,god  having appointed that 
secret supernatural sign for trial of   
that secret  unnatural crime72 so that  

it appears that ,god hath appointed 7for
 a  supernatural sign of the monstrous  
impiety of witches7 that the water      
shall refuse to receive them in her     
bosom1 that have shaken off them  the   
sacred water of baptism1 and wilfully   
refused the benefit thereof2  no1 not so
 much as their eyes are able to shed    
tears 7threaten and  torture them as you
 please71 while first they repent 7,god 
not  permitting them to dissemble their 
obstinacy in so horrible a crime74      
,albeit1 the womenkind especially1 be   
able otherwise to shed tears at  every  
light occasion1 when they will2 yea1    
although it were  dissembling1 like the 
crocodiles4    ,when such doctrines as  
these were openly promulgated by the    
highest  authority in the realm1 and    
who1 in promulgating them1 flattered1   
but  did not force the public opinion1  
it is not surprising that the sad       
delusion should have increased and      
multiplied1 until the race of  wizards  
and witches replenished the earth4 ,the 

reputation which he lost  by being      
afraid of a naked sword1 he more than   
regained by his courage  in combating   
the devil4 ,the ,kirk showed itself a   
most zealous  coadjutor1 especially     
during those halcyon days when it was   
not at  issue with the ,king upon other 
matters of doctrine and prerogative4    
,on his accession to the throne of      
,england1 in #afjc1 ,james came amongst 
a people who had heard with admiration  
of his glorious deeds against  the      
witches4 ,he himself left no part of his
 ancient prejudices behind  him1 and his
 advent was the signal for the          
persecution to burst forth  in ,england 
with a fury equal to that in ,scotland4 
,it had languished a  little during the 
latter years of the reign of ,elizabeth2
 but the very  first ,parliament of     
,king ,james brought forward the        
subject4 ,james was  flattered by their 
promptitude1 and the act passed in      
#afjd4 ,on the  second reading in the   
,house of ,lords1 the bill passed into a

 committee1  in which were twelve       
bishops4 ,by it was enacted1 ,that if   
any person  shall use1 practise1 or     
exercise any conjuration of any wicked  
or evil  spirit1 or shall consult1      
covenant with1 or feed any such spirit1 
the  first offence to be imprisonment   
for a year and standing in the pillory  
once a quarter2 the second offence to be
 death4    ,the minor punishment seems  
but rarely to have been inflicted4      
,every  record that has been preserved1 
mentions that the witches were hanged   
and burned1 or burned without the       
previous strangling1 alive and  quick4  
,during the whole of ,james's reign1    
amid the civil wars of his  successor1  
the sway of the ,long ,parliament1 the  
usurpation of ,cromwell1  and the reign 
of ,charles ,,ii1 there was no abatement
 of the persecution4  ,if at any time it
 raged with less virulence1 it was when 
,cromwell and  the ,independents were   
masters4 ,dr4 ,zachary ,grey1 the editor
 of an  edition of ,hudibras1 informs   

us1 in a note to that work1 that he     
himself perused a list of three thousand
 witches who were executed in  the time 
of the ,long ,parliament alone4 ,during 
the first eighty years of  the          
seventeenth century1 the number executed
 has been estimated at five  hundred    
annually1 making the frightful total of 
forty thousand4 ,some of  these cases   
deserve to be cited4 ,the great majority
 resemble closely  those already        
mentioned1 but two or three of them let 
in a new light  upon the popular        
superstition4    ,every one has heard of
 the ,lancashire witches1 a phrase now  
used to  compliment the ladies of that  
county for their bewitching beauty2 but 
it is not every one who has heard the   
story in which it originated4 ,a        
villainous boy1 named ,robinson1 was the
 chief actor in the tragedy4 ,he        
confessed1 many years afterwards1 that  
he had been suborned by his  father and 
other persons to give false evidence    
against the unhappy  witches whom he    

brought to the stake4 ,the time of this 
famous trial was  about the year #afcd4 
,this boy ,robinson1 whose father was a 
wood-cutter1  residing on the borders of
 ,pendle ,forest1 in ,lancashire1 spread
 abroad  many rumours against one       
,mother ,dickenson1 whom he accused of  
being a  witch4 ,these rumours coming to
 the ears of the local magistracy1 the  
boy was sent for1 and strictly examined4
 ,he told the following  extraordinary  
story1 without hesitation or            
prevarication1 and  apparently in so    
open and honest a manner1 that no one   
who heard him  doubted the truth of     
it3--,he said1 that as he was roaming   
about in one  of the glades of the      
forest1 amusing himself by gathering    
blackberries1  he saw two greyhounds    
before him1 which he thought at the time
 belonged  to some gentleman of the     
neighbourhood4  ,being fond of sport1 he
  proposed to have a course1 and a hare 
being started1 he incited the  hounds to
 run4 ,neither of them would stir4      

,angry at the beasts1 he  seized hold of
 a switch1 with which he was about to   
punish them1 when  one of them suddenly 
started up in the form of a woman1 and  
the other1  of a little boy4 ,he at once
 recognised the woman to be the witch   
,mother  ,dickenson4 ,she offered him   
some money to induce him to sell his    
soul to  the devil2 but he refused4     
,upon this she took a bridle out of her 
pocket1 and1 shaking it over the head of
 the other little boy1 he was  instantly
 turned into a horse4 ,mother ,dickenson
 then seized him in her  arms1 sprang   
upon the horse2 and1 placing him before 
her1 rode with the  swiftness of the    
wind over forests1 fields1 bogs1 and    
rivers1 until  they came to a large     
barn4  ,the witch alighted at the door2 
and taking  him by the hand1 led him    
inside4 ,there he saw seven old women1  
pulling  at seven halters which hung    
from the roof4 ,as they pulled1 large   
pieces  of meat1 lumps of butter1 loaves
 of bread1 basins of milk1 hot          

puddings1 black puddings1 and other     
rural dainties1 fell from the  halters  
on to the floor4 ,while engaged in this 
charm they made such  ugly faces1 and   
looked so fiendish1 that he was quite   
frightened4 ,after  they had pulled1 in 
this manner enough for an ample feast1  
they set-to1  and showed1 whatever might
 be said of the way in which their      
supper was  procured1 that their        
epicurism was a little more refined than
 that of  the ,scottish witches1 who1   
according to ,gellie ,duncan's          
confession1  feasted upon dead men's    
flesh in the old kirk of ,berwick4 ,the 
boy  added1 that as soon as supper was  
ready1 many other witches came to       
partake of it1 several of whom he named4
 ,in consequence of this story1  many   
persons were arrested1 and the boy      
,robinson was led about from  church to 
church1 in order that he might point out
 to the officers1 by  whom he was       
accompanied1 the hags he had seen in the
 barn4 ,altogether  about twenty persons

 were thrown into prison2 eight of them 
were  condemned to die1 including       
,mother ,dickenson1 upon this evidence  
alone1  and executed accordingly4 ,among
 the wretches who concocted this notable
  story1 not one was ever brought to    
justice for his perjury2 and  ,robinson1
 the father1 gained considerable sums by
 threatening persons  who were rich     
enough to buy off exposure4    ,among   
the ill weeds which flourished amid the 
long dissensions of the  civil war1     
,matthew ,hopkins1 the witch-finder1    
stands eminent in his  sphere4 ,this    
vulgar fellow resided1 in the year      
#afdd1 at the town of  ,manningtree1 in 
,essex1 and made himself very           
conspicuous in discovering  the devil's 
marks upon several unhappy witches4 ,the
 credit he gained by  his skill in this 
instance seems to have inspired him to  
renewed  exertions4 ,in the course of a 
very short time1 whenever a witch was   
spoken of in ,essex1 ,matthew ,hopkins  
was sure to be present1 aiding the      

judges with his knowledge of such       
cattle1 as he called them4 ,as his      
reputation increased1 he assumed the    
title of ,witchfinder ,general1  and    
travelled through the counties of       
,norfolk1 ,essex1 ,huntingdon1 and      
,sussex1 for the sole purpose of finding
 out witches4 ,in one year he  brought  
sixty poor creatures to the stake4 ,the 
test he commonly adopted  was that of   
swimming1 so highly recommended by ,king
 ,james in his  ,demonologie4 ,the hands
 and feet of the suspected persons were 
tied  together crosswise1 the thumb of  
the right hand to the toe of the left   
foot1 and vice versa4 ,they were then   
wrapped up in a large sheet or  blanket1
 and laid upon their backs in a pond or 
river4 ,if they sank1  their friends and
 relatives had the poor consolation of  
knowing they  were innocent1 but there  
was an end of them3 if they floated1    
which1  when laid carefully on the water
 was generally the case1 there was also 
an end of them2 for they were deemed    

guilty of witchcraft1 and burned        
accordingly4    ,another test was to    
make them repeat the ,lord's prayer and 
creed4  ,it  was affirmed that no witch 
could do so correctly4 ,if she missed a 
word1  or even pronounced one           
incoherently1 which in her trepidation1 
it was  most probable she would1 she was
 accounted guilty4 ,it was thought that 
witches could not weep more than three  
tears1 and those only from the  left    
eye4 ,thus the conscious innocence of   
many persons1 which gave them  fortitude
 to bear unmerited torture without      
flinching1 was construed by  their      
unmerciful tormentors into proofs of    
guilt4 ,in some districts the  test     
resorted to was to weigh the culprit    
against the church ,bible4 ,if  the     
suspected witch proved heavier than the 
,bible1 she was set at  liberty4 ,this  
mode was far too humane for the         
witch-finders by  profession4 ,hopkins  
always maintained that the most         
legitimate modes  were pricking and     

swimming4    ,hopkins used to travel    
through his counties like a man of      
consideration1 attended by his two      
assistants1 always putting up at the    
chief inn of the place1 and always at   
the cost of the authorities4  ,his      
charges were twenty shillings a town1   
his expenses of living while  there1 and
 his carriage thither and back4 ,this he
 claimed whether he  found witches or   
not4 ,if he found any1 he claimed twenty
 shillings a  head in addition when they
 were brought to execution4 ,for about  
three  years he carried on this infamous
 trade1 success making him so insolent  
and rapacious1 that high and low became 
his enemies4 ,the ,rev4  ,mr4  ,gaul1 a 
clergyman of ,houghton1 in              
,huntingdonshire1 wrote a pamphlet      
impugning his pretensions1 and accusing 
him of being a common nuisance4         
,hopkins replied in an angry letter to  
the functionaries of ,houghton1  stating
 his intention to visit their town2 but 
desiring to know whether  it afforded   

many such sticklers for witchcraft as   
,mr4 ,gaul1 and whether  they were      
willing to receive and entertain him    
with the customary  hospitality1 if he  
so far honoured them4 ,he added1 by way 
of threat1  that in case he did not     
receive a satisfactory reply1 ,he would 
waive  their shire altogether1 and      
betake himself to such places where he  
might do and punish1 not only without   
control1 but with thanks and            
recompence4 ,the authorities of         
,houghton were not much alarmed at his  
awful threat of letting them alone4     
,they very wisely took no notice  either
 of him or his letter4    ,mr4 ,gaul    
describes in his pamphlet one of the    
modes employed by  ,hopkins1 which was  
sure to swell his revenues very         
considerably4 ,it was  a proof even more
 atrocious than the swimming4 ,he says1 
that the  ,witch-finder ,general used to
 take the suspected witch and place her 
in the middle of a room1 upon a stool or
 table1 cross-legged1 or in  some other 

uneasy posture4 ,if she refused to sit  
in this manner1 she  was bound with     
strong cords4 ,hopkins then placed      
persons to watch her  for               
four-and-twenty hours1 during which time
 she was to be kept without  meat or    
drink4 ,it was supposed that one of her 
imps would come during  that interval1  
and suck her blood4 ,as the imp might   
come in the shape  of a wasp1 a moth1 a 
fly1 or other insect1 a hole was made in
 the door  or window to let it enter4   
,the watchers were ordered to keep a    
sharp  look-out1 and endeavour to kill  
any insect that appeared in the room4   
,if any fly escaped1 and they could not 
kill it1 the woman was guilty2  the fly 
was her imp1 and she was sentenced to be
 burned1 and twenty  shillings went into
 the pockets of ,master ,hopkins4 ,in   
this manner he  made one old woman      
confess1 because four flies had appeared
 in the  room1 that she was attended by 
four imps1 named ,ilemazar1             
,pye-wackett1 ,peck-in-the-crown1 and   

,grizel-,greedigut4    ,it is consoling 
to think that this impostor perished in 
his own snare4  ,mr4 ,gaul's exposure   
and his own rapacity weakened his       
influence among  the magistrates2 and   
the populace1 who began to find that not
 even the  most virtuous and innocent   
were secure from his persecution1 looked
  upon him with undisguised aversion4   
,he was beset by a mob1 at a village  in
 ,suffolk1 and accused of being himself 
a wizard4 ,an old reproach was  brought 
against him1 that he had1 by means of   
sorcery1 cheated the  devil out of a    
certain memorandum-book1 in which he1   
,satan1 had entered  the names of all   
the witches in ,england4 ,thus1 said the
 populace1  you find out witches1 not by
 ,god's aid1 but by the devil's4 ,in    
vain  he denied his guilt4 ,the populace
 longed to put him to his own test4 ,he 
was speedily stripped1 and his thumbs   
and toes tied together4 ,he was  then   
placed in a blanket1 and cast into a    
pond4  ,some say that he  floated2 and  

that he was taken out1 tried1 and       
executed upon no other  proof of his    
guilt4 ,others assert that he was       
drowned4 ,this much is  positive1 that  
there was an end of him4 ,as no judicial
 entry of his  trial and execution is to
 be found in any register1 it appears   
most  probable that he expired by the   
hands of the mob4 ,butler has           
immortalized this scamp in the following
 lines of his ,hudibras3--      ,hath   
not this present ,parliament    ,a      
lieger to the devil sent1    ,fully     
empower'd to treat about    ,finding    
revolted witches out8    ,and has he not
 within a year    ,hang'd threescore of 
them in one shire8    ,some only for not
 being drown'd1    ,and some for sitting
 above ground    ,whole days and nights 
upon their breeches1    ,and feeling    
pain1 were hang'd for witches2    ,and  
some for putting knavish tricks    ,upon
 green geese or turkey chicks2    ,or   
pigs that suddenly deceased    ,of      
griefs unnatural1 as he guess'd2    ,who

 proved himself at length a witch1      
,and made a rod for his own breech4     
,in ,scotland also witch-finding became 
a trade4 ,they were known under  the    
designation of common prickers1 and1    
like ,hopkins1 received a fee  for each 
witch they discovered4 ,at the trial of 
,janet ,peaston1 in #afdf1  the         
magistrates of ,dalkeith caused ,john   
,kincaid1 of ,tranent1 the  common      
pricker1 to exercise his craft upon her4
 ,he found two marks of  the devil's    
making2 for she could not feel the pin  
when it was put into  either of the said
 marks1 nor did the marks bleed when the
 pin was  taken out again4 ,when she was
 asked where she thought the pins were  
put  in her1 she pointed to a part of   
her body distant from the real place4   
,they were pins of three inches in      
length4 ,pitcairn's ,records of         
,justiciary4    ,these common prickers  
became at last so numerous1 that they   
were  considered nuisances4 ,the judges 
refused to take their evidence1 and in  

#afgh the privy council of ,scotland    
condescended to hear the complaint  of  
an honest woman1 who had been indecently
 exposed by one of them1 and  expressed 
their opinion that common prickers were 
common cheats4    ,but such an opinion  
was not formed in high places before    
hundreds of  innocent persons had fallen
 victims4 ,the ,parliaments had         
encouraged the  delusion both in        
,england and ,scotland2 and1 by arming  
these fellows  with a sort of authority1
 had in a manner forced the magistrates 
and  ministers to receive their         
evidence4 ,the fate of one poor old     
gentleman1 who fell a victim to the arts
 of ,hopkins in #afdf1 deserves  to be  
recorded4 ,mr4 ,louis1 a venerable      
clergyman1 upwards of seventy  years of 
age1 and who had been rector of         
,framlingham1 in ,suffolk1 for  fifty   
years1 excited suspicion that he was a  
wizard4  ,being a violent  royalist1 he 
was likely to meet with no sympathy at  
that time2 and even  his own            

parishioners1 whom he had served so long
 and so faithfully1  turned their backs 
upon him as soon as he was accused4     
,placed under the  hands of ,hopkins1   
who knew so well how to bring the       
refractory to  confession1 the old man1 
the light of whose intellect had become 
somewhat dimmed from age1 confessed that
 he was a wizard4 ,he said he  had two  
imps1 that continually excited him to do
 evil2 and that one  day1 when he was   
walking on the sea-coast1 one of them   
prompted him to  express a wish that a  
ship1 whose sails were just visible in  
the  distance1 might sink4 ,he          
consented1 and saw the vessel sink      
before his  eyes4 ,he was1 upon this    
confession1 tried and condemned4 ,on his
 trial  the flame of reason burned up as
 brightly as ever4 ,he denied all that  
had been alleged against him1 and       
cross-examined ,hopkins with great  tact
 and severity4 ,after his condemnation1 
he begged that the funeral  service of  
the church might be read for him4 ,the  

request was refused1  and he repeated it
 for himself from memory1 as he was led 
to the  scaffold4    ,a poor woman in   
,scotland was executed upon evidence    
even less strong  than this4 ,john      
,bain1 a common pricker1 swore that1 as 
he passed her  door1 he heard her       
talking to the devil4 ,she said in      
defence1 that it  was a foolish practice
 she had of talking to herself1 and     
several of  her neighbours corroborated 
her statement2 but the evidence of the  
pricker was received4 ,he swore that    
none ever talked to themselves who  were
 not witches4 ,the devil's mark being   
found upon her1 the additional          
testimony of her guilt was deemed       
conclusive1 and she was convict and     
brynt4    ,from the year #afeb to #afhb1
 these trials diminished annually in    
number1  and acquittals were by no means
 so rare as they had been4 ,to doubt in 
witchcraft was no longer dangerous4     
,before country justices1  condemnations
 on the most absurd evidence still      

continued1 but when the  judges of the  
land had to charge the jury1 they took a
 more humane and  philosophical view4   
,by degrees1 the educated classes       
7comprised1 in  those days1 within very 
narrow limits71 openly expressed their  
unbelief  of modern witchcraft1 although
 they were not bold enough to deny its  
existence altogether4 ,between them and 
the believers in the old  doctrine      
fierce arguments ensued1 and the        
sceptics were designated  ,sadducees4   
,to convince them1 the learned and      
,reverend ,joseph ,glanvil  wrote his   
well-known work1 ,sadducismus           
,triumphatus1 and ,the  ,collection of  
,relations2 the first part intended as a
 philosophical  inquiry into witchcraft1
 and the power of the devil to assume a 
mortal  shape2 the latter containing    
what he considered a multitude of       
well-authenticated modern instances4    
,but though progress was made1 it was   
slow4 ,in #affd1 the venerable ,sir     
,matthew ,hale condemned two women1     

named ,amy ,duny and ,rose ,cullender1  
to  the stake at ,st4 ,edmondsbury1 upon
 evidence the most ridiculous4 ,these   
two old women1 whose ugliness gave their
 neighbours the first idea that  they   
were witches1 went to a shop to purchase
 herrings1 and were  refused4 ,indignant
 at the prejudice against them1 they    
were not sparing  of their abuse4       
,shortly afterward1 the daughter of the 
herring-dealer  fell sick1 and a cry was
 raised that she was bewitched by the   
old women  who had been refused the     
herrings4 ,this girl was subject to     
epileptic  fits4 ,to discover the guilt 
of ,amy ,duny and ,rose ,cullender1 the 
girl's  eyes were blinded closely with a
 shawl1 and the witches were commanded  
to touch her4 ,they did so1 and she was 
immediately seized with a fit4  ,upon   
this evidence they were sent to prison4 
,the girl was afterwards  touched by an 
indifferent person1 and the force of her
 imagination was  so great1 that1       
thinking it was again the witches1 she  

fell down in a  violent fit as before4  
,this1 however1 was not received in     
favour of the  accused4    ,the         
following extract1 from the published   
reports of the trial1 will  show the    
sort of evidence which was received3--  
,samuel ,pacey1 of ,leystoff1 7a good1  
sober man17 being sworn1 said  that1 on 
,thursday the #ajth of ,october last1   
his younger daughter1  ,deborah1 about  
nine years old1 was suddenly taken so   
lame that she  could not stand on her   
legs1 and so continued till the #agth of
 the same  month1 when the child desired
 to be carried to a bank on the east    
side  of the house1 looking towards the 
sea2 and1 while she was sitting  there1 
,amy ,duny came to this examinant's     
house to buy some herrings1  but was    
denied4 ,then she came twice more1 but1 
being as often denied1  she went away   
discontented and grumbling4 ,at this    
instant of time1 the  child was taken   
with terrible fits1 complaining of a    
pain in her  stomach1 as if she was     

pricked with pins1 shrieking out with a 
voice  like a whelp1 and thus continued 
till the #cjth of the same month4 ,this 
examinant further saith1 that ,amy      
,duny1 having long had the reputation   
of a witch1 and his child having1 in the
 intervals of her fits1  constantly     
cried out on her1 as the cause of her   
disorder1 saying1 that  the said ,amy   
did appear to her and fright her1 he    
himself did suspect  the said ,amy to be
 a witch1 and charged her with being the
 cause of his  child's illness1 and set 
her in the stocks4 ,two days after1 his 
daughter ,elizabeth was taken with such 
strange fits1 that they could  not force
 open her mouth without a tap2 and the  
younger child being in  the same        
condition1 they used to her the same    
remedy4  ,both children  grievously     
complained that ,amy ,duny and another  
woman1 whose habit and  looks they      
described1 did appear to them1 and      
torment them1 and would  cry out1       
',there stands ,amy ,duny6 ,there stands

 ,rose ,cullender6' the  other person   
who afflicted them4 ,their fits were not
 alike4 ,sometimes  they were lame on   
the right side2 sometimes on the left2  
and sometimes  so sore1 that they could 
not bear to be touched4 ,sometimes they 
were  perfectly well in other respects1 
but they could not hear2 at other       
times1 they could not see4 ,sometimes   
they lost their speech for one1  two1   
and once for eight1 days together4 ,at  
times they had swooning  fits1 and1 when
 they could speak1 were taken with a fit
 of coughing1  and vomited phlegm and   
crooked pins2 and once a great twopenny 
nail1  with above forty pins2 which nail
 he1 the examinant1 saw vomited up1     
with many of the pins4 ,the nail and    
pins were produced in the court4  ,thus 
the children continued for two months1  
during which time the  examinant often  
made them read in the ,new ,testament1  
and observed1 when  they came to the    
words ,lord ,jesus1 or ,christ1 they    
could not pronounce  them1 but fell into

 a fit4  ,when they came to the word    
,satan1 or devil1  they would point1 and
 say1 ',this bites1 but makes me speak  
right well4'  ,finding his children thus
 tormented without hopes of recovery1 he
 sent  them to his sister1 ,margaret    
,arnold1 at ,yarmouth1 being willing to 
try  whether change of air would help   
them4    ,margaret ,arnold was the next 
witness4 ,being sworn1 she said1 that   
about the #cjth of ,november1 ,elizabeth
 and ,deborah ,pacey came to her  house1
 with her brother1 who told her what had
 happened1 and that he  thought his     
children bewitched4 ,she1 this          
examinant1 did not much  regard it1     
supposing the children had played       
tricks1 and put the pins  into their    
mouths themselves4 ,she1 therefore1 took
 all the pins from  their clothes1      
sewing them with thread instead of      
pinning them4 ,but1  notwithstanding1   
they raised1 at times1 at least thirty  
pins1 in her  presence1 and had terrible
 fits2 in which fits they would cry out 

upon  ,amy ,duny and ,rose ,cullender1  
saying1 that they saw them and heard    
them  threatening1 as before2 that they 
saw things1 like mice1 running about    
the house2 and one of them catched one1 
and threw it into the fire1  which made 
a noise1 like a rat4 ,another time the  
younger child1 being  out of doors1 a   
thing like a bee would have forced      
itself into her  mouth1 at which the    
child ran screaming into the house1 and 
before this  examinant could come at    
her1 fell into a fit1 and vomited a     
twopenny  nail1 with a broad head4      
,after that1 this examinant asked the   
child how  she came by this nail1 when  
she answered1 ',the bee brought the     
nail1  and forced it into my mouth4' ,at
 other times1 the eldest child told     
this examinant that she saw flies bring 
her crooked pins4  ,she would  then fall
 into a fit1 and vomit such pins4 ,one  
time the said child said  she saw a     
mouse1 and crept under the table to look
 for it2 and  afterwards1 the child     

seemed to put something into her apron1 
saying1  ',she had caught it4' ,she then
 ran to the fire1 and threw it in1 on   
which there did appear to this examinant
 something like a flash of  gunpowder1  
although she does own she saw nothing in
 the child's hand4  ,once the child1    
being speechless1 but otherwise very    
sensible1 ran up  and down the house1   
crying1 ',hush6 hush6' as if she had    
seen poultry2  but this examinant saw   
nothing4 ,at last the child catched at  
something1  and threw it into the fire4 
,afterwards1 when the child could speak1
  this examinant asked her what she saw 
at the time8 ,she answered1 that  she   
saw a duck4 ,another time the youngest  
child said1 after a fit1 that  ,amy     
,duny had been with her1 and tempted her
 to drown herself1 or cut  her throat1  
or otherwise destroy herself4 ,another  
time they both cried  out upon ,amy     
,duny and ,rose ,cullender1 saying1     
',why don't you come  yourselves8 ,why  
do you send your imps to torment us8'   

,the celebrated ,sir ,thomas ,brown1 the
 author of ,vulgar ,errors1 was  also   
examined as a witness upon the trial4   
,being desired to give his  opinion of  
the three persons in court1 he said1 he 
was clearly of  opinion that they were  
bewitched4 ,he said1 there had lately   
been a  discovery of witches in         
,denmark1 who used the same way of      
tormenting  persons1 by conveying       
crooked pins1 needles1 and nails into   
their  bodies4 ,that he thought1 in such
 cases1 the devil acted upon human      
bodies by natural means1 namely1 by     
exciting and stirring up the            
superabundant humours1 he did afflict   
them in a more surprising manner  by the
 same diseases their bodies were usually
 subject to2 that these  fits might be  
natural1 only raised to a great degree  
by the subtlety of  the devil1          
co-operating with the malice of these   
witches4    ,the evidence being         
concluded1 ,sir ,matthew ,hale addressed
 the jury4  ,he  said1 he would waive   

repeating the evidence1 to prevent any  
mistake1  and told the jury1 there were 
two things they had to inquire into4    
,first1 ,whether or not these children  
were bewitched2 secondly1 ,whether      
these women did bewitch them4 ,he said1 
he did not in the least doubt  there    
were witches2 first1 ,because the       
,scriptures affirmed it2  secondly1     
,because the wisdom of all nations1     
particularly our own1 had  provided laws
 against witchcraft1 which implied their
 belief of such a  crime4 ,he desired   
them strictly to observe the evidence1  
and begged of  ,god to direct their     
hearts in the weighty concern they had  
in hand1  since1 to condemn the innocent
 and let the guilty go free1 are both an
  abomination to the ,lord4    ,the jury
 then retired1 and1 in about half an    
hour1 returned a verdict  of guilty upon
 all the indictments1 being thirteen in 
number4  ,the next  morning the children
 came with their father to the lodgings 
of ,sir  ,matthew ,hale1 very well1 and 

quite restored to their usual health4   
,mr4  ,pacey1 being asked at what time  
their health began to improve1 replied1 
that they were quite well in half an    
hour after the conviction of the        
prisoners4    ,many attempts were made  
to induce the unfortunate women to      
confess  their guilt2 but in vain1 and  
they were both hanged4    ,eleven trials
 were instituted before ,chief-,justice 
,holt for witchcraft  between the years 
#afid and #agja4 ,the evidence was of   
the usual  character2 but ,holt appealed
 so successfully in each case to the    
common  sense of the jury1 that they    
were every one acquitted4 ,a general    
feeling seemed to pervade the country   
that blood enough had been shed  upon   
these absurd charges4 ,now and then1 the
 flame of persecution burnt  up in a    
remote district2 but these instances    
were no longer looked upon  as mere     
matters of course4 ,they appear1 on the 
contrary1 to have  excited much         
attention2 a sure proof1 if no other    

were to be obtained1  that they were    
becoming unfrequent4    ,a case of      
witchcraft was tried in #agaa1 before   
,lord ,chief ,justice  ,powell2 in      
which1 however1 the jury persisted in a 
verdict of guilty1  though the evidence 
was of the usual absurd and             
contradictory  character1 and the       
enlightened judge did all in his power  
to bring them  to a right conclusion4   
,the accused person was one ,jane       
,wenham1 better  known as the ,witch of 
,walkerne2 and the persons who were     
alleged to  have suffered from her      
witchcraft were two young women1 named  
,thorne  and ,street4 ,a witness1 named 
,mr4 ,arthur ,chauncy1 deposed1 that he 
had  seen ,ann ,thorne in several of her
 fits1 and that she always recovered    
upon prayers being said1 or if ,jane    
,wenham came to her4 ,he related1  that 
he had pricked the prisoner several     
times in the arms1 but could  never     
fetch any blood from her2 that he had   
seen her vomit pins1 when  there were   

none in her clothes or within her reach2
 and that he had  preserved several of  
them1 which he was ready to produce4    
,the judge1  however1 told him that was 
needless1 as he supposed they were      
crooked  pins4    ,mr4 ,francis ,bragge1
 another witness1 deposed1 that strange 
cakes of  bewitched feathers having been
 taken from ,ann ,thorne's pillow1 he   
was  anxious to see them4 ,he went into 
a room where some of these feathers     
were1 and took two of the cakes1 and    
compared them together4  ,they were     
both of a circular figure1 something    
larger than a crown piece2 and he       
observed that the small feathers were   
placed in a nice and curious  order1 at 
equal distances from each other1 making 
so many radii of the  circle1 in the    
centre of which the quill ends of the   
feathers met4 ,he  counted the number of
 these feathers1 and found them to be   
exactly  thirty-two in each cake4 ,he   
afterwards endeavoured to pull off two  
or  three of them1 and observed that    

they were all fastened together by a    
sort of viscous matter1 which would     
stretch seven or eight times in a       
thread before it broke4 ,having taken   
off several of these feathers1 he       
removed the viscous matter with his     
fingers1 and found under it1 in the     
centre1 some short hairs1 black and     
grey1 matted together1 which he  verily 
believed to be cat's hair4  ,he also    
said1 that ,jane ,wenham  confessed to  
him that she had bewitched the pillow1  
and had practised  witchcraft for       
sixteen years4    ,the judge interrupted
 the witness at this stage1 and said1 he
 should  very much like to see an       
enchanted feather1 and seemed to wonder 
when  he was told that none of these    
strange cakes had been preserved4 ,his  
,lordship asked the witness why he did  
not keep one or two of them1 and  was   
informed that they had all been burnt1  
in order to relieve the  bewitched      
person of the pains she suffered1 which 
could not be so well  effected by any   

other means4    ,a man1 named ,thomas   
,ireland1 deposed1 that hearing several 
times a  great noise of cats crying and 
screaming about his house1 he went out  
and frightened them away1 and they all  
ran towards the cottage of ,jane        
,wenham4 ,one of them he swore          
positively had a face very like ,jane   
,wenham's4 ,another man1 named          
,burville1 gave similar evidence1 and   
swore  that he had often seen a cat with
 ,jane ,wenham's face4 ,upon one        
occasion  he was in ,ann ,thorne's      
chamber1 when several cats came in1 and 
among  them the cat above stated4 ,this 
witness would have favoured the court   
with a much longer statement1 but was   
stopped by the judge1 who said he  had  
heard quite enough4    ,the prisoner1 in
 her defence1 said nothing1 but that she
 was a clear  woman4 ,the learned judge 
then summed up1 leaving it to the jury  
to  determine whether such evidence as  
they had heard was sufficient to  take  
away the prisoner's life upon the       

indictment4 ,after a long  deliberation 
they brought in their verdict1 that she 
was guilty upon  the evidence4 ,the     
,judge then asked them whether they     
found her guilty  upon the indictment of
 conversing with the devil in the shape 
of a cat8  ,the sapient foreman very    
gravely answered1 ,we find her guilty of
  that4 ,the learned judge then very    
reluctantly proceeded to pass  sentence 
of death2 but1 by his persevering       
exertions1 a pardon was at  last        
obtained1 and the wretched old woman was
 set at liberty4 ,in the  year #agaf1 a 
woman and her daughter1--the latter only
 nine years of  age1--were hanged at    
,huntingdon for selling their souls to  
the devil1  and raising a storm by      
pulling off their stockings and making a
 lather  of soap4 ,this appears to have 
been the last judicial execution in     
,england4 ,from that time to the year   
#agcf1 the populace raised at  intervals
 the old cry1 and more than once        
endangered the lives of poor  women by  

dragging them through ponds on          
suspicion2 but the philosophy  of those 
who1 from their position1 sooner or     
later give the tone to the  opinions and
 morals of the poor1 was silently       
working a cure for the  evil4 ,the fear 
of witches ceased to be epidemic1 and   
became individual1  lingering only in   
minds lettered by inveterate prejudice  
or brutalizing  superstition4 ,in the   
year #agcf1 the penal statute of ,james 
,i4 was  finally blotted from the       
statutebook1 and suffered no longer to  
disgrace the advancing intelligence of  
the country4  ,pretenders to            
witchcraft1 fortune-tellers1 conjurors1 
and all their train1 were  liable only  
to the common punishment of rogues and  
impostors--imprisonment and the pillory4
    ,in ,scotland1 the delusion also    
assumed the same phases1 and was        
gradually extinguished in the light of  
civilization4 ,as in ,england the       
progress of improvement was slow4 ,up to
 the year #affe1 little or no           

diminution of the mania was perceptible4
 ,in #afdc1 the ,general ,assembly      
recommended that the ,privy ,council    
should institute a standing  commission1
 composed of any understanding gentlemen
 or magistrates1  to try the witches1   
who were stated to have increased       
enormously of  late years4 ,in #afdi1 an
 act was passed1 confirmatory of the    
original  statute of ,queen ,mary1      
explaining some points of the latter    
which were  doubtful1 and enacting      
severe penalties1 not only against      
witches  themselves1 but against all who
 covenanted with them1 or sought by     
their means to pry into the secrets of  
futurity1 or cause any evil to  the     
life1 lands1 or limbs of their          
neighbours4 ,for the next ten years1    
the popular madness upon this subject   
was perhaps more furious than  ever2    
upwards of four thousand persons        
suffered for the crime during  that     
interval4 ,this was the consequence of  
the act of parliament and  the          

unparalleled severity of the            
magistrates2 the latter frequently      
complained that for two witches they    
burned one day1 there were ten to  burn 
the next3 they never thought that they  
themselves were the cause  of the       
increase4 ,in a single circuit1 held at 
,glasgow1 ,ayr1 and  ,stirling1 in      
#afei1 seventeen unhappy creatures were 
burned by judicial  sentence for        
trafficking with ,satan4 ,in one day1   
7,november #g1 #affa17  the ,privy      
,council issued no less than fourteen   
commissions for trials  in the          
provinces4 ,next year1 the violence of  
the persecution seems to  have abated4  
,from #affb to #affh1 although the      
understanding gentlemen  and magistrates
 already mentioned1 continued to try and
 condemn1 the  ,high ,court of          
,justiciary had but one offender of this
 class to deal  with1 and she was       
acquitted4 ,james ,welsh1 a common      
pricker1 was ordered  to be publicly    
whipped through the streets of          

,edinburgh for falsely  accusing a woman
 of witchcraft2 a fact which alone      
proves that the  superior court sifted  
the evidence in these cases with much   
more care  and severity than it had done
 a few years previously4 ,the           
enlightened  ,sir ,george ,mackenzie1   
styled by ,dryden the noble wit of      
,scotland1  laboured hard to introduce  
this rule into court--that the          
confessions  of the witches should be   
held of little worth1 and that the      
evidence of  the prickers and other     
interested persons should be received   
with  distrust and jealousy4 ,this was  
reversing the old practice1 and saved   
many innocent lives4 ,though a firm     
believer both in ancient and modern     
witchcraft1 he could not shut his eyes  
to the atrocities daily  committed under
 the name of justice4 ,in his work on   
the ,criminal ,law of  ,scotland1       
published in #afgh1 he says1 ,from the  
horridness of this  crime1 ,i do        
conclude that1 of all others1 it        

requires the clearest  relevancy and    
most convincing probature2 and ,i       
condemn1 next to the  wretches          
themselves1 those cruel and too forward 
judges who burn  persons by thousands as
 guilty of this crime4 ,in the same     
year1 ,sir  ,john ,clerk plumply refused
 to serve as a commissioner on trials   
for  witchcraft1 alleging1 by way of    
excuse1 that he was not himself good    
conjuror enough to be duly qualified4   
,the views entertained by ,sir  ,george 
,mackenzie were so favourably received  
by the ,lords of ,session  that he was  
deputed1 in #afhj1 to report to them on 
the cases of a  number of poor women who
 were then in prison awaiting their     
trial4 ,sir  ,george stated that there  
was no evidence against them whatever   
but  their own confessions1 which were  
absurd and contradictory1 and drawn     
from them by severe torture4 ,they were 
immediately discharged4    ,for the next
 sixteen years1 the ,lords of ,session  
were unoccupied with  trials for        

witchcraft2 not one is entered upon the 
record3 but in #afig1  a case occurred1 
which equalled in absurdity any of those
 that  signalized the dark reign of     
,king ,james4 ,a girl1 named ,christiana
 ,shaw1  eleven years of age1 the       
daughter of ,john ,shaw of ,bargarran1  
was  subject to fits1 and being of a    
spiteful temper1 she accused her        
maid-servant1 with whom she had frequent
 quarrels1 of bewitching her4  ,her     
story1 unfortunately1 was believed4     
,encouraged to tell all the             
persecutions of the devil which the maid
 had sent to torment her1 she  in the   
end concocted a romance that involved   
twenty-one persons4 ,there  was no other
 evidence against them but the fancies  
of this lying child1  and the           
confessions which pain had extorted from
 them2 but upon this no  less than five 
women were condemned1 before ,lord      
,blantyre and the rest  of the          
,commissioners1 appointed specially by  
the ,privy ,council to try  this case4  

,they were burned on the ,green at      
,paisley4  ,the warlock of  the party1  
one ,john ,reed1 who was also condemned1
 hanged himself in  prison4 ,it was the 
general belief in ,paisley that the     
devil had  strangled him1 lest he should
 have revealed in his last moments too  
many of the unholy secrets of           
witchcraft4 ,this trial excited         
considerable disgust in ,scotland4 ,the 
,rev4 ,mr4 ,bell1 a contemporary        
writer1 observed that1 in this business1
 persons of more goodness and  esteem   
than most of their calumniators were    
defamed for witches4 ,he  adds1 that the
 persons chiefly to blame were certain  
ministers of too  much forwardness and  
absurd credulity1 and some topping      
professors in  and about ,glasgow4      
,preface to ,law's ,memorials1 edited by
 ,sharpe4    ,after this trial1 there   
again occurs a lapse of seven years1    
when the  subject was painfully forced  
upon public attention by the brutal     
cruelty of the mob at ,pittenween4 ,two 

women were accused of having  bewitched 
a strolling beggar1 who was subject to  
fits1 or who pretended  to be so1 for   
the purpose of exciting commiseration4  
,they were cast  into prison1 and       
tortured until they confessed4 ,one of  
them1 named  ,janet ,cornfoot1 contrived
 to escape1 but was brought back to     
,pittenween  next day by a party of     
soldiers4 ,on her approach to the town1 
she was1  unfortunately1 met by a       
furious mob1 composed principally of    
fishermen  and their wives1 who seized  
upon her with the intention of swimming 
her4 ,they forced her away to the sea   
shore1 and tying a rope around her      
body1 secured the end of it to the mast 
of a fishing-boat lying  alongside4 ,in 
this manner they ducked her several     
times4 ,when she was  half dead1 a      
sailor in the boat cut away the rope1   
and the mob dragged  her through the sea
 to the beach4 ,here1 as she lay quite  
insensible1 a  brawny ruffian took down 
the door of his hut1 close by1 and      

placed it  on her back4 ,the mob        
gathered large stones from the beach1   
and piled  them upon her till the       
wretched woman was pressed to death4 ,no
  magistrate made the slightest attempt 
to interfere1 and the soldiers  looked  
on1 delighted spectators4 ,a great      
outcry was raised against this  culpable
 remissness1 but no judicial inquiry was
 set on foot4 ,this  happened in #agjd4 
,the next case we hear of is that of    
,elspeth ,rule1 found guilty of         
witchcraft before ,lord ,anstruther at  
the ,dumfries circuit1 in #agjh4  ,she  
was sentenced to be marked in the cheek 
with a redhot iron1 and  banished the   
realm of ,scotland for life4    ,again  
there is a long interval4 ,in #agah1 the
 remote county of  ,caithness1 where the
 delusion remained in all its pristine  
vigour for  years after it had ceased   
elsewhere1 was startled from its        
propriety by  the cry of witchcraft4 ,a 
silly fellow1 named ,william            
,montgomery1 a  carpenter1 had a mortal 

antipathy to cats1 and1 somehow or      
other1 these  animals generally chose   
his back-yard as the scene of their     
catterwaulings4 ,he puzzled his brains  
for a long time to know why he1  above  
all his neighbours1 should be so        
pestered2 at last he came to the  sage  
conclusion that his tormentors were no  
cats1 but witches4 ,in this  opinion he 
was supported by his maid-servant1 who  
swore a round oath  that she had often  
heard the aforesaid cats talking        
together in human  voices4 ,the next    
time the unlucky tabbies assembled in   
his back-yard1  the valiant carpenter   
was on the alert4 ,arming himself with  
an axe1 a  dirk1 and a broadsword1 he   
rushed out among them3 one of them he   
wounded in the back1 a second in the    
hip1 and the leg of a third he  maimed  
with his axe2 but he could not capture  
any of them4 ,a few days  afterwards1   
two old women of the parish died1 and it
 was said that1  when their bodies were 
laid out1 there appeared upon the back  

of one  the mark as of a recent wound1  
and a similar scar upon the hip of the  
other4 ,the carpenter and his maid were 
convinced that they were the  very cats1
 and the whole county repeated the same 
story4 ,every one was  upon the look-out
 for proofs corroborative3 a very       
remarkable one was  soon discovered4    
,nanny ,gilbert1 a wretched old creature
 of upwards of  seventy years of age1   
was found in bed with her leg broken2 as
 she was  ugly enough for a witch1 it   
was asserted that she1 also1 was one of 
the  cats that had fared so ill at the  
hands of the carpenter4 ,the latter1    
when informed of the popular suspicion1 
asserted that he distinctly  remembered 
to have struck one of the cats a blow   
with the back of his  broadsword1 which 
ought to have broken her leg4 ,nanny was
 immediately  dragged from her bed1 and 
thrown into prison4 ,before she was put 
to the  torture1 she explained1 in a    
very natural and intelligible manner1   
how  she had broken her limb2 but this  

account did not give satisfaction3  the 
professional persuasions of the torturer
 made her tell a different  tale1 and   
she confessed that she was indeed a     
witch1 and had been  wounded by         
,montgomery on the night stated--that   
the two old women  recently deceased    
were witches also1 besides about a score
 of others  whom she named4 ,the poor   
creature suffered so much by the removal
 from  her own home1 and the tortures   
inflicted upon her1 that she died the   
next day in prison4 ,happily for the    
persons she had named in her            
confession1 ,dundas of ,arniston1 at    
that time the ,king's                   
,advocate-general1 wrote to the         
,sheriff-depute1 one ,captain ,ross of  
,littledean1 cautioning him not to      
proceed to trial1 the thing being of    
too great difficulty1 and beyond the    
jurisdiction of an inferior  court4     
,dundas himself examined the            
precognition with great care1 and  was  
so convinced of the utter folly of the  

whole case that he quashed  all further 
proceedings4    ,we find this same      
,sheriff-depute of ,caithness very      
active four years  afterwards in another
 trial for witchcraft4 ,in spite of the 
warning he  had received1 that all such 
cases were to be tried in future by the 
superior courts1 he condemned to death  
an old woman at ,dornoch1 upon  the     
charge of bewitching the cows and pigs  
of her neighbours4 ,this poor  creature 
was insane1 and actually laughed and    
clapped her hands at  sight of the      
bonnie fire that was to consume her4    
,she had a daughter1  who was lame both 
of her hands and feet1 and one of the   
charges brought  against her was1 that  
she had used this daughter as a pony in 
her  excursions to join the devil's     
sabbath1 and that the devil himself had 
shod her1 and produced lameness4        
,this was the last execution that took  
place in ,scotland for witchcraft4  ,the
 penal statutes were repealed in #agef1 
and1 as in ,england1 whipping1  the     

pillory1 or imprisonment1 were declared 
the future punishments of  all          
pretenders to magic or witchcraft4      
,still1 for many years after this1 the  
superstition lingered both in  ,england 
and ,scotland1 and in some districts is 
far from being extinct  even at this    
day4 ,but before we proceed to trace it 
any further than to  its legal          
extinction1 we have yet to see the      
frightful havoc it made in  continental 
,europe from the commencement of the    
seventeenth to the  middle of the       
eighteenth century4 ,france1 ,germany1  
and ,switzerland were  the countries    
which suffered most from the epidemic4  
,the number of  victims in these        
countries during the sixteenth century  
has already  been mentioned2 but1 at the
 early part of the seventeenth1 the     
numbers  are so great1 especially in    
,germany1 that were they not to be found
 in  the official records of the        
tribunals1 it would be almost impossible
 to  believe that mankind could ever    

have been so maddened and deluded4 ,to  
use the words of the learned and        
indefatigable ,horst1 ,zauber           
,bibliothek4 ,theil #e4 the world seemed
 to be like a large madhouse for        
witches and devils to play their antics 
in4 ,satan was believed to be  at       
everybody's call1 to raise the          
whirlwind1 draw down the lightning1     
blight the productions of the earth1 or 
destroy the health and paralyse  the    
limbs of man4 ,this belief1 so insulting
 to the majesty and  beneficence of the 
,creator1 was shared by the most pious  
ministers of  religion4 ,those who in   
their morning and evening prayers       
acknowledged  the one true ,god1 and    
praised him for the blessings of the    
seed time  and the harvest1 were        
convinced that frail humanity could     
enter into a  compact with the spirits  
of hell to subvert his laws and thwart  
all his  merciful intentions4           
,successive popes1 from ,innocent       
,,viii4 downwards1  promulgated this    

degrading doctrine1 which spread so     
rapidly that  society seemed to be      
divided into two great factions1 the    
bewitching  and the bewitched4    ,the  
commissioners named by ,innocent ,,viii4
 to prosecute the witch-trials  in      
,germany1 were ,jacob ,sprenger1 so     
notorious for his work on  demonology1  
entitled the ,malleus ,maleficarum1 or  
,hammer to knock  down ,witches1 ,henry 
,institor a learned jurisconsult1 and   
the ,bishop of  ,strasburgh4 ,barnberg1 
,treves1 ,cologne1 ,paderborn1 and      
,wurzburg1 were  the chief seats of the 
commissioners1 who1 during their lives  
alone1  condemned to the stake1 on a    
very moderate calculation1 upwards of   
three thousand victims4 ,the number of  
witches so increased1 that new          
commissioners were continually appointed
 in ,germany1 ,france1 and              
,switzerland4 ,in ,spain and ,portugal  
the ,inquisition alone took  cognizance 
of the crime4 ,it is impossible to      
search the records of  those dark1 but  

now happily nonexisting tribunals2 but  
the mind recoils  with affright even to 
form a guess of the multitudes who      
perished4    ,the mode of trial in the  
other countries is more easily          
ascertained4  ,sprenger1 in ,germany1   
and ,bodinus and ,delrio1 in ,france1   
have left but  too ample a record of the
 atrocities committed in the much-abused
 names  of justice and religion4        
,bodinus1 of great repute and authority 
in the  seventeenth century1 says1 ,the 
trial of this offence must not be       
conducted like other crimes4 ,whoever   
adheres to the ordinary course of       
justice perverts the spirit of the law1 
both ,divine and human4 ,he who  is     
accused of sorcery should never be      
acquitted unless the malice of  the     
prosecutor be clearer than the sun2 for 
it is so difficult to bring  full proof 
of this secret crime1 that out of a     
million of witches not  one would be    
convicted if the usual course were      
followed6 ,henri  ,boguet1 a            

witch-finder1 who styled himself ,the   
,grand ,judge of ,witches  for the      
,territory of ,st4 ,claude1 drew up a   
code for the guidance of  all persons   
engaged in the witch-trials1 consisting 
of seventy  articles1 quite as cruel as 
the code of ,bodinus4 ,in this document 
he  affirms1 that a mere suspicion of   
witchcraft justifies the immediate      
arrest and torture of the suspected     
person4 ,if the prisoner muttered1      
looked on the ground1 and did not shed  
any tears1 all these were proofs        
positive of guilt6 ,in all cases of     
witchcraft1 the evidence of the  child  
ought to be taken against its parent2   
and persons of notoriously  bad         
character1 although not to be believed  
upon their oaths on the  ordinary       
occasions of dispute that might arise   
between man and man1  were to be        
believed1 if they swore that any person 
had bewitched them6  ,who1 when he hears
 that this diabolical doctrine was the  
universally  received opinion of the    

ecclesiastical and civil authorities1   
can  wonder that thousands upon         
thousands of unhappy persons should be  
brought to the stake8 that ,cologne     
should for many years burn its three    
hundred witches annually8  the district 
of ,barnberg its four hundred8          
,nuremberg1 ,geneva1 ,paris1 ,toulouse1 
,lyons1 and other cities1 their two     
hundred8    ,a few of these trials may  
be cited1 taking them in the order of   
priority1 as they occurred in different 
parts of the ,continent4 ,in #aeie  an  
old woman residing in a village near    
,constance1 angry at not being  invited 
to share the sports of the country      
people on a day of public  rejoicing1   
was heard to mutter something to        
herself1 and was afterwards  seen to    
proceed through the fields towards a    
hill1 where she was lost  sight of4 ,a  
violent thunderstorm arose about two    
hours afterwards1  which wet the dancers
 to the skin1 and did considerable      
damage to the  plantations4 ,this woman1

 suspected before of witchcraft1 was    
seized and  imprisoned1 and accused of  
having raised the storm1 by filling a   
hole  with wine1 and stirring it about  
with a stick4 ,she was tortured till    
she confessed1 and was burned alive the 
next evening4    ,about the same time   
two sorcerers in ,toulouse were accused 
of having  dragged a crucifix about the 
streets at midnight1 stopping at times  
to  spit upon and kick it1 and uttering 
at intervals an exorcism to raise  the  
devil4 ,the next day a hail-storm did   
considerable damage to the  crops1 and a
 girl1 the daughter of a shoemaker in   
the town1 remembered  to have heard in  
the night the execrations of the        
wizards4  ,her story  led to their      
arrest4 ,the usual means to produce     
confession were  resorted to4 ,the      
wizards owned that they could raise     
tempests whenever  they pleased1 and    
named several persons who possessed     
similar powers4  ,they were hanged1 and 
then burned in the market-place1 and    

seven of the  persons they had mentioned
 shared the same fate4    ,hoppo and    
,stadlin1 two noted wizards of ,germany1
 were executed in #aeii4  ,they         
implicated twenty or thirty witches1 who
 went about causing women  to miscarry1 
bringing down the lightning of heaven1  
and making maidens  bring forth toads4  
,to this latter fact several girls were 
found to  swear most positively6        
,stadlin confessed that he had killed   
seven  infants in the womb of one woman4
    ,bodinus highly praises the         
exertions of a witchfinder1 named       
,nider1 in  ,france1 who prosecuted so  
many that he could not calculate them4  
,some  of these witches could1 by a     
single word1 cause people to fall down  
dead2 others made women go with child   
three years instead of nine  months2    
while others1 by certain invocations and
 ceremonies1 could turn  the faces of   
their enemies upside down1 or twist them
 round to their  backs4 ,although no    
witness was ever procured who saw       

persons in this  horrible state1 the    
witches confessed that they had the     
power1 and  exercised it4 ,nothing more 
was wanting to insure the stake4    ,at 
,amsterdam a crazy girl confessed that  
she could cause sterility in  cattle1   
and bewitch pigs and poultry by merely  
repeating the magic  words ,turius und  
,shurius ,inturius6 ,she was hanged and 
burned4 ,another  woman in the same     
city1 named ,kornelis ,van ,purmerund1  
was arrested in  consequence of some    
disclosures the former had made4 ,a     
witness came  forward and swore that she
 one day looked through the window of   
her  hut1 and saw ,kornelis sitting     
before a fire muttering something to the
  devil4 ,she was sure it was to the    
devil1 because she heard him answer     
her4 ,shortly afterwards twelve black   
cats ascended out of the floor1  and    
danced on their hind legs around the    
witch for the space of about  half an   
hour4 ,they then vanished with a horrid 
noise1 and leaving a  disagreeable smell

 behind them4 ,she also was hanged and  
burned4    ,at ,bamberg1 in ,bavaria1   
the executions from the year #afaj to   
#afdj were  at the rate of about a      
hundred annually4 ,one woman1 suspected 
of  witchcraft1 was seized because1     
having immoderately praised the beauty  
of a child1 it had shortly afterwards   
fallen ill and died4 ,she  confessed    
upon the rack that the devil had given  
her the power to work  evil upon those  
she hated1 by speaking words in their   
praise4 ,if she  said with unwonted     
fervour1 ,what a strong man6 ,what a    
lovely woman6  ,what a sweet child6 the 
devil understood her1 and afflicted them
 with  diseases immediately4 ,it is     
quite unnecessary to state the end of   
this  poor creature4 ,many women were   
executed for causing strange substances 
to lodge in the bodies of those who     
offended them4 ,bits of wood1 nails1    
hair1 eggshells1 bits of glass1 shreds  
of linen and woollen cloth1  pebbles1   
and even hot cinders and knives1 were   

the articles generally  chosen4 ,these  
were believed to remain in the body till
 the witches  confessed or were         
executed1 when they were voided from the
 bowels1 or  by the mouth1 nostrils1 or 
ears4 ,modern physicians have often had 
cases  of a similar description under   
their care1 where girls have swallowed  
needles1 which have been voided on the  
arms1 legs1 and other parts of  the     
body4 ,but the science of that day could
 not account for these  phenomena       
otherwise than by the power of the      
devil2 and every needle  swallowed by a 
servant maid cost an old woman her life4
 ,nay1 if no more  than one suffered in 
consequence1 the district might think   
itself  fortunate4 ,the commissioners   
seldom stopped short at one victim4 ,the
  revelations of the rack in most cases 
implicated half a score4    ,of all the 
records of the witch-trials preserved   
for the wonder of  succeeding ages1 that
 of ,wurzburg1 from #afbg to #afbi1 is  
the most  frightful4 ,hauber1 who has   

preserved this list in his ,acta et     
,scripta  ,magica1 says1 in a note at   
the end1 that it is far from complete1  
and  that there were a great many other 
burnings too numerous to specify4  ,this
 record1 which relates to the city only1
 and not to the province of  ,wurzburg1 
contains the names of one hundred and   
fifty-seven persons1  who were burned in
 two years in twenty-nine burnings1     
averaging from  five to six at a time4  
,the list comprises three play-actors1  
four  innkeepers1 three common          
councilmen of ,wurzburg1 fourteen vicars
 of the  cathedral1 the burgomaster's   
lady1 an apothecary's wife and daughter1
  two choristers of the cathedral1      
,gobel ,babelin the prettiest girl in   
the town1 and the wife1 the two little  
sons1 and the daughter of the           
councillor ,stolzenberg4 ,rich and poor1
 young and old1 suffered alike4  ,at the
 seventh of these recorded burnings1 the
 victims are described as  a wandering  
boy1 twelve years of age1 and four      

strange men and women1  found sleeping  
in the market-place4 ,thirty-two of the 
whole number  appear to have been       
vagrants1 of both sexes1 who1 failing to
 give a  satisfactory account of        
themselves1 were accused and found      
guilty of  witchcraft4 ,the number of   
children on the list is horrible to     
think  upon4 ,the thirteenth and        
fourteenth burnings comprised four      
persons1  who are stated to have been a 
little maiden nine years of age1 a      
maiden  still less1 her sister1 their   
mother1 and their aunt1 a pretty young  
woman of twenty-four4 ,at the eighteenth
 burning the victims were two  boys of  
twelve1 and a girl of fifteen2 at the   
nineteenth1 the young  heir of the noble
 house of ,rotenhahn1 aged nine1 and two
 other boys1  one aged ten1 and the     
other twelve4 ,among other entries      
appear the  names of ,baunach1 the      
fattest1 and ,steinacher1 the richest   
burgher in  ,wurzburg4  ,what tended to 
keep up the delusion in this unhappy    

city1  and indeed all over ,europe1 was 
the number of hypochondriac and         
diseased persons who came voluntarily   
forward1 and made confession of         
witchcraft4  ,several of the victims in 
the foregoing list1 had only  themselves
 to blame for their fate4 ,many again1  
including the  apothecary's wife and    
daughter already mentioned1 pretended to
 sorcery1  and sold poisons1 or         
attempted by means of charms and        
incantations to  raise the devil4 ,but  
throughout all this fearful period the  
delusion of  the criminals was as great 
as that of the judges4 ,depraved persons
 who1  in ordinary times1 would have    
been thieves or murderers1 added the    
desire of sorcery to their depravity1   
sometimes with the hope of  acquiring   
power over their fellows1 and sometimes 
with the hope of  securing impunity in  
this world by the protection of ,satan4 
,one of the  persons executed at the    
first burning1 a prostitute1 was heard  
repeating the exorcism1 which was       

supposed to have the power of raising   
the arch enemy in the form of a goat4   
,this precious specimen of human  folly 
has been preserved by ,horst1 in his    
,zauberbibliothek4 ,it ran as  follows1 
and was to be repeated slowly1 with many
 ceremonies and  waivings of the hand3--
      ,lalle1 ,bachera1 ,magotte1       
,baphia1 ,dajam1    ,vagoth ,heneche    
,ammi ,nagaz1 ,adomator    ,raphael     
,immanuel ,christus1 ,tetragrammaton    
,agra ,jod ,loi4 ,konig6 ,konig6    ,the
 two last words were uttered quickly1   
and with a sort of scream1 and  were    
supposed to be highly agreeable to      
,satan1 who loved to be called a  king4 
,if he did not appear immediately1 it   
was necessary to repeat a  further      
exorcism4 ,the one in greatest repute   
was as follows1 and was to  be read     
backwards1 with the exception of the    
last two words      ,anion1 ,lalle1     
,sabolos1 ,sado1 ,pater1 ,aziel         
,adonai ,sado ,vagoth ,agra1 ,jod1      
,baphra6 ,komm6 ,komm6    ,when the     

witch wanted to get rid of the devil1   
who was sometimes in the  habit of      
prolonging his visits to an             
unconscionable length1 she had  only to 
repeat the following1 also backwards1   
when he generally  disappeared1 leaving 
behind him a suffocating smell3--       
,zellianelle ,heotti ,bonus ,vagotha    
,plisos sother osech unicus ,beelzebub  
,dax6 ,komm6 ,komm6    ,this nonsensical
 jargon soon became known to all the    
idle and foolish  boys of ,germany4     
,many an unhappy urchin1 who in a       
youthful frolic had  repeated it1 paid  
for his folly the penalty of his life4  
,three1 whose  ages varied from ten to  
fifteen1 were burned alive at ,wurzburg 
for no  other offence4 ,of course every 
other boy in the city became still more 
convinced of the power of the charm4    
,one boy confessed that he would        
willingly have sold himself to the      
devil1 if he could have raised him1  for
 a good dinner and cakes every day of   
his life1 and a pony to ride  upon4     

,this luxurious youngster1 instead of   
being horsewhipped for his  folly1 was  
hanged and burned4    ,the small        
district of ,lindheim was1 if possible1 
even more notorious  than ,wurzburg for 
the number of its witch-burnings4 ,in   
the year #afcc a  famous witch1 named   
,pomp ,anna1 who could cause her foes to
 fall sick by  merely looking at them1  
was discovered and burned1 along with   
three of  her companions4 ,every year in
 this parish1 consisting at most of a   
thousand persons1 the average number of 
executions was five4  ,between  the     
years #affj and #affd1 the number       
consumed was thirty4 ,if the  executions
 all over ,germany had been in this     
frightful proportion1  hardly a family  
could have escaped losing one of its    
members4    ,in #afbg a ballad entitled 
the ,druten ,zeitung1 or the ,witches   
,gazette1 was very popular in ,germany4 
,it detailed1 according to the          
titlepage of a copy printed at ,smalcald
 in #afbg1 an account of the  remarkable

 events which took place in ,franconia1 
,bamberg1 and ,wurzburg1  with those    
wretches who from avarice or ambition   
have sold themselves  to the devil1 and 
how they had their reward at last3 set  
to music1 and  to be sung to the tune of
 ,dorothea4 ,the sufferings of the      
witches at  the stake are explained in  
it with great minuteness1 the poet      
waxing  extremely witty when he         
describes the horrible contortions of   
pain upon  their countenances1 and the  
shrieks that rent the air when any one  
of  more than common guilt was burned   
alive4 ,a trick resorted to in order  to
 force one witch to confess1 is told in 
this doggrel as an excellent  joke4 ,as 
she obstinately refused to own that she 
was in league with the  powers of evil1 
the commissioners suggested that the    
hangman should  dress himself in a      
bear's skin1 with the horns1 tail1 and  
all the et  ceteras1 and in this form   
penetrate into her dungeon4 ,the woman1 
in the  darkness of her cell1 could not 

detect the imposture1 aided as it was   
by her own superstitious fears4 ,she    
thought she was actually in the         
presence of the prince of hell2 and when
 she was told to keep up her  courage1  
and that she should be relieved from the
 power of her enemies1  she fell on her 
knees before the supposed devil1 and    
swore to dedicate  herself hereafter    
body and soul to his service4 ,germany  
is1 perhaps1  the only country in       
,europe where the delusion was so great 
as to have  made such detestable verses 
as these the favourites of the people3--
        ,man shickt ein ,henkersknecht  
,zu ihr in ,gefangniss n'unter1         
,den man hat kleidet recht1    ,mir     
einer ,barnhaute1      ,als wenns der   
,teufel war2    ,als ihm die ,drut      
anschaute      ,meints ihr ,buhl kam    
daher4      ,sie sprach zu ihm behende1 
,wie lasst du mich so lang    ,in der   
,obrigkeit ,hande8      ,hilf mir aus   
ihren ,zwang1    ,wie du mir hast       
verheissen1      ,ich bin ja eben dein1 

,thu mich aus der ,angst entreissen     
,o liebster ,buhle mein8    ,they sent a
 hangman's assistant down to her in her 
prison2 they  clothed him properly in a 
bear's skin1 as if he were the devil4   
,him1  when the witch saw1 she thought  
he was her familiar4 ,she said to him   
quickly1 ,why hast thou left me so long 
in the magistrate's hands8  ,help me out
 of their power1 as thou hast promised1 
and ,i will be thine  alone4 ,help me   
from this anguish1 ,o thou dearest devil
 7or lover71  mine8    ,this rare poet  
adds1 that in making such an appeal to  
the hangman1 the  witch never imagined  
the roast that was to be made of her1   
and puts in1  by way of parenthesis1 was
 not that fine fun6 ,was das war fur ein
  ,spiel6 ,as feathers thrown into the  
air show how the wind blows1 so  this   
trumpery ballad serves to show the      
current of popular feeling at  the time 
of its composition4    ,all readers of  
history are familiar with the celebrated
 trial of the  ,marechale d',ancre1 who 

was executed in ,paris in the year      
#afag4  ,although witchcraft was one of 
the accusations brought against her1 the
  real crime for which she suffered was 
her ascendency over the mind of  ,mary  
of ,medicis1 and the consequent         
influence she exercised indirectly  over
 the unworthy ,king1 ,louis ,,xiii4 ,her
 coachman gave evidence that she  had   
sacrificed a cock at midnight1 in one of
 the churches1 and others  swore they   
had seen her go secretly into the house 
of a noted witch1  named ,isabella4     
,when asked by what means she had       
acquired so  extraordinary an influence 
over the mind of the ,queen ,mother1 she
  replied boldly1 that she exercised no 
other power over her1 than that  which a
 strong mind can always exercise over   
the weak4  ,she died with  great        
firmness4    ,in two years afterwards   
scenes far more horrible than any that  
had yet  taken place in ,france were    
enacted at ,labourt1 at the foot of the 
,pyrenees4 ,the ,parliament of          

,bourdeaux1 scandalised at the number of
  witches who were said to infest       
,labourt and its neighbourhood1 deputed 
one of its own members1 the noted       
,pierre de l',ancre1 and its ,president1
  ,espaignel1 to inquire into the       
matter1 with full powers to punish the  
offenders4 ,they arrived at ,labourt in 
,may #afai4 ,de l',ancre wrote a  book1 
setting forth all his great deeds1 in   
this battle against the  powers of evil4
 ,it is full of obscenity and absurdity2
 but the facts  may be relied on as far 
as they relate to the number of trials  
and  executions1 and the strange        
confessions which torture forced from   
the  unhappy criminals4    ,de l',ancre 
states as a reason why so many witches  
were to be found at  ,labourt1 that the 
country was mountainous and sterile6 ,he
 discovered  many of them from their    
partiality to smoking tobacco4 ,it may  
be  inferred from this1 that he was of  
the opinion of ,king ,james1 that       
tobacco was the devil's weed4 ,when the 

commission first sat1 the  number of    
persons brought to trial was about forty
 a day4 ,the  acquittals did not average
 so many as five per cent4 ,all the     
witches  confessed that they had been   
present at the great ,domdaniel1 or     
,sabbath4 ,at these saturnalia the devil
 sat upon a large gilded throne1        
sometimes in the form of a goat2        
sometimes as a gentleman1 dressed all   
in black1 with boots1 spurs1 and sword2 
and very often as a shapeless  mass1    
resembling the trunk of a blasted tree1 
seen indistinctly amid  the darkness4   
,they generally proceeded to the        
,domdaniel1 riding on  spits1           
pitchforks1 or broomsticks1 and1 on     
their arrival1 indulged with  the fiends
 in every species of debauchery4 ,upon  
one occasion they had  had the audacity 
to celebrate this festival in the very  
heart of the  city of ,bourdeaux4 ,the  
throne of the arch fiend was placed in  
the  middle of the ,place de ,gallienne1
 and the whole space was covered with   

the multitude of witches and wizards1   
who flocked to it from far and  near2   
some arriving even from distant         
,scotland4    ,after two hundred poor   
wretches had been hanged and burned1    
there  seemed no diminution in the      
number of criminals to be tried4 ,many  
of  the latter were asked upon the rack 
what ,satan had said1 when he found     
that the commissioners were proceeding  
with such severity8 ,the general  reply 
was1 that he did not seem to care much  
about it4 ,some of them  asserted1 that 
they had boldly reproached him for      
suffering the  execution of their       
friends1 saying1 ,out upon thee1 false  
fiend6 thy  promise was1 that they      
should not die6 ,look6 how thou hast    
kept thy  word6 ,they have been burned1 
and are a heap of ashes6 ,upon these    
occasions he was never offended4 ,he    
would give orders that the sports  of   
the ,domdaniel should cease1 and        
producing illusory fires that did  not  
burn1 he encouraged them to walk        

through1 assuring them that the  fires  
lighted by the executioner gave no more 
pain than those4 ,they  would then ask  
him1 where their friends were1 since    
they had not  suffered2 to which the    
,father of ,lies invariably replied1    
that they  were happy in a far country1 
and could see and hear all that was then
  passing2 and that1 if they called by  
name those they wished to converse      
with1 they might hear their voices in   
reply4 ,satan then imitated the  voices 
of the defunct witches so successfully1 
that they were all  deceived4 ,having   
answered all objections1 the orgies     
recommenced1 and  lasted till the cock  
crew4    ,de l',ancre was also very     
zealous in the trial of unhappy         
monomaniacs  for the crime of           
lycanthropy4 ,several who were arrested 
confessed1  without being tortured1 that
 they were weir-wolves1 and that1 at    
night1  they rushed out among the flocks
 and herds1 killing and devouring4 ,one 
young man at ,besancon1 with the full   

consciousness of the awful fate  that   
awaited him1 voluntarily gave himself up
 to the commissioner  ,espaignel1 and   
confessed that he was the servant of a  
strong fiend1 who  was known by the name
 of ,lord of the ,forests4 ,by his      
power1 he was  transformed into the     
likeness of a wolf4 ,the ,lord of the   
,forests  assumed the same shape1 but   
was much larger1 fiercer1 and stronger4 
,they prowled about the pastures        
together at midnight1 strangling the    
watch-dogs that defended the folds1 and 
killing more sheep than they  could     
devour4 ,he felt1 he said1 a fierce     
pleasure in these excursions1  and      
howled in excess of joy as he tore with 
his fangs the warm flesh of  the sheep  
asunder4 ,this youth was not alone in   
this horrid confession2  many others    
voluntarily owned that they were        
weir-wolves1 and many more  were forced 
by torture to make the same avowal4     
,such criminals were  thought to be too 
atrocious to be hanged first1 and then  

burned3 they  were generally sentenced  
to be burned alive1 and their ashes to  
be  scattered to the winds4 ,grave and  
learned doctors of divinity openly      
sustained the possibility of these      
transformations1 relying mainly upon    
the history of ,nebuchadnezzar4  ,they  
could not imagine why1 if he had  been  
an ox1 modern men could not become      
wolves1 by ,divine permission  and the  
power of the devil4 ,they also contended
 that1 if men should  confess1 it was   
evidence enough1 if there had been no   
other4 ,delrio  mentions that one       
gentleman accused of lycanthropy was put
 to the  torture no less than twenty    
times1 but still he would not confess4  
,an  intoxicating draught was then given
 him1 and under its influence he        
confessed that he was a weir-wolf4      
,delrio cites this to show the  extreme 
equity of the commissioners4  ,they     
never burned anybody till he  confessed2
 and if one course of torture would not 
suffice1 their  patience was not        

exhausted1 and they tried him again and 
again1 even to  the twentieth time6     
,well may we exclaim1 when such         
atrocities have been  committed in the  
name of religion1      ,quel lion1 quel 
tigre egale en cruaute1    ,une injuste 
fureur qu'arme la piete8    ,the trial  
of the unhappy ,urbain ,grandier1 the   
curate of ,loudun1 for  bewitching a    
number of girls in the convent of the   
,ursulines in that  town1 was1 like that
 of the ,marechale d',ancre1 an         
accusation resorted  to by his enemies  
to ruin one against whom no other charge
 could be  brought so readily4 ,this    
noted affair1 which kept ,france in     
commotion  for months1 and the true     
character of which was known even at    
that  time1 merits no more than a       
passing notice in this place4 ,it did   
not  spring from the epidemic dread of  
sorcery then so prevalent1 but was      
carried on by wretched intriguers1 who  
had sworn to have the life of  their    
foe4 ,such a charge could not be refuted

 in #afcd3 the accused  could not1 as   
,bodinus expresses it1 make the malice  
of the prosecutors  more clear than the 
sun2 and his own denial1 however        
intelligible1  honest1 and              
straightforward1 was held as nothing in 
refutation of the  testimony of the     
crazy women who imagined themselves     
bewitched4 ,the  more absurd and        
contradictory their assertions1 the     
stronger the  argument employed by his  
enemies that the devil was in them4 ,he 
was  burned alive1 under circumstances  
of great cruelty4 ,a very graphic       
account of the execution of this        
unfortunate gentleman is to be found  in
 the excellent romance of ,m4 ,alfred de
 ,vigny1 entitled ,cinq ,mars2  but if  
the reader wishes for a full and        
accurate detail of all the              
circumstances of one of the most        
extraordinary trials upon record1 he  is
 referred to a work published           
anonymously1 at ,amsterdam1 in #afic1   
entitled ,histoire des ,diables de      

,loudun1 ou de la ,possession des       
,religieuses ,ursulines1 et de la       
,condemnation et du ,supplice d',urbain 
,grandier4    ,a singular instance of   
the epidemic fear of witchcraft occurred
 at  ,lille1 in #afci4 ,a pious1 but not
 very sane lady1 named ,antoinette      
,bourignon1 founded a school1 or        
hospice1 in that city4 ,one day1 on     
entering the school-room1 she imagined  
that she saw a great number of  little  
black angels flying about the heads of  
the children4 ,in great  alarm1 she told
 her pupils of what she had seen1       
warning them to beware  of the devil1   
whose imps were hovering about them4    
,the foolish woman  continued daily to  
repeat the same story1 and ,satan and   
his power  became the only subject of   
conversation1 not only between the girls
  themselves1 but between them and their
 instructors4 ,one of them at this  time
 ran away from the school4 ,on being    
brought back and interrogated1  she said
 she had not run away1 but had been     

carried away by the  devil--she was a   
witch1 and had been one since the age of
 seven4 ,some  other little girls in the
 school went into fits at this          
announcement1  and1 on their recovery1  
confessed that they also were witches4  
,at last1  the whole of them1 to the    
number of fifty1 worked upon each       
other's  imaginations to such a degree  
that they also confessed that they were 
witches--that they attended the         
,domdaniel1 or meeting of the           
fiends--that they could ride through the
 air on broom-sticks1 feast on  infants'
 flesh1 or creep through a key-hole4    
,the citizens of ,lille were astounded  
at these disclosures4 ,the clergy       
hastened to investigate the matter2 many
 of them1 to their credit1  openly      
expressed their opinion that the whole  
affair was an imposture3  not so the    
majority--they strenuously insisted that
 the confessions of  the children were  
valid1 and that it was necessary to make
 an example  by burning them all for    

witches4 ,the poor parents1 alarmed for 
their  offspring1 implored the examining
 ,capuchins with tears in their eyes to 
save their young lives1 insisting that  
they were bewitched1 and not            
bewitching4 ,this opinion also gained   
ground in the town4 ,antoinette         
,bourignon1 who had put these absurd    
notions into the heads of the  children1
 was accused of witchcraft1 and examined
 before the council4  ,the circumstances
 of the case seemed so unfavourable     
towards her that  she would not stay for
 a second examination4 ,disguising      
herself as she  best could1 she hastened
 out of ,lille and escaped pursuit4 ,if 
she had  remained four hours longer1 she
 would have been burned by judicial     
sentence1 as a witch and a heretic4  ,it
 is to be hoped that1 wherever  she     
went1 she learned the danger of         
tampering with youthful minds1 and  was 
never again entrusted with the          
management of children4    ,the ,duke of
 ,brunswick and the ,elector of ,menz   

were struck with the  great cruelty     
exercised in the torture of suspected   
persons1 and  convinced at the same time
 that no righteous judge would consider 
a  confession extorted by pain1 and     
contradictory in itself1 as sufficient  
evidence to justify the execution of any
 accused person4 ,it is related  of the 
,duke of ,brunswick that he invited two 
learned ,jesuits to his  house1 who were
 known to entertain strong opinions upon
 the subject of  witchcraft1 with a view
 of showing them the cruelty and        
absurdity of  such practises4 ,a woman  
lay in the dungeon of the city accused  
of  witchcraft1 and the ,duke1 having   
given previous instructions to the      
officiating torturers1 went with the two
 ,jesuits to hear her  confession4 ,by a
 series of artful leading questions1 the
 poor creature1  in the extremity of her
 anguish1 was induced to confess that   
she had  often attended the sabbath of  
the fiends upon the ,brocken--that she  
had  seen two ,jesuits there1 who had   

made themselves notorious1 even among   
witches1 for their abominations--that   
she had seen them assume the form  of   
goats1 wolves1 and other animals2 and   
that many noted witches had  borne them 
five1 six1 and seven children at a      
birth1 who had heads like  toads and    
legs like spiders4 ,being asked if the  
,jesuits were far from  her1 she replied
 that they were in the room beside her4 
,the ,duke of  ,brunswick led his       
astounded friends away1 and explained   
the stratagem4  ,this was convincing    
proof to both of them that thousands of 
persons had  suffered unjustly2 they    
knew their own innocence1 and shuddered 
to  think what their fate might have    
been1 if an enemy1 instead of a  friend1
 had put such a confession into the     
mouth of a criminal4 ,one of  these     
,jesuits was ,frederick ,spee1 the      
author of the ,cautio  ,criminalis1     
published in #afca4 ,this work1 exposing
 the horrors of the  witch trials1 had a
 most salutary effect in ,germany3      

,schonbrunn1  ,archbishop and ,elector  
of ,menz1 abolished the torture entirely
 within  his dominions1 and his example 
was imitated by the ,duke of ,brunswick 
and other potentates4 ,the number of    
supposed witches immediately            
diminished1 and the violence of the     
mania began to subside4 ,the ,elector   
of ,brandenburg issued a rescript1 in   
#afed1 with respect to the case of      
,anna of ,ellerbrock1 a supposed witch1 
forbidding the use of torture1  and     
stigmatizing the swimming of witches as 
an unjust1 cruel1 and  deceitful test4  
,this was the beginning of the dawn     
after the long-protracted darkness4     
,the tribunals no longer condemned      
witches to execution by hundreds in a   
year4 ,wurzburg1 the grand theatre of   
the burnings1 burned but one1  where1   
forty years previously1 it had burned   
three score4 ,from #affj to  #afgj1 the 
electoral chambers in all parts of      
,germany constantly  commuted the       
sentence of death passed by the         

provincial tribunals into  imprisonment 
for life1 or burning on the cheek4    ,a
 truer philosophy had gradually         
disabused the public mind4  ,learned    
men freed themselves from the trammels  
of a debasing superstition1 and         
governments1 both civil and             
ecclesiastical1 repressed the popular   
delusion they had so long encouraged4   
,the ,parliament of ,normandy  condemned
 a number of women to death1 in the year
 #afgj1 on the old  charge of riding on 
broomsticks to the ,domdaniel2 but      
,louis ,,xiv4  commuted the sentence    
into banishment for life4 ,the          
,parliament  remonstrated1 and sent the 
,king the following remarkable request4 
,the  reader will1 perhaps1 be glad to  
see this document at length4 ,it is of  
importance1 as the last effort of a     
legislative assembly to uphold this     
great error2 and the arguments they     
used1 and the instances they  quoted1   
are in the highest degree curious4 ,it  
reflects honour upon the  memory of     

,louis ,,xiv4 that he was not swayed by 
it4    ,,request ,,of ,,the ,,parliament
 ,,of ,,rouen ,,to ,,the ,,king1 ,,in   
#afgj4    ,,sire1    ,,emboldened by the
 authority which your ,majesty has      
committed into our  hands in the        
province of ,normandy1 to try and punish
 offences1 and more  particularly those 
offences of the nature of witchcraft1   
which tend to  the destruction of       
religion and the ruin of nations1 we1   
your  ,parliament1 remonstrate humbly   
with your ,majesty upon certain cases of
  this kind which have been lately      
brought before us4 ,we cannot permit    
the letter addressed by your ,majesty's 
command to the ,attorney-,general  of   
this district1 for the reprieve of      
certain persons condemned to  death for 
witchcraft1 and for the staying of      
proceedings in several  other cases1 to 
remain unnoticed1 and without remarking 
upon the  consequences which may ensue4 
,there is also a letter from your       
,secretary of ,state1 declaring your    

,majesty's intention to commute the     
punishment of these criminals into one  
of perpetual banishment1 and to  submit 
to the opinion of the                   
,procureur-,general1 and of the most    
learned  members of the ,parliament of  
,paris1 whether1 in the matter of       
witchcraft1 the jurisprudence of the    
,parliament of ,rouen is to be  followed
 in preference to that of the           
,parliament of ,paris1 and of the  other
 parliaments of the kingdom which judge 
differently4    ,although by the        
ordinances of the ,kings your           
predecessors1 ,parliaments  have been   
forbidden to pay any attention to       
lettres de cachet2 we1  nevertheless1   
from the knowledge which we have1 in    
common with the  whole kingdom1 of the  
care bestowed by your ,majesty for the  
good of  your subjects1 and from the    
submission and obedience to your        
commandments which we have always       
manifested1 have stayed all             
proceedings1 in conformity to your      

orders2 hoping that your ,majesty1      
considering the importance of the crime 
of witchcraft1 and the  consequences    
likely to ensue from its impunity1 will 
be graciously  pleased to grant us once 
more your permission to continue the    
trials1  and execute judgment upon those
 found guilty4 ,and as1 since we        
received  the letter of your ,secretary 
of ,state1 we have also been made       
acquainted with the determination of    
your ,majesty1 not only to commute  the 
sentence of death passed upon these     
witches into one of perpetual           
banishment from the province1 but to    
re-establish them in the  possession of 
their goods and chattels1 and of their  
good fame and  character1 your          
,parliament have thought it their duty1 
on occasion of  these crimes1 the       
greatest which men can commit1 to make  
you acquainted  with the general and    
uniform feelings of the people of this  
province  with regard to them2 it being1
 moreover1 a question in which are      

concerned the glory of ,god and the     
relief of your suffering subjects1  who 
groan under their fears from the threats
 and menaces of this sort  of persons1  
and who feel the effects of them every  
day in the mortal  and extraordinary    
maladies which attack them1 and the     
surprising damage  and loss of their    
possessions4    ,your ,majesty knows    
well that there is no crime so opposed  
to the  commands of ,god as witchcraft1 
which destroys the very foundation of   
religion1 and draws strange abominations
 after it4 ,it is for this  reason1     
,sire1 that the ,scriptures pronounce   
the punishment of death  against        
offenders1 and that the church and the  
holy fathers have  fulminated their     
anathemas1 and that canonical decisions 
have one and  all decreed the most      
severe punishments1 to deter from this  
crime2 and  that the ,church of ,france1
 animated by the piety of the ,kings    
your  predecessors1 has expressed so    
great a horror at it1 that1 not judging 

the punishment of perpetual             
imprisonment1 the highest it has the    
power  to inflict1 sufficiently severe1 
it has left such criminals to be dealt  
with by the secular power4    ,it has   
been the general feeling of all nations 
that such criminals  ought to be        
condemned to death1 and all the ancients
 were of the same  opinion4 ,the law of 
the ,twelve ,tables1 which was the      
principal of the  ,roman laws1 ordains  
the same punishment4 ,all jurisconsults 
agreed in  it1 as well as the           
constitutions of the ,emperors1 and more
 especially  those of ,constantine and  
,theodosius1 who1 enlightened by the    
,gospel1  not only renewed the same     
punishment1 but also deprived1          
expressly1 all  persons found guilty of 
witchcraft of the right of appeal1 and  
declared  them to be unworthy of a      
prince's mercy4 ,and ,charles ,,viii1   
,sire1  inspired by the same sentiments1
 passed that beautiful and severe       
ordinance 7cette belle et severe        

ordonnance71 which enjoined the judges  
to punish witches according to the      
exigencies of the case1 under a  penalty
 of being themselves fined or           
imprisoned1 or dismissed from  their    
office2 and decreed1 at the same time1  
that all persons who  refused to        
denounce a witch1 should be punished as 
accomplices2 and  that all1 on the      
contrary1 who gave evidence against one1
 should be  rewarded4    ,from these    
considerations1 ,sire1 and in the       
execution of so holy an  ordinance1 your
 parliaments1 by their decrees1         
proportion their  punishments to the    
guilt of the offenders3 and your        
,parliament of  ,normandy has never1    
until the present time1 found that its  
practice was  different from that of    
other courts2 for all the books which   
treat upon  this matter cite an infinite
 number of decrees condemning witches to
 be  burnt1 or broken on the wheel1 or  
to other punishments4 ,the following    
are examples3--,in the time of          

,chilperic1 as may be seen in ,gregory  
of  ,tours1 b4 vi1 c4 #ce of his        
,history of ,france3 all the decrees of 
the  ,parliament of ,paris passed       
according to1 and in conformity with1   
this  ancient jurisprudence of the      
kingdom1 cited by ,imbert1 in his       
,judicial  ,practice2 all those cited by
 ,monstrelet1 in #adei1 against the     
witches  of ,artois2 the decrees of the 
same ,parliament1 of the #acth of       
,october  #aegc1 against ,mary ,le      
,fief1 native of ,saumur2 of the #bast  
of ,october  #aeif1 against the ,sieur  
de ,beaumont1 who pleaded1 in his       
defence1 that  he had only sought the   
aid of the devil for the purpose of     
unbewitching  the afflicted and of      
curing diseases2 of the #dth of ,july   
#afjf1 against  ,francis du ,bose2 of   
the #bjth of ,july #aehb1 against ,abel 
de la ,rue1  native of ,coulommiers2 of 
the #bnd of ,october #aeic1 against     
,rousseau and  his daughter2 of #afjh1  
against another ,rousseau and one       

,peley1 for  witchcraft and adoration of
 the devil at the ,sabbath1 under the   
figure  of a he-goat1 as confessed by   
them2 the decree of #dth of ,february   
#afae1  against ,leclerc1 who appealed  
from the sentence of the ,parliament of 
,orleans1 and who was condemned for     
having attended the ,sabbath1 and       
confessed1 as well as two of his        
accomplices1 who died in prison1 that   
he had adored the devil1 renounced his  
baptism and his faith in ,god1  danced  
the witches' dance1 and offered up      
unholy sacrifices2 the  decrees of the  
#fth of ,may #afaf1 against a man named 
,leger1 on a similar  accusation2 the   
pardon granted by ,charles ,,ix to      
,trois ,echelles1 upon  condition of    
revealing his accomplices1 but          
afterwards revoked for  renewed sorcery 
on his part2 the decree of the          
,parliament of ,paris1  cited by ,mornac
 in #aeie2 the judgments passed in      
consequence of the  commission given by 
,henry ,,iv to the ,sieur de ,lancre1   

councillor of the  ,parliament of       
,bourdeaux2 of the #bjth of ,march      
#afai1 against ,etienne  ,audibert2     
those passed by the ,chamber of ,nerac1 
on the #bfth of ,june  #afbj1 against   
several witches2 those passed by the    
,parliament of  ,toulouse in #aegg1 as  
cited by ,gregory ,tolosanus1 against   
four hundred  persons accused of this   
crime1 and who were all marked with the 
sign of  the devil4 ,besides all these1 
we might recall to your ,majesty's      
recollection the various decrees of the 
,parliament of ,provence1  especially in
 the case of ,gaufredy in #afaa2 the    
decrees of the  ,parliament of ,dijon1  
and those of the ,parliament of ,rennes1
 following  the example of the          
condemnation of the ,marshal de ,rays1  
who was burned  in #adda1 for the crime 
of witchcraft1 in presence of the ,duke 
of  ,brittany2--all these examples1     
,sire1 prove that the accusation of     
witchcraft has always been punished with
 death by the ,parliaments of  your     

kingdom1 and justify the uniformity of  
their practice4    ,these1 ,sire1 are   
the motives upon which your ,parliament 
of ,normandy  has acted in decreeing the
 punishment of death against the persons
  lately brought before it for this     
crime4 ,if it has happened that1 on  any
 occasion1 these parliaments1 and the   
,parliament of ,normandy among  the     
rest1 have condemned the guilty to a    
less punishment than that of  death1 it 
was for the reason that their guilt was 
not of the deepest  dye2 your ,majesty1 
and the ,kings your predecessors1 having
 left full  liberty to the various      
tribunals to whom they delegated the    
administration of justice1 to decree    
such punishment as was warranted  by the
 evidence brought before them4    ,after
 so many authorities1 and punishments   
ordained by human and  divine laws1 we  
humbly supplicate your ,majesty to      
reflect once more  upon the             
extraordinary results which proceed from
 the malevolence of  this sort of       

people--on the deaths from unknown      
diseases1 which are  often the          
consequences of their menaces--on the   
loss of the goods and  chattels of your 
subjects--on the proofs of guilt        
continually afforded  by the            
insensibility of the marks upon the     
accused--on the sudden  transportation  
of bodies from one place to another--on 
the sacrifices  and nocturnal           
assemblies1 and other facts1            
corroborated by the  testimony of       
ancient and modern authors1 and verified
 by so many  eye-witnesses1 composed    
partly of accomplices1 and partly of    
people who  had no interest in the      
trials beyond the love of truth1 and    
confirmed1  moreover1 by the confessions
 of the accused parties themselves2 and 
that1 ,sire1 with so much agreement and 
conformity between the different  cases1
 that the most ignorant persons         
convicted of this crime have  spoken to 
the same circumstances1 and in nearly   
the same words1 as the  most celebrated 

authors who have written about it1 all  
of which may be  easily proved to your  
,majesty's satisfaction by the records  
of various  trials before your          
parliaments4    ,these1 ,sire1 are      
truths so intimately bound up with the  
principles of  our religion1 that1      
extraordinary although they be1 no      
person has been  able to this time to   
call them in question4 ,if some have    
cited1 in  opposition to these truths1  
the pretended canon of the ,council of  
,ancyre1 and a passage from ,st4        
,augustin1 in a treatise upon the       
',spirit  and the ,soul'1 it has been   
without foundation2 and it would be easy
 to  convince your ,majesty that neither
 the one nor the other ought to be      
accounted of any authority2 and1 besides
 that1 the canon1 in this  sense1 would 
be contrary to the opinion of all       
succeeding councils of  the church1     
,cardinal ,baronius1 and all learned    
commentators1 agree that  it is not to  
be found in any old edition4 ,in effect1

 in those editions  wherein it is found1
 it is in another language1 and is in   
direct  contradiction to the            
twenty-third canon of the same council1 
which  condemns sorcery1 according to   
all preceding constitutions4 ,even      
supposing that this canon was really    
promulgated by the ,council of  ,ancyre1
 we must observe that it was issued in  
the second century1 when  the principal 
attention of the ,church was directed to
 the destruction  of paganism4 ,for this
 reason1 it condemns that class of women
 who said  they could pass through the  
air1 and over immense regions1 with     
,diana  and ,herodias1 and enjoins all  
preachers to teach the falsehood of such
  an opinion1 in order to deter people  
from the worship of these false         
divinities2 but it does not question the
 power of the devil over the  human     
body1 which is1 in fact1 proved by the  
,holy ,gospel of ,jesus  ,christ        
himself4 ,and with regard1 ,sire1 to the
 pretended passage of ,st4  ,augustin1  

everybody knows that it was not written 
by him1 because the  writer1 whoever he 
was1 cites ,boetius1 who died more than 
eighty years  after the time of ,st4    
,augustin4 ,besides1 there is still more
 convincing  proof in the fact1 that the
 same father establishes the truth of   
witchcraft in all his writings1 and more
 particularly in his ',city of  ,god2'  
and in his first volume1 question the   
#beth1 wherein he states  that sorcery  
is a communion between man and the      
devil1 which all good  ,christians ought
 to look upon with horror4    ,taking   
all these things into consideration1    
,sire1 the officers of your  ,parliament
 hope1 from the justice of your         
,majesty1 that you will be  graciously  
pleased to receive the humble           
remonstrances they have taken  the      
liberty to make4 ,they are compelled1   
for the acquittal of their own          
consciences and in discharge of their   
duty1 to make known to your  ,majesty1  
that the decrees they passed against the

 sorcerers and witches  brought before  
them1 were passed after a mature        
deliberation on the  part of all the    
judges present1 and that nothing has    
been done therein  which is not         
conformable to the universal            
jurisprudence of the kingdom1  and for  
the general welfare of your ,majesty's  
subjects1 of whom there  is not one who 
can say that he is secure from the      
malevolence of such  criminals4 ,we     
therefore supplicate your ,majesty to   
suffer us to carry  into effect the     
sentences we passed1 and to proceed with
 the trial of  the other persons accused
 of the same crime2 and that the piety  
of your  ,majesty will not suffer to be 
introduced during your reign an opinion 
contrary to the principles of that holy 
religion for which you have  always     
employed so gloriously both your cares  
and your arms4    ,louis1 as we have    
already mentioned1 paid no attention to 
this appeal4  ,the lives of the old     
women were spared1 and prosecutions for 

mere  witchcraft1 unconnected with other
 offences1 were discontinued  throughout
 ,france4 ,in #afhj an act was passed   
for the punishment1 not of  witches1 but
 of pretenders to witchcraft1           
fortune-tellers1  divineresses1 and     
poisoners4    ,thus the light broke in  
upon ,germany1 ,france1 ,england1 and   
,scotland  about the same time1         
gradually growing clearer and clearer   
till the  middle of the eighteenth      
century1 when witchcraft was finally    
reckoned  amongst exploded doctrines1   
and the belief in it confined to the    
uttermost vulgar4 ,twice1 however1 did  
the madness burst forth again as        
furious1 while it lasted1 as ever it had
 been4 ,the first time in  ,sweden1 in  
#affi1 and the second in ,germany1 so   
late as #agdi4 ,both these  instances   
merit particular mention4 ,the first is 
one of the most  extraordinary upon     
record1 and for atrocity and absurdity  
is  unsurpassed in the annals of any    
nation4    ,it having been reported to  

the ,king of ,sweden that the little    
village  of ,mohra1 in the province of  
,dalecarlia1 was troubled exceedingly   
with  witches1 he appointed a commission
 of clergy and laymen to trace the      
rumour to its source1 with full powers  
to punish the guilty4 ,on the  #abth of 
,august #affi1 the commissioners arrived
 in the bewitched  village1 to the great
 joy of the credulous inhabitants4  ,on 
the  following day the whole population1
 amounting to three thousand  persons1  
assembled in the church4 ,a sermon was  
preached1 declaring the  miserable case 
of those people that suffered themselves
 to be deluded  by the devil1 and       
fervent prayer was offered up that ,god 
would remove  the scourge from among    
them4    ,the whole assembly then       
adjourned to the rector's house1 filling
 all  the street before it1 when the    
,king's commission was read1 charging   
every person who knew anything of the   
witchery1 to come forward and  declare  
the truth4 ,a passion of tears seized   

upon the multitude2 men1  women1 and    
children began to weep and sob1 and all 
promised to divulge  what they had heard
 or knew4 ,in this frame of mind they   
were dismissed  to their homes4 ,on the 
following day they were again called    
together1  when the depositions of      
several persons were taken publicly     
before them  all4 ,the result was that  
seventy persons1 including fifteen      
children1  were taken into custody4     
,numbers also were arrested in the      
neighbouring  district of ,elfdale4     
,being put to the torture1 they all     
confessed their  guilt4 ,they said they 
used to go to a gravel-pit that lay hard
 by the  cross-way1 where they put a    
vest upon their heads1 and danced round 
and round and round about4 ,they then   
went to the cross-way1 and called  three
 times upon the devil2 the first time in
 a low still voice2 the  second1        
somewhat louder2 and the third1 very    
loudly1 with these words1  ,antecessor1 
come1 and carry us to ,blockula6 ,this  

invocation never  failed to bring him to
 their view4  ,he generally appeared as 
a little  old man1 in a grey coat1 with 
red and blue stockings1 with exceedingly
  long garters4 ,he had besides a very  
high-crowned hat1 with bands of         
many-coloured linen enfolded about it1  
and a long red beard1 that hung  down to
 his middle4    ,the first question he  
put to them was1 whether they would     
serve him  soul and body8 ,on their     
answering in the affirmative1 he told   
them to  make ready for the journey to  
,blockula4 ,it was necessary to procure1
 in  the first place1 some scrapings of 
altars and filings of church  clocks4   
,antecessor then gave them a horn1 with 
some salve in it1  wherewith they       
anointed themselves4 ,these preparations
 ended1 he  brought beasts for them to  
ride upon1 horses1 asses1 goats1 and    
monkeys2 and1 giving them a saddle1 a   
hammer1 and a nail1 uttered the  word of
 command1 and away they went4 ,nothing  
stopped them4 ,they flew  over churches1

 high walls1 rocks1 and mountains1 until
 they came to the  green meadow where   
,blockula was situated4 ,upon these     
occasions they  carried as many children
 with them as they could2 for the devil1
 they  said1 did plague and whip them if
 they did not procure him children1     
insomuch that they had no peace or quiet
 for him4    ,many parents corroborated 
a part of this evidence1 stating that   
their  children had repeatedly told them
 that they had been carried away in  the
 night to ,blockula1 where the devil had
 beaten them black and blue4  ,they had 
seen the marks in the morning1 but they 
soon disappeared4 ,one  little girl was 
examined1 who swore positively that she 
was carried  through the air by the     
witches1 and when at a great height she 
uttered  the holy name of ,jesus4 ,she  
immediately fell to the ground1 and made
 a  great hole in her side4 ,the devil1 
however1 picked her up1 healed her      
side1 and carried her away to ,blockula4
 ,she added1 and her mother  confirmed  

her statement1 that she had till that   
day an exceeding great  pain in her     
side4 ,this was a clencher1 and the nail
 of conviction was  driven home to the  
hearts of the judges4    ,the place     
called ,blockula1 whither they were     
carried1 was a large  house1 with a gate
 to it1 in a delicate meadow1 whereof   
they could see  no end4 ,there was a    
very long table in it1 at which the     
witches sat  down2 and in other rooms   
there were very lovely and delicate beds
 for  them to sleep upon4    ,after a   
number of ceremonies had been performed1
 by which they bound  themselves1 body  
and soul1 to the service of ,antecessor1
 they sat down  to a feast1 composed of 
broth1 made of colworts and bacon1      
oatmeal1  bread and butter1 milk and    
cheese4 ,the devil always took the      
chair1 and  sometimes played to them on 
the harp or the fiddle1 while they were 
eating4 ,after dinner they danced in a  
ring1 sometimes naked1 and  sometimes in
 their clothes1 cursing and swearing all

 the time4  ,some of  the women added   
particulars too horrible and too obscene
 for repetition4    ,once the devil     
pretended to be dead1 that he might see 
whether his  people regretted him4 ,they
 instantly set up a loud wail1 and wept 
three  tears each for him1 at which he  
was so pleased1 that he jumped up among 
them1 and hugged in his arms those who  
had been most obstreperous in  their    
sorrow4    ,such were the principal     
details given by the children1 and      
corroborated  by the confessions of the 
full-grown witches4 ,anything more      
absurd was  never before stated in a    
court of justice4 ,many of the accused  
contradicted themselves most palpably2  
but the commissioners gave no  heed to  
discrepancies4 ,one of them1 the parson 
of the district1 stated1  in the course 
of the inquiry1 that on a particular    
night1 which he  mentioned1 he had been 
afflicted with a headach so agonizing1  
that he  could not account for it       
otherwise than by supposing he was      

bewitched4  ,in fact1 he thought a score
 of witches must have been dancing on   
the  crown of his head4 ,this           
announcement excited great horror among 
the  pious dames of the auditory1 who   
loudly expressed their wonder that the  
devil should have power to hurt so good 
a man4 ,one poor witch1 who lay  in the 
very jaws of death1 confessed that she  
knew too well the cause  of the         
minister's headach4  ,the devil had sent
 her with a sledge hammer  and a large  
nail1 to drive into the good man's      
skull4 ,she had hammered  at it for some
 time1 but the skull was so enormously  
thick1 that she  made no impression upon
 it4 ,every hand was held up in         
astonishment4 ,the  pious minister      
blessed ,god that his skull was so      
solid1 and he became  renowned for his  
thick head all the days of his life4    
,whether the witch  intended a joke does
 not appear1 but she was looked upon as 
a criminal  more than usually atrocious4
 ,seventy persons were condemned to     

death on  these so awful yet so         
ridiculous confessions4 ,twenty-three of
 them were  burned together1 in one     
fire1 in the village of ,mohra1 in the  
presence  of thousands of delighted     
spectators4 ,on the following day       
fifteen  children were murdered in the  
same manner2 offered up in sacrifice to 
the bloody ,moloch of superstition4 ,the
 remaining thirty-two were  executed at 
the neighbouring town of ,fahluna4      
,besides these1 fifty-six  children were
 found guilty of witchcraft in a minor  
degree1 and  sentenced to various       
punishments1 such as running the        
gauntlet1  imprisonment1 and public     
whipping once a week for a twelvemonth4 
,long after the occurrence of this case1
 it was cited as one of the most        
convincing proofs upon record of the    
prevalence of witchcraft4  ,when  men   
wish to construct or support a theory1  
how they torture facts into  their      
service6 ,the lying whimsies of a few   
sick children1 encouraged by  foolish   

parents1 and drawn out by superstitious 
neighbours1 were  sufficient to set a   
country in a flame4 ,if1 instead of     
commissioners as  deeply sunk in the    
slough of ignorance as the people they  
were sent  amongst1 there had been      
deputed a few men firm in courage and   
clear in  understanding1 how different  
would have been the result6 ,some of the
  poor children who were burned would   
have been sent to an infirmary2  others 
would have been well flogged2 the       
credulity of the parents would  have    
been laughed at1 and the lives of       
seventy persons spared4 ,the  belief in 
witchcraft remains in ,sweden to this   
day2 but1 happily1 the  annals of that  
country present no more such instances  
of lamentable  aberration of intellect  
as the one just cited4    ,in ,new      
,england1 about the same time1 the      
colonists were scared by  similar       
stories of the antics of the devil4 ,all
 at once a fear seized  upon the        
multitude1 and supposed criminals were  

arrested day after day  in such numbers1
 that the prisons were found too small  
to contain them4  ,a girl1 named        
,goodwin1 the daughter of a mason1 who  
was hypochondriac  and subject to fits1 
imagined that an old ,irishwoman1 named 
,glover1 had  bewitched her4 ,her two   
brothers1 in whose constitutions there  
was  apparently a predisposition to     
similar fits1 went off in the same way1 
crying out that the devil and ,dame     
,glover were tormenting them4 ,at  times
 their joints were so stiff that they   
could not be moved1 while at  others1   
said the neighbours1 they were so       
flexible1 that the bones  appeared      
softened into sinews4 ,the supposed     
witch was seized1 and1 as  she could not
 repeat the ,lord's ,prayer without     
making a mistake in it1  she was        
condemned and executed4    ,but the     
popular excitement was not allayed4 ,one
 victim was not enough3  the people     
waited agape for new disclosures4       
,suddenly two hysteric  girls in another

 family fell into fits daily1 and the   
cry of witchcraft  resounded from one   
end of the colony to the other4 ,the    
feeling of  suffocation in the throat1  
so common in cases of hysteria1 was said
 by  the patients to be caused by the   
devil himself1 who had stuck balls in   
the windpipe to choke them4 ,they felt  
the pricking of thorns in every  part of
 the body1 and one of them vomited      
needles4 ,the case of these  girls1 who 
were the daughter and niece of a ,mr4   
,parris1 the minister of  a ,calvinist  
chapel1 excited so much attention1 that 
all the weak women  in the colony began 
to fancy themselves similarly afflicted4
 ,the more  they brooded on it1 the more
 convinced they became4 ,the contagion  
of  this mental disease was as great as 
if it had been a pestilence4 ,one  after
 the other the women fainted away1      
asserting1 on their recovery1  that they
 had seen the spectres of witches4      
,where there were three or  four girls  
in a family1 they so worked1 each upon  

the diseased  imagination of the other1 
that they fell into fits five or six    
times in  a day4 ,some related that the 
devil himself appeared to them1 bearing 
in  his hand a parchment roll1 and      
promising that if they would sign an    
agreement transferring to him their     
immortal souls1 they should be          
immediately relieved from fits and all  
the ills of the flesh4 ,others  asserted
 that they saw witches only1 who made   
them similar promises1  threatening that
 they should never be free from aches   
and pains till  they had agreed to      
become the devil's4 ,when they refused1 
the witches  pinched1 or bit1 or pricked
 them with long pins and needles4 ,more 
than  two hundred persons named by these
 mischievous visionaries1 were thrown   
into prison4 ,they were of all ages and 
conditions of life1 and many of  them of
 exemplary character4 ,no less than     
nineteen were condemned and  executed   
before reason returned to the minds of  
the colonists4 ,the most  horrible part 

of this lamentable history is1 that     
among the victims  there was a little   
child only five years old4 ,some women  
swore that  they had seen it repeatedly 
in company with the devil1 and that it  
had  bitten them often with its little  
teeth1 for refusing to sign a compact   
with the ,evil ,one4 ,it can hardly     
increase our feelings of disgust and    
abhorrence when we learn that this      
insane community actually tried and     
executed a dog for the same offence6    
,one man1 named ,cory1 stoutly refused  
to plead to the preposterous  indictment
 against him4 ,as was the practice in   
such eases1 he was  pressed to death4   
,it is told of the ,sheriff of ,new     
,england1 who  superintended the        
execution1 that when this unhappy man   
thrust out his  tongue in his mortal    
agony1 he seized hold of a cane1 and    
crammed it  back again into the mouth4  
,if ever there were a fiend in human    
form1 it  was this ,sheriff2 a man1 who1
 if the truth were known1 perhaps plumed

  himself upon his piety--thought he was
 doing ,god good service1 and           
,hoped to merit heaven by making earth a
 hell6    ,arguing still in the firm    
belief of witchcraft1 the bereaved      
people  began to inquire1 when they saw 
their dearest friends snatched away     
from them by these wide-spreading       
accusations1 whether the whole          
proceedings were not carried on by the  
agency of the devil4 ,might not  the    
great enemy have put false testimony    
into the mouths of the  witnesses1 or   
might not the witnesses be witches      
themselves8 ,every man  who was in      
danger of losing his wife1 his child1 or
 his sister1  embraced this doctrine    
with avidity4 ,the revulsion was as     
sudden as the  first frenzy4 ,all at    
once1 the colonists were convinced of   
their error4  ,the judges put a stop to 
the prosecutions1 even of those who had 
confessed their guilt4 ,the latter were 
no sooner at liberty than they          
retracted all they had said1 and the    

greater number hardly remembered  the   
avowals which agony had extorted from   
them4 ,eight persons1 who had  been     
tried and condemned1 were set free2 and 
gradually girls ceased to  have fits and
 to talk of the persecutions of the     
devil4 ,the judge who  had condemned the
 first criminal executed on this charge1
 was so  smitten with sorrow and        
humiliation at his folly1 that he set   
apart the  anniversary of that day as   
one of solemn penitence and fasting4 ,he
  still clung to the belief in          
witchcraft2 no new light had broken in  
upon him on that subject1 but1 happily  
for the community1 the delusion  had    
taken a merciful turn4 ,the whole colony
 shared the feeling2 the  jurors on the 
different trials openly expressed their 
penitence in the  churches2 and those   
who had suffered were regarded as the   
victims1 and  not the accomplices of    
,satan4    ,it is related that the      
,indian tribes in ,new ,england were    
sorely puzzled  at the infatuation of   

the settlers1 and thought them either a 
race  inferior to1 or more sinful than  
the ,french colonists in the vicinity1  
amongst whom1 as they remarked1 the     
,great ,spirit sent no witches4         
,returning again to the continent of    
,europe1 we find that1 after the  year  
#afhj1 men became still wiser upon this 
subject4 ,for twenty years  the populace
 were left to their belief1 but         
governments in general gave  it no      
aliment in the shape of executions4 ,the
 edict of ,louis ,,xiv4 gave  a blow to 
the superstition1 from which it never   
recovered4 ,the last  execution in the  
,protestant cantons of ,switzerland was 
at ,geneva1 in  #afeb4 ,the various     
potentates of ,germany1 although they   
could not stay  the trials1 invariably  
commuted the sentence into imprisonment1
 in all  cases where the pretended witch
 was accused of pure witchcraft1        
unconnected with any other crime4 ,in   
the year #agja1 ,thomasius1 the  learned
 professor at the ,university of ,halle1

 delivered his inaugural  thesis1 ,de   
,crimine ,magiae1 which struck another  
blow at the falling  monster of popular 
error4 ,but a faith so strong as that in
 witchcraft  was not to be eradicated at
 once3 the arguments of learned men did 
not  penetrate to the villages and      
hamlets1 but still they achieved great  
things2 they rendered the belief an     
unworking faith1 and prevented the      
supply of victims1 on which for so many 
ages it had battened and grown  strong4 
,once more the delusion broke out2 like 
a wild beast wounded to the  death1 it  
collected all its remaining energies for
 the final  convulsion1 which was to    
show how mighty it had once been4       
,germany1  which had nursed the         
frightful error in its cradle1 tended it
 on its  death-bed1 and ,wurzburg1 the  
scene of so many murders on the same    
pretext1 was destined to be the scene of
 the last4 ,that it might lose  no      
portion of its bad renown1 the last     
murder was as atrocious as the  first4  

,this case offers a great resemblance to
 that of the witches of  ,mohra and ,new
 ,england1 except in the number of its  
victims4 ,it happened  so late as the   
year #agdi1 to the astonishment and     
disgust of the rest  of ,europe4    ,a  
number of young women in a convent at   
,wurzburg fancied themselves  bewitched2
 they felt1 like all hysteric subjects1 
a sense of  suffocation in the throat4  
,they went into fits repeatedly2 and one
 of  them1 who had swallowed needles1   
evacuated them at abscesses1 which      
formed in different parts of the body4  
,the cry of sorcery was raised1  and a  
young woman1 named ,maria ,renata       
,sanger1 was arrested on the  charge of 
having leagued with the devil1 to       
bewitch five of the young  ladies4 ,it  
was sworn on the trial that ,maria had  
been frequently seen  to clamber over   
the convent walls in the shape of a     
pig--that1  proceeding to the cellar1   
she used to drink the best wine till she
 was  intoxicated2 and then start       

suddenly up in her own form4 ,other     
girls  asserted that she used to prowl  
about the roof like a cat1 and often    
penetrate into their chamber1 and       
frighten them by her dreadful  howlings4
 ,it was also said that she had been    
seen in the shape of a  hare1 milking   
the cows dry in the meadows belonging to
 the convent2  that she used to perform 
as an actress on the boards of ,drury   
,lane  theatre in ,london1 and1 on the  
very same night1 return upon a          
broomstick to ,wurzburg1 and afflict the
 young ladies with pains in all  their  
limbs4 ,upon this evidence she was      
condemned1 and burned alive in  the     
market-place of ,wurzburg4    ,here ends
 this frightful catalogue of murder and 
superstition4  ,since  that day1 the    
belief in witchcraft has fled from the  
populous abodes of  men1 and taken      
refuge in remote villages and districts 
too wild1  rugged1 and inhospitable to  
afford a resting-place for the foot of  
civilization4 ,rude fishers and         

uneducated labourers still attribute    
every phenomenon of nature which they   
cannot account for1 to the devil  and   
witches4 ,catalepsy1 that wondrous      
disease1 is still thought by  ignorant  
gossips to be the work of ,satan2 and   
hypochondriacs1  uninformed by science  
of the nature of their malady1 devoutly 
believe  in the reality of their        
visions4 ,the reader would hardly credit
 the  extent of the delusion upon this  
subject in the very heart of ,england   
at this day4 ,many an old woman leads a 
life of misery from the  unfeeling      
insults of her neighbours1 who raise the
 scornful finger and  hooting voice at  
her1 because in her decrepitude she is  
ugly1 spiteful1  perhaps insane1 and    
realizes in her personal appearance the 
description  preserved by tradition of  
the witches of yore4 ,even in the       
neighbourhood of great towns the taint  
remains of this once  widely-spread     
contagion4 ,if no victims fall beneath  
it1 the  enlightenment of the law is all

 that prevents a recurrence of scenes as
  horrid as those of the seventeeth     
century4 ,hundreds upon hundreds of     
witnesses could be found to swear to    
absurdities as great as those  asserted 
by the infamous ,matthew ,hopkins4      
,in the ,annual ,register for #agfj1 an 
instance of the belief in  witchcraft is
 related1 which shows how superstition  
lingers4 ,a dispute  arose in the little
 village of ,glen1 in ,leicestershire1  
between two old  women1 each of whom    
vehemently accused the other of         
witchcraft4  ,the  quarrel at last ran  
so high that a challenge ensued1 and    
they both  agreed to be tried by the    
ordeal of swimming4 ,they accordingly   
stripped  to their shifts--procured some
 men1 who tied their thumbs and great   
toes together1 cross-wise1 and then1    
with a cart-rope about their  middle1   
suffered themselves to be thrown into a 
pool of water4  ,one of  them sank      
immediately1 but the other continued    
struggling a short time  upon the       

surface of the water1 which the mob     
deeming an infallible sign  of her      
guilt1 pulled her out1 and insisted that
 she should immediately  impeach all her
 accomplices in the craft4 ,she         
accordingly told them  that1 in the     
neighbouring village of ,burton1 there  
were several old  women as much witches 
as she was4 ,happily for her1 this      
negative  information was deemed        
sufficient1 and a student in astrology1 
or  white-witch1 coming up at the time1 
the mob1 by his direction1  proceeded   
forthwith to ,burton in search of all   
the delinquents4 ,after a  little       
consultation on their arrival1 they went
 to the old woman's  house on whom they 
had fixed the strongest suspicion4 ,the 
poor old  creature on their approach    
locked the outer door1 and from the     
window  of an upstairs room asked what  
they wanted4  ,they informed her that   
she  was charged with being guilty of   
witchcraft1 and that they were come to  
duck her2 remonstrating with her at the 

same time upon the necessity of         
submission to the ordeal1 that1 if she  
were innocent1 all the world  might know
 it4 ,upon her persisting in a positive 
refusal to come down1  they broke open  
the door and carried her out by force1  
to a deep  gravel-pit full of water4    
,they tied her thumbs and toes together 
and  threw her into the water1 where    
they kept her for several minutes1      
drawing her out and in two or three     
times by the rope round her middle4     
,not being able to satisfy themselves   
whether she were a witch or no1  they at
 last let her go1 or1 more properly     
speaking1 they left her on  the bank to 
walk home by herself1 if she ever       
recovered4 ,next day1 they  tried the   
same experiment upon another woman1 and 
afterwards upon a  third2 but1          
fortunately1 neither of the victims lost
 her life from this  brutality4  ,many  
of the ringleaders in the outrage were  
apprehended  during the week1 and tried 
before the justices at quarter-sessions4

 ,two  of them were sentenced to stand  
in the pillory and to be imprisoned for 
a month2 and as many as twenty more were
 fined in small sums for the  assault1  
and bound over to keep the peace for a  
twelvemonth4    ,so late as the year    
#aghe1 says ,arnot1 in his collection   
and  abridgment of ,criminal ,trials in 
,scotland1 it was the custom among the  
sect of ,seceders to read from the      
pulpit an annual confession of sins1    
national and personal2 amongst the      
former of which was particularly        
mentioned the ',repeal by ,parliament of
 the penal statute against  witches1    
contrary to the express laws of ,god4'  
,many houses are still to be found in   
,england with the horse-shoe 7the  grand
 preservative against witchcraft7 nailed
 against the threshold4 ,if  any        
over-wise philosopher should attempt to 
remove them1 the chances  are that he   
would have more broken bones than thanks
 for his  interference4 ,let any man    
walk into ,cross-street1                

,hatton-,garden1 and  from thence into  
,bleeding-heart ,yard1 and learn the    
tales still told  and believed of one   
house in that neighbourhood1 and he will
 ask  himself in astonishment if such   
things can be in the nineteenth         
century4 ,the witchcraft of ,lady       
,hatton1 the wife of the famous ,sir    
,christopher1 so renowned for his       
elegant dancing in the days of          
,elizabeth1 is as devoutly believed as  
the ,gospels4 ,the room is to be  seen  
where the devil seized her after the    
expiration of the contract he  had made 
with her1 and bore her away bodily to   
the pit of ,tophet3 the  pump against   
which he dashed her is still pointed    
out1 and the spot  where her heart was  
found1 after he had torn it out of her  
bosom with  his iron claws1 has received
 the name of ,bleeding-heart ,yard1 in  
confirmation of the story4 ,whether the 
horse-shoe still remains upon  the door 
of the haunted house1 to keep away other
 witches1 is  uncertain2 but there it   

was1 twelve or thirteen years ago4 ,the 
writer  resided at that time in the     
house alluded to1 and well remembers    
that  more than one old woman begged for
 admittance repeatedly1 to satisfy      
themselves that it was in its proper    
place4 ,one poor creature1  apparently  
insane1 and clothed in rags1 came to the
 door with a  tremendous double-knock1  
as loud as that of a fashionable        
footman1 and  walked straight along the 
passage to the horse-shoe4 ,great was   
the  wonderment of the inmates1         
especially when the woman spat upon the 
horse-shoe1 and expressed her sorrow    
that she could do no harm while it      
remained there4 ,after spitting upon1   
and kicking it again and again1  she    
coolly turned round and left the house1 
without saying a word to  anybody4 ,this
 poor creature perhaps intended a joke1 
but the  probability is that she        
imagined herself a witch4 ,in ,saffron  
,hill1  where she resided1 her ignorant 
neighbours gave her that character1 and 

looked upon her with no little fear and 
aversion4    ,more than one example of  
the popular belief in witchcraft        
occurred in  the neighbourhood of       
,hastings so lately as the year #ahcj4  
,an aged  woman1 who resided in the     
,rope-walk of that town1 was so         
repulsive in  her appearance1 that she  
was invariably accused of being a witch 
by all  the ignorant people who knew    
her4 ,she was bent completely double2   
and  though very old1 her eye was       
unusually bright and malignant4 ,she    
wore a  red cloak1 and supported herself
 on a crutch3 she was1 to all outward   
appearance1 the very beau ideal of a    
witch4 ,so dear is power to the  human  
heart1 that this old woman actually     
encouraged the popular  superstition3   
she took no pains to remove the ill     
impression1 but  seemed to delight that 
she1 old and miserable as she was1 could
 keep in  awe so many happier and       
stronger fellow-creatures4 ,timid girls 
crouched  with fear when they met her1  

and many would go a mile out of their   
way  to avoid her4 ,like the witches of 
the olden time1 she was not sparing  of 
her curses against those who offended   
her4 ,the child of a woman who  resided 
within two doors of her1 was afflicted  
with lameness1 and the  mother          
constantly asserted that the old woman  
had bewitched her4 ,all  the neighbours 
credited the tale4 ,it was believed1    
too1 that she could  assume the form of 
a cat4 ,many a harmless puss has been   
hunted almost  to the death by mobs of  
men and boys1 upon the supposition that 
the  animal would start up before them  
in the true shape of ,mother 99 99 99 99
 994    ,in the same town there resided 
a fisherman1--who is1 probably1 still   
alive1 and whose name1 for that reason1 
we forbear to mention1--who was  the    
object of unceasing persecution1 because
 it was said that he had  sold himself  
to the devil4 ,it was currently reported
 that he could  creep through a keyhole1
 and that he had made a witch of his    

daughter1  in order that he might have  
the more power over his fellows4  ,it   
was  also believed that he could sit on 
the points of pins and needles1 and     
feel no pain4 ,his brother-fishermen put
 him to this test whenever they  had an 
opportunity4 ,in the alehouses which he 
frequented1 they often  placed long     
needles in the cushions of the chairs1  
in such a manner  that he could not fail
 to pierce himself when he sat down4    
,the result  of these experiments tended
 to confirm their faith in his          
supernatural  powers4 ,it was asserted  
that he never flinched4 ,such was the   
popular  feeling in the fashionable town
 of ,hastings only seven years ago2 very
  probably it is the same now4    ,in   
the north of ,england1 the superstition 
lingers to an almost  inconceivable     
extent4 ,lancashire abounds with        
witch-doctors1 a set of  quacks1 who    
pretend to cure diseases inflicted by   
the devil4 ,the  practices of these     
worthies may be judged of by the        

following case1  reported in the        
,hertford ,reformer1 of the #bcrd of    
,june1 #ahch4 ,the  witch-doctor alluded
 to is better known by the name of the  
cunning man1  and has a large practice  
in the counties of ,lincoln and         
,nottingham4  ,according to the writer  
in ,the ,reformer1 the dupe1 whose name 
is not  mentioned1 had been for about   
two years afflicted with a painful      
abscess1 and had been prescribed for    
without relief by more than one  medical
 gentleman4 ,he was urged by some of his
 friends1 not only in his  own village1 
but in neighbouring ones1 to consult the
 witch-doctor1 as  they were convinced  
he was under some evil influence4  ,he  
agreed1 and  sent his wife to the       
cunning man1 who lived in ,new ,saint   
,swithin's1 in  ,lincoln4 ,she was      
informed by this ignorant impostor that 
her husband's  disorder was an          
infliction of the devil1 occasioned by  
his next-door  neighbours1 who had made 
use of certain charms for that purpose4 

,from  the description he gave of the   
process1 it appears to be the same as   
that employed by ,dr4 ,fian and ,gellie 
,duncan1 to work woe upon ,king  ,james4
 ,he stated that the neighbours1        
instigated by a witch1 whom he  pointed 
out1 took some wax1 and moulded it      
before the fire into the  form of her   
husband1 as near as they could represent
 him2 they then  pierced the image with 
pins on all sides--repeated the ,lord's 
,prayer  backwards1 and offered prayers 
to the devil that he would fix his      
stings into the person whom that figure 
represented1 in like manner as  they    
pierced it with pins4 ,to counteract the
 effects of this diabolical  process1   
the witch-doctor prescribed a certain   
medicine1 and a charm to  be worn next  
the body1 on that part where the disease
 principally lay4  ,the patient was to  
repeat the #ajith and #aaith ,psalms    
every day1 or the  cure would not be    
effectual4 ,the fee which he claimed for
 this advice  was a guinea4    ,so      

efficacious is faith in the cure of any 
malady1 that the patient  actually felt 
much better after a three weeks' course 
of this  prescription4 ,the notable     
charm which the quack had given was     
afterwards opened1 and found to be a    
piece of parchment1 covered with  some  
cabalistic characters and signs of the  
planets4    ,the next-door neighbours   
were in great alarm that the            
witch-doctor  would1 on the solicitation
 of the recovering patient1 employ some 
means  to punish them for their         
pretended witchcraft4 ,to escape the    
infliction1 they feed another cunning   
man1 in ,nottinghamshire1 who told  them
 of a similar charm1 which would        
preserve them from all the malice  of   
their enemies4 ,the writer concludes by 
saying that1 the doctor1 not  long after
 he had been thus consulted1 wrote to   
say that he had  discovered that his    
patient was not afflicted by ,satan1 as 
he had  imagined1 but by ,god1 and would
 continue1 more or less1 in the same    

state till his life's end4    ,an       
impostor carried on a similar trade in  
the neighbourhood of  ,tunbridge ,wells1
 about the year #ahcj4 ,he had been in  
practice for  several years1 and charged
 enormous fees for his advice4 ,this    
fellow  pretended to be the seventh son 
of a seventh son1 and to be endowed in  
consequence with miraculous powers for  
the cure of all diseases1 but           
especially of those resulting from      
witchcraft4 ,it was not only the poor   
who employed him1 but ladies who rode in
 their carriages4 ,he was often  sent   
for from a distance of sixty or seventy 
miles by these people1 who  paid all his
 expenses to and fro1 besides rewarding 
him handsomely4 ,he  was about eighty   
years of age1 and his extremely         
venerable appearance  aided his         
imposition in no slight degree4 ,his    
name was ,okey1 or ,oakley4    ,in      
,france1 the superstition at this day is
 even more prevalent than it  is in     
,england4 ,garinet1 in his history of   

,magic and ,sorcery in that  country1   
cites upwards of twenty instances which 
occurred between the  years #ahje and   
#ahah4 ,in the latter year1 no less than
 three tribunals  were occupied with    
trials originating in this humiliating  
belief3 we  shall cite only one of them4
 ,julian ,desbourdes1 aged fifty-three1 
a  mason1 and inhabitant of the village 
of ,thilouze1 near ,bordeaux1 was  taken
 suddenly ill1 in the month of ,january 
#ahah4 ,as he did not know  how to      
account for his malady1 he suspected at 
last that he was  bewitched4 ,he        
communicated this suspicion to his      
son-in-law1 ,bridier1  and they both    
went to consult a sort of idiot1 named  
,baudouin1 who  passed for a conjuror1  
or white-witch4 ,this man told them that
  ,desbourdes was certainly bewitched1  
and offered to accompany them to  the   
house of an old man1 named ,renard1 who1
 he said1 was undoubtedly  the criminal4
 ,on the night of the #bcrd of ,january 
all three proceeded  stealthily to the  

dwelling of ,renard1 and accused him of 
afflicting  persons with diseases1 by   
the aid of the devil4  ,desbourdes fell 
on his  knees1 and earnestly entreated  
to be restored to his former health1    
promising that he would take no measures
 against him for the evil he  had done4 
,the old man denied in the strongest    
terms that he was a  wizard2 and when   
,desbourdes still pressed him to remove 
the spell from  him1 he said he knew    
nothing about the spell1 and refused to 
remove it4  ,the idiot ,baudouin1 the   
white-witch1 now interfered1 and told   
his  companions that no relief for the  
malady could ever be procured until  the
 old man confessed his guilt4 ,to force 
him to confession they  lighted some    
sticks of sulphur1 which they had       
brought with them for  the purpose1 and 
placed them under the old man's nose4   
,in a few  moments1 he fell down        
suffocated and apparently lifeless4     
,they were all  greatly alarmed2 and    
thinking that they had killed the man1  

they  carried him out and threw him into
 a neighbouring pond1 hoping to make  it
 appear that he had fallen in           
accidentally4 ,the pond1 however1 was   
not very deep1 and the coolness of the  
water reviving the old man1 he  opened  
his eyes and sat up4  ,desbourdes and   
,bridier1 who were still  waiting on the
 bank1 were now more alarmed than       
before1 lest he should  recover and     
inform against them4 ,they1 therefore1  
waded into the  pond--seized their      
victim by the hair of the head--beat him
 severely1  and then held him under     
water till he was drowned4    ,they were
 all three apprehended on the charge of 
murder a few days  afterwards4          
,desbourdes and ,bridier were found     
guilty of aggravated  manslaughter only1
 and sentenced to be burnt on the back1 
and to work  in the galleys for life4   
,the white-witch ,baudouin was          
acquitted1 on the  ground of insanity4  
,m4 ,garinet further informs us that    
,france1 at the time he wrote 7#ahah71  

was overrun by a race of fellows1 who   
made a trade of casting out  devils and 
finding out witches4 ,he adds1 also1    
that many of the priests  in the rural  
districts encouraged the superstition of
 their  parishioners1 by resorting      
frequently to exorcisms1 whenever any   
foolish persons took it into their heads
 that a spell had been thrown  over     
them4 ,he recommended1 as a remedy for  
the evil1 that all these  exorcists1    
whether lay or clerical1 should be sent 
to the galleys1 and  that the number of 
witches would then very sensibly        
diminish4    ,many other instances of   
this lingering belief might be cited    
both in  ,france and ,great ,britain1   
and indeed in every other country in    
,europe4  ,so deeply rooted are some    
errors that ages cannot remove them4    
,the  poisonous tree that once          
overshadowed the land1 may be cut down  
by the  sturdy efforts of sages and     
philosophers--the sun may shine clearly 
upon spots where venemous things once   

nestled in security and shade2  but     
still the entangled roots are stretched 
beneath the surface1 and  may be found  
by those who dig4 ,another king1 like   
,james ,i1 might make  them vegetate    
again2 and1 more mischievous still1     
another pope1 like  ,innocent ,,viii1   
might raise the decaying roots to       
strength and verdure4  ,still1 it is    
consoling to think1 that the delirium   
has passed away2  that the raging       
madness has given place to a milder     
folly2 and that we  may now count by    
units the votaries of a superstition    
which1 in former  ages1 numbered its    
victims by tens of thousands1 and its   
votaries by  millions4          ,,the   
,,slow ,,poisoners4      ,pescara4--,the
 like was never read of4                
,stephano4--,in my judgment1            
,to all that shall but hear it1 't will 
appear                 ,a most          
impossible fable4    ,pescara4--,troth1 
,i'll tell you1                 ,and    
briefly as ,i can1 by what degrees      

,they fell into this madness4      ,duke
 of ,milan4      ,the atrocious system  
of poisoning1 by poisons so slow in     
their  operation1 as to make the victim 
appear1 to ordinary observers1 as if    
dying from a gradual decay of nature1   
has been practised in all ages4  ,those 
who are curious in the matter may refer 
to ,beckmann on ,secret  ,poisons1 in   
his ,history of ,inventions1 in which he
 has collected  several instances of it 
from the ,greek and ,roman writers4     
,early in the  sixteenth century the    
crime seems to have gradually increased1
 till1 in  the seventeenth1 it spread   
over ,europe like a pestilence4 ,it was 
often  exercised by pretended witches   
and sorcerers1 and finally became a     
branch of education amongst all who laid
 any claim to magical and  supernatural 
arts4 ,in the twenty-first year of      
,henry ,,viii4 an act was  passed1      
rendering it high-treason3 those found  
guilty of it1 were to be  boiled to     
death4    ,one of the first in point of 

date1 and hardly second to any in point 
of  atrocity1 is the murder by this     
means of ,sir ,thomas ,overbury1 which  
disgraced the court of ,james ,i1 in the
 year #afac4 ,a slight sketch of it     
will be a fitting introduction to the   
history of the poisoning mania1  which  
was so prevalent in ,france and ,italy  
fifty years later4    ,robert ,kerr1 a  
,scottish youth1 was early taken notice 
of by ,james ,i1  and loaded with       
honours1 for no other reason that the   
world could ever  discover than the     
beauty of his person4 ,james1 even in   
his own day1 was  suspected of being    
addicted to the most abominable of all  
offences1 and  the more we examine his  
history now1 the stronger the suspicion 
becomes4 ,however that may be1 the      
handsome ,kerr1 lending his smooth      
cheek1 even in public1 to the disgusting
 kisses of his royal master1  rose      
rapidly in favour4 ,in the year #afac1  
he was made ,lord ,high  ,treasurer of  
,scotland1 and created an ,english peer1

 by the style and  title of ,viscount   
,rochester4 ,still further honours were 
in store for  him4    ,in this rapid    
promotion he had not been without a     
friend4 ,sir ,thomas  ,overbury1 the    
,king's secretary-who appears1 from some
 threats in his  own letters1 to have   
been no better than a pander to the     
vices of the  ,king1 and privy to his   
dangerous secrets--exerted all his      
backstair  influence to forward the     
promotion of ,kerr1 by whom he was1     
doubtless1  repaid in some way or other4
 ,overbury did not confine his          
friendship to  this1 if friendship ever 
could exist between two such men1 but   
acted  the part of an entremetteur1 and 
assisted ,rochester to carry on an      
adulterous intrigue with the ,lady      
,frances ,howard1 the wife of the ,earl 
of ,essex4 ,this woman was a person of  
violent passions1 and lost to all  sense
 of shame4 ,her husband was in her way1 
and to be freed from him1  she          
instituted proceedings for a divorce1 on

 grounds which a woman of  any modesty  
or delicacy of feeling would die rather 
than avow4 ,her  scandalous suit was    
successful1 and was no sooner decided   
than  preparations1 on a scale of the   
greatest magnificence1 were made for    
her marriage with ,lord ,rochester4     
,sir ,thomas ,overbury1 who had         
willingly assisted his patron to        
intrigue  with the ,countess of ,essex1 
seems to have imagined that his marriage
  with so vile a woman might retard his 
advancement2 he accordingly  employed   
all his influence to dissuade him from  
it4 ,but ,rochester was  bent on the    
match1 and his passions were as violent 
as those of the  ,countess4 ,on one     
occasion1 when ,overbury and the        
,viscount were walking  in the gallery  
of ,whitehall1 ,overbury was overheard  
to say1 ,well1 my  ,lord1 if you do     
marry that base woman1 you will utterly 
ruin your  honour and yourself4 ,you    
shall never do it with my advice or     
consent2  and1 if you do1 you had best  

look to stand fast4 ,rochester flung    
from  him in a rage1 exclaiming with an 
oath1 ,i will be even with you for      
this4 ,these words were the             
death-warrant of the unfortunate        
,overbury4  ,he had mortally wounded the
 pride of ,rochester in insinuating that
 by  his 7,overbury's7 means he might be
 lowered in the ,king's favour2 and he  
had endeavoured to curb the burning     
passions of a heartless1 dissolute1  and
 reckless man4    ,overbury's imprudent 
remonstrances were reported to the      
,countess2 and  from that moment1 she   
also vowed the most deadly vengeance    
against him4  ,with a fiendish          
hypocrisy1 however1 they both concealed 
their  intentions1 and ,overbury1 at the
 solicitation of ,rochester1 was        
appointed ambassador to the court of    
,russia4 ,this apparent favour was  but 
the first step in a deep and deadly     
plot4 ,rochester1 pretending to  be     
warmly attached to the interests of     
,overbury1 advised him to refuse  the   

embassy1 which1 he said1 was but a trick
 to get him out of the way4  ,he        
promised1 at the same time1 to stand    
between him and any evil  consequences  
which might result from his refusal4    
,overbury fell into  the snare1 and     
declined the embassy4 ,james1 offended1 
immediately  ordered his committal to   
the ,tower4    ,he was now in safe      
custody1 and his enemies had opportunity
 to commence  the work of vengeance4    
,the first thing ,rochester did was to  
procure1 by  his influence at court1 the
 dismissal of the ,lieutenant of the    
,tower1  and the appointment of ,sir    
,jervis ,elwes1 one of his creatures1 to
 the  vacant post4 ,this man was but one
 instrument1 and another being          
necessary1 was found in ,richard        
,weston1 a fellow who had formerly been 
shopman to a druggist4 ,he was installed
 in the office of under-keeper1  and as 
such had the direct custody of          
,overbury4 ,so far1 all was  favourable 
to the designs of the conspirators4     

,in the mean time1 the insidious        
,rochester wrote the most friendly      
letters to ,overbury1 requesting him to 
bear his ill-fortune patiently1  and    
promising that his imprisonment should  
not be of long duration2 for  that his  
friends were exerting themselves to     
soften the ,king's  displeasure4 ,still 
pretending the extreme of sympathy for  
him1 he  followed up the letters by     
presents of pastry and other delicacies1
  which could not be procured in the    
,tower4 ,these articles were all        
poisoned4 ,occasionally1 presents of a  
similar description were sent to  ,sir  
,jervis ,elwes1 with the understanding  
that these articles were not  poisoned1 
when they were unaccompanied by letters3
 of these the  unfortunate prisoner     
never tasted4 ,a woman1 named ,turner1  
who had  formerly kept a house of ill   
fame1 and who had more than once lent it
  to further the guilty intercourse of  
,rochester and ,lady ,essex1 was the    
agent employed to procure the poisons4  

,they were prepared by ,dr4  ,forman1 a 
pretended fortune-teller of ,lambeth1   
assisted by an  apothecary named        
,franklin4 ,both these persons knew for 
what purposes  the poisons were needed1 
and employed their skill in mixing them 
in the  pastry and other edibles1 in    
such small quantities as gradually to   
wear  out the constitution of their     
victim4 ,mrs4 ,turner regularly         
furnished  the poisoned articles to the 
under-keeper1 who placed them before    
,overbury4 ,not only his food1 but his  
drink was poisoned4  ,arsenic was  mixed
 with the salt he ate1 and cantharides  
with the pepper4 ,all this  time1 his   
health declined sensibly4 ,every day he 
grew weaker and  weaker2 and with a     
sickly appetite1 craved for sweets and  
jellies4  ,rochester continued to       
condole with him1 and anticipated all   
his wants  in this respect1 sending him 
abundance of pastry1 and occasionally   
partridges and other game1 and young    
pigs4 ,with the sauce for the game1     

,mrs4 ,turner mixed a quantity of       
cantharides1 and poisoned the pork with 
lunar-caustic4 ,as stated on the trial1 
,overbury took in this manner  poison   
enough to have poisoned twenty men2 but 
his constitution was  strong1 and he    
still lingered4 ,franklin1 the          
apothecary1 confessed that  he prepared 
with ,dr4 ,forman seven different sorts 
of poisons2 viz4  aquafortis1 arsenic1  
mercury1 powder of diamonds1            
lunar-caustic1 great  spiders1 and      
cantharides4 ,overbury held out so long 
that ,rochester  became impatient1 and  
in a letter to ,lady ,essex1 expressed  
his wonder  that things were not sooner 
despatched4  ,orders were immediately   
sent  by ,lady ,essex to the keeper to  
finish with the victim at once4         
,overbury  had not been all this time   
without suspicion of treachery1 although
 he  appears to have had no idea of     
poison4 ,he merely suspected that it was
  intended to confine him for life1 and 
to set the ,king still more  bitterly   

against him4 ,in one of his letters1 he 
threatened ,rochester  that1 unless he  
were speedily liberated1 he would expose
 his villany to  the world4 ,he says1   
,you and ,i1 ere it be long1 will come  
to a public  trial of another nature4 99
 99 99 ,drive me not to extremities1    
lest ,i  should say something that both 
you and ,i should repent4 99 99 99      
,whether  ,i live or die1 your shame    
shall never die1 but ever remain to the 
world1 to make you the most odious man  
living4 99 99 99 ,i wonder much  you    
should neglect him to whom such secrets 
of all kinds have passed4  99 99 99 ,be 
these the fruits of common secrets1     
common dangers8    ,all these           
remonstrances1 and hints as to the      
dangerous secrets in his  keeping1 were 
ill-calculated to serve him with a man  
so reckless as  ,lord ,rochester3 they  
were more likely to cause him to be     
sacrificed  than to be saved4 ,rochester
 appears to have acted as if he thought 
so4  ,he doubtless employed the         

murderer's reasoning that dead men tell 
no  tales1 when1 after receiving letters
 of this description1 he  complained to 
his paramour of the delay4 ,weston was  
spurred on to  consummate the atrocity2 
and the patience of all parties being   
exhausted1 a dose of corrosive sublimate
 was administered to him1 in  ,october  
#afac1 which put an end to his          
sufferings1 after he had been for  six  
months in their hands4 ,on the very day 
of his death1 and before his  body was  
cold1 he was wrapped up carelessly in a 
sheet1 and buried  without any funeral  
ceremony in a pit within the precincts  
of the ,tower4    ,sir ,anthony ,weldon1
 in his ,court and ,character of ,james 
,i1 gives a  somewhat different account 
of the closing scene of this tragedy4   
,he  says1 ,franklin and ,weston came   
into ,overbury's chamber1 and found him 
in infinite torment1 with contention    
between the strength of nature and  the 
working of the poison2 and it being very
 like that nature had  gotten the better

 in this contention1 by the thrusting   
out of boils1  blotches1 and blains1    
they1 fearing it might come to light by 
the  judgment of physicians1 the foul   
play that had been offered him1         
consented to stifle him with the        
bedclothes1 which accordingly was       
performed2 and so ended his miserable   
life1 with the assurance of the         
conspirators that he died by the poison2
 none thinking otherwise than  these two
 murderers4    ,the sudden death--the   
indecent haste of the funeral1 and the  
non-holding of an inquest upon the body1
 strengthened the suspicions  that were 
afloat4 ,rumour1 instead of whispering1 
began to speak out2  and the relatives  
of the deceased openly expressed their  
belief that  their kinsman had been     
murdered4 ,but ,rochester was still all 
powerful  at court1 and no one dared to 
utter a word to his discredit4 ,shortly 
afterwards1 his marriage with the       
,countess of ,essex was celebrated with 
the utmost splendour1 the ,king himself 

being present at the ceremony4    ,it   
would seem that ,overbury's knowledge of
 ,james's character was deeper  than    
,rochester had given him credit for1 and
 that he had been a true  prophet when  
he predicted that his marriage would    
eventually estrange  ,james from his    
minion4 ,at this time1 however1         
,rochester stood higher  than ever in   
the royal favour2 but it did not last   
long--conscience1  that busy monitor1   
was at work4 ,the tongue of rumour was  
never still2  and ,rochester1 who had   
long been a guilty1 became at last a    
wretched  man4 ,his cheeks lost their   
colour--his eyes grew dim2 and he became
  moody1 careless1 and melancholy4 ,the 
,king seeing him thus1 took at  length  
no pleasure in his society1 and began to
 look about for another  favourite4     
,george ,villiers1 ,duke of ,buckingham1
 was the man to his  mind2 quick-witted1
 handsome1 and unscrupulous4 ,the two   
latter  qualities alone were sufficient 
to recommend him to ,james ,i4 ,in      

proportion as the influence of          
,rochester declined1 that of ,buckingham
  increased4 ,a falling favourite has no
 friends2 and ,rumour wagged her  tongue
 against ,rochester louder and more     
pertinaciously than ever4 ,a  new       
favourite1 too1 generally endeavours to 
hasten by a kick the fall  of the old   
one2 and ,buckingham1 anxious to work   
the complete ruin of  his forerunner in 
the ,king's good graces1 encouraged the 
relatives of  ,sir ,thomas ,overbury to 
prosecute their inquiries into the      
strange death  of their kinsman4        
,james was rigorous enough in the       
punishment of offences when he was not  
himself involved4 ,he piqued himself1   
moreover1 on his dexterity in           
unravelling mysteries4 ,the affair of   
,sir ,thomas ,overbury found him        
congenial occupation4 ,he set to work by
 ordering the arrest of ,sir  ,jervis   
,elwes4 ,james1 at this early stage of  
the proceedings1 does not  seem to have 
been aware that ,rochester was so deeply

 implicated4 ,struck  with horror at the
 atrocious system of slow poisoning1 the
 ,king sent  for all the ,judges4       
,according to ,sir ,anthony ,weldon1 he 
knelt down in  the midst of them1 and   
said1 ,my ,lords the ,judges1 it is     
lately come to  my hearing that you have
 now in examination a business of       
poisoning4  ,lord6 in what a miserable  
condition shall this kingdom be 7the    
only  famous nation for hospitality in  
the world7 if our tables should become  
such a snare1 as that none could eat    
without danger of life1 and that        
,italian custom should be introduced    
among us6 ,therefore1 my ,lords1 ,i     
charge you1 as you will answer it at    
that great and dreadful day of          
judgment1 that you examine it strictly1 
without layout1 affection1 or           
partiality4 ,and if you shall spare any 
guilty of this crime1 ,god's  curse     
light on you and your posterity6 and if 
,i spare any that are  guilty1 ,god's   
curse light on me and my posterity for  

ever6    ,the imprecation fell but too  
surely upon the devoted house of        
,stuart4  ,the solemn oath was broken1  
and ,god's curse did light upon him and 
his  posterity6    ,the next person     
arrested after ,sir ,jervis ,elwes1 was 
,weston1 the  under-keeper2 then        
,franklin and ,mrs4 ,turner2 and1       
lastly1 the ,earl and  ,countess of     
,somerset1 to which dignity ,rochester  
had been advanced  since the death of   
,overbury4    ,weston was first brought 
to trial4 ,public curiosity was on the  
stretch4  ,nothing else was talked of1  
and the court on the day of trial was   
crowded to suffocation4 ,the ,state     
,trials report1 that ,lord ,chief       
,justice ,coke laid open to the jury the
 baseness and cowardliness of           
poisoners1 who attempt that secretly    
against which there is no means of      
preservation or defence for a man's     
life2 and how rare it was to hear  of   
any poisoning in ,england1 so detestable
 it was to our nation4  ,but  the devil 

had taught divers to be cunning in it1  
so that they can  poison in what        
distance of space they please1 by       
consuming the nativum  calidum1 or      
humidum radicale1 in one month1 two or  
three1 or more1 as  they list1 which    
they four manner of ways do execute2    
viz4 haustu1  gustu1 odore1 and         
contactu4    ,when the indictment was   
read over1 ,weston made no other reply  
than1  ,lord have mercy upon me6 ,lord  
have mercy upon me6 ,on being asked how 
he would be tried1 he refused to throw  
himself upon a jury of his  country1 and
 declared1 that he would be tried by    
,god alone4 ,in this he  persisted for  
some time4 ,the fear of the dreadful    
punishment for  contumacy induced him1  
at length1 to plead ,not guilty1 and    
take his  trial in due course of law4   
,the punishment for the contumacious was
 expressed by the words onere1  frigore1
 et fame4 ,by the first was meant that  
the culprit should be  extended on his  
back on the ground1 and weights placed  

over his body1  gradually increased1    
until he expired4 ,sometimes the        
punishment was not  extended to this    
length1 and the victim1 being allowed to
 recover1  underwent the second portion1
 the frigore1 which consisted in his    
standing naked in the open air1 for a   
certain space1 in the sight of  all the 
people4 ,the third1 or fame1 was more   
dreadful1 the statute  saying1 ,that he 
was to be preserved with the coarsest   
bread that could  be got1 and water out 
of the next sink or puddle1 to the place
 of  execution2 and that day he had     
water he should have no bread1 and that 
day he had bread1 he should have no     
water2 and in this torment he was  to   
linger as long as nature would hold out4
    ,all the circumstances against him  
were fully proved1 and he was found     
guilty and executed at ,tyburn4 ,mrs4   
,turner1 ,franklin1 and ,sir ,jervis    
,elwes were also brought to trial1 found
 guilty1 and executed between  the #aith
 of ,october and the #dth of ,december  

#afae2 but the grand trial  of the ,earl
 and ,countess of ,somerset did not take
 place till the month  of ,may          
following4    ,on the trial of ,sir     
,jervis ,elwes1 circumstances had       
transpired1 showing  a guilty knowledge 
of the poisoning on the part of the     
,earl of  ,northampton the uncle of     
,lady ,somerset1 and the chief falconer 
,sir  ,thomas ,monson4 ,the former was  
dead2 but ,sir ,thomas ,monson was      
arrested1  and brought to trial4 ,it    
appeared1 however1 that he was too      
dangerous a  man to be brought to the   
scaffold4 ,he knew too many of the      
odious  secrets of ,james ,i1 and his   
dying speech might contain disclosures  
which would compromise the ,king4 ,to   
conceal old guilt it was necessary  to  
incur new3 the trial of ,sir ,thomas    
,monson was brought to an abrupt        
conclusion1 and himself set at liberty6 
,already ,james had broken his oath4 ,he
 now began to fear that he had  been    
rash in engaging so zealously to bring  

the poisoners to  punishment4 ,that     
,somerset would be declared guilty there
 was no doubt1  and that he looked for  
pardon and impunity was equally evident 
to the  ,king4 ,somerset1 while in the  
,tower1 asserted confidently1 that      
,james  would not dare to bring him to  
trial4 ,in this he was mistaken2 but    
,james was in an agony4 ,what the secret
 was between them will now never  be    
known with certainty2 but it may be     
surmised4 ,some have imagined it  to be 
the vice to which the ,king was         
addicted2 while others have  asserted1  
that it related to the death of ,prince 
,henry1 a virtuous  young man1 who had  
held ,somerset in especial abhorrence4  
,the ,prince  died early1 unlamented by 
his father1 and1 as public opinion      
whispered  at the time1 poisoned by     
,somerset4 ,probably1 some crime or     
other lay  heavy upon the soul of the   
,king2 and ,somerset1 his accomplice1   
could  not be brought to public         
execution with safety4 ,hence the       

dreadful  tortures of ,james1 when he   
discovered that his favourite was so    
deeply  implicated in the murder of     
,overbury4 ,every means was taken by the
  agonized ,king to bring the prisoner  
into what was called a safe frame  of   
mind4 ,he was secretly advised to plead 
guilty1 and trust to the  clemency of   
the ,king4 ,the same advice was conveyed
 to the ,countess4  ,bacon was          
instructed by the ,king to draw up a    
paper of all the points  of mercy and   
favour to ,somerset which might result  
from the evidence2  and ,somerset was   
again recommended to plead guilty1 and  
promised that  no evil should ensue to  
him4    ,the ,countess was first tried4 
,she trembled and shed tears during the 
reading of the indictment1 and1 in a low
 voice1 pleaded guilty4 ,on  being asked
 why sentence of death should not be    
passed against her1 she  replied meekly1
 ,i can much aggravate1 but nothing     
extenuate my fault4  ,i desire mercy1   
and that the lords will intercede for me

 with the  ,king4 ,sentence of death was
 passed upon her4    ,next day the ,earl
 was brought to trial4 ,he appears to   
have mistrusted  the promises of ,james1
 and he pleaded not guilty4 ,with a     
self-possession and confidence1 which he
 felt1 probably1 from his  knowledge of 
the ,king's character1 he rigorously    
cross-examined the  witnesses1 and made 
a stubborn defence4 ,after a trial which
 lasted  eleven hours1 he was found     
guilty1 and condemned to the felon's    
death4    ,whatever may have been the   
secrets between the criminal and the    
,king1  the latter1 notwithstanding his 
terrific oath1 was afraid to sign the   
death-warrant4 ,it might1 perchance1    
have been his own4 ,the ,earl and       
,countess were committed to the ,tower1 
where they remained for nearly  five    
years4 ,at the end of this period1 to   
the surprise and scandal of  the        
community1 and the disgrace of its chief
 magistrate1 they both  received the    
royal pardon1 but were ordered to reside

 at a distance  from the court4 ,having 
been found guilty of felony1 the estates
 of the  ,earl had become forfeited2 but
 ,james granted him out of their        
revenues  an income of #d1jjj pounds per
 annum6 ,shamelessness could go no      
further4    ,of the after life of these 
criminals nothing is known1 except that 
the  love they had formerly borne each  
other was changed into aversion1 and    
that they lived under the same roof for 
months together without the  interchange
 of a word4    ,the exposure of their   
atrocities did not put a stop to the    
practice of  poisoning4 ,on the         
contrary1 as we shall see hereafter1 it 
engendered  that insane imitation which 
is so strange a feature of the human    
character4 ,james himself is supposed1  
with great probability1 to have  fallen 
a victim to it4 ,in the notes to        
,harris's ,life and ,writings of  ,james
 ,i1 there is a good deal of information
 on the subject4 ,the guilt  of         
,buckingham1 although not fully         

established1 rests upon circumstances   
of suspicion stronger than have been    
sufficient to lead hundreds to the      
scaffold4 ,his motives for committing   
the crime are stated to have been  a    
desire of revenge for the coldness with 
which the ,king1 in the latter  years of
 his reign1 began to regard him2 his    
fear that ,james intended  to degrade   
him2 and his hope that the great        
influence he possessed over  the mind of
 the heir-apparent would last through a 
new reign1 if the  old one were brought 
to a close4    ,in the second volume of 
the ,harleian ,miscellany1 there is a   
tract1  entitled the ,forerunner of     
,revenge1 written by ,george ,eglisham1 
doctor of medicine1 and one of the      
physicians to ,king ,james4  ,harris1   
in quoting it1 says that it is full of  
rancour and prejudice4  ,it is          
evidently exaggerated2 but forms1       
nevertheless1 a link in the chain of    
evidence4 ,eglisham says3--,the ,king   
being sick of an ague1 the ,duke  took  

this opportunity1 when all the ,king's  
doctors of physic were at  dinner1 and  
offered to him a white powder to take1  
the which he a long  time refused2 but1 
overcome with his flattering            
importunity1 he took it  in wine1 and   
immediately became worse and worse1     
falling into many  swoonings and pains1 
and violent fluxes of the belly1 so     
tormented1  that his ,majesty cried out 
aloud of this white powder1 ',would to  
,god ,i  had never taken it8 ,he then   
tells us ,of the ,countess of           
,buckingham  7the ,duke's mother7       
applying the plaister to the ,king's    
heart and  breast1 whereupon he grew    
faint and short-breathed1 and in agony4 
,that  the physicians exclaimed1 that   
the ,king was poisoned2 that ,buckingham
  commanded them out of the room1 and   
committed one of them close  prisoner to
 his own chamber1 and another to be     
removed from court2 and  that1 after his
 ,majesty's death1 his body and head    
swelled above  measure2 his hair1 with  

the skin of his head1 stuck to his      
pillow1 and  his nails became loose on  
his fingers and toes4 ,clarendon1 who1  
by the  way1 was a partisan of the      
,duke's1 gives a totally different      
account of  ,james's death4 ,he says1   
,it was occasioned by an ague 7after a  
short  indisposition by the gout7 which1
 meeting many humours in a fat  unwieldy
 body of fifty-eight years old1 in four 
or five fits carried  him out of the    
world4 ,after whose death many          
scandalous and libellous  discourses    
were raised1 without the least colour or
 ground2 as appeared  upon the strictest
 and most malicious examination that    
could be made1  long after1 in a time of
 licence1 when nobody was afraid of     
offending  majesty1 and when prosecuting
 the highest reproaches and contumelies 
against the royal family was held very  
meritorious4 ,notwithstanding  this     
confident declaration1 the world will   
hardly be persuaded that  there was not 
some truth in the rumours that were     

abroad4 ,the inquiries  which were      
instituted were not strict1 as he       
asserts1 and all the  unconstitutional  
influence of the powerful favourite was 
exerted to  defeat them4 ,in the        
celebrated accusations brought against  
,buckingham  by the ,earl of ,bristol1  
the poisoning of ,king ,james was placed
 last on  the list1 and the pages of    
history bear evidence of the summary    
mode in  which they were1 for the time1 
got rid of4    ,the man from whom       
,buckingham is said to have procured his
 poisons was  one ,dr4 ,lamb1 a conjuror
 and empiric1 who1 besides dealing in   
poisons1  pretended to be a             
fortune-teller4 ,the popular fury1 which
 broke with  comparative harmlessness   
against his patron1 was directed against
 this  man1 until he could not appear   
with safety in the streets of ,london4  
,his fate was melancholy4 ,walking one  
day in ,cheapside1 disguised1 as he     
thought1 from all observers1 he was     
recognized by some idle boys1 who  began

 to hoot and pelt him with rubbish1     
calling out1 ,the poisoner6  the        
poisoner6 ,down with the wizard6 down   
with him6 ,a mob very soon  collected1  
and the ,doctor took to his heels and   
ran for his life4 ,he  was pursued and  
seized in ,wood ,street1 and from thence
 dragged by the  hair through the mire  
to ,st4 ,paul's ,cross2 the mob beating 
him with  sticks and stones1 and calling
 out1 ,kill the wizard6 kill the        
poisoner6    ,charles ,i1 on hearing of 
the riot1 rode from ,whitehall to quell 
it2 but  he arrived too late to save the
 victim4 ,every bone in his body was    
broken1 and he was quite dead4 ,charles 
was excessively indignant1 and  fined   
the city six hundred pounds for its     
inability to deliver up the  ringleaders
 to justice4    ,but it was in ,italy   
that poisoning was most prevalent4 ,from
 a very  early period1 it seems to have 
been looked upon in that country as a   
perfectly justifiable means of getting  
rid of an enemy4 ,the ,italians of  the 

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries     
poisoned their opponents with  as little
 compunction as an ,englishman of the   
present day brings an  action at law    
against any one who has done him an     
injury4 ,the writings  of contemporary  
authors inform us that1 when ,la ,spara 
and ,la ,tophania  carried on their     
infernal trade1 ladies put poisonbottles
 on their  dressing-tables as openly1   
and used them with as little scruple    
upon  others1 as modern dames use ,eau  
de ,cologne or lavender-water upon      
themselves4 ,so powerful is the         
influence of fashion1 it can even cause 
murder to be regarded as a venial       
peccadillo4    ,in the memoirs of the   
last ,duke of ,guise1 who made a        
,quixotic attempt1  in #afdh1 to seize  
upon the government of ,naples1 we find 
some curious  particulars relative to   
the popular feeling with regard to      
poisoning4 ,a  man1 named ,gennaro      
,annese1 who1 after the short and       
extraordinary  career of ,masaniello the

 fisherman1 had established himself as a
 sort  of captain-general of the        
populace1 rendered himself so obnoxious 
to  the ,duke of ,guise that the        
adherents of the latter determined to   
murder  him4 ,the captain of the guard1 
as the ,duke himself very coolly informs
  us1 was requested to undertake this   
office4 ,it was suggested to him  that  
the poniard would be the most effectual 
instrument1 but the man  turned up his  
eyes with pious horror at the           
proposition4 ,he was ready  to poison   
,gennaro ,annese whenever he might be   
called upon to do so2 but  to poniard   
him1 he said1 would be disgraceful1 and 
unbecoming an  officer of the guards6   
,at last poison was agreed upon1 and    
,augustino  ,molla1 an attorney in the  
,duke's confidence1 brought the bottle  
containing the liquid to show it to his 
master4 ,the following is the  ,duke's  
own account3--    ,augustino came to me 
at night1 and told me3 ',i have brought 
you  something which will free you from 

,gennaro4 ,he deserves death1 and it  is
 no great matter after what fashion     
justice is done upon him4 ,look at  this
 vial1 full of clear and beautiful      
water3 in four days' time1 it  will     
punish all his treasons4 ,the captain of
 the guard has undertaken  to give it   
him2 and as it has no taste at all1     
,gennaro will suspect  nothing4'    ,the
 ,duke further informs us that the dose 
was duly administered2 but  that        
,gennaro1 fortunately for himself1 ate  
nothing for dinner that day  but cabbage
 dressed with oil1 which acting as an   
antidote1 caused him  to vomit          
profusely1 and saved his life4 ,he was  
exceedingly ill for five  days1 but     
never suspected that he had been        
poisoned4    ,in process of time1 poison
 vending became a profitable trade4     
,eleven  years after this period1 it was
 carried on at ,rome to such an extent  
that the sluggish government was roused 
to interference4  ,beckmann1 in  his    
,history of ,inventions1 and ,lebret1 in

 his ,magazin zum ,gebrauche  der       
,staaten ,kirche ,geschichte1 or        
,magazine of ,materials for a ,history  
of a ,state ,church1 relates that1 in   
the year #afei1 it was made known to    
,pope ,alexander ,,vii4 that great      
numbers of young women had avowed in the
  confessional that they had poisoned   
their husbands with slow poisons4  ,the 
,catholic clergy1 who in general hold   
the secrets of the  confessional so     
sacred1 were shocked and alarmed at the 
extraordinary  prevalence of the crime4 
,although they refrained from revealing 
the  names of the penitents1 they       
conceived themselves bound to apprise   
the  head of the church of the          
enormities that were practised4 ,it was 
also  the subject of general            
conversation in ,rome that young widows 
were  unusually abundant4 ,it was       
remarked1 too1 that if any couple lived 
unhappily together1 the husband soon    
took ill and died4 ,the papal           
authorities1 when once they began to    

inquire1 soon learned that a  society of
 young wives had been formed1 and met   
nightly1 for some  mysterious purpose1  
at the house of an old woman named      
,hieronyma ,spara4  ,this hag was a     
reputed witch and fortune-teller1 and   
acted as president  of the young        
viragos1 several of whom1 it was        
afterwards ascertained1  belonged to the
 first families of ,rome4    ,in order  
to have positive evidence of the        
practices of this female  conclave1 a   
lady was employed by the ,government to 
seek an interview  with them4 ,she      
dressed herself out in the most         
magnificent style2 and  having been     
amply provided with money1 she found but
 little difficulty1  when she had stated
 her object1 of procuring an audience of
 ,la ,spara  and her sisterhood4 ,she   
pretended to be in extreme distress of  
mind on  account of the infidelities and
 ill-treatment of her husband1 and      
implored ,la ,spara to furnish her with 
a few drops of the wonderful  elixir1   

the efficacy of which in sending cruel  
husbands to their last  long sleep was  
so much vaunted by the ladies of ,rome4 
,la ,spara fell  into the snare1 and    
sold her some of her drops1 at a price  
commensurate with the supposed wealth of
 the purchaser4    ,the liquor thus     
obtained was subjected to an analysis1  
and found to be1  as was suspected1 a   
slow poison--clear1 tasteless1 and      
limpid1 like  that spoken of by the     
,duke of ,guise4 ,upon this evidence the
 house was  surrounded by the police1   
and ,la ,spara and her companions taken 
into  custody4 ,la ,spara1 who is       
described as having been a little1 ugly1
 old  woman1 was put to the torture1 but
 obstinately refused to confess her     
guilt4 ,another of the women1 named ,la 
,gratiosa1 had less firmness1 and  laid 
bare all the secrets of the infernal    
sisterhood4  ,taking a  confession1     
extorted by anguish on the rack1 at its 
true value 7nothing  at all71 there is  
still sufficient evidence to warrant    

posterity in the  belief of their guilt4
 ,they were found guilty1 and condemned1
 according  to their degrees of         
culpability1 to various punishments4 ,la
 ,spara1  ,gratiosa1 and three young    
women1 who had poisoned their husbands1 
were  hanged together at ,rome4 ,upwards
 of thirty women were whipped publicly  
through the streets2 and several1 whose 
high rank screened them from  more      
degrading punishment1 were banished from
 the country1 and mulcted  in heavy     
fines4 ,in a few months afterwards1 nine
 women more were hanged  for poisoning2 
and another bevy1 including many young  
and beautiful  girls1 were whipped half 
naked through the streets of ,rome4     
,this severity did not put a stop to the
 practice1 and jealous women and        
avaricious men1 anxious to step into the
 inheritance of fathers1  uncles1 or    
brothers1 resorted to poison4 ,as it was
 quite free from  taste1 colour1 and    
smell1 it was administered without      
exciting  suspicion4 ,the skilful       

vendors compounded it of different      
degrees of  strength1 so that the       
poisoners had only to say whether they  
wanted  their victims to die in a week1 
a month1 or six months1 and they were   
suited with corresponding doses4 ,the   
vendors were chiefly women1 of  whom the
 most celebrated was a hag1 named       
,tophania1 who was in this way          
accessory to the death of upwards of six
 hundred persons4 ,this woman  appears  
to have been a dealer in poisons from   
her girlhood1 and resided  first at     
,palermo and then at ,naples4 ,that     
entertaining traveller1  ,father ,lebat1
 has given1 in his ,letters from ,italy1
 many curious  particulars relating to  
her4 ,when he was at ,civita ,vecchia1  
in #agai1  the ,viceroy of ,naples      
discovered that poison was extensively  
sold in  the latter city1 and that it   
went by the name of aqueta1 or          
little-water4 ,on making further        
inquiry1 he ascertained that ,tophania  
7who was by this time near seventy years

 of age1 and who seems to have  begun   
her evil courses very soon after the    
execution of ,la ,spara7 sent  large    
quantities of it to all parts of ,italy 
in small vials1 with the  inscription   
,manna of ,st4 ,nicholas of ,barri4     
,the tomb of ,st4 ,nicholas of ,barri   
was celebrated throughout ,italy4  ,a   
miraculous oil was said to ooze from it1
 which cured nearly all the  maladies   
that flesh is heir to1 provided the     
recipient made use of it  with the due  
degree of faith4 ,la ,tophania artfully 
gave this name to  her poison to elude  
the vigilance of the custom-house       
officers1 who1 in  common with everybody
 else1 had a pious respect for ,st4     
,nicholas de  ,barri and his wonderful  
oil4    ,the poison was similar to that 
manufactured by ,la ,spara4 ,hahnemann  
the  physician1 and father of the       
homoepathic doctrine1 writing upon this 
subject1 says it was compounded of      
arsenical neutral salts1 occasioning  in
 the victim a gradual loss of appetite1 

faintness1 gnawing pains in  the        
stomach1 loss of strength1 and wasting  
of the lungs4 ,the ,abbe  ,gagliardi    
says that a few drops of it were        
generally poured into tea1  chocolate1  
or soup1 and its effects were slow1 and 
almost  imperceptible4 ,garelli1        
physician to the ,emperor of ,austria1  
in a  letter to ,hoffmann1 says it was  
crystallized arsenic1 dissolved in a    
large quantity of water by decoction1   
with the addition 7for some  unexplained
 purpose7 of the herb cymbalaria4 ,the  
,neapolitans called it  ,aqua ,toffnina2
 and it became notorious all over       
,europe under the name  of ,aqua        
,tophania4    ,although this woman      
carried on her infamous traffic so      
extensively1 it  was extremely difficult
 to meet with her4 ,she lived in        
continual dread  of discovery4 ,she     
constantly changed her name and         
residence2 and  pretending to be a      
person of great godliness1 resided in   
monasteries  for months together4       

,whenever she was more than usually     
apprehensive of  detection1 she sought  
ecclesiastical protection4 ,she was soon
 apprised  of the search made for her by
 the ,viceroy of ,naples1 and1 according
 to  her practice1 took refuge in a     
monastery4 ,either the search after her 
was not very rigid1 or her measures were
 exceedingly well taken2 for  she       
contrived to elude the vigilance of the 
authorities for several  years4 ,what is
 still more extraordinary1 as showing   
the ramifications  of her system1 her   
trade was still carried on to as great  
an extent as  before4 ,lebat informs us 
that she had so great a sympathy for    
poor  wives who hated their husbands and
 wanted to get rid of them1 but could   
not afford to buy her wonderful aqua1   
that she made them presents of it4      
,she was not allowed1 however1 to play  
at this game for ever2 she was at       
length discovered in a nunnery1 and her 
retreat cut off4 ,the ,viceroy  made    
several representations to the superior 

to deliver her up1 but  without effect4 
,the abbess1 supported by the archbishop
 of the diocese1  constantly refused4   
,the public curiosity was in consequence
 so much  excited at the additional     
importance thus thrust upon the         
criminal1  that thousands of persons    
visited the nunnery in order to catch a 
glimpse of her4    ,the patience of the 
,viceroy appears to have been exhausted 
by these  delays4 ,being a man of sense1
 and not a very zealous ,catholic1 he   
determined that even the ,church should 
not shield a criminal so  atrocious4    
,setting the privileges of the nunnery  
at defiance1 he sent a  troop of        
soldiers1 who broke over the walls and  
carried her away vi et  armis4 ,the     
,archbishop1 ,cardinal ,pignatelli1 was 
highly indignant1 and  threatened to    
excommunicate and lay the whole city    
under interdict4 ,all  the inferior     
clergy1 animated by the esprit du corps1
 took up the  question1 and so worked   
upon the superstitious and bigoted      

people1 that  they were ready to rise in
 a mass to storm the palace of the      
,viceroy  and rescue the prisoner4      
,these were serious difficulties2 but   
the ,viceroy was not a man to be        
daunted4 ,indeed1 he seems to have acted
 throughout with a rare union of        
astuteness1 coolness1 and energy4 ,to   
avoid the evil consequences of the      
threatened excommunication1 he placed a 
guard round the palace of the           
,archbishop1 judging that the latter    
would not be so foolish as to  launch   
out an anathema which would cause the   
city to be starved1 and  himself in it4 
,the marketpeople would not have dared  
to come to the  city with provisions1 so
 long as it remained under the ban4     
,there would  have been too much        
inconvenience to himself and his ghostly
 brethren in  such a measure2 and1 as   
the ,viceroy anticipated1 the good      
,cardinal  reserved his thunders for    
some other occasion4    ,still there was
 the populace4 ,to quiet their clamour  

and avert the  impending insurrection1  
the agents of the government adroitly   
mingled  with the people1 and spread    
abroad a report that ,tophania had      
poisoned  all the wells and fountains of
 the city4 ,this was enough4 ,the       
popular  feeling turned against her     
immediately4 ,those who1 but a moment   
before1  had looked upon her as a saint1
 now reviled her as a devil1 and were as
  eager for her punishment as they had  
before been for her escape4  ,tophania  
was then put to the torture4 ,she       
confessed the long catalogue  of her    
crimes1 and named all the persons who   
had employed her4 ,she was  shortly     
afterwards strangled1 and her corpse    
thrown over the wall into  the garden of
 the convent1 from whence she had been  
taken4 ,this appears  to have been done 
to conciliate the clergy1 by allowing   
them1 at least1  the burial of one who  
had taken refuge within their precincts4
    ,after her death the mania for      
poisoning seems to have abated2 but we  

have yet to see what hold it took upon  
the ,french people at a somewhat        
earlier period4 ,so rooted had it become
 in ,france between the years  #afgj and
 #afhj1 that ,madame de ,sevigne1 in one
 of her letters1 expresses  her fear    
that ,frenchman and poisoner would      
become synonymous terms4    ,as in      
,italy1 the first notice the government 
received of the prevalence  of this     
crime was given by the clergy1 to whom  
females of high rank1  and some among   
the middle and lower classes1 had avowed
 in the  confessional that they had     
poisoned their husbands4 ,in consequence
 of  these disclosures1 two ,italians1  
named ,exili and ,glaser1 were arrested1
  and thrown into the ,bastille1 on the 
charge of compounding and selling  the  
drugs used for these murders4 ,glaser   
died in prison1 but ,exili  remained    
without trial for several months2 and   
there1 shortly  afterwards1 he made the 
acquaintance of another prisoner1 named 
,sainte  ,croix1 by whose example the   

crime was still further disseminated    
among  the ,french people4    ,the most 
notorious of the poisoners that derived 
their pernicious  knowledge from this   
man was ,madame de ,brinvilliers1 a     
young woman  connected both by birth and
 marriage with some of the noblest      
families  of ,france4 ,she seems1 from  
her very earliest years1 to have been   
heartless and depraved2 and1 if we may  
believe her own confession1 was  steeped
 in wickedness ere she had well entered 
her teens4 ,she was1  however1 beautiful
 and accomplished2 and1 in the eye of   
the world1  seemed exemplary and kind4  
,guyot de ,pitaval1 in the ,causes      
,celebres1  and ,madame de ,sevigne1 in 
her ,letters1 represent her as mild and 
agreeable in her manners1 and offering  
no traces on her countenance of  the    
evil soul within4 ,she was married in   
#afea to the ,marquis de  ,brinvilliers1
 with whom she lived unhappily for some 
years4 ,he was a  loose dissipated      
character1 and was the means of         

introducing ,sainte  ,croix to his wife1
 a man who cast a blight upon her life1 
and dragged  her on from crime to crime 
till her offences became so great that  
the  mind shudders to dwell upon them4  
,for this man she conceived a guilty    
passion1 to gratify which she plunged at
 once into the gulf of sin4  ,she was   
drawn to its most loathsome depths ere  
retribution overtook her4    ,she had as
 yet shown a fair outside to the world1 
and found but little  difficulty in     
effecting a legal separation from her   
husband1 who had  not the art to conceal
 his vices4 ,the proceeding gave great  
offence to  her family4 ,she appears1   
after this1 to have thrown off the mask 
completely1 and carried on her intrigues
 so openly with her lover1  ,sainte     
,croix1 that her father1 ,m4 ,d',aubray1
 scandalised at her conduct1  procured a
 lettre de cachet1 and had him          
imprisoned in the ,bastille for  a      
twelvemonth4    ,sainte ,croix1 who had 
been in ,italy1 was a dabbler in        

poisons4 ,he knew  something of the     
secrets of the detestable ,la ,spara1   
and improved  himself in them from the  
instructions of ,exili1 with whom he    
speedily  contracted a sort of          
friendship4 ,by him he was shown how to 
prepare1  not only the liquid poisons   
employed in ,italy1 but that known as   
succession powder1 which afterwards     
became so celebrated in ,france4  ,like 
his mistress1 he appeared amiable1      
witty1 and intelligent1 and  showed no  
signs to the world of the two fierce    
passions1 revenge and  avarice1 which   
were gnawing at his heart4 ,both these  
passions were to  be sated on the       
unfortunate family of ,d',aubray2 his   
revenge1 because  they had imprisoned   
him2 and his avarice1 because they were 
rich4  ,reckless and extravagant1 he was
 always in want of money1 and he had no 
one to supply him but ,madame de        
,brinvilliers1 whose own portion was far
  from sufficient to satisfy his need4  
,groaning to think that any  impediment 

should stand between him and wealth1 he 
conceived the horrid  idea of poisoning 
,m4 ,d',aubray her father1 and her two  
brothers1 that  she might inherit the   
property4 ,three murders were nothing to
 such a  villain4 ,he communicated his  
plan to ,madame de ,brinvilliers2 and   
she1  without the slightest scruple1    
agreed to aid him3 he undertook to      
compound the poisons1 and she to        
administer them4 ,the zeal and alacrity 
with which she set to work seem hardly  
credible4  ,sainte ,croix found  her an 
apt scholar2 and she soon became as     
expert as himself in the  manufacture of
 poisons4 ,to try the strength of the   
first doses1 she  used to administer    
them to dogs1 rabbits1 and pigeons4     
,afterwards1  wishing to be more certain
 of their effects1 she went round to the
  hospitals1 and administered them to   
the sick poor in the soups which  she   
brought in apparent charity4 ,this is   
denied by ,voltaire in his  ,age of     
,louis ,,xiv2 but he does not state for 

what reason4 ,his words  are1 ,il est   
faux qu'elle eut essaye ses poisons dans
 les hopitaux1  comme le disait le      
peuple et comme il est ecrit dans les   
',causes  ,celebres1' ouvrage d'un      
avocat sans cause et fait pour le       
peuple4  ,none of the poisons were      
intended to kill at the first dose2 so  
that  she could try them once upon an   
individual without fear of murder4 ,she 
tried the same atrocious experiment upon
 the guests at her father's  table1 by  
poisoning a pigeon-pie6 ,to be more     
certain still1 she next  poisoned       
herself6 ,when convinced by this        
desperate essay of the potency  of the  
draught1 she procured an antidote from  
,sainte ,croix1 and all  doubts being   
removed1 commenced operations upon her  
grey-headed father4  ,she administered  
the first dose with her own hands1 in   
his chocolate4  ,the poison worked well4
 ,the old man was taken ill1 and his    
daughter1  apparently full of tenderness
 and anxiety1 watched by his bedside4   

,the  next day she gave him some broth1 
which she recommended as highly         
nourishing4 ,this also was poisoned4 ,in
 this manner she gradually wore  out his
 frame1 and in less than ten days he was
 a corpse6 ,his death  seemed so much   
the result of disease1 that no          
suspicions were excited4    ,when the   
two brothers arrived from the provinces 
to render the last sad  duties to their 
sire1 they found their sister as        
grieved1 to all  outward appearance1 as 
even filial affection could desire3 but 
the  young men only came to perish4     
,they stood between ,sainte ,croix and  
the  already half-clutched gold1 and    
their doom was sealed4 ,a man1 named ,la
  ,chaussee1 was hired by ,sainte ,croix
 to aid in administering the  poisons2  
and1 in less than six weeks' time1 they 
had both gone to their  long home4      
,suspicion was now excited2 but so      
cautiously had all been done1 that it   
found no one upon whom to attach itself4
 ,the ,marquise had a sister1 and  she  

was entitled1 by the death of her       
relatives1 to half the property4  ,less 
than the whole would not satisfy ,sainte
 ,croix1 and he determined  that she    
should die the same death as her father 
and brothers4 ,she was  too distrustful1
 however2 and1 by quitting ,paris1 she  
escaped the  destruction that was       
lurking for her4    ,the ,marquise had  
undertaken these murders to please her  
lover4 ,she was  now anxious to         
perpetrate another on her own account4  
,she wished to  marry ,sainte ,croix2   
but1 though separated from her husband1 
she was not  divorced4 ,she thought it  
would be easier to poison him than to   
apply to  the tribunals for a divorce1  
which might1 perhaps1 be refused4 ,but  
,salute ,croix had no longer any love   
for his guilty instrument4 ,bad men  do 
not admire others who are as bad as     
themselves4  ,though a villain  himself1
 he had no desire to marry one1 and was 
not at all anxious for  the death of the
 ,marquis4 ,he seemed1 however1 to enter

 into the plot1  and supplied her with  
poison for her husband3 but he took care
 to  provide a remedy4 ,la ,brinvilliers
 poisoned him one day1 and ,sainte      
,croix gave him an antidote the next4   
,in this manner he was buffetted  about 
between them for some time1 and finally 
escaped with a ruined  constitution and 
a broken heart4    ,but the day of      
retribution was at hand1 and a terrible 
mischance  brought the murders to light4
 ,the nature of the poisons compounded  
by  ,salute ,croix was so deadly1 that1 
when working in his laboratory1 he  was 
obliged to wear a mask1 to preserve     
himself from suffocation4 ,one  day1 the
 mask slipped off1 and the miserable    
wretch perished in his  crimes4 ,his    
corpse was found1 on the following      
morning1 in the obscure  lodging where  
he had fitted up his laboratory4 ,as he 
appeared to be  without friends or      
relatives1 the police took possession of
 his  effects4 ,among other things was  
found a small box1 to which was affixed 

the following singular document3--    ,i
 humbly beg1 that those into whose hands
 this box may fall1 will do  me the     
favour to deliver it into the hands only
 of the ,marchioness de  ,brinvilliers1 
who resides in the ,rue ,neuve ,st4     
,paul1 as everything it  contains       
concerns her1 and belongs to her alone2 
and as1 besides1 there  is nothing in it
 that can be of use to any person but   
her4 ,in case she  shall be dead before 
me1 it is my wish that it be burned1    
with  everything it contains1 without   
opening or altering anything4 ,in order 
that no one may plead ignorance1 ,i     
swear by the ,god that ,i adore1 and  by
 all that is held most sacred1 that ,i  
assert nothing but the truth3  and if my
 intentions1 just and reasonable as they
 are1 be thwarted in  this point by any 
persons1 ,i charge their consciences    
with it1 both in  this world and that   
which is to come1 in order that ,i may  
unload mine4  ,i protest that this is my
 last will4 ,done at ,paris1 the #beth  

of ,may1  #afgb4    7,signed7 ,sainte   
,croix4    ,this earnest solicitation1  
instead of insuring respect as was      
intended1  excited curiosity4 ,the box  
was opened1 and found to contain some   
papers1 and several vials and powders4  
,the latter were handed to a  chemist   
for analysis1 and the documents were    
retained by the police1  and opened4    
,among them was found a promissory note 
of the ,marchioness  de ,brinvilliers1  
for thirty thousand francs1 to the order
 of ,sainte  ,croix4 ,the other papers  
were of greater importance1 as they     
implicated  both her and her servant1   
,la ,chaussee1 in the recent murders4   
,as soon  as she was informed of the    
death of ,sainte ,croix1 she made an    
attempt  to gain possession of his      
papers and the box2 but1 being refused1 
she  saw that there was no time to be   
lost1 and immediately quitted4 ,next    
morning the police were on her trail2   
but she succeeded in escaping to        
,england4 ,la ,chaussee was not so      

fortunate4 ,altogether ignorant of the  
fatal mischance which had brought his   
villanies to light1 he did not  dream of
 danger4 ,he was arrested and brought to
 trial3 being put to the  torture1 he   
confessed that he had administered      
poison to the ,messieurs  d',aubray1 and
 that he had received a hundred         
pistoles1 and the promise  of an annuity
 for life1 from ,sainte ,croix and      
,madame de ,brinvilliers1  for the job4 
,he was condemned to be broken alive on 
the wheel1 and the  ,marchioness was1 by
 default1 sentenced to be beheaded4  ,he
 was executed  accordingly1 in ,march   
#afgc1 on the ,place de ,greve1 in      
,paris4    ,la ,brinvilliers appears to 
have resided for nearly three years in  
,england4 ,early in #afgf1 thinking that
 the rigour of pursuit was over1  and   
that she might venture to return to the 
,continent1 she proceeded  secretly to  
,liege4 ,notwithstanding her care1 the  
,french authorities  were soon apprised 
of her return2 and arrangements were    

promptly made  with the municipality of 
that city1 to permit the agents of the  
,french  police to arrest her within the
 limits of their jurisdiction4          
,desgrais1 an officer of the            
marechaussee1 accordingly left ,paris   
for  that purpose4 ,on his arrival in   
,liege1 he found that she had sought    
shelter within the walls of a convent4  
,here the arm of the law1 long as  it is
 said to be1 could not reach her3 but   
,desgrais was not a man to be  baffled1 
and he resorted to stratagem to         
accomplish what force could  not4       
,having disguised himself as a priest1  
he sought admission to the  convent1 and
 obtained an interview with ,la         
,brinvilliers4 ,he said1 that  being a  
,frenchman1 and passing through ,liege1 
he could not leave that  city without   
paying a visit to a lady whose beauty   
and misfortunes were  so celebrated4    
,her vanity was flattered by the        
compliment4 ,desgrais  saw1 to use a    
vulgar but forcible expression1 that he 

had got on the  blind side of her2 and  
he adroitly continued to pour out the   
language  of love and admiration1 till  
the deluded ,marchioness was thrown     
completely off her guard4 ,she agreed1  
without much solicitation1 to  meet him 
outside the walls of the convent1 where 
their amorous intrigue  might be carried
 on more conveniently than within4      
,faithful to her  appointment with her  
supposed new lover1 she came1 and found 
herself1  not in the embrace of a       
gallant1 but in the custody of a        
policeman4    ,her trial was not long   
delayed4 ,the proofs against her were   
abundant4  ,the dying declaration of ,la
 ,chaussee would have been alone enough 
to  convict her2 but besides that1 there
 were the mysterious document  attached 
to the box of ,st4 ,croix2 her flight   
from ,france2 and1 stronger  and more   
damning proof than all1 a paper1 in her 
own handwriting1 found  among the       
effects of ,st4 ,croix1 in which she    
detailed to him the  misdeeds of her    

life1 and spoke of the murder of her    
father and  brothers1 in terms that left
 no doubt of her guilt4  ,during the    
trial1  all ,paris was in commotion4 ,la
 ,brinvilliers was the only subject of  
conversation4 ,all the details of her   
crimes were published1 and  greedily    
devoured2 and the idea of secret        
poisoning was first put into  the heads 
of hundreds1 who afterwards became      
guilty of it4    ,on the #afth of ,july 
#afgf1 the ,superior ,criminal ,court of
 ,paris  pronounced a verdict of guilty 
against her1 for the murder of her      
father and brothers1 and the attempt    
upon the life of her sister4 ,she  was  
condemned to be drawn on a hurdle1 with 
her feet bare1 a rope about  her neck1  
and a burning torch in her hand1 to the 
great entrance of the  cathedral of     
,notre ,dame2 where she was to make the 
amende honorable1 in  sight of all the  
people2 to be taken from thence to the  
,place de ,greve1  and there to be      
beheaded4 ,her body was afterwards to be

 burned1 and her  ashes scattered to the
 winds4    ,after her sentence1 she made
 a full confession of her guilt4 ,she   
seems  to have looked upon death without
 fear2 but it was recklessness1 not     
courage1 that supported her4 ,madame de 
,sevigne says1 that when on the  hurdle1
 on her way to the scaffold1 she        
entreated her confessor to  exert his   
influence with the executioner to place 
himself next to her1  that his body     
might hide from her view that scoundrel1
 ,desgrais1 who  had entrapped her4 ,she
 also asked the ladies1 who had been    
drawn to  their windows to witness the  
procession1 what they were looking at8  
adding1 a pretty sight you have come to 
see1 truly6 ,she laughed when  on the   
scaffold1 dying as she had lived1       
impenitent and heartless4 ,on  the      
morrow1 the populace came in crowds to  
collect her ashes1 to  preserve them as 
relics4 ,she was regarded as a martyred 
saint1 and her  ashes were supposed to  
be endowed1 by ,divine grace1 with the  

power of  curing all diseases4 ,popular 
folly has often canonised persons whose 
pretensions to sanctity were extremely  
equivocal2 but the disgusting  folly of 
the multitude1 in this instance1 has    
never been surpassed4    ,before her    
death1 proceedings were instituted      
against ,m4 de ,penautier1  treasurer of
 the province of ,languedoc1 and        
,receiver-general for the  clergy1 who  
was accused by a lady1 named ,st4       
,laurent1 of having  poisoned her       
husband1 the late ,receiver-general1 in 
order to obtain his  appointment4 ,the  
circumstances of this case were never   
divulged1 and  the greatest influence   
was exerted to prevent it from going to 
trial4  ,he was known to have been      
intimate with ,sainte ,croix and ,madame
 de  ,brinvilliers1 and was thought to  
have procured his poisons from them4    
,the latter1 however1 refused to say    
anything which might implicate him4     
,the inquiry was eventually stifled1    
after ,penautier had been several       

months in the ,bastille4    ,the        
,cardinal de ,bonzy was accused by the  
gossips of the day of being an          
accomplice of ,penautier4 ,the          
,cardinal's estates were burthened with 
the  payment of several heavy annuities2
 but1 about the time that poisoning     
became so fashionable1 all the          
annuitants died off1 one after the      
other4 ,the ,cardinal1 in talking of    
these annuitants1 afterwards used to    
say1 ,thanks to my star1 ,i have        
outlived them all6 ,a wit1 seeing him   
and ,penautier riding in the same       
carriage1 cried out1 in allusion to     
this expression1 ,there go the ,cardinal
 de ,bonzy and his star6    ,it was now 
that the mania for poisoning began to   
take hold of the  popular mind4 ,from   
this time until the year #afhb1 the     
prisons of ,france  teemed with persons 
accused of this crime2 and it is very   
singular1  that other offences decreased
 in a similar proportion4 ,we have      
already  seen the extent to which it was

 carried in ,italy4 ,it was1 if         
possible1  surpassed in ,france4 ,the   
diabolical ease with which these murders
 could  be effected1 by means of these  
scentless and tasteless poisons1 enticed
  the evil-minded4 ,jealousy1 revenge1  
avarice1 even petty spite1 alike        
resorted to them4 ,those who would have 
been deterred1 by fear of  detection1   
from using the pistol or the dagger1 or 
even strong doses of  poison1 which kill
 at once1 employed slow poisons without 
dread4 ,the  corrupt ,government of the 
day1 although it could wink at the      
atrocities  of a wealthy and influential
 courtier1 like ,penautier1 was         
scandalised  to see the crime spreading 
among the people4 ,disgrace was1 in     
fact1  entailed1 in the eyes of ,europe1
 upon the name of ,frenchman4 ,louis    
,,xiv1  to put a stop to the evil1      
instituted what was called the ,chambre 
,ardente1 or ,burning ,chamber1 with    
extensive powers1 for the trial and     
punishment of the prisoners4    ,two    

women1 especially1 made themselves      
notorious at this time1 and were        
instrumental to the deaths of hundreds  
of individuals4 ,they both  resided in  
,paris1 and were named ,lavoisin and    
,lavigoreux4 ,like ,spars  and          
,tophania1 of whom they were imitators1 
they chiefly sold their  poisons to     
women who wanted to get rid of their    
husbands2 and1 in some  few instances1  
to husbands who wanted to get rid of    
their wives4 ,their  ostensible         
occupation was that of midwives4 ,they  
also pretended to be  fortune-tellers1  
and were visited by persons of every    
class of society4  ,the rich and poor   
thronged alike to their mansardes1 to   
learn the  secrets of the future4 ,their
 prophecies were principally of death4  
,they foretold to women the approaching 
dissolution of husbands1 and to  needy  
heirs1 the end of rich relatives1 who   
had made them1 as ,byron  expresses it1 
wait too1 too long already4 ,they       
generally took care to  be instrumental 

in fulfilling their own predictions4    
,they used to tell  their wretched      
employers1 that some sign of the        
approaching death would  take place in  
the house1 such as the breaking of glass
 or china2 and  they paid servants      
considerable fees to cause a breakage1  
as if by  accident1 exactly at the      
appointed time4 ,their occupation as    
midwives  made them acquainted with the 
secrets of many families1 which they    
afterwards turned to dreadful account4  
,it is not known how long they had      
carried on this awful trade before  they
 were discovered4 ,detection finally    
overtook them at the close of  the year 
#afgi4 ,they were both tried1 found     
guilty1 and burned alive on  the ,place 
de ,greve1 on the #bbnd of ,february1   
#afhj1 after their hands  had been bored
 through with a red-hot iron1 and then  
cut off4 ,their  numerous accomplices in
 ,paris and in the provinces were also  
discovered  and brought to trial4       
,according to some authors1 thirty1 and 

to others1  fifty of them1 chiefly      
women1 were hanged in the principal     
cities4    ,lavoisin kept a list of the 
visiters who came to her house to       
purchase  poisons4 ,this paper was      
seized by the police on her arrest1 and 
examined by the tribunals4 ,among the   
names were found those of the  ,marshal 
de ,luxembourg1 the ,countess de        
,soissons1 and the ,duchess de          
,bouillon4 ,the ,marshal seems only to  
have been guilty of a piece of          
discreditable folly in visiting a woman 
of this description1 but the  popular   
voice at the time imputed to him        
something more than folly4  ,the author 
of the ,memoirs of the ,affairs of      
,europe since the ,peace of  ,utrecht1  
says1 ,the miserable gang who dealt in  
poison and prophecy  alleged that he had
 sold himself to the devil1 and that a  
young girl of  the name of ,dupin had   
been poisoned by his means4 ,among other
 stories1  they said he had made a      
contract with the devil1 in order to    

marry his  son to the daughter of the   
,marquis of ,louvois4 ,to this atrocious
 and  absurd accusation the ,marshal1   
who had surrendered himself at the      
,bastille on the first accusation       
against him1 replied with the mingled   
sentiment of pride and innocence1 ',when
 ,mathieu de ,montmorenci1 my  ancestor1
 married the widow of ,louis le ,gros1  
he did not have recourse  to the devil1 
but to the ,states-,general1 in order to
 obtain for the  minor king the support 
of the house of ,montmorenci4' ,this    
brave man was  imprisoned in a cell six 
feet and a half long1 and his trial1    
which was  interrupted for several      
weeks1 lasted altogether fourteen       
months4 ,no  judgment was pronounced    
upon him4    ,the ,countess of ,soissons
 fled to ,brussels1 rather than undergo 
the risk  of a trial2 and was never able
 to clear herself from the stigma that  
attached to her1 of having made an      
attempt to poison the ,queen of ,spain  
by doses of succession powder4 ,the     

,duchess of ,bouillon was arrested1  and
 tried by the ,chambre ,ardente4 ,it    
would appear1 however1 that she  had    
nothing to do with the slow poisons1 but
 had merely endeavoured to  pry into the
 secrets of futurity1 and gratify her   
curiosity with a  sight of the devil4   
,one of the presidents of the ,chambre1 
,la ,reynie1 an  ugly little old man1   
very seriously asked her whether she had
 really  seen the devil2 to which the   
lady replied1 looking him full in the   
face1 ,oh yes6 ,i see him now4 ,he is in
 the form of a little ugly old  man1    
exceedingly illnatured1 and is dressed  
in the robes of a  counsellor of ,state4
 ,m4 la ,reynie prudently refrained from
 asking any  more questions of a lady   
with so sharp and ready a tongue4 ,the  
,duchess  was imprisoned for several    
months in the ,bastile2 and nothing     
being  proved against her1 she was      
released at the intercession of her     
powerful friends4 ,the severe punishment
 of criminals of this note might  have  

helped to abate the fever of imitation  
among the vulgar2--their  comparative   
impunity had a contrary tendency4 ,the  
escape of ,penautier1  and the wealthy  
,cardinal de ,bonzy his employer1 had   
the most pernicious  effect4 ,for two   
years longer the crime continued to     
rage1 and was not  finally suppressed   
till the stake had blazed1 or the noose 
dangled1 for  upwards of a hundred      
individuals4          ,,haunted         
,,houses4      ,here's a knocking       
indeed6 99 99 99 99 knock6 knock6 knock 
99 99 99 99 99 99 ,who's there1 i' the  
name o' ,beelzebub8    99 99 99 ,who's  
there1 i' the devil's name8 ,knock6     
knock6    knock6--,never at quiet8      
,macbeth4      ,who has not either seen 
or heard of some house1 shut up and     
uninhabitable1 fallen into decay1 and   
looking dusty and dreary1 from  which1  
at midnight1 strange sounds have been   
heard to issue--aerial  knockings--the  
rattling of chains1 and the groaning of 
perturbed  spirits8--a house that people

 have thought it unsafe to pass after   
dark1 and which has remained for years  
without a tenant1 and which no  tenant  
would occupy1 even were he paid to do   
so8 ,there are hundreds of  such houses 
in ,england at the present day2 hundreds
 in ,france1 ,germany1  and almost every
 country of ,europe1 which are marked   
with the mark of  fear--places for the  
timid to avoid1 and the pious to bless  
themselves  at1 and ask protection from1
 as they pass--the abodes of ghosts and 
evil spirits4 ,there are many such      
houses in ,london2 and if any vain      
boaster of the march of intellect would 
but take the trouble to find  them out  
and count them1 he would be convinced   
that intellect must yet  make some      
enormous strides before such old        
superstitions can be  eradicated4       
,the idea that such houses exist is a   
remnant of the witch creed1 which       
merits separate notice from its         
comparative harmlessness1 and from its  
being not so much a madness as a folly  

of the people4 ,unlike other  notions   
that sprang from the belief in          
witchcraft1 and which we have  already  
dwelt upon at sufficient length1 it has 
sent no wretches to the  stake or the   
gibbet1 and but a few to the pillory    
only4    ,many houses have been         
condemned as haunted1 and avoided by the
 weak and  credulous1 from circumstances
 the most trifling in themselves1 and   
which only wanted a vigorous mind to    
clear up1 at once1 and dissipate  all   
alarm4 ,a house in ,aix-la-,chapelle1 a 
large desolate-looking  building1       
remained uninhabited for five years1 on 
account of the  mysterious knockings    
that there were heard within it at all  
hours of  the day and night4 ,nobody    
could account for the noises2 and the   
fear  became at last so excessive1 that 
the persons who inhabited the houses  on
 either side relinquished their tenancy1
 and went to reside in other  quarters  
of the town1 where there was less chance
 of interruption from  evil spirits4    

,from being so long without an          
inhabitant the house at  last grew so   
ruinous1 so dingy1 and so miserable in  
its outward  appearance1 and so like the
 place that ghosts might be supposed to 
haunt1 that few persons cared to go past
 it after sunset4 ,the knocking  that   
was heard in one of the upper rooms was 
not very loud1 but it was  very regular4
 ,the gossips of the neighbourhood      
asserted that they often  heard groans  
from the cellars1 and saw lights moved  
about from one  window to another       
immediately after the midnight bell had 
tolled4  ,spectres in white habiliments 
were reported to have gibed and         
chattered  from the windows2 but all    
these stories could bear no             
investigation4  ,the knocking1 however1 
was a fact which no one could dispute1  
and  several ineffectual attempts were  
made by the proprietor to discover  the 
cause4 ,the rooms were sprinkled with   
holy water--the evil spirits  were      
commanded in due form1 by a priest1 to  

depart thence to the ,red  ,sea2 but the
 knockings still continued1 in spite of 
all that could be  done in that way4    
,accident at last discovered the cause1 
and restored  tranquillity to the       
neighbourhood4 ,the proprietor1 who     
suffered not  only in his mind but in   
his pocket1 had sold the building at a  
ruinously small price1 to get rid of all
 future annoyance4 ,the new  proprietor 
was standing in a room on the first     
floor when he heard the  door driven to 
at the bottom with a considerable noise1
 and then fly  open immediately1 about  
two inches and no more4 ,he stood still 
a minute  and watched1 and the same     
thing occurred a second and a third     
time4 ,he  examined the door            
attentively1 and all the mystery was    
unravelled4 ,the  latch of the door was 
broken so that it could not be fastened1
 and it  swung chiefly upon the bottom  
hinge4 ,immediately opposite was a      
window1  in which one pane of glass was 
broken2 and when the wind was in a      

certain quarter1 the draught of air was 
so strong that it blew the door  to with
 some violence4 ,there being no latch1  
it swung open again2 and  when there was
 a fresh gust1 was again blown to4  ,the
 new proprietor  lost no time in sending
 for a glazier1 and the mysterious      
noises ceased  for ever4 ,the house was 
replastered and repainted1 and once more
  regained its lost good name4 ,it was  
not before two or three years1  however1
 that it was thoroughly established in  
popular favour2 and many  persons1 even 
then1 would always avoid passing it1 if 
they could reach  their destination by  
any other street4    ,a similar story is
 narrated by ,sir ,walter ,scott1 in his
 ,letters on  ,demonology and           
,witchcraft1 the hero of which was a    
gentleman of birth  and distinction1    
well known in the political world4      
,shortly after he  succeeded to his     
title and estates1 there was a rumour   
among the  servants concerning a strange
 noise that used to be heard at night in

  the family mansion1 and the cause of  
which no one could ascertain4 ,the      
gentleman resolved to discover it       
himself1 and to watch for that  purpose 
with a domestic who had grown old in the
 family1 and who1 like  the rest1 had   
whispered strange things about the      
knocking having begun  immediately upon 
the death of his old master4 ,these two 
watched until  the noise was heard1 and 
at last traced it to a small store-room1
 used  as a place for keeping provisions
 of various kinds for the family1 and   
of which the old butler had the key4    
,they entered this place1 and  remained 
for some time1 without hearing the      
noises which they had  traced thither4  
,at length the sound was heard1 but much
 lower than it  seemed to be while they 
were further off1 and their imaginations
 were  more excited4 ,they then         
discovered the cause without difficulty4
 ,a rat1  caught in an old-fashioned    
trap1 had occasioned the noise by its   
efforts to escape1 in which it was able 

to raise the trap-door of its  prison to
 a certain height1 but was then obliged 
to drop it4 ,the noise  of the fall     
resounding through the house had        
occasioned the mysterious  rumours1     
which1 but for the investigation of the 
proprietor1 would1 in  all probability1 
have acquired so bad a name for the     
dwelling that no  servants would have   
inhabited it4 ,the circumstance was told
 to ,sir  ,walter ,scott by the         
gentleman to whom it happened4    ,but1 
in general1 houses that have acquired   
this character1 have been  more indebted
 for it1 to the roguery of living men1  
than to accidents  like these4 ,six     
monks played off a clever trick of the  
kind upon that  worthy ,king1 ,louis1   
whose piety has procured him1 in the    
annals of his  own country1 the         
designation of the ,saint4 ,having heard
 his confessor  speak in terms of warm  
eulogy of the goodness and learning of  
the monks  of the order of ,saint       
,bruno1 he expressed his wish to        

establish a  community of them near     
,paris4 ,bernard de la ,tour1 the       
superior1 sent  six of the brethren1 and
 the ,king gave them a handsome house to
 live  in1 in the village of ,chantilly4
 ,it so happened that1 from their       
windows1 they had a very fine view of   
the ancient palace of ,vauvert1  which  
had been built for a royal residence by 
,king ,robert1 but deserted  for many   
years4 ,the worthy monks thought the    
palace would just suit  them1 but their 
modesty was so excessive that they were 
ashamed to ask  the ,king for a grant of
 it in due form4 ,this difficulty was   
not to be  overcome1 and the monks set  
their ingenuity to work to discover     
another  plan4 ,the palace of ,vauvert  
had never laboured under any imputation 
upon its character until they became its
 neighbours2 but1 somehow or  other1 it 
almost immediately afterwards began to  
acquire a bad name4  ,frightful shrieks 
were heard to proceed from it at        
night--blue1 red1  and green lights were

 suddenly observed to glimmer from the  
windows1  and as suddenly to disappear3 
the clanking of chains was heard1 and   
the  howling as of persons in great     
pain4 ,these disturbances continued for 
several months1 to the great terror of  
all the country round1 and even  of the 
pious ,king ,louis1 to whom1 at ,paris1 
all the rumours were  regularly carried1
 with whole heaps of additions1 that    
accumulated on  the way4 ,at last a     
great spectre1 clothed all in pea-green1
 with a long  white beard and a         
serpent's tail1 took his station        
regularly at  midnight in the principal 
window of the palace1 and howled        
fearfully  and shook his fists at the   
passengers4 ,the six monks of           
,chantilly1 to  whom all these things   
were duly narrated1 were exceedingly    
wroth that  the devil should play such  
antics right opposite their dwelling1   
and  hinted to the commissioners1 sent  
down by ,saint ,louis to investigate    
the matter1 that1 if they were allowed  

to inhabit the palace1 they  would very 
soon make a clearance of the evil       
spirits4 ,the ,king was  quite charmed  
with their piety1 and expressed to them 
how grateful he  felt for their         
disinterestedness4 ,a deed was forthwith
 drawn up--the  royal sign-manual was   
affixed to it1 and the palace of        
,vauvert became  the property of the    
monks of ,saint ,bruno4 ,the deed is    
dated in #abei4  ,garinet4 ,histoire de 
la ,magie en ,france1 page #ge4 ,the    
disturbances  ceased immediately--the   
lights disappeared1 and the green ghost 
7so  said the monks7 was laid at rest   
for ever under the waves of the ,red    
,sea4    ,in the year #aehj1 one ,gilles
 ,blacre had taken the lease of a house 
in  the suburbs of ,tours1 but repenting
 him of his bargain with the  landlord1 
,peter ,piquet1 he endeavoured to       
prevail upon him to cancel  the         
agreement4 ,peter1 however1 was         
satisfied with his tenant and his       
terms1 and would listen to no           

compromise4 ,very shortly afterwards1   
the  rumour was spread all over ,tours  
that the house of ,gilles ,blacre was   
haunted4 ,gilles himself asserted that  
he verily believed his house to  be the 
general rendezvous of all the witches   
and evil spirits of  ,france4 ,the noise
 they made was awful1 and quite         
prevented him from  sleeping4 ,they     
knocked against the wall--howled in the 
chimneys--broke  his                    
window-glass--scattered his pots and    
pans all over his kitchen1 and  set his 
chairs and tables a dancing the whole   
night through4 ,crowds of  persons      
assembled around the house to hear the  
mysterious noises2 and  the bricks were 
observed to detach themselves from the  
wall and fall  into the streets upon the
 heads of those who had not said their  
paternoster before they came out in the 
morning4  ,these things having          
continued for some time1 ,gilles ,blacre
 made his complaint to the ,civil       
,court of ,tours1 and ,peter ,piquet was

 summoned to show cause why the  lease  
should not be annulled4 ,poor ,peter    
could make no defence1 and the  court   
unanimously agreed that no lease could  
hold good under such  circumstances1 and
 annulled it accordingly1 condemning the
 unlucky  owner to all the expenses of  
the suit4 ,peter appealed to the        
,parliament  of ,paris2 and1 after a    
long examination1 the ,parliament       
confirmed the  lease4 ,not1 said the    
judge1 because it has not been fully and
  satisfactorily proved that the house  
is troubled by evil spirits1 but  that  
there was an informality in the         
proceedings before the ,civil ,court  of
 ,tours1 that rendered its decision null
 and of no effect4    ,a similar cause  
was tried before the ,parliament of     
,bordeaux1 in the  year #aeie1 relative 
to a house in that city which was sorely
 troubled  by evil spirits4 ,the        
,parliament appointed certain           
ecclesiastics to  examine and report to 
them1 and on their report in the        

affirmative that  the house was haunted1
 the lease was annulled1 and the tenant 
absolved  from all payment of rent and  
taxes4 ,garinet4  ,histoire de la ,magie
 en  ,france1 page #aef4    ,one of the 
best stories of a haunted house is that 
of the royal palace  of ,woodstock1 in  
the year #afdi1 when the commissioners  
sent from ,london  by the ,long         
,parliament to take possession of it1   
and efface all the  emblems of royalty  
about it1 were fairly driven out by     
their fear of  the devil and the        
annoyances they suffered from a roguish 
cavalier1 who  played the imp to        
admiration4 ,the commissioners1 dreading
 at that time  no devil1 arrived at     
,woodstock on the #acth of ,october1    
#afdi4 ,they took  up their lodgings in 
the late ,king's apartments-turned the  
beautiful  bedrooms and                 
withdrawing-rooms into kitchens and     
sculleries--the  council-hall into a    
brew-house1 and made the dining-room a  
place to  keep firewood in4 ,they pulled

 down all the insignia of royal state1  
and  treated with the utmost indignity  
everything that recalled to their       
memory the name or the majesty of       
,charles ,stuart4 ,one ,giles ,sharp    
accompanied them in the capacity of     
clerk1 and seconded their efforts1      
apparently with the greatest zeal4  ,he 
aided them to uproot a noble old  tree1 
merely because it was called the ,king's
 ,oak1 and tossed the  fragments into   
the dining-room to make cheerful fires  
for the  commissioners4 ,during the     
first two days1 they heard some strange 
noises about the house1 but they paid no
 great attention to them4 ,on  the      
third1 however1 they began to suspect   
they had got into bad  company2 for they
 heard1 as they thought1 a supernatural 
dog under  their bed1 which gnawed their
 bedclothes4 ,on the next day1 the      
chairs  and tables began to dance1      
apparently of their own accord4 ,on the 
fifth  day1 something came into the     
bedchamber and walked up and down1 and  

fetching the warming-pan out of the     
withdrawing-room1 made so much  noise   
with it that they thought five          
church-bells were ringing in their      
ears4 ,on the sixth day1 the plates and 
dishes were thrown up and down  the     
dining-room4 ,on the seventh1 they      
penetrated into the bedroom in  company 
with several logs of wood1 and usurped  
the soft pillows  intended for the      
commissioners4 ,on the eighth and ninth 
nights1 there  was a cessation of       
hostilities2 but on the tenth1 the      
bricks in the  chimneys became          
locomotive1 and rattled and danced about
 the floors1  and round the heads of the
 commissioners1 all the night long4 ,on 
the  eleventh1 the demon ran away with  
their breeches1 and on the twelfth      
filled their beds so full of            
pewter-platters that they could not get 
into them4 ,on the thirteenth night1 the
 glass became unaccountably  seized with
 a fit of cracking1 and fell into       
shivers in all parts of  the house4 ,on 

the fourteenth1 there was a noise as if 
forty pieces of  artillery had been     
fired off1 and a shower of              
pebble-stones1 which so  alarmed the    
commissioners that1 struck with great   
horror1 they cried  out to one another  
for help4    ,they first of all tried   
the efficacy of prayers to drive away   
the evil  spirits2 but these proving    
unavailing1 they began seriously to     
reflect  whether it would not be much   
better to leave the place altogether to 
the devils that inhabited it4 ,they     
ultimately resolved1 however1 to try  it
 a little longer2 and having craved     
forgiveness of all their sins1  betook  
themselves to bed4 ,that night they     
slept in tolerable comfort1  but it was 
merely a trick of their tormentor to    
lull them into false  security4 ,when1  
on the succeeding night1 they heard no  
noises1 they  began to flatter          
themselves that the devil was driven    
out1 and prepared  accordingly to take  
up their quarters for the whole winter  

in the  palace4 ,these symptoms on their
 part became the signal for renewed     
uproar among the fiends4 ,on the #ast of
 ,november1 they heard something        
walking with a slow and solemn pace up  
and down the withdrawing-room1  and     
immediately afterwards a shower of      
stones1 bricks1 mortar1 and  broken     
glass pelted about their ears4 ,on the  
#bnd the steps were again  heard in the 
withdrawing-room1 sounding to their     
fancy very much like  the treading of an
 enormous bear1 which continued for     
about a quarter  of an hour4 ,this noise
 having ceased1 a large warming-pan was 
thrown  violently upon the table1       
followed by a number of stones and the  
jawbone of a horse4 ,some of the boldest
 walked valiantly into the              
withdrawing-room1 armed with swords1 and
 pistols2 but could discover  nothing4  
,they were afraid that night to go to   
sleep1 and sat up1 making  fires in     
every room1 and burning candles and     
lamps in great abundance2  thinking     

that1 as the fiends loved darkness1 they
 would not disturb a  company surrounded
 with so much light4 ,they were         
deceived1 however3  buckets of water    
came down the chimneys and extinguished 
the fires1 and  the candles were blown  
out1 they knew not how4 ,some of the    
servants who  had betaken themselves to 
bed were drenched with putrid           
ditch-water as  they lay1 and arose in  
great fright1 muttering incoherent      
prayers1 and  exposing to the wondering 
eyes of the commissioners their linen   
all  dripping with green moisture1 and  
their knuckles red with the blows  they 
had at the same time received from some 
invisible tormentors4  ,while they were 
still speaking1 there was a noise like  
the loudest  thunder1 or the firing of a
 whole park of artillery1 upon which    
they  all fell down upon their knees and
 implored the protection of the         
,almighty4 ,one of the commissioners    
then arose1 the others still  kneeling1 
and asked in a courageous voice1 and in 

the name of ,god1 who  was there1 and   
what they had done that they should be  
troubled in that  manner4 ,no answer was
 returned1 and the noises ceased for a  
while4 ,at  length1 however1 as the     
commissioners said1 the devil came      
again1 and  brought with it seven devils
 worse than itself4 ,being again in     
darkness1 they lighted a candle and     
placed it in the doorway1 that it  might
 throw a light upon the two chambers at 
once2 but it was suddenly  blown out1   
and one commissioner said that he had   
seen the similitude  of a horse's hoof  
striking the candle and candlestick into
 the middle  of the chamber1 and        
afterwards making three scrapes on the  
snuff to put  it out4 ,upon this1 the   
same person was so bold as to draw his  
sword2  but he asserted positively that 
he had hardly withdrawn it from the     
scabbard before an invisible hand seized
 hold of it and tugged with him  for it1
 and prevailing1 struck him so violent a
 blow with the pommel  that he was quite

 stunned4 ,then the noises began again2 
upon which1  with one accord1 they all  
retired into the presence-chamber1 where
 they  passed the night1 praying and    
singing psalms4    ,they were by this   
time convinced that it was useless to   
struggle any  longer with the powers of 
evil1 that seemed determined to make    
,woodstock their own4 ,these things     
happened on the ,saturday night2 and1   
being repeated on the ,sunday1 they     
determined to leave the place           
immediately1 and return to ,london4 ,by 
,tuesday morning early1 all their       
preparations were completed2 and1       
shaking the dust off their feet1 and    
devoting ,woodstock and all its         
inhabitants to the infernal gods1 they  
finally took their departure4 ,dr4 ,h4  
,more's ,continuation of ,glanvil's     
,collection of ,relations in proof of   
,witchcraft4    ,many years elapsed     
before the true cause of these          
disturbances was  discovered4 ,it was   
ascertained1 at the ,restoration1 that  

the whole was  the work of ,giles       
,sharp1 the trusty clerk of the         
commissioners4 ,this  man1 whose real   
name was ,joseph ,collins1 was a        
concealed royalist1 and  had passed his 
early life within the bowers of         
,woodstock2 so that he  knew every hole 
and corner of the place1 and the        
numerous trap-doors  and secret passages
 that abounded in the building4 ,the    
commissioners1  never suspecting the    
true state of his opinions1 but         
believing him to  be revolutionary to   
the back-bone1 placed the utmost        
reliance upon him2  a confidence which  
he abused in the manner above detailed1 
to his own  great amusement1 and that of
 the few cavaliers whom he let into the 
secret4    ,quite as extraordinary and  
as cleverly managed was the trick played
 off  at ,tedworth1 in #affa1 at the    
house of ,mr4 ,mompesson1 and which is  
so  circumstantially narrated by the    
,rev4 ,joseph ,glanvil1 under the title 
of ,the ,demon of ,tedworth1 and        

appended1 among other proofs of         
witchcraft1 to his noted work1 called   
,sadducismus ,triumphatus4 ,about  the  
middle of ,april1 in the year above     
mentioned1 ,mr4 ,mompesson1 having      
returned to his house1 at ,tedworth1    
from a journey he had taken to  ,london1
 was informed by his wife1 that during  
his absence they had been  troubled with
 the most extraordinary noises4  ,three 
nights afterwards  he heard the noise   
himself2 and it appeared to him to be   
that of a  great knocking at his doors1 
and on the outside of his walls4 ,he    
immediately arose1 dressed himself1 took
 down a pair of pistols1 and  walked    
valiantly forth to discover the         
disturber1 under the impression  that it
 must be a robber3 but1 as he went1 the 
noise seemed to travel  before or behind
 him2 and1 when he arrived at the door  
from which he  thought it proceeded1 he 
saw nothing1 but still heard a strange  
hollow  sound4 ,he puzzled his brains   
for a long time1 and searched every     

corner of the house2 but1 discovering   
nothing1 he went to bed again4 ,he  was 
no sooner snug under the clothes1 than  
the noise began again more  furiously   
than ever1 sounding very much like a    
thumping and drumming  on the top of his
 house1 and then by degrees going off   
into the air4    ,these things continued
 for several nights1 when it came to the
  recollection of ,mr4 ,mompesson that  
some time before1 he had given  orders  
for the arrest and imprisonment of a    
wandering drummer1 who went  about the  
country with a large drum1 disturbing   
quiet people and  soliciting alms1 and  
that he had detained the man's drum1 and
 that1  probably1 the drummer was a     
wizard1 and had sent evil spirits to    
haunt  his house1 to be revenged of him4
 ,he became strengthened in his opinion 
every day1 especially when the noises   
assumed1 to his fancy1 a  resemblance to
 the beating of a drum1 like that at the
 breaking up of  a guard4 ,mrs4         
,mompesson being brought to bed1 the    

devil1 or the  drummer1 very kindly and 
considerately refrained from making the 
usual  riot2 but1 as soon as she        
recovered strength1 began again in a    
ruder  manner than before1 following and
 vexing the young children1 and  beating
 their bedsteads with so much violence  
that every one expected  they would fall
 in pieces4 ,for an hour together1 as   
the worthy ,mr4  ,mompesson repeated to 
his wondering neighbours1 this infernal 
drummer  would beat ',roundheads and    
,cuckolds1' the ',tat-too1' and several 
other  points of war1 as cleverly as any
 soldier4 ,when this had lasted long    
enough1 he changed his tactics1 and     
scratched with his iron talons  under   
the children's bed4 ,on the #eth of     
,november1 says the ,rev4  ,joseph      
,glanvil1 it made a mighty noise2 and a 
servant1 observing two  boards in the   
children's room seeming to move1 he bid 
it give him one  of them4 ,upon which   
the board came 7nothing moving it1 that 
he saw71  within a yard of him4 ,the man

 added1 ',nay1 let me have it in my     
hand2'  upon which the spirit1 devil1 or
 drummer pushed it towards him so       
close1 that he might touch it4 ,this1   
continues ,glanvil1 was in the          
day-time1 and was seen by a whole room  
full of people4 ,that morning it  left a
 sulphureous smell behind it1 which was 
very offensive4 ,at night  the minister1
 one ,mr4 ,cragg1 and several of the    
neighhours1 came to the  house1 on a    
visit4 ,mr4 ,cragg went to prayers with 
them1 kneeling at the  children's       
bedside1 where it then became very      
troublesome and loud4  ,during prayer   
time1 the spirit withdrew into the      
cock-loft1 but  returned as soon as     
prayers were done2 and then1 in sight of
 the  company1 the chairs walked about  
the room of themselves1 the children's  
shoes were hurled over their heads1 and 
every loose thing moved about  the      
chamber4 ,at the same time1 a bed-staff 
was thrown at the minister1  which hit  
him on the leg1 but so favourably1 that 

a lock of wool could  not have fallen   
more softly4 ,on another occasion1 the  
blacksmith of  the village1 a fellow who
 cared neither for ghost nor devil1     
slept with  ,john1 the footman1 that he 
also might hear the disturbances1 and be
  cured of his incredulity1 when there  
came a noise in the room1 as if  one had
 been shoeing a horse1 and somewhat     
came1 as it were1 with a  pair of       
pincers1 snipping and snapping at the   
poor blacksmith's nose  the greater part
 of the night4 ,next day it came1       
panting like a dog out  of breath2 upon 
which some woman present took a         
bed-staff to knock at  it1 which was    
caught suddenly out of her hand1 and    
thrown away2 and  company coming up1 the
 room was presently filled with a bloomy
 noisome  smell1 and was very hot1      
though without fire1 in a very sharp and
  severe winter4 ,it continued in the   
bed1 panting and scratching for an  hour
 and a half1 and then went into the next
 room1 where it knocked a  little1 and  

seemed to rattle a chain4    ,the rumour
 of these wonderful occurrences soon    
spread all over the  country1 and people
 from far and near flocked to the       
haunted house of  ,tedworth1 to believe 
or doubt1 as their natures led them1 but
 all  filled with intense curiosity4 ,it
 appears1 too1 that the fame of these   
events reached the royal ear1 and that  
some gentlemen were sent by the  ,king  
to investigate the circumstances1 and   
draw up a report of what  they saw or   
heard4 ,whether the royal commissioners 
were more sensible  men than the        
neighbours of ,mr4 ,mompesson1 and      
required more clear and  positive       
evidence than they1 or whether the      
powers with which they were  armed to   
punish anybody who might be found       
carrying on this deception1  frightened 
the evil-doers1 is not certain2 but     
,glanvil himself  reluctantly confesses1
 that all the time they were in the     
house1 the  noises ceased1 and nothing  
was heard or seen4 ,however1 says he1 as

  to the quiet of the house when the    
courtiers were there1 the  intermission 
may have been accidental1 or perhaps the
 demon was not  willing to give so      
public a testimony of those transactions
 which might  possibly convince those   
who1 he had rather1 should continue in  
unbelief  of his existence4    ,as soon 
as the royal commissioners took their   
departure1 the infernal  drummer        
re-commenced his antics1 and hundreds of
 persons were daily  present to hear and
 wonder4 ,mr4 ,mompesson's servant was  
so fortunate as  not only to hear1 but  
to see this pertinacious demon2 for it  
came and  stood at the foot of his bed4 
,the exact shape and proportion of it he
  could not discover2 but he saw a great
 body1 with two red and glaring  eyes1  
which1 for some time1 were fixed        
steadily on him1 and at length          
disappeared4 ,innumerable were the      
antics it played4 ,once it purred  like 
a cat2 beat the children's legs black   
and blue2 put a long spike  into ,mr4   

,mompesson's bed1 and a knife into his  
mother's2 filled the  porrengers with   
ashes2 hid a ,bible under the grate2 and
 turned the  money black in people's    
pockets4 ,one night1 said ,mr4          
,mompesson1 in a  letter to ,mr4        
,glanvil1 there were seven or eight of  
these devils in  the shape of men1 who1 
as soon as a gun was fired1 would       
shuffle away  into an arbour2 a         
circumstance which might have convinced 
,mr4  ,mompesson of the mortal nature of
 his persecutors1 if he had not been  of
 the number of those worse than blind1  
who shut their eyes and refuse  to see4 
,in the mean time the drummer1 the      
supposed cause of all the mischief1     
passed his time in ,gloucester gaol1    
whither he had been committed as a      
rogue and a vagabond4 ,being visited one
 day by some person from the            
neighbourhood of ,tedworth1 he asked    
what was the news in ,wiltshire1 and    
whether people did not talk a great deal
 about a drumming in a  gentleman's     

house there8 ,the visiter replied1 that 
he heard of nothing  else2 upon which   
the drummer observed1 ,i have done it2  
,i have thus  plagued him2 and he shall 
never be quiet until he hath made me    
satisfaction for taking away my drum4   
,no doubt the fellow1 who seems  to have
 been a gipsy1 spoke the truth1 and that
 the gang of which he  was a member knew
 more about the noises at ,mr4          
,mompesson's house than  anybody else4  
,upon these words1 however1 he was      
brought to trial at  ,salisbury1 for    
witchcraft2 and1 being found guilty1 was
 sentenced to  transportation2 a        
sentence which1 for its leniency1       
excited no little  wonder in that age1  
when such an accusation1 whether proved 
or not1  generally insured the stake or 
the gibbet4 ,glanvil says1 that the     
noises ceased immediately the drummer   
was sent beyond the seas2 but  that1    
some how or other1 he managed to return 
from transportation2 by  raising storms 
and affrighting the seamen1 it was said2

 when the  disturbances were forthwith  
renewed1 and continued at intervals for 
several years4 ,certainly1 if the       
confederates of this roving gipsy were  
so pertinacious in tormenting poor weak 
,mr4 ,mompesson1 their  pertinacity is a
 most extraordinary instance of what    
revenge is capable  of4 ,it was believed
 by many1 at the time1 that ,mr4        
,mompesson himself  was privy to the    
whole matter1 and permitted and         
encouraged these  tricks in his house   
for the sake of notoriety2 but it seems 
more  probable that the gipsies were the
 real delinquents1 and that ,mr4        
,mompesson was as much alarmed and      
bewildered as his credulous  neighhours1
 whose excited imaginations conjured up 
no small portion of  these stories1     
,which rolled1 and as they rolled1 grew 
larger every hour4    ,many instances1  
of a similar kind1 during the           
seventeenth century1  might be gleaned  
from ,glanvil and other writers of that 
period2 but  they do not differ         

sufficiently from these to justify a    
detail of them4  ,the most famous of all
 haunted houses acquired its notoriety  
much  nearer our own time2 and the      
circumstances connected with it are so  
curious1 and afford so fair a specimen  
of the easy credulity even of           
well-informed and sensible people1 as to
 merit a little notice in this  chapter4
 ,the ,cock ,lane ,ghost1 as it was     
called1 kept ,london in  commotion for a
 considerable time1 and was the theme of
 conversation  among the learned and the
 illiterate1 and in every circle1 from  
that of  the prince to that of the      
peasant4    ,at the commencement of the 
year #agfj1 there resided in ,cock      
,lane1 near  ,west ,smithfield1 in the  
house of one ,parsons1 the parish clerk 
of ,st4  ,sepulchre's1 a stockbroker1   
named ,kent4 ,the wife of this gentleman
 had  died in child-bed during the      
previous year1 and his sister-in-law1   
,miss  ,fanny1 had arrived from ,norfolk
 to keep his house for him4 ,they soon  

conceived a mutual affection1 and each  
of them made a will in the  other's     
favour4 ,they lived some months in the  
house of ,parsons1 who1  being a needy  
man1 borrowed money of his lodger4 ,some
 difference arose  betwixt them1 and    
,mr4 ,kent left the house1 and          
instituted legal  proceedings against   
the parish clerk for the recovery of his
 money4    ,while this matter was yet   
pending1 ,miss ,fanny was suddenly taken
 ill of  the small-pox2 and1            
notwithstanding every care and          
attention1 she died  in a few days1 and 
was buried in a vault under ,clerkenwell
 church4  ,parsons now began to hint    
that the poor lady had come unfairly by 
her  death1 and that ,mr4 ,kent was     
accessory to it1 from his too great     
eagerness to enter into possession of   
the property she had bequeathed  him4   
,nothing further was said for nearly two
 years2 but it would appear  that       
,parsons was of so revengeful a         
character1 that he had never  forgotten 

or forgiven his differences with ,mr4   
,kent1 and the indignity  of having been
 sued for the borrowed money4 ,the      
strong passions of  pride and avarice   
were silently at work during all that   
interval1  hatching schemes of revenge1 
but dismissing them one after the other 
as  impracticable1 until1 at last1 a    
notable one suggested itself4 ,about    
the beginning of the year #agfb1 the    
alarm was spread over all the           
neighbourhood of ,cock ,lane1 that the  
house of ,parsons was haunted by  the   
ghost of poor ,fanny1 and that the      
daughter of ,parsons1 a girl about      
twelve years of age1 had several times  
seen and conversed with the  spirit1 who
 had1 moreover1 informed her1 that she  
had not died of the  smallpox1 as was   
currently reported1 but of poison1      
administered by ,mr4  ,kent4 ,parsons1  
who originated1 took good care to       
countenance these  reports2 and1 in     
answer to numerous inquiries1 said his  
house was every  night1 and had been for

 two years1 in fact1 ever since the     
death of  ,fanny1 troubled by a loud    
knocking at the doors and in the walls4 
,having thus prepared the ignorant and  
credulous neighhours to believe  or     
exaggerate for themselves what he had   
told them1 he sent for a  gentleman of a
 higher class in life1 to come and      
witness these  extraordinary            
occurrences4 ,the gentleman came        
accordingly1 and found  the daughter of 
,parsons1 to whom the spirit alone      
appeared1 and whom  alone it answered1  
in bed1 trembling violently1 having just
 seen the  ghost1 and been again        
informed that she had died from poison4 
,a loud  knocking was also heard from   
every part of the chamber1 which so     
mystified the not very clear            
understanding of the visiter1 that he   
departed1 afraid to doubt and ashamed to
 believe1 but with a promise to  bring  
the clergyman of the parish and several 
other gentlemen on the  following day1  
to report upon the mystery4    ,on the  

following night he returned1 bringing   
with him three clergymen1  and about    
twenty other persons1 including two     
negroes1 when1 upon a  consultation with
 ,parsons1 they resolved to sit up the  
whole night1 and  await the ghost's     
arrival4 ,it was then explained by      
,parsons1 that  although the ghost would
 never render itself visible to anybody 
but his  daughter1 it had no objection  
to answer the questions that might be   
put  to it1 by any person present1 and  
that it expressed an affirmation by  one
 knock1 a negative by two1 and its      
displeasure by a kind of  scratching4   
,the child was then put into bed along  
with her sister1 and  the clergymen     
examined the bed and bed-clothes to     
satisfy themselves  that no trick was   
played1 by knocking upon any substance  
concealed  among the clothes4 ,as on the
 previous night1 the bed was observed to
  shake violently4    ,after some hours1
 during which they all waited with      
exemplary patience1  the mysterious     

knocking was heard in the wall1 and the 
child declared  that she saw the ghost  
of poor ,fanny4 ,the following questions
 were then  gravely put by the          
clergyman1 through the medium of one    
,mary ,frazer1  the servant of ,parsons1
 and to whom it was said the deceased   
lady had  been much attached4 ,the      
answers were in the usual fashion1 by a 
knock  or knocks3--    ,do you make this
 disturbance on account of the ill usage
 you received  from ,mr4 ,kent8--,yes4  
,were you brought to an untimely end by 
poison8--,yes4    ,how was the poison   
administered1 in beer or in purl8--,in  
purl4    ,how long was that before your 
death8--,about three hours4    ,can your
 former servant1 ,carrots1 give any     
information about the  poison8--,yes4   
,are you ,kent's wife's sister8--,yes4  
,were you married to ,kent after your   
sister's death8--,no4    ,was anybody   
else1 besides ,kent1 concerned in your  
murder8--,no4    ,can you1 if you like1 
appear visibly to anyone8--,yes4        

,will you do so8--,yes4    ,can you go  
out of this house8--,yes4    ,is it your
 intention to follow this child about   
everywhere8--,yes4    ,are you pleased  
in being asked these questions8--,yes4  
,does it case your troubled soul8--,yes4
    ,here there was heard a mysterious  
noise1 which some wiseacre present      
compared to the fluttering of wings4    
,how long before your death did you tell
 your servant1 ,carrots1 that  you were 
poisoned8--,an hour8--,yes4    ,carrots1
 who was present1 was appealed to2 but  
she stated positively  that such was not
 the fact1 as the deceased was quite    
speechless an  hour before her death4   
,this shook the faith of some of the    
spectators1  but the examination was    
allowed to continue4    ,how long did   
,carrots live with you8--,three or four 
days4    ,carrots was again appealed to1
 and said that this was true4    ,if    
,mr4 ,kent is arrested for this murder1 
will he confess8--,yes4    ,would your  
soul be at rest if he were hanged for   

it8--,yes4    ,will he be hanged for    
it8--,yes4    ,how long a time          
first8--,three years4    ,how many      
clergymen are there in this             
room8--,three4    ,how many             
negroes8--,two4    ,is this watch 7held 
up by one of the clergymen7 white8--,no4
    ,is it yellow8--,no4    ,is it      
blue8--,no4    ,is it black8--,yes4     
,the watch was in a black shagreen case4
    ,at what time this morning will you 
take your departure8    ,the answer to  
this question was four knocks1 very     
distinctly heard by  every person       
present2 and accordingly1 at four       
o'clock precisely1 the  ghost took its  
departure to the ,wheatsheaf            
public-house1 close by1  where it       
frightened mine host and his lady almost
 out of their wits by  knocking in the  
ceiling right above their bed4    ,the  
rumour of these occurrences very soon   
spread over ,london1 and every  day     
,cock ,lane was rendered impassable by  
the crowds of people who  assembled     

around the house of the parish clerk1 in
 expectation of  either seeing the ghost
 or of hearing the mysterious knocks4   
,it was at  last found necessary1 so    
clamorous were they for admission within
 the  haunted precincts1 to admit those 
only who would pay a certain fee1 an    
arrangement which was very convenient to
 the needy and money-loving ,mr4        
,parsons4 ,indeed1 things had taken a   
turn greatly to his satisfaction2  he   
not only had his revenge1 but he made a 
profit out of it4 ,the ghost1  in       
consequence1 played its antics every    
night1 to the great amusement  of many  
hundreds of people and the great        
perplexity of a still greater  number4  
,unhappily1 however1 for the parish     
clerk1 the ghost was induced to make    
some promises which were the means of   
utterly destroying its  reputation4 ,it 
promised1 in answer to the questions of 
the ,reverend ,mr4  ,aldritch of        
,clerkenwell1 that it would not only    
follow the little ,miss  ,parsons       

wherever she went1 but would also attend
 him1 or any other  gentleman1 into the 
vault under ,st4 ,john's ,church1 where 
the body of  the murdered woman was     
deposited1 and would there give notice  
of its  presence by a distinct knock    
upon the coffin4 ,as a preliminary1 the 
girl was conveyed to the house of ,mr4  
,aldritch near the church1 where a      
large party of ladies and gentlemen1    
eminent for their acquirements1  their  
rank1 or their wealth1 had assembled4   
,about ten o'clock on the  night of the 
#ast of ,february1 the girl having been 
brought from ,cock  ,lane in a coach1   
was put to bed by several ladies in the 
house of ,mr4  ,aldritch2 a strict      
examination having been previously made 
that nothing  was hidden in the         
bedclothes4 ,while the gentlemen1 in an 
adjoining  chamber1 were deliberating   
whether they should proceed in a body to
 the  vault1 they were summoned into the
 bedroom by the ladies1 who affirmed1   
in great alarm1 that the ghost was come1

 and that they heard the knocks  and    
scratches4 ,the gentlemen entered       
accordingly1 with a determination  to   
suffer no deception4 ,the little girl1  
on being asked whether she saw  the     
ghost1 replied1 ,no2 but she felt it on 
her back like a mouse4 ,she  was then   
required to put her hands out of bed1   
and they being held by  some of the     
ladies1 the spirit was summoned in the  
usual manner to  answer1 if it were in  
the room4 ,the question was several     
times put with  great solemnity2 but the
 customary knock was not heard in reply 
in the  walls1 neither was there any    
scratching4 ,the ghost was then asked to
  render itself visible1 but it did not 
choose to grant the request4 ,it  was   
next solicited to give some token of its
 presence by a sound of any  sort1 or by
 touching the hand or cheek of any lady 
or gentleman in the  room2 but even with
 this request the ghost would not       
comply4    ,there was now a considerable
 pause1 and one of the clergymen went   

downstairs to interrogate the father of 
the girl1 who was waiting the  result of
 the experiment4 ,he positively denied  
that there was any  deception1 and even 
went so far as to say that he himself1  
upon one  occasion1 had seen and        
conversed with the awful ghost4 ,this   
having been  communicated to the        
company1 it was unanimously resolved to 
give the  ghost another trial2 and the  
clergyman called out in a loud voice to 
the supposed spirit that the gentleman  
to whom it had promised to  appear in   
the vault1 was about to repair to that  
place1 where he  claimed the fulfilment 
of its promise4 ,at one hour after      
midnight they  all proceeded to the     
church1 and the gentleman in question1  
with  another1 entered the vault alone1 
and took up their position alongside  of
 the coffin of poor ,fanny4 ,the ghost  
was then summoned to appear1 but  it    
appeared not2 it was summoned to knock1 
but it knocked not2 it was  summoned to 
scratch1 but it scratched not2 and the  

two retired from the  vault1 with the   
firm belief that the whole business was 
a deception  practised by ,parsons and  
his daughter4 ,there were others1       
however1 who  did not wish to jump so   
hastily to a conclusion1 and who        
suggested that  they were1 perhaps1     
trifling with this awful and            
supernatural being1  which1 being       
offended with them for their            
presumption1 would not  condescend to   
answer them4 ,again1 after a serious    
consultation1 it was  agreed on all     
hands that1 if the ghost answered       
anybody at all1 it  would answer ,mr4   
,kent1 the supposed murderer2 and he was
 accordingly  requested to go down into 
the vault4  ,he went with several       
others1 and  summoned the ghost to      
answer whether he had indeed poisoned   
her4 ,there  being no answer1 the       
question was put by ,mr4 ,aldritch1 who 
conjured it1  if it were indeed a       
spirit1 to end their doubts-make a sign 
of its  presence1 and point out the     

guilty person4 ,there being still no    
answer  for the space of half an hour1  
during which time all these boobies     
waited with the most praiseworthy       
perseverance1 they returned to the      
house of ,mr4 ,aldritch1 and ordered the
 girl to get up and dress  herself4 ,she
 was strictly examined1 but persisted in
 her statement that  she used no        
deception1 and that the ghost had really
 appeared to her4    ,so many persons   
had1 by their openly expressed belief of
 the reality of  the visitation1        
identified themselves with it1 that     
,parsons and his  family were far from  
being the only persons interested in the
  continuance of the delusion4 ,the     
result of the experiment convinced  most
 people2 but these were not to be       
convinced by any evidence1  however     
positive1 and they1 therefore1 spread   
abroad the rumour1 that  the ghost had  
not appeared in the vault because ,mr4  
,kent had taken care  beforehand to have
 the coffin removed4 ,that gentleman1   

whose position  was a very painful one1 
immediately procured competent          
witnesses1 in  whose presence the vault 
was entered and the coffin of poor      
,fanny  opened4 ,their deposition was   
then published2 and ,mr4 ,kent indicted 
,parsons and his wife1 his daughter1    
,mary ,frazer the servant1 the          
,reverend ,mr4 ,moor1 and a tradesman1  
two of the most prominent patrons  of   
the deception1 for a conspiracy4 ,the   
trial came on in the ,court of  ,king's 
,bench1 on the #ajth of ,july1 before   
,lord ,chief-,justice ,mansfield1  when1
 after an investigation which lasted    
twelve hours1 the whole of  the         
conspirators were found guilty4 ,the    
,reverend ,mr4 ,moor and his  friend    
were severely reprimanded in open court1
 and recommended to make  some pecuniary
 compensation to the prosecutor for the 
aspersions they  had been instrumental  
in throwing upon his character4 ,parsons
 was  sentenced to stand three times in 
the pillory1 and to be imprisoned for   

two years3 his wife to one year's1 and  
his servant to six months'  imprisonment
 in the ,bridewell4 ,a printer1 who had 
been employed by them  to publish an    
account of the proceedings for their    
profit1 was also  fined fifty pounds1   
and discharged4    ,the precise manner  
in which the deception was carried on   
has never been  explained4 ,the knocking
 in the wall appears to have been the   
work of  ,parsons' wife1 while the      
scratching part of the business was left
 to  the little girl4 ,that any         
contrivance so clumsy could have        
deceived  anybody1 cannot fail to excite
 our wonder4 ,but thus it always is4 ,if
  two or three persons can only be found
 to take the lead in any  absurdity1    
however great1 there is sure to be      
plenty of imitators4  ,like sheep in a  
field1 if one clears the stile1 the rest
 will follow4    ,about ten years       
afterwards1 ,london was again alarmed by
 the story of a  haunted house4         
,stockwell1 near ,vauxhall1 the scene of

 the antics of  this new ghost1 became  
almost as celebrated in the annals of   
superstition as ,cock ,lane4 ,mrs4      
,golding1 an elderly lady1 who resided  
alone with her servant1 ,anne ,robinson1
 was sorely surprised on the  evening of
 ,twelfth-,day1 #aggb1 to observe a most
 extraordinary commotion  among her     
crockery4 ,cups and saucers rattled down
 the chimney--pots and  pans were       
whirled down stairs1 or through the     
windows2 and hams1  cheeses1 and loaves 
of bread disported themselves upon the  
floor as if  the devil were in them4    
,this1 at least1 was the conclusion that
 ,mrs4  ,golding came to2 and being     
greatly alarmed1 she invited some of her
  neighbours to stay with her1 and      
protect her from the evil one4 ,their   
presence1 however1 did not put a stop to
 the insurrection of china1 and  every  
room in the house was in a short time   
strewed with the fragments4  ,the chairs
 and tables joined1 at last1 in the     
tumults1 and things  looked altogether  

so serious and inexplicable1 that the   
neighbours1  dreading that the house    
itself would next be seized with a fit  
of  motion1 and tumble about their ears1
 left poor ,mrs4 ,golding to bear the   
brunt of it by herself4 ,the ghost in   
this case was solemnly  remonstrated    
with1 and urged to take its departure2  
but the demolition  continuing as great 
as before1 ,mrs4 ,golding finally made  
up her mind to  quit the house          
altogether4 ,she took refuge with ,anne 
,robinson in the  house of a neighbour2 
but his glass and crockery being        
immediately  subjected to the same      
persecution1 he was reluctantly         
compelled to give  her notice to quit4  
,the old lady thus forced back to her   
own house1  endured the disturbance for 
some days longer1 when suspecting that  
,anne  ,robinson was the cause of all   
the mischief1 she dismissed her from her
  service4 ,the extraordinary           
appearances immediately ceased1 and were
  never afterwards renewed2 a fact which

 is of itself sufficient to point  out  
the real disturber4 ,a long time        
afterwards1 ,anne ,robinson confessed   
the whole matter to the ,reverend ,mr4  
,bray field4 ,this gentleman  confided  
the story to ,mr4 ,hone1 who has        
published an explanation of the         
mystery4 ,anne1 it appears1 was anxious 
to have a clear house1 to carry  on an  
intrigue with her lover1 and resorted to
 this trick to effect her  purpose4 ,she
 placed the china on the shelves in such
 a manner that it  fell on the slightest
 motion1 and attached horse-hairs to    
other  articles1 so that she could jerk 
them down from an adjoining room        
without being perceived by any one4 ,she
 was exceedingly dexterous at  this sort
 of work1 and would have proved a       
formidable rival to many a  juggler by  
profession4 ,a full explanation of the  
whole affair may be  found in the       
,every-day ,book4    ,the latest        
instance of the popular panic occasioned
 by a house supposed  to be haunted1    

occurred in ,scotland1 in the winter of 
the year #ahch4 ,on  the #eth of        
,december1 the inmates of the farm-house
 of ,baldarroch1 in  the district of    
,banchory1 ,aberdeenshire1 were alarmed 
by observing a  great number of sticks1 
pebble-stones1 and clods of earth flying
 about  their yard and premises4 ,they  
endeavoured1 but in vain1 to discover   
who  was the delinquent2 and the shower 
of stones continuing for five days  in  
succession1 they came at last to the    
conclusion that the devil and  his imps 
were alone the cause of it4 ,the rumour 
soon spread over all  that part of the  
country1 and hundreds of persons came   
from far and  near to witness the antics
 of the devils of ,baldarroch4 ,after   
the fifth  day1 the shower of clods and 
stones ceased on the outside of the     
premises1 and the scene shifted to the  
interior4  ,spoons1 knives1  plates1    
mustard-pots1 rolling-pins1 and         
flat-irons appeared suddenly  endued    
with the power of self-motion1 and were 

whirled from room to  room1 and rattled 
down the chimneys in a manner which     
nobody could  account for4 ,the lid of a
 mustard-pot was put into a cupboard by 
the  servant-girl in the presence of    
scores of people1 and in a few minutes  
afterwards came bouncing down the       
chimney to the consternation of         
everybody4 ,there was also a tremendous 
knocking at the doors and on the  roof1 
and pieces of stick and pebble-stones   
rattled against the windows  and broke  
them4 ,the whole neighbourhood was a    
scene of alarm2 and not  only the       
vulgar1 but persons of education1       
respectable farmers1 within  a circle of
 twenty miles1 expressed their belief in
 the supernatural  character of these   
events1 and offered up devout prayers to
 be  preserved from the machinations of 
the ,evil ,one4 ,the note of fear being 
once sounded1 the visiters1 as is       
generally the case in all tales of      
wonder1 strove with each other who      
should witness the most  extraordinary  

occurrences2 and within a week1 it was  
generally believed  in the parishes of  
,banchory-,ternan1 ,drumoak1 ,durris1   
,kincardine-,o',neil1  and all the      
circumjacent districts of ,mearns and   
,aberdeenshire1 that  the devil had been
 seen in the act of hammering upon the  
house-top of  ,baldarroch4 ,one old man 
asserted positively that1 one night1    
after  having been to see the strange   
gambols of the knives and mustard-pots1 
he met the phantom of a great black man1
 who wheeled round his head  with a     
whizzing noise1 making a wind about his 
ears that almost blew  his bonnet off1  
and that he was haunted by him in this  
manner for  three miles4 ,it was also   
affirmed and believed1 that all horses  
and  dogs that approached this enchanted
 ground1 were immediately               
affected--that a gentleman1 slow of     
faith1 had been cured of his            
incredulity by meeting the butter-churn 
jumping in at the door as he  himself   
was going out--that the roofs of houses 

had been torn off1 and  that several    
ricks in the corn-yard had danced a     
quadrille together1 to  the sound of the
 devil's bagpipes re-echoing from the   
mountain-tops4  ,the women in the family
 of the persecuted farmer of ,baldarroch
 also  kept their tongues in perpetual  
motion2 swelling with their strange     
stories the tide of popular wonder4 ,the
 good wife herself1 and all her         
servants1 said that1 whenever they went 
to bed1 they were attacked with  stones 
and other missiles1 some of which came  
below the blankets and  gently tapped   
their toes4 ,one evening1 a shoe        
suddenly darted across a  garret where  
some labourers were sitting1 and one of 
the men1 who  attempted to catch it1    
swore positively that it was so hot and 
heavy he  was unable to hold it4 ,it was
 also said that the bearbeater 7a sort  
of  mortar used to bruise barley in7--an
 object of such weight that it  requires
 several men to move it--spontaneously  
left the barn and flew  over the        

house-top1 alighting at the feet of one 
of the servant maids1  and hitting her1 
but without hurting her in the least1 or
 even causing  her any alarm2 it being a
 fact well known to her1 that all       
objects thus  thrown about by the devil 
lost their specific gravity1 and could  
harm  nobody1 even though they fell upon
 a person's head4    ,among the persons 
drawn to ,baldarroch by these           
occurrences were the  heritor1 the      
minister1 and all the elders of the     
,kirk1 under whose  superintendence an  
investigation was immediately commenced4
 ,their  proceedings were not           
promulgated for some days2 and1 in the  
mean time1  rumour continued to travel  
through all the ,highlands1 magnifying  
each  mysterious incident the further it
 got from home4 ,it was said1 that  when
 the goodwife put her potato-pot on the 
fire1 each potato1 as the  water boiled1
 changed into a demon1 and grinned      
horribly at her as she  lifted the lid2 
that not only chairs and tables1 but    

carrots and  turnips1 skipped along the 
floor in the merriest manner imaginable2
  that shoes and boots went through all 
the evolutions of the ,highland  fling  
without any visible wearers directing   
their motions2 and that a  piece of meat
 detached itself from the hook on which 
it hung in the  pantry1 and placed      
itself before the fire1 whence all the  
efforts of  the people of the house were
 unable to remove it until it was       
thoroughly roasted2 and that it then    
flew up the chimney with a  tremendous  
bang4 ,at ,baldarroch itself the belief 
was not quite so  extravagant2 but the  
farmer was so convinced that the devil  
and his  imps were alone the cause of   
all the disturbance1 that he travelled a
  distance of forty miles to an old     
conjuror1 named ,willie ,foreman1 to    
induce him1 for a handsome fee1 to      
remove the enchantment from his         
property4 ,there were1 of course1 some  
sensible and educated people1  who1     
after stripping the stories circulated  

of their exaggeration1  attributed all  
the rest to one or other of two causes2 
first1 that some  gipsies1 or strolling 
mendicants1 hidden in the neighbouring  
plantation1 were amusing themselves by  
working on the credulity of the  country
 people2 or1 secondly1 that the inmates 
of ,baldarroch carried on  this         
deception themselves1 for some reason or
 other1 which was not very  clear to    
anybody4 ,the last opinion gained but   
few believers1 as the  farmer and his   
family were much respected2 and so many 
persons had1 in  the most open manner1  
expressed their belief in the           
supernatural  agency1 that they did not 
like to stultify themselves by          
confessing  that they had been deceived4
    ,at last1 after a fortnight's       
continuance of the noises1 the whole    
trick  was discovered4 ,the two servant 
lasses were strictly examined1 and then 
committed to prison4 ,it appeared that  
they were alone at the bottom of  the   
whole affair1 and that the extraordinary

 alarm and credulity of  their master   
and mistress1 in the first instance1 and
 of the neighbours  and country people  
afterwards1 made their task             
comparatively easy4 ,a  little common   
dexterity was all they had used2 and1   
being themselves  unsuspected1 they     
swelled the alarm by the wonderful      
stories they  invented4 ,it was they who
 loosened the bricks in the chimneys1   
and  placed the dishes in such a manner 
on the shelves1 that they fell on  the  
slightest motion4 ,in short1 they played
 the same tricks as those  used by the  
servant girl at ,stockwell1 with the    
same results1 and for  the same         
purpose--the gratification of a love of 
mischief4 ,they were no  sooner secured 
in the county gaol than the noises      
ceased1 and most  people were convinced 
that human agency alone had worked all  
the  wonder4 ,some few of the most      
devoutly superstitious still held out in
  their first belief1 and refused to    
listen to any explanation4    ,these    

tales of haunted houses1 especially     
those of the last and present  century1 
however they may make us blush for      
popular folly1 are yet  gratifying in   
their results2 for they show that       
society has made a vast  improvement4   
,had ,parsons and his wife1 and the     
other contrivers of the  ,cock ,lane    
deception1 lived two hundred years      
earlier1 they would not1  perhaps1 have 
found a greater number of dupes1 but    
they would have been  hanged as witches1
 instead of being imprisoned as         
vagabonds4 ,the  ingenious ,anne        
,robinson and the sly lasses of         
,baldarroch would1  doubtless1 have met 
a similar fate4 ,thus it is pleasant to 
reflect1  that though there may be as   
much folly and credulity in the world as
  ever1 in one class of society1 there  
is more wisdom and mercy in  another    
than ever were known before4 ,lawgivers1
 by blotting from the  statute-book the 
absurd or sanguinary enactments of their
 predecessors1  have made one step      

towards teaching the people4 ,it is to  
be hoped that  the day is not far       
distant when lawgivers will teach the   
people by some  more direct means1 and  
prevent the recurrence of delusions like
 these1  and many worse1 which might be 
cited1 by securing to every child born  
within their dominions an education in  
accordance with the advancing  state of 
civilization4 ,if ghosts and witches are
 not yet altogether  exploded1 it is the
 fault1 not so much of the ignorant     
people1 as of  the law and the          
government that have neglected to       
enlighten them4