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death_n	woman_n	word_n	wrought_v	37	3	7.2848	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62397	The discovery of witchcraft proving that the compacts and contracts of witches with devils and all infernal spirits or familiars are but erroneous novelties and imaginary conceptions : also discovering, how far their power extendeth in killing, tormenting, consuming, or curing the bodies of men, women, children, or animals by charms, philtres, periapts, pentacles, curses, and conjurations : wherein likewise the unchristian practices and inhumane dealings of searchers and witch-tryers upon aged, melancholly, and superstitious people, in extorting confessions by terrors and tortures, and in devising false marks and symptoms, are notably detected ... : in sixteen books / by Reginald Scot ... ; whereunto is added an excellent Discourse of the nature and substance of devils and spirits, in two books : the first by the aforesaid author, the second now added in this third edition ... conducing to the compleating of the whole work, with nine chapters at the beginning of the fifteenth [sic] book of The discovery.; Discoverie of witchcraft	Scot, Reginald, 1538?-1599.; Scot, Reginald, 1538?-1599. Discourse concerning the nature and substance of devils and spirits.	1665 (1665)	Wing S945A; ESTC R20054	529,066	395

deceived taking Christ to be a Spirit when he walked on the Sea And why might not they be deceived herein as well as in that they thought Christ had spoken of a temporal Kingdom when he preached of the Kingdom of Heaven Which thing they also much misconceived as likewise when he did bid them beware of the leaven of the Pharisees they understood that he spake of material bread CHAP. V. Why Apollo was called Pytho whereof those Witches were called Pythonists Gregory his Letter to the Devil BUt to return to our Oracle of Apollo at Delphos who was called Pytho for that Apollo slue a Serpent so called whereof the Pythonists take their name I pray you consider well of this tale which I will truly rehearse out of the Ecclesiastical history written by Eusebius wherein you shall see the absurdity of the opinion the cosenages of these Oracles and the deceived mind or vain opinion of so great a Doctor bewrayed and deciphered altogether as followeth Gregory Neocaesariensis in his journey and way to pass over the Alpes came to the Temple of Apollo where Apollo's Priest living richly upon the revenues and benefit proceeding from that Idol did give great entertainment unto Gregory and made him good chear But after Gregory was gone Apollo waxed dumb so as the Priests gains decayed for the Idol growing into contempt the Pilgrimage ceased The Spirit taking compassion on the Priests case and upon his grief of mind in this behalf appeared unto him and told him flatly that his late guest Gregory was the cause of all his misery For saith the Devil he hath banished me so that I cannot return without a special license or pasport from him It was no need to bid the Priest make haste for immediately he took post-horse and galloped after Gregory till at length he overtook him and then expostulated with him for his discourtesie proffered in recompence of his good chear and said that if he would not be so good unto him as to write his Letter to the Devil in his behalf he should be utterly undone To be short his importunity was such that he obtained of Gregory his Letter to the Devil who wrote unto him in manner and form following word for word Permitto tibi redire in locum tuum agere qua consuevisti which is in English I am content thou return into thy place and do as thou wast wont Immediately upon the receipt of this Letter the Idol spake as before And here is to be noted that as well in this as in the execution of all their other Oracles and Cosenages the answers were never given Ex tempore or in that day wherein the question was demanded because forsooth they expected a Vision as they said to be given the night following whereby the cosenage might the more easily be wrought CHAP. VI. Apollo who was called Pytho compared to the Rood of Grace Gregories Letter to the Devil confuted WHat need many words to confute this fable For if Gregory had been an honest man he would never have willingly permitted that the people should have been further Cosened with such a lying spirit or if he had been half so holy as Eusebius maketh him he would not have consented or yielded to so lewd a request of the Priest nor have written such an impious Letter no not though good might have come thereof And therefore as well by the impossibility and folly contained therein as of the impiety whereof I dare excuse Gregory you may perceive it to be a lye Me thinks they which still maintain that the Devil made answer in the Idol of Apollo c. may have sufficient perswasion to revoke their erroneous opinions in that it appeareth in record that such men as were skilful in Augury did take upon them to give Oracles at Delphos in the place of Apollo of which number Tisanius the son of Antiochus was one But vain is the answer of Idols Our Rood of grace with the help of little S. Rumbal was not inferior to the Idol of Apollo for these could not work eternal miracles but manifest the internal thoughts of the heart I believe with more lively shew both of humanity and also of Divinity then the other As if you read M. Lamberts book of the perambulation of Kent it shall partly appear But if you talk with them that have been beholders thereof you will be satisfied herein And yet in the blind time of Popery no man might under pain or damnation nor without danger of death suspect the fraud Nay what Papists will yet confess they were Idols though the wiers that made their eyes gogle the pins that fastened them to the posts to make them seem heavy were seen and burnt together with the Images themselves the knavery of the Priests bewrayed and every circumstance thereof detected and manifested CHAP. VII How divers great Clerks and good Authors have been abused in this matter of spirits through false reports and by means of their credulity have published lies which are confuted by Aristotle and the Scriptures PLutarch Livy and Valerius Maximus with many other grave Authors being abused with false reports write that in times past beasts spake and that Images could have spoken and wept and did let fall drops of blood yea and could walk from place to place which they say was done by procreation of spirits But I rather think with Aristotle that it was brought to pass Hominum sacerdotum deceptionibus to wit by the cosening art of crafty Knaves and Priests And therefore let us follow Isaiah's advice who saith When they shall say unto you enquire of them that have a spirit of Divination and at the Soothsayers which whisper and mumble in your ears to deceive you c. enquire at your own God c. And so let us do And here you see they are such as run into corners and cosen the people with lies c. for if they could do as they say they could not aptly be called lyers neither need they to go into corners to whisper c. CHAP. VIII Of the Witch of Endor and whether she accomplished the raising of Samuel truly or by deceipt the opinion of some Divines hereupon THe Woman of Endor is comprised under this word Ob for she is called Pythonissa It is written in 1 Sam. 28. that she raised up Samuel from death and the other words of the text are strongly placed to inforce his very resurrection The mind and opinion of Jesus Sirach evidently appeareth to be that Samuel in person was raised out from his grave as if you read Eccl. 46.19 20. you shall plainly perceive Howbeit he disputeth not there whether the story be true or false but only citeth certain verses of 1 Sam. 28. simply according to the letter perswading to manners and the imitation of our vertuous predecessors and repeating the examples of divers excellent men namely of Samuel even as the text it self urgeth the

bonum Thou shalt not do evil that good may come thereof Lombertus saith that Witchcraft may be taken away by that means whereby it was brought But Gofridus inveyeth sore against the oppugners thereof Pope Nicholas the fifth gave indulgence and leave to Bishop Miraties who was so bewitched in his privities that he could not use the gift of Venery to seek remedy at Witches hands And this was the clause of his dispensation Ut ex duolus malis fugiatur majus that of two evils the greater should be avoided And so a Witch by taking his doublet cured him and killed the other Witch as the story saith which is to be seen in M. Mal. and divers other Writers CHAP. XX. Who are Priviledged from Witches what bodies are aptest to be bewitched or to be Witches why women are rather Witches than men and what they are NOw if you will know who and what persons are priviledged from Witches you must understand that they be even such as cannot be bewitched In the number of whom first be the Inquisitors and such as exercise publick justice upon them Howbeit a Justice in Essex whom for divers respects I have left unnamed not long since thought he was bewitched in the very instant whiles he examined the Witch so as his leg was broken thereby c. which either was false or else this rule untrue or both rather injurious unto Gods Providence Secondly such as observe duly the Rites and Ceremonies of the holy Church and worship them with reverence through the sprinkling of holy Water and receiving consecrated Salt by the lawful use of Candles hallowed on Candlemas-day and green leaves consecrated on Palm-sunday which things they say the Church useth for the qualifying of the Devils power are preserved from Witchcraft Thirdly some are preserved by their good Angels which attend and wait upon them But I may not omit here the reasons which they bring to prove what bodies are the more apt and effectual to execute the art of fascination And that is first they say the force of celestial bodies which indifferently communicated their vertues unto Men Beasts Trees Stones c. But this gift and natural influence of fascination may be increased in man according to his affections and perturbations as through anger fear love hate c. For by hate saith Varius entereth a fiery inflammation into the eye of man which being violently sent out by beams and streams c. infect and bewitch those bodies against whom they are opposed And therefore he saith in the favour of women that is the cause that women are oftner found to be Witches than men For saith he they have an unbridled force of fury and concupiscence naturally that by no means it is possible for them to temper or moderate the same So as upon every trifling occasion they like brute beast fix their furious eyes upon the party whom they bewitch Hereby it cometh to pass that whereas women having a marvellous sickle nature what grief soever happeneth unto them immediately all peaceableness of mind departeth and they are so troubled with evill humours that outgo their venemous exhalation ingendered through their ill-favoured dyet and increased by means of their pernicious excrements which they expel Women are also saith he monethly filled full of superfluous humors and with them the melancholike blood boileth whereof spring vapours and are carried up and conveyed through the nostrils and mouth c. to the bewitching of whatsoever it meeteth For they belch up a certain breath wherewith they bewitch whomsoever they list And of all other women lean hollow-eyed old beetle-browed women saith he are the most infectious Marry he saith that hot subtil and thin bodies are most subject to be bewitched if they be moist and all they generally whose veins pipes and passages of their bodies are open And finally he saith that all beautiful things whatsoever are soon subject to be bewitched as namely goodly young men fair women such as are naturally born to be rich goodly Beasts fair Horses rank Corn beautiful Trees c. Yea a friend of his told him that he saw one with his eye break a precious stone in pieces And all this he telleth as soberly as though it were true And if it were true honest women may be Witches in despight of all Inquisitors neither can any avoid being a Witch except she lock herself up in a chamber CHAP. XXI What Miracles Witchmongers report to have been done by Witches words c. Contradictions of Witchmongers among themselves how Beasts are cured hereby of bewitched Butter a Charm against Witches and a counter-Charm the effect of Charms and words proved by L. Varius to be wonderful IF I should go about to recite all Charms I should take an infinite work in hand For the Witching Writers hold opinion that any thing almost may be thereby brought to pass and that whether the words of the Charm be understandable or not it skilleth not so the Charmer have a steddy intention to bring his desire about And then what is it that cannot be done by words For L. Varius saith that old women have infeebled and killed Children with words and have made women with child miscarry they have made men pine away to death they have killed Horses deprived Sheep of their Milk transformed Men into Beasts flown in the air tamed and stayed wild Beasts driven all noisome Cattel and Vermine from Corn Vines and Herbs stayed Serpents c. and all with words Insomuch as he saith that with certain words spoken in a Bulls ear by a Witch the Bull hath fallen down to the ground as dead Yea some by vertue of words have gone upon a sharp sword and walked upon hot glowing coals without hurt with words saith he very heavy weights and burthens have been lifted up and with words wild Horses and wild Bulls have been tamed and also mad Dogs with words they have killed Worms and other Vermin and stayed all manner of Bleeding and Fluxes with words all the diseases in mans body are healed and wounds cured Arrows are with wonderful strangeness and cunning plucked out of mens bones Yea saith he there be many that can heal all bitings of Dogs or stingings of Serpents or any other poyson and all with nothing but words spoken And that which is most strange he saith that they can remedy any stranger and him that is absent with that very Sword wherewith they are wounded Yea and that which is beyond all admiration if they stroke the Sword upwards with their fingers the party shall feel no pain whereas if they draw their finger downwards thereupon the party wounded shall feel intolerable pain with a number of other cures done altogether by the vertue and force of words uttered and spoken Where by the way I may not omit this special note given by M. Mal. to wit that holy Water may not be sprinkled upon bewitched Beasts but must

upon the rack or torture their apparel must be changed and every hair in their body must be shaven off with a sharp razor Item If they have charms for taciturnity so as they feel not the common tortures and therefore confess nothing then some sharp instrument must be thrust betwixt every nail of their fingers and toes which as Bodin saith was King Childeberts devise and is to this day of all others the most effectual For by means of that extreme pain they will saith he confess any thing Item Paulus Grillandus being an old doer in these matters wisheth that when Witches sleep and feel no pain upon the torture Domine labia mea aperies should be said and so saith he both the torments will be felt and the truth will be uttered Et sic ars deluditur arte Item Bodin saith that at the time of examination there should be a semblance of great ado to the terrifying of the Witch and that a number of instruments ginns manacles ropes halters fetters c. be prepared brought forth and laid before the examinate and also that some be procured to make a most horrible and lamentable cry in the place of torture as though he or she were upon the rack or in the tormentors hands so as the examinate may hear it whiles she is examined before she her self be brought into the prison and perhaps saith he she will by this means confess the matter Item There must be subborned some crafty spy that may seem to be a prisoner with her in the like case who perhaps may in conference undermine her and so bewray and discover her Item If she will not yet confess she must be told that she is detected and accused by other of her companions and although in truth there be no such matter and so perhaps she will confess the rather to be revenged upon her adversaries and accusers CHAP. III. Matters of Evidence against Witches IF an old woman threaten or touch one being in health who dieth shortly after or else is infected with the Leprosie Apoplexie or any other strange disease it is saith Bodin a permanent fact and such an evidence as condemnation or death must insue without further proof if any body have mistrusted her or said before that she was a Witch Item If any come in or depart out of the chamber or house the doors being shut it is an apparent and sufficient evidence to a witches condemnation without further tryal which thing Bodin never saw If he can shew me that feat I will subscribe to his folly For Christ after his resurrection used the same not as a ridiculous toy that every Witch might accomplish but as a special miracle to strengthen the faith of the Elect. Item If a woman bewitch any bodies eyes she is to be executed without further proof Item If any inchant or bewitch mens Beasts or Corn or flie in the air or make a Dog speak or cut off any mans members and unite them again to men or childrens bodies it is sufficient proof to condemnation Item Presumptions and conjectures are sufficient proofs against Witches Item If three witnesses do but say Such a woman is a Witch then it is a clear case that she is to be executed with death Which matter Bodin saith is not only certain by the Canon and Civil Laws but by the opinion of Pope Innocent the wisest Pope as he saith that ever was Item The complaint of any one man of credit is sufficient to bring a poor woman to the rack or pully Item A condemned or infamous persons testimony is good and allowable in matters of Witch-craft Item A Witch is not to be delivered though she endure all the tortures and confess nothing as all other are in any criminal cases Item Though in other cases the depositions of many women at one instant are disabled as sufficient in law because of the imbecility and frailty of their nature or sex yet in this matter one woman though she be a party either accuser or accused and be also infamous and impudent for such are Bodins words yea and already condemned she may nevertheless serve to accuse and condemn a Witch Item A witness uncited and offering himself in this case is to be heard and in none other Item A captial Enemy if the enmity be pretended to grow by means of Witchcraft may object against a Witch and none exception is to be had or made against him Item Although the proof of perjury may put back a witness in all other causes yet in this a perjured person is a good and lawful witness Item The Proctors and Advocates in this case are compelled to be witnesses against their Clients in none other case they are to be constrained thereunto Item None can give evidence against Witches touching their assemblies but Witches only as Bodin saith none other can do it Howbeit Ri. Ga. writeth that he came to the God-speed and with his sword and Buckler killed the Devil or at the last he wounded him so sore that he made him stink of Brimstone Item Bodin saith that because this is an extraordinary matter there must herein be extraordinary dealing and all manner of wayes are to be used direct and indirect CHAP. IV. Confessions of Witches whereby the are condemned SOme Witches confess saith Bodin that are desirous to dye not for glory but for despair because they are tormented in their life time But these may not be spared saith he although the law doth excuse them The best and surest confession is at strife to her ghostly father Item If she confess many things that are false and one thing that may be true she is to be taken and executed upon that confession Item She is not so guilty that confesseth a falshood or a lye and denyeth a truth as she that answereth by circumstance Item An equivocal or doubtful answer is taken for a confession against a Witch Item Bodin reporteth that one confessed that he went out or rather up in the air and was transported many miles to the Fairies dance only because he would spy unto what place his wife went to hagging and how she behaved her self Whereupon was much ado among the Inquisitors and Lawyers to discuss whether he should be executed with his wife or no But it was concluded that he must die because he bewrayed not his wife the which he forbare to do Propter reverentiam honoris familiae Item If a woman confess freely herein before question be made and yet afterward deny it she is nevertheless to be burned Item They affirm that this extremity is herein used because not one among a thousand Witches is detected And yet it is affirmed by Sprenger in M. Mal. that there is not so little a Parish but there are many Witches known to be there CHAP. V. Presumptions whereby Witches are condemned IF any womans Child chance to dye at her hand so as no body knoweth how

it may not be thought or presumed that the Mother killed it except she be supposed a Witch and in that case it is otherwise for she must upon that presumption be executed except she can prove the negative or contrary Item If the child of a woman that is suspected to be a Witch be lacking or gone from her it is to be presumed that she hath sacrificed it to the Devil except she can prove the negative or contrary Item Though in other persons certain points of their Confessions may be thought erroneous and imputed to error yet in Witches causes all oversights imperfections and escapes must be adjudged impious and malicious and tend to her confusion and condemnation Item Though a Theif be not said in law to be infamous in any other matter than in theft yet a Witch defamed of witchcraft is said to be defiled with all manner of faults and infamies universally though she were not condemned but as I said defamed with the name of Witch For rumors and reaports are sufficient saith Bodin to condemn a Witch Item If any man woman or child do say that such a one is a Witch it is a most vehement suspicion saith Bodin and sufficient to bring her to rack though in all other cases it be directly against law Item In presumptions and suspicions against a Witch the common brute or voyce of the people cannot err Item If a woman when she is apprehended cry out or say I am undone Save my life I will tell you how the matter standeth c. she is thereupon most vehemently to be suspected and condemned to dy Item Though a Conjurer be not to be condemned for curing the diseased by vertue of his Art yet must a Witch die for the like case Item The behaviour looks becks and countenance of a woman are sufficient signes whereby to presume she is a Witch for always they look down to the ground and dare not look a man full in the face Item If their Parents were thought to be Witches then it is certainly to be presumed that they are so but it is not so to be thought of Whores Item It is a vehement presumption if she cannot weep at the time of her examination and yet Bodin saith that a Witch may shed three drops out of her right eye Item It is not only a vehement suspition and presumption but an evident proof of a Witch if any man or beast dye suddenly where she hath been seen lately although her witching-stuffe be not found or espyed Item If any body use familiarity or company with a Witch convicted it is a sufficient presumption against that person to be adjudged a Witch Item That evidence that may serve to bring in any other person to examination may serve to bring a Witch to her condemnation Item Herein judgment must be pronounced and executed as Bodin saith without order and not like to the orderly proceeding and form of judgment in other crimes Item A Witch may not be brought to the torture suddenly or before long examination least she go away scot-free for they feel no torments and therefore care not for the same as Bodin affirmeth Item Little children may be had to the torture at the first dash but so may it not be done with old women as is aforesaid Item If she have any privy mark under her arm-pits under her hair under her lip or in her buttock or in her privities it is a presumption sufficient for the Judge to proceed and give sentence of death upon her The only pity they shew to a poor woman in this case is that though she be accused to have slain any body with her Inchantments yet if she can bring forth the party alive she shall not be put to death Whereat I marvel in as much as they can bring the Devil in any bodies likeness and representation Item Their Law saith that an uncertain presumption is sufficient when a certain presumption faileth CHAP. VI. Particular Interrogatories used by the Inquisitors against Witches I Need not stay to confute such partial and horrible dealings being so apparently impious and full of tyranny which except I should have so manifestly detected even with their own writings and assertions few or none would have believed But for brevities sake I will pass over the same supposing that the citing of such absurdities may stand for a sufficient confutation thereof Now therefore I will proceed to a more particular order and manner of examinations c. used by the Inquisitors and allowed for the most part throughout all Nations First the Witch must be demanded why she touched such a child or such a cow c. and afterward the same child or cow fell sick or lame c. Item Why her two Kine give more milk than her neighbours And the note before mentioned is here again set down to be specially observed of all men to wit that though a Witch cannot weep yet she may speak with a crying voyce Which assertion of weeping is false and contrary to the saying of Seneca Cato and many others which affirm that a woman weepeth when she meaneth most deceipt and therefore saith M. Mal. she must be well looked unto otherwise she will put spittle privily upon her cheeks seem to weep which rule also Bodin saith is infallible But alas that tears should be thought sufficient to excuse or condemn in so great a cause and so weighty a tryal I am sure that the worst sort of the children of Israel wept bitterly yea if there were any Witches at all in Israel they wept For it is written That all the children of Israel wept Finally if there be any Witches in Hell I am sure they weep for there is weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth But God knoweth many an honest Matron cannot sometimes in the heaviness of her heart shed tears the which oftentimes are more ready and common with crafty queans and strumpets than with sober women For we read of two kinds of tears in a womans eye the one of true grief the other of deceipt And it is written that Dediscere flere foeminium est mendacium which argueth that they lye which say that wicked women cannot weep But let these Tormentors take heed that the tears in this case which run down the widows cheeks with their cry spoken by Jesus Syrach be not heard above But lo what learned godly and lawful means these Popish Inquisitors have invented for the trial of true or false tears CHAP. VII The Inquisitors tryal of Weeping by Conjuration I Conjure thee by the amorous tears which Jesus Christ our Saviour shed upon the Cross for the salvation of the world and by the most earnest and burning tears of his Mother the most glorious Virgin Mary sprinkled upon his wounds late in the evening and by all the tears which every Saint and elect Vessel of God hath poured out here in the world and

Assemblies and of their Bargain THat the joyning of hands with the Devil the kissing of his bare buttocks and his scratching and biting of them are absurd lies every one hauing the gift of reason may plainly perceive insomuch as it is manifest unto us by the word of God that a spirit hath no flesh bones nor sinews whereof hands buttocks claws teeth and lips do consist For admit that the constitution of a Devils body as Tatian and other affirm consisteth in spiritual congelations as of fire and air yet it cannot be perceived of mortal creatures What credible witness is there brought at any time of this their corporal visible and incredible bargain saving the confession of some person diseased both in body and mind wilfully made or injuriously constrained It is marvel that no penitent Witch that forsaketh her trade confesseth not these things without compulsion Me thinketh their covenant made at Baptism with God before good witnesses sanctified with the Word confirmed with his Promises and established with his Sacraments should be of more force then that which they make with the Devil which no body seeth or knoweth For God deceiveth none with whom he bargaineth neither doth he mock or disappoint them although he dance not among them The oath to procure into their league and fellowship as many as they can whereby every one Witch as Bodin affirmeth augmenteth the number of fifty bewrayeth greatly their indirect dealing Hereof I have made trial as also of the residue of their cousening devises and have been with the best or rather the worst of them to see what might be gathered out of their counsels and have cunningly treated with them thereabouts and further have sent certain old persons to indent with them to be admited into their society But as well by their excuses and delaies as by other circumstances I have tried and found all their trade to be meer cosening I pray you what bargain have they made with the Devil that with their angry looks bewitch lambs children c. Is it not confessed that it is natural though it be a lye What bargain maketh the Sooth-sayer which hath his several kinds of Witchcraft and Divination expressed in the Scripture Or is it not granted that they make none How chanceth it that we hear not of this bargain in the Scriptures CHAP. VII A Confutation of the Objection concerning Witches Confessions IT is confessed say some by the way of objection even of these women themselves that they do these and such other horrible things as deserveth death with all extremity c. Whereunto I answer that whosoever considerately beholdeth their confessions shall perceive all to be vain idle false inconstant and of no weight except their contempt and ignorance in religion which is rather the fault of the negligent Pastor than of the simple woman First if their confession be made by compulsion of force or authority or by peswasion and under colour of friendship it is not to be regarded because the extremity of threats and tortures provokes it or the quality of fair words and allurements constrains it If it be voluntary many circumstances must be considered to wit whether she appeach not her self to overthrow her neighbour which many times happeneth through their cankered and malicious melancholick humour then whether in that same melancholick mood and frantick humor she desire not the abridgement of her own daies Which thing Aristotle saith doth oftentimes happen unto persons subject to melancholick passions and as Bodin and Sprenger say to these old women called Witches which many times as they affirm refuse to live threatning the Judges that if they may not be burned they will lay hands upon themselves and so make them guilty of their damnation I my self have known that where such a one could not prevail to be accepted as a sufficient witness against himself he presently went and threw himself into a pond of water where he was drowned But the law saith Volenti mori non est habenda fides that is His word is not to be credited that is desirous to dye Also sometimes as elswhere I have proved they confess that whereof they were never guilty supposing that they did that which they did nor by means of certain circumstances And as they sometimes confess impossibilities as that they fly in the air transubstantiate themselves raise tempests transferr or remove corn c. so do they also I say confess voluntarily that which no man could prove and that which no man would guess nor yet believe except he were as mad as they so as they bring death wilfully upon themselves which argueth an unsound mind If they confess that which hath been indeed committed by them as poysoning or any other kind of murther which falleth into the power of such persons to accomplish I stand not to defend their cause Howbeit I would wish that even in that case there be not too rash credit given nor too hasty proceedings used against them but that the causes properties and circumstances of every thing be duly considered and diligently examined For you shall understand that as sometimes they confess they have murthered their neighbours with a wish sometimes with a word sometimes with a look c. so they confess that with the delivering of an apple or some such thing to a woman with child they have killed the child in the mothers womb when nothing was added thereunto which naturally could be noysome or hurtful In like manner they confess that with a touch of their bare hand they sometimes kill a man being in perfect health and strength of body when all his garments are betwixt their hand and his flesh But if this their confession be examined by Divinity Philosophy Physick Law or Conscience it will be found false and insufficient First for that the working of miracles is ceased Secondly no reason can be yielded for a thing so far beyond all reason Thirdly no receipt can be of such efficacy as when the same is touched with a bare hand from whence the veins have passage through the body unto the heart it should not annoy the person and yet retain vertue and force enough to pierce through so many garments and the very flesh incurable to the place of death in another person Cui argumento saith Bodin nescio quid responderi possit Fourthly no law will admit such a confession as yieldeth unto impossibities against the which there is never any law provided otherwise it would not serve a mans turn to plead and prove that he was at Berwick that day that he is accused to have done a murther in Canterbury for it might be said he was conveyed to Berwick and back again by inchantment Fifthly he is not by conscience to be executed which hath no sound mind nor perfect judgement And yet forsooth we read that one mother Stile did kill one Saddocke with a touch on the shoulder for not keeping promise

Anno Dom. 1542. when Sultan-Solimon reigned there was such force and multitude of these kind of Wolves in Constantinople that the Emperour drave together in one flock 150 of them which departed out of the City in the presence of all the people To perswade us the more throughly herein he saith That in Livonia yearly about the end of December a certain Knave or Devil warneth all the Witches in the Countrey to come to a certain place if they fail the Devil cometh and whippeth them with an Iron rod so as the print of the lashes remains upon their bodies for ever The captain Witch leadeth the way through a great pool of water many millions of Witches swim after They are no sooner passed through that water but they are all transformed into Wolves and fly upon and devour both Men Women Cattel c. After twelve dayes they return through the same water and so receive humane shape again Item that there was one Bajanus a Jew being the Son of Simeon which could when he list turn himself into a Wolf and by that means could escape the force and danger of a whole Army of men Which thing saith Bodin is wonderful but yet saith he it is much more marvellous that men will not believe it For many Poets affirm it yea and if you look well into the matter saith he you shall find it easie to do Item he saith that as natural Wolves persecute beasts so do these Magical Wolves devour men women and children And yet God saith to the People I trow and not to the Cattel of Israel If you observe not my commandements I will send among you the beasts of the field which shall devour both you and your cattel Item I will send the teeth of beasts upon you Where is Bodins distinction now become He never saith I will send Witches in the likeness of Wolves c. to devour you or your cattel Nevertheless Bodin saith it is a clear case for the matter was disputed upon before Pope Leo the seventh and by him all the matters were judged possible and at that time saith he were the transformations of Lucian and Apuleius made canonical Furthermore he saith that through this art they are so cunning that no man can apprehend them but when they are asleep Item he nameth another Witch that as M. Mal. saith could not be caught because he would transform himself into a mouse and run into every little hole till at length he was killed coming out of the hole of a jam in a window which indeed is as possible as a Camel to go through a needles eye Item he saith that divers Witches at Vernon turned themselves into Cats and both committed and received much hurt But at Argentine there was a wonderful matter done by three Witches of great wealth who transforming themselves into three Cats assaulted a Faggot-maker who having hurt them all with a faggot-stick was like to have been put to death But he was miraculously delivered and they worthily punished as the story saith from whence Bodin had it After a great many other such beastly fables he inveyeth against such Physitians as say that Lycanthropia is a disease and a transformation Item he maintaineth as sacred and true all Homers fables of Circe and Ulysses his companions inveying against Chrysostome who rightly interpreteth Homers meaning to be that Ulysses his people were by the harlot Circe made in their brutish manners to resemble Swine But least some Poets fables might be thought lyes whereby the Witchmongers arguments should quail he maintaineth for true the most part of Ovids Metamorphosis and the greatest absurdities and impossibilities in all that book marry he thinketh some one tale therein may be fained Finally he confirmeth all these toyes by the story of Nebuchadnezzar And because saith he Nebuchadnezzar continued seven years in the shape of a beast therefore may Witches remain so long in the form of a beast having in all the mean time the shape hair voice strength agility swiftness food and excrements of beasts and yet reserve the minds and souls of Women or Men. Howbeit St. Augustine whether to confute or confirm that opinion judge you saith Non est credendum humanum corpus daemonum arte vel potestate in bestialia lineamenta converti posse We may not believe that a mans body may be altered into the lineaments of a beast by the Devils art or power Item Bodin saith that the reason why Witches are most commonly turned into Wolves is because they usually eat children as Wolves eat cattle Item that the cause why other are truly turned into Asses is for that such have been desirous to understand the secrets of Witches Why Witches are turned into Cats he alledgeth no reason and therefore to help him forth with that paraphrase I say that Witches are curst queans and many times scratch one another or their neighbours by the faces and therefore perchance are turned into Cats But I have put twenty of these Witchmongers to silence with this one question to wit Whether a Witch that can turn a Woman into a Cat c. can also turn a Cat into a Woman CHAP. II. Absurd reasons brought by Bodin and such others for confirmation of Transformations THese examples and reasons might put us in doubt that every Asse Wolf or Cat that we see were a Man a Woman or a Child I marvel that no man useth this distinction in the definition of a man But to what end should one dispute against these creations and recreations when Bodin washeth away all our arguments with one word confessing that none can create any thing but God acknowledging also the force of the Canons and embracing the opinions of such Divines as write against him in this behalf Yea he doth now contrary to himself elsewhere affirm that the Devil cannot alter his form And lo this is his distinction Non essentialis forma id est ratio sed figura solum permutatur The essential form to wit reason is not changed but the shape or figure And thereby he proveth it easie enough to create men or beasts with life so as they remain without reason Howbeit I think it is an easier matter to turn Bodines reason into the reason of an Asse than his body into the shape of a Sheep which be saith is an easie matter because Lots wife was turned into a stone by the Devil Whereby he sheweth his gross ignorance As though God that commanded Lot upon pain of death not to look back who also destroyed the City of Sodome at that instant had not also turned her into a salt stone And as though all this while God had been the Devils drudge to go about this business all the night before and when a miracle should be wrought the Devil must be fain to do it himself Item he affirmeth that these kind of Tranfigurations are more common with them in the West

miserable and therefore it should be unto them Invita Minerva to banquet or dance with Minerva or yet with Herodias as the common opinion of all Writers herein is On the other side we see they are so malicious and spiteful that if they by themselves or by their Devils could trouble the Element we should never have fair weather If they could kill men children or cattel they would spare none but would destroy and kill whole Countries and Housholds If they could transfer Corn as is affirmed from their neighbours field into their own none of them would be poor none other should be rich If they could transform themselves and others as it is most constantly affirmed oh what a number of Apes and Owls should there be of us If Incubus could beget Merlins among us we should have a jolly many of cold Prophets CHAP. IV. Why God forbad the practice of Witchcraft the absurdity of the Law of the twelve Tables whereupon their estimation in miraculous actions is grounded of their wondrous works THough it be apparent that the Holy-Ghost forbiddeth this Art because of the abuse of the Name of God and the cosenage comprehended therein yet I confess the Customs and Laws almost of all Nations do declare that all these miraculous works before by me cited and many other things more wonderful were attributed to the power of Witches The which Laws with the executions and judicials thereupon and the Witches confessions have beguiled almost the whole world What absurdities concerning Witchcraft are written in The Laew of the Twelve Tables which was the highest and most ancient Law of the Romans Whereupon the strongest argument of Witches omnipotent power is framed as that the wisdom of such Law-givers could not be abused Whereof me thinks might be made a more strong argument on our side to wit if the chief and principal Laws of the world be in this case ridiculous vain false incredible yea and contrary to Gods Law the residue of the laws and arguments to that effect are to be suspected If that argument should hold it might prove all the Popish Laws against Protestants and the Heathenish Princes Laws against Christians to be good and in force for it is like they would not have made them except they had been good Were it not think you a strange Proclamation that no man upon pain of death should pull the Moon out of Heaven And yet very many or the most learned Witchmongers make their arguments upon weaker grounds as namely in this form and manner We find in Poets that Witches wrought such and such miracles Ergo they can accomplish and do this or that wonder The words of the law are these Qui fruges incantasset poenas dato Neve aelienam segetem pellexeris excantando neque incaentando Ne agrum defruganto the sense whereof in English is this Let him be executed that bewitcheth Corn Transferr not other mens Corn into thy ground by Inchantment Take heed thou inchant not at all neither make thy neighbours field barren he that doth these things shall dye c. CHAP. V. An instance of one arraigned upon the Law of the Twelve Tables where the said Law is proved ridiculous of two Witches that could do wonders ALthough among us we think them bewitched that wax suddenly poor and not them that grow hastily rich yet at Rome you shall understand that as Pliny reporteth upon these Articles one C. Furius Crassus was convented before Spurius Albinus for that he being but a little while free and delivered from bondage occupying only tillage grew rich on the sudden as having good crops so as it was suspected that he transferred his neighbours Corn into his Fields No intercession no delay no excuse no denial would serve neither in jest nor derision nor yet through sober or honest means but he was assigned a peremptory day to answer for life And therefore fearing the sentence of condemnation which was to be given there by the voyce and verdict of three men as we here are tryed by twelve made his appearance at the day assigned and brought with him his Ploughs and Harrows Spades and Shovels and other Instruments of husbandry his Oxen Horses and working Bullocks his Servants and also his Daughter which was a sturdy Wench and a good Houswife and also as Piso reporteth well trimmed up in Apparel and said to the whole Bench in this wise Lo here my Lords here I make my appearance according to promise and your pleasures presenting unto you my Charms and Witchcrafts which have so inriched me As for the labour sweat watching care and diligence which I have used in this behalf I cannot shew them at this time And by this means he was dismissed by the consent of the Court who otherwise as it was thought should hardly have escaped the sentence of condemnation and punishment of death It is constantly affirmed in M. Mal. that Stafus used alwayes to hide himself in a Monshoal and had a Disciple called Hoppo who made Stadlin a Master Witch and could all when they list invisibly transfer the third part of their neighbours Dung Hay Corn c. into their own ground make Hail Tempests and Floods with Thunder and Lightning and kill Children Cattel c. reveal things hidden and many other Tricks when and where they list But these two shifted not so well with the Inquisitors as the other with the Roman and Heathen Judges Howbeit Stafus was too hard for them all for none of all the Lawyers nor Inquisitors could bring him to appear before them if it be true that Witchmongers write in these matters CHAP. VI. Laws provided for the punishment of such Witches as work Miracles whereof some are mentioned and of certain Popish Laws published against them THere are other Laws of other Nations made to this incredible effect as Lex Salicarum provideth punishment for them that flie in the Air from place to place and meet at their nightly Assemblies and brave banquets carrying with them Plate and such stuffe c. even as we should make a law to hang him that should take a Church in his hand at Dover and throw it to Caellice And because in this case also Popish laws shall be seen be to as foolish and lewd as any other whatsoever and specially as tyrannous as that which is most cruel you shall hear what trim new laws the Church of Rome hath lately devised These are therefore the words of Pope Innocent the eight to the Inquisitors of Almaine and of Pope Julius the second sent to the Inquisitors of Bergomen It is come to our ears that many lewd persons of both kinds as well male as female using the company of the Devils Incubus and Succubus with Incantations Charms Conjurations c. do destroy c. the births of women with child the young of all Cattel the Corn of the Field the Grapes of the Vines the fruit of the Trees Ieem Men women

stroke we stricken bee If hard at hand and near in place Then ruddy colour fils the face Thus much may seem sufficient touching this matter of Natural Magick whereunto though much more may be annexed yet for the avoiding of tediousness and for speedier passage to that which remaineth I will break off this present Treatise And now somewhat shall be said concerning Devils and Spirits in the discourse following The Contents of the Chapters in the Sixteen Fore-going BOOKS BOOK I. CHAP. I. AN Impeachment of Witches power in Meteors and Elementary Bodies tending to the rebuke of such as attribute too much unto them Page 1 CHAP. II. The inconvenience growing by mens credulity herein with a reproof of some Church-men which are inclined to the common conceived opinion of Witches omnipotency and a familiar example thereof Page 3 CHAP. III. Who they be that are called Witches with a manifest declaration of the cause that moveth men so commonly to think and Witches themselves to believe that they can hurt Children Cattel c. with words and imaginnations and of cosening Witches Page 4. CHAP. IV. What miraculous actions are imputed to Witches by Witchmongers Papists and Poets Page 5 CHAP. V. A Confutation of the common conceived opinion of Witches and Witchcraft and how detestable a sin it is to repair to them for counsel or help in time of affliction Page 7 CHAP. VI. A further confutation of Witches miraculous and omnipotent power by invincible Reasons and Authorities with disswasions from such fond credulity ibid. CHAP. VII By what means the name of Witches becometh so famous and how diverssly people be opinioned concerning them and their actions Page 8 CHAP. VIII Causes that move as well Witches themselves as others to think that they can work impossibilities with answers to certain objections where also their punishment by law is touched Page 9 CHAP. IX A conclusion of the first Book wherein is foreshewed the tyrannical cruelty of Witchmongers and Inquisitors with a request to the Reader to peruse the same Page 10 BOOK II. CHAP. I. WHat Testimonies and Witnesses are allowed to give evidence against reputed Witches by the report and allowance of the Inquisitors themselves and such as are special writers herein Page 11 CHAP. II. The order of Examination of Witches by the Inquisitors ibid. CHAP. III. Matters of evidence against Witches Page 13 CHAP. IV. Confessions of Witches whereby they are condemned Page 14 CHAP. V. Presumptions whereby Witches are condemned ibid. CHAP. VI. Particular Interrogatories used by the Inquisitors against Witches Page 15 CHAP. VII The Inquisitors tryal of Weeping by Conjuration Page 16 CHAP. VIII Certain cautions against Witches and of their tortures to procure Confession ibid. CHAP. IX The fifteen Crimes laid to the charge of Witches by Witchmongers specially by Bodin in Demonomania Page 18 CHAP. X. A Confutation of the former surmised Crimes patched together by Bodin and the only way to escape the Inquisitors hands Page 19 CHAP. XI The Opinion of Cornelius Agrippa concerning Witches of his pleading for a poor woman accused of Witchcraft and how he convinced the Inquisitors Page 20 CHAP. XII What the fear of death and feeling of torments may force one to do and that it is no marvel though Witches condemn themselves by their own Confessions so tyrannically extorted Page 21 BOOK III. CHAP. I. The Witches bargain with the Devil according to M. Mal. Bodin Nider Daneus Psellus Erastus Hemingius Cumanus Aquinas Bartholomeus spineus c. Page 22 CHAP. II. The order of the Witches homage done as it is written by lewd Inquisitors and peevish Witchmongers to the Devil in person of their Songs and Dances and namely of Lavolta and of other Ceremonies also of their Excourses Page 23 CHAP. III. How Witches are summoned to appear before the Devil of their riding in the air of their accompts of their conference with the Devil of his supplies and their conference of their farewell and sacrifices according to Daneus Psellus c. Page 24 CHAP. IV. That there can no real league be made with the Devil the first Author of the league and the weak proofs of the Adversaries for the same ibid. CHAP. V. Of the private league a notable table of Bodin concerning a French Lady with a confutation Page 25 CHAP. VI. A Disproof of their Assemblies and of their Bargain Page 26 CHAP. VII A Confutation of the Objection concerning Witches Confession Page 27 CHAP. VIII What folly it were for Witches to enter into such desperate peril and to endure such intolerable torments for no gain or commodity and how it comes to pass that Witches are overthrown by their Confessions Page 28 CHAP. IX How Melancholy abuseth old women and of the effects thereof by sundry examples Page 29 CHAP. X. That voluntary Confession may be untruly made to the undoing of the Confessors and of the strange operation of Melancholy proved by a familiar and late example Page 30 CHAP. XI The strange and divers effects of Melancholy and how the same humor abounding in Witches or rather old women filleth them full of marvellous imaginations and that their Confessions are not to be credited Page 31 CHAP. XII A Confutation of Witches Confessions especially concerning the League Page 32 CHAP. XIII A Confutation of Witches Confessions concerning making of Tempests and Rain of the natural cause of Rain and that Witches or Devils have no power to do such things Page 33 CHAP. XIV What would ensue if Witches Confessions or Witchmongers opinions were true concerning the effects of Witchcraft Inchantments c. Page 34 CHAP. XV. Examples of foreign Nations who in their Wars used the assistance of Witches of Eybiting Witches in Ireland of two Archers that shot with Familiars Page 35 CHAP. XVI Authors condemning the fantastical Confessions of Witches and how a Popish Doctor taketh upon him to disprove the same Page 36 CHAP. XVII Witchmongers Reasons to prove that Witches can work Wonders Bodin's tale of a Friseland Priest transported that imaginations proceeding of Melancholy do cause illusions Page 37 CHAP. XVIII That the Confession of Witches is insufficient in civil and common Law to take away life What the sounder Divines and Decrees of Councels determin in this case ibid. CHAP. XIX Of four capital crimes objected against Witches all fully an swered and confuted as frivolous Page 39 CHAP. XX. A request to such Readers as loath to hear or read filthy and bawdy matters which of necessity are here to be inserted to pass over eight Chapters Page 40 BOOK IV. CHAP. I. OF Witchmongers opinions concerning evil Spirits how they frame themselves in more excellent sort than God made us Page 41 CHAP. II. Of bawdy Incubus and Succubus and whether the action of Venery may be performed between Witches and Devils and when Witches first yielded to Incubus ibid. CHAP. III. Of the Devils visible and invisible dealing with Witches in the way of lechery Page 42 CHAP. IV. That the power of generation is both outwardly