fence of witchcraft, conjuration, inchantment, or forcery. To deny the poffibility, nay, actual existence, of witchcraft and forcery, is at once flatly to contradict the revealed word of God, in various paffages both of the old and new testament: and the thing itfelf is a truth to which every nation in the world hath in its turn born testimony, by either examples feemingly well attested, or prohibitory laws, which at least fuppofe the poffibility of a commerce with evil fpirits. The civil law punishes with death not only the forcerers themfelves, but also thofe who confult them(e); imitating in the former the exprefs law of God (f)," thou fhalt not fuffer a witch to live." And our own laws both before and fince the conquest, have been equally penal; ranking this crime in the fame class with herefy, and condemning both to the flames (g). The prefideut Montefquieu (h) ranks them alfo both together, but with a very different view: laying it down as an important maxim, that we ought to be very circumfpect in the prosecution of magic and herefy; because the most unexceptionable conduct, he purest morals, and the constant practice of every duty in life, are not a fufficient fecurity against the fufpicion of crimes like thefe. And indeed the ridiculous stories that are generally told, and the many impostors and delufions that have been discovered in all ages, are enough to demolish all faith in fuch a dubious crime; if the contrary evidence were not alfo extremely strong. Wherefore it feems to be the most eligible way to couclude, with an ingenuous writer of our own (i), that in general there has been fuch a thing as witchcraft; though one cannot give credit to any particular modern instance of it. Our forefathers were stronger believers, when they enacted by statute 33 Hen. VIII. c. 8. all witchcraft and forcery to be felony without benefit of clergy; and again by statute 1 Jac. I. c. 12. that all perfons invoking any (e) Cod. l. 9. t. 18 (h) Sp. L. b. 12. c. 5. evil fpirit, or coufulting, covenanting with, entertaining, employing, feeding, or rewarding an evil fpirit; or tak ing up dead bodies from their graves to be used in any witchcraft, forcery, or inchantment; or killing or otherwife hurting any perfon by fuch infernal arts; fhould be guilty of felony without the benefit of clergy, and fuffer death. And, if any perfon fhould attempt by forcery to difcover hidden treasure, or to restore stolen goods, or to provoke unlawful love, or to hurt any man or beast,. though the fame were not effected, he or the fhould fuffer imprisonment or pillory for the first offence, and death for the fecond. Thefe acts continued in force till lately, to the terror of all the ancient females in the kingdom: and many poor wretches were facrificed thereby to the prejudice of their neighbours, and their own illufions; not a few having, by fome means or other, confeffed the fact at the gallows. But all executions for this dubious. crime is now at an end; our legiflature having at length followed the wife example of Louis XIV in France, who thought proper by an edict to restrain the tribunals of justice from receiving information of witchcraft (k) And accordingly it is with us enacted by statute 9 Geo.. II. c. 5. that no perfecution fhall for the future be carri ed on against any perfon for conjuration, witchcraft, forcery or inchant nent. But the mifdemefnor of perfons pretending to ufe witchcraft, tell fortunes, or discover stolen goods by skill in occult fciences, is still defervedly punished with a year's imprifonment, and standing four times in the pillory. A feventh fpecies of offenders in this clafs are all re-. ligious impostors: fuch as falfly pretend an extraordina ry commiffion from heaven; or terrify and abuse the people with falfe denunciations of judgments. Thefe, as tending to fubvert all religion, by bringing it into ridicule (k) Voltaire Siecl. Louis xiv. Mod. Univ. Hist. xxv. 2.15. Yet Vouglans, (de droit criminel, 353 359.). still reckons up forcery and witchcraft among the crimes punishable in France. and contempt, are punishable by the temporal courts with fine, imprisonment, and infamous corporal punishment (1). The feveral methods of trial and conviction of offen- . ders, established by the laws of England, were formerly more numerous than at prefent, through the fuperstition of our Saxon ancestors: who, like other northern nations, were extremely addicted to divination; a character, which Tacitius obferves of the antient Germans*. They therefore invented a confiderable number of methods of purgation or trial, to preserve innocence from the danger of falfe witneffes, and in confequence of a notion that God would always interpofe miraculously, to vindicate the guiltlefs.. The most ancient fpecies of trial was that by ordeal; which was peculiarly distinguished by the appellation of judicium Dei; and fometimes vulgaris purgatio, to diftinguish it from the canonical purgation, which was by the oath of the party. This was of two fortst, either by fire-ordeal, or water-ordeal; the former being confined to perfons of higher rank, the latter to common people. Both these might be performed by deputy: but the principal was to answer for the fuccefs of the trial; the deputy only venturing some corporal pain, for hire, or perhaps for frendship (d). Fire-ordeal was performed either by taking up in the hand, unhurt, a peice of red hot iron, of one, two, or three pounds weight; or else by walking barefoot, and blindfold, over nine redhot plowshares, laid lengthwife at unequal distances: and if the party efcaped being hurt, he was adjudged innocent; but if it happened otherwife, as without collufion it ufually did, he was then condemned as guilty. However, by this (1) 1 Hawk. P. C. 7. * de mor. germ. 10. (d) This is still expreffed in that common form of fpeech, of "going through fire and water ferve ano ther." latter method queen Emma, the mother of Edward the confeffor, is mentioned to have cleared her character, when fufpected of familiarity with Alwyn bishop of Winchester (e). Water-ordeal was performed, either by plunging the bare arm up to the elbow in boiling water, and escaping unhurt thereby and, if he floated therein without any action of swimming, it was deemed an evidence of his guilt: but, if he funk, he was acquitted. It is easy to trace out the traditional relics of this water-ordeal, in the ignorant barbarity still practifed in many countries to dif cover witches, by cafting them into a pool of water, and drowning them to prove their innocence. And in the Eastern empire the fire-ordeal was used to the fame purpose by the emperor Theodore Lafcaris; who, attributing his fickness to magic, caufed, all thofe whom he fufpected to handle the hot iron: thus joining, as has been well remarked, to the most dubious crime in the world, the most dubious proof of innocence. ror. The progress of fcience is fatal to every fpecies of erWe fee with indubitable clearness that the witchcraft, enchantment, and forceries of former ages, are vanishing away before the diffufive light of knowledge and men of literary habits, even though in fome measure fuperstitious, are becoming every day more unwilling to subscribe to fuch degrading follies. We have seen by the preceding paffages that the learned Blackstone was wibrating between rational and fcriptúral impulfes ;-between the dictates of his understanding and the fear of popular cenfure. The divine authority of the sacred writings was the caufe of this, and fo long as books are fubstituted for the folid truths of the moral and physical world, fo long man will be fubjected to a baneful influence, and the powers of his understanding benumbed by the voice of authority. It is in vain to talk of the (e) Tho. Rudborne Hist. maj. Winton. I. 4. c. I. wifdom of our ancestors-to extol the knowledge of an tiquity, and place it in oppofition to the modern deduction of reason, when historic details prefent us with fuch a mais of witchcraft and difgusting stuff as that which is contained in the fhort extracts from Blackstone's Commentaries. Societies will be confidered as as a fortuitous aggregation of children until they fhall emancipate themfelves from the degrading bondage of a belief in the ftu pid nonfenfe of witchcraft, forcerers, dreams ghosts and a thousand other phantafms of which religious fupersti tion is the legitimate parent. OF THE SABBATH DAY OF CONNECTICUT. The word, fabbath, means REST, that is, ceffation from Jabour; but the stupid Blue Laws of Connecticut make a labour of rest, for they oblige a perfon to fit still from fun-rife to fun-fet on a fabbath day, which is hard work. Fanatcifm made thofe laws and hypocrify pretends to reverence them, for where fuch laws prevail hypocrify will prevail alfo. One of thofe laws fays, "No person fhall run on a fabbath-day, nor walk in his garden, nor elsewhere, but reverently to and from meeting." Thefe fanatical hypocrites forgot that that God dwells not in temples made with hands, and that the earth is full of his glory. One of the finest fcenes and fubjects of religious contempla tion is to walk into the woods and fields, and furvey the works of the God of the creation. The wide expanse of heaven, the earth covered with verdure, the lofty forest, the waving corn, the magnificent roll of mighty rivers, and the murmuring melody of the cheerful brooks are fcenes that infpire the mind with gratitude and delight; but this the gloomy Calvinist of Connecticut must not be *They were called Blue Laws because they were ori ginally printed on blue paper. |