CONCLUSION.
The volume of records of supposed necromancy and witchcraft is sufficiently copious, without its being in any way necessary to trace it through its latest relics and fragments. Superstition is so congenial to the mind of man, that, even in the early years of the author of the present volume, scarcely a village was unfurnished with an old man or woman who laboured under an ill repute on this score; and I doubt not many remain to this very day. I remember, when a child, that I had an old woman pointed out to me by an ignorant servant-maid, as being unquestionably possessed of the ominous gift of the "evil eye," and that my impulse was to remove myself as quickly as might be from the range of her observation.
But witchcraft, as it appears to me, is by no means so desirable a subject as to make one unwilling to drop it. It has its uses. It is perhaps right that we should be somewhat acquainted with this repulsive chapter in the annals of human nature. As the wise man says in the Bible, "It is good for us to resort to the house of those that mourn;" for there is a melancholy which is attended with beneficial effects, and "by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better." But I feel no propensity to linger in these dreary abodes, and would rather make a speedy exchange for the dwellings of healthfulness and a certain hilarity. We will therefore with the reader's permission at length shut the book, and say, "Lo, it is enough."
There is no time perhaps at which we can more fairly quit the subject, than when the more enlightened governments of Europe have called for the code of their laws, and have obliterated the statute which annexed the penalty of death to this imaginary crime.
So early as the year 1672, Louis XIV promulgated an order of the council of state, forbidding the tribunals from proceeding to judgment in cases where the accusation was of sorcery only. [228]
In England we paid a much later tribute to the progress of illumination and knowledge; and it was not till the year 1736 that a statute was passed, repealing the law made in the first year of James I, and enacting that no capital prosecution should for the future take place for conjuration, sorcery and enchantment, but restricting the punishment of persons pretending to tell fortunes and discover stolen goods by witchcraft, to that appertaining to a misdemeanour.
As long as death could by law be awarded against those who were charged with a commerce with evil spirits, and by their means inflicting mischief on their species, it is a subject not unworthy of grave argument and true philanthropy, to endeavour to detect the fallacy of such pretences, and expose the incalculable evils and the dreadful tragedies that have grown out of accusations and prosecutions for such imaginary crimes. But the effect of perpetuating the silly and superstitious tales that have survived this mortal blow, is exactly opposite. It only serves to keep alive the lingering folly of imbecile minds, and still to feed with pestiferous clouds the thoughts of the ignorant. Let us rather hail with heart-felt gladness the light which has, though late, broken in upon us, and weep over the calamity of our forefathers, who, in addition to the inevitable ills of our sublunary state, were harassed with imaginary terrors, and haunted by suggestions,
Whose horrid image did unfix their hair,
And make their seated hearts knock at their ribs,
Against the use of nature.
THE END.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Joshua, vii. 16, et seq.
[2] De Arte Poetica, v. 150.
[3] Romans, xi. 32.
[4] Comte de Gabalis.
[5] Genesis xli, 8, 25, &c.
[6] Exodus, vii. 11; viii. 19.
[7] Ibid, xxii. 18.
[8] Deuteronomy, xviii. 10,11.
[9] Leviticus, xx. 27.
[10] Numbers, xxii. 5,6,7.
[11] Numbers, xxiv, 1.
[12] Ibid, xxiii. 23.
[13] 1 Sam. xxviii. 6, et seq.
[14] 2 Kings, xxi. 6.
[15] 1 Kings, xxii. 20, et seqq.
[16] 1 Chron. xxi. 1,7,14.
[17] 2 Kings, i. 2,3,4.
[18] Matthew, xii. 24.
[19] Genesis, xliv. 5.
[20] Genesis, xliv. 15.
[21] Brewster on Natural Magic, Letter IX.
[22] De Natura Deorum, Lib. I, c. 38.
[23] Plato, De Republica, Lib. X, sub finem.
[24] Batrachos, v. 1032.
[25] De Arte Poetica, v.391.
[26] Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, Tom. V, p. 117.
[27] De Arte Poetica, v. 391, 2, 3.
[28] Virgil, Georgiea, Lib. IV. v. 461, et seqq.
[29] Georgiea, iv, 525.
[30] Metamorphoses, xi, 55.
[31] Philostratus, Heroica, cap. v.
[32] Horat, de Arte Poetica, v. 394. Pausanias.
[33] Odyssey, Lib. XI, v. 262.
[34] Statius, Thebais, Lib. X. v. 599.
[35] Ibid, Lib. IV, v. 599.
[36] Ibid, Lib. IV, v. 409, et seqq.
[37] Lib. IV, c. 36.
[38] Iamblichus.
[39] Julius Firmicus, apud Scaliger, in Eusebium.
[40] Iamblichus, Vita Pythagorae.
[41] Pluto, Charmides.
[42] Chronological Account of Pythagoras and his Contemporaries.
[43] Laertius, Lib. VIII, c. 3.
[44] Lloyd, ubi supra.
[45] Iamblichus, c. 17.
[46] Iamblichus, c. 29.
[47] Ibid, c. 7.
[48] Laertius, c. 15.
[49] Ibid, c. 11.
[50] Plutarchus, Symposiaca, Lib. VIII, Quaestio 2.
[51] Aulus Gellius, Lib. I, c. 1, from Plutarch.
[52] Laertius, c.19.
[53] Bailly, Histoire de l'Astronomie, Lib VIII, S.3.
[54] Plutarchus, de Esu Carnium. Ovidius, Metamorphoses, Lib. XV. Laertius, c. 12.
[55] Iamblichus, c. 16.
[56] Laertius, c. 6.
[57] Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromata, Lib. I, p. 302.
[58] Iamblichus, c.17.
[59] Laertius, c. 8. Iamblichus, c. 17.
[60] Cicero de Natura Deorum, Lib. I, c. 5.
[61] Laertius, c. 9.
[62] Ibid.
[63] Iamblichus, c. 19.
[64] Laertius, c.1.
[65] Ibid, c. 18.
[66] Iamblichus, c. 8.
[67] Ibid, c. 13.
[68] Laertius, c. 9. Iamblichus, c. 28.
[69] Laertius, c. 9. Iamblichus, c. 18.
[70] Ibid, c. 28.
[71] Laertius, c.21.
[72] Iamblichus, c.17.
[73] Iamblichus, c. 35. Laertius, c. 21.
[74] Laertius, c. 21.
[75] Laertius, Lib. I, c. 109. Plinius, Lib. VII, c. 52.
[76] Laertius, c. 113.
[77] Ibid.
[78] Ibid. c. 111.
[79] Plutarch, Vita Solonis. Laertius, Lib. I, c. 109.
[80] Plutarch, Vita Solonis. Laertius, Lib. I, c. 110.
[81] Ibid.
[82] Laertius, Lib. VIII, c. 51, 64.
[83] Ibid, c. 57.
[84] Ibid, c. 66.
[85] Ibid, c. 73.
[86] Plinius, Lib. VII, c. 52. Laertius, c. 61.
[87] Laertius, c. 77.
[88] Ibid, c. 59.
[89] Ibid, c. 62.
[90] Laertias, c. 69. Horat, De Arte Poetica, v. 463.
[91] Herodotus, Lib. III, c. 14, 15. Plinius, Lib. VII, c. 52.
[92] Plutarch, De Genio Socratis. Lucian, Muscae Encomium. Plinius, Lib. VII, c. 52. [Errata: dele Plinius]
[93] Plinius, Lib. III, c, 61, 62.
[94] Herodotus, Lib. VIII, c. 36, 37, 38, 39.
[95] Herodotus, Lib. VIII, c. 140, et seqq.
[96] Historia Naturalis, Lib. X, c. 40.
[97] Plinius, Lib. XXVIII. c. 8.
[98] Pseudomantis, c. 17. See also Philopseudes, c. 32.
[99] Theages.
[100] Plutarch, De Genio Socratis.
[101] Xenophon, Memorabilia, Lib. I, c. 1.
[102] Plutarch, ubi supra.
[103] Plato, Theages.
[104] Ibid.
[105] Livius, Lib. I, c. 16.
[106] Dionysius Halicarnassensis.
[107] Livius, Lib. I, c. 19, 21.
[108] Livius, Lib. I, c. 31.
[109] Ibid.
[110] Livius, Lib. I, c. 36.
[111] Livius, Lib. I, c. 39.
[112] Livius, Lib. III, c. 6, et seqq.
[113] Epod. V.
[114] Metamorphoses, Lib. VII.
[115] Lib. VI.
[116] Horat., de Arte Poetica, v. 150.
[117] Plutarch, North's Translation.
[118] Matt. c. xii, v. 24, 27.
[119] Acts, c. viii.
[120] Clemens Romanus, Recognitiones, Lib. II, cap. 9. Anastasius Sinaita, Quaestiones; Quaestio 20.
[121] Clemens Romanus, Constitutiones Apostolici, Lib. VI, cap. 7.
[122] Acts, c. xiii.
[123] Ibid, c. xix.
[124] Suetonius, Lib. VI, cap. 14.
[125] Tacitus, Historiae, Lib. IV, cap. 81. Suetonius, Lib. VIII, cap. 7.
[126] Hume, Essays, Part III, Section X.
[127] Philostratus, Vita Apollonii, Lib. I, cap. 5, 6.
[128] Philostratus, Vita Apollonii, Lib. I, c. 10.
[129] Ibid, c.13.
[130] Ibid, c. 13, 14.
[131] Philostratus, Lib. IV, c. 10.
[132] Philostratus, Lib. IV, c. 25.
[133] Philostratus, Lib. IV, c. 45.
[134] Philostratus, Lib. VIII, c. 5.
[135] Ibid, c. 26.
[136] Philostratus, Lib. VIII, c. 29, 30.
[137] Ibid, c. 29.
[138] Lampridius, in Vita Alex. Severi, c. 29.
[139] C. 24.
[140] Philostratus, Lib. I, c. 3.
[141] Zosimus, Lib, IV, cap. 13. Gibbon observes, that the name of Theodosius, who actually succeeded, begins with the same letters which were indicated in this magic trial.
[142] Zosimus, Lib. IV, cap. 14.
[143] Gibbon, Chap. VIII.
[144] This word is of Sanscrit original.
[145] "They cut themselves with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them." I Kings, xviii, 28.
[146] Otherwise, Deeves.
[147] D'Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale.
[148] D'Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale.
[149] It is in Selden's Collection of Ballads in the Bodleian Library. See Letters from the Bodleian, Vol. I, p. 120 to 126.
[150] Spenser, Fairy Queen, Book III, Canto III, stanza 9, et seqq.
[151] William of Malmesbury, Lib. II, c. 10.
[152] William of Malmesbury, Lib. II, c. 10.
[153] Naudé, Apologie des Grands Hommes Accusés de Magie. Malmesbury, ubi supra.
[154] Naudé, Apologie des Grands Hommes Accusés de Magie, chap. 19.
[155] Mornay, Mysterium Iniquitalis, p. 258. Coeffeteau, Reponse à ditto, p. 274.
[156] Ibid.
[157] Hollinshed, History of Scotland, p. 206, 207.
[158] Ibid. p. 207, 208.
[159] Hollinshed, History of Scotland, p. 243, 244.
[160] Hollinshed, History of Scotland, p. 244, 245.
[161] Hollinshed, History of Scotland, p. 246.
[162] Ibid, p. 248, 249.
[163] Hollinshed, History of Scotland, p. 249.
[164] Ibid.
[165] Hollinshed, History of Scotland, p. 251.
[166] Naudé.
[167] Godwin, Praesulibus, art. Gronthead.
[168] Naudé c. 18.
[169] Johannes de Becka, apud Trithemii Chronica, ann. 1254.
[170] Freind, History of Physick, Vol. II, p. 234 to 239.
[171] Bacon, Epist. ad Clement. IV.
[172] Ubi supra.
[173] See page 261.
[174] Naudé, Cap. 17.
[175] Ibid.
[176] Commentaries, Book IV. chap. vi.
[177] Life of Chaucer, c. xviii.
[178] Wotton, Reflections on Learning, Chap. X.
[179] See above, p. 29.
[180] Biographic Universelle.
[181] Naudé.
[182] Moreri.
[183] Enfield, History of Philosophy, Book VIII, chapter i.
[184] Moreri.
[185] Watson, Chemical Essays, Vol. I.
[186] Fuller, Worthies of England.
[187] Watson, ubi supra.
[188] Sir Thomas More, History of Edward the Fifth.
[189] Buck, Life and Reign of Richard III.
[190] Hutchinson on Witchcraft.
[191] I Samuel, xv, 23.
[192] Doctrine of Divorce, Preface.
[193] Delrio, Disquisitiones Magicae, p. 746.
[194] Alciatus, Parergon Juris, L. VIII, cap. 22.
[195] Danaeus, apud Delrio, Proloquium.
[196] Bartholomaeus de Spina, De Strigibus, c. 13.
[197] Biographie Universelle.
[198] Biographie Universelle.
[199] Hospinian, Historia Sacramentaria, Part II, fol. 131.
[200] Bayle.
[201] Paulus Jovius, Elogia Doctorum Virorum, c.101.
[202] Delrio, Disquisitiones Magicae, Lib. II, Quaestio xi, S. 18.
[203] Delrio, Lib. II, Quaestio xxix. S. 7.
[204] Wierus, Lib. II, c.v. S. 11, 12.
[205] Cent. I, cap. 70.
[206] De Praestigiis Demonum, Lib. II, cap. iv, sect. 8.
[207] Durrius, apud Schelhorn, Amoenitates Literariae, Tom. V, p.50, et seqq.
[208] Memoirs, p. 14.
[209] Brewster, Letters on Natural Magic, Letter IV.
[210] Appendix to Johannes Glastoniensis, edited by Hearne.
[211] Camden, anno 1693, 1694.
[212] Pitcairn, Trials in Scotland in Five Volumes, 4to.
[213] King James's Works, p. 135.
[214] King James's Works, p. 135, 136.
[215] Truth brought to Light by Time. Wilson, History of James I.
[216] Fuller, Church History of Britain, Book X, p. 74. See also Osborn's Works, Essay I: where the author says, he "gave charge to his judges, to be circumspect in condemning those, committed by ignorant justices for diabolical compacts. Nor had he concluded his advice in a narrower circle, as I have heard, than the denial of any such operations, but out of reason of state, and to gratify the church, which hath in no age thought fit to explode out of the common people's minds an apprehension of witchcraft." The author adds, that he "must confess James to have been the promptest man living in his dexterity to discover an imposture," and subjoins a remarkable story in confirmation of this assertion.
[217] Discovery of the Witches, 1612, printed by order of the Court.
[218] History of Whalley, by Thomas Dunham Whitaker, p. 215.
[219] Wood, Athenae Oxonienses, Vol. II, p. 507.
[220] Heylyn, Life of Laud.
[221] Hutchinson on Witchcraft.
[222] Menagiana, Tom. II, p. 252, et seqq.
[223] Judges, v, 20.
[224] Certainty of the World of Spirits.
[225] Trial of the Witches executed at Bury St. Edmund's.
[226] Narrative translated by Dr. Horneck, apud Satan's Invisible World by Sinclair, and Sadducismus Triumphatus by Glanville.
[227] Cotton Mather, Wonders of the Invisible World; Calef, More Wonders of the Invisible World; Neal, History of New England.
[228] Menagiana, Tom II, p. 264. Voltaire, Siècle de Louis XIV, Chap. xxxi.
End of Project Gutenberg's Lives of the Necromancers, by William Godwin