“I should think the mop isn’t often out of your hand,” observed Haimet with painful candour.
“It wears out by times,” returned Osbert drily.
Note 1. “Into the worlds of worlds” is the Primer’s translation of “in saecula saeculorum.”
Note 2. That witchcraft is no fable, but a real sin, which men have committed in past times, and may commit again, is certain from Holy Scripture. But undoubtedly, in the Middle Ages, numbers of persons suffered under accusation of this crime who were entirely innocent: and the so-called “white witches” were in reality mere herbalists and dealers in foolish but harmless charms, often consisting in a kind of nursery rhyme and a few Biblical words.
Note 3. The wrong of cruelty to men and women, as such, whether they were Christians or not, had not dawned on men’s minds in the twelfth century, nor did it till the Reformation. But much pity was often expressed for the sufferings of “Christian blood,” and a very few persons had some compassion for animals.