Anne Trew de Warha̅, spinster £xx,
To appear and give evidence at next assizes agn̅t̅ M. Shepheard.
I should like to know if the effect of her supposed sorcery could be attributed to mesmerism. The document in my possession appears to be original, as Jone Coward's signature is in a different hand to that of the examination.
J. C. M.
Spetisbury.
ST. AUGUSTIN AND BAXTER.
I am not aware that any author has pointed out a remarkable coincidence in the Confessions of St. Augustin and of Baxter:
"Divers sins I was addicted to, and oft committed against my conscience, which, for the warning of others, I will here confess to my shame. I was much addicted to the excessive and gluttonous eating of apples and pears, which, I think, laid the foundation of the imbecility and flatulency of my stomach.... To this end, and to concur with naughty boys that gloried in evil, I have oft gone into other men's orchards and stolen the fruit, when I had enough at home.... These were my sins in my childhood, as to which conscience troubled me for a great while before they were overcome."
Sir W. Scott cites the above passages in his Life of Dryden, with sharp comments on the rigid scruples of the Puritans: