is competent to none but the Supreme Ruler of the world. We might almost as soon believe that such a being is capable of creating the universe. It presents a most humiliating picture of the imbecility of the human mind, that such absurdities should ever have been believed; and certainly conveys no very favourable idea of the humanity of our ancestors, when they inflicted, without remorse, so many shocking cruelties, especially on the tender sex, for such fancied crimes. Yet, absurd as the doctrine of witchcraft certainly is, it is a lamentable fact, that vast multitudes of our fellow-men, both in our own country and in other lands, are still believers in sorcery and witchcraft, of which an instance or two is stated in the following note.

No. VI.-Proofs that the belief in witchcraft is still prevalent among certain classes of society.

Notwithstanding the degree of information which prevails in the nineteenth century, it is a melancholy consideration that superstition, and a belief in the efficacy of certain incantations, still prevail to a considerable extent, even in the most enlightened countries. The following recent occurrences will tend to corroborate this position, and at the same time show the pernicious consequences which frequently result from such a belief.

On the 2d September 1829, Laurent Raimboult, a farmer in the hamlet of Redoire, Commune of Champtre, in France, spent the day in measuring wheat at the house of Poirier, his brother-in-law. About eight o'clock in the evening, he left to go to his own house, which was about half a league from Poirier's house. He carried a bag containing the measure he had been using, and a box holding his dinner, which he had not opened; for he had stated his intention not to eat till he returned home. The next morning his corpse was found in a meadow, bordered by a wood, and not very far from his own house. His body was horribly mutilated, his clothes stained with blood, and there was a large wound on the back part of his head. All the wounds showed that he had been struck by several persons armed with contusive weapons. Near him the ground had not been trode upon; his bag and the things it contained were carefully laid by his side: all proved that he had not been robbed. Poirier, who has always had a good character in that part of the country, was on very bad terms with Raimboult, who passed for a sorcerer. Some time ago, the wife of Poirier had fallen sick, as well as several of his cattle. Poirier did not doubt for an instant, that these sicknesses were the effect of sorcery. He came to Angers, and consulted a pretended diviner, a miserable victim of mo

nomania, who gave him a full water-bottle, and told him to take it home with him, and put it in the very best place of his house. "At such an hour," said the diviner, " you should recite such and such prayers before my water-bottle, and then you will see in the water it contains, the likeness of him who has bewitched your wife and your cattle." Poirier followed these orders precisely; and it is only too probable that his imagination being pre-occupied with the idea, this wretched man fancied he saw his brother-in-law in the water bottle of the guilty diviner, and thought he was doing a service to his country in delivering it from a being whom he regarded as the friend and favourite of the devil-Copied from a Paris paper, in Morning Chron. Sept. 23, 1829.

The following occurrence, in another Department of France, happened nearly about the same time as the preceding.

"It appears that in the department of Lot and Garonne, and particularly in some of the communes of the district of Marmande, the belief of sorcery is common among the people. John Sabathe, a peasant, with plenty of money, living in the vicinity of Clairac, had a sick daughter: medicine had failed, which is nothing extraordinary; but there remained magic, and Sabathe greatly relied upon it. He applied to Rose Peres, who enjoyed the reputation of being a witch. He stated the condition of his daughter;-the witch replied, she would go and visit her. She went the next morning to Sabathe's residence, saw the sick girl, and declared she was bewitched. [Perhaps she was not so far wrong either, for some witnesses, who were no doubt very spiteful, gave it as their opinion that love had entered a little into this affair.] Whatever was the cause of her illness, the witch promised to relieve her, and said, that the thing was not without a remedy. She told them to light a great fire, and they would see why afterwards. Little as we are initiated into the secrets of magic, we know that odd numbers, especially the number three, have singular virtues; therefore 3 multiplied by 3 must be a number prodigiously powerful. It was apparently for this reason that the witch required nine large pebble stones, which she put into the fire, and kept there till they were red hot : she then threw them into a kettle full of water, and the mysterious vapour that arose served to perfume the patient that was lying over it. But this was only the preamble of ceremonies much more important. She had a table brought to her; it was covered with a cloth, and two lighted candles placed on it; there was even an end of wax that had been used in the church; a hammer was placed symmetrically between the two candles, and on one side of the table the witch laid, with a grave and mys terious air, the formidable book of magic, so well known by the name of Little Albert. She still wanted one thing; it was a plate filled with water, in which a sum of 400 francs (L.16

Ꮓ

sterling) was to be deposited. The plate was brought-as to the sum, we may remark, how difficult magic must be to practise, and what attention is requisite to its details. Crown pieces of six francs were about to be put into the water, when the witch called out, Take care what you are doing; it is crown pieces of five francs that are wanted.' She was instantly obeyed, the crowns of five francs are at the bottom of the plate.

"Things being in this state, every body left the house. The witch remained alone for about half an hour; she then reopened the doors, and said they might re-enter. She added, that all had succeeded, but that the malignant spirit that had appeared had carried away the 400 francs on withdrawing. The witch's husband then arrived; his wife told him that the assembly was made. 'It's all well,' said he; but thy sister is at thy house, and she wants to see you, and we must go there. They went accordingly; Sabathe and his family a little stupified, and the patient in the same state as before.These were the facts which were made known to the Court by indirect evidence, for these good folks took care to make no complaint, for fear of the witches. The Court sentenced her to imprisonment for three years, and a fine of fifty francs. She had been charged before the Royal Court of Agen for swindling, under pretence of practising witchcraft.-Some years ago, the same Court sentenced to close imprisonment three or four women, living in the neighbourhood of Villereal, for having put on the fire and half-burned a pretended witch, who would not cure them of a disease she had given them."Gazette des Tribunaux, as quoted in Morn. Chron. Sept. 28,

1829.

In both the above cases we perceive an implicit belief in the powers of divination and sorcery, a belief which appears to be general among the lower ranks of society; and it would appear that the profession of witch or sorcerer is pretty common in the principal towns in France. In the one instance this belief led to a most atrocious murder, and in the other to a dexterous robbery; and, in this latter case, it would seem, that, notwithstanding the palpable imposture that was practised on Sabathe and his family, these simple people still believed in the supernatural powers of the sorceress who had so barefacedly robbed them, for " they took care to make no complaint, for fear of the witches."-Nearly akin to the notions upder consideration, is the following superstition relating to bees.

The practice of informing bees of any death that takes place in a family, is well known, and still prevails among the lower orders in England. The disastrous consequences to be apprehended from non-compliance with this strange custom is, that the bees will dwindle and die. The manner of communicating the intelligence to the little community, with due form and

ceremony, is this-to take the key of the house, and knock with it three times against the hive, telling the inmates, at the same time, that their master or mistress, &c. (as the case may be) is dead! Mr. Loudon says, when in Bedfordshire lately, we were informed of an old man who sung a psalm last year in front of some hives which were not doing well, but which, he said, would thrive in consequence of that ceremony.-Magazine of Nat Hist. for 1828.

The Constitutionnel (January 1828) states, that under the influence of the Jesuits, and with the countenance of the authorities, &c. the most brutifying tales of superstition and fanaticism are printed and circulated in the provinces of France. One of the ridiculous narratives to which it alludes, details the fate of a blaspheming baker, who, being infected with the heresies of the Revolution, had addicted himself to the commission of every kind of impiety. While his oven one day was heated, and he was about to put the bread into it, he vented his usual oaths in the presence of two neighbours; when, lo! the dough miraculously refused to enter, and the baker was seized with a cold shivering, of which he died in two days. In his will he left 600 francs to the church, confessed his enormities, and besought the prayers of his friends.-In another, we are told of the discovery of a miraculous image, which will be a permanent source of ecclesiastical revenue. This image is that of a saint, which has been for the last two centuries concealed in a rock. It was discovered by means of a little white bird perched upon a brilliant crucifix, which guarded the spot. Since the discovery, the lame walk, the sick are healed, and the blind recover their sight, by resorting to the consecrated ground.

It is not above fifteen or sixteen years ago since the late Alexander Davidson, A.M., lecturer on experimental philosophy and chemistry, when in Ireland, was much annoyed by the superstitious belief in necromancy and infernal agency which still prevails among a large portion of the lower orders in that country. When delivering a course of lectures in a small town not far from Londonderry, the rumour of the experiments he performed spread among the body of the people, many of whom had listened at the outside of the hall in which he lectured, to the loud detonations produced by electrical and other experiments, particularly the explosions of hydrogen gas. The great majority of the inhabitants believed he was an astrologer and necromancer, and considered it dangerous to have the slightest intercourse with his family, even in the way of buying and selling. One morning his servant-maid was sent out for bread and groceries for breakfast. After a considerable time, she returned with a pitiful countenance and a heavy heart, and declared that not an article of any description could be obtained. "What," says Mr. D., "is there no tea, sugar,

or bread in the whole village ?" "O yes," replied the maid, "there is plenty of every thing we want, but nobody will sell us an article; they say we are all witches and wizards and necromancers, and it's no canny to tak ony o' your money.' Mr. Davidson and family, in this case, might have starved, had he not bethought himself of employing the servant of an acquaintance, who was one of his auditors, to procure, in her master's name, the requisite provisions; and this plan he was obliged to adopt during the remainder of his stay in that place. At another time his boots required to be repaired; the servant took them to a shoemaker, and they were received by one of the female branches of his family; but when the shoemaker understood to whom they belonged, he stormed, and was indignant at their receiving any thing from such a dangerous individual. The servant soon after returned to inquire if the boots were repaired. Is the astrologer's boots mendit ?” one of the family vociferated. "No," was the reply, "they are not mendit, nor do we intend to mend them, or have any thing to do with them." The shoemaker's wife desired the servant to come in, and lift the boots herself; "for," said she, “I will not touch them;" and it appears that both the shoemaker and his family had been afraid even to put their fingers upon them, and doubtless imagined that the very circumstance of their having been received into the house would operate as an evil omen.-On the day previous to his leaving that place, he sent his servant to engage a chaise to carry them to the next town. The servant told the landlady of the inn (which was the only one from which a carriage could be procured) that her master wished to hire a chaise for to-morrow to carry them to NThe landlady told her it could not be granted. "For what reason?" said the maid. "You know very well what is the reason," said the landlady, in a very emphatical tone. After the servant returned with this reply, Mr. Davidson himself went to the inn, when the following dialogue took place between him and the landlady :-" Well, madam, can you give me a chaise to-morrow to carry me to Newry?" "No; for our horses are very tired, as they have been out all day, and they cannot go to-morrow." "O dear, madam, is that the only reason? You know very well I can make them go." The landlady, putting on a grave countenance, replied with emphasis, "We all know that very well. We know that you could sink the town, if you chose to do it. But I shall give you the chaise, to carry you out of the place, and make the town rid of you; but it is more for fear of you than love to you that I consent to grant you my chaise."-Such were the absurd and superstitious notions prevalent among the lower class of the Irish in 1814 or 1815; and these were not the only instances in which they were manifested, but only specimens of what frequently occurred in other parts of that country.