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AN
ORIGINAL ESSAY
ON
WITCHCRAFT.

If we wish to form a just estimate of the human character in its progress through the various stages of civilization, from ignorance and barbarism, to science and refinement, we must search into the natural causes that actuate the human mind. The life of man is prolonged to a remoter period, but subjected to more casualities, and greater vicissitudes of fortune, than most other animals. From these causes arises his anxious solicitude about futurity, and an eager desire to know his destiny; and thus man becomes the most superstitious of all other creatures. In every nation there have been multitudes of oracles, augurs, soothsayers, diviners, fortune-tellers, witches, sorcerers, &c. whose business has been to communicate intelligence respecting futurity, to the rest of mankind. If we attend to history, we shall find this theory sufficiently confirmed by experience. The most superstitious part of the species are soldiers and sailors, who are more exposed to accidents than any other class. History is full of the superstitious observances of the Roman armies; their regard to omens; the entrails of victims; the flight of birds, &c. and there are thousands of brave sailors of the present day, who would not sail in the finest ship of the British navy, without a horse-shoe were nailed on the main-mast. This passion of diving into futurity, naturally produced a number of 'dealers in destiny's dark council,' who soon found it turn out a very lucrative profession. From knowing the secrets, it was naturally inferred, that they were the favourites of those powers who are supposed to have the future happiness of mankind at their disposal. This we apprehend is the real source of that power which the priesthood hath ever exercised over the human mind. Pleasure and pain are the two great principles of human action which has given rise to the good and evil principle common to all nations. Those who held communication and commerce with the evil principle, are witches, wizzards, sorcerers, &c. Although we have various laws and injunctions against witchcraft in scripture, yet we are still as much in the dark as ever, as no definition is given of it, nor is the particular actions which constitute witchcraft enumerated, so as we can say wherein it consists. The story of the witch of Endor, is a case that throws more light on the subject than any other. But she appears to have acted more in the character of one of our second sighted seers, than one of our modern witches. According to our notions and ideas of witchcraft (as laid down by that sapient monarch James VI.), it is a poor ignorant old woman, who, through misery or malice, gives herself to the devil, soul and body, and renounces her baptism; for which considerations Satan engages to assist her with his power to work a number of petty mischiefs on such as she has a spite at; and sometimes he advances a little of the 'needful,' which, unfortunately for the poor old hag, turns out to be 'naething but sklate stanes,' and this most unaccountable contract is generally sealed by 'carnal copulation!' And yet, after believing this, we call ourselves rational creatures, and other animals we term brutes!! Many people have wondered, how so exalted a personage as the devil formerly was in days of yore, should latterly have taken up with such low company as our modern witches. He who tempted the very fathers of the church in so many various ways; who kept the whole priesthood of the Catholic church constantly on the alert with holy water, exorcisms, &c. only to keep him in check; who often attacked Luther and our other reformers, in very ungentlemanly disguises; and had even the audacity to insult our covenanted saints, by bellowing like a bull, grunting like a pig, or groaning like a dying man. These were pranks something worthier of a devil than the tricks played off by the witches. Our King James gives the reason, because 'the consumation of the world, and our deliverance drawing neere, makes Satan so rage the more in his instruments, knowing his kingdom to be so neere an end.' James was a little out in his reckoning here, 'the consumation of the world' not having taken place as yet, and the devil's kingdom turning out to be rather better established than his own. So far was it from being near an end, that it was on the increase, caused chiefly by the absurd and stupid laws that were enacted against it by himself and successors. The devil's kingdom is not to be destroyed by acts of parliament and burning of witches; these expedients have been tried in vain all over Europe and America, without effect; but now, when every person can bewitch with impunity, not a witch is to be found; and the devil, though left at large, has retreated to the Highlands and islands, where he is seldom seen, even by those who have the second sight. The true engines for battering the strong holds of Satan, and driving him and his imps into utter darkness, are science and philosophy; these are the weapons that have compelled him to retrograde movements, after lavishing rivers of holy water in vain. Thus the terrific claws of the devil, when seen by the distempered eyes of ignorant bigotry, appear to us truly horrible, but when viewed through philosophical spectacles, look as harmless as the lamb-skin gloves of a fine lady.

These stories, however, convey a strong likeness of the times in which they were acted. In our day, it is almost impossible to believe, that human beings could give credit to such gross absurdities as we have laid before the public in this little work, were the evidence not indubitable. Far less, that judges, lawyers, and divines, should unite in murdering such numbers of poor ignorant helpless creatures, for such mad chimeras, when it is hard to say, whether the poor victim, or the insane judges, were under the greater delusion. These wonderful tales of the doings of the devil with the witches, are taken from their own confessions, and from their delating of one another, as it is called. To us it does not appear improbable, but that too many of the poor deluded wretches actually imagined themselves to be witches. Nor will this appear so very surprizing, if we consider the circumstances of the case. At that period, any person who doubted of witchcraft, was looked upon as an athiest, and worse than mad; the whole country, from one end to the other, was continually ringing with tales of witches, devils, and fairies, with such other trash. Is it not then most likely, that people should dream about them? and is there any thing unnatural in supposing, that they should mistake these dreams for realities? as is evidently proved in several cases, and then confess, not the actions they really did, but the effects of their own disordered imagination. Moreover, when confined for this imaginary crime, they were tortured in all manner of ways, deprived of sleep, flung into water, and brodit, as they called it, being striped naked and searched for the devil's mark, in the most indecent manner. These confessions, after they were made, were nothing more than the wild ravings of a distempered imagination; and such a tissue of inconsistencies, as no person of the present day would listen to. An old woman in the Isle of Teree (as related by Mr Frazer, page 165), took in her head that she was in heaven no less, and had eat and drank there; and so firmly had the poor creature imbibed the notion, that it was with some difficulty she could be undeceived. A curious account of a pretended meeting with the devil, is given by a gentleman of Normandy, in the Memoirs of Literature for November 1711.

"The pretended meeting,