Do I then expect the people of England to surrender their glorious privilege of going wrong without let or hindrance, in matters of grammar and etymology? Far from me be such folly and presumption. All I venture to expect is, that men of learning and good sense will, when they are speaking or writing about those venerable fictions which once commanded the assent of polished nations, use the more dignified term mȳthe, and the adjective mythic, instead of the hybrid mythical, leaving the poor unhappy little my̆th to be bandied about at the popular will and pleasure.
Thos. Keightley.WITCHCRAFT IN 1638
I inclose you an extract from an old document in my possession, which appears to be the examination of two witnesses against one Mary Shepherd for witchcraft. The nature of the offence is not specified. Perhaps it may be interesting to some of your readers.
The Exam̅ of Jone Coward of Wareham, taken upon Oath the 28 March, 1638.
Who sayth, yt about Midsomer last past one Mary Sheapheard of Wareham did pull of one of this Exm̅t̅'s stockings, and within 2 howers after this Exn̅t̅ was taken in all her limbs that she could not stur hand or foot, where upon this Exn̅t̅ considered that the forsd Mary Sheapheard had done her that hurt, and forth wth cryed out upon the sayd Mary Shep. (though the sayd M. Shep. was not present), where upon this Exm̅t̅'s mother went unto the house of M. Shep. to perswaed her to come downe to this Exn̅t̅; but the sayd M. Shep. would not. Whereupon this Exn̅t̅'s mother went unto the Mayor of the Town, who com̅anded the sd M. Shep. to goe to this Exan̅t̅. At length the sd Ma. Shep. accordingly did (and being coe̅), she did wring this Exn̅t̅ by the hande, and pesently this Exn̅t̅ recouered. Ffurther, the Exn̅t̅ sayth, yt about ye 24 of July next followinge, this Exn̅t̅ was taken in ye like manner ye second time, wth her hands and feet wrested about, and so sent for the sd M. Shep., who instantly pulled the Exn̅t̅ by the hands, and pesently the Exn̅t̅ recovered again.
Jone Coward.Joane Coward de Warha̅, spinster £xx,
To appear and give evidence at the next assizes agn̅t̅ Ma. Sheapheard.
The Exam̅ of Ann Trew, single woman, of Wareham, taken upon Oath as aforsd.
Who sayth, yt on ye 16th of March last past she saw Mary Shep. come into ye house of Joh. Gillingame, and likewise saw Ed. Gillingame come down bare-footed very well, without any lamnesse or sickness at all, and pesently after ye sayd Mary Shep. had pulled on the legginge upon the legge of ye sd Ed. Gill., he fell instantly both lame and sick. Further, the Exn̅t̅ asked the sd Ed. Gill. (in the time of his sickness) what Ma. Shep. did unto him, who answered, she did put her hand upon his thigh.
Ann Trew.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:
"How is it possible," he says, "to forgive Baxter for the affectation with which he records the enormities of his childhood? Can any one read this confession without thinking of Tartuffe, who subjected himself to penance for killing a flea with too much anger?"
It probably did not occur to the biographer, that no less illustrious a saint than Augustin, to whom Puritanism can hardly be imputed, had made a parallel confession of like early depravity many centuries before. Enlarging on his own puerile delinquencies, and indeed on the wickedness of children in general, he confesses that, in company with other "naughty boys" ("nequissimi adolescentuli"), he not only stole apples, but stole them for the mere pleasure of the thing, and when he "had enough at home":
"Id furatus sum quod mihi abundabat, et multo melius. Nec eâ re volebam frui quam furto appetebam; sed ipso furto et peccato. Arbor erat pirus in viciniâ vineæ nostræ pomis onusta, nec formâ nec sapore illecebrosis. Ad hanc excutiendam atque asportandam, nequissimi adolescentuli perreximus nocte intempestâ; et abstulimus inde onera ingentia, non ad nostras epulas, sed vel projicienda porcis, etiamsi aliquid inde comedimus.... Ecce cor meum, Deus meus, ecce cor meum, quod miseratus es in imo abyssi!"Confessionum, lib. ii. cap. iv.
In comparing the two cases, the balance of juvenile depravity is very much against the great Doctor of Grace. He does not seem to have had even a fondness for fruit to plead in extenuation of his larceny. He robbed orchards by wholesale of apples, which, by his own admission, had no attractions either of form or flavour to tempt him. Yet the two anecdotes are so much alike, that one would be inclined to suspect one story of being a mere recoction of the other if it were possible to doubt the veracity of Richard Baxter.
The incident, however, is one too familiar in schoolboy life to make the repetition of the story a matter of surprise. The property in an apple growing within the reach of a boy's hand has from time immemorial been in peril, and the law itself has not always regarded it as an object of scrupulous protection. The old laws of the Rheingau, and (if I mistake not) of some other states, warranted a wayfaring man in picking apples from any tree, provided he did not exceed the number of three.
E. Smirke.FOLK LORE
Subterranean Bells (Vol. vii., pp. 128. 200.).In answer to J. J. S.'s inquiry, I beg to state, that at Crosmere, near Ellesmere, Shropshire, where there is one of a number of pretty lakes scattered throughout that district, there is a tradition of a chapel having formerly stood on the banks of the lake. And it is said that the belief once was, that whenever the waters were ruffled by wind, the chapel bells might be heard as singing beneath the surface. This, though bearing on the subject of "submarine" or "subaqueous," rather than "subterranean" bells, illustrates, I think, the tradition to which J. J. S. refers.
J. W. M.Hordley, Ellesmere.