Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 16.djvu/379

Rh faith; for fe means "faith," and minus "less." Since she was formed of a crooked rib, her entire spiritual nature has been distorted and inclined more toward sin than virtue. If we here compare the words of Seneca, "Woman either loves or hates; there is no third possibility," it is easy to see that when she does not love God she must resort to the opposite extreme and hate him. It is thus clear why women especially are addicted to the practice of sorcery.

The crime of the witches exceeds all others. They are worse than the devil, for he has fallen once for all, and Christ has not suffered for him. The devil sins, therefore, only against the Creator, but the witch both against the Creator and Redeemer. The theology of the case is perfectly clear.

These and similar questions the first part of "The Witch-hammer" attempts to settle. The second part describes the various kinds and effects of witchcraft. It claims that they produce hail, thunder, and storms; they fly through the air from one place to another; they can make themselves insensible on the rack; they often subdue the judge's mind by charms and confuse him through compassion; they change themselves and others into cats and were-wolves; nay, they are able to enchant and kill men and beasts by their very looks. Their strongest passion is to eat the flesh of children; still they eat only unchristened children: if at any time a baptized child is taken by them, it happens by special divine concession.

Their compact with the devil may be of a private nature, or a solemn one entered into with due formalities. When the latter, it is concluded in the following manner: The witches assemble upon a day set apart by the devil. He appears in the assembly, exhorts them to faithfulness, and promises them glory, happiness, and long life. The older witches then introduce the novices, who are put to the test and take the oath of allegiance. The devil then instructs them how to prepare from the limbs of new-born babes witch-potions and witch-salves, and presents them with a powder, instructing them how to use it to the injury of men and beasts.

The witch accomplishes her voyages in the air by smearing a vessel, a broom, and a rake, a broomstick and a piece of linen, with the witch salve; then rising she moves forth through the air, visible or invisible. "The Witch-hammer" reminds those who doubt these air-voyages that the devil carried Jesus up through the air to the pinnacle of the temple (Matthew iv. 5).

The third part of this remarkable book gives the criminal law of the witch-courts, with instructions how "sorcerers, witches, and heretics, are to be tried before spiritual as well as civil tribunals." "The Witch-hammer" states "that the trial may commence without any previous accusation." When an inquisitor comes to a place he must exhort everybody by means of proclamations nailed to the doors of churches and town-halls, and by threats of excommunication and