e fury of the Church. After the
fatal bull of Innocent VIII., from the year 1484, the burning of
witches in masses began to a great extent in Germany, and continued,
with some interruptions, till late in the eighteenth century. Whoever
owned to being a witch was considered for ever doomed to hell, and the
Church hardly made an effort to convert them.

According to popular belief, the connection of man with the devil was
of three kinds. Either they renounced the worship of God for that of
the devil, swearing allegiance to him, and doing him homage, like the
witches and their associates; or they were possessed by him, a belief
derived by the Germans from Holy Scripture; or men might conclude a
compact with the devil binding both parties under mutual obligations.
In the latter case men signed away their souls in a deed written with
their own blood, and in return the devil was to grant to them the
fulfilment of all their wishes upon earth, success, money, and
invulnerability. Although the oldest example known is that of the Roman
Theophilus--a tradition of the sixth century--and although the written
compact originated at a time when the Roman forms of law had been
introduced among the western nations, yet it appears that the source of
this tradition concerning the devil was German. These transactions were
based upon a deep feeling of mutual moral obligation, and on a
foolhardy feeling, which liked to rest the decision of the whole of the
future upon the deed of a moment. There is much similarity between the
German who in gambling stakes his freedom on the throw of the dice, and
he who vows his soul to the devil. These alliances were not looked upon
by the old Church with mortal hatred; these wicked and foolhardy
beings, like Theophilus himself, might be saved by the intercession of
the saints, and the devil compelled to give up his rights. It is also
peculiar to German traditions, that the devil endeavours to fulfil
zealously and honestly his part of the compact, the deceiver is man.

Through these additions the popular mind invested the devil with new
terrors, yet it strove at the same time to think of him in a more
agreeable point of view. The race of giants of the ancient mythology
had had two aspects for the people; they took pleasure in seeing
something harmless, and indeed burlesque about them, besides the
terrors of their demoniacal nature. On one hand, the deformity of their
great bodies, their strength, and clumsy