pected of witchcraft,
was seized because, having immoderately praised the beauty of a child, it
had shortly afterwards fallen ill and died. She confessed upon the rack
that the devil had given her the power to work evil upon those she hated,
by speaking words in their praise. If she said with unwonted fervour,
"What a strong man!" "What a lovely woman!" "What a sweet child!" the
devil understood her, and afflicted them with diseases immediately. It is
quite unnecessary to state the end of this poor creature. Many women were
executed for causing strange substances to lodge in the bodies of those
who offended them. Bits of wood, nails, hair, egg-shells, bits of glass,
shreds of linen and woollen cloth, pebbles, and even hot cinders and
knives, were the articles generally chosen. These were believed to remain
in the body till the witches confessed or were executed, when they were
voided from the bowels, or by the mouth, nostrils, or ears. Modern
physicians have often had cases of a similar description under their care,
where girls have swallowed needles, which have been voided on the arms,
legs, and other parts of the body. But the science of that day could not
account for these phenomena otherwise than by the power of the devil; and
every needle swallowed by a servant-maid cost an old woman her life. Nay,
if no more than one suffered in consequence, the district might think
itself fortunate. The commissioners seldom stopped short at one victim.
The revelations of the rack in most cases implicated half a score.

[Illustration: BAMBERG.]

Of all the records of the witch-trials preserved for the wonder of
succeeding ages, that of Wuerzburg, from 1627 to 1629, is the most
frightful. Hauber, who has preserved this list in his _Acta et Scripta
Magica_, says, in a note at the end, that it is far from complete, and
that there were a great many other burnings too numerous to specify. This
record, which relates to the city only, and not to the province of
Wuerzburg, contains the names of one hundred and fifty-seven persons who
were burned in two years in twenty-nine burnings, averaging from five to
six at a time. The list comprises three play-actors, four innkeepers,
three common councilmen of Wuerzburg, fourteen vicars of the cathedral, the
burgomaster's lady, an apothecary's wife and daughter, two choristers of
the cathedral, Goebel Babelin, the prettiest girl in the town, and the
wife, the two little sons and the daughter of the