me, question the 25th, wherein he states that sorcery is a communion
between man and the devil, which all good Christians ought to look upon
with horror.

"Taking all these things into consideration, sire, the officers of your
parliament hope, from the justice of your majesty, that you will be
graciously pleased to receive the humble remonstrances they have taken the
liberty to make. They are compelled, for the acquittal of their own
consciences and in discharge of their duty, to make known to your majesty,
that the decrees they passed against the sorcerers and witches brought
before them, were passed after a mature deliberation on the part of all
the judges present, and that nothing has been done therein which is not
conformable to the universal jurisprudence of the kingdom, and for the
general welfare of your majesty's subjects, of whom there is not one who
can say that he is secure from the malevolence of such criminals. We
therefore supplicate your majesty to suffer us to carry into effect the
sentences we passed, and to proceed with the trial of the other persons
accused of the same crime; and that the piety of your majesty will not
suffer to be introduced during your reign an opinion contrary to the
principles of that holy religion for which you have always employed so
gloriously both your cares and your arms."

Louis, as we have already mentioned, paid no attention to this appeal. The
lives of the old women were spared, and prosecutions for mere witchcraft,
unconnected with other offences, were discontinued throughout France. In
1680 an act was passed for the punishment, not of witches, but of
pretenders to witchcraft, fortune-tellers, divineresses, and poisoners.

Thus the light broke in upon Germany, France, England, and Scotland about
the same time, gradually growing clearer and clearer till the middle of
the eighteenth century, when witchcraft was finally reckoned amongst
exploded doctrines, and the belief in it confined to the uttermost vulgar.
Twice, however, did the madness burst forth again as furious, while it
lasted, as ever it had been. The first time in Sweden, in 1669, and the
second in Germany so late as 1749. Both these instances merit particular
mention. The first is one of the most extraordinary upon record, and for
atrocity and absurdity is unsurpassed in the annals of any nation.

It having been reported to the king of Sweden that the little village of
Mohra, in the province of Dalecarlia, wa