men put him to this test whenever they
had an opportunity. In the alehouses which he frequented, they often
placed long needles in the cushions of the chairs, in such a manner
that he could not fail to pierce himself when he sat down. The result
of these experiments tended to confirm their faith in his supernatural
powers. It was asserted that he never flinched. Such was the popular
feeling in the fashionable town of Hastings only seven years ago; very
probably it is the same now.

In the north of England, the superstition lingers to an almost
inconceivable extent. Lancashire abounds with witch-doctors, a set of
quacks, who pretend to cure diseases inflicted by the devil. The
practices of these worthies may be judged of by the following case,
reported in the "Hertford Reformer," of the 23rd of June, 1838. The
witch-doctor alluded to is better known by the name of the cunning man,
and has a large practice in the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham.
According to the writer in "The Reformer," the dupe, whose name is not
mentioned, had been for about two years afflicted with a painful
abscess, and had been prescribed for without relief by more than one
medical gentleman. He was urged by some of his friends, not only in his
own village, but in neighbouring ones, to consult the witch-doctor, as
they were convinced he was under some evil influence. He agreed, and
sent his wife to the cunning man, who lived in New Saint Swithin's, in
Lincoln. She was informed by this ignorant impostor that her husband's
disorder was an infliction of the devil, occasioned by his next-door
neighbours, who had made use of certain charms for that purpose. From
the description he gave of the process, it appears to be the same as
that employed by Dr. Fian and Gellie Duncan, to work woe upon King
James. He stated that the neighbours, instigated by a witch, whom he
pointed out, took some wax, and moulded it before the fire into the
form of her husband, as near as they could represent him; they then
pierced the image with pins on all sides--repeated the Lord's Prayer
backwards, and offered prayers to the devil that he would fix his
stings into the person whom that figure represented, in like manner as
they pierced it with pins. To counteract the effects of this diabolical
process, the witch-doctor prescribed a certain medicine, and a charm to
be worn next the body, on that part where the disease principally lay.
The patient was to repeat the 109th and 1