| 384 |
Felonies by Statute.
of a Man, Woman, Boy, Dog, Cat, Foal, Hare, Rate, Toad, &c.
And to these their Spirits they give names, and they meet together to
christen them (as they speak.) Ber. 107. 113. |
Chap. 160. |
|
2. Their said Familiar hath some big of little
Teat upon their body,
and in some secret place, where he sucketh them. And besides their
sucking, the Devil leaveth other marks upon their body, sometimes
like a blew spot or red spot, like a flea-biting, sometimes the flesh sunk
in and hollow, (all which for a time may be covered, yea taken away,
but will come again to their old form.) And these the Devils marks
be
insensible, and being pricked will not bleed, and be often in their secretest
parts, and therefore require diligent and careful search. Ber.
112.
219. |
|
|
These first two are main points to discover and
convict these Witches;
for they prove fully that those Witches have a Familiar, and made a League
with the Devil, Ber. 60. |
|
|
So likewise if the suspected be proved to have been
heard to call upon
their Spirits, or to talk to them or of them, or have offered them to
others. |
|
|
So if they have been seen with their Spirit, or
seen to feed some thing
secretly; these are proofs they have a Familiar, &c. |
|
|
3. They have often Pictures of Clay or Wax
(like a Man, &c. made of
such as they would bewitch) found in their House, or which they roast,
or
bury in the Earth, that as the Picture consumes, so may the parties bewitched
consume. |
|
|
4. Other presumptions against these Witches;
as, if they be given to
usual Cursing and bitter Imprecations, and withal use Threatnings to be
revenged, and their Imprecations or some other mischief presently followeth,
Ber. 61. 205. |
|
|
5. Their implicite Confession: as, when
any Man shall accuse them for
hurting them or their Cattel, if they shall answer, You should have
let me
alone then; or, I have not hurt you as yet: These and the like
speeches are
in manner of a Confession of their power of hurting, Ber. 206. |
|
|
6. Their diligent Enquiry after the sick Party,
or coming to visit him or
her unsent for; but especially being forbidden the House. |
|
|
7. Their Apparition to the sick Party in his
Fits. |
|
|
8. The sick Party in his Fits naming the Parties
suspected, and where they
be or have been, or what they do, if truly. |
|
|
9. The common report of their Neighbours,
especially if the Party suspected
be of Kin, or Servant to, or Familiar with a convicted Witch. |
|
|
10. The Testimony of other Witches, confessing
their own Witchcrafts,
and witnessing against the suspected, that they have Spirits or Marks;
that they have been at their Meetings; that they have told them what
harm they have done, &c. Ber. 212, 233. |
|
|
11. If the dead Body bleed upon the Witches
touching it. |
|
|
12. The Testimony of the person hurt, upon
his death. |
|
|
13. The Examination and Confession of the
Children (able and fit to
answer) or Servants of the Witch, especially concerning the first six Observations:
sc. If the party suspected have a Familiar, or any Teat, or
Pictures;
her Threatnings and Cursings of the sick Party; her Enquiry after the
sick Party; her boasting or rejoycing at the sick Parties Trouble:
Also
whether they have seen her call upon, speak to, or feed any Spirit, or
such
like; or have heard her foretel of this mishap, or speak of her power to
hurt, or of her Transportation to this or that place, &c. |
|
|
 |
