Mary Schweidler, the amber witch: The most interesting trial for witchcraft ever known, printed from an imperfect manuscript by her father, Abraham Schweidler, the pastor of Coserow in the island of Usedom / edited by W. Meinhold ; translated from the German by Lady Duff Gordon. — John Shaqi
Mary Schweidler, the amber witch: The most interesting trial for witchcraft ever known, printed from an imperfect manuscript by her father, Abraham Schweidler, the pastor of Coserow in the island of Usedom / edited by W. Meinhold ; translated from the German by Lady Duff Gordon.Meinhold, Wilhelm
General
Mary Schweidler, the amber witch: The most interesting trial for witchcraft ever known, printed from an imperfect manuscript by her father, Abraham Schweidler, the pastor of Coserow in the island of Usedom / edited by W. Meinhold ; translated from the German by Lady Duff Gordon.
Meinhold, Wilhelm
Witchcraft -- Pomerania (Poland and Germany)
Paasch, and bewailing that she was now a poor widow, and who was to take
care of her for the future, etc.
Meanwhile we celebrated on this barren shore, as best we could and might,
together with the whole Protestant Church, the 25th day _mensis Junii_,
whereon, one hundred years ago, the Estates of the holy Roman Empire laid
their confession before the most high and mighty Emperor Carolus V., at
Augsburg; and I preached a sermon on Matt. x. 32, of the right confession
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whereupon the whole congregation
came to the Sacrament. Now, towards the evening of the selfsame day, as I
walked with my daughter by the sea-shore, we saw several hundred sail of
ships, both great and small, round about Ruden, and plainly heard firing,
whereupon we judged forthwith that this must be the most high and mighty
King Gustavus Adolphus, who was now coming, as he had promised, to the aid
of poor persecuted Christendom. While we were still debating, a boat
sailed towards us from Oie wherein was Kate Berow her son, who is a farmer
there, and was coming to see his old mother. The same told us that it
really was the king, who had this morning run before Ruden with his fleet
from Rügen; that a few men of Oie were fishing there at the time, and saw
how he went ashore with his officers, and straightway bared his head and
fell upon his knees.
Thus, then, most gracious God, did I thy unworthy servant enjoy a still
greater happiness and delight that blessed evening than I had done on the
blessed morn; and any one may think that I delayed not for a moment to
fall on my knees with my child, and to follow the example of the king. And
God knows I never in my life prayed so fervently as that evening, whereon
the Lord showed such a wondrous sign upon us as to cause the deliverer of
his poor Christian people to come among them on the very day when they had
everywhere called upon him, on their knees, for his gracious help against
the murderous wiles of the Pope and the devil. That night I could not
sleep for joy, but went quite early in the morning to Damerow, where
something had befallen Vithe his boy. I supposed that he, too, was
bewitched; but this time it was not witchcraft, seeing that the boy had
eaten something unwholesome in the forest. He could not tell what kind of
berries they were; but the _malum_, which turned all his skin bright
scarlet, soon passed over. As I therefore was returning home shortly
after, I met a messenger from Peenemünde, whom his Majesty the high and
mighty King Gustavus Adolphus had sent to tell the Sheriff that on the
29th of June, at ten o'clock in the morning, he was to send three guides
to meet his Majesty at Coserow, and to guide him through the woods to
Swine, where the Imperialists were encamped. _Item_, he related how his
Majesty had taken the fort at Peenemünde yesterday (doubtless the cause of
the firing we heard last evening), and that the Imperialists had run away
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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