decapitate those who confessed, while all others were burned alive. Hundreds suffering of painful diseases or succumbing to unbearable privations, forthwith fancied themselves bewitched, or actually sought relief from the ills of this life by voluntarily appearing before the numerous tribunals for the trial of witchcraft. The minds of men were so thoroughly blinded, that even when husbands testified the impossibility of their wives having attended the witches' sabbath, because they had been lying all night by their side in bed, they were told, and quite ready to believe, that a phantom had taken the place of their absent wives! In one of the most famous trials five women confessed, after suffering unspeakable torture, that they had disinterred an infant, the child of one of their number, and supped upon it with the Devil; the father of the child persevered till the grave was opened, and behold, the child's body was there unharmed! But the judges declared it to be a phantom sent by the Evil One, since the confession of the criminals was worth more than mere ocular proof, and the women were burnt accordingly. (Horst. Demonomagie, i. p. 349.) The most signal proof of the absurdity of all such charges was obtained in our own country. Here the number of those who complained of being plagued and injured by demoniac agencies became larger in precise proportion as trials increased and condemnations succeeded. But when nineteen of the accused had been executed, and the judges becoming appalled at the daily growing number of complaints, set some of the prisoners free, and declined to arrest others, there was suddenly an end of these grievances, no more accounts of enchantment and witchcraft were heard, and soon the evil disappeared entirely.