"The witch held a lower degree in the scale of forbidden knowledge. She was a slave without recompense; she had sold herself without any apparent object, unless it were the mere power of doing evil." "It has been an article of popular belief, from the earliest period of the history of the nations of western Europe, that women were more easily brought into connection with the spiritual world than men; priestesses were the favorite agents of the deities of the ages of paganism. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the power of the witches to do mischief was derived from a direct compact with the Demon, [Devil,] whom they were bound to worship with certain rites and ceremonies, the shadows of those which had, in remoter ages, been performed in honor of the pagan gods." In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, "the witches met together by night, in solitary places, to worship their master, who appeared to them in the shape of a cat or a goat, or sometimes in that of a man. At these meetings they had feasts, and some were appointed to serve at table, while others received reward or punishment, according to their zeal in the service of the Evil One. Hither also they brought children which they had stolen from their cradles, and which were sometimes torn to pieces and devoured. We see here the first outlines of the witches' 'Sabbath' of a later age." In the progress of the narratives there are abundant testimonies to the following opinions and practices: 1. That it was Satan, the arch-apostate, personally, with whom they entered into compact; selling to him their souls for a consideration, and covenanting to worship and serve him, and to renounce Christ and blaspheme his name. Thus, in the confession of a Dr. Fian, of Scotland, of "the origin of his acquaintance with the Devil," while meditating how he should be revenged of his landlord, "The Devil suddenly made his appearance, clad in white raiment, and said to him, 'Will ye be my servant, and adore me, and ye shall never want?' The Doctor assented to the terms, and, at the suggestion of the Evil One, revenged himself." And in that of Ganfridi, a French Catholic priest: "The Demon appeared to him in a human form, and said to him, 'What do you desire of me?'" After stating what he wanted, "the Demon promised to grant him his desires, on condition that he would give up to him entirely his 'body, soul, and works;' to which he agreed," excepting only to his performing the sacraments as a priest. 2. They had what they termed "Sabbaths," when they met for the worship of Satan; and also periodical feasts, appointed on days set apart for festivals of the Romish Church.