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    jLEGf-Ar>STTI'PBESSlOKOF-\VlTCHCRA]? r r

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    Liberal recruits in the House of Commons . But as they come into action , there will be opportunities for-5 i complete analysis of the fresh-element that has-been ; infused into tli £ legislative body .

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    THE HUDDEftSMELD ELECTION . Mb . Willakts , Chairman of Mr . Goudex ' s Committee at Huddersfield , has published in the Times a letter , contradicting a statement which appeared in the Leader last week . "We remarked that Sir John Ramsden , a moderate Ministerialist , had recently "become possessed of a preponderating influence in . Huddersfield , which , during' the late election , had been , exerted in favour of Mr . Akroyd . Mr . Willatts informs us that he has not heard of a single instance in which , during the contest between ; Mr . Cobbbn and M >

    AiKROTip , the influence of the landlord had been exercised , even ia the slightest degree . Sir John Bamsdek- he adds , had instructed his agents to abstain altogether from interference in the election ' . We are glad to receive this statement from Mr . "WiLiiA . irs . But' he misunderstood m "We imputed no unfair conduct to Sir John lRailsdek . We spoke only of "influence , " and we have heard from persons almost as likely to be well-informed as the Chairman of Mr ,

    Cobden's Committee , that influence wax exerted . "We do not add " by Sir John Rastsden himself , " whose bare denial would suffice to settle the question . He is the principal landlord in Huddersfield , we believe ; 'he is a Ministerialist ; he was opposed to Mr . Cobden" on the Chinese debate ; his opinions and those of Mr . Airoyi > are in many respects coincident ; Mr . Akroyd is returned by a Yorkshire borough in preference to Richard Cobdun . " Would it not be

    natural to infer , therefore , even were no evidence in existence , that the principles of ft " politician who is almost the proprietor of that " borough should have a considerable effect on the result of the election ? Of course Mr . Akroyd was much indebted to the skilful tactics of his own agents . The interference of Mr . "Wii / lans , however , was altogether justified , but his defence of Sir John Bamsdek was gratuitous . We the

    desired to assert the independence of borough ; we hinted no disparagement of Sir Johist Eamsben . The young baronet is an example to his class ; lie devotes his abilities to the highest objects ; ho is aiming at statesmanship and oratory ; we shall be disappointed if he do not . attain to speedy political distinction . Nevertheless , we think that certain Ituddorsfield electors remembered Byram Hall when they voted for Mr . Akboyd .

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    THE PERSIAN EXPEDITION , AND ITS CHIEF . John CniMMAN and the stately Persian are the moral Alpha and Omega of Orientalism . In a geographical sense , we might find it necessary for " Persian" to read " Turk . " But his geographical position has , for sovoral centuries , brought the l atter into clo ^ o contact with the natives of tho West ; and repeated collisions lmvo hud tho natural efleet of abrading and dc-angukriaingm lum tlio more salient peculiarities that mark the gemuno Asiatic . JS ot so with tho Chinese

    Jlegf-Ar≫Stti'pbesslokof-\Vltchcra]? R R

    vessel on . the fire to boil ; an 4 the time while that compound was " boiling , and burning , and whatnot , " was the time to see the witch His wife went to bed ; got out of bed , as was her custom ' ,-to take some magaiesia or : a * little drink , looked out of window ; and there , " in the moonlight , at a most unseasonable hour , " she saw a neighbour , Mrs . C——— , " standing , in an agony sort of state . '' Mrs . C— - —

    and the-punishment of . witches . The accused lady , however , might have escaped . In any ease we can scarcely imagine an inquiry mor& conducive to an exposition of the intellectual state of the . country in its most numerou s classes . 5 and the progress of education must have benefited , by the . proceedings in court . Whatever the . result of the trial might hnvfr been , some of the collateral questions submitted to the jury would have been peculiarly ; edifying . We can imagine the conversation of the ; twelve intelligent men in the bar paric-ur for mo . ii . ths , if not years after , that forensic

    debateis a womau so infirm that she cannot-leave her own house ; and her having come all that distance proves that she is in possession of supernatural powers for certain purposes ; the effects of which Mrs .. B . felt only too practically . The husband did nob ask to have the culprit condemned without a hearing ; he wished a fair trial , and that was the object of his applying for a magistrate ' s order .

    jLEGAI > STTPPBESSIOK OF ITOCHCRAFT . Ik how many English counties will the wayfarer observe on tlie threshold of the cottagedoor a horse-shoe nailed ? "Who is ignorant of the use of that ornament to the entrance of home ? 3 ? or some reason which scientific philosophy has noi ; yet discovered , it prevents the entrance of a witch . Remove the horseshoe , and the wHch may enter . It follows that there must be witches ' to enter the doors of those cottages ; and we believe that the number of counties in which the precaution may be observed is fifty-six . Since there a re

    witches , it follows that persona must be bewitched . In a very interesting paper published , by the Times . , the witches are described as obtaining their inniience by the most direct process . They believe in the existence of . an eternal spir . it of evil ; they believe that lie has the power of working , death and destruction , and that he can lend his power to others who will pay the price for it ; and we ask , what respectable person will boldly stand forward at the present day and

    deny that'tlie country people are correct in this plain aecorart ? TBere are two circumstances which confirm the general belief . It is found that witches do not enter the doors which are fortified with horse-shoea ; and that is strong negative evidence ; It is also found that persons are bewitched , for the instances are perfectly notorious , in all English counties . ISfo doubt evil-disposed persons may spuriously pretend to be witches ^ only for the purpose of making a trade ; and it is possible that some genuioo ¦ witches may also make money by their

    vocation . We believe that to this day they will for a proper price sell a wind to a sea-captain ; and captains do sometimes lay in a stock of that commodity , just as the mythological voyager did : for a knowledge of these profound truths has been common to all ages of mankind . Nor ia there anything in this sale of a wind very different from the sale of a caul , which the Times does not scruple sometimes to advertise , —the usual price being from one guinea to three or more . The genuine witch , however , works her incantations for the honour and dignity of the thing , —for the love of mischief .

    In the village of ITockham resides a person whoseunitials are « T . B . ; and hia wife has been afflicted by a witch . There was no doubt about the fact . Ho proceeded to a magistrate in the neighbourhood , and asked for an order to have the witch " proved . " The magistrate was not versed in that branch of jurisprudence ; and he expressed sotno doubt as to the existence ofwitch . es . Mr . B . silenced him with the precedent of the witch of Endor , and informed him hc * w a witch is proved . She is

    swum /'—thai ; is , she is immersed in water , and if she floa . ts she ia a witch , if she sinks Bho is no witch ; and , Mr . B . ' s object was , to have this scientific teat applied in a perfectly lawful manner . Tho magistrate , indeed , Beemed to assume—and it is an instance of tho * ash temper wo sometimes find on tho bench—that Mr . B . had not really identified tho criminal that

    persecuted his wife- but that again ^ as a mistake . QMvo accuser stated the mode in which the criminal had been identified . Following the advice of a wiso woman , he had taken some old horseshoe nails , toother with parings -of his wife ' s toe-naila and of her finger-nails , and ' hairs from the " noddle" of her neck ; had put them into a bottle , aud put tho bottle in a

    The order was refused , on the assumption that them an ' s statements were absurd 9 and that refusal happened in a court of law , where a Chinaman would "be allowed to break a saucer as a-proof of his statements I We say nothing of other assertions which are received as a matter of course . JNTow we regret that the magistrate did . not adopt an entirely different line of action , and grant the order ; It would be a grand thing , to have the trial of a witch . The prosecution of To ^ NieiriFr by Cha . bleswob . tk , in Staffordshire , is no case in point : T . unniclie'F was not prosecuted as a wizard , but as an impostor who pretended

    to be a wizard , for the purpose of getting money out of Chablesworth ' s pocket on " false pretences , " and he was punished as an impostor . But it would be very interesting to take the trial upon the direct issue *—to place Mra . C—— - —in the dock oin the positive charge of having bewitched Mrs . B . The day lias gone by when , we are to assume either the truth Or tlie falsehood of «? ty statement , and it would "be useful for the public to bi'iiag forward all the evidence which could be adduced to establish a charge of witchcraft . It is all very well to talk of the belief in witches as " nonsense " - — an indiscretion

    wbieh the magistrate committed , , and he seems leather proud of it . That of course would materially clear the ground for the professional adviser of Mr . B ., who is evidently a very moderate , sensible , and practical mail . If the charge had proceeded , we should have had out the facts currently accepted in the neighbourhood ; and it would , be interesting to have them ex > - plicitly stated in , a court of law . Half of these absurdities , as " E ., " the correspondent of the Times , presumptuously calls them , continue because they are not brought out into the light of discussion . As Mr . B . said ,

    genteel folks seldom hear much of these things . But if the facts were brought , by formal depositions , before a court of justice , we should encourage the country people in unfolding to us the full weight of their opinion and knowledge on the subject . We could imagine nothing more useful as a mode of . ascertaining the state of knowledge- and the mental , condition of the county interested . It might , also assist in ascertaining the montal condition , the state of opinion , and . tho development of reasoning amongst even 1 a superior class , if -yvo were to have tho ovideuco on the other side . We should

    draw out arguments of counsel upon tho existence of witches , for example , the authorities which can bo produced to support the statements on that subject , and tho wellauthenticated exorcise of supernatural powers . Wo might rogrot if Mrs . 0 . wore condemned ; for we must remember that it is not a century since portions wcro actually accused of : witchcraft ;; and it ia not very long since they - \ vcro punished for tho oxcre ' iso of tho diabolical nrte . Tho law , therefore , does furnish precedent , both for tho conviction

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    S 50 ¦ . ¦' fgR-. ' L-E . ABE : ^ [ No , 368 , SAT ! tTRDAs ?

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 11, 1857, page 350, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2188/page/14/