Note 51 — INTRODUCTION.

Sir Thomas Browne was, upon this occasion, called upon by Sir Matthew Hale to give his judgment; upon which he declared, that “he was clearly of opinion that the fits were natural, but heightened by the devil, co-operating with the malice of the witches, at whose instance he did the villainies,” and he added, “that in Denmark there had been lately a great discovery of witches who used the very same way of afflicting persons by conveying pins into them.” This relation of Sir Thomas Browne, says the historian of the case, made that good and great man, Sir Matthew Hale, doubtful; but he would not so much as sum up the evidence, but left it to the jury with prayers that the great God of Heaven would direct their hearts in that weighty matter. The jury accordingly returned a verdict of guilty; and their execution was amongst the latest instances of the kind that disgrace the English annals.