Chapter VII: Part 7

I found a great many people about him; sir T. Aleyn, lady
Garret, and the countess of Carlisle was there. I told him, Mr.
Tryon, I understand you have been robbed. Yes, says he, I have a
great loss. I found him very staggering what he should do. I
said, you must do like a man, or you will lose all: said I to
sir T. Aleyn, if you do not help the poor man, being ancient, he
will quite lose all. With that I went up above in the house, sir
T. Aleyn was pleased to call me along with him, I was by at all
the examinations; I did mistrust, and told Mr. Tryon in French,
that no doubt but that gentleman was in the robbery: the reason
was, that he being a frequent man in the house, knew everything:
he was there continually, coming for jewels and things, and no
man could do it but himself: that was my judgment, I told sir T.
Aleyn assuredly he had a hand in it. My lord, the while we were
examining the servants, word was brought in, that he was
hearkening at the door, and in the yards, which made me more and
more mistrust him. We heard that the maid had been gadding
abroad several times: I desired sir T. Aleyn to examine the maid
how often she had supped at Turner's, she denied any time. The
young man was examined, who said, they had been thirty or forty
times feasted at col. Turner's. My lord, sir T. Aleyn has given
you a just account, but he omitted one thing; he had a note sent
him, which he had in his pocket, touching Mr. Turner's going
about removal of the money into the Minories; and before Turner
came in, he examined Mrs. Turner upon that note: says he, you
were there too, and carried the money. Says she, she [_i.e._
Mrs. Fry] is a liar and a whore for saying so. Col. Turner came
in and said, why do you torment and vex my wife; and falling a
cursing, and swearing and banning, said she was with child, you
will make her miscarry, let her alone. Sir T. Aleyn examined him
where he had been that day, and that night; he told me of many
taverns, and going to see his horse, and I know not what, but we
found him faltering. When the jewels were brought, there being
two notes, sir T. Aleyn had one, and I another. The old
gentleman was so joyful to see them again, that lying by him,
and handling them, he pulled two or three down with his sleeve.
Says Mr. Turner, come, I know what belongs to them better than
any of you, and read them over, and I will shew them you. There
wanting one jewel, says he, that rogue that has the other money
hath this jewel, but I do not doubt but I shall find that out
too. We put them all together, and sir T. Aleyn sealed them with
his seal. For the bags of money, I saw them taken out, and one
being sealed with a small seal, I put on both my spectacles, I
found a lion rampant at top in one of the quarters; said I, this
is a seal of some great person; and then a letter was brought
down, and being compared, I was satisfied in my conscience they
were alike. Sir T. Aleyn told me he must make a mittimus for him
and his wife: said she, Do you send me of your errands? you
shall send somebody else another time: I thought it would come
to this. After much ranting and swearing (I thought the devil
would have fetched him out of the room) he said, that he had
better have kept the jewels, than to bring them forth, and to
suffer for it himself, for he had pawned his soul, and would not
reveal it; and said, that Mr. Tryon had likewise engaged the
like to him. For the L600 he offered his bond.

_Hill_ recalled, said that Turner had been employed by Tryon about some mortgages; but he knew of no particulars.

SIR T. ALEYN--My lord, John Turner his son there, fled away from
me when I came to the house in the Minories.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--Why did you fly away?

JOHN TURNER--I did not, sir.

SIR T. ALEYN--You did not fly! You ran away as fast as you
could.

JOHN TURNER--My lord, a woman cried out 'Get away, and save your
life!' and not knowing what the matter was, I went away.

COL. TURNER--Poor boy! he thought thieves had been coming, and
affrighted him.

SIR T. ALEYN--As to Ely Turner, I examined him upon the Sunday,
the day after his father was committed; he would not confess the
carrying of any money, and the maid swearing it, I committed him
also.

COL. TURNER--What's that of Ely? upon my soul, the boy carried
none.

JOHN TURNER--I carried what was carried.

COL. TURNER--My Lord, one son is as dear to me as the other, but
if either be more, it must be my eldest; but yet I must say, it
was John my eldest son that carried the money.

SIR T. ALEYN--My Lord, W. Turner was brought before me on
Tuesday or Wednesday: sir R. Brown sent out his warrant for him,
being a person of evil name, and likely to do such a fact; being
taken, he was brought before me. My Lord, when Mr. Tryon looked
upon him, he suspected him: I examined him when he saw Col.
Turner; he said not these three years, not to speak to him; and
yet one at the Cock behind the Exchange said, this W. Turner
staid for Col. Turner at his house two hours, that Col. Turner
came in, paid for the pot of drink, and for ought he knew they
both went together: thereupon I committed him. In the afternoon
I ordered this person to send his servant; one came and made
oath that he came in, and enquired for Col. Turner, asked for
him, staid two hours for him; that they went both out of the
house together: and this was on the Wednesday before the
robbery.

_William Dawes_ and _John Rouse_, his servant, corroborated what Sir T. Aleyn said as to William Turner.

_Garret_, _Watcher_, and _Culley_ were called to prove that Turner had said that the money he took to Tryon's house was his own money, and that he was going to recover the jewels; 'if any man could say that he lost sixpence of his money, or six-penny worth of his jewels, he had two fellows in custody should answer for it.'

_Pilkington_ corroborated what other witnesses had said as to the account Turner gave of the way in which the robbery was committed.

_Tryon_ was recalled to identify William Turner as one of the two men whom he saw in his room, and as being the man who knocked out his tooth. The men were barefaced; one said to the other that it was only just past eleven o'clock.

_Hyde, Lord Chief-Justice_, then called on the prisoners to make their defence. He shortly recapitulated the case against them. William Turner and his father Col. Turner had met on the day before the robbery; the robbery must have been committed by some one who knew where the money and jewels were locked up, and Col. Turner had this knowledge. Early on the morning after the robbery Col. Turner, his wife and his son, moved a quantity of money out of their house, and asked a neighbour to take charge of it, falsely alleging that it belonged to a merchant who wanted to hide it. Afterwards they admitted that it was their own, but it appears that one of the bags in which it was, was sealed with the seal of the bishop of Chichester; and at the time of the burglary there was L600 in bags left with Mr. Tryon sealed with the same seal. William Turner, on people coming to his father's house, 'takes footing and leaps over the ditch to escape, which is a good just ground of suspicion that he is guilty of somewhat that he would not abide to answer.' Col. Turner and his wife show an exact knowledge of the way in which the crime was committed; 'Lay all this together, unless you shall answer it, all the world must conclude that you are the one that did this robbery.'

TURNER--I shall first prove that upon Thursday night, the time
of that supposed burglary, that myself, my wife, and all my
family, were in bed, fast asleep and innocent, not knowing
anything of this business. This I shall prove, if not, let me
hang and all my family.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--All this may be true, and yet this
not to the purpose.

TURNER--Then I cannot be guilty of the burglary.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--If you will lay and plot such a
robbery, though you are not there, yet you are guilty of it; for
it is ordinary that the main setter will not be present at such
times, but will then be in bed, that people may take notice
thereof. But satisfy the court by what means you came by this
money and jewels, and then call your witnesses.

_Turner_ in his defence said that his name was first mentioned by the man Hill, the manservant, who, when he came home late after the robbery, said that he and the maid had been at supper at his house, which was false. The fact was that the first he heard of the burglary was when the constable came to him and found him and all his family in bed. On being informed of what had taken place, he at once went to Tryon's house, and discussed the matter with him. Tryon suspected Christmas of being one of the men he had seen in his room, and he was fetched by a constable and afterwards sent to the Compter. Turner had prevented a robbery at the same place a year since, and he set to work to see if he could not recover the stolen property by the same means that he had used on that occasion. He remembered one John Wild, and he went to look for him 'beyond the little postern between the two Tower Hills, near the Tower ditch.' On Friday night when he got to the house where he had found the persons he wanted the year before, he 'passed a fellow in black, in a large coat, such another man as this (pointing at one that stood by); he was in a black loose coat, and he was trimmed with ribband at his knee.' Thinking he must be one of the men he was in search of, either Wild or White, he seized him, and charged him with the burglary.

Said I, Mr. Tryon's house was robbed, and you are the person
that I will lay flat felony to; you should have been one of them
that were to rob him a year since, when Col. Ashton betrayed you
all. He began with some hard oaths; be quiet, said I, I will
call out; you are an undone man; I will lay this felony to you.
I shifted my hold from his collar to the waistband of his
breeches; I thought I had him more secure. Said I, Wild, do not
deceive yourself, play not the fool; if you will save your life,
let me see where those goods and monies are, else you will go to
pot. We walked to the hill. I had fast hold of his breeches all
this while; and yet I was afraid he might have some dagger, and
stab me; Said I, be brief, you are alone, either resolve me or I
will call out.

Thereupon Wild, having bound Turner by an oath that his life should be safe if he discovered the thing, whistled thrice, and so called White, to whom he explained the situation, and sent him for the money. White went off and brought back L500 in two journeys, Turner holding Wild by his breeches all the time. This lasted four hours,[45] from midnight till four, during which time Wild gave Turner the account of how the burglary was committed, which he afterwards explained to the witnesses. When the L500 was all brought, Wild and White carried it to Turner's house, and threw it down on the floor of his parlour, promising to bring the rest of the money and the jewels the next day. White then objected that the men who had them would not come into the city, and it was arranged that they should bring them to Betty Fry's house in the Minories, an appointment being made to meet at the Blue Boar on the afternoon of the same day. Turner, his wife, and his son John (not Ely as Fry had sworn) took the five bags to Fry's house, and later on Turner went to Tryon's house, where he met Gurney ('Jesus! what a noise is here in the court. My Lord, I can hear but with one ear'), and told him that he would recover all his money except a few shillings. Tryon was delighted, promised him L500, and swore not to betray Wild and White. At eight o'clock on Saturday night,[46] he found Wild by the Blue Boar in Tower Hill, and told him where the money was, and Wild said it must be moved to St. Catherine's by the water-side. Some of the money was carried there,[47] and as the rest was being moved Sir T. Aleyn came up, and John Turner ran away. Col. Turner told Sir T. Aleyn that the money was his, because Tryon had promised it to him, and he wanted to conceal the transaction. They all took the money to Mr. Tryon's house, where Tryon acknowledged his promise, and Sir T. Aleyn agreed that if the goods were restored, the old man's word should be made good.

More that that, he said he would make up the business, or he
would smother it. My Lord, you have a great deal of patience, I
am humbly bound to you, here is nothing but the naked truth,
step by step, as I trod it. Afterwards[48] Wild came and said,
All will be well. Said I, What have you done? Are you sure,
saith he, the jewels nor nothing shall be stirred? Said I, You
see all is spoiled; Sir Thomas Aleyn is come where we had lodged
the money, the thing is known, do they not hear of it? Yes they
hear as well as you, and know what is done, and some have eyes
upon you. Said I they will run away with the jewels. No you
shall meet about three o'clock either by the Blue-Pig at
Tower-Hill, or at Nag's-Head over against White-Chapel church.
Nobody knows me but you, your wife, and your son who saw me this
morning.

Coming home about Change time Stubbs told him it was said that he had been concerned in the robbery, and later he was arrested by Cole for his debt to Lyon and taken to the Hoop Tavern, where he was still in custody when a constable came with a warrant to take him before Sir. T. Aleyn. He asked Sir Thomas to allow him to go to fetch the jewels, but he was not allowed to go out of the liberties.

He then remembered that Wild had said he could send his wife, whom he described as

a full short woman about forty or fifty years old, she had a
black scarf on; ... I told Sir Thomas this story. My wife came
to me publicly, I did not whisper with her.

MRS. TURNER--Nay, look you, husband----

TURNER--Pr'ythee Mall, sit down; you see my lord, my wife will
interrupt me with nonsense. Pr'ythee sit thee down quickly, and
do not put me out; I cannot hold women's tongues, nor your
lordship neither.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--This is not a May-game.

TURNER--My Lord, it is a serious business, and I hope God will
bless it. 'Pray,' said I, 'Mall go.'

His wife went as she was told.

She found this Nag's Head, she sat down, being somewhat fat and
weary, poor dear! I have had 27 children by her, 15 sons and 12
daughters. Seven or eight times did this fellow round her----

MRS. TURNER--Let me give that relation----

TURNER--You cannot, it is as well; pr'ythee sit down, dear Mall,
sit thee down good child, all will be well.

Mrs. Turner, in short, brought back the jewels which were given to Tryon, in Chamberlin's presence, and Turner offered to forego his L500, but was nevertheless committed by Sir T. Aleyn.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--Have you any witnesses to prove
all this discourse passed between you and Wild?

TURNER--I have by, witnesses to prove I said this, that there
was such discourses between us.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--No doubt of it; and so will many a
man at Newgate frame such a story as this.

HYDE, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--You have told a long story about Wild,
that you took him by the throat, and that you were alone: what
weapons had you?

TURNER--None, my Lord.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--Had you a lanthorn with you?

TURNER--No, my Lord.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--What time of the night was it?

TURNER--Twelve o'clock, my lord.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--You staid till four, so they were
four hours a-bringing of the money.

TURNER--Yes, my Lord.

HYDE, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--You took a man in the dark by the
throat, that man that was guilty of such a thing, as when that
you did let him go to call his companions to bring the money,
brings fellows to you single; I would be glad to know, whether
in this case they would not have knocked you on the head, and
killed you?

TURNER--My lord, Wild had engaged his soul, and I my soul to
him, that if I would not discover him, I should go away free.

BRIDGMAN--Great security indeed!

TURNER--I desire my maid may be called; pray ask Sir T. Aleyn
what he hath done with my maid; he took her up with Sir R.
Brown, and two marshal's men (pray gentlemen, make not a
laughing business of this), Sir Thomas pray, where is my maid?

SIR T. ALEYN--I had this maid upon examination, I found cause of
further examination, thereupon directed an officer to take her,
and she is now in the garden.

_Mosely_ the constable, the Marquis of Dorchester's servant, and Turner's maid were called to prove that Turner and his family were in bed at the time that the burglary took place; but proved nothing material, the maid in particular becoming confused and contradicting herself several times.

Various witnesses were called to character, and _Sir T. Aleyn_, _Chamberlin_, _Millington_, and others were recalled, and all agreed that Turner, when he was in custody, asked to be allowed to go to fetch the jewels, but did not offer to arrest the thief.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--This is a notable piece of
cunning; when he was moved by Alderman Smith and others, all
this while he names no man; but now he was under an action, he
would have them go with himself out of the Liberties, and yet
saith never a word to take the man; he knew very well it was out
of the Liberties. Truly, I think if Sir T. Aleyn had done it, I
should not have taken him to be Sir T. Aleyn.

_William Turner_ denied all knowledge of the charge.

_John Turner_, questioned by the judges, said that he had carried two bags of money from Fry's house to Wild on the Saturday morning; he made two journeys with one bag each time; he delivered them to Wild in the street at Tower-Ditch.

_Hyde, Lord Chief-Justice_, then summed up. He began by pointing out that as to Mrs. Turner,

though it appears all along that she had a hand in this
business, yet nothing appears at all, but doing only that which
her husband had directed; then by law she cannot be accessory
for committing of felony.

As to Ely, there was nothing against him.

Then the matter is to James, John, and William Turner; I hope,
and I am sure you are nearer, and you take note of what hath
been delivered; I have not your memories; you are young and no
persons better; you are men of understanding, I need not repeat
particulars to you.

He points out, very shortly, that John and William Turner had not proved that they were in bed at home all that night, and that even if they were in bed when the constable came to the house, that proved nothing, because the crime had then already been committed. As to Col. Turner,

you see when he comes the next day, he undertakes to find out
the thieves, and that only upon a suspicion; that there being a
purpose to rob Mr. Tryon a year before, he goes to the same
place now, he found Wild out then. He had very good luck; that
because he lodged there a year before, he must have the same
lodging now: It is a likely matter that thieves, as Wild is,
should keep their lodgings thus constantly. There he finds him,
takes him by the throat, and there they were playing a while:
There one comes, goes, and brings some part of the money. After
all this, the next day he must take his word to come again and
bring the jewels. Observe but this; after which time as the
money was received yet by a token, though he never saw the
woman before, describing her a short fat woman, with a long
black scarf, he must meet her, asked her what she wanted, and
must give her jewels of that value: 'Tis one of the finest
framed stories that I have heard, that this man should come to
be thus privy after himself stood charged and the jewels brought
for all this; and yet he must know nothing of it. You observe
the evidences, and their circumstances themselves: The witnesses
he called in point of reputation, that I must leave to you. I
have been here many a fair time: Few men that come to be
questioned, but shall have some come and say, he is a very
honest man; I never knew any hurt by him: But is this anything
against the evidence of the fact? But you have here the whole; I
shall leave it to you.

_Bridgman, Lord Chief-Justice_, summed up even more shortly, mentioning a few of the absurdities of Turner's story. The jury withdrew for an hour, and then returned with a verdict of Guilty against Col. Turner, and Not Guilty against all the others.

On the 19th of January Col. Turner and William Turner made a confession as to their share in the crime. From this it appears that the burglary was planned entirely by Col. Turner, and was committed by him, his son William, one White, a solicitor, and an unnamed friend of White's. Col. Turner procured an impression of Tryon's door-key in wax, and had another key made to the pattern. By means of this all four men entered Tryon's house about nine o'clock, and having bound and gagged Tryon, stole his keys, opened the doors of the counting-house and the warehouse, found the keys of his iron chest, and took the money and jewels out of it. How much money or how many bags they took does not appear, but everything was taken to a house in Duke's Place, from which Col. Turner fetched away the money and the jewels to his own house the next morning. The money was still in his house when it was searched by the constable and the marshal on Friday night. William Turner was to have L100, and White and his friend L20 a-piece for their pains. Neither Mrs. Turner, John Turner, or Ely Turner knew of the robbery, but they helped to move the money on Saturday morning. On being asked on Saturday morning where the jewels were, Col. Turner said he had given them to White at six o'clock that morning.

Col. Turner afterwards restored the carcanet, the only jewel which he had not restored before.

On the same day in the evening he was condemned to be hung.

On the occasion of his execution, two days afterwards, he made a dying speech of some length. After admitting the justice of his fate, and declaring that he died in peace with all the world, he said--

Truly it is my sins, and the greatness of my sins hath brought
me hither, and the greatest sin that troubles me, and lies on
me, is that sin which I was much addicted to, and that was the
sin of profaneness, of blaspheming God, of taking his name in
vain. I never heard any man or woman, or whatever they were,
swear in my life but I did tremble for them, to hear them; for
keeping company with men of honour (they were men of quality,
though that was an ill quality in them) was the occasion of it I
never kept company with any poor, base, inferior people, with
any thief, or any suchlike base person in all my life, but fled
from them and avoided them till this accident. As I was telling
you, for that great sin of swearing; keeping company with
persons that did swear, I did get a habit of swearing, though I
hated it and loathed it, when I observed it in myself, and yet,
may be, did it again, forgetting presently, and not observing,
being of a hasty nature.

He then goes on to say that his sons were innocent of the present matter, and asks the sheriff to procure their liberation from prison, which he promises to do if he can. He laments the present state of the world.

I must deal really with you, this nation is very full of sins,
of crying sins, of sins that the land will suddenly mourn by
God's hand; I have every year expected the sweeping plague to
come and take away two-thirds of the nation for the sins that
lie upon us.

It is expected of him that he should clear himself from accusations that have been made against him. He knows nothing of having received L20 from Dr. Hewyt's wife to procure him a pardon, his wife will soon receive a certificate from her to show that this is true. He did not cheat the king out of money when he was beyond the seas with him; for he was never out of the country. He relates various sufferings that he endured on the royalist side during the civil war, but being reminded by the sheriff that this is not a proper subject for a dying man to discourse about, he points out that Tryon got back all his property, and then goes on rather inconsistently:--

But, Mr. Sheriffs, assure yourselves, so sure I am going to
heaven, I shall be there in glory, so sure had Mr. Tryon (if I
had not met with those two foolish timorous officers) have had
his goods and money again; there had never had one word of this
business been known. It was a sad fate, that these two fellows
out of a little fear should be the occasion of my coming here;
but God forgive them, Stubs and Lyon I mean, these two villains,
I have nobody to thank for my blood but them; and yet I do free
them, and freely forgive them. Mr. Sheriffs, are you satisfied
in this? Would you have me say any more touching the fact?

MR. SHERIFF--It is satisfaction to us if you are satisfied
yourself.

Turner then goes on to deny other charges that have been made against him; particularly he asserts that a man of the same name who died in his house was not poisoned by him, and that he knows nothing of a 'glass jewel' which the ordinary suggests that he delivered to the Countess of Devonshire in place of another. He expresses his faith in the Protestant church, and his belief in the chief tenets of the Christian religion, and denies that he had been drunk and abused the ordinary, swearing, and boasting that he had L5000, and could have a pardon when he pleased. On the contrary, he had acted as clerk in the prison chapel.

About eight or nine o'clock Justice Stringer came to me in
Chancery-Lane, and two or three knights and persons of quality,
eight or nine in all; they had one bottle of sack among them, of
which I drank one little cup ... and God forgive them that
raised the scandal.

He then complains of the Hole where he was confined the night after the Sessions--

It is a most sad deplorable place; Hell itself, in comparison
cannot be such a place; there is neither bench, stool nor stick
for any person there; they lie like swine upon the ground, one
upon another, howling and roaring ... I would humbly beg that
the Hole may be provided with some kind of boards like a court
of guard, that men may lie down upon them in ease.

JACKSON (the gaoler)--Seventeen out of nineteen made their
escapes out of that Hole, they having only a form there.

SIR R. FORD--If I did think there were a reprieve to come for
you I would be contented to spin out the time thus; but in good
earnest I expect none; unless you had an apprehension you were
not to die you would not spin out the time thus, not thus run
to many impertinences.

Turner then finished his speech, and after he had prayed a little the executioner fitted the rope round his neck--

TURNER--What, dost thou mean to choke me? pray fellow, give me
more rope; what a simple fellow is this! How long have you been
executioner that you know not yet how to put the knot?

In the midst of his private ejaculations, offering to pull down
the cap, he espied a gentlewoman at a window nigh, kissed his
hand, said 'Your servant, Mistress.'... His cap being pulled
down he gave the sign and the executioner turned him off.

The confluence of people from the gaol to the place of execution
was very great, beyond the memory of any upon the like occasion.

During his imprisonment, and to the last breath of life, his
carriage was very undaunted.

FOOTNOTES:

[42] See _ante_, p. 126.

[43] See _ante_, p. 125.

[44] 1 and 2 Philip and Mary, regulating bail so as to prevent justices admitting prisoners to bail collusively. This statute 'was, in fact, the origin of the preliminary inquiry, which has come to be in practice one of the most important and characteristic parts of our whole system of procedure, but it was originally intended to guard against collusion between the justices and the prisoners brought before them.'--Stephen's _History_, vol. i. p. 237.

[45] These statements were probably made as answers to questions; but the fact does not appear in the report.

[46] At this point either Turner got into a wild confusion as to time, and nobody noticed it, or the report is wrong. Turner's story as it now stands is quite irreconcilable with the obviously true part of the evidence.

[47] Turner must have said, or intended to say, that he had agreed to pay Wild the L500 that White had given him the night before, as black-mail for the rest of the money and the jewels; but nothing of this appears in the report. It does not appear from the report how much money Tryon lost in all, nor how much was found at Fry's. It does not follow that evidence on the subject was not given at the trial.

[48] Turner was arrested by Cole about 3 P.M. Sir T. Aleyn does not say when he parted from him in the morning.

THE SUFFOLK WITCHES[49]

At the Assizes held at Bury St. Edmunds, for the county of Suffolk, on the 10th of March 1665, before Sir Matthew Hale,[50] Lord Chief-Baron of Exchequer, Rose Cullender and Amy Duny, widows, both of Leystoff, were indicted for bewitching Elizabeth and Ann Durent, Jane Bocking, Susan Chandler, William Durent, Elizabeth and Deborah Pacy; and being arraigned they pleaded Not Guilty.

Three of the persons above-named, viz. Anne Durent, Susan Chandler, and Elizabeth Pacy were brought to Bury to the Assizes, and were in a reasonable good condition; but that morning they came into the hall to give instructions for the drawing of their bills of indictments, the three persons fell into strange and violent fits, shrieking out in a most sad manner, so that they could not in any wise give any instructions in the court who were the cause of their distemper. And although they did after some certain space recover out of their fits, yet they were every one of them struck dumb, so that none of them could speak, neither at the time, nor during the Assizes, until the conviction of the supposed witches.

_Dorothy Durent_ was the mother of William Durent, an infant. She swore that on the 10th of March 1669, she left her son William, who was then sucking, in charge of Amy Durent while she was away from home, giving her a penny for her trouble. She laid a great charge on Amy not to suckle the child, and on being asked why she did this, she explained that Amy had long gone under the reputation of a witch. Nevertheless, when she came back Amy told her that she had given the child suck;--

whereupon the deponent was very angry with the said Amy for the
same; at which the said Amy was much discontented, and used many
high expressions and threatening speeches towards her; telling
her, That she had as good to have done otherwise than to have
found fault with her, and so departed out of her house; and that
very night her son fell into strange fits of swooning and was
held in such terrible manner, that she was much affrighted
therewith, and so continued for divers weeks. And the said
examinant farther said, that she being exceedingly troubled at
her child's distemper, did go to a certain person named Dr.
Jacob, who lived at Yarmouth, who had the reputation in the
country, to help children that were bewitched; who advised her
to hang up the child's blanket in the chimney-corner all day,
and at night when she put the child to bed, to put it into the
said blanket, and if she found anything in it, she should not be
afraid, but throw it into the fire. And this deponent did
according to his direction, and at night when she took down the
blanket with an intent to put her child therein, there fell out
of the same a great toad, which ran up and down the hearth, and
she having a young youth only with her in the house desired him
to catch the toad and throw it into the fire, which the youth
did accordingly and held it there with the tongs; and as soon as
it was in the fire it made a great and horrible noise, and after
a space there was a flashing in the fire like gunpowder, making
a noise like the discharge of a pistol, and thereupon the toad
was no more seen or heard. It was asked by the court, if that
after the noise and flashing, there was not the substance of the
toad to be seen to consume in the fire? And it was answered by
the said Dorothy Durent, that after the flashing and noise,
there was no more seen than if there had been none there. The
next day there came a young woman, a kinswoman of the said Amy,
and a neighbour of this deponent, and told this deponent, that
her aunt (meaning the said Amy) was in a most lamentable
condition, having her face all scorched with fire, and that she
was sitting alone in her house in her smock without any fire.
And thereupon this deponent went into the house of the said Amy
Duny to see her, and found her in the same condition as was
related to her; for her face, her legs, and thighs, which this
deponent saw, seemed very much scorched and burnt with fire, at
which this deponent seemed much to wonder, and asked the said
Amy how she came into that sad condition? and the said Amy
replied, she might thank her for it, for that she this deponent
was the cause of it, but that she should live to see some of her
children dead, and she upon crutches. And this deponent farther
saith, that after the burning of the said toad, her child
recovered, and was well again, and was living at the time of the
assizes. And this deponent farther saith, That about the 6th of
March, 11 Car. II., her daughter Elizabeth Durent, being about
the age of ten years, was taken in like manner as her first
child was, and in her fits complained much of Amy Duny, and
said, that she did appear to her, and afflict her in such manner
as the former. And she this deponent going to the apothecary's
for something for her said child, when she did return to her own
house, she found the said Amy Duny there, and asked her what she
did do there, and her answer was, That she came to see her
child, and to give it some water. But she this deponent was very
angry with her, and thrust her forth of her doors, and when she
was out of doors, she said, You need not be so angry, for your
child will not live long: and this was on a Saturday, and the
child died on the Monday following. The cause of whose death,
this deponent verily believeth was occasioned by the witchcraft
of the said Amy Duny: for that the said Amy hath been long
reputed to be a witch and a person of very evil behaviour, whose
kindred and relations have been many of them accused of
witchcraft, and some of them have been condemned. The said
deponent further saith, that not long after the death of her
daughter Elizabeth Durent, she this deponent was taken with a
lameness in both legs, from the knees down-ward, that she was
fain to go upon crutches, and that she had no other use of them
but only to bear a little upon them till she did remove her
crutches, and so continued till the time of the Assizes that the
Witch came to be tried, and was there upon her crutches; the
Court asked her, That at the time she was taken with this
lameness, if it were with her according to the custom of women?
Her answer was, that it was so, and that she never had any
stoppages of those things, but when she was with child. This is
the substance of her Evidence to this Indictment.

There was one thing very remarkable, that after she had gone
upon crutches for upwards of 3 years, and went upon them at the
time of the Assizes in the Court when she gave her Evidence, and
upon the jury's bringing in their verdict, by which the said Amy
Duny was found Guilty, to the great admiration of all persons,
the said Dorothy Durent was restored to the use of her limbs,
and went home without making use of her crutches.

As concerning Elizabeth and Deborah Pacy, the first of the age
of 11 years, the other of the age of 9 years or thereabouts: as
to the elder, she was brought into the Court at the time of the
instructions given to draw up the Indictments, and afterwards at
the time of trial of the said prisoners, but could not speak one
word all the time, and for the most part she remained as one
wholly senseless, as one in a deep sleep, and could move no part
of her body, and all the motion of life that appeared in her
was, that as she lay upon cushions in the court upon her back,
her stomach and belly, by the drawing of her breath, would
arise to a great height: and after the said Elizabeth had lain a
long time on the table in the court, she came a little to
herself and sat up, but could neither see nor speak, but was
sensible of what was said to her, and after a while she laid her
head on the bar of the court with a cushion under it, and her
hand and her apron upon that, and there she lay a good space of
time: and by the direction of the judge, Amy Duny was privately
brought to Elizabeth Pacy, and she touched her hand: whereupon
the child without so much as seeing her, for her eyes were
closed all the while, suddenly leaped up, and catched Amy Duny
by the hand, and afterwards by the face; and with her nails
scratched her till blood came, and would by no means leave her
till she was taken from her, and afterwards the child would
still be pressing towards her, and making signs of anger
conceived against her.

Deborah the younger daughter was held in such extreme manner,
that her parents wholly despaired of her life, and therefore
could not bring her to the Assizes.

_The Evidence which was given concerning these two children was to this effect._

SAMUEL PACY, a merchant of Leystoff aforesaid (a man who carried
himself with much soberness during the trial, from whom
proceeded no words either of passion or malice though his
children were so greatly afflicted), sworn and examined,
deposeth. That his younger daughter Deborah, upon Thursday the
10th of October last, was suddenly taken with a lameness in her
legs, so that she could not stand, neither had she any strength
in her limbs to support her, and so she continued until the 17th
day of the same month, which day being fair and sunshiny, the
child desired to be carried on the east part of the house to be
set upon the bank which looketh upon the sea; and whilst she was
sitting there, Amy Duny came to this deponent's house to buy
some herrings, but being denied she went away discontented, and
presently returned again, and was denied, and likewise the third
time and was denied as at first; and at her last going away, she
went away grumbling; but what she said was not perfectly
understood. But at the very same instant of time, the child was
taken with most violent fits, feeling most extreme pains in her
stomach, like the pricking of pins, and shrieking out in a most
dreadful manner like unto a whelp; and not like unto a sensible
creature. And in this extremity the child continued to the great
grief of the parents until the 30th of the same month. During
this time this deponent sent for one Dr. Feavor, a doctor of
physic, to take his advice concerning his child's distemper; the
Doctor being come, he saw the child in those fits but could not
conjecture, as he then told this deponent, and afterwards
affirmed in open court, at this trial, what might be the cause
of the child's affliction. And this deponent farther saith, That
by reason of the circumstances aforesaid, and in regard Amy Duny
is a woman of ill-fame, and commonly reported to be a witch and
sorceress, and for that the said child in her fits would cry out
of Amy Duny as the cause of her malady, and that she did
affright her with apparitions of her person (as the child in the
intervals of her fits related) he this deponent did suspect the
said Amy Duny for a witch, and charged her with the injury and
wrong to his child, and caused her to be set in the stocks on
the 28th of the same October: and during the time of her
continuance there, one Alice Letteridge and Jane Buxton
demanding of her, as they also affirmed in court upon their
oaths, what should be the reason of Mr. Pacy's child's
distemper? telling her, That she was suspected to be the cause
thereof; she replied, 'Mr. Pacy keeps a great stir about his
child, but let him stay until he hath done as much by his
children, as I have done by mine.' And being further examined,
what she had done to her children? She answered, 'That she had
been fain to open her child's mouth with a tap to give it
victuals.' And the said deponent further deposeth, that within
two days after speaking of the said words, being the 30th of
October, the eldest daughter Elizabeth, fell into extreme fits,
insomuch, that they could not open her mouth to give her breath,
to preserve her life, without the help of a tap which they were
enforced to use; and the younger child was in the like manner
afflicted, so that they used the same also for her relief.

And further the said children being grievously afflicted would
severally complain in their extremity, and also in the
intervals, that Amy Duny (together with one other woman whose
person and clothes they described) did thus afflict them, their
apparitions appearing before them, to their great terror and
affrightment: and sometimes they would cry out, saying, There
stands Amy Duny, and there Rose Cullender, the other person
troubling them.

Their fits were various, sometimes they would be lame on one
side of their bodies, sometimes on the other: sometimes a
soreness over their whole bodies, so as they could endure none
to touch them: at other times they would be restored to the
perfect use of their limbs, and deprived of their hearing; at
other times of their sight, at other times of their speech;
sometimes by the space of one day, sometimes for two; and once
they were wholly deprived of their speech for eight days
together and then restored to their speech again. At other times
they would fall into swoonings, and upon the recovery to their
speech they would cough extremely, and bring up much phlegm, and
with the same crooked pins, and one time a two-penny nail with a
very broad head, which pins (amounting to forty or more)
together with the two-penny nail, were produced in court, with
the affirmation of the said deponent, that he was present when
the said nail was vomited up, and also most of the pins.
Commonly at the end of every fit they would cast up a pin, and
sometimes they would have four or five fits in one day.

In this manner the said children continued with this deponent
for the space of two months, during which time in their
intervals this deponent would cause them to read some chapters
in the New Testament.

Whereupon this deponent several times observed, that they would
read till they came to the name of Lord, or Jesus, or Christ;
and then before they could pronounce either of the said words
they would suddenly fall into their fits. But when they came to
the name of Satan, or devil, they would clap their fingers upon
the book, crying out, This bites, but makes me speak right well.

At such time as they be recovered out of their fits (occasioned
as this deponent conceives upon their naming of Lord, Jesus, or
Christ), this deponent hath demanded of them, what is the cause
they cannot pronounce those words: they reply and say, that Amy
Duny saith, I must not use that name.

And further, the said children after their fits were past, would
tell, how that Amy Duny and Rose Cullender would appear before
them holding their fists at them, threatening, that if they
related either what they saw or heard, that they would torment
them ten times more than ever they did before.

In their fits they would cry out, There stands Amy Duny or Rose
Cullender; and sometimes in one place and sometimes in another
running with great violence to the place where they fancied them
to stand, striking at them as if they were present; they would
appear to them sometimes spinning, and sometimes reeling, or in
other postures, deriding or threatening them.

Afterwards the witness sent the children to the house of Margaret Arnold, his sister, at Yarmouth, to make trial whether the change of air might do them any good.

_Margaret Arnold_ gave no credit to what was related to her when the children were committed to her care, 'conceiving that possibly the children might use some deceit in putting pins in their mouths themselves'; she therefore 'took all the pins out of their clothes, and sewed them all instead'; but 'notwithstanding all this care and circumspection of hers,' they raised at least thirty pins in her presence, and had most violent fits. They would cry out in their fits, against Rose Cullender and Amy Duny, alleging that they saw them.

At some times the children (only) would see things run up and
down the house in the appearance of mice; and one of them
suddenly snapt one with the tongs, and threw it in the fire, and
it screeched out like a rat.

At another time a little thing like a bee

flew into the face of the younger child when she was out of
doors, and would have gone into her mouth; the child ran
screaming into the house and had a fit, and vomited up a
two-penny nail with a broad head, which she said the bee had
tried to put in her mouth.

The elder child said she saw a mouse, and crept under the table to look for it, and she found something, the witness did not see what it was, which she threw into the fire, when it flashed like gunpowder. At a time when she was speechless, but otherwise in good health, she appeared to chase something round the house, catch it, put it in her apron, and made as if she threw it in the fire, but the witness saw nothing. The child afterwards being restored to her speech said it was a duck. The younger child said that in her fits Amy Duny tempted her to drown herself, and to cut her throat, or otherwise destroy herself. For these reasons the witness believed that the children were bewitched, though she had not believed it at first.

_Edmund Durent_, the father of Ann Durent, swore that Rose Cullender came to his house in the previous November to buy some herrings of his wife, but being denied by her, returned in a discontented manner. On the first of December his daughter felt a great pain in her stomach, fell into swooning fits, and on her recovery declared that she had seen the apparition of Rose Cullender, who threatened to torment her. She had also vomited up pins, which were produced in court.

The maid was present in court, but could not speak to declare
her knowledge, but fell into the most violent fit when she was
brought before Rose Cullender.

_Ann Baldwin_ corroborated the last witness, and added that Jane Bocking was so weak that she could not be brought to the Assizes.

_Diana Bocking_, the mother of Jane Bocking, swore that her daughter had formerly suffered from fits, but had recovered from them. On the first of February last, however, she had been attacked with fits which lasted till the witnesses came to the Assizes, vomiting pins daily, seven last Sunday. In her fits she would frequently complain of Rose Cullender and Amy Duny, saying that she saw them standing about the bed. At last she was stricken dumb for some days, and said when she recovered that Amy Duny would not suffer her to speak.

_Mary Chandler_, the mother of Susan Chandler, swore that she had examined the prisoners after they had been examined before Sir Edmund Bacon, on a charge of having bewitched Mr. Pacy's daughters, and that she had found certain monstrous growths on the body of Rose Cullender. She also said that Rose Cullender had appeared to her daughter, who was in service, one morning while she was washing, whereupon she was frightened and came at once and told her mother; and soon afterwards was attacked by fits, vomiting pins, like the others. She was at times dumb, and at times blind, and when she was brought into court, she was attacked anew, although she recovered her speech outside.

This was the sum and substance of the evidence which was given
against the prisoners concerning the bewitching of the children
before mentioned. At the hearing this evidence there were divers
known persons as Mr. Serjeant Keeling,[51] Mr. Serjeant Earl,
and Mr. Serjeant Barnard present. Mr. Serjeant Keeling seemed
much unsatisfied with it, and thought it not sufficient to
convict the prisoners: for admitting that the children were in
truth bewitched, yet said he, it can never be applied to the
prisoners, upon the imagination only of the parties afflicted;
for if that might be allowed no person whatsoever can be in
safety, for perhaps they might fancy another person, who might
altogether be innocent in such matters.