Chapter X

Witchcraft in the English Colonies in North
America--Puritan Intolerance and Superstition--Cotton
Mather's 'Late Memorable Providences'--Demoniacal
Possession--Evidence given before the
Commission--Apologies issued by Authority--Sudden
Termination of the Proceedings--Reactionary Feeling
against the Agitators--The Salem Witchcraft the last
Instance of Judicial Prosecution on a large Scale in
Christendom--Philosophers begin to expose the
Superstition--Meritorious Labours of Webster, Becker,
and others--Their Arguments could reach only the
Educated and Wealthy Classes of Society--These only
partially enfranchised--The Superstition continues to
prevail among the Vulgar--Repeal of the Witch Act in
England in 1736--Judicial and Popular Persecutions in
England in the Eighteenth Century--Trial of Jane
Wenham in England in 1712--Maria Renata burned in
Germany in 1749--La Cadiere in France--Last Witch
burned in Scotland in 1722--Recent Cases of
Witchcraft--Protestant Superstition--Witchcraft in the
Extra-Christian World 259