to give his opinion, what he did
conceive of them: and he was clearly of opinion, that the
persons were bewitched; and said, 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, and
crooked as these pins were, with needles and nails. And his
opinion was, That the devil in such cases did work upon the
bodies of men and women, upon a natural foundation (that is), to
stir up, and excite such humours super-abounding in their bodies
to a great excess, whereby he did in an extraordinary manner
afflict them with such distempers as their bodies were most
subject to, as particularly appeared in these children; for he
conceived, that these swooning fits were natural, and nothing
else, but only heightened to a great excess by the subtilty of
the devil, co-operating with the malice of these which we term
witches, at whose instance he doth these villanies.

Besides the particulars above mentioned touching the said
persons bewitched, there were many other things objected against
them for a further proof and manifestation that the said
children were bewitched. As first, during the time of the trial,
there were some experiments made with the persons afflicted, by
bringing the persons to touch them; and it was observed, that
when they were in the midst of their fits to all men's
apprehension wholly deprived of all sense and understanding,
closing their fists in such manner, as that the strongest man in
court could not force them open; yet by the least touch of one
of these supposed witches, Rose Cullender by name, they would
suddenly shriek out opening their hands, which accident would
not happen by the touch of any other person.

And lest they might privately see when they were touched by the
said Rose Cullender, they were blinded with their own aprons,
and the touching took the same effect as before.

There was an ingenious person that objected, there might be a
great fallacy in this experiment, and there ought not to be any
stress put upon this to convict the parties, for the children
might counterfeit this their distemper, and perceiving what was
done to them they might in such manner suddenly alter the motion
and gesture of their bodies, on purpose to induce persons to
believe that they