Bishop of London, but whither he alone,
or his lord and hee, have discovered this counterfeyting and cosonage
there is the question. Some thinke the booke to be the Bishops owne
doing: and many thinke it to be the joynt worke of them both." _A
Detection of that sinnful ... discours of Samuel Harshnet_, 7, 8.

[39] From 1602 until 1609 he was archdeacon of Essex; see _Victoria
History of Essex_, II, (London, 1907), 46.

[40] There is a statement by the Reverend John Swan, who wrote in 1603,
that Harsnett's book had been put into the hands of King James,
presumably after his coming to England; see John Swan, _A True and
Breife Report of Mary Glover's Vexation, and of her deliverance ..._
(1603), "Dedication to the King," 3. One could wish for some
confirmation of this statement. Certainly James would not at that time
have sympathized with Harsnett's views about witches, but his attitude
on several occasions toward those supposed to be possessed by evil
spirits would indicate that he may very well have been influenced by a
reading of the _Discovery_.

[41] On page 36 of the _Discovery_ Harsnett wrote: "Whether witches can
send devils into men and women (as many doe pretende) is a question
amongst those that write of such matters, and the learneder and sounder
sort doe hold the negative." One does not need to read far in Harsnett
to understand what he thought.

[42] His scholarship, evident from his books, is attested by Thomas
Fuller, who calls him "a man of great learning, strong parts, and stout
spirit" (_Worthies of England_, ed. of London, 1840, I, 507).

[43] See his _Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures_, 134-136; his
_Discovery_ also shows the use of Scot.

[44] Harsnett, _Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures_, 98, 123,
110.

[45] Read _ibid._, 131-140.

[46] Joseph Hunter, _New Illustrations of the Life, Studies and Writings
of Shakespeare_ (London, 1845), I, 380-390.

CHAPTER V.

JAMES I AND WITCHCRAFT.

Some one has remarked that witchcraft came into England with the Stuarts
and went out with them. This offhand way of fixing the rise and fall of
a movement has just enough truth about it to cause misconception.
Nothing is easier than to glance at the alarms of Elizabeth's reign and
to see in them accidental outbreaks with little meaning, isolated
affairs presaging a new movement rather than part of it. As a matter of
fact, any such view is superficial. In previous chapters the wr