n the
commencement, to leave his settlement amongst them. Such of the accused
as had confessed the acts of witchcraft imputed to them generally denied
and retracted their confessions, asserting them to have been made under
fear of torture, influence of persuasion, or other circumstances
exclusive of their free will. Several of the judges and jurors concerned
in the sentence of those who were executed published their penitence for
their rashness in convicting these unfortunate persons; and one of the
judges, a man of the most importance in the colony, observed, during the
rest of his life, the anniversary of the first execution as a day of
solemn fast and humiliation for his own share in the transaction. Even
the barbarous Indians were struck with wonder at the infatuation of the
English colonists on this occasion, and drew disadvantageous comparisons
between them and the French, among whom, as they remarked, "the Great
Spirit sends no witches."

The system of witchcraft, as believed in Scotland, must next claim our
attention, as it is different in some respects from that of England, and
subsisted to a later period, and was prosecuted with much more severity.

LETTER IX.

Scottish Trials--Earl of Mar--Lady Glammis--William Barton--Witches
of Auldearne--Their Rites and Charms--Their Transformation into
Hares--Satan's Severity towards them--Their Crimes--Sir George
Mackenzie's Opinion of Witchcraft--Instances of Confessions made by
the Accused, in despair, and to avoid future annoyance and
persecution--Examination by Pricking--The Mode of Judicial Procedure
against Witches, and nature of the Evidence admissible, opened a
door to Accusers, and left the Accused no chance of escape--The
Superstition of the Scottish Clergy in King James VI.'s time led
them, like their Sovereign, to encourage Witch-Prosecutions--Case of
Bessie Graham--Supposed Conspiracy to Shipwreck James in his Voyage
to Denmark--Meetings of the Witches, and Rites performed to
accomplish their purpose--Trial of Margaret Barclay in 1618--Case of
Major Weir--Sir John Clerk among the first who declined acting as
Commissioner on the Trial of a Witch--Paisley and Pittenweem
Witches--A Prosecution in Caithness prevented by the Interference of
the King's Advocate in 1718--The Last Sentence of Death for
Witchcraft pronounced in Scotland in 1722--Remains of the Witch
Superstition--Cas