the Smacks was in love with Miss Joan, the
eldest Throgmorton girl, and fought with
the others on her account. Once, he came to
her from a terrible round, wherein Pluck
had his head broken, Blue was set limping,
and Catch had his arm in a sling; the results
of Mr. Smack's zeal on behalf of his young
mistress. "I wonder," says Mrs. Joan,
"that you are able to beat them: you are
little and they are very big." But the
valiant Smack assured her that he cared
not for that; he would beat the best two
of them all, and his cousins would beat the
other two. The Throgmorton parents were
naturally anxious to free their children from
this terrible visitation: more especially Mrs.
Joan who, being but just fifteen, was getting
no good from the addresses of her spiritual
adorer. The father, therefore, dragged
Dame Samuel, the sender of the spirits and
the cause of all the mischief, to the house by
force: and when they saw her, these lying
children desired to scratch and torment her
and draw her blood, as the witch-creed of
the time allowed. The poor old woman was
submissive enough. She only asked leave to
quit the house; but otherwise she made no
resistance. Not even when Lady Cromwell,
her landlady, taking part with the children,
tore her cap from her head, and with foul
epithets and unstinted abuse cut off part of
her hair to be used in a counter-charm. Lady
Cromwell died a year and a day after this
outrage: and this was additional proof of
the wicked sorcery of Dame Samuel; who
of course had killed her. Terrified out of her
few poor wits, Dame Samuel was induced to
repeat expressions dictated to her, which put
her life in the power of those wretched girls.
She was made to say to the spirit of one of
them: "As I am a witch, and a causer of
Lady Cromwell's death, I charge thee to come
out of this maiden." As the girl gave no
sign of life, being so holden by the spirit as
to appear dead, the poor old woman had only
confessed herself a witch without getting any
credit for her skill, or any mercy because of
her exorcism. At last, tortured, confused,
bewildered, she made her confession, and was
condemned. Her husband and daughter
were condemned with her. The last was
advised to put in a plea for mercy, at least
for respite, by declaring that she was about to
become a mother. The proud disdainful
answer of that ignorant English girl, who
refused to buy her life by her dishonour, may
be classed among those unnoted heroisms of
life which are equal in grandeur, if not in
importance, to the most famous anecdotes of
history. But, what the high-minded courage
of the daughter refused to do, the baffled
weakness of the poor old mother consented
to: to gain time, in the hope that popular
opinion would turn to her favour, she
announced her own approaching maternity. A
loud laugh rang through the court, in which
the old victim herself joined; but, it was soon
gravely argued that it might be so, and that if
it were so, the Devil was the father. However
the plea was set aside; and on the fourth of
April, fifteen hundred and ninety-three, the
whole family was condemned. Sir Samuel
Cromwell left an annual rent-charge of forty
shillings for a sermon on witchcraft to be
preached every year by a D.D. or a B.D. of
Queen's College, Cambridge.

In sixteen hundred and eighteen, Margaret
and Philip Flower, daughters of Joan Flower,
deceased, were executed at Lincoln, for
having destroyed Henry Lord Rosse by witchcraft,
and for having grievously tormented
Francis, Earl of Rutland. It seems that
Joan and her two daughters were much
employed at Beavor Castle, as charwomen,
and Margaret was finally taken into the
house as keeper of the poultry-yard. Their
good fortune raised them up a host of enemies,
who, discovering that Joan was an Atheist
and a witch, Margaret a thief, and Philip no
better than she should be, at last so wrought
on the Countess, that she turned against her
former favourites, and making Margaret a
small present, dismissed her from her service.
Which, says the pamphlet containing the
account of the whole transaction, "did turne
her love and liking toward this honourable
earle and his family, into hate and rancour,"
and the death of one and all was decided on.
Philip, in her confession, deposed that "her
mother and sister maliced the Earle of
Rutlande, his Countesse, and their children,
because her sister Margaret was put out of
the ladies service of Laundry, and exempted
from other services about the house, whereupon,
our said sister, by the commaundement
of her mother, brought from the castle the
right hand glove of the Lord Henry Rosse,
which she delivered to her mother, who
presently rubbed it on the backe of her Spirit
Rutterkin, and then put it into hot boyling
water; afterward she prick'd it often, and
buried it in the yard, wishing the Lorde
Rosse might never thrive, and so her sister
Margaret continued with her mother, where
she often saw the Cat Rutterkin leape on
her shoulder and sucke her necke." Philip
herself had a spirit like a white rat. Margaret
was soon brought to confess also; there
was no examination of the mother, who had
died on her way to the gaol. She had two
spirits, she said, and she had in very deed
charmed away Lord Henry's life by means of
his right hand glove. She tried the same
charm on Lord Francis, but without success,
beyond tormenting him with a grievous sickness;
but, when she took a piece of Lady
Katherine's handkerchief, and putting it into
hot water, rubbed it on Rutterkin, bidding
him "flye and goe, Rutterkin whined and
cryed mew;" for the evil spirits had no
power over Lady Katherine to hurt her.
The two women were executed, Margaret
raving wildly of certain apparitions, one like
an ape, with a black head, which had come to