days time, and accordingly got a pair of fciffars, and cutting out a circular piece of paper, wrote a line in Virgil in the margin thereof, and bid her wear it about her neck. The old woman had faith; and the ftudents could not prevail on her to take what they offered, but what they had not to give. When Mr. Hale became Lord Chief Juftice, a woman was brought before him for trial, charged with being guilty of witchcraft, &c. His Lordship was very unwilling to try, and much more to condemn, a poor innocent woman (for he was too good a philofopher not to fufpect the weakness of the poor creature); he therefore afked in what inftance the prifoner feemed particularly criminal? Her accufers faid, among other things, that fhe had a charm whereby fhe cured agues, which never returned. The judge called upon the old woman to answer to the charge, and fhe honeftly owned that it was true, but abfolutely denied that fhe poffeffed any fupernatural power, but did it merely by means of a bit of parchment, or paper, on which was written fomething that he did not understand, and which paper had cured her mother of a most obstinate ague, and was given to her by her mother as a rare and valuable legacy, which she had received from a young gentleman of Oxford. The Chief Justice -required the woman to produce the charm, and was confirmed in his fufpicion; for he found it to be the very charm with which he had fubdued his own and his companions hungry appetites!-It is almoft needlefs to add, that the Witch efcaped the trying-pool, and the Judge found a pleafing opportunity to difcharge the prifoner, and to compenfate for his youth. ful frolic.

JOURNEY OF A COFFIN.

M. DE PAGES, on a voyage up the Mediterranean, on drawing near the coast of Sicily, oppofite the burning mountain on that island, observes : VOL. I.

33

"We perceived fomething floating along the fea, and moving up and down in its courfe: we imagined it to be the buoy that had belonged to a ship, but, on its nearer approach, it appeared to be a very handfome coffin. It paffed along-fide our fhip, and, narrowly watching it, we faw that it made to the fhore, where it landed; and then (as if conducted by an invifible power) fteered directly up to the fummit of the burning mountain, and instantly darted down into the vol

cano.

REMARKABLE DISCOVERY OF A

MURDER.

A Gentleman in good circumstances, about the year 1640, murdered his friend, a man in bufinefs, near Bow Church, in Cheapfide, and with fuch circumftances of malice, revenge, and cruelty, as made it impoffible for him to expect any mercy. He therefore made his efcape into France, where he lived for fome years. But from the horrors of his guilty conscience, which almost every night presented before his eyes, whether fleeping or waking, his murdered friend, he felt ten-fold the punishment which, by flight, he vainly hoped to escape.

After twenty years refidence, or rather wandering abroad, through most parts of Europe, he refolved to venture back into England. He changed his name; and when time, and the change of climates, had altered his person, he doubted not but he might, in fome retired part of his own country, wear out the remainder of his days, and perhaps recover that peace of mind which he had there left behind him. public juftice, though flow, at laft overtook him; for the very evening that he landed in a wherry at Queenhithestairs, walking up to Cheapfide, in order to get into a coach, just in the dusk, and by the very door of his murdered friend, he heard a voice cry out" Stop him, ftop him! there he is!" On this he ran as faft as he was able, and foon found E

But

himfer

34

himself followed by a large mob. He was quickly overtaken and feized; on which he cried out, "I confefs the fact, I am the man that did it." The mob on that faid, as he had confeffed the crime, they would proceed to execution, and, after making him refund the stolen goods, would give him the difcipline of pumping, kennelling, and the like; on which he faid he had ftolen nothing, for though he had murdered Mr. L

yet he had no intention of robbing his houfe. By this anfwer, the mob found themselves mistaken; for they were pursuing a pick-pocket, and feeing this man run hard, believed him to be the culprit; but now were for letting him go as a perfon diftracted, that knew not what he faid. One man, however, who lived in that neighbourhood, and had heard of the murder of Mr. L.

defired that this gentleman might be examined before a magiftrate; and he was accordingly carried before the LordMayor, who took his confeffion of the fact, for which he was foon after hanged: and he declared at the gallows, that the day of his execution was the happiest he had known fince he had committed that horrid, treacherous, inhuman act, the murder of a friend, who loved him, and to whom he lay under the highest obligations.

REMARKABLE OCCURRENCE IN

LANCASTERSHIRE.

Extracted from Moreton and Dr. H. Mors.

IN the north of England, the minifter of a country pariih-church, before he began to read the prayers, faw a. paper lying in his book, which he fuppofed to be the banns of marriage. He opened it, and faw written, in a fair and diftinct hand, words to the following purport: "That John P. and James D. had murdered a travelling man, had robbed him of his effects, and buried him in fuch an orchard." The minifter was extremely ftartied, and asked his clerk, haftily, if he had placed

any paper in the prayer-book. The clerk declared he had not; but the minifter prudently concealed the contents of the paper, for the two names therein contained were thofe of the clerk, and the fexton of the church.

The minifter then went directly to a magiftrate, told him what had happened, and took the paper out of his pocket to read it; when, to his great furprize, nothing appeared thereon, but it was a plain piece of white paper! The justice on this, accufed the minifter of whim and fancy, and faid, that his head mult certainly have been diflempered, when he imagined fuch strange contents upon a blank piece of paper. The good clergyman plainly faw the hand of God in this matter, and, by earnest entreaties, prevailed on the juftice to grant his warrant against the lerk and fexton; who were taken up on fulpicion, and feparately confined and examined; when fo many contradictions appeared in their examination for the fexton, who kept an alchoufe, owned the having lodged fuch a man at his houfe, and the clerk faid he was that evening at the fexton's, but no fuch man was there--that it was thought proper to fearch their houfes, in which were found feveral pieces of gold, and goods belonging to men that travel the country; yet they gave fo tolerable an account of thefe, that no pofitive proof could be made out, till the clergyman, recollecting that the paper mentioned the dead body to be buried in fuch an orchard, a circumftance which had before flipped his memory, the place was fearched, and the body was found: on hearing which, the fexton confeffed the fact, accufing the clerk as his accomplice; and they were both acc.rdingly exccuted.

the parties who were principally concerned, that the impartial world may be enabled to form fome judgment what credit is due to the following narrative. Mrs. Golding, an elderly lady, at Stockwell, in Surry, at whofe houfe the tranfactions began, was born in the fame parish (of Lambeth) and has always been well known, and respected, as a gentlewoman of unblemished honour and character.

Mrs. Pain, a niece of Mrs. Golding, has been married feveral years to Mr. Pain, a farmer, at Brixton-Caufeway, a little above Mr. Angel's, has feveral children, are well known and refpected in the parish.

Mary Martin, Mr. Pain's fervant, an elderly woman, has lived two years with then, and four years with Mrs. Golding, where fhe came from.

Richard Fowler, lives almoft oppofite to Mr. Pain, at the Brick-Pound, an honest, industrious, and fober man.

Sarah Fowler, wife to the above, an induftrious and fober woman.

The above are the fubfcribing evidences, upon whofe veracity we muft reft the truth of the narrative: there are, however, numbers of other perfons who were eye-witneffes of many of the tranfactions.

Another perfon, who bore a principal part in thefe fcenes, was, Ann Robinfon, Mrs. Golding's maid, a young woman about twenty years of age, who had lived with her but one week and three days.

On Monday, January the 6th, 1772, about ten o'clock in the forenoon, as Mrs. Golding was in her parlour, fhe heard the china and glaffes in the back kitchen tumble down and break; her maid came to her, and told her the tone plates were falling from the fhelf; Mrs. Golding went into the kitchen, and faw them broke. Presently after, a row of plates from the next fhelf fell down likewife, while fhe was there, and nobody near them: this aftonifhed her much, and while fhe was thinking about it, other things in different places began to tumble about, fome of them breaking,

35

attended with violent noifes all over the houfe; a clock tumbled down and the cafe broke; a lanthorn that hung on the ftair-cafe was thrown down, and the glafs broke to pieces; an earthen pan of falted beef broke to pieces, and the beef fell about: all this increafed her furprize, and brought feveral perfons about her, among whom was Mr. Rowlidge, a carpenter, who gave it as his opinion, that the foundation was giving way, and that the houfe was tumbling down, occafioned by the too great weight of an additional room erected above: fo ready are we to discover natural caules for every thing! But no fuch thing happened; for whatever was the cause, that cause ceafed almost as foon as Mrs. Golding and her maid left any place, and followed them wherever they went. Mrs. Golding run, into Mr. Grefham's houfe, a gentleman living next door to her, where fhe fainted.

In the interim, Mr. Rowlidge, and other perfons, were removing Mrs. Golding's effects from her houfe, for fear of the confequences he had prognofticated. At this time all was quiet; Mrs. Golding's maid remaining in her houfe, was gone up ftairs, and when called upon feveral times to come down, for fear of the dangerous fituation she was thought to be in, the answered very coolly, and after fome time came down as deliberately, without any feeming fearful apprehenfions.

Mrs. Pain was fent for from BrixtonCauseway, and defired to come directly, as her aunt was fuppofed to be dead— this was the meffage to her. When Mrs. Pain came, Mrs. Golding had been reco ered, but was very faint.

Among the perfons who were prefent, was Mr. Gardner, a furgeon, of Claphain; whom Mrs. Pain defired to bleed her aunt, which he did; Mrs. Pain asked him if the blood should be thrown away; he defired it might not, as he would examine it when cold. Thefe minute particulars would not be taken notice of, but as a chain to what follows. For the next circumftance is of a more astonishing nature than any thing that

E 2

had

had preceded it; the blood that was just congealed, fprung out of the bafon upon the floor, and prefently after the bafon broke to pieces: this china bafon was the only thing broke belonging to Mr. Grefham; a bottle of rum that flood by it, broke at the fame time.

Amongst the other things that were moved to Mr. Grefham's, was a tray full of china, &c. a japan bread-basket, fome mahogany waiters, with fome bottles of liquors, jars of pickles, &c. and a pier glass, which was taken down by Mr. Saville (a neighbour of Mrs. Golding's) he gave it to one Robert Hames, who laid it on the grass-plat, at Mr. Grefham's; but before he could put it out of his hands, fome parts of the frame on each fide flew off; it raining at that, time, Mrs. Golding defired it might be brought into the parlour, where it was put under a fide-board, and a dreffingglafs along with it; it had not been there long, before the glaffes and china which flood on the fide-board, began to tumble about and fall down, and broke both the glaffes to pieces. Mr. Saville, and others, being asked to drink a glafs of wine, or rum, both the bottles broke in pieces before they were uncorked.

Mrs. Golding's furprize and fear increafing, fhe did not know what to do, or where to go; wherever fhe and her maid were, these strange deftructive circumftances followed her, and how to help or free herself from them, was not in her power, or any other perfon's prefent: her mind was one confufed chaos; loft to herself, and every thing about her; drove from her own home, and afraid there would be none other to receive her: at last she left Mr. Gresham's, and went to Mr. Mayling's, a gentleman at the next door; here the ftaid about three quarters of an hour, during which time nothing happened. Her maid ftaid at Mr. Gréfham's, to help put up what few things remained unbroke of her miftrefs's, in a back apartment, when a jar of pickles that stood upon a table turned upfide down, then a jar of 1afberry jam broke to pieces, next two mahogany

waiters and a quadrille-box likewise broke in pieces.

Mrs. Pain, not chufing her aunt fhould ftay too long at Mr. Mayling's, for fear of being troublesome, perfuaded her to go to her house, at Rush-Common, near Brixton-Causeway, where fhe would endeavour to make her as happy as fhe could; hoping by this time all was over, as nothing had happened at that gentleman's houfe while he was there. This was about two o'clock in the afternoon.

Mr. and Mifs Grefham were at Mr. Pain's houfe, when Mrs. Pain, Mrs. Golding, and her maid went there. It being paft ncon, they all dined together; in the interim, Mrs. Golding's fervant was fent to her house, to see how things remained. When the returned, she told them that nothing had happened fince they left it. Some time after, Mr. Grefham and Mifs went home, every thing remaining quiet at Mr. Pain's; but, about eight o'clock in the evening, a new scene commenced; the first thing that happened, was, a whole row of pewter difhes, except one, fell from off a fhelf to the middle of the floor, rolled about a little while, and then fettled, and, what is almoft beyond belief, as fcon as they were quiet, turned upfide down: they were then put on the dref, fer, and went through the fame process a fecond time: next fell a whole row of pewter plates, from the fecond shelf over the dreffer to the ground, and being taken up, and put on the fame place, one in another, they were again thrown down.

Two eggs that were upon one of the pewter fhelves, next flew off, croffed the kitchen, ftruck a cat on the head, and then broke to pieces.

Mary Martin, Mrs. Pain's fervant, now went to ftir the kitcher fire; fhe got to the right hand fide of it, being a large chimney, as is ufual in farmhoufes; when a pestle and mortar, that ftood nearer the left hand end of the chimney fhelf, jumped about fix feet on the floor. Then went candlesticks and

other

other braffes; scarce any thing remaining in its place. After this, the glaffes and china were put down on the floor, for fear of undergoing the fame fate; but they presently began to dance and tumble about, and then broke to pieces. A tea-pot, that was among them, flew to Mrs. Golding's maid's foot, and ftruck it.

A glafs tumbler that was put on the floor jumped about two feet, and then broke. Another that ftood by it jumped about at the same time, but did not break till fome hours after, when it jumped again, and then broke. A china bowl that stood in the parlour, jumped from the floor to behind a table that food there. This was most aftonishing, as the distance from where it stood was between seven and eight feet, but was not broke. It was put back, by Richard Fowler, to its place, where it remained fome time, and then flew to pieces.

The next thing that followed, was a muftard-pot, that jumped out of a clofet and was broken. A fingle cup that ftood upon the table (almoft the only thing remaining) jumped up, flew across the kitchen, ringing like a bell, and then was dafhed to pieces against the dreffer. A candlestick, that flood on the chimney fhelf, flew across the kitchen to the parlour door, at about fifteen feet diftance. A tea-kettle under the dreffer, was thrown out about two feet; another kettle, that stood at one end of the range, was thrown against the iron that is fixed to prevent children falling into the fire, A tumbler with rum and water in it, that stood upon a waiter upon a table in the parlour, jumped about ten feet, and was broke. The table then fell down, and along with it a filver tankard belonging to Mrs. Golding, the waiter in which had ftood the tumbler, and a candlestick. A cafe-bottle then flew to pieces.

A ham that hung in one fide of the kitchen chimney, now raised itself from the hook, and fell to the ground. Some time after, another ham that hung on the other fide of the chimney, likewife

37

underwent the fame fate. Then fell likewife a flitch of bacon.

The family were all eye-witneffes to thefe circumftances, as well as other perfons, fome of whom were fo alarmed and fhocked, that they were happy in getting away, though the unhappy fa mily were left in the midst of their diftreffes. Most of the genteel families around, were continually fending to enquire after them, and whether all was over or not. Is it not furprizing, that fome among them had not the inclination and refolution to try to unravel this moft intricate affair, at a time when it would have been in their power to have done fo; there certainly was fufficient time for fo doing, as the whole, from first to last, continued upwards of twenty

hours.

At all the times of action, Mrs. Golding's fervant was walking backwards and forwards, either in the kit chen or parlour, or wherever fome of the family happened to be. Nor could they get her to fit down five minutes together, except at one time, for about half an hour towards the morning, when the family were at prayers: then all was quiet; but in the midst of the greatest confufion, fhe was as much compofed as at any other time, and with uncommon, coolnefs of temper advised her miltress not to be alarmed or uneafy, as fhe faid thefe things could not be helped. Thus fhe argued, as if they were common occurrences, which must happen in every family.

This advice furprized and ftartled her mistress, almost as much as the circumftances that occafioned it. For how can we fuppofe that a girl of about twenty years old (an age when female timidity is too often affilted by superstition) could remain in the midst of fuch calamitous circumftances (except they proceeded from caufes best known to herself) and not be ftruck with the fame terror as every other person who was prefent: thefe reflections led Mr. Pain, and, at the end of the tranfactions, likewife Mrs. Golding, to think

that