than done; and the bishop regained his quiet, saving an occasional sigh, doubtless, after the diamonds, which he had been compelled to sacrifice.

We have then a variety of examples given us of people who have been wrought upon by the administration of these philtres, and abundance of authority given for them; but we are sick of these fooleries, and shall only advert to the case of a woman of Berne, in Switzerland, as being thus afflicted, until the doctor gave her an emetic, on which she threw up a large quantity of black, pitchy matter; but it was supposed that the dose was not sufficiently strong, as the woman died raving mad fourteen days afterwards.

The next chapter of our author is the longest in the book, being precisely on the subject in which the Romish priesthood delight to revel, being on the decay of the physical powers. We do not intend, however, to enter upon it, and shall merely gibbet the names of the Popish writers who give us these stories, viz., Dr. Ulrich Molitor, Hismarus; of course, Thomas Aquinus, sometimes termed the divine or seraphic doctor, whose writings are well known as the filthiest of that very filthy collection; Peter Bornellus, John Wierus, Rodriguez a Castro, even St. Augustine, Reuter, Hildebrand, M. Wollfgang,

Pfitzerus, Grillandus, Bodinus, and Paulus Emilius; a list amply sufficient to show that there is no lack of materials at any rate.

Any one conversant with the state of morals on the continent at the period of which we write, especially in Italy, Spain, and Austria, will be well aware how lax were the principles of morality then; and, in truth, they have not greatly improved since. The marriage tie was hardly, if at all, regarded; exceses of all sorts were indulged freely in by both sexes; men became prematurely old, and, if three or four children were the result of any one marriage, it was looked upon as an unusually large family. But men instead of attributing these consequences to their own vices, in those days looked around ther for extraneous causes, and the pages, which we pass over, are crowded with examples of unhappy women who suffered at the stake for causing that which was the result of the vice of those who denounced them. There is one feature, however, which distinguishes the sufferers under the denunciations of this species of witchcraft from those who were summoned to the tribunals in other cases, viz., that, whereas, all those in the latter were aged and decrepid women, these, on the contrary, were mostly young women, who had previously fallen a prey to the arts of their

accusers, who took this method of stilling the clamours whereby they disturbed the serenity of that married state into which their seducers had recently entered; and, with the violent death of their victims, forget the double injuries which they had inflicted on them.

The picture is a frightful one-it displays Romanism in all its hideous deformities ; but the reader must be contented to take it on our authority; for we dare not further lift the veil.

CHAPTER. X.

This is the hag, when maids lie on their back,

That presses them."

ROMEO AND JULIET.

Act i., Scene 5.

OF THE NIGHT MARE.

It is with pleasure that we are able to assure our readers that we turn now to cleaner pages; and that, though we shall have abundant superstition in the following pages, we shall not be compelled to exorcise by wholesale in some parts, or to give a turn to the author's writings, so as to avoid offences against decency, And now, we will preface these succeeding chapters with the

language of Washington Irving, the renowned historian of New York. "I cunningly led my readers, at the first sally, into two or three knotty chapters, where they were most woefully belaboured and buffeted by a host of Pagan philosophers and infidel writers. Though naturally a very grave man, yet could I scarce refrain from smiling outright at seeing the utter confusion and dismay of my valiant cavaliers-some dropped down dead (asleep) on the field; others threw down my book in the middle of the first chapter, took to their heels, and never ceased scampering until they had fairly run it out of sight; when they stopped to take breath, to tell their friends what troubles they had undergone, and to warn all others from venturing on so thankless an expedition. Every page thinned my ranks more and more; and, of the vast multitude that first set out, but a comparatively few made shift to survive, in an exceedingly battered condition, through the five introductory chapters.

"What then! would you have had me take such sunshine, faint-hearted, recreants to my bosom at our first acquaintance? No, no; I reserved my friendship for those who deserved it; for those who undauntedly bore me company, in despite of difficulties, dangers, and fatigues.