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Sidonia The Sorceress V2

W >> William Mienhold >> Sidonia The Sorceress V2




After this I did not see him again till the morning of the third
day at ten o'clock, seeing that he sat at work in a room at the
castle, which the sheriff had given him, and also ate there, as he
sent me word by old Ilse when she carried him his breakfast next
day.

At the above-named time, he sent the new constable for me, who,
meanwhile, had been fetched from Uzdom at his desire. For the
sheriff was exceeding wroth when he heard that the impudent fellow
had attempted my child in the prison, and cried out in a rage,
"S'death and 'ouns, I'll mend thy coaxing!" Whereupon he gave him
a sound threshing with a dog-whip he held in his hand, to make
sure that she should be at peace from him.

But, alas! the new constable was even worse than the old, as will
be shown hereafter. His name was Master Köppner, and he was a tall
fellow with a grim face, and a mouth so wide that at every word he
said the spittle ran out at the corners, and stuck in his long
beard like soapsuds, so that my child had an especial fear and
loathing of him. Moreover, on all occasions he seemed to laugh in
mockery and scorn, as he did when he opened the prison-door to us,
and saw my poor child sitting in her grief and distress. But he
straightway left us without waiting to be told, whereupon _Dom.
Syndicus_ drew his defence out of his pocket, and read it to
us; we have remembered the main points thereof, and I will recount
them here, but most of the _auctores_ we have forgotten.

1. He began by saying that my daughter had ever till now stood in
good repute, as not only the whole village, but even my servants,
bore witness; _ergo_, she could not be a witch, inasmuch as
the Saviour hath said, "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matt. vii.).

2. With regard to the witchcraft in the village, that belike was
the contrivance of old Lizzie, seeing that she bore a great hatred
towards _Rea_, and had long been in evil repute, for that the
parishioners dared not to speak out, only from fear of the old
witch; wherefore Zuter her little girl must be examined, who had
heard old Lizzie her goodman tell her she had a familiar spirit,
and that he would tell it to the parson; for that notwithstanding
the above-named was but a child, still it was written in Ps.
viii., "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained
strength...;" and the Saviour Himself appealed (Matt. xxi.) to the
testimony of little children.

3. Furthermore, old Lizzie might have bewitched the crops; item,
the fruit-trees, inasmuch as none could believe that _Rea_,
who had ever shown herself a dutiful child, would have bewitched
her own father's corn, or made caterpillars come on his trees; for
no one, according to Scripture, can serve two masters.

4. _Item_, she (old Lizzie) might very well have been the
woodpecker that was seen by _Rea_ and old Paasch on the
Streckelberg, and herself have given over her goodman to the evil
one for fear of the parson, inasmuch as Spitzel, _De
Expugnatione Orci_, asserts; _item_, the _Malleus
Malesicarum_ [Footnote: The celebrated "Hammer for Witches" of
Innocent VIII, which appeared 1489, and gave directions for the
whole course of proceeding to be observed at trials for
witchcraft.] proves beyond doubt, that the wicked children of
Satan ofttimes change themselves into all manner of beasts, as the
foul fiend himself likewise seduced our first parents in the shape
of a serpent (Gen. iii).

5. That old Lizzie had most likely made the wild weather when
_Dom. Consul_ was coming home with _Rea_ from the
Streckelberg, seeing it was impossible that _Rea_ could have
done it, as she was sitting in the coach, whereas witches when
they raise storms always stand in the water and throw it over
their heads backwards; _item_, beat the stones soundly with a
stick, as Hannold relates. Wherefore she too, may be, knew best
about the frog and the hedgehog.

6. That _Rea_ was erroneously charged with that as a
_crimen_ which ought rather to serve as her justification,
namely, her sudden riches. For the _Malleus Malesicarum_
expressly says that a witch can never grow rich, seeing that
Satan, to do dishonour to God, always buys them for a vile price,
so that they should not betray themselves by their riches.
[Footnote: The original words of the "Hammer for Witches," tom. i.
quest. 18, in answer to the questions, _ Cur maleficœ non
ditentur?_ are, _Ut juxta complacentiam dæmonis in
contumeliam Creatoris, quantum possibile est, pro vilissimo pretio
emantur, et secundo, ne in divitas notentur.] Wherefore that as
_Rea_ had grown rich, she could not have got her wealth from
the foul fiend, but it must be true that she had found amber on
the mountain; that the spells of old Lizzie might have been the
cause why they could not find the vein of amber again, or that the
sea might have washed away the cliff below, as often happens,
whereupon the top had slipped down, so that only a _miraculum
naturale_ had taken place. The proof which he brought forward
from Scripture we have quite forgotten, seeing it was but
middling.

7. With regard to her re-baptism, the old hag had said herself
that she had not seen the devil or any other spirit or man about
_Rea_, wherefore she might in truth have been only naturally
bathing, in order to greet the King of Sweden next day, seeing
that the weather was hot, and that bathing was not of itself
sufficient to impair the modesty of a maiden. For that she had as
little thought any would see her as Bathsheba the daughter of
Eliam, and wife of Uriah the Hittite, who in like manner did bathe
herself, as is written (2 Sam. xi. 2), without knowing that David
could see her. Neither could her mark be a mark given by Satan,
inasmuch as there was feeling therein; _ergo_, it must be a
natural mole, and it was a lie that she had it not before bathing.
Moreover, that on this point the old harlot was nowise to be
believed, seeing that she had fallen from one contradiction into
another about it, as stated in the _Acta_.

8. Neither was it just to accuse _Rea_ of having bewitched
Paasch his little daughter; for as old Lizzie was going in and out
of the room, nay, even sat herself down on the little girl her
belly when the pastor went to see her, it most likely was that
wicked woman (who was known to have a great spite against
>i>Rea_) that contrived the spell through the power of the foul
fiend, and by permission of the all-just God; for that Satan was
"a liar and the father of it," as our Lord Christ says (John
viii.).

9. With regard to the appearance of the foul fiend on the mountain
in the shape of a hairy giant, that indeed was the heaviest
_gravamen_, inasmuch as not only old Lizzie, but likewise
three trustworthy witnesses, had seen him. But who could tell
whether it was not old Lizzie herself who had contrived this
devilish apparition in order to ruin her enemy altogether; for
that notwithstanding the apparition was not the young nobleman, as
_Rea_ had declared it to be, it still was very likely that
she had not lied, but had mistaken Satan for the young lord, as he
appeared in his shape; _exemplum_, for this was to be found
even in Scripture: for that all _Theologi_ of the whole
Protestant Church were agreed, that the vision which the witch of
Endor showed to King Saul was not Samuel himself, but the
arch-fiend; nevertheless, Saul had taken it for Samuel. In like
manner the old harlot might have conjured up the devil before
_Rea_, who did not perceive that it was not the young lord,
but Satan, who had put on that shape in order to seduce her; for
as _Rea_ was a fair woman, none could wonder that the devil
gave himself more trouble for her than for an old withered hag,
seeing he has ever sought after fair women to lie with them.
[Footnote: Gen. vi. 2.]

Lastly, he argued that _Rea_ was in nowise marked as a witch,
for that she neither had bleared and squinting eyes nor a hooked
nose, whereas old Lizzie had both, which Theophrastus Paracelsus
declares to be an unfailing mark of a witch, saying, "Nature
marketh none thus unless by abortion, for these are the chiefest
signs whereby witches be known whom the spirit _Asiendens_
hath subdued unto himself."

When _Dom. Syndicus_ had read his _defensio_, my
daughter was so rejoiced thereat that she would have kissed his
hand, but he snatched it from her and breathed upon it thrice,
whereby we could easily see that he himself was nowise in earnest
with his _defensio_. Soon after he took leave in an
ill-humour, after commending her to the care of the Most High, and
begged that I would make my farewell as short as might be, seeing
that he purposed to return home that very day, the which, alas! I
very unwillingly did.




CHAPTER XXIII.

_How my poor child was sentenced to be put to the question._


After _Acta_ had been sent to the honourable the central
court, about fourteen days passed over before any answer was
received. My lord the sheriff was especially gracious towards me
the while, and allowed me to see my daughter as often as I would
(seeing that the rest of the court were gone home), wherefore I
was with her nearly all day. And when the constable grew impatient
of keeping watch over me, I gave him a fee to lock me in together
with my child. And the all-merciful God was gracious unto us, and
caused us often and gladly to pray, for we had a steadfast hope,
believing that the cross we had seen in the heavens would now soon
pass away from us, and that the ravening wolf would receive his
reward when the honourable high court had read through the
_Acta_, and should come to the excellent _defensio_
which _Dom. Syndicus_ had constructed for my child. Wherefore
I began to be of good cheer again, especially when I saw my
daughter her cheeks growing of a right lovely red. But on
Thursday, 25th _mensis Augusti_, at noon, the worshipful
court drove into the castle yard again as I sat in the prison with
my child, as I was wont; and old Ilse brought us our food, but
could not tell us the news for weeping. But the tall constable
peeped in at the door grinning, and cried, "Oh, ho! they are come,
they are come; now the tickling will begin:" whereat my poor child
shuddered, but less at the news than at sight of the fellow
himself. Scarce was he gone than he came back again to take off
her chains and to fetch her away. So I followed her into the
judgment-chamber, where _Dom. Consul_ read out the sentence
of the honourable high court as follows:--That she should once
more be questioned in kindness touching the articles contained in
the indictment; and if she then continued stubborn she should be
subjected to the _peine forte et dure_, for that the
_defensio_ she had set up did not suffice, and that there
were _indicia legitima, prægnantia et sufficientia ad torturam
ipsam_; to wit--1. _Mala sama_.

2. _Malesicum, publicè commissum_.

3. _Apparitio dæmonis in monte_.

Whereupon the most honourable central court cited about 20
_auctores_, whereof, howbeit, we remember but little. When
_Don. Consul_ had read out this to my child, he once more
lift up his voice and admonished her with many words to confess of
her own free will, for that the truth must now come to light.

Hereupon she steadfastly replied, that after the _defensio_
of _Dom. Syndicus_ she had indeed hoped for a better
sentence; but that, as it was the will of God to try her yet more
hardly, she resigned herself altogether into His gracious hands,
and could not confess aught save what she had said before, namely,
that she was innocent, and that evil men had brought this misery
upon her. Hereupon _Dom. Consul_ motioned the constable, who
straightway opened the door of the next room, and admitted
_Pastor Benzensis_ [Footnote: The minister at Bentz, a
village situated at a short distance from Pudgla.] in his
surplice, who had been sent for by the court to admonish her still
better out of the Word of God. He heaved a deep sigh, and said,
"Mary, Mary, is it thus I must meet thee again?" Whereupon she
began to weep bitterly, and to protest her innocence afresh. But
he heeded not her distress; and as soon as he had heard her pray,
"Our Father," "The eyes of all wait upon Thee," and "God the
Father dwell with us," he lift up his voice and declared to her
the hatred of the living God to all witches and warlocks, seeing
that not only is the punishment of fire awarded to them in the Old
Testament, but that the Holy Ghost expressly saith in the New
Testament (Gal. v.), "That they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God;" but "shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second
death" (Apocal. xxi.). Wherefore she must not be stubborn nor
murmur against the court when she was tormented, seeing that it
was all done out of Christian love, and to save her poor soul.
That, for the sake of God and her salvation, she should no longer
delay repentance, and thereby cause her body to be tormented and
give over her wretched soul to Satan, who certainly would not
fulfil those promises in hell which he had made her here upon
earth; seeing that "he was a murderer from the beginning--a liar
and the father of it" (John viii.). "Oh!" cried he, "Mary, my
child, who so oft hast sat upon my knees, and for whom I now cry
every morning and every night unto my God, if thou wilt have no
pity upon thee and me, have pity at least upon thy worthy father,
whom I cannot look upon without tears, seeing that his hairs have
turned snow white within a few days, and save thy soul, my child,
and confess! Behold, thy Heavenly Father grieveth over thee no
less than thy fleshly father, and the holy angels veil their faces
for sorrow that thou, who wert once their darling sister, art now
become the sister and bride of the devil. Return, therefore, and
repent! This day thy Saviour calleth thee, poor stray lamb, back
into His flock, 'And ought not this woman, being a daughter of
Abraham, whom Satan hath bound... be loosed from this bond?' Such
are His merciful words (Luke xiii.); _item_, 'Return, thou
backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause Mine
anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful' (Jer. iii.). Return
then, thou backsliding soul, unto the Lord thy God! He who heard
the prayer of the idolatrous Manasseh when 'he besought the Lord
his God and humbled himself (2 Chron. xxxiii.); who, through Paul,
accepted the repentance of the sorcerers at Ephesus (Acts xix.),
the same merciful God now crieth unto thee as unto the angel of
the church of Ephesus, 'Remember, therefore, from whence thou art
fallen and repent' (Apocal. ii.). O Mary, Mary, remember, my
child, from whence thou art fallen, and repent!"

Hereupon he held his peace, and it was some time before she could
say a word for tears and sobs; but at last she answered, "If lies
are no less hateful to God than witchcraft, I may not lie, but
must rather declare, to the glory of God, as I have ever declared,
that I am innocent."

Hereupon _Dom. Consul_ was exceeding wroth, and frowned, and
asked the tall constable if all was ready, _Item_, whether
the women were at hand to undress _Rea_; whereupon he
answered with a grin, as he was wont, "Ho, ho, I have never been
wanting in my duty, nor will I be wanting to-day; I will tickle
her in such wise that she shall soon confess."

When he had said this, _Dom. Consul_ turned to my daughter
and said, "Thou art a foolish thing, and knowest not the torment
which awaits thee, and therefore is it that thou still art
stubborn. Now then, follow me to the torture-chamber, where the
executioner shall show thee the _instrumenta_, and thou
mayest yet think better of it, when thou hast seen what the
question is like."

Hereupon he went into another room, and the constable followed him
with my child. And when I would have gone after them, _Pastor
Benzensis_ held me back, with many tears, and conjured me not
to do so, but to tarry where I was. But I hearkened not unto him,
and tore myself from him, and swore that so long as a single vein
should beat in my wretched body, I would never forsake my child. I
therefore went into the next room, and from thence down into a
vault, where was the torture-chamber, wherein were no windows, so
that those without might not hear the cries of the tormented. Two
torches were already burning there when I went in, and although
_Dom. Consul_ would at first have sent me away, after a while
he had pity upon me, so that he suffered me to stay.

And now that hell-hound the constable stepped forward, and first
showed my poor child the ladder, saying with savage glee, "See
here! first of all, thou wilt be laid on that, and thy hands and
feet will be tied. Next the thumb-screw here will be put upon
thee, which straightway will make the blood to spirt out at the
tips of thy fingers; thou mayest see that they are still red with
the blood of old Gussy Biehlke, who was burnt last year, and who,
like thee, would not confess at first. If thou still wilt not
confess, I shall next put these Spanish boots on thee, and should
they be too large, I shall just drive in a wedge, so that the
calf, which is now at the back of thy leg, will be driven to the
front, and the blood will shoot out of thy feet, as when thou
squeezest blackberries in a bag.

"Again, if thou wilt not yet confess--holla!" shouted he, and
kicked open a door behind him, so that the whole vault shook, and
my poor child fell upon her knees for fright. Before long two
women brought in a bubbling cauldron, full of boiling pitch and
brimstone. This cauldron the hell-hound ordered them to set down
on the ground, and drew forth, from under the red cloak he wore, a
goose's wing, wherefrom he plucked five or six quills, which he
dipped into the boiling brimstone. After he had held them awhile
in the cauldron he threw them upon the earth, where they twisted
about and spirted the brimstone on all sides. And then he called
to my poor child again, "See! these quills I shall throw upon thy
white loins, and the burning brimstone will presently eat into thy
flesh down to the very bones, so that thou wilt thereby have a
foretaste of the joys which await thee in hell."

When he had spoken thus far, amid sneers and laughter, I was so
overcome with rage that I sprang forth out of the corner where I
stood leaning my trembling joints against an old barrel, and
cried, "Oh, thou hellish dog! sayest thou this of thyself, or have
others bidden thee?" Whereupon, however, the fellow gave me such a
blow upon the breast that I fell backwards against the wall, and
_Dom. Consul_ called out in great wrath, "You old fool, if
you needs must stay here, at any rate leave the constable in
peace, for if not I will have you thrust out of the chamber
forthwith. The constable has said no more than is his duty; and it
will thus happen to thy child if she confess not, and if it appear
that the foul fiend hath given her some charm against the
torture." [Footnote: It was believed that when witches endured
torture with unusual patience, or even slept during the operation,
which, strange to say, frequently occured, the devil had gifted
them with insensibility to pain by means of an amulet which they
concealed in some secret part of their persons.--Zedler's
Universal Lexicon, vol. xliv., art, "Torture."] Hereupon this
hell-hound went on to speak to my poor child, without heeding me,
save that he laughed in my face: "Look here! when thou hast thus
been well shorn, ho, ho, ho! I shall pull thee up by means of
these two rings in the floor and the roof, stretch thy arms above
thy head, and bind them fast to the ceiling; whereupon I shall
take these two torches, and hold them under thy shoulders, till
thy skin will presently become like the rind of a smoked ham. Then
thy hellish paramour will help thee no longer, and thou wilt
confess the truth. And now thou hast seen and heard all that I
shall do to thee, in the name of God, and by order of the
magistrates."

And now _Dom. Consul_ once more came forward and admonished
her to confess the truth. But she abode by what she had said from
the first; whereupon he delivered her over to the two women who
had brought in the cauldron, to strip her naked as she was born,
and to clothe her in the black torture-shift; after which they
were once more to lead her barefooted up the steps before the
worshipful court. But one of these women was the sheriff his
housekeeper (the other was the impudent constable his wife), and
my daughter said that she would not suffer herself to be touched
save by honest women, and assuredly not by the housekeeper, and
begged _Dom. Consul_ to send for her maid, who was sitting in
her prison reading the Bible, if he knew of no other decent woman
at hand. Hereupon the housekeeper began to pour forth a wondrous
deal of railing and ill words, but _Dom. Consul_ rebuked her,
and answered my daughter that he would let her have her wish in
this matter too, and bade the impudent constable his wife call the
maid hither from out of the prison. After he had said this, he
took me by the arm, and prayed me so long to go up with him, for
that no harm would happen to my daughter as yet, that I did as he
would have me.

Before long she herself came up, led between the two women,
barefooted, and in the black torture-shift, but so pale that I
myself should scarce have known her. The hateful constable, who
followed close behind, seized her by the hand, and led her before
the worshipful court.

Hereupon the admonitions began all over again, and _Dom.
Consul_ bade her look upon the brown spots that were upon the
black shift, for that they were the blood of old wife Biehlke, and
to consider that within a few minutes it would in like manner be
stained with her own blood. Hereupon she answered, "I have
considered that right well, but I hope that my faithful Saviour,
who hath laid this torment upon me, being innocent, will likewise
help me to bear it, as He helped the holy martyrs of old; for if
these, through God's help, overcame by faith the torments
inflicted on them by blind heathens, I also can overcome the
torture inflicted on me by blind heathens, who, indeed, call
themselves Christians, but who are more cruel than those of yore;
for the old heathens only caused the holy virgins to be torn of
savage beasts, but ye which have received the new commandment,
'That ye love one another; as your Saviour hath loved you, that ye
also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are His
disciples' (St. John xiii.); yourselves will act the part of
savage beasts, and tear with your own hands the body of an
innocent maiden, your sister, who has never done aught to harm
you. Do then as ye list, but have a care how ye will answer it to
the highest Judge of all. Again, I say, the lamb feareth naught,
for it is in the hand of the Good Shepherd." When my matchless
child had thus spoken, _Dom. Consul_ rose, pulled off the
black skull-cap which he ever wore, because the top of his head
was already bald, bowed to the court, and said, "We hereby make
known to the worshipful court, that the question ordinary and
extraordinary of the stubborn and blaspheming witch, Mary
Schweidler, is about to begin, in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

Hereupon all the court rose save the sheriff, who had got up
before, and was walking uneasily up and down in the room. But of
all that now follows, and of what I myself did, I remember not one
word, but will relate it all as I have received it from my
daughter and other _testes_, and they have told me as
follows:--

That when _Dom. Consul_ after these words had taken up the
hour-glass which stood upon the table, and walked on before, I
would go with him, whereupon _Pastor Benzensis_ first prayed
me with many words and tears to desist from my purpose, and when
that was of no avail my child herself stroked my cheeks, saying,
"Father, have you ever read that the Blessed Virgin stood by when
her guileless Son was scourged? Depart, therefore, from me. You
shall stand by the pile whereon I am burned, that I promise you;
for in like manner did the Blessed Virgin stand at the foot of the
cross. But now, go; go, I pray you, for you will not be able to
bear it, neither shall I!"

And when this also failed, _Dom. Consul_ bade the constable
seize me, and by main force lock me into another room; whereupon,
however, I tore myself away, and fell at his feet, conjuring him
by the wounds of Christ not to tear me from my child; that I would
never forget his kindness and mercy, but pray for him day and
night; nay, that at the day of judgment I would be his intercessor
with God and the holy angels if that he would but let me go with
my child; that I would be quite quiet, and not speak one single
word, but that I must go with my child, &c.

This so moved the worthy man that he burst into tears, and so
trembled with pity for me that the hour-glass fell from his hands
and rolled right before the feet of the sheriff, as though God
Himself would signify to him that his glass was soon to run out;
and, indeed, he understood it right well, for he grew white as any
chalk when he picked it up, and gave it back to _Dom.
Consul_. The latter at last gave way, saying that this day
would make him ten years older; but he bade the impudent
constable, who also went with us, lead me away if I made any
_rumor_ during the torture. And hereupon the whole court went
below, save the sheriff, who said his head ached, and that he
believed his old _malum_, the gout, was coming upon him
again, wherefore he went into another chamber, _item_,
_Pastor Benzensis_ likewise departed.

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