Quoth he,-For many years he drove 355
A kind of broking-trade in love.
Employ'd in all th' intrigues, and trust,
Of feeble, speculative lust:
Procurer to th' extravagancy,
And crazy ribaldry of fancy,
By those the Devil had forsook,

As things below him, to provoke.
But b'ing a virtuoso, able

To smatter, quack, and cant, and dabble,
He held his talent most adroit,

For any mystical exploit ;

As others of his tribe had done,

And rais'd their prices three to one;

For one predicting pimp has th' odds

360

365

Of chaldrons of plain downright bawds. 370
But as an elf (the Dev'l's valet)

Is not so slight a thing to get;

For those that do his bus'ness best,

In hell are us'd the ruggedest;

1728, p. 159) observes, from Dion Cassius, “That in the Roman battalions, in form of a tortoise, their horses were taught to kneel." And in another place, p. 323, that Trajan, in his Parthian expedition, was presented with a horse that was taught to adore, kneeling upon his forefeet, and to bow his head to the ground, as Trajan stood before him."

v.355,356. Quoth he-For many years he drove—A kind of brokingtrade in love] Lilly confirms this in one or two instances, (see Life, 2d edit. p. 34) where he says, "He grew weary of such employments, and burned his books, which instructed these curiosities." (See an account of the galley-slave condemned for a pimp and a conjurer; with Don Quixote's dissertation on pimps, part 1. book 3. chap. 7. p. 226.)

v. 384. At length found one in Lancashire] The reason why Sidrophel is said to find a witch in Lancashire, rather than any other

Before so meriting a person

Cou'd get a grant, but in reversion,

He serv'd two 'prenticeships, and longer,
I' th' myst'ry of a lady-monger.

For (as some write) a witch's ghost,
As soon as from the body loos'd,
Becomes a puisney-imp itself,
And is another witch's elf.

He, after searching far and near,
At length found one in Lancashire,

With whom he bargain'd before-hand,
And, after hanging, entertain'd.

375

380

385

country, is, because it has always been a tradition, that they have abounded there more than in all the kingdom. Hence came the vulgar expression of a Lancashire witch: and the tradition might probably take its rise from some reputed witches, who were tried there in the reign of King James the First, and, I think, cast for their lives; but 'twas probably by Judges that ran in but too much with the court-stream, and favoured the monarch's opinion in his Dæmonology; and fancied, because they had their nightly meetings, they could be nothing else but witches, though in reality (as I have been informed by one who read the narrative of them, published in those times) they were neither better nor worse than sheep-stealers.

Mr. Burton (fellow sufferer with Mr. Pryn and Dr. Bastwick, as Mr. Byron observes, from Pryn's New Discovery of the Prelate's Tyranny, p. 82) complained, "That upon his being imprisoned in Lancaster Castle, he was put into a high chamber ill floored, so that he was in danger of falling through it. And that to make it more grievous to him, they put into the room under it a company of witches, who were in that prison when he came thither." (See an account of the Pendle-forest witches, who were condemned at the assizes at Lancaster 1633, or 1634, but reprieved, and afterwards cleared from the aspersion by the boy who was suborned to be evidence against them. Webster's Displaying of sup posed Witchcraft, chap. 14. p. 276, &c. and chap. 17. p. 347, &c.)

v. 389, 390. Transform'd himself to th' ugly shapes-Of wolves, and bears, baboons, and apes] Le Blanc seems to give in to the possibility

Since which h' has play'd a thousand feats,
And practis'd all mechanic cheats:
Transform'd himself to th' ugly shapes
Of wolves, and bears, baboons, and

390

apes ;
Which he has vary'd more than witches,
Or Pharaoh's wizards cou'd their switches:
And all with whom h' has had to do,
Turn'd to as monstrous figures too.
Witness myself, whom h' has abus'd,
And to this beastly shape reduc'd,

395

of this kind of transformation. (See Travailes, part 2. chap. 18.) But Wierus sneers this opinion; and after having exposed a fabulous instance from William of Malmesbury, of pranks of this kind played by two witches at Rome who kept an inn, and now and then metamorphosed a guest into a horse, sow, or ass: he concludes, At hæ, & similes nugæ eandem sortiantur fidem, quam Apuleius, & Luciani metamorphosis meretur. De Præstigiis Dæmonum, lib. 4. cap. 10. Vide etiam Lamberti Danai, lib. de veneficis, &c. 1574. chap. 3. p. 59, 60. Webster's Displaying of supposed Witchcraft, chap. 5. p. 83. There was a story of this kind much taken notice of in those times, and bantered by Mr. Cleveland. (On a Miser, Works, p. 76.)

Have you not heard th' abominable sport,
A Lancashire Grand-Jury will report?
A soldier with his Morglay watch'd the mill,
The cats they came to feast, when lusty Will
Whips off great puss's leg, which by some charm,
Proves the next day such an old woman's arm.

See note on P. I. C. I. v. 350.

See more instances, Saronis Grammatici Histor. Danic. lib. 1. p. 10. de Hartarená Præstigiatore. Stephani Stephanii, not. in lib. 1. Histor. Danic. p. 43. Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft, book 5. p. 89, &c. 93, 94. where the opinion is exposed. Dr. Bulwer (Artificial Changeling, sc. 24. p. 516) observes from Mr. Scot, and other writers, “That the wonderful experiments of natural magick, which are only done in appearance, are very many. To set a horse's or ass's head upon a man's neck and shoulders, cut off the head of a horse or an ass (before they be

By feeding me on beans and pease,
He crams in nasty crevices,
And turns to comfits by his arts,
To make me relish for deserts,
And one by one, with shame and fear,
Lick up the candy'd provender,
Beside-But as h' was running on,
To tell what other feats h' had done,
The Lady stopt his full career,
And told him now 'twas time to hear;
If half those things (said she) be true,-
They're all, (quoth he) I swear by you.
Why then (said she) that Sidrophel

400

405

Has damn'd himself to th' pit of hell; 410

dead, otherwise the virtue or strength thereof will be less effectual) and make an earthen vessel of a fit capacity to contain the same; and let it be filled with the oil and fat thereof, cover it close, and dawb it over with loam; let it boil over a soft fire three days, that the flesh boiled may run into oil, so as the bare bones may be seen; beat the hair into powder, and mingle the same with the oil, and anoint the heads of the standers by, and they shall seem to have horses' or asses' heads. If beasts' heads be anointed with the like oil, made of a man's head, they shall seem to have men's faces, as divers authors soberly affirm." See Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft, book 13. p. 315.

v. 392. Or Pharaoh's wizards cou'd their switches] See Exodus, vii. 11. King James's Dæmonology, book 1. chap. 6. Works, p. 105.

v. 411, 412. Who, mounted on a broom, the nag—And hackney of a Lapland hag] See Scheffer's account of a Lapland witch in the town of Luhlah, who flew through the cieling of a chamber. History of Lapland, 8vo, chap. 1. p. 157. Dr. Heywood seems to give in to this opinion, in the case of the maid of Bergamus, &c. (see Hierarchy of Angels, lib. 4. p. 257, 258.) and Mr. Glanvil in the cases of Richard Jones, of Shepton Mallet, and of Elizabeth Styles, (Saducismus Triumphatus, part 2. p. 124. 139.) Mr. Scot (see Discovery of Witchcraft,

Who, mounted on a broom, the nag
And hackney of a Lapland hag,
In quest of you came hither post,
Within an hour (I'm sure) at most;
Who told me all you swear and say,
Quite contrary another way;
Vow'd that you came to him, to know
If you shou'd carry me or no ;
And would have hir'd him and his imps,
To be your match-makers and pimps,
engage the Devil on your side,

T'

And steal (like Proserpine) your bride.

415

420

book 3. chap. 1. p. 40.) gives the following account: "He (the Devil) teacheth them to make ointments of the bowels and members of children, whereby they ride in the air, and accomplish all their desires.— After burial they steal them out of their graves, and seethe them in a cauldron, until their flesh be made potable; of which they make ointment, by which they ride in the air." Vide Unguent. Mallei Maleficarum, tom. 1. par. 11. Quæst. cap. 11. p. 240.

Strigibus per unguentum prædictum diabolicum possibile est accidisse, aut accidere somnium vehementissimum, et somniare se ad loca deportatas longinqua, in catos converti, vel quæcunque alia facere, etiam vel pati, que postmodum se putant in veritate fecisse, vel passas esse. Fra. Bartholi de Spind Quæst. de Strigibus. tom. 4. Mallei Quarundam Maleficar. p. 461.

Wierus exposes the folly of this opinion, and proves it to be diabolical illusion, and to be acted only in dreams. Oldham likewise sneers it. (Works, 6th edit. p. 254.)

As men in sleep, though motionless they lie,
Fledg'd by a dream, believe they mount and fly;

So witches some enchanted wand bestride,

And think they through the airy regions ride.

See more, Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft, book 3. chap. 3. p. 43. &c. book 10. chap. 8. p. 184, &c. Webster's Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft, chap. 5. p. 69. Life of William Duke of Newcastle, by his Duchess, p. 144. Baker's History of the Inquisition, p. 172.