The Bench of Magistrates at Castle Hedingham have shown more
sense than the coroner's jury. They have committed Mrs. Smith, the woman who beat the dumb Frenchman to death for bewitching her, and Stammers, the builder, who assisted her in ducking him, for trial for manslaughter. Two facts came out before them, one of which palliates, the other greatly aggravates, the crime. The dumb man could write, and did pretend to be a wizard, getting his living by telling silly women their fortunes, and he had on one occasion menaced Mrs. Smith. The woman appeared, even before the magis- trates, firmly persuaded that she had been bewitched. She has, therefore, the excuse, such as it is, of a cause for her superstition. On the other hand, some fifty small tradesmen, and straw-plaiters, and others watched the whole scene, and only one attempted to aid the old man—a fact which will account for the refusal of the coroner's jury to agree on a verdict. The truth is, the whole population believe that witchcraft is a real offence, and would, if permitted, prose- cute witches before the courts. Not being permitted, they resort to Lynch law. Dahomans think just the same, and act a little more logically, killing their wizards at once, instead of only beating them till they die.
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