and other noxious vermin, for any neglect of these forms was supposed to deprive a judgment of its magical power. The question whether they were subject to a spiritual or legal tribunal was much agitated, but without being definitely settled. A civil prosecution of the field-rats in the Tyrol, 1519-'20, proves that sometimes such suits were decided by secular tribunals.
The peasant, Simon Fliss, made complaint to the judge, William of Hasslingen, that the field-rats were committing great depredations in his parish. The court then appointed Hans Grinebner advocate for the accused, and the plaintiff chose as his advocate Schwarz Minig. Numerous witnesses established the fact that the rats had committed great destruction, and the decision was rendered against them in the following terms: "After accusation and defense, after statement and contradiction, and after due consideration of all that pertains to justice, it is by this sentence determined that those noxious animals which are called field-rats must, within two weeks after the promulgation of this judgment, depart and for ever remain far aloof from the fields and the meadows of Stilf. But if one or several of the animals are pregnant, or unable on account of their youth to follow, then shall they enjoy, during further two weeks, safety and protection from everybody, and after these two weeks depart."
Nothing was too absurd, nothing too superstitious, for the credulity of this period. The consecrated machinery was so various and complete that, if one explanation did not serve the purpose of the Church, another could usually be found. One question, however, did not readily find an answer, namely: How are the divine miracles to be distinguished from the infernal ones? Attempts of the acutest scholastics failed to establish a rule of definite separation; for the two kinds of miracles were revealed under identical forms, and Satan could transform himself into an angel of light. The grossest doctrines received the sanction of the Church, and thus was laid the foundation of that labyrinth of superstitions among the people in the darkness of which humanity groped for a thousand years. If the miracles worked by the apostles of the Church had their source in divine agencies, then those performed by its opponents must have been instigated by the devil. The white magic stood opposed to the black, and the idea of a conscious league between the devil and man became a well-established dogma.
In the fifteenth century there came a terrible crisis. This was preceded by the trial of the Templars and by several local witch-processes with subsequent executions, until finally, December 5, 1484, the bull of Pope Innocent VIII. appeared. This, with its companion, a book called "The Witch-hammer," brought the evil to a climax. Some idea of this bull may be gathered from the following extract. The Pope begins by asserting that, as the guardian of souls, he must exercise care in promoting the growth of the Catholic faith and driving her-
