thouſands of lives are ſacrificed to the ſheer ignorance of a century, to the ſelfiſh malice of a certain party, hiſtory ſleeps its pen in its own heart's blood, and mourns over the gloomy time in which ſuch deeds could happen, and over the men that lived in it.
Such a ſad period extends nearly over three centuries, from the fifteenth to the end of the eighteenth. We ſpeak of the time during which the witchcraft trials exiſted, from their formal eſtabliſhment by an immoral pope, Innocent VIII, up to their disappearance from the tribunals. Theſe centuries preſent the darkeſt ſide of the hiſtory of the world; and it is a gratifying taſk to purſue the track which was ſtealthily followed by this prieſtcraft, in order to regain the ruling power which the Reformation had wreſted from their hands. The ſecret tribunals (Vehmgerichte) and witchcraft trials were invented in
