In its original form this essay was the dissertation[v]submitted for a doctorate in philosophy conferred byYale University in 1908. When first projected it was thewriter's purpose to take up the subject of Englishwitchcraft under certain general political and socialaspects. It was not long, however, before he began tofeel that preliminary to such a treatment there wasnecessary a chronological survey of the witch trials.Those strange and tragic affairs were so closely involvedwith the politics, literature, and life of theseventeenth century that one is surprised to find howfew of them have received accurate or complete recordin history. It may be said, in fact, that few subjects havegathered about themselves so large concretions of misinformationas English witchcraft. This is largely, ofcourse, because so little attention has been given to itby serious students of history. The mistakes and misunderstandingsof contemporary writers and of thelocal historians have been handed down from countyhistory to county history until many of them have creptinto general works. For this reason it was determinedto attempt a chronological treatment which wouldgive a narrative history of the more significant trialsalong with some account of the progress of opinion.This plan has been adhered to somewhat strictly, sometimesnot without regret upon the part of the writer. Itis his hope later in a series of articles to deal with someof the more general phases of the subject, with such[vi]topics as the use of torture, the part of the physicians,the contagious nature of the witch alarms, the relationof Puritanism to persecution, the supposed influence ofthe Royal Society, the general causes for the gradualdecline of the belief, and other like questions. It willbe seen in the course of the narrative that some of thesematters have been touched upon.
This study of witchcraft has been limited to a periodof about one hundred and sixty years in English history.The year 1558 has been chosen as the startingpoint because almost immediately after the accession ofElizabeth there began the movement for a new law, amovement which resulted in the statute of 1563. Withthat statute the history of the persecution of witchesgathers importance. The year 1718 has been selectedas a concluding date because that year was marked bythe publication of Francis Hutchinson's notable attackupon the belief. Hutchinson levelled a final and deadlyblow at the dying superstition. Few men of intelligencedared after that avow any belief in the reality of witchcraft;it is probable that very few even sec