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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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« years old , was sent the same day to St . Neots ,, by his master , a respectable , farmer * of Great Paxton , for " a load of corn . When he returned , his mother and another woman accompanied him . Contrary to the better advice of her neighbour , the latter" insisted upon putting" a basket of grocery upon the top of the sacks of corn . One of the horses
which drew the cart , was young and unmanageable , and in going down the hill which leads into the village of Paxton , by his plunging and restiveness , overturned it . By this unfortunate accident , the shopkeeper ' s grocery "was materially damaged ; and because Ann Jzzard had repeatedly advised her not
to put the basket upon the sacks , she charged her with overturning the cart by means of her infernal art , on purpose to spoil her goods . It will scarcely be credited , that in an hour after , the whole parish was in an uproar : " She has just overturned a loaded cart , with as much ease as if it had been a
spinning wheel , " was echoed from one end of it to the other . Men , women , and children raised their vorces , and exclaimed , " we 4 iave now proof positive of her guilt—this last act in open day speaks
for itself—she is the person that docs all the mischief , and if something is not done to put a stop to her baseness , there will be no living in the place . ''—Nor , did this extraordinary fit of phrenzy terminate till thev had made two attacks
upon her , which attrocious as they appear to me , are considered by themselves as not only justifiable , but highly meritorious . The dark and lintnstructed Caffiarian , would look upon siich actions as a perpetual scandal to himself , and an everlasting disgrace to his countr
y A . considerable number of people aslembled together , as it grew dark on Sunday evening the eighth of May , and uking with them the young women riiiculouslv snrmose . d to be bewitched-
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about ten o ' clock proceeded to the cottage of Wright Izzard , which , , stands alone , at some distance from the bo * dy of the village . When they arrived at this solitary spot , so favourable for the execution of their villainous designs ,
they breke into the poor man ' s heuse , dragged his wife out of bed , and threw her naked into the yard ; where , her arms were torn with pins , her head was dashed against the lar ^ e stones of . th e causeway—and her face , stomach , and breast -were severely bruised with a thick stick that served as a bar to the
door . Having thus satiated themselves , the mob dispersed . The woman then crawled into her house , put her clothes on , and went to the constable , who said , c < he could not protect her , because he was not sworn . " The humanity , protection , and assistance , which she could not find at the constable ' s ,
very happily for herself , she found under tlxe roof of a poor widow . The compassionate and honest Alice Russel unlocked her door at the first call , wrapped up her neighbour's bleeding arms with the nicest linen rags she had , affectionately sympathized with and comforted her , and gave her a bed . But ,
with the deepest grief I relate it , the compassion and kindness of this poor woman , were the means of shortening her days . " The protectors of a witch , are just as bad as the witch , and deserve thesame treatment , " cried the infatuated populace the next morning . The envenomed shaft flew direct to its mark , —
and the widow Russel , neither eat ,, nor slept again f . In the evening of Monday the ninth of May , Ann Jzzard was a second time dragged out ol her house , and a second time were her arms torn with pins till they streamed afresh with blood . Alive the next morning , and apparently likely to survive this attack also , her enemies resolved to have her ducked , a « soon as the labour of the day was over *
* J ohn Bidwell , the person hers alluded to , and his wife , have been the steadyfriends of Ann Izzard in her affliction . They have been very instrumental in keeping her from the horrors of despair . Instead of being commended , however , they have been abused and pointed at for their humanity . —Be it so now—this will prove no bar to their good actions being recorded , to their everlasting honour , at the tribunal of God ; f The widqw Russel lived nearly twelve years in my house ; during that time I experienced- many proofs of her punctuality , fidelity , and honesty : Sie died , a Martyr to fear and apprehension , Qn -Friday the twentieth o ( May .
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Acceunt of an Attack on the Person of a Reputed Witth . 579
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1808, page 579, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2398/page/3/
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