the principal, but not the only theme, of his
discourse.

It appears, then, that in the year fifteen
hundred and ninety-eight, there dwelt at
Coyrières,—a village adjacent to Saint Oyan
le Toux (now called Ouanne) and not far
from the town of Saint Sauveur, in Burgundy,
—a peasant couple, named Claude Maillet
and Humberte du Perchy. They had three
children, the eldest of whom, Louise, is the
heroine of the Sieur Boguet. On Saturday,
the fifteenth day of June in the aforesaid
year, Louise Maillet, being then eight years
of age, was suddenly deprived of the use of
her limbs, so that she was obliged to go on
all fours, her mouth at the same time being
twisted in a very strange manner. This
affliction lasted until the nineteenth of June
following, when her parents, believing that
the child was "possessed," took her to be
exorcised in the church of Saint Sauveur.
The ceremony was duly performed, holy
water was sprinkled, anathemas were
pronounced, and five demons were discovered
to have possession of the child's interior,
their respective names being Wolf, Cat, Dog,
Pretty, and Griffin, a well-assorted family.
This information obtained, Louise Maillet
was asked—the next step in all these matters
—who had be-devilled her ? The innocent
child looked round and replied, that it was
an old woman, named Francoise Secretain,
whom she pointed out amongst those who
were standing by to witness the exorcism.
The demons, however, though discovered,
refused to turn out, and Louise was taken
home again. She then begged her parents
to pray for her, and while they were doing
so, she cried out that two of the devils were
dead, and if they would go on, the same thing
would happen to the other three. Obedient
to the gifted child, the parents prayed all
night, but this time without avail, for in the
morning, Louise was much worse and racked
about incessantly. Having at last rolled on
the ground, the demons came out of her mouth
in the form of pellets, as large as the fist
(which shows that Louise must have had a
swallow nearly as large as that of the Sieur
Boguet), and as red as fire, all except the
one called Cat, which was black: the two
which the child said were dead (I regret to
say their names are not given) came up last,
and with less violence than the three (on
which account I should suppose that they
were Dog and Pretty). All these demons
(the dead ones included) having made three
or four leaps (voltes) round the fire,
disappeared, and from that time Louise began
to get better.

The next process was that of connecting
Françoise Secretain with the child's be-
devilment. It was stated by the latter that on
the fourteenth of June, the day before her
possession, the old woman came to the cottage
of Humberte Maillet late in the evening and
asked for a night's lodging, but it was at first
refused, because Claude Maillet was from
home; nevertheless, she yielded to the old
woman's importunity. Shortly afterwards,
while Humberte had gone out to stable up
the cattle, Françoise Secretain drew near
Louise and her two younger sisters, who
were warming themselves by the fire (in
June), and gave the first a crust of bread
resembling cowdung, telling her to eat it
and say nothing on the subject, or she,
Françoise, would kill her and eat her. The child
did as the old woman had commanded, and
the next day she was possessed,—Wolf,
Cat, Dog, Pretty, and Griffin being concealed
in the cowdung. These facts were deposed
to by the parents (who neither of them
witnessed the transaction), and by Louise (aged
eight), " who," says Boguet, " spoke as well,
in giving evidence, as if she had been thirty
or forty years of age."

We have now arrived at the third stage in
this history,—the incarceration of the alleged
witch. Françoise Secretain, as soon as the
deposition had been recorded, was clapped
into prison. She remained there three days,
without being willing to make any confession,
declaring that she was innocent of the crime
they accused her of, and that they did her
great wrong to keep her in confinement.
"She affected to be very religious, and told
her beads constantly, but," remarks Boguet,
"it was observed that the cross of her chaplet
was partly broken, and it was tolerably clear
what that signified." However, she tried
to cry, but no tears fell,—another bad sign,—
and putting these things together, it was
resolved to confine her more closely, making
use of some threats, which is usual in cases
of this nature. On the following day, she
was pressed to tell the truth (inquisitors and
witch-finders were always hunting for that,
but never met with it), but it was of no use.
Her judges then caused her dress to be
changed and examined her person, to see if
she were not marked (the marks by which
a sorceress was recognised were always in
the most concealed part of the body: those
moles which resembled the print of a horse's
foot were looked upon as the most significant).
To the surprise of the examiners, no marks
were found on the body of Francoise
Secretain! But they had not yet done; her head
remained for inspection. When she was told
that her hair must be cut off, she loosened it
of her own accord, but when the operation
of shaving began, she showed great emotion
and trembled violently. It is probable that
she fancied her head might follow her hair;
perhaps she was worn out with threats; but
in either case that result followed, which,
sooner or later in all witch-examinations,
was sure to happen—she confessed, "adding
to her revelations," says Boguet, " other
things, from day to day." Her confessions
(excluding some which, in all probability,
were more particularly suggested by the
Sieur Boguet himself) went to this extent: