Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1891 — Sorcery in France. [ARTICLE]

Sorcery in France.

A remarkably case showing, how f ar Borcery is from being stamped! out in France was settled at Tours two days ago. It is only tjvo years since a woman, her husband, and two sons were executed at Romorantin for burning the woman’s aged mother, who was supposed to have put a spell upon them. A very short time previously at Cologne a woman was guillotined for the murder of a man by means of love philters which she had given him to cause him to love her. The witch who had compounded the philters was sent to hard labor for seven years. But now at Tours comes a case which would be amusing if it were not for its tragic ending. A woman named Gerard, a sorceress, persuaded an unfortunate coachman named Jahan that he would discover buried in tho earth beneath his stable a box full of gold if he would dig at midnight, after having lit candlips and burned incense in a given quantity to render his good genius in a favorable state of mind to fight with the skeleton who had charge of the treasure. Jahan, who had paid very dear for this revelation, turned up his stable from end to end, working every night, but, of course, never finding anything. Gerard continued to exhort him not to lose patience, and at every new consultation gave him some fresh advice and fresh incantations which ho was to use. Jahan at last had paid the woman 4,000 francs, every penny that he owned. When he saw that he was completly ruined and still had found no treasure ho hanged himself to a rafter in his stable. Gerard has received eight months’ imprisonment for fortune-telling—not a very severe punishment. It is a fact that In every village almost throughout France there exists a sorceror, who is the evil genius of the place, and a clairvoyante who combats tho wicked spoil and naturalises the evil influence of the sorcerer. Both make capital livings out of the stupidity of the villagers.