If he had had no suitable opportunities of earning an honest livelihood18 and been graced with no education, some excuse might have been offered for his despicable calling. But when we remember that he passed his youth in a household practising religion, and was a member of a learned profession, it is difficult to find words sufficiently19 comprehensive for the fit expression of our natural indignation against him. If picturesque20 profanity were allowable, it might be well applied21 to this despicable wretch22 and his nefarious23 labours. In no imaginable circumstances could there possibly be anything to be said in mitigation of his infamy24. When we think that the whole ritual of oppression was in his own hands—that he began with lying and perjury25, and ended with murder; that he showed, throughout, ruthless callousness26 for the mental and physical torture of great numbers of the most helpless class of the community, the poor, the weak, the suffering, the192 helpless and hopeless; that when once his foul27 imagination had consecrated28 any poor wretch to destruction, or his baleful glance had unhappily lighted on some unsuspecting victim there was for such only the refuge of death, and that by some means of prolonged torture, we cannot find any hope or prospect29 even in evil dreams of the nether30 world, of any adequate punishment for his dreadful sins. When we remember that this one man—if man he can be called—was in himself responsible for what amounted to the murder of some two hundred women whom he pursued to the death, the magnitude of his guilt31 can be guessed but not realised.
He occupied three whole years in his fell work; and in those years, 1644, 1645 and 1646, he caused a regular reign32 of terror throughout the counties of Huntingdon, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. He had a gang of his own to help him in his gruesome work of “discovering” witches; amongst whom was a wretch called John Stern and—to her shame—a woman, whose name is unrecorded. These three had a sort of mock assize of their own. They made regular tours of discovery, at a charge of twenty shillings for expenses at each place they visited. There appears to have been a fee paid or exacted for each witch “bagged”; and such was his greed that after a while he actually lowered the price. In 1645, which was perhaps his “best” year, the price declined to a shilling a head. Hopkins193 and his gang took comfort, however, from the fact that the industry was a growing one. The trade had only been initiated33 in 1644, and already in a year’s time he had in one day procured35 the execution of eighteen alleged witches; and at the end of that assize, after the gaol36 delivery had been effected, one hundred and twenty suspects still awaited trial. In the skilful37 hands of Matthew Hopkins, trial was only a step on the road to certain execution by one of the forms in use. Here came in, not only the witchfinder’s legal knowledge, but also his gift of invention—the latter being used in the formulation of so-called “tests” which were bound to be effective. Of these the simplest was the water test. The subject’s thumbs were tied together and she was then thrown into water of sufficient depth. If she did not drown, it was taken as a proof of guilt; and she was hanged by form of law. In some cases, as an alternative, she was burned. If she did not stand the test her friends had the pleasure of knowing that she was pronounced to have died innocent. In any case there was no further trouble with her. Such was the accuracy as well as the simplicity38 of similar “tests” that, in the twenty years previous to the Restoration, between three and four thousand alleged witches perished in England from one cause or another. Hopkins professed40 to be both just and merciful. He seemed generally willing to afford a “test” to the accused; though, truth to tell, the194 result was always the same. In such cases the test was eminently41 calculated to evoke42 confession43, and such confession, no matter how ridiculous or extravagant44 it might be, was simply a curved road to the rope or the torch instead of a straight one. One of these pleasing “tests” was to place the old woman—they were all women and all old—sitting cross-legged on a stool or table where she could be well watched. She was generally kept in that position under inspection45, without food or water, for twenty-four hours. At the end of that time such resolution as had remained disappeared, and in the vain blind hope of some change for the better, some alleviation46 however slight of the grinding misery47, of the agony of body and mind and soul, they confessed. And such confessions48! The very consideration of such of them as now remain in the cold third-person method of a mere49 recorder, almost makes one weep; there is hardly a word that is not almost a certificate of character. With every desire to confess—for such was the last hope of pleasing their torturers—their utter ignorance of confessional matter is almost a proof of innocence50.
Just imagine the scene—a village or hamlet, or the poorer quarter of a small country town with squalid surroundings, marking a poverty which in this age has no equal; a poor, old, lonely woman whose long life of sordid51 misery, of hunger and the diseases that huddle52 closely around want, hopeless,195 despairing, recognising her fate through the prolonged physical torture with which age and infirmity rendered her unable even to attempt to cope. Round her gathered, in a sickly ring, a crowd of creatures debased by the exercise of greed and cruelty to a lower level than the beasts. Their object is not to inquire, to test, to judge; but only to condemn53, to wreck54, to break, to shatter. Some of them, she realises even in her agony, are spurred on by the same zeal55 which animated56 the cruelty of followers57 of Ignatius in the grim torture-chambers of the Inquisition.
The poor dazed, suffering old creature, racked with pains prolonged beyond endurance, tries to rally such glimmerings of invention as are possible to her untaught, unfed mind; but finds herself at every failure fluttering helplessly against a wall of spiritual granite58 which gives back not even an echo to her despairing cry. At last she comes to that stage where even fright and fear have no standing59 room, and where the blank misery of suffering ceases to be effective. Then the last flicker60 of desire for truth or rectitude of purpose dies away, and she receives in feeble acquiescence61 such suggestions as are shouted or whispered to her, in the hope that by accepting them she may win a moment’s ease of body or mind, even if it be her last on earth. Driven beyond mortal limits her untutored mind gives way; and with the last remnants of her strength she yields her very soul to her persecutors.196 The end does not matter to her now. Life has no more to offer her—even of pain, which is the last conscious tie to existence. And through it all, ghoul-like, watching and waiting for the collapse62, whilst outwardly he goes through the mechanical ritual of prayer, we see in the background the sinister63 figure of the attorney, preparing in his mind such evidence as he may procure34 or invent for his work of the next day.
It needs the imagination of a Dante to consider what should be the place of such an one in history, and any eternity64 of punishment that that imagination could suggest must be inadequate65. Even pity itself which rests on sympathy and is kin15 to the eternal spirit of justice, would have imagined with satisfaction the wretched soul going through a baleful eternity clinging in perpetual agony of fear to the very King of Terrors.
In judging Matthew Hopkins one must not, in justice to others, accord him any of the consideration which is the due of good intent. Not a score of years after his shameful66 death, a man was born in a newer land far beyond the separating sea, who through his influence, his teaching, the expression of his honest conviction, was the cause of perhaps more deaths than the English anti-witch. We refer to Cotton Mather, who believed he wrought67 for the Lord—in his own way—in New England. But guilt does not attach to him. He was an earnest, though mistaken man, and the results of his mistaken197 teaching were at variance68 with the trend of his kindly69, godly life.
It must be pleasing to the spirit of the Old Adam which is in us all in some form, to think of the manner of the death of Matthew Hopkins. Three years had exhausted70 not only the material available for his chosen work, but, what was worse for him, the patience of the community. Moreover, he had given cause for scandal in even his own degraded trade and in himself, the filthiest71 thing in connection with it. Not content with dealing72 with the poor, helpless folk, whom he had come to regard as his natural prey73, he went on fancy flights of oppression. At last he went too far. He ventured to denounce an aged74 clergyman of blameless life. The witch-fever was too strong for justice in any form, and neither age, high character, nor sacred office could protect this gentleman of eighty years of age. He too was tortured, till in a moment of unhinged mind, he confessed as he was ordered, and was duly hanged. This was in 1645. The old man’s death was not in vain, for it was made the occasion of much necessary plain speaking. Presently the public conscience was wakened; chiefly by another cleric, the Rev39. John Caule, vicar of Great Staughton, Huntingdonshire—all honour to him!—who, though strange to say he believed in witchcraft75, realised the greater evil wrought by men like Hopkins. He published a pamphlet in which he denounced Hopkins as a common198 nuisance. The result, if slow, was sure. The witch-finder never recovered from the shock of Caule’s vigorous attack. In 1647, on information based on Hopkins’ own rules, he was arrested and subjected to the test which he had devised: he was tied by the thumbs and thrown into the water. Unfortunately for himself he withstood the test—drowning, except for a short period of pangs76, is an easy death—and so was by process of Law duly hanged.
One can imagine how the whole atmosphere of the country—surcharged with suspicion, fear, oppression, torture, perjury or crime—was cleared by the execration77 which followed the removal of this vile9 wretch.
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1
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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structural
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| adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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vileness
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| n.讨厌，卑劣 | |
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tally
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| n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致 | |
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mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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16
enrolled
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| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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17
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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perjury
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| n.伪证；伪证罪 | |
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callousness
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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34
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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gaol
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| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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40
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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42
evoke
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| vt.唤起，引起，使人想起 | |
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43
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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44
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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45
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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46
alleviation
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| n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物 | |
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47
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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48
confessions
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| n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔 | |
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49
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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50
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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51
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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52
huddle
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| vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人 | |
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53
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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54
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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55
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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56
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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57
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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58
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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59
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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60
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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61
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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62
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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63
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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64
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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65
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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66
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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67
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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69
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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70
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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71
filthiest
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| filthy（肮脏的，污秽的）的最高级形式 | |
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72
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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73
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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76
pangs
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| 突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛 | |
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execration
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| n.诅咒，念咒，憎恶 | |
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