"
The soldier corroborated these testimonies by facts that had
happened within the sphere of his own knowledge, and in particular
mentioned the case of an old woman of the parish in which he
was born, who used to transform herself into the shapes of sundry
animals, and was at last killed by small shot in the character of
a hare. The Welshman, thus supported, expressed his surprise at
hearing that the legislature had shown such tenderness for criminals
of so dark a hue, and offered to prove, by undeniable instances,
that there was not a mountain in Wales which had not been, in his
memory, the scene of necromancy and witchcraft. "Wherefore," said
he, "I am assuredly more than above astonished and confounded and
concerned that the Parliament of Great Britain should, in their
great wisdoms, and their prudence, and their penetration, give
countenance and encouragement, look you, to the works of darkness
and the empire of Pelzepup--ofer and apove the evidence of holy
writ, and those writers who have been quoted by that aggurate and
learned shentleman, we are informed, by profane history, of the
pribbles and pranks of the old serpent, in the bortents and oragles
of antiquity, as you will find in that most excellent historian
Bolypius, and Titus Lifius; ay, and moreofer, in the Commentaries
of Julius Caesar himself, who, as the ole world knows, was a most
famous, and a most faliant, and a most wise, and a most prudent,
and a most fortunate chieftain, and a most renowned orator; ay,
and a most elegant writer to boot.
Pages:
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368