A relation of the strange witchcraft discovered at Mohra in Sweden

AN ACCOUNT Of what happened in the KINGDOM OF SWEDEN In the Years 1669, and 1670.

In Relation to the Persons that were accused For Witches: AND TRIED and EXECUTED By the King's Command.

Printed at first in the Swedish Dialect by Authority, and then Translated into divers other Languages; and now, upon the requost of some Friends, done into English.

By Anthony Horneck Preacher at the Savoy.

LONDON: Printed, 1681.

THE TRANSLATORS PREFACE TO THE READER.

Shewing, what Credit may be given to the Matter of Fact related in the ensuing Narrative.

THat we are to believe nothing but what we have seen, is a rule so false, that we dare not call our selves rational Creatures, and avouch it; yet as irrational as the Maxime is, is become modish with some men, and those no […]ery mean Wits neither, to make use of it; and though they will hardly own it in its full Latitude, yet when it comes to Particulars, let the Reasons to the contrary be never so pregnant or convincing, they'le hugg it as their sacred Anchor, and laugh at all those credulous Wretches that, without seeing, are so easily chous'd into an imprudent Confidence. And this pitiful Stratagem we find practised in no affair so much as that of Spirits and Witches, and Apparitions, which must all be Fancies, and Hypocondriack Dreams, and the effects of distempered Brains, because their own are so dull as not to be able to pierce into those Mysteries. I do not deny but the Imagination may be, and is sometime, deluded; and melancholy People may fancy they hear Voices, and see very strange things, which have no other foundation but their own weakness, and like Bubbles break into Air, and nothing, by their own vanity.

Yet as no man doth therefore take unpolisht Diamonds to be Pebbles, because they do look like them, so neither must all passages of this nature we hear or read of, be traduced as self-conceit, or derided as Old Wives Fables, because some smell strong of Imposture and Sophistication. We believe men of Reason and Experience, and free from Fumes, when a person of ordinary Intellectuals finds no great credit with us; and if we think our selves wise for doing so, why should any man so much forget himself, as to be an Infidel in point of such Phaenomena's, when even the most judicious men have had experience of such passages? It seems […] me no less than madness to contradict what both wise and unwise men do unanimously agree in; and how Jews. Heathens, Mahometans, and Christians, both learned and unlearned, should come to conspire into this Cheat, as yet seems to me un accountable. If some few melancholy Monks, or Old Women had seen such Ghosts and Apparitions, we might then suspect that what they pretend to have seen might be nothing, but the effect of a disordered Imagination; but when the whole World, as it were, and men of all Religions, men of all Ages too, have been forced, by strong evidences, to acknowledge the truth of such occurrences, I know not what strength there can be in the Argument drawn from the consent of Nations in things of a sublimer nature, if here it be of no efficacy. Men that have attempted to evade the places of Scripture which speak of Ghosts and Witches, we see how they are forced to turn and wind the Texts, and make, in a manner, Noses of Wax of them, and rather squeeze than gather the sence, as if the holy Writers had spoke like Sophisters, and not like men who made it their business to condescend to the capacity of the Common people. Let a man put no force at all on those passages of holy Writ, and then see what sence they are like to yield. It's strange to see how some men have endeavoured to elude the story of the Witch of Endor; and as far as I can judge, they play more Hocus-Pocus tricks in the explication of that passage, than the Witch herself did in raising the deceased Samuel. To those Straits is Falshood driven, while Truth loves Plains, and undisguised Expressions; and Errour will seek out Holes and Labyrinths to hide itself, while Truth plays above board, and scorns the subterfuges of the Sceptick Interpreter. Men and Brethren, Why should it seem a thing incredible with you that God should permit Spirits to appear, and the Devil to exert his Power among men on Earth? Hath God ever engaged his word to the contrary; or is it against the nature of Spirits to assume airy Vehicles and Bodies of condensed Air, or to animate grosser substances to shew themselves to mortals upon certain occasions?

I am so much a Prophet as to foresee what will be the fate of the ensuing story, nor can I suppose that upon the reading of it, mens verdicts will be much changed from what they were, if they have set up this resolution, to believe nothing that looks like the shadow of an Apparition, though the things mentioned here cannot be unknown to any that have been conversant with forrain affairs of late years. And though there cannot be a greater evidence than the testimony of a whole Kingdom, yet your nicer men will think it a disparagement to them to believe it; nor will it ever extort Assent from any that build the reputation of their wit upon contradicting what hath been received by the vulgar.

The passages, here related wrought so great a Consternation, not onely on the Natives, but Strangers too, that the Heer Christian Rumpf, then Resident for the States General at Stockholm, thought himself obliged to send away his little Son for Holland, lest he should be endangered by these villanous pra[…]es, which seem'd to threaten all the Inhabitants of the Kingdom. And a friend of mine in Town, being then in Holstein, remembers very well that the Duke of Holstein sent an Express to the King of Sweden to know the truth of this famous Witcheraft: To whom the King modestly replied, That his Judges and Commissioners had caused divers Men, Women, and Children to be Burnt and Executed upon such pregnant Evidences a[…] were brought before them; but whether the Actions they confessed, and which were proved against them, were real, or onely effects of strong Imagination, he was not as yet able to determine.

Add to all this, that the Circumstances mentioned in the ensuing Narrative, are at this day to be seen in the Royal Chancery at Stockholm; and a person of my acquaintance offered me […]o procure a Copy of them under the hands of publick Registers, if I desired it: Not to mention that in the year 72. Baron Sparr, who was sent Embassadour from the Crown of Sweden to the Court of England, did upon his word aver the matter of Fact recorded here to be undoubtedly true, to several persons of Note and Eminency, with other particulars, stranger than those set down i[…] these Papers. And to this purpose divers […] ters were sent from Sweden and H[…]urgh to several persons here in London: […] much, that should a man born in, or acquainted with those parts, hear any person dispute the truth of it, he would wonder where people have lived, or what sullen humour doth possess them, to disbelieve that which so many thousands in that Kingdom have felt the sad effect of.

That a Spirit can lift up Men and Women, and grosser Bodies, into the Air, I question no more, than I doubt that the Wind can overthrow Houses, or drive Stones upward from their Centre. And though I cannot comprehend the Philosophie of her committing Venereal acts, and having Children, and those Children bringing forth Toads and Serpents; yet I can very rationally conceive that he can animate dead Bodies, and by the help of them commit those villanies which modesty bids us to conceal; and he that was permitted, as we see in the Gospel, to possess and actuate living men, and do with them almost what he pleased, why may not he commit wickedness by such Instruments, and cast Mists before the Witches eyes, that they may not know who they are? And he that could in AEgypt produce Frogs, either real or counterfeit ones, Why may not he be supposed to be able to produce such Toads and Serpents out of any mishapen Creatures, and of his own making? Spirits that know the nature of things better than man, and understand better how things are joyned and compounded, and what the Ingredients of terrestrial Productions are, and see things in their first principles, and have power over the Air, and other Elements, and have a thousand ways of shaping things and representing them to the sensual minds of men, what may not they be supposed to be able to do, if they have but God's permission to exert their power? and that God doth sometimes permit such things, we have reason to believe, that see men sink into most sottish wickedness, which very often produces that fatal Sentence we read of in the Evangelist; He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. And certainly there is such a Judgement, that men are given up to believe a Lye, and that God sends them strong Delusions as punishments for their wilful obstinacy and resisting of the Truth. Spirits by being Devils do not lose their nature; and let any man in sober sadness consider what Spirits are said to be able to do in Scripture, and what they have done, and compare them with what is said in the following Relation, and he will not think those things the Witches confessed altogether impossible.

I could add a known passage that happen'd in the year 1659. at Crassen in Philesia, of an Apothecarie's Servant, one Christopher Manigh, who after his death returned to his Master's Shop, and seemed to be mighty busie there, walked about in the open Streets, but spoke to no creature but to a Maid-servant, and then vanished; a thing which abundance of people, now living, will take their Oath upon, that they saw him after his decease, at least his shape, and which occasioned publick Disputations in the University of Wittemberg: but it's needless. If the Stories related in the foregoing Book are not sufficient to Convince men. I am sure an Example from beyond sea will gain no Credit. It's enough that I have shewn Reasons which may induce my Reader to believe, that he is not imposed upon by the following Narrative, and that it is not in the nature of those Pamphlets they cry about the Streets, containing very dreadful News from the Country of Armies fighting in the Air.

Farewel.

A Relation of the strange Witchraft discovered in the Village Mohra in Swedeland, taken out of the publick Register of the Lords Commissioners appointed by His Majesty the King of Sweden to examine the whole business, in the years of our Lord 1669. and 1670.

THE news of this Witchraft coming to the Kings ear, his Maiesty was pleased to appoint Commissioners, some of the Clergy, and some of the Laity, to make a Journey to the Town aforesaid, and to examine the whole business; and accordingly the Examination was ordered to be on the 13th of August; and the Commissioners met on the 12th instant, in the said Village, at the Parsons House, to whom both the Minister and several people of fashion complained with tears in their eyes, of the miserable condition they were in, and therefore begg'd of them to think of some way whereby they might be delivered from their Calamity. They gave the Commissioners very strange Instances of the Devils Tyranny among them; how by the help of Witches, he had drawn some Hundreds of Children to him, and made them subject to his power; how he hath been seen to go in a Visible shape through the Country, and appeared daily to the people; how he had wrought upon the poorer sort, by presenting them with Meat and Drink, and this way allured them to himself, with other circumstances to be mentioned hereafter. The Inhabitants of the Village added, with very great lamentations, that though their Children had told all, and sought God very earnestly by Prayer, they were carried away by him; and therefore begg'd of the Lords Commissioners to root out these Witches, that they might regain their former rest and quietness; and the rather, because the Children which used to be carried away there in the County or District of Elfdale, since some Witches had been burnt there, remained unmolested.

That day being the last Humiliation day Instituted by Authority for the removing of this judgment, the Commissioners went to Church, where there appeared a considerable Assembly both of young and old: the Children could read most of them, and sing Psalms, and so could the Women, though not with any great zeal or fervor. There were preached two Sermons that day, in which the miserable case of those people that suffered themselves to be deluded by the Devil, was laid open; and these Sermons were at last concluded with very ferverit prayer.

The Publick Worship being over, all the people of the Town were called together to the Parsons House, near three thousand of them. Silence being commanded, the Kings Commission was read publickly in the hearing of them all, and they were charged under very great penalties to conceal nothing of the truth, and to say nothing but the truth; those especially who were guilty, that the Children might be delivered from the Clutches of the Devil. They all promised obedience; the guilty feignedly, but the guiltless weeping and crying bitterly.

On the 14th of August the Commissioners met again, consulting how they might withstand this dangerous flood; after long deliberation, an Order also coming from his Majesty, they did resolve to execute such, as the matter of sact could be proved upon, Examination being made; for there were discovered no less than Threescore and ten in the Village aforesaid, Three and twenty of which freely confessing their Crimes, were condemned to dye; the rest, one pretending that she was with Child, and the other denying and pleading not guilty, were sent to Fahluna, where most of them were afterwards Executed.

Fifteen Children which likewise confessed that they were engaged in this Witchery, died as the rest; six and thirty of them between nine and sixteen years of age, who had been less guilty, were sorced to run the gantlet; twenty more, who had no great inclination, yet had been seduced to those Hellish Enterprizes, because they were very young, were condemned to be lash'd with Rods upon their hands, for three Sundays together at the Church-door; and the aforesaid six and thirty were also deem'd to be lashed this way once a week for a whole year together. The number of the Seduced Children was about three hundred.

On the twenty fifth of August, Execution was done upon the notoriously guilty, the day being bright and glorious, and the Sun shining, and some thousands of people being present at the spectacle. The Order and Method observed in the Examination was thus:

First, the Commissioners and the Neighbouring Justices went to prayer; this done, the Witches, who had most of them Children with them, which they either had Seduced, or attempted to Seduce, from four years of age to sixteen, were set before them. Some of the Children complained lamentably of the misery and mischief they were forced sometime to suffer of the Witches.

The Children being asked whether they were sure that they were at any time carried away by the Devil; they all declared they were, begging of the Commissioners that they might be sreed from that intolerable yoak.

Hereupon the Witches themselves were asked, whether the Confessions of these Children were true, and admonished to confess the truth, that they might turn away from the Devil unto the living God. At first, most of them did very stifly, and without shedding the least tear, deny it, though much against their will and inclination.

After this, the Children were Examined every one by themselves, to see whether their Confessions did agree or no; and the Commissioners found that all of them, except some very little ones, who could not tell all the Circumstances, did punctually agree in the confession of particulars.

In the mean while the Commissioners that were of the Clergy examined the Witches, but could not bring them to any Confession, all continuing stedfast in their denyals, till at last some of them burst out into tears, and their Consession agreed with what the Children had said. And these expressed their abhorrency of the fact, and begg'd pardon; adding, that the Devil, whom they call'd Loeyta, had stopt the Mouths of some of them, and stopt the Ears of others; and being now gone from them, they could no longer conceal it, for they now perceived his Treachery.

The Confession which the Witches made in Elfdale, to the Judges there, agreed with the Consession they made at Mohra: and the chief things they confessed, consisted in these three points.

• 1. Whither they used to go.
• 2. What kind of place it was they went to, called by them Blockula, where the Witches and the Devil used to meet.
• 3. What evil or mischief they had either done or designed there.

1. Of their Journey to Blockula. The Contents of their Confession.

WE of the Province Elfdale, do confess that we used to go to a gravel-pit which lay hard by a cross-way, and there we put on a garment over our heads, and then danced round, and after this ran to the crossway, and called the Devil thrice, first with a still voice, the second time somewhat louder, and the third time very loud, with these words, Antecessor come and carry us to Blockula. Whereupon, immediately he used to appear, but in different Habits; but for the most part we saw him in a gray Coat, and red and blue Stockings: he had a red Beard, a high-crown'd Hat, with Linnen of divers colours wrapt about it, and long Garters upon his Stockings.

Then he asked us whether we would serve him with Soul and Body. If we were content to do so, he set us on a Beast which he had there ready, and carried us over Churches and high walls; and after all, we came to a green Meadow where Blockula lies. We must procure some shavings of Altars, and Church-Clocks; and then he gives us a horn with a Salve in it, wherewith we do anoint our selves; and then he gives us a Saddle, with a Hammer and a wooden nail, thereby to fix the Saddle; whereupon we call upon the Devil, and away we go.

Those that were at the Town of Mohra, made in a manner the same Declaration: being asked whether they were sure of a real personal Transportation, and whether they were awake then when it was done; they all answered in the Affirmative, and that the Devil sometimes laid something down in the place that was very like them. But one of them confessed, that he did onely take away her strength, and her body lay still upon the ground; yet sometimes he took even her body with him.

Being asked how they could go with their Bodies through Chimneys and broken panes of Glass, they said, that the Devil did first remove all that might hinder them in their flight, and so they had room enough to go.

Others were asked how they were able to carry so many Children with them; and they answered, that when the Children were asleep they came into the Chamber, laid hold of the Children, which straightway did awake, and asked them whether they would go to a Feast with them; to which some answer'd, Yes, others No; yet they were all forced to go. They only gave the Children a Shirt, a Coat and a Doublet, which was either red or blue, and so they did set them upon a beast of the Devils providing, and then they rid away.

The Children confessed the same thing; and some added, that because they had very fine cloaths put upon them, they were very willing to go.

Some of the Children concealed it from their Parents, but others discover'd it to them presently.

The Witches declared moreover, that till of late they never had that power to carry away Children, but onely this year and the last, and the Devil did at this time force them to it; that heretofore it was sufficient to carry but one of their Children, or a strangers Child with them, which yet hapned seldom, but now he did plague them and whip them if they did not procure him Children, insomuch that they had no peace nor quiet for him; and whereas formerly one journey a week would serve turn, from their own Town to the place aforesaid, now they were forced to run to other Towns and places for Children, and that some of them did bring with them some fifteen, some sixteen Children every night.

For their journey they said they made use of all so[…]ts of Instruments, of Beasts, of Men, of Spits and Posts, according as they had opportunity: if they do ride upon Goats, and have many Children with them, that all may have room, they stick a spit into the backside of the Goat, and then are anointed with the aforesaid ointment. What the manner of their Journey is, God alone knows. Thus much was made out, That if the Children did at any time name the Names of those that had carried them away, they were again carried by force either to Blockula, or to the Cross way, and there miserably beaten, insomuch that some of them died of it: and this some of the Witches consessed; and added, That now they were exceedingly troubled and tortured in their minds for it.

The Children thus used lookt mighty bleak, wan, and beaten. The marks of the Lashes the Judges could not perceive in them, except in one Boy, who had some wounds and holes in his Back that were given him with Thorns; but the Witches said they would quickly vanish.

After this usage the Children are exceeding weak; and if any be carried over-night, they cannot recover themselves the next day; and this happens to them by fits: And if a fit comes upon them, they lean on their Mothers Arms, who sit with them up sometimes all night; and when they observe the Paleness coming, they shake the Children, but to no purpose.

They observe further, that their Childrens Breasts grow cold at such times; and they take sometimes a burning Candle and stick it in their Hair, which yet is not burnt by it. They swoun upon this paleness, which Swoun lasteth sometimes half an hour, sometimes an hour, sometimes two hours; and when the Children come to themselves again, they mourn, and lament, and groan most miserably, and beg exceedingly to be eased: This two old men declared upon Oath before the Judges, and called all the Inhabitants of the Town to witness, as persons that had most of them experience of this strange Symptome of their Children.

A little girl of Elfdale confessed, That naming the name of Jesus as she was carried away, she fell suddenly upon the Ground, and got a great hole in her Side, which the Devil presently healed up again, and away he carried her; and to this day the girl confessed she had exceeding great pain in her side.

Another Boy confessed too, That one day he was carried away by his Mistriss, and to perform the Journey he took his own Father's Horse out of the Meadow where it was, and upon his return she let the Horse go in her own ground.

The next morning the Boys Father sought for his Horse, and not finding it, gave it over for lost; but the Boy told him the whole story, and so his Father fetcht the Horse back again; and this one of the Witches confessed.

2. Of the place where they used to assemble, called Blockula, and what they did there.

THey unanimously confessed that Blockula is scituated in a delicate large Meadow whereof you can see no end. The place or house they met at, had before it a Gate painted with divers colours; through this Gate they went into a little Meadow distinct from the other, where the Beasts went that they used to ride on: But the Men whom they made use of in their Journey, stood in the House by the Gate in a slumbering posture, sleeping against the wall.

In a huge large Room of this House, they said, there stood a very long Table, at which the Witches did sit down: And that hard by this Room was another Chamber where there were very lovely and delicate Beds.

The first thing they said they must do at Blockula was, That they must deny all, and devote themselves Body and Soul to the Devil, and promise to serve him faithfully, and confirm all this with an Oath. Hereupon they cut their Fingers, and with their bloud writ their Name in his Book. They added, that he caused them to be Baptized too by such Priests as he had there, and made them confirm their Baptism with dreadful Oaths and Imprecations.

Hereupon the Devil gave them a Purse, wherein there were shavings of Clocks with a Stone tied to it, which they threw into the Water, and then were forced to speak these words; As these Shavings of the Clock do never return to the Clock from which they are taken, so may my Soul never return to Heaven. To which they add Blasphemy and other Oaths and Curses.

The mark of their cut Fingers is not found in all of them: But a Girl who had been slashed over her Fingers, declared, That because she would not stretch out her Fingers, the Devil in anger had so cruelly wounded it.

After this they sate down to Table; and those that the Devil esteemed most, were placed nearest to him; but the Children must stand at the door, where he himself gives them meat and drink.

The diet they did use to have there, was, they said, Broth with Colworts and Bacon in it, Oatmeal, Bread spread with Butter, Milk and Cheese. And they added, that sometimes it tasted very well, and sometimes very ill. After meals they went to Dancing, and in the mean while Swear and Curse most dreadfully, and afterward they went to fighting one with another.

Those of Elfdale consessed, That the Devil used to play upon an Harp before them, and afterwards to go with them that he liked best into a Chamber, where he committed venereous Acts with them; and this indeed all confessed, That he had carnal knowledge of them, and that the Devil had Sons and Daughters which he did marry together, and they did couple, and brought forth Toads and Serpents.

One day the Devil seemed to be dead, whereupon there was great lamentation at Blockula; but he soon awaked again. If he hath a mind to be merry with them, he lets them all ride upon Spits before him; takes afterwards the Spits and beats them black and blue, and then laughs at them. And he bids them believe that the day of Judgement will come speedily, and therefore sets them on work to build a great House of Stone, promising, that in that House he will preserve them from God's Fury, and cause them to enjoy the greatest delights and pleasures: but while they work exceeding hard at it, there falls a great part of the Wall down again, whereby some of the Witches are commonly hurt, which makes him laugh, but presently he cures them again.

They said they had seen sometimes a very great Devil like a Dragon with fire round about him, and bound with an Iron Chain; and the Devil that converses with them tells them, that if they confess any thing, he will let that Great Devil loose upon them, whereby all Swedeland shall come into great danger.

They added, That the Devil had a Church there, such another as is in the Town of Mohra. When the Commissioners were coming, He told the Witches, they should not fear them; for he would certainly kill them all. And they confessed, that some of them had attempted to murther the Commissioners, but had not been able to effect it.

Some of the Children talked much of a white Angel which used to forbid them doing what the Devil had bid them do, and told them that those doings should not last long: what had been done, had been permitted because of the wickedness of the People, and the carrying away of the Children should be made manifest. And they added, that this white Angel would place himself sometimes at the Door betwixt the Witches and the Children; and when they came to Blockula he pulled the Children back, but the Witches they went in.

3. Of the Mischief or Evil which the Witches promised to do to Men and Beasts.

THey confessed that they were to promise the Devil that they would do all that's Ill; and that the Devil taught them to milk, which was in this wise: They used to stick a Knife in the Wall, and hang a kind of a Label on it, which they drew and stroaked; and as long as this lasted, the persons that they have power over were miserably plagued, and the Beasts were milked that way, till sometimes they died of it.

A Woman confessed, That the Devil gave her a wooden Knife, wherewith, going into houses, she had power to kill any thing she touched with it; yet there were few that would confess that they had hurt any man or woman.

Being asked whether they had murthered any Children, they confessed, that they had indeed tormented them, but did not know whether any of them had died of those plagues. And added, That the Devil had shewed them several places where he had power to do mischief.

The Minister of Elfdale declared, That one night these Witches were, to his thinking, upon the crown of his Head, and that from thence he had had a long continued pain of the Head.

One of the Witches confessed too, that the Devil had sent her to torment that Minister: and that she was ordered to use a Nail and strike it into his head, but it would not enter very deep; and hence came that Head-ach.

The aforesaid Minister said also, That one night he felt a pain as if it were torn with an Instrument that they cleanse Flax with, or a Flax-comb; and when he waked he heard some-body scratching and scraping at the Window, but could see no-body. And one of the Witches confessed, that she was the person that did it, being sent by the Devil.

The Minister of Mohra declared also, that one night one of these Witches came into his house, and did so violently take him by the Throat, that he thought he should have been choaked; and waking, he saw the person that did it, but could not know her; and that for some Weeks he was not able to speak, or perform Divine Service.

An Old woman of Elfdale confessed, that the Devil had holpen her to make a Nail, which she struck into a boys Knee, of which stroke the Boy remained lame a long time. And she added, that before she burnt or was Execut[…]d by the hand of Justice, the boy would recover.

They confessed also, that the Devil gives them a Beast about the bigness and shape of a young Cat, which they call a Carrier; and that he gives them a Bird too as big as a Raven, but white. And these two creatures they can send any where; and where-ever they come, they take away all sorts of Victuals they can get, Butter, Cheese, Milk, Bacon, and all sorts of Seeds whatever they find, and carry it to the Witch. What the Bird brings they may keep for themselves; but what the Carrier brings they must reserve for the Devil, and that's brought to Blockula, where he doth give them of it so much as he thinks fit.

They add likewise, that these Carriers fill themselves so full, sometimes, that they are forced to spew by the way, which spewing is found in several Gardens whereColworts grow, and not far from the houses of those Witches. It is of a yellow colour like Gold, and is called Butter of Witches.

The Lords Commissioners were indeed very earnest, and took great pains to perswade them to shew some of their Tricks, but to no purpose; for they did all unanimously confess, that since they had confessed all, they found that all their Witchcraft was gone, and that the Devil at this time appeared to them very terrible, with Claws on his Hands and Feet, and with Horns on his Head, and a long Tail behind, and shewed to them a Pit burning, with a Hand put out; but the Devil did thrust the person down again with an Iron-fork; and suggested to the Witches, that if they continued in their Confession, he will deal with them in the same manner.

The abovesaid Relation is taken out of the Publick Register, where all this is related with more Circumstances. And at this time through all the Country there are Prayers weekly in all Churches, to the end that Almighty God would pull down the Devils Power, and deliver those poor Creatures which have hitherto groaned under it.

FINIS.