ONE Mrs. — a Maiden Gentle­woman, having languished for some time under very sore and grievous Afflictions, which, by the strange Gestures and Actions of her Body, plainly declar'd her to have been either Bewitch'd or Possess'd with an Evil Spirit: Her Relations came to me, and inform'd me, That they had spent much upon several able Physicians, who pretended to Cure her, but could not, and desir'd me to un­dertake the Cure, which accordingly I did; upon Examination, I found that her Fits seiz'd her much about the same time every day, every of which lasted about the space of Twelve hours; in which time she shriek'd and cry'd out in a pitiful manner, [Page] [Page] [Page] [...] [Page 4] that, thro' the extremity of her Afflicton, she was brought to such a weak Condition, that she was not able to stir or move any part of her Limbs or Body, from her Waste to her Feet. The Maid was brought to my House, and, by demanding and asking several Questions of her, I found that she was Possessed by the Devil, for she could not once name the Name of God, Jesus Christ, &c. but she would immediately fall into Fits, and be strangely Tormented. I councelled her Father to go to some Pious Divine, to make an Essay in the matter, and to see what his Devotion could do, he answer'd me, That he had done it al­ready, but to no purpose; for one Doctor — the Minister of the Parish, a Learned, Judicious, and Pious Man, had spent some time in attempting to do it, yet could not prevail, but was forced to desist, and ad­vised their seeking Remedy of some body else, whom God might give Strength and Faith to perform so great a Work.

This did somewhat discourage me, yet, for the sake of my Reputation, I did un­dertake, and (by God's Blessing) effect the Cure. Some there are who are Possessed, [Page] whom the Devil at some times leaveth, but he never left this Maid, from the time he first entered into her. Her Fits gene­rally seized her about Nine a Clock at Night, and held her till Eight the next day; in the interim of which, she was hor­ribly Tormented, making divers Noises, as Howling, Crying, Shrieking, &c. twisting and turning her Body up and down, rowling about the Room, &c. From the hour of Eight in the Forenoon, until Twelve, she would give Resolution to all manner of Demands, but chiefly if her Mother propounded them. She would tell of Things Lost, who had them; how and where they should be found, with ma­ny other strange Questions, which always proved true: I could instance several, but for brevity sake, I pass them over. I come now to the manner and method of my Curing her.

The Chamber being made as close as with convenience it could be, I took Frankinsence, Rosemary, and Myrrh, and made a Perfume in the Chamber, which I continued to do till I had finished the Cure: I oftentimes gave the Maid the [Page] Distilled Waters of Rosemary, Angelica, and Marigolds. When I laid my hands upon the Maid, the Devil in her began to strive against me very much, yet I held my hold; and having got her at an ad­vantage, I held her fast, and did very often repeat these words, In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, I Command thee to come forth; yet notwithstanding the Spirit was very obstinate. I gave the Maid of the afore­said Waters very often, and then Prayed again, and as often repeated the afore­said words, for I resolved not to desist till the Devil did leave her; and thus I continued for about Two hours. At length the Devil invisibly left her, ma­king a hideous Noise, with a horrible Cry, and raised a suddain violent Blast of Wind, but did me no harm at all: Soon after the Devil did come forth of the Maid, she began to Speak; and, within a small time often, by the Blessing of God, upon such Remedies as I apply'd, she remains per­fectly well.

I will relate one thing more, which was generally in the time of her Fits; Three Pins were brought to her, and yet [Page 7] but one at a time, and when she receiv'd them, she seem'd to Rejoyce, would Laugh and Smile, and put the Pins into her Mouth, which her Friends took from her, lest it should Choak her, yet she was very un­willing to part with them. They had a Box full of them, for she had Three brought to her every Night for a long Season, and that very Night which I cast the De­vil out of her, something brought her Two before my Face. It was observ'd, That while I was performing this Business that Three Women were seen by my Ser­vants, to walk about my House, and near the Window, where I did this Ope­ration, which we judged were Three Witches, who the Father suspected, and since Prosecuted Them.

Vid. An Exact Account at large of this Relation, in Doctor Blagrave' s Book, En­tituled, Astrological Cures, &c.