"To John Gaule, vicar of Great Staughton, Huntingdonshire, is due the merit of exposing these proceedings. Gaule was a puritan and a Cromwellian, who believed in witchcraft, but not in Hopkins. A letter from Hopkins to one of his parishioners complains of Gaule's opposition. On 30 June 1646 Gaule published a small book containing the substance of a month's sermons on witchcraft. "Every old woman," he says, "with a wrinkled face, a furr'd brow, a hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a squeaking voyce, or a scolding tongue, having a rugged coate on her back, a skull-cap on her head, a spindle in her hand, and a dog or cat by her side, is not only suspected but pronounced for a witch." Hopkins's "signs" discover "no other witch but the user of them.""
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Alexander Gordon, 'Hopkins, Matthew', Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. XXVII. Hindmarsh—Hovenden, ed. Sidney Lee (1891), p. 337
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_Hopkins
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Matthew Hopkins
Matthew Hopkins (c. 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He was mainly active in East Anglia and claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament.
9 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Matthew Hopkins →
Related Quotes
"Exod.22.18, Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
"That he must needs be the greatest Witch, Sorcerer, and Wizzard himselfe, else hee could not doe it. Answ. If Satans …"
"From whence then proceeded this his skill? was it from his profound learning, or from much reading of learned Authors…"
"I pray where was this experience gained? and why gained by him and not by others? Answ. The Discoverer never travelle…"
"Vinegar Tom, who was like a long-legg'd Greyhound, with an head like an Oxe, with a long taile and broad eyes, who wh…"
"King James in his Demonology saith, it is a certaine rule, for (saith he) Witches deny their baptisme when they Coven…"
"How can any possibly beleeve that the Devill and the Witch joyning together, should have such power, as the Witches c…"
"Has not this present parliament A leger to the devil lent, Fully empower’d to treat about Finding revolted witches ou…"
"The sun moves towards south or north along the ecliptic every moment. Therefore, the direction [determined by the Ind…"
"While men are struggling for power women are organising themselves into clubs, associations and societies. When women…"