Sunbury American

Witchcraft—The Chambersburg Whig, of the 17th ult, relates the following singular instance of superstition, which proves that the belief in witchcraft is not yet done away with: -

A correspondent, writing from Fulton county, informs us of a singular case of supposed witchcraft that occurred near Sidinger Hill. There is a certain religious sect in that neighborhood, calling themselves the Christian Church. A lady, one of the members, was taken sick and lay for some time, until she finally imagined herself bewitched, and a sister in the Church was settled upon as the witch. A meeting of the session was called in due season, at which the minister presided, and the charge of witchcraft was formally preferred against the lady. Being a new case, and we presume, not provided for in the discipline, the session was puzzled as to the proper manner to proceed in the case. At length it was proposed that she should be asked to step over a broomstick, as it had been said that a witch could not do so; but the accused got over it without apparent difficulty. After a consultation it was then agreed that she should be tried in a pair of weigh scales, with a Bible to balance her, and if she was a witch the Bible would be too heavy for her. Accordingly she was taken to a mill, and the experiment tried; but she proved too heavy for the Bible. It was then intimated that probably her clothing prevented a fair test, and half a bushel of corn was put on the scales with the Bible, to balance the clothing, but still the lady was too heavy, and the charge was formally dismissed.