♦The ventriloqua of Westwell discovered.♦
But to make short worke with the confutation of this bastardlie queanes enterprise, & cousenage; you shall understand, that upon the brute of hir divinitie and miraculous transes, she was convented before M. _Thomas Wotton_ of _Bocton Malherbe_, a man of great worship and wisedome, and for deciding and ordering of matters in this commonwealth, of rare and singular dexteritie; through whose discreet handling of the matter, with the assistance & aid of M. _George Darrell_ esquire, being also a right good and discreet Justice of the same limit, the fraud was found, the coosenage confessed, and she received condigne punishment. Neither was hir confession woone, according to the forme of the Spanish inquisition; to wit, through extremitie of tortures, nor yet by guile or flatterie, nor by presumptions; but through wise and perfect triall of everie circumstance the illusion was manifestlie disclosed: not so (I say) as witches are commonlie convinced and condemned; to wit, through malicious accusations, by ghesses, presumptions, and extorted confessions, contrarie to sense and possibilitie, and for such actions as they can shew no triall nor example before the wise, either by direct or indirect meanes; but after due triall she shewed hir feats, illusions, and transes, with the residue of all hir miraculous works, in the presence of divers gentlemen and gentlewomen of great worship and credit, at _Bocton Malherbe_, in the house of the aforesaid M. _Wotton_. Now compare this wench with the witch of _Endor_, & you shall see that both the cousenages may be doone by one art.
♦The Pythonist of west-well convicted by hir owne confession.♦
_Bodins stuffe concerning the Pythonist of Endor, with a true storie of a counterfeit Dutchman._
Upon the like tales dooth _Bodin_ build his doctrine, calling them _Atheists_ that will not beleeve him, adding to this kind of witchcraft, the miraculous works of diverse maidens, that would spue pins, clowts, &c: as one _Agnes Brigs_, and _Rachell Pinder_ of London did, till the miracles were detected, and they set to open penance. Others he citeth of that sort, the which were bound by divels with garters, or some such like stuffe to posts, &c: with knots that could not be undone, which is an _Aegyptians_ juggling or cousening feat. And of such foolish lies joined with bawdie tales, his whole booke consisteth: wherein I warrant you there are no fewer than twoo hundreth fables, and as manie impossibilities. And as these two wenches, with the maiden of _Westwell_, were detected of cousenage; so likewise a Dutchman at _Maidstone_ long after he had accomplished such knaveries, to the astonishment of a great number of good men, was revealed to be a cousening knave; although his miracles were imprinted and published at _London_: anno 1572. with this title before the booke, as followeth.