The Spirit of Fanaticism: Exemplify'd in the Tryals Mr. James Mitchel
"The Spirit of Fanaticism" [Trials]. [Hickes, George (1642-1715)]. The Spirit of Fanaticism: Exemplify'd in the Tryals of Mr. James Mitchel (A Presbyterian Minister, Who was Hang'd at Edinburgh, For an Attempt Made Upon the Archbishop of St. Andrews.) And Major Thomas Weir (A Gifted Brother at the Knack of Extempore Prayer) Who was Burnt Between Edinburgh and Leith April the 11th, 1670. For Adultery, Beastiality with a Mare and a Cow, And Incest with His Own Sister, Who was Likewise Hang'd the Next Day After Him. To Which is Added an Account of the Original of Presbytery in Scotland, And Their Behaviour Towards the Episcopal Clergy; Wherein is Demonstrated that Rebellion has Ever Been the Principal Article of Their Faith. Written by an Advocate of the Civil Law in Scotland. London: Printed for E. Curll, 1710. [ii], 62 pp. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5-1/4"). Stab-stitched pamphlet in self-wrappers, untrimmed edges, light soiling to exterior, some wear and chipping along sewn edges of a few leaves, moderate toning to interior, signature F (pp.33-40) laid in, rather than sewn in, due to a binding error, a few brief markings in early hand to title page. $850. * Second and final edition. Hickes was a bishop of the nonjuring Church of England in Scotland. A work on propaganda commissioned by his superior in Scotland, John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, it was first published in 1678 with the title Ravillac Redivivus. It is an account of the trial of the Scots-nationalist Presbyterian (Covenanter) James Mitchell [d.1678] for an attempt to assassinate James Sharpe, the archbishop of St Andrews. Hickes linked Mitchell's story to that of the notorious covenanter Major Thomas Weir [c.1600-1670], a suspected sorcerer who was executed for bestiality and incest in 1670, in order to demonstrate that dissenters violated the boundaries of moral law and were thus capable of committing the most outrageous crimes in the name of religion. A notorious Grub-Street publisher and committed Whig, Curll [c.1675-1747] specialized in salacious and otherwise offensive material. His republication of Ravillac was likely a barb aimed at the recently established Tory government; Whigs often associated Tories with Scottish Jacobites. English Short-Title Catalogue N23932.
Price: $850.00
Book number 73366