Edward Fairfax
It is a painful task to record, that Edward Fairfax, the harmonious and elegant translator of Tasso, prosecuted six of his neighbours at York assizes in the year 1622, for witchcraft on his children. “The common facts of imps, fits, and the apparition of the witches, were deposed against the prisoners.” The grand jury found the bill, and the accused were arraigned. But, we are told, “the judge, having a certificate of the sober behaviour of the prisoners, directed the jury so well as to induce them to bring in a verdict of acquittal.” [221] The poet afterwards drew up a bulky argument and narrative in vindication of his conduct.