DOUBT VIII. 15

B.

How cautiously Princes and their officials ought to proceed in this crime.

RESPONSE. Just as Princes original: Principes—referring to sovereign rulers and high-ranking magistrates do not act wrongly when they move sharply against this crime, so they act badly—even most poorly—unless they do so with the greatest caution, prudence, and circumspection. It is so serious that it is not only forbidden to deal with this crime more freely or negligently simply because it is an "excepted crime" crimine excepto: a legal category for especially heinous crimes, such as treason or witchcraft, where standard judicial protections and procedural rules were often suspended, but one must watch over it with much more attention and care than in any other type of capital offense, lest an illegitimate and poorly judged trial be formed.

Therefore, even if I grant that in this excepted crime of Witches original: Sagarum it is permitted in some instances to proceed differently than the common manner used for non-excepted crimes, I nonetheless deny that it is permitted to act with less caution and circumspection than in that common manner. For this crime requires a certain exceptional diligence, attention, care, and circumspection in the proceedings—more than is required in any others. The reasons are as follows.

REASON I. This crime is most hidden, as all admit; it is usually carried out at night and among shadows and masks original: larvas—can refer to masks, ghosts, or demonic apparitions. Therefore, there is a need for great prudence and