Doubt VIII. How cautiously Princes and those through whose deliberation they act must proceed, so that you may rightly bring these matters to light.

REASON II. We see that once a judicial process original: processum against witches original: sagas has begun, it is prolonged for several years and the number of those to be punished increases so much that entire villages are utterly consumed. Nor does anything else result from this except that the record books are equally full of the names of others; so much so that if one continues to persist stubbornly, it seems there will be no end to the burnings original: ustionum—referring to the execution of witches by fire until the whole region is exhausted. Nor has any prince ever been found who did not eventually have to break off the proceedings: thus, everyone to this day has always simply made an end to it, rather than finding a natural conclusion. Since this matter is so grave and so vast, can any amount of diligence be so great that it would not be fitting to apply it? Should we not fear that some error might intervene by which innocent people are entangled at the same time? Especially since, if even a single innocent person is entangled, it is necessary that countless others will be entangled immediately after, as I shall show further below.

REASON III. If it should happen through an imprudent trial that innocent people are also struck by the same storm, certain immense evils will overflow into the Commonwealth original: Rempublicam—the state or the public good. Namely, the unjust punishments of so many individuals, and in-