{"collection":"ritual-magic","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_24518/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_24518","id":"gutenberg_24518","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24518","summary":null,"tags":["Alchemy","Category: Economics","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: History - Other","Common fallacies","Delusions","Hallucinations and illusions","Impostors and imposture","Investments -- Psychological aspects","Occultism -- Early works to 1900","Psychology","Social psychology","Stock exchanges -- Psychological aspects","Swindlers and swindling","Witchcraft"],"text":"[Illustration: THE MISSISSIPPI SCHEME: GARDENS OF THE HOTEL DE\nSOISSONS, 1720.]\n\n\n\n\nMEMOIRS\n\nOF\n\nEXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS.\n\n\nVOLUME I.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE BUBBLERS' ARMS--PROSPERITY.]\n\n\nLONDON:\n\nOFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY,\n\n227 STRAND.\n\n\n1852.\n\n\n\n\nMEMOIRS\n\nOF\n\nEXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS\n\nAND THE\n\nMADNESS OF CROWDS.\n\n\nBY CHARLES MACKAY, LL.D.\n\nAUTHOR OF \"EGERIA,\" \"THE SALAMANDRINE,\" ETC.\n\nILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS.\n\nVOL. I.\n\n\n    N'en d\u00e9plaise \u00e0 ces fous nomm\u00e9s sages de Gr\u00e8ce,\n    En ce monde il n'est point de parfaite sagesse;\n    Tous les hommes sont fous, et malgr\u00e9 tous leurs so\u00eens\n    Ne diff\u00e8rent entre eux que du plus ou du moins.\n                                        BOILEAU.\n\n\nLONDON:\n\nOFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY,\n\n227 STRAND.\n\n\n1852.\n\n\n\nLONDON:\n\nPRINTED BY ROBSON, LEVEY, AND FRANKLYN,\n\nGreat New Street, Fetter Lane.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nTHE MISSISSIPPI SCHEME.\n\nJohn Law; his birth and youthful career--Duel between Law and\nWilson--Law's escape from the King's Bench--The \"Land-bank\"--Law's\ngambling propensities on the continent, and acquaintance with the Duke\nof Orleans--State of France after the reign of Louis XIV.--Paper money\ninstituted in that country by Law--Enthusiasm of the French people at\nthe Mississippi Scheme--Marshal Villars--Stratagems employed and\nbribes given for an interview with Law--Great fluctuations in\nMississippi stock--Dreadful murders--Law created comptroller-general\nof finances--Great sale for all kinds of ornaments in Paris--Financial\ndifficulties commence--Men sent out to work the mines on the\nMississippi, as a blind--Payment stopped at the bank--Law dismissed\nfrom the ministry--Payments made in specie--Law and the Regent\nsatirised in song--Dreadful crisis of the Mississippi Scheme--Law,\nalmost a ruined man, flies to Venice--Death of the Regent--Law obliged\nto resort again to gambling--His death at Venice\n\n\nTHE SOUTH-SEA BUBBLE.\n\nOriginated by Harley Earl of Oxford--Exchange Alley a scene of great\nexcitement--Mr. Walpole--Sir John Blunt--Great demand for\nshares--Innumerable \"Bubbles\"--List of nefarious projects and\nbubbles--Great rise in South-sea stock--Sudden fall--General meeting\nof the directors--Fearful climax of the South-sea expedition--Its\neffects on society--Uproar in the House of Commons--Escape of\nKnight--Apprehension of Sir John Blunt--Recapture of Knight at\nTirlemont--His second escape--Persons connected with the scheme\nexamined--Their respective punishments--Concluding remarks\n\n\nTHE TULIPOMANIA.\n\nConrad Gesner--Tulips brought from Vienna to England--Rage for the\ntulip among the Dutch--Its great value--Curious anecdote of a sailor\nand a tulip--Regular marts for tulips--Tulips employed as a means of\nspeculation--Great depreciation in their value--End of the mania\n\n\nTHE ALCHYMISTS.\n\nIntroductory remarks--Pretended antiquity of the\nart--Geber--Alfarabi--Avicenna--Albertus Magnus--Thomas\nAquinas--Artephius--Alain de Lisle--Arnold de Villeneuve--Pietro\nd'Apone--Raymond Lulli--Roger Bacon--Pope John XXII.--Jean de\nMeung--Nicholas Flamel--George Ripley--Basil Valentine--Bernard of\nTr\u00e8ves--Trithemius--The Mar\u00e9chal de Rays--Jacques Coeur--Inferior\nadepts--Progress of the infatuation during the sixteenth and\nseventeenth centuries--Augurello--Cornelius\nAgrippa--Paracelsus--George Agricola--Denys Zachaire--Dr. Dee and\nEdward Kelly--The Cosmopolite--Sendivogius--The Rosicrucians--Michael\nMayer--Robert Fludd--Jacob B\u00f6hmen--John Heydon--Joseph Francis\nBorri--Alchymical writers of the seventeenth century--Delisle--Albert\nAluys--Count de St. Germain--Cagliostro--Present state of the science\n\n\nMODERN PROPHECIES.\n\nTerror of the approaching day of judgment--A comet the signal of that\nday--The prophecy of Whiston--The people of Leeds greatly alarmed at\nthat event--The plague in Milan--Fortune-tellers and\nAstrologers--Prophecy concerning the overflow of the Thames--Mother\nShipton--Merlin--Heywood--Peter of Pontefract--Robert\nNixon--Almanac-makers\n\n\nFORTUNE-TELLING.\n\nPresumption and weakness of man--Union of Fortune-tellers and\nAlchymists--Judicial astrology encouraged in England from the time of\nElizabeth to William and Mary--Lilly the astrologer consulted by the\nHouse of Commons as to the cause of the Fire of London--Encouragement\nof the art in France and Germany--Nostradamus--Basil of\nFlorence--Antiochus Tibertus--Kepler--Necromancy--Roger Bacon,\nAlbertus Magnus, Arnold Villeneuve--Geomancy--Augury--Divination: list\nof various species of divination--Oneiro-criticism (interpretation of\ndreams)--Omens\n\n\nTHE MAGNETISERS.\n\nThe influence of imagination in curing diseases--Mineral\nmagnetisers--Paracelsus--Kircher the Jesuit--Sebastian Wirdig--William\nMaxwell--The Convulsionaries of St. Medard--Father Hell--Mesmer, the\nfounder of Animal Magnetism--D'Eslon, his disciple--M. de\nPuysegur--Dr. Mainauduc's success in London--Holloway, Loutherbourg,\nMary Pratt, &c.--Perkins's \"Metallic Tractors\"--Decline of the science\n\n\nINFLUENCE OF POLITICS AND RELIGION ON THE HAIR AND BEARD.\n\nEarly modes of wearing the hair and beard--Excommunication and\noutlawry decreed against curls--Louis VII.'s submission thereto the\ncause of the long wars between England and France--Charles V. of Spain\nand his courtiers--Peter the Great--His tax upon beards--Revival of\nbeards and moustaches after the French Revolution of 1830--The King of\nBavaria (1838) orders all civilians wearing moustaches to be arrested\nand shaved--Examples from Bayeux tapestry\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ENGRAVINGS IN VOL. I.\n\n\nFrontispiece--Gardens of the Hotel de Soissons. (From a print in Mr.\nHawkins' collection.)\n\nVignette--The Bubblers' Arms, Prosperity. (_Bubblers' Mirror, or\nEngland's Folly_.)\n\nJohn Law. (From a rare print by Leon Schenk. 1720)\n\nThe Regent D'Orleans\n\nOld Palais Royal from the Garden. (From a scarce print, _circa_\n1720)\n\nLaw's House; Rue de Quincampoix. (From Nodier's _Paris_)\n\nHumpbacked Man hiring himself as a Table\n\nH\u00f4tel de Soissons. (From Nodier's _Paris_)\n\nThe Coach upset\n\nMurder of a Broker by Count D'Horn\n\nJohn Law as Atlas. (From _England under the House of Hanover_)\n\nCaricature--Lucifer's new Row Barge\n\nProcession of Miners for the Mississippi\n\nThe Chancellor D'Aguesseau\n\nCaricature--Law in a Car drawn by Cocks\n\nM. D'Argenson\n\nCaricature--Neck or Nothing, or Downfall of the Mississippi Company\n\nThe South-Sea House. (From a print, _circa_ 1750)\n\nHarley Earl of Oxford\n\nSir Robert Walpole\n\nCornhill. (Print, _circa_ 1720)\n\nStock-jobbing Card, or the Humours of Change Alley. 1720. (From the\n_Bubblers' Medley_)\n\nCaricature--People climbing the Tree of Fortune. (From the\n_Bubblers' Medley_)\n\nThe Gateway to Merchant Tailors' Hall. (Gateway from old print)\n\nMr. Secretary Craggs\n\nCaricature--Beggars on Horseback. (From the _Bubblers' Medley_)\n\nCaricature--Britannia stript by a South-Sea Director\n\nCaricature--The Brabant Screen. (Copied from a rare print of the time,\nin the collection of E. Hawkins, Esq., F.S.A.)\n\nBonfires on Tower Hill\n\nThe Earl of Sunderland\n\nCaricature--Emblematic Print of the South-Sea Scheme. (From a print by\nHogarth)\n\nCaricature--Bubblers' Arms: Despair. (From _Bubblers' Mirror, or\nEngland's Glory_)\n\nConrad Gesner\n\nThe Alchymist. (From print after Teniers)\n\nAlbertus Magnus\n\nArnold de Villeneuve\n\nRaymond Lulli\n\nHouse of Jacques Coeur at Bourges. (From _Sommerard's Album_)\n\nCornelius Agrippa\n\nParacelsus\n\nDr. Dee\n\nDr. Dee's Show-stone and Magic Crystal. (Originals in the possession\nof Lord Londesborough and British Museum)\n\nInnspruck. (From Nodier's _Paris_)\n\nHouse of Cagliostro (Rue de Clery, No. 278), Paris\n\nMother Shipton's House\n\nHenry Andrews, the original \"Francis Moore, physician\"\n\nNostradamus. (From the frontispiece to a collection of his Prophecies,\npublished at Amsterdam A.D. 1666)\n\nSerlo clipping Henry I.'s hair\n\nPeter the Great\n\nBayeux Tapestry\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIn reading the history of nations, we find that, like individuals,\nthey have their whims and their peculiarities; their seasons of\nexcitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find\nthat whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and\ngo mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously\nimpressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is\ncaught by some new folly more captivating than the first. We see one\nnation suddenly seized, from its highest to its lowest members, with a\nfierce desire of military glory; another as suddenly becoming crazed\nupon a religious scruple; and neither of them recovering its senses\nuntil it has shed rivers of blood and sowed a harvest of groans and\ntears, to be reaped by its posterity. At an early age in the annals of\nEurope its population lost their wits about the sepulchre of Jesus,\nand crowded in frenzied multitudes to the Holy Land; another age went\nmad for fear of the devil, and offered up hundreds of thousands of\nvictims to the delusion of witchcraft. At another time, the many\nbecame crazed on the subject of the philosopher's stone, and committed\nfollies till then unheard of in the pursuit. It was once thought a\nvenial offence, in very many countries of Europe, to destroy an enemy\nby slow poison. Persons who would have revolted at the idea of\nstabbing a man to the heart, drugged his pottage without scruple.\nLadies of gentle birth and manners caught the contagion of murder,\nuntil poisoning, under their auspices, became quite fashionable. Some\ndelusions, though notorious to all the world, have subsisted for ages,\nflourishing as widely among civilised and polished nations as among\nthe early barbarians with whom they originated,--that of duelling, for\ninstance, and the belief in omens and divination of the future, which\nseem to defy the progress of knowledge to eradicate them entirely from\nthe popular mind. Money, again, has often been a cause of the delusion\nof multitudes. Sober nations have all at once become desperate\ngamblers, and risked almost their existence upon the turn of a piece\nof paper. To trace the history of the most prominent of these\ndelusions is the object of the present pages. Men, it has been well\nsaid, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while\nthey only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.\n\nSome of the subjects introduced may be familiar to the reader; but the\nAuthor hopes that sufficient novelty of detail will be found even in\nthese, to render them acceptable, while they could not be wholly\nomitted in justice to the subject of which it was proposed to treat.\nThe memoirs of the South-Sea madness and the Mississippi delusion are\nmore complete and copious than are to be found elsewhere; and the same\nmay be said of the history of the Witch Mania, which contains an\naccount of its terrific progress in Germany, a part of the subject\nwhich has been left comparatively untouched by Sir Walter Scott in his\n_Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft_, the most important that\nhave yet appeared on this fearful but most interesting subject.\n\nPopular delusions began so early, spread so widely, and have lasted so\nlong, that instead of two or three volumes, fifty would scarcely\nsuffice to detail their history. The present may be considered more of\na miscellany of delusions than a history--a chapter only in the great\nand awful book of human folly which yet remains to be written, and\nwhich Porson once jestingly said he would write in five hundred\nvolumes! Interspersed are sketches of some lighter matters,--amusing\ninstances of the imitativeness and wrongheadedness of the people,\nrather than examples of folly and delusion.\n\nReligious matters have been purposely excluded as incompatible with\nthe limits prescribed to the present work; a mere list of them would\nalone be sufficient to occupy a volume.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: JOHN LAW.]\n\n\nMONEY MANIA.--THE MISSISSIPPI SCHEME.\n\n    Some in clandestine companies combine;\n    Erect new stocks to trade beyond the line;\n    With air and empty names beguile the town,\n    And raise new credits first, then cry 'em down;\n    Divide the empty nothing into shares,\n    And set the crowd together by the ears.--_Defoe_.\n\n\nThe personal character and career of one man are so intimately connected\nwith the great scheme of the years 1719 and 1720, that a history of the\nMississippi madness can have no fitter introduction than a sketch of the\nlife of its great author John Law. Historians are divided in opinion as to\nwhether they should designate him a knave or a madman. Both epithets were\nunsparingly applied to him in his lifetime, and while the unhappy\nconsequences of his projects were still deeply felt. Posterity, however,\nhas found reason to doubt the justice of the accusation, and to confess\nthat John Law was neither knave nor madman, but one more deceived than\ndeceiving, more sinned against than sinning. He was thoroughly acquainted\nwith the philosophy and true principles of credit. He understood the\nmonetary question better than any man of his day; and if his system fell\nwith a crash so tremendous, it was not so much his fault as that of the\npeople amongst whom he had erected it. He did not calculate upon the\navaricious frenzy of a whole nation; he did not see that confidence, like\nmistrust, could be increased almost _ad infinitum_, and that hope was as\nextravagant as fear. How was he to foretell that the French people, like\nthe man in the fable, would kill, in their frantic eagerness, the fine\ngoose he had brought to lay them so many golden eggs? His fate was like\nthat which may be supposed to have overtaken the first adventurous boatman\nwho rowed from Erie to Ontario. Broad and smooth was the river on which he\nembarked; rapid and pleasant was his progress; and who was to stay him in\nhis career? Alas for him! the cataract was nigh. He saw, when it was too\nlate, that the tide which wafted him so joyously along was a tide of\ndestruction; and when he endeavoured to retrace his way, he found that the\ncurrent was too strong for his weak efforts to stem, and that he drew\nnearer every instant to the tremendous falls. Down he went over the sharp\nrocks, and the waters with him. _He_ was dashed to pieces with his bark,\nbut the waters, maddened and turned to foam by the rough descent, only\nboiled and bubbled for a time, and then flowed on again as smoothly as\never. Just so it was with Law and the French people. He was the boatman,\nand they were the waters.\n\nJohn Law was born at Edinburgh in the year 1671. His father was the\nyounger son of an ancient family in Fife, and carried on the business of a\ngoldsmith and banker. He amassed considerable wealth in his trade,\nsufficient to enable him to gratify the wish, so common among his\ncountrymen, of adding a territorial designation to his name. He purchased\nwith this view the estates of Lauriston and Randleston, on the Firth of\nForth, on the borders of West and Mid Lothian, and was thenceforth known\nas Law of Lauriston. The subject of our memoir, being the eldest son, was\nreceived into his father's counting-house at the age of fourteen, and for\nthree years laboured hard to acquire an insight into the principles of\nbanking as then carried on in Scotland. He had always manifested great\nlove for the study of numbers, and his proficiency in the mathematics was\nconsidered extraordinary in one of his tender years. At the age of\nseventeen he was tall, strong, and well made; and his face, although\ndeeply scarred with the small-pox, was agreeable in its expression, and\nfull of intelligence. At this time he began to neglect his business, and\nbecoming vain of his person, indulged in considerable extravagance of\nattire. He was a great favourite with the ladies, by whom he was called\nBeau Law; while the other sex, despising his foppery, nicknamed him\nJessamy John. At the death of his father, which happened in 1688, he\nwithdrew entirely from the desk, which had become so irksome, and being\npossessed of the revenues of the paternal estate of Lauriston, he\nproceeded to London, to see the world.\n\nHe was now very young, very vain, good-looking, tolerably rich, and quite\nuncontrolled. It is no wonder that, on his arrival in the capital, he\nshould launch out into extravagance. He soon became a regular frequenter\nof the gaming-houses, and by pursuing a certain plan, based upon some\nabstruse calculation of chances, he contrived to gain considerable sums.\nAll the gamblers envied him his luck, and many made it a point to watch\nhis play, and stake their money on the same chances. In affairs of\ngallantry he was equally fortunate; ladies of the first rank smiled\ngraciously upon the handsome Scotchman--the young, the rich, the witty,\nand the obliging. But all these successes only paved the way for reverses.\nAfter he had been for nine years exposed to the dangerous attractions of\nthe gay life he was leading, he became an irrecoverable gambler. As his\nlove of play increased in violence, it diminished in prudence. Great\nlosses were only to be repaired by still greater ventures, and one unhappy\nday he lost more than he could repay without mortgaging his family estate.\nTo that step he was driven at last. At the same time his gallantry brought\nhim into trouble. A love affair, or slight flirtation, with a lady of the\nname of Villiers,[1] exposed him to the resentment of a Mr. Wilson, by\nwhom he was challenged to fight a duel. Law accepted, and had the ill\nfortune to shoot his antagonist dead upon the spot. He was arrested the\nsame day, and brought to trial for murder by the relatives of Mr. Wilson.\nHe was afterwards found guilty, and sentenced to death. The sentence was\ncommuted to a fine, upon the ground that the offence only amounted to\nmanslaughter. An appeal being lodged by a brother of the deceased, Law was\ndetained in the King's Bench, whence, by some means or other, which he\nnever explained, he contrived to escape; and an action being instituted\nagainst the sheriffs, he was advertised in the Gazette, and a reward\noffered for his apprehension. He was described as \"Captain John Law, a\nScotchman, aged twenty-six; a very tall, black, lean man; well shaped,\nabove six feet high, with large pock-holes in his face; big nosed, and\nspeaking broad and loud.\" As this was rather a caricature than a\ndescription of him, it has been supposed that it was drawn up with a view\nto favour his escape. He succeeded in reaching the Continent, where he\ntravelled for three years, and devoted much of his attention to the\nmonetary and banking affairs of the countries through which he passed. He\nstayed a few months in Amsterdam, and speculated to some extent in the\nfunds. His mornings were devoted to the study of finance and the\nprinciples of trade, and his evenings to the gaming-house. It is generally\nbelieved that he returned to Edinburgh in the year 1700. It is certain\nthat he published in that city his _Proposals and Reasons for constituting\na Council of Trade_. This pamphlet did not excite much attention.\n\n    [1] Miss Elizabeth Villiers, afterwards Countess of Orkney.\n\nIn a short time afterwards he published a project for establishing what he\ncalled a Land-bank,[2] the notes issued by which were never to exceed\nthe value of the entire lands of the state, upon ordinary interest, or\nwere to be equal in value to the land, with the right to enter into\npossession at a certain time. The project excited a good deal of\ndiscussion in the Scottish Parliament, and a motion for the establishment\nof such a bank was brought forward by a neutral party, called the\nSquadrone, whom Law had interested in his favour. The Parliament\nultimately passed a resolution to the effect, that, to establish any kind\nof paper credit, so as to force it to pass, was an improper expedient for\nthe nation.\n\n    [2] The wits of the day called it a _sand-bank_, which would\n        wreck the vessel of the state.\n\nUpon the failure of this project, and of his efforts to procure a pardon\nfor the murder of Mr. Wilson, Law withdrew to the Continent, and resumed\nhis old habits of gaming. For fourteen years he continued to roam about,\nin Flanders, Holland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and France. He soon became\nintimately acquainted with the extent of the trade and resources of each,\nand daily more confirmed in his opinion that no country could prosper\nwithout a paper currency. During the whole of this time he appears to have\nchiefly supported himself by successful play. At every gambling-house of\nnote in the capitals of Europe he was known and appreciated as one better\nskilled in the intricacies of chance than any other man of the day. It is\nstated in the _Biographie Universelle_ that he was expelled, first from\nVenice, and afterwards from Genoa, by the magistrates, who thought him a\nvisitor too dangerous for the youth of those cities. During his residence\nin Paris he rendered himself obnoxious to D'Argenson, the\nlieutenant-general of the police, by whom he was ordered to quit the\ncapital. This did not take place, however, before he had made the\nacquaintance, in the saloons, of the Duke de Vend\u00f4me, the Prince de Conti,\nand of the gay Duke of Orleans, the latter of whom was destined afterwards\nto exercise so much influence over his fate. The Duke of Orleans was\npleased with the vivacity and good sense of the Scottish adventurer, while\nthe latter was no less pleased with the wit and amiability of a prince who\npromised to become his patron. They were often thrown into each other's\nsociety, and Law seized every opportunity to instil his financial\ndoctrines into the mind of one whose proximity to the throne pointed him\nout as destined, at no very distant date, to play an important part in the\ngovernment.\n\n[Illustration: THE REGENT OF FRANCE.]\n\nShortly before the death of Louis XIV., or, as some say, in 1708, Law\nproposed a scheme of finance to Desmarets, the comptroller. Louis is\nreported to have inquired whether the projector were a Catholic, and on\nbeing answered in the negative, to have declined having any thing to do\nwith him.[3]\n\n    [3] This anecdote, which is related in the correspondence of\n        Madame de Bavi\u00e8re, Duchess of Orleans and mother of the\n        Regent, is discredited by Lord John Russell in his _History of\n        the principal States of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht_; for\n        what reason he does not inform us. There is no doubt that Law\n        proposed his scheme to Desmarets, and that Louis refused to\n        hear of it. The reason given for the refusal is quite\n        consistent with the character of that bigoted and tyrannical\n        monarch.\n\nIt was after this repulse that he visited Italy. His mind being still\noccupied with schemes of finance, he proposed to Victor Amadeus, duke of\nSavoy, to establish his land-bank in that country. The duke replied that\nhis dominions were too circumscribed for the execution of so great a\nproject, and that he was by far too poor a potentate to be ruined. He\nadvised him, however, to try the king of France once more; for he was\nsure, if he knew any thing of the French character, that the people would\nbe delighted with a plan, not only so new, but so plausible.\n\nLouis XIV. died in 1715, and the heir to the throne being an infant only\nseven years of age, the Duke of Orleans assumed the reins of government,\nas regent, during his minority. Law now found himself in a more favourable\nposition. The tide in his affairs had come, which, taken at the flood, was\nto waft him on to fortune. The regent was his friend, already acquainted\nwith his theory and pretensions, and inclined, moreover, to aid him in any\nefforts to restore the wounded credit of France, bowed down to the earth\nby the extravagance of the long reign of Louis XIV.\n\nHardly was that monarch laid in his grave ere the popular hatred,\nsuppressed so long, burst forth against his memory. He who, during his\nlife, had been flattered with an excess of adulation, to which history\nscarcely offers a parallel, was now cursed as a tyrant, a bigot, and a\nplunderer. His statues were pelted and disfigured; his effigies torn down,\namid the execrations of the populace, and his name rendered synonymous\nwith selfishness and oppression. The glory of his arms was forgotten, and\nnothing was remembered but his reverses, his extravagance, and his\ncruelty.\n\nThe finances of the country were in a state of the utmost disorder. A\nprofuse and corrupt monarch, whose profuseness and corruption were\nimitated by almost every functionary, from the highest to the lowest\ngrade, had brought France to the verge of ruin. The national debt amounted\nto 3000 millions of livres, the revenue to 145 millions, and the expenses\nof government to 142 millions per annum; leaving only three millions to\npay the interest upon 3000 millions. The first care of the regent was to\ndiscover a remedy for an evil of such magnitude, and a council was early\nsummoned to take the matter into consideration. The Duke de St. Simon was\nof opinion that nothing could save the country from revolution but a\nremedy at once bold and dangerous. He advised the regent to convoke the\nstates-general, and declare a national bankruptcy. The Duke de Noailles, a\nman of accommodating principles, an accomplished courtier, and totally\naverse from giving himself any trouble or annoyance that ingenuity could\nescape from, opposed the project of St. Simon with all his influence. He\nrepresented the expedient as alike dishonest and ruinous. The regent was\nof the same opinion, and this desperate remedy fell to the ground.\n\nThe measures ultimately adopted, though they promised fair, only\naggravated the evil. The first, and most dishonest measure was of no\nadvantage to the state. A recoinage was ordered, by which the currency was\ndepreciated one-fifth; those who took a thousand pieces of gold or silver\nto the mint received back an amount of coin of the same nominal value, but\nonly four-fifths of the weight of metal. By this contrivance the treasury\ngained seventy-two millions of livres, and all the commercial operations\nof the country were disordered. A trifling diminution of the taxes\nsilenced the clamours of the people, and for the slight present advantage\nthe great prospective evil was forgotten.\n\nA Chamber of Justice was next instituted to inquire into the malversations\nof the loan-contractors and the farmers of the revenues. Tax-collectors\nare never very popular in any country, but those of France at this period\ndeserved all the odium with which they were loaded. As soon as these\nfarmers-general, with all their hosts of subordinate agents, called\n_malt\u00f4tiers_,[4] were called to account for their misdeeds, the most\nextravagant joy took possession of the nation. The Chamber of Justice,\ninstituted chiefly for this purpose, was endowed with very extensive\npowers. It was composed of the presidents and councils of the parliament,\nthe judges of the Courts of Aid and of Requests, and the officers of the\nChamber of Account, under the general presidence of the minister of\nfinance. Informers were encouraged to give evidence against the offenders\nby the promise of one-fifth part of the fines and confiscations. A tenth\nof all concealed effects belonging to the guilty was promised to such as\nshould furnish the means of discovering them.\n\n    [4] From _malt\u00f4te_, an oppressive tax.\n\nThe promulgation of the edict constituting this court caused a degree of\nconsternation among those principally concerned, which can only be\naccounted for on the supposition that their peculation had been enormous.\nBut they met with no sympathy. The proceedings against them justified\ntheir terror. The Bastille was soon unable to contain the prisoners that\nwere sent to it, and the gaols all over the country teemed with guilty or\nsuspected persons. An order was issued to all innkeepers and postmasters\nto refuse horses to such as endeavoured to seek safety in flight; and all\npersons were forbidden, under heavy fines, to harbour them or favour their\nevasion. Some were condemned to the pillory, others to the galleys, and\nthe least guilty to fine and imprisonment. One only, Samuel Bernard, a\nrich banker and farmer-general of a province remote from the capital, was\nsentenced to death. So great had been the illegal profits of this\nman,--looked upon as the tyrant and oppressor of his district,--that he\noffered six millions of livres, or 250,000l. sterling, to be allowed to\nescape.\n\nHis bribe was refused, and he suffered the penalty of death. Others,\nperhaps more guilty, were more fortunate. Confiscation, owing to the\nconcealment of their treasures by the delinquents, often produced less\nmoney than a fine. The severity of the government relaxed, and fines, under\nthe denomination of taxes, were indiscriminately levied upon all offenders;\nbut so corrupt was every department of the administration, that the country\nbenefited but little by the sums which thus flowed into the treasury.\nCourtiers and courtiers' wives and mistresses came in for the chief share\nof the spoils. One contractor had been taxed, in proportion to his wealth\nand guilt, at the sum of twelve millions of livres. The Count ----, a man\nof some weight in the government, called upon him, and offered to procure a\nremission of the fine if he would give him a hundred thousand crowns. \"Vous\n\u00eates trop tard, mon ami,\" replied the financier; \"I have already made a\nbargain with your wife for fifty thousand.\"[5]\n\n    [5] This anecdote is related by M. de la Hode, in his _Life of\n        Philippe of Orleans_. It would have looked more authentic if\n        he had given the names of the dishonest contractor and the\n        still more dishonest minister. But M. de la Hode's book is\n        liable to the same objection as most of the French memoirs of\n        that and of subsequent periods. It is sufficient with most of\n        them that an anecdote be _ben trovato_; the _vero_ is but\n        matter of secondary consideration.\n\nAbout a hundred and eighty millions of livres were levied in this manner,\nof which eighty were applied in payment of the debts contracted by the\ngovernment. The remainder found its way into the pockets of the courtiers.\nMadame de Maintenon, writing on this subject, says,--\"We hear every day of\nsome new grant of the regent. The people murmur very much at this mode of\nemploying the money taken from the peculators.\" The people, who, after the\nfirst burst of their resentment is over, generally express a sympathy for\nthe weak, were indignant that so much severity should be used to so little\npurpose. They did not see the justice of robbing one set of rogues to\nfatten another. In a few months all the more guilty had been brought to\npunishment, and the Chamber of Justice looked for victims in humbler walks\nof life. Charges of fraud and extortion were brought against tradesmen of\ngood character in consequence of the great inducements held out to common\ninformers. They were compelled to lay open their affairs before this\ntribunal in order to establish their innocence. The voice of complaint\nresounded from every side; and at the expiration of a year the government\nfound it advisable to discontinue further proceedings. The Chamber of\nJustice was suppressed, and a general amnesty granted to all against whom\nno charges had yet been preferred.\n\nIn the midst of this financial confusion Law appeared upon the scene. No\nman felt more deeply than the regent the deplorable state of the country,\nbut no man could be more averse from putting his shoulders manfully to the\nwheel. He disliked business; he signed official documents without proper\nexamination, and trusted to others what he should have undertaken himself.\nThe cares inseparable from his high office were burdensome to him. He saw\nthat something was necessary to be done; but he lacked the energy to do\nit, and had not virtue enough to sacrifice his ease and his pleasures in\nthe attempt. No wonder that, with this character, he listened favourably\nto the mighty projects, so easy of execution, of the clever adventurer\nwhom he had formerly known, and whose talents he appreciated.\n\nWhen Law presented himself at court he was most cordially received. He\noffered two memorials to the regent, in which he set forth the evils that\nhad befallen France, owing to an insufficient currency, at different times\ndepreciated. He asserted that a metallic currency, unaided by a paper\nmoney, was wholly inadequate to the wants of a commercial country, and\nparticularly cited the examples of Great Britain and Holland to shew the\nadvantages of paper. He used many sound arguments on the subject of\ncredit, and proposed as a means of restoring that of France, then at so\nlow an ebb among the nations, that he should be allowed to set up a bank,\nwhich should have the management of the royal revenues, and issue notes\nboth on that and on landed security. He further proposed that this bank\nshould be administered in the king's name, but subject to the control of\ncommissioners to be named by the States-General.\n\nWhile these memorials were under consideration, Law translated into French\nhis essay on money and trade, and used every means to extend through the\nnation his renown as a financier. He soon became talked of. The confidants\nof the regent spread abroad his praise, and every one expected great\nthings of Monsieur Lass.[6]\n\n    [6] The French pronounced his name in this manner to avoid the\n        ungallic sound, _aw_. After the failure of his scheme, the\n        wags said the nation was _lasse de lui_, and proposed that he\n        should in future be known by the name of Monsieur He_las_!\n\nOn the 5th of May, 1716, a royal edict was published, by which Law was\nauthorised, in conjunction with his brother, to establish a bank under the\nname of Law and Company, the notes of which should be received in payment\nof the taxes. The capital was fixed at six millions of livres, in twelve\nthousand shares of five hundred livres each, purchasable one fourth in\nspecie, and the remainder in _billets d'\u00e9tat_. It was not thought\nexpedient to grant him the whole of the privileges prayed for in his\nmemorials until experience should have shewn their safety and advantage.\n\nLaw was now on the high road to fortune. The study of thirty years was\nbrought to guide him in the management of his bank. He made all his notes\npayable at sight, and in the coin current at the time they were issued.\nThis last was a master-stroke of policy, and immediately rendered his\nnotes more valuable than the precious metals. The latter were constantly\nliable to depreciation by the unwise tampering of the government. A\nthousand livres of silver might be worth their nominal value one day, and\nbe reduced one-sixth the next, but a note of Law's bank retained its\noriginal value. He publicly declared at the same time, that a banker\ndeserved death if he made issues without having sufficient security to\nanswer all demands. The consequence was, that his notes advanced rapidly\nin public estimation, and were received at one per cent more than specie.\nIt was not long before the trade of the country felt the benefit.\nLanguishing commerce began to lift up her head; the taxes were paid with\ngreater regularity and less murmuring; and a degree of confidence was\nestablished that could not fail, if it continued, to become still more\nadvantageous. In the course of a year, Law's notes rose to fifteen per\ncent premium, while the _billets d'\u00e9tat_, or notes issued by the\ngovernment as security for the debts contracted by the extravagant Louis\nXIV., were at a discount of no less than seventy-eight and a half per\ncent. The comparison was too great in favour of Law not to attract the\nattention of the whole kingdom, and his credit extended itself day by day.\nBranches of his bank were almost simultaneously established at Lyons,\nRochelle, Tours, Amiens, and Orleans.\n\nThe regent appears to have been utterly astonished at his success, and\ngradually to have conceived the idea that paper, which could so aid a\nmetallic currency, could entirely supersede it. Upon this fundamental\nerror he afterwards acted. In the mean time, Law commenced the famous\nproject which has handed his name down to posterity. He proposed to the\nregent (who could refuse him nothing) to establish a company that should\nhave the exclusive privilege of trading to the great river Mississippi and\nthe province of Louisiana, on its western bank. The country was supposed\nto abound in the precious metals; and the company, supported by the\nprofits of their exclusive commerce, were to be the sole farmers of the\ntaxes and sole coiners of money. Letters patent were issued, incorporating\nthe company, in August 1717. The capital was divided into two hundred\nthousand shares of five hundred livres each, the whole of which might be\npaid in _billets d'\u00e9tat_, at their nominal value, although worth no more\nthan a hundred and sixty livres in the market.\n\nIt was now that the frenzy of speculating began to seize upon the nation.\nLaw's bank had effected so much good, that any promises for the future\nwhich he thought proper to make were readily believed. The regent every\nday conferred new privileges upon the fortunate projector. The bank\nobtained the monopoly of the sale of tobacco, the sole right of refinage\nof gold and silver, and was finally erected into the Royal Bank of France.\nAmid the intoxication of success, both Law and the regent forgot the maxim\nso loudly proclaimed by the former, that a banker deserved death who made\nissues of paper without the necessary funds to provide for them. As soon\nas the bank, from a private, became a public institution, the regent\ncaused a fabrication of notes to the amount of one thousand millions of\nlivres. This was the first departure from sound principles, and one for\nwhich Law is not justly blameable. While the affairs of the bank were\nunder his control, the issues had never exceeded sixty millions. Whether\nLaw opposed the inordinate increase is not known; but as it took place as\nsoon as the bank was made a royal establishment, it is but fair to lay the\nblame of the change of system upon the regent.\n\nLaw found that he lived under a despotic government; but he was not yet\naware of the pernicious influence which such a government could exercise\nupon so delicate a framework as that of credit. He discovered it\nafterwards to his cost, but in the meantime suffered himself to be\nimpelled by the regent into courses which his own reason must have\ndisapproved. With a weakness most culpable, he lent his aid in inundating\nthe country with paper money, which, based upon no solid foundation, was\nsure to fall, sooner or later. The extraordinary present fortune dazzled\nhis eyes, and prevented him from seeing the evil day that would burst over\nhis head, when once, from any cause or other, the alarm was sounded. The\nparliament were from the first jealous of his influence as a foreigner,\nand had, besides, their misgivings as to the safety of his projects. As\nhis influence extended, their animosity increased. D'Aguesseau, the\nchancellor, was unceremoniously dismissed by the regent for his opposition\nto the vast increase of paper money, and the constant depreciation of the\ngold and silver coin of the realm. This only served to augment the enmity\nof the parliament, and when D'Argenson, a man devoted to the interests of\nthe regent, was appointed to the vacant chancellorship, and made at the\nsame time minister of finance, they became more violent than ever. The\nfirst measure of the new minister caused a further depreciation of the\ncoin. In order to extinguish the _billets d'\u00e9tat_, it was ordered that\npersons bringing to the mint four thousand livres in specie and one\nthousand livres in _billets d'\u00e9tat_, should receive back coin to the\namount of five thousand livres. D'Argenson plumed himself mightily upon\nthus creating five thousand new and smaller livres out of the four\nthousand old and larger ones, being too ignorant of the true principles of\ntrade and credit to be aware of the immense injury he was inflicting upon\nboth.\n\nThe parliament saw at once the impolicy and danger of such a system, and\nmade repeated remonstrances to the regent. The latter refused to entertain\ntheir petitions, when the parliament, by a bold and very unusual stretch\nof authority, commanded that no money should be received in payment but\nthat of the old standard. The regent summoned a _lit de justice_, and\nannulled the decree. The parliament resisted, and issued another. Again\nthe regent exercised his privilege, and annulled it, till the parliament,\nstung to fiercer opposition, passed another decree, dated August 12th,\n1718, by which they forbade the bank of Law to have any concern, either\ndirect or indirect, in the administration of the revenue; and prohibited\nall foreigners, under heavy penalties, from interfering, either in their\nown names, or in that of others, in the management of the finances of the\nstate. The parliament considered Law to be the author of all the evil, and\nsome of the councillors, in the virulence of their enmity, proposed that\nhe should be brought to trial, and, if found guilty, be hung at the gates\nof the Palais de Justice.\n\n[Illustration: PALAIS ROYAL FROM THE GARDEN.]\n\nLaw, in great alarm, fled to the Palais Royal, and threw himself on the\nprotection of the regent, praying that measures might be taken to reduce\nthe parliament to obedience. The regent had nothing so much at heart, both\non that account and because of the disputes that had arisen relative to\nthe legitimation of the Duke of Maine and the Count of Thoulouse, the sons\nof the late king. The parliament was ultimately overawed by the arrest of\ntheir president and two of the councillors, who were sent to distant\nprisons.\n\nThus the first cloud upon Law's prospects blew over: freed from\napprehension of personal danger, he devoted his attention to his famous\nMississippi project, the shares of which were rapidly rising, in spite of\nthe parliament. At the commencement of the year 1719, an edict was\npublished, granting to the Mississippi Company the exclusive privilege of\ntrading to the East Indies, China, and the South Seas, and to all the\npossessions of the French East India Company, established by Colbert. The\nCompany, in consequence of this great increase of their business, assumed,\nas more appropriate, the title of Company of the Indies, and created fifty\nthousand new shares. The prospects now held out by Law were most\nmagnificent. He promised a yearly dividend of two hundred livres upon each\nshare of five hundred, which, as the shares were paid for in _billets\nd'\u00e9tat_ at their nominal value, but worth only 100 livres, was at the rate\nof about 120 per cent profit.\n\n[Illustration: LAW'S HOUSE; RUE DE QUINCAMPOIX.]\n\nThe public enthusiasm, which had been so long rising, could not resist a\nvision so splendid. At least three hundred thousand applications were made\nfor the fifty thousand new shares, and Law's house in the Rue de\nQuincampoix was beset from morning to night by the eager applicants. As it\nwas impossible to satisfy them all, it was several weeks before a list of\nthe fortunate new stockholders could be made out, during which time the\npublic impatience rose to a pitch of frenzy. Dukes, marquises, counts,\nwith their duchesses, marchionesses, and countesses, waited in the streets\nfor hours every day before Mr. Law's door to know the result. At last, to\navoid the jostling of the plebeian crowd, which, to the number of\nthousands, filled the whole thoroughfare, they took apartments in the\nadjoining houses, that they might be continually near the temple whence\nthe new Plutus was diffusing wealth. Every day the value of the old shares\nincreased, and the fresh applications, induced by the golden dreams of the\nwhole nation, became so numerous that it was deemed advisable to create no\nless than three hundred thousand new shares, at five thousand livres each,\nin order that the regent might take advantage of the popular enthusiasm to\npay off the national debt. For this purpose, the sum of fifteen hundred\nmillions of livres was necessary. Such was the eagerness of the nation,\nthat thrice the sum would have been subscribed if the government had\nauthorised it.\n\nLaw was now at the zenith of his prosperity, and the people were rapidly\napproaching the zenith of their infatuation. The highest and the lowest\nclasses were alike filled with a vision of boundless wealth. There was not\na person of note among the aristocracy, with the exception of the Duke of\nSt. Simon and Marshal Villars, who was not engaged in buying or selling\nstock. People of every age and sex and condition in life speculated in the\nrise and fall of the Mississippi bonds. The Rue de Quincampoix was the\ngrand resort of the jobbers, and it being a narrow, inconvenient street,\naccidents continually occurred in it, from the tremendous pressure of the\ncrowd. Houses in it, worth, in ordinary times, a thousand livres of yearly\nrent, yielded as much as twelve or sixteen thousand. A cobbler, who had a\nstall in it, gained about two hundred livres a day by letting it out, and\nfurnishing writing materials to brokers and their clients. The story goes,\nthat a hunchbacked man who stood in the street gained considerable sums by\nlending his hump as a writing-desk to the eager speculators! The great\nconcourse of persons who assembled to do business brought a still greater\nconcourse of spectators. These again drew all the thieves and immoral\ncharacters of Paris to the spot, and constant riots and disturbances took\nplace. At nightfall, it was often found necessary to send a troop of\nsoldiers to clear the street.\n\n[Illustration: THE HUNCHBACK.]\n\nLaw, finding the inconvenience of his residence, removed to the Place\nVend\u00f4me, whither the crowd of _agioteurs_ followed him. That spacious\nsquare soon became as thronged as the Rue de Quincampoix: from morning to\nnight it presented the appearance of a fair. Booths and tents were erected\nfor the transaction of business and the sale of refreshments, and gamblers\nwith their roulette tables stationed themselves in the very middle of the\nplace, and reaped a golden, or rather a paper, harvest from the throng.\nThe boulevards and public gardens were forsaken; parties of pleasure took\ntheir walks in preference in the Place Vend\u00f4me, which became the\nfashionable lounge of the idle, as well as the general rendezvous of the\nbusy. The noise was so great all day, that the chancellor, whose court was\nsituated in the square, complained to the regent and the municipality,\nthat he could not hear the advocates. Law, when applied to, expressed his\nwillingness to aid in the removal of the nuisance, and for this purpose\nentered into a treaty with the Prince de Carignan for the H\u00f4tel de\nSoissons, which had a garden of several acres in the rear. A bargain was\nconcluded, by which Law became the purchaser of the hotel at an enormous\nprice, the prince reserving to himself the magnificent gardens as a new\nsource of profit. They contained some fine statues and several fountains,\nand were altogether laid out with much taste. As soon as Law was installed\nin his new abode, an edict was published, forbidding all persons to buy or\nsell stock any where but in the gardens of the H\u00f4tel de Soissons. In the\nmidst, among the trees, about five hundred small tents and pavilions were\nerected, for the convenience of the stock-jobbers. Their various colours,\nthe gay ribands and banners which floated from them, the busy crowds which\npassed continually in and out--the incessant hum of voices, the noise, the\nmusic, and the strange mixture of business and pleasure on the\ncountenances of the throng, all combined to give the place an air of\nenchantment that quite enraptured the Parisians. The Prince de Carignan\nmade enormous profits while the delusion lasted. Each tent was let at the\nrate of five hundred livres a month; and, as there were at least five\nhundred of them, his monthly revenue from this source alone must have\namounted to 250,000 livres, or upwards of 10,000l. sterling.\n\n[Illustration: HOTEL DE SOISSONS.]\n\nThe honest old soldier, Marshal Villars, was so vexed to see the folly\nwhich had smitten his countrymen, that he never could speak with temper on\nthe subject. Passing one day through the Place Vend\u00f4me in his carriage,\nthe choleric gentleman was so annoyed at the infatuation of the people,\nthat he abruptly ordered his coachman to stop, and, putting his head out\nof the carriage window, harangued them for full half an hour on their\n\"disgusting avarice.\" This was not a very wise proceeding on his part.\nHisses and shouts of laughter resounded from every side, and jokes without\nnumber were aimed at him. There being at last strong symptoms that\nsomething more tangible was flying through the air in the direction of his\nhead, the marshal was glad to drive on. He never again repeated the\nexperiment.\n\nTwo sober, quiet, and philosophic men of letters, M. de la Motte and the\nAbb\u00e9 Terrason, congratulated each other, that they, at least, were free\nfrom this strange infatuation. A few days afterwards, as the worthy abb\u00e9\nwas coming out of the H\u00f4tel de Soissons, whither he had gone to buy shares\nin the Mississippi, whom should he see but his friend La Motte entering\nfor the same purpose. \"Ha!\" said the abb\u00e9 smiling, \"is that _you_?\" \"Yes,\"\nsaid La Motte, pushing past him as fast as he was able; \"and can that be\n_you_?\" The next time the two scholars met, they talked of philosophy, of\nscience, and of religion, but neither had courage for a long time to\nbreathe one syllable about the Mississippi. At last, when it was\nmentioned, they agreed that a man ought never to swear against his doing\nany one thing, and that there was no sort of extravagance of which even a\nwise man was not capable.\n\nDuring this time, Law, the new Plutus, had become all at once the most\nimportant personage of the state. The ante-chambers of the regent were\nforsaken by the courtiers, Peers, judges, and bishops thronged to the\nH\u00f4tel de Soissons; officers of the army and navy, ladies of title and\nfashion, and every one to whom hereditary rank or public employ gave a\nclaim to precedence, were to be found waiting in his ante-chambers to beg\nfor a portion of his India stock. Law was so pestered that he was unable\nto see one-tenth part of the applicants, and every manoeuvre that\ningenuity could suggest was employed to gain access to him. Peers, whose\ndignity would have been outraged if the regent had made them wait half an\nhour for an interview, were content to wait six hours for the chance of\nseeing Monsieur Law. Enormous fees were paid to his servants, if they\nwould merely announce their names. Ladies of rank employed the\nblandishments of their smiles for the same object; but many of them came\nday after day for a fortnight before they could obtain an audience. When\nLaw accepted an invitation, he was sometimes so surrounded by ladies, all\nasking to have their names put down in his lists as shareholders in the\nnew stock, that, in spite of his well-known and habitual gallantry, he was\nobliged to tear himself away _par force_. The most ludicrous stratagems\nwere employed to have an opportunity of speaking to him. One lady, who had\nstriven in vain during several days, gave up in despair all attempts to\nsee him at his own house, but ordered her coachman to keep a strict watch\nwhenever she was out in her carriage, and if he saw Mr. Law coming, to\ndrive against a post and upset her. The coachman promised obedience, and\nfor three days the lady was driven incessantly through the town, praying\ninwardly for the opportunity to be overturned. At last she espied Mr. Law,\nand, pulling the string, called out to the coachman, \"Upset us now! for\nGod's sake, upset us now!\" The coachman drove against a post, the lady\nscreamed, the coach was overturned, and Law, who had seen the _accident_,\nhastened to the spot to render assistance. The cunning dame was led into\nthe H\u00f4tel de Soissons, where she soon thought it advisable to recover from\nher fright, and, after apologising to Mr. Law, confessed her stratagem.\nLaw smiled, and entered the lady in his books as the purchaser of a\nquantity of India stock. Another story is told of a Madame de Boucha, who,\nknowing that Mr. Law was at dinner at a certain house, proceeded thither\nin her carriage, and gave the alarm of fire. The company started from\ntable, and Law among the rest; but, seeing one lady making all haste into\nthe house towards him, while every body else was scampering away, he\nsuspected the trick, and ran off in another direction.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMany other anecdotes are related, which even though they may be a little\nexaggerated, are nevertheless worth preserving, as shewing the spirit of\nthat singular period.[7] The regent was one day mentioning, in the\npresence of D'Argenson, the Abb\u00e9 Dubois, and some other persons, that he\nwas desirous of deputing some lady, of the rank at least of a duchess, to\nattend upon his daughter at Modena; \"but,\" added he, \"I do not exactly\nknow where to find one.\" \"No!\" replied one, in affected surprise; \"I can\ntell you where to find every duchess in France: you have only to go to Mr.\nLaw's; you will see them every one in his ante-chamber.\"\n\n    [7] The curious reader may find an anecdote of the eagerness of\n        the French ladies to retain Law in their company, which will\n        make him blush or smile according as he happens to be very\n        modest or the reverse. It is related in the _Letters of Madame\n        Charlotte Elizabeth de Bavi\u00e8re, Duchess of Orleans_, vol. ii.\n        p. 274.\n\nM. de Chirac, a celebrated physician, had bought stock at an unlucky\nperiod, and was very anxious to sell out. Stock, however, continued to\nfall for two or three days, much to his alarm. His mind was filled with\nthe subject, when he was suddenly called upon to attend a lady who\nimagined herself unwell. He arrived, was shewn up stairs, and felt the\nlady's pulse. \"It falls! it falls! good God! it falls continually!\" said\nhe musingly, while the lady looked up in his face all anxiety for his\nopinion. \"Oh, M. de Chirac,\" said she, starting to her feet and ringing\nthe bell for assistance; \"I am dying! I am dying! it falls! it falls! it\nfalls!\" \"What falls?\" inquired the doctor in amazement. \"My pulse! my\npulse!\" said the lady; \"I must be dying.\" \"Calm your apprehensions, my\ndear madam,\" said M. de Chirac; \"I was speaking of the stocks. The truth\nis, I have been a great loser, and my mind is so disturbed, I hardly know\nwhat I have been saying.\"\n\nThe price of shares sometimes rose ten or twenty per cent in the course of\na few hours, and many persons in the humbler walks of life, who had risen\npoor in the morning, went to bed in affluence. An extensive holder of\nstock, being taken ill, sent his servant to sell two hundred and fifty\nshares, at eight thousand livres each, the price at which they were then\nquoted. The servant went, and, on his arrival in the Jardin de Soissons,\nfound that in the interval the price had risen to ten thousand livres. The\ndifference of two thousand livres on the two hundred and fifty shares,\namounting to 500,000 livres, or 20,000l. sterling, he very coolly\ntransferred to his own use, and giving the remainder to his master, set\nout the same evening for another country. Law's coachman in a very short\ntime made money enough to set up a carriage of his own, and requested\npermission to leave his service. Law, who esteemed the man, begged of him\nas a favour, that he would endeavour, before he went, to find a substitute\nas good as himself. The coachman consented, and in the evening brought two\nof his former comrades, telling Mr. Law to choose between them, and he\nwould take the other. Cookmaids and footmen were now and then as lucky,\nand, in the full-blown pride of their easily-acquired wealth, made the\nmost ridiculous mistakes. Preserving the language and manners of their\nold, with the finery of their new station, they afforded continual\nsubjects for the pity of the sensible, the contempt of the sober, and the\nlaughter of every body. But the folly and meanness of the higher ranks of\nsociety were still more disgusting. One instance alone, related by the\nDuke de St. Simon, will shew the unworthy avarice which infected the whole\nof society. A man of the name of Andr\u00e9, without character or education,\nhad, by a series of well-timed speculations in Mississippi bonds, gained\nenormous wealth in an incredibly short space of time. As St. Simon\nexpresses it, \"he had amassed mountains of gold.\" As he became rich, he\ngrew ashamed of the lowness of his birth, and anxious above all things to\nbe allied to nobility. He had a daughter, an infant only three years of\nage, and he opened a negotiation with the aristocratic and needy family of\nD'Oyse, that this child should, upon certain conditions, marry a member of\nthat house. The Marquis D'Oyse, to his shame, consented, and promised to\nmarry her himself on her attaining the age of twelve, if the father would\npay him down the sum of a hundred thousand crowns, and twenty thousand\nlivres every year until the celebration of the marriage. The marquis was\nhimself in his thirty-third year. This scandalous bargain was duly signed\nand sealed, the stockjobber furthermore agreeing to settle upon his\ndaughter, on the marriage-day, a fortune of several millions. The Duke of\nBrancas, the head of the family, was present throughout the negotiation,\nand shared in all the profits. St. Simon, who treats the matter with the\nlevity becoming what he thought so good a joke, adds, \"that people did not\nspare their animadversions on this beautiful marriage,\" and further\ninforms us, \"that the project fell to the ground some months afterwards by\nthe overthrow of Law, and the ruin of the ambitious Monsieur Andr\u00e9.\" It\nwould appear, however, that the noble family never had the honesty to\nreturn the hundred thousand crowns.\n\nAmid events like these, which, humiliating though they be, partake largely\nof the ludicrous, others occurred of a more serious nature. Robberies in\nthe streets were of daily occurrence, in consequence of the immense sums,\nin paper, which people carried about with them. Assassinations were also\nfrequent. One case in particular fixed the attention of the whole of\nFrance, not only on account of the enormity of the offence, but of the\nrank and high connexions of the criminal.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Count d'Horn, a younger brother of the Prince d'Horn, and related to\nthe noble families of D'Aremberg, De Ligne, and De Montmorency, was a\nyoung man of dissipated character, extravagant to a degree, and\nunprincipled as he was extravagant. In connexion with two other young men\nas reckless as himself, named Mille, a Piedmontese captain, and one\nDestampes, or Lestang, a Fleming, he formed a design to rob a very rich\nbroker, who was known, unfortunately for himself, to carry great sums\nabout his person. The count pretended a desire to purchase of him a number\nof shares in the Company of the Indies, and for that purpose appointed to\nmeet him in a _cabaret_, or low public-house, in the neighbourhood of the\nPlace Vend\u00f4me. The unsuspecting broker was punctual to his appointment; so\nwere the Count d'Horn and his two associates, whom he introduced as his\nparticular friends. After a few moments' conversation, the Count d'Horn\nsuddenly sprang upon his victim, and stabbed him three times in the breast\nwith a poniard. The man fell heavily to the ground, and, while the count\nwas employed in rifling his portfolio of bonds in the Mississippi and\nIndian schemes to the amount of one hundred thousand crowns, Mille, the\nPiedmontese, stabbed the unfortunate broker again and again, to make sure\nof his death, But the broker did not fall without a struggle, and his\ncries brought the people of the _cabaret_ to his assistance. Lestang, the\nother assassin, who had been set to keep watch at a staircase, sprang from\na window and escaped; but Mille and the Count d'Horn were seized in the\nvery act.\n\nThis crime, committed in open day, and in so public a place as a\n_cabaret_, filled Paris with consternation. The trial of the assassins\ncommenced on the following day; and the evidence being so clear, they were\nboth found guilty, and condemned, to be broken alive on the wheel. The\nnoble relatives of the Count d'Horn absolutely blocked up the\nante-chambers of the regent, praying for mercy on the misguided youth, and\nalleging that he was insane. The regent avoided them as long as possible,\nbeing determined that, in a case so atrocious, justice should take its\ncourse. But the importunity of these influential suitors was not to be\novercome so silently; and they at last forced themselves into the presence\nof the regent, and prayed him to save their house the shame of a public\nexecution. They hinted that the Princes d'Horn were allied to the\nillustrious family of Orleans; and added, that the regent himself would be\ndisgraced if a kinsman of his should die by the hands of a common\nexecutioner. The regent, to his credit, was proof against all their\nsolicitations, and replied to their last argument in the words of\nCorneille:\n\n   \"Le crime fait la honte, et non pas l'\u00e9chafaud:\"\n\nadding, that whatever shame there might be in the punishment he would very\nwillingly share with the other relatives. Day after day they renewed their\nentreaties, but always with the same result. At last they thought, that if\nthey could interest the Duke de St. Simon in their favour--a man, for whom\nthe regent felt sincere esteem--they might succeed in their object. The\nduke, a thorough aristocrat, was as shocked as they were that a noble\nassassin should die by the same death as a plebeian felon, and represented\nto the regent the impolicy of making enemies of so numerous, wealthy, and\npowerful a family. He urged, too, that in Germany, where the family of\nD'Aremberg had large possessions, it was the law, that no relative of a\nperson broken on the wheel could succeed to any public office or employ\nuntil a whole generation had passed away. For this reason, he thought the\npunishment of the guilty count might be transmuted into beheading, which\nwas considered all over Europe as much less infamous. The regent was moved\nby this argument, and was about to consent, when Law, who felt peculiarly\ninterested in the fate of the murdered man, confirmed him in his former\nresolution to let the law take its course.\n\nThe relatives of D'Horn were now reduced to the last extremity. The Prince\nde Robec Montmorency, despairing of other methods, found means to\npenetrate into the dungeon of the criminal, and offering him a cup of\npoison, implored him to save them from disgrace. The Count d'Horn turned\naway his head, and refused to take it. Montmorency pressed him once more;\nand losing all patience at his continued refusal, turned on his heel, and\nexclaiming, \"Die, then, as thou wilt, mean-spirited wretch! thou art fit\nonly to perish by the hands of the hangman!\" left him to his fate.\n\nD'Horn himself petitioned the regent that he might be beheaded; but Law,\nwho exercised more influence over his mind than any other person, with the\nexception of the notorious Abb\u00e9 Dubois, his tutor, insisted that he could\nnot in justice succumb to the self-interested views of the D'Horns. The\nregent had from the first been of the same opinion; and within six days\nafter the commission of their crime, D'Horn and Mille were broken on the\nwheel in the Place de Gr\u00e8ve. The other assassin, Lestang, was never\napprehended.\n\nThis prompt and severe justice was highly pleasing to the populace of\nParis. Even M. de Quincampoix, as they called Law, came in for a share of\ntheir approbation for having induced the regent to shew no favour to a\npatrician. But the number of robberies and assassinations did not\ndiminish; no sympathy was shewn for rich jobbers when they were plundered.\nThe general laxity of public morals, conspicuous enough before, was\nrendered still more so by its rapid pervasion of the middle classes, who\nhad hitherto remained comparatively pure between the open vices of the\nclass above and the hidden crimes of the class below them. The pernicious\nlove of gambling diffused itself through society, and bore all public and\nnearly all private virtue before it.\n\nFor a time, while confidence lasted, an impetus was given to trade which\ncould not fail to be beneficial. In Paris especially the good results were\nfelt. Strangers flocked into the capital from every part, bent not only\nupon making money, but on spending it. The Duchess of Orleans, mother of\nthe regent, computes the increase of the population during this time, from\nthe great influx of strangers from all parts of the world, at 305,000\nsouls. The housekeepers were obliged to make up beds in garrets, kitchens,\nand even stables, for the accommodation of lodgers; and the town was so\nfull of carriages and vehicles of every description, that they were\nobliged, in the principal streets, to drive at a foot-pace for fear of\naccidents. The looms of the country worked with unusual activity to supply\nrich laces, silks, broad-cloth, and velvets, which being paid for in\nabundant paper, increased in price four-fold. Provisions shared the\ngeneral advance. Bread, meat, and vegetables were sold at prices greater\nthan had ever before been known; while the wages of labour rose in exactly\nthe same proportion. The artisan who formerly gained fifteen sous per diem\nnow gained sixty. New houses were built in every direction; an illusory\nprosperity shone over the land, and so dazzled the eyes of the whole\nnation, that none could see the dark cloud on the horizon announcing the\nstorm that was too rapidly approaching.\n\nLaw himself, the magician whose wand had wrought so surprising a change,\nshared, of course, in the general prosperity. His wife and daughter were\ncourted by the highest nobility, and their alliance sought by the heirs of\nducal and princely houses. He bought two splendid estates in different\nparts of France, and entered into a negotiation with the family of the\nDuke de Sully for the purchase of the marquisate of Rosny. His religion\nbeing an obstacle to his advancement, the regent promised, if he would\npublicly conform to the Catholic faith, to make him comptroller-general of\nthe finances. Law, who had no more real religion than any other professed\ngambler, readily agreed, and was confirmed by the Abb\u00e9 de Tencin in the\ncathedral of Melun, in presence of a great crowd of spectators[8]. On\nthe following day he was elected honorary churchwarden of the parish of\nSt. Roch, upon which occasion he made it a present of the sum of five\nhundred thousand livres. His charities, always magnificent, were not\nalways so ostentatious. He gave away great sums privately, and no tale of\nreal distress ever reached his ears in vain.\n\n    [8] The following squib was circulated on the occasion:\n\n           \"Foin de ton z\u00e8le s\u00e9raphique,\n              Malheureux Abb\u00e9 de Tencin,\n            Depuis que Law est Catholique,\n              Tout le royaume est Capucin!\"\n\n        Thus somewhat weakly and paraphrastically rendered by\n        Justandsond, in his translation of the _Memoirs of Louis XV._:\n\n           \"Tencin, a curse on thy seraphic zeal,\n              Which by persuasion hath contrived the means\n            To make the Scotchman at our altars kneel,\n              Since which we all are poor as Capucines!\"\n\nAt this time he was by far the most influential person of the state. The\nDuke of Orleans had so much confidence in his sagacity and the success of\nhis plans, that he always consulted him upon every matter of moment. He\nwas by no means unduly elevated by his prosperity, but remained the same\nsimple, affable, sensible man that he had shewn himself in adversity. His\ngallantry, which was always delightful to the fair objects of it, was of a\nnature so kind, so gentlemanly, and so respectful, that not even a lover\ncould have taken offence at it. If upon any occasion he shewed any\nsymptoms of haughtiness, it was to the cringing nobles who lavished their\nadulation upon him till it became fulsome. He often took pleasure in\nseeing how long he could make them dance attendance upon him for a single\nfavour. To such of his own countrymen as by chance visited Paris, and\nsought an interview with him, he was, on the contrary, all politeness and\nattention. When Archibald Campbell, Earl of Islay, and afterwards Duke of\nArgyle, called upon him in the Place Vend\u00f4me, he had to pass through an\nante-chamber crowded with persons of the first distinction, all anxious to\nsee the great financier, and have their names put down as first on the\nlist of some new subscription. Law himself was quietly sitting in his\nlibrary, writing a letter to the gardener at his paternal estate of\nLauriston about the planting of some cabbages! The earl stayed for a\nconsiderable time, played a game of piquet with his countryman, and left\nhim, charmed with his ease, good sense, and good breeding.\n\n[Illustration: LAW AS ATLAS.[9]]\n\n    [9] From a print in a Dutch collection of satirical prints\n        relating to the Mississippi Mania, entitled \"Het groote\n        Tafereel der Dwaasheid;\" or, The great picture of Folly. The\n        print of Atlas is styled, \"L'Atlas actieux de Papier.\" Law is\n        calling in Hercules to aid him in supporting the globe. Quoted\n        in Wright's _England under the House of Hanover_.\n\nAmong the nobles who, by means of the public credulity at this time,\ngained sums sufficient to repair their ruined fortunes, may be mentioned\nthe names of the Dukes de Bourbon, de Guiche, de la Force,[10] de\nChaulnes, and d'Antin; the Marechal d'Estr\u00e9es; the Princes de Rohan, de\nPoix, and de L\u00e9on. The Duke de Bourbon, son of Louis XIV. by Madame de\nMontespan, was peculiarly fortunate in his speculations in Mississippi\npaper. He rebuilt the royal residence of Chantilly in a style of unwonted\nmagnificence; and being passionately fond of horses, he erected a range of\nstables, which were long renowned throughout Europe, and imported a\nhundred and fifty of the finest racers from England to improve the breed\nin France. He bought a large extent of country in Picardy, and became\npossessed of nearly all the valuable lands lying between the Oise and the\nSomme.\n\n    [10] The Duke de la Force gained considerable sums, not only by\n         jobbing in the stocks, but in dealing in porcelain, spices,\n         &c. It was debated for a length of time in the parliament of\n         Paris whether he had not, in his quality of spice-merchant,\n         forfeited his rank in the peerage. It was decided in the\n         negative. A caricature of him was made, dressed as a\n         street-porter, carrying a large bale of spices on his back,\n         with the inscription, \"Admirez LA FORCE.\"\n\nWhen fortunes such as these were gained, it is no wonder that Law should\nhave been almost worshipped by the mercurial population. Never was monarch\nmore flattered than he was. All the small poets and _litt\u00e9rateurs_ of the\nday poured floods of adulation upon him. According to them, he was the\nsaviour of the country, the tutelary divinity of France; wit was in all\nhis words, goodness in all his looks, and wisdom in all his actions. So\ngreat a crowd followed his carriage whenever he went abroad, that the\nregent sent him a troop of horse as his permanent escort to clear the\nstreets before him.\n\nIt was remarked at this time that Paris had never before been so full of\nobjects of elegance and luxury. Statues, pictures, and tapestries were\nimported in great quantities from foreign countries, and found a ready\nmarket. All those pretty trifles in the way of furniture and ornament\nwhich the French excel in manufacturing were no longer the exclusive\nplaythings of the aristocracy, but were to be found in abundance in the\nhouses of traders and the middle classes in general. Jewellery of the most\ncostly description was brought to Paris as the most favourable mart; among\nthe rest, the famous diamond bought by the regent, and called by his name,\nand which long adorned the crown of France. It was purchased for the sum\nof two millions of livres, under circumstances which shew that the regent\nwas not so great a gainer as some of his subjects by the impetus which\ntrade had received. When the diamond was first offered to him, he refused\nto buy it, although he desired above all things to possess it, alleging as\nhis reason, that his duty to the country he governed would not allow him\nto spend so large a sum of the public money for a mere jewel. This valid\nand honourable excuse threw all the ladies of the court into alarm, and\nnothing was heard for some days but expressions of regret that so rare a\ngem should be allowed to go out of France, no private individual being\nrich enough to buy it. The regent was continually importuned about it, but\nall in vain, until the Duke de St. Simon, who with all his ability was\nsomething of a twaddler, undertook the weighty business. His entreaties\nbeing seconded by Law, the good-natured regent gave his consent, leaving\nto Law's ingenuity to find the means to pay for it. The owner took\nsecurity for the payment of the sum of two millions of livres within a\nstated period, receiving in the mean time the interest of five per cent\nupon that amount, and being allowed, besides, all the valuable clippings\nof the gem. St. Simon, in his _Memoirs_, relates with no little\ncomplacency his share in this transaction. After describing the diamond to\nbe as large as a greengage, of a form nearly round, perfectly white, and\nwithout flaw, and weighing more than five hundred grains, he concludes\nwith a chuckle, by telling the world \"that he takes great credit to\nhimself for having induced the regent to make so illustrious a purchase.\"\nIn other words, he was proud that he had induced him to sacrifice his\nduty, and buy a bauble for himself at an extravagant price out of the\npublic money.\n\nThus the system continued to flourish till the commencement of the year\n1720. The warnings of the parliament, that too great a creation of paper\nmoney would, sooner or later, bring the country to bankruptcy, were\ndisregarded. The regent, who knew nothing whatever of the philosophy of\nfinance, thought that a system which had produced such good effects could\nnever be carried to excess. If five hundred millions of paper had been of\nsuch advantage, five hundred millions additional would be of still greater\nadvantage. This was the grand error of the regent, and which Law did not\nattempt to dispel. The extraordinary avidity of the people kept up the\ndelusion; and the higher the price of Indian and Mississippi stock, the\nmore _billets de banque_ were issued to keep pace with it. The edifice\nthus reared might not unaptly be compared to the gorgeous palace erected\nby Potemkin, that princely barbarian of Russia, to surprise and please his\nimperial mistress: huge blocks of ice were piled one upon another; ionic\npillars, of chastest workmanship, in ice, formed a noble portico; and a\ndome, of the same material, shone in the sun, which had just strength\nenough to gild, but not to melt it. It glittered afar, like a palace of\ncrystals and diamonds; but there came one warm breeze from the south, and\nthe stately building dissolved away, till none were able even to gather up\nthe fragments. So with Law and his paper system. No sooner did the breath\nof popular mistrust blow steadily upon it, than it fell to ruins, and none\ncould raise it up again.\n\nThe first slight alarm that was occasioned was early in 1720. The Prince\nde Conti, offended that Law should have denied him fresh shares in India\nstock, at his own price, sent to his bank to demand payment in specie of\nso enormous a quantity of notes, that three wagons were required for its\ntransport. Law complained to the regent, and urged on his attention the\nmischief that would be done, if such an example found many imitators. The\nregent was but too well aware of it, and, sending for the Prince de Conti,\nordered him, under penalty of his high displeasure, to refund to the bank\ntwo-thirds of the specie which he had withdrawn from it. The prince was\nforced to obey the despotic mandate. Happily for Law's credit, De Conti\nwas an unpopular man: every body condemned his meanness and cupidity, and\nagreed that Law had been hardly treated. It is strange, however, that so\nnarrow an escape should not have made both Law and the regent more anxious\nto restrict their issues. Others were soon found who imitated, from\nmotives of distrust, the example which had been set by De Conti in\nrevenge. The more acute stockjobbers imagined justly that prices could not\ncontinue to rise for ever. Bourdon and La Richardi\u00e8re, renowned for their\nextensive operations in the funds, quietly and in small quantities at a\ntime, converted their notes into specie, and sent it away to foreign\ncountries. They also bought as much as they could conveniently carry of\nplate and expensive jewellery, and sent it secretly away to England or to\nHolland. Vermalet, a jobber, who sniffed the coming storm, procured gold\nand silver coin to the amount of nearly a million of livres, which he\npacked in a farmer's cart, and covered over with hay and cow-dung. He then\ndisguised himself in the dirty smock-frock, or _blouse_, of a peasant, and\ndrove his precious load in safety into Belgium. From thence he soon found\nmeans to transport it to Amsterdam.\n\nHitherto no difficulty had been experienced by any class in procuring\nspecie for their wants. But this system could not long be carried on\nwithout causing a scarcity. The voice of complaint was heard on every\nside, and inquiries being instituted, the cause was soon discovered. The\ncouncil debated long on the remedies to be taken, and Law, being called on\nfor his advice, was of opinion, that an edict should be published,\ndepreciating the value of coin five per cent below that of paper. The\nedict was published accordingly; but failing of its intended effect, was\nfollowed by another, in which the depreciation was increased to ten per\ncent. The payments of the bank were at the same time restricted to one\nhundred livres in gold, and ten in silver. All these measures were\nnugatory to restore confidence in the paper, though the restriction of\ncash payments within limits so extremely narrow kept up the credit of the\nbank.\n\n[Illustration: LUCIFER'S NEW ROW-BARGE.[11]]\n\n    [11] \"Lucifer's New Row-Barge\" exhibits Law in a barge, with a\n         host of emblematic figures representing the Mississippi\n         follies.--_From a Print in Mr. Hawkins' Collection_.\n\nNotwithstanding every effort to the contrary, the precious metals\ncontinued to be conveyed to England and Holland. The little coin that was\nleft in the country was carefully treasured, or hidden until the scarcity\nbecame so great, that the operations of trade could no longer be carried\non. In this emergency, Law hazarded the bold experiment of forbidding the\nuse of specie altogether. In February 1720 an edict was published, which,\ninstead of restoring the credit of the paper, as was intended, destroyed\nit irrecoverably, and drove the country to the very brink of revolution.\nBy this famous edict it was forbidden to any person whatever to have more\nthan five hundred livres (20l.) of coin in his possession, under pain of a\nheavy fine, and confiscation of the sums found. It was also forbidden to\nbuy up jewellery, plate, and precious stones, and informers were\nencouraged to make search for offenders, by the promise of one-half the\namount they might discover. The whole country sent up a cry of distress at\nthis unheard-of tyranny. The most odious persecution daily took place. The\nprivacy of families was violated by the intrusion of informers and their\nagents. The most virtuous and honest were denounced for the crime of\nhaving been seen with a _louis d'or_ in their possession. Servants\nbetrayed their masters, one citizen became a spy upon his neighbour, and\narrests and confiscations so multiplied, that the courts found a\ndifficulty in getting through the immense increase of business thus\noccasioned. It was sufficient for an informer to say that he suspected any\nperson of concealing money in his house, and immediately a search-warrant\nwas granted. Lord Stair, the English ambassador, said, that it was now\nimpossible to doubt of the sincerity of Law's conversion to the Catholic\nreligion; he had established the _inquisition_, after having given\nabundant evidence of his faith in _transubstantiation_, by turning so much\ngold into paper.\n\nEvery epithet that popular hatred could suggest was showered upon the\nregent and the unhappy Law. Coin, to any amount above five hundred livres,\nwas an illegal tender, and nobody would take paper if he could help it. No\none knew to-day what his notes would be worth to-morrow. \"Never,\" says\nDuclos, in his _Secret Memoirs of the Regency_, \"was seen a more\ncapricious government--never was a more frantic tyranny exercised by hands\nless firm. It is inconceivable to those who were witnesses of the horrors\nof those times, and who look back upon them now as on a dream, that a\nsudden revolution did not break out--that Law and the regent did not\nperish by a tragical death. They were both held in horror, but the people\nconfined themselves to complaints; a sombre and timid despair, a stupid\nconsternation, had seized upon all, and men's minds were too vile even to\nbe capable of a courageous crime.\" It would appear that, a one time, a\nmovement of the people was organised. Seditious writings were posted up\nagainst the walls, and were sent, in hand-bills, to the houses of the most\nconspicuous people. One of them, given in the _M\u00e9moires de la R\u00e9gence_,\nwas to the following effect:--\"Sir and madam,--This is to give you notice\nthat a St. Bartholomew's Day will be enacted again on Saturday and Sunday,\nif affairs do not alter. You are desired not to stir out, nor you, nor\nyour servants. God preserve you from the flames! Give notice to your\nneighbours. Dated, Saturday, May 25th, 1720.\" The immense number of spies\nwith which the city was infested rendered the people mistrustful of one\nanother, and beyond some trifling disturbances made in the evening by an\ninsignificant group, which was soon dispersed, the peace of the capital\nwas not compromised.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe value of shares in the Louisiana, or Mississippi stock, had fallen\nvery rapidly, and few indeed were found to believe the tales that had once\nbeen told of the immense wealth of that region. A last effort was\ntherefore tried to restore the public confidence in the Mississippi\nproject. For this purpose, a general conscription of all the poor wretches\nin Paris was made by order of government. Upwards of six thousand of the\nvery refuse of the population were impressed, as if in time of war, and\nwere provided with clothes and tools to be embarked for New Orleans, to\nwork in the gold mines alleged to abound there. They were paraded day\nafter day through the streets with their pikes and shovels, and then sent\noff in small detachments to the out-ports to be shipped for America.\nTwo-thirds of them never reached their destination, but dispersed\nthemselves over the country, sold their tools for what they could get, and\nreturned to their old course of life. In less than three weeks afterwards,\none-half of them were to be found again in Paris. The manoeuvre, however,\ncaused a trifling advance in Mississippi stock. Many persons of\nsuperabundant gullibility believed that operations had begun in earnest in\nthe new Golconda, and that gold and silver ingots would again be found in\nFrance.\n\nIn a constitutional monarchy some surer means would have been found for\nthe restoration of public credit. In England, at a subsequent period, when\na similar delusion had brought on similar distress, how different were the\nmeasures taken to repair the evil; but in France, unfortunately, the\nremedy was left to the authors of the mischief. The arbitrary will of the\nregent, which endeavoured to extricate the country, only plunged it deeper\ninto the mire. All payments were ordered to be made in paper, and between\nthe 1st of February and the end of May, notes were fabricated to the\namount of upwards of 1500 millions of livres, or 60,000,000l. sterling.\nBut the alarm once sounded, no art could make the people feel the\nslightest confidence in paper which was not exchangeable into metal. M.\nLambert, the president of the parliament of Paris, told the regent to his\nface that he would rather have a hundred thousand livres in gold or silver\nthan five millions in the notes of his bank. When such was the general\nfeeling, the superabundant issues of paper but increased the evil, by\nrendering still more enormous the disparity between the amount of specie\nand notes in circulation. Coin, which it was the object of the regent to\ndepreciate, rose in value on every fresh attempt to diminish it. In\nFebruary, it was judged advisable that the Royal Bank should be\nincorporated with the Company of the Indies. An edict to that effect was\npublished and registered by the parliament. The state remained the\nguarantee for the notes of the bank, and no more were to be issued without\nan order in council. All the profits of the bank, since the time it had\nbeen taken out of Law's hands and made a national institution, were given\nover by the regent to the Company of the Indies. This measure had the\neffect of raising for a short time the value of the Louisiana and other\nshares of the company, but it failed in placing public credit on any\npermanent basis.\n\nA council of state was held in the beginning of May, at which Law,\nD'Argenson (his colleague in the administration of the finances), and all\nthe ministers were present. It was then computed that the total amount of\nnotes in circulation was 2600 millions of livres, while the coin in the\ncountry was not quite equal to half that amount. It was evident to the\nmajority of the council that some plan must be adopted to equalise the\ncurrency. Some proposed that the notes should be reduced to the value of\nthe specie, while others proposed that the nominal value of the specie\nshould be raised till it was on an equality with the paper. Law is said to\nhave opposed both these projects, but failing in suggesting any other, it\nwas agreed that the notes should be depreciated one half. On the 21st of\nMay, an edict was accordingly issued, by which it was decreed that the\nshares of the Company of the Indies, and the notes of the bank, should\ngradually diminish in value, till at the end of a year they should only\npass current for one-half of their nominal worth. The parliament refused\nto register the edict--the greatest outcry was excited, and the state of\nthe country became so alarming, that, as the only means of preserving\ntranquillity, the council of the regency was obliged to stultify its own\nproceedings, by publishing within seven days another edict, restoring the\nnotes to their original value.\n\nOn the same day (the 27th of May) the bank stopped payment in specie. Law\nand D'Argenson were both dismissed from the ministry. The weak,\nvacillating, and cowardly regent threw the blame of all the mischief upon\nLaw, who, upon presenting himself at the Palais Royal, was refused\nadmittance. At nightfall, however, he was sent for, and admitted into the\npalace by a secret door,[12] when the regent endeavoured to console him,\nand made all manner of excuses for the severity with which in public he\nhad been compelled to treat him. So capricious was his conduct, that, two\ndays afterwards, he took him publicly to the opera, where he sat in the\nroyal box alongside of the regent, who treated him with marked\nconsideration in face of all the people. But such was the hatred against\nLaw that the experiment had well nigh proved fatal to him. The mob\nassailed his carriage with stones just as he was entering his own door;\nand if the coachman had not made a sudden jerk into the court-yard, and\nthe domestics closed the gate immediately, he would, in all probability,\nhave been dragged out and torn to pieces. On the following day, his wife\nand daughter were also assailed by the mob as they were returning in their\ncarriage from the races. When the regent was informed of these occurrences\nhe sent Law a strong detachment of Swiss guards, who were stationed night\nand day in the court of his residence. The public indignation at last\nincreased so much, that Law, finding his own house, even with this guard,\ninsecure, took refuge in the Palais Royal, in the apartments of the\nregent.\n\n    [12] Duclos, _Memoires Secrets de la R\u00e9gence_.\n\nThe Chancellor, D'Aguesseau, who had been dismissed in 1718 for his\nopposition to the projects of Law, was now recalled to aid in the\nrestoration of credit. The regent acknowledged too late, that he had\ntreated with unjustifiable harshness and mistrust one of the ablest, and\nperhaps the sole honest public man of that corrupt period. He had retired\never since his disgrace to his country house at Fresnes, where, in the\nmidst of severe but delightful philosophic studies, he had forgotten the\nintrigues of an unworthy court. Law himself, and the Chevalier de\nConflans, a gentleman of the regent's household, were despatched in a\npost-chaise with orders to bring the ex-chancellor to Paris along with\nthem. D'Aguesseau consented to render what assistance he could, contrary\nto the advice of his friends, who did not approve that he should accept\nany recal to office of which Law was the bearer. On his arrival in Paris,\nfive counsellors of the parliament were admitted to confer with the\nCommissary of Finance; and on the 1st of June an order was published\nabolishing the law which made it criminal to amass coin to the amount of\nmore than five hundred livres. Every one was permitted to have as much\nspecie as he pleased. In order that the bank-notes might be withdrawn,\ntwenty-five millions of new notes were created, on the security of the\nrevenues of the city of Paris, at two-and-a-half per cent. The bank-notes\nwithdrawn were publicly burned in front of the H\u00f4tel de Ville. The new\nnotes were principally of the value of ten livres each; and on the 10th of\nJune the bank was re-opened, with a sufficiency of silver coin to give in\nchange for them.\n\n[Illustration: D'AGUESSEAU.]\n\nThese measures were productive of considerable advantage. All the\npopulation of Paris hastened to the bank to get coin for their small\nnotes; and silver becoming scarce, they were paid in copper. Very few\ncomplained that this was too heavy, although poor fellows might be\ncontinually seen toiling and sweating along the streets, laden with more\nthan they could comfortably carry, in the shape of change for fifty\nlivres. The crowds around the bank were so great, that hardly a day passed\nthat some one was not pressed to death. On the 9th of July, the multitude\nwas so dense and clamorous that the guards stationed at the entrance of\nthe Mazarin Gardens closed the gate and refused to admit any more. The\ncrowd became incensed, and flung stones through the railings upon the\nsoldiers. The latter, incensed in their turn, threatened to fire upon the\npeople.  At that instant one of them was hit by a stone, and, taking up\nhis piece, he fired into the crowd. One man fell dead immediately, and\nanother was severely wounded. It was every instant expected that a general\nattack would have been commenced upon the bank; but the gates of the\nMazarin Gardens being opened to the crowd, who saw a whole troop of\nsoldiers, with their bayonets fixed ready to receive them, they contented\nthemselves by giving vent to their indignation in groans and hisses.\n\nEight days afterwards the concourse of people was so tremendous that\nfifteen persons were squeezed to death at the doors of the bank. The\npeople were so indignant that they took three of the bodies on stretchers\nbefore them, and proceeded, to the number of seven or eight thousand, to\nthe gardens of the Palais Royal, that they might shew the regent the\nmisfortunes that he and Law had brought upon the country. Law's coachman,\nwho was sitting at the box of his master's carriage, in the court-yard of\nthe palace, happened to have more zeal than discretion, and, not liking\nthat the mob should abuse his master, he said, loud enough to be overheard\nby several persons, that they were all blackguards, and deserved to be\nhanged. The mob immediately set upon him, and thinking that Law was in the\ncarriage, broke it to pieces. The imprudent coachman narrowly escaped with\nhis life. No further mischief was done; a body of troops making their\nappearance, the crowd quietly dispersed, after an assurance had been given\nby the regent that the three bodies they had brought to shew him should be\ndecently buried at his own expense. The parliament was sitting at the time\nof this uproar, and the president took upon himself to go out and see what\nwas the matter. On his return he informed the councillors that Law's\ncarriage had been broken by the mob. All the members rose simultaneously,\nand expressed their joy by a loud shout, while one man, more zealous in\nhis hatred than the rest, exclaimed, \"_And Law himself, is_ he _torn to\npieces?_\"[13]\n\n    [13] The Duchess of Orleans gives a different version of this\n         story; but whichever be the true one, the manifestation of\n         such feeling in a legislative assembly was not very\n         creditable. She says that the president was so transported\n         with joy, that he was seized with a rhyming fit, and,\n         returning into the hall, exclaimed to the members:\n\n            \"_Messieurs! Messieurs! bonne nouvelle!\n             Le carrosse de Lass est reduit en cannelle!_\"\n\nMuch, undoubtedly, depended on the credit of the Company of the Indies,\nwhich was answerable for so great a sum to the nation. It was therefore\nsuggested in the council of the ministry, that any privileges which could\nbe granted to enable it to fulfil its engagements, would be productive of\nthe best results. With this end in view, it was proposed that the\nexclusive privilege of all maritime commerce should be secured to it, and\nan edict to that effect was published. But it was unfortunately forgotten\nthat by such a measure all the merchants of the country would be ruined.\nThe idea of such an immense privilege was generally scouted by the nation,\nand petition on petition was presented to the parliament that they would\nrefuse to register the decree. They refused accordingly, and the regent,\nremarking that they did nothing but fan the flame of sedition, exiled them\nto Blois. At the intercession of D'Aguesseau, the place of banishment was\nchanged to Pontoise, and thither accordingly the councillors repaired,\ndetermined to set the regent at defiance. They made every arrangement for\nrendering their temporary exile as agreeable as possible. The president\ngave the most elegant suppers, to which he invited all the gayest and\nwittiest company of Paris. Every night there was a concert and ball for\nthe ladies. The usually grave and solemn judges and councillors joined in\ncards and other diversions, leading for several weeks a life of the most\nextravagant pleasure, for no other purpose than to shew the regent of how\nlittle consequence they deemed their banishment, and that, when they\nwilled it, they could make Pontoise a pleasanter residence than Paris.\n\nOf all the nations in the world the French are the most renowned for\nsinging over their grievances. Of that country it has been remarked with\nsome truth, that its whole history may be traced in its songs. When Law,\nby the utter failure of his best-laid plans, rendered himself obnoxious,\nsatire of course seized hold upon him; and while caricatures of his person\nappeared in all the shops, the streets resounded with songs, in which\nneither he nor the regent was spared. Many of these songs were far from\ndecent; and one of them in particular counselled the application of all\nhis notes to the most ignoble use to which paper can be applied. But the\nfollowing, preserved in the letters of the Duchess of Orleans, was the\nbest and the most popular, and was to be heard for months in all the\n_carrefours_ in Paris. The application of the chorus is happy enough:\n\n        Aussit\u00f4t que Lass arriva\n          Dans notre bonne ville,\n        Monsieur le R\u00e9gent publia\n          Que Lass serait utile\n        Pour r\u00e9tablir la nation.\n    _La faridondaine! la faridondon!_\n        Mais il nous a tous enrichi,\n                          _Biribi!_\n    _A la fa\u00e7on de Barbari,_\n                          _Mon ami!_\n\n        Ce parpaillot, pour attirer\n          Tout l'argent de la France,\n        Songea d'abord \u00e0 s'assurer\n          De notre confiance.\n        Il fit son abjuration,\n    _La faridondaine! la faridondon!_\n        Mais le fourbe s'est converti,\n                          _Biribi!_\n    _A la fa\u00e7on de Barbari,_\n                          _Mon ami!_\n\n        Lass, le fils a\u00een\u00e9 de Satan\n          Nous met tous \u00e0 l'aum\u00f4ne,\n        Il nous a pris tout notre argent\n          Et n'en rend \u00e0 personne.\n        Mais le R\u00e9gent, humain et bon,\n    _La faridondaine! la faridondon!_\n        Nous rendra ce qu'on nous a pris,\n                          _Biribi!_\n    _A la fa\u00e7on de Barbari,_\n                          _Mon ami!_\n\nThe following epigram is of the same date:\n\n    _Lundi_, j'achetai des actions;\n    _Mardi_, je gagnai des millions;\n    _Mercredi_, j'arrangeai mon m\u00e9nage,\n    _Jeudi_, je pris un \u00e9quipage,\n    _Vendredi_, je m'en fus au bal,\n    _Et Samedi_, \u00e0 l'h\u00f4pital.\n\nAmong the caricatures that were abundantly published, and that shewed as\nplainly as graver matters, that the nation had awakened to a sense of its\nfolly, was one, a fac-simile of which is preserved in the _M\u00e9moires de la\nR\u00e9gence_. It was thus described by its author: \"The 'Goddess of Shares,'\nin her triumphal car, driven by the Goddess of Folly. Those who are\ndrawing the car are impersonations of the Mississippi, with his wooden\nleg, the South Sea, the Bank of England, the Company of the West of\nSenegal, and of various assurances. Lest the car should not roll fast\nenough, the agents of these companies, known by their long fox-tails and\ntheir cunning looks, turn round the spokes of the wheels, upon which are\nmarked the names of the several stocks and their value, sometimes high and\nsometimes low, according to the turns of the wheel. Upon the ground are\nthe merchandise, day-books and ledgers of legitimate commerce, crushed\nunder the chariot of Folly. Behind is an immense crowd of persons, of all\nages, sexes, and conditions, clamoring after Fortune, and fighting with\neach other to get a portion of the shares which she distributes so\nbountifully among them. In the clouds sits a demon, blowing bubbles of\nsoap, which are also the objects of the admiration and cupidity of the\ncrowd, who jump upon one another's backs to reach them ere they burst.\nRight in the pathway of the car, and blocking up the passage, stands a\nlarge building, with three doors, through one of which it must pass, if it\nproceeds farther, and all the crowd along with it. Over the first door are\nthe words, '_H\u00f4pital des Foux_,' over the second, '_H\u00f4pital des Malades_,'\nand over the third, '_H\u00f4pital des Gueux_.'\" Another caricature represented\nLaw sitting in a large cauldron, boiling over the flames of popular\nmadness, surrounded by an impetuous multitude, who were pouring all their\ngold and silver into it, and receiving gladly in exchange the bits of\npaper which he distributed among them by handfuls.\n\nWhile this excitement lasted, Law took good care not to expose himself\nunguarded in the streets. Shut up in the apartments of the regent, he was\nsecure from all attack; and whenever he ventured abroad, it was either\n_incognito_, or in one of the royal carriages, with a powerful escort. An\namusing anecdote is recorded of the detestation in which he was held by\nthe people, and the ill-treatment he would have met had he fallen into\ntheir hands. A gentleman of the name of Boursel was passing in his\ncarriage down the Rue St. Antoine, when his farther progress was stayed by\na hackney-coach that had blocked up the road. M. Boursel's servant called\nimpatiently to the hackney-coachman to get out of the way, and, on his\nrefusal, struck him a blow on the face. A crowd was soon drawn together by\nthe disturbance, and M. Boursel got out of the carriage to restore order.\nThe hackney-coachman, imagining that he had now another assailant,\nbethought him of an expedient to rid himself of both, and called out as\nloudly as he was able, \"Help! help! murder! murder! Here are Law and his\nservant going to kill me! Help! help!\" At this cry the people came out of\ntheir shops, armed with sticks and other weapons, while the mob gathered\nstones to inflict summary vengeance upon the supposed financier. Happily\nfor M. Boursel and his servant, the door of the church of the Jesuits\nstood wide open, and, seeing the fearful odds against them, they rushed\ntowards it with all speed. They reached the altar, pursued by the people,\nand would have been ill-treated even there, if, finding the door open\nleading to the sacristy, they had not sprang through, and closed it after\nthem. The mob were then persuaded to leave the church by the alarmed and\nindignant priests, and finding M. Boursel's carriage still in the streets,\nthey vented their ill-will against it, and did it considerable damage.\n\nThe twenty-five millions secured on the municipal revenues of the city of\nParis, bearing so low an interest as two and a half per cent, were not\nvery popular among the large holders of Mississippi stock. The conversion\nof the securities was, therefore, a work of considerable difficulty; for\nmany preferred to retain the falling paper of Law's Company, in the hope\nthat a favourable turn might take place. On the 15th of August, with a\nview to hasten the conversion, an edict was passed, declaring that all\nnotes for sums between one thousand and ten thousand livres, should not\npass current, except for the purchase of annuities and bank accounts, or\nfor the payment of instalments still due on the shares of the company.\n\nIn October following another edict was passed, depriving these notes of\nall value whatever after the month of November next ensuing. The\nmanagement of the mint, the farming of the revenue, and all the other\nadvantages and privileges of the India, or Mississippi Company, were taken\nfrom them, and they were reduced to a mere private company. This was the\ndeath-blow to the whole system, which had now got into the hands of its\nenemies. Law had lost all influence in the Council of Finance, and the\ncompany, being despoiled of its immunities, could no longer hold out the\nshadow of a prospect of being able to fulfil its engagements. All those\nsuspected of illegal profits at the time the public delusion was at its\nheight, were sought out and amerced in heavy fines. It was previously\nordered that a list of the original proprietors should be made out, and\nthat such persons as still retained their shares should place them in\ndeposit with the company, and that those who had neglected to complete the\nshares for which they had put down their names, should now purchase them\nof the company, at the rate of 13,500 livres for each share of 500 livres.\nRather than submit to pay this enormous sum for stock which was actually\nat a discount, the shareholders packed up all their portable effects, and\nendeavoured to find a refuge in foreign countries. Orders were immediately\nissued to the authorities at the ports and frontiers, to apprehend all\ntravellers who sought to leave the kingdom, and keep them in custody,\nuntil it was ascertained whether they had any plate or jewellery with\nthem, or were concerned in the late stock-jobbing. Against such few as\nescaped, the punishment of death was recorded, while the most arbitrary\nproceedings were instituted against those who remained.\n\nLaw himself, in a moment of despair, determined to leave a country where\nhis life was no longer secure. He at first only demanded permission to\nretire from Paris to one of his country-seats--a permission which the\nregent cheerfully granted. The latter was much affected at the unhappy\nturn affairs had taken, but his faith continued unmoved in the truth and\nefficacy of Law's financial system. His eyes were opened to his own\nerrors; and during the few remaining years of his life he constantly\nlonged for an opportunity of again establishing the system upon a securer\nbasis. At Law's last interview with the prince, he is reported to have\nsaid,--\"I confess that I have committed many faults. I committed them\nbecause I am a man, and all men are liable to error; but I declare to you\nmost solemnly that none of them proceeded from wicked or dishonest\nmotives, and that nothing of the kind will be found in the whole course of\nmy conduct.\"\n\n[Illustration: LAW IN A CAR DRAWN BY COCKS.[14]]\n\n    [14] Law in a car drawn by cocks; from _Het groote Tofereel der\n         Dwaasheid_.\n\nTwo or three days after his departure the regent sent him a very kind\nletter, permitting him to leave the kingdom whenever he pleased, and\nstating that he had ordered his passports to be made ready. He at the same\ntime offered him any sum of money he might require. Law respectfully\ndeclined the money, and set out for Brussels in a post-chaise belonging to\nMadame de Prie, the mistress of the Duke of Bourbon, escorted by six\nhorse-guards. From thence he proceeded to Venice, where he remained for\nsome months, the object of the greatest curiosity to the people, who\nbelieved him to be the possessor of enormous wealth. No opinion, however,\ncould be more erroneous. With more generosity than could have been\nexpected from a man who during the greatest part of his life had been a\nprofessed gambler, he had refused to enrich himself at the expense of a\nruined nation. During the height of the popular frenzy for Mississippi\nstock, he had never doubted of the final success of his projects in making\nFrance the richest and most powerful nation of Europe. He invested all his\ngains in the purchase of landed property in France--a sure proof of his\nown belief in the stability of his schemes. He had hoarded no plate or\njewellery, and sent no money, like the dishonest jobbers, to foreign\ncountries. His all, with the exception of one diamond, worth about five or\nsix thousand pounds sterling, was invested in the French soil; and when he\nleft that country, he left it almost a beggar. This fact alone ought to\nrescue his memory from the charge of knavery, so often and so unjustly\nbrought against him.\n\nAs soon as his departure was known, all his estates and his valuable\nlibrary were confiscated. Among the rest, an annuity of 200,000 livres\n(8000l. sterling) on the lives of his wife and children, which had been\npurchased for five millions of livres, was forfeited, notwithstanding that\na special edict, drawn up for the purpose in the days of his prosperity,\nhad expressly declared that it should never be confiscated for any cause\nwhatever. Great discontent existed among the people that Law had been\nsuffered to escape. The mob and the parliament would have been pleased to\nhave seen him hanged. The few who had not suffered by the commercial\nrevolution rejoiced that the _quack_ had left the country; but all those\n(and they were by far the most numerous class) whose fortunes were\nimplicated regretted that his intimate knowledge of the distress of the\ncountry, and of the causes that had led to it, had not been rendered more\navailable in discovering a remedy.\n\nAt a meeting of the Council of Finance and the General Council of the\nRegency, documents were laid upon the table, from which it appeared that\nthe amount of notes in circulation was 2700 millions. The regent was\ncalled upon to explain how it happened that there was a discrepancy\nbetween the dates at which these issues were made and those of the edicts\nby which they were authorised. He might have safely taken the whole blame\nupon himself, but he preferred that an absent man should bear a share of\nit; and he therefore stated that Law, upon his own authority, had issued\n1200 millions of notes at different times, and that he (the regent),\nseeing that the thing had been irrevocably done, had screened Law by\nantedating the decrees of the council which authorised the augmentation.\nIt would have been more to his credit if he had told the whole truth while\nhe was about it, and acknowledged that it was mainly through his\nextravagance and impatience that Law had been induced to overstep the\nbounds of safe speculation. It was also ascertained that the national\ndebt, on the 1st of January 1721, amounted to upwards of 3100 millions of\nlivres, or more than 124,000,000l. sterling, the interest upon which was\n3,196,000l. A commission, or _visa_, was forthwith appointed to examine\ninto all the securities of the state creditors, who were to be divided\ninto five classes; the first four comprising those who had purchased their\nsecurities with real effects, and, the latter comprising those who could\ngive no proofs that the transactions they had entered into were real and\n_bon\u00e2 fide_. The securities of the latter were ordered to be destroyed,\nwhile those of the first four classes were subjected to a most rigid and\njealous scrutiny. The result of the labours of the _visa_, was a report,\nin which they counselled the reduction of the interest upon these\nsecurities to fifty-six millions of livres. They justified, this, advice\nby a statement of the various acts of peculation and extortion which they\nhad discovered; and an edict to that effect was accordingly published and\nduly registered by the parliaments of the kingdom.\n\n[Illustration: D'ARGENSON.]\n\nAnother tribunal was afterwards established, under the title of the\n_Chambre de l'Arsenal_, which took cognisance of all the malversations\ncommitted in the financial departments of the government, during the late\nunhappy period. A Master of Requests, named Falhonet, together with the\nAbb\u00e9 Clement, and two clerks in their employ, had been concerned in divers\nacts of peculation to the amount of upwards of a million of livres. The\nfirst two were sentenced to be beheaded, and the latter to be hanged; but\ntheir punishment was afterwards commuted into imprisonment for life in the\nBastille. Numerous other acts of dishonesty were discovered, and punished,\nby fine and imprisonment.\n\nD'Argenson shared with Law and the regent the unpopularity which had\nalighted upon all those concerned in the Mississippi madness. He was\ndismissed from his post of Chancellor to make room for D'Aguesseau; but he\nretained the title of Keeper of the Seals, and was allowed to attend the\ncouncils whenever he pleased. He thought it better, however, to withdraw\nfrom Paris, and live for a time a life of seclusion at his country-seat.\nBut he was not formed for retirement; and becoming moody and discontented,\nhe aggravated a disease under which he had long laboured, and died in less\nthan a twelve-month. The populace of Paris so detested him, that they\ncarried their hatred even to his grave. As his funeral procession passed\nto the church of St. Nicholas du Chardonneret, the burying-place of his\nfamily, it was beset by a riotous mob, and his two sons, who were\nfollowing as chief mourners, were obliged to drive as fast as they were\nable down a by-street to escape personal violence.\n\nAs regards Law, he for some time entertained a hope that he should be\nrecalled to France, to aid in establishing its credit upon a firmer basis.\nThe death of the regent in 1723, who expired suddenly as he was sitting by\nthe fireside conversing with his mistress, the Duchess de Phalaris,\ndeprived him of that hope, and he was reduced to lead his former life of\ngambling. He was more than once obliged to pawn his diamond, the sole\nremnant of his vast wealth, but successful play generally enabled him to\nredeem it. Being persecuted by his creditors at Rome, he proceeded to\nCopenhagen, where he received permission from the English ministry to\nreside in his native country, his pardon for the murder of Mr. Wilson\nhaving been sent over to him in 1719. He was brought over in the admiral's\nship--a circumstance which gave occasion for a short debate in the House\nof Lords. Earl Coningsby complained that a man who had renounced both his\ncountry and his religion, should have been treated with such honour, and\nexpressed his belief that his presence in England, at a time when the\npeople were so bewildered by the nefarious practices of the South-Sea\ndirectors, would be attended with no little danger. He gave notice of a\nmotion on the subject; but it was allowed to drop, no other member of the\nHouse having the slightest participation in his lordship's fears. Law\nremained for about four years in England, and then proceeded to Venice,\nwhere he died in 1729, in very embarrassed circumstances. The following\nepitaph was written at the time:\n\n   \"Ci g\u00eet cet Ecossais c\u00e9l\u00e9bre,\n      Ce calculateur sans \u00e9gal,\n    Qui, par les r\u00e9gles de l'alg\u00e9bre,\n      A mis la France \u00e0 l'h\u00f4pital.\"\n\nHis brother, William Law, who had been concerned with him in the\nadministration both of the bank and the Louisiana Company, was imprisoned\nin the Bastille for alleged malversation, but no guilt was ever proved\nagainst him. He was liberated after fifteen months, and became the founder\nof a family, which is still known in France under the title of Marquises\nof Lauriston.\n\n[Illustration: NECK OR NOTHING.[15]]\n\n    [15] Neck or nothing, or downfall of the Mississippi\n         Company.--_From a Print in Mr. Hawkins' Collection_.\n\nIn the next chapter will be found an account of the madness which infected\nthe people of England at the same time, and under very similar\ncircumstances, but which, thanks to the energies and good sense of a\nconstitutional government, was attended with results far less disastrous\nthan those which were seen in France.\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: SOUTH-SEA HOUSE.]\n\n\nTHE SOUTH-SEA BUBBLE.\n\n    At length corruption, like a general flood,\n    Did deluge all; and avarice creeping on,\n    Spread, like a low-born mist, and hid the sun.\n    Statesmen and patriots plied alike the stocks,\n    Peeress and butler shared alike the box;\n    And judges jobbed, and bishops bit the town,\n    And mighty dukes packed cards for half-a-crown:\n    Britain was sunk in lucre's sordid charms.--_Pope_.\n\n\nThe South-Sea Company was originated by the celebrated Harley Earl of\nOxford, in the year 1711, with the view of restoring public credit, which\nhad suffered by the dismissal of the Whig ministry, and of providing for\nthe discharge of the army and navy debentures, and other parts of the\nfloating debt, amounting to nearly ten millions sterling. A company of\nmerchants, at that time without a name, took this debt upon themselves,\nand the government agreed to secure them for a certain period the interest\nof six per cent. To provide for this interest, amounting to 600,000l. per\nannum, the duties upon wines, vinegar, India goods, wrought silks,\ntobacco, whale-fins, and some other articles, were rendered permanent. The\nmonopoly of the trade to the South Seas was granted, and the company,\nbeing incorporated by act of parliament, assumed the title by which it has\never since been known. The minister took great credit to himself for his\nshare in this transaction, and the scheme was always called by his\nflatterers \"the Earl of Oxford's masterpiece.\"\n\n[Illustration: HARLEY EARL OF OXFORD]\n\nEven at this early period of its history the most visionary ideas were\nformed by the company and the public of the immense riches of the eastern\ncoast of South America. Every body had heard of the gold and silver mines\nof Peru and Mexico; every one believed them to be inexhaustible, and that\nit was only necessary to send the manufactures of England to the coast to\nbe repaid a hundred fold in gold and silver ingots by the natives. A\nreport, industriously spread, that Spain was willing to concede four ports\non the coasts of Chili and Peru for the purposes of traffic, increased the\ngeneral confidence, and for many years the South-Sea Company's stock was\nin high favour.\n\nPhilip V. of Spain, however, never had any intention of admitting the\nEnglish to a free trade in the ports of Spanish America. Negotiations were\nset on foot, but their only result was the _assiento_ contract, or the\nprivilege of supplying the colonies with negroes for thirty years, and of\nsending once a year a vessel, limited both as to tonnage and value of\ncargo, to trade with Mexico, Peru, or Chili. The latter permission was\nonly granted upon the hard condition, that the King of Spain should enjoy\none-fourth of the profits, and a tax of five per cent on the remainder.\nThis was a great disappointment to the Earl of Oxford and his party, who\nwere reminded much oftener than they found agreeable of the\n\n    \"_Parturiunt montes, nascitur ridiculus mus_.\"\n\nBut the public confidence in the South-Sea Company was not shaken. The\nEarl of Oxford declared that Spain would permit two ships, in addition to\nthe annual ship, to carry out merchandise during the first year; and a\nlist was published, in which all the ports and harbours of these coasts\nwere pompously set forth as open to the trade of Great Britain. The first\nvoyage of the annual ship was not made till the year 1717, and in the\nfollowing year the trade was suppressed by the rupture with Spain.\n\nThe king's speech, at the opening of the session of 1717, made pointed\nallusion to the state of public credit, and recommended that proper\nmeasures should be taken to reduce the national debt. The two great\nmonetary corporations, the South-Sea Company and the Bank of England, made\nproposals to parliament on the 20th of May ensuing. The South-Sea Company\nprayed that their capital stock of ten millions might be increased to\ntwelve, by subscription or otherwise, and offered to accept five per cent\ninstead of six upon the whole amount. The bank made proposals equally\nadvantageous. The house debated for some time, and finally three acts were\npassed, called the South-Sea Act, the Bank Act, and the General Fund Act.\nBy the first, the proposals of the South-Sea Company were accepted, and\nthat body held itself ready to advance the sum of two millions towards\ndischarging the principal and interest of the debt due by the state for\nthe four lottery funds, of the ninth and tenth years of Queen Anne. By the\nsecond act, the bank received a lower rate of interest for the sum of\n1,775,027l. 15s. due to it by the state, and agreed to deliver up to be\ncancelled as many exchequer bills as amounted to two millions sterling,\nand to accept of an annuity of one hundred thousand pounds, being after\nthe rate of five per cent, the whole redeemable at one year's notice. They\nwere further required to be ready to advance, in case of need, a sum not\nexceeding 2,500,000l. upon the same terms of five per cent interest,\nredeemable by parliament. The General Fund Act recited the various\ndeficiencies, which were to be made good by the aids derived from the\nforegoing sources.\n\nThe name of the South-Sea Company was thus continually before the public.\nThough their trade with the South American States produced little or no\naugmentation of their revenues, they continued to flourish as a monetary\ncorporation. Their stock was in high request, and the directors, buoyed up\nwith success, began to think of new means for extending their influence.\nThe Mississippi scheme of John Law, which so dazzled and captivated the\nFrench people, inspired them with an idea that they could carry on the\nsame game in England. The anticipated failure of his plans did not divert\nthem from their intention. Wise in their own conceit, they imagined they\ncould avoid his faults, carry on their schemes for ever, and stretch the\ncord of credit to its extremest tension, without causing it to snap\nasunder.\n\nIt was while Law's plan was at its greatest height of popularity, while\npeople were crowding in thousands to the Rue Quincampoix, and ruining\nthemselves with frantic eagerness, that the South-Sea directors laid\nbefore parliament their famous plan for paying off the national debt.\nVisions of boundless wealth floated before the fascinated eyes of the\npeople in the two most celebrated countries of Europe. The English\ncommenced their career of extravagance somewhat later than the French; but\nas soon as the delirium seized them, they were determined not to be\noutdone. Upon the 22d of January, 1720, the House of Commons resolved\nitself into a committee of the whole house, to take into consideration\nthat part of the king's speech at the opening of the session which related\nto the public debts, and the proposal of the South-Sea Company towards the\nredemption and sinking of the same. The proposal set forth at great\nlength, and under several heads, the debts of the state, amounting to\n30,981,712l., which the company were anxious to take upon themselves, upon\nconsideration of five per cent per annum, secured to them until Midsummer\n1727; after which time, the whole was to become redeemable at the pleasure\nof the legislature, and the interest to be reduced to four per cent. The\nproposal was received with great favour; but the Bank of England had many\nfriends in the House of Commons, who were desirous that that body should\nshare in the advantages that were likely to accrue. On behalf of this\ncorporation it was represented, that they had performed great and eminent\nservices to the state in the most difficult times, and deserved, at least,\nthat if any advantage was to be made by public bargains of this nature,\nthey should be preferred before a company that had never done any thing\nfor the nation. The further consideration of the matter was accordingly\npostponed for five days. In the mean time, a plan was drawn up by the\ngovernors of the bank. The South-Sea Company, afraid that the bank might\noffer still more advantageous terms to the government than themselves,\nreconsidered their former proposal, and made some alterations in it, which\nthey hoped would render it more acceptable. The principal change was a\nstipulation that the government might redeem these debts at the expiration\nof four years, instead of seven, as at first suggested. The bank resolved\nnot to be outbidden in this singular auction, and the governors also\nreconsidered their first proposal, and sent in a new one.\n\nThus, each corporation having made two proposals, the house began to\ndeliberate. Mr. Robert Walpole was the chief speaker in favour of the\nbank, and Mr. Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the principal\nadvocate on behalf of the South-Sea Company. It was resolved, on the 2d of\nFebruary, that the proposals of the latter were most advantageous to the\ncountry. They were accordingly received, and leave was given to bring in a\nbill to that effect.\n\nExchange Alley was in a fever of excitement. The company's stock, which\nhad been at a hundred and thirty the previous day, gradually rose to three\nhundred, and continued to rise with the most astonishing rapidity during\nthe whole time that the bill in its several stages was under discussion.\nMr. Walpole was almost the only statesman in the House who spoke out\nboldly against it. He warned them, in eloquent and solemn language, of the\nevils that would ensue. It countenanced, he said, \"the dangerous practice\nof stock-jobbing, and would divert the genius of the nation from trade and\nindustry. It would hold out a dangerous lure to decoy the unwary to their\nruin, by making them part with the earnings of their labour for a prospect\nof imaginary wealth. The great principle of the project was an evil of\nfirst-rate magnitude; it was to raise artificially the value of the stock,\nby exciting and keeping up a general infatuation, and by promising\ndividends out of funds which could never be adequate to the purpose.\" In a\nprophetic spirit he added, that if the plan succeeded, the directors would\nbecome masters of the government, form a new and absolute aristocracy in\nthe kingdom, and control the resolutions of the legislature. If it failed,\nwhich he was convinced it would, the result would bring general discontent\nand ruin upon the country. Such would be the delusion, that when the evil\nday came, as come it would, the people would start up, as from a dream,\nand ask themselves if these things could have been true. All his eloquence\nwas in vain. He was looked upon as a false prophet, or compared to the\nhoarse raven, croaking omens of evil. His friends, however, compared him\nto Cassandra, predicting evils which would only be believed when they came\nhome to men's hearths, and stared them in the face at their own boards.\nAlthough, in former times, the house had listened with the utmost\nattention to every word that fell from his lips, the benches became\ndeserted when it was known that he would speak on the South-Sea question.\n\n[Illustration: SIR ROBERT WALPOLE]\n\nThe bill was two months in its progress through the House of Commons.\nDuring this time every exertion was made by the directors and their\nfriends, and more especially by the chairman, the noted Sir John Blunt, to\nraise the price of the stock. The most extravagant rumours were in\ncirculation. Treaties between England and Spain were spoken of, whereby\nthe latter was to grant a free trade to all her colonies; and the rich\nproduce of the mines of Potosi-la-Paz was to be brought to England until\nsilver should become almost as plentiful as iron. For cotton and woollen\ngoods, with which we could supply them in abundance, the dwellers in\nMexico were to empty their golden mines. The company of merchants trading\nto the South Seas would be the richest the world ever saw, and every\nhundred pounds invested in it would produce hundreds per annum to the\nstockholder. At last the stock was raised by these means to near four\nhundred; but, after fluctuating a good deal, settled at three hundred and\nthirty, at which price it remained when the bill passed the Commons by a\nmajority of 172 against 55.\n\nIn the House of Lords the bill was hurried through all its stages with\nunexampled rapidity. On the 4th of April it was read a first time; on the\n5th, it was read a second time; on the 6th, it was committed; and on the\n7th, was read a third time and passed.\n\nSeveral peers spoke warmly against the scheme; but their warnings fell\nupon dull, cold ears. A speculating frenzy had seized them as well as the\nplebeians. Lord North and Grey said the bill was unjust in its nature, and\nmight prove fatal in its consequences, being calculated to enrich the few\nand impoverish the many. The Duke of Wharton followed; but, as he only\nretailed at second-hand the arguments so eloquently stated by Walpole in\nthe Lower House, he was not listened to with even the same attention that\nhad been bestowed upon Lord North and Grey. Earl Cowper followed on the\nsame side, and compared the bill to the famous horse of the siege of Troy.\nLike that, it was ushered in and received with great pomp and acclamations\nof joy, but bore within it treachery and destruction. The Earl of\nSunderland endeavoured to answer all objections; and on the question being\nput, there appeared only seventeen peers against, and eighty-three in\nfavour of the project. The very same day on which it passed the Lords, it\nreceived the royal assent, and became the law of the land.\n\nIt seemed at that time as if the whole nation had turned stockjobbers.\nExchange Alley was every day blocked up by crowds, and Cornhill was\nimpassable for the number of carriages. Every body came to purchase stock.\n\"Every fool aspired to be a knave.\" In the words of a ballad published at\nthe time, and sung about the streets,[16]\n\n   \"Then stars and garters did appear\n      Among the meaner rabble;\n    To buy and sell, to see and hear\n      The Jews and Gentiles squabble.\n\n    The greatest ladies thither came,\n      And plied in chariots daily,\n    Or pawned their jewels for a sum\n     To venture in the Alley.\"\n\n    [16] _A South-Sea Ballad; or, Merry Remarks upon Exchange-Alley\n         Bubbles. To a new Tune called \"The Grand Elixir; or, the\n         Philosopher's Stone discovered.\"_\n\nThe inordinate thirst of gain that had afflicted all ranks of society was\nnot to be slaked even in the South Sea. Other schemes, of the most\nextravagant kind, were started. The share-lists were speedily filled up,\nand an enormous traffic carried on in shares, while, of course, every\nmeans were resorted to to raise them to an artificial value in the market.\n\n[Illustration: CORNHILL, 1720.]\n\nContrary to all expectation, South-Sea stock fell when the bill received\nthe royal assent. On the 7th of April the shares were quoted at three\nhundred and ten, and on the following day at two hundred and ninety.\nAlready the directors had tasted the profits of their scheme, and it was\nnot likely that they should quietly allow the stock to find its natural\nlevel without an effort to raise it. Immediately their busy emissaries\nwere set to work. Every person interested in the success of the project\nendeavoured to draw a knot of listeners around him, to whom he expatiated\non the treasures of the South American seas. Exchange Alley was crowded\nwith attentive groups. One rumour alone, asserted with the utmost\nconfidence, had an immediate effect upon the stock. It was said that Earl\nStanhope had received overtures in France from the Spanish government to\nexchange Gibraltar and Port Mahon for some places on the coast of Peru,\nfor the security and enlargement of the trade in the South Seas. Instead\nof one annual ship trading to those ports, and allowing the king of Spain\ntwenty-five per cent out of the profits, the company might build and\ncharter as many ships as they pleased, and pay no per centage whatever to\nany foreign potentate.\n\n    \"Visions of ingots danced before their eyes,\"\n\nand stock rose rapidly. On the 12th of April, five days after the bill had\nbecome law, the directors opened their books for a subscription of a\nmillion, at the rate of 300l. for every 100l. capital. Such was the\nconcourse of persons of all ranks, that this first subscription was found\nto amount to above two millions of original stock. It was to be paid at\nfive payments, of 60l. each for every 100l. In a few days the stock\nadvanced to three hundred and forty, and the subscriptions were sold for\ndouble the price of the first payment. To raise the stock still higher, it\nwas declared, in a general court of directors, on the 21st of April, that\nthe midsummer dividend should be ten per cent, and that all subscriptions\nshould be entitled to the same. These resolutions answering the end\ndesigned, the directors, to improve the infatuation of the monied men,\nopened their books for a second subscription of a million, at four hundred\nper cent. Such was the frantic eagerness of people of every class to\nspeculate in these funds, that in the course of a few hours no less than a\nmillion and a half was subscribed at that rate.\n\nIn the mean time, innumerable joint-stock companies started up every\nwhere. They soon received the name of Bubbles, the most appropriate that\nimagination could devise. The populace are often most happy in the\nnicknames they employ. None could be more apt than that of Bubbles. Some\nof them lasted for a week or a fortnight, and were no more heard of, while\nothers could not even live out that short span of existence. Every evening\nproduced new schemes, and every morning new projects. The highest of the\naristocracy were as eager in this hot pursuit of gain as the most plodding\njobber in Cornhill. The Prince of Wales became governor of one company,\nand is said to have cleared 40,000l. by his speculations.[17] The Duke of\nBridgewater started a scheme for the improvement of London and\nWestminster, and the Duke of Chandos another. There were nearly a hundred\ndifferent projects, each more extravagant and deceptive than the other, To\nuse the words of the _Political State_, they were \"set on foot and\npromoted by crafty knaves, then pursued by multitudes of covetous fools,\nand at last appeared to be, in effect, what their vulgar appellation\ndenoted them to be--bubbles and mere cheats.\" It was computed that near\none million and a half sterling was won and lost by these unwarrantable\npractices, to the impoverishment of many a fool, and the enriching of many\na rogue.\n\n    [17] Coxe's _Walpole_, Correspondence between Mr. Secretary\n         Craggs and Earl Stanhope.\n\nSome of these schemes were plausible enough, and, had they been undertaken\nat a time when the public mind was unexcited, might have been pursued with\nadvantage to all concerned. But they were established merely with the view\nof raising the shares in the market. The projectors took the first\nopportunity of a rise to sell out, and next morning the scheme was at an\nend. Maitland, in his _History of London_, gravely informs us, that one of\nthe projects which received great encouragement, was for the establishment\nof a company \"to make deal boards out of saw-dust.\" This is no doubt\nintended as a joke; but there is abundance of evidence to shew that dozens\nof schemes, hardly a whit more reasonable, lived their little day, ruining\nhundreds ere they fell. One of them was for a wheel for perpetual\nmotion--capital one million; another was \"for encouraging the breed of\nhorses in England, and improving of glebe and church lands, and repairing\nand rebuilding parsonage and vicarage houses.\" Why the clergy, who were so\nmainly interested in the latter clause, should have taken so much interest\nin the first, is only to be explained on the supposition that the scheme\nwas projected by a knot of the fox-hunting parsons, once so common in\nEngland. The shares of this company were rapidly subscribed for. But the\nmost absurd and preposterous of all, and which shewed, more completely\nthan any other, the utter madness of the people, was one started by an\nunknown adventurer, entitled \"_A company for carrying on an undertaking of\ngreat advantage, but nobody to know what it is_.\" Were not the fact stated\nby scores of credible witnesses, it would be impossible to believe that\nany person could have been duped by such a project. The man of genius who\nessayed this bold and successful inroad upon public credulity, merely\nstated in his prospectus that the required capital was half a million, in\nfive thousand shares of 100l. each, deposit 2l. per share. Each\nsubscriber, paying his deposit, would be entitled to 100l. per annum per\nshare. How this immense profit was to be obtained, he did not condescend\nto inform them at that time, but promised that in a month full particulars\nshould be duly announced, and a call made for the remaining 98l. of the\nsubscription. Next morning, at nine o'clock, this great man opened an\noffice in Cornhill. Crowds of people beset his door, and when he shut up\nat three o'clock, he found that no less than one thousand shares had been\nsubscribed for, and the deposits paid. He was thus, in five hours, the\nwinner of 2000l. He was philosopher enough to be contented with his\nventure, and set off the same evening for the Continent. He was never\nheard of again.\n\nWell might Swift exclaim, comparing Change Alley to a gulf in the South\nSea:\n\n   \"Subscribers here by thousands float,\n      And jostle one another down,\n    Each paddling in his leaky boat,\n      And here they fish for gold and drown.\n\n    Now buried in the depths below,\n      Now mounted up to heaven again,\n    They reel and stagger to and fro,\n      At their wit's end, like drunken men.\n\n    Meantime, secure on Garraway cliffs,\n      A savage race, by shipwrecks fed,\n    Lie waiting for the foundered skiffs,\n      And strip the bodies of the dead.\"\n\nAnother fraud that was very successful was that of the \"Globe _Permits_,\"\nas they were called. They were nothing more than square pieces of\nplaying-cards, on which was the impression of a seal, in wax, bearing the\nsign of the Globe Tavern, in the neighbourhood of Exchange Alley, with the\ninscription of \"Sail-Cloth Permits.\" The possessors enjoyed no other\nadvantage from them than permission to subscribe at some future time to a\nnew sail-cloth manufactory, projected by one who was then known to be a\nman of fortune, but who was afterwards involved in the peculation and\npunishment of the South-Sea directors. These permits sold for as much as\nsixty guineas in the Alley.\n\nPersons of distinction, of both sexes, were deeply engaged in all these\nbubbles; those of the male sex going to taverns and coffee-houses to meet\ntheir brokers, and the ladies resorting for the same purpose to the shops\nof milliners and haberdashers. But it did not follow that all these people\nbelieved in the feasibility of the schemes to which they subscribed; it\nwas enough for their purpose that their shares would, by stock-jobbing\narts, be soon raised to a premium, when they got rid of them with all\nexpedition to the really credulous. So great was the confusion of the\ncrowd in the alley, that shares in the same bubble were known to have been\nsold at the same instant ten per cent higher at one end of the alley than\nat the other. Sensible men beheld the extraordinary infatuation of the\npeople with sorrow and alarm. There were some both in and out of\nparliament who foresaw clearly the ruin that was impending. Mr. Walpole\ndid not cease his gloomy forebodings. His fears were shared by all the\nthinking few, and impressed most forcibly upon the government. On the 11th\nof June, the day the parliament rose, the king published a proclamation,\ndeclaring that all these unlawful projects should be deemed public\nnuisances, and prosecuted accordingly, and forbidding any broker, under a\npenalty of five hundred pounds, from buying or selling any shares in them.\nNotwithstanding this proclamation, roguish speculators still carried them\non, and the deluded people still encouraged them. On the 12th of July, an\norder of the Lords Justices assembled in privy council was published,\ndismissing all the petitions that had been presented for patents and\ncharters, and dissolving all the bubble companies. The following copy of\ntheir lordships' order, containing a list of all these nefarious projects,\nwill not be deemed uninteresting at the present time, when, at periodic\nintervals, there is but too much tendency in the public mind to indulge in\nsimilar practices:\n\n           \"At the Council Chamber, Whitehall, the 12th day of July, 1720.\n                Present, their Excellencies the Lords Justices in Council.\n\n\"Their Excellencies the Lords Justices, in council, taking into\nconsideration the many inconveniences arising to the public from several\nprojects set on foot for raising of joint-stock for various purposes, and\nthat a great many of his majesty's subjects have been drawn in to part\nwith their money on pretence of assurances that their petitions for\npatents and charters to enable them to carry on the same would be granted:\nto prevent such impositions, their excellencies this day ordered the said\nseveral petitions, together with such reports from the Board of Trade, and\nfrom his majesty's attorney and solicitor-general, as had been obtained\nthereon, to be laid before them; and after mature consideration thereof,\nwere pleased, by advice of his majesty's privy council, to order that the\nsaid petitions be dismissed, which are as follow:\n\n\"1. Petition of several persons, praying letters patent for carrying on a\nfishing trade by the name of the Grand Fishery of Great Britain.\n\n\"2. Petition of the Company of the Royal Fishery of England, praying\nletters patent for such further powers as will effectually contribute to\ncarry on the said fishery.\n\n\"3. Petition of George James, on behalf of himself and divers persons of\ndistinction concerned in a national fishery, praying letters patent of\nincorporation, to enable them to carry on the same.\n\n\"4. Petition of several merchants, traders, and others, whose names are\nthereunto subscribed, praying to be incorporated for reviving and carrying\non a whale fishery to Greenland and elsewhere.\n\n\"5. Petition of Sir John Lambert and others thereto subscribing, on behalf\nof themselves and a great number of merchants, praying to be incorporated\nfor carrying on a Greenland trade, and particularly a whale fishery in\nDavis's Straits.\n\n\"6. Another petition for a Greenland trade.\n\n\"7. Petition of several merchants, gentlemen, and citizens, praying to be\nincorporated for buying and building of ships to let or freight.\n\n\"8. Petition of Samuel Antrim and others, praying for letters patent for\nsowing hemp and flax.\n\n\"9. Petition of several merchants, masters of ships, sail-makers, and\nmanufacturers of sail-cloth, praying a charter of incorporation, to enable\nthem to carry on and promote the said manufactory by a joint-stock.\n\n\"10. Petition of Thomas Boyd and several hundred merchants, owners and\nmasters of ships, sail-makers, weavers, and other traders, praying a\ncharter of incorporation, empowering them to borrow money for purchasing\nlands, in order to the manufacturing sail-cloth and fine holland.\n\n\"11. Petition on behalf of several persons interested in a patent granted\nby the late King William and Queen Mary for the making of linen and\nsail-cloth, praying that no charter may be granted to any persons\nwhatsoever for making sail-cloth, but that the privilege now enjoyed by\nthem may be confirmed, and likewise an additional power to carry on the\ncotton and cotton-silk manufactures.\n\n\"12. Petition of several citizens, merchants, and traders in London, and\nothers, subscribers to a British stock for a general insurance from fire\nin any part of England, praying to be incorporated for carrying on the\nsaid undertaking.\n\n\"13. Petition of several of his majesty's loyal subjects of the city of\nLondon and other parts of Great Britain, praying to be incorporated for\ncarrying on a general insurance from losses by fire within the kingdom of\nEngland.\n\n\"14. Petition of Thomas Surges and others his majesty's subjects thereto\nsubscribing, in behalf of themselves and others, subscribers to a fund of\n1,200,000l. for carrying on a trade to his majesty's German dominions,\npraying to be incorporated by the name of the Harburg Company.\n\n\"15. Petition of Edward Jones, a dealer in timber, on behalf of himself\nand others, praying to be incorporated for the importation of timber from\nGermany.\n\n\"16. Petition of several merchants of London, praying a charter of\nincorporation for carrying on a salt-work.\n\n\"17. Petition of Captain Macphedris of London, merchant, on behalf of\nhimself and several merchants, clothiers, hatters, dyers, and other\ntraders, praying a charter of incorporation empowering them to raise a\nsufficient sum of money to purchase lands for planting and rearing a wood\ncalled madder, for the use of dyers.\n\n\"18. Petition of Joseph Galendo of London, snuff-maker, praying a patent\nfor his invention to prepare and cure Virginia tobacco for snuff in\nVirginia, and making it into the same in all his majesty's dominions.\"\n\n\nLIST OF BUBBLES.\n\nThe following Bubble-Companies were by the same order declared to be\nillegal, and abolished accordingly:\n\n1. For the importation of Swedish iron.\n\n2. For supplying London with sea-coal. Capital, three millions.\n\n3. For building and rebuilding houses throughout all England Capital,\nthree millions.\n\n4. For making of muslin.\n\n5. For carrying on and improving the British alum-works.\n\n6. For effectually settling the island of Blanco and Sal Tartagus.\n\n7. For supplying the town of Deal with fresh water.\n\n8. For the importation of Flanders lace.\n\n9. For improvement of lands in Great Britain. Capital, four millions.\n\n10. For encouraging the breed of horses in England, and improving of glebe\nand church lands, and for repairing and rebuilding parsonage and vicarage\nhouses.\n\n11. For making of iron and steel in Great Britain,\n\n12. For improving the land in the county of Flint. Capital, one million.\n\n13. For purchasing lands to build on. Capital, two millions.\n\n14. For trading in hair.\n\n15. For erecting salt-works in Holy Island. Capital, two millions.\n\n16. For buying and selling estates, and lending money on mortgage.\n\n17. For carrying on an undertaking of great advantage; but nobody to know\nwhat it is.\n\n18. For paving the streets of London. Capital, two millions.\n\n19. For furnishing funerals to any part of Great Britain.\n\n20. For buying and selling lands and lending money at interest. Capital,\nfive millions.\n\n21. For carrying on the royal fishery of Great Britain. Capital, ten\nmillions.\n\n22. For assuring of seamen's wages.\n\n23. For erecting loan-offices for the assistance and encouragement of the\nindustrious. Capital, two millions.\n\n24. For purchasing and improving leaseable lands. Capital, four millions.\n\n25. For importing pitch and tar, and other naval stores, from North\nBritain and America.\n\n26. For the clothing, felt, and pantile trade.\n\n27. For purchasing and improving a manor and royalty in Essex.\n\n28. For insuring of horses. Capital, two millions.\n\n29. For exporting the woollen manufacture, and importing copper, brass,\nand iron. Capital, four millions.\n\n30. For a grand dispensary. Capital, three millions.\n\n31. For erecting mills and purchasing lead-mines. Capital, two millions.\n\n32. For improving the art of making soap.\n\n33. For a settlement on the island of Santa Cruz.\n\n34. For sinking pits and smelting lead ore in Derbyshire.\n\n35. For making glass bottles and other glass.\n\n36. For a wheel for perpetual motion. Capital, one million.\n\n37. For improving of gardens.\n\n38. For insuring and increasing children's fortunes.\n\n39. For entering and loading goods at the Custom-house, and for\nnegotiating business for merchants.\n\n40. For carrying on a woollen manufacture in the North of England.\n\n41. For importing walnut-trees from Virginia, Capital, two millions.\n\n42. For making Manchester stuffs of thread and cotton.\n\n43. For making Joppa and Castile soap.\n\n44. For improving the wrought-iron and steel manufactures of this kingdom.\nCapital four millions.\n\n45. For dealing in lace, hollands, cambrics, lawns, &c. Capital, two\nmillions.\n\n46. For trading in and improving certain commodities of the produce of\nthis kingdom, &c. Capital three millions.\n\n47. For supplying the London markets with cattle.\n\n48. For making looking-glasses, coach-glasses, &c. Capital, two millions.\n\n49. For working the tin and lead mines in Cornwall and Derbyshire.\n\n50. For making rape-oil.\n\n51. For importing beaver fur. Capital, two millions.\n\n52. For making pasteboard and packing-paper.\n\n53. For importing of oils and other materials used in the woollen\nmanufacture.\n\n54. For improving and increasing the silk manufactures.\n\n55. For lending money on stock, annuities, tallies, &c.\n\n56. For paying pensions to widows and others, at a small discount.\nCapital, two millions.\n\n57. For improving malt liquors. Capital, four millions.\n\n58. For a grand American fishery.\n\n59. For purchasing and improving the fenny lands in Lincolnshire. Capital,\ntwo millions.\n\n60. For improving the paper manufacture of Great Britain.\n\n61. The Bottomry Company.\n\n62. For drying malt by hot air.\n\n63. For carrying on a trade in the river Oronooko.\n\n64. For the more effectual making of baize, in Colchester and other parts\nof Great Britain.\n\n65. For buying of naval stores, supplying the victualling, and paying the\nwages of the workmen.\n\n66. For employing poor artificers, and furnishing merchants and others\nwith watches.\n\n67. For improvement of tillage and the breed of cattle.\n\n68. Another for the improvement of our breed in horses.\n\n69. Another for a horse-insurance.\n\n70. For carrying on the corn trade of Great Britain.\n\n71. For insuring to all masters and mistresses the losses they may sustain\nby servants. Capital, three millions.\n\n72. For erecting houses or hospitals for taking in and maintaining\nillegitimate children. Capital, two millions.\n\n73. For bleaching coarse sugars, without the use of fire or loss of\nsubstance.\n\n74. For building turnpikes and wharfs in Great Britain.\n\n75. For insuring from thefts and robberies.\n\n76. For extracting silver from lead.\n\n77. For making china and delft ware. Capital, one million.\n\n78. For importing tobacco, and exporting it again to Sweden and the north\nof Europe. Capital, four millions.\n\n79. For making iron with pit coal.\n\n80. For furnishing the cities of London and Westminster with hay and\nstraw. Capital, three millions.\n\n81. For a sail and packing-cloth manufactory in Ireland.\n\n82. For taking up ballast.\n\n83. For buying and fitting out ships to suppress pirates.\n\n84. For the importation of timber from Wales. Capital, two millions.\n\n85. For rock-salt.\n\n86. For the transmutation of quicksilver into a malleable fine metal.\n\n[Illustration: CHANGE-ALLEY.[18]]\n\n    [18] Stock-jobbing Card, or the humours of Change Alley. Copied\n         from a print called _Bubblers' Medley_, published by\n         Carrington Bowles.\n\nBesides these bubbles, many others sprang up daily, in-spite of the\ncondemnation of the government and the ridicule of the still sane portion\nof the public. The print-shops teemed with caricatures, and the newspapers\nwith epigrams and satires, upon the prevalent folly. An ingenious\ncardmaker published a pack of South-Sea playing-cards, which are now\nextremely rare, each card containing, besides the usual figures, of a very\nsmall size, in one corner, a caricature of a bubble-company, with\nappropriate verses underneath. One of the most famous bubbles was\n\"Puckle's Machine Company,\" for discharging round and square cannon-balls\nand bullets, and making a total revolution in the art of war. Its\npretensions to public favour were thus summed up on the eight of spades:\n\n   \"A rare invention to destroy the crowd\n    Of fools at home instead of fools abroad.\n    Fear not, my friends, this terrible machine,\n    They're only wounded who have shares therein.\"\n\n[Illustration: TREE CARICATURE[19]]\n\n    [19] Tree, surrounded by water; people climbing up the tree. One\n         of a series of bubble cards, copied from the _Bubblers'\n         Medley_, published by Carrington Bowles.\n\nThe nine of hearts was a caricature of the English Copper and Brass\nCompany, with the following epigram:\n\n   \"The headlong-fool that wants to be a swopper\n    Of gold and silver coin for English copper,\n    May, in Change Alley, prove himself an ass,\n    And give rich metal for adultrate brass.\"\n\nThe eight of diamonds celebrated the company for the colonisation of\nAcadia, with this doggrel:\n\n   \"He that is rich and wants to fool away\n    A good round sum in North America,\n    Let him subscribe himself a headlong sharer,\n    And asses' ears shall honour him or bearer.\"\n\nAnd in a similar style every card of the pack exposed some knavish scheme,\nand ridiculed the persons who were its dupes. It was computed that the\ntotal amount of the sums proposed for carrying on these projects was\nupwards of three hundred millions sterling.\n\n[Illustration: MERCHANT'S GATEWAY]\n\nIt is time, however, to return to the great South-Sea gulf, that swallowed\nthe fortunes of so many thousands of the avaricious and the credulous. On\nthe 29th of May, the stock had risen as high as five hundred, and about\ntwo-thirds of the government annuitants had exchanged the securities of\nthe state for those of the South-Sea company. During the whole of the\nmonth of May the stock continued to rise, and on the 28th it was quoted at\nfive hundred and fifty. In four days after this it took a prodigious leap,\nrising suddenly from five hundred and fifty to eight hundred and ninety.\nIt was now the general opinion that the stock could rise no higher, and\nmany persons took that opportunity of selling out, with a view of\nrealising their profits. Many noblemen and persons in the train of the\nking, and about to accompany him to Hanover, were also anxious to sell\nout. So many sellers, and so few buyers, appeared in the Alley on the 3d\nof June, that the stock fell at once from eight hundred and ninety to six\nhundred and forty. The directors were alarmed, and gave their agents\norders to buy. Their efforts succeeded. Towards evening, confidence was\nrestored, and the stock advanced to seven hundred and fifty. It continued\nat this price, with some slight fluctuation, until the company closed\ntheir books on the 22d of June.\n\nIt would be needless and uninteresting to detail the various arts employed\nby the directors to keep up the price of stock. It will be sufficient to\nstate that it finally rose to one thousand per cent. It was quoted at this\nprice in, the commencement of August. The bubble was then full-blown, and\nbegan to quiver and shake preparatory to its bursting.\n\nMany of the government annuitants expressed dissatisfaction against the\ndirectors. They accused them of partiality in making out the lists for\nshares in each subscription. Further uneasiness was occasioned by its\nbeing generally known that Sir John Blunt the chairman, and some others,\nhad sold out. During the whole of the month of August the stock fell, and\non the 2d of September it was quoted at seven hundred only.\n\nThe state of things now became alarming. To prevent, if possible, the\nutter extinction of public confidence in their proceedings, the directors\nsummoned a general court of the whole corporation, to meet in Merchant\nTailors' Hall on the 8th of September. By nine o'clock in the morning, the\nroom was filled to suffocation; Cheapside was blocked up by a crowd unable\nto gain admittance, and the greatest excitement prevailed. The directors\nand their friends mustered in great numbers. Sir John Fellowes, the\nsub-governor, was called to the chair. He acquainted the assembly with the\ncause of their meeting; read to them the several resolutions of the court\nof directors, and gave them an account of their proceedings; of the taking\nin the redeemable and unredeemable funds, and of the subscriptions in\nmoney. Mr. Secretary Craggs then made a short speech, wherein he commended\nthe conduct of the directors, and urged that nothing could more\neffectually contribute to the bringing this scheme to perfection than\nunion among themselves. He concluded with a motion for thanking the court\nof directors for their prudent and skilful management, and for desiring\nthem to proceed in such manner as they should think most proper for the\ninterest and advantage of the corporation. Mr. Hungerford, who had\nrendered himself very conspicuous in the House of Commons for his zeal in\nbehalf of the South-Sea company, and who was shrewdly suspected to have\nbeen a considerable gainer by knowing the right time to sell out, was very\nmagniloquent on this occasion. He said that he had seen the rise and fall,\nthe decay and resurrection of many communities of this nature, but that,\nin his opinion, none had ever performed such wonderful things in so short\na time as the South-Sea company. They had done more than the crown, the\npulpit, or the bench could do. They had reconciled all parties in one\ncommon interest; they had laid asleep, if not wholly extinguished, all the\ndomestic jars and animosities of the nation. By the rise of their stock,\nmonied men had vastly increased their fortunes; country gentlemen had seen\nthe value of their lands doubled and trebled in their hands. They had at\nthe same time done good to the Church, not a few of the reverend clergy\nhaving got great sums by the project. In short, they had enriched the\nwhole nation, and he hoped they had not forgotten themselves. There was\nsome hissing at the latter part of this speech, which for the extravagance\nof its eulogy was not far removed from satire; but the directors and their\nfriends, and all the winners in the room, applauded vehemently. The Duke\nof Portland spoke in a similar strain, and expressed his great wonder why\nany body should be dissatisfied; of course, he was a winner by his\nspeculations, and in a condition similar to that of the fat alderman in\n_Joe Miller's Jests_, who, whenever he had eaten a good dinner, folded his\nhands upon his paunch, and expressed his doubts whether there could be a\nhungry man in the world.\n\n[Illustration: MR. SECRETARY CRAGGS.]\n\nSeveral resolutions were passed at this meeting, but they had no effect\nupon the public. Upon the very same evening the stock fell to six hundred\nand forty, and on the morrow to five hundred and forty. Day after day it\ncontinued to fall, until it was as low as four hundred. In a letter dated\nSeptember 13th, from Mr. Broderick, M.P., to Lord Chancellor Middleton,\nand published in Coxe's _Walpole_, the former says: \"Various are the\nconjectures why the South-Sea directors have suffered the cloud to break\nso early. I made no doubt but they would do so when they found it to their\nadvantage. They have stretched credit so far beyond what it would bear,\nthat specie proves insufficient to support it. Their most considerable men\nhave drawn out, securing themselves by the losses of the deluded,\nthoughtless numbers, whose understandings have been overruled by avarice\nand the hope of making mountains out of mole-hills. Thousands of families\nwill be reduced to beggary. The consternation is inexpressible--the rage\nbeyond description, and the case altogether so desperate, that I do not\nsee any plan or scheme so much as thought of for averting the blow, so\nthat I cannot pretend to guess what is next to be done.\" Ten days\nafterwards, the stock still falling, he writes: \"The company have yet come\nto no determination, for they are in such a wood that they know not which\nway to turn. By several gentlemen lately come to town, I perceive the very\nname of a South-Sea-man grows abominable in every country. A great many\ngoldsmiths are already run off, and more will daily. I question whether\none-third, nay, one-fourth of them can stand it. From the very beginning,\nI founded my judgment of the whole affair upon the unquestionable maxim,\nthat ten millions (which is more than our running cash) could not\ncirculate two hundred millions, beyond which our paper credit extended.\nThat, therefore, whenever that should become doubtful, be the cause what\nit would, our noble state machine must inevitably fall to the ground.\"\n\nOn the 12th of September, at the earnest solicitation of Mr. Secretary\nCraggs, several conferences were held between the directors of the South\nSea and the directors of the Bank. A report which was circulated, that the\nlatter had agreed to circulate six millions of the South-Sea company's\nbonds, caused the stock to rise to six hundred and seventy; but in the\nafternoon, as soon as the report was known to be groundless, the stock\nfell again to five hundred and eighty; the next day to five hundred and\nseventy, and so gradually to four hundred.[20]\n\n    [20] Gay (the poet), in that disastrous year, had a present from\n         young Craggs of some South-Sea stock, and once supposed\n         himself to be master of twenty thousand pounds. His friends\n         persuaded him to sell his share, but he dreamed of dignity\n         and splendour, and could not hear to obstruct his own\n         fortune. He was then importuned to sell as much as would\n         purchase a hundred a year for life, \"which,\" says Fenton,\n         \"will make you sure of a clean shirt and a shoulder of mutton\n         every day.\" This counsel was rejected; the profit and\n         principal were lost, and Gay sunk under the calamity so low\n         that his life became in danger.--_Johnson's Lives of the\n         Poets_\n\nThe ministry were seriously alarmed at the aspect of affairs. The\ndirectors could not appear in the streets without being insulted;\ndangerous riots were every moment apprehended. Despatches were sent off to\nthe king at Hanover, praying his immediate return. Mr. Walpole, who was\nstaying at his country seat, was sent for, that he might employ his known\ninfluence with the directors of the Bank of England to induce them to\naccept the proposal made by the South-Sea company for circulating a number\nof their bonds.\n\nThe Bank was very unwilling to mix itself up with the affairs of the\ncompany; it dreaded being involved in calamities which it could not\nrelieve, and received all overtures with visible reluctance. But the\nuniversal voice of the nation called upon it to come to the rescue. Every\nperson of note in commercial politics was called in to advise in the\nemergency. A rough draft of a contract drawn up by Mr. Walpole was\nultimately adopted as the basis of further negotiations, and the public\nalarm abated a little.\n\nOn the following day, the 20th of September, a general court of the\nSouth-Sea company was held at Merchant Tailors' Hall, in which resolutions\nwere carried, empowering the directors to agree with the Bank of England,\nor any other persons, to circulate the company's bonds, or make any other\nagreement with the Bank which they should think proper. One of the\nspeakers, a Mr. Pulteney, said it was most surprising to see the\nextraordinary panic which had seized upon the people. Men were running to\nand fro in alarm and terror, their imaginations filled with some great\ncalamity, the form and dimensions of which nobody knew:\n\n   \"Black it stood as night--\n    Fierce as ten furies--terrible as hell.\"\n\nAt a general court of the Bank of England held two days afterwards, the\ngovernor informed them of the several meetings that had been held on the\naffairs of the South-Sea company, adding that the directors had not yet\nthought fit to come to any decision upon the matter. A resolution was then\nproposed, and carried without a dissentient voice, empowering the\ndirectors to agree with those of the South Sea to circulate their bonds,\nto what sum, and upon what terms, and for what time, they might think\nproper.\n\nThus both parties were at liberty to act as they might judge best for the\npublic interest. Books were opened at the Bank for a subscription of three\nmillions for the support of public credit, on the usual terms of 15l. per\ncent deposit, 3l. per cent premium, and 5l. per cent interest. So great\nwas the concourse of people in the early part of the morning, all eagerly\nbringing their money, that it was thought the subscription would be filled\nthat day; but before noon, the tide turned. In spite of all that could be\ndone to prevent it, the South-Sea company's stock fell rapidly. Their\nbonds were in such discredit, that a run commenced upon the most eminent\ngoldsmiths and bankers, some of whom, having lent out great sums upon\nSouth-Sea stock, were obliged to shut up their shops and abscond. The\nSword-blade company, who had hitherto been the chief cashiers of the\nSouth-Sea company, stopped payment. This being looked upon as but the\nbeginning of evil, occasioned a great run upon the Bank, who were now\nobliged to pay out money much faster than they had received it upon the\nsubscription in the morning. The day succeeding was a holiday (the 29th of\nSeptember), and the Bank had a little breathing time. They bore up against\nthe storm; but their former rivals, the South-Sea company, were wrecked\nupon it. Their stock fell to one hundred and fifty, and gradually, after\nvarious fluctuations, to one hundred and thirty-five.\n\nThe Bank, finding they were not able to restore public confidence, and\nstem the tide of ruin, without running the risk of being swept away with\nthose they intended to save, declined to carry out the agreement into\nwhich they had partially entered. They were under no obligation whatever\nto continue; for the so-called Bank contract was nothing more than the\nrough draught of an agreement, in which blanks had been left for several\nimportant particulars, and which contained no penalty for their secession.\n\"And thus,\" to use the words of the Parliamentary History, \"were seen, in\nthe space of eight months, the rise, progress, and fall of that mighty\nfabric, which, being wound up by mysterious springs to a wonderful height,\nhad fixed the eyes and expectations of all Europe, but whose foundation,\nbeing fraud, illusion, credulity, and infatuation, fell to the ground as\nsoon as the artful management of its directors was discovered.\"\n\nIn the hey-day of its blood, during the progress of this dangerous\ndelusion, the manners of the nation became sensibly corrupted. The\nparliamentary inquiry, set on foot to discover the delinquents, disclosed\nscenes of infamy, disgraceful alike to the morals of the offenders and the\nintellects of the people among whom they had arisen. It is a deeply\ninteresting study to investigate all the evils that were the result.\nNations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity.\nPunishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later. A celebrated\nwriter[21] is quite wrong when he says, \"that such an era as this is the\nmost unfavourable for a historian; that no reader of sentiment and\nimagination can be entertained or interested by a detail of transactions\nsuch as these, which admit of no warmth, no colouring, no embellishment; a\ndetail of which only serves to exhibit an inanimate picture of tasteless\nvice and mean degeneracy.\" On the contrary,--and Smollett might have\ndiscovered it, if he had been in the humour,--the subject is capable of\ninspiring as much interest as even a novellist can desire. Is there no\nwarmth in the despair of a plundered people?--no life and animation in the\npicture which might be drawn of the woes of hundreds of impoverished and\nruined families? of the wealthy of yesterday become the beggars of to-day?\nof the powerful and influential changed into exiles and outcasts, and the\nvoice of self-reproach and imprecation resounding from every corner of the\nland? Is it a dull or uninstructive picture to see a whole people shaking\nsuddenly off the trammels of reason, and running wild after a golden\nvision, refusing obstinately to believe that it is not real, till, like a\ndeluded hind running after an _ignis fatuus_, they are plunged into a\nquagmire? But in this false spirit has history too often been written. The\nintrigues of unworthy courtiers to gain the favour of still more unworthy\nkings, or the records of murderous battles and sieges, have been dilated\non, and told over and over again, with all the eloquence of style and all\nthe charms of fancy; while the circumstances which have most deeply\naffected the morals and welfare of the people have been passed over with\nbut slight notice, as dry and dull, and capable of neither warmth nor\ncolouring.\n\n    [21] Smollett.\n\n[Illustration: CARICATURE.[22]]\n\n    [22] Caricature, copied from _Bubblers' Medley_, published by\n         Carrington Bowles.\n\nDuring the progress of this famous bubble, England presented a singular\nspectacle. The public mind was in a state of unwholesome fermentation. Men\nwere no longer satisfied with the slow but sure profits of cautious\nindustry. The hope of boundless wealth for the morrow made them heedless\nand extravagant for to-day. A luxury, till then unheard-of, was\nintroduced, bringing in its train a corresponding laxity of morals. The\nover-bearing insolence of ignorant men, who had arisen to sudden wealth by\nsuccessful gambling, made men of true gentility of mind and manners blush\nthat gold should have power to raise the unworthy in the scale of society.\nThe haughtiness of some of these \"cyphering cits,\" as they were termed by\nSir Richard Steele, was remembered against them in the day of their\nadversity. In the parliamentary inquiry, many of the directors suffered\nmore for their insolence than for their peculation. One of them, who, in\nthe full-blown pride of an ignorant rich man, had said that he would feed\nhis horse upon gold, was reduced almost to bread and water for himself;\nevery haughty look, every overbearing speech, was set down, and repaid\nthem a hundredfold in poverty and humiliation.\n\nThe state of matters all over the country was so alarming, that George I.\nshortened his intended stay in Hanover, and returned in all haste to\nEngland. He arrived on the 11th of November, and parliament was summoned\nto meet on the 8th of December. In the mean time, public meetings were\nheld in every considerable town of the empire, at which petitions were\nadopted, praying the vengeance of the legislature upon the South-Sea\ndirectors, who, by their fraudulent practices, had brought the nation to\nthe brink of ruin. Nobody seemed to imagine that the nation itself was as\nculpable as the South-Sea company. Nobody blamed the credulity and avarice\nof the people,--the degrading lust of gain, which had swallowed up every\nnobler quality in the national character, or the infatuation which had\nmade the multitude run their heads with such frantic eagerness into the\nnet held out for them by scheming projectors. These things were never\nmentioned. The people were a simple, honest, hard-working people, ruined\nby a gang of robbers, who were to be hanged, drawn, and quartered without\nmercy.\n\nThis was the almost unanimous feeling of the country. The two Houses of\nParliament were not more reasonable. Before the guilt of the South-Sea\ndirectors was known, punishment was the only cry. The king, in his speech\nfrom the throne, expressed his hope that they would remember that all\ntheir prudence, temper, and resolution were necessary to find out and\napply the proper remedy for their misfortunes. In the debate on the answer\nto the address, several speakers indulged in the most violent invectives\nagainst the directors of the South-Sea project. The Lord Molesworth was\nparticularly vehement. \"It had been said by some, that there was no law to\npunish the directors of the South-Sea company, who were justly looked upon\nas the authors of the present misfortunes of the state. In his opinion,\nthey ought upon this occasion to follow the example of the ancient Romans,\nwho, having no law against parricide, because their legislators supposed\nno son could be so unnaturally wicked as to embrue his hands in his\nfather's blood, made a law to punish this heinous crime as soon as it was\ncommitted. They adjudged the guilty wretch to be sown in a sack, and\nthrown alive into the Tiber. He looked upon the contrivers and executors\nof the villanous South-Sea scheme as the parricides of their country, and\nshould be satisfied to see them tied in like manner in sacks, and thrown\ninto the Thames.\" Other members spoke with as much want of temper and\ndiscretion. Mr. Walpole was more moderate. He recommended that their first\ncare should be to restore public credit. \"If the city of London were on\nfire, all wise men would aid in extinguishing the flames, and preventing\nthe spread of the conflagration, before they inquired after the incendiaries.\nPublic credit had received a dangerous wound, and lay bleeding, and they\nought to apply a speedy remedy to it. It was time enough to punish the\nassassin afterwards.\" On the 9th of December an address, in answer to his\nmajesty's speech, was agreed upon, after an amendment, which was carried\nwithout a division, that words should be added expressive of the\ndetermination of the house not only to seek a remedy for the national\ndistresses, but to punish the authors of them.\n\n[Illustration: BRITANNIA STRIPT BY A SOUTH-SEA DIRECTOR.[23]]\n\n    [23] Britannia stript by a South-Sea Director. From _Het groote\n         Tafereel der Dwaasheid_.\n\nThe inquiry proceeded rapidly. The directors were ordered to lay before\nthe house a full account of all their proceedings. Resolutions were passed\nto the effect that the calamity was mainly owing to the vile arts of\nstock-jobbers, and that nothing could tend more to the reestablishment of\npublic credit than a law to prevent this infamous practice. Mr. Walpole\nthen rose, and said, that \"as he had previously hinted, he had spent some\ntime upon a scheme for restoring public credit, but that the execution of\nit depending upon a position which had been laid down as fundamental, he\nthought it proper, before he opened out his scheme, to be informed whether\nhe might rely upon that foundation. It was, whether the subscription of\npublic debts and encumbrances, money subscriptions, and other contracts,\nmade with the South-Sea company, should remain in the present state?\" This\nquestion occasioned an animated debate. It was finally agreed, by a\nmajority of 259 against 117, that all these contracts should remain in\ntheir present state, unless altered for the relief of the proprietors by a\ngeneral court of the South-Sea company, or set aside by due course of law.\nOn the following day, Mr. Walpole laid before a committee of the whole\nhouse his scheme for the restoration of public credit, which was, in\nsubstance, to engraft nine millions of South-Sea stock into the Bank of\nEngland, and the same sum into the East India company, upon certain\nconditions. The plan was favourably received by the house. After some few\nobjections, it was ordered that proposals should be received from the two\ngreat corporations. They were both unwilling to lend their aid, and the\nplan met with a warm but fruitless opposition at the general courts\nsummoned for the purpose of deliberating upon it. They, however,\nultimately agreed upon the terms on which they would consent to circulate\nthe South-Sea bonds, and their report being presented to the committee, a\nbill was brought in under the superintendence of Mr. Walpole, and safely\ncarried through both Houses of Parliament.\n\nA bill was at the same time brought in for restraining the South-Sea\ndirectors, governor, sub-governor, treasurer, cashier, and clerks from\nleaving the kingdom for a twelvemonth, and for discovering their estates\nand effects, and preventing them from transporting or alienating the same.\nAll the most influential members of the House supported the bill. Mr.\nShippen, seeing Mr. Secretary Craggs in his place, and believing the\ninjurious rumours that were afloat of that minister's conduct in the\nSouth-Sea business, determined to touch him to the quick. He said, he was\nglad to see a British House of Commons resuming its pristine vigour and\nspirit, and acting with so much unanimity for the public good. It was\nnecessary to secure the persons and estates of the South-Sea directors and\ntheir officers; \"but,\" he added, looking fixedly at Mr. Craggs as he\nspoke, \"there were other men in high station, whom, in time, he would not\nbe afraid to name, who were no less guilty than the directors.\" Mr. Craggs\narose in great wrath, and said, that if the innuendo were directed against\nhim, he was ready to give satisfaction to any man who questioned him,\neither in the House or out of it. Loud cries of order immediately arose on\nevery side. In the midst of the uproar, Lord Molesworth got up, and\nexpressed his wonder at the boldness of Mr. Craggs in challenging the\nwhole House of Commons. He, Lord Molesworth, though somewhat old, past\nsixty, would answer Mr. Craggs whatever he had to say in the House, and he\ntrusted there were plenty of young men beside him, who would not be afraid\nto look Mr. Craggs in the face out of the House. The cries of order again\nresounded from every side; the members arose simultaneously; every body\nseemed to be vociferating at once. The speaker in vain called order. The\nconfusion lasted several minutes, during which Lord Molesworth and Mr.\nCraggs were almost the only members who kept their seats. At last, the\ncall for Mr. Craggs became so violent, that he thought proper to submit to\nthe universal feeling of the House, and explain his unparliamentary\nexpression. He said, that by giving satisfaction to the impugners of his\nconduct in that House, he did not mean that he would fight, but that he\nwould explain his conduct. Here the matter ended, and the House proceeded\nto debate in what manner they should conduct their inquiry into the\naffairs of the South-Sea company, whether in a grand or a select\ncommittee. Ultimately, a secret committee of thirteen was appointed, with\npower to send for persons, papers, and records.\n\nThe Lords were as zealous and as hasty as the Commons. The Bishop of\nRochester said the scheme had been like a pestilence. The Duke of Wharton\nsaid the House ought to shew no respect of persons; that, for his part, he\nwould give up the dearest friend he had, if he had been engaged in the\nproject. The nation had been plundered in a most shameful and flagrant\nmanner, and he would go as far as any body in the punishment of the\noffenders. Lord Stanhope said, that every farthing possessed by the\ncriminals, whether directors or not directors, ought to be confiscated, to\nmake good the public losses.\n\nDuring all this time the public excitement was extreme. We learn from\nCoxe's _Walpole_, that the very name of a South-Sea director was thought\nto be synonymous with every species of fraud and villany. Petitions from\ncounties, cities, and boroughs, in all parts of the kingdom, were\npresented, crying for the justice due to an injured nation and the\npunishment of the villanous peculators. Those moderate men, who would not\ngo to extreme lengths, even in the punishment of the guilty, were accused\nof being accomplices, were exposed to repeated insults and virulent\ninvectives, and devoted, both in anonymous letters and public writings, to\nthe speedy vengeance of an injured people. The accusations against Mr.\nAislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Mr. Craggs, another member of\nthe ministry, were so loud, that the House of Lords resolved to proceed at\nonce into the investigation concerning them. It was ordered, on the 21st\nof January, that all brokers concerned in the South-Sea scheme should lay\nbefore the House an account of the stock or subscriptions bought or sold\nby them for any of the officers of the Treasury or Exchequer, or in trust\nfor any of them, since Michaelmas 1719. When this account was delivered,\nit appeared that large quantities of stock had been transferred to the use\nof Mr. Aislabie. Five of the South-Sea directors, including Mr. Edward\nGibbon, the grandfather of the celebrated historian, were ordered into the\ncustody of the black rod. Upon a motion made by Earl Stanhope, it was\nunanimously resolved, that the taking in or giving credit for stock\nwithout a valuable consideration actually paid or sufficiently secured; or\nthe purchasing stock by any director or agent of the South-Sea company,\nfor the use or benefit of any member of the administration, or any member\nof either House of Parliament, during such time as the South-Sea bill was\nyet pending in parliament, was a notorious and dangerous corruption.\nAnother resolution was passed a few days afterwards, to the effect that\nseveral of the directors and officers of the company having, in a\nclandestine manner, sold their own stock to the company, had been guilty\nof a notorious fraud and breach of trust, and had thereby mainly caused\nthe unhappy turn of affairs that had so much affected public credit. Mr.\nAislabie resigned his office as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and absented\nhimself from parliament, until the formal inquiry into his individual\nguilt was brought under the consideration of the legislature.\n\nIn the mean time, Knight, the treasurer of the company, and who was\nentrusted with all the dangerous secrets of the dishonest directors,\npacked up his books and documents, and made his escape from the country.\nHe embarked in disguise, in a small boat on the river, and proceeding to a\nvessel hired for the purpose, was safely conveyed to Calais. The Committee\nof Secrecy informed the House of the circumstance, when it was resolved\nunanimously that two addresses should be presented to the king; the first\npraying that he would issue a proclamation offering a reward for the\napprehension of Knight; and the second, that he would give immediate\norders to stop the ports, and to take effectual care of the coasts, to\nprevent the said Knight, or any other officers of the South-Sea company,\nfrom escaping out of the kingdom. The ink was hardly dry upon these\naddresses before they were carried to the king by Mr. Methuen, deputed by\nthe House for that purpose. The same evening a royal proclamation was\nissued, offering a reward of two thousand pounds for the apprehension of\nKnight. The Commons ordered the doors of the House to be locked, and the\nkeys to be placed on the table. General Ross, one of the members of the\nCommittee of Secrecy, acquainted them that they had already discovered a\ntrain of the deepest villany and fraud that hell had ever contrived to\nruin a nation, which in due time they would lay before the House. In the\nmean time, in order to a further discovery, the Committee thought it\nhighly necessary to secure the persons of some of the directors and\nprincipal South-Sea officers, and to seize their papers. A motion to this\neffect having been made, was carried unanimously. Sir Robert Chaplin, Sir\nTheodore Janssen, Mr. Sawbridge, and Mr. F. Eyles, members of the House,\nand directors of the South-Sea company, were summoned to appear in their\nplaces, and answer for their corrupt practices. Sir Theodore Janssen and\nMr. Sawbridge answered to their names, and endeavoured to exculpate\nthemselves. The House heard them patiently, and then ordered them to\nwithdraw. A motion was then made, and carried _nemine contradicente_, that\nthey had been guilty of a notorious breach of trust--had occasioned much\nloss to great numbers of his majesty's subjects, and had highly prejudiced\nthe public credit. It was then ordered that, for their offence, they\nshould be expelled the House, and taken into the custody of the\nsergeant-at-arms. Sir Robert Chaplin and Mr. Eyles, attending in their\nplaces four days afterwards, were also expelled the House. It was resolved\nat the same time to address the king to give directions to his ministers\nat foreign courts to make application for Knight, that he might be\ndelivered up to the English authorities, in case he took refuge in any of\ntheir dominions. The king at once agreed, and messengers were despatched\nto all parts of the continent the same night.\n\nAmong the directors taken into custody was Sir John Blunt, the man whom\npopular opinion has generally accused of having been the original author\nand father of the scheme. This man, we are informed by Pope, in his\nepistle to Allen Lord Bathurst, was a dissenter, of a most religious\ndeportment, and professed to be a great believer.[24] He constantly\ndeclaimed against the luxury and corruption of the age, the partiality of\nparliaments, and the misery of party spirit. He was particularly eloquent\nagainst avarice in great and noble persons. He was originally a scrivener,\nand afterwards became, not only a director, but the most active manager of\nthe South-Sea company. Whether it was during his career in this capacity\nthat he first began to declaim against the avarice of the great, we are\nnot informed. He certainly must have seen enough of it to justify his\nseverest anathema; but if the preacher had himself been free from the vice\nhe condemned, his declamations would have had a better effect. He was\nbrought up in custody to the bar of the House of Lords, and underwent a\nlong examination. He refused to answer several important questions. He\nsaid he had been examined already by a committee of the House of Commons,\nand as he did not remember his answers, and might contradict himself, he\nrefused to answer before another tribunal. This declaration, in itself an\nindirect proof of guilt, occasioned some commotion in the House. He was\nagain asked peremptorily whether he had ever sold any portion of the stock\nto any member of the administration, or any member of either House of\nParliament, to facilitate the passing of the bill. He again declined to\nanswer. He was anxious, he said, to treat the House with all possible\nrespect, but he thought it hard to be compelled to accuse himself. After\nseveral ineffectual attempts to refresh his memory, he was directed to\nwithdraw. A violent discussion ensued between the friends and opponents of\nthe ministry. It was asserted that the administration were no strangers to\nthe convenient taciturnity of Sir John Blunt. The Duke of Wharton made a\nreflection upon the Earl Stanhope, which the latter warmly resented. He\nspoke under great excitement, and with such vehemence as to cause a sudden\ndetermination of blood to the head. He felt himself so ill that he was\nobliged to leave the House and retire to his chamber. He was cupped\nimmediately, and also let blood on the following morning, but with slight\nrelief. The fatal result was not anticipated. Towards evening he became\ndrowsy, and turning himself on his face, expired. The sudden death of this\nstatesman caused great grief to the nation. George I. was exceedingly\naffected, and shut himself up for some hours in his closet, inconsolable\nfor his loss.\n\n    [24] \"'God cannot love,' says Blunt, with tearless eyes,\n          'The wretch he starves, and piously denies.' . . .\n           Much-injur'd Blunt! why bears he Britain's hate?\n           A wizard told him in these words our fate:\n          'At length corruption, like a gen'ral flood,\n           So long by watchful ministers withstood,\n           Shall deluge all; and av'rice, creeping on,\n           Spread like a low-born mist, and blot the sun;\n           Statesman and patriot ply alike the stocks,\n           Peeress and butler share alike the box,\n           And judges job, and bishops bite the Town,\n           And mighty dukes pack cards for half-a-crown:\n           See Britain sunk in Lucre's forbid charms,\n           And France reveng'd of Ann's and Edward's arms!'\n           'Twas no court-badge, great Scriv'ner! fir'd thy brain,\n           Nor lordly luxury, nor city gain:\n           No, 'twas thy righteous end, asham'd to see\n           Senates degen'rate, patriots disagree,\n           And nobly wishing party-rage to cease,\n           To buy both sides, and give thy country peace.\"\n                            _Pope's Epistle to Allen Lord Bathurst_.\n\nKnight, the treasurer of the company, was apprehended at Tirlemont, near\nLiege, by one of the secretaries of Mr. Leathes, the British resident at\nBrussels, and lodged in the citadel of Antwerp. Repeated applications were\nmade to the court of Austria to deliver him up, but in vain. Knight threw\nhimself upon the protection of the states of Brabant, and demanded to be\ntried in that country. It was a privilege granted to the states of Brabant\nby one of the articles of the _Joyeuse Entr\u00e9e_, that every criminal\napprehended in that country should be tried in that country. The states\ninsisted on their privilege, and refused to deliver Knight to the British\nauthorities. The latter did not cease their solicitations; but in the mean\ntime, Knight escaped from the citadel.\n\n[Illustration: BRABANT SCREEN.[25]]\n\n    [25] The Brabant Screen. This caricature represents the Duchess of\n         Kendal behind the \"Brabant Screen,\" supplying Mr. Knight with\n         money to facilitate his escape; and is copied from a rare\n         print of the time, in the collection of E. Hawkins, Esq.\n         F.S.A.\n\nOn the 16th of February the Committee of Secrecy made their first report\nto the House. They stated that their inquiry had been attended with\nnumerous difficulties and embarrassments; every one they had examined had\nendeavoured, as far as in him lay, to defeat the ends of justice. In some\nof the books produced before them, false and fictitious entries had been\nmade; in others, there were entries of money with blanks for the name of\nthe stockholders. There were frequent erasures and alterations, and in\nsome of the books leaves were torn out. They also found that some books of\ngreat importance had been destroyed altogether, and that some had been\ntaken away or secreted. At the very entrance into their inquiry, they had\nobserved that the matters referred to them were of great variety and\nextent. Many persons had been entrusted with various parts in the\nexecution of the law, and under colour thereof had acted in an\nunwarrantable manner, in disposing of the properties of many thousands of\npersons amounting to many millions of money. They discovered that, before\nthe South-Sea Act was passed, there was an entry in the company's books of\nthe sum of 1,259,325l., upon account of stock stated to have been sold to\nthe amount of 574,500l. This stock was all fictitious, and had been\ndisposed of with a view to promote the passing of the bill. It was noted\nas sold on various days, and at various prices, from 150 to 325 per cent.\nBeing surprised to see so large an account disposed of at a time when the\ncompany were not empowered to increase their capital, the Committee\ndetermined to investigate most carefully the whole transaction. The\ngovernor, sub-governor, and several directors were brought before them,\nand examined rigidly. They found that, at the time these entries were\nmade, the company was not in possession of such a quantity of stock,\nhaving in their own right only a small quantity, not exceeding thirty\nthousand pounds at the utmost. Pursuing the inquiry, they found that this\namount of stock was to be esteemed as taken in or holden by the company\nfor the benefit of the pretended purchasers, although no mutual agreement\nwas made for its delivery or acceptance at any certain time. No money was\npaid down, nor any deposit or security whatever given to the company by\nthe supposed purchasers; so that if the stock had fallen, as might have\nbeen expected had the act not passed, they would have sustained no loss.\nIf, on the contrary, the price of stock advanced (as it actually did by\nthe success of the scheme), the difference by the advanced price was to be\nmade good to them. Accordingly, after the passing of the act, the account\nof stock was made up and adjusted with Mr. Knight, and the pretended\npurchasers were paid the difference out of the company's cash. This\nfictitious stock, which had been chiefly at the disposal of Sir John\nBlunt, Mr. Gibbon, and Mr. Knight, was distributed among several members\nof the government and their connexions, by way of bribe, to facilitate the\npassing of the bill. To the Earl of Sunderland was assigned 50,000l. of\nthis stock; to the Duchess of Kendal, 10,000l.; to the Countess of Platen,\n10,000l.; to her two nieces, 10,000l.; to Mr. Secretary Craggs, 30,000l.;\nto Mr. Charles Stanhope (one of the secretaries of the Treasury),\n10,000l.; to the Sword-blade company, 50,000l. It also appeared that Mr.\nStanhope had received the enormous sum of 250,000l. as the difference in\nthe price of some stock, through the hands of Turner, Caswall, and Co.,\nbut that his name had been partly erased from their books, and altered to\nStangape. Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had made profits\nstill more abominable. He had an account with the same firm, who were also\nSouth-Sea directors, to the amount of 794,451l. He had, besides, advised\nthe company to make their second subscription one million and a half,\ninstead of a million, by their own authority, and without any warrant. The\nthird subscription had been conducted in a manner as disgraceful. Mr.\nAislabie's name was down for 70,000l.; Mr. Craggs, senior, for 659,000l.;\nthe Earl of Sunderland's for 160,000l.; and Mr. Stanhope for 47,000l. This\nreport was succeeded by six others, less important. At the end of the\nlast, the committee declared, that the absence of Knight, who had been\nprincipally entrusted, prevented them from carrying on their inquiries.\n\nThe first report was ordered to be printed, and taken into consideration\non the next day but one succeeding. After a very angry and animated\ndebate, a series of resolutions were agreed to, condemnatory of the\nconduct of the directors, of the members of the parliament and of the\nadministration concerned with them; and declaring that they ought, each\nand all, to make satisfaction out of their own estates for the injury they\nhad done the public. Their practices were declared to be corrupt,\ninfamous, and dangerous; and a bill was ordered to be brought in for the\nrelief of the unhappy sufferers.\n\n[Illustration: BONFIRES ON TOWER HILL]\n\nMr. Charles Stanhope was the first person brought to account for his share\nin these transactions. He urged in his defence that, for some years past,\nhe had lodged all the money he was possessed of in Mr. Knight's hands, and\nwhatever stock Mr. Knight had taken in for him, he had paid a valuable\nconsideration for it. As for the stock that had been bought for him by\nTurner, Caswall, and Co., he knew nothing about it. Whatever had been done\nin that matter was done without his authority, and he could not be\nresponsible for it. Turner and Co. took the latter charge upon themselves;\nbut it was notorious to every unbiassed and unprejudiced person that Mr.\nStanhope was a gainer of the 250,000l. which lay in the hands of that firm\nto his credit. He was, however, acquitted by a majority of three only. The\ngreatest exertions were made to screen him. Lord Stanhope, the son of the\nEarl of Chesterfield, went round to the wavering members, using all the\neloquence he was possessed of to induce them either to vote for the\nacquittal, or to absent themselves from the House. Many weak-headed\ncountry gentlemen were led astray by his persuasions, and the result was\nas already stated. The acquittal caused the greatest discontent throughout\nthe country. Mobs of a menacing character assembled in different parts of\nLondon; fears of riots were generally entertained, especially as the\nexamination of a still greater delinquent was expected by many to have a\nsimilar termination. Mr. Aislabie, whose high office and deep\nresponsibilities should have kept him honest, even had native principle\nbeen insufficient, was very justly regarded as perhaps the greatest\ncriminal of all. His case was entered into on the day succeeding the\nacquittal of Mr. Stanhope. Great excitement prevailed, and the lobbies and\navenues of the House were beset by crowds, impatient to know the result.\nThe debate lasted the whole day. Mr. Aislabie found few friends: his guilt\nwas so apparent and so heinous that nobody had courage to stand up in his\nfavour. It was finally resolved, without a dissentient voice, that Mr.\nAislabie had encouraged and promoted the destructive execution of the\nSouth-Sea scheme with a view to his own exorbitant profit, and had\ncombined with the directors in their pernicious practices, to the ruin of\nthe public trade and credit of the kingdom: that he should for his\noffences be ignominiously expelled from the House of Commons, and\ncommitted a close prisoner to the Tower of London; that he should be\nrestrained from going out of the kingdom for a whole year, or till the end\nof the next session of Parliament; and that he should make out a correct\naccount of all his estate, in order that it might be applied to the relief\nof those who had suffered by his mal-practices.\n\nThis verdict caused the greatest joy. Though it was delivered at half-past\ntwelve at night, it soon spread over the city. Several persons illuminated\ntheir houses in token of their joy. On the following day, when Mr.\nAislabie was conveyed to the Tower, the mob assembled on Tower-hill with\nthe intention of hooting and pelting him. Not succeeding in this, they\nkindled a large bonfire, and danced around it in the exuberance of their\ndelight. Several bonfires were made in other places; London presented the\nappearance of a holiday, and people congratulated one another as if they\nhad just escaped from some great calamity. The rage upon the acquittal of\nMr. Stanhope had grown to such a height that none could tell where it\nwould have ended, had Mr. Aislabie met with the like indulgence.\n\nTo increase the public satisfaction, Sir George Caswall, of the firm of\nTurner, Caswall, and Co., was expelled from the House on the following\nday, committed to the Tower, and ordered to refund the sum of 250,000l.\n\n[Illustration: EARL OF SUNDERLAND.]\n\nThat part of the report of the Committee of Secrecy which related to the\nEarl of Sunderland was next taken into consideration. Every effort was\nmade to clear his lordship from the imputation. As the case against him\nrested chiefly on the evidence extorted from Sir John Blunt, great pains\nwere taken to make it appear that Sir John's word was not to be believed,\nespecially in a matter affecting the honour of a peer and privy\ncouncillor. All the friends of the ministry rallied around the earl, it\nbeing generally reported that a verdict of guilty against him would bring\na Tory ministry into power. He was eventually acquitted by a majority of\n233 against 172; but the country was convinced of his guilt. The greatest\nindignation was every where expressed, and menacing mobs again assembled\nin London. Happily no disturbance took place.\n\nThis was the day on which Mr. Craggs the elder expired. The morrow had\nbeen appointed for the consideration of his case. It was very generally\nbelieved that he had poisoned himself. It appeared, however, that grief\nfor the loss of his son, one of the secretaries of the Treasury, who had\ndied five weeks previously of the small-pox, preyed much on his mind. For\nthis son, dearly beloved, he had been amassing vast heaps of riches: he\nhad been getting money, but not honestly; and he for whose sake he had\nbartered his honour and sullied his fame was now no more. The dread of\nfurther exposure increased his trouble of mind, and ultimately brought on\nan apoplectic fit, in which he expired. He left a fortune of a million and\na half, which was afterwards confiscated for the benefit of the sufferers\nby the unhappy delusion he had been so mainly instrumental in raising.\n\nOne by one the case of every director of the company was taken into\nconsideration. A sum amounting to two millions and fourteen thousand\npounds was confiscated from their estates towards repairing the mischief\nthey had done, each man being allowed a certain residue in proportion to\nhis conduct and circumstances, with which he might begin the world anew.\nSir John Blunt was only allowed 5,000l. out of his fortune of upwards of\n183,000l.; Sir John Fellows was allowed 10,000l. out of 243,000l.; Sir\nTheodore Janssen, 50,000l. out of 243,000l.; Mr. Edward Gibbon, 10,000l.\nout of 106,000l.; Sir John Lambert, 5000l. out of 72,000l. Others, less\ndeeply involved, were treated with greater liberality. Gibbon, the\nhistorian, whose grandfather was the Mr. Edward Gibbon so severely\nmulcted, has given, in the _Memoirs of his Life and Writings_, an\ninteresting account of the proceedings in parliament at this time. He owns\nthat he is not an unprejudiced witness; but, as all the writers from which\nit is possible to extract any notice of the proceedings of these\ndisastrous years were prejudiced on the other side, the statements of the\ngreat historian become of additional value. If only on the principle _audi\nalteram partem_, his opinion is entitled to consideration. \"In the year\n1716,\" he says, \"my grandfather was elected one of the directors of the\nSouth-Sea company, and his books exhibited the proof that before his\nacceptance of that fatal office, he had acquired an independent fortune of\n60,000l. But his fortune was overwhelmed in the shipwreck of the year\n1720, and the labours of thirty years were blasted in a single day. Of the\nuse or abuse of the South-Sea scheme, of the guilt or innocence of my\ngrandfather and his brother directors, I am neither a competent nor a\ndisinterested judge. Yet the equity of modern times must condemn the\nviolent and arbitrary proceedings, which would have disgraced the cause of\njustice, and rendered injustice still more odious. No sooner had the\nnation awakened from its golden dream, than a popular and even a\nparliamentary clamour demanded its victims; but it was acknowledged on all\nsides, that the directors, however guilty, could not be touched by any\nknown laws of the land. The intemperate notions of Lord Molesworth were\nnot literally acted on; but a bill of pains and penalties was\nintroduced--a retro-active statute, to punish the offences which did not\nexist at the time they were committed. The legislature restrained the\npersons of the directors, imposed an exorbitant security for their\nappearance, and marked their character with a previous note of ignominy.\nThey were compelled to deliver, upon oath, the strict value of their\nestates, and were disabled from making any transfer or alienation of any\npart of their property. Against a bill of pains and penalties, it is the\ncommon right of every subject to be heard by his counsel at the bar. They\nprayed to be heard. Their prayer was refused, and their oppressors, who\nrequired no evidence, would listen to no defence. It had been at first\nproposed, that one-eighth of their respective estates should be allowed\nfor the future support of the directors; but it was especially urged that,\nin the various shades of opulence and guilt, such a proportion would be\ntoo light for many, and for some might possibly be too heavy. The\ncharacter and conduct of each man were separately weighed; but, instead of\nthe calm solemnity of a judicial inquiry, the fortune and honour of\nthirty-three Englishmen were made the topics of hasty conversation, the\nsport of a lawless majority; and the basest member of the committee, by a\nmalicious word or a silent vote, might indulge his general spleen or\npersonal animosity. Injury was aggravated by insult, and insult was\nembittered by pleasantry. Allowances of 20l. or 1s. were facetiously\nmoved. A vague report that a director had formerly been concerned in\nanother project, by which some unknown persons had lost their money, was\nadmitted as a proof of his actual guilt. One man was ruined because he had\ndropped a foolish speech, that his horses should feed upon gold; another,\nbecause he was grown so proud, that one day, at the Treasury, he had\nrefused a civil answer to persons much above him. All were condemned,\nabsent and unheard, in arbitrary fines and forfeitures, which swept away\nthe greatest part of their substance. Such bold oppression can scarcely be\nshielded by the omnipotence of parliament. My grandfather could not expect\nto be treated with more lenity than his companions. His Tory principles\nand connexions rendered him obnoxious to the ruling powers. His name was\nreported in a suspicious secret. His well-known abilities could not plead\nthe excuse of ignorance or error. In the first proceedings against the\nSouth-Sea directors, Mr. Gibbon was one of the first taken into custody,\nand in the final sentence the measure of his fine proclaimed him eminently\nguilty. The total estimate, which he delivered on oath to the House of\nCommons, amounted to 106,543l. 5s. 6d., exclusive of antecedent\nsettlements. Two different allowances of 15,000l. and of 10,000l. were\nmoved for Mr. Gibbon; but on the question being put, it was carried\nwithout a division for the smaller sum. On these ruins, with the skill and\ncredit of which parliament had not been able to despoil him, my\ngrandfather, at a mature age, erected the edifice of a new fortune. The\nlabours of sixteen years were amply rewarded; and I have reason to believe\nthat the second structure was not much inferior to the first.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE SOUTH-SEA BUBBLE.--CARICATURE BY HOGARTH.[26]]\n\n    [26] Emblematic print of the South-Sea Scheme. By W. Hogarth.\n\nThe next consideration of the legislature, after the punishment of the\ndirectors, was to restore public credit. The scheme of Walpole had been\nfound insufficient, and had fallen into disrepute. A computation was made\nof the whole capital stock of the South-Sea company at the end of the year\n1720. It was found to amount to thirty-seven millions eight hundred\nthousand pounds, of which the stock allotted to all the proprietors only\namounted to twenty-four millions five hundred thousand pounds. The\nremainder of thirteen millions three hundred thousand pounds belonged to\nthe company in their corporate capacity, and was the profit they had made\nby the national delusion. Upwards of eight millions of this were taken\nfrom the company, and divided among the proprietors and subscribers\ngenerally, making a dividend of about 33l. 6s. 8d. per cent. This was a\ngreat relief. It was further ordered, that such persons as had borrowed\nmoney from the South-Sea company upon stock actually transferred and\npledged at the time of borrowing to or for the use of the company, should\nbe free from all demands, upon payment of ten per cent of the sums so\nborrowed. They had lent about eleven millions in this manner, at a time\nwhen prices were unnaturally raised; and they now received back one\nmillion one hundred thousand, when prices had sunk to their ordinary\nlevel.\n\nBut it was a long time before public credit was thoroughly restored.\nEnterprise, like Icarus, had soared too high, and melted the wax of her\nwings; like Icarus, she had fallen into a sea, and learned, while\nfloundering in its waves, that her proper element was the solid ground.\nShe has never since attempted so high a flight.\n\nIn times of great commercial prosperity there has been a tendency to\nover-speculation on several occasions since then. The success of one\nproject generally produces others of a similar kind. Popular imitativeness\nwill always, in a trading nation, seize hold of such successes, and drag a\ncommunity too anxious for profits into an abyss from which extrication is\ndifficult. Bubble companies, of a kind similar to those engendered by the\nSouth-Sea project, lived their little day in the famous year of the panic,\n1825. On that occasion, as in 1720, knavery gathered a rich harvest from\ncupidity, but both suffered when the day of reckoning came. The schemes of\nthe year 1836 threatened, at one time, results as disastrous; but they\nwere happily averted before it was too late.[27]\n\n    [27] The South-Sea project remained until 1845 the greatest\n         example in British history of the infatuation of the people\n         for commercial gambling. The first edition of these volumes\n         was published some time before the outbreak of the Great\n         Railway Mania of that and the following year.\n\n[Illustration: BUBBLERS' ARMS--DESPAIR--FROM A PRINT IN THE COLLECTION OF\nE. HAWKINS, ESQ.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: CONRAD GESNER.]\n\n\nTHE TULIPOMANIA.\n\n    Quis furor, \u00f4 cives!--_Lucan_.\n\n\nThe tulip,--so named, it is said, from a Turkish word, signifying a\nturban,--was introduced into western Europe about the middle of the\nsixteenth century. Conrad Gesner, who claims the merit of having brought\nit into repute,--little dreaming of the commotion it was shortly\nafterwards to make in the world,--says that he first saw it in the year\n1559, in a garden at Augsburg, belonging to the learned Counsellor\nHerwart, a man very famous in his day for his collection of rare exotics.\nThe bulbs were sent to this gentleman by a friend at Constantinople, where\nthe flower had long been a favourite. In the course of ten or eleven years\nafter this period, tulips were much sought after by the wealthy,\nespecially in Holland and Germany. Rich people at Amsterdam sent for the\nbulbs direct to Constantinople, and paid the most extravagant prices for\nthem. The first roots planted in England were brought from Vienna in 1600.\nUntil the year 1634 the tulip annually increased in reputation, until it\nwas deemed a proof of bad taste in any man of fortune to be without a\ncollection of them. Many learned men, including Pompeius de Angelis and\nthe celebrated Lipsius of Leyden, the author of the treatise \"De\nConstantia,\" were passionately fond of tulips. The rage for possessing\nthem soon caught the middle classes of society, and merchants and\nshopkeepers, even of moderate means, began to vie with each other in the\nrarity of these flowers and the preposterous prices they paid for them. A\ntrader at Harlaem was known to pay one-half of his fortune for a single\nroot, not with the design of selling it again at a profit, but to keep in\nhis own conservatory for the admiration of his acquaintance.\n\nOne would suppose that there must have been some great virtue in this\nflower to have made it so valuable in the eyes of so prudent a people as\nthe Dutch; but it has neither the beauty nor the perfume of the\nrose--hardly the beauty of the \"sweet, sweet-pea;\" neither is it as\nenduring as either. Cowley, it is true, is loud in its praise. He says--\n\n   \"The tulip next appeared, all over gay,\n    But wanton, full of pride, and full of play;\n    The world can't shew a dye but here has place;\n    Nay, by new mixtures, she can change her face;\n    Purple and gold are both beneath her care,\n    The richest needlework she loves to wear;\n    Her only study is to please the eye,\n    And to outshine the rest in finery.\"\n\nThis, though not very poetical, is the description of a poet. Beckmann, in\nhis _History of Inventions_, paints it with more fidelity, and in prose\nmore pleasing than Cowley's poetry. He says, \"There are few plants which\nacquire, through accident, weakness, or disease, so many variegations as\nthe tulip. When uncultivated, and in its natural state, it is almost of\none colour, has large leaves, and an extraordinarily long stem. When it\nhas been weakened by cultivation, it becomes more agreeable in the eyes of\nthe florist. The petals are then paler, smaller, and more diversified in\nhue; and the leaves acquire a softer green colour. Thus this masterpiece\nof culture, the more beautiful it turns, grows so much the weaker, so\nthat, with the greatest skill and most careful attention, it can scarcely\nbe transplanted, or even kept alive.\"\n\nMany persons grow insensibly attached to that which gives them a great\ndeal of trouble, as a mother often loves her sick and ever-ailing child\nbetter than her more healthy offspring. Upon the same principle we must\naccount for the unmerited encomia lavished upon these fragile blossoms. In\n1634, the rage among the Dutch to possess them was so great that the\nordinary industry of the country was neglected, and the population, even\nto its lowest dregs, embarked in the tulip trade. As the mania increased,\nprices augmented, until, in the year 1635, many persons were known to\ninvest a fortune of 100,000 florins in the purchase of forty roots. It\nthen became necessary to sell them by their weight in _perits_, a small\nweight less than a grain. A tulip of the species called _Admiral Liefken_,\nweighing 400 _perits_, was worth 4400 florins; an _Admiral Van der Eyck_,\nweighing 446 _perits_, was worth 1260 florins; a _Childer_ of 106 _perits_\nwas worth 1615 florins; a _Viceroy_ of 400 _perits_, 3000 florins, and,\nmost precious of all, a _Semper Augustus_, weighing 200 _perits_, was\nthought to be very cheap at 5500 florins. The latter was much sought\nafter, and even an inferior bulb might command a price of 2000 florins. It\nis related that, at one time, early in 1636, there were only two roots of\nthis description to be had in all Holland, and those not of the best. One\nwas in the possession of a dealer in Amsterdam, and the other in Harlaem.\nSo anxious were the speculators to obtain them, that one person offered\nthe fee-simple of twelve acres of building-ground for the Harlaem tulip.\nThat of Amsterdam was bought for 4600 florins, a new carriage, two grey\nhorses, and a complete suit of harness. Hunting, an industrious author of\nthat day, who wrote a folio volume of one thousand pages upon the\ntulipomania, has preserved the folio wing list of the various articles,\nand their value, which were delivered for one single root of the rare\nspecies called the _Viceroy_:\n\n                                  florins.\n    Two lasts of wheat              448\n    Four lasts of rye               558\n    Four fat oxen                   480\n    Eight fat swine                 240\n    Twelve fat sheep                120\n    Two hogsheads of wine            70\n    Four tuns of beer                32\n    Two tuns of butter              192\n    One thousand lbs. of cheese     120\n    A complete bed                  100\n    A suit of clothes                80\n    A silver drinking-cup            60\n                                  ------\n                                   2500\n\nPeople who had been absent from Holland, and whose chance it was to return\nwhen this folly was at its maximum, were sometimes led into awkward\ndilemmas by their ignorance. There is an amusing instance of the kind\nrelated in Blainville's _Travels_. A wealthy merchant, who prided himself\nnot a little on his rare tulips, received upon one occasion a very\nvaluable consignment of merchandise from the Levant. Intelligence of its\narrival was brought him by a sailor, who presented himself for that\npurpose at the counting-house, among bales of goods of every description.\nThe merchant, to reward him for his news, munificently made him a present\nof a fine red herring for his breakfast. The sailor had, it appears, a\ngreat partiality for onions, and seeing a bulb very like an onion lying\nupon the counter of this liberal trader, and thinking it, no doubt, very\nmuch out of its place among silks and velvets, he slily seized an\nopportunity and slipped it into his pocket, as a relish for his herring.\nHe got clear off with his prize, and proceeded to the quay to eat his\nbreakfast. Hardly was his back turned when the merchant missed his\nvaluable _Semper Augustus_, worth three thousand florins, or about 280l.\nsterling. The whole establishment was instantly in an uproar; search was\nevery where made for the precious root, but it was not to be found. Great\nwas the merchant's distress of mind. The search was renewed, but again\nwithout success. At last some one thought of the sailor.\n\nThe unhappy merchant sprang into the street at the bare suggestion. His\nalarmed household followed him. The sailor, simple soul! had not thought\nof concealment. He was found quietly sitting on a coil of ropes,\nmasticating the last morsel of his \"_onion_\". Little did he dream that he\nhad been eating a breakfast whose cost might have regaled a whole ship's\ncrew for a twelvemonth; or, as the plundered merchant himself expressed\nit, \"might have sumptuously feasted the Prince of Orange and the whole\ncourt of the Stadtholder.\" Anthony caused pearls to be dissolved in wine\nto drink the health of Cleopatra; Sir Richard Whittington was as foolishly\nmagnificent in an entertainment to King Henry V.; and Sir Thomas Gresham\ndrank a diamond dissolved in wine to the health of Queen Elizabeth, when\nshe opened the Royal Exchange; but the breakfast of this roguish Dutchman\nwas as splendid as either. He had an advantage, too, over his wasteful\npredecessors: _their_ gems did not improve the taste or the wholesomeness\nof _their_ wine, while _his_ tulip was quite delicious with his red\nherring. The most unfortunate part of the business for him was, that he\nremained in prison for some months on a charge of felony preferred against\nhim by the merchant.\n\nAnother story is told of an English traveller, which is scarcely less\nludicrous. This gentleman, an amateur botanist, happened to see a\ntulip-root lying in the conservatory of a wealthy Dutchman. Being ignorant\nof its quality, he took out his penknife, and peeled off its coats, with\nthe view of making experiments upon it. When it was by this means reduced\nto half its size, he cut it into two equal sections, making all the time\nmany learned remarks on the singular appearances of the unknown bulb.\nSuddenly, the owner pounced upon him, and, with fury in his eyes, asked\nhim if he knew what he had been doing? \"Peeling a most extraordinary\nonion,\" replied the philosopher. \"_Hundert tausend duyvel!_\" said the\nDuchman; \"it's an _Admiral Van der Eyck_.\" \"Thank you,\" replied the\ntraveller, taking out his note-book to make a memorandum of the same; \"are\nthese admirals common in your country?\" \"Death and the devil!\" said the\nDutchman, seizing the astonished man of science by the collar; \"come\nbefore the syndic, and you shall see.\" In spite of his remonstrances, the\ntraveller was led through the streets followed by a mob of persons. When\nbrought into the presence of the magistrate, he learned, to his\nconsternation, that the root upon which he had been experimentalising was\nworth four thousand florins; and, notwithstanding all he could urge in\nextenuation, he was lodged in prison until he found securities for the\npayment of this sum.\n\nThe demand for tulips of a rare species increased so much in the year\n1636, that regular marts for their sale were established on the Stock\nExchange of Amsterdam, in Rotterdam, Harlaem, Leyden, Alkmar, Hoorn, and\nother towns. Symptoms of gambling now became, for the first time,\napparent. The stock-jobbers, ever on the alert for a new speculation,\ndealt largely in tulips, making use of all the means they so well knew how\nto employ, to cause fluctuations in prices. At first, as in all these\ngambling mania, confidence was at its height, and every body gained. The\ntulip-jobbers speculated in the rise and fall of the tulip stocks, and\nmade large profits by buying when prices fell, and selling out when they\nrose. Many individuals grew suddenly rich. A golden bait hung temptingly\nout before the people, and one after the other, they rushed to the\ntulip-marts, like flies around a honey-pot. Every one imagined that the\npassion for tulips would last for ever, and that the wealthy from every\npart of the world would send to Holland, and pay whatever prices were\nasked for them. The riches of Europe would be concentrated on the shores\nof the Zuyder Zee, and poverty banished from the favoured clime of\nHolland. Nobles, citizens, farmers, mechanics, sea-men, footmen,\nmaid-servants, even chimney-sweeps and old clothes-women, dabbled in\ntulips. People of all grades converted their property into cash, and\ninvested it in flowers. Houses and lands were offered for sale at\nruinously low prices, or assigned in payment of bargains made at the\ntulip-mart. Foreigners became smitten with the same frenzy, and money\npoured into Holland from all directions. The prices of the necessaries of\nlife rose again by degrees: houses and lands, horses and carriages, and\nluxuries of every sort, rose in value with them, and for some months\nHolland seemed the very antechamber of Plutus. The operations of the trade\nbecame so extensive and so intricate, that it was found necessary to draw\nup a code of laws for the guidance of the dealers. Notaries and clerks\nwere also appointed, who devoted themselves exclusively to the interests\nof the trade. The designation of public notary was hardly known in some\ntowns, that of tulip-notary usurping its place. In the smaller towns,\nwhere there was no exchange, the principal tavern was usually selected as\nthe \"show-place,\" where high and low traded in tulips, and confirmed their\nbargains over sumptuous entertainments. These dinners were sometimes\nattended by two or three hundred persons, and large vases of tulips, in\nfull bloom, were placed at regular intervals upon the tables and\nsideboards for their gratification during the repast.\n\nAt last, however, the more prudent began to see that this folly could not\nlast for ever. Rich people no longer bought the flowers to keep them in\ntheir gardens, but to sell them again at cent per cent profit. It was seen\nthat somebody must lose fearfully in the end. As this conviction spread,\nprices fell, and never rose again. Confidence was destroyed, and a\nuniversal panic seized upon the dealers. _A_ had agreed to purchase ten\n_Semper Augustines_ from _B_, at four thousand florins each, at six weeks\nafter the signing of the contract. _B_ was ready with the flowers at the\nappointed time; but the price had fallen to three or four hundred florins,\nand _A_ refused either to pay the difference or receive the tulips.\nDefaulters were announced day after day in all the towns of Holland.\nHundreds who, a few months previously, had begun to doubt that there was\nsuch a thing as poverty in the land, suddenly found themselves the\npossessors of a few bulbs, which nobody would buy, even though they\noffered them at one quarter of the sums they had paid for them. The cry of\ndistress resounded every where, and each man accused his neighbour. The\nfew who had contrived to enrich themselves hid their wealth from the\nknowledge of their fellow-citizens, and invested it in the English or\nother funds. Many who, for a brief season, had emerged from the humbler\nwalks of life, were cast back into their original obscurity. Substantial\nmerchants were reduced almost to beggary, and many a representative of a\nnoble line saw the fortunes of his house ruined beyond redemption.\n\nWhen the first alarm subsided, the tulip-holders in the several towns held\npublic meetings to devise what measures, were best to be taken to restore\npublic credit. It was generally agreed, that deputies should be sent from\nall parts to Amsterdam, to consult with the government upon some remedy\nfor the evil. The government at first refused to interfere, but advised\nthe tulip-holders to agree to some plan among themselves. Several meetings\nwere held for this purpose; but no measure could be devised likely to give\nsatisfaction to the deluded people, or repair even a slight portion of the\nmischief that had been done. The language of complaint and reproach was in\nevery body's mouth, and all the meetings were of the most stormy\ncharacter. At last, however, after much bickering and ill-will, it was\nagreed, at Amsterdam, by the assembled deputies, that all contracts made\nin the height of the mania, or prior to the month of November 1636, should\nbe declared null and void, and that, in those made after that date,\npurchasers should be freed from their engagements, on paying ten per cent\nto the vendor. This decision gave no satisfaction. The vendors who had\ntheir tulips on hand were, of course, discontented, and those who had\npledged themselves to purchase, thought themselves hardly treated. Tulips\nwhich had, at one time, been worth six thousand florins, were now to be\nprocured for five hundred; so that the composition of ten per cent was one\nhundred florins more than the actual value. Actions for breach of contract\nwere threatened in all the courts of the country; but the latter refused\nto take cognisance of gambling transactions.\n\nThe matter was finally referred to the Provincial Council at the Hague,\nand it was confidently expected that the wisdom of this body would invent\nsome measure by which credit should be restored. Expectation was on the\nstretch for its decision, but it never came. The members continued to\ndeliberate week after week, and at last, after thinking about it for three\nmonths, declared that they could offer no final decision until they had\nmore information. They advised, however, that, in the mean time, every\nvendor should, in the presence of witnesses, offer the tulips _in natura_\nto the purchaser for the sums agreed upon. If the latter refused to take\nthem, they might be put up for sale by public auction, and the original\ncontractor held responsible for the difference between the actual and the\nstipulated price. This was exactly the plan recommended by the deputies,\nand which was already shewn to be of no avail. There was no court in\nHolland which would enforce payment. The question was raised in Amsterdam,\nbut the judges unanimously refused to interfere, on the ground that debts\ncontracted in gambling were no debts in law.\n\nThus the matter rested. To find a remedy was beyond the power of the\ngovernment. Those who were unlucky enough to have had stores of tulips on\nhand at the time of the sudden reaction were left to bear their ruin as\nphilosophically as they could; those who had made profits were allowed to\nkeep them; but the commerce of the country suffered a severe shock, from\nwhich it was many years ere it recovered.\n\nThe example of the Dutch was imitated to some extent in England. In the\nyear 1636 tulips were publicly sold in the Exchange of London, and the\njobbers exerted themselves to the utmost to raise them to the fictitious\nvalue they had acquired in Amsterdam. In Paris also the jobbers strove to\ncreate a tulipomania. In both cities they only partially succeeded.\nHowever, the force of example brought the flowers into great favour, and\namongst a certain class of people tulips have ever since been prized more\nhighly than any other flowers of the field. The Dutch are still notorious\nfor their partiality to them, and continue to pay higher prices for them\nthan any other people. As the rich Englishman boasts of his fine\nrace-horses or his old pictures, so does the wealthy Dutchman vaunt him of\nhis tulips.\n\nIn England, in our day, strange as it may appear, a tulip will produce\nmore money than an oak. If one could be found, _rara in terris_, and black\nas the black swan of Juvenal, its price would equal that of a dozen acres\nof standing corn. In Scotland, towards the close of the seventeenth\ncentury, the highest price for tulips, according to the authority of a\nwriter in the supplement to the third edition of the _Encyclopedia\nBritannica_, was ten guineas. Their value appears to have diminished from\nthat time till the year 1769, when the two most valuable species in\nEngland were the _Don Quevedo_ and the _Valentinier_, the former of which\nwas worth two guineas and the latter two guineas and a half. These prices\nappear to have been the minimum. In the year 1800, a common price was\nfifteen guineas for a single bulb. In 1835, a bulb of the species called\nthe Miss Fanny Kemble was sold by public auction in London for\nseventy-five pounds. Still more remarkable was the price of a tulip in the\npossession of a gardener in the King's Road, Chelsea;--in his catalogues\nit was labelled at two hundred guineas.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nTHE ALCHYMISTS;\n\nor\n\nSearchers for the Philosopher's Stone and the Water of Life.\n\n    _Mercury_ (_loquitur_). The mischief a secret any of them know,\n    above the consuming of coals and drawing of usquebaugh! howsoever\n    they may pretend, under the specious names of Geber, Arnold,\n    Lulli, or bombast of Hohenheim, to commit miracles in art, and\n    treason against nature! As if the title of philosopher, that\n    creature of glory, were to be fetched out of a furnace! I am their\n    crude and their sublimate, their precipitate and their unctions;\n    their male and their female, sometimes their hermaphrodite--what\n    they list to style me! They will calcine you a grave matron, as it\n    might be a mother of the maids, and spring up a young virgin out\n    of her ashes, as fresh as a phoenix; lay you an old courtier on\n    the coals, like a sausage or a bloat-herring, and, after they have\n    broiled him enough, blow a soul into him with a pair of bellows!\n    See, they begin to muster again, and draw their forces out against\n    me! The genius of the place defend me!--BEN JONSON'S _Masque:\n    Mercury vindicated from the Alchymists_.\n\n\nDissatisfaction with his lot seems to be the characteristic of man in all\nages and climates. So far, however, from being an evil, as at first might\nbe supposed, it has been the great civiliser of our race; and has tended,\nmore than any thing else, to raise us above the condition of the brutes.\nBut the same discontent which has been the source of all improvement, has\nbeen the parent of no small progeny of follies and absurdities; to trace\nthese latter is our present object. Vast as the subject appears, it is\neasily reducible within such limits as will make it comprehensive without\nbeing wearisome, and render its study both instructive and amusing.\n\nThree causes especially have excited the discontent of mankind; and, by\nimpelling us to seek for remedies for the irremediable, have bewildered us\nin a maze of madness and error. These are death, toil, and ignorance of\nthe future--the doom of man upon this sphere, and for which he shews his\nantipathy by his love of life, his longing for abundance, and his craving\ncuriosity to pierce the secrets of the days to come. The first has led\nmany to imagine that they might find means to avoid death, or failing in\nthis, that they might, nevertheless, so prolong existence as to reckon it\nby centuries instead of units. From this sprang the search, so long\ncontinued and still pursued, for the _elixir vit\u00e6_, or _water of life_,\nwhich has led thousands to pretend to it and millions to believe in it.\nFrom the second sprang the search for the philosopher's stone, which was\nto create plenty by changing all metals into gold; and from the third, the\nfalse sciences of astrology, divination, and their divisions of\nnecromancy, chiromancy, augury, with all their train of signs, portents,\nand omens.\n\nIn tracing the career of the erring philosophers, or the wilful cheats,\nwho have encouraged or preyed upon the credulity of mankind, it will\nsimplify and elucidate the subject, if we divide it into three classes:\nthe first comprising alchymists, or those in general who have devoted\nthemselves to the discovering of the philosopher's stone and the water of\nlife; the second comprising astrologers, necromancers, sorcerers,\ngeomancers, and all those who pretended to discover futurity; and the\nthird consisting of the dealers in charms, amulets, philters,\nuniversal-panacea mongers, touchers for the evil, seventh sons of a\nseventh son, sympathetic powder compounders, homoeopathists, animal\nmagnetisers, and all the motley tribe of quacks, empirics, and charlatans.\n\nBut in narrating the career of such men, it will be found that many of\nthem united several or all of the functions just mentioned; that the\nalchymist was a fortune-teller, or a necromancer--that he pretended to\ncure all maladies by touch or charm, and to work miracles of every kind.\nIn the dark and early ages of European history this is more especially the\ncase. Even as we advance to more recent periods, we shall find great\ndifficulty in separating the characters. The alchymist seldom confined\nhimself strictly to his pretended science--the sorcerer and necromancer to\ntheirs, or the medical charlatan to his. Beginning with alchymy, some\nconfusion of these classes is unavoidable; but the ground will clear for\nus as we advance.\n\nLet us not, in the pride of our superior knowledge, turn with contempt\nfrom the follies of our predecessors. The study of the errors into which\ngreat minds have fallen in the pursuit of truth can never be\nuninstructive. As the man looks back to the days of his childhood and his\nyouth, and recalls to his mind the strange notions and false opinions that\nswayed his actions at that time, that he may wonder at them; so should\nsociety, for its edification, look back to the opinions which governed the\nages fled. He is but a superficial thinker who would despise and refuse to\nhear of them merely because they are absurd. No man is so wise but that he\nmay learn some wisdom from his past errors, either of thought or action;\nand no society has made such advances as to be capable of no improvement\nfrom the retrospect of its past folly and credulity. And not only is such\na study instructive: he who reads for amusement only will find no chapter\nin the annals of the human mind more amusing than this. It opens out the\nwhole realm of fiction--the wild, the fantastic, and the wonderful, and\nall the immense variety of things \"that are not, and cannot be; but that\nhave been imagined and believed.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFor more than a thousand years the art of alchymy captivated many noble\nspirits, and was believed in by millions. Its origin is involved in\nobscurity. Some of its devotees have claimed for it an antiquity coeval\nwith the creation of man himself, others, again, would trace it no further\nback than the time of Noah. Vincent de Beauvais argues, indeed, that all\nthe antediluvians must have possessed a knowledge of alchymy; and\nparticularly cites Noah as having been acquainted with the _elixir vit\u00e6_,\nor he could not have lived to so prodigious an age, and have begotten\nchildren when upwards of five hundred. Lenglet du Fresnoy, in his _History\nof the Hermetic Philosophy_, says, \"Most of them pretended that Shem, or\nChem, the son of Noah, was an adept in the art, and thought it highly\nprobable that the words _chemistry_ and _alchymy_ are both derived from\nhis name.\" Others say, the art was derived from the Egyptians, amongst\nwhom it was first founded by Hermes Trismegistus. Moses, who is looked\nupon as a first-rate alchymist, gained his knowledge in Egypt; but he kept\nit all to himself, and would not instruct the children of Israel in its\nmysteries. All the writers upon alchymy triumphantly cite the story of the\ngolden calf, in the 32d chapter of Exodus, to prove that this great\nlawgiver was an adept, and could make or unmake gold at his pleasure. It\nis recorded, that Moses was so wrath with the Israelites for their\nidolatry, \"that he took the calf which they had made, and burned it in the\nfire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the\nchildren of Israel drink of it.\" This, say the alchymists, he never could\nhave done had he not been in possession of the philosopher's stone; by no\nother means could he have made the powder of gold float upon the water.\nBut we must leave this knotty point for the consideration of the adepts in\nthe art, if any such there be, and come to more modern periods of its\nhistory. The Jesuit, Father Martini, in his _Historia Sinica_, says, it\nwas practised by the Chinese two thousand five hundred years before the\nbirth of Christ; but his assertion, being unsupported, is worth nothing.\nIt would appear, however, that pretenders to the art of making gold and\nsilver existed in Rome in the first centuries after the Christian era, and\nthat, when discovered, they were liable to punishment as knaves and\nimpostors. At Constantinople, in the fourth century, the transmutation of\nmetals was very generally believed in, and many of the Greek ecclesiastics\nwrote treatises upon the subject. Their names are preserved, and some\nnotice of their works given, in the third volume of Langlet du Fresnoy's\n_History of the Hermetic Philosophy_. Their notion appears to have been,\nthat all metals were composed of two substances; the one, metallic earth;\nand the other, a red inflammable matter, which they called sulphur. The\npure union of these substances formed gold; but other metals were mixed\nwith and contaminated by various foreign ingredients. The object of the\nphilosopher's stone was to dissolve or neutralise all these ingredients,\nby which iron, lead, copper, and all metals would be transmuted into the\noriginal gold. Many learned and clever men wasted their time, their\nhealth, and their energies, in this vain pursuit; but for several\ncenturies it took no great hold upon the imagination of the people. The\nhistory of the delusion appears, in a manner, lost from this time till the\neighth century, when it appeared amongst the Arabians. From this period it\nbecomes easier to trace its progress. A master then appeared, who was long\nlooked upon as the father of the science, and whose name is indissolubly\nconnected with it.\n\n\nGEBER.\n\nOf this philosopher, who devoted his life to the study of alchymy, but few\nparticulars are known. He is thought to have lived in the year 730. His\ntrue name was Abou Moussah Djafar, to which was added Al Sofi, or \"The\nWise,\" and he was born at Houran, in Mesopotamia.[28] Some have thought\nhe was a Greek, others a Spaniard, and others a prince of Hindostan; but\nof all the mistakes which have been made respecting him, the most\nludicrous was that made by the French translator of Sprenger's _History of\nMedicine_, who thought, from the sound of his name, that he was a German,\nand rendered it as the \"Donnateur,\" or Giver. No details of his life are\nknown; but it is asserted, that he wrote more than five hundred works upon\nthe philosopher's stone and the water of life. He was a great enthusiast\nin his art, and compared the incredulous to little children shut up in a\nnarrow room, without windows or aperture, who, because they saw nothing\nbeyond, denied the existence of the great globe itself. He thought that a\npreparation of gold would cure all maladies, not only in man, but in the\ninferior animals and plants. He also imagined that all the metals laboured\nunder disease, with the exception of gold, which was the only one in\nperfect health. He affirmed, that the secret of the philosopher's stone\nhad been more than once discovered; but that the ancient and wise men who\nhad hit upon it would never, by word or writing, communicate it to men,\nbecause of their unworthiness and incredulity.[29] But the life of Geber,\nthough spent in the pursuit of this vain chimera, was not altogether\nuseless. He stumbled upon discoveries which he did not seek; and science\nis indebted to him for the first mention of corrosive sublimate, the red\noxide of mercury, nitric acid, and the nitrate of silver.[30]\n\n    [28] _Biographie Universelle_.\n\n    [29] His sum \"of perfection,\" or instructions to students to aid\n         them in the laborious search for the stone and elixir, has\n         been translated into most of the languages of Europe. An\n         English translation, by a great enthusiast in alchymy, one\n         Richard Russell, was published in London in 1686. The preface\n         is dated eight years previously from the house of the\n         alchymist, \"at the Star, in Newmarket, in Wapping, near the\n         Dock.\" His design in undertaking the translation was, as he\n         informs us, to expose the false pretences of the many\n         ignorant pretenders to the science who abounded in his day.\n\n    [30] Article, Geber, _Biographie Universelle_.\n\nFor more than two hundred years after the death of Geber, the Arabian\nphilosophers devoted themselves to the study of alchymy, joining with it\nthat of astrology. Of these the most celebrated was\n\n\nALFARABI.\n\nAlfarabi flourished at the commencement of the tenth century, and enjoyed\nthe reputation of being one of the most learned men of his age. He spent\nhis life in travelling from country to country, that he might gather the\nopinions of philosophers upon the great secrets of nature. No danger\ndismayed him; no toil wearied him of the pursuit. Many sovereigns\nendeavoured to retain him at their courts; but he refused to rest until he\nhad discovered the great object of his life--the art of preserving it for\ncenturies, and of making gold as much as he needed. This wandering mode of\nlife at last proved fatal to him. He had been on a visit to Mecca, not so\nmuch for religious as for philosophical purposes, when, returning through\nSyria, he stopped at the court of the Sultan Seifeddoulet, who was\nrenowned as the patron of learning. He presented himself in his travelling\nattire in the presence of that monarch and his courtiers; and, without\ninvitation, coolly sat himself down on the sofa beside the prince. The\ncourtiers and wise men were indignant; and the sultan, who did not know\nthe intruder, was at first inclined to follow their example. He turned to\none of his officers, and ordered him to eject the presumptuous stranger\nfrom the room; but Alfarabi, without moving, dared them to lay hands upon\nhim; and, turning himself calmly to the prince, remarked, that he did not\nknow who was his guest, or he would treat him with honour, not with\nviolence. The sultan, instead of being still further incensed, as many\npotentates would have been, admired his coolness; and, requesting him to\nsit still closer to him on the sofa, entered into a long conversation with\nhim upon science and divine philosophy. All the court were charmed with\nthe stranger. Questions for discussion were propounded, on all of which he\nshewed superior knowledge. He convinced every one who ventured to dispute\nwith him; and spoke so eloquently upon the science of alchymy, that he was\nat once recognised as only second to the great Geber himself. One of the\ndoctors present inquired whether a man who knew so many sciences was\nacquainted with music? Alfarabi made no reply, but merely requested that a\nlute should be brought him. The lute was brought; and he played such\nravishing and tender melodies, that all the court were melted into tears.\nHe then changed his theme, and played airs so sprightly, that he set the\ngrave philosophers, sultan and all, dancing as fast as their legs could\ncarry them. He then sobered them again by a mournful strain, and made them\nsob and sigh as if broken-hearted. The sultan, highly delighted with his\npowers, entreated him to stay, offering him every inducement that wealth,\npower, and dignity could supply; but the alchymist resolutely refused, it\nbeing decreed, he said, that he should never repose till he had discovered\nthe philosopher's stone. He set out accordingly the same evening, and was\nmurdered by some thieves in the deserts of Syria. His biographers give no\nfurther particulars of his life beyond mentioning that he wrote several\nvaluable treatises on his art, all of which, however, have been lost. His\ndeath happened in the year 954.\n\n\nAVICENNA.\n\nAvicenna, whose real name was Ebn Cinna, another great alchymist, was born\nat Bokhara in 980. His reputation as a physician and a man skilled in all\nsciences was so great, that the Sultan Magdal Douleth resolved to try his\npowers in the great science of government. He was accordingly made Grand\nVizier of that prince, and ruled the state with some advantage; but in a\nscience still more difficult, he failed completely. He could not rule his\nown passions, but gave himself up to wine and women, and led a life of\nshameless debauchery. Amid the multifarious pursuits of business and\npleasure, he nevertheless found time to write seven treatises upon the\nphilosopher's stone, which were for many ages looked upon as of great\nvalue by pretenders to the art. It is rare that an eminent physician as\nAvicenna appears to have been, abandons himself to sensual gratification;\nbut so completely did he become enthralled in the course of a few years,\nthat he was dismissed from his high office, and died shortly afterwards of\npremature old age and a complication of maladies, brought on by\ndebauchery. His death took place in the year 1036. After his time few\nphilosophers of any note in Arabia are heard of as devoting themselves to\nthe study of alchymy; but it began shortly afterwards to attract greater\nattention in Europe. Learned men in France, England, Spain, and Italy,\nexpressed their belief in the science, and many devoted their whole\nenergies to it. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries especially, it was\nextensively pursued, and some of the brightest names of that age are\nconnected with it. Among the most eminent of them are\n\n\nALBERTUS MAGNUS AND THOMAS AQUINAS.\n\nThe first of these philosophers was born in the year 1193, of a noble\nfamily at Lawingen, in the Duchy of Neuburg, on the Danube. For the first\nthirty years of his life he appeared remarkably dull and stupid, and it\nwas feared by every one that no good could come of him. He entered a\nDominican monastery at an early age; but made so little progress in his\nstudies, that he was more than once upon the point of abandoning them in\ndespair, but he was endowed with extraordinary perseverance. As he\nadvanced to middle age, his mind expanded, and he learned whatever he\napplied himself to with extreme facility. So remarkable a change was not\nin that age to be accounted for but by a miracle. It was asserted and\nbelieved that the Holy Virgin, touched with his great desire to become\nlearned and famous, took pity upon his incapacity, and appeared to him in\nthe cloister where he sat almost despairing, and asked him whether he\nwished to excel in philosophy or divinity. He chose philosophy, to the\nchagrin of the Virgin, who reproached him in mild and sorrowful accents\nthat he had not made a better choice. She, however, granted his request,\nthat he should become the most excellent philosopher of the age; but set\nthis drawback to his pleasure, that he should relapse, when at the height\nof his fame, into his former incapacity and stupidity. Albertus never took\nthe trouble to contradict the story, but prosecuted his studies with such\nunremitting zeal, that his reputation speedily spread over all Europe. In\nthe year 1244, the celebrated Thomas Aquinas placed himself under his\ntuition. Many extraordinary stories are told of the master and his pupil.\nWhile they paid all due attention to other branches of science, they never\nneglected the pursuit of the philosopher's stone and the _elixir vit\u00e6_.\nAlthough they discovered neither, it was believed that Albert had seized\nsome portion of the secret of life, and found means to animate a brazen\nstatue, upon the formation of which, under proper conjunctions of the\nplanets, he had been occupied many years of his life. He and Thomas\nAquinas completed it together, endowed it with the faculty of speech, and\nmade it perform the functions of a domestic servant. In this capacity it\nwas exceedingly useful; but, through some defect in the machinery, it\nchattered much more than was agreeable to either philosopher. Various\nremedies were tried to cure it of its garrulity, but in vain; and one day,\nThomas Aquinas was so enraged at the noise it made when he was in the\nmidst of a mathematical problem, that he seized a ponderous hammer and\nsmashed it to pieces.[31] He was sorry afterwards for what he had done,\nand was reproved by his master for giving way to his anger, so unbecoming\nin a philosopher. They made no attempt to re-animate the statue.\n\n    [31] Naud\u00e9, _Apologie des Grands Hommes accus\u00e9s de Magie_,\n         chap. xviii.\n\n[Illustration: ALBERTUS MAGNUS.]\n\nSuch stories as these shew the spirit of the age. Every great man who\nattempted to study the secrets of nature was thought a magician; and it is\nnot to be wondered at that, when philosophers themselves pretended to\ndiscover an elixir for conferring immortality, or a red stone which was to\ncreate boundless wealth, that popular opinion should have enhanced upon\ntheir pretensions, and have endowed them with powers still more\nmiraculous. It was believed of Albertus Magnus that he could even change\nthe course of the seasons, a feat which the many thought less difficult\nthan the discovery of the grand elixir. Albertus was desirous of obtaining\na piece of ground on which to build a monastery in the neighbourhood of\nCologne. The ground belonged to William Count of Holland and King of the\nRomans, who for some reason or other did not wish to part with it.\nAlbertus is reported to have gained it by the following extraordinary\nmethod: He invited the prince as he was passing through Cologne to a\nmagnificent entertainment prepared for him and all his court. The prince\naccepted it, and repaired with a lordly retinue to the residence of the\nsage. It was in the midst of winter, the Rhine was frozen over, and the\ncold was so bitter, that the knights could not sit on horseback without\nrunning the risk of losing their toes by the frost. Great, therefore, was\ntheir surprise, on arriving at Albert's house, to find that the repast was\nspread in his garden, in which the snow had drifted to the depth of\nseveral feet. The earl in high dudgeon remounted his steed, but Albert at\nlast prevailed upon him to take his seat at the table. He had no sooner\ndone so, than the dark clouds rolled away from the sky--a warm sun shone\nforth--the cold north wind veered suddenly round and blew a mild breeze\nfrom the south--the snows melted away--the ice was unbound upon the\nstreams, and the trees put forth their green leaves and their\nfruit--flowers sprang up beneath their feet, while larks, nightingales,\nblackbirds, cuckoos, thrushes, and every sweet song-bird sang hymns from\nevery tree. The earl and his attendants wondered greatly; but they ate\ntheir dinner, and in recompense for it, Albert got his piece of ground to\nbuild a convent on. He had not, however, shewn them all his power.\nImmediately that the repast was over, he gave the word, and dark clouds\nobscured the sun--the snow fell in large flakes--the singing-birds fell\ndead--the leaves dropped from the trees, and the winds blew so cold and\nhowled so mournfully, that the guests wrapped themselves up in their thick\ncloaks, and retreated into the house to warm themselves at the blazing\nfire in Albert's kitchen.[32]\n\n    [32] Lenglet, _Histoire de la Philosophie Herm\u00e9tique_. See also\n         Godwin's _Lives of the Necromancers_.\n\nThomas Aquinas also could work wonders as well as his master. It is\nrelated of him that he lodged in a street at Cologne, where he was much\nannoyed by the incessant clatter made by the horses' hoofs, as they were\nled through it daily to exercise by their grooms. He had entreated the\nlatter to select some other spot, where they might not disturb a\nphilosopher; but the grooms turned a deaf ear to all his solicitations. In\nthis emergency he had recourse to the aid of magic. He constructed a small\nhorse of bronze, upon which he inscribed certain cabalistic characters,\nand buried it at midnight in the midst of the highway. The next morning a\ntroop of grooms came riding along as usual; but the horses, as they\narrived at the spot where the magic horse was buried, reared and plunged\nviolently--their nostrils distended with terror--their manes grew erect,\nand the perspiration ran down their sides in streams. In vain the riders\napplied the spur--in vain they coaxed or threatened, the animals would not\npass the spot. On the following day their success was no better. They were\nat length compelled to seek another spot for their exercise, and Thomas\nAquinas was left in peace.[33]\n\n    [33] Naud\u00e9, _Apologie des Grands Hommes accus\u00e9s de Magie_,\n         chap. xvii.\n\nAlbertus Magnus was made Bishop of Ratisbon in 1259; but he occupied the\nsee only four years, when he resigned, on the ground that its duties\noccupied too much of the time which he was anxious to devote to\nphilosophy. He died in Cologne in 1280, at the advanced age of\neighty-seven. The Dominican writers deny that he ever sought the\nphilosopher's stone, but his treatise upon minerals sufficiently proves\nthat he did.\n\n\nARTEPHIUS.\n\nArtephius, a name noted in the annals of alchymy, was born in the early\npart of the twelfth century. He wrote two famous treatises; the one upon\nthe philosopher's stone, and the other on the art of prolonging human\nlife. In the latter he vaunts his great qualifications for instructing\nmankind on such a matter, as he was at that time in the thousand and\ntwenty-fifth year of his age! He had many disciples who believed in his\nextreme age, and who attempted to prove that he was Apollonius of Tyana,\nwho lived soon after the advent of Jesus Christ, and the particulars of\nwhose life and pretended miracles have been so fully described by\nPhilostratus. He took good care never to contradict a story which so much\nincreased the power he was desirous of wielding over his fellow-mortals.\nOn all convenient occasions, he boasted of it; and having an excellent\nmemory, a fertile imagination, and a thorough knowledge of all existing\nhistory, he was never at a loss for an answer when questioned as to the\npersonal appearance, the manners, or the character of the great men of\nantiquity. He also pretended to have found the philosopher's stone; and\nsaid that, in search of it, he had descended to hell, and seen the devil\nsitting on a throne of gold, with a legion of imps and fiends around him.\nHis works on alchymy have been translated into French, and were published\nin Paris in 1609 or 1610.\n\n\nALAIN DE LISLE.\n\nContemporary with Albertus Magnus was Alain de Lisle of Flanders, who was\nnamed, from his great learning, the \"universal doctor.\" He was thought to\npossess a knowledge of all the sciences, and, like Artephius, to have\ndiscovered the _elixir vit\u00e6_. He became one of the friars of the abbey of\nCiteaux, and died in 1298, aged about one hundred and ten years. It was\nsaid of him that he was at the point of death when in his fiftieth year,\nbut that the fortunate discovery of the elixir enabled him to add sixty\nyears to his existence. He wrote a commentary on the prophecies of Merlin.\n\n\nARNOLD DE VILLENEUVE.\n\nThis philosopher has left a much greater reputation. He was born in the\nyear 1245, and studied medicine with great success in the university of\nParis. He afterwards travelled for twenty years in Italy and Germany,\nwhere he made acquaintance with Pietro d'Apone, a man of a character akin\nto his own, and addicted to the same pursuits. As a physician, he was\nthought, in his own lifetime, to be the most able the world had ever seen.\nLike all the learned men of that day, he dabbled in astrology and alchymy,\nand was thought to have made immense quantities of gold from lead and\ncopper. When Pietro d'Apone was arrested in Italy, and brought to trial as\na sorcerer, a similar accusation was made against Arnold; but he managed\nto leave the country in time, and escape the fate of his unfortunate\nfriend. He lost some credit by predicting the end of the world, but\nafterwards regained it. The time of his death is not exactly known; but it\nmust have been prior to the year 1311, when Pope Clement V. wrote a\ncircular letter to all the clergy of Europe who lived under his obedience,\npraying them to use their utmost efforts to discover the famous treatise\nof Arnold on _The Practice of Medicine_. The author had promised, during\nhis lifetime, to make a present of the work to the Holy See, but died\nwithout fulfilling it.\n\n[Illustration: ARNOLD DE VILLENEUVE.]\n\nIn a very curious work by Monsieur Longeville Harcouet, entitled _The\nHistory of the Persons who have lived several centuries and then grown\nyoung again_, there is a receipt, said to have been given by Arnold de\nVilleneuve, by means of which any one might prolong his life for a few\nhundred years or so. In the first place, say Arnold and Monsieur Harcouet,\n\"the person intending so to prolong his life must rub himself well, two or\nthree times a week, with the juice or marrow of cassia (_mo\u00eblle de la\ncasse_). Every night, upon going to bed, he must put upon his heart a\nplaster, composed of a certain quantity of oriental saffron, red\nrose-leaves, sandal-wood, aloes, and amber, liquified in oil of roses and\nthe best white wax. In the morning, he must take it off, and enclose it\ncarefully in a leaden box till the next night, when it must be again\napplied. If he be of a sanguine temperament, he shall take sixteen\nchickens; if phlegmatic, twenty-five; and if melancholy, thirty, which he\nshall put into a yard where the air and the water are pure. Upon these he\nis to feed, eating one a day; but previously the chickens are to be\nfattened by a peculiar method, which will impregnate their flesh with the\nqualities that are to produce longevity in the eater. Being deprived of\nall other nourishment till they are almost dying of hunger, they are to be\nfed upon broth made of serpents and vinegar, which broth is to be\nthickened with wheat and bran.\" Various ceremonies are to be performed in\nthe cooking of this mess, which those may see in the book of M. Harcouet\nwho are at all interested in the matter; and the chickens are to be fed\nupon it for two months. They are then fit for table, and are to be washed\ndown with moderate quantities of good white wine or claret. This regimen\nis to be followed regularly every seven years, and any one may live to be\nas old as Methuselah! It is right to state that M. Harcouet has but little\nauthority for attributing this precious composition to Arnold of\nVilleneuve. It is not found in the collected works of that philosopher;\nbut was first brought to light by a M. Poirier, at the commencement of the\nsixteenth century, who asserted that he had discovered it in MS. in the\nundoubted writing of Arnold.\n\n\nPIETRO D'APONE.\n\nThis unlucky sage was born at Apone, near Padua, in the year 1250. Like\nhis friend Arnold de Villeneuve, he was an eminent physician, and a\npretender to the arts of astrology and alchymy. He practised for many\nyears in Paris, and made great wealth by killing and curing, and telling\nfortunes. In an evil day for him, he returned to his own country, with the\nreputation of being a magician of the first order. It was universally\nbelieved that he had drawn seven evil spirits from the infernal regions,\nwhom he kept enclosed in seven crystal vases until he required their\nservices, when he sent them forth to the ends of the earth to execute his\npleasure. One spirit excelled in philosophy; a second, in alchymy; a\nthird, in astrology; a fourth, in physic; a fifth, in poetry; a sixth, in\nmusic; and the seventh, in painting: and whenever Pietro wished for\ninformation or instruction in any of these arts, he had only to go to his\ncrystal vase and liberate the presiding spirit. Immediately all the\nsecrets of the art were revealed to him; and he might, if it pleased him,\nexcel Homer in poetry, Apelles in painting, or Pythagoras himself in\nphilosophy. Although he could make gold out of brass, it was said of him\nthat he was very sparing of his powers in that respect, and kept himself\nconstantly supplied with money by other and less creditable means.\nWhenever he disbursed gold, he muttered a certain charm, known only to\nhimself, and next morning the gold was safe again in his own possession.\nThe trader to whom he gave it might lock it in his strong box and have it\nguarded by a troop of soldiers, but the charmed metal flew back to its old\nmaster. Even if it were buried in the earth, or thrown into the sea, the\ndawn of the next morning would behold it in the pockets of Pietro. Few\npeople, in consequence, liked to have dealings with such a personage,\nespecially for gold. Some, bolder than the rest, thought that his power\ndid not extend over silver; but, when they made the experiment, they found\nthemselves mistaken. Bolts and bars could not restrain it, and it\nsometimes became invisible in their very hands, and was whisked through\nthe air to the purse of the magician. He necessarily acquired a very bad\ncharacter; and, having given utterance to some sentiments regarding\nreligion which were the very reverse of orthodox, he was summoned before\nthe tribunals of the Inquisition to answer for his crimes as a heretic and\na sorcerer. He loudly protested his innocence, even upon the rack, where\nhe suffered more torture than nature could support. He died in prison ere\nhis trial was concluded, but was afterwards found guilty. His bones were\nordered to be dug up and publicly burned. He was also burned in effigy in\nthe streets of Padua.\n\n\nRAYMOND LULLI.\n\n[Illustration: RAYMOND LULLI.]\n\nWhile Arnold de Villeneuve and Pietro d'Apone flourished in France and\nItaly, a more celebrated adept than either appeared in Spain. This was\nRaymond Lulli, a name which stands in the first rank among the alchymists.\nUnlike many of his predecessors, he made no pretensions to astrology or\nnecromancy; but, taking Geber for his model, studied intently the nature\nand composition of metals, without reference to charms, incantations, or\nany foolish ceremonies. It was not, however, till late in life that he\ncommenced his study of the art. His early and middle age were spent in a\ndifferent manner, and his whole history is romantic in the extreme. He was\nborn of an illustrious family, in Majorca, in the year 1235. When that\nisland was taken from the Saracens by James I. king of Aragon, in 1230,\nthe father of Raymond, who was originally of Catalonia, settled there, and\nreceived a considerable appointment from the crown. Raymond married at an\nearly age; and, being fond of pleasure, he left the solitudes of his\nnative isle, and passed over with his bride into Spain. He was made Grand\nSeneschal at the court of King James, and led a gay life for several\nyears. Faithless to his wife, he was always in the pursuit of some new\nbeauty, till his heart was fixed at last by the lovely but unkind Ambrosia\nde Castello. This lady, like her admirer, was married; but, unlike him,\nwas faithful to her vows, and treated all his solicitations with disdain.\nRaymond was so enamoured, that repulse only increased his flame; he\nlingered all night under her windows, wrote passionate verses in her\npraise, neglected his affairs, and made himself the butt of all the\ncourtiers. One day, while watching under her lattice, he by chance caught\nsight of her bosom, as her neckerchief was blown aside by the wind. The\nfit of inspiration came over him, and he sat down and composed some tender\nstanzas upon the subject, and sent them to the lady. The fair Ambrosia had\nnever before condescended to answer his letters; but she replied to this.\nShe told him that she could never listen to his suit; that it was\nunbecoming in a wise man to fix his thoughts, as he had done, on any other\nthan his God; and entreated him to devote himself to a religious life, and\nconquer the unworthy passion which he had suffered to consume him. She,\nhowever, offered, if he wished it, to shew him the _fair_ bosom which had\nso captivated him. Raymond was delighted. He thought the latter part of\nthis epistle but ill corresponded with the former, and that Ambrosia, in\nspite of the good advice she gave him, had at last relented, and would\nmake him as happy as he desired. He followed her about from place to\nplace, entreating her to fulfil her promise: but still Ambrosia was cold,\nand implored him with tears to importune her no longer; for that she never\ncould be his, and never would, if she were free to-morrow. \"What means\nyour letter, then?\" said the despairing lover. \"I will shew you!\" replied\nAmbrosia, who immediately uncovered her bosom, and exposed to the eyes of\nher horror-stricken admirer a large cancer which had extended to both\nbreasts. She saw that he was shocked; and, extending her hand to him, she\nprayed him once more to lead a religious life, and set his heart upon the\nCreator, and not upon the creature. He went home an altered man. He threw\nup, on the morrow, his valuable appointment at the court, separated from\nhis wife, and took a farewell of his children, after dividing one-half of\nhis ample fortune among them. The other half he shared among the poor. He\nthen threw himself at the foot of a crucifix, and devoted himself to the\nservice of God, vowing, as the most acceptable atonement for his errors,\nthat he would employ the remainder of his days in the task of converting\nthe Mussulmans to the Christian religion. In his dreams he saw Jesus\nChrist, who said to him, \"Raymond! Raymond! follow me!\" The vision was\nthree times repeated, and Raymond was convinced that it was an intimation\ndirect from heaven. Having put his affairs in order, he set out on a\npilgrimage to the shrine of St. James of Compostello, and afterwards lived\nfor ten years in solitude amid the mountains of Aranda. Here he learned\nthe Arabic, to qualify himself for his mission of converting the\nMahometans. He also studied various sciences, as taught in the works of\nthe learned men of the East, and first made acquaintance with the writings\nof Geber, which were destined to exercise so much influence over his\nfuture life.\n\nAt the end of this probation, and when he had entered his fortieth year,\nhe emerged from his solitude into more active life. With some remains of\nhis fortune, which had accumulated during his retirement, he founded a\ncollege for the study of Arabic, which was approved of by the pope, with\nmany commendations upon his zeal and piety. At this time he narrowly\nescaped assassination from an Arabian youth whom he had taken into his\nservice. Raymond had prayed to God, in some of his accesses of fanaticism,\nthat he might suffer martyrdom in his holy cause. His servant had\noverheard him: and, being as great a fanatic as his master, he resolved to\ngratify his wish, and punish him, at the same time, for the curses which\nhe incessantly launched against Mahomet and all who believed in him, by\nstabbing him to the heart. He therefore aimed a blow at his master as he\nsat one day at table; but the instinct of self-preservation being stronger\nthan the desire of martyrdom, Raymond grappled with his antagonist, and\noverthrew him. He scorned to take his life himself; but handed him over to\nthe authorities of the town, by whom he was afterwards found dead in his\nprison.\n\nAfter this adventure Raymond travelled to Paris, where he resided for some\ntime, and made the acquaintance of Arnold de Villeneuve. From him he\nprobably received some encouragement to search for the philosopher's\nstone, as he began from that time forth to devote less of his attention to\nreligious matters, and more to the study of alchymy. Still he never lost\nsight of the great object for which he lived--the conversion of the\nMahometans--and proceeded to Rome, to communicate personally with Pope\nJohn XXI. on the best measures to be adopted for that end. The Pope gave\nhim encouragement in words, but failed to associate any other persons with\nhim in the enterprise which he meditated. Raymond, therefore, set out for\nTunis alone, and was kindly received by many Arabian philosophers, who had\nheard of his fame as a professor of alchymy. If he had stuck to alchymy\nwhile in their country, it would have been well for him; but he began\ncursing Mahomet, and got himself into trouble. While preaching the\ndoctrines of Christianity in the great bazaar of Tunis, he was arrested\nand thrown into prison. He was shortly afterwards brought to trial, and\nsentenced to death. Some of his philosophic friends interceded hard for\nhim, and he was pardoned upon condition that he left Africa immediately\nand never again set foot in it. If he was found there again, no matter\nwhat his object might be, or whatever length of time might intervene, his\noriginal sentence would be carried into execution. Raymond was not at all\nsolicitous of martyrdom when it came to the point, whatever he might have\nbeen when there was no danger, and he gladly accepted his life upon these\nconditions, and left Tunis with the intention of proceeding to Rome. He\nafterwards changed his plan, and established himself at Milan, where, for\na length of time, he practised alchymy, and some say astrology, with great\nsuccess.\n\nMost writers who believed in the secrets of alchymy, and who have noticed\nthe life of Raymond Lulli, assert, that while in Milan, he received\nletters from Edward King of England, inviting him to settle in his states.\nThey add that Lulli gladly accepted the invitation, and had apartments\nassigned for his use in the Tower of London, where he refined much gold;\nsuperintended the coinage of \"rose-nobles,\" and made gold out of iron,\nquicksilver, lead, and pewter, to the amount of six millions. The writers\nin the _Biographie Universelle_, an excellent authority in general, deny\nthat Raymond was ever in England, and say, that in all these stories of\nhis wondrous powers as an alchymist, he has been mistaken for another\nRaymond, a Jew of Tarragona. Naud\u00e9, in his _Apologie_, says, simply, \"that\nsix millions were given by Raymond Lulli to King Edward, to make war\nagainst the Turks and other infidels:\" not that he transmuted so much\nmetal into gold; but, as he afterwards adds, that he advised Edward to lay\na tax upon wool, which produced that amount. To shew that Raymond went to\nEngland, his admirers quote a work attributed to him, _De Transmutatione\nAnim\u00e6 Metallorum_, in which he expressly says that he was in England at\nthe intercession of the king.[34] The hermetic writers are not agreed\nwhether it was Edward I. or Edward II. who invited him over; but, by\nfixing the date of his journey in 1312, they make it appear that it was\nEdward II. Edmond Dickenson, in his work on the _Quintessences of the\nPhilosophers_, says, that Raymond worked in Westminster Abbey, where, a\nlong time after his departure, there was found in the cell which he had\noccupied a great quantity of golden dust, of which the architects made a\ngreat profit. In the biographical sketch of John Cremer, Abbot of\nWestminster, given by Lenglet, it is said that it was chiefly through his\ninstrumentality that Raymond came to England. Cremer had been himself for\nthirty years occupied in the vain search for the philosopher's stone, when\nhe accidentally met Raymond in Italy, and endeavoured to induce him to\ncommunicate his grand secret. Raymond told him that he must find it for\nhimself, as all great alchymists had done before him. Cremer, on his\nreturn to England, spoke to King Edward in high terms of the wonderful\nattainments of the philosopher, and a letter of invitation was forthwith\nsent him. Robert Constantinus, in the _Nomenclator Scriptorum Medicorum_,\npublished in 1515, says, that after a great deal of research, he found\nthat Raymond Lulli resided for some time in London, and that he actually\nmade gold, by means of the philosopher's stone, in the Tower; that he had\nseen the golden pieces of his coinage, which were still named in England\nthe nobles of Raymond, or rose-nobles. Lulli himself appears to have\nboasted that he made gold; for, in his well-known _Testamentum_, he states\nthat he converted no less than fifty thousand pounds weight of\nquicksilver, lead, and pewter into that metal.[35] It seems highly\nprobable that the English king, believing in the extraordinary powers of\nthe alchymist, invited him to England to make test of them, and that he\nwas employed in refining gold and in coining. Camden, who is not credulous\nin matters like these, affords his countenance to the story of his coinage\nof nobles; and there is nothing at all wonderful in the fact of a man\nfamous for his knowledge of metals being employed in such a capacity.\nRaymond was, at this time, an old man, in his seventy-seventh year, and\nsomewhat in his dotage. He was willing enough to have it believed that he\nhad discovered the grand secret, and supported the rumour rather than\ncontradicted it. He did not long remain in England, but returned to Rome\nto carry out the projects which were nearer to his heart than the\nprofession of alchymy. He had proposed them to several successive popes\nwith little or no success. The first was a plan for the introduction of\nthe oriental languages into all the monasteries of Europe; the second, for\nthe reduction into one of all the military orders, that, being united,\nthey might move more efficaciously against the Saracens; and the third,\nthat the sovereign pontiff should forbid the works of Averroes to be read\nin the schools, as being more favourable to Mahometanism than to\nChristianity. The pope did not receive the old man with much cordiality;\nand, after remaining for about two years in Rome, he proceeded once more\nto Africa, alone and unprotected, to preach the Gospel of Jesus. He landed\nat Bona in 1314, and so irritated the Mahometans by cursing their prophet,\nthat they stoned him, and left him for dead on the sea-shore. He was found\nsome hours afterwards by a party of Genoese merchants, who conveyed him on\nboard their vessel, and sailed towards Majorca. The unfortunate man still\nbreathed, but could not articulate. He lingered in this state for some\ndays, and expired just as the vessel arrived within sight of his native\nshores. His body was conveyed with great pomp to the church of St.\nEulalia, at Palma, where a public funeral was instituted in his honour.\nMiracles were afterwards said to have been worked at his tomb.\n\n    [34] Vidimus omnia ista _dum ad Angliam transiimus, propter\n         intercessionem domini Regis Edoardi illustrissimi_.\n\n    [35] Converti una vice in aurum ad L millia pondo argenti vivi,\n         plumbi, et stanni.--_Lullii Testamentum_.\n\nThus ended the career of Raymond Lulli, one of the most extraordinary men\nof his age; and, with the exception of his last boast about the six\nmillions of gold, the least inclined to quackery of any of the professors\nof alchymy. His writings were very numerous, and include nearly five\nhundred volumes, upon grammar, rhetoric, morals, theology, politics, civil\nand canon law, physics, metaphysics, astronomy, medicine, and chemistry.\n\n\nROGER BACON.\n\nThe powerful delusion of alchymy seized upon a mind still greater than\nthat of Raymond Lulli. Roger Bacon firmly believed in the philosopher's\nstone, and spent much of his time in search of it. His example helped to\nrender all the learned men of the time more convinced of its\npracticability, and more eager in the pursuit. He was born at Ilchester,\nin the county of Somerset, in the year 1214. He studied for some time in\nthe University of Oxford, and afterwards in that of Paris, in which he\nreceived the degree of doctor of divinity. Returning to England in 1240,\nhe became a monk of the order of St. Francis. He was by far the most\nlearned man of his age; and his acquirements were so much above the\ncomprehension of his contemporaries, that they could only account for them\nby supposing that he was indebted for them to the devil. Voltaire has not\ninaptly designated him \"De l'or encrout\u00e9 de toutes les ordures de son\nsi\u00e8cle;\" but the crust of superstition that enveloped his powerful mind,\nthough it may have dimmed, could not obscure the brightness of his genius.\nTo him, and apparently to him only, among all the inquiring spirits of the\ntime, were known the properties of the concave and convex lens. He also\ninvented the magic lantern; that pretty plaything of modern days, which\nacquired for him a reputation that embittered his life. In a history of\nalchymy, the name of this great man cannot be omitted, although unlike\nmany others of whom we shall have occasion to speak, he only made it\nsecondary to other pursuits. The love of universal knowledge that filled\nhis mind, would not allow him to neglect one branch of science, of which\nneither he nor the world could yet see the absurdity. He made ample amends\nfor his time lost in this pursuit by his knowledge in physics and his\nacquaintance with astronomy. The telescope, burning-glasses, and\ngunpowder, are discoveries which may well carry his fame to the remotest\ntime, and make the world blind to the one spot of folly--the diagnosis of\nthe age in which he lived, and the circumstances by which he was\nsurrounded. His treatise on the _Admirable Power of Art and Nature in the\nProduction of the Philosopher's Stone_ was translated into French by\nGirard de Tormes, and published at Lyons in 1557. His _Mirror of Alchymy_\nwas also published in French in the same year, and in Paris in 1612, with\nsome additions from the works of Raymond Lulli. A complete list of all the\npublished treatises upon the subject may be seen in Lenglet du Fresnoy.\n\n\nPOPE JOHN XXII.\n\nThis prelate is said to have been the friend and pupil of Arnold de\nVilleneuve, by whom he was instructed in all the secrets of alchymy.\nTradition asserts of him, that he made great quantities of gold, and died\nas rich as Croesus. He was born at Cahors, in the province of Guienne, in\nthe year 1244. He was a very eloquent preacher, and soon reached high\ndignity in the Church. He wrote a work on the transmutation of metals, and\nhad a famous laboratory at Avignon. He issued two bulls against the\nnumerous pretenders to the art, who had sprung up in every part of\nChristendom; from which it might be inferred that he was himself free from\nthe delusion. The alchymists claim him, however, as one of the most\ndistinguished and successful professors of their art, and say that his\nbulls were not directed against the real adepts, but the false pretenders.\nThey lay particular stress upon these words in his bull, \"Spondent, quas\nnon exhibent, divitias, _pauperes_ alchymist\u00e6.\" These, it is clear, they\nsay, relate only to _poor_ alchymists, and therefore false ones. He died\nin the year 1344, leaving in his coffers a sum of eighteen millions of\nflorins. Popular belief alleged that he had made, and not amassed, this\ntreasure; and alchymists complacently cite this as a proof that the\nphilosopher's stone was not such a chimera as the incredulous pretended.\nThey take it for granted that John really left this money, and ask by what\npossible means he could have accumulated it. Replying to their own\nquestion, they say triumphantly, \"His book shews it was by alchymy, the\nsecrets of which he learned from Arnold de Villeneuve and Raymond Lulli.\nBut he was as prudent as all other hermetic philosophers. Whoever would\nread his book to find out his secret, would employ all his labour in vain;\nthe pope took good care not to divulge it.\" Unluckily for their own\ncredit, all these gold-makers are in the same predicament; their great\nsecret loses its worth most wonderfully in the telling, and therefore they\nkeep it snugly to themselves. Perhaps they thought that, if everybody\ncould transmute metals, gold would be so plentiful that it would be no\nlonger valuable, and that some new art would be requisite to transmute it\nback again into steel and iron. If so, society is much indebted to them\nfor their forbearance.\n\n\nJEAN DE MEUNG.\n\nAll classes of men dabbled in the art at this time; the last mentioned was\na pope, the one of whom we now speak was a poet. Jean de Meung, the\ncelebrated author of the _Roman de la Rose_, was born in the year 1279 or\n1280, and was a great personage at the courts of Louis X., Philip the\nLong, Charles IV., and Philip de Valois. His famous poem of the _Roman de\nla Rose_, which treats of every subject in vogue at that day, necessarily\nmakes great mention of alchymy. Jean was a firm believer in the art, and\nwrote, besides his Roman, two shorter poems, the one entitled _The\nRemonstrance of Nature to the wandering Alchymist_ and _The Reply of the\nAlchymist to Nature_. Poetry and alchymy were his delight, and priests and\nwomen were his abomination. A pleasant story is related of him and the\nladies of the court of Charles IV. He had written the following libellous\ncouplet upon the fair sex:\n\n   \"Toutes \u00eates, serez, ou f\u00fbtes,\n    De fait ou de volont\u00e9, putains;\n    Et qui tr\u00e8s bien vous chercherait,\n    Toutes putains vous trouverait.\"[36]\n\n    [36] These verses are but a coarser expression of the slanderous\n         line of Pope, that \"every woman is at heart a rake.\"\n\nThis naturally gave great offence; and being perceived one day in the\nking's antechamber, by some ladies who were waiting for an audience, they\nresolved to punish him. To the number of ten or twelve, they armed\nthemselves with canes and rods, and surrounding the unlucky poet, called\nupon the gentlemen present to strip him naked, that they might wreak just\nvengeance upon him, and lash him through the streets of the town. Some of\nthe lords present were in no wise loath, and promised themselves great\nsport from his punishment. But Jean de Meung was unmoved by their threats,\nand stood up calmly in the midst of them, begging them to hear him first,\nand then, if not satisfied, they might do as they liked with him. Silence\nbeing restored, he stood upon a chair, and entered on his defence. He\nacknowledged that he was the author of the obnoxious verses, but denied\nthat they bore reference to all womankind. He only meant to speak of the\nvicious and abandoned, whereas those whom he saw around him were patterns\nof virtue, loveliness, and modesty. If, however, any lady present thought\nherself aggrieved, he would consent to be stripped, and she might lash him\ntill her arms were wearied. It is added, that by this means Jean escaped\nhis flogging, and that the wrath of the fair ones immediately subsided.\nThe gentlemen present were, however, of opinion, that if every lady in the\nroom whose character corresponded with the verses had taken him at his\nword; the poet would in all probability have been beaten to death. All his\nlife long he evinced a great animosity towards the priesthood, and his\nfamous poem abounds with passages reflecting upon their avarice, cruelty,\nand immorality. At his death he left a large box, filled with some weighty\nmaterial, which he bequeathed to the Cordeliers, as a peace-offering, for\nthe abuse he had lavished upon them. As his practice of alchymy was well\nknown, it was thought the box was filled with gold and silver, and the\nCordeliers congratulated each other on their rich acquisition. When it\ncame to be opened, they found to their horror that it was filled only with\n_slates_, scratched with hieroglyphic and cabalistic characters. Indignant\nat the insult, they determined to refuse him Christian burial, on pretence\nthat he was a sorcerer. He was, however, honourably buried in Paris, the\nwhole court attending his funeral.\n\n\nNICHOLAS FLAMEL.\n\nThe story of this alchymist, as handed down by tradition, and enshrined in\nthe pages of Lenglet da Fresnoy, is not a little marvellous. He was born\nat Pontoise, of a poor but respectable family, at the end of the\nthirteenth, or beginning of the fourteenth century. Having no patrimony,\nhe set out for Paris at an early age, to try his fortune as a public\nscribe. He had received a good education, was well skilled in the learned\nlanguages, and was an excellent penman. He soon procured occupation as a\nletter-writer and copyist, and used to sit at the corner of the Rue de\nMarivaux, and practise his calling; but he hardly made profit enough to\nkeep body and soul together. To mend his fortunes he tried poetry; but\nthis was a more wretched occupation still. As a transcriber he had at\nleast gained bread and cheese; but his rhymes were not worth a crust. He\nthen tried painting with as little success; and as a last resource, began\nto search for the philosopher's stone and tell fortunes. This was a\nhappier idea; he soon increased in substance, and had wherewithal to live\ncomfortably. He therefore took unto himself his wife Petronella, and began\nto save money; but continued to all outward appearance as poor and\nmiserable as before. In the course of a few years, he became desperately\naddicted to the study of alchymy, and thought of nothing but the\nphilosopher's stone, the elixir of life, and the universal alkahest. In\nthe year 1257, he bought by chance an old book for two florins, which soon\nbecame his sole study. It was written with a steel instrument upon the\nbark of trees, and contained twenty-one, or as he himself always expressed\nit, three times seven, leaves. The writing was very elegant and in the\nLatin language. Each seventh leaf contained a picture and no writing. On\nthe first of these was a serpent swallowing rods; on the second, a cross\nwith a serpent crucified; and on the third, the representation of a\ndesert, in the midst of which was a fountain, with serpents crawling from\nside to side. It purported to be written by no less a personage than\n\"Abraham, patriarch, Jew, prince, philosopher, priest, Levite, and\nastrologer;\" and invoked curses upon any one who should cast eyes upon it,\nwithout being \"a sacrificer or a scribe.\" Nicholas Flamel never thought it\nextraordinary that Abraham should have known Latin, and was convinced that\nthe characters on his book had been traced by the hands of that great\npatriarch himself. He was at first afraid to read it, after he became\naware of the curse it contained; but he got over that difficulty by\nrecollecting that, although he was not a sacrificer, he had practised as a\nscribe. As he read he was filled with admiration, and found that it was a\nperfect treatise upon the transmutation of metals. All the processes were\nclearly explained; the vessels, the retorts, the mixtures, and the proper\ntimes and seasons for experiment. But as ill-luck would have it, the\npossession of the philosopher's stone, or prime agent in the work, was\npresupposed. This was a difficulty which was not to be got over. It was\nlike telling a starving man how to cook a beef-steak, instead of giving\nhim the money to buy one. But Nicholas did not despair, and set about\nstudying the hieroglyphics and allegorical representations with which the\nbook abounded. He soon convinced himself that it had been one of the\nsacred books of the Jews, and that it was taken from the temple of\nJerusalem on its destruction by Titus. The process of reasoning by which\nhe arrived at this conclusion is not stated.\n\nFrom some expression in the treatise, he learned that the allegorical\ndrawings on the fourth and fifth leaves enshrined the secret of the\nphilosopher's stone, without which all the fine Latin of the directions\nwas utterly unavailing. He invited all the alchymists and learned men of\nParis to come and examine them, but they all departed as wise as they\ncame. Nobody could make any thing either of Nicholas or his pictures; and\nsome even went so far as to say that his invaluable book was not worth a\nfarthing. This was not to be borne; and Nicholas resolved to discover the\ngreat secret by himself, without troubling the philosophers. He found on\nthe first page of the fourth leaf, the picture of Mercury attacked by an\nold man resembling Saturn or Time. The latter had an hour-glass on his\nhead, and in his hand a scythe, with which he aimed a blow at Mercury's\nfeet. The reverse of the leaf represented a flower growing on a mountain\ntop, shaken rudely by the wind, with a blue stalk, red and white blossoms,\nand leaves of pure gold. Around it were a great number of dragons and\ngriffins. On the first page of the fifth leaf was a fine garden, in the\nmidst of which was a rose-tree in full bloom, supported against the trunk\nof a gigantic oak. At the foot of this there bubbled up a fountain of\nmilk-white water, which, forming a small stream, flowed through the\ngarden, and was afterwards lost in the sands. On the second page was a\nking, with a sword in his hand, superintending a number of soldiers, who,\nin execution of his orders, were killing a great multitude of young\nchildren, spurning the prayers and tears of their mothers, who tried to\nsave them from destruction. The blood of the children was carefully\ncollected by another party of soldiers, and put into a large vessel, in\nwhich two allegorical figures of the sun and moon were bathing themselves.\n\nFor twenty-one years poor Nicholas wearied himself with the study of these\npictures, but still he could make nothing of them. His wife Petronella at\nlast persuaded him to find out some learned rabbi; but there was no rabbi\nin Paris learned enough to be of any service to him. The Jews met but\nsmall encouragement to fix their abode in France, and all the chiefs of\nthat people were located in Spain. To Spain accordingly Nicholas Flamel\nrepaired. He left his book in Paris, for fear, perhaps, that he might be\nrobbed of it on the road; and telling his neighbours that he was going on\na pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James of Compostello, he trudged on foot\ntowards Madrid in search of a rabbi. He was absent two years in that\ncountry, and made himself known to a great number of Jews, descendants of\nthose who had been expelled from France in the reign of Philip Augustus.\nThe believers in the philosopher's stone give the following account of his\nadventures: They say that at Leon he made the acquaintance of a converted\nJew, named Cauches, a very learned physician, to whom he explained the\ntitle and nature of his little book. The doctor was transported with joy\nas soon as he heard it named, and immediately resolved to accompany\nNicholas to Paris, that he might have a sight of it. The two set out\ntogether; the doctor on the way entertaining his companion with the\nhistory of his book, which, if the genuine book he thought it to be, from\nthe description he had heard of it, was in the handwriting of Abraham\nhimself, and had been in the possession of personages no less\ndistinguished than Moses, Joshua, Solomon, and Esdras. It contained all\nthe secrets of alchymy and of many other sciences, and was the most\nvaluable book that had ever existed in this world. The doctor was himself\nno mean adept, and Nicholas profited greatly by his discourse, as in the\ngarb of poor pilgrims they wended their way to Paris, convinced of their\npower to turn every old shovel in that capital into pure gold. But,\nunfortunately, when they reached Orleans, the doctor was taken dangerously\nill. Nicholas watched by his bedside, and acted the double part of a\nphysician and nurse to him; but he died after a few days, lamenting with\nhis last breath that he had not lived long enough to see the precious\nvolume. Nicholas rendered the last honours to his body; and with a\nsorrowful heart, and not one _sou_ in his pocket, proceeded home to his\nwife Petronella. He immediately recommenced the study of his pictures; but\nfor two whole years he was as far from understanding them as ever. At\nlast, in the third year, a glimmer of light stole over his understanding.\nHe recalled some expression of his friend the doctor, which had hitherto\nescaped his memory, and he found that all his previous experiments had\nbeen conducted on a wrong basis. He recommenced them now with renewed\nenergy, and at the end of the year had the satisfaction to see all his\ntoils rewarded. On the 13th January 1382, says Lenglet, he made a\nprojection on mercury, and had some very excellent silver. On the 25th\nApril following, he converted a large quantity of mercury into gold, and\nthe great secret was his.\n\nNicholas was now about eighty years of age, and still a hale and stout old\nman. His friends say that by a simultaneous discovery of the elixir of\nlife, he found means to keep death at a distance for another quarter of a\ncentury; and that he died in 1415, at the age of 116. In this interval he\nmade immense quantities of gold, though to all outward appearance he was\nas poor as a mouse. At an early period of his changed fortune, he had,\nlike a worthy man, taken counsel with his old wife Petronella, as to the\nbest use he could make of his wealth. Petronella replied, that as\nunfortunately they had no children, the best thing he could do, was to\nbuild hospitals and endow churches. Nicholas thought so too, especially\nwhen he began to find that his elixir could not keep off death, and that\nthe grim foe was making rapid advances upon him. He richly endowed the\nchurch of St. Jacques de la Boucherie, near the Rue de Marivaux, where he\nhad all his life resided, besides seven others in different parts of the\nkingdom. He also endowed fourteen hospitals, and built three chapels.\n\nThe fame of his great wealth and his munificent benefactions soon spread\nover all the country, and he was visited, among others, by the celebrated\ndoctors of that day, Jean Gerson, Jean de Courtecuisse, and Pierre\nd'Ailli. They found him in his humble apartment, meanly clad, and eating\nporridge out of an earthen vessel; and with regard to his secret, as\nimpenetrable as all his predecessors in alchymy. His fame reached the ears\nof the king, Charles VI., who sent M. de Cramoisi, the Master of Requests,\nto find out whether Nicholas had indeed discovered the philosopher's\nstone. But M. de Cramoisi took nothing by his visit; all his attempts to\nsound the alchymist were unavailing, and he returned to his royal master\nno wiser than he came. It was in this year, 1414, that he lost his\nfaithful Petronella. He did not long survive her, but died in the\nfollowing year, and was buried with great pomp by the grateful priests of\nSt. Jacques de la Boucherie.\n\nThe great wealth of Nicholas Flamel is undoubted, as the records of\nseveral churches and hospitals in France can testify. That he practised\nalchymy is equally certain, as he left behind several works upon the\nsubject. Those who knew him well, and who were incredulous about the\nphilosopher's stone, give a satisfactory solution of the secret of his\nwealth. They say that he was always a miser and a usurer; that his journey\nto Spain was undertaken with very different motives from those pretended\nby the alchymists; that, in fact, he went to collect debts due from Jews\nin that country to their brethren in Paris, and that he charged a\ncommission of fully cent per cent in consideration of the difficulty of\ncollecting and the dangers of the road; that when he possessed thousands,\nhe lived upon almost nothing; and was the general money-lender, at\nenormous profits, to all the dissipated young men at the French court.\n\nAmong the works written by Nicholas Flamel on the subject of alchymy is\n_The Philosophic Summary_, a poem, reprinted in 1735, as an appendix to\nthe third volume of the _Roman de la Rose_. He also wrote three treatises\nupon natural philosophy, and an alchymic allegory, entitled _Le D\u00e9sir\nd\u00e9sir\u00e9_. Specimens of his writing, and a fac-simile of the drawings in his\nbook of Abraham, may be seen in Salmon's _Biblioth\u00e8que des Philosophes\nChimiques_. The writer of the article _Flamel_ in the _Biographie\nUniverselle_ says, that for a hundred years after the death of Flamel,\nmany of the adepts believed that he was still alive, and that he would\nlive for upwards of six hundred years. The house he formerly occupied, at\nthe corner of the Rue de Marivaux, has been often taken by credulous\nspeculators, and ransacked from top to bottom, in the hopes that gold\nmight be found. A report was current in Paris, not long previous to the\nyear 1816, that some lodgers had found in the cellars several jars filled\nwith a dark-coloured ponderous matter. Upon the strength of the rumour, a\nbeliever in all the wondrous tales told of Nicholas Flamel bought the\nhouse, and nearly pulled it to pieces in ransacking the walls and\nwainscoting for hidden gold. He got nothing for his pains, however, and\nhad a heavy bill to pay to restore his dilapidations.\n\n\nGEORGE RIPLEY.\n\nWhile alchymy was thus cultivated on the continent of Europe, it was not\nneglected in the isles of Britain. Since the time of Roger Bacon, it had\nfascinated the imagination of many ardent men in England. In the year 1404\nan act of parliament was passed declaring the making of gold and silver to\nbe felony. Great alarm was felt at that time lest any alchymist should\nsucceed in his projects, and perhaps bring ruin upon the state by\nfurnishing boundless wealth to some designing tyrant, who would make use\nof it to enslave his country. This alarm appears to have soon subsided;\nfor, in the year 1455, King Henry VI., by advice of his council and\nparliament, granted four successive patents and commissions to several\nknights, citizens of London, chemists, monks, mass-priests, and others, to\nfind out the philosopher's stone and elixir, \"to the great benefit,\" said\nthe patent, \"of the realm, and the enabling of the king to pay all the\ndebts of the crown in real gold and silver.\" Prinn, in his _Aurum Regin\u00e6_,\nobserves, as a note to this passage, that the king's reason for granting\nthis patent to ecclesiastics was, that \"they were such good artists in\ntransubstantiating bread and wine in the eucharist, and therefore the more\nlikely to be able to effect the transmutation of baser metals into\nbetter.\" No gold, of course, was ever made; and next year the king,\ndoubting very much of the practicability of the thing, took further\nadvice, and appointed a commission of ten learned men and persons of\neminence to judge and certify to him whether the transmutation of metals\nwere a thing practicable or no. It does not appear whether the commission\never made any report upon the subject.\n\nIn the succeeding reign an alchymist appeared who pretended to have\ndiscovered the secret. This was George Ripley, the canon of Bridlington,\nin Yorkshire. He studied for twenty years in the universities of Italy,\nand was a great favourite with Pope Innocent VIII., who made him one of\nhis domestic chaplains, and master of the ceremonies in his household.\nReturning to England in 1477, he dedicated to King Edward IV. his famous\nwork, _The Compound of Alchymy_; or, _the Twelve Gates leading to the\nDiscovery of the Philosopher's Stone_. These gates he described to be\ncalcination, solution, separation, conjunction, putrefaction, congelation,\ncibation, sublimation, fermentation, exaltation, multiplication, and\nprojection; to which he might have added botheration, the most important\nprocess of all. He was very rich, and allowed it to be believed that he\ncould make gold out of iron. Fuller, in his _Worthies of England_, says\nthat an English gentleman of good credit reported, that in his travels\nabroad he saw a record in the island of Malta which declared that Ripley\ngave yearly to the knights of that island, and of Rhodes, the enormous sum\nof one hundred thousand pounds sterling to enable them to carry on the war\nagainst the Turks. In his old age he became an anchorite near Boston, and\nwrote twenty-five volumes upon the subject of alchymy, the most important\nof which is the _Duodecim Portarum_ already mentioned. Before he died, he\nseems to have acknowledged that he had mis-spent his life in this vain\nstudy, and requested that all men, when they met with any of his books,\nwould burn them, or afford them no credit, as they had been written merely\nfrom his opinion, and not from proof; and that subsequent trial had made\nmanifest to him that they were false and vain.[37]\n\n    [37] Fuller's _Worthies of England_.\n\n\nBASIL VALENTINE.\n\nGermany also produced many famous alchymists in the fifteenth century, the\nchief of whom are Basil Valentine, Bernard of Tr\u00e8ves, and the Abbot\nTrithemius. Basil Valentine was born at Mayence, and was made prior of St.\nPeter's, at Erfurt, about the year 1414. It was known, during his life,\nthat he diligently sought the philosopher's stone, and that he had written\nsome works upon the process of transmutation. They were thought for many\nyears to be lost, but were, after his death, discovered enclosed in the\nstone-work of one of the pillars in the Abbey. They were twenty-one in\nnumber, and are fully set forth in the third volume of Lenglet's _History\nof the Hermetic Philosophy_. The alchymists asserted that heaven itself\nconspired to bring to light these extraordinary works; and that the pillar\nin which they were enclosed was miraculously shattered by a thunderbolt;\nand that as soon as the manuscripts were liberated, the pillar closed up\nagain of its own accord!\n\n\nBERNARD OF TREVES.\n\nThe life of this philosopher is a remarkable instance of talent and\nperseverance misapplied. In the search of his chimera nothing could daunt\nhim. Repeated disappointment never diminished his hopes; and from the age\nof fourteen to that of eighty-five he was incessantly employed among the\ndrugs and furnaces of his laboratory, wasting his life with the view of\nprolonging it, and reducing himself to beggary in the hopes of growing\nrich.\n\nHe was born at either Tr\u00e8ves or Padua in the year 1406. His father is said\nby some to have been a physician in the latter city, and by others to have\nbeen Count of the Marches of Tr\u00e8ves, and one of the most wealthy nobles of\nhis country. At all events, whether noble or physician, he was a rich man,\nand left his son a magnificent estate. At the age of fourteen he first\nbecame enamoured of the science of alchymy, and read the Arabian authors\nin their own language. He himself has left a most interesting record of\nhis labours and wanderings, from which the following particulars are\nchiefly extracted. The first book which fell into his hands was that of\nthe Arabian philosopher Rhazes, from the reading of which he imagined that\nhe had discovered the means of augmenting gold a hundredfold. For four\nyears he worked in his laboratory, with the book of Rhazes continually\nbefore him. At the end of that time, he found that he had spent no less\nthan eight hundred crowns upon his experiment, and had got nothing but\nfire and smoke for his pains. He now began to lose confidence in Rhazes,\nand turned to the works of Geber. He studied him assiduously for two\nyears; and being young, rich, and credulous, was beset by all the\nalchymists of the town, who kindly assisted him in spending his money. He\ndid not lose his faith in Geber, or patience with his hungry assistants,\nuntil he had lost two thousand crowns--a very considerable sum in those\ndays.\n\nAmong all the crowd of pretended men of science who surrounded him, there\nwas but one as enthusiastic and as disinterested as himself. With this\nman, who was a monk of the order of St. Francis, he contracted an intimate\nfriendship, and spent nearly all his time. Some obscure treatises of\nRupecissa and Sacrobosco having fallen into their hands, they were\npersuaded, from reading them, that highly rectified spirits of wine was\nthe universal alkahest, or dissolvent, which would aid them greatly in the\nprocess of transmutation. They rectified the alcohol thirty times, till\nthey made it so strong as to burst the vessels which contained it. After\nthey had worked three years, and spent three hundred crowns in the liquor,\nthey discovered that they were on the wrong track. They next tried alum\nand copperas; but the great secret still escaped them. They afterwards\nimagined that there was a marvellous virtue in all excrement, especially\nthe human, and actually employed more than two years in experimentalising\nupon it with mercury, salt, and molten lead! Again the adepts flocked\naround him from far and near to aid him with their counsels. He received\nthem all hospitably, and divided his wealth among them so generously and\nunhesitatingly, that they gave him the name of the \"Good Trevisan,\" by\nwhich he is still often mentioned in works that treat on alchymy. For\ntwelve years he led this life, making experiments every day upon some new\nsubstance, and praying to God night and morning that he might discover the\nsecret of transmutation.\n\nIn this interval he lost his friend the monk, and was joined by a\nmagistrate of the city of Tr\u00e8ves, as ardent as himself in the search. His\nnew acquaintance imagined that the ocean was the mother of gold, and that\nsea-salt would change lead or iron into the precious metals. Bernard\nresolved to try; and, transporting his laboratory to a house on the shores\nof the Baltic, he worked upon salt for more than a year, melting it,\nsublimating it, crystallising it, and occasionally drinking it, for the\nsake of other experiments. Still the strange enthusiast was not wholly\ndiscouraged, and his failure in one trial only made him the more anxious\nto attempt another.\n\nHe was now approaching the age of fifty, and had as yet seen nothing of\nthe world. He therefore determined to travel through Germany, Italy,\nFrance, and Spain. Wherever he stopped he made inquiries whether there\nwere any alchymists in the neighbourhood. He invariably sought them out;\nand if they were poor, relieved, and if affluent, encouraged them. At\nCiteaux he became acquainted with one Geoffrey Leuvier, a monk of that\nplace, who persuaded him that the essence of egg-shells was a valuable\ningredient. He tried, therefore, what could be done; and was only\nprevented from wasting a year or two on the experiment by the opinions of\nan attorney, at Berghem, in Flanders, who said that the great secret\nresided in vinegar and copperas. He was not convinced of the absurdity of\nthis idea until he had nearly poisoned himself. He resided in France for\nabout five years, when, hearing accidentally that one Master Henry,\nconfessor to the Emperor Frederic III., had discovered the philosopher's\nstone, he set out for Germany to pay him a visit. He had, as usual,\nsurrounded himself with a set of hungry dependants, several of whom\ndetermined to accompany him. He had not heart to refuse them, and he\narrived at Vienna with five of them. Bernard sent a polite invitation to\nthe confessor, and gave him a sumptuous entertainment, at which were\npresent nearly all the alchymists of Vienna. Master Henry frankly\nconfessed that he had not discovered the philosopher's stone, but that he\nhad all his life been employed in searching for it, and would so continue\ntill he found it, or died. This was a man after Bernard's own heart, and\nthey vowed with each other an eternal friendship. It was resolved, at\nsupper, that each alchymist present should contribute a certain sum\ntowards raising forty-two marks of gold, which, in five days, it was\nconfidently asserted by Master Henry, would increase, in his furnace,\nfivefold. Bernard, being the richest man, contributed the lion's share,\nten marks of gold, Master Henry five, and the others one or two a-piece,\nexcept the dependants of Bernard, who were obliged to borrow their quota\nfrom their patron. The grand experiment was duly made; the golden marks\nwere put into a crucible, with a quantity of salt, copperas, aquafortis,\negg-shells, mercury, lead, and dung. The alchymists watched this precious\nmess with intense interest, expecting that it would agglomerate into one\nlump of pure gold. At the end of three weeks they gave up the trial, upon\nsome excuse that the crucible was not strong enough, or that some\nnecessary ingredient was wanting. Whether any thief had put his hands into\nthe crucible is not known, but it is alleged that the gold found therein\nat the close of the experiment was worth only sixteen marks, instead of\nthe forty-two, which were put there at the beginning.\n\nBernard, though he made no gold at Vienna, made away with a very\nconsiderable quantity. He felt the loss so acutely, that he vowed to think\nno more of the philosopher's stone. This wise resolution he kept for two\nmonths; but he was miserable. He was in the condition of the gambler, who\ncannot resist the fascination of the game while he has a coin remaining,\nbut plays on with the hope of retrieving former losses, till hope forsakes\nhim, and he can live no longer. He returned once more to his beloved\ncrucibles, and resolved to prosecute his journey in search of a\nphilosopher who had discovered the secret, and would communicate it to so\nzealous and persevering an adept as himself. From Vienna he travelled to\nRome, and from Rome to Madrid. Taking ship at Gibraltar, he proceeded to\nMessina; from Messina to Cyprus; from Cyprus to Greece; from Greece to\nConstantinople; and thence into Egypt, Palestine, and Persia. These\nwanderings occupied him about eight years. From Persia he made his way\nback to Messina, and from thence into France. He afterwards passed over\ninto England, still in search of his great chimera; and this occupied four\nyears more of his life. He was now growing both old and poor; for he was\nsixty-two years of age, and had been obliged to sell a great portion of\nhis patrimony to provide for his expenses. His journey to Persia had cost\nupwards of thirteen thousand crowns, about one-half of which had been\nfairly melted in his all-devouring furnaces; the other half was lavished\nupon the sycophants that he made it his business to search out in every\ntown he stopped at.\n\nOn his return to Tr\u00e8ves he found, to his sorrow, that, if not an actual\nbeggar, he was not much better. His relatives looked upon him as a madman,\nand refused even to see him. Too proud to ask for favours from any one,\nand still confident that, some day or other, he would be the possessor of\nunbounded wealth, he made up his mind to retire to the island of Rhodes,\nwhere he might, in the mean time, hide his poverty from the eyes of the\nworld. Here he might have lived unknown and happy; but, as ill luck would\nhave it, he fell in with a monk as mad as himself upon the subject of\ntransmutation. They were, however, both so poor that they could not afford\nto buy the proper materials to work with. They kept up each other's\nspirits by learned discourses on the hermetic philosophy, and in the\nreading of all the great authors who had written upon the subject. Thus\ndid they nurse their folly, as the good wife of Tam O'Shanter did her\nwrath, \"to keep it warm.\" After Bernard had resided about a year in\nRhodes, a merchant, who knew his family, advanced him the sum of eight\nthousand florins, upon the security of the last-remaining acres of his\nformerly large estate. Once more provided with funds, he recommenced his\nlabours with all the zeal and enthusiasm of a young man. For three years\nhe hardly stepped out of his laboratory: he ate there, and slept there,\nand did not even give himself time to wash his hands and clean his beard,\nso intense was his application. It is melancholy to think that such\nwonderful perseverance should have been wasted in so vain a pursuit, and\nthat energies so unconquerable should have had no worthier field to strive\nin. Even when he had fumed away his last coin, and had nothing left in\nprospective to keep his old age from starvation, hope never forsook him.\nHe still dreamed of ultimate success, and sat down a grey-headed man of\neighty, to read over all the authors on the hermetic mysteries, from Geber\nto his own day, lest he should have misunderstood some process, which it\nwas not yet too late to recommence. The alchymists say, that he succeeded\nat last, and discovered the secret of transmutation in his eighty-second\nyear. They add that he lived three years afterwards to enjoy his wealth.\nHe lived, it is true, to this great age, and made a valuable\ndiscovery--more valuable than gold or gems. He learned, as he himself\ninforms us, just before he had attained his eighty-third year, that the\ngreat secret of philosophy was contentment with our lot. Happy would it\nhave been for him if he had discovered it sooner, and before he became\ndecrepit, a beggar, and an exile!\n\nHe died at Rhodes, in the year 1490, and all the alchymists of Europe sang\nelegies over him, and sounded his praise as the \"good Trevisan.\" He wrote\nseveral treatises upon his chimera, the chief of which are, the _Book of\nChemistry_, the _Verbum dimissum_, and an essay _De Natura Ovi_.\n\n\nTRITHEMIUS.\n\nThe name of this eminent man has become famous in the annals of alchymy,\nalthough he did but little to gain so questionable an honour. He was born\nin the year 1462, at the village of Trittheim, in the electorate of\nTr\u00e8ves. His father was John Heidenberg, a vine-grower, in easy\ncircumstances, who, dying when his son was but seven years old, left him\nto the care of his mother. The latter married again very shortly\nafterwards, and neglected the poor boy, the offspring of her first\nmarriage. At the age of fifteen he did not even know his letters, and was,\nbesides, half starved, and otherwise ill-treated by his step-father; but\nthe love of knowledge germinated in the breast of the unfortunate youth,\nand he learned to read at the house of a neighbour. His father-in-law set\nhim to work in the vineyards, and thus occupied all his days; but the\nnights were his own. He often stole out unheeded, when all the household\nwere fast asleep, poring over his studies in the fields, by the light of\nthe moon; and thus taught himself Latin and the rudiments of Greek. He was\nsubjected to so much ill-usage at home, in consequence of this love of\nstudy, that he determined to leave it. Demanding the patrimony which his\nfather had left him, he proceeded to Tr\u00e8ves; and assuming the name of\nTrithemius, from that of his native village of Trittheim, lived there for\nsome months under the tuition of eminent masters, by whom he was prepared\nfor the university. At the age of twenty, he took it into his head that he\nshould like to see his mother once more; and he set out on foot from the\ndistant university for that purpose. On his arrival near Spannheim, late\nin the evening of a gloomy winter's day, it came on to snow so thickly,\nthat he could not proceed onwards to the town. He therefore took refuge\nfor the night in a neighbouring monastery; but the storm continued several\ndays, the roads became impassable, and the hospitable monks would not hear\nof his departure. He was so pleased with them and their manner of life,\nthat he suddenly resolved to fix his abode among them, and renounce the\nworld. They were no less pleased with him, and gladly received him as a\nbrother. In the course of two years, although still so young, he was\nunanimously elected their abbot. The financial affairs of the\nestablishment had been greatly neglected, the walls of the building were\nfalling into ruin, and every thing was in disorder. Trithemius, by his\ngood management and regularity, introduced a reform in every branch of\nexpenditure. The monastery was repaired, and a yearly surplus, instead of\na deficiency, rewarded him for his pains. He did not like to see the monks\nidle, or occupied solely between prayers for their business, and chess for\ntheir relaxation. He, therefore, set them to work to copy the writings of\neminent authors. They laboured so assiduously, that, in the course of a\nfew years, their library, which had contained only about forty volumes,\nwas enriched with several hundred valuable manuscripts, comprising many of\nthe classical Latin authors, besides the works of the early fathers, and\nthe principal historians, and philosophers of more modern date. He\nretained the dignity of Abbot of Spannheim for twenty-one years, when the\nmonks, tired of the severe discipline he maintained, revolted against him,\nand chose another abbot in his place. He was afterwards made Abbot of St.\nJames, in Wurzburg, where he died in 1516.\n\nDuring his learned leisure at Spannheim, he wrote several works upon the\noccult sciences, the chief of which are an essay on geomancy, or\ndivination by means of lines and circles on the ground; another upon\nsorcery; a third upon alchymy; and a fourth upon the government of the\nworld by its presiding angels, which was translated into English, and\npublished by the famous William Lilly in 1647.\n\nIt has been alleged by the believers in the possibility of transmutation,\nthat the prosperity of the abbey of Spannheim, while under his\nsuperintendence, was owing more to the philosopher's stone than to wise\neconomy. Trithemius, in common with many other learned men, has been\naccused of magic; and a marvellous story is told of his having raised from\nthe grave the form of Mary of Burgundy, at the intercession of her widowed\nhusband, the Emperor Maximilian. His work on steganographia, or cabalistic\nwriting, was denounced to the Count Palatine, Frederic II., as magical and\ndevilish; and it was by him taken from the shelves of his library and\nthrown into the fire. Trithemius is said to be the first writer who makes\nmention of the wonderful story of the devil and Dr. Faustus, the truth of\nwhich he firmly believed. He also recounts the freaks of a spirit named\n_Hudekin_, by whom he was at times tormented.[38]\n\n    [38] _Biographie Universelle._\n\n\nTHE MARECHAL DE RAYS.\n\nOne of the greatest encouragers of alchymy in the fifteenth century was\nGilles de Laval, Lord of Rays and a Marshal of France. His name and deeds\nare little known; but in the annals of crime and folly, they might claim\nthe highest and worst pre-eminence. Fiction has never invented any thing\nwilder or more horrible than his career; and were not the details but too\nwell authenticated by legal and other documents which admit no doubt, the\nlover of romance might easily imagine they were drawn to please him from\nthe stores of the prolific brain, and not from the page of history.\n\nHe was born about the year 1420, of one of the noblest families of\nBrittany. His father dying when Gilles had attained his twentieth year, he\ncame into uncontrolled possession, at that early age, of a fortune which\nthe monarchs of France might have envied him. He was a near kinsman of the\nMontmorencys, the Roncys, and the Craons; possessed fifteen princely\ndomains, and had an annual revenue of about three hundred thousand livres.\nBesides this, he was handsome, learned, and brave. He distinguished\nhimself greatly in the wars of Charles VII., and was rewarded by that\nmonarch with the dignity of a marshal of France. But he was extravagant\nand magnificent in his style of living, and accustomed from his earliest\nyears to the gratification of every wish and passion; and this, at last,\nled him from vice to vice and from crime to crime, till a blacker name\nthan his is not to be found in any record of human iniquity.\n\nIn his castle of Champtoc\u00e9 he lived with all the splendour of an eastern\ncaliph. He kept up a troop of two hundred horsemen to accompany him\nwherever he went; and his excursions for the purposes of hawking and\nhunting were the wonder of all the country around, so magnificent were the\ncaparisons of his steeds and the dresses of his retainers. Day and night\nhis castle was open all the year round to comers of every degree. He made\nit a rule to regale even the poorest beggar with wine and hippocrass.\nEvery day an ox was roasted whole in his spacious kitchens, besides sheep,\npigs, and poultry sufficient to feed five hundred persons. He was equally\nmagnificent in his devotions. His private chapel at Champtoc\u00e9 was the most\nbeautiful in France, and far surpassed any of those in the richly-endowed\ncathedrals of Notre Dame in Paris, of Amiens, of Beauvais, or of Rouen. It\nwas hung with cloth of gold and rich velvet. All the chandeliers were of\npure gold curiously inlaid with silver. The great crucifix over the altar\nwas of solid silver, and the chalices and incense-burners were of pure\ngold. He had besides a fine organ, which he caused to be carried from one\ncastle to another on the shoulders of six men, whenever he changed his\nresidence. He kept up a choir of twenty-five young children of both sexes,\nwho were instructed in singing by the first musicians of the day. The\nmaster of his chapel he called a bishop, who had under him his deans,\narch-deacons, and vicars, each receiving great salaries; the bishop four\nhundred crowns a year, and the rest in proportion.\n\nHe also maintained a whole troop of players, including ten dancing girls\nand as many ballad-singers, besides morris-dancers, jugglers, and\nmountebanks of every description. The theatre on which they performed was\nfitted up without any regard to expense, and they played mysteries or\ndanced the morris-dance every evening for the amusement of himself and\nhousehold, and such strangers as were sharing his prodigal hospitality.\n\nAt the age of twenty-three he married Catherine, the wealthy heiress of\nthe house of Touars, for whom he refurnished his castle at an expense of a\nhundred thousand crowns. His marriage was the signal for new extravagance,\nand he launched out more madly than ever he had done before; sending for\nfine singers or celebrated dancers from foreign countries to amuse him and\nhis spouse; and instituting tilts and tournaments in his great court-yard\nalmost every week for all the knights and nobles of the province of\nBrittany. The Duke of Brittany's court was not half so splendid as that of\nthe Mar\u00e9chal de Rays. His utter disregard for wealth was so well known,\nthat he was made to pay three times its value for every thing he\npurchased. His castle was filled with needy parasites and panderers to his\npleasures, amongst whom he lavished rewards with an unsparing hand. But\nthe ordinary round of sensual gratification ceased at last to afford him\ndelight; he was observed to be more abstemious in the pleasures of the\ntable, and to neglect the beauteous dancing girls who used formerly to\noccupy so much of his attention. He was sometimes gloomy and reserved, and\nthere was an unnatural wildness in his eye which gave indications of\nincipient madness. Still his discourse was as reasonable as ever, his\nurbanity to the guests that flocked from far and near to Champtoc\u00e9\nsuffered no diminution; and learned priests, when they conversed with him,\nthought to themselves that few of the nobles of France were so well\ninformed as Gilles de Laval. But dark rumours spread gradually over the\ncountry; murder, and, if possible, still more atrocious deeds were hinted\nat; and it was remarked that many young children of both sexes suddenly\ndisappeared, and were never afterwards heard of. One or two had been\ntraced to the castle of Champtoc\u00e9, and had never been seen to leave it;\nbut no one dared to accuse openly so powerful a man as the Mar\u00e9chal de\nRays. Whenever the subject of the lost children was mentioned in his\npresence, he manifested the greatest astonishment at the mystery which\ninvolved their fate, and indignation against those who might be guilty of\nkidnapping them. Still the world was not wholly deceived; his name became\nas formidable to young children as that of the devouring ogre in fairy\ntales, and they were taught to go miles round, rather than pass under the\nturrets of Champtoc\u00e9.\n\nIn the course of a few years, the reckless extravagance of the marshal\ndrained him of all his funds, and he was obliged to put up some of his\nestates for sale. The Duke of Brittany entered into a treaty with him for\nthe valuable seignory of Ingrande; but the heirs of Gilles implored the\ninterference of Charles VII. to stay the sale. Charles immediately issued\nan edict, which was confirmed by the provincial Parliament of Brittany,\nforbidding him to alienate his paternal estates. Gilles had no alternative\nbut to submit. He had nothing to support his extravagance but his\nallowance as a marshal of France, which did not cover the one-tenth of his\nexpenses. A man of his habits and character could not retrench his\nwasteful expenditure, and live reasonably; he could not dismiss without a\npang his horsemen, his jesters, his morris-dancers, his choristers, and\nhis parasites, or confine his hospitality to those who really needed it.\nNotwithstanding his diminished resources, he resolved to live as he had\nlived before, and turn alchymist, that he might make gold out of iron, and\nbe still the wealthiest and most magnificent among the nobles of Brittany.\n\nIn pursuance of this determination, he sent to Paris, Italy, Germany, and\nSpain, inviting all the adepts in the science to visit him at Champtoc\u00e9.\nThe messengers he despatched on this mission were two of his most needy\nand unprincipled dependants, Gilles de Sill\u00e9 and Roger de Bricqueville.\nThe latter, the obsequious panderer to his most secret and abominable\npleasures, he had entrusted with the education of his motherless daughter,\na child but five years of age, with permission that he might marry her at\nthe proper time to any person he chose, or to himself if he liked it\nbetter. This man entered into the new plans of his master with great zeal,\nand introduced to him one Prelati, an alchymist of Padua, and a physician\nof Poitou, who was addicted to the same pursuits.\n\nThe marshal caused a splendid laboratory to be fitted up for them, and the\nthree commenced the search for the philosopher's stone. They were soon\nafterwards joined by another pretended philosopher, named Anthony Palermo,\nwho aided in their operations for upwards of a year. They all fared\nsumptuously at the marshal's expense, draining him of the ready money he\npossessed, and leading him on from day to day with the hope that they\nwould succeed in the object of their search. From time to time new\naspirants from the remotest parts of Europe arrived at his castle, and for\nmonths he had upwards of twenty alchymists at work, trying to transmute\ncopper into gold; and wasting the gold which was still his own in drugs\nand elixirs.\n\nBut the Lord of Rays was not a man to abide patiently their lingering\nprocesses. Pleased with their comfortable quarters, they jogged on from\nday to day, and would have done so for years, had they been permitted. But\nhe suddenly dismissed them all, with the exception of the Italian Prelati,\nand the physician of Poitou. These he retained to aid him to discover the\nsecret of the philosopher's stone by a bolder method. The Poitousan had\npersuaded him that the devil was the great depository of that and all\nother secrets, and that he would raise him before Gilles, who might enter\ninto any contract he pleased with him. Gilles expressed his readiness, and\npromised to give the devil any thing but his soul, or do any deed that the\narch-enemy might impose upon him. Attended solely by the physician, he\nproceeded at midnight to a wild-looking place in a neighbouring forest;\nthe physician drew a magic circle around them on the sward, and muttered\nfor half an hour an invocation to the evil spirit to arise at his bidding,\nand disclose the secrets of alchymy. Gilles looked on with intense\ninterest, and expected every moment to see the earth open, and deliver to\nhis gaze the great enemy of mankind. At last the eyes of the physician\nbecame fixed, his hair stood on end, and he spoke, as if addressing the\nfiend. But Gilles saw nothing except his companion. At last the physician\nfell down on the sward as if insensible. Gilles looked calmly on to see\nthe end. After a few minutes the physician arose, and asked him if he had\nnot seen how angry the devil looked? Gilles replied that he had seen\nnothing; upon which his companion informed him that Beelzebub had appeared\nin the form of a wild leopard, growled at him savagely, and said nothing;\nand that the reason why the marshal had neither seen nor heard him was,\nthat he hesitated in his own mind as to devoting himself entirely to the\nservice. De Rays owned that he had indeed misgivings, and inquired what\nwas to be done to make the devil speak out, and unfold his secret? The\nphysician replied, that some person must go to Spain and Africa to collect\ncertain herbs which only grew in those countries, and offered to go\nhimself, if De Rays would provide the necessary funds. De Rays at once\nconsented; and the physician set out on the following day with all the\ngold that his dupe could spare him. The marshal never saw his face again.\n\nBut the eager Lord of Champtoc\u00e9 could not rest. Gold was necessary for his\npleasures; and unless by supernatural aid, he had no means of procuring\nany further supplies. The physician was hardly twenty leagues on his\njourney, before Gilles resolved to make another effort to force the devil\nto divulge the art of gold-making. He went out alone for that purpose; but\nall his conjurations were of no effect. Beelzebub was obstinate, and would\nnot appear. Determined to conquer him if he could, he unbosomed himself to\nthe Italian alchymist, Prelati. The latter offered to undertake the\nbusiness, upon condition that De Rays did not interfere in the\nconjurations, and consented besides to furnish him with all the charms and\ntalismans that might be required. He was further to open a vein in his\narm, and sign with his blood a contract that \"he would work the devil's\nwill in all things,\" and offer up to him a sacrifice of the heart, lungs,\nhands, eyes, and blood of a young child. The grasping monomaniac made no\nhesitation, but agreed at once to the disgusting terms proposed to him. On\nthe following night, Prelati went out alone, and after having been absent\nfor three or four hours, returned to Gilles, who sat anxiously awaiting\nhim. Prelati then informed him that he had seen the devil in the shape of\na handsome youth of twenty. He further said, that the devil desired to be\ncalled _Barron_ in all future invocations; and had shewn him a great\nnumber of ingots of pure gold, buried under a large oak in the\nneighbouring forest, all of which, and as many more as he desired, should\nbecome the property of the Mar\u00e9chal de Rays if he remained firm, and broke\nno condition of the contract. Prelati further shewed him a small casket of\nblack dust, which would turn iron into gold; but as the process was very\ntroublesome, he advised that they should be contented with the ingots they\nfound under the oak tree, and which would more than supply all the wants\nthat the most extravagant imagination could desire. They were not,\nhowever, to attempt to look for the gold till a period of seven times\nseven weeks, or they would find nothing but slates and stones for their\npains. Gilles expressed the utmost chagrin and disappointment, and at once\nsaid that he could not wait for so long a period; if the devil were not\nmore, prompt Prelati might tell him that the Mar\u00e9chal de Rays was not to\nbe trifled with, and would decline all further communication with him.\nPrelati at last persuaded him to wait seven times seven days. They then\nwent at midnight with picks and shovels to dig up the ground under the\noak, where they found nothing to reward them but a great quantity of\nslates, marked with hieroglyphics. It was now Prelati's turn to be angry;\nand he loudly swore that the devil was nothing but a liar and a cheat. The\nmarshal joined cordially in the opinion, but was easily persuaded by the\ncunning Italian to make one more trial. He promised at the same time that\nhe would endeavour on the following night to discover the reason why the\ndevil had broken his word. He went out alone accordingly, and on his\nreturn informed his patron that he had seen Barron, who was exceedingly\nangry that they had not waited the proper time ere they looked for the\ningots. Barron had also said, that the Mar\u00e9chal de Rays could hardly\nexpect any favours from him, at a time when he must know that he had been\nmeditating a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to make atonement for his sins.\nThe Italian had doubtless surmised this from some incautious expression of\nhis patron, for de Rays frankly confessed that there were times when, sick\nof the world and all its pomps and vanities, he thought of devoting\nhimself to the service of God.\n\nIn this manner the Italian lured on from month to month his credulous and\nguilty patron, extracting from him all the valuables he possessed, and\nonly waiting a favourable opportunity to decamp with his plunder. But the\nday of retribution was at hand for both. Young girls and boys continued to\ndisappear in the most mysterious manner; and the rumours against the owner\nof Champtoc\u00e9 grew so loud and distinct, that the Church was compelled to\ninterfere. Representations were made by the Bishop of Nantes to the Duke\nof Brittany, that it would be a public scandal if the accusations against\nthe Mar\u00e9chal de Rays were not inquired into. He was arrested accordingly\nin his own castle, along with his accomplice Prelati, and thrown into a\ndungeon at Nantes to await his trial.\n\nThe judges appointed to try him were the Bishop of Nantes Chancellor of\nBrittany, the Vicar of the Inquisition in France, and the celebrated\nPierre l'H\u00f4pital, the President of the provincial Parliament. The offences\nlaid to his charge were, sorcery, sodomy, and murder. Gilles, on the first\nday of his trial, conducted himself with the utmost insolence. He braved\nthe judges on the judgment-seat, calling them simoniacs and persons of\nimpure life, and said he would rather be hanged by the neck like a dog\nwithout trial, than plead either guilty or not guilty before such\ncontemptible miscreants. But his confidence forsook him as the trial\nproceeded, and he was found guilty on the clearest evidence of all the\ncrimes laid to his charge. It was proved that he took insane pleasure in\nstabbing the victims of his lust and in observing the quivering of their\nflesh, and the fading lustre of their eyes as they expired. The confession\nof Prelati first made the judges acquainted with this horrid madness, and\nGilles himself confirmed it before his death. Nearly a hundred children of\nthe villagers around his two castles of Champtoc\u00e9 and Machecoue, had been\nmissed within three years, the greater part, if not all, of whom were\nimmolated to the lust or the cupidity of this monster. He imagined that he\nthus made the devil his friend, and that his recompense would be the\nsecret of the philosopher's stone.\n\nGilles and Prelati were both condemned to be burned alive. At the place of\nexecution they assumed the air of penitence and religion. Gilles tenderly\nembraced Prelati, saying, \"_Farewell, friend Francis! In this world we\nshall never meet again; but let us place our hopes in God; we shall see\neach other in Paradise_.\" Out of consideration for his high rank and\nconnexions, the punishment of the marshal was so far mitigated, that he\nwas not burned alive like Prelati. He was first strangled, and then thrown\ninto the flames: his body, when half consumed, was given over to his\nrelatives for interment, while that of the Italian was burned to ashes,\nand then scattered to the winds.[39]\n\n   [39] For full details of this extraordinary trial, see Lobineau's\n         _Nouvelle Histoire de Bretagne_, and D'Argentr\u00e9's work on the\n         same subject. The character and life of Gilles de Rays are\n         believed to have suggested the famous Blue Beard of the\n         nursery tale.\n\n\nJACQUES COEUR.\n\nThis remarkable pretender to the secret of the philosopher's stone was\ncontemporary with the last mentioned. He was a great personage at the\ncourt of Charles VII., and in the events of his reign played a prominent\npart. From a very humble origin he rose to the highest honours of the\nstate, and amassed enormous wealth by peculation and plunder of the\ncountry which he should have served. It was to hide his delinquencies in\nthis respect, and to divert attention from the real source of his riches,\nthat he boasted of having discovered the art of transmuting the inferior\nmetals into gold and silver.\n\nHis father was a goldsmith in the city of Bourges; but so reduced in\ncircumstances towards the latter years of his life, that he was unable to\npay the necessary fees to procure his son's admission into the guild.\nYoung Jacques became, however, a workman in the Royal Mint of Bourges, in\n1428, and behaved himself so well, and shewed so much knowledge of\nmetallurgy, that he attained rapid promotion in that establishment. He had\nalso the good fortune to make the acquaintance of the fair Agnes Sorel, by\nwhom he was patronised and much esteemed. Jacques had now three things in\nhis favour--ability, perseverance, and the countenance of the king's\nmistress. Many a man succeeds with but one of these to help him forward;\nand it would have been strange indeed if Jacques Coeur, who had them all,\nshould have languished in obscurity. While still a young man, he was made\nmaster of the mint, in which he had been a journeyman, and installed at\nthe same time into the vacant office of grand treasurer of the royal\nhousehold.\n\nHe possessed an extensive knowledge of finance, and turned it wonderfully\nto his own advantage, as soon as he became entrusted with extensive funds.\nHe speculated in articles of the first necessity, and made himself popular\nby buying up grain, honey, wines, and other produce, till there was a\nscarcity, when he sold it again at enormous profit. Strong in the royal\nfavour, he did not hesitate to oppress the poor by continual acts of\nforestalling and monopoly. As there is no enemy so bitter as the estranged\nfriend, so of all the tyrants and tramplers upon the poor, there is none\nso fierce and reckless as the upstart that sprang from their ranks. The\noffensive pride of Jacques Coeur to his inferiors was the theme of\nindignant reproach in his own city, and his cringing humility to those\nabove him was as much an object of contempt to the aristocrats into whose\nsociety he thrust himself. But Jacques did not care for the former, and to\nthe latter he was blind. He continued his career till he became the\nrichest man in France, and so useful to the king that no important\nenterprise was set on foot until he had been consulted. He was sent, in\n1446, on an embassy to Genoa, and in the following year to Pope Nicholas\nV. In both these missions he acquitted himself to the satisfaction of his\nsovereign, and was rewarded with a lucrative appointment, in addition to\nthose which he already held.\n\nIn the year 1449, the English in Normandy, deprived of their great\ngeneral, the Duke of Bedford, broke the truce with the French king, and\ntook possession of a small town belonging to the Duke of Brittany. This\nwas the signal for the recommencement of a war, in which the French\nregained possession of nearly the whole province. The money for this war\nwas advanced, for the most part, by Jacques Coeur. When Rouen yielded to\nthe French, and Charles made his triumphal entry into that city,\naccompanied by Dunois and his most famous generals, Jacques was among the\nmost brilliant of his _cort\u00e8ge_. His chariot and horses vied with those of\nthe king in the magnificence of their trappings; and his enemies said of\nhim that he publicly boasted that he alone had driven out the English, and\nthat the valour of the troops would have been nothing without his gold.\n\nDunois appears, also, to have been partly of the same opinion. Without\ndisparaging the courage of the army, he acknowledged the utility of the\nable financier, by whose means they had been fed and paid, and constantly\nafforded him his powerful protection.\n\nWhen peace returned, Jacques again devoted himself to commerce, and fitted\nup several galleys to trade with the Genoese. He also bought large estates\nin various parts of France; the chief of which were the baronies of St.\nFargeau, Meneton, Salone, Maubranche, Meaune, St. Gerant de Vaux, and St.\nAon de Boissy; the earldoms or counties of La Palisse, Champignelle,\nBeaumont, and Villeneuve la Gen\u00eat, and the marquisate of Toucy. He also\nprocured for his son, Jean Coeur, who had chosen the Church for his\nprofession, a post no less distinguished than that of Archbishop of\nBourges.\n\nEvery body said that so much wealth could not have been honestly acquired;\nand both rich and poor longed for the day that should humble the pride of\nthe man, whom the one class regarded as an upstart and the other as an\noppressor. Jacques was somewhat alarmed at the rumours that were afloat\nrespecting him, and of dark hints that he had debased the coin of the\nrealm and forged the king's seal to an important document, by which he had\ndefrauded the state of very considerable sums. To silence these rumours,\nhe invited many alchymists from foreign countries to reside with him, and\ncirculated a counter rumour, that he had discovered the secret of the\nphilosopher's stone. He also built a magnificent house in his native city,\nover the entrance of which he caused to be sculptured the emblems of that\nscience. Some time afterwards he built another, no less splendid, at\nMontpellier, which he inscribed in a similar manner. He also wrote a\ntreatise upon the hermetic philosophy, in which he pretended that he knew\nthe secret of transmuting metals.\n\n[Illustration: HOUSE OF JACQUES COEUR, BOURGES.]\n\nBut all these attempts to disguise his numerous acts of peculation proved\nunavailing; and he was arrested in 1452, and brought to trial on several\ncharges. Upon one only, which the malice of his enemies invented to ruin\nhim, was he acquitted; which was, that he had been accessory to the death,\nby poison, of his kind patroness, Agnes Sorel. Upon the others he was\nfound guilty, and sentenced to be banished the kingdom, and to pay the\nenormous fine of four hundred thousand crowns. It was proved that he had\nforged the king's seal; that in his capacity of master of the mint of\nBourges, he had debased, to a very great extent, the gold and silver coin\nof the realm; and that he had not hesitated to supply the Turks with arms\nand money to enable them to carry on war against their Christian\nneighbours, for which service he had received the most munificent\nrecompenses. Charles VII. was deeply grieved at his condemnation, and\nbelieved to the last that he was innocent. By his means the fine was\nreduced within a sum which Jacques Coeur could pay. After remaining for\nsome time in prison, he was liberated, and left France with a large sum of\nmoney, part of which, it was alleged, was secretly paid him by Charles out\nof the produce of his confiscated estates. He retired to Cyprus, where he\ndied about 1460, the richest and most conspicuous personage of the island.\n\nThe writers upon alchymy all claim Jacques Coeur as a member of their\nfraternity, and treat as false and libellous the more rational explanation\nof his wealth which the records of his trial afford. Pierre Borel, in his\n_Antiquit\u00e9s Gauloises_, maintains the opinion that Jacques was an honest\nman, and that he made his gold out of lead and copper by means of the\nphilosopher's stone. The alchymic adepts in general were of the same\nopinion; but they found it difficult to persuade even his contemporaries\nof the fact. Posterity is still less likely to believe it.\n\n\nINFERIOR ADEPTS OF THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES.\n\nMany other pretenders to the secrets of the philosopher's stone appeared\nin every country in Europe, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.\nThe possibility of transmutation was so generally admitted, that every\nchemist was more or less an alchymist. Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain,\nPoland, France, and England produced thousands of obscure adepts, who\nsupported themselves, in the pursuit of their chimera, by the more\nprofitable resources of astrology and divination. The monarchs of Europe\nwere no less persuaded than their subjects of the possibility of\ndiscovering the philosopher's stone. Henry VI. and Edward IV. of England\nencouraged alchymy. In Germany, the Emperors Maximilian, Rudolph, and\nFrederic II. devoted much of their attention to it; and every inferior\npotentate within their dominions imitated their example. It was a common\npractice in Germany, among the nobles and petty sovereigns, to invite an\nalchymist to take up his residence among them, that they might confine him\nin a dungeon till he made gold enough to pay millions for his ransom. Many\npoor wretches suffered perpetual imprisonment in consequence. A similar\nfate appears to have been intended by Edward II. for Raymond Lulli, who,\nupon the pretence that he was thereby honoured, was accommodated with\napartments in the Tower of London. He found out in time the trick that was\nabout to be played him, and managed to make his escape; some of his\nbiographers say, by jumping into the Thames, and swimming to a vessel that\nlay waiting to receive him. In the sixteenth century, the same system was\npursued, as will be shewn more fully in the life of Seton the Cosmopolite.\n\nThe following is a catalogue of the chief authors upon alchymy, who\nflourished during this epoch, and whose lives and adventures are either\nunknown or are unworthy of more detailed notice. John Dowston, an\nEnglishman, lived in 1315, and wrote two treatises on the philosopher's\nstone. Richard, or, as some call him, Robert, also an Englishman, lived in\n1330, and wrote a work entitled _Correctorium Alchymi\u00e6_, which was much\nesteemed till the time of Paracelsus. In the same year lived Peter of\nLombardy, who wrote what he called a _Complete Treatise upon the Hermetic\nScience_, an abridgment of which was afterwards published by Lacini, a\nmonk of Calabria. In 1330 the most famous alchymist of Paris was one\nOdomare, whose work, _De Practica Magistri_, was for a long time a\nhand-book among the brethren of the science. John de Rupecissa, a French\nmonk of the order of St. Francis, flourished in 1357, and pretended to be\na prophet as well as an alchymist. Some of his prophecies were so\ndisagreeable to Pope Innocent VI., that the pontiff determined to put a\nstop to them, by locking up the prophet in the dungeons of the Vatican. It\nis generally believed that he died there, though there is no evidence of\nthe fact. His chief works are, the _Book of Light_, the _Five Essences_,\nthe _Heaven of Philosophers_, and his grand work, _De Confectione\nLapidis_. He was not thought a shining light among the adepts. Ortholani\nwas another pretender, of whom nothing is known, but that he exercised the\narts of alchymy and astrology at Paris, shortly before the time of\nNicholas Flamel. His work on the practice of alchymy was written in that\ncity in 1358. Isaac of Holland wrote, it is supposed, about this time; and\nhis son also devoted himself to the science. Nothing worth repeating is\nknown of their lives. Boerhaave speaks with commendation of many passages\nin their works, and Paracelsus esteemed them highly: the chief are, _De\nTriplici Ordine Elixiris et Lapidis Theoria_, printed at Berne in 1608;\nand _Mineralia Opera, seu de Lapide Philosophico_, printed at Middleburg\nin 1600. They also wrote eight other works upon the same subject.\nKoffstky, a Pole, wrote an alchymical treatise, entitled _The Tincture of\nMinerals_, about the year 1488. In this list of authors a royal name must\nnot be forgotten. Charles VI. of France, one of the most credulous princes\nof the day, whose court absolutely swarmed with alchymists, conjurers,\nastrologers, and quacks of every description, made several attempts to\ndiscover the philosopher's stone, and thought he knew so much about it,\nthat he determined to enlighten the world with a treatise; it is called\nthe _Royal Work of Charles VI. of France, and the Treasure of Philosophy_.\nIt is said to be the original from which Nicholas Flamel took the idea of\nhis _D\u00e9sir d\u00e9sir\u00e9_. Lenglet du Fresnoy says it is very allegorical, and\nutterly incomprehensible. For a more complete list of the hermetic\nphilosophers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the reader is\nreferred to the third volume of Lenglet's History, already quoted.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nPROGRESS OF THE INFATUATION DURING THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH\nCENTURIES.--PRESENT STATE OF THE SCIENCE.\n\nDuring the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the search for the\nphilosopher's stone was continued by thousands of the enthusiastic and the\ncredulous; but a great change was introduced during this period. The\neminent men who devoted themselves to the study totally changed its\naspect, and referred to the possession of their wondrous stone and elixir,\nnot only the conversion of the base into the precious metals, but the\nsolution of all the difficulties of other sciences. They pretended that by\nits means man would be brought into closer communion with his Maker; that\ndisease and sorrow would be banished from the world; and that \"the\nmillions of spiritual beings who walk the earth unseen\" would be rendered\nvisible, and become the friends, companions, and instructors of mankind.\nIn the seventeenth century more especially, these poetical and fantastic\ndoctrines excited the notice of Europe; and from Germany, where they had\nbeen first disseminated by Rosencreutz, spread into France and England,\nand ran away with the sound judgment of many clever but too enthusiastic\nsearchers for the truth. Paracelsus, Dee, and many others of less note,\nwere captivated by the grace and beauty of the new mythology, which was\narising to adorn the literature of Europe. Most of the alchymists of the\nsixteenth century, although ignorant of the Rosicrucians as a sect, were,\nin some degree, tinctured with their fanciful tenets: but before we speak\nmore fully of these poetical visionaries, it will be necessary to resume\nthe history of the hermetic folly, and trace the gradual change that stole\nover the dreams of the adepts. It will be seen that the infatuation\nincreased rather than diminished as the world grew older.\n\n\nAUGURELLO.\n\nAmong the alchymists who were born in the fifteenth, and distinguished\nthemselves in the sixteenth century, the first in point of date is John\nAurelio Augurello. He was born at Rimini in 1441, and became professor of\nthe _belles lettres_ at Venice and Trevisa. He was early convinced of the\ntruth of the hermetic science, and used to pray to God that he might be\nhappy enough to discover the philosopher's stone. He was continually\nsurrounded by the paraphernalia of chemistry, and expended all his wealth\nin the purchase of drugs and metals. He was also a poet, but of less merit\nthan pretensions. His _Chrysopeia_, in which he pretended to teach the art\nof making gold, he dedicated to Pope Leo X., in the hope that the pontiff\nwould reward him handsomely for the compliment; but the pope was too good\na judge of poetry to be pleased with the worse than mediocrity of his\npoem, and too good a philosopher to approve of the strange doctrines which\nit inculcated; he was, therefore, far from gratified at the dedication. It\nis said, that when Augurello applied to him for a reward, the pope, with\ngreat ceremony and much apparent kindness and cordiality, drew an empty\npurse from his pocket, and presented it to the alchymist, saying, that\nsince he was able to make gold, the most appropriate present that could be\nmade him, was a purse to put it in. This scurvy reward was all that the\npoor alchymist ever got either for his poetry or his alchymy. He died in a\nstate of extreme poverty, in the eighty-third year of his age.\n\n\nCORNELIUS AGRIPPA.\n\nThis alchymist has left a distinguished reputation.  The most\nextraordinary tales were told and believed of his powers. He could turn\niron into gold by his mere word. All the spirits of the air and demons of\nthe earth were under his command, and bound to obey him in everything. He\ncould raise from the dead the forms of the great men of other days, and\nmake them appear, \"in their habit as they lived,\" to the gaze of the\ncurious who had courage enough to abide their presence.\n\n[Illustration: CORNELIUS AGRIPPA.]\n\nHe was born at Cologne in 1486, and began at an early age the study of\nchemistry and philosophy. By some means or other, which have never been\nvery clearly explained, he managed to impress his contemporaries with a\ngreat idea of his wonderful attainments. At the early age of twenty, so\ngreat was his reputation as an alchymist, that the principal adepts of\nParis wrote to Cologne, inviting him to settle in France, and aid them\nwith his experience in discovering the philosopher's stone. Honours poured\nupon him in thick succession; and he was highly esteemed by all the\nlearned men of his time. Melancthon speaks of him with respect and\ncommendation. Erasmus also bears testimony in his favour; and the general\nvoice of his age proclaimed him a light of literature and an ornament to\nphilosophy. Some men, by dint of excessive egotism, manage to persuade\ntheir contemporaries that they are very great men indeed: they publish\ntheir acquirements so loudly in people's ears, and keep up their own\npraises so incessantly, that the world's applause is actually taken by\nstorm. Such seems to have been the case with Agrippa. He called himself a\nsublime theologian, an excellent jurisconsult, an able physician, a great\nphilosopher, and a successful alchymist. The world at last took him at his\nword; and thought that a man who talked so big, must have some merit to\nrecommend him,--that it was, indeed, a great trumpet which sounded so\nobstreperous a blast. He was made secretary to the Emperor Maximilian, who\nconferred upon him the title of chevalier, and gave him the honorary\ncommand of a regiment. He afterwards became professor of Hebrew and the\n_belles lettres_ at the University of D\u00f4le, in France; but quarrelling\nwith the Franciscan monks upon some knotty points of divinity, he was\nobliged to quit the town. He took refuge in London, where he taught Hebrew\nand cast nativities, for about a year. From London he proceeded to Pavia,\nand gave lectures upon the writings, real or supposed, of Hermes\nTrismegistus; and might have lived there in peace and honour, had he not\nagain quarrelled with the clergy. By their means his position became so\ndisagreeable that he was glad to accept an offer made him by the\nmagistracy of Metz, to become their syndic and advocate-general. Here,\nagain, his love of disputation made him enemies: the theological wiseacres\nof that city asserted that St. Ann had three husbands, in which opinion\nthey were confirmed by the popular belief of the day. Agrippa needlessly\nran foul of this opinion, or prejudice as he called it, and thereby lost\nmuch of his influence. Another dispute, more creditable to his character,\noccurred soon after, and sank him for ever in the estimation of the\nMetzians. Humanely taking the part of a young girl who was accused of\nwitchcraft, his enemies asserted that he was himself a sorcerer, and\nraised such a storm over his head, that he was forced to fly the city.\nAfter this he became physician to Louisa de Savoy, mother of King Francis\nI. This lady was curious to know the future, and required her physician to\ncast her nativity. Agrippa replied that he would not encourage such idle\ncuriosity. The result was, he lost her confidence, and was forthwith\ndismissed. If it had been through his belief in the worthlessness of\nastrology, that he had made his answer, we might admire his honest and\nfearless independence; but when it is known that, at the very same time,\nhe was in the constant habit of divination and fortune-telling, and that\nhe was predicting splendid success, in all his undertakings, to the\nConstable of Bourbon, we can only wonder at his thus estranging a powerful\nfriend through mere petulance and perversity.\n\nHe was about this time invited, both by Henry VIII. of England, and\nMargaret of Austria, governess of the Low Countries, to fix his residence\nin their dominions. He chose the service of the latter, by whose influence\nhe was made historiographer to the Emperor Charles V. Unfortunately for\nAgrippa, he never had stability enough to remain long in one position, and\noffended his patrons by his restlessness and presumption. After the death\nof Margaret he was imprisoned at Brussels, on a charge of sorcery. He was\nreleased after a year; and quitting the country, experienced many\nvicissitudes. He died in great poverty in 1534, aged forty-eight years.\n\nWhile in the service of Margaret of Austria, he resided principally at\nLouvain, in which city he wrote his famous work on the _Vanity and\nNothingness of Human Knowledge_. He also wrote to please his royal\nmistress, a treatise upon the _Superiority of the Female Sex_, which he\ndedicated to her in token of his gratitude for the favours she had heaped\nupon him. The reputation he left behind him in these provinces was any\nthing but favourable. A great number of the marvellous tales that are told\nof him relate to this period of his life. It was said, that the gold which\nhe paid to the traders with whom he dealt, always looked remarkably\nbright, but invariably turned into pieces of slate and stone in the course\nof four-and-twenty hours. Of this spurious gold he was believed to have\nmade large quantities by the aid of the devil, who, it would appear from\nthis, had but a very superficial knowledge of alchymy, and much less than\nthe Mar\u00e9chal de Rays gave him credit for. The Jesuit Delrio, in his book\non magic and sorcery, relates a still more extraordinary story of him. One\nday, Agrippa left his house at Louvain, and intending to be absent for\nsome time, gave the key of his study to his wife, with strict orders that\nno one should enter it during his absence. The lady herself, strange as it\nmay appear, had no curiosity to pry into her husband's secrets, and never\nonce thought of entering the forbidden room; but a young student, who had\nbeen accommodated with an attic in the philosopher's house, burned with a\nfierce desire to examine the study; hoping, perchance, that he might\npurloin some book or implement which would instruct him in the art of\ntransmuting metals. The youth, being handsome, eloquent, and, above all,\nhighly complimentary to the charms of the lady, she was persuaded without\nmuch difficulty to lend him the key, but gave him strict orders not to\nremove any thing. The student promised implicit obedience, and entered\nAgrippa's study. The first object that caught his attention was a large\n_grimoire_, or book of spells, which lay open on the philosopher's desk.\nHe sat himself down immediately and began to read. At the first word he\nuttered, he fancied he heard a knock at the door. He listened, but all was\nsilent. Thinking that his imagination had deceived him, he read on, when\nimmediately a louder knock was heard, which so terrified him, that he\nstarted to his feet. He tried to say \"Come in,\" but his tongue refused its\noffice, and he could not articulate a sound. He fixed his eyes upon the\ndoor, which, slowly opening, disclosed a stranger of majestic form, but\nscowling features, who demanded sternly, why he was summoned? \"I did not\nsummon you,\" said the trembling student. \"You did!\" said the stranger,\nadvancing angrily; \"and the demons are not to be invoked in vain.\" The\nstudent could make no reply; and the demon, enraged that one of the\nuninitiated should have summoned him out of mere presumption, seized him\nby the throat and strangled him. When Agrippa returned, a few days\nafterwards, he found his house beset with devils. Some of them were\nsitting on the chimney-pots, kicking up their legs in the air; while\nothers were playing at leapfrog on the very edge of the parapet. His study\nwas so filled with them, that he found it difficult to make his way to his\ndesk. When, at last, he had elbowed his way through them, he found his\nbook open, and the student lying dead upon the floor. He saw immediately\nhow the mischief had been done; and dismissing all the inferior imps,\nasked the principal demon how he could have been so rash as to kill the\nyoung man. The demon replied, that he had been needlessly invoked by an\ninsulting youth, and could do no less than kill him for his presumption.\nAgrippa reprimanded him severely, and ordered him immediately to reanimate\nthe dead body, and walk about with it in the market-place for the whole of\nthe afternoon. The demon did so; the student revived, and putting his arm\nthrough that of his unearthly murderer, walked very lovingly with him in\nsight of all the people. At sunset, the body fell down again, cold and\nlifeless as before, and was carried by the crowd to the hospital, it being\nthe general opinion that he had expired in a fit of apoplexy. His\nconductor immediately disappeared. When the body was examined, marks of\nstrangulation were found on the neck, and prints of the long claws of the\ndemon on various parts of it. These appearances, together with a story,\nwhich soon obtained currency, that the companion of the young man had\nvanished in a cloud of flame and smoke, opened people's eyes to the truth.\nThe magistrates of Louvain instituted inquiries, and the result was, that\nAgrippa was obliged to quit the town.\n\nOther authors besides Delrio relate similar stories of this philosopher.\nThe world in those days was always willing enough to believe in tales of\nmagic and sorcery; and when, as in Agrippa's case, the alleged magician\ngave himself out for such, and claimed credit for the wonders he worked,\nit is not surprising that the age should have allowed his pretensions. It\nwas dangerous boasting, which sometimes led to the stake or the gallows,\nand therefore was thought to be not without foundation. Paulus Jovius, in\nhis _Eulogia Doctorum Virorum_, says, that the devil, in the shape of a\nlarge black dog, attended Agrippa wherever he went. Thomas Nash, in his\n_Adventures of Jack Wilton_, relates, that, at the request of Lord Surrey,\nErasmus, and some other learned men, Agrippa called up from the grave many\nof the great philosophers of antiquity; among others, Tully, whom he\ncaused to re-deliver his celebrated oration for Roscius. He also shewed\nLord Surrey, when in Germany, an exact resemblance in a glass of his\nmistress, the fair Geraldine. She was represented on a couch weeping for\nthe absence of her lover. Lord Surrey made a note of the exact time at\nwhich he saw this vision, and ascertained afterwards that his mistress was\nactually so employed at the very minute. To Thomas Lord Cromwell, Agrippa\nrepresented King Henry VIII. hunting in Windsor Park, with the principal\nlords of his court; and to please the Emperor Charles V. he summoned King\nDavid and King Solomon from the tomb.\n\nNaud\u00e9, in his \"_Apology for the great Men who have been falsely suspected\nof Magic_,\" takes a great deal of pains to clear Agrippa from the\nimputations cast upon him by Delrio, Paulus Jovius, and other such\nignorant and prejudiced scribblers. Such stories demanded refutation in\nthe days of Naud\u00e9, but they may now be safely left to decay in their own\nabsurdity. That they should have attached, however, to the memory of a man\nwho claimed the power of making iron obey him when he told it to become\ngold, and who wrote such a work as that upon magic, which goes by his\nname, is not at all surprising.\n\n\nPARACELSUS.\n\nThis philosopher, called by Naud\u00e9 \"the zenith and rising sun of all the\nalchymists,\" was born at Einsiedeln, near Zurich, in the year 1493. His\ntrue name was Hohenheim; to which, as he himself informs us, were prefixed\nthe baptismal names of Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastes Paracelsus. The\nlast of these he chose for his common designation while he was yet a boy;\nand rendered it, before he died, one of the most famous in the annals of\nhis time. His father, who was a physician, educated his son for the same\npursuit. The latter was an apt scholar, and made great progress. By chance\nthe work of Isaac Hollandus fell into his hands, and from that time he\nbecame smitten with the mania of the philosopher's stone. All his thoughts\nhenceforth were devoted to metallurgy; and he travelled into Sweden that\nhe might visit the mines of that country, and examine the ores while they\nyet lay in the bowels of the earth. He also visited Trithemius at the\nmonastery of Spannheim, and obtained instructions from him in the science\nof alchymy. Continuing his travels, he proceeded through Prussia and\nAustria into Turkey, Egypt, and Tartary, and thence returning to\nConstantinople, learned, as he boasted, the art of transmutation, and\nbecame possessed of the _elixir vit\u00e6_. He then established himself as a\nphysician in his native Switzerland at Zurich, and commenced writing works\nupon alchymy and medicine, which immediately fixed the attention of\nEurope. Their great obscurity was no impediment to their fame; for the\nless the author was understood, the more the demonologists, fanatics, and\nphilosopher's-stone hunters seemed to appreciate him. His fame as a\nphysician kept pace with that which he enjoyed as an alchymist, owing to\nhis having effected some happy cures by means of mercury and opium,--drugs\nunceremoniously condemned by his professional brethren. In the year 1526,\nhe was chosen professor of physics and natural philosophy in the\nUniversity of Basle, where his lectures attracted vast numbers of\nstudents. He denounced the writings of all former physicians as tending to\nmislead; and publicly burned the works of Galen and Avicenna, as quacks\nand impostors. He exclaimed, in presence of the admiring and\nhalf-bewildered crowd, who assembled to witness the ceremony, that there\nwas more knowledge in his shoe-strings than in the writings of these\nphysicians. Continuing in the same strain, he said, all the Universities\nin the world were full of ignorant quacks; but that he, Paracelsus,\noverflowed with wisdom. \"You will all follow my new system,\" said he, with\nfurious gesticulations, \"Avicenna, Galen, Rhazis, Montagnana, Mem\u00e9,--you\nwill all follow me, ye professors of Paris, Montpellier, Germany, Cologne,\nand Vienna! and all ye that dwell on the Rhine and the Danube,--ye that\ninhabit the isles of the sea; and ye also, Italians, Dalmatians,\nAthenians, Arabians, Jews,--ye will all follow my doctrines, for I am the\nmonarch of medicine!\"\n\n[Illustration: PARACELSUS.]\n\nBut he did not long enjoy the esteem of the good citizens of Basle. It is\nsaid that he indulged in wine so freely, as not unfrequently to be seen in\nthe streets in a state of intoxication. This was ruinous for a physician,\nand his good fame decreased rapidly. His ill fame increased in still\ngreater proportion, especially when he assumed the airs of a sorcerer. He\nboasted of the legions of spirits at his command; and of one especially,\nwhich he kept imprisoned in the hilt of his sword. Wetteras, who lived\ntwenty-seven months in his service, relates that he often threatened to\ninvoke a whole army of demons, and shew him the great authority which he\ncould exercise over them. He let it be believed that the spirit in his\nsword had custody of the elixir of life, by means of which he could make\nany one live to be as old as the antediluvians. He also boasted that he\nhad a spirit at his command, called \"Azoth,\" whom he kept imprisoned in a\njewel; and in many of the old portraits he is represented with a jewel,\ninscribed with the word \"Azoth, in his hand.\"\n\nIf a sober prophet has little honour in his own country, a drunken one has\nstill less. Paracelsus found it at last convenient to quit Basle, and\nestablish himself at Strasbourg. The immediate cause of this change of\nresidence was as follows. A citizen lay at the point of death, and was\ngiven over by all the physicians of the town. As a last resource\nParacelsus was called in, to whom the sick man promised a magnificent\nrecompense, if, by his means, he were cured. Paracelsus gave him two small\npills, which the man took, and rapidly recovered. When he was quite well,\nParacelsus sent for his fee; but the citizen had no great opinion of the\nvalue of a cure which had been so speedily effected. He had no notion of\npaying a handful of gold for two pills, although they had saved his life,\nand he refused to pay more than the usual fee for a single visit.\nParacelsus brought an action against him, and lost it. This result so\nexasperated him, that he left Basle in high dudgeon. He resumed his\nwandering life, and travelled in Germany and Hungary, supporting himself\nas he went on the credulity and infatuation of all classes of society. He\ncast nativities--told fortunes--aided those who had money to throw away\nupon the experiment, to find the philosopher's stone--prescribed remedies\nfor cows and pigs, and aided in the recovery of stolen goods. After\nresiding successively at Nuremburg, Augsburg, Vienna, and Mindelheim, he\nretired in the year 1541 to Saltzbourg, and died in a state of abject\npoverty in the hospital of that town.\n\nIf this strange charlatan found hundreds of admirers during his life, he\nfound thousands after his death. A sect of Paracelsists sprang up in\nFrance and Germany, to perpetuate the extravagant doctrines of their\nfounder upon all the sciences, and upon alchymy in particular. The chief\nleaders were Bodenstein and Dorneus. The following is a summary of his\ndoctrine, founded upon the supposed existence of the philosopher's stone;\nit is worth preserving from its very absurdity, and is altogether\nunparalleled in the history of philosophy. First of all, he maintained\nthat the contemplation of the perfection of the Deity sufficed to procure\nall wisdom and knowledge; that the Bible was the key to the theory of all\ndiseases, and that it was necessary to search into the Apocalypse to know\nthe signification of magic medicine. The man who blindly obeyed the will\nof God, and who succeeded in identifying himself with the celestial\nintelligences, possessed the philosopher's stone--he could cure all\ndiseases, and prolong life to as many centuries as he pleased; it being by\nthe very same means that Adam and the antediluvian patriarchs prolonged\ntheirs. Life was an emanation from the stars--the sun governed the heart,\nand the moon the brain. Jupiter governed the liver, Saturn the gall,\nMercury the lungs, Mars the bile, and Venus the loins. In the stomach of\nevery human being there dwelt a demon, or intelligence, that was a sort of\nalchymist in his way, and mixed, in their due proportions, in his\ncrucible, the various aliments that were sent into that grand laboratory,\nthe belly.[40] He was proud of the title of magician, and boasted that\nhe kept up a regular correspondence with Galen from hell; and that he\noften summoned Avicenna from the same regions to dispute with him on the\nfalse notions he had promulgated respecting alchymy, and especially\nregarding potable gold and the elixir of life. He imagined that gold could\ncure ossification of the heart, and, in fact, all diseases, if it were\ngold which had been transmuted from an inferior metal by means of the\nphilosopher's stone, and if it were applied under certain conjunctions of\nthe planets. The mere list of the works in which he advances these frantic\nimaginings, which he called a doctrine, would occupy several pages.\n\n    [40] See the article \"Paracelsus,\" by the learned Renaudin, in the\n         _Biographie Universelle_.\n\n\nGEORGE AGRICOLA.\n\nThis alchymist was born in the province of Misnia, in 1494. His real name\nwas _Bauer_, meaning a husbandman, which, in accordance with the common\nfashion of his age, he latinised into Agricola. From his early youth, he\ndelighted in the visions of the hermetic science. Ere he was sixteen, he\nlonged for the great elixir which was to make him live for seven hundred\nyears, and for the stone which was to procure him wealth to cheer him in\nhis multiplicity of days. He published a small treatise upon the subject\nat Cologne, in 1531, which obtained him the patronage of the celebrated\nMaurice duke of Saxony. After practising for some years as a physician at\nJoachimsthal, in Bohemia, he was employed by Maurice as superintendent of\nthe silver mines of Chemnitz. He led a happy life among the miners, making\nvarious experiments in alchymy while deep in the bowels of the earth. He\nacquired a great knowledge of metals, and gradually got rid of his\nextravagant notions about the philosopher's stone. The miners had no faith\nin alchymy; and they converted him to their way of thinking, not only in\nthat but in other respects. From their legends, he became firmly convinced\nthat the bowels of the earth were inhabited by good and evil spirits, and\nthat firedamp and other explosions sprang from no other causes than the\nmischievous propensities of the latter. He died in the year 1555, leaving\nbehind him the reputation of a very able and intelligent man.\n\n\nDENIS ZACHAIRE.\n\nAutobiography, written by a wise man who was once a fool, is not only the\nmost instructive, but the most delightful of reading. Denis Zachaire, an\nalchymist of the sixteenth century, has performed this task, and left a\nrecord of his folly and infatuation in pursuit of the philosopher's stone,\nwhich well repays perusal. He was born in the year 1510, of an ancient\nfamily in Guienne, and was early sent to the university of Bordeaux, under\nthe care of a tutor to direct his studies. Unfortunately his tutor was a\nsearcher for the grand elixir, and soon rendered his pupil as mad as\nhimself upon the subject. With this introduction, we will allow Denis\nZachaire to speak for himself, and continue his narrative in his own\nwords: \"I received from home,\" says he, \"the sum of two hundred crowns for\nthe expenses of myself and master; but before the end of the year, all our\nmoney went away in the smoke of our furnaces. My master, at the same time,\ndied of a fever, brought on by the parching heat of our laboratory, from\nwhich he seldom or never stirred, and which was scarcely less hot than the\narsenal of Venice. His death was the more unfortunate for me, as my\nparents took the opportunity of reducing my allowance, and sending me only\nsufficient for my board and lodging, instead of the sum I required to\ncontinue my operations in alchymy.\n\n\"To meet this difficulty and get out of leading-strings, I returned home\nat the age of twenty-five, and mortgaged part of my property for four\nhundred crowns. This sum was necessary to perform an operation of the\nscience, which had been communicated to me by an Italian at Toulouse, and\nwho, as he said, had proved its efficacy. I retained this man in my\nservice, that we might see the end of the experiment. I then, by means of\nstrong distillations, tried to calcinate gold and silver; but all my\nlabour was in vain. The weight of the gold I drew out of my furnace was\ndiminished by one-half since I put it in, and my four hundred crowns were\nvery soon reduced to two hundred and thirty. I gave twenty of these to my\nItalian, in order that he might travel to Milan, where the author of the\nreceipt resided, and ask him the explanation of some passages which we\nthought obscure. I remained at Toulouse all the winter, in the hope of his\nreturn; but I might have remained there till this day if I had waited for\nhim, for I never saw his face again.\n\n\"In the succeeding summer there was a great plague, which forced me to\nquit the town. I did not, however, lose sight of my work. I went to\nCahors, where I remained six months, and made the acquaintance of an old\nman, who was commonly known to the people as 'the Philosopher;' a name\nwhich, in country places, is often bestowed upon people whose only merit\nis, that they are less ignorant than their neighbours. I shewed him my\ncollection of alchymical receipts, and asked his opinion upon them. He\npicked out ten or twelve of them, merely saying that they were better than\nthe others. When the plague ceased, I returned to Toulouse, and\nrecommenced my experiments in search of the stone. I worked to such effect\nthat my four hundred crowns were reduced to one hundred and seventy.\n\n\"That I might continue my work on a safer method, I made acquaintance, in\n1537, with a certain abb\u00e9 who resided in the neighbourhood. He was smitten\nwith the same mania as myself, and told me that one of his friends, who\nhad followed to Rome in the retinue of the Cardinal d'Armagnac, had sent\nhim from that city a new receipt which could not fail to transmute iron\nand copper, but which would cost two hundred crowns. I provided half this\nmoney, and the abb\u00e9 the rest; and we began to operate at our joint\nexpense. As we required spirits of wine for our experiment, I bought a tun\nof excellent _vin de Gaillac_. I extracted the spirit, and rectified it\nseveral times. We took a quantity of this, into which we put four marks of\nsilver and one of gold that had been undergoing the process of calcination\nfor a month. We put this mixture cleverly into a sort of horn-shaped\nvessel, with another to serve as a retort; and placed the whole apparatus\nupon our furnace to produce congelation. This experiment lasted a year;\nbut, not to remain idle, we amused ourselves with many other less\nimportant operations. We drew quite as much profit from these as from our\ngreat work.\n\n\"The whole of the year 1537 passed over without producing any change\nwhatever; in fact we might have waited till doomsday for the congelation\nof our spirits of wine. However, we made a projection with it upon some\nheated quicksilver; but all was in vain. Judge of our chagrin, especially\nof that of the abb\u00e9, who had already boasted to all the monks of his\nmonastery, that they had only to bring the large pump which stood in a\ncorner of the cloister, and he would convert it into gold: but this ill\nluck did not prevent us from persevering. I once more mortgaged my\npaternal lands for four hundred crowns, the whole of which I determined to\ndevote to a renewal of my search for the great secret. The abb\u00e9\ncontributed the same sum; and with these eight hundred crowns I proceeded\nto Paris, a city more abounding with alchymists than any other in the\nworld, resolved never to leave it until I had either found the\nphilosopher's stone or spent all my money. This journey gave the greatest\noffence to all my relations and friends, who, imagining that I was fitted\nto be a great lawyer, were anxious that I should establish myself in that\nprofession. For the sake of quietness, I pretended, at last, that such was\nmy object.\n\n\"After travelling for fifteen days, I arrived in Paris on the 9th of\nJanuary 1539. I remained for a month almost unknown; but I had no sooner\nbegun to frequent the amateurs of the science, and visited the shops of\nthe furnace-makers, than I had the acquaintance of more than a hundred\noperative alchymists, each of whom had a different theory and a different\nmode of working. Some of them preferred cementation; others sought the\nuniversal alkahest or dissolvent; and some of them boasted the great\nefficacy of the essence of emery. Some of them endeavoured to extract\nmercury from other metals, to fix it afterwards; and, in order that each\nof us should be thoroughly acquainted with the proceedings of the others,\nwe agreed to meet somewhere every night and report progress. We met\nsometimes at the house of one, and sometimes in the garret of another; not\nonly on week days, but on Sundays and the great festivals of the Church.\n'Ah!' one used to say, 'if I had the means of recommencing this\nexperiment, I should do something.' 'Yes,' said another, 'if my crucible\nhad not cracked, I should have succeeded before now;' while a third\nexclaimed, with a sigh, 'If I had but had a round copper vessel of\nsufficient strength, I would have fixed mercury with silver.' There was\nnot one among them who had not some excuse for his failure; but I was deaf\nto all their speeches. I did not want to part with my money to any of\nthem, remembering how often I had been the dupe of such promises.\n\n\"A Greek at last presented himself; and with him I worked a long time\nuselessly upon nails made of cinnabar or vermilion. I was also acquainted\nwith a foreign gentleman newly arrived in Paris, and often accompanied him\nto the shops of the goldsmiths to sell pieces of gold and silver, the\nproduce, as he said, of his experiments. I stuck closely to him for a long\ntime, in the hope that he would impart his secret. He refused for a long\ntime, but acceded at last on my earnest entreaty, and I found that it was\nnothing more than an ingenious trick. I did not fail to inform my friend\nthe abb\u00e9, whom I had left at Toulouse, of all my adventures; and sent him,\namong other matters, a relation of the trick by which this gentleman\npretended to turn lead into gold. The abb\u00e9 still imagined that I should\nsucceed at last, and advised me to remain another year in Paris, where I\nhad made so good a beginning. I remained there three years; but,\nnotwithstanding all my efforts, I had no more success than I had had\nelsewhere.\n\n\"I had just got to the end of my money, when I received a letter from the\nabb\u00e9, telling me to leave every thing, and join him immediately at\nToulouse. I went accordingly, and found that he had received letters from\nthe king of Navarre (grandfather of Henry IV.). This prince was a great\nlover of philosophy, full of curiosity, and had written to the abb\u00e9 that I\nshould visit him at Pau; and that he would give me three or four thousand\ncrowns if I would communicate the secret I had learned from the foreign\ngentleman. The abb\u00e9's ears were so tickled with the four thousand crowns,\nthat he let me have no peace night or day until he had fairly seen me on\nthe road to Pau. I arrived at that place in the month of May 1542. I\nworked away, and succeeded, according to the receipt I had obtained. When\nI had finished to the satisfaction of the king, he gave me the reward that\nI expected. Although he was willing enough to do me further service, he\nwas dissuaded from it by the lords of his court; even by many of those who\nhad been most anxious that I should come. He sent me then about my\nbusiness, with many thanks; saying, that if there was any thing in his\nkingdom which he could give me--such as the produce of confiscations or\nthe like--he should be most happy. I thought I might stay long enough for\nthese prospective confiscations, and never get them at last; and I\ntherefore determined to go back to my friend the abb\u00e9.\n\n\"I learned that, on the road between Pau and Toulouse, there resided a\nmonk who was very skilful in all matters of natural philosophy. On my\nreturn, I paid him a visit. He pitied me very much, and advised me, with\nmuch warmth and kindness of expression, not to amuse myself any longer\nwith such experiments as these, which were all false and sophistical; but\nthat I should read the good books of the old philosophers, where I might\nnot only find the true matter of the science of alchymy, but learn also\nthe exact order of operations which ought to be followed. I very much\napproved of this wise advice; but before I acted upon it, I went back to\nmy abb\u00e9 of Toulouse, to give him an account of the eight hundred crowns\nwhich we had had in common, and, at the same time, share with him such\nreward as I had received from the king of Navarre. If he was little\nsatisfied with the relation of my adventures since our first separation,\nhe appeared still less satisfied when I told him I had formed a resolution\nto renounce the search for the philosopher's stone. The reason was that he\nthought me a good artist. Of our eight hundred crowns, there remained but\none hundred and seventy-six. When I quitted the abb\u00e9, I went to my own\nhouse with the intention of remaining there, till I had read all the old\nphilosophers, and of then proceeding to Paris.\n\n\"I arrived in Paris on the day after All Saints, of the year 1546, and\ndevoted another year to the assiduous study of great authors. Among\nothers, the _Turba Philosophorum_ of the Good Trevisan, the _Remonstrance\nof Nature to the Wandering Alchymist_, by Jean de Meung, and several\nothers of the best books; but, as I had no right principles, I did not\nwell know what course to follow.\n\n\"At last I left my solitude, not to see my former acquaintances, the\nadepts and operators, but to frequent the society of true philosophers.\nAmong them I fell into still greater uncertainties; being, in fact,\ncompletely bewildered by the variety of operations which they shewed me.\nSpurred on, nevertheless, by a sort of frenzy or inspiration, I threw\nmyself into the works of Raymond Lulli and of Arnold de Villeneuve. The\nreading of these, and the reflections I made upon them, occupied me for\nanother year, when I finally determined on the course I should adopt. I\nwas obliged to wait, however, until I had mortgaged another very\nconsiderable portion of my patrimony. This business was not settled until\nthe beginning of Lent, 1549, when I commenced my operations. I laid in a\nstock of all that was necessary, and began to work the day after Easter.\nIt was not, however, without some disquietude and opposition from my\nfriends who came about me; one asking me what I was going to do, and\nwhether I had not already spent money enough upon such follies? Another\nassured me that, if I bought so much charcoal, I should strengthen the\nsuspicion already existing, that I was a coiner of base money. Another\nadvised me to purchase some place in the magistracy, as I was already a\nDoctor of Laws. My relations spoke in terms still more annoying to me, and\neven threatened that, if I continued to make such a fool of myself, they\nwould send a posse of police-officers into my house, and break all my\nfurnaces and crucibles into atoms. I was wearied almost to death by this\ncontinued persecution; but I found comfort in my work and in the progress\nof my experiment, to which I was very attentive, and which went on bravely\nfrom day to day. About this time, there was a dreadful plague in Paris,\nwhich interrupted all intercourse between man and man, and left me as much\nto myself as I could desire. I soon had the satisfaction to remark the\nprogress and succession of the three colours which, according to the\nphilosophers, always prognosticate the approaching perfection of the work.\nI observed them distinctly, one after the other; and next year, being\nEaster Sunday, 1550, I made the great trial. Some common quicksilver,\nwhich I put into a small crucible on the fire, was, in less than an hour,\nconverted into very good gold. You may judge how great was my joy, but I\ntook care not to boast of it. I returned thanks to God for the favour he\nhad shewn me, and prayed that I might only be permitted to make such use\nof it as would redound to his glory.\n\n\"On the following day, I went towards Toulouse to find, the abb\u00e9, in\naccordance with a mutual promise, that we should communicate our\ndiscoveries to each other. On my way, I called in to see the sage monk who\nhad assisted me with his counsels; but I had the sorrow to learn that they\nwere both dead. After this, I would not return to my own home, but retired\nto another place, to await one of my relations whom I had left in charge\nof my estate. I gave him orders to sell all that belonged to me, as well\nmovable as immovable--to pay my debts with the proceeds, and divide all\nthe rest among those in any way related to me who might stand in need of\nit, in order that they might enjoy some share of the good fortune which\nhad befallen me. There was a great deal of talk in the neighbourhood about\nmy precipitate retreat; the wisest of my acquaintance imagining that,\nbroken down and ruined by my mad expenses, I sold my little remaining\nproperty, that I might go and hide my shame in distant countries.\n\n\"My relative already spoken of rejoined me on the 1st of July, after\nhaving performed all the business I had entrusted him with. We took our\ndeparture together, to seek a land of liberty. We first retired to\nLausanne, in Switzerland, when, after remaining there for some time, we\nresolved to pass the remainder of our days in some of the most celebrated\ncities of Germany, living quietly and without splendour.\"\n\nThus ends the story of Denis Zachaire, as written by himself. He has not\nbeen so candid at its conclusion as at its commencement, and has left the\nworld in doubt as to his real motives for pretending that he had\ndiscovered the philosopher's stone. It seems probable that the sentence he\nputs into the mouths of his wisest acquaintances was the true reason of\nhis retreat; that he was, in fact, reduced to poverty, and hid his shame\nin foreign countries. Nothing further is known of his life, and his real\nname has never yet been discovered. He wrote a work on alchymy, entitled\n_The true Natural Philosophy of Metals_.\n\n\nDR. DEE AND EDWARD KELLY.\n\nJohn Dee and Edward Kelly claim to be mentioned together, having been so\nlong associated in the same pursuits, and undergone so many strange\nvicissitudes in each other's society. Dee was altogether a wonderful man,\nand had he lived in an age when folly and superstition were less rife, he\nwould, with the same powers which he enjoyed, have left behind him a\nbright and enduring reputation. He was born in London in the year 1527,\nand very early manifested a love for study. At the age of fifteen he was\nsent to Cambridge, and delighted so much in his books, that he passed\nregularly eighteen hours every day among them. Of the other six, he\ndevoted four to sleep and two for refreshment. Such intense application\ndid not injure his health, and could not fail to make him one of the first\nscholars of his time. Unfortunately, however, he quitted the mathematics\nand the pursuits of true philosophy, to indulge in the unprofitable\nreveries of the occult sciences. He studied alchymy, astrology, and magic,\nand thereby rendered himself obnoxious to the authorities at Cambridge. To\navoid persecution, he was at last obliged to retire to the university of\nLouvain; the rumours of sorcery that were current respecting him rendering\nhis longer stay in England not altogether without danger. He found at\nLouvain many kindred spirits who had known Cornelius Agrippa while he\nresided among them, and by whom he was constantly entertained with the\nwondrous deeds of that great master of the hermetic mysteries. From their\nconversation he received much encouragement to continue the search for the\nphilosopher's stone, which soon began to occupy nearly all his thoughts.\n\n[Illustration: DR. DEE.]\n\nHe did not long remain on the Continent, but returned to England in 1551,\nbeing at that time in the twenty-fourth year of his age. By the influence\nof his friend Sir John Cheek, he was kindly received at the court of King\nEdward VI., and rewarded (it is difficult to say for what) with a pension\nof one hundred crowns. He continued for several years to practise in\nLondon as an astrologer; casting nativities, telling fortunes, and\npointing out lucky and unlucky days. During the reign of Queen Mary he got\ninto trouble, being suspected of heresy, and charged with attempting\nMary's life by means of enchantments. He was tried for the latter offence,\nand acquitted; but was retained in prison on the former charge, and left\nto the tender mercies of Bishop Bonner. He had a very narrow escape from\nbeing burned in Smithfield, but he somehow or other contrived to persuade\nthat fierce bigot that his orthodoxy was unimpeachable, and was set at\nliberty in 1555.\n\nOn the accession of Elizabeth, a brighter day dawned upon him. During her\nretirement at Woodstock, her servants appear to have consulted him as to\nthe time of Mary's death, which circumstance no doubt first gave rise to\nthe serious charge for which he was brought to trial. They now came to\nconsult him more openly as to the fortunes of their mistress; and Robert\nDudley, the celebrated Earl of Leicester, was sent by command of the Queen\nherself to know the most auspicious day for her coronation. So great was\nthe favour he enjoyed, that, some years afterwards, Elizabeth condescended\nto pay him a visit at his house in Mortlake, to view his museum of\ncuriosities, and when he was ill, sent her own physician to attend upon\nhim.\n\nAstrology was the means whereby he lived, and he continued to practise it\nwith great assiduity; but his heart was in alchymy. The philosopher's\nstone and the elixir of life haunted his daily thoughts and his nightly\ndreams. The Talmudic mysteries, which he had also deeply studied,\nimpressed him with the belief, that he might hold converse with spirits\nand angels, and learn from them all the mysteries of the universe. Holding\nthe same idea as the then obscure sect of the Rosicrucians, some of whom\nhe had perhaps encountered in his travels in Germany, he imagined that, by\nmeans of the philosopher's stone, he could summon these kindly spirits at\nhis will. By dint of continually brooding upon the subject, his\nimagination became so diseased, that he at last persuaded himself that an\nangel appeared to him, and promised to be his friend and companion as long\nas he lived. He relates that, one day, in November 1582, while he was\nengaged in fervent prayer, the window of his museum looking towards the\nwest suddenly glowed with a dazzling light, in the midst of which, in all\nhis glory, stood the great angel Uriel. Awe and wonder rendered him\nspeechless; but the angel smiling graciously upon him, gave him a crystal,\nof a convex form, and told him that whenever he wished to hold converse\nwith the beings of another sphere, he had only to gaze intently upon it,\nand they would appear in the crystal, and unveil to him all the secrets of\nfuturity.[41] Thus saying, the angel disappeared. Dee found from\nexperience of the crystal that it was necessary that all the faculties of\nthe soul should be concentrated upon it, otherwise the spirits did not\nappear. He also found that he could never recollect the conversations he\nhad with the angels. He therefore determined to communicate the secret to\nanother person, who might converse with the spirit while he (Dee) sat in\nanother part of the room, and took down in writing the revelations which\nthey made.\n\n    [41] The \"crystal\" alluded to appears to have been a black stone,\n         or piece of polished coal. The following account of it is\n         given, in the supplement to Granger's _Biographical History_.\n         \"The black stone into which Dee used to call his\n         spirits was in the collection of the Earls of Peterborough,\n         from whence it came to Lady Elizabeth Germaine. It was next\n         the property of the late Duke of Argyle, and is now Mr.\n         Walpole's. It appears upon examination to be nothing more\n         than a polished piece of cannel coal; but this is what Butler\n         means when he says,\n\n            'Kelly did all his feats upon\n             The devil's looking-glass--a stone.'\"\n\n[Illustration: SHEW-STONE OF DR. DEE, IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.]\n\nHe had at this time in his service, as his assistant, one Edward Kelly,\nwho, like himself, was crazy upon the subject of the philosopher's stone.\nThere was this difference, however, between them, that, while Dee was more\nof an enthusiast than an impostor, Kelly was more of an impostor than an\nenthusiast. In early life he was a notary, and had the misfortune to lose\nboth his ears for forgery. This mutilation, degrading enough in any man,\nwas destructive to a philosopher; Kelly, therefore, lest his wisdom should\nsuffer in the world's opinion, wore a black skull-cap, which, fitting\nclose to his head, and descending over both his cheeks, not only concealed\nhis loss, but gave him a very solemn and oracular appearance. So well did\nhe keep his secret, that even Dee, with whom he lived so many years,\nappears never to have discovered it. Kelly, with this character, was just\nthe man to carry on any piece of roguery for his own advantage, or to\nnurture the delusions of his master for the same purpose. No sooner did\nDee inform him of the visit he had received from the glorious Uriel, than\nKelly expressed such a fervour of belief, that Dee's heart glowed with\ndelight. He set about consulting his crystal forthwith, and on the 2d of\nDecember, 1581, the spirits appeared, and held a very extraordinary\ndiscourse with Kelly, which Dee took down in writing. The curious reader\nmay see this farrago of nonsense among the Harleian Mss. in the British\nMuseum. The later consultations were published in a folio volume, in 1659,\nby Dr. Meric Casaubon, under the title of _A true and faithful Relation of\nwhat passed between Dr. John Dee and some Spirits; tending, had it\nsucceeded, to a general Alteration of most States and Kingdoms in the\nWorld_.[42]\n\n    [42] Lilly the astrologer, in his _Life_, written by himself,\n         frequently tells of prophecies delivered by the angels in a\n         manner similar to the angels of Dr. Dee. He says, \"The\n         prophecies were not given vocally by the angels, but by\n         inspection of the crystal in types and figures, or by\n         apparition the circular way; where, at some distance, the\n         angels appear, representing by forms, shapes, and creatures,\n         what is demanded. It is very rare, yea even in our days,\"\n         quoth that wiseacre, \"for any operator or master to hear the\n         angels speak articulately: when they do speak, _it is like,\n         the Irish, much in the throat_!\"\n\nThe fame of these wondrous colloquies soon spread over the country, and\neven reached the Continent. Dee at the same time pretended to be in\npossession of the _elixir vit\u00e6_, which he stated he had found among the\nruins of Glastonbury Abbey, in Somersetshire. People flocked from far and\nnear to his house at Mortlake to have their nativities cast, in preference\nto visiting astrologers of less renown. They also longed to see a man who,\naccording to his own account, would never die. Altogether, he carried on a\nvery profitable trade, but spent so much in drugs and metals to work out\nsome peculiar process of transmutation, that he never became rich.\n\nAbout this time there came into England a wealthy polish nobleman, named\nAlbert Laski, Count Palatine of Siradz. His object was principally, he\nsaid, to visit the court of Queen Elizabeth, the fame of whose glory and\nmagnificence had reached him in distant Poland. Elizabeth received this\nflattering stranger with the most splendid hospitality, and appointed her\nfavourite Leicester to shew him all that was worth seeing in England. He\nvisited all the curiosities of London and Westminster, and from thence\nproceeded to Oxford and Cambridge, that he might converse with some of the\ngreat scholars whose writings shed lustre upon the land of their birth. He\nwas very much disappointed at not finding Dr. Dee among them, and told the\nEarl of Leicester that he would not have gone to Oxford if he had known\nthat Dee was not there. The earl promised to introduce him to the great\nalchymist on their return to London, and the Pole was satisfied. A few\ndays afterwards, the earl and Laski being in the antechamber of the Queen,\nawaiting an audience of her majesty, Dr. Dee arrived on the same errand,\nand was introduced to the Pole.[43] An interesting conversation ensued,\nwhich ended by the stranger inviting himself to dine with the astrologer\nat his house at Mortlake. Dee returned home in some tribulation, for he\nfound he had not money enough, without pawning his plate, to entertain\nCount Laski and his retinue in a manner becoming their dignity. In this\nemergency he sent off an express to the Earl of Leicester, stating frankly\nthe embarrassment he laboured under, and praying his good offices in\nrepresenting the matter to her majesty. Elizabeth immediately sent him a\npresent of twenty pounds.\n\n    [43] Albert Laski, son of Jaroslav, was Palatine of Siradz, and\n         afterwards of Sendomir, and chiefly contributed to the\n         election of Henry of Valois, the Third of France, to the\n         throne of Poland, and was one of the delegates who went to\n         France in order to announce to the new monarch his elevation\n         to the sovereignty of Poland. After the deposition of Henry,\n         Albert Laski voted for Maximilian of Austria. In 1583 he\n         visited England, when Queen Elizabeth received him with great\n         distinction. The honours which were shewn him during his\n         visit to Oxford, by the especial command of the Queen, were\n         equal to those rendered to sovereign princes. His\n         extraordinary prodigality rendered his enormous wealth\n         insufficient to defray his expenses, and he therefore became\n         a zealous adept in alchymy, and took from England to Poland\n         with him two known alchymists.--Count Valerian Krasinski's\n         _Historical Sketch of the Reformation in Poland_.\n\nOn the appointed day Count Laski came, attended by a numerous retinue, and\nexpressed such open and warm admiration of the wonderful attainments of\nhis host, that Dee turned over in his own mind how he could bind\nirretrievably to his interests a man who seemed so well inclined to become\nhis friend. Long acquaintance with Kelly had imbued him with all the\nroguery of that personage, and he resolved to make the Pole pay dearly for\nhis dinner. He found out before many days that he possessed great estates\nin his own country, as well as great influence, but that an extravagant\ndisposition had reduced him to temporary embarrassment. He also discovered\nthat he was a firm believer in the philosopher's stone and the water of\nlife. He was therefore just the man upon whom an adventurer might fasten\nhimself. Kelly thought so too; and both of them set to work to weave a\nweb, in the meshes of which they might firmly entangle the rich and\ncredulous stranger. They went very cautiously about it; first throwing out\nobscure hints of the stone and the elixir, and finally of the spirits, by\nmeans of whom they could turn over the pages of the book of futurity, and\nread the awful secrets inscribed therein. Laski eagerly implored that he\nmight be admitted to one of their mysterious interviews with Uriel and the\nangels; but they knew human nature too well to accede at once to the\nrequest. To the count's entreaties they only replied by hints of the\ndifficulty or impropriety of summoning the spirits in the presence of a\nstranger, or of one who might perchance have no other motive than the\ngratification of a vain curiosity; but they only meant to whet the edge of\nhis appetite by this delay, and would have been sorry indeed if the count\nhad been discouraged. To shew how exclusively the thoughts both of Dee and\nKelly were fixed upon their dupe at this time, it is only necessary to\nread the introduction to their first interview with the spirits, related\nin the volume of Dr. Casaubon. The entry made by Dee, under the date of\nthe 25th of May, 1583, says, that when the spirit appeared to them, \"I\n[John Dee] and E. K. [Edward Kelly] sat together, conversing of that noble\nPolonian Albertus Laski, his great honour here with us obtained, and of\nhis great liking among all sorts of the people.\" No doubt they were\ndiscussing how they might make the most of the \"noble Polonian,\" and\nconcocting the fine story with which they afterwards excited his\ncuriosity, and drew him firmly within their toils. \"Suddenly,\" says Dee,\nas they were thus employed, \"there seemed to come out of the oratory a\nspiritual creature, like a pretty girl of seven or nine years of age,\nattired on her head, with her hair rolled up before and hanging down\nbehind, with a gown of silk, of changeable red and green, and with a\ntrain. She seemed to play up and down, and seemed to go in and out behind\nthe books; and as she seemed to go between them, the books displaced\nthemselves, and made way for her.\"\n\nWith such tales as these they lured on the Pole from day to day, and at\nlast persuaded him to be a witness of their mysteries. Whether they played\noff any optical delusions upon him, or whether, by the force of a strong\nimagination, he deluded himself, does not appear, but certain it is that\nhe became a complete tool in their hands, and consented to do whatever\nthey wished him. Kelly, at these interviews, placed himself at a certain\ndistance from the wondrous crystal, and gazed intently upon it, while Dee\ntook his place in a corner, ready to set down the prophecies as they were\nuttered by the spirits. In this manner they prophesied to the Pole that he\nshould become the fortunate possessor of the philosopher's stone; that he\nshould live for centuries, and be chosen King of Poland, in which capacity\nhe should gain many great victories over the Saracens, and make his name\nillustrious over all the earth. For this purpose it was necessary,\nhowever, that Laski should leave England, and take them with him, together\nwith their wives and families; that he should treat them all sumptuously,\nand allow them to want for nothing. Laski at once consented; and very\nshortly afterwards they were all on the road to Poland.\n\nIt took them upwards of four months to reach the count's estates in the\nneighbourhood of Cracow. In the mean time, they led a pleasant life, and\nspent money with an unsparing hand. When once established in the count's\npalace, they commenced the great hermetic operation of transmuting iron\ninto gold. Laski provided them with all necessary materials, and aided\nthem himself with his knowledge of alchymy; but, somehow or other, the\nexperiment always failed at the very moment it ought to have succeeded,\nand they were obliged to recommence operations on a grander scale. But the\nhopes of Laski were not easily extinguished. Already, in idea, the\npossessor of countless millions, he was not to be cast down for fear of\npresent expenses. He thus continued from day to day, and from month to\nmonth, till he was at last obliged to sell a portion of his\ndeeply-mortgaged estates to find aliment for the hungry crucibles of Dee\nand Kelly, and the no less hungry stomachs of their wives and families. It\nwas not till ruin stared him in the face that he awoke from his dream of\ninfatuation, too happy, even then, to find that he had escaped utter\nbeggary. Thus restored to his senses, his first thought was how to rid\nhimself of his expensive visitors. Not wishing to quarrel with them, he\nproposed that they should proceed to Prague, well furnished with letters\nof recommendation to the Emperor Rudolph. Our alchymists too plainly saw\nthat nothing more was to be made of the almost destitute Count Laski.\nWithout hesitation, therefore, they accepted the proposal, and set out\nforthwith to the imperial residence. They had no difficulty, on their\narrival at Prague, in obtaining an audience of the emperor. They found him\nwilling enough to believe that such a thing as the philosopher's stone\nexisted, and flattered themselves that they had made a favourable\nimpression upon him; but, from some cause or other--perhaps the look of\nlow cunning and quackery upon the face of Kelly--the emperor conceived no\nvery high opinion of their abilities. He allowed them, however, to remain\nfor some months at Prague, feeding themselves upon the hope that he would\nemploy them; but the more he saw of them, the less he liked them; and,\nwhen the pope's nuncio represented to him that he ought not to countenance\nsuch heretic magicians, he gave orders that they should quit his dominions\nwithin four-and-twenty hours. It was fortunate for them that so little\ntime was given them; for, had they remained six hours longer, the nuncio\nhad received orders to procure a perpetual dungeon or the stake for them.\n\nNot knowing well whither to direct their steps, they resolved to return to\nCracow, where they had still a few friends; but, by this time, the funds\nthey had drawn from Laski were almost exhausted, and they were many days\nobliged to go dinnerless and supperless. They had great difficulty to keep\ntheir poverty a secret from the world; but they managed to bear privation\nwithout murmuring, from a conviction that if the fact were known, it would\nmilitate very much against their pretensions. Nobody would believe that\nthey were possessors of the philosopher's stone, if it were once suspected\nthat they did not know how to procure bread for their subsistence. They\nstill gained a little by casting nativities, and kept starvation at arm's\nlength, till a new dupe, rich enough for their purposes, dropped into\ntheir toils, in the shape of a royal personage. Having procured an\nintroduction to Stephen king of Poland, they predicted to him that the\nEmperor Rudolph would shortly be assassinated, and that the Germans would\nlook to Poland for his successor. As this prediction was not precise\nenough to satisfy the king, they tried their crystal again, and a spirit\nappeared who told them that the new sovereign of Germany would be Stephen\nof Poland. Stephen was credulous enough to believe them, and was once\npresent when Kelly held his mystic conversations with the shadows of his\ncrystal. He also appears to have furnished them with money to carry on\ntheir experiments in alchymy; but he grew tired, at last, of their broken\npromises and their constant drains upon his pocket, and was on the point\nof discarding them with disgrace, when they met with another dupe, to whom\nthey eagerly transferred their services. This was Count Rosenberg, a\nnobleman of large estates at Trebona in Bohemia. So comfortable did they\nfind themselves in the palace of this munificent patron, that they\nremained nearly four years with him, faring sumptuously, and having an\nalmost unlimited command of his money. The count was more ambitious than\navaricious: he had wealth enough, and did not care for the philosopher's\nstone on account of the gold, but of the length of days it would bring\nhim. They had their predictions, accordingly, all ready framed to suit his\ncharacter. They prophesied that he should be chosen king of Poland; and\npromised, moreover, that he should live for five hundred years to enjoy\nhis dignity, provided always that he found them sufficient money to carry\non their experiments.\n\nBut now, while fortune smiled upon them, while they revelled in the\nrewards of successful villany, retributive justice came upon them in a\nshape they had not anticipated. Jealousy and mistrust sprang up between\nthe two confederates, and led to such violent and frequent quarrels, that\nDee was in constant fear of exposure. Kelly imagined himself a much\ngreater personage than Dee; measuring, most likely, by the standard of\nimpudent roguery; and was displeased that on all occasions, and from all\npersons, Dee received the greater share of honour and consideration. He\noften threatened to leave Dee to shift for himself; and the latter, who\nhad degenerated into the mere tool of his more daring associate, was\ndistressed beyond measure at the prospect of his desertion. His mind was\nso deeply imbued with superstition, that he believed the rhapsodies of\nKelly to be, in a great measure, derived from his intercourse with angels;\nand he knew not where, in the whole world, to look for a man of depth and\nwisdom enough to succeed him. As their quarrels every day became more and\nmore frequent, Dee wrote letters to Queen Elizabeth to secure a favourable\nreception on his return to England, whither he intended to proceed if\nKelly forsook him. He also sent her a round piece of silver, which he\npretended he had made of a portion of brass cut out of a warming-pan. He\nafterwards sent her the warming-pan also, that she might convince herself\nthat the piece of silver corresponded exactly with the hole which was cut\ninto the brass. While thus preparing for the worst, his chief desire was\nto remain in Bohemia with Count Rosenberg, who treated him well, and\nreposed much confidence in him. Neither had Kelly any great objection to\nremain; but a new passion had taken possession of his breast, and he was\nlaying deep schemes to gratify it. His own wife was ill-favoured and\nill-natured; Dee's was comely and agreeable; and he longed to make an\nexchange of partners without exciting the jealousy or shocking the\nmorality of Dee. This was a difficult matter; but to a man like Kelly, who\nwas as deficient in rectitude and right feeling as he was full of\nimpudence and ingenuity, the difficulty was not insurmountable. He had\nalso deeply studied the character and the foibles of Dee; and he took his\nmeasures accordingly. The next time they consulted the spirits, Kelly\npretended to be shocked at their language, and refused to tell Dee what\nthey had said. Dee insisted, and was informed that they were henceforth to\nhave their wives in common. Dee, a little startled, inquired whether the\nspirits might not mean that they were to live in common harmony and\ngood-will? Kelly tried again, with apparent reluctance, and said the\nspirits insisted upon the literal interpretation. The poor fanatic Dee\nresigned himself to their will; but it suited Kelly's purpose to appear\ncoy a little longer. He declared that the spirits must be spirits not of\ngood, but of evil; and refused to consult them any more. He thereupon took\nhis departure, saying that he would never return.\n\nDee, thus left to himself, was in sore trouble and distress of mind. He\nknew not on whom to fix as the successor to Kelly for consulting the\nspirits; but at last chose his son Arthur, a boy of eight years of age. He\nconsecrated him to this service with great ceremony, and impressed upon\nthe child's mind the dignified and awful nature of the duties he was\ncalled upon to perform; but the poor boy had neither the imagination, the\nfaith, nor the artifice of Kelly. He looked intently upon the crystal as\nhe was told; but could see nothing and hear nothing. At last, when his\neyes ached, he said he could see a vague indistinct shadow, but nothing\nmore. Dee was in despair. The deception had been carried on so long, that\nhe was never so happy as when he fancied he was holding converse with\nsuperior beings; and he cursed the day that had put estrangement between\nhim and his dear friend Kelly. This was exactly what Kelly had foreseen;\nand, when he thought the doctor had grieved sufficiently for his absence,\nhe returned unexpectedly, and entered the room where the little Arthur was\nin vain endeavouring to distinguish something in the crystal. Dee, in\nentering this circumstance in his journal, ascribes this sudden return to\na \"miraculous fortune\" and a \"divine fate;\" and goes on to record that\nKelly immediately saw the spirits which had remained invisible to little\nArthur. One of these spirits reiterated the previous command, that they\nshould have their wives in common. Kelly bowed his head and submitted; and\nDee, in all humility, consented to the arrangement.\n\nThis was the extreme depth of the wretched man's degradation. In this\nmanner they continued to live for three or four months, when, new quarrels\nbreaking out, they separated once more. This time their separation was\nfinal. Kelly, taking the _elixir_ which he had found in Glastonbury Abbey,\nproceeded to Prague, forgetful of the abrupt mode in which he had\npreviously been expelled from that city. Almost immediately after his\narrival, he was seized by order of the Emperor Rudolph, and thrown into\nprison. He was released after some months' confinement, and continued for\nfive years to lead a vagabond life in Germany, telling fortunes at one\nplace, and pretending to make gold at another. He was a second time thrown\ninto prison, on a charge of heresy and sorcery; and he then resolved, if\never he obtained his liberty, to return to England. He soon discovered\nthat there was no prospect of this, and that his imprisonment was likely\nto be for life. He twisted his bed-clothes into a rope, one stormy night\nin February 1595, and let himself down from the window of his dungeon,\nsituated at the top of a very high tower. Being a corpulent man, the rope\ngave way, and he was precipitated to the ground. He broke two of his ribs\nand both his legs; and was otherwise so much injured, that he expired a\nfew days afterwards.\n\nDee, for a while, had more prosperous fortune. The warming-pan he had sent\nto Queen Elizabeth was not without effect. He was rewarded soon after\nKelly had left him with an invitation to return to England. His pride,\nwhich had been sorely humbled, sprang up again to its pristine dimensions,\nand he set out from Bohemia with a train of attendants becoming an\nambassador. How he procured the money does not appear, unless from the\nliberality of the rich Bohemian Rosenberg, or perhaps from his plunder. He\ntravelled with three coaches for himself and family, and three wagons to\ncarry his baggage. Each coach had four horses, and the whole train was\nprotected by a guard of four and twenty soldiers. This statement may be\ndoubted; but it is on the authority of Dee himself, who made it on oath\nbefore the commissioners appointed by Elizabeth to inquire into his\ncircumstances. On his arrival in England he had an audience of the queen,\nwho received him kindly as far as words went, and gave orders that he\nshould not be molested in his pursuits of chemistry and philosophy. A man\nwho boasted of the power to turn baser metals into gold, could not,\nthought Elizabeth, be in want of money; and she therefore gave him no more\nsubstantial marks of her approbation than her countenance and protection.\n\nThrown thus unexpectedly upon his own resources, Dee began in earnest the\nsearch for the philosopher's stone. He worked incessantly among his\nfurnaces, retorts, and crucibles, and almost poisoned himself with\ndeleterious fumes. He also consulted his miraculous crystal; but the\nspirits appeared not to him. He tried one Bartholomew to supply the place\nof the invaluable Kelly; but he being a man of some little probity, and of\nno imagination at all, the spirits would not hold any communication with\nhim. Dee then tried another pretender to philosophy, of the name of\nHickman, but had no better fortune. The crystal had lost its power since\nthe departure of its great high priest. From this quarter, then, Dee could\nget no information on the stone or elixir of the alchymists, and all his\nefforts to discover them by other means were not only fruitless but\nexpensive. He was soon reduced to great distress, and wrote piteous\nletters to the queen praying relief. He represented that, after he left\nEngland with Count Laski, the mob had pillaged his house at Mortlake,\naccusing him of being a necromancer and a wizard; and had broken all his\nfurniture, burned his library, consisting of four thousand rare volumes,\nand destroyed all the philosophical instruments and curiosities in his\nmuseum. For this damage he claimed compensation; and furthermore stated,\nthat, as he had come to England by the queen's command, she ought to pay\nthe expenses of his journey. Elizabeth sent him small sums of money at\nvarious times; but Dee still continuing his complaints, a commission was\nappointed to inquire into his circumstances. He finally obtained a small\nappointment as Chancellor of St. Paul's cathedral, which he exchanged, in\n1595, for the wardenship of the college at Manchester. He remained in this\ncapacity till 1602 or 1603, when, his strength and intellect beginning to\nfail him, he was compelled to resign. He retired to his old dwelling at\nMortlake, in a state not far removed from actual want, supporting himself\nas a common fortune-teller, and being often obliged to sell or pawn his\nbooks to procure a dinner. James I. was often applied to on his behalf,\nbut he refused to do any thing for him. It may be said to the discredit of\nthis king, that the only reward he would grant the indefatigable Stowe, in\nhis days of old age and want, was the royal permission to beg; but no one\nwill blame him for neglecting such a quack as John Dee. He died in 1608,\nin the eighty-first year of his age, and was buried at Mortlake.\n\n\nTHE COSMOPOLITE.\n\nMany disputes have arisen as to the real name of the alchymist who wrote\nseveral works under the above designation. The general opinion is that he\nwas a Scotsman named Seton, and that by a fate very common to alchymists\nwho boasted too loudly of their powers of transmutation, he ended his days\nmiserably in a dungeon, into which he was thrown by a German potentate\nuntil he made a million of gold to pay his ransom. By some he has been\nconfounded with Michael Sendivog, or Sendivogius, a Pole, a professor of\nthe same art, who made a great noise in Europe at the commencement of the\nseventeenth century. Lenglet du Fresnoy, who is in general well informed\nwith respect to the alchymists, inclines to the belief that these\npersonages were distinct; and gives the following particulars of the\nCosmopolite, extracted from George Morhoff, in his _Epistola ad\nLangelottum_, and other writers.\n\nAbout the year 1600, one Jacob Haussen, a Dutch pilot, was shipwrecked on\nthe coast of Scotland. A gentleman, named Alexander Seton, put off in a\nboat, and saved him from drowning, and afterwards entertained him\nhospitably for many weeks at his house on the shore. Haussen saw that he\nwas addicted to the pursuits of chemistry, but no conversation on the\nsubject passed between them at the time. About a year and a half\nafterwards, Haussen being then at home at Enkhuysen, in Holland, received\na visit from his former host. He endeavoured to repay the kindness that\nhad been shewn him; and so great a friendship arose between them that\nSeton, on his departure, offered to make him acquainted with the great\nsecret of the philosopher's stone. In his presence the Scotsman transmuted\na great quantity of base metal into pure gold, and gave it him as a mark\nof his esteem. Seton then took leave of his friend, and travelled into\nGermany. At Dresden he made no secret of his wonderful powers, having, it\nis said, performed transmutation successfully before a great assemblage of\nthe learned men of that city. The circumstance coming to the ears of the\nDuke or Elector of Saxony, he gave orders for the arrest of the alchymist.\nHe caused him to be imprisoned in a high tower, and set a guard of forty\nmen to watch that he did not escape, and that no strangers were admitted\nto his presence. The unfortunate Seton received several visits from the\nelector, who used every art of persuasion to make him divulge his secret.\nSeton obstinately refused either to communicate his secret, or to make any\ngold for the tyrant; on which he was stretched upon the rack, to see if\nthe argument of torture would render him more tractable. The result was\nstill the same; neither hope of reward nor fear of anguish could shake\nhim. For several months he remained in prison, subjected alternately to a\nsedative and a violent regimen, till his health broke, and he wasted away\nalmost to a skeleton.\n\nThere happened at that time to be in Dresden a learned Pole, named Michael\nSendivogius, who had wasted a good deal of his time and substance in the\nunprofitable pursuits of alchymy. He was touched with pity for the hard\nfate, and admiration for the intrepidity of Seton; and determined, if\npossible, to aid him in escaping from the clutch of his oppressor. He\nrequested the elector's permission to see the alchymist, and obtained it\nwith some difficulty. He found him in a state of great wretchedness, shut\nup from the light of day in a noisome dungeon, and with no better couch or\nfare than those allotted to the worst of criminals. Seton listened eagerly\nto the proposal of escape, and promised the generous Pole that he would\nmake him richer than an eastern monarch if by his means he were liberated.\nSendivogius immediately commenced operations; he sold some property which\nhe possessed near Cracow, and with the proceeds led a merry life at\nDresden. He gave the most elegant suppers, to which he regularly invited\nthe officers of the guard, and especially those who did duty at the prison\nof the alchymist. He insinuated himself at last into their confidence, and\nobtained free ingress to his friend as often as he pleased; pretending\nthat he was using his utmost endeavours to conquer his obstinacy and worm\nhis secret out of him. When their project was ripe, a day was fixed upon\nfor the grand attempt; and Sendivogius was ready with a post-chariot to\nconvey him with all speed into Poland. By drugging some wine which he\npresented to the guards of the prison, he rendered them so drowsy that he\neasily found means to scale a wall unobserved, with Seton, and effect his\nescape. Seton's wife was in the chariot awaiting him, having safely in her\npossession a small packet of a black powder, which was, in fact, the\nphilosopher's stone, or ingredient for the transmutation of iron and\ncopper into gold. They all arrived in safety at Cracow; but the frame of\nSeton was so wasted by torture of body and starvation, to say nothing of\nthe anguish of mind he had endured, that he did not long survive. He died\nin Cracow, in 1603 or 1604, and was buried under the cathedral church of\nthat city. Such is the story related of the author of the various works\nwhich bear the name of the Cosmopolite. A list of them may be found in the\nthird volume of the _History of the Hermetic Philosophy_.\n\n\nSENDIVOGIUS.\n\nOn the death of Seton, Sendivogius married his widow, hoping to learn from\nher some of the secrets of her deceased lord in the art of transmutation.\nThe ounce of black powder stood him, however, in better service; for the\nalchymists say, that by its means he converted great quantities of\nquicksilver into the purest gold. It is also said that he performed this\nexperiment successfully before the Emperor Rudolph II., at Prague; and\nthat the emperor, to commemorate the circumstance, caused a marble tablet\nto be affixed to the wall of the room in which it was performed, bearing\nthis inscription, \"Faciat hoc quispiam alius, quod fecit Sendivogius\nPolonus.\" M. Desnoyers, secretary to the Princess Mary of Gonzaga, Queen\nof Poland, writing from Warsaw in 1651, says that he saw this tablet,\nwhich existed at that time, and was often visited by the curious.\n\nThe after-life of Sendivogius is related in a Latin memoir of him by one\nBrodowski, his steward; and is inserted by Pierre Borel in his _Treasure\nof Gaulish Antiquities_. The Emperor Rudolph, according to this authority,\nwas so well pleased with his success, that he made him one of his\ncouncillors of state, and invited him to fill a station in the royal\nhousehold and inhabit the palace. But Sendivogius loved his liberty, and\nrefused to become a courtier. He preferred to reside on his own\npatrimonial estate of Gravarna, where, for many years, he exercised a\nprincely hospitality. His philosophic powder, which, his steward says, was\nred, and not black, he kept in a little box of gold; and with one grain of\nit he could make five hundred ducats, or a thousand rix-dollars. He\ngenerally made his projection upon quicksilver. When he travelled, he gave\nthis box to his steward, who hung it round his neck by a gold chain next\nhis skin. But the greatest part of the powder he used to hide in a secret\nplace cut into the step of his chariot. He thought that, if attacked at\nany time by robbers, they would not search such a place as that. When he\nanticipated any danger, he would dress himself in his valet's clothes,\nand, mounting the coach-box, put the valet inside. He was induced to take\nthese precautions, because it was no secret that he possessed the\nphilosopher's stone; and many unprincipled adventurers were on the watch\nfor an opportunity to plunder him. A German prince, whose name Brodowski\nhas not thought fit to chronicle, served him a scurvy trick, which ever\nafterwards put him on his guard. This prince went on his knees to\nSendivogius, and entreated him in the most pressing terms to satisfy his\ncuriosity, by converting some quicksilver into gold before him.\nSendivogius, wearied by his importunity, consented, upon a promise of\ninviolable secrecy. After his departure, the prince called a German\nalchymist, named Muhlenfels, who resided in his house, and told him all\nthat had been done. Muhlenfels entreated that he might have a dozen\nmounted horsemen at his command, that he might instantly ride after the\nphilosopher, and either rob him of all his powder, or force from him the\nsecret of making it. The prince desired nothing better; Muhlenfels, being\nprovided with twelve men well mounted and armed, pursued Sendivogius in\nhot haste. He came up with him at a lonely inn by the road-side, just as\nhe was sitting down to dinner. He at first endeavoured to persuade him to\ndivulge the secret; but finding this of no avail, he caused his\naccomplices to strip the unfortunate Sendivogius and tie him naked to one\nof the pillars of the house. He then took from him his golden box,\ncontaining a small quantity of the powder; a manuscript book on the\nphilosopher's stone; a golden medal, with its chain, presented to him by\nthe Emperor Rudolph; and a rich cap, ornamented with diamonds, of the\nvalue of one hundred thousand rix-dollars. With this booty he decamped,\nleaving Sendivogius still naked and firmly bound to the pillar. His\nservants had been treated in a similar manner; but the people of the inn\nreleased them all as soon as the robbers were out of sight.\n\nSendivogius proceeded to Prague, and made his complaint to the emperor. An\nexpress was instantly sent off to the prince, with orders that he should\ndeliver up Muhlenfels and all his plunder. The prince, fearful of the\nemperor's wrath, caused three large gallows to be erected in his\ncourt-yard; on the highest of which he hanged Muhlenfels, with another\nthief on each side of him. He thus propitiated the emperor, and got rid of\nan ugly witness against himself. He sent back, at the same time, the\nbejewelled hat, the medal and chain, and the treatise upon the\nphilosopher's stone, which had been stolen from Sendivogius. As regarded\nthe powder, he said he had not seen it, and knew nothing about it.\n\nThis adventure made Sendivogius more prudent; he would no longer perform\nthe process of transmutation before any strangers, however highly\nrecommended. He pretended also to be very poor; and sometimes lay in bed\nfor weeks together, that people might believe he was suffering from some\ndangerous malady, and could not therefore, by any possibility, be the\nowner of the philosopher's stone. He would occasionally coin false money,\nand pass it off as gold; preferring to be esteemed a cheat rather than a\nsuccessful alchymist.\n\nMany other extraordinary tales are told of this personage by his steward\nBrodowski, but they are not worth repeating. He died in 1636, aged upwards\nof eighty, and was buried in his own chapel at Gravarna. Several works\nupon alchymy have been published under his name.\n\n\nTHE ROSICRUCIANS.\n\nIt was during the time of the last-mentioned author that the sect of the\nRosicrucians first began to create a sensation in Europe. The influence\nwhich they exercised upon opinion during their brief career, and the\npermanent impression which they have left upon European literature, claim\nfor them especial notice. Before their time, alchymy was but a grovelling\ndelusion; and theirs is the merit of having spiritualised and refined it.\nThey also enlarged its sphere, and supposed the possession of the\nphilosopher's stone to be, not only the means of wealth, but of health and\nhappiness, and the instrument by which man could command the services of\nsuperior beings, control the elements to his will, defy the obstructions\nof time and space, and acquire the most intimate knowledge of all the\nsecrets of the universe. Wild and visionary as they were, they were not\nwithout their uses; if it were only for having purged the superstitions of\nEurope of the dark and disgusting forms with which the monks had peopled\nit, and substituted, in their stead, a race of mild, graceful, and\nbeneficent beings.\n\nThey are said to have derived their name from Christian Rosencreutz, or\n\"Rose-cross,\" a German philosopher, who travelled in the Holy Land towards\nthe close of the fourteenth century. While dangerously ill at a place\ncalled Damcar, he was visited by some learned Arabs, who claimed him as\ntheir brother in science, and unfolded to him, by inspiration, all the\nsecrets of his past life, both of thought and of action. They restored him\nto health by means of the philosopher's stone, and afterwards instructed\nhim in all their mysteries. He returned to Europe in 1401, being then only\ntwenty-three years of age; and drew a chosen number of his friends around\nhim, whom he initiated into the new science, and bound by solemn oaths to\nkeep it secret for a century. He is said to have lived eighty-three years\nafter this period, and to have died in 1484.\n\nMany have denied the existence of such a personage as Rosencreutz, and\nhave fixed the origin of this sect at a much later epoch. The first\ndawning of it, they say, is to be found in the theories of Paracelsus and\nthe dreams of Dr. Dee, who, without intending it, became the actual,\nthough never the recognised founders of the Rosicrucian philosophy. It is\nnow difficult, and indeed impossible, to determine whether Dee and\nParacelsus obtained their ideas from the then obscure and unknown\nRosicrucians, or whether the Rosicrucians did but follow and improve upon\nthem. Certain it is, that their existence was never suspected till the\nyear 1605, when they began to excite attention in Germany. No sooner were\ntheir doctrines promulgated, than all the visionaries, Paracelsists, and\nalchymists, flocked around their standard, and vaunted Rosencreutz as the\nnew regenerator of the human race. Michael Mayer, a celebrated physician\nof that day, and who had impaired his health and wasted his fortune in\nsearching for the philosopher's stone, drew up a report of the tenets and\nordinances of the new fraternity, which was published at Cologne, in the\nyear 1615. They asserted, in the first place, \"that the meditations of\ntheir founders surpassed every thing that had ever been imagined since the\ncreation of the world, without even excepting the revelations of the\nDeity; that they were destined to accomplish the general peace and\nregeneration of man before the end of the world arrived; that they\npossessed all wisdom and piety in a supreme degree; that they possessed\nall the graces of nature, and could distribute them among the rest of\nmankind according to their pleasure; that they were subject to neither\nhunger, nor thirst, nor disease, nor old age, nor to any other\ninconvenience of nature; that they knew by inspiration, and at the first\nglance, every one who was worthy to be admitted into their society; that\nthey had the same knowledge then which they would have possessed if they\nhad lived from the beginning of the world, and had been always acquiring\nit; that they had a volume in which they could read all that ever was or\never would be written in other books till the end of time; that they could\nforce to, and retain in their service the most powerful spirits and\ndemons; that, by the virtue of their songs, they could attract pearls and\nprecious stones from the depths of the sea or the bowels of the earth;\nthat God had covered them with a thick cloud, by means of which they could\nshelter themselves from the malignity of their enemies, and that they\ncould thus render themselves invisible from all eyes; that the first eight\nbrethren of the 'Rose-cross' had power to cure all maladies; that, by\nmeans of the fraternity, the triple diadem of the pope would be reduced\ninto dust; that they only admitted two sacraments, with the ceremonies of\nthe primitive Church, renewed by them; that they recognised the Fourth\nMonarchy and the Emperor of the Romans as their chief and the chief of all\nChristians; that they would provide him with more gold, their treasures\nbeing inexhaustible, than the King of Spain had ever drawn from the golden\nregions of Eastern and Western Ind.\" This was their confession of faith.\nTheir rules of conduct were six in number, and as follow:\n\nFirst. That, in their travels, they should gratuitously cure all diseases.\n\nSecondly. That they should always dress in conformity to the fashion of\nthe country in which they resided.\n\nThirdly. That they should, once every year, meet together in the place\nappointed by the fraternity, or send in writing an available excuse.\n\nFourthly. That every brother, whenever he felt inclined to die, should\nchoose a person worthy to succeed him.\n\nFifthly. That the words \"Rose-cross\" should be the marks by which they\nshould recognise each other.\n\nSixthly. That their fraternity should be kept secret for six times twenty\nyears.\n\nThey asserted that these laws had been found inscribed in a golden book in\nthe tomb of Rosencreutz, and that the six times twenty years from his\ndeath expired in 1604. They were consequently called upon from that time\nforth to promulgate their doctrine for the welfare of mankind[44].\n\n    [44] The following legend of the tomb of Rosencreutz, written by\n         Eustace Budgell, appears in No. 379 of the _Spectator_:--\"A\n         certain person, having occasion to dig somewhat deep in the\n         ground where this philosopher lay interred, met with a small\n         door, having a wall on each side of it. His curiosity, and\n         the hope of finding some hidden treasure, soon prompted him\n         to force open the door. He was immediately surprised by a\n         sudden blaze of light, and discovered a very fair vault. At\n         the upper end of it was a statue of a man in armour, sitting\n         by a table, and leaning on his left arm. He held a truncheon\n         in his right hand, and had a lamp burning before him. The man\n         had no sooner set one foot within the vault, than the statue,\n         erecting itself from its leaning posture, stood bolt upright;\n         and, upon the fellow's advancing another step, lifted up the\n         truncheon in his right hand. The man still ventured a third\n         step; when the statue, with a furious blow, broke the lamp\n         into a thousand pieces, and left his guest in sudden\n         darkness. Upon the report of this adventure, the country\n         people came with lights to the sepulchre, and discovered that\n         the statue, which was made of brass, was nothing more than a\n         piece of clock-work; that the floor of the vault was all\n         loose, and underlaid with several springs, which, upon any\n         man's entering, naturally produced that which had happened.\n\n         \"Rosicreucius, say his disciples, made use of this method to\n         shew the world that he had re-invented the ever-burning lamps\n         of the ancients, though he was resolved no one should reap\n         any advantage from the discovery.\"\n\nFor eight years these enthusiasts made converts in Germany, but they\nexcited little or no attention in other parts of Europe. At last they made\ntheir appearance in Paris, and threw all the learned, all the credulous,\nand all the lovers of the marvellous into commotion. In the beginning of\nMarch 1623, the good folks of that city, when they arose one morning, were\nsurprised to find all their walls placarded with the following singular\nmanifesto:\n\n\"_We, the deputies of the principal College of the Brethren of the\nRose-cross, have taken up our abode, visible and invisible, in this city,\nby the grace of the Most High, towards whom are turned the hearts of the\njust. We shew and teach without books or signs, and speak all sorts of\nlanguages in the countries where we dwell, to draw mankind, our fellows,\nfrom error and from death_.\"\n\nFor a long time this strange placard was the sole topic of conversation in\nall public places. Some few wondered, but the greater number only laughed\nat it. In the course of a few weeks two books were published, which raised\nthe first alarm respecting this mysterious society, whose dwelling-place\nno one knew, and no members of which had ever been seen. The first was\ncalled a history of _The frightful Compacts entered into between the Devil\nand the pretended 'Invisibles;' with their damnable Instructions, the\ndeplorable Ruin of their Disciples, and their miserable end_. The other\nwas called an _Examination of the new and unknown Cabala of the Brethren\nof the Rose-cross, who have lately inhabited the City of Paris; with the\nHistory of their Manners, the Wonders worked by them, and many other\nparticulars_.\n\nThese books sold rapidly. Every one was anxious to know something of this\ndreadful and secret brotherhood. The _badauds_ of Paris were so alarmed\nthat they daily expected to see the arch-enemy walking _in propria\npersona_ among them. It was said in these volumes that the Rosicrucian\nsociety consisted of six-and-thirty persons in all, who had renounced\ntheir baptism and hope of resurrection. That it was not by means of good\nangels, as they pretended, that they worked their prodigies; but that it\nwas the devil who gave them power to transport themselves from one end of\nthe world to the other with the rapidity of thought; to speak all\nlanguages; to have their purses always full of money, however much they\nmight spend; to be invisible, and penetrate into the most secret places,\nin spite of fastenings of bolts and bars; and to be able to tell the past\nand future. These thirty-six brethren were divided into bands or\ncompanies: six of them only had been sent on the mission to Paris, six to\nItaly, six to Spain, six to Germany, four to Sweden, and two into\nSwitzerland, two into Flanders, two into Lorraine, and two into Franche\nComt\u00e9. It was generally believed that the missionaries to France resided\nsomewhere in the Marais du Temple. That quarter of Paris soon acquired a\nbad name, and people were afraid to take houses in it, lest they should be\nturned out by the six invisibles of the Rose-cross. It was believed by the\npopulace, and by many others whose education should have taught them\nbetter, that persons of a mysterious aspect used to visit the inns and\nhotels of Paris, and eat of the best meats and drink of the best wines,\nand then suddenly melt away into thin air when the landlord came with the\nreckoning. That gentle maidens, who went to bed alone, often awoke in the\nnight and found men in bed with them, of shape more beautiful than the\nGrecian Apollo, who immediately became invisible when an alarm was raised.\nIt was also said that many persons found large heaps of gold in their\nhouses without knowing from whence they came. All Paris was in alarm. No\nman thought himself secure of his goods, no maiden of her virginity, or\nwife of her chastity, while these Rosicrucians were abroad. In the midst\nof the commotion, a second placard was issued to the following effect:\n\n\"_If any one desires to see the brethren of the Rose-cross from curiosity\nonly, he will never communicate with us. But if his_ will _really induces\nhim to inscribe his name in the register of our brotherhood, we, who can\njudge of the thoughts of all men, will convince him of the truth of our\npromises. For this reason we do not publish to the world the place of our\nabode. Thought alone, in unison with the sincere_ will _of those who\ndesire to know us, is sufficient to make us known to them, and them to\nus._\"\n\nThough the existence of such a society as that of the Rose-cross was\nproblematical, it was quite evident that somebody or other was concerned\nin the promulgation of these placards, which were stuck up on every wall\nin Paris. The police endeavoured in vain to find out the offenders, and\ntheir want of success only served to increase the perplexity of the\npublic. The Church very soon took up the question; and the Abb\u00e9 Gaultier,\na Jesuit, wrote a book to prove that, by their enmity to the pope, they\ncould be no other than disciples of Luther, sent to promulgate his heresy.\nTheir very name, he added, proved that they were heretics; a _cross_\nsurmounted by a _rose_ being the heraldic device of the arch-heretic\nLuther. One Garasse said they were a confraternity of drunken impostors;\nand that their name was derived from the garland of roses, in the form of\na cross, hung over the tables of taverns in Germany as the emblem of\nsecrecy, and from whence was derived the common saying, when one man\ncommunicated a secret to another, that it was said \"under the rose.\"\nOthers interpreted the letters F.R.C. to mean, not Brethren of the\nRose-cross, but _Fratres Roris Cocti_, or Brothers of Boiled Dew; and\nexplained this appellation by alleging that they collected large\nquantities of morning dew, and boiled it, in order to extract a very\nvaluable ingredient in the composition of the philosopher's stone and the\nwater of life.\n\nThe fraternity thus attacked defended themselves as well as they were\nable. They denied that they used magic of any kind, or that they consulted\nthe devil. They said they were all happy; that they had lived more than a\ncentury, and expected to live many centuries more; and that the intimate\nknowledge which they possessed of all nature was communicated to them by\nGod himself as a reward for their piety and utter devotion to his service.\nThose were in error who derived their name from a cross of roses, or\ncalled them drunkards. To set the world right on the first point, they\nreiterated that they derived their name from Christian Rosencreutz, their\nfounder; and to answer the latter charge, they repeated that they knew not\nwhat thirst was, and had higher pleasures than those of the palate. They\ndid not desire to meddle with the politics or religion of any man or set\nof men, although they could not help denying the supremacy of the pope,\nand looking upon him as a tyrant. Many slanders, they said, had been\nrepeated respecting them, the most unjust of which was, that they indulged\nin carnal appetites, and, under the cloak of their invisibility, crept\ninto the chambers of beautiful maidens. They asserted, on the contrary,\nthat the first vow they took on entering the society was a vow of\nchastity, and that any one among them who transgressed in that particular\nwould immediately lose all the advantages he enjoyed, and be exposed once\nmore to hunger, woe, disease, and death, like other men. So strongly did\nthey feel on the subject of chastity, that they attributed the fall of\nAdam solely to his want of this virtue. Besides defending themselves in\nthis manner, they entered into a further confession of their faith. They\ndiscarded for ever all the old tales of sorcery and witchcraft, and\ncommunion with the devil. They said there were no such horrid, unnatural,\nand disgusting beings as the incubi and succubi, and the innumerable\ngrotesque imps that men had believed in for so many ages. Man was not\nsurrounded with enemies like these, but with myriads of beautiful and\nbeneficent beings, all anxious to do him service. The air was peopled with\nsylphs, the water with undines or naiads, the bowels of the earth with\ngnomes, and the fire with salamanders. All these beings were the friends\nof man, and desired nothing so much as that men should purge themselves of\nall uncleanness, and thus be enabled to see and converse with them. They\npossessed great power, and were unrestrained by the barriers of space or\nthe obstructions of matter. But man was in one particular their superior.\nHe had an immortal soul, and they had not. They might, however, become\nsharers in man's immortality if they could inspire one of that race with\nthe passion of love towards them. Hence it was the constant endeavour of\nthe female spirits to captivate the admiration of men, and of the male\ngnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and undines to be beloved by a woman. The\nobject of this passion, in returning their love, imparted a portion of\nthat celestial fire, the soul; and from that time forth the beloved became\nequal to the lover, and both, when their allotted course was run, entered\ntogether into the mansions of felicity. These spirits, they said, watched\nconstantly over mankind by night and day. Dreams, omens, and presentiments\nwere all their works, and the means by which they gave warning of the\napproach of danger. But though so well inclined to befriend man for their\nown sakes, the want of a soul rendered them at times capricious and\nrevengeful; they took offence on slight causes, and heaped injuries\ninstead of benefits on the heads of those who extinguished the light of\nreason that was in them by gluttony, debauchery, and other appetites of\nthe body.\n\nThe excitement produced in Paris by the placards of the brotherhood and\nthe attacks of the clergy wore itself away after a few months. The stories\ncirculated about them became at last too absurd even for that age of\nabsurdity, and men began to laugh once more at those invisible gentlemen\nand their fantastic doctrines. Gabriel Naud\u00e9 at that conjuncture brought\nout his _Avis \u00e0 la France sur les Fr\u00e8res de la Rose-croix_, in which he\nvery successfully exposed the folly of the new sect. This work, though not\nwell written, was well timed. It quite extinguished the Rosicrucians of\nFrance; and after that year little more was heard of them. Swindlers in\ndifferent parts of the country assumed the name at times to cloak their\ndepredations; and now and then one of them was caught and hanged for his\ntoo great ingenuity in enticing pearls and precious stones from the\npockets of other people into his own, or for passing off lumps of gilded\nbrass for pure gold, made by the agency of the philosopher's stone. With\nthese exceptions, oblivion shrouded them.\n\nThe doctrine was not confined to a sphere so narrow as France alone; it\nstill nourished in Germany, and drew many converts in England. The latter\ncountries produced two great masters in the persons of Jacob B\u00f6hmen and\nRobert Fludd--pretended philosophers, of whom it is difficult to say which\nwas the more absurd and extravagant. It would appear that the sect was\ndivided into two classes--the brothers _Rose\u00e6 Crucis_, who devoted\nthemselves to the wonders of this sublunary sphere, and the brothers\n_Aure\u00e6 Crucis_, who were wholly occupied in the contemplation of things\ndivine. Fludd belonged to the first class, and B\u00f6hmen to the second. Fludd\nmay be called the father of the English Rosicrucians, and as such merits a\nconspicuous niche in the temple of Folly.\n\nHe was born in the year 1574 at Milgate, in Kent, and was the son of Sir\nThomas Fludd, Treasurer of War to Queen Elizabeth. He was originally\nintended for the army; but he was too fond of study, and of a disposition\ntoo quiet and retiring, to shine in that sphere. His father would not\ntherefore press him to adopt a course of life for which he was unsuited,\nand encouraged him in the study of medicine, for which he early manifested\na partiality. At the age of twenty-five he proceeded to the continent; and\nbeing fond of the abstruse, the marvellous, and the incomprehensible, he\nbecame an ardent disciple of the school of Paracelsus, whom he looked upon\nas the regenerator not only of medicine, but of philosophy. He remained\nsix years in Italy, France, and Germany, storing his mind with fantastic\nnotions, and seeking the society of enthusiasts and visionaries. On his\nreturn to England in 1605, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine\nfrom the University of Oxford, and began to practise as a physician in\nLondon.\n\nHe soon made himself conspicuous. He latinised his name from Robert Fludd\ninto Robertus \u00e0 Fluctibus, and began the promulgation of many strange\ndoctrines. He avowed his belief in the philosopher's stone, the water of\nlife, and the universal alkahest; and maintained that there were but two\nprinciples of all things,--which were, condensation, the boreal or\nnorthern virtue; and rarefaction, the southern or austral virtue. A number\nof demons, he said, ruled over the human frame, whom he arranged in their\nplaces in a rhomboid. Every disease had its peculiar demon who produced\nit, which demon could only be combated by the aid of the demon whose place\nwas directly opposite to his in the rhomboidal figure. Of his medical\nnotions we shall have further occasion to speak in another part of this\nbook, when we consider him in his character as one of the first founders\nof the magnetic delusion, and its offshoot, animal magnetism, which has\ncreated so much sensation in our own day.\n\nAs if the doctrines already mentioned were not wild enough, he joined the\nRosicrucians as soon as they began to make a sensation in Europe, and\nsucceeded in raising himself to high consideration among them. The\nfraternity having been violently attacked by several German authors, and\namong others by Libavius, Fludd volunteered a reply, and published, in\n1616, his defence of the Rosicrucian philosophy, under the title of the\n_Apologia compendiaria Fraternitatem de Rosea-cruce suspicionis et infami\u00e6\nmaculis aspersam abluens_. This work immediately procured him great renown\nupon the Continent, and he was henceforth looked upon as one of the\nhigh-priests of the sect. Of so much importance was he considered, that\nKeppler and Gassendi thought it necessary to refute him; and the latter\nwrote a complete examination of his doctrine. Mersenne also, the friend of\nDescartes, and who had defended that philosopher when accused of having\njoined the Rosicrucians, attacked Dr. \u00e0 Fluctibus, as he preferred to be\ncalled, and shewed the absurdity of the brothers of the Rose-cross in\ngeneral, and of Dr. \u00e0 Fluctibus in particular. Fluctibus wrote a long\nreply, in which he called Mersenne an ignorant calumniator, and reiterated\nthat alchymy was a profitable science, and the Rosicrucians worthy to be\nthe regenerators of the world. This book was published at Frankfort, and\nwas entitled _Summum Bonum, quod est Magi\u00e6, Cabal\u00e6, Alchimi\u00e6, Fratrum,\nRose\u00e6-Crucis verorum, et adversus Mersenium Calumniatorem_. Besides this,\nhe wrote several other works upon alchymy, a second answer to Libavius\nupon the Rosicrucians, and many medical works. He died in London in 1637.\n\nAfter his time there was some diminution of the sect in England. They\nexcited but little attention, and made no effort to bring themselves into\nnotice. Occasionally some obscure and almost incomprehensible work made\nits appearance, to shew the world that the folly was not extinguished.\nEugenius Philalethes, a noted alchymist, who has veiled his real name\nunder this assumed one, translated _The Fame and Confession of the\nBrethren of the Rosie Cross_, which was published in London in 1652. A few\nyears afterwards, another enthusiast, named John Heydon, wrote two works\non the subject: the one entitled _The Wise Man's Crown, or the Glory of\nthe Rosie Cross_; and the other, _The Holy Guide, leading the way to unite\nArt and Nature with the Rosie Crosse uncovered_. Neither of these\nattracted much notice. A third book was somewhat more successful; it was\ncalled _A new Method of Rosicrucian Physic; by John Heydon, the servant of\nGod and the Secretary of Nature_. A few extracts will shew the ideas of\nthe English Rosicrucians about this period. Its author was an attorney,\n\"practising (to use his own words) at Westminster Hall all term times as\nlong as he lived, and in the vacations devoting himself to alchymical and\nRosicrucian meditation.\" In his preface, called by him an Apologue for an\nEpilogue, he enlightens the public upon the true history and tenets of his\nsect. Moses, Elias, and Ezekiel were, he says, the most ancient masters of\nthe Rosicrucian philosophy. Those few then existing in England and the\nrest of Europe, were as the eyes and ears of the great king of the\nuniverse, seeing and hearing all things; seraphically illuminated;\ncompanions of the holy company of unbodied souls and immortal angels;\nturning themselves, Proteus-like, into any shape, and having the power of\nworking miracles. The most pious and abstracted brethren could slack the\nplague in cities, silence the violent winds and tempests, calm the rage of\nthe sea and rivers, walk in the air, frustrate the malicious aspect of\nwitches, cure all diseases, and turn all metals into gold. He had known in\nhis time two famous brethren of the Rosie Cross, named Walfourd and\nWilliams, who had worked miracles in his sight, and taught him many\nexcellent predictions of astrology and earthquakes. \"I desired one of\nthese to tell me,\" says he, \"whether my complexion were capable of the\nsociety of my good genius. 'When I see you again,' said he (which was when\nhe pleased to come to me, for I knew not where to go to him), 'I will tell\nyou.' When I saw him afterwards, he said, 'You should pray to God; for a\ngood and holy man can offer no greater or more acceptable service to God\nthan the oblation of himself--his soul.' He said also, that the good genii\nwere the benign eyes of God, running to and fro in the world, and with\nlove and pity beholding the innocent endeavours of harmless and\nsingle-hearted men, ever ready to do them good and to help them.\"\n\nHeydon held devoutly true that dogma of the Rosicrucians which said that\nneither eating nor drinking was necessary to men. He maintained that any\none might exist in the same manner as that singular people dwelling near\nthe source of the Ganges, of whom mention was made in the travels of his\nnamesake, Sir Christopher Heydon, who had no mouths, and therefore could\nnot eat, but lived by the breath of their nostrils; except when they took\na far journey, and then they mended their diet with the smell of flowers.\nHe said that in really pure air \"there was a fine foreign fatness,\" with\nwhich it was sprinkled by the sunbeams, and which was quite sufficient for\nthe nourishment of the generality of mankind. Those who had enormous\nappetites, he had no objection to see take animal food, since they could\nnot do without it; but he obstinately insisted that there was no necessity\nwhy they should _eat_ it. If they put a plaster of nicely-cooked meat upon\ntheir epigastrium, it would be sufficient for the wants of the most robust\nand voracious! They would by that means let in no diseases, as they did at\nthe broad and common gate, the mouth, as any one might see by example of\ndrink; for all the while a man sat in water, he was never athirst. He had\nknown, he said, many Rosicrucians, who by applying wine in this manner,\nhad fasted for years together. In fact, quoth Heydon, we may easily fast\nall our life, though it be three hundred years, without any kind of meat,\nand so cut off all danger of disease.\n\nThis \"sage philosopher\" further informed his wondering contemporaries that\nthe chiefs of the doctrine always carried about with them to their place\nof meeting their symbol, called the R.C. which was an ebony cross,\nflourished and decked with roses of gold; the cross typifying Christ's\nsufferings upon the cross for our sins, and the roses of gold the glory\nand beauty of his Resurrection. This symbol was carried alternately to\nMecca, Mount Calvary, Mount Sinai, Haran, and to three other places, which\nmust have been in mid-air, called _Cascle_, _Apamia_ and _Chaulateau\nVirissa Caunuch_, where the Rosicrucian brethren met when they pleased,\nand made resolution of all their actions. They always took their pleasures\nin one of these places, where they resolved all questions of whatsoever\nhad been done, was done, or should be done in the world, from the\nbeginning to the end thereof. \"And these,\" he concludes, \"are the men\ncalled Rosicrucians!\"\n\nTowards the end of the seventeenth century, more rational ideas took\npossession of the sect, which still continued to boast of a few members.\nThey appear to have considered that contentment was the true philosopher's\nstone, and to have abandoned the insane search for a mere phantom of the\nimagination. Addison, in _The Spectator_,[45] gives an account of his\nconversation with a Rosicrucian; from which it may be inferred that the\nsect had grown wiser in their deeds, though in their talk they were as\nfoolish as ever. \"I was once,\" says he, \"engaged in discourse with a\nRosicrucian about the great secret. He talked of the secret as of a spirit\nwhich lived within an emerald, and converted every thing that was near it\nto the highest perfection that it was capable of. 'It gives a lustre,'\nsays he, 'to the sun, and water to the diamond. It irradiates every metal,\nand enriches lead with all the properties of gold. It heightens smoke into\nflame, flame into light, and light into glory.' He further added, 'that a\nsingle ray of it dissipates pain and care and melancholy from the person\non whom it falls. In short,' says he, 'its presence naturally changes\nevery place into a kind of heaven.' After he had gone on for some time in\nthis unintelligible cant, I found that he jumbled natural and moral ideas\ntogether into the same discourse, and that his great secret was nothing\nelse but content.\"\n\n    [45] No. 574. Friday, July 30th, 1714.\n\n\nJACOB B\u00d6HMEN.\n\nIt is now time to speak of Jacob B\u00f6hmen, who thought he could discover the\nsecret of the transmutation of metals in the Bible, and who invented a\nstrange heterogeneous doctrine of mingled alchymy and religion, and\nfounded upon it the sect of the Aurea-crucians. He was born at G\u00f6rlitz, in\nUpper Lusatia, in 1575, and followed till his thirtieth year the\noccupation of a shoemaker. In this obscurity he remained, with the\ncharacter of a visionary and a man of unsettled mind, until the\npromulgation of the Rosicrucian philosophy in his part of Germany, toward\nthe year 1607 or 1608. From that time he began to neglect his leather, and\nburied his brain under the rubbish of metaphysics. The works of Paracelsus\nfell into his hands; and these, with the reveries of the Rosicrucians, so\ncompletely engrossed his attention, that he abandoned his trade\naltogether, sinking, at the same time, from a state of comparative\nindependence into poverty and destitution. But he was nothing daunted by\nthe miseries and privations of the flesh; his mind was fixed upon the\nbeings of another sphere, and in thought he was already the new apostle of\nthe human race. In the year 1612, after a meditation of four years, he\npublished his first work, entitled _Aurora, or the Rising of the Sun_;\nembodying the ridiculous notions of Paracelsus, and worse confounding the\nconfusion of that writer. The philosopher's stone might, he contended, be\ndiscovered by a diligent search of the Old and New Testaments, and more\nespecially of the Apocalypse, which alone contained all the secrets of\nalchymy. He contended that the divine grace operated by the same rules,\nand followed the same methods, that the divine providence observed in the\nnatural world; and that the minds of men were purged from their vices and\ncorruptions in the very same manner that metals were purified from their\ndross, namely, by fire.\n\nBesides the sylphs, gnomes, undines, and salamanders, he acknowledged\nvarious ranks and orders of demons. He pretended to invisibility and\nabsolute chastity. He also said that, if it pleased him, he could abstain\nfor years from meat and drink, and all the necessities of the body. It is\nneedless, however, to pursue his follies any further. He was reprimanded\nfor writing this work by the magistrates of G\u00f6rlitz, and commanded to\nleave the pen alone and stick to his wax, that his family might not become\nchargeable to the parish. He neglected this good advice, and continued his\nstudies; burning minerals and purifying metals one day, and mystifying the\nWord of God on the next. He afterwards wrote three other works, as\nsublimely ridiculous as the first. The one was entitled _Metallurgia_, and\nhas the slight merit of being the least obscure of his compositions.\nAnother was called _The Temporal Mirror of Eternity_; and the last his\n_Theosophy revealed_, full of allegories and metaphors,\n\n                \"All strange and geason,\n    Devoid of sense and ordinary reason.\"\n\nB\u00f6hmen died in 1624, leaving behind him a considerable number of admiring\ndisciples. Many of them became, during the seventeenth century, as\ndistinguished for absurdity as their master; amongst whom may be mentioned\nGifftheil, Wendenhagen, John Jacob Zimmermann, and Abraham Frankenberg.\nTheir heresy rendered them obnoxious to the Church of Rome; and many of\nthem suffered long imprisonment and torture for their faith. One, named\nKuhlmann, was burned alive at Moscow, in 1684, on a charge of sorcery.\nB\u00f6hmen's works were translated into English, and published, many years\nafterwards, by an enthusiast named William Law.\n\n\nMORMIUS.\n\nPeter Mormius, a notorious alchymist and contemporary of B\u00f6hmen,\nendeavoured, in 1630, to introduce the Rosicrucian philosophy into\nHolland. He applied to the States-General to grant him a public audience,\nthat he might explain the tenets of the sect, and disclose a plan for\nrendering Holland the happiest and richest country on the earth, by means\nof the philosopher's stone and the service of the elementary spirits. The\nStates-General wisely resolved to have nothing to do with him. He\nthereupon determined to shame them by printing his book, which he did at\nLeyden the same year. It was entitled _The Book of the most Hidden Secrets\nof Nature_, and was divided into three parts; the first treating of\n\"perpetual motion;\" the second of the \"transmutation of metals;\" and the\nthird of the \"universal medicine.\" He also published some German works\nupon the Rosicrucian philosophy, at Frankfort, in 1617.\n\nPoetry and romance are deeply indebted to the Rosicrucians for many a\ngraceful creation. The literature of England, France, and Germany contains\nhundreds of sweet fictions, whose machinery has been borrowed from their\nday-dreams. The \"delicate Ariel\" of Shakspeare stands pre-eminent among\nthe number. From the same source Pope drew the airy tenants of Belinda's\ndressing-room, in his charming _Rape of the Lock_; and La Motte Fouqu\u00e9,\nthe beautiful and capricious water-nymph Undine, around whom he has thrown\nmore grace and loveliness, and for whose imaginary woes he has excited\nmore sympathy, than ever were bestowed on a supernatural being. Sir Walter\nScott also endowed the White Lady of Avenel with many of the attributes of\nthe undines or water-sprites. German romance and lyrical poetry teem with\nallusions to sylphs, gnomes, undines, and salamanders; and the French have\nnot been behind in substituting them, in works of fiction, for the more\ncumbrous mythology of Greece and Rome. The sylphs, more especially, have\nbeen the favourites of the bards, and have become so familiar to the\npopular mind as to be, in a manner, confounded with that other race of\nideal beings, the fairies, who can boast of an antiquity much more\nvenerable in the annals of superstition. Having these obligations to the\nRosicrucians, no lover of poetry can wish, however absurd they were, that\nsuch a sect of philosophers had never existed.\n\n\nBORRI.\n\nJust at the time that Michael Mayer was making known to the world the\nexistence of such a body as the Rosicrucians, there was born in Italy a\nman who was afterwards destined to become the most conspicuous member of\nthe fraternity. The alchymic mania never called forth the ingenuity of a\nmore consummate or more successful impostor than Joseph Francis Borri. He\nwas born in 1616, according to some authorities, and in 1627 according to\nothers, at Milan; where his father, the Signor Branda Borri, practised as\na physician. At the age of sixteen Joseph was sent to finish his education\nat the Jesuits' college in Rome, where he distinguished himself by his\nextraordinary memory. He learned every thing to which he applied himself\nwith the utmost ease. In the most voluminous works no fact was too minute\nfor his retention, and no study was so abstruse but that he could master\nit; but any advantages he might have derived from this facility were\nneutralised by his ungovernable passions and his love of turmoil and\ndebauchery. He was involved in continual difficulty, as well with the\nheads of the college as with the police of Rome, and acquired so bad a\ncharacter that years could not remove it. By the aid of his friends he\nestablished himself as a physician in Rome, and also obtained some\nsituation in the pope's household. In one of his fits of studiousness he\ngrew enamoured of alchymy, and determined to devote his energies to the\ndiscovery of the philosopher's stone. Of unfortunate propensities he had\nquite sufficient, besides this, to bring him to poverty. His pleasures\nwere as expensive as his studies, and both were of a nature to destroy his\nhealth and ruin his fair fame. At the age of thirty-seven he found that he\ncould not live by the practice of medicine, and began to look about for\nsome other employment. He became, in 1653, private secretary to the\nMarquis di Mirogli, the minister of the Archduke of Innspr\u00fcck at the court\nof Rome. He continued in this capacity for two years; leading, however,\nthe same abandoned life as heretofore, frequenting the society of\ngamesters, debauchees, and loose women, involving himself in disgraceful\nstreet quarrels, and alienating the patrons who were desirous to befriend\nhim.\n\nAll at once a sudden change was observed in his conduct. The abandoned\nrake put on the outward sedateness of a philosopher; the scoffing sinner\nproclaimed that he had forsaken his evil ways, and would live thenceforth\na model of virtue. To his friends this reformation was as pleasing as it\nwas unexpected; and Borri gave obscure hints that it had been brought\nabout by some miraculous manifestation of a superior power. He pretended\nthat he held converse with beneficent spirits; that the secrets of God and\nnature were revealed to him; and that he had obtained possession of the\nphilosopher's stone. Like his predecessor, Jacob B\u00f6hmen, he mixed up\nreligious questions with his philosophical jargon, and took measures for\ndeclaring himself the founder of a new sect. This, at Rome itself, and in\nthe very palace of the pope, was a hazardous proceeding; and Borri just\nawoke to a sense of it in time to save himself from the dungeons of the\nCastle of St. Angelo. He fled to Innspr\u00fcck, where he remained about a\nyear, and then returned to his native city of Milan.\n\n[Illustration: INNSPRUCK.]\n\nThe reputation of his great sanctity had gone before him; and he found\nmany persons ready to attach themselves to his fortunes. All who were\ndesirous of entering into the new communion took an oath of poverty, and\nrelinquished their possessions for the general good of the fraternity.\nBorri told them that he had received from the archangel Michael a heavenly\nsword, upon the hilt of which were engraven the names of the seven\ncelestial intelligences. \"Whoever shall refuse,\" said he, \"to enter into\nmy new sheepfold shall be destroyed by the papal armies, of whom God has\npredestined me to be the chief. To those who follow me all joy shall be\ngranted. I shall soon bring my chemical studies to a happy conclusion, by\nthe discovery of the philosopher's stone, and by this means we shall all\nhave as much gold as we desire. I am assured of the aid of the angelic\nhosts, and more especially of the archangel Michael's. When I began to\nwalk in the way of the spirit, I had a vision of the night, and was\nassured by an angelic voice that I should become a prophet. In sign of it\nI saw a palm-tree, surrounded with all the glory of paradise. The angels\ncome to me whenever I call, and reveal to me all the secrets of the\nuniverse. The sylphs and elementary spirits obey me, and fly to the\nuttermost ends of the world to serve me, and those whom I delight to\nhonour.\" By force of continually repeating such stories as these, Borri\nsoon found himself at the head of a very considerable number of adherents.\nAs he figures in these pages as an alchymist, and not as a religious\nsectarian, it will be unnecessary to repeat the doctrines which he taught\nwith regard to some of the dogmas of the Church of Rome, and which exposed\nhim to the fierce resentment of the papal authority. They were to the full\nas ridiculous as his philosophical pretensions. As the number of his\nfollowers increased, he appears to have cherished the idea of becoming one\nday a new Mahomet, and of founding, in his native city of Milan, a\nmonarchy and religion of which he should be the king and the prophet. He\nhad taken measures, in the year 1658, for seizing the guards at all the\ngates of that city, and formally declaring himself the monarch of the\nMilanese. Just as he thought the plan ripe for execution, it was\ndiscovered. Twenty of his followers were arrested, and he himself managed,\nwith the utmost difficulty, to escape to the neutral territory of\nSwitzerland, where the papal displeasure could not reach him.\n\nThe trial of his followers commenced forthwith, and the whole of them were\nsentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Borri's trial proceeded in his\nabsence, and lasted for upwards of two years. He was condemned to death as\na heretic and sorcerer in 1661, and was burned in effigy in Rome by the\ncommon hangman.\n\nBorri, in the mean time, lived quietly in Switzerland, indulging himself\nin railing at the Inquisition and its proceedings. He afterwards went to\nStrasbourg, intending to fix his residence in that town. He was received\nwith great cordiality, as a man persecuted for his religious opinions, and\nwithal a great alchymist. He found that sphere too narrow for his aspiring\ngenius, and retired in the same year to the more wealthy city of\nAmsterdam. He there hired a magnificent house, established an equipage\nwhich eclipsed in brilliancy those of the richest merchants, and assumed\nthe title of Excellency. Where he got the money to live in this expensive\nstyle was long a secret: the adepts in alchymy easily explained it, after\ntheir fashion. Sensible people were of opinion that he had come by it in a\nless wonderful manner; for it was remembered that among his unfortunate\ndisciples in Milan, there were many rich men, who, in conformity with one\nof the fundamental rules of the sect, had given up all their earthly\nwealth into the hands of their founder. In whatever manner the money was\nobtained, Borri spent it in Holland with an unsparing hand, and was looked\nup to by the people with no little respect and veneration. He performed\nseveral able cures, and increased his reputation so much that he was\nvaunted as a prodigy. He continued diligently the operations of alchymy,\nand was in daily expectation that he should succeed in turning the\ninferior metals into gold. This hope never abandoned him, even in the\nworst extremity of his fortunes; and in his prosperity it led him into the\nmost foolish expenses: but he could not long continue to live so\nmagnificently upon the funds he had brought from Italy; and the\nphilosopher's stone, though it promised all for the wants of the morrow,\nnever brought any thing for the necessities of to-day. He was obliged in a\nfew months to retrench, by giving up his large house, his gilded coach and\nvaluable blood-horses, his liveried domestics, and his luxurious\nentertainments. With this diminution of splendour came a diminution of\nrenown. His cures did not appear so miraculous, when he went out on foot\nto perform them, as they had seemed when \"his Excellency\" had driven to a\npoor man's door in his carriage with six horses. He sank from a prodigy\ninto an ordinary man. His great friends shewed him the cold shoulder, and\nhis humble flatterers carried their incense to some other shrine. Borri\nnow thought it high time to change his quarters. With this view he\nborrowed money wherever he could get it, and succeeded in obtaining two\nhundred thousand florins from a merchant named De Meer, to aid, as he\nsaid, in discovering the water of life. He also obtained six diamonds of\ngreat value, on pretence that he could remove the flaws from them without\ndiminishing their weight. With this booty he stole away secretly by night,\nand proceeded to Hamburgh.\n\nOn his arrival in that city, he found the celebrated Christina, the\nex-queen of Sweden. He procured an introduction to her, and requested her\npatronage in his endeavour to discover the philosopher's stone. She gave\nhim some encouragement; but Borri, fearing that the merchants of\nAmsterdam, who had connexions in Hamburgh, might expose his delinquencies\nif he remained in the latter city, passed over to Copenhagen, and sought\nthe protection of Frederick III., the king of Denmark.\n\nThis prince was a firm believer in the transmutation of metals. Being in\nwant of money, he readily listened to the plans of an adventurer who had\nboth eloquence and ability to recommend him. He provided Borri with the\nmeans to make experiments, and took a great interest in the progress of\nhis operations. He expected every month to possess riches that would buy\nPeru; and, when he was disappointed, accepted patiently the excuses of\nBorri, who, upon every failure, was always ready with some plausible\nexplanation. He became in time much attached to him; and defended him from\nthe jealous attacks of his courtiers, and the indignation of those who\nwere grieved to see their monarch the easy dupe of a charlatan. Borri\nendeavoured, by every means in his power, to find aliment for this good\nopinion. His knowledge of medicine was useful to him in this respect, and\noften stood between him and disgrace. He lived six years in this manner at\nthe court of Frederick; but that monarch dying in 1670 he was left without\na protector.\n\nAs he had made more enemies than friends in Copenhagen, and had nothing to\nhope from the succeeding sovereign, he sought an asylum in another\ncountry. He went first to Saxony; but met so little encouragement, and\nencountered so much danger from the emissaries of the Inquisition, that he\ndid not remain there many months. Anticipating nothing but persecution in\nevery country that acknowledged the spiritual authority of the pope, he\nappears to have taken the resolution to dwell in Turkey, and turn\nMussulman. On his arrival at the Hungarian frontier, on his way to\nConstantinople, he was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the\nconspiracy of the Counts Nadasdi and Frangipani, which had just been\ndiscovered. In vain he protested his innocence, and divulged his real name\nand profession. He was detained in prison, and a letter despatched to the\nEmperor Leopold, to know what should be done with him. The star of his\nfortunes was on the decline. The letter reached Leopold at an unlucky\nmoment. The pope's nuncio was closeted with his majesty; and he no sooner\nheard the name of Joseph Francis Borri, than he demanded him as a prisoner\nof the Holy See. The request was complied with; and Borri, closely\nmanacled, was sent under an escort of soldiers to the prison of the\nInquisition at Rome. He was too much of an impostor to be deeply tinged\nwith fanaticism, and was not unwilling to make a public recantation of his\nheresies, if he could thereby save his life. When the proposition was made\nto him, he accepted it with eagerness. His punishment was to be commuted\ninto the hardly less severe one of perpetual imprisonment; but he was too\nhappy to escape the clutch of the executioner at any price, and he made\nthe _amende honorable_ in face of the assembled multitudes of Rome on the\n27th of October 1672. He was then transferred to the prisons of the Castle\nof St. Angelo, where he remained till his death, twenty-three years\nafterwards. It is said that, towards the close of his life, considerable\nindulgence was granted him; that he was allowed to have a laboratory, and\nto cheer the solitude of his dungeon by searching for the philosopher's\nstone. Queen Christina, during her residence at Rome, frequently visited\nthe old man, to converse with him upon chemistry and the doctrines of the\nRosicrucians. She even obtained permission that he should leave his prison\noccasionally for a day or two, and reside in her palace, she being\nresponsible for his return to captivity. She encouraged him to search for\nthe great secret of the alchymists, and provided him with money for the\npurpose. It may well be supposed that Borri benefited most by this\nacquaintance, and that Christina got nothing but experience. It is not\nsure that she gained even that; for until her dying day she was convinced\nof the possibility of finding the philosopher's stone, and ready to assist\nany adventurer either zealous or impudent enough to pretend to it.\n\nAfter Borri had been about eleven years in confinement, a small volume was\npublished at Cologne, entitled _The Key of the Cabinet of the Chevalier\nJoseph Francis Borri, in which are contained many curious Letters upon\nChemistry and other Sciences, written by him, together with a Memoir of\nhis Life_. This book contained a complete exposition of the Rosicrucian\nphilosophy, and afforded materials to the Abb\u00e9 de Villars for his\ninteresting _Count de Gabalis_, which excited so much attention at the\nclose of the seventeenth century.\n\nBorri lingered in the prison of St. Angelo till 1695, when he died, in his\neightieth year. Besides _The Key of the Cabinet_, written originally in\nCopenhagen, in 1666, for the edification of King Frederick III., he\npublished a work upon alchymy and the secret sciences, under the title of\n_The Mission of Romulus to the Romans_.\n\n\nINFERIOR ALCHYMISTS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.\n\nBesides the pretenders to the philosopher's stone whose lives have been\nalready narrated, this and the preceding century produced a great number\nof writers, who inundated literature with their books upon the subject. In\nfact, most of the learned men of that age had some faith in it. Van\nHelmont, Borrichius, Kircher, Boerhaave, and a score of others, though not\nprofessed alchymists, were fond of the science, and countenanced its\nprofessors. Helvetius, the grandfather of the celebrated philosopher of\nthe same name, asserts that he saw an inferior metal turned into gold by a\nstranger, at the Hague, in 1666. He says, that, sitting one day in his\nstudy, a man, who was dressed as a respectable burgher of North Holland,\nand very modest and simple in his appearance, called upon him, with the\nintention of dispelling his doubts relative to the philosopher's stone. He\nasked Helvetius if he thought he should know that rare gem if he saw it.\nTo which Helvetius replied, that he certainly should not. The burgher\nimmediately drew from his pocket a small ivory box, containing three\npieces of metal, of the colour of brimstone, and extremely heavy; and\nassured Helvetius, that of them he could make as much as twenty tons of\ngold. Helvetius informs us, that he examined them very attentively; and\nseeing that they were very brittle, he took the opportunity to scrape off\na small portion with his thumb-nail. He then returned them to the\nstranger, with an entreaty that he would perform the process of\ntransmutation before him. The stranger replied, that he was not allowed to\ndo so, and went away. After his departure, Helvetius procured a crucible\nand a portion of lead, into which, when in a state of fusion, he threw the\nstolen grain from the philosopher's stone. He was disappointed to find\nthat the grain evaporated altogether, leaving the lead in its original\nstate.\n\nSome weeks afterwards, when he had almost forgotten the subject, he\nreceived another visit from the stranger. He again entreated him to\nexplain the processes by which he pretended to transmute lead. The\nstranger at last consented, and informed him, that one grain was\nsufficient; but that it was necessary to envelope it in a ball of wax\nbefore throwing it on the molten metal; otherwise its extreme volatility\nwould cause it to go off in vapour. They tried the experiment, and\nsucceeded to their heart's content. Helvetius repeated the experiment\nalone, and converted six ounces of lead into very pure gold.\n\nThe fame of this event spread all over the Hague, and all the notable\npersons of the town flocked to the study of Helvetius to convince\nthemselves of the fact. Helvetius performed the experiment again, in the\npresence of the Prince of Orange, and several times afterwards, until he\nexhausted the whole of the powder he had received from the stranger, from\nwhom it is necessary to state, he never received another visit; nor did he\never discover his name or condition. In the following year, Helvetius\npublished his _Golden Calf_,[46] in which he detailed the above\ncircumstances.\n\n    [46] \"Vitulus Aureus quem Mundus adorat et orat, in quo tractatur\n         de natur\u00e6 miraculo transmutandi metalla.\" _Hag\u00e6_, 1667.\n\nAbout the same time, the celebrated Father Kircher published his\n_Subterranean World_, in which he called the alchymists a congregation of\nknaves and impostors, and their science a delusion. He admitted that he\nhad himself been a diligent labourer in the field, and had only come to\nthis conclusion after mature consideration and repeated fruitless\nexperiments. All the alchymists were in arms immediately, to refute this\nformidable antagonist. One Solomon de Blauenstein was the first to grapple\nwith him, and attempted to convict him of wilful misrepresentation, by\nrecalling to his memory the transmutations by Sendivogius, before the\nEmperor Frederick III. and the Elector of Mayence, all performed within a\nrecent period. Zwelfer and Glauber also entered into the dispute, and\nattributed the enmity of Father Kircher to spite and jealousy against\nadepts who had been more successful than himself.\n\nIt was also pretended that Gustavus Adolphus transmuted a quantity of\nquicksilver into pure gold. The learned Borrichius relates, that he saw\ncoins which had been struck of this gold; and Lenglet du Fresnoy deposes\nto the same circumstance. In the _Travels of Monconis_ the story is told\nin the following manner: \"A merchant of Lubeck, who carried on but little\ntrade, but who knew how to change lead into very good gold, gave the King\nof Sweden a lingot which he had made, weighing at least one hundred\npounds. The king immediately caused it to be coined into ducats; and\nbecause he knew positively that its origin was such as had been stated to\nhim, he had his own arms graven upon the one side, and emblematical\nfigures of Mercury and Venus on the other. I (continued Monconis) have one\nof these ducats in my possession; and was credibly informed that, after\nthe death of the Lubeck merchant, who had never appeared very rich, a sum\nof no less than one million seven hundred thousand crowns was found in his\ncoffers.\"[47]\n\n    [47] _Voyages de Monconis_, tome ii. p. 379.\n\nSuch stories as these, confidently related by men high in station, tended\nto keep up the infatuation of the alchymists in every country of Europe.\nIt is astonishing to see the number of works which were written upon the\nsubject during the seventeenth century alone, and the number of clever men\nwho sacrificed themselves to the delusion. Gabriel de Castaigne, a monk of\nthe order of St. Francis, attracted so much notice in the reign of Louis\nXIII., that that monarch secured him in his household, and made him his\nGrand Almoner. He pretended to find the elixir of life, and Louis expected\nby his means to have enjoyed the crown for a century. Van Helmont also\npretended to have once performed with success the process of transmuting\nquicksilver, and was in consequence invited by the Emperor Rudolph II. to\nfix his residence at the court of Vienna. Glauber, the inventor of the\nsalts which still bear his name, and who practised as a physician at\nAmsterdam about the middle of the seventeenth century, established a\npublic school in that city for the study of alchymy, and gave lectures\nhimself upon the science. John Joachim Becher of Spire acquired great\nreputation at the same period, and was convinced that much gold might be\nmade out of flint-stones by a peculiar process, and the aid of that grand\nand incomprehensible substance the philosopher's stone. He made a\nproposition to the Emperor Leopold of Austria to aid him in these\nexperiments; but the hope of success was too remote, and the present\nexpense too great, to tempt that monarch, and he therefore gave Becher\nmuch of his praise, but none of his money. Becher afterwards tried the\nStates-General of Holland with no better success.\n\nWith regard to the innumerable tricks by which impostors persuaded the\nworld that they had succeeded in making gold, and of which so many stories\nwere current about this period, a very satisfactory report was read by M.\nGeoffroy the elder, at the sitting of the Royal Academy of Sciences at\nParis, on the 15th of April, 1722. As it relates principally to the\nalchymic cheats of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the following\nabridgment of it may not be out of place in this portion of our history.\nThe instances of successful transmutation were so numerous, and apparently\nso well authenticated, that nothing short of so able an exposure as that\nof M. Geoffroy could disabuse the public mind. The trick to which they\noftenest had recourse was to use a double-bottomed crucible, the under\nsurface being of iron or copper, and the upper one of wax, painted to\nresemble the same metal. Between the two they placed as much gold or\nsilver dust as was necessary for their purpose. They then put in their\nlead, quicksilver, or other ingredients, and placed their pot upon the\nfire. Of course, when the experiment was concluded, they never failed to\nfind a lump of gold at the bottom. The same result was produced in many\nother ways. Some of them used a hollow wand, filled with gold or silver\ndust, and stopped at the ends with wax or butter. With this they stirred\nthe boiling metal in their crucibles, taking care to accompany the\noperation with many ceremonies, to divert attention from the real purpose\nof the manoeuvre. They also drilled holes in lumps of lead, into which\nthey poured molten gold, and carefully closed the aperture with the\noriginal metal. Sometimes they washed a piece of gold with quicksilver.\nWhen in this state, they found no difficulty in palming it off upon the\nuninitiated as an inferior metal, and very easily transmuted it into fine\nsonorous gold again with the aid of a little aquafortis.\n\nOthers imposed by means of nails, half iron and half gold or silver. They\npretended that they really transmuted the precious half from iron, by\ndipping it in a strong alcohol. M. Geoffroy produced several of these\nnails to the Academy of Sciences, and shewed how nicely the two parts were\nsoldered together. The golden or silver half was painted black to resemble\niron, and the colour immediately disappeared when the nail was dipped into\naquafortis. A nail of this description was, for a long time, in the\ncabinet of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Such also, said M. Geoffroy, was the\nknife presented by a monk to Queen Elizabeth of England; the blade of\nwhich was half gold and half steel. Nothing at one time was more common\nthan to see coins, half gold and half silver, which had been operated upon\nby alchymists, for the same purposes of trickery. In fact, says M.\nGeoffroy, in concluding his long report, there is every reason to believe\nthat all the famous histories which have been handed down to us about the\ntransmutation of metals into gold or silver, by means of the powder of\nprojection or philosophical elixirs, are founded upon some successful\ndeception of the kind above narrated. These pretended philosophers\ninvariably disappeared after the first or second experiment, or their\npowders or elixirs have failed to produce their effect, either because\nattention being excited they have found no opportunity to renew the trick\nwithout being discovered, or because they have not had sufficient gold\ndust for more than one trial.\n\nThe disinterestedness of these would-be philosophers looked, at first\nsight, extremely imposing. Instances were not rare in which they\ngenerously abandoned all the profits of their transmutations--even the\nhonour of the discovery. But this apparent disinterestedness was one of\nthe most cunning of their manoeuvres. It served to keep up the popular\nexpectation; it seemed to shew the possibility of discovering the\nphilosopher's stone, and provided the means of future advantages, which\nthey were never slow to lay hold of--such as entrances into royal\nhouseholds, maintenance at the public expense, and gifts from ambitious\npotentates, too greedy after the gold they so easily promised.\n\nIt now only remains to trace the progress of the delusion from the\ncommencement of the eighteenth century until the present day. It will be\nseen that, until a very recent period, there were but slight signs of a\nreturn to reason.\n\n\nJEAN DELISLE.\n\nIn the year 1705, there was much talk in France of a blacksmith, named\nDelisle, who had discovered the philosopher's stone, and who went about\nthe country turning lead into gold. He was a native of Provence, from\nwhich place his fame soon spread to the capital. His early life is\ninvolved in obscurity; but Lenglet du Fresnoy has industriously collected\nsome particulars of his later career, which possess considerable interest.\nHe was a man without any education, and had been servant in his youth to\nan alchymist, from whom he learned many of the tricks of the fraternity.\nThe name of his master has never been discovered; but it is pretended that\nhe rendered himself in some manner obnoxious to the government of Louis\nXIV., and was obliged, in consequence, to take refuge in Switzerland.\nDelisle accompanied him as far as Savoy, and there, it is said, set upon\nhim in a solitary mountain-pass, and murdered and robbed him. He then\ndisguised himself as a pilgrim, and returned to France. At a lonely inn,\nby the road-side, where he stopped for the night, he became acquainted\nwith a woman, named Aluys; and so sudden a passion was enkindled betwixt\nthem, that she consented to leave all, follow him, and share his good or\nevil fortune wherever he went. They lived together for five or six years\nin Provence, without exciting any attention, apparently possessed of a\ndecent independence. At last, in 1706, it was given out that he was the\npossessor of the philosopher's stone; and people from far and near came\nflocking to his residence, at the Ch\u00e2teau de la Palu, at Sylanez, near\nBarjaumont, to witness the wealth he could make out of pumps and\nfire-shovels. The following account of his operations is given in a letter\naddressed by M. de Cerisy, the Prior of Ch\u00e2teauneuf, in the Diocese of\nRiez, in Provence, to the Vicar of St. Jacques du Hautpas, at Paris, and\ndated the 18th of November, 1706:\n\n\"I have something to relate to you, my dear cousin, which will be\ninteresting to you and your friends. The philosopher's stone, which so\nmany persons have looked upon as a chimera, is at last found. It is a man\nnamed Delisle, of the parish of Sylanez, and residing within a quarter of\na league of me, that has discovered this great secret. He turns lead into\ngold, and iron into silver, by merely heating these metals red hot, and\npouring upon them in that state some oil and powder he is possessed of; so\nthat it would not be impossible for any man to make a million a day, if he\nhad sufficient of this wondrous mixture. Some of the pale gold which he\nhad made in this manner, he sent to the jewellers of Lyons, to have their\nopinion on its quality. He also sold twenty pounds weight of it to a\nmerchant of Digne, named Taxis. All the jewellers say they never saw such\nfine gold in their lives. He makes nails, part gold, part iron, and part\nsilver. He promised to give me one of them, in a long conversation which I\nhad with him the other day, by order of the Bishop of Sen\u00e9s, who saw his\noperations with his own eyes, and detailed all the circumstances to me.\n\n\"The Baron and Baroness de Rheinwald shewed me a lingot of gold made out\nof pewter before their eyes by M. Delisle. My brother-in-law Sauveur, who\nhas wasted fifty years of his life in this great study, brought me the\nother day a nail which he had seen changed into gold by Delisle, and fully\nconvinced me that all his previous experiments were founded on an\nerroneous principle. This excellent workman received, a short time ago, a\nvery kind letter from the superintendent of the royal household, which I\nread. He offered to use all his influence with the ministers to prevent\nany attempts upon his liberty, which has twice been attacked by the agents\nof government. It is believed that the oil he makes use of, is gold or\nsilver reduced to that state. He leaves it for a long time exposed to the\nrays of the sun. He told me that it generally took him six months to make\nall his preparations. I told him that, apparently, the king wanted to see\nhim. He replied that he could not exercise his art in every place, as a\ncertain climate and temperature were absolutely necessary to his success.\nThe truth is, that this man appears to have no ambition. He only keeps two\nhorses and two men-servants. Besides, he loves his liberty, has no\npoliteness, and speaks very bad French; but his judgment seems to be\nsolid. He was formerly no more than a blacksmith, but excelled in that\ntrade without having been taught it. All the great lords and seigneurs\nfrom far and near come to visit him, and pay such court to him, that it\nseems more like idolatry than any thing else. Happy would France be if\nthis man would discover his secret to the king, to whom the superintendent\nhas already sent some lingots! But the happiness is too great to be hoped\nfor; for I fear that the workman and his secret will expire together.\nThere is no doubt that this discovery will make a great noise in the\nkingdom, unless the character of the man, which I have just depicted to\nyou, prevent it. At all events, posterity will hear of him.\"\n\nIn another letter to the same person, dated the 27th of January 1707, M.\nde Cerisy says, \"My dear cousin, I spoke to you in my last letter of the\nfamous alchymist of Provence, M. Delisle. A good deal of that was only\nhearsay, but now I am enabled to speak from my own experience. I have in\nmy possession a nail, half iron and half silver, which I made myself. That\ngreat and admirable workman also bestowed a still greater privilege upon\nme--he allowed me turn a piece of lead which I had brought with me into\npure gold, by means of his wonderful oil and powder. All the country have\ntheir eyes upon this gentleman; some deny loudly, others are incredulous;\nbut those who have seen acknowledge the truth. I have read the passport\nthat has been sent to him from court, with orders that he should present\nhimself at Paris early in the spring. He told me that he would go\nwillingly, and that it was himself who fixed the spring for his departure;\nas he wanted to collect his materials, in order that, immediately on his\nintroduction to the king, he might make an experiment worthy of his\nmajesty, by converting a large quantity of lead into the finest gold. I\nsincerely hope that he will not allow his secret to die with him, but that\nhe will communicate it to the king. As I had the honour to dine with him\non Thursday last, the 20th of this month, being seated at his side, I told\nhim in a whisper that he could, if he liked, humble all the enemies of\nFrance. He did not deny it, but began to smile. In fact, this man is the\nmiracle of art. Sometimes he employs the oil and powder mixed, sometimes\nthe powder only; but in so small a quantity that, when the lingot which I\nmade was rubbed all over with it, it did not shew at all.\"\n\nThis soft-headed priest was by no means the only person in the\nneighbourhood who lost his wits in hopes of the boundless wealth held out\nby this clever impostor. Another priest, named De Lions, a chanter in the\ncathedral of Grenoble, writing on the 30th January 1707, says: \"M.\nMesnard, the curate of Montier, has written to me, stating that there is a\nman, about thirty-five years of age, named Delisle, who turns lead and\niron into gold and silver; and that this transmutation is so veritable and\nso true, that the goldsmiths affirm that his gold and silver are the\npurest and finest they ever saw. For five years this man was looked upon\nas a madman or a cheat; but the public mind is now disabused with respect\nto him. He now resides with M. de la Palu, at the ch\u00e2teau of the same\nname. M. de la Palu is not very easy in his circumstances, and wants money\nto portion his daughters, who have remained single till middle age, no man\nbeing willing to take them without a dowry. M. Delisle has promised to\nmake them the richest girls in the province before he goes to court,\nhaving been sent for by the king. He has asked for a little time before\nhis departure, in order that he may collect powder enough to make several\nquintals of gold before the eyes of his majesty, to whom he intends to\npresent them. The principal matter of his wonderful powder is composed of\nsimples, principally the herbs _Lunaria major_ and _minor_. There is a\ngood deal of the first planted by him in the gardens of La Palu; and he\ngets the other from the mountains that stretch about two leagues from\nMontier. What I tell you now is not a mere story invented for your\ndiversion: M. Mesnard can bring forward many witnesses to its truth; among\nothers, the Bishop of Sen\u00e9s, who saw these surprising operations\nperformed; and M. de Cerisy, whom you know well. Delisle transmutes his\nmetals in public. He rubs the lead or iron with his powder, and puts it\nover burning charcoal. In a short time it changes colour; the lead becomes\nyellow, and is found to be converted into excellent gold; the iron becomes\nwhite, and is found to be pure silver. Delisle is altogether an illiterate\nperson. M. de St. Auban endeavoured to teach him to read and write, but he\nprofited very little by his lessons. He is unpolite, fantastic, and a\ndreamer, and acts by fits and starts.\"\n\nDelisle, it would appear, was afraid of venturing to Paris. He knew that\nhis sleight of hand would be too narrowly watched in the royal presence;\nand upon some pretence or other he delayed the journey for more than two\nyears. Desmarets, the Minister of Finance to Louis XIV., thinking the\n\"philosopher\" dreaded foul play, twice sent him a safe conduct under the\nking's seal; but Delisle still refused. Upon this, Desmarets wrote to the\nBishop of Sen\u00e9s for his real opinion as to these famous transmutations.\nThe following was the answer of that prelate:\n\n    \"Copy of a report addressed to M. Desmarets, Comptroller-General\n     of the Finances to His Majesty Louis XIV., by the Bishop of Sen\u00e9s,\n     dated March 1709.\n\n\"SIR,--A twelvemonth ago, or a little more, I expressed to you my joy at\nhearing of your elevation to the ministry; I have now the honour to write\nyou my opinion of the Sieur Delisle, who has been working at the\ntransmutation of metals in my diocese. I have, during the last two years,\nspoken of him several times to the Count de Pontchartrain, because he\nasked me; but I have not written to you, sir, or to M. de Chamillart,\nbecause you neither of you requested my opinion upon the subject. Now,\nhowever, that you have given me to understand that you wish to know my\nsentiments on the matter, I will unfold myself to you in all sincerity,\nfor the interests of the king and the glory of your ministry.\n\n\"There are two things about the Sieur Delisle which, in my opinion, should\nbe examined without prejudice: the one relates to his secret; the other,\nto his person; that is to say, whether his transmutations are real, and\nwhether his conduct has been regular. As regards the secret of the\nphilosopher's stone, I deemed it impossible, for a long time; and for more\nthan three years I was more mistrustful of the pretensions of this Sieur\nDelisle than of any other person. During this period I afforded him no\ncountenance; I even aided a person, who was highly recommended to me by an\ninfluential family of this province, to prosecute Delisle for some offence\nor other which it was alleged he had committed. But this person, in his\nanger against him, having told me that he had himself been several times\nthe bearer of gold and silver to the goldsmiths of Nice, Aix, and Avignon,\nwhich had been transmuted by Delisle from lead and iron, I began to waver\na little in my opinions respecting him. I afterwards met Delisle at the\nhouse of one of my friends. To please me, the family asked Delisle to\noperate before me, to which he immediately consented. I offered him some\niron nails, which he changed into silver in the chimney-place before six\nor seven credible witnesses. I took the nails thus transmuted, and sent\nthem by my almoner to Imbert, the jeweller of Aix, who, having subjected\nthem to the necessary trial, returned them to me, saying they were very\ngood silver. Still, however, I was not quite satisfied. M. de\nPontchartrain having hinted to me, two years previously, that I should do\na thing agreeable to his majesty if I examined into this business of\nDelisle, I resolved to do so now. I therefore summoned the alchymist to\ncome to me at Castellane. He came; and I had him escorted by eight or ten\nvigilant men, to whom I had given notice to watch his hands strictly.\nBefore all of us he changed two pieces of lead into gold and silver. I\nsent them both to M. de Pontchartrain; and he afterwards informed me by a\nletter, now lying before me, that he had shewn them to the most\nexperienced goldsmiths of Paris, who unanimously pronounced them to be\ngold and silver of the very purest quality, and without alloy. My former\nbad opinion of Delisle was now indeed shaken. It was much more so when he\nperformed transmutation five or six times before me at Sen\u00e9s, and made me\nperform it myself before him without his putting his hand to any thing.\nYou have seen, sir, the letter of my nephew, the P\u00e8re Berard, of the\nOratoire at Paris, on the experiment that he performed at Castellane, and\nthe truth of which I hereby attest. Another nephew of mine, the Sieur\nBourget, who was here three weeks ago, performed the same experiment in my\npresence, and will detail all the circumstances to you personally at\nParis. A hundred persons in my diocese have been witnesses of these\nthings. I confess to you, sir, that, after the testimony of so many\nspectators and so many goldsmiths, and after the repeatedly successful\nexperiments that I saw performed, all my prejudices vanished. My reason\nwas convinced by my eyes; and the phantoms of impossibility which I had\nconjured up were dissipated by the work of my own hands.\n\n\"It now only remains for me to speak to you on the subject of his person\nand conduct. Three suspicions have been excited against him: the first,\nthat he was implicated in some criminal proceeding at Cisteron, and that\nhe falsified the coin of the realm; the second, that the king sent him two\nsafe-conducts without effect; and the third, that he still delays going to\ncourt to operate before the king. You may see, sir, that I do not hide or\navoid any thing. As regards the business at Cisteron, the Sieur Delisle\nhas repeatedly assured me that there was nothing against him which could\nreasonably draw him within the pale of justice, and that he had never\ncarried on any calling injurious to the king's service. It was true that,\nsix or seven years ago, he had been to Cisteron to gather herbs necessary\nfor his powder, and that he had lodged at the house of one Pelouse, whom\nhe thought an honest man. Pelouse was accused of clipping Louis-d'ors; and\nas he had lodged with him, he was suspected of being his accomplice. This\nmere suspicion, without any proof whatever, had caused him to be condemned\nfor contumacy; a common case enough with judges, who always proceed with\nmuch rigour against those who are absent. During my own sojourn at Aix, it\nwas well known that a man, named Andr\u00e9 Aluys, had spread about reports\ninjurious to the character of Delisle, because he hoped thereby to avoid\npaying him a sum of forty _Louis_ that he owed him. But permit me, sir, to\ngo further, and to add that, even if there were well-founded suspicions\nagainst Delisle, we should look with some little indulgence on the faults\nof a man who possesses a secret so useful to the state. As regards the two\nsafe-conducts sent him by the king, I think I can answer certainly that it\nwas through no fault of his that he paid so little attention to them. His\nyear, strictly speaking, consists only of the four summer months; and when\nby any means he is prevented from making the proper use of them, he loses\na whole year. Thus the first safe-conduct became useless by the irruption\nof the Duke of Savoy in 1707 and the second had hardly been obtained, at\nthe end of June 1708, when the said Delisle was insulted by a party of\narmed men, pretending to act under the authority of the Count de Grignan,\nto whom he wrote several letters of complaint, without receiving any\nanswer, or promise that his safety would be attended to. What I have now\ntold you, sir, removes the third objection, and is the reason why, at the\npresent time, he cannot go to Paris to the king, in fulfilment of his\npromises made two years ago. Two, or even three, summers have been lost to\nhim, owing to the continual inquietude he has laboured under. He has, in\nconsequence, been unable to work, and has not collected a sufficient\nquantity of his oil and powder, or brought what he has got to the\nnecessary degree of perfection. For this reason also he could not give the\nSieur de Bourget the portion he promised him for your inspection. If the\nother day he changed some lead into gold with a few grains of his powder,\nthey were assuredly all he had; for he told me that such was the fact long\nbefore he knew my nephew was coming. Even if he had preserved this small\nquantity to operate before the king, I am sure that, on second thoughts,\nhe would never have adventured with so little; because the slightest\nobstacles in the metals (their being too hard or too soft, which is only\ndiscovered in operating,) would have caused him to be looked upon as an\nimpostor, if, in case his first powder had proved ineffectual, he had not\nbeen possessed of more to renew the experiment and surmount the\ndifficulty.\n\n\"Permit me, sir, in conclusion, to repeat, that such an artist as this\nshould not be driven to the last extremity, nor forced to seek an asylum\noffered to him in other countries, but which he has despised, as much from\nhis own inclinations as from the advice I have given him. You risk nothing\nin giving him a little time, and in hurrying him you may lose a great\ndeal. The genuineness of his gold can no longer be doubted, after the\ntestimony of so many jewellers of Aix, Lyons, and Paris in its favour. As\nit is not his fault that the previous safe-conducts sent to him have been\nof no service, it will be necessary to send him another; for the success\nof which I will be answerable, if you will confide the matter to me, and\ntrust to my zeal for the service of his majesty, to whom I pray you to\ncommunicate this letter, that I may be spared the just reproaches he might\none day heap upon me if he remained ignorant of the facts I have now\nwritten to you. Assure him, if you please, that, if you send me such a\nsafe-conduct, I will oblige the Sieur Delisle to depose with me such\nprecious pledges of his fidelity as shall enable me to be responsible\nmyself to the king. These are my sentiments, and I submit them to your\nsuperior knowledge; and have the honour to remain, with much respect, &c.\n\n                                        \"+ JOHN BISHOP OF SENES.\n\n\"To M. Desmarets, Minister of State, and Comptroller-General of the\nFinances, at Paris.\"\n\nThat Delisle was no ordinary impostor, but a man of consummate cunning and\naddress, is very evident from this letter. The bishop was fairly taken in\nby his clever legerdemain, and when once his first distrust was conquered,\nappeared as anxious to deceive himself as even Delisle could have wished.\nHis faith was so abundant that he made the case of his _prot\u00e9g\u00e9_ his own,\nand would not suffer the breath of suspicion to be directed against him.\nBoth Louis and his minister appear to have been dazzled by the brilliant\nhopes he had excited, and a third pass, or safe-conduct, was immediately\nsent to the alchymist, with a command from the king that he should\nforthwith present himself at Versailles, and make public trial of his oil\nand powder. But this did not suit the plans of Delisle. In the provinces\nhe was regarded as a man of no small importance; the servile flattery that\nawaited him wherever he went was so grateful to his mind that he could not\nwillingly relinquish it, and run upon certain detection at the court of\nthe monarch. Upon one pretext or another he delayed his journey,\nnotwithstanding the earnest solicitations of his good friend the bishop.\nThe latter had given his word to the minister, and pledged his honour that\nhe would induce Delisle to go, and he began to be alarmed when he found he\ncould not subdue the obstinacy of that individual. For more than two years\nhe continued to remonstrate with him, and was always met by some excuse,\nthat there was not sufficient powder, or that it had not been long enough\nexposed to the rays of the sun. At last his patience was exhausted; and\nfearful that he might suffer in the royal estimation by longer delay, he\nwrote to the king for a _lettre de cachet_, in virtue of which the\nalchymist was seized at the castle of La Palu, in the month of June 1711,\nand carried off to be imprisoned in the Bastille.\n\nThe gendarmes were aware that their prisoner was supposed to be the lucky\npossessor of the philosopher's stone, and on the road they conspired to\nrob and murder him. One of them pretended to be touched with pity for the\nmisfortunes of the philosopher, and offered to give him an opportunity of\nescape whenever he could divert the attention of his companions. Delisle\nwas profuse in his thanks, little dreaming of the snare that was laid for\nhim. His treacherous friend gave notice of the success of the stratagem so\nfar; and it was agreed that Delisle should be allowed to struggle with and\noverthrow one of them while the rest were at some distance. They were then\nto pursue him and shoot him through the heart; and after robbing the\ncorpse of the philosopher's stone, convey it to Paris on a cart, and tell\nM. Desmarets that the prisoner had attempted to escape, and would have\nsucceeded if they had not fired after him and shot him through the body.\nAt a convenient place the scheme was executed. On a given signal from the\nfriendly gendarme, Delisle fled, while another gendarme took aim and shot\nhim through the thigh. Some peasants arriving at the instant, they were\nprevented from killing him as they intended, and he was transported to\nParis, maimed and bleeding. He was thrown into a dungeon in the Bastille,\nand obstinately tore away the bandages which the surgeons applied to his\nwound. He never afterwards rose from his bed.\n\nThe Bishop of Sen\u00e9s visited him in prison, and promised him his liberty if\nhe would transmute a certain quantity of lead into gold before the king.\nThe unhappy man had no longer the means of carrying on the deception; he\nhad no gold, and no double-bottomed crucible or hollow wand to conceal it\nin, even if he had. He would not, however, confess that he was an\nimpostor; but merely said he did not know how to make the powder of\nprojection, but had received a quantity from an Italian philosopher, and\nhad used it all in his various transmutations in Provence. He lingered for\nseven or eight months in the Bastille, and died from the effects of his\nwound, in the forty-first year of his age.\n\n\nALBERT ALUYS.\n\nThis pretender to the philosopher's stone was the son, by a former\nhusband, of the woman Aluys, with whom Delisle became acquainted at the\ncommencement of his career, in the cabaret by the road-side, and whom he\nafterwards married. Delisle performed the part of a father towards him,\nand thought he could shew no stronger proof of his regard, than by giving\nhim the necessary instructions to carry on the deception which had raised\nhimself to such a pitch of greatness. The young Aluys was an apt scholar,\nand soon mastered all the jargon of the alchymists. He discoursed\nlearnedly upon projections, cimentations, sublimations, the elixir of\nlife, and the universal alkahest; and on the death of Delisle gave out\nthat the secret of that great adept had been communicated to him, and to\nhim only. His mother aided in the fraud, with the hope they might both\nfasten themselves, in the true alchymical fashion, upon some rich dupe,\nwho would entertain them magnificently while the operation was in\nprogress. The fate of Delisle was no inducement for them to stop in\nFrance. The Proven\u00e7als, it is true, entertained as high an opinion as ever\nof his skill, and were well inclined to believe the tales of the young\nadept on whom his mantle had fallen; but the dungeons of the Bastille were\nyawning for their prey, and Aluys and his mother decamped with all\nconvenient expedition. They travelled about the Continent for several\nyears, sponging upon credulous rich men, and now and then performing\nsuccessful transmutations by the aid of double-bottomed crucibles and the\nlike. In the year 1726, Aluys, without his mother, who appears to have\ndied in the interval, was at Vienna, where he introduced himself to the\nDuke de Richelieu, at that time ambassador from the court of France. He\ncompletely deceived this nobleman; he turned lead into gold (apparently)\non several occasions, and even made the ambassador himself turn an iron\nnail into a silver one. The duke afterwards boasted to Lenglet du Fresnoy\nof his achievements as an alchymist, and regretted that he had not been\nable to discover the secret of the precious powder by which he performed\nthem.\n\nAluys soon found that, although he might make a dupe of the Duke de\nRichelieu, he could not get any money from him. On the contrary, the duke\nexpected all his pokers and fire-shovels to be made silver, and all his\npewter utensils gold; and thought the honour of his acquaintance was\nreward sufficient for a _roturier_, who could not want wealth since he\npossessed so invaluable a secret. Aluys, seeing that so much was expected\nof him, bade adieu to his excellency, and proceeded to Bohemia accompanied\nby a pupil, and by a young girl who had fallen in love with him in Vienna.\nSome noblemen in Bohemia received him kindly, and entertained him at their\nhouses for months at a time. It was his usual practice to pretend that he\npossessed only a few grains of his powder, with which he would operate in\nany house where he intended to fix his quarters for the season. He would\nmake the proprietor the present of a piece of gold thus transmuted, and\npromise him millions, if he could only be provided with leisure to gather\nhis _lunaria major_ and _minor_ on their mountain-tops, and board,\nlodging, and loose cash for himself, his wife, and his pupil, in the\ninterval.\n\nHe exhausted in this manner the patience of some dozen of people, when,\nthinking that there was less danger for him in France under the young king\nLouis XV. than under his old and morose predecessor, he returned to\nProvence. On his arrival at Aix, he presented himself before M. le Bret,\nthe president of the province, a gentleman who was much attached to the\npursuits of alchymy, and had great hopes of being himself able to find the\nphilosopher's stone. M. le Bret, contrary to his expectation, received him\nvery coolly, in consequence of some rumours that were spread abroad\nrespecting him; and told him to call upon him on the morrow. Aluys did not\nlike the tone of the voice, or the expression of the eye of the learned\npresident, as that functionary looked down upon him. Suspecting that all\nwas not right, he left Aix secretly the same evening, and proceeded to\nMarseilles. But the police were on the watch for him; and he had not been\nthere four-and-twenty hours, before he was arrested on a charge of\ncoining, and thrown into prison.\n\nAs the proofs against him were too convincing to leave him much hope of an\nacquittal, he planned an escape from durance. It so happened that the\ngaoler had a pretty daughter, and Aluys soon discovered that she was\ntender-hearted. He endeavoured to gain her in his favour, and succeeded.\nThe damsel, unaware that he was a married man, conceived and encouraged a\npassion for him, and generously provided him with the means of escape.\nAfter he had been nearly a year in prison he succeeded in getting free,\nleaving the poor girl behind to learn that he was already married, and to\nlament in solitude that she had given her heart to an ungrateful vagabond.\n\nWhen he left Marseilles, he had not a shoe to his foot or a decent garment\nto his back, but was provided with some money and clothes by his wife in a\nneighbouring town. They then found their way to Brussels, and by dint of\nexcessive impudence, brought themselves into notice. He took a house,\nfitted up a splendid laboratory, and gave out that he knew the secret of\ntransmutation. In vain did M. Percel, the brother-in-law of Lenglet du\nFresnoy, who resided in that city, expose his pretensions, and hold him up\nto contempt as an ignorant impostor: the world believed him not. They took\nthe alchymist at his word, and besieged his doors to see and wonder at the\nclever legerdemain by which he turned iron nails into gold and silver. A\nrich _greffier_ paid him a large sum of money that he might be instructed\nin the art, and Aluys gave him several lessons on the most common\nprinciples of chemistry. The greffier studied hard for a twelvemonth, and\nthen discovered that his master was a quack. He demanded his money back\nagain; but Aluys was not inclined to give it him, and the affair was\nbrought before the civil tribunal of the province. In the mean time,\nhowever, the greffier died suddenly; poisoned, according to the popular\nrumour, by his debtor, to avoid repayment. So great an outcry arose in the\ncity, that Aluys, who may have been innocent of the crime, was\nnevertheless afraid to remain and brave it. He withdrew secretly in the\nnight, and retired to Paris. Here all trace of him is lost. He was never\nheard of again; but Lenglet du Fresnoy conjectures that he ended his days\nin some obscure dungeon, into which he was cast for coining or other\nmalpractices.\n\n\nTHE COUNT DE ST. GERMAIN.\n\nThis adventurer was of a higher grade than the last, and played a\ndistinguished part at the court of Louis XV. He pretended to have\ndiscovered the elixir of life, by means of which he could make any one\nlive for centuries; and allowed it to believed that his own age was\nupwards of two thousand years. He entertained many of the opinions of the\nRosicrucians; boasted of his intercourse with sylphs and salamanders; and\nof his power of drawing diamonds from the earth, and pearls from the sea,\nby the force of his incantations. He did not lay claim to the merit of\nhaving discovered the philosopher's stone; but devoted so much of his time\nto the operations of alchymy, that it was very generally believed, that if\nsuch a thing as the philosopher's stone had ever existed, or could be\ncalled into existence, he was the man to succeed in finding it.\n\nIt has never yet been discovered what was his real name, or in what\ncountry he was born. Some believed, from the Jewish cast of his handsome\ncountenance, that he was the \"wandering Jew;\" others asserted that he was\nthe issue of an Arabian princess, and that his father was a salamander;\nwhile others, more reasonable, affirmed him to be the son of a Portuguese\nJew established at Bourdeaux. He first carried on his imposture in\nGermany, where he made considerable sums by selling an elixir to arrest\nthe progress of old age. The Mar\u00e9chal de Belle-Isle purchased a dose of\nit; and was so captivated with the wit, learning, and good manners of the\ncharlatan, and so convinced of the justice of his most preposterous\npretensions, that he induced him to fix his residence in Paris. Under the\nmarshal's patronage, he first appeared in the gay circles of that capital.\nEvery one was delighted with the mysterious stranger; who, at this period\nof his life, appears to have been about seventy years of age, but did not\nlook more than forty-five. His easy assurance imposed upon most people.\nHis reading was extensive, and his memory extraordinarily tenacious of the\nslightest circumstances. His pretension to have lived for so many\ncenturies naturally exposed him to some puzzling questions, as to the\nappearance, life, and conversation of the great men of former days; but he\nwas never at a loss for an answer. Many who questioned him for the purpose\nof scoffing at him, refrained in perplexity, quite bewildered by his\npresence of mind, his ready replies, and his astonishing accuracy on every\npoint mentioned in history. To increase the mystery by which he was\nsurrounded, he permitted no person to know how he lived. He dressed in a\nstyle of the greatest magnificence; sported valuable diamonds in his hat,\non his fingers, and in his shoe-buckles; and sometimes made the most\ncostly presents to the ladies of the court. It was suspected by many that\nhe was a spy, in the pay of the English ministry; but there never was a\ntittle of evidence to support the charge. The king looked upon him with\nmarked favour, was often closeted with him for hours together, and would\nnot suffer any body to speak disparagingly of him. Voltaire constantly\nturned him into ridicule; and, in one of his letters to the King of\nPrussia, mentions him as \"un comte pour rire;\" and states that he\npretended to have dined with the holy fathers at the Council of Trent!\n\nIn the _Memoirs of Madame du Hausset_, chamber-woman to Madame du\nPompadour, there are some amusing anecdotes of this personage. Very soon\nafter his arrival in Paris, he had the _entr\u00e9e_ of her dressing-room; a\nfavour only granted to the most powerful lords at the court of her royal\nlover. Madame was fond of conversing with him; and, in her presence, he\nthought fit to lower his pretensions very considerably; but he often\nallowed her to believe that he had lived two or three hundred years at\nleast. \"One day,\" says Madame du Hausset, \"madame said to him, in my\npresence, 'What was the personal appearance of Francis I.? He was a king I\nshould have liked.' 'He was, indeed, very captivating,' replied St.\nGermain; and he proceeded to describe his face and person, as that of a\nman whom he had accurately observed. 'It is a pity he was too ardent. I\ncould have given him some good advice, which would have saved him from all\nhis misfortunes: but he would not have followed it; for it seems as if a\nfatality attended princes, forcing them to shut their ears to the wisest\ncounsel.' 'Was his court very brilliant?' inquired Madame du Pompadour.\n'Very,' replied the count; 'but those of his grandsons surpassed it. In\nthe time of Mary Stuart and Margaret of Valois, it was a land of\nenchantment--a temple sacred to pleasures of every kind.' Madame said,\nlaughing, 'You seem to have seen all this.' 'I have an excellent memory,'\nsaid he, 'and have read the history of France with great care. I sometimes\namuse myself, not by making, but by letting, it be believed that I lived\nin old times.'\n\n\"'But you do not tell us your age,' said Madame du Pompadour to him on\nanother occasion; 'and yet you pretend you are very old. The Countess de\nGergy, who was, I believe, ambassadress at Vienna some fifty years ago,\nsays she saw you there, exactly the same as you now appear.'\n\n\"'It is true, madame,' replied St. Germain; 'I knew Madame de Gergy many\nyears ago.'\n\n\"'But, according to her account, you must be more than a hundred years\nold?'\n\n\"'That is not impossible,' said he, laughing; 'but it is much more\npossible that the good lady is in her dotage.'\n\n\"'You gave her an elixir, surprising for the effects it produced; for she\nsays, that during a length of time, she only appeared to be eighty-four;\nthe age at which she took it. Why don't you give it to the king?'\n\n\"'Oh, madam,' he exclaimed, 'the physicians would have me broken on the\nwheel, were I to think of drugging his majesty.'\"\n\nWhen the world begins to believe extraordinary things of an individual,\nthere is no telling where its extravagance will stop. People, when once\nthey have taken the start, vie with each other who shall believe most. At\nthis period all Paris resounded with the wonderful adventures of the Count\nde St. Germain; and a company of waggish young men tried the following\nexperiment upon its credulity: A clever mimic, who, on account of the\namusement he afforded, was admitted into good society, was taken by them,\ndressed as the Count de St. Germain, into several houses in the Rue du\nMarais. He imitated the count's peculiarities admirably, and found his\nauditors open-mouthed to believe any absurdity he chose to utter. No\nfiction was too monstrous for their all-devouring credulity. He spoke of\nthe Saviour of the world in terms of the greatest familiarity; said he had\nsupped with him at the marriage in Canaan of Galilee, where the water was\nmiraculously turned into wine. In fact, he said he was an intimate friend\nof his, and had often warned him to be less romantic and imprudent, or he\nwould finish his career miserably. This infamous blasphemy, strange to\nsay, found believers; and ere three days had elapsed, it was currently\nreported that St. Germain was born soon after the deluge, and that he\nwould never die!\n\nSt. Germain himself was too much a man of the world to assert any thing so\nmonstrous; but he took no pains to contradict the story. In all his\nconversations with persons of rank and education, he advanced his claims\nmodestly, and as if by mere inadvertency, and seldom pretended to a\nlongevity beyond three hundred years, except when he found he was in\ncompany with persons who would believe any thing. He often spoke of Henry\nVIII. as if he had known him intimately, and of the Emperor Charles V. as\nif that monarch had delighted in his society. He would describe\nconversations which took place with such an apparent truthfulness, and be\nso exceedingly minute and particular as to the dress and appearance of the\nindividuals, and even the weather at the time and the furniture of the\nroom, that three persons out of four were generally inclined to credit\nhim. He had constant applications from rich old women for an elixir to\nmake them young again, and it would appear gained large sums in this\nmanner. To those whom he was pleased to call his friends he said his mode\nof living and plan of diet were far superior to any elixir, and that any\nbody might attain a patriarchal age by refraining from drinking at meals,\nand very sparingly at any other time. The Baron de Gleichen followed this\nsystem, and took great quantities of senna leaves, expecting to live for\ntwo hundred years. He died, however, at seventy-three. The Duchess de\nChoiseul was desirous of following the same system, but the duke her\nhusband in much wrath forbade her to follow any system prescribed by a man\nwho had so equivocal a reputation as M. de St. Germain.\n\nMadame du Hausset says she saw St. Germain and conversed with him several\ntimes. He appeared to her to be about fifty years of age, was of the\nmiddle size, and had fine expressive features. His dress was always\nsimple, but displayed much taste. He usually wore diamond rings of great\nvalue, and his watch and snuff-box were ornamented with a profusion of\nprecious stones. One day, at Madame du Pompadour's apartments, where the\nprincipal courtiers were assembled, St. Germain made his appearance in\ndiamond knee and shoe buckles of so fine a water, that madame said she did\nnot think the king had any equal to them. He was entreated to pass into\nthe antechamber and undo them, which he did, and brought them to madame\nfor closer inspection. M. de Gontant, who was present, said their value\ncould not be less than two hundred thousand livres, or upwards of eight\nthousand pounds sterling. The Baron de Gleichen, in his _Memoirs_, relates\nthat the count one day shewed him so many diamonds, that he thought he saw\nbefore him all the treasures of Aladdin's lamp; and adds, that he had had\ngreat experience in precious stones, and was convinced that all those\npossessed by the count were genuine. On another occasion St. Germain\nshewed Madame du Pompadour a small box, containing topazes, emeralds, and\ndiamonds worth half a million of livres. He affected to despise all this\nwealth, to make the world more easily believe that he could, like the\nRosicrucians, draw precious stones out of the earth by the magic of his\nsong. He gave away a great number of these jewels to the ladies of the\ncourt; and Madame du Pompadour was so charmed with his generosity, that\nshe gave him a richly enamelled snuff-box as a token of her regard, on the\nlid of which was beautifully painted a portrait of Socrates, or some other\nGreek sage, to whom she compared him. He was not only lavish to the\nmistresses, but to the maids. Madame du Hausset says: \"The count came to\nsee Madame du Pompadour, who was very ill, and lay on the sofa. He shewed\nher diamonds enough to furnish a king's treasury. Madame sent for me to\nsee all those beautiful things. I looked at them with an air of the utmost\nastonishment; but I made signs to her that I thought them all false. The\ncount felt for something in a pocket-book about twice as large as a\nspectacle-case, and at length drew out two or three little paper packets,\nwhich he unfolded, and exhibited a superb ruby. He threw on the table,\nwith a contemptuous air, a little cross of green and white stones. I\nlooked at it, and said it was not to be despised. I then put it on, and\nadmired it greatly. The count begged me to accept it; I refused. He urged\nme to take it. At length he pressed so warmly, that madame, seeing it\ncould not be worth more than a thousand livres, made me a sign to accept\nit. I took the cross, much pleased with the count's politeness.\"\n\nHow the adventurer obtained his wealth remains a secret. He could not have\nmade it all by the sale of his _elixir vit\u00e6_ in Germany, though no doubt\nsome portion of it was derived from that source. Voltaire positively says\nhe was in the pay of foreign governments; and in his letter to the King of\nPrussia, dated the 5th of April 1758, says that he was initiated in all\nthe secrets of Choiseul, Kaunitz, and Pitt. Of what use he could be to any\nof those ministers, and to Choiseul especially, is a mystery of mysteries.\n\nThere appears no doubt that he possessed the secret of removing spots from\ndiamonds; and in all probability he gained considerable sums by buying at\ninferior prices such as had flaws in them, and afterwards disposing of\nthem at a profit of cent per cent. Madame du Hausset relates the following\nanecdote on this particular: \"The king,\" says she, \"ordered a\nmiddling-sized diamond, which had a flaw in it, to be brought to him.\nAfter having it weighed, his majesty said to the count, 'The value of this\ndiamond as it is, and with the flaw in it, is six thousand livres; without\nthe flaw, it would be worth at least ten thousand. Will you undertake to\nmake me a gainer of four thousand livres?' St. Germain examined it very\nattentively, and said, 'It is possible; it may be done. I will bring it\nyou again in a month.' At the time appointed the count brought back the\ndiamond without a spot, and gave it to the king. It was wrapped in a cloth\nof amianthos, which he took off. The king had it weighed immediately, and\nfound it very little diminished. His majesty then sent it to his jeweller\nby M. de Gontant, without telling him of any thing that had passed. The\njeweller gave nine thousand six hundred livres for it. The king, however,\nsent for the diamond back again, and said he would keep it as a curiosity.\nHe could not overcome his surprise, and said M. de St. Germain must be\nworth millions, especially if he possessed the secret of making large\ndiamonds out of small ones. The count neither said that he could or could\nnot, but positively asserted that he knew how to make pearls grow, and\ngive them the finest water. The king paid him great attention, and so did\nMadame du Pompadour. M. du Quesnoy once said that St. Germain was a quack,\nbut the king reprimanded him. In fact, his majesty appears infatuated by\nhim, and sometimes talks of him as if his descent were illustrious.\"\n\nSt. Germain had a most amusing vagabond for a servant, to whom he would\noften appeal for corroboration, when relating some wonderful event that\nhappened centuries before. The fellow, who was not without ability,\ngenerally corroborated him in a most satisfactory manner. Upon one\noccasion, his master was telling a party of ladies and gentlemen, at\ndinner, some conversation he had had in Palestine with King Richard I. of\nEngland, whom he described as a very particular friend of his. Signs of\nastonishment and incredulity were visible on the faces of the company;\nupon which St. Germain very coolly turned to his servant, who stood behind\nhis chair, and asked him if he had not spoken truth? \"I really cannot\nsay,\" replied the man, without moving a muscle; \"you forget, sir, I have\nonly been five hundred years in your service!\" \"Ah! true,\" said his\nmaster; \"I remember now; it was a little before your time!\"\n\nOccasionally, when with men whom he could not so easily dupe, he gave\nutterance to the contempt with which he could scarcely avoid regarding\nsuch gaping credulity. \"These fools of Parisians,\" said he to the Baron de\nGleichen, \"believe me to be more than five hundred years old; and, since\nthey will have it so, I confirm them in their idea. Not but that I really\nam much older than I appear.\"\n\nMany other stories are related of this strange impostor; but enough have\nbeen quoted to shew his character and pretensions. It appears that he\nendeavoured to find the philosopher's stone; but never boasted of\npossessing it. The Prince of Hesse Cassel, whom he had known years before,\nin Germany, wrote urgent letters to him, entreating him to quit Paris, and\nreside with him. St. Germain at last consented. Nothing further is known\nof his career. There were no gossipping memoir-writers at the court of\nHesse Cassel to chronicle his sayings and doings. He died at Sleswig,\nunder the roof of his friend the prince, in the year 1784.\n\n\nCAGLIOSTRO.\n\nThis famous charlatan, the friend and successor of St. Germain, ran a\ncareer still more extraordinary. He was the arch-quack of his age, the\nlast of the great pretenders to the philosopher's stone and the water of\nlife, and during his brief season of prosperity, one of the most\nconspicuous characters of Europe.\n\nHis real name was Joseph Balsamo. He was born at Palermo, about the year\n1743, of humble parentage. He had the misfortune to lose his father during\nhis infancy, and his education was left in consequence to some relatives\nof his mother, the latter being too poor to afford him any instruction\nbeyond mere reading and writing. He was sent in his fifteenth year to a\nmonastery, to be taught the elements of chemistry and physic; but his\ntemper was so impetuous, his indolence so invincible, and his vicious\nhabits so deeply rooted, that he made no progress. After remaining some\nyears, he left it with the character of an uninformed and dissipated young\nman, with good natural talents but a bad disposition. When he became of\nage, he abandoned himself to a life of riot and debauchery, and entered\nhimself, in fact, into that celebrated fraternity, known in France and\nItaly as the \"Knights of Industry,\" and in England as the \"Swell Mob.\" He\nwas far from being an idle or unwilling member of the corps. The first way\nin which he distinguished himself was by forging orders of admission to\nthe theatres. He afterwards robbed his uncle, and counterfeited a will.\nFor acts like these, he paid frequent compulsory visits to the prisons of\nPalermo. Somehow or other he acquired the character of a sorcerer--of a\nman who had failed in discovering the secrets of alchymy, and had sold his\nsoul to the devil for the gold which he was not able to make by means of\ntransmutation. He took no pains to disabuse the popular mind on this\nparticular, but rather encouraged the belief than otherwise. He at last\nmade use of it to cheat a silversmith named Marano, of about sixty ounces\nof gold, and was in consequence obliged to leave Palermo. He persuaded\nthis man that he could shew him a treasure hidden in a cave, for which\nservice he was to receive the sixty ounces of gold, while the silversmith\nwas to have all the treasure for the mere trouble of digging it up. They\nwent together at midnight to an excavation in the vicinity of Palermo,\nwhere Balsamo drew a magic circle, and invoked the devil to shew his\ntreasures. Suddenly there appeared half a dozen fellows, the accomplices\nof the swindler, dressed to represent devils, with horns on their heads,\nclaws to their fingers, and vomiting apparently red and blue flame. They\nwere armed with pitchforks, with which they belaboured poor Marano till he\nwas almost dead, and robbed him of his sixty ounces of gold and all the\nvaluables he carried about his person. They then made off, accompanied by\nBalsamo, leaving the unlucky silversmith to recover or die at his leisure.\nNature chose the former course; and soon after daylight he was restored to\nhis senses, smarting in body from his blows and in spirit for the\ndeception of which he had been the victim. His first impulse was to\ndenounce Balsamo to the magistrates of the town; but on further reflection\nhe was afraid of the ridicule that a full exposure of all the\ncircumstances would draw upon him; he therefore took the truly Italian\nresolution of being revenged on Balsamo, by murdering him at the first\nconvenient opportunity. Having given utterance to this threat in the\nhearing of a friend of Balsamo, it was reported to the latter, who\nimmediately packed up his valuables and quitted Europe.\n\nHe chose Medina, in Arabia, for his future dwelling-place, and there\nbecame acquainted with a Greek named Altotas, a man exceedingly well\nversed in all the languages of the East, and an indefatigable student of\nalchymy. He possessed an invaluable collection of Arabian manuscripts on\nhis favourite science, and studied them with such unremitting industry\nthat he found he had not sufficient time to attend to his crucibles and\nfurnaces without neglecting his books. He was looking about for an\nassistant when Balsamo opportunely presented himself, and made so\nfavourable an impression that he was at once engaged in that capacity. But\nthe relation of master and servant did not long subsist between them;\nBalsamo was too ambitious and too clever to play a secondary part, and\nwithin fifteen days of their first acquaintance they were bound together\nas friends and partners. Altotas, in the course of a long life devoted to\nalchymy, had stumbled upon some valuable discoveries in chemistry, one of\nwhich was an ingredient for improving the manufacture of flax, and\nimparting to goods of that material a gloss and softness almost equal to\nsilk. Balsamo gave him the good advice to leave the philosopher's stone\nfor the present undiscovered, and make gold out of their flax. The advice\nwas taken, and they proceeded together to Alexandria to trade, with a\nlarge stock of that article. They stayed forty days in Alexandria, and\ngained a considerable sum by their venture. They afterwards visited other\ncities in Egypt, and were equally successful. They also visited Turkey,\nwhere they sold drugs and amulets. On their return to Europe, they were\ndriven by stress of weather into Malta, and were hospitably received by\nPinto, the Grand Master of the Knights, and a famous alchymist. They\nworked in his laboratory for some months, and tried hard to change a\npewter platter into a silver one. Balsamo, having less faith than his\ncompanions, was sooner wearied; and obtaining from his host many letters\nof introduction to Rome and Naples, he left him and Altotas to find the\nphilosopher's stone and transmute the pewter platter without him.\n\nHe had long since dropped the name of Balsamo on account of the many ugly\nassociations that clung to it; and during his travels had assumed at least\nhalf a score others, with titles annexed to them. He called himself\nsometimes the Chevalier de Fischio, the Marquis de Melissa, the Baron de\nBelmonte, de Pelligrini, d'Anna, de Fenix, de Harat, but most commonly the\nCount de Cagliostro. Under the latter title he entered Rome, and never\nafterwards changed it. In this city he gave himself out as the restorer of\nthe Rosicrucian philosophy; said he could transmute all metals into gold;\nthat he could render himself invisible, cure all diseases, and administer\nan elixir against old age and decay. His letters from the Grand Master\nPinto procured him an introduction into the best families. He made money\nrapidly by the sale of his _elixir vit\u00e6_; and, like other quacks,\nperformed many remarkable cures by inspiring his patients with the most\ncomplete faith and reliance upon his powers; an advantage which the most\nimpudent charlatans often possess over the regular practitioner.\n\nWhile thus in a fair way of making his fortune he became acquainted with\nthe beautiful Lorenza Feliciana, a young lady of noble birth, but without\nfortune. Cagliostro soon discovered that she possessed accomplishments\nthat were invaluable. Besides her ravishing beauty, she had the readiest\nwit, the most engaging manners, the most fertile imagination, and the\nleast principle of any of the maidens of Rome. She was just the wife for\nCagliostro, who proposed himself to her, and was accepted. After their\nmarriage, he instructed his fair Lorenza in all the secrets of his\ncalling--taught her pretty lips to invoke angels, and genii, sylphs,\nsalamanders, and undines, and, when need required, devils and evil\nspirits. Lorenza was an apt scholar; she soon learned all the jargon of\nthe alchymists and all the spells of the enchanters; and thus accomplished\nthe hopeful pair set out on their travels, to levy contributions on the\nsuperstitious and the credulous.\n\nThey first went to Sleswig on a visit to the Count de St. Germain, their\ngreat predecessor in the art of making dupes, and were received by him in\nthe most magnificent manner. They no doubt fortified their minds for the\ncareer they had chosen by the sage discourse of that worshipful gentleman;\nfor immediately after they left him, they began their operations. They\ntravelled for three or four years in Russia, Poland, and Germany,\ntransmuting metals, telling fortunes, raising spirits, and selling the\n_elixir vit\u00e6_ wherever they went; but there is no record of their doings\nfrom whence to draw a more particular detail. It was not until they made\ntheir appearance in England in 1776, that the names of the Count and\nCountess di Cagliostro began to acquire a European reputation. They\narrived in London in the July of that year, possessed of property, in\nplate, jewels, and specie, to the amount of about three thousand pounds.\nThey hired apartments in Whitcombe Street, and lived for some months\nquietly. In the same house there lodged a Portuguese woman, named Blavary,\nwho, being in necessitous circumstances, was engaged by the count as\ninterpreter. She was constantly admitted into his laboratory, where he\nspent much of his time in search of the philosopher's stone. She spread\nabroad the fame of her entertainer in return for his hospitality, and\nlaboured hard to impress every body with as full a belief in his\nextraordinary powers as she felt herself; but as a female interpreter of\nthe rank and appearance of Madame Blavary did not exactly correspond with\nthe count's notions either of dignity or decorum, he hired a person named\nVitellini, a teacher of languages, to act in that capacity. Vitellini was\na desperate gambler, a man who had tried almost every resource to repair\nhis ruined fortunes, including among the rest the search for the\nphilosopher's stone. Immediately that he saw the count's operations, he\nwas convinced that the great secret was his, and that the golden gates of\nthe palace of fortune were open to let him in. With still more enthusiasm\nthan Madame Blavary, he held forth to his acquaintance, and in all public\nplaces, that the count was an extraordinary man, a true adept, whose\nfortune was immense, and who could transmute into pure and solid gold as\nmuch lead, iron, and copper as he pleased. The consequence was, that the\nhouse of Cagliostro was besieged by crowds of the idle, the credulous, and\nthe avaricious, all eager to obtain a sight of the \"philosopher,\" or to\nshare in the boundless wealth which he could call into existence.\n\nUnfortunately for Cagliostro, he had fallen into evil hands. Instead of\nduping the people of England, as he might have done, he became himself the\nvictim of a gang of swindlers, who, with the fullest reliance on his\noccult powers, only sought to make money of him. Vitellini introduced to\nhim a ruined gambler like himself, named Scot, whom he represented as a\nScottish nobleman, attracted to London solely by his desire to see and\nconverse with the extraordinary man whose fame had spread to the distant\nmountains of the north. Cagliostro received him with great kindness and\ncordiality; and \"Lord\" Scot thereupon introduced a woman named Fry as Lady\nScot, who was to act as chaperone to the Countess di Cagliostro, and make\nher acquainted with all the noble families of Britain. Thus things went\nswimmingly. \"His lordship,\" whose effects had not arrived from Scotland,\nand who had no banker in London, borrowed two hundred pounds of the count.\nThey were lent without scruple, so flattered was Cagliostro by the\nattentions they paid him, the respect, nay veneration they pretended to\nfeel for him, and the complete deference with which they listened to every\nword that fell from his lips.\n\nSuperstitious like all desperate gamesters, Scot had often tried magical\nand cabalistic numbers, in the hope of discovering lucky numbers in the\nlottery or at the roulette-tables. He had in his possession a cabalistic\nmanuscript, containing various arithmetical combinations of the kind,\nwhich he submitted to Cagliostro, with an urgent request that he would\nselect a number. Cagliostro took the manuscript and studied it, but, as he\nhimself informs us, with no confidence in its truth. He, however,\npredicted twenty as the successful number for the 6th of November\nfollowing. Scot ventured a small sum upon this number out of the two\nhundred pounds he had borrowed, and won. Cagliostro, incited by this\nsuccess, prognosticated number twenty-five for the next drawing. Scot\ntried again, and won a hundred guineas. The numbers fifty-five and\nfifty-seven were announced with equal success for the 18th of the same\nmonth, to the no small astonishment and delight of Cagliostro, who\nthereupon resolved to try fortune for himself, and not for others. To all\nthe entreaties of Scot and his lady that he would predict more numbers for\nthem, he turned a deaf ear, even while he still thought him a lord and a\nman of honour; but when he discovered that he was a mere swindler, and the\npretended Lady Scot an artful woman of the town, he closed his door upon\nthem and on all their gang.\n\nHaving complete faith in the supernatural powers of the count, they were\nin the deepest distress at having lost his countenance. They tried by\nevery means their ingenuity could suggest to propitiate him again. They\nimplored, they threatened, and endeavoured to bribe him; but all was vain.\nCagliostro would neither see nor correspond with them. In the mean time\nthey lived extravagantly, and in the hope of future, exhausted all their\npresent gains. They were reduced to the last extremity, when Miss Fry\nobtained access to the countess, and received a guinea from her on the\nrepresentation that she was starving. Miss Fry, not contented with this,\nbegged her to intercede with her husband, that for the last time he would\npoint out a lucky number in the lottery. The countess promised to exert\nher influence; and Cagliostro, thus entreated, named the number eight, at\nthe same time reiterating his determination to have no more to do with any\nof them. By an extraordinary hazard, which filled Cagliostro with surprise\nand pleasure, number eight was the greatest prize in the lottery. Miss Fry\nand her associates cleared fifteen hundred guineas by the adventure, and\nbecame more than ever convinced of the occult powers of Cagliostro, and\nstrengthened in their determination never to quit him until they had made\ntheir fortunes. Out of the proceeds Miss Fry bought a handsome necklace at\na pawnbroker's for ninety guineas. She then ordered a richly-chased gold\nbox, having two compartments, to be made at a jeweller's, and putting the\nnecklace in the one, filled the other with a fine aromatic snuff. She then\nsought another interview with Madame di Cagliostro, and urged her to\naccept the box as a small token of her esteem and gratitude, without\nmentioning the valuable necklace that was concealed in it. Madame di\nCagliostro accepted the present, and was from that hour exposed to the\nmost incessant persecution from all the confederates--Blavary, Vitellini,\nand the pretended Lord and Lady Scot. They flattered themselves they had\nregained their lost footing in the house, and came day after day to know\nlucky numbers in the lottery, sometimes forcing themselves up the stairs,\nand into the count's laboratory, in spite of the efforts of the servants\nto prevent them. Cagliostro, exasperated at their pertinacity, threatened\nto call in the assistance of the magistrates, and taking Miss Fry by the\nshoulders, pushed her into the street.\n\nFrom that time may be dated the misfortunes of Cagliostro. Miss Fry, at\nthe instigation of her paramour, determined on vengeance. Her first act\nwas to swear a debt of two hundred pounds against Cagliostro, and to cause\nhim to be arrested for that sum. While he was in custody in a\nsponging-house, Scot, accompanied by a low attorney, broke into his\nlaboratory, and carried off a small box, containing, as they believed, the\npowder of transmutation, and a number of cabalistic manuscripts and\ntreatises upon alchymy. They also brought an action against him for the\nrecovery of the necklace; and Miss Fry accused both him and his countess\nof sorcery and witchcraft, and of foretelling numbers in the lottery by\nthe aid of the Devil. This latter charge was actually heard before Mr.\nJustice Miller. The action of trover for the necklace was tried before the\nLord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who recommended the parties to\nsubmit to arbitration. In the mean time Cagliostro remained in prison for\nseveral weeks, till having procured bail, he was liberated. He was soon\nafter waited upon by an attorney named Reynolds, also deep in the plot,\nwho offered to compromise all the actions upon certain conditions. Scot,\nwho had accompanied him, concealed himself behind the door, and suddenly\nrushing out, presented a pistol at the heart of Cagliostro, swearing he\nwould shoot him instantly, if he would not tell him truly the art of\npredicting lucky numbers and of transmuting metals. Reynolds pretending to\nbe very angry, disarmed his accomplice, and entreated the count to satisfy\nthem by fair means, and disclose his secrets, promising that if he would\ndo so, they would discharge all the actions, and offer him no further\nmolestation. Cagliostro replied, that threats and entreaties were alike\nuseless; that he knew no secrets; and that the powder of transmutation of\nwhich they had robbed him, was of no value to any body but himself. He\noffered, however, if they would discharge the actions, and return the\npowder and the manuscripts, to forgive them all the money they had\nswindled him out of. These conditions were refused; and Scot and Reynolds\ndeparted, swearing vengeance against him.\n\nCagliostro appears to have been quite ignorant of the forms of law in\nEngland, and to have been without a friend to advise him as to the best\ncourse he should pursue. While he was conversing with his countess on the\ndifficulties that beset them, one of his bail called, and invited him to\nride in a hackney coach to the house of a person who would see him\nrighted. Cagliostro consented, and was driven to the King's Bench prison,\nwhere his friend left him. He did not discover for several hours that he\nwas a prisoner, or, in fact, understand the process of being surrendered\nby one's bail.\n\nHe regained his liberty in a few weeks; and the arbitrators between him\nand Miss Fry made their award against him. He was ordered to pay the two\nhundred pounds she had sworn against him, and to restore the necklace and\ngold box which had been presented to the countess. Cagliostro was so\ndisgusted, that he determined to quit England. His pretensions, besides,\nhad been unmercifully exposed by a Frenchman, named Morande, the editor of\nthe _Courrier de l'Europe_, published in London. To add to his distress,\nhe was recognised in Westminster Hall as Joseph Balsamo, the swindler of\nPalermo. Such a complication of disgrace was not to be borne. He and his\ncountess packed up their small effects, and left England with no more than\nfifty pounds, out of the three thousand they had brought with them.\n\nThey first proceeded to Brussels, where fortune was more auspicious. They\nsold considerable quantities of the elixir of life, performed many cures,\nand recruited their finances. They then took their course through Germany\nto Russia, and always with the same success. Gold flowed into their\ncoffers faster than they could count it. They quite forgot all the woes\nthey had endured in England, and learned to be more circumspect in the\nchoice of their acquaintance.\n\nIn the year 1780, they made their appearance in Strasbourg. Their fame had\nreached that city before them. They took a magnificent hotel, and invited\nall the principal persons of the place to their table. Their wealth\nappeared to be boundless, and their hospitality equal to it. Both the\ncount and countess acted as physicians, and gave money, advice, and\nmedicine to all the necessitous and suffering of the town. Many of the\ncures they performed astonished those regular practitioners who did not\nmake sufficient allowance for the wonderful influence of imagination in\ncertain cases. The countess, who at this time was not more than\nfive-and-twenty, and all radiant with grace, beauty, and cheerfulness,\nspoke openly of her eldest son as a fine young man of eight-and-twenty,\nwho had been for some years a captain in the Dutch service. The trick\nsucceeded to admiration. All the ugly old women in Strasbourg, and for\nmiles around, thronged the saloon of the countess to purchase the liquid\nwhich was to make them as blooming as their daughters; the young women\ncame in equal abundance, that they might preserve their charms, and when\ntwice as old as Ninon de l'Enclos, be more captivating than she; while men\nwere not wanting who were fools enough to imagine that they might keep off\nthe inevitable stroke of the grim foe by a few drops of the same\nincomparable elixir. The countess, sooth to say, looked like an\nincarnation of immortal loveliness, a very goddess of youth and beauty;\nand it is possible that the crowds of young men and old, who at all\nconvenient seasons haunted the perfumed chambers of this enchantress, were\nattracted less by their belief in her occult powers than from admiration\nof her languishing bright eyes and sparkling conversation. But amid all\nthe incense that was offered at her shrine, Madame di Cagliostro was ever\nfaithful to her spouse. She encouraged hopes, it is true, but she never\nrealised them; she excited admiration, yet kept it within bounds; and made\nmen her slaves, without ever granting a favour of which the vainest might\nboast.\n\nIn this city they made the acquaintance of many eminent persons, and,\namong others, of the Cardinal Prince de Rohan, who was destined afterwards\nto exercise so untoward an influence over their fate. The cardinal, who\nseems to have had great faith in him as a philosopher, persuaded him to\nvisit Paris in his company, which he did, but remained only thirteen days.\nHe preferred the society of Strasbourg, and returned thither with the\nintention of fixing his residence far from the capital. But he soon found\nthat the first excitement of his arrival had passed away. People began to\nreason with themselves, and to be ashamed of their own admiration. The\npopulace, among whom he had lavished his charity with a bountiful hand,\naccused him of being the Antichrist, the Wandering Jew, the man of\nfourteen hundred years of age, a demon in human shape, sent to lure the\nignorant to their destruction; while the more opulent and better informed\ncalled him a spy in the pay of foreign governments, an agent of the\npolice, a swindler, and a man of evil life. The outcry grew at last so\nstrong, that he deemed it prudent to try his fortune elsewhere.\n\nHe went first to Naples, but that city was too near Palermo; he dreaded\nrecognition from some of his early friends, and, after a short stay,\nreturned to France. He chose Bourdeaux as his next dwelling-place, and\ncreated as great a sensation there as he had done in Strasbourg. He\nannounced himself as the founder of a new school of medicine and\nphilosophy, boasted of his ability to cure all diseases, and invited the\npoor and suffering to visit him, and he would relieve the distress of the\none class, and cure the ailings of the other. All day long the street\nopposite his magnificent hotel was crowded by the populace; the halt and\nthe blind, women with sick babes in their arms, and persons suffering\nunder every species of human infirmity, flocked to this wonderful doctor.\nThe relief he afforded in money more than counterbalanced the failure of\nhis nostrums; and the affluence of people from all the surrounding country\nbecame so great, that the _jurats_ of the city granted him a military\nguard, to be stationed day and night before his door, to keep order. The\nanticipations of Cagliostro were realised. The rich were struck with\nadmiration of his charity and benevolence, and impressed with a full\nconviction of his marvellous powers. The sale of the elixir went on\nadmirably. His saloons were thronged with wealthy dupes who came to\npurchase immortality. Beauty, that would endure for centuries, was the\nattraction for the fair sex; health and strength for the same period were\nthe baits held out to the other. His charming countess, in the meantime,\nbrought grist to the mill by telling fortunes and casting nativities, or\ngranting attendant sylphs to any ladies who would pay sufficiently for\ntheir services. What was still better, as tending to keep up the credit of\nher husband, she gave the most magnificent parties in Bourdeaux.\n\nBut as at Strasbourg, the popular delusion lasted for a few months only,\nand burned itself out; Cagliostro forgot, in the intoxication of success,\nthat there was a limit to quackery which once passed inspired distrust.\nWhen he pretended to call spirits from the tomb, people became\nincredulous. He was accused of being an enemy to religion, of denying\nChrist, and of being the Wandering Jew. He despised these rumours as long\nas they were confined to a few; but when they spread over the town, when\nhe received no more fees, when his parties were abandoned, and his\nacquaintance turned away when they met him in the street, he thought it\nhigh time to shift his quarters.\n\n[Illustration: HOUSE OF CAGLIOSTRO, PARIS.]\n\nHe was by this time wearied of the provinces, and turned his thoughts to\nthe capital. On his arrival he announced himself as the restorer of\nEgyptian Freemasonry, and the founder of a new philosophy. He immediately\nmade his way into the best society by means of his friend the Cardinal de\nRohan. His success as a magician was quite extraordinary: the most\nconsiderable persons of the time visited him. He boasted of being able,\nlike the Rosicrucians, to converse with the elementary spirits; to invoke\nthe mighty dead from the grave, to transmute metals, and to discover\noccult things by means of the special protection of God towards him. Like\nDr. Dee, he summoned the angels to reveal the future; and they appeared\nand conversed with him in crystals and under glass bells.[48] \"There was\nhardly,\" says the _Biographie des Contemporains_, \"a fine lady in Paris\nwho would not sup with the shade of Lucretius in the apartments of\nCagliostro; a military officer who would not discuss the art of war with\nC\u00e6sar, Hannibal, or Alexander; or an advocate or counsellor who would not\nargue legal points with the ghost of Cicero.\" These interviews with the\ndeparted were very expensive; for, as Cagliostro said, the dead would not\nrise for nothing. The countess, as usual, exercised all her ingenuity to\nsupport her husband's credit. She was a great favourite with her own sex,\nto many a delighted and wondering auditory of whom she detailed the\nmarvellous powers of Cagliostro. She said he could render himself\ninvisible, traverse the world with the rapidity of thought, and be in\nseveral places at the same time.[49]\n\n    [48] See the Abb\u00e9 Fiard, and _Anecdotes of the Reign of Louis\n         XVI_. p. 400.\n\n    [49] _Biographie des Contemporains_, article \"Cagliostro.\" See\n         also _Histoire de la Magie en France_, par M. Jules Garinet,\n         p. 284.\n\nHe had not been long at Paris before he became involved in the celebrated\naffair of the queen's necklace. His friend the Cardinal de Rohan,\nenamoured of the charms of Marie Antoinette, was in sore distress at her\ncoldness, and the displeasure she had so often manifested against him.\nThere was at that time a lady named La Motte in the service of the queen,\nof whom the cardinal was foolish enough to make a confidant. Madame de la\nMotte, in return, endeavoured to make a tool of the cardinal, and\nsucceeded but too well in her projects. In her capacity of chamber-woman,\nor lady of honour to the queen, she was present at an interview between\nher majesty and M. Boehmer, a wealthy jeweller of Paris, when the latter\noffered for sale a magnificent diamond necklace, valued at 1,600,000\nfrancs, or about 64,000l. sterling. The queen admired it greatly, but\ndismissed the jeweller, with the expression of her regret that she was too\npoor to purchase it. Madame de la Motte formed a plan to get this costly\nornament into her own possession, and determined to make the Cardinal de\nRohan the instrument by which to effect it. She therefore sought an\ninterview with him, and pretending to sympathise in his grief for the\nqueen's displeasure, told him she knew a way by which he might be restored\nto favour. She then mentioned the necklace, and the sorrow of the queen\nthat she could not afford to buy it. The cardinal, who was as wealthy as\nhe was foolish, immediately offered to purchase the necklace, and make a\npresent of it to the queen. Madame de la Motte told him by no means to do\nso, as he would thereby offend her majesty. His plan would be to induce\nthe jeweller to give her majesty credit, and accept her promissory note\nfor the amount at a certain date, to be hereafter agreed upon. The\ncardinal readily agreed to the proposal, and instructed the jeweller to\ndraw up an agreement, and he would procure the queen's signature. He\nplaced this in the hands of Madame de la Motte, who returned it shortly\nafterwards, with the words, \"Bon, bon--approuv\u00e9--Marie Antoinette,\"\nwritten in the margin. She told him at the same time that the queen was\nhighly pleased with his conduct in the matter, and would appoint a meeting\nwith him in the gardens of Versailles, when she would present him with a\nflower, as a token of her regard. The cardinal shewed the forged document\nto the jeweller, obtained the necklace, and delivered it into the hands of\nMadame de la Motte. So far all was well. Her next object was to satisfy\nthe cardinal, who awaited impatiently the promised interview with his\nroyal mistress. There was at that time in Paris a young woman named\nD'Oliva, noted for her resemblance to the queen; and Madame de la Motte,\non the promise of a handsome reward, found no difficulty in persuading her\nto personate Marie Antoinette, and meet the Cardinal de Rohan at the\nevening twilight in the gardens of Versailles. The meeting took place\naccordingly. The cardinal was deceived by the uncertain light, the great\nresemblance of the counterfeit, and his own hopes; and having received the\nflower from Mademoiselle D'Oliva, went home with a lighter heart than had\nbeat in his bosom for many a day.[50]\n\n    [50] The enemies of the unfortunate Queen of France, when the\n         progress of the Revolution embittered their animosity against\n         her, maintained that she was really a party in this\n         transaction; that she, and not Mademoiselle D'Oliva, met the\n         cardinal and rewarded him with the flower; and that the story\n         above related was merely concocted between her La Motte, and\n         others to cheat the jeweller of his 1,600,000 francs.\n\nIn the course of time the forgery of the queen's signature was discovered.\nBoehmer the jeweller immediately named the Cardinal de Rohan and Madame de\nla Motte as the persons with whom he had negotiated, and they were both\narrested and thrown into the Bastille. La Motte was subjected to a\nrigorous examination, and the disclosures she made implicating Cagliostro,\nhe was seized, along with his wife, and also sent to the Bastille. A story\ninvolving so much scandal necessarily excited great curiosity. Nothing was\nto be heard of in Paris but the queen's necklace, with surmises of the\nguilt or innocence of the several parties implicated. The husband of\nMadame de la Motte escaped to England, and in the opinion of many took the\nnecklace with him, and there disposed of it to different jewellers in\nsmall quantities at a time. But Madame de la Motte insisted that she had\nentrusted it to Cagliostro, who had seized and taken it to pieces, to\n\"swell the treasures of his immense unequalled fortune.\" She spoke of him\nas \"an empiric, a mean alchymist, a dreamer on the philosopher's stone, a\nfalse prophet, a profaner of the true worship, the self-dubbed Count\nCagliostro!\" She further said that he originally conceived the project of\nruining the Cardinal de Rohan; that he persuaded her, by the exercise of\nsome magic influence over her mind, to aid and abet the scheme; and that\nhe was a robber, a swindler, and a sorcerer!\n\nAfter all the accused parties had remained for upwards of six months in\nthe Bastille, the trial commenced. The depositions of the witnesses having\nbeen heard, Cagliostro, as the principal culprit, was first called upon\nfor his defence. He was listened to with the most breathless attention. He\nput himself into a theatrical attitude, and thus began:--\"I am\noppressed!--I am accused!--I am calumniated! Have I deserved this fate? I\ndescend into my conscience, and I there find the peace that men refuse me!\nI have travelled a great deal--I am known over all Europe, and a great\npart of Asia and Africa. I have every where shewn myself the friend of my\nfellow-creatures. My knowledge, my time, my fortune have ever been\nemployed in the relief of distress. I have studied and practised medicine;\nbut I have never degraded that most noble and most consoling of arts by\nmercenary speculations of any kind. Though always giving, and never\nreceiving, I have preserved my independence. I have even carried my\ndelicacy so far as to refuse the favours of kings. I have given\ngratuitously my remedies and my advice to the rich; the poor have received\nfrom me both remedies and money. I have never contracted any debts, and my\nmanners are pure and uncorrupted.\" After much more self-laudation of the\nsame kind, he went on to complain of the great hardships he had endured in\nbeing separated for so many months from his innocent and loving wife, who,\nas he was given to understand, had been detained in the Bastille, and\nperhaps chained in an unwholesome dungeon. He denied unequivocally that he\nhad the necklace, or that he had ever seen it; and to silence the rumours\nand accusations against him, which his own secrecy with regard to the\nevents of his life had perhaps originated, he expressed himself ready to\nsatisfy the curiosity of the public, and to give a plain and full account\nof his career. He then told a romantic and incredible tale, which imposed\nupon no one. He said he neither knew the place of his birth nor the name\nof his parents, but that he spent his infancy in Medina, in Arabia, and\nwas brought up under the name of Acharat. He lived in the palace of the\nGreat Muphti in that city, and always had three servants to wait upon him,\nbesides his preceptor, named Althotas. This Althotas was very fond of him,\nand told him that his father and mother, who were Christians and nobles,\ndied when he was three months old, and left him in the care of the Muphti.\nHe could never, he said, ascertain their names, for whenever he asked\nAlthotas the question, he was told that it would be dangerous for him to\nknow. Some incautious expressions dropped by his preceptor gave him reason\nto think they were from Malta. At the age of twelve he began his travels,\nand learned the various languages of the East. He remained three years in\nMecca, where the cherif, or governor, shewed him so much kindness, and\nspoke to him so tenderly and affectionately, that he sometimes thought\nthat personage was his father. He quitted this good man with tears in his\neyes, and never saw him afterwards; but he was convinced that he was, even\nat that moment, indebted to his care for all the advantages he enjoyed.\nWhenever he arrived in any city, either of Europe or Asia, he found an\naccount opened for him at the principal bankers' or merchants'. He could\ndraw upon them to the amount of thousands and hundreds of thousands; and\nno questions were ever asked beyond his name. He had only to mention the\nword 'Acharat,' and all his wants were supplied. He firmly believed that\nthe Cherif of Mecca was the friend to whom all was owing. This was the\nsecret of his wealth, and he had no occasion to resort to swindling for a\nlivelihood. It was not worth his while to steal a diamond necklace when he\nhad wealth enough to purchase as many as he pleased, and more magnificent\nones than had ever been worn by a queen of France. As to the other charges\nbrought against him by Madame de la Motte, he had but a short answer to\ngive. She had called him an empiric. He was not unfamiliar with the word.\nIf it meant a man who, without being a physician, had some knowledge of\nmedicine, and took no fees--who cured both rich and poor, and took no\nmoney from either, he confessed that he was such a man, that he was an\nempiric. She had also called him a mean alchymist. Whether he were an\nalchymist or not, the epithet _mean_ could only be applied to those who\nbegged and cringed, and he had never done either. As regarded his being a\ndreamer about the philosopher's stone, whatever his opinions upon that\nsubject might be, he had been silent, and had never troubled the public\nwith his dreams. Then, as to his being a false prophet, he had not always\nbeen so; for he had prophesied to the Cardinal de Rohan, that Madame de la\nMotte would prove a dangerous woman, and the result had verified the\nprediction. He denied that he was a profaner of the true worship, or that\nhe had ever striven to bring religion into contempt; on the contrary, he\nrespected every man's religion, and never meddled with it. He also denied\nthat he was a Rosicrucian, or that he had ever pretended to be three\nhundred years of age, or to have had one man in his service for a hundred\nand fifty years. In conclusion, he said every statement that Madame de la\nMotte had made regarding him was false, and that she was _mentiris\nimpudentissime_, which two words he begged her counsel to translate for\nher, as it was not polite to tell her so in French.\n\nSuch was the substance of his extraordinary answer to the charges against\nhim; an answer which convinced those who were before doubtful that he was\none of the most impudent impostors that had ever run the career of\ndeception. Counsel were then heard on behalf of the Cardinal de Rohan and\nMadame de la Motte. It appearing clearly that the cardinal was himself the\ndupe of a vile conspiracy, and there being no evidence against Cagliostro,\nthey were both acquitted. Madame de la Motte was found guilty, and\nsentenced to be publicly whipped, and branded with a hot iron on the back.\n\nCagliostro and his wife were then discharged from custody. On applying to\nthe officers of the Bastille for the papers and effects which had been\nseized at his lodgings, he found that many of them had been abstracted. He\nthereupon brought an action against them for the recovery of his Mss. and\na small portion of the powder of transmutation. Before the affair could be\ndecided, he received orders to quit Paris within four-and-twenty hours.\nFearing that if he were once more enclosed in the dungeons of the Bastille\nhe should never see daylight again, he took his departure immediately and\nproceeded to England. On his arrival in London he made the acquaintance of\nthe notorious Lord George Gordon, who espoused his cause warmly, and\ninserted a letter in the public papers, animadverting upon the conduct of\nthe Queen of France in the affair of the necklace, and asserting that she\nwas really the guilty party. For this letter Lord George was exposed to a\nprosecution at the instance of the French ambassador, found guilty of\nlibel, and sentenced to fine and a long imprisonment.\n\nCagliostro and the countess afterwards travelled in Italy, where they were\narrested by the Papal government in 1789, and condemned to death. The\ncharges against him were, that he was a freemason, a heretic, and a\nsorcerer. This unjustifiable sentence was afterwards commuted into one of\nperpetual imprisonment in the Castle of St. Angelo. His wife was allowed\nto escape severer punishment by immuring herself in a nunnery. Cagliostro\ndid not long survive. The loss of liberty preyed upon his\nmind--accumulated misfortunes had injured his health and broken his\nspirit, and he died early in 1790. His fate may have been no better than\nhe deserved, but it is impossible not to feel that his sentence for the\ncrimes assigned was utterly disgraceful to the government that pronounced\nit.\n\n\nPRESENT STATE OF ALCHYMY.\n\nWe have now finished the list of the persons who have most distinguished\nthemselves in this unprofitable pursuit. Among them are men of all ranks,\ncharacters, and conditions: the truth-seeking but erring philosopher; the\nambitious prince and the needy noble, who have believed in it; as well as\nthe designing charlatan, who has not believed in it, but has merely made\nthe pretension to it the means of cheating his fellows, and living upon\ntheir credulity. One or more of all these classes will be found in the\nforegoing pages. It will be seen, from the record of their lives, that the\ndelusion was not altogether without its uses. Men, in striving to gain too\nmuch, do not always overreach themselves; if they cannot arrive at the\ninaccessible mountain-top, they may perhaps get half way towards it, and\npick up some scraps of wisdom and knowledge on the road. The useful\nscience of chemistry is not a little indebted to its spurious brother of\nalchymy. Many valuable discoveries have been made in that search for the\nimpossible, which might otherwise have been hidden for centuries yet to\ncome. Roger Bacon, in searching for the philosopher's stone, discovered\ngunpowder, a still more extraordinary substance. Van Helmont, in the same\npursuit, discovered the properties of gas; Geber made discoveries in\nchemistry which were equally important; and Paracelsus, amidst his\nperpetual visions of the transmutation of metals, found that mercury was a\nremedy for one of the most odious and excruciating of all the diseases\nthat afflict humanity.\n\nIn our day little mention is made in Europe of any new devotees of the\nscience, though it is affirmed that one or two of our most illustrious men\nof science do not admit the pursuit to be so absurd and vain as it has\nbeen commonly considered in recent times. The belief in witchcraft, which\nis scarcely more absurd, still lingers in the popular mind; but few are so\ncredulous as to believe that any elixir could make man live for centuries,\nor turn all our iron and pewter into gold. Alchymy, in Europe, may be said\nto be almost wholly exploded; but in the East it still flourishes in as\ngreat repute as ever. Recent travellers make constant mention of it,\nespecially in China, Hindostan, Persia, Tartary, Egypt, and Arabia.\n\n\n\n\nMODERN PROPHECIES.\n\n\n[Illustration: A]\n\nAn epidemic terror of the end of the world has several times spread over\nthe nations. The most remarkable was that which seized Christendom about\nthe middle of the tenth century. Numbers of fanatics appeared in France,\nGermany, and Italy at that time, preaching that the thousand years\nprophesied in the Apocalypse as the term of the world's duration were\nabout to expire, and that the Son of Man would appear in the clouds to\njudge the godly and the ungodly. The delusion appears to have been\ndiscouraged by the Church, but it nevertheless spread rapidly among the\npeople.[51]\n\n    [51] See Gibbon and Voltaire for further notice of this subject.\n\nThe scene of the last judgment was expected to be at Jerusalem. In the\nyear 999, the number of pilgrims proceeding eastward, to await the coming\nof the Lord in that city, was so great that they were compared to a\ndesolating army. Most of them sold their goods and possessions before they\nquitted Europe, and lived upon the proceeds in the Holy Land. Buildings of\nevery sort were suffered to fall into ruins. It was thought useless to\nrepair them, when the end of the world was so near. Many noble edifices\nwere deliberately pulled down. Even churches, usually so well maintained,\nshared the general neglect. Knights, citizens, and serfs, travelled\neastwards in company, taking with them their wives and children, singing\npsalms as they went, and looking with fearful eyes upon the sky, which\nthey expected each minute to open, to let the Son of God descend in his\nglory.\n\nDuring the thousandth year the number of pilgrims increased. Most of them\nwere smitten with terror as with a plague. Every phenomenon of nature\nfilled them with alarm. A thunder-storm sent them all upon their knees in\nmid-march. It was the opinion that thunder was the voice of God,\nannouncing the day of judgment. Numbers expected the earth to open, and\ngive up its dead at the sound. Every meteor in the sky seen at Jerusalem\nbrought the whole Christian population into the streets to weep and pray.\nThe pilgrims on the road were in the same alarm:\n\n   \"Lorsque, pendant la nuit, un globe de lumi\u00e8re\n      S'\u00e9chappa quelquefois de la vo\u00fbte de cieux,\n      Et tra\u00e7a dans sa ch\u00fbte un long sillon de feux,\n    La troupe suspendit sa marche solitaire.\"[52]\n\n    [52] _Charlemagne: Po\u00ebme \u00e9pique par Lucien Buonaparte._\n\nFanatic preachers kept up the flame of terror. Every shooting star\nfurnished occasion for a sermon, in which the sublimity of the approaching\njudgment was the principal topic.\n\nThe appearance of comets has been often thought to foretell the speedy\ndissolution of this world. Part of this belief still exists; but the comet\nis no longer looked upon as the sign, but the agent of destruction. So\nlately as in the year 1832 the greatest alarm spread over the continent of\nEurope, especially in Germany, lest the comet, whose appearance was then\nforetold by astronomers, should destroy the earth. The danger of our globe\nwas gravely discussed. Many persons refrained from undertaking or\nconcluding any business during that year, in consequence solely of their\napprehension that this terrible comet would dash us and our world to\natoms.\n\nDuring seasons of great pestilence, men have often believed the prophecies\nof crazed fanatics, that the end of the world was come. Credulity is\nalways greatest in times of calamity. During the great plague, which\nravaged all Europe between the years 1345 and 1350, it was generally\nconsidered that the end of the world was at hand. Pretended prophets were\nto be found in all the principal cities of Germany, France, and Italy,\npredicting that within ten years the trump of the archangel would sound,\nand the Saviour appear in the clouds to call the earth to judgment.\n\nNo little consternation was created in London in 1736 by the prophecy of\nthe famous Whiston, that the world would be destroyed in that year, on the\n13th of October. Crowds of people went out on the appointed day to\nIslington, Hampstead, and the fields intervening, to see the destruction\nof London, which was to be the \"beginning of the end.\" A satirical account\nof this folly is given in Swift's _Miscellanies_, vol. iii., entitled _A\ntrue and faithful Narrative of what passed in London on a Rumour of the\nDay of Judgment_. An authentic narrative of this delusion would be\ninteresting; but this solemn witticism of Pope and Gay is not to be\ndepended upon.\n\nIn the year 1761 the citizens of London were alarmed by two shocks of an\nearthquake, and the prophecy of a third, which was to destroy them\naltogether. The first shock was felt on the 8th of February, and threw\ndown several chimneys in the neighbourhood of Limehouse and Poplar; the\nsecond happened on the 8th of March, and was chiefly felt in the north of\nLondon, and towards Hampstead and Highgate. It soon became the subject of\ngeneral remark, that there was exactly an interval of a month between the\nshocks; and a crack-brained fellow, named Bell, a soldier in the Life\nGuards, was so impressed with the idea that there would be a third in\nanother month, that he lost his senses altogether, and ran about the\nstreets predicting the destruction of London on the 5th of April. Most\npeople thought that the _first_ would have been a more appropriate day;\nbut there were not wanting thousands who confidently believed the\nprediction, and took measures to transport themselves and families from\nthe scene of the impending calamity. As the awful day approached, the\nexcitement became intense, and great numbers of credulous people resorted\nto all the villages within a circuit of twenty miles, awaiting the doom of\nLondon. Islington, Highgate, Hampstead, Harrow, and Blackheath, were\ncrowded with panic-stricken fugitives, who paid exorbitant prices for\naccommodation to the housekeepers of these secure retreats. Such as could\nnot afford to pay for lodgings at any of those places, remained in London\nuntil two or three days before the time, and then encamped in the\nsurrounding fields, awaiting the tremendous shock which was to lay their\nhigh city all level with the dust. As happened during a similar panic in\nthe time of Henry VIII., the fear became contagious, and hundreds who had\nlaughed at the prediction a week before, packed up their goods, when they\nsaw others doing so, and hastened away. The river was thought to be a\nplace of great security, and all the merchant-vessels in the port were\nfilled with people, who passed the night between the 4th and 5th on board,\nexpecting every instant to see St. Paul's totter, and the towers of\nWestminster Abbey rock in the wind and fall amid a cloud of dust. The\ngreater part of the fugitives returned on the following day, convinced\nthat the prophet was a false one; but many judged it more prudent to allow\na week to elapse before they trusted their dear limbs in London. Bell lost\nall credit in a short time, and was looked upon even by the most credulous\nas a mere madman. He tried some other prophecies, but nobody was deceived\nby them; and, in a few months afterwards, he was confined in a lunatic\nasylum.\n\nA panic terror of the end of the world seized the good people of Leeds and\nits neighbourhood in the year 1806. It arose from the following\ncircumstances. A hen, in a village close by, laid eggs, on which were\ninscribed the words, \"_Christ is coming_.\" Great numbers visited the spot,\nand examined these wondrous eggs, convinced that the day of judgment was\nnear at hand. Like sailors in a storm, expecting every instant to go to\nthe bottom, the believers suddenly became religious, prayed violently, and\nflattered themselves that they repented them of their evil courses. But a\nplain tale soon put them down, and quenched their religion entirely. Some\ngentlemen, hearing of the matter, went one fine morning, and caught the\npoor hen in the act of laying one of her miraculous eggs. They soon\nascertained beyond doubt that the egg had been inscribed with some\ncorrosive ink, and cruelly forced up again into the bird's body. At this\nexplanation, those who had prayed, now laughed, and the world wagged as\nmerrily as of yore.\n\nAt the time of the plague in Milan, in 1630, of which so affecting a\ndescription has been left us by Ripamonte, in his interesting work, _De\nPeste Mediolani_, the people, in their distress, listened with avidity to\nthe predictions of astrologers and other impostors. It is singular enough\nthat the plague was foretold a year before it broke out. A large comet\nappearing in 1628, the opinions of astrologers were divided with regard to\nit. Some insisted that it was a forerunner of a bloody war; others\nmaintained that it predicted a great famine; but the greater number,\nfounding their judgment upon its pale colour, thought it portended a\npestilence. The fulfilment of their prediction brought them into great\nrepute while the plague was raging.\n\nOther prophecies were current, which were asserted to have been delivered\nhundreds of years previously. They had a most pernicious effect upon the\nmind of the vulgar, as they induced a belief in fatalism. By taking away\nthe hope of recovery--that greatest balm in every malady--they increased\nthreefold the ravages of the disease. One singular prediction almost drove\nthe unhappy people mad. An ancient couplet, preserved for ages by\ntradition, foretold, that in the year 1630 the devil would poison all\nMilan. Early one morning in April, and before the pestilence had reached\nits height, the passengers were surprised to see that all the doors in the\nprincipal streets of the city were marked with a curious daub, or spot, as\nif a sponge, filled with the purulent matter of the plague-sores, had been\npressed against them. The whole population were speedily in movement to\nremark the strange appearance, and the greatest alarm spread rapidly.\nEvery means was taken to discover the perpetrators, but in vain. At last\nthe ancient prophecy was remembered, and prayers were offered up in all\nthe churches, that the machinations of the Evil One might be defeated.\nMany persons were of opinion that the emissaries of foreign powers were\nemployed to spread infectious poison over the city; but by far the greater\nnumber were convinced that the powers of hell had conspired against them,\nand that the infection was spread by supernatural agencies. In the mean\ntime the plague increased fearfully. Distrust and alarm took possession of\nevery mind.  Every thing was believed to have been poisoned by the Devil;\nthe waters of the wells, the standing corn in the fields, and the fruit\nupon the trees. It was believed that all objects of touch were poisoned;\nthe walls of the houses, the pavements of the streets, and the very\nhandles of the doors. The populace were raised to a pitch of ungovernable\nfury. A strict watch was kept for the Devil's emissaries, and any man who\nwanted to be rid of an enemy, had only to say that he had seen him\nbesmearing a door with ointment; his fate was certain death at the hands\nof the mob. An old man, upwards of eighty years of age, a daily frequenter\nof the church of St. Antonio, was seen, on rising from his knees, to wipe\nwith the skirt of his cloak the stool on which he was about to sit down. A\ncry was raised immediately that he was besmearing the seat with poison. A\nmob of women, by whom the church was crowded, seized hold of the feeble\nold man, and dragged him out by the hair of his head, with horrid oaths\nand imprecations. He was trailed in this manner through the mire to the\nhouse of the municipal judge, that he might be put to the rack, and forced\nto discover his accomplices; but he expired on the way. Many other victims\nwere sacrificed to the popular fury. One Mora, who appears to have been\nhalf a chemist and half a barber, was accused of being in league with the\nDevil to poison Milan. His house was surrounded, and a number of chemical\npreparations were found. The poor man asserted, that they were intended as\npreservatives against infection; but some physicians, to whom they were\nsubmitted, declared they were poison, Mora was put to the rack, where he\nfor a long time asserted his innocence. He confessed at last, when his\ncourage was worn down by torture, that he was in league with the Devil and\nforeign powers to poison the whole city; that he had anointed the doors,\nand infected the fountains of water. He named several persons as his\naccomplices, who were apprehended and put to a similar torture. They were\nall found guilty, and executed. Mora's house was rased to the ground, and\na column erected on the spot, with an inscription to commemorate his\nguilt.\n\nWhile the public mind was filled with these marvellous occurrences, the\nplague continued to increase. The crowds that were brought together to\nwitness the executions spread the infection among one another. But the\nfury of their passions, and the extent of their credulity, kept pace with\nthe violence of the plague; every wonderful and preposterous story was\nbelieved. One, in particular, occupied them to the exclusion, for a long\ntime, of every other. The Devil himself had been seen. He had taken a\nhouse in Milan, in which he prepared his poisonous unguents, and furnished\nthem to his emissaries for distribution. One man had brooded over such\ntales till he became firmly convinced that the wild nights of his own\nfancy were realities. He stationed himself in the market-place of Milan,\nand related the following story to the crowds that gathered round him. He\nwas standing, he said, at the door of the cathedral, late in the evening;\nand when there was nobody nigh, he saw a dark-coloured chariot, drawn by\nsix milk-white horses, stop close beside him. The chariot was followed by\na numerous train of domestics in dark liveries, mounted on dark-coloured\nsteeds. In the chariot there sat a tall stranger of a majestic aspect; his\nlong black hair floated in the wind--fire flashed from his large black\neyes, and a curl of ineffable scorn dwelt upon his lips. The look of the\nstranger was so sublime that he was awed, and trembled with fear when he\ngazed upon him. His complexion was much darker than that of any man he had\never seen, and the atmosphere around him was hot and suffocating. He\nperceived immediately that he was a being of another world. The stranger,\nseeing his trepidation, asked him blandly, yet majestically, to mount\nbeside him. He had no power to refuse, and before he was well aware that\nhe had moved, he found himself in the chariot. Onwards they went, with the\nrapidity of the wind, the stranger speaking no word, until they stopped\nbefore a door in the high-street of Milan. There was a crowd of people in\nthe street, but, to his great surprise, no one seemed to notice the\nextraordinary equipage and its numerous train. From this he concluded that\nthey were invisible. The house at which they stopped appeared to be a\nshop, but the interior was like a vast half-ruined palace. He went with\nhis mysterious guide through several large and dimly-lighted rooms. In one\nof them, surrounded by huge pillars of marble, a senate of ghosts was\nassembled, debating on the progress of the plague. Other parts of the\nbuilding were enveloped in the thickest darkness, illumined at intervals\nby flashes of lightning, which allowed him to distinguish a number of\ngibing and chattering skeletons, running about and pursuing each other, or\nplaying at leap-frog over one another's backs. At the rear of the mansion\nwas a wild, uncultivated plot of ground, in the midst of which arose a\nblack rock. Down its sides rushed with fearful noise a torrent of\npoisonous water, which, insinuating itself through the soil, penetrated to\nall the springs of the city, and rendered them unfit for use. After he had\nbeen shewn all this, the stranger led him into another large chamber,\nfilled with gold and precious stones, all of which he offered him if he\nwould kneel down and worship him, and consent to smear the doors and\nhouses of Milan with a pestiferous salve which he held out to him. He now\nknew him to be the Devil, and in that moment of temptation, prayed to God\nto give him strength to resist. His prayer was heard--he refused the\nbribe. The stranger scowled horribly upon him--a loud clap of thunder\nburst over his head--the vivid lightning flashed in his eyes, and the next\nmoment he found himself standing alone at the porch of the cathedral. He\nrepeated this strange tale day after day, without any variation, and all\nthe populace were firm believers in its truth. Repeated search was made to\ndiscover the mysterious house, but all in vain. The man pointed out\nseveral as resembling it, which were searched by the police; but the Demon\nof the Pestilence was not to be found, nor the hall of ghosts, nor the\npoisonous fountain. But the minds of the people were so impressed with the\nidea, that scores of witnesses, half crazed by disease, came forward to\nswear that they also had seen the diabolical stranger, and had heard his\nchariot, drawn by the milk-white steeds, rumbling over the streets at\nmidnight with a sound louder than thunder.\n\nThe number of persons who confessed that they were employed by the Devil\nto distribute poison is almost incredible. An epidemic frenzy was abroad,\nwhich seemed to be as contagious as the plague. Imagination was as\ndisordered as the body, and day after day persons came voluntarily forward\nto accuse themselves. They generally had the marks of disease upon them,\nand some died in the act of confession.\n\nDuring the great plague of London, in 1665, the people listened with\nsimilar avidity to the predictions of quacks and fanatics. Defoe says,\nthat at that time the people were more addicted to prophecies and\nastronomical conjurations, dreams, and old wives' tales than ever they\nwere before or since. Almanacs, and their predictions, frightened them\nterribly. Even the year before the plague broke out, they were greatly\nalarmed by the comet which then appeared, and anticipated that famine,\npestilence, or fire would follow. Enthusiasts, while yet the disease had\nmade but little progress, ran about the streets, predicting that in a few\ndays London would be destroyed.\n\nA still more singular instance of the faith in predictions occurred in\nLondon in the year 1524. The city swarmed at that time with\nfortune-tellers and astrologers, who were consulted daily by people of\nevery class in society on the secrets of futurity. As early as the month\nof June 1523, several of them concurred in predicting that, on the 1st day\nof February 1524, the waters of the Thames would swell to such a height as\nto overflow the whole city of London, and wash away ten thousand houses.\nThe prophecy met implicit belief. It was reiterated with the utmost\nconfidence month after month, until so much alarm was excited that many\nfamilies packed up their goods, and removed into Kent and Essex. As the\ntime drew nigh, the number of these emigrants increased. In January,\ndroves of workmen might be seen, followed by their wives and children,\ntrudging on foot to the villages within fifteen or twenty miles, to await\nthe catastrophe. People of a higher class were also to be seen in wagons\nand other vehicles bound on a similar errand. By the middle of January, at\nleast twenty thousand persons had quitted the doomed city, leaving nothing\nbut the bare walls of their homes to be swept away by the impending\nfloods. Many of the richer sort took up their abode on the heights of\nHighgate, Hampstead, and Blackheath; and some erected tents as far away as\nWaltham Abbey on the north, and Croydon on the south of the Thames.\nBolton, the prior of St. Bartholomew's, was so alarmed, that he erected,\nat a very great expense, a sort of fortress at Harrow-on-the-Hill, which\nhe stocked with provisions for two months. On the 24th of January, a week\nbefore the awful day which was to see the destruction of London, he\nremoved thither, with the brethren and officers of the priory and all his\nhousehold. A number of boats were conveyed in wagons to his fortress,\nfurnished abundantly with expert rowers, in case the flood, reaching so\nhigh as Harrow, should force them to go farther for a resting-place. Many\nwealthy citizens prayed to share his retreat; but the prior, with a\nprudent forethought, admitted only his personal friends, and those who\nbrought stores of eatables for the blockade.\n\nAt last the morn, big with the fate of London, appeared in the east. The\nwondering crowds were astir at an early hour to watch the rising of the\nwaters. The inundation, it was predicted, would be gradual, not sudden; so\nthat they expected to have plenty of time to escape as soon as they saw\nthe bosom of old Thames heave beyond the usual mark. But the majority were\ntoo much alarmed to trust to this, and thought themselves safer ten or\ntwenty miles off. The Thames, unmindful of the foolish crowds upon its\nbanks, flowed on quietly as of yore. The tide ebbed at its usual hour,\nflowed to its usual height, and then ebbed again, just as if twenty\nastrologers had not pledged their words to the contrary. Blank were their\nfaces as evening approached, and as blank grew the faces of the citizens\nto think that they had made such fools of themselves. At last night set\nin, and the obstinate river would not lift its waters to sweep away even\none house out of the ten thousand. Still, however, the people were afraid\nto go to sleep. Many hundreds remained up till dawn of the next day, lest\nthe deluge should come upon them like a thief in the night.\n\nOn the morrow, it was seriously discussed whether it would not be\nadvisable to duck the false prophets in the river. Luckily for them, they\nthought of an expedient which allayed the popular fury. They asserted\nthat, by an error (a very slight one,) of a little figure, they had fixed\nthe date of this awful inundation a whole century too early. The stars\nwere right after all, and they, erring mortals, were wrong. The present\ngeneration of cockneys was safe, and London would be washed away, not in\n1524, but in 1624. At this announcement, Bolton the prior dismantled his\nfortress, and the weary emigrants came back.\n\nAn eye-witness of the great fire of London, in an account preserved among\nthe Harleian Mss. in the British Museum, and published in the transactions\nof the Royal Society of Antiquaries, relates another instance of the\ncredulity of the Londoners. The writer, who accompanied the Duke of York\nday by day through the district included between the Fleet-bridge and the\nThames, states that, in their efforts to check the progress of the flames,\nthey were much impeded by the superstition of the people. Mother Shipton,\nin one of her prophecies, had said that London would be reduced to ashes,\nand they refused to make any efforts to prevent it.[53] A son of the\nnoted Sir Kenelm Digby, who was also a pretender to the gifts of prophecy,\npersuaded them that no power on earth could prevent the fulfilment of the\nprediction; for it was written in the great book of fate that London was\nto be destroyed. Hundreds of persons, who might have rendered valuable\nassistance, and saved whole parishes from devastation, folded their arms\nand looked on. As many more gave themselves up, with the less compunction,\nto plunder a city which they could not save.[54]\n\n   [53] This prophecy seems to have been that set forth at length in\n         the popular _Life of Mother Shipton_:\n\n            \"When fate to England shall restore\n             A king to reign as heretofore,\n             Great death in London shall be though,\n             And many houses be laid low.\"\n\n    [54] The _London Saturday Journal_ of March 12th, 1842, contains\n         the following:--\"An absurd report is gaining ground among the\n         weak-minded, that London will be destroyed by an earthquake\n         on the 17th of March, or St. Patrick's day. This rumour is\n         founded on the following ancient prophecies: one professing\n         to be pronounced in the year 1203; the other, by Dr. Dee the\n         astrologer, in 1598:\n\n            \"In eighteen hundred and forty-two\n             Four things the sun shall view;\n             London's rich and famous town\n             Hungry earth shall swallow down.\n             Storm and rain in France shall be,\n             Till every river runs a sea.\n             Spain shall be rent in twain,\n             And famine waste the land again.\n             So say I, the Monk of Dree,\n             In the twelve hundredth year and three.\"\n                  _Harleian Collection (British Museum)_,\n                       800 b, fol. 319.\n\n            \"The Lord have mercy on you all--\n             Prepare yourselves for dreadful fall\n             Of house and land and human soul--\n             The measure of your sins is full.\n             In the year one, eight, and forty-two,\n             Of the year that is so new;\n             In the third month of that sixteen,\n             It may be a day or two between--\n             Perhaps you'll soon be stiff and cold.\n             Dear Christian, be not stout and bold--\n             The mighty, kingly-proud will see\n             This comes to pass as my name's Dee.\"\n                       1598. _Ms. in the British Museum_.\n\n         The alarm of the population of London did not on this\n         occasion extend beyond the wide circle of the uneducated\n         classes, but among them it equalled that recorded in the\n         text. It was soon afterwards stated that no such prophecy is\n         to be found in the Harleian Ms.\n\nThe prophecies of Mother Shipton are still believed in many of the rural\ndistricts of England. In cottages and servants' halls her reputation is\ngreat; and she rules, the most popular of British prophets, among all the\nuneducated, or half-educated, portions of the community. She is generally\nsupposed to have been born at Knaresborough, in the reign of Henry VII.,\nand to have sold her soul to the Devil for the power of foretelling future\nevents. Though during her lifetime she was looked upon as a witch, she yet\nescaped the witch's fate, and died peaceably in her bed at an extreme old\nage, near Clifton in Yorkshire. A stone is said to have been erected to\nher memory in the churchyard of that place, with the following epitaph:\n\n   \"Here lies she who never lied,\n    Whose skill often has been tried:\n    Her prophecies shall still survive,\n    And ever keep her name alive.\"\n\n\"Never a day passed,\" says her traditionary biography, \"wherein, she did\nnot relate something remarkable, and that required the most serious\nconsideration. People flocked to her from far and near, her fame was so\ngreat. They went to her of all sorts, both old and young, rich and poor,\nespecially young maidens, to be resolved of their doubts relating to\nthings to come; and all returned wonderfully satisfied in the explanations\nshe gave to their questions.\" Among the rest, went the Abbot of Beverley,\nto whom she foretold the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII.,\nhis marriage with Anne Boleyn, the fires for heretics in Smithfield, and\nthe execution of Mary Queen of Scots. She also foretold the accession of\nJames I., adding that, with him,\n\n   \"From the cold North\n    Every evil should come forth.\"\n\nOn a subsequent visit she uttered another prophecy, which, in the opinion\nof her believers, still remains unfulfilled, but may be expected to be\nrealised during the present century:\n\n   \"The time shall come when seas of blood\n    Shall mingle with a greater flood.\n    Great noise there shall be heard--great shouts and cries,\n    And seas shall thunder louder than the skies;\n    Then shall three lions fight with three and bring\n    Joy to a people, honour to a king.\n    That fiery year as soon as o'er,\n    Peace shall then be as before;\n    Plenty shall every where be found,\n    And men with swords shall plough the ground.\"\n\nBut the most famous of all her prophecies is one relating to London.\nThousands of persons still shudder to think of the woes that are to burst\nover this unhappy realm, when London and Highgate are joined by one\ncontinuous line of houses. This junction, which, if the rage for building\nlasts much longer, in the same proportion as heretofore, bids fair to be\nsoon accomplished, was predicted by her shortly before her death.\nRevolutions--the fall of mighty monarchs, and the shedding of much blood\nare to signalise that event. The very angels, afflicted by our woes, are\nto turn aside their heads, and weep for hapless Britain.\n\nBut great as is the fame of Mother Shipton, she ranks but second in the\nlist of British prophets. Merlin, the mighty Merlin, stands alone in his\nhigh pre-eminence--the first and greatest. As old Drayton sings, in his\n_Poly-olbion_:\n\n   \"Of Merlin and his skill what region doth not hear?\n    The world shall still be full of Merlin every year.\n    A thousand lingering years his prophecies have run,\n    And scarcely shall have end till time itself be done.\"\n\nSpenser, in his divine poem, has given us a powerful description of this\nrenowned seer--\n\n                     \"who had in magic more insight\n    Than ever him before, or after, living wight.\n\n      For he by words could call out of the sky\n        Both sun and moon, and make them him obey;\n      The land to sea, and sea to mainland dry,\n        And darksome night he eke could turn to day--\n        Huge hosts of men he could, alone, dismay.\n      And hosts of men and meanest things could frame,\n        Whenso him list his enemies to fray,\n      That to this day, for terror of his name,\n    The fiends do quake, when any him to them does name.\n\n      And soothe men say that he was not the sonne\n        Of mortal sire or other living wighte,\n      But wondrously begotten and begoune\n        By false illusion of a guileful sprite\n        On a faire ladye nun.\"\n\nIn these verses the poet has preserved the popular belief with regard to\nMerlin, who is generally supposed to have been a contemporary of\nVortigern. Opinion is divided as to whether he were a real personage, or a\nmere impersonation, formed by the poetic fancy of a credulous people. It\nseems most probable that such a man did exist, and that, possessing\nknowledge as much above the comprehension of his age, as that possessed by\nFriar Bacon was beyond the reach of his, he was endowed by the wondering\ncrowd with the supernatural attributes that Spenser has enumerated.\n\nGeoffrey of Monmouth translated Merlin's poetical odes, or prophecies,\ninto Latin prose; and he was much reverenced not only by Geoffrey, but by\nmost of the old annalists. In a _Life of Merlin, with his Prophecies and\nPredictions interpreted and made good by our English Annals_, by Thomas\nHeywood, published in the reign of Charles I., we find several of these\npretended prophecies. They seem, however, to have been all written by\nHeywood himself. They are in terms too plain and positive to allow any one\nto doubt for a moment of their having been composed _ex post facto_.\nSpeaking of Richard I., he says:\n\n   \"The Lion's heart will 'gainst the Saracen rise,\n    And purchase from him many a glorious prize;\n    The rose and lily shall at first unite,\n    But, parting of the prey prove opposite.  *  *  *\n    But while abroad these great acts shall be done,\n    All things at home shall to disorder run.\n    Cooped up and caged then shall the Lion be,\n    But, after sufferance, ransomed and set free.\"\n\nThe simple-minded Thomas Heywood gravely goes on to inform us, that all\nthese things actually came to pass. Upon Richard III. he is equally\nluminous. He says:\n\n   \"A hunch-backed monster, who with teeth is born,\n    The mockery of art and nature's scorn;\n    Who from the womb preposterously is hurled,\n    And with feet forward thrust into the world,\n    Shall, from the lower earth on which he stood,\n    Wade, every step he mounts, knee-deep in blood.\n    He shall to th' height of all his hopes aspire,\n    And, clothed in state, his ugly shape admire;\n    But, when he thinks himself most safe to stand,\n    From foreign parts a native whelp shall land.\"\n\n\nAnother of these prophecies after the event tells us that Henry\nVIII. should take the power from Rome, \"and bring it home unto\nhis British bower;\" that he should \"root out from the land all the\nrazored skulls;\" and that he should neither spare \"man in his rage\nnor woman in his lust;\" and that, in the time of his next successor\nbut one, \"there should come in the fagot and the stake.\" Master\nHeywood closes Merlin's prophecies at his own day, and does not give\neven a glimpse of what was to befall England after his decease. Many\nother prophecies, besides those quoted by him, were, he says, dispersed\nabroad, in his day, under the name of Merlin; but he gives\nhis readers a taste of one only, and that is the following:\n\n   \"When hempe is ripe and ready to pull,\n    Then, Englishman, beware thy skull.\"\n\nThis prophecy, which, one would think, ought to have put him in mind of\nthe gallows, at that time the not unusual fate of false prophets, he\nexplains thus: \"In this word HEMPE be five letters. Now, by reckoning the\nfive successive princes from Henry VIII., this prophecy is easily\nexplained: H signifieth King Henry before-named; E, Edward, his son, the\nsixth of that name; M, Mary, who succeeded him; P, Philip of Spain, who,\nby marrying Queen Mary, participated with her in the English diadem; and,\nlastly, E signifieth Queen Elizabeth, after whose death there was a great\nfeare that some troubles might have arisen about the crown.\" As this did\nnot happen, Heywood, who was a sly rogue in a small way, gets out of the\nscrape by saying, \"Yet proved this augury true, though not according to\nthe former expectation; for, after the peaceful inauguration of King\nJames, there was great mortality, not in London only, but through the\nwhole kingdom, and from which the nation was not quite clean in seven\nyears after.\"\n\nThis is not unlike the subterfuge of Peter of Pontefract, who had\nprophesied the death and deposition of King John, and who was hanged by\nthat monarch for his pains. A very graphic and amusing account of this\npretended prophet is given by Grafton, in his _Chronicles of\nEngland_.[55] \"In the meanwhile,\" says he, \"the priestes within England\nhad provided them a false and counterfeated prophet, called Peter\nWakefielde, a Yorkshire man, who was an hermite, an idle gadder about, and\na pratlyng marchant. Now, to bring this Peter in credite, and the kyng out\nof all credite with his people, diverse vaine persons bruted dayly among\nthe commons of the realme, that Christe had twice appered unto him in the\nshape of a childe, betwene the prieste's handes, once at Yorke, another\ntyme at Pomfret; and that he had breathed upon him thrice, saying,\n'_Peace, peace, peace_,' and teachyng many things, which he anon declared\nto the bishops, and bid the people amend their naughtie living. Being rapt\nalso in spirite, they sayde he behelde the joyes of heaven and sorrowes of\nhell; for scant were there three in the realme, sayde he, that lived\nchristianly.\n\n    [55] _Chronicles of England_, by Richard Grafton; London, 1568,\n         p. 106.\n\n\"This counterfeated soothsayer prophesied of King John, that he should\nreigne no longer than the Ascension-day next followyng, which was in the\nyere of our Lord 1211, and was the thirteenth yere from his coronation;\nand this, he said, he had by revelation. Then it was of him demanded,\nwhether he should be slaine or be deposed, or should voluntarily give over\nthe crowne? He aunswered, that he could not tell; but of this he was sure\n(he sayd), that neither he nor any of his stock or lineage should reigne\nafter that day.\n\n\"The king, hering of this, laughed much at it, and made but a scoff\nthereat. 'Tush!' saith he, 'it is but an ideot knave, and such an one as\nlacketh his right wittes.' But when this foolish prophet had so escaped\nthe daunger of the kinge's displeasure, and that he made no more of it, he\ngate him abroad, and prated thereof at large, as he was a very idle\nvagabond, and used to trattle and talke more than ynough; so that they\nwhich loved the king caused him anon after to be apprehended as a\nmalefactor, and to be throwen in prison, the king not yet knowing thereof.\n\n\"Anone after the fame of this phantasticall prophet went all the realme\nover, and his name was knowen every where, as foolishnesse is much\nregarded of the people, where wisdome is not in place; specially because\nhe was then imprisoned for the matter, the rumour was the larger, their\nwonderynges were the wantoner, their practises the foolisher, their busye\ntalkes and other idle doinges the greater. Continually from thence, as the\nrude manner of people is, old gossyps tales went abroad, new tales were\ninvented, fables were added to fables, and lyes grew upon lyes. So that\nevery daye newe slanders were laide upon the king, and not one of them\ntrue. Rumors arose, blasphemyes were sprede, the enemyes rejoyced, and\ntreasons by the priestes were mainteyned; and what lykewise was surmised,\nor other subtiltye practised, all was then fathered upon this foolish\nprophet, as 'thus saith Peter Wakefield;' 'thus hath he prophesied;' 'and\nthus it shall come to pass;' yea, many times, when he thought nothing\nlesse. And when the Ascension-day was come, which was prophecyed of\nbefore, King John commanded his royal tent to be spread in the open\nfielde, passing that day with his noble counseyle and men of honour in the\ngreatest solemnitie that ever he did before; solacing himself with\nmusickale instrumentes and songs, most in sight among his trustie\nfriendes. When that day was paste in all prosperitie and myrth, his\nenemyes being confused, turned all into an allegorical understanding to\nmake the prophecie good, and sayde, 'He is no longer king, for the pope\nreigneth, and not he.' [King John was labouring under a sentence of\nexcommunication at the time.]\n\n\"Then was the king by his council perswaded that this false prophet had\ntroubled the realme, perverted the heartes of the people, and raysed the\nCommons against him; for his wordes went over the sea, by the help of his\nprelates, and came to the French king's eare, and gave to him a great\nencouragement to invade the lande. He had not else done it so sodeinely.\nBut he was most fowly deceived, as all they are and shall be that put\ntheir trust in such dark drowsye dreames of hipocrites. The king therefore\ncommended that he should be hanged up, and his sonne also with him, lest\nany more false prophets should arise of that race.\"\n\nHeywood, who was a great stickler for the truth of all sorts of\nprophecies, gives a much more favourable account of this Peter of Pomfret,\nor Pontefract, whose fate he would, in all probability, have shared, if he\nhad had the misfortune to have flourished in the same age. He says, that\nPeter, who was not only a prophet, but a bard, predicted divers of King\nJohn's disasters, which fell out accordingly. On being taxed for a lying\nprophet in having predicted that the king would be deposed before he\nentered into the fifteenth year of his reign, he answered him boldly, that\nall he had said was justifiable and true; for that, having given up his\ncrown to the pope, and paying him an annual tribute, the pope reigned, and\nnot he. Heywood thought this explanation to be perfectly satisfactory, and\nthe prophet's faith for ever established.\n\nBut to return to Merlin. Of him even to this day it may be said, in the\nwords which Burns has applied to another notorious personage,\n\n   \"Great was his power and great his fame;\n    Far kenned and noted is his name.\"\n\nHis reputation is by no means confined to the land of his birth, but\nextends through most of the nations of Europe. A very curious volume of\nhis _Life, Prophecies, and Miracles_, written, it is supposed, by Robert\nde Bosron, was printed at Paris in 1498, which states, that the devil\nhimself was his father, and that he spoke the instant he was born, and\nassured his mother, a very virtuous young woman, that she should not die\nin childbed with him, as her ill-natured neighbours had predicted. The\njudge of the district, hearing of so marvellous an occurrence, summoned\nboth mother and child to appear before him; and they went accordingly the\nsame day. To put the wisdom of the young prophet most effectually to the\ntest, the judge asked him if he knew his own father? To which the infant\nMerlin replied, in a clear, sonorous voice, \"Yes, my father is the Devil;\nand I have his power, and know all things, past, present, and to come.\"\nHis worship clapped his hands in astonishment, and took the prudent\nresolution of not molesting so awful a child or its mother either.\n\nEarly tradition attributes the building of Stonehenge to the power of\nMerlin. It was believed that those mighty stones were whirled through the\nair, at his command, from Ireland to Salisbury Plain; and that he arranged\nthem in the form in which they now stand, to commemorate for ever the\nunhappy fate of three hundred British chiefs, who were massacred on that\nspot by the Saxons.\n\nAt Abergwylly, near Carmarthen, is still shewn the cave of the prophet and\nthe scene of his incantations. How beautiful is the description of it\ngiven by Spenser in his _Faerie Queene_! The lines need no apology for\ntheir repetition here, and any sketch of the great prophet of Britain\nwould be incomplete without them:\n\n     \"There the wise Merlin, whilom wont (they say,)\n        To make his wonne low underneath the ground,\n      In a deep delve far from the view of day,\n        That of no living wight he mote be found,\n    Whenso he counselled with his sprites encompassed round.\n\n      And if thou ever happen that same way\n        To travel, go to see that dreadful place;\n      It is a hideous, hollow cave, they say,\n        Under a rock that lies, a little space\n        From the swift Barry, tumbling down apace\n      Amongst the woody hills of Dynevoure;\n        But dare thou not, I charge, in any case,\n      To enter into that same baleful bower,\n    For fear the cruel fiendes should thee unwares devour!\n\n    But, standing high aloft, low lay thine eare,\n        And there such ghastly noise of iron chaines\n      And brazen caudrons thou shalt rombling heare,\n        Which thousand sprites with long-enduring paines\n        Doe tosse, that it will stun thy feeble braines;\n      And often times great groans and grievous stownds,\n        When too huge toile and labour them constraines;\n      And often times loud strokes and ringing sounds\n    From under that deep rock most horribly rebounds.\n\n    The cause, they say, is this. A little while\n        Before that Merlin died, he did intend\n      A brazen wall in compass, to compile\n        About Cayr Merdin, and did it commend\n        Unto these sprites to bring to perfect end;\n      During which work the Lady of the Lake,\n        Whom long he loved, for him in haste did send,\n      Who thereby forced his workmen to forsake,\n    Them bound till his return their labour not to slake.\n\n    In the mean time, through that false ladie's traine,\n        He was surprised, and buried under biere,\n      Ne ever to his work returned again;\n        Natheless these fiendes may not their work forbeare,\n        So greatly his commandement they fear,\n      But there doe toile and travaile day and night,\n        Until that brazen wall they up doe reare.\"[56]\n\n    [56] _Faerie Queene_, b. 3, c. 3, s. 6-13.\n\n\nAmongst other English prophets, a belief in whose power has not been\nentirely effaced by the light of advancing knowledge, is Robert Nixon, the\nCheshire idiot, a contemporary of Mother Shipton. The popular accounts of\nthis man say, that he was born of poor parents, not far from Vale Royal,\non the edge of the forest of Delamere. He was brought up to the plough,\nbut was so ignorant and stupid, that nothing could be made of him. Every\nbody thought him irretrievably insane, and paid no attention to the\nstrange, unconnected discourses which he held. Many of his prophecies are\nbelieved to have been lost in this manner. But they were not always\ndestined to be wasted upon dull and inattentive ears. An incident occurred\nwhich brought him into notice, and established his fame as a prophet of\nthe first calibre. He was ploughing in a field when he suddenly stopped\nfrom his labour, and with a wild look and strange gesture, exclaimed,\n\"_Now, Dick! now, Harry! O, ill done, Dick! O, well done, Harry! Harry has\ngained the day!_\" His fellow-labourers in the field did not know what to\nmake of this rhapsody; but the next day cleared up the mystery. News was\nbrought by a messenger, in hot haste, that at the very instant when Nixon\nhad thus ejaculated, Richard III. had been slain at the battle of\nBosworth, and Henry VII. proclaimed king of England.\n\nIt was not long before the fame of the new prophet reached the ears of the\nking, who expressed a wish to see and converse with him. A messenger was\naccordingly despatched to bring him to court; but long before he reached\nCheshire, Nixon knew and dreaded the honours that awaited him. Indeed it\nwas said, that at the very instant the king expressed the wish, Nixon was,\nby supernatural means, made acquainted with it, and that he ran about the\ntown of Over in great distress of mind, calling out, like a madman, that\nHenry had sent for him, and that he must go to court, and be _clammed_,\nthat is, starved to death. These expressions excited no little wonder;\nbut, on the third day, the messenger arrived, and carried him to court,\nleaving on the minds of the good people of Cheshire an impression that\ntheir prophet was one of the greatest ever born. On his arrival King Henry\nappeared to be troubled exceedingly at the loss of a valuable diamond, and\nasked Nixon if he could inform him where it was to be found. Henry had\nhidden the diamond himself, with a view to test the prophet's skill.\nGreat, therefore, was his surprise when Nixon answered him in the words of\nthe old proverb, \"Those who hide can find.\" From that time forth the king\nimplicitly believed that he had the gift of prophecy, and ordered all his\nwords to be taken down.\n\nDuring all the time of his residence at court he was in constant fear of\nbeing starved to death, and repeatedly told the king that such would be\nhis fate, if he were not allowed to depart, and return into his own\ncountry. Henry would not suffer it, but gave strict orders to all his\nofficers and cooks to give him as much to eat as he wanted. He lived so\nwell, that for some time he seemed to be thriving like a nobleman's\nsteward, and growing as fat as an alderman. One day the king went out\nhunting, when Nixon ran to the palace gate, and entreated on his knees\nthat he might not be left behind to be starved. The king laughed, and\ncalling an officer, told him to take especial care of the prophet during\nhis absence, and rode away to the forest. After his departure, the\nservants of the palace began to jeer at and insult Nixon, whom they\nimagined to be much better treated than he deserved. Nixon complained to\nthe officer, who, to prevent him from being further molested, locked him\nup in the king's own closet, and brought him regularly his four meals a\nday. But it so happened that a messenger arrived from the king to this\nofficer, requiring his immediate presence at Winchester, on a matter of\nlife and death. So great was his haste to obey the king's command, that he\nmounted on the horse behind the messenger, and rode off, without bestowing\na thought upon poor Nixon. He did not return till three days afterwards,\nwhen, remembering the prophet for the first time, he went to the king's\ncloset, and found him lying upon the floor, starved to death, as he had\npredicted.\n\nAmong the prophecies of his which are believed to have been fulfilled are\nthe following, which relate to the times of the Pretender:\n\n   \"_A great man shall come into England,\n    But the son of a king\n    Shall take from him the victory._\"\n\n   \"_Crows shall drink the blood of many nobles,\n    And the North shall rise against the South._\"\n\n\n   \"_The coek of the North shall be made to flee,\n    And his feather be plucked for his pride,\n    That he shall almost curse the day that he was born._\"\n\n\nAll these, say his admirers, are as clear as the sun at noon-day. The\nfirst denotes the defeat of Prince Charles Edward, at the battle of\nCulloden, by the Duke of Cumberland; the second, the execution of Lords\nDerwentwater, Balmerino, and Lovat; and the third, the retreat of the\nPretender from the shores of Britain. Among the prophecies that still\nremain to be accomplished are the following:\n\n   \"_Between seven, eight, and nine,\n    In England wonders shall be seen;\n    Between nine and thirteen\n    All sorrow shall be done._\"\n\n   \"_Through our own money and our men\n    Shall a dreadful war begin.\n    Between the sickle and the suck\n    All England shall have a pluck._\"\n\n\"_Foreign nations shall invade England with snow on their helmets, and\nshall bring plague, famine, and murder in the skirts of their garments._\"\n\n\"_The town of Nantwich shall be swept away by a flood._\"\n\nOf the two first of these no explanation has yet been attempted; but some\nevent or other will doubtless be twisted into such a shape as will fit\nthem. The third, relative to the invasion of England by a nation with snow\non their helmets, is supposed by the old women to foretell most clearly a\ncoming war with Russia. As to the last, there are not a few in the town\nmentioned who devoutly believe that such will be its fate. Happily for\ntheir peace of mind, the prophet said nothing of the year that was to\nwitness the awful calamity; so that they think it as likely to be two\ncenturies hence as now.\n\nThe popular biographers of Nixon conclude their account of him by saying,\nthat \"his prophecies are by some persons thought fables; yet by what has\ncome to pass, it is now thought, and very plainly appears, that most of\nthem have proved, or will prove, true; for which we, on all occasions,\nought not only to exert our utmost might to repel by force our enemies,\nbut to refrain from our abandoned and wicked course of life, and to make\nour continual prayer to God for protection and safety.\" To this, though a\n_non sequitur_, every one will cry, Amen!\n\nBesides the prophets, there have been the almanac-makers Lilly, Poor\nRobin, Partridge, and Francis Moore physician, in England and Matthew\nLaensbergh, in France and Belgium. But great as were their pretensions,\nthey were modesty itself in comparison with Merlin, Shipton, and Nixon,\nwho fixed their minds upon higher things than the weather, and were not so\nrestrained as to prophesy for only one year at a time. After such prophets\nthe almanac-makers hardly deserve to be mentioned; not even the renowned\nPartridge, whose prognostications set all England agog in 1708, and whose\ndeath while still alive was so pleasantly and satisfactorily proved by\nIsaac Bickerstaff. The anti-climax would be too palpable, and they and\ntheir doings must be left uncommemorated.\n\n[Illustration: MOTHER SHIPTON'S HOUSE.[57]]\n\n    [57] Although other places claim the honour(!) of Mother Shipton's\n         birth, her residence is asserted, by oral tradition, to have\n         been for many years a cottage at Winslow-cum-Shipton, in\n         Buckinghamshire, of which the above is a representation. We\n         give the contents of one of the popular books containing her\n         prophecies:\n\n         _The Strange and Wonderful History and Prophecies of Mother\n         Shipton, plainly setting forth her Birth, Life, Death, and\n         Burial._ 12mo. Newcastle. Chap. 1.--Of her birth and\n         parentage. 2. How Mother Shipton's mother proved with child;\n         how she fitted the justice, and what happened at her\n         delivery. 3. By what name Mother Shipton was christened, and\n         how her mother went into a monastery. 4. Several other pranks\n         play'd by Mother Shipton in revenge of such as abused her. 5.\n         How Ursula married a young man named Tobias Shipton, and how\n         strangely she discovered a thief. 6. Her prophecy against\n         Cardinal Wolsey. 7. Some other prophecies of Mother Shipton\n         relating to those times. 8. Her prophecies in verse to the\n         Abbot of Beverly. 9. Mother Shipton's life, death, and\n         burial.\n\n\n\n\nFORTUNE-TELLING.\n\n    And men still grope t' anticipate\n    The cabinet designs of Fate;\n    Apply to wizards to foresee\n    What shall and what shall never be.\n                                        _Hudibras_, part iii. canto 3.\n\n\nIn accordance with the plan laid down, we proceed to the consideration of\nthe follies into which men have been led by their eager desire to pierce\nthe thick darkness of futurity. God himself, for his own wise purposes,\nhas more than once undrawn the impenetrable veil which shrouds those awful\nsecrets; and, for purposes just as wise, he has decreed that, except in\nthese instances, ignorance shall be our lot for ever. It is happy for man\nthat he does not know what the morrow is to bring forth; but, unaware of\nthis great blessing, he has, in all ages of the world, presumptuously\nendeavoured to trace the events of unborn centuries, and anticipate the\nmarch of time. He has reduced this presumption into a study. He has\ndivided it into sciences and systems without number, employing his whole\nlife in the vain pursuit. Upon no subject has it been so easy to deceive\nthe world as upon this. In every breast the curiosity exists in a greater\nor less degree, and can only be conquered by a long course of\nself-examination, and a firm reliance that the future would not be hidden\nfrom our sight, if it were right that we should be acquainted with it.\n\nAn undue opinion of our own importance in the scale of creation is at the\nbottom of all our unwarrantable notions in this respect. How flattering to\nthe pride of man to think that the stars in their courses watch over him,\nand typify, by their movements and aspects, the joys or the sorrows that\nawait him! He, less in proportion to the universe than the all-but\ninvisible insects that feed in myriads on a summer's leaf are to this\ngreat globe itself, fondly imagines that eternal worlds were chiefly\ncreated to prognosticate his fate. How we should pity the arrogance of the\nworm that crawls at our feet, if we knew that it also desired to know the\nsecrets of futurity, and imagined that meteors shot athwart the sky to\nwarn it that a tom-tit was hovering near to gobble it up; that storms and\nearthquakes, the revolutions of empires, or the fall of mighty monarchs,\nonly happened to predict its birth, its progress, and its decay! Not a\nwhit less presuming has man shewn himself; not a whit less arrogant are\nthe sciences, so called, of astrology, augury, necromancy, geomancy,\npalmistry, and divination of every kind.\n\nLeaving out of view the oracles of pagan antiquity and religious\npredictions in general, and confining ourselves solely to the persons who,\nin modern times, have made themselves most conspicuous in foretelling the\nfuture, we shall find that the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were\nthe golden age of these impostors. Many of them have been already\nmentioned in their character of alchymists. The union of the two\npretensions is not at all surprising. It was to be expected that those who\nassumed a power so preposterous as that of prolonging the life of man for\nseveral centuries, should pretend, at the same time, to foretell the\nevents which were to mark that preternatural span of existence. The world\nwould as readily believe that they had discovered all secrets, as that\nthey had only discovered one. The most celebrated astrologers of Europe,\nthree centuries ago, were alchymists. Agrippa, Paracelsus, Dr. Dee, and\nthe Rosicrucians, all laid as much stress upon their knowledge of the days\nto come, as upon their pretended possession of the philosopher's stone and\nthe elixir of life. In their time, ideas of the wonderful, the diabolical,\nand the supernatural, were rifer than ever they were before. The devil or\nthe stars were universally believed to meddle constantly in the affairs of\nmen; and both were to be consulted with proper ceremonies. Those who were\nof a melancholy and gloomy temperament betook themselves to necromancy and\nsorcery; those more cheerful and aspiring devoted themselves to astrology.\nThe latter science was encouraged by all the monarchs and governments of\nthat age. In England, from the time of Elizabeth to that of William and\nMary, judicial astrology was in high repute. During that period flourished\nDrs. Dee, Lamb, and Forman; with Lilly, Booker, Gadbury, Evans, and scores\nof nameless impostors in every considerable town and village in the\ncountry, who made it their business to cast nativities, aid in the\nrecovery of stolen goods, prognosticate happy or unhappy marriages,\npredict whether journeys would be prosperous, and note lucky moments for\nthe commencement of any enterprise, from the setting up of a cobbler's\nshop to the marching of an army. Men who, to use the words of Butler, did\n\n   \"Deal in Destiny's dark counsel,\n    And sage opinion of the moon sell;\n    To whom all people far and near\n    On deep importance did repair,\n    When brass and pewter pots did stray,\n    And linen slunk out of the way.\"\n\n[Illustration: HENRY ANDREWS, THE ORIGINAL \"FRANCIS MOORE.\"]\n\nIn Lilly's _Memoirs of his Life and Times_, there are many notices of the\ninferior quacks who then abounded, and upon whom he pretended to look down\nwith supreme contempt; not because they were astrologers, but because they\ndebased that noble art by taking fees for the recovery of stolen property.\nFrom Butler's _Hudibras_, and its curious notes, we may learn what immense\nnumbers of these fellows lived upon the credulity of mankind in that age\nof witchcraft and diablerie. Even in our day, how great is the reputation\nenjoyed by the almanac-makers, who assume the name of Francis Moore! But\nin the time of Charles I. and the Commonwealth the most learned, the most\nnoble, and the most conspicuous characters did not hesitate to consult\nastrologers in the most open manner. Lilly, whom Butler has immortalised\nunder the name of Sydrophel, relates, that he proposed to write a work\ncalled _An Introduction to Astrology_, in which he would satisfy the whole\nkingdom of the lawfulness of that art. Many of the soldiers were for it,\nhe says, and many of the Independent party, and abundance of worthy men in\nthe House of Commons, his assured friends, and able to take his part\nagainst the Presbyterians, who would have silenced his predictions if they\ncould. He afterwards carried his plan into execution, and when his book\nwas published, went with another astrologer named Booker to the\nheadquarters of the parliamentary army at Windsor, where they were\nwelcomed and feasted in the garden where General Fairfax lodged. They were\nafterwards introduced to the general, who received them very kindly, and\nmade allusion to some of their predictions. He hoped their art was lawful\nand agreeable to God's word; but he did not understand it himself. He did\nnot doubt, however, that the two astrologers feared God, and therefore he\nhad a good opinion of them. Lilly assured him that the art of astrology\nwas quite consonant to the Scriptures; and confidently predicted from his\nknowledge of the stars, that the parliamentary army would overthrow all\nits enemies. In Oliver's Protectorate, this quack informs us that he wrote\nfreely enough. He became an Independent, and all the soldiery were his\nfriends. When he went to Scotland, he saw a soldier standing in front of\nthe army with a book of prophecies in his hand, exclaiming to the several\ncompanies as they passed by him, \"Lo! hear what Lilly saith: you are in\nthis month promised victory! Fight it out, brave boys! and then read that\nmonth's prediction!\"\n\nAfter the great fire of London, which Lilly said he had foretold, he was\nsent for by the committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire\ninto the causes of the calamity. In his _Monarchy or no Monarchy_,\npublished in 1651, he had inserted an hieroglyphical plate representing on\none side persons in winding-sheets digging graves; and on the other a\nlarge city in flames. After the great fire, some sapient member of the\nlegislature bethought him of Lilly's book, and having mentioned it in the\nhouse, it was agreed that the astrologer should be summoned. Lilly\nattended accordingly, when Sir Robert Brook told him the reason of his\nsummons, and called upon him to declare what he knew. This was a rare\nopportunity for the vainglorious Lilly to vaunt his abilities; and he\nbegan a long speech in praise of himself and his pretended science. He\nsaid that, after the execution of Charles I., he was extremely desirous to\nknow what might from that time forth happen to the parliament and to the\nnation in general. He therefore consulted the stars, and satisfied\nhimself. The result of his judgment he put into emblems and hieroglyphics,\nwithout any commentary, so that the true meaning might be concealed from\nthe vulgar, and made manifest only to the wise; imitating in this the\nexample of many wise philosophers who had done the like.\n\n\"Did you foresee the year of the fire?\" said a member. \"No,\" quoth Lilly,\n\"nor was I desirous. Of that I made no scrutiny.\" After some further\nparley, the house found they could make nothing of the astrologer, and\ndismissed him with great civility.\n\nOne specimen of the explanation of a prophecy given by Lilly, and related\nby him with much complacency, will be sufficient to shew the sort of trash\nby which he imposed upon the million. \"In the year 1588,\" says he, \"there\nwas a prophecy printed in Greek characters, exactly deciphering the long\ntroubles of the English nation from 1641 to 1660.\" And it ended thus: \"And\nafter him shall come a dreadful dead man, and with him a royal G, of the\nbest blood in the world; and he shall have the crown, and shall set\nEngland on the right way, and put out all heresies.\" The following is the\nexplanation of this oracular absurdity:\n\n\"_Monkery being extinguished above eighty or ninety years, and the Lord\nGeneral's name being Monk, is the dead man. The royal G or C [it is gamma\nin the Greek, intending C in the Latin, being the third letter in the\nalphabet] is Charles II., who for his extraction may be said to be of the\nbest blood of the world._\"\n\nIn France and Germany astrologers met even more encouragement than they\nreceived in England. In very early ages Charlemagne and his successors\nfulminated their wrath against them in common with sorcerers. Louis XI.,\nthat most superstitious of men, entertained great numbers of them at his\ncourt; and Catherine de Medicis, that most superstitious of women, hardly\never undertook any affair of importance without consulting them. She\nchiefly favoured her own countrymen; and during the time she governed\nFrance, the land was overrun by Italian conjurors, necromancers, and\nfortune-tellers of every kind. But the chief astrologer of that day,\nbeyond all doubt, was the celebrated Nostradamus, physician to her\nhusband, King Henry II. He was born in 1503 at the town of St. Remi, in\nProvence, where his father was a notary. He did not acquire much fame till\nhe was past his fiftieth year, when his famous _Centuries_, a collection\nof verses, written in obscure and almost unintelligible language, began to\nexcite attention. They were so much spoken of in 1556, that Henry II.\nresolved to attach so skilful a man to his service, and appointed him his\nphysician. In a biographical notice of him, prefixed to the edition of his\n_Vraies Centuries_, published at Amsterdam in 1668, we are informed that\nhe often discoursed with his royal master on the secrets of futurity, and\nreceived many great presents as his reward, besides his usual allowance\nfor medical attendance. After the death of Henry he retired to his native\nplace, where Charles IX. paid him a visit in 1564; and was so impressed\nwith veneration for his wondrous knowledge of the things that were to be,\nnot in France only, but in the whole world for hundreds of years to come,\nthat he made him a counsellor of state and his own physician, besides\ntreating him in other matters with a royal liberality. \"In fine,\"\ncontinues his biographer, \"I should be too prolix were I to tell all the\nhonours conferred upon him, and all the great nobles and learned men that\narrived at his house from the very ends of the earth, to see and converse\nwith him as if he had been an oracle. Many strangers, in fact, came to\nFrance for no other purpose than to consult him.\"\n\n[Illustration: NOSTRADAMUS.--FROM THE FRONTISPIECE TO A COLLECTION OF HIS\nPROPHECIES, PUBLISHED AT AMSTERDAM, A.D. 1666.]\n\nThe prophecies of Nostradamus consist of upwards of a thousand stanzas,\neach of four lines, and are to the full as obscure as the oracles of old.\nThey take so great a latitude, both as to time and space, that they are\nalmost sure to be fulfilled somewhere or other in the course of a few\ncenturies. A little ingenuity, like that evinced by Lilly in his\nexplanation about General Monk and the dreadful dead man, might easily\nmake events to fit some of them.[58]\n\n    [58] Let us try. In his second century, prediction 66, he says:\n\n            \"From great dangers the captive is escaped.\n             A little time, great fortune changed.\n             In the palace the people are caught.\n             By good augury the city is besieged.\"\n\n         \"What is this,\" a believer might exclaim, \"but the escape of\n         Napoleon from Elba--his changed fortune, and the occupation\n         of Paris by the allied armies?\"\n\n         Let us try again. In his third century, prediction 98, he\n         says:\n\n            \"Two royal brothers will make fierce war on each other;\n             So mortal shall be the strife between them,\n             That each one shall occupy a fort against the other;\n             For their reign and life shall be the quarrel.\"\n\n         Some Lillius Redivivus would find no difficulty in this\n         prediction. To use a vulgar phrase, it is as clear as a\n         pikestaff. Had not the astrologer in view Don Miguel and Don\n         Pedro when he penned this stanza, so much less obscure and\n         oracular than the rest?\n\nHe is to this day extremely popular in France and the Walloon country of\nBelgium, where old farmer-wives consult him with great confidence and\nassiduity.\n\nCatherine di Medicis was not the only member of her illustrious house who\nentertained astrologers. At the beginning of the fifteenth century there\nwas a man, named Basil, residing in Florence, who was noted over all Italy\nfor his skill in piercing the darkness of futurity. It is said that he\nforetold to Cosmo di Medicis, then a private citizen, that he would attain\nhigh dignity, inasmuch as the ascendant of his nativity was adorned with\nthe same propitious aspects as those of Augustus C\u00e6sar and the Emperor\nCharles V.[59] Another astrologer foretold the death of Prince Alexander\ndi Medicis; and so very minute and particular was he in all the\ncircumstances, that he was suspected of being chiefly instrumental in\nfulfilling his own prophecy--a very common resource with these fellows to\nkeep up their credit. He foretold confidently that the prince should die\nby the hand of his own familiar friend, a person of a slender habit of\nbody, a small face, a swarthy complexion, and of most remarkable\ntaciturnity. So it afterwards happened, Alexander having been murdered in\nhis chamber by his cousin Lorenzo, who corresponded exactly with the above\ndescription.[60] The author of _Hermippus Redivivus_, in relating this\nstory, inclines to the belief that the astrologer was guiltless of any\nparticipation in the crime, but was employed by some friend of Prince\nAlexander to warn him of his danger.\n\n    [59] _Hermippus Redivivus_, p. 142.\n\n    [60] _Jovii Elog._ p. 320.\n\nA much more remarkable story is told of an astrologer who lived in Romagna\nin the fifteenth century, and whose name was Antiochus Tibertus.[61] At\nthat time nearly all the petty sovereigns of Italy retained such men in\ntheir service; and Tibertus, having studied the mathematics with great\nsuccess at Paris, and delivered many predictions, some of which, for\nguesses, were not deficient in shrewdness, was taken into the household of\nPandolfo di Malatesta, the sovereign of Rimini. His reputation was so\ngreat, that his study was continually thronged either with visitors who\nwere persons of distinction, or with clients who came to him for advice;\nand in a short time he acquired a considerable fortune. Notwithstanding\nall these advantages, he passed his life miserably, and ended it on the\nscaffold. The following story afterwards got into circulation, and has\nbeen often triumphantly cited by succeeding astrologers as an irrefragable\nproof of the truth of their science. It was said that, long before he\ndied, he uttered three remarkable prophecies--one relating to himself,\nanother to his friend, and the third to his patron, Pandolfo di Malatesta.\nThe first delivered was that relating to his friend Guido di Bogni, one of\nthe greatest captains of the time. Guido was exceedingly desirous to know\nhis fortune, and so importuned Tibertus, that the latter consulted the\nstars and the lines on his palm to satisfy him. He afterwards told him\nwith a sorrowful face, that, according to all the rules of astrology and\npalmistry, he should be falsely suspected by his best friend, and should\nlose his life in consequence. Guido then asked the astrologer if he could\nforetell his own fate; upon which Tibertus again consulted the stars, and\nfound that it was decreed from all eternity that he should end his days on\nthe scaffold. Malatesta, when he heard these predictions, so unlikely, to\nall present appearance, to prove true, desired his astrologer to predict\nhis fate also, and to hide nothing from him, however unfavourable it might\nbe. Tibertus complied, and told his patron, at that time one of the most\nflourishing and powerful princes of Italy, that he should suffer great\nwant, and die at last like a beggar in the common hospital of Bologna. And\nso it happened in all three cases. Guido di Bogni was accused by his own\nfather-in-law, the Count di Bentivoglio, of a treasonable design to\ndeliver up the city of Rimini to the papal forces, and was assassinated\nafterwards, by order of the tyrant Malatesta, as he sat at the\nsupper-table, to which he had been invited in all apparent friendship. The\nastrologer was at the same time thrown into prison, as being concerned in\nthe treason of his friend. He attempted to escape, and had succeeded in\nletting himself down from his dungeon-window into a moat, when he was\ndiscovered by the sentinels. This being reported to Malatesta, he gave\norders for his execution on the following morning.\n\n    [61] _Les Anecdotes de Florence, ou l'Histoire secr\u00e8te de la\n         Maison di Medicis_, p. 318.\n\nMalatesta had, at this time, no remembrance of the prophecy; and his own\nfate gave him no uneasiness; but events were silently working its\nfulfilment. A conspiracy had been formed, though Guido di Bogni was\ninnocent of it, to deliver up Rimini to the pope; and all the necessary\nmeasures having been taken, the city was seized by the Count de\nValentinois. In the confusion, Malatesta had barely time to escape from\nhis palace in disguise. He was pursued from place to place by his enemies,\nabandoned by all his former friends, and, finally, by his own children. He\nat last fell ill of a languishing disease, at Bologna; and, nobody caring\nto afford him shelter, he was carried to the hospital, where he died. The\nonly thing that detracts from the interest of this remarkable story is the\nfact, that the prophecy was made after the event.\n\nFor some weeks before the birth of Louis XIV., an astrologer from Germany,\nwho had been sent for by the Marshal de Bassompierre and other noblemen of\nthe court, had taken up his residence in the palace, to be ready, at a\nmoment's notice, to draw the horoscope of the future sovereign of France.\nWhen the queen was taken in labour, he was ushered into a contiguous\napartment, that he might receive notice of the very instant the child was\nborn. The result of his observations were the three words, _diu, dur\u00e8,\nfeliciter_; meaning, that the new-born prince should live and reign long,\nwith much labour, and with great glory. No prediction less favourable\ncould have been expected from an astrologer, who had his bread to get, and\nwho was at the same time a courtier. A medal was afterwards struck in\ncommemoration of the event; upon one side of which was figured the\nnativity of the prince, representing him as driving the chariot of Apollo,\nwith the inscription \"Ortus solis Gallici,\"--the rising of the Gallic sun.\n\nThe best excuse ever made for astrology was that offered by the great\nastronomer, Kepler, himself an unwilling practiser of the art.\n\nHe had many applications from his friends to cast nativities for them, and\ngenerally gave a positive refusal to such as he was not afraid of\noffending by his frankness. In other cases he accommodated himself to the\nprevailing delusion. In sending a copy of his _Ephemerides_ to Professor\nGerlach, he wrote, that _they were nothing but worthless conjectures_; but\nhe was obliged to devote himself to them, or he would have starved. \"Ye\noverwise philosophers,\" he exclaimed, in his _Tertius Interveniens_; \"ye\ncensure this daughter of astronomy beyond her deserts! _Know ye not that\nshe must support her mother by her charms?_ The scanty reward of an\nastronomer would not provide him with bread, if men did not entertain\nhopes of reading the future in the heavens.\"\n\n\nNECROMANCY was, next to astrology, the pretended science most resorted to,\nby those who wished to pry into the future. The earliest instance upon\nrecord is that of the witch of Endor and the spirit of Samuel. Nearly all\nthe nations of antiquity believed in the possibility of summoning departed\nghosts to disclose the awful secrets that God made clear to the\ndisembodied. Many passages in allusion to this subject will at once\nsuggest themselves to the classical reader; but this art was never carried\non openly in any country. All governments looked upon it as a crime of the\ndeepest dye. While astrology was encouraged, and its professors courted\nand rewarded, necromancers were universally condemned to the stake or the\ngallows. Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Arnold of Villeneuve, and many\nothers, were accused by the public opinion of many centuries, of meddling\nin these unhallowed matters. So deep-rooted has always been the popular\ndelusion with respect to accusations of this kind, that no crime was ever\ndisproved with such toil and difficulty. That it met great encouragement,\nnevertheless, is evident from the vast numbers of pretenders to it; who,\nin spite of the danger, have existed in all ages and countries.\n\n\nGEOMANCY, or the art of foretelling the future by means of lines and\ncircles, and other mathematical figures drawn on the earth, is still\nextensively practised in Asiatic countries, but is almost unknown in\nEurope.\n\n\nAUGURY, from the flight or entrails of birds, so favourite a study among\nthe Romans, is, in like manner, exploded in Europe. Its most assiduous\nprofessors, at the present day, are the abominable Thugs of India.\n\n\nDIVINATION, of which there are many kinds, boasts a more enduring\nreputation. It has held an empire over the minds of men from the earliest\nperiods of recorded history, and is, in all probability, coeval with time\nitself. It was practised alike by the Jews, the Egyptians, the Chaldeans,\nthe Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans; is equally known to all modern\nnations, in every part of the world; and is not unfamiliar to the\nuntutored tribes that roam in the wilds of Africa and America. Divination,\nas practised in civilised Europe at the present day, is chiefly from\ncards, the tea-cup, and the lines on the palm of the hand. Gipsies alone\nmake a profession of it; but there are thousands and tens of thousands of\nhumble families in which the good-wife, and even the good-man, resort to\nthe grounds at the bottom of their tea-cups, to know whether the next\nharvest will be abundant, or their sow bring forth a numerous litter; and\nin which the young maidens look to the same place to know when they are to\nbe married, and whether the man of their choice is to be dark or fair,\nrich or poor, kind or cruel. Divination by cards, so great a favourite\namong the moderns, is, of course, a modern science; as cards do not yet\nboast an antiquity of much more than four hundred years. Divination by the\npalm, so confidently believed in by half the village lasses in Europe, is\nof older date, and seems to have been known to the Egyptians in the time\nof the patriarchs; as well as divination by the cup, which, as we are\ninformed in Genesis, was practised by Joseph. Divination by the rod was\nalso practised by the Egyptians. In comparatively recent times, it was\npretended that by this means hidden treasures could be discovered. It now\nappears to be altogether exploded in Europe. Onomancy, or the foretelling\na man's fate by the letters of his name, and the various transpositions of\nwhich they are capable, is a more modern sort of divination; but it\nreckons comparatively few believers.\n\n\nThe following list of the various species of divination formerly in use,\nis given by Gaule in his _Magastromancer_, and quoted in Hone's\n_Year-Book_, p. 1517.\n\n    _Stereomancy_, or divining by the elements.\n    _Aeromancy_, or divining by the air.\n    _Pyromancy_, by fire,\n    _Hydromancy_, by water.\n    _Geomancy_, by earth.\n    _Theomancy_, pretending to divine by the revelation of the Spirit,\n        and by the Scriptures, or word of God.\n    _Demonomancy_, by the aid of devils and evil spirits.\n    _Idolomancy_, by idols, images, and figures.\n    _Psychomancy_, by the soul, affections, or dispositions of men.\n    _Anthropomancy_, by the entrails of human beings.\n    _Theriomancy_, by beasts.\n    _Ornithomancy_, by birds.\n    _Ichthyomancy_, by fishes.\n    _Botanomancy_, by herbs.\n    _Lithomancy_, by stones.\n    _Kleromancy_, by lots.\n    _Oneiromancy_, by dreams.\n    _Onomancy_, by names.\n    _Arithmancy_, by numbers.\n    _Logarithmancy_, by logarithms.\n    _Sternomancy_, by the marks from the breast to the belly.\n    _Gastromancy_, by the sound of, or marks upon the belly.\n    _Omphalomancy_, by the navel.\n    _Chiromancy_, by the hands.\n    _Podomancy_, by the feet.\n    _Onchyomancy_, by the nails.\n    _Cephaleonomancy_, by asses' heads.\n    _Tephromancy_, by ashes.\n    _Kapnomancy_, by smoke.\n    _Knissomancy_, by the burning of incense.\n    _Ceromancy_, by the melting of wax.\n    _Lecanomancy_, by basins of water.\n    _Katoptromancy_, by looking-glasses.\n    _Chartomancy_, by writing in papers, and by Valentines.\n    _Macharomancy_, by knives and swords.\n    _Crystallomancy_, by crystals.\n    _Dactylomancy_, by rings.\n    _Koskinomancy_, by sieves.\n    _Axinomancy_, by saws.\n    _Chalcomancy_, by vessels of brass, or other metal.\n    _Spatilomancy_, by skins, bones, &c.\n    _Astromancy_, by stars.\n    _Sciomancy_, by shadows.\n    _Astragalomancy_, by dice.\n    _Oinomancy_, by the lees of wine.\n    _Sycomancy_, by figs.\n    _Tyromancy_, by cheese.\n    _Alphitomancy_, by meal, flour, or bran.\n    _Krithomancy_, by corn or grain.\n    _Alectromancy_, by cocks.\n    _Gyromancy_, by circles.\n    _Lampadomancy_, by candles and lamps.\n\n\nONEIRO-CRITICISM, or the art of interpreting dreams, is a relic of the\nmost remote ages, which has subsisted through all the changes that moral\nor physical revolutions have operated in the world. The records of five\nthousand years bear abundant testimony to the universal diffusion of the\nbelief, that the skilful could read the future in dreams. The rules of the\nart, if any existed in ancient times, are not known; but in our day, one\nsimple rule opens the whole secret. Dreams, say all the wiseacres in\nChristendom, are to be interpreted by contraries. Thus, if you dream of\nfilth, you will acquire something valuable; if you dream of the dead, you\nwill hear news of the living; if you dream of gold and silver, you run a\nrisk of being without either; and if you dream you have many friends, you\nwill be persecuted by many enemies. The rule, however, does not hold good\nin all cases. It is fortunate to dream of little pigs, but unfortunate to\ndream of big bullocks. If you dream you have lost a tooth, you may be sure\nthat you will shortly lose a friend; and if you dream that your house is\non fire, you will receive news from a far country. If you dream of vermin,\nit is a sign that there will be sickness in your family; and if you dream\nof serpents, you will have friends who, in the course of time, will prove\nyour bitterest enemies; but, of all dreams, it is most fortunate if you\ndream that you are wallowing up to your neck in mud and mire. Clear water\nis a sign of grief; and great troubles, distress, and perplexity are\npredicted, if you dream that you stand naked in the public streets, and\nknow not where to find a garment to shield you from the gaze of the\nmultitude.\n\nIn many parts of Great Britain, and the continents of Europe and America,\nthere are to be found elderly women in the villages and country-places\nwhose interpretations of dreams are looked upon with as much reverence as\nif they were oracles. In districts remote from towns it is not uncommon to\nfind the members of a family regularly every morning narrating their\ndreams at the breakfast-table, and becoming happy or miserable for the day\naccording to their interpretation. There is not a flower that blossoms, or\nfruit that ripens, that, dreamed of, is not ominous of either good or evil\nto such people. Every tree of the field or the forest is endowed with a\nsimilar influence over the fate of mortals, if seen in the night-visions.\nTo dream of the ash, is the sign of a long journey; and of an oak,\nprognosticates long life and prosperity. To dream you stript the bark off\nany tree, is a sign to a maiden of an approaching loss of a character; to\na married woman, of a family bereavement; and to a man, of an accession of\nfortune. To dream of a leafless tree, is a sign of great sorrow; and of a\nbranchless trunk, a sign of despair and suicide. The elder-tree is more\nauspicious to the sleeper; while the fir-tree, better still, betokens all\nmanner of comfort and prosperity. The lime-tree predicts a voyage across\nthe ocean; while the yew and the alder are ominous of sickness to the\nyoung and of death to the old.[62] Among the flowers and fruits charged\nwith messages for the future, the following is a list of the most\nimportant, arranged from approved sources, in alphabetical order:\n\n    _Asparagus_, gathered and tied up in bundles, is an omen of tears.\n        If you see it growing in your dreams, it is a sign of good\n        fortune.\n\n    _Aloes_, without a flower, betokens long life; in flower, betokens\n        a legacy.\n\n    _Artichokes_. This vegetable is a sign that you will receive, in a\n        short time, a favour from the hands of those from whom you\n        would least expect it.\n\n    _Agrimony_. This herb denotes that there will be sickness in your\n        house.\n\n    _Anemone_ predicts love.\n\n    _Auriculas_, in beds, denote luck; in pots, marriage; while to\n        gather them, foretells widowhood.\n\n    _Bilberries_ predict a pleasant excursion.\n\n    _Broom-flowers_ an increase of family.\n\n    _Cauliflowers_ predict that all your friends will slight you, or\n        that you will fall into poverty and find no one to pity you.\n\n    _Dock-leaves_, a present from the country.\n\n    _Daffodils_. Any maiden who dreams of daffodils is warned by her\n        good angel to avoid going into a wood with her lover, or into\n        any dark or retired place where she might not be able to make\n        people hear her if she cried out. Alas for her if she pay no\n        attention to the warning!\n\n           \"Never again shall she put garland on;\n            Instead of it she'll wear sad cypress now,\n            And bitter elder broken from the bough.\"\n\n    _Figs_, if green, betoken embarrassment; if dried, money to the\n        poor, and mirth to the rich.\n\n    _Hearts-ease_ betokens heart's pain.\n\n    _Lilies_ predict joy; _water-lilies_, danger from the sea.\n\n    _Lemons_ betoken a separation.\n\n    _Pomegranates_ predict happy wedlock to those who are single, and\n        reconciliation to those who are married and have disagreed.\n\n    _Quinces_ prognosticate pleasant company.\n\n    _Roses_ denote happy love, not unmixed with sorrow from other\n        sources.\n\n    _Sorrel_. To dream of this herb is a sign that you will shortly\n        have occasion to exert all your prudence to overcome some\n        great calamity.\n\n    _Sunflowers_ shew that your pride will be deeply wounded.\n\n    _Violets_ predict evil to the single, and joy to the married.\n\n    _Yellow-flowers_ of any kind predict jealousy.\n\n    _Yew-berries_ predict loss of character to both sexes.\n\n    [62] It is quite astonishing to see the great demand there is,\n         both in England and France, for dream-books, and other trash\n         of the same kind. Two books in England enjoy an extraordinary\n         popularity, and have run through upwards of fifty editions in\n         as many years in London alone, besides being reprinted in\n         Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dublin. One is _Mother\n         Bridget's Dream-book and Oracle of Fate_; the other is the\n         _Norwood Gipsy_. It is stated, on the authority of one who is\n         curious in these matters, that there is a demand for these\n         works, which are sold at sums varying from a penny to\n         sixpence, chiefly to servant-girls and imperfectly-educated\n         people, all over the country, of upwards of eleven thousand\n         annually; and that at no period during the last thirty years\n         has the average number sold been less than this. The total\n         number during this period would thus amount to 330,000.\n\nIt should be observed that the rules for the interpretation of dreams are\nfar from being universal. The cheeks of the peasant girl of England glow\nwith pleasure in the morning after she has dreamed of a rose, while the\n_paysanne_ of Normandy dreads disappointment and vexation for the very\nsame reason. The Switzer who dreams of an oak-tree does not share in the\nEnglishman's joy; for he imagines that the vision was a warning to him\nthat, from some trifling cause, an overwhelming calamity will burst over\nhim. Thus do the ignorant and the credulous torment themselves; thus do\nthey spread their nets to catch vexation, and pass their lives between\nhopes which are of no value and fears which are a positive evil.\n\n\nOMENS. Among the other means of self-annoyance upon which men have\nstumbled, in their vain hope of discovering the future, signs and omens\nhold a conspicuous place. There is scarcely an occurrence in nature which,\nhappening at a certain time, is not looked upon by some persons as a\nprognosticator either of good or evil. The latter are in the greatest\nnumber, so much more ingenious are we in tormenting ourselves than in\ndiscovering reasons for enjoyment in the things that surround us. We go\nout of our course to make ourselves uncomfortable; the cup of life is not\nbitter enough to our palate, and we distil superfluous poison to put into\nit, or conjure up hideous things to frighten ourselves at, which would\nnever exist if we did not make them. \"We suffer,\" says Addison,[63] \"as\nmuch from trifling accidents as from real evils. I have known the shooting\nof a star spoil a night's rest, and have seen a man in love grow pale and\nlose his appetite upon the plucking of a merrythought. A screech-owl at\nmidnight has alarmed a family more than a band of robbers; nay, the voice\nof a cricket has struck more terror than the roaring of a lion. There is\nnothing so inconsiderable which may not appear dreadful to an imagination\nthat is filled with omens and prognostics. A rusty nail or a crooked pin\nshoot up into prodigies.\"\n\n    [63] _Spectator_, No. 7, March 8, 1710-11.\n\nThe century and a quarter that has passed away since Addison wrote has\nseen the fall of many errors. Many fallacies and delusions have been\ncrushed under the foot of Time since then; but this has been left\nunscathed, to frighten the weak-minded and embitter their existence. A\nbelief in omens is not confined to the humble and uninformed. A general\nwho led an army with credit has been known to feel alarmed at a\nwinding-sheet in the candle; and learned men, who had honourably and\nfairly earned the highest honours of literature, have been seen to gather\ntheir little ones around them, and fear that one would be snatched away,\nbecause,\n\n    \"When stole upon the time the dead of night,\n    And heavy sleep had closed up mortal eyes,\"\n\na dog in the street was howling at the moon. Persons who would acknowledge\nfreely that the belief in omens was unworthy of a man of sense, have yet\nconfessed at the same time that, in spite of their reason, they have been\nunable to conquer their fears of death when they heard the harmless insect\ncalled the death-watch ticking in the wall, or saw an oblong hollow coal\nfly out of the fire.\n\nMany other evil omens besides those mentioned above alarm the vulgar and\nthe weak. If a sudden shivering comes over such people, they believe that,\nat that instant, an enemy is treading over the spot that will one day be\ntheir grave. If they meet a sow when they first walk abroad in the\nmorning, it is an omen of evil for that day. To meet an ass, is in like\nmanner unlucky. It is also very unfortunate to walk under a ladder; to\nforget to eat goose on the festival of St. Michael; to tread upon a\nbeetle, or to eat the twin nuts that are sometimes found in one shell.\nWoe, in like manner, is predicted to that wight who inadvertently upsets\nthe salt; each grain that is overthrown will bring to him a day of sorrow.\nIf thirteen persons sit at table, one of them will die within the year;\nand all of them will be unhappy. Of all evil omens this is the worst. The\nfacetious Dr. Kitchener used to observe that there was one case in which\nhe believed that it was really unlucky for thirteen persons to sit down to\ndinner, and that was when there was only dinner enough for twelve.\nUnfortunately for their peace of mind, the great majority of people do not\ntake this wise view of the matter. In almost every country of Europe the\nsame superstition prevails, and some carry it so far as to look upon the\nnumber thirteen as in every way ominous of evil; and if they find thirteen\ncoins in their purse, cast away the odd one like a polluted thing. The\nphilosophic Beranger, in his exquisite song, _Thirteen at Table_, has\ntaken a poetical view of this humiliating superstition, and mingled, as is\nhis wont, a lesson of genuine wisdom in his lay. Being at dinner, he\noverthrows the salt, and, looking round the room, discovers that he is the\nthirteenth guest. While he is mourning his unhappy fate, and conjuring up\nvisions of disease and suffering and the grave, he is suddenly startled by\nthe apparition of Death herself, not in the shape of a grim foe, with\nskeleton-ribs and menacing dart, but of an angel of light, who shews the\nfolly of tormenting ourselves with the dread of her approach, when she is\nthe friend, rather than the enemy, of man, and frees us from the fetters\nwhich bind us to the dust.\n\nIf men could bring themselves to look upon death in this manner, living\nwell and wisely till her inevitable approach, how vast a store of grief\nand vexation would they spare themselves!\n\nAmong good omens, one of the most conspicuous is to meet a piebald horse.\nTo meet two of these animals is still more fortunate; and if on such an\noccasion you spit thrice, and form any reasonable wish, it will be\ngratified within three days. It is also a sign of good fortune if you\ninadvertently put on your stocking wrong side out. If you wilfully wear\nyour stocking in this fashion, no good will come of it. It is very lucky\nto sneeze twice; but if you sneeze a third time, the omen loses its power,\nand your good fortune will be nipped in the bud. If a strange dog follow\nyou, and fawn on you, and wish to attach itself to you, it is a sign of\nvery great prosperity. Just as fortunate is it if a strange male cat comes\nto your house and manifests friendly intentions towards your family. If a\nshe cat, it is an omen, on the contrary, of very great misfortune. If a\nswarm of bees alight in your garden, some very high honour and great joys\nawait you.\n\nBesides these glimpses of the future, you may know something of your fate\nby a diligent attention to every itching that you may feel in your body.\nThus, if the eye or the nose itches, it is a sign you will be shortly\nvexed; if the foot itches, you will tread upon strange ground; and if the\nelbow itches, you will change your bedfellow. Itching of the right hand\nprognosticates that you will soon have a sum of money; and, of the left,\nthat you will be called upon to disburse it.\n\nThese are but a few of the omens which are generally credited in modern\nEurope. A complete list of them would fatigue from its length, and sicken\nfrom its absurdity. It would be still more unprofitable to attempt to\nspecify the various delusions of the same kind which are believed among\noriental nations. Every reader will remember the comprehensive formula of\ncursing preserved in _Tristram Shandy_--curse a man after any fashion you\nremember or can invent, you will be sure to find it there. The oriental\ncreed of omens is not less comprehensive. Every movement of the body,\nevery emotion of the mind, is at certain times an omen. Every form and\nobject in nature, even the shape of the clouds and the changes of the\nweather; every colour, every sound, whether of men or animals, or birds or\ninsects, or inanimate things, is an omen. Nothing is too trifling or\ninconsiderable to inspire a hope which is not worth cherishing, or a fear\nwhich is sufficient to embitter existence.\n\nFrom the belief in omens springs the superstition that has, from very\nearly ages, set apart certain days, as more favourable than others, for\nprying into the secrets of futurity. The following, copied verbatim from\nthe popular _Dream and Omen Book_ of Mother Bridget, will shew the belief\nof the people of England at the present day. Those who are curious as to\nthe ancient history of these observances, will find abundant aliment in\nthe _Every-day Book_.\n\n\n\"_The 1st of January._--If a young maiden drink, on going to bed, a pint\nof cold spring water, in which is beat up an amulet, composed of the yolk\nof a pullet's egg, the legs of a spider, and the skin of an eel pounded,\nher future destiny will be revealed to her in a dream. This charm fails of\nits effect if tried any other day of the year.\n\n\"_Valentine Day._--Let a single woman go out of her own door very early in\nthe morning, and if the first person she meets be a woman, she will not be\nmarried that year; if she meet a man she will be married within three\nmonths.\n\n\"_Lady Day._--The following charm may be tried this day with certain\nsuccess: String thirty-one nuts on a string, composed of red worsted mixed\nwith blue silk, and tie it round your neck on going to bed, repeating\nthese lines:\n\n   \"Oh, I wish! oh, I wish to see\n    Who my true love is to be!\n\nShortly after midnight, you will see your lover in a dream, and be\ninformed at the same time of all the principal events of your future life.\n\n\"_St. Swithin's Eve._--Select three things you most wish to know; write\nthem down with a new pen and red ink on a sheet of fine wove paper, from\nwhich you must previously cut off all the corners and burn them. Fold the\npaper into a true lover's knot, and wrap round it three hairs from your\nhead. Place the paper under your pillow for three successive nights, and\nyour curiosity to know the future will be satisfied.\n\n\"_St. Mark's Eve._--Repair to the nearest churchyard as the clock strikes\ntwelve, and take from a grave on the south side of the church three tufts\nof grass (the longer and ranker the better), and on going to bed place\nthem under your pillow, repeating earnestly three several times,\n\n   'The Eve of St. Mark by prediction is blest,\n    Set therefore my hopes and my fears all to rest:\n    Let me know my fate, whether weal or woe;\n    Whether my rank's to be high or low;\n    Whether to live single, or be a bride,\n    And the destiny my star doth provide.'\n\nShould you have no dream that night, you will be single and miserable all\nyour life. If you dream of thunder and lightning, your life will be one of\ngreat difficulty and sorrow.\n\n\"_Candlemas Eve._--On this night (which is the purification of the Virgin\nMary), let three, five, seven, or nine young maidens assemble together in\na square chamber. Hang in each corner a bundle of sweet herbs, mixed with\nrue and rosemary. Then mix a cake of flour, olive-oil, and white sugar;\nevery maiden having an equal share in the making and the expense of it.\nAfterwards it must be cut into equal pieces, each one marking the piece as\nshe cuts it with the initials of her name. It is then to be baked one hour\nbefore the fire, not a word being spoken the whole time, and the maidens\nsitting with their arms and knees across. Each piece of cake is then to be\nwrapped up in a sheet of paper, on which each maiden shall write the love\npart of Solomon's Songs. If she put this under her pillow she will dream\ntrue. She will see her future husband and every one of her children, and\nwill know besides whether her family will be poor or prosperous, a comfort\nto her or the contrary.\n\n\"_Midsummer._--Take three roses, smoke them with sulphur, and exactly at\nthree in the day bury one of the roses under a yew-tree; the second in a\nnewly-made grave, and put the third under your pillow for three nights,\nand at the end of that period burn it in a fire of charcoal. Your dreams\nduring that time will be prophetic of your future destiny, and, what is\nstill more curious and valuable, says Mother Bridget, the man whom you are\nto wed will enjoy no peace till he comes and visits you. Besides this, you\nwill perpetually haunt his dreams.\n\n\"_St. John's Eve._--Make a new pincushion of the very best black velvet\n(no inferior quality will answer the purpose), and on one side stick your\nname at full length with the very smallest pins that can be bought (none\nother will do). On the other side make a cross with some very large pins,\nand surround it with a circle. Put this into your stocking when you take\nit off at night, and hang it up at the foot of the bed. All your future\nlife will pass before you in a dream.\n\n\"_First New Moon of the year._--On the first new moon in the year take a\npint of clear spring water, and infuse into it the _white_ of an egg laid\nby a _white_ hen, a glass of _white_ wine, three almonds peeled _white_,\nand a tablespoonful of _white_ rose-water. Drink this on going to bed, not\nmaking more nor less than three draughts of it; repeating the following\nverses three several times in a clear distinct voice, but not so loud as\nto be overheard by any body:\n\n   'If I dream of water pure\n      Before the coming morn,\n    'Tis a sign I shall be poor,\n      And unto wealth not born.\n    If I dream of tasting beer,\n    Middling then will be my cheer--\n    Chequer'd with the good and bad,\n    Sometimes joyful, sometimes sad;\n    But should I dream of drinking wine,\n    Wealth and pleasure will be mine.\n    The stronger the drink, the better the cheer--\n    Dreams of my destiny, appear, appear!'\n\n\"_Twenty-ninth of February._--This day, as it only occurs once in four\nyears, is peculiarly auspicious to those who desire to have a glance at\nfuturity, especially to young maidens burning with anxiety to know the\nappearance and complexion of their future lords. The charm to be adopted\nis the following: Stick twenty-seven of the smallest pins that are made,\nthree by three, into a tallow candle. Light it up at the wrong end, and\nthen place it in a candlestick made out of clay, which must be drawn from\na virgin's grave. Place this on the chimney-place, in the left-hand\ncorner, exactly as the clock strikes twelve, and go to bed immediately.\nWhen the candle is burnt out, take the pins and put them into your left\nshoe; and before nine nights have elapsed your fate will be revealed to\nyou.\"\n\n\nWe have now taken a hasty review of the various modes of seeking to\ndiscover the future, especially as practised in modern times. The main\nfeatures of the folly appear essentially the same in all countries.\nNational character and peculiarities operate some difference of\ninterpretation. The mountaineer makes the natural phenomena which he most\nfrequently witnesses prognosticative of the future. The dweller in the\nplains, in a similar manner, seeks to know his fate among the signs of the\nthings that surround him, and tints his superstition with the hues of his\nown clime. The same spirit animates them all--the same desire to know that\nwhich Infinite Mercy has concealed. There is but little probability that\nthe curiosity of mankind in this respect will ever be wholly eradicated.\nDeath and ill fortune are continual bugbears to the weak-minded, the\nirreligious, and the ignorant; and while such exist in the world, divines\nwill preach upon its impiety and philosophers discourse upon its absurdity\nin vain. Still it is evident that these follies have greatly diminished.\nSoothsayers and prophets have lost the credit they formerly enjoyed, and\nskulk in secret now where they once shewed their faces in the blaze of\nday. So far there is manifest improvement.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGNETISERS.\n\n    Some deemed them wondrous wise, and some believed them mad.\n                                        _Beattie's Minstrel_.\n\n\n[Illustration: T]\n\nThe wonderful influence of imagination in the cure of diseases is well\nknown. A motion of the hand, or a glance of the eye, will throw a weak and\ncredulous patient into a fit; and a pill made of bread, if taken with\nsufficient faith, will operate a cure better than all the drugs in the\npharmacopoeia. The Prince of Orange, at the siege of Breda, in 1625, cured\nall his soldiers, who were dying of the scurvy, by a philanthropic piece\nof quackery, which he played upon them with the knowledge of the\nphysicians, when all other means had failed.[64] Many hundreds of\ninstances, of a similar kind, might be related, especially from the\nhistory of witchcraft. The mummeries, strange gesticulations, and\nbarbarous jargon of witches and sorcerers, which frightened credulous and\nnervous women, brought on all those symptoms of hysteria and other similar\ndiseases, so well understood now, but which were then supposed to be the\nwork of the Devil, not only by the victims and the public in general, but\nby the operators themselves.\n\n    [64] See Van der Mye's account of the siege of Breda. The\n         garrison, being afflicted with scurvy, the Prince of Orange\n         sent the physicians two or three small phials, containing a\n         decoction of camomile, wormwood, and camphor, telling them to\n         pretend that it was a medicine of the greatest value and\n         extremest rarity, which had been procured with very much\n         danger and difficulty from the East; and so strong, that two\n         or three drops would impart a healing virtue to a gallon of\n         water. The soldiers had faith in their commander; they took\n         the medicine with cheerful faces, and grew well rapidly. They\n         afterwards thronged about the prince in groups of twenty and\n         thirty at a time, praising his skill, and loading him with\n         protestations of gratitude.\n\nIn the age when alchymy began to fall into some disrepute, and learning to\nlift up its voice against it, a new delusion, based upon this\npower of imagination, suddenly arose, and found apostles among all the\nalchymists. Numbers of them, forsaking their old pursuits, made themselves\nmagnetisers. It appeared first in the shape of mineral, and afterwards of\nanimal, magnetism, under which latter name it survives to this day, and\nnumbers its dupes by thousands.\n\nThe mineral magnetisers claim the first notice, as the worthy predecessors\nof the quacks of the present day. The honour claimed for Paracelsus, of\nbeing the first of the Rosicrucians, has been disputed; but his claim to\nbe considered the first of the magnetisers can scarcely be challenged. It\nhas been already mentioned of him, in the part of this work which treats\nof alchymy, that, like nearly all the distinguished adepts, he was a\nphysician; and pretended, not only to make gold and confer immortality,\nbut to cure all diseases. He was the first who, with the latter view,\nattributed occult and miraculous powers to the magnet. Animated apparently\nby a sincere conviction that the magnet was the philosopher's stone,\nwhich, if it could not transmute metals, could soothe all human suffering\nand arrest the progress of decay, he travelled for many years in Persia\nand Arabia, in search of the mountain of adamant, so famed in oriental\nfables. When he practised as a physician at Basle, he called one of his\nnostrums by the name of azoth--a stone or crystal, which, he said,\ncontained magnetic properties, and cured epilepsy, hysteria, and spasmodic\naffections. He soon found imitators. His fame spread far and near; and\nthus were sown the first seeds of that error which has since taken root\nand flourished so widely. In spite of the denial of modern practitioners,\nthis must be considered the origin of magnetism; for we find that,\nbeginning with Paracelsus, there was a regular succession of mineral\nmagnetisers until Mesmer appeared, and gave a new feature to the delusion.\n\nParacelsus boasted of being able to _transplant_ diseases from the human\nframe into the earth, by means of the magnet. He said there were six ways\nby which this might be effected. One of them will be quite sufficient as a\nspecimen. \"If a person suffer from disease, either local or general, let\nthe following remedy be tried. Take a magnet, impregnated with mummy,[65]\nand mixed with rich earth. In this earth sow some seeds that have\na congruity or homogeneity with the disease; then let this earth, well\nsifted and mixed with mummy, be laid in an earthen vessel; and let the\nseeds committed to it be watered daily with a lotion in which the diseased\nlimb or body has been washed. Thus will the disease be transplanted from\nthe human body to the seeds which are in the earth. Having done this,\ntransplant the seeds from the earthen vessel to the ground, and wait till\nthey begin to sprout into herbs; as they increase, the disease will\ndiminish; and when they have arrived at their full growth, it will\ndisappear altogether.\"\n\n    [65] Mummies were of several kinds, and were all of great use in\n         magnetic medicines. Paracelsus enumerates six kinds of\n         mummies; the first four only differing in the composition\n         used by different people for preserving their dead, are the\n         Egyptian, Arabian, Pisasphaltos, and Libyan. The fifth mummy\n         of peculiar power was made from criminals that had been\n         hanged; \"for from such there is a gentle siccation, that\n         expungeth the watery humour, without destroying the oil and\n         spirituall, which is cherished by the heavenly luminaries,\n         and strengthened continually by the affluence and impulses of\n         the celestial spirits; whence it may be properly called by\n         the name of constellated or celestial mummie.\" The sixth kind\n         of mummy was made of corpuscles, or spiritual effluences,\n         radiated from the living body; though we cannot get very\n         clear ideas on this head, or respecting the manner in which\n         they were caught.--_Medicina Diatastica; or, Sympathetical\n         Mummie, abstracted from the Works of Paracelsus, and\n         translated out of the Latin_, by Fernando Parkhurst, Gent.\n         London, 1653, pp. 2, 7. Quoted by the _Foreign Quarterly\n         Review_, vol. xii. p. 415.\n\nKircher the Jesuit, whose quarrel with the alchymists was the means of\nexposing many of their impostures, was a firm believer in the efficacy of\nthe magnet. Having been applied to by a patient afflicted with hernia, he\ndirected the man to swallow a small magnet reduced to powder, while he\napplied at the same time to the external swelling, a poultice made of\nfilings of iron. He expected that by this means the magnet, when it got to\nthe corresponding place inside, would draw in the iron, and with it the\ntumour; which would thus, he said, be safely and expeditiously reduced.\n\nAs this new doctrine of magnetism spread, it was found that wounds\ninflicted with any metallic substance could be cured by the magnet. In\nprocess of time, the delusion so increased, that it was deemed sufficient\nto magnetise a sword, to cure any hurt which that sword might have\ninflicted! This was the origin of the celebrated \"weapon-salve,\" which\nexcited so much attention about the middle of the seventeenth century. The\nfollowing was the recipe given by Paracelsus for the cure of any wounds\ninflicted by a sharp weapon, except such as had penetrated the heart, the\nbrain, or the arteries. \"Take of moss growing on the head of a thief who\nhas been hanged and left in the air; of real mummy; of human blood, still\nwarm--of each, one ounce; of human suet, two ounces; of linseed oil,\nturpentine, and Armenian bole--of each, two drachms. Mix all well in a\nmortar, and keep the salve in an oblong, narrow urn.\" With this salve the\nweapon, after being dipped in the blood from the wound, was to be\ncarefully anointed, and then laid by in a cool place. In the mean time,\nthe wound was to be duly washed with fair clean water, covered with a\nclean, soft, linen rag, and opened once a day to cleanse off purulent or\nother matter. Of the success of this treatment, says the writer of\nthe able article on Animal Magnetism, in the twelfth volume of the\n_Foreign Quarterly Review_, there cannot be the least doubt; \"for surgeons\nat this moment follow exactly the same method, _except_ anointing the\nweapon!\"\n\nThe weapon-salve continued to be much spoken of on the Continent, and many\neager claimants appeared for the honour of the invention. Dr. Fludd, or A.\nFluctibus, the Rosicrucian, who has been already mentioned in a previous\npart of this volume, was very zealous in introducing it into England. He\ntried it with great success in several cases, and no wonder, for while he\nkept up the spirits of his patients by boasting of the great efficacy of\nthe salve, he never neglected those common, but much more important\nremedies, of washing, bandaging, &c. which the experience of all ages had\ndeclared sufficient for the purpose. Fludd moreover declared, that the\nmagnet was a remedy for all diseases, if properly applied; but that man\nhaving, like the earth, a north and a south pole, magnetism could only\ntake place when his body was in a boreal position! In the midst of his\npopularity, an attack was made upon him and his favourite remedy, the\nsalve; which, however, did little or nothing to diminish the belief in its\nefficacy. One \"Parson Foster\" wrote a pamphlet, entitled _Hyplocrisma\nSpongus; or, a Spunge to wipe away the Weapon-Salve_; in which he\ndeclared, that it was as bad as witchcraft to use or recommend such an\nunguent; that it was invented by the Devil, who, at the last day, would\nseize upon every person who had given it the slightest encouragement. \"In\nfact,\" said Parson Foster, \"the Devil himself gave it to Paracelsus;\nParacelsus to the emperor; the emperor to the courtier; the courtier to\nBaptista Porta; and Baptista Porta to Dr. Fludd, a doctor of physic, yet\nliving and practising in the famous city of London, who now stands tooth\nand nail for it.\" Dr. Fludd, thus assailed, took up the pen in defence of\nhis unguent, in a reply called _The Squeezing of Parson Foster's Spunge;\nwherein the Spunge-bearer's immodest carriage and behaviour towards his\nbrethren is detected; the bitter flames of his slanderous reports are, by\nthe sharp vinegar of truth, corrected and quite extinguished; and lastly,\nthe virtuous validity of his spunge in wiping away the-weapon-salve, is\ncrushed out and clean abolished_.\n\nShortly after this dispute a more distinguished believer in the\nweapon-salve made his appearance in the person of Sir Kenelm Digby, the\nson of Sir Everard Digby, who was executed for his participation in the\nGunpowder Plot. This gentleman, who, in other respects, was an\naccomplished scholar and an able man, was imbued with all the extravagant\nnotions of the alchymists. He believed in the philosopher's stone, and\nwished to engage Descartes to devote his energies to the discovery\nof the elixir of life, or some other means by which the existence of man\nmight be prolonged to an indefinite period. He gave his wife, the\nbeautiful Venetia Anastasia Stanley, a dish of capons fed upon vipers,\naccording to the plan supposed to have been laid down by Arnold of\nVilleneuve, in the hope that she might thereby preserve her loveliness for\na century. If such a man once took up the idea of the weapon-salve, it was\nto be expected that he would make the most of it. In his hands, however,\nit was changed from an unguent into a powder, and was called the _powder\nof sympathy_. He pretended that he had acquired the knowledge of it from a\nCarmelite friar, who had learned it in Persia or Armenia, from an oriental\nphilosopher of great renown. King James, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of\nBuchingham, and many other noble personages, believed in its efficacy. The\nfollowing remarkable instance of his mode of cure was read by Sir Kenelm\nto a society of learned men at Montpellier. Mr. James Howell, the\nwell-known author of the _Dendrologia_, and of various letters, coming by\nchance as two of his best friends were fighting a duel, rushed between\nthem and endeavoured to part them. He seized the sword of one of the\ncombatants by the hilt, while, at the same time, he grasped the other by\nthe blade. Being transported with fury one against the other, they\nstruggled to rid themselves of the hindrance caused by their friend; and\nin so doing, the one whose sword was held by the blade by Mr. Howell, drew\nit away roughly, and nearly cut his hand off, severing the nerves and\nmuscles, and penetrating to the bone. The other, almost at the same\ninstant, disengaged his sword, and aimed a blow at the head of his\nantagonist, which Mr. Howell observing, raised his wounded hand with the\nrapidity of thought to prevent the blow. The sword fell on the back of his\nalready wounded hand, and cut it severely. \"It seemed,\" said Sir Kenelm\nDigby, \"as if some unlucky star raged over them, that they should have\nboth shed the blood of that dear friend for whose life they would have\ngiven their own, if they had been in their proper mind at the time.\"\nSeeing Mr. Howell's face all besmeared with blood from his wounded hand,\nthey both threw down their swords and embraced him, and bound up his hand\nwith a garter, to close the veins which were cut and bled profusely. They\nthen conveyed him home, and sent for a surgeon. King James, who was much\nattached to Mr. Howell, afterwards sent his own surgeon to attend him. We\nmust continue the narrative in the words of Sir Kenelm Digby: \"It was my\nchance,\" says he, \"to be lodged hard by him; and four or five days after,\nas I was making myself ready, he came to my house, and prayed me to view\nhis wounds. 'For I understand,' said he, 'that you have extraordinary\nremedies on such occasions; and my surgeons apprehend some fear\nthat it may grow to a gangrene, and so the hand must be cut off.' In\neffect, his countenance discovered that he was in much pain, which, he\nsaid, was insupportable in regard of the extreme inflammation. I told him\nI would willingly serve him; but if, haply, he knew the manner how I could\ncure him, without touching or seeing him, it might be that he would not\nexpose himself to my manner of curing; because he would think it,\nperadventure, either ineffectual or superstitious. He replied, 'The many\nwonderful things which people have related unto me of your way of\nmedicinement makes me nothing doubt at all of its efficacy; and all that I\nhave to say unto you is comprehended in the Spanish proverb, _Hagase el\nmilagro y hagalo Mahoma_--Let the miracle be done, though Mahomet do it.'\n\n\"I asked him then for any thing that had the blood upon it: so he\npresently sent for his garter, wherewith his hand was first bound; and as\nI called for a basin of water, as if I would wash my hands, I took a\nhandful of powder of vitriol, which I had in my study, and presently\ndissolved it. As soon as the bloody garter was brought me, I put it in the\nbasin, observing, in the interim, what Mr. Howell did, who stood talking\nwith a gentleman in a corner of my chamber, not regarding at all what I\nwas doing. He started suddenly, as if he had found some strange alteration\nin himself. I asked him what he ailed? 'I know not what ails me, but I\nfind that I feel no more pain. Methinks that a pleasing kind of freshness,\nas it were a wet cold napkin, did spread over my hand, which hath taken\naway the inflammation that tormented me before.' I replied, 'Since, then,\nyou feel already so much good of my medicament, I advise you to cast away\nall your plasters; only keep the wound clean, and in a moderate temper\nbetwixt heat and cold.' This was presently reported to the Duke of\nBuckingham, and, a little after, to the king, who were both very curious\nto know the circumstances of the business; which was, that after dinner I\ntook the garter out of the water, and put it to dry before a great fire.\nIt was scarce dry before Mr. Howell's servant came running, and saying\nthat his master felt as much burning as ever he had done, if not more; for\nthe heat was such as if his hand were betwixt coals of fire. I answered\nthat, although that had happened at present, yet he should find ease in a\nshort time; for I knew the reason of this new accident, and would provide\naccordingly; for his master should be free from that inflammation, it\nmight be before he could possibly return to him. But, in case he found no\nease, I wished him to come presently back again; if not, he might forbear\ncoming. Thereupon he went, and, at the instant I did put the\ngarter again into the water; thereupon he found his master without any\npain at all. To be brief, there was no cense of pain afterwards; but\nwithin five or six days the wounds were sicatrised and entirely healed.\"\n\nSuch is the marvellous story of Sir Kenelm Digby. Other practitioners of\nthat age were not behind him in their pretensions. It was not always\nthought necessary to use either the powder of sympathy, or the\nweapon-salve, to effect a cure. It was sufficient to magnetise the sword\nwith the hand (the first faint dawn of the _animal_ theory), to relieve\nany pain the same weapon had caused. They asserted, that if they stroked\nthe sword _upwards_ with their fingers, the wounded person would feel\nimmediate relief; but if they stroked it _downwards_, he would feel\nintolerable pain.[66]\n\n    [66] Reginald Scott, quoted by Sir Walter Scott, in the notes to\n         the _Lay of the last Minstrel_, c. iii. v. xxiii.\n\nAnother very singular notion of the power and capabilities of magnetism\nwas entertained at the same time. It was believed that a _sympathetic\nalphabet_ could be made on the flesh, by means of which persons could\ncorrespond with each other, and communicate all their ideas with the\nrapidity of volition, although thousands of miles apart. From the arms of\ntwo persons a piece of flesh was cut, and mutually transplanted, while\nstill warm and bleeding. The piece so severed grew to the new arm on which\nit was placed; but still retained so close a sympathy with its native\nlimb, that its old possessor was always sensible of any injury done to it.\nUpon these transplanted pieces were tatooed the letters of the alphabet;\nso that, when a communication was to be made, either of the persons,\nthough the wide Atlantic rolled between them, had only to prick his arm\nwith a magnetic needle, and straightway his friend received intimation\nthat the telegraph was at work. Whatever letter he pricked on his own arm\npained the same letter on the arm of his correspondent.\n\nContemporary with Sir Kenelm Digby was the no less famous Mr. Valentine\nGreatraks, who, without mentioning magnetism, or laying claim to any\ntheory, practised upon himself and others a deception much more akin to\nthe animal magnetism of the present day than the mineral magnetism it was\nthen so much the fashion to study. He was the son of an Irish gentleman,\nof good education and property, in the county of Cork. He fell, at an\nearly age, into a sort of melancholy derangement. After some time he had\nan impulse, or strange persuasion in his mind, which continued to present\nitself, whether he were sleeping or waking, that God had given him the\npower of curing the king's evil. He mentioned this persuasion to his wife,\nwho very candidly told him that he was a fool. He was not quite sure of\nthis, notwithstanding the high authority from which it came, and\ndetermined to make trial of the power that was in him. A few days\nafterwards, he went to one William Maher, of Saltersbridge, in the parish\nof Lismore, who was grievously afflicted with the king's evil in his eyes,\ncheek, and throat. Upon this man, who was of abundant faith, he laid his\nhands, stroked him, and prayed fervently. He had the satisfaction to see\nhim heal considerably in the course of a few days; and finally, with the\naid of other remedies, to be quite cured. This success encouraged him in\nthe belief that he had a divine mission. Day after day he had further\nimpulses from on high that he was called upon to cure the ague also. In\nthe course of time he extended his powers to the curing of epilepsy,\nulcers, aches, and lameness. All the county of Cork was in a commotion to\nsee this extraordinary physician, who certainly operated some very great\nbenefit in cases where the disease was heightened by hypochondria and\ndepression of spirits. According to his own account,[67] such great\nmultitudes resorted to him from divers places, that he had no time to\nfollow his own business, or enjoy the company of his family and friends.\nHe was obliged to set aside three days in the week, from six in the\nmorning till six at night, during which time only he laid hands upon all\nthat came. Still the crowds which thronged around him were so great, that\nthe neighbouring towns were not able to accommodate them. He thereupon\nleft his house in the country, and went to Youghal, where the resort of\nsick people, not only from all parts of Ireland, but from England,\ncontinued so great, that the magistrates were afraid they would infect the\nplace by their diseases. Several of these poor credulous people no sooner\nsaw him than they fell into fits, and he restored them by waving his hand\nin their faces, and praying over them. Nay, he affirmed that the touch of\nhis glove had driven pains away, and, on one occasion, cast out from a\nwoman several devils, or evil spirits, who tormented her day and night.\n\"Every one of these devils,\" says Greatraks, \"was like to choke her when\nit came up into her throat.\" It is evident from this that the woman's\ncomplaint was nothing but hysteria.\n\n    [67] Greatraks' Account of himself, in a letter to the Honourable\n         Robert Boyle.\n\nThe clergy of the diocese of Lismore, who seem to have had much clearer\nnotions of Greatraks' pretensions than their parishioners, set their faces\nagainst the new prophet and worker of miracles. He was cited to appear in\nthe Dean's Court, and prohibited from laying on his hands for the future:\nbut he cared nothing for the Church. He imagined that he derived his\npowers direct from heaven, and continued to throw people into\nfits, and bring them to their senses again, as usual, almost exactly after\nthe fashion of modern magnetisers. His reputation became, at last, so\ngreat, that Lord Conway sent to him from London, begging that he would\ncome over immediately to cure a grievous headache which his lady had\nsuffered for several years, and which the principal physicians of England\nhad been unable to relieve.\n\nGreatraks accepted the invitation, and tried his manipulations and prayers\nupon Lady Conway. He failed, however, in affording any relief. The poor\nlady's headache was excited by causes too serious to allow her any help,\neven from faith and a lively imagination. He lived for some months in Lord\nConway's house, at Ragley, in Warwickshire, operating cures similar to\nthose he had performed in Ireland. He afterwards removed to London, and\ntook a house in Lincoln's-Inn Fields, which soon became the daily resort\nof all the nervous and credulous women of the metropolis. A very amusing\naccount of Greatraks at this time (1665) is given in the second volume of\nthe _Miscellanies of St. Evremond_, under the title of the Irish prophet.\nIt is the most graphic sketch ever made of this early magnetiser. Whether\nhis pretensions were more or less absurd than those of some of his\nsuccessors, who have lately made their appearance among us, would be hard\nto say.\n\n\"When M. de Comminges,\" says St. Evremond, \"was ambassador from his most\nChristian majesty to the king of Great Britain, there came to London an\nIrish prophet, who passed himself off as a great worker of miracles. Some\npersons of quality having begged M. de Comminges to invite him to his\nhouse, that they might be witnesses of some of his miracles, the\nambassador promised to satisfy them, as much to gratify his own curiosity\nas from courtesy to his friends; and gave notice to Greatraks that he\nwould be glad to see him.\n\n\"A rumour of the prophet's coming soon spread all over the town, and the\nhotel of M. de Comminges was crowded by sick persons, who came full of\nconfidence in their speedy cure. The Irishman made them wait a\nconsiderable time for him, but came at last, in the midst of their\nimpatience, with a grave and simple countenance, that showed no signs of\nhis being a cheat. Monsieur de Comminges prepared to question him\nstrictly, hoping to discourse with him on the matters that he had read of\nin Van Helmont and Bodinus; but he was not able to do so, much to his\nregret, for the crowd became so great, and cripples and others pressed\naround so impatiently to be the first cured, that the servants were\nobliged to use threats, and even force, before they could\nestablish order among them, or place them in proper ranks.\n\n\"The prophet affirmed that all diseases were caused by evil spirits. Every\ninfirmity was with him a case of diabolical possession. The first that was\npresented to him was a man suffering from gout and rheumatism, and so\nseverely that the physicians had been unable to cure him. 'Ah,' said the\nmiracle-worker, 'I have seen a good deal of this sort of spirits when I\nwas in Ireland. They are watery spirits, who bring on cold shivering, and\nexcite an overflow of aqueous humours in our poor bodies.' Then addressing\nthe man, he said, 'Evil spirit, who hast quitted thy dwelling in the\nwaters to come and afflict this miserable body, I command thee to quit thy\nnew abode, and to return to thine ancient habitation!' This said, the sick\nman was ordered to withdraw, and another was brought forward in his place.\nThis new comer said he was tormented by the melancholy vapours. In fact,\nhe looked like a hypochondriac; one of those persons, diseased in\nimagination, and who but too often become so in reality. 'Aerial spirit,'\nsaid the Irishman, 'return, I command thee, into the air;--exercise thy\nnatural vocation of raising tempests, and do not excite any more wind in\nthis sad unlucky body!' This man was immediately turned away to make room\nfor a third patient, who, in the Irishman's opinion, was only tormented by\na little bit of a sprite, who could not withstand his command for an\ninstant. He pretended that he recognised this sprite by some marks which\nwere invisible to the company, to whom he turned with a smile, and said,\n'This sort of spirit does not often do much harm, and is always very\ndiverting.' To hear him talk, one would have imagined that he knew all\nabout spirits,--their names, their rank, their numbers, their employment,\nand all the functions they were destined to; and he boasted of being much\nbetter acquainted with the intrigues of demons than he was with the\naffairs of men. You can hardly imagine what a reputation he gained in a\nshort time. Catholics and Protestants visited him from every part, all\nbelieving that power from heaven was in his hands.\"\n\nAfter relating a rather equivocal adventure of a husband and wife, who\nimplored Greatraks to cast out the devil of dissension which had crept in\nbetween them, St. Evremond thus sums up the effect he produced on the\npopular mind: \"So great was the confidence in him, that the blind fancied\nthey saw the light which they did not see--the deaf imagined that they\nheard--the lame that they walked straight, and the paralytic that they had\nrecovered the use of their limbs. An idea of health made the sick forget\nfor a while their maladies; and imagination, which was not less\nactive in those merely drawn by curiosity than in the sick, gave a false\nview to the one class, from the desire of seeing, as it operated a false\ncure on the other from the strong desire of being healed. Such was the\npower of the Irishman over the mind, and such was the influence of the\nmind upon the body. Nothing was spoken of in London but his prodigies; and\nthese prodigies were supported by such great authorities, that the\nbewildered multitude believed them almost without examination, while more\nenlightened people did not dare to reject them from their own knowledge.\nThe public opinion, timid and enslaved, respected this imperious and,\napparently, well-authenticated error. Those who saw through the delusion\nkept their opinion to themselves, knowing how useless it was to declare\ntheir disbelief to a people filled with prejudice and admiration.\"\n\nAbout the same time that Valentine Greatraks was thus _magnetising_ the\npeople of London, an Italian enthusiast, named Francisco Bagnone, was\nperforming the same tricks in Italy, and with as great success. He had\nonly to touch weak women with his hands, or sometimes (for the sake of\nworking more effectively upon their fanaticism) with a relic, to make them\nfall into fits, and manifest all the symptoms of magnetism.\n\nBesides these, several learned men, in different parts of Europe, directed\ntheir attention to the study of the magnet, believing that it might be\nrendered efficacious in many diseases. Van Helmont, in particular,\npublished a work on the effects of magnetism on the human frame; and\nBalthazar Gracian, a Spaniard, rendered himself famous for the boldness of\nhis views on the subject. \"The magnet,\" said the latter, \"attracts iron;\niron is found every where; every thing, therefore, is under the influence\nof magnetism. It is only a modification of the general principle, which\nestablishes harmony or foments divisions among men. It is the same agent\nthat gives rise to sympathy, antipathy, and the passions.\"[68]\n\n    [68] _Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism_, by Baron\n         Dupotet de Sennevoy, p. 315.\n\nBaptista Porta, who, in the whimsical genealogy of the weapon-salve, given\nby Parson Foster, in his attack upon Dr. \u00e0 Fluctibus, is mentioned as one\nof its fathers, had also great faith in the efficacy of the magnet, and\noperated upon the imagination of his patients in a manner which was then\nconsidered so extraordinary that he was accused of being a magician, and\nprohibited from practising by the court of Rome. Among others who\ndistinguished themselves by their faith in magnetism, Sebastian Wirdig and\nWilliam Maxwell claim especial notice. Wirdig was professor of medicine at\nthe university of Rostock in Mecklenburg, and wrote a treatise\ncalled _The New Medicine of the Spirits_, which he presented to the Royal\nSociety of London. An edition of this work was printed in 1673, in which\nthe author maintained that a magnetic influence took place, not only\nbetween the celestial and terrestrial bodies, but between all living\nthings. The whole world, he said, was under the influence of magnetism;\nlife was preserved by magnetism; death was the consequence of magnetism!\n\nMaxwell, the other enthusiast, was an admiring disciple of Paracelsus, and\nboasted that he had irradiated the obscurity in which too many of the\nwonder-working recipes of that great philosopher were enveloped. His works\nwere printed at Frankfort in 1679. It would seem, from the following\npassage, that he was aware of the great influence of imagination, as well\nin the production as in the cure of diseases. \"If you wish to work\nprodigies,\" says he, \"abstract from the materiality of beings--increase\nthe sum of spirituality in bodies--rouse the spirit from its slumbers.\nUnless you do one or other of these things--unless you can bind the idea,\nyou can never perform any thing good or great.\" Here, in fact, lies the\nwhole secret of magnetism, and all delusions of a similar kind: increase\nthe spirituality--rouse the spirit from its slumbers, or, in other words,\nwork upon the imagination--induce belief and blind confidence, and you may\ndo any thing. This passage, which is quoted with approbation by M.\nDupotet[69] in a work, as strongly corroborative of the theory now\nadvanced by the animal magnetists, is just the reverse. If they believe\nthey can work all their wonders by the means so dimly shadowed forth by\nMaxwell, what becomes of the universal fluid pervading all nature, and\nwhich they pretend to pour into weak and diseased bodies from the tips of\ntheir fingers?\n\n    [69] _Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism_, p. 318.\n\nEarly in the eighteenth century the attention of Europe was directed to a\nvery remarkable instance of fanaticism, which has been claimed by the\nanimal magnetists as a proof of their science. The _Convulsionaries of St.\nMedard_, as they were called, assembled in great numbers round the tomb of\ntheir favourite saint, the Jansenist priest Paris, and taught one another\nhow to fall into convulsions. They believed that St. Paris would cure all\ntheir infirmities; and the number of hysterical women and weak-minded\npersons of all descriptions that flocked to the tomb from far and near was\nso great as daily to block up all the avenues leading to it. Working\nthemselves up to a pitch of excitement, they went off one after the other\ninto fits, while some of them, still in apparent possession of all their\nfaculties, voluntarily exposed themselves to sufferings which on\nordinary occasions would have been sufficient to deprive them of life. The\nscenes that occurred were a scandal to civilisation and to religion--a\nstrange mixture of obscenity, absurdity, and superstition. While some were\npraying on bended knees at the shrine of St. Paris, others were shrieking\nand making the most hideous noises. The women especially exerted\nthemselves. On one side of the chapel there might be seen a score of them,\nall in convulsions; while at another as many more, excited to a sort of\nfrenzy, yielded themselves up to gross indecencies. Some of them took an\ninsane delight in being beaten and trampled upon. One in particular,\naccording to Mont\u00e9gre, whose account we quote,[70] was so enraptured with\nthis ill-usage, that nothing but the hardest blows would satisfy her.\nWhile a fellow of Herculean strength was beating her with all his might\nwith a heavy bar of iron, she kept continually urging him to renewed\nexertion. The harder he struck the better she liked it, exclaiming all the\nwhile, \"Well done, brother, well done! Oh, how pleasant it is! what good\nyou are doing me! Courage, my brother, courage; strike harder, strike\nharder still!\" Another of these fanatics had, if possible, a still greater\nlove for a beating. Carr\u00e9 de Montgeron, who relates the circumstance, was\nunable to satisfy her with sixty blows of a large sledge-hammer. He\nafterwards used the same weapon with the same degree of strength, for the\nsake of experiment, and succeeded in battering a hole in a stone wall at\nthe twenty-fifth stroke. Another woman, named Sonnet, laid herself down on\na red-hot brazier without flinching, and acquired for herself the nickname\nof the _Salamander_; while others, desirous of a more illustrious\nmartyrdom, attempted to crucify themselves. M. Deleuze, in his critical\nhistory of _Animal Magnetism_, attempts to prove that this fanatical\nfrenzy was produced by magnetism, and that these mad enthusiasts\nmagnetised each other without being aware of it. As well might he insist\nthat the fanaticism which tempts the Hindoo bigot to keep his arms\nstretched in a horizontal position till the sinews wither, or his fingers\nclosed upon his palms till the nails grow out of the backs of his hands,\nis also an effect of magnetism!\n\n    [70] _Dictionaire des Sciences M\u00e9dicales_--Article\n         _Convulsionnaires_, par Mont\u00e9gre.\n\nFor a period of sixty or seventy years magnetism was almost wholly\nconfined to Germany. Men of sense and learning devoted their attention to\nthe properties of the loadstone; and one Father Hell, a Jesuit, and\nprofessor of astronomy at the University of Vienna, rendered himself\nfamous by his magnetic cures. About the year 1771 or 1772 he invented\nsteel-plates of a peculiar form, which he applied to the naked body as a\ncure for several diseases. In the year 1774 he communicated his system to\nAnthony Mesmer. The latter improved upon the ideas of Father Hell,\nconstructed a new theory of his own, and became the founder of ANIMAL\nMAGNETISM.\n\nIt has been the fashion among the enemies of the new delusion to decry\nMesmer as an unprincipled adventurer, while his disciples have extolled\nhim to the skies as a regenerator of the human race. In nearly the same\nwords as the Rosicrucians applied to their founders, he has been called\nthe discoverer of the secret which brings man into more intimate connexion\nwith his Creator, the deliverer of the soul from the debasing trammels of\nthe flesh, the man who enables us to set time at defiance, and conquer the\nobstructions of space. A careful sifting of his pretensions, and\nexamination of the evidence brought forward to sustain them, will soon\nshew which opinion is the more correct. That the writer of these pages\nconsiders him in the light of a man who, deluding himself, was the means\nof deluding others, may be inferred from his finding a place in these\nvolumes, and figuring among the Flamels, the Agrippas, the Borris, the\nB\u00f6hmens, and the Cagliostros.\n\nHe was born in May 1734, at Mersburg, in Swabia, and studied medicine at\nthe University of Vienna. He took his degrees in 1766, and chose the\ninfluence of the planets on the human body as the subject of his inaugural\ndissertation. Having treated the matter quite in the style of the old\nastrological physicians, he was exposed to some ridicule both then and\nafterwards. Even at this early period some faint ideas of his great theory\nwere germinating in his mind. He maintained in his dissertation \"that the\nsun, moon, and fixed stars mutually affect each other in their orbits;\nthat they cause and direct in our earth a flux and reflux not only in the\nsea, but in the atmosphere, and affect in a similar manner all organised\nbodies through the medium of a subtile and mobile fluid, which pervades\nthe universe, and associates all things together in mutual intercourse and\nharmony.\" This influence, he said, was particularly exercised on the\nnervous system, and produced two states, which he called _intension_ and\n_remission_, which seemed to him to account for the different periodical\nrevolutions observable in several maladies. When in after-life he met with\nFather Hell, he was confirmed by that person's observations in the truth\nof many of his own ideas. Having caused Hell to make him some magnetic\nplates, he determined to try experiments with them himself for his further\nsatisfaction.\n\nHe tried accordingly, and was astonished at his success. The faith of\ntheir wearers operated wonders with the metallic plates. Mesmer made due\nreports to Father Hell of all he had done, and the latter published them\nas the results of his own happy invention, and speaking of Mesmer as a\nphysician whom he had employed to work under him. Mesmer took offence at\nbeing thus treated, considering himself a far greater personage than\nFather Hell. He claimed the invention as his own, accused Hell of a breach\nof confidence, and stigmatised him as a mean person, anxious to turn the\ndiscoveries of others to his own account. Hell replied, and a very pretty\nquarrel was the result, which afforded small talk for months to the\nliterati of Vienna. Hell ultimately gained the victory. Mesmer, nothing\ndaunted, continued to promulgate his views till he stumbled at last upon\nthe animal theory.\n\nOne of his patients was a young lady, named Oesterline, who suffered under\na convulsive malady. Her attacks were periodical, and attended by a rush\nof blood to the head, followed by delirium and syncope. These symptoms he\nsoon succeeded in reducing under his system of planetary influence, and\nimagined he could foretell the periods of accession and remission. Having\nthus accounted satisfactorily to himself for the origin of the disease,\nthe idea struck him that he could operate a certain cure if he could\nascertain beyond doubt, what he had long believed, that there existed\nbetween the bodies which compose our globe an action equally reciprocal\nand similar to that of the heavenly bodies, by means of which he could\nimitate artificially the periodical revolutions of the flux and reflux\nbefore mentioned. He soon convinced himself that this action did exist.\nWhen trying the metallic plates of Father Hell, he thought their efficacy\ndepended on their form; but he found afterwards that he could produce the\nsame effects without using them at all, merely by passing his hands\ndownwards towards the feet of the patient, even when at a considerable\ndistance.\n\nThis completed the theory of Mesmer. He wrote an account of his discovery\nto all the learned societies of Europe, soliciting their investigation.\nThe Academy of Sciences at Berlin was the only one that answered him, and\ntheir answer was any thing but favourable to his system or flattering to\nhimself. Still he was not discouraged. He maintained to all who would\nlisten to him that the magnetic matter, or fluid, pervaded all the\nuniverse--that every human body contained it, and could communicate the\nsuperabundance of it to another by an exertion of the will. Writing to a\nfriend from Vienna, he said, \"I have observed that the magnetic is almost\nthe same thing as the electric fluid, and that it may be propagated in the\nsame manner, by means of intermediate bodies. Steel is not the only\nsubstance adapted to this purpose. I have rendered paper, bread, wool,\nsilk, stones, leather, glass, wood, men, and dogs--in short, every thing I\ntouched, magnetic to such a degree, that these substances produced the\nsame effects as the loadstone on diseased persons. I have charged jars\nwith magnetic matter in the same way as is done with electricity.\"\n\nMesmer did not long find his residence at Vienna as agreeable as he\nwished. His pretensions were looked upon with contempt or indifference,\nand the case of Mademoiselle Oesterline brought him less fame than\nnotoriety. He determined to change his sphere of action, and travelled\ninto Swabia and Switzerland. In the latter country he met with the\ncelebrated Father Gassner, who, like Valentine Greatraks, amused himself\nby casting out devils, and healing the sick by merely laying hands upon\nthem. At his approach, delicate girls fell into convulsions, and\nhypochondriacs fancied themselves cured. His house was daily besieged by\nthe lame, the blind, and the hysteric. Mesmer at once acknowledged the\nefficacy of his cures, and declared that they were the obvious result of\nhis own newly-discovered power of magnetism. A few of the father's\npatients were forthwith subjected to the manipulations of Mesmer, and the\nsame symptoms were induced. He then tried his hand upon some paupers in\nthe hospitals of Berne and Zurich, and succeeded, according to his own\naccount, but no other person's, in curing an opththalmia and a gutta\nserena. With memorials of these achievements he returned to Vienna, in the\nhope of silencing his enemies, or at least forcing them to respect his\nnewly-acquired reputation, and to examine his system more attentively.\n\nHis second appearance in that capital was not more auspicious than the\nfirst. He undertook to cure a Mademoiselle Paradis, who was quite blind,\nand subject to convulsions. He magnetised her several times, and then\ndeclared that she was cured; at least, if she was not, it was her fault\nand not his. An eminent oculist of that day, named Barth, went to visit\nher, and declared that she was as blind as ever; while her family said she\nwas as much subject to convulsions as before. Mesmer persisted that she\nwas cured. Like the French philosopher, he would not allow facts to\ninterfere with his theory.[71] He declared that there was a conspiracy\nagainst him; and that Mademoiselle Paradis, at the instigation of her\nfamily, feigned blindness in order to injure his reputation!\n\n    [71] An enthusiastic philosopher, of whose name we are not\n         informed, had constructed a very satisfactory theory on some\n         subject or other, and was not a little proud of it. \"But the\n         facts, my dear fellow,\" said his friend, \"the facts do not\n         agree with your theory.\"--\"Don't they?\" replied the\n         philosopher, shrugging his shoulders, \"then, _tant pis pour\n         les faits_;\"--so much the worse for the facts!\n\nThe consequences of this pretended cure taught Mesmer that Vienna\nwas not the sphere for him. Paris, the idle, the debauched, the\npleasure-hunting, the novelty-loving, was the scene for a philosopher like\nhim, and thither he repaired accordingly. He arrived at Paris in 1778, and\nbegan modestly by making himself and his theory known to the principal\nphysicians. At first, his encouragement was but slight; he found people\nmore inclined to laugh at than to patronise him. But he was a man who had\ngreat confidence in himself, and of a perseverance which no difficulties\ncould overcome. He hired a sumptuous apartment, which he opened to all\ncomers who chose to make trial of the new power of nature. M. D'Eslon, a\nphysician of great reputation, became a convert; and from that time,\nanimal magnetism, or, as some called it, mesmerism, became the fashion in\nParis. The women were quite enthusiastic about it, and their admiring\ntattle wafted its fame through every grade of society. Mesmer was the\nrage; and high and low, rich and poor, credulous and unbelieving, all\nhastened to convince themselves of the power of this mighty magician, who\nmade such magnificent promises. Mesmer, who knew as well as any man living\nthe influence of the imagination, determined that, on that score, nothing\nshould be wanting to heighten the effect of the magnetic charm. In all\nParis, there was not a house so charmingly furnished as Monsieur Mesmer's.\nRichly-stained glass shed a dim religious light on his spacious saloons,\nwhich were almost covered with mirrors. Orange-blossoms scented all the\nair of his corridors; incense of the most expensive kinds burned in\nantique vases on his chimney-pieces; \u00e6olian harps sighed melodious music\nfrom distant chambers; while sometimes a sweet female voice, from above or\nbelow, stole softly upon the mysterious silence that was kept in the\nhouse, and insisted upon from all visitors. \"_Was ever any thing so\ndelightful!_\" cried all the Mrs. Wittitterleys of Paris, as they thronged\nto his house in search of pleasant excitement; \"_So wonderful!_\" said the\npseudo-philosophers, who would believe anything if it were the fashion;\n\"_So amusing!_\" said the worn-out debauch\u00e9s, who had drained the cup of\nsensuality to its dregs, and who longed to see lovely women in\nconvulsions, with the hope that they might gain some new emotions from the\nsight.\n\nThe following was the mode of operation: In the centre of the saloon was\nplaced an oval vessel, about four feet in its longest diameter, and one\nfoot deep. In this were laid a number of wine-bottles, filled with\nmagnetised water, well corked-up, and disposed in radii, with their necks\noutwards. Water was then poured into the vessel so as just to cover the\nbottles, and filings of iron were thrown in occasionally to heighten the\nmagnetic effect. The vessel was then covered with an iron cover,\npierced through with many holes, and was called the _baquet_. From each\nhole issued a long movable rod of iron, which the patients were to apply\nto such parts of their bodies as were afflicted. Around this _baquet_ the\npatients were directed to sit, holding each other by the hand, and\npressing their knees together as closely as possible, to facilitate the\npassage of the magnetic fluid from one to the other.\n\nThen came in the assistant magnetisers, generally strong, handsome young\nmen, to pour into the patient from their finger-tips fresh streams of the\nwondrous fluid. They embraced the patient between the knees, rubbed them\ngently down the spine and the course of the nerves, using gentle pressure\nupon the breasts of the ladies, and staring them out of countenance to\nmagnetise them by the eye! All this time the most rigorous silence was\nmaintained, with the exception of a few wild notes on the harmonica or the\npiano-forte, or the melodious voice of a hidden opera-singer swelling\nsoftly at long intervals. Gradually the cheeks of the ladies began to\nglow, their imaginations to become inflamed; and off they went, one after\nthe other, in convulsive fits. Some of them sobbed and tore their hair,\nothers laughed till the tears ran from their eyes, while others shrieked\nand screamed and yelled till they became insensible altogether.\n\nThis was the crisis of the delirium. In the midst of it, the chief actor\nmade his appearance, waving his wand, like Prospero, to work new wonders.\nDressed in a long robe of lilac-coloured silk richly embroidered with gold\nflowers, bearing in his hand a white magnetic rod, and with a look of\ndignity which would have sat well on an eastern caliph, he marched with\nsolemn strides into the room. He awed the still sensible by his eye, and\nthe violence of their symptoms diminished. He stroked the insensible with\nhis hands upon the eye-brows and down the spine; traced figures upon their\nbreast and abdomen with his long white wand, and they were restored to\nconsciousness. They became calm, acknowledged his power, and said they\nfelt streams of cold or burning vapour passing through their frames,\naccording as he waved his wand or his fingers before them.\n\n\"It is impossible,\" says M. Dupotet, \"to conceive the sensation which\nMesmer's experiments created in Paris. No theological controversy, in the\nearlier ages of the Catholic Church, was ever conducted with greater\nbitterness.\" His adversaries denied the discovery; some calling him a\nquack, others a fool, and others again, like the Abb\u00e9 Fiard, a man who had\nsold himself to the Devil! His friends were as extravagant in their\npraise, as his foes were in their censure. Paris was inundated with\npamphlets upon the subject, as many defending as attacking the doctrine.\nAt court, the queen expressed herself in favour of it, and nothing\nelse was to be heard of in society.\n\nBy the advice of M. D'Eslon, Mesmer challenged an examination of his\ndoctrine by the Faculty of Medicine. He proposed to select twenty-four\npatients, twelve of whom he would treat magnetically, leaving the other\ntwelve to be treated by the faculty according to the old and approved\nmethods. He also stipulated that, to prevent disputes, the government\nshould nominate certain persons who were not physicians, to be present at\nthe experiments; and that the object of the inquiry should be, not how\nthese effects were produced, but whether they were really efficacious in\nthe cure of any disease. The faculty objected to limit the inquiry in this\nmanner, and the proposition fell to the ground.\n\nMesmer now wrote to Marie Antoinette, with the view of securing her\ninfluence in obtaining for him the protection of government. He wished to\nhave a ch\u00e2teau and its lands given to him, with a handsome yearly income,\nthat he might be enabled to continue his experiments at leisure,\nuntroubled by the persecution of his enemies. He hinted the duty of\ngovernments to support men of science, and expressed his fear, that if he\nmet no more encouragement, he should be compelled to carry his great\ndiscovery to some other land more willing to appreciate him. \"In the eyes\nof your majesty,\" said he, \"four or five hundred thousand francs, applied\nto a good purpose, are of no account. The welfare and happiness of your\npeople are every thing. My discovery ought to be received and rewarded\nwith a munificence worthy of the monarch to whom I shall attach myself.\"\nThe government at last offered him a pension of twenty thousand francs,\nand the cross of the order of St. Michael, if he had made any discovery in\nmedicine, and would communicate it to physicians nominated by the king.\nThe latter part of the proposition was not agreeable to Mesmer. He feared\nthe unfavourable report of the king's physicians; and, breaking off the\nnegotiation, spoke of his disregard of money, and his wish to have his\ndiscovery at once recognised by the government. He then retired to Spa, in\na fit of disgust, upon pretence of drinking the waters for the benefit of\nhis health.\n\nAfter he had left Paris, the Faculty of Medicine called upon M. D'Eslon,\nfor the third and last time, to renounce the doctrine of animal magnetism,\nor be expelled from their body. M. D'Eslon, so far from doing this,\ndeclared that he had discovered new secrets, and solicited further\nexamination. A royal commission of the Faculty of Medicine was, in\nconsequence, appointed on the 12th of March 1784, seconded by another\ncommission of the Acad\u00e9mie des Sciences, to investigate the phenomena and\nreport upon them. The first commission was composed of the\nprincipal physicians of Paris; while, among the eminent men comprised in\nthe latter, were Benjamin Franklin, Lavoisier, and Bailly the historian of\nastronomy. Mesmer was formally invited to appear before this body, but\nabsented himself from day to day, upon one pretence or another. M. D'Eslon\nwas more honest, because he thoroughly believed in the phenomena, which it\nis to be questioned if Mesmer ever did, and regularly attended the\nsittings and performed experiments.\n\nBailly has thus described the scenes of which he was a witness in the\ncourse of this investigation. \"The sick persons, arranged in great numbers\nand in several rows around the _baquet_, receive the magnetism, by all\nthese means: by the iron rods which convey it to them from the\n_baquet_--by the cords wound round their bodies--by the connexion of the\nthumb, which conveys to them the magnetism of their neighbours--and by the\nsounds of a piano-forte, or of an agreeable voice, diffusing the magnetism\nin the air. The patients were also directly magnetised by means of the\nfinger and wand of the magnetiser moved slowly before their faces, above\nor behind their heads, and on the diseased parts, always observing the\ndirection of the holes. The magnetiser acts by fixing his eyes on them.\nBut above all, they are magnetised by the application of his hands and the\npressure of his fingers on the hypochondres and on the regions of the\nabdomen; an application often continued for a long time--sometimes for\nseveral hours.\n\n\"Meanwhile the patients in their different conditions present a very\nvaried picture. Some are calm, tranquil, and experience no effect. Others\ncough, spit, feel slight pains, local or general heat, and have sweatings.\nOthers again are agitated and tormented with convulsions. These\nconvulsions are remarkable in regard to the number affected with them, to\ntheir duration and force. As soon as one begins to be convulsed, several\nothers are affected. The commissioners have observed some of these\nconvulsions last more than three hours. They are accompanied with\nexpectorations of a muddy viscous water, brought away by violent efforts.\nSometimes streaks of blood have been observed in this fluid. These\nconvulsions are characterised by the precipitous, involuntary motion of\nall the limbs, and of the whole body; by the contraction of the throat--by\nthe leaping motions of the hypochondria and the epigastrium--by the\ndimness and wandering of the eyes--by piercing shrieks, tears, sobbing,\nand immoderate laughter. They are preceded or followed by a state of\nlangour or reverie, a kind of depression, and sometimes drowsiness. The\nsmallest sudden noise occasions a shuddering; and it was remarked, that\nthe change of measure in the airs played on the piano-forte had a\ngreat influence on the patients. A quicker motion, a livelier melody,\nagitated them more, and renewed the vivacity of their convulsions.\n\n\"Nothing is more astonishing than the spectacle of these convulsions. One\nwho has not seen them can form no idea of them. The spectator is as much\nastonished at the profound repose of one portion of the patients as at the\nagitation of the rest--at the various accidents which are repeated, and at\nthe sympathies which are exhibited. Some of the patients may be seen\ndevoting their attention exclusively to one another, rushing towards each\nother with open arms, smiling, soothing, and manifesting every symptom of\nattachment and affection. All are under the power of the magnetiser; it\nmatters not in what state of drowsiness they may be, the sound of his\nvoice--a look, a motion of his hand--brings them out of it. Among the\npatients in convulsions there are always observed a great many women, and\nvery few men.\"[72]\n\n    [72] _Rapport des Commissaires_, r\u00e9dig\u00e9 par M. Bailly. Paris, 1784.\n\nThese experiments lasted for about five months. They had hardly commenced,\nbefore Mesmer, alarmed at the loss both of fame and profit, determined to\nreturn to Paris. Some patients of rank and fortune, enthusiastic believers\nin his doctrine, had followed him to Spa. One of them named Bergasse,\nproposed to open a subscription for him, of one hundred shares, at one\nhundred louis each, on condition that he would disclose his secret to the\nsubscribers, who were to be permitted to make whatever use they pleased of\nit. Mesmer readily embraced the proposal; and such was the infatuation,\nthat the subscription was not only filled in a few days, but exceeded by\nno less a sum than one hundred and forty thousand francs.\n\nWith this fortune he returned to Paris, and recommenced his experiments,\nwhile the royal commission continued theirs. His admiring pupils, who had\npaid him so handsomely for his instructions, spread his fame over the\ncountry, and established in all the principal towns of France, \"Societies\nof Harmony,\" for trying experiments and curing all diseases by means of\nmagnetism. Some of these societies were a scandal to morality, being\njoined by profligate men of depraved appetites, who took a disgusting\ndelight in witnessing young girls in convulsions. Many of the pretended\nmagnetisers were asserted at the time to be notorious libertines, who took\nthat opportunity of gratifying their passions.\n\nAt last the commissioners published their report, which was drawn up by\nthe illustrious and unfortunate Bailly. For clearness of reasoning and\nstrict impartiality it has never been surpassed. After detailing the\nvarious experiments made, and their results, they came to the conclusion\nthat the only proof advanced in support of animal magnetism was the\neffects it produced on the human body--that those effects could be\nproduced without passes or other magnetic manipulations--that all these\nmanipulations and passes and ceremonies never produce any effect at all if\nemployed without the patient's knowledge; and that therefore imagination\ndid, and animal magnetism did not, account for the phenomena.\n\nThis report was the ruin of Mesmer's reputation in France. He quitted\nParis shortly after, with the three hundred and forty thousand francs\nwhich had been subscribed by his admirers, and retired to his own country,\nwhere he died in 1815, at the advanced age of eighty-one. But the seeds he\nhad sown fructified of themselves, nourished and brought to maturity by\nthe kindly warmth of popular credulity. Imitators sprang up in France,\nGermany, and England, more extravagant than their master, and claiming\npowers for the new science which its founder had never dreamt of. Among\nothers, Cagliostro made good use of the delusion in extending his claims\nto be considered a master of the occult sciences. But he made no\ndiscoveries worthy to be compared to those of the Marquis de Puysegur and\nthe Chevalier Barbarin, honest men, who began by deceiving themselves\nbefore they deceived others.\n\nThe Marquis de Puysegur, the owner of a considerable estate at Busancy,\nwas one of those who had entered into the subscription for Mesmer. After\nthat individual had quitted France, he retired to Busancy, with his\nbrother, to try animal magnetism upon his tenants, and cure the country\npeople of all manner of diseases. He was a man of great simplicity and\nmuch benevolence, and not only magnetised but fed the sick that flocked\naround him. In all the neighbourhood, and indeed within a circumference of\ntwenty miles, he was looked upon as endowed with a power almost divine.\nHis great discovery, as he called it, was made by chance. One day he had\nmagnetised his gardener; and observing him to fall into a deep sleep, it\noccurred to him that he would address a question to him, as he would have\ndone to a natural somnambulist. He did so, and the man replied with much\nclearness and precision. M. de Puysegur was agreeably surprised: he\ncontinued his experiments, and found that, in this state of magnetic\nsomnambulism, _the soul of the sleeper was enlarged, and brought into more\nintimate communion with all nature, and more especially with him, M. de\nPuysegur_. He found that all further manipulations were unnecessary; that,\nwithout speaking or making any sign, he could convey his will to the\npatient; that he could, in fact, converse with him, soul to soul,\nwithout the employment of any physical operation whatever!\n\nSimultaneously with this marvellous discovery he made another, which\nreflects equal credit upon his understanding. Like Valentine Greatraks, he\nfound it hard work to magnetise all that came--that he had not even time\nto take the repose and relaxation which were necessary for his health. In\nthis emergency he hit upon a clever expedient. He had heard Mesmer say\nthat he could magnetise bits of wood: why should he not be able to\nmagnetise a whole tree? It was no sooner thought than done. There was a\nlarge elm on the village green at Busancy, under which the peasant girls\nused to dance on festive occasions, and the old men to sit, drinking their\n_vin du pays_, on the fine summer evenings. M. de Puysegur proceeded to\nthis tree and magnetised it, by first touching it with his hands, and then\nretiring a few steps from it; all the while directing streams of the\nmagnetic fluid from the branches toward the trunk, and from the trunk\ntoward the root. This done, he caused circular seats to be erected round\nit, and cords suspended from it in all directions. When the patients had\nseated themselves, they twisted the cords round the diseased parts of\ntheir bodies, and held one another firmly by their thumbs to form a direct\nchannel of communication for the passage of the fluid.\n\nM. de Puysegur had now two \"hobbies\"--the man with the enlarged soul and\nthe magnetic elm. The infatuation of himself and his patients cannot be\nbetter expressed than in his own words. Writing to his brother, on the\n17th of May 1784, he says, \"If you do not come, my dear friend, you will\nnot see my extraordinary man, for his health is now almost quite restored.\nI continue to make use of the happy power for which I am indebted to M.\nMesmer. Every day I bless his name; for I am very useful, and produce many\nsalutary effects on all the sick poor in the neighbourhood. They flock\naround my tree; there were more than one hundred and thirty of them this\nmorning. It is the best _baquet_ possible; _not a leaf of it but\ncommunicates health!_ all feel, more or less, the good effects of it. You\nwill be delighted to see the charming picture of humanity which this\npresents. I have only one regret--it is, that I cannot touch all who come.\nBut my magnetised man--my intelligence--sets me at ease. He teaches me\nwhat conduct I should adopt. According to him, it is not at all necessary\nthat I should touch every one; a look, a gesture, even a wish, is\nsufficient. And it is one of the most ignorant peasants of the country\nthat teaches me this! When he is in a crisis, I know of nothing more\nprofound, more prudent, more clearsighted (_clairvoyant_) than he is.\"\n\nIn another letter, describing his first experiment with the magnetic tree,\nhe says, \"Yesterday evening I brought my first patient to it. As soon as I\nhad put the cord round him he gazed at the tree; and, with an air of\nastonishment which I cannot describe, exclaimed, 'What is it that I see\nthere?' His head then sunk down, and he fell into a perfect fit of\nsomnambulism. At the end of an hour, I took him home to his house again,\nwhen I restored him to his senses. Several men and women came to tell him\nwhat he had been doing. He maintained it was not true; that, weak as he\nwas, and scarcely able to walk, it would have been scarcely possible for\nhim to have gone down stairs and walked to the tree. To-day I have\nrepeated the experiment on him, and with the same success. I own to you\nthat my head turns round with pleasure to think of the good I do. Madame\nde Puysegur, the friends she has with her, my servants, and, in fact, all\nwho are near me, feel an amazement, mingled with admiration, which cannot\nbe described; but they do not experience the half of my sensations.\nWithout my tree, which gives me rest, and which will give me still more, I\nshould be in a state of agitation, inconsistent, I believe, with my\nhealth. I exist too much, if I may be allowed to use the expression.\"\n\nIn another letter, he descants still more poetically upon his gardener\nwith the enlarged soul. He says, \"It is from this simple man, this tall\nand stout rustic, twenty-three years of age, enfeebled by disease, or\nrather by sorrow, and therefore the more predisposed to be affected by any\ngreat natural agent,--it is from this man, I repeat, that I derive\ninstruction and knowledge. When in the magnetic state, he is no longer a\npeasant who can hardly utter a single sentence; he is a being, to describe\nwhom I cannot find a name. I need not speak; _I have only to think before\nhim, when he instantly understands and answers me_. Should any body come\ninto the room, he sees him, if I desire it (but not else), and addresses\nhim, and says what I wish to say; not indeed exactly as I dictate to him,\nbut as truth requires. When he wants to add more than I deem it prudent\nstrangers should hear, I stop the flow of his ideas, and of his\nconversation in the middle of a word, and give it quite a different turn!\"\n\nAmong other persons attracted to Busancy by the report of these\nextraordinary occurrences was M. Cloquet, the Receiver of Finance. His\nappetite for the marvellous being somewhat insatiable, he readily believed\nall that was told him by M. de Puysegur. He also has left a record of what\nhe saw, and what he credited, which throws a still clearer light upon the\nprogress of the delusion.[73] He says that the patients he saw in the\nmagnetic state had an appearance of deep sleep, during which all\nthe physical faculties were suspended, to the advantage of the\nintellectual faculties. The eyes of the patients were closed, the sense of\nhearing was abolished; and they awoke only at the voice of their\nmagnetiser. \"If any one touched a patient during a crisis, or even the\nchair on which he was seated,\" says M. Cloquet, \"it would cause him much\npain and suffering, and throw him into convulsions. During the crisis,\nthey possess an extraordinary and supernatural power, by which, on\ntouching a patient presented to them, they can feel what part of his body\nis diseased, even by merely passing their hand over the clothes.\" Another\nsingularity was, that these sleepers who could thus discover diseases, see\ninto the interior of other men's stomachs, and point out remedies,\nremembered absolutely nothing after the magnetiser thought proper to\ndisenchant them. The time that elapsed between their entering the crisis\nand their coming out of it was obliterated. Not only had the magnetiser\nthe power of making himself heard by the somnambulists, but he could make\nthem follow him by merely pointing his finger at them from a distance,\nthough they had their eyes the whole time completely closed.\n\n    [73] _Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism_, by Baron\n         Dupotet, p. 73.\n\nSuch was animal magnetism under the auspices of the Marquis de Puysegur.\nWhile he was exhibiting these phenomena around his elm-tree, a magnetiser\nof another class appeared in Lyons, in the person of the Chevalier de\nBarbarin. This gentleman thought the effort of the will, without any of\nthe paraphernalia of wands or _baquets_, was sufficient to throw patients\ninto the magnetic sleep. He tried it and succeeded. By sitting at the\nbedside of his patients, and praying that they might be magnetised, they\nwent off into a state very similar to that of the persons who fell under\nthe notice of M. de Puysegur. In the course of time a very considerable\nnumber of magnetisers, acknowledging Barbarin for their model, and called\nafter him Barbarinists, appeared in different parts, and were believed to\nhave effected some remarkable cures. In Sweden and Germany this sect of\nfanatics increased rapidly, and were called _spiritualists_, to\ndistinguish them from the followers of M. de Puysegur, who were called\n_experimentalists_. They maintained that all the effects of animal\nmagnetism, which Mesmer believed to be producible by a magnetic fluid\ndispersed through nature, were produced by the mere effort of one human\nsoul acting upon another; that when a connexion had once been established\nbetween a magnetiser and his patient, the former could communicate his\ninfluence to the latter from any distance, even hundreds of miles, by the\nwill. One of them thus described the blessed state of a magnetic patient:\n\"In such a man animal instinct ascends to the highest degree admissible in\nthis world. The _clairvoyant_ is then a pure animal, without any\nadmixture of matter. His observations are those of a spirit. He is similar\nto God: his eye penetrates all the secrets of nature. When his attention\nis fixed on any of the objects of this world--on his disease, his death,\nhis well-beloved, his friends, his relations, his enemies--in spirit he\nsees them acting; he penetrates into the causes and the consequences of\ntheir actions; he becomes a physician, a prophet, a divine!\"[74]\n\n    [74] See _Foreign Review and Continental Miscellany_, vol. v.\n         p. 113.\n\nLet us now see what progress these mysteries made in England. In the year\n1788 Dr. Mainauduc, who had been a pupil, first of Mesmer, and afterwards\nof D'Eslon, arrived in Bristol, and gave public lectures upon magnetism.\nHis success was quite extraordinary. People of rank and fortune hastened\nfrom London to Bristol to be magnetised, or to place themselves under his\ntuition. Dr. George Winter, in his _History of Animal Magnetism_, gives\nthe following list of them: \"They amounted to one hundred and\ntwenty-seven, among whom there were one duke, one duchess, one\nmarchioness, two countesses, one earl, one baron, three baronesses, one\nbishop, five right honourable gentlemen and ladies, two baronets, seven\nmembers of parliament, one clergyman, two physicians, seven surgeons,\nbesides ninety-two gentlemen and ladies of respectability.\" He afterwards\nestablished himself in London, where he performed with equal success.\n\nHe began by publishing proposals to the ladies for the formation of a\nHygeian Society. In this paper he vaunted highly the curative effects of\nanimal magnetism, and took great credit to himself for being the first\nperson to introduce it into England, and thus concluded: \"As this method\nof cure is not confined to sex or college education, and the fair sex\nbeing in general the most sympathising part of the creation, and most\nimmediately concerned in the health and care of its offspring, I think\nmyself bound in gratitude to you, ladies, for the partiality you have\nshewn me in midwifery, to contribute, as far as lies in my power, to\nrender you additionally useful and valuable to the community. With this\nview I propose forming my Hygeian Society, to be incorporated with that of\nParis. As soon as twenty ladies have given in their names, the day shall\nbe appointed for the first meeting at my house, when they are to pay\nfifteen guineas, which will include the whole expense.\"\n\nHannah More, in a letter addressed to Horace Walpole in September 1788,\nspeaks of the \"demoniacal mummeries\" of Dr. Mainauduc, and says he was in\na fair way of gaining a hundred thousand pounds by them, as Mesmer had\ndone by his exhibitions in Paris.\n\nSo much curiosity was excited by the subject, that, about the same time, a\nman named Holloway gave a course of lectures on animal magnetism\nin London, at the rate of five guineas for each pupil, and realised a\nconsiderable fortune. Loutherbourg the painter and his wife followed the\nsame profitable trade; and such was the infatuation of the people to be\nwitnesses of their strange manipulations, that at times upwards of three\nthousand persons crowded around their house at Hammersmith, unable to gain\nadmission. The tickets sold at prices varying from one to three guineas.\nLoutherbourg performed his cures by the touch, after the manner of\nValentine Greatraks, and finally pretended to a divine mission. An account\nof his miracles, as they were called, was published in 1789, entitled _A\nList of New Cures performed by Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg, of\nHammersmith Terrace, without Medicine; by a Lover of the Lamb of God.\nDedicated to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury_.\n\nThis \"Lover of the Lamb of God\" was a half-crazy old woman, named Mary\nPratt, who conceived for Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg a veneration which\nalmost prompted her to worship them. She chose for the motto of her\npamphlet a verse in the thirteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles:\n\"Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish! for I will work a work in\nyour days which ye shall not believe, though a man declare it unto you.\"\nAttempting to give a religious character to the cures of the painter, she\nthought a _woman_ was the proper person to make them known, since the\napostle had declared that a _man_ should not be able to conquer the\nincredulity of the people. She stated, that from Christmas 1788 to July\n1789, De Loutherbourg and his wife had cured two thousand people, \"having\nbeen made _proper recipients to receive divine manuductions_; which\nheavenly and divine influx, coming from the radix _God_, his Divine\nMajesty had most graciously bestowed upon them to diffuse healing to all,\nbe they deaf, dumb, blind, lame, or halt.\"\n\nIn her dedication to the Archbishop of Canterbury she implored him to\ncompose a new form of prayer, to be used in all churches and chapels, that\nnothing might impede this inestimable gift from having its due course. She\nfurther entreated all the magistrates and men of authority in the land to\nwait on Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg, to consult with them on the\nimmediate erection of a large hospital, with a pool of Bethesda attached\nto it. All the magnetisers were scandalised at the preposterous jabber of\nthis old woman, and De Loutherbourg appears to have left London to avoid\nher,--continuing, however, in conjunction with his wife, the fantastic\ntricks which had turned the brain of this poor fanatic, and deluded many\nothers who pretended to more sense than she had.\n\nFrom this period until 1798 magnetism excited little or no attention in\nEngland. An attempt to revive the belief in it was made in that\nyear, but it was in the shape of mineral rather than of animal magnetism.\nOne Benjamin Douglas Perkins, an American, practising as a surgeon in\nLeicester Square, invented and took out a patent for the celebrated\n\"Metallic Tractors.\" He pretended that these tractors, which were two\nsmall pieces of metal strongly magnetised, something resembling the steel\nplates which were first brought into notice by Father Hell, would cure\ngout, rheumatism, palsy, and, in fact, almost every disease the human\nframe was subject to, if applied externally to the afflicted part, and\nmoved about gently, touching the surface only. The most wonderful stories\nsoon obtained general circulation, and the press groaned with pamphlets,\nall vaunting the curative effects of the tractors, which were sold at five\nguineas the pair. Perkins gained money rapidly. Gouty subjects forgot\ntheir pains in the presence of this new remedy; the rheumatism fled at its\napproach; and toothache, which is often cured by the mere sight of a\ndentist, vanished before Perkins and his marvellous steel-plates. The\nbenevolent Society of Friends, of whose body he was a member, warmly\npatronised the invention. Desirous that the poor, who could not afford to\npay Mr. Perkins five guineas, or even five shillings for his tractors,\nshould also share in the benefits of that sublime discovery, they\nsubscribed a large sum, and built an hospital, called the \"Perkinean\nInstitution,\" in which all comers might be magnetised free of cost. In the\ncourse of a few months they were in very general use, and their lucky\ninventor in possession of five thousand pounds.\n\nDr. Haygarth, an eminent physician at Bath, recollecting the influence of\nimagination in the cure of disease, hit upon an expedient to try the real\nvalue of the tractors. Perkins's cures were too well established to be\ndoubted; and Dr. Haygarth, without gain-saying them, quietly, but in the\nface of numerous witnesses, exposed the delusion under which people\nlaboured with respect to the curative medium. He suggested to Dr. Falconer\nthat they should make wooden tractors, paint them to resemble the steel\nones, and see if the very same effects would not be produced. Five\npatients were chosen from the hospital in Bath, upon whom to operate. Four\nof them suffered severely from chronic rheumatism in the ankle, knee,\nwrist, and hip; and the fifth had been afflicted for several months with\nthe gout. On the day appointed for the experiments Dr. Haygarth and his\nfriends assembled at the hospital, and with much solemnity brought forth\nthe fictitious tractors. Four out of the five patients said their pains\nwere immediately relieved; and three of them said they were not only\nrelieved but very much benefited. One felt his knee warmer, and said he\ncould walk across the room. He tried and succeeded, although on the\nprevious day he had not been able to stir. The gouty man felt his\npains diminish rapidly, and was quite easy for nine hours, until he went\nto bed, when the twitching began again. On the following day the real\ntractors were applied to all the patients, when they described their\nsymptoms in nearly the same terms.\n\nTo make still more sure, the experiment was tried in the Bristol\ninfirmary, a few weeks afterwards, on a man who had a rheumatic affection\nin the shoulder, so severe as to incapacitate him from lifting his hand\nfrom his knee. The fictitious tractors were brought and applied to the\nafflicted part, one of the physicians, to add solemnity to the scene,\ndrawing a stop-watch from his pocket to calculate the time exactly, while\nanother, with a pen in his hand, sat down to write the change of symptoms\nfrom minute to minute as they occurred. In less than four minutes the man\nfelt so much relieved, that he lifted his hand several inches without any\npain in the shoulder!\n\nAn account of these matters was published by Dr. Haygarth, in a small\nvolume entitled, _Of the Imagination, as a Cause and Cure of Disorders,\nexemplified by fictitious Tractors_. The exposure was a _coup de grace_ to\nthe system of Mr. Perkins. His friends and patrons, still unwilling to\nconfess that they had been deceived, tried the tractors upon sheep, cows,\nand horses, alleging that the animals received benefit from the metallic\nplates, but none at all from the wooden ones. But they found nobody to\nbelieve them; the Perkinean institution fell into neglect; and Perkins\nmade his exit from England, carrying with him about ten thousand pounds,\nto soothe his declining years in the good city of Pennsylvania.\n\nThus was magnetism laughed out of England for a time. In France the\nrevolution left men no leisure for studying it. The _Soci\u00e9t\u00e9s de\nl'Harmonie_ of Strasbourg, and other great towns lingered for a while,\ntill sterner matters occupying men's attention, they were one after the\nother abandoned, both by pupils and professors. The system, thus driven\nfrom the first two nations of Europe, took refuge among the dreamy\nphilosophers of Germany. There the wonders of the magnetic sleep grew more\nand more wonderful every day; the patients acquired the gift of prophecy;\ntheir vision extended over all the surface of the globe; they could hear\nand see with their toes and fingers, and read unknown languages, and\nunderstand them too, by merely having the book placed on their stomachs.\nIgnorant peasants, when once entranced by the grand mesmeric fluid, could\nspout philosophy diviner than Plato ever wrote, descant upon the mysteries\nof the mind with more eloquence and truth than the profoundest\nmetaphysicians the world ever saw, and solve knotty points of divinity\nwith as much ease as waking men could undo their shoe-buckles!\n\nDuring the first twelve years of the present century little was heard of\nanimal magnetism in any country of Europe. Even the Germans forgot their\nairy fancies, recalled to the knowledge of this every-day world by the\nroar of Napoleon's cannon and the fall or the establishment of kingdoms.\nDuring this period a cloud of obscurity hung over the science, which was\nnot dispersed until M. Deleuze published, in 1813, his _Histoire Critique\ndu Magn\u00e9tisme Animal_. This work gave a new impulse to the half-forgotten\nfancy. Newspapers, pamphlets, and books again waged war upon each other on\nthe question of its truth or falsehood; and many eminent men in the\nprofession of medicine recommenced inquiry with an earnest design to\ndiscover the truth.\n\nThe assertions made in the celebrated treatise of Deleuze are thus summed\nup:[75] \"There is a fluid continually escaping from the human body,\" and\n\"forming an atmosphere around us,\" which, as \"it has no determined\ncurrent,\" produces no sensible effects on surrounding individuals. It is,\nhowever, \"capable of being directed by the will;\" and, when so directed,\n\"is sent forth in currents,\" with a force corresponding to the energy we\npossess. Its motion is \"similar to that of the rays from burning bodies;\"\n\"it possesses different qualities in different individuals.\" It is capable\nof a high degree of concentration, \"and exists also in trees.\" The will of\nthe magnetiser, \"guided by a motion of the hand, several times repeated in\nthe same direction,\" can fill a tree with this fluid. Most persons, when\nthis fluid is poured into them from the body and by the will of the\nmagnetiser, \"feel a sensation of heat or cold\" when he passes his hand\nbefore them, without even touching them. Some persons, when sufficiently\ncharged with this fluid, fall into a state of somnambulism, or magnetic\necstasy; and when in this state, \"they see the fluid encircling the\nmagnetiser like a halo of light, and issuing in luminous streams from his\nmouth and nostrils, his head and hands, possessing a very agreeable smell,\nand communicating a particular taste to food and water.\"\n\n    [75] See the very clear, and dispassionate article upon the\n         subject in the fifth volume (1830) of _The Foreign Review_,\n         p. 96 et seq.\n\nOne would think that these \"notions\" were quite enough to be insisted upon\nby any physician who wished to be considered sane; but they form only a\nsmall portion of the wondrous things related by M. Deleuze. He further\nsaid, \"When magnetism produces somnambulism, the person who is in this\nstate acquires a prodigious extension of all his faculties. Several of his\nexternal organs, especially those of sight and hearing, become inactive;\nbut the sensations which depend upon them take place internally.\nSeeing and hearing are carried on by the magnetic fluid, which transmits\nthe impressions immediately, and without the intervention of any nerves or\norgans directly to the brain. Thus the somnambulist, though his eyes and\nears are closed, not only sees and hears, but sees and hears much better\nthan he does when awake. In all things he feels the will of the\nmagnetiser, although that will be not expressed. He sees into the interior\nof his own body, and the most secret organisation of the bodies of all\nthose who may be put _en rapport_, or in magnetic connexion, with him.\nMost commonly, he only sees those parts which are diseased and disordered,\nand intuitively prescribes a remedy for them. He has prophetic visions and\nsensations, which are generally true, but sometimes erroneous. He\nexpresses himself with astonishing eloquence and facility. He is not free\nfrom vanity. He becomes a more perfect being of his own accord for a\ncertain time, if guided wisely by the magnetiser, but wanders if he is\nill-directed.\"\n\nAccording to M. Deleuze, any person could become a magnetiser and produce\nthese effects, by conforming to the following conditions, and acting upon\nthe following rules:\n\n\"Forget for a while all your knowledge of physics and metaphysics.\n\n\"Remove from your mind all objections that may occur.\n\n\"Imagine that it is in your power to take the malady in hand, and throw it\non one side.\n\n\"_Never reason for six weeks after you have commenced the study_.\n\n\"Have an active desire to do good; a firm belief in the power of\nmagnetism, and an entire confidence in employing it. In short, repel all\ndoubts; desire success, and act with simplicity and attention.\"\n\nThat is to say, \"be very credulous; be very persevering; reject all past\nexperience, and do not listen to reason,\" and you are a magnetiser after\nM. Deleuze's own heart.\n\nHaving brought yourself into this edifying state, \"remove from the patient\nall persons who might be troublesome to you; keep with you only the\nnecessary witnesses--a single person if need be; desire them not to occupy\nthemselves in any way with the processes you employ and the effects which\nresult from them, but to join with you in the desire of doing good to your\npatient. Arrange yourself so as neither to be too hot nor too cold, and in\nsuch a manner that nothing may obstruct the freedom of your motions; and\ntake precautions to prevent interruption during the sitting. Make your\npatient then sit as commodiously as possible, and place yourself opposite\nto him, on a seat a little more elevated, in such a manner that his knees\nmay be betwixt yours, and your feet at the side of his. First, request him\nto resign himself; to think of nothing; not to perplex himself by\nexamining the effects which may be produced; to banish all fear; to\nsurrender himself to hope, and not to be disturbed or discouraged if the\naction of magnetism should cause in him momentary pains. After having\ncollected yourself, take his thumbs between your fingers in such a way\nthat the internal part of your thumbs may be in contact with the internal\npart of his, _and then fix your eyes upon him_! You must remain from two\nto five minutes in this situation, or until you feel an equal heat between\nyour thumbs and his. This done, you will withdraw your hands, removing\nthem to the right and left; and at the same time turning them till their\ninternal surface be outwards, and you will raise them to the height of the\nhead. You will now place them upon the two shoulders, and let them remain\nthere about a minute; afterwards drawing them gently along the arms to the\nextremities of the fingers, touching very slightly as you go. You will\nrenew this pass five or six times, always turning your hands, and removing\nthem a little from the body before you lift them. You will then place them\nabove the head; and after holding them there for an instant, lower them,\npassing them before the face, at the distance of one or two inches, down\nto the pit of the stomach. There you will stop them two minutes also,\nputting your thumbs upon the pit of the stomach and the rest of your\nfingers below the ribs. You will then descend slowly along the body to the\nknees, or rather, if you can do so without deranging yourself, to the\nextremity of the feet. You will repeat the same processes several times\nduring the remainder of the sitting. You will also occasionally approach\nyour patient, so as to place your hands behind his shoulders, in order to\ndescend slowly along the spine of the back and the thighs, down to the\nknees or the feet. After the first passes, you may dispense with putting\nyour hands upon the head, and may make the subsequent passes upon the\narms, beginning at the shoulders, and upon the body, beginning at the\nstomach.\"\n\nSuch was the process of magnetising recommended by Deleuze. That delicate,\nfanciful, and nervous women, when subjected to it, should have worked\nthemselves into convulsions will be readily believed by the sturdiest\nopponent of animal magnetism. To sit in a constrained posture--be stared\nout of countenance by a fellow who enclosed her knees between his, while\nhe made _passes_ upon different parts of her body, was quite enough to\nthrow any weak woman into a fit, especially if she were predisposed to\nhysteria, and believed in the efficacy of the treatment. It is just as\nevident that those of stronger minds and healthier bodies should be sent\nto sleep by the process. That these effects have been produced by these\nmeans, there are thousands of instances to shew. But are they testimony in\nfavour of animal magnetism?--do they prove the existence of the\nmagnetic fluid? It needs neither magnetism, nor ghost from the grave, to\ntell us that silence, monotony, and long recumbency in one position, must\nproduce sleep; or that excitement, imitation, and a strong imagination\nacting upon a weak body, will bring on convulsions.\n\nM. Deleuze's book produced quite a sensation in France; the study was\nresumed with redoubled vigour. In the following year, a journal was\nestablished devoted exclusively to the science, under the title of\n_Annales du Magn\u00e9tisme Animal_; and shortly afterwards appeared the\n_Biblioth\u00e8que du Magn\u00e9tisme Animal_, and many others. About the same time,\nthe Abb\u00e9 Faria, \"the man of wonders,\" began to magnetise; and the belief\nbeing that he had more of the mesmeric fluid about him, and a stronger\nwill, than most men, he was very successful in his treatment. His\nexperiments afford a convincing proof that imagination can operate all,\nand the supposed fluid none, of the results so confidently claimed as\nevidence of the new science. He placed his patients in an arm-chair; told\nthem to shut their eyes; and then, in a loud commanding voice, pronounced\nthe single word, \"Sleep!\" He used no manipulations whatever--had no\n_baquet_, or conductor of the fluid; but he nevertheless succeeded in\ncausing sleep in hundreds of patients. He boasted of having in his time\nproduced five thousand somnambulists by this method. It was often\nnecessary to repeat the command three or four times; and if the patient\nstill remained awake, the abb\u00e9 got out of the difficulty by dismissing him\nfrom the chair, and declaring that he was incapable of being acted on. And\nit should be especially remarked that the magnetisers do not lay claim to\nuniversal efficacy for their fluid; the strong and the healthy cannot be\nmagnetised; the incredulous cannot be magnetised; those who reason upon it\ncannot be magnetised; those who firmly believe in it can be magnetised;\nthe weak in body can be magnetised, and the weak in mind can be\nmagnetised. And lest, from some cause or other, individuals of the latter\nclasses should resist the magnetic charm, the apostles of the science\ndeclare that there are times when even _they_ cannot be acted upon; the\npresence of one scorner or unbeliever may weaken the potency of the fluid\nand destroy its efficacy. In M. Deleuze's instructions to a magnetiser, he\nexpressly says, \"Never magnetise before inquisitive persons!\"[76]\n\n    [76] _Histoire Critique du Magn\u00e9tisme Animal_, p. 60.\n\nHere we conclude the subject, as it would serve no good purpose to extend\nto greater length the history of Animal Magnetism; especially at a time\nwhen many phenomena, the reality of which it is impossible to dispute, are\ndaily occurring to startle and perplex the most learned,\nimpartial, and truth-loving of mankind. Enough, however, has been stated\nto shew, that if there be some truth in magnetism, there has been much\nerror, misconception, and exaggeration. Taking its history from the\ncommencement, it can hardly be said to have been without its uses. To\nquote the words of Bailly, in 1784, \"Magnetism has not been altogether\nunavailing to the philosophy which condemns it: it is an additional fact\nto record among the errors of the human mind, and a great experiment on\nthe strength of the imagination.\" Over that vast inquiry of the influence\nof mind over matter,--an inquiry which the embodied intellect of mankind\nwill never be able to fathom completely,--it will at least have thrown a\nfeeble and imperfect light. It will have afforded an additional proof of\nthe strength of the unconquerable will, and the weakness of matter as\ncompared with it; another illustration of the words of the inspired\nPsalmist, that \"we are fearfully and wonderfully made.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nINFLUENCE OF POLITICS AND RELIGION ON THE HAIR AND BEARD.\n\n    Speak with respect and honour\n    Both of the beard and the beard's owner.\n                                        _Hudibras_.\n\n\nThe famous declaration of St. Paul, \"that long hair was a shame unto a\nman,\" has been made the pretext for many singular enactments, both of\ncivil and ecclesiastical governments. The fashion of the hair and the cut\nof the beard were state questions in France and England, from the\nestablishment of Christianity until the fifteenth century.\n\nWe find, too, that in much earlier times, men were not permitted to do as\nthey liked with their own hair. Alexander the Great thought that the\nbeards of the soldiery afforded convenient handles for the enemy to lay\nhold of, preparatory to cutting off their heads; and, with a view of\ndepriving them of this advantage, he ordered the whole of his army to be\nclosely shaven. His notions of courtesy towards an enemy were quite\ndifferent from those entertained by the North American Indians, and\namongst whom it is held a point of honour to allow one \"chivalrous lock\"\nto grow, that the foe, in taking the scalp, may have something to catch\nhold of.\n\nAt one time, long hair was the symbol of sovereignty in Europe. We learn\nfrom Gregory of Tours, that, among the successors of Clovis, it was the\nexclusive privilege of the royal family to have their hair long and\ncurled. The nobles, equal to kings in power, would not shew any\ninferiority in this respect, and wore not only their hair, but their\nbeards of an enormous length. This fashion lasted, with but slight\nchanges, till the time of Louis the Debonnaire; but his successors, up to\nHugh Capet, wore their hair short, by way of distinction. Even the serfs\nhad set all regulation at defiance, and allowed their locks and beards to\ngrow.\n\nAt the time of the invasion of England by William the Conqueror, the\nNormans wore their hair very short. Harold, in his progress towards\nHastings, sent forward spies to view the strength and number of the enemy.\nThey reported, amongst other things, on their return, that \"the host did\nalmost seem to be priests, because they had all their face and both their\nlips shaven.\" The fashion among the English at the time was to wear the\nhair long upon the head and the upper lip, but to shave the chin. When the\nhaughty victors had divided the broad lands of the Saxon thanes and\nfranklins among them, when tyranny of every kind was employed to make the\nEnglish feel that they were indeed a subdued and broken nation, the latter\nencouraged the growth of their hair, that they might resemble as little as\npossible their cropped and shaven masters.\n\nThis fashion was exceedingly displeasing to the clergy, and prevailed to a\nconsiderable extent in France and Germany. Towards the end of the eleventh\ncentury, it was decreed by the pope, and zealously supported by the\necclesiastical authorities all over Europe, that such persons as wore long\nhair should be excommunicated while living, and not be prayed for when\ndead. William of Malmesbury relates, that the famous St. Wulstan, Bishop\nof Worcester, was peculiarly indignant whenever he saw a man with long\nhair. He declaimed against the practice as one highly immoral, criminal,\nand beastly. He continually carried a small knife in his pocket, and\nwhenever any body offending in this respect knelt before him to receive\nhis blessing, he would whip it out slily, and cut off a handful, and then,\nthrowing it in his face, tell him to cut off all the rest, or he would go\nto hell.\n\nBut fashion, which at times it is possible to move with a wisp, stands\nfirm against a lever; and men preferred to run the risk of damnation to\nparting with the superfluity of their hair. In the time of Henry I.,\nAnselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, found it necessary to republish the\nfamous decree of excommunication and outlawry against the offenders; but,\nas the court itself had begun to patronise curls, the fulminations of the\nChurch were unavailing. Henry I. and his nobles wore their hair in long\nringlets down their backs and shoulders, and became a _scandalum magnatum_\nin the eyes of the godly. One Serlo, the king's chaplain, was so grieved\nin spirit at the impiety of his master, that he preached a sermon from the\nwell-known text of St. Paul before the assembled court, in which he drew\nso dreadful a picture of the torments that awaited them in the other\nworld, that several of them burst into tears, and wrung their hair, as if\nthey would have pulled it out by the roots. Henry himself was observed to\nweep. The priest, seeing the impression he had made, determined to strike\nwhile the iron was hot, and pulling a pair of scissors from his pocket,\ncut the king's hair in presence of them all. Several of the principal\ncourtiers consented to do the like, and for a short time long hair\nappeared to be going out of fashion. But the courtiers thought, after the\nfirst glow of their penitence had been cooled by reflection, that the\nclerical Delilah had shorn them of their strength, and in less than six\nmonths they were as great sinners as ever.\n\nAnselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been a monk of Bec, in\nNormandy, and who had signalised himself at Rouen by his fierce opposition\nto long hair, was still anxious to work a reformation in this matter. But\nhis pertinacity was far from pleasing to the king, who had finally made up\nhis mind to wear ringlets. There were other disputes, of a more serious\nnature, between them; so that when the archbishop died, the king was so\nglad to be rid of him, that he allowed the see to remain vacant for five\nyears. Still the cause had other advocates, and every pulpit in the land\nresounded with anathemas against that disobedient and long-haired\ngeneration. But all was of no avail. Stowe, in writing of this period,\nasserts, on the authority of some more ancient chronicler, \"that men,\nforgetting their birth, transformed themselves, by the length of their\nhaires, into the semblance of woman kind;\" and that when their hair\ndecayed from age, or other causes, \"they knit about their heads certain\nrolls and braidings of false hair.\" At last accident turned the tide of\nfashion. A knight of the court, who was exceedingly proud of his beauteous\nlocks, dreamed one night that, as he lay in bed, the devil sprang upon\nhim, and endeavoured to choke him with his own hair. He started in\naffright, and actually found that he had a great quantity of hair in his\nmouth. Sorely stricken in conscience, and looking upon the dream as a\nwarning from heaven, he set about the work of reformation, and cut off his\nluxuriant tresses the same night. The story was soon bruited abroad; of\ncourse it was made the most of by the clergy, and the knight, being a man\nof influence and consideration, and the acknowledged leader of the\nfashion, his example, aided by priestly exhortations, was very generally\nimitated. Men appeared almost as decent as St. Wulstan himself could have\nwished, the dream of a dandy having proved more efficacious than the\nentreaties of a saint. But, as Stowe informs us, \"scarcely was one year\npast, when all that thought themselves courtiers fell into the former\nvice, and contended with women in their long haires.\" Henry, the king,\nappears to have been quite uninfluenced by the dreams of others, for even\nhis own would not induce him a second time to undergo a cropping from\npriestly shears. It is said, that he was much troubled at this time by\ndisagreeable visions. Having offended the Church in this and other\nrespects, he could get no sound, refreshing sleep, and used to imagine\nthat he saw all the bishops, abbots, and monks of every degree, standing\naround his bed-side, and threatening to belabour him with their pastoral\nstaves; which sight, we are told, so frightened him, that he often started\nnaked out of his bed, and attacked the phantoms sword in hand. Grimbalde,\nhis physician, who, like most of his fraternity at that day, was an\necclesiastic, never hinted that his dreams were the result of a bad\ndigestion, but told him to shave his head, be reconciled to the Church,\nand reform himself with alms and prayer. But he would not take this good\nadvice, and it was not until he had been nearly drowned a year afterwards,\nin a violent storm at sea, that he repented of his evil ways, cut his hair\nshort, and paid proper deference to the wishes of the clergy.\n\nIn France, the thunders of the Vatican with regard to long curly hair were\nhardly more respected than in England. Louis VII., however, was more\nobedient than his brother-king, and cropped himself as closely as a monk,\nto the great sorrow of all the gallants of his court. His queen, the gay,\nhaughty, and pleasure-seeking Eleanor of Guienne, never admired him in\nthis trim, and continually reproached him with imitating, not only the\nhead-dress, but the asceticism of the monks. From this cause a coldness\narose between them. The lady proving at last unfaithful to her shaven and\nindifferent lord, they were divorced, and the kings of France lost the\nrich provinces of Guienne and Poitou, which were her dowry. She soon after\nbestowed her hand and her possessions upon Henry Duke of Normandy,\nafterwards Henry II. of England, and thus gave the English sovereigns that\nstrong footing in France which was for so many centuries the cause of such\nlong and bloody wars between the nations. When the Crusades had drawn all\nthe smart young fellows into Palestine, the clergy did not find it so\ndifficult to convince the staid burghers who remained in Europe, of the\nenormity of long hair. During the absence of Richard Coeur de Lion, his\nEnglish subjects not only cut their hair close, but shaved their faces.\nWilliam Fitz-osbert, or Long-beard, the great demagogue of that day,\nreintroduced among the people who claimed to be of Saxon origin the\nfashion of long hair. He did this with the view of making them as unlike\nas possible to the citizens and the Normans. He wore his own beard hanging\ndown to his waist, from whence the name by which he is best known to\nposterity.\n\nThe Church never shewed itself so great an enemy to the beard as to long\nhair on the head. It generally allowed fashion to take its own course,\nboth with regard to the chin and the upper lip. This fashion varied\ncontinually; for we find that, in little more than a century after the\ntime of Richard I., when beards were short, that they had again become so\nlong as to be mentioned in the famous epigram made by the Scots who\nvisited London in 1327, when David, son of Robert Bruce, was married to\nJoan, the sister of King Edward. This epigram, which was stuck on the\nchurch-door of St. Peter Stangate, ran as follows:\n\n   \"Long beards heartlesse,\n    Painted hoods witlesse,\n    Gray coats gracelesse,\n    Make England thriftlesse.\"\n\nWhen the Emperor Charles V. ascended the throne of Spain he had no beard.\nIt was not to be expected that the obsequious parasites who always\nsurround a monarch, could presume to look more virile than their master.\nImmediately all the courtiers appeared beardless, with the exception of\nsuch few grave old men as had outgrown the influence of fashion, and who\nhad determined to die bearded as they had lived. Sober people in general\nsaw this revolution with sorrow and alarm, and thought that every manly\nvirtue would be banished with the beard. It became at the time a common\nsaying,--\n\n         \"Desde que no hay barba, no hay mas alma.\"\n    We have no longer souls since we have lost our beards.\n\nIn France also the beard fell into disrepute after the death of Henry IV.,\nfrom the mere reason that his successor was too young to have one. Some of\nthe more immediate friends of the great B\u00e9arnais, and his minister Sully\namong the rest, refused to part with their beards, notwithstanding the\njeers of the new generation.\n\nWho does not remember the division of England into the two great parties\nof Roundheads and Cavaliers? In those days every species of vice and\niniquity was thought by the Puritans to lurk in the long curly tresses of\nthe monarchists, while the latter imagined that their opponents were as\ndestitute of wit, of wisdom, and of virtue, as they were of hair. A man's\nlocks were the symbol of his creed, both in politics and religion. The\nmore abundant the hair, the more scant the faith; and the balder the head,\nthe more sincere the piety.\n\n[Illustration: PETER THE GREAT.]\n\nBut among all the instances of the interference of governments with men's\nhair, the most extraordinary, not only for its daring, but for its\nsuccess, is that of Peter the Great, in 1705. By this time fashion had\ncondemned the beard in every other country in Europe, and with a voice\nmore potent than popes or emperors, had banished it from civilised\nsociety. But this only made the Russians cling more fondly to their\nancient ornament, as a mark to distinguish them from foreigners, whom they\nhated. Peter, however, resolved that they should be shaven. If he had been\na man deeply read in history, he might have hesitated before he attempted\nso despotic an attack upon the time-hallowed customs and prejudices of his\ncountrymen; but he was not. He did not know or consider the danger of the\ninnovation; he only listened to the promptings of his own indomitable\nwill, and his fiat went forth, that not only the army, but all ranks of\ncitizens, from the nobles to the serfs, should shave their beards. A\ncertain time was given, that people might get over the first throes of\ntheir repugnance, after which every man who chose to retain his beard was\nto pay a tax of one hundred roubles. The priests and the serfs were put on\na lower footing, and allowed to retain theirs upon payment of a copeck\nevery time they passed the gate of a city. Great discontent existed in\nconsequence, but the dreadful fate of the Strelitzes was too recent to be\nforgotten, and thousands who had the will had not the courage to revolt.\nAs is well remarked by a writer in the _Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica_, they\nthought it wiser to cut off their beards than to run the risk of incensing\na man who would make no scruple in cutting off their heads. Wiser, too,\nthan the popes and bishops of a former age, he did not threaten them with\neternal damnation, but made them pay in hard cash the penalty of their\ndisobedience. For many years, a very considerable revenue was collected\nfrom this source. The collectors gave in receipt for its payment a small\ncopper coin, struck expressly for the purpose, and called the\n\"_borodov\u00e1ia_,\" or \"the bearded.\" On one side it bore the figure of a\nnose, mouth, and moustaches, with a long bushy beard, surmounted by the\nwords, \"_Deuyee Vyeatee_,\" \"money received;\" the whole encircled by a\nwreath, and stamped with the black eagle of Russia. On the reverse, it\nbore the date of the year. Every man who chose to wear a beard was obliged\nto produce this receipt on his entry into a town. Those who were\nrefractory, and refused to pay the tax, were thrown into prison.\n\nSince that day, the rulers of modern Europe have endeavoured to persuade,\nrather than to force, in all matters pertaining to fashion. The Vatican\ntroubles itself no more about beards or ringlets, and men may become hairy\nas bears, if such is their fancy, without fear of excommunication or\ndeprivation of their political rights. Folly has taken a new start, and\ncultivates the moustache.\n\nEven upon this point governments will not let men alone. Religion as yet\nhas not meddled with it; but perhaps it will; and politics already\ninfluence it considerably. Before the revolution of 1830, neither the\nFrench nor Belgian citizens were remarkable for their moustaches; but,\nafter that event, there was hardly a shopkeeper either in Paris or\nBrussels whose upper lip did not suddenly become hairy with real or mock\nmoustaches. During a temporary triumph gained by the Dutch soldiers over\nthe citizens of Louvain, in October 1830, it became a standing joke\nagainst the patriots, that they shaved their faces clean immediately; and\nthe wits of the Dutch army asserted that they had gathered moustaches\nenough from the denuded lips of the Belgians to stuff mattresses for all\nthe sick and wounded in their hospital.\n\nThe last folly of this kind is still more recent. In the German\nnewspapers, of August 1838, appeared an ordonnance, signed by the king of\nBavaria, forbidding civilians, on any pretence whatever, to wear\nmoustaches, and commanding the police and other authorities to arrest, and\ncause to be shaved, the offending parties. \"Strange to say,\" adds _Le\nDroit_, the journal from which this account is taken, \"moustaches\ndisappeared immediately, like leaves from the trees in autumn; every body\nmade haste to obey the royal order, and not one person was arrested.\"\n\nThe king of Bavaria, a rhymester of some celebrity, has taken a good many\npoetical licences in his time. His licence in this matter appears neither\npoetical nor reasonable. It is to be hoped that he will not take it into\nhis royal head to make his subjects shave theirs; nothing but that is\nwanting to complete their degradation.\n\n[Illustration: BAYEUX TAPESTRY.[77]]\n\n    [77] The above engraving, shewing two soldiers of William the\n         Conqueror's army, is taken from the celebrated Bayeux\n         Tapestry.--See _ante_, p. 297.\n\n\n\n\nEND OF VOL. I.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: POPE URBAN PREACHING THE CRUSADES.]\n\n\n\n\nMEMOIRS\n\nOF\n\nEXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS.\n\n\nVOLUME II.\n\n\n[Illustration: VIEW IN THE THE HARZ MOUNTAINS.]\n\n\nLONDON:\n\nOFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY,\n\n227 STRAND.\n\n\n1852.\n\n\n\n\nMEMOIRS\n\nOF\n\nEXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS\n\nAND THE\n\nMADNESS OF CROWDS.\n\n\nBY CHARLES MACKAY, LL.D.\n\nAUTHOR OF \"EGERIA,\" \"THE SALAMANDRINE,\" ETC.\n\nILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS.\n\nVOL. II.\n\n\n    N'en d\u00e9plaise \u00e0 ces fous nomm\u00e9s sages de Gr\u00e8ce,\n    En ce monde il n'est point de parfaite sagesse;\n    Tous les hommes sont fous, et malgr\u00e9 tous leurs so\u00eens\n    Ne diff\u00e8rent entre eux que du plus ou du moins.\n                                        BOILEAU.\n\n\nLONDON:\n\nOFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY,\n\n227 STRAND.\n\n\n1852.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nTHE CRUSADES.\n\nDifferent accounts of the Crusaders derived from History and\nRomance--Pilgrimages to the Holy Land first undertaken by converted Jews\nand the very credulous--Increasing number of pilgrims every year--Relics\ngreatly valued--Haroun al Reschid--The pilgrims taxed--Robert of\nNormandy--The pilgrims persecuted by the Turks--Peter the Hermit--His\nfirst idea of rousing the powers of Christendom--His interview with\nSimeon--Peter the Hermit preaches the Holy War to all the nations of\nChristendom--The Pope crosses the Alps--King Philip accused of adultery\nwith Bertrade de Montfort--The Council of Clermont--Oration of Urban\nII.--The \"Truce of God\"--_Gautier sans Avoir_, or Walter the\nPennyless--Gottschalk--The arrival at Semlin--Peter the Hermit at\nNissa--At Constantinople--The Crusaders conducted in safety to\nConstantinople--Fresh hordes from Germany--Godfrey of Bouillon--Count of\nVermandois--Tancred--The siege of Antioch--The Holy Lance--Fate of Peter\nBarthelemy--Siege of Jerusalem--St. Bernard--Second Crusade: Siege of\nDamascus--Third Crusade: Death of Henry II.--Richard Coeur de Lion--Fourth\nCrusade--Fifth Crusade: Constantinople assaulted--Sixth Crusade: Camhel\nand Cohreddin--Seventh Crusade: Departure of Louis IX. for Cyprus--For\nAcre--His death at Carthage--End of the Crusades\n\n\nTHE WITCH MANIA.\n\nPopular notions of the devil--Inferior demons--Demons of both\nsexes--Demons preferring the night between Friday and Saturday--The devil\nin the shape of a goat--Sorcery--Execution of Joan of Arc--Witches burned\nin Europe--Various charges of Witchcraft--Trois Echelles--The Witches of\nWarbois--John Knox--Torture of Dr. Fian--The Lancashire Witches--Matthew\nHopkins--Burnings at W\u00fcrzburg, at Lindheim, at Labourt--Request of the\nparliament of Rouen to the King, in 1670--W\u00fcrzburg the scene of the last\ncase of Witchcraft--The Witchcraft of Lady Hatton--Witchcraft at Hastings\nand many other parts of England\n\n\nTHE SLOW POISONERS.\n\nMurder of Sir Thomas Overbury--Trial of Weston--Of Sir Jervis\nElwes--Poisoning most prevalent in Italy--Poisons manufactured by La\nTophania--Her death--Madame de Brinvilliers--The poisoning of her father\nand two brothers--Lavoisin and Lavigoreux\n\n\nHAUNTED HOUSES.\n\nThe haunted house in Aix-la-Chapelle--In Tours--The royal palace of\nWoodstock a haunted house--The supposed ghosts at Tedworth--At Cock\nLane--At Stockwell--Haunted house at Baldarroch\n\n\nPOPULAR FOLLIES OF GREAT CITIES.\n\nCant phrases--\"Quoz\"--\"What a shocking bad hat\"--\"Hookey Walker\"--\"There\nhe goes with his eye out\"--\"Has your mother sold her mangle?\"--\"Does your\nmother know you're out?\"--\"Tom and Jerry\"--\"Jim Crow\"\n\n\nPOPULAR ADMIRATION OF GREAT THIEVES.\n\nRobin Hood--Claude Duval--Dick Turpin--Jonathan Wild--Jack\nSheppard--Vidocq--Mausch Nadel--The Beggar's Opera--Rob Roy\n\n\nDUELS AND ORDEALS.\n\nThe origin of the Duello--All persons engaged in duelling excommunicated\nby the Council of Trent--The fire ordeal--The water ordeal--The\nCorsned--Duel between Ingelgerius and Gontran--Duel between Fran\u00e7ois de\nVivonne and Guy de Chabot--L'Isle-Marivaut and Marolles--Richelieu--Duel\nbetween the Dukes De Beaufort and De Nemours--Laws against Duelling--Duel\nbetween Lord Sanquir and Turner--Between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord\nMohun--German students inveterate Duellists\n\n\nRELICS.\n\nThe True Cross--Tears of our Saviour--The Santa Scala, or Holy Stairs--The\nmad Knight of Malta--Shakspeare's Mulberry-tree\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ENGRAVINGS IN VOL. II.\n\n\nPope Urban preaching the first Crusade.--Frontispiece.\n\nView in the Harz Mountains. (Capt. Batty's _Hanoverian and Saxon\nScenery_.)--Title-page.\n\nInitial--Crusaders' Weapons of the eleventh century\n\nPeter the Hermit preaching\n\nCathedral at Clermont. (Sommerard's _Album_)\n\nNic\u00e9e, Asia Minor. (Leon de Laborde's _Voyage en Orient_)\n\nGodfrey of Bouillon. (From the Statue by Simonis, Brussels)\n\nSiege of Antioch\n\nThe Holy Lance. (Copied, in Hone's _Everyday Book_, from a very rare print\npublished by the Ecclesiastics of Nuremberg)\n\nShrine of the Nativity, Bethlehem. (Laborde's _Voyage en Orient_)\n\nPilgrims' first sight of Jerusalem. (Print by Pl\u00fcddemann)\n\nSiege of Jerusalem\n\nJerusalem. (Gerhardt von Breydenbach's _Grand Voyage de Jherusalem_, 1517)\n\nBible of Baldwin's Queen. (Original in the British Museum)\n\nCathedral of Vezelai. (Sommerard's _Album_)\n\nPilgrim's Staff. (The _Arch\u00e6ologia_)\n\nDamascus. (Laborde's _Voyage en Orient_)\n\nSeal of Frederick Barbarossa. (Venetian History)\n\nHenry II. (Stothard's _Monumental Effigies_)\n\nCh\u00e2teau of Gisors, Normandy. (_L'Univers Pittoresque_)\n\nPhilip Augustus. (Willemin's _Monumens Fran\u00e7ais in\u00e9dits_)\n\nThe Island of Rhodes. (Royal Library, British Museum; print \"in _Venetia_,\n1570\")\n\nRichard I. and Berengaria. (Stothard's _Monumental Effigies_)\n\nBethlehem. (Laborde's _Voyage en Orient_)\n\nConstantinople. (Print, Johann Baptist Hooman, Royal Library, British\nMuseum)\n\nTemplar and Hospitaller. (Fairholt's _Book of Costumes_)\n\nJaffa. (Laborde's _Voyage en Orient_)\n\nLongespee or Longsword, Earl of Salisbury. (Effigy in Salisbury Cathedral)\n\nSeal of Edward I. (From Great Seal)\n\nTomb of Queen Eleanor, Westminster Abbey. (Original sketch)\n\nArras. (Coney's _Cathedrals and Hotels de Ville_)\n\nPhilip IV. of France\n\nJoan of Arc\n\nGate of Constance. (Print, from drawing by Major Cockburn)\n\nCharles IX. of France. (French print by Adolph Brune)\n\nBishop Jewell\n\nJohn Knox\n\nTorture of the Boots. (Knight's _Pictorial Shakspere_)\n\nJames I. the Demonologist\n\nSir G. Mackenzie\n\nPietro d'Apone\n\nMathew Hopkins. (Print in Caulfield's _Remarkable Persons_, copied from a\nrare print in the collection of J. Bindley, Esq.)\n\nSir Mathew Hale\n\nSir Thomas Brown\n\nLyons. (Prout's _Views in France_)\n\nBamberg. (Prout's _Views in Germany_)\n\nPalais de Justice, Rouen. (Sommerard's _Arts du Moyen Age_)\n\nLouis XIV.\n\nW\u00fcrzburg. (Prout's _Views in Germany_)\n\nLady Hatton's House, Cross Street, Hatton Garden. (Original sketch)\n\nFloating a Witch\n\nPlace de Gr\u00e8ve, Paris. (Old print)\n\nSir T. Overbury. (An extremely rare print by R. Elstracke)\n\nGeorge Villiers, Duke of Buckingham\n\nLord Chief-Justice Coke\n\nThe Earl of Somerset\n\nCountess of Somerset\n\nDeath of Dr. Lamb, St. Paul's Cross. (The Cross copied from print in\nWilkinson's _Londina Illustrata_)\n\nThe Bastille. (_Views of Public Edifices in Paris_, by MM. Legard et\nTestard)\n\nPalace of Woodstock in 1714. (From a print of date)\n\nSaint Louis of France. (Willemin's _Monumens Fran\u00e7ais in\u00e9dits_)\n\nHaunted House in Cock Lane. (Original sketch)\n\nRoom in the haunted house in Cock Lane. (Original sketch)\n\nSherwood Forest\n\nDuel between Du Guesclin and Troussel\n\nDuel between Ingelgerius and Gontran\n\nHenry IV.\n\nGallery in the Palace of Fontainebleau. (Sommerard's _Arts du Moyen Age_)\n\nThe Duke de Sully\n\nLord Bacon\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nMEMOIRS\n\nOF\n\nEXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CRUSADES.\n\n    They heard, and up they sprang upon the wing\n    Innumerable. As when the potent rod\n    Of Amram's son, in Egypt's evil day,\n    Waved round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud\n    Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind\n    That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung\n    Like night, and darken'd all the realm of Nile,\n    So numberless were they. *  *  *  *\n    All in a moment through the gloom were seen\n    Ten thousand banners rise into the air,\n    With orient colours waving. With them rose\n    A forest huge of spears; and thronging helms\n    Appear'd, and serried shields, in thick array,\n    Of depth immeasurable.\n                                                      _Paradise Lost_.\n\n\n[Illustration: E]\n\nEvery age has its peculiar folly; some scheme, project, or phantasy into\nwhich it plunges, spurred on either by the love of gain, the necessity of\nexcitement, or the mere force of imitation. Failing in these, it has some\nmadness, to which it is goaded by political or religious causes, or both\ncombined. Every one of these causes influenced the Crusades, and conspired\nto render them the most extraordinary instance upon record of the extent\nto which popular enthusiasm can be carried. History in her solemn page\ninforms us, that the Crusaders were but ignorant and savage men, that\ntheir motives were those of bigotry unmitigated, and that their pathway\nwas one of blood and tears. Romance, on the other hand, dilates upon their\npiety and heroism, and portrays, in her most glowing and impassioned hues,\ntheir virtue and magnanimity, the imperishable honour they acquired for\nthemselves, and the great services they rendered to Christianity. In the\nfollowing pages we shall ransack the stores of both, to discover the true\nspirit that animated the motley multitude who took up arms in the service\nof the cross, leaving history to vouch for facts, but not disdaining the\naid of contemporary poetry and romance, to throw light upon feelings,\nmotives, and opinions.\n\nIn order to understand thoroughly the state of public feeling in Europe at\nthe time when Peter the Hermit preached the holy war, it will be necessary\nto go back for many years anterior to that event. We must make\nacquaintance with the pilgrims of the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries,\nand learn the tales they told of the dangers they had passed and the\nwonders they had seen. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land seem at first to have\nbeen undertaken by converted Jews, and by Christian devotees of lively\nimagination, pining with a natural curiosity to visit the scenes which of\nall others were most interesting in their eyes. The pious and the impious\nalike flocked to Jerusalem,--the one class to feast their sight on the\nscenes hallowed by the life and sufferings of their Lord, and the other,\nbecause it soon became a generally received opinion, that such a\npilgrimage was sufficient to rub off the long score of sins, however\natrocious. Another and very numerous class of pilgrims were the idle and\nroving, who visited Palestine then as the moderns visit Italy or\nSwitzerland now, because it was the fashion, and because they might please\ntheir vanity by retailing, on their return, the adventures they had met\nwith. But the really pious formed the great majority. Every year their\nnumbers increased, until at last they became so numerous as to be called\nthe \"armies of the Lord.\" Full of enthusiasm, they set the dangers and\ndifficulties of the way at defiance, and lingered with holy rapture on\nevery scene described by the Evangelists. To them it was bliss indeed to\ndrink the clear waters of the Jordan, or be baptised in the same stream\nwhere John had baptised the Saviour. They wandered with awe and pleasure\nin the purlieus of the Temple, on the solemn Mount of Olives, or the awful\nCalvary, where a God had bled for sinful men. To these pilgrims every\nobject was precious. Relics were eagerly sought after; flagons of water\nfrom Jordan, or panniers of mould from the hill of the Crucifixion, were\nbrought home, and sold at extravagant prices to churches and monasteries.\nMore apocryphal relics, such as the wood of the true cross, the tears of\nthe Virgin Mary, the hems of her garments, the toe-nails and hair of the\nApostles--even the tents that Paul had helped to manufacture--were\nexhibited for sale by the knavish in Palestine, and brought back to Europe\n\"with wondrous cost and care.\" A grove of a hundred oaks would not have\nfurnished all the wood sold in little morsels as remnants of the true\ncross; and the tears of Mary, if collected together, would have filled a\ncistern.\n\nFor upwards of two hundred years the pilgrims met with no impediment in\nPalestine. The enlightened Haroun Al Reschid, and his more immediate\nsuccessors, encouraged the stream which brought so much wealth into Syria,\nand treated the wayfarers with the utmost courtesy. The race of Fatemite\ncaliphs,--who, although in other respects as tolerant, were more\ndistressed for money, or more unscrupulous in obtaining it, than their\npredecessors of the house of Abbas,--imposed a tax of a bezant for each\npilgrim that entered Jerusalem. This was a serious hardship upon the\npoorer sort, who had begged their weary way across Europe, and arrived at\nthe bourne of all their hopes without a coin. A great outcry was\nimmediately raised, but still the tax was rigorously levied. The pilgrims\nunable to pay were compelled to remain at the gate of the holy city until\nsome rich devotee arriving with his train, paid the tax and let them in.\nRobert of Normandy, father of William the Conqueror, who, in common with\nmany other nobles of the highest rank, undertook the pilgrimage, found on\nhis arrival scores of pilgrims at the gate, anxiously expecting his coming\nto pay the tax for them. Upon no occasion was such a boon refused.\n\nThe sums drawn from this source were a mine of wealth to the Moslem\ngovernors of Palestine, imposed as the tax had been at a time when\npilgrimages had become more numerous than ever. A strange idea had taken\npossession of the popular mind at the close of the tenth and commencement\nof the eleventh century. It was universally believed that the end of the\nworld was at hand; that the thousand years of the Apocalypse were near\ncompletion, and that Jesus Christ would descend upon Jerusalem to judge\nmankind. All Christendom was in commotion. A panic terror seized upon the\nweak, the credulous, and the guilty, who in those days formed more than\nnineteen-twentieths of the population. Forsaking their homes, kindred, and\noccupation, they crowded to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Lord,\nlightened, as they imagined, of a load of sin by their weary pilgrimage.\nTo increase the panic, the stars were observed to fall from heaven,\nearthquakes to shake the land, and violent hurricanes to blow down the\nforests. All these, and more especially the meteoric phenomena, were\nlooked upon as the forerunners of the approaching judgments. Not a meteor\nshot athwart the horizon that did not fill a district with alarm, and send\naway to Jerusalem a score of pilgrims, with staff in hand and wallet on\ntheir back, praying as they went for the remission of their sins. Men,\nwomen, and even children, trudged in droves to the holy city, in\nexpectation of the day when the heavens would open, and the Son of God\ndescend in his glory. This extraordinary delusion, while it augmented the\nnumbers, increased also the hardships of the pilgrims. Beggars became so\nnumerous on all the highways between the west of Europe and\nConstantinople, that the monks, the great almsgivers upon these occasions,\nwould have brought starvation within sight of their own doors, if they had\nnot economised their resources, and left the devotees to shift for\nthemselves as they could. Hundreds of them were glad to subsist upon the\nberries that ripened by the road, who, before this great flux, might have\nshared the bread and flesh of the monasteries.\n\nBut this was not the greatest of their difficulties. On their arrival in\nJerusalem they found that a sterner race had obtained possession of the\nHoly Land. The caliphs of Bagdad had been succeeded by the harsh Turks of\nthe race of Seljook, who looked upon the pilgrims with contempt and\naversion. The Turks of the eleventh century were more ferocious and less\nscrupulous than the Saracens of the tenth. They were annoyed at the\nimmense number of pilgrims who overran the country, and still more so\nbecause they shewed no intention of quitting it. The hourly expectation of\nthe last judgment kept them waiting; and the Turks, apprehensive of being\nat last driven from the soil by the swarms that were still arriving,\nheaped up difficulties in their way. Persecution of every kind awaited\nthem. They were plundered, and beaten with stripes, and kept in suspense\nfor months at the gates of Jerusalem, unable to pay the golden bezant that\nwas to procure them admission.\n\nWhen the first epidemic terror of the day of judgment began to subside, a\nfew pilgrims ventured to return to Europe, their hearts big with\nindignation at the insults they had suffered. Every where as they passed\nthey related to a sympathising auditory the wrongs of Christendom. Strange\nto say, even these recitals increased the mania for pilgrimage. The\ngreater the dangers of the way, the fairer chance that sins of deep dye\nwould be atoned for. Difficulty and suffering only heightened the merit,\nand fresh hordes issued from every town and village, to win favour in the\nsight of heaven by a visit to the holy sepulchre. Thus did things continue\nduring the whole of the eleventh century.\n\nThe train that was to explode so fearfully was now laid, and there wanted\nbut the hand to apply the torch. At last the man appeared upon the scene.\nLike all who have ever achieved so great an end, Peter the Hermit was\nexactly suited to the age; neither behind it nor in advance of it; but\nacute enough to penetrate its mystery ere it was discovered by any other.\nEnthusiastic, chivalrous, bigoted, and, if not insane, not far removed\nfrom insanity, he was the very prototype of the time. True enthusiasm is\nalways persevering and always eloquent, and these two qualities were\nunited in no common degree in the person of this extraordinary preacher.\nHe was a monk of Amiens, and ere he assumed the hood had served as a\nsoldier. He is represented as having been ill favoured and low in stature,\nbut with an eye of surpassing brightness and intelligence. Having been\nseized with the mania of the age, he visited Jerusalem, and remained there\ntill his blood boiled to see the cruel persecution heaped upon the\ndevotees. On his return home he shook the world by the eloquent story of\ntheir wrongs.\n\nBefore entering into any further details of the marvellous results of his\npreaching, it will be advisable to cast a glance at the state of the mind\nof Europe, that we may understand all the better the causes of his\nsuccess. First of all, there was the priesthood, which, exercising as it\ndid the most conspicuous influence upon the fortunes of society, claims\nthe largest share of attention. Religion was the ruling idea of that day,\nand the only civiliser capable of taming such wolves as then constituted\nthe flock of the faithful. The clergy were all in all; and though they\nkept the popular mind in the most slavish subjection with regard to\nreligious matters, they furnished it with the means of defence against all\nother oppression except their own. In the ecclesiastical ranks were\nconcentrated all the true piety, all the learning, all the wisdom of the\ntime; and, as a natural consequence, a great portion of power, which their\nvery wisdom perpetually incited them to extend. The people knew nothing of\nkings and nobles, except in the way of injuries inflicted. The first ruled\nfor, or more properly speaking against, the barons, and the barons only\nexisted to brave the power of the kings, or to trample with their iron\nheels upon the neck of prostrate democracy. The latter had no friend but\nthe clergy, and these, though they necessarily instilled the superstition\nfrom which they themselves were not exempt, yet taught the cheering\ndoctrine that all men were equal in the sight of heaven. Thus, while\nFeudalism told them they had no rights in this world, Religion told them\nthey had every right in the next. With this consolation they were for the\ntime content, for political ideas had as yet taken no root. When the\nclergy, for other reasons, recommended the Crusade, the people joined in\nit with enthusiasm. The subject of Palestine filled all minds; the\npilgrims' tales of two centuries warmed every imagination; and when their\nfriends, their guides, and their instructors preached a war so much in\naccordance with their own prejudices and modes of thinking, the enthusiasm\nrose into a frenzy.\n\nBut while religion inspired the masses, another agent was at work upon the\nnobility. These were fierce and lawless; tainted with every vice, endowed\nwith no virtue, and redeemed by one good quality alone, that of courage.\nThe only religion they felt was the religion of fear. That and their\noverboiling turbulence alike combined to guide them to the Holy Land. Most\nof them had sins enough to answer for. They lived with their hand against\nevery man, and with no law but their own passions. They set at defiance\nthe secular power of the clergy; but their hearts quailed at the awful\ndenunciations of the pulpit with regard to the life to come. War was the\nbusiness and the delight of their existence; and when they were promised\nremission of all their sins upon the easy condition of following their\nfavourite bent, it is not to be wondered at that they rushed with\nenthusiasm to the onslaught, and became as zealous in the service of the\ncross as the great majority of the people, who were swayed by more purely\nreligious motives. Fanaticism and the love of battle alike impelled them\nto the war, while the kings and princes of Europe had still another motive\nfor encouraging their zeal. Policy opened their eyes to the great\nadvantages which would accrue to themselves by the absence of so many\nrestless, intriguing, and bloodthirsty men, whose insolence it required\nmore than the small power of royalty to restrain within due bounds. Thus\nevery motive was favourable to the Crusades. Every class of society was\nalike incited to join or encourage the war: kings and the clergy by\npolicy, the nobles by turbulence and the love of dominion, and the people\nby religious zeal and the concentrated enthusiasm of two centuries,\nskilfully directed by their only instructors.\n\nIt was in Palestine itself that Peter the Hermit first conceived the grand\nidea of rousing the powers of Christendom to rescue the Christians of the\nEast from the thraldom of the Mussulmans, and the sepulchre of Jesus from\nthe rude hands of the infidel. The subject engrossed his whole mind. Even\nin the visions of the night he was full of it. One dream made such an\nimpression upon him, that he devoutly believed the Saviour of the world\nhimself appeared before him, and promised him aid and protection in his\nholy undertaking. If his zeal had ever wavered before, this was sufficient\nto fix it for ever.\n\nPeter, after he had performed all the penances and duties of his\npilgrimage, demanded an interview with Simeon, the Patriarch of the Greek\nChurch at Jerusalem. Though the latter was a heretic in Peter's eyes, yet\nhe was still a Christian, and felt as acutely as himself for the\npersecutions heaped by the Turks upon the followers of Jesus. The good\nprelate entered fully into his views, and, at his suggestion, wrote\nletters to the Pope, and to the most influential monarchs of Christendom,\ndetailing the sorrows of the faithful, and urging them to take up arms in\ntheir defence. Peter was not a laggard in the work. Taking an affectionate\nfarewell of the Patriarch, he returned in all haste to Italy. Pope Urban\nII. occupied the apostolic chair. It was at that time far from being an\neasy seat. His predecessor Gregory had bequeathed him a host of disputes\nwith the Emperor Henry IV. of Germany, and he had converted Philip I. of\nFrance into an enemy by his strenuous opposition to an adulterous\nconnexion formed by that monarch. So many dangers encompassed him, that\nthe Vatican was no secure abode, and he had taken refuge in Apulia, under\nthe protection of the renowned Robert Guiscard. Thither Peter appears to\nhave followed him, though in what spot their meeting took place is not\nstated with any precision by ancient chroniclers or modern historians.\nUrban received him most kindly; read, with tears in his eyes, the epistle\nfrom the Patriarch Simeon, and listened to the eloquent story of the\nHermit with an attention which shewed how deeply he sympathised with the\nwoes of the Christian Church. Enthusiasm is contagious; and the Pope\nappears to have caught it instantly from one whose zeal was so unbounded.\nGiving the Hermit full powers, he sent him abroad to preach the holy war\nto all the nations and potentates of Christendom. The Hermit preached, and\ncountless thousands answered to his call. France, Germany, and Italy\nstarted at his voice, and prepared for the deliverance of Zion. One of the\nearly historians of the Crusade, who was himself an eye-witness of the\nrapture of Europe,[1] describes the personal appearance of the Hermit at\nthis time. He says, that there appeared to be something of divine in every\nthing which he said or did. The people so highly reverenced him, that they\nplucked hairs from the mane of his mule that they might keep them as\nrelics. While preaching, he wore in general a woollen tunic, with a\ndark-coloured mantle, which fell down to his heels. His arms and feet were\nbare; and he ate neither flesh nor bread, supporting himself chiefly upon\nfish and wine. \"He set out,\" says the chronicler, \"from whence I know not;\nbut we saw him passing through the towns and villages, preaching every\nwhere, and the people surrounding him in crowds, loading him with\nofferings, and celebrating his sanctity with such great praises, that I\nnever remember to have seen such honours bestowed upon any one.\" Thus he\nwent on, untired, inflexible, and full of devotion, communicating his own\nmadness to his hearers, until Europe was stirred from its very depths.\n\n    [1] Guibert de Nogent.\n\nWhile the Hermit was appealing with such signal success to the people, the\nPope appealed with as much success to those who were to become the chiefs\nand leaders of the expedition. His first step was to call a council at\nPlacentia, in the autumn of the year 1095. Here, in the assembly of the\nclergy, the Pope debated the grand scheme, and gave audience to emissaries\nwho had been sent from Constantinople by the Emperor of the East, to\ndetail the progress made by the Turks in their design of establishing\nthemselves in Europe. The clergy were of course unanimous in support of\nthe Crusade; and the council separated, each individual member of it being\nempowered to preach it to his people.\n\nBut Italy could not be expected to furnish all the aid required; and the\nPope crossed the Alps to inspire the fierce and powerful nobility and\nchivalrous population of Gaul. His boldness in entering the territory, and\nplacing himself in the power of his foe, King Philip of France, is not the\nleast surprising feature of his mission. Some have imagined that cool\npolicy alone actuated him; while others assert that it was mere zeal, as\nwarm and as blind as that of Peter the Hermit. The latter opinion seems to\nbe the true one. Society did not calculate the consequences of what it was\ndoing. Every man seemed to act from impulse only; and the Pope, in\nthrowing himself into the heart of France, acted as much from impulse as\nthe thousands who responded to his call. A council was eventually summoned\nto meet him at Clermont, in Auvergne, to consider the state of the Church,\nreform abuses, and, above all, make preparations for the war. It was in\nthe midst of an extremely cold winter, and the ground was covered with\nsnow. During seven days the council sat with closed doors, while immense\ncrowds from all parts of France flocked into the town, in expectation that\nthe Pope himself would address the people. All the towns and villages for\nmiles around were filled with the multitude; even the fields were\nencumbered with people, who, unable to procure lodging, pitched their\ntents under the trees and by the way-side. All the neighbourhood presented\nthe appearance of a vast camp.\n\n[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL OF CLERMONT.]\n\nDuring the seven days' deliberation, a sentence of excommunication was\npassed upon King Philip for adultery with Bertrade de Montfort, Countess\nof Anjou, and for disobedience to the supreme authority of the apostolic\nsee. This bold step impressed the people with reverence for so stern a\nChurch, which in the discharge of its duty shewed itself no respecter of\npersons. Their love and their fear were alike increased, and they were\nprepared to listen with more intense devotion to the preaching of so\nrighteous and inflexible a pastor. The great square before the cathedral\nchurch of Clermont became every instant more densely crowded as the hour\ndrew nigh when the Pope was to address the populace. Issuing from the\nchurch in his full canonicals, surrounded by his cardinals and bishops in\nall the splendour of Romish ecclesiastical costume, the Pope stood before\nthe populace on a high scaffolding erected for the occasion, and covered\nwith scarlet cloth. A brilliant array of bishops and cardinals surrounded\nhim; and among them, humbler in rank, but more important in the world's\neye, the Hermit Peter, dressed in his simple and austere habiliments.\nHistorians differ as to whether or not Peter addressed the crowd, but as\nall agree that he was present, it seems reasonable to suppose that he\nspoke. But it was the oration of the Pope that was most important. As he\nlifted up his hands to ensure attention, every voice immediately became\nstill. He began by detailing the miseries endured by their brethren in the\nHoly Land; how the plains of Palestine were desolated by the outrageous\nheathen, who with the sword and the firebrand carried wailing into the\ndwellings and flames into the possessions of the faithful; how Christian\nwives and daughters were defiled by pagan lust; how the altars of the true\nGod were desecrated, and the relics of the saints trodden under foot.\n\"You,\" continued the eloquent pontiff (and Urban II. was one of the most\neloquent men of the day), \"you, who hear me, and who have received the\ntrue faith, and been endowed by God with power, and strength, and\ngreatness of soul,--whose ancestors have been the prop of Christendom, and\nwhose kings have put a barrier against the progress of the infidel,--I\ncall upon you to wipe off these impurities from the face of the earth, and\nlift your oppressed fellow-Christians from the depths into which they have\nbeen trampled. The sepulchre of Christ is possessed by the heathen, the\nsacred places dishonoured by their vileness. Oh, brave knights and\nfaithful people! offspring of invincible fathers! ye will not degenerate\nfrom your ancient renown. Ye will not be restrained from embarking in this\ngreat cause by the tender ties of wife or little ones, but will remember\nthe words of the Saviour of the world himself, 'Whosoever loves father and\nmother more than me is not worthy of me. Whosoever shall abandon for my\nname's sake his house, or his brethren, or his sisters, or his father, or\nhis mother, or his wife, or his children, or his lands, shall receive a\nhundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.'\"\n\nThe warmth of the Pontiff communicated itself to the crowd, and the\nenthusiasm of the people broke out several times ere he concluded his\naddress. He went on to portray, not only the spiritual but the temporal\nadvantages that would accrue to those who took up arms in the service of\nthe cross. Palestine was, he said, a land flowing with milk and honey, and\nprecious in the sight of God, as the scene of the grand events which had\nsaved mankind. That land, he promised, should be divided among them.\nMoreover, they should have full pardon for all their offences, either\nagainst God or man. \"Go, then,\" he added, \"in expiation of your sins; and\ngo assured, that after this world shall have passed away, imperishable\nglory shall be yours in the world which is to come.\" The enthusiasm was no\nlonger to be restrained, and loud shouts interrupted the speaker; the\npeople exclaiming as if with one voice, \"_Dieu le veult! Dieu le veult!_\"\nWith great presence of mind Urban took advantage of the outburst, and as\nsoon as silence was obtained, continued: \"Dear brethren, to-day is shewn\nforth in you that which the Lord has said by his Evangelist, 'When two or\nthree are gathered together in my name, there will I be in the midst of\nthem to bless them.' If the Lord God had not been in your souls, you would\nnot all have pronounced the same words; or rather God himself pronounced\nthem by your lips, for it was he that put them in your hearts. Be they,\nthen, your war-cry in the combat, for those words came forth from God. Let\nthe army of the Lord, when it rushes upon his enemies, shout but that one\ncry, '_Dieu le veult! Dieu le veult!_' Let whoever is inclined to devote\nhimself to this holy cause make it a solemn engagement, and bear the cross\nof the Lord either on his breast or his brow till he set out; and let him\nwho is ready to begin his march place the holy emblem on his shoulders, in\nmemory of that precept of our Saviour, 'He who does not take up his cross\nand follow me is not worthy of me.'\"\n\nThe news of this council spread to the remotest parts of Europe in an\nincredibly short space of time. Long before the fleetest horseman could\nhave brought the intelligence, it was known by the people in distant\nprovinces; a fact which was considered as nothing less than supernatural.\nBut the subject was in every body's mouth, and the minds of men were\nprepared for the result. The enthusiastic merely asserted what they\nwished, and the event tallied with their prediction. This was, however,\nquite enough in those days for a miracle, and as a miracle every one\nregarded it.\n\nFor several months after the Council of Clermont, France and Germany\npresented a singular spectacle. The pious, the fanatic, the needy, the\ndissolute, the young and the old, even women and children, and the halt\nand lame, enrolled themselves by hundreds. In every village the clergy\nwere busied in keeping up the excitement, promising eternal rewards to\nthose who assumed the red cross, and fulminating the most awful\ndenunciations against all the worldly-minded who refused or even\nhesitated. Every debtor who joined the Crusade was freed by the papal\nedict from the claims of his creditors; outlaws of every grade were made\nequal with the honest upon the same conditions. The property of those who\nwent was placed under the protection of the Church, and St. Paul and St.\nPeter themselves were believed to descend from their high abode, to watch\nover the chattels of the absent pilgrims. Signs and portents were seen in\nthe air, to increase the fervour of the multitude. An aurora-borealis of\nunusual brilliancy appeared, and thousands of the Crusaders came out to\ngaze upon it, prostrating themselves upon the earth in adoration. It was\nthought to be a sure prognostic of the interposition of the Most High; and\na representation of his armies fighting with and overthrowing the\ninfidels. Reports of wonders were every where rife. A monk had seen two\ngigantic warriors on horseback, the one representing a Christian and the\nother a Turk, fighting in the sky with flaming swords, the Christian of\ncourse overcoming the Paynim. Myriads of stars were said to have fallen\nfrom heaven, each representing the fall of a Pagan foe. It was believed at\nthe same time that the Emperor Charlemagne would rise from the grave, and\nlead on to victory the embattled armies of the Lord. A singular feature of\nthe popular madness was the enthusiasm of the women. Every where they\nencouraged their lovers and husbands to forsake all things for the holy\nwar. Many of them burned the sign of the cross upon their breasts and\narms, and coloured the wound with a red dye, as a lasting memorial of\ntheir zeal. Others, still more zealous, impressed the mark by the same\nmeans upon the tender limbs of young children and infants at the breast.\n\nGuibert de Nogent tells of a monk who made a large incision upon his\nforehead in the form of a cross, which he coloured with some powerful\ningredient, telling the people that an angel had done it when he was\nasleep. This monk appears to have been more of a rogue than a fool, for he\ncontrived to fare more sumptuously than any of his brother pilgrims, upon\nthe strength of his sanctity. The Crusaders every where gave him presents\nof food and money, and he became quite fat ere he arrived at Jerusalem,\nnotwithstanding the fatigues of the way. If he had acknowledged in the\nfirst place that he had made the wound himself, he would not have been\nthought more holy than his fellows; but the story of the angel was a\nclincher.\n\nAll those who had property of any description rushed to the mart to change\nit into hard cash. Lands and houses could be had for a quarter of their\nvalue, while arms and accoutrements of war rose in the same proportion.\nCorn, which had been excessively dear in anticipation of a year of\nscarcity, suddenly became plentiful; and such was the diminution in the\nvalue of provisions, that seven sheep were sold for five _deniers_.[2] The\nnobles mortgaged their estates for mere trifles to Jews and unbelievers,\nor conferred charters of immunity upon the towns and communes within their\nfiefs, for sums which, a few years previously, they would have rejected\nwith disdain. The farmer endeavoured to sell his plough, and the artisan\nhis tools, to purchase a sword for the deliverance of Jerusalem. Women\ndisposed of their trinkets for the same purpose. During the spring and\nsummer of this year (1096) the roads teemed with crusaders, all hastening\nto the towns and villages appointed as the rendezvous of the district.\nSome were on horseback, some in carts, and some came down the rivers in\nboats and rafts, bringing their wives and children, all eager to go to\nJerusalem. Very few knew where Jerusalem was. Some thought it fifty\nthousand miles away, and others imagined that it was but a month's\njourney; while at sight of every town or castle the children exclaimed,\n\"Is that Jerusalem? Is that the city?\"[3] Parties of knights and nobles\nmight be seen travelling eastward, and amusing themselves as they went\nwith the knightly diversion of hawking, to lighten the fatigues of the\nway.\n\n    [2] Guibert de Nogent.\n\n    [3] Guibert de Nogent.\n\nGuibert de Nogent, who did not write from hearsay, but from actual\nobservation, says the enthusiasm was so contagious, that when any one\nheard the orders of the Pontiff, he went instantly to solicit his\nneighbours and friends to join with him in \"the way of God,\" for so they\ncalled the proposed expedition. The Counts Palatine were full of the\ndesire to undertake the journey, and all the inferior knights were\nanimated with the same zeal. Even the poor caught the flame so ardently,\nthat no one paused to think of the inadequacy of his means, or to consider\nwhether he ought to yield up his farm, his vineyard, or his fields. Each\none set about selling his property at as low a price as if he had been\nheld in some horrible captivity, and sought to pay his ransom without loss\nof time. Those who had not determined upon the journey joked and laughed\nat those who were thus disposing of their goods at such ruinous prices,\nprophesying that the expedition would be miserable and their return worse.\nBut they held this language only for a day; the next they were suddenly\nseized with the same frenzy as the rest. Those who had been loudest in\ntheir jeers gave up all their property for a few crowns, and set out with\nthose they had so laughed at a few hours before. In most cases the laugh\nwas turned against them; for when it became known that a man was\nhesitating, his more zealous neighbours sent him a present of a\nknitting-needle or a distaff, to shew their contempt of him. There was no\nresisting this; so that the fear of ridicule contributed its fair\ncontingent to the armies of the Lord.\n\nAnother effect of the Crusade was, the religious obedience with which it\ninspired the people and the nobility for that singular institution \"The\nTruce of God.\" At the commencement of the eleventh century, the clergy of\nFrance, sympathising for the woes of the people, but unable to diminish\nthem, by repressing the rapacity and insolence of the feudal chiefs,\nendeavoured to promote universal good-will by the promulgation of the\nfamous \"Peace of God.\" All who conformed to it bound themselves by oath\nnot to take revenge for any injury, not to enjoy the fruits of property\nusurped from others, nor to use deadly weapons; in reward of which they\nwould receive remission of all their sins. However benevolent the\nintention of this \"Peace,\" it led to nothing but perjury, and violence\nreigned as uncontrolled as before. In the year 1041, another attempt was\nmade to soften the angry passions of the semi-barbarous chiefs, and the\n\"Truce of God\" was solemnly proclaimed. The _truce_ lasted from the\nWednesday evening to the Monday morning of every week, in which interval\nit was strictly forbidden to recur to violence on any pretext, or to seek\nrevenge for any injury. It was impossible to civilise men by these means.\nFew even promised to become peaceable for so unconscionable a period as\nfive days a-week; or if they did, they made ample amends on the two days\nleft open to them. The truce was afterwards shortened from the Saturday\nevening to the Monday morning; but little or no diminution of violence and\nbloodshed was the consequence. At the Council of Clermont, Urban II. again\nsolemnly proclaimed the truce. So strong was the religious feeling, that\nevery one hastened to obey. All minor passions disappeared before the\ngrand passion of crusading. The feudal chief ceased to oppress, the robber\nto plunder, the people to complain; but one idea was in all hearts, and\nthere seemed to be no room for any other.\n\nThe encampments of these heterogeneous multitudes offered a singular\naspect. Those vassals who ranged themselves under the banners of their\nlord erected tents around his castle; while those who undertook the war on\ntheir own account constructed booths and huts in the neighbourhood of the\ntowns or villages, preparatory to their joining some popular leader of the\nexpedition. The meadows of France were covered with tents. As the\nbelligerents were to have remission of all their sins on their arrival in\nPalestine, hundreds of them gave themselves up to the most unbounded\nlicentiousness. The courtesan, with the red cross upon her shoulders,\nplied her shameless trade with sensual pilgrims without scruple on either\nside; the lover of good cheer gave loose rein to his appetite, and\ndrunkenness and debauchery flourished. Their zeal in the service of the\nLord was to wipe out all faults and follies, and they had the same surety\nof salvation as the rigid anchorite. This reasoning had charms for the\nignorant, and the sounds of lewd revelry and the voice of prayer rose at\nthe same instant from the camp.\n\nIt is now time to speak of the leaders of the expedition. Great multitudes\nranged themselves under the command of Peter the Hermit, whom, as the\noriginator, they considered the most appropriate leader of the war. Others\njoined the banner of a bold adventurer, whom history has dignified with no\nother name than that of Gautier sans Avoir, or Walter the Pennyless, but\nwho is represented as having been of noble family, and well skilled in the\nart of war. A third multitude from Germany flocked around the standard of\na monk named Gottschalk, of whom nothing is known except that he was a\nfanatic of the deepest dye. All these bands, which together are said to\nhave amounted to three hundred thousand men, women, and children, were\ncomposed of the vilest rascality of Europe. Without discipline, principle,\nor true courage, they rushed through the nations like a pestilence,\nspreading terror and death wherever they went. The first multitude that\nset forth was led by Walter the Pennyless early in the spring of 1096,\nwithin a very few months after the Council of Clermont. Each man of that\nirregular host aspired to be his own master. Like their nominal leader,\neach was poor to penury, and trusted for subsistence on his journey to the\nchances of the road. Rolling through Germany like a tide, they entered\nHungary, where, at first, they were received with some degree of kindness\nby the people. The latter had not yet caught sufficient of the fire of\nenthusiasm to join the Crusade themselves, but were willing enough to\nforward the cause by aiding those embarked in it. Unfortunately this good\nunderstanding did not last long. The swarm were not contented with food\nfor their necessities, but craved for luxuries also. They attacked and\nplundered the dwellings of the country people, and thought nothing of\nmurder where resistance was offered. On their arrival before Semlin, the\noutraged Hungarians collected in large numbers, and, attacking the rear of\nthe crusading host, slew a great many of the stragglers, and, taking away\ntheir arms and crosses, affixed them as trophies to the walls of the city.\nWalter appears to have been in no mood or condition to make reprisals; for\nhis army, destructive as a plague of locusts when plunder urged them on,\nwere useless against any regular attack from a determined enemy. Their\nrear continued to be thus harassed by the wrathful Hungarians until they\nwere fairly out of their territory. On his entrance into Bulgaria, Walter\nmet with no better fate. The cities and towns refused to let him pass; the\nvillages denied him provisions; and the citizens and country people\nuniting, slaughtered his followers by hundreds. The progress of the army\nwas more like a retreat than an advance; but as it was impossible to stand\nstill, Walter continued his course till he arrived at Constantinople with\na force which famine and the sword had diminished to one-third of its\noriginal number.\n\nThe greater multitude, led by the enthusiastic Hermit, followed close upon\nhis heels, with a bulky train of baggage, and women and children\nsufficient to form a host of themselves. If it were possible to find a\nrabble more vile than the army of Walter the Pennyless, it was that led by\nPeter the Hermit. Being better provided with means, they were not reduced\nto the necessity of pillage in their progress through Hungary; and had\nthey taken any other route than that which led through Semlin, might\nperhaps have traversed the country without molestation. On their arrival\nbefore that city, their fury was raised at seeing the arms and red crosses\nof their predecessors hanging as trophies over the gates. Their pent-up\nferocity exploded at the sight. The city was tumultuously attacked, and\nthe besiegers entering, not by dint of bravery, but of superior numbers,\nit was given up to all the horrors which follow when victory, brutality,\nand licentiousness are linked together. Every evil passion was allowed to\nrevel with impunity, and revenge, lust, and avarice,--each had its\nhundreds of victims in unhappy Semlin. Any maniac can kindle a\nconflagration, but it may require many wise men to put it out. Peter the\nHermit had blown the popular fury into a flame, but to cool it again was\nbeyond his power. His followers rioted unrestrained, until the fear of\nretaliation warned them to desist. When the king of Hungary was informed\nof the disasters of Semlin, he marched with a sufficient force to chastise\nthe Hermit, who, at the news, broke up his camp and retreated towards the\nMorava, a broad and rapid stream that joins the Danube a few miles to the\neastward of Belgrade. Here a party of indignant Bulgarians awaited him,\nand so harassed him, as to make the passage of the river a task both of\ndifficulty and danger. Great numbers of his infatuated followers perished\nin the waters, and many fell under the swords of the Bulgarians. The\nancient chronicles do not mention the amount of the Hermit's loss at this\npassage, but represent it in general terms as very great.\n\nAt Nissa, the Duke of Bulgaria fortified himself, in fear of an assault;\nbut Peter, having learned a little wisdom from experience, thought it best\nto avoid hostilities. He passed three nights in quietness under the walls,\nand the duke, not wishing to exasperate unnecessarily so fierce and\nrapacious a host, allowed the townspeople to supply them with provisions.\nPeter took his departure peaceably on the following morning; but some\nGerman vagabonds, falling behind the main body of the army, set fire to\nthe mills and house of a Bulgarian, with whom, it appears, they had had\nsome dispute on the previous evening. The citizens of Nissa, who had\nthroughout mistrusted the Crusaders, and were prepared for the worst,\nsallied out immediately, and took signal vengeance. The spoilers were cut\nto pieces, and the townspeople pursuing the Hermit, captured all the women\nand children who had lagged in the rear, and a great quantity of baggage.\nPeter hereupon turned round and marched back to Nissa, to demand\nexplanation of the Duke of Bulgaria. The latter fairly stated the\nprovocation given, and the Hermit could urge nothing in palliation of so\ngross an outrage. A negotiation was entered into, which promised to be\nsuccessful, and the Bulgarians were about to deliver up the women and\nchildren, when a party of undisciplined Crusaders, acting solely upon\ntheir own suggestion, endeavoured to scale the walls and seize upon the\ntown. Peter in vain exerted his authority; the confusion became general,\nand after a short but desperate battle, the Crusaders threw down their\narms, and fled in all directions. Their vast host was completely routed,\nthe slaughter being so great among them, as to be counted, not by\nhundreds, but by thousands.\n\nIt is said that the Hermit fled from this fatal field to a forest a few\nmiles from Nissa, abandoned by every human creature. It would be curious\nto know whether, after so dire a reverse,\n\n                        \"His enpierced breast\n    Sharp sorrow did in thousand pieces rive,\"\n\nor whether his fiery zeal still rose superior to calamity, and pictured\nthe eventual triumph of his cause. He, so lately the leader of a hundred\nthousand men, was now a solitary skulker in the forests, liable at every\ninstant to be discovered by some pursuing Bulgarian, and cut off in mid\ncareer. Chance at last brought him within sight of an eminence, where two\nor three of his bravest knights had collected five hundred of the\nstragglers. These gladly received the Hermit, and a consultation having\ntaken place, it was resolved to gather together the scattered remnants of\nthe army. Fires were lighted on the hill, and scouts sent out in all\ndirections for the fugitives. Horns were sounded at intervals, to make\nknown that friends were near, and before nightfall the Hermit saw himself\nat the head of seven thousand men. During the succeeding day, he was\njoined by twenty thousand more, and with this miserable remnant of his\nforce, he pursued his route towards Constantinople. The bones of the rest\nmouldered in the forests of Bulgaria.\n\nOn his arrival at Constantinople, where he found Walter the Pennyless\nawaiting him, he was hospitably received by the Emperor Alexius. It might\nhave been expected that the sad reverses they had undergone would have\ntaught his followers common prudence; but, unhappily for them, their\nturbulence and love of plunder was not to be restrained. Although they\nwere surrounded by friends, by whom all their wants were liberally\nsupplied, they could not refrain from rapine. In vain the Hermit exhorted\nthem to tranquillity; he possessed no more power over them, in subduing\ntheir passions, than the obscurest soldier of the host. They set fire to\nseveral public buildings in Constantinople out of pure mischief, and\nstripped the lead from the roofs of the churches, which they afterwards\nsold for old metal in the purlieus of the city. From this time may be\ndated the aversion which the Emperor Alexius entertained for the\nCrusaders, and which was afterwards manifested in all his actions, even\nwhen he had to deal with the chivalrous and more honourable armies which\narrived after the Hermit. He seems to have imagined that the Turks\nthemselves were enemies less formidable to his power than these\noutpourings of the refuse of Europe: he soon found a pretext to hurry them\ninto Asia Minor. Peter crossed the Bosphorus with Walter, but the excesses\nof his followers were such, that, despairing of accomplishing any good end\nby remaining at their head, he left them to themselves, and returned to\nConstantinople, on the pretext of making arrangements with the government\nof Alexius for a proper supply of provisions. The Crusaders, forgetting\nthat they were in the enemy's country, and that union, above all things,\nwas desirable, gave themselves up to dissensions. Violent disputes arose\nbetween the Lombards and Normans commanded by Walter the Pennyless, and\nthe Franks and Germans led out by Peter. The latter separated themselves\nfrom the former, and, choosing for their leader one Reinaldo, or Reinhold,\nmarched forward, and took possession of the fortress of Exorogorgon. The\nSultan Solimaun was on the alert, with a superior force. A party of\nCrusaders, which had been detached from the fort, and stationed at a\nlittle distance as an ambuscade, were surprised and cut to pieces, and\nExorogorgon invested on all sides. The siege was protracted for eight\ndays, during which the Christians suffered the most acute agony from the\nwant of water. It is hard to say how long the hope of succour or the\nenergy of despair would have enabled them to hold out: their treacherous\nleader cut the matter short by renouncing the Christian faith, and\ndelivering up the fort into the hands of the sultan. He was followed by\ntwo or three of his officers; all the rest, refusing to become Mahometans,\nwere ruthlessly put to the sword. Thus perished the last wretched remnant\nof the vast multitude which had traversed Europe with Peter the Hermit.\n\nWalter the Pennyless and his multitude met as miserable a fate. On the\nnews of the disasters of Exorogorgon, they demanded to be led instantly\nagainst the Turks. Walter, who only wanted good soldiers to have made a\ngood general, was cooler of head, and saw all the dangers of such a step.\nHis force was wholly insufficient to make any decisive movement in a\ncountry where the enemy was so much superior, and where, in case of\ndefeat, he had no secure position to fall back upon; and he therefore\nexpressed his opinion against advancing until the arrival of\nreinforcements. This prudent counsel found no favour: the army loudly\nexpressed their dissatisfaction at their chief, and prepared to march\nforward without him. Upon this, the brave Walter put himself at their\nhead, and rushed to destruction. Proceeding towards Nice, the modern\nIsnik, he was intercepted by the army of the sultan: a fierce battle\nensued, in which the Turks made fearful havoc; out of twenty-five thousand\nChristians, twenty-two thousand were slain, and among them Gautier\nhimself, who fell pierced by seven mortal wounds. The remaining three\nthousand retreated upon Civitot, where they entrenched themselves.\n\n[Illustration: ISNIK.]\n\nDisgusted as was Peter the Hermit at the excesses of the multitude, who,\nat his call, had forsaken Europe, his heart was moved with grief and pity\nat their misfortunes. All his former zeal revived: casting himself at the\nfeet of the Emperor Alexius, he implored him, with tears in his eyes, to\nsend relief to the few survivors at Civitot. The emperor consented, and a\nforce was sent, which arrived just in time to save them from destruction.\nThe Turks had beleaguered the place, and the Crusaders were reduced to the\nlast extremity. Negotiations were entered into, and the last three\nthousand were conducted in safety to Constantinople. Alexius had suffered\ntoo much by their former excesses to be very desirous of retaining them in\nhis capital: he therefore caused them all to be disarmed, and, furnishing\neach with a sum of money, he sent them back to their own country.\n\nWhile these events were taking place, fresh hordes were issuing from the\nwoods and wilds of Germany, all bent for the Holy Land. They were\ncommanded by a fanatical priest, named Gottschalk, who, like Gautier and\nPeter the Hermit, took his way through Hungary. History is extremely\nmeagre in her details of the conduct and fate of this host, which amounted\nto at least one hundred thousand men. Robbery and murder seem to have\njourneyed with them, and the poor Hungarians were rendered almost\ndesperate by their numbers and rapacity. Karloman, the king of the\ncountry, made a bold effort to get rid of them; for the resentment of his\npeople had arrived at such a height, that nothing short of the total\nextermination of the Crusaders would satisfy them. Gottschalk had to pay\nthe penalty, not only for the ravages of his own bands, but for those of\nthe swarms that had come before him. He and his army were induced, by some\nmeans or other, to lay down their arms: the savage Hungarians, seeing them\nthus defenceless, set upon them, and slaughtered them in great numbers.\nHow many escaped their arrows we are not informed; but not one of them\nreached Palestine.\n\nOther swarms, under nameless leaders, issued from Germany and France, more\nbrutal and more frantic than any that had preceded them. Their fanaticism\nsurpassed by far the wildest freaks of the followers of the Hermit. In\nbands, varying in numbers from one to five thousand, they traversed the\ncountry in all directions, bent upon plunder and massacre. They wore the\nsymbol of the Crusade upon their shoulders, but inveighed against the\nfolly of proceeding to the Holy Land to destroy the Turks, while they left\nbehind them so many Jews, the still more inveterate enemies of Christ.\nThey swore fierce vengeance against this unhappy race, and murdered all\nthe Hebrews they could lay their hands on, first subjecting them to the\nmost horrible mutilation. According to the testimony of Albert Aquensis,\nthey lived among each other in the most shameless profligacy, and their\nvice was only exceeded by their superstition. Whenever they were in search\nof Jews, they were preceded by a goose and goat, which they believed to be\nholy, and animated with divine power to discover the retreats of the\nunbelievers. In Germany alone they slaughtered more than a thousand Jews,\nnotwithstanding all the efforts of the clergy to save them. So dreadful\nwas the cruelty of their tormentors, that great numbers of Jews committed\nself-destruction to avoid falling into their hands.\n\nAgain it fell to the lot of the Hungarians to deliver Europe from these\npests. When there were no more Jews to murder, the bands collected in one\nbody, and took the old route to the Holy Land, a route stained with the\nblood of three hundred thousand who had gone before, and destined also to\nreceive theirs. The number of these swarms has never been stated; but so\nmany of them perished in Hungary, that contemporary writers, despairing of\ngiving any adequate idea of their multitudes, state that the fields were\nactually heaped with their corpses, and that for miles in its course the\nwaters of the Danube were dyed with their blood. It was at Mersburg, on\nthe Danube, that the greatest slaughter took place,--a slaughter so great\nas to amount almost to extermination. The Hungarians for a while disputed\nthe passage of the river, but the Crusaders forced their way across, and\nattacking the city with the blind courage of madness, succeeded in making\na breach in the walls. At this moment of victory an unaccountable fear\ncame over them. Throwing down their arms, they fled panic-stricken, no one\nknew why, and no one knew whither. The Hungarians followed, sword in hand,\nand cut them down without remorse, and in such numbers, that the stream of\nthe Danube is said to have been choked up by their unburied bodies.\n\nThis was the worst paroxysm of the madness of Europe; and this passed, her\nchivalry stepped upon the scene. Men of cool heads, mature plans, and\ninvincible courage stood forward to lead and direct the grand movement of\nEurope upon Asia. It is upon these men that romance has lavished her most\nadmiring epithets, leaving to the condemnation of history the vileness and\nbrutality of those who went before. Of these leaders the most\ndistinguished were Godfrey of Bouillon duke of Lorraine, and Raymond count\nof Toulouse. Four other chiefs of the royal blood of Europe also assumed\nthe cross, and led each his army to the Holy Land; Hugh count of\nVermandois, brother of the king of France; Robert duke of Normandy, the\nelder brother of William Rufus; Robert count of Flanders, and Bohemund\nprince of Tarentum, eldest son of the celebrated Robert Guiscard. These\nmen were all tinged with the fanaticism of the age, but none of them acted\nentirely from religious motives. They were neither utterly reckless like\nGautier sans Avoir, crazy like Peter the Hermit, nor brutal like\nGottschalk the Monk, but possessed each of these qualities in a milder\nform; their valour being tempered by caution, their religious zeal by\nworldly views, and their ferocity by the spirit of chivalry. They saw\nwhither led the torrent of the public will; and it being neither their\nwish nor their interest to stem it, they allowed themselves to be carried\nwith it, in the hope that it would lead them at last to a haven of\naggrandisement. Around them congregated many minor chiefs, the flower of\nthe nobility of France and Italy, with some few from Germany, England, and\nSpain. It was wisely conjectured that armies so numerous would find a\ndifficulty in procuring provisions if they all journeyed by the same road.\nThey therefore resolved to separate; Godfrey de Bouillon proceeding\nthrough Hungary and Bulgaria, the Count of Toulouse through Lombardy and\nDalmatia, and the other leaders through Apulia to Constantinople, where\nthe several divisions were to reunite. The forces under these leaders have\nbeen variously estimated. The Princess Anna Comnena talks of them as\nhaving been as numerous as the sands on the sea-shore, or the stars in the\nfirmament. Fulcher of Chartres is more satisfactory, and exaggerates less\nmagnificently, when he states, that all the divisions, when they had sat\ndown before Nice in Bithynia, amounted to one hundred thousand horsemen,\nand six hundred thousand men on foot, exclusive of the priests, women, and\nchildren. Gibbon is of opinion that this amount is exaggerated; but thinks\nthe actual numbers did not fall very far short of the calculation. The\nPrincess Anna afterwards gives the number of those under Godfrey of\nBouillon as eighty thousand foot and horse; and supposing that each of the\nother chiefs led an army as numerous, the total would be near half a\nmillion. This must be over rather than under the mark, as the army of\nGodfrey of Bouillon was confessedly the largest when it set out, and\nsuffered less by the way than any other.\n\n[Illustration: GODFREY DE BOUILLON.]\n\nThe Count of Vermandois was the first who set foot on the Grecian\nterritory. On his arrival at Durazzo he was received with every mark of\nrespect and courtesy by the agents of the emperor, and his followers were\nabundantly supplied with provisions. Suddenly, however, and without cause\nassigned, the count was arrested by order of the Emperor Alexius, and\nconveyed a close prisoner to Constantinople. Various motives have been\nassigned by different authors as having induced the emperor to this\ntreacherous and imprudent proceeding. By every writer he has been\ncondemned for so flagrant a breach of hospitality and justice. The most\nprobable reason for his conduct appears to be that suggested by Guibert of\nNogent, who states that Alexius, fearful of the designs of the Crusaders\nupon his throne, resorted to this extremity in order afterwards to force\nthe count to take the oath of allegiance to him, as the price of his\nliberation. The example of a prince so eminent as the brother of the king\nof France, would, he thought, be readily followed by the other chiefs of\nthe Crusade. In the result he was wofully disappointed, as every man\ndeserves to be who commits positive evil that doubtful good may ensue. But\nthis line of policy accorded well enough with the narrowmindedness of the\nemperor, who, in the enervating atmosphere of his highly civilised and\nluxurious court, dreaded the influx of the hardy and ambitious warriors of\nthe West, and strove to nibble away by unworthy means the power which he\nhad not energy enough to confront. If danger to himself had existed from\nthe residence of the chiefs in his dominions, he might easily have averted\nit, by the simple means of placing himself at the head of the European\nmovement, and directing its energies to their avowed object, the conquest\nof the Holy Land. But the emperor, instead of being, as he might have\nbeen, the lord and leader of the Crusades, which he had himself aided in\nno inconsiderable degree to suscitate by his embassies to the Pope, became\nthe slave of men who hated and despised him. No doubt the barbarous\nexcesses of the followers of Gautier and Peter the Hermit made him look\nupon the whole body of them with disgust, but it was the disgust of a\nlittle mind, which is glad of any excuse to palliate or justify its own\nirresolution and love of ease.\n\nGodfrey of Bouillon traversed Hungary in the most quiet and orderly\nmanner. On his arrival at Mersburg he found the country strewed with the\nmangled corpses of the Jew-killers, and demanded of the king of Hungary\nfor what reason his people had set upon them. The latter detailed the\natrocities they had committed, and made it so evident to Godfrey that the\nHungarians had only acted in self-defence, that the high-minded leader\ndeclared himself satisfied, and passed on without giving or receiving\nmolestation. On his arrival at Philippopoli he was informed for the first\ntime of the imprisonment of the count of Vermandois. He immediately sent\nmessengers to the emperor, demanding the count's release, and threatening,\nin case of refusal, to lay waste the country with fire and sword. After\nwaiting a day at Philippopoli, he marched on to Adrianople, where he was\nmet by his messengers returning with the emperor's refusal. Godfrey, the\nbravest and most determined of the leaders of the Crusade, was not a man\nto swerve from his word, and the country was given up to pillage. Alexius\nhere committed another blunder. No sooner did he learn from dire\nexperience that the Crusader was not an utterer of idle threats, than he\nconsented to the release of the prisoner. As he had been unjust in the\nfirst instance, he became cowardly in the second, and taught his enemies\n(for so the Crusaders were forced to consider themselves) a lesson which\nthey took care to remember to his cost, that they could hope nothing from\nhis sense of justice, but every thing from his fears. Godfrey remained\nencamped for several weeks in the neighbourhood of Constantinople, to the\ngreat annoyance of Alexius, who sought by every means to extort from him\nthe homage he had extorted from Vermandois. Sometimes he acted as if at\nopen and declared war with the Crusaders, and sent his troops against\nthem. Sometimes he refused to supply them with food, and ordered the\nmarkets to be shut against them, while at other times he was all for peace\nand good-will, and sent costly presents to Godfrey. The honest,\nstraightforward Crusader was at last so wearied by his false kindness, and\nso pestered by his attacks, that, allowing his indignation to get the\nbetter of his judgment, he gave up the country around Constantinople to be\nplundered by his soldiers. For six days the flames of the farm-houses\naround struck terror into the heart of Alexius; but, as Godfrey\nanticipated, they convinced him of his error. Fearing that Constantinople\nitself would be the next object of attack, he sent messengers to demand an\ninterview with Godfrey, offering at the same time to leave his son as a\nhostage for his good faith. Godfrey agreed to meet him; and, whether to\nput an end to these useless dissensions, or for some other unexplained\nreason, he rendered homage to Alexius as his liege lord. He was thereupon\nloaded with honours, and, according to a singular custom of that age,\nunderwent the ceremony of the \"adoption of honour\" as son to the emperor.\nGodfrey and his brother Baudouin de Bouillon conducted themselves with\nproper courtesy on this occasion, but were not able to restrain the\ninsolence of their followers, who did not conceive themselves bound to\nkeep any terms with a man so insincere as he had shewn himself. One\nbarbarous chieftain, Count Robert of Paris, carried his insolence so far\nas to seat himself upon the throne; an insult which Alexius merely\nresented with a sneer, but which did not induce him to look with less\nmistrust upon the hordes that were still advancing.\n\nIt is impossible, notwithstanding his treachery, to avoid feeling some\ncompassion for the emperor, whose life at this time was rendered one long\nscene of misery by the presumption of the Crusaders, and his not\naltogether groundless fears of the evil they might inflict upon him,\nshould any untoward circumstance force the current of their ambition to\nthe conquest of his empire. His daughter Anna Comnena feelingly deplores\nhis state of life at this time, and a learned German[4], in a recent work,\ndescribes it, on the authority of the princess, in the following manner:\n\n\"To avoid all occasion of offence to the Crusaders, Alexius complied with\nall their whims and their (on many occasions) unreasonable demands, even\nat the expense of great bodily exertion, at a time when he was suffering\nseverely under the gout, which eventually brought him to his grave. No\nCrusader who desired an interview with him was refused access; he listened\nwith the utmost patience to the long-winded harangues which their\nloquacity or zeal continually wearied him with; he endured, without\nexpressing any impatience, the unbecoming and haughty language which they\npermitted themselves to employ towards him, and severely reprimanded his\nofficers when they undertook to defend the dignity of the imperial station\nfrom these rude assaults, for he trembled with apprehension at the\nslightest disputes, lest they might become the occasion of greater evil.\nThough the counts often appeared before him with trains altogether\nunsuitable to their dignity and to his--sometimes with an entire troop,\nwhich completely filled the royal apartment--the emperor held his peace.\nHe listened to them at all hours; he often seated himself on his throne at\nday-break to attend to their wishes and requests, and the evening twilight\nsaw him still in the same place. Very frequently he could not snatch time\nto refresh himself with meat and drink. During many nights he could not\nobtain any repose, and was obliged to indulge in an unrefreshing sleep\nupon his throne, with his head resting on his hands. Even this slumber was\ncontinually disturbed by the appearance and harangues of some\nnewly-arrived rude knights. When all the courtiers, wearied out by the\nefforts of the day and by night-watching, could no longer keep themselves\non their feet, and sank down exhausted--some upon benches and others on\nthe floor--Alexius still rallied his strength to listen with seeming\nattention to the wearisome chatter of the Latins, that they might have no\noccasion or pretext for discontent. In such a state of fear and anxiety,\nhow could Alexius comport himself with dignity and like an emperor?\"\n\n    [4] M. Wilken's _Geschichte der Kreuzz\u00fcge_.\n\nAlexius, however, had himself to blame, in a great measure, for the\nindignities he suffered: owing to his insincerity, the Crusaders\nmistrusted him so much, that it became at last a common saying, that the\nTurks and Saracens were not such inveterate foes to the Western or Latin\nChristians as the Emperor Alexius and the Greeks[5]. It would be needless\nin this sketch, which does not profess to be so much a history of the\nCrusades, as of the madness of Europe, from which they sprang, to detail\nthe various acts of bribery and intimidation, cajolery and hostility, by\nwhich Alexius contrived to make each of the leaders in succession, as they\narrived, take the oath of allegiance to him as their suzerain. One way or\nanother he exacted from each the barren homage on which he had set his\nheart, and they were then allowed to proceed into Asia Minor. One only,\nRaymond de St. Gilles count of Toulouse, obstinately refused the homage.\n\n    [5] Wilken.\n\nTheir residence in Constantinople was productive of no good to the armies\nof the cross. Bickerings and contentions on the one hand, and the\ninfluence of a depraved and luxurious court on the other, destroyed the\nelasticity of their spirits, and cooled the first ardour of their\nenthusiasm. At one time the army of the Count of Toulouse was on the point\nof disbanding itself; and, had not their leader energetically removed them\nacross the Bosphorus, this would have been the result. Once in Asia, their\nspirits in some degree revived, and the presence of danger and difficulty\nnerved them to the work they had undertaken. The first operation of the\nwar was the siege of Nice, to gain possession of which all their efforts\nwere directed.\n\nGodfrey of Bouillon and the Count of Vermandois were joined under its\nwalls by each host in succession as it left Constantinople. Among the\ncelebrated Crusaders who fought at this siege we find, besides the leaders\nalready mentioned, the brave and generous Tancred, whose name and fame\nhave been immortalised in the _Gerusalemme Liberata_, the valorous Bishop\nof Puy, Baldwin, afterwards king of Jerusalem, and Peter the Hermit, now\nan almost solitary soldier, shorn of all the power and influence he had\nformerly possessed. Kilij Aslaun the sultan of Roum and chief of the\nSeljukian Turks, whose deeds, surrounded by the false halo of romance, are\nfamiliar to the readers of Tasso, under the name of Soliman, marched to\ndefend this city, but was defeated after several obstinate engagements, in\nwhich the Christians shewed a degree of heroism that quite astonished him.\nThe Turkish chief had expected to find a wild undisciplined multitude,\nlike that under Peter the Hermit, without leaders capable of enforcing\nobedience; instead of which, he found the most experienced leaders of the\nage at the head of armies that had just fanaticism enough to be ferocious,\nbut not enough to render them ungovernable. In these engagements, many\nhundreds fell on both sides; and on both sides the most revolting\nbarbarity was practised: the Crusaders cut off the heads of the fallen\nMussulmans, and sent them in panniers to Constantinople, as trophies of\ntheir victory. After the temporary defeat of Kilij Aslaun, the siege of\nNice was carried on with redoubled vigour. The Turks defended themselves\nwith the greatest obstinacy, and discharged showers of poisoned arrows\nupon the Crusaders. When any unfortunate wretch was killed under the\nwalls, they let down iron hooks from above, and drew the body up, which,\nafter stripping and mutilating, they threw back again at the besiegers.\nThe latter were well supplied with provisions, and for six-and-thirty days\nthe siege continued without any relaxation of the efforts on either side.\nMany tales are told of the almost superhuman heroism of the Christian\nleaders--how one man put a thousand to flight; and how the arrows of the\nfaithful never missed their mark. One anecdote of Godfrey of Bouillon,\nrelated by Albert of Aix, is worth recording, not only as shewing the high\nopinion entertained of his valour, but as shewing the contagious credulity\nof the armies--a credulity which as often led them to the very verge of\ndefeat, as it incited them to victory. One Turk, of gigantic stature, took\nhis station day by day on the battlements of Nice, and, bearing an\nenormous bow, committed great havoc among the Christian host. Not a shaft\nhe sped but bore death upon its point; and although the Crusaders aimed\nrepeatedly at his breast, and he stood in the most exposed position, their\narrows fell harmless at his feet. He seemed to be invulnerable to attack;\nand a report was soon spread abroad, that he was no other than the Arch\nFiend himself, and that mortal hand could not prevail against him. Godfrey\nof Bouillon, who had no faith in the supernatural character of the\nMussulman, determined, if possible, to put an end to the dismay which was\nrapidly paralysing the exertions of his best soldiers. Taking a huge\ncross-bow, he stood forward in front of the army, to try the steadiness of\nhis hand against the much-dreaded archer: the shaft was aimed directly at\nhis heart, and took fatal effect. The Moslem fell amid the groans of the\nbesieged, and the shouts of _Deus adjuva! Deus adjuva!_ the war-cry of the\nbesiegers.\n\nAt last the Crusaders imagined that they had overcome all obstacles, and\nwere preparing to take possession of the city, when, to their great\nastonishment, they saw the flag of the Emperor Alexius flying from the\nbattlements. An emissary of the emperor, named Faticius or Tatin, had\ncontrived to gain admission, with a body of Greek troops, at a point which\nthe Crusaders had left unprotected, and had persuaded the Turks to\nsurrender to him rather than to the crusading forces. The greatest\nindignation prevailed in the army when this stratagem was discovered, and\nthe soldiers were, with the utmost difficulty, prevented from renewing the\nattack and besieging the Greek emissary.\n\nThe army, however, continued its march, and, by some means or other, was\nbroken into two divisions; some historians say accidentally,[6] while\nothers affirm by mutual consent, and for the convenience of obtaining\nprovisions on the way.[7] The one division was composed of the forces\nunder Bohemund, Tancred, and the Duke of Normandy; while the other, which\ntook a route at some distance on the right, was commanded by Godfrey of\nBouillon and the other chiefs. The Sultan of Roum, who, after his losses\nat Nice, had been silently making great efforts to crush the Crusaders at\none blow, collected in a very short time all the multitudinous tribes that\nowed him allegiance, and with an army which, according to a moderate\ncalculation, amounted to two hundred thousand men, chiefly cavalry, he\nfell upon the first division of the Christian host in the valley of\nDoryl\u00e6um. It was early in the morning of the 1st of July 1097, when the\nCrusaders saw the first companies of the Turkish horsemen pouring down\nupon them from the hills. Bohemund had hardly time to set himself in\norder, and transport his sick and helpless to the rear, when the\noverwhelming force of the Orientals was upon him. The Christian army,\ncomposed principally of men on foot, gave way on all sides, and the hoofs\nof the Turkish steeds, and the poisoned arrows of their bowmen, mowed them\ndown by hundreds. After having lost the flower of their chivalry, the\nChristians retreated upon their baggage, when a dreadful slaughter took\nplace. Neither women nor children, nor the sick, were spared. Just as they\nwere reduced to the last extremity, Godfrey of Bouillon and the Count of\nToulouse made their appearance on the field, and turned the tide of\nbattle. After an obstinate engagement the Turks fled, and their rich camp\nfell into the hands of the enemy. The loss of the Crusaders amounted to\nabout four thousand men, with several chiefs of renown, among whom were\nCount Robert of Paris and William the brother of Tancred. The loss of the\nTurks, which did not exceed this number, taught them to pursue a different\nmode of warfare. The sultan was far from being defeated. With his still\ngigantic army, he laid waste all the country on either side of the\nCrusaders. The latter, who were unaware of the tactics of the enemy, found\nplenty of provisions in the Turkish camp; but so far from economising\nthese resources, they gave themselves up for several days to the most\nunbounded extravagance. They soon paid dearly for their heedlessness. In\nthe ravaged country of Phrygia, through which they advanced towards\nAntiochetta, they suffered dreadfully for want of food for themselves and\npasture for their cattle. Above them was a scorching sun, almost\nsufficient of itself to dry up the freshness of the land, a task which the\nfirebrands of the sultan had but too surely effected, and water was not to\nbe had after the first day of their march. The pilgrims died at the rate\nof five hundred a day. The horses of the knights perished on the road, and\nthe baggage which they had aided to transport was either placed upon dogs,\nsheep, and swine, or abandoned altogether. In some of the calamities that\nafterwards befell them, the Christians gave themselves up to the most\nreckless profligacy; but upon this occasion, the dissensions which\nprosperity had engendered were all forgotten. Religion, often disregarded,\narose in the stern presence of misfortune, and cheered them as they died\nby the promises of eternal felicity.\n\n    [6] Fulcher of Chartres; Guibert de Nogent; Vital.\n\n    [7] William of Tyre; Mills; Wilken, &c.\n\nAt length they reached Antiochetta, where they found water in abundance,\nand pastures for their expiring cattle. Plenty once more surrounded them,\nand here they pitched their tents. Untaught by the bitter experience of\nfamine, they again gave themselves up to luxury and waste.\n\nOn the 18th of October they sat down before the strong city of Antioch,\nthe siege of which, and the events to which it gave rise, are among the\nmost extraordinary incidents of the Crusade. The city, which is situated\non an eminence, and washed by the river Orontes, is naturally a very\nstrong position, and the Turkish garrison were well supplied with\nprovisions to endure a long siege. In this respect the Christians were\nalso fortunate, but unluckily for themselves, unwise. Their force amounted\nto three hundred thousand fighting men; and we are informed by Raymond\nd'Argilles, that they had so much provision, that they threw away the\ngreater part of every animal they killed, being so dainty, that they would\nonly eat particular parts of the beast. So insane was their extravagance,\nthat in less than ten days famine began to stare them in the face. After\nmaking a fruitless attempt to gain possession of the city by a _coup de\nmain_, they, starving themselves, sat down to starve out the enemy. But\nwith want came a cooling of enthusiasm. The chiefs began to grow weary of\nthe expedition. Baldwin had previously detached himself from the main body\nof the army, and, proceeding to Edessa, had intrigued himself into the\nsupreme power in that little principality. The other leaders were animated\nwith less zeal than heretofore. Stephen of Chartres and Hugh of Vermandois\nbegan to waver, unable to endure the privations which their own folly and\nprofusion had brought upon them. Even Peter the Hermit became sick at\nheart ere all was over. When the famine had become so urgent that they\nwere reduced to eat human flesh in the extremity of their hunger, Bohemund\nand Robert of Flanders set forth on an expedition to procure a supply.\nThey were in a slight degree successful; but the relief they brought was\nnot economised, and in two days they were as destitute as before.\nFaticius, the Greek commander and representative of Alexius, deserted with\nhis division under pretence of seeking for food, and his example was\nfollowed by various bodies of Crusaders.\n\nMisery was rife among those who remained, and they strove to alleviate it\nby a diligent attention to signs and omens. These, with extraordinary\nvisions seen by the enthusiastic, alternately cheered and depressed them\naccording as they foretold the triumph or pictured the reverses of the\ncross. At one time a violent hurricane arose, levelling great trees with\nthe ground, and blowing down the tents of the Christian leaders. At\nanother time an earthquake shook the camp, and was thought to\nprognosticate some great impending evil to the cause of Christendom. But a\ncomet which appeared shortly afterwards raised them from the despondency\ninto which they had fallen; their lively imaginations making it assume the\nform of a flaming cross leading them on to victory. Famine was not the\nleast of the evils they endured. Unwholesome food, and the impure air from\nthe neighbouring marshes, engendered pestilential diseases, which carried\nthem off more rapidly than the arrows of the enemy. A thousand of them\ndied in a day, and it became at last a matter of extreme difficulty to\nafford them burial. To add to their misery, each man grew suspicious of\nhis neighbour; for the camp was infested by Turkish spies, who conveyed\ndaily to the besieged intelligence of the movements and distresses of the\nenemy. With a ferocity, engendered by despair, Bohemund caused two spies,\nwhom he had detected, to be roasted alive in presence of the army, and\nwithin sight of the battlements of Antioch. But even this example failed\nto reduce their numbers, and the Turks continued to be as well informed as\nthe Christians themselves of all that was passing in the camp.\n\nThe news of the arrival of a reinforcement of soldiers from Europe, with\nan abundant stock of provisions, came to cheer them when reduced to the\nlast extremity. The welcome succour landed at St. Simeon, the port of\nAntioch, and about six miles from that city. Thitherwards the famishing\nCrusaders proceeded in tumultuous bands, followed by Bohemund and the\nCount of Toulouse, with strong detachments of their retainers and vassals,\nto escort the supplies in safety to the camp. The garrison of Antioch,\nforewarned of this arrival, was on the alert, and a corps of Turkish\narchers was despatched to lie in ambuscade among the mountains and\nintercept their return. Bohemund, laden with provisions, was encountered\nin the rocky passes by the Turkish host. Great numbers of his followers\nwere slain, and he himself had just time to escape to the camp with the\nnews of his defeat. Godfrey of Bouillon, the Duke of Normandy, and the\nother leaders had heard the rumour of this battle, and were at that\ninstant preparing for the rescue. The army was immediately in motion,\nanimated both by zeal and by hunger, and marched so rapidly as to\nintercept the victorious Turks before they had time to reach Antioch with\ntheir spoil. A fierce battle ensued, which lasted from noon till the going\ndown of the sun. The Christians gained and maintained the advantage, each\nman fighting as if upon himself alone had depended the fortune of the day.\nHundreds of Turks perished in the Orontes, and more than two thousand were\nleft dead upon the field of battle. All the provision was recaptured and\nbrought in safety to the camp, whither the Crusaders returned singing\n_Alleluia!_ or shouting _Deus adjuva! Deus adjuva!_\n\nThis relief lasted for some days, and, had it been duly economised, would\nhave lasted much longer; but the chiefs had no authority, and were unable\nto exercise any control over its distribution. Famine again approached\nwith rapid strides, and Stephen count of Blois, not liking the prospect,\nwithdrew from the camp with four thousand of his retainers, and\nestablished himself at Alexandretta. The moral influence of this desertion\nwas highly prejudicial upon those who remained; and Bohemund, the most\nimpatient and ambitious of the chiefs, foresaw that, unless speedily\nchecked, it would lead to the utter failure of the expedition. It was\nnecessary to act decisively; the army murmured at the length of the siege,\nand the sultan was collecting his forces to crush them. Against the\nefforts of the Crusaders Antioch might have held out for months; but\ntreason within effected that which courage without might have striven for\nin vain.\n\nBaghasihan, the Turkish prince or emir of Antioch, had under his command\nan Armenian of the name of Phirouz, whom he had entrusted with the defence\nof a tower on that part of the city wall which overlooked the passes of\nthe mountains. Bohemund, by means of a spy who had embraced the Christian\nreligion, and to whom he had given his own name at baptism, kept up a\ndaily communication with this captain, and made him the most magnificent\npromises of reward, if he would deliver up his post to the Crusaders.\nWhether the proposal was first made by Bohemund or by the Armenian is\nuncertain, but that a good understanding soon existed between them is\nundoubted; and a night was fixed for the execution of the project.\nBohemund communicated the scheme to Godfrey and the Count of Toulouse,\nwith the stipulation that, if the city were won, he, as the soul of the\nenterprise, should enjoy the dignity of Prince of Antioch. The other\nleaders hesitated: ambition and jealousy prompted them to refuse their aid\nin furthering the views of the intriguer. More mature consideration\ndecided them to acquiesce, and seven hundred of the bravest knights were\nchosen for the expedition, the real object of which, for fear of spies,\nwas kept a profound secret from the rest of the army. When all was ready,\na report was promulgated that the seven hundred were intended to form an\nambuscade for a division of the sultan's army, which was stated to be\napproaching.\n\nEvery thing favoured the treacherous project of the Armenian captain, who,\non his solitary watch-tower, received due intimation of the approach of\nthe Crusaders. The night was dark and stormy; not a star was visible\nabove, and the wind howled so furiously as to overpower all other sounds:\nthe rain fell in torrents, and the watchers on the towers adjoining to\nthat of Phirouz could not hear the tramp of the armed knights for the\nwind, nor see them for the obscurity of the night and the dismalness of\nthe weather. When within shot of the walls, Bohemund sent forward an\ninterpreter to confer with the Armenian. The latter urged them to make\nhaste, and seize the favourable interval, as armed men, with lighted\ntorches, patrolled the battlements every half hour, and at that instant\nthey had just passed. The chiefs were instantly at the foot of the wall:\nPhirouz let down a rope; Bohemund attached it to the end of a ladder of\nhides, which was then raised by the Armenian, and held while the knights\nmounted. A momentary fear came over the spirits of the adventurers, and\nevery one hesitated. At last Bohemund,[8] encouraged by Phirouz from\nabove, ascended a few steps on the ladder, and was followed by Godfrey,\nCount Robert of Flanders, and a number of other knights. As they advanced,\nothers pressed forward, until their weight became too great for the\nladder, which, breaking, precipitated about a dozen of them to the ground,\nwhere they fell one upon the other, making a great clatter with their\nheavy coats of mail. For a moment they thought that all was lost; but the\nwind made so loud a howling as it swept in fierce gusts through the\nmountain gorges--and the Orontes, swollen by the rain, rushed so noisily\nalong--that the guards heard nothing. The ladder was easily repaired, and\nthe knights ascended two at a time, and reached the platform in safety.\nWhen sixty of them had thus ascended, the torch of the coming patrol was\nseen to gleam at the angle of the wall. Hiding themselves behind a\nbuttress, they awaited his coming in breathless silence. As soon as he\narrived at arm's length, he was suddenly seized, and, before he could open\nhis lips to raise an alarm, the silence of death closed them up for ever.\nThey next descended rapidly the spiral staircase of the tower, and opening\nthe portal, admitted the whole of their companions. Raymond of Toulouse,\nwho, cognisant of the whole plan, had been left behind with the main body\nof the army, heard at this instant the signal horn, which announced that\nan entry had been effected, and, leading on his legions, the town was\nattacked from within and without.\n\n    [8] Vide William of Tyre.\n\nImagination cannot conceive a scene more dreadful than that presented by\nthe devoted city of Antioch on that night of horror. The Crusaders fought\nwith a blind fury, which fanaticism and suffering alike incited. Men,\nwomen, and children were indiscriminately slaughtered, till the streets\nran with blood. Darkness increased the destruction, for when morning\ndawned the Crusaders found themselves with their swords at the breasts of\ntheir fellow-soldiers, whom they had mistaken for foes. The Turkish\ncommander fled, first to the citadel, and that becoming insecure, to the\nmountains, whither he was pursued and slain, and his grey head brought\nback to Antioch as a trophy. At daylight the massacre ceased, and the\nCrusaders gave themselves up to plunder. They found gold, and jewels, and\nsilks, and velvets in abundance, but of provisions, which were of more\nimportance to them, they found but little of any kind. Corn was\nexcessively scarce, and they discovered to their sorrow that in this\nrespect the besieged had been but little better off than the besiegers.\n\n[Illustration: SIEGE OF ANTIOCH.]\n\nBefore they had time to instal themselves in their new position, and take\nthe necessary measures for procuring a supply, the city was invested by\nthe Turks. The sultan of Persia had raised an immense army, which he\nentrusted to the command of Kerbogha, the emir of Mosul, with instructions\nto sweep the Christian locusts from the face of the land. The emir\neffected a junction with Kilij Aslaun, and the two armies surrounded the\ncity. Discouragement took complete possession of the Christian host, and\nnumbers of them contrived to elude the vigilance of the besiegers, and\nescape to Count Stephen of Blois at Alexandretta, to whom they related the\nmost exaggerated tales of the misery they had endured, and the utter\nhopelessness of continuing the war. Stephen forthwith broke up his camp\nand retreated towards Constantinople. On his way he was met by the Emperor\nAlexius, at the head of a considerable force, hastening to take possession\nof the conquests made by the Christians in Asia. As soon as he heard of\ntheir woful plight, he turned back, and proceeded with the Count of Blois\nto Constantinople, leaving the remnant of the Crusaders to shift for\nthemselves.\n\nThe news of this defection increased the discouragement at Antioch. All\nthe useless horses of the army had been slain and eaten, and dogs, cats,\nand rats were sold at enormous prices. Even vermin were becoming scarce.\nWith increasing famine came a pestilence, so that in a short time but\nsixty thousand remained of the three hundred thousand that had originally\ninvested Antioch. But this bitter extremity, while it annihilated the\nenergy of the host, only served to knit the leaders more firmly together;\nand Bohemund, Godfrey, and Tancred swore never to desert the cause as long\nas life lasted. The former strove in vain to reanimate the courage of his\nfollowers. They were weary and sick at heart, and his menaces and promises\nwere alike thrown away. Some of them had shut themselves up in the houses,\nand refused to come forth. Bohemund, to drive them to their duty, set fire\nto the whole quarter, and many of them perished in the flames, while the\nrest of the army looked on with the utmost indifference. Bohemund,\nanimated himself by a worldly spirit, did not know the true character of\nthe Crusaders, nor understand the religious madness which had brought them\nin such shoals from Europe. A priest, more clear-sighted, devised a scheme\nwhich restored all their confidence, and inspired them with a courage so\nwonderful as to make the poor sixty thousand emaciated, sick, and starving\nzealots put to flight the well-fed and six times as numerous legions of\nthe Sultan of Persia.\n\nThis priest, a native of Provence, was named Peter Barthelemy, and whether\nhe were a knave or an enthusiast, or both; a principal, or a tool in the\nhands of others, will ever remain a matter of doubt. Certain it is,\nhowever, that he was the means of raising the siege of Antioch, and\ncausing the eventual triumph of the armies of the cross. When the strength\nof the Crusaders was completely broken by their sufferings, and hope had\nfled from every bosom, Peter came to Count Raymond of Toulouse, and\ndemanded an interview on matters of serious moment. He was immediately\nadmitted. He said that, some weeks previously, at the time the Christians\nwere besieging Antioch, he was reposing alone in his tent, when he was\nstartled by the shock of the earthquake, which had so alarmed the whole\nhost. Through violent terror of the shock he could only ejaculate, God\nhelp me! when turning round he saw two men standing before him, whom he at\nonce recognised by the halo of glory around them as beings of another\nworld. One of them appeared to be an aged man, with reddish hair sprinkled\nwith grey, black eyes, and a long flowing grey beard. The other was\nyounger, larger, and handsomer, and had something more divine in his\naspect. The elderly man alone spoke, and informed him that he was the holy\napostle St. Andrew, and desired him to seek out the Count Raymond, the\nBishop of Puy, and Raymond of Altopulto, and ask them why the bishop did\nnot exhort the people, and sign them with the cross which he bore. The\napostle then took him, naked in his shirt as he was, and transported him\nthrough the air into the heart of the city of Antioch, where he led him\ninto the church of St. Peter, at that time a Saracen mosque. The apostle\nmade him stop by the pillar close to the steps by which they ascend on the\nsouth side to the altar, where hung two lamps, which gave out a light\nbrighter than that of the noonday sun; the younger man, whom he did not at\nthat time know, standing afar off, near the steps of the altar. The\napostle then descended into the ground and brought up a lance, which he\ngave into his hand, telling him that it was the very lance that had opened\nthe side whence had flowed the salvation of the world. With tears of joy\nhe held the holy lance, and implored the apostle to allow him to take it\naway and deliver it into the hands of Count Raymond. The apostle refused,\nand buried the lance again in the ground, commanding him, when the city\nwas won from the infidels, to go with twelve chosen men, and dig it up\nagain in the same place. The apostle then transported him back to his\ntent, and the two vanished from his sight. He had neglected, he said, to\ndeliver this message, afraid that his wonderful tale would not obtain\ncredence from men of such high rank. After some days he again saw the holy\nvision, as he was gone out of the camp to look for food. This time the\ndivine eyes of the younger looked reproachfully upon him. He implored the\napostle to choose some one else more fitted for the mission, but the\napostle refused, and smote him with a disorder of the eyes, as a\npunishment for his disobedience. With an obstinacy unaccountable even to\nhimself, he had still delayed. A third time the apostle and his companion\nhad appeared to him, as he was in a tent with his master William at St.\nSimeon. On that occasion St. Andrew told him to bear his command to the\nCount of Toulouse not to bathe in the waters of the Jordan when he came to\nit, but to cross over in a boat, clad in a shirt and breeches of linen,\nwhich he should sprinkle with the sacred waters of the river. These\nclothes he was afterwards to preserve along with the holy lance. His\nmaster William, although he could not see the saint, distinctly heard the\nvoice giving orders to that effect. Again he neglected to execute the\ncommission, and again the saints appeared to him, when he was at the port\nof Mamistra, about to sail for Cyprus, and St. Andrew threatened him with\neternal perdition if he refused longer. Upon this he made up his mind to\ndivulge all that had been revealed to him.\n\nThe Count of Toulouse, who, in all probability, concocted this tale with\nthe priest, appeared struck with the recital, and sent immediately for the\nBishop of Puy and Raymond of Altapulto. The bishop at once expressed his\ndisbelief of the whole story, and refused to have any thing to do in the\nmatter. The Count of Toulouse, on the contrary, saw abundant motives, if\nnot for believing, for pretending to believe; and, in the end, he so\nimpressed upon the mind of the bishop the advantage that might be derived\nfrom it, in working up the popular mind to its former excitement, that the\nlatter reluctantly agreed to make search in due form for the holy weapon.\nThe day after the morrow was fixed upon for the ceremony; and, in the mean\ntime, Peter was consigned to the care of Raymond, the count's chaplain, in\norder that no profane curiosity might have an opportunity of\ncross-examining him, and putting him to a nonplus.\n\nTwelve devout men were forthwith chosen for the undertaking, among whom\nwere the Count of Toulouse and his chaplain. They began digging at\nsunrise, and continued unwearied till near sunset, without finding the\nlance; they might have dug till this day with no better success, had not\nPeter himself sprung into the pit, praying to God to bring the lance to\nlight, for the strengthening and victory of his people. Those who hide\nknow where to find; and so it was with Peter, for both he and the lance\nfound their way into the hole at the same time. On a sudden, he and\nRaymond the chaplain beheld its point in the earth, and Raymond, drawing\nit forth, kissed it with tears of joy, in sight of the multitude which had\nassembled in the church. It was immediately enveloped in a rich purple\ncloth, already prepared to receive it, and exhibited in this state to the\nfaithful, who made the building resound with their shouts of gladness.\n\n[Illustration: THE HOLY LANCE.]\n\nPeter had another vision the same night, and became from that day forth\n\"dreamer of dreams\" in general to the army. He stated on the following\nday, that the Apostle Andrew and \"the youth with the divine aspect\"\nappeared to him again, and directed that the Count of Toulouse, as a\nreward for his persevering piety, should carry the Holy Lance at the head\nof the army, and that the day on which it was found should be observed as\na solemn festival throughout Christendom. St. Andrew shewed him at the\nsame time the holes in the feet and hands of his benign companion; and he\nbecame convinced that he stood in the awful presence of THE REDEEMER.\n\nPeter gained so much credit by his visions that dreaming became\ncontagious. Other monks beside himself were visited by the saints, who\npromised victory to the host if it would valiantly hold out to the last,\nand crowns of eternal glory to those who fell in the fight. Two deserters,\nwearied of the fatigues and privations of the war, who had stealthily left\nthe camp, suddenly returned, and seeking Bohemund, told him that they had\nbeen met by two apparitions, who, with great anger, had commanded them to\nreturn. The one of them said, that he recognised his brother, who had been\nkilled in battle some months before, and that he had a halo of glory\naround his head. The other, still more hardy, asserted that the apparition\nwhich had spoken to him was the Saviour himself, who had promised eternal\nhappiness as his reward if he returned to his duty, but the pains of\neternal fire if he rejected the cross. No one thought of disbelieving\nthese men. The courage of the army immediately revived; despondency gave\nway to hope; every arm grew strong again, and the pangs of hunger were for\na time disregarded. The enthusiasm which had led them from Europe, burned\nforth once more as brightly as ever, and they demanded, with loud cries,\nto be led against the enemy. The leaders were not unwilling. In a battle\nlay their only chance of salvation; and although Godfrey, Bohemund, and\nTancred received the story of the lance with much suspicion, they were too\nwise to throw discredit upon an imposture which bade fair to open the\ngates of victory.\n\nPeter the Hermit was previously sent to the camp of Kerbogha to propose\nthat the quarrel between the two religions should be decided by a chosen\nnumber of the bravest soldiers of each army. Kerbogha turned from him with\na look of contempt, and said he could agree to no proposals from a set of\nsuch miserable beggars and robbers. With this uncourteous answer Peter\nreturned to Antioch. Preparations were immediately commenced for an attack\nupon the enemy: the latter continued to be perfectly well informed of all\nthe proceedings of the Christian camp. The citadel of Antioch, which\nremained in their possession, overlooked the town, and the commander of\nthe fortress could distinctly see all that was passing within. On the\nmorning of the 28th of June, 1098, a black flag, hoisted from its highest\ntower, announced to the besieging army that the Christians were about to\nsally forth.\n\nThe Moslem leaders knew the sad inroads that famine and disease had made\nupon the numbers of the foe; they knew that not above two hundred of the\nknights had horses to ride upon, and that the foot soldiers were sick and\nemaciated; but they did not know the almost incredible valour which\nsuperstition had infused into their hearts. The story of the lance they\ntreated with the most supreme contempt, and, secure of an easy victory,\nthey gave themselves no trouble in preparing for the onslaught. It is\nrelated that Kerbogha was playing a game at chess, when the black flag on\nthe citadel gave warning of the enemy's approach, and that, with true\noriental coolness, he insisted upon finishing the game ere he bestowed any\nof his attention upon a foe so unworthy. The defeat of his advanced post\nof two thousand men aroused him from his apathy.\n\nThe Crusaders, after this first victory, advanced joyfully towards the\nmountains, hoping to draw the Turks to a place where their cavalry would\nbe unable to manoeuvre. Their spirits were light and their courage high,\nas, led on by the Duke of Normandy, Count Robert of Flanders, and Hugh of\nVermandois, they came within sight of the splendid camp of the enemy.\nGodfrey of Bouillon and Adhemar Bishop of Puy, followed immediately after\nthese leaders, the latter clad in complete armour, and bearing the Holy\nLance within sight of the whole army: Bohemund and Tancred brought up the\nrear.\n\nKerbogha, aware at last that his enemy was not so despicable, took\nvigorous measures to remedy his mistake, and, preparing himself to meet\nthe Christians in front, he despatched the Sultan Soliman of Roum to\nattack them in the rear. To conceal this movement, he set fire to the\ndried weeds and grass with which the ground was covered, and Soliman,\ntaking a wide circuit with his cavalry, succeeded, under cover of the\nsmoke, in making good his position in the rear. The battle raged furiously\nin front; the arrows of the Turks fell thick as hail, and their\nwell-trained squadrons trod the Crusaders under their hoofs like stubble.\nStill the affray was doubtful; for the Christians had the advantage of the\nground, and were rapidly gaining upon the enemy, when the overwhelming\nforces of Soliman arrived in the rear. Godfrey and Tancred flew to the\nrescue of Bohemund, spreading dismay in the Turkish ranks by their fierce\nimpetuosity. The Bishop of Puy was left almost alone with the Proven\u00e7als\nto oppose the legions commanded by Kerbogha in person; but the presence of\nthe Holy Lance made a hero of the meanest soldier in his train. Still,\nhowever, the numbers of the enemy seemed interminable. The Christians,\nattacked on every side, began at last to give way, and the Turks made sure\nof victory.\n\nAt this moment a cry was raised in the Christian host that the saints were\nfighting on their side. The battle-field was clear of the smoke from the\nburning weeds, which had curled away, and hung in white clouds of\nfantastic shape on the brow of the distant mountains. Some imaginative\nzealot, seeing this dimly through the dust of the battle, called out to\nhis fellows, to look at the army of saints, clothed in white, and riding\nupon white horses, that were pouring over the hills to the rescue. All\neyes were immediately turned to the distant smoke; faith was in every\nheart; and the old battle-cry, _God wills it! God wills it!_ resounded\nthrough the field, as every soldier, believing that God was visibly\nsending his armies to his aid, fought with an energy unfelt before. A\npanic seized the Persian and Turkish hosts, and they gave way in all\ndirections. In vain Kerbogha tried to rally them. Fear is more contagious\nthan enthusiasm, and they fled over the mountains like deer pursued by the\nhounds. The two leaders, seeing the uselessness of further efforts, fled\nwith the rest; and that immense army was scattered over Palestine, leaving\nnearly seventy thousand of its dead upon the field of battle.\n\nTheir magnificent camp fell into the hands of the enemy, with its rich\nstores of corn, and its droves of sheep and oxen. Jewels, gold, and rich\nvelvets in abundance were distributed among the army. Tancred followed the\nfugitives over the hills, and reaped as much plunder as those who had\nremained in the camp. The way, as they fled, was covered with valuables,\nand horses of the finest breed of Arabia became so plentiful that every\nknight of the Christians was provided with a steed. The Crusaders, in this\nbattle, acknowledge to have lost nearly ten thousand men.\n\nTheir return to Antioch was one of joy indeed: the citadel was surrendered\nat once, and many of the Turkish garrison embraced the Christian faith,\nand the rest were suffered to depart. A solemn thanksgiving was offered up\nby the Bishop of Puy, in which the whole army joined, and the Holy Lance\nwas visited by every soldier.\n\nThe enthusiasm lasted for some days, and the army loudly demanded to be\nled forward to Jerusalem, the grand goal of all their wishes: but none of\ntheir leaders was anxious to move;--the more prudent among them, such as\nGodfrey and Tancred, for reasons of expediency; and the more ambitious,\nsuch as the Count of Toulouse and Bohemund, for reasons of self-interest.\nViolent dissensions sprang up again between all the chiefs. Raymond of\nToulouse, who was left at Antioch to guard the town, had summoned the\ncitadel to surrender, as soon as he saw that there was no fear of any\nattack upon the part of the Persians; and the other chiefs found, upon\ntheir return, his banner waving on its walls. This had given great offence\nto Bohemund, who had stipulated the principality of Antioch as his reward\nfor winning the town in the first instance. Godfrey and Tancred supported\nhis claim, and, after a great deal of bickering, the flag of Raymond was\nlowered from the tower, and that of Bohemund hoisted in its stead, who\nassumed from that time the title of Prince of Antioch. Raymond, however,\npersisted in retaining possession of one of the city gates and its\nadjacent towers, which he held for several months, to the great annoyance\nof Bohemund and the scandal of the army. The count became in consequence\nextremely unpopular, although his ambition was not a whit more\nunreasonable than that of Bohemund himself, nor of Baldwin, who had taken\nup his quarters at Edessa, where he exercised the functions of a petty\nsovereign.\n\nThe fate of Peter Barthelemy deserves to be recorded. Honours and\nconsideration had come thick upon him after the affair of the lance, and\nhe consequently felt bound in conscience to continue the dreams which had\nmade him a personage of so much importance. The mischief of it was, that,\nlike many other liars, he had a very bad memory, and he contrived to make\nhis dreams contradict each other in the most palpable manner. St. John one\nnight appeared to him, and told one tale; while, a week after, St. Paul\ntold a totally different story, and held out hopes quite incompatible with\nthose of his apostolic brother. The credulity of that age had a wide maw,\nand Peter's visions must have been absurd and outrageous indeed, when the\nvery men who had believed in the lance refused to swallow any more of his\nwonders. Bohemund at last, for the purpose of annoying the Count of\nToulouse, challenged poor Peter to prove the truth of his story of the\nlance by the fiery ordeal. Peter could not refuse a trial so common in\nthat age, and being besides encouraged by the count and his chaplain\nRaymond, an early day was appointed for the ceremony. The previous night\nwas spent in prayer and fasting, according to custom, and Peter came forth\nin the morning bearing the lance in his hand, and walked boldly up to the\nfire. The whole army gathered round, impatient for the result, many\nthousands still believing that the lance was genuine, and Peter a holy\nman. Prayers having been said by Raymond d'Agilles, Peter walked into the\nflames, and had got nearly through, when pain caused him to lose his\npresence of mind: the heat too affected his eyes, and, in his anguish, he\nturned round unwittingly, and passed through the fire again, instead of\nstepping out of it, as he should have done. The result was, that he was\nburned so severely that he never recovered, and, after lingering for some\ndays, he expired in great agony.\n\nMost of the soldiers were suffering either from wounds, disease, or\nweariness; and it was resolved by Godfrey,--the tacitly acknowledged chief\nof the enterprise,--that the army should have time to refresh itself ere\nthey advanced upon Jerusalem. It was now July, and he proposed that they\nshould pass the hot months of August and September within the walls of\nAntioch, and march forward in October with renewed vigour, and numbers\nincreased by fresh arrivals from Europe. This advice was finally adopted,\nalthough the enthusiasts of the army continued to murmur at the delay. In\nthe mean time the Count of Vermandois was sent upon an embassy to the\nEmperor Alexius at Constantinople, to reproach him for his base desertion\nof the cause, and urge him to send the reinforcements he had promised. The\ncount faithfully executed his mission (of which, by the way, Alexius took\nno notice whatever), and remained for some time at Constantinople, till\nhis zeal, never very violent, totally evaporated. He then returned to\nFrance, sick of the Crusade, and determined to intermeddle with it no\nmore.\n\nThe chiefs, though they had determined to stay at Antioch for two months,\ncould not remain quiet for so long a time. They would, in all probability,\nhave fallen upon each other, had there been no Turks in Palestine upon\nwhom they might vent their impetuosity. Godfrey proceeded to Edessa, to\naid his brother Baldwin in expelling the Saracens from his principality,\nand the other leaders carried on separate hostilities against them as\ncaprice or ambition dictated. At length the impatience of the army to be\nled against Jerusalem became so great that the chiefs could no longer\ndelay, and Raymond, Tancred, and Robert of Normandy marched forward with\ntheir divisions, and laid siege to the small but strong town of Marah.\nWith their usual improvidence, they had not food enough to last a\nbeleaguering army for a week. They suffered great privations in\nconsequence, till Bohemund came to their aid and took the town by storm.\nIn connexion with this siege, the chronicler, Raymond d'Agilles (the same\nRaymond the chaplain who figured in the affair of the Holy Lance), relates\na legend, in the truth of which he devoutly believed, and upon which Tasso\nhas founded one of the most beautiful passages of his poem. It is worth\npreserving, as shewing the spirit of the age and the source of the\nextraordinary courage manifested by the Crusaders on occasions of extreme\ndifficulty. \"One day,\" says Raymond, \"Anselme de Ribeaumont beheld young\nEngelram, the son of the Count de St. Paul, who had been killed at Marah,\nenter his tent. 'How is it,' said Anselme to him, 'that you, whom I saw\nlying dead on the field of battle, are full or life?'--'You must know,'\nreplied Engelram, 'that those who fight for Jesus Christ never die.' 'But\nwhence,' resumed Anselme, 'comes that strange brightness that surrounds\nyou?' Upon this Engelram pointed to the sky, where Anselme saw a palace of\ndiamond and crystal. 'It is thence,' said he, 'that I derive the beauty\nwhich surprises you. My dwelling is there; a still finer one is prepared\nfor you, and you shall soon come to inhabit it. Farewell! we shall meet\nagain to-morrow.' With these words Engelram returned to heaven. Anselme,\nstruck by the vision, sent the next morning for the priests, received the\nsacrament, and although full of health, took a last farewell of all his\nfriends, telling them that he was about to leave this world. A few hours\nafterwards, the enemy having made a sortie, Anselme went out against them\nsword in hand, and was struck on the forehead by a stone from a Turkish\nsling, which sent him to heaven, to the beautiful palace that was prepared\nfor him.\"\n\n[Illustration: SHRINE OF THE NATIVITY.]\n\nNew disputes arose between the Prince of Antioch and the Count of Toulouse\nwith regard to the capture of this town, which were with the utmost\ndifficulty appeased by the other chiefs. Delays also took place in the\nprogress of the army, especially before Archas, and the soldiery were so\nexasperated that they were on the point of choosing new leaders to conduct\nthem to Jerusalem. Godfrey, upon this, set fire to his camp at Archas, and\nmarched forward. He was immediately joined by hundreds of the Proven\u00e7als\nof the Count of Toulouse. The latter, seeing the turn affairs were taking,\nhastened after them, and the whole host proceeded towards the holy city,\nso long desired amid sorrow, and suffering, and danger. At Emmaus they\nwere met by a deputation from the Christians of Bethlehem, praying for\nimmediate aid against the oppression of the infidels. The very name of\nBethlehem, the birthplace of the Saviour, was music to their ears, and\nmany of them wept with joy to think they were approaching a spot so\nhallowed. Albert of Aix informs us that their hearts were so touched that\nsleep was banished from the camp, and that, instead of waiting till the\nmorning's dawn to recommence their march, they set out shortly after\nmidnight, full of hope and enthusiasm. For upwards of four hours the\nmail-clad legions tramped stedfastly forward in the dark, and when the sun\narose in unclouded splendour, the towers and pinnacles of Jerusalem\ngleamed upon their sight. All the tender feelings of their nature were\ntouched; no longer brutal fanatics, but meek and humble pilgrims, they\nknelt down upon the sod, and with tears in their eyes, exclaimed to one\nanother \"_Jerusalem! Jerusalem!_\" Some of them kissed the holy ground,\nothers stretched themselves at full length upon it, in order that their\nbodies might come in contact with the greatest possible extent of it, and\nothers prayed aloud. The women and children who had followed the camp from\nEurope, and shared in all its dangers, fatigues, and privations, were more\nboisterous in their joy; the former from long-nourished enthusiasm, and\nthe latter from mere imitation,[9] and prayed, and wept, and laughed till\nthey almost put the more sober to the blush.\n\n    [9] Guibert de Nogent relates a curious instance of the\n        imitativeness of these juvenile Crusaders. He says that,\n        during the siege of Antioch, the Christian and Saracen boys\n        used to issue forth every evening from the town and camp in\n        great numbers, under the command of captains chosen from among\n        themselves. Armed with sticks instead of swords, and stones\n        instead of arrows, they ranged themselves in battle order,\n        and, shouting each the war-cry of their country, fought with\n        the utmost desperation. Some of them lost their eyes, and many\n        became cripples for life from the injuries they received on\n        these occasions.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE PILGRIMS AT THE FIRST SIGHT OF JERUSALEM.]\n\nThe first ebullition of their gladness having subsided, the army marched\nforward, and invested the city on all sides. The assault was almost\nimmediately begun; but after the Christians had lost some of their bravest\nknights, that mode of attack was abandoned, and the army commenced its\npreparations for a regular siege. Mangonels, moveable towers, and\nbattering-rams, together with a machine called a sow, made of wood, and\ncovered with raw hides, inside of which miners worked to undermine the\nwalls, were forthwith constructed; and to restore the courage and\ndiscipline of the army, which had suffered from the unworthy dissensions\nof the chiefs, the latter held out the hand of friendship to each other,\nand Tancred and the Count of Toulouse embraced in sight of the whole camp.\nThe clergy aided the cause with their powerful voice, and preached union\nand goodwill to the highest and the lowest. A solemn procession was also\nordered round the city, in which the entire army joined, prayers being\noffered up at every spot which gospel records had taught them to consider\nas peculiarly sacred.\n\nThe Saracens upon the ramparts beheld all these manifestations without\nalarm. To incense the Christians, whom they despised, they constructed\nrude crosses, and fixed them upon the walls, and spat upon and pelted them\nwith dirt and stones. This insult to the symbol of their faith raised the\nwrath of the Crusaders to that height that bravery became ferocity, and\nenthusiasm madness. When all the engines of war were completed, the attack\nwas recommenced, and every soldier of the Christian army fought with a\nvigour which the sense of private wrong invariably inspires. Every man had\nbeen personally outraged, and the knights worked at the battering-rams\nwith as much readiness as the meanest soldiers. The Saracen arrows and\nballs of fire fell thick and fast among them, but the tremendous rams\nstill heaved against the walls, while the best marksmen of the host were\nbusily employed in the several floors of the moveable towers in dealing\ndeath among the Turks upon the battlements. Godfrey, Raymond, Tancred, and\nRobert of Normandy, each upon his tower, fought for hours with unwearied\nenergy, often repulsed, but ever ready to renew the struggle. The Turks,\nno longer despising the enemy, defended themselves with the utmost skill\nand bravery till darkness brought a cessation of hostilities. Short was\nthe sleep that night in the Christian camp. The priests offered up solemn\nprayers in the midst of the attentive soldiery for the triumph of the\ncross in this last great struggle; and as soon as morning dawned, every\none was in readiness for the affray. The women and children lent their\naid, the latter running unconcerned to and fro while the arrows fell fast\naround them, bearing water to the thirsty combatants. The saints were\nbelieved to be aiding their efforts, and the army, impressed with this\nidea, surmounted difficulties under which a force thrice as numerous, but\nwithout their faith, would have quailed and been defeated. Raymond of\nToulouse at last forced his way into the city by escalade, while at the\nvery same moment Tancred and Robert of Normandy succeeded in bursting open\none of the gates. The Turks flew to repair the mischief, and Godfrey of\nBouillon, seeing the battlements comparatively deserted, let down the\ndrawbridge of his moveable tower, and sprang forward, followed by all the\nknights of his train. In an instant after, the banner of the cross floated\nupon the walls of Jerusalem. The Crusaders, raising once more their\nredoubtable war-cry, rushed on from every side, and the city was taken.\nThe battle raged in the streets for several hours, and the Christians,\nremembering their insulted faith, gave no quarter to young or old, male or\nfemale, sick or strong. Not one of the leaders thought himself at liberty\nto issue orders for staying the carnage, and if he had, he would not have\nbeen obeyed. The Saracens fled in great numbers to the mosque of Soliman,\nbut they had not time to fortify themselves within it ere the Christians\nwere upon them. Ten thousand persons are said to have perished in that\nbuilding alone.\n\nPeter the Hermit, who had remained so long under the veil of neglect, was\nrepaid that day for all his zeal and all his sufferings. As soon as the\nbattle was over, the Christians of Jerusalem issued forth from their\nhiding-places to welcome their deliverers. They instantly recognised the\nHermit as the pilgrim who, years before, had spoken to them so eloquently\nof the wrongs and insults they had endured, and promised to stir up the\nprinces and people of Europe in their behalf. They clung to the skirts of\nhis garments in the fervour of their gratitude, and vowed to remember him\nfor ever in their prayers. Many of them shed tears about his neck, and\nattributed the deliverance of Jerusalem solely to his courage and\nperseverance. Peter afterwards held some ecclesiastical office in the holy\ncity, but what it was, or what was his ultimate fate, history has\nforgotten to inform us. Some say that he returned to France and founded a\nmonastery, but the story does not rest upon sufficient authority.\n\n[Illustration: SIEGE OF JERUSALEM.]\n\nThe grand object for which the popular swarms of Europe had forsaken their\nhomes was now accomplished. The Moslem mosques of Jerusalem were converted\ninto churches for a purer faith, and the mount of Calvary and the\nsepulchre of Christ were profaned no longer by the presence or the power\nof the infidel. Popular frenzy had fulfilled its mission, and, as a\nnatural consequence, it began to subside from that time forth. The news of\nthe capture of Jerusalem brought numbers of pilgrims from Europe, and,\namong others, Stephen count of Chartres and Hugh of Vermandois, to atone\nfor their desertion; but nothing like the former enthusiasm existed among\nthe nations.\n\nThus then ends the history of the first Crusade. For the better\nunderstanding of the second, it will be necessary to describe the interval\nbetween them, and to enter into a slight sketch of the history of\nJerusalem under its Latin kings, the long and fruitless wars they\ncontinued to wage with the unvanquished Saracens, and the poor and\nmiserable results which sprang from so vast an expenditure of zeal, and so\ndeplorable a waste of human life.\n\n[Illustration: JERUSALEM.]\n\nThe necessity of having some recognised chief was soon felt by the\nCrusaders, and Godfrey de Bouillon, less ambitious than Bohemund or\nRaymond of Toulouse, gave his cold consent to wield a sceptre which the\nlatter chiefs would have clutched with eagerness. He was hardly invested\nwith the royal mantle before the Saracens menaced his capital. With much\nvigour and judgment he exerted himself to follow up the advantages he had\ngained, and marching out to meet the enemy before they had time to besiege\nhim in Jerusalem, he gave them battle at Ascalon, and defeated them with\ngreat loss. He did not, however, live long to enjoy his new dignity, being\nseized with a fatal illness when he had only reigned nine months. To him\nsucceeded his brother, Baldwin of Edessa. The latter monarch did much to\nimprove the condition of Jerusalem and to extend its territory, but was\nnot able to make a firm footing for his successors. For fifty years, in\nwhich the history of Jerusalem is full of interest to the historical\nstudent, the Crusaders were exposed to fierce and constant hostilities,\noften gaining battles and territory, and as often losing them, but\nbecoming every day weaker and more divided, while the Saracens became\nstronger and more united to harass and root them out. The battles of this\nperiod were of the most chivalrous character, and deeds of heroism were\ndone by the handful of brave knights that remained in Syria, which have\nhardly their parallel in the annals of war. In the course of time,\nhowever, the Christians could not avoid feeling some respect for the\ncourage, and admiration for the polished manners and advanced civilisation\nof the Saracens, so much superior to the rudeness and semi-barbarism of\nEurope at that day. Difference of faith did not prevent them from forming\nalliances with the dark-eyed maidens of the East. One of the first to set\nthe example of taking a Paynim spouse was King Baldwin himself, and these\nconnexions in time became not only frequent, but almost universal, among\nsuch of the knights as had resolved to spend their lives in Palestine.\nThese Eastern ladies were obliged, however, to submit to the ceremony of\nbaptism before they could be received to the arms of a Christian lord.\nThese, and their offspring, naturally looked upon the Saracens with less\nhatred than did the zealots who conquered Jerusalem, and who thought it a\nsin deserving the wrath of God to spare an unbeliever. We find, in\nconsequence, that the most obstinate battles waged during the reigns of\nthe later kings of Jerusalem were fought by the new and raw levies who\nfrom time to time arrived from Europe, lured by the hope of glory or\nspurred by fanaticism. The latter broke without scruple the truces\nestablished between the original settlers and the Saracens, and drew down\nsevere retaliation upon many thousands of their brethren in the faith,\nwhose prudence was stronger than their zeal, and whose chief desire was to\nlive in peace.\n\n[Illustration: BIBLE OF BALDWIN'S QUEEN.]\n\nThings remained in this unsatisfactory state till the close of the year\n1145, when Edessa, the strong frontier town of the Christian kingdom, fell\ninto the hands of the Saracens. The latter were commanded by Zenghi, a\npowerful and enterprising monarch, and, after his death, by his son\nNourheddin, as powerful and enterprising as his father. An unsuccessful\nattempt was made by the Count of Edessa to regain the fortress, but\nNourheddin with a large army came to the rescue, and after defeating the\ncount with great slaughter, marched into Edessa and caused its\nfortifications to be razed to the ground, that the town might never more\nbe a bulwark of defence for the kingdom of Jerusalem. The road to the\ncapital was now open, and consternation seized the hearts of the\nChristians. Nourheddin, it was known, was only waiting for a favourable\nopportunity to advance upon Jerusalem, and the armies of the cross,\nweakened and divided, were not in a condition to make any available\nresistance. The clergy were filled with grief and alarm, and wrote\nrepeated letters to the Pope and the sovereigns of Europe, urging the\nexpediency of a new Crusade for the relief of Jerusalem. By far the\ngreater number of the priests of Palestine were natives of France, and\nthese naturally looked first to their own country. The solicitations they\nsent to Louis VII. were urgent and oft repeated, and the chivalry of\nFrance began to talk once more of arming in defence of the birthplace of\nJesus. The kings of Europe, whose interest it had not been to take any\npart in the first Crusade, began to bestir themselves in this; and a man\nappeared, eloquent as Peter the Hermit, to arouse the people as that\npreacher had done.\n\nWe find, however, that the enthusiasm of the second did not equal that of\nthe first Crusade; in fact, the mania had reached its climax in the time\nof Peter the Hermit, and decreased regularly from that period. The third\nCrusade was less general than the second, and the fourth than the third,\nand so on, until the public enthusiasm was quite extinct, and Jerusalem\nreturned at last to the dominion of its old masters without a convulsion\nin Christendom. Various reasons have been assigned for this; and one very\ngenerally put forward is, that Europe was wearied with continued\nstruggles, and had become sick of \"precipitating itself upon Asia.\" M.\nGuizot, in his admirable lectures upon European civilisation, successfully\ncombats this opinion, and offers one of his own, which is far more\nsatisfactory. He says, in his eighth lecture, \"It has been often repeated\nthat Europe was tired of continually invading Asia. This expression\nappears to me exceedingly incorrect. It is not possible that human beings\ncan be wearied with what they have not done--that the labours of their\nforefathers can fatigue them. Weariness is a personal, not an inherited\nfeeling. The men of the thirteenth century were not fatigued by the\nCrusades of the twelfth. They were influenced by another cause. A great\nchange had taken place in ideas, sentiments, and social conditions. The\nsame desires and the same wants were no longer felt. The same things were\nno longer believed. The people refused to believe what their ancestors\nwere persuaded of.\"\n\nThis is, in fact, the secret of the change; and its truth becomes more\napparent as we advance in the history of the Crusades, and compare the\nstate of the public mind at the different periods when Godfrey of\nBouillon, Louis VII., and Richard I., were chiefs and leaders of the\nmovement. The Crusades themselves were the means of operating a great\nchange in national ideas, and advancing the civilisation of Europe. In the\ntime of Godfrey, the nobles were all-powerful and all-oppressive, and\nequally obnoxious to kings and people. During their absence along with\nthat portion of the community the deepest sunk in ignorance and\nsuperstition, both kings and people fortified themselves against the\nrenewal of aristocratic tyranny, and in proportion as they became free\nbecame civilised. It was during this period that in France, the grand\ncentre of the crusading madness, the _communes_ began to acquire strength,\nand the monarch to possess a practical and not a merely theoretic\nauthority. Order and comfort began to take root, and, when the second\nCrusade was preached, men were in consequence much less willing to abandon\ntheir homes than they had been during the first. Such pilgrims as had\nreturned from the Holy Land came back with minds more liberal and expanded\nthan when they set out. They had come in contact with a people more\ncivilised than themselves; they had seen something more of the world, and\nhad lost some portion, however small, of the prejudice and bigotry of\nignorance. The institution of chivalry had also exercised its humanising\ninfluence, and coming bright and fresh through the ordeal of the Crusades,\nhad softened the character and improved the hearts of the aristocratic\norder. The _Trouv\u00e8res_ and _Troubadours_, singing of love and war in\nstrains pleasing to every class of society, helped to root out the gloomy\nsuperstitions which, at the first Crusade, filled the minds of all those\nwho were able to think. Men became in consequence less exclusively under\nthe mental thraldom of the priesthood, and lost much of the credulity\nwhich formerly distinguished them.\n\nThe Crusades appear never to have excited so much attention in England as\non the continent of Europe; not because the people were less fanatical\nthan their neighbours, but because they were occupied in matters of graver\ninterest. The English were suffering too severely from the recent\nsuccessful invasion of their soil, to have much sympathy to bestow upon\nthe distresses of people so far away as the Christians of Palestine; and\nwe find that they took no part in the first Crusade, and very little in\nthe second. Even then those who engaged in it were chiefly Norman knights\nand their vassals, and not the Saxon franklins and population, who no\ndoubt thought, in their sorrow, as many wise men have thought since, that\ncharity should begin at home.\n\nGermany was productive of more zeal in the cause, and her raw uncivilised\nhordes continued to issue forth under the banners of the cross in numbers\napparently undiminished, when the enthusiasm had long been on the wane in\nother countries. They were sunk at that time in a deeper slough of\nbarbarism than the livelier nations around them, and took, in consequence,\na longer period to free themselves from their prejudices. In fact the\nsecond Crusade drew its chief supplies of men from that quarter, where\nalone the expedition can be said to have retained any portion of\npopularity.\n\nSuch was the state of mind of Europe when Pope Eugenius, moved by the\nreiterated entreaties of the Christians of Syria, commissioned St. Bernard\nto preach a new Crusade. St. Bernard was a man eminently qualified for the\nmission. He was endowed with an eloquence of the highest order, could move\nan auditory to tears, or laughter, or fury, as it pleased him, and had led\na life of such rigid and self-denying virtue, that not even calumny could\nlift her finger and point it at him. He had renounced high prospects in\nthe Church, and contented himself with the simple abbacy of Clairvaux, in\norder that he might have the leisure he desired, to raise his powerful\nvoice against abuses wherever he found them. Vice met in him an austere\nand uncompromising reprover; no man was too high for his reproach, and\nnone too low for his sympathy. He was just as well suited for his age as\nPeter the Hermit had been for the age preceding. He appealed more to the\nreason, his predecessor to the passions; Peter the Hermit collected a mob,\nwhile St. Bernard collected an army. Both were endowed with equal zeal and\nperseverance, springing in the one from impulse, and in the other from\nconviction, and a desire to increase the influence of the Church, that\ngreat body of which he was a pillar and an ornament.\n\n[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF VEZELAI.]\n\nOne of the first converts he made was in himself a host. Louis VII. was\nboth superstitious and tyrannical, and, in a fit of remorse for the\ninfamous slaughter he had authorised at the sacking of Vitry, he made a\nvow to undertake the journey to the Holy Land.[10] He was in this\ndisposition when St. Bernard began to preach, and wanted but little\npersuasion to embark in the cause. His example had great influence upon\nthe nobility, who, impoverished as many of them were by the sacrifices\nmade by their fathers in the holy wars, were anxious to repair their\nruined fortunes by conquests on a foreign shore. These took the field with\nsuch vassals as they could command, and in a very short time an army was\nraised amounting to two hundred thousand men. At Vezelai the monarch\nreceived the cross from the hands of St. Bernard, on a platform elevated\nin sight of all the people. Several nobles, three bishops, and his queen,\nEleanor of Aquitaine, were present at this ceremony, and enrolled\nthemselves under the banner of the cross, St. Bernard cutting up his red\nsacerdotal vestments, and making crosses of them, to be sewn on the\nshoulders of the people. An exhortation from the Pope was read to the\nmultitude, granting remission of their sins to all who should join the\nCrusade, and directing that no man on that holy pilgrimage should encumber\nhimself with heavy baggage and vain superfluities, and that the nobles\nshould not travel with dogs or falcons, to lead them from the direct road,\nas had happened to so many during the first Crusade.\n\n    [10] The sacking of Vitry reflects indelible disgrace upon Louis\n         VII. His predecessors had been long engaged in resistance to\n         the outrageous powers assumed by the Popes, and Louis\n         continued the same policy. The ecclesiastical chapter of\n         Bourges, having elected an archbishop without his consent, he\n         proclaimed the election to be invalid, and took severe and\n         prompt measures against the refractory clergy. Thibault count\n         de Champagne took up arms in defence of the Papal authority,\n         and entrenched himself in the town of Vitry. Louis\n         immediately took the field to chastise the rebel, and he\n         besieged the town with so much vigour that the count was\n         forced to surrender. Upwards of thirteen hundred of the\n         inhabitants, fully one half of whom were women and children,\n         took refuge in the church; and, when the gates of the city\n         were opened, and all resistance had ceased, Louis inhumanly\n         gave orders to set fire to the sacred edifice, and a thousand\n         persons perished in the flames.\n\nThe command of the army was offered to St. Bernard; but he wisely refused\nto accept a station for which his habits had unqualified him. After\nconsecrating Louis with great solemnity, at St. Denis, as chief of the\nexpedition, he continued his course through the country, stirring up the\npeople wherever he went. So high an opinion was entertained of his\nsanctity, that he was thought to be animated by the spirit of prophecy,\nand to be gifted with the power of working miracles. Many women, excited\nby his eloquence, and encouraged by his predictions, forsook their\nhusbands and children, and, clothing themselves in male attire, hastened\nto the war. St. Bernard himself wrote a letter to the Pope detailing his\nsuccess, and stating, that in several towns there did not remain a single\nmale inhabitant capable of bearing arms, and that every where castles and\ntowns were to be seen filled with women weeping for their absent husbands.\nBut in spite of this apparent enthusiasm, the numbers who really took up\narms were inconsiderable, and not to be compared to the swarms of the\nfirst Crusade. A levy of no more than two hundred thousand men, which was\nthe utmost the number amounted to, could hardly have depopulated a country\nlike France, to the extent mentioned by St. Bernard. His description of\nthe state of the country appears, therefore, to have been much more\npoetical than true.\n\nSuger, the able minister of Louis, endeavoured to dissuade him from\nundertaking so long a journey at a time when his own dominions so much\nneeded his presence. But the king was pricked in his conscience by the\ncruelties of Vitry, and was anxious to make the only reparation which the\nreligion of that day considered sufficient. He was desirous, moreover, of\ntestifying to the world, that though he could brave the temporal power of\nthe Church when it encroached upon his prerogatives, he could render all\ndue obedience to its spiritual decrees whenever it suited his interest or\ntallied with his prejudices to do so. Suger, therefore, implored in vain,\nand Louis received the pilgrim's staff at St. Denis, and made all\npreparations for his pilgrimage.\n\nIn the mean time St. Bernard passed into Germany, where similar success\nattended his preaching. The renown of his sanctity had gone before him,\nand he found every where an admiring audience. Thousands of people, who\ncould not understand a word he said, flocked around him to catch a glimpse\nof so holy a man; and the knights enrolled themselves in great numbers in the\nservice of the cross, each receiving from his hands the symbol of the\ncause. But the people were not led away as in the days of Gottschalk. We\ndo not find that they rose in such tremendous masses of two and three\nhundred thousand men, swarming over the country like a plague of locusts.\nStill the enthusiasm was very great. The extraordinary tales that were\ntold and believed of the miracles worked by the preacher brought the\ncountry people from far and near. Devils were said to vanish at his sight,\nand diseases of the most malignant nature to be cured by his touch.[11]\nThe Emperor Conrad caught at last the contagion from his subjects, and\ndeclared his intention to follow the cross.\n\n    [11] Philip, Archdeacon of the cathedral of Liege, wrote a\n         detailed account of all the miracles performed by St. Bernard\n         during thirty-four days of his mission. They averaged about\n         ten per day. The disciples of St. Bernard complained bitterly\n         that the people flocked around their master in such numbers,\n         that they could not see half the miracles he performed. But\n         they willingly trusted the eyes of others, as far as faith in\n         the miracles went, and seemed to vie with each other whose\n         credulity should be greatest.\n\nThe preparations were carried on so vigorously under the orders of Conrad,\nthat in less than three months he found himself at the head of an army\ncontaining at least one hundred and fifty thousand effective men, besides\na great number of women who followed their husbands and lovers to the war.\nOne troop of them rode in the attitude and armour of men: their chief wore\ngilt spurs and buskins, and thence acquired the epithet of the\ngolden-footed lady. Conrad was ready to set out long before the French\nmonarch, and in the month of June 1147, he arrived before Constantinople,\nhaving passed through Hungary and Bulgaria without offence to the\ninhabitants.\n\n[Illustration: PILGRIM'S STAFF.]\n\nManuel Comnenus, the Greek emperor, successor not only to the throne but\nto the policy of Alexius, looked with alarm upon the new levies who had\ncome to eat up his capital and imperil its tranquillity. Too weak to\nrefuse them a passage through his dominions, too distrustful of them to\nmake them welcome when they came, and too little assured of the advantages\nlikely to result to himself from the war, to feign a friendship which he\ndid not feel, the Greek emperor gave offence at the very outset. His\nsubjects, in the pride of superior civilisation, called the Germans\nbarbarians; while the latter, who, if semi-barbarous, were at least honest\nand straightforward, retorted upon the Greeks by calling them double-faced\nknaves and traitors. Disputes continually arose between them, and Conrad,\nwho had preserved so much good order among his followers during their\npassage, was unable to restrain their indignation when they arrived at\nConstantinople. For some offence or other which the Greeks had given them,\nbut which is rather hinted at than stated by the scanty historians of the\nday, the Germans broke into the magnificent pleasure-garden of the\nemperor, where he had a valuable collection of tame animals, for which the\ngrounds had been laid out in woods, caverns, groves, and streams, that\neach might follow in captivity his natural habits. The enraged Germans,\nmeriting the name of barbarians that had been bestowed upon them, laid\nwaste this pleasant retreat, and killed or let loose the valuable animals\nit contained. Manuel, who is said to have beheld the devastation from his\npalace windows without power or courage to prevent it, was completely\ndisgusted with his guests, and resolved, like his predecessor Alexius, to\nget rid of them on the first opportunity. He sent a message to Conrad\nrespectfully desiring an interview, but the German refused to trust\nhimself within the walls of Constantinople. The Greek emperor, on his\npart, thought it compatible neither with his dignity nor his safety to\nseek the German, and several days were spent in insincere negotiations.\nManuel at length agreed to furnish the crusading army with guides to\nconduct it through Asia Minor; and Conrad passed over the Hellespont with\nhis forces, the advanced guard being commanded by himself, and the rear by\nthe warlike Bishop of Freysinghen.\n\nHistorians are almost unanimous in their belief that the wily Greek gave\ninstructions to his guides to lead the army of the German emperor into\ndangers and difficulties. It is certain that, instead of guiding them\nthrough such districts of Asia Minor as afforded water and provisions,\nthey led them into the wilds of Cappadocia, where neither was to be\nprocured, and where they were suddenly attacked by the sultan of the\nSeljukian Turks, at the head of an immense force. The guides, whose\ntreachery is apparent from this fact alone, fled at the first sight of the\nTurkish army, and the Christians were left to wage unequal warfare with\ntheir enemy, entangled and bewildered in desert wilds. Toiling in their\nheavy mail, the Germans could make but little effective resistance to the\nattacks of the Turkish light horse, who were down upon them one instant,\nand out of sight the next. Now in the front and now in the rear, the agile\nfoe showered his arrows upon them, enticing them into swamps and hollows,\nfrom which they could only extricate themselves after long struggles and\ngreat losses. The Germans, confounded by this mode of warfare, lost all\nconception of the direction they were pursuing, and went back instead of\nforward. Suffering at the same time for want of provisions, they fell an\neasy prey to their pursuers. Count Bernhard, one of the bravest leaders of\nthe German expedition, was surrounded, with his whole division, not one of\nwhom escaped the Turkish arrows. The emperor himself had nearly fallen a\nvictim, and was twice severely wounded. So persevering was the enemy, and\nso little able were the Germans to make even a shew of resistance, that\nwhen Conrad at last reached the city of Nice, he found that, instead of\nbeing at the head of an imposing force of one hundred thousand foot and\nseventy thousand horse, he had but fifty or sixty thousand men, and these\nin the most worn and wearied condition.\n\nTotally ignorant of the treachery of the Greek emperor, although he had\nbeen warned to beware of it, Louis VII. proceeded, at the head of his\narmy, through Worms and Ratisbon, towards Constantinople. At Ratisbon he\nwas met by a deputation from Manuel, bearing letters so full of hyperbole\nand flattery, that Louis is reported to have blushed when they were read\nto him by the Bishop of Langres. The object of the deputation was to\nobtain from the French king a promise to pass through the Grecian\nterritories in a peaceable and friendly manner, and to yield to the Greek\nemperor any conquest he might make in Asia Minor. The first part of the\nproposition was immediately acceded to, but no notice was taken of the\nsecond and more unreasonable. Louis marched on, and, passing through\nHungary, pitched his tents in the outskirts of Constantinople.\n\nOn his arrival, Manuel sent him a friendly invitation to enter the city at\nthe head of a small train. Louis at once accepted it, and was met by the\nemperor at the porch of his palace. The fairest promises were made; every\nart that flattery could suggest was resorted to, and every argument\nemployed, to induce him to yield his future conquests to the Greek. Louis\nobstinately refused to pledge himself, and returned to his army convinced\nthat the emperor was a man not to be trusted. Negotiations were, however,\ncontinued for several days, to the great dissatisfaction of the French\narmy. The news that arrived of a treaty entered into between Manuel and\nthe Turkish sultan changed their dissatisfaction into fury, and the\nleaders demanded to be led against Constantinople, swearing that they\nwould raze the treacherous city to the ground. Louis did not feel inclined\nto accede to this proposal, and, breaking up his camp, he crossed over\ninto Asia.\n\nHere he heard, for the first time, of the mishaps of the German emperor,\nwhom he found in a woful plight under the walls of Nice. The two monarchs\nunited their forces, and marched together along the sea-coast to Ephesus;\nbut Conrad, jealous, it would appear, of the superior numbers of the\nFrench, and not liking to sink into a vassal, for the time being, of his\nrival, withdrew abruptly with the remnant of his legions, and returned to\nConstantinople. Manuel was all smiles and courtesy. He condoled with the\nGerman so feelingly upon his losses, and cursed the stupidity or treachery\nof the guides with such apparent heartiness, that Conrad was half inclined\nto believe in his sincerity.\n\nLouis, marching onward in the direction of Jerusalem, came up with the\nenemy on the banks of the Meander. The Turks contested the passage of the\nriver, but the French bribed a peasant to point out a ford lower down:\ncrossing the river without difficulty, they attacked the Turks with much\nvigour, and put them to flight. Whether the Turks were really defeated, or\nmerely pretended to be so, is doubtful; but the latter supposition seems\nto be the true one. It is probable that it was part of a concerted plan to\ndraw the invaders onwards to more unfavourable ground, where their\ndestruction might be more certain. If such were the scheme, it succeeded\nto the heart's wish of its projectors. The Crusaders, on the third day\nafter their victory, arrived at a steep mountain-pass, on the summit of\nwhich the Turkish host lay concealed so artfully, that not the slightest\nvestige of their presence could be perceived. \"With labouring steps and\nslow,\" they toiled up the steep ascent, when suddenly a tremendous\nfragment of rock came bounding down the precipices with an awful crash,\nbearing dismay and death before it. At the same instant the Turkish\narchers started from their hiding-places, and discharged a shower of\narrows upon the foot-soldiers, who fell by hundreds at a time. The arrows\nrebounded harmlessly against the iron mail of the knights, which the Turks\nobserving, took aim at their steeds, and horse and rider fell down the\nsteep into the rapid torrent which rushed below. Louis, who commanded the\nrear-guard, received the first intimation of the onslaught from the sight\nof the wounded and flying soldiers, and, not knowing the numbers of the\nenemy, he pushed vigorously forward to stay, by his presence, the panic\nwhich had taken possession of his army. All his efforts were in vain.\nImmense stones continued to be hurled upon them as they advanced, bearing\nmen and horse before them; and those who succeeded in forcing their way to\nthe top were met hand-to-hand by the Turks, and cast down headlong upon\ntheir companions. Louis himself fought with the energy of desperation, but\nhad great difficulty to avoid falling into the enemy's hands. He escaped\nat last under cover of the night, with the remnant of his forces, and took\nup his position before Attalia. Here he restored the discipline and the\ncourage of his disorganised and disheartened followers, and debated with\nhis captains the plan that was to be pursued. After suffering severely\nboth from disease and famine, it was resolved that they should march to\nAntioch, which still remained an independent principality under the\nsuccessors of Bohemund of Tarentum. At this time the sovereignty was\nvested in the person of Raymond, the uncle of Eleanor of Aquitaine. This\nprince, presuming upon his relationship to the French queen, endeavoured\nto withdraw Louis from the grand object of the Crusade--the defence of the\nkingdom of Jerusalem, and secure his co-operation in extending the limits\nand the power of his principality of Antioch. The Prince of Tripoli formed\na similar design; but Louis rejected the offers of both, and marched,\nafter a short delay, to Jerusalem. The Emperor Conrad was there before\nhim, having left Constantinople with promises of assistance from Manuel\nComnenus--assistance which never arrived, and was never intended.\n\n[Illustration: DAMASCUS.]\n\nA great council of the Christian princes of Palestine, and the leaders of\nthe Crusade, was then summoned, to discuss the future operations of the\nwar. It was ultimately determined that it would further the cause of the\ncross in a greater degree if the united armies, instead of proceeding to\nEdessa, laid siege to the city of Damascus, and drove the Saracens from\nthat strong position. This was a bold scheme, and, had it been boldly\nfollowed out, would have insured, in all probability, the success of the\nwar. But the Christian leaders never learned from experience the necessity\nof union, that very soul of great enterprises. Though they all agreed upon\nthe policy of the plan, yet every one had his own notions as to the means\nof executing it. The princes of Antioch and Tripoli were jealous of each\nother, and of the king of Jerusalem. The Emperor Conrad was jealous of the\nking of France, and the king of France was disgusted with them all. But he\nhad come out to Palestine in accordance with a solemn vow; his religion,\nthough it may be called bigotry, was sincere; and he determined to remain\nto the very last moment that a chance was left of effecting any good for\nthe cause he had set his heart on.\n\nThe siege of Damascus was accordingly commenced, and with so much ability\nand vigour that the Christians gained a considerable advantage at the very\noutset. For weeks the siege was pressed, till the shattered fortifications\nand diminishing resistance of the besieged gave evidence that the city\ncould not hold out much longer. At that moment the insane jealousy of the\nleaders led to dissensions that soon caused the utter failure, not only of\nthe siege but of the Crusade. A modern cookery-book, in giving a recipe\nfor cooking a hare, says, \"first catch your hare, and then kill it\"--a\nmaxim of indisputable wisdom. The Christian chiefs, on this occasion, had\nnot so much sagacity, for they began a violent dispute among themselves\nfor the possession of a city which was still unconquered. There being\nalready a prince of Antioch and a prince of Tripoli, twenty claimants\nstarted for the principality of Damascus; and a grand council of the\nleaders was held to determine the individual on whom the honour should\ndevolve. Many valuable days were wasted in this discussion, the enemy in\nthe meanwhile gaining strength from their inactivity. It was at length,\nafter a stormy deliberation, agreed that Count Robert of Flanders, who had\ntwice visited the Holy Land, should be invested with the dignity. The\nother claimants refused to recognise him or to co-operate in the siege\nuntil a more equitable arrangement had been made. Suspicion filled the\ncamp; the most sinister rumours of intrigues and treachery were set\nafloat; and the discontented candidates withdrew at last to the other side\nof the city, and commenced operations on their own account without a\nprobability of success. They were soon joined by the rest of the army. The\nconsequence was that the weakest side of the city, and that on which they\nhad already made considerable progress in the work of demolition, was left\nuncovered. The enemy was prompt to profit by the mistake, and received an\nabundant supply of provisions, and refortified the walls, before the\nCrusaders came to their senses again. When this desirable event happened,\nit was too late. Saph Eddin, the powerful emir of Mousoul, was in the\nneighbourhood, at the head of a large army, advancing by forced marches to\nthe relief of the city. The siege was abruptly abandoned, and the foolish\nCrusaders returned to Jerusalem, having done nothing to weaken the enemy,\nbut every thing to weaken themselves.\n\nThe freshness of enthusiasm had now completely subsided; even the meanest\nsoldiers were sick at heart. Conrad, from whose fierce zeal at the outset\nso much might have been expected, was wearied with reverses, and returned\nto Europe with the poor remnant of his host. Louis lingered a short time\nlonger, for very shame, but the pressing solicitations of his minister\nSuger induced him to return to France. Thus ended the second Crusade. Its\nhistory is but a chronicle of defeats. It left the kingdom of Jerusalem in\na worse state than when it quitted Europe, and gained nothing but disgrace\nfor its leaders, and discouragement for all concerned.\n\nSt. Bernard, who had prophesied a result so different, fell after this\ninto some disrepute, and experienced, like many other prophets, the fate\nof being without honour in his own country. What made the matter worse, he\ncould not obtain it in any other. Still, however, there were not wanting\nzealous advocates to stand forward in his behalf, and stem the tide of\nincredulity, which, unopposed, would have carried away his reputation. The\nBishop of Freysinghen declared that prophets were not always able to\nprophesy, and that the vices of the Crusaders drew down the wrath of\nheaven upon them. But the most ingenious excuse ever made for St. Bernard\nis to be found in his life by Geoffroi de Clairvaux, where he\npertinaciously insists that the Crusade was not unfortunate. St. Bernard,\nhe says, had prophesied a happy result, and that result could not be\nconsidered other than happy which had peopled heaven with so glorious an\narmy of martyrs. Geoffroi was a cunning pleader, and, no doubt, convinced\na few of the zealous; but plain people, who were not wanting even in those\ndays, retained their own opinion, or, what amounts to the same thing,\n\"were convinced against their will.\"\n\nWe now come to the consideration of the third Crusade, and of the causes\nwhich rendered it necessary. The epidemic frenzy, which had been cooling\never since the issue of the first expedition, was now extinct, or very\nnearly so, and the nations of Europe looked with cold indifference upon\nthe armaments of their princes. But chivalry had flourished in its natural\nelement of war, and was now in all its glory. It continued to supply\narmies for the Holy Land when the popular ranks refused to deliver up\ntheir able-bodied swarms. Poetry, which, more than religion, inspired the\nthird Crusade, was then but \"_caviare_ to the million,\" who had other\nmatters, of sterner import, to claim all their attention. But the knights\nand their retainers listened with delight to the martial and amatory\nstrains of the minstrels, minnes\u00e4ngers, trouv\u00e8res, and troubadours, and\nburned to win favour in ladies' eyes by shewing prowess in the Holy Land.\nThe third was truly the romantic era of the Crusades. Men fought then, not\nso much for the sepulchre of Jesus, and the maintenance of a Christian\nkingdom in the East, as to gain glory for themselves in the best and\nalmost only field where glory could be obtained. They fought, not as\nzealots, but as soldiers; not for religion, but for honour; not for the\ncrown of martyrdom, but for the favour of the lovely.\n\n[Illustration: SEAL OF BARBAROSSA.]\n\nIt is not necessary to enter into a detail of the events by which Saladin\nattained the sovereignty of the East, or how, after a succession of\nengagements, he planted the Moslem banner once more upon the battlements\nof Jerusalem. The Christian knights and population, including the grand\norders of St. John, the Hospitallers, and the Templars, were sunk in an\nabyss of vice, and, torn by unworthy jealousies and dissensions, were\nunable to resist the well-trained armies which the wise and mighty Saladin\nbrought forward to crush them. But the news of their fall created a\npainful sensation among the chivalry of Europe, whose noblest members were\nlinked to the dwellers in Palestine by many ties, both of blood and\nfriendship. The news of the great battle of Tiberias, in which Saladin\ndefeated the Christian host with terrible slaughter, arrived first in\nEurope, and was followed in quick succession by that of the capture of\nJerusalem, Antioch, Tripoli, and other cities. Dismay seized upon the\nclergy. The Pope (Urban III.) was so affected by the news that he pined\naway for grief, and was scarcely seen to smile again, until he sank into\nthe sleep of death.[12] His successor, Gregory VIII., felt the loss as\nacutely, but had better strength to bear it, and instructed all the clergy\nof the Christian world to stir up the people to arms for the recovery of\nthe Holy Sepulchre. William Archbishop of Tyre, a humble follower in the\npath of Peter the Hermit, left Palestine to preach to the kings of Europe\nthe miseries he had witnessed, and to incite them to the rescue. The\nrenowned Frederick Barbarossa, the emperor of Germany, speedily collected\nan army, and passing over into Syria with less delay than had ever before\nawaited a crusading force, defeated the Saracens, and took possession of\nthe city of Iconium. He was unfortunately cut off in the middle of his\nsuccessful career, by imprudently bathing in the Cydnus[13] while he was\noverheated, and the Duke of Suabia took the command of the expedition. The\nlatter did not prove so able a general, and met with nothing but reverses,\nalthough he was enabled to maintain a footing at Antioch until assistance\narrived from Europe.\n\n    [12] James of Vitry; William de Nangis.\n\n    [13] The desire of comparing two great men has tempted many\n         writers to drown Frederick in the river Cydnus, in which\n         Alexander so imprudently bathed (Q. Curt. lib. iii. c. 4, 5);\n         but, from the march of the emperor, I rather judge that his\n         Saleph is the Calycadnus, a stream of less fame, but of a\n         longer course.--_Gibbon_.\n\n[Illustration: HENRY II. OF ENGLAND.]\n\n[Illustration: CHATEAU OF GISORS.]\n\nHenry II. of England and Philip Augustus of France, at the head of their\nchivalry, supported the Crusade with all their influence, until wars and\ndissensions nearer home estranged them from it for a time. The two kings\nmet at Gisors in Normandy in the month of January, 1188, accompanied by a\nbrilliant train of knights and warriors. William of Tyre was present, and\nexpounded the cause of the cross with considerable eloquence, and the\nwhole assembly bound themselves by oath to proceed to Jerusalem. It was\nagreed at the same time that a tax, called Saladin's tithe, and consisting\nof the tenth part of all possessions, whether landed or personal, should\nbe enforced over Christendom, upon every one who was either unable or\nunwilling to assume the cross. The lord of every feof, whether lay or\necclesiastical, was charged to raise the tithe within his own\njurisdiction; and any one who refused to pay his quota, became by that act\nthe bondsman and absolute property of his lord. At the same time the\ngreatest indulgence was shewn to those who assumed the cross; no man was\nat liberty to stay them by process of any kind, whether for debt, or\nrobbery, or murder. The king of France, at the breaking up of the\nconference, summoned a parliament at Paris, where these resolutions were\nsolemnly confirmed, while Henry II. did the same for his Norman\npossessions at Rouen, and for England at Geddington, in Northamptonshire.\nTo use the words of an ancient chronicler,[14] \"he held a parliament about\nthe voyage into the Holy Land, and troubled the whole land with the paying\nof tithes towards it.\"\n\n    [14] Stowe.\n\n[Illustration: PHILIP AUGUSTUS.]\n\nBut it was not England alone that was \"_troubled_\" by the tax. The people\nof France also looked upon it with no pleasant feelings, and appear from\nthat time forth to have changed their indifference for the Crusade into\naversion. Even the clergy, who were exceedingly willing that other people\nshould contribute half, or even all their goods in furtherance of their\nfavourite scheme, were not at all anxious to contribute a single sous\nthemselves. Millot[15] relates that several of them cried out against the\nimpost. Among the rest, the clergy of Rheims were called upon to pay their\nquota, but sent a deputation to the king, begging him to be contented with\nthe aid of their prayers, as they were too poor to contribute in any other\nshape. Philip Augustus knew better, and by way of giving them a lesson,\nemployed three nobles of the vicinity to lay waste the Church lands. The\nclergy, informed of the outrage, applied to the king for redress. \"I will\naid you with my prayers,\" said the monarch condescendingly, \"and will\nentreat those gentlemen to let the Church alone.\" He did as he had\npromised, but in such a manner that the nobles, who appreciated the joke,\ncontinued their devastations as before. Again the clergy applied to the\nking. \"What would you have of me?\" he replied, in answer to their\nremonstrances: \"you gave me your prayers in my necessity, and I have given\nyou mine in yours.\" The clergy understood the argument, and thought it the\nwiser course to pay their quota of Saladin's tithe without further parley.\n\n    [15] _El\u00e9mens de l'Histoire de France_.\n\nThis anecdote shews the unpopularity of the Crusade. If the clergy\ndisliked to contribute, it is no wonder that the people felt still greater\nantipathy. But the chivalry of Europe was eager for the affray: the tithe\nwas rigorously collected, and armies from England, France, Burgundy,\nItaly, Flanders, and Germany, were soon in the field. The two kings who\nwere to have led it were, however, drawn into broils by an aggression of\nRichard duke of Guienne, better known as Richard Coeur de Lion, upon the\nterritory of the Count of Toulouse, and the proposed journey to Palestine\nwas delayed. War continued to rage between France and England, and with so\nlittle probability of a speedy termination, that many of the nobles, bound\nto the Crusade, left the two monarchs to settle the differences at their\nleisure, and proceeded to Palestine without them.\n\nDeath at last stepped in and removed Henry II. from the hostility of his\nfoes, and the treachery and ingratitude of his children. His son Richard\nimmediately concluded an alliance with Philip Augustus; and the two young,\nvaliant, and impetuous monarchs united all their energies to forward the\nCrusade. They met with a numerous and brilliant retinue at Nonancourt in\nNormandy, where, in sight of their assembled chivalry, they embraced as\nbrothers, and swore to live as friends and true allies, until a period of\nforty days after their return from the Holy Land. With a view of purging\ntheir camp from the follies and vices which had proved so ruinous to\npreceding expeditions, they drew up a code of laws for the government of\nthe army. Gambling had been carried to a great extent, and proved the\nfruitful source of quarrels and bloodshed; and one of their laws\nprohibited any person in the army, beneath the degree of a knight, from\nplaying at any game for money.[16] Knights and clergymen might play for\nmoney, but no one was permitted to lose or gain more than twenty shillings\nin a day, under a penalty of one hundred shillings. The personal\nattendants of the monarchs were also allowed to play to the same extent.\nThe penalty in their case for infraction was that they should be whipped\nnaked through the army for the space of three days. Any Crusader, who\nstruck another and drew blood, was ordered to have his hand cut off; and\nwhoever slew a brother Crusader was condemned to be tied alive to the\ncorpse of his victim, and buried with him. No young women were allowed to\nfollow the army, to the great sorrow of many vicious and of many virtuous\ndames, who had not courage to elude the decree by dressing in male attire.\nBut many high-minded and affectionate maidens and matrons, bearing the\nsword or the spear, followed their husbands and lovers to the war in spite\nof King Richard, and in defiance of danger. The only women allowed to\naccompany the army in their own habiliments were washerwomen of fifty\nyears complete, and any others of the fair sex who had reached the same\nage.\n\n    [16] Strutt's _Sports and Pastimes_.\n\nThese rules having been promulgated, the two monarchs marched together to\nLyons, where they separated, agreeing to meet again at Messina. Philip\nproceeded across the Alps to Genoa, where he took ship, and was conveyed\nin safety to the place of rendezvous. Richard turned in the direction of\nMarseilles, where he also took ship for Messina. His impetuous disposition\nhurried him into many squabbles by the way, and his knights and followers,\nfor the most part as brave and as foolish as himself, imitated him very\nzealously in this particular. At Messina the Sicilians charged the most\nexorbitant prices for every necessary of life. Richard's army in vain\nremonstrated. From words they came to blows, and, as a last resource,\nplundered the Sicilians, since they could not trade with them. Continual\nbattles were the consequence, in one of which Lebrun, the favourite\nattendant of Richard, lost his life. The peasantry from far and near came\nflocking to the aid of the townspeople, and the battle soon became\ngeneral. Richard, irritated at the loss of his favourite, and incited by\nreport that Tancred, the king of Sicily, was fighting at the head of his\nown people, joined the _m\u00eal\u00e9e_ with his boldest knights, and, beating back\nthe Sicilians, attacked the city sword in hand, stormed the battlements,\ntore down the flag of Sicily, and planted his own in its stead. This\ncollision gave great offence to the king of France, who became from that\ntime jealous of Richard, and apprehensive that his design was not so much\nto re-establish the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, as to make conquests\nfor himself. He, however, exerted his influence to restore peace between\nthe English and Sicilians, and shortly afterwards set sail for Acre, with\ndistrust of his ally germinating in his heart.\n\n[Illustration: THE ISLAND OF RHODES.]\n\nRichard remained behind for some weeks in a state of inactivity quite\nunaccountable in one of his temperament. He appears to have had no more\nsquabbles with the Sicilians, but to have lived an easy, luxurious life,\nforgetting, in the lap of pleasure, the objects for which he had quitted\nhis own dominions and the dangerous laxity he was introducing into his\narmy. The superstition of his soldiers recalled him at length to a sense\nof his duty: a comet was seen for several successive nights, which was\nthought to menace them with the vengeance of Heaven for their delay.\nShooting stars gave them similar warning; and a fanatic, of the name of\nJoachim, with his drawn sword in his hand, and his long hair streaming\nwildly over his shoulders, went through the camp, howling all night long,\nand predicting plague, famine, and every other calamity, if they did not\nset out immediately. Richard did not deem it prudent to neglect the\nintimations; and, after doing humble penance for his remissness, he set\nsail for Acre.\n\nA violent storm dispersed his fleet, but he arrived safely at Rhodes with\nthe principal part of the armament. Here he learned that three of his\nships had been stranded on the rocky coasts of Cyprus, and that the ruler\nof the island, Isaac Comnenus, had permitted his people to pillage the\nunfortunate crews, and had refused shelter to his betrothed bride, the\nPrincess Berengaria, and his sister, who, in one of the vessels, had been\ndriven by stress of weather into the port of Limisso. The fiery monarch\nswore to be revenged, and, collecting all his vessels, sailed back to\nLimisso. Isaac Comnenus refused to apologise or explain, and Richard, in\nno mood to be trifled with, landed on the island, routed with great loss\nthe forces sent to oppose him, and laid the whole country under\ncontribution.\n\n[Illustration: RICHARD I. AND BERENGARIA.]\n\nOn his arrival at Acre he found the whole of the chivalry of Europe there\nbefore him. Guy of Lusignan, the king of Jerusalem, had long before\ncollected the bold Knights of the Temple, the Hospital, and St. John, and\nhad laid siege to Acre, which was resolutely defended by the Sultan\nSaladin, with an army magnificent both for its numbers and its discipline.\nFor nearly two years the Crusaders had pushed the siege, and made efforts\nalmost superhuman to dislodge the enemy. Various battles had taken place\nin the open fields with no decisive advantage to either party, and Guy of\nLusignan had begun to despair of taking that strong position without aid\nfrom Europe. His joy was extreme on the arrival of Philip with all his\nchivalry, and he only awaited the coming of Coeur de Lion to make one last\ndecisive attack upon the town. When the fleet of England was first seen\napproaching the shores of Syria, a universal shout arose from the\nChristian camp; and when Richard landed with his train, one louder still\npierced to the very mountains of the south, where Saladin lay with all his\narmy.\n\nIt may be remarked as characteristic of this Crusade, that the Christians\nand the Moslems no longer looked upon each other as barbarians, to whom\nmercy was a crime. Each host entertained the highest admiration for the\nbravery and magnanimity of the other, and, in their occasional truces, met\nupon the most friendly terms. The Moslem warriors were full of courtesy to\nthe Christian knights, and had no other regret than to think that such\nfine fellows were not Mahomedans. The Christians, with a feeling precisely\nsimilar, extolled to the skies the nobleness of the Saracens, and sighed\nto think that such generosity and valour should be sullied by disbelief in\nthe Gospel of Jesus. But when the strife began, all these feelings\ndisappeared, and the struggle became mortal.\n\nThe jealousy excited in the mind of Philip by the events of Messina still\nrankled, and the two monarchs refused to act in concert. Instead of making\na joint attack upon the town, the French monarch assailed it alone, and\nwas repulsed. Richard did the same, and with the same result. Philip tried\nto seduce the soldiers of Richard from their allegiance by the offer of\nthree gold pieces per month to every knight who would forsake the banners\nof England for those of France. Richard endeavoured to neutralise the\noffer by a larger one, and promised four pieces to every French knight who\nshould join the Lion of England. In this unworthy rivalry their time was\nwasted, to the great detriment of the discipline and efficiency of their\nfollowers. Some good was nevertheless effected; for the mere presence of\ntwo such armies prevented the besieged city from receiving supplies, and\nthe inhabitants were reduced by famine to the most woful straits. Saladin\ndid not deem it prudent to risk a general engagement by coming to their\nrelief, but preferred to wait till dissension had weakened his enemy, and\nmade him an easy prey. Perhaps if he had been aware of the real extent of\nthe extremity in Acre, he would have changed his plan; but, cut off from\nthe town, he did not know its misery till it was too late. After a short\ntruce the city capitulated upon terms so severe that Saladin afterwards\nrefused to ratify them. The chief conditions were, that the precious wood\nof the true cross, captured by the Moslems in Jerusalem, should be\nrestored; that a sum of two hundred thousand gold pieces should be paid;\nand that all the Christian prisoners in Acre should be released, together\nwith two hundred knights and a thousand soldiers detained in captivity by\nSaladin. The eastern monarch, as may be well conceived, did not set much\nstore on the wood of the cross, but was nevertheless anxious to keep it,\nas he knew its possession by the Christians would do more than a victory\nto restore their courage. He refused, therefore, to deliver it up, or to\naccede to any of the conditions; and Richard, as he had previously\nthreatened, barbarously ordered all the Saracen prisoners in his power to\nbe put to death.\n\nThe possession of the city only caused new and unhappy dissensions between\nthe Christian leaders. The Archduke of Austria unjustifiably hoisted his\nflag on one of the towers of Acre, which Richard no sooner saw than he\ntore it down with his own hands, and trampled it under his feet. Philip,\nthough he did not sympathise with the archduke, was piqued at the\nassumption of Richard, and the breach between the two monarchs became\nwider than ever. A foolish dispute arose at the same time between Guy of\nLusignan and Conrad of Montferrat for the crown of Jerusalem. The inferior\nknights were not slow to imitate the pernicious example, and jealousy,\ndistrust, and ill-will reigned in the Christian camp. In the midst of this\nconfusion the king of France suddenly announced his intention to return to\nhis own country. Richard was filled with indignation, and exclaimed,\n\"Eternal shame light on him, and on all France, if, for any cause, he\nleave this work unfinished!\" But Philip was not to be stayed. His health\nhad suffered by his residence in the East; and, ambitious of playing a\nfirst part, he preferred to play none at all than to play second to King\nRichard. Leaving a small detachment of Burgundians behind, he returned to\nFrance with the remainder of his army; and Coeur de Lion, without feeling,\nin the multitude of his rivals, that he had lost the greatest, became\npainfully convinced that the right arm of the enterprise was lopped off.\n\nAfter his departure, Richard re-fortified Acre, restored the Christian\nworship in the churches, and, leaving a Christian garrison to protect it,\nmarched along the sea-coast towards Ascalon. Saladin was on the alert, and\nsent his light horse to attack the rear of the Christian army, while he\nhimself, miscalculating their weakness since the defection of Philip,\nendeavoured to force them to a general engagement. The rival armies met\nnear Azotus. A fierce battle ensued, in which Saladin was defeated and put\nto flight, and the road to Jerusalem left free for the Crusaders.\n\nAgain discord exerted its baleful influence, and prevented Richard from\nfollowing up his victory. His opinion was constantly opposed by the other\nleaders, all jealous of his bravery and influence; and the army, instead\nof marching to Jerusalem, or even to Ascalon, as was first intended,\nproceeded to Jaffa, and remained in idleness until Saladin was again in a\ncondition to wage war against them.\n\n[Illustration: BETHLEHEM.]\n\nMany months were spent in fruitless hostilities and as fruitless\nnegotiations. Richard's wish was to recapture Jerusalem; but there were\ndifficulties in the way, which even his bold spirit could not conquer. His\nown intolerable pride was not the least cause of the evil; for it\nestranged many a generous spirit, who would have been willing to\nco-operate with him in all cordiality. At length it was agreed to march to\nthe Holy City; but the progress made was so slow and painful, that the\nsoldiers murmured, and the leaders meditated retreat. The weather was hot\nand dry, and there was little water to be procured. Saladin had choked up\nthe wells and cisterns on the route, and the army had not zeal enough to\npush forward amid such privation. At Bethlehem a council was held, to\ndebate whether they should retreat or advance. Retreat was decided upon,\nand immediately commenced. It is said, that Richard was first led to a\nhill, whence he could obtain a sight of the towers of Jerusalem, and that\nhe was so affected at being so near it, and so unable to relieve it, that\nhe hid his face behind his shield, and sobbed aloud.\n\nThe army separated into two divisions, the smaller falling back upon\nJaffa, and the larger, commanded by Richard and the Duke of Burgundy,\nreturning to Acre. Before the English monarch had made all his\npreparations for his return to Europe, a messenger reached Acre with the\nintelligence that Jaffa was besieged by Saladin, and that, unless relieved\nimmediately, the city would be taken. The French, under the Duke of\nBurgundy, were so wearied with the war, that they refused to aid their\nbrethren in Jaffa. Richard, blushing with shame at their pusillanimity,\ncalled his English to the rescue, and arrived just in time to save the\ncity. His very name put the Saracens to flight, so great was their dread\nof his prowess. Saladin regarded him with the warmest admiration, and when\nRichard, after his victory, demanded peace, willingly acceded. A truce was\nconcluded for three years and eight months, during which Christian\npilgrims were to enjoy the liberty of visiting Jerusalem without hindrance\nor payment of any tax. The Crusaders were allowed to retain the cities of\nTyre and Jaffa, with the country intervening. Saladin, with a princely\ngenerosity, invited many of the Christians to visit Jerusalem; and several\nof the leaders took advantage of his offer to feast their eyes upon a spot\nwhich all considered so sacred. Many of them were entertained for days in\nthe sultan's own palace, from which they returned with their tongues laden\nwith the praises of the noble infidel. Richard and Saladin never met,\nthough the impression that they did will remain on many minds, who have\nbeen dazzled by the glorious fiction of Sir Walter Scott. But each admired\nthe prowess and nobleness of soul of his rival, and agreed to terms far\nless onerous than either would have accepted, had this mutual admiration\nnot existed.[17]\n\n    [17] Richard left a high reputation in Palestine. So much terror\n         did his name occasion, that the women of Syria used it to\n         frighten their children for ages afterwards. Every\n         disobedient child became still when told that King Richard\n         was coming. Even men shared the panic that his name created;\n         and a hundred years afterwards, whenever a horse shied at any\n         object in the way, his rider would exclaim, \"What! dost thou\n         think King Richard is in the bush?\"\n\n\nThe king of England no longer delayed his departure, for messengers from\nhis own country brought imperative news that his presence was required to\ndefeat the intrigues that were fomenting against his crown. His long\nimprisonment in the Austrian dominions and final ransom are too well known\nto be dwelt upon. And thus ended the third Crusade, less destructive of\nhuman life than the two first, but quite as useless.\n\nThe flame of popular enthusiasm now burned pale indeed, and all the\nefforts of popes and potentates were insufficient to rekindle it. At last,\nafter flickering unsteadily, like a lamp expiring in the socket, it burned\nup brightly for one final instant, and was extinguished for ever.\n\nThe fourth Crusade, as connected with popular feeling, requires little or\nno notice. At the death of Saladin, which happened a year after the\nconclusion of his truce with Richard of England, his vast empire fell to\npieces. His brother Saif Eddin, or Saphaddin, seized upon Syria, in the\npossession of which he was troubled by the sons of Saladin. When this\nintelligence reached Europe, the Pope, Celestine III., judged the moment\nfavourable for preaching a new Crusade. But every nation in Europe was\nunwilling and cold towards it. The people had no ardour, and kings were\noccupied with more weighty matters at home. The only monarch of Europe who\nencouraged it was the Emperor Henry of Germany, under whose auspices the\nDukes of Saxony and Bavaria took the field at the head of a considerable\nforce. They landed in Palestine, and found any thing but a welcome from\nthe Christian inhabitants. Under the mild sway of Saladin, they had\nenjoyed repose and toleration, and both were endangered by the arrival of\nthe Germans. They looked upon them in consequence as over-officious\nintruders, and gave them no encouragement in the warfare against\nSaphaddin. The result of this Crusade was even more disastrous than the\nlast; for the Germans contrived not only to embitter the Saracens against\nthe Christians of Judea, but to lose the strong city of Jaffa, and cause\nthe destruction of nine-tenths of the army with which they had quitted\nEurope. And so ended the fourth Crusade.\n\nThe fifth was more important, and had a result which its projectors never\ndreamed of--no less than the sacking of Constantinople, and the placing of\na French dynasty upon the imperial throne of the eastern C\u00e6sars. Each\nsucceeding pope, however much he may have differed from his predecessors\non other points, zealously agreed in one, that of maintaining by every\npossible means the papal ascendency. No scheme was so likely to aid in\nthis endeavour as the Crusades. As long as they could persuade the kings\nand nobles of Europe to fight and die in Syria, their own sway was secured\nover the minds of men at home. Such being their object, they never\ninquired whether a Crusade was or was not likely to be successful, whether\nthe time were well or ill chosen, or whether men and money could be\nprocured in sufficient abundance. Pope Innocent III. would have been proud\nif he could have bent the refractory monarchs of England and France into\nso much submission. But John and Philip Augustus were both engaged. Both\nhad deeply offended the Church, and had been laid under her ban, and both\nwere occupied in important reforms at home; Philip in bestowing immunities\nupon his subjects, and John in having them forced from him. The emissaries\nof the pope therefore plied them in vain; but as in the first and second\nCrusades, the eloquence of a powerful preacher incited the nobility, and\nthrough them a certain portion of the people; Foulque bishop of Neuilly,\nan ambitious and enterprising prelate, entered fully into the views of the\ncourt of Rome, and preached the Crusade wherever he could find an\naudience. Chance favoured him to a degree he did not himself expect, for\nhe had in general found but few proselytes, and those few but cold in the\ncause. Theobald count of Champagne had instituted a grand tournament, to\nwhich he had invited all the nobles from far and near. Upwards of two\nthousand knights were present with their retainers, besides a vast\nconcourse of people to witness the sports. In the midst of the festivities\nFoulque arrived upon the spot, and conceiving the opportunity to be a\nfavourable one, he addressed the multitude in eloquent language, and\npassionately called upon them to enrol themselves for the new Crusade. The\nCount de Champagne, young, ardent, and easily excited, received the cross\nat his hands. The enthusiasm spread rapidly. Charles count of Blois\nfollowed the example, and of the two thousand knights present, scarcely\none hundred and fifty refused. The popular phrensy seemed on the point of\nbreaking out as in the days of yore. The Count of Flanders, the Count of\nBar, the Duke of Burgundy, and the Marquis of Montferrat, brought all\ntheir vassals to swell the train, and in a very short space of time an\neffective army was on foot and ready to march to Palestine.\n\nThe dangers of an overland journey were too well understood, and the\nCrusaders endeavoured to make a contract with some of the Italian states\nto convey them over in their vessels. Dandolo, the aged doge of Venice,\noffered them the galleys of the Republic; but the Crusaders, on their\narrival in that city, found themselves too poor to pay even half the sum\ndemanded. Every means was tried to raise money; the Crusaders melted down\ntheir plate, and ladies gave up their trinkets. Contributions were\nsolicited from the faithful, but came in so slowly as to make it evident\nto all concerned, that the faithful of Europe were outnumbered by the\nprudent. As a last resource, Dandolo offered to convey them to Palestine\nat the expense of the Republic, if they would previously aid in the\nrecapture of the city of Zara, which had been seized from the Venetians a\nshort time previously by the king of Hungary. The Crusaders consented,\nmuch to the displeasure of the pope, who threatened excommunication upon\nall who should be turned aside from the voyage to Jerusalem. But\nnotwithstanding the fulminations of the Church, the expedition never\nreached Palestine. The siege of Zara was speedily undertaken. After a long\nand brave defence, the city surrendered at discretion, and the Crusaders\nwere free, if they had so chosen it, to use their swords against the\nSaracens. But the ambition of the chiefs had been directed, by unforeseen\ncircumstances, elsewhere.\n\nAfter the death of Manuel Comnenus, the Greek empire had fallen a prey to\nintestine divisions. His son Alexius II. had succeeded him, but was\nmurdered after a short reign by his uncle Andronicus, who seized upon the\nthrone. His reign also was but of short duration. Isaac Angelus, a member\nof the same family, took up arms against the usurper, and having defeated\nand captured him in a pitched battle, had him put to death. He also\nmounted the throne only to be cast down from it. His brother Alexius\ndeposed him, and to incapacitate him from reigning, put out his eyes, and\nshut him up in a dungeon. Neither was Alexius III. allowed to remain in\npeaceable possession of the throne; the son of the unhappy Isaac, whose\nname also was Alexius, fled from Constantinople, and hearing that the\nCrusaders had undertaken the siege of Zara, made them the most magnificent\noffers if they would afterwards aid him in deposing his uncle. His offers\nwere, that if by their means he was re-established in his father's\ndominions, he would place the Greek Church under the authority of the Pope\nof Rome, lend the whole force of the Greek empire to the conquest of\nPalestine, and distribute two hundred thousand marks of silver among the\ncrusading army. The offer was accepted, with a proviso on the part of some\nof the leaders, that they should be free to abandon the design, if it met\nwith the disapproval of the pope. But this was not to be feared. The\nsubmission of the schismatic Greeks to the See of Rome was a greater bribe\nto the Pontiff than the utter annihilation of the Saracen power in\nPalestine would have been.\n\nThe Crusaders were soon in movement for the imperial city. Their\noperations were skilfully and courageously directed, and spread such\ndismay as to paralyse the efforts of the usurper to retain possession of\nhis throne. After a vain resistance, he abandoned the city to its fate,\nand fled no one knew whither. The aged and blind Isaac was taken from his\ndungeon by his subjects, and placed upon the throne ere the Crusaders were\napprised of the flight of his rival. His son Alexius IV. was afterwards\nassociated with him in the sovereignty.\n\nBut the conditions of the treaty gave offence to the Grecian people, whose\nprelates refused to place themselves under the dominion of the See of\nRome. Alexius at first endeavoured to persuade his subjects to admission,\nand prayed the Crusaders to remain in Constantinople until they had\nfortified him in the possession of a throne which was yet far from secure.\nHe soon became unpopular with his subjects; and breaking faith with regard\nto the subsidies, he offended the Crusaders. War was at length declared\nupon him by both parties; by his people for his tyranny, and by his former\nfriends for his treachery. He was seized in his palace by his own guards\nand thrown into prison, while the Crusaders were making ready to besiege\nhis capital. The Greeks immediately proceeded to the election of a new\nmonarch; and looking about for a man of courage, energy, and perseverance,\nthey fixed upon Alexius Ducas, who, with almost every bad quality, was\npossessed of the virtues they needed. He ascended the throne under the\nname of Murzuphlis. One of his first acts was to rid himself of his\nyoungest predecessor--a broken heart had already removed the blind old\nIsaac, no longer a stumbling-block in his way--and the young Alexius was\nsoon after put to death in his prison.\n\n[Illustration: CONSTANTINOPLE.]\n\nWar to the knife was now declared between the Greeks and the Franks; and\nearly in the spring of the year 1204, preparations were commenced for an\nassault upon Constantinople. The French and Venetians entered into a\ntreaty for the division of the spoils among their soldiery; for so\nconfident were they of success, that failure never once entered into their\ncalculations. This confidence led them on to victory; while the Greeks,\ncowardly as treacherous people always are, were paralysed by a foreboding\nof evil. It has been a matter of astonishment to all historians, that\nMurzuphlis, with the reputation for courage which he had acquired, and the\nimmense resources at his disposal, took no better measures to repel the\nonset of the Crusaders. Their numbers were as a mere handful in comparison\nwith those which he could have brought against them; and if they had the\nhopes of plunder to lead them on, the Greeks had their homes to fight for,\nand their very existence as a nation to protect. After an impetuous\nassault, repulsed for one day, but renewed with double impetuosity on\nanother, the Crusaders lashed their vessels against the walls, slew every\nman who opposed them, and, with little loss to themselves, entered the\ncity. Murzuphlis fled, and Constantinople was given over to be pillaged by\nthe victors. The wealth they found was enormous. In money alone there was\nsufficient to distribute twenty marks of silver to each knight, ten to\neach squire or servant at arms, and five to each archer. Jewels, velvets,\nsilks, and every luxury of attire, with rare wines and fruits, and\nvaluable merchandise of every description, also fell into their hands, and\nwere bought by the trading Venetians, and the proceeds distributed among\nthe army. Two thousand persons were put to the sword; but had there been\nless plunder to take up the attention of the victors, the slaughter would\nin all probability have been much greater.\n\nIn many of the bloody wars which defile the page of history, we find that\nsoldiers, utterly reckless of the works of God, will destroy his\nmasterpiece, man, with unsparing brutality, but linger with respect round\nthe beautiful works of art. They will slaughter women and children, but\nspare a picture; will hew down the sick, the helpless, and the\nhoary-headed, but refrain from injuring a fine piece of sculpture. The\nLatins, on their entrance into Constantinople, respected neither the works\nof God nor man, but vented their brutal ferocity upon the one, and\nsatisfied their avarice upon the other. Many beautiful bronze statues,\nabove all price as works of art, were broken into pieces to be sold as old\nmetal. The finely-chiselled marble, which could be put to no such vile\nuses, was also destroyed with a recklessness, if possible, still more\natrocious.[18]\n\n    [18] The following is a list of some of the works of art thus\n         destroyed, from Nicetas, a contemporary Greek author: 1st. A\n         colossal Juno, from the forum of Constantine, the head of\n         which was so large that four horses could scarcely draw it\n         from the place where it stood to the palace. 2d. The statue\n         of Paris, presenting the apple to Venus. 3d. An immense\n         bronze pyramid, crowned by a female figure, which turned with\n         the wind. 4th. The colossal statue of Bellerophon, in bronze,\n         which was broken down and cast into the furnace. Under the\n         inner nail of the horse's hind foot on the left side, was\n         found a seal wrapped in a woollen cloth. 5th. A figure of\n         Hercules, by Lysimachus, of such vast dimensions that the\n         thumb was equal in circumference to the waist of a man. 6th.\n         The Ass and his Driver, cast by order of Augustus after the\n         battle of Actium, in commemoration of his having discovered\n         the position of Anthony through the means of an ass-driver.\n         7th. The Wolf suckling the Twins of Rome. 8th. The gladiator\n         in combat with a lion. 9th. The Hippopotamus. 10th. The\n         Sphinxes. 11th. An Eagle fighting with a Serpent. 12th. A\n         beautiful statue of Helen. 13th. A group, with a monster\n         somewhat resembling a bull, engaged in deadly conflict with a\n         serpent; and many other works of art, too numerous to\n         mention.\n\nThe carnage being over, and the spoil distributed, six persons were chosen\nfrom among the Franks and six from among the Venetians, who were to meet\nand elect an emperor, previously binding themselves by oath to select the\nindividual best qualified among the candidates. The choice wavered between\nBaldwin count of Flanders and Boniface marquis of Montferrat, but fell\neventually upon the former. He was straightway robed in the imperial\npurple, and became the founder of a new dynasty. He did not live long to\nenjoy his power, or to consolidate it for his successors, who, in their\nturn, were soon swept away. In less than sixty years the rule of the\nFranks at Constantinople was brought to as sudden and disastrous a\ntermination as the reign of Murzuphlis: and this was the grand result of\nthe fifth Crusade.\n\nPope Innocent III., although he had looked with no very unfavourable eye\nupon these proceedings, regretted that nothing had been done for the\nrelief of the Holy Land; still, upon every convenient occasion, he\nenforced the necessity of a new Crusade. Until the year 1213, his\nexhortations had no other effect than to keep the subject in the mind of\nEurope. Every spring and summer detachments of pilgrims continued to set\nout for Palestine to the aid of their brethren, but not in sufficient\nnumbers to be of much service. These periodical passages were called the\n_passagium Martii_, or the passage of March, and the _passagium Johannis_,\nor the passage of the festival of St. John. These did not consist entirely\nof soldiers, armed against the Saracen, but of pilgrims led by devotion,\nand in performance of their vows, bearing nothing with them but their\nstaff and their wallet. Early in the spring of 1213 a more extraordinary\nbody of Crusaders was raised in France and Germany. An immense number of\nboys and girls, amounting, according to some accounts, to thirty thousand,\nwere incited by the persuasion of two monks to undertake the journey to\nPalestine. They were no doubt composed of the idle and deserted children\nwho generally swarm in great cities, nurtured in vice and daring, and\nready for any thing. The object of the monks seems to have been the\natrocious one of inveigling them into slave-ships, on pretence of sending\nthem to Syria, and selling them for slaves on the coast of Africa.[19]\nGreat numbers of these poor victims were shipped at Marseilles; but the\nvessels, with the exception of two or three, were wrecked on the shores of\nItaly, and every soul perished. The remainder arrived safely in Africa,\nand were bought up as slaves, and sent off into the interior of the\ncountry. Another detachment arrived at Genoa; but the accomplices in this\nhorrid plot having taken no measures at that port, expecting them all at\nMarseilles, they were induced to return to their homes by the Genoese.\n\n    [19] See Jacob de Voragine and Albericus.\n\nFuller, in his quaint history of the _Holy Warre_, says that this Crusade\nwas done by the instinct of the devil; and he adds a reason, which may\nprovoke mirth now, but which was put forth by the worthy historian in all\nsoberness and sincerity. He says, \"the devil, being cloyed with the\nmurdering of men, desired a cordial of children's blood to comfort his\nweak stomach;\" as epicures, when tired of mutton, resort to lamb for a\nchange.\n\nIt appears from other authors that the preaching of the vile monks had\nsuch an effect upon these deluded children that they ran about the\ncountry, exclaiming, \"O Lord Jesus, restore thy cross to us!\" and that\nneither bolts nor bars, the fear of fathers, nor the love of mothers, was\nsufficient to restrain them from journeying to Jerusalem.\n\nThe details of these strange proceedings are exceedingly meagre and\nconfused, and none of the contemporary writers who mention the subject\nhave thought it worth while to state the names of the monks who originated\nthe scheme, or the fate they met for their wickedness. Two merchants of\nMarseilles, who were to have shared in the profits, were, it is said,\nbrought to justice for some other crime, and suffered death; but we are\nnot informed whether they divulged any circumstances relating to this\nmatter.\n\nPope Innocent III. does not seem to have been aware that the causes of\nthis juvenile Crusade were such as have been stated, for, upon being\ninformed that numbers of them had taken the cross, and were marching to\nthe Holy Land, he exclaimed, \"These children are awake while we sleep!\" He\nimagined, apparently, that the mind of Europe was still bent on the\nrecovery of Palestine, and that the zeal of these children implied a sort\nof reproach upon his own lukewarmness. Very soon afterwards, he bestirred\nhimself with more activity, and sent an encyclical letter to the clergy of\nChristendom, urging them to preach a new Crusade. As usual, a number of\nadventurous nobles, who had nothing else to do, enrolled themselves with\ntheir retainers. At a Council of Lateran, which was held while these bands\nwere collecting, Innocent announced that he himself would take the Cross,\nand lead the armies of Christ to the defence of his sepulchre. In all\nprobability he would have done so, for he was zealous enough; but death\nstepped in, and destroyed his project ere it was ripe. His successor\nencouraged the Crusade, though he refused to accompany it; and the\narmament continued in France, England, and Germany. No leaders of any\nimportance joined it from the former countries. Andrew king of Hungary was\nthe only monarch who had leisure or inclination to leave his dominions.\nThe Dukes of Austria and Bavaria joined him with a considerable army of\nGermans, and marching to Spalatro, took ship for Cyprus, and from thence\nto Acre.\n\nThe whole conduct of the king of Hungary was marked by pusillanimity and\nirresolution. He found himself in the Holy Land at the head of a very\nefficient army; the Saracens were taken by surprise, and were for some\nweeks unprepared to offer any resistance to his arms. He defeated the\nfirst body sent to oppose him, and marched towards Mount Tabor with the\nintention of seizing upon an important fortress which the Saracens had\nrecently constructed. He arrived without impediment at the mount, and\nmight have easily taken it; but a sudden fit of cowardice came over him,\nand he returned to Acre without striking a blow. He very soon afterwards\nabandoned the enterprise altogether, and returned to his own country.\n\nTardy reinforcements arrived at intervals from Europe; and the Duke of\nAustria, now the chief leader of the expedition, had still sufficient\nforces at his command to trouble the Saracens very seriously. It was\nresolved by him, in council with the other chiefs, that the whole energy\nof the Crusade should be directed upon Egypt, the seat of the Saracen\npower in its relationship to Palestine, and from whence were drawn the\ncontinual levies that were brought against them by the sultan. Damietta,\nwhich commanded the river Nile, and was one of the most important cities\nof Egypt, was chosen as the first point of attack. The siege was forthwith\ncommenced, and carried on with considerable energy, until the Crusaders\ngained possession of a tower, which projected into the middle of the\nstream, and was looked upon as the very key of the city.\n\nWhile congratulating themselves upon this success, and wasting in revelry\nthe time which should have been employed in turning it to further\nadvantage, they received the news of the death of the wise Sultan\nSaphaddin. His two sons, Camhel and Cohreddin, divided his empire between\nthem. Syria and Palestine fell to the share of Cohreddin, while Egypt was\nconsigned to the other brother, who had for some time exercised the\nfunctions of lieutenant of that country. Being unpopular among the\nEgyptians, they revolted against him, giving the Crusaders a finer\nopportunity for making a conquest than they had ever enjoyed before. But,\nquarrelsome and licentious as they had been from time immemorial, they did\nnot see that the favourable moment had come; or seeing, could not profit\nby it. While they were revelling or fighting among themselves, under the\nwalls of Damietta, the revolt was suppressed, and Camhel firmly\nestablished on the throne of Egypt. In conjunction with his brother\nCohreddin, his next care was to drive the Christians from Damietta, and\nfor upwards of three months they bent all their efforts to throw in\nsupplies to the besieged, or draw on the besiegers to a general\nengagement. In neither were they successful; and the famine in Damietta\nbecame so dreadful that vermin of every description were thought luxuries,\nand sold for exorbitant prices. A dead dog became more valuable than a\nlive ox in time of prosperity. Unwholesome food brought on disease, and\nthe city could hold out no longer for absolute want of men to defend the\nwalls.\n\nCohreddin and Camhel were alike interested in the preservation of so\nimportant a position, and, convinced of the certain fate of the city, they\nopened a conference with the crusading chiefs, offering to yield the whole\nof Palestine to the Christians upon the sole condition of the evacuation\nof Egypt. With a blindness and wrong-headedness almost incredible, these\nadvantageous terms were refused, chiefly through the persuasion of\nCardinal Pelagius, an ignorant and obstinate fanatic, who urged upon the\nDuke of Austria and the French and English leaders, that infidels never\nkept their word; that their offers were deceptive, and merely intended to\nbetray. The conferences were brought to an abrupt termination by the\nCrusaders, and a last attack made upon the walls of Damietta. The besieged\nmade but slight resistance, for they had no hope, and the Christians\nentered the city, and found, out of seventy thousand people, but three\nthousand remaining: so fearful had been the ravages of the twin fiends,\nplague and famine.\n\nSeveral months were spent in Damietta. The climate either weakened the\nframes or obscured the understandings of the Christians; for, after their\nconquest, they lost all energy, and abandoned themselves more\nunscrupulously than ever to riot and debauchery. John of Brienne, who, by\nright of his wife, was the nominal sovereign of Jerusalem, was so\ndisgusted with the pusillanimity, arrogance, and dissensions of the\nchiefs, that he withdrew entirely from them and retired to Acre. Large\nbodies also returned to Europe, and Cardinal Pelagius was left at liberty\nto blast the whole enterprise whenever it pleased him. He managed to\nconciliate John of Brienne, and marched forward with these combined forces\nto attack Cairo. It was only when he had approached within a few hours'\nmarch of that city that he discovered the inadequacy of his army. He\nturned back immediately; but the Nile had risen since his departure; the\nsluices were opened, and there was no means of reaching Damietta. In this\nstrait, he sued for the peace he had formerly spurned, and, happily for\nhimself, found the generous brothers Camhel and Cohreddin still willing to\ngrant it. Damietta was soon afterwards given up, and the cardinal returned\nto Europe. John of Brienne retired to Acre, to mourn the loss of his\nkingdom, embittered against the folly of his pretended friends, who had\nruined where they should have aided him. And thus ended the sixth Crusade.\n\nThe seventh was more successful. Frederic II., emperor of Germany, had\noften vowed to lead his armies to the defence of Palestine, but was as\noften deterred from the journey by matters of more pressing importance.\nCohreddin was a mild and enlightened monarch, and the Christians of Syria\nenjoyed repose and toleration under his rule: but John of Brienne was not\nwilling to lose his kingdom without an effort; and the popes in Europe\nwere ever willing to embroil the nations for the sake of extending their\nown power. No monarch of that age was capable of rendering more effective\nassistance than Frederic of Germany. To inspire him with more zeal, it was\nproposed that he should wed the young Princess Violante, daughter of John\nof Brienne, and heiress of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Frederic consented\nwith joy and eagerness. The princess was brought from Acre to Rome without\ndelay, and her marriage celebrated on a scale of great magnificence. Her\nfather, John of Brienne, abdicated all his rights in favour of his\nson-in-law, and Jerusalem had once more a king, who had not only the will,\nbut the power, to enforce his claims. Preparations for the new Crusade\nwere immediately commenced, and in the course of six months the emperor\nwas at the head of a well-disciplined army of sixty thousand men. Matthew\nParis informs us, that an army of the same amount was gathered in England;\nand most of the writers upon the Crusades adopt his statement. When John\nof Brienne was in England, before his daughter's marriage with the emperor\nwas thought of, praying for the aid of Henry III. and his nobles to\nrecover his lost kingdom, he did not meet with much encouragement.\nGrafton, in his _Chronicle_, says, \"he departed again without any great\ncomfort.\" But when a man of more influence in European politics appeared\nupon the scene, the English nobles were as ready to sacrifice themselves\nin the cause as they had been in the time of Coeur de Lion.\n\nThe army of Frederic encamped at Brundusium; but a pestilential disease\nhaving made its appearance among them, their departure was delayed for\nseveral months. In the mean time the Empress Violante died in childbed.\nJohn of Brienne, who had already repented of his abdication, and was\nbesides incensed against Frederic for many acts of neglect and insult, no\nsooner saw the only tie which bound them severed by the death of his\ndaughter, than he began to bestir himself, and make interest with the pope\nto undo what he had done, and regain the honorary crown he had renounced.\nPope Gregory IX., a man of a proud, unconciliating, and revengeful\ncharacter, owed the emperor a grudge for many an act of disobedience to\nhis authority, and encouraged the overtures of John of Brienne more than\nhe should have done. Frederic, however, despised them both, and, as soon\nas his army was convalescent, set sail for Acre. He had not been many days\nat sea when he was himself attacked with the malady, and obliged to return\nto Otranto, the nearest port. Gregory, who had by this time decided in the\ninterest of John of Brienne, excommunicated the emperor for returning from\nso holy an expedition on any pretext whatever. Frederic at first treated\nthe excommunication with supreme contempt; but when he got well, he gave\nhis holiness to understand that he was not to be outraged with impunity,\nand sent some of his troops to ravage the papal territories. This,\nhowever, only made the matter worse, and Gregory despatched messengers to\nPalestine forbidding the faithful, under severe pains and penalties, to\nhold any intercourse with the excommunicated emperor. Thus between them\nboth, the scheme which they had so much at heart bade fair to be as\neffectually ruined as even the Saracens could have wished. Frederic still\ncontinued his zeal in the Crusade, for he was now king of Jerusalem, and\nfought for himself, and not for Christendom, or its representative, Pope\nGregory. Hearing that John of Brienne was preparing to leave Europe, he\nlost no time in taking his own departure, and arrived safely at Acre. It\nwas here that he first experienced the evil effects of excommunication.\nThe Christians of Palestine refused to aid him in any way, and looked with\ndistrust, if not with abhorrence, upon him. The Templars, Hospitallers,\nand other knights, shared at first the general feeling; but they were not\nmen to yield a blind obedience to a distant potentate, especially when it\ncompromised their own interests. When, therefore, Frederic prepared to\nmarch upon Jerusalem without them, they joined his banners to a man.\n\n[Illustration: TEMPLAR AND HOSPITALLER.]\n\nIt is said that, previous to quitting Europe, the German emperor had\ncommenced a negotiation with the Sultan Camhel for the restoration of the\nHoly Land, and that Camhel, who was jealous of the ambition of his brother\nCohreddin, was willing to stipulate to that effect, on condition of being\nsecured by Frederic in the possession of the more important territory of\nEgypt. But before the Crusaders reached Palestine, Camhel was relieved\nfrom all fears by the death of his brother. He nevertheless did not think\nit worth while to contest with the Crusaders the barren corner of the\nearth which had already been dyed with so much Christian and Saracen\nblood, and proposed a truce of three years, only stipulating, in addition,\nthat the Moslems should be allowed to worship freely in the temple of\nJerusalem. This happy termination did not satisfy the bigoted Christians\nof Palestine. The tolerance they sought for themselves, they were not\nwilling to extend to others, and they complained bitterly of the privilege\nof free worship allowed to their opponents. Unmerited good fortune had\nmade them insolent, and they contested the right of the emperor to become\na party to any treaty, as long as he remained under the ecclesiastical\nban. Frederic was disgusted with his new subjects; but, as the Templars\nand Hospitallers remained true to him, he marched to Jerusalem to be\ncrowned. All the churches were shut against him, and he could not even\nfind a priest to officiate at his coronation. He had despised the papal\nauthority too long to quail at it now, when it was so unjustifiably\nexerted, and, as there was nobody to crown him, he very wisely crowned\nhimself. He took the royal diadem from the altar with his own hands, and\nboldly and proudly placed it on his brow. No shouts of an applauding\npopulace made the welkin ring; no hymns of praise and triumph resounded\nfrom the ministers of religion; but a thousand swords started from their\nscabbards to testify that their owners would defend the new monarch to the\ndeath.\n\nIt was hardly to be expected that he would renounce for any long period\nthe dominion of his native land for the uneasy crown and barren soil of\nPalestine. He had seen quite enough of his new subjects before he was six\nmonths among them, and more important interests called him home. John of\nBrienne, openly leagued with Pope Gregory against him, was actually\nemployed in ravaging his territories at the head of a papal army. This\nintelligence decided his return. As a preliminary step, he made those who\nhad contemned his authority feel, to their sorrow, that he was their\nmaster. He then set sail, loaded with the curses of Palestine. And thus\nended the seventh Crusade, which, in spite of every obstacle and\ndisadvantage, had been productive of more real service to the Holy Land\nthan any that had gone before; a result solely attributable to the bravery\nof Frederic and the generosity of the Sultan Camhel.\n\nSoon after the emperor's departure a new claimant started for the throne\nof Jerusalem, in the person of Alice queen of Cyprus, and half-sister of\nthe Mary who, by her marriage, had transferred her right to John of\nBrienne. The grand military orders, however, clung to Frederic, and Alice\nwas obliged to withdraw.\n\nSo peaceful a termination to the Crusade did not give unmixed pleasure in\nEurope. The chivalry of France and England were unable to rest, and long\nbefore the conclusion of the truce, were collecting their armies for an\neighth expedition. In Palestine also the contentment was far from\nuniversal. Many petty Mahomedan states in the immediate vicinity were not\nparties to the truce, and harassed the frontier towns incessantly. The\nTemplars, ever turbulent, waged bitter war with the sultan of Aleppo, and\nin the end were almost exterminated. So great was the slaughter among them\nthat Europe resounded with the sad story of their fate, and many a noble\nknight took arms to prevent the total destruction of an order associated\nwith so many high and inspiring remembrances. Camhel, seeing the\npreparations that were making, thought that his generosity had been\nsufficiently shewn, and the very day the truce was at an end assumed the\noffensive, and marching forward to Jerusalem, took possession of it, after\nrouting the scanty forces of the Christians. Before this intelligence\nreached Europe a large body of Crusaders was on the march, headed by the\nking of Navarre, the Duke of Burgundy, the Count de Bretagne, and other\nleaders. On their arrival, they learned that Jerusalem had been taken, but\nthat the sultan was dead, and his kingdom torn by rival claimants to the\nsupreme power. The dissensions of their foes ought to have made them\nunited, but as in all previous Crusades, each feudal chief was master of\nhis own host, and acted upon his own responsibility, and without reference\nto any general plan. The consequence was that nothing could be done. A\ntemporary advantage was gained by one leader, who had no means of\nimproving it; while another was defeated, without means of retrieving\nhimself. Thus the war lingered till the battle of Gaza, when the king of\nNavarre was defeated with great loss, and compelled to save himself from\ntotal destruction by entering into a hard and oppressive treaty with the\nemir of Karac.\n\nAt this crisis aid arrived from England, commanded by Richard earl of\nCornwall, the namesake of Coeur de Lion, and inheritor of his valour. His\narmy was strong and full of hope. They had confidence in themselves and in\ntheir leader, and looked like men accustomed to victory. Their coming\nchanged the aspect of affairs. The new sultan of Egypt was at war with the\nsultan of Damascus, and had not forces to oppose two enemies so powerful.\nHe therefore sent messengers to meet the English earl, offering an\nexchange of prisoners and the complete cession of the Holy Land. Richard,\nwho had not come to fight for the mere sake of fighting, agreed at once to\nterms so advantageous, and became the deliverer of Palestine without\nstriking a blow. The sultan of Egypt then turned his whole force against\nhis Moslem enemies, and the Earl of Cornwall returned to Europe. Thus\nended the eighth Crusade, the most beneficial of all. Christendom had no\nfurther pretence for sending her fierce levies to the East. To all\nappearance the holy wars were at an end: the Christians had entire\npossession of Jerusalem, Tripoli, Antioch, Edessa, Acre, Jaffa, and, in\nfact, of nearly all Judea; and, could they have been at peace among\nthemselves, they might have overcome, without great difficulty, the\njealousy and hostility of their neighbours. A circumstance, as unforeseen\nas it was disastrous, blasted this fair prospect, and reillumed, for the\nlast time, the fervour and fury of the Crusades.\n\nGengis Khan and his successors had swept over Asia like a tropical storm,\noverturning in their progress the landmarks of ages. Kingdom after kingdom\nwas cast down as they issued, innumerable, from the far recesses of the\nNorth and East, and, among others, the empire of Korasmin was overrun by\nthese all-conquering hordes. The Korasmins, a fierce, uncivilised race,\nthus driven from their homes, spread themselves, in their turn, over the\nsouth of Asia with fire and sword, in search of a resting-place. In their\nimpetuous course they directed themselves towards Egypt, whose sultan,\nunable to withstand the swarm that had cast their longing eyes on the\nfertile valleys of the Nile, endeavoured to turn them from their course.\nFor this purpose, he sent emissaries to Barbaquan, their leader, inviting\nthem to settle in Palestine; and the offer being accepted by the wild\nhorde, they entered the country before the Christians received the\nslightest intimation of their coming. It was as sudden as it was\noverwhelming. Onwards, like the simoom, they came, burning and slaying,\nand were at the walls of Jerusalem before the inhabitants had time to look\nround them. They spared neither life nor property; they slew women and\nchildren, and priests at the altar, and profaned even the graves of those\nwho had slept for ages. They tore down every vestige of the Christian\nfaith, and committed horrors unparalleled in the history of warfare. About\nseven thousand of the inhabitants of Jerusalem sought safety in retreat;\nbut before they were out of sight, the banner of the cross was hoisted\nupon the walls by the savage foe to decoy them back. The artifice was but\ntoo successful. The poor fugitives imagined that help had arrived from\nanother direction, and turned back to regain their homes. Nearly the whole\nof them were massacred, and the streets of Jerusalem ran with blood.\n\n[Illustration: JAFFA.]\n\nThe Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic knights forgot their long and\nbitter animosities, and joined hand in hand to rout out this desolating\nfoe. They entrenched themselves in Jaffa with all the chivalry of\nPalestine that yet remained, and endeavoured to engage the sultans of\nEmissa and Damascus to assist them against the common enemy. The aid\nobtained from the Moslems amounted at first to only four thousand men, but\nwith these reinforcements Walter of Brienne, the lord of Jaffa, resolved\nto give battle to the Korasmins. The conflict was as deadly as despair on\nthe one side, and unmitigated ferocity on the other, could make it. It\nlasted with varying fortune for two days, when the sultan of Emissa fled\nto his fortifications, and Walter of Brienne fell into the enemy's hands.\nThe brave knight was suspended by the arms to a cross in sight of the\nwalls of Jaffa, and the Korasminian leader declared that he should remain\nin that position until the city surrendered. Walter raised his feeble\nvoice, not to advise surrender, but to command his soldiers to hold out to\nthe last. But his gallantry was unavailing. So great had been the\nslaughter, that out of the grand array of knights, there now remained but\nsixteen Hospitallers, thirty-three Templars, and three Teutonic cavaliers.\nThese with the sad remnant of the army fled to Acre, and the Korasmins\nwere masters of Palestine.\n\nThe sultans of Syria preferred the Christians to this fierce horde for\ntheir neighbours. Even the sultan of Egypt began to regret the aid he had\ngiven to such barbarous foes, and united with those of Emissa and Damascus\nto root them from the land. The Korasmins amounted to but twenty thousand\nmen, and were unable to resist the determined hostility which encompassed\nthem on every side. The sultans defeated them in several engagements, and\nthe peasantry rose up in masses to take vengeance upon them. Gradually\ntheir numbers were diminished. No mercy was shewn them in defeat.\nBarbaquan their leader was slain; and after five years of desperate\nstruggles, they were finally extirpated, and Palestine became once more\nthe territory of the Mussulmans.\n\n[Illustration: WILLIAM LONGSWORD.]\n\nA short time previous to this devastating eruption, Louis IX. fell sick in\nParis, and dreamed in the delirium of his fever that he saw the Christian\nand Moslem host fighting before Jerusalem, and the Christians defeated\nwith great slaughter. The dream made a great impression on his\nsuperstitious mind, and he made a solemn vow, that if ever he recovered\nhis health, he would take a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. When the news of\nthe misfortunes of Palestine, and the awful massacres at Jerusalem and\nJaffa, arrived in Europe, St. Louis remembered him of his dream. More\npersuaded than ever that it was an intimation direct from heaven, he\nprepared to take the cross at the head of his armies, and march to the\ndeliverance of the Holy Sepulchre. From that moment he doffed the royal\nmantle of purple and ermine, and dressed in the sober serge becoming a\npilgrim. All his thoughts were directed to the fulfilment of his design,\nand although his kingdom could but ill spare him, he made every\npreparation to leave it. Pope Innocent IV. applauded his zeal and afforded\nhim every assistance. He wrote to Henry III. of England to forward the\ncause in his dominions, and called upon the clergy and laity all over\nEurope to contribute towards it. William Longsword, the celebrated Earl of\nSalisbury, took the cross at the head of a great number of valiant knights\nand soldiers. But the fanaticism of the people was not to be awakened\neither in France or England. Great armies were raised, but the masses no\nlonger sympathised. Taxation had been the great cooler of zeal. It was no\nlonger a disgrace even to a knight if he refused to take the cross.\nRutebeuf, a French minstrel, who flourished about this time (1250),\ncomposed a dialogue between a Crusader and a non-Crusader, which the\nreader will find translated in Way's _Fabliaux_. The Crusader uses every\nargument to persuade the non-Crusader to take up arms, and forsake every\nthing, in the holy cause; but it is evident from the greater force of the\narguments used by the non-Crusader, that he was the favourite of the\nminstrel. To a most urgent solicitation of his friend the Crusader, he\nreplies:\n\n   \"I read thee right, thou holdest good\n      To this same land I straight should hie,\n    And win it back with mickle blood,\n      Nor gaine one foot of soil thereby;\n    While here dejected and forlorn\n      My wife and babes are left to mourn;\n    My goodly mansion rudely marred,\n      All trusted to my dogs to guard.\n    But I, fair comrade, well I wot\n      An ancient saw of pregnant wit\n    Doth bid us keep what we have got;\n      And troth I mean to follow it.\"\n\nThis being the general feeling, it is not to be wondered at that Louis IX.\nwas occupied fully three years in organising his forces, and in making the\nnecessary preparations for his departure. When all was ready he set sail\nfor Cyprus, accompanied by his queen, his two brothers, the Counts d'Anjou\nand d'Artois, and a long train of the noblest chivalry of France. His\nthird brother, the Count de Poitiers, remained behind to collect another\ncorps of Crusaders, and followed him in a few months afterwards. The army\nunited at Cyprus, and amounted to fifty thousand men, exclusive of the\nEnglish Crusaders under William Longsword. Again, a pestilential disease\nmade its appearance, to which many hundreds fell victims. It was in\nconsequence found necessary to remain in Cyprus until the spring. Louis\nthen embarked for Egypt with his whole host; but a violent tempest\nseparated his fleet, and he arrived before Damietta with only a few\nthousand men. They were, however, impetuous and full of hope; and although\nthe Sultan Melick Shah was drawn up on the shore with a force infinitely\nsuperior, it was resolved to attempt a landing without waiting the arrival\nof the rest of the army. Louis himself, in wild impatience, sprang from\nhis boat, and waded on shore; while his army, inspired by his enthusiastic\nbravery, followed, shouting the old war-cry of the first Crusaders, _Dieu\nle veut! Dieu le veut!_ A panic seized the Turks. A body of their cavalry\nattempted to bear down upon the Crusaders, but the knights fixed their\nlarge shields deep in the sands of the shore, and rested their lances upon\nthem, so that they projected above, and formed a barrier so imposing, that\nthe Turks, afraid to breast it, turned round and fairly took to flight. At\nthe moment of this panic, a false report was spread in the Saracen host,\nthat the sultan had been slain. The confusion immediately became\ngeneral--the _deroute_ was complete: Damietta itself was abandoned, and\nthe same night the victorious Crusaders fixed their head-quarters in that\ncity. The soldiers who had been separated from their chief by the tempest\narrived shortly afterwards; and Louis was in a position to justify the\nhope, not only of the conquest of Palestine, but of Egypt itself.\n\nBut too much confidence proved the bane of his army. They thought, as they\nhad accomplished so much, that nothing more remained to be done, and gave\nthemselves up to ease and luxury. When, by the command of Louis, they\nmarched towards Cairo, they were no longer the same men; success, instead\nof inspiring, had unnerved them; debauchery had brought on disease, and\ndisease was aggravated by the heat of a climate to which none of them were\naccustomed. Their progress towards Massoura, on the road to Cairo, was\nchecked by the Thanisian canal, on the banks of which the Saracens were\ndrawn up to dispute the passage. Louis gave orders that a bridge should be\nthrown across: and the operations commenced under cover of two\ncat-castles, or high movable towers. The Saracens soon destroyed them by\nthrowing quantities of Greek fire, the artillery of that day, upon them,\nand Louis was forced to think of some other means of effecting his design.\nA peasant agreed, for a considerable bribe, to point out a ford where the\narmy might wade across, and the Count d'Artois was despatched with\nfourteen hundred men to attempt it, while Louis remained to face the\nSaracens with the main body of the army. The Count d'Artois got safely\nover, and defeated the detachment that had been sent to oppose his\nlanding. Flushed with the victory, the brave count forgot the inferiority\nof his numbers, and pursued the panic-stricken enemy into Massoura. He was\nnow completely cut off from the aid of his brother Crusaders, which the\nMoslems perceiving, took courage and returned upon him, with a force\nswollen by the garrison of Massoura, and by reinforcements from the\nsurrounding districts. The battle now became hand to hand. The Christians\nfought with the energy of desperate men, but the continually increasing\nnumbers of the foe surrounded them completely, and cut off all hope,\neither of victory or escape. The Count d'Artois was among the foremost of\nthe slain; and when Louis arrived to the rescue, the brave advanced-guard\nwas nearly cut to pieces. Of the fourteen hundred but three hundred\nremained. The fury of the battle was now increased threefold. The French\nking and his troops performed prodigies of valour, and the Saracens, under\nthe command of the Emir Ceccidun, fought as if they were determined to\nexterminate, in one last decisive effort, the new European swarm that had\nsettled upon their coast. At the fall of the evening dews the Christians\nwere masters of the field of Massoura, and flattered themselves that they\nwere the victors. Self-love would not suffer them to confess that the\nSaracens had withdrawn, and not retreated; but their leaders were too\nwofully convinced that that fatal field had completed the disorganisation\nof the Christian army, and that all hopes of future conquest were at an\nend.\n\nImpressed with this truth, the Crusaders sued for peace. The sultan\ninsisted upon the immediate evacuation of Damietta, and that Louis himself\nshould be delivered as hostage for the fulfilment of the condition. His\narmy at once refused, and the negotiations were broken off. It was now\nresolved to attempt a retreat; but the agile Saracens, now in the front\nand now in the rear, rendered it a matter of extreme difficulty, and cut\noff the stragglers in great numbers. Hundreds of them were drowned in the\nNile; and sickness and famine worked sad ravages upon those who escaped\nall other casualties. Louis himself was so weakened by disease, fatigue,\nand discouragement, that he was hardly able to sit upon his horse. In the\nconfusion of the flight he was separated from his attendants, and left a\ntotal stranger upon the sands of Egypt, sick, weary, and almost\nfriendless. One knight, Geffry de Sergines, alone attended him, and led\nhim to a miserable hut in a small village, where for several days he lay\nin the hourly expectation of death. He was at last discovered and taken\nprisoner by the Saracens, who treated him with all the honour due to his\nrank and all the pity due to his misfortunes. Under their care his health\nrapidly improved, and the next consideration was that of his ransom.\n\nThe Saracens demanded, besides money, the cession of Acre, Tripoli, and\nother cities of Palestine. Louis unhesitatingly refused, and conducted\nhimself with so much pride and courage that the sultan declared he was the\nproudest infidel he had ever beheld. After a good deal of haggling, the\nsultan agreed to waive these conditions, and a treaty was finally\nconcluded. The city of Damietta was restored; a truce of ten years agreed\nupon, and ten thousand golden bezants paid for the release of Louis and\nthe liberation of all the captives. Louis then withdrew to Jaffa, and\nspent two years in putting that city, and Cesarea, with the other\npossessions of the Christians in Palestine, into a proper state of\ndefence. He then returned to his own country, with great reputation as a\nsaint, but very little as a soldier.\n\nMatthew Paris informs us that, in the year 1250, while Louis was in Egypt,\n\"thousands of the English were resolved to go to the holy war, had not the\nking strictly guarded his ports and kept his people from running out of\ndoors.\" When the news arrived of the reverses and captivity of the French\nking, their ardour cooled; and the Crusade was sung of only, but not\nspoken of.\n\nIn France, a very different feeling was the result. The news of the king's\ncapture spread consternation through the country. A fanatic monk of\nCiteaux suddenly appeared in the villages, preaching to the people, and\nannouncing that the Holy Virgin, accompanied by a whole army of saints and\nmartyrs, had appeared to him, and commanded him to stir up the shepherds\nand farm-labourers to the defence of the cross. To them only was his\ndiscourse addressed; and his eloquence was such, that thousands flocked\naround him, ready to follow wherever he should lead. The pastures and the\ncorn-fields were deserted, and the shepherds, or _pastoureaux_, as they\nwere termed, became at last so numerous as to amount to upwards of fifty\nthousand,--Millot says one hundred thousand men.[20] The Queen Blanche,\nwho governed as regent during the absence of the king, encouraged at first\nthe armies of the _pastoureaux_; but they soon gave way to such vile\nexcesses that the peaceably disposed were driven to resistance. Robbery,\nmurder, and violation marked their path; and all good men, assisted by the\ngovernment, united in putting them down. They were finally dispersed, but\nnot before three thousand of them had been massacred. Many authors say\nthat the slaughter was still greater.\n\n    [20] _El\u00e9mens de l'Histoire de France_.\n\nThe ten years' truce concluded in 1264, and St. Louis was urged by two\npowerful motives to undertake a second expedition for the relief of\nPalestine. These were, fanaticism on the one hand, and a desire of\nretrieving his military fame on the other, which had suffered more than\nhis parasites liked to remind him of. The pope, of course, encouraged his\ndesign, and once more the chivalry of Europe began to bestir themselves.\nIn 1268, Edward, the heir of the English monarchy, announced his\ndetermination to join the Crusade; and the pope (Clement IV.) wrote to the\nprelates and clergy to aid the cause by their persuasions and their\nrevenues. In England, they agreed to contribute a tenth of their\npossessions; and by a parliamentary order, a twentieth was taken from the\ncorn and movables of all the laity at Michaelmas.\n\nIn spite of the remonstrances of the few clear-headed statesmen who\nsurrounded him, urging the ruin that might in consequence fall upon his\nthen prosperous kingdom, Louis made every preparation for his departure.\nThe warlike nobility were nothing loath; and in the spring of 1270, the\nking set sail with an army of sixty thousand men. He was driven by stress\nof weather into Sardinia, and while there, a change in his plans took\nplace. Instead of proceeding to Acre, as he originally intended, he shaped\nhis course for Tunis, on the African coast. The king of Tunis had some\ntime previously expressed himself favourably disposed towards the\nChristians and their religion, and Louis, it appears, had hopes of\nconverting him, and securing his aid against the sultan of Egypt. \"What\nhonour would be mine,\" he used to say, \"if I could become godfather to\nthis Mussulman king!\" Filled with this idea he landed in Africa, near the\nsite of the city of Carthage, but found that he had reckoned without his\nhost. The king of Tunis had no thoughts of renouncing his religion, nor\nintention of aiding the Crusaders in any way. On the contrary, he opposed\ntheir landing with all the forces that could be collected on so sudden an\nemergency. The French, however, made good their first position, and\ndefeated the Moslems with considerable loss. They also gained some\nadvantage over the reinforcements that were sent to oppose them; but an\ninfectious flux appeared in the army, and put a stop to all future\nvictories. The soldiers died at the rate of a hundred in a day. The enemy,\nat the same time, made as great havoc as the plague. St. Louis himself was\none of the first attacked by the disease. His constitution had been\nweakened by fatigues, and even before he left France he was unable to bear\nthe full weight of his armour. It was soon evident to his sorrowing\nsoldiers that their beloved monarch could not long survive. He lingered\nfor some days, and died in Carthage in the fifty-sixth year of his age,\ndeeply regretted by his army and his subjects, and leaving behind him one\nof the most singular reputations in history. He is the model-king of\necclesiastical writers, in whose eyes his very defects became virtues,\nbecause they were manifested in furtherance of their cause. More\nunprejudiced historians, while they condemn his fanaticism, admit that he\nwas endowed with many high and rare qualities; that he was in no one point\nbehind his age, and in many in advance of it.\n\nHis brother, Charles of Anjou, in consequence of a revolution in Sicily,\nhad become king of that country. Before he heard of the death of Louis, he\nhad sailed from Messina with large reinforcements. On his landing near\nCarthage, he advanced at the head of his army, amid the martial music of\ndrums and trumpets. He was soon informed how inopportune was his\nrejoicing, and shed tears before his whole army, such as no warrior would\nhave been ashamed to shed. A peace was speedily agreed upon with the king\nof Tunis, and the armies of France and Sicily returned to their homes.\n\n[Illustration: SEAL OF EDWARD I.]\n\nSo little favour had the Crusade found in England, that even the exertions\nof the heir to the throne had only collected a small force of fifteen\nhundred men. With these few Prince Edward sailed from Dover to Bourdeaux,\nin the expectation that he would find the French king in that city. St.\nLouis, however, had left a few weeks previously; upon which Edward\nfollowed him to Sardinia, and afterwards to Tunis. Before his arrival in\nAfrica, St. Louis was no more, and peace had been concluded between France\nand Tunis. He determined, however, not to relinquish the Crusade.\nReturning to Sicily, he passed the winter in that country, and endeavoured\nto augment his little army. In the spring he set sail for Palestine, and\narrived in safety at Acre. The Christians were torn, as usual, by mutual\njealousies and animosities. The two great military orders were as virulent\nand as intractable as ever; opposed to each other, and to all the world.\nThe arrival of Edward had the effect of causing them to lay aside their\nunworthy contention, and of uniting heart to heart in one last effort for\nthe deliverance of their adopted country. A force of six thousand\neffective warriors was soon formed to join those of the English prince,\nand preparations were made for the renewal of hostilities. The Sultan\nBibars or Bendocdar,[21] a fierce Mamluke, who had been placed on the\nthrone by a bloody revolution, was at war with all his neighbours, and\nunable, for that reason, to concentrate his whole strength against them.\nEdward took advantage of this, and marching boldly forward to Nazareth,\ndefeated the Turks and gained possession of that city. This was the whole\namount of his successes. The hot weather engendered disease among his\ntroops, and he himself, the life and soul of the expedition, fell sick\namong the first. He had been ill for some time, and was slowly recovering,\nwhen a messenger desired to speak with him on important matters, and to\ndeliver some despatches into his own hand. While the prince was occupied\nin examining them, the traitorous messenger drew a dagger from his belt\nand stabbed him in the breast. The wound fortunately was not deep, and\nEdward had regained a portion of his strength. He struggled with the\nassassin, and put him to death with his own dagger, at the same time\ncalling loudly for assistance.[22] His attendants came at his call, and\nfound him bleeding profusely, and ascertained on inspection that the\ndagger was poisoned. Means were instantly taken to purify the wound, and\nan antidote was sent by the Grand Master of the Templars which removed all\ndanger from the effects of the poison. Camden, in his history, has adopted\nthe more popular, and certainly more beautiful version of this story,\nwhich says that the Princess Eleonora, in her love for her gallant\nhusband, sucked the poison from his wound at the risk of her own life: to\nuse the words of old Fuller, \"it is a pity so pretty a story should not be\ntrue; and that so sovereign a remedy as a woman's tongue, anointed with\nthe virtue of loving affection,\" should not have performed the good deed.\n\n    [21] Mills, in his history, gives the name of this chief as \"Al\n         Malek al Dhaker Rok neddin Abulfeth Bibars al Ali al\n         Bundokdari al Salehi.\"\n\n    [22] The reader will recognise the incident which Sir Walter Scott\n         has introduced into his beautiful romance, _The Talisman_,\n         and which, with the license claimed by poets and romancers,\n         he represents as having befallen King Richard I.\n\nEdward suspected, and doubtless not without reason, that the assassin was\nemployed by the sultan of Egypt. But it amounted to suspicion only; and by\nthe sudden death of the assassin the principal clue to the discovery of\nthe truth was lost for ever. Edward, on his recovery, prepared to resume\nthe offensive; but the sultan, embarrassed by the defence of interests\nwhich, for the time being, he considered of more importance, made offers\nof peace to the Crusaders. This proof of weakness on the part of the enemy\nwas calculated to render a man of Edward's temperament more anxious to\nprosecute the war; but he had also other interests to defend. News arrived\nin Palestine of the death of his father, King Henry III.; and his presence\nbeing necessary in England, he agreed to the terms of the sultan. These\nwere, that the Christians should be allowed to retain their possessions in\nthe Holy Land, and that a truce of ten years should be proclaimed. Edward\nthen set sail for England; and thus ended the last Crusade.\n\nThe after-fate of the Holy Land may be told in a few words. The\nChristians, unmindful of their past sufferings and of the jealous\nneighbours they had to deal with, first broke the truce by plundering some\nEgyptian traders near Margat. The sultan immediately revenged the outrage\nby taking possession of Margat, and war once more raged between the\nnations. Margat made a gallant defence, but no reinforcements arrived from\nEurope to prevent its fall. Tripoli was the next, and other cities in\nsuccession, until at last Acre was the only city of Palestine that\nremained in possession of the Christians.\n\n[Illustration: TOMB OF QUEEN ELEANOR.]\n\nThe Grand Master of the Templars collected together his small and devoted\nband, and, with the trifling aid afforded by the King of Cyprus, prepared\nto defend to the death the last possession of his order. Europe was deaf\nto his cry for aid, the numbers of the foe were overwhelming, and devoted\nbravery was of no avail. In that disastrous siege the Christians were all\nbut exterminated. The king of Cyprus fled when he saw that resistance was\nvain, and the Grand Master fell at the head of his knights, pierced with a\nhundred wounds. Seven Templars, and as many Hospitallers, alone escaped\nfrom the dreadful carnage. The victorious Moslems then set fire to the\ncity, and the rule of the Christians in Palestine was brought to a close\nfor ever.\n\nThis intelligence spread alarm and sorrow among the clergy of Europe, who\nendeavoured to rouse once more the energy and enthusiasm of the nations in\nthe cause of the Holy Land. But the popular mania had run its career; the\nspark of zeal had burned its appointed time, and was never again to be\nre-illumined. Here and there a solitary knight announced his determination\nto take up arms, and now and then a king gave cold encouragement to the\nscheme; but it dropped almost as soon as spoken of, to be renewed again,\nstill more feebly, at some longer interval.\n\nNow what was the grand result of all these struggles? Europe expended\nmillions of her treasures, and the blood of two millions of her children;\nand a handful of quarrelsome knights retained possession of Palestine for\nabout one hundred years! Even had Christendom retained it to this day, the\nadvantage, if confined to that, would have been too dearly purchased. But\nnotwithstanding the fanaticism that originated, and the folly that\nconducted them, the Crusades were not productive of unmitigated evil. The\nfeudal chiefs became better members of society by coming in contact, in\nAsia, with a civilisation superior to their own; the people secured some\nsmall instalments of their rights; kings, no longer at war with their\nnobility, had time to pass some good laws; the human mind learned some\nlittle wisdom from hard experience, and, casting off the slough of\nsuperstition in which the Roman clergy had so long enveloped it, became\nprepared to receive the seeds of the approaching Reformation. Thus did the\nall-wise Disposer of events bring good out of evil, and advance the\ncivilisation and ultimate happiness of the nations of the West by means of\nthe very fanaticism that had led them against the East. But the whole\nsubject is one of absorbing interest, and, if carried fully out in all its\nbearings, would consume more space than the plan of this work will allow.\nThe philosophic student will draw his own conclusions; and he can have no\nbetter field for the exercise of his powers than this European\nmadness--its advantages and disadvantages, its causes and results.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: ARRAS.]\n\n\nTHE WITCH MANIA.\n\n    What wrath of gods, or wicked influence\n      Of tears, conspiring wretched men t' afflict,\n    Hath pour'd on earth this noyous pestilence\n      That mortal minds doth inwardly infect\n    With love of blindness and of ignorance?\n                                       _Spencer's Tears of the Muses_.\n\n\n    _Countrymen._ Hang her! beat her! kill her!\n\n    _Justice._ How now? Forbear this violence!\n\n    _Mother Sawyer._ A crew of villains--a knot of bloody hangmen! set\n        to torment me! I know not why.\n\n    _Justice._ Alas, neighbour Banks! are you a ringleader in\n        mischief? Fie! to abuse an aged woman!\n\n    _Banks._ Woman! a she hell-cat, a witch! To prove her one, we no\n        sooner set fire on the thatch of her house, but in she came\n        running, as if the devil had sent her in a barrel of gunpowder.\n\n                                           _Ford's Witch of Edmonton_.\n\n\nThe belief that disembodied spirits may be permitted to revisit this world\nhas its foundation upon that sublime hope of immortality which is at once\nthe chief solace and greatest triumph of our reason. Even if revelation\ndid not teach us, we feel that we have that within us which shall never\ndie; and all our experience of this life but makes us cling the more\nfondly to that one repaying hope. But in the early days of \"little\nknowledge\" this grand belief became the source of a whole train of\nsuperstitions, which, in their turn, became the fount from whence flowed a\ndeluge of blood and horror. Europe, for a period of two centuries and a\nhalf, brooded upon the idea, not only that parted spirits walked the earth\nto meddle in the affairs of men, but that men had power to summon evil\nspirits to their aid to work woe upon their fellows. An epidemic terror\nseized upon the nations; no man thought himself secure, either in his\nperson or possessions, from the machinations of the devil and his agents.\nEvery calamity that befell him he attributed to a witch. If a storm arose\nand blew down his barn, it was witchcraft; if his cattle died of a\nmurrain--if disease fastened upon his limbs, or death entered suddenly and\nsnatched a beloved face from his hearth--they were not visitations of\nProvidence, but the works of some neighbouring hag, whose wretchedness or\ninsanity caused the ignorant to raise their finger and point at her as a\nwitch. The word was upon every body's tongue. France, Italy, Germany,\nEngland, Scotland, and the far north successively ran mad upon this\nsubject, and for a long series of years furnished their tribunals with so\nmany trials for witchcraft, that other crimes were seldom or never spoken\nof. Thousands upon thousands of unhappy persons fell victims to this cruel\nand absurd delusion. In many cities of Germany, as will be shewn more\nfully in its due place hereafter, the average number of executions for\nthis pretended crime was six hundred annually, or two every day, if we\nleave out the Sundays, when it is to be supposed that even this madness\nrefrained from its work.\n\nA misunderstanding of the famous text of the Mosaic law, \"Thou shalt not\nsuffer a witch to live,\" no doubt led many conscientious men astray, whose\nsuperstition, warm enough before, wanted but a little corroboration to\nblaze out with desolating fury. In all ages of the world men have tried to\nhold converse with superior beings, and to pierce by their means the\nsecrets of futurity. In the time of Moses, it is evident that there were\nimpostors who trafficked upon the credulity of mankind, and insulted the\nsupreme majesty of the true God by pretending to the power of divination.\nHence the law which Moses, by Divine command, promulgated against these\ncriminals; but it did not follow, as the superstitious monomaniacs of the\nmiddle ages imagined, that the Bible established the existence of the\npower of divination by its edicts against those who pretended to it. From\nthe best authorities, it appears that the Hebrew word, which has been\nrendered _venefica_ and _witch_, means a poisoner and divineress, a\ndabbler in spells, or fortune-teller. The modern witch was a very\ndifferent character, and joined to her pretended power of foretelling\nfuture events that of working evil upon the life, limbs, and possessions\nof mankind. This power was only to be acquired by an express compact,\nsigned in blood, with the devil himself, by which the wizard or witch\nrenounced baptism, and sold his or her immortal soul to the evil one,\nwithout any saving clause of redemption.\n\nThere are so many wondrous appearances in nature for which science and\nphilosophy cannot even now account, that it is not surprising that, when\nnatural laws were still less understood, men should have attributed to\nsupernatural agency every appearance which they could not otherwise\nexplain. The merest tyro now understands various phenomena which the\nwisest of old could not fathom. The schoolboy knows why, upon high\nmountains, there should on certain occasions appear three or four suns in\nthe firmament at once, and why the figure of a traveller upon one eminence\nshould be reproduced, inverted and of a gigantic stature, upon another. We\nall know the strange pranks which imagination can play in certain\ndiseases; that the hypochondriac can see visions and spectres; and that\nthere have been cases in which men were perfectly persuaded that they were\nteapots. Science has lifted up the veil, and rolled away all the fantastic\nhorrors in which our forefathers shrouded these and similar cases. The man\nwho now imagines himself a wolf is sent to the hospital instead of to the\nstake, as in the days of the witch mania; and earth, air, and sea are\nunpeopled of the grotesque spirits that were once believed to haunt them.\n\nBefore entering further into the history of Witchcraft, it may be as well\nif we consider the absurd impersonation of the evil principle formed by\nthe monks in their legends. We must make acquaintance with the _primum\nmobile_, and understand what sort of a personage it was who gave the\nwitches, in exchange for their souls, the power to torment their\nfellow-creatures. The popular notion of the devil was, that he was a\nlarge, ill-formed, hairy sprite, with horns, a long tail, cloven feet, and\ndragon's wings. In this shape he was constantly brought on the stage by\nthe monks in their early \"miracles\" and \"mysteries.\" In these\nrepresentations he was an important personage, and answered the purpose of\nthe clown in the modern pantomime. The great fun for the people was to see\nhim well belaboured by the saints with clubs or cudgels, and to hear him\nhowl with pain as he limped off, maimed by the blow of some vigorous\nanchorite. St. Dunstan generally served him the glorious trick for which\nhe is renowned, catching hold of his nose with a pair of red-hot pincers,\ntill\n\n   \"Rocks and distant dells resounded with his cries.\"\n\nSome of the saints spat in his face, to his very great annoyance; and\nothers chopped pieces off of his tail, which, however, always grew on\nagain. This was paying him in his own coin, and amused the populace\nmightily, for they all remembered the scurvy tricks he had played them and\ntheir forefathers. It was believed that he endeavoured to trip people up\nby laying his long invisible tail in their way, and giving it a sudden\nwhisk when their legs were over it;--that he used to get drunk, and swear\nlike a trooper, and be so mischievous in his cups as to raise tempests and\nearthquakes, to destroy the fruits of the earth, and the barns and\nhomesteads of true believers;--that he used to run invisible spits into\npeople by way of amusing himself in the long winter evenings, and to\nproceed to taverns and regale himself with the best, offering in payment\npieces of gold which, on the dawn of the following morning, invariably\nturned into slates. Sometimes, disguised as a large drake, he used to lurk\namong the bulrushes, and frighten the weary traveller out of his wits by\nhis awful quack. The reader will remember the lines of Burns in his\naddress to the \"De'il,\" which so well express the popular notion on this\npoint:\n\n   \"Ae dreary, windy, winter night,\n    The stars shot down wi' sklentin light,\n    Wi' you mysel, I got a fright\n            Ayont the lough;\n    Ye, like a rash-bush, stood in sight\n            Wi' waving sough.\n\n    The cudgel in my nieve did shake,\n    Each bristled hair stood like a stake,\n    When wi' an eldritch stour, 'quaick! quaick!'\n            Among the springs\n    Awa' ye squattered, like a drake,\n            On whistling wings.\"\n\nIn all the stories circulated and believed about him, he was represented\nas an ugly, petty, mischievous spirit, who rejoiced in playing off all\nmanner of fantastic tricks upon poor humanity. Milton seems to have been\nthe first who succeeded in giving any but a ludicrous description of him.\nThe sublime pride, which is the quintessence of evil, was unconceived\nbefore his time. All other limners made him merely grotesque, but Milton\nmade him awful. In this the monks shewed themselves but miserable\nromancers; for their object undoubtedly was to represent the fiend as\nterrible as possible. But there was nothing grand about their Satan; on\nthe contrary, he was a low, mean devil, whom it was easy to circumvent,\nand fine fun to play tricks with. But, as is well and eloquently remarked\nby a modern writer,[23] the subject has also its serious side. An Indian\ndeity, with its wild distorted shape and grotesque attitude, appears\nmerely ridiculous when separated from its accessories and viewed by\ndaylight in a museum; but restore it to the darkness of its own hideous\ntemple, bring back to our recollection the victims that have bled upon its\naltar or been crushed beneath its car, and our sense of the ridiculous\nsubsides into aversion and horror. So, while the superstitious dreams of\nformer times are regarded as mere speculative insanities, we may be for a\nmoment amused with the wild incoherencies of the patients; but when we\nreflect that out of these hideous misconceptions of the principle of evil\narose the belief in witchcraft--that this was no dead faith, but one\noperating on the whole being of society, urging on the wisest and the\nmildest to deeds of murder, or cruelties scarcely less than murder--that\nthe learned and the beautiful, young and old, male and female, were\ndevoted by its influence to the stake and the scaffold--every feeling\ndisappears, except that of astonishment that such things could be, and\nhumiliation at the thought that the delusion was as lasting as it was\nuniversal.\n\n    [23] See article on \"Demonology\" in the sixth volume of the\n         _Foreign Quarterly Review_.\n\nBesides this chief personage, there was an infinite number of inferior\ndemons, who played conspicuous parts in the creed of witchcraft. The pages\nof Bekker, Leloyer, Bodin, Delrio, and De Lancre, abound with descriptions\nof the qualities of these imps, and the functions which were assigned\nthem. From these authors,--three of whom were commissioners for the trial\nof witches, and who wrote from the confessions made by the supposed\ncriminals and the evidence delivered against them,--and from the more\nrecent work of M. Jules Garinet, the following summary of the creed has\nbeen, with great pains, extracted. The student who is desirous of knowing\nmore is referred to the works in question; he will find enough in every\nleaf to make his blood curdle with shame and horror: but the purity of\nthese pages shall not be soiled by any thing so ineffably humiliating and\ndisgusting as a complete exposition of them; what is here culled will be a\nsufficient sample of the popular belief, and the reader would but lose\ntime who should seek in the writings of the demonologists for more ample\ndetails. He will gain nothing by lifting the veil which covers their\nunutterable obscenities, unless, like Sterne, he wishes to gather fresh\nevidence of \"what a beast man is.\" In that case, he will find plenty there\nto convince him that the beast would be libelled by the comparison.\n\nIt was thought that the earth swarmed with millions of demons of both\nsexes, many of whom, like the human race, traced their lineage up to Adam,\nwho after the fall was led astray by devils, assuming the forms of\nbeautiful women to deceive him. These demons \"increased and multiplied\"\namong themselves with the most extraordinary rapidity. Their bodies were\nof the thin air, and they could pass through the hardest substances with\nthe greatest ease. They had no fixed residence or abiding place, but were\ntossed to and fro in the immensity of space. When thrown together in great\nmultitudes, they excited whirlwinds in the air and tempests in the waters,\nand took delight in destroying the beauty of nature and the monuments of\nthe industry of man. Although they increased among themselves like\nordinary creatures, their numbers were daily augmented by the souls of\nwicked men, of children still-born, of women who died in childbed, and of\npersons killed in duels. The whole air was supposed to be full of them,\nand many unfortunate men and women drew them by thousands into their\nmouths and nostrils at every inspiration; and the demons, lodging in their\nbowels or other parts of their bodies, tormented them with pains and\ndiseases of every kind, and sent them frightful dreams. St. Gregory of\nNice relates a story of a nun who forgot to say her _benedicite_ and make\nthe sign of the cross before she sat down to supper, and who in\nconsequence swallowed a demon concealed among the leaves of a lettuce.\nMost persons said the number of these demons was so great that they could\nnot be counted, but Wierus asserted that they amounted to no more than\nseven millions four hundred and five thousand nine hundred and twenty-six;\nand that they were divided into seventy-two companies or battalions, to\neach of which there was a prince or captain. They could assume any shape\nthey pleased. When they were male, they were called incubi; and when\nfemale, succubi. They sometimes made themselves hideous; and at other\ntimes they assumed shapes of such transcendent loveliness, that mortal\neyes never saw beauty to compete with theirs.\n\nAlthough the devil and his legions could appear to mankind at any time, it\nwas generally understood that he preferred the night between Friday and\nSaturday. If Satan himself appeared in human shape, he was never perfectly\nand in all respects like a man. He was either too black or too white, too\nlarge or too small, or some of his limbs were out of proportion to the\nrest of his body. Most commonly his feet were deformed, and he was obliged\nto curl up and conceal his tail in some part of his habiliments; for, take\nwhat shape he would, he could not get rid of that encumbrance. He\nsometimes changed himself into a tree or a river; and upon one occasion he\ntransformed himself into a barrister, as we learn from Wierus, book iv.\nchapter 9. In the reign of Philippe le Bel, he appeared to a monk in the\nshape of a dark man riding a tall black horse, then as a friar, afterwards\nas an ass and finally as a coach-wheel. Instances are not rare in which\nboth he and his inferior demons have taken the form of handsome young men,\nand, successfully concealing their tails, have married beautiful young\nwomen, who have had children by them. Such children were easily\nrecognisable by their continual shrieking, by their requiring five nurses\nto suckle them, and by their never growing fat.\n\nAll these demons were at the command of any individual who would give up\nhis immortal soul to the prince of evil for the privilege of enjoying\ntheir services for a stated period. The wizard or witch could send them to\nexecute the most difficult missions: whatever the witch commanded was\nperformed, except it was a good action, in which case the order was\ndisobeyed, and evil worked upon herself instead.\n\nAt intervals, according to the pleasure of Satan, there was a general\nmeeting of the demons and all the witches. This meeting was called the\nSabbath, from its taking place on the Saturday, or immediately after\nmidnight on Fridays. These sabbaths were sometimes held for one district,\nsometimes for another, and once at least every year it was held on the\nBrocken, or among other high mountains, as a general sabbath of the fiends\nfor the whole of Christendom.\n\nThe devil generally chose a place where four roads met as the scene of\nthis assembly, or if that was not convenient, the neighbourhood of a lake.\nUpon this spot nothing would ever afterwards grow, as the hot feet of the\ndemons and witches burnt the principle of fecundity from the earth, and\nrendered it barren for ever. When orders had been once issued for the\nmeeting of the sabbath, all the wizards and witches who failed to attend\nit were lashed by demons with a rod made of serpents or scorpions, as a\npunishment for their inattention or want of punctuality.\n\nIn France and England the witches were supposed to ride uniformly upon\nbroomsticks; but in Italy and Spain, the devil himself, in the shape of a\ngoat, used to transport them on his back, which lengthened or shortened\naccording to the number of witches he was desirous of accommodating. No\nwitch, when proceeding to the sabbath, could get out by a door or window,\nwere she to try ever so much. Their general mode of ingress was by the\nkeyhole, and of egress by the chimney, up which they flew, broom and all,\nwith the greatest ease. To prevent the absence of the witches from being\nnoticed by their neighbours, some inferior demon was commanded to assume\ntheir shapes and lie in their beds, feigning illness, until the sabbath\nwas over.\n\nWhen all the wizards and witches had arrived at the place of rendezvous,\nthe infernal ceremonies of the sabbath began. Satan, having assumed his\nfavourite shape of a large he-goat, with a face in front and another in\nhis haunches, took his seat upon a throne; and all present, in succession,\npaid their respects to him, and kissed him in his face behind. This done,\nhe appointed a master of the ceremonies, in company with whom he made a\npersonal examination of all the wizards and witches, to see whether they\nhad the secret mark about them by which they were stamped as the devil's\nown. This mark was always insensible to pain. Those who had not yet been\nmarked, received the mark from the master of the ceremonies, the devil at\nthe same time bestowing nicknames upon them. This done, they all began to\nsing and dance in the most furious manner, until some one arrived who was\nanxious to be admitted into their society. They were then silent for a\nwhile, until the new-comer had denied his salvation, kissed the devil,\nspat upon the Bible, and sworn obedience to him in all things. They then\nbegan dancing again with all their might, and singing these words,\n\n   \"Alegremos, Alegremos!\n    Que gente va tenemos!\"\n\nIn the course of an hour or two they generally became wearied of this\nviolent exercise, and then they all sat down and recounted the evil deeds\nthey had done since their last meeting. Those who had not been malicious\nand mischievous enough towards their fellow-creatures, received personal\nchastisement from Satan himself, who flogged them with thorns or scorpions\ntill they were covered with blood, and unable to sit or stand.\n\nWhen this ceremony was concluded, they were all amused by a dance of\ntoads. Thousands of these creatures sprang out of the earth, and standing\non their hind legs, danced, while the devil played the bagpipes or the\ntrumpet. These toads were all endowed with the faculty of speech, and\nentreated the witches to reward them with the flesh of unbaptised babes\nfor their exertions to give them pleasure. The witches promised\ncompliance. The devil bade them remember to keep their word; and then\nstamping his foot, caused all the toads to sink into the earth in an\ninstant. The place being thus cleared, preparation was made for the\nbanquet, where all manner of disgusting things were served up and greedily\ndevoured by the demons and witches; although the latter were sometimes\nregaled with choice meats and expensive wines from golden plates and\ncrystal goblets; but they were never thus favoured unless they had done an\nextraordinary number of evil deeds since the last period of meeting.\n\nAfter the feast, they began dancing again; but such as had no relish for\nany more exercise in that way, amused themselves by mocking the holy\nsacrament of baptism. For this purpose, the toads were again called up,\nand sprinkled with filthy water; the devil making the sign of the cross,\nand all the witches calling out, \"_In nomine Patric\u00e2, Aragueaco Petrica,\nagora! agora! Valentia, jouando goure gaits goustia!_\" which meant, \"In\nthe name of Patrick, Petrick of Aragon, now, now, all our ills are over!\"\n\nWhen the devil wished to be particularly amused, he made the witches strip\noff their clothes and dance before him, each with a cat tied round her\nneck, and another dangling from her body in form of a tail. When the cock\ncrew, they all disappeared, and the sabbath was ended.\n\nThis is a summary of the belief which prevailed for many centuries nearly\nall over Europe, and which is far from eradicated even at this day. It was\nvaried in some respects in several countries, but the main points were the\nsame in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, and the far North of\nEurope.\n\nThe early annals of France abound with stories of supposed sorcery, but it\nwas not until the time of Charlemagne that the crime acquired any great\nimportance. \"This monarch,\" says M. Jules Garinet,[24] \"had several times\ngiven orders that all necromancers, astrologers, and witches should be\ndriven from his states; but as the number of criminals augmented daily, he\nfound it necessary at last to resort to severer measures. In consequence,\nhe published several edicts, which may be found at length in the\n_Capitulaire de Baluse_. By these, every sort of magic, enchantment, and\nwitchcraft was forbidden; and the punishment of death decreed against\nthose who in any way evoked the devil, compounded love-philters, afflicted\neither man or woman with barrenness, troubled the atmosphere, excited\ntempests, destroyed the fruits of the earth, dried up the milk of cows, or\ntormented their fellow-creatures with sores and diseases. All persons\nfound guilty of exercising these execrable arts were to be executed\nimmediately upon conviction, that the earth might be rid of the burden and\ncurse of their presence; and those even who consulted them might also be\npunished with death.\"[25]\n\n    [24] _Histoire de la Magie en France_. Rois de la seconde race,\n         p. 29.\n\n    [25] M. Michaud, in his _History of the Crusades_, M. Guinguen\u00e9,\n         in his _Literary History of Italy_, and some other critics,\n         have objected to Tasso's poem, that he has attributed to the\n         Crusaders a belief in magic, which did not exist at that\n         time. If these critics had referred to the edicts of\n         Charlemagne, they would have seen that Tasso was right, and\n         that a disposition too eager to spy out imperfections in a\n         great work was leading themselves into error.\n\nAfter this time, prosecutions for witchcraft are continually mentioned,\nespecially by the French historians. It was a crime imputed\nwith so much ease, and repelled with so much difficulty, that the\npowerful, whenever they wanted to ruin the weak, and could fix no\nother imputation upon them, had only to accuse them of witchcraft\nto ensure their destruction. Instances in which this crime was made\nthe pretext for the most violent persecution, both of individuals and\nof communities, whose real offences were purely political or religious,\nmust be familiar to every reader. The extermination of the Stedinger\nin 1234, of the Templars from 1307 to 1313, the execution of Joan\nof Arc in 1429, and the unhappy scenes of Arras in 1459, are the\nmost prominent. The first of these is perhaps the least known, but\nis not among the least remarkable. The following account, from Dr.\nKort\u00fcm's interesting history[26] of the republican confederacies of the\nmiddle ages, will shew the horrible convenience of imputations of\nwitchcraft when royal or priestly wolves wanted a pretext for a quarrel\nwith the sheep.\n\n    [26] _Entstehungsgeschichte der freist\u00e4dlischen B\u00fcnde im\n         Mittelalter_, von Dr. F. Kort\u00fcm. 1827.\n\nThe Frieslanders, inhabiting the district from the Weser to the Zuydersee,\nhad long been celebrated for their attachment to freedom, and their\nsuccessful struggles in its defence. As early as the eleventh century they\nhad formed a general confederacy against the encroachments of the Normans\nand the Saxons, which was divided into seven _seelands_, holding annually\na diet under a large oak-tree at Aurich, near the Upstalboom. Here they\nmanaged their own affairs, without the control of the clergy and ambitious\nnobles who surrounded them, to the great scandal of the latter. They\nalready had true notions of a representative government. The deputies of\nthe people levied the necessary taxes, deliberated on the affairs of the\ncommunity, and performed, in their simple and patriarchal manner, nearly\nall the functions of the representative assemblies of the present day.\nFinally, the Archbishop of Bremen, together with the Count of Oldenburg\nand other neighbouring potentates, formed a league against that section of\nthe Frieslanders known by the name of the Stedinger, and succeeded, after\nharassing them and sowing dissensions among them for many years, in\nbringing them under the yoke. But the Stedinger, devotedly attached to\ntheir ancient laws, by which they had attained a degree of civil and\nreligious liberty very uncommon in that age, did not submit without a\nviolent struggle. They arose in insurrection in the year 1204, in defence\nof the ancient customs of their country, refused to pay taxes to the\nfeudal chiefs or tithes to the clergy--who had forced themselves into\ntheir peaceful retreats--and drove out many of their oppressors. For a\nperiod of eight-and-twenty years the brave Stedinger continued the\nstruggle single-handed against the forces of the Archbishops of Bremen and\nthe Counts of Oldenburg, and destroyed, in the year 1232, the strong\ncastle of Slutterberg, near Delmenhorst, built by the latter nobleman as a\nposition from which he could send out his marauders to plunder and destroy\nthe possessions of the peasantry.\n\nThe invincible courage of these poor people proving too strong for their\noppressors to cope with by the ordinary means of warfare, the Archbishop\nof Bremen applied to Pope Gregory IX. for his spiritual aid against them.\nThat prelate entered cordially into the cause, and launching forth his\nanathema against the Stedinger as heretics and witches, encouraged all\ntrue believers to assist in their extermination. A large body of thieves\nand fanatics broke into their country in the year 1233, killing and\nburning wherever they went, and not sparing either women or children, the\nsick or the aged, in their rage. The Stedinger, however, rallied in great\nforce, routed their invaders, and killed in battle their leader, Count\nBurckhardt of Oldenburg, with many inferior chieftains.\n\nAgain the pope was applied to, and a crusade against the Stedinger was\npreached in all that part of Germany. The pope wrote to all the bishops\nand leaders of the faithful an exhortation to arm, to root out from the\nland those abominable witches and wizards. \"The Stedinger,\" said his\nholiness, \"seduced by the devil, have abjured all the laws of God and man,\nslandered the Church, insulted the holy sacraments, consulted witches to\nraise evil spirits, shed blood like water, taken the lives of priests, and\nconcocted an infernal scheme to propagate the worship of the devil, whom\nthey adore under the name of Asmodi. The devil appears to them in\ndifferent shapes,--sometimes as a goose or a duck, and at others in the\nfigure of a pale black-eyed youth, with a melancholy aspect, whose embrace\nfills their hearts with eternal hatred against the holy Church of Christ.\nThis devil presides at their sabbaths, when they all kiss him and dance\naround him. He then envelopes them in total darkness, and they all, male\nand female, give themselves up to the grossest and most disgusting\ndebauchery.\"\n\nIn consequence of these letters of the pope, the emperor of Germany,\nFrederic II., also pronounced his ban against them. The Bishops of\nRatzebourg, Lubeck, Osnabr\u00fcck, Munster, and Minden took up arms to\nexterminate them, aided by the Duke of Brabant, the Counts of Holland, of\nCl\u00eaves, of the Mark, of Oldenburg, of Egmond, of Diest, and many other\npowerful nobles. An army of forty thousand men was soon collected, which\nmarched, under the command of the Duke of Brabant, into the country of the\nStedinger. The latter mustered vigorously in defence of their lives and\nliberties, but could raise no greater force, including every man capable\nof bearing arms, than eleven thousand men to cope against the overwhelming\nnumbers of their foe. They fought with the energy of despair, but all in\nvain. Eight thousand of them were slain on the field of battle; the whole\nrace was exterminated; and the enraged conquerors scoured the country in\nall directions, slew the women and children and old men, drove away the\ncattle, fired the woods and cottages, and made a total waste of the land.\n\n[Illustration: PHILIP IV.]\n\nJust as absurd and effectual was the charge brought against the Templars\nin 1307, when they had rendered themselves obnoxious to the potentates and\nprelacy of Christendom. Their wealth, their power, their pride, and their\ninsolence had raised up enemies on every side; and every sort of\naccusation was made against them, but failed to work their overthrow,\nuntil the terrible cry of witchcraft was let loose upon them. This\neffected its object, and the Templars were extirpated. They were accused\nof having sold their souls to the devil, and of celebrating all the\ninfernal mysteries of the witches' sabbath. It was pretended that, when\nthey admitted a novice into their order, they forced him to renounce his\nsalvation and curse Jesus Christ; that they then made him submit to many\nunholy and disgusting ceremonies, and forced him to kiss the superior on\nthe cheek, the navel, and the breech, and spit three times upon a\ncrucifix; that all the members were forbidden to have connexion with\nwomen, but might give themselves up without restraint to every species of\nunmentionable debauchery; that when by any mischance a Templar infringed\nthis order, and a child was born, the whole order met, and tossed it about\nlike a shuttlecock from one to the other until it expired; that they then\nroasted it by a slow fire, and with the fat which trickled from it\nanointed the hair and beard of a large image of the devil. It was also\nsaid that when one of the knights died, his body was burnt into a powder,\nand then mixed with wine and drunk by every member of the order. Philip\nIV., who, to exercise his own implacable hatred, invented, in all\nprobability, the greater part of these charges, issued orders for the\nimmediate arrest of all the Templars in his dominions. The pope afterwards\ntook up the cause with almost as much fervour as the king of France; and\nin every part of Europe the Templars were thrown into prison, and their\ngoods and estates confiscated. Hundreds of them, when put to the rack,\nconfessed even the most preposterous of the charges against them, and by\nso doing increased the popular clamour and the hopes of their enemies. It\nis true that, when removed from the rack, they denied all they had\npreviously confessed; but this circumstance only increased the outcry, and\nwas numbered as an additional crime against them. They were considered in\na worse light than before, and condemned forthwith to the flames as\nrelapsed heretics. Fifty-nine of these unfortunate victims were all burned\ntogether by a slow fire in a field in the suburbs of Paris, protesting to\nthe very last moment of their lives their innocence of the crimes imputed\nto them, and refusing to accept of pardon upon condition of acknowledging\nthemselves guilty. Similar scenes were enacted in the provinces; and for\nfour years hardly a month passed without witnessing the execution of one\nor more of these unhappy men. Finally, in 1313, the last scene of this\ntragedy closed by the burning of the Grand-Master, Jacques de Molay, and\nhis companion Guy, the commander of Normandy. Any thing more atrocious it\nis impossible to conceive,--disgraceful alike to the monarch who\noriginated, the pope who supported, and the age which tolerated the\nmonstrous iniquity. That the malice of a few could invent such a charge is\na humiliating thought for the lover of his species; but that millions of\nmankind should credit it is still more so.\n\nThe execution of Joan of Arc is the next most notorious example which\nhistory affords us of the imputation of witchcraft against a political\nenemy. Instances of similar persecution, in which this crime was made the\npretext for the gratification of political or religious hatred, might be\nmultiplied to a great extent. But it is better to proceed at once to the\nconsideration of the bull of Pope Innocent, the torch that set fire to the\nlong-laid train, and caused so fearful an explosion over the Christian\nworld. It will be necessary, however, to go back for some years anterior\nto that event, the better to understand the motives that influenced the\nChurch in the promulgation of that fearful document.\n\nTowards the close of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth\ncentury, many witches were burned in different parts of Europe. As a\nnatural consequence of the severe persecution, the crime, or the\npretenders to it, increased. Those who found themselves accused and\nthreatened with the penalties, if they happened to be persons of a bad and\nmalicious disposition, wished they had the power imputed to them, that\nthey might be revenged upon their persecutors. Numerous instances are upon\nrecord of half-crazed persons being found muttering the spells which were\nsupposed to raise the evil one. When religion and law alike recognised the\ncrime, it is no wonder that the weak in reason and the strong in\nimagination, especially when they were of a nervous temperament, fancied\nthemselves endued with the terrible powers of which all the world was\nspeaking. The belief of their neighbours did not lag behind their own, and\nexecution was the speedy consequence.\n\n[Illustration: JOAN OF ARC.]\n\nAs the fear of witchcraft increased, the Catholic clergy strove to fix the\nimputation of it upon those religious sects, the pioneers of the\nReformation, who began about this time to be formidable to the Church of\nRome. If a charge of heresy could not ensure their destruction, that of\nsorcery and witchcraft never failed. In the year 1459, a devoted\ncongregation of the Waldenses at Arras, who used to repair at night to\nworship God in their own manner in solitary places, fell victims to an\naccusation of sorcery. It was rumoured in Arras that in the desert places\nto which they retired the devil appeared before them in human form, and\nread from a large book his laws and ordinances, to which they all promised\nobedience; that he then distributed money and food among them, to bind\nthem to his service, which done, they gave themselves up to every species\nof lewdness and debauchery. Upon these rumours several creditable persons\nin Arras were seized and imprisoned, together with a number of decrepit\nand idiotic old women. The rack, that convenient instrument for making the\naccused confess any thing, was of course put in requisition. Monstrelet,\nin his chronicle, says that they were tortured until some of them admitted\nthe truth of the whole accusations, and said, besides, that they had seen\nand recognised in their nocturnal assemblies many persons of rank; many\nprelates, seigneurs, governors of bailliages, and mayors of cities, being\nsuch names as the examiners had themselves suggested to the victims.\nSeveral who had been thus informed against were thrown into prison, and so\nhorribly tortured, that reason fled, and in their ravings of pain they\nalso confessed their midnight meetings with the devil, and the oaths they\nhad taken to serve him. Upon these confessions judgment was pronounced.\nThe poor old women, as usual in such cases, were hanged and burned in the\nmarket-place; the more wealthy delinquents were allowed to escape upon\npayment of large sums. It was soon after universally recognised that these\ntrials had been conducted in the most odious manner, and that the judges\nhad motives of private vengeance against many of the more influential\npersons who had been implicated. The parliament of Paris afterwards\ndeclared the sentence illegal, and the judges iniquitous; but its _arr\u00eat_\nwas too late to be of service even to those who had paid the fine, or to\npunish the authorities who had misconducted themselves, for it was not\ndelivered until thirty-two years after the executions had taken place.\n\nIn the mean time, accusations of witchcraft spread rapidly in France,\nItaly, and Germany. Strange to say, that although in the first instance\nchiefly directed against heretics, the latter were as firm believers in\nthe crime as even the Catholics themselves. In after times we also find\nthat the Lutherans and Calvinists became greater witch-burners than ever\nthe Romanists had been, so deeply was the prejudice rooted. Every other\npoint of belief was in dispute, but that was considered by every sect to\nbe as well established as the authenticity of the Scriptures or the\nexistence of a God.\n\nBut at this early period of the epidemic the persecutions were directed by\nthe heads of the Catholic Church. The spread of heresy betokened, it was\nthought, the coming of Antichrist. Florimond, in his work concerning\nAntichrist, exposed the secret of these prosecutions. He says: \"All who\nhave afforded us some signs of the approach of Antichrist agree that the\nincrease of sorcery and witchcraft is to distinguish the melancholy period\nof his advent; and was ever age so afflicted as ours? The seats destined\nfor criminals in our courts of justice are blackened with persons accused\nof this guilt. There are not judges enough to try them. Our dungeons are\ngorged with them. No day passes that we do not render our tribunals bloody\nby the dooms which we pronounce, or in which we do not return to our homes\ndiscountenanced and terrified at the horrible confessions which we have\nheard. And the devil is accounted so good a master, that we cannot commit\nso great a number of his slaves to the flames but what there shall arise\nfrom their ashes a sufficient number to supply their place.\"\n\nFlorimond here spoke the general opinion of the Church of Rome; but it\nnever suggested itself to the mind of any person engaged in these trials,\nthat if it were indeed a devil who raised up so many new witches to fill\nthe places of those consumed, it was no other than one in their own\nemploy--the devil of persecution. But so it was. The more they burned, the\nmore they found to burn, until it became a common prayer with women in the\nhumbler walks of life, that they might never live to grow old. It was\nsufficient to be aged, poor, and half-crazed, to ensure death at the stake\nor the scaffold.\n\n[Illustration: GATE OF CONSTANCE.]\n\nIn the year 1487 there was a severe storm in Switzerland, which laid waste\nthe country for four miles around Constance. Two wretched old women, whom\nthe popular voice had long accused of witchcraft, were arrested on the\npreposterous charge of having raised the tempest. The rack was displayed,\nand the two poor creatures were extended upon it. In reply to various\nquestions from their tormentors, they owned in their agony that they were\nin the constant habit of meeting the devil; that they had sold their souls\nto him; and that at their command he had raised the tempest. Upon this\ninsane and blasphemous charge they were condemned to die. In the criminal\nregisters of Constance there stands against the name of each the simple\nbut significant phrase, \"_convicta et combusta_.\"\n\nThis case and hundreds of others were duly reported to the ecclesiastical\npowers. There happened at that time to be a pontiff at the head of the\nChurch who had given much of his attention to the subject of witchcraft,\nand who, with the intention of rooting out the supposed crime, did more to\nincrease it than any other man that ever lived. John Baptist Cibo, elected\nto the papacy in 1485, under the designation of Innocent VIII., was\nsincerely alarmed at the number of witches, and launched forth his\nterrible manifesto against them. In his celebrated bull of 1488, he called\nthe nations of Europe to the rescue of the Church of Christ upon earth,\nimperilled by the arts of Satan, and set forth the horrors that had\nreached his ears; how that numbers of both sexes had intercourse with the\ninfernal fiends; how by their sorceries they afflicted both man and beast;\nhow they blighted the marriage-bed, destroyed the births of women and the\nincrease of cattle; and how they blasted the corn on the ground, the\ngrapes of the vineyard, the fruits of the trees, and the herbs of the\nfield. In order that criminals so atrocious might no longer pollute the\nearth, he appointed inquisitors in every country, armed with the apostolic\npower to convict and punish.\n\nIt was now that the _Witch Mania_, properly so called, may be said to have\nfairly commenced. Immediately a class of men sprang up in Europe, who made\nit the sole business of their lives to discover and burn the witches.\nSprenger, in Germany, was the most celebrated of these national scourges.\nIn his notorious work, the _Malleus Maleficarum_, he laid down a regular\nform of trial, and appointed a course of examination by which the\ninquisitors in other countries might best discover the guilty. The\nquestions, which were always enforced by torture, were of the most absurd\nand disgusting nature. The inquisitors were required to ask the suspected\nwhether they had midnight meetings with the devil? whether they attended\nthe witches' sabbath on the Brocken? whether they had their familiar\nspirits? whether they could raise whirlwinds and call down the lightning?\nand whether they had had sexual intercourse with Satan?\n\nStraightway the inquisitors set to work: Cumanus, in Italy, burned\nforty-one poor women in one province alone; and Sprenger, in Germany,\nburned a number which can never be ascertained correctly, but which, it is\nagreed on all hands, amounted to more than five hundred in a year. The\ngreat resemblance between the confessions of the unhappy victims was\nregarded as a new proof of the existence of the crime. But this is not\nastonishing. The same questions from the _Malleus Maleficarum_ were put to\nthem all, and torture never failed to educe the answer required by the\ninquisitor. Numbers of people, whose imaginations were filled with these\nhorrors, went further in the way of confession than even their tormentors\nanticipated, in the hope that they would thereby be saved from the rack,\nand put out of their misery at once. Some confessed that they had had\nchildren by the devil; but no one who had ever been a mother gave\nutterance to such a frantic imagining, even in the extremity of her\nanguish. The childless only confessed it, and were burned instanter as\nunworthy to live.\n\nFor fear the zeal of the enemies of Satan should cool, successive popes\nappointed new commissions. One was appointed by Alexander VI. in 1494,\nanother by Leo X. in 1521, and a third by Adrian VI. in 1522. They were\nall armed with the same powers to hunt out and destroy, and executed their\nfearful functions but too rigidly. In Geneva alone five hundred persons\nwere burned in the years 1515 and 1516, under the title of Protestant\nwitches. It would appear that their chief crime was heresy, and their\nwitchcraft merely an aggravation. Bartolomeo de Spina has a list still\nmore fearful. He informs us that in the year 1524 no less than a thousand\npersons suffered death for witchcraft in the district of Como, and that\nfor several years afterwards the average number of victims exceeded a\nhundred annually. One inquisitor, Remigius, took great credit to himself\nfor having, during fifteen years, convicted and burned nine hundred.\n\nIn France, about the year 1520, fires for the execution of witches blazed\nin almost every town. Dan\u00e6us, in his _Dialogues of Witches_, says they\nwere so numerous that it would be next to impossible to tell the number of\nthem. So deep was the thraldom of the human mind, that the friends and\nrelatives of the accused parties looked on and approved. The wife or\nsister of a murderer might sympathise in his fate, but the wives and\nhusbands of sorcerers and witches had no pity. The truth is that pity was\ndangerous, for it was thought no one could have compassion on the\nsufferings of a witch who was not a dabbler in sorcery: to have wept for a\nwitch would have insured the stake. In some districts, however, the\nexasperation of the people broke out, in spite of superstition. The\ninquisitor of a rural township in Piedmont burned the victims so\nplentifully and so fast, that there was not a family in the place which\ndid not lose a member. The people at last arose, and the inquisitor was\nbut too happy to escape from the country with whole limbs. The archbishop\nof the diocese proceeded afterwards to the trial of such as the inquisitor\nhad left in prison.\n\nSome of the charges were so utterly preposterous that the poor wretches\nwere at once liberated; others met a harder, but the usual fate. Some of\nthem were accused of having joined the witches' dance at midnight under a\nblasted oak, where they had been seen by creditable people. The husbands\nof several of these women (two of whom were young and beautiful) swore\npositively that at the time stated their wives were comfortably asleep in\ntheir arms; but it was all in vain. Their word was taken, but the\narchbishop told them they had been deceived by the devil and their own\nsenses. It was true they might have had the semblance of their wives in\ntheir beds, but the originals were far away at the devil's dance under the\noak. The honest fellows were confounded, and their wives burned forthwith.\n\n[Illustration: CHARLES IX.]\n\nIn the year 1561, five poor women of Verneuil were accused of transforming\nthemselves into cats, and in that shape attending the sabbath of the\nfiends--prowling around Satan, who presided over them in the form of a\ngoat, and dancing, to amuse him, upon his back. They were found guilty,\nand burned.[27]\n\n    [27] Bodin, p. 95 Garinet, p. 125; _Anti-demon de Serclier_,\n         p. 346.\n\nIn 1564, three wizards and a witch appeared before the Presidents Salvert\nand D'Avanton: they confessed, when extended on the rack, that they\nanointed the sheep-pens with infernal unguents to kill the sheep; that\nthey attended the sabbath, where they saw a great black goat, which spoke\nto them, and made them kiss him, each holding a lighted candle in his hand\nwhile he performed the ceremony. They were all executed at Poitiers.\n\nIn 1571 the celebrated sorcerer Trois Echelles was burned in the Place de\nGr\u00e8ve in Paris. He confessed, in the presence of Charles IX., and of the\nMarshals de Montmorency, De Retz, and the Sieur du Mazille, physician to\nthe king, that he could perform the most wonderful things by the aid of a\ndevil to whom he had sold himself. He described at great length the\nsaturnalia of the fiends, the sacrifices which they offered up, the\ndebaucheries they committed with the young and handsome witches, and the\nvarious modes of preparing the infernal unguent for blighting cattle. He\nsaid he had upwards of twelve hundred accomplices in the crime of\nwitchcraft in various parts of France, whom he named to the king, and many\nof whom were afterwards arrested and suffered execution.\n\nAt D\u00f4le, two years afterwards, Gilles Garnier, a native of Lyons, was\nindicted for being a _loup-garou_, or man-wolf, and for prowling in that\nshape about the country at night to devour little children. The indictment\nagainst him, as read by Henri Camus, doctor of laws and counsellor of the\nking, was to the effect that he, Gilles Garnier, had seized upon a little\ngirl, twelve years of age, whom he drew into a vineyard and there killed,\npartly with his teeth and partly with his hands, seeming like wolf's paws;\nthat from thence he trailed her bleeding body along the ground with his\nteeth into the wood of La Serre, where he ate the greatest portion of her\nat one meal, and carried the remainder home to his wife; that upon another\noccasion, eight days before the festival of All Saints, he was seen to\nseize another child in his teeth, and would have devoured her had she not\nbeen rescued by the country people, and that the said child died a few\ndays afterwards of the injuries he had inflicted; that fifteen days after\nthe same festival of All Saints, being again in the shape of a wolf, he\ndevoured a boy thirteen years of age, having previously torn off his leg\nand thigh with his teeth, and hid them away for his breakfast on the\nmorrow. He was furthermore indicted for giving way to the same diabolical\nand unnatural propensities even in his shape of a man; and that he had\nstrangled a boy in a wood with the intention of eating him, which crime he\nwould have effected if he had not been seen by the neighbours and\nprevented.\n\nGilles Garnier was put to the rack after fifty witnesses had deposed\nagainst him. He confessed every thing that was laid to his charge. He was\nthereupon brought back into the presence of his judges, when Dr. Camus, in\nthe name of the parliament of D\u00f4le, pronounced the following sentence:\n\n\"Seeing that Gilles Garnier has, by the testimony of credible witnesses,\nand by his own spontaneous confession, been proved guilty of the\nabominable crimes of lycanthropy and witchcraft, this court condemns him,\nthe said Gilles, to be this day taken in a cart from this spot to the\nplace of execution, accompanied by the executioner (_ma\u00eetre ex\u00e9cuteur de\nla haute justice_), where he, by the said executioner, shall be tied to a\nstake and burned alive, and that his ashes be then scattered to the winds.\nThe court further condemns him, the said Gilles, to the costs of this\nprosecution.\"\n\n\"Given at D\u00f4le, this 18th day of January, 1573.\"\n\nIn 1578, the parliament of Paris was occupied for several days with the\ntrial of a man named Jacques Rollet. He also was found guilty of being a\n_loup-garou_, and in that shape devouring a little boy. He was burnt alive\nin the Place de Gr\u00e8ve.\n\nIn 1579, so much alarm was excited in the neighbourhood of Melun by the\nincrease of witches and _loup-garous_, that a council was held to devise\nsome measures to stay the evil. A decree was passed that all witches and\nconsulters with witches should be punished with death; and not only those,\nbut fortune-tellers and conjurors of every kind. The parliament of Rouen\ntook up the same question in the following year, and decreed that the\npossession of a _grimoire_, or book of spells, was sufficient evidence of\nwitchcraft, and that all persons on whom such books were found should be\nburned alive. Three councils were held in different parts of France in the\nyear 1583, all in relation to the same subject. The parliament of\nBourdeaux issued strict injunctions to all curates and clergy whatever to\nuse redoubled efforts to root out the crime of witchcraft. The parliament\nof Tours was equally peremptory, and feared the judgments of an offended\nGod if all these dealers with the devil were not swept from the face of\nthe land. The parliament of Rheims was particularly severe against the\n_noueurs d'aiguillette_, or \"tyers of the knot\"--people of both sexes who\ntook pleasure in preventing the consummation of marriage, that they might\ncounteract the command of God to our first parents to increase and\nmultiply. This parliament held it to be sinful to wear amulets to preserve\nfrom witchcraft; and that this practice might not be continued within its\njurisdiction, drew up a form of exorcism, which would more effectually\ndefeat the agents of the devil, and put them to flight.\n\nA case of witchcraft, which created a great sensation in its day, occurred\nin 1588, at a village in the mountains of Auvergne, about two leagues from\nApchon. A gentleman of that place being at his window, there passed a\nfriend of his who had been out hunting, and who was then returning to his\nown house. The gentleman asked his friend what sport he had had; upon\nwhich the latter informed him that he had been attacked in the plain by a\nlarge and savage wolf, which he had shot at without wounding, and that he\nhad then drawn out his hunting-knife and cut off the animal's fore-paw as\nit sprang upon his neck to devour him. The huntsman upon this put his hand\ninto his bag to pull out the paw, but was shocked to find that it was a\nwoman's hand, with a wedding-ring on the finger. The gentleman immediately\nrecognised his wife's ring, \"which,\" says the indictment against her,\n\"made him begin to suspect some evil of her.\" He immediately went in\nsearch of her, and found her sitting by the fire in the kitchen, with her\narm hidden underneath her apron. He tore off her apron with great\nvehemence, and found that she had no hand, and that the stump was even\nthen bleeding. She was given into custody, and burnt at Riom in presence\nof some thousands of spectators.[28]\n\n    [28] Tablier. See also Boguet, _Discours sur les Sorciers_; and M.\n         Jules Garinet, _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 150.\n\nIn the midst of these executions, rare were the gleams of mercy. Few\ninstances are upon record of any acquittal taking place when the crime was\nwitchcraft. The discharge of fourteen persons by the parliament of Paris,\nin the year 1589, is almost a solitary example of a return to reason.\nFourteen persons condemned to death for witchcraft appealed against the\njudgment to the parliament of Paris, which for political reasons had been\nexiled to Tours. The parliament named four commissioners--Pierre Pigray,\nthe king's surgeon, and Messieurs Leroi, Renard, and Falaiseau, the king's\nphysicians--to visit and examine these witches, and see whether they had\nthe mark of the devil upon them. Pigray, who relates the circumstance in\nhis work on Surgery (book vii. chap. 10), says the visit was made in\npresence of two counsellors of the court. The witches were all stripped\nnaked, and the physicians examined their bodies very diligently, pricking\nthem in all the marks they could find to see whether they were insensible\nto pain, which was always considered a certain proof of guilt. They were,\nhowever, very sensible of the pricking, and some of them called out very\nlustily when the pins were driven into them. \"We found them,\" continues\nPierre Pigray, \"to be very poor, stupid people, and some of them insane.\nMany of them were quite indifferent about life, and one or two of them\ndesired death as a relief for their sufferings. Our opinion was, that they\nstood more in need of medicine than of punishment; and so we reported to\nthe parliament. Their case was thereupon taken into further consideration;\nand the parliament, after mature counsel amongst all the members, ordered\nthe poor creatures to be sent to their homes, without inflicting any\npunishment upon them.\"\n\nSuch was the dreadful state of Italy, Germany, and France during the\nsixteenth century, which was far from being the worst crisis of the\npopular madness with regard to witchcraft. Let us see what was the state\nof England during the same period. The Reformation, which in its progress\nhad rooted out so many errors, stopped short at this, the greatest error\nof all. Luther and Calvin were as firm believers in witchcraft as Pope\nInnocent himself; and their followers shewed themselves more zealous\npersecutors than the Romanists. Dr. Hutchinson, in his work on Witchcraft,\nasserts that the mania manifested itself later in England, and raged with\nless virulence than on the continent. The first assertion only is true;\nfor though the persecution began later both in England and Scotland, its\nprogress was as fearful as elsewhere.\n\nIt was not until more than fifty years after the issuing of the bull of\nInnocent VIII. that the legislature of England thought fit to make any\nmore severe enactments against sorcery than those already in operation.\nThe statute of 1541 was the first that specified the particular crime of\nwitchcraft. At a much earlier period many persons had suffered death for\nsorcery, in addition to other offences; but no executions took place for\nattending the witches' sabbath, raising tempests, afflicting cattle with\nbarrenness, and all the fantastic trumpery of the continent. Two statutes\nwere passed in 1551: the first relating to false prophecies, caused\nmainly, no doubt, by the impositions of Elizabeth Barton, the holy maid of\nKent, in 1534; and the second against conjuration, witchcraft, and\nsorcery. But even this enactment did not consider witchcraft as penal in\nitself, and only condemned to death those who, by means of spells,\nincantations, or contracts with the devil, attempted the lives of their\nneighbours. The statute of Elizabeth, in 1562, at last recognised\nwitchcraft as a crime of the highest magnitude, whether exerted or not to\nthe injury of the lives, limbs, and possessions of the community. From\nthat date the persecution may be fairly said to have commenced in England.\nIt reached its climax in the early part of the seventeenth century, which\nwas the hottest period of the mania all over Europe.\n\nA few cases of witch persecution in the sixteenth century will enable the\nreader to form a more accurate idea of the progress of this great error\nthan if he plunged at once into that busy period of its history when\nMatthew Hopkins and his coadjutors exercised their infernal calling.\nSeveral instances occur in England during the latter years of the reign of\nElizabeth. At this time the public mind had become pretty familiar with\nthe details of the crime. Bishop Jewell, in his sermons before her\nmajesty, used constantly to conclude them by a fervent prayer that she\nmight be preserved from witches. Upon one occasion, in 1598, his words\nwere, \"It may please your grace to understand that witches and sorcerers\nwithin these last four years are marvellously increased within this your\ngrace's realm. Your grace's subjects pine away even unto the death; their\ncolour fadeth--their flesh rotteth--their speech is benumbed--their senses\nare bereft! I pray God they may never practise further than upon the\n_subject_!\"\n\n[Illustration: JEWELL.]\n\nBy degrees, an epidemic terror of witchcraft spread into the villages. In\nproportion as the doctrine of the Puritans took root, this dread\nincreased, and, of course, brought persecution in its train. The Church of\nEngland has claimed, and is entitled to the merit, of having been less\ninfluenced in these matters than any other sect of Christians; but still\nthey were tainted with the superstition of the age. One of the most\nflagrant instances of cruelty and delusion upon record was consummated\nunder the authority of the Church, and commemorated till a very late\nperiod by an annual lecture at the University of Cambridge.\n\nThis is the celebrated case of the witches of Warbois, who were executed\nabout thirty-two years after the passing of the statute of Elizabeth.\nAlthough in the interval but few trials are recorded, there is,\nunfortunately, but too much evidence to shew the extreme length to which\nthe popular prejudice was carried. Many women lost their lives in every\npart of England without being brought to trial at all, from the injuries\nreceived at the hands of the people. The number of these can never be\nascertained.\n\nThe case of the witches of Warbois merits to be detailed at length, not\nonly from the importance attached to it for so many years by the learned\nof the University, but from the singular absurdity of the evidence upon\nwhich men, sensible in all other respects, could condemn their\nfellow-creatures to the scaffold.\n\nThe principal actors in this strange drama were the families of Sir Samuel\nCromwell and a Mr. Throgmorton, both gentlemen of landed property near\nWarbois in the county of Huntingdon. Mr. Throgmorton had several\ndaughters, the eldest of whom, Mistress Joan, was an imaginative and\nmelancholy girl, whose head was filled with stories of ghosts and witches.\nUpon one occasion she chanced to pass the cottage of one Mrs., or, as she\nwas called, Mother Samuel, a very aged, a very poor, and a very ugly\nwoman. Mother Samuel was sitting at her door knitting, with a black cap\nupon her head, when this silly young lady passed, and taking her eyes from\nher work she looked stedfastly at her. Mistress Joan immediately fancied\nthat she felt sudden pains in all her limbs, and from that day forth never\nceased to tell her sisters, and every body about her, that Mother Samuel\nhad bewitched her. The other children took up the cry, and actually\nfrightened themselves into fits whenever they passed within sight of this\nterrible old woman.\n\nMr. and Mrs. Throgmorton, not a whit wiser than their children, believed\nall the absurd tales they had been told; and Lady Cromwell, a gossip of\nMrs. Throgmorton, made herself very active in the business, and determined\nto bring the witch to the ordeal. The sapient Sir Samuel joined in the\nscheme; and the children, thus encouraged, gave loose reins to their\nimaginations, which seem to have been of the liveliest. They soon invented\na whole host of evil spirits, and names for them besides, which they said\nwere sent by Mother Samuel to torment them continually. Seven spirits\nespecially, they said, were raised from hell by this wicked woman to throw\nthem into fits; and as the children were actually subject to fits, their\nmother and her commeres gave the more credit to the story. The names of\nthese spirits were, \"First Smack,\" \"Second Smack,\" \"Third Smack,\" \"Blue,\"\n\"Catch,\" \"Hardname,\" and \"Pluck.\"\n\nThrogmorton, the father, was so pestered by these idle fancies, and yet so\nwell inclined to believe them, that he marched valiantly forth to the hut\nwhere Mother Samuel resided with her husband and daughter, and dragged her\nforcibly into his own grounds. Lady Cromwell, Mrs. Throgmorton, and the\ngirls were in waiting, armed with long pins to prick the witch, and see if\nthey could draw blood from her. Lady Cromwell, who seems to have been the\nmost violent of the party, tore the old woman's cap off her head, and\nplucking out a handful of her grey hair, gave it to Mrs. Throgmorton to\nburn, as a charm which would preserve them all from her future\nmachinations. It was no wonder that the poor creature, subjected to this\nrough usage, should give vent to an involuntary curse upon her tormentors.\nShe did so, and her curse was never forgotten. Her hair, however, was\nsupposed to be a grand specific, and she was allowed to depart, half dead\nwith terror and ill-usage. For more than a year the families of Cromwell\nand Throgmorton continued to persecute her, and to assert that her imps\nafflicted them with pains and fits, turned the milk sour in their pans,\nand prevented their cows and ewes from bearing. In the midst of these\nfooleries, Lady Cromwell was taken ill and died. It was then remembered\nthat her death had taken place exactly a year and a quarter since she was\ncursed by Mother Samuel, and that on several occasions she had dreamed of\nthe witch and a black cat, the latter being of course the arch-enemy of\nmankind himself.\n\nSir Samuel Cromwell now conceived himself bound to take more energetic\nmeasures against the sorceress, since he had lost his wife by her means.\nThe year and a quarter and the black cat were proofs positive. All the\nneighbours had taken up the cry of witchcraft against Mother Samuel; and\nher personal appearance, unfortunately for her, the very ideal of what a\nwitch ought to be, increased the popular suspicion. It would appear that\nat last the poor woman believed, even to her own disadvantage, that she\nwas what every body represented her to be. Being forcibly brought into Mr.\nThrogmorton's house, when his daughter Joan was in one of her customary\nfits, she was commanded by him and Sir Samuel Cromwell to expel the devil\nfrom the young lady. She was told to repeat her exorcism, and to add, \"as\nI am a witch, and the causer of Lady Cromwell's death, I charge thee,\nfiend, to come out of her!\" She did as was required of her; and moreover\nconfessed that her husband and daughter were leagued with her in\nwitchcraft, and had, like her, sold their souls to the devil. The whole\nfamily were immediately arrested, and sent to Huntingdon to prison.\n\nThe trial was instituted shortly afterwards before Mr. Justice Fenner,\nwhen all the crazy girls of Mr. Throgmorton's family gave evidence against\nMother Samuel and her family. They were all three put to the torture. The\nold woman confessed in her anguish that she was a witch; that she had cast\nher spells upon the young ladies; and that she had caused the death of\nLady Cromwell. The father and daughter, stronger in mind than their\nunfortunate wife and parent, refused to confess any thing, and asserted\ntheir innocence to the last. They were all three condemned to be hanged,\nand their bodies burned. The daughter, who was young and good-looking,\nexcited the pity of many persons, and she was advised to plead pregnancy,\nthat she might gain at least a respite from death. The poor girl refused\nproudly, on the ground that she would not be accounted both a witch and a\nstrumpet. Her half-witted old mother caught at the idea of a few weeks'\nlonger life, and asserted that she was pregnant. The court was convulsed\nwith laughter, in which the wretched victim herself joined; and this was\naccounted an additional proof that she was a witch. The whole family were\nexecuted on the 7th of April, 1593.\n\nSir Samuel Cromwell, as lord of the manor, received the sum of 40l. out of\nthe confiscated property of the Samuels, which he turned into a\nrent-charge of 40s. yearly, for the endowment of an annual sermon or\nlecture upon the enormity of witchcraft, and this case in particular, to\nbe preached by a doctor or bachelor of divinity of Queen's College,\nCambridge. I have not been able to ascertain the exact date at which this\nannual lecture was discontinued; but it appears to have been preached so\nlate as 1718, when Dr. Hutchinson published his work upon witchcraft.\n\nTo carry on in proper chronological order the history of the witch\ndelusion in the British isles, it will be necessary to examine into what\nwas taking place in Scotland during all that part of the sixteenth century\nanterior to the accession of James VI. to the crown of England. We\nnaturally expect that the Scotch--a people renowned from the earliest\ntimes for their powers of imagination--should be more deeply imbued with\nthis gloomy superstition than their neighbours of the south. The nature of\ntheir soil and climate tended to encourage the dreams of early ignorance.\nGhosts, goblins, wraiths, kelpies, and a whole host of spiritual beings,\nwere familiar to the dwellers by the misty glens of the Highlands and the\nromantic streams of the Lowlands. Their deeds, whether of good or ill,\nwere enshrined in song, and took a greater hold upon the imagination\nbecause \"verse had sanctified them.\" But it was not till the religious\nreformers began the practice of straining Scripture to the severest\nextremes that the arm of the law was called upon to punish witchcraft as a\ncrime _per se_. What Pope Innocent VIII. had done for Germany and France,\nthe preachers of the Reformation did for the Scottish people. Witchcraft,\ninstead of being a mere article of faith, became enrolled in the\nstatute-book; and all good subjects and true Christians were called upon\nto take arms against it. The ninth parliament of Queen Mary passed an act\nin 1563, which decreed the punishment of death against witches and\nconsulters with witches, and immediately the whole bulk of the people were\nsmitten with an epidemic fear of the devil and his mortal agents. Persons\nin the highest ranks of life shared and encouraged the delusion of the\nvulgar. Many were themselves accused of witchcraft; and noble ladies were\nshewn to have dabbled in mystic arts, and proved to the world that if they\nwere not witches, it was not for want of the will.\n\nAmong the dames who became notorious for endeavouring to effect their\nwicked ends by the devil's aid may be mentioned the celebrated Lady\nBuccleugh of Branxholme (familiar to all the readers of Sir Walter Scott),\nthe Countess of Lothian, the Countess of Angus, the Countess of Athol,\nLady Kerr, the Countess of Huntley, Euphemia Macalzean (the daughter of\nLord Cliftonhall), and Lady Fowlis. Among the celebrated of the other sex\nwho were accused of wizardism was Sir Lewis Ballantyne, the Lord\nJustice-Clerk for Scotland, who, if we may believe Scot of Scotstarvet,\n\"dealt by curiosity with a warlock called Richard Grahame,\" and prayed him\nto raise the devil. The warlock consented, and raised him _in propri\u00e2\nperson\u00e2_ in the yard of his house in the Canongate, \"at sight of whom the\nLord Justice-Clerk was so terrified, that he took sickness and thereof\ndied.\" By such idle reports as these did the envious ruin the reputation\nof those they hated; though it would appear in this case that Sir Lewis\nhad been fool enough to make the attempt of which he was accused, and that\nthe success of the experiment was the only apocryphal part of the story.\n\n[Illustration: JOHN KNOX.]\n\nThe enemies of John Knox invented a similar tale, which found ready\ncredence among the Roman Catholics, glad to attach any stigma to that\ngrand scourge of the vices of their Church. It was reported that he and\nhis secretary went into the churchyard of St. Andrew's with the intent to\nraise \"some sanctes;\" but that, by a mistake in their conjurations, they\nraised the great fiend himself instead of the saints they wished to\nconsult. The popular rumour added, that Knox's secretary was so frightened\nat the great horns, goggle eyes, and long tail of Satan, that he went mad,\nand shortly afterwards died. Knox himself was built of sterner stuff, and\nwas not to be frightened.\n\nThe first name that occurs in the records of the High Court of Justiciary\nof persons tried or executed for witchcraft, is that of Janet Bowman in\n1572, nine years after the passing of the act of Mary. No particulars of\nher crimes are given, and against her name there only stands the words,\n\"convict and brynt.\" It is not, however, to be inferred, that in this\ninterval no trials or executions took place; for it appears, on the\nauthority of documents of unquestioned authenticity in the Advocates'\nLibrary at Edinburgh,[29] that the Privy Council made a practice of\ngranting commissions to resident gentlemen and ministers in every part of\nScotland to examine, try, and execute witches within their own parishes.\nNo records of those who suffered from the sentence of these tribunals have\nbeen preserved; but if popular tradition may be believed even to the\namount of one-fourth of its assertions, their number was fearful. After\nthe year 1572, the entries of executions for witchcraft in the records of\nthe High Court become more frequent, but do not average more than one per\nannum,--another proof that trials for this offence were in general\nentrusted to the local magistracy. The latter appear to have ordered\nwitches to the stake with as little compunction, and after as summary a\nmode, as modern justices of the peace order a poacher to the stocks.\n\n    [29] _Foreign Quarterly Review_, vol. vi. p. 41.\n\nAs James VI. advanced in manhood, he took great interest in the witch\ntrials. One of them especially--that of Gellie Duncan, Dr. Fian, and their\naccomplices, in the year 1591--engrossed his whole attention, and no doubt\nsuggested in some degree the famous work on Demonology, which he wrote\nshortly afterwards. As these witches had made an attempt upon his own\nlife, it is not surprising, with his habits, that he should have watched\nthe case closely, or become strengthened in his prejudice and superstition\nby its singular details. No other trial that could be selected would give\nso fair an idea of the delusions of the Scottish people as this. Whether\nwe consider the number of victims, the absurdity of the evidence, and the\nreal villany of some of the persons implicated, it is equally\nextraordinary.\n\nGellie Duncan, the prime witch in these proceedings, was servant to the\ndeputy bailiff of Tranent, a small town in Haddingtonshire, about ten\nmiles from Edinburgh. Though neither old nor ugly (as witches usually\nwere), but young and good-looking, her neighbours, from some suspicious\nparts of her behaviour, had long considered her a witch. She had, it\nappears, some pretensions to the healing art. Some cures which she\neffected were so sudden, that the worthy bailiff, her master, who, like\nhis neighbours, mistrusted her, considered them no less than miraculous.\nIn order to discover the truth, he put her to the torture; but she\nobstinately refused to confess that she had dealings with the devil. It\nwas the popular belief that no witch would confess as long as the mark\nwhich Satan had put upon her remained undiscovered upon her body. Somebody\npresent reminded the torturing bailie of this fact, and on examination,\nthe devil's mark was found upon the throat of poor Gellie. She was put to\nthe torture again, and her fortitude giving way under the extremity of her\nanguish, she confessed that she was indeed a witch--that she had sold her\nsoul to the devil, and effected all her cures by his aid. This was\nsomething new in the witch creed, according to which, the devil delighted\nmore in laying diseases on than in taking them off; but Gellie Duncan\nfared no better on that account. The torture was still applied, until she\nhad named all her accomplices, among whom were one Cunningham, a reputed\nwizard, known by the name of Dr. Fian; a grave and matron-like witch,\nnamed Agnes Sampson; Euphemia Macalzean, the daughter of Lord Cliftonhall,\nalready mentioned, and nearly forty other persons, some of whom were the\nwives of respectable individuals in the city of Edinburgh. Every one of\nthese persons was arrested, and the whole realm of Scotland thrown into\ncommotion by the extraordinary nature of the disclosures which were\nanticipated.\n\nAbout two years previous to this time, James had suddenly left his\nkingdom, and proceeded gallantly to Denmark, to fetch over his bride, the\nPrincess of Denmark, who had been detained by contrary weather in the\nharbour of Upslo. After remaining for some months in Copenhagen, he set\nsail with his young bride, and arrived safely in Leith, on the 1st of May\n1590, having experienced a most boisterous passage, and been nearly\nwrecked. As soon as the arrest of Gellie Duncan and Fian became known in\nScotland, it was reported by every body who pretended to be well-informed,\nthat these witches and their associates had, by the devil's means, raised\nthe storms which had endangered the lives of the king and queen. Gellie,\nin her torture, had confessed that such was the fact, and the whole\nkingdom waited aghast and open-mouthed for the corroboration about to be\nfurnished by the trial.\n\nAgnes Sampson, the \"grave and matron-like\" witch implicated by Gellie\nDuncan, was put to the horrible torture of the _pilliewinkis_. She laid\nbare all the secrets of the sisterhood before she had suffered an hour,\nand confessed that Gellie Duncan, Dr. Fian, Marian Lincup, Euphemia\nMacalzean, herself, and upwards of two hundred witches and warlocks, used\nto assemble at midnight in the kirk of North Berwick, where they met the\ndevil; that they had plotted there to attempt the king's life; that they\nwere incited to this by the old fiend himself, who had asserted with a\nthundering oath that James was the greatest enemy he ever had, and that\nthere would be no peace for the devil's children upon earth until he were\ngot rid of; that the devil upon these occasions always liked to have a\nlittle music, and that Gellie Duncan used to play a reel before him on a\ntrump or Jew's harp, to which all the witches danced.\n\nJames was highly flattered at the idea that the devil should have said\nthat he was the greatest enemy he ever had. He sent for Gellie Duncan to\nthe palace, and made her play before him the same reel which she had\nplayed at the witches' dance in the kirk.\n\n[Illustration: TORTURE OF THE BOOTS.]\n\nDr. Fian, or rather Cunningham, a petty schoolmaster of Tranent, was put\nto the torture among the rest. He was a man who had led an infamous life,\nwas a compounder of and dealer in poisons, and a pretender to magic.\nThough not guilty of the preposterous crimes laid to his charge, there is\nno doubt that he was a sorcerer in will, though not in deed, and that he\ndeserved all the misery he endured. When put on the rack, he would confess\nnothing, and held out so long unmoved, that the severe torture of the\n_boots_ was resolved upon. He endured this till exhausted nature could\nbear no longer, when insensibility kindly stepped in to his aid. When it\nwas seen that he was utterly powerless, and that his tongue cleaved to the\nroof of his mouth, he was released. Restoratives were administered; and\nduring the first faint gleam of returning consciousness, he was prevailed\nupon to sign, ere he well knew what he was about, a full confession, in\nstrict accordance with those of Gellie Duncan and Agnes Sampson. He was\nthen remanded to his prison, from which, after two days, he managed, some\nhow or other, to escape. He was soon recaptured, and brought before the\nCourt of Justiciary, James himself being present. Fian now denied all the\ncircumstances of the written confession which he had signed; whereupon the\nking, enraged at his \"stubborn wilfulness,\" ordered him once more to the\ntorture. His finger nails were riven out with pincers, and long needles\nthrust up to the eye into the quick; but he did not wince. He was then\nconsigned again to the _boots_, in which, to quote a pamphlet published at\nthe time,[30] he continued \"so long, and abode so many blows in them, that\nhis legs were crushed and beaten together as small as might be, and the\nbones and flesh so bruised, that the blood and marrow spouted forth in\ngreat abundance, whereby they were made unserviceable for ever.\"\n\n    [30] _News from Scotland, declaring the Damnable Life of Dr.\n         Fian_.\n\nThe astonishing similarity of the confessions of all the persons\nimplicated in these proceedings has often been remarked. It would appear\nthat they actually endeavoured to cause the king's death by their spells\nand sorceries. Fian, who was acquainted with all the usual tricks of his\nprofession, deceived them with pretended apparitions, so that many of them\nwere really convinced that they had seen the devil. The sum of their\nconfessions was to the following effect:\n\nSatan, who was, of course, a great foe of the reformed religion, was\nalarmed that King James should marry a Protestant princess. To avert the\nconsequences to the realms of evil, he had determined to put an end to the\nking and his bride by raising a storm on their voyage home. Satan, first\nof all, sent a thick mist over the waters, in the hope that the king's\nvessel might be stranded on the coast amid the darkness. This failing, Dr.\nFian, who, from his superior scholarship, was advanced to the dignity of\nthe devil's secretary, was commanded to summon all the witches to meet\ntheir master, each one sailing on a sieve on the high seas.\n\nOn All Hallowmas Eve, they assembled to the number of upwards of two\nhundred, including Gellie Duncan, Agnes Sampson, Euphemia Macalzean, one\nBarbara Napier, and several warlocks; and each embarking in a riddle or\nsieve, they sailed \"over the ocean very substantially.\" After cruising\nabout for some time, they met with the fiend, bearing in his claws a cat,\nwhich had been previously drawn nine times through the fire. This he\ndelivered to one of the warlocks, telling him to cast it into the sea and\ncry \"Hola!\" This was done with all solemnity, and immediately the ocean\nbecame convulsed, the waters hissed loudly, and the waves rose mountains\nhigh,\n\n   \"Twisting their arms to the dun-coloured heaven.\"\n\nThe witches sailed gallantly through the tempest they had raised, and\nlanding on the coast of Scotland, took their sieves in their hands and\nmarched on in procession to the haunted kirk of North Berwick, where the\ndevil had resolved to hold a preaching. Gellie Duncan, the musician of the\nparty, tripped on before, playing on her Jew's harp and singing,\n\n   \"Cummer, go ye before, cummer, go ye;\n    Gif ye will not go before, cummer, let me!\"\n\nArrived at the kirk, they paced around it _withershins_, that is, in\nreverse of the apparent motion of the sun. Dr. Fian then blew into the\nkeyhole of the door, which opened immediately, and all the witches\nentered. As it was pitch dark, Fian blew with his mouth upon the candles,\nwhich immediately lighted, and the devil was seen occupying the pulpit. He\nwas attired in a black gown and hat, and the witches saluted him by crying\n\"All hail, master!\" His body was hard, like iron; his face terrible; his\nnose, like the beak of an eagle; he had great burning eyes; his hands and\nlegs were hairy; and he had long claws upon his hands and feet, and spake\nwith an exceedingly gruff voice. Before commencing his sermon he called\nover the names of his congregation, demanding whether they had been good\nservants, and what success had attended their operations against the life\nof the king and his bride.\n\nGray Meill, a crazy old warlock, who acted as beadle or door-keeper, was\nsilly enough to answer \"that nothing ailed the king yet, God be thanked;\"\nupon which the devil, in a rage, stepped down from the pulpit and boxed\nhis ears for him. He then remounted and commenced the preaching,\ncommanding them to be dutiful servants to him and do all the evil they\ncould. Euphemia Macalzean and Agnes Sampson, bolder than the rest, asked\nhim whether he had brought the image or picture of King James, that they\nmight, by pricking it, cause pains and diseases to fall upon him. \"The\nfather of lies\" spoke truth for once, and confessed that he had forgotten\nit; upon which Euphemia Macalzean upbraided him loudly for his\ncarelessness. The devil, however, took it all in good part, although Agnes\nSampson and several other women let loose their tongues at him\nimmediately. When they had done scolding, he invited them all to a grand\nentertainment. A newly buried corpse was dug up and divided among them,\nwhich was all they had in the way of edibles. He was more liberal in the\nmatter of drink, and gave them so much excellent wine that they soon\nbecame jolly. Gellie Duncan then played the old tune upon her trump, and\nthe devil himself led off the dance with Euphemia Macalzean. Thus they\nkept up the sport till the cock crew.\n\nAgnes Sampson, the wise woman of Keith, as she was called, added some\nother particulars in her confession. She stated, that on a previous\noccasion, she had raised an awful tempest in the sea by throwing a cat\ninto it, with four joints of men tied to its feet. She said also, that on\ntheir grand attempt to drown King James, they did not meet with the devil\nafter cruising about, but that he had accompanied them from the first, and\nthat she had seen him dimly in the distance, rolling himself before them\nover the great waves, in shape and size not unlike a huge haystack. They\nmet with a foreign ship richly laden with wines and other good things,\nwhich they boarded, and sunk after they had drunk all the wine and made\nthemselves quite merry.\n\n[Illustration: JAMES THE DEMONOLOGIST.]\n\nSome of these disclosures were too much even for the abundant faith of\nKing James, and he more than once exclaimed, that the witches were like\ntheir master, \"extreme lyars.\" But they confessed many other things of a\nless preposterous nature, and of which they were no doubt really guilty.\nAgnes Sampson said she was to have taken the king's life by anointing his\nlinen with a strong poison. Gellie Duncan used to threaten her neighbours\nby saying she would send the devil after them; and many persons of weaker\nminds than usual were frightened into fits by her, and rendered subject to\nthem for the remainder of their lives. Dr. Fian also made no scruple in\naiding and abetting murder, and would rid any person of an enemy by means\nof poison, who could pay him his fee for it. Euphemia Macalzean also was\nfar from being pure. There is no doubt that she meditated the king's\ndeath, and used such means to compass it as the superstition of the age\ndirected. She was a devoted partisan of Bothwell, who was accused by many\nof the witches as having consulted them on the period of the king's death.\nThey were all found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged and burned. Barbara\nNapier, though found guilty upon other counts, was acquitted upon the\ncharge of having been present at the great witch meeting in Berwick kirk.\nThe king was highly displeased, and threatened to have the jury indicted\nfor a wilful error upon an assize. They accordingly reconsidered their\nverdict, and threw themselves upon the king's mercy for the fault they had\ncommitted. James was satisfied, and Barbara Napier was hanged along with\nGellie Duncan, Agnes Sampson, Dr. Fian, and five-and-twenty others.\nEuphemia Macalzean met a harder fate. Her connexion with the bold and\nobnoxious Bothwell, and her share in poisoning one or two individuals who\nhad stood in her way, were thought deserving of the severest punishment\nthe law could inflict. Instead of the ordinary sentence, directing the\ncriminal to be first strangled and then burned, the wretched woman was\ndoomed \"to be bound to a stake, and burned in ashes, _quick_ to the\ndeath.\" This cruel sentence was executed on the 25th of June, 1591.\n\nThese trials had the most pernicious consequences all over Scotland. The\nlairds and ministers in their districts, armed with due power from the\nprivy council, tried and condemned old women after the most summary\nfashion. Those who still clung to the ancient faith of Rome were the\nseverest sufferers, as it was thought, after the disclosures of the fierce\nenmity borne by the devil towards a Protestant king and his Protestant\nwife, that all the Catholics were leagued with the powers of evil to work\nwoe on the realm of Scotland. Upon a very moderate calculation, it is\npresumed that from the passing of the act of Queen Mary till the accession\nof James to the throne of England, a period of thirty-nine years, the\naverage number of executions for witchcraft in Scotland was two hundred\nannually, or upwards of seventeen thousand altogether. For the first nine\nyears the number was not one quarter so great; but towards the years 1590\nto 1593, the number must have been more than four hundred. The case last\ncited was one of an extraordinary character. The general aspect of the\ntrials will be better seen from that of Isabel Gowdie, which, as it would\nbe both wearisome and disgusting to go through them all, is given as a\nfair specimen, although it took place at a date somewhat later than the\nreign of James. This woman, wearied of her life by the persecutions of her\nneighbours, voluntarily gave herself up to justice, and made a confession,\nembodying the whole witch-creed of the period. She was undoubtedly a\nmonomaniac of the most extraordinary kind. She said that she deserved to\nbe stretched upon an iron rack, and that her crimes could never be atoned\nfor, even if she were to be drawn asunder by wild horses. She named a long\nlist of her associates, including nearly fifty women and a few warlocks.\nThey dug up the graves of unchristened infants, whose limbs were\nserviceable in their enchantments. When they wanted to destroy the crops\nof an enemy, they yoked toads to his plough, and on the following night\nSatan himself ploughed the land with his team, and blasted it for the\nseason. The witches had power to assume almost any shape; but they\ngenerally chose either that of a cat or a hare, oftenest the latter.\nIsabel said, that on one occasion, when she was in this disguise, she was\nsore pressed by a pack of hounds, and had a very narrow escape with her\nlife. She reached her own door at last, feeling the hot breath of the\npursuing dogs at her haunches. She managed, however, to hide herself\nbehind a chest, and got time to pronounce the magic words that could alone\nrestore her to her proper shape. They were:\n\n   \"Hare! hare!\n    God send thee care!\n        I am in a hare's likeness now;\n        But I shall be a woman e'en now!\n    Hare! hare!\n    God send thee care!\"\n\nIf witches, when in this shape, were bitten by the dogs, they always\nretained the marks in their human form; but she had never heard that any\nwitch had been bitten to death. When the devil appointed any general\nmeeting of the witches, the custom was that they should proceed through\nthe air mounted on broomsticks, or on corn or bean-straws, pronouncing as\nthey went:\n\n   \"Horse and pattock, horse and go,\n    Horse and pellats, ho! ho! ho!\"\n\nThey generally left behind them a broom or a three-legged stool, which,\nwhen placed in their beds and duly charmed, assumed the human shape till\ntheir return. This was done that the neighbours might not know when they\nwere absent.\n\nShe added that the devil furnished his favourite witches with servant imps\nto attend upon them. These imps were called, \"The Roaring Lion,\" \"Thief of\nHell,\" \"Wait-upon-Herself,\" \"Ranting Roarer,\" \"Care-for-Naught,\" &c., and\nwere known by their liveries, which were generally yellow, sad-dun,\nsea-green, pea-green, or grass-green. Satan never called the witches by\nthe names they had received at baptism; neither were they allowed, in his\npresence, so to designate each other. Such a breach of the infernal\netiquette assuredly drew down his most severe displeasure. But as some\ndesignation was necessary, he re-baptised them in their own blood by the\nnames of \"Able-and-Stout,\" \"Over-the-dike-with-it,\" \"Raise-the-wind,\"\n\"Pickle-nearest-the-wind,\" \"Batter-them-down-Maggy,\" \"Blow-Kale,\" and such\nlike. The devil himself was not very particular what name they called him,\nso that it was not \"Black John.\" If any witch was unthinking enough to\nutter these words, he would rush out upon her and beat and buffet her\nunmercifully, or tear her flesh with a wool-card. Other names he did not\ncare about; and once gave instructions to a noted warlock that whenever he\nwanted his aid, he was to strike the ground three times and exclaim, \"Rise\nup, foul thief!\"\n\n[Illustration: SIR G. MACKENZIE.]\n\nUpon this confession many persons were executed. So strong was the popular\nfeeling, that no one once accused of witchcraft was acquitted; at least\nacquittals did not average one in a hundred trials. Witch-finding, or\nwitch-pricking, became a trade, and a set of mercenary vagabonds roamed\nabout the country provided with long pins to run into the flesh of\nsupposed criminals. It was no unusual thing then, nor is it now, that in\naged persons there should be some spot on the body totally devoid of\nfeeling. It was the object of the witch-pricker to discover this spot, and\nthe unhappy wight who did not bleed when pricked upon it was doomed to the\ndeath. If not immediately cast into prison, her life was rendered\nmiserable by the persecution of her neighbours. It is recorded of many\npoor women, that the annoyances they endured in this way were so\nexcessive, that they preferred death. Sir George Mackenzie, the Lord\nAdvocate, at the time when witch trials were so frequent, and himself a\ndevout believer in the crime, relates, in his _Criminal Law_, first\npublished in 1678, some remarkable instances of it. He says, \"I went, when\nI was a justice-depute, to examine some women who had confessed\njudicially; and one of them, who was a silly creature, told me, under\nsecrecy, that she had not confessed because she was guilty, but being a\npoor creature, who wrought for her meat, and being defamed for a witch,\nshe knew she should starve, for no person thereafter would either give her\nmeat or lodging, and that all men would beat her and set dogs at her, and\nthat, therefore, she desired to be out of the world; whereupon she wept\nmost bitterly, and upon her knees called God to witness to what she said.\"\nSir George, though not wholly elevated above the prejudices of his age\nupon this subject, was clear-sighted enough to see the danger to society\nof the undue encouragement given to the witch prosecutions. He was\nconvinced that three-fourths of them were unjust and unfounded. He says,\nin the work already quoted, that the persons who were in general accused\nof this crime were poor ignorant men and women who did not understand the\nnature of the accusation, and who mistook their own superstitious fears\nfor witchcraft. One poor wretch, a weaver, confessed that he was a\nwarlock, and, being asked why, he replied, because \"he had seen the devil\ndancing, like a fly, about the candle!\" A simple woman, who, because she\nwas called a witch, believed that she was, asked the judge upon the bench\nwhether a person might be a witch and not know it? Sir George adds, that\nall the supposed criminals were subjected to severe torture in prison from\ntheir gaolers, who thought they did God good service by vexing and\ntormenting them; \"and I know,\" says this humane and enlightened\nmagistrate, \"that this usage was the ground of all their confession; and\nalbeit, the poor miscreants cannot prove this usage, the actors in it\nbeing the only witnesses; yet the judge should be jealous of it, as that\nwhich did at first elicit the confession, and for fear of which they dare\nnot retract it.\" Another author,[31] also a firm believer in witchcraft,\ngives a still more lamentable instance of a woman who preferred execution\nas a witch to live on under the imputation. This woman, who knew that\nthree others were to be strangled and burned on an early day, sent for the\nminister of the parish, and confessed that she had sold her soul to Satan.\n\"Whereupon being called before the judges, she was condemned to die with\nthe rest. Being carried forth to the place of execution, she remained\nsilent during the first, second, and third prayer, and then, perceiving\nthat there remained no more but to rise and go to the stake, she lifted up\nher body, and, with a loud voice, cried out, 'Now all you that see me this\nday, know that I am now to die as a witch, by my own confession; and I\nfree all men, especially the ministers and magistrates, of the guilt of my\nblood. I take it wholly upon myself. My blood be upon my own head. And, as\nI must make answer to the God of heaven presently, I declare I am as free\nof witchcraft as any child. But, being delated by a malicious woman, and\nput in prison under the name of a witch, disowned by my husband and\nfriends, and seeing no ground of hope of ever coming out again, I made up\nthat confession to destroy my own life, being weary of it, and choosing\nrather to die than to live.'\" As a proof of the singular obstinacy and\nblindness of the believers in witches, it may be stated that the minister\nwho relates this story only saw in the dying speech of the unhappy woman\nan additional proof that she was a witch. True, indeed is it, that \"none\nare so blind as those who will not see.\"\n\n    [31] _Satan's Invisible World Discovered_, by the Rev. G.\n         Sinclair.\n\nIt is time, however, to return to James VI., who is fairly entitled to\nshare with Pope Innocent, Sprenger, Bodinus, and Matthew Hopkins the glory\nor the odium of being at the same time a chief enemy and chief encourager\nof witchcraft. Towards the close of the sixteenth century, many learned\nmen, both on the continent and in the isles of Britain, had endeavoured to\ndisabuse the public mind on this subject. The most celebrated were Wierus,\nin Germany; Pietro d'Apone, in Italy; and Reginald Scot, in England. Their\nworks excited the attention of the zealous James, who, mindful of the\ninvoluntary compliment which his merits had extorted from the devil, was\nambitious to deserve it by still continuing \"his greatest enemie.\" In the\nyear 1597, he published in Edinburgh his famous treatise on Demonology.\nIts design may be gathered from the following passage in the introduction:\n\"The fearful abounding,\" says the king, \"at this time and in this country\nof these detestable slaves of the devil, the witches or enchanters, hath\nmoved me, beloved reader, to despatch in post this following treatise of\nmine, not in any wise, as I protest, to serve for a show of mine own\nlearning and ingene [ingenuity], but only (moved of conscience) to press\nthereby, so far as I can, to resolve the doubting hearts of many, both\nthat such assaults of Satan are most certainly practised, and that the\ninstrument thereof merits most severely to be punished, against the\ndamnable opinions of two, principally in our age; whereof the one called\nScot, an Englishman, is not ashamed in public print to deny that there can\nbe such thing as witchcraft, and so maintains the old error of the\nSadducees in denying of spirits. The other, called Wierus, a German\nphysician, sets out a public apology for all these crafts-folks, whereby\nprocuring for them impunity, he plainly betrays himself to have been one\nof that profession.\" In other parts of this treatise, which the author had\nput into the form of a dialogue, to \"make it more pleasant and facile,\" he\nsays: \"Witches ought to be put to death, according to the law of God, the\ncivil and imperial law, and the municipal law of all Christian nations:\nyea, to spare the life, and not strike whom God bids strike and so\nseverely punish in so odious a treason against God, is not only unlawful,\nbut doubtless as great a sin in the magistrate as was Saul's sparing\nAgag.\" He says also that the crime is so abominable, that it may be proved\nby evidence which would not be received against any other\noffenders,--young children, who knew not the nature of an oath, and\npersons of an infamous character, being sufficient witnesses against them;\nbut lest the innocent should be accused of a crime so difficult to be\nacquitted of, he recommends that in all cases the ordeal should be\nresorted to. He says, \"Two good helps may be used: the one is the finding\nof their mark, and the trying the insensibleness thereof; the other is\ntheir floating on the water,--for, as in a secret murther, if the dead\ncarcass be at any time thereafter handled by the murtherer, it will gush\nout of blood, as if the blood were crying to Heaven for revenge of the\nmurtherer (God having appointed that secret supernatural sign for trial of\nthat secret unnatural crime), so that it appears that God hath appointed\n(for a supernatural sign of the monstrous impiety of witches) that the\nwater shall refuse to receive them in her bosom that have shaken off them\nthe sacred water of baptism, and wilfully refused the benefit\nthereof;--no, not so much as their eyes are able to shed tears (threaten\nand torture them as you please), while first they repent (God not\npermitting them to dissemble their obstinacy in so horrible a crime);\nalbeit, the womenkind especially, be able otherwise to shed tears at every\nlight occasion when they will, yea, although it were dissembling like the\ncrocodiles.\"\n\n[Illustration: PIETRO D'APONE.]\n\nWhen such doctrines as these were openly promulgated by the highest\nauthority in the realm, and who, in promulgating them, flattered, but did\nnot force the public opinion, it is not surprising that the sad delusion\nshould have increased and multiplied until the race of wizards and witches\nreplenished the earth. The reputation which he lost by being afraid of a\nnaked sword, he more than regained by his courage in combating the devil.\nThe Kirk shewed itself a most zealous coadjutor, especially during those\nhalcyon days when it was not at issue with the king upon other matters of\ndoctrine and prerogative.\n\nOn his accession to the throne of England in 1603, James came amongst a\npeople who had heard with admiration of his glorious deeds against the\nwitches. He himself left no part of his ancient prejudices behind him; and\nhis advent was the signal for the persecution to burst forth in England\nwith a fury equal to that in Scotland. It had languished a little during\nthe latter years of the reign of Elizabeth; but the very first parliament\nof King James brought forward the subject. James was flattered by their\npromptitude, and the act passed in 1604. On the second reading in the\nHouse of Lords, the bill passed into a committee, in which were twelve\nbishops. By it was enacted, \"That if any person shall use, practise, or\nexercise any conjuration of any wicked or evil spirit, or shall consult,\ncovenant with, or feed any such spirit, the first offence to be\nimprisonment for a year, and standing in the pillory once a quarter; the\nsecond offence to be death.\"\n\nThe minor punishment seems but rarely to have been inflicted. Every record\nthat has been preserved mentions that the witches were hanged and burned,\nor burned, without the previous strangling, \"alive and quick.\" During the\nwhole of James's reign, amid the civil wars of his successor, the sway of\nthe Long Parliament, the usurpation of Cromwell, and the reign of Charles\nII., there was no abatement of the persecution. If at any time it raged\nwith less virulence, it was when Cromwell and the Independents were\nmasters. Dr. Zachary Grey, the editor of an edition of \"Hudibras,\" informs\nus, in a note to that work, that he himself perused a list of three\nthousand witches who were executed in the time of the Long Parliament\nalone. During the first eighty years of the seventeenth century, the\nnumber executed has been estimated at five hundred annually, making the\nfrightful total of forty thousand. Some of these cases deserve to be\ncited. The great majority resemble closely those already mentioned; but\ntwo or three of them let in a new light upon the popular superstition.\n\nEvery one has heard of the \"Lancashire witches,\" a phrase now used to\ncompliment the ladies of that county for their bewitching beauty; but it\nis not every one who has heard the story in which it originated. A\nvillanous boy, named Robinson, was the chief actor in the tragedy. He\nconfessed many years afterwards that he had been suborned by his father\nand other persons to give false evidence against the unhappy witches whom\nhe brought to the stake. The time of this famous trial was about the year\n1634. This boy Robinson, whose father was a wood-cutter, residing on the\nborders of Pendle Forest, in Lancashire, spread abroad many rumours\nagainst one Mother Dickenson, whom he accused of being a witch. These\nrumours coming to the ears of the local magistracy, the boy was sent for\nand strictly examined. He told the following extraordinary story without\nhesitation or prevarication, and apparently in so open and honest a\nmanner, that no one who heard him doubted the truth of it. He said, that\nas he was roaming about in one of the glades of the forest, amusing\nhimself by gathering blackberries, he saw two greyhounds before him, which\nhe thought at the time belonged to some gentleman of the neighbourhood.\nBeing fond of sport, he proposed to have a course; and a hare being\nstarted, he incited the hounds to run. Neither of them would stir. Angry\nat the beasts, he seized hold of a switch, with which he was about to\npunish them, when one of them suddenly started up in the form of a woman,\nand the other of a little boy. He at once recognised the woman to be the\nwitch Mother Dickenson. She offered him some money to induce him to sell\nhis soul to the devil; but he refused. Upon this she took a bridle out of\nher pocket, and shaking it over the head of the other little boy, he was\ninstantly turned into a horse. Mother Dickenson then seized him in her\narms, sprang upon the horse, and placing him before her, rode with the\nswiftness of the wind over forests, fields, bogs, and rivers, until they\ncame to a large barn. The witch alighted at the door, and, taking him by\nthe hand, led him inside. There he saw seven old women pulling at seven\nhalters which hung from the roof. As they pulled, large pieces of meat,\nlumps of butter, loaves of bread, basins of milk, hot puddings, black\npuddings, and other rural dainties, fell from the halters on to the floor.\nWhile engaged in this charm, they made such ugly faces, and looked so\nfiendish, that he was quite frightened. After they had pulled in this\nmanner enough for an ample feast, they set-to, and shewed, whatever might\nbe said of the way in which their supper was procured, that their\nepicurism was a little more refined than that of the Scottish witches,\nwho, according to Gellie Duncan's confession, feasted upon dead men's\nflesh in the old kirk of Berwick. The boy added, that as soon as supper\nwas ready, many other witches came to partake of it, several of whom he\nnamed.\n\nIn consequence of this story, many persons were arrested, and the boy\nRobinson was led about from church to church, in order that he might point\nout to the officers by whom he was accompanied the hags he had seen in the\nbarn. Altogether, about twenty persons were thrown into prison; eight of\nthem were condemned to die, including Mother Dickenson, upon this evidence\nalone, and executed accordingly. Among the wretches who concocted this\nnotable story, not one was ever brought to justice for his perjury; and\nRobinson, the father, gained considerable sums by threatening persons who\nwere rich enough to buy off exposure.\n\nAmong the ill-weeds which flourished amid the long dissensions of the\ncivil war, Matthew Hopkins, the witch-finder, stands eminent in his\nsphere. This vulgar fellow resided, in the year 1644, at the town of\nManningtree, in Essex, and made himself very conspicuous in discovering\nthe devil's marks upon several unhappy witches. The credit he gained by\nhis skill in this instance seems to have inspired him to renewed\nexertions. In the course of a very short time, whenever a witch was spoken\nof in Essex, Matthew Hopkins was sure to be present, aiding the judges\nwith his knowledge of \"such cattle,\" as he called them. As his reputation\nincreased, he assumed the title of \"Witch-finder General,\" and travelled\nthrough the counties of Norfolk, Essex, Huntingdon, and Sussex, for the\nsole purpose of finding out witches. In one year he brought sixty poor\ncreatures to the stake. The test he commonly adopted was that of swimming,\nso highly recommended by King James in his _Demonologie_. The hands and\nfeet of the suspected persons were tied together crosswise, the thumb of\nthe right hand to the toe of the left foot, and _vice versa_. They were\nthen wrapped up in a large sheet or blanket, and laid upon their backs in\na pond or river. If they sank, their friends and relatives had the poor\nconsolation of knowing they were innocent; but there was an end of them:\nif they floated, which, when laid carefully on the water, was generally\nthe case, there was also an end of them; for they were deemed guilty of\nwitchcraft, and burned accordingly.\n\nAnother test was to make them repeat the Lord's prayer and creed. It was\naffirmed that no witch could do so correctly. If she missed a word, or\neven pronounced one incoherently, which in her trepidation it was most\nprobable she would, she was accounted guilty. It was thought that witches\ncould not weep more than three tears, and those only from the left eye.\nThus the conscious innocence of many persons, which gave them fortitude to\nbear unmerited torture without flinching, was construed by their\nunmerciful tormentors into proofs of guilt. In some districts the test\nresorted to was to weigh the culprit against the church Bible. If the\nsuspected witch proved heavier than the Bible, she was set at liberty.\nThis mode was far too humane for the witch-finders by profession. Hopkins\nalways maintained that the most legitimate modes were pricking and\nswimming.\n\nHopkins used to travel through his counties like a man of consideration,\nattended by his two assistants, always putting up at the chief inn of the\nplace, and always at the cost of the authorities. His charges were twenty\nshillings a town, his expenses of living while there, and his carriage\nthither and back. This he claimed whether he found witches or not. If he\nfound any, he claimed twenty shillings a head in addition when they were\nbrought to execution. For about three years he carried on this infamous\ntrade, success making him so insolent and rapacious that high and low\nbecame his enemies. The Rev. Mr. Gaul, a clergyman of Houghton, in\nHuntingdonshire, wrote a pamphlet impugning his pretensions, and accusing\nhim of being a common nuisance. Hopkins replied in an angry letter to the\nfunctionaries of Houghton, stating his intention to visit their town; but\ndesiring to know whether it afforded many such sticklers for witchcraft as\nMr. Gaul, and whether they were willing to receive and entertain him with\nthe customary hospitality, if he so far honoured them. He added, by way of\nthreat, that in case he did not receive a satisfactory reply, \"he would\nwaive their shire altogether, and betake himself to such places where he\nmight do and punish, not only without control, but with thanks and\nrecompense.\" The authorities of Houghton were not much alarmed at this\nawful threat of letting them alone. They very wisely took no notice either\nof him or his letter.\n\nMr. Gaul describes in his pamphlet one of the modes employed by Hopkins,\nwhich was sure to swell his revenues very considerably. It was a proof\neven more atrocious than the swimming. He says, that the \"Witch-finder\nGeneral\" used to take the suspected witch and place her in the middle of a\nroom, upon a stool or table, cross-legged, or in some other uneasy\nposture. If she refused to sit in this manner, she was bound with strong\ncords. Hopkins then placed persons to watch her for four-and-twenty hours,\nduring which time she was to be kept without meat or drink. It was\nsupposed that one of her imps would come during that interval and suck her\nblood. As the imp might come in the shape of a wasp, a moth, a fly, or\nother insect, a hole was made in the door or window to let it enter. The\nwatchers were ordered to keep a sharp look out, and endeavour to kill any\ninsect that appeared in the room. If any fly escaped, and they could not\nkill it, the woman was guilty; the fly was her imp, and she was sentenced\nto be burned, and twenty shillings went into the pockets of Master\nHopkins. In this manner he made one old woman confess, because four flies\nhad appeared in the room, that she was attended by four imps, named\n\"Ilemazar,\" \"Pye-wackett,\" \"Peck-in-the-crown,\" and \"Grizel-Greedigut.\"\n\n[Illustration: MATTHEW HOPKINS.[32]]\n\n    [32] This illustration, representing Matthew Hopkins examining two\n         witches, who are confessing to him the names of their imps\n         and familiars, is copied from Caulfield's _Memoirs of\n         Remarkable Persons_, 1794, where it is taken from an\n         extremely rare print.\n\nIt is consoling to think that this impostor perished in his own snare. Mr.\nGaul's exposure and his own rapacity weakened his influence among the\nmagistrates; and the populace, who began to find that not even the most\nvirtuous and innocent were secure from his persecution, looked upon him\nwith undisguised aversion. He was beset by a mob at a village in Suffolk,\nand accused of being himself a wizard. An old reproach was brought against\nhim, that he had, by means of sorcery, cheated the devil out of a certain\nmemorandum-book, in which he, Satan, had entered the names of all the\nwitches in England. \"Thus,\" said the populace, \"you find out witches, not\nby God's aid, but by the devil's.\" In vain he denied his guilt. The\npopulace longed to put him to his own test. He was speedily stripped, and\nhis thumbs and toes tied together. He was then placed in a blanket, and\ncast into a pond. Some say that he floated, and that he was taken out,\ntried, and executed upon no other proof of his guilt. Others assert that\nhe was drowned. This much is positive, that there was an end of him. As no\njudicial entry of his trial and execution is to be found in any register,\nit appears most probable that he expired by the hands of the mob. Butler\nhas immortalised this scamp in the following lines of his _Hudibras_:\n\n   \"Hath not this present Parliament\n    A lieger to the devil sent,\n    Fully empower'd to treat about\n    Finding revolted witches out?\n    And has he not within a year\n    Hang'd threescore of them in one shire?\n    Some only for not being drown'd,\n    And some for sitting above ground\n    Whole days and nights upon their breeches,\n    And feeling pain, were hang'd for witches;\n    And some for putting knavish tricks\n    Upon green geese or turkey chicks;\n    Or pigs that suddenly deceased\n    Of griefs unnatural, as he guessed;\n    Who proved himself at length a witch,\n    And made a rod for his own breech.\"\n\nIn Scotland also witch-finding became a trade. They were known under the\ndesignation of \"common prickers,\" and, like Hopkins, received a fee for\neach witch they discovered. At the trial of Janet Peaston, in 1646, the\nmagistrates of Dalkeith \"caused John Kincaid of Tranent, the common\npricker, to exercise his craft upon her. He found two marks of the devil's\nmaking; for she could not feel the pin when it was put into either of the\nsaid marks, nor did the marks bleed when the pin was taken out again. When\nshe was asked where she thought the pins were put in her, she pointed to a\npart of her body distant from the real place. They were pins of three\ninches in length.\"[33]\n\n    [33] Pitcairn's _Records of Justiciary_.\n\nThese common prickers became at last so numerous that they were considered\nnuisances. The judges refused to take their evidence; and in 1678 the\nprivy council of Scotland condescended to hear the complaint of an honest\nwoman who had been indecently exposed by one of them, and expressed their\nopinion that common prickers were common cheats.\n\nBut such an opinion was not formed in high places before hundreds of\ninnocent persons had fallen victims. The parliaments had encouraged the\ndelusion both in England and Scotland; and by arming these fellows with a\nsort of authority, had in a manner forced the magistrates and ministers to\nreceive their evidence. The fate of one poor old gentleman, who fell a\nvictim to the arts of Hopkins in 1646, deserves to be recorded. Mr. Louis,\na venerable clergyman, upwards of seventy years of age, and who had been\nrector of Framlingham, in Suffolk, for fifty years, excited suspicion that\nhe was a wizard. Being a violent royalist, he was likely to meet with no\nsympathy at that time; and even his own parishioners, whom he had served\nso long and so faithfully, turned their backs upon him as soon as he was\naccused. Placed under the hands of Hopkins, who knew so well how to bring\nthe refractory to confession, the old man, the light of whose intellect\nhad become somewhat dimmed from age, confessed that he was a wizard. He\nsaid he had two imps that continually excited him to do evil; and that one\nday, when he was walking on the sea-coast, one of them prompted him to\nexpress a wish that a ship, whose sails were just visible in the distance,\nmight sink. He consented, and saw the vessel sink before his eyes. He was,\nupon this confession, tried and condemned. On his trial, the flame of\nreason burned up as brightly as ever. He denied all that had been alleged\nagainst him, and cross-examined Hopkins with great tact and severity.\nAfter his condemnation, he begged that the funeral service of the Church\nmight be read for him. The request was refused, and he repeated it for\nhimself from memory as he was led to the scaffold.\n\nA poor woman in Scotland was executed upon evidence even less strong than\nthis. John Bain, a common pricker, swore that, as he passed her door, he\nheard her talking to the devil. She said, in defence, that it was a\nfoolish practice she had of talking to herself, and several of her\nneighbours corroborated her statement; but the evidence of the pricker was\nreceived. He swore that none ever talked to themselves who were not\nwitches. The devil's mark being found upon her, the additional testimony\nof her guilt was deemed conclusive, and she was \"convict and brynt.\"\n\nFrom the year 1652 to 1682, these trials diminished annually in number,\nand acquittals were by no means so rare as they had been. To doubt in\nwitchcraft was no longer dangerous. Before country justices, condemnations\non the most absurd evidence still continued; but when the judges of the\nland had to charge the jury, they took a more humane and philosophical\nview. By degrees, the educated classes (comprised in those days within\nvery narrow limits) openly expressed their unbelief of modern witchcraft,\nalthough they were not bold enough to deny its existence altogether.\nBetween them and the believers in the old doctrine fierce arguments\nensued, and the sceptics were designated Sadducees. To convince them, the\nlearned and Reverend Joseph Glanvil wrote his well-known work,\n_Sadducismus Triumphatus_, and _The Collection of Relations_; the first\npart intended as a philosophical inquiry into witchcraft, and the power of\nthe devil \"to assume a mortal shape:\" the latter containing what he\nconsidered a multitude of well-authenticated modern instances.\n\n[Illustration: SIR MATTHEW HALE.]\n\nBut though progress was made, it was slow. In 1664, the venerable Sir\nMatthew Hale condemned two women, named Amy Duny and Rose Cullender, to\nthe stake at St. Edmondsbury, upon evidence the most ridiculous. These two\nold women, whose ugliness gave their neighbours the first idea that they\nwere witches, went to a shop to purchase herrings, and were refused.\nIndignant at the prejudice against them, they were not sparing of their\nabuse. Shortly afterward, the daughter of the herring-dealer fell sick,\nand a cry was raised that she was bewitched by the old women who had been\nrefused the herrings. This girl was subject to epileptic fits. To discover\nthe guilt of Amy Duny and Rose Cullender, the girl's eyes were blinded\nclosely with a shawl, and the witches were commanded to touch her. They\ndid so, and she was immediately seized with a fit. Upon this evidence they\nwere sent to prison. The girl was afterwards touched by an indifferent\nperson, and the force of her imagination was so great, that, thinking it\nwas again the witches, she fell down in a violent fit as before. This,\nhowever, was not received in favour of the accused.\n\nThe following extract, from the published reports of the trial, will shew\nthe sort of evidence which was received:\n\n\"Samuel Pacey, of Leystoff (a good, sober man), being sworn, said that, on\nThursday the 10th of October last, his younger daughter, Deborah, about\nnine years old, was suddenly taken so lame that she could not stand on her\nlegs, and so continued till the 17th of the same month, when the child\ndesired to be carried to a bank on the east side of the house, looking\ntowards the sea; and, while she was sitting there, Amy Duny came to this\nexaminant's house to buy some herrings, but was denied. Then she came\ntwice more, but, being as often denied, she went away discontented and\ngrumbling. At this instant of time, the child was taken with terrible\nfits, complaining of a pain in her stomach, as if she was pricked with\npins, shrieking out with a voice like a whelp, and thus continued till the\n30th of the same month. This examinant further saith, that Amy Duny,\nhaving long had the reputation of a witch, and his child having, in the\nintervals of her fits, constantly cried out on her as the cause of her\ndisorder, saying, that the said Amy did appear to her and fright her; he\nhimself did suspect the said Amy to be a witch, and charged her with being\nthe cause of his child's illness, and set her in the stocks. Two days\nafter, his daughter Elizabeth was taken with such strange fits, that they\ncould not force open her mouth without a tap; and the younger child being\nin the same condition, they used to her the same remedy. Both children\ngrievously complained that Amy Duny and another woman, whose habit and\nlooks they described, did appear to them and torment them, and would cry\nout, 'There stands Amy Duny! There stands Rose Cullender!' the other\nperson who afflicted them. Their fits were not alike. Sometimes they were\nlame on the right side; sometimes on the left; and sometimes so sore, that\nthey could not bear to be touched. Sometimes they were perfectly well in\nother respects, but they could not _hear_; at other times they could not\n_see_. Sometimes they lost their speech for one, two, and once for eight\ndays together. At times they had swooning fits, and, when they could\nspeak, were taken with a fit of coughing, and vomited phlegm and crooked\npins; and once a great twopenny nail, with above forty pins; which nail\nhe, the examinant, saw vomited up, with many of the pins. The nail and\npins were produced in the court. Thus the children continued for two\nmonths, during which time the examinant often made them read in the New\nTestament, and observed, when they came to the words _Lord Jesus_, or\n_Christ_, they could not pronounce them, but fell into a fit. When they\ncame to the word _Satan_, or _devil_, they would point, and say, 'This\nbites, but makes me speak right well.' Finding his children thus tormented\nwithout hopes of recovery, he sent them to his sister, Margaret Arnold, at\nYarmouth, being willing to try whether change of air would help them.\n\n\"Margaret Arnold was the next witness. Being sworn, she said, that about\nthe 30th of November, Elizabeth and Deborah Pacey came to her house, with\nher brother, who told her what had happened, and that he thought his\nchildren bewitched. She, this examinant, did not much regard it, supposing\nthe children had played tricks, and put the pins into their mouths\nthemselves. She therefore took all the pins from their clothes, sewing\nthem with thread instead of pinning them. But, notwithstanding, they\nraised, at times, at least thirty pins in her presence, and had terrible\nfits; in which fits they would cry out upon Amy Duny and Rose Cullender,\nsaying, that they saw them and heard them threatening, as before; that\nthey saw things like mice running about the house; and one of them catched\none, and threw it into the fire, which made a noise like a rat. Another\ntime the younger child, being out of doors, a thing like a bee would have\nforced itself into her mouth, at which the child ran screaming into the\nhouse, and before this examinant could come at her, fell into a fit, and\nvomited a twopenny nail, with a broad head. After that, this examinant\nasked the child how she came by this nail, when she answered, 'The bee\nbrought the nail, and forced it into my mouth.' At other times, the eldest\nchild told this examinant that she saw flies bring her crooked pins. She\nwould then fall into a fit, and vomit such pins. One time the said child\nsaid she saw a mouse, and crept under the table to look for it; and\nafterwards, the child seemed to put something into her apron, saying, 'She\nhad caught it.' She then ran to the fire, and threw it in, on which there\ndid appear to this examinant something like a flash of gunpowder, although\nshe does own she saw nothing in the child's hand. Once the child, being\nspeechless, but otherwise very sensible, ran up and down the house,\ncrying, 'Hush! hush!' as if she had seen poultry; but this examinant saw\nnothing. At last the child catched at something, and threw it into the\nfire. Afterwards, when the child could speak, this examinant asked her\nwhat she saw at the time? She answered that she saw a duck. Another time\nthe youngest child said, after a fit, that Amy Duny had been with her, and\ntempted her to drown herself, or cut her throat, or otherwise destroy\nherself. Another time they both cried out upon Amy Duny and Rose\nCullender, saying, 'Why don't you come yourselves? Why do you send your\nimps to torment us?'\"\n\nThe celebrated Sir Thomas Brown, the author of _Vulgar Errors_, was also\nexamined as a witness upon the trial. Being desired to give his opinion of\nthe three persons in court, he said he was clearly of opinion that they\nwere bewitched. He said there had lately been a discovery of witches in\nDenmark, who used the same way of tormenting persons, by conveying crooked\npins, needles, and nails into their bodies. That he thought, in such\ncases, the devil acted upon human bodies by natural means, namely, by\nexciting and stirring up the superabundant humours; he did afflict them in\na more surprising manner by the same diseases their bodies were usually\nsubject to; that these fits might be natural, only raised to a great\ndegree by the subtlety of the devil, co-operating with the malice of these\nwitches.\n\n[Illustration: SIR THOMAS BROWN.]\n\nThe evidence being concluded, Sir Matthew Hale addressed the jury. He\nsaid, he would waive repeating the evidence, to prevent any mistake, and\ntold the jury there were two things they had to inquire into. First,\nWhether or not these children were bewitched; secondly, Whether these\nwomen did bewitch them. He said, he did not in the least doubt there were\nwitches; first, Because the Scriptures affirmed it; secondly, Because the\nwisdom of all nations, particularly our own, had provided laws against\nwitchcraft, which implied their belief of such a crime. He desired them\nstrictly to observe the evidence, and begged of God to direct their hearts\nin the weighty concern they had in hand, since, to condemn the innocent\nand let the guilty go free are both an abomination to the Lord.\n\nThe jury then retired, and in about half an hour returned a verdict of\nguilty upon all the indictments, being thirteen in number. The next\nmorning the children came with their father to the lodgings of Sir Matthew\nHale, very well, and quite restored to their usual health. Mr. Pacey,\nbeing asked at what time their health began to improve, replied, that they\nwere quite well in half an hour after the conviction of the prisoners.\n\nMany attempts were made to induce the unfortunate women to confess their\nguilt; but in vain, and they were both hanged.\n\nEleven trials were instituted before Chief Justice Holt for witchcraft,\nbetween the years 1694 and 1701. The evidence was of the usual character;\nbut Holt appealed so successfully in each case to the common sense of the\njury, that they were every one acquitted. A general feeling seemed to\npervade the country that blood enough had been shed upon these absurd\ncharges. Now and then, the flame of persecution burnt up in a remote\ndistrict; but these instances were no longer looked upon as mere matters\nof course. They appear, on the contrary, to have excited much attention; a\nsure proof, if no other were to be obtained, that they were becoming\nunfrequent.\n\nA case of witchcraft was tried in 1711, before Lord Chief Justice Powell;\nin which, however, the jury persisted in a verdict of guilty, though the\nevidence was of the usual absurd and contradictory character, and the\nenlightened judge did all in his power to bring them to a right\nconclusion. The accused person was one Jane Wenham, better known as the\nWitch of Walkerne; and the persons who were alleged to have suffered from\nher witchcraft were two young women, named Thorne and Street. A witness,\nnamed Mr. Arthur Chauncy, deposed, that he had seen Ann Thorne in several\nof her fits, and that she always recovered upon prayers being said, or if\nJane Wenham came to her. He related, that he had pricked the prisoner\nseveral times in the arms, but could never fetch any blood from her; that\nhe had seen her vomit pins, when there were none in her clothes or within\nher reach; and that he had preserved several of them, which he was ready\nto produce. The judge, however, told him that was needless, _as he\nsupposed they were crooked pins_.\n\nMr. Francis Bragge, another witness, deposed, that strange \"cakes\" of\nbewitched feathers having been taken from Ann Thorne's pillow, he was\nanxious to see them. He went into a room where some of these feathers\nwere, and took two of the cakes, and compared them together. They were\nboth of a circular figure, something larger than a crown piece; and he\nobserved that the small feathers were placed in a nice and curious order,\nat equal distances from each other, making so many radii of the circle, in\nthe centre of which the quill-ends of the feathers met. He counted the\nnumber of these feathers, and found them to be exactly thirty-two in each\ncake. He afterwards endeavoured to pull off two or three of them, and\nobserved that they were all fastened together by a sort of viscous matter,\nwhich would stretch seven or eight times in a thread before it broke.\nHaving taken off several of these feathers, he removed the viscous matter\nwith his fingers, and found under it, in the centre, some short hairs,\nblack and grey, matted together, which he verily believed to be cat's\nhair. He also said, that Jane Wenham confessed to him that she had\nbewitched the pillow, and had practised witchcraft for sixteen years.\n\nThe judge interrupted the witness at this stage, and said, he should very\nmuch like to see an enchanted feather, and seemed to wonder when he was\ntold that none of these strange cakes had been preserved. His lordship\nasked the witness why he did not keep one or two of them, and was informed\nthat they had all been burnt, in order to relieve the bewitched person of\nthe pains she suffered, which could not be so well effected by any other\nmeans.\n\nA man, named Thomas Ireland, deposed, that hearing several times a great\nnoise of cats crying and screaming about his house, he went out and\nfrightened them away, and they all ran towards the cottage of Jane Wenham.\nOne of them he swore positively had a face very like Jane Wenham's.\nAnother man, named Burville, gave similar evidence, and swore that he had\noften seen a cat with Jane Wenham's face. Upon one occasion he was in Ann\nThorne's chamber, when several cats came in, and among them the cat above\nstated. This witness would have favoured the court with a much longer\nstatement, but was stopped by the judge, who said he had heard quite\nenough.\n\nThe prisoner, in her defence, said nothing, but that \"she was a clear\nwoman.\" The learned judge then summed up, leaving it to the jury to\ndetermine whether such evidence as they had heard was sufficient to take\naway the prisoner's life upon the indictment. After a long deliberation\nthey brought in their verdict, that she was guilty upon the evidence. The\njudge then asked them whether they found her guilty upon the indictment of\nconversing with the devil in the shape of a cat? The sapient foreman very\ngravely answered, \"We find her guilty of _that_.\" The learned judge then\nvery reluctantly proceeded to pass sentence of death; but, by his\npersevering exertions, a pardon was at last obtained, and the wretched old\nwoman was set at liberty.\n\nIn the year 1716, a woman and her daughter--the latter only nine years of\nage--were hanged at Huntingdon for selling their souls to the devil, and\nraising a storm by pulling off their stockings and making a lather of\nsoap. This appears to have been the last judicial execution in England.\nFrom that time to the year 1736, the populace raised at intervals the old\ncry, and more than once endangered the lives of poor women by dragging\nthem through ponds on suspicion; but the philosophy of those who, from\ntheir position, sooner or later give the tone to the opinions and morals\nof the poor, was silently working a cure for the evil. The fear of witches\nceased to be epidemic, and became individual, lingering only in minds\nfettered by inveterate prejudice or brutalising superstition. In the year\n1736, the penal statute of James I. was finally blotted from the\nstatute-book, and suffered no longer to disgrace the advancing\nintelligence of the country. Pretenders to witchcraft, fortune-tellers,\nconjurors, and all their train, were liable only to the common punishment\nof rogues and impostors--imprisonment and the pillory.\n\nIn Scotland, the delusion also assumed the same phases, and was gradually\nextinguished in the light of civilisation. As in England, the progress of\nimprovement was slow. Up to the year 1665, little or no diminution of the\nmania was perceptible. In 1643, the General Assembly recommended that the\nprivy council should institute a standing commission, composed of any\n\"understanding gentlemen or magistrates,\" to try the witches, who were\nstated to have increased enormously of late years. In 1649, an act was\npassed, confirmatory of the original statute of Queen Mary, explaining\nsome points of the latter which were doubtful, and enacting severe\npenalties, not only against witches themselves, but against all who\ncovenanted with them, or sought by their means to pry into the secrets of\nfuturity, or cause any evil to the life, lands, or limbs of their\nneighbours. For the next ten years, the popular madness upon this subject\nwas perhaps more furious than ever; upwards of four thousand persons\nsuffered for the crime during that interval. This was the consequence of\nthe act of parliament and the unparalleled severity of the magistrates;\nthe latter frequently complained that for two witches they burned one day,\nthere were ten to burn the next: they never thought that they themselves\nwere the cause of the increase. In a single circuit, held at Glasgow, Ayr,\nand Stirling, in 1659, seventeen unhappy creatures were burned by judicial\nsentence for trafficking with Satan. In one day (November 7, 1661), the\nprivy council issued no less than fourteen commissions for trials in the\nprovinces. Next year, the violence of the persecution seems to have\nabated. From 1662 to 1668, although \"the understanding gentlemen and\nmagistrates\" already mentioned, continued to try and condemn, the High\nCourt of Justiciary had but one offender of this class to deal with, and\nshe was acquitted. James Welsh, a common pricker, was ordered to be\npublicly whipped through the streets of Edinburgh for falsely accusing a\nwoman of witchcraft; a fact which alone proves that the superior court\nsifted the evidence in these cases with much more care and severity than\nit had done a few years previously. The enlightened Sir George Mackenzie,\nstyled by Dryden \"the noble wit of Scotland,\" laboured hard to introduce\nthis rule into court, that the confessions of the witches should be held\nof little worth, and that the evidence of the prickers and other\ninterested persons should be received with distrust and jealousy. This was\nreversing the old practice, and saved many innocent lives. Though a firm\nbeliever both in ancient and modern witchcraft, he could not shut his eyes\nto the atrocities daily committed under the name of justice. In his work\non the Criminal Law of Scotland, published in 1678, he says, \"From the\nhorridness of this crime, I do conclude that, of all others, it requires\nthe clearest relevancy and most convincing probature; and I condemn, next\nto the witches themselves, those cruel and too forward judges who burn\npersons by thousands as guilty of this crime.\" In the same year, Sir John\nClerk plumply refused to serve as a commissioner on trials for witchcraft,\nalleging, by way of excuse, \"that he was not himself good conjuror enough\nto be duly qualified.\" The views entertained by Sir George Mackenzie were\nso favourably received by the Lords of Session, that he was deputed, in\n1680, to report to them on the cases of a number of poor women who were\nthen in prison awaiting their trial. Sir George stated that there was no\nevidence against them whatever but their own confessions, which were\nabsurd and contradictory, and drawn from them by severe torture. They were\nimmediately discharged.\n\nFor the next sixteen years the Lords of Session were unoccupied with\ntrials for witchcraft. Not one is entered upon the record. But in 1697 a\ncase occurred which equalled in absurdity any of those that signalised the\ndark reign of King James. A girl named Christiana Shaw, eleven years of\nage, the daughter of John Shaw of Bargarran, was subject to fits; and\nbeing of a spiteful temper, she accused her maid-servant, with whom she\nhad frequent quarrels, of bewitching her. Her story unfortunately was\nbelieved. Encouraged to tell all the persecutions of the devil which the\nmaid had sent to torment her, she in the end concocted a romance that\ninvolved twenty-one persons. There was no other evidence against them but\nthe fancies of this lying child, and the confessions which pain had\nextorted from them; but upon this no less than five women were condemned\nbefore Lord Blantyre and the rest of the commissioners, appointed\nspecially by the privy council to try this case. They were burned on the\nGreen at Paisley. The warlock of the party, one John Reed, who was also\ncondemned, hanged himself in prison. It was the general belief in Paisley\nthat the devil had strangled him lest he should have revealed in his last\nmoments too many of the unholy secrets of witchcraft. This trial excited\nconsiderable disgust in Scotland. The Rev. Mr. Bell, a contemporary\nwriter, observed that, in this business, \"persons of more goodness and\nesteem than most of their calumniators were defamed for witches.\" He adds,\nthat the persons chiefly to blame were \"certain ministers of too much\nforwardness and absurd credulity, and some topping professors in and about\nGlasgow.\"[34]\n\n    [34] Preface to _Law's Memorials_, edited by Sharpe.\n\nAfter this trial, there again occurs a lapse of seven years, when the\nsubject was painfully forced upon public attention by the brutal cruelty\nof the mob at Pittenween. Two women were accused of having bewitched a\nstrolling beggar who was subject to fits, or who pretended to be so, for\nthe purpose of exciting commiseration. They were cast into prison, and\ntortured until they confessed. One of them, named Janet Cornfoot,\ncontrived to escape, but was brought back to Pittenween next day by a\nparty of soldiers. On her approach to the town she was unfortunately met\nby a furious mob, composed principally of fishermen and their wives, who\nseized upon her with the intention of swimming her. They forced her away\nto the sea-shore, and tying a rope around her body, secured the end of it\nto the mast of a fishing-boat lying alongside. In this manner they ducked\nher several times. When she was half dead, a sailor in the boat cut away\nthe rope, and the mob dragged her through the sea to the beach. Here, as\nshe lay quite insensible, a brawny ruffian took down the door of his hut,\nclose by, and placed it on her back. The mob gathered large stones from\nthe beach and piled them upon her till the wretched woman was pressed to\ndeath. No magistrate made the slightest attempt to interfere; and the\nsoldiers looked on, delighted spectators. A great outcry was raised\nagainst this culpable remissness, but no judicial inquiry was set on foot.\nThis happened in 1704.\n\nThe next case we hear of is that of Elspeth Rule, found guilty of\nwitchcraft before Lord Anstruther, at the Dumfries circuit, in 1708. She\nwas sentenced to be marked in the cheek with a red-hot iron, and banished\nthe realm of Scotland for life.\n\nAgain there is a long interval. In 1718, the remote county of Caithness,\nwhere the delusion remained in all its pristine vigour for years after it\nhad ceased elsewhere, was startled from its propriety by the cry of\nwitchcraft. A silly fellow, named William Montgomery, a carpenter, had a\nmortal antipathy to cats; and somehow or other these animals generally\nchose his back-yard as the scene of their catterwaulings. He puzzled his\nbrains for a long time to know why he, above all his neighbours, should be\nso pestered. At last he came to the sage conclusion that his tormentors\nwere no cats, but witches. In this opinion he was supported by his\nmaid-servant, who swore a round oath that she had often heard the\naforesaid cats talking together in human voices. The next time the unlucky\ntabbies assembled in his back-yard, the valiant carpenter was on the\nalert. Arming himself with an axe, a dirk, and a broadsword, he rushed out\namong them. One of them he wounded in the back, a second in the hip, and\nthe leg of a third he maimed with his axe; but he could not capture any of\nthem. A few days afterwards, two old women of the parish died; and it was\nsaid, that when their bodies were laid out, there appeared upon the back\nof one the mark as of a recent wound, and a similar scar upon the hip of\nthe other. The carpenter and his maid were convinced that they were the\nvery cats, and the whole county repeated the same story. Every one was\nupon the look-out for proofs corroborative; a very remarkable one was soon\ndiscovered. Nanny Gilbert, a wretched old creature of upwards of seventy\nyears of age, was found in bed with her leg broken. As she was ugly enough\nfor a witch, it was asserted that she also was one of the cats that had\nfared so ill at the hands of the carpenter. The latter, when informed of\nthe popular suspicion, asserted that he distinctly remembered to have\nstruck one of the cats a blow with the back of his broadsword, which ought\nto have broken her leg. Nanny was immediately dragged from her bed and\nthrown into prison. Before she was put to the torture, she explained in a\nvery natural and intelligible manner how she had broken her limb; but this\naccount did not give satisfaction. The professional persuasions of the\ntorturer made her tell a different tale, and she confessed that she was\nindeed a witch, and had been wounded by Montgomery on the night stated;\nthat the two old women recently deceased were witches also, besides about\na score of others whom she named. The poor creature suffered so much by\nthe removal from her own home, and the tortures inflicted upon her, that\nshe died the next day in prison. Happily for the persons she had named in\nher confession, Dundas of Arniston, at that time the king's\nadvocate-general, wrote to the sheriff-depute, one Captain Ross of\nLittledean, cautioning him not to proceed to trial, the \"thing being of\ntoo great difficulty, and beyond the jurisdiction of an inferior court.\"\nDundas himself examined the precognition with great care, and was so\nconvinced of the utter folly of the whole case, that he quashed all\nfurther proceedings.\n\nWe find this same sheriff-depute of Caithness very active four years\nafterwards in another trial for witchcraft. In spite of the warning he had\nreceived that all such cases were to be tried in future by the superior\ncourts, he condemned to death an old woman at Dornoch, upon the charge of\nbewitching the cows and pigs of her neighbours. This poor creature was\ninsane, and actually laughed and clapped her hands at sight of \"the bonnie\nfire\" that was to consume her. She had a daughter who was lame both of her\nhands and feet, and one of the charges brought against her was, that she\nhad used this daughter as a pony in her excursions to join the devil's\nsabbath, and that the devil himself had shod her, and produced lameness.\n\nThis was the last execution that took place in Scotland for witchcraft.\nThe penal statutes were repealed in 1736; and, as in England, whipping,\nthe pillory, or imprisonment, were declared the future punishments of all\npretenders to magic or witchcraft.\n\nStill for many years after this the superstition lingered both in England\nand Scotland, and in some districts is far from being extinct even at this\nday. But before we proceed to trace it any further than to its legal\nextinction, we have yet to see the frightful havoc it made in continental\nEurope from the commencement of the seventeenth to the middle of the\neighteenth century. France, Germany, and Switzerland were the countries\nwhich suffered most from the epidemic. The number of victims in these\ncountries during the sixteenth century has already been mentioned; but at\nthe early part of the seventeenth, the numbers are so great, especially in\nGermany, that were they not to be found in the official records of the\ntribunals, it would be almost impossible to believe that mankind could\never have been so maddened and deluded. To use the words of the learned\nand indefatigable Horst,[35] \"the world seemed to be like a large madhouse\nfor witches and devils to play their antics in.\" Satan was believed to be\nat every body's call to raise the whirlwind, draw down the lightning,\nblight the productions of the earth, or destroy the health and paralyse\nthe limbs of man. This belief, so insulting to the majesty and beneficence\nof the Creator, was shared by the most pious ministers of religion. Those\nwho in their morning and evening prayers acknowledged the one true God,\nand praised him for the blessings of the seed-time and the harvest, were\nconvinced that frail humanity could enter into a compact with the spirits\nof hell to subvert his laws and thwart all his merciful intentions.\nSuccessive popes, from Innocent VIII. downwards, promulgated this\ndegrading doctrine, which spread so rapidly, that society seemed to be\ndivided into two great factions, the bewitching and the bewitched.\n\n    [35] _Zauberbibliothek_, Thiel 5.\n\nThe commissioners named by Innocent VIII. to prosecute the witch-trials in\nGermany were, Jacob Sprenger, so notorious for his work on demonology,\nentitled the _Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer to knock down Witches_; Henry\nInstitor, a learned jurisconsult; and the Bishop of Strasburgh. Bamberg,\nTr\u00e8ves, Cologne, Paderborn, and W\u00fcrzburg, were the chief seats of the\ncommissioners, who, during their lives alone, condemned to the stake, on a\nvery moderate calculation, upwards of three thousand victims. The number\nof witches so increased, that new commissioners were continually appointed\nin Germany, France, and Switzerland. In Spain and Portugal the Inquisition\nalone took cognisance of the crime. It is impossible to search the records\nof those dark, but now happily non-existing tribunals; but the mind\nrecoils with affright even to form a guess of the multitudes who perished.\n\nThe mode of trial in the other countries is more easily ascertained.\nSprenger in Germany, and Bodinus and Delrio in France, have left but too\nample a record of the atrocities committed in the much-abused names of\njustice and religion. Bodinus, of great repute and authority in the\nseventeenth century, says, \"The trial of this offence must not be\nconducted like other crimes. Whoever adheres to the ordinary course of\njustice perverts the spirit of the law, both divine and human. He who is\naccused of sorcery should never be acquitted, unless the malice of the\nprosecutor be clearer than the sun; for it is so difficult to bring full\nproof of this secret crime, that out of a million of witches not one would\nbe convicted if the usual course were followed!\" Henri Boguet, a\nwitch-finder, who styled himself \"The Grand Judge of Witches for the\nTerritory of St. Claude,\" drew up a code for the guidance of all persons\nengaged in the witch-trials, consisting of seventy articles, quite as\ncruel as the code of Bodinus. In this document he affirms, that a mere\nsuspicion of witchcraft justifies the immediate arrest and torture of the\nsuspected person. If the prisoner muttered, looked on the ground, and did\nnot shed any tears, all these were proofs positive of guilt! In all cases\nof witchcraft, the evidence of the child ought to be taken against its\nparent; and persons of notoriously bad character, although not to be\nbelieved upon their oaths on the ordinary occasions of dispute that might\narise between man and man, were to be believed, if they swore that any\nperson had bewitched them! Who, when he hears that this diabolical\ndoctrine was the universally received opinion of the ecclesiastical and\ncivil authorities, can wonder that thousands upon thousands of unhappy\npersons should be brought to the stake? that Cologne should for many years\nburn its three hundred witches annually? the district of Bamberg its four\nhundred? Nuremberg, Geneva, Paris, Toulouse, Lyons, and other cities,\ntheir two hundred?\n\nA few of these trials may be cited, taking them in the order of priority,\nas they occurred in different parts of the Continent. In 1595, an old\nwoman residing in a village near Constance, angry at not being invited to\nshare the sports of the country people on a day of public rejoicing, was\nheard to mutter something to herself, and was afterwards seen to proceed\nthrough the fields towards a hill, where she was lost sight of. A violent\nthunder-storm arose about two hours afterwards, which wet the dancers to\nthe skin, and did considerable damage to the plantations. This woman,\nsuspected before of witchcraft, was seized and imprisoned, and accused of\nhaving raised the storm, by filling a hole with wine, and stirring it\nabout with a stick. She was tortured till she confessed, and was burned\nalive the next evening.\n\n[Illustration: CITY OF LYONS.]\n\nAbout the same time two sorcerers in Toulouse were accused of having\ndragged a crucifix about the streets at midnight, stopping at times to\nspit upon and kick it, and uttering at intervals an exorcism to raise the\ndevil. The next day a hail-storm did considerable damage to the crops; and\na girl, the daughter of a shoemaker in the town, remembered to have heard\nin the night the execrations of the wizards. Her story led to their\narrest. The usual means to produce confession were resorted to. The\nwizards owned that they could raise tempests whenever they pleased, and\nnamed several persons who possessed similar powers. They were hanged, and\nthen burned in the market-place, and seven of the persons they had\nmentioned shared the same fate.\n\nHoppo and Stadlin, two noted wizards of Germany, were executed in 1599.\nThey implicated twenty or thirty witches, who went about causing women to\nmiscarry, bringing down the lightning of heaven, and making maidens bring\nforth toads. To this latter fact several girls were found to swear most\npositively! Stadlin confessed that he had killed seven infants in the womb\nof one woman.\n\nBodinus highly praises the exertions of a witch-finder named Nider, in\nFrance, who prosecuted so many that he could not calculate them. Some of\nthese witches could, by a single word, cause people to fall down dead;\nothers made women go with child three years instead of nine months; while\nothers, by certain invocations and ceremonies, could turn the faces of\ntheir enemies upside down, or twist them round to their backs. Although no\nwitness was ever procured who saw persons in this horrible state, the\nwitches confessed that they had the power and exercised it. Nothing more\nwas wanting to ensure the stake.\n\nAt Amsterdam a crazy girl confessed that she could cause sterility in\ncattle, and bewitch pigs and poultry by merely repeating the magic words\n_Turius und Shurius Inturius_! She was hanged and burned. Another woman in\nthe same city, named Kornelis van Purmerund, was arrested in consequence\nof some disclosures the former had made. A witness came forward and swore\nthat she one day looked through the window of her hut, and saw Kornelis\nsitting before a fire muttering something to the devil. She was sure it\nwas to the devil, because she heard him answer her. Shortly afterwards\ntwelve black cats ascended out of the floor, and danced on their hind legs\naround the witch for the space of about half an hour. They then vanished\nwith a horrid noise, and leaving a disagreeable smell behind them. She\nalso was hanged and burned.\n\nAt Bamberg, in Bavaria, the executions from the year 1610 to 1640 were at\nthe rate of about a hundred annually. One woman, suspected of witchcraft,\nwas seized because, having immoderately praised the beauty of a child, it\nhad shortly afterwards fallen ill and died. She confessed upon the rack\nthat the devil had given her the power to work evil upon those she hated,\nby speaking words in their praise. If she said with unwonted fervour,\n\"What a strong man!\" \"What a lovely woman!\" \"What a sweet child!\" the\ndevil understood her, and afflicted them with diseases immediately. It is\nquite unnecessary to state the end of this poor creature. Many women were\nexecuted for causing strange substances to lodge in the bodies of those\nwho offended them. Bits of wood, nails, hair, egg-shells, bits of glass,\nshreds of linen and woollen cloth, pebbles, and even hot cinders and\nknives, were the articles generally chosen. These were believed to remain\nin the body till the witches confessed or were executed, when they were\nvoided from the bowels, or by the mouth, nostrils, or ears. Modern\nphysicians have often had cases of a similar description under their care,\nwhere girls have swallowed needles, which have been voided on the arms,\nlegs, and other parts of the body. But the science of that day could not\naccount for these phenomena otherwise than by the power of the devil; and\nevery needle swallowed by a servant-maid cost an old woman her life. Nay,\nif no more than one suffered in consequence, the district might think\nitself fortunate. The commissioners seldom stopped short at one victim.\nThe revelations of the rack in most cases implicated half a score.\n\n[Illustration: BAMBERG.]\n\nOf all the records of the witch-trials preserved for the wonder of\nsucceeding ages, that of W\u00fcrzburg, from 1627 to 1629, is the most\nfrightful. Hauber, who has preserved this list in his _Acta et Scripta\nMagica_, says, in a note at the end, that it is far from complete, and\nthat there were a great many other burnings too numerous to specify. This\nrecord, which relates to the city only, and not to the province of\nW\u00fcrzburg, contains the names of one hundred and fifty-seven persons who\nwere burned in two years in twenty-nine burnings, averaging from five to\nsix at a time. The list comprises three play-actors, four innkeepers,\nthree common councilmen of W\u00fcrzburg, fourteen vicars of the cathedral, the\nburgomaster's lady, an apothecary's wife and daughter, two choristers of\nthe cathedral, G\u00f6bel Babelin, the prettiest girl in the town, and the\nwife, the two little sons and the daughter of the councillor Stolzenberg.\nRich and poor, young and old, suffered alike. At the seventh of these\nrecorded burnings, the victims are described as a wandering boy, twelve\nyears of age, and four strange men and women found sleeping in the\nmarket-place. Thirty-two of the whole number appear to have been vagrants,\nof both sexes, who, failing to give a satisfactory account of themselves,\nwere accused and found guilty of witchcraft. The number of children on the\nlist is horrible to think upon. The thirteenth and fourteenth burnings\ncomprised four persons, who are stated to have been a little maiden nine\nyears of age, a maiden still less, her sister, their mother, and their\naunt, a pretty young woman of twenty-four. At the eighteenth burning the\nvictims were two boys of twelve, and a girl of fifteen; at the nineteenth,\nthe young heir of the noble house of Rotenhahn, aged nine, and two other\nboys, one aged ten, and the other twelve. Among other entries appear the\nnames of Baunach, the fattest, and Steinacher, the richest burgher in\nW\u00fcrzburg. What tended to keep up the delusion in this unhappy city, and,\nindeed, all over Europe, was the number of hypochondriac and diseased\npersons who came voluntarily forward and made confession of witchcraft.\nSeveral of the victims in the foregoing list had only themselves to blame\nfor their fate. Many again, including the apothecary's wife and daughter\nalready mentioned, pretended to sorcery, and sold poisons, or attempted by\nmeans of charms and incantations to raise the devil. But throughout all\nthis fearful period the delusion of the criminals was as great as that of\nthe judges. Depraved persons who in ordinary times would have been thieves\nor murderers, added the desire of sorcery to their depravity, sometimes\nwith the hope of acquiring power over their fellows, and sometimes with\nthe hope of securing impunity in this world by the protection of Satan.\nOne of the persons executed at the first burning, a prostitute, was heard\nrepeating the exorcism which was supposed to have the power of raising the\narch enemy in the form of a goat. This precious specimen of human folly\nhas been preserved by Horst in his _Zauberbibliothek_. It ran as follows,\nand was to be repeated slowly, with many ceremonies and wavings of the\nhand:\n\n   \"Lalle, Bachera, Magotte, Baphia, Dajam,\n    Vagoth Heneche Ammi Nagaz, Adomator\n    Raphael Immanuel Christus, Tetragrammaton\n    Agra Jod Loi. K\u00f6nig! K\u00f6nig!\"\n\nThe two last words were uttered quickly, and with a sort of scream, and\nwere supposed to be highly agreeable to Satan, who loved to be called a\nking. If he did not appear immediately, it was necessary to repeat a\nfurther exorcism. The one in greatest repute was as follows, and was to be\nread backwards, with the exception of the last two words:\n\n   \"Anion, Lalle, Sabolos, Sado, Pater, Aziel\n    Adonai Sado Vagoth Agra, Jod,\n    Baphra! Komm! Komm!\"\n\nWhen the witch wanted to get rid of the devil, who was sometimes in the\nhabit of prolonging his visits to an unconscionable length, she had only\nto repeat the following, also backwards, when he generally disappeared,\nleaving behind him a suffocating smell:\n\n   \"Zellianelle Heotti Bonus Vagotha\n    Plisos sother osech unicus Beelzebub\n    Dax! Komm! Komm!\"\n\nThis nonsensical jargon soon became known to all the idle and foolish boys\nof Germany. Many an unhappy urchin, who in a youthful frolic had repeated\nit, paid for his folly the penalty of his life. Three, whose ages varied\nfrom ten to fifteen, were burned alive at W\u00fcrzburg for no other offence.\nOf course every other boy in the city became still more convinced of the\npower of the charm. One boy confessed that he would willingly have sold\nhimself to the devil, if he could have raised him, for a good dinner and\ncakes every day of his life, and a pony to ride upon. This luxurious\nyoungster, instead of being horsewhipped for his folly, was hanged and\nburned.\n\nThe small district of Lindheim was, if possible, even more notorious than\nW\u00fcrzburg for the number of its witch-burnings. In the year 1633 a famous\nwitch, named Pomp Anna, who could cause her foes to fall sick by merely\nlooking at them, was discovered and burned, along with three of her\ncompanions. Every year in this parish, consisting at most of a thousand\npersons, the average number of executions was five. Between the years 1660\nand 1664, the number consumed was thirty. If the executions all over\nGermany had been in this frightful proportion, hardly a family could have\nescaped losing one of its members.\n\nIn 1627, a ballad entitled the _Druten Zeitung_, or the _Witches'\nGazette_, was very popular in Germany. It detailed, according to the\ntitle-page of a copy printed at Smalcald in 1627, \"An account of the\nremarkable events which took place in Franconia, Bamberg, and W\u00fcrzburg,\nwith those wretches who from avarice or ambition have sold themselves to\nthe devil, and how they had their reward at last: set to music, and to be\nsung to the tune of Dorothea.\" The sufferings of the witches at the stake\nare explained in it with great minuteness, the poet waxing extremely witty\nwhen he describes the horrible contortions of pain upon their\ncountenances, and the shrieks that rent the air when any one of more than\ncommon guilt was burned alive. A trick resorted to in order to force one\nwitch to confess, is told in this doggrel as an excellent joke. As she\nobstinately refused to own that she was in league with the powers of evil,\nthe commissioners suggested that the hangman should dress himself in a\nbear's skin, with the horns, tail, and all the et-ceteras, and in this\nform penetrate into her dungeon. The woman, in the darkness of her cell,\ncould not detect the imposture, aided as it was by her own superstitious\nfears. She thought she was actually in the presence of the prince of hell;\nand when she was told to keep up her courage, and that she should be\nrelieved from the power of her enemies, she fell on her knees before the\nsupposed devil, and swore to dedicate herself hereafter, body and soul, to\nhis service. Germany is, perhaps, the only country in Europe where the\ndelusion was so great as to have made such detestable verses as these the\nfavourites of the people:\n\n     \"Man shickt ein Henkersknecht\n    Zu ihr in Gef\u00e4ngniss n'unter,\n      Den man hat kleidet recht,\n    Mit einer B\u00e4rnhaute,\n      Als wenns der Teufel w\u00e4r;\n    Als ihm die Drut anschaute\n      Meints ihr Buhl kam daher.\n\n    Sie sprach zu ihm behende,\n      Wie l\u00e4sst du mich so lang\n    In der Obrigkeit H\u00e4nde?\n      Hilf mir aus ihren Zwang,\n    Wie du mir hast verheissen,\n      Ich bin ja eben dein,\n    Thu mich aus der Angst entreissen\n      O liebster Buhle mein!\"[36]\n\n    [36] They sent a hangman's assistant down to her in her prison;\n         they clothed him properly in a bear's skin, as if he were the\n         devil. Him, when the witch saw, she thought he was her\n         familiar. She said to him quickly, \"Why hast thou left me so\n         long in the magistrate's hands? Help me out of their power,\n         as thou hast promised, and I will be thine alone. Help me\n         from this anguish, O thou dearest devil [or lover] mine!\"\n\nThis rare poet adds, that in making such an appeal to the hangman, the\nwitch never imagined the roast that was to be made of her, and puts in, by\nway of parenthesis, \"was not that fine fun!--_was das war f\u00fcr ein Spiel!_\"\nAs feathers thrown into the air shew how the wind blows, so this trumpery\nballad serves to shew the current of popular feeling at the time of its\ncomposition.\n\nAll readers of history are familiar with the celebrated trial of the\nMar\u00e9chale d'Ancre, who was executed in Paris in the year 1617. Although\nwitchcraft was one of the accusations brought against her, the real crime\nfor which she suffered was her ascendency over the mind of Mary of\nMedicis, and the consequent influence she exercised indirectly over the\nunworthy king, Louis XIII. Her coachman gave evidence that she had\nsacrificed a cock at midnight in one of the churches, and others swore\nthey had seen her go secretly into the house of a noted witch named\nIsabella. When asked by what means she had acquired so extraordinary an\ninfluence over the mind of the Queen Mother, she replied boldly that she\nexercised no other power over her than that which a strong mind can always\nexercise over the weak. She died with great firmness.\n\nIn two years afterwards, scenes far more horrible than any that had yet\ntaken place in France were enacted at Labourt, at the foot of the\nPyrenees. The parliament of Bourdeaux, scandalised at the number of\nwitches who were said to infest Labourt and its neighbourhood, deputed one\nof its own members, the noted Pierre de l'Ancre, and its president,\nEspaignel, to inquire into the matter, with full powers to punish the\noffenders. They arrived at Labourt in May, 1619. De l'Ancre wrote a book\nsetting forth all his great deeds in this battle against the powers of\nevil. It is full of obscenity and absurdity, but the facts may be relied\non as far as they relate to the number of trials and executions, and the\nstrange confessions which torture forced from the unhappy criminals.\n\nDe l'Ancre states as a reason why so many witches were to be found at\nLabourt, that the country was mountainous and sterile! He discovered many\nof them from their partiality to smoking tobacco. It may be inferred from\nthis that he was of the opinion of King James, that tobacco was the\n\"devil's weed.\" When the commission first sat, the number of persons\nbrought to trial was about forty a day. The acquittals did not average so\nmany as five per cent. All the witches confessed that they had been\npresent at the great Domdaniel, or Sabbath. At these saturnalia the devil\nsat upon a large gilded throne, sometimes in the form of a goat; sometimes\nas a gentleman, dressed all in black, with boots, spurs, and sword; and\nvery often as a shapeless mass, resembling the trunk of a blasted tree,\nseen indistinctly amid the darkness. They generally proceeded to the\nDomdaniel, riding on spits, pitchforks, or broomsticks, and on their\narrival indulged with the fiends in every species of debauchery. Upon one\noccasion they had had the audacity to celebrate this festival in the very\nheart of the city of Bourdeaux. The throne of the arch fiend was placed in\nthe middle of the Place de Gallienne, and the whole space was covered with\nthe multitude of witches and wizards who flocked to it from far and near,\nsome arriving even from distant Scotland.\n\nAfter two hundred poor wretches had been hanged and burned, there seemed\nno diminution in the number of criminals to be tried. Many of the latter\nwere asked upon the rack what Satan had said when he found that the\ncommissioners were proceeding with such severity? The general reply was,\nthat he did not seem to care much about it. Some of them asserted that\nthey had boldly reproached him for suffering the execution of their\nfriends, saying, \"_Out upon thee, false fiend! thy promise was that they\nshould not die! Look, how thou hast kept thy word! They have been burned,\nand are a heap of ashes!_\" Upon these occasions he was never offended: he\nwould give orders that the sports of the Domdaniel should cease, and\nproducing illusory fires that did not burn, he encouraged them to walk\nthrough, assuring them that the fires lighted by the executioner gave no\nmore pain than those. They would then ask him, where their friends were,\nsince they had not suffered; to which the \"Father of Lies\" invariably\nreplied, that they were happy in a far country, and could see and hear all\nthat was then passing; and that, if they called by name those they wished\nto converse with, they might hear their voices in reply. Satan then\nimitated the voices of the defunct witches so successfully that they were\nall deceived. Having answered all objections, the orgies recommenced and\nlasted till the cock crew.\n\nDe l'Ancre was also very zealous in the trial of unhappy monomaniacs for\nthe crime of lycanthropy. Several who were arrested confessed, without\nbeing tortured, that they were _weir-wolves_, and that at night they\nrushed out among the flocks and herds killing and devouring. One young man\nat Besan\u00e7on, with the full consciousness of the awful fate that awaited\nhim, voluntarily gave himself up to the commissioner Espaignel, and\nconfessed that he was the servant of a strong fiend, who was known by the\nname of \"Lord of the Forests:\" by his power he was transformed into the\nlikeness of a wolf. The \"Lord of the Forests\" assumed the same shape; but\nwas much larger, fiercer, and stronger. They prowled about the pastures\ntogether at midnight, strangling the watch-dogs that defended the folds,\nand killing more sheep than they could devour. He felt, he said, a fierce\npleasure in these excursions, and howled in excess of joy as he tore with\nhis fangs the warm flesh of the sheep asunder. This youth was not alone in\nthis horrid confession; many others voluntarily owned that they were\n_weir-wolves_, and many more were forced by torture to make the same\navowal. Such criminals were thought to be too atrocious to be hanged first\nand then burned: they were generally sentenced to be burned alive, and\ntheir ashes to be scattered to the winds. Grave and learned doctors of\ndivinity openly sustained the possibility of these transformations,\nrelying mainly upon the history of Nebuchadnezzar. They could not imagine\nwhy, if he had been an ox, modern men could not become wolves by Divine\npermission and the power of the devil. They also contended that, if men\nshould confess, it was evidence enough, if there had been no other. Delrio\nmentions that one gentleman accused of lycanthropy was put to the torture\nno less than twenty times; but still he would not confess. An intoxicating\ndraught was then given him, and under its influence he confessed that he\nwas a _weir-wolf_. Delrio cites this to shew the extreme equity of the\ncommissioners. They never burned any body till he confessed; and if one\ncourse of torture would not suffice, their patience was not exhausted, and\nthey tried him again and again, even to the twentieth time! Well may we\nexclaim, when such atrocities have been committed in the name of religion,\n\n   \"Quel lion, quel tigre \u00e9gale en cruaut\u00e9,\n    Une injuste fureur qu'arme la pi\u00e9t\u00e9?\"\n\nThe trial of the unhappy Urbain Grandier, the curate of Loudun, for\nbewitching a number of girls in the convent of the Ursulines in that town,\nwas, like that of the Mar\u00e9chale d'Ancre, an accusation resorted to by his\nenemies to ruin one against whom no other charge could be brought so\nreadily. This noted affair, which kept France in commotion for months, and\nthe true character of which was known even at that time, merits no more\nthan a passing notice in this place. It did not spring from the epidemic\ndread of sorcery then so prevalent, but was carried on by wretched\nintriguers, who had sworn to have the life of their foe. Such a charge\ncould not be refuted in 1634: the accused could not, as Bodinus expresses\nit, \"make the malice of the prosecutors more clear than the sun;\" and his\nown denial, however intelligible, honest, and straightforward, was held as\nnothing in refutation of the testimony of the crazy women who imagined\nthemselves bewitched. The more absurd and contradictory their assertions,\nthe stronger the argument employed by his enemies that the devil was in\nthem. He was burned alive, under circumstances of great cruelty.[37]\n\n    [37] A very graphic account of the execution of this unfortunate\n         gentleman is to be found in the excellent romance of M.\n         Alfred de Vigny, entitled _Cinq Mars_; but if the reader\n         wishes for a full and accurate detail of all the\n         circumstances of one of the most extraordinary trials upon\n         record, he is referred to a work published anonymously, at\n         Amsterdam, in 1693, entitled _Histoire des Diables de Loudun,\n         ou de la Possession des Religieuses Ursulines, et de la\n         Condemnation et du Supplice d'Urbain Grandier_.\n\nA singular instance of the epidemic fear of witchcraft occurred at Lille,\nin 1639. A pious but not very sane lady, named Antoinette Bourignon,\nfounded a school, or _hospice_, in that city. One day, on entering the\nschoolroom, she imagined that she saw a great number of little black\nangels flying about the heads of the children. In great alarm she told her\npupils of what she had seen, warning them to beware of the devil whose\nimps were hovering about them. The foolish woman continued daily to repeat\nthe same story, and Satan and his power became the only subject of\nconversation, not only between the girls themselves, but between them and\ntheir instructors. One of them at this time ran away from the school. On\nbeing brought back and interrogated, she said she had not run away, but\nhad been carried away by the devil; she was a witch, and had been one\nsince the age of seven. Some other little girls in the school went into\nfits at this announcement, and, on their recovery, confessed that they\nalso were witches. At last the whole of them, to the number of fifty,\nworked upon each other's imaginations to such a degree that they also\nconfessed that they were witches--that they attended the Domdaniel, or\nmeeting of the fiends--that they could ride through the air on\nbroom-sticks, feast on infants' flesh, or creep through a key-hole.\n\nThe citizens of Lille were astounded at these disclosures. The clergy\nhastened to investigate the matter; many of them, to their credit, openly\nexpressed their opinion that the whole affair was an imposture--not so the\nmajority; they strenuously insisted that the confessions of the children\nwere valid, and that it was necessary to make an example by burning them\nall for witches. The poor parents, alarmed for their offspring, implored\nthe examining Capuchins with tears in their eyes to save their young\nlives, insisting that they were bewitched, and not bewitching. This\nopinion also gained ground in the town. Antoinette Bourignon, who had put\nthese absurd notions into the heads of the children, was accused of\nwitchcraft, and examined before the council. The circumstances of the case\nseemed so unfavourable towards her that she would not stay for a second\nexamination. Disguising herself as she best could, she hastened out of\nLille and escaped pursuit. If she had remained four hours longer, she\nwould have been burned by judicial sentence as a witch and a heretic. It\nis to be hoped that, wherever she went, she learned the danger of\ntampering with youthful minds, and was never again entrusted with the\nmanagement of children.\n\nThe Duke of Brunswick and the Elector of Menz were struck with the great\ncruelty exercised in the torture of suspected persons, and convinced, at\nthe same time, that no righteous judge would consider a confession\nextorted by pain, and contradictory in itself, as sufficient evidence to\njustify the execution of any accused person. It is related of the Duke of\nBrunswick that he invited two learned Jesuits to his house, who were known\nto entertain strong opinions upon the subject of witchcraft, with a view\nof shewing them the cruelty and absurdity of such practices. A woman lay\nin the dungeon of the city accused of witchcraft, and the duke, having\ngiven previous instructions to the officiating torturers, went with the\ntwo Jesuits to hear her confession. By a series of artful leading\nquestions the poor creature, in the extremity of her anguish, was induced\nto confess that she had often attended the sabbath of the fiends upon the\nBrocken; that she had seen two Jesuits there, who had made themselves\nnotorious, even among witches, for their abominations; that she had seen\nthem assume the form of goats, wolves, and other animals; and that many\nnoted witches had borne them five, six, and seven children at a birth, who\nhad heads like toads, and legs like spiders. Being asked if the Jesuits\nwere far from her, she replied that they were in the room beside her. The\nDuke of Brunswick led his astounded friends away, and explained the\nstratagem. This was convincing proof to both of them that thousands of\npersons had suffered unjustly; they knew their own innocence, and\nshuddered to think what their fate might have been if an enemy instead of\na friend had put such a confession into the mouth of a criminal. One of\nthese Jesuits was Frederick Spee, the author of the _Cautio Criminalis_,\npublished in 1631. This work, exposing the horrors of the witch-trials,\nhad a most salutary effect in Germany: Schonbrunn, Archbishop and Elector\nof Menz, abolished the torture entirely within his dominions, and his\nexample was imitated by the Duke of Brunswick and other potentates. The\nnumber of supposed witches immediately diminished, and the violence of the\nmania began to subside. The Elector of Brandenburg issued a rescript, in\n1654, with respect to the case of Anna of Ellerbrock, a supposed witch,\nforbidding the use of torture, and stigmatising the swimming of witches as\nan unjust, cruel, and deceitful test.\n\nThis was the beginning of the dawn after the long-protracted darkness. The\ntribunals no longer condemned witches to execution by hundreds in a year.\nW\u00fcrzburg, the grand theatre of the burnings, burned but one where, forty\nyears previously, it had burned three score. From 1660 to 1670 the\nelectoral chambers, in all parts of Germany, constantly commuted the\nsentence of death passed by the provincial tribunals into imprisonment for\nlife, or burning on the cheek.\n\n[Illustration: ROUEN.]\n\nA truer philosophy had gradually disabused the public mind. Learned men\nfreed themselves from the trammels of a debasing superstition, and\ngovernments, both civil and ecclesiastical, repressed the popular delusion\nthey had so long encouraged. The parliament of Normandy condemned a number\nof women to death, in the year 1670, on the old charge of riding on\nbroomsticks to the Domdaniel; but Louis XIV. commuted the sentence into\nbanishment for life. The parliament remonstrated, and sent the king the\nfollowing remarkable request. The reader will perhaps be glad to see this\ndocument at length. It is of importance, as the last effort of a\nlegislative assembly to uphold this great error; and the arguments they\nused and the instances they quoted are in the highest degree curious. It\nreflects honour upon the memory of Louis XIV. that he was not swayed by\nit.\n\n\"REQUEST OF THE PARLIAMENT OF ROUEN TO THE KING, IN 1670.\n\n\"SIRE,--Emboldened by the authority which your majesty has committed into\nour hands in the province of Normandy, to try and punish offences, and\nmore particularly those offences of the nature of witchcraft, which tend\nto the destruction of religion and the ruin of nations, we, your\nparliament, remonstrate humbly with your majesty upon certain cases of\nthis kind which have been lately brought before us. We cannot permit the\nletter addressed by your majesty's command to the attorney-general of this\ndistrict, for the reprieve of certain persons condemned to death for\nwitchcraft, and for the staying of proceedings in several other cases, to\nremain unnoticed, and without remarking upon the consequences which may\nensue. There is also a letter from your secretary of state, declaring your\nmajesty's intention to commute the punishment of these criminals into one\nof perpetual banishment, and to submit to the opinion of the\nprocureur-general, and of the most learned members of the parliament of\nParis, whether, in the matter of witchcraft, the jurisprudence of the\nparliament of Rouen is to be followed in preference to that of the\nparliament of Paris, and of the other parliaments of the kingdom which\njudge differently.\n\n\"Although by the ordinances of the kings your predecessors, parliaments\nhave been forbidden to pay any attention to _lettres de cachet_; we,\nnevertheless, from the knowledge which we have, in common with the whole\nkingdom, of the care bestowed by your majesty for the good of your\nsubjects, and from the submission and obedience to your commandments which\nwe have always manifested, have stayed all proceedings, in conformity to\nyour orders; hoping that your majesty, considering the importance of the\ncrime of witchcraft, and the consequences likely to ensue from its\nimpunity, will be graciously pleased to grant us once more your permission\nto continue the trials, and execute judgment upon those found guilty. And\nas, since we received the letter of your secretary of state, we have also\nbeen made acquainted with the determination of your majesty, not only to\ncommute the sentence of death passed upon these witches into one of\nperpetual banishment from the province, but to re-establish them in the\npossession of their goods and chattels, and of their good fame and\ncharacter, your parliament have thought it their duty, on occasion of\nthese crimes, the greatest which men can commit, to make you acquainted\nwith the general and uniform feelings of the people of this province with\nregard to them; it being, moreover, a question in which are concerned the\nglory of God and the relief of your suffering subjects, who groan under\ntheir fears from the threats and menaces of this sort of persons, and who\nfeel the effects of them every day in the mortal and extraordinary\nmaladies which attack them, and the surprising damage and loss of their\npossessions.\n\n\"Your majesty knows well that there is no crime so opposed to the commands\nof God as witchcraft, which destroys the very foundation of religion, and\ndraws strange abominations after it. It is for this reason, sire, that the\nScriptures pronounce the punishment of death against offenders, and that\nthe Church and the holy fathers have fulminated their anathemas, and that\ncanonical decisions have one and all decreed the most severe punishments,\nto deter from this crime; and that the Church of France, animated by the\npiety of the kings your predecessors, has expressed so great a horror at\nit, that, not judging the punishment of perpetual imprisonment, the\nhighest it has the power to inflict, sufficiently severe, it has left such\ncriminals to be dealt with by the secular power.\n\n\"It has been the general feeling of all nations that such criminals ought\nto be condemned to death, and all the ancients were of the same opinion.\nThe law of the 'Twelve Tables,' which was the principal of the Roman laws,\nordains the same punishment. All juris-consults agreed in it, as well as\nthe constitutions of the emperors, and more especially those of\nConstantine and Theodosius, who, enlightened by the Gospel, not only\nrenewed the same punishment, but also deprived, expressly, all persons\nfound guilty of witchcraft of the right of appeal, and declared them to be\nunworthy of a prince's mercy. And Charles VIII., sire, inspired by the\nsame sentiments, passed that beautiful and severe ordinance (_cette belle\net s\u00e9v\u00e8re ordonnance_), which enjoined the judges to punish witches\naccording to the exigencies of the case, under a penalty of being\nthemselves fined or imprisoned, or dismissed from their office; and\ndecreed, at the same time, that all persons who refused to denounce a\nwitch, should be punished as accomplices; and that all, on the contrary,\nwho gave evidence against one should be rewarded.\n\n\"From these considerations, sire, and in the execution of so holy an\nordinance, your parliaments, by their decrees, proportion their\npunishments to the guilt of the offenders; and your parliament of Normandy\nhas never, until the present time, found that its practice was different\nfrom that of other courts; for all the books which treat upon this matter\ncite an infinite number of decrees condemning witches to be burnt, or\nbroken on the wheel, or to other punishments. The following are\nexamples:--In the time of Chilperic, as may be seen in Gregory of Tours,\nb. vi. c. 35 of his _History of France_; all the decrees of the parliament\nof Paris passed according to, and in conformity with, this ancient\njurisprudence of the kingdom, cited by Imbert, in his _Judicial Practice_;\nall those cited by Monstrelet, in 1459, against the witches of Artois; the\ndecrees of the same parliament, of the 13th of October 1573, against Mary\nLe Fief, native of Saumur; of the 21st of October 1596, against the Sieur\nde Beaumont, who pleaded, in his defence, that he had only sought the aid\nof the devil for the purpose of unbewitching the afflicted and of curing\ndiseases; of the 4th of July 1606, against Francis du Bose; of the 20th of\nJuly 1582, against Abel de la Rue, native of Coulommiers; of the 2d of\nOctober 1593, against Rousseau and his daughter; of 1608, against another\nRousseau and one Peley, for witchcraft and adoration of the devil at the\nSabbath, under the figure of a he-goat, as confessed by them; the decree\nof 4th of February 1615, against Leclerc, who appealed from the sentence\nof the parliament of Orleans, and who was condemned for having attended\nthe Sabbath, and confessed, as well as two of his accomplices, who died in\nprison, that he had adored the devil, renounced his baptism and his faith\nin God, danced the witches' dance, and offered up unholy sacrifices; the\ndecrees of the 6th of May 1616, against a man named Leger, on a similar\naccusation; the pardon granted by Charles IX. to Trois Echelles, upon\ncondition of revealing his accomplices, but afterwards revoked for renewed\nsorcery on his part; the decree of the parliament of Paris, cited by\nMornac in 1595; the judgments passed in consequence of the commission\ngiven by Henry IV. to the Sieur de l'Ancre, councillor of the parliament\nof Bourdeaux; of the 20th of March 1619, against Etienne Audibert; those\npassed by the chamber of Nerac, on the 26th of June 1620, against several\nwitches; those passed by the parliament of Toulouse in 1577, as cited by\nGregory Tolosanus, against four hundred persons accused of this crime, and\nwho were all marked with the sign of the devil. Besides all these, we\nmight recal to your majesty's recollection the various decrees of the\nparliament of Provence, especially in the case of Gaufr\u00e9dy in 1611; the\ndecrees of the parliament of Dijon, and those of the parliament of Rennes,\nfollowing the example of the condemnation of the Marshal de Rays, who was\nburned in 1441, for the crime of witchcraft, in presence of the Duke of\nBrittany;--all these examples, sire, prove that the accusation of\nwitchcraft has always been punished with death by the parliaments of your\nkingdom, and justify the uniformity of their practice.\n\n\"These, sire, are the motives upon which your parliament of Normandy has\nacted in decreeing the punishment of death against the persons lately\nbrought before it for this crime. If it has happened that, on any\noccasion, these parliaments, and the parliament of Normandy among the\nrest, have condemned the guilty to a less punishment than that of death,\nit was for the reason that their guilt was not of the deepest dye; your\nmajesty, and the kings your predecessors, having left full liberty to the\nvarious tribunals to whom they delegated the administration of justice, to\ndecree such punishment as was warranted by the evidence brought before\nthem.\n\n\"After so many authorities, and punishments ordained by human and divine\nlaws, we humbly supplicate your majesty to reflect once more upon the\nextraordinary results which proceed from the malevolence of this sort of\npeople; on the deaths from unknown diseases, which are often the\nconsequences of their menaces, on the loss of the goods and chattels of\nyour subjects, on the proofs of guilt continually afforded by the\ninsensibility of the marks upon the accused, on the sudden transportation\nof bodies from one place to another, on the sacrifices and nocturnal\nassemblies, and other facts, corroborated by the testimony of ancient and\nmodern authors, and verified by so many eye-witnesses, composed partly of\naccomplices, and partly of people who had no interest in the trials beyond\nthe love of truth, and confirmed, moreover, by the confessions of the\naccused parties themselves; and that, sire, with so much agreement and\nconformity between the different cases, that the most ignorant persons\nconvicted of this crime have spoken to the same circumstances, and in\nnearly the same words, as the most celebrated authors who have written\nabout it, all of which may be easily proved to your majesty's satisfaction\nby the records of various trials before your parliaments.\n\n\"These, sire, are truths so intimately bound up with the principles of our\nreligion, that, extraordinary although they be, no person has been able to\nthis time to call them in question. If some have cited, in opposition to\nthese truths, the pretended canon of the Council of Ancyre, and a passage\nfrom St. Augustin, in a treatise upon the _Spirit and the Soul_, it has\nbeen without foundation; and it would be easy to convince your majesty\nthat neither the one nor the other ought to be accounted of any authority;\nand, besides that, the canon, in this sense, would be contrary to the\nopinion of all succeeding councils of the Church, Cardinal Baronius, and\nall learned commentators agree that it is not to be found in any old\nedition. In effect, in those editions wherein it is found, it is in\nanother language, and is in direct contradiction to the twenty-third canon\nof the same council, which condemns sorcery, according to all preceding\nconstitutions. Even supposing that this canon was really promulgated by\nthe Council of Ancyre, we must observe that it was issued in the second\ncentury, when the principal attention of the Church was directed to the\ndestruction of paganism. For this reason, it condemns that class of women\nwho said they could pass through the air, and over immense regions, with\nDiana and Herodias, and enjoins all preachers to teach the falsehood of\nsuch an opinion, in order to deter people from the worship of these false\ndivinities; but it does not question the power of the devil over the human\nbody, which is, in fact, proved by the holy Gospel of Jesus Christ\nhimself. And with regard, sire, to the pretended passage of St. Augustin,\neverybody knows that it was not written by him, because the writer,\nwhoever he was, cites Boetius, who died more than eighty years after the\ntime of St. Augustin. Besides, there is still more convincing proof in the\nfact, that the same father establishes the truth of witchcraft in all his\nwritings, and more particularly in his _City of God_; and in his first\nvolume, question the 25th, wherein he states that sorcery is a communion\nbetween man and the devil, which all good Christians ought to look upon\nwith horror.\n\n\"Taking all these things into consideration, sire, the officers of your\nparliament hope, from the justice of your majesty, that you will be\ngraciously pleased to receive the humble remonstrances they have taken the\nliberty to make. They are compelled, for the acquittal of their own\nconsciences and in discharge of their duty, to make known to your majesty,\nthat the decrees they passed against the sorcerers and witches brought\nbefore them, were passed after a mature deliberation on the part of all\nthe judges present, and that nothing has been done therein which is not\nconformable to the universal jurisprudence of the kingdom, and for the\ngeneral welfare of your majesty's subjects, of whom there is not one who\ncan say that he is secure from the malevolence of such criminals. We\ntherefore supplicate your majesty to suffer us to carry into effect the\nsentences we passed, and to proceed with the trial of the other persons\naccused of the same crime; and that the piety of your majesty will not\nsuffer to be introduced during your reign an opinion contrary to the\nprinciples of that holy religion for which you have always employed so\ngloriously both your cares and your arms.\"\n\nLouis, as we have already mentioned, paid no attention to this appeal. The\nlives of the old women were spared, and prosecutions for mere witchcraft,\nunconnected with other offences, were discontinued throughout France. In\n1680 an act was passed for the punishment, not of witches, but of\npretenders to witchcraft, fortune-tellers, divineresses, and poisoners.\n\nThus the light broke in upon Germany, France, England, and Scotland about\nthe same time, gradually growing clearer and clearer till the middle of\nthe eighteenth century, when witchcraft was finally reckoned amongst\nexploded doctrines, and the belief in it confined to the uttermost vulgar.\nTwice, however, did the madness burst forth again as furious, while it\nlasted, as ever it had been. The first time in Sweden, in 1669, and the\nsecond in Germany so late as 1749. Both these instances merit particular\nmention. The first is one of the most extraordinary upon record, and for\natrocity and absurdity is unsurpassed in the annals of any nation.\n\nIt having been reported to the king of Sweden that the little village of\nMohra, in the province of Dalecarlia, was troubled exceedingly with\nwitches, he appointed a commission of clergy and laymen to trace the\nrumour to its source, with full powers to punish the guilty. On the 12th\nof August 1669, the commissioners arrived in the bewitched village, to the\ngreat joy of the credulous inhabitants. On the following day the whole\npopulation, amounting to three thousand persons, assembled in the church.\nA sermon was preached, \"declaring the miserable case of those people that\nsuffered themselves to be deluded by the devil,\" and fervent prayer was\noffered up that God would remove the scourge from among them.\n\n[Illustration: LOUIS XIV.]\n\nThe whole assembly then adjourned to the rector's house, filling all the\nstreet before it, when the king's commission was read, charging every\nperson who knew any thing of the witchery, to come forward and declare the\ntruth. A passion of tears seized upon the multitude; men, women, and\nchildren began to weep and sob, and all promised to divulge what they had\nheard or knew. In this frame of mind they were dismissed to their homes.\nOn the following day they were again called together, when the depositions\nof several persons were taken publicly before them all. The result was\nthat seventy persons, including fifteen children, were taken into custody.\nNumbers also were arrested in the neighbouring district of Elfdale. Being\nput to the torture, they all confessed their guilt. They said they used to\ngo to a gravel-pit, that lay hard by the cross-way, where they put a vest\nupon their heads, and danced \"round and round and round about.\" They then\nwent to the cross-way, and called three times upon the devil; the first\ntime in a low still voice; the second, somewhat louder; and the third,\nvery loudly, with these words, \"Antecessor, come, and carry us to\nBlockula!\" This invocation never failed to bring him to their view. He\ngenerally appeared as a little old man, in a grey coat, with red and blue\nstockings, with exceedingly long garters. He had besides a very\nhigh-crowned hat, with bands of many-coloured linen enfolded about it, and\na long red beard that hung down to his middle.\n\nThe first question he put to them was, whether they would serve him soul\nand body? On their answering in the affirmative, he told them to make\nready for the journey to Blockula. It was necessary to procure, in the\nfirst place, \"some scrapings of altars and filings of church clocks.\"\nAntecessor then gave them a horn with some salve in it, wherewith they\nanointed themselves. These preparations ended, he brought beasts for them\nto ride upon,--horses, asses, goats, and monkeys; and giving them a\nsaddle, a hammer, and a nail, uttered the word of command, and away they\nwent. Nothing stopped them. They flew over churches, high walls, rocks,\nand mountains, until they came to the green meadow where Blockula was\nsituated. Upon these occasions they carried as many children with them as\nthey could; for the devil, they said, \"did plague and whip them if they\ndid not procure him children, insomuch that they had no peace or quiet for\nhim.\"\n\nMany parents corroborated a part of this evidence, stating that their\nchildren had repeatedly told them that they had been carried away in the\nnight to Blockula, where the devil had beaten them black and blue. They\nhad seen the marks in the morning, but they soon disappeared. One little\ngirl was examined, who swore positively that she was carried through the\nair by the witches, and when at a great height she uttered the holy name\nof Jesus. She immediately fell to the ground, and made a great hole in her\nside. \"The devil, however, picked her up, healed her side, and carried her\naway to Blockula.\" She added (and her mother confirmed her statement),\nthat she had till that day \"an exceeding great pain in her side.\" This was\na clencher, and the nail of conviction was driven home to the hearts of\nthe judges.\n\nThe place called Blockula, whither they were carried, was a large house,\nwith a gate to it, \"in a delicate meadow, whereof they could see no end.\"\nThere was a very long table in it, at which the witches sat down; and in\nother rooms \"there were very lovely and delicate beds for them to sleep\nupon.\"\n\nAfter a number of ceremonies had been performed, by which they bound\nthemselves body and soul to the service of Antecessor, they sat down to a\nfeast composed of broth, made of colworts and bacon, oatmeal, bread and\nbutter, milk and cheese. The devil always took the chair, and sometimes\nplayed to them on the harp or the fiddle while they were eating. After\ndinner they danced in a ring, sometimes naked, and sometimes in their\nclothes, cursing and swearing all the time. Some of the women added\nparticulars too horrible and too obscene for repetition.\n\nOnce the devil pretended to be dead, that he might see whether his people\nregretted him. They instantly set up a loud wail, and wept three tears\neach for him; at which he was so pleased, that he jumped up among them,\nand hugged in his arms those who had been most obstreperous in their\nsorrow.\n\nSuch were the principal details given by the children, and corroborated by\nthe confessions of the full-grown witches. Any thing more absurd was never\nbefore stated in a court of justice. Many of the accused contradicted\nthemselves most palpably; but the commissioners gave no heed to\ndiscrepancies. One of them, the parson of the district, stated in the\ncourse of the inquiry, that on a particular night, which he mentioned, he\nhad been afflicted with a headache so agonising, that he could not account\nfor it otherwise than by supposing he was bewitched. In fact, he thought a\nscore of witches must have been dancing on the crown of his head. This\nannouncement excited great horror among the pious dames of the auditory,\nwho loudly expressed their wonder that the devil should have power to hurt\nso good a man. One poor witch, who lay in the very jaws of death,\nconfessed that she knew too well the cause of the minister's headache. The\ndevil had sent her with a sledge hammer and a large nail to drive into the\ngood man's skull. She had hammered at it for some time, but the skull was\nso enormously _thick_, that she made no impression upon it. Every hand was\nheld up in astonishment. The pious minister blessed God that his skull was\nso solid, and he became renowned for his thick head all the days of his\nlife. Whether the witch intended a joke does not appear, but she was\nlooked upon as a criminal more than usually atrocious. Seventy persons\nwere condemned to death on these so awful, yet so ridiculous confessions.\nTwenty-three of them were burned together in one fire in the village of\nMohra, in the presence of thousands of delighted spectators. On the\nfollowing day fifteen children were murdered in the same manner, offered\nup in sacrifice to the bloody Moloch of superstition. The remaining\nthirty-two were executed at the neighbouring town of Fahluna. Besides\nthese, fifty-six children were found guilty of witchcraft in a minor\ndegree, and sentenced to various punishments, such as running the\ngauntlet, imprisonment, and public whipping once a week for a twelvemonth.\n\nLong after the occurrence of this case, it was cited as one of the most\nconvincing proofs upon record of the prevalence of witchcraft. When men\nwish to construct or support a theory, how they torture facts into their\nservice! The lying whimsies of a few sick children, encouraged by foolish\nparents, and drawn out by superstitious neighbours, were sufficient to set\na country in a flame. If, instead of commissioners as deeply sunk in the\nslough of ignorance as the people they were sent amongst, there had been\ndeputed a few men firm in courage and clear in understanding, how\ndifferent would have been the result! Some of the poor children who were\nburned would have been sent to an infirmary; others would have been well\nflogged; the credulity of the parents would have been laughed at; and the\nlives of seventy persons spared. The belief in witchcraft remains in\nSweden to this day; but happily the annals of that country present no more\nsuch instances of lamentable aberration of intellect as the one just\ncited.\n\nIn New England, about the same time, the colonists were scared by similar\nstories of the antics of the devil. All at once a fear seized upon the\nmultitude, and supposed criminals were arrested day after day in such\nnumbers, that the prisons were found too small to contain them. A girl\nnamed Goodwin, the daughter of a mason, who was hypochondriac and subject\nto fits, imagined that an old Irish woman, named Glover, had bewitched\nher. Her two brothers, in whose constitutions there was apparently a\npredisposition to similar fits, went off in the same way, crying out that\nthe devil and Dame Glover were tormenting them. At times their joints were\nso stiff that they could not be moved; while at others, said the\nneighbours, they were so flexible, that the bones appeared softened into\nsinews. The supposed witch was seized, and as she could not repeat the\nLord's Prayer without making a mistake in it, she was condemned and\nexecuted.\n\nBut the popular excitement was not allayed. One victim was not enough; the\npeople waited agape for new disclosures. Suddenly two hysteric girls in\nanother family fell into fits daily, and the cry of witchcraft resounded\nfrom one end of the colony to the other. The feeling of suffocation in the\nthroat, so common in cases of hysteria, was said by the patients to be\ncaused by the devil himself, who had stuck balls in the windpipe to choke\nthem. They felt the pricking of thorns in every part of the body, and one\nof them vomited needles. The case of these girls, who were the daughter\nand niece of a Mr. Parvis, the minister of a Calvinist chapel, excited so\nmuch attention, that all the weak women in the colony began to fancy\nthemselves similarly afflicted. The more they brooded on it, the more\nconvinced they became. The contagion of this mental disease was as great\nas if it had been a pestilence. One after the other the women fainted\naway, asserting on their recovery that they had seen the spectres of\nwitches. Where there were three or four girls in a family, they so worked\neach upon the diseased imagination of the other, that they fell into fits\nfive or six times in a day. Some related that the devil himself appeared\nto them, bearing in his hand a parchment-roll, and promising that if they\nwould sign an agreement, transferring to him their immortal souls, they\nshould be immediately relieved from fits and all the ills of the flesh.\nOthers asserted that they saw witches only, who made them similar\npromises, threatening that they should never be free from aches and pains\ntill they had agreed to become the devil's. When they refused, the witches\npinched, or bit, or pricked them with long pins and needles. More than two\nhundred persons named by these mischievous visionaries were thrown into\nprison. They were of all ages and conditions of life, and many of them of\nexemplary character. No less than nineteen were condemned and executed\nbefore reason returned to the minds of the colonists. The most horrible\npart of this lamentable history is, that among the victims there was a\nlittle child only five years old. Some women swore that they had seen it\nrepeatedly in company with the devil, and that it had bitten them often\nwith its little teeth for refusing to sign a compact with the evil one. It\ncan hardly increase our feelings of disgust and abhorrence when we learn\nthat this insane community actually tried and executed a dog for the same\noffence!\n\nOne man, named Cory, stoutly refused to plead to the preposterous\nindictment against him. As was the practice in such cases, he was pressed\nto death. It is told of the Sheriff of New England, who superintended the\nexecution, that when this unhappy man thrust out his tongue in his mortal\nagony, he seized hold of a cane, and crammed it back again into the mouth.\nIf ever there were a fiend in human form, it was this sheriff: a man who,\nif the truth were known, perhaps plumed himself upon his piety--thought he\nwas doing God good service, and\n\n   \"Hoped to merit heaven by making earth a hell!\"\n\nArguing still in the firm belief of witchcraft, the bereaved people began\nto inquire, when they saw their dearest friends snatched away from them by\nthese wide-spreading accusations, whether the whole proceedings were not\ncarried on by the agency of the devil. Might not the great enemy have put\nfalse testimony into the mouths of the witnesses, or might not the\nwitnesses be witches themselves? Every man who was in danger of losing his\nwife, his child, or his sister, embraced this doctrine with avidity. The\nrevulsion was as sudden as the first frenzy. All at once, the colonists\nwere convinced of their error. The judges put a stop to the prosecutions,\neven of those who had confessed their guilt. The latter were no sooner at\nliberty than they retracted all they had said, and the greater number\nhardly remembered the avowals which agony had extorted from them. Eight\npersons, who had been tried and condemned, were set free; and gradually\ngirls ceased to have fits and to talk of the persecutions of the devil.\nThe judge who had condemned the first criminal executed on this charge,\nwas so smitten with sorrow and humiliation at his folly, that he set apart\nthe anniversary of that day as one of solemn penitence and fasting. He\nstill clung to the belief in witchcraft; no new light had broken in upon\nhim on that subject, but, happily for the community, the delusion had\ntaken a merciful turn. The whole colony shared the feeling; the jurors on\nthe different trials openly expressed their penitence in the churches; and\nthose who had suffered were regarded as the victims, and not as the\naccomplices of Satan.\n\nIt is related that the Indian tribes in New England were sorely puzzled at\nthe infatuation of the settlers, and thought them either a race inferior\nto, or more sinful than the French colonists in the vicinity, amongst\nwhom, as they remarked, \"the Great Spirit sent no witches.\"\n\nReturning again to the continent of Europe, we find that, after the year\n1680, men became still wiser upon this subject. For twenty years the\npopulace were left to their belief, but governments in general gave it no\naliment in the shape of executions. The edict of Louis XIV. gave a blow to\nthe superstition, from which it never recovered. The last execution in the\nProtestant cantons of Switzerland was at Geneva, in 1652. The various\npotentates of Germany, although they could not stay the trials, invariably\ncommuted the sentence into imprisonment, in all cases where the pretended\nwitch was accused of pure witchcraft, unconnected with any other crime. In\nthe year 1701, Thomasius, the learned professor at the University of\nHalle, delivered his inaugural thesis, _De Crimine Magi\u00e6_ which struck\nanother blow at the falling monster of popular error. But a faith so\nstrong as that in witchcraft was not to be eradicated at once: the\narguments of learned men did not penetrate to the villages and hamlets;\nbut still they achieved great things; they rendered the belief an\nunworking faith, and prevented the supply of victims, on which for so many\nages it had battened and grown strong.\n\nOnce more the delusion broke out; like a wild beast wounded to the death,\nit collected all its remaining energies for the final convulsion, which\nwas to shew how mighty it had once been. Germany, which had nursed the\nfrightful error in its cradle, tended it on its death-bed, and W\u00fcrzburg,\nthe scene of so many murders on the same pretext, was destined to be the\nscene of the last. That it might lose no portion of its bad renown, the\nlast murder was as atrocious as the first. This case offers a great\nresemblance to that of the witches of Mohra and New England, except in the\nnumber of its victims. It happened so late as the year 1749, to the\nastonishment and disgust of the rest of Europe.\n\n[Illustration: VIEW IN W\u00dcRZBURG.]\n\nA number of young women in a convent at W\u00fcrzburg fancied themselves\nbewitched; they felt, like all hysteric subjects, a sense of suffocation\nin the throat. They went into fits repeatedly; and one of them, who had\nswallowed needles, evacuated them at abscesses, which formed in different\nparts of the body. The cry of sorcery was raised, and a young woman, named\nMaria Renata S\u00e4nger, was arrested on the charge of having leagued with the\ndevil, to bewitch five of the young ladies. It was sworn on the trial that\nMaria had been frequently seen to clamber over the convent walls in the\nshape of a pig--that, proceeding to the cellar, she used to drink the best\nwine till she was intoxicated; and then start suddenly up in her own form.\nOther girls asserted that she used to prowl about the roof like a cat, and\noften penetrate into their chamber, and frighten them by her dreadful\nhowlings. It was also said that she had been seen in the shape of a hare,\nmilking the cows dry in the meadows belonging to the convent; that she\nused to perform as an actress on the boards of Drury Lane theatre in\nLondon, and, on the very same night, return upon a broomstick to W\u00fcrzburg,\nand afflict the young ladies with pains in all their limbs. Upon this\nevidence she was condemned, and burned alive in the market-place of\nW\u00fcrzburg.\n\nHere ends this frightful catalogue of murder and superstition. Since that\nday, the belief in witchcraft has fled from the populous abodes of men,\nand taken refuge in remote villages and districts too wild, rugged, and\ninhospitable to afford a resting-place for the foot of civilisation. Rude\nfishers and uneducated labourers still attribute every phenomenon of\nnature which they cannot account for, to the devil and witches. Catalepsy,\nthat wondrous disease, is still thought by ignorant gossips to be the work\nof Satan; and hypochondriacs, uninformed by science of the nature of their\nmalady, devoutly believe in the reality of their visions. The reader would\nhardly credit the extent of the delusion upon this subject in the very\nheart of England at this day. Many an old woman leads a life of misery\nfrom the unfeeling insults of her neighbours, who raise the scornful\nfinger and hooting voice at her, because in her decrepitude she is ugly,\nspiteful, perhaps insane, and realises in her personal appearance the\ndescription preserved by tradition of the witches of yore. Even in the\nneighbourhood of great towns the taint remains of this once widely-spread\ncontagion. If no victims fall beneath it, the enlightenment of the law is\nall that prevents a recurrence of scenes as horrid as those of the\nseventeenth century. Hundreds upon hundreds of witnesses could be found to\nswear to absurdities as great as those asserted by the infamous Matthew\nHopkins.\n\nIn the _Annual Register_ for 1760, an instance of the belief in witchcraft\nis related, which shews how superstition lingers. A dispute arose in the\nlittle village of Glen, in Leicestershire, between two old women, each of\nwhom vehemently accused the other of witchcraft. The quarrel at last ran\nso high that a challenge ensued, and they both agreed to be tried by the\nordeal of swimming. They accordingly stripped to their shifts--procured\nsome men, who tied their thumbs and great toes together, cross-wise, and\nthen, with a cart-rope about their middle, suffered themselves to be\nthrown into a pool of water. One of them sank immediately, but the other\ncontinued struggling a short time upon the surface of the water, which the\nmob deeming an infallible sign of her guilt, pulled her out, and insisted\nthat she should immediately impeach all her accomplices in the craft. She\naccordingly told them that, in the neighbouring village of Burton, there\nwere several old women as \"much witches as she was.\" Happily for her, this\nnegative information was deemed sufficient, and a student in astrology, or\n\"white-witch,\" coming up at the time, the mob, by his direction, proceeded\nforthwith to Burton in search of all the delinquents. After a little\nconsultation on their arrival, they went to the old woman's house on whom\nthey had fixed the strongest suspicion. The poor old creature on their\napproach locked the outer door, and from the window of an upstairs room\nasked what they wanted. They informed her that she was charged with being\nguilty of witchcraft, and that they were come to duck her; remonstrating\nwith her at the same time upon the necessity of submission to the ordeal,\nthat, if she were innocent, all the world might know it. Upon her\npersisting in a positive refusal to come down, they broke open the door\nand carried her out by force, to a deep gravel-pit full of water. They\ntied her thumbs and toes together and threw her into the water, where they\nkept her for several minutes, drawing her out and in two or three times by\nthe rope round her middle. Not being able to satisfy themselves whether\nshe were a witch or no, they at last let her go, or, more properly\nspeaking, they left her on the bank to walk home by herself, if she ever\nrecovered. Next day, they tried the same experiment upon another woman,\nand afterwards upon a third; but, fortunately, neither of the victims lost\nher life from this brutality. Many of the ringleaders in the outrage were\napprehended during the week, and tried before the justices at\nquarter-sessions. Two of them were sentenced to stand in the pillory and\nto be imprisoned for a month; and as many as twenty more were fined in\nsmall sums for the assault, and bound over to keep the peace for a\ntwelvemonth.\n\n\"So late as the year 1785,\" says Arnot, in his collection and abridgment\nof _Criminal Trials in Scotland_, \"it was the custom among the sect of\nSeceders to read from the pulpit an annual confession of sins, national\nand personal; amongst the former of which was particularly mentioned the\n'Repeal by parliament of the penal statute against witches, contrary to\nthe express laws of God.'\"\n\n[Illustration: LADY HATTON'S HOUSE, CROSS STREET, HATTON GARDEN.]\n\nMany houses are still to be found in England with the horse-shoe (the\ngrand preservative against witchcraft) nailed against the threshold. If\nany over-wise philosopher should attempt to remove them, the chances are\nthat he would have more broken bones than thanks for his interference. Let\nany man walk into Cross Street, Hatton Garden, and from thence into\nBleeding-heart Yard, and learn the tales still told and believed of one\nhouse in that neighbourhood, and he will ask himself in astonishment if\nsuch things can be in the nineteenth century. The witchcraft of Lady\nHatton, the wife of the famous Sir Christopher, so renowned for his\nelegant dancing in the days of Elizabeth, is as devoutly believed as the\nGospels. The room is to be seen where the devil seized her after the\nexpiration of the contract he had made with her, and bore her away bodily\nto the pit of Tophet: the pump against which he dashed her is still\npointed out, and the spot where her heart was found, after he had torn it\nout of her bosom with his iron claws, has received the name of\nBleeding-heart Yard, in confirmation of the story. Whether the horse-shoe\nstill remains upon the door of the haunted house, to keep away other\nwitches, is uncertain. A former inmate relates that, \"about twenty years\nago, more than one old woman begged for admittance repeatedly, to satisfy\nthemselves that it was in its proper place. One poor creature, apparently\ninsane, and clothed in rags, came to the door with a tremendous\ndouble-knock, as loud as that of a fashionable footman, and walked\nstraight along the passage to the horse-shoe. Great was the wonderment of\nthe inmates, especially when the woman spat upon the horse-shoe, and\nexpressed her sorrow that she could do no harm while it remained there.\nAfter spitting upon, and kicking it again and again, she coolly turned\nround and left the house, without saying a word to any body. This poor\ncreature perhaps intended a joke, but the probability is that she imagined\nherself a witch. In Saffron Hill, where she resided, her ignorant\nneighbours gave her that character, and looked upon her with no little\nfear and aversion.\"\n\nMore than one example of the popular belief in witchcraft occurred in the\nneighbourhood of Hastings so lately as the year 1830. An aged woman, who\nresided in the Rope-walk of that town, was so repulsive in her appearance,\nthat she was invariably accused of being a witch by all the ignorant\npeople who knew her. She was bent completely double; and though very old,\nher eye was unusually bright and malignant. She wore a red cloak, and\nsupported herself on a crutch: she was, to all outward appearance, the\nvery _beau ideal_ of a witch. So dear is power to the human heart, that\nthis old woman actually encouraged the popular superstition; she took no\npains to remove the ill impression, but seemed to delight that she, old\nand miserable as she was, could keep in awe so many happier and stronger\nfellow-creatures. Timid girls crouched with fear when they met her, and\nmany would go a mile out of their way to avoid her. Like the witches of\nthe olden time, she was not sparing of her curses against those who\noffended her. The child of a woman who resided within two doors of her was\nafflicted with lameness, and the mother constantly asserted that the old\nwoman had bewitched her. All the neighbours credited the tale. It was\nbelieved, too, that she could assume the form of a cat. Many a harmless\npuss has been hunted almost to the death by mobs of men and boys, upon the\nsupposition that the animal would start up before them in the true shape\nof Mother ----.\n\nIn the same town there resided a fisherman, who was the object of\nunceasing persecution, because it was said that he had sold himself to the\ndevil. It was currently reported that he could creep through a keyhole,\nand that he had made a witch of his daughter, in order that he might have\nthe more power over his fellows. It was also believed that he could sit on\nthe points of pins and needles and feel no pain. His brother fishermen put\nhim to this test whenever they had an opportunity. In the alehouses which\nhe frequented, they often placed long needles in the cushions of the\nchairs in such a manner that he could not fail to pierce himself when he\nsat down. The result of these experiments tended to confirm their faith in\nhis supernatural powers. It was asserted that he never flinched. Such was\nthe popular feeling in the fashionable town of Hastings a few years ago;\nvery probably it is the same now.\n\nIn the north of England, the superstition lingers to an almost\ninconceivable extent. Lancashire abounds with witch-doctors, a set of\nquacks who pretend to cure diseases inflicted by the devil. The practices\nof these worthies may be judged of by the following case, reported in the\n_Hertford Reformer_ of the 23d of June 1838. The witch-doctor alluded to\nis better known by the name of the _cunning man_, and has a large practice\nin the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham. According to the writer in the\n_Reformer_, the dupe, whose name is not mentioned, had been for about two\nyears afflicted with a painful abscess, and had been prescribed for\nwithout relief by more than one medical gentleman. He was urged by some of\nhis friends, not only in his own village but in neighbouring ones, to\nconsult the witch-doctor, as they were convinced he was under some evil\ninfluence. He agreed, and sent his wife to the _cunning man_, who lived in\nNew St. Swithin's, in Lincoln. She was informed by this ignorant impostor\nthat her husband's disorder was an infliction of the devil, occasioned by\nhis next-door neighbours, who had made use of certain charms for that\npurpose. From the description he gave of the process, it appears to be the\nsame as that employed by Dr. Fian and Gellie Duncan to work woe upon King\nJames. He stated that the neighbours, instigated by a witch, whom he\npointed out, took some wax and moulded it before the fire into the form of\nher husband, as near as they could represent him; they then pierced the\nimage with pins on all sides, repeated the Lord's Prayer backwards, and\noffered prayers to the devil that he would fix his stings into the person\nwhom that figure represented, in like manner as they pierced _it_ with\npins. To counteract the effects of this diabolical process, the\nwitch-doctor prescribed a certain medicine, and a charm to be worn next\nthe body, on that part where the disease principally lay. The patient was\nto repeat the 109th and 119th Psalms every day, or the cure would not be\neffectual. The fee which he claimed for this advice was a guinea.\n\nSo efficacious is faith in the cure of any malady, that the patient\nactually felt much better after a three weeks' course of this\nprescription. The notable charm which the quack had given was afterwards\nopened, and found to be a piece of parchment covered with some cabalistic\ncharacters and signs of the planets.\n\nThe next-door neighbours were in great alarm that the witch-doctor would,\non the solicitation of the recovering patient, employ some means to punish\nthem for their pretended witchcraft. To escape the infliction, they feed\nanother cunning man, in Nottinghamshire, who told them of a similar charm,\nwhich would preserve them from all the malice of their enemies. The writer\nconcludes by saying, that \"the doctor, not long after he had been thus\nconsulted, wrote to say, that he had discovered that his patient was not\nafflicted by Satan, as he had imagined, but by God, and would continue\nmore or less in the same state till his life's end.\"\n\nAn impostor carried on a similar trade in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge\nWells about the year 1830. He had been in practice for several years, and\ncharged enormous fees for his advice. This fellow pretended to be the\nseventh son of a seventh son, and to be endowed in consequence with\nmiraculous powers for the cure of all diseases, but especially of those\nresulting from witchcraft. It was not only the poor who employed him, but\nladies who rode in their carriages. He was often sent for from a distance\nof sixty or seventy miles by these people, who paid all his expenses to\nand fro, besides rewarding him handsomely. He was about eighty years of\nage, and his extremely venerable appearance aided his imposition in no\nslight degree. His name was Okey or Oakley.\n\nIn France, the superstition at this day is even more prevalent than it is\nin England. Garinet, in his history of Magic and Sorcery in that country,\ncites upwards of twenty instances which occurred between the years 1805\nand 1818. In the latter year no less than three tribunals were occupied\nwith trials originating in this humiliating belief: we shall cite only one\nof them. Julian Desbourdes, aged fifty-three, a mason, and inhabitant of\nthe village of Thilouze, near Bourdeaux, was taken suddenly ill, in the\nmonth of January 1818. As he did not know how to account for his malady,\nhe suspected at last that he was bewitched. He communicated this suspicion\nto his son-in-law Bridier, and they both went to consult a sort of idiot,\nnamed Baudouin, who passed for a conjuror or _white-witch_. This man told\nthem that Desbourdes was certainly bewitched, and offered to accompany\nthem to the house of an old man named Renard, who, he said, was\nundoubtedly the criminal. On the night of the 23d of January all three\nproceeded stealthily to the dwelling of Renard, and accused him of\nafflicting persons with diseases by the aid of the devil. Desbourdes fell\non his knees and earnestly entreated to be restored to his former health,\npromising that he would take no measures against him for the evil he had\ndone. The old man denied in the strongest terms that he was a wizard; and\nwhen Desbourdes still pressed him to remove the spell from him, he said he\nknew nothing about the spell, and refused to remove it. The idiot\nBaudouin, the _white-witch_, now interfered, and told his companions that\nno relief for the malady could ever be procured until the old man\nconfessed his guilt. To force him to confession they lighted some sticks\nof sulphur which they had brought with them for the purpose, and placed\nthem under the old man's nose. In a few moments he fell down suffocated\nand apparently lifeless. They were all greatly alarmed; and thinking that\nthey had killed the man, they carried him out and threw him into a\nneighbouring pond, hoping to make it appear that he had fallen in\naccidentally. The pond, however, was not very deep, and the coolness of\nthe water reviving the old man, he opened his eyes and sat up. Desbourdes\nand Bridier, who were still waiting on the bank, were now more alarmed\nthan before, lest he should recover and inform against them. They\ntherefore waded into the pond, seized their victim by the hair of the\nhead, beat him severely, and then held him under water till he was\ndrowned.\n\nThey were all three apprehended on the charge of murder a few days\nafterwards. Desbourdes and Bridier were found guilty of aggravated\nmanslaughter only, and sentenced to be burnt on the back, and to work in\nthe galleys for life. The _white-witch_ Baudouin was acquitted on the\nground of insanity.\n\nM. Garinet further informs us that France, at the time he wrote (1818),\nwas overrun by a race of fellows who made a trade of casting out devils\nand finding out witches. He adds also, that many of the priests in the\nrural districts encouraged the superstition of their parishioners by\nresorting frequently to exorcisms whenever any foolish persons took it\ninto their heads that a spell had been thrown over them. He recommended,\nas a remedy for the evil, that all these exorcists, whether lay or\nclerical, should be sent to the galleys, and felt assured that the number\nof witches would then very sensibly diminish.\n\nMany other instances of this lingering belief might be cited both in\nFrance and Great Britain, and indeed in every other country in Europe. So\ndeeply rooted are some errors, that ages cannot remove them. The poisonous\ntree that once overshadowed the land may be cut down by the sturdy efforts\nof sages and philosophers; the sun may shine clearly upon spots where\nvenomous things once nestled in security and shade; but still the\nentangled roots are stretched beneath the surface, and may be found by\nthose who dig. Another king like James I. might make them vegetate again;\nand, more mischievous still, another pope like Innocent VIII. might raise\nthe decaying roots to strength and verdure. Still it is consoling to think\nthat the delirium has passed away; that the raging madness has given place\nto a milder folly; and that we may now count by units the votaries of a\nsuperstition which in former ages numbered its victims by tens of\nthousands, and its votaries by millions.\n\n[Illustration: FLOATING A WITCH.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: PLACE DE GREVE.]\n\n\nTHE SLOW POISONERS.\n\n    _Pescara._ The like was never read of.\n\n    _Stephano._ In my judgment,\n    To all that shall but hear it, 'twill appear\n    A most impossible fable.\n\n    _Pescara._ Troth, I'll tell you,\n    And briefly as I can, by what degrees\n    They fell into this madness.--_Duke of Milan_.\n\n\nThe atrocious system of poisoning by poisons so slow in their operation as\nto make the victim appear, to ordinary observers, as if dying from a\ngradual decay of nature, has been practised in all ages. Those who are\ncurious in the matter may refer to Beckmann on secret poisons, in his\n_History of Inventions_, in which he has collected several instances of it\nfrom the Greek and Roman writers. Early in the sixteenth century the crime\nseems to have gradually increased, till in the seventeenth it spread over\nEurope like a pestilence. It was often exercised by pretended witches and\nsorcerers, and finally became a branch of education amongst all who laid\nany claim to magical and supernatural arts. In the twenty-first year of\nHenry VIII. an act was passed rendering it high treason. Those found\nguilty of it were to be boiled to death.\n\nOne of the first in point of date, and hardly second to any in point of\natrocity, is the murder by this means of Sir Thomas Overbury; which\ndisgraced the court of James I. in the year 1613. A slight sketch of it\nwill be a fitting introduction to the history of the poisoning mania,\nwhich was so prevalent in France and Italy fifty years later.\n\nRobert Kerr, a Scottish youth, was early taken notice of by James I., and\nloaded with honours, for no other reason that the world could ever\ndiscover than the beauty of his person. James, even in his own day, was\nsuspected of being addicted to the most abominable of all offences; and\nthe more we examine his history now, the stronger the suspicion becomes.\nHowever that may be, the handsome Kerr, lending his smooth cheek even in\npublic to the disgusting kisses of his royal master, rose rapidly in\nfavour. In the year 1613, he was made Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, and\ncreated an English peer by the style and title of Viscount Rochester.\nStill further honours were in store for him.\n\nIn this rapid promotion he had not been without a friend. Sir Thomas\nOverbury, the king's secretary--who appears, from some threats in his own\nletters, to have been no better than a pander to the vices of the king,\nand privy to his dangerous secrets--exerted all his backstair influence to\nforward the promotion of Kerr, by whom he was doubtless repaid in some way\nor other. Overbury did not confine his friendship to this--if friendship\never could exist between two such men--but acted the part of an\n_entremetteur_, and assisted Rochester to carry on an adulterous intrigue\nwith the Lady Frances Howard, the wife of the Earl of Essex. This woman\nwas a person of violent passions, and lost to all sense of shame. Her\nhusband was in her way, and to be freed from him she instituted\nproceedings for a divorce, on grounds which a woman of any modesty or\ndelicacy of feeling would die rather than avow. Her scandalous suit was\nsuccessful, and was no sooner decided than preparations on a scale of the\ngreatest magnificence were made for her marriage with Lord Rochester.\n\nSir Thomas Overbury, who had willingly assisted his patron to intrigue\nwith the Countess of Essex, seems to have imagined that his marriage with\nso vile a woman might retard his advancement. He accordingly employed all\nhis influence to dissuade him from it; but Rochester was bent on the\nmatch, and his passions were as violent as those of the countess. On one\noccasion, when Overbury and the viscount were walking in the gallery of\nWhitehall, Overbury was overheard to say, \"Well, my lord, if you do marry\nthat base woman, you will utterly ruin your honour and yourself. You shall\nnever do it with my advice or consent; and if you do, you had best look to\nstand fast.\" Rochester flung from him in a rage, exclaiming with an oath,\n\"I will be even with you for this.\" These words were the death-warrant of\nthe unfortunate Overbury. He had mortally wounded the pride of Rochester\nin insinuating that by his (Overbury's) means he might be lowered in the\nking's favour; and he had endeavoured to curb the burning passions of a\nheartless, dissolute, and reckless man.\n\nOverbury's imprudent remonstrances were reported to the countess; and from\nthat moment she also vowed the most deadly vengeance against him. With a\nfiendish hypocrisy, however, they both concealed their intentions; and\nOverbury, at the solicitation of Rochester, was appointed ambassador to\nthe court of Russia. This apparent favour was but the first step in a deep\nand deadly plot. Rochester, pretending to be warmly attached to the\ninterests of Overbury, advised him to refuse the embassy, which he said\nwas but a trick to get him out of the way. He promised, at the same time,\nto stand between him and any evil consequences which might result from his\nrefusal. Overbury fell into the snare, and declined the embassy. James,\noffended, immediately ordered his committal to the Tower.\n\nHe was now in safe custody, and his enemies had opportunity to commence\nthe work of vengeance. The first thing Rochester did was to procure, by\nhis influence at court, the dismissal of the Lieutenant of the Tower, and\nthe appointment of Sir Jervis Elwes, one of his creatures, to the vacant\npost. This man was but one instrument; and another being necessary, was\nfound in Richard Weston, a fellow who had formerly been shopman to a\ndruggist. He was installed in the office of under-keeper, and as such had\nthe direct custody of Overbury. So far all was favourable to the designs\nof the conspirators.\n\nIn the mean time the insidious Rochester wrote the most friendly letters\nto Overbury, requesting him to bear his ill-fortune patiently, and\npromising that his imprisonment should not be of long duration; for that\nhis friends were exerting themselves to soften the king's displeasure.\nStill pretending the extreme of sympathy for him, he followed up the\nletters by presents of pastry and other delicacies, which could not be\nprocured in the Tower. These articles were all poisoned. Occasionally,\npresents of a similar description were sent to Sir Jervis Elwes, with the\nunderstanding that these articles were not poisoned, when they were\nunaccompanied by letters: of these the unfortunate prisoner never tasted.\nA woman named Turner, who had formerly kept a house of ill-fame, and who\nhad more than once lent it to further the guilty intercourse of Rochester\nand Lady Essex, was the agent employed to procure the poisons. They were\nprepared by Dr. Forman, a pretended fortune-teller of Lambeth, assisted by\nan apothecary named Franklin. Both these persons knew for what purposes\nthe poisons were needed, and employed their skill in mixing them in the\npastry and other edibles, in such small quantities as gradually to wear\nout the constitution of their victim. Mrs. Turner regularly furnished the\npoisoned articles to the under-keeper, who placed them before Overbury.\nNot only his food but his drink was poisoned. Arsenic was mixed with the\nsalt he ate, and cantharides with the pepper. All this time his health\ndeclined sensibly. Daily he grew weaker and weaker; and with a sickly\nappetite craved for sweets and jellies. Rochester continued to condole\nwith him, and anticipated all his wants in this respect, sending him\nabundance of pastry, and occasionally partridges and other game, and young\npigs. With the sauce for the game, Mrs. Turner mixed a quantity of\ncantharides, and poisoned the pork with lunar-caustic. As stated on the\ntrial, Overbury took in this manner poison enough to have poisoned twenty\nmen; but his constitution was strong, and he still lingered. Franklin, the\napothecary, confessed that he prepared with Dr. Forman seven different\nsorts of poisons, viz. aquafortis, arsenic, mercury, powder of diamonds,\nlunar caustic, great spiders, and cantharides. Overbury held out so long\nthat Rochester became impatient, and in a letter to Lady Essex, expressed\nhis wonder that things were not sooner despatched. Orders were immediately\nsent by Lady Essex to the keeper to finish with the victim at once.\nOverbury had not been all this time without suspicion of treachery,\nalthough he appears to have had no idea of poison. He merely suspected\nthat it was intended to confine him for life, and to set the king still\nmore bitterly against him. In one of his letters he threatened Rochester\nthat unless he were speedily liberated, he would expose his villany to the\nworld. He says, \"You and I, ere it be long, will come to a public trial of\nanother nature.\" * * * \"Drive me not to extremities, lest I should say\nsomething that both you and I should repent.\" * * * \"Whether I live or\ndie, your shame shall never die, but ever remain to the world, to make you\nthe most odious man living.\" * * * \"I wonder much you should neglect him\nto whom such secrets of all kinds have passed.\" * * * \"Be these the fruits\nof common secrets, common dangers?\"\n\n[Illustration: SIR THOMAS OVERBURY.]\n\nAll these remonstrances, and hints as to the dangerous secrets in his\nkeeping, were ill calculated to serve him with a man so reckless as Lord\nRochester: they were more likely to cause him to be sacrificed than to be\nsaved. Rochester appears to have acted as if he thought so. He doubtless\nemployed the murderer's reasoning, that \"dead men tell no tales,\" when,\nafter receiving letters of this description, he complained to his paramour\nof the delay. Weston was spurred on to consummate the atrocity; and the\npatience of all parties being exhausted, a dose of corrosive sublimate was\nadministered to him in October 1613, which put an end to his sufferings,\nafter he had been for six months in their hands. On the very day of his\ndeath, and before his body was cold, he was wrapped up carelessly in a\nsheet, and buried without any funeral ceremony in a pit within the\nprecincts of the Tower.\n\nSir Anthony Weldon, in his _Court and Character of James I._, gives a\nsomewhat different account of the closing scene of this tragedy. He says,\n\"Franklin and Weston came into Overbury's chamber, and found him in\ninfinite torment, with contention between the strength of nature and the\nworking of the poison; and it being very like that nature had gotten the\nbetter in this contention, by the thrusting out of boils, blotches, and\nblains, they, fearing it might come to light by the judgment of\nphysicians, the foul play that had been offered him, consented to stifle\nhim with the bedclothes, which accordingly was performed; and so ended his\nmiserable life, with the assurance of the conspirators that he died by the\npoison; none thinking otherwise than these two murderers.\"\n\nThe sudden death, the indecent haste of the funeral, and the non-holding\nof an inquest upon the body, strengthened the suspicions that were afloat.\nRumour, instead of whispering, began to speak out; and the relatives of\nthe deceased openly expressed their belief that their kinsman had been\nmurdered. But Rochester was still all powerful at court, and no one dared\nto utter a word to his discredit. Shortly afterwards, his marriage with\nthe Countess of Essex was celebrated with the utmost splendour, the king\nhimself being present at the ceremony.\n\nIt would seem that Overbury's knowledge of James's character was deeper\nthan Rochester had given him credit for, and that he had been a true\nprophet when he predicted that his marriage would eventually estrange\nJames from his minion. At this time, however, Rochester stood higher than\never in the royal favour; but it did not last long--conscience, that busy\nmonitor, was at work. The tongue of rumour was never still; and Rochester,\nwho had long been a guilty, became at last a wretched man. His cheeks lost\ntheir colour--his eyes grew dim; and he became moody, careless, and\nmelancholy. The king, seeing him thus, took at length no pleasure in his\nsociety, and began to look about for another favourite. George Villiers,\nDuke of Buckingham, was the man to his mind: quick-witted, handsome, and\nunscrupulous. The two latter qualities alone were sufficient to recommend\nhim to James I. In proportion as the influence of Rochester declined, that\nof Buckingham increased. A falling favourite has no friends; and rumour\nwagged her tongue against Rochester louder and more pertinaciously than\never. A new favourite, too, generally endeavours to hasten by a kick the\nfall of the old one; and Buckingham, anxious to work the complete ruin of\nhis forerunner in the king's good graces, encouraged the relatives of Sir\nThomas Overbury to prosecute their inquiries into the strange death of\ntheir kinsman.\n\nJames was rigorous enough in the punishment of offences when he was not\nhimself involved. He piqued himself, moreover, on his dexterity in\nunravelling mysteries. The affair of Sir Thomas Overbury found him\ncongenial occupation. He set to work by ordering the arrest of Sir Jervis\nElwes. James, at this early stage of the proceedings, does not seem to\nhave been aware that Rochester was so deeply implicated. Struck with\nhorror at the atrocious system of slow poisoning, the king sent for all\nthe judges. According to Sir Anthony Weldon, he knelt down in the midst of\nthem, and said, \"My lords the judges, it is lately come to my hearing that\nyou have now in examination a business of poisoning. Lord! in what a\nmiserable condition shall this kingdom be (the only famous nation for\nhospitality in the world) if our tables should become such a snare, as\nthat none could eat without danger of life, and that Italian custom should\nbe introduced among us! Therefore, my lords, I charge you, as you will\nanswer it at that great and dreadful day of judgment, that you examine it\nstrictly, without favour, affection, or partiality. And if you shall spare\nany guilty of this crime, God's curse light on you and your posterity! and\nif I spare any that are guilty, God's curse light on me and my posterity\nfor ever!\"\n\n[Illustration: DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.]\n\nThe imprecation fell but too surely upon the devoted house of Stuart. The\nsolemn oath was broken, and God's curse _did_ light upon him and his\nposterity!\n\nThe next person arrested after Sir Jervis Elwes, was Weston, the\nunder-keeper; then Franklin and Mrs. Turner; and lastly, the Earl and\nCountess of Somerset, to which dignity Rochester had been advanced since\nthe death of Overbury.\n\nWeston was first brought to trial. Public curiosity was on the stretch.\nNothing else was talked of, and the court on the day of trial was crowded\nto suffocation. The _State Trials_ report, that Lord Chief Justice Coke\n\"laid open to the jury the baseness and cowardliness of poisoners, who\nattempt that secretly against which there is no means of preservation or\ndefence for a man's life; and how rare it was to hear of any poisoning in\nEngland, so detestable it was to our nation. But the devil had taught\ndivers to be cunning in it, so that they can poison in what distance of\nspace they please, by consuming the _nativum calidum_, or _humidum\nradicale_, in one month, two or three, or more, as they list, which they\nfour manner of ways do execute, viz. _haustu_, _gustu_, _odore_, and\n_contactu_.\"\n\n[Illustration: LORD COKE.]\n\nWhen the indictment was read over, Weston made no other reply than \"Lord\nhave mercy upon me! Lord have mercy upon me!\" On being asked how he would\nbe tried, he refused to throw himself upon a jury of his country, and\ndeclared that he would be tried by God alone. In this he persisted for\nsome time. The fear of the dreadful punishment for contumacy[38] induced\nhim at length to plead \"Not guilty,\" and take his trial in due course of\nlaw.\n\n    [38] The punishment for the contumacious was expressed by the\n         words _onere, frigore, et fame_. By the first was meant, that\n         the culprit should be extended on his back on the ground, and\n         weights placed over his body, gradually increased, until he\n         expired. Sometimes the punishment was not extended to this\n         length, and the victim being allowed to recover, underwent\n         the second portion, the _frigore_, which consisted in his\n         standing naked in the open air, for a certain space, in the\n         sight of all the people. The third, or _fame_, was more\n         dreadful, the statute saying, \"That he was to be preserved\n         with the coarsest bread that could be got, and water out of\n         the next sink, or puddle, to the place of execution; and that\n         day he had water he should have no bread, and that day he had\n         bread he should have no water;\" and in this torment he was to\n         linger as long as nature would hold out.\n\nAll the circumstances against him were fully proved, and he was found\nguilty and executed at Tyburn. Mrs. Turner, Franklin, and Sir Jervis Elwes\nwere also brought to trial, found guilty, and executed between the 19th of\nOctober and the 4th of December 1615; but the grand trial of the Earl and\nCountess of Somerset did not take place till the month of May following.\n\nOn the trial of Sir Jervis Elwes, circumstances had transpired, shewing a\nguilty knowledge of the poisoning on the part of the Earl of Northampton,\nthe uncle of Lady Somerset, and the chief falconer Sir Thomas Monson. The\nformer was dead; but Sir Thomas Monson was arrested and brought to trial.\nIt appeared, however, that he was too dangerous a man to be brought to the\nscaffold. He knew too many of the odious secrets of James I., and his\ndying speech might contain disclosures which would compromise the king. To\nconceal old guilt it was necessary to incur new: the trial of Sir Thomas\nMonson was brought to an abrupt conclusion, and himself set at liberty.\n\nAlready James had broken his oath. He now began to fear that he had been\nrash in engaging so zealously to bring the poisoners to punishment. That\nSomerset would be declared guilty there was no doubt, and that he looked\nfor pardon and impunity was equally evident to the king. Somerset, while\nin the Tower, asserted confidently that James would not _dare_ to bring\nhim to trial. In this he was mistaken; but James was in an agony. What the\nsecret was between them will now never be known with certainty; but it may\nbe surmised. Some have imagined it to be the vice to which the king was\naddicted; while others have asserted that it related to the death of\nPrince Henry, a virtuous young man, who had held Somerset in especial\nabhorrence. This prince died early, unlamented by his father, and, as\npublic opinion whispered at the time, poisoned by Somerset. Probably some\ncrime or other lay heavy upon the soul of the king; and Somerset, his\naccomplice, could not be brought to public execution with safety. Hence\nthe dreadful tortures of James when he discovered that his favourite was\nso deeply implicated in the murder of Overbury. Every means was taken by\nthe agonised king to bring the prisoner into what was called a safe frame\nof mind. He was secretly advised to plead guilty, and trust to the\nclemency of the king. The same advice was conveyed to the countess. Bacon\nwas instructed by the king to draw up a paper of all the points of \"mercy\nand favour\" to Somerset which might result from the evidence; and Somerset\nwas again recommended to plead guilty, and promised that no evil should\nensue to him.\n\n[Illustration: THE EARL OF SOMERSET.]\n\nThe countess was first tried. She trembled and shed tears during the\nreading of the indictment, and, in a low voice, pleaded guilty. On being\nasked why sentence of death should not be passed against her, she replied\nmeekly, \"I can much aggravate, but nothing extenuate my fault. I desire\nmercy, and that the lords will intercede for me with the king.\" Sentence\nof death was passed upon her.\n\nNext day the earl was brought to trial. He appears to have mistrusted the\npromises of James, and he pleaded not guilty. With a self-possession and\nconfidence which he felt, probably, from his knowledge of the king's\ncharacter, he rigorously cross-examined the witnesses, and made a stubborn\ndefence. After a trial which lasted eleven hours he was found guilty, and\ncondemned to the felon's death.\n\n[Illustration: THE COUNTESS OF SOMERSET.]\n\nWhatever may have been the secrets between the criminal and the king, the\nlatter, notwithstanding his terrific oath, was afraid to sign the\ndeath-warrant. It might, perchance, have been his own. The earl and\ncountess were committed to the Tower, where they remained for nearly five\nyears. At the end of this period, to the surprise and scandal of the\ncommunity, and the disgrace of its chief magistrate, they both received\nthe royal pardon, but were ordered to reside at a distance from the court.\nHaving been found guilty of felony, the estates of the earl had become\nforfeited; but James granted him out of their revenues an income of\n4000l. per annum! Shamelessness could go no further.\n\nOf the after-life of these criminals nothing is known, except that the\nlove they had formerly borne each other was changed into aversion, and\nthat they lived under the same roof for months together without the\ninterchange of a word.\n\nThe exposure of their atrocities did not put a stop to the practice of\npoisoning. On the contrary, as we shall see hereafter, it engendered that\ninsane imitation which is so strange a feature of the human character.\nJames himself is supposed, with great probability, to have fallen a victim\nto it. In the notes to Harris's _Life and Writings of James I._, there is\na good deal of information on the subject. The guilt of Buckingham,\nalthough not fully established, rests upon circumstances of suspicion\nstronger than have been sufficient to lead hundreds to the scaffold. His\nmotives for committing the crime are stated to have been a desire of\nrevenge for the coldness with which the king, in the latter years of his\nreign, began to regard him; his fear that James intended to degrade him;\nand his hope that the great influence he possessed over the mind of the\nheir-apparent would last through a new reign, if the old one were brought\nto a close.\n\nIn the second volume of the _Harleian Miscellany_, there is a tract,\nentitled the _Forerunner of Revenge_, written by George Eglisham, doctor\nof medicine, and one of the physicians to King James. Harris, in quoting\nit, says that it is full of rancour and prejudice. It is evidently\nexaggerated, but forms nevertheless a link in the chain of evidence.\nEglisham says, \"The king being sick of an ague, the duke took this\nopportunity, when all the king's doctors of physic were at dinner, and\noffered to him a white powder to take, the which he a long time refused;\nbut, overcome with his flattering importunity, he took it in wine, and\nimmediately became worse and worse, falling into many swoonings and pains,\nand violent fluxes of the belly, so tormented, that his majesty cried out\naloud of this white powder, 'Would to God I had never taken it!'\" He then\ntells us \"of the Countess of Buckingham (the duke's mother) applying the\nplaister to the king's heart and breast, whereupon he grew faint and\nshort-breathed, and in agony; that the physicians exclaimed that the king\nwas poisoned; that Buckingham commanded them out of the room, and\ncommitted one of them close prisoner to his own chamber, and another to be\nremoved from court; and that, after his majesty's death, his body and head\nswelled above measure; his hair, with the skin of his head, stuck to his\npillow, and his nails became loose on his fingers and toes.\" Clarendon,\nwho, by the way, was a partisan of the duke's, gives a totally different\naccount of James's death. He says, \"It was occasioned by an ague (after a\nshort indisposition by the gout), which, meeting many humours in a fat\nunwieldy body of fifty-eight years old, in four or five fits carried him\nout of the world,--after whose death many scandalous and libellous\ndiscourses were raised, without the least colour or ground, as appeared\nupon the strictest and most malicious examination that could be made, long\nafter, in a time of license, when nobody was afraid of offending majesty,\nand when prosecuting the highest reproaches and contumelies against the\nroyal family was held very meritorious.\" Notwithstanding this confident\ndeclaration, the world will hardly be persuaded that there was not some\ntruth in the rumours that were abroad. The inquiries which were instituted\nwere not strict, as he asserts, and all the unconstitutional influence of\nthe powerful favourite was exerted to defeat them. In the celebrated\naccusations brought against Buckingham by the Earl of Bristol, the\npoisoning of King James was placed last on the list; and the pages of\nhistory bear evidence of the summary mode in which they were, for the\ntime, got rid of.\n\nThe man from whom Buckingham is said to have procured his poisons was one\nDr. Lamb, a conjuror and empiric, who, besides dealing in poisons,\npretended to be a fortune-teller. The popular fury, which broke with\ncomparative harmlessness against his patron, was directed against this\nman, until he could not appear with safety in the streets of London. His\nfate was melancholy. Walking one day in Cheapside, disguised, as he\nthought, from all observers, he was recognised by some idle boys, who\nbegan to hoot and pelt him with stones, calling out, \"The poisoner! the\npoisoner! Down with the wizard! down with him!\" A mob very soon collected,\nand the doctor took to his heels and ran for his life. He was pursued and\nseized in Wood Street, and from thence dragged by the hair through the\nmire to St. Paul's Cross; the mob beating him with sticks and stones, and\ncalling out, \"Kill the wizard! kill the poisoner!\"\n\nCharles I., on hearing of the riot, rode from Whitehall to quell it; but\nhe arrived too late to save the victim. Every bone in his body was broken,\nand he was quite dead. Charles was excessively indignant, and fined the\ncity six hundred pounds for its inability to deliver up the ring-leaders\nto justice.\n\n[Illustration: PAUL'S CROSS; SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.]\n\nBut it was in Italy that poisoning was most prevalent. From a very early\nperiod, it seems to have been looked upon in that country as a perfectly\njustifiable means of getting rid of an enemy. The Italians of the\nsixteenth and seventeenth centuries poisoned their opponents with as\nlittle compunction as an Englishman of the present day brings an action at\nlaw against any one who has done him an injury. The writings of\ncontemporary authors inform us that, when La Spara and La Tophania carried\non their infernal trade, ladies put poison-bottles on their\ndressing-tables as openly, and used them with as little scruple upon\nothers, as modern dames use _Eau de Cologne_ or lavender-water upon\nthemselves. So powerful is the influence of fashion, it can even cause\nmurder to be regarded as a venial peccadillo.\n\nIn the memoirs of the last Duke of Guise, who made a Quixotic attempt, in\n1648, to seize upon the government of Naples, we find some curious\nparticulars relative to the popular feeling with regard to poisoning. A\nman named Gennaro Annese, who, after the short and extraordinary career of\nMasaniello the fisherman, had established himself as a sort of\ncaptain-general of the populace, rendered himself so obnoxious to the Duke\nof Guise, that the adherents of the latter determined to murder him. The\ncaptain of the guard, as the duke himself very coolly informs us, was\nrequested to undertake this office. It was suggested to him that the\n_poniard_ would be the most effectual instrument, but the man turned up\nhis eyes with pious horror at the proposition. He was ready to _poison_\nGennaro Annese whenever he might be called upon to do so; but to poniard\nhim, he said, would be disgraceful, and unbecoming an officer of the\nguards! At last, poison was agreed upon, and Augustino Molla, an attorney\nin the duke's confidence, brought the bottle containing the liquid to shew\nit to his master. The following is the Duke's own account:\n\n\"Augustino came to me at night, and told me: 'I have brought you something\nwhich will free you from Gennaro. He deserves death, and it is no great\nmatter after what fashion justice is done upon him. Look at this vial,\nfull of clear and beautiful water: in four days' time, it will punish all\nhis treasons. The captain of the guard has undertaken to give it him; and\nas it has no taste at all, Gennaro will suspect nothing.'\"\n\nThe duke further informs us that the dose was duly administered; but that\nGennaro, fortunately for himself, ate nothing for dinner that day but\ncabbage dressed with oil, which acting as an antidote, caused him to vomit\nprofusely, and saved his life. He was exceedingly ill for five days, but\nnever suspected that he had been poisoned.\n\nIn process of time, poison-vending became a profitable trade. Eleven years\nafter this period, it was carried on at Rome to such an extent, that the\nsluggish government was roused to interference. Beckmann, in his _History\nof Inventions_, and Lebret, in his _Magazin zum Gebrauche der Staaten\nKirche Geschichte_, or _Magazine of Materials for a History of a State\nChurch_, relates that, in the year 1659, it was made known to Pope\nAlexander VII. that great numbers of young women had avowed in the\nconfessional that they had poisoned their husbands with slow poisons. The\nCatholic clergy, who in general hold the secrets of the confessional so\nsacred, were shocked and alarmed at the extraordinary prevalence of the\ncrime. Although they refrained from revealing the names of the penitents,\nthey conceived themselves bound to apprise the head of the Church of the\nenormities that were practised. It was also the subject of general\nconversation in Rome that young widows were unusually abundant. It was\nremarked, too, that if any couple lived unhappily together, the husband\nsoon took ill and died. The papal authorities, when once they began to\ninquire, soon learned that a society of young wives had been formed, and\nmet nightly, for some mysterious purpose, at the house of an old woman\nnamed Hieronyma Spara. This hag was a reputed witch and fortune-teller,\nand acted as president of the young viragos, several of whom, it was\nafterwards ascertained, belonged to the first families of Rome.\n\nIn order to have positive evidence of the practices of this female\nconclave, a lady was employed by the government to seek an interview with\nthem. She dressed herself out in the most magnificent style; and having\nbeen amply provided with money, she found but little difficulty, when she\nhad stated her object, of procuring an audience of La Spara and her\nsisterhood. She pretended to be in extreme distress of mind on account of\nthe infidelities and ill-treatment of her husband, and implored La Spara\nto furnish her with a few drops of the wonderful elixir, the efficacy of\nwhich in sending cruel husbands to \"their last long sleep\" was so much\nvaunted by the ladies of Rome. La Spara fell into the snare, and sold her\nsome of her \"drops\" at a price commensurate with the supposed wealth of\nthe purchaser.\n\nThe liquor thus obtained was subjected to an analysis, and found to be, as\nwas suspected, a slow poison; clear, tasteless, and limpid, like that\nspoken of by the Duke of Guise. Upon this evidence, the house was\nsurrounded by the police, and La Spara and her companions taken into\ncustody. La Spara, who is described as having been a little ugly old\nwoman, was put to the torture, but obstinately refused to confess her\nguilt. Another of the women, named La Gratiosa, had less firmness, and\nlaid bare all the secrets of the infernal sisterhood. Taking a confession\nextorted by anguish on the rack at its true value (nothing at all), there\nis still sufficient evidence to warrant posterity in the belief of their\nguilt. They were found guilty, and condemned, according to their degrees\nof culpability, to various punishments. La Spara, Gratiosa, and three\nyoung women, who had poisoned their husbands, were hanged together at\nRome. Upwards of thirty women were whipped publicly through the streets;\nand several, whose high rank screened them from more degrading punishment,\nwere banished from the country, and mulcted in heavy fines. In a few\nmonths afterwards, nine women more were hanged for poisoning; and another\nbevy, including many young and beautiful girls, were whipped half naked\nthrough the streets of Rome.\n\nThis severity did not put a stop to the practice, and jealous women and\navaricious men, anxious to step into the inheritance of fathers, uncles,\nor brothers, resorted to poison. As it was quite free from taste, colour,\nand smell, it was administered without exciting suspicion. The skilful\nvendors compounded it of different degrees of strength, so that the\npoisoners had only to say whether they wanted their victims to die in a\nweek, a month, or six months, and they were suited with corresponding\ndoses. The vendors were chiefly women, of whom the most celebrated was a\nhag named Tophania, who was in this way accessory to the death of upwards\nof six hundred persons. This woman appears to have been a dealer in\npoisons from her girlhood, and resided first at Palermo and then at\nNaples. That entertaining traveller, Father Lebat, has given, in his\nletters from Italy, many curious particulars relating to her. When he was\nat Civita Vecchia, in 1719, the Viceroy of Naples discovered that poison\nwas extensively sold in the latter city, and that it went by the name of\n_aqueta_, or little-water. On making further inquiry, he ascertained that\nTophania (who was by this time near seventy years of age, and who seems to\nhave begun her evil courses very soon after the execution of La Spara,)\nsent large quantities of it to all parts of Italy in small vials, with the\ninscription, \"Manna of St. Nicholas of Barri.\"\n\nThe tomb of St. Nicholas of Barri was celebrated throughout Italy. A\nmiraculous oil was said to ooze from it, which cured nearly all the\nmaladies that flesh is heir to, provided the recipient made use of it with\nthe due degree of _faith_. La Tophania artfully gave this name to her\npoison to elude the vigilance of the custom-house officers, who, in common\nwith every body else, had a pious respect for St. Nicholas de Barri and\nhis wonderful oil.\n\nThe poison was similar to that manufactured by La Spara. Hahnemann the\nphysician, and father of the homoeopathic doctrine, writing upon this\nsubject, says it was compounded of arsenical neutral salts, occasioning in\nthe victim a gradual loss of appetite, faintness, gnawing pains in the\nstomach, loss of strength, and wasting of the lungs. The Abb\u00e9 Gagliardi\nsays, that a few drops of it were generally poured into tea, chocolate, or\nsoup, and its effects were slow, and almost imperceptible. Garelli,\nphysician to the Emperor of Austria, in a letter to Hoffmann, says it was\ncrystallised arsenic, dissolved in a large quantity of water by decoction,\nwith the addition (for some unexplained purpose) of the herb _cymbalaria_.\nThe Neapolitans called it _Aqua Toffnina_; and it became notorious all\nover Europe under the name of _Aqua Tophania_.\n\nAlthough this woman carried on her infamous traffic so extensively, it was\nextremely difficult to meet with her. She lived in continual dread of\ndiscovery. She constantly changed her name and residence; and pretending\nto be a person of great godliness, resided in monasteries for months\ntogether. Whenever she was more than usually apprehensive of detection she\nsought ecclesiastical protection. She was soon apprised of the search made\nfor her by the Viceroy of Naples, and, according to her practice, took\nrefuge in a monastery. Either the search after her was not very rigid, or\nher measures were exceedingly well taken; for she contrived to elude the\nvigilance of the authorities for several years. What is still more\nextraordinary, as shewing the ramifications of her system, her trade was\nstill carried on to as great an extent as before. Lebat informs us that\nshe had so great a sympathy for poor wives who hated their husbands and\nwanted to get rid of them, but could not afford to buy her wonderful\n_aqua_, that she made them presents of it.\n\nShe was not allowed, however, to play at this game for ever; she was at\nlength discovered in a nunnery, and her retreat cut off. The viceroy made\nseveral representations to the superior to deliver her up, but without\neffect. The abbess, supported by the archbishop of the diocese, constantly\nrefused. The public curiosity was in consequence so much excited at the\nadditional importance thus thrust upon the criminal, that thousands of\npersons visited the nunnery in order to catch a glimpse of her.\n\nThe patience of the viceroy appears to have been exhausted by these\ndelays. Being a man of sense, and not a very zealous Catholic, he\ndetermined that even the Church should not shield a criminal so atrocious.\nSetting the privileges of the nunnery at defiance, he sent a troop of\nsoldiers, who broke over the walls, and carried her away _vi et armis_.\nThe archbishop, Cardinal Pignatelli, was highly indignant, and threatened\nto excommunicate and lay the whole city under interdict. All the inferior\nclergy, animated by the _esprit du corps_, took up the question, and so\nworked upon the superstitious and bigoted people, that they were ready to\nrise in a mass to storm the palace of the viceroy and rescue the prisoner.\n\nThese were serious difficulties; but the viceroy was not a man to be\ndaunted. Indeed, he seems to have acted throughout with a rare union of\nastuteness, coolness, and energy. To avoid the evil consequences of the\nthreatened excommunication, he placed a guard round the palace of the\narchbishop, judging that the latter would not be so foolish as to launch\nout an anathema which would cause the city to be starved, and himself in\nit. The market-people would not have dared to come to the city with\nprovisions so long as it remained under the ban. There would have been too\nmuch inconvenience to himself and his ghostly brethren in such a measure;\nand, as the viceroy anticipated, the good cardinal reserved his thunders\nfor some other occasion.\n\nStill there was the populace. To quiet their clamour and avert the\nimpending insurrection, the agents of the government adroitly mingled with\nthe people, and spread abroad a report that Tophania had poisoned all the\nwells and fountains of the city. This was enough. The popular feeling was\nturned against her immediately. Those who, but a moment before, had looked\nupon her as a saint, now reviled her as a devil, and were as eager for her\npunishment as they had before been for her escape. Tophania was then put\nto the torture. She confessed the long catalogue of her crimes, and named\nall the persons who had employed her. She was shortly afterwards\nstrangled, and her corpse thrown over the wall into the garden of the\nconvent from whence she had been taken. This appears to have been done to\nconciliate the clergy, by allowing them, at least, the burial of one who\nhad taken refuge within their precincts.\n\nAfter her death the mania for poisoning seems to have abated; but we have\nyet to see what hold it took upon the French people at a somewhat earlier\nperiod. So rooted had it become in France between the years 1670 and 1680,\nthat Madame de Sevign\u00e9, in one of her letters, expresses her fear that\nFrenchman and poisoner would become synonymous terms.\n\nAs in Italy, the first notice the government received of the prevalence of\nthis crime was given by the clergy, to whom females of high rank, and some\namong the middle and lower classes, had avowed in the confessional that\nthey had poisoned their husbands. In consequence of these disclosures, two\nItalians, named Exili and Glaser, were arrested, and thrown into the\nBastille, on the charge of compounding and selling the drugs used for\nthese murders. Glaser died in prison, but Exili remained without trial for\nseveral months; and there, shortly afterwards, he made the acquaintance of\nanother prisoner, named Sainte Croix, by whose example the crime was still\nfurther disseminated among the French people.\n\nThe most notorious of the poisoners that derived their pernicious\nknowledge from this man was Madame de Brinvilliers, a young woman\nconnected both by birth and marriage with some of the noblest families of\nFrance. She seems, from her very earliest years, to have been heartless\nand depraved; and, if we may believe her own confession, was steeped in\nwickedness ere she had well entered her teens. She was, however, beautiful\nand accomplished; and, in the eye of the world, seemed exemplary and kind.\nGuyot de Pitaval, in the _Causes C\u00e9l\u00e8bres_, and Madame de Sevign\u00e9, in her\nletters, represent her as mild and agreeable in her manners, and offering\nno traces on her countenance of the evil soul within. She was married in\n1651 to the Marquis de Brinvilliers, with whom she lived unhappily for\nsome years. He was a loose, dissipated character, and was the means of\nintroducing Sainte Croix to his wife, a man who cast a blight upon her\nlife, and dragged her on from crime to crime, till her offences became so\ngreat that the mind shudders to dwell upon them. For this man she\nconceived a guilty passion, to gratify which she plunged at once into the\ngulf of sin. She was drawn to its most loathsome depths ere retribution\novertook her.\n\nShe had as yet shewn a fair outside to the world, and found but little\ndifficulty in effecting a legal separation from her husband, who had not\nthe art to conceal his vices. The proceeding gave great offence to her\nfamily. She appears, after this, to have thrown off the mask completely,\nand carried on her intrigues so openly with her lover, Sainte Croix, that\nher father, M. D'Aubray, scandalised at her conduct, procured a _lettre de\ncachet_, and had him imprisoned in the Bastille for a twelvemonth.\n\n[Illustration: THE BASTILLE.]\n\nSainte Croix, who had been in Italy, was a dabbler in poisons. He knew\nsomething of the secrets of the detestable La Spara, and improved himself\nin them from the instructions of Exili, with whom he speedily contracted a\nsort of friendship. By him he was shewn how to prepare, not only the\nliquid poisons employed in Italy, but that known as _succession powder_,\nwhich afterwards became so celebrated in France. Like his mistress, he\nappeared amiable, witty, and intelligent, and shewed no signs to the world\nof the two fierce passions, revenge and avarice, which were gnawing at his\nheart. Both these passions were to be sated on the unfortunate family of\nD'Aubray; his revenge, because they had imprisoned him; and his avarice,\nbecause they were rich. Reckless and extravagant, he was always in want of\nmoney, and he had no one to supply him but Madame de Brinvilliers, whose\nown portion was far from sufficient to satisfy his need. Groaning to think\nthat any impediment should stand between him and wealth, he conceived the\nhorrid idea of poisoning M. D'Aubray her father, and her two brothers,\nthat she might inherit the property. Three murders were nothing to such a\nvillain. He communicated his plan to Madame de Brinvilliers; and she,\nwithout the slightest scruple, agreed to aid him: he undertook to compound\nthe poisons, and she to administer them. The zeal and alacrity with which\nshe set to work seem hardly credible. Sainte Croix found her an apt\nscholar; and she soon became as expert as himself in the manufacture of\npoisons. To try the strength of the first doses, she used to administer\nthem to dogs, rabbits, and pigeons. Afterwards, wishing to be more certain\nof their effects, she went round to the hospitals, and administered them\nto the sick poor in the soups which she brought in apparent charity.[39]\nNone of the poisons were intended to kill at the first dose; so that she\ncould try them once upon an individual without fear of murder. She tried\nthe same atrocious experiment upon the guests at her father's table, by\npoisoning a pigeon-pie! To be more certain still, she next poisoned\nherself! When convinced by this desperate essay of the potency of the\ndraught, she procured an antidote from Sainte Croix, and all doubts being\nremoved, commenced operations upon her grey-headed father. She\nadministered the first dose with her own hands, in his chocolate. The\npoison worked well. The old man was taken ill, and his daughter,\napparently full of tenderness and anxiety, watched by his bedside. The\nnext day she gave him some broth, which she recommended as highly\nnourishing. This also was poisoned. In this manner she gradually wore out\nhis frame, and in less than ten days he was a corpse! His death seemed so\nmuch the result of disease, that no suspicions were excited.\n\n    [39] This is denied by Voltaire in his _Age of Louis XIV._; but he\n         does not state for what reason. His words are, \"Il est faux\n         qu'elle eut essay\u00e9 ses poisons dans les h\u00f4pitaux, comme le\n         disait le peuple, et comme il est \u00e9crit dans les _Causes\n         C\u00e9l\u00e8bres_, ouvrage d'un avocat sans cause et fait pour le\n         peuple.\"\n\nWhen the two brothers arrived from the provinces to render the last sad\nduties to their sire, they found their sister as grieved, to all outward\nappearance, as even filial affection could desire: but the young men only\ncame to perish. They stood between Sainte Croix and the already\nhalf-clutched gold, and their doom was sealed. A man, named La Chauss\u00e9e,\nwas hired by Sainte Croix to aid in administering the poisons; and, in\nless than six weeks time, they had both gone to their long home.\n\nSuspicion was now excited; but so cautiously had all been done, that it\nfound no one upon whom to attach itself. The marquise had a sister, and\nshe was entitled, by the death of her relatives, to half the property.\nLess than the whole would not satisfy Sainte Croix, and he determined that\nshe should die the same death as her father and brothers. She was too\ndistrustful, however; and, by quitting Paris, she escaped the destruction\nthat was lurking for her.\n\nThe marquise had undertaken these murders to please her lover. She was now\nanxious to perpetrate another on her own account. She wished to marry\nSainte Croix; but, though separated from her husband, she was not\ndivorced. She thought it would be easier to poison him than to apply to\nthe tribunals for a divorce, which might, perhaps, be refused. But Sainte\nCroix had no longer any love for his guilty instrument. Bad men do not\nadmire others who are as bad as themselves. Though a villain himself, he\nhad no desire to marry one, and was not at all anxious for the death of\nthe marquis. He seemed, however, to enter into the plot, and supplied her\nwith poison for her husband; but he took care to provide a remedy. La\nBrinvilliers poisoned him one day, and Sainte Croix gave him an antidote\nthe next. In this manner he was buffeted about between them for some time,\nand finally escaped, with a ruined constitution and a broken heart.\n\nBut the day of retribution was at hand, and a terrible mischance brought\nthe murders to light. The nature of the poisons compounded by Sainte Croix\nwas so deadly, that, when working in his laboratory, he was obliged to\nwear a mask, to preserve himself from suffocation. One day, the mask\nslipped off, and the miserable wretch perished in his crimes. His corpse\nwas found, on the following morning, in the obscure lodging where he had\nfitted up his laboratory. As he appeared to be without friends or\nrelatives, the police took possession of his effects. Among other things,\nwas found a small box, to which was affixed the following singular\ndocument:\n\n\"I humbly beg, that those into whose hands this box may fall, will do me\nthe favour to deliver it into the hands only of the Marchioness de\nBrinvilliers, who resides in the Rue Neuve St. Paul, as every thing it\ncontains concerns her, and belongs to her alone; and as, besides, there is\nnothing in it that can be of use to any person but her. In case she shall\nbe dead before me, it is my wish that it be burned, with every thing it\ncontains, without opening or altering any thing. In order that no one may\nplead ignorance, I swear by the God that I adore, and by all that is held\nmost sacred, that I assert nothing but the truth: and if my intentions,\njust and reasonable as they are, be thwarted in this point by any persons,\nI charge their consciences with it, both in this world and that which is\nto come, in order that I may unload mine. I protest that this is my last\nwill. Done at Paris, May 25, 1672.      (Signed) SAINTE CROIX.\"\n\nThis earnest solicitation, instead of insuring respect, as was intended,\nexcited curiosity. The box was opened, and found to contain some papers,\nand several vials and powders. The latter were handed to a chemist for\nanalysis, and the documents were retained by the police, and opened. Among\nthem was found a promissory note of the Marchioness de Brinvilliers, for\nthirty thousand francs, to the order of Sainte Croix. The other papers\nwere of greater importance, as they implicated both her and her servant,\nLa Chauss\u00e9e, in the recent murders. As soon as she was informed of the\ndeath of Sainte Croix, she made an attempt to gain possession of his\npapers and the box; but, being refused, she saw that there was no time to\nbe lost, and immediately quitted. Next morning the police were on her\ntrail; but she succeeded in escaping to England. La Chauss\u00e9e was not so\nfortunate. Altogether ignorant of the fatal mischance which had brought\nhis villanies to light, he did not dream of danger. He was arrested and\nbrought to trial: being put to the torture, he confessed that he had\nadministered poison to the Messieurs d'Aubray, and that he had received a\nhundred pistoles, and the promise of an annuity for life, from Sainte\nCroix and Madame de Brinvilliers, for the job. He was condemned to be\nbroken alive on the wheel, and the marchioness was, by default, sentenced\nto be beheaded. He was executed accordingly, in March 1673, on the Place\nde Gr\u00e8ve, in Paris.\n\nLa Brinvilliers appears to have resided for nearly three years in England.\nEarly in 1676, thinking that the rigour of pursuit was over, and that she\nmight venture to return to the Continent, she proceeded secretly to Li\u00e8ge.\nNotwithstanding her care, the French authorities were soon apprised of her\nreturn; and arrangements were promptly made with the municipality of that\ncity to permit the agents of the French police to arrest her within the\nlimits of their jurisdiction. Desgrais, an officer of the _mar\u00e9chauss\u00e9e_,\naccordingly left Paris for that purpose. On his arrival in Li\u00e8ge, he found\nthat she had sought shelter within the walls of a convent. Here the arm of\nthe law, long as it is said to be, could not reach her: but Desgrais was\nnot a man to be baffled, and he resorted to stratagem to accomplish what\nforce could not. Having disguised himself as a priest, he sought admission\nto the convent, and obtained an interview with La Brinvilliers. He said,\nthat being a Frenchman, and passing through Li\u00e8ge, he could not leave that\ncity without paying a visit to a lady whose beauty and misfortunes were so\ncelebrated. Her vanity was flattered by the compliment. Desgrais saw, to\nuse a vulgar but forcible expression, \"that he had got on the blind side\nof her;\" and he adroitly continued to pour out the language of love and\nadmiration till the deluded marchioness was thrown completely off her\nguard. She agreed, without much solicitation, to meet him outside the\nwalls of the convent, where their amorous intrigue might be carried on\nmore conveniently than within. Faithful to her appointment with her\nsupposed new lover, she came, and found herself, not in the embrace of a\ngallant, but in the custody of a policeman.\n\nHer trial was not long delayed. The proofs against her were abundant. The\ndying declaration of La Chauss\u00e9e would have been alone enough to convict\nher; but besides that, there were the mysterious document attached to the\nbox of St. Croix, her flight from France, and, stronger and more damning\nproof than all, a paper, in her own handwriting, found among the effects\nof St. Croix, in which she detailed to him the misdeeds of her life, and\nspoke of the murder of her father and brothers in terms that left no doubt\nof her guilt. During the trial, all Paris was in commotion. La\nBrinvilliers was the only subject of conversation. All the details of her\ncrimes were published, and greedily devoured; and the idea of secret\npoisoning first put into the heads of hundreds, who afterwards became\nguilty of it.\n\nOn the 16th of July, 1676, the Superior Criminal Court of Paris pronounced\na verdict of guilty against her, for the murder of her father and\nbrothers, and the attempt upon the life of her sister. She was condemned\nto be drawn on a hurdle, with her feet bare, a rope about her neck, and a\nburning torch in her hand, to the great entrance of the cathedral of Notre\nDame, where she was to make the _amende honorable_ in sight of all the\npeople; to be taken from thence to the Place de Gr\u00e8ve, and there to be\nbeheaded. Her body was afterwards to be burned, and her ashes scattered to\nthe winds.\n\nAfter her sentence, she made a full confession of her guilt. She seems to\nhave looked upon death without fear; but it was recklessness, not courage,\nthat supported her. Madame de Sevign\u00e9 says, that when on the hurdle, on\nher way to the scaffold, she entreated her confessor to exert his\ninfluence with the executioner to place himself next to her, that his body\nmight hide from her view \"that scoundrel Desgrais, who had entrapped her.\"\nShe also asked the ladies, who had been drawn to their windows to witness\nthe procession, what they were looking at? adding, \"a pretty sight you\nhave come to see, truly!\" She laughed when on the scaffold, dying as she\nhad lived, impenitent and heartless. On the morrow, the populace came in\ncrowds to collect her ashes to preserve them as relics. She was regarded\nas a martyred saint, and her ashes were supposed to be endowed, by divine\ngrace, with the power of curing all diseases. Popular folly has often\ncanonised persons whose pretensions to sanctity were extremely equivocal;\nbut the disgusting folly of the multitude, in this instance, has never\nbeen surpassed.\n\nBefore her death, proceedings were instituted against M. de Penautier,\ntreasurer of the province of Languedoc, and receiver-general for the\nclergy, who was accused by a lady, named St. Laurent, of having poisoned\nher husband, the late receiver-general, in order to obtain his\nappointment. The circumstances of this case were never divulged, and the\ngreatest influence was exerted to prevent it from going to trial. He was\nknown to have been intimate with Sainte Croix and Madame de Brinvilliers,\nand was thought to have procured his poisons from them. The latter,\nhowever, refused to say any thing which might implicate him. The inquiry\nwas eventually stifled, after Penautier had been several months in the\nBastille.\n\nThe Cardinal de Bonzy was accused by the gossips of the day of being an\naccomplice of Penautier. The cardinal's estates were burdened with the\npayment of several heavy annuities; but, about the time that poisoning\nbecame so fashionable, all the annuitants died off, one after the other.\nThe cardinal, in talking of these annuitants, afterwards used to say,\n\"Thanks to my star, I have outlived them all!\" A wit, seeing him and\nPenautier riding in the same carriage, cried out, in allusion to this\nexpression, \"There go the Cardinal de Bonzy and his _star_!\"\n\nIt was now that the mania for poisoning began to take hold of the popular\nmind. From this time until the year 1682, the prisons of France teemed\nwith persons accused of this crime; and it is very singular that other\noffences decreased in a similar proportion. We have already seen the\nextent to which it was carried in Italy. It was, if possible, surpassed in\nFrance. The diabolical ease with which these murders could be effected, by\nmeans of these scentless and tasteless poisons, enticed the evil-minded.\nJealousy, revenge, avarice, even petty spite, alike resorted to them.\nThose who would have been deterred, by fear of detection, from using the\npistol or the dagger, or even strong doses of poison, which kill at once,\nemployed slow poisons without dread. The corrupt government of the day,\nalthough it could wink at the atrocities of a wealthy and influential\ncourtier like Penautier, was scandalised to see the crime spreading among\nthe people. Disgrace was, in fact, entailed, in the eyes of Europe, upon\nthe name of Frenchman. Louis XIV., to put a stop to the evil, instituted\nwhat was called the Chambre Ardente, or Burning Chamber, with extensive\npowers for the trial and punishment of the prisoners.\n\nTwo women, especially, made themselves notorious at this time, and were\ninstrumental to the deaths of hundreds of individuals. They both resided\nin Paris, and were named Lavoisin and Lavigoreux. Like Spara and Tophania,\nof whom they were imitators, they chiefly sold their poisons to women who\nwanted to get rid of their husbands; and, in some few instances, to\nhusbands who wanted to get rid of their wives. Their ostensible occupation\nwas that of midwives. They also pretended to be fortune-tellers, and were\nvisited by persons of every class of society. The rich and poor thronged\nalike to their _mansardes_ to learn the secrets of the future. Their\nprophecies were principally of death. They foretold to women the\napproaching dissolution of husbands, and to needy heirs the end of rich\nrelatives, who had made them, as Byron expresses it, \"wait too, too long\nalready.\" They generally took care to be instrumental in fulfilling their\nown predictions. They used to tell their wretched employers that some sign\nof the approaching death would take place in the house, such as the\nbreaking of glass or china; and they paid servants considerable fees to\ncause a breakage, as if by accident, exactly at the appointed time. Their\noccupation as midwives made them acquainted with the secrets of many\nfamilies, which they afterwards turned to dreadful account.\n\nIt is not known how long they had carried on this awful trade before they\nwere discovered. Detection finally overtook them at the close of the year\n1679. They were both tried, found guilty, and burned alive on the Place de\nGr\u00e8ve, on the 22d of February, 1680, after their hands had been bored\nthrough with a red-hot iron, and then cut off. Their numerous accomplices\nin Paris and in the provinces were also discovered and brought to trial.\nAccording to some authors, thirty, and to others, fifty of them, chiefly\nwomen, were hanged in the principal cities.\n\nLavoisin kept a list of the visitors who came to her house to purchase\npoisons. This paper was seized by the police on her arrest, and examined\nby the tribunals. Among the names were found those of the Marshal de\nLuxembourg, the Countess de Soissons, and the Duchess de Bouillon. The\nmarshal seems only to have been guilty of a piece of discreditable folly\nin visiting a woman of this description, but the popular voice at the time\nimputed to him something more than folly. The author of the _Memoirs of\nthe Affairs of Europe since the Peace of Utrecht_, says, \"The miserable\ngang who dealt in poison and prophecy alleged that he had sold himself to\nthe devil, and that a young girl of the name of Dupin had been poisoned by\nhis means. Among other stories, they said he had made a contract with the\ndevil, in order to marry his son to the daughter of the Marquis of\nLouvois. To this atrocious and absurd accusation the marshal, who had\nsurrendered himself at the Bastille on the first accusation against him,\nreplied with the mingled sentiment of pride and innocence, 'When Mathieu\nde Montmorenci, my ancestor, married the widow of Louis le Gros, he did\nnot have recourse to the devil, but to the states-general, in order to\nobtain for the minor king the support of the house of Montmorenci.' This\nbrave man was imprisoned in a cell six feet and a half long, and his\ntrial, which was interrupted for several weeks, lasted altogether fourteen\nmonths. No judgment was pronounced upon him.\"\n\nThe Countess of Soissons fled to Brussels, rather than undergo the risk of\na trial; and was never able to clear herself from the stigma that attached\nto her, of having made an attempt to poison the Queen of Spain by doses of\nsuccession-powder. The Duchess of Bouillon was arrested, and tried by the\nChambre Ardente. It would appear, however, that she had nothing to do with\nthe slow poisons, but had merely endeavoured to pry into the secrets of\nfuturity, and gratify her curiosity with a sight of the devil. One of the\npresidents of the Chambre, La Reynie, an ugly little old man, very\nseriously asked her whether she had really seen the devil; to which the\nlady replied, looking him full in the face, \"Oh, yes! I see him now. He is\nin the form of a little ugly old man, exceedingly illnatured, and is\ndressed in the robes of a Counsellor of State.\" M. la Reynie prudently\nrefrained from asking any more questions of a lady with so sharp and ready\na tongue. The duchess was imprisoned for several months in the Bastille;\nand nothing being proved against her, she was released at the intercession\nof her powerful friends. The severe punishment of criminals of this note\nmight have helped to abate the fever of imitation among the vulgar;--their\ncomparative impunity had a contrary tendency. The escape of Penautier, and\nthe wealthy Cardinal de Bonzy his employer, had the most pernicious\neffect. For two years longer the crime continued to rage, and was not\nfinally suppressed till the stake had blazed, or the noose dangled, for\nupwards of a hundred individuals.[40]\n\n    [40] Slow poisoning is a crime which has unhappily been revived in\n         England within the last few years, and which has been carried\n         to an extent sufficient to cast a stain upon the national\n         character. The poisoners have been principally women of the\n         lowest class, and their victims have been their husbands or\n         their children. The motive for the crime has in most\n         instances been the basest that can be imagined,--the desire\n         to obtain from burial-clubs to which they subscribed, the\n         premium, or burial-money. A recent enactment, restricting the\n         sale of arsenic and other poisons, will, it is to be hoped,\n         check, if it do not extirpate this abominable crime.--1851.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: PALACE OF WOODSTOCK.]\n\n\nHAUNTED HOUSES.\n\n    Here's a knocking indeed!... Knock! knock! knock!... Who's there,\n    i' the name o' Beelzebub?... Who's there, i' the devil's name?\n    Knock! knock! knock!--Never at quiet?--_Macbeth_.\n\n\nWho has not either seen or heard of some house, shut up and uninhabitable,\nfallen into decay, and looking dusty and dreary, from which, at midnight,\nstrange sounds have been heard to issue--aerial knockings--the rattling of\nchains, and the groaning of perturbed spirits?--a house that people have\nthought it unsafe to pass after dark, and which has remained for years\nwithout a tenant, and which no tenant would occupy, even were he paid to\ndo so? There are hundreds of such houses in England at the present day;\nhundreds in France, Germany, and almost every country of Europe, which are\nmarked with the mark of fear--places for the timid to avoid, and the pious\nto bless themselves at, and ask protection from, as they pass--the abodes\nof ghosts and evil spirits. There are many such houses in London; and if\nany vain boaster of the march of intellect would but take the trouble to\nfind them out and count them, he would be convinced that intellect must\nyet make some enormous strides before such old superstitions can be\neradicated.\n\nThe idea that such houses exist is a remnant of the witch creed, which\nmerits separate notice from its comparative harmlessness, and from its\nbeing not so much a madness as a folly of the people. Unlike other notions\nthat sprang from the belief in witchcraft, and which we have already dwelt\nupon at sufficient length, it has sent no wretches to the stake or the\ngibbet, and but a few to the pillory only.\n\nMany houses have been condemned as haunted, and avoided by the weak and\ncredulous, from circumstances the most trifling in themselves, and which\nonly wanted a vigorous mind to clear up, at once, and dissipate all alarm.\nA house in Aix-la-Chapelle, a large desolate-looking building, remained\nuninhabited for five years, on account of the mysterious knockings that\nthere were heard within it at all hours of the day and night. Nobody could\naccount for the noises; and the fear became at last so excessive, that the\npersons who inhabited the houses on either side relinquished their\ntenancy, and went to reside in other quarters of the town, where there was\nless chance of interruption from evil spirits. From being so long without\nan inhabitant, the house at last grew so ruinous, so dingy, and so\nmiserable in its outward appearance, and so like the place that ghosts\nmight be supposed to haunt, that few persons cared to go past it after\nsunset. The knocking that was heard in one of the upper rooms was not very\nloud, but it was very regular. The gossips of the neighbourhood asserted\nthat they often heard groans from the cellars, and saw lights moved about\nfrom one window to another immediately after the midnight bell had tolled.\nSpectres in white habiliments were reported to have gibed and chattered\nfrom the windows; but all these stories could bear no investigation. The\nknocking, however, was a fact which no one could dispute, and several\nineffectual attempts were made by the proprietor to discover the cause.\nThe rooms were sprinkled with holy water; the evil spirits were commanded\nin due form, by a priest, to depart thence to the Red Sea; but the\nknockings still continued, in spite of all that could be done in that way.\nAccident at last discovered the cause, and restored tranquillity to the\nneighbourhood. The proprietor, who suffered not only in his mind but in\nhis pocket, had sold the building at a ruinously small price, to get rid\nof all future annoyance. The new proprietor was standing in a room on the\nfirst floor when he heard the door driven to at the bottom with a\nconsiderable noise, and then fly open immediately, about two inches and no\nmore. He stood still a minute and watched, and the same thing occurred a\nsecond and a third time. He examined the door attentively, and all the\nmystery was unravelled. The latch of the door was broken, so that it could\nnot be fastened, and it swung chiefly upon the bottom hinge. Immediately\nopposite was a window, in which one pane of glass was broken; and when the\nwind was in a certain quarter, the draught of air was so strong that it\nblew the door to with some violence. There being no latch, it swung open\nagain; and when there was a fresh gust, was again blown to. The new\nproprietor lost no time in sending for a glazier, and the mysterious\nnoises ceased for ever. The house was replastered and repainted, and once\nmore regained its lost good name. It was not before two or three years,\nhowever, that it was thoroughly established in popular favour; and many\npersons, even then, would always avoid passing it, if they could reach\ntheir destination by any other street.\n\nA similar story is narrated by Sir Walter Scott, in his _Letters on\nDemonology and Witchcraft_, the hero of which was a gentleman of birth and\ndistinction, well known in the political world. Shortly after he succeeded\nto his title and estates, there was a rumour among the servants concerning\na strange noise that used to be heard at night in the family mansion, and\nthe cause of which no one could ascertain. The gentleman resolved to\ndiscover it himself, and to watch for that purpose with a domestic who had\ngrown old in the family, and who, like the rest, had whispered strange\nthings about the knocking having begun immediately upon the death of his\nold master. These two watched until the noise was heard, and at last\ntraced it to a small store-room, used as a place for keeping provisions of\nvarious kinds for the family, and of which the old butler had the key.\nThey entered this place, and remained for some time without hearing the\nnoises which they had traced thither. At length the sound was heard, but\nmuch lower than it seemed to be while they were farther off, and their\nimaginations were more excited. They then discovered the cause without\ndifficulty. A rat, caught in an old-fashioned trap, had occasioned the\nnoise by its efforts to escape, in which it was able to raise the\ntrap-door of its prison to a certain height, but was then obliged to drop\nit. The noise of the fall resounding through the house had occasioned the\nmysterious rumours, which, but for the investigation of the proprietor,\nwould, in all probability, have acquired so bad a name for the dwelling\nthat no servants would have inhabited it. The circumstance was told to Sir\nWalter Scott by the gentleman to whom it happened.\n\n[Illustration: SAINT LOUIS.]\n\nBut, in general, houses that have acquired this character have been more\nindebted for it to the roguery of living men than to accidents like these.\nSix monks played off a clever trick of the kind upon that worthy king,\nLouis, whose piety has procured him in the annals of his own country the\ndesignation of \"the Saint.\" Having heard his confessor speak in terms of\nwarm eulogy of the goodness and learning of the monks of the order of St.\nBruno, he expressed his wish to establish a community of them near Paris.\nBernard de la Tour, the superior, sent six of the brethren, and the king\ngave them a handsome house to live in in the village of Chantilly. It so\nhappened that from their windows they had a very fine view of the ancient\npalace of Vauvert, which had been built for a royal residence by King\nRobert, but deserted for many years. The worthy monks thought the palace\nwould just suit them; but their modesty was so excessive that they were\nashamed to ask the king for a grant of it in due form. This difficulty was\nnot to be overcome, and the monks set their ingenuity to work to discover\nanother plan. The palace of Vauvert had never laboured under any\nimputation upon its character until they became its neighbours; but,\nsomehow or other, it almost immediately afterwards began to acquire a bad\nname. Frightful shrieks were heard to proceed from it at night; blue, red,\nand green lights were suddenly seen to glimmer from the windows, and as\nsuddenly to disappear; the clanking of chains was heard, and the howling\nas of persons in great pain. These disturbances continued for several\nmonths, to the great terror of all the country round, and even of the\npious King Louis, to whom, at Paris, all the rumours were regularly\ncarried with whole heaps of additions that accumulated on the way. At last\na great spectre, clothed all in pea-green, with a long white beard and a\nserpent's tail, took his station regularly at midnight in the principal\nwindow of the palace, and howled fearfully, and shook his fists at the\npassengers. The six monks at Chantilly, to whom all these things were duly\nnarrated, were exceedingly wrath that the devil should play such antics\nright opposite their dwelling, and hinted to the commissioners sent down\nby Saint Louis to investigate the matter, that if they were allowed to\ninhabit the palace, they would very soon make a clearance of the evil\nspirits. The king was quite charmed with their piety, and expressed to\nthem how grateful he felt for their disinterestedness. A deed was\nforthwith drawn up, the royal sign-manual was affixed to it, and the\npalace of Vauvert became the property of the monks of St. Bruno. The deed\nis dated 1259. The disturbances ceased immediately, the lights\ndisappeared, and the green ghost (so said the monks) was laid at rest for\never under the waves of the Red Sea.[41]\n\n    [41] Garinet, _Histoire de la Magie en France_, p. 75.\n\nIn the year 1580, one Gilles Blacre had taken the lease of a house in the\nsuburbs of Tours, but repenting him of his bargain with the landlord,\nPeter Piquet, he endeavoured to prevail upon him to cancel the agreement.\nPeter, however, was satisfied with his tenant and his terms, and would\nlisten to no compromise. Very shortly afterwards, the rumour was spread\nall over Tours that the house of Gilles Blacre was haunted. Gilles himself\nasserted that he verily believed his house to be the general rendezvous of\nall the witches and evil spirits of France. The noise they made was awful,\nand quite prevented him from sleeping. They knocked against the wall,\nhowled in the chimneys, broke his window-glass, scattered his pots and\npans all over his kitchen, and set his chairs and tables a dancing the\nwhole night through. Crowds of persons assembled round the house to hear\nthe mysterious noises: and the bricks were observed to detach themselves\nfrom the wall, and fall into the streets upon the heads of those who had\nnot said their paternoster before coming out in the morning. These things\nhaving continued for some time, Gilles Blacre made his complaint to the\nCivil Court of Tours, and Peter Piquet was summoned to shew cause why the\nlease should not be annulled. Poor Peter could make no defence, and the\ncourt unanimously agreed that no lease could hold good under such\ncircumstances, and annulled it accordingly, condemning the unlucky owner\nto all the expenses of the suit. Peter appealed to the parliament of\nParis; and after a long examination, the parliament confirmed the lease.\n\"Not,\" said the judge, \"because it has not been fully and satisfactorily\nproved that the house is troubled by evil spirits, but that there was an\ninformality in the proceedings before the Civil Court of Tours, that\nrendered its decision null and of no effect.\"\n\nA similar cause was tried before the Parliament of Bourdeaux, in the year\n1595, relative to a house in that city which was sorely troubled by evil\nspirits. The parliament appointed certain ecclesiastics to examine and\nreport to them, and on their report in the affirmative that the house was\nhaunted, the lease was annulled, and the tenant absolved from all payment\nof rent and taxes.[42]\n\n    [42] Ibid. p. 156.\n\nOne of the best stories of a haunted house is that of the royal palace of\nWoodstock, in the year 1649, when the commissioners sent from London by\nthe Long Parliament to take possession of it, and efface all the emblems\nof royalty about it, were fairly driven out by their fear of the devil,\nand the annoyances they suffered from a roguish cavalier, who played the\nimp to admiration. The commissioners, dreading at that time no devil,\narrived at Woodstock on the 13th of October, 1649. They took up their\nlodgings in the late king's apartments--turned the beautiful bedrooms and\nwithdrawing-rooms into kitchens and sculleries--the council-hall into a\nbrew-house, and made the dining-room a place to keep firewood in. They\npulled down all the insignia of royal state, and treated with the utmost\nindignity every thing that recalled to their memory the name or the\nmajesty of Charles Stuart. One Giles Sharp accompanied them in the\ncapacity of clerk, and seconded their efforts, apparently with the\ngreatest zeal. He aided them to uproot a noble old tree, merely because it\nwas called the _King's_ Oak, and tossed the fragments into the dining-room\nto make cheerful fires for the commissioners. During the first two days,\nthey heard some strange noises about the house, but they paid no great\nattention to them. On the third, however, they began to suspect they had\ngot into bad company; for they heard, as they thought, a supernatural dog\nunder their bed, which gnawed their bed-clothes. On the next day, the\nchairs and tables began to dance, apparently of their own accord. On the\nfifth day, something came into the bedchamber and walked up and down; and\nfetching the warming-pan out of the withdrawing-room, made so much noise\nwith it that they thought five church-bells were ringing in their ears. On\nthe sixth day, the plates and dishes were thrown up and down the\ndining-room. On the seventh, they penetrated into the bedroom in company\nwith several logs of wood, and usurped the soft pillows intended for the\ncommissioners. On the eighth and ninth nights, there was a cessation of\nhostilities; but on the tenth, the bricks in the chimneys became\nlocomotive, and rattled and danced about the floors, and round the heads\nof the commissioners, all the night long. On the eleventh, the demon ran\naway with their breeches; and on the twelfth filled their beds so full of\npewter platters that they could not get into them. On the thirteenth\nnight, the glass became unaccountably seized with a fit of cracking, and\nfell into shivers in all parts of the house. On the fourteenth, there was\na noise as if forty pieces of artillery had been fired off, and a shower\nof pebble-stones, which so alarmed the commissioners that, \"struck with\ngreat horror, they cried out to one another for help.\"\n\nThey first of all tried the efficacy of prayers to drive away the evil\nspirits; but these proving unavailing, they began seriously to reflect\nwhether it would not be much better to leave the place altogether to the\ndevils that inhabited it. They ultimately resolved, however, to try it a\nlittle longer; and having craved forgiveness of all their sins, betook\nthemselves to bed. That night they slept in tolerable comfort, but it was\nmerely a trick of their tormentor to lull them into false security. When,\non the succeeding night, they heard no noises, they began to flatter\nthemselves that the devil was driven out, and prepared accordingly to take\nup their quarters for the whole winter in the palace. These symptoms on\ntheir part became the signal for renewed uproar among the fiends. On the\n1st of November, they heard something walking with a slow and solemn pace\nup and down the withdrawing-room, and immediately afterwards a shower of\nstones, bricks, mortar, and broken glass pelted about their ears. On the\n2d the steps were again heard in the withdrawing-room, sounding to their\nfancy very much like the treading of an enormous bear, which continued for\nabout a quarter of an hour. This noise having ceased, a large warming-pan\nwas thrown violently upon the table, followed by a number of stones and\nthe jawbone of a horse. Some of the boldest walked valiantly into the\nwithdrawing-room, armed with swords and pistols; but could discover\nnothing. They were afraid that night to go to sleep, and sat up, making\nfires in every room, and burning candles and lamps in great abundance;\nthinking that, as the fiends loved darkness, they would not disturb a\ncompany surrounded with so much light. They were deceived, however:\nbuckets of water came down the chimneys and extinguished the fires; and\nthe candles were blown out, they knew not how. Some of the servants who\nhad betaken themselves to bed were drenched with putrid ditch-water as\nthey lay, and arose in great fright, muttering incoherent prayers, and\nexposing to the wondering eyes of the commissioners their linen all\ndripping with green moisture, and their knuckles red with the blows they\nhad at the same time received from some invisible tormentors. While they\nwere still speaking, there was a noise like the loudest thunder, or the\nfiring of a whole park of artillery, upon which they all fell down upon\ntheir knees and implored the protection of the Almighty. One of the\ncommissioners then arose, the others still kneeling, and asked in a\ncourageous voice, and in the name of God, who was there, and what they had\ndone that they should be troubled in that manner. No answer was returned,\nand the noises ceased for a while. At length, however, as the\ncommissioners said, \"the devil came again, and brought with it seven\ndevils worse than itself.\" Being again in darkness, they lighted a candle\nand placed it in the doorway, that it might throw a light upon the two\nchambers at once; but it was suddenly blown out, and one commissioner said\nthat he had \"seen the similitude of a horse's hoof striking the candle and\ncandlestick into the middle of the chamber, and afterwards making three\nscrapes on the snuff to put it out.\" Upon this, the same person was so\nbold as to draw his sword; but he asserted positively that he had hardly\nwithdrawn it from the scabbard before an invisible hand seized hold of it\nand tugged with him for it, and prevailing, struck him so violent a blow\nwith the pommel that he was quite stunned. Then the noises began again;\nupon which, with one accord, they all retired into the presence-chamber,\nwhere they passed the night, praying and singing psalms.\n\nThey were by this time convinced that it was useless to struggle any\nlonger with the powers of evil that seemed determined to make Woodstock\ntheir own. These things happened on the Saturday night; and being repeated\non the Sunday, they determined to leave the place immediately, and return\nto London. By Tuesday morning early, all their preparations were\ncompleted; and, shaking the dust off their feet, and devoting Woodstock\nand all its inhabitants to the infernal gods, they finally took their\ndeparture.[43]\n\n    [43] Dr. H. More's _Continuation of Glanvil's Collection of\n         Relations in proof of Witchcraft_.\n\nMany years elapsed before the true cause of these disturbances was\ndiscovered. It was ascertained at the Restoration, that the whole was the\nwork of Giles Sharp, the trusty clerk of the commissioners. This man,\nwhose real name was Joseph Collins, was a concealed royalist, and had\npassed his early life within the bowers of Woodstock; so that he knew\nevery hole and corner of the place, and the numerous trap-doors and secret\npassages that abounded in the building. The commissioners, never\nsuspecting the true state of his opinions, but believing him to be\nrevolutionary to the back-bone, placed the utmost reliance upon him; a\nconfidence which he abused in the manner above detailed, to his own great\namusement and that of the few cavaliers whom he let into the secret.\n\nQuite as extraordinary and as cleverly managed was the trick played off at\nTedworth, in 1661, at the house of Mr. Mompesson, and which is so\ncircumstantially narrated by the Rev. Joseph Glanvil, under the title of\n_The Demon of Tedworth_, and appended, among other proofs of witchcraft,\nto his noted work called _Sadducismus Triumphatus_. About the middle of\nApril, in the year above mentioned, Mr. Mompesson, having returned to his\nhouse at Tedworth from a journey he had taken to London, was informed by\nhis wife, that during his absence they had been troubled with the most\nextraordinary noises. Three nights afterwards he heard the noise himself;\nand it appeared to him to be that of \"a great knocking at his doors, and\non the outside of his walls.\" He immediately arose, dressed himself, took\ndown a pair of pistols, and walked valiantly forth to discover the\ndisturber, under the impression that it must be a robber; but, as he went,\nthe noise seemed to travel before or behind him; and when he arrived at\nthe door from which he thought it proceeded, he saw nothing, but still\nheard \"a strange hollow sound.\" He puzzled his brains for a long time, and\nsearched every corner of the house; but discovering nothing, he went to\nbed again. He was no sooner snug under the clothes than the noise began\nagain more furiously than ever, sounding very much like a \"thumping and\ndrumming on the top of his house, and then by degrees going off into the\nair.\"\n\nThese things continued for several nights, when it came to the\nrecollection of Mr. Mompesson that some time before he had given orders\nfor the arrest and imprisonment of a wandering drummer, who went about the\ncountry with a large drum, disturbing quiet people and soliciting alms,\nand that he had detained the man's drum, and that probably the drummer was\na wizard, and had sent evil spirits to haunt his house to be revenged of\nhim. He became strengthened in his opinion every day, especially when the\nnoises assumed, to his fancy, a resemblance to the beating of a drum,\n\"like that at the breaking up of a guard.\" Mrs. Mompesson being brought to\nbed, the devil, or the drummer, very kindly and considerately refrained\nfrom making the usual riot; but, as soon as she recovered strength, began\nagain \"in a ruder manner than before, following and vexing the young\nchildren, and beating their bedsteads with so much violence that every one\nexpected they would fall in pieces.\" For an hour together, as the worthy\nMr. Mompesson repeated to his wondering neighbours, this infernal drummer\n\"would beat 'Roundheads and Cuckolds,' the 'Tat-too,' and several other\npoints of war, as cleverly as any soldier.\" When this had lasted long\nenough, he changed his tactics, and scratched with his iron talons under\nthe children's bed. \"On the 5th of November,\" says the Rev. Joseph\nGlanvil, \"it made a mighty noise; and a servant observing two boards in\nthe children's room seeming to move, he bid it give him one of them. Upon\nwhich the board came (nothing moving it that he saw) within a yard of him.\nThe man added, 'Nay, let me have it in my hand;' upon which the spirit,\ndevil, or drummer pushed it towards him so close that he might touch it.\"\n\"This,\" continues Glanvil, \"was in the day-time, and was seen by a whole\nroom full of people. That morning it left a sulphureous smell behind it,\nwhich was very offensive. At night the minister, one Mr. Cragg, and\nseveral of the neighbours came to the house on a visit. Mr. Cragg went to\nprayers with them, kneeling at the children's bedside, where it then\nbecame very troublesome and loud. During prayer-time, the spirit withdrew\ninto the cock-loft, but returned as soon as prayers were done; and then,\nin sight of the company, the chairs walked about the room of themselves,\nthe children's shoes were hurled over their heads, and every loose thing\nmoved about the chamber. At the same time, a bed-staff was thrown at the\nminister, which hit him on the leg, but so favourably, that a lock of wool\ncould not have fallen more softly.\" On another occasion, the blacksmith of\nthe village, a fellow who cared neither for ghost nor devil, slept with\nJohn the footman, that he also might hear the disturbances and be cured of\nhis incredulity, when there \"came a noise in the room as if one had been\nshoeing a horse, and somewhat came, as it were, with a pair of pincers,\"\nsnipping and snapping at the poor blacksmith's nose the greater part of\nthe night. Next day it came panting like a dog out of breath; upon which\nsome woman present took a bed-staff to knock at it, \"which was caught\nsuddenly out of her hand and thrown away; and company coming up, the room\nwas presently filled with a _bloomy noisome smell_, and was very hot,\nthough without fire, in a very sharp and severe winter. It continued in\nthe bed, panting and scratching for an hour and a half, and then went into\nthe next room, where it knocked a little, and seemed to rattle a chain.\"\n\nThe rumour of these wonderful occurrences soon spread all over the\ncountry, and people from far and near flocked to the haunted house of\nTedworth, to believe or doubt as their natures led them, but all filled\nwith intense curiosity. It appears, too, that the fame of these events\nreached the royal ear, and that some gentlemen were sent by the king to\ninvestigate the circumstances, and draw up a report of what they saw or\nheard. Whether the royal commissioners were more sensible men than the\nneighbours of Mr. Mompesson, and required more clear and positive evidence\nthan they, or whether the powers with which they were armed to punish any\nbody who might be found carrying on this deception frightened the\nevil-doers, is not certain; but Glanvil himself reluctantly confesses that\nall the time they were in the house the noises ceased, and nothing was\nheard or seen. \"However,\" says he, \"as to the quiet of the house when the\ncourtiers were there, the intermission may have been accidental, or\nperhaps the demon was not willing to give so public a testimony of those\ntransactions which might possibly convince those who he had rather should\ncontinue in unbelief of his existence.\"\n\nAs soon as the royal commissioners took their departure, the infernal\ndrummer recommenced his antics, and hundreds of persons were daily present\nto hear and wonder. Mr. Mompesson's servant was so fortunate as not only\nto hear, but to see this pertinacious demon, for it came and stood at the\nfoot of his bed. \"The exact shape and proportion of it he could not\ndiscover; but he saw a great body, with two red and glaring eyes, which,\nfor some time, were fixed steadily on him, and at length disappeared.\"\nInnumerable were the antics it played. Once it purred like a cat; beat the\nchildren's legs black and blue; put a long spike into Mr. Mompesson's bed,\nand a knife into his mother's; filled the porringers with ashes; hid a\nBible under the grate; and turned the money black in people's pockets.\n\"One night,\" said Mr. Mompesson, in a letter to Mr. Glanvil, \"there were\nseven or eight of these devils in the shape of men, who, as soon as a gun\nwas fired, would shuffle away into an arbour;\" a circumstance which might\nhave convinced Mr. Mompesson of the mortal nature of his persecutors, if\nhe had not been of the number of those worse than blind, who shut their\neyes and refuse to see.\n\nIn the mean time the drummer, the supposed cause of all the mischief,\npassed his time in Gloucester gaol, whither he had been committed as a\nrogue and a vagabond. Being visited one day by some person from the\nneighbourhood of Tedworth, he asked what was the news in Wiltshire, and\nwhether people did not talk a great deal about a drumming in a gentleman's\nhouse there? The visitor replied that he heard of nothing else; upon which\nthe drummer observed, \"I have done it; I have thus plagued him; and he\nshall never be quiet until he hath made me satisfaction for taking away my\ndrum.\" No doubt the fellow, who seems to have been a gipsy, spoke the\ntruth, and that the gang of which he was a member knew more about the\nnoises at Mr. Mompesson's house than any body else. Upon these words,\nhowever, he was brought to trial at Salisbury for witchcraft; and, being\nfound guilty, was sentenced to transportation; a sentence which, for its\nleniency, excited no little wonder in that age, when such an accusation,\nwhether proved or not, generally insured the stake or the gibbet. Glanvil\nsays that the noises ceased immediately the drummer was sent beyond the\nseas; but that, somehow or other, he managed to return from\ntransportation; \"by raising storms and affrighting the seamen, it was\nsaid;\" when the disturbances were forthwith renewed, and continued at\nintervals for several years. Certainly, if the confederates of this roving\ngipsy were so pertinacious in tormenting poor weak Mr. Mompesson, their\npertinacity is a most extraordinary instance of what revenge is capable\nof. It was believed by many, at the time, that Mr. Mompesson himself was\nprivy to the whole matter, and permitted and encouraged these tricks in\nhis house for the sake of notoriety; but it seems more probable that the\ngipsies were the real delinquents, and that Mr. Mompesson was as much\nalarmed and bewildered as his credulous neighbours, whose excited\nimaginations conjured up no small portion of these stories,\n\n   \"Which rolled, and as they rolled grew larger visibly.\"\n\nMany instances of a similar kind, during the seventeenth century, might be\ngleaned from Glanvil and other writers of that period; but they do not\ndiffer sufficiently from these to justify a detail of them. The most\nfamous of all haunted houses acquired its notoriety much nearer our own\ntime; and the circumstances connected with it are so curious, and afford\nso fair a specimen of the easy credulity even of well-informed and\nsensible people, as to merit a little notice in this chapter. The\nCock-Lane Ghost, as it was called, kept London in commotion for a\nconsiderable time, and was the theme of conversation among the learned and\nthe illiterate, and in every circle, from that of the prince to that of\nthe peasant.\n\n[Illustration: THE HAUNTED HOUSE IN COCK LANE.]\n\nAt the commencement of the year 1760, there resided in Cock Lane, near\nWest Smithfield, in the house of one Parsons, the parish clerk of St.\nSepulchre's, a stockbroker, named Kent. The wife of this gentleman had\ndied in child-bed during the previous year, and his sister-in-law, Miss\nFanny, had arrived from Norfolk to keep his house for him. They soon\nconceived a mutual affection, and each of them made a will in the other's\nfavour. They lived some months in the house of Parsons, who, being a needy\nman, borrowed money of his lodger. Some difference arose betwixt them, and\nMr. Kent left the house, and instituted legal proceedings against the\nparish-clerk for the recovery of his money.\n\nWhile this matter was yet pending, Miss Fanny was suddenly taken ill of\nthe small-pox; and, notwithstanding every care and attention, she died in\na few days, and was buried in a vault under Clerkenwell church. Parsons\nnow began to hint that the poor lady had come unfairly by her death, and\nthat Mr. Kent was accessory to it, from his too great eagerness to enter\ninto possession of the property she had bequeathed him. Nothing further\nwas said for nearly two years; but it would appear that Parsons was of so\nrevengeful a character, that he had never forgotten or forgiven his\ndifferences with Mr. Kent, and the indignity of having been sued for the\nborrowed money. The strong passions of pride and avarice were silently at\nwork during all that interval, hatching schemes of revenge, but dismissing\nthem one after the other as impracticable, until, at last, a notable one\nsuggested itself. About the beginning of the year 1762, the alarm was\nspread over all the neighbourhood of Cock Lane, that the house of Parsons\nwas haunted by the ghost of poor Fanny, and that the daughter of Parsons,\na girl about twelve years of age, had several times seen and conversed\nwith the spirit, who had, moreover, informed her, that she had not died of\nthe small-pox, as was currently reported, but of poison, administered by\nMr. Kent. Parsons, who originated, took good care to countenance these\nreports; and, in answer to numerous inquiries, said his house was every\nnight, and had been for two years, in fact, ever since the death of Fanny,\ntroubled by a loud knocking at the doors and in the walls. Having thus\nprepared the ignorant and credulous neighbours to believe or exaggerate\nfor themselves what he had told them, he sent for a gentleman of a higher\nclass in life, to come and witness these extraordinary occurrences. The\ngentleman came accordingly, and found the daughter of Parsons, to whom the\nspirit alone appeared, and whom alone it answered, in bed, trembling\nviolently, having just seen the ghost, and been again informed that she\nhad died from poison. A loud knocking was also heard from every part of\nthe chamber, which so mystified the not very clear understanding of the\nvisitor, that he departed, afraid to doubt and ashamed to believe, but\nwith a promise to bring the clergyman of the parish and several other\ngentlemen on the following day, to report upon the mystery.\n\nOn the following night he returned, bringing with him three clergymen, and\nabout twenty other persons, including two negroes, when, upon a\nconsultation with Parsons, they resolved to sit up the whole night, and\nawait the ghost's arrival. It was then explained by Parsons, that although\nthe ghost would never render itself visible to any body but his daughter,\nit had no objection to answer the questions that might be put to it, by\nany person present, and that it expressed an affirmation by one knock, a\nnegative by two, and its displeasure by a kind of scratching. The child\nwas then put into bed along with her sister, and the clergymen examined\nthe bed and bed-clothes to satisfy themselves that no trick was played, by\nknocking upon any substance concealed among the clothes. As on the\nprevious night, the bed was observed to shake violently.\n\n[Illustration: ROOM IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE IN COCK LANE.[44]]\n\n    [44] The woman whose ghost was said to manifest itself in Cock\n         Lane was buried in the crypt or cloister of St. John,\n         Clerkenwell. The vault is composed of two aisles, that on the\n         south being much narrower than the other,--it was here she\n         was deposited.\n\n         About seven years since, I was sketching a picturesque\n         trefoil-headed door leading into this part of the vault; and\n         the place being at that time in great confusion with coffins,\n         remains of bodies, some of which were dried like mummies,\n         &c., I could find no better seat than one of the coffins. The\n         sexton's boy, who held my light, informed me this was the\n         coffin of _Scratching Fanny_, which recalled the Cock Lane\n         story to my mind. I got off the lid of the coffin, and saw\n         the face of a handsome woman, with an aquiline nose; this\n         feature remaining perfect, an uncommon case, for the\n         cartilage mostly gives way. The remains had become adipocere,\n         and were perfectly preserved. She was said to have been\n         poisoned by deleterious punch, but this was legally\n         disproved; and, if I remember rightly, she was otherwise\n         declared to have died of small-pox; of this disease there was\n         not the least sign; but as some mineral poisons tend to\n         render bodies adipocere, here was some evidence in support of\n         the former allegation. I made particular inquiries at the\n         time of Mr. Bird, churchwarden, a respectable and judicious\n         man; and he gave me good assurance that this coffin had\n         always been looked upon as the one containing the Cock Lane\n         woman. Since that time the vault has been set in order, and\n         the above-mentioned coffin, with others, put away.\n\n         The niche near the window in the drawing of the Ghost Room is\n         the place where the bed-head was, and where the scratching,\n         knocks, &c. were heard. This is the tradition of the house.\n         Mrs. King, who holds the premises, informs me that her family\n         has had the house about eighty years.--J. W. ARCHER.\n\nAfter some hours, during which they all waited with exemplary patience,\nthe mysterious knocking was heard in the wall, and the child declared that\nshe saw the ghost of poor Fanny. The following questions were then gravely\nput by the clergyman, through the medium of one Mary Frazer, the servant\nof Parsons, and to whom it was said the deceased lady had been much\nattached. The answers were in the usual fashion, by a knock or knocks:\n\n\"Do you make this disturbance on account of the ill-usage you received\nfrom Mr. Kent?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Were you brought to an untimely end by poison?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"How was the poison administered, in beer or purl?\"--\"In purl.\"\n\n\"How long was that before your death?\"--\"About three hours.\"\n\n\"Can your former servant, Carrots, give any information about the\npoison?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Are you Kent's wife's sister?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Were you married to Kent after your sister's death?\"--\"No.\"\n\n\"Was any body else, besides Kent, concerned in your murder?\"--\"No.\"\n\n\"Can you, if you like, appear visibly to any one?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Will you do so?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Can you go out of this house?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Is it your intention to follow this child about every where?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Are you pleased in being asked these questions?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Does it ease your troubled soul?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n[Here there was heard a mysterious noise, which some wiseacre present\ncompared to the fluttering of wings.]\n\n\"How long before your death did you tell your servant, Carrots, that you\nwere poisoned? An hour?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n[Carrots, who was present, was appealed to; but she stated positively that\nsuch was not the fact, as the deceased was quite speechless an hour before\nher death. This shook the faith of some of the spectators, but the\nexamination was allowed to continue.]\n\n\"How long did Carrots live with you?\"--\"Three or four days.\"\n\n[Carrots was again appealed to, and said that this was true.]\n\n\"If Mr. Kent is arrested for this murder, will he confess?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Would your soul be at rest if he were hanged for it?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Will he be hanged for it?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n\"How long a time first?\"--\"Three years.\"\n\n\"How many clergymen are there in this room?\"--\"Three.\"\n\n\"How many negroes?\"--\"Two.\"\n\n\"Is this watch (held up by one of the clergymen) white?\"--\"No.\"\n\n\"Is it yellow?\"--\"No.\"\n\n\"Is it blue?\"--\"No.\"\n\n\"Is it black?\"--\"Yes.\"\n\n[The watch was in a black shagreen case.]\n\n\"At what time this morning will you take your departure?\"\n\nThe answer to this question was four knocks, very distinctly heard by\nevery person present; and accordingly, at four o'clock precisely the ghost\ntook its departure to the Wheatsheaf public-house close by, where it\nfrightened mine host and his lady almost out of their wits, by knocking in\nthe ceiling right above their bed.\n\nThe rumour of these occurrences very soon spread over London, and every\nday Cock Lane was rendered impassable by the crowds of people who\nassembled around the house of the parish clerk, in expectation of either\nseeing the ghost or of hearing the mysterious knocks. It was at last found\nnecessary, so clamorous were they for admission within the haunted\nprecincts, to admit those only who would pay a certain fee, an arrangement\nwhich was very convenient to the needy and money-loving Mr. Parsons.\nIndeed, things had taken a turn greatly to his satisfaction; he not only\nhad his revenge, but he made a profit out of it. The ghost, in\nconsequence, played its antics every night, to the great amusement of many\nhundreds of people and the great perplexity of a still greater number.\n\nUnhappily, however, for the parish clerk, the ghost was induced to make\nsome promises which were the means of utterly destroying its reputation.\nIt promised, in answer to the questions of the Rev. Mr. Aldritch of\nClerkenwell, that it would not only follow the little Miss Parsons\nwherever she went, but would also attend him, or any other gentleman, into\nthe vault under St. John's Church, where the body of the murdered woman\nwas deposited, and would there give notice of its presence by a distinct\nknock upon the coffin. As a preliminary, the girl was conveyed to the\nhouse of Mr. Aldritch near the church, where a large party of ladies and\ngentlemen, eminent for their acquirements, their rank, or their wealth,\nhad assembled. About ten o'clock on the night of the first of February,\nthe girl having been brought from Cock Lane in a coach, was put to bed by\nseveral ladies in the house of Mr. Aldritch; a strict examination having\nbeen previously made that nothing was hidden in the bed-clothes. While the\ngentlemen in an adjoining chamber were deliberating whether they should\nproceed in a body to the vault, they were summoned into the bedroom by the\nladies, who affirmed, in great alarm, that the ghost was come, and that\nthey heard the knocks and scratches. The gentlemen entered accordingly,\nwith a determination to suffer no deception. The little girl, on being\nasked whether she saw the ghost, replied, \"No; but she felt it on her back\nlike a mouse.\" She was then required to put her hands out of bed, and they\nbeing held by some of the ladies, the spirit was summoned in the usual\nmanner to answer, if it were in the room. The question was several times\nput with great solemnity; but the customary knock was not heard in reply\nin the walls, neither was there any scratching. The ghost was then asked\nto render itself visible, but it did not choose to grant the request. It\nwas next solicited to give some token of its presence by a sound of any\nsort, or by touching the hand or cheek of any lady or gentleman in the\nroom; but even with this request the ghost would not comply.\n\nThere was now a considerable pause, and one of the clergymen went down\nstairs to interrogate the father of the girl, who was waiting the result\nof the experiment. He positively denied that there was any deception, and\neven went so far as to say that he himself, upon one occasion, had seen\nand conversed with the awful ghost. This having been communicated to the\ncompany, it was unanimously resolved to give the ghost another trial; and\nthe clergyman called out in a loud voice to the supposed spirit, that the\ngentleman to whom it had promised to appear in the vault was about to\nrepair to that place, where he claimed the fulfilment of its promise. At\none hour after midnight they all proceeded to the church, and the\ngentleman in question, with another, entered the vault alone, and took up\ntheir position alongside of the coffin of poor Fanny. The ghost was then\nsummoned to appear, but it appeared not; it was summoned to knock, but it\nknocked not; it was summoned to scratch, but it scratched not; and the two\nretired from the vault, with a firm belief that the whole business was a\ndeception practised by Parsons and his daughter. There were others,\nhowever, who did not wish to jump so hastily to a conclusion, and who\nsuggested that they were perhaps trifling with this awful and supernatural\nbeing, which, being offended with them for their presumption, would not\ncondescend to answer them. Again, after serious consultation, it was\nagreed on all hands that if the ghost answered any body at all, it would\nanswer Mr. Kent, the supposed murderer; and he was accordingly requested\nto go down into the vault. He went with several others, and summoned the\nghost to answer whether he had indeed poisoned her. There being no answer,\nthe question was put by Mr. Aldritch, who conjured it, if it were indeed a\nspirit, to end their doubts, make a sign of its presence, and point out\nthe guilty person. There being still no answer for the space of half an\nhour, during which time all these boobies waited with the most\npraiseworthy perseverance, they returned to the house of Mr. Aldritch, and\nordered the girl to get up and dress herself. She was strictly examined,\nbut persisted in her statement that she used no deception, and that the\nghost had really appeared to her.\n\nSo many persons had, by their openly expressed belief of the reality of\nthe visitation, identified themselves with it, that Parsons and his family\nwere far from being the only persons interested in the continuance of the\ndelusion. The result of the experiment convinced most people; but these\nwere not to be convinced by any evidence, however positive, and they\ntherefore spread abroad the rumour, that the ghost had not appeared in the\nvault because Mr. Kent had taken care beforehand to have the coffin\nremoved. That gentleman, whose position was a very painful one,\nimmediately procured competent witnesses, in whose presence the vault was\nentered, and the coffin of poor Fanny opened. Their depositions were then\npublished; and Mr. Kent indicted Parsons and his wife, his daughter, Mary\nFrazer the servant, the Rev. Mr. Moor, and a tradesman, two of the most\nprominent patrons of the deception, for a conspiracy. The trial came on in\nthe Court of King's Bench, on the 10th of July, before Lord Chief-Justice\nMansfield, when, after an investigation which lasted twelve hours, the\nwhole of the conspirators were found guilty. The Rev. Mr. Moor and his\nfriend were severely reprimanded in open court, and recommended to make\nsome pecuniary compensation to the prosecutor for the aspersions they had\nbeen instrumental in throwing upon his character. Parsons was sentenced to\nstand three times in the pillory, and to be imprisoned for two years; his\nwife to one year's, and his servant to six months' imprisonment in the\nBridewell. A printer, who had been employed by them to publish an account\nof the proceedings for their profit, was also fined fifty pounds, and\ndischarged.\n\nThe precise manner in which the deception was carried on has never been\nexplained. The knocking in the wall appears to have been the work of\nParsons' wife, while the scratching part of the business was left to the\nlittle girl. That any contrivance so clumsy could have deceived any body\ncannot fail to excite our wonder. But thus it always is. If two or three\npersons can only be found to take the lead in any absurdity, however\ngreat, there is sure to be plenty of imitators. Like sheep in a field, if\none clears the stile, the rest will follow.\n\nAbout ten years afterwards, London was again alarmed by the story of a\nhaunted house. Stockwell, near Vauxhall, the scene of the antics of this\nnew ghost, became almost as celebrated in the annals of superstition as\nCock Lane. Mrs. Golding, an elderly lady, who resided alone with her\nservant, Anne Robinson, was sorely surprised on the evening of\nTwelfth-Day, 1772, to observe a most extraordinary commotion among her\ncrockery. Cups and saucers rattled down the chimney--pots and pans were\nwhirled down stairs, or through the windows; and hams, cheeses, and loaves\nof bread disported themselves upon the floor as if the devil were in them.\nThis, at least, was the conclusion that Mrs. Golding came to; and being\ngreatly alarmed, she invited some of her neighbours to stay with her, and\nprotect her from the evil one. Their presence, however, did not put a stop\nto the insurrection of china, and every room in the house was in a short\ntime strewed with the fragments. The chairs and tables joined, at last, in\nthe tumult, and things looked altogether so serious and inexplicable, that\nthe neighbours, dreading that the house itself would next be seized with a\nfit of motion, and tumble about their ears, left poor Mrs. Golding to bear\nthe brunt of it by herself. The ghost in this case was solemnly\nremonstrated with, and urged to take its departure; but the demolition\ncontinuing as great as before, Mrs. Golding finally made up her mind to\nquit the house altogether. She took refuge with Anne Robinson in the house\nof a neighbour; but his glass and crockery being immediately subjected to\nthe same persecution, he was reluctantly compelled to give her notice to\nquit. The old lady thus forced back to her own house, endured the\ndisturbance for some days longer, when suspecting that Anne Robinson was\nthe cause of all the mischief, she dismissed her from her service. The\nextraordinary appearances immediately ceased, and were never afterwards\nrenewed; a fact which is of itself sufficient to point out the real\ndisturber. A long time afterwards, Anne Robinson confessed the whole\nmatter to the Reverend Mr. Brayfield. This gentleman confided the story to\nMr. Hone, who has published an explanation of the mystery. Anne, it\nappears, was anxious to have a clear house, to carry on an intrigue with\nher lover, and resorted to this trick to effect her purpose. She placed\nthe china on the shelves in such a manner that it fell on the slightest\nmotion, and attached horse-hairs to other articles, so that she could jerk\nthem down from an adjoining room without being perceived by any one. She\nwas exceedingly dexterous at this sort of work, and would have proved a\nformidable rival to many a juggler by profession. A full explanation of\nthe whole affair may be found in the _Every-day Book_.\n\nThe latest instance of the popular panic occasioned by a house supposed to\nbe haunted, occurred in Scotland, in the winter of the year 1838. On the\n5th of December, the inmates of the farm-house of Baldarroch, in the\ndistrict of Banchory, Aberdeenshire, were alarmed by observing a great\nnumber of sticks, pebble-stones, and clods of earth flying about their\nyard and premises. They endeavoured, but in vain, to discover who was the\ndelinquent; and the shower of stones continuing for five days in\nsuccession, they came at last to the conclusion that the devil and his\nimps were alone the cause of it. The rumour soon spread over all that part\nof the country, and hundreds of persons came from far and near to witness\nthe antics of the devils of Baldarroch. After the fifth day, the shower of\nclods and stones ceased on the outside of the premises, and the scene\nshifted to the interior. Spoons, knives, plates, mustard-pots,\nrolling-pins, and flat-irons appeared suddenly endued with the power of\nself-motion, and were whirled from room to room, and rattled down the\nchimneys in a manner which nobody could account for. The lid of a\nmustard-pot was put into a cupboard by the servant-girl in the presence of\nscores of people, and in a few minutes afterwards came bouncing down the\nchimney, to the consternation of every body. There was also a tremendous\nknocking at the doors and on the roof, and pieces of stick and\npebble-stones rattled against the windows and broke them. The whole\nneighbourhood was a scene of alarm; and not only the vulgar, but persons\nof education, respectable farmers, within a circle of twenty miles,\nexpressed their belief in the supernatural character of these events, and\noffered up devout prayers to be preserved from the machinations of the\nEvil One. The note of fear being once sounded, the visitors, as is\ngenerally the case in all tales of wonder, strove with each other who\nshould witness the most extraordinary occurrences; and within a week, it\nwas generally believed in the parishes of Banchory-Ternan, Drumoak,\nDurris, Kincardine-O'Neil, and all the circumjacent districts of Mearns\nand Aberdeenshire, that the devil had been seen in the act of hammering\nupon the house-top of Baldarroch. One old man asserted positively that,\none night, after having been to see the strange gambols of the knives and\nmustard-pots, he met the phantom of a great black man, \"who wheeled round\nhis head with a whizzing noise, making a wind about his ears that almost\nblew his bonnet off,\" and that he was haunted by him in this manner for\nthree miles. It was also affirmed and believed, that all horses and dogs\nthat approached this enchanted ground were immediately affected; that a\ngentleman, slow of faith, had been cured of his incredulity by meeting the\nbutter-churn jumping in at the door as he himself was going out; that the\nroofs of houses had been torn off, and that several ricks in the corn-yard\nhad danced a quadrille together, to the sound of the devil's bagpipes\nre-echoing from the mountain-tops. The women in the family of the\npersecuted farmer of Baldarroch also kept their tongues in perpetual\nmotion; swelling with their strange stories the tide of popular wonder.\nThe goodwife herself, and all her servants, said that, whenever they went\nto bed, they were attacked with stones and other missiles, some of which\ncame below the blankets and gently tapped their toes. One evening, a shoe\nsuddenly darted across a garret where some labourers were sitting, and one\nof the men, who attempted to catch it, swore positively that it was so hot\nand heavy he was unable to hold it. It was also said that the bearbeater\n(a sort of mortar used to bruise barley in)--an object of such weight that\nit requires several men to move it--spontaneously left the barn and flew\nover the house-top, alighting at the feet of one of the servant-maids, and\nhitting her, but without hurting her in the least, or even causing her any\nalarm; it being a fact well known to her, that all objects thus thrown\nabout by the devil lost their specific gravity, and could harm nobody,\neven though they fell upon a person's head.\n\nAmong the persons drawn to Baldarroch by these occurrences were the\nheritor, the minister, and all the elders of the Kirk, under whose\nsuperintendence an investigation was immediately commenced. Their\nproceedings were not promulgated for some days; and, in the mean time,\nrumour continued to travel through all the Highlands, magnifying each\nmysterious incident the farther it got from home. It was said, that when\nthe goodwife put her potato-pot on the fire, each potato, as the water\nboiled, changed into a demon, and grinned horribly at her as she lifted\nthe lid; that not only chairs and tables, but carrots and turnips, skipped\nalong the floor in the merriest manner imaginable; that shoes and boots\nwent through all the evolutions of the Highland fling without any visible\nwearers directing their motions; and that a piece of meat detached itself\nfrom the hook on which it hung in the pantry, and placed itself before the\nfire, whence all the efforts of the people of the house were unable to\nremove it until it was thoroughly roasted; and that it then flew up the\nchimney with a tremendous bang. At Baldarroch itself the belief was not\nquite so extravagant; but the farmer was so convinced that the devil and\nhis imps were alone the cause of all the disturbance, that he travelled a\ndistance of forty miles to an old conjuror, named Willie Foreman, to\ninduce him, for a handsome fee, to remove the enchantment from his\nproperty. There were, of course, some sensible and educated people, who,\nafter stripping the stories circulated of their exaggeration, attributed\nall the rest to one or other of two causes; first, that some gipsies, or\nstrolling mendicants, hidden in the neighbouring plantation, were amusing\nthemselves by working on the credulity of the country people; or,\nsecondly, that the inmates of Baldarroch carried on this deception\nthemselves, for some reason or other, which was not very clear to any\nbody. The last opinion gained but few believers, as the farmer and his\nfamily were much respected; and so many persons had, in the most open\nmanner, expressed their belief in the supernatural agency, that they did\nnot like to stultify themselves by confessing that they had been deceived.\n\nAt last, after a fortnight's continuance of the noises, the whole trick\nwas discovered. The two servant lasses were strictly examined, and then\ncommitted to prison. It appeared that they were alone at the bottom of the\nwhole affair, and that the extraordinary alarm and credulity of their\nmaster and mistress, in the first instance, and of the neighbours and\ncountry people afterwards, made their task comparatively easy. A little\ncommon dexterity was all they had used; and, being themselves unsuspected,\nthey swelled the alarm by the wonderful stories they invented. It was they\nwho loosened the bricks in the chimneys, and placed the dishes in such a\nmanner on the shelves, that they fell on the slightest motion. In short,\nthey played the same tricks as those used by the servant girl at\nStockwell, with the same results, and for the same purpose--the\ngratification of a love of mischief. They were no sooner secured in the\ncounty gaol than the noises ceased, and most people were convinced that\nhuman agency alone had worked all the wonder. Some few of the most\ndevoutly superstitious still held out in their first belief, and refused\nto listen to any explanation.\n\nThese tales of haunted houses, especially those of the last and present\ncentury, however they may make us blush for popular folly, are yet\ngratifying in their results; for they shew that society has made a vast\nimprovement. Had Parsons and his wife, and the other contrivers of the\nCock Lane deception, lived two hundred years earlier, they would not\nperhaps have found a greater number of dupes, but they would have been\nhanged as witches, instead of being imprisoned as vagabonds. The ingenious\nAnne Robinson and the sly lasses of Baldarroch would doubtless have met a\nsimilar fate. Thus it is pleasant to reflect, that though there may be as\nmuch folly and credulity in the world as ever in one class of society,\nthere is more wisdom and mercy in another than ever were known before.\nLawgivers, by blotting from the statute-book the absurd or sanguinary\nenactments of their predecessors, have made one step towards teaching the\npeople. It is to be hoped that the day is not far distant when lawgivers\nwill teach the people by some more direct means, and prevent the\nrecurrence of delusions like these, and many worse, which might be cited,\nby securing to every child born within their dominions an education in\naccordance with the advancing state of civilisation. If ghosts and witches\nare not yet altogether exploded, it is the fault, not so much of the\nignorant people, as of the law and the government that have neglected to\nenlighten them.\n\n\n\n\nPOPULAR FOLLIES OF GREAT CITIES.\n\n    La faridondaine--la faridondon,\n      Vive la faridondaine!--_Beranger_.\n\n\n[Illustration: T]\n\nThe popular humours of a great city are a never-failing source of\namusement to the man whose sympathies are hospitable enough to embrace all\nhis kind, and who, refined though he may be himself, will not sneer at the\nhumble wit or grotesque peculiarities of the boozing mechanic, the squalid\nbeggar, the vicious urchin, and all the motley group of the idle, the\nreckless, and the imitative that swarm in the alleys and broadways of a\nmetropolis. He who walks through a great city to find subjects for\nweeping, may find plenty at every corner to wring his heart; but let such\na man walk on his course, and enjoy his grief alone--we are not of those\nwho would accompany him. The miseries of us poor earth-dwellers gain no\nalleviation from the sympathy of those who merely hunt them out to be\npathetic over them. The weeping philosopher too often impairs his eyesight\nby his woe, and becomes unable from his tears to see the remedies for the\nevils which he deplores. Thus it will often be found that the man of no\ntears is the truest philanthropist, as he is the best physician who wears\na cheerful face, even in the worst of cases.\n\nSo many pens have been employed to point out the miseries, and so many to\ncondemn the crimes and vices, and more serious follies of the multitude,\nthat ours shall not increase the number, at least in this chapter. Our\npresent task shall be less ungracious, and wandering through the busy\nhaunts of great cities, we shall seek only for amusement, and note as we\npass a few of the harmless follies and whimsies of the poor.\n\nAnd, first of all, walk where we will, we cannot help hearing from every\nside a phrase repeated with delight, and received with laughter, by men\nwith hard hands and dirty faces, by saucy butcher lads and errand-boys, by\nloose women, by hackney coachmen, cabriolet-drivers, and idle fellows who\nloiter at the corners of streets. Not one utters this phrase without\nproducing a laugh from all within hearing. It seems applicable to every\ncircumstance, and is the universal answer to every question; in short, it\nis the favourite slang phrase of the day, a phrase that, while its brief\nseason of popularity lasts, throws a dash of fun and frolicsomeness over\nthe existence of squalid poverty and ill-requited labour, and gives them\nreason to laugh as well as their more fortunate fellows in a higher stage\nof society.\n\nLondon is peculiarly fertile in this sort of phrases, which spring up\nsuddenly, no one knows exactly in what spot, and pervade the whole\npopulation in a few hours, no one knows how. Many years ago the favourite\nphrase (for, though but a monosyllable, it was a phrase in itself) was\nQuoz. This odd word took the fancy of the multitude in an extraordinary\ndegree, and very soon acquired an almost boundless meaning. When vulgar\nwit wished to mark its incredulity, and raise a laugh at the same time,\nthere was no resource so sure as this popular piece of slang. When a man\nwas asked a favour which he did not choose to grant, he marked his sense\nof the suitor's unparalleled presumption by exclaiming _Quoz_! When a\nmischievous urchin wished to annoy a passenger, and create mirth for his\ncomrades, he looked him in the face, and cried out _Quoz!_ and the\nexclamation never failed in its object. When a disputant was desirous of\nthrowing a doubt upon the veracity of his opponent, and getting summarily\nrid of an argument which he could not overturn, he uttered the word\n_Quoz_, with a contemptuous curl of his lip, and an impatient shrug of his\nshoulders. The universal monosyllable conveyed all his meaning, and not\nonly told his opponent that he lied, but that he erred egregiously if he\nthought that any one was such a nincompoop as to believe him. Every\nalehouse resounded with _Quoz_; every street-corner was noisy with it, and\nevery wall for miles around was chalked with it.\n\nBut, like all other earthly things, _Quoz_ had its season, and passed away\nas suddenly as it arose, never again to be the pet and the idol of the\npopulace. A new claimant drove it from its place, and held undisputed sway\ntill, in its turn, it was hurled from its pre-eminence, and a successor\nappointed in its stead.\n\n\"_What a shocking bad hat!_\" was the phrase that was next in vogue. No\nsooner had it become universal, than thousands of idle but sharp eyes were\non the watch for the passenger whose hat shewed any signs, however slight,\nof ancient service. Immediately the cry arose, and, like the war-whoop of\nthe Indians, was repeated by a hundred discordant throats. He was a wise\nman who, finding himself under these circumstances \"the observed of all\nobservers,\" bore his honours meekly. He who shewed symptoms of ill-feeling\nat the imputations cast upon his hat, only brought upon himself redoubled\nnotice. The mob soon perceive whether a man is irritable, and, if of their\nown class, they love to make sport of him. When such a man, and with such\na hat, passed in those days through a crowded neighbourhood, he might\nthink himself fortunate if his annoyances were confined to the shouts and\ncries of the populace. The obnoxious hat was often snatched from his head\nand thrown into the gutter by some practical joker, and then raised,\ncovered with mud, upon the end of a stick, for the admiration of the\nspectators, who held their sides with laughter, and exclaimed, in the\npauses of their mirth, \"_Oh, what a shocking bad hat!_\" \"_What a shocking\nbad hat!_\" Many a nervous poor man, whose purse could but ill spare the\noutlay, doubtless purchased a new hat before the time, in order to avoid\nexposure in this manner.\n\nThe origin of this singular saying, which made fun for the metropolis for\nmonths, is not involved in the same obscurity as that which shrouds the\norigin of _Quoz_ and some others. There had been a hotly contested\nelection for the borough of Southwark, and one of the candidates was an\neminent hatter. This gentleman, in canvassing the electors, adopted a\nsomewhat professional mode of conciliating their good-will, and of bribing\nthem without letting them perceive that they were bribed. Whenever he\ncalled upon or met a voter whose hat was not of the best material, or,\nbeing so, had seen its best days, he invariably said, \"_What a shocking\nbad hat you have got; call at my warehouse, and you shall have a new\none!_\" Upon the day of election this circumstance was remembered, and his\nopponents made the most of it, by inciting the crowd to keep up an\nincessant cry of \"_What a shocking bad hat!_\" all the time the honourable\ncandidate was addressing them. From Southwark the phrase spread over all\nLondon, and reigned for a time the supreme slang of the season.\n\n_Hookey Walker_, derived from the chorus of a popular ballad, was also\nhigh in favour at one time, and served, like its predecessor _Quoz_, to\nanswer all questions. In the course of time, the latter word alone became\nthe favourite, and was uttered with a peculiar drawl upon the first\nsyllable, and a sharp turn upon the last. If a lively servant girl was\nimportuned for a kiss by a fellow she did not care about, she cocked her\nlittle nose, and cried \"_Walker!_\" If a dustman asked his friend for the\nloan of a shilling, and his friend was either unable or unwilling to\naccommodate him, the probable answer he would receive was, \"_Walker!_\" If\na drunken man was reeling about the streets, and a boy pulled his\ncoat-tails, or a man knocked his hat over his eyes to make fun of him, the\njoke was always accompanied by the same exclamation. This lasted for two\nor three months, and \"_Walker!_\" walked off the stage, never more to be\nrevived for the entertainment of that or any future generation.\n\nThe next phrase was a most preposterous one. Who invented it, how it\narose, or where it was first heard, are alike unknown. Nothing about it is\ncertain, but that for months it was _the_ slang _par excellence_ of the\nLondoners, and afforded them a vast gratification. \"_There he goes with\nhis eye out!_\" or \"_There she goes with her eye out!_\" as the sex of the\nparty alluded to might be, was in the mouth of every body who knew the\ntown. The sober part of the community were as much puzzled by this\nunaccountable saying as the vulgar were delighted with it. The wise\nthought it very foolish, but the many thought it very funny, and the idle\namused themselves by chalking it upon walls, or scribbling it upon\nmonuments. But \"all that's bright must fade,\" even in slang. The people\ngrew tired of their hobby, and \"_There he goes with his eye out!_\" was\nheard no more in its accustomed haunts.\n\nAnother very odd phrase came into repute in a brief space afterwards, in\nthe form of the impertinent and not universally apposite query, \"_Has your\nmother sold her mangle?_\" But its popularity was not of that boisterous\nand cordial kind which ensures a long continuance of favour. What tended\nto impede its progress was, that it could not be well applied to the older\nportions of society. It consequently ran but a brief career, and then sank\ninto oblivion. Its successor enjoyed a more extended fame, and laid its\nfoundations so deep, that years and changing fashions have not sufficed to\neradicate it. This phrase was \"_Flare up!_\" and it is, even now, a\ncolloquialism in common use. It took its rise in the time of the Reform\nriots, when Bristol was nearly half burned by the infuriated populace. The\nflames were said to have _flared up_ in the devoted city. Whether there\nwas any thing peculiarly captivating in the sound, or in the idea of these\nwords, is hard to say; but whatever was the reason, it tickled the\nmob-fancy mightily, and drove all other slang out of the field before it.\nNothing was to be heard all over London but \"_flare up!_\" It answered all\nquestions, settled all disputes, was applied to all persons, all things,\nand all circumstances, and became suddenly the most comprehensive phrase\nin the English language. The man who had overstepped the bounds of decorum\nin his speech was said to have _flared up_; he who had paid visits too\nrepeated to the gin-shop, and got damaged in consequence, had _flared up_.\nTo put one's self into a passion; to stroll out on a nocturnal frolic, and\nalarm a neighbourhood, or to create a disturbance in any shape, was to\n_flare up_. A lovers' quarrel was a _flare up_; so was a boxing-match\nbetween two blackguards in the streets; and the preachers of sedition and\nrevolution recommended the English nation to _flare up_, like the French.\nSo great a favourite was the word, that people loved to repeat it for its\nvery sound. They delighted apparently in hearing their own organs\narticulate it; and labouring men, when none who could respond to the call\nwere within hearing, would often startle the aristocratic echoes of the\nWest by the well-known slang phrase of the East. Even in the dead hours of\nthe night, the ears of those who watched late, or who could not sleep,\nwere saluted with the same sound. The drunkard reeling home shewed that he\nwas still a man and a citizen, by calling \"_flare up!_\" in the pauses of\nhis hiccough. Drink had deprived him of the power of arranging all other\nideas; his intellect was sunk to the level of the brute's; but he clung to\nhumanity by the one last link of the popular cry. While he could\nvociferate that sound, he had rights as an Englishman, and would not sleep\nin a gutter, like a dog! Onwards he went, disturbing quiet streets and\ncomfortable people by his whoop, till exhausted nature could support him\nno more, and he rolled powerless into the road. When, in due time\nafterwards, the policeman stumbled upon him as he lay, that guardian of\nthe peace turned the full light of his lantern on his face, and exclaimed,\n\"Here's a poor devil who has been _flaring up_!\" Then came the stretcher,\non which the victim of deep potations was carried to the watch-house, and\npitched into a dirty cell, among a score of wretches about as far gone as\nhimself, who saluted their new comrade by a loud, long shout of _flare\nup_!\n\nSo universal was this phrase, and so enduring seemed its popularity, that\na speculator, who knew not the evanescence of slang, established a weekly\nnewspaper under its name. But he was like the man who built his house upon\nthe sand; his foundation gave way under him, and the phrase and the\nnewspaper were washed into the mighty sea of the things that were. The\npeople grew at last weary of the monotony, and \"_flare up_\" became vulgar\neven among them. Gradually it was left to little boys who did not know the\nworld, and in process of time sank altogether into neglect. It is now\nheard no more as a piece of popular slang; but the words are still used to\nsignify any sudden outburst either of fire, disturbance, or ill-nature.\n\nThe next phrase that enjoyed the favour of the million was less concise,\nand seems to have been originally aimed against precocious youths who gave\nthemselves the airs of manhood before their time. \"_Does your mother know\nyou're out?_\" was the provoking query addressed to young men of more than\nreasonable swagger, who smoked cigars in the streets, and wore false\nwhiskers to look irresistible. We have seen many a conceited fellow who\ncould not suffer a woman to pass him without staring her out of\ncountenance, reduced at once into his natural insignificance by the mere\nutterance of this phrase. Apprentice lads and shopmen in their Sunday\nclothes held the words in abhorrence, and looked fierce when they were\napplied to them. Altogether the phrase had a very salutary effect, and in\na thousand instances shewed young Vanity that it was not half so pretty\nand engaging as it thought itself. What rendered it so provoking was the\ndoubt it implied as to the capability of self-guidance possessed by the\nindividual to whom it was addressed. \"_Does your mother know you're out?_\"\nwas a query of mock concern and solicitude, implying regret and concern\nthat one so young and inexperienced in the ways of a great city should be\nallowed to wander abroad without the guidance of a parent. Hence the great\nwrath of those who verged on manhood, but had not reached it, whenever\nthey were made the subject of it. Even older heads did not like it; and\nthe heir of a ducal house, and inheritor of a warrior's name, to whom they\nwere applied by a cabriolet-driver who was ignorant of his rank, was so\nindignant at the affront, that he summoned the offender before the\nmagisterial bench. The fellow had wished to impose upon his lordship by\nasking double the fare he was entitled to; and when his lordship resisted\nthe demand, he was insultingly asked \"if his mother knew he was out?\" All\nthe drivers on the stand joined in the query, and his lordship was fain to\nescape their laughter by walking away with as much haste as his dignity\nwould allow. The man pleaded ignorance that his customer was a lord, but\noffended justice fined him for his mistake.\n\nWhen this phrase had numbered its appointed days, it died away like its\npredecessors, and \"_Who are you?_\" reigned in its stead. This new\nfavourite, like a mushroom, seems to have sprung up in a night, or, like a\nfrog in Cheapside, to have come down in a sudden shower. One day it was\nunheard, unknown, uninvented; the next it pervaded London. Every alley\nresounded with it; every highway was musical with it,\n\n   \"And street to street, and lane to lane flung back\n    The one unvarying cry.\"\n\nThe phrase was uttered quickly, and with a sharp sound upon the first and\nlast words, leaving the middle one little more than an aspiration. Like\nall its compeers which had been extensively popular, it was applicable to\nalmost every variety of circumstance. The lovers of a plain answer to a\nplain question did not like it at all. Insolence made use of it to give\noffence; ignorance to avoid exposing itself; and waggery to create\nlaughter. Every new comer into an alehouse tap-room was asked\nunceremoniously, \"_Who are you?_\" and if he looked foolish, scratched his\nhead, and did not know what to reply, shouts of boisterous merriment\nresounded on every side. An authoritative disputant was not unfrequently\nput down, and presumption of every kind checked by the same query. When\nits popularity was at its height, a gentleman, feeling the hand of a thief\nin his pocket, turned suddenly round and caught him in the act,\nexclaiming, \"_Who are you?_\" The mob which gathered round applauded to the\nvery echo, and thought it the most capital joke they had ever heard, the\nvery acm\u00e9 of wit, the very essence of humour. Another circumstance of a\nsimilar kind gave an additional fillip to the phrase, and infused new life\nand vigour into it just as it was dying away. The scene occurred in the\nchief criminal court of the kingdom. A prisoner stood at the bar; the\noffence with which he had been charged was clearly proved against him; his\ncounsel had been heard, not in his defence, but in extenuation, insisting\nupon his previous good life and character as reasons for the lenity of the\ncourt. \"And where are your witnesses?\" inquired the learned judge who\npresided. \"Please you, my lord, I knows the prisoner at the bar, and a\nmore honester feller never breathed,\" said a rough voice in the gallery.\nThe officers of the court looked aghast, and the strangers tittered with\nill-suppressed laughter. \"_Who are you?_\" said the judge, looking suddenly\nup, but with imperturbable gravity. The court was convulsed; the titter\nbroke out into a laugh; and it was several minutes before silence and\ndecorum could be restored. When the ushers recovered their\nself-possession, they made diligent search for the profane transgressor;\nbut he was not to be found. Nobody knew him; nobody had seen him. After a\nwhile the business of the court again proceeded. The next prisoner brought\nup for trial augured favourably of his prospects when he learned that the\nsolemn lips of the representative of justice had uttered the popular\nphrase as if he felt and appreciated it. There was no fear that such a\njudge would use undue severity. His heart was with the people; he\nunderstood their language and their manners, and would make allowances for\nthe temptations which drove them into crime. So thought many of the\nprisoners, if we may infer it from the fact that the learned judge\nsuddenly acquired an immense increase of popularity. The praise of his wit\nwas in every mouth, and \"_Who are you?_\" renewed its lease, and remained\nin possession of public favour for another term in consequence.\n\nBut it must not be supposed that there were no interregna between the\ndominion of one slang phrase and another. They did not arise in one long\nline of unbroken succession, but shared with song the possession of\npopular favour. Thus, when the people were in the mood for music, slang\nadvanced its claims to no purpose; and when they were inclined for slang,\nthe sweet voice of music wooed them in vain. About thirty years ago London\nresounded with one chorus, with the love of which every body seemed to be\nsmitten. Girls and boys, young men and old, maidens and wives and widows,\nwere all alike musical. There was an absolute mania for singing; and the\nworst of it was, that, like good Father Philip in the romance of _The\nMonastery_, they seemed utterly unable to change their tune. \"Cherry\nripe!\" \"Cherry ripe!\" was the universal cry of all the idle in the town.\nEvery unmelodious voice gave utterance to it; every crazy fiddle, every\ncracked flute, every wheezy pipe, every street-organ was heard in the same\nstrain, until studious and quiet men stopped their ears in desperation, or\nfled miles away into the fields or woodlands to be at peace. This plague\nlasted for a twelvemonth, until the very name of cherries became an\nabomination in the land. At last the excitement wore itself away, and the\ntide of favour set in a new direction. Whether it was another song or a\nslang phrase is difficult to determine at this distance of time; but\ncertain it is, that very shortly afterwards people went mad upon a\ndramatic subject, and nothing was to be heard of but \"_Tommy and Jerry_.\"\nVerbal wit had amused the multitude long enough, and they became more\npractical in their recreation. Every youth on the town was seized with the\nfierce desire of distinguishing himself by knocking down the \"_charlies_,\"\nbeing locked up all night in a watch-house, or kicking up a row among\nloose women and blackguard men in the low dens of St. Giles's. Imitative\nboys vied with their elders in similar exploits, until this unworthy\npassion (for such it was) had lasted, like other follies, its appointed\ntime, and the town became merry after another fashion. It was next thought\nthe height of vulgar wit to answer all questions by placing the point of\nthe thumb upon the tip of the nose, and twirling the fingers in the air.\nIf one man wished to insult or annoy another, he had only to make use of\nthis cabalistic sign in his face, and his object was accomplished. At\nevery street-corner where a group was assembled, the spectator who was\ncurious enough to observe their movements would be sure to see the fingers\nof some of them at their noses, either as a mark of incredulity, surprise,\nrefusal, or mockery, before he had watched two minutes. There is some\nremnant of this absurd custom to be seen to this day; but it is thought\nlow even among the vulgar.\n\nAbout sixteen years ago, London became again most preposterously musical.\nThe _vox populi_ wore itself hoarse by singing the praises of \"The Sea,\nthe Sea!\" If a stranger (and a philosopher) had walked through London, and\nlistened to the universal chorus, he might have constructed a very pretty\ntheory upon the love of the English for the sea-service, and our\nacknowledged superiority over all other nations upon that element. \"No\nwonder,\" he might have said, \"that this people is invincible upon the\nocean. The love of it mixes with their daily thoughts; they celebrate it\neven in the market-place; their street-minstrels excite charity by it; and\nhigh and low, young and old, male and female, chant _lo p\u00e6ans_ in its\npraise. Love is not honoured in the national songs of this warlike\nrace--Bacchus is no god to them; they are men of sterner mould, and think\nonly of 'the Sea, the Sea!' and the means of conquering upon it.\"\n\nSuch would, doubtless, have been his impression if he had taken the\nevidence only of his ears. Alas, in those days for the refined ears that\n_were_ musical! great was their torture when discord, with its thousand\ndiversities of tone, struck up this appalling anthem--there was no escape\nfrom it. The migratory minstrels of Savoy caught the strain, and pealed it\ndown the long vistas of quiet streets, till their innermost and snuggest\napartments re-echoed with the sound. Men were obliged to endure this\ncrying evil for full six months, wearied to desperation, and made\n_sea_-sick on the dry land.\n\nSeveral other songs sprang up in due succession, afterwards, but none of\nthem, with the exception of one, entitled \"All round my Hat,\" enjoyed any\nextraordinary share of favour, until an American actor introduced a vile\nsong called \"Jim Crow.\" The singer sang his verses in appropriate costume,\nwith grotesque gesticulations, and a sudden whirl of his body at the close\nof each verse. It took the taste of the town immediately, and for months\nthe ears of orderly people were stunned by the senseless chorus--\n\n   \"Turn about and wheel about,\n      And do just so--\n    Turn about and wheel about,\n      And jump, Jim Crow!\"\n\nStreet-minstrels blackened their faces in order to give proper effect to\nthe verses; and fatherless urchins, who had to choose between thieving and\nsinging for their livelihood, took the latter course, as likely to be the\nmore profitable, as long as the public taste remained in that direction.\nThe uncouth dance, its accompaniment, might be seen in its full perfection\non market nights in any great thoroughfare; and the words of the song\nmight be heard, piercing above all the din and buzz of the ever-moving\nmultitude. He, the calm observer, who during the hey-day popularity of\nthis doggrel,\n\n                   \"Sate beside the public way,\n    Thick strewn with summer dust, and saw the stream\n    Of people there was hurrying to and fro,\n    Numerous as gnats upon the evening gleam,\"\n\nmight have exclaimed with Shelley, that\n\n   \"The million, with fierce song and maniac dance,\n    Did rage around.\"\n\nThe philosophic theorist we have already supposed soliloquising upon the\nEnglish character, and forming his opinion of it from their exceeding love\nfor a sea-song, might, if he had again dropped suddenly into London, have\nformed another very plausible theory to account for our unremitting\nefforts for the abolition of the slave-trade. \"Benevolent people!\" he\nmight have said, \"how unbounded are your sympathies! Your unhappy brethren\nof Africa, differing from you only in the colour of their skins, are so\ndear to you, and you begrudge so little the twenty millions you have paid\non their behalf, that you love to have a memento of them continually in\nyour sight. Jim Crow is the representative of that injured race, and as\nsuch is the idol of your populace! See how they all sing his praises! how\nthey imitate his peculiarities! how they repeat his name in their moments\nof leisure and relaxation! They even carve images of him to adorn their\nhearths, that his cause and his sufferings may never be forgotten! Oh,\nphilanthropic England! oh, vanguard of civilisation!\"\n\nSuch are a few of the peculiarities of the London multitude, when no riot,\nno execution, no murder, no balloon, disturbs the even current of their\nthoughts. These are the whimsies of the mass--the harmless follies by\nwhich they unconsciously endeavour to lighten the load of care which\npresses upon their existence. The wise man, even though he smile at them,\nwill not altogether withhold his sympathy, and will say, \"Let them enjoy\ntheir slang phrases and their choruses if they will; and if they cannot be\nhappy, at least let them be merry.\" To the Englishman, as well as to the\nFrenchman of whom Beranger sings, there may be some comfort in so small a\nthing as a song, and we may own with him that\n\n        \"Au peuple attrist\u00e9\n    Ce qui rendra la ga\u00eet\u00e9,\n      C'est la GAUDRIOLE!\n              O gu\u00e9!\n    C'est la GAUDRIOLE!\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: SHERWOOD FOREST.]\n\n\nPOPULAR ADMIRATION OF GREAT THIEVES.\n\n    _Jack._ Where shall we find such another set of practical\n        philosophers, who, to a man, are above the fear of death!\n\n    _Wat._ Sound men and true!\n\n    _Robin._ Of tried courage and indefatigable industry!\n\n    _Ned._ Who is there here that would not die for his friend?\n\n    _Harry._ Who is there here that would betray him for his interest?\n\n    _Mat._ Shew me a gang of courtiers that could say as much!\n\n                          _Dialogue of Thieves in the Beggar's Opera_.\n\n\nWhether it be that the multitude, feeling the pangs of poverty, sympathise\nwith the daring and ingenious depredators who take away the rich man's\nsuperfluity, or whether it be the interest that mankind in general feel\nfor the records of perilous adventure, it is certain that the populace of\nall countries look with admiration upon great and successful thieves.\nPerhaps both these causes combine to invest their career with charms in\nthe popular eye. Almost every country in Europe has its traditional thief,\nwhose exploits are recorded with all the graces of poetry, and whose\ntrespasses\n\n                   \"Are cited up in rhymes,\n    And sung by children in succeeding tunes.\"[45]\n\n    [45] Shakspeare's _Rape of Lucretia_.\n\nThose travellers who have made national manners and characteristics their\npeculiar study, have often observed and remarked upon this feeling. The\nlearned Abb\u00e9 le Blanc, who resided for some time in England at the\ncommencement of the eighteenth century, says, in his amusing letters on\nthe English and French nations, that he continually met with Englishmen\nwho were not less vain in boasting of the success of their highwaymen than\nof the bravery of their troops. Tales of their address, their cunning, or\ntheir generosity, were in the mouths of every body, and a noted thief was\na kind of hero in high repute. He adds that the mob, in all countries,\nbeing easily moved, look in general with concern upon criminals going to\nthe gallows; but an English mob looked upon such scenes with extraordinary\ninterest: they delighted to see them go through their last trials with\nresolution, and applauded those who were insensible enough to die as they\nhad lived, braving the justice both of God and men: such, he might have\nadded, as the noted robber Macpherson, of whom the old ballad says:\n\n   \"Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,\n      Sae dauntingly gaed he:\n    He played a spring, and danced it round\n      Beneath the gallows tree.\"\n\nAmong these traditional thieves the most noted in England, or perhaps in\nany country, is Robin Hood, a name which popular affection has encircled\nwith a peculiar halo. \"He robbed the rich to give to the poor;\" and his\nreward has been an immortality of fame, a tithe of which would be thought\nmore than sufficient to recompense a benefactor of his species. Romance\nand poetry have been emulous to make him all their own; and the forest of\nSherwood, in which he roamed with his merry men, armed with their long\nbows, and clad in Lincoln green, has become the resort of pilgrims, and a\nclassic spot sacred to his memory. The few virtues he had, which would\nhave ensured him no praise if he had been an honest man, have been\nblazoned forth by popular renown during seven successive centuries, and\nwill never be forgotten while the English tongue endures. His charity to\nthe poor, and his gallantry and respect for women, have made him the\npre-eminent thief of all the world.\n\nAmong English thieves of a later date, who has not heard of Claude Duval,\nDick Turpin, Jonathan Wild, and Jack Sheppard, those knights of the road\nand of the town, whose peculiar chivalry formed at once the dread and the\ndelight of England during the eighteenth century? Turpin's fame is unknown\nto no portion of the male population of England after they have attained\nthe age of ten. His wondrous ride from London to York has endeared him to\nthe imagination of millions; his cruelty in placing an old woman upon a\nfire, to force her to tell him where she had hidden her money, is regarded\nas a good joke; and his proud bearing upon the scaffold is looked upon as\na virtuous action. The Abb\u00e9 le Blanc, writing in 1737, says he was\ncontinually entertained with stories of Turpin--how, when he robbed\ngentlemen, he would generously leave them enough to continue their\njourney, and exact a pledge from them never to inform against him, and how\nscrupulous such gentlemen were in keeping their word. He was one day told\na story with which the relator was in the highest degree delighted.\nTurpin, or some other noted robber, stopped a man whom he knew to be very\nrich, with the usual salutation--\"Your money or your life!\" but not\nfinding more than five or six guineas about him, he took the liberty of\nentreating him, in the most affable manner, never to come out so ill\nprovided; adding that, if he fell in with him, and he had no more than\nsuch a paltry sum, he would give him a good licking. Another story, told\nby one of Turpin's admirers, was of a robbery he had committed upon a Mr.\nC. near Cambridge. He took from this gentleman his watch, his snuff-box,\nand all his money but two shillings, and, before he left him, required his\nword of honour that he would not cause him to be pursued or brought before\na justice. The promise being given, they both parted very courteously.\nThey afterwards met at Newmarket, and renewed their acquaintance. Mr. C.\nkept his word religiously; he not only refrained from giving Turpin into\ncustody, but made a boast that he had fairly won some of his money back\nagain in an honest way. Turpin offered to bet with him on some favourite\nhorse, and Mr. C. accepted the wager with as good a grace as he could have\ndone from the best gentleman in England. Turpin lost his bet and paid it\nimmediately, and was so smitten with the generous behaviour of Mr. C.,\nthat he told him how deeply he regretted that the trifling affair which\nhad happened between them did not permit them to drink together. The\nnarrator of this anecdote was quite proud that England was the birthplace\nof such a highwayman.[46]\n\n    [46] The Abb\u00e9, in the second volume, in the letter No. 79,\n         addressed to Monsieur de Buffon, gives the following curious\n         particulars of the robbers of 1737, which are not without\n         interest at this day, if it were only to shew the vast\n         improvement which has taken place since that period. \"It is\n         usual in travelling to put ten or a dozen guineas in a\n         separate pocket, as a tribute to the first that comes to\n         demand them the right of passport, which custom has\n         established here in favour of the robbers, who are almost the\n         only highway surveyors in England, has made this necessary;\n         and accordingly the English call these fellows the 'Gentlemen\n         of the Road,' the government letting them exercise their\n         jurisdiction upon travellers without giving them any great\n         molestation. To say the truth, they content themselves with\n         only taking the money of those who obey without disputing;\n         but notwithstanding their boasted humanity, the lives of\n         those who endeavour to get away are not always safe. They are\n         very strict and severe in levying their impost; and if a man\n         has not wherewithal to pay them, he may run the chance of\n         getting himself knocked on the head for his poverty.\n\n         \"About fifteen years ago, these robbers, with the view of\n         maintaining their rights, fixed up papers at the doors of\n         rich people about London, expressly forbidding all persons,\n         of whatsoever quality or condition, from going out of town\n         without ten guineas and a watch about them, on pain of death.\n         In bad times, when there is little or nothing to be got on\n         the roads, these fellows assemble in gangs, to raise\n         contributions even in London itself, and the watchmen seldom\n         trouble themselves to interfere with them in their\n         vocation.\"\n\nNot less familiar to the people of England is the career of Jack Sheppard,\nas brutal a ruffian as ever disgraced his country, but who has claims upon\nthe popular admiration which are very generally acknowledged. He did not,\nlike Robin Hood, plunder the rich to relieve the poor, nor rob with an\nuncouth sort of courtesy, like Turpin; but he escaped from Newgate with\nthe fetters on his limbs. This achievement, more than once repeated, has\nencircled his felon brow with the wreath of immortality, and made him\nquite a pattern thief among the populace. He was no more than twenty-three\nyears of age at the time of his execution, and he died much pitied by the\ncrowd. His adventures were the sole topics of conversation for months; the\nprint-shops were filled with his effigies, and a fine painting of him was\nmade by Sir Richard Thornhill. The following complimentary verses to the\nartist appeared in the _British Journal_ of November 28th, 1724:\n\n   \"Thornhill! 'tis thine to gild with fame\n    Th' obscure, and raise the humble name;\n    To make the form elude the grave,\n    And Sheppard from oblivion save!\n\n    Apelles Alexander drew--\n    C\u00e6sar is to Aurelius due;\n    Cromwell in Lilly's works doth shine,\n    And Sheppard, Thornhill, lives in thine!\"\n\nThis was a very equivocal sort of compliment, and might have meant, that\nif Apelles were worthy to paint a monarch, Thornhill was worthy to paint a\nthief. But the artist did not view it in that light, nor did the public;\nfor they considered the verses to be very neat, pointed, and flattering.\nSo high was Jack's fame, that he was thought a very fit subject for the\nstage; and a pantomime entertainment, called \"_Harlequin Jack Sheppard_,\"\nwas devised by one Thurmond, and brought out with considerable success at\nDrury Lane Theatre. All the scenes were painted from nature, including the\npublic-house that the robber frequented in Clare Market, and the condemned\ncell from which he had made his escape in Newgate.[47]\n\n    [47] Since the publication of the first edition of this volume,\n         Jack Sheppard's adventures have been revived. A novel upon\n         the real or fabulous history of the burglar has afforded, by\n         its extraordinary popularity, a further exemplification of\n         the allegations in the text. The _Sixth Report of the\n         Inspector of Prisons for the Northern Districts of England_\n         contains a mass of information upon the pernicious effect of\n         such romances, and of the dramas founded upon them. The\n         Inspector examined several boys attending the prison school\n         in the New Bailey at Manchester, from whose evidence the\n         following passages bearing upon the subject are extracted:\n\n         \"J. L. (aged 14). The first time I was ever at the theatre\n         was to see _Jack Sheppard_. There were two or three boys near\n         to the house who were going, and they asked me. I took\n         sixpence from the money I used to lay up weekly for clothes.\n         The next time I went, which was the week after, I borrowed\n         the money from a boy; I returned it to him the Saturday\n         after. I then went many times. I took the money from my\n         mother out of her pocket as she was sitting down, and I\n         beside her. There was more than sixpence in her pocket. I got\n         a great love for the theatre, and stole from people often to\n         get there. _I thought this Jack Sheppard was a clever fellow_\n         for making his escape and robbing his master. _If I could get\n         out of gaol, I think I should be as clever as him_: but,\n         after all his exploits, he got done at last. I have had the\n         book out of a library at Dole Field. I had paid two-pence a\n         book for three volumes. I also got _Richard Turpin_, in two\n         volumes, and paid the same. I have seen _Oliver Twist_, and\n         think the Artful Dodger is very like some of the boys here. I\n         am here for picking a pocket of 25l.\n\n         \"H. C. (aged 15). When we came to Manchester, I went to the\n         play, and saw _Jack Sheppard_ the first night it came out.\n         There were pictures of him about the streets on boards and on\n         the walls; one of them was his picking a pocket in the\n         church. I liked _Jack Sheppard_ much. I had not been in\n         prison there. I was employed in a warehouse at 6s. 6d.\n         a-week, and was allowed 6d. out of it for myself, and with\n         that I went regularly to the play. I saw _Jack Sheppard_\n         afterwards four times in one week. I got the money out of my\n         money-bag by stealth, and without my master's knowledge. I\n         once borrowed 10s. in my mother's name from Mrs. ----, a\n         shopkeeper, with whom she used to deal; I went to the play\n         with it.\n\n         \"J. M'D. (aged 15). I have heard of _Jack Sheppard_: a lad\n         whom I know told me of it, who had seen it, and said it was\n         _rare fun_ to see him break out of prison.\n\n         \"J. L. (aged 11). Has been to the play twice, and seen _Jack\n         Sheppard_. Went with his brother the first time, and by\n         himself the second. I took the money to go a second time out\n         of mother's house, off the chimney-piece, where she had left\n         a sixpence. It was the first night _Jack Sheppard_ was\n         played. There was great talk about it, and there were nice\n         pictures about it all over the walls. I thought him a very\n         clever fellow; but Blueskin made the most fun. I first went\n         to the markets, and begun by stealing apples. I also knew a\n         lad, ----, who has been transported, and went with him two or\n         three times. The most I ever got was 10s. out of a till.\"\n\n         The Inspector's _Report on Juvenile Delinquency at Liverpool_\n         contains much matter of the same kind; but sufficient has\n         been already quoted to shew the injurious effects of the\n         deification of great thieves by thoughtless novelists.\n\nThe Rev. Mr. Villette, the editor of the _Annals of Newgate_, published in\n1754, relates a curious sermon, which he says a friend of his heard\ndelivered by a street-preacher about the time of Jack's execution. The\norator, after animadverting on the great care men took of their bodies,\nand the little care they bestowed upon their souls, continued as follows,\nby way of exemplifying the position:--\"We have a remarkable instance of\nthis in a notorious malefactor, well known by the name of Jack Sheppard.\nWhat amazing difficulties has he overcome! what astonishing things has he\nperformed! and all for the sake of a stinking, miserable carcass, hardly\nworth the hanging! How dexterously did he pick the chain of his padlock\nwith a crooked nail! how manfully he burst his fetters asunder, climb up\nthe chimney, wrench out an iron bar, break his way through a stone wall,\nmake the strong door of a dark entry fly before him, till he got upon the\nleads of the prison, then, fixing a blanket to the wall with a spike, he\nstole out of the chapel! How intrepidly did he descend to the top of the\nturner's house! how cautiously pass down the stair, and make his escape to\nthe street-door!\n\n\"Oh, that ye were all like Jack Sheppard! Mistake me not, my brethren--I\ndon't mean in a carnal, but in a spiritual sense; for I propose to\nspiritualise these things. What a shame it would be if we should not think\nit worth our while to take as much pains, and employ as many deep thoughts\nto save our souls as he has done to preserve his body!\n\n\"Let me exhort ye, then, to open the locks of your hearts with the nail of\nrepentance! Burst asunder the fetters of your beloved lusts, mount the\nchimney of hope, take from thence the bar of good resolution, break\nthrough the stone wall of despair, and all the strongholds in the dark\nentry of the valley of the shadow of death! Raise yourselves to the leads\nof divine meditation, fix the blanket of faith with the spike of the\nChurch, let yourselves down to the turner's house of resignation, and\ndescend the stairs of humility! So shall you come to the door of\ndeliverance from the prison of iniquity, and escape the clutches of that\nold executioner the devil!\"\n\nJonathan Wild, whose name has been immortalised by Fielding, was no\nfavourite with the people. He had none of the virtues which, combined with\ncrimes, make up the character of the great thief. He was a pitiful fellow,\nwho informed against his comrades, and was afraid of death. This meanness\nwas not to be forgiven by the crowd; and they pelted him with dirt and\nstones on his way to Tyburn, and expressed their contempt by every\npossible means. How different was their conduct to Turpin and Jack\nSheppard, who died in their neatest attire, with nosegays in their\nbutton-holes, and with the courage that a crowd expects. It was\nanticipated that the body of Turpin would have been delivered up to the\nsurgeons for dissection; and the people seeing some men very busily\nemployed in removing it, suddenly set upon them, rescued the body, bore it\nabout the town in triumph, and then buried it in a very deep grave, filled\nwith quicklime, to hasten the progress of decomposition. They would not\nsuffer the corpse of their hero--of the man who had ridden from London to\nYork in four-and-twenty hours--to be mangled by the rude hands of\nunmannerly surgeons.\n\nThe death of Claude Duval would appear to have been no less triumphant.\nClaude was a gentlemanly thief. According to Butler, in the famous ode to\nhis memory, he\n\n   \"Taught the wild Arabs of the road\n    To rob in a more gentle mode;\n    Take prizes more obligingly than those\n    Who never had been bred _filous_;\n    And how to hang in a more graceful fashion\n    Than e'er was known before to the dull English nation.\"\n\nIn fact, he was the pink of politeness, and his gallantry to the fair sex\nwas proverbial. When he was caught at last, pent in \"stone walls and\nchains and iron grates,\" their grief was in proportion to his rare merits\nand his great fame. Butler says, that to his dungeon\n\n              \"Came ladies from all parts,\n    To offer up close prisoners their hearts.\n    Which he received as tribute due--\n\n       *     *     *     *     *\n\n    Never did bold knight to relieve\n    Distressed dames, such dreadful feats achieve,\n    As feeble damsels for his sake\n    Would have been proud to undertake,\n    And, bravely ambitious to redeem\n    The world's loss and their own,\n    Strove who should have the honour to lay down,\n    And change a life with him.\"\n\nAmong the noted thieves of France, there is none to compare with the\nfamous Aimerigot T\u00eatenoire, who flourished in the reign of Charles VI.\nThis fellow was at the head of four or five hundred men, and possessed two\nvery strong castles in Limousin and Auvergne. There was a good deal of the\nfeudal baron about him, although he possessed no revenues but such as the\nroad afforded him. At his death he left a singular will. \"I give and\nbequeath,\" said the robber, \"one thousand five hundred francs to St.\nGeorge's Chapel, for such repairs as it may need; to my sweet girl, who so\nloyally loved me, I give two thousand five hundred; and the surplus I give\nto my companions. I hope they will all live as brothers, and divide it\namicably among them. If they cannot agree, and the devil of contention\ngets among them, it is no fault of mine; and I advise them to get a good\nstrong sharp axe, and break open my strong box. Let them scramble for what\nit contains, and the devil seize the hindmost.\" The people of Auvergne\nstill recount with admiration the daring feats of this brigand.\n\nOf later years, the French thieves have been such unmitigated scoundrels\nas to have left but little room for popular admiration. The famous\nCartouche, whose name has become synonymous with ruffian in their\nlanguage, had none of the generosity, courtesy, and devoted bravery which\nare so requisite to make a robber-hero. He was born at Paris, towards the\nend of the seventeenth century, and broken alive on the wheel in November\n1727. He was, however, sufficiently popular to have been pitied at his\ndeath, and afterwards to have formed the subject of a much-admired drama,\nwhich bore his name, and was played with great success in all the theatres\nof France during the years 1734, 5, and 6. In our own day the French have\nbeen more fortunate in a robber; Vidocq bids fair to rival the fame of\nTurpin and Jack Sheppard. Already he has become the hero of many an\napocryphal tale--already his compatriots boast of his manifold\nachievements, and express their doubts whether any other country in Europe\ncould produce a thief so clever, so accomplished, so gentlemanly, as\nVidocq.\n\nGermany has its Schinderhannes, Hungary its Schubry, and Italy and Spain a\nwhole host of brigands, whose names and exploits are familiar as household\nwords in the mouths of the children and populace of those countries.\n\nThe Italian banditti are renowned over the world; and many of them are not\nonly very religious (after a fashion) but very charitable. Charity from\nsuch a source is so unexpected, that the people doat upon them for it. One\nof them, when he fell into the hands of the police, exclaimed, as they led\nhim away, \"Ho fatto pi\u00f9 carit\u00e0!\"--\"I have given away more in charity than\nany three convents in these provinces.\" And the fellow spoke truth.\n\nIn Lombardy, the people cherish the memory of two notorious robbers, who\nflourished about two centuries ago under the Spanish government. Their\nstory, according to Macfarlane, is contained in a little book well known\nto all the children of the province, and read by them with much more gusto\nthan their Bibles.\n\nSchinderhannes, the robber of the Rhine, is a great favourite on the banks\nof the river which he so long kept in awe. Many amusing stories are\nrelated by the peasantry[48] of the scurvy tricks he played off upon rich\nJews, or too-presuming officers of justice--of his princely generosity,\nand undaunted courage. In short, they are proud of him, and would no more\nconsent to have the memory of his achievements dissociated from their\nriver than they would have the rock of Ehrenbreitstein blown to atoms by\ngunpowder.\n\n    [48] For a full account of this noted robber, and indeed of\n         European thieves and banditti in general, see the very\n         amusing work upon the subject by Mr. Charles Macfarlane.\n\nThere is another robber-hero, of whose character and exploits the people\nof Germany speak admiringly. Mausch Nadel was captain of a considerable\nband that infested the Rhine, Switzerland, Alsatia, and Lorraine, during\nthe years 1824, 5, and 6. Like Jack Sheppard, he endeared himself to the\npopulace by his most hazardous escape from prison. Being confined at\nBremen, in a dungeon on the third story of the prison of that town, he\ncontrived to let himself down without exciting the vigilance of the\nsentinels, and to swim across the Weser, though heavily laden with irons.\nWhen about half-way over, he was espied by a sentinel, who fired at him,\nand shot him in the calf of the leg: but the undaunted robber struck out\nmanfully, reached the shore, and was out of sight before the officers of\njustice could get ready their boats to follow him. He was captured again\nin 1826, tried at Mayence, and sentenced to death. He was a tall, strong,\nhandsome man, and his fate, villain as he was, excited much sympathy all\nover Germany. The ladies especially were loud in their regret that nothing\ncould be done to save a hero so good-looking, and of adventures so\nromantic, from the knife of the headsman.\n\nMr. Charles Macfarlane, in speaking of Italian banditti, remarks, that the\nabuses of the Catholic religion, with its confessions and absolutions,\nhave tended to promote crime of this description. But he adds more truly,\nthat priests and monks have not done half the mischief which has been\nperpetrated by ballad-mongers and story-tellers. If he had said\nplaywrights also, the list would have been complete. In fact, the theatre,\nwhich can only expect to prosper, in a pecuniary sense, by pandering to\nthe tastes of the people, continually recurs to the annals of thieves and\nbanditti for its most favourite heroes. These theatrical robbers, with\ntheir picturesque attire, wild haunts, jolly, reckless, devil-may-care\nmanners, take a wonderful hold upon the imagination, and whatever their\nadvocates may say to the contrary, exercise a very pernicious influence\nupon public morals. In the Memoirs of the Duke of Guise upon the\nRevolution of Naples in 1647 and 1648, it is stated, that the manners,\ndress, and mode of life of the Neapolitan banditti were rendered so\ncaptivating upon the stage, that the authorities found it absolutely\nnecessary to forbid the representation of dramas in which they figured,\nand even to prohibit their costume at the masquerades. So numerous were\nthe banditti at this time, that the duke found no difficulty in raising an\narmy of them, to aid him in his endeavours to seize on the throne of\nNaples. He thus describes them:[49] \"They were three thousand five hundred\nmen, of whom the oldest came short of five-and-forty years, and the\nyoungest was above twenty. They were all tall and well made, with long\nblack hair, for the most part curled; coats of black Spanish leather, with\nsleeves of velvet, or cloth of gold; cloth breeches with gold lace, most\nof them scarlet; girdles of velvet, laced with gold, with two pistols on\neach side; a cutlass hanging at a belt, suitably trimmed, three fingers\nbroad and two feet long; a hawking-bag at their girdle, and a powder-flask\nhung about their neck with a great silk riband. Some of them carried\nfirelocks, and others blunderbusses; they had all good shoes, with silk\nstockings, and every one a cap of cloth of gold, or cloth of silver, of\ndifferent colours, on his head, which was very delightful to the eye.\"\n\n    [49] See also _Foreign Quarterly Review_, vol. iv. p. 398.\n\n_The Beggar's Opera_, in our own country, is another instance of the\nadmiration that thieves excite upon the stage. Of the extraordinary\nsuccess of this piece, when first produced, the following account is given\nin the notes to _The Dunciad_, and quoted by Johnson in his _Lives of the\nPoets_: \"This piece was received with greater applause than was ever\nknown. Besides being acted in London sixty-three days without\ninterruption, and renewed the next season with equal applause, it spread\ninto all the great towns of England; was played in many places to the\nthirtieth and fortieth time; at Bath and Bristol, &c. fifty. It made its\nprogress into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, where it was performed\ntwenty-four days successively. The ladies carried about with them the\nfavourite songs of it in fans, and houses were furnished with it in\nscreens. The fame of it was not confined to the author only. The person\nwho acted Polly, till then obscure, became all at once the favourite of\nthe town;[50] her pictures were engraved and sold in great numbers; her\nlife written, books of letters and verses to her published, and pamphlets\nmade even of her sayings and jests. Furthermore, it drove out of England,\nfor that season, the Italian Opera, which had carried all before it for\nten years.\" Dr. Johnson, in his life of the author, says, that Herring,\nafterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, censured the opera, as giving\nencouragement, not only to vice, but to crimes, by making the highwayman\nthe hero, and dismissing him at last unpunished; and adds, that it was\neven said, that after the exhibition the gangs of robbers were evidently\nmultiplied. The Doctor doubts the assertion, giving as his reason that\nhighwaymen and housebreakers seldom frequent the playhouse, and that it\nwas not possible for any one to imagine that he might rob with safety,\nbecause he saw Macheath reprieved upon the stage. But if Johnson had\nwished to be convinced, he might very easily have discovered that\nhighwaymen and housebreakers did frequent the theatre, and that nothing\nwas more probable than that a laughable representation of successful\nvillany should induce the young and the already vicious to imitate it.\nBesides, there is the weighty authority of Sir John Fielding, the chief\nmagistrate of Bow Street, who asserted positively, and proved his\nassertion by the records of his office, that the number of thieves was\ngreatly increased at the time when that opera was so popular.\n\n    [50] Lavinia Fenton, afterwards Duchess of Bolton.\n\nWe have another instance of the same result much nearer our own times.\nSchiller's _R\u00e4uber_, that wonderful play, written by a green youth,\nperverted the taste and imagination of all the young men in Germany. An\naccomplished critic of our own country (Hazlitt), speaking of this play,\nsays it was the first he ever read, and such was the effect it produced on\nhim, that \"it stunned him, like a blow.\" After the lapse of\nfive-and-twenty years, he could not forget it; it was still, to use his\nown words, \"an old dweller in the chambers of his brain,\" and he had not\neven then recovered enough from it to describe how it was. The\nhigh-minded, metaphysical thief, its hero, was so warmly admired, that\nseveral raw students, longing to imitate a character they thought so\nnoble, actually abandoned their homes and their colleges, and betook\nthemselves to the forests and the wilds to levy contributions upon\ntravellers. They thought they would, like Moor, plunder the rich, and\ndeliver eloquent soliloquies to the setting sun or the rising moon;\nrelieve the poor when they met them, and drink flasks of Rhenish with\ntheir free companions in rugged mountain passes, or in tents in the\nthicknesses of the forests. But a little experience wonderfully cooled\ntheir courage; they found that real, everyday robbers were very unlike the\nconventional banditti of the stage, and that three months in prison, with\nbread and water for their fare, and damp straw to lie upon, was very well\nto read about by their own firesides, but not very agreeable to undergo in\ntheir own proper persons.\n\nLord Byron, with his soliloquising, high-souled thieves, has, in a slight\ndegree, perverted the taste of the juvenile rhymers of his country. As\nyet, however, they have shewn more good sense than their fellows of\nGermany, and have not taken to the woods or the highways. Much as they\nadmire Conrad the Corsair, they will not go to sea, and hoist the black\nflag for him. By words only, and not by deeds, they testify their\nadmiration, and deluge the periodicals and music-shops of the land with\nverses describing pirates' and bandits' brides, and robber adventures of\nevery kind.\n\nBut it is the playwright who does most harm; and Byron has fewer sins of\nthis nature to answer for than Gay or Schiller. With the aid of scenery,\nfine dresses and music, and the very false notions they convey, they\nvitiate the public taste, not knowing,\n\n                               \"Vulgaires rimeurs!\n    Quelle force ont les arts pour demolir les moeurs.\"\n\nIn the penny theatres that abound in the poor and populous districts of\nLondon, and which are chiefly frequented by striplings of idle and\ndissolute habits, tales of thieves and murderers are more admired, and\ndraw more crowded audiences, than any other species of representation.\nThere the footpad, the burglar, and the highwayman are portrayed in their\nnatural colours, and give pleasant lessons in crime to their delighted\nlisteners. There the deepest tragedy and the broadest farce are\nrepresented in the career of the murderer and the thief, and are applauded\nin proportion to their depth and their breadth. There, whenever a crime of\nunusual atrocity is committed, it is brought out afresh, with all its\ndisgusting incidents copied from the life, for the amusement of those who\nwill one day become its imitators.\n\nWith the mere reader the case is widely different; and most people have a\npartiality for knowing the adventures of noted rogues. Even in fiction\nthey are delightful: witness the eventful story of Gil Blas de Santillane,\nand of that great rascal Don Guzman d'Alfarache. Here there is no fear of\nimitation. Poets, too, without doing mischief, may sing of such heroes\nwhen they please, wakening our sympathies for the sad fate of Jemmy\nDawson, or Gilderoy, or Macpherson the Dauntless; or celebrating in\nundying verse the wrongs and the revenge of the great thief of Scotland,\nRob Roy. If, by the music of their sweet rhymes, they can convince the\nworld that such heroes are but mistaken philosophers, born a few ages too\nlate, and having both a theoretical and practical love for\n\n     \"The good old rule, the simple plan,\n    That they should take who have the power,\n      That they should keep who can;\"\n\nthe world may perhaps become wiser, and consent to some better\ndistribution of its good things, by means of which thieves may become\nreconciled to the age, and the age to them. The probability, however,\nseems to be, that the charmers will charm in vain, charm they ever so\nwisely.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: FIGHT BETWEEN DU GUESCLIN AND TROUSSEL.]\n\n\nDUELS AND ORDEALS.\n\n    There was an ancient sage philosopher,\n    Who swore the world, as he could prove,\n    Was mad of fighting.--_Hudibras_.\n\n\nMost writers, in accounting for the origin of duelling, derive it from the\nwarlike habits of those barbarous nations who overran Europe in the early\ncenturies of the Christian era, and who knew no mode so effectual for\nsettling their differences as the point of the sword. In fact, duelling,\ntaken in its primitive and broadest sense, means nothing more than\ncombating, and is the universal resort of all wild animals, including man,\nto gain or defend their possessions, or avenge their insults. Two dogs who\ntear each other for a bone, or two bantams fighting on a dunghill for the\nlove of some beautiful hen, or two fools on Wimbledon Common, shooting at\neach other to satisfy the laws of offended honour, stand on the same\nfooting in this respect, and are each and all mere duellists. As\ncivilisation advanced, the best-informed men naturally grew ashamed of\nsuch a mode of adjusting disputes, and the promulgation of some sort of\nlaws for obtaining redress for injuries was the consequence. Still there\nwere many cases in which the allegations of an accuser could not be\nrebutted by any positive proof on the part of the accused; and in all\nthese, which must have been exceedingly numerous in the early stages of\nEuropean society, the combat was resorted to. From its decision there was\nno appeal. God was supposed to nerve the arm of the combatant whose cause\nwas just, and to grant him the victory over his opponent. As Montesquieu\nwell remarks,[51] this belief was not unnatural among a people just\nemerging from barbarism. Their manners being wholly warlike, the man\ndeficient in courage, the prime virtue of his fellows, was not\nunreasonably suspected of other vices besides cowardice, which is\ngenerally found to be co-existent with treachery. He, therefore, who\nshewed himself most valiant in the encounter was absolved by public\nopinion from any crime with which he might be charged. As a necessary\nconsequence, society would have been reduced to its original elements, if\nthe men of thought, as distinguished from the men of action, had not\ndevised some means for taming the unruly passions of their fellows. With\nthis view, governments commenced by restricting within the narrowest\npossible limits the cases in which it was lawful to prove or deny guilt by\nthe single combat. By the law of Gondebaldus king of the Burgundians,\npassed in the year 501, the proof by combat was allowed in all legal\nproceedings in lieu of swearing. In the time of Charlemagne, the\nBurgundian practice had spread over the empire of the Francs, and not only\nthe suitors for justice, but the witnesses, and even the judges, were\nobliged to defend their cause, their evidence, or their decision at the\npoint of the sword. Louis the Debonnaire, his successor, endeavoured to\nremedy the growing evil by permitting the duel only in appeals of felony,\nin civil cases, or issue joined in a writ of right, and in cases of the\ncourt of chivalry, or attacks upon a man's knighthood. None were exempt\nfrom these trials but women, the sick and the maimed, and persons under\nfifteen or above sixty years of age. Ecclesiastics were allowed to produce\nchampions in their stead. This practice in the course of time extended to\nall trials of civil and criminal cases, which had to be decided by battle.\n\n    [51] _Esprit des Loix_, liv. xxviii. chap. xvii.\n\nThe clergy, whose dominion was an intellectual one, never approved of a\nsystem of jurisprudence which tended so much to bring all things under the\nrule of the strongest arm. From the first they set their faces against\nduelling, and endeavoured, as far as the prejudices of their age would\nallow them, to curb the warlike spirit, so alien from the principles of\nreligion. In the Council of Valentia, and afterwards in the Council of\nTrent, they excommunicated all persons engaged in duelling; and not only\nthem, but even the assistants and spectators, declaring the custom to be\nhellish and detestable, and introduced by the devil for the destruction\nboth of body and soul. They added also, that princes who connived at duels\nshould be deprived of all temporal power, jurisdiction, and dominion over\nthe places where they had permitted them to be fought. It will be seen\nhereafter that this clause only encouraged the practice which it was\nintended to prevent.\n\nBut it was the blasphemous error of these early ages to expect that the\nAlmighty, whenever he was called upon, would work a miracle in favour of a\nperson unjustly accused. The priesthood, in condemning the duel, did not\ncondemn the principle on which it was founded. They still encouraged the\npopular belief of divine interference in all the disputes or differences\nthat might arise among nations or individuals. It was the very same\nprinciple that regulated the ordeals, which with all their influence they\nsupported against the duel. By the former, the power of deciding the guilt\nor innocence was vested wholly in their hands; while by the latter they\nenjoyed no power or privilege at all. It is not to be wondered at that,\nfor this reason, if for no other, they should have endeavoured to settle\nall differences by the peaceful mode. While that prevailed, they were, as\nthey wished to be, the first party in the state; but while the strong arm\nof individual prowess was allowed to be the judge in all doubtful cases,\ntheir power and influence became secondary to those of the nobility.\n\nThus it was not the mere hatred of bloodshed which induced them to launch\nthe thunderbolts of excommunication against the combatants: it was a\ndesire to retain the power, which, to do them justice, they were in those\ntimes the persons best qualified to wield. The germs of knowledge and\ncivilisation lay within the bounds of their order; for they were the\nrepresentatives of the intellectual, as the nobility were of the physical\npower of man. To centralise this power in the Church, and make it the\njudge of the last resort in all appeals, both in civil and criminal cases,\nthey instituted five modes of trial, the management of which lay wholly in\ntheir hands. These were, the oath upon the evangelists; the ordeal of the\ncross and the fire ordeal, for persons in the higher ranks; the water\nordeal, for the humbler classes; and, lastly, the _corsned_, or bread and\ncheese ordeal, for members of their own body.\n\nThe oath upon the evangelists was taken in the following manner. The\naccused who was received to this proof, says Paul Hay, Count du Chastelet,\nin his _Memoirs of Bertrand du Guesclin_, swore upon a copy of the New\nTestament, and on the relics of the holy martyrs, or on their tombs, that\nhe was innocent of the crime imputed to him. He was also obliged to find\ntwelve persons of acknowledged probity who should take oath at the same\ntime that they believed him innocent. This mode of trial led to very great\nabuses, especially in cases of disputed inheritance, where the hardest\nswearer was certain of the victory. This abuse was one of the principal\ncauses which led to the preference given to the trial by battle. It is not\nat all surprising that a feudal baron, or captain of the early ages,\nshould have preferred the chances of a fair fight with his opponent to a\nmode by which firm perjury would always be successful.\n\nThe trial by, or judgment of, the cross, which Charlemagne begged his sons\nto have recourse to, in case of disputes arising between them, was\nperformed thus:--When a person accused of any crime had declared his\ninnocence upon oath, and appealed to the cross for its judgment in his\nfavour, he was brought into the church, before the altar. The priests\npreviously prepared two sticks exactly like one another, upon one of which\nwas carved a figure of the cross. They were both wrapped up with great\ncare and many ceremonies, in a quantity of fine wool, and laid upon the\naltar, or on the relics of the saints. A solemn prayer was then offered up\nto God, that he would be pleased to discover, by the judgment of his holy\ncross, whether the accused person were innocent or guilty. A priest then\napproached the altar, and took up one of the sticks, and the assistants\nunswathed it reverently. If it was marked with the cross, the accused\nperson was innocent; if unmarked, he was guilty. It would be unjust to\nassert, that the judgments thus delivered were, in all cases, erroneous;\nand it would be absurd to believe that they were left altogether to\nchance. Many true judgments were doubtless given, and, in all probability,\nmost conscientiously; for we cannot but believe that the priests\nendeavoured beforehand to convince themselves by secret inquiry and a\nstrict examination of the circumstances, whether the appellant were\ninnocent or guilty, and that they took up the crossed or uncrossed stick\naccordingly. Although, to all other observers, the sticks, as enfolded in\nthe wool, might appear exactly similar, those who enwrapped them could,\nwithout any difficulty, distinguish the one from the other.\n\nBy the fire-ordeal the power of deciding was just as unequivocally left in\ntheir hands. It was generally believed that fire would not burn the\ninnocent, and the clergy, of course, took care that the innocent, or such\nas it was their pleasure or interest to declare so, should be so warned\nbefore undergoing the ordeal, as to preserve themselves without any\ndifficulty from the fire. One mode of ordeal was to place red-hot\nploughshares on the ground at certain distances, and then, blindfolding\nthe accused person, make him walk barefooted over them. If he stepped\nregularly in the vacant spaces, avoiding the fire, he was adjudged\ninnocent; if he burned himself, he was declared guilty. As none but the\nclergy interfered with the arrangement of the ploughshares, they could\nalways calculate beforehand the result of the ordeal. To find a person\nguilty, they had only to place them at irregular distances, and the\naccused was sure to tread upon one of them. When Emma, the wife of King\nEthelred, and mother of Edward the Confessor, was accused of a guilty\nfamiliarity with Alwyn Bishop of Winchester, she cleared her character in\nthis manner. The reputation, not only of their order, but of a queen,\nbeing at stake, a verdict of guilty was not to be apprehended from any\nploughshares which priests had the heating of. This ordeal was called the\n_Judicium Dei_, and sometimes the _Vulgaris Purgatio_, and might also be\ntried by several other methods. One was to hold in the hand, unhurt, a\npiece of red-hot iron, of the weight of one, two, or three pounds. When we\nread not only that men with hard hands, but women of softer and more\ndelicate skin, could do this with impunity, we must be convinced that the\nhands were previously rubbed with some preservative, or that the\napparently hot iron was merely cold iron painted red. Another mode was to\nplunge the naked arm into a caldron of boiling water. The priests then\nenveloped it in several folds of linen and flannel, and kept the patient\nconfined within the church, and under their exclusive care, for three\ndays. If, at the end of that time, the arm appeared without a scar, the\ninnocence of the accused person was firmly established.[52]\n\n    [52] Very similar to this is the fire-ordeal of the modern\n         Hindoos, which is thus described in Forbes's _Oriental\n         Memoirs_, vol. i. c. xi.:--\"When a man, accused of a capital\n         crime, chooses to undergo the ordeal trial, he is closely\n         confined for several days; his right hand and arm are covered\n         with thick wax-cloth, tied up and sealed, in the presence of\n         proper officers, to prevent deceit. In the English districts\n         the covering was always sealed with the Company's arms, and\n         the prisoner placed under an European guard. At the time\n         fixed for the ordeal, a caldron of oil is placed over a fire;\n         when it boils, a piece of money is dropped into the vessel;\n         the prisoner's arm is unsealed and washed in the presence of\n         his judges and accusers. During this part of the ceremony the\n         attendant Brahmins supplicate the Deity. On receiving their\n         benediction, the accused plunges his hand into the boiling\n         fluid, and takes out the coin. The arm is afterwards again\n         sealed up until the time appointed for a re-examination. The\n         seal is then broken; if no blemish appears, the prisoner is\n         declared innocent; if the contrary, he suffers the punishment\n         due to his crime.\"... On this trial the accused thus\n         addresses the element before plunging his hand into the\n         boiling oil:--\"Thou, O fire! pervadest all things. O cause of\n         purity! who givest evidence of virtue and of sin, declare the\n         truth in this my hand!\" If no juggling were practised, the\n         decisions by this ordeal would be all the same way; but as\n         some are by this means declared guilty, and others innocent,\n         it is clear that the Brahmins, like the Christian priests of\n         the middle ages, practise some deception in saving those whom\n         they wish to be thought guiltless.\n\nAs regards the water-ordeal, the same trouble was not taken. It was a\ntrial only for the poor and humble, and, whether they sank or swam, was\nthought of very little consequence. Like the witches of more modern times,\nthe accused were thrown into a pond or river; if they sank, and were\ndrowned, their surviving friends had the consolation of knowing that they\nwere innocent; if they swam, they were guilty. In either case society was\nrid of them.\n\nBut of all the ordeals, that which the clergy reserved for themselves was\nthe one least likely to cause any member of their corps to be declared\nguilty. The most culpable monster in existence came off clear when tried\nby this method. It was called the _Corsned_, and was thus performed. A\npiece of barley bread and a piece of cheese were laid upon the altar, and\nthe accused priest, in his full canonicals, and surrounded by all the\npompous adjuncts of Roman ceremony, pronounced certain conjurations, and\nprayed with great fervency for several minutes. The burden of the prayer\nwas, that if he were guilty of the crime laid to his charge, God would\nsend his angel Gabriel to stop his throat, that he might not be able to\nswallow the bread and cheese. There is no instance upon record of a priest\nhaving been choked in this manner.[53]\n\n    [53] An ordeal very like this is still practised in India.\n         Consecrated rice is the article chosen, instead of bread and\n         cheese. Instances are not rare in which, through the force of\n         imagination, guilty persons are not able to swallow a single\n         grain. Conscious of their crime, and fearful of the\n         punishment of Heaven, they feel a suffocating sensation in\n         their throat when they attempt it, and they fall on their\n         knees, and confess all that is laid to their charge. The same\n         thing, no doubt, would have happened with the bread and\n         cheese of the Roman Church, if it had been applied to any\n         others but ecclesiastics. The latter had too much wisdom to\n         be caught in a trap of their own setting.\n\nWhen, under Pope Gregory VII., it was debated whether the Gregorian chant\nshould be introduced into Castile, instead of the Musarabic, given by St.\nIsidore of Seville to the churches of that kingdom, very much ill feeling\nwas excited. The churches refused to receive the novelty, and it was\nproposed that the affair should be decided by a battle between two\nchampions, one chosen from each side. The clergy would not consent to a\nmode of settlement which they considered impious, but had no objection to\ntry the merits of each chant by the fire-ordeal. A great fire was\naccordingly made, and a book of the Gregorian and one of the Musarabic\nchant were thrown into it, that the flames might decide which was most\nagreeable to God by refusing to burn it. Cardinal Baronius, who says he\nwas an eye-witness of the miracle, relates, that the book of the Gregorian\nchant was no sooner laid upon the fire, than it leaped out uninjured,\nvisibly, and with a great noise. Every one present thought that the saints\nhad decided in favour of Pope Gregory. After a slight interval, the fire\nwas extinguished; but, wonderful to relate! the other book of St. Isidore\nwas found covered with ashes, but not injured in the slightest degree. The\nflames had not even warmed it. Upon this it was resolved, that both were\nalike agreeable to God, and that they should be used by turns in all the\nchurches of Seville.[54]\n\n    [54] _Histoire de Messire Bertrand du Guesclin_, par Paul Hay du\n         Chastelet, liv. i. ch. xix.\n\nIf the ordeals had been confined to questions like this, the laity would\nhave had little or no objection to them; but when they were introduced as\ndecisive in all the disputes that might arise between man and man, the\nopposition of all those whose prime virtue was personal bravery, was\nnecessarily excited. In fact, the nobility, from a very early period,\nbegan to look with jealous eyes upon them. They were not slow to perceive\ntheir true purport, which was no other than to make the Church the last\ncourt of appeal in all cases, both civil and criminal: and not only did\nthe nobility prefer the ancient mode of single combat from this cause, in\nitself a sufficient one, but they clung to it because an acquittal gained\nby those displays of courage and address which the battle afforded, was\nmore creditable in the eyes of their compeers, than one which it required\nbut little or none of either to accomplish. To these causes may be added\nanother, which was perhaps more potent than either in raising the credit\nof the judicial combat at the expense of the ordeal. The noble institution\nof chivalry was beginning to take root, and, notwithstanding the clamours\nof the clergy, war was made the sole business of life, and the only\nelegant pursuit of the aristocracy. The fine spirit of honour was\nintroduced, any attack upon which was only to be avenged in the lists,\nwithin sight of applauding crowds, whose verdict of approbation was far\nmore gratifying than the cold and formal acquittal of the ordeal.\nLothaire, the son of Louis I., abolished that by fire and the trial of the\ncross within his dominions; but in England they were allowed so late as\nthe time of Henry III., in the early part of whose reign they were\nprohibited by an order of council. In the mean time, the Crusades had\nbrought the institution of chivalry to the full height of perfection. The\nchivalric spirit soon achieved the downfall of the ordeal system, and\nestablished the judicial combat on a basis too firm to be shaken. It is\ntrue that with the fall of chivalry, as an institution, fell the\ntournament and the encounter in the lists; but the duel, their offspring,\nhas survived to this day, defying the efforts of sages and philosophers to\neradicate it. Among all the errors bequeathed to us by a barbarous age, it\nhas proved the most pertinacious. It has put variance between men's reason\nand their honour; put the man of sense on a level with the fool, and made\nthousands who condemn it submit to it or practise it.\n\nThose who are curious to see the manner in which these combats were\nregulated, may consult the learned Montesquieu, where they will find a\ncopious summary of the code of ancient duelling.[55] Truly does he remark,\nin speaking of the clearness and excellence of the arrangements, that, as\nthere were many wise matters which were conducted in a very foolish\nmanner, so there were many foolish matters conducted very wisely. No\ngreater exemplification of it could be given than the wise and religious\nrules of the absurd and blasphemous trial by battle.\n\n    [55] _Esprit des Loix_, liv. xxviii. ch. xxv.\n\nIn the ages that intervened between the Crusades and the new era that was\nopened out by the invention of gunpowder and printing, a more rational\nsystem of legislation took root. The inhabitants of cities, engaged in the\npursuits of trade and industry, were content to acquiesce in the decisions\nof their judges and magistrates whenever any differences arose among them.\nUnlike the class above them, their habits and manners did not lead them to\nseek the battle-field on every slight occasion. A dispute as to the price\nof a sack of corn, a bale of broad-cloth, or a cow, could be more\nsatisfactorily adjusted before the mayor or bailiff of their district.\nEven the martial knights and nobles, quarrelsome as they were, began to\nsee that the trial by battle would lose its dignity and splendour if too\nfrequently resorted to. Governments also shared this opinion, and on\nseveral occasions restricted the cases in which it was legal to proceed to\nthis extremity. In France, before the time of Louis IX., duels were\npermitted only in cases of _l\u00e8se majest\u00e9_, _rape_, _incendiarism_,\n_assassination_, and _burglary_. Louis IX., by taking off all restriction,\nmade them legal in civil cases. This was not found to work well, and, in\n1303, Philip the Fair judged it necessary to confine them, in criminal\nmatters, to state offences, rape, and incendiarism; and in civil cases, to\nquestions of disputed inheritance. Knighthood was allowed to be the best\njudge of its own honour, and might defend or avenge it as often as\noccasion arose.\n\nAmong the earliest duels upon record, is a very singular one that took\nplace in the reign of Louis II. (A. D. 878). Ingelgerius count of\nGastinois was one morning discovered by his countess dead in bed at her\nside. Gontran, a relation of the count, accused the countess of having\nmurdered her husband, to whom, he asserted, she had long been unfaithful,\nand challenged her to produce a champion to do battle in her behalf, that\nhe might establish her guilt by killing him.[56] All the friends and\nrelatives of the countess believed in her innocence; but Gontran was so\nstout and bold and renowned a warrior that no one dared to meet him, for\nwhich, as Brant\u00f4me quaintly says, \"mauvais et poltrons parens estaient.\"\nThe unhappy countess began to despair, when a champion suddenly appeared\nin the person of Ingelgerius count of Anjou, a boy of sixteen years of\nage, who had been held by the countess on the baptismal font, and received\nher husband's name. He tenderly loved his godmother, and offered to do\nbattle in her cause against any and every opponent. The king endeavoured\nto persuade the generous boy from his enterprise, urging the great\nstrength, tried skill, and invincible courage of the challenger; but he\npersisted in his resolution, to the great sorrow of all the court, who\nsaid it was a cruel thing to permit so brave and beautiful a child to rush\nto such butchery and death.\n\n    [56] _M\u00e9moires de Brant\u00f4me touchant les Duels_.\n\n[Illustration: DUEL BETWEEN INGELGERIUS AND GONTRAN.]\n\nWhen the lists were prepared, the countess duly acknowledged her champion,\nand the combatants commenced the onset. Gontran rode so fiercely at his\nantagonist, and hit him on the shield with such impetuosity, that he lost\nhis own balance and rolled to the ground. The young count, as Gontran\nfell, passed his lance through his body, and then dismounting, cut off his\nhead, which, Brant\u00f4me says, \"he presented to the king, who received it\nmost graciously, and was very joyful, as much so as if any one had made\nhim a present of a city.\" The innocence of the countess was then\nproclaimed with great rejoicings; and she kissed her godson, and wept over\nhis neck with joy, in the presence of all the assembly.\n\nWhen the Earl of Essex was accused, by Robert de Montfort, before King\nHenry II., in 1162, of having traitorously suffered the royal standard of\nEngland to fall from his hands in a skirmish with the Welsh at Coleshill,\nfive years previously, the latter offered to prove the truth of the charge\nby single combat. The Earl of Essex accepted the challenge, and the lists\nwere prepared near Reading. An immense concourse of persons assembled to\nwitness the battle. Essex at first fought stoutly, but, losing his temper\nand self-command, he gave an advantage to his opponent which soon decided\nthe struggle. He was unhorsed, and so severely wounded, that all present\nthought he was dead. At the solicitation of his relatives, the monks of\nthe Abbey of Reading were allowed to remove the body for interment, and\nMontfort was declared the victor. Essex, however, was not dead, but\nstunned only, and, under the care of the monks, recovered in a few weeks\nfrom his bodily injuries. The wounds of his mind were not so easily\nhealed. Though a loyal and brave subject, the whole realm believed him a\ntraitor and a coward because he had been vanquished. He could not brook to\nreturn to the world deprived of the good opinion of his fellows; he\ntherefore made himself a monk, and passed the remainder of his days within\nthe walls of the abbey.\n\nDu Chastelet relates a singular duel that was proposed in Spain.[57] A\nChristian gentleman of Seville sent a challenge to a Moorish cavalier,\noffering to prove against him, with whatever weapons he might choose, that\nthe religion of Jesus Christ was holy and divine, and that of Mahomet\nimpious and damnable. The Spanish prelates did not choose that\nChristianity should be compromised within their jurisdiction by the result\nof any such combat; the Moorish cavalier might, perchance, have proved to\nbe the stronger, and they commanded the knight, under pain of\nexcommunication, to withdraw the challenge.\n\n    [57] _Histoire de Messire Bertrand du Guesclin_, liv. i. ch. xix.\n\nThe same author relates that, under Otho I., a question arose among\njurisconsults, viz. whether grandchildren, who had lost their father,\nshould share equally with their uncles in the property of their\ngrandfather, at the death of the latter. The difficulty of this question\nwas found so insurmountable, that none of the lawyers of that day could\nresolve it. It was at last decreed that it should be decided by single\ncombat. Two champions were accordingly chosen; one for, and the other\nagainst, the claims of the little ones. After a long struggle, the\nchampion of the uncles was unhorsed and slain; and it was therefore\ndecided that the right of the grandchildren was established, and that they\nshould enjoy the same portion of their grandfather's possessions that\ntheir father would have done had he been alive.\n\nUpon pretexts just as strange, and often more frivolous that these, duels\ncontinued to be fought in most of the countries of Europe during the whole\nof the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. A memorable instance of the\nslightness of the pretext on which a man could be forced to fight a duel\nto the death, occurs in the Memoirs of the brave Constable, Du Guesclin.\nThe advantage he had obtained, in a skirmish before Rennes, against\nWilliam Brembre, an English captain, so preyed on the spirits of William\nTroussel, the chosen friend and companion of the latter, that nothing\nwould satisfy him but a mortal combat with the Constable. The Duke of\nLancaster, to whom Troussel applied for permission to fight the great\nFrenchman, forbade the battle, as not warranted by the circumstances.\nTroussel nevertheless burned with a fierce desire to cross his weapon with\nDu Guesclin, and sought every occasion to pick a quarrel with him. Having\nso good a will for it, of course he found a way. A relative of his had\nbeen taken prisoner by the Constable, in whose hands he remained till he\nwas able to pay his ransom. Troussel resolved to make a quarrel out of\nthis, and despatched a messenger to Du Guesclin, demanding the release of\nhis prisoner, and offering a bond, at a distant date, for the payment of\nthe ransom. Du Guesclin, who had received intimation of the hostile\npurposes of the Englishman, sent back word that he would not accept his\nbond, neither would he release his prisoner until the full amount of his\nransom was paid. As soon as this answer was received, Troussel sent a\nchallenge to the Constable, demanding reparation for the injury he had\ndone his honour, by refusing his bond, and offering a mortal combat, to be\nfought three strokes with the lance, three with the sword, and three with\nthe dagger. Du Guesclin, although ill in bed with the ague, accepted the\nchallenge, and gave notice to the Marshal d'Andreghem, the king's\nlieutenant-general in Lower Normandy, that he might fix the day and the\nplace of combat. The marshal made all necessary arrangements, upon\ncondition that he who was beaten should pay a hundred florins of gold to\nfeast the nobles and gentlemen who were witnesses of the encounter.\n\nThe Duke of Lancaster was very angry with his captain, and told him that\nit would be a shame to his knighthood and his nation if he forced on a\ncombat with the brave Du Guesclin at a time when he was enfeebled by\ndisease and stretched on the couch of suffering. Upon these\nrepresentations, Troussel, ashamed of himself, sent notice to Du Guesclin\nthat he was willing to postpone the duel until such time as he should be\nperfectly recovered. Du Guesclin replied, that he could not think of\npostponing the combat after all the nobility had received notice of it;\nthat he had sufficient strength left not only to meet, but to conquer such\nan opponent as he was; and that if he did not make his appearance in the\nlists at the time appointed, he would publish him every where as a man\nunworthy to be called a knight, or to wear an honourable sword by his\nside. Troussel carried this haughty message to the Duke of Lancaster, who\nimmediately gave permission for the battle.\n\nOn the day appointed, the two combatants appeared in the lists, in the\npresence of several thousand spectators. Du Guesclin was attended by the\nflower of the French nobility, including the Marshal de Beaumanoir,\nOlivier de Mauny, Bertrand de Saint Pern, and the Viscount de la Belli\u00e8re;\nwhile the Englishman appeared with no more than the customary retinue of\ntwo seconds, two squires, two coutilliers or daggermen, and two\ntrumpeters. The first onset was unfavourable to the Constable. He received\nso heavy a blow on his shield-arm, that he fell forward to the left upon\nhis horse's neck; and being weakened by his fever, was nearly thrown to\nthe ground. All his friends thought he could never recover himself, and\nbegan to deplore his ill fortune; but Du Guesclin collected his energies\nfor a decisive effort, and at the second charge aimed a blow at the\nshoulder of his enemy, which felled him to the earth, mortally wounded. He\nthen sprang from his horse, sword in hand, with the intention of cutting\noff the head of his fallen foe, when the Marshal d'Andreghem threw a\ngolden wand into the arena as a signal that hostilities should cease. Du\nGuesclin was proclaimed the victor amid the joyous acclamations of the\ncrowd, and retiring, left the field to the meaner combatants, who were\nafterwards to make sport for the people. Four English and as many French\nsquires fought for some time with pointless lances, when the French\ngaining the advantage, the sports were declared at an end.\n\nIn the time of Charles VI., about the beginning of the fifteenth century,\na famous duel was ordered by the parliament of Paris. The Sieur de\nCarrouges being absent in the Holy Land, his lady was violated by the\nSieur Legris. Carrouges, on his return, challenged Legris to mortal combat\nfor the twofold crime of violation and slander, inasmuch as he had denied\nhis guilt by asserting that the lady was a willing party. The lady's\nasseverations of innocence were held to be no evidence by the parliament,\nand the duel was commanded, with all the ceremonies. \"On the day\nappointed,\" says Brant\u00f4me,[58] \"the lady came to witness the spectacle in\nher chariot; but the king made her descend, judging her unworthy, because\nshe was criminal in his eyes till her innocence was proved, and caused her\nto stand upon a scaffold to await the mercy of God and this judgment by\nthe battle. After a short struggle, the Sieur de Carrouges overthrew his\nenemy, and made him confess both the rape and the slander. He was then\ntaken to the gallows and hanged in the presence of the multitude; while\nthe innocence of the lady was proclaimed by the heralds, and recognised by\nher husband, the king, and all the spectators.\"\n\n    [58] _M\u00e9moires de Brant\u00f4me touchant les Duels_.\n\nNumerous battles of a similar description constantly took place, until the\nunfortunate issue of one encounter of the kind led the French king, Henry\nII., to declare solemnly that he would never again permit any such\nencounter, whether it related to a civil or criminal case, or the honour\nof a gentleman.\n\nThis memorable combat was fought in the year 1547. Fran\u00e7ois de Vivonne,\nlord of La Chataigneraie, and Guy de Chabot, lord of Jarnac, had been\nfriends from their early youth, and were noted at the court of Francis I.\nfor the gallantry of their bearing and the magnificence of their retinue.\nChataigneraie, who knew that his friend's means were not very ample, asked\nhim one day in confidence how it was that he contrived to be so well\nprovided? Jarnac replied, that his father had married a young and\nbeautiful woman, who, loving the son far better than the sire, supplied\nhim with as much money as he desired. La Chataigneraie betrayed the base\nsecret to the dauphin, the dauphin to the king, the king to his courtiers,\nand the courtiers to all their acquaintance. In a short time it reached\nthe ears of the old Lord de Jarnac, who immediately sent for his son, and\ndemanded to know in what manner the report had originated, and whether he\nhad been vile enough not only to carry on such a connexion, but to boast\nof it? De Jarnac indignantly denied that he had ever said so, or given\nreason to the world to say so, and requested his father to accompany him\nto court and confront him with his accuser, that he might see the manner\nin which he would confound him. They went accordingly; and the younger De\nJarnac, entering a room where the dauphin, La Chataigneraie, and several\ncourtiers were present, exclaimed aloud, \"That whoever had asserted that\nhe maintained a criminal connexion with his mother-in-law was a liar and a\ncoward!\" Every eye was turned to the dauphin and La Chataigneraie, when\nthe latter stood forward and asserted, that De Jarnac had himself avowed\nthat such was the fact, and he would extort from his lips another\nconfession of it. A case like this could not be met or rebutted by any\nlegal proof, and the royal council ordered that it should be decided by\nsingle combat. The king, however, set his face against the duel,[59] and\nforbade them both, under pain of his high displeasure, to proceed any\nfurther in the matter. But Francis died in the following year, and the\ndauphin, now Henry II., who was himself compromised, resolved that the\ncombat should take place.\n\n    [59] Although Francis shewed himself in this case an enemy to\n         duelling, yet in his own case he had not the same objection.\n         Every reader of history must remember his answer to the\n         challenge of the Emperor Charles V. The Emperor wrote that he\n         had failed in his word, and that he would sustain their\n         quarrel single-handed against him. Francis replied, that he\n         lied--_qu'il en avait menti par la gorge_, and that he was\n         ready to meet him in single combat whenever and wherever he\n         pleased.\n\nThe lists were prepared in the court-yard of the chateau of St.\nGermain-en-Laye, and the 10th of July, 1547, was appointed for the\nencounter. The cartels of the combatants, which are preserved in the\n_M\u00e9moires de Castelnau_, were as follow:\n\n           \"_Cartel of Fran\u00e7ois de Vivonne, lord of la Chataigneraie_.\n\n\"SIRE,\n\n\"Having learned that Guy Chabot de Jarnac, being lately at Compiegne,\nasserted that whoever had said that he boasted of having criminal\nintercourse with his mother-in-law was wicked and a wretch, I, sire, with\nyour good will and pleasure, do answer that he has wickedly lied, and will\nlie as many times as he denies having said that which I affirm he did say;\nfor I repeat, that he told me several times, and boasted of it, that he\nhad slept with his mother-in-law.\n\n                                                \"FRAN\u00c7OIS DE VIVONNE.\"\n\nTo this cartel De Jarnac replied:\n\n\"SIRE,\n\n\"With your good will and permission, I say, that Fran\u00e7ois de Vivonne has\nlied in the imputation which he has cast upon me, and of which I spoke to\nyou at Compiegne. I therefore entreat you, sire, most humbly, that you be\npleased to grant us a fair field, that we may fight this battle to the\ndeath.\n\n                                                         \"GUY CHABOT.\"\n\nThe preparations were conducted on a scale of the greatest magnificence,\nthe king having intimated his intention of being present. La Chataigneraie\nmade sure of the victory, and invited the king and a hundred and fifty of\nthe principal personages of the court to sup with him in the evening,\nafter the battle, in a splendid tent which he had prepared at the\nextremity of the lists. De Jarnac was not so confident, though perhaps\nmore desperate. At noon, on the day appointed, the combatants met, and\neach took the customary oath that he bore no charms or amulets about him,\nor made use of any magic, to aid him against his antagonist. They then\nattacked each other, sword in hand. La Chataigneraie was a strong robust\nman, and over confident; De Jarnac was nimble, supple, and prepared for\nthe worst. The combat lasted for some time doubtful, until De Jarnac,\noverpowered by the heavy blows of his opponent, covered his head with his\nshield, and, stooping down, endeavoured to make amends by his agility for\nhis deficiency of strength. In this crouching posture he aimed two blows\nat the left thigh of La Chataigneraie, who had left it uncovered, that the\nmotion of his leg might not be impeded. Each blow was successful, and,\namid the astonishment of all the spectators, and to the great regret of\nthe king, La Chataigneraie rolled over upon the sand. He seized his\ndagger, and made a last effort to strike De Jarnac: but he was unable to\nsupport himself, and fell powerless into the arms of the assistants. The\nofficers now interfered, and De Jarnac being declared the victor, fell\ndown upon his knees, uncovered his head, and, clasping his hands together,\nexclaimed: \"_O Domine, non sum dignus!_\" La Chataigneraie was so mortified\nby the result of the encounter, that he resolutely refused to have his\nwounds dressed. He tore off the bandages which the surgeons applied, and\nexpired two days afterwards. Ever since that time, any sly and unforeseen\nattack has been called by the French a _coup de Jarnac_. Henry was so\ngrieved at the loss of his favourite, that he made the solemn oath already\nalluded to, that he would never again, so long as he lived, permit a duel.\nSome writers have asserted, and among others, Mezerai, that he issued a\nroyal edict forbidding them. This has been doubted by others, and as there\nappears no registry of the edict in any of the courts, it seems most\nprobable that it was never issued. This opinion is strengthened by the\nfact, that, two years afterwards, the council ordered another duel to be\nfought with similar forms, but with less magnificence, on account of the\ninferior rank of the combatants. It is not anywhere stated that Henry\ninterfered to prevent it, notwithstanding his solemn oath; but that, on\nthe contrary, he encouraged it, and appointed the Marshal de la Marque to\nsee that it was conducted according to the rules of chivalry. The\ndisputants were Fendille and D'Aguerre, two gentlemen of the household,\nwho, quarrelling in the king's chamber, had proceeded from words to blows.\nThe council, being informed of the matter, decreed that it could only be\ndecided in the lists. Marshal de la Marque, with the king's permission,\nappointed the city of Sedan as the place of combat. Fendille, who was a\nbad swordsman, was anxious to avoid an encounter with D'Aguerre, who was\none of the most expert men of the age; but the council authoritatively\ncommanded that he should fight, or be degraded from all his honours.\nD'Aguerre appeared in the field attended by Fran\u00e7ois de Vend\u00f4me, Count de\nChartres, while Fendille was accompanied by the Duke of Nevers. Fendille\nappears to have been not only an inexpert swordsman, but a thorough\ncoward; one who, like Cowley, might have heaped curses on the man,\n\n        \"(Death's factor sure), who brought\n    Dire swords into this peaceful world.\"\n\nOn the very first encounter he was thrown from his horse, and, confessing\non the ground all that his victor required of him, slunk away\nignominiously from the arena.\n\nOne is tempted to look upon the death of Henry II. as a judgment upon him\nfor his perjury in the matter of duelling. In a grand tournament\ninstituted on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter, he broke\nseveral lances in encounters with some of the bravest knights of the time.\nAmbitious of still further renown, he would not rest satisfied until he\nhad also engaged the young Count de Montgommeri. He received a wound in\nthe eye from the lance of his antagonist, and died from its effects\nshortly afterwards, in the forty-first year of his age.\n\nIn the succeeding reigns of Francis II., Charles IX., and Henry III., the\npractice of duelling increased to an alarming extent. Duels were not rare\nin the other countries of Europe at the same period; but in France they\nwere so frequent, that historians, in speaking of that age, designate it\nas \"l'\u00e9poque de la fureur des duels.\" The parliament of Paris endeavoured,\nas far as in its power lay, to discourage the practice. By a decree dated\nthe 26th of June 1559, it declared all persons who should be present at\nduels, or aiding and abetting in them, to be rebels to the king,\ntransgressors of the law, and disturbers of the public peace.\n\nWhen Henry III. was assassinated at St. Cloud in 1589, a young gentleman,\nnamed L'Isle-Marivaut, who had been much beloved by him, took his death so\nmuch to heart, that he resolved not to survive him. Not thinking suicide\nan honourable death, and wishing, as he said, to die gloriously in\nrevenging his king and master, he publicly expressed his readiness to\nfight any body to the death, who should assert that Henry's assassination\nwas not a great misfortune to the community. Another youth, of a fiery\ntemper and tried courage, named Marolles, took him at his word, and the\nday and place of the combat were forthwith appointed. When the hour had\ncome, and all were ready, Marolles turned to his second, and asked whether\nhis opponent had a casque or helmet only, or whether he wore a _sallade_,\nor headpiece. Being answered a helmet only, he said gaily, \"So much the\nbetter; for, sir my second, you shall repute me the wickedest man in all\nthe world, if I do not thrust my lance right through the middle of his\nhead and kill him.\" Truth to say, he did so at the very first onset, and\nthe unhappy L'Isle-Marivaut expired without a groan. Brant\u00f4me, who relates\nthis story, adds, that the victor might have done as he pleased with the\nbody, cut off the head, dragged it out of the camp, or exposed it upon an\nass; but that being a wise and very courteous gentleman, he left it to the\nrelatives of the deceased to be honourably buried, contenting himself with\nthe glory of his triumph, by which he gained no little renown and honour\namong the ladies of Paris.\n\n[Illustration: HENRY IV.]\n\nOn the accession of Henry IV. that monarch determined to set his face\nagainst duelling; but such was the influence of early education and the\nprejudices of society upon him, that he never could find it in his heart\nto punish a man for this offence. He thought it tended to foster a warlike\nspirit among his people. When the chivalrous Cr\u00e9qui demanded his\npermission to fight Don Philippe de Savoire, he is reported to have said,\n\"Go, and if I were not a king, I would be your second.\" It is no wonder\nthat when such was known to be the king's disposition, his edicts\nattracted but small attention. A calculation was made by M. de Lomenie, in\nthe year 1607, that since the accession of Henry, in 1589, no less than\nfour thousand French gentlemen had lost their lives in these conflicts;\nwhich, for the eighteen years, would have been at the rate of four or five\nin a week, or eighteen per month! Sully, who reports this fact in his\nMemoirs, does not throw the slightest doubt upon its exactness; and adds,\nthat it was chiefly owing to the facility and ill-advised good-nature of\nhis royal master that the bad example had so empoisoned the court, the\ncity, and the whole country. This wise minister devoted much of his time\nand attention to the subject; for the rage, he says, was such as to cause\nhim a thousand pangs, and the king also. There was hardly a man moving in\nwhat was called good society, who had not been engaged in a duel either as\nprincipal or second; and if there were such a man, his chief desire was to\nfree himself from the imputation of non-duelling, by picking a quarrel\nwith somebody. Sully constantly wrote letters to the king, in which he\nprayed him to renew the edicts against this barbarous custom, to aggravate\nthe punishment against offenders, and never, in any instance, to grant a\npardon, even to a person who had wounded another in a duel, much less to\nany one who had taken away life. He also advised, that some sort of\ntribunal, or court of honour, should be established, to take cognisance of\ninjurious and slanderous language, and of all such matters as usually led\nto duels; and that the justice to be administered by this court should be\nsufficiently prompt and severe to appease the complainant, and make the\noffender repent of his aggression.\n\n[Illustration: GALLERY AT FONTAINEBLEAU.]\n\nHenry, being so warmly pressed by his friend and minister, called together\nan extraordinary council in the gallery of the palace of Fontainebleau, to\ntake the matter into consideration. When all the members were assembled,\nhis majesty requested that some person conversant with the subject would\nmake a report to him on the origin, progress, and different forms of the\nduel. Sully complacently remarks, that none of the councillors gave the\nking any great reason to felicitate them on their erudition. In fact, they\nall remained silent. Sully held his peace with the rest; but he looked so\nknowing, that the king turned towards him, and said:--\"Great master! by\nyour face I conjecture that you know more of this matter than you would\nhave us believe. I pray you, and indeed I command, that you tell us what\nyou think and what you know.\" The coy minister refused, as he says, out of\nmere politeness to his more ignorant colleagues; but, being again pressed\nby the king, he entered into a history of duelling both in ancient and\nmodern times. He has not preserved this history in his Memoirs; and, as\nnone of the ministers or councillors present thought proper to do so, the\nworld is deprived of a discourse which was, no doubt, a learned and\nremarkable one. The result was, that a royal edict was issued, which Sully\nlost no time in transmitting to the most distant provinces, with a\ndistinct notification to all parties concerned that the king was in\nearnest, and would exert the full rigour of the law in punishment of the\noffenders. Sully himself does not inform us what were the provisions of\nthe new law; but Father Matthias has been more explicit, and from him we\nlearn, that the marshals of France were created judges of a court of\nchivalry, for the hearing of all causes wherein the honour of a noble or\ngentleman was concerned, and that such as resorted to duelling should be\npunished by death and confiscation of property, and that the seconds and\nassistants should lose their rank, dignity, or offices, and be banished\nfrom the court of their sovereign.[60]\n\n    [60] _Le P\u00e8re Matthias_, tome ii. livre iv.\n\nBut so strong a hold had the education and prejudice of his age upon the\nmind of the king, that though his reason condemned, his sympathies\napproved the duel. Notwithstanding this threatened severity, the number of\nduels did not diminish, and the wise Sully had still to lament the\nprevalence of an evil which menaced society with utter disorganisation. In\nthe succeeding reign the practice prevailed, if possible, to a still\ngreater extent, until the Cardinal de Richelieu, better able to grapple\nwith it than Sully had been, made some severe examples in the very highest\nclasses. Lord Herbert, the English ambassador at the court of Louis XIII.,\nrepeats, in his letters, an observation that had been previously made in\nthe reign of Henry IV., that it was rare to find a Frenchman moving in\ngood society who had not killed his man in a duel. The Abb\u00e9 Millot says of\nthis period, that the duel madness made the most terrible ravages. Men had\nactually a frenzy for combating. Caprice and vanity, as well as the\nexcitement of passion, imposed the necessity of fighting. Friends were\nobliged to enter into the quarrels of their friends, or be themselves\ncalled out for their refusal, and revenge became hereditary in many\nfamilies. It was reckoned that in twenty years eight thousand letters of\npardon had been issued to persons who had killed others in single\ncombat.[61]\n\n    [61] _El\u00e9mens de l'Histoire de France_, vol. iii. p. 219.\n\nOther writers confirm this statement. Amelot de Houssaye, in his Memoirs,\nsays, upon this subject, that duels were so common in the first years of\nthe reign of Louis XIII., that the ordinary conversation of persons when\nthey met in the morning was, \"_Do you know who fought yesterday?_\" and\nafter dinner, \"_Do you know who fought this morning?_\" The most infamous\nduellist at that period was De Bouteville. It was not at all necessary to\nquarrel with this assassin, to be forced to fight a duel with him. When he\nheard that any one was very brave, he would go to him, and say, \"_People\ntell me that you are brave; you and I must fight together!_\" Every morning\nthe most notorious bravos and duellists used to assemble at his house, to\ntake a breakfast of bread and wine, and practise fencing. M. de Valen\u00e7ay,\nwho was afterwards elevated to the rank of a cardinal, stood very high in\nthe estimation of De Bouteville and his gang. Hardly a day passed but what\nhe was engaged in some duel or other, either as principal or second; and\nhe once challenged De Bouteville himself, his best friend, because De\nBouteville had fought a duel without inviting him to become his second.\nThis quarrel was only appeased on the promise of De Bouteville that, in\nhis next encounter, he would not fail to avail himself of his services.\nFor that purpose he went out the same day, and picked a quarrel with the\nMarquis des Portes. M. de Valen\u00e7ay, according to agreement, had the\npleasure of serving as his second, and of running through the body M. de\nCavois, the second of the Marquis des Portes, a man who had never done him\nany injury, and whom he afterwards acknowledged he had never seen before.\n\nCardinal Richelieu devoted much attention to this lamentable state of\npublic morals, and seems to have concurred with his great predecessor\nSully, that nothing but the most rigorous severity could put a stop to the\nevil. The subject indeed was painfully forced upon him by his enemies. The\nMarquis de Themines, to whom Richelieu, then Bishop of Lu\u00e7on, had given\noffence by some representations he had made to Mary of Medicis,\ndetermined, since he could not challenge an ecclesiastic, to challenge his\nbrother. An opportunity was soon found. Themines, accosting the Marquis de\nRichelieu, complained, in an insulting tone, that the Bishop of Lu\u00e7on had\nbroken his faith. The Marquis resented both the manner and matter of his\nspeech, and readily accepted a challenge. They met in the Rue d'Angoul\u00eame,\nand the unfortunate Richelieu was stabbed to the heart, and instantly\nexpired. From that moment the bishop became the steady foe of the practice\nof duelling. Reason and the impulse of brotherly love alike combined to\nmake him detest it, and when his power in France was firmly established,\nhe set vigorously about repressing it. In his _Testament Politique_, he\nhas collected his thoughts upon the subject, in the chapter entitled \"Des\nmoyens d'arr\u00eater les Duels.\" In spite of the edicts that he published, the\nmembers of the nobility persisted in fighting upon the most trivial and\nabsurd pretences. At last Richelieu made a terrible example. The infamous\nDe Bouteville challenged and fought the Marquis de Beuvron; and although\nthe duel itself was not fatal to either, its consequences were fatal to\nboth. High as they were, Richelieu resolved that the law should reach them\nboth, and they were both tried, found guilty, and beheaded. Thus did\nsociety get rid of one of the most bloodthirsty scoundrels that ever\npolluted it.\n\n[Illustration: SULLY.]\n\nIn 1632 two noblemen fought a duel in which they were both killed. The\nofficers of justice had notice of the breach of the law, and arrived at\nthe scene of combat before the friends of the parties had time to remove\nthe bodies. In conformity with the cardinal's severe code upon the\nsubject, the bodies were ignominiously stripped and hanged upon a gallows\nwith their heads downwards, for several hours, within sight of all the\npeople.[62] This severity sobered the frenzy of the nation for a time; but\nit was soon forgotten. Men's minds were too deeply imbued with a false\nnotion of honour to be brought to a right way of thinking: by such\nexamples, however striking, Richelieu was unable to persuade them to walk\nin the right path, though he could punish them for choosing the wrong one.\nHe had with all his acuteness, miscalculated the spirit of duelling. It\nwas not death that a duellist feared; it was shame, and the contempt of\nhis fellows. As Addison remarked more than eighty years afterwards, \"Death\nwas not sufficient to deter men who made it their glory to despise it; but\nif every one who fought a duel were to stand in the pillory, it would\nquickly diminish the number of those imaginary men of honour, and put an\nend to so absurd a practice.\" Richelieu never thought of this.\n\n    [62] _Mercure de France_, vol. xiii.\n\nSully says, that in his time the Germans were also much addicted to\nduelling. There were three places where it was legal to fight; Witzburg in\nFranconia, and Uspach and Halle in Swabia. Thither of course, vast numbers\nrepaired, and murdered each other under sanction of the law. At an earlier\nperiod in Germany, it was held highly disgraceful to refuse to fight. Any\none who surrendered to his adversary for a simple wound that did not\ndisable him, was reputed infamous, and could neither cut his beard, bear\narms, mount on horseback, or hold any office in the state. He who fell in\na duel was buried with great pomp and splendour.\n\nIn the year 1652, just after Louis XIV. had attained his majority, a\ndesperate duel was fought between the Dukes de Beaufort and De Nemours,\neach attended by four gentlemen. Although brothers-in-law, they had long\nbeen enemies, and their constant dissensions had introduced much\ndisorganisation among the troops which they severally commanded. Each had\nlong sought an opportunity for combat, which at last arose on a\nmisunderstanding relative to the places they were to occupy at the\ncouncil-board. They fought with pistols, and, at the first discharge, the\nDuke de Nemours was shot through the body, and almost instantly expired.\nUpon this the Marquis de Villars, who seconded Nemours, challenged\nH\u00e9ricourt, the second of the Duke de Beaufort, a man whom he had never\nbefore seen; and the challenge being accepted, they fought even more\ndesperately than their principals. This combat, being with swords, lasted\nlonger than the first, and was more exciting to the six remaining\ngentlemen who stayed to witness it. The result was fatal to H\u00e9ricourt, who\nfell pierced to the heart by the sword of De Villars. Any thing more\nsavage than this can hardly be imagined. Voltaire says such duels were\nfrequent, and the compiler of the _Dictionnaire d'Anecdotes_ informs us\nthat the number of seconds was not fixed. As many as ten, or twelve, or\ntwenty, were not unfrequent, and they often fought together after their\nprincipals were disabled. The highest mark of friendship one man could\nmanifest towards another, was to choose him for his second; and many\ngentlemen were so desirous of serving in this capacity, that they\nendeavoured to raise every slight misunderstanding into a quarrel, that\nthey might have the pleasure of being engaged in it. The Count de\nBussy-Rabutin relates an instance of this in his Memoirs. He says, that as\nhe was one evening coming out of the theatre, a gentleman named Bruc, whom\nhe had not before known, stopped him very politely, and, drawing him\naside, asked him if it was true that the Count de Thianges had called him\n(Bruc) a drunkard? Bussy replied that he really did not know, for he saw\nthe count very seldom. \"Oh, he is your uncle!\" replied Bruc; \"and, as I\ncannot have satisfaction from him, because he lives so far off in the\ncountry, I apply to you.\" \"I see what you are at,\" replied Bussy, \"and,\nsince you wish to put me in my uncle's place, I answer, that whoever\nasserted that he called you a drunkard, told a lie!\" \"My brother said so,\"\nreplied Bruc, \"and he is a child.\" \"Horsewhip him, then, for his\nfalsehood,\" returned De Bussy. \"I will not have my brother called, a\nliar,\" returned Bruc, determined to quarrel with him; \"so draw, and defend\nyourself!\" They both drew their swords in the public street, but were\nseparated by the spectators. They agreed, however, to fight on a future\noccasion, and with all the regular forms of the duello. A few days\nafterwards, a gentleman, whom De Bussy had never before seen, and whom he\ndid not know even by name, called upon him and asked if he might have the\nprivilege of serving as his second. He added, that he neither knew him nor\nBruc, except by reputation, but having made up his mind to be second of\none of them, he had decided upon accompanying De Bussy as the braver man\nof the two. De Bussy thanked him very sincerely for his politeness, but\nbegged to be excused, as he had already engaged four seconds to accompany\nhim, and he was afraid that if he took any more the affair would become a\nbattle instead of a duel.\n\nWhen such quarrels as these were looked upon as mere matters of course,\nthe state of society must have been indeed awful. Louis XIV. very early\nsaw the evil, and as early determined to remedy it. It was not, however,\ntill the year 1679, when he instituted the \"Chambre Ardente,\" for the\ntrial of the slow poisoners and pretenders to sorcery, that he published\nany edict against duelling. In that year his famous edict was promulgated,\nin which he reiterated and confirmed the severe enactments of his\npredecessors Henry IV. and Louis XIII., and expressed his determination\nnever to pardon any offender. By this celebrated ordinance a supreme court\nof honour was established, composed of the marshals of France. They were\nbound, on taking the office, to give to every one who brought a\nwell-founded complaint before them, such reparation as would satisfy the\njustice of the case. Should any gentleman against whom complaint was made\nrefuse to obey the mandate of the court of honour, he might be punished by\nfine and imprisonment; and when that was not possible, by reason of his\nabsenting himself from the kingdom, his estates might be confiscated till\nhis return.\n\nEvery man who sent a challenge, be the cause of offence what it might, was\ndeprived of all redress from the court of honour--suspended three years\nfrom the exercise of any office in the state--was further imprisoned for\ntwo years, and sentenced to pay a fine of half his yearly income.\n\nHe who accepted a challenge was subject to the same punishment. Any\nservant or other person, who knowingly became the bearer of a challenge,\nwas, if found guilty, sentenced to stand in the pillory and be publicly\nwhipped for the first offence; and for the second, sent for three years to\nthe galleys.\n\nAny person who actually fought, was to be held guilty of murder, even\nthough death did not ensue, and was to be punished accordingly. Persons in\nthe higher ranks of life were to be beheaded, and those of the middle\nclass hanged upon a gallows, and their bodies refused Christian burial.\n\nAt the same time that Louis published this severe edict, he exacted a\npromise from his principal nobility that they would never engage in a duel\non any pretence whatever. He never swerved from his resolution to pursue\nall duellists with the utmost rigour, and many were executed in various\nparts of the country. A slight abatement of the evil was the consequence,\nand in the course of a few years one duel was not fought where twelve had\nbeen fought previously. A medal was struck to commemorate the\ncircumstance, by the express command of the king. So much had he this\nobject at heart, that, in his will, he particularly recommended to his\nsuccessor the care of his edict against duelling, and warned him against\nany ill-judged lenity to those who disobeyed it.\n\nA singular law formerly existed in Malta with regard to duelling. By this\nlaw it was permitted, but only upon condition that the parties should\nfight in one particular street. If they presumed to settle their quarrel\nelsewhere, they were held guilty of murder, and punished accordingly. What\nwas also very singular, they were bound, under heavy penalties, to put up\ntheir swords when requested to do so by a priest, a knight, or a woman. It\ndoes not appear, however, that the ladies or the knights exercised this\nmild and beneficent privilege to any great extent; the former were too\noften themselves the cause of duels, and the latter sympathised too much\nin the wounded honour of the combatants to attempt to separate them. The\npriests alone were the great peacemakers. Brydone says, that a cross was\nalways painted on the wall opposite to the spot where a knight had been\nkilled, and that in the \"street of duels\" he counted about twenty of\nthem.[63]\n\n    [63] Brydone's _Tour in Malta_, 1772.\n\nIn England the private duel was also practised to a scandalous extent,\ntowards the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth\ncenturies. The judicial combat now began to be more rare, but several\ninstances of it are mentioned in history. One was instituted in the reign\nof Elizabeth, and another so late as the time of Charles I. Sir Henry\nSpelman gives an account of that which took place in Elizabeth's reign,\nwhich is curious, perhaps the more so when we consider that it was\nperfectly legal, and that similar combats remained so till the year 1819.\nA proceeding having been instituted in the Court of Common Pleas for the\nrecovery of certain manorial rights in the county of Kent, the defendant\noffered to prove by single combat his right to retain possession. The\nplaintiff accepted the challenge, and the Court having no power to stay\nthe proceedings, agreed to the champions who were to fight in lieu of the\nprincipals. The queen commanded the parties to compromise; but it being\nrepresented to her majesty that they were justified by law in the course\nthey were pursuing, she allowed them to proceed. On the day appointed, the\njustices of the Common Pleas, and all the counsel engaged in the cause,\nappeared as umpires of the combat, at a place in Tothill-fields, where the\nlists had been prepared. The champions were ready for the encounter, and\nthe plaintiff and defendant were publicly called to come forward and\nacknowledge them. The defendant answered to his name, and recognised his\nchampion with the due formalities, but the plaintiff did not appear.\nWithout his presence and authority the combat could not take place; and\nhis absence being considered an abandonment of his claim, he was declared\nto be non-suited, and barred for ever from renewing his suit before any\nother tribunal whatever.\n\n[Illustration: LORD BACON.]\n\nThe queen appears to have disapproved personally of this mode of settling\na disputed claim, but her judges and legal advisers made no attempt to\nalter the barbarous law. The practice of private duelling excited more\nindignation, from its being of every-day occurrence. In the time of James\nI. the English were so infected with the French madness, that Bacon, when\nhe was attorney-general, lent the aid of his powerful eloquence to effect\na reformation of the evil. Informations were exhibited in the Star Chamber\nagainst two persons, named Priest and Wright, for being engaged, as\nprincipal and second, in a duel, on which occasion he delivered a charge\nthat was so highly approved of by the Lords of the Council, that they\nordered it to be printed and circulated over the country, as a thing \"very\nmeet and worthy to be remembered and made known unto the world.\" He began\nby considering the nature and greatness of the mischief of duelling. \"It\ntroubleth peace--it disfurnisheth war--it bringeth calamity upon private\nmen, peril upon the state, and contempt upon the law. Touching the cause\nof it,\" he observed, \"that the first motive of it, no doubt, is a false\nand erroneous imagination of honour and credit; but then, the seed of this\nmischief being such, it is nourished by vain discourses and green and\nunripe conceits. Hereunto may be added, that men have almost lost the true\nnotion and understanding of fortitude and valour. For fortitude\ndistinguisheth of the grounds of quarrel whether they be just; and not\nonly so, but whether they be worthy, and setteth a better price upon men's\nlives than to bestow them idly. Nay, it is weakness and disesteem of a\nman's self to put a man's life upon such liedger performances. A man's\nlife is not to be trifled with; it is to be offered up and sacrificed to\nhonourable services, public merits, good causes, and noble adventures. It\nis in expense of blood as it is in expense of money. It is no liberality\nto make a profusion of money upon every vain occasion, neither is it\nfortitude to make effusion of blood, except the cause of it be worth.\"[64]\n\n    [64] See _Life and Character of Lord Bacon_, by Thomas Martin,\n         Barrister-at-Law.\n\nThe most remarkable event connected with duelling in this reign was that\nbetween Lord Sanquir, a Scotch nobleman, and one Turner, a fencing-master.\nIn a trial of skill between them, his lordship's eye was accidentally\nthrust out by the point of Turner's sword. Turner expressed great regret\nat the circumstance, and Lord Sanquir bore his loss with as much\nphilosophy as he was master of, and forgave his antagonist. Three years\nafterwards, Lord Sanquir was at Paris, where he was a constant visitor at\nthe court of Henry IV. One day, in the course of conversation, the affable\nmonarch inquired how he had lost his eye. Sanquir, who prided himself on\nbeing the most expert swordsman of the age, blushed as he replied that it\nwas inflicted by the sword of a fencing-master. Henry, forgetting his\nassumed character of an anti-duellist, carelessly, and as a mere matter of\ncourse, inquired whether the man lived? Nothing more was said; but the\nquery sank deep into the proud heart of the Scotch baron, who returned\nshortly afterwards to England, burning for revenge. His first intent was\nto challenge the fencing-master to single combat; but, on further\nconsideration, he deemed it inconsistent with his dignity to meet him as\nan equal in fair and open fight. He therefore hired two bravos, who set\nupon the fencing-master, and murdered him in his own house at Whitefriars.\nThe assassins were taken and executed, and a reward of one thousand pounds\noffered for the apprehension of their employer. Lord Sanquir concealed\nhimself for several days, and then surrendered to take his trial, in the\nhope (happily false) that Justice would belie her name, and be lenient to\na murderer because he was a nobleman, who on a false point of honour had\nthought fit to take revenge into his own hands. The most powerful\nintercessions were employed in his favour, but James, to his credit, was\ndeaf to them all. Bacon, in his character of attorney-general, prosecuted\nthe prisoner to conviction; and he died the felon's death on the 29th of\nJune, 1612, on a gibbet erected in front of the gate of Westminster Hall.\n\nWith regard to the public duel, or trial by battle, demanded under the\nsanction of the law, to terminate a quarrel which the ordinary course of\njustice could with difficulty decide, Bacon was equally opposed to it, and\nthought that in no case should it be granted. He suggested that there\nshould be declared a constant and settled resolution in the state to\nabolish it altogether; that care should be taken that the evil be no more\ncockered, nor the humour of it fed, but that all persons found guilty\nshould be rigorously punished by the Star Chamber, and those of eminent\nquality banished from the court.\n\nIn the succeeding reign, when Donald Mackay, the first Lord Reay, accused\nDavid Ramsay of treason, in being concerned with the Marquis of Hamilton\nin a design upon the crown of Scotland, he was challenged by the latter to\nmake good his assertion by single combat.[65] It had been at first the\nintention of the government to try the case by the common law, but Ramsay\nthought he would stand a better chance of escape by recurring to the old\nand almost exploded custom, but which was still the right of every man in\nappeals of treason. Lord Reay readily accepted the challenge, and both\nwere confined in the Tower until they found security that they would\nappear on a certain day appointed by the court to determine the question.\nThe management of the affair was delegated to the Marischal Court of\nWestminster, and the Earl of Lindsay was created Lord Constable of England\nfor the purpose. Shortly before the day appointed, Ramsay confessed in\nsubstance all that Lord Reay had laid to his charge, upon which Charles I.\nput a stop to the proceedings.\n\n    [65] See _History of the House and Clan of Mackay_.\n\nBut in England, about this period, sterner disputes arose among men than\nthose mere individual matters which generate duels. The men of the\nCommonwealth encouraged no practice of the kind, and the subdued\naristocracy carried their habits and prejudices elsewhere, and fought\ntheir duels at foreign courts. Cromwell's parliament, however--although\nthe evil at that time was not so crying--published an order in 1654 for\nthe prevention of duels, and the punishment of all concerned in them.\nCharles II., on his restoration, also issued a proclamation upon the\nsubject. In his reign an infamous duel was fought--infamous not only from\nits own circumstances, but from the lenity that was shewn to the principal\noffenders.\n\nThe worthless Duke of Buckingham, having debauched the Countess of\nShrewsbury, was challenged by her husband to mortal combat in January\n1668. Charles II. endeavoured to prevent the duel, not from any regard to\npublic morality, but from fear for the life of his favourite. He gave\ncommands to the Duke of Albemarle to confine Buckingham to his house, or\ntake some other measures to prevent him from fighting. Albemarle neglected\nthe order, thinking that the king himself might prevent the combat by some\nsurer means. The meeting took place at Barn Elms; the injured Shrewsbury\nbeing attended by Sir John Talbot, his relative, and Lord Bernard Howard,\nson of the Earl of Arundel. Buckingham was accompanied by two of his\ndependents, Captain Holmes and Sir John Jenkins. According to the\nbarbarous custom of the age, not only the principals, but the seconds\nengaged each other. Jenkins was pierced to the heart, and left dead upon\nthe field, and Sir John Talbot severely wounded in both arms. Buckingham\nhimself escaping with slight wounds, ran his unfortunate antagonist\nthrough the body, and then left the field with the wretched woman, the\ncause of all the mischief, who, in the dress of a page, awaited the issue\nof the conflict in a neighbouring wood, holding her paramour's horse to\navoid suspicion. Great influence was exerted to save the guilty parties\nfrom punishment, and the master, as base as the favourite, made little\ndifficulty in granting a free pardon to all concerned. In a royal\nproclamation issued shortly afterwards, Charles II. formally pardoned the\nmurderers, but declared his intention never to extend in future any mercy\nto such offenders. It would be hard, after this, to say who was the most\ninfamous, the king, the favourite, or the courtesan.\n\nIn the reign of Queen Anne, repeated complaints were made of the\nprevalence of duelling. Addison, Swift, Steele, and other writers employed\ntheir powerful pens in reprobation of it. Steele especially, in the\n_Tatler_ and _Guardian_, exposed its impiety and absurdity, and\nendeavoured both by argument and by ridicule to bring his countrymen to a\nright way of thinking.[66] His comedy of _The Conscious Lovers_ contains\nan admirable exposure of the abuse of the word _honour_, which led men\ninto an error so lamentable. Swift, writing upon the subject, remarked\nthat he could see no harm in rogues and fools shooting each other. Addison\nand Steele took higher ground; and the latter, in the _Guardian_, summed\nup nearly all that could be said upon the subject in the following\nimpressive words:--\"A Christian and a gentleman are made inconsistent\nappellations of the same person. You are not to expect eternal life if you\ndo not forgive injuries, and your mortal life is rendered uncomfortable if\nyou are not ready to commit a murder in resentment of an affront; for good\nsense, as well as religion, is so utterly banished the world, that men\nglory in their very passions, and pursue trifles with the utmost\nvengeance, so little do they know that to forgive is the most arduous\npitch human nature can arrive at. A coward has often fought, a coward has\noften conquered; but a coward never forgave.\" Steele also published a\npamphlet, in which he gave a detailed account of the edict of Louis XIV.,\nand the measures taken by that monarch to cure his subjects of their\nmurderous folly.\n\n    [66] See _Spectator_, Nos. 84, 97, and 99; and _Tatler_, Nos. 25,\n         26, 29, 31, 38, and 39; and _Guardian_, No. 20.\n\nOn the 8th of May, 1711, Sir Cholmely Deering, M.P. for the county of\nKent, was slain in a duel by Mr. Richard Thornhill, also a member of the\nHouse of Commons. Three days afterwards, Sir Peter King brought the\nsubject under the notice of the legislature; and after dwelling at\nconsiderable length on the alarming increase of the practice, obtained\nleave to bring in a bill for the prevention and punishment of duelling. It\nwas read a first time that day, and ordered for a second reading in the\nensuing week.\n\nAbout the same time, the attention of the Upper House of Parliament was\nalso drawn to the subject in the most painful manner. Two of its most\nnoted members would have fought had it not been that Queen Anne received\nnotice of their intention, and exacted a pledge that they would desist;\nwhile a few months afterwards two other of its members lost their lives in\none of the most remarkable duels upon record. The first affair, which\nhappily terminated without a meeting, was between the Duke of Marlborough\nand the Earl Pawlet; the latter and fatal encounter was between the Duke\nof Hamilton and Lord Mohun.\n\nThe first arose out of a debate in the Lords upon the conduct of the Duke\nof Ormond in refusing to hazard a general engagement with the enemy, in\nwhich Earl Pawlet remarked that nobody could doubt the courage of the Duke\nof Ormond. \"He was not like a certain general, who led troops to the\nslaughter, to cause great numbers of officers to be knocked on the head in\na battle, or against stone walls, in order to fill his pockets by\ndisposing of their commissions.\" Every one felt that the remark was aimed\nat the Duke of Marlborough, but he remained silent, though evidently\nsuffering in mind. Soon after the House broke up, the Earl Pawlet received\na visit from Lord Mohun, who told him that the Duke of Marlborough was\nanxious to come to an explanation with him relative to some expressions he\nhad made use of in that day's debate, and therefore prayed him to \"go and\ntake a little air in the country.\" Earl Pawlet did not affect to\nmisunderstand the hint, but asked him in plain terms whether he brought a\nchallenge from the duke. Lord Mohun said his message needed no\nexplanation, and that he [Lord Mohun] would accompany the Duke of\nMarlborough. He then took his leave, and Earl Pawlet returned home and\ntold his lady that he was going out to fight a duel with the Duke of\nMarlborough. His lady, alarmed for her lord's safety, gave notice of his\nintention to the Earl of Dartmouth, who immediately, in the queen's name,\nsent to the Duke of Marlborough, and commanded him not to stir abroad. He\nalso caused Earl Pawlet's house to be guarded by two sentinels; and having\ntaken these precautions, informed the queen of the whole affair. Her\nMajesty sent at once for the duke, expressed her abhorrence of the custom\nof duelling, and required his word of honour that he would proceed no\nfurther. The duke pledged his word accordingly, and the affair terminated.\n\nThe lamentable duel between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun took place\nin November 1712, and sprang from the following circumstances. A lawsuit\nhad been pending for eleven years between these two noblemen, and they\nlooked upon each other in consequence with a certain degree of coldness.\nThey met together on the 13th of November in the chambers of Mr. Orlebar,\na master in Chancery, when, in the course of conversation, the Duke of\nHamilton reflected upon the conduct of one of the witnesses in the cause,\nsaying that he was a person who had neither truth nor justice in him. Lord\nMohun, somewhat nettled at this remark applied to a witness favourable to\nhis side, made answer hastily, that Mr. Whiteworth, the person alluded to,\nhad quite as much truth and justice in him as the Duke of Hamilton. The\nduke made no reply, and no one present imagined that he took offence at\nwhat was said; and when he went out of the room he made a low and\ncourteous salute to the Lord Mohun. In the evening, General Macartney\ncalled twice upon the duke with a challenge from Lord Mohun, and failing\nin seeing him, sought him a third time at a tavern, where he found him,\nand delivered his message. The duke accepted the challenge, and the day\nafter the morrow, which was Sunday, the 15th of November, at seven in the\nmorning, was appointed for the meeting.\n\nAt that hour they assembled in Hyde Park, the duke being attended by his\nrelative Colonel Hamilton, and the Lord Mohun by General Macartney. They\njumped over a ditch into a place called the Nursery, and prepared for the\ncombat. The Duke of Hamilton, turning to General Macartney, said, \"_Sir,\nyou are the cause of this, let the event be what it will._\" Lord Mohun\ndid not wish that the seconds should engage, but the duke insisted that\n\"_Macartney should have a share in the dance._\" All being ready, the two\nprincipals took up their positions, and fought with swords so desperately,\nthat after a short time they both fell down mortally wounded. The Lord\nMohun expired upon the spot, and the Duke of Hamilton in the arms of his\nservants as they were carrying him to his coach.\n\nThis unhappy termination caused the greatest excitement not only in the\nmetropolis, but all over the country. The Tories, grieved at the loss of\nthe Duke of Hamilton, charged the fatal combat on the Whig party, whose\nleader, the Duke of Marlborough, had so recently set the example of\npolitical duels. They called Lord Mohun the bully of the Whig faction (he\nhad already killed three men in duels, and been twice tried for murder),\nand asserted openly that the quarrel was concocted between him and General\nMacartney to rob the country of the services of the Duke of Hamilton by\nmurdering him. It was also asserted that the wound of which the duke died\nwas not inflicted by Lord Mohun, but by Macartney; and every means was\nused to propagate this belief. Colonel Hamilton, against whom and\nMacartney the coroner's jury had returned a verdict of wilful murder,\nsurrendered a few days afterwards, and was examined before a privy council\nsitting at the house of Lord Dartmouth. He then deposed, that seeing Lord\nMohun fall, and the duke upon him, he ran to the duke's assistance; and\nthat he might with the more ease help him, he flung down both their\nswords, and as he was raising the duke up, _he saw Macartney make a push\nat him_. Upon this deposition, a royal proclamation was immediately\nissued, offering a reward of 500l. for the apprehension of Macartney, to\nwhich the Duchess of Hamilton afterwards added a reward of 300l.\n\nUpon the further examination of Colonel Hamilton, it was found that\nreliance could not be placed on all his statements, and that he\ncontradicted himself in several important particulars. He was arraigned at\nthe old Bailey for the murder of Lord Mohun, the whole political circles\nof London being in a fever of excitement for the result. All the Tory\nparty prayed for his acquittal, and a Tory mob surrounded the doors and\nall the avenues leading to the court of justice for many hours before the\ntrial began. The examination of witnesses lasted seven hours. The criminal\nstill persisted in accusing General Macartney of the murder of the Duke of\nHamilton, but in other respects, say the newspapers of the day,\nprevaricated foully. He was found guilty of manslaughter. This favourable\nverdict was received with universal applause, \"not only from the court and\nall the gentlemen present, but the common people shewed a mighty\nsatisfaction, which they testified by loud and repeated huzzas.\"[67]\n\n    [67] _Post-Boy_, December 13th, 1712.\n\nAs the popular delirium subsided, and men began to reason coolly upon the\nsubject, they disbelieved the assertions of Colonel Hamilton that\nMacartney had stabbed the duke, although it was universally admitted that\nhe had been much too busy and presuming. Hamilton was shunned by all his\nformer companions, and his life rendered so irksome to him, that he sold\nout of the Guards and retired to private life, in which he died\nheart-broken four years afterwards.\n\nGeneral Macartney surrendered about the same time, and was tried for\nmurder in the Court of King's Bench. He was, however, found guilty of\nmanslaughter only.\n\nAt the opening of the session of Parliament of 1713, the queen made\npointed allusion in her speech to the frequency of duelling, and\nrecommended to the legislature to devise some speedy and effectual remedy\nfor it. A bill to that effect was brought forward, but thrown out on the\nsecond reading, to the very great regret of all the sensible portion of\nthe community.\n\nA famous duel was fought in 1765 between Lord Byron and Mr. Chaworth. The\ndispute arose at a club-dinner, and was relative to which of the two had\nthe largest quantity of game on his estates. Infuriated by wine and\npassion, they retired instantly into an adjoining room, and fought with\nswords across a table, by the feeble glimmer of a tallow candle. Mr.\nChaworth, who was the more expert swordsman of the two, received a mortal\nwound, and shortly afterwards expired. Lord Byron was brought to trial for\nthe murder before the House of Lords; and it appearing clearly that the\nduel was not premeditated, but fought at once, and in the heat of passion,\nhe was found guilty of manslaughter only, and ordered to be discharged\nupon payment of his fees. This was a very bad example for the country, and\nduelling of course fell into no disrepute after such a verdict.\n\nIn France more severity was exercised. In the year 1769, the Parliament of\nGrenoble took cognisance of the delinquency of the Sieur Duchelas, one of\nits members, who challenged and killed in a duel a captain of the Flemish\nlegion. The servant of Duchelas officiated as second, and was arraigned\nwith his master for the murder of the captain. They were both found\nguilty. Duchelas was broken alive on the wheel, and the servant condemned\nto the galleys for life.\n\nA barbarous and fiercely-contested duel was fought in November 1778,\nbetween two foreign adventurers, at Bath, named Count Rice and the Vicomte\ndu Barri. Some dispute arose relative to a gambling transaction, in the\ncourse of which Du Barri contradicted an assertion of the other, by saying\n\"That is not true!\" Count Rice immediately asked him if he knew the very\ndisagreeable meaning of the words he had employed. Du Barri said he was\nperfectly well aware of their meaning, and that Rice might interpret them\njust as he pleased. A challenge was immediately given and accepted.\nSeconds were sent for, who, arriving with but little delay, the whole\nparty, though it was not long after midnight, proceeded to a place called\nClaverton Down, where they remained with a surgeon until daylight. They\nthen prepared for the encounter, each being armed with two pistols and a\nsword. The ground having been marked out by the seconds, Du Barri fired\nfirst, and wounded his opponent in the thigh. Count Rice then levelled his\npistol, and shot Du Barri mortally in the breast. So angry were the\ncombatants, that they refused to desist; both stepped back a few paces,\nand then rushing forward, discharged their second pistols at each other.\nNeither shot took effect, and both throwing away their pistols, prepared\nto finish the sanguinary struggle by the sword. They took their places,\nand were advancing towards each other, when the Vicomte du Barri suddenly\nstaggered, grew pale, and, falling on the ground, exclaimed, \"_Je vous\ndemande ma vie_.\" His opponent had but just time to answer, that he\ngranted it, when the unfortunate Du Barri turned upon the grass, and\nexpired with a heavy groan. The survivor of this savage conflict was then\nremoved to his lodgings, where he lay for some weeks in a dangerous state.\nThe coroner's jury, in the mean while, sat upon the body of Du Barri, and\ndisgraced themselves by returning a verdict of manslaughter only. Count\nRice, upon his recovery, was indicted for the murder notwithstanding this\nverdict. On his trial he entered into a long defence of his conduct,\npleading the fairness of the duel, and its unpremeditated nature; and, at\nthe same time, expressing his deep regret for the unfortunate death of Du\nBarri, with whom for many years he had been bound in ties of the strictest\nfriendship. These considerations appear to have weighed with the jury, and\nthis fierce duellist was again found guilty of manslaughter only, and\nescaped with a merely nominal punishment.\n\nA duel, less remarkable from its circumstances, but more so from the rank\nof the parties, took place in 1789. The combatants on this occasion were\nthe Duke of York and Colonel Lenox, the nephew and heir of the Duke of\nRichmond. The cause of offence was given by the Duke of York, who had said\nin presence of several officers of the Guards, that words had been used to\nColonel Lenox at Daubigny's to which no gentleman ought to have submitted.\nColonel Lenox went up to the duke on parade, and asked him publicly\nwhether he had made such an assertion. The Duke of York, without answering\nhis question, coldly ordered him to his post. When parade was over, he\ntook an opportunity of saying publicly in the orderly-room before Colonel\nLenox, that he desired no protection from his rank as a prince and his\nstation as commanding officer; adding that, when he was off duty he wore a\nplain brown coat like a private gentleman, and was ready as such to give\nsatisfaction. Colonel Lenox desired nothing better than satisfaction; that\nis to say, to run the chance of shooting the duke through the body, or\nbeing himself shot. He accordingly challenged his Royal Highness, and they\nmet on Wimbledon Common. Colonel Lenox fired first, and the ball whizzed\npast the head of his opponent, so near to it as to graze his projecting\ncurl. The duke refused to return the fire, and the seconds interfering,\nthe affair terminated.\n\nColonel Lenox was very shortly afterwards engaged in another duel arising\nout of this. A Mr. Swift wrote a pamphlet in reference to the dispute\nbetween him and the Duke of York, at some expressions in which he took so\nmuch offence, as to imagine that nothing but a shot at the writer could\natone for them. They met on the Uxbridge Road, but no damage was done to\neither party.\n\nThe Irish were for a long time renowned for their love of duelling. The\nslightest offence which it is possible to imagine that one man could offer\nto another was sufficient to provoke a challenge. Sir Jonah Barrington\nrelates, in his _Memoirs_, that, previous to the Union, during the time of\na disputed election in Dublin, it was no unusual thing for\nthree-and-twenty duels to be fought in a day. Even in times of less\nexcitement, they were so common as to be deemed unworthy of note by the\nregular chroniclers of events, except in cases where one or both of the\ncombatants were killed.\n\nIn those days, in Ireland, it was not only the man of the military, but of\nevery profession, who had to work his way to eminence with the sword or\nthe pistol. Each political party had its regular corps of bullies, or\nfire-eaters, as they were called, who qualified themselves for being the\npests of society by spending all their spare time in firing at targets.\nThey boasted that they could hit an opponent in any part of his body they\npleased, and made up their minds before the encounter began whether they\nshould kill him, disable, or disfigure him for life--lay him on a bed of\nsuffering for a twelvemonth, or merely graze a limb.\n\nThe evil had reached an alarming height, when, in the year 1808, an\nopportunity was offered to King George III. of shewing in a striking\nmanner his detestation of the practice, and of setting an example to the\nIrish that such murders were not to be committed with impunity. A dispute\narose, in the month of June 1807, between Major Campbell and Captain Boyd,\nofficers of the 21st regiment, stationed in Ireland, about the proper\nmanner of giving the word of command on parade. Hot words ensued on this\nslight occasion, and the result was a challenge from Campbell to Boyd.\nThey retired into the mess-room shortly afterwards, and each stationed\nhimself at a corner, the distance obliquely being but seven paces. Here,\nwithout friends or seconds being present, they fired at each other, and\nCaptain Boyd fell mortally wounded between the fourth and fifth ribs. A\nsurgeon, who came in shortly, found him sitting in a chair, vomiting and\nsuffering great agony. He was led into another room, Major Campbell\nfollowing, in great distress and perturbation of mind. Boyd survived but\neighteen hours, and just before his death, said, in reply to a question\nfrom his opponent, that the duel was not fair, and added, \"You hurried me,\nCampbell--you're a bad man.\"--\"Good God!\" replied Campbell, \"will you\nmention before these gentlemen, was not every thing fair? Did you not say\nthat you were ready?\" Boyd answered faintly, \"Oh, no! you know I wanted\nyou to wait and have friends.\" On being again asked whether all was fair,\nthe dying man faintly murmured, \"Yes:\" but in a minute after, he said,\n\"You're a bad man!\" Campbell was now in great agitation, and ringing his\nhands convulsively, he exclaimed, \"Oh, Boyd! you are the happiest man of\nthe two! Do you forgive me?\" Boyd replied, \"I forgive you--I feel for you,\nas I know you do for me.\" He shortly afterwards expired, and Major\nCampbell made his escape from Ireland, and lived for some months with his\nfamily under an assumed name, in the neighbourhood of Chelsea. He was,\nhowever, apprehended, and brought to trial at Armagh, in August 1808. He\nsaid while in prison, that, if found guilty of murder, he should suffer as\nan example to duellists in Ireland; but he endeavoured to buoy himself up\nwith the hope that the jury would only convict him of manslaughter. It was\nproved in evidence upon the trial, that the duel was not fought\nimmediately after the offence was given, but that Major Campbell went home\nand drank tea with his family before he sought Boyd for the fatal\nencounter. The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against him, but\nrecommended him to mercy on the ground that the duel had been a fair one.\nHe was condemned to die on the Monday following, but was afterwards\nrespited for a few days longer. In the mean time the greatest exertions\nwere made in his behalf. His unfortunate wife went upon her knees before\nthe Prince of Wales, to move him to use his influence with the king in\nfavour of her unhappy husband. Every thing a fond wife and a courageous\nwoman could do she tried, to gain the royal clemency; but George III. was\ninflexible, in consequence of the representations of the Irish viceroy\nthat an example was necessary. The law was therefore allowed to take its\ncourse, and the victim of a false spirit of honour died the death of a\nfelon.\n\nThe most inveterate duellists of the present day are the students in the\nUniversities of Germany. They fight on the most frivolous pretences, and\nsettle with swords and pistols the schoolboy disputes which in other\ncountries are arranged by the more harmless medium of the fisticuffs. It\nwas at one time the custom among these savage youths to prefer the\nsword-combat, for the facility it gave them of cutting off the noses of\ntheir opponents. To disfigure them in this manner was an object of\nambition, and the German duellists reckoned the number of these disgusting\ntrophies which they had borne away, with as much satisfaction as a\nsuccessful general the provinces he had reduced or the cities he had\ntaken.\n\nBut it would be wearisome to enter into the minute detail of all the duels\nof modern times. If an examination were made into the general causes which\nproduced them, it would be found that in every case they had been either\nof the most trivial or the most unworthy nature. Parliamentary duels were\nat one time very common, and amongst the names of those who have soiled a\ngreat reputation by conforming to the practice, may be mentioned those of\nWarren Hastings, Sir Philip Francis, Wilkes, Pitt, Fox, Grattan, Curran,\nTierney, and Canning. So difficult is it even for the superior mind to\nfree itself from the trammels with which foolish opinion has enswathed\nit--not one of these celebrated persons who did not in his secret soul\ncondemn the folly to which he lent himself. The bonds of reason, though\niron-strong, are easily burst through; but those of folly, though lithe\nand frail as the rushes by a stream, defy the stoutest heart to snap them\nasunder. Colonel Thomas, an officer in the Guards, who was killed in a\nduel, added the following clause to his will the night before he\ndied:--\"In the first place, I commit my soul to Almighty God, in hope of\nhis mercy and pardon for the irreligious step I now (in compliance with\nthe unwarrantable customs of this wicked world) put myself under the\nnecessity of taking.\" How many have been in the same state of mind as this\nwise, foolish man! He knew his error, and abhorred it, but could not\nresist it for fear of the opinion of the prejudiced and unthinking. No\nother could have blamed him for refusing to fight a duel.\n\nThe list of duels that have sprung from the most degrading causes might be\nstretched out to an almost indefinite extent. Sterne's father fought a\nduel about a goose; and the great Raleigh about a tavern-bill.[68] Scores\nof duels (many of them fatal) have been fought from disputes at cards, or\na place at a theatre; while hundreds of challenges, given and accepted\nover-night, in a fit of drunkenness, have been fought out the next morning\nto the death of one or both of the antagonists.\n\n    [68] Raleigh at one period of his life appeared to be an\n         inveterate duellist, and it was said of him that he had been\n         engaged in more encounters of the kind than any man of note\n         among his contemporaries. More than one fellow-creature he\n         had deprived of life; but he lived long enough to be\n         convinced of the sinfulness of his conduct, and made a solemn\n         vow never to fight another duel. The following anecdote of\n         his forbearance is well known, but it will bear repetition:\n\n         A dispute arose in a coffee-house between him and a young man\n         on some trivial point, and the latter, losing his temper,\n         impertinently spat in the face of the veteran. Sir Walter,\n         instead of running him through the body, as many would have\n         done, or challenging him to mortal combat, coolly took out\n         his handkerchief, wiped his face, and said, \"Young man, if I\n         could as easily wipe from my conscience the stain of killing\n         you, as I can this spittle from my face, you should not live\n         another minute.\" The young man immediately begged his\n         pardon.\n\nTwo of the most notorious duels of modern times had their origin in causes\nno more worthy than the quarrel of a dog and the favour of a prostitute:\nthat between Macnamara and Montgomery arising from the former; and that\nbetween Best and Lord Camelford from the latter. The dog of Montgomery\nattacked a dog belonging to Macnamara, and each master interfering in\nbehalf of his own animal, high words ensued. The result was the giving and\naccepting a challenge to mortal combat. The parties met on the following\nday, when Montgomery was shot dead, and his antagonist severely wounded.\nThe affair created a great sensation at the time, and Heaviside, the\nsurgeon who attended at the fatal field to render his assistance if\nnecessary, was arrested as an accessory to the murder, and committed to\nNewgate.\n\nIn the duel between Best and Lord Camelford, two pistols were used which\nwere considered to be the best in England. One of them was thought\nslightly superior to the other, and it was agreed that the belligerents\nshould toss up a piece of money to decide the choice of weapons. Best\ngained it, and at the first discharge, Lord Camelford fell mortally\nwounded. But little sympathy was expressed for his fate; he was a\nconfirmed duellist, had been engaged in many meetings of the kind, and the\nblood of more than one fellow-creature lay at his door. As he had sowed,\nso did he reap; and the violent man met an appropriate death.\n\nIt now only remains to notice the means that have been taken to stay the\nprevalence of this madness of false honour in the various countries of the\ncivilised world. The efforts of the governments of France and England have\nalready been mentioned, and their want of success is but too well known.\nThe same efforts have been attended with the same results elsewhere. In\ndespotic countries, where the will of the monarch has been strongly\nexpressed and vigorously supported, a diminution of the evil has for a\ntime resulted, but only to be increased again, when death relaxed the iron\ngrasp, and a successor appeared of less decided opinions on the subject.\nThis was the case in Prussia, under the great Frederick, of whose aversion\nto duelling a popular anecdote is recorded. It is stated of him that he\npermitted duelling in his army, but only upon the condition that the\ncombatants should fight in presence of a whole battalion of infantry,\ndrawn up on purpose to see fair play. The latter received strict orders,\nwhen one of the belligerents fell, to shoot the other immediately. It is\nadded, that the known determination of the king effectually put a stop to\nthe practice.\n\nThe Emperor Joseph II. of Austria was as firm as Frederick, although the\nmeasures he adopted were not so singular. The following letter explains\nhis views on the subject:\n\n                          \"TO GENERAL * * * * *\n\n    \"MY GENERAL,\n\n    \"You will immediately arrest the Count of K. and Captain W. The\n    count is young, passionate, and influenced by wrong notions of\n    birth and a false spirit of honour. Captain W. is an old soldier,\n    who will adjust every dispute with the sword and pistol, and who\n    has received the challenge of the young count with unbecoming\n    warmth.\n\n    \"I will suffer no duelling in my army. I despise the principles of\n    those who attempt to justify the practice, and who would run each\n    other through the body in cold blood.\n\n    \"When I have officers who bravely expose themselves to every\n    danger in facing the enemy--who at all times exhibit courage,\n    valour, and resolution in attack and defence, I esteem them\n    highly. The coolness with which they meet death on such occasions\n    is serviceable to their country, and at the same time redounds to\n    their own honour; but should there be men amongst them who are\n    ready to sacrifice every thing to their vengeance and hatred, I\n    despise them. I consider such a man as no better than a Roman\n    gladiator.\n\n    \"Order a court-martial to try the two officers. Investigate the\n    subject of their dispute with that impartiality which I demand\n    from every judge; and he that is guilty, let him be a sacrifice to\n    his fate and the laws.\n\n    \"Such a barbarous custom, which suits the age of the Tamerlanes\n    and Bajazets, and which has often had such melancholy effects on\n    single families, I will have suppressed and punished, even if it\n    should deprive me of one half of my officers. There are still men\n    who know how to unite the character of a hero with that of a good\n    subject; and he only can be so who respects the laws.\n\n    \"_August, 1771._                                      JOSEPH.\"[69]\n\n    [69] Vide the Letters of Joseph II. to distinguished Princes and\n         Statesmen, published for the first time in England in _The\n         Pamphleteer_ for 1821. They were originally published in\n         Germany a few years previously, and throw a great light upon\n         the character of that monarch and the events of his reign.\n\nIn the United States of America the code varies considerably. In one or\ntwo of the still wild and simple states of the far West, where no duel has\nyet been fought, there is no specific law upon the subject beyond that in\nthe Decalogue, which says, \"Thou shalt do no murder;\" but duelling every\nwhere follows the steps of modern civilisation; and by the time the\nbackwoodsman is transformed into the citizen, he has imbibed the false\nnotions of honour which are prevalent in Europe and around him, and is\nready, like his progenitors, to settle his differences with the pistol. In\nthe majority of the States the punishment for challenging, fighting, or\nacting as second, is solitary imprisonment and hard labour for any period\nless than a year, and disqualification for serving any public office for\ntwenty years. In Vermont the punishment is total disqualification for\noffice, deprivation of the rights of citizenship, and a fine; in fatal\ncases, the same punishment as that of murderers. In Rhode Island, the\ncombatant, though death does not ensue, is liable to be carted to the\ngallows, with a rope about his neck, and to sit in this trim for an hour\nexposed to the peltings of the mob. He may be further imprisoned for a\nyear, at the option of the magistrate. In Connecticut the punishment is\ntotal disqualification for office or employ, and a fine varying from one\nhundred to a thousand dollars. The laws of Illinois require certain\nofficers of the state to make oath, previous to their instalment, that\nthey have never been, nor ever will be, concerned in a duel.[70]\n\n    [70] _Encyclopedia Americana_, art. Duelling.\n\nAmongst the edicts against duelling, promulgated at various times in\nEurope, may be mentioned that of Augustus King of Poland, in 1712, which\ndecreed the punishment of death against principals and seconds, and minor\npunishments against the bearers of a challenge. An edict was also\npublished at Munich, in 1773, according to which both principals and\nseconds, even in duels where no one was either killed or wounded, should\nbe hanged, and their bodies buried at the foot of the gallows.\n\nThe king of Naples issued an ordinance against duelling in 1838, in which\nthe punishment of death is decreed against all concerned in a fatal duel.\nThe bodies of those killed, and of those who may be executed in\nconsequence, are to be buried in unconsecrated ground, and without any\nreligious ceremony; nor is any monument to be erected on the spot. The\npunishment for duels in which either, or both, are wounded, and for those\nin which no damage whatever is done, varies according to the case, and\nconsists of fine, imprisonment, loss of rank and honours, and incapacity\nfor filling any public situation. Bearers of challenges may also be\npunished with fine and imprisonment.\n\nIt might be imagined that enactments so severe all over the civilised\nworld would finally eradicate a custom, the prevalence of which every wise\nand good man must deplore. But the frowns of the law never yet have\ntaught, and never will teach, men to desist from this practice, as long as\nit is felt that the lawgiver sympathises with it in his heart. The stern\njudge upon the bench may say to the unfortunate wight who has been called\na liar by some unmannerly opponent, \"If you challenge him, you meditate\nmurder, and are guilty of murder!\" but the same judge, divested of his\nrobes of state, and mixing in the world with other men, would say, \"If you\ndo not challenge him, if you do not run the risk of making yourself a\nmurderer, you will be looked upon as a mean-spirited wretch, unfit to\nassociate with your fellows, and deserving nothing but their scorn and\ntheir contempt!\" It is society, and not the duellist, who is to blame.\nFemale influence too, which is so powerful in leading men either to good\nor to evil, takes in this case the evil part. Mere animal bravery has,\nunfortunately, such charms in the female eye, that a successful duellist\nis but too often regarded as a sort of hero; and the man who refuses to\nfight, though of truer courage, is thought a poltroon, who may be trampled\non. Mr. Graves, a member of the American legislature, who, early in 1838,\nkilled a Mr. Cilley in a duel, truly and eloquently said, on the floor of\nthe House of Representatives, when lamenting the unfortunate issue of that\nencounter, that society was more to blame than he was. \"Public opinion,\"\nsaid the repentant orator, \"is practically the paramount law of the land.\nEvery other law, both human and divine, ceases to be observed; yea,\nwithers and perishes in contact with it. It was this paramount law of this\nnation and of this House that forced me, under the penalty of dishonour,\nto subject myself to the code, which impelled me unwillingly into this\ntragical affair. Upon the heads of this nation, and at the doors of this\nHouse, rests the blood with which my unfortunate hands have been stained!\"\n\nAs long as society is in this mood; as long as it thinks that the man who\nrefuses to resent an insult, deserved that insult, and should be scouted\naccordingly; so long, it is to be feared, will duelling exist, however\nsevere the laws may be. Men must have redress for injuries inflicted; and\nwhen those injuries are of such a nature that no tribunal will take\ncognisance of them, the injured will take the law into their own hands,\nand right themselves in the opinion of their fellows, at the hazard of\ntheir lives. Much as the sage may affect to despise the opinion of the\nworld, there are few who would not rather expose their lives a hundred\ntimes than be condemned to live on, in society, but not of it--a by-word\nof reproach to all who know their history, and a mark for scorn to point\nhis finger at.\n\nThe only practicable means for diminishing the force of a custom which is\nthe disgrace of civilisation, seems to be the establishment of a court of\nhonour, which should take cognisance of all those delicate and almost\nintangible offences which yet wound so deeply. The court established by\nLouis XIV. might be taken as a model. No man now fights a duel when a fit\napology has been offered; and it should be the duty of this court to weigh\ndispassionately the complaint of every man injured in his honour, either\nby word or deed, and to force the offender to make a public apology. If he\nrefused the apology, he would be the breaker of a second law; an offender\nagainst a high court, as well as against the man he had injured, and might\nbe punished with fine and imprisonment, the latter to last until he saw\nthe error of his conduct, and made the concession which the court\ndemanded.\n\nIf, after the establishment of this tribunal, men should be found of a\nnature so bloodthirsty as not to be satisfied with its peaceful decisions,\nand should resort to the old and barbarous mode of an appeal to the\npistol, some means might be found of dealing with them. To hang them as\nmurderers would be of no avail; for to such men death would have few\nterrors. Shame alone would bring them to reason. Transportation, the\ntread-wheel, or a public whipping, would perhaps be sufficient.\n\n\n\n\nRELICS.\n\n    A fouth o' auld knick-knackets,\n    Rusty airn caps and jinglin' jackets,\n    Wad hand the Lothians three, in tackets,\n                        A towmond guid;\n    An' parritch pats, and auld saut backets,\n                        Afore the flood.\n                                               BURNS.\n\n\n[Illustration: T]\n\nThe love for relics is one which will never be eradicated as long as\nfeeling and affection are denizens of the heart. It is a love which is\nmost easily excited in the best and kindliest natures, and which few are\ncallous enough to scoff at. Who would not treasure the lock of hair that\nonce adorned the brow of the faithful wife now cold in death, or that hung\ndown the neck of a beloved infant now sleeping under the sward? Not one!\nThey are home-relics, whose sacred worth is intelligible to all: spoils\nrescued from the devouring grave, which to the affectionate are beyond all\nprice. How dear to a forlorn survivor the book over whose pages he has\npored with one departed! How much greater its value, if that hand, now\ncold, had written a thought, an opinion, or a name, upon the leaf! Besides\nthese sweet domestic relics, there are others which no one can condemn:\nrelics sanctified by that admiration of greatness and goodness which is\nakin to love; such as the copy of Montaigne's _Florio_, with the name of\nShakspeare upon the leaf, written by the poet of all time himself; the\nchair preserved at Antwerp, in which Rubens sat when he painted the\nimmortal Descent from the Cross; or the telescope, preserved in the Museum\nof Florence, which aided Galileo in his sublime discoveries. Who would not\nlook with veneration upon the undoubted arrow of William Tell--the swords\nof Wallace or of Hampden--or the Bible whose leaves were turned by some\nstern old father of the faith?\n\nThus the principle of reliquism is hallowed and enshrined by love. But\nfrom this germ of purity how numerous the progeny of errors and\nsuperstitions! Men, in their admiration of the great, and of all that\nappertained to them, have forgotten that goodness is a component part of\ntrue greatness, and have made fools of themselves for the jawbone of a\nsaint, the toe-nail of an apostle, the handkerchief a king blew his nose\nin, or the rope that hanged a criminal. Desiring to rescue some slight\ntoken from the graves of their predecessors, they have confounded the\nfamous and the infamous, the renowned and the notorious. Great saints,\ngreat sinners; great philosophers, great quacks; great conquerors, great\nmurderers; great ministers, great thieves; each and all have had their\nadmirers, ready to ransack earth, from the equator to either pole, to find\na relic of them.\n\nThe reliquism of modern times dates its origin from the centuries\nimmediately preceding the Crusades. The first pilgrims to the Holy Land\nbrought back to Europe thousands of apocryphal relics, in the purchase of\nwhich they had expended all their store. The greatest favourite was the\nwood of the true cross, which, like the oil of the widow, never\ndiminished. It is generally asserted, in the traditions of the Romish\nChurch, that the Empress Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, first\ndiscovered the veritable \"_true cross_\" in her pilgrimage to Jerusalem.\nThe Emperor Theodosius made a present of the greater part of it to St.\nAmbrose, Bishop of Milan, by whom it was studded with precious stones, and\ndeposited in the principal church of that city. It was carried away by the\nHuns, by whom it was burnt, after they had extracted the valuable jewels\nit contained. Fragments, purporting to have been cut from it, were, in the\neleventh and twelfth centuries, to be found in almost every church in\nEurope, and would, if collected together in one place, have been almost\nsufficient to have built a cathedral. Happy was the sinner who could get a\nsight of one of them; happier he who possessed one! To obtain them the\ngreatest dangers were cheerfully braved. They were thought to preserve\nfrom all evils, and to cure the most inveterate diseases. Annual\npilgrimages were made to the shrines that contained them, and considerable\nrevenues collected from the devotees.\n\nNext in renown were those precious relics, the tears of the Saviour. By\nwhom and in what manner they were preserved, the pilgrims did not inquire.\nTheir genuineness was vouched by the Christians of the Holy Land, and that\nwas sufficient. Tears of the Virgin Mary, and tears of St. Peter, were\nalso to be had, carefully enclosed in little caskets, which the pious\nmight wear in their bosoms. After the tears the next most precious relics\nwere drops of the blood of Jesus and the martyrs, and the milk of the\nVirgin Mary. Hair and toe-nails were also in great repute, and were sold\nat extravagant prices. Thousands of pilgrims annually visited Palestine in\nthe eleventh and twelfth centuries, to purchase pretended relics for the\nhome market. The majority of them had no other means of subsistence than\nthe profits thus obtained. Many a nail, cut from the filthy foot of some\nunscrupulous ecclesiastic, was sold at a diamond's price, within six\nmonths after its severance from its parent toe, upon the supposition that\nit had once belonged to a saint or an apostle. Peter's toes were\nuncommonly prolific, for there were nails enough in Europe, at the time of\nthe Council of Clermont, to have filled a sack, all of which were devoutly\nbelieved to have grown on the sacred feet of that great apostle. Some of\nthem are still shewn in the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle. The pious come\nfrom a distance of a hundred German miles to feast their eyes upon them.\n\nAt Port Royal, in Paris, is kept with great care a thorn, which the\npriests of that seminary assert to be one of the identical thorns that\nbound the holy head of the Son of God. How it came there, and by whom it\nwas preserved, has never been explained. This is the famous thorn,\ncelebrated in the long dissensions of the Jansenists and the Molenists,\nand which worked the miraculous cure upon Mademoiselle Perrier: by merely\nkissing it she was cured of a disease of the eyes of long standing.[71]\n\n    [71] Voltaire, _Si\u00e8cle de Louis XIV_.\n\nWhat traveller is unacquainted with the Santa Scala, or Holy Stairs, at\nRome? They were brought from Jerusalem along with the true cross, by the\nEmpress Helen, and were taken from the house which, according to popular\ntradition, was inhabited by Pontius Pilate. They are said to be the steps\nwhich Jesus ascended and descended when brought into the presence of the\nRoman governor. They are held in the greatest veneration at Rome: it is\nsacrilegious to walk upon them. The knees of the faithful must alone touch\nthem in ascending or descending, and that only after the pilgrims have\nreverentially kissed them.\n\nEurope still swarms with these religious relics. There is hardly a Roman\nCatholic church in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, or Belgium, without one\nor more of them. Even the poorly endowed churches of the villages boast\nthe possession of miraculous thigh-bones of the innumerable saints of the\nRomish calendar. Aix-la-Chapelle is proud of the veritable _ch\u00e2sse_, or\nthigh-bone of Charlemagne, which cures lameness. Halle has a thigh-bone of\nthe Virgin Mary; Spain has seven or eight, all said to be undoubted\nrelics. Brussels at one time preserved, and perhaps does now, the teeth of\nSt. Gudule. The faithful, who suffered from the toothache, had only to\npray, look at them, and be cured. Some of these holy bones have been\nburied in different parts of the Continent. After a certain lapse of time,\nwater is said to ooze from them, which soon forms a spring, and cures all\nthe diseases of the faithful.\n\nIt is curious to remark the avidity manifested in all ages, and in all\ncountries, to obtain possession of some relic of any persons who have been\nmuch spoken of, even for their crimes. When William Longbeard, leader of\nthe populace of London in the reign of Richard I., was hanged at\nSmithfield, the utmost eagerness was shewn to obtain a hair from his head,\nor a shred from his garments. Women came from Essex, Kent, Suffolk,\nSussex, and all the surrounding counties, to collect the mould at the foot\nof his gallows. A hair of his beard was believed to preserve from evil\nspirits, and a piece of his clothes from aches and pains.\n\nIn more modern days, a similar avidity was shewn to obtain a relic of the\nluckless Masaniello, the fisherman of Naples. After he had been raised by\nmob favour to a height of power more despotic than monarch ever wielded,\nhe was shot by the same populace in the streets, as if he had been a mad\ndog. His headless trunk was dragged through the mire for several hours,\nand cast at night-fall into the city ditch. On the morrow the tide of\npopular feeling turned once more in his favour. His corpse was sought,\narrayed in royal robes, and buried magnificently by torch-light in the\ncathedral, ten thousand armed men, and as many mourners, attending at the\nceremony. The fisherman's dress which he had worn was rent into shreds by\nthe crowd, to be preserved as relics; the door of his hut was pulled off\nits hinges by a mob of women, and eagerly cut up into small pieces, to be\nmade into images, caskets, and other mementos. The scanty furniture of his\npoor abode became of more value than the adornments of a palace; the\nground he had walked upon was considered sacred, and, being collected in\nsmall phials, was sold at its weight in gold, and worn in the bosom as an\namulet.\n\nAlmost as extraordinary was the frenzy manifested by the populace of Paris\non the execution of the atrocious Marchioness de Brinvilliers. There were\ngrounds for the popular wonder in the case of Masaniello, who was\nunstained with personal crimes. But the career of Madame de Brinvilliers\nwas of a nature to excite no other feelings than disgust and abhorrence.\nShe was convicted of poisoning several persons, and sentenced to be burned\nin the Place de Gr\u00e8ve, and to have her ashes scattered to the winds. On\nthe day of her execution, the populace, struck by her gracefulness and\nbeauty, inveighed against the severity of her sentence. Their pity soon\nincreased to admiration, and, ere evening, she was considered a saint. Her\nashes were industriously collected; even the charred wood, which had aided\nto consume her, was eagerly purchased by the populace. Her ashes were\nthought to preserve from witchcraft.\n\nIn England many persons have a singular love for the relics of thieves and\nmurderers, or other great criminals. The ropes with which they have been\nhanged are very often bought by collectors at a guinea per foot. Great\nsums were paid for the rope which hanged Dr. Dodd, and for those more\nrecently which did justice upon Mr. Fauntleroy for forgery, and on\nThurtell for the murder of Mr. Weare. The murder of Maria Marten, by\nCorder, in the year 1828, excited the greatest interest all over the\ncountry. People came from Wales and Scotland, and even from Ireland, to\nvisit the barn where the body of the murdered woman was buried. Every one\nof them was anxious to carry away some memorial of his visit. Pieces of\nthe barn-door, tiles from the roof, and, above all, the clothes of the\npoor victim, were eagerly sought after. A lock of her hair was sold for\ntwo guineas, and the purchaser thought himself fortunate in getting it so\ncheaply.\n\nSo great was the concourse of people to visit the house in Camberwell\nLane, where Greenacre murdered Hannah Brown, in 1837, that it was found\nnecessary to station a strong detachment of police on the spot. The crowd\nwas so eager to obtain a relic of the house of this atrocious criminal,\nthat the police were obliged to employ force to prevent the tables and\nchairs, and even the doors, from being carried away.\n\nIn earlier times, a singular superstition was attached to the hand of a\ncriminal who had suffered execution. It was thought that by merely rubbing\nthe dead hand on the body, the patient afflicted with the king's evil\nwould be instantly cured. The executioner at Newgate formerly derived no\ninconsiderable revenue from this foolish practice. The possession of the\nhand was thought to be of still greater efficacy in the cure of diseases\nand the prevention of misfortunes. In the time of Charles II., as much as\nten guineas was thought a small price for one of these disgusting relics.\n\nWhen the maniac, Thom, or Courtenay, was shot, in the spring of 1838, the\nrelic-hunters were immediately in motion to obtain a memento of so\nextraordinary an individual. His long black beard and hair, which were cut\noff by the surgeons, fell into the hands of his disciples, by whom they\nwere treasured with the utmost reverence. A lock of his hair commanded a\ngreat price, not only amongst his followers, but among the more wealthy\ninhabitants of Canterbury and its neighbourhood. The tree against which he\nfell when he was shot, was stripped of all its bark by the curious; while\na letter, with his signature to it, was paid for in gold coins; and his\nfavourite horse became as celebrated as its master. Parties of ladies and\ngentlemen went to Boughton from a distance of a hundred and fifty miles,\nto visit the scene of that fatal affray, and stroke on the back the horse\nof the \"mad knight of Malta.\" If a strict watch had not been kept over his\ngrave for months, the body would have been disinterred, and the bones\ncarried away as memorials.\n\nAmong the Chinese no relics are more valued than the _boots_ which have\nbeen worn by an upright magistrate. In Davis's interesting description of\nthe empire of China, we are informed, that whenever a judge of unusual\nintegrity resigns his situation, the people all congregate to do him\nhonour. If he leaves the city where he has presided, the crowd accompany\nhim from his residence to the gates, where his boots are drawn off with\ngreat ceremony, to be preserved in the hall of justice. Their place is\nimmediately supplied by a new pair, which, in their turn, are drawn off to\nmake room for others before he has worn them five minutes, it being\nconsidered sufficient to consecrate them that he should have merely drawn\nthem on.\n\nAmong the most favourite relics of modern times, in Europe, are\nShakspeare's mulberry-tree, Napoleon's willow, and the table at Waterloo\non which the emperor wrote his despatches. Snuff-boxes of Shakspeare's\nmulberry-tree are comparatively rare, though there are doubtless more of\nthem in the market than were ever made of the wood planted by the great\nbard. Many a piece of alien wood passes under this name. The same may be\nsaid of Napoleon's table at Waterloo. The original has long since been\ndestroyed, and a round dozen of counterfeits along with it. Many preserve\nthe simple stick of wood; others have them cut into brooches and every\nvariety of ornament; but by far the greater number prefer them as\nsnuff-boxes. In France they are made into _bonbonni\u00e8res_, and are much\nesteemed by the many thousands whose cheeks still glow and whose eyes\nstill sparkle at the name of Napoleon.\n\nBullets from the field of Waterloo, and buttons from the coats of the\nsoldiers who fell in the fight, are still favourite relics in Europe. But\nthe same ingenuity which found new tables after the old one was destroyed,\nhas cast new bullets for the curious. Many a one who thinks himself the\npossessor of a bullet which aided in giving peace to the world on that\nmemorable day, is the owner of a dump, first extracted from the ore a\ndozen years afterwards. Let all lovers of genuine relics look well to\ntheir money before they part with it to the ciceroni that swarm in the\nvillage of Waterloo!\n\nFew travellers stopped at the lonely isle of St. Helena without cutting a\ntwig from the willow that drooped over the grave of Napoleon, prior to the\nremoval of the body by the government of Louis Philippe. Many of them have\nsince been planted in different parts of Europe, and have grown into trees\nas large as their parent. Relic-hunters, who are unable to procure a twig\nof the original, are content with one from these. Several of them are\ngrowing in the neighbourhood of London.\n\nBut in relics, as in every thing else, there is the use and the abuse. The\nundoubted relics of great men, or great events, will always possess\nattractions for the thinking and refined. There are few who would not join\nwith Cowley in the extravagant wish introduced in his lines \"written while\nsitting in a chair made of the remains of the ship in which Sir Francis\nDrake sailed round the world:\"\n\n    And I myself, who now love quiet too,\n    Almost as much, as any chair can do,\n    Would yet a journey take\n          An old wheel of that chariot to see,\n    Which Phaeton so rashly brake.\n\n\n\n\nEND OF VOL. II.\n\n\n\n\nLONDON:\n\nPRINTED BY LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FRANKLYN,\nGREAT NEW STREET, FETTER LANE.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\nAbraham, Noah, and Moses said to have been alchymists, i. 95, 114.\n\nAcre besieged in the Third Crusade, ii. 69;\n  its surrender to the Christians, 71.\n\nAddison's account of a Rosicrucian, i. 177;\n  his opinion on duelling, ii. 281.\n\nAgricola, George, the alchymist, memoir of, i. 145.\n\nAgrippa, Cornelius, memoir, and _portrait_ of, i. 138;\n  his power of raising the dead and the absent, 142.\n\nAislabie, Mr., Chancellor of the Exchequer, his participation in the\n      South-Sea fraud, i. 73, 78;\n  rejoicings on his committal to the Tower, 79.\n\nAlain Delisle. (_See_ Delisle.)\n\nAlbertus Magnus, his studies in alchymy, i. 99;\n  _portrait_ of, 100;\n  his animated brazen statue destroyed by Thomas Aquinas, 100;\n  his power to change the course of the seasons, 101.\n\nALCHYMISTS, the, or Searches for the Philosopher's Stone and the Water of\n      Life, i. 94-220;\n  natural origin of the study of Alchymy, its connexion with astrology,\n      &c., i. 94;\n  alleged antiquity of the study, 95;\n  its early history, 96;\n  Memoirs of Geber, 96;\n  Alfarabi, 97;\n  Avicenna, 98;\n  Albertus Magnus, with _portrait_, Thomas Aquinas, 99;\n  Artephius, 102;\n  Alain Delisle, 102;\n  Arnold de Villeneuve, with _portrait_, 103;\n  receipt for the elixir vit\u00e6 ascribed to him, 103;\n  Pietro d'Apone, 104;\n  Raymond Lulli, with _portrait_, 105;\n  Roger Bacon, 110;\n  Pope John XXII., 111;\n  Jean de Meung, 112;\n  Nicholas Flamel, 113;\n  George Ripley, 118;\n  Basil Valentine, 119;\n  Bernard of Treves, 119;\n  Trithemius, 124;\n  Mar\u00e9chal de Rays, 125;\n  Jacques Coeur, 132;\n  inferior adepts of the 14th and 15th centuries, 135;\n  progress of the infatuation in the 16th and 17th centuries, 137-189;\n  Augurello, 137;\n  Cornelius Agrippa, with _portrait_, 138;\n  Paracelsus, with _portrait_, 142;\n  George Agricola, 145;\n  Denis Zachaire, 146;\n  Dr. Dee, with _portrait_, and Edward Kelly, 152;\n  Dr. Dee's \"Shewstone\" (_engraving_), 154;\n  the Cosmopolite, 163;\n  the Rosicrucians, 167;\n  Jacob B\u00f6hmen, 177;\n  Mormius, 178;\n  Borri, 179;\n  inferior Alchymists of the 17th century, 185;\n  their impositions, 188;\n  Alchymy since that period, 189-220;\n  Jean Delisle, 189;\n  Albert Aluys, 197;\n  the Count de St. Germain, 200;\n  Cagliostro, 206;\n  present state of Alchymy, 220.\n\nAlexius I., Emperor, his treatment of the Crusaders, ii. 17-19;\n  imprisons the Count of Vermandois, 23;\n  is compelled to release him, 24;\n  his fear of the Crusaders, 25;\n  his treachery at Nice, 28;\n  neglects the Crusaders at Antioch, 35, 42.\n\nAlexius III., usurping the Greek empire, is expelled by the Crusaders,\n      ii. 77.\n\nAlexius IV. made Emperor of the Greeks by the aid of the Crusaders, ii. 77;\n  his deposition and murder, 78.\n\nAlexius Ducas (Murzuphlis) chosen Emperor instead of Alexius IV., ii. 78;\n  defeated by the French and Venetians, 79.\n\nAlfarabi, the Alchymist, memoir of, i. 97.\n\nAlmanac-makers: Lilly, Poor Robin, Partridge, Francis Moore, Matthew\n      Laensbergh, i. 240.\n\nAluys, Albert, the Alchymist, memoir of, i. 97.\n\nAmerican laws against duelling, ii. 299.\n\nAmsterdam, witches burnt at, ii. 160.\n\nAnimal Magnetism. (_See_ Magnetism.)\n\nAndrews, Henry, the original of \"Francis Moore,\" _portrait_, i. 244.\n\nAnna Comnena, her notices of the Crusaders, ii. 22, 25.\n\nAnne, Queen, duels in her reign, ii. 289;\n  her efforts to suppress them, 292.\n\nAntioch, besieged by the Crusaders, ii. 29;\n  is taken by treachery, 32;\n  sufferings of the Crusaders from famine and pestilence, 35;\n  pretended discovery of the Holy Lance (_engraving_), 37;\n  battle, and defeat of the Turks, 38;\n  retaken by Saladin, 63.\n\nAquinas, Thomas, his studies in Alchymy, i. 99;\n  he destroys an animated brazen statue, 100;\n  his magical performances, 101.\n\nArabia, the chief seat of the Alchymists, i. 96.\n\nArnold de Villeneuve. (_See_ De Villeneuve.)\n\nArras, _view_ of the Town-hall, ii. 101;\n  persecution of the Waldenses at, 115.\n\nArt, works of, destroyed by the Crusaders at Constantinople, ii. 79.\n\nArtephius, his extravagant pretensions as an Alchymist, i. 102.\n\nAstrology, its prevalence in England, i. 243;\n  account of Lilly's prophecies, 244;\n  its connexion with Alchymy.\n  (_See_ the Alchymists, Dr. Dee, &c.)\n\nAugurello the Alchymist, memoir of, i. 137.\n\nAugury, an almost exploded study, i. 272.\n\nAurea-crucians, a sect founded by Jacob B\u00f6hmen, i. 177.\n\nAvicenna the Alchymist, memoir of, i. 98.\n\n\nBacon, Lord, _portrait of_, ii. 286;\n  his opposition to duelling, 285, 287.\n\nBacon, Roger, his pursuit of Alchymy, i. 110;\n  his scientific discoveries, 111.\n\nBagnone, Francisco, the magnetiser, i. 272.\n\nBailly, M., his account of Mesmer's experiments, i. 281, 293.\n\nBaldarroch Farm-house, \"haunted,\" ii. 235;\n  investigation by the elders of the kirk; the noises caused by\n      servant-girls, 237.\n\nBaldwin (King of Jerusalem), joins the Crusaders at Nice, ii. 27;\n  becomes prince of Edessa, 30, 41;\n  succeeds Godfrey as King of Jerusalem, 48;\n  bible of his queen (_engraving_), 50.\n\nBaldwin, Count of Flanders, chosen Emperor of the Greeks, ii. 80.\n\nBallads. (_See_ Songs.)\n\nBamberg, _view_ in; witches executed there, ii. 162.\n\nBanditti in Italy, ii. 256.\n\nBanking schemes of John Law, i. 4.\n\nBank of England, its competition with the South-Sea Company, i. 48, 66.\n\nBaptism mocked in the witches' \"Sabbaths,\" ii. 109.\n\nBarbarin, Chevalier de, his experiments in animal magnetism, i. 286.\n\nBarbarossa, the Emperor, commences the Third Crusade; his death,\n      ii. 63, 64.\n\nBarthelemy, Peter, his pretended vision and discovery of the \"holy lance;\"\n      its effect on the Crusaders; battle of Antioch, the Turks defeated,\n      ii. 35-40;\n  charged with falsehood, subjected to the fiery ordeal, and burnt to\n      death, 41.\n\nBastille, the. (_See_ Paris.)\n\nBavaria, ordinance against moustaches, i. 302.\n\nBeards forbidden to be worn; religious and political prejudices, i. 296-303.\n  (_See_ Hair.)\n\nBeckmann's remarks on the tulip, i. 86.\n\n\"Beggar's Opera,\" its popularity and immoral influence, ii. 258.\n\nBeranger's Song, \"Thirteen at Table,\" i. 257.\n\nBernard of Treves, the Alchymist, memoir of, i. 119.\n\nBest and Lord Camelford, their fatal duel, ii. 297.\n\nBethlehem, Shrine of the Nativity (_engraving_), ii. 43;\n  Richard I. arrives there; _view_ of the city, ii. 73.\n\nBible of the Queen of Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, (_engraving_), ii. 50.\n\n\"Blue Beard,\" the Mar\u00e9chal de Rays his supposed prototype, i. 132.\n\nBlunt, Sir John, Chairman of the South-Sea Bubble, his share in the fraud,\n      i. 63, 74, 77;\n  his examination by Parliament, 75;\n  his property confiscated, 81;\n  Pope's sketch of him, 74.\n\nBodinus, his persecution of witches, ii. 159.\n\nBoerhave, his belief in Alchymy, i. 185.\n\nBohemund, his courage displayed in the Crusades, ii. 21, 28, 30, 31, 35,\n      38, 39;\n  takes Antioch, by treachery in the garrison, 32;\n  is made Prince of Antioch, 32, 41.\n\nB\u00f6hmen, Jacob, the Alchymist, memoir of, i. 177.\n\nBonfires on Tower Hill, on the committal of the South-Sea schemers, i. 79.\n\nBooker, an astrologer, notice of, i. 244.\n\nBoots, torture of the (_engraving_), ii. 131.\n\nBorri, the Alchymist, memoir of, i. 179.\n\nBourdeaux, haunted house at, ii. 221.\n\nBourges, house of Jaques Coeur (_engraving_), i. 134.\n\nBoyd, Captain, killed in a duel, ii. 293.\n\n\"Brabant Screen,\" the, a caricature of the South-Sea Bubble, i. 76.\n\nBreda, siege of, i. 270.\n\nBremen, Nadel's escape from prison, ii. 257.\n\nBrinvilliers, Madame de, her atrocious murders; escape from France;\n      subsequent trial and execution, ii. 208-214;\n  relics of her fate anxiously sought after, 305.\n\nBrown, Sir Thomas, _portrait_ of; his belief in witchcraft, ii. 151.\n\nBubble Companies, contemporaneously with the South-Sea Scheme, their\n      extravagant character, i. 52;\n  profits of the promoters, 53;\n  declared unlawful, 55, 86;\n  companies dissolved, 57.\n\n\"Bubble Cards,\" or Caricatures, i. 60, 61.\n\nBuckingham, Villiers, Duke of, his rise in the favour of James I., ii. 197;\n  _portrait_ of, 198;\n  suspected to have poisoned the king, 201.\n\nByron, Lord, his trial for the murder of Mr. Chaworth in a duel, ii. 292.\n\nByron, Lord, his poetical villains, ii. 259.\n\n\nCagliostro, memoir of, i. 206;\n  his adventures in London, 209;\n  _view_ of his house, 215;\n  implicated in the theft of the diamond necklace, tried and acquitted,\n      216-220;\n  again in London, imprisonment and death at Rome, 220.\n\nCagliostro, the Countess, i. 208;\n  his accomplice; her wit, beauty, and ingenuity, 213-216.\n\nCambridge University, annual sermon against witchcraft, ii. 127.\n\nCamelford, Lord, killed in a duel, ii. 297.\n\nCamhel, Sultan, his generosity to the Christians, ii. 84, 85.\n\nCampbell, Major, his duel with Capt. Boyd, and execution, ii. 293.\n\nCandlemas Eve, superstitious customs, i. 258.\n\nCant phrases. (_See_ Popular follies.)\n\nCards. (_See_ Fortune-telling.)\n\nCaricatures, referring to the Mississippi Scheme (_four engravings_),\n      i. 25, 29, 37, 40, 44.\n\nCaricatures of the South-Sea Bubble (_seven engravings_), i. 60, 61, 68,\n      70, 76, 82, 84.\n\nCasaubon, his account of Dr. Dee's intercourse with spirits, i. 155.\n\n\"Chambre Ardente,\" instituted by Louis XIV. for the trial of poisoners,\n      ii. 214, 283.\n\nChange Alley during the South-Sea Bubble (_engraving_), i. 60.\n\nCharlemagne, his edicts against witches, ii. 109.\n\nCharles I. prevents a duel, ii. 287.\n\nCharles II., his disgraceful conduct in reference to a duel, ii. 288.\n\nCharles VI. of France, his studies in Alchymy, i. 117;\n  his work on that subject, 136.\n\nCharles IX. of France, his patronage of _Nostradamus_, i. 246;\n  _portrait of_, ii. 119;\n  his belief in witchcraft, 120.\n\nChaworth, Mr., killed by Lord Byron in a duel, ii. 292.\n\nChemistry, its connexion with Alchymy; valuable discoveries of the\n      Alchymists, i. 207, 221.\n\nChildren in the Crusades; their personal bravery, ii. 45;\n  are sold to slavery, 81.\n\nChildren executed for witchcraft, ii. 163, 179, 181.\n\nChristina, Queen of Sweden, her patronage of Alchymy, i. 183, 185.\n\nClermont, Urban II. preaches the Crusade there; cathedral of (_engraving_),\n      ii. 9.\n\nCock-Lane Ghost, history of the deception; _views_ of the \"haunted house,\"\n      ii. 228, 230.\n\nCoeur, Jaques, memoir of, i. 132;\n  his house at Bourges (_engraving_), 132.\n\nCohreddin, Sultan, his generosity to the Christians, ii. 84, 85.\n\nCoke, Chief Justice, _portrait_ of, ii. 199;\n  the poisoners of Sir Thomas Overbury tried by him, 198.\n\nCollins, Joseph, contriver of mysterious noises at Woodstock Palace,\n      ii. 224.\n\nComets regarded as omens, i. 223, 225;\n  actually dangerous, 228.\n\nConrad, Emperor of Germany, joins the Crusades, ii. 56;\n  reaches Jerusalem, 60;\n  returns to Europe, 62.\n\nConstance, _view_ of the town gate, ii. 116;\n  witches executed there, 117, 160.\n\nConstantinople during the Crusades, ii. 17, 23-26, 56, 77-80;\n  _view_ of, 78.\n\nContumacy (refusing to plead to a criminal charge); its severe punishment,\n      ii. 199.\n\nCornhill at the time of the South-Sea Bubble (_engraving_), i. 51.\n\nCosmopolite, the, an anonymous alchymist, memoir of, i. 163.\n\nCowley's poetical description of the tulip, i. 86;\n  his lines on relics of great men, ii. 308.\n\nCraggs, Mr. Secretary, _portrait_ of, i. 64;\n  his participation in the South-Sea Bubble, 64, 71, 73, 77, 78;\n  his death, 80.\n\nCraggs, Mr., father of the above, his participation in the fraud; his\n      death, i. 80.\n\nCriminals, anxiety to possess relics of their crimes, ii. 306.\n      (_See_ Thieves.)\n\nCromwell, Sir Samuel, his persecution of \"The Witches of Warbois,\" ii. 126.\n\nCross, trial or ordeal of the, ii. 264.\n\nCross, the true. (_See_ Relics.)\n\nCRUSADES, The, ii. 1-100;\n  differently represented in history and in romance; pilgrimages before\n      the Crusades, ii. 2;\n  encouraged by Haron al Reschid; pilgrims taxed by the Fatemite caliphs;\n      increase of pilgrimages in anticipation of the millenium, 3;\n  oppressions of the Turks; consequent indignation of the pilgrims, 4;\n  Peter the Hermit espouses their cause; state of the public mind in\n      Europe, 5;\n  motives leading to the Crusades, 6;\n  Peter the Hermit stimulates the Pope; his personal appearance, 7;\n  council at Placentia, 8;\n  the Pope preaches the Crusade at Clermont, 9;\n  enthusiasm of the people, 10;\n  increased by signs and portents, 11;\n  zeal of the women, 12;\n  crowds of Crusaders, 13;\n  \"The truce of God\" proclaimed; dissipation of the Crusaders, 14;\n  popular leaders; Walter the Penniless, and Gottschalk, 15;\n  conflicts with the Hungarians, 15, 16;\n  Peter the Hermit defeated; arrives at Constantinople, 17;\n  the Emperor Alexius; dissensions and reverses of the first Crusaders, 18;\n  Peter the Hermit assisted by Alexius, 19;\n  fresh hordes from Germany and France; their cruelty to the Jews, 20;\n  defeated in Hungary; fresh leaders; Godfrey of Bouillon, Hugh count of\n      Vermandois, Robert duke of Normandy, Robert count of Flanders and\n      Bohemund, 21;\n  the immense number of their forces; Hugh of Vermandois imprisoned, 23;\n  his release obtained by Godfrey of Bouillon, 24;\n  insolence of Count Robert of Paris; weakness of Alexius, 25;\n  the siege of Nice, 26;\n  barbarity of the Crusaders and Musselmen; anecdote of Godfrey of\n      Bouillon, 27;\n  Nice surrenders to Alexius; battle of Doryloeum, 28;\n  improvidence and sufferings of the Crusaders, 29, 30;\n  the siege of Antioch, 29, 31;\n  Crusaders reduced to famine, 30;\n  Antioch taken by treachery in the garrison (_engraving_), 32;\n  the city invested by the Turks, 34;\n  increasing famine and desertion, 35;\n  Peter Barthelemy, his pretended vision, and discovery of the \"Holy Lance\"\n      (_engraving_), 35-37, 40;\n  revival of enthusiasm, 38;\n  battle of Antioch, and defeat of the Turks, 38;\n  dissensions, 40;\n  fate of Peter Barthelemy, 41;\n  Marah taken by storm, 42;\n  shrine of the nativity at Bethlehem, (_engraving_), 43;\n  first sight of Jerusalem (_engraving_), 44;\n  the city besieged and taken, 45;\n  Peter the Hermit's fame revives, 46;\n  Jerusalem under its Christian kings, 48;\n  Godfrey of Bouillon succeeded by Baldwin; continual conflicts with the\n      Saracens; Edessa taken by them, 50.\n\n  _Second Crusade_:--Society in Europe at its commencement, 52;\n    St. Bernard's preaching; Louis VII. joins the Crusaders, 53-55;\n    receives the cross at Vezelai (_engraving_), 54;\n    is joined by Conrad emperor of Germany and a large army, 56;\n    their reception by Manuel Comnenus, 57;\n    losses of the German army, 58;\n    progress to Nice, and thence to Jerusalem, 60;\n    jealousies of the leaders; siege of Damascus, 61;\n    further dissensions; the siege abandoned, 62.\n\n  _Third Crusade_:--Progress of chivalry, 62;\n    successes of Saladin, 63;\n    Barbarossa defeats the Saracens, 64;\n    Crusade joined by Henry II. and Philip Augustus, 64;\n    they meet at Gisors (_engraving_), 65;\n    the Crusade unpopular, 66;\n    delayed by war between France and England, death of Henry II.; Richard\n      and Philip proceed to Palestine, 67;\n    Richard attacks the Sicilians, 68;\n    arrives at Acre, 69;\n    siege and surrender of the city, 71;\n    dissensions, Philip returns to France, Saladin defeated at Azotus, 72;\n    Crusaders reach Bethlehem (_engraving_), retreat agreed on, 73;\n    Jaffa attacked by Saladin and rescued by Richard, peace concluded,\n      Richard's imprisonment and ransom, 74.\n\n  _Fourth Crusade_, undertaken by the Germans; its failure, 75.\n\n  _Fifth Crusade_:--Foulque, Bishop of Neuilly, enlists the chivalry of\n      France; assisted by the Venetians; siege of Zara, 76;\n    Crusaders expel Alexius III. from Constantinople, 77;\n    Alexius IV. deposed, 78;\n    Murzuphlis defeated by the Crusaders and Venetians, 79;\n    Baldwin count of Flanders, elected emperor; Pilgrimages to Jerusalem;\n      children undertaking the Crusade are betrayed to slavery, 80.\n\n  _Sixth Crusade_, prompted by the Pope, 81;\n    undertaken by the King of Hungary; pursued in Egypt; Damietta taken, 82;\n    Cardinal Pelagius and John of Brienne, 83;\n    dissensions and reverses; Damietta abandoned, 84.\n\n  _Seventh Crusade_:--Undertaken by Frederick II. of Germany, 84;\n    intrigues against him; he is excommunicated, 85;\n    crowns himself King of Jerusalem, 86;\n    supported by the Templars and Hospitallers (_engraving_), 86;\n    returns to Germany, 87.\n\n  _Eighth Crusade_, commenced in France, 87:\n    battle of Gaza; Richard earl of Cornwall; truce agreed on; the\n      Korasmins take Jerusalem, 88;\n    they subdue the Templars, but are extirpated by the Syrian sultans, 90.\n\n  _Ninth Crusade_, began by Louis IX., 90;\n    joined by William Longsword (_engraving_), 91;\n    the Crusade unpopular in England, 91-97;\n    Damietta taken, 93;\n    battle of Massoura; Louis taken prisoner by the Saracens; his ransom\n      and return, 94;\n    excitement in France, 95.\n\n  _Tenth Crusade_, by Louis IX. and Prince Edward of England, 95;\n    Louis dies at Carthage, 96;\n    Edward arrives at Acre, 97;\n    defeats the Turks at Nazereth; is treacherously wounded; the legend of\n      Queen Eleanor, 98;\n    her tomb at Westminster (_engraving_); a truce concluded; Edward\n      returns to England; subsequent fate of the Holy Land, 99;\n    civilising influence of the Crusades, 100.\n\nCurrency in France, the Mississippi scheme, i. 4.\n\n\nD'Aguesseau, Chancellor of France, his opposition to the Mississippi\n      scheme, i. 11;\n  _portrait_ of; his financial measures, 33.\n\nDamascus, besieged by the Crusaders (_engraving_), ii. 61.\n\nDamietta besieged by the Crusaders, ii. 83, 93.\n\nDances of witches and toads, ii. 108, 109.\n\nD'Ancre, the Mar\u00e9chale, executed for witchcraft, ii. 166.\n\nDandolo, Doge of Venice, his encouragement of the Crusaders, ii. 76.\n\nD'Apone, Pietro, his studies in alchymy; his command of money; charged\n      with heresy, is tortured, and dies in prison, i. 104;\n  _portrait_ of, ii. 140.\n\nD'Argenson, French minister of finance, a supporter of the Mississippi\n      scheme, i. 11, 42;\n  _portrait_ of, 42.\n\nDead, the. (_See_ Raising the Dead.)\n\nDe Bouteville, a famous duellist, _temp._ Louis XIII., ii. 280;\n  beheaded by the justice of Richelieu, 281.\n\nDee, Dr., memoir and _portrait_ of, i. 152;\n  his \"shew-stone\" in the British Museum (_engraving_), 154.\n\nDe Jarnac and La Chataigneraie, their famous duel, ii. 273.\n\nDeleuze, M., his absurd theories on animal magnetism, i. 291.\n\nDelisle, Alain, an alchymist, i. 102.\n\nDelisle, Jean, the alchymist, memoir of, i. 189;\n  his success in transmuting metals, attested by the Bishop of Senes, 193;\n  his imprisonment and death, 197.\n\nDelrio, his persecution of witches, ii. 159.\n\nDe Meung, Jean, author of the _Roman de la Rose_, his study of alchymy,\n      his libel on the fair sex, i. 112.\n\nDemons, popular belief in, ii. 105;\n  their powers and propensities, 106, 107;\n  their meetings or \"Sabbaths,\" 107.\n  (_See_ Witchcraft and the Alchymists.)\n\nDe Nogent, his description of Peter the Hermit, ii. 7;\n  of the enthusiasm of the first Crusaders, 12, 23.\n\nDe Rays, Mar\u00e9chale, the alchymist, memoir of, i. 125.\n\nDe Rohan, Cardinal, his patronage of Cagliostro, i. 213-215;\n  his connexion with Marie Antoinette and the diamond necklace, 216-220.\n\nD'Eslon, a pupil of Mesmer, i. 276, 280.\n\nDesmarets, Minister of France, his belief in alchymy, i. 192.\n\nDevil, the, old popular notions of, ii. 103;\n  various forms assumed by him, 106, 107;\n  presided at the witches' \"Sabbath,\" 108;\n  his appearance to De Rays and Agrippa, i. 129, 142.\n\nDe Villeneuve, Arnold, his skill as a physician, astrologer and alchymist\n      (with _portrait_), i. 103.\n\nD'Horn, Count, murders a broker, and steals his Mississippi bonds\n      (_engraving_), i. 21;\n  efforts to save his life, inflexibility of the Regent, his execution,\n      22, 23.\n\nDiamond, famous, purchased by the Regent Orleans, i. 27.\n\nDiamond Necklace of Marie Antoinette, history of the theft, i. 206-220.\n\nDiamonds worn by the Count St. Germain, i. 203;\n  his power of removing flaws in, 204.\n\nDigby, Sir Kenelm, a believer in the virtues of \"weapon-salve,\" i. 265.\n\nDiseases cured by imagination, i. 262, 272;\n  pretended influence of magnetism, 262.\n  (_See_ the MAGNETISERS.)\n\nDivination, its popularity; by cards, the tea-cup, the palm of the hand,\n      the rod, and other modes, i. 251.\n\n\"Domdaniel,\" or Witches' Sabbath. (_See_  Witchcraft.)\n\nDoryl\u00e6um, battle of, ii. 28.\n\nDowston, John, an English alchymist, i. 136.\n\nDramas on the adventures of thieves; their popularity and evil influence,\n      ii. 253, 257-260.\n\nDreams, interpretation of, i. 253.\n\nDreams on particular nights, i. 258.\n\nDream-books, their extensive sale, i. 254.\n\nDu Pompadour, Madame, and the Count de St. Germain, i. 201.\n\nDupotet, M., his account of Mesmer's experiments, i. 279, 285.\n\nDrummer of Tedworth. (_See_ Haunted Houses.)\n\nDu Barri, Vicomte, killed in a duel at Bath, ii. 293.\n\nDUELS AND ORDEALS, ii. 261-301;\n  the ordeal by combat, or trial by battle, its natural origin; authorised\n      by law, 262;\n  discouraged by the clergy, 263;\n  the oath upon the Evangelists, 264;\n  judgment by the cross, 264;\n  fire-ordeal, 265;\n  ordeals used by modern Hindoos, 265;\n  water ordeal, 265;\n  the _corsned_, or bread and cheese ordeal, 266;\n  ordeals superseded by judicial combats, 267;\n  duels of Ingelgerius and Gontran (_engraving_), 269;\n  De Montfort and the Earl of Essex, 270;\n  Du Guesclin and Troussel (_engraving_), 261, 271;\n  Carrouges and Legris, 272;\n  La Chataigneraie and De Jarnac, 273;\n  L'Isle-Marivaut and Marolles, 276;\n  the Dukes de Beaufort and de Nemours, 282;\n  Count de Bussy and Bruc, 282;\n  frivolous causes of duels, 270, 271, 276, 282, 292, 296;\n  their prevalence in France, 276, 277, 279, 280, 282;\n  the custom opposed by Sully and Henry IV.; council at Fontainebleau\n      (_engraving_), and royal edict, 277-279;\n  efforts of Richelieu to suppress duelling, 280;\n  De Bouteville, a famous duellist, beheaded by the justice of Richelieu;\n      opinion of Addison on duelling, 281;\n  duels in Germany, 282;\n  severe edict by Louis XIV., 283;\n  singular laws of Malta, 284;\n  judicial combat in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; Lord Bacon opposes\n      duelling, 285;\n  Lord Sanquir's duel with Turner; his execution for murder; combat between\n      Lord Reay and David Ramsay prevented by Charles I., 287;\n  Orders of the Commonwealth and Charles II. against the practice; Duke of\n      Buckingham's duel with Earl Shrewsbury; disgraceful conduct of\n      Charles II., 288;\n  practice of seconds in duels fighting as well as principals, 280, 288;\n  arguments of Addison, Steele, and Swift, 288;\n  duels in England; Sir C. Deering and Mr. Thornhill; Duke of Marlborough\n      and Earl Pawlet; Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun; trial of General\n      Macartney, 289-292;\n  Wilson killed by John Law, i. 3;\n  Mr. Chaworth killed by Lord Byron, ii. 292;\n  Vicomte Du Barri by Count Rice, the Duke of York and Colonel Lennox, 293;\n  Irish duels, 294;\n  Major Campbell executed for the death of Captain Boyd, 296;\n  Macnamara and Montgomery; duels of German students, 297;\n  Best and Lord Camelford, 297;\n  Frederick the Great and Joseph II. of Austria opposed to duelling, 298;\n  other European edicts; laws of America, 299;\n  general reflections, 300.\n\nDu Guesclin and Troussel, their duel (_engraving,_) ii. 261, 271.\n\nDu Fresnoy's history of the Hermetic Philosophy, i. 95, 96.\n\nDuncan, Gellie, and her accomplices tried for witchcraft; their absurd\n      confessions, ii. 129-135.\n\nDuval, Claude, popular admiration of; Butler's ode to his memory, ii. 255.\n\n\nEarthquakes prophesied in London, i. 224, 230.\n\nEdessa taken by the Crusaders, ii. 30;\n  retaken by the Saracens, 50.\n\nEdward I., his great seal (_engraving_), ii. 97.\n\nEdward II. joins the last Crusade, ii. 95;\n  arrives at Acre, 97;\n  treacherously wounded, 98;\n  his patronage of Raymond Lulli the alchymist, i. 108;\n  its supposed motive, 135.\n\nEdward IV., his encouragement of alchymy, i. 135.\n\nEdward VI., his patronage of Dr. Dee, i. 152.\n\nEgypt, the Crusaders in, ii. 83, 84, 90, 92, 93.\n\nElias claimed as a Rosicrucian, i. 175.\n\nElixir Vit\u00e6. (_See_ Alchymists.)\n\nEleanor, Queen of Edward II., her tomb at Westminster (_engraving_),\n      ii. 99.\n\nElizabeth, Queen, her patronage of Dr. Dee, i. 153, 162.\n\nElwes, Sir Jervis, his participation in the poisoning of Sir Thomas\n      Overbury, his execution, ii. 194, 197, 199.\n\nEnd of the world prophesied in the year 999, i. 222;\n  by Whiston in 1736, 223.\n\nEpigrams on John Law and the Mississippi Scheme, i. 24, 37.\n\nEssex, Countess of, afterwards Countess of Somerset. (_See_ Somerset.)\n\nExecutions for witchcraft. (_See_ Witchcraft.)\n\nEzekiel claimed as a Rosicrucian, i. 175.\n\n\nFalling stars regarded as omens, i. 223;\n  falling stars and other meteors before the Crusades, ii. 11.\n\nFaria, the Abb\u00e9, the magnetiser, i. 294.\n\nFashion of short and long hair, beards, and moustaches, i. 296-303.\n\nFemale Crusaders. (_See_ Women.)\n\nFeudalism at the commencement of the Crusades, ii. 5.\n\nFian, Dr., tortured for witchcraft, ii. 131.\n\nFinance in France; the Mississippi scheme, i. 2, 6.\n\nFire-ordeal. (_See_ Duels and Ordeals.)\n\nFlamel, Nicholas, the alchymist, memoir of i. 113.\n\nFlorimond on the prevalence of witchcraft, ii. 115.\n\nFlowers, fruits, and trees, their significance in dreams, i. 254.\n\nFludd, Robert, the father of the English Rosicrucians, memoir of, i. 173;\n  introduces \"weapon-salve\" in England, 265.\n\nFollies of great cities; cant, or slang phrases, ii. 239-248.\n\nFontainebleau, council held by Henry IV. and edict against duelling\n      (_engraving_), ii. 278.\n\nFood, its necessity denied by the Rosicrucians, i. 176.\n\nForman, Dr., his participation in the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury,\n      ii. 194.\n\nFORTUNE-TELLING, i. 242-258;\n  presumption of man; his anxiety to penetrate futurity, 242.\n  _Judicial astrologers_: Lilly, 243.\n  Astrology in France, Louis XI., Catherine de Medicis, Nostradamus\n      (_portrait_), 246;\n  the Medici family, 247;\n  Antiochus Tibertus, 247;\n  horoscope of Louis XIV. 249;\n  Kepler's excuse for astrology, 249.\n  _Necromancy_, _Geomancy_, _Augury_, _Divination_, 250;\n  various kinds of divination; cards, the palm, the rod, &c., 251;\n  interpretation of dreams, 253.\n\nFoulque, Bishop of Neuilly, promoter of the fifth Crusade, ii. 76.\n\nFrance, its finances in the eighteenth century; the Mississippi scheme,\n      i. 5, 6;\n  the Crusade preached there, ii. 8;\n  the cathedral of Clermont (_engraving_), ii. 9;\n  executions for witchcraft, ii. 119, 122, 174;\n  existing belief in witchcraft there, ii. 189;\n  the slow poisoners in, ii. 208;\n  immense rage for duelling in France, 276, 277, 279, 280;\n  alchymy in France. (_See_ the Alchymists, Paris, Tours, &c.)\n\nFranklin, an apothecary, his participation in the murder of Sir Thomas\n      Overbury, ii. 195, 198, 199.\n\nFrederick the Great, his opposition to duelling, ii. 298.\n\nFrederick II., Emperor of Germany, undertakes the Crusade, ii. 84;\n  crowns himself king at Jerusalem, 86;\n  returns to Germany, 87.\n\nFrederick III. of Denmark, his patronage of alchymy, i. 183.\n\n\nGambling speculations. (_See_ Mississippi Scheme and South-Sea Bubble.)\n\nGarinet, Jules, his _Histoire de la Magie en France_, ii. 105, 109, 122,\n      189, 221.\n\nGateway of Merchant-Tailors' Hall, with South-Sea speculators\n      (_engraving_), i. 62.\n\nGay, the poet, his shares in the South-Sea Company, i. 65.\n\nGeber, the alchymist, memoir of, i. 96;\n  his scientific discoveries; English translation of his work, 97.\n\nGeomancy described, i. 250.\n\nGeoffrey, M., his exposure of the tricks of alchymists, i. 188.\n\nGeorge I., his speeches and proclamation on the South-Sea Bubble,\n      i. 47-55, 69;\n  his grief on the death of the Earl of Stanhope, i. 75.\n\nGeorge III. refuses to pardon Major Campbell for the death of Capt.\n  Boyd in a duel, ii. 293.\n\nGermany, executions for witchcraft, ii. 118;\n  duelling in, 282, 298;\n  alchymy in, encouraged by the emperors, i. 119, 135, 158;\n  the Rosicrucians in, 178;\n  animal magnetism in, 290.\n\nGesner, Conrad, the first tulip cultivator, _portrait_ of, i. 85.\n\nGhosts. (_See_ Haunted Houses.)\n\nGibbon, Edward, grandfather of the historian, his participation in the\n      South-Sea fraud, i. 73, 77;\n  heavily fined, 81;\n  his grandson's account of the proceedings, 81.\n\nGisors, meeting there of Henry II. and Philip Augustus (_engraving_),\n      ii. 65.\n\nGlanvill, Rev. J., his work on witchcraft, ii. 148, 224.\n\nGlauber, an alchymist, i. 187.\n\nGlen, Lincolnshire, belief in witches there, ii. 185.\n\nGnomes. (_See_ the Rosicrucians.)\n\nGodfrey of Bouillon, his achievements in Palestine (_engraving_),\n      ii. 21-24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 38, 39, 42, 46, 48.\n\nGold, sought by the Alchymists. (_See_ Alchymists.)\n\nGottschalk, a leader of the Crusaders, ii. 15, 20.\n\nGowdie, Isabel, her confession of witchcraft, ii. 136.\n\nGrafton's Chronicle, account of Peter of Pontefract, i. 235.\n\nGreatraks, Valentine, his wonderful cures, i. 269-272.\n\nGreat Seal of Edward I. (_engraving_), ii. 97.\n\nGregorian chant, its merit tested by the ordeal of fire, ii. 266.\n\nGuise, the Duke of, his attempt to poison Gennaro Annese, ii. 202.\n\nGuizot, M., his remarks on the Crusades, ii. 51.\n\nGustavus Adolphus an alchymist, i. 187.\n\nGuy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, besieges Acre, ii. 69.\n\n\nHair, its length influenced by religious and political prejudices;\n      legislative enactments, i. 296;\n  short hair of the Normans (_engraving_), i. 297, 303;\n  St. Wulstan's antipathy to long hair, 297;\n  Serlo cuts off the hair of Henry I. (_engraving_), 296, 298;\n  Louis VII. and his queen, 299;\n  William \"Longbeard,\" 300;\n  Roundheads and Cavaliers, 301;\n  Peter the Great taxes beards, 301.\n\nHale, Sir Matthew, _portrait_ of, ii. 148;\n  his belief in witchcraft, 157.\n\nHamilton, Duke of, his duel with Lord Mohun, ii. 290.\n\nHarcouet, his receipt for the Elixir Vit\u00e6, i. 103.\n\nHarley, Earl of Oxford, the originator of the South-Sea Company,\n      _portrait_ of, i. 46.\n\nHaroun al Reschid, the Caliph, his encouragement of Christian pilgrims,\n      ii. 3.\n\nHastings, recent belief in witchcraft there, ii. 187.\n\nHatton, Lady, her reputation for witchcraft; her house in Hatton Garden,\n      (_engraving_), ii. 186.\n\n\"HAUNTED HOUSES,\" popular belief in, ii. 217-238;\n  a house at Aix la Chapelle, cause of the noises discovered, ii. 218;\n  alarm caused by a rat, 219;\n  the monks of St. Bruno, their trick to obtain the haunted palace of\n      Vauvert, 220;\n  houses at Tours and Bordeaux, 221;\n  the story of Woodstock Palace, 222;\n  Mr. Mompesson's house at Tedworth, 224;\n  the \"Cock Lane Ghost,\" history of the deception; believed in by the\n      learned (_engravings_), 228;\n  the Stockwell ghost, 234;\n  Baldarroch farm-house, 235;\n  effect of education and civilisation, 238.\n\nHawkins, Mr., _engravings_ from his Collection of Caricatures, i. 29, 44.\n\nHaygarth, Dr., his exposure of Perkins's \"Metallic Tractors,\" i. 289.\n\nHell, Father, his magnetic cures; his connexion with Mesmer, i. 283.\n\nHenry I., his hair cut short by Serlo, his chaplain (_engraving_),\n      i. 262, 264.\n\nHenry II. joins the third crusade (_engraving_), ii. 64.\n\nHenry VI. issues patents to encourage alchymy, i. 118, 135.\n\nHenry VIII., his invitation to Cornelius Agrippa, i. 140.\n\nHenry, Prince, son of James I. suspected to have been poisoned, ii. 200.\n\nHenry II. of France, his patronage of Nostradamus, i. 246;\n  said to have prohibited duelling, ii. 273, 275;\n  his death in the lists, 276.\n\nHenry IV. of France, _portrait_ of, ii. 277;\n  his opposition to duelling, 277, 279.\n\nHermes Trismegistus, the founder of alchymy, i. 95.\n\nHermetic Philosophy. (_See_ the Alchymists.)\n\nHeydon, John, an English Rosicrucian, i. 175.\n\nHeywood, his life and prophecies of Merlin, i. 233.\n\nHighwaymen. (_See_ Thieves.)\n\nHogarth's caricature of the South-Sea Bubble (_engraving_), i. 82.\n\nHolland, the tulip mania. (_See_ Tulip Mania.)\n\nHolloway's lectures on animal magnetism, i. 287.\n\nHolt, Chief Justice, his opposition to the belief in witchcraft, ii. 152.\n\n\"Holy Lance,\" the, its pretended discovery (_engraving_), ii. 37.\n\nHopkins, Matthew, the \"witch-finder general,\" his cruelty and retributive\n      fate, (_engraving_), ii. 143-146.\n\nHoroscope of Louis XIV., i. 249.\n\nHugh count of Vermandois imprisoned at Constantinople, ii. 21, 23;\n  at the siege of Nice, 26;\n  quits the Crusaders, 42.\n\nHuman remains ingredients in charms and nostrums, i. 272.\n\nHungary plundered by the Crusaders, ii. 15, 16, 20, 21.\n\nHutchinson, Dr., his work on witchcraft, ii. 123.\n\n\nImps in the service of witches. (_See_ Demons and Witchcraft.)\n\nIngelgerius count of Anjou, his duel with Gontran (_engraving_), ii. 269.\n\nInnocent III. and IV., promoters of the Crusades, ii. 75, 80, 81.\n\nInnocent VIII., his bull against witchcraft, ii. 117.\n\nInnspruck, view of (_engraving_), i. 181.\n\nInvisibility pretended by the Rosicrucians, i. 169, 178.\n\nIsaac Comnenus attacked by Richard I., ii. 69.\n\nIsaac of Holland, an alchymist, i. 136.\n\nIsnik, the Crusaders defeated at (with _view_ of Isnik), ii. 19.\n\nItaly, slow poisoning in (_see_ Poisoning);\n  the banditti of, ii. 256.\n\n\nJaques Coeur the alchymist, memoir of, i. 132.\n\nJaffa besieged by Saladin, and saved by Richard I., ii. 74;\n  _view_ of, ii. 89;\n  defended by the Templars against the Korasmins, ii. 90.\n\nJames I., his belief in the virtue of \"weapon salve,\" i. 266;\n  _portrait_ of, ii. 134;\n  charges Gellie Duncan and others with witchcraft, 129;\n  their trial, confessions and execution, 129-135;\n  his work on \"Demonology,\" 139;\n  his supposed secret vices; his favoritism to the Earl of Somerset, the\n      poisoner of Sir Thomas Overbury; himself thought to have died by\n      poison, 193-202;\n  his severity against duelling, 287.\n\nJean De Meung. (_See_ De Meung.)\n\nJerusalem (and _see_ Crusades), _engravings_, ii. 44, 47, 49;\n  first pilgrims to, ii. 2;\n  besieged and taken by the Crusaders, 45;\n  its state under the Christian kings, 48, 49;\n  council of the second Crusade there, 60;\n  captured by Saladin, 63.\n\nJewell, Bishop, his exclamations against witchcraft, ii. 124.\n\nJews plundered and murdered by the Crusaders, ii. 20.\n\nJoan of Arc, her execution (_engraving_), ii. 114.\n\nJohn XXII. (Pope), his study of Alchymy, i. 111.\n\nJohnson, Dr., on the \"Beggar's Opera,\" ii. 258.\n\nJoseph II. of Austria, his opposition to duelling, ii. 298.\n\nJudicial astrology. (_See_ Astrology.)\n\nJudicial combats. (_See_ Duels.)\n\n\nKarloman, King of Hungary, his contest with the Crusaders, ii. 20.\n\nKelly, Edward, the Alchymist, memoir of, i. 152.\n\nKendal, Duchess of, her participation in the South-Sea fraud, i. 76, 77.\n\nKent, Mr., accused of murder by the \"Cock Lane Ghost,\" ii. 229.\n\nKepler, his excuse for astrology, i. 250.\n\nKerbogha, leader of the Turks defeated at Antioch, ii. 34, 38, 39.\n\nKerr, Robert, afterwards Earl of Somerset. (_See_ Somerset.)\n\nKircher abandons his belief in alchymy, i. 185, 183;\n  his belief in magnetism as a remedy for disease, 264.\n\nKnight, ----, Treasurer of the South-Sea Company, his apprehension and\n      escape, i. 76.\n\nKnox, John, _portrait_ of; accused of witchcraft, ii. 128.\n\nKoffstky, a Polish alchymist, i. 136.\n\n\nLabourt, France, 200 witches executed, ii. 166.\n\nLa Chataigneraie and De Jarnac, their famous duel, ii. 273.\n\nLa Chauss\u00e9e, the accomplice of Madame de Brinvilliers, his execution,\n      ii. 212.\n\nLady-day, superstitions on, i. 258.\n\nLamb, Dr., the poisoner, attacked and killed in the streets (_engraving_),\n      ii. 202.\n\n\"Lancashire witches\" executed, ii. 141.\n\nLaski, Count Albert, his reception by Queen Elizabeth, his studies in\n      alchymy, i. 155;\n  is victimised by Dee and Kelly, 157.\n\nLavigoreux and Lavoisin, the French poisoners executed, ii. 215.\n\nLaw, J., projector of the Mississippi scheme, his romantic history, i. 1;\n  his house in the Rue de Quincampoix, Paris (_engraving_), i. 13.\n\nLaw, Wm., his participation in the Mississippi scheme, i. 9, 42.\n\nLe Blanc, the Abb\u00e9, on the popularity of Great Thieves, ii. 251.\n\nLennox, Col., his duel with the Duke of York, ii. 293.\n\nLi\u00e8ge, Madame de Brinvilliers arrested there, ii. 213.\n\nLille, singular charges of witchcraft at, ii. 169.\n\nLilly, the astrologer, account of, i. 243.\n\nLipsius, his passion for tulips, i. 86.\n\nLondon, the plague of 1665, i. 228;\n  inundation prophesied in 1524, i. 228;\n  the Great Fire, 230.\n  (_See_ also Cagliostro, Change Alley, Cornhill, Merchant Taylors' Hall,\n      Tower, Westminster.)\n\nLongbeard, William, cause of his name, i. 300.\n\nLongsword, William (_engraving_), joins the ninth Crusade, ii. 91.\n\nLoudun, the curate of, executed for witchcraft, ii. 168.\n\nLouis VII. cuts short his hair, and loses his queen, i. 299;\n  joins the Crusaders, ii. 53;\n  is consecrated at St. Denis, 55;\n  reaches Constantinople and Nice, 58;\n  his conflicts with the Saracens, 59;\n  arrival at Jerusalem, 60;\n  his sincerity as a Crusader, 61;\n  returns to France, 62.\n\nLouis IX. undertakes the ninth Crusade, ii. 90;\n  his valour at the battle of Massoura, 94;\n  taken prisoner, 94;\n  his ransom and return, 94;\n  his second Crusade, 95;\n  effigy of (_engraving_), 220.\n\nLouis XI., his encouragement of astrologers, i. 246.\n\nLouis XIII., prevalence of duelling in his reign, ii. 280.\n\nLouis XIV., his bigotry and extravagance, i. 5, 6;\n  remonstrated with by his Parliament on his leniency to supposed witches,\n      ii. 171;\n  _portrait_ of, 177;\n  establishes the \"chambre ardente\" for the trial of poisoners, 214, 283;\n  his horoscope, 249;\n  his severe edict against duelling, 283.\n\nLouis XV., his patronage of the Court St. Germain, i. 201, 204.\n\n\"Loup-garou\" executed in France, ii. 120.\n\nLoutherbourg, the painter, his alleged cures by animal magnetism, i. 288.\n\nLulli, Raymond, a famous alchymist, his romantic history, with _portrait_,\n      i. 105;\n  his treatment by Edward II., 135.\n\nLyons, _view_ of, ii. 160.\n\n\nMacartney, General, second to Lord Mohun, his trial for murder, ii. 292.\n\nMackenzie, Sir George, _portrait_ of, ii. 138;\n  his enlightened views on witchcraft, 137.\n\nMacnamara and Montgomery, frivolous cause of their fatal duel, ii. 297.\n\nMAGNETISERS, the, i. 262-295;\n  effect of imagination in the cure of diseases, i. 262, 272.\n  _Mineral Magnetism_: Paracelsus its first professor, 263;\n  diseases transplanted to the earth; Kircher; \"weapon-salve,\" 264;\n  controversy on its merits, 265;\n  Sir Kenelm Digby's \"powder of sympathy,\" 266;\n  other delusions, 268.\n  _Animal Magnetism_: wonderful cures by Valentine Greatraks, i. 269-272;\n  Francisco Bagnoni, Van Helmont, Gracian, Baptista Porta, &c., 272;\n  Wirdig, Maxwell, 273;\n  the convulsionaires of St. Medard, i. 273;\n  Father Hell, 274;\n  Anthony Mesmer, his history and theory, 275;\n  Mesmer, 276-283;\n  D'Eslon adopts his views, 278, 280, 281;\n  encouragement to depravity afforded by his experiments, 282, 293;\n  exposures by MM. Dupotet and Bailly, 279, 281;\n  Marquis de Puysegur, 283;\n  Chevalier de Barbarin, 286;\n  Mainauduc, Holloway, Loutherbourg, 287, 288;\n  Perkins's \"Metallic Tractors\" exposed by Dr. Haygarth, 289;\n  absurd theories of Deleuze, 291;\n  the Abb\u00e9 Faria, fallacies of the theory of, 294.\n\nMainauduc, Dr., his experiments in animal magnetism, i. 287.\n\nMalta, its singular laws on duelling, ii. 284.\n\nMansfield, Lord, trial of the \"Cock-lane Ghost\" conspirators before him,\n      ii. 234.\n\nManuel Comnenus, his treatment of the Crusaders, ii. 56, 58, 59.\n\nMarie Antoinette, history of the diamond necklace, i. 216-220.\n\nMarlborough, Duke of, his duel with Earl Pawlet, ii. 289.\n\nMassaniello, relics of his fate treasured by the populace, ii. 305.\n\nMassoura, battle of, the Saracens defeated, ii. 94.\n\nMayer, Michael, his report on the Rosicrucian doctrines, i. 168.\n\nMaxwell, William, the magnetiser, i. 273.\n\nMedicis, Catherine di, her encouragement of astrologers, i. 246.\n\nMedici family, predictions respecting them, i. 247.\n\nMerchant Taylors' Hall, _view_ of gateway, i. 62.\n\nMerlin, his pretended prophecies, i. 232;\n  his miraculous birth, 236;\n  Spenser's description of his cave, 237.\n\nMesmer, Anthony, the founder of animal magnetism, his history and theory,\n      i. 275;\n  his theory and practice, 276;\n  elegance of his house at Paris, 278;\n  infatuation of his disciples, 282.\n\nMetals, transmutation of. (_See_ Alchymists.)\n\nMeteoric phenomena, their effect in inciting to the Crusades, ii. 3, 11.\n\nMeteors regarded as omens, i. 223.\n\nMilan, plague of 1630 prophesied, i. 225;\n  fear of poisoners, Mora and others executed, 226;\n  appearance of the devil, 227.\n\nMillenium, the, universally expected at the end of the tenth century,\n      ii. 3.\n\nMISSISSIPPI SCHEME, the, its history, i. 1-44;\n  financial difficulties in France, expedients of the Regent Orleans, i. 6;\n  official peculation and corruption, 7;\n  John Law's propositions; his French cognomen, \"Lass;\" his bank\n      established, 9;\n  his notes at a premium; branch banks established; Mississippi trading\n      company established; bank made a public institution; extensive issue\n      of notes, 10;\n  opposition of the Parliament, 11;\n  the Regent uses coercion; Mississippi shares rise, 12;\n  the Company of the Indies formed; magnificent promises; immense excitement\n      and applications for shares; Law's house in the Rue de Quincampoix\n      (_engraving_), 13;\n  hunchback used as a writing-desk (_engraving_), 15;\n  enormous gains of individuals, 14, 16, 19, 20, 26;\n  Law's removal to the Place Vend\u00f4me, 14;\n  continued excitement, 15;\n  removal to the Hotel de Soissons (_engraving_), 15;\n  noble and fashionable speculators, 17;\n  ingenious schemes to obtain shares (_engraving_), 18;\n  avarice and ambition of the speculators; robberies and murders, 20;\n  a broker murdered by Count d'Horn, and robbed of shares (_engraving_), 21;\n  temporary stimulus to trade, and illusive prosperity; Law purchases\n      estates, and turns Catholic, 24;\n  his charity and modesty, 25;\n  caricatures of him, as Atlas, 25;\n  \"Lucifer's new row barge,\" 29;\n  in a car drawn by cocks, 40;\n  increase of luxury in Paris, 26;\n  the Regent purchases the great diamond, 27;\n  symptoms of distrust; coin further depreciated, 28;\n  use of specie forbidden, at Law's suggestion, 29;\n  popular hatred excited, 30;\n  fall of shares, 31;\n  conscription for the Mississippi gold mines (_engraving_), 31;\n  further issue of notes, and increased distrust and distress, 32;\n  payment stopped, and Law dismissed from the ministry, 33;\n  his danger from the populace, 33, 35, 38;\n  D'Aguesseau's measures to restore credit (_portrait_), 34;\n  run on the Bank, 34;\n  fatal accidents in the crowd, 34;\n  the Mississippi and India companies deprived of their privileges, 39;\n  Law leaves France, 40;\n  D'Argenson's dismissal and unpopularity, 42;\n  Law's subsequent history and death, 43;\n  caricatures of the scheme in its success and failure, 25, 29, 37, 40, 44.\n\nModern prophecies, i. 222-241.\n\nMohra, in Sweden, absurd charges of witchcraft, and numerous executions,\n      ii. 177.\n\nMohun, Lord, his duel with the Duke of Hamilton, ii. 290.\n\nMompesson, Mr., his \"haunted house\" at Tedworth, ii. 224.\n\nMoney Mania. (_See_ the Mississippi Scheme and South-Sea Bubble.)\n\nMontesquieu \"Esprit des Loix,\" ii. 262-267.\n\nMontgomery and Macnamara, frivolous cause of their fatal duel, ii. 297.\n\nMore, Hannah, on animal magnetism, i. 287.\n\nMormius, the alchymist, memoir of, i. 178.\n\nMortlake, Dr. Dee's house at, i. 153, 162.\n\nMoses cited by alchymists as an adept, i. 95;\n  claimed as a Rosicrucian, 175.\n\nMoustaches, fashion of wearing, i. 302.\n\nMummies, an ingredient in charms and nostrums, i. 271.\n\nMunting's history of the tulip mania, i. 87.\n\n\nNadel, Mausch, a German robber, ii. 257.\n\nNaiades. (_See_ the Rosicrucians.)\n\nNantwich, Nixon's prophecy of its fate, i. 240.\n\nNaples, arrest and execution of La Tophania, the slow poisoner, ii. 207.\n\nNapoleon's willow at St. Helena and other relics, ii. 307.\n\nNaud\u00e9, Gabriel, his exposure of the Rosicrucians, i. 173.\n\nNecromancy, its connexion with alchymy, i. 129;\n  danger of its practice, 250.\n\nNew England, women, a child, and a dog, executed as witches, ii. 180.\n\nNice besieged by the Crusaders, ii. 26.\n\nNixon, Robert, the Cheshire prophet, i. 238.\n\nNoah, the patriarch, a successful alchymist, i. 95.\n\nNoises. (_See_ Haunted Houses.)\n\nNormandy, witches in, ii. 172.\n\nNostradamus, the astrologer; his prophecies (_portrait_), i. 246.\n\n\nOath on the Evangelists and holy relics, a test of innocence, ii. 264.\n\nOdomare, a French alchymist, i. 136.\n\nOfficial peculation in France under the Regent Orleans, i. 7.\n\nOmens: winding-sheets, howling dogs, death-watch, \"coffins,\" shivering,\n      walking under ladders, upsetting salt, thirteen at table, piebald\n      horses, sneezing, dogs, cats, bees, itching; Oriental belief in\n      omens, i. 255.\n  (_See_ Comets, Falling Stars, and Meteors.)\n\nOneiro-criticism; interpreting dreams. (_See_ Dreams.)\n\nOrdeals. (_See_ Duels and Ordeals.)\n\nOrleans, Duke of. (Regent of France) _portrait_ of; his patronage of the\n      Mississippi Scheme, i. 5;\n  his financial errors, 10, 12, 33, 41;\n  enforces the execution of Count D'Horn for murder, 23;\n  his purchase of the celebrated diamond, 27;\n  his ill-treatment of Law, 33.\n\nOrleans, Duchess of, her remarks on the Mississippi scheme, i. 5, 19,\n      24, 35, 36.\n\nOrtholani, a French alchymist, i 136.\n\nOverbury, Sir Thomas, _portrait_ of, ii. 195;\n  poisoned by the Earl and Countess of Somerset and their accomplices,\n      193-201.\n\n\nPalestine. (_See_ the Crusades.)\n\nPalmistry. (_See_ Fortune-Telling.)\n\nPaper currency, introduced in France by John Law, i. 4.\n\nParacelsus, memoir and _portrait_ of, i. 142;\n  his singular doctrines, 145;\n  the first of the magnetisers, 262.\n\nParis, the Palais Royal (_engraving_), i. 12;\n  John Law's house, Rue de Quincampoix (_engraving_), 13;\n  Hotel de Soissons (_engraving_), 16;\n  incidents of the Mississippi scheme (_four engravings_), i. 15, 18,\n      21, 31;\n  the Place de Gr\u00eave (_engraving_), ii. 192;\n  the Bastile (_engraving_), ii. 209;\n  house of Nicholas Flamel, in the rue de Marivaux, i. 118;\n  the Rosicrucians in, i. 170-173;\n  Mesmer's house; his experiments, 278.\n\nParsons and his family, concoctors of the \"Cock Lane Ghost\" deception,\n      ii. 228.\n\nPaul's Cross, Dr. Lamb, the poisoner, attacked and killed there\n      (_engraving_), ii. 202.\n\nPersecution of alleged witches. (_See_ Witches.)\n\nPeter the Great taxes beards (_portrait_), i. 267.\n\nPeter the Hermit. (_See_ the Crusades.)\n\nPeter of Lombardy, an alchymist, i. 136.\n\nPeter of Pontefract, his false prophecies described by Grafton, i. 234.\n\nPetronella, the wife of Nicholas Flamel, i. 116.\n\nPhilalethes, Eugenius, a Rosicrucian, i. 175.\n\nPhilip I. excommunicated, ii. 8.\n\nPhilip Augustus joins the third crusade (_engraving_), ii. 64, 66;\n  his jealousy of Richard I., 69, 71;\n  returns to France, 72.\n\nPhilip IV., _portrait_ of, ii. 112;\n  his persecution of the Templars, ii. 113.\n\nPhilosopher's stone, searchers for the. (_See_ Alchymists.)\n\nPietro D'Apone. (_See_ D'Apone.)\n\nPigray on witchcraft in France, ii. 122.\n\nPilgrimages to Jerusalem before the Crusades, ii. 2.\n\nPilgrim's staff (_engraving_), ii. 56.\n\nPlace de Gr\u00eave (_engraving_), ii. 192;\n  Madame de Brinvilliers; La Chauss\u00e9e and others executed there for\n      poisoning, 212, 213, 215.\n\nPlague at Milan prophesied, i. 225.\n\nPlays on the adventures of thieves, their evil influence, ii. 253, 257.\n\nPOISONING, in Greece and Rome; its spread in Europe in the sixteenth and\n      seventeenth centuries; declared high treason in England, ii. 192;\n  Sir Thomas Overbury poisoned; full history of his case, with _portraits_\n      of Overbury, the Earl and Countess of Somerset, Lord Coke, and\n      Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, 193-201;\n  suspicious death of Prince Henry, son of James I., 200;\n  Buckingham said to have poisoned James I., 201;\n  fate of Dr. Lamb, the poisoner (_engraving_), 202;\n  slow poisoning in Italy, its general prevalence; employed by the Duke of\n      Guise; much used by Roman ladies to poison husbands, 203;\n  trial and execution of La Spara and others; other women punished, 204;\n  atrocious crimes of La Tophania; the nature of her poison; protected in\n      sanctuary by the clergy of Naples; seized by the viceroy, tried,\n      and executed, 206-208.\n  In France: Exili, Glaser, and Sainte Croix, the first criminals, 208;\n  Madame de Brinvilliers and Sainte Croix; their crimes and punishment,\n      208-214;\n  M. de Penautier charged with poisoning; popular mania for the crime, 214;\n  Lavoisin and Lavigoreux executed, 215;\n  charges against the Marshal de Luxembourg and the Countess of Soissons;\n      recent revival of the crime in England, 216.\n\nPope, his sketch of Sir John Blunt, Chairman of the South-Sea Company,\n      i. 74.\n\nPOPULAR FOLLIES OF GREAT CITIES, ii. 239-248.\n  Cant or slang phrases:\n    \"Quoz,\" 240;\n    \"What a shocking bad hat,\" 240;\n    \"Hookey Walker,\" 241;\n    \"There he goes with his eye out,\" 242;\n    \"Has your mother sold her mangle?\" 242;\n    \"Flare up,\" 242;\n    \"Does your mother know you're out?\" 244;\n    \"Who are you?\" 244.\n  Songs:\n    \"Cherry ripe,\" 246;\n    \"The Sea,\" 247;\n    \"Jim Crow,\" 247.\n\nPORTRAITS.--John Law, i. 1;\n  the Regent Orleans, 5;\n  D'Aguesseau, 34;\n  D'Argenson, 42;\n  Earl of Sunderland, 80;\n  Harley Earl of Oxford, 46;\n  Sir Robert Walpole, 49;\n  Mr. Secretary Craggs, 64;\n  Conrad Gesner, the first tulip cultivator, 85;\n  Albertus Magnus, 100;\n  Arnold de Villeneuve, 103;\n  Raymond Lulli, 105;\n  Cornelius Agrippa, 138;\n  Panacelsus, 142;\n  Dr. Dee, 152;\n  Philip IV., ii. 112;\n  Charles IX., 119;\n  John Knox, 128;\n  James I., 134;\n  Sir George Mackenzie, 138;\n  Pietro d'Apone, 140;\n  Sir Matthew Hale, 148;\n  Sir Thomas Brown, 151;\n  Louis XIV., 177;\n  Henry Andrews, the original of \"Francis Moore,\" i. 244;\n  Nostradamus, 246;\n  Peter the Great, 267;\n  Sir Thomas Overbury, ii. 195;\n  Villiers duke of Buckingham, 198;\n  Lord Chief Justice Coke, 199;\n  Earl and Countess of Somerset, 200, 201;\n  Henry IV. of France, 277;\n  Lord Bacon, 286.\n\nPolitical prejudices and enactments against long hair and beards,\n      i. 296-303.\n\nPoetry and romance, their obligations to the Rosicrucians, i. 179.\n\nPowell, Chief Justice, his opposition to the belief in witchcraft, ii. 152.\n\nPROPHECIES: Plague of Milan, i. 225;\n  plague of London, 1665, inundation of London, 1528, 228;\n  great fire, 1666; earthquake, 1842, 230;\n  Mother Shipton, with _view_ of her cottage, 232, 241;\n  Merlin, 232-238;\n  Peter of Pontefract, 234;\n  Robert Nixon the Cheshire prophet, 238;\n  almanac-makers, 240 (_see_ Fortune-Telling);\n  end of the world, 222, 224;\n  earthquakes, 224.\n  (_See_ Modern Prophecies, the Crusades, Peter Barthelemy, &c.)\n\nPuysegur, the Marquis de, his discovery of clairvoyance; his magnetic elm,\n      i. 283-286.\n\n\nRaising the dead and absent, a power ascribed to Cornelius Agrippa, i. 142;\n  and Cagliostro, 217.\n\nRaleigh, Sir Walter, an inveterate duellist, abandons the custom, ii. 297.\n\nRaymond of Toulouse, a leader of the first crusade, ii. 21, 26, 29, 31,\n      34, 45, 46;\n  his supposed collusion with Peter Barthelemy, 35, 37, 41;\n  at the siege of Jerusalem, 46.\n\nRaymond Lulli. (_See_ Lulli.)\n\nReinaldo, a leader of the first crusade, ii. 18.\n\nRELICS, brought by the early pilgrims from Palestine, ii. 2;\n  swearing on, a test of innocence, 264;\n  fragments of the true cross; bones of saints; tears of the Saviour; tears\n      and milk of the Virgin; Santa Scala at Rome; relics of Longbeard,\n      Massaniello, La Brinvilliers, Dr. Dodd, Fauntleroy, Thurtell, Corder,\n      Greenacre, Thom, Shakspere, Napoleon, Waterloo, 302-308.\n\nReligious prejudices and ordinances against long hair and beards,\n      i. 296-303.\n\nRhodes, Richard I. at (_engraving_), ii. 69.\n\nRice, Count, tried for killing Du Barri in a duel, ii. 293.\n\nRichard I. sets out for Palestine, ii. 67;\n  attacks the Sicilians, 68;\n  arrives at Rhodes (_engraving_), 69;\n  his queen Berengaria (_engraving_), 70;\n  captures Acre, 71;\n  reaches Bethlehem (_engraving_), 73;\n  his concern on being obliged to retreat, 74;\n  his reputation in Palestine, 74.\n\nRichelieu an alchymist, i. 198;\n  his opposition to duelling, ii. 279, 280.\n\nRipley, George, the alchymist, memoir of, i. 118.\n\nRobert duke of Normandy, a leader of the Crusades, ii. 21, 31, 39, 46.\n\nRobert count of Flanders, a leader of the first Crusade, ii. 21, 30, 31.\n\nRobert of Paris (Count), his insolence to the Emperor Alexius, ii. 25;\n  killed at the battle of Doryl\u00e6um, 29.\n\nRobin Hood, popular admiration of, ii. 250.\n\nRobinson, Ann, the Stockwell \"Ghost,\" ii. 234.\n\nRochester, Viscount, afterwards Earl of Somerset. (_See_ Somerset.)\n\nRoger Bacon. (_See_ Bacon.)\n\nRomance and poetry, their obligations to the Rosicrucians, i. 179.\n\nRosenberg (Count), a patron of Dr. Dee, i. 159.\n\nRosicrucians, the, their romantic doctrines; history of their progress,\n      i. 167;\n  their poetical doctrines, sylphs, naiades, gnomes, and salamanders,\n      172, 179.\n\nRouen, _view_ in, ii. 171;\n  the Parliament remonstrate with Louis XIV. on his leniency to suspected\n      witches, 172.\n\nRudolph (I. and II.), Emperors, their encouragement of alchymy,\n      i. 158, 165.\n\nRupecissa, John de, a French alchymist, i. 136.\n\nRussia, tax on beards imposed by Peter the Great, i. 301.\n\n\n\"Sabbaths,\" or meetings of witches and demons, ii. 107, 133.\n      (_See_ Witchcraft.)\n\nSainte Croix, the slow poisoner in France, his crimes and death,\n      ii. 208, 211.\n\nSaints, relics of, ii. 304.\n\nSaladin, his military successes, ii. 63;\n  his defence of Acre, 69, 71;\n  defeated at Azotus, 72;\n  and at Jaffa, 74.\n\n\"Saladin's tithe,\" a tax enforced by the Crusaders, ii. 65.\n\nSalamanders. (_See_ the Rosicrucians.)\n\nSanta Scala, or Holy Stairs, at Rome, ii. 304.\n\nSchinderhannes, the German robber, ii. 256.\n\nScotland, witchcraft in. (_See_ Witchcraft.)\n\nScott, Sir Walter, his anachronisms on the Crusades, ii. 74, 98.\n  \"Scratching Fanny,\" or the Cock Lane Ghost; her remains in the vault of\n      St. John's Church, Clerkenwell, ii. 230.\n\nSeal of Edward I. (_engraving_), ii. 97.\n\nSeifeddoulet, the Sultan, his reception of Alfarabi, the alchymist, i. 98.\n\nSemlin attacked by the Crusaders, ii. 15.\n\nSendivogius, a Polish alchymist, i. 164, 165.\n\nSen\u00e9s, Bishop of, his report on Jean Delisle's success in alchymy, i. 193.\n\nSerlo cuts off the hair of Henry I. (_engraving_), i. 296, 298.\n\nSeton, the Cosmopolite, an alchymist; memoir of, i. 163.\n\nSevign\u00e9, Madame, her account of Madame de Brinvilliers, ii. 208, 213.\n\nShakespere's Mulberry-tree, ii. 307.\n\nSharp, Giles, contriver of mysterious noises at Woodstock Palace, ii. 224.\n\nShem, the son of Noah, an alchymist, i. 95.\n\nSheppard, Jack, his popularity--lines on his portrait by Thornhill,\n      ii. 252;\n  evil effect of a novel and melo-dramas representing his career, 253.\n\nSherwood Forest, and Robin Hood (_engraving_), ii. 249, 250.\n\nShipton, Mother, her prophecy of the fire of London, i. 230;\n  her popularity, 231;\n  _view_ of her cottage, 241.\n\nSimeon, the Patriarch, a promoter of the Crusades, ii. 7.\n\nSlang phrases. (_See_ Popular Follies.)\n\nSlow Poisoners, the. (_See_ Poisoning.)\n\nSmollett, on history and the South-Sea Bubble, i. 67.\n\nSoliman the Sultan, his conflict with the Crusaders, ii. 18.\n\nSomerset, the Earl of (poisoner of Sir Thos. Overbury), _portrait_ of,\n      ii. 200;\n  his origin and rise at court; supposed vicious connexion with James I.;\n      his intrigue and marriage with the Countess of Essex; the murder of\n      Overbury; the earl's trial and sentence, 193-201.\n\nSomerset, the Countess of, her participation in the murder of Sir Thos.\n      Overbury, with _portrait_, ii. 201.\n\nSongs:\n  on the Mississippi scheme, i. 36;\n  on the South-Sea Bubble, 50;\n  on famous thieves, ii. 260;\n  on witchcraft, popular in Germany, 165;\n  popularity of \"Cherry Ripe,\" \"The Sea,\" \"Jim Crow,\" 246.\n\nSongs, Beranger's \"Thirteen at Table,\" i. 257.\n\nSongs of the Rosicrucians, i. 168, 204.\n\nSorcery. (_See_ Witchcraft and Alchemy.)\n\nSorel, Agnes, her patronage of Jacques Coeur, the alchymist, i. 132.\n\nSOUTH-SEA BUBBLE, history of, i. 45-84;\n  the Company originated by Harley, Earl of Oxford; its primary object, 45;\n  visionary ideas of South-Sea trade; restrictions imposed by Spanish\n      Government, 46;\n  proposals to Parliament to reduce the debt; capital increased to twelve\n      millions; success of the Company, 47;\n  its application to take the whole state debt; counter application by the\n      Bank of England; the former adopted by Parliament; stock rises\n      from 130 to 300, 48;\n  Sir R. Walpole's warning; directors' exertions to raise the prices, 49;\n  bill passed; great demand for shares, 50;\n  other bubble schemes started and encouraged, 51, 52;\n  eighty-six of them dissolved, 55, 57;\n  shares at 400; fall to 290, but raised by the directors' schemes, 51;\n  dividend declared; increased excitement, 52;\n  Swift' lines on Change Alley; extent of the delusion; frauds of\n      schemers, 54;\n  fears of the judicious; bubble companies proclaimed unlawful, 55;\n  continued excitement; stock at 1000, 62, 63;\n  Sir John Blunt, the chairman, sells out; stock falls; meeting of the\n      company; Mr. Secretary Craggs supports directors, 63;\n  increased panic; negociation with Bank of England, 64, 65;\n  they agree to circulate the company's bonds, 66;\n  total failure of the company; social and moral evils of the scheme, 67;\n  arrogance of the directors; petitions for vengeance on them; King's\n      speech to Parliament, 69;\n  debates thereon, 69, 71;\n  punishment resolved on, 70;\n  Walpole's plan to restore credit; officers of the company forbidden to\n      leave England, 71;\n  ministers proved to have been bribed by shares, 73, 77;\n  directors apprehended; treasurer absconds, 73;\n  measures to arrest him, 73, 74;\n  directors expelled from Parliament, 74;\n  chairman's examination, 75;\n  treasurer imprisoned at Antwerp, but escapes, 76;\n  reports on the details of the fraud, 76;\n  Mr. Stanhope, Secretary to Treasury, charged but acquitted;\n      dissatisfaction thereon, 78;\n  Mr. Aislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer, committed to the Tower, and\n      consequent rejoicings (_engraving_), 79;\n  Sir George Caswall punished; the Earl of Sunderland acquitted; death of\n      Mr. Secretary Craggs, and his father, participators in the fraud, 80;\n  heavy fines on the directors; account of these proceedings by Gibbon the\n      historian, 81;\n  measures adopted to restore credit, 83;\n  caricatures by Hogarth and others (_seven engravings_), 60, 61, 68, 70,\n      76, 82, 84.\n\nSouth-Sea House, _view_ of, i. 45.\n\nSpara, Hieronyma, the slow poisoner of Rome, her trial and execution,\n      ii. 205.\n\nSpeculations. (_See_ Money Mania, the Mississippi Scheme, South-Sea Bubble,\n      and Bubble Schemes.)\n\nSpenser, his description of Merlin and his cave, i. 232, 237.\n\nSpirits. (_See_ Demons, Witchcraft, Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, &c.)\n\nSprenger, a German witch-finder; his persecutions, ii. 118-159.\n\nSt. Bernard preaches the second Crusade, ii. 53, 55;\n  his miracles, 56;\n  failure of his prophecies, 62.\n\nSt. Dunstan and the devil, ii. 103.\n\nSt. Evremond, his account of the impositions of Valentine Greatraks,\n      i. 270.\n\nSt. Germain (Count de), the alchymist, memoir of, i. 200;\n  his profusion of jewels, 203;\n  his pretensions to long life, 205.\n\nSt. John's Eve, St. Mark's Eve, St. Swithin's Eve, superstitious customs,\n      i. 258.\n\nStanhope, Earl, supports the proposition to punish the directors of the\n      South-Sea Company, i. 72, 73;\n  is stigmatised in Parliament, and dies suddenly, 75.\n\nStanhope, Charles, secretary to Treasury;\n  his participation in the South-Sea fraud, i. 77, 78;\n  his acquittal by parliament, and consequent disturbances, 78.\n\nStedinger, the, a section of the Frieslanders; their independence; accused\n      of witchcraft by the Pope, and exterminated by the German nobles,\n      ii. 110, 111.\n\nStephen, king of Poland, his credulity and superstition, i. 159.\n\nStock jobbing. (_See_ South-Sea Bubble.)\n  \"Stock Jobbing Cards,\" or caricatures of the South-Sea Bubble\n      (_two engravings_), i. 60, 61.\n\nStonehenge ascribed to Merlin, i. 237.\n\nSuger dissuades Louis VII. from the Crusade, ii. 55-62.\n\nSully, his wise opposition to duelling, ii. 279\n\nSunderland, Earl of, _portrait_ of, i. 80;\n  his participation in the South-Sea Bubble, i. 50, 77, 78;\n  discontent at his acquittal, 80.\n\nSuperstitions on the 1st of January, Valentine Day, Lady Day, St.\n      Swithin's Eve, St. Mark's Eve, Candlemas Eve, Midsummer, St. John's\n      Eve, 29th February, 258.\n\nSurrey and the fair Geraldine; the vision shewn by Cornelius Agrippa,\n      i. 142.\n\nSweden, executions for witchcraft, ii. 177.\n\nSylphs. (_See_ the Rosicrucians.)\n\nSyria. (_See_ the Crusades.)\n\n\nTancred, his achievements in the first Crusade, ii. 26, 35, 38, 39, 45.\n\nTax on beards imposed by Peter the Great, i. 301.\n\nTedworth, Wiltshire, the \"haunted house\" there; narrative of the deception,\n      ii. 224.\n\nTempests caused by witches, ii. 102, 106, 133, 134.\n\nTemplars, Knights, subdued by Saladin, ii. 63;\n  support Frederick II. in the seventh Crusade, 86;\n  their subsequent reverses, 87, 90, 99;\n  accused of witchcraft, 112;\n  persecuted by Philip IV.; the grand master burnt, 113.\n\nT\u00eatenoire, a famous French thief, ii. 255.\n\nTheatrical productions, on the lives of robbers; their pernicious influence,\n      ii. 253-257.\n\nTHIEVES, POPULAR ADMIRATION OF GREAT, ii. 249-260;\n  Robin Hood, ii. 250;\n  Dick Turpin, 251;\n  Jack Sheppard, 252;\n  Jonathan Wild, 254;\n  Claude Duval, 255;\n  Aimerigot T\u00eatenoire, 255;\n  Cartouche; Vidocq, 256;\n  Italian banditti, 256, 257;\n  Schinderhannes and Nadel, 257;\n  evil influence of the \"Beggars' Opera\" and other plays on the subject of\n      thieves 253, 257, 258;\n  Lord Byron's \"Corsair\" and Schiller's \"Robber,\" 259.\n\nThomas Aquinas. (_See_ Aquinas.)\n\nTiberias, battle of, ii. 63.\n\nTibertus, Antiochus, his wonderful prophecies, i. 248.\n\nToads dancing at the witches' \"Sabbaths,\" ii. 108.\n\nTophania, La, a famous poisoner in Italy, her crimes and execution; the\n      nature of her potions, ii. 206.\n\nTorture, its cruelty exposed by the Duke of Brunswick, ii. 170.\n      (_See_ Witchcraft.)\n\nToulouse, witches burnt at, ii. 160.\n\nTournaments and judicial combats. (_See_ Duels.)\n\nTours, haunted house at, ii. 221.\n\nTower Hill, bonfires on the committal of participators in the South-Sea\n      Bubble (_engraving_), i. 79.\n\nTower of London, Raymond Lulli the alchymist said to have practised there,\n      i. 109;\n  poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, ii. 195.\n\nTransmutation of metals. (_See_ Alchymists.)\n\nTrees, their significance in dreams, i. 254;\n  susceptible of magnetic influence, 284.\n\nTrial by Battle. (_See_ Duels and Ordeals.)\n\nTrithemius, the alchymist, memoir of, i. 124.\n\nTrois-Echelles executed for witchcraft, ii. 120.\n\nTroussel, William, his duel with the Constable Du Guesclin (_engraving_),\n      ii. 261, 271.\n\n\"Truce of God,\" the, proclaimed by the first Crusaders, ii. 14.\n\n\"True Cross,\" fragments of the, ii. 3, 71.\n  (_See_ Relics.)\n\nTULIP MANIA;\n  the flower first introduced into Europe by Gesner, _portrait_ of Gesner,\n      i. 85;\n  great demand for plants in Holland and Germany, introduced in England\n      from Vienna, the flower described and eulogised by Beckmann and\n      Cowley, 86;\n  rage for bulbs in Holland and their enormous prices, 87;\n  amusing errors of the uninitiated, 88;\n  marts for the sale of bulbs, jobbing and gambling, ruinous extent of the\n      mania and immense profits of speculators, 89;\n  \"tulip-notaries\" appointed, sudden loss of confidence and fall of prices,\n      meetings, deputation to the government, 90;\n  unfulfilled bargains repudiated by the law courts, 91;\n  the mania in England and France, 91;\n  subsisting value of choice bulbs, 92.\n\nTunis invaded by the Crusaders, ii. 96.\n\nTunbridge Wells, a witch doctor there in 1830, ii. 189.\n\nTurner, Mrs. her participation in the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury,\n      ii. 194, 198, 199.\n\nTurpin, Dick, popular admiration of, ii. 251.\n\n\nUndines. (_See_ the Rosicrucians.)\n\nUrban II. preaches the Crusade (_frontispiece_), ii. 7.\n\n\nValentine, Basil, the alchymist, memoir of, i. 119.\n\nValentine's Day superstitions, i. 258.\n\nVauvert, the ruined palace at, haunted, ii. 220.\n\nVezelais, cathedral of (_engraving_), ii. 54.\n\nVillars, Marshal, his opposition to the Mississippi scheme, i. 16.\n\nVulgar phrases. (_See_ Popular Follies.)\n\nVisions, pretended. (_See_ Barthelemy, Agrippa, and Dr. Dee.)\n\n\nWaldenses, the, persecuted and burnt at Arras, ii. 115.\n\nWalpole, Sir Robert, his warning of the evils of the South-Sea bubble,\n      _portrait_ of him, i. 49-55;\n  his measures to restore credit, 70, 71.\n\nWalter the Penniless, a leader of the first Crusade, ii. 15, 18.\n\nWarbois, the witches of, absurd charges against them, their execution,\n      ii. 125.\n\n\"Water of Life,\" searchers for. (_See_ Alchymists.)\n\nWater ordeal. (_See_ Duels and Ordeals.)\n\n\"Weapon-salve,\" controversy respecting, i. 265.\n\n\"Wehr-wolves\" executed, ii. 120, 168.\n\nWestminster Abbey, Raymond Lulli, the alchymist, said to have practised\n      there, i. 109;\n  tomb of Queen Eleanor (_engraving_), ii. 99.\n\nWeston, Richard, an accomplice in the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury,\n      ii. 194, 198, 199.\n\nWharton, Duke of, his speeches on the South-Sea Bubble, i. 50, 75.\n\nWhiston, his prophecy of the end of the world, i. 223.\n\nWilliam of Tyre preaches the Crusade, ii. 63, 65.\n\nWilson, ----, killed in a duel by John Law, i. 3.\n\nWirdig, Sebastian, the magnetiser, i. 273.\n\nWITCHCRAFT:--Account of the witch mania, ii. 101-191;\n  popular belief in witches, ii. 102;\n  their supposed compacts with the devil; popular notions of the devil and\n      demons, 103;\n  witches could secure their services, 107;\n  their meetings or \"Sabbaths,\" 107, 133, 166, 169, 171;\n  frequent persecution on the pretext of witchcraft, 110;\n  the Stedinger, a section of the Frieslanders, exterminated on that\n      charge, 110;\n  the Templars accused of witchcraft; the Grand Master and others burnt;\n      execution of Joan of Arc (_engraving_), 113;\n  combined with heresy as a charge against religious reformers, 114;\n  the Waldenses persecuted at Arras; their confessions under torture;\n      belief common to Catholics and Reformers; Florimond on the prevalence\n      of witchcraft, 115;\n  witches executed at Constance; Bull of Pope Innocent VIII.; general\n      crusade against witches, 117;\n  Sprenger's activity in Germany; Papal commissions, 118;\n  executions in France; sanctioned by Charles IX., 119, 122;\n  Trois Echelles, his confessions and execution, 120;\n  \"men-wolves,\" executed, 121;\n  English statutes against witchcraft, 123;\n  Bishop Jewell's exclamations, 124;\n  the witches of Warbois; absurd charges and execution of the victims, 125;\n  annual sermon at Cambridge, ii. 127;\n  popular belief and statutes in Scotland, 127, 154;\n  charges against the higher classes; against John Knox, 128;\n  numerous executions; trial of Gellie Duncan and others, 129;\n  James I., his interest in the subject; Dr. Fian tortured\n      (_engraving_), 131;\n  confessions of the accused, 132;\n  their execution; further persecution, 135;\n  case of Isabel Gowdie, 136;\n  opinions of Sir George Mackenzie (_portrait_), 136, 155;\n  death preferred to the imputation of witchcraft, 137, 139;\n  King James's \"Demonology,\" 139;\n  the \"Lancashire witches\" executed, 141;\n  Matthew Hopkins, the \"witch-finder general\" (_engraving_), 143;\n  his impositions, cruelty, and retributive fate, 148;\n  \"common prickers\" in Scotland, 146;\n  Mr. Louis, a clergyman, executed, 147;\n  Glanville's _Sadducismus Triumphatus_, 148;\n  witches tried before Sir Matthew Hale (_portrait_); Sir Thomas Brown's\n      evidence (_portrait_); conviction and execution, 148-152;\n  trials before Chief Justices Holt and Powell, 152, 153;\n  the last execution in England, in 1716, 153;\n  Scotch laws on the subject, 154;\n  various trials in Scotland 155-158;\n  last execution in Scotland, in 1722, 158;\n  proceedings of Sprenger in Germany, Bodinus and Delrio in France, 159;\n  executions at Constance, Toulouse, Amsterdam, and Bamberg, 160-162;\n  numerous executions at Wurtzburg, including many children, 163;\n  others at Lendheim, 164;\n  the \"Witches' Gazette,\" a German ballad, 165;\n  the Mar\u00e9chale D'Anere executed, 166;\n  200 executions at Labourt, 166;\n  \"weir-wolves,\" belief in, 168;\n  Urbain Grandier, curate of Loudun, executed, 169;\n  singular cases at Lisle, 169;\n  the Duke of Brunswick's exposure of the cruelty of torture, 170;\n  diminution of charges in Germany, 171;\n  singular remonstrance from the French Parliament to Louis XIV. on his\n      leniency to witches, 171;\n  executions at Mohra, in Sweden, 177;\n  atrocities in New England; a child and a dog executed, 180;\n  the last execution in Switzerland in 1652, 182;\n  the latest on record, in 1749, at Wurtzburg, 184;\n  witches ducked in 1760, 185;\n  Lady Hatton's reputation for witchcraft; her house in Cross Street,\n      Hatton Garden, (_engraving_), 186;\n  the horse-shoe a protection against witches, 187;\n  belief in witchcraft recently and still existing, 187;\n  witch-doctors still practising, 189;\n  prevalence of the superstition in France, 189;\n  \"floating a witch\" (_engraving_), 191.\n\nWomen accompanying the Crusades in arms, ii. 12, 57, 67.\n\nWoodstock Palace a \"haunted house;\" account of the noises, and their\n      cause, ii. 222;\n  _view of_, 217.\n\nWulstan, Bishop, his antipathy to long hair, i. 297.\n\nWurtzburg, numerous executions for witchcraft, ii. 162, 184;\n  _view_ in, 183.\n\n\nYork, Duke of, his duel with Col. Lennox, ii. 293.\n\n\nZara besieged by the Crusaders, ii. 76.\n\nZachaire, Denis, the Alchymist, his interesting memoir of himself, i. 146.\n\n\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nLONDON:\nPRINTED BY LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FRANKLYN,\nGreat New Street, Fetter Lane.","title":"Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds","tradition":"ritual-magic","translated_text":null,"word_count":278900}