had threatened to burn their temple and town on the very first occasion that the oracle spoke in a manner adverse to his wishes. The augurs, whom the Greeks had borrowed from the Chaldeans, formed in Greece a special college, whose mission was to interpret the will of the gods, and predict the future, by means of natural phenomena, such as thunder, lightning, etc. The augurs also predicted the future from the cries and flight of birds, and by the appetite, healthy or otherwise, of the sacred fowls. Cicero, who believed very little in the augurs, tells us, that when the priests wished to give some great personage a favorable omen, they kept the fowls in a fasting state, so as to make sure, when the right moment arrived, that they would peck the grain voraciously. Cato, too, used to say to his friends that he was astonished how two augurs could meet without laughing at each other. The haruspices had the duty of examining the liver, entrails, and quivering flesh of the victims burnt in honor of the gods. The sacred college of the Haruspices, though it had fallen into discredit, continued its sacrifices at Rome till the year 419 of our era. At that date St. Boniface obtained from the Emperor Honorius a law, which pronounced a sentence of transportation on the mathematici and soothsayers. At the same period, the bishops ordered their books to be publicly burned. Sorcery, however, still continued in the Eternal City until the advent of Pope Sixtus Quintus, who issued a motu proprio, which freed his capital from soothsayers and astrologers. It seems that Dom Calmet's legions of fiends did not come to their aid. By the way, we may as well furnish here a list of the chiefs of Hades, as given by the reverend father, who may be supposed to know something about the matter, as in a single morning he counted up no fewer than thirty thousand one hundred and fifty demons of all sorts and sizes. Here are the names of the principal infernal rulers: 1. Lucifer, the monarch; 2. Belzebuth, second chief and prime-minister; 3. Astaroth, prince of the thrones; 4. Behemoth, commander-in-chief; 5. Belphegor, second general; 6. Sabathan, colonel; 7. Axaphat, centurion; 8. Finetail, aid-de-camp; | and thirteen thousand other officers of various grades. According to Grecian mythology, the sacred art of alchemy, known as the hermetic art, was revealed by the god Hermes Trismegistus to the first priests of the temples of Thebes and Memphis. These priests certainly employed, in painting their hieroglyphics, colors which attest their extensive acquaintance with chemistry. From the day when metal was first melted in a crucible, the operators were necessarily struck by the phenomena that took place under their eyes. The mixture of various metals produced masses of different colors; and copper mixed with zinc formed an alloy imitating gold. The melters drew from this natural result the conclusion that it was possible to transmute metals; and alchemy thus started into life, and was speedily followed by the search after the philosopher's stone. The most ancient works on alchemy are attributed to Hermes; but, in fact, they do not date beyond the Alexandrian school. When this city was captured and pillaged for the fourth time by the Arabs in 642, the hermetic science disappeared, and did not rise again until the kingdom of the Califs had been established on the ruins of the old empires. The hermetic art received under the Arabs the name, half-Arabic, half-Greek, of alchemy; and since this epoch we find remarkable men in all countries seeking the philosopher's stone, up to the time when chemistry, by becoming a positive science, was stripped of all the phantasmagoria of olden times. Alchemy flourished most in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; and clever impostors contrived to feather their nests very satisfactorily to themselves. The adventures of one Cornaro, an Italian alchemist, supply a case in point. This Cornaro, who was a bit of a scamp, it would seem, was thrown into prison at Venice, not for his very good behavior. He contrived, however, to inform his patron, the Duke de San Martino, of the fact of his arrest; and knowing the duke's foible, he promised to teach him the secret of gold-making, which would enable him to raise an army, with which to conquer a small principality to which he asserted a claim. The duke assented, and Cornaro was set at liberty by his inter a the first rank the edict issued in 1672, which prohibited the burning of sorcer ers and witches, unless they had been proved guilty of poisoning. In truth, it was time for such a decree; and the reader recoils in horror from the lists of victims burnt in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries under the pretext of magic. To furnish an idea of the importance and number of the executions, we will first mediation. The scamp, seeing a fine | formed by Louis XIV., we may place in chance, reduced forty pistoles to powder, which he mixed with earth. This stuff he made into four packets, and sold through his accomplices to the druggists under the name of Chunam earth preparation then in great vogue among chemists-and snapped up on this occasion, owing to the moderate price at which it was offered. When the day for the experiment arrived, Cornaro sent the duke's people to get some Chunam pow-mention two inquisitors who acquired der at the address he gave. This powder was thrown into a crucible along with ten pistoles; and an hour later, gold to the value of seventeen was taken out of it, to the great delight of the duke. Cornaro represented to him that, with a large sum, the profit would be greatly augmented; and the poor duke, who was easy to convince, promised to supply the rogue with twenty thousand crowns. The day of Venus, Friday, was selected for the experiment; and, owing to the importance of the affair, the gold would remain in a state of fusion for two days. The noble Venetian was punctual; and as the clock struck twelve, he threw the money with his own hands into the crucible. The alchemist was left alone to watch the operation; but when the duke returned the next day, he found not a soul in the house he had hired for the affair. Cornaro had bolted, and by this time was well on his way to Genoa. And so the poor duke lost his hopes of the principality. an awful reputation as witch-burners. The first, one Cumanus, commenced his exploits by burning, in 1485, in the small county of Bulen, forty-one women as witches. Not finding the evil, they cut away at the roots. He pronounced so many condemnations, that the people emigrated en masse. Alirat, his worthy rival, performed his feats in Piedmont. He began with a master-stroke, and burned one hundred and fifty sorcerers in an immense auto-da-fé. The next year two hundred fresh victims were about to be given to the flames; but the people revolted, expelled the burner, and delivered the poor wretches. In 1489, Innocent VIII. issued a bull, by which he invited the inquisitors to redouble their zeal in detecting and punishing persons indulg ing in witchcraft. The consequences of this bull were terrible, and pyres were every where kindled. Spain, France, Italy, Germany, were literally decimated. In 1524, in the little town of Como, no less than twelve hundred persons were Toward the end of the eighteenth cen- burned on account of witchcraft; and tury, we find an alchemist engrossing we almost fancy we must be dreampublic attention for the last time. In the ing when we find men like Toreno, year of grace 1781-the very year in Nicholas Remi (the intimate friend of which Kant published his Critique of the Duke of Lorraine), Del Rio, Bodin, Pure Reason-all England was talking and Roguet boasting of having burnt, about the alchemical experiments of Dr. the first seventeen hundred sorcerers, the Price, who, by the aid of a powder of second and third nine hundred each, the projection, publicly transmuted mercury fourth six hundred, and the last only five into gold and silver. Dr. Price's repu- hundred. In 1570, one Florimond de tation became immense, and the vulgar Remond, councillor of the parliament of were disposed to make a god of him; but Bourdeaux, after he had tortured and unfortunately he was a member of the roasted some hundreds of wretches, deRoyal Society. It did not suit him to clared that he should give up condemnperform his jugglery in the presence of ing people, who appeared to arise from competent judges; and hence he declared their ashes. "It is very sad," he said that he had no powder left. When called simply, "on going home, after having sent upon to make fresh, Price gave a tragical four or five sorcerers, male or female, to ending to the farce-he poisoned himself, the stake, to reflect that it will be necesand thus gave the death-blow to alchemy.sary to do it all over again the next day.” Among the few meritorious acts per- In 1572, the year of St. Bartholomew, one Bodin, a species of idiot, who wrote a tissue of absurdities under the title of Demonology, asserted that the number of sorcerers acknowledged by the wretched Des Echelles, when executed, was three hundred thousand; and that there would be no happiness for France till they were exterminated to the last. In 1589, two months before the assassination of Henry III., the parliament of Paris had to try forty persons of both sexes, formally accused of having intimate relations with the demons. Fortunately the parliament contained a few enlightened men, who came to the conclusion that the prisoners were suffering from hallucinations, and required a dose of hellebore rather than the stake. Unfortunately, ere twenty years had elapsed, fresh accusations of sorcery desolated France; and if the Béarnais had listened to the advice of the witch-finders, three fourths of his subjects would speedily have been roasting. At about the same period, sixty-five hundred persons were burnt for witchcraft in four years in the little electorate of Trevis; in the Netherlands, four thousand; and in Switzerland, twenty-three hundred. In the last century, at the era when the Encyclopédie was publishing, witch-fires still blazed in Bavaria and Germany; while in Spain they were not extinguished until the French invasion placed King Joseph on the throne of the descendants of Charles V. The Regent d'Orléans was a fervent believer in the marvellous, and was very cleverly taken in by Count Felix de Belmonte, a celebrated sorcerer, who pretended to raise the dead. The scene took place on the night of April 23, 1720, in the deserted quarries of Vaugirard, whither a fashionable party proceeded with the regent. The sorcerer was at his post, and introduced, as his indispensable assistant, a tall man, whose features were completely concealed by a huge black beard. After a few words had been exchanged between Belmont and the regent, the latter remained in the foreground with Cardinal Dubois, the rest being scattered about the galleries, whence they could see, but not hear the speeches. The first person evoked was Sully, of whom the regent inquired what he thought of Law's system. The financier of Henri IV. replied that the director of the Banque Générale would lead France to ruin. The next spectre the regent desired to see was Louis XIV., who duly appeared at the spot where Sully had disappeared. The regent advanced resolutely toward his great uncle. "Sire," he said, as he knelt on one knee, "if it be true that there is nothing hidden from the dead, you will be aware of the purity of my intentions in revoking your will; and I trust will pardon me.' The old king opened his arms, the regent rushed eagerly toward the exruler of Europe, but found no resistance. While Philip was trying to recover from his violent emotions, Dubois inquired whether the shadow of the great Cardinal Richelieu could be called from the grave. Count Felix replied in the affirmative; and the cardinal ere long appeared in his red gown. Dubois bowed like a Spanish grandee, and then began a pompous panegyric of his system of government. Richelieu listened attentively, and when Dubois ceased speaking, made him a sign to advance. The regent's minister believed in some important communication from the other world, and overcoming his terror, advanced two paces; but he suddenly received two of the most stinging buffets ever dealt a human face. At the same instant, the lights were extinguished, and a stentorian voice announced that the evocations were at an end. The regent laughed heartily, as did the ladies, while Dubois cursed in a way that would have scandalized a pagan. But when Dubois sought for Count Felix the next day, he was nowhere to be found. We find in a correspondence written. in 1724, or two years after the death of Cardinal Dubois, the following explananation of this mysterious adventure. It was well known at court that the regent's great desire was to exculpate himself from the infamous accusations brought against him. The Duke de X-formed the bold plan of freeing the regent from the ideas that oppressed him. Having known Count Felix at Venice, he renewed the acquaintance when that adventurer came to Paris, and they arranged together the scene we have just described. Two glasses, a reflector, and a few accomplices, sufficed to carry out the farce. The man with the black beard was no other than the Duke de X-. Unfortunately, the raiser of the dead was ignorant of the duke's hatred of Dubois: the two boxes on the ear spoiled the farce, and fearing the minister's vengeance, he mysteriously disappeared from Paris. In 1725, Count Felix de Belmonte was found frozen to death in a sledge, while journeying from Moscow to Odessa. was not sufficient. The second method, that of the stone, was of more simple execution. A sister lay down on her stomach, and a brother beat her hips with a large stone, as long as he had strength. The last method was only employed on great occasions, and on certain subjects. A bar of iron weighing thirty pounds was used, and the wretched prophetess was struck violently with it, she all the while expressing the utmost delight. Strike, in Heaven's name! redouble your assistance;' were the words which these maniacs would utter. Other instruments of torture were known by strange names; these were the biscuit, the barley-sugar, the tooth-pick, etc. Each woman had her specialty. One of the name of Marie Sounet was incombustible, and hence called the Salamander. Another, who could remain for hours on the cross, received the surname of Soeur de la Croix. cries like a cat's miauling was christened La An hysteric convulsionist, who used to utter Chalti. Another who barked, the She-dog," etc. Among the most extraordinary instances of credulity recorded in history, that of the convulsionists takes a prominent place. On May 8, 1727, an immense crowd, among which some great people could be seen, followed to the cemetery of St. Medard the body of a deacon, François de Paris. He had acquired public esteem by acts of charity; but had nothing remarkable to justify the character of saintship, which he acquired within a week of his funeral. Crowds flocked to his grave, and miracles began to be performed. Women, lying on the cold stone which covered the priest's This dangerous delusion was finally ashes, fell into ecstatic fits and prophe- destroyed by ridicule. A celebrated sursied. Paralytics left the grave with joy-geon, Morand Saint-Sauveur, explained ous bounds. Cripples threw away their in the name of reason, the natural causes crutches. The Archbishop of Noailles of these miracles, renewed from the days was elected chief of the appellants, and of the augurs and the haruspices. The undertook to keep a list of the daily Journal des Savants opened its columns miracles. The appearance of the ceme- to Dodard, a member of the Academy. tery became very remarkable: it was The letters which he published produced more a fair than a resting-place of the an immense effect, which greatly aided dead. On all sides were stalls at which to diminish the number of the convulpedlers sold crosses, chaplets, relics, and sionists. Dodard and D'Alembert dealt even earth taken from the tomb of the the death-blow by the bold preface to the saint. The most repulsive scenes occur- first volume of their Encyclopédie, pubred with hysterical women for more than lished at the close of 1750. a year, until the police considered it necessary to interfere and close the cemetery; on the next day a wit placed the following placard on the gate: "De par le roi, défense à Dieu De faire miracle en ce lieu." Expelled from the cemetery, the convulsionists took refuge in private houses, where scenes took place which we will allow our author to describe: "Let us say a word about each of these chastisements, in order to show how far religious excitement can carry the unfortunate persons who yield to it. Girls called prophetesses were trained to these exercises. The first of the three great means, called the plank, consisted in laying upon the convulsionist, lying on the ground, a species of platform, on which the visitors were invited to mount. Some twelve or fifteen people sit upon it, and the girl frequently remarked that the weight In June, 1704, the French army took the important town of Vercelli, the key of the road from Turin to Milan. While the fortifications were being razed, an infant was baptized in the chapel of the Virgin, and registered by the simple name of Pietro. This child was destined hereafter to occupy the public attention of the capitals of Europe, and play a strange and mysterious part. His father was a gentleman; and hence Pietro, though a bastard, received an excellent education, which enabled him eventually to justify his assumption of the name of Count St. Germain. The history of this man has been too recently told in a work called Remarkable Ådventurers, for us to dwell on it here; and the same is the case with his clumsy successor Cagliostro, who was the final cause of the downfall of another impostor, Mes |