The history of magick by way of apology, for all the wise men who have unjustly been reputed magicians, from the Creation, to the present age. / Written in French, by G. Naudæus late library-keeper to Cardinal Mazarin. Englished by J. Davies. [London], Printed for John Streater, and are to be sold by the book-sellers of London, 1657.

THE HISTORY OF MAGICK By way of APOLOGY, For all the Wiſe Men who have unjuſtly been reputed Magicians, from the Creation, to the preſent Age.

Written in French, by G. NAUDAEUS Late Library-Keeper to Cardinal Mazarin.

Multos abſolvemus, ſi caeperimus antè judicare quàm iraſci.

Senec. de ira. lib. 3. c. 29.

Engliſhed by J. DAVIES.

Printed for John Streater, and are to be ſold by the Book-ſellers of London, 1657.

TO THE Moſt worthily Honour'd SR. RICHARD COMBESKT.

SIR,

IT is certainly but reaſon, that Innocence, ſince it ſo eaſily meets with Perſecutors, ſhould at length light on ſome Patrons and Aſſertors, that as thoſe are the Agents & Emiſſaries of Ignorance and Barbariſm, making it their buſineſs to ruine it, ſo theſe might, as the Guardian-Angells of reſtored Civility and Letters, endeavour to vindicate it. You have here the greateſt miracles of Mankind in their ſeverall times impeach'd of a crime, the greateſt can be committed againſt either divine or humane Lawes, viz. a Geotick, or ſuperſtitious & Diabolical Magick, violently proſecuted by a ſort of people whoſe deſign it is, by noiſe and number to ſtifle Truth, and conſequently, to make the moſt innocent the moſt guilty. In ſo much that all the liberty they now ſeeme to have, is that of ſaying ſomething for themſelves, which is hop'd may prove ſo conſiderable as not only to divert the Sentence, but knock off the fetters they have ſo long groan'd under, and gain them an abſolute Liberate.

To which end, Sir, you are in this Countrey the Perſon they make their appeale to, with a certain confidence, that as the prejudice of former Judges hath not a litle contributed to their misfortune, ſo your integrity may reſtore them to a reputation among men, great as when they were the light and ornaments of the Ages they livd in. This is a a trouble you might eaſily be induc'd to take upon you, did you imagine to your ſelf no other conſequences of i[•], than that, being look'd on as an effect of your Goodneſs, you will oblige all thoſe who cannot but compaſſionate the undeſerved ſufferings of ſuch excellent men, & may expect that acclamation and applauſe, which ever attends the impartial execution of Juſtice. But when you reflect on the particular advantages accrewing to your ſelf by this Apology, you will haply be ſatisfyed, there is ſomething extraordinary in the addreſs of it to you. For, what higher motives can Poſterity have to believe, that the great perfections you are maſter of, the general affection you command, the publick favour ſhines upon you, (which when uncourted ever ſpeaks a certain exceſs of merit) are not the effects of any thing more than natural, than to find you reſcuing the oppreſſed innocency of men, whom onely a tranſcendency of abilities made the objects of envy and detraction? What can more ſatisfy the world, that, when you have done things, exceeding common apprehenſions, it proceeds from your vaſt knowledge and acquaintance with thoſe Sciences whoſe luſtre dazles ordinary capacities, than to find you relieving ſuch as only popular ignorance and miſtake have made unfortunate? And of this, what other effect can there be than that you live in the fame which they, by your Patronage, are reſtored unto; and conſequently, in the eſteem and veneration of all the Sons and Lovers of Learning, but particularly, as the meaneſt of that number, that of,

Your moſt humble and moſt obliged Servant J. DAVIES.

The AUTHOR'S motive and deſigne in the preſent Work.

ABout four or five years ſince, there came abroad a little Book in French, intituled, Nouueau Jugement, &c. New Reflections on what hath been ſaid and written as well for, as againſt the Book of the curious Doctrine of the Great Witts of theſe times. At the end of this Book the Authour inſerted two Invectives, very ſhort indeed, againſt Homer and Virgil; to what end or upon what ground it is not much material here to diſpute; but in that of Virgil, he repreſents him as a moſt eminent Conjurer, and one that had done abundance of ſtrange and incredible things by the aſſiſtance of Magick. This he preſently remembred was taken verbatim out of the laſt Book publiſh'd by de Lancre againſt Witchcraft; whereupon reflecting on what he had read, and calling to mind that not only Virgil but in a manner all great perſons were in like manner charg'd with Magick, he imagin'd the charge might be unjuſt and groundleſſe. This put him upon ſearch of the truth, thinking it an act of piety to right the memory of thoſe great men▪and an obligation put upon the world, to endeavour their ſatisfaction, who want either time or couveniences to informe themſelves, and ſo he reſolv'd to communicate, what he had found, in this APOLOGIE: whereof take this ſhort account.

In the firſt place he aſſignes certain conditions or qualifications neceſſarily requiſite in him, that would judge of Authors, eſpecially Hiſtorians and Daemonographers, who are the chief Architects of this Labyrinth of erroneous opinions, which who is once gotten into cannot well get out without this Clue. Then he divides Magick into ſeverall ſpecies, ſo to confront the charge and the Anſwer, which conſiſts in the diſtinction of Magick into Diabolicall and Naturall. That done, he comes to certain generall cauſes whence the ſuſpicion hath been deriv'd, viz. Politicks, extraordinary Learning, Mathematicks, Suppoſititious Books, ſuperſtitious Obſervations, Hereſy, Malice, Emulation, Ignorance, Credulity in Readers, and want of circumſpection and Judgment in Writers. This is fully diſpatch'd in five Chapters, which are as it were a preludinm to XIV more, ſpent in the particular vindication of Zoroaſtes, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Democritus, and others, not proceeding ſo much according to the times wherein they flouriſh'd as their ſeverall qualities and employments. So that having run through the ſeverall vindications of Philoſophers, Phyſicians, Religious men, Biſhops, Popes, all to be done was to cloſe up the treatiſe with a Chapter diſcovering the means whereby theſe Errours are maintained, and what will be the conſequences of them if not ſuppreſſed.

So much, as to the Authors deſigne in this work. That diſpatch'd, he thought fit to ſay ſomething to thoſe who might haply quarrell with him for his checquering it ſo much with ſentences and Authorities out of Latine Authors. There are indeed a many and thoſe the moſt refin'd Writers, who cannot, without a certain ſcorn and indignation, look on the writings of ſuch, as, like them, will not employ themſelves ſo trivially as to compoſe Love Stories and Romances for the entertainment of women and Children. For thoſe his anſwer is, that as he quarrels not with them for uſing a Style proportionable to their capacities to whom they direct their Labours; ſo does he expect they ſhould be as favourable to him, for not tranſlating thoſe Latine paſſages as ſuch as are not particularly calculated for the meridian of the Populace, but ſome of a higher elevation, who meaſure not truth, by the credit of Historians and Demonographers, that have almoſt beſotted the multitude with their extravagances. Theſe indeed are a ſort of people ſo much oblig'd one to another, that ſhould we imitate them in the Labours we intend for posterity, we must do as the Rhodians did, who only chang'd the heads of ancients Statues to make them ſerve for new repreſentations, ſuch a ſtrange art have they of diſguiſing and diſme[•]bring one anothers workes that, ſtrictly examined, there's nothing new but the Titles. For Citaions, he thought they only avoided them who never expected to be cited themſelves▪ and that it were too great a preſumption in any one to think himſelf ſo well furniſht with conceptions as toſatisfie ſo great a diverſity of Readers without borrowing any. But if ever there were any ſuch, they were certainly Plutarch, Seneca, and Montagne, who yet have not bluſh'd to derive from others whatever they thought contributed to the embelliſhment of their diſcourſes. To prove this we need only mention the Greek and Latine verſes cited almost in every line of their workes, and particularly that of Conſolation▪ conſisting but of ſeven or eight Leaves ſent by the former to Apollonius, wherein there are above 150. verſes out of Homer, and near as many out of Heſiod, Pindar, Sophocles, and Euripides.

Nor is he ignorant what theſe regulators of writing might oppoſe againſt this, viz. the authority of Epicurus, who in 300 Volumes left behind him, had not ſo much as one Citation; but this would make againſt them, by reaſon of the contrary conſequences of theſe two different procedures, for the workes of Plutarch, Seneca and Montagne, are daily read, ſold, and reprinted, whereas of thoſe of Epicurus, Laertius can hardly furniſh us with a Catalogue. Yet would he not have this ſo underſtood as to approve their courſe who conceale the treaſures of their own abilities to beg and borrow of others, never appearing but as people at falſe Musters, and, without any hazard to themſelves, carrying other mens Arms. Tedious and fruitleſſe diſcourſes are like Forrests of Cypreſſe trees, fair and flouriſhing to the eye, but bearing no fruit ſuitable thereto.

The ſureſt way therefore were to keep the mean between theſe extremities, which is for a man to make a certaine allyance between his own conceptions and thoſe of the ancient, when the ſubject will bear it. For as it belongs only to ſuch elevated and tranſcendent Souls as have ſomething above the ordinary rate of men, to tranſmit their conceptions to us pure and naked, without any other convoy than that of Truth, and that it is the indicium of a low & reptile mind to undertake nothing of it ſelf; ſo is it the proper character of a perſon unacquainted with vain glory and arriv'd to a conſiderable knowledge and experience of things to follow the track which the moſt learned & best esteemed Authors have gone before him, and not ſo much endeavour to tickle the ears of his Readers, as to neglect what might ſatisfie their understanding.

And this method hath our Author obſerv'd in this APOLOGIE: which whoever ſhall examine without prejudice or paſſion, must certainly conclude it no ſmall performance, eſpecially if he conſider the difficulty of the undertaking, the many Authors conſulted, the particularities he hath been forc'd to quote, and the novelty of the Subject, which, were there nothing elſe, were enough to oblige the more ingenious, to countenance and encourage

In nova ſurgentem, majoraqque viribus auſum,

Nec per inacceſſos metuentem vadere ſaltus.

NAUD AEVS. Viris doctis et fautoribus ſuis.

INtactae virtutis opus, juveniſque laborem

Excipite illuſtres animae, doctique parentes

Nominis et Genii, ne poſtera ſaecula credant,

Et vos in Magicis pariter peccâſſe ſuſurris.

The Contents of this Book.

Chap. I. OF the conditions requiſite to judge of Authors, eſpecially Hiſtorian. Fol. 1.
Chap. II. Of Magick and it Species. Fol. 11.
Chap. III. That many eminent perſons have been accounted Magicians who were only Politicians. Fol. 23.
Chap. IV. That the great Learning of many excellent men hath many times been taken for Magick. Fol. 28.
Chap. V. That great Mathematicians have been ſuſpected for Magicians. Fol. 36
Chap. VI. That the Books attributed to divers great men are not a ſufficient testimony to make them guilty of Magick. Fol. 42.
Chap. VII. Of all the other cauſes which may give any occaſion of ſuſpicion thereof. Fol. 51.
Chap. VIII. That Zoroaſtes was neither Author nor Abettor of Georick, Theurgick, or Artificial Magick. 63.
Chap. IX. That Orpheus was no Magician. Fol. 80
Chap▪ X. A Vindication of Pythagoras. Fol. 96▪
Chap. XI. Of Numa Pompilius. Fol. 115.
Chap. XII. Of Democritus, Empedocles, and Apollonius. Fol. 126.
Chap. XIII. Of the Genii, or Daemons, attributed to Socrates, Ariſtotle, Plotinus, Porphyrius, Jamblicus, Chicus, Scaliger, and Cardan. Fol. 143.
Chap. XIV. Of Alchindus, Geber, Artephius, Thebit, Anſelme of Parma, Raimundus Lullius, Arnoldus de Villa nova, Peter d' Apono, and Paracelſus. Fol. 165.
Chap. XV. Of Henry Cornelius Agrippa. Fol. 188.
Chap. XVI. Of Merlin, Savanorola, & Noſtradamus. F. 202
Chap. XVII. Of St. Thomas, Roger Bacon, Fryer Bungey Michael the Scot, Picus Mirandula, and Trithemius. Fol. 224.
Chap. XVIII. Of Robert of Lincoln, & Albertus Magnus. Fol. 241.
Chap. XIX. Of the Popes, Sylveſter II. and Gregory VII. Fol. 255.
Chap. XX. Of Joſeph, Salomon, and the Wiſe men. F. 273.
Chap. XXI. Of the Poet Virgil. Fol. 285.
Chap. XXII. Of the means whereby all theſe erroneous opinions are maintained, and what may be expected from them, if not ſuppreſs'd. Fol. 298.

THE HISTORY OF MAGICK; By way of APOLOGIE, For all thoſe eminent-Perſons, who have unjuſtly been reputed Magicians.

CHAP. I.

Of the Conditions requiſite to judge of Authours, eſpecially Hiſtorians.

THe learned and judicious ^[1] Ludovicus Vives, who for his excellent worth, was thought the fitteſt of all the great Wits of the laſt age, as another Plutarch, to cultivate that of the famous Emperour Charles the Fifth, gives us a good Dichotomy of Prudence. One part regulates our enjoyments, preſerves our health, directs our converſation, acquires charges and employments, and is ſo much taken up with the procurement of the gods of Fortune and the Body, that it hath gotten, among the Fathers, the title of Prudentia carnis, and is called by Latine Anthours, Vafricies & astuti[•]. The other, labouring onely the cultivation and ornament of the nobler part of man, the Mind, and the enriching of it with Sciences and Diſciplines, that ſo it might diſcover and practiſe what is moſt advantageous and reall therein, is particularly employed in the cenſure and judgement of Authours. This is ſo truly neceſſary, and of ſuch importance, that, being once well ordered, it ſo guides us into the interiour of the perſons we deal with, that it diſcovers the calms or tempeſts of their paſſions, the Euripus of their ſeverall agitations, and the admirable diverſity of their inclinations. The advantage we are to make of it, is like that of a touchſtone to diſtinguiſh truth from falſhood; of a Torch, to light us in the palpable darkneſſe of Errour, or we muſt look towards it, as our onely Pole-ſtar, regulating our courſe and diſcoveries of Truth. For ſince ſhe alwayes appears to us masked with the paſſions of thoſe, who either out of ignorance, or intereſt, endeavour to diſguiſe her, we muſt, to enter into familiarity with her, and to be abſolutely poſſeſſed of her, ſeek her out, as Palamedes did Ulyſſes, or young Aristeus the Sea-god; in thoſe places where ſhe is hidden and be ſo importunate with her, that after ſhe lurked under the indiſcretion of the ignorant, the envie of the paſſionate, the extravagancies of the temerarious, the blindneſſe of the intereſſed, and an infinite number of fabulous, ſtrange, and ridiculous opinions, ſhe may appear at laſt reſtored to her own former ſhape;

^[2] Et quant[•] illa magis formas ſe vertet in omnes,

Tanto, nate, magis contende tenacia vincla,

Donec talis erit, mutato corpore qualem

Videris incaepto, tegeret cum lumina ſomno,

To do this, we muſt ſhake off all the inſinuating titles, the Panegyricks, the manifeſt gratulations, which are ordinarily beſtowed on thoſe, who are the moſt able to diſguiſe her with the greateſt Artifices and Palliations. For we ſhould be more tender of our liberty, than to be fooled out of it by the number of their ſuffrages, as if we were obliged, as a packed Jury, to approve whatever they are pleaſed to tell us, and had not the freedom of a diligent diſquiſition and cenſure, to conſider whether it be juſt and rationall. To our diſcare, as to this point, may we juſtly attribute all the fables, impertinencies, and ſuperſtitions, that have to this day crept into the writings and imaginations of abundance of people, eſpecially that ſimple and ridiculous opinion of a many, who have thought the moſt eminent men that ever were, even to the higheſt Magiſtrates of the Eccleſiaſticall State, Sorcerers and Magicians. But as this diſcare hath been extreamly prejudiciall to us, ſo muſt we endeavour to make it as advantagious, and uſe it as Telephus's ſpear, which only could cure the wounds it made; or as the Sun, who onely diſperſes thoſe clouds and miſts which were riſen in its abſence.

This task is indeed too difficult and ſubtle to be indifferently accommodated to all perſons, and therefore Experience, which is onely acquired by Time, the Reflection men ought to make on what they have conceived, the carefull obſervation of the excellent ſayings, and prudent actions of others, and above all things, that Indifference which ſhould alwayes carry the light before us in this diſquiſition of Truth, give a certain diſpenſation to weak, inconſtant, and obſtinate minds, as alſo to young men, ſuch for the moſt part, as he whom Virgil deſcribes,

Enſe velut nudo, parmâque, inglorius alba,

from employing themſelves in this cenſure, whereof a riper age, and a well-ſettled conſtitution of mind, acquits it ſelf with better ſucceſſe, and leſſe difficulty. Nor can we but obſerve, that Eraſmus, Vives, Scaliger, Bodin, Montaigne, Canus, Poſſevin, and many more, who reſerved this employment for their more ſerious ſtudies, have proved ſo fortunate in this kind, that we muſt needs (if with Seneca we acknowledge, that Bona mens nec emitur, nec commodatur) adde ſomething to it by their examples, and by the aſſiſtance of thoſe precepts, which may be generally given for the regulation and refining of the judgement: whereof,

The firſt is, to be very well verſed in thoſe Authours, who have been moſt excellent in this kind; as for inſtance, Seneca, Quintilian, Plutarch, Charron, Montaigne, Vives; as alſo in thoſe admirable and great Genius's of Hiſtory, Thucydides, Tacitus, Guicciardine, Comines, and Sleidan. Adde to this an acquaintance with thoſe who have been Authours of politicall and rationall Diſcourſes, and all ſuch as are eminent for new diſcoveries and conceptions, ſuch as Cardan, and the great Chancellour of England, Verulam, in all their books.

The ſecond requires the knowledge of Logick, to be able with more readineſſe and facility, to diſtinguiſh between true and falſe, ſimple and compound, neceſſity and contingence; which does (as it were) open the way to

The third and laſt, which is a certain familiarity with the moſt profitable Sciences, and the moſt univerſall and generall account of the affairs of this World that may be had, which is to be gained, partly by our own induſtry, partly by the endeavours of thoſe who have gone before us, ſuch as may be thoſe of Hiſtorians. But in this the choice is of ſuch conſequence, that there cannot be too much circumſpection uſed, eſpecially in the preſent age, wherein ſelf-love does ſo eaſily triumph over the induſtry of men, to force upon the world the fruits of their ignorance.

—^[3] Sic dira frequentes

Scribendi invaſit ſcabies, & turpe putatur

In nullis penitus nomen praeſtare tabernis.

In ſo much, that we may juſtly ſay of the Myſtery of Printing, the Mint of all theſe rampant imaginations, what Seneca ſaid upon ſuch an occaſion in Nature, as this is in Art, Si beneficia naturae utentium pravitate perpendimus, nihil non noſtro malo accepimus. This is no more than what was foreſeen above an hundred and twenty years ſince, by the learned Hermolaus, Patriarch of Aquilea, and Perrot, Biſhop of Sipontum, and to which alone, as to their cauſe, we are to attribute the ſudden diſſemination of our modern Hereſies, with this complaint into the bargain, that with all the advantages we derive from the Ancient, we are much inferiour to them in point of learning. I therefore think it extreamly neceſſary, amidſt ſuch a multitude of Authours, to be curious in the choice and ſelection of thoſe▪ the diligent reading whereof may convince us, that they have been furniſhed with all the conditions required in a perfect Hiſtorian, ſuch as was for the Engliſh, Polydor Virgil; for the Germans, Rhenanus; and for the French, Paulus Aemilius, and diſcard all the reſt, who (as the fore-mentioned) have not the mark of truth. But if we are deſirous to read them, let it be on the ſame conditions, as Seneca permitted his friend Lucilius; Nec te prohibuerim (ſayes he) aliquando iſta agere, ſed tunc cum voles nihil agere. For my part it ſhould be my cenſure, that they be all ſuppreſſed, or that, as anciently all under fourty years of age were forbidden the reading of the Apocalyps, and the laſt chapter of the Prophet Eſdras, ſo they, whoſe judgements are not ſettled by the reading of good books, ſhould not be permitted to ſurfet on thoſe abortive fruits of ignorance, whereof there is no end, but that of degenerating and baſtardizing the ſpirits of thoſe that trouble themſelves with them, Nam qui omnes etiam ind[•]gnas lectione ſchedas ex[•]utit, anilibus quoque fabulis accommodare operam potest.

But before we dilate any further upon the cenſure and precaution we are to make of them, it will not be amiſſe, by the way, to lay open the extravagance of, I know not what, perſons, who are of a ſaith, that Painting and Poeſie are two ſworn ſiſters, exerciſing an Empire over our Belief, equivalent to that of the moſt impartiall Hiſtories. For though it be preſumed they may haply take their riſe from a true Relation, yet taking the liberty to diſguiſe it, as they pleaſe, with their Chimericall imaginations, they have long ſince incurred the ſame ſentence▪

Namque unum ſectantur iter, & inania rerum

Somnia concipiunt, & Homerus, & acer Apelles.

That perſon might very deſervedly be laugh'd at, who ſhould be perſwaded that Turnus, little Tydaeus, and Rodomont, flung quarters of mountains at their enemies, meerly upon the reputation of Poets; or that Jeſus Christ aſcended into Heaven upon an ^[4] Eagle, becauſe he is ſo repreſented in the Metropolitane Church of St. Andrew, in the City of Bourdeax; and that the Apoſtles play'd on cymbals at the funerall of the bleſſed Virgin, becauſe a capricious Painter thought fit to paint them ſo: which conſidered, we may well excuſe the Satyricall retort of Beza, to the pictured argument, which Dr. De Sainctes thought ſo prevalent at the conference of Poiſſy. Nor ſhall I be too forward to give any more credit to ſo many other fabulous narrations, as have crept into the world (if it may be permitted to obſerve ſome, even in the Eccleſiaſticall Hiſtory) under the banners of ſuch inſinuating and ſpecious titles, as thoſe of, De infantia Salvatoris, The Conformity of St. Francis, The Golden Legend, The Proto-Evangelium, The nine or ten Goſpels, and a many ſuch like, which having been at firſt printed in the Micropresbyticon, have been ſince prudently left out of the Orthodoxographia, and the Library of the Fathers. Thoſe who would have Pliny, Albertus Magnus, Vincent de Beauvais, Cardan, and ſome others not inferiour to them, accounted fabulous Secretaries of Nature, are in my judgement extreamly inſenſible of the obligation we owe theſe great perſons, for their excellent obſervations. It were much more rationall to blaſt with this breath the impoſtures of Mountebanks, the reſveries of Alchymiſts, the fooleries of Magicians, the riddles of Cabaliſts, the combinations of the Lullists, and other like extravagances of certain Engroſſers, and Collectours of Secrets, ſince they do not▪contribute any thing more ſolid to naturall Hiſtory, than all thoſe old and rotten monuments of Olaus, Saxo-Grammaticus, Turpin, Neubrigenſis, Merlin, Nauclerus, Phreculphus, Sigebert, Paulus Venetus, and a multitude of others, do to Policie and civill Society. For theſe, beſtowing their time rather in gleaning what was ſcattered up and down, than in weighing the authority of the Authours from whom they borrowed their notes, have not onely advanced an Iliad of chimericall and ridiculous ſtories, but with the ſame labour, brought upon the ſtage ſome more improbable than the other, reporting them as moſt true & certain. Of this, one reaſon or motive is obſtinacie, in that having once expoſed them, they could not imitate Sr. Auguſtine in his Retractations, Quamvis enim, ſaith Seneca, vana nos concitaverint, perſeveramus, ne videamur caepiſſe ſine cauſa. Another, haply more likely is that being content to follow the common track of thoſe, who when they write, make it their onely buſineſſe, to prove and make good what they have undertaken, by what means they care not, they bring in reaſons and arguments by head and ſhoulders, and take hear-ſayes for certain truth, and old wives tales for demonſtrations:

—^[5] Et ſic obſervatio creſcit

Ex atavis quondam malè caepta, deinde ſequutis

Tradi ta temporibus, ſeriſque nepotibus aucta.

This certainly muſt needs be an impertinent kind of writing, and proper to ſheepy mindes, ſuch as willfully quit the bark of Truth, to caſt themſelves one after another into the Sea of Errour.

But to avoid all theſe abſurdities, we are only to conſider the method & deſigne of ſuch as entertain us with theſe fine conceptions, and make an aſcent from one to another, till we come to diſcover the firſt advancer of them, and haply the only man from whom all the reſt derived them. For inſtance; It is out of all controverſie, that all our old Romances took their riſe from the Chronicles of Biſhop Turpin; all the Stories of Pope Ioan, from one Marianus Scotus; the Salvation of Trajan, from one John Levit; the opinion of Virgill's being a Magician, from Helimnndus the Monk. This man once found out, we muſt diligently conſider his quality, the party he inclin'd to, and the time wherein he firſt writ; and thence bethink our ſelves, whether we ought not to give greater credit to thoſe who have had the mannagment of Affairs, than to Monks and private men; to perſons of honour and worth, than to the dreggs of ignorance and the populace.

In the ſecond place, we are to look on Hiſtorians, (thoſe only who are perfectly Heroick excepted) as a fort of people ſeldome or never repreſenting things truly and naturally, but ſhadowing and masking them according as they would have them appear, and ſuch as to gain their judgment a reputation, and to inſnare others therein; ſpare not either abilities or eloquence, Stretching, Amplifying, byaſſing and diſguiſing all things, as they think moſt proper to their deſign. Hence it is that we find Heathens and Idolaters have ſpoken many things againſt the firſt Chriſtians, out of the averſion they had to the Religion; that the adherents of ſome Emperours broach'd many indignities againſt the Popes; that the Engliſh repreſented the Mayd of Orleans as a witch and Sorcereſſe; and that modern Heretiques have vented ſo many fables againſt the dignity of the Church, and the main Pillars of it.

In the Third place, we are to make that judgment of Books which Paterculus made of Learned men, experience teaching us, that in a manner, all Hiſtories within ſeven or eight hundred years paſt are ſo hydropically ſwoln with lying legends, that a man would think the Authors of them had made it their main ſtrife, who ſhould advance the greateſt number, From theſe ſeverall conditions requiſite to the cenſure of Hiſtorians, it may be inferr'd that theywill ſignifie little as to the direction of thoſe dull & earthly ſouls, which are repreſented to us in the Aegyptian Hieroglyphicks by the Onocephalus, a Creature that ſtirres not from the ſame place, that is to ſay, ſuch as are not acquainted with any thing beyond the limits of their own Country, who read no Hiſtories, who trouble not themſelves, with any thing done elſewhere, and who are unletterr'd and ignorant to that degree, that when they hear ſome great perſon nam'd, they think the diſcourſe is about ſome African monſter or ſomething of the new world. For theſe having nothing either to contradict or oppoſe, make no difficulty to admit or reject what ſuits or ſuits not with their humour, quite contrary to the procedure of a prudent man, ^[6] cui ſi plura nôſſe datum eſt, majora [•]um ſequuntur dubia; and of the old men repreſented to us by Aristotle, qui rerum vitiis longo uſu detectis et cognitis, nihil impudenter aſſeverant, and of whom he ſayes in the ſame place, that their long practice and experience makes them commonly incredulous, and ſuſpecting all things: A qualification, which indeed muſt alwayes be ſuppoſed in thoſe who expect to make any advantage of their Readings!

CHAP. II.

Of Magick and its Species.

The famous ^[7] Civilian hath in his Emblemes, taken occaſion to repreſent the three cauſes of ignorance by the image of Sphinx; pleaſure, by her face; inconſtancy, by her feathers; and pride, by her feet. Methinks it is not hard to add ſomething to this repreſentation, by obſerving the effect of ignorance by the cruelty of the ſame Monſter. For as that took a certain pleaſure in caſting down from the top of the Rock ſhe ſate on, all thoſe who either could not or would not reſolve her Riddles; ſo Ignorance hath ever made it her buſineſſe to precipitate thoſe out of all credit and reputation, who, better employ'd, would not mind thoſe fooleries and legerdemaines. Nor indeed can we but perceive, that, before Humanity and Learning became common and generally attainable by the happineſſe of this laſt age, all thoſe who endeavoured their propagation and advancement, were (infamouſly) termed Grammarians and Hereticks; thoſe who made ſtricter ſcrutinyes into the knowledge of naturall cauſes incurr'd the cenſure of Scepticks and Atheiſts; he who was more then Ordinarily verſ'd in the Hebrew tongue, went for a Jew or an Apoſtate; and thoſe who ſtudied the Mathematicks, and more hidden Sciences▪ were ſuſpected to be Conjurers and Magicians; A Calumny that had no other ground then either popular Ignorance, or the envy which the multitude bears to the vertue of eminent perſons, becauſe of the little correſpondence there is between the inclinations of the one and the other, as ^[8] Seneca ingenuouſly acknowledges in this paſſage; Nunquam volui populo placere: nam quae ego Scio, non probat populus, & quae probat populus; ego neſcio.

But ſince the former have, through the diſcoveries of time, and the endeavours of thoſe who have undertaken their juſt cauſe, outliv'd and trampled on the cenſures of envy and Ignorance▪ I cannot ſufficiently wonder, that amidſt ſuch a multitude of writers, there is not any one hath taken pen in hand to reſcue the honour of all thoſe hegemonick and predominant ſoules, and particularly the greateſt Lights of Religion, even Popes and Prelates, from a vanity the moſt ridiculous and oppoſite to their ſtate that can be imagin'd, which is, that of their having been Magicians, Sorcerers, and Conjurers. This taske I ſhall without much difficulty undertake, yet hope to unskale the eyes of vulgar Ignorance, ſcrupulous ſimplicity and zeal, and Hereticall malice: all which combine together to keep up theſe ſables and erroneous opinions, to the prejudice of accuſed innocence, Truth, as to matter of fact, and the honour and integrity of Religion, which certainly never could ſo far miſcarry in the choice of her principall Miniſters, as that they ſhould make an unnaturall conjunction between the Prince of Light and that of Darkneſſe, God and the Devil, Chriſt and Lucifer, Heaven and Hell, and the Sacrifices of the Creatour and thoſe of the moſt vile and abominable creature in the world. It is certainly not onely to be admired, but deplored, that this opinion, kept above water by ſome vain and triviall conjectures, ſhould have taken ſuch rooting, that it now concerns us to maintain the piety of thoſe great Souls, whoſe lives and actions ſhould rather be an example by which to regulate ours, than afford us occaſions of Apologies and Vindication.

We ſhall then lay our foundation with the diſtinction of Magick into lawfull, and unlawfull or prohibited: whereof if every one were but intentive to obſerve the ſeverall ſpecies and effects, me thinks it were not very difficult to comprehend them. Let us then conſider Man, as a perfect and accompliſhed creature, made after the image of his Creatour, the nobleſt production of all Nature, ſuch as ſhe thought fitteſt to ſhed her favours on, and to furniſh with her greateſt excellencies, that ſo he might be Lord Paramount over all the reſt, and exerciſe dominion over them, it being the inherent right of his excellencie,

—^[9] Et quod dominari in c[•]ter[•] poſſet

Natus homo,—

ordering and regulating his extraordinary actions, either by the particular grace of Almighty God, or by the aſſiſtance of an Angel, or by that of a Daemon; or laſtly, by his own induſtry and ability. From theſe four different wayes, we infer four kinds of Magick: Divine, relating to the firſt; Theurgick, to the ſecond; Geotick, to the third; and Naturall, to the laſt.

The firſt is that ſacred and divine Magick, which being abſolutely happy and accompliſhed, exceeds our forces, and wholly depends on that Spirit, qui qu[•] vult ſpirat, and which diſcovers it ſelf in its noble and ſupernaturall operations, ſuch as Prophecie, Miracles, the gift of Tongues, by means whereof it forces its knowledge upon mankind, affords it matter both of inſtruction and entertainment, ſo to chaſtize and mind men of their duties, and to raiſe a veneration for the Miniſters of its Commandments. Magicians of this kind were Moſes, Joſhua, the Prophets, the Apoſtles, Gregory Thaumaturgus, and Simeon Stilites, thoſe great Wonder-workers, and a multitude of others, who have exerciſed this Moſaicall ^[10] Magick. This Pliny, not underſtanding it, condemns; as alſo another, which he cals by the name of the Cyprian Magick, that is, that of St. Paul, who being in Cyprus, did, in the preſence of the Pro-Conſul Sergius, make Elymas the Sorcerer loſe his ſight. But this kind never diſcovered it ſelf with ſo much luſtre and miracle, as in thoſe two tranſcendent actions, the alliance of God with man, made at ſeverall times, by Moſes, and Jeſus Christ, who confirmed it onely by the vertue of this Magick. For the former, he was ſo fortunate in it, that having abjured what he [•]ad learned in the ſchool of men, he by the practice of this, delivered the people of Iſrael out of Aegyptian bondage, and made himſelf a Generall of 600000 men, whom he and his Succeſſours governed according to the Laws he had received from God with thunder and lightening. The latter, Jeſus Christ, wrought wonders with ſo much eaſe, that both Jews and Gentiles, not able to comprehend whence that power was derived, which yet was no other than that of his Divinity, imagined all done by a wicked and Diabolicall Magick. Thence it came they were ſo impudent (as ^[11] S. Hierome, and S. Auguſtine obſerve) that they publiſhed certain books under the title of, Magia Jeſu Chriſti ad Petrum & Paulum Apoſtolos. But the ſaid Doctors prove them clearly ſpurious, in that having ſeen and read them, they found them fraught with ſtories quite diſconſonant to the actions of Jeſus Christ, who left nothing behind him in writing, nor called Paul to the Apoſtleſhip till after his Aſcenſion: beſides that, he could not by his Magick have made the Prophets ſay what they had foretold both of his Deity and Coming.

The ſecond is the Theurgick, or White Magick, which upon the account of Religion, enjoyns faſting and abſtinences, piety, purity, candour, and integrity of life, that the Soul deſirous of commerce with the ſuperiour Deities, may not be in any thing diverted by its polluted and ſinfull body. Hence it is that the Apoſtle ſayes, Corpus quod corrumpitur, aggravat animam, and ſuffers not a man to make uſe of that ſtrictneſſe of Diſquiſition, which is abſolutely neceſſary in this operation; which, me thinks, Scaliger too prodigally commends, if ſo be what he ſayes in his third book againſt Cardan, be meant of this kinde: ^[12] Terti[•] divina est; nomen apud vulgus odioſum facit colluvies impoſtorum, propter Smerdis proditioonem ac perfidi[•]m infenſa diu; hac Dominum Jeſum fuiſſe promiſſum Regem; cognoverunt illi qui ad eum adorandum longinquis è regionibus profecti fuerant. For my part, I ſhould rather explane this of Naturall Magick, againſt the opinion of Loyer and Godelman, who ground theirs perhaps only on his, calling it Divine. Yet for his ſo doing there is ſome reaſon, ſince that thoſe who practiſe it, acknowledge thereby that ſupream and onely Divinity, and may as well by the knowledge it gives us of the creatures, aſcend to that of the Creatour (according to the direction of Moſes, Faciem meam non videbis, poſterior a autem mea videbis) as by the aſſurance it gives us of the miracles of the new Teſtament, to that of the Redeemer. Otherwiſe we muſt ſuppoſe Scaliger extreamly miſtaken, in making ſuch Panegyricks on this Theurgie, when it is, not unjuſtly, condemned by Delrio, Pererius, and all the reſt, who deſerve more credit than this modern Writer, who leaving not a ſtone unmoved to gain the reputation of a Magician, though ineffectually, thought fit, not long ſince, to put forth a Rhetorick, conſiſting of five parts, new and never uſed before, which he would make conſonant to the Ancient, that is, the Art of Trithemius to Invention, Theurgie to Diſpoſition, the Art of Armadel to Elocution, the Art Paulin to Pronunciation, and that of Lullius to Memory. For this, I doubt not, ſince his reputation encreaſes daily, he will have his reward, that is, within fifty years he ſhall have as fine ſtories made of him, as there are now of Dr. [•]auſtus, De Maugis, Merlin, Noſtradamus, and others who are marked with red letters in the Magicians Calendar. To which Catalogue we muſt alſo adde Homer, Socrates, Ariſtotle, Proclus, Jamblichus, Porphyrius, Maximus, and all the great Wits of theſe latter ages, if it be true, as they would fain perſwade us, that they were acquainted with their Genii, and could diſpoſe of their good Angels, meerly by the Criticall obſervation of all thoſe ceremonies and Theurgick preparations, ſo much celebrated by the Poet Palingenius, that a man would think all the morall precepts, whereof his Zodiak of humane life is ſo full, aim only at the practice of all thoſe knacks and Image-Arts of Armadel, Paulin, and the Planetary, Et hujuſmodi ſuperſtitionum ^[13] genera, quae e[•] ſunt pernicioſiora, quò nobis apparent diviniora; ſince eſpecially they bring us thorow the back door to the knowledge & practice of Conjurations and Diabolicall Magick, quae cùm ſit occulta, non minus quàm tetra & horribilis, ^[14] plerunque [•]octibus vigilata, & tenebris abſtruſa, & arbitris ſolitaria, & carminibus mumurata, we ought conſequently to be very diſtruſtfull of, as the principall inſtrument the Devil hath ever made uſe of, to pretend to the honour belongs not to him, and to be ſo idoliz'd by men, as that he might divert them from the worſhip they owe their Creatour. To compaſſe this with the more eaſe, we ſee it hath been his conſtant employment, to bring into practice all the artificies and ſubtleties imaginable, putting on all ſhapes, and making his advantage of all creatures, to make this Idolatry the more univerſal, & conſequently more abominable to him, who, for the love he bears us, call'd himſelf ſometime a jealous God. We ^[15] have it from ſome Hiſtorians, that he ſpoke to Apollonius under the ſhape of an Elm, to Pythagoras under that of a River, to Simon Magus under that of a Dog, to ſome others under that of an Oak. He entertain'd the Heathen in their ſuperſtitions, by heaps of Stones and Statues, whence proceeded Oracles, and (as they ſay) preſides yet among thoſe wretched Aſſemblies which frequent his Sacrifices, under the repreſentation of a Heegoat, the uglieſt may be ſeen; for which yet there muſt be no more reſpect had, than that Aprilibro made of Virgin Parchment, at the opening whereof (they ſay) he is oblig'd to anſwer; or that Shirt of Neceſſity, the Looking-glaſſe of Darkneſſe, and ſuch inſtruments of perdition, as theſe poor, ſuperſtitious, and melancholly wretches take abundance ^[16] of pains to make, cum cantiunculis, cadaveribus, funibus ſuſpendioſorum; quae ſiquis attrectare aude at, etiam mereatur.

The ſentence we have paſs'd againſt the ſecond, may in like manner, with no leſſe earneſtneſſe and truth, be directed to all thoſe who buſie themſelves in a ſort of endleſſe Divinations, the ſpawn of the third kind of Magick, which there is no neceſſity of ſpecifying more particularly, it being the cuſtom of all that write on that Subject, to diſpoſe it into Alphabets and Catalogues. But to deal ingenuouſly, it were much more diſcretion to give them a perpetuall act of Oblivion, not only becauſe we may ſay, and juſtly, that of them which Tertullian does upon another occaſion, Tot pernicies quot ſpecies, tot dolores quot colores, tot venena quot genera, but alſo becauſe they ſeem to be of the nature of a flame, which (as Ovid deſcribes it) heightens and increaſes the more it is ſtirr'd:

Vidi ego jactatas mot[•] face creſcere flammas,

Et rurſus, nullo concutien[•]e, mori.

It were therefore much more to our purpoſe, and the advantage of Religion, to beſtow ſome time in refuting what Picus, in his Apologie, Crinitus, and the reſt affirm, that this wicked and unlawfull Magick was ſo predominant all over Aegypt, that people reſorted thither from all parts of theworld, as if it had been ſome Academy or Lycaeum, purpoſely ſet up for the propagation of this Idolatry. Hence it proceeds that Lucians and Infidels derive much from this opinion, when they would prove that Moſes, who according to the Wiſe-man, Joſephus and Philo, had been inſtructed in all the wiſdom of the Aegyptians, was ſo well verſ'd in this Magick, that he made uſe of it in the working of miracles. To this ſome adde, that Jeſus Christ practiſ'd it, as we find in ^[17] Marſilius Ficinus, and more particularly in ^[18] Arnobius, who affirms, that it was the common objection of thoſe blind wretches, to ſay, Magus fuit, clandeſtinis artibus omnia perfecit: Aegyptiorum ex adytis Angelorum potentium nomina, & remotas furatus est diſciplina[•]. This the Author of the Fortalitium fidei might have ſpar'd his ordinary gloſſes upon, had he but conſidered theſe objections, as ridiculous as thoſe of a many others, who would have Abraham and Jacob paſſe for great Aſtrologers, Joſeph for a Southſayer, and Salomon for a Necromancer, grounded only on certain paſſages of the Bible, wch many of our Doctors have interpreted much more ſuperſtitiouſly than ever did the Rabbins.

But it is almoſt demonſtrable, that this kind of Magick which was practiſ'd ſo univerſally over all Egypt was no other than the Naturall, diſguiſ'd haply with ſome vain and impertinent Ceremonies, as may be eaſily judg'd, in that Zoroaſtes, Zamolxis, Abbaris, Oromaſis, Charondas and Damigeron, who were moſt eminent therein, as all Authours generally affirm, are commended ^[19] by Plato, eſpecially the two firſt, as perſons very intelligent and excellent for the knowledge of Nature rather then any command they had over thoſe Genii, Spirits, and Robin-good-fellowes. This may be further prov'd by the examples of Plato himſelf, of Pythagoras, Empedocles, and Democritus, who have ever been reputed Philoſophers and not Magicians, though by their travels into Egypt they had attain'd thoſe Diſciplines. For indeed it were a ſtrange thing, as the Learned ^[20] Biſhop Mirandulanus obſerves, that, this Magick having been ſo much in vogue, neither Aristotle, nor any Philoſopher of his rate, took any paines to leave us the leaſt account of it, eſpecially the former, who having obſerv'd whatever was conformable to reaſon in his Books, could not have forgot himſelf ſo far, as to paſſe over the effects of this admirable doctrin, in that little Book wherein he hath, with ſo much prudence, layd up together whatever he had diſcover'd that were ſecret, and ſurpaſſing the Ordinary courſe of Nature.

It is therefore no hard conjecture, to think that theſe tranſcendent Sciences, this rare doctrin, theſe admirable diſciplines amounted to no more than the practice of our fourth and laſt kind of Magick, called Naturall. To diſcover and unmask which, we are to remember that man being a Converſative creature, capable of diſcipline, and furniſhed with all inſtruments requiſite for ratiocination and his inſtruction in the truth of all things, he is able to put them in practice, either for the attaining of an ordinary vulgar knowledge proportionable to that of others, little or not exceeding that of his Equalls, ſuch as have nothing extraordinary or miraculous in it, becauſe (n) inaequalitas tantum est ubi[•] quae eniment ^[21] notabilia ſunt; non est admirationi una arbor, ubi i n eandem altitudinem tota ſylva▪ ſurrexit. Or haply to raiſe himſelf to the higheſt and moſt tranſcendent ſpeculations, to avoid the common road, and take a Noble flight into thoſe azure vaults of the pureſt part of our ſoul, to [•]oare up into that terreſtiall paradiſe of the Contemplation of Cauſes, that ſo he may at length arrive at that ſupreme degree of felicity; which onely opens a man the way into thoſe places ſo much celebrated by Lucretius, ^[22]

Edita doctrinâ Sapientum templa ſerena.

This is indeed the true effect of this kind of Magick, which the Perſians called, anciently, Wiſdom, the Greeks Philoſophy, the Jews Cabbala; the Pythagoreans, Science of the formall numbers; and the Platonicks, the Soveraigne Remedy, which ſeats the ſoul in perfect Tranquillity, and preſerves the body in a good Conſtitution by the faculty it hath of being able to reconcile the paſſive effects to the active vertues, and to make theſe elementary things here below, comply with the actions of the Stars and celeſtiall Bodies, or rather the Intelligences which guide them by materialls, proper and convenient for that purpoſe. We may therefore conclude with the Learned Verulam, that this fourth kind of Magick Naturalem Philoſophiam à veritate ſpeculationum ad magnitudinem operum revocare nititur, it being nothing elſe then a practical Phyſick, as Phyſick is a contemplative Magick; and conſequently ſince what is ſubalternate to the one is the ſame to the other, it will not be hard to diſentangle it out of an infinite web of Superſtitions, confine it to that which it only hath to do with, and appoint it its due bounds and limits.

Quos ultràcitraque nequit conſistere rectum.

Theſe are no other than what are aſſign'd to Phyſick by Wendelinus, Combachius, and the ſubtle ^[23] Algazel, and confirmed by (p) Avicenna, who ſtating the parts of Naturall Philoſophy attributes to it, firſt Medicine▪ then Chymistry, Astronomy, Phyſiognomy and Oneiroſcopy, to which may be added Chiromancy, Metopoſcopy, Elioſcopie, and Geomancy, that is, the three former to Phiſiognomy, and the laſt, as Albertus Magnus, Vigenere, Dr. Flood, Pompanatius, and Agrippa, would have it, to Astrologie. All theſe parts, in regard they have ſome foundation in naturall cauſes, may be, as theſe Authors affirm, freely practiſed, and that without the ſuſpicion of any other Magick then the Naturall ſuch as is allow'd and approved by all, yet provided alwayes, that the profeſſors confine themſelves, the moſt ſtrictly that may be; within the Limits of their Cauſes, without wandring into a million of ridiculous obſervations, ſuch as but too too eaſily creep in to their mindes, who make it their employment.

CHAP. III.

That many Eminent Perſons have been accounted Magicians, who were only Politicians.

WEre it lawfull to adde any thing to that excellent conſideration upon which the French (a) Seneca built the firſt Chapter ^[24] of his Eſſayes, namely that it is poſſible by ſeverall wayes, and thoſe abſolutely different, to attain the ſame end; I know not any example contibutes more to the demonſtration of this truth then that of the puniſhment of lying and fabulous Authors, whoſe malice may be ſuppreſſ'd by a meanes quite contrary to what was anciently practiſ'd by the Lycians ^[25] againſt falſe witneſſes and informers. For whereas the cuſtome among them was to treat ſuch as ſlaves and to proſtitute them in publick places, we are on the contrary to eſtabliſh a Law, that all Hiſtories ſhould be like thoſe contracts which the Civilians call Stricti juris, and that the diſcovery of the firſt impoſture ſhould fairly entitle the whole body of the Book to the fire, or at leaſt hinder the ſale and publiſhing of it. Had this been as carefully lookt after heretofore as it is neceſſary to be put in practice now, we ſhould, I muſt confeſſe, have fewer precepts but more profitable, fewer Books but more fraught with Learuing, leſſe Hiſtory but more truth, and conſequently we ſhould have ſomething elſe to do than to t[•]ouble our ſelves for ^[26] Apologies for all thoſe excellent perſons, (c) tanquam artis ſinistrae contagione pollutos. Nay there is ſuch a multitude of writers repreſent them as ſuch, that the Civilian Heraldus, conſidering with himſelf that in theſe daies they are only pittifull wretches that are drawn into theſe pernicious and unlawfull practiſes, took occaſion to ſay that the trade was now abſolutely fallen into the hands of cheats and the Ignorant, ^[27] (d) non amplius Philoſophorum, ſed ruſticorum et idoitarum.

Having therefore ſhewn in the firſt Chapter of this Apologie that the Propagation of all theſe vulgar errours happened by the want of Judgment in thoſe that read Authors, we are now to proceed further in our deſigne; and finde out the generall cauſes of all theſe falſe reports, which being of the ſame alloy with the moſt extravagant imaginations of the Poets, crept into reputation under the appearance of ſome adventure or occaſion. Titus Livius ſeems to ſhew us a little light in the Diſcovery of the firſt cauſe for which many excellent perſons have been charg'd with Magick, though not any of them had ever the leaſt acquaintance with it, where he tells us, ^[28] that, datur hac venia Antiquitati, ut miſcendo humana divinis primordia urbium auguſtiora faciat. Whence we may eaſily conjecture, that the more ſubtle and practiſ'd Lawgivers knowing that the readieſt way to gain Authority, amongſt the people and to continue it, was to perſwade them that they were only the Inſtruments of ſome ſupreme diety, who was pleaſed to favour them with its aſſiſtance and protection, have not unſucceſſefully father'd all upon feigned Dieties, pretended Conferences, imaginary Apparitions, and in a word, this Magick of the Ancients, the better to palliate their ambition, and to [•]ay a ſurer foundation of future Empire. Hence came it, that ſometime Triſmegistus affirmed the derivation of his Laws from Mercury, Zamolxis from Vesta, Charondas from Saturn, Minos from Jupiter, Lycurgus from Apollo▪ Draco and Solon from Minerva, Numa Pompilius from the Nymph Aegeria, and Mahomet from the Angel Gabriel, who often whiſpered him in the eare under the Shape of a Pidgeon, being as well inſtructed to further his deſign, as Pythagoras's Eagle and Sertorius's Hind were for theirs. Nay the Cheat hath prov'd no leſſe fortunate to ſome Politicians, who uſing all the induſtry and artifices poſſible to gain the reputation of the indulgence of ſome Divinity, by the means of this Theurgie and feigned apparitions, have brought to paſſe, ſome adventures difficult beyond imagination. Such were thoſe of the Hermit Schacaculis, ^[29] who, having acted that part excellently well for ſeven or eight years in a deſert, at laſt drew the Curtains, poſſeſſ'd himſelf of ſeverall Citties, defeated a Baſhaw, and Mahomets Son, and had done much more miſchief, had he not incenſ'd the Sophy by the meanes of one certain Celender, who under pretences of devotion ſhook all Natolia, and found the Turk work enough, till at laſt he loſt his life in a pitch'd field. To be ſhort, ſuch another was Elinahel an African who took the ſame courſe to wreſt the Scepter out of his Maſter's hands the King of Morocco; to whom we might adde a many others, whoſe extraordinary fortune gave Cardan occaſion ^[30] to adviſe ſuch Princes and Soveraignes, who by reaſon of the meanneſſe of their extraction, want of friends or a military force, have not credit enough to governe their Countries; to apply themſelves, to this ſacred Theurgie. By ſuch meanes did James Buſſularius make a ſhirt to rule for ſome time at Pavia; John de Vincence, at Boulongue; and Savanorola at Florence of which latter we have this remark of the Polite ^[31] Italian in his diſcourſe upon Livy; The people of Florence are no fools, yet Brother Hierom Savanorola perſwaded them that he had conferences with God. But before all theſe, had Veſpaſian done as much by his miracles, and Nama the ſecond ^[32] founder of Rome, qui Romanos operoſiſſimis ſuperſtitionibus oneravit, ut rapaces et adhuc feros hominee multitudine tot numinum demerendorum attonitos efficiendo, ad humanitatem temperaret.

And indeed this kind of circumvention is of ſuch conſequence, that thoſe who thought not fit to make uſe of it this way, as conceiving it too low, and not able to bring about their ambitious ends, have aſcended a ſtep higher, affirming themſelves to be the Sons of theſe ſupreme Deities (rather Devills); under pretence of whoſe favo[•]r all other Law-givers, and Politicians were glad to keep up their credit and Authority.

Virg▪
—Veluti Parnaſſia laurus

Parva▪ ſub ingenti matris ſe protegit umbra.

When therefore we find Hercules calling himſelf the Son of Jupiter, Romulus of Mars, Servi[•]s of Vulcan, Alexander of Ammon, and ſo of others, we muſt conceive they did it, either to bring the people under obedience, and to gain that reſpect among men which they bore their ſuppoſed Fathers. Or haply their Mothers being more then ordinarily crafty and politick hoc pr[•]texunt nomine culpam; a trick probalbly play'd by thoſe of Plato, Apollonius, Luther, and the Prophet Merlin, ^[33] whoſe Romance muſt needs take its riſe from the pretty ſtory of his birth, that ſo nothing might be omitted that ſhould render his adventures more full of prodigy and aſtoniſhment.

To this head may alſo be reduc'd the vanity of thoſe private perſons, who no leſſe deſirous, to have ſome influence over their fellow-citizens and the ordinary rate of men, than Princes and Monarchs have over their ſubjects, make it their buſineſſe to perſwade us that the Gods have an extraordidary renderneſſe for their perſons by aſſigning them ſome Guardian-Angell, or Director in all the moſt important actions of their lives, Among theſe may be ranked Socrates, Apollonius, Chicus, Cardan, Scaliger, Campanella and ſome others, who would perſwade themſelves, that all the proofs and aſſurances which they ſhould be pleaſ'd to afford us of their familiar Demons ſhould be acknowledg'd by [•]s, with no leſſe veneration than thoſe ancient Commentaries ^[34] of the Rabbins, which lay it down as undeniable that among the Patriarchs of the Old Teſtament, Adam had been govern'd by his Angel Raziel, Sem by Jophiel, Abraham by Tzadkiell, Iſaac by Raphael, Jacob by Piol, and Moſes by Mitraton. No[•] indeed do I ſee any reaſon to paſſe any other judgment of the one than of the other; and that the beſt advantage we can make of all theſe extravagances, is to uſe them as a Collyrium to help us to diſcern truth from falſhood, reall Magick from fictions and pretences, and politicall and naturall operations from the Diabolicall, which, as ſuch, are condemn'd by all. Such were thoſe practiſ'd ſometime ^[35] againſt Moſes, by the Magicians of Pharaoh, called by St. Paul, Jammes, and Mambres; thoſe of Simon Magus who oppoſ'd St. Peter; of Cynops, who was drown'd upon the prayer of St. John the Evangeliſt; of Elymas ſtruck blind by St. Paul; of Zaores and Arphaxat, who▪ according ^[36] to the Hiſtory of Abdias, were deſtroy'd by thunder in Perſia. To theſe we may adde of latter times Dr. Fauſtus, Zedechias the Jew, the little Scot, Trois-eſchelles, he who under Charles the fifth, would needs be called Magiſter videns, ^[37] and a many others of whom we muſt underſtand the Decree, thundring in the Code againſt Magicians, Magi, in quacunque ſint parte terrarum, humani generis inimici credendi ſunt.

CHAP. IV.

That the extraordinary Learning of many great men hath oftentimes been accounted Magick.

FUrius Veſinius the Peaſant, accuſ'd before the people of Rome for a ſort of wizzardry done by him upon the Lands of his neighbours, which though of greater extent, yet yeelded not ſo great a Crop as his that were leſſe, would take no other courſe to juſtifie his Innocence, then to bring along with him, on the day of his appearance, all the Inſtruments of Agriculture, kept in very good order, beſeeching his Judges to believe that he had made uſe of no other poiſons or unlawfull drugges then thoſe, together with abundance of paines and a many watchings, which, to his ſorrow, he knew not how otherwiſe to repreſent. In like manner theſe great perſons

—Queis arte benigna

Et meliore luto finxit pracordia Titan,

need no more, to blaſt this Calumny, which to this day lyes heavy upon them, than to manifeſt and diſcover the proceedings whereby they have attain'd ſo great Learning and Abilities. Thoſe indeed they were ſo eminent for, that it ſeems in ſome ſort to excuſe their weakneſſe who could referr them to no cauſes but what were extraordinary, and upon no other account have made it a crime, ſuch as, were it not true what Apuleius ſaies, that, Calumniari quivis innocens poteſt, revinci ^[38] niſi nocens non poteſt, we might ſay are in a manner entail'd on all perſons of more than ordinary deſert. Galen, that great Genius of Medicine, ^[39] confeſſes that at Rome he was thought guilty of it, for diverting a fluxion, by Phlebotoimy in leſſe then two dayes, which Eraſistratus could not effect in a long time, becauſe he would not make uſe of that remedy. Apuleius was forc'[•] to the trouble of two Declamations in publick, and to diſplay all his great abilities and Learning to reſcue them from the cenſure of Magick, which his Enemies would faſten on them, wherein they muſt needs be miſtaken, unleſſe they took the word according to the explication of Sr. Hierom, ^[40] where he ſayes, Magi ſunt qui de ſingulis philoſophamur. For if it be reſtrained to that ſenſe, we ſhall freely acknowledge, that Galen, Apuleius, and the reſt for whom we make this Apologie, were Magicians, that is, ſtudious perſons, indefatigable, as to travell; and conſequently pale, ^[41] wan, and ſickly, quibus continuatio etiam literalis laboris omnem gratiam corpore deterget, habitudinem tenuat, ſuccum exſorbet, colorem obliterat, vigorem debilitat.

Theſe indeed are the charms and enchantments, whereby they came to underſtand the Trivium and Quadrivium of the ſeven Liberall Sciences, ſo much celebrated by the Moderns, and conſequently arrived to the knowledge of the whole Encyclopedy. This it was, that in ſome ſort raiſed them to a communication with that Divinity which Homer attributes to the Sun, becauſe he ſees all things. This likened them to the Gymnoſophiſts, who as Philoſtratus affirms, thought themſelves the more acceptable to their Gods, the higher they jumped and lifted themſelves up into the air in their carols and dances. That indeed bred the quarrell, theſe great intelligences raiſed themſelves to ſuch a height of perfection, that the ignorance of the ages they lived in, envying the diſtance between them and other men, hath alwayes charged them with impiety in their Speculations and Theory, and Magick in their Actions. ^[42] As to the former, Plutarch was the firſt Authour of this excellent obſervation, where he tels us that Anaxagoras and thoſe Philoſophers, who firſt found out the cauſes of Eclipſes, communicated it to their Diſciples in a Cabaliſtical & Traditionall way very ſecretly, not daring to venture it among the people, whoſe faith it was, that only temerarious and impious perſons ſought out any reaſon for thoſe entraordinary effects, which depended immediately on the will of the Gods, whoſe Liberty they thought incompatiblewith the indiſturb'd order of thoſe cauſes, whereof the Philoſophers pretended a naturall Demonſtration. Hence proceeded the rigorous puniſhment inflicted on them, either by baniſhment, as happened to Protagoras, or long impriſonment as to Anaxagoras, out of which Pericles had all the trouble in the world to make him go. Nay they would not pardon Socrates, but condemn'd him upon this very account that his Philoſophy had ſomething different from thoſe that went before him. Theſe harſh proceedings gave Plato ^[43] ſuch an alarm, that he ingenuouſly confeſſ'd to Dionyſius, that for that very reaſon he had not advanc'd any opinion of his, but under the name of Socrates or ſome other Philoſopher, leaſt ſometime or other he ſhould be called to account for it. The ſame perſon, conſulted by the Athenians ^[44] about the execution of the Oracles anſwer which had commanded them to double their Altar, which was of a Cubick figure, took that occaſion, as extreamely advantageous, to perſwade them to the ſtudy of Philoſophy eſpecially Mathematicks, without the knowledge whereof it was abſolutely impoſſible to ſatisfie the Oracle▪ This might haply ſeem fabulous to a many who have a greater reverence for Antiquity then to Imagine it ſo ſtupid and Ignorant; but that the Author from whom we have this teſtimony is not to be ſuſpected guilty of either miſtake or negligence. But if we come nearer our own age, we ſhall find there was not much more reaſon, ſome ages ſince, to deny as Lactantius did, againſt Avicenna, that the Torrid Zone was habitable; or to diſpute againſt the opinion of the Antipodes, and to ſay, by way of raillerie, to thoſe that maintained ^[45] it, Et miratur aliquis hortos penſiles inter ſeptem mira narrari, cum Philoſophi & agros, & maria, & urbes, & montes, penſiles faciant?

Nay, ſo ridiculous and contrary to Religion was this opinion thought in that time, that the ^[46] poor Biſhop Virgilius was excommunicated, and condemned for an Heretick, for patronizing that reverſe of this world, long before it was diſcovered by Columbus. Nor is it a thing leſſe ſtrange, that Philaſtrius ſhould put into the Catalogue of the hereticall and condemned opinions in his time, that of ſome Philoſophers, who held the Solidity of the Heavens, which yet hath ever been acknowledged, and ſtill is in the Schools, though within theſe thirty or fourty years, ſome Profeſſours have diſcarded it, to introduce the ancient, which was the more common and authentick in the time of Philaſtrius.

It is therefore no miracle, when all the propoſitions of theſe great wits, though moſt ſolid and rationall, have ever met with contempt, by the Gentiles, out of ſuſpicion of impiety; by the Chriſtians; of hereſie, onely becauſe they happen'd in ages diſtruſtfull of thoſe vaſt and extraordinary acqueſts of learning, if the greateſt part of Philoſophers, Mathematicians, and Naturaliſts have been unjuſtly charged with Magick: an obſervation ^[47] we are obliged for, to that great perſon, whom Laurentius Valla cals the laſt of the Latines, who among other lamentations directed to Philoſophy, forgot not to ſay, Atque hoc ipſo affines ^[48] fuiſſe videmur maleficio, quod tuis imbu[•]i diſciplinis. From which paſſage we may learn, that that calumny hath been ſo pinned to the ſleeves of all that have profeſſed thoſe Diſciplines, that it ſeems in a manner an eſſentiall property in them to be accounted Magicians▪ ſince it ſeldom or never happens, that any Lawyers and Divines (unleſſe Hereticks) have been charged therewith. Whereas on the contrary, thoſe who are the moſt intimately acquainted with Philophy, have not been able to ward off this reproach, or divert men from attributing the fruits of their induſtry to their proficiencie in the Academy of Devils, where they yet profited more than in any of the other Sciences, if we may truſt thoſe who would furniſh us with more Magicians, quàm olim muſcarum ^[49] eſt, tum cùm caletur maxime.

But to facilitate the diſcovery in this point, all our buſineſſe is to obſerve the firſt appearances of Learning, the firſt riſings of great Wits, the time they flouriſhed, the ages which have brought forth moſt, and take notice by the way, how that ignorance hath alwayes perſecuted them with this calumny. It will tell us, if we will hearken to it, that Zoroaſtes and Zamolxis never did any thing, but fool away their time in Sacrifices; that Pythagoras, Democritus, Empedocles, Socrates and Ariſtotle had never known any thing, had they not applyed themſelves to the Daemons; that Apuleius was but a Wizard; that Geber, Alchindus▪ Avicenna, and all the moſt excellently learned among the Arabians, were Profeſſours of Magick; that Roger Bacon▪ Ripley, Bongey, Scotus, were ſo many cunning men among the Engliſh, excellently well verſ'd in Necromancie, and very able Conjurers; that Chicus, the Conciliator, Anſelm of Parma, and divers other Italians, were very well acquainted with the buſineſſe of Invocations; that Arnoldus de Villa nova, and William of Paris, were alſo very fortunat therein, in France. In a word, all Countreys that had any men famous for learning were ſure to have alſo Magicians; whereof, for want of the former, Germany had alwayes been barren enough, Albertus Magnus excepted, till that, furbiſh'd & refin'd by letters, it brought forth Trithemius & Agrippa, as the Ring-leaders of all the fore-mentioned. To theſe: if we beleeve Bodin, we muſt add Hermolaus & Cardan▪ if de Lancre▪ Scaliger & Picus; if ſome others yet more ſuperſtitious, all the moſt eminent perſons, as if there had been no other ſchools than the Ca[•]es of Toledo, no other books than the Claviculae, no other Doctors than Devils, no other wayes for a man to become learned, but by the practice of all thoſe Magicall Superſtitions; or laſtly, that the reward of a great induſtry, and the fruits of excellent endowments, were only to enable a man to caſt himſelf into the claws of that enemy of mankind, whoſe acquaintance is but too too eaſily procur'd, it being his buſineſſe, to go about like a roaring Lion, ſeeking whom he may devour.

Having therefore well conſidered whence it comes to paſſe, that many have made ſuch diſadvantagious gloſſes on the learning of theſe great perſons; I am, in the firſt place, perſwaded it might proceed from a reaſon common to all the erroneous perſwaſions which inſenſibly thruſt in among us, as the learned Verulam hath obſerved, Is humano intellectui error eſt proprius & perpetuus, ^[50] ut magis moveatur & excitetur affirmativis quàm negativis. In the ſecond, that haply it might come from this, that theſe Philoſophers ſoaring up into contemplations too high and remote from ordinary apprehenſions; thoſe, who, in compariſon of them, onely crept upon the ground, were oblig'd to admire them, and, in time, to reproach, as over-confident and ſupernaturall, whether this change proceeded from the weakneſſe of their judgement, or a deſigne to calumniate them, as Seneca obſerves, quàm magnus mirantium, tam ^[51] magnus invidentium est populus. Or laſtly from this, that whatever the moſt ſubtle and ingenious among men can perform, by the imitation or aſſiſtance of Nature, is ordinarily comprehended under the name of Magick, untill ſuch time as it be diſcovered by what wayes and means they effect thoſe extraordinary operations. Of this we have an example in the invention of Guns and Printing, and the diſcovery of the new world; the people wherof, thought at firſt ſight, that our ſhips were made by Magick, our vaults & arches by enchantment, and that the Spanyards were the Devils that ſhould deſtroy them, with the thunder and lightening of their Arquebuzzes and Guns.

From what hath been ſaid may be inferr'd, that all theſe great perſons have incurr'd the cenſure of Magicians, for having performed many ſtrange things by the aſſiſtance of Phyſick and other Sciences they were Maſters of, and in the practice whereof all good Authours are wont to comprehend Magick. The reaſon of this, is, that they are not ſo eaſie to be proſtituted to the knowledge of the Vulgar as the Mechanicks are, which cannot ſo much command admiration, becauſe, being exerciſ'd about manifeſt and palpable Bodies, it is a manner impoſſible that the Authors thereof ſhould keep up the ſecret of their ſeverall canſes and operations. And this leads us to a neceſſity of acknowledging that the practice of the Mathematicks, and, above all, of theſe Mechanicks, and judiciary Aſtrology, hath contributed much to the confirmation of all theſe erroneous opinions, as we ſhall ſhew more at large elſewhere.

CHAP. V.

That Mathematicians have many times been accounted Magicians.

AMong all the Precepts which contribute any thing to the regulation and conduct of our Actions, me thinks there is not any more ſerious or of greater conſequence then that which minds us, that, Venena non dantur niſi melle circumlita, & vitia non decipiunt niſi ſub ſpecie Virtutum. Of this we have daily experience, in that as Coyners of falſe mony employ all their induſtry ſo to diſpoſe ſome little Gold or Silver upon bad pieces that they may paſſe for good and current; ſo the greateſt part of thoſe who by reaſon of the lightneſs and vanity of their Doctrine fall into the generall contempt, are forc'd to change Scenes, to diſguiſe, and if they are Hereticks, for example, to take the title of Divines; if Impoſtors, of Chymiſts, if Mounte-banks, of Doctors; if Sophiſters, of Philoſophers; if Conjurers, of Well-wiſhers to the Mathematicks. This makes ſad and ſtrange confuſion in all things, eſpecially the Sciences, that, if it be not abſolutely impoſſible, it is certainly very difficult to be able to diſcern the Legitimate profeſſors from the Ignorant and preſumptuous profaners of them; who, having ſcattered into them abundance of cheats & ſuperſtitions, have made them ſo ſuſpectfull, that even thoſe who have courted them with greateſt religion could never do it with the generall approbation and allowance of all. This certainly is one principal reaſon whereby the moſt criticall and accompliſh'd Wits, have given their Enemies occaſion to defame them as Magicians, becauſe they had made greater diſcoveries into thoſe four parts of the Mathematicks, which are called by ^[52] Caſſiodorus, Quadrifariae Matheſis Januae; by Sarisberienſis, Quadrivii rotae; and by Calcagnin, Quadriga diſciplinarum, that is, Arithmetick Geometry, Muſick, and Astrology. Theſe indeed are ſuch, that, by reaſon of [•]he ſubtle operations are wrought by them, the Jeſuit Pererius ^[53] took occaſion to divide Naturall Magick into two kinds. One hath an abſolute dependance on Phyſick and its parts, working, by the meanes both of the occult and known qualities of all things, many times, very ſtrange and miraculous effects, ſuch as might be the Golden henne of Sennertus, the Magneticall unguent of Goclinus, the Lamp and invulnerable Knight of Burgravius, the Idaeall pouder of Quercetanus, the Fulminant Gold of Beguinus, the Vegetall Tree of the Chymiſts, and many ſuch naturall miracles which theſe Authours affirme they have ſeen and experienc'd. The other giuded by Mathematicall precepts, makes certain artificiall Engines by meanes whereof we come afterwards to admire ^[54] that Sphere of Archimedes, parvam machinam, gravidam mundo, Caelum geſtabile▪ compendium rerum, Speculum naturae. To that adde thoſe Automata of Daedalus, thoſe Tripods of Vulcan, the ^[55] Hydraulicks of Boëtius the Pidgeon of Architas, that induſtrious Iron-fly preſented to the Emperour Charles the V. by John de Mont royal, which

—from under's hand flew out

And having flown a perfect Round about,

With weary wings return'd unto her Maſter,

And (as judicious) on his Arm ſhe plac'd her.

Beſides which, there are many other productions of man's wit, working, it as it were in [•]pight of nature, which have ſo dazzled weaker minds, that it is indeed no wonder, if, not able to diſcover the reaſons, which were purpoſely kept from them, they have attributed all thoſe inſtruments and engines, rather to Diabolicall operations then humane induſtry, and have through ignorance, beſpatter'd the greateſt Mathematicians with the infamy of Magick. An inſtance of this we have in that Archimedes of Gaſcony, Francis Fluſſad of Candale, who was not able to ward off the blowes of that Calumny. To him adde John Denys an excellent Mathematician of our time, who printed an Apology for himſelf in the year 1570. and pleaded his own cauſe at London. And to him, Pope Silveſter, Bacon, Michael Scotus, Albertus Magnus, and all the reſt who now put in their Bills of Complaint.

Ovid. de Nace.
Fructus obest, peperiſſe nocet, nocet eſſe feracem.

Wherein there is certainly much juſtice, their only crime being, that their Sciences, their inſtruments, their brazen heads, their Clocks, and all their other ſubtle Inventions, have ſo aſtoniſh'd the populace, that inſtead of referring theſe ſingular effects to their true cauſe and the experience of the Mechanicks▪, the Operator whereof, is▪ if I may ſo expreſſe it, penè ſocius naturae, occulta ^[56] reſerans, manifeſta convertens, miraculis ludens, it hath attributed all to Diabolicall Magick. This they think was very much more in reputation five or ſix hundred years ſince than itis now[•] and that was publickly taught in certain Schools in Spain, whereof the ruines are yet to be ſeen in the Cellars near Toledo and Salamanca. But this rather begs our belief then requires it, in as much as the Authors from whom we have theſe things, being no more Authentick Teſtimony, then what we might produce to affirm as much of the Caſtle of Viceſtre. But indeed, it is a certain piety not to think that Citty ever was the Seminary of ſo many Magicians, which God honour'd with a prerogative above all other, that the doctrine and policy of his Church was confirm'd and maintain'd therein by the aſſemblies of 17. Councells; beſides that thoſe who make Sylveſter a Magician acknowledge that he learn'd, what he knew that way, at Toledo.

But when it ſhall be hereafter evinc'd that Sylvester was no ſuch man, but the greateſt aud moſt excellent Mathematican of his Age, it will be but rationall to grant, that, by the Magick taught at Toledo is only meant the Mathematicks, which had gain'd ſuch reputation there, and were ſo perfectly taught, that a certain Engliſh man called Daniel Morlerus (who flouriſh'd in the year 1190. and writt excellently well therein) after a long aboad in Barbarie to learn them, was at laſt adviſed to tranſport himſelf to Toledo, as the moſt famous place for their profeſſion in the World. Such, it ſeems, it was then, and continu'd ſo, long after, even to Alphonſus King of Castile in the year 1262. who became ſuch a Mecaenas and Patron of theſe diſciplines that he gave, by way of recompence, to certain Arabians whoſe aſſiſtance and induſtry he had made uſe of in compoſing his Astronomicall Tables, above 400000 Crownes: ſo infinitely deſirous was he of being accounted the common Benefactor of all the Mathematicians of his time, that there needs no further ſecurity for it, then that infinite number of Treatiſes and Tranſlations upon this ſubject, which had never been done but by the influence of his name, and the example of his Liberality. ^[57] That indeed brought theſe Diſciplines much into requeſt, eſpecially judiciary Aſtrology, as Mirandula obſerves, that it is not to be wondered at, that the place where it was ſo diligently practiſed, ſhould be taken for the Schoole of Magick. If ^[58] ſo, thoſe certainly, who glory'd in the imitation of the Aſtrologer Diophanes, who boaſted in Apuleius that he certainly knew qui dies copulam nuptialem affirmet, qui fundamenta moenium perpetuet, qui negotiatori commodus, qui viatori celebris, qui navigiis opportunus, muſt needs expect to be branded ^[59] for Magicians, not much differing from the opinion of Tertullian, who ſometimes ſaid, Scimus Magiae & Aſtrologiae inter ſe ſocietatem. It is alſo the opinion of the Civilians, who under the ſame head, treat De Maleficis et Mathematicis, upon occaſion of Divinations and this Aſtrologie, which hath been condemn'd under the name of Mathematicks, becauſe Justinian deſirous to make his Conſtitutions clear and intelligible, made uſe of the moſt uſuall and Vulgar words: Vulgus autem, ſaies Gellius, quos gentilitio ^[60] vocabulo Chaldaeos dicere oportet, Mathemati[•]os dicit. We have it confirmed alſo by a paſſage in Juvenal,

Sat. 14.
Nota Mathematicis geneſis tua—

which, as that of Gellius, is not to be underſtood of Arithemetick, Geometry, Muſick, and Aſtronomy, which are particularly ſignifi'd by the name of Mathematicks, and generally approved by all, but only of Judiciary Aſtrology, which is, with much reaſon, condemn'd by the Church, not as ſuſpected guilty of any thing of Magick, but as a Profeſſion, quae ſtellis ea quae geruntur ^[61] in terra conſecrat, makes us ſlaves to the deſtinies, and is abſolutely in conſiſtent with all kinds of Religion.

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CHAP. VI.

That the Books attributed to divers great perſons, are not a ſufficient testimony to make them guilty of Magick.

^[62] VVE find in Hiſtory, that that potent King of Aegypt, Ptolemaeus Philadelphus, having ſpar'd no induſtry to adde to and adorn the proud Library he had erected in Alexandria, appointed, for its further ſplendour, a certain ſolemn day, on which all the Poets aſſembled together, recited verſes in honour of the Muſes, that the moſt able and fortunate might be gratified with the preſents he had deſigned for them. Theſe guerdons were already voted to divers of the Candidates, when Aristophanes, who was the ſeventh of the Judges, oppoſed the ſentence of the reſt, and opening the treaſury of his memory, amaz'd all with the greatneſſe of his reading and his miraculous learning, and diſcover'd that the pieces they thought ſo excellent and accompliſhed, were not theirs who had recited them, but had been taken out of the beſt Authours, whom he particulariz'd one after another, making ſuch an Inventory of Felonies, that the King, People, and Judges revok'd the former ſentence, for to favour ſome others, who had not brought any thing, but what was of their own invention. For my part, I am clearly of opinion, that there was not more occaſion, for that Aristophanes in the time of Ptolemy, than there is in this, and that he ſhould find much more occaſion to diſcover his prodigious reading, not onely in the cenſure and condemnation of Plagiaries, but alſo in the vindications of theſe great perſons. For in ſtead of receiving thoſe elogies and honorary titles, ſometimes given them by Richard de Bury, Chancellor of England, the greateſt Lover of Books that hath been ſince the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who, to inſinuate the advantage of good books, tels us, Hi ſunt Magistri qui nos inſtruunt ſine virgis & ^[63] ferula, ſine verbis & cholera, ſine pannis & pecunia: ſi accedis non dormiunt, ſi inquiris non ſe abſcondunt, non remurmurant ſi oberres, cachinnos neſciunt ſi ignores; in ſtead of theſe Elogies, I ſay, they have father'd upon them a number of pernicious and peſtilent books, for which, in ſtead of theſe commendations, they meet with onely the contempt and imprecations of thoſe, who cannot diſtinguiſh theſe ſuppoſititious brats from their true and legitimate children.

This hath given ſome occaſion to imagine, that many great men have not been charg'd with Magick, but meerly upon this fourth cauſe, and the books unjuſtly father'd upon them, ſuch as are thoſe of Trithemius's Catalogue, and many other Manuſcripts, qui e[•] periculoſius errant, quò in ſoliditate ^[64] naturae & vigore rationis ſuum fundare videntur errorem. For an Antidote againſt the venom of this fourth kind, according to our method in the precedent, we are to ſhew that there is no probability, that all theſe books improbatae lectionis, as ^[65] the Civilians call them, were ever written or compoſed by thoſe, under whoſe names and authority they are publiſh'd, which yet if we ſhould grant, yet can there not any certain proof be deduced out of them, to conclude the Authours Magicians. For, in the firſt place, we have no other knowledge or account of theſe books, than what we find in certain Catalogues, who furniſh us with their titles in ſuch a manner, that we cannot judge, unleſſe by ſome other circumſtances, what the Authours drift and deſigne was in the compoſition of them, whether to illuſtrate or confute, plead for or againſt, mantain or condemn the ſubject they treat of, and buſie themſelves about. Whence it came to paſſe, that many finding by theſe Catalogues, that Alexander Aphrodiſaeus had written of Magicall Arts, Aquinas of judiciary Aſtrologie, and Roger Bacon of Necromancie, have preſently entered into imaginations contrary to what they ſhould, beleeving that they contain'd nothing elſe, but the precepts and direction we are to follow, to be perfect in the practice of all thoſe Divinations, and conſequently, that there was much reaſon, why the Authors ſhould be accounted Magicians.

But this conſequence is vain, light, and groundleſſe; for beſides the firſt errour, we may obſerve a ſecond, which, becauſe not ſo obvious, hath deluded a many, even to this day, who held that there needed no more to qualifie any one, an Enchanter or Magician, than to write of Magick: which once granted, we muſt alſo infer, that all thoſe who undertake to write againſt, and to convince them, ſhould be bemir'd with the ſame vice, and accordingly incur the ſame puniſhment. For it muſt be ſuppoſed, that they cannot diſcover the abſurdity of their precepts and maximes, unleſſe they underſtand and declare them to us, which if they do, they become equally guilty, becauſe the good or bad intention of the one and the other, doth not make any alteration in the caſe, relating onely to the nature of Precepts, which ſhould have no more force taken out of Picatrix than Delrio, if he hath once explan'd them, nor of the prohibited Authours, than thoſe who refute them. Nay, we muſt preſſe further, and affirm, that all thoſe who are able to diſcourſe pertinently of Magick, ought to be condemn'd as Magicians, were there no other reaſon than that it is in their power, as much as theirs who did it before, to furniſh us with books and precepts, which if they do not, it is either becauſe they think it not convenient▪ or out of ſome other motive, without any prejudice to their learning. We find Socrates, Carneades, and divers others accounted good Philoſophers, though they would never take the pains to commit any thing to writing; Hortenſius, thought, in Cicero's time, the beſt Oratour in all Rome, who, probably, out of an imitation of a many others highly celebrated by Seneca and Cicero, would never publiſh any of his Declamations. Adde to this, that it were a ſtrange ſimplicity to think, that only ſuch as have been in the Circle, are practiſed in Invocations, and have exerciſed Magick, can write or make books of it, whereas every one is at liberty to diſcourſe according to his humour, of a thing wherein there is neither precepts, order, nor method, and where all a man hath to do, is to mingle the characters of the twelve Signes and the ſeven Planets, the names of certain Angels mentioned in Scripture, the Tohu and the Boh[•], the Urim and Thummim, the Bereſith and Merchava, the Enſoph and the Agla of the Cabalists, with the Hippomanes, Virgin parchment, Pentacle, the dead mans muffler, the Deaths head, the blood of Owls and Bats, and certain prayers and conjurations out of the Flagellum Daemonum, to make a world of myſterious Books and Treatiſes. Theſe muſt afterwards be ſold very ſecretly, and for good round prices, by ſuch as can make no other ſhift to ſtave off their clamorous neceſſities, than by making a trade of theſe cheats and impoſtures, to the coſt and ſorrow of many weak, ſuperſtitious, and melancholy inclinations, who think they are within ſight of Felicity, and can do miracles, when they meet with theſe Cheats and Mountebanks.

—Tam magna penuria mentis ubique!

In nug as tam prona via est!—

Laſtly, there is no likelihood that theſe books, which are onely for the moſt part, the fruits of a long Theory and Speculation, ſhould be ſufficient proofs to convince the Authours of Magick, which conſiſts rather in certain practices and operations, than in the laying down of precepts; he ^[66] onely, according to Biermannus, deſerving the name of a Magician, who contracts with the Devil to make uſe of him in what he ſhall think fit to employ him in. This definition indeed cannot poſſibly agree to all thoſe, for whom we make this Apologie, if there be no other charge againſt them, than that of the Books they have written on this Subject▪ ſince it is poſſible they made them without any contract expreſſed or underſtood, ſimple or publike, as we have ſhewn before. Nay, to take away all controverſie, it is a pure calumny maliciouſly advanced, an opinion ab olutely erroneous and raſh, to think to maintain or prove, that any one of them ever made or troubled himſelf with the compoſure of any Book treating of Geotick or unlawfull Magick, or of any Species or difference thereof. And this, in the firſt place may be confirm'd by the Teſtimony of him who is accounted the Prince and Ring-leader of the ^[67] Magicians, who very well underſtood the chears and ſupriſes of all theſe Books vamp'd and never ſet up with falſe Titles, and father'd upon Zoroastes, Enoch, Triſmegistus, Abraham, Solomon, Apuleius, Aquinas, Albertus magnus, and ſeverall other great perſons. To this adde the Suffrage of ^[68] Vuierus and all thoſe who have written with moſt judgment upon this ſubject, grounded, probably upon the ſame reaſon that made Picus Mirandula give the like Judgment of ſome ſuch Books of ^[69] Judiciary Astrology, which, as he ſaies, are falſify'd by certain impoſtors, who, quoniam, quae produntur ab iis, rationibus confirmari non poſſunt, ſive ipſi illa vera credunt, ſive credi volunt ab aliis, libros hujuſmodi fabularum, viris clariſſimis et antiquiſſimis inſcribunt, et fidem errori ſuo de fictis Authoribus aucupantur.

The ſame remarke we may make on all the other kinds of Quackſalving, eſpecially that of Alchymiſts, who think they have not done their duty and cheated as they ſhould, if after they have made a ſhift to find the explication of all their Chimera's in Geneſis, the Apocalypſe, the Hieroglyphicks, the Odyſſey, the Metamorphôſes, nay even in Epitaphs, Sepulchres, and Tombes, they ſhould not ſend their Books into the world under the names of Mary Moſe's Siſter, Triſmegistus, Democritus, Aristotle, Syneſius, Avicenna, Albertus magnus, and Aquinas. As if all theſe Learned men and great Authors had had no other employment all their lives then blowing & ſtirring of fires, or making of Circles, Characters and Invocations; and that the barbariſme, the extravagances, the childiſhneſſe, want of order, the lowneſſe, errour, and Ignorance of all theſe Books were not ſufficient arguments to reſcue from ſo black a calumny, ſuch tranſcendent Soules, and Intelligences of Litterature,

Omnes coelicolas, omnes ſupera alta tenentes.

And not only that, but with the ſame labour diſcover unto us the muddy, and peſtilent ſource, the Styx and Tartarus, whence proceed all theſe little Monſters, theſe Apparitions, theſe Baſtards, theſe abortive fruits, which indeed is no other ^[70] then the temerity of ſome poor reptile Spirits, qui ſui quaestûs cauſa fictas ſuſcitant ſententias: fathering them upon the firſt comes into their mind ^[71] never minding any reaſon, choiſe conſideration or reſpect. Hence it comes that Chicus affirmes he had ſeen a Book written by Cham concerning Magick, and another made by Solomon, de umbris Idaearum; that John of Saliſbury ^[72] makes mention of an Art of Dreams vented under thename of Daniel; that the two Picus's aknowledge not for legitimate the treatiſes of Necromancy ^[73] attributed to Saint Hierome, Aquinas, and Plato; and that the Abbot Trithemius, not without reaſon, laughs at all that is father'd upon Albertus Magnus and divers others.

For what reaſon or ground is there to believe that Hippocrates was Author of the Book of Lunar Astrologie, Plato of that of the herbes and the Cow, Aristotle of thoſe of the Apple of Vegetables of the properties of Elements and the Secrets of Alexander, Galen of that of Enchantments; Ovid, of that of the Old Woman, and the Loves of Pamphilus; Seneca, of the little Book of Vertues and the Epistles of St. Paul; and that all the be[•]t Authors ſpent their time ſo trivially upon trifling Books of no Value or conſequence; whereof we have ſo little aſſurance of the true Authors, that we are not certain to whom we ought to attribute a many we afford places to in our Lib[•]aryes. For, to paſſe by the works of Orpheus, Triſmegistus, Beroſus, and Manethon, all which are ab[•]olutely feigned, ſome Apocryphall peeces of holy writ; doubtful Treatiſes of Hippocrates, Galen, thoſe queſtion'd by Eraſmus at the impreſſion of the Fathers, the Pamplets of Ge[•]ſ[•]n, Feneſtella, Pythagoras, and Cato, and all that lye under ſuſpicion among Humaniſts; is it not ſtrange that Francis Picus, ſucceſſor to the ^[74] Learning as well as Principality of his Uncle the great Picus, the Phaenix of his Age, ſhould take ſo much paines to prove, that it is altogether uncertain whether Ariſtotle be Author of any one Book of all thoſe that are found in the Catalogue ^[75] of his Works? And yet he is therein ſeconded by Nizolius, and the buſineſſe ſo ſtrictly diſcuſſ'd by Patricius, that, after he had diſcovered a miraculous induſtry in the ſcrutiny of the truth ^[76] of that propoſition, he concludes at laſt, that, of all the Books of that great Genius of nature, there are but four, of little bulk and leſſe conſequence, come to us, as his, without the leaſt doubt or controverſy; that is, That of he Mechanicks, and three others he writ againſt Zeno Goro[•]as and Xenophanes. On the other ſide Ammonius, in his Commentaries upon the Praedicaments, affirms, that there were in the Library of Alexandria forty Books of Analyticks, all under the name of Aristotle; though he had made but four, whereof the two firſt are anſwerable to the nine cited by ^[77] Diogenes Laertius. But this, if we credit Galen, is to be attributed to the emulation that was between the Kings of Pergamus and Aegypt in rewarding thoſe who brought them the Books of any good Author, eſpecially Aristotle; for the greater ornament▪ of their Libraries; it having never happened before, that the Titles of Ancient ^[78] Books had been falſifyed. But in this point we ſhold have been more large had not Patricius taken the paines before us; or that it had been neceſſary to demonſtrate how unjuſt it is, and beſide all appearance of reaſon, that ſome, under their names, whoſe prodigious Learning raiſ'd them to greateſt reputation, have peſter'd the world with an infinite number of impertinent fragments, diſorder'd collections, fabulous Treatiſes, fruitleſſe writings, and Books ſhuffell'd together without reaſon, method, or judgment.

—Quos—ipſe

Non ſiani eſſe hominis non ſanus juret Oreſtes.

CHAP. VII.

Of all the other Cauſes which may give any occaſion of ſuſpicion thereof.

THough the number of thoſe who have endeavoured to diſcover & explain to us the nature & condition of Magick within theſe two hundred years is almoſt infinite yet me thinks the firſt that undertook it have done it with no ſmall diſtraction, as not ſeeing well; and the greateſt part of the more Modern have endeavoured to faciliate the diſquiſition by the uſe of thoſe Glaſſes which make Ants ſeeme as great as a man's thumbe, ſo to repreſent to us in their Books, atomes like Mountaines and flyes like Elephants, that is, magnifie the ſmalleſt faults into the greateſt crimes, by a childiſh metamorphoſis of the leaſt jealouſy into truth, of a hearſay into a demonſtration, and accidents of no conſequence into prodigious and memorable Hiſtories. Whence it is not to be wonder'd at, that as the higher & greater things are, the more ſubject they are to Lightning; ſo the greateſt part of thoſe Noble Souls of paſt ages, thoſe tutelary Gods of Parnaſſus and favourites of the Muſes have not been free from that of Tongues. For being the principall Actors upon the Stage of this world, and as much above the ordinary rate of men, as they are above other Creatures; their leaſts, faults and moſt in conſiderable miſapprehenſions have been more narrowly pry'd into, whether it be that the leaſt mark or mole is more obvious in an extraordinary Beauty than on ſome poor Baucis or Cybale, or that, according to the ſaying of the ſententious Poet.

Omne animi vitium tanto conſpectius in ſe

Crimen habet, quanto major qui pecat habetur.

However it be, we may adde this cauſe to the precedent, as one of the principall that hath cauſed learned men to be thought Magicians, and upon account whereof the curioſity of Albertus magnus, the naturall Magick of Bacon, the judiciary Aſtrology of Chicus, the Mathematicks of Sylveſter, and he reſy of Alchindus, and certaine ſuperſtitious obervations, have been reputed Geotick and diabolicall Magick. But it muſt be confeſſ'd, it is for the moſt part the malevolent interpretation of thoſe who judge not of things, but with miſpriſion; of Authors, but by their outſide and ſuperſcriptions; of Books, but by their titles; nor of men, but by their vices; div[••]ging what they ought in prudence to conceale, and priding it, not only to lay open to the world the miſcarriages of all theſe great perſons, but magnifying and aggravating them purpoſely to prepoſſeſſe, and conſequently make us paſſe ſentence againſt their innocence, which certainly ought to have all the faire play that may be, it being juſt to ſuppoſe it not ſo weak and wounded as it is repreſented to us. Beſides, ſhould we a little more narrowly ſearch into the truth of this opinion quae mala attollit et exaggerat, ^[79] & cothurnis quibuſdam auget, we ſhall find all theſe proofs reſolv'd into conjectures, and all theſe enormous crimes into certain vaine and triviall ſnperſtitions. Nor is it in the mean time any miracle at all, that theſe glorious men in their times ſhould ſomewhat degenerate that way, nay endeavour to practiſe them, when it is of ordinary experience, that what is moſt accompliſhed, is alſo moſt delicate and periſhable. Thus we find that the ſharpeſt points are the ſooneſt blunted, the perfect'ſt white the moſt eaſily ſoyl'd, the beſt complexion the moſt ſubject to ſeveral altrations, & we have it from holy Writt, that the nobleſt of the Angels was the firſt that fell.

Having therefore thus deduc'd all the cauſes we could find of this ſuſpicion as to what concernes the accuſed, we ſhall in the reſt of this Chapter obſerve five others, which we may ſay, have contributed more to the propagation of this erroneous opinion, then the former. Theſe are, Hereſy, Malice, Ignorance, Credulity, and the Diſ-circumſpection, and want of judgment in Authors and writers.

For the firſt, it amounts to ſomething more then a conjecture that Alchindus▪ Peter d' Apono, Arnoldus de Villa nova Riply, and ſome others who with ſome reaſon have been ſuſpected guilty of Hereſy, may without any be charg'd with Magick, though Tertullian ſometimes ſaid, Notata ^[80] ſunt etiam commercia Haereticorum cum Magis plurimis, cum Circulatoribus, cum Aſtrologis, ^[81] cum Philoſophis. Which cenſure be confirmes elſewhere, calling Magick, haereticarum opinionum ^[82] auctricem. Hence haply ſome Catholick Doctors, eſpecially Delrio and Maldonat, took occaſion to lay it down as a Maxime, ſtrengthened by conſtant experience, that either the Authors and firſt ^[83] promoters of Hereſies, have been themſelves Magicians, as Simon Magus, Menander, Valentinianus, Carpocrates, Priſcillianus, Berengarius, and Hermogenes; or that prohibited and Magical Arts have alwayes come in the neck of ſome hereſy. This they exemplify out of ſome Hiſtorians of Spaine, who relate, that after the Arrians had long continu'd therein, the Devils were for a good ſpace of time ſeen tormenting men there. So was the hereſy of Hus ſeconded by a great tempeſt of Sorcerers and Demons through Bohemia and Germany, and that of the Lollards through the Apennine Hills. Of this the Jeſuit Maldonat gives five principall reaſons, which we ſhall not preſſe in this place.

In the ſecond cauſe of ſuſpicion, we may obſerve, that Malice ſometime, made Apuleius be accuſ'd of Magick by his wife's friends; the Popes Sylvester and Gregory by the Emperours they had excommunicated, and ſome Heretiques their implacable enemyes. To which may haply be added the procedure of the Engliſh againſt the Mayd of Orleance, who accordingly condemn'd her for a Witch, whereas de Langey and du Haillan make her act another quite contrary part. But if the common opinion of thoſe who were beſt acquainted with her may prevaile, there is little probability ſhe ſhould have been a Witch, which is the concluſion Valerandus Varanius puts to the Hiſtory he made of her.

Tandem collatis patres ultroque citroque

Articulis, flammas ſub iniquo judice paſſam

Darcida, concordi decernuntore: modumque.

Angligenas violaſſe fori, juriſque tenorem.

But Learning, formerly alledg'd by us as one of the principall cauſes of this falſe accuſation, obliges us now to ſay ſomething of Ignorance, its adverſe party, and ſhew, how prodeminant it was, as well among the Greeks before Socrates, who may be called the Patriarch of Philoſophy, as the Latines, from the times of Boetius, Symmachus and Caſſiodorus, till the laſt taking of Conſtantinople. Then indeed the world began to put on another face, the Heavens to move upon new Hypotheſes, the Aire to be better known as to Meteors, the Sea to be more open and eaſie, the Earth to acknowledge a Siſter Hemiſphere, men to enter into greater correſpondences by Navigation, Arts to be delivered of thoſe miraculous inventions of Guns and Printing. Then were the Sciences reſtor'd to their former luſtre, in Gormany by Reuchlin and Agricola, in Switzerland by Eraſmus, in England by Linacer and Aſcham, in Spain by Vives, and Nebriſſenſis, in France by Faber and Budaeus, in Italy by Hermolaus, Politianus, Picus, and the Greeks who fled thither for refuge from Constantinople; and laſtly in all other parts of the earth, by the meanes of new Characters and Printing. We formerly obſerv'd out of Plutarch that, before the revolution happening in Socrates's time, it was not lawfull in Greece to advance any thing of Aſtrology, to ſtudy the Mathematicks, or profeſſe Philoſophy. Thence we are now to conſider what capacity may be allow'd thoſe, who, ſuffering the beſt Authors to moulder away in Libraries, made uſe of no other Grammarians, then Graeciſmu[•] Barbariſmus and Alexander de Villa dei; no other Rhetoricians then Aquilegius; no other Philoſophers, then Gingolfus Rapoleus▪ Ferrabrit, and Petrus Hiſpanus; no other Hiſtorians, than the, Faſciculus Temporum, and the Mother of Histories, nor other Books in Mathematicks than the Compot Manuel, and the ſhepheard's Kalender. What could the Grammarians expect from theſe, but Barbariſms like that of the Prieſt, whom the Maſter of Sentences mentions baptizing of infants, In nomine Patria, Filia, & Spiritua Sancta? What could Philoſophers find there, but ſuppoſitions, ampliations, reſtrictions, ſophiſms, obligations, and a Labyrinth of fruitleſſe niceties comprehended under the title of Parva Logicalia? So alſo, for thoſe that read Hiſtories, what entertainment had they but that of ridiculous tales upon Merlin's prophecy, S[•]. Patrick[•] Purgatory, Pilate's▪ Tower, Ammon's Caſtle, Pope Joan, and abundance of ſuch fabulous traſh and trumpery, as now,

Vix pueri credunt niſi qui nondum are lavantur.

Not indeed is it any thing extraordinary, when they are commonly accounted Magicians that can produce Roſes and Summer-Flowers in the depth of Winter. That thoſe gallant men, who have been ſeen like ſo many Stars ſhining in that dark and Melancholy night, and have darted the influences of their miraculous Learning, in the coldeſt and froſtieſt ſeaſon of Letters, have paſſ'd to us under the ſame Title, through the over eaſy belief of thoſe who firſt miſtook, then repreſented them for ſuch. But alaſſe what ſhall we ſay of a ſort of empty unballaſted ſoules, but that they may be eaſily weigh'd down any way by an erroneous perſwaſion, which is as conſtant an attendant of ignorance, as a ſhadow is of the body, or envie of vertue.

And now we have but a ſtep to the fourth cauſe of ſuſpicion which faſtens on theſe great perſons, that is, from Ignorance to that of Credulity, which eaſily admits abundance of ſuch things, as though improbable and ſuperſtitious, ordinarily fall and follow one in the neck of another. To make this more evident and apprehenſible, we muſt begin with what we find related in a little Treatiſe, which St. Agobart Biſhop of Lyons made in the year of Chriſt 833, againſt the extravagance of the people then, who beleev'd that thoſe could trouble the air, and raiſe tempeſts, who, for that reaſon, in the firſt chapter of the Capitularies of Charlemaigne, and Lewis the Debonaire, are called, Tempeſtarii, ſive immiſſores Tempeſtatum. It was, it ſeems, the common, and, by a many, ſtiffely maintain'd opinion, that there were in his time certain Conjurers, that had the power to make it hail and thunder, or to raiſe tempeſts, as often and when they pleaſ'd, ſo to ſpoil and deſtroy the fruits of the earth; which ſo deſtroy'd, they afterwards ſold to certain Inhabitants of the Countrey of Magodia, who every year brought ſhips thorow the air, to carry away thoſe proviſions. This was grown into ſuch a vulgar article of faith, that the good Biſhop had much ado one day, to deliver three men and a woman out of the clutches of the diſtracted multitude, who were dragging them to execution, as having fallen out of thoſe ſhips. The ſame Authour relates further in the ſame book, that there being a generall mortality ^[84] among Cattle, eſpecially Oxen, (whereof there died ſuch a number over all Europe, that Belleforest thought fit to take notice of it in his Additions upon Nicholas Gilles) the more ſuperſtitious ſort of people preſently imagin'd, that one Grimoald, Duke of Benevent, and a great enemy of Charlemaigne, had ſent a many men with venomous powders, which they ſhould ſcatter up and down the ſens, fields, and into ſprings: Inſomuch, that this holy and judicious perſon, ſeeing abundance of innocent people daily hanged, drown'd, and extreamly perſecuted for this ſimple fable, ends his book full of indignation, with this excellent ſentence; Tanta jam ſtultitia oppreſſit miſerum mundum, ut nunc ſic abſurdè res credantur à Chriſtianis, quales nunquam antea ad credendum poterat quiſquam ſuadere Paganis.

Theſe and the like Fables were but the Prologue to Romances, which came upon the ſtage immediately after, in the reigne of Lewis the Debonaire (in whoſe time the Biſhop was ſtill alive) and multiply'd ſo ſtrangely by the ignorance of that age, eaſily, it ſeems, lay'd aſleep by an y abſurdities, though ever ſo extravagant, that all tho[•], who meddled with the hiſtory of that time, would needs, to render it more pleaſant, interweave it with abundance of ſuch relations. This is very pertinently obſerv'd by a certain Divine, who ingenuouſly confeſſes, that, Hoc [•]rat ^[85] antiquorum plurium vitium, vel potius quaedam ſine judicio ſimplicitas, ut in cl[•]rorum virorum geſtis ſcribendis ſe minus exiſtimarent elegantes, niſi ad ornatum (ut putabant) ſermonis, poetic as fictiones, vel aliq[•]id earum ſimile admiſcerent, & conſequenter vera f[•]lſis committerent. Nay, ſuch reputation did theſe books gain, that in the year 1290, James de Voragine, Biſhop of Gennes, Homo (as Vives, and Melchior Canus call him) ferrei oris, plumbei cordis, animi certe parum ſeveri & prudentis, yet whoſe intention was certainly good, thought fit to introduce that ſtyle into the Eccleſiaſticall Hiſtory, and ſo writ a Golden Legend, whereby many devout and pious ſouls were edified, till the late Hereticks began to metamorphoſe it in a ſoveraigne Pantagrueliſme, purpoſely to affront the Catholicks, and undermine the foundations of the reverence they pay thoſe holy, but pernicious Relicks.

To the vanity of theſe Romances we are further obliged for all the falſe relations which were ſoon after ſcattered among the people▪ of the miraculous ſtratagems of Sylveſter, Gregory, Michael Scotus, Roger Bacon, Peter d' Apono, Thebit, and in a manner, all the moſt learned of that time. Theſe proved excellent entertainments, till the year 1425, when an infinity of other ſuperſtitions began to ſwarm, giving (as it were) a ceſſation to the precedent. And theſe we have thought fit to particularize, to ſhew it is no miracle, if the great knowledge of a many of that time occaſioned millions of ridiculous ſtories and fictions, when the zeal and good life of the greateſt Saints, & the conduct & courage of the greateſt Captains and Commanders have met with the ſame fate. Nor does it amount to much, that ſome of their books have been condemn'd as conjuring books, when a many others, whereof the very reading ſufficiently clears their innocence, have met with as little favour. We may inſtance in the three propoſitions made by the famous Chancellour of the Univerſity of Paris, Gerſon upon the Romance of the Roſe, and the judgement of John Raulin, a famous Doctor of the ſame Univerſity upon that of Oger the Dane, wherein they affirm the Authours as certainly damn'd as ever Judas was, if they died without repentance, for the making and venting of ſuch pieces.

Laſtly, though it be alwayes more rationall and commendable, ſo to interpret, as to give the beſt ſen[•]e to every mans writings, than to impeach them, and to excuſe than to aggravate, to avoid a compariſon with thoſe, who worſhip not the riſing Sun, but with affronts and imprecations; yet can we not, but make this Chapter full weight with the explication of the laſt cauſe of the whole calumny, which to do Truth right, is nothing elſe, but the neg[•]igence of Authours, or rather their want of circumſpection and judgement in the compoſition of their works. For whether they have an itch to ſwell them with leſſe trouble, or prove in ſome degree what they had once undertaken, or make oſtentation of their reading, or that thoſe found the beſt entertainment and reception, who were fulleſt of ſtrange and miraculous adventures; or laſtly, were ſo ſottiſh, as to beleeve all things, they have ſo outvied one another in the allegations of theſe fabulous ſtories, that the impertinences of old Romances, the fooleries of I know not what books, the tales of ^[86] old wives, and ſuch fictions, as thoſe of Lucian's Dialogues, and Apuleius's Metamorphoſes, have theſe Authours taken for irrefragable Demonſtrations, ^[87] as being a ſort of Writers, Qui compilant omnium opiniones & eae▪ quae etiam à viliſſimis dicta, & ſcripta ſunt, ab inopia [•]udicii ſcribunt; & proponunt omnia▪ quia neſciunt praeferre meliora. But it were a thing hard and preſumptuous, and haply too tedious, to ſhew by a large cenſure on all thoſe that have written on this ſubject, what freedome, every one took to diſcourſe thereof at random and to interweave abundance of triviall tales with the moſt certain and undenyable Truths. For this we may bring to the Bar John Nider, James. Sprenger, and Henry Institor, the Former confeſſing ingenuouſly (againſt ^[88] Trithemius and Molanus, who made him Judge upon the Witches of Germany) that whatſoever he had ſaid of them, and other Magicians in the laſt book of his ^[89] Formicarium, which is as it were the Leaven of all that hath been ſaid ſince upon that Subject, he had learn'd from a Judge of the City of Berne, & a Benedictine Monk, who before his going into the Order, had been, Necromanticus, Joculator, Mimus, & Truphator apud Seculares Principe▪ inſignis & expertus. The two other have faggoted together ſo many ſtories into the Malleus Maleficarum, which came abroad in the year 1494 that Vuier had ſome reaſon to queſtion whether they deſerved any more credit then thoſe brought by Niderus.

The ſame judgment may be given upon a many others who have follow'd theſe as it were by the ſcent, whoſe miſcarriages yet are not ſo conſiderable as thoſe of ſome latter writers, and particularly of that eminent man of France, John Bodin. Thi sman, having, with a miraculous vivacity attended by a ſolid judgment, treated of all things divine, naturall and civill, would haply have been thought ſomething more then Man, nay ſome Intelligence, had he not left ſome tracks of his humanity, in his Demonomancie, handſomely [〈1 page duplicate〉] [〈1 page duplicate〉] ^[90] cenſur'd by the late learned King of Eugland Majori collecta ſtudio, quam ſcripta judicio. But to make the beſt of it, we may ſay, that this great ingenuity more then ordinarily verſ'd in the holy Tongue; was a little beſotted with the Learning ^[91] of the Rabbins and Thalmudists, quibus, as the Jeſuit Poſſevin affirmes, hoc libro tam videtur addictus, ut ad eos ſ[•]piùs recurrat quàm ad Evangelium, Whence we may eaſily conceive that this Book, and that which Vuier made of the impoſtures and deluſions of Devils may ſtand for the two extreames in compariſon of the mean which ſhould be obſerv'd in judging of the truth of theſe things, and the integrity of the principall Authors, who firſt advanc'd them. By this meanes we are diſengag'd from the reſt, who, by fabulous reports, and the little judgment they diſcover in this Diſquiſition would have us embrace the Clouds of their imaginations inſtead of the reall Juno, and thereby engage us to a recantation of ſuch an abundance of childiſh and ſpurious Opinions, as are demonſtrative arguments that our Minds may be much more juſtly ſaid to creep than to fly; and that, to be reſcu'd from theſe Chimera's, they muſt be ſet at Liberty, and abſolutely poſſeſſ'd of their full right, that ſo they may freely do their duty, which is to reverence and acquieſce in Eccleſiaſtiall Hiſtory, to diſcourſe upon natnr[•]ll, and to be alwayes doubtfull of the Civill.

CHAP. VIII.

That Zoroaſtes was neither Author nor Promoter of Geotick, Theurgick or unlawfull Magick.

WE have indeed many diſcoveries of the the nimbleneſſe and ſubtilty of that Emperour's wit, whoſe infamy for his Apoſtacy outweigh'd the reputation, his many Vertues and perfections otherwiſe, which were wholly particular in him, had gain'd him. But me thinks he never made a greater expreſſion of ^[92] it then at Paris, when the Subtle Orator Delphidius, having accuſ'd before him Numerius Governour of Languedoc, and perceiving he had not ſufficient teſtimony to convince him, cry'd out, as it were in indignation, that No man would ever be found guilty if he had no more to do then to deny. The word was no ſooner out of his mouth, but the Emperour Julian judiciouſly reply'd, that no man's innocency was ſecure, if bare accuſations ſhould be admitted for proofs. His meaning in that witty retort was, that the impeach't are not alwayes criminall, nor the accuſ'd puniſhable; and that to condemne a man and to laſt the verdure of his Innocence, there are other proofes requir'd then that of a ſimple word, which argues oftener the ignorance, raſhneſſe, or paſſion, of ſome envious and malevolent perſon, then it does the guilt or deſert of him againſt whom it is directed.

This certainly cannot but make ſomething for all theſe renowned perſons, who muſt needs be cruſh'd by the multitude of their Accuſers, if we were oblig'd, as Civilians, or forc'd, as were anciently the Roman Tribunes, rather to count the ſuffrages then to examine the reaſons; or if Senecae had not ſometime given us this advice, which we may now make uſe of for their defence, Non tam bene cum rebus humanis geritur, ut meliora pluribus placeant. But he who by a diligent reading knows how to diſcover the rea[•]ity of things, will not think this multitude ſo conſiderable. For as ſome Captaines are glad to fill their Troops with Rogues and hedge Birds, and force armes upon Boyes and peedees to give the enemy a check upon the firſt appearance; ſo the Timons of Literat[•]re, and enemies of all learned men make uſe of ſuch another Stratageme, and level againſt their Fame, the authority of a multitude of wretched & Vulgar Souls with certain plagiaries and cutpurſes of writers. Theſe, like the Potamonick Philoſophers think nothing good or right, but what is judg'd ſo by others, ſee not but with Spectacles, as the Lamiae, have no other cloaths then the caſt ones of their Maſters, as the peedees, ^[93] follow no other path then what is the moſt beaten, like ſo many ſheep, and in all things reſemble thoſe religious Diſciples of Pythagoras apud quos tantum opinio praejudicatae poterat, ut etiam ſine ratione valeret Authorit[•]s.

I ſhall not therefore ſtand to ſift all popular aſſertions of the Magick of the ancient Philoſophers, ſuch as were Zoroaſtes, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Democritus, and others; but, having treated of it in generall, deſcend now to particulars, and make that good of every one, which hath been prov'd of all together. With this caution nevertheleſſe, that it is not my intention to purſue the deſigne as far as any thing may be ſaid of it, if a man would undertake to write whole Volumes, in defence of every one of theſe great perſons. For when we have once examin'd the opinions of the beſt Authors upon their doctrine, whatever may be added otherwiſe, is not produc'd ſo much for explication as to ſwell up a Volume, and make thoſe, whoſe Stomacks cannot bear ſuch repetitions, ſay what they do of a many others.

Et veterem in limo ranae [•]ecinere querelam.

This engagment cannot be better or more fitly begun then with the defence of Zoroastes, a perſon repreſented to us, as the living ſpring and originall of all Magicians, neither more nor leſſe then Cain was of murtherers, Nimrod of Tyrants, Ninus of Idolaters, and Simon Magus of Heretiques, through the opinion of the Abbot Serenus in ^[94] Caſſian, of Lactantius, St. Cyprian, Pererius and moſt other Doctors, is much more probable. They hold for certain that men ſhould not imagine any other Author of this perverſe and unlawfull Magick then Satan, the ſworne enemy of all the Creation, who made uſe of this Geotick long before the Deluge. For, as Euſebius ^[95] obſerves, the innocency of the firſt ages had not been defil'd and corrupted with all thoſe vain ſuperſtitions and ceremonies, if this jealous ſpirit, envying the hoped-for ſalvation of mankind, had not bent all his forces to enſnare them as deeply in this Magical Idolatry as they were in all other exorbitancies and iniquities, which in time ſo far prevailed over vertue, that God could do no leſſe than ſend an univerſall Deluge to cleanſe the earth from all thoſe abominations. But the waters were no ſooner return'd into their place, but this ſpirit of preſumption, this Beelzebub, Prince of Flies, began to renew his practices, and to lay the foundation of his ſecond Monarchy in thoſe weak minds, which are moſt eaſily taken, and entangled in the cobwebs of a multitude of ſuſpicious operations, ſtrange ſacrifices, and magicall ſuperſtitions. It is not indeed poſſible to particularize and tell juſtly, who, of all the men of this ſecond age of the world, was the firſt inſtrument of this fatall enemy of Nature, to diſperſe his conjurations over the habitable earth, as we find them now received and practiſed.

^[96] Whence we may charge Pliny with a double errour, where he treats of this Subject; one, in that being an Epicurean as well as Lucretius,

Et mundum nullo credens re[•]tore moveri

Naturâ volvente vices & lucis & anni;

as he openly profeſſes in theſe words, with no ^[97] leſſe raſhneſſe than ignorance, Per quae haud dubie declaratur, naturae potentiam id quoque eſſe quod Deum vocamus; he had not recourſe, as the Chriſtians and Platonick Philoſophers, to the firſt Authour of Magick, who is no other than he whom we have already deſcribed, as may be further, were it needfull, proved by a paſſage of Porphyrius ^[98] cited by Euſebius. The other is, where he affirms Zoroaſtes to have been the firſt that ever practiz'd it, and brought it into eſteem among men. This, how unlikely ſoever, is receiv'd with ſo little difficulty by all that have written after him, that few or none have taken the pains to examine that propoſition; which, as it is grounded chiefly on the long time it hath been acknowledged, and their authority who maintain it; ſo is there but little reaſon it ſhould be received as infallibly true, when Pliny himſelf wonders, how the memory and precepts of Zoroastes could be preſerved ſo long time, he having lived, according to one Eudoxus, whom he cites for it, ſix thouſand years before Plato. Nay, if we allow the opinion of Pererius and ſome Moderns, who make ^[99] him flouriſh in the time of Ninus and Abraham, yet this age we have ſo ſlender an account of, and the things ſaid of it, ſo loſt in the Labyrinth of ſo many ages, that it were more ingenuous to confeſſe our ignorance, than preſumptuouſly to affirm Zoroastes, of whom,

Ad nos vix tenuis famae perlabitur umbra,

to have been the firſt of all Magicians. Adde to this, that the little knowledge we have of him is ſo diſguiſed by Hiſtorians, that we can hardly meet with two or three, who do not contradict and confute one another in the hiſtory of this perſon.

^[100] For if with Theodoret and Agathias we call him Zarades, he will preſently be confounded, by all thoſe Writers who mind not the order of time and Chronology, with one Zaratas, whom Plutarch makes Maſter to Pythagoras; with one ^[101] Zabratus, mentioned by Malchus (who is no other than Porphyrius) in the life of Pythagoras; ^[102] and with one Nazaratus, whom ſome in Clemens Alexandrinus would have to be the Prophet Ezekiel. Or if we will allow him the name of Zoroaſtes, as the moſt common, yet will there be no leſſe difficulty to gueſſe which of the ſix men, who were of the ſame name, was the Magician, ^[103] four whereof are named by Arnobius, the fifth by Suidas, and the ſixth by Pliny. Further, be it ſuppoſed that the true Zoroaſtes was well known among ſo many, yet muſt we allow ſomewhat to Sixtus Senenſis, who mentions two Kings of that name, one of the Perſians, Authour of Naturall Magick; the other of the Bactrians, firſt Inventor ^[104] of the Diabolicall: ſomewhat to Rhodoginus, and diverſe others, who will allow both Nations but one Zoroastes for a Law-giver, that according to the common opinion of all Writers, endeavour'd to perſwade them that he had received his Laws and Conſtitutions from a certain Divinity, whom he called Oromaſis. But, what ſhould make us yet more diſtruſtfull of what is ſaid of him, is, that the ſame Authours would perſwade us, that he was the ſon of that Oromaſis, or Arimanius, ^[105] whereas Plutarch, the moſt conſiderable man of Antiquity aſſures us, that Zoroaſtes meant nothing elſe by thoſe two words he pronounced ſo often, than the good and bad Daemon, to which he was wont to refer that miraculous order which is obſerved in the courſe of Nature and revolution of all things, as Heraclitus did to harmony; Anaxagoras, to mind and infinite; Empedocles, to friendſhip and debate; and Parmenides, to light and darkneſſe. This the ſame Authour confirms in the Treatiſe of Iſis and Oſiris, as alſo Diogenes Laertius, Briſſonius, Calcagnin and Philelphus, who would not diſparage their judgement ſo much, as to heap multitudes of fables and contradictions one upon another, to repreſent this Zoroaſtes as the Prince of Magicians. For indeed there is much more reaſon to think him, that of Philoſophers and Profeſſours of Learning, as, when we have refuted the errour of this pernicious opinion, we ſhall make appear. It does indeed ſufficiently undermine it ſelf by the diſcord of thoſe that maintain it, and the attendant contradictions, as it ordinarily happens in all other lies; yet, to blow it up, and to apply a remedy as ſoveraigne as the diſeaſe is inve[•]eterate, we muſt reduce all theſe opinions to four principall heads, and, in the particular explication of them, ſhew, that there is no reaſon in the world, why this Zoroaſtes ſhould be repreſented to us, as the firſt and moſt eminent of all Conjurers and Magicians.

^[106] The firſt ſhall be that of Goropius Becanus, as being the eaſieſt, and needing no other ſolution than to be underſtood and propoſed. For that Zoroaſtes was no Magician, he endeavours▪ to make good, by alledging it was a meer fable, and that really there never was any ſuch man; which right he does not onely do him, but Mercurius Triſmegiſtus, & Orpheus, deriving the Etymologie of theſe words from a certain Cimmerian language in uſe, as he ſayes, from the Creation to the Deluge. But while he chimeriſes on that in liberty of conſcience, there fals from him a manifeſt contradiction, obſerv'd ſince by Patricius, in ^[107] that having maintain'd the negative as an undeniable axiom, he afterwards indifferently confounds this Zoroaſtes with Japhet one of the ſons of Noah.

But this opinion, if true, would in ſome ſort agree with the ſecond, which we are now to deduce, the promotets whereof endeavour to prove, That Cham and Zoroaſtes were but one perſon, according to Beroſus, Didymus of Alexandria, and the Author of the Scholastick Hiſtory, that Cham was the firſt that exerciſed Magick after the Deluge, ^[108] as is affirm'd by the ſame Beroſus in his Hiſtory; and that, this granted, it is to be inferr'd, that Zoroaſtes after the reſtauration of the world, firſt began to ſoil mens minds with the ſoot of his invocations & ſorceries. Nay, they ſtick not to affirm that the firſt he practiſed them on, was his own Father, affirming, that the only motive that Noah had to thunder ſuch a curſe againſt him, was that the other had by his Magick ſo bound and made him impotent▪ that having, at it were, loſt the prerogative of his nature,

Corn. Gall. Eleg. 3.
Diriguit, quantuſque fuit calor, oſſa reliquit.

Inſomuch, that afterwards he could not get any children, either on his wife or any other, as is ſo clearly and methodically ſet down by Beroſus, that we need not ſeek that contradiction in his Hiſtory, which is falſly impoſed upon him by du ^[109] Verdier in his Cenſure. Whence it comes to paſſe, that many keep a coil to have this opinion of the firſt Author of Magick maintain'd, not only upon the account of Beroſus, who indeed is the moſt ancient and venerable Hiſtorian we have left, but alſo thoſe of Gregory of Tours, and St. Clement, (the two other principall opinions) who, to ſtrengthen his authority ſay, that Chus or Miſraeim, the two elder ſons of Cham were ſirnam'd Zoroaſtes, which ſignifies onely Living Stars, in acknowledgement of the miraculous operations which they effected by this Diſclipline.

But if we ſeriouſly conſider the ſtrength of theſe proofs, we ſhall at laſt find, that the two latter are no more probable than the former, and that the whole web of the Argument hath no more truth than likelihood, as is not hard to ſhew. For firſt, as to the three Authours, who make Cham and Zoroaſtes but one and the ſame perſon; P[•]tri[•]ius, who produces the authority ^[110] of the ſecond, immediately addes, that it deſerves no credit, as having no ground of reaſon or probability. The ſame account doth Pererius ^[111] make of the authority of the third, who ſayes, that Ninus ſubdued Cham, who was yet alive, and called Zoroaſtes, making him, according to the opinion of ſome, King of Thrace; whereas Juſtin affirms, in the beginning of his Hiſtory, that the Zoroaſtes that was overcome by Ninus was King of the Bactrians. According then to the calculation of this Writer, Cham muſt have lived, at leaſt, twelve hundred yeers, ſince Ninus was contemporary with Abraham and Melchiſedec, whom St. Epiphanius, relying on the tranſlation of the ^[112] ſeventy Interpreters, places 1100 years after the Flood, to which adde the hundred years that Cham liv'd before; it will be evident, that he could not be overcome by Ninus, unleſſe he be allow'd to live twelve hundred years, a thing not affirm'd by any Authour.

Nor can it be probably ſaid, that notwithſtanding his fathers curſe, he outliv'd him by two hundred and fifty years, and his brother Sem by ſix hundred. For as to Beroſus, I think it much more pardonable not to credit him than thoſe that preceded him; ſince all the books publiſhed under his name, are nothing but the extravagant imaginations of Annius a Monk of Viterbo, as hath been well obſerv'd by ^[113] Faber Stapulenſis, ^[114] Vives, ^[115] Goropius, ^[116] Vergara, ^[117] Giraldus, ^[118] Gaſpar Varenus, Melchior Canus, and divers others, whoſe authority is of greater conſequence againſt him, than all that ^[119] Poſtel, quem inſania, ſaith ^[120] Scaliger, à communi invidia liberare debet, could ſay to keep up his credit, as making uſe of him, as a Baſe on which to ground the learned Reſveries he daily fanſied to himſelf, upon the happy conqueſts of the univerſall Empire▪ promiſed the French Monarchy.

The ſame anſwer may be made to the ſecond propoſition of the contrary Argument, which, ſtilted up by the onely authority of Beroſus, would prove Cham to have been a Magician. There needs no more than to deny it, unleſſe it be meant of naturall Magick, or rather thoſe Sciences, wherein Delrio ſayes he was inſtructed by his father Noach, which name he thinks corrupted by ^[121] Pliny into that of Azonach, who he affirms to have been the Maſter of Zoroastes, as ^[122] Bodin obſerves, that he changed that of Gabbala into Jotappe, or Jochabelia, Authour of a certain kind of Magick. And yet there is not much to be built on that light conjecture of Delrio▪ ſince what he ^[123] ſayes abſolutely, that, Cham & ſilii ejus magiam bonam edocti ſunt à Noacho, cannot be any wayes underſtood of this Zoroastes, who is repreſented to us, as a moſt eminent practiſer of Magick and Necromancie.

Nor needs there any other anſwer to the ſtory of the Magick which Cham exerciſed upon his father, brought upon the ſtage to confirm the ſecond propoſition. For ſince we have no other Authour for it than Beroſus, falſified by the Monk of Viterbo, there is no reaſon to admit it for true, and make it outlive the credit and authority of him whoſe it was, ſeeing, that if we look narrowly into the originall of this relation, and take off its mask, we ſhall find that it is grounded upon the curſe pronounced by the Patriarch Noah in the ninth of Geneſis, Maledictus puer Chanaan, ſervus ſervorum erit fratribus ſuis. Whereof though the cauſe be clearly laid down in the ſame place, yet Beroſus, the Rabbins, and Thalmudiſts muſt needs gloſſe upon, and metamorphoſe it as they pleaſe, but with a doctrine ſo flat, and conceptions ſo contradictory and fantaſtick, that they may ſerve, beyond any thing I know, to convince us of the truth of what Lactantius ſayes, Hac ^[124] mendaciorum natura est, ut cohaerere non poſſint. For if we credit the former in his Hiſtory, we muſt withall beleeve that Cham uſed certain charms and ſorceries, to make his father unable as to the act of generation, If the Rabbi ^[125] Levi in his Commentary on Geneſis, that, like another Saturn, he guelt him of the parts neceſſary for that act. If R. ^[126] Samuel, that he ſhewed him ſuch a naſty and abominable trick, that I ſhall be more tender of chaſte ears than to mention it, and paſſe it by, as Laur. Valla did a word of the like ſignification▪ Malo ignorari, quàm me docente cognoſci And laſtly, if we refer our ſelves to the ^[127] Thalmudists, we muſt grant that Cham incurr'd this malediction for all the cauſes together mentioned by the Rabbins, which we have particulariz'd, to ſhew, that though Zoroaſtes ſhould aſſume Cham's perſon, yet were there no juſtice to condemn him for an Enchanter and Magician.

Having therefore diſpatch'd that, we come now to diſcover the errour of the third opinion, which men have had of this perſon: according to which, many have thought him to have been King of the Bactrians, becauſe Juſtin ſeems to be of their ſide, when ſpeaking of Ninus, in the firſt book of his Epitome, he ſayes, Poſtremum illi bellum cum Zoroastre Rege Bactrianorum fuit, qui primus dicitur artes magicas inveniſſe, & mundi principia, ſyderumque motus diligentiſſimè ſpectaſſe. And yet this Herculean paſſage, which hath been alwayes quoted, to call down the good reputation of Zoroaſtes at his enemies feet, may eaſily be refuted by the contrary authority of Diodorus Siculus, who ſayes, that this King of the Bactrians, againſt whom Ninus made war, was called Oxiartes and of whoſe Magick, neither he not Cteſias, who according to Arnobius, writ his particular Hiſtory, make not the leaſt mention. Nor indeed does Juſtin ſpeak of it, but under the caution of a Hear-ſay, and in ſuch ambiguous and doubtfull expreſſions, that not ſpecifying what kind of Magick this Zoroaſtes was Authour of, there is nothing more obvious than to conclude from the conſequent words, & mundi principiae, coelique motus diligentiſſime ſpectaſſe, that it was meant of the philoſophicall and naturall. Whence it is certain, that according to the fourth and laſt opinion, which the moſt reſerv'd have had of this Zoroaſtes, he was an excellently knowing man, well acquainted with all manner of Diſciplines, a ſubject of Ninus, contemporary with Abraham, and by countrey a Chaldaean, who having been inſtructed by Azonach, one of the Diſciples of Sem or Heber, was ſo earneſt in the cultivation and reſtauration of the Diſciplines loſt by the Floud, that he became the moſt eminent man of his time, and writ a many books, of which Suidas ſayes, Four treated of Nature, one of Precious Stones, and five of Aſtrologie. To theſe Pliny addes ſome of Agriculture, and Mirandula another ^[128] of Caldaick Sentences, which he ſaid he had in his Library, with Commentaries upon them in the ſame language; one part whereof was firſt printed at Paris, and ſince augmented by Patricius, who digeſted it into the firſt part of his Book, De Magia Philoſophica, alluding, in all probability, to that of Zoroaſtes, which certainly was onely naturall and philoſophicall. Nor is it hard to infer thus much from thoſe ſhreds which we have left of his Aphoriſms and Sentences, which are ſo far from being guilty of any thing of diabolicall or ſuperſtitious Magick, that, on the contrary, Steuchus Eugubinus, in his ſo much cri'd up Book againſt Infidels, Atheiſts, and Philoſophers, makes uſe of them ever and anon, to prove and maintain the myſteries of Chriſtian Religion. Adde to this, the improbability that Syrianus, the moſt learned of all the Platonicks, would beſtow on them a Commentary of ten books, as Suidas affirms he did; or that Marſilius Ficinus would cite them ſo often in his Book Of the Immortality of the Soul, and Picus draw fifteen of his Concluſions thence, if they had been fraught with ſo many triviall and ſuperſtitious things, ſuch as many have imagin'd them, contrary to the opinion of the ſame Ficinus, Mirandula, and Plato. The firſt of theſe layes it down as a certain maxime, that à Zoroaſtre, omnis manavit Theologorum veterum ſapientia; the ſecond openly confeſſes in the defence of his concluſions, that that Magick, which ſtudies the perfect knowledge of Naturall Philoſophy was firſt brought into vogue by Zoroastes ^[129] & Zamolxis; and the laſt tell us that the Magick of Zoroaſtes is nothing but that knowledge of divine things wherein the Kings of Perſia cauſ'd their children to be inſtructed, ut ad exemplar mundanae Reipub▪ ſuam ipſi Rempublicam regere edocerentur.

To make this good weight, we might adde a many Authorities and paſſages out of the beſt Authors, were they not already produc'd by ^[130] Briſſonias, ^[131] Bulenger, ^[132] Philelphus and ^[133] Heurnius, who have made a faithfull collection of all that can be ſaid, to prove that theſe Mages of Perſia and Chaldaea, were only prieſts and Philoſophers▪ and their doctrine an excellent Theology grounded upon the worſhip and adoration of one ſupreme omnipotent Divinity, as is pertinently obſerv'd by the Learned Maſter of Lactantius, where he ſayes, that Eorum Magorum & eloquio et negotio, primus Hoſthanes verum Deum merita ma[•]eſtate proſequitur, et Angelos Ministros & nuncios dei, ſed veri, ejus venerationi novit aſſiſtere. Whence we may well judge that, if Pliny deſcribe this Hoſtanes (ſo excellent a perſon in the judgment of Arnobius) as a famous impoſtor and Mountebank, Zoroaſtes muſt needs meet with worſe handling from him and others, who thinking it a ſhame to be beaten out of the pit, will yet to keep this ſo long agitated queſtion in play, fly to certain impertinent and ſimple obſervations of the preſages of his Nativity, the courſe of his life, and the manner of his death. From thence they would conclude, forſooth, that his laughing when he was borne, the beating of his brain, ſo ſtrongly that it forc'd back ones hand; his twenty years ſolitude, and the fire from Heaven which conſum'd him for his offences, are, (were there no other reaſons) more than authentick proofs to make him a great enchanter and Magician. This indeed may ſeem ſomething probable, to thoſe who look on all Securities as good and ſolvent, who will receeive any mony though ever ſo bad, who mind only the ſuperficies of things, & quorum nuſquam penetrat ad intima telum.

But ſince we muſt try what we can pick out of theſe proofs, we may anſwer, to the firſt▪ that there is not any one can aſſure us that this laughing of Zoroaſtes happened preciſely on the day of his nativity, whether when he was aſleep or awake, whether by the percuſſion of the Aire, or only an agitation of his lips all which one ſhould know to judge aright of it. But to take away the prodigy & ſtrangeneſſe of this accident, Hippocrates tells us ^[134] that Children, aſſoon as they are born ſeeme to laugh or cry as they ſleep; and that, waking, there is a conſtant viciſſitude of laughing and crying till they have paſſed forty dayes. This might have happened more particularly to Zoroaſtes through abundance of Spirits, and conſequently heat, which reſcuing him from that humidity that is common to others, cauſ'd that action in him, which might well ſignifie that he ſhould one day prove a very great man, but not a Magician. It is indeed a Circumſtance hath ever been thought very fortunate, ſo that it gave ^[135] Virgil occaſion to ſay

—Cui non riſere parentes,

Nec deus hunc menſa, Dea nec dignata cubili eſt.

^[136] For thoſe who laugh ſo ſoon are ordinarily more active and lively, or as Hippocrates calls them [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉], that is, ſuch as have a certaine nimbleneſſe and vivacity of ſpirit, and accordingly give greater hopes of their future good fortune, then thoſe who are ſtupi'd, ſlow, and whoſe ſpirits are dull and heavy.

^[137] Nor ſhall we need, if we may truſt Pliny, trouble our ſelves [•]o derive any greater preſage from the motion of his Braine, it being ordinary in all Children newly born to have a certain cavity about the brain-pan where the ſagittall future meets with the coronall, which is cover'd with a groſſe and thick membrane, about which, at leaſt till it be converted into bone, a man may eaſily ^[138] perceive, viſu & tactu (as the moſt Learned Anatomist Riolanus hath obſerved in his Oſteologie) the conſtant beating of the brain, which haply was preceiv'd more ſtrong and vehement in Zoroastes, then it is uſually in other Children, by reaſon of the abundance of Spirits and naturall heat, which we have ſhewn to have been particular in him.

Laſtly, if any one will inferre that Zoroastes was a Magician, becauſe Pliny tells us that he remain'd 20. years in the Wilderneſſe, and that Suidas and Volaterranus affirme that he dy'd ſtruck with a Thunderbolt; he muſt alſo with the ſame breath conclude that Epimenedes who ſtay'd therein 50. years, that Moſes, who ſpent the third part of his age in it, and that all the Fathers of Thebais were far greater Magicians then he, ſince they beſtow'd all their life time there: And that Tullus Hoſtilius, Pompeius Strabo, Aurelius Carus, Anastaſius, and Simeon Stilites were great Sorcerers and enchanters, becauſe they all dy'd thunderſtuck. And yet this is not a little in jurious to the truth of the Hiſtory, and to what is expreſly obſerv'd of the laſt, in the Spirituall Meadow of Sophronius, where it is ſaid, that the Abbot ^[139] Julian Stilites incenſing at an unſeaſonable hour, anſwer'd thoſe who ask'd him the reaſon of it, quia modo frater meus Simeon à fulgure dejectus interiit, & ecce tranſit anima ejus in tripudio & exultatione. Whence may be eaſily obſerv'd their want of judgment, who, upon the diſ-ſecurity of ſuch vain conjectures, would perſwade us that Zoroaſtes was the firſt inventer of Magick, and the greateſt enchanter of his time. Which confidence I have the rather taken the trouble to refute, to make way for that light of truth which we are to follow in the account we have of him; and with the ſame breath, blow away the proofs and grounds of certain Authors, who believe, that all the Learning the ancient Philoſophers acquir'd in Aegypt, was no other then that of the Magick and Invocations of this excellent perſon.

CHAP. IX.

That Orpheus was no Magician.

HUmane nature is ſo limited and confin'd that it cannot judge of things ſpirituall but by the ſenſible and materiall, nor of ſubſtances but by their Accidents, nor indeed of any thing it knows but by appearances. The only way then, me thinks, to diſengage Truth out of all theſe maskes and diſguiſes, is, to take as ſtrict and near a view of them as may be, and, when we come to the weight and tryall of them, never to admit that prejudicate opinion, which often obliges us to chooſe and preferre ſhadows before bodies, darkneſſe before Light, and the moſt extra-regular fables before certain and authentick Hiſtories. This we are to do with ſo much the more diligence and circumſpection in this Chapter by how much that there is not any thing, as Plutarch affirmes, ſlides more inſenſibly into our ſoules, or hath ſo much charme and force to attract and inſinuate as the diſpoſition of certain tales handſomely couch'd and interwoven; ſuch as, for inſtance, thoſe of the miraculous Muſick of Orpheus, at which we ſee, that,

Mirantur juſtique ſenes, trepidaeque puellae,

Narrantis conjux pendet ab ore viri.

To proceed then to a ſtrict and diſpaſſionate examination of all the grounds, which men have had to ſuſpect this Great man, and firſt Profeſſor of divinity, guilty of magick, we muſt build upon the foundations layd in the former Chapter, and ſay with Patricius, that, according to the teſtimony of Philo, Joſephus, and all the beſt Authors, the Sciences and diſciplines which had been loſt by the Flood, having been re-eſtabliſh'd in the Schooles of Sem and Heber, the firſt erected, as the Rabbins and Thalmudiſts affirme, Zoroastes, who had been inſtructed in them, and who might be one of the Sons or Nephews of Cham, endeavour'd ſo much to dilate and make them flouriſh in his Country of Chaldaea, and among thoſe of this Nation, that beſides the knowledge which ^[140] Apuleius allows him of Medicine, and that of Aſtrology attributed to him by St. ^[141] Hierome, ^[142] Origen, ^[143] Proper[•]ius, ^[144] Cicero, ^[145] Philelphus and moſt Writers, and upon the account whereof they paſſ'd anciently for Aſtrologers, as the Canaanites for Merchants and the Arabians for Robbers, we have the Authority of Averroes cited by ^[146] Patricius, who ſayes, that Philoſophy was ſometime in as much eſteem in Chaldaea, as it was in his time in Spaine by the meanes of the Univerſity of Corduba. All theſe Diſciplines were afterwards tranſlated into Aegypt, when Abraham▪ as is obſerv'd in the Scripture, ^[147] went down into Aegypt, to ſojourne there, becauſe the famine was ſore in the Land. For Joſephus ſayes plainely, and ^[148] Plato ſeems to agree with him, that during his abode in that Country, he taught the Aegytian Prieſts the Mathematicks, and gave them as it were the firſt rudiments of all the other Sciences, which thereupon ſo thriv'd and were ſo much improv'd that it became the ſpring-head, whence the Greeks by long draughts got all their wiſdom and Learning, by the travells and pilgrimages of Orpheus, Thales, Democritus, and Pythagoras: whereof, the firſt brought thence Theology, the ſecond the Mathematicks, the third Phyſick; and the laſt, all the foremention'd with Morall Philoſophy into the bargain.

This is it we are now to prove of Orpheus, and hereafter of Pythagoras and Democritus, to ſhew, by an apparant diſcovery of what they were, how much they are miſtaken, who would ſtill make ^[149] them no other then Sorcerers and Mountebanks. For as to Orpheus, Diodorus, Siculus affirmes him to be one of the firſt that paſſ'd into Aegypt (which happened about the year of the World 3060, long before Pythagoras, who return'd thence in the time of Polycrates, Tyrant of Samos in the year 3[•]90.) and that he brought thence with him, his Hymnes, his Dionyſiacks, and his Orgia, which were no other then thoſe of Iſis and Oſiris. This made ^[150] St. Auſtine put him into the Chapter of Divine Poets, ^[151] Virgil to give him the name and veſtment of a prieſt where he ſayes of him.

Nec non Thrëicius longâ cum veste ſacerdos,

Obloquitur numeris ſeptem diſcrimina Vocum.

So ^[152] Euſebius gives him the title of the greateſt Maſter of Theologie. ^[153] Justin and ^[154] Athenagoras aſſure us, that he was the firſt that advanc'd and propoſ'd the names and ſacrifices of the Antient Gods, and reduc'd their Theologie into order, not only in his Hymnes and Books forementioned, but in divers others which Suidas ſayes he made, of the Myſteries of the Trinity, of the occult reaſon of divine things, of ſacred Conferences, of Oracles, and of Purgations. This gave Plutarch occaſion to call his Learning ^[155] Sacred, inſomuch, that diverſe Catholick Doctors have been of opinion, that it might be very ſerviceable to refute the Religion of the Ancients, and confirme Chriſtianty. Among theſe were St. ^[156] Augustine, ^[157] Euſebius, ^[158] Marſilius Ficinus, ^[159] Picus, ^[160] Moſellanus▪ ^[161] Fabius Paulinus, and the Learned Divine, ^[162] Steuchus Eugubinus, who, with great diligence and a commendable curioſity, hath made a certain Analogy or parallell between the Doctrine of Moſes and that of Orpheus, the firſt Philoſopher and Divine among the Greeks, as Zoroastes was among the Chaldaeans, and Triſmegistus among the Aegyptians.

Theſe Authorities I have been the rather enclin'd to ſumme up together, to ſhew, both by the number and diverſity of them, what account we ſhould make of the moſt part of our Daemonographers, who muſt needs be guilty either of Ignorance or a huge preſumption, if they know not or eſteem not the judgment of ſo many great perſons, qui, ut rationem nullam afferrent, ipſa autoritate nos frangerent, to court and embrace an old fable, and the dreams of doting Antiquity. And to make the madneſſe compleat, they think they have ground enough becauſe they find it in Pauſanias, who ſayes, that ſome were of opinion, ^[163] that this principall Divine among the Greeks was a Sorcerer and Magician, making it their buſineſſe to retrive the Story & dreſs it up, as they pleaſe; ſo it contribute any thing to the opinion they would either introduce or maintaine, yet do I not meet with any of all thoſe that maintaine this extravagance, hath made it reach further then le Loyer, ^[164] in his de Spectris, where he ſayes, that the Orpheotelestae were ſo called from Orpheus the greateſt Sorcerer and Necromancer that ever was, whoſe writings contain'd nothing but the praiſes of Devils, as of Jupiter Alastor, Daemon Vindex, & exterminator; of Bacchus, his Maſter; of the Satyres, of Phaneros, who in my judgment was that Lucifer whom we believe turn'dout of Heaven; the originall of the Gods, alledged by Athenagoras; unchaſt mixtures of Gods with men, (blazon'd ſince by Homer and Heſiod) which indeed are nothing but the copulations of Devils, with Sorcerers, for the generation of Gyants; and laſtly, the initiations into Bacchanalian and Diabolilcal Ceremonies, ſhrowded in obſcure termes, not underſtood even by thoſe who were of the Magicall Fraternity of the Orphcoteleſtae.

From which paſſage it is eaſily conjectur'd, that the chiefeſt argument and motive to conclude Orpheus a Magician, may, according to this Authour and the reſt, be drawn from the charmes and ſuperſtition of his Hymnes, which, in ſome ſenſe they may be taken in, or ſome expoſition may be giving them, containe nothing but the names of infernall Spirits, the order of their ſacrifices, and the ſeverall Ceremonies and [•]uffumigations requiſite in their invocations. Whence many have bin perſwaded, that they were as effectuall in Geotick Magick, as the Pſalmes of David in the Divine▪ the diverſe letters, Syllables and Combinations of the Mercaua in the Theurgick, and the medicinall applications of Virgil in the Naturall. Bodin therefore doth ^[165] not unjuſtly charge Mirandula with too much ſuperſtition, for grounding ſome of his Concluſions upon the Doctrine of this Magician, who certainely muſt needs be ſuch, when by the tones of enchanted Muſick, he drew after him, not only the moſt untractable Animals, but even Woods, Rocks, and Rivers,

Horat. l. 1. Ode 12.
Unde vocalem temerè inſecutae

Orphea Sylvae.

To this Philoſtratus addes, that he became Oracular after his Death by the Organs of his head, which kept in the Iſle of Lesbos, anſwer'd the Greeks, that they ſhould never take Troy without the Arrowes of Hercules▪ & the Ambaſſadors of Cyrus that the fate of their Prince ſhould be like his own, that is, that he ſhould dye by the hands of a Woman.

But all this amounts to very little in compariſon of what le Loyer affirmes of this perſon▪ that is, that ^[166] he inſtituted the Fraternity of the Orpheoteleſtae, among whom Bacchus had anciently the ſame place, as the Devill hath now in the Aſſemblyes of Magicians, who have deriv'd all their ſuperſtitious operations from theſe Orpheoteleſtae. This puts him into an aſtoniſhment, that none of all the Authors, who writ upon that ſubject before him, made no uſe of that proof to convince the followers of Peter d' Apono, and Vuierus, who deny there were any Magicians anciently, and laugh at the homage which they ſay they do the Devill. For he obſerves that what was ſ[•]ng in the Orgia, Saboe Evohe is anſwerable to the Shouts and exultations of Magicians Har Sabat Sabat; and that Bacchus, who was only a diſguiſ'd Devill, was call'd Sabaſius, becauſe of the Sabat or conventions of theſe Bacchanalian Prieſts, wherein after they were initiated, they were wont to ſay, I have drunk of the Tabour, and have eaten of the Cymbal, and ſo I am admitted. Le Loyer would have this to be ſo explicated, that by the Cymbal we ſhould underſtand the Cauldron or Baſon, which they made uſe of, as the modern Magicians do, to boyle the little children they feed on; and by the Tabour, the Goat-skin out of which they drew the juice and quinteſſence to drink.

This way the manner of admiſſion to the Ceremonies of their Bacchus, which were ſo naſty and deteſtable, that Demoſthenes had, as he ^[167] obſerves, much reaſon to reprove Aeſchines, his adverſary, that in his younger years he and his mother had been initiated in them, and had cry'd Evre Sabaoe. But for my part, I am in as great an aſtoniſhment that he ſhould not expect to be reprov'd himſelf and to be laught at too for producing ſuch triviall conjectures, ſuch groundleſs proofs, and ſuch fantaſtick, extravagant, and ridiculous conceptions to prove that the Orpheoteleſtae▪ practis'd all the Ceremonyes, common among the Magicians of this time; and conſequently, that he, who was the Inſtitutor of them, ought to be the rather look'd on, as an Enchanter and Magician. For if Reaſon may moderate the exceſſe of theſe Symptoms, may we not by the way, truely affirme, that he gives the name of Orpheoteleſtae to all the Prieſteſſes of Bacchus which yet appertain'd not but to the Maſters of their Congregation. But then if the former conſequence hold, this alſo muſt, That Hugh de Payennes, and Godefrey de St. Aumart, who founded the order of the Knights Templers, were Sorcerers and Idolaters; becauſe many Authors are of opinion, that this Order was aboliſh'd by Clement V. for theſe two Vices which had inſenſibly crept into it. And if that, this alſo, That all the corruption and irregularity of life, which happens often enough in moſt Orders and Religious Fraternities, long after their Inſtitutions, muſt reflect upon the innocence and Sanctity of their Authors.

But, in the mean time, there's no reaſon to admit for truth the wantonizing conjectures of this Writer upon the relation there is between the Magicians and the Orpheoreleſtae, ſince they proceed rather from an ambition in him to ſtart out ſome new obſervation upon ſo thread-bare a ſubject, then that he gave the extravagance any credit. To cure him of it, and to cleare up the buſineſſe from the bottom, we muſt remember, that, according to all the beſt Authors, the Bacchanalian Orgia or Dionyſiacks were firſt inſtituted by Orpheus in his own Country, Thracia; ordaining that they ſhould be celebrated by the Women when they were in their terms, meerly to ſeparate them for that time from the company their Husbands, to avoid the accidents which might happen if they ſhould conceive in that condition. But finding by experience that they were aſham'd to be at them, becauſe it diſcover'd what they were wont to diſſemble with all poſſible artifice, and conſquently, that he ſhould be forc'd, to his own diſhonour, to aboliſh them if he did not think of ſome remedy, took occaſion from this diſlike to make them more famous, permitting all women in general to exerciſe them upon certain dayes appointed for thoſe Ceremonies. In theſe they took ſo much freedom and enjoyment, that, beſides their Dances, which they regulated by the ſound of Tabours and Cymballs, as alſo by the Voices and acclamations which they often repeated Euhoe, whence Bacchus, who was no other than the Sun, was ſince called Euhoeus, as Sabaſius, from their running and skipping. There were alſo certain men diſguiſ'd in Womens Cloaths, who, as ^[168] Lucian, ^[169] Columella, and ^[170] Euſebius affirme, carry'd the image of the God Priapus, as the repreſentation of fruitfulneſſe, and the production of all things, which Orpheus would have highly eſteem'd and reverenc'd. But it being true, what the Poet ſayes,

Nox, & amor, vinúmque nihil moderabile ſuadent,

becauſe, as he addes,

Illa pudore vacat, vina Venuſque metu.

theſe ſacrifices and Ceremonyes could not ſo well moderate their enjoyments, nor continue the uſe of them among thoſe Nations who afterwards receiv'd them into their Countryes, but at laſt they were made a cloak and covering for thouſands of cheats, baſeneſſes, and fornications, Cum vinum & nox, & misti faeminis mares aetatis ^[171] tenerae majoribus diſcrimen omne pudoris extinxiſſent. Upon which account they were abſolutely ſuppreſſ'd and aboliſh'd at Rome the year after its foundation 568. in the Conſulſhip of Poſthumus Albinus, and Martius Philippus.

This hath coſt me the pains of conſulting Authours much more moderate and judicious than le Loyer was, when he deſcrib'd this imaginary Sabat of the Orpheotelestae, or Superiours of this Bacchick Fraternity, to ſhew, by the naked truth and ſimple relation of what was done in theſe Orgia and Dionyſiacks, how little reaſon this Authour had (unleſſe his great learning and vaſt reading may ſomewhat excuſe him) to make ſuch a ſtrange metamorphoſis of Euhoe into har-Sabat, a Tabour into a Goat which was ſuck'd to the very laſt drop, and little Bels and Cymbals into great Kettles and Cauldrons, wherein they boil'd little and newly born children. He might have hit, if not more fortunately, yet more pertinently, if he had reflected on the Bowls, which, as Pauſanias affirms, the women, engaged in theſe Sacrifices, carried in their hands; or the Goat which gave Arnobius occaſion to ſay, ſpeaking to men who troubled themſelves with theſe Congregations, Atque, ut vos plenos Dei numine ac majeſtate doceatis, caprorum reclamantium viſcera cruentatis oribus diſſipatis. This had been much more proper to prove what he ſaid, than what he relates of the Tabour, or yet the paſſage of Demoſthenes juſtly reproving Aeſchines, for that he and his mother were initiated in theſe ceremonies, at that time much ſuſpected and cried down for the reaſons beforementioned, obſerved by Livy. But as Hercules overcame not the Hydra till he had cut off all her heads, ſo is it nothing to have overthrown this firſt Argument, if we cannot do the like with three others yet to come▪ ſince that the leaſt of them remaining entire and without anſwer, were enough to maintain the ſuſpicion there is, that Orpheus was a Magician.

To begin then with that wherein they ſay, that his head became an Oracle, and gave anſwers in the Iſle of Lesbos. I ſhall not ſtick at the doubt may juſtly be made, whether this ſtory be true, though all the Authours ſpeak of it with much contradiction, ſince that, it being ſuppoſed true, it makes nothing againſt Orpheus. For the miracle happen'd long after his death, and conſequently it was not he that ſpoke thorow his ſcull; but the Devil undertook to give anſwers in it, to advance Idolatry amongſt his creatures, making this head to ſpeak, as he ſince did that of one Polycritus, which expoſed in the Market-place, foretold the Aetolians that they ſhould loſe the battle they were to fight againſt the Acharnanians. ^[172] The like feat he alſo did with the head of one Gabinius, which after it had been retriv'd out of a Wolves throat, did, in a long Poem, ſing all the miſ-fortunes which ſhould happen to the City of Rome. The inference will be as prejudiciall to the two laſt as to Orpheus. Were it not madneſſe to ſay, that Samuel being dead anſwered the Witch, the Abbot Caſſian, St. Germain, and another St. Macaire, that is, that all theſe holy perſons were Magicians. For it muſt be thought, that as the Angels ſpoke under the perſons of theſe laſt, for the inſtruction of the devout and faithfull; ſo the Devil, the true Ape of all divine actions made his advantages of the former, the more eaſily to deceive men, and involve them in an abyſſe of new worſhips and ſuperſtitions.

This granted, our next buſineſſe is to ſhew the ^[173] little reaſon thereis to beleeve that Orpheus, Mutis animalibus imperavit, vagoſque greges, contemptis paſcuis, ad audiendi epulas invitavit. This errour, as we have obſerv'd in the firſt Chapter proceeds from this, that many times men take Poeticall Fables for evident Truths; and the literall ſenſe of their writings, for the allegoricall and morall which they meant, as may be particularly obſerved in this fabulous muſick of Orpheus. It muſt then be underſtood of the civilization which his Laws wrought upon ſavage and barbarous people, reducing them to quiet and better converſation, if we take the ſecurity of Horace, who ſayes,

De Art. poet.

Sylvestres homines ſacer interpreſque Deorum,

Caedibus, & victu foedo deterruit Orpheus,

Dictus, ob id, lenire tygres, rabidoſque leones.

Which is alſo the common explication of ^[174] Dion, Chryſoſtom, ^[175] Boccace▪ ^[176] Caſſiodorus, ^[177] Macrobius, and ^[178] Quintilian. It were therefore impertinent to endeavour to explane the ſeven ſeverall reaſons which ^[179] Fabius Paulinus would draw from the Philoſophy of the Platoniſts, to prove this motion of things inanimate poſſible in Nature, ſince he confeſſes himſelf, that he propoſes them not, but to exerciſe his learning; whereas, had he advanced ſeriouſly, and as true, Delrio hath ſo fully refuted them, that there were not now any ground to receive them as legitimate; beſides that, their main drift was to ſhew the poſſibility of that muſike, which certainly is a very weak proof, and in a manner of no conſequence, if we conſider with Apuleius, that, Non omnia ^[180] quae fieri potuerunt pro fact is habenda ſunt.

The conjecture they would draw from his Hymnes would be more conſiderable than either of the precedent, if we were obliged to follow the gloſſe and interpretation which hath been ^[181] made of it by diverſe perſons, eſpecially le Loyer, who will, I hope, pardon me, if I endeavour to prove, that he hath been as unfortunate in the explication of his Hymnes, as the Metamorphoſis of the Orpheotelestae into Magicians. For, not to quarrell with the little account or knowledge we have of the Compoſer of them (ſince Genebrard aſſures us, that there is not any one book left of all thoſe old Authours, and firſt Divines, ſuch as Orpheus, Linus, Muſaeus, Phenias, and Ariſteus Proconeſienſis, grounding his opinion haply on the authority of Cicero, who fathers theſe Hymnes upon one called Cecrops, and thoſe of Franciſcus Picus, Selden, and Eugubinus, who ingenuouſly acknowledge that their Authour is utterly unknown to us) we may ſhew in two words, that theſe Hymnes contain not any thing that ſhould bring them into the leaſt ſuſpicion of Magick; whether they be conſidered literally, or in the ſeverall interpretations of their allegoricall and morall ſenſe.

For to ſhew that there is no ſuch danger as to the former, we need onely reflect on the induſtry of this firſt planter of Theologie, who, to ſubdue and refine the ſpirits of a rough and ſalvage people, took the moſt effectuall courſe that could be thought upon, to bring about his enterpriſe, which was to poſſeſſe them with a fear and veneration of certain Divinities. Theſe he himſelf celebrates in his Hymnes, as well to bring them into reputation by his example, as to leave his Succeſſours a certain Modell (as it were) of thoſe obſervations and ceremonies which ought to be practiz'd, to keep up the honour and devotion of their Sacrifices, whereof there were certainly many kinds. For as the ceremonies of Chriſtianity, at the preſent, are not much different one from another, becauſe they relate to the ſervice of one onely Almighty God; So thoſe, of the falſe Religion of the Ancients, could not but be very contrary and diſcordant, by reaſon of the infinite number of Gods, Idols and Images, which were to be ador'd with Sacrifices peculiar to every one of them; Cum ex hoc Divorum numero, ^[182] (ſaith Apuleius) nonnulli nocturnis vel diurnis, promptis & occultis, laetioribus vel triſtioribus hoſtiis, vel ceremoniis, vel ritibus gauderent. But this proceeded meerly from the ſleight and ſubtilty of the Law-makers and firſt Divines, who thus diverſify'd the Sacrifices, as they ſaw it moſt convenient for the people. We have a manifeſt example hereof in theſe Hymnes of Orpheus, unleſſe any one would ſift out a more myſterious and hidden ſenſe under the veil of their Allegories, as Picus acknowledges we muſt, when he ^[183] ſayes, that, Ut erat veterum mos Theologorum, it a Orpheus ſuorum dogmatum mysteria, fabularum involucris, & poetico velamento diſſimulavis, ut ſi quis legat illius hymnos▪ nihil ſubeſſe credat praeter fabellas nugaſque meraciſſimas.

But this Mythologie once admitted, the Chymists preſently explane theſe Hymnes of their ſeverall Tinctures and their Philoſophers ſtone; the Cabaliſts, of the Enſoph and its Zephirots; Divines, of the myſteries of Chriſtian Religion; Philoſophers, of Nature and its cauſes; and Daemonographers, of Sacrifices and Conjurations. When yet there is no ground to beleeve, that Orpheus would conceal ſo many myſteries, and thoſe ſo different one from another, under the mask of his fables, which can neither be interpreted of the univerſall ſpirit, or the Philoſophers ſtone, nor of the ſorceries of Magicians. For as to the interpretation of Alchymiſts, we ſhall in the enſuing Chapters ſhew, that it hath ever been one of their main fooleries, to be deſirous to gloſſe on all things obſcure and difficult, advantageouſly to their diſquiſition. For that of du Loyer and other Daemonographers, it were irrationall to admit it for the legitimate, ſince firſt, we have the contrary authority of all the Catholike Doctours, ſpecifi'd before, who allow their authority may be uſed to confirm the principall points of our Religion. Secondly, we are able to ſhew that they cannot be better interpreted than of Phyſick, according to the judgement even of the great Mirandula, who in the third of his Concluſions upon the Doctrine of Orpheus, ſayes expreſſely, that Nomina Deorum quos Orpheus canit, non decipientium Daemonum, ſed naturalium virtutum divinarumque ^[184] ſunt nomina. This is further confirm'd by Strabo, who obſerves, that in all the Diſcourſes were anciently made of the Gods, under the umbrage of diverſe Fables & Metamorphoſes, were ſhrowded the moſt famous opinions of thoſe who were particularly excellent in the knowledge of Nature. Such is Orpheus in his Hymnes, which if we would ^[185] interpret in their tr[•]e ſenſe, we muſt with Seneca obſerve, that the Aegyptians, from whom this firſt Philoſopher and Divine had deriv'd all his learning, divided every element into two parts, one whereof they called the male, the other the female. Thus in the earth, rocks and ſtones; in the air, the winds; in the water, the Sea; in the fire, flame and thunder, are held the ſtrongeſt and moſt forcible parts; and the ſoft and tractable earth, freſh waters, the moſt untroubled Aire, and the leaſt activefire, are the weaker and more feminine parts.

In alluſion to this, does Orpheus put two diſtinct Vertues into all the bodies of the Vniverſe, one whereof was deſtin'd only to Governe its Sphere, the other to produce the effects which depended on its perfection. Deſirous therefore to ſpread this doctrine under the ſweetneſſe of his Hymnes, he compoſ'd them all under the names of his vertues, calling thoſe he directed to the Earth, Pluto and Proſerpina, to the water Thetis and Oceanus; to the Aire, Jupiter and Juno; to the Fire, Aurora and Phaneta, and giving the names of the Nine Muſes, and an Epithet of the God Bacchus to all the reſt, whom he plac'd in the Spheres of the ſeven Planets the Firmament and the ſoul of the World, as may be ſeen more particularly in Caelius Rhodiginus. ^[186]

All which put together may be enough to demonſtrate, that Le Loyer and ſuch Writers have been extreemly miſtaken, when they interpreted thoſe names of a Legion of Devils, and ſo pittifully charg'd this Author with Magick upon the Authority of Pauſanias, who ſufficiently refutes himſelf, both as mentioning it only upon the ſcore of a common report, and that he faſtens the ſame calumny upon Amphion, a perſon excellent only for Muſick, qui canendo chordis, as ^[187] (Caſſiordorus hath well obſerv'd) Thebanos muros dicitur condidiſſe, ut cum homines labore marcidos ad ſtudium perfectionis erigeret, ſaxa ipſa viderentur relictis rupibus adveniſſe. To which we may adde one thing more that may oblige us to have ſentiments ^[188] of this great perſon contrary to theirs who too lightly ſuſpect him, which is, that Pliny himſelf delivers him out of the Inquiſition after he had charg'd a many others, whoſe Innocencie ſhall nevertheleſſe appear when we come to their particular vindication.

CHAP. X.

A Vindication of Pythagoras.

^[189] HAd we not from Plutarch this Character of Pythagoras, that he was wont freely to acknowledge, that the greateſt advantage he had reap'd from Philoſophy, was, Not to wonder at any thing; I ſhould not eaſily be perſwaded but that he would find much matter for his admiration, when he ſhould conſider how the malice and ignorance of men hath ſo chang'd the truth of his Hiſtory, and the genuine ſenſe of his Doctrine, that his life ſeems now like that of ſome Mountebank or Hocus Pocus, and his precepts ſo fabulous, impertinent, and at ſuch diſtance with Reaſon, that a man cannot avoi'd aſtoniſhment at ſuch a prodigious Metamorphoſis. To reduce which to its former luſtre and ſcowre it from that ruſt and rubbidge which obſcure the Nobleſt ſtroaks, and what ever is moſt like and naturall in the Hiſtoricall draught of this great Philoſopher, we need only follow the method obſerv'd in the precedent Chapter. That is, as Vertue precedes Vice, and truth falſhood, to ſhew, in the firſt place, what he hath been, according to the true telation of thoſe who knew moſt of him, that ſo we may the more eaſily judge what account we ſhould make of all theſe forged ſtoryes which impeach him ſo highly of ſorcery and inchantment, as if he had done nothing all his life, to the deſtruction of thoſe of his own Species, but deal and trade in,

Quicquid habet Circe, quicquid Medaea veneni,

Quicquid et herbarum Theſſala terra gerit.

This great perſon borne to things far above the ordinary rate of men, and having a mind, able to comprehend what ever the world could; that is, ſuch as could not be ſatiſfied within the narrow limits of a City, reſolv'd to go and learne among the Aegyptians & Chaldaeans what he could not in his own Country, that is, Ceremoniarum ^[190] incredendas potentias, numerorum admirandas vices, & Geometriae ſolertiſſimas formulas. Having by a peregrination of fifteen years made himſelf Maſter of all manner of Diſciplines, he brought, as it were, the Spoiles of Aegypt into Greece, and particularly into the City of Crotona, where he began to erect an Academy, according to the order which may be ſeen in Gellius. Here he though ^[191] fit to communicate the precious talent he had acquir'd by his ſtudy and travell, and lay open the treaſures of the Encyclopedie, wherewith he was ſo inrich'd, that, not to rely too much on the teſtimonies of Laertius and Jamblichus, who might be thought too favourable to him, becauſe they have made it their buſineſſe to write his Hiſtory; it is not to be doubted after the generall conſent of all good Authors, who have bu[•] juſtly been tender of the honour and reſpect due to his memory.

For if we begin with his Philoſophy, we have no reaſon to doubt of it, ſince he is call'd by ^[192] Apuleius, Primus Philoſophiae nuncupator & creditor, as well becauſe he chang'd the name of Wiſdome, in his judgment too arrogant, into that of Philoſophy, as that he was the Prince and Inſtitutor of the Italick Philoſophers, as Thales had been of the Ionick, as Laertius and others affirme; and that Reuchlin, who firſt diſpell'd the cloudy ignorance of Germany, hath deſign'd the ſecond Book of his Cabaliſticall Art, to explaine and revive, in his Country, the Philoſophy of Pythagoras, in imitation, as he ſayes, of Faber Stapulenſis and Marſilius Ficinus, who both in France and Italy had brought into reputation thoſe of Ariſtotle and Plato. If we proceed to Medicine, ^[193] Laertius and ^[194] Apuleius are a ſufficient teſtimony to convince us, that he was excellently able in it. Nor have we worſe ſecurity for his knowledge of the four parts of Mathematicks. For as to Arithmetick or the Science of Numbers, beſides the teſtimony of thoſe two Authors, we may out of thouſands ^[195] pitch upon that of Cicero, who ſayes, that Pythagoras deduc'd all things from Numbers and the Principles of Mathematicks, whereto he attributed very great Myſteries, and gave the names of certain Divinities. Theſe are explain'd at large by ^[196] Plutarch and ^[197] Calcagnin, who upon them ground the ſubtlery of that Ancient Cuſtome of giving an account of all things by Numbers, as Picus promiſ'd to do in his Concluſions, to re▪eſtabliſh that Philoſophy neglect'd ever ſince the time of Pythagoras, who was ſo well verſ'd therein, that by the difficulties of it he try'd the ingenuity of his Diſciples. He alſo gain'd thereby ſome advantage as to the practice of Geometry, wherein he was ſo admirably able, that he, ^[198] firſt, brought the Geometricall inſtruments, of the invention of Moeris to perfection, and was the firſt among the Greeks, that uſ'd weights and meaſures. Which yet he could not have done without the aſſiſtance of that Science, which he ſtudy'd with ſo much importunity, that having found out an excellent propoſition in it, which is the 47. of the firſt Book of Euclid's Elements, he was ſo overjoy'd, that he expreſſ'd his thanks to the Gods, in a Hecatomb, ^[199] or Sacrifice of 100 Oxen.

Theſe two Sciences were as it were ſteps for him to aſcend to two others more excellent, which are thoſe of Muſick and Astronomy, the former whereof he muſt needs be well acquainted with, ſince ^[200] Macrobius, ^[201] Boetius, ^[202] Ficinus, ^[203] Gafurius, and ^[204] Calcagnin (to omit all the reſt who are of the ſame opinion) particularly deſcribe his induſtry in finding out the tones of Muſick, by the proportion he obſerv'd in Smiths, when five or ſix beat upon their Anviles together. The ſame Macrobius, Athenaeus and Maximus Tyrius affirme that he firſt found out the inferiour and celeſtiall Harmony, whether it be interpreted of the admirable order and Symphony of Nature▪ or of the Muſick which ^[205] Pontus de Tyard, and ^[206] Kepler do maintaine there ought to be in the proportionall revolution of thoſe Globes and great Machins of Heaven. Whence we may draw an evident argument of his knowledge in ^[207] Aſtronomy; to learn which Juſtin ſayes, he went ^[208] to Aegypt to Babylon, and Pliny and Laertius affirme, that he firſt demonſtrated the obliquity of the Zodiack, and diſcover'd the nature and quality of the Planet Venus.

Laſtly, for what concernes the other Sciences, it may be preſum'd he was as well provided as for the former, if we may credit Ovid, andeſpecially Apuleius, who ſayes, that Pythagoras learnt of the Brachmanes, quae mentium documenta, quae corporum exercitamenta, quot partes animi, quot vices vitae, quae diis manibus pro merito ſuo cuique tormenta vel praemia. Adde to this, the Lawes he gave the Inhabitants of Crotona, and the three Books which Plutarch and Laertius ſay he writ, one of Iustitution, another of Civility, and the third of Nature; the fame whereof was ſo great that Plato hearing that Philolaus intended to publiſh them, gave order they ſhould be bought up for him at the rate of a hundred minae of Silver.

This Univerſall acquaitance with the Sciences gain'd him ſuch reſpect in his life time, that Plutarch ^[209] affirmes, he taught at Crotona and Metapont above thirty years without any interuption, being alwayes follow'd by above 600. Auditors, who, for the integrity of his life and eloquence of ^[210] his diſcourſes, took his words for Oracles, ſo far, that, as the Roman Orator affirmes, his authority was thought reaſon, and divers Princes and ^[211] Potentates of Italy were glad, as Plutarch affirmes, to take his advice in all affaires. For theſe great deſerts did the people of Metapont immediately after his death conſecrate his houſe, calling it the Oratory of Ceres; and the Street, the Sacred Street of the Muſes. Upon the ſame account, the Romans, having had an Oracle in the time of the Warrs with the Samnites, that they ſhould erect Statues to two men, whereof one had been the greateſt Warriour, the other the wiſeſt among the Grecians, without any debate caſt that honour on Alcibiades and Pythagoras, the firſt having been the greateſt Captain of his time, the other gain'd ſuch reputation through all Italy, that qui ſapiens haberetur, is continuò Pythagoreus ^[212] putaretur.

But it were an endleſſe work to run over all the eulogies & honorary titles that are ſcatter'd of this perſon, in all the Books of the Ancients. Theſe had an extraordinary eſteem and reverence for him, as being indeed one of the greateſt Wits of all Antiquity, who had the greateſt earneſtneſſe for that which is good and honeſt, and who endeavour'd more then any other among the Pagans to reduce mankind to a reſpect and knowledge of a firſt cauſe, and to draw it out of irregularity and diſſolution, to raiſe it to the contemplation of things naturall and Civill.

From the little we have, it is eaſy to judge what might be ſaid in his praiſe; we ſhall therefore now come to an examination of all thoſe falſities, or rather extravagances, which ſome, either out of envy to his Vertue or enmity to his fame, have inſenſibly foiſted into the relation of his life, grounded, probably at leaſt, upon his vaſt knowledge of the Mathematicks, and great Learning. Which once done, we ſhall need no more then the improbability & impertinences of thoſe little ſtories, to ſatisfie us, what diſtance they are at with Reaſon, who not weighing the proofs they meet with, preſently believe that all the ancient Philoſophers, and firſt Authors of Sciences ^[213] and Diſciplines, ſuch as Seneca calls Praeceptores, generis humani, have been abſolute Necromancers and Magicians. For as to Pythagoras in particular, they are ſo confident, that they think it not to be queſtion'd after the inſtances of it, which may be taken out of ^[214] Iamblicus, in his life, ^[215] Pliny, ^[216] Tertullian, ^[217] Origen, ^[218] St. Auguſtine, ^[219] Ammianus Marcellinus, and, the moſt accurate Writer on this Subject, ^[220] Delrio, not to put into the ſcale the authority of ſome late Daemonographers, quibus ſatisfactum non eſt, ſaith Sarisberienſis, niſi libello doceant quicquid alicubi ſcriptum invenitur, and who accordingly ſtifle their judgement with a confuſed collection of all the ſtories they can patch up together upon this Subject. Such are thoſe that are brought upon the ſtage in the hiſtory of this perſon, whereof ſome may be found in Boiſſardus, who ſeems to have taken more pains than any, to rank him among the Magicians▪ whom he deſcribes in his book of Divinations. From which and all the precedent may be inferr'd, that Pythagoras was accounted a Sorcerer and Magician; becauſe, firſt, he had liv'd long in Aegypt, and had read the books of Zoroaſtes, out of which he might probably have learnt the properties of certain herbs, which he called Coraceſia, Callicia, Menais, Corinthas▪ and Aproxis, whereof the two firſt put into water, cauſed it to freeze, the two next were excellent againſt the biting of Serpents, and the laſt took fire at a diſtance. He alſo in one of his Symbols expreſſely forbade the uſe of Beans, which, according to the ſame ſuperſtition▪ he boyl'd, and, for certain nights expoſ'd to the Moon, till ſuch time, as, by a ſtrange effect of Magick they were converted into Blood. This haply he did in order to another deluſion, mention'd by Coelius Rhodiginus, after Suidas, and the Scholiaſt of Aristophanes in his Comedy of the Clouds, who affirm that this Philoſopher writ with blood upon a hollow glaſſe, what he thought fit, and holding the letters oppoſite to the face of the Moon, when ſhe was in the full, he ſaw in the ſtar what he had written in his glaſſe. Adde to this, his appearance with a golden thigh at the Olympick games; as alſo, that he cauſed himſelf to be ſaluted by the river Neſſus; that he ſtay'd the flight of an Eagle, tam'd a Bear, kill'd a Serpent, drove away an Oxe that ſpoil'd a field of Beans, by the meer vertue of certain words. He was ſeen on the ſame day, at the ſame hour, in the City of Crotona and that of Metapont, and foretold things to come with ſo much certainty, that many think him call'd Pythagoras, becauſe he gave as certain & as inſallible anſwers, as the Pythian Oracle. This he perform'd by Onomancie, wherein he excell'd as we may gheſſe by the fragments we have of his ſuperſtitious Arithmetick, and the wheel attributed to him by Flood and Catinus.

The troth on't is, I am aſham'd to ſwell up this Chapter with the relation of ſo many fables and fooleries, ſo flat and inconſiſtent with truth, as might make us ſay with much more reaſon, what the Satyriſt anciently did,

Juven. Sat. 8.

—Quid diceret ergo,

Vel quó nunc fugeret, ſi nunc haec monſtra videret,

Pythagoras?—

For my part, I think he would be diſtracted by two ſeverall paſſions, that is, that of amdiration at their want of judgement, who ſay of him, what they would be loth to affirm of the moſt notorious Cheat and Mountebank that ever was; or that of compaſſion for their ſhallowneſſe, in the choice and triall of all theſe proofs, which may not by any means be receiv'd for legitimate. For it may be generally ſaid of them, that it were abſolutely irrationall, to imagine that a man, ſo ſerious all his life, and ſo learned (as we have repreſented him) could ſpend his time in ſuch vain fooleries and legerdemain, ſuch as can be no other than the imaginary productions of popular ignorance, and the malice of his Enemies and Emulatours. That is a handſom obſervation of Rheuclin, ^[221] Non enim caruit aemulorum livore praeſtantiſſima ejus viri virtus, innocentiſſima vita, egregia doctrina, celebris fama, utque fit, nihil non pollutum reliquerunt invidi carptores. Timon, Xenophanes, Cratinus, Ariſtophon, Hermippus, & alii qui de Pythagora ſuis in libris mendacia plurima ſcripſere. This is particularly levell'd at the ſtories that were crept into his Metempſychoſis, and his prohibition of eating Beans: For as to the Hiſtories which concern his Magick, he conceives them ſo feign'd and abſurd, that he would not ſo much as mention them, in a Book, wherein he ſhould have brought in the greateſt part, had he thought there had been any thing of truth in them, ſince the drift of it is to prove a reſemblance between the Doctrine of Pythagoras, and the Cabala of the Hebrews, ſo far, that he affirms in his Book, De Verbo mirifico, that many ſtrange and extraordinary things may be done by the vertue of numbers and words.

But if the Metempſychoſis, or tranſanimation, which was one of the principall points of Pythagoras's Doctrine, if the greateſt part of his Symbols, his prohibition of eating things animate, the main actions of his life, and the hiſtory of his death, be ſo much controverted among Authours, what certainty can we have of theſe old wives tales, and Hocus Pocus tricks, when Laertius and Iamblicus have prudently paſſed them by, inſtancing onely in two or three of ſo great a number, and that upon the credit of other Writers. If further their authority be preſſed, for their ſatiſfaction, and that of all thoſe who have accounted Pythagoras a Magician, we may rationally preſume, that they did not put into their Books their own opinions of that perſon, but the falſe reports which from time to time had been ſcattered of him among the people, by the malice of Timon the Phlyrſian & others his enemies, qui viro aliàs ^[222] Coryphaeo propemodum magicae vanitatis crimen inuſtum voluerunt. Thus came the fables beforementioned into reputation, which though they ſufficiently refute themſelves, we may yet, to diſcover the impertinencie of every one in particular, affirm, that what hath been ſaid before of the Aegyptian Magick, and the books of Zoroaſtes, ^[223] make it clear, that the voyage of Pythagoras into that Countrey, and his reading, as Clemens Alexandrinus delivers, of the books of that perſon, are rather arguments of his knowledge in Phyſick, medicine, and naturall Magick, than any thing he could do in the Geotick and ſuperſtitious. His acquaintance with the former may be further argued, from his knowledge, as Pliny relates of certain herbs, from which our Adverſaries would derive a certain proof to convince him of Magick. Which they might have done with ſome colour, if Pythagoras had deſcribed them with ſo much ſuperſtition, as ſometimes did their Authours, Andreas and Pamphilus, in the book which Galen ^[224] ſayes they made, Of Charms, and the converſion of the ſacred herbs into Daemons, or had gather'd them under ſome certain Star or Planet, as thoſe that were anciently called Herbae Decanorum, for the ^[225] reaſon given by Monſieur Moreau in his learned Comment upon The School of Salerna. But Pliny ſaying nothing of them that had any relation to theſe vain ceremonies and obſervations, I ſee not what reaſon they had to make ſuch an extravagant conjecture, nay, he doubting withall, whether the ^[226] book wherein they are deſcribed, ſhould be attributed to Pythagoras, or to one Cleemporus. And if we muſt follow their opinion, who will have it to be his, their vertue was not ſo prodigious and extraordinary, but we daily find as much in Mallows, Baſil, Bawme, Vervin, Horehound, Henbane, Cypreſſe, Benjamin, and Germander, all which are very good againſt the biting of Serpents; or in the leaves of Willows, Vines, Lettice, Violets, and Water-lily, which can much more eaſily cool water, than they do the air in ſick folks chambers. It may be alſo ſuppoſed, he might put in Salt-peter, which is uſed in ſtead of ice, to cool wine in the height of Summer. Nay, Pliny ſeems to give a reaſon of what might be thought moſt hard in the vertue and properties of theſe herbs, when he ſayes that the root of Aproxis took fire at a diſtance, as Naphte did, becauſe it might be of a bituminous nature, which exhaling many fat & unctuous ſpirits, takes fire as a candle newly put out, which is not to be at all doubted of, after the many experiences of it, as they may be found in the books of ^[227] Libavius and ^[228] Agricola.

The proofs deduced from this Philoſophers forbidding the eating of Beans, and the courſe he took to convert them into blood, may refuted with as much eaſe as the precedent, ſince Rheuclin juſtly laught at all thoſe impertinencies, which ſome hollow and diſlocated brains have forg'd upon this prohibition, ſuch as might be that of Hermippus in Laertius, who thought Pythagoras would rather have ſuffered death at the entrance into a field of Beans, than paſſe thorow it to avoid his enemies. But the reaſon of the prohibition, was certainly no other than the firſt giuen by M. Moreau in the place before mentioned upon the ^[229] School of Salerna; namely, that Pythagoras, who commanded his Diſciples to lie down to reſt with the ſound of the harp and pleaſant ſongs, as it were to charm the ſoul, and, by harmony, to bring it into it ſelf, abſolutely forbade the uſe of that fruit, the juyce whereof being flatulent, groſſe, and of ill nouriſhment, ſends ſuch vapours to the brain as make it heavie; and divert the ſpirits from minding the contemplations of Philoſophy, which were the main buſineſſe and entertainment of his followers. It may be alſo affirm'd, that there was nothing extraordinary in the converſion he made of Beans into blood, for M. Moreau, in the ſaid Commentary, ſhews clearly, that according to the principles of Chymiſtry, which put ſimilitude and reſemblance for cauſes of an action, it is a thing may be done and demonſtrated by naturall reaſons. In the mean time, let no man perſwade himſelf from hence, that Pythagoras ever made uſe of this Elixir of Beans, or humane blood, to write upon his hollow glaſſe; for beſides the little reaſon there is he ſhould rather uſe blood in that buſineſſe than any other liquor, ^[230] Campanella proves by ſound reaſons that operation abſolutely impoſſible. And whereas ^[231] Agrippa boaſted, that he knew the ſecret of it, and Natalis ^[232] Comes hath written, that in the times of Francis the Firſt, and Charles the Fifth, men knew at Paris in the night, whatever had paſſed the day before in the Caſtle of Milan; the former onely ſaid it to gain reputation, as ſhall be ſhewn more particularly in his vindication; and the relation of the latter is a pure Fable and Romance, advanced by thoſe who would needs joyn Magick to the Arms of thoſe two great Princes, as hath been affirmed before, of Ninus and Zoroaſtes, Pyrrhus and Croeſus, Nectanebus and Philip of Macedon. Whence may be inferr'd, that what ever is ſaid of this Looking-glaſſe of Pythagoras, is as unjuſtly attributed to him, as the ſuperſtitious Arithmetick, and the wheel of Onomancie; or if he ever made uſe of it, it was certainly ſome game, impoſture, or juggling trick, and, to conclude with Suidas, [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉].

We may well paſſe the ſame ſentence on the the relation of Laertius, concerning the golden ^[233] thigh of this Philoſopher, ſince Plutarch openly acknowledges, that it was a pure ſtratagem of Pythagoras to gain him the reputation of ſome Heros or Demy-God, among the infinite number of people that came to the Olympick exerciſes. Which yet does not prejudice the probability there is, that that golden thigh was not attributed to him by the Ancients, but in ſome allegoricall and morall ſenſe, yet not ſuch as Alchymiſts imagine, who think that Pandora's box, Jaſon's fleece, Siſiphus's ſtone, and Pythagoras's golden thigh, are the true Hieroglyphicks of their Philoſophers ſtone. But much more likely it was, as Calcagnin makes it, when he ſayes, in the explication of the particular marks of all the old Philoſophers, that Phythagorae rerum abditarum pretium, & excellens ^[234] indicatura, femur aureum fecit. Nor indeed is there any reaſon this thigh ſhould be taken literally, or that we ſhould beleeve it was of maſſie gold, as the tooth of the Sileſiun youth, who liv'd within theſe fourty yeers, not onely by reaſon of the impoſſibility of it, both in Nature and Art, but alſo for the diſagreement of Authours ſpeaking of it; ſome, cited by Delrio, affirming it to ^[235] be a golden river, which he made to run at the Olympick games; others, that it was his reall thigh, according to ^[236] Aelian, Plutarch, Laertius, and Lucian. But the more probable opinion is that of ^[237] Origen, that it was of Ivory, it being eaſie to imagine that it was the naturall thigh of Pythagoras, which being fair, white and ſmooth, was haply celebrated by ſome of his friends with a ſimilitude to Ivory, a compariſon we find Solomon makes uſe of, when he commends his Spouſe, Thy belly is of Ivory, thy neck is as a Tower of Ivory. ^[238] Adde to this, that the Gods could not think of a fitter materiall to make Pelops a ſhoulder than this, becauſe of the colour, and other relations there are between Ivory, and a delicate and ſmooth fleſhineſſe, ſuch as haply was that of this ſo much talk'd of thigh of Pythagoras.

The reputation of all theſe miraculous operations gave occaſion to ſay he was ſaluted by the genius of a river, which Laertius ſayes was that of ^[239] Neſſus, Apollonius Dyſcolus that of Samus, and Porphyrius that of Caucaſus, which diverſity ſhews what account we ſhould make of ſuch a ſalutation, as cannot but be fabulous, unleſſe, to ſave the credit of theſe Authors, we ſhould ſay it was another politick ſleight of Pythagoras, ſuch as I have read of Mahomet, who, having hid one of his Companions under ground, had inſtructed him, when he heard him paſſing by with a great multitude of people, to cry out through a Trunk that Mahomet was the great Prophet ſent from the Living God. Which having done with care, he was very ill rewarded for it: for Mahomet deſirous the cheat of the miracle ſhould never be diſcover'd, entreated thoſe that were about him to marke the place where they had had ſo ſtrange a revelation, by raiſing there a great heap of ſtones, which they immediately did with ſuch devotion, that the poor ſubterranean Angell was preſently buried under the weight of ſuch a maſſe and Pyramid.

Were I not affraid, while I would deliver Pythagoras out of one danger, to make him fall into another, and repreſent him as an impoſtor and crafty Polititian, to take away from him the imputation of a Magician, I ſhould with the ſame explication anſwer what is ſaid of his appearance on the ſame day, at the ſame hour in the two ſeveral Cities of Crotona and Metapont. For it being a thing abſolutely impoſſible as to men (whoſe eſſence requires no leſſe union as to their own particular, then ſeperation from all other) and not happening by divine permiſſion, as the apparitions of ſome Saints in ſeverall places at the ſame time; as thoſe of St. Ambroſe, Agatha, Nicholas, and Benedict, we muſt conclude, that either it is a pure Chimera and fiction (which I think the moſt probable) or that it was effected by the Subtlety of Pythagoras, who cauſ'd his geſtures and perſon to be acted by one of his Diſciples or Companions, whom he ſent, in his name, to talke with ſome ſimple man or woman of either of thoſe two Cities. Nor indeed needed there any more to raiſe the report of that miraculous apparition, which ought rather to be thus reconcil'd, then to have any recourſe to ſpirits and Daemons. For it brings with it no difficulty or inconvenience, beſides that Laertius gives ſuch another interpretation of what Hermippus ^[240] affirmes of Pythagoras's deſcent into Hell, and Plutarch of the tales were made of his Golden thigh, and the Eagle which he had ſo well inſtructed that he made him deſcend when he would upon his head, as they ſay Mahomet did his Pidgeon. Yet it ſhould ſeeme by his ſtory of the Eagle that Pythagoras was well acquainted with that part of Magick which conſiſts in Ligatures, if we had not ſufficient reaſons to anſwer whatever may be ſaid of the power he had over certain creatures. For if it be objected that he brought up a Bear familiarly in his lodgings, what reaſon is there to conclude he had tam'd it by Magick, ſince that, not to mention that which was Paris's Nurſe, or another which St. Corbinian made to carry his Luggage inſtead of the Aſſe whom it had devour'd, the two Bears, called Mica aurea and Innocentia, which the Emperour ^[241] Valentinian cauſ'd to be brought up in the ſame Chamber in a manner with his own; and that which Sindrigal Prince of the Lithuaniaus, had uſ'd to come from its denne and Knock at his Chamber door, and receive a certain almes for its nouriſhment, wherewith it return'd to the Woods till the next day that it came again at the ſame hour; theſe are enough, I ſay, to make us admire the Docility of theſe Creatures, which are not ſo ſavage, but the induſtry of men is able to reduce them, and that by the force, tis true, of certain words, not Magicall and ſuperſtitious, but thoſe pronounc'd by the Creator of all things, when he ſaid to our firſt parents, Have ^[242] dominion over the fiſh of the Sea, and over the fowle of the Aire, and over all the Creatures that move upon the Earth.

Nor is it worth much conſideration, that Pythagoras, by the uttering of certain words, kill'd a Serpent which did abundance of miſchief in Italy. For Boiſſardus, who cites Aristotle's Authority for the ſtory, quotes not the Book whence he took it, and if we ſearch a little more narrowly into it, we ſhall find it prove abſolutely falſe, as being grounded only on their Ignorance who change Socrates into Pythagoras, and who take for ſterling a fable related of the former, in a Book of the cauſes and properties of Elements, ^[243] which Patricius demonſtrates falſely attributed to Ariſtotle. But this negllgence of Boiſſardus might have been well excuſ'd, had he not committed another great and more obſervable, when ^[244] he cites Plutarch to patroniſe the ſtory of the Ox, which Pythagoras ſent packing out of a Bean-field; after he had whiſpered ſomething in his eare. He had better confeſt he had tranſlated it out of Caelius Rhodiginus, who indeed cites Plutarch in the beginning of his Chapter, but upon another occaſion than that of this fable, whereof it will be found he never made any mention. To give it then a finall ſhock, we may ſay, that it is abſur'd and irrationall that this Philoſopher, ſo grave & vertuous in all his other actions, ſhould trouble himſelf to drive away that Creature, eſpecially when it was executing his will, ſpoyling & trampling the beans, the uſe whereof he thought the greateſt abhomination in the World. But ſuppoſing he ſhould take paines to do it, yet is it not likely it was by the vertue of certain words, or by the wayes known and practiſ'd by certain Mountebanks, as may be ſeen in ^[245] Emanuel de Moura, ^[246] Pierius, and ^[247] Cardan; ſince the leaſt Child, coming near the one might as eaſily have done it as this Philoſopher.

Laſtly for what concernes his conjectures and praedictions, we may ſay they can be but of three ſorts, that is, morall, as thoſe of Socrates, or naturall, as thoſe of Pherecydes, Thales, and Anaxagoras, or Diabolicall and ſuperſtitious, as thoſe of all Magitians. Since then it is eaſie to conjecture, by what hath been ſaid concerning his doctrine, that he might well practiſe the two former, it were no leſſe barbariſme and ſimplicity to think he ſhould be engag'd in the laſt than to receive the proofes are brought for it, as good and Authentick, when they are only grounded upon the ſuperſtitious Arithmetick and the Wheele of Onomancy falſely attributed to him by ^[248] Flood and ^[249] Catanus. For this Arithmetick and all the impertinent fooleries inſenſibly crept into it, is nothing but the pure imagination of thoſe who would needs gloſſe upon the paſſage of Plutarch where he ſayes, that the Pythagoreans honoured Numbers and Geometricall figures with the names of the Gods, calling a Triangle with equal ſides Pallas and Tritogonia, becauſe it is equally divided by three lines perpendicularly drawn from each angle. They call'd Unity by the name of Apollo, the binary by that of Contention and Boldneſſe, the trinary by that of Juſtice, for as much as to offend or be offended, to do or ſuffer an injury, is done by exceſſe and defect, Juſtice remaining equally in the middle.

Nor is it a leſſe injury to this great perſon, to think that he ever troubled himſelf with the practice of this Wheele which ^[250] Trithemius and ^[251] Raguſeus acknowledge as falſely publiſh'd under his name, as that of Plato and Apuleius; or that he ever exerciſed Onomancy by the help of Common numbers repreſented by the Letters of ^[252] the Alphabet, the ſeven Planets, the dayes of the week, & the 12. Signes, as Flood would perſwade us in his Microcoſme. For in the firſt place, this kind of Divination is counterfeit, and without any ground at all; this application of Numbers without any relation or correſpondence with the ſigns and Planets; this Arithmetick abſolutely fabulous. And laſtly, it was ever the cuſtome of thoſe, who made it their buſineſſe to bring into reputation, ſuch impertinences as theſe, or any other Mathematicall Niceties; to divulge them under the name of this Philoſopher, by reaſon of the great knowledge he had therein. Whereof we have a manifeſt example in de Boiſſiere who within theſe 60. years making ſome additions to the Rythmomachia, hath in like manner put it out under the title of, Pythagoricall Recreation, though there be nothing to manifeſt, as that Pythagoras minded this ſleight, now attributed to him, as litle as all the other ſtories, which deſerve rather

Juven. Sat. 8.
—Purgantes corpora ſuccos,

Quicquid & in tota naſcitur Anticirâ▪

than what we have been obliged to ſay in this Chapter, to diſcover their vanity, and the little ground there is to admit them for true.

CHAP. XI.

Of Numa Pompilius.

THeodorus Gaza, the learnedſt Greek that ever came from Constantinople, being ask'd by a friend of his, what Authour he would preſerve, in caſe a generall wrack were to deſtroy all the reſt, would not ſeem ſo fond of his own Traductions, as to prefer Ariſtotle or Cicero before Plutarch. Him he thought worthy to ſurvive all the reſt, not ſo much, as I conceive, for his admirable learning & variety, as to perſerve in him the moſt judicious Authour that ever was, what could not ^[253] have been found in any other, to wit, the judgement he gave of all the things he treated of, which we might make uſe of as a certain mark to diſtinguiſh truth from falſhood, or as a guide to conduct us thorow thoſe noble ruines of Antiquity, which we find in his Works. This puts me into a more than ordinary admiration, at the malice or negligence of moſt of our Daemonographers, who will not apprehend the true account which this Authour gives us of Numa Pompilius, as they have done long ſince in the Metamorphoſis of Apuleius, which they quote upon all occaſions, as a manifeſt hiſtory to prove Lycanthropie. Out of ſome ſuch jealouſie it was, that the Authour thought himſelf oblig'd to give us all the precautions poſſible, to ſhew that his tranſmutation was a meer Fable and Romance, when he ſayes in the firſt page of his Book, At ego tibi ſermone iſto Mileſio varias fabellas conſeram, and a little after, Fabulam Graecam incipimus, lector intende, laetaberis. Which laid down, if thoſe are deſervedly laugh'd at, who would eſtabliſh and confirm a propoſition of ſuch conſequence by a relation acknowledged to be fabulous, even by the Authour of it, we may with as much reaſon affirm thoſe guilty of a greater malice and temerity, who ſo apparently falſifie the authorities of Plutarch, Dionyſius Halicarnaſſaeus, and Livie, to convert into Magick the admirable wiſdom and excellent policie of Numa.

That I undertake his vindication next that of Pythagoras, is not grounded on the opinion of ^[254] divers, eſpecially Ovid, who have made him later, and a Diſciple of that Philoſopher; ſince Livie ^[255] ſayes in his Decads, Authorem doctrinae ejus, quia non extat alius, falsò Samium Pythagoram edunt. The ſame is alſo confirm'd by the ſaid ^[256] Dionyſius Halicarnaſſaeus, ^[257] Plutarch, ^[258] Rhodiginus; and ^[259] Pererius; the former whereof ſhews that the City of Crotona was but founded in the fourth year of Numa's reign; and the three others inſiſt much upon all the chronologicall reaſons which may prove theſe two perſons not to have been Contemporaries, but by a figure of Anachroniſm, ordinary, and indeed tolerable, in Poets; but by no means allow'd an Hiſtorian. But in regard Iamblicus obſerves in the life of Pythagoras, that he had borrow'd all his learning from the Theologie of Orpheus, I have put their Chapters one after the other, without being too Criticall, as to the time wherein they flouriſhed, ſince it contributes nothing to their vindication, and that I am oblig'd to neglect it in divers other parts of this Apologie.

We are then to note, that the accuſation againſt Numa is grounded upon four principall points, the leaſt whereof, were it true, were enough to condemn him for an Enchanter and a Magician. For, firſt, it is urg'd, that the Genius attributed to him by ^[260] Ammianus Marcellinus, and which ^[261] Dionyſius Halicarnaſſaeus, ^[262] Plutarch and ^[263] Livie affirm to have been one of the nine Muſes, or rather a Nymph called Aegeria, was no other than a Succuba with whom he was very familiar, as being one of the cunning'ſt and beſt verſ▪d that ever was, in the invocations of the tutelary Gods, and the Genii of Men and Cities. Hence ^[264] Poſtellus takes occaſion to maintain, that th[•]s Familiar was the ſame that had attended Vesta the wife of Janus or Noah, and then was Guardian of Rome, Quo duce, ſayes he, Numa tantae molis urbem ſtabilivit. It is alſo taken for certain, that by the aſſiſtance and induſtry of this Divinity, he did many ſtrange and miraculous things, to gain reputation among the people of Rome, that ſo he might govern at his pleaſure. To this purpoſe is haply, what is related by Dionyſius Halicarnaſſaeus and Plutarch, That having once invited many Citizens to ſupper, he entertain'd them with mean and ordinary things, and with plate that ſpoke neither wealth nor magnificence. But they had not ſate down long, ere he took occaſion to tell them, that the Goddeſſe whom he converſ'd with, at that very inſtant was come to give him a viſit, and that immediately thereupon the room was excellently well furniſh'd, and the tables covered with all manner of meats, the moſt exquiſite and delicate in the world. The ſame may alſo be confirm'd by the diſcourſes he ^[265] had with Jupiter, ſuch as may be ſeen in Arnobius, who ſayes that Numa, by the advice of his Nymph Aegeria, found out a way to bind two Devils, or internall Gods, Faunus and Picus, who taught him how to invocate Jupiter, and force him to come to him by ſtrong and imperious conjurations, in caſe he ſhould not willingly and of his own accord. This it ſeems he was ſo fortunate in, that he fetch'd out of his throne, the greateſt and moſt powerfull of all the Gods, and forc'd him to declare, how by ſacrifice he ſhould expiate the thunder and lightening. To which may be added the Hydromancie which Varro, cited ^[266] by St. Auguſtine, ſayes, he was very well verſed in; as alſo his magicall books, diſcover'd four hundred years after his death, and condemn'd to the fire as moſt pernicious, in the Conſulſhip of Publius Cornelius and Marcus Bebius. All this admitted, we may well conclude with all our Daemonographers, eſpecially le Loyer and Delrio, the moſt learned among them▪ That Numa Pompilius was the greateſt Magician of any that ever wore Crown, and that he had a greater power over Devils than over men, ſince he made uſe of the aſſiſtance of the former, to reduce the Romane people to ſubjection and obedience to his Laws and Inſtitutions.

But if we would ſhew how all theſe Authours are too prodigall of our leiſure and their own, when they take ſo much pains to hatch a ſort of ſtrange and hideous imaginations, and thereby captivate our belief, we need do no more than take a view of the firſt draught of this perſon, done not onely by Livie, and D. Halicarnaſſaeus, who drew the firſt lines of him, but particularly by Plutarch, who hath clad him in his proper colours, and all the circumſtances and particularities of his life, that we might thereby judge of the leaſt vices and vertues, as alſo the diſpoſition, cuſtom and proceedings of this great Politician, and ſecond Founder of Rome. Whence it will not be hard to reſolve, what credit we ſhould give all theſe after-draughts and copies of the modern, who have rather follow'd the Originall in their own fantaſtick imaginations, than that of Plutarch and the beſt Hiſtorians, who ſeem not to mention Numa, but out of a deſigne to celebrate his vertues, and admire the excellent conduct, whereby he faſtened and eſtabliſhed the Romane Monarchy. For that, being looſe, and but newly ſet together, might eaſily have been ruin'd by the leaſt hoſtile violence, if Numa had not by a peace of three and fourty years, given it time to take root and growth, looking on the Romane people as a Champion that were to fight, having exerciſ'd it ſelf at leiſure, for the time he ſhould reign over it, would by that means prove ſtrong enough to oppoſe any that ſhould queſtion the limits of their Empire.

The firſt thing he did, after he had poſſeſſed himſelf of the government, was to ſoften and civilize the City, converting their rough & warlike humour into a gentle and tractable, remitting that height of courage and earneſtneſſe of fighting, by Sacrifices, Feſtivals, Dances, and Proceſſions▪ nay ſometimes, as Plutarch ſayes, repreſenting unto them the fear of the Gods. To this end did he make them beleeve, that he had ſtrange viſions, or had heard of great calamities, purpoſely to keep down their hearts in a dread of the Gods. To this may alſo be apply'd that paſſage of Tertullian, cited in the third Chapter of this Apologie, but much more pertinently that of Lactantius, ^[267] who ſayes that Numa, Sic novi populi feroces animos mitigavit, & ad ſtudia pacis à rebus bellicis avocavit. Whence may be drawn a certain argument, that whatſoever hath been ſaid of the Nymph Aegeria, was nothing but the meer pretences and palliations of this crafty Politician, who by that Fable would eſtabliſh the authority of his Sacrifices, Laws, and Conſtitutions, as is well obſerv'd by the ſame Lactantius, when, ſpeaking of Numa, he ſayes, that to ſettle theſe things, aliqua cum authoritate, ſimulavit cum Dea Aegeria nocturnos ſe habere congreſſus. This increaſes my admiration at the Lethargick judgements, or ſeared conſciences of our Daemonographers, who can ſo ſecurely deprave the authority of this Authour, with thoſe of Halicarnaſſaeus, Livie, and Plutarch, to give ſome colour to what they would have beleev'd, and ſo ground the truth of their propoſition upon the moſt palpable falſity can be imagin'd. For if le Loyer and ^[268] Delrio may be credited, the principall Authours that affirm all theſe fables we have related of Numa, are Plutarch, and D. Halicarnaſſaeus, which yet when we come to read, and peruſe, we ſhall find, that on the contrary they are thoſe that reſute, undermine, diſcover, and adviſe us not to credit them.

And that it is ſo, to begin with the opinion they had of the Nymph Aegeria; Plutarch having ^[269] made a long diſcourſe of the credit ought to be given theſe divine apparitions, concludes it with his own opinion, to this effect. Howbeit, if any be of a contrary opinion, he is left at liberty; for, I do not hold thoſe things improbable, which others relate of Lycurgus and Numa, and others of their quality; who, being to deal with rough and ſalvage people, and oblig'd to introduce great alterations into the government of their Countreys, have prudently pretended communication with the Gods, ſince thoſe fictions and pretences were advantageous even to thoſe whom they perſwaded to a beleef of them. This he further confirms, when three or four pages after he ſayes, immediately after he had cited the verſes of Timon the Phlyrſian, that this perſonation of Numa was nothing elſe than the love of a Goddeſſe, or ſome Nymph of the mountains, and the ſecret meetings he pretended to have with her. This ſeems to have been tranſcrib'd out of D. Haliearnaſſaeus, where ſpeaking ^[270] of Numa, he ſayes, as Portus's Latine Tranſlation hath it, Multa autem eaque admiranda de eo dicunt, referentes humanam ejus ſapientiam ad Deorum monita: fabulosè enim dicunt illi congreſſum fuiſſe cum quadam Nympha Aegeria, quae illum aſſidu[•] Regiam ſapientiam edoceret. Nay Livie, who is ^[271] tax'd with no other vice, than that of having fill'd his Hiſtory with abundance of prodigies & miraculous things, confeſſes ingenuouſly, that Numa reſolv'd to keep the Romanes in ſubjection by the fear of the Gods, and ſeeing it would not eaſily faſten on them, without the diſguiſe and circumvention of ſome counterfeit miracle, ſimulavit ſibi cum Dea Aegeria congreſſus nocturnos, ejus ſe monitu quae acceptiſſima Diis eſſent ſacra inſtituere, ſacerdotes ſuos cuique Deorum praeficere.

^[272] But indeed Ammianus Marcellinus ſeems to be more pertinently cited by our Daemonographers, and conſequently to favour them more than all the precedent. For, diſcourſing upon a certain viſion which the Emperour Conſtantius had, he ſayes, that the correſpondence between Gods and men is not a thing ſo extraordinary, but that there were manifeſt examples of it in the Genii, which ſometime were familiar with Hermes, Socrates, Apollonius, Numa, Scipio, Marius and Augustus. From which paſſage it might be imagin'd, he was of opinion, that it was not fabulous what was ſaid of the Nymph Aegeria, and the converſation that was between her and King Numa. But, be it ſuppoſ'd that this was his opinion, yet can it not conclude any thing to the prejudice of the precedent, ſince that thorow all his Hiſtory, he diſcovers himſelf very prone to beleeve and amplifie ſuch narrations; alluding to which, I conceive, ^[273] not improbably, Ludovicus Vives preſum'd to pronounce this judgement on his Hiſtory, Ammiani Marcellini quod ſuperest opus, nec Oratoris omnino nec hiſtorici.

Laſtly, for Poſtellus's Comment upon the Fable, I think it of the ſame metall, with what he relates in his Coſmography, where he ſayes that the Aethiopians are black, by reaſon of the curſe God thundered againſt Chus the firſt Authour of their Nation, becauſe Cham, his father, had known his wife in the Ark, againſt the expreſſe command of the Patriarch Noah to the contrary. Nor indeed can there be a more true and modeſt ſolution made to all theſe vaine and chimericall ſpeculations, then to ſay of their Author as the Proconſull Festus did of St. Panl, Inſanis Poſtelle, multae te literae ad inſaniam eonvertunt.

Having thus diſcover'd the weakneſs & falſity of the proofs, brought to make this Aegeria a Witch or Succuba, which was only a ſubtle fiction of Numa's, we muſt do as much with thoſe which ^[274] le Loyer and ^[275] Delrio would draw out of the ſame Authors to make good the enchanted Banquet, and the conference he had with Jupiter, by the meanes of this Hydromancy. But this was nothing but the fabulous invention of Numa to ſurpriſe Faunus and Picus, putting wine and honey into the Spring out of which they were wont to drink, that they, being taken, ſhould ſhew him the way to in[•]ocate Jupiter, & know of him what he ſhould do to expiate the Lightning, as we have already obſerved out of Plutarch and Arnobius. For as to D. Halicarnaſſ[•]us, tis true, that ſpeaking of the Nymph Aegeria, he mentions alſo the Supper Numa made by her meanes; but what he ſaies in conſequence, ſufficiently ſhews that he held it a meer fiction, adding immediately after the relation, ſed qui res omnes fabuloſas ^[276] ex historia tollunt, Numam haec quae de Aegeria dicebat finxiſſe dicunt, ut qui Numen divinum metuerent facilius animum ad ſe adverterent, & leges quas eſſet laturus libenter ut àdiis latas acciperent.

In like manner hath not Plutarch fallen upon a relation of theſe fables, without a precaution given before, beginning very judiciouſly thus. By theſe rudiments and as it were apprentiſhip of Religion, the City of Rome became ſo civiliz'd, & had ſuch an admiration for the great power of K. Numa, had it receiv'd for truths ſuch tales, as had no more likelihood of truth then there is in meer Fables and thought there was nothing incredible nor impoſſible to him that he ſhould deſire to effect.

There remaines therefore only the objection concerning his Books about which I ſhall not gleane up all that may be ſaid of their number, ^[277] and the time, when, and the manner, how, they were found, ſince Guillandinus hath very learnedly performed that task, and that it is ſufficient for me to ſhew, that they were not burnt as treating of Magick, as divers moderne Authors would perſwade us. For it was not the opinion of any of the ancients, as may be eaſily demonſtrated, in that, according to that of ^[278] Plutarch, ^[279] Livy, and ^[280] Caius Piſo Cenſorius, they treated only of the offices and duties of the Prieſts, and the Philoſophy of the Greeks, ſuch as it had been in Numa's time; to that of ^[281] Caſſius Hemina, they treated only of the Philoſophy of Pythagoras; and to that of ^[282] Lactantius, ^[283] Varro, and ^[284] Tuditanus, they contain'd only the order and cauſes of the ſacrifices and ceremonies he had inſtituted amongſt the Romans. Which laſt opinion I think the more probable, beauſe it diſcovers the reaſon why the Senate thought it not convenient they ſhould be divulg'd, for ſince we find in Plutarch that Numa forbad the Romans to believe that God had the forme either of Man or Beaſt; and to make any image or Statue of him, which was obſerv'd for the ſpace of 70. years, and permitted not they ſhould do ſacrifice but with the powring out of wine, milk, and a litle flower, it is probable he had given reaſons at large in his Books of that new kind of worſhip. Theſe coming to light and acknowledg'd for his, four thouſand years after, as Plutarch affirmes, or according to ^[285] Caſſius Hemina 535. when the City of Rome was ſo full of Idols, ut facilius eſſet Deum quàm hominem invenire, and that all the temples continually ſweltered in the blood of the Victims, it is, I ſay, eaſily conjectur'd, that the Books of this Roman Triſmegiſtus, who, in Juvenal, paſſes for the example of a great Prieſt, were burnt by order of the Senate, for fear leſt ſome great change might happen in Religion, if by the peruſall of thoſe Books, it had been known what reaſons Numa inſiſted on, both to eſtabliſh the purity of his Sacrifices, and to cleanſe men's mind from Idolatry, which had taken ſuch root there at the time of this diſcovery, that the beſt expedient was to deſtroy thoſe Books which were otherwiſe likely to put the whole Roman Monarchy into diſturbance; it being a maxime among Politicians, that the troubles & diſſentions in the State are ever conſequential to thoſe that happen in Religion.

This in my judgment was the true cauſe of the condemnation of theſe books, and not that which le Loyer, and other modernes have endeavoured ^[286] to find out in Magick, or yet what Caſſius Hemina, who might haply live in Augustus's time, ſeems to relate of their treating of the Philoſophy of Pythagoras. For as to the former, his opinion being without any ground or Authority, eâdem facilitate contemnitur quâ affertur. For that of the latter, it is ſufficiently refuted, not only in what we have ſhew'd before, that Pythagoras was latter then Numa, and, that this laſt came not into Italy, according to ^[287] Gellius, till the raign of Tarquin the proud, but alſo by the teſtimony and contrary opinion of ^[288] Livy, who ſaies, that one Antius Valerius gave the ſame judgment of theſe Books Vulgatae opinioni, as he adds, quâ creditur Pythagorae auditorem fuiſſe Numam, mendacio probabili accommodatâ fide. After all which anſwers and ſolutions, all I have to wiſh, is, that our Daemonographers would own either more modeſty or more judgment, that they may not hereafter ſo indiſcreetly forge ſuch Monſters and Chimeras as afrerwards frighten them, and make them run away, and cry like little Children, who are many times ſtartled at the dirt they caſt in the faces of their companions, quaſi quicquam infelicius ſit homine, cui ſua figmenta dominantur.

CHAP. XII.

Of Democritus, Empedocles, and Apollonius.

I Should never have preſum'd to remove the precious and venerable bounds of Antiquity, which the God Terminus in the fabulous Theologie of the Romans, ſignify'd to us immoveable, did I not ſomewhat rely on its being called by Arnobius, errorum pleniſſima mater, ſo far at leaſt as to be ſatisfi'd, it was no ſacriledge to bring that to the teſt which hath been held for true. And this I do after ſo many ages, as, by their long and various revolutions, are wont, as well in Civill Hiſtory as naturall, to dragge after them along traine of fables, and from time to time to give them new force and vigour by the multitude of thoſe who, out of meer reſpect to Antiquity, are enſnar'd by them. And indeed it were too great a ſeverity to be oblig'd to follow the ſuperſtitious track of thoſe, who will not do the leaſt violence to Antiquity, which, as if our eyes were not able to endure a full light, puts a cobweb before them, and burdens all things, eſpecially the memory and lives of great perſons, with fables and fictions, as it does the Statues erected to them with duſt and filth. This our deſigne leades us to maintain, by the examples of theſe three great Philoſophers or rather Daemons of knowledge, verſ'd in all Sciences, and the chiefeſt, and of greateſt Authority among their people, that is, Democritus, Empedocles and Apollonius. Theſe have undergone ſuch a change and Metamorphoſis, by thoſe who make it their buſineſſe to write without minding that precept of Horace,

Quid de quoque viro, & cui dicas, ſaepe caveto,

that beſides that they are delivered over to us all three for Sorcerers and enchanters, it is further believ'd, that Democritus was ſuch a foole as to put out his own eyes, after he had blown away his eſtate in a fruitleſſe ſearch of the Philoſophers ſtone; and that Empedocles, as an ambitious Deſperado, caſt himſelf into the burning furnaces of Mount Gibel.

^[289]—Deus immortalis haberi

Dum cupit Empedocles, ardentem frigidus Aetnam

Inſiluit—

But theſe calumnies are ſo far from being true or well grounded, that, on the contrary, there's nothing eaſier then to ſhew how they are abſolutely falſe, if we may beſtow but a few lines on them before we come to joyn iſſue with the moſt materiall part of the Charge put in againſt the reputation and Learning of theſe excellent Perſons. For firſt, as to the Book of the Sacred Art, and the knowledge and practice of Alchymy, attributed to Democritus, it is a ſymptome that ſignifies the deprav'd imaginations of our Furnace-Imps, who know no other project to gaine any credit to the Books of their Art, than to father them on Moſes, Salomon, Triſmegiſtus, Ariſtotle, nay (ſuch is their ſtupidity and want of judgment) Adam; ^[290] ut authoritatem videlicet ſumat ab homine quae non habet ex veritate. But to make an abſolute diſcovery of this impoſture, ſufficiently laugh'd at by ^[291] Riolanus, ^[292] Guibert, and ^[293] Semertus, we may affirme, that this Book was never made by Democritus, ſince the learned Mercurial aſſures us that Chymiſtry was not known at all in Ariſtotle's time, and that Delrio ſhewes; there is no track of it in any good Author, till from Caligula's time, when it firſt broke the ſhell, till that of Diocleſian, under whom lived one Zozimus, who, as Delrio thinks, ^[294] is the moſt ancient Greek that hath written of it. To which may be added that Caſaubon ſaies, he ſaw in the K. of France his Library, a manuſcript treating of the making of Gold, entituled, [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉], or, the ſacred Art, who yet never mentions Democritus for the Author of it. To make this good weight, we may urge the poorneſſe of conceptions which it diſcovers, and the cenſure long ſince given it by Laertius, when having been very punctuall in the Catalogue of this Philoſophers workes, he ſayes that others; under his name, either falſely attributed to him, or taken out of his Writings, may aſſure us, notwithſtanding the Authority of Pſellus, who makes him the Author of it, that Democritus had nothing to do with it, but ſome other Greek, leſſe learned, and much latter, Yet might queſtion the Authority of Mercurial, and conclude againſt him, that Aristotle was verſ'd in Chimeſtry becauſe he ſaies in his Problems, that Oyle may be extracted out of ſalt, which it cannot but by diſtillations and Furnaces; if ^[295] Geſner & ^[296] Patricius had not prov'd thoſe Problems not to be Aristitle's, and that it is hard to gueſſe at the time when they were writ, for that as ^[297] Henry Stephen firſt obſerv'd, the Books of Theophrastus, Of Sweating and Wearineſſe, are tranſcrib'd in a manner Verbatim in them.

But me thinkes, thoſe are yet more irrationall, who, with ^[298] Tertullian, believe that this Philoſopher put out his own eyes, becauſe he could not look on Women without ſome concupiſcentiall inſurrections; or with ^[299] Gellius and ^[300] Plutarch, that he might ſtudy Philoſophy more freely, and be leſſe diverted by externall Objects; or laſtly with Laberius, that he did it,

—malis benè

Eſſe ne videret civibus.

For beſides the unlikelihood and diverſity of theſe reaſons, we muſt clearly diſcredit Hippocrates in his Epiſtle to Damagetus, where he ſayes, that being employ'd by the Abderites to cure the madneſſe of Democritus▪ he found him reading certain Books and diſſecting Animals, actions certainly much inconſiſtent with want of ſight. We may therefore imagine, that as his Laughter was morall, his blindneſſe was ſo too; and that fabulous Antiquity hath, as Scaliger conceives, ^[301] repreſented him blind, quod aliorum more oculis non uteretur.

Nor do I ſee any more reaſon to believe what is▪ ſaid of Empedocles, that he caſt himſelf into the flames of Mount Gibel, ut cum repenté non apparuiſſet, ^[302] ſaies Lactantius, abiiſſe ad Deos crederetur. For Empedocles was ſo farre from that extravagance of ambition, that Laertius aſſures us, that with incredible conſtancy he refuſed a Royall crown preſented to him, preferring a life peaceable and free from thoſe vaine Grandeurs, before the greateſt enjoyments of Princes. And indeed the ſtory is good for none but Polititians, who comment on and make their advantages of it, when they credit it no more than they do a many others; nor indeed do Pauſanias and Timaeus in Laertius, diſſemble the falſhood of it; this latter concluding his opinion with theirs in part of an Epigram,

Si ſe flagrantem male ſanus jecit in Aetnam,

Quomodo adhuc Megaris ſtructa ſepulchra jacent?

For my part, it ſhall ever be my faith, that the vaſt paines and induſtry of this Philoſopher in the diſquiſition of naturall things conſider'd, if he dy'd in that manner, it proceeded rather out of his over curioſity to find out the cauſe of ſo miraculous an effect, as it afterward happened to Pliny in the burning of Veſuvius, than out of any deſigne he had to get into the Catalogue of ^[303] the Gods, by ſo hazardous and indiſcreet a reſolution.

Having therefore bruſh'd off the duſt which hid the luſtre & perfection of theſe living Images and modells of vertue, we come now to what is moſt materiall to our purpoſe, that is, to anſwer thoſe proofs, which may be drawn out of Pliny and other Writers, who would faſten on them the black patches of diabolicall Magick, ad quam diſcendam, ſayes Pliny, Pythagoras, Empedccles, ^[304] Democritus, Plato, navigavêre, exiliis veriùs quàm peregrinationibus ſuſceptis. This he more particularly confirmes of Democritus, when he addes in the ſame place, Plenumque miraculi et hoc, pariter utraſque artes effloruiſſe, Medicinam dico, Magicenque, eàdem aetate; illam Hippocrate, hanc Democrito illuſtrantibus. And elſewhere he ſaies, he was Magorum poſt Pythagoram ſtudioſiſſimus, ^[305] and that he maintain'd thouſands of litle ſtories and ridiculous propoſitions which could not be effected but by Magick. Of this mettall were theſe, that of the blood of ſeverall young birds might be engendred a Serpent, which eaten would cauſe a perfect underſtanding of the ſinging ^[306] of Birds; that there were certain herbs ſo powerfull and endu'd with ſuch vertue, that they were requiſite in the invocation of the Gods, and would make criminals confeſſe what judges and torments could not. He affirmes further that ^[307] he had writ a Book of the nature of the Cameleon, which contained things abſolutely triviall, ^[308] Magical, and ſuperſtitious; and laſtly that he had publiſh'd the works of Dardanus a famous Magician, whereto he added his own fraught with follies of the ſame nature, and abundance of vaine obſervations.

Empedocles he is a little more favourable to, in that he gives him not the quality of Magician, but only where he makes him one of the ancient Philoſophers who travell'd into Aegypt; nor indeed were there any proofes to make him ſuch, if Satyrus did not let fall a word to that purpoſe in Laertius, where he cites nine or ten verſes of this Philoſopher's, wherein are comprehended his Magicall operations, and which are all the ground whereupon the Moderns have made him act the part of a Magician. Of theſe, one of ^[309] the moſt conſiderable is Delrio who hath ranked among the miraculous operations of ancient Magicians thoſe of Empedocles when he mitigated the fury and violence of the Eteſian winds, paralleling it with that of one Erric King of the Goths, who was ſurnam'd Windy-cap, becauſe he made the wind to blow which way ſoever he turn'd it. To that may be added what is ſaid of his making the Plague to ceaſe in the Country of the Salinuntians, and of the women he deliver'd of a long and dangerous ſuffocation of the Matrix. But ſince it may well be imagin'd, that he omitted theſe things becauſe he thought them either fabulous or naturall, we may as ſafely paſſe the ſame ſentence on thoſe we have ſpecifi'd as well of him as Democritus, ſince they are all of the ſame coyne; and that to ſpeak ſeriouſly of them, it is abſolutely irrationall to think theſe two great perſons guilty of ſuch pitifull weakneſſes contrary to the confidence we ſhould have of their vaſt Learning and integrity, had we no other ſecurity for it then that of Lucretius and Hippocrates. The former thinks it an honour to be the Celebrator of Empedocles's vertues, when after a long diſcourſe in the praiſe of Sicily, he ſaies, that,

Lib. 1.

Nil tamen hoc habuiſſe viro praeclarius in ſe,

Nec ſanctum magis & mirum clarumque videtur.

Carmina quinetiam divini pectoris ejus

Vociferantur, & exponunt praeclara reperta,

Ut vix humanâ videatur ſtirpe creatus.

The latter, whom we may juſtly call the Oracle of truth, aſſures us in his Epiſtles what account we ſhould make of the admirable wiſdome of Democritus, which gave Celſus occaſion to call ^[310] him, magni nominis Philoſophum; and Gellius, ^[311] nobiliſſimum Philoſophorum; virum praeter alios venerandum, authoritateque antiquâ praeditum.

But as the ſame turf brings forth many times both wholſome and hurtfull herbs, and Bees ſuck honey whence Caterpillers do poiſon; ſo the travels, which they ſay theſe Philoſophers underwent, to learn Magick, muſt now ſerve us as a pregnant proof, that they were the occaſions of their great Learning and Polymathy. And this muſt be the more probable, if we reflect on what hath been already ſaid of the Magick of the Aegyptians, and the travels of Orpheus, Zoroaſtes, and ^[312] Pythagoras; as alſo on the authority of Philoſtratus, who, though of a contrary opinion to us, as to the Sages of Perſia and the Aegyptians, yet ſayes, that Pythagoras, Democritus, and Empedocles, notwithſtanding their converſation with them, would not learn any thing of their Science. To ſtrengthen this yet further, we may adde the negative authority of Laertius, who makes not the leaſt mention of the Magick of Democritus, and but one word by the way of that of Empedocles, not ſpecifying, contrary to his cuſtom, any thing he had done by the means of it, without bringing on the ſtage the common ſolution of this kind of argument. And yet it were but juſt to urge it, when he from whom i[•] is taken had made it his buſineſſe to ſay all he could, and to particularize whatever belongs to the Subject he treats on. For inſtance, if any ſhould undertake to give an exact account of all the Sciences, and ſhould ſay nothing of Medicine, it might be juſtly inferr'd, he did not rank it among them. So it may be concluded, that Laertius and two hundred and eleven Authours, whom he quotes, had not heard ought of the Magick of theſe two Philoſophers, ſince he ſayes not any thing of it in his Book, where yet he intended a full collection, even to the jugling tricks of Pythagoras, and the moſt inconſiderable particulars, though fabulous, he had read of others.

But as to Democritus in particular, we may ^[313] balance Pliny's authority with what he ſayes himſelf of the doubt which many made to beleeve things ſo leight and triviall of a man ſo wiſe and diſcreet in all his other actions. And to that adde the contrary authority of Gellius, who hath made ^[314] an expreſſe Chapter, De portentis fabularum quae Plinius ſecundus indigniſſimè in Democritum Philoſophum confert; where he diſcovers at large the vanity of all the forementioned fables, and at laſt concludes with theſe words; Multa autem videntur ab hominibus male ſolertibus hujuſmodi commenta in Democriti nomen data, nobilitatis, autoritatiſque ejus perfugio utentibus. Nor indeed do I find any more than two things in theſe objections of Pliny, which we may at all ſtick at, that is, the magicall books written by Democritus, and thoſe of Dardanus publiſh'd by him. To which may be anſwer'd, that ſuch proofs conclude not directly, as we have ſhewn in the ſixth Chapter of this Apologie; that theſe books are not ſpecified by Laertius, or any other, and that it is extreamly uncertain who that Dardanus ſhould be. For though Pliny, Tertullian, and Apuleius make him a great Magician, yet all they ſay of him is upon the credit of Columella, who ſayes,

Lib. 10.
At ſi nulla valet medicina repellere pestem,

Dardaniae veniant artes.—

If we will refer the buſineſſe to the Civilians, this Dardanus may well be ſome other than a Magician, ſince they ſay, that Dardanarii are properly Seplaſiarii, Propolae, Proxenetae, that is, Engroſſers and Regraters, who fill their barns and ſtore-houſes with all ſorts of proviſion, to be ſold again at extraordinary rates, when a dearth ſhould happen, as it is learnedly interpreted by ^[315] Cujacius and ^[316] Turnebus. To this I adde, to leave this erroneous perſwaſion as naked as may be, what ^[317] Solinus, ſpeaking of the ſtone Cathochites, which ſtuck to the hands of thoſe that handled it, as if it had been of a viſcous and glewy nature, ſaith, Democritum Abderitem oſtentatione ſcrupuli hujus frequenter uſum, ad probandam occultam natur [•] potentiam in certaminibus quae contra magos habuit. And to that, the opinion of the Spaniard ^[318] Torreblanca, who ſayes expreſſely, that Magiam Daemoniacam pleno ore negarunt Democritus, Averroes, Simplicius, & alii Epicurei qui unà cum Saddu[•]aeis Daemones eſſe negarunt. For indeed he well diſcover'd what account he made of Spirits and ^[319] Magick, when he pleaſantly laugh'd at thoſe young men of Abdera, who had diſguiſ'd themſelves like Devils, purpoſely to frighten him in ^[320] his ſolitude, and that being ſent for by King Darius, and entreated by him to raiſe up his wife, he anſwer'd him with a good morall inſtruction, that he would do it with all his heart, provided he would bring him but three men who had never bewail'd the death of their neereſt friends; for there needed no more than to write their names, and put them upon his wife's tomb, to make her riſe again immediately. This was much different from the proceeding of Simon Magus, or rather ^[321] the counterfeit Monk Santabarenus, who entreated by the Emperour Baſilius, that he might ſee his Son, though dead; was much more kind than Democritus, for he gave him a meeting with him, as he went a hunting, and ſuffer'd them to embrace one another for ſome time; which it was as eaſie for him to do by his Enchantment, as it was impoſſible for Democritus, who had attain'd the knowledge of all things, ſave that of Magick.

Nor is my admiration leſſe, that Delrio ſhould alſo refer thereto what was done by Empedocles to hinder the over-violence of the winds that blew in his Countrey. For Laertius expla[•]ing it, ſayes, He commanded a many Aſſes to be flay'd & their skins to be made into bags, and put upon the tops of mountains, to repreſſe the immoderate guſts of the Eteſian winds. Wherein it is eaſily perceived there was no more Magick, than in the induſtry he uſed to deliver the Salinunti[•]ns from the plague cauſed by the noiſomneſſe of a river, by cutting into it two little rivulets, which diſſolv'd the viſcouſneſſe, and carried away all the filth, or in the ſimple cure he did of the ſuffocation of the Matrix, which yet hath given ſome occaſion to ſay, that he raiſ'd a woman to life, and to Satyrus in Laertius, that he was a Magician, though moſt part of the verſes he produces to prove it, and among others theſe,

Pharmaca queis pellas morbos, releveſque ſenectam

Percipies, quae cuncta tibi communico ſoli

Extinctumque hominem nigro revocabis ab Orco.

^[322] ſhould be interpreted as Talentonius ſayes, of a ſecret he had to keep a body, for ſome time, from corruption, though depriv'd of nouriſhment, reſpiration, and the beating of the Arteries; upon the explication whereof may be conſulted Galen, ^[323] Goreus, and the forementioned Talentonius.

Drawing now neer unto the end of the Chapter, I have briefly two things to note upon the Romance we have from Philostratus in the life of ^[324] Apollonius. But I ſhall firſt obſerve the inadvertencie of Volateranus, Caſſiodorus, Boiſſardus, and de Lancre, who aſſure us there is now to be ſeen in the Vatican at Rome a book, De figuris conicis, compoſ'd by Apollonius Thyanaeus, the ambiguity of the name having made them miſtake him for Apollonius Pergaeus, ſirnamed Magnus Geometra, who liv'd in the time of Cleomedes, an hundred and fifty years before the nativity of our Saviour; for he it was that writ eight books de Ominicono, four whereof are tranſlated out of the Greek by Frederick Commandin, printed at Bologne in the year 1566. This being granted, as needing no other proof, I ſhall ſay, firſt, that this Apollonius Thyanaeus might be ſome vertuous man, of a vaſt and powerfull wit, one who made excellent advantages of philoſophicall ſpeculations and his own nature, to diſpoſe of that of Kings and Princes, and ſo came as neer the Hero's and Demi-Gods, as he was far from the ordinary ſort of men. Whence Sidonius Apollinaris took occaſion very much to celebrate one of his friends, a Counſellour to, and of great authority with Evarix King ^[325] of the Goths, putting him into the ſcales with this Philoſopher. Lege virum, ſaid he to him (Fidei Catholicae pace praefara) in plurimis ſimilem tui, id est, à divitibus ambitum, nec divitias ambientem, cupidum ſcientiae, continentem pecuniae, inter epulas abſtemium, inter purpuratos linteatum. This certainly might well ſeem ſtrange in the mouth of a Biſhop, and a friend who would commend another, were it not evident by the teſtimonies of Euſebius and Caſſiodorus, that this Apollonius was a famous Philoſopher and a very wiſe man. Beſides, that it were imprudence to credit the fictions of Philostratus rather than the authorities of St. Hierom, and Juſtin Martyr, who aſſigne no other cauſe of all his miraculous operations than the knowledge he had of Nature, and ſo abſolutely clear him of Magick; the former ſaying in his Epiſtle to Paulinus, Apollonius ſive Magus, ut vulgus ^[326] loquitur, ſive Philoſophus, ut Pythagorici tradunt. The latter is much more open in his Queſtions ^[327] to the Orthodox, Apollonius ut vir naturalium potentiarum, & diſſenſionum atque conſenſionum earum peritus, ex hac ſcientiae mira faciebat, non authoritate divina; hanc ob rem in omnibus indiguit aſſumptione idonearum materiarum quae eum adjuvarent ad id perficiendum quod efficiebatur.

^[328] But if this be not enough, we may read in St. Anaſtaſius and Cedrenus, that one Julian a Chaldaean, and another famous Magician called Manethon, ſleighted all the naturall performances of Apollonius, as being nothing in compariſon of what they daily did, by the means of Geotick and prohibited Magick; whereas there cannot any proof to the contrary be drawn out of a many Authours, who have forg'd as many lies and Chimera's upon his life, as all our old Romances have done on that of Paladin Rowland. For Vopiſcus ^[329] made not that Book he promiſ'd of his Hiſtory; Sidonius had deſcrib'd him ſuch as we have repreſented him; Taſcius Victorianus and Nicomachus are not to be met with, in any Library; ſo that it cannot be judg'd in what ſenſe they writ of him. And for the more ancient, Hierocles had borrow'd ^[330] all his relation from Philoſtratus, who had dreſſ'd up his at the requeſt of the Empreſſe Julia; as at the preſent, Love-ſtories and Romances are written for the entertainment of Queens and Princeſſes. Beſides the falſe notes of his own imagination, he made uſe of thoſe of one Maximus, who had written a relation of what Apollonius had done at Tarſus, but his main aſſiſtance was the Diary or Diurnall of Damis. Of the integrity of this Damis, ſince a Lion may be known by his claw, and that a man need not drink up the Sea, to try whether it be ſalt; we are not to make the leaſt account, ſi[•]ce he is ſo impudent as to affirm, ^[331] in Philoſtratus, that he had ſeen the chains wherewith Prometheus had been faſten'd to Mount Caucaſus, which were yet in the ſtones, when he paſſed it with Apollonius, who was travelling to the Indies. But as all things, even the moſt fabulous, have ſome ground, and that all painting ſuppoſes a firm and ſolid body under it, ſo muſt it be acknowledg'd, that this great Volume blown up with falſities, was written by Philoſtratus out of no other deſigne, than to make a parallel between the miracles of this Philoſopher, and thoſe of Jeſus Christ, purpoſely to undermine the foundations of our Religion, and ſet people at a loſſe, whether of the two they rather ought to credit, our Saviour or Apollonius. The ſame courſe took Eunapius, an implacable enemy of the Chriſtians, to diſparage the miracles of Saints and Martyrs, by advancing a many invented by himſelf of Plotinus, Soſipater, Porphyrius, Maximus, Iamblicus, and divers other Platoniſts, whoſe lives he writ. That the caſe ſtands thus with Philoſtratus, the conjecture is but too probable; for the Empreſſe Julia's deſire, to ſee ſomething of his writing (as being a man very polite and eloquent) might well give him occaſion to publiſh that chimericall, yet pernicious Hiſtory, in the time of the ſixth Perſecution, which happen'd under Septimus Severus, about two hundred and ten years after Chriſt, when the Pagans endeavour'd the deſtruction of Chriſtianity, no leſſe by Artifices than by open war. Upon this very account was it, that Vopiſcus ^[332] celebrated ſo highly, though in few words, the vertues and miracles of this Thyanaeus; for according to the learned Caſaubon's gloſſe upon it, Cum ^[333] hoc tibicine fulcirent homines pagani ruentes jam ſuperſtitiones ſuas, nemo debet mirari Vopiſcum hoc loco in illius laudes ferri.

We may therefore paſſe our finall judgement on all this, with Paulus Oroſius, and Leonard Vair, viz. That as the greateſt part of the Fables of Poets, and other Heathen Writers, ſeem to have taken their diſguiſes out of the holy Scriptures; as for inſtance, the Deluge in the time of Deucalion and Pyrrha, from that of Noah; the fall of Phaeton, from the miracle of Joſhua; the Gyants war, from the Tower of Babel; the Ambroſia of the Gods, from the Manna of the Iſraelites; the plague at Rome from that in the Deſert; and the Serpent of Aeſculapius, from the Brazen one erected by Moſes. So without queſtion all the extravagancies of Philoſtratus upon his Apollonius, took their riſe from the true miracles of our Saviour, ſince he hath been pleaſ'd to oppoſe the Daemon, which came to give Apollonius's mother notice of ^[334] his nativity, to the myſtery of the Annunciation; the ſinging of Swans, to that of the Angels; the lightening that ſell from Heaven, to the Star that appear'd in Bethleem; the Letters ſent to him from divers Kings, to the adoration of the Magi; the diſcourſes he held, when very young, in the Temple of Aeſculapius, to the diſputation of Christ among the Doctours; the queſtions put to him by his Diſciples, to thoſe of the Apoſtles; the judgement he paſſed upon the Eunuch and the Concubine, to that on the woman taken in adultery; the apparition he met with upon Mount Caucaſus, to the temptation of the Devil in the wilderneſſe; the incredulity of the Epheſians, to that of the Jews; his deliverance of a young man poſſeſſed with the Devil, to the like action of Christ; the Maid he raiſed to life at Rome, to Jairus's daughter; his appearing to Damis and Demetrius without the City, to that of our Saviour to the two Diſciples going to Emmaus; the words he ſaid to them, to thoſe of Jeſus Christ, Spiritus carnem & oſſa non habet; and laſtly, his death and aſcenſion, either to that of Chriſt, or to the tranſlation of Enoch or Eliah. All theſe parallels I have the rather thought fit to particularize, to ſhew the malice, and the pitifull and indiſcreet ſubtlety of Philoſtratus; and conſequently, that the ſafeſt way to refute all theſe fictions, is to deny them any relation to Magick, contrary ^[335] to what Franciſcus Picus hath done, becauſe Jews and Gentiles might make their advantage of them, aud thence draw an example, to prove what they have ſo often ſaid of Chriſt in the Goſpel, Now we know thou haſt a Devil, for thou caſtest out Devils, through Beelzebub the prince of Devils. ^[336] Beſides that, we muſt with Euſebius abſolutely deny them, and ſo proceed, according to his directions in the diſcovery of them, that we may lay open the weak grounds they are built upon, and all the imperinencies and contradictions they are ^[337] guilty of, Ut vetuſta habeantur iſta, non ut in vincula virorum ſint, ſed oblectamenta puerorum.

CHAP. XIII.

Of the Genii attributed to Socrates, Aristotle, Plotinus, Porphyrius, Jamblicus, Chicus, Scaliger, and Cardan.

^[338] THe Jeſuit Thyraeas quotes an obſervation of ſome people ſufficiently ſuperſtitious, who ſay that all Children borne in the Ember-weeks commonly bring along with them their caules or certaine membranes, and are much more likely then others to gaine the acquaintance and familiarity of the Genii deſigned for their conduct. The ſame Priviledge they alſo pretend to, according to Ptolemy, who have the Moon, in conjunction ^[339] with Sagittary, Lady of their actions, or with Piſces, of the Nativity. All we inferre hence, is, to imagine one of theſe two happened in the Nativities of all thoſe for whom we make this Chapter, ſince that by the Anthority of moſt Authors, every one of them might preſume he was brought into the Temple of Glory and Immortality by the extraordinary aſſiſtance of ſome Genius or familiar Daemon, which was to them, as Apuleius ſayes, ſingularis praefectus, domeſticus ^[340] ſpeculator, individuus arbiter, inſeparabilis teſtis, malorum improbator, [•]onorum probator. But ſince this opinion cannot be aſſerted without much injury done to theſe great men, and taking away from the obligation we owe their excellent Labours, by the meanes whereof, and not by that of theſe Daemons and tutelary Gods, ſo many precious reliques and monuments of their Learning have come to our knowledge: me thinks it is but juſt we ſhould continue them in their deſerv'd reputation, and ſhew the true meaning may be given this Converſation and correſpondence, how extravagant their imaginations are who believe it to have been ſuch as that of the Angels with holy men, or that of Devills with Magicians.

For to come as near the truth as may be, we are to obſerve that the Platonicks, as ^[341] Jamblichus and ^[342] Foxius affirme, aſſigned four kinds of rationall Creatures, after that which they called the firſt Being, or firſt Goodneſſe, that is, the firſt Author and Mover of all things; that is to ſay, the Celeſtiall Gods or Angels; the Daemons inferior to them; the Heroes; and the ſouls of all men. The principall duty and employment ^[343] of the Daemons being, as Proclus affirmes, only to enterpoſe and manage the affaires and conduct of the laſt, and to be as it were their guides and interpreters towards the Gods, ſome have taken occaſion, from the reſemblance of theſe actions, with thoſe of the ſouls over their bodies; to call them ſometimes by the name of Daemons. And to do this they thought there was much more reaſon, when they arriv'd to ſuch a defiance of the Slavery and tyranny of the matter wherein they were as it were immerſ'd, that they had the abſolute diſpoſall of all their faculties, and were as miraculous ^[344] in all they did as thoſe Daemons were thought. According to this ſenſe that does Apuleius ſay, Animus humanus etiam nunc in corpore ſitus, Daemon nuncupatur; and Heraclitus, that the Spirit of a man was to him inſtead of a Genius, [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉]: beſides that it may eaſily be inferr'd from theſe two verſes of Virgil.

—Diine nunc ardorem mentibus addunt

Eurgale? an ſua cuique deus fit dira cupido?

that the juſt deſires and good operations of the ſoul may in like manner be qualifi'd with the name of God. Adde to this what Porphyrius ſayes, after Plato in his Timaeus, that God hath aſſign'd the ſuperior faculty of our Mind as a Daemon to conduct us, and that it may be juſtly called Eudaemon, who looks on Wiſdom as the Pharos that ſhould direct it in all the actions of his life.

This might well ſerve for a generall ſolution to that whatever may be ſaid of the familiarity and acquaintance of Socrates, Aristotle, and others, with certain Devils; were it not alſo requiſite, to anſwer the objections may be made againſt them in particular. To begin then with that famous and ſo well known Daemon of Socrates, no leſſe celebrated by their Authority from whom we have the hiſtory of it, than by the great ^[345] diverſity of opinions concerning it. Some affirm it might truely be ſome Apparition, & others that it was a pure fiction of that Philoſopher, or of his two Diſciples Xenophon and Plato, who as falſely advanc'd the report of this divine aſſiſtance, as that of the Oracle's declaring him the wiſeſt of Mankind, as if there were any reaſon to beſtow the higheſt and proudeſt Title imaginable, on a lewd fellow that publikely proſeſſ'd Ignorance, Sloath and Sodomy, who liv'd upon almes, knowing not any art or diſcipline, and endeavouring to diſcredit all the Sciences by his ignorant Wiſdome▪

^[346] Socraticique gregis fuit haec Sapientia quondam

Scire nihil—

a man that breath'd nothing but the introduction of Atheiſme, deſervedly reprov'd and laugh'd at by Aristophunes, Timon, Aristotle and Athenaeus. And laſtly a man that for all the praiſes have been given him, is only oblig'd to two of his diſciples, perſons not free from ſuſpition, and conſequently not abſolutely creditable, who might as well write Apologies for him, a[•]d outvy one another in his commendations, as Gellius obſerves that one of them did when he writ his Inſtitutions of ^[347] Cyrus, out of aemulation to the other, who had publiſhed ten Books of Common-Wealth.

But theſe are deſperate Sallyes of a dangerous ſort of ſpirits, who, purpoſely to expoſe him to generall contempt, ſo freely diſcredit the Authority of theſe two great Philoſophers, as alſo thoſe of Apuleius, Maximus Tyrius, Cicero, Plutarch and the beſt Authours, out of no other motive then that of meer vanity and a groundleſs hope of being thought more criticall and quickſighted then others for breaking and battering this ancient image. I ſhould, for my part, rather be of their number who reverence it, out of a belief that ſo many Authors would not beſtow ſuch Elogies on Socrates, or call him, as Martial did, magnum Senem, as Perſius, barbatum Magistrum, as Val. Maximus, palliatum animum virilitatis robore, ^[348] or laſtly as Apuleius, Divinae prudentiae ſenem, if he had not been ſo famous for his wiſdome, that they are rather to be excuſ'd then condemn'd who, with ſome reaſon thought he had acquired it by the favour and aſſiſtance of his Daemon. With this misfortune, nevertheleſſe, that there is as much uncertainty in the explication of the nature of it according to this opinion, as there was malice and calumny in the precedent. For ^[349] Apuleius will have it to be a God, ^[350] Lactantius and ^[351] Tertullian, a Devil, ^[352] Plato, inviſible; Apuleius affirmes that it might be viſible ^[353] Plutarch that it was a certain ſneezing on the left or right ſide, according to which Socrates preſag'd good or bad ſucceſſe in the thing undertaken. ^[354] Maximus Tyrius ſayes, it was only a remorſe of conſcience againſt the violence of his naturall inclination, which was neither heard nor ſeen, whereby Socrates was reſtrain'd from doing what was ill; ^[355] Pompanatius, that it was the aſcendent of his Nativity, & laſtly ^[356] Montaigne that it was a certain impulſion of the will, that preſented it ſelf to him, beyond the direction of his diſcourſe. But for my part, I think it may be truely and rationally ſaid, that this familiar Daemon of Socrates, which was to him, ^[357] in rebus incertis proſpectator, dubiis pr[•]monitor, periculoſis viator, was only the good regulation of his life, the wiſe conduct of his Actions, his experience of things, and the reſult of all his Vertues, which wrought in him that prudence, which may juſtly be termed the ſalt and ſeaſoning of all actions, the rule and line of all affaires, the eye which ſees, directs and diſpoſes all; and in a word, the Art of life, as Medicine is the Art of health. So that there is much more reaſon to believe that the ſoul of this Philoſopher, not only refin'd from its violent paſſions, but inrich'd with all ſorts of Vertues, was the true Daemon of his carriage, than toimagine him entangled in the deluſions and converſing with Hobgoblins, crediting them or following their directions, an imagination ſo abſurd that Plutarch thought himſelf concern'd to endeavour to weed it out of our belief. For in his Book upon Socrates's Daemon he ſaies, that Socrates ſlighted not celeſtiall things, as the Athenians would have it believ'd at his condemnation, but that abundance of imaginary apparitions, fables, and ſuperſtitions having crept into the Philoſophy of Pythagoras and his diſciples, whereby it was become abſolutely ridiculous and contemptible, he endeavour'd to regulate it by prudence, to cleanſe it from all thoſe Stories, and not to believe any more then what he thought rationall.

To this we may adde a generall Goodneſſe ſhining through all his actions, and that he had no other deſigne then to lead his neighbour in the paths of vertue, and thence perceive the little ground we have to conclude this Genius to have been a bad Daemon. Which yet we ſhould rather believe than that it was a good Angel, ſince that he muſt either have it voluntarily and by divine permiſſion (a ſecret hath not been yet reveal'd) or by the force of his conjurations. But theſe muſt needs be vain at that time, wherein Angels rather commanded men, and were not courted with ſo much facility as ſince the paſſion of Jeſus Chriſt, who hath deliver'd us from the ſlavery of ſin, to make us equalls and companions to Angels, who would not be ador'd by St. ^[358] John, as they had ſometimes been by ^[359] Abraham.

This foundation layd, there remaines only to reſolve three difficulties which may happen concerning this Daemon. The firſt is, why he never perſwaded him to do any thing, but only not to undertake ſomething, and to take heed and avoid it. To this it may be anſwered that Socrates needed it not, in as much as being naturally enclin'd to whatever were vertuous, his particular endeavour was, by a long habit, to arrive to that reſervedneſſe which the greateſt perſons, even in their moſt violent paſſions, and notwithſtanding their courage, either have or ought to have. This is true prudence, which regulates their conduct, and makes them do all things wiſely, quae ratio, ſaith Cicero, Poetas, maximeque Homerum impulit, ut principibus Heroum, Ulyſſi, Agamemnoni, Diomedi, Achilli, certos deos diſcriminum & periculorum comites adjungerent.

The ſecond is a proof taken from the Ecſtaſies which were ordinary to this perſon, whence ſome conclude they could not happen to him but by the means of a Daemon more powerfull then that of the perfection of his Soul. As if it were not more rationall, with Ariſtotle and Marſilius ^[360] Ficinus, who repreſent Socrates as a man extreamly melancholy, to imagine theſe ecſtaſies as naturall in him as thoſe of Charles de Bouille, mentioned ^[361] by Geſner and Trithemius. For Melancholy may for a long time entertaine the Soul, in a deep meditation, and when the Spirits attend the ſoule to that place where it retreats as it were into its centre, to do it ſome ſervice there, the other parts are depriv'd of their influent heat, and ſeem not to have any ſpark of life, and this is properly what is called Ecſtaſie.

The laſt depends upon the great number and certainty of the praedictions of this Philoſopher, whence is drawn the ſame inference as from the precedent, as that Socrates was certainly the inſtrument of that Daemon, which not content to have declar'd him the wiſeſt of all men, would needs add a further reſpect to him by the meanes of his Oracles and anſwers. To this may be ſaid, that, beſides that it were an open breach of Horace's commandment.

Nec Deus interſit, niſi dignus vindice nodus

^[362] Inciderit,—

to attribute theſe predictions of Socrates, and the advice he gave his Friends, to ſome Divinity; it were more rationall to conceive, that, as he was abſolutely enclin'd to morall actions, ſo had he ſo particularly conſider'd all the accidents that happen to men, that any thing almoſt gave him ſome light to judge of and foreſee what was to come. Hence it alſo came that he was reputed the eighth wiſe-man of Greece, becauſe he abſolutely reſign'd himſelf to the practice of commendable and vertuous Actions, not medling with the fruitleſſe ſpeculations of the Sciences; which, like mony, are ſometimes current, ſometimes cry'd down, one while ſtamp'd one way, another, another; but alwayes embaſ'd and very leight. And herein he imitated the ſeven famous perſons of Antiquity, among whom was only Thales whoſe wiſdome exceeded the contemplation of thoſe things which were in common uſe among men; for, him excepted, all the reſt acquir'd that ſo honourable title by their great underſtanding of Morality, and Matters of State and Government.

There are thoſe, who, to make Aristotle not inferiour to Socrates, maintaine he had the particular aſſiſtance of ſome Daemon. But theſe, methinks, do his doctrine as much violence as ^[363] Cardan did that of Averroes (who never believd there were any Devils) when he introduces a Daemon who call'd himſelf one of his diſciples and followers; or the Alchimiſts daily do to Avicenna, to whom, (though, in ^[364] Aegidius Romanus, he abſoutely deny the poſſibility of their metallick tranſmutation) they yet attribute the knowledge and practiſe of the Philoſopher's ſtone. For there is nothing, ſo certain in the Doctrine of Ariſtotle, not wherein his Interpreters do ſo much agree; as that he never admitted any other intelligences then thoſe which cauſed the motion of the celeſtiall Bodies, diſcarding all other kinds of Daemons and Angels, ſo confirming his own principles, and admitting nothing which was not known to him either by motion or operation. This is the generall aſſertion of the Peripateticks, with ^[365] Aquinas, ^[366] William Bp. of Paris, ^[367] Pompanatius, ^[368] Cardan ^[369] Theupolus, ^[370] Riolanus, ^[371] Niphus, and ^[372] Bernard Mirandulanus, who expreſſely ſayes, illud negare non poſſumus, Ariſtotelem ratione naturali non perveniſſe niſi ad form as quae in corpore aliquo ſunt. To the ſame purpoſe Niphus, before him, ſaid, that ſuch forms and ſeparated ſubſtances, according to the doctrine of the Peripateticks, erant Teretiſmata quaedam & figmenta, ſuch as Theupolus ſayes Ariſtotle ever ſlighted, tanquam Sphingis & Chimaerae inania nomina, attributing what is commonly ſaid of them, to nature, that is, to the properties of naturall things, to the humour and temperament of Animals, to the qualities of places, and to their vapours and exhalations, leaving nothing at all for the ſubſtances to do. And that there is not any diſpute concerning them in his workes, is, not that he could not aſſert them without ſome Demonſtration, but that he durſt not openly refute them, not becauſe he would not contradict Plato, who had gaind much reputation by introducing them, but that he would avoid the cenſure of impiety by oppoſing the Lawes of his Country, & the common opinion concerning Gods & Oracles. However it be, we cannot conclude according to his doctrine, that they were any thing but dreames and Chimera's. For if there were any, they muſt be either Corporeall or incorporeall; to ſay they were incorporeall were to contradict what he ſayes in the 12. of his Metaphyſicks, that there is no Intelligence but is joyn'd to ſome body. Beſides they muſt be thought all good; and void of malice and corruption according to what he ſayes in the ninth Book of the ſame treatiſe, that ſin cannot proceed but from matter; wherein▪ as he explaines it in his Ethicks, lyes the ſenſuall appetite, which, when it exceeds and over-rules the rationall, cauſes that deformity. If they were corporeall, their Bodies were either eternall or mortall; the former they cannot be, becauſe, in all his Phyſicks, he aſſigns but one only body of that nature, that is that of Heaven. If mortall, they were either ſimple or compound; if ſimple, what he ſayes in the firſt and ſecond Book, de Anima, that ſhe is never found in a ſimple Body, cannot any way ſtand with it; if the latter, they were conſequently corruptible, palpable, perceptible, and ſubject to a thouſand changes and alterations, which cannot be admitted.

Nor does it amount to much that he hath the word Daemon in ſeverall places of his Books, for then it muſt be conceiv'd he ſpeakes according to the opinion of the vulgar & the Platonicks, as Alexander & Niphus affirme, upon the fift of his Metaphyſicks, and the third, Of the generation of Animals, Chap. 14. Or haply he made uſe of that word ſpeaking of God, as is evident from that paſſage in the ſecond Book of his Rhetorick, where he ſayes, that the Demon is ſent to divers perſons of extraordinary Proſperities, not out of any affection he bears them, but to make their Calamity the more remarkable; for certain it is that only God can ſend thoſe proſperities.

Beſides all theſe proofs, me thinks there is one very pertinent may be had out of his Book Of Divination by dreames, where to ſhew there was nothing ſupernaturall in them, he ſayes, Omnin[•] autem quoniam nonnulla etiam ſomniant animalia, a Deo certé miſſa non erunt ſomnia, neque hujus gratiâ fiunt, ſed daemonia ſané ernnt, ſiquidem natura daemonia eſt, non divina. For though it hath bred much controverſy among the Interpreters and Commentators of Aristotle, about the ſenſe wherein the Epithet, he gives Nature, ſhould be taken, yet me thinks Leonicus hath gueſſ'd better then any of the reſt▪ and that the Learned ^[373] Carpentarius hath diſcover'd the full ſignification of that Phraſe, when he ſayes that Aristotle would thereby ſhew, ^[374] in naturâ bené ordinatâ dependente ex coelestium orbium converſione ipſis Intelligentiis, eam vim ad omnia explicanda reperiri poſſe propter quam alii ad Daemones confugerunt. This explication does firſt confirme what we have ſaid before of Aristotles's opinion concerning theſe ſeparated ſubſtances, and then confute the only ^[375] Reaſon which Ceſalpinus gives to aſſert them, even out of his very doctrine.

This certainly were enough to ſatisfie the World how much this Philoſopher is injur'd, when he is charg'd with the familiarity of one of theſe Genii or Daemons, which he never took for any thing but dreams and imaginations. But here are yet ſome trivall Objections raiſ'd by certain Authors, who wanting Reaſon to compaſſe their deſigne, fly to Stratagems and caſt duſt in our eyes. Medina and others upon ^[376] Aquinas would affirme, that the reach of our ſpirit is not ſo great, as to be able to dive into the knowledge of nature, as did that of Aristotle, without the particular aſſiſtance of ſome good or bad Genius. And that he made uſe of the latter, is not, ſay they, to be queſtioned, after the proofs whi[•]h ^[377] Laertius, and ^[378] William, Biſhop of Paris, afford. The former cites a Book of his treating of Magick; the latter, in divers places of his Works, ſayes that this Philoſopher had for Counſellour in all his Actions, a Spirit he made to come down out of the Sphere of Venus, by the ſacrifice of an inſnar'd Lamb, and ſome other Ceremonies. This piece of ſuperſtition gave Emanuel de Moura ^[379] occaſion to relate out of Philoponus in the life of Aristotle, againſt thoſe who would make him an Atheist, that he was ſo ſtrangely cajoll'd by a Woman, that ſhe made him conſult the oracle of Apollo. Adde to this what Plutarch and Laertius affirme, that he ordain'd by his laſt will, that there ſhould be dedicated to Jupiter Soter and Minerva Sotira the effigies of certain Animals, of ſtone, of four cubits, in performance of the vow he had made for Nicanor's health. Beſides all which, the ſaid de Moura would have him confeſſe ^[380] in his firſt book, Of Heaven and the World, Se cum aliis obtuliſſe diis trina ſacrificia, in recognitionem trinae perfectionis in eis inventae.

From theſe paſſages may be inferr'd, not only that he beleev'd Devils, and was very ſuperſtitious in his Religion, but alſo that he had ſtumbled on the hardeſt & higheſt myſtery of our Faith, that is, the Trinity of Perſons in the Unity of Eſſence, as ^[381] Salmeron would have it, and before him ^[382] Trapezontius, who hath writ a compleat book, Of the conformity of Ariſtotles doctrine with the Scriptures. It was alſo the opinion of that famous Divine ^[383] Henry d' Aſſia, that Ariſtotle might naturally arrive to as perfect a knowledge of Divinity, as that diſcover'd to our firſt Parent, when he ſlept in the terreſtriall Paradiſe, or that of St. Paul when he was taken up into Heaven. But the ſpinning out of theſe proofs, would bring us at laſt to diſcourſe of the ſalvation of this Philoſopher, an opinion ſo common, that one of the Fathers and Doctours of the Church hath ſaid, ſpeaking (as it were) to him, Ariſtoteles, laudaris ubi non es, & cruciaris ubi es; and Werlinus cites a certain Philoſopher called Lambert du Mont, ^[384] who hath made a Magiſtrall queſtion, upon what may be rationally thought of it. It were therefore much more rationall to unravell all theſe abſurdities, which fall one in the neck of another, without aim or end, and clear up the forementioned, than to digreſſe into further repetitions.

We ſhall then begin with the authority of Medina, who ſeems to have little reaſon to ſtrip Ariſtotle of his own proper faculties, to beſtow on him others; and to deny him the excellencie of his own nature, to make him ſubject to that of a Daemon. For what ground is there, that thoſe naturall Truths, which he ſayes, Ariſtotle arriv'd to the knowledge of, ſhould now be thought ſuſpicious and doubtfull, through a ſwarm of Moderns and Innovators, daily encreaſing under the banners of Teleſius, Patricius, Campanella, Verulamio, Jordan, Brun, and Baſſonius, out of no other deſigne, than to put a ſlur upon that Philoſophy, and to undermine that great building which Ariſtotle, and above twelve thouſand who have writ upon him, have ſpent ſo many ages to build up; and this not ſo much by any demonſtation or force of reaſon, as the advantage of that viciſſitude and revolution of all things, which inſenſibly brings it to a declination,

^[385]—Et jam per moenia clarior ignis

Auditur, propiufque aeſtus incendia volvunt.

The book cited by Laertius of Ariſtotle's Magick, cannot at all confirm this opinion of Medina; for it is clear, that he thought it ſpurious, when citing it onely in the Proem to his Lives, he mentions it not in the particular Catalogue of this Philoſophers works. Beſides that, it may well be thought of the fame cloth with that of Democritus, mentioned before, and all thoſe Magicall ^[386] Manuſcripts, which, as M. Gaumin thinks, the modern Greeks have publiſhed under the name of Salomon, and divers of the Ancients. For it may be gathered from Laertius, that Aristotle affirm'd therein, that the Perſian Mages medled not with Divinations; and conſequently, it being father'd on him, there is more reaſon to conclude for our opinion, than that of our Adverſaries.

Nor ſhould they be ſo confident upon the authority of William of Paris, ſince that in another ^[387] place ſpeaking of this Genius, he ſayes, that Ariſtotle, deceptus fuit ab ipſo familiari Daemone ſuo quem de coelo Veneris deſcendiſſe opinabatur, quod hoc ex ſomno Rustici cujuſdam acceperat. This clearly ſhews he had taken this flat and pitifull relation out of a certain book of Conjurations and Aſtrologie, which Trithemius ſayes was falſly publiſh'd ^[388] under his name.

For Emanuel de Moura, he evidently injures Philoponus, who, according to the Greek Text, and the old Tranſlation conformable to that of Nunneſius, ſayes onely, that Aristotle having attain'd the ſeventeenth year of his age, was adviſ'd by the Pythian Oracle, to apply himſelf particularly to Philoſophy.

The clauſe in his Will, concerning the erection of the Statues he had vow'd for Nicanor, might, for a ſhift, make a better proof than any of the precedent, if this diſcreet Philoſopher had not done it, in imitation of Socrates, to preſerve his memory from the infamy of Atheiſm, and to leave a remorſe of conſcience for thoſe who had accuſed him of it, which ſhould make more for his juſtification, than the three Sacrifices he made the Gods, or the knowledge of the Trinity, attributed to him by diverſe Catholike Doctours. For theſe are all Chimera's grounded meerly on what he ſayes, ſpeaking of the Ternary number, in his firſt book of Heaven, [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉] [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉]; That is, Quapropter hoc à natura numero ſumpto, perinde atque quadam illius lege, & in Deorum ſacrificiis celebrandis uti ſolemus. From which paſſage cannot be concluded any thing, but that Ariſtotle ſayes, that the number Three was much uſed in Sacrifices in his time. Somewhat to confirm this we have in Theocritus, when he ſayes in his Pharmaceutria,

Ter libo, terque haec pronuncio myſtica verba.

But that Aristotle neither did, or could have thought any ſuch thing, is learnedly ſhewn ^[389] by Cardinall Beſſarion, who laught at Trapezontius, for taking ſo much pains to prove from that Text, that Ariſtotle had a perfect knowledge of the Trinity. Which raſhneſſe deſerves the greater cenſure, in that he never conſider'd, ^[390] that all the Fathers, and after them Aquinas, have mantain'd it impoſſible and impious, to endeavour the proof of it by naturall reaſons, and oppoſite to the authority of St. Paul, to make Ariſtotle and Plato ſo Eagle-ſighted in the myſteries of our Religion. Beſides, it is utterly diſconſonant to the Philoſophy of Jeſus Chriſt, to celebrate theſe Philoſophers ſo highly in the apprehenſion of Chriſtian Truths.

Whence we may alſo with the ſame labour give Henry de Aſſia his anſwer, viz. that the eſſence of materiall things is the onely object of the ſpirit of the way-faring man, as the Schoolmen expreſſe it, that is of man while he is in this world.

Were it our deſigne to ſwell up this Chapter into a Volume, we need onely make a particular refutation of all may be ſaid of the Magick of the Platonicks, taking the relations of an infinite number of Authours, who would fain perſwade us to things utterly impoſſible. But ſince it were vainly to ſquander time away, to lop off the branches in ſtead of pulling up the roots, we muſt with that begin the ruine of all theſe fabulous narrations, and ſhew, that whatever the Platonicks have advanc'd, either of Daemons or Magick, can neither be prov'd by reaſon nor experience. For firſt, as to what they ſay, that Nature cannot afford two Extreams without ſome Medium, cementing and uniting them; and that Heaven and Earth are two Extreams, which can have no other Medium than theſe intellectuall powers; The Peripateticks anſwer, that they neither aſſigne the Medium, nor the Extreams right; for they ſhould have oppoſ'd the firſt Mover, which is abſolutely immutable, impaſſible, and immoveable, to things ſublunary, and afterwards joyn them together by the celeſtiall Nature, which is naturally invariable and eternall, and yet potentially ſubject to mutation, reſembling God in its intelligences, and things tranſitory in its motion. We may as eaſily anſwer what they ſay, that the ſoul of the World being diffuſ'd and diſperſ'd thorow the whole Univerſe is not idle, but produces Animals in all its parts, and that thoſe generated in Fire and Air are properly theſe called Daemons. For, beſides that this univerſall Soul is formally denied by Merſennus in his book againſt Deiſts, Ariſtotle ^[391] never held, that an Animal that muſt uſe ſeverall Organs, can be produc'd and conſerv'd in the purity of thoſe two Elements. And for their laſt reaſon, deriv'd from thoſe many effects, which muſt neceſſarily be attributed to thoſe cauſes, I would, before I am forc'd to allow it for good, they had ſatisfi'd, as they ought, ^[392] Pompanatius, ^[393] Cardan, and the learned Biſhop ^[394] Bernard Mirandulanus, who pertinently ſhew, that to beleeve Angels and Daemons, it were better to refer to the aſſurances of our Religion, than to all thoſe experiences whereof a reaſon might be given out of the principles of naturall Philoſophy.

This granted, no queſtion, but all that may be ſaid of the Genii attributed to Porphyrius, Plotinus, and Iamblicus, may be referr'd to what we have already ſaid of the Daemon of Socrates, and that the other ſtories and miracles related of them, are either meerly the flatteries of their Diſciples and Followers, or the pure inventions of Eunapius, purpoſely advanc'd by him, to leſſen the eſteem which men had of the ſanctity of the new Chriſtians. And that the caſe ſtood thus with theſe three Philoſophers, it may be judg'd by that Treatiſe of Plotinus, De proprio Daemone, that what he ſayes of it, was rather out of conjecture than experience. Nor could Porphyrius give better ſecurity for the little credit he gave all thoſe ſuperſtitious practices, than the Epiſtle read of him in ^[395] Theodoret, and ^[396] Euſebius. For he layes down therein eight or nine difficulties he made, touching the invocations of Devils, and their Sacrifices; the leaſt whereof were enough to convince us, that he was no Magician. All the trouble then fals upon Iamblicus, becauſe he was the man anſwer'd all thoſe difficulties and doubts, which hath given Authours occaſion to tell more miracles of him than the two former. But the beſt on't is, that it is yet with leſſe ground and reaſon; for as to Alectromancie, by which Zonaras, ^[397] and moſt of the Daemonographers affirm, that he endeavour'd to find out the name of him that ſhould ſucceed the Emperour Val[•]ns, Ammianus ^[398] Marcellinus, who liv'd in the ſame time, delivers him from that calumny, not making the leaſt mention of him in the particular account he hath given us of that ſtory. And for his Ecſtaſies, evocations, and other miracles, a man needs not take the pains to refute them, becauſe they ſufficiently deſtroy themſelves, both by the abſurdity that attends them, and that fear Eunapius was in, ^[399] to be thought an Impoſtour for his relations. This were enough to ſatisfie us, that theſe Philoſophers were not Magicians, and that if there remain any difficulty concerning their Books, which might any way prejudice their innocence, as ſuch as may be fraught with abundance of ſuperſtitious things, we refer them to the ſixth Chapter of this Apologie, unleſſe we ſhould rather follow the opinion of Cardan, who ſpeaking of ^[400] theſe Daemons, ſayes very judiciouſly, Nolim ego ad trutinam haec ſectari, velut Porphyrius, Pſellus, Plotinus, Proclus, Iamblicus, qui copiosè de his quae non videre, velut hiſtoriam ſcripſerunt.

The ſame motive which made me ſpeak of theſe ancient Philoſophers, obliges me to ſay ſomthing of three modern, who are charg'd with an acquaintance and converſation with their Genii, that is, Chicus Aeſculanus, Scaliger, and Cardan, whereof what I ſhall deliver of the firſt, tends rather to the vindication of Truth, than the merit of his perſon, or the advantage may be reaped from his Works. For the onely Commentary we have of his upon the Sphear of Sacroboſco ſufficiently diſcovers that he was not onely very ſuperſtitious, ^[401] as Delrio cals him; but alſo that he had a ſoft place in his head, there being three things in it, that very much lay open his weakneſſe. The firſt is, his interpretation of Sacroboſco's book, according to the ſenſe of Aſtrologers, Necromancers, and Chiroſcopiſts. The ſecond, his citations of abundance of falſifi'd Authours, fraught with old wives tales and fooleries, ſuch as, for inſtance, that of Salomon, De umbris idaearum; Hipparchus, De vinculo ſpiritûs; De miniſterio naturae; De Hierarchiis Spirituum; Apollonius, De arte magicâ; Zoroastes, De Dominio quartarum octavae Spherae; Hippocrates, De ſtellarum aſpectibus ſecundum Lunam; Astafon, De Mineralibus conſtellatis; and divers others of the ſame metall. The third that he often makes uſe of the Revelations of a Spirit called Floron, which he ſaid was of the Order of the Cherubims, and being once ask'd what the ſpots in the Moon were, he roundly anſwered, Ut terra terra est. But, beſides that he does not attribute this ſpirit to himſelf in any place of the ſaid Commentary, it may be eaſily ^[402] judged, that this relation is like what Pliny ſayes of the Grammarian Appion, who invocated the Devil, to know what Countrey-man Homer was. ^[403] Or to that related by Bodin, of Hermolaus Barbarus, who did the ſame, to know what Aristotle meant by the word Entelechia. Or laſtly, to what Niphus ſayes of one in his time, who ſaw the way to make the ^[404] Philoſophers ſtone written in a piece of paper that was ſhewn him by a bearded Devil. For all which extravaganeies, what better ſolution can there be than that of Lucretius,

Quis dubitat quin omne ſit hoc rationis egeſt as?

Were I at liberty to follow my inclination rather than my duty, I ſhould be loth to ſay any thing againſt the Genii attributed to the two only men, whom we may oppoſe to the moſt learned and eminent of the Ancients, as being the laſt production and miracle of Nature, Scaliger, and Cardan. For I am clearly of opinion, that either they were themſelves deceiv'd in acknowledging thoſe Genii, becauſe they could not, after much examination, find any cauſe of ſuch extraordinary perfection; Or that they have done it out of modeſty, as unwilling to diſcover, by their learning, how much all others were below them. Or laſtly, they endeavoured, by thoſe particular aſſiſtances, to elude the envie and jealouſie, which might have been conſequent to the great Fame they have acquir'd by their unwearied induſtry.

But ſince Truth is the ſooner found by the aſſociated diſquiſitions of a many, thoſe may well deſerve our attention, who ſay; firſt, That Scaliger practiſ'd that ſleight by the example of all great perſons; and ſecondly, that he might not be thought to give ground to the ambition of his Antagoniſt. The Genius he attributed to himſelf, was, as we find in his Poeticall Art, a ſimple ^[405] ſally and emotion of Spirit, whereby the Soul was (as it were) enflam'd in it ſelf, and ſo elevated into the knowledge of things, during which a man may ſometimes ſpeak or write ſomething he underſtands not, when the heat of that Enthuſiaſm is over.

For Cardan, 'tis true he ſpeaks ſo variouſly of his Genius, that after he had abſolutely affirm'd in a Dialogue entituled Tetim, that he had one, and that Venereall, yet participating of the nature of Saturn and Mercury, and in his Book, De libris propriis, that it communicated it ſelf to him by Dreams, he in the ſame place is at a loſſe, whether he truly had any or no, or that it was the excellencie of his own nature, Sentiebam, ſayes he, ſeu ex Genio mihi praefecto, ſeu quod natura mea in extremitate humanae ſubſtantiae conditioniſque & in conſinio immortalium poſita eſſet, &c. and ſo concludes in his Book, De rerum varietate, ^[406] that he had not any, confeſſing ingenuouſly, Ego certè nullum Daemonem aut Genium mihi adeſſe cognoſco. Whence it may ſafely be judged, that he and Scaliger had no other Genius, than that of the vaſt learning they had acquir'd by their indefatigable labours, and the experience they had of things, upon which raiſing up their judgement, as on two Pyramids, they judged pertinently of all things, and ſuffered nothing to eſcape them, till they had known and maſter'd it.

CHAP. XIV.

Of Alchindus, Geber, Artephius, Thebit, Anſelme of Parma, Raymundus Lullius, Arnoldus de villanova, Peter d' Apono, and Paracelſus.

SHould we credit the fabulous Philoſophy of the Poets, who repreſent all things under the Mythology of their inventions, there were ſome ground to receive the Authority of Pliny, for good; ^[407] where he ſayes that Magick is a Branch of Medicine. The motive to believe this, is only, that the ſo much celebrated Sorcereſſe, Circe, is by the Poets thought to be the Siſter of Aeſculapius, the firſt inventor of Medicine, and one of the Sons of Phoebus or the Sun, whoſe Daughter this Sorcereſſe alſo was, according to the Poet, who, ſpeaking of her, ſayes very freely,

Dives inacceſſis ubi ſolis filia lucis

Urit adoratam nocturna in lumina cedrum.

^[408] But ſince we have a more authentick Authority, that of the Scriptures, which makes God the firſt Author of ſo neceſſary an Art, we need no more to diſcover the errour of Pliny, and with the ſame labour, to reſcue Medecine, [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉], as Iſidorus Peliuſiota calls it, from the calumny of this inveterat perſwaſion. And if ſo, it muſt alſo deliver the profeſſors thereof from the cenſure, wch, to the prejudice of their Innocence, ſeem'd to be faſtn'd on them upon the account of the pernicious & Diabolical Magick, which ^[409] le Loyer ^[410] Boiſſardus ^[411] Delrio, ^[412] Vuierus, and the reſt of the Daemonographers, with divers Hiſtorians, affirme to have been the practice of Alchindus, Geber, Lullius, and the reſt whoſe cauſe we plead in this Chapter.

For though it be endeavour'd to repreſent them, eſpecially the Arabians, as the Bacchantes did Orpheus, and that Empericks, Aſtrologers, Chymiſt[•] and Magicians would gladly cut them in pieces, that they might challenge the greateſt and beſt part in every one of them; yet is it eaſy to judge by the fragments remaining of their workes, and compoſitions, that they were Phyſicians. But with this misfortune, that it is as impoſſible punctually to know the particulars of their Lives, and the time of their birth, (which certainly is as indiſcoverable) as that of the people called Aborigines, without beginning; or of thoſe, whom the Poets make to come down out of the Clouds, to avoid the blaſting of their Noble and generous actions by the meanneſſe of their Originall. This nevertheleſſe is not ſo much to be attributed to any negligence of the Arabians to leave us ſome account thereof; as to the Barbariſme raigning among the Latines in their time who have troubled themſelves to tranſlate the Books which might have given us ſome knowledge and diſcoveries thereof, ſo little, that they have not ſo much as made a collection of the lives of the moſt learned men that were in eſteem even among themſelves. In ſo much that it may be truly ſaid, that what we now know of R. Lullius, Arnoldus de villa novo, Peter d' Apono, and the reſt, is rather grounded on the doubtfull conjectures and ſeveral paſſions of moderne Authors, then the proofs and teſtimonies derived from the Ancient.

Whence it comes to paſſe that I can only gueſſe of this famous perſon Alchindus, with whom we begin the vindication of Phyſitians, that he might flouriſh five or 600. years ſince, becauſe Averro[•]s who liv'd abont the year 1160. and of whom ^[413] Gilles of Rome ſaies he had ſeen his two Sons at the Court of the Emperour Frederick Red-beard, gives him great Elogies, and makes a large commemoration ^[414] of his Books, as Cardan relates. To which he adds much in praiſe of him, giving him the Tittle not only of a great Aſtrologer, with Albohazen Haly, and Haly Rodoan; or that of a moſt learned and experienc'd Phyſician, with Raſis and Meſue; or laſtly, that of a ſubtile Philoſopher, with Averroes and Wimpinal, but proceeding further, and grounding, in all probability, his opinion as well upon what they ſaid, as his own judgment, he allowes him an honourable place among the greateſt Wits, that ever were, that is, Archimedes, Aristotle, Euclid, Scotus, Suiſſet, Apollonius Pergaeus, Archit as, Mahomet the inventer of Algebra, Geber, Galen, and Vitruvius. It were not then hard to judge, what an excellently learned perſon this was, not only by the two Books that are printed of his, De Temporum mutationibus, &, De gradibus medicinarum compoſitarum inveſtigandis, but alſo by divers others, frequently cited by Authours, under the titles of, De ratione ſex Quantitatum; de quinque Eſſentiis; de motu diurno; de Vegetabilibus; & de Theorica magicarum artium. Whereof all the difficulty is concerning this laſt, ſince Francis Picus, and Wimpinall have made whole Treatiſes out of it, wherein they diſcourſe at large of the Hereſies, blaſphemies, and abſurdities which may be obſerv'd therein, as alſo of the Magick which Alchindus endeavour'd to introduce. Hence is it, that all the Daemonographers have taken occaſion to ſpeake of him, as an eminent and pernicious Magician. And yet Johannes Picus, the miracle and aſtoniſhment of his age, ſayes expreſſely in his Apologie, that he knew but three men that had made the beſt advantages of naturall and lawfull Magick, Alchindus, Roger Bacon, and William Biſhop of Paris.

But to extract truth out of theſe ſo manifeſt contradictions, me thinks, when a man hath well conſidered, in Aimery, Wimpinal, and Francis Picus the maine grounds of that Book, there may two things be rationally ſaid of it. One, that it is extreamely ſuperſtitious, and full of hereticall propoſitions and directly oppoſite to the principles of Faith, as having bin writt by one that liv'd under the Law of Mahomet, and took a freedome to write without any reſpect to Chriſtian Religion, which he accounted falſe and illgrounded. Whence it is no miracle, if he, Avicenna, Algazel, Averroes, and all the Arabians have fallen into theſe abyſſes and precipies ſince they were not guided by that pole-Starre which conducts us now through theſe manifeſt errours and falſities. The other, that there is no ground ^[415] to make this Author a Magician, when Delrio is content to rank him only among the ſuperſtitious, & that he was ſo far from having ought to do with Theurgick or Geotick Magick, that on the contrary, he ſeems to have no other deſigne in his Books than to referre to Nature whatever was attributed to Angels and Devils. In which opinion he hath been ſince ſeconded by Peter d' Apono, and Pompanatius, who, in order thereto, imagin'd an abſolute dependance of things ſublunary upon the celeſtiall, and that the former deriv'd all their vertues and properties from the Latter, and every particular from the whole, by the meanes of certain corporeall rayes which paſſed from the leaſt even to the greateſt. And theſe he aſſign'd for cauſe of whatever was done in nature, as Plato did Idaea's; Avicenna, Intelligences; Hermes and Marſilius, Ficinus, the Starrs and Planets; Camillus and Albertus magnus the ſpecificiall forme; and Galen, Temperament. Whence we may paſſe a finall judgment ^[416] with R. Bacon, quod multi libri reputantur inter Magicos qui non ſunt tales, ſed continent ſapientiae dignitatem. If ſo, Alchindus cannot be condemn'd of Magick; if we do not in the ſame ſentence include all thoſe Authors, who, as he, have endeavour'd to take away the admiration that follows a many extraordinary effects, by the diſcovery of ſome more probable cauſes which they have found out.

I ſhould paſſe by Geber without mentioning him among thoſe that have been charg'd with Magick, upon the ſecurity of Caſſiodorus, who ſayes, Calumnia non praeſumitur, ubi nulla probatio ^[417] habetur, were I not oblig'd to anſwer the only argument which our Daemonographers draw by head and ſhoulders out of a book which Trithemius ^[418] ſayes was made by Geber King of the Indians, upon the relation between the ſeven Planets and the ſeven names of God, and ſome others quoted for Magicians in the ſecond Book of Picatrix. To which it may briefly be reply'd that this Geber King of the Indians was nothing to this we ſpeake of; and that that Book ought no more to be condemn'd as treating of Magick, than the Commentary of R. Abraham Aben-Ezra, upon the ſixth treatiſe of the firſt part of the Thalmud, where he makes a Symbolization between the ten Hebrew Sephirots and ten celeſtiall Spheres, and the ten Commandements of the Law.

But to take away all ſuſpition there may be of truth in this proof, it muſt be ſaid, it is abſolutely falſe and abſurd; ſince that, notwithſtanding ^[419] the Autohrity of Vigenere, it is unqueſtionable, that this Geber, who, they ſay, was King of the Indians, is a meer fable and Chimaera of theſe wretched Charcole-marchants; who by that pitifull fiction, would gain more reputation to the Chymicall writings of a Philoſopher of the ſame name. This Geber, as Leon of Africa affirmes, was a Greek by Nation, firſt a Chriſtian, then a Mathumetan; and lived, as he ſayes, 100 yeares after Mahomet; or, according to the calculation of ^[420] Vigner about the year 723. though, if the 100. yeares be taken preciſely, it ſhould be affirm'd he liv'd rather in the year 732. whereto yet ^[421] Blancanus does not agree but makes him flouriſh in the year 801. unleſſe the miſtake be, that he went upon the time of his death, and Vigner upon that of his Navity. However it be, this takes away nothing from his Learning, upon occaſion whereof Cardan hath not forgot to put him to the teſt, among the moſt eminent advancers of Literature. Nor indeed was the honour above his deſerts, ſince he was ſo great an Aſtrologer, that, as Blancanus affirmes, he reform'd many things in the Almagestum of Ptolemy; and for Chymiſtry, ^[422] Fallopus and ^[423] Erastus ſeem to approve the judgment of the Chymiſts, who call him the Maſter of Maſters in that Art. Adde to this, that the Catalogue of his works faithfully got together by Geſner, is an evident proof that he knew all but Magick, of which or of the Books he writ thereof, neither he nor any good Author hath deliver'd any thing, ^[424] as knowing what Lactantius ſayes, Turpe eſt hominem ingenioſum dicere id, quod ſi neges▪ probare non poſſit.

And indeed if all thoſe who make it their buſineſſe to write, had been as carefull to obſerve this precept, as they have been ambitious to make oſtentation of their knowledge and reading, by heaping together all thoſe fabulous Stories wch make ever ſo little to their purpoſe, we ſhould not be now to ſhew that that of Artephius, and his living 1025. years by the force of his Magick, is, if not abſolutely falſe, extreamely ſuſpicious, as having been gloſſ'd upon by the Alchymiſts and Roger Bacon. For he ſayes in his Book of the abbridgment of Theology, that this Philoſopher or Chymiſt travell'd all over the Eaſt, and was to ſee Tantalus, who ſate in a throne of Gold; and diſcourſed very pertinently of the moſt abſtruſe ſecrets of all the Sciences. In ^[425] another of his works, he ſayes that he was a live in Germany even in his time. To which adde what others ſay in ^[426] Franciſus Picus, that it is he who is repreſented to us by Philoſtratus under the name of Apollonius. All this put together and well conſidered, ſufficiently diſcovers, how far they are miſtaken, who, notwithſtanding the impoſſibility of this ^[427] length of life, evinc'd by M. Moreau and divers others, do yet maintaine, and fagot together ſo many fables upon this perſon, and, to make it the more plauſible, will needs father on him two Books or fragments. One, call'd Clavis majoris ſaepientiae, treats ſo perfectly well of the order and procedure to be obſerv'd in getting the Philoſophers ſtone, that Johannes Pontanus, one of the greateſt Dreamers among the Chymiſts, confeſſes ingenuouſly, that he had never known the degrees of fire, the principal agent in this Art, had he not read that Book. The other is a little treatiſe, ſuperſtitious and ridiculous beyond expreſſion, where he teaches a way to know the Characters of the Planets, the ſignification of the motion of Animals, as alſo what they mean when they ſing, the vertues of all Herbs, the Philoſopher's ſtone, things paſt, preſent, and to come; with divers other ſecrets and experiments, and at laſt, the way to prolong life. All which may ^[428] be ſeen in Cardaen, who hath tranſcrib'd it word for word, rather to laugh at, then out of any credit he gave thoſe abſurdities; the relation whereof he concludes with his own judgment in theſe words, Quidnam ſtultius excogitari poteſt ut quod Nero tanta impenſa, tot immolationibus deductis ex Arabia Magis impetrare non potuit, hic verbis ſimplicibus oſtendere promittaet. In like manner, one James Gohory, who would needs be call'd Leo Suavius, a great favourer and abetter of ſuch extravagancies, had no way to diſguiſe the Magick of Artephius than to maske it with the terme of Chymicall morality, when, ſpeaking of it and his fair promiſes, he ſaies, that, ſi ſcriptum ſequamur, ^[429] non ſolum incredibilia videntur, ſed ridicula; rerum ſi ſcientiam parabolicam, non abhorrere omninò à fide ſapientum. For my part, I think the buſineſſe were ſooner decided by ſaying that that Treatiſe was ſome man's who had a deſigne to abuſe the ſtrange credulity of a many Authors, or ground a practiſe of Magick upon the fooleries of his own braine and the ſpeculatious of Alchindus, whoſe maximes he makes uſe of though he names him not.

Nor is it a leſſe ingratitude towards the memory of that famous Aſtrologer Thebit Ben-Corat (whom ſome would have a Jew or Spaniard by Nation; but, as Lelandus affirmes, he was an Engliſh man) the firſt finder out, according to Blancanus, ^[430] of the trepidation of the eighth Sphere, in the year 1270. to ranke him amongſt the Magicians, and to ſay with the facecious Poet and prototype of Rabelais, Merlin Coccaius,

Ecce Magus Thebit, qui tempeſtate, venenis,

Grandinibus, quadam deſtruxit imagine regnum.

For if a man look narrowly into the reaſons whence the ſuſpicion is deriv'd, he will find they have no other ground then certain Books attributed to him, treating of naturall Magick, the compoſition of Annulets and Images, and the properties of herbs, ſtones, and the Planets, whence I doubt not but the Demonographers eaſily pumpe out the ſutleſt and obſcureſt pa[•]t of Magick. But for my part, I can perceive nothing in it but the track of a ſuperſtitious Aſtrologie which in this time, was in greater reputation then any of the other Sciences, by reaſon of the particular inclination Alphonſus King of Spaine, had for the ſtudy of it nor long before. Wherefore it is not much to beadmir'd, when, as Lactantius ^[431] ſaith, Mores ac vitia Regis imitari, genus obſequii judicatur, if Thebit & a many more endeavour'd ſo much the propagation of it, that like a fat and fertile ſoyle it brought forth abundance of weeds, and tares, among the good wheat, that is, that it was burthened with a many vaine and ſuperſtitious things amidſt the fundamentall rules and the certain precepts which their daily obſervations laboured out. But if the Book publiſh'd under this Aſtrologers name were a ſufficient teſtimony to convince him of the crime he is charg'd with, we muſt in like manner conclude Ptolemy ^[432] an eminent Magician, becauſe Trithemius cites three Magicall Books as unjuſtly attributed to him as the forementioned to Thebit. And that this is the misfortune of the latter, is ſufficiently ^[433] evident by the account which Arthur Thomas gives of one of his Books treating of the vertue of herbs and the Starrs; which was, that Thebit explain'd in it the opinion of Marcilius Ficinus (who yet liv'd 250. years after him) concerning Planetary Annulets and images made under certain Conſtellations. Whence it may be ſafely concluded, that theſe ſuperſtitious treatiſes are the meer forgeries of ſome Mountebanks and moderne Cheates; And conſequently, that it is a foule ſhame to harbour any ſuch calumny againſt Thebit, who hath furniſh'd us with ſo many good Books of Aſtrology, that he can hardly be allow'd time to mind theſe triviall fragments, and that moreover, as Jacobus Curio hath well obſerv'd, Quàm in non vatis ſeu inerrabilis ſphaerae veſtigandis motibus gener[•]ſ[•] cum obſcuris & prop[•] inexplicabilibus difficultatibus certaverit, eruditis non est incognitum.

My next ſtep ſhould be to Raimundus Lullius, were I not obliged to ſay a word or two in the defence of one Anſelm of Parma, who is celebrated by ^[434] Bartholomew Cocles, as a great Philoſopher, and blaſted by ^[435] Wierus, ^[436] Delrio, and the reſt of the Daemonographers, with the title of a Sorcerer and Magician; becauſe, ſay they, the Emſalmiſts, or thoſe who cure wounds by words, take their name from this Anſelm. But there is more ground to beleeve, that the Profeſſours of this kind of Medicine abuſe the name of St. Anſelm, from whom they pretend the derivation of this vertue, as the Salutators in Spain do that of St. Catharine; thoſe who heal the biting of Serpents in Italy, that of St. Paul; and ſome others in France, that of St. Hubert. Or it is more probable ^[437] that the Emſalmiſts are, as Bravus and Carvalho affirm, ſo called, becauſe they make frequent uſe of certain verſes of the Pſalms, which might properly be called Empſalmi, as he who practiſ'd them to do ſome cure, Empſalmator, or Empſalmista.

This being clear, and beyond all conſiderable contradiction, we come at laſt to the two Idols and tutelary Gods of the Alchymiſts, Raimundus Lullius, and Arnoldus de Villa nova, though their allegations, who make them Magicians; are grounded rather on the cuſtom which Authours have taken to make them act all parts, than on the number or truth of the proofs which may be had of this ſuſpicion. For as to Raimundus Luilius, ^[438] I find Peter Montuus laughing at the new Dialectick, which he would needs introduce, after he had tranſcrib'd it by open robbery out of the Arabian Abezebron, grounding his ſo doing upon Lullius's ſaying himſelf, that it were very good in the time of Antichrist, to ſatifie his demands in generall terms, Ut ſi interrogaretur quid credis? in Deum; quare? quia placet mihi: cur placet tibi? quia Deus eſt; quid eſt Deus? cui proprie competit deificare; quare deificat? quia talis eſt ^[439] ejus natura. I find alſo that Charles Bovillius takes occaſion from the impoſture of certain miracles, to put him into the Catalogue of Bleſſed; that Gregory the Ninth governing at Avignon, in the year 1371, condemn'd his Doctrine, becauſe a a certain Biſhop had diſcovered therein above five hundred errours. That the Chymiſts attribute to him the knowledge of the Philoſophers ſtone, by a ſimple Metamorphoſis of the Impoſt put by King Edward upon the wools, which were tranſported out of England into Brabant, to the Sum of ſix millions of gold, which was beſtow'd on him by this Chymiſt, to make war againſt the Turk and the Infidels. And if we would ſhew how far the vapours of the Mercury had diſturb'd his brains, we need onely quote the voyages he made, as Bovillius relates, as well to the Pope, as King Philip the Fair, to have the three Propoſitions granted, which may be ſeen at the end of his Book, De natali pueri. Which were theſe, that all the Military Orders that were up in his time ſhould be formed together into one body; That the works of the Philoſopher Averroes ſhould be abſolutely ſuppreſſ'd; and that Monaſteries ſhould be built in all parts of the world to inſtruct in ſtrange languages▪ ſuch as ſhould enter into vows for the converſion of Infidels. But I could never yet diſcover upon what reaſons the greateſt part of the Daemonographers, and ſome Hiſtorians, as Vigner, have preſum'd to repreſent ^[440] him as a Magician.

To give them time to produce them, we ſhall in the mean while ſpeak of Arnoldus de Villa nova, who was not an ignorant Friar or Beguin, as R. Lullius; or ſome wretched and wandering Chymiſt, as he is repreſented to us. For, on the contrary, it is certain, he was the learnedſt Phyſician of his time, equally acquainted with the Latine, Greek, and Arabian Tongues, and one whoſe writings ſufficiently witneſſe his abilities in the Mathematicks, Medicine, and Philoſophy, the practice whereof gain'd him favour and employment about Pope Clement, and Frederick King of Sicily, who certainly would never have made uſe of him, if they had thought him a Conjurer or Magician, ſuch as a many are perſwaded he was.

Among theſe is Francis Pegna, who refers to Satanicall deluſion the metallick tranſmutation, ^[441] which John Andreas, a famous Canoniſt, ſayes, he ſaw him do at Rome. Adde to this the proof they draw from two little books publiſh'd under his name, one treating, De phyſicis ligaturis, the other, De Sigillis 12 Signorum. But to ſhew that he is as unjuſtly charg'd with Magick by theſe Authors, as he is with the writing of the Book, Detribus Impoſtoribus, by ^[442] Postellus, or to have been the firſt that tried the generation of a man in an Alembick, by ſome in ^[443] Mariana, we are firſt to conſider that ^[444] Delrio abſolutely clears him of this accuſation; affirming againſt the ſaid Pegna, that it was injurious to the Clergie of Rome at that time, to imagin they ſhould employ Arnoldus de Villa-nova, or permit him to practiſe ſo freely in their City, if they could have diſcover'd in him the leaſt indicia of Magick. Nor is it a leſſe manifeſt abuſe to attribute to him the Book, De phyſicis ligaturis, ſince it is evident he did only tranſlate it out of an Arabian, one Lucas Ben Coſta. And for that, De Sigillis 12 Signorum, beſides the queſtion it is, whether it be his, as being not compriſed in the collection of his works, we may roundly anſwer, that it is like thoſe of Thebit, Chicus, and the reſt, and that all the prejudice it can do him, is to confirm the opinion of the vain and ſuperſ itious ſpeculations he was guilty of in Aſtrologie. But even of this no man will doubt, ^[445] that ſhall obſerve in Picus, how he laugh'd at the very Science, when he would aſſigne the birth of Antichriſt in the year 1345, and confirm and maintain all his other hereſies, which Vigner, in his Eccleſiaſticall Hiſtory, takes the more pains to particularize, by how much the more ſympathy and reſemblance there is between them, and thoſe of the Hereticks and new Religionaries of theſe time[•].

But if the particular and over-curious ſtudy of Aſtrologie, hath ever prov'd prejudiciall to thoſe ^[446] who have practiſ'd it, we may truly ſay, that the famous Phyſician Peter d' Apono, hath felt the ſtings of Calumny more than any of the precedent upon that account. For the common opinion of almoſt all Authours, is, that he was the greateſt Magician in his time, that he had maſtered the ſeven Liberall Sciences, by the aſſiſtance of ſeven familiar Spirits, which he had conſtantly lodg'd in a Cryſtall; That he had the way, like another Paſetes, to force back the money he had ſpent into his purſe again; and, to conclude with a proof as manifeſt as undeniable, That it is certain he was accuſ'd of Magick, in the eightieth year of his age, & that dying in the year 1305, before ſentence was paſſ'd upon him, he was nevertheleſſe (as Caſtellanus affirms) condemn'd to the fire, and it was ordered, that a bundle of Straw or Oſier, repreſenting him, ſhould be burn'd in the publike place at Padua, purpoſely by an example ſo rigorous, and the fear of incurring the like puniſhment, to prohibit the reading of three ſuperſtitious and abominable books of his. Of theſe the firſt was called Heptameron, now printed at the end of the firſt Tome of Agrippa's Works; the ſecond, that which Trithemius cals, Elucidarium Necromanticum Petri de Albano; and the laſt, one, by the ſame Authour, call'd, Liber experimentorum mirabilium de annulis, ſecundum 28 manſiones Lunae.

All which proofs, as well of his practice and his books, as the Sentence thundered againſt him by the Inquiſition, might indeed perſwade us that he was the moſt deeply guilty of all that medled with thoſe magicall and ſuperſtitious obſervations. But we are as well to conſider the face, as the reverſe of his Medall, and take it out of the falſe light, wherein his adverſaries have placed it, to view it in its proper ſituation, and obſerve therein the draught of a man that appear'd as a miracle amidſt the ignorance of his age. One he was, that beſides the knowledge of the Tongues and Medicine, had ſo ſearch'd into that of the leſſe common Sciences, that having left, by his writings of Phyſiognomy, Geomancie, and Chiromancie, enough to prove his abilities therein, he ſhook hands with them all, and his own youthfull curioſity, to apply himſelf wholly to Philoſophy, Phyſick, and Aſtrologie. In theſe he proved ſo fortunate, that not to ſay any thing of the two former, whereby he inſinuated himſelf into the Careſſes of the Popes and Princes of his time, and gain'd that reputation wherein he now ſhines among all the learned; it is evident he was excellently well skill'd in the laſt, as well by the Aſtronomicall figures he cauſed to be painted in the great Hall of the Palace at Padua, as his tranſlations of the books of Rabbi Abraham Ben Ezra. To which we may adde thoſe he made himſelf of the Criticall dayes, and the illuſtration of Aſtronomy, as alſo the ſuffrage of the famous Mathematician Regiomontanus, who made an excellent Panegyrick to him, in the quality of an Aſtrologer, in an Oration he pronounc'd publikely at Padua, when he was upon the explanation of the book of Alfraganus.

From his ſo great celebration of this Science, through all his works, eſpecially in the hundredth fifty ſixth Difference of his Conciliator, have ſome Authours taken occaſion to maintain an opinion directly contrary to that of the precedent, to wit, that that Sentence paſſed upon him not for his Magick, but becauſe he would give an account of the miraculous effects that happen many times in Nature, by vertue of the Celeſtiall Bodies, without referring them either to Angels or Daemons. ^[447] This is clear by the collection which Symphorianus hath made of the paſſages of his Differences, as ſuch as are not to be read without the precaution and peremptory authority of Franciſcus Picus[•] ^[448] who▪ ſpeaking of him, ſayes expreſſely, Ab omnibus fermè creditus est Magus; ver[•]m conſtat quàm oppoſitum dogma ei aliquando tributum ſit, quem ettam Haereſium inquiſitores vexaverunt, quaſi nullos eſſe Daemones crediderit. To which may be added, that ^[449] Baptista of Mantua, upon this ſcore, cals him, Virum magnae, ſed nimium audacis temerariaeque doctrinae; that ^[450] Caſmannus numbers him among thoſe who referr'd all miracles to nature; and that ^[451] le Loyer affirms, that he laugh'd at Sorcerers and their Sabats. Whence it might be wonder'd at, that yet the ſame Authors, in divers other places, rank him among Conjurers and Magicians, were it not ordinary with thoſe who write upon this Subject, ſo to ſwell up their books, by copying out whatever they find in others, that they ſeldom obſerve the Poets advice,

Primo ne medium, medio ne diſcrepet imum.

Nor can it but happen ſo, when having gotten to the middle or end, they forget what they ſaid at the beginning, and become like that Didymus, who having deni'd a thing in one of his books, another was produc'd wherein he affirm'd it.

But I ſhould not have inſiſted on all theſe proofs of the impiety of Peter d' Apono, ſo to reſcue him from the crime of Magick, by charging him with that of Atheiſm, if I had not ſomething to clear him of both. For this, I have not onely the teſtimony of the moſt illuſtrious and religious Frederick Duke of Urbin, who, for his great deſerts, erected a Statue to him, among thoſe of the moſt eminent men that are to be ſeen in his Cittadel; but alſo the publick atteſtation of the City of Padua, cauſing his Effigies to be ſet up over the gate of their Palace between thoſe of Titu[•] Livius, Albertus Magnus, and Julius Paulus, with this inſcription upon the Baſe.

PETRUS APONUS PATAVINUS PHILOSOPHIAE MEDICINAEQUE SCIENTISSIMUS, OB IDQUE CONCILIATORIS NOMEN ADEPTUS, ASTROLOGIAE VERO ADEO PERITUS, UT IN MAGIAE SUSPICIONEM INCIDERIT, FALSOQUE DE HAERESI POSTULATUS, ABSOLUTUS FUERIT.

This me thinks were enough to ſhew, that all the Objections formerly made to convince him of Magick are rather imaginary then reall. But to make an abſolute diſcovery of their falſhood, we ^[452] may anſwer what Ludwigius hath ſaid of the ſeven ſpirits who taught him the ſeven Liberal Sciences, that this fabulous relation proceeded from the ^[453] ſaid Peter's affirming, after Albumazar, that the prayers made to God, when the Moon is in conjunction with Jupiter in the Dragon's head, are infallibly heard; and that for his own particular, he had no ſooner made his addreſſes, but, according to his own expreſſion, Sapientiam à primo viſus eſt ſibi in illa amplius proficere. Nor indeed could it but give diverſe Authours occaſion to ſmile at his indiſcretion in diſacknowledging his great Induſtry and Labours, to become oblig'd for his Learning to the ſuperſtition of a certain prayer which muſt needs be vain & ineffectual taken inwhat ſenſe ſoever. For if it be directed to the Stars, it were abſolute beſtiality to think they could heare it; if to God, I would gladly know whether he were deaf before that conjunction; whether he would not receive our prayers without it, or whether that force did neceſſitate him to condeſcend to our deſires. Hence was it, that Johannes Picus, ſpeaking of this new Salomon ^[454] had reaſon to ſay, Conſulerem Petro iſti ut totum quod profecit ſuae potius industriae, ingenioque acceptum referret, quàm Joviae illi ſuae ſupplicationi.

In like manner, for the three Books divulg'd under his name, it may be ſayd, they are no leſſe unjuſtly attributed to him than diverſe others to moſt of the great Wits, beſides that Trithemius ^[455] will not acknowledge them to be legitimate, becauſe of the great number of fables therein father'd upon this Author; and what he had ſaid before in his Catalogue of Ecceleſiasticall Writers, that he thought nothing true of what was ſaid of the Magick of Peter d' Apono, becauſe he could never underſtand he had writ any Book upon that ſubject. To which if we adde the generall ſilence of all Libraries, and the confirmation Symphorianus ^[456] gives the Authority of Trithemius, affirming he had never ſeen any of his Magicall Books, ſave a certain Difference where he treats of it by the way, I conceive there is nothing can hinder us from declaring him innocent, and concluding with the more rationall party, that the ſuſpicion men have had of his being a Magician proceeds, as its true originall, from the power he attributes to it in the Hundred fifty ſix difference of his Conciliator, and his faculty of predictions by the aſſiſtance of Aſtrology, upon which, in proceſſe of time, all theſe fables and Chimera's crept in, according to the true ſaying of Propertius,

Omnia poſt obitum pingit major a Vetuſt as.

Laſtly for this Arch-heretick in Philoſophy, Medicine, and Religion, Theophraſtus Paracelſus, who is now the Zenith, and riſing Sun of all the Alchymiſts, me thinks thoſe who would reſcue him from the crime of Magick, yet without abatement as to any other he ſtands charg'd with, may with reaſon ſay much in his vindication. Among other things, that the novelty of his conceptions, the difficulty of his ſtyle, and the obſcurity of a many words frequent in his workes, ſuch as, for inſtance, Ens Pagoicum, Cagastricum, Cherionium, Leffas, Jeſadach, Trarames, Stannar, Perenda, Relloleum, and abundance of the like, make the reader ſo doubtfull of his meaning, that he muſt needs go feeling in the darkneſſe of ſuch Maeanders, and knows not whether he ſpeakes of a Sheeps trackle or a pill, a ſtone or bread, the Devil or Nature. Which if ſo, there is much more ground to doubt, whether he makes uſe of Magick as of riddles (after the example of Trithemius) to diſguiſe his precepts, and to conceale the vanity of his Art, which he thought ſhould be the more admir'd, the leſſe it is underſtood.

Lucret. l. 1.

Omnia enim ſtolidi magis admirantur, amantque

Inverſis quae ſub verbis latitantia cernunt.

But for my part, ſince I have not ſtudied the Dictionary Rulandus hath compil'd of the Phraſes of this Author, ſo far as to be able to judge of his workes and to underſtand them, I ſhall, in this queſtion of his Magick be guided by the opinion of his chiefeſt Interpreters, Severinus the Dane, and Crollius. Theſe make it only the vaile and vizard of his doctrine, witneſſe the latter, ^[457] page 77. of his preface, Paracelſum expertis ſtylo magico ſcripſiſſe, non vulgo, ſed ſibi & intelligentibus in ſchola magica educatis, ſapientiae filiis, mysteria ſua ſub variis nominibus occultaſſe. And indeed it is certain, that the names of diverſe Spirits ſcatter'd frequently up and down his Books, ſuch as might be taken for covies of Devils, are to be underſtood, according to the opinion ^[458] of James Gohory, the firſt favourer of Paracelſus in France, of extractions and diverſe eſſences▪ of their properties and preparations, or laſtly of things minerall, vegetall and animate, ſuch as he made uſe of in the compoſition of his Remedies. With this agrees that of Johannes Oporinus; who ^[459] was his ſervant a long time, and having made the firſt diſcovery of what is now objected to him, makes no mention of his Magick, or his invocations; and Wetterus, who having ſtayd twenty ſeven months with him, ſayes only, that, when he was drunk, he would threaten to bring in millions of Devils, to ſhew what power he had over them, not to take any notice of what a many ſay of the familiar Daemon which was lock'd up within the pommell of his ſword. For, not to bring upon the ſtage the opinion of the Alchymiſts who maintaine, it was the ſecret of the Philoſophers ſtone, it were more rationall to believe, that, if there were any thing within it, it was certainly two or three doſes of his Laudanum, which he never went without, becauſe he did ſtrange things with it, and uſ'd it as an univerſall medicine to cure all manner of diſeaſes.

It might here be ſaid that it ſignifies not much to have glean'd up theſe proofs to ſtrike Paracelſus's name out of the Catalogue of Magicians, when he himſelf, not content to have put Magick for one of the four pillars of Medicine, hath endeavour'd further to acquaint us with the precepts and nature of it, and that, in all his Books and ^[460] particularly in that de Philoſophiâ ſagaci, where he divides it into ſix ſpecies and different parts. The firſt treats of the ſignification of the ſignes happening beſides the order of Nature, as the Starr that appear'd to the wiſe men. The ſecond, of the Metamorphoſes and tranſmutation of Bodies; the third, of the vertue of words and ſpeech; the fourth, of Annulets; the fift, of enchanted images; and the laſt, of the Cabal, which he ſaid was to be uſ'd to do all thoſe extraordinary actions which cannot be reduc'd to any of the other five parts. Such are theſe, to ripen fruits in an inſtant; to make one horſe travell further in a day, then another ſhall in a month; to diſcourſe intelligibly with thoſe that are above 500. miles diſtance from us; and in a word, to do whatever ſeems, and ever hath been thought impoſſible. But I extreamly wonder ſince he pretended to the abſolute knowledg of all theſe kinds of Magick, why he never did any thing by the aſſiſtance of them. For certainly it had been much more reputation to him, to confirme this new doctrine by ſome of his experiences, than to follow the ordinary track of Mountebanks, who break out into a torrent of common and popular eloquence to celebrate the miraculous power of their Druggs, and call themſelves Profeſſors and Operators, as if they had the certain cure of all diſeaſes.

At nuſquam, totos inter qui talia jactant,

Apparet quiſquam qui re miracula tanta

Comprobet.

But, however it be, I ſhall not quarrell with their opinion, who hold, that one of the principall advantages which learned and induſtrious men have over the ignorant, is, that it is in their power to make new Syſtems, and advance new Principles, nay change the order, precepts and method of the Sciences, ſhortening or lengthening them, like a Stirrop, as they pleaſe. Of which number Paracelſus being one thought he might as well invert the courſe of Magick, as he had done that of Medicine and Philoſophy, and boaſted he could have done of Religion, threatning both the Pope and Luther to bring them both to his Maxims when he ſhould think fit to do it. Though therefore he might juſtly be condemn'd as an Arch-heretick for the depravedneſſe of his opinion in point of Religion, yet do I not think he ſhould be charg'd with Magick. For this conſiſts not in the Speculations and Theory; which every one may explicate and amplify according to his fantaſie, but in the practice of the Circle and Invocations, wherein, as we have already ſhewn, not any one of the Authours, that have the greateſt averſion for his Doctrine, would ever maintain he employ'd himſelf.

CHAP. XV.

Of Cornelius Agrippa.

VVEre there no more requiſite to declare a man a Magician, than that he ſhould give himſelf the title, or were it juſt, that who ſhould brag he could do thouſands of tricks and invocations, were truly guilty of the practice thereof, that Impoſtor and Mountebank that wander'd up and down Germany in the time of Trithemius, ſhould certainly be taken for the moſt exquiſite Conjurer of our laſt ages, ſince he was ſo ambitious to be known, and called every where by theſe honourable titles, Magiſter Georgius Sabellicus, Fauſtus junior, Fons Necromanticorum, Aſtrologus, Magus, Chiromanticus, Agromanticus, Pyromanticus, & in Hydra arte nulli ſecundus. With the ſame confidence of Truth may we affirm, that if the compoſition of Magicall Books were a ſufficient proof to convince their Authours of this crime, no compurgation of Eloquence could deliver Agrippa, ſince he is at ſuch loſſe of modeſty, as to publiſh, by writings printed even in his life time, the rules and precepts thereof. ^[461] But as the ſaid Trithemius tels us in his Epiſtles, that this Sabellicus had no other ground for that fooliſh oſtentation, than the impudence and temerity he was guilty of, in promiſing all things without effecting any; ſo may it be ſaid, that this Book of Agrippa diſcovers him to be rather of their rank, who, to make a noiſe, and gain reputation, pretend to know many things beyond the ordinary reach of men, than of that of Conjurers and Magicians.

This I undertake to make good in this Chapter, not ſo much out of oppoſition to moſt Authours, as to propoſe it as a probleme, for thoſe who deſire to ſee the reaſons of both ſides, as a Paradox in reſpect of the common opinion, and as a true reſolution to thoſe, who by my reaſons ſhall think it ſuch. For I doubt not, but amidſt the great diverſity of mens judgements, ſuch an opinion muſt needs fall under one of theſe three interpretations. Whereof as I ſhall alwayes find favour from the two extreams, ſo do I expect that thoſe who hold it new and paradoxall, ſhould excuſe me, if I endeavour to clear up the truth, becauſe, if it be not ſuch, it is a charity to reſcue what is ſo near it from ſo dangerous a calumny, and to deliver the perſon, to avoid the cenſure of Lactantius, who ſayes that, Non major est iniquitas ^[462] probatam innocentiam damnaſſe, quàm inauditam. But if it be ſuch, a man is at liberty to maintain it, and celebrate the praiſes of Agrippa, as Iſocrates ſome time did thoſe of Buſiris, and Cardan thoſe of Nero. With this caution by the way, that their opinion be abſolutely diſcarded, who hold that Agrippa cannot be repreſented, but like an Owl in a Night-piece, becauſe of his magicall deformity; that he was a ſuperſtitious vagabond; that all his travels and peregrinations were but ſo many flights and eſcapes; and that he died in great neceſſity, (as being forſaken by, becauſe abominable to, all the world) among Beggars and the Scurf of the City of Lyons. For to do otherwiſe, were, to ſpeak ingenuouſly, to be guided by the ignorance or paſſion of Paulus Jovius, and the Daemonographers, rather than the truth of the Hiſtory, and thereby to paſſe ſuch a diſadvantageous judgement on a man, who was not only a new Triſmegiſtus in the three ſuperiour faculties, Theologie, the Civill Laws, and Medicine; but one, who by travelling thorow all parts of Europe, would roll his mind into all Sciences and Diſciplines, to be like that Argus, who,

Centum luminibus cinctum caput unus habebat.

By this means, came he from one employment to another, at laſt to that ^[463] of Secretary to the Emperour Maximilian; a Favourite of Antonins Delevus, and Captain in his Troops; Profeſſour of Divinity at Dole, and Pavia; Syndic, and Advocate▪Generall of the City of Metz; Phyſician to her Highneſſe the Dutcheſſe of Anjou, Mother to King Francis the Firſt; and laſtly, Concellour and Hiſtoriographer to the Emperour Charles the Fifth. All theſe charges may well ſecure his reputation amongſt the greateſt perſons, and therefore we needed not to have caſt into the balance, that he was employ'd at twenty years of age by ſome Gentlemen of France, to endeavour the tranſmutation of metals; that two years after he publikely explan'd that obſcure and difficult book of Reuclin, De Verbo mirifico; that he underſtood eight ſeverall Languages; that he was choſen by the Cardinall de Sainte Croix, to aſſiſt him in the Councell which was to be held at Piſo. To this we may adde, That the Pope writ a Letter to him to exhort him, as he had begun, to continue in well-doing; That the Cardinall of Lorrain would needs be Godfather to one of his ſons in France; That a Marqueſſe of Italy, a King of England, the Chancellour Mercurius Gatinaria, and Margaret Princeſſe of Auſtria, courted him into their ſervice at the ſame time: And laſtly, that he was ſingular friend to four Cardinals, five Biſhops, and all the learned men of his time, ſuch as Eraſmus, Faber Stapulenſis, Trithemius, Capito, Melancthon, Capellanus, Montius, and Cantiuncula.

This granted, I cannot much wonder, that ^[464] Paulus Jovius cals him, Portentoſum ingenium; that ^[465] James Gohory places him, inter clariſſima ſui ſaeculi lumina; that ^[466] Ludwigius cals him, Venerandum Dominum Agrippam, literarum literatorumque omnium miraculum, & amorem bonorum; that ^[467] Uvierus, Melchior Adam, and a many others, ſpeak of him very honourably, complaining that all theſe elogies, and teſtimonies, theſe extraordinary perfections, theſe great employments and dignities ſhould not any way ſhake the opinion men have to this day of his being a Magician. Which indeed is the more deplorable, becauſe there are but two or three proofs to make him ſuch, which ſince they are ſo falſe and forged, that it were madneſſe or malicious ignorance, to take them for authentick, I ſhould rather beleeve that this opinion hath not crept into the imaginations of Authours ſo much by any of theſe three wayes, as by the indiſcretion of the firſt Advancer of it. For what he firſt broach'd, the reſt took for good ſecurity, to deſcribe Agrippa as the Prince of Magicians, and blaſt his reputation with all the injuries imaginable, ſo far as to curſe him with Bell, Book, and Candle. Nor is this any thing extraordinary in them, it being their deſigne to praiſe or diſpraiſe to the worlds end, right or wrong it matters not, and that without any heed or moderation, a many perſons, of whom they neither have nor would know any thing, ſave that they have been condemn'd or approv'd by ſuch and ſuch; and conſequently, that they cannot be miſtaken, if they paſſe the ſame judgement on them;

Horat.
O imitatores ſervum pecus! ut mihi ſaepè

Bilem, ſaepè jocum, vestri movêre tumultus!

But haply I may be thought too harſh with theſe Authors, ſince that what was alledg'd before, may ſomewhat clear Agrippa; yet is not ſo pregnant, as abſolutly to acquit him from all ſuſpicion of Magick. I would therefore ask Delrio, one of his greateſt adverſaries, why the judgement of the Pope, the authority of ſo many Cardinals & Biſhops, the favour of two Emperours, and ſo many Kings, are not as good and authentick proofs to clear his innocence, as that whereby he would juſtifie Arnoldus de Villa nova from being a Magician, becauſe the Clergie of Rome, among whom he liv'd a while, would not have employ'd him, if they had known him to be ſuch. Beſides, if this firſt reaſon, out of which it were not hard to deduce a many more, give them not full ſatisfaction, I wiſh ^[468] they would, for their better, conſider what Declamations the ſaid Agrippa makes againſt Magick, not only in his Book, Of the Vanity of the Sciences, but alſo in his treatiſe of Originall Sin, ^[469] in his Complaint againſt the School-men in the fourteenth Epiſtle of the fifth Book, wherein he was indeed a little elevated by a holy zeal, and ſome animoſity againſt the French: and in Epiſt. 26. of the ſame Book, of which Epiſtle I ſhall only give notice, that the title is tranſpo[•]'d in the laſt edition; where it is Amicus ad Agrippam, inſtead of Agrippa ad Amicum, as it is printed with the three Books of his occult Philoſophy, Anno 1533.

Adde to this, that being Syndic, and Advocat Generall of the City of Metz, he directly oppoſ'd the proceedings of Nicolas Savini then Inquiſitor for the Faith in the ſaid City, who would have puniſh'd a poor Country woman as a Witch; and ſtickled ſo much in the buſineſſe that he got her releaſ'd, and the accuſers and witneſſes well fined; which ſhews he was not ſo ſuperſtitious as the greateſt part of thoſe who calumniate him.

To make his charge high enough, it is further urg'd that the Divines of Lovaine paſſ'd a ſevere cenſure upon his Declaration againſt the Sciences; that John Catilinet, a Franciſcan declaim'd publikely againſt the explication he had made at Dola, de Verbo mirifico; that the Dominicans of the City of Metz writt againſt the propoſitions he had publiſh'd in defence of the opinion of Faber Stapulenſis, concerning the Monogamy of St. Anne. And yet not one of theſe cenſurers could take occaſion to make any remarkes upon the two firſt Books of his occult Philoſophy printed long before any of theſe pieces, at Paris, Antwerp, and other places, and every where with the Priviledge and approbation of thoſe who had the management of ſuch affaires. But it may haply be conjectur'd that the Adverſaries will anſwer this laſt reaſon, by ſaying, that there is indeed no danger in thoſe Books, it being Agrippa's deſigne to make that advantage of the curious Philoſophy and Learning therein contained, as a gilt pill, to make the poiſon of the other to ſlide down more eaſily; imitating therein the ſubtlety of the Crocodile, which counterfeits the voice of a man, to devour him, or rather the ſtratageme of Satan transforming himſelf into an Angell of Light, or of ſome beautifull Creature, the more eaſily to deceive us. We ſhall therefore take this occaſion to diſcover, how much the avarice of Bookſellers, and the vanity of certain men▪ who have no other employment then to make counterfeit ke[••] to all Books and treatiſes that are ever ſo litle difficult and obſcure, have injur'd the memory of this Author, fathering on him a fourth Book full of vain, Magical, ſuperſtitious, and abhominable Ceremonies, and publiſhing it with the three of his Occult Philoſophy, together with ſome other ſhreds and fragments of Peter d' Apono, Arbatel, Pictorius, Trithemins, and commentaries upon the whole Hiſtory of Pliny by Stephanus Aqueus; the reading whereof we muſt acknowledge much more dangerous to a mind carry'd through weakneſſe, away with ſuch vanities, then that of Ovid to a debauch'd perſon, of Martiall to a Flatterer and detractor, of Lucian to a Scoffer, of Cicero to a proud man, and of Lucretius to an irreligious man and an Atheiſt. But note by the ^[470] way, that theſe Books are as falſely father'd on them, as that fourth upon Agrippa, as Vuierus, in defence of the laſt, affirmes, that that Book was not publiſh'd till twenty ſeven years after his death, and that certainly he was not the Author of it. And for Agrippa, we may obiect, that he ſayes in his Epiſtles, that he had reſerv'd to himſelf ^[471] the key of the three Books he had publiſh'd. For beſides that we may probably anſwer, that he mention'd ſuch a Key meerly to be courted by the curious, upon which account, ^[472] James Gohory and ^[473] Vigenere affirme he boaſted that he knew the ſecret of Pythagoras's glaſſe, as alſo that of ^[474] extracting the ſpirit of Gold, to turn Silver or Copper into perfect Gold, yet not for a greater quantity then the waight of the Body whence it was extracted amounted to. Beſides this reaſon, I ſay, he clearly expreſſes what he meanes by ſuch a key when he ſaies in the 19. Epiſt. of the 5. Book. Haec eſt illa vera, & mirabilium operum occultiſſima Philoſophia. Clavis ejus Intellectus eſt, quanto enim altiora intelligimus, tantó ſublimiores induimus vir tutes, tantoque & majora, & facilius & efficacius operamur. This I ſuppoſe takes away all difficulty concerning this occult Philoſophy unleſſe we would raiſe any out of the third Book printed with the other two, in in the year 1533. he being then a ^[475] Domeſtick of the Archbiſhop's of Cullen, who thought himſelf much honour'd with the ^[476] dedication of them and ^[477] permitted him to publiſh them according to the Priviledge of the Emperour Charles, V. From which circumſtances may be inferr'd, that as the two firſt were publiſh'd long before, without any prejudice to the Author's reputation, ſo is there not any thing in the third, that may give any ſuſpicion of Magick, unleſſe it be particularly to ſuch, as, like fearfull travellers, take roots for folded Serpents, huts and buſhes for Highway-men waiting for them, Et motae ad Lunam trepidant arundinis umbram. For he treats not of any thing, under the title of Divine and Ceremonious Magick, but of Religion, of God, and of his names and attributes, as alſo of Daemons and Angels, of Intelligences and Genius's, of ſacrifices, of Man and his ſeverall operations. And all this according to the opinions of Divines, Philoſophers and Cabaliſts, not advancing any thing, but what, as he acknowledges himſelf, he had taken out of the printed, much read, and much approved Books of H[••]o Porphyrius, Proclus, Calcidus Syneſius, Ammonius, Pſellus, Albertus magnus, Roger Bacon, William of Paris, Gatalinus, Johannes Picus, Reucli[••]s, Riccius, and ſuch like; who are only ſuſpected of Magick by thoſe that are frightned at any thing they are unacquainted with, and as Lncretius ſayes, fear,

—Nihilo quae ſunt metuenda magis, quàm

Quae pueri in tenebris pavitant finguntque futura.

To this we may adde, that he hath, in his preface, cautiouſly retracted what ever might have crept into his works contrary to the doctrine of the Church, & does both ^[478] there and all thorow his workes, excuſe himſelf, ſaying that, Minor quàm adoleſcens hoc compoſuit. It is then out of all controverſy that there will not hereafter be any ſo barbarous & inhumane as to gloſſe more diſadvantageouſly upon the heats & ſallyes of his youth, then on thoſe of Picus, Albertus magnus, Aeneas Sylvius, and divers others, who may as well as Agrippa imitate the penitent King, where he ſayes, Remember not, O Lord the ſins and ignorances of my youth.

Having thus defeated the ſtrongeſt and moſt unſuſpected proof of the Adverſaries, and rendered it vain and of no conſequence, the reſt are eaſily rooted, as ſuch, as are fitter to fill up the Magicall Romances of Merlin, Maugis and Dr. Fauſtus, than that they ſhould be found in the ſerious and conſiderate writings of Hiſtorians and Daemonographers, at leaſt ſuch as ought to be ſuch. Among theſe, Delrio, Thevet, and Paulus Jovius are the moſt conſiderable witneſſes that come in againſt the life, manners, and doctrine of Agrippa. The former was a man of ſuch a vaſt and prodigious reading that he hath omitted nothing that any way made for his [〈◊〉] the other two ſeem to ſpeak of him with more candour and integrity, in as much as they prudently rank him amongſt the moſt illuſtrious men, and liken him to that altar of Midas, which ſeem'd ſometimes to be of Gold, but for the moſt part of ſtone. ^[479]

To begin then with the depoſition of Thevet, who having firſt drawn him according to the Originall of Bohemians and Cingariſts,

Quos aliena juvant, propriis habitare mole ſtum,

very confidently gives you a reaſon for all his Travells, which was, that he could not ſtay long in any place, before he had ſhewn ſome trick of his Art, which being diſcover'd, and he thereby known to be an Enchanter and Necromanner, all he could do was to fly from one Country to another like thoſe apes that leap from one tree to another, and from one bough to another, till at laſt they are taken by the Hunters. To make this teſtimony the more authentick, Delrio makes oath that the Emperour Charles V. would never admit him to his ſight, ^[480] after he had entertain'd him with ſome diſcourſes that he could find out and diſcover great treaſures by his Magick: as alſo that, being at Lovaine, ^[481] when the Devil had murthered one of his Penſioners, he commanded him to enter into his body, and to walke ſeven or eight turnes in the publick place of the City before he quitted it, that ſo he might not be troubled or ſuſpected for his death, when the people ſhould find him dead of a ſudden and naturall one. To which adde that of the third witneſſe Paulus Jovius, who, in his Elogies, ſayes, that, diſcarded by all the world, he dy'd very poor at Lyons, and that touch'd with ſome remorſe of conſcience, he diſmiſt a great black Dog that had follow'd him all his life, taking off his neck a Coller full of images and Magicall figures, ſaying to him with ſome exaſperation, Abi perdita beſtia quae me totum perdidisti, whereupon the Dog went and caſt himſelf into the Saone, and was never ſeen afterwards.

Though the ridiculouſneſſe of theſe relations ſufficiently diſcover their falſity, yet to pluck them up by the roots, we are to reflect on that ſaying of Machiavel, that if Ceſar had been vanquiſh'd by Pompey, no queſtion, but he would have been deſcrib'd to us, not ſuch as he is now, but more extravagantly wicked then ever Catiline was. Thus the greateſt part of Mankind interpreting the actions of others alwayes ſuitably to their fortune, all the Vertues we now admire in him, would have been turn'd into ſo many vices, nor could nature have afforded colours ſad enough to diſguiſe him ſo as to pleaſe ſome Writers. For we may inferre from this Maxim that we may daſh out of the Calumnies faſten'd upon Agrippa, the ſtory of the penſioner of Lovaine, as ſuch as we may more rationally deny with Ludwigius, than Delrio affirme it, ſince he hath taken it word for word out of a Book called The Theatre of Nature, publiſh'd in Italian and Latine under the name of Stroza Cicogna, and in French and Spaniſh under that of Valderama. For the reſt, they are faign'd upon the reall actions of his life, which ever ſince he put out his Book of the vanity of Sciences, men endeavour'd to interpret in a contrary ſenſe, and make them as deformed and abhominable, as they would have been thought noble, vertuous, or at leaſt tolerable, if he had not committed that fault, which indeed prov'd the cauſe of all his misfortune. This it was alſo, and not his Magick, that incenſ'd the Emperour Charles V. as he himſelf acknowledges in ^[482] ſeverall places of his works, and made him ſlight his ſervice; nay he would have gone further, if Cardinall Campege, and the Biſhop of Liege had not appeaſ'd him. This diſgrace gave his envyers, and emulators occaſion to calumniate him with Magick, grounding their malice on his publiſhing his three Books of occult Philoſophy. The two former▪ as we have ſhewn, were publiſh'd long before this tempeſt aroſe, and ſtood out the ſurges of detraction, but coming again into the preſſe they underwent the ſame fate with the third, ſo that there was no more mercy for them than the others as if all things had conſpired both their and their Authors rui[•]e. Thence it comes that Thevet attributes all his travells to a baſe ſhifting from place to place, and from Country to Country by reaſon of his Magick. And yet there's nothing ſo certain, as that all the voyages he undertook from the twenty ſecond year of his age were upon the Negotiations of ſome Kings and Princes that employ'd him, in the quality of an Agent.

Thus his coming into England was, as ^[483] he himſelf affirmes, to manage an affaire of great conſequence; it was upon the account of Maximilian the Emperour that he follow'd the army he ſent into Italy; the Dutcheſſe of Anjou ſent for him into France, Margaret of Austria into Antwerp; the Archbiſhop of Cullen into Germany. And upon ſome ſuch other occaſion he return'd again into France, where he dy'd, in the year 1535. not at Lyons, as ^[484] Thevet and ^[485] Paulus Jovius affirme; but, more truely, according to Wierus and Melchior Adam, in the City of Grenoble, at the Receiver General's houſe, of the province of Dalphine, whoſe Son dy'd, ſome years ſince, firſt Preſident of the ſaid City.

Laſtly for the ſtory of the Dog, repreſented to us with greater eloquence than truth by Paulus Jovius,

Venalis cui penna fuit, cui gloria flocci;

what ſurer judgment can be paſſ'd on it, after ſo evident a falſity, but that it is a pure Calumny forg'd by his emulators? For as men have ſtrange inclinations for certaine animals, as that of Alexander for his Horſe, of Augustus for a Parrat, of Nero for a Starling, of Virgil for a butterfly, of Commodus for an ape, of Heliogabalus for a Sparrow, of Honorius for a Hen, and of others for others; ſo Agrippa plac'd his affection on the moſt ordinary, keeping conſtantly five or ſix Dogges in his houſe, whoſe names are often mention'd in five or ſix of his ^[486] Epiſtles, as alſo in the Epitaphs which ſome of his Friends made upon them. Though ^[487] Wierus, who was his ſervant ſayes he had but two, which were perpetually with him in his ſtudy, whereof one was called Monſieur, and the other Mademoiſelle. But ſince the incertainty of the number of his Dogs, which he might daily change, makes nothing to his prejudice, I conceive it beſt concluding with the ſaid Wierus, that they might indeed give his enemies occaſion to raiſe the report that the Devill converſ'd with him under the forme of a great black Dog, as they had before heard that Simon Magus, Sylveſter, Dr. Fauſtus, and the Bragadochio of Venice, had one perpetually at their heeles under the ſhape of ſuch a Creature.

Having thus faithfully layd down the reaſons producible on both ſides, though I leave all perſons to incline to which they think it moſt rationall, yet ſhall I for my own particular conclude the Chapter with that ſaying of Seneca, more true ^[488] on this occaſion then many others, Crede mihi levia ſunt, propter quae non leviter excandeſcimus.

CHAP. XVI.

Of Merlin, Savanorola, and Noſtradamus.

THere is a ſtory, that among many birds that came not neer the Temple of Minerva, the Goddeſſe of Sciences and Reaſon, the Crows durſt not take their flight about it, much leſſe light upon it. If it be lawfull to give it any other ſenſe than the literall, I think the moſt probable were this; that that bird, ſo conſiderable in the ſuperſtitious Augury of the Ancients, according to this verſe of Virgil,

Saepe ſinistra cava praedixit ab ilice cornix,

being the true Hieroglyphick of thoſe who ſearch after things to come, it is to teach us, that all thoſe who are over-inquiſitive in ſuch things, together with the Authours and Obſervers of I know not ^[489] what chimericall and fabulous prophecies, quae unicuique pro ingenio finguntur, non ex vi Scientiae, ſhould be eternally excluded the Temple of Minerva, that is, the converſation of learned and prudent men. For indeed, it were more rationall ^[490] to acknowledge with Arnobius, Quae nequeunt ſciri neſcire nos confitemur, neque ea conquirere aut inveſtigare curamus quae comprehendi liquidiſſimum est non poſſe, quamvis mille per corda ſuſpicio ſe rigat atque intendat humana, than to waſte our ſpirits in the pretended myſteries of the Cabala, the ſuperſtitious invocations of Magick, the fruitleſſe ſtudy of the Philoſophers ſtone, and the fantaſticall predictions of certain Figure-flingers, and Cunningwomen, ſince they are extravagancies that find no entertainment, but in the imaginations of vulgar and reptile ſouls, eaſily taken in ſuch cobwebs, as a mind any thing maſculine cannot be enſnar'd in, without an abſolute loſſe of reputation and prudence.

For two reaſons have I brought in Savanorola and Merlin into the number of the great perſons, for whom I make this Apologie; one is, that they were the Prophets of their Countries, as they ſay Noſtradamus was of France, Lolhardus of Germany, and Teleſphorus and the Abbot Joachim of Calabria. The other, that it is a kind of juſtice to make a true diſcovery of them, ſo to raiſe them from under thoſe heaps of calumnies, which cover both them, and what we ſhould know of them. As to the famous Merlin, all Authours hitherto have thought him gotten by an Incubus, who was a little too familiar with a certain Kings daughter, then a Nun in a Monaſtery at Carmarthen. What credit can be expected for all the other ſtories of his life, when we muſt be leſſe prudent, and more credulous than ^[491] Godfrey of Monmouth, from whom we have them, to beleeve ſuch a nativity as this any way poſſible? Whence we may ſafely infer, that the foundation of ſuch a prodigious relation, being ſo ill laid, it muſt needs be abſolutely falſe and forg'd, as we ſhall without any difficulty demonſtrate. For if our Daemonographers will not admit the generation of Merlin to have been by the ordinary way, they muſt needs acknowledge, that whatever is ſaid of him is nothing but pure fiction; and conſequently, the ſureſt and ſafeſt way to anſwer them is, to deny what they ſay, as confidently as they affirm it.

I ſhall not therefore at the preſent make it any queſtion, whether there are ſuch Daemons as the Incubi and Succubae, but onely with ^[492] Wierus, ^[493] Sibilla, ^[494] Cardan, ^[495] Caſmannus, ^[496] Ulric Molitor, ^[497] Guibelet, ^[498] Eugubinus, ^[499] Nicholas Remy, Maldonat, and divers others, deny that their copulations with mankind can produce any generation, whether they do it by eluding the imagination, or make uſe of humane bodies. Not becauſe, as Nicholas Remy would have it, man and the Devil differ in ſpecie; for a Mule is engendered between a Horſe and an Aſſe; nor yet becauſe God will not co-operate with ſuch an action, by the infuſion of a ſoul, for Adulterers, Fornicators, and inceſtuous perſons, ſhould never ingender for the ſame reaſon; but for that if they ingender, it is neceſſary it ſhould be of their own ſeed, or a borrow'd. To think they have any of their own, were too palpable an abſurdity, ſince that, as they are immateriall ſubſtances, they cannot poſſibly have that excrement, and (as it were) quinteſſence extracted out of abundance of nouriſhment, and conſiſting of blood and ſpirits. Beſides that, if this were granted, their productions would be like themſelves, or rather ſome mediate ſubſtance between a man and a Daemon, than an abſolute man▪

Burdonem ut ſonipes generat commixtus aſellae,

Mulus ut Arcadicis ab equina matre creatur.

Tityrus ex ovibus oritur hircoque parente.

Muſinonem capra ex vervegno ſemine gignit

Apris atque ſue ſetoſus naſcitur ibris,

Ut lupus & catula formant coeundo liciſcam.

On the other ſide, to attribute to the Daemons a power to tranſport the ſeed from one place to another, without diminiſhing the generative vertue, and the principle which it contains, is a tenent hath no reaſon at all to ſupport it, when even thoſe that have the inſtrument of generation of an over-great length, are not ſo able for the act, becauſe the conduit being ſo long, the ſeed cools, and the principle is weakened. And that it muſt be much more thus in the ſeed of the Incubi, is not to be queſtion'd, ſince that Witches, & cottidianae iſtae, as they are called in Lipſius, genialiam libidinum victimae, infelices mulierculae, do all unanimouſly confeſſe in their depoſitions, that they find it extreamly cold, and receive it without either pleaſure or ſatisfaction, as having not thoſe ſpirits without which there cannot be any, nor indeed generation be effected. Further, as Gold being the moſt perfect of Metals, is accordingly of the moſt difficult production, ſo muſt it be thought, that man, the nobleſt of all Creatures, hath by the ſame reaſon a more difficult, a more perfect, and a more accompliſh'd generation than any other. Adde to this, that the moſt conſiderable authority, which may be brought againſt this negative, out of Geneſ. 6. is no more advantageous to our Adverſaries, than the great number of experiences they endeavour to collect from Apollonius, Alexander, Romulus, Servius Tullius, Simon Magus, Geffrey Great-tooth, Balderus, Luther, the Huns, and Counts of Cleveland, or the Corocoton of new Spain, and the Nefeſoglians of the Turks. For that paſſage of Geneſis, where it is ſaid, After the ſons of God went in to the daughters of men, &c. is to be underſtood, according to Eugubinus, and Maldonat, of the ſons of Seth, who was a holy man, and eſteem'd by God, and the daughters of Cham, the moſt corrupt man of his age; Or, as ſome interpret it, by the Sons of God are meant Judges, whom the Scripture often cals by the name of Elohim. And laſtly, for the ſaid experiences, no doubt, but they are fabulous, and the meer fictions of ſuch as thought to make thoſe perſons more recommendable by ſuch Romances, which indeed, while the world was yet in ſwadling clouts, were good to cover and conceal Adulteries, and to preſerve the reputation of thoſe Ladies, who were more than ordinarily deſirous of their pleaſure. But now, that the world's grown up to yeers of diſcretion, and more than ever▪ refin'd,

Mart.
Et pueri naſum Rhinocerotis habent,

ſuch inventions are thought as vain and triviall, as all the ſtories of the Magicall Romances of Maugis d' Aigremont, Dr. Fauſtus, or our Merlin. Of this latter, all, I think, may be truly and rationally ſaid, is, that he was not the ſon of one of ^[500] theſe Incubi, and that according to the deſcription we have of him from Lelandus and Balaeus, he was the moſt excellent Philoſopher and Mathematician ^[501] of his time, Diſciple to Teleſinus, and a great Favourite to four Kings of England, viz. Vortigern, Ambroſe, Utherpendragon, and Arthur, whom all Romancists make the firſt Inſtitutor of the Knights of the Round Table, with whom agrees the Poet Annevillanus,

Arthurus teretis menſae genitiva venuſt as.

But as to the reſt of his actions, what is not buried in the ruines of Time, is come to us darkened with ſuch clouds of fables and lies, that ^[502] Gulielmus Neubrigenſis, and ^[503] Polydor d' Urbin do with reaſon laugh at this Godfrey of Monmouth, who hath tranſplanted ſome of thoſe of Merlin's Romance into his Hiſtory, and hath made a collection ^[504] of certain Prophecies, as falſly attributed to him, as to that other Merlin, ſirnam'd the Savage or Caledonian, whom Ranulphus and Treviſa, ^[505] in Vigner and Balaeus would diſtinguiſh from the former. Nor are their conjectures without ſome ground, who would maintain that there was but one Merlin under theſe two names, but in ſeverall times and ſucceſſively, Ambroſe and then the Caledonian, ſince they were both Contemporaries, that they liv'd under the ſame Kings, and excell'd in the ſame Science, and that, according to the vulgar errour, they both writ certain ſhort Prophecies and predictions. Upon which when I find the Commentaries, of a large Volume, of Alanus, a man not ignorant in his age, I am forced to acknowledge with Cicero, that, Nihil tam ^[506] abſurdè dici potest quod non dicatur ab aliquo Philoſophorum, For I cannot think any thing at a greater diſtance with poſſibility, than the accident on which Merlin took occaſion to publiſh his excellent Prophecies, which was this. King Vortigern was adviſed by the Magicians, to build a ^[507] ſtrong Tower in ſome part of his Realm, where he might live ſecurely, not fearing the Saxons whom he had brought out of Germany. Coming to build, they had hardly laid the foundations, but the earth in one night ſwallows up all, and leaves not ſo much as the tracks of any Edifice. Upon that, the Magicians perſwaded him, that to faſten the ſtones well, they ſhould be ſprinckled with the blood of a child born without a father, ſuch as Merlin, after a long ſearch, happened to be. Being accordingly brought to the King, he firſt diſputed with his Magicians, and told them, that under the foundation of that Tower there was a great Lake, and under that Lake two great and terrible Dragons, one red, ſignifying the people of England, or Britain, the other white, repreſenting the Saxons. Theſe Dragons were no ſooner disburthen'd of the earth that lay upon them, but they begin a furious combat, whence Merlin takes ^[508] occaſion to bewail the condition of England in his Prophecies.

But for my part, I cannot imagine there is any thing equally fabulous with this ſtory, unleſſe a man will ſquander away ſo much leiſure, as to look into this Godfrey of Monmouth's book, to obſerve ^[509] the ſubtle invention, like that of Amphitruo in Plautus, whereby Merlin made Utherpendragon aſſume the perſon of Gorlois, and by that means enjoy the fair Ingerna; as alſo that of the Dance of the Gyants, that is, great ſtones and rocks, which he tranſported out of Ireland into England, to erect a Trophy neer the City of Ambroſiopolis. But that one ^[510] Gervaſe, Chancellour to the Emperour Otho the Fourth; as ^[511] Theodoric a Niem relates, hath ſo gloſſed upon it, as not to be aſhamed to affirm, that theſe great rocks and mountains turn'd perpetually in the air, and that not held up by any thing, I cannot ſufficiently admire. Whereas ^[512] Lelandus, who hath made a more curious ſearch into the Antiquities of England, laughs at the indiſcretion of theſe Authours, affirming this Dance of the Gyants to be nothing but diverſe heaps of great ſtones, which Merlin cauſed to be raiſ'd like Pyramids or Trophies neer the ſaid City, in imitation haply of thoſe, which Sylvester Girard ſayes were in Ireland upon the mountain Cyllarus in the time of Henry the Second of England. Bytheſe patterns you may judge of the whole piece of theſe ridiculous fictions, and ſo, whether Badius Aſcenſius had not ^[513] ſome ground, ſpeaking of the nine books of this Godefrey printed by him, to ſay, In quibus ſi diligenter legeris, agnoſces, aut meram antiquitatis integritatem, aut admirandam illius ſaeculi, cùm in nominibus, tum verò in temporibns ſu[•]putandis calliditatem.

From this Merlin, ſo highly favour'd by the Kings of England, we paſſe to Brother Hierom Savanorola, born in the City of Ferrara, a Friar of the Order of St. Dominick. This man knew ſo well how to husband his eloquence, and ſo diſcover the candor and integrity of his life, that having gain'd extraordinary reputation among the people of Florence by his preaching, which did not only charm the moſt delicate ears of his Audience with Rhetoricall expreſſions and figures, but alſo raiſed the hearts and affections of all ſorts of perſons, by his zeal and great devotion, he began by degrees to diſcover ſome ſymptoms of his ſecret ambition. This happen'd, when in the year, 1484, as he acknowledges himſelf, in the book he hath made upon his Prophecies, he intruded into matters of Policie, and cauſed himſelf to be called to the Councell then held at Florence for the ſetling of a popular Government, wherein he ſtirr'd up all the Citizens unanimouſly to embrace it, propoſing to them four or five points of great conſequence much conducing thereunto, which he ſaid had been reveal'd to him by Almighty God, & which accordingly they muſt punctually obſerve, to make their State the moſt flouriſhing of thoſe of all Italy. Whereupon, though affairs were not carried on as he had imagin'd to himſelf, yet did he make it his buſineſſe to adde daily to the reputation he had gain'd among the people, teaching in his Sermons of the year 1489, upon explication of the Apocalyps, that the Church was threatened with an approaching reformation, to ſucceed that of the little Kings and Tyrants of Italy, who were ſoon after to feel the revenging ſcourge for all their iniquities. This he could do ſo ſtrangely, by paſſages out of the Scripture, and the ſecurity he gave them of his own revelations, that after the roming of Charles the Eighth into Italy, foretold by him two years before, it was generally expected he ſhould return again, upon no other ground than his affirmation of it. Nor indeed could they be convinc'd of the contrary, till the year 1498, wherein both Charles, and he who had favour'd him ſo much in his predictions, exchanged this life for a better; the former by a ſickneſſe that took him at Amboiſe; and Savanorola by the puniſhment of fire, which, in the commotion that happened in the City of Florence, upon the refuſall to manifeſt the truth of his Prophecies, he ſuffered publikely, with two of his Brethren, entering into the fire with a Franciſcan, who had offered to maintain the falſity of them, by ſuch a demonſtration and triall.

But to this contributed not a little, the indignation, not onely of Pope Alexander the Sixth, and moſt of the Clergie, againſt whom he ordinarily rail'd in the Pulpit, but alſo of the principall Citizens of Florence, by reaſon of the execution, which, by his advice, was done upon ſeven or eight of the nobleſtamongthem. So that having no other friends than the faction of Paul Anthony Soderin, who made his advantages of him, to keep up the popular State againſt Guy Anthony Veſputius, who would have ſetled a kind of an Ariſtocracie, they were not able to reſiſt the contrary party, which in the heat of the commotion forced open the gates of his Monaſtery to bring him to execution, ſo to quiet the City by the death of a man who kept them at a diſtance with the Pope, by reaſon of the novelty of his Doctrine, and raiſed ſuch factions and parties amongſt them, as had they gone further, muſt needs have buried them in the ruine of their State and Seigneury.

I am not ignorant that many Authours are of a direct contrary opinion to me, as who am inclin'd to aſſent to Paulus Jovius, Machiavel, and Cardan, who rank this Authour, if not among the moſt fortunate, yet among the moſt eminent and famous Politicians, as being one of thoſe Monks St. Hierom ſpeaks of, Qui Daemonum contra ſe pugnantium portenta fingunt, ut apud imperitos, & vulgi homines miraculum ſui faciant. For one half of the book he hath writ upon his Prophecies, contains nothing but the conferences he had with the Devil, taking him for a Hermit. But what indeed contributed much to his reputation, was the influence he had over two ſorts of perſons who favoured him very much. The former were certain Catholikes, as Johannes Picus, and Franciſcus of Mirandula, de Benivenius, Marſilius Ficinus, Flaminius, ^[514] Marth[•]us Toſca[•]us, and divers others, who receiv'd his predictions as celeſtiall and divine, and ſpeak not of his piety, Learning and good life, but witha certain admiration. In ſo much that Benivenius a Florentine Prieſt put forth a Book of his miracles and Prophecyes; and Franciſcus Picus was ſo paſſionate in his vindication, that he ſtick'd not, though a man very religious and a ſound Catholick, to derogate much from the Authority and power of the Pope, to ſhew that Alexander the Sixth had no reaſon to forbid him the Pulpit, and to excommunicate him.

The other ſort of people that had a great veneration for him, were of a different religion from the former, that is, ^[515] Beza, ^[516] Vigner, Cappel, du ^[517] Pleſſy, Mornay, and all the Lutherans of Germany, who ordinarily in their writings call him the faithful witneſſe of the Truth, the fore-runner of Evangelicall reformation, the ſcourge of great Babylon, the ſworne enemy of the Romane Antichriſt, and in a word, to conclude with ^[518] Jeſſenius, a Jeſſen, the Italian Luther. Only it is to be wondr'd they call'd him not alſo the John Hus of that Country ſince they both ſuffered the ſame puniſhment, that they were but Archhereticks, and are both written in Capitalls in the Catalogue of their Martyrs, as may be ſeen by theſe verſes put under his effigies.

En Monachus ſolers, rerum ſcrutator acutus,

Martyrio ornatus, SAVONAROLA prius.

But there is this maine difference between theſe two ſorts of perſons; that the former have ſaid much good of Savonarola, becauſe, replying on the common opinion, they thought him a good man, not ſearching any further then others into his internall diſſimulation, or rather becauſe moſt of them were his intimate friends, as is apapparent, in that Johannes Picus, who diſpoſ'd, as he could, of Benivenius and Marſilius Ficinus, was reſolv'd a little before his death, to turn Dominican, upon the meer perſwaſion of this Frier; as alſo in that Franciſcus Picus dedicated a ^[519] Book to him entituled, De morte Chriſti & propriâ cogitandâ. On the contrary the other ſort had no otner reaſon to celebrate him, but that his Doctrin was not perfectly Catholick, that he threatned the Eccleſiaſticks with an approaching reformation; that he preach'd ſcandalouſly againſt the manners of the Clergy & Court of Rome▪ and la[•]tly, becauſe he derogated from the Authority of the Popes. For which, if my word may not be taken, take it from Beza, who ſpeaking of him in his Elogies, ſayes roundly and confidently, Homini tam perditò ſcelerato quàm fuit Alexander ille Borgia Pontifex hujus nominis ſextus, uſque adeo diſplicuiſſe, ut non ni ſi te indigniſſimé damnato, & cremato quieſcere potuerit, maximum eſſe videtur ſingularis tuae pietatis argumentum. Whence it is clear that all the praiſe hath been given him to this day is to be attributed either to the affection of his favorities and friends, or the ſubtlety of certain Heterodox perſons, who would gladly make him more zealous then St. Paul, more eloquent then Chryſostome, and more learned then St. Augustine, out of an imagination that it is ſome way advantageous to them.

But to make a more rationall and equitable judgment of him, we may ſay, firſt, of the Predictions which have made him ſo famous, that they are ſo far from being the effects of divine Magick, ſuch as were thoſe of the Prophets, and divers other Saints and favorits of God, that on the contrary, they have prov'd almoſt all falſe. ^[520] For inſtance, theſe: his affirming that Charles VIII. would come a ſecond time into Italy; that he ſhould come to an unfortunate end, that endeavour'd to rule in Florence; that Johannes Picus ſhould recover of the ſickneſſe, whereof, two dayes after, he dy'd; and divers others of his propheſies, much more vaine than theſe, as they are at large cited and exemplify'd in a Book which Johannes Pogus hath purpoſely written to diſcover the falſity of them. But if any have fallen out true, it is to be attributed either to Chance, or that he had notice of what ſhould be done by ſome of thoſe many friends he had in the Counſels of the Florentines, and the K. of France. And laſtly for the reſt of of his actions, they eaſily diſcover him a very great Politician, putt many times upon very honourable Employments, and endu'd with an Eloquence, ſo ready and perſuaſive, that he may well be compar'd to thoſe ancient Orators, who were as powerfull in popular and democraticall Governments as the winds are upon the Sea, entertaining them as they pleaſ'd both in the Calmes of peace and Storms of war, toſſing them now, on one ſide, then on the other turning them upſide down; and in a word, diſpoſing them at their pleaſure by the Charmes of their diſcourſes. This may Savonarola preſume he did for the ſpace of ten years at Florence, though he had withall the aſſiſtances of his revelations and a counterfeit ſanctimony to keep up his credit for ſo long a time; knowing well by the examples of Mahomet and Arrius that the reſpect we have for Religion hath an extraordinary influence upon us, and that when a man hath once the reputation of living holily, he perſwades the people to what he pleaſes; eſpecially when he is endu'd with the grace of well ſpeaking, and a more then ordinary eloquence. To prove this, we may inſtance in the fortunate and temerarious enterpriſe of the Religious man Almohadi, who being excellently learned and well verſ'din the Alcoran, undertook without any other aſſiſtance than that of an Astrologer that ſeconded him with his predictions, and the great opinion men had of his life, to crowne, King of Africk, the Son of a Potter, a poor and neceſſitous man, called Abdelmon. To effect which with more eaſe, he firſt, got ſome followers by the introduction of a new Hereſy, and then perceiving himſelf ſufficiently ſeconded ſo far as to engage in the publick Affairs, and to reforme them at his pleaſure, he began to propoſe that Abdelmon, was a perſon rai[•]'d up by God, who through his meanes, would plant the holy Alphurcanistick Law through all the world. His next buſineſſe was to preach down the race of the Almoravides, calling them Tyrants and Uſurpers, as ſuch as had driven out the family of the Alabeci, and the blood of their Prophet Mahomet. This done, he ſet upon the perſon of the Caliph of Baldac, high Priſt of their Law, and did ſo well, by the force of his perſwaſions, that, having gottten this Abdelmon the aſſiſtance of the greateſt part of the Nobility, there happened a great battle between them, wherein the King Albohaly Aben Tesſin being kill'd in the year 1147. this Noble Potter Abdelmon was made King and Miramomelin of Africk. From this ſtory I leave men to judge, whether Savonarala ^[521] might not governe at Florence, quando (as Paulus Jovius, ſpeaking of him, well obſerves) nihil validius eſſet ad perſuadendum ſpec[•]e ipſa pietatis, in qua etiam tuendae Libertatis ſtudium emineret.

I ſhould have left Michael Nostradamus out of this Apology, were it not to adde ſome luſtre to ſo many excellent perſons, by the temerarious ignorance and little merit of this upſtart prophet, as the ſparkling of a Diamond is heightned by a little foile. Or rather to imitate that great Julius ^[522] Caeſar Scaliger, who having paſſ'd his judgment on the moſt famous Poets, would needs give the ſame upon Rhodophilus and Dolet alledging by way of excuſe that it was in imitation of Ariſtotle, who in the ſame Book treats of living Creatures and their ordure and excrements. This may I much more apply to this Monſter of abuſes, whoſe li[•]e I ſhall not ſet forth according to its principall circumſtances, ſince they are ſo flat and pittifull that no Hiſtorian hath yet medled with them, but the Author of the French Janus, and the Pleiades, it being my buſineſſe, only to obſerve the vanity of his Deſignes. For not content to have cheated us in his praedictions, which he printed at the beginning of every year from 1550. till 1567. he further im[•]gin'd, that he might eaſily blaſt the memory of Merlin, Teleſphorus, Cataldus, Lolhardus, Joachim Savonarola, Laurentio Miniati, Antonio Torquatö, and all thoſe that had dabled in predictions, by the reputation he was in hope to gaine by publiſhing a Decad of Centuries, upon the future ſtate of all things in the world. Theſe were no ſooner abroad, but they immediately got him a quite contrary repute: ſome, as Ro[•]ſard and Monluc not knowing what to ſay to their ^[523] falling out true ſometimes; and others looking on them as lyes fooleries and impoſtures, and containing ſuch a diverſity of crafty ambiguities, that it were in a manner impoſſible not to find ſomething among ſo many thouſands of tetraſticks upon any occaſion a man can propoſe to himſelf: Accordingly did▪ ſome take thence occaſion to make ſport with thoſe falſities, among whom the moſt ingenious was he, who, without charging him with contradictions, or calling him Monſtre d' abus, and Monstra-damus▪ as divers did, onely ſent him this Diſtick;

Noſtra damus, cum verba damus, nam fallere noſtrum eſt;

Et cum verba damus, nil niſi noſtra damus.

But as there is no Cauſe ſo deſperate which, in time, meets not with ſome that will patroniſe it; ſo much it be acknowledg'd, that there are a many hollow braines, and minds fit only to receive any thing that is extravagant, and that without any examination, who think their pockets empty without theſe Centuries, which they idoliſe as Humaniſts do Petronius, and Politicians Tacitus, looking on them as more infallible then the Goſpell, and making it appear on all occaſions that happen daily though ever ſo triviall.

Virg. geor. 4.

—Novit namque omnia vates!

Quae ſint, fuerint, quae mox ventur[•] trahantur.

Yet does not this Idolatry hinder, but that among thoſe who admire them ſo much, it is a controverſy by what meanes the Authour could arrive to ſuch a certain knowledge of things to come. Some hold he got it by the practiſe of judiciall Astrology; others, that it was reveal'd to him by the meanes of ſome familiar Daemon; and a third ſort, that he had no other aſſiſtance then that of the capacity of the humane Soul to foretell things to come. For, according ^[524] to the opinion of Avicenna, when ſhe is diſengag'd from the government of the body, ſhe ſuffers a certain paralyſis, and leaves it as it were buried in the maſſe of its terreſtriall Element, that ſo ſhe may be free to conſider what is at the greateſt diſtance from her. Then it is that ſhee ſees things to come as preſent, which ſhe could not have done while the exigencies of the body divert her from this contemplation. And this happens for the moſt part, when, being forc'd againſt her naturall motion by the violent agitation of Melancholly ſhe diſplayes and diſcovers what is moſt hidden in her, that is her divine and celeſtiall forces and faculties; ſo that there is nothing hinders her from exceeding her ordinary Limits, and arriving to the knowledge of things to come. Of this we have ſome experience in old men, who being in the utmoſt declination of their age, do often foretell what afterwards comes to paſſe; as if the ſoul, by a certain anticipation, were already at Liberty. To ſtrengthen this laſt opinion, they adde that were ſome reaſon to charge Nature with a certaine diſcare of mankind if ſhe deny'd this perfection to man when we ſee the ^[525] birds call'd [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉], the Meſſengers of the Gods, as Euripides terms them, and ſeverall other Creatures, foretel, by the diſpoſition of the Aire the changes of ſeaſons, wind, raine, fair weather, tempeſts, and all this without any other inſtruction than that of their naturall inſtinct.

I have been more particular in this laſt cauſe, then in the other two, becauſe Nostradamus himſelf confeſſes in his Epiſtle to the three Centuries dedicated to Henry the ſecond of France, that he uttered his predictions rather through a naturall inſtinct attended by a Poeticall fury, then by any aſſiſtance of the rules of Poeſy, though he had reconcil'd them to aſtronomicall Calculations.

But ſince the truth & reputation of that ſo Myſterious book cannot ſubſiſt but by one of theſe three reaſons, they certainly are to be blam'd for their over-credulity, who would ground the Authority of this Fortune-teller, upon cauſes, which if they had well examined them, they ſhould have found more falſe than any of his Centuries. And this it were the more eaſy to ſhew, in that, of all predictions and Prophecyes that ever came to our knowledge, we have not met with any more particular then thoſe of Noſtradamus, who preciſely markes out all the accidents and ſeverall Circumſtances, even to occurrences of litle or no concernment. Whence in the firſt place I inferre, that he could not compoſe thoſe predictions by the aſſiſtance of Aſtrology, the Authors whereof having not left us any rules whereby we might attain the knowledge of thoſe particulars. For theſe are no more under the juridiction of that Art, by reaſon of the uncertain emergencies of their cauſes, then things purely free and contingent, ſuch as are the actions that depend meerly on our will, and which in regard they have not any determinate truth or falſhood cannot be either known or foreſeen by the help of any humane ſcience, till ſuch time as they are preſent. In the ſecond place, I inferre, that he could not have done it by any revelation from Daemons, becauſe even they, conſider'd in their nature, have not any knowledge of theſe actions which are free & depend purely on our will, as being not able to foreſee them either in their cauſes, or their effects. Not in the former, becauſe they are uncertaine while they remaine buried in the ſeveral motions of our mind, as being ſuch as St. Paul ſpeaks of to the Corinthians, None knows the things of man but the ſpirit of man that is in him: not in the latter, as being ſuch as cannot be known till they appear. So that if we allow his prophecies any foundation, it muſt be that of the third cauſe, grounded on the naturall capacity men ſometimes have to foretell things to come, which yet is pertinently refuted by ^[526] Cicero and the learned ^[527] Valeſius, who digg up the very corner ſtones of this erroneous opinion.

To anſwer therefore, in few words, all thoſe reaſons alledged to confirme it, we are indeed to acknowledge, that Melancholy may, by reaſon of its qualities, make men more deſirous and capable of Sciences, more earneſt in the diſquiſition of cauſes, and more perſeverant in the deepeſt contemplations upon any ſubject; nay that it may cauſe certain motions in the ſoul, whereby it makes ſooner diſcoveries of the reaſon it would find out. But we muſt deny that there can proceed from it this naturall Divination, whereof there is not in it either the cauſe, principles, or beginnings. Nor is it to be credited, that old men are more likely to foretel things then others, unleſſe it be by way of Revelation, as Jacob did, or the Pope Pius V. & the Archbiſhop Angelo Catto. Of theſe two laſt, the former knew by revelation ^[528] that the Chriſtians had gain'd the battel of Lepanto; the other acquainted Lewis the Sixth with the death of the Duke of Burgundy at the very hour it happened. And laſtly for the foreſight of certaine Creatures, Leonard Vair will tell us, that the geſture of their bodies does not portend any thing to come, but only what is preſent, that is, the humid influx of the Aire, which, by a naturall inſtinct, they feel in their bodies, aſſoon as it gathers together in the Element. And as to the Birds which ſhift Countries according to the ſeverall ſeaſons of the year, it is not ſo much out of any foreſight in them, of Spring, Winter, or Autume, as a certain knowledge of thoſe viciſſitudes according to the naturall alteration of their bodies, proceeding meerly from heat and cold, or ſome other quality unknown to us.

This premiſ'd, I leave thoſe to judge who are not over-eaſily drawn in to embrace opinions without any reaſon or gronnd, what eſteem ſhould be had of theſe fine Centuries, which are ſo ambiguous, and contradictory, ſo obſcure and enigmaticall, that it were no miracle if among a thouſand tetraſticks, whereof every one ſpeakes commonly of five or ſix ſeverall things, and particularly ſuch as ordinarily happen, there comes in a Hemiſtick mentioning the taking of a Town in France, or the death of a Grandee in Italy, a plague in Spaine, a Monſter, a great fire, a victory, or ſomething of this nature, as if thoſe Emergencies were extraordinary, and happen'd not at one time or other. And yet this is the main motive of that little hope there is to ſee theſe prophecyes veryfi'd as being ſuch as we cannot compare to any thing more fitly then to Therame[•]es's ſhooe, which fitted all feet; or that Lesbian rule, which being of Lead, bent it ſelf to all figures, concave, oblique, round, and Cylindricall. So may we ſay of this Authour, that his maine deſigne was ſo to write as to avoid a clear and intelligible ſenſe, that Poſterity might interpret his predictions as they pleaſ'd. For though John Aime Chavigni, one that, of all others, hath fooliſhly trifled away his paines upon all kinds of Prophecyes hath ſhewn in his French Janus, that the greateſt part of Nostradamus's predictions are accompliſh'd near thirty years ſince; yet are they ſtill brought upon the ſtage when any thing remarkable falls out, as for Inſtance, thoſe that are ſcatter'd abroad upon the death of the Marſhall d' Ancre the great fortune of Monſieur de Luynes; and the firing of the Palace and the Bridges of Paris. And indeed, that there are not found ſome upon all occaſions, is only becauſe men will not be at the paines to ſearch them out, ſince they met with ſomething about that imaginary monſtrous fiſh which ſome years ſince was ſold up and down in effigie, and that the Author of a little book called▪ The Chymiſt, or French Conſerver, ſayes very ingenuouſly, pag. 15. that Nostradamus had ſpoken of him, above thirty four years before he was born, quoting him by his name and Armes in the 31. tetraſtick of the 6th. Century,

La Lune au plein de Nuict ſur le haut mont,

Le nouveau Sophe, d' un ſeul cerveau l' a veuë.

This he is ſo confident of, that he affirmes it cannot poſſibly be meant of any other then himſelf, for certain reaſons by him layd down in the ſaid Book. But becauſe it may be objected that the Author of the French Janus, who tranſlated divers of the Centuries into Latine verſe, does, by the explication he makes of them evince the truth at leaſt of ſome of thoſe tetraſticks, & conſequently that I ought not ſo farre to diſcredit them, eſpecially thoſe whoſe events are yet uncertain; I ſhall briefly anſwer, and withall conclude this Chapter with that excellent paſſage of Seneca, Patere etiam aliquando Mathematicos vera dicere, & tot ſagittas cum emittant, unam tangere, ^[529] aberrantibus caeteris. To which adde that of Phanorinus in Gellius, that, iſta omnia quae aut temerè aut astutè vera dicunt, prae caeteris quae mentiuntur, pars ea non ſit milleſima.

CHAP. XVII.

Of St. Thomas, Roger Bacon, Bungey, Michael the Scot, Johannes Picus, and Trithemius.

I Have ſometimes wondered there ſhould be among the Romans a Law ſo barbarous, as ſhould impower the Dictator to put to death any Citizen he pleaſed, without allowing him to make any defence for himſelf, and that without the leaſt fear of being call'd to any account for ſo doing. But there is more reaſon to wonder now, when a man reflects on the temerity of thoſe Writers, who, though they have not the power of the ancient Dictators of Rome, do yet ſo confidently condemn ^[530] the moſt eminent Authours, not as deſerving death, but as guilty of a crime, as Johannes Sarisberienſis affirms of it, morte digni ſunt qui à morte conantur ſcientiam mutuare, which deſerves nothing leſſe. Nay, ſuch is their impudence, that they have no more reſpect for Religious men, Biſhops, and Popes, than they had before for Philoſophers, Phyſicians, and others of greateſt authority among the Learned. For if we look for any reaſon of this rigorous proceeding, there will be no other ſound than that they ſtrike at all, without any exception of perſons, Tros Rutuluſve fuat, out of an exceſſe of zeal to the truth, as they imagine; ſo under the ſhadow and conceit of their pretended integrity, to the prejudice of the accuſed innocent, to gain the greater credit to certain collections and gleanings of I know not what ridiculous and ill digeſted relations, which would never find Readers, were there not more fools who are delighted to ſee extravagant pictures, than wiſe men that have the patience to contemplate a ſimple and naturall Beauty.

Since therefore it were indiſcretion in me to break off this Apologie, when I am come to that point for which principally I undertook it, I think it now time to ſpeak of Religious men, and to ſhew what ingratitude it were in us to make ſo ſleight acknowledgement of the obligation we owe them for the preſervation of Letters, from the times of Boetius, Symmachus, and Caſſiodorus, to the laſt taking of Conſtantinople. At which time Learning began to creep out of Monaſteries, which for all the time before, had been (as it were) publike Chriſtian Schools, where not only youth, but alſo ſuch men as would apply themſelves that way, were inſtructed in all manner of Diſciplines, Sciences, & Morality, and that to ſuch a height, that not content with that ſo famous Quadrivium of the Mathematieks, which, beſides all that is now ſhewn in Colledges, was then taught, Medicine, both as to Theory and Practice was ſo well cultivated, that we need no more to convince us how expert they were therein, than the writings of Aegidius, Conſtantine, and Damaſcene, Joannitius, Peter of Spain, and Turiſanus. So that it were eaſie for me to anſwer thoſe who charge them with illiterature and ignorance, did I not think it more requiſite to apply the remedy where there is moſt need, and by culling out five or ſix among them,

—Qui ob facta ingentia poſſunt

Verè homines, & Semidei, Heroeſque vocari,

to reſcue them from the crime of this Magicall Idolatry, which were ſo much the more horrid and abominable, practiſ'd by them, by how much they are principally thoſe who ſhould oppoſe it, and cleanſe mens minds thereof, as well by the example of their good lives, as by the zeal and fervencie of their learned inſtructions.

We are then to conſider, that the Authour of the Book entituled Ars notoria, publiſh'd by Giles Bourdin, layes this foundation for the reputation thereof, that the holy Ghoſt had dictated it to ^[531] St. Hierom, which we muſt allow upon another aſſurance of his, that he tranſlated the hiſtory of Judith in one night. To which adde, that Johannes ^[532] Picus affirms, he had ſeen a book of Enchantments, which diverſe weak judgements hold was interpreted by the ſame St. Hierom, though with as little reaſon, as Trithemius affirms, as ſome attribute certain conjurations of the four principall Devils to St. Cyprian Biſhop of Carthage. This conſideration premiſ'd, I doubt not, but the evident falſhood of theſe calumnies, will prove a certain light to the judgement we ſhould paſſe on thoſe books of Necromanticall Images, the Metallick Art, the Secrets of Alchymy, and that De eſſentiis eſſentiarum, divulg'd and vented daily under the name of St. Thomas Aquinas, juſtly ſirnam'd by ^[533] Picus, Splendor Theologiae, by Eraſmus, Vir non ſui ſaeculi, by ^[534] Vives Scriptor de ſchola omnium ſaniſſimus, and by the conſent of all Authours, with that of the Church, The faithfull Interpreter of Ariſtotle and the holy Scripture, The baſe and foundation of Scholaſticall Divinity, and in a word, the Angelicall Doctor. For I would know, what ground there were to imagine, that this great Intelligence, canoniz'd in the year 1322, and whoſe doctrine was approv'd by a Decree of the Univerſity of Paris, in the year 133[•] ▪ and by three Popes, Innocent V, Urban VI, and John XXII, ſhould trouble himſelf with either Magick, or the extravagancies of the Alchymists, who might indeed have brought him over to their party, had they not forgot one thing, which is to daſh out and corrupt, as ſome Hereticks do, that paſſage of his Commentaries, upon the ſecond Book of the Master of Sentences, where he formally ^[535] impugnes the poſſibility of their tranſmutations of Metals. Whence, me thinks, they ſhould take warning not to expoſe themſelves ſo freely to the ſcorn of thoſe who diſtruſt whatever comes from them, & who read theſe ſuppoſititious books out of no other deſigne, than to obſerve their great indiſcretion therein, and the little judgement they have to carry on their ſubtle plots. We may inſtance, not to engage into an infinity of proofs, in their making this great Doctor ſpeak ſo childiſhly in the Book De eſſentiis eſſentiarum, that he might very well be ſaid to have no more acquaintance with his works, than the barbarous Inhabitants of Margajats and Topinamboux in Africk, who ſhould beleeve that ſuch low and reptile conceptions could fall from a mind ſo high and ſublime; or that he ever dreamt of what they make him ſay in the ſame Treatiſe of an ^[536] Aſtrologicall Book, which Abel, ſon of Adam, lodg'd within a ſtone, found after the Deluge by Hermes, who took the book out of it, wherein was taught the Art of making Images under certain Planets and Conſtellations. Beſides the ſtory concerning himſelf, that being diſturb'd in his ſtudies, by the great noiſe of Horſes paſſing by his door every day at watering time, he made the image of a Horſe, according to the rules of the ſaid Book, which being put in the ſtreet two or three foot under ground, the Grooms were thenceforward forc'd to find out another way, as being not able to make a Horſe paſſe that way,

Spectatum admiſſi riſum teneatis amici?

For I think a man muſt be more Agelastus than ever Craſſus was, if he can refrain laughing at this pretty relation, ſince that, not to ſay any thing of the abſurdity of its circumſtances, there could not poſſibly be found out another more contrary ^[537] to the Doctrine of St. Thomas, who in all his works, and particularly in his Sum, in his Quodlibet Questions, and in his Treatiſe of Secret Vertues and Properties, denies, that theſe images can receive any vertue from the Stars and Conſtellations under which they were made. This certainly were enough to ſhew the impertinence and abſurdity; it is, to charge this great perſon with contributing ought to the compoſition of theſe books, though we ſhould not preſſe, that Trithemius in his Catalogue of Eccleſiaſticall Authours, mentions not any one of them printed with the body of his works, collected into ſeventeen Tomes; nor take any notice, that Johannes Picus laughs at that book of Necromanticall Images, and Franciſcus his nephew, though much a ſervant and favourer of the Alchimiſts, makes it a great queſtion, whether thoſe Books of the Metallick Art, are not to be attributed rather to the Alchymiſts then St. Thomas. To which I may adde, that, as Delrio affirmes, the Commentaries upon the Nativity of one Thomas an Engliſh man, have been publiſh'd under his name becauſe of the nearneſſe there is between theſe two Latine words, Anglicus and Angelicus; ſo it may ſafely be inferr'd, that ſince, according to all the Daemonographers, there have been diverſe other perſons of the ſame name that have writ ſeverall Books in Magick, it were more rationall to imagine that that of the Necromanticall images ſhould be rather father'd on them then on St. Thomas of Aquin, of whom it ſhall be ſaid, in ſpight of all Ignorance, and to the deſpaire of the Authours of theſe calumnities,

—Et molliter oſſa quieſcent

Semper, & in ſummo mens aurea vivet Olympo.

^[538] Had we the Book, which John Dee, Cittizen of London a very great Philoſopher and Mathematitian ſaies he had written in defence of Roger Bacon, where he ſhews that whatever was ſaid of his miraculous operations is rather to be attributed to the knowledg of nature, & the Mathematicks than to any commerce or converſation he ever had with Daemons; I ſhould have as litle to ſay of him as of Apuleius who clear'd himſelf from the like accuſation in two Apologies. But ſince that Book (at leaſt that I know of) never yet came abroad, I muſt imitate the graſſehopper in Aelian, and ſupply the want of this broken ſtring, with what is to be had, ſo to reſcue the reputation of this Engliſh Franciſcan, who was a doctor of Divinity, and the greateſt Chymiſt, Aſtrologer and Mathematician of his time, from being condemn'd and buried among the multitude of Conjurers and Magicians. For, ſo far was he from making one of their number, that a man can no way better juſtify and defend him, then by producing his own declamations againſt Magick, unlawfull Books, Characters and ſpells, as you have them in the three firſt Chapters of an Epiſtle he ^[539] writ of the Powor of Art and Nature. Adde to this that Delrio is content to obſerve only that there were ſome ſuperſtitious propoſitions in his Workes, ſuch as haply was that which Franciſcus ^[540] Picus ſaies he had read in his Book Of the ſix Sciences, where he affirmes that a man may become a Prophet and [•]oretel things to come by the meanes of the Claſſe Almuchefi, compoſ'd according to the rules of Perſpective, provided he made uſe of it under a good conſtellation, and had before hand ^[541] made his body very even, and put it into a good temper by Chymistry. Nor▪ indeed am I at all ſatisfy'd, why Wierus and divers others Daemonographers ſhould ſo readily charge this Philoſopher with the exerciſe of Geotick or prohibited Magick, when he, whom they all ſo much acknowledge, Johannes Picus of Mirandula, maintaines, that he ſtudied only the Naturall. Whereto may be added the teſtimonies of three famous Engliſh Authors, ^[542] Lelandus ^[543] Selden and Bayly; as alſo that of Dr. ^[544] Pits, who laughs at their fooliſh credulity who give any credit to this popular Errour, eſpecially ſince, as Selden affirmes, there's no Engliſh Hiſtorian ever made mention of his Magicall operations or any braſen ^[545] Head, which the populace believe he made. Upon occaſion whereof Majerus obſerves that he is brought in as a great Magician in all Comedies and that the common report is, that he and his Fellow-Frier Thomas Bungey were ſeven years about that Head, meerly to know of it whether there were not ſome meanes to compaſſe England with a wall or Rampart, whereto it gave an anſwer which yet they could not underſtand, for, not expecting to receive it ſo ſoon, they were taken up with ſomething elſe than hearkening to that Oracle.

A very fine relation certainly and ſuitable to the falſe witneſſe from whom we have it, if ever there were any falſe, that is, the multitude, as having alwayes been accounted ſuch by all good Authors, eſpecially ^[546] Seneca and ^[547] Lactantius. The former affirmes, you muſt never appeall to it in any thing of Conſequence, Quaerendum non quod vulgo placet, peſſimo veritatitis interpreti: and the other had reaſon to admoniſh us, that Vulgus indoctum pompis inanibus gaudet animiſque puerilibus ſpectat omnia, oblectatur frivolis, nec ponderare ſecum unamquamque rem potest. This were enough to ſtifle that vulgar ſtory, ſhould I ſay nothing of all the impertinences that accompany it, ſince they ſo evidently diſcover themſelves. I take it therefore to be enough for my purpoſe to note that the ſtructure and compoſition of this head was a thing abſolutely impoſſible for the reaſons I ſhall give for it in the next Chapter, and withall that Roger Bacon never minded the making of it, the whole fable having no other ground then common and popular reports. For it being ordinary old wives talk that Pope Sylveſter, William of Paris, Robert of Lincolne, and Albertus Magnus had made ſuch diſcourſing Statues, it might very well be added that Rober Bacon had in like manner made one, ſince that, being a great Mathematician, as may be ſeen both by the Treatiſes and inſtruments of his invention he ſent to Pope Clement the fourth and his two Books, printed within theſe fifteen years, of Perſpective and Glaſſes, it is not unlikely he did many extraordinary things by the help of that Science; whereof the cauſe being not known to the vulgar, (which was much more rough-hewn, and barbarous than it is now) it could do no leſſe then attribute them to Magick. But for that he hath for compurgators all learned men, and particularly the Jeſuits, who put into their Mathematicall Theſes defended at Pont [•] Mouſſon in the year 1622. on the day of the Cannonization of Ignatius, and Xavier, That it was ^[548] poſſible for a man well verſ'd in Opticks and Catoptricks (ſuch as undoubtedly Bacon was) dato quolibet objecto, quodlibet repreſentare per ſpecula, montem ex atomo, ſuillum aut aſininum caput ex humano, Elephantem à capillo.

What hath been ſaid of Bacon, may be alſo apply'd to Thomas Bungey, who, meerly becauſe he was his Colleague in ſtudies lying under the ſame miſpriſion, muſt be included in the ſame defence. And for this there is ſo much the more reaſon, in that Delrio ſayes not any thing of the Book he ^[549] writ of Naturall Magick but that it containes certain ſuperſtitious propoſitions. Beſides had he been in the leaſt thought guilty of this crime, they would have been more carefull then to make him Provinciall of the Order of St. Francis in England, as Dr. Pits affirms he was; and withall that whatever is ſaid concerning his Magick, proceeds only from his being an excellent Philoſopher and Mathematician.

The like ſolution may ſerve to juſtifie Michael the Scot, who was no Ignorant perſon as thoſe imagine who never ſaw his name but in the books of Daemonographers, a people that would have nothing to ſay of him, were it not to rank him among the Magicians, in imitation haply of the Poet Merlin Coccaius, who took a pleaſure to diſcribe his enchantments, and Dante the Florentine, who ſpeakes thus of him, at the end of the twentieth Canto of his Hell.

Quell' altro, che ne' fianchi é cosi poco,

Michele Schotto fu, che veramente▪

Delle Magiche frode ſeppe il gioco.

—See you that trifling fellow there?

'Twas Michael the Scott, who knew his part▪

In all the roguing cheats of Magick Art.

For, beſides that he is cited as a great divine by the moſt learned of the Carmelites, and Prince of the ^[550] Averroiſts, Johannes Bacco, it is eaſily judg'd, as well by the two Books we have of his, Of Phyſiognomy, and Questions upon the Sphear of Sacroboſco, as by his Hiſtory of Animals and the teſtimony of Pits, that he was one of the moſt excellent Philoſophers, Mathematicians, and Aſtrologers of his time; and upon that account much favour'd by the Emperour Frederic II. to whom he dedicated all his Books, and foretold him that he ſhould die in a caſtle called Fiorenzola, having alſo foreſeen that himſelf ſhould end his dayes in a Church. And indeed it came to paſs, as de Granger in his Commentary upon Dante affirmes, when being on a certain day adoring the body and blood of Jeſus Chriſt, kneeling near the place, where a bell was then tolling, the rope drew down with it a ſtone, which falling on his barehead, killed him in the place, where afterwards he was buried.

This lay'd down, I leave men to judge whether they who calumniate him without any proof, and that rather out of cuſtome then any knowledge ^[551] they had of him, are to be credited rather then the Authority of Pits, a divine and moderne Author, who ſpeaking of him, ſaies expreſly, that though he was look'd on as a Magician by the Vulgar, prudentium tamen et cordatorum hominum longè aliud fuit judicium qui potius perſpicax ejus in ſcrutandis rebus abditis admirabantur ingenium, laudabant industriam, quàm reprehendendam judicabant curioſitatem, inſpiciebantque hominis ſcientiam, non ſuſpicabantur culpam. And for the formall authority of Dante and Coccaius, it cannot conclude any thing to our prejudice, ſince theſe two Poets might well derive ſuch a narration from the vulgar, meerly to ſweeten and embelliſh their Poems, and that Cicero juſtly laughs at thoſe who take the Poets for good ſecurity for any thing they ſay, when there is ſo great a difference between the conditions of a Poem and that of a History, quippe ^[552] cùm in illa ad veritatem referantur omnia, in hoc ad delectationem pleraque.

Since then it is eaſily diſcover'd by what we have already ſaid, that the ordinary judgment falling on learned men is to be charg'd with Magick I conceive few will wonder, if he who was called by ^[553] Scaliger, Monſtrum ſine vitio, and by ^[554] Politian (with the ſuffrages of the publick voice) the Phoenix of all the great Witts, Picus of Mirandula, could not give Hermolaus Barbarus ſo ſlender an account of his expence of Six whole years in the reading of Scholaſticall Authours, but that the luſtre of his great learning muſt needs ſo dazzle thoſe who meaſur'd it with the fewneſſe of his years when he began to break forth, that ſome, as ^[555] Zara, look'd on it as a miracle, and others, in ^[556] Tarquin Gallutius, are ſo injurious to him, as not to believe he could arive to that wiſdome and capacity but by the meanes of Magick. Upon which if I may give my opinion, I conceive I may truly ſay, that thoſe who are ſo much prejudic'd againſt the Learning of this great man, were perſons certainly as ignorant as that Divine, who, as the ſame Picus affirmes in his Apologie, being ask'd what the word Cabala ſignify'd, anſwer'd, it was the name of a wicked man and an abominable Heretick, who had written divers things againſt Jeſus Chriſt, and that all his followers were called Cabalists. For though it may be ſaid, haply more truely of him than any other,

—Primordia tantae

Vix pauci meruere ſenes—

and that his Learning is to be admir'd as well in reſpect of his age as the time he liv'd in, wherein Letters did but as it were bud out of the thorns of Barbariſm; yet is it too great a miſtruſt and limitation of nature and her forces to think ſhe could not raiſe this man to ſuch a ſupreme degree of perfection, as might be a marke for all thoſe that would be like him. Mankind is a large field wherein Nature exerciſes her ſelf ſeverall wayes, ſometimes ſporting her ſelf with an Amphiſtides, who could not tell as far as four, a Therſites, a Meletides or a Cecilian; and ſometimes priding it in an Alexander, a Caeſar, a St. Auguſtine, or a Picus of Mirandula; uſing, according to the opinion of Triſmegiſtus, gold, ſilver, and lead in their Compoſition. It was a ſaying of Neocles in commendation of his Brother Epicurus, that Nature, in his generation, had aſſembled together all the Atomes of prudence into his Mother's Belly. And why may we not, with the ſame flouriſh, affirm that ſhe may have united all the externall cauſes of Aire, climate, Stars, diet, towards the compoſition of a body, ſo to produce a Mind that ſhould be the paragon of others, and as it were the mold by which others might be made. In this was caſt that of Paulus de la Scale, who, in the year 1553. maintained, at Boulougne 1543 Concluſions upon ſeverall ſubjects of all kinds, and that before he was 22. years of age. That of the young man ^[557] mention'd by Cardinall Bembus, who propoſ'd 4500. at Rome. That of Poſtellus who moderated in the Schooles at 13. years of age. That of Geſner and Eraſmus, who were more learned at twenty, then others ordinarily are at fifty. That of Agrippa, who at twenty two interpreted the Pymander of Triſmegiſtus, and the Book De verbo mirifico. That of Maldonat, who was admir'd for his reading of Divinity at twenty ſeven. And laſtly that of Edward du Monim, who may be ſaid to have been made up all of fire and ſpirit, ſince that, ere he was ariv'd to the twenty ſixth year of his age, wherein he was kill'd, he was ſo great a Maſter of the Italian, Spaniſh, Latine, Greek and Hebrew Tongues, as alſo of Philoſophy, Phyſick, Mathematicks and Theology, and had withall ſo fluent a vein of poeſy in all thoſe Languages, that he tranſlated into Latine verſe, and that in leſſe then fifty dayes, Du Bartas's work of the Creation, and ſaw printed before his death, five or ſix large Volumes of his Poetry highly celebrated by the greateſt witts of the laſt age, Fumaeus, du Perron, Goulu, Daurat, Morel, Baif, and du Bartas. Since therefore Pliny tells us, that Naturae rerum vis atque majeſtas in omnibus fide caret, ſi quis modo partes ejus ac non totum animo complectatur, and that we can exemplify in ſo many that came ſo near this Picus of Mirandula, were it not more rationall to admire the extraordinary effects of Nature by judging of the one by the other, then baſely to ſubject it to Spirits and Daemons, eſpecially in things wherein there is not ought beyond the reach of her power and performance?

Laſtly, for the Abbot Trithemius, who is call'd by Thevet in his life, a ſubtle Philoſopher, an ingenious Mathematician, a famous Poet, an accompliſh'd Hiſtorian, a very eloquent Orator, and eminent divine; I find that thoſe who would make him a Magician, may in the firſt place, ground their ſo doing on a little Book of three or four ſheets printed under his name in the year 1612. intituled, Veterum Sophorum Sigilla & imagines Magicae, ſive Sculpturae Lapidum aut Gemmarum ex nomine Tetragrammaton cum ſignatura planetarum, Authoribus Zoroastre, Salomone, Raphaele, Chaele, Hermete, Thelete, ex Joan Trithemii manuſcripto erutae. Another ground may be his own ſpeaking ſo pertinently of Magick, and his giving himſelf the title of Magician in ſome of his Epiſtles. And a third and laſt, his writing the Book of Steganography, a treatiſe ſtuff'd with the names of Devils, and full of invocations, and, as very pernicious, condemn'd chiefly by Charles Boville a learned and eminent Divine, who makes it worſe ^[558] then that of Agrippa or any other Authour, in the Epiſtle he ſent to Germain Ganay Counſellor to the King, and ſince Biſhop of Orleans, four years after he had ſeen and read it in the very ſtudy and Abbey of the ſaid Trithemius. This was Authority enough for ^[559] Wierus, ^[560] Thevet, ^[561] Delrir, ^[562] Godelman and moſt of the Daemonographers to be of the ſame opinion.

But for my part, I am of another, as conceiving that thoſe, who would judge with more truth than paſſion as well of this laſt as the two former proofs, will beware how they blaſt with eternall infamy the memory of any man eſpecially an Eccleſiaſtick, upon ſuch poor grounds as theſe light▪ conjectures, which are abſolutely vaine, falſe, and forg'd. For beſides the reaſons layd down in our 6. Chap. that Pamphlet of making images and Characters upon Stones under certain Conſtellations is a pure impoſture and cheat of Booksellers, who thought fit to print it as newly retriv'd out of Trithemius's ſtudy, whereas, above 120. years before Camillus Lienard made it the third Book of his Mirrour of precious Stones, beſides that it was publiſh'd by Ludovicus Dulcis in a treatiſe on the ſame ſubject, as alſo by Rodulphus Goclinus in above four or five ſeverall impreſſions ^[563] of his Book De Unguento Armario; ſo true is that axiome of Aristotle, that, Ad pauca reſpicientes de facili enuntiant. But be it ſuppoſ'd that that little treatiſe had been tranſcrib'd out of Trithemius's, who would thence inferre that a Book of ſuperſtitious Aſtrologie were a ſufficient teſtimony to condemne thoſe of Magick who have it in their poſſeſſion, eſpecially ſince there cannot the leaſt indicium be drawn from five or ſix Epiſtles printed at the end of Trithemius's Polygraphy, to confirme that opinion to his prejudice, nay they rather juſtifie him, as may appear by the reading thereof and by ^[564] Gerard Dorne and ^[565] James Gohory, who ſhew from their enigmaticall ſenſe that they cannot be interpreted of any thing but Chymiſtry. So that it may be truely ſaid that all the ſuſpicion there is of his being a Magician, as he himſelf confeſſeth, proceeds only from the publication of a Letter he ſe[•]t to a Carmelite of Gaunt named Arnoldus Bostius, wherein he ſpecifi'd many miraculous and extraordinary effects, whereof yet he diſcover'd the wayes of performance in his treatiſe of Steganographie. For the judgment thereof of Charles Boville being publiſh'd about the ſame time, people were preſently perſwaded that ſuch things could not be taught in any but a Magick Book, and that Trithemius muſt needs be excellently well verſ'd in Conjuring and Invocations.

Now the firſt that oppoſ'd this calumny, after he, who was moſt concern'd in it, had clear'd himſelf, as well by the key to that book, and diverſe paſſages of his Works, was ^[566] James Gohory, who writt a ſhort vindication of this Steganography, againſt the calumnies of Wierus Boville and Cardan. In which deſigne he was ſeconded by ^[567] Vigenere, ^[568] Boiſſardus and ^[569] Duretus, who have ſhewn that Trithemius had no other deſigne in that book then to diſcover a new, and much ſurer way then that of his Polygraphie, to write and communicate freely one to another whatever were more ſecret, by the meanes of an invention which could never be ſuſpected to have any other then the right ſenſe, nor diſ-cypher'd by any but him that had the key of it. This is further confirm'd by one Sigiſmond an Abbot of the order of St. Benedict, who writt a Book, called, Trithemius ſui ipſius vindex; and by the divine Adam Tamerus, in an Oration printed by him on that ſubject at Ingolstadt. But more remarkably then any, and ſo as to ſilence all difficulty, is it done by Gustavus Selenus who hath lately given us an explication of this Steganography in the third book of nine, that he hath publiſh'd concerning Cryptographie. For he firſt ſhews why Trithemius would make it ſo difficult; why he would make uſe of that maske of ſpirits and invocations; and then he explaines them and gives ſuch overtures, as whence we may eaſily judge how far they diſparage their own judgment, who with ſo little conſideration blame things they underſtand not, and withall, that ordinary ſaying is true▪ that the moſt learned are not alwayes the moſt diſcreet.

CHAP. XVIII.

Of Robert of Lincolne, and Albertus Magnus.

IF it be true that the Authority of a many makes errour the leſſe cenſurable, and that the number of thoſe that erre with us makes our faults ſeem the more excuſable, gives our opinions ſome ground, and hides the defects of our perſwaſion; I doubt not but thoſe may eaſily make ſuch an excuſe their ſanctuary, who ſeem to write out of no other deſign than to revive, in their workes, all thoſe calumnies which have been hitherto maintain'd by vulgar ignorance to the prejudice of the happy memory of Albertus Magnus, ſince that according to the Satyriſt,

—Faciu[•]t hi plura, ſed illos

Defendit numerus, junctaeque umbone phalanges.

But if the number of theſe Authors were not yet leſs conſiderable than the prooſs they bring, I ſhould ingenuouſly confeſs, that it were in me no leſſe temerity to take a courſe contrary to them, than it was anciently in Travellers not to caſt a ſtone at thoſe Pillars and Mercuries in the highwaies, to give others notice of them. And ſince it is not always, according to the ſaying of Pythagoras▪ the ſureſt way to follow the moſt beaten track, & that the moſt common opinions are ordinarily the moſt falſe, as being ſuch as are rather applauded than examined; I ſhall ſtand upon the ſame liberty, which I have taken from the firſt Chapter of this Apology, to paſſe from the vindication of Religious men to that of Biſhops, and ſhew, that if ever great Learning and the ignorance of a barbarous age prejudic'd any man, Robert Great-head, Biſhop of Lincolne, or, as others, of Lancaſter; and Albertus Magnus Biſhop of Ratisbonne have juſt cauſe to complain.

As to the firſt, if we only except certain Demonographers, ^[570] who, upon the account of a Brazen Head that ſpoke, which John Gower an Engliſh Poet, ſaid he had endeavoured to make, to ſerve him inſtead of an Oracle, rank him among the ^[571] Magicians; all Authors agree with Pits, that he was one of the moſt learned men of his time, a ſubtile Philoſopher, an excellent Divine, a man equally acquainted with the ſeven liberal Sciences, and the Latine, Greek, and Hebrew Tongues, one that writ a great number of Books, whereof there are ſome remaining in Philoſophy. Beſides all which, he was of [•]o holy and exemplary a life, that (not to prove it by the Fable, ſo well ^[572] refuted by Delrio, concerning his death, and that of Pope Innocent fourth) Matthew Paris writes in his Chronicles, that he was in ſo much reputation among the Engliſh, that they called him, the holy Prelate, the King's faithful Counſellour, the Reformer of the Monks, the Director of Prieſts, the Inſtructor of the Clergy, the Nurſing-father of Schollars and Students, the Preacher of the People, and the Scourge of Vices.

^[573] And for Albertus, I am very much oblig'd to Paulus Jovius, that he had not honour'd him with his Elogy, but upon the Title of Great, which was ^[574] given him even while he liv'd by the univerſal conſent of all Schools. For if we conſider with Botero, on what perſons, and upon what occaſions that title hath been beſtow'd, I believe there will be ſome miracle in it, to ſee a ſimple Fryar of the Order of St. Dominick have an Epithet given him, not ſo ordinary with Popes, Emperours, and Soveraign Princes, had not his works diſcover'd his deſert to be ſo great, and his Learning ſo extraordinary, that ſuch a recompence might ſeem inconſiderable, if Triſmegiſtus had not ſo reſervd the title of thrice great to himſelf, that it hath not been ſince communicated to any. Nor ſhall I ^[575] need to ſay with Trithemius, that Non ſurrexit poſt eum vir ſimilis ei qui in omnibus literis, ſcientiis et rebus tam doctus, eruditus, et expertus fuerit. Nor yet with Thevet, that he was ſo curious in the diſquiſition ^[576] of the Secrets of Nature, that it might be ſaid, one part of his ſoul was tranſported into the Heavens, another into the aire, the third under the earth, and a fourth upon the waters, and that he had by ſome extraordinary courſe, ſo united and contracted together his whole ſoul, that nothing that this world comprehends could eſcape it. For all thoſe Elogies, added to what is commonly ſaid of him,

Inclytus Albertus doctiſſimus atque diſertus,

Quadrivium docuit, ac totum ſcibile ſcivit,

cannot ſo well help us to judge of his Learning as the reading of his own works which would make almoſt as many volums as thoſe of his Diſciple Aquinas, if they were as well reprinted. It is not therefore to be admir'd, if ſo many things may be ſaid of him upon the account of his knowledge, which being ſo great and extraordinary, ſome may very well be extreamly doubtful, others, abſolutely falſe and fictious. To confirm this we have John Matthew de Luna, who living ^[577] about 120 years ſince, held, though contrary to the opinion of Polydor Virgil, Magius, Mayerus, Pancirollus, Florence, Rivault, Zezoldus, and all Authors that writ of the invention of Fire-workes, that Albertus Magnus firſt found out the uſe of Canon, Arquebuſe and Piſtol; For I could never find in theſe Authors any thing that came near this opinion ſave that ſuch inventions were put in practiſe in his time, and that by a Germane Monk call'd Berthold Schwartz, or by a certain Chymiſt, who, as Cornazanus, an Author ancient enough, conceives, liv'd in the City of Cullen, where it is certain that Albertus Magnus liv'd, ever after he had taken the habit of a Dominican.

And this makes me not a litle wonder that the Alchymiſts ſhould never bethink them of holding this opinion, ſince they might have done it with much more reaſon, than attribute to him the knowledge of the Philoſophers ſtone, as hath lately done their great favourer and a better Majerus, who is not aſham'd, in his Symbols upon the golden table of the 12 Nations, to affirm, that St. Dominick had it firſt, and that thoſe to whom he had left it, communicated it to Albertus Magnus, who by the advantages he made of it, diſcharg'd in leſſe then three years, all the debts of his Biſhoprick of Ratisbonne, and afterwards taught it St. Thomas Aquinas, while he was his diſciple. To give this the greater Authority, he highly celebrates three Books of Chymiſtry, which he attributes to him, whereof ſince there is not any of them either among the collection of his works, or ſpecified in the Catalogue made of them by Trithemius, we are only to take notice of that ^[578] which Fran. Picus ſaies he writ, Of Quinteſſence, to ſhew by the forgery of that, what account ſhould be made of the others, it being certain that Albertus Magnus never contributed a thought towards it. This may be prov'd, not only from his laughing at the Alchymiſts and their pretended Tranſmutations in his third Book of ^[579] Minerals, as ^[580] Velcurion, and ^[581] Guybert endeavour to ſhew, ſince he there maintains a quite contrary opinion; but becauſe the Author of that Book calls himſelf therein, a Friar of the Order of St. Francis, and ſaies he writ it in priſon. Theſe two circumſtances, which muſt infallibly relate to John de Rupeſciſsâ, eaſily evince, that ſome Impoſtor made it his buſineſſe to play the Plagiary, and ſteal it out of a Book he had written on that ſubject, to divulge and gain it reputation under the name of Albertus Magnus, according to the ordinary cheat of all Alchymiſts, who make this their common ſleight to inveigle people into a belief of their promiſes, and by that means,

Noctem peccatis, et fraudibus addere nubem.

To come then to what is moſt eſſential in this Chapter, and to what lies in our power to deliver this eminent perſon out of the Quagmire of the Magicians, as we have already drawn him out of that of the Alchymiſts. This were ſoon done if we would but appeal to the judgement of Anthony de Sienes, and Father Juſtinian, who writ his Life, or to take witneſſes diſengag'd from all intereſt or paſſion, ^[582] Trithemius, and ^[583] J. Picus of Mirandula, who abſolutely clear him from this calumny. Adding withal, that when it is ſaid that Albertus Magnus was addicted to Magick, it muſt be underſtood of the Natural, for fear leſt the falſe opinion of the contrary, might give many occaſion to imagine that it were unlawful for us to do what he hath done.

But ſince all theſe Authorities conclude nothing if ſome anſwer be not made to the proofs ordinarily produc'd to blaſt his innocence (not to mention that even from his youth, he had ſuch a particular devotion to the B. Virgin, that ſhe wrought ſuch an alteration in his mind, that of an unrefin'd and unpoliſh'd one, ſhe made it capable of comprehending all things) we are to ^[584] conſider, that theſe proofs have no other ground than that of two Books falſly publiſh'd under his name, and that Androides, which hath given occaſion to thouſands of Fables and impertinencies frequent in Authors.

For the two Books Franciſcus ^[585] Picus, and ^[586] Delrio agree in this, that it were an extraordinary injury to think this holy perſon Author of that de Mirabilibus, and in theſe words clear him of it, Alberto Magno tributus Liber de Mirabilibus, vanitate et ſuperstitione repertus est, ſed magno Doctori partus ſuppoſititius. To which F. Picus addes, that it is falſly attributed to him, as many others were, as, among the reſt, that de ſecretis Mulierum, ſince Albertus is not ſo much as nam'd at the beginning of it, as he who hath writ a Comment upon it would perſwade us; beſides that it is eaſily perceav'd, that the Author of it, who ever he was, liv'd ſome time after him, becauſe he often cites his Authority. So that all the quarrel now lies againſt that intituled, the Mirrour of Astrology, where is treated of the approved and forbidden Authors that have written of that Art. This is condemn'd by Gerſon and Agrippa as extreamly ſuperſtitious, and by F. Picus and divers others, becauſe the Author of it maintains a very erroneous opinion in favour of Magical Books, which, with ſubmiſſion to better advice, he holds, ſhould be carefully preſerv'd, becauſe the time then drew near, that, for certain reaſons, not ſpecify'd, men would have occaſion to read and make uſe of them.

To clear Albertus from all ſuſpicion of Magick upon the account of this Book, I can produce no better teſtimony than that of J. Picus, a perſon more fit to judge of this difficulty than any other, who in his firſt Book againſt Aſtrologers maintains that the Treatiſe De Libris licitis et illicitis, was infallibly writ by R. Bacon, whoſe cuſtome it was to cite and produce ſuch Authors in all his Books, which cannot be obſerv'd in Albertus Magnus. Beſides the ſaid R. Bacon was ſo ſtrangely addicted to judicial Aſtrology, that Henry d'Aſſia, William of Paris, and Nicholas Oreſmus, all very eminent Doctors, thought themſelves oblig'd to inveigh againſt his works, and all the vanities of Aſtrologers. But be it imagin'd this Book was writ by Albertus, I ſee not why his affirming that Magical Books ſhould be preſerv'd by Inquiſitors, and perſons of like Authority ſhould make ſo much noiſe, ſince that about 100 years ſince, it was the advice of Revelin not to burn thoſe of the Jewes. ^[587] Trithemins is of the ſame opinion, & ^[588] Vaſquez ſaies peremptorily, that Magical Books are neceſſary, and Magicians permitted by God for the greater conviction of Libertines and Athieſts, who by this means might be drawn to acknowledge there are other ſubſtances than what we judge of by the finger and the eye: Quo admiſſo, ſaies he, facilius in eam ſententiam adducantur ut numen aliquod fateantur▪ et magis ab Atheiſmo deterreantur, quo avidiùs Magicis artibus ſtudent, quod niſi inter Haereticos Deus permiſiſſet, poenè omnes in Atheiſmo verſarentur. To which concurs alſo Lactantius, when he ſaies, that Democritus, Epicurus, ct Dicaearchus would not have ſo confidently deny'd the immortality of the Soul, Mago aliquo praeſente, qui ſciret certis carminibus cieri ab inferis animas, et adeſſe, et praebere ſe humanis oculis videndas, et loqui et futur[•] pr[•]dicere.

If after all this Albertus be charg'd with any thing of Magick, it muſt be on ſome other pretence then that of theſe two books; ſ[•]nce it is clear from what hath been ſaid, that he never had any hand in them. All therefore we have now to do, is to refute their errour who are perſwaded that braſen heads made under certain Conſtellations may give anſwers, and be as it were guides and Counſellors, upon all occaſions, to thoſe that had them in their poſſeſſion. Among theſe is one ^[589] Ye[•]es, who affirms that Henry de Villeine made ſuch a one at Madrid, broken to pieces afterward by the order of John 2. King of Caſtile. The ſame thing is affirm'd by ^[590] Bartholomew Sibillus, and the Author of the Image of the world, of Virgil; by ^[591] William of Malmsbury, of Sylveſter; by ^[592] John Gower, of Robert of Lincoln; by the common people of England▪ of Roger Bacon; and by ^[593] Toſtatus Biſhop of Avilla ^[594] George of Venice, ^[595] Delrio, Sibillus, ^[596] Ragu[•]eus, ^[597] Delancre and others, too many to mention, of Albertus Magnus; who, as the moſt expert, had made an entire man of the ſame metal, and had ſpent 30 years without any interruption in forming him under ſeveral Aſpects and Conſtellations. For example; he made the eyes, according to the ſaid Toſtatus, in his Commentaries upon Exodus, when the Sun was in a Sign of the Zodiack correſpondent to that part, caſting them out of diverſe Metals mixt together, and mark'd with the Characters of the ſame Signs and Planets, and their ſeveral and neceſſary Aſpects. The ſame method he obſerv'd in the Head, Neck, Shoulders, Thighs and Leggs, all which were faſhioned at ſeveral times, and being put and faſtened together in the form of a Man, had the faculty to reveale to the ſaid Albertus the ſolutions of all his principal difficulties. To which they add (that nothing be loſt of the ſtory of the Statue) that it was batter'd to pieces by St. Thomas, meerely becauſe he could not endure its exceſſe of prating.

But to give a more rational account of this Androides of Albertus, as alſo of all theſe miraculous heads, I conceive the original of this Fable may well be deduc'd from the Teraph of the Hebrews, by which as Mr. ^[598] Selden affirms, many are of opinion, that we muſt underſtand what is ſaid in ^[599] Geneſis concerning Laba[•] 's Gods, and in the firſt book of ^[600] Kings concerning the Image which Michol put into the bed in David's place. For R. Eleazar holds that it was made of the head of a male child, the firſt born, and that dead-born, under whoſe tongue they applyed a Lamen of Gold, whereon were engrav'd the Characters and Inſcriptions of certain Planets, which the Jews ſuperſtitiouſly wandred up and down with, inſtead of the Urim and Thummim, or the Ephod of the high Prieſt. And that this Original is true and well deduc'd, there is a manifeſt ^[601] indicium, in that Henry d' Aſſia and Bartholomaeus Sibillus affirm, that the Androides of Albertus, and the Head made by Virgil, were compos'd of fleſh and bone, yet not by Nature but by Art. But this being judged impoſſible by modern Authors, and the vertue of Images, Annulets, and Planetary Sigills being in great reputation, men have thought ever ſince (taking their opinion from Triſmegiſtus affirming in his Aſclepion, that, of the Gods, ſome were made by the Soveraign God, and others by men, who, by ſome Art, had ^[602] the power to unite the inviſible Spirits to things viſible and corporeal, as he is explain'd at large by by St. Auguſtine) that ſuch Figures were made of Copper or ſome other Mettal, whereon men had wrought under ſome favourable Aſpects of Heaven and the Planets. Which opinion, ſince it is the more common, it is fit we earneſtly buckle with, and ſhew that it was not without reaſon refuted by St. Thomas, William of Paris & Niphus, as falſe, abſurd, and erronious. To prove this the more eaſily we are to preſuppoſe, that ſpeech is the action of ſome thing that is living, and is not perform'd but by the voice which is defin'd by St. Thomas, after Ariſtotle, Sonus ab ore animalis prolatus. For it muſt needs be granted, that, if theſe Heads ſpoke, it was either becauſe they were living and animate, or that the Daemons ſpake in them. If the former, the Soul whereby they did it, muſt be vegetative, ſenſitive, or rational. It could not be vegetative, becauſe, according to the faculties of the ſaid Soul; ſuch bodies ſhould be ranked among Plants, be nouriſh'd, increaſe and produce their like. It could not be ſenſitive, for that, beſides the faculties of the vegetative Soul, it preſuppoſes two more, which are particular to it, and never granted to thoſe Statues. Much leſſe then can it be rational, unleſſe we grant withal, that they could apprehend the Species of things, diſcourſe, remember them, and, in a word, be like us.

Moreover, if theſe Heads and Statues were really ſuch, that is, living and animate, it was either by an accidental form or a ſubſtantiall; not the firſt, at leaſt according to the opinion of all Philoſophers, who will never grant, that to diſcourſe, to ſpeak, to teach, to foreſee what is to come; and ſuch effects can depend on an accident, and not on a Subſtance. The latter is leſſe poſſible, becauſe ſuch Statues could not receive that ſubſtantial form till they had been deveſted of what they had before; which there is no colour to imagine they ſhould have done by a ſimple tranſmutation of figure, ſince the form of the copper and of their matter was ſtill ſuch as it was wont to be. Further, I would gladly know, where was their motion, the firſt indicium of life; where their ſenſes, the ſluces of all knowledge; and, in a word, (not to ravel our ſelves into thouſands of difficulties, ariſing from the original and operation of that Soul) where were the Parts and Organs neceſſary for their diſcourſe and ratiocination.

Nor does it availe any thing, to grant that the Daemons have ſpoken in them; for it muſt be done either as the Soul does in our Body, by the aſſiſtance of its Organs, or as one ſhould do that anſwers in a Cheſt, or ſome broken pot. The former way is impoſſible ſuch Statues being not furniſh'd with Muſcles, Lungs, an Epiglottis, and what is requiſite to a perfect articulation of the Voice. The latter is as ridiculous, for, if it be true, why ſhould thoſe men take ſuch pains to make a Man rather than a Trumpet, or a Head rather than a Bottle, ſince the Devil might as well anſwer by the one as the other, and that if he hath heretofore uttered his Oracles in Statues, it was to engage men to adore them, to the contempt of their Creator, whereas there is not the leaſt mention of any Idolatry, in the Stories of this Androides, and theſe fine Heads. So that we may well conclude with the Royal Prophet, The Idols of the Gentiles are Silver and Gold, they have mouths and ſpeak not, nor is there any breath in their noſtrils; all we have to do (the reaſons of ^[603] Triſmegiſtus being fully refuted by Niphus) being to ſatisfy the Authority of Toſtatus, one of the moſt ancient and moſt authentick Patrons of Albertus's Androides, that ſo we may at length give a final ſentence againſt the vanity of all theſe Fables and pernicious falſities.

I muſt indeed confeſſe, that Tostatus was the moſt learned, nay the miracle, if I may ſo expreſſe my ſelf, of the learned men of his age; ſince that, being Counſellour to the King, great Referendary of Spain, and Profeſſour, in Salamanca, of Philoſophy, Divinity, Civil and Canon Law, and all at the ſame time, he hath nevertheleſſe written ſuch large and laborious Commentaries, that were we not certain he dy'd at forty, they were enough to perſwade us he had liv'd an entire age. But when I find him affirming therein many things juſtly accounted fabulous by the World, as for inſtance, what is ſaid concerning the birth of the Prophet Merlin, the Magick of Virgil, a braſen head that diſcover'd the Jewes in Spain, a certain earth in Hebron that was good to eat, the Androides of Albertus Magnus, and abundance of the like, I cannot but look on them as ſo many black patches of his humanity; nay, if we appeal to Scaliger, we muſt ingenuouſly acknowledge, ^[604] that hoc oſtentationis vitium fuit magnis viris, ut globatim congererent omnia, non ut nihil reliquiſſe▪ ſed ut nihil neſciviſſe viderentur: To re-inforce which Argument, if any ſhall with Aristotle inſiſt, ^[605] that common report cannot be abſolutely falſe, and conſequently, that ſo many Authors would not have ſpoken of the Androides of Albertus, if ſomething had not been in the wind, I ſhall finally anſwer, That my deſign is only to ſhew that he could not by the help of ſuperſtitious Magick, make a Statue that ſhould give him anſwers in an intelligible and articulate voice, upon all the doubts and difficulties he propos'd thereto, as well of things preſent as to come; and not abſolutely to deny that he might compoſe ſome Head or Statue of man, like that of Memnon, from which proceeded a ſmall ſound, and pleaſant noiſe, when the riſing Sun came, by his heat, to rarify and force out, by certain ſmall Conduits, the aire which in the cold of the night was condens'd within it. Or haply they might be like thoſe Statues of Boetius, whereof Caſſiodorus ^[606] ſpeaking ſaid, Metalla mugiunt, Diomedis in are grues buccinant, aeneus anguis inſibilat, aves ſimulatae fritinniunt, et quae propriam vocem neſciunt, ab aere dulcedinem probantur emittere cantilenae; for ſuch I doubt not but may be made by the help of that part of Natural Magick which depends on the Mathematicks. It were therefore much more rational thus to interpret whatever hath been ſaid of this Androides, than to proſtitute the reputation of Albertus Magnus, Robert of Lincoln, and ſo many other perſons of conſiderable quality to the judgment of certain Authors, who are ſo eaſily carryed away with the ſlender aſſurance of a common opinion,

Ovid. Met. 6.
—Quae veris addere falſa

Gaudet, et è minimo ſua per mendacia creſcit.

CHAP. XIX.

Of the Popes, Sylvester II. and Gregory VII.

AS it was not lawful for every one in the old Teſtament to lend a ſhoulder to uphold the Ark of the Covenant, even though it were ready to fall, ſo there are a many that think it were not convenient, that all kinds of Writers undertook the defence of him whom Christ Jeſus hath left as Head and Vicegerent of his militant Church. The reaſon is, that being perſecuted by the enemy of mankind, who hath taken into his ſervice all the modern Hereticks, the better to oppoſe him, and ſo to ſtrike at the foundation of ſpiritual Monarchy, He ſhould employ no other than ſuch Chriſtian and Catholick Hercules's, as were Bellarmine, Baronius, and the ornament of Gaſcony Florimundus Remundus, to whom it properly belongs to vindicate the injuries done to the Succeſſors of St. Peter, to purge their Annals of errours, and to heal their blindneſſe who are imprudently carryed away with the forgeries & calumnies of Hereticks. And yet ſince, as Tertullian ſaies, every one may be a Soldier in what concerns the defence of Religion; and that God was pleas'd to make uſe of the ſling of a poor Shepherd to abate the pride of the Philiſtins, we may preſume (yet without ſearching into the ſecrets of his will to find out the cauſe of Uzzah's death, for endeavouring to uphold the Arke) that, as he permits the Devil to ſet upon the Church by the means of the moſt inconſiderable Heretick, ſo is he not diſpleas'd that any one ſhould defend her. And this I think it my duty to do, as to what concerns the crime of Magick, wherewith the ſimplicity of ſome ancient Authors and the malice of modern Hereticks, would blaſt the reputation of thoſe who have ſat at the helm thereof in the quality of Popes. Not that I am ſo unadviſed as to think their innocence ſtands in any need of my pen, ſince it is ſtrong enough to reſcue it ſelf, with the aſſiſtance of the holy Spirit who never forſakes it, from ſuch an accuſation, and to overcome all the tempeſtuous hurricans of ſuch calumnies,

Illiſos fluct us rupes ut vaſt a retundit,

Et varias ſecum latrantes diſſipat undas

Mole ſuâ.—

But being both by the relation of a Catholick, & the title of this Apology oblig'd to this duty, I might well be laugh'd at, if preſuming to vindicate all the eminent perſons, I ſhould forget my ſelf ſo far, as not to ſay ſome thing of thoſe, who, by reaſon of their dignity, are the moſt highly conſiderable. And this the rather, ſince I withal pretend to draw from this Chapter the ſtrongeſt Argument that may be, to juſtifie all the others mentioned in this Book, whom no man will hereafter wonder to find charg'd with Magick, when even thoſe who command us as Livetenants of God, and whom we reſpect as the high Prieſts & Prelates of our Religion could not avoid that reproach. Yet as God never permits errour ſo to inſinuate into any thing of importance, but there is light enough to diſcover it, if a man will look but narrowly thereto; ſo in this caſe, ſo many juſtifying circumſtances offer themſelves, and there are ſo many proofs to undermine the very ground-work of theſe accuſations that men muſt needs be either ſtrangely paſſionate or ignorant, if, having ever ſo little reaſon or judgment they do not perceive, that all thoſe things which concern the Magick of the Popes, are nothing but Dreames, Caſtles in the Aire, Chimaera's & Fables.

For to begin with thoſe that are leſſe ſuſpected, and by conſequence may the moſt eaſily be vindicated, I conceive the firſt charg'd though but ſlightly, with this crime, was Leo the III. to whom is attributed a little Book called, Enchiridion Leonis Papae, contra omnia mundi pericula, containing abundance of Croſſes, a many names of God, and the Cabala, abundance of myſticall and unintelligible words. Whence it haply comes, that ^[607] Le Loyer and ^[608] Delrio do, with reaſon, laugh at thoſe who think that Book was ſent by this Pope to the Emperour Charlemagne, ſince it containes only a certaine Theurgy very flat and ill manag'd which yet ſome have ſince endeavour'd to diſguiſe in Italy under the name of St. Ubald Biſhop and Confeſſour. But as for that ſending, theres no more likelihood in it then in what is related by Emanuel De Moura, who ſayes, ^[609] that there being a certain Scholler in the Citty of Conimbra, who heal'd wounds by vertue of certaine words and prayers, the common report was, that they had been firſt ſent by Pope Sixtus V. to John of Auſtria, then in war againſt the Turk, to be uſ'd in order to the curing of his wounded men. For as the ſaid de Moura affirms, the Scholler gave him another reaſon of the vertue of thoſe prayers, ſuch as had no coherence with that of the Common opinion.

Next to Leo III. may be put that Monſter, or rather Chimera, John the eighth, otherwiſe called Pope Joan, a very knowing perſon and one that had writt a Book in Magick, as Balaeus and the Centuriators affirme, if that Achilles of the holy ſee, and the Patrone of Papall honour, Florimundus Remnndus, had not undeceived us as to that fable, diſcovering the popular Errour which had kept it in vogue, and ſnatching it out of the Trophey which Hereticks had raiſ'd thereby againſt the Popes, ſo to turn it to their own ſhame and confuſion, there being not now any among them ſo unadviſed as to preſume to revive it in his books, unleſſe he expects to be immediately declar'd a malicious perſon in the ſuperlative degree, or one very eminent for his ignorance and want of Judgment. Having not therefore any thing to adde to what that learned Counſellour of the City of Bourdeaux hath ſaid of him, I ſhall paſſe to Martin II. whom I ſhall not acknowledg juſtly charg'd with magick though Platinus ſaid of him, that malis artibus Pontificatum adeptus eſt. For we are to conſider it meerly as a reproach of his enemies, and that that manner of expreſſion, frequent in Platinus, even in the lives of divers other Popes who were not Magicians, muſt be underſtood of the favour, violence, corruption, Simony, and a many other unjuſtifiable wayes, whereby ſuch as endeavour the ſatisfaction of their ambition more than the tranquillity of their Conſcience and the well fare of the univerſall Church, may happly attain, though not without abundance of trouble, that ſupreme dignity of Eccleſiaſticall Monarchy.

^[610] To that Catalogue, if we credit Wierus, we muſt adde all thoſe incluſively who had the Chaire from Sylvester II. to Gregory VII. that is about fifteene or ſixteene. But ſince Benno, a ſchiſmaticall Cardinall, who made a Catalogue of the Popes that we[•]e Magicians, reckons but four or five, that really were ſuch, viz. Sylveſter II. Benedict IX. John XX. and XXII. and Gregory VII. three whereof had never been ſuſpected but by occaſion of the other two, I think I need do no more then ſhew what this Benno was, and endeavour the particular vindication of Sylvester and Gregory ſo to clear them all together of that calumny, and diſcover how little reaſon men have had to be corrupted ſo long by the Leaven of this erroneous opinion. For when I reflect on the firſt and moſt ancient Authors from whom this kind of injurie hath been deriv'd againſt the ſucceſſors of St. Peter, I cannot but ſay with Apuleius, perinjurium est ei fidem in pejoribus habere, cui in melioribus non haberes, and conſequently, fall into a double admiration; Firſt, at the ſimplicity of a many of our Demonographers and moderne Hiſtorians, who fill their Books with ſuch triviall ſtories and fables taken out of thoſe Authours without any diſcretion. Secondly, at the inveterate malice of Hereticks who, to ſatisfie the envy and hatred they bare the holy See, (whoſe ruine they have as much conſpir'd as ever Hannibal did that of Rome) make it ſtill their buſineſſe to ſeek out thoſe calumnies and reproaches which good Authours cannot furniſh them with, in the ſepulchers and common ſhores of Schiſmaticks, and, as the Civilian Michael Riccius hath ^[611] well obſerv'd, Antiquos & manuſcriptos libros in latebroſis lucis laborioſ eevolvunt et ex foetido pulvere autores quoſvis excitant, quos licentioſé in ipſos Pontifices ſcripſiſſe deprehendunt. Whether this be ſo, I appeal to that Collection which Matthias Flaccius Illyricus hath made in that great Volume entituled, Catalogus teſtium veritatis, which I cannot more fitly compare to any thing then to that Poneropolis of Philip of Macedon. For as that City was inhabited only by Exiles, Rogues, Cutpurſes, pillory'd perſons, and all the dregges and offalls of the Country; So may it be truely ſaid, that (the depraved paſſages out of the Fathers and Councels only excepted) all that ſo vaſt Catalogue is only a heap of their ſhreds and fragments who had before either kick'd againſt the Church; or been cutt off from it as rotten and gangren'd Members, ſuch as, among a million of others, was the pretended Cardinall Benno, who made it his buſines to give us the repreſentation of a bad Pope in Gregory VII. as Xenophon did that of a Vertuous and accompliſh'd Prince under the perſon of Cyrus. For I can hardly believe that a man could ſay ſuch ſtrange things of the wickedeſt perſon in the world, as what this Author ſaies of ſuch a Pope, and upon his account of Sylveſter II. John XX. XXI. and Benedict IX. who, if we may believe him, did by his Magick, force women to run after him through Woods and over Mountaines, and gave infallible predictions of things to come. And yet theſe fables are nothing in compariſon of what he addes concerning the Archbiſh Laurence, who perfectly underſtood the ſinging of Birds, and Gregory VII. who caſt the holy Hoſt into the fire, conſpir'd the Emperours death, poiſon'd ſix Popes, by the help of his friend and Confident Gerard Brazutus, and had ſo well Learn'd Magick of Theophylact and Laurence Sylveſter's diſciples, that he ſcatter'd fire when he ſhook his armes, and ſent out thunder-cracks out of his ſleeve. But this Authour ſpeakes too liberally to be believ'd, and ſince it was his deſigne to traduce the Popes, he ſhould have done it with more modeſty and judgment, and ſo not have given ^[612] Delrio and ^[613] Florimundus Remundus occaſion to Imagine his Book ſuppoſititious and forg'd, at the eruption of Lutheraniſme, or rather that he might have avoided the diſtaſte of the more reſerv'd and conſcientious among thoſe of the Reformation, and particularly ^[614] Vigner, who hath theſe words of him, Cardinall Benno ſpeakes after a ſtrange manner of the Popes of theſe times, as alſo of the meanes whereby they arriv'd to that height, I know not whether he be an Authour that may be credited, or no. Adde to that the Cenſure given of him by ^[615] Papyrius Maſſon, in the Hiſtory he hath written with too much liberty of Conſcience of the Biſhops that have govern'd the Church of Rome; for ſpeaking of Sylveſter and the injury done him by accounting him a Magician, he ſayes, Atque hujus fabulae inventorem ſuſpicor Bennonem presbyterum Cardinalem: is enim odio Hildebrandi multa quoque de praedeceſſoribus ejus fingit, quos ob mathematicas diſciplinas velut Maleficos damnat, et hanc de Sylvestro narrat fabulam. Whence may eaſily be inferr'd that Bibliander ^[616] hath a mind maliciouſly to deceive us, when he affirmes, in his Chronicle, that this Benno was created Cardinall by Hildebrand, with whom he was in great friendſhip, whereas it is evident that that dignity was conferr'd on him by the Anti-Pope Clement III. and that he ever follow'd the party of the Emperour Henry IV. a Schiſmatick and excommunicated perſon. To which may be added, for confirmation, his Letter found at the Councell conven'd by the Cardinalls who ſided with Henry and his Antipope, againſt Urban II. and thoſe whom they call'd favourers and followers of the Hereſies invented by Pope Hildebrand; to diſgrace whom, Ultramus Biſhop of Noremberg and all the Partiſans of the Emperour ſcatter'd abroad abundance of Challenges and Libells, as it is ordinary with Princes to be ever well furniſh'd with ſuch Advocates and defenders of their Cauſes, be they good or bad.

But as this pretended Cardinall Benno, a perſon equally diſcarded both by Proteſtants and Catholicks, ſeems to have done all he did out of a ſet deſigne and purpoſe, to calumniate Gregory VII. ſo muſt it be acknowledg'd, that Platinus, an eminent writer of the lives of Popes, hath too credulouſly embraced what was ſaid before him by Martin de Citeaux and Godefrey of Monmouth, in his Additions upon Sigebert, concerning Pope Sylveſter, to repreſent him to us as a famous Conjurer and Magician. It were much better to ſearch the truth of this ſtory to the bottome, and not to truſt either this Martin, who had been already deceiv'd in the life of Pope Joan, or Godefrey, who entertaines us with the fine Romance of Arthur and his Prophet Merlin. For had he perſu'd his deſigne, with as much integrity as he was oblig'd to have done, thoſe ridiculous fables, ſo frequent in his Writings, would not give us at this day occaſion to think him not well affected towards the Popes, becauſe of Paul II. who deveſted him of all honours and dignities after ^[617] he had put him to the Torture. Or haply he made his advantage of whatever came to his hands taking all for current mony, ſo by thoſe fegaries, to humour the Readers, and ſhew he was not ignorant of what others had ſaid before him, than not that he gave them any credit himſelf.

The ſame judgment may we paſſe upon Martinus Polonus who publiſh'd ſuch another ſtory of Sylvester in the year 1320. for it is clear that he hath tranſlated all he ſayes of him, in his Chronologicall Supputations, out of this Godefrey who liv'd about the year 1150. and one Gervaſe an Orator of the City of Arles and Chancellour to the Emperour Ottho III. but withall the moſt confident forger of Fables and the moſt egregious Lyer that ever took pen in hand. To prove which, there needs no more than the reading of his own Book, De ociis Imperatoris, where all he ſayes is ſo extravagant, and at ſuch a diſtance with reaſon and both ordinary and extraordinary poſſibility, that the Fables of Aeſop, and the ſtories of Amadis are a hundred times more credible. Beſides, not to make any difficulty about the diverſity of Coppies, and the Additions made to this Martinus Polonus, it were more prudence to conclude, that this authority cannot any way prejudice Sylveſter, not only for the foregoing reaſon, but alſo becauſe he tires us with ſuch abundance of fabulous things in his Supputations, that it were no leſſe lightneſſe of perſwaſion than want of judgement to credit any thing he ſayes of Sylveſter. I produce for teſtimony the tales he hath ſtollen out of the Book de Infantia Salvatoris, and thoſe he makes upon the hiſtory of Pilate, of the Greeks, who would ſteal the bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul; of Sylvester's Dragon, which deſtroy'd every day ſix thouſand perſons, and that of another that was of ſuch vaſt bulk that eight yoke of Oxen were not able to draw him to the place where he was to be burnt. To which may be added thoſe of Arthur of Britain, of the Prophet Merlin, of Pope Joan, of the Golden Letters of a hundred pound weight a peice, which Charlemaigne beſtow'd on twenty three Monaſteries he had founded, & abundance of the ſame ſtuffe good fornothing but, with the help of a cradle, to rock little Children aſleep.

And laſtly, for Vincent d' Beauvais, and Antonine de Florence who may have let fall ſomewhat of the Magick of theſe Popes, I ſhall▪ with Melchior ^[618] Canus, and Florimundus Remundus, confidently affirme, that though they were creditable perſons, yet in regard they have not been at the paines to conſider well the places whence they have taken their Stories, nor weigh'd the things they have left behind them, they are of little or no Authority among ſuch as cannot brook it, to ſee the Noble name of History upon the Portalls of theſe monſtrous Edifices built of Materialls ſo confus'd and different, ſo far from being ſolid and well cemented. I have been the more large in anſwering theſe ancient Authors, becauſe, theſe foundations once undermi'd, there's nothing ſo eaſy as to pull down the ſuperſtructure; ſuch as are, the Authorities of Nauclerus, Funccius, Goldast, Gualterus, du Pleſſis, Balaeus, the Centuriators, and a whole Ant-hill of Lutherans▪ and Calviniſts who have with much curioſity, not only tranſcrib'd out of thoſe Ancients, but made on ſmall aditions to theſe plauſible relations. Not that they were ſo ſimple & ſtupid as to take them for true, but becauſe they imagin'd all makes for them that hurts their adverſaries, and thought this kind of battery would prove very effectual, by the delinquency of 2. or 3. Popes, to make a Breach in the veneration due to all the reſt, and to reproach the whole body with the imperfection of ſome one of its members; Est enim, as Sidonius ſaith, haec quaedam vis malis moribus, ut innocentiam multitudinis ^[619] devenuſtent ſcelera paucorum.

To levell, therefore, this Tower of confuſion, which, in ſome of our Hiſtorians & Demonographers, want of judgment; in Hereticks, envy hatred and malice, have engag'd them to build up to the diſhonour of the Monarch of the Church, upon the too ſimple and eaſy credulity of thoſe ancient Authors, we muſt begin with this Gerbert, or Sylveſter II. He, they ſay, was Maſter in Magick to four or five of his ſucceſſors, whereas there is more ground to acknowledge that he was the moſt vertuous perſon, and greateſt Light as to all manner of Sciences, of the age he liv'd in, it being much more eaſy for us to give an account of his learning then the place of his extraction and manner of life, till he arriv'd to the Archbiſhoprick of Rheims. For ſome, according to the common opinion, affirme, that he was firſt a Religious man at Fleury, or St. Bennet's upon the Loire. Others there are that hold the contrary, grounding their opinion upon what he ſaith himſelf in one of his Epiſtles to the Emperour Otho III. wherein he openly tells him, that he had, from his Childhood, ſerv'd his Father and Grandfather Otho the Great, before he was entertain'd into the ſervice of Adalbero Archbiſhop of Rheims. But the true ſtory is, that being choſen by Hugh Capet, to be Tutor to his Son Robert▪ he conferr'd on him that Archbiſhoprick, whereof being deveſted by John XVII. he retir'd into Germany, to Otho II. who committed to this charge Otho III. and gave him, by way of recompence the Archbiſhoprick of Ravenna, which he peaceably enjoy'd, till that, his Diſciple coming to the Empire, he was by him ordained Pope and maintained againſt the Romans in the dignity of ſupreame Biſhop.

Theſe things well conſider'd, I ſee not upon what ground Martinus Polonus and Platinus miſrepreſent him as a Magician. For I pray, what likelihood is there he ſhould quit his Frier's frock to go and learne Magick at Toledo, Salamanca, or Sevill, the Metropolis of Andaluzia in Spain, when he never ſtirr'd out of the Abbey of Fleury, till he was taken thence by Hugh Capet, or as he ſaith himſelf, ſpent his youth in the ſervice of Otho I. and II? And is it not more probable he ſhould arrive to all theſe Eccleſiaſticall Dignities by the favour of two Kings of France and three Emperours, to whom he had done great and conſiderable ſervices, rather then by any aſſiſtance or induſtry of the Devill, who never yet was ſo good a Maſter as to beſtow a half-peny on all the Magicians, notwithſtanding their moſt remarkable beggery, as ^[620] Delrio, ^[621] Bodin, ^[622] Majole, Remy, and all Authours knowledge? And this they ſay proceeds from the ſpeciall providence of God, who hath reſerv'd in his own hands the power to enrich men and to diſtribute his favours and rewards according to the Pſalr[•]iſt, The earth is the Lords and the fulneſſe thereof; he openeth his hand, and filleth every living thing with bleſſing, he giveth unto every one, and upbraideth not; in his left hand are riches and glory.

Nor is there any more marrow in what is added, that, having been anſwer'd by the Devil, that he ſhould not dy till ſuch time as he had ſaid Maſs in Hieruſalem, he was extreamly ſurpriz'd upon warning given him that he was near his death, when, not minding any thing he ſaid it in the Church of the Holy Croſſe in Hieruſalem, which is in Rome. As if he ſhould be ignorant there was a Temple in the place of his conſtant reſidence called by that name, or ſhould not have reflected on the ambiguity of Oracles, and would have celebrated Maſſe in a place unknown to him. But what is ſaid of his end is much more flat and ridiculous, at leaſt, if we could but be perſwaded, that, as Martinus Polonus and Platinus affirm, he made a publick acknowledgment of his fault, and that after he had given aſſured expreſſions of a ſincere and perfect repentance, he committed a thing extreamly ſuperſtitious, ordering that his body ſhould, after his death, be put in a Chariot to be drawn by Oxen, without any body to guide them, that it might be buried in the place where they ſhould ſtop. That happened before the Church of St. John Lateran, where the foreſaid Authors with divers others, affirm that his Sepulchre gives a certain preſage of the death of Popes both by a ſhock and craſhing of the bones that are within, and by a great ſweat and moiſtneſſe of the ſtone without, as is obſervable, according to Platinus in the Epitaph ſet upon it.

But this is all pure cheat and impoſture, not only as to experience, never any ſuch thing having been obſerv'd by any one to this day; but alſo as to the Inſcription of this Sepulchre compos'd by Sergius IV. which is ſo far from making any mention of all theſe fables and extravagances, that, on the contrary, it is one of the moſt conſiderable teſtimonies we can have of the good life and integrity of this Sylveſter. And indeed it is no ſmall ſhame, that many Catholicks ſhould ſo much countenance this calumny, when Marianus Scotus, Glaber, Ditmare, Hilgaudus, Lambert, and Herman Contract, who were his Contemporaries, make not the leaſt mention of it. Not to urge, that it is refuted evenby ſome diſ-paſſionate Hereticks, as Vigner in his Bibliotheca, and Papyrius Maſſon in his Hiſtory of the Biſhops of Rome, where ſpeaking of Sylveſter, he ſaies, Plurimùm miramur confictam de eo fabulam mortalium aures ita penetrâſſe, ut nunc quoque evelli ex plurimorum mentibus non poſſit; and ſo concludes that all this Tragedy came from Cardinal Benno's invention. Of which opinion is alſo Baronius, who ſpeaking of him, ſaies, Is fuit primus fingendae fabulae architectus, cujus authorem nominâſſe ſolùm, ſit refutâſſe. But it is withal Vigner's judgment, that it may be very likely the Romans, haply not ſatisfy'd with Sylveſter, as well for that he was a ſtranger, as becauſe the Emperour had made him Pope without their Election, and that he expreſs'd more earneſtneſs and affection for his ſervice than their inconſtancy would permit, added ſomewhat to the ſuſpicion, in that, he being well vers'd and excellent in the Mathematicks, they out of their ignorance therein, look'd on them as diſallow'd and damnable Sciences. And this indeed I am the more enclin'd with ^[623] Ciaconus, ^[624] Genebrard, ^[625] Florimundus Remundus, and ^[626] Delrio, to aſſign for the true cauſe of this ſuſpicion, in that we are certain of two things which may confirm us very much. One is, that he flouriſh'd in the 9th age after Chriſt, which was incredibly rude, barbarous, and ignorant. The other, that he was certainly the moſt eminent, or one of the moſt eminent perſons of his time, as well for matters of State, as for Learning and the knowledge of things divine, humane, and liberal. Of this we have pregnant proofs in his own Epiſtles, and the Decads of Blondus; beſides his intimate ^[627] acquaintance with the Mathematicks, which was ſuch that he could diſcover and diſcern better than any other as Apuleius ſayes, temporum ^[628] ambitus, ventorum flatus, et Stellarum meatus, tonitruum ſonora miracula, ſyderum obliqua curricula, Solis annua reverticula, and with the help of the Mechanicks, make many rare and ſubtil inſtruments. Of that kind were thoſe Hydraulick Machines which William of Malmsbury ſayes, he ^[629] made with ſuch induſtry at Rheims, that by force of the water they made a ſweet harmony; or that Clock, which as Ditmare relates, he made in ſuch manner, that it diſcover'd the Pole-Star; and that Braſen head, which was done with ſuch ingenious artifice, that the ſaid William of Malmesbury was ^[630] himſelf deceiv'd in it, when he attributed it to Magick. Adde to this what Onuphrius ſaies, viz. that he had ſeen in the Library of the Farneſes, a learned Book of Geometry written by this Gerbert. And for my part (not to meddle with the opinion of Erfordi[•]nſis, and ſome others who make him Author of Clocks and the Arithmetick now among us) I think theſe proofs ſufficient to evince, that thoſe, who never had heard of Cubes, Parallelograms, Dodecaedra's, Almicanthara's, Valſagora's, Almagripa's, Cathalſem's, and other terms, frequent among Mathematicians, might well imagine they were certain ſpirits that he invocated, and that ſo many extraordinary things could not proceed but from a man that had ſomething in him extraordinary, and conſequently, that he was a Magician.

Having been ſo large in the vindication of this Gerbert, or Sylvester II. 'tis fit ſomething be ſaid for his Schollers and particularly the Archbiſhop Laurence, who is traduc'd by the ſaid Benno, as having learnt Magick of Sylveſter, and taught it Hildebrand or Gregory VII. This he does without alledging any other proof than that he was very intimately acquainted with both, and underſtood very well, and could interpret the ſinging of Birds, as, for experience ſake, he one day did at Rome, before certain Prelates upon an accidental meeting with a Sparrow, that by his chirping acquainted his companions of a Cart full of Wheat overturn'd at the Gate called Major, and that it was much for their advantage. But the queſtion is whether be the more cenſurable, Benno, who forg'd the ſtory upon ſuch another ^[631] done by Apollonius in Philoſtratus, or du Pleſſy Mornay, who was ſo blinded by paſſion as to quote it as true and Authentick with all the forementioned of Gregory VII. leſt he ſhould leave out any thing that might ſwell up his Myſtery of Iniquity. And yet this pretended Cardinal is forc'd to acknowledge in the ſame place, that Pope Benedict IV. (whom he hath as little favour for, as any of the reſt) and this Archbiſhop Laurence were very well skill'd in the Mathematicks. And Baronius ſhews, by the relation ^[632] of Petrus Damianus, that this Archbiſhop was ſo far from having any hand in Magick, that, on the contrary, he was a man of a very holy life, and, upon the account of his good works, after his death, put into the number of the Bleſſed Saints. Which thing, were there nought elſe, were enough to anſwer that ſcandalous Libel, divulg'd by Benno or the Lutherans to blaſt the memory and reputation of Pope Hildebrand, who could expect no leſſe then to be beſpatter'd with the detractions of that mercenary Author, when he had before felt the indignation of his Perſecutor the Emperour Henry IV. For this implacable enemy of his in two ſeveral Aſſemblies of Biſhops in Germany held at Majance and B[•]exina, becauſe Hildebrand had twice excommunicated him as a Schiſmatick, and deveſted him of all his Lands and Dignities, caus'd him to be declar'd a perjur'd man, a Murtherer, a Necromancer and a Heretick, ſetting up againſt him, as Anti-Pope, Clement III. ſometime Biſhop of Ravenna, not omitting any thing he imagined would be prejudicial to him. This proceeding of the Emperour was that encourag'd the modern Hereticks to be ſo outragious againſt this Pope, as may appear by the writings and bitter Satyres of Goldast, Gaultier, Balaeus, du Pleſſis, and the Centuriators, who call him Sorcerer, Adulterer, Sodomite, and by a ſimple clinch, Brand-of-Hell, and all, becauſe he was one of the greateſt pillars that ever were of the Church, and, to ſpeak of him ſincerely and without paſſion, he it was that firſt put her into poſſeſſion of her priviledges, and reſcu'd the Papacy from the ſlavery it was in, to the Emperors. Not to note that he is ſo highly celebrated in ^[633] Genebrard, by a great number of Authors, that, ſince Marianus Scotus and St. Anſelme, who were his contemporaries, ſay nothing of his Magick, no more than Martinus Polonus, Otho Friſingenſis, Hugh of Cluny, Lanfranc, Bernard of Marſeille, Platinus, Nauclerus, Maſſon, and many more, who would not have been ſilent had they diſcover'd any ſuch thing, it were abſolute barbariſme, in us to credit what this Benno ſaies of him in particular. Upon his text have the Lutherans and Calviniſts written their Comments never ſpeaking of this man, but in the burning feaver of indignation, and ever dipping the pen wherewith they draw him, in the gall of their own paſſions, purpoſely to make him, the moſt filthy and horrid monſter that ever was clad with humane nature, never conſidering that their attempts are daſh'd to pieces againſt that Corner-ſtone on which J. Chriſt is pleas'd to build his Church, and that they gain nothing by all theſe calumnies, but ſhame and confuſion to themſelves, ſince that, as Tertullian ſaith, Telum aliquod in Petram conſtantiſſimae duritiei libratum, repercuſſo in eum qui emiſit reciproco impetu ſaevit.

CHAP. XX.

Of Joſeph, Salomon, and the Wiſe men.

VVEre we to judg of a many Authors with a rigour ſutable to the liberty they take to condemn even the moſt eminent men; or be ſo ſevere as to accuſe & convict them of their impudence by the teſtimonies of their own forg'd calumnies: I conceive we might well rely on what Plato ſayes in his Lawes, that it is a temerarious liberty to pronounce of what is known and unknown with a like confidence, whereof he who hath once exceeded the limits, will never afterwards be confined thereby. For if we reflect on the precedent chapters of this Apology, it is eaſily obſervable, how that divers Historians and Demonographers have taken ſuch a ſtrange freedom to charge all ſorts of men with Magick, that, not content to have impeach'd Philoſophers, Phyſicians, Aſtrologers and others, they have paſs'd to Monkes, Biſhops, and Popes, nay ſpare not thoſe for whoſe good life and integrity we have the ſecurity of the Scripture, never conſidering the dangerous conſequences of ſuch an impeachment, as well in regard of the diſorder and ſcandal it would occaſion to ſuch as are devout and truly Chriſtian, as of the ill example which perſons of looſe lives might thence take, according to the ſaying of Sarisberienſis, Fortiùs et [•]itiùs nos corrumpunt exempla ^[634] magnis cùm ſubeunt animos Authoribus. But ſince I have not hitherto charg'd them with impudence, I ſhall forbear alſo in this Chapter, where they are the more excuſable, for that what they ſay of the Magick of Joſeph, Salomon, and the Wiſe men, ſeems to be deriv'd from the authority of certain Catholick Authors and Doctors, whom yet we ſhould not too rigorouſly tax with the little reaſon they had to teach any ſuch thing, by reaſon of their candor, and the ſincerity of their doctrine otherwiſe.

Not to determine therefore theſe three Queſtions but with a modeſty ſuitable thereto, I think, that if the collection I have been forc'd to make of ſo many fooleries and evident extravagancies, hath bred ſome little choller in me, the beſt way were to diſcharge it on the ordinary madneſs and impiety of our Alembick-Idolaters and Alchymiſts. Theſe are a ſort of people ſo ſtrangely beſotted with the Philoſopher's ſtone, that, having found out the ſecret Myſteries thereof under the Metamorphoſes, the Aeneid, the Odiſſey, the love of Theagenes & Chariclea, Epitaphs, Pictures, Sculpture, Antick, and Fantastick repreſentations, and there being nothing but the Scriptures to make any further ſearch in, they have been ſo prophane as to take the ſacrifice of the Maſſe, and the miracle of ^[635] the Incarnation for Emblems and figures of what they found to be literally expreſs'd in Geneſis, the laſt chapters of the Prophet Eſdras, the Canticles, & the Apocalypſe, concerning that Soveraign tranſmutation. That, they ſay, was a thing infallibly known to the good man, Job, who by the aſſiſtance of it multiply'd his wealth ſevenfold; to Abraham, who wag'd wars againſt 4 Kings; to Joſeph who of a ſudden became ſo powerful; to Moſes who turned the molten Calf into aſhes, to Gideon▪ who repreſented it under a fleece, though not a golden one as that of the Argonauts; to Salomon, who made no more account of Gold than of peble-ſtones; to St. John, of whom it is ſaid in his Hymne,

Inexhauſtum fert theſaurum,

Qui de virgis fecit aurum,

Gemmas de Lapidibus:

and laſtly to St. Dominick, who taught it two of the moſt learned men of his Order, Albertus Magnus, and St. Thomas. All which extravagancies conſider'd, it may well be ſaid,

Ovid. Met. 6.
Proh ſuperi, quantum mortalia [•]ectora caecae

Noctis habent!—

and admir'd, how ſuch impertinencies and blaſphemies ſhould be harbour'd in the hollow brains of theſe melancholy perſons, who, for recompence of their raſhneſs or ignorance, deſerve no leſſe than to forfeit the name of men, ſince they have loſt that which denominates him ſuch, judgement and reaſon.

This premis'd, we come to explicate that paſſage of Geneſis, which hath given divers occaſion ^[636] to imagine, that Joſeph, ſon of Jacob, and one highly commended by David as the Image and ^[637] myſtical repreſentation of Chriſt, was addicted to all kinds of ſuperſtitious divinations, then in vogue among the Aegyptians. For, from what he caus'd his Steward to ſay to his Brethren who were come to buy corn in Aegypt, ſpeaking of the ^[638] Cup, Is not this it in which my Lord drinketh? and what he ſays himſelf when they were brought ^[639] before him, Wot ye not that ſuch a man as I am can certainly divine? Some have imagin'd that he profeſs'd Divination, which he perform'd by a certain kind of Hydromancy, doing it either ſimply by the cup, as is ordinarily done by ſome Chryſtal veſſel, looking-glaſſe or any thing that is clear and ſmooth, or by the means of the water that was in it, as Julian the Apoſtate did, and thoſe who at this day (though it be ill and ſuperſtitiouſly done by them) diſcover the thief & things loſt, in a Viol or Bottle. Or laſtly, he did it by the inſpection of certain precious ſtones which were faſtned within it. But certainly it were no hard matter to deliver this great Favorite of God from ſo dangerous a ſuſpicion, if we will but follow the common opinion of all the Doctors of the Church, who, in Pererius would only finde out a way whereby he might be excus'd from having addicted himſelf to the practiſe of that Divination, whereto he indeed had not ſo much as contributed a thought. Nor need we ſearch for any other explication than that of Petrus Burgenſis, if it be true, as he affirms, that inſtead of what we have in the vulgar tranſlation, An ignoratis quod non ſit ſimilis meî in augurandi ſcientia? The Hebrew Text will bear this, Know you not that it is eaſy for great Lords and Princes, ſuch as I am, to conſult Southſayers and Diviners? wherewith Aegypt was at that time well furniſh'd. But ſince this explication hath not been yet acknowledg'd, and that the vulgar verſion, authorized by the Councel of Trent, admits the words before recited, we may, in the firſt place with ^[640] Theodoret, St. ^[641] Auguſtine, St. ^[642] Thomas, ^[643] Toſtatus and ^[644] Torreblanca, affirm, That Joſeph ſpoke this ironically, alluding to the common opinion then current over all Aegypt, nay even in ſtrange Countries, that he had been advanc'd to that dignity by the happy events of his Predictions; or to daunt his Brethren and make them the more guilty, as having taken away that bowle or cup, whereon depended the continuance as well as the original of his great fortune, and that he foretold things that ſhould certainly come to paſſe by the means thereof.

This explication may be thought the more probable, in that when he commanded his Steward to put that veſſel into the ſack of the youngeſt, he only ſaid to him, Put my cup, the ſilver cup, ^[645] in the ſack's mouth of the youngeſt, and his Cornmoney, not mentioning it to be that whereby he was wont to preſage and divine. Whereas when he commands him to purſue them and to bring them back, he gave him ſtrict inſtructions what he ſhould do and ſay, Up, follow after the men, and having overtaken them, ſay unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? Is not this the Cup in which my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth; ye have done evil in ſo doing. Whence it is clear, that the addition of the[•]e words, and whereby indeed he divineth, et in quo augurari ſolet, was only put in the, more to frighten them, as that one of them ſhould take that veſſel, whereby Joſeph had attain'd ſo high a fortune beyond the ordinary ſort of people. But if, notwithſtanding this reaſon, the words of Joſeph and his ſervant are to be underſtood without any ambages or fiction, we muſt conſider what Rupertus ſaies of it, who obſerves that the word augurari is not ^[646] in that place taken preciſely to ſignifie or gueſſe at ſomething, whether by the obſervation of birds or ſome other ſuperſtitious way, but in its general acception to foreſee or foretell things to come by any way whatſoever. Thus did Pliny ^[647] the younger, uſe it writing, to Tacitus, Auguror (nec fallit augurium) Hiſtorias tuas immortales futuras; ^[648] in which ſenſe Rupertus and Pererius affirm, that the ſpeech of Joſeph may be taken, without quitting the litteral, in that by reaſon of the gift he had of Prophecy, he might make uſe of the word augurari, and know future events. Which that he did, there needs no further proof than that of the interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh and his Officers. To which may be added his detention of his Brethren for three daies in Aegypt, and then cauſing them to be purſued by his [•]ervants at their departure, which might be to intimate that the Iſraelites ſhould ſojourn there for the ſpace of three Generations, and that when they were to leave it, they ſhould be purſu'd by all that multitude which was afterwards overwhelmed in the Red Sea.

Whence I leave men to judge of the probability there may be that he ſhould have written the Book entituled Speculum Joſeph, mentioned by ^[649] Trithemius, or that we may believe ^[650] Juſtine, who ſpeaking of the Jewes, ſaies that Joſeph envy'd by his Brethren, was ſold by them to certain Marchants who carry'd him into Aegypt, where in a ſhort time he learnt the magical Arts, and grew the beſt of any for the interpretation of dreams and prodigies, being not ignorant of any thing that could be known, in ſo much that he foretold the great dearth which happened in that Countrey, and, for that reaſon was much favour'd by Pharaoh. From which ſtory all that may be drawn, is, that he, Tacitus, and others either ſpeak at random, or give a paſſionate account of that people, and that God, who is pleas'd to give us a true hiſtory of them by his faithful Secretary Moſes, would not have us to ſtand in need of the Authority of thoſe prophane Authors, as to any thing they might ſay conſonant to what he hath left in his admirable Books of the Pentateuch,

I[•], from what is ſaid of Joſeph in the 44. chap. of Geneſis, he hath been reproach'd with Magick, I think there is much more ground to imagine the ſame thing of King Solomon, becauſe of his great and prodigious Idolatry, conſidering the Wiſdom he was maſter of before. For as there is nothing ſo certain as that he never practis'd any thing that were ſuperſtitious, while he continued in the grace of God, and a right adminiſtration of the favours he had received of him; So we muſt needs acknowledge (to avoid Lactantius's ^[651] cenſure, who ſaies, that, eadem caecitas eſt, et de vero falſitatis, et mendacio nomen veritatis impo[•]ere) that poſſibly, forſaken of God for his luxury and Idolatry, he might fell himſelf over to all manner of vices and abhominations, and particularly as ^[652] Delrio, ^[653] George of Venice, and ^[654] Pineda affirm, to that of Magick, there being thouſands of examples whence may be drawn this concluſion to his prejudice, that Luxury, Idolatry, and the vanity of Divinations,

Et bene conveniunt, & in una ſede morantur.

^[655] For which we have the teſtimony of St. Paul, and what is ſaid of King Manaſſes, in the Old Teſtament, that he reared up Altars for Baal, and a ^[656] little after, he obſerved times and uſed inchantments and dealt with familiar ſpirits and Wizzards. And ſince women are more adicted to Magick then men, as is learnedly ſhewn by the Civilian Tiraqueau in his Conjugall Lawes by the authorities of Cicero, Livy, Quintilian, Diodorus, and ^[657] diverſe other good Authors, I make no queſtion, with Pineda, but the 700. wives and the 300. Concubines which Salomon had might eaſily enſnare him in a Labyrinth of Charmes, divinations, drinks, and other ſuperſtitious practiſes, which, if we credit Lucan, (diſprov'd indeed by Ovid) have a greater influence on that paſſion then any other, ſince that he ſayes,

—Quas non concordia mixti

Allig at ulla thori, blandaeque potentia form[•],

Traxerunt torti Magicâ vertigine fili.

But though we ſhould allow this might happen to Salomon that we have ſaid, yet are we to beware how we exceed much further, and too eaſily be perſwaded, that he ſhould ſteal ſo much time from his pleaſures and enjoyments, as it would require to write ſo great a number of Magicall Books as there are at this day publiſh'd under his name. This indeed is ſo great, that to prove they are falſe attributed to him, we need no more then ma [•]e a Catalogue of ſuch only as have been ſeen and cited by divers Authors. For though ^[658] Genebrard make mention but of three, and ^[659] Pineda but of 4. or 5. yet is it eaſily ſhewn that there are a many more; for Albertus Magnus in his Book of the Mirrour of Aſtrology quotes five: the firſt dated Liber Almadal, the ſecond, Liber 4▪ Annulorum, the third Liber de novem candariis; the fourth, de tribus figuris Spirituum, and the fifth de Sigillis ad Daemoniacos. To theſe we may adde four mentioned by Trithemius, ^[660] intituled, the firſt, Clavicula Salomonis ad filium Roboam, the ſecond Liber Lamene, the third Liber Pentaculorum, and the fourth de Officiis ſpirituum. Whereto if we adde theſe three, viz. that of Raziel cited by ^[661] Reuclin, de umbris Idaearum, mentioned by Chicus upon the Sphere of Sacroboſco; de Hydromantia ad filium Roboam, which ^[662] Gretſerus ſaith, he ſaw in▪Greek in the Duke of Bavaria's Library. And laſtly that Teſtamentum Salomonis, out of which M. ^[663] Gaumin cites, many paſſages written in the ſame Language, we finde that without compriſing that called by ^[664] Nicetas, Liber Salomonius, here are thirteen different ones, and yet withall Authentick. Which number, might well engage us to make the ſame judgment of them, as did ſometime Roger Bacon, whoſe reflection thereupon I ſhall the rather quote, becauſe it makes ſomething for all thoſe for whom I make this ^[665] Apology. Quicunque, ſaith he, aſſerunt quód Salomon compoſuit hoc vel illud, aut alii ſapientes▪ negandum est; quia non recipiuntur ejuſmodi libri auctoritate Eccleſiae, nec à ſapientibus ſed à ſeductoribus qui mundum decipiunt; etiam & ipſi novos libros componunt, & novas adinventiones multiplicant, ſicut ſcimus per experientiam, & ut vehementius homines alliciant, titulos praeponunt famoſos ſuis operibus; & ea magnis authoribus impudenter aſcribunt.

This granted takes away all the difficulty may ariſe about the Books of Salomon, unleſſe it be ^[666] about that of Exorciſms, which Pineda affirmes, either not to have been written by Salomon, or that he did it in the time of his Idolatry. And yet me thinks it were more rationall, with Janſenius, Salmeron, Genebrard and Delrio, to grant, that, during the time that by his wiſdome he knew all things, and was fill'd with good affection by reaſon of his ſanctity, he might preſcribe certain forms to chaſe away Devills, and to exerciſe people poſſeſ'd by them; ſuch as were thoſe ^[667] practiſed by the Jews, in St. Luke, St. Mathew, and the Acts. Such were alſo thoſe, as Joſephus affirmes, practis'd ſince by Eleazar, who caſt a Devill out of the body of a poſſeſſ'd perſon, in the preſence of the Emperour Vespaſian, not by the vertue of a root, which could naturally have no power over Daemons and Creatures purely ſpirituall, but by the force of his exorciſms, which only had that power, as Delrio, ^[668] Caſmannus and divers others explaine it.

From theſe two paſſages of the Old Teſtament, we come now to that of the new, which is in the ſecond of Math. where mention is made of the wiſe men who came from the Eaſt to adore Jeſus Christ. I have no deſigne to repeat in this place a number of Fables, ſuch as Vipertus, a Dr. of Divinity and the Canon-Law hath taken ſuch paines to gather together, in the Hiſtory he hath written▪ of them, it being enough to my purpoſe to take out of the writings of ^[669] Baronius ^[670] Caſaubon ^[671] Maldonat, ^[672] Bullenger & many other, who have written at large on this ſubject, what is fit not to be omitted in this Chapter, and in few words, to diſcover what theſe wiſe men or Magi were, and by what means they had notice to come and adore Jeſus Chriſt in Bethleem. For the firſt, the difficulty lyes in the ſignification of the word Magi, being either ambiguous and equivocall, that is, ſuch as many be underſtood of enchanters & ſocerers; ſuch as ſignify'd a certain people among the Medes; who are ſo called in ^[673] Herodotus, ^[674] Strabo, and ^[675] Epiphanius; and laſtly might be ſaid of the Sages of Perſia. Theſe three ſeverall interpretations have all had their patrons and favourers; ^[676] Tertullian underſtanding that paſſage of the firſt, Epiphanus and Panigarolus of the ſecond, and Maldonat with Caſaubon, of the laſt, that is for Mages, that is, the moſt vertuous and moſt venerable perſons among the Perſians, ſuch as were in the ſame reputation in their Country, as the Brachamans were among the Indians, and the Druids among the Gaules. Which laſt opinion ſeems to be the more rationall, in that the word Magi is Perſian, that it is the cuſtome of the Perſians not to accoſt Kings without Preſents, that the Evangeliſt ſpeaks of them as perſons of great quality and reputation; in a word, the Scripture it ſelf lights as it were to the truth, when it ſayes, that theſe wiſe men came from the Eaſt, there being no Author that ever held there were any other Magi that way than thoſe of Perſia. Yet is there no neceſſity to have any recourſe to the ſottiſh imagination of Paracelſus, who would have ^[677] them ride poſt upon enchanted Horſes, ſo to bring them in leſſe then thirteen dayes out of ſo remote a Country, ſince there's nothing to convince us they might not ſpend more time in their ^[678] journey, as St. Chryſostome would have it, or were not of the neareſt parts of that Country; beſides that Hiſtory affords us many inſtances of greater expedition and diligence, and that theſe wiſe men rid on Camells, which go with eaſe after the rate of at leaſt 100. miles a day.

This difficulty taken away, we are now only to find out the meanes whereby the wiſe men might be advertiſed of the Nativity of Jeſus Chriſt. In which ſearch, we ſhall not with the Priſcillianiſts, affirme they it knew naturally by the meer inſpection of the Star, leſt we incurre, with them▪ the cenſure of St. Augustine and Chryſostome. And there being as little ground with ^[679] Origene and St. ^[680] Hierome to think it was revealed to them by Daemons, as it had been to the Shepherds by Angels▪ becauſe this were to make them Magicians, contrary to the truth before maintained, our ſafeſt courſe is to conclude with ^[681] Maldonat, that they had learn'd it from the prophecy of Balaam, that a new Star ſhould appear at the birth of the Saviour of the world, according to what is ſaid, Orietur ſtella ex Jacob, and in effect, they ſhewed no leſſe when they peremptorily ſaid, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have ſeen his Star, ſpeaking of that Starr, as a thing they thought well known among the Jews ſince it was ſo much among the Gentiles and Idolaters. But the ſubject of this Chapter is not ſo much my buſineſſe as that of Divines, yet have I a confidence they will not take it ill that I have done what I have, and therein follow'd the doctrine and reſolutions of the moſt eminent among them, ſo the better to clear up the difficulties ariſing out of this Chapter▪

CHAP. XXI.

Of the Poet Virgil.

WHen I ſeriouſly reflect on the Condition of thoſe learned men, who flouriſh'd four or five ages before the reſtauration of Sciences and diſciplines in Europe, nothing ſeemes more miraculous to me then that the moſt learned and beſt grounded among our Authors have appear'd amidſt that Barbariſm like Roſes among thorns, or Diamonds on the deſert Mountaines. And this ſo much the rather, in that at this day when we are encompaſſ'd with ſo great light as ſhould make us judge of things with more caution, thoſe who ſhould make greateſt uſe thereof are ſo dazzl'd therewith that they revive many opinions whoſe firſt Authors we daily declame againſt, either for their want of judgment or ignorance. Whereof though the precedent Chapters of this Apology afford ſufficient inſtances, yet have I reſerv'd for this that which we have upon the authority of ^[682] Bodin and de ^[683] Lancre concerning the Magick of Virgil, as one of the moſt pregnant proofs may be given of it, if we in the firſt place conſider the reputation of theſe two perſons, (the former being one of the moſt eſteem'd men of his age) and then, the litle ground they had to draw that errour, out of the workes of certaine Authors, that are but che dirt and dreggs of the moſt Barbarous Writers, and who by the impertinences of their relations teach us that the great Chancellour of England, Verulam, had reaſon to tell us, that ^[684] hoc habet ingenium humanum, ut cum ad ſolida non ſuffecerit in ſupervacaneis & futilibus ſe atterat. For can there be any thing imagind that were more fantaſtick, and diſconſonant to common ſenſe and reaſon, then to ſee the Phoenix of Latine Poeſy impeach'd not of that Poeticall Magick, and fury, which, by the perfection of his workes, hath charm'd the greateſt wits into an imitation of him, ſuch as Statius, Sylvius, and the Florentine Poet; and gain'd him the Title of moſt excellent Orator with Quintilian, St. Hierome, and Seneca; Father of Eloquence with St. Auguſtine, and to be the only man worthy the name of Poet, with J. C. Scaliger; but of the Geotick, ſuperſtitious, and unlawfull. Which certainly had never been layd to the charge of this Ornament of Parnaſſus, had it not been for a ſort of wretched Fabuliſts who by the excreſcencies of their pittifull writings have traduc'd him, which yet I know not, whether I ought rather to quarrell with, than theſe two moderne Authors and ſome others, quos fama obſcura recondit who are ſo light of belief, as to take ſuch impoſtors for lawfull proofs of a calumny that turnes much more to their prejudice than that of Virgil. For his life is ſo well known, and whatever he did that were any thing remarkable, ſo faithfully preſerv'd by a many Authors, that we may well be aſtoniſh'd at thoſe, who, at this day, would make uſe of the forgeries and fabulous inventions of 7. or 8. Barbarian ſlaves, and the opinions of the populace, to augment the Catalogue of Magicians with the name of this Poet, and to entertain us with thouſands of little ſtories and fooleries, which, were they true, could do no leſſe then make him be reputed one of the moſt expert that ever was in the Art. But ſince, on the contrary, they are falſe and ridiculous, they deſtroy themſelves, there needing no more for their refutation, then to draw them up all together to find, (it being preſuppoſed that they are all equally to be credited) that Dr. Fauſtus, Zedechias, Trois-eſchelles and the moſt famous Conjurers that ever were, have not done any thing comparable to what they ſay Virgil hath, and conſequently that they are not to be believ'd unleſſe by ſuch as will alſo grant, that

Omnia jam fient, fieri quae poſſe negantur,

Et nihil est de quo non ſit habenda fides.

But having ſaid in the firſt Chapter of this Apology that we are endebted to the Monk Helinandus for all theſe fables, as finding (according to Geſnar, who makes him flouriſh in the year 1069.) no Author more ancient then he that made any mention thereof, and meeting ſince with the Collection of the Lives of the White Friers, whoſe Authour cites Vincent de Beauvais affirming in his mirrour of Hictory that the ſaid Monk liv'd about the year 1209. I am forc'd ingenuouſly to confeſſe I was miſtaken, and that the firſt Author of all theſe extravagances, is, in my judgment no other than that Gervaſe, who, Theodoric à Niem ſayes, was Chancellour to the Emperour Otho III. to whom he preſented his Book entituled Ocia Imperatoris. This is a piece fraught with ^[685] things ſo abſur'd, fabulous & impoſſible, as I have already obſerved that▪ I can hardly believe the man was in his wits when he writt it; and that I wrong him not, I appeal to the Reader. He ſaies then (not to meldle with any thing but what is to our preſent purpoſe) that the wiſe Virgi ſet up a Braſen Fly on one of the gates of Naples, which, for the ſpace of 8. years, that it remain'd there, permitted not a fly to enter the ſaid City, That in the ſame place he cauſ'd a Shambles to be made, wherein meat never ſmelt or was the leaſt tainted; that he placed on one of the gates of the ſame City two great images of Stone, one whereof was ſaid to be handſome and merry, the other ſad and deformed, having this power, that if any one came in on the ſide of the former all his affairs proſpered according to his own deſires, as he who came on the other, was unfortunate and diſappointed in all things; that he ſet up, on a high mountain near Nap'es, a brazen Statue, having in its mouth a Trumpet which ſounded ſo loud when the North wind blew, that the fire and ſmoke iſſuing out of thoſe forges of Vulcan, which are at this day ſeen near the City of Pouſſola, were forc'd back towards the Sea, without doing any hurt or injury to the Inhabitants. That it was he made the baths of Calatura di petra bagno & adjuto di l' homo, with fair inſcriptions in Letters of Gold, defac'd ſince by the Phyſitians of Salerna who were ttoubled that men ſhould thereby know what diſeaſes every bath could cure. That the ſame Virgil took ſuch a courſe that no man could be hurt in that miraculous Vault cut through the mountaine of Pauſilippo, to go to Naples; and laſtly that he made a publick fire, whereat every one might freely warme himſelf, near which he had place'd a braſen Archer with his [••]rrow drawne out, and ſuch an inſcription, If any one ſtrike me, I will ſhoot off my arrow. Which a[•] length happened, when a certaine foole ſtriking the ſaid Archer, he immediatly ſhot him with his arrow, and ſent him into the fire, which was preſently extinguiſhed.

Theſe impertinences were firſt tranſcribed out of this Author by Helinandus the Monk into his Univerſall Chronicle, and then by an Engliſh man ^[686] one Alexander Neckam a Benedictine Monk, who relates [•]ome of the precedent in his book Of the Nature and property of things. To which he addes, that Naples being troubled with an infinite number of infectious Leaches, it was deliver'd, aſſoon as Virgil had cauſ'd a golden one to be caſt into a well: that he compaſſ'd his dwelling houſe and garden (where it never rain'd) with an immoveable ſtreame of aire, which was inſtead of a Wall, and had built in it a braſen bridge, by meanes whereof he went whither he pleaſ'd. That he had made alſo a Steeple with ſuch miraculous artifice, that the Tower wherein it was though, of ſtone, mov'd in the ſame manner as a certain bell, that was in it, did, and that both had the ſame ſhaking and motion. Beſides all which, he had made thoſe Statues call'd the Preſervers of Rome, which were watch'd night and day by Prieſts, for that aſſoon as any Nation entertain'd any thought of revolting and taking armes againſt the Romane Empire, immediately the Statue repreſenting that Nation, and adored by it, moved; a bell, it had about the neck rung, and with its finger it pointed at that rebellious nation, in ſo much that the name of it might it be perceiv'd in writing, which the Prieſt carrying to the Emperour, he immediately raiſ'd an Army to reduce and quiet it.

^[687] Nor could this be miſſ'd by a certaine Anonymous Author, who, about 120. years ſince, undertook to make a collection of the lives of Philoſophers and Poets. For coming to ſpeak of Virgil, he confidently ſayes, Hic Philoſophiâ naturali praeditus etiam Necromanticus fuit & mira quadam arte haec feciſſe narratur. Which premiſ'd, he brings in the forementioned ſtories, which have been ſince coppy'd out verbaim out of the Latine Book of that Anonymus, by Symphorianus ^[688] Champier, and Albertus de Elib, who hath been ſo indiſcreet and ſimple, as to put them into the ſecond part of his Poeticall Margarite, under the Title of Sentences and Authorities taken out of Laertius. Nay not content with that, he hath added thereto the ſtory of a Roman Curtezan, who having hang'd up Virgil in a basket, half way down a great Tower, he, to be reveng'd of her, put out of all the fire that was in Rome, making it withall impoſſible to light it again unleſſe they took it out of the privy parts of that abuſive woman, which yet ſo taken could not be communicated one to another, ſo that the whole City was oblig'd to come and viſit her. Add yet this likely ſtory was no ſooner abroad but one Gratian du Pont thought it worth the inſerting into his Controverſies of the two Sexes male and female, printed at Thoulouſe 1534. as a demonſtration of the malice and wickedneſſe of women.

Theſe fables I thought fit to faggot up together, and that according to the order of thoſe that have maintain'd them, to ſhew what credit we ſhold give the great number of Authors affirming the ſame thing, without examining the ſufficiency and integrity of him that firſt advainc'd it. But it would take up abundance of time to ſearch narrowly into the buſineſſe of the Fly and Leach; and it were as much vaine glory as importunity to rake together all that may be ſaid upon Aſtrologicall ſtamps and Sculptures, which the Greeks called Stoecheiodes and the Arabians Taliſmanicks. Such as were thoſe of Constantinople and diverſe other ſuch graven Stones, on which ^[689] Caſaubon, ^[690] Scaliger, and ^[691] Camerarius have already made many excellent and curious obſervations, either to examine and refute, as well according to the rules of Polymathy, as Phyſick and Metaphyſick, all the above-recited Stories, which need no other ſolution then a good confident Negative. And that the rather, for that Ariſtotle ſayes very well, de fabuloſè ſophisticantibus non est dignum cum ſtudio ^[692] intendere; and in the firſt of his Ethicks, A man ſhould not ſpend his time ſo trivially as to refute all ſorts of opinions, but only ſuch as have ſome probability and appearance of reaſon. Since therefore the relations of theſe Authors are fitter to entertaine Old wives, Thracians, and Abderties, then to ſatisfy thoſe who can judge and diſtinguiſh quid ſolidum crepet, we will diſmiſſe this crue of Barbarians, ſuch as are rather to be pittied than cenſur'd, to ſatisfie the Authorities of certaine writers of greater reaſon, and conſequently ſuch as ought to be treated with more reſpect then the precedent.

Thoſe who read the life of this Poet, thought to be written by Tiberius Donatus, Maſter to St. Hierome, might haply be ſomewhat ſurpriſed, and be guilty of ſome litle inclination to believe this ſuſpicion may be true, in that ſpeaking of Virgil's father, he ſayes, Hunc quidam opificem figulum, plures Magi cujuſdam viatoris initio mercenarium, mox ob induſtriam generum tradiderunt. But it ^[693] were more ſafe to follow the judgment of Delrio agreeing with that of Lacerda, who will not allow that Life, ſuch as we have it now, to have been written by that ancient Donatus. For ſince he gives not any reaſon of that criticall cenſure, I think, were there no other, this very line enough to make us account the whole piece counterfeit and that Donatus would never have committed ^[694] an errour, which Crinitus, and others treating of the ſame ſubject have avoided. Nor can I imagine that Johannes Sarisberienſis would have mention'd this braſen fly that forc'd away all others from Naples, had it not been, from this ſtory, though fabulous, to draw an excellent morall inſcription, and to teach us by the example of Auguſtus, which he hath in the four Chap[•]er of his Book de nugis curialium, that the publick benefit is to be preferr'd before any private man's advantage and ſatisfaction. Beſides, we are not more oblig'd to believe what he ſayes by the way and under the caution of a hearſay, concerning this fly, than what divers Authors have ſaid of ſo many other places, whence theſe litle inſects were baniſh'd, that their number might well make us doubt whether they ever were from any. For if we credit the Rabbins, there was not one to be ſeen in the Slaughter-houſe where the Beaſts were kill'd and prepar'd for ſacrifice, though the place was perpetually full of blood and raw hides. If Caelius Rhodiginus, there was not one in the place where the Olympick games were celebrated; nor yet in the City of Leucade in Acarnania. If Pliny, the Oxe-market at Rome; if Solinus, Hercules's, Temple; if Cardan, a certain houſe at Venice; if Dr. Gervais, the Refectory of the Abbey of Maillerais in Poictou, were never troubled with any. And laſtly, if we credit Fuſil, there is but one to be ſeen all the year long in the Shambles of Toledo in Spaine. And for my part, I think Scaliger did very well to laugh at one of ^[695] theſe Fly-drivers who having made a little plate grav'd with diverſe figures and Characters, and that under a certain conſtellation, had no ſooner plac'd it on a window to try the experience, but one fly more confident than the reſt, came and hanſell'd it with her ordure.

^[696] The third whoſe authority is ſomewhat conſiderable is Toſtatus Biſhop of Avila, who rankes Virgil among thoſe that practis'd Necromancy, and that becauſe, as he ſayes himſelf, he had read in the 16. Book of Helinandus's Chronologie, concerning the Fly and Shambles he had made at Naples. To which, not to diſcourſe of the ſeverall wayes there are to preſerve diverſe things for a long time, and ſomewhat to excuſe this great perſon, who ſhould have examin'd theſe two ſtories before he had believ'd them, I ſhould rather affirme, that all the blame is to be laid on this Helinandus, who hath ſo faithfully tranſcrib'd and ſtollen all theſe falſities, lyes, and Impoſtures out of Dr. Gervaſe into his Chronicle, that he hath made it very much like Euolio's houſe in Plautus, quae inaniis oppleta est atque araneis. Nay I can▪ without paſſion, affirme, that I never found him cited by any Author, but upon the account of ſome ridiculous fables; of which citations I could eaſily produce ſuch a number, as would more then juſtifie the truth of what I ſay, were it as eaſy to lay them down in few words as it were requiſite it ſhould be done.

But ſince the Authors who have made mention of the Magick of Virgil are ſo many that they cannot be examin'd one after another without loſſe of much time and abundance of repetitions, we muſt imitate the Civilians, who take Authorities per ſaturam, and ſo digeſting all that remaine into one Article, ſhew, That, ^[697] Le Loyer mades mention of his Eccho, ^[698] Paracelſus of his Magicall images and figures, ^[699] Helmoldus of his repreſentation of the City of Naples ſhut up in a glaſſe bottle, ^[700] Sibyllus, and the Authour of the Book entituled the Image of the World, of the head he made to know things to come by; ^[701] Petrarch, and ^[702] Theodoric à Niem, of the Vault he made at Naples, at the requeſt of Auguſtus; ^[703] Vigenere, of his Alphabet; ^[704] Trithemius of his Book of Tables and Calculations whereby to find out the Genius's of all perſons; and laſtly of thoſe who have ſeen the Cabinet of the Duke of Florence, of an extraordinary great Lookingglaſſe which they affirme to be that in which this Poet exerciſ'd Catoptromancy. To all which there needs no other anſwer, than that all theſe Authorities are too young, abſur'd, and ill grounded, and conſequently too light to outweigh the Generall ſilence of all Authors that flouriſh'd during the ſpace of ten Ages, and who certainly were extreamly to blame not to have left us the leaſt obſervation of all theſe miracles, if there had been any ſuch thing, ſince they have given us a faithfull account of a many other particularities of leſſe conſequence. For what ground is there to imagine that the Emperour Caligula, who did all that lay in his power to ſuppreſſe the works of this Latine Homer, and ſo many other Zoilus's who have found ſomething to quarrel at, even in the moſt inconſiderable actions of his life, would not have laid hold on a buſineſſe which might have afforded ſo much fuell to their detraction? Or that the Emperour Auguſtus, who caus'd all Magicall Books to be burnt, ſhould ſo far forget and contradict himſelf as to receive him, being a Magician and Necromancer, into the number of his moſt intimate friends and favorites? There were certainly as much reaſon to believe that all Sodomitts ^[705] tha[•] were in the world dy'd the night of our Saviours birth, and that as the famous Civilian Salicetus affirms, Virgil was one of that number.

And yet for what concerns the precedent Authorities, it is not to be imagin'd that Petrarch, Theodoric à Niem, Vigenere, and Trithemius have been ſo indiſcreet as thus baſely to proſtitute their reputation to the cenſures and ſatyrs of thoſe who are not ſo eaſily laid aſleep with theſe Fables. For it is certain that whatever they ſay thereof, hath been only to refute them, and to let us know that they were not ſo credulous as thoſe others who have furniſh'd us with the reſt of thoſe Authorities, as ſuch as can no way expiate the fault they have committed in being ſo miſerably enſnar'd in the cobwebs of Hearſaies, vagrant reports, and the common opinion of the inhabitants of Naples and places adjacent; who have alwaies attributed to the conjurations of Virgil whatever ſeem'd to them ever ſo little extraordinary & miraculous, and whereof they could find out no other beginning. This may be exemplify'd in that admirable cave or grott made in the mountain of Pauſilippo near the City of Naples, whereof though Strabo (who liv'd in the time of Scipio, and the taking of Carthage, according to Athenaeus, or of Augustus and Tiberius, according to Patricius) make mention as of a thing very ancient; yet the Countrey people thereabouts will not be perſwaded but that it was made by Virgil, at the importunity of the Emperour Augustus, becauſe the top of the mountrin under which it is cut was ſo peſtred with Serpents and Dragons, that there was not any man ſo confident as would preſume to travel over it. So that the main ſtreſs of the buſineſs conſiſts now in knowing what gave the firſt occaſion of this ſuſpicion, which certainly can be nothing elſe but the knowledge of the Mathematicks, wherein Virgil was ſo excellent, according to the relation of Macrobius, Donatus, Lacerda, and the common conſent of all Authors, that, beſides his being an eminent Philoſopher and well experienc'd in Medicine, it may nevertheleſſe be affirm'd, that the chiefeſt of his perfections, next to Poeſy, was his acquaintance with Astronomy, and other parts of the Mathematicks. And theſe, having ever been more ſubject to be charg'd with Magick than any of the other Sciences, have given ſome occaſion to theſe unſettled minds to be confirm'd in that erroneous opinion they had before entertain'd of him, by reaſon of his Pharmaceutria, or eighth Eclogue where he hath ſo learnedly repreſented▪ as Apuleius affirms, vittas molles, et verbenas pingues, et thura maſcula et [•]icia diſcolora, and whatever relates to Magick, that it would have been very much if he had avoided the ſuſpicion of the practiſe thereof, eſpecially from thoſe, whom ignorance and the barbariſm of the Ages they liv'd in, would not ſuffer to know that he had tranſlated it word for word out of Theocritus. To which number we may adde ſome others who are ſo ſtupid as not to know what advantages a great Wit can make of theſe fictions and embeliſhments, which certainly ſhould no more prejudice Virgil, than the ſorceries of Circe have done Homer; of Medea, Seneca; of Canidia, Horace; of Ericthon, Lucan; of Tireſias, Statius; of the Theſſalian women, Lucian, and Apuleius; of the old Witch, Heliodorus; of Maeffalina, Coccaius; of Angelica, Arioſto; of Armida, Taſſo; or laſtly Mandraca, the Author of Aſtrea. Whence it is evident to any one, that, from this Chapter, may be drawn a moſt favourable concluſion for all thoſe great perſons for whom we have made this Apology; and that if ſo many fables, frivolous ſuſpicions and ſleight perſwaſions have found entertainment in the ſtragling imaginations of thoſe who will needs quarrel with common ſenſe and the opinion of all the world, to make Virgil a Magician, what I have produc'd before, as alſo all that hath been ſaid againſt Zoroaſtes, Pythagoras, Numa Pompilius, Democritus, Albertus Magnus, and the reſt that have been brought upon the ſtage and vindicated, ſhould no way derogate from their reputation, nor give any other impreſſion of their learning and deportment than ſuch as we ought to have of ſuch as have been

Magnanimi Heroes, nati melioribus annis,

and indeed ſo innocent as to theſe ſuperſtitions and fooleries, that their memory ought to be freed from the leaſt ſuſpicion of their ever having any hand therein.

CHAP. XXII.

By what means all theſe erroneous opinions are maintain'd, and what may be expected from them, if not ſuppreſs'd.

HAving through all the precedent Chapters, both by general and particular reaſons, ſhewn how it might come to paſſe that ſo eminent and extraordinary perſons have been charg'd with Magick, and conſequently deduc'd all I thought requiſite for their vindication; I think there cannot any thing be now expected from me, ſave that, by way of concluſion to this Apology, I ſhould ſpecifie the true cauſes and ſeveral occaſions whereby theſe calumnies are entertain'd and gain reputation daily, and what prejudice and inconvenience (if ſome courſe be not taken) they will do as well the Authors, who maintain them, as what is to be truly believ'd concerning Magicians, and what order is to be taken for the puniſhment of thoſe whom their ſorceries and miſdeeds diſcover and declare to be ſuch. For the former, me thinks the ſeveral cauſes of ſuch a ſuſpicion may be reduc'd principally to three. The firſt is, that all the world is perſwaded, and ſatisfy'd, that the ſtrongeſt proof and greateſt aſſurance that can be had of Truth, depends on a general conſent and univerſal approbation, which, as Aristotle in the ſeventh of his Ethicks, affirms, cannot be abſolutely falſe and fained; beſides that it is a thing very plauſible, & hath a great ſhew of goodneſs & juſtice to follow the track that's approved by all. Hence it comes to paſſe, that the [•]aſt that come to the buſineſſe of writing and books, as well other Authors, as Daemonographers, grounding what they do on this Maxime, never mind the examination of what they find believ'd, and allow'd for true by their Predeceſſors, and thoſe who have written before them upon the ſame ſubject. So that what was falſe in them, ſpreads by this contagious approbation and applauſe, though not proceeding from judgement and the knowledge of the cauſe, but meerly to ſecond him that firſt led the dance, without ever conſidering that he who would be a wiſe and diſcreet Judge, ought very much to ſuſpect what ever the people, that peſſimus veritatis interpres, is moſt taken with, and is approved ^[706] by the greateſt number, taking good heed that he be not carried away with the current of common & popular opinions. Nay▪ he is to be the more circumſpect in this point, becauſe the greateſt part is commonly the worſt, the number of Fools infinite, infection moſt dangerous, and moſt to be fear'd in a throng, the moſt beaten way the moſt eaſily deceives a man, that the wiſe man ſaies, qui cit[•] credit levis eſt corde; and that ^[707] it is moſt certain, that when we are ſway'd by example and cuſtome, without conſulting reaſon, deſert, and truth, we ſlip and fall one upon another, forfeit our reputation, run into precipices, and, in a word alienis perimus exemplis.

The ſecond general Cauſe is, that the greateſt part of thoſe who employ themſelves in the compoſition and evulgation of ſome piece, ſuch as they are able to work out, do commonly flatter themſelves into a perſwaſion of ſuch things, that they may do their buſineſs with greateſt eaſe. And as they write not ſo much for any benefit to the publick, to oblige it by an exact anatomy of Truth, as out of ſome motive of vanity or ambition or to comply with that neceſſity which forces them to ſatisfie famem non famam, as Thuanus ſaies; ſo is it their cuſtome to go to work as ſlightly and as cheap as poſſibly they can, not troubling themſelves with a long and difficult evolution of the firſt Authors, or ſearching into the occaſions they had to ſcatter all theſe fables & calumnies; nor racking their judgement with the conſideration of thoſe circumſtances which ſhould oblige them to ruminate, recollect, and reflect on things, ſo as to bring them to the grand Teſt of Reaſon, and thence draw ſolid and certain reſolutions. And here certainly they much diſcover their weakneſſe, and, becauſe the advantages they derive from Nature are very ſlender, ſhew, how they are led away by example, groping after things by hear-ſaies and conjectures, without ever ſifting or examining them as they ought, eſpecially in this Age, which is more fit to refine and ſharpen mens judgements, then all the precedent put together were, by reaſon of the great revolutions that now happen, through the diſcovery of a new world, the diſturbances occaſion'd by Religion, the reſtauration of Letters, the declination of Sects and ancient opinions and ſo many ſtrange inventions and artifices; inſomuch that Salomon might now, more truly than ever, ſay, Doth not wiſdom cry? and understanding ^[708] put forth her voice? She ſtandeth on the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She cryeth at the Gates, at the entring of the City, at the comming in at the Doors. Whence it may be inferrd, that there never was a more favourable conjuncture than that of the preſent, to raiſe mens minds out of the Lethargy they are in, and enliven them to a retractation, and ſo to a contempt of abundance of falſe and abſurd opinions; were they not, for the reaſons before mentioned, indifferent as to the eternizing their memories by the quality of their writings, out of a conceit that they gain reputation enough by the quantity, thereof, which they can ſwell up as they pleaſe, without much trouble or difficulty, with the aſſiſtance of a Method, devoutly obſerv'd of tranſcribing word for word▪ whatever hath been ſaid a hundred and a hundred times over by others.

And to do this, they are much oblig'd to the third and laſt cauſe of the propagation of all theſe falſities, which is a Cuſtome lately introduc'd, of making oſtentation of Polymathy or great reading, ſpeaking on any ſub[•]ect of all things, and upon any occaſion of all ſubjects, as if there were no other deſign in writing than to collect and faggot together all, that may be ſaid, and with all what hath ever been ſaid on the ſubject then to be treated of; it being not the queſtion who hits the mark, but who makes moſt ſhots. So that it is not to be admir'd if thoſe who exactly obſerve ſuch a method, are, like Marchants that take up all, burthen'd with many things of no value, and ſuch as only corrupt and diſparage others, which would be much more in requeſt and reputation, were they cull'd out of the Chaos and confuſion of thoſe great Volums. It is certainly a ſtrange thing, that Delrio, Le Loyer, Bodin, de Lancre, Godelman, who have been, nay yet are, perſons of credit and deſert ſhould write ſo paſſionately upon the ſubject of Daemons, Sorcerers and Magicians, as never to reject any Story, though ever ſo fabulous and ridiculous, of all thoſe falſe and abſurd ones, which they have without any diſcretion ſhufled in among the true and legitimate. Nay had they no more than what we have refuted, it were enough to prejudice and diſcredit the truth of the reſt, ſince that, as St. Auguſtine ^[709] well obſerves Solent res geſtae aſperſione mendaciorum in fabulas verti, and as St Hierome, Lyers are not believ'd when they ſpeak truth: witneſſe Aeſops herd-boy, who had ſo often call'd for help againſt the Wolf when there was no need, that he was neither believ'd nor aſſiſted by any when afterwards he playd the Tyrant in his Flock.

So that if we obey the precept of Caſſiodorus ^[710] who ſaies, that inſtructus redditur animus in futuris, quando▪ praeteritorum commovetur exemplis, we may, to reſolve the ſecond point propos'd, very probably inferr that all the ridiculous ſtories, fables and manifeſt untruths, which theſe Authors ſuffer ſo eaſily to ſlip into their writings, will infallibly turn to their prejudice, and, which is worſe, to a miſtruſt of the truth of the ſubject they treat of, whenever ſome more free and unconfin'd wit, ſhall be pleas'd to examine things with much more diligence and circumſpection than the Demonographers do. Thus have thoſe of the Reformation within the laſt Century, made uſe of the Catholicks armes againſt themſelves, by bringing upon the ſtage the ſtories of the Golden Legend, the Apparitions of Tyndal, the Sermons of Maillart, Menot, & Barlette, & ſuch other pieces written with no leſſe ſuperſtition than ſimplicity, to confirm themſelves in the opinion they hold of the nullity and falſity of their Miracles. Thus hath the learned and judicious Ludovicus ^[711] Vives, and after him Ramus, and the moderne Philoſophers, took no other courſe to ruine and level that Labyrinth of frivolous difficulties, comprehended under the title of Parva Logicalia, than to make a full diſcovery of the impertinencies, flatneſs, and extravagance of all thoſe fooleries of Suppoſitions, Ampliations, Reſtrictions, Sophiſms, Obligations, Appellations, and other ſubtilties much more trivial and ridiculous. And yet theſe were in ſuch reputation for the ſpace of 400 years, that they found work enough for thoſe who were accounted the greateſt Sophiſts and Philoſophers in the world, ſuch as, in compariſon of whom, Caſſiodorus and St. Augustine underſtood nothing, as many are perſwaded, of Dialectick, becauſe they have not, in the precepts they have left us thereof, made any mention of the Chimaera, Antichriſt, Sortes, Buridan's Aſſe, Nullus et Nemo. But theſe, together with all thoſe frivolous rubricks and ſophiſtications [〈1 page duplicate〉] [〈1 page duplicate〉] have been ſo fortunately levell'd with the ground, by the foreſaid Vives, that they are baniſh'd both out of the Schools and the memory of men, with as much confuſion and contempt, as they had bin introduc'd & maintain'd with ap-Spain, who the time of Lombard, and Peter of plauſe, from were the two firſt Authors and Promoters of this excellent kind of Dialectick.

The reſult of all this, then, will be, that thoſe who can make better advantages of what they read and learn than the ſlaves of Pedantiſm do, and who are ſo induſtrious as to judge of things to come, by a conſideration of what are paſt, may by theſe examples eaſily fore-ſee, That the writings of Demonographers, hydropically blown up with ſo many fables as almoſt ſtiflle the truth, are threatned with the accompliſhment in them▪ of Paterculus's ſaying, Naturali[•]er quod procedere non potest, recidit; and will prove like that great Coloſſus of Rhodes, which was ruin'd only by its own vaſt and prodigious height, or thoſe great Edifices, which make the very found[•]tions crack by the weight of their ſuperſtructures. And indeed experience teaches us that there is nothing more dangerous than to ſhuffle old wives tales, and relations that are doubtful, if not apparently falſe, among things of conſequence: for the more circumſpect part of mankind not able to credit, nay not to admit them, it often happens, that the vulgar, who hath not the ability to judge of things by themſelves, is lead away by the opinion of thoſe whom it eſteems the moſt prudent, and, is perſwaded, underſtand them much better. So that being by their example once arriv'd to ſo much confidence as to ſleight and carp at any one of thoſe ſtories and opinions it had ſometimes held for true, it preſently jumps into an equall uncertainty and contempt of all thoſe others for which it had not greater authority and better grounds than they had for thoſe that were diſcarded,

Nam [•]upidè conculcatur nimis ant[•] metutum.

It were therefore much to be wiſh'd, as well for the reputation of our Demonographers, as the maintenance & explanation of the truth of the Subject they treat of, that they would be hence forward more cautious than to advance any Hiſtory or Authority before they have diligently examined all circumſtances, and would afford all things their true worth and weight. So doing ſhall they not be led into a diſadvantageous opinion of any one but upon good ground, nor without reaſon advance theſe frivolous accuſations, fraught with nought but wind and forgery, ſince that when they come to be narrowly examin'd, and the truth thereof diſcuſs'd, it commonly happens that they prove meer Calumnies, weakly-grounded ſuſpicions, and indeed but vaine, light and inconſiderate words▪ which the Devill doth inſenſibly impoſe on the good names of the innocent, to the end they may one day prove occaſions that that men ſhall not be able to diſcern and puniſh the guilty.

Lucret. l. 1.

Verùm animo ſatis haec veſtigia parva ſagaci

Sunt▪ per quae poſſis cognoſcere caetera tutè.

FINIS.

Marginal notes

Lib. 5. de tradendis [•] diſciplinis. ↩
Virg. Geor. 4. ↩
Naogeorgus, Sat. 1. ↩
Flor▪ de Remond. c. 13. of Pope Joan. ↩
Prudent. in Symach. ↩
Ae[••]as Sylvius. ↩
Alciat Embl. 187. ↩
Epiſt. 29. ↩
Ovid. Met. 1. ↩
Lib. 30. cap. 1. ↩
In 13. Ezech. ↩
Exercit. 327. nu. 3. ↩
Agrip. de vanit▪ c. 45 ↩
Apul. in Apolog. ↩
Exo. 20. 5. ↩
Scalig. Exer. 327. num. 3. ↩
De Relig. Chriſt. c. 30. ↩
Cont. Gent. l. 1. ↩
in Alcib▪ ct in Carmide. ↩
De ſing. cert l. 29. fol. 517. ↩
See. Ep iſt 33. ↩
Lib. 2. ↩
De Diviſ. Scien. ↩
Montaigne. ↩
Heracl. in frag. de politicis. ↩
Caſsiodor. lib. 4. var. Epiſt. 22. ↩
5. Rer. judic. ↩
Libr. 4. Dec. 1. ↩
Nouveau C[•]née pag. 102. ↩
De Sapient. Lib. 5. ↩
Lib. 1. Diſ. [•]3. ↩
Tertul. in Apol. cap. [•]5. ↩
Alan. de Inſulis. ↩
Reuclin. de Art cabaliſt. ↩
[•]. Tim▪ c. 3. ↩
Liv. 6. ↩
Lege. 7. Cod. de malef et Mathem. ↩
Apolog. 1. ↩
Cap. 17. de ratione curandi per ſang. miſsionem. ↩
Ad cap. 2. Daniel. ↩
Apul. Apolog. 1. ↩
In vita Nici[•]. ↩
in Epiſt. ↩
Plat. lib. de Daemone Socrat: ↩
Lib. 3. de falſ[•] ſapientia, c. 23. ↩
Aventinus, lib. 3. Annal. Boio[•]. ↩
Initio Dialect. ↩
1. De Conſol. Philoſoph. proſ[•] ▪ 4. ↩
Plaut. in T[•]uc. ↩
Lib. 3. inſtaur. mag. ↩
De vita beata. ↩
Eph. 45. l. 1. var. Metal. c. 24. in Encom. Art. liberal▪ ↩
De Mag. l. 1. cap. 9▪ ↩
Epiſt. 45. lib. 1. var. ↩
Du Bartas. 1. Week. 6. day. ↩
Caſſiod l. [•] var. Ep [•]5 ↩
l. ult. c. ult. adv. Aſtrolog. ↩
Metam. lib. 2. ↩
lib. de Idololat. ↩
lib. 1▪ c. 9▪ ↩
Origen. hom. 3. Hierom▪ ↩
Steph. Forcat▪ in Prometheo▪ ↩
Cap. 2. Philobiblii. ↩
Sarisber. Polycrat. l. 1. c. 18. ↩
Vulpian▪ ↩
Diſquiſ. de magicis a[•]tionib. ↩
De Vanit. Scient. cap. 45. ↩
De praeſt. Lib. 2. Cap. 5. ↩
l. 1. adv. Aſtrolog. ↩
Cic. de divin. l. 1. ↩
C. 4. Comment. in Sphaeram. cap. 17▪ lib. 2. Polycrat. ↩
[•]dve[•]. Aſtrolog. lib. 1. ↩
Francis c. lib. 5. cap. 6. Antip. l. 1. ↩
Lib. 4. Examin. vanit. doctrinae gent. ↩
I. 4. c. 6. De rectâ rat. Philoſoph. ↩
Diſcuſſ. Peripat. Tom. 1. l. 3. ↩
Comment. in lib. Hipp. de [•]at. humana. ↩
Diſcuſſ. peripat. Tom. 1. l. 3. ↩
Lipſ. de co[••]taa. ↩
De pr[•]ſcrip. Cap. 43. ↩
De anima, cap. 57. ↩
Diſquiſit. mag. in p[•]olog. ↩
lib. de Daemon. ↩
Life of Charlemaigne. ↩
Pitheus in Galfred[•] Mon. ↩
In Philo-Pſeude. ↩
Metalog. l. 2. c. 7. ↩
in cata[••] go. in B[••]lioth. Theolog. ↩
Fo[•]micarii. lib. 5. c. 3 ↩
K. James. In lib. de ſtrigib. ↩
In judicio librorum [••]dini. ↩
Ammiam. Mar[•]ellin▪ ↩
Ci[•]. de nat. deor. l. 1. ↩
Collat. 8. c. 21. Lib. 2. divin. Inſtit.

De idolor. Vanit.
↩
Praep. Evang. l. 5. c. 7. ↩
Lib. 30. c. 1, 2. ↩
Lib. 2. ↩
Praep. Evang. ↩
De Mag. l. 1. c. 13. ↩
Hiſter. l. 2. Serm. 2. ↩
Li[•]. de genit. animae, è Timaeo. ↩
1. Stro[•]iat. ↩
Bulenger Ecl[••]. ad Arnob. c. 5. ↩
Lib. 18. c. 19. ↩
Lib. de origine animae, è Timaeo. ↩
In Gallicis. ↩
In Magia Philoſophica. ↩
Lib. 3. ↩
Fol. 76. ↩
In Magia Philoſoph. ↩
De Mag. c. 13. ↩
H[•]reſ. 55. ↩
Lib. 1. Polit. ↩
Lib. 5. de tradend. diſcipl. ↩
Lib. 18. c. 1. de Civit. ↩
Qu. 5. de repar. temp. Hieroſ. ↩
Syntag. 4. de Diis Gentium. ↩
Lib, integro, Romae Ed[•]t. 1560 ↩
Lib. 2. de lo[•]. Tb[•]ol. ↩
Lib. de origin[••]. he[•]r. ſol. 20 & 222. ↩
Lib. 3. c. 1. ↩
Daemon. l. 2. cap. 2. ↩
Diſq. Magic. l. 1. c. 3. ↩
In divinar. Inſtit. l. 5. c. 3. ↩
Pererius in Geneſ. l. 14. c. 1. verſ. 17. & Genebrar. l. 1. Chronolog. ↩
In fortalitio fidei, l. 3. p. 204. ↩
Ibidem. ↩
In epiſt. ad Marſil. Ficin. ↩
In Alcibiade. ↩
De Reg. Perſ[•]r. l. 2. ↩
Eclog. ad Arnob. cap. 5▪ 6. ↩
Convivior. l. 2. ↩
Philo ſoph. Barvaricae. l. 1. ↩
Lib. de Septimeſtri. partu. ↩
Eclog. 4. ↩
Aphoriſ. [•]3. Sect. 1. ↩
Lib. 7. c. 1[•]. ↩
Iſagogicae tractat. Sect. 2. c. 2. ↩
Cap. 57. ↩
2. Florid. ↩
Ad c. 2. Dan. ↩
Homil. 3. in Hi[•]rem. ↩
Lib. 2. eleg. 5. ↩
De Divinat. ↩
In Conviv. ↩
In Magia Philoſoph. ↩
Gen. 12▪ ↩
In Epinomide▪ ↩
Lib. 2. c. 6. ↩
Civit. d[•]i. Lib. 18. c. 14. ↩
Aeneid. 6 ↩
Praep. Evang. Lib. 2. c. 2. ↩
Orat exhortat. ad ventes. ↩
Apolog. pro Chriſtian▪ ↩
Sympos. l. 2. qu. 3. ↩
Lib. cont Fauſtum Manch. ↩
Praep. Evan. l. 13. ↩
Lib. de animi immortalitate. ↩
in apolog. et in concluſ. ↩
Comment. in Quintil. Lib. 1. ↩
H[•]b. domad. l. 7. ↩
Lib. 10. de perenni Philoſoph. c. 7. lic. 2. ↩
In Poſt. El[•]acis. ↩
Lib. 4. c. 3. ↩
Daemonom. l. 1. c. 5. ↩
De Spectris l. 4. c. 3. ↩
In Orat. de corona. ↩
De Syra Dea. ↩
Lib. 1. ↩
Praep. Evang. Lib. 2. c. 1. ↩
Tit. Liv. Dec. 4. l. 9. ↩
Phlegon. lib. de mirabilibus. Plin. l. 7. c. 52. Bern. Serm. 2. de Virg. ↩
[•]siodor. [•]ar. Epiſt. [•]. ep. 31. ↩
Orat. de Homero. ↩
De Geneal. Deorum. ↩
Lib. 2. ep. 41. ↩
Lib. 3 in ſomn. Scip. c. 3. ↩
Lib. 1. c. 10. ↩
Hebdemadum, l. 4. c. 6. ↩
Apolog. 2. ↩
Lib. de Spectris. ↩
Lib. de Deo Socratis. ↩
Praefat. in Apolog. ↩
Geogr. l. 10 ↩
Nat. quaeſt. cap. 14. ↩
Lib. 22. c. 2. ↩
Lib. 2. variar▪ ep. 40. ↩
Lib. 30, c. 1. ↩
Lib. de audiendo. ↩
Apud. Florid. 2. ↩
Lib. 1. c. 9. ↩
Lib. 2. Florid. ↩
Lib. 9. ↩
2. Florid. ↩
In Lueullo. ↩
Lib. de Iſide & Oſiride. ↩
Epiſt. lib. 5. ↩
Ariſtoxenus apud Diogen.

Pol▪ Virgil. ex Diog. l. 1. c. 19.
↩
Apollodor. Supputator apud Diogen. ↩
In ſomno Scip. lib. 2. Cap. 1. ↩
Muſicae l. 1. c. 10. ↩
In compendio Tim[•]i. ↩
Muſicae l. 1. c. 8. ↩
Epiſtol. l. 5. ſ. [•]0. ↩
Lib. 14. Dcipnoſoph. Serm. 21. ↩
Au Dialong. 2. du ſolitaire. ↩
Lib. 20. ↩
Nat. hiſt. l. 2. ↩
Plac. [•]hil. l. 1. ↩
De nat deor. 1. ↩
In the treatiſe, of Philoſophers converſing▪ with Princes▪ ↩
Cic. Tuſe. qu. 4. ↩
Epiſt. 65. ↩
Cap. 13, 16, 28. ↩
Lib. 24. c. 17. & 30 ↩
Lib. de Anim. c. 1. ↩
Adv. Celſum. ↩
De civit. Dei, lib. 7. c. 35. ↩
Lib. 21. Hiſtor. ↩
Lib. 3. Metalog. c. 1. ↩
De art. Cabal[•]. 2. ↩
Rhodigin. l. 19▪ c. 7. ↩
Cap. 2. & 8. ↩
Lib. 6. de ſimp. med. facul. ↩
C. 19. fol. 323. ↩
Hiſt. nat. l. 24. c. 17. ↩
Lib. de bituminib. ↩
Lib. de Subterraneis. ↩
Cap. 19. ↩
Lib. 4. de ſenſu. ↩
Occult. Phil. l. 1. c. 6. ↩
Mythol. l. 3. c. 1, 7. ↩
Vit. Numa. ↩
Lib. 3. epiſt. f. 41. ↩
Lib. 1. c. 5. quaeſt. 1. ſect. 1. ↩
Var. hiſt. l. 2. ↩
Cont. Celſum, l. 6 ↩
Cap. 5. & 7. ↩
In vit. Pythag. ↩
Vit Numa▪ ↩
Ammian Marcell. ↩
Gen. 1. ↩
Diſcuſſ. peripat.

Lib 1. l. 3. Vit. Numae.
↩
Lib. 19. c. 7. ↩
De Enſalmis▪ Sect. 1. c. 1. art. 14. & Sect. 2. c. 2. art 13. ↩
In Hieroglyph. tit. bonorum obſequium. ↩
Lib. 2. contradict. tract. 2. contrad. 7. ↩
Tom. 1. tract. 2. part. 1. ↩
Lib. 1. & 8. Microcoſ. at the end of his Geomancy. ↩
Antipali. Malef. l. 1. c. 3. ↩
Lib. 2. Epiſ. Mathema. ↩
Epiſt. 4. ↩
Montaigne l. 2. c. 2. ↩
Metam. 15. ↩
Lib. 1. ↩
Antiq. Rom. lib. [•]. ↩
Vit. Numa. ↩
Lib. 19. c. 8. antiq. [•]ect. ↩
De principiis rer. natur. in Pythag. ↩
Lib. 2. ↩
Lib. 2. Antiq. Roman.▪ ↩
In vit. Numae. ↩
Dec. 1. l. 1. ↩
De orig. Etrur. f. 139. ↩
Initio, l. 5. ↩
De Civit. D[•]i, l. 3. c. 35. ↩
Divinar. Inſtit. l. 1. c. 22. ↩
Lib. 2. c. 5. ↩
Vit. Numae. ↩
Antiq. Roman. l▪ 2. ↩
Lib. [•] ↩
Lib. 21▪ ↩
De trad. diſciplinis, l. 5. f. 38. ↩
De ſpectr. l. 2. c. 5. ↩
Diſquiſit. Magic. l. 2. qu. 9. ↩
Antiq. Roman. l. 2. ↩
In commentar. ad 3. Plinii capita de papyro memb. ↩
Vit Numae. ↩
Dec. 4. l. ult. ↩
Apud Plin. l. 13. c. 13. ↩
Ibidem. ↩
Divinar. inſtit. c. 22. ↩
Apud▪ D. Auguſt. de civit. Dei. l. 7. c. 34. ↩
Apud Plin citato in vit. Numa. ↩
Petron. in fragm. ↩
Lib. 1. c. 11. ↩
Lib. 17. c. 21. ↩
Dec. 4. l. Vlt. ↩
Hor. de art. poet. ↩
Quintil. Declam. 18. in Libanii. mania. ↩
Alchymiae expugnatae, l. 2. c. [•]6. ↩
De conſenſu. l. c. 3. ↩
Variar. lect. l. 4. c. 9. ↩
Exercit. ad Annal Bar. Diatr. 10. ↩
In Bibiotheca. ↩
Diſcuſſ. perip. Tom. 1. l. 24. ↩
In Philoſoph Poeturâ. ↩
Apolog. c. 46. ↩
Lib. 10. c. 17. ↩
Lib. de curioſitia[•]. ↩
In problemat. Gellian. prob. 72. ↩
Divinar. inſtit. l. 3. [•]. 8. ↩
Plin. in Epiſt. ↩
Lib. 30. c. [•] ↩
Lib. 2. c. 1[•]. ↩
Lib. 24. c. 17. ↩
Lib. 28. ↩
Lib. 30. c. 1. ↩
Lib 2. qu. 9. & 11. ↩
Lib. 10. ↩
c. 12. 17. ↩
Lib▪ de vita Apollon. c. 2. ↩
Lib. 30. c. 1. ↩
Lib. 10. c. 12. ↩
Obſervat. l. 10. c 19. ↩
Adverſar. l. 9. c. 3. ↩
Cap. 9. ↩
Delictor Magic. l. 2. c. 2. art. 2. ↩
Lucian. in Philopſ[•]ud ↩
Imperat.

Julian. in Epiſt.
↩
Glycas Annal. p. 4. f. 415. ↩
Rer. recond tar. l. 2. c. 1, & 2. ↩
Lib. 6. de loois affectis, c. 5. in voce [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉]. ↩
Antrop. l. 13 c. 3. lib. de Divinat. ↩
Lib. 8. epiſt. 3. ↩
Ep. 103. ↩
Qu. 24. ↩
Quaeſt. in S. Script. 23. ↩
In D. Aureliano, epiſt. 3. l. 8. ↩
Euſeb. in Hieroclem. ↩
Lib. 1. c. 3. l. 2. c. 2. ↩
In Divo Aureliano. ↩
In notis ad Vopiſcum. ↩
Lib. 1. c. 3, 4, 7, 9, 19. l. 2. c. 2. l. 4. c. 1, 6, 16. l. 8. c. 5. ↩
De rerum praenot. l. 7. c. 10. ↩
Adverſus Hieroclem. ↩
Ci[•]. in Paradox[•]s. ↩
De apparit▪ Spirit. c. 14. num. 346. ↩
Quadrip. l. 4. c. 13. textu. 18. ↩
Lib. de Deo Socrat. ↩
Lib. de Myſter.

Aegypt.
↩
Comment in Phaedo[•] ▪ ↩
Lib. de animâ et Daemone. ↩
De Deo Socrat. ↩
De ſact. & dict. Socrat. in Theage. ↩
Paſſerat. in Poemat. de nihilo. ↩
Lib▪ 14. c. 3. ↩
Lib. de deo Socratis. ↩
Ibidem. ↩
Divinar Lib. 2. c. 14. ↩
In Apolog. ↩
In Theage ↩
De Deo. Socr. ↩
S[•]rmonib. 26. 27. ↩
De incantationibus, c. 11. ↩
Eſſayes. l. 1. Chap. 11. ↩
Apul. de deo Socr. ↩
A[•]oc. 19. 20. ↩
Gen▪ 18▪ 2. ↩
Lib. 13. de immort. ↩
In Biblioth. lib. de Scrip torib▪ Eccleſiaſt. ↩
De art. Poel. ↩
De ſubtilit. l. 19. ↩
Quodlibet. 3. quaeſt. 8. ex ejus comment. in lih. Meteor. ↩
Quaeſt. de Daemonib. art. 1. ↩
Parte. 2. partis de univerſo ſpiritu. ↩
De incantation. c. 10 ↩
Lib. 19. de ſubtil. et l. 6. de variet c. 93. ↩
In Academic. contempl. ↩
Comment in Fernel. l. 1. de abditis. c. 11. ↩
Lib. de Daemon. c. 3 ↩
Lib. 29. de ſingul. certam. p. 519. ↩
Comment▪ on that place. ↩
In cap. 13. Alcinoi digreſſ. 4. pag. 338. ↩
Cap. 7. lib. de inveſtig. Daemon. ↩
1. Secundae quaeſt. 109. [•]rt. 1. ↩
In proaem. de vit. Philoſoph. ↩
11. Part. de univerſo ſpirit.

Cap. 92. 153. & 2. part. c. 6.
↩
Lib. de Enſal. Sect. 2. c. 3. n. 19. ↩
Sect. 2. c. 2▪ num. 20. ↩
Tom. 2. tract. 25 ſect. 3. ↩
Lib. 2. de comparat. Ariſtot. & Platonis. ↩
Apud Sibyllam 1. Decad. Peregr. quaeſt. cap. 8. qu. 1. quaeſtiuncula 4. ↩
In addit. 2. ad Trithemium. ↩
Virgil. Aeneid. 2. ↩
In notis ad Pſellum de Daemonib. ↩
Lib. de legib. c. 28▪ ↩
Antipali malef. l. 1▪ c. 3. ↩
Lib. 3. c. 15. adverſus Calumniat. Platon. ↩
1 Part. qu. 32. art. 1. ↩
1 Part, 2. c. 20. ↩
Lib. de Incantat. ↩
Contradict. 6. tract. 2. lib. 2. contradict. ↩
Lib. 29. de ſingul. certamine. ↩
Lib. 3. de curat. Graecanic. affect. ↩
Praep. Evang. l. 5. c. 6. ↩
Timo 3. in Valent. ↩
Hiſtor. lib. 26. ↩
Lib. de vitis Sophiſtar. in Iamblico. ↩
De Subtili[•] at. l. 19. ↩
Diſquiſit. l. 1. c. 3. ↩
Lib. 2. c. 30. ↩
In his Daemon[•]maniae ↩
Commentin diſput. 3. deſtruct. quaeſt. An Necromantia ſit vera▪ ↩
Lib. 3. cap. 26. ↩
Lib. 16. c. 93. ↩
Lib. 30. c. 1. ↩
Ecclus. c. 38 ↩
Lib. 2. de ſpectr. c. 6. ↩
De divina. c. 1. ↩
Diſquiſ. Mag. l. 1. c. 3. ↩
De praeſtig. l. 2. Lib. 3. ↩
Quodlibet. 9. ↩
De ſubtil. l. 16. ↩
Diſquiſ. l. 1. c. 3. ↩
Lib. de poteſtate artis & naturae, c. 3. ↩
Variar. l. 19. Epiſt. 5. ↩
Antipal. l. 1. c. 3. ↩
In his Cyphers. fol. 118. ↩
Deſcrip. of Africa. Bibliothec. part. 2. ↩
Prolog. Mathemat. ↩
De Metall. 2. ↩
Par. 4. adverſ. Paracelſ. ↩
De vera. Sapient. c▪ 29. ↩
Lib. ſuae Philoſophiae. ↩
Lib. 2. de praenot. c. 6. ↩
Animad. in cap. 38. Scholae Saler[•]it. ↩
De rer. variet. l. 16. ↩
Comment. in c. 7. l. 1. Paracleſ. de vita long[•]. ↩
In prolegom.

Mathemat.
↩
De Inſtit. c. 6. ↩
Intipal. l. 1. c. 3. ↩
On c. 14. l. 3. of Pbi loſtratus. ↩
In Anaſtaſ. Phyſiolog. ↩
Lib. 2. de praeſtig. c. 3. ↩
Lib. 1. cap. 3. quaeſt. 4. ↩
Apud Emanuel de Moura, prooem. opuſc. de Enſalmis. ↩
De unius [•]egis veritate, l. 5. c. 53. ↩
In vita R. Lullii. ↩
In his Eccleſiaſt. Hiſtory, ann. 1285. ↩
Comment. 36. in 2. partem Directorii Eymerici q. 11 ↩
Lib. de Alcoran. & Cenevangeliſtar. concordia, f. 27 ↩
Lib. 14. Rer. Hiſpanicar. c. 9. ↩
Lib. 1. c. 5. qu. 1. ſect. 4 ↩
Lib. 5. cont. Aſtrolog. c. 1. ↩
In the year 1308. ↩
3. Parte lib▪ tribrat. ↩
De praenot. l. 7. c. 7. ↩
Lib. 1. de patientia, c. 3. ↩
Angelogr. part. 2. c. 21 ↩
De Spectr. qu. 2. l. 4. c. 3. ↩
Daemonomagiae. qu. 16. ↩
Differentia 156. ↩
Lib. 4. adv. Aſtrolog. c. 8. ↩
Antipal. Lib. cap. 3. ↩
Tract 4. Lib. de claris Medicinae Scriptoribus. ↩
In Epiſtol[•] ſcrip. Paracelſo. ↩
Comment. in l. 4. Paracelſi, de vita longa. ↩
Apud Eraſtum. part. 1 ↩
Lib. 1. c. 4. ↩
Epiſt. ad Joan. Virdumguin. ↩
Inſtit. l. 5. c. 1. ↩
Agripp. l. 6. ep. 18. Lib 7. epiſt. 21. Thevet in his life.

Agrippa 2. tom. p. 596. Idem l. 3. & 4. epiſt. Idem l. 6. & 7. Idem 13. primis epiſt. l. 1. Idem in Expoſtul. Catilin. fol. 510, 511. Id. epiſt. 47. l. 7. Id. in defenſ. propoſit. ſol. 596. Idem ep. 38. lib. 1. Idem 76. & 79. l. 3. Idem 84. l. 5. Idem paſſim n epiſt.
↩
In Elogiis lib. de Myſter. notarum, Quaeſt. 16. ↩
Daemonomag. p. 209. ↩
Lib. de praeſtig. paſſ. ↩
Lib. de vit. Medic. in e jus vita. ↩
From cap. 41. to cap. 48. ↩
Pag. 555. ↩
Depraeſtig. Lib. 2. c. 5. ↩
Lih. 4. Ep. 56. Lib. 5. ep. 14. ↩
Lib. de myſt not. ↩
Comment. in Paracelſ. de vita longa. f. 61. ↩
In his Cyphers f. 16. 27. ↩
Lib. 7. Epiſt. ↩
Epiſt. dedicat. ↩
De occ. Phil. l. 2▪ ↩
Lib. 4. E[•]. 56. l. 5. E[•]. 14. Dedic. l. 3. Philoſoph. ↩
In the lives of illuſtrious men. ↩
Diſquiſit. l. 2. qu. 12. ↩
Lib. 2. queſt. 39. ↩
2 Tomi. ſol. 251. Epiſt. dedicat. Apol. in buerel[•] adverſ. Scholaſt. p▪ 447. In defenſion. prop. De Monogam. p. 584. & Epiſt. 15▪ 27. lib. 6. ↩
Tom. 2. f. 596 l. 3. ep. 58. & 60. l. 7. ep. 1. 21. 44. 26. and elſewhere. ↩
De praeſtig. l. 2. c. 5 ↩
In vitis illuſtr. medi[•]or. ↩
Lib. 2. ep. 72. 74. 76. 77. ↩
De praeſtig. l. 2▪ c. 5. ↩
De ira. lib. 3. ↩
Senec. ↩
Lib. 2. cont. Gent. ↩
Lib. 4. de origine & geſtis Britannor. ↩
Lib. 2. de praeſtig c. 33. & ſequent. ↩
Decad. 3. c. 2. qu. 2. p. reg. qu. ↩
De variet. c. 8. ↩
Angelogr. part. 2. c. 21. qu. 6. ↩
Lib. de Phythoniſſis. ↩
Diſc. of the principle of Generation. ↩
De perenni philoſop. l. 6. c. 23. ↩
Daemonolog. l. 1. c. 6. ↩
In Scriptorib. Angliae. ↩
In centuriis. ↩
In prooem. libror. 5. de reb. Anglic. ↩
Lib. 1. hiſtoriae Anglicanae. ↩
2. Part of his Library, an. 536. ↩
In Centur▪ Script. Anglic. ↩
De divinat. 2. ↩
Galf. de orig. & geſt. Britann. l. 4. c. ult. Adamus, initio commentar. f. 8. ↩
Lib. 2. ↩
Lib. 6. c. 2. ↩
Lib. 2. de Sckiſmate. c. 19. ↩
Lib. de oriis imperatoriis. ↩
Iu Genethliaco Edvard. princip. Cambriae, in Topograph.

Hiberniae.
↩
In Epiſt ad Lectorem. ↩
In Peplo illuſt viror Italiae ↩
In elogiis. in part 3. of his hiſtor. Library, anno, 1598. ↩
In his Apolog. againſt Leſſiuis & Cotten. c. 52. ↩
In his myſtery of Iniquity. ↩
In epiſt. Philoſoph.

Savanorolae praefixa.
↩
Fran. Pic. in [••]us vita. ↩
Comines. l. 8. c. 19. ↩
In elogiis▪ ↩
Poetie. l. 6. c. 6. ↩
Lib. 4. of his Commenlaris. ↩
Cap. 7. l. q. Metaph. ↩
Apud▪ Plut. ↩
De divinat l. 2. ↩
De Sacra Philoſoph. c. 30. ↩
Comines. l. 2. c. 3. ↩
Noct. Attic. t. 14. c. 1. ↩
Lib. 1. Policrat. c. 27. ↩
Lib. 1. adverſ. Aſtrolog. ↩
Franc. Picus l. 5. de praen. c. 6. ↩
Io. Picus l. 1. adverſ. Aſtrolog. Idem. in Heptaplo in Eccleſi[•]ſte, & in lib. de Thealog. ſtudio. ↩
De trad. Diſcipl l. 5. ↩
Diſtinct. 7. quaeſt. 3. art. 1. ad 5. ↩
De eſſent. eſſentiar. tr. 4. c. 2. ↩
S cund. Secund. queſt. 69. art. 2. queſt. 12. art 14. ↩
In epiſt. de dicat. lib. propaedeumat. Aphoriſticor. de Naturae viribus. ↩
Diſquiſit. l. 31. c. 3. queſt. 1. ↩
Lib. 2. de praenotione c. 1. & l. 7. c. 7. ↩
Lib. 2. de Praeſtig. c. 2. ↩
In praefa. Apolog. lib. de Script.

Anglicis.
↩
Lib. de Diis Syris Syntag. 1. ↩
2. In poſteriori ed[•]tione Cantab. c Lib. 1. de [•]ebus Anglicis. ↩
Lib. 10. Symbolor. aureae menae pag. 453. ↩
Lib. de vita beata. ↩
Divinar. inſtit. l. 2. c. 3. ↩
Propoſit. 12. op[•]ic. ↩
Diſquiſit. l. 1▪ c. 3 qu. 1. ↩
Part. ſentent. diſtinct. 33. ↩
De reb. Anglicis. ↩
Lib. de Leg. ↩
In Centur. miſcel. proemi[•]. ↩
Epiſt. Polit. l. 9. [•]p. 4. ↩
Lib. de anatom. ingenior. ↩
Oratione de Encyclopaed. vol. 1. ↩
Lib. de Virg. Culice et Terentii fabulis ↩
Lib. de intellectu ſenſu. &c. p. 73. ↩
Lib. 2. de praeſtig. c. 6. ↩
In the lives of illuſtrious men. ↩
Diſquis. l. 2. q. 1. ↩
Lib. de Magis & venefic. ↩
De gener. & corrupt. ↩
In clavi philoſoph. Chymicae, ſub finem. ↩
Lib. de myſteriis [•]otar & l. 1. Comment. in Paracel[•] de vita lon ga in Epiſt ad Joannem Weſten burg. ↩
Praefat. Comment. in Paracel. de vita longa. ↩
Pag. 12. of his Cyphers. ↩
De divinat. cap. 5. ↩
Hiſtory of Tongues. c. 14. fol. 152. 159. ↩
In confeſſione Amantis apud Selden. ↩
Vol. 1. de r[•]b Anglicis. ↩
Diſquiſ. l. c. 4. qu. 4. Sect. 1. ↩
In elogiis [••]ror doctorum. ↩
Livre du gouvernement d[•]e[••]at. ↩
In catalog. Script. Eccleſiaſt. ↩
Vit. vir. illuſtr. ↩
L. de Rer. inventor. c. 12. ↩
L. 3. de auro. ↩
Tract. 1. c. 9. ↩
[•]. 3. Phyſic. c. 13. ↩
Al[•]hym. impugnalae▪ l 2. c. 7. ↩
In Catolog. Script. Eccleſiaſt. et Antipal. l. 1. c 3. ↩
Apolog. art. 5. ↩
Bzovius de ſign. Eccleſ. tom. 1. l. 9. c. 11. ſig. 36. ↩
De praenot. l. 7. c. 7. ↩
Diſquis. l. 1. c. 3. ↩
Antipal. l. 1. c. 2. ↩
1. part. q. 2. art. [•]. diſp. 20. [•]. 4. ↩
Apud Eman. de M[••]ra, Sect. 2. c. 17. a[•]t. 6. ↩
3. Decad. Per[•]gr. queſt. c. 2 qu 3. ↩
De g[•]ſtis R g. Anglor. l. 2. c. 10. ↩
Apud. S[•]ld a. de D[••]s Syris Syntag. 1. c. 2. ↩
In Exod. ↩
H[••]me[•]. C[•]n[•]. 3. [•]om. 4. ↩
Diſquiſ. l. 1. c. 4▪ ↩
Lib. 2. Epiſt. [•]p. 6. ↩
De incon. ſtant l. 2. c. 2. ↩
De diis Syris, Synt. 1. c. 2. ↩
c. 31. ↩
c. 19. ↩
Pergr. qu. [••]cad. 3. c. 2. q. 3. ↩
De civit. dei. l. 8. c▪ 23. ↩
L. 2. de Daemonibus c. 12. 13. ↩
L. 1. de Plantis [•]n Theoph. ↩
Ethic. l. 7▪ ↩
L. 1. Variar. epiſt. 45. ↩
De ſpectr. l. 4. c. 4. ↩
Diſquiſ. l. 2. quaeſt. 21. ↩
Lib. de E[•]ſalſect. 1. c. 3. art. 1. & 2. ↩
De praeſtig. [〈…〉] c. 2. ↩
Apolog. 2. Lib. de fide Gallica. ↩
Diſquiſ. l. 2. qu. 9. ↩
Of Antichriſt cap. 17. ↩
Biblioth. Hiſtor. part. 2. p. 650. where he ſpeakes of the death of Sylveſter at the end of the year 1003. ↩
Lib. 4. ↩
Tabula 13. ↩
Paul. Jov. in Elogiis. ↩
Chap. 22. of his Popular Errours. ↩
Lib. 9. Epiſt. 9. ↩
Diſquiſ. l. 2. qu. 12. ↩
Daemonom. l 3. c. 3 ↩
Lib. 1. demonolat. c. 4. ↩
In vitis Poncific. ↩
Lib. Chrolog. ad ann. 1002. ↩
In his book of Antichriſt. ↩
Diſquiſ. l. 2. quaeſt. 19. ↩
Decad. 2. l. 3. ↩
Lib. 4. Floridorum. ↩
L. 2. de geſtis Reg. Aug. c. 10. ↩
In his additions upon Platinus. ↩
L. 4. c. 1. de vita Apollonii. ↩
Annal. To▪ 2. ↩
L. 3. Chronol. ad an Chriſti 1075. ↩
L. 1. de m[•]gis curial. c. 5. ↩
Vid. Majerus, Sandiv[••]ius, Conrad & other Alchymiſts. ↩
Chap. 44. ↩
Pſal. 104. ↩
Gen. c. 44. v. 5. ↩
v. 15. ↩
Quaeſt. 104. in Ge[•]eſin. ↩
Quaeſt. 5[•]. in Gen. 2. 2. ↩
Quaeſt. [•]5. art. 7. in reſp. ad 1. ↩
In [〈◊〉] [••]cum. ↩
L. 1. de Magia di[•] intatr. 20. ↩
Gen. 44. v. 2. ↩
L. 9. in Geneſ. ↩
Epiſtol. l. 4. ↩
Quaeſt. 2. in c. 44. Gen. ↩
Antipal. l. 1. c. 3. ↩
Lib. 36. hiſtor. ↩
Inſtit. l. 5. c. 5. ↩
Lib. Diſ. quiſit. c. 5. ↩
To. 1. Sect. 9. probl. 487. et tom. 5. Sect. 1. prob. 81. ↩
L. 7. de reb. Salom. c. 13. ↩
Galat. 5. 2 Kings 21. 3. ↩
Verſe 6. ↩
Lib. de reb. Salom. c. 13. ↩
Lib. 1. Choronolog. ad annum diluvii. 1460▪ ↩
Lib. 3. de reb. Salomon. c. 29. ↩
Lib. 1. Antipal. c. 3. ↩
Lib. 10. de arte cabaliſticâ. ↩
Li[•]. 1. de more prohibendi malos libros. c. 10. ↩
In notis ad Pſellum. ↩
In fine 4 Annal. ↩
Cap. 2. de ſecretis operibus artis & naturae▪ ↩
De reb. Salom. l. 3. c. 29. ↩
Luk. 11. Math. 12. Acts▪ 19. Antiq. Judaic. l. 8. c. 2. ↩
Angelograph. part. 2. c. 17. ↩
ad ann. 1. Chriſti. ↩
Exercitat 2. num. 19. ↩
In cap. 2. Math. ↩
Eclogae ad Arnob. c. 6. ↩
Hiſt. l. 3. ↩
Geogr. l. 5. ↩
In Epitom. fidei Catholicae. ↩
Lib. de Idololatria. ↩
Lib. de vita longâ. Cap. 9. ↩
Homil. 7. in Math. ↩
Lib. 1. cont. Celſum. ↩
In cap. 19 Iſaiae. ↩
In cap. 2. Math. ↩
Daem[•]nom. l. 2. c▪ 2 ↩
Traitè de la meſcreance dis ſortilege co[•]vainc[•]. pag. 281. ↩
De augment. Scient. ↩
Lib. 2. de ſchiſmate c. 19. & 20 ↩
Lib. 16. ↩
Cap. 103. ↩
Lib. de claris Medicinae Scriptor. tract. 2. ↩
In notis ad Vopiſcum. ↩
In a letter he writ to Mr. Vazet. ↩
Tom. 1. des Medit. Hiſtoric. l. 3. c. 20. ↩
Metaphy. 3. ↩
Comment. vol. 1. traict[•] des eloges. ↩
Lib. 3. de poet. Lat. c. 37. ↩
Exercit. 246. nu. 3▪ ↩
Comment in Epiſt. D. Hieron. ad Paulinum. ↩
De ſpectr. l. 1. c. 6. ↩
1. Tom. oper. tract. de imaginibus c. 11. ↩
Lib. 4. Hiſtor. Slavor. c. 19. ↩
Peregr. quaeſt. de cad. 3. c. 2. quaeſtione. 3. ↩
In Itinerario. ↩
Lib. 3. de ſchiſmal. c. 19. ↩
Cap. 19. pag. 330▪ of his Cyphers. ↩
Antipal. l. 4. c. 3. ↩
Apud Em. de Moura l. de Enſal. Sect. 3. c. 4. num. 12. ↩
Sen. de vita beata. ↩
Chap. 19. ↩
Pro. 8. ↩
De Civ. dei. l. 7. cap. 35. ↩
Epiſt. 44. l. 6. variar. ↩
Lib. 2. de tradend. diſcipl. et lib. adverſus Pſeudo-Dialecticos. ↩

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The History of Magick, by way of Apology. [London], 1657. Hermetic Cloud, https://hermeticcloud.com/library/naude-history-of-magick/. Public-domain edition reproduced from the TCP transcription; its gaps and missing figures are marked.

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