The Great Deeds of Women.

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sagest of sovereigns, and did not women drown his wisdom in their caresses? Look at Job. Did he not patiently endure every calamity which befel him, and, so to speak, snap his fingers at Satan, until his wife threw him off his guard, and in so doing showed that she was more powerful than the Devil himself? Then, too, are not women commended in Scripture for deeds which would have been censured in men? Jael, the wife of Heber, took a nail and drove it into the temples of the sleeping Sisera; but was not she blessed amongst her sex for the mur derous act? Judith seized the sword of Holofernes, and cut off the head of the unsuspecting general, and was she not made illustrious by the feat? Other arguments of a still more desperate character are adduced. He does not even scruple to impress fabulous stories into the service of the sex. The phoenix, for example-that rarest of birds-is always a female; the basilisk, on the contrary, because it is the most noisome of reptiles, is invariably a male. Nor is Cornelius exactly honest in his arguments, for it must be admitted that whilst he carefully sets forth the credit side of the case without troubling himself about the per contra when dealing with the ladies, he reverses the process with regard to the lords of creation. Cain, the first murderer, was a man. Lamech, the first bigamist, was a man. Noah, the first drunkard, was a man. Nimrod, the first tyrant, was a man. But he is at no pains to schedule the good deeds of the rougher sex, and, if possible, is still more insensible to the iniquities of the weaker. In fact, Agrippa is perhaps the most thorough-paced champion the women ever possessed. He bounds over hedge and ditch, he dashes through brake and briar, he would rush headlong through fire and water, in order to pay a single compliment to the fair. Nothing stops him. We believe he would have said something polite to Jezebel, or made an offer to Xantippe, if disengaged. Whilst reading his treatise it is difficult to imagine that women have ever condescended to tell a fib or commit a fraud-that they have ever eloped with their lovers or poisoned their spouses. Most heartily do we wish we could believe all 'le bien qu'on a dit des femmes,' and reject all le mal,' as a pure fiction; but history is too strong for us, and forbids the courteous concession. Pleasant as it is to follow this neck-or-nothing advocate of feminine superiority, we are sorry to say that his own after-experience furnished a sad and crushing confutation of his book. Will it be credited that his third wife-for three he had-proved faithless to her husband, and that Cornelius, spite of his prodigious trust in female excellence, was compelled to procure a divorce? Who will deny that the woman who could betray the generous and quixotic enco

miast of her sex-the creature who could commit such treason against her entire order, and cancel by her own conduct the lofty praises which he had uttered-was guilty of as base a delinquency as is to be found recorded in the annals of masculine. depravity?

This treatise, written when the author was only twenty-three (A.D. 1509), was not published until many years afterwards. On its completion, Cornelius braced himself for a still greater literary undertaking. This was nothing less than a complete Treatise on Occult Philosophy. The task was one of prodigious magnitude, for does not he himself describe magic as the knowledge of all nature, and should not we define it as the knowledge of something more? It was a bold thing for a youth of threeand-twenty to attempt to explore the dark places of mystery, and to wring out the subtlest secrets of Existence, when so many able inquirers had ventured upon the same errand, and returned to the light bending under the burden of puerile fancies and silly superstitions. Even men like Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Arnold of Villeneuve, Anselm of Pisa, and others of similar stamp, had totally failed, as he acknowledged, in their magical excursions. They had gone forth like gallant ships to procure gold from Ophir, but had returned with apes from Tarshish. Pondering this, his 'spirit was roused within him,' and, young as he was, he determined to vindicate the noble science from the calumnies of its foes, and at the same time to free it from the absurdities with which it had been encumbered by its ignorant friends.

To work he went. Three books were speedily written. Having from his early years been a bold and inquisitive student of the marvellous, he felt himself tolerably competent to handle the illustrious theme. The first portion treats of elementary magic; that is, of the nature and power of the material things around us. His physics are such as certainly would not now be endorsed by a Faraday or a Lardner. He has four elements; but they are convertible into each other. Earth may be resolved into water; water evaporated into air; air, when ignited, becomes fire; and fire again will produce stones, as is seen in meteorolitic descents. Each of these elements has sundry specific virtues. Fire, for instance, increases the power of good spirits, and if kindled near a corpse will drive away evil ones. Air is a kind of elastic mirror, receiving the images of things and conveying them into the persons of men through the pores or the lungs; for if you happen to pass a spot where any one has recently been killed, the air will be full of the transaction, and, the images being inhaled, will produce great consternation in your mind.

His Treatise on Occult Philosophy.

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These four elements exist in and impart their virtues to all things, from a stone to a star, from a demon to an archangel. But in each object there is something more, namely, an occult power, which it derives from the Soul of the World. For there is a spirit, or quintessence-that is, a fifth element-attached to the body of the world, as the spirit is to the body of man; and through this medium the influence of the celestial orbs is conducted into plants, metals, stones, and other terrestrial substances. The virtue of any particular thing is great in proportion to the quantity of this spirit it may possess. But, being an occult virtue, how is it to be ascertained in order that it may be turned to account? There are certain signs which must be interpreted, or principles which must be applied. For instance, Like produces Like. If therefore we want to become bold, let us catch a lion or a cock, and take the heart, or eyes, or forehead of the creature. If we want to become talkative, let us make use of a chattering frog.

Then Agrippa enters at large into the peculiar influences of the celestial bodies upon terrestrial things, for each star has its special properties, and impresses its seal or signature upon the substances which are subject to its rule. Some objects are solary, as is the case with gold, because it is yellow and lustrous, or with the baboon, because that animal barks twelve times a day, et equinoctii tempore duodecies per singulas horas mingit. Others are under the patronage of the moon; as the cat and the panther, which are held to be lunary beasts, because the eyes of the former, and a spot on the shoulder of the latter, wax and wane in harmony with the phases of our satellite. Others, again, are mercurial, martial, jovial, or saturnine; or they may be ruled by some particular star or group of stars, as the dog is by Sirius, or the bear by Ursa.

Then Cornelius betakes himself to the more practical part of his subject, and gives us a course of lessons in Magic. The influence of any star may be brought down to our very doors by the skilful use of the objects which belong to, or represent that star. If we want to produce solary effects, let us employ solary things at solary seasons. And not only stars, but angels may be induced to put themselves en rapport with man; for if an image be duly constructed of materials appropriated to a certain spirit, that image will shortly be possessed or animated by the angel in question. Various modes are explained by which the occult virtues we wish to realize may be procured, such as suffumigations, ointments, amulets, rings, and other wonderful agencies; so that any clever student who can make up a prescription, or go through a process in compliance with this

magical pharmacopoeia, may work his little miracles with perfect

success.

In his second Book, Cornelius treats of Mathematical Philosophy, and discusses the occult powers of numbers and geometrical figures; for numbers and geometrical figures have their recondite virtues as well as corporeal things. Thus the herb cinquefoil is an antidote to poison and a dispeller of demons, not because of its physical merits, but because the number of its leaves is five; had they been six, it must have been impotent for those particular purposes, whatever others it might have answered. The circle is the most perfect of figures, and therefore it has great virtue in repelling evil spirits; let a man who is evoking demons take his stand in the centre, and its charmed margin is a barrier they dare not cross. Similarly, the pentangle is of vast efficacy in cases of conjuration, by reason of the number of its sides. Then our occult philosopher enlightens us respecting the harmonies of sound and of the celestial orbs, and proceeds to explain divers astrological matters as gravely as if he were writing a treatise on practical astronomy or the use of the globes.

The third Book is more serious still. It is upon the powers which may be acquired through the medium of holiness. The purified soul, working by Love, Hope, and Faith, may attain the command over spiritual beings, and so accomplish miracles. Thus it may enlist their services by the use of sacred words, in which, as already seen, there is extraordinary virtue. Rightly used, they will heal diseases more effectually than the best physician. Inscribe Abracadabra' on parchment in the proper way, and it will cure all kinds of fevers. The sacred seal described by the Rabbi Hama, when employed in a spirit of profound piety, will dissipate every species of grief. Afterwards, Agrippa is copious upon the subject of angels and devils. He says also that every man is attended by a good demon to direct his thoughts; secondly, by the genius which ruled his nativity; and thirdly, by a spirit belonging to his particular calling or profession, which we may call his business demon. The names of celestial intelligences may be spelled out from the stars, and much cabalistic lore is dedicated to this fantastic sort of interpretation. The summoning of good spirits, the arts of necromancy, the prophetic powers of the soul, and many other delicate questions, are brought under consideration before the master of magic winds up his work, which he does with an assurance that it is intended only for those who are of a chaste and modest mind, whose faith is unwavering, whose hands are free from wickedness, and who live in decency and holiness.

Conjuror or no Conjuror, again we ask? Upon two grounds,

Conjuror or no Conjuror?

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at least, the monks endeavoured to hold up Cornelius as an unhallowed intriguer with the powers of darkness. He wrote this treatise, which they regarded as the work of a sworn magician; and he kept pet dogs, one of which they said was a familiar, because, shortly before his death, he is related to have removed a mystical collar from its neck, and dismissed it with the words'Go, accursed beast, thou has brought me to perdition!" Of course this objurgation must pass for nothing, for the simple reason that in all probability it was never uttered. The dog amounts to as little as the devil's-bird' which Bombastes kept in the pommel of his sword,' or the diabolical scorpion which Bombastes's disciple, Thurneysser, carried about with him in a phial of oil. But the book certainly reads like a Manual of Magic, compiled by one who had a tolerable share of faith in the science. Let us remember, however, that it was written near three centuries and a half ago, when kings kept professed astrologers at their court; when the clergy were hunting up old women as witches, and a thousand sufferers, it is said, were burnt in one year in a single district (Como); when intelligent laymen shared in the superstition, and the vulgar were ready to depose that they had seen old hags changing into the forms of brutes, or flying through the air on broomsticks. Let it be observed also, that Agrippa expressly states that he writes in riddles, which the ignorant and depraved cannot read, but which the wise will be able to comprehend; and further it should be remarked, that in a subsequent book (the Vanity of the Sciences), he speaks slightingly of this juvenile performance, and in particular denounces astrologers as a pernicious race, with whom indeed he had so little sympathy, that in his maturer years he was highly incensed when called upon to cast horoscopes even by a queen.

This work, however, like the treatise on Female Pre-eminence, was destined to continue in manuscript for a number of The good abbot Trithemius, famous in those days for his encouragement of learning, received it, when submitted for his judgment, with more pleasure than mortal tongue could tell, but counselled the author to be wary in publishing. There was great merit in this advice. Not only was the theme of a questionable character in the opinion of many, but just about this period a fanatical monk of the name of Catilinet was engaged at Ghent in attacking poor Agrippa on account of the lectures he had given. at the University of Dole. The young Doctor was denounced before Margaret herself as a cabalist and heretic, and all his hopes of patronage from that quarter were at once destroyed. The blow fell heavily upon the head of the expectant scholar.