Miss Elizabeth Villiers, afterwards Countess of Orkney.

The wits of the day called it a sand-bank, which would wreck the vessel of the state.

This anecdote, which is related in the correspondence of Madame de BaviÈre, Duchess of Orleans and mother of the Regent, is discredited by Lord John Russell in his History of the principal States of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht; for what reason he does not inform us. There is no doubt that Law proposed his scheme to Desmarets, and that Louis refused to hear of it. The reason given for the refusal is quite consistent with the character of that bigoted and tyrannical monarch.

From maltÔte, an oppressive tax.

This anecdote is related by M. de la Hode, in his Life of Philippe of Orleans. It would have looked more authentic if he had given the names of the dishonest contractor and the still more dishonest minister. But M. de la Hode’s book is liable to the same objection as most of the French memoirs of that and of subsequent periods. It is sufficient with most of them that an anecdote be ben trovato; the vero is but matter of secondary consideration.

The French pronounced his name in this manner to avoid the ungallic sound, aw. After the failure of his scheme, the wags said the nation was lasse de lui, and proposed that he should in future be known by the name of Monsieur Helas!

The curious reader may find an anecdote of the eagerness of the French ladies to retain Law in their company, which will make him blush or smile according as he happens to be very modest or the reverse. It is related in the Letters of Madame Charlotte Elizabeth de BaviÈre, Duchess of Orleans, vol. ii. p. 274.

The following squib was circulated on the occasion:

Thus somewhat weakly and paraphrastically rendered by Justandsond, in his translation of the Memoirs of Louis XV.:

From a print in a Dutch collection of satirical prints relating to the Mississippi Mania, entitled “Het groote Tafereel der Dwaasheid;” or, The great picture of Folly. The print of Atlas is styled, “L’Atlas actieux de Papier.” Law is calling in Hercules to aid him in supporting the globe. Quoted in Wright’s England under the House of Hanover.

The Duke de la Force gained considerable sums, not only by jobbing in the stocks, but in dealing in porcelain, spices, &c. It was debated for a length of time in the parliament of Paris whether he had not, in his quality of spice-merchant, forfeited his rank in the peerage. It was decided in the negative. A caricature of him was made, dressed as a street-porter, carrying a large bale of spices on his back, with the inscription, “Admirez La Force.”

“Lucifer’s New Row-Barge” exhibits Law in a barge, with a host of emblematic figures representing the Mississippi follies.—From a Print in Mr. Hawkins’ Collection.

Duclos, Memoires Secrets de la RÉgence.

The Duchess of Orleans gives a different version of this story; but whichever be the true one, the manifestation of such feeling in a legislative assembly was not very creditable. She says that the president was so transported with joy, that he was seized with a rhyming fit, and, returning into the hall, exclaimed to the members:

Law in a car drawn by cocks; from Het groote Tofereel der Dwaasheid.

Neck or nothing, or downfall of the Mississippi Company.—From a Print in Mr. Hawkins’ Collection.

A South-Sea Ballad; or, Merry Remarks upon Exchange-Alley Bubbles. To a new Tune called “The Grand Elixir; or, the Philosopher’s Stone discovered.”

Coxe’s Walpole, Correspondence between Mr. Secretary Craggs and Earl Stanhope.

Stock-jobbing Card, or the humours of Change Alley. Copied from a print called Bubblers’ Medley, published by Carrington Bowles.

Tree, surrounded by water; people climbing up the tree. One of a series of bubble cards, copied from the Bubblers’ Medley, published by Carrington Bowles.

Gay (the poet), in that disastrous year, had a present from young Craggs of some South-Sea stock, and once supposed himself to be master of twenty thousand pounds. His friends persuaded him to sell his share, but he dreamed of dignity and splendour, and could not hear to obstruct his own fortune. He was then importuned to sell as much as would purchase a hundred a year for life, “which,” says Fenton, “will make you sure of a clean shirt and a shoulder of mutton every day.” This counsel was rejected; the profit and principal were lost, and Gay sunk under the calamity so low that his life became in danger.—Johnson’s Lives of the Poets

Smollett.

Caricature, copied from Bubblers’ Medley, published by Carrington Bowles.

Britannia stript by a South-Sea Director. From Het groote Tafereel der Dwaasheid.

Pope’s Epistle to Allen Lord Bathurst.

The Brabant Screen. This caricature represents the Duchess of Kendal behind the “Brabant Screen,” supplying Mr. Knight with money to facilitate his escape; and is copied from a rare print of the time, in the collection of E. Hawkins, Esq. F.S.A.

Emblematic print of the South-Sea Scheme. By W. Hogarth.

The South-Sea project remained until 1845 the greatest example in British history of the infatuation of the people for commercial gambling. The first edition of these volumes was published some time before the outbreak of the Great Railway Mania of that and the following year.

Biographie Universelle.

His sum “of perfection,” or instructions to students to aid them in the laborious search for the stone and elixir, has been translated into most of the languages of Europe. An English translation, by a great enthusiast in alchymy, one Richard Russell, was published in London in 1686. The preface is dated eight years previously from the house of the alchymist, “at the Star, in Newmarket, in Wapping, near the Dock.” His design in undertaking the translation was, as he informs us, to expose the false pretences of the many ignorant pretenders to the science who abounded in his day.

Article, Geber, Biographie Universelle.

NaudÉ, Apologie des Grands Hommes accusÉs de Magie, chap. xviii.

Lenglet, Histoire de la Philosophie HermÉtique. See also Godwin’s Lives of the Necromancers.

NaudÉ, Apologie des Grands Hommes accusÉs de Magie, chap. xvii.

Vidimus omnia ista dum ad Angliam transiimus, propter intercessionem domini Regis Edoardi illustrissimi.

Converti una vice in aurum ad L millia pondo argenti vivi, plumbi, et stanni.—Lullii Testamentum.

These verses are but a coarser expression of the slanderous line of Pope, that “every woman is at heart a rake.”

Fuller’s Worthies of England.

Biographie Universelle.

For full details of this extraordinary trial, see Lobineau’s Nouvelle Histoire de Bretagne, and D’ArgentrÉ’s work on the same subject. The character and life of Gilles de Rays are believed to have suggested the famous Blue Beard of the nursery tale.

See the article “Paracelsus,” by the learned Renaudin, in the Biographie Universelle.

The “crystal” alluded to appears to have been a black stone, or piece of polished coal. The following account of it is given, in the supplement to Granger’s Biographical History. “The black stone into which Dee used to call his spirits was in the collection of the Earls of Peterborough, from whence it came to Lady Elizabeth Germaine. It was next the property of the late Duke of Argyle, and is now Mr. Walpole’s. It appears upon examination to be nothing more than a polished piece of cannel coal; but this is what Butler means when he says,

Lilly the astrologer, in his Life, written by himself, frequently tells of prophecies delivered by the angels in a manner similar to the angels of Dr. Dee. He says, “The prophecies were not given vocally by the angels, but by inspection of the crystal in types and figures, or by apparition the circular way; where, at some distance, the angels appear, representing by forms, shapes, and creatures, what is demanded. It is very rare, yea even in our days,” quoth that wiseacre, “for any operator or master to hear the angels speak articulately: when they do speak, it is like, the Irish, much in the throat!”

Albert Laski, son of Jaroslav, was Palatine of Siradz, and afterwards of Sendomir, and chiefly contributed to the election of Henry of Valois, the Third of France, to the throne of Poland, and was one of the delegates who went to France in order to announce to the new monarch his elevation to the sovereignty of Poland. After the deposition of Henry, Albert Laski voted for Maximilian of Austria. In 1583 he visited England, when Queen Elizabeth received him with great distinction. The honours which were shewn him during his visit to Oxford, by the especial command of the Queen, were equal to those rendered to sovereign princes. His extraordinary prodigality rendered his enormous wealth insufficient to defray his expenses, and he therefore became a zealous adept in alchymy, and took from England to Poland with him two known alchymists.—Count Valerian Krasinski’s Historical Sketch of the Reformation in Poland.

The following legend of the tomb of Rosencreutz, written by Eustace Budgell, appears in No. 379 of the Spectator:—“A certain person, having occasion to dig somewhat deep in the ground where this philosopher lay interred, met with a small door, having a wall on each side of it. His curiosity, and the hope of finding some hidden treasure, soon prompted him to force open the door. He was immediately surprised by a sudden blaze of light, and discovered a very fair vault. At the upper end of it was a statue of a man in armour, sitting by a table, and leaning on his left arm. He held a truncheon in his right hand, and had a lamp burning before him. The man had no sooner set one foot within the vault, than the statue, erecting itself from its leaning posture, stood bolt upright; and, upon the fellow’s advancing another step, lifted up the truncheon in his right hand. The man still ventured a third step; when the statue, with a furious blow, broke the lamp into a thousand pieces, and left his guest in sudden darkness. Upon the report of this adventure, the country people came with lights to the sepulchre, and discovered that the statue, which was made of brass, was nothing more than a piece of clock-work; that the floor of the vault was all loose, and underlaid with several springs, which, upon any man’s entering, naturally produced that which had happened.

“Rosicreucius, say his disciples, made use of this method to shew the world that he had re-invented the ever-burning lamps of the ancients, though he was resolved no one should reap any advantage from the discovery.”

No. 574. Friday, July 30th, 1714.

“Vitulus Aureus quem Mundus adorat et orat, in quo tractatur de naturÆ miraculo transmutandi metalla.” HagÆ, 1667.

Voyages de Monconis, tome ii. p. 379.

See the AbbÉ Fiard, and Anecdotes of the Reign of Louis XVI. p. 400.

Biographie des Contemporains, article “Cagliostro.” See also Histoire de la Magie en France, par M. Jules Garinet, p. 284.

The enemies of the unfortunate Queen of France, when the progress of the Revolution embittered their animosity against her, maintained that she was really a party in this transaction; that she, and not Mademoiselle D’Oliva, met the cardinal and rewarded him with the flower; and that the story above related was merely concocted between her La Motte, and others to cheat the jeweller of his 1,600,000 francs.

See Gibbon and Voltaire for further notice of this subject.

Charlemagne: PoËme Épique par Lucien Buonaparte.

This prophecy seems to have been that set forth at length in the popular Life of Mother Shipton:

The London Saturday Journal of March 12th, 1842, contains the following:—“An absurd report is gaining ground among the weak-minded, that London will be destroyed by an earthquake on the 17th of March, or St. Patrick’s day. This rumour is founded on the following ancient prophecies: one professing to be pronounced in the year 1203; the other, by Dr. Dee the astrologer, in 1598:

The alarm of the population of London did not on this occasion extend beyond the wide circle of the uneducated classes, but among them it equalled that recorded in the text. It was soon afterwards stated that no such prophecy is to be found in the Harleian Ms.

Chronicles of England, by Richard Grafton; London, 1568, p. 106.

Faerie Queene, b. 3, c. 3, s. 6-13.

Although other places claim the honour(!) of Mother Shipton’s birth, her residence is asserted, by oral tradition, to have been for many years a cottage at Winslow-cum-Shipton, in Buckinghamshire, of which the above is a representation. We give the contents of one of the popular books containing her prophecies:

The Strange and Wonderful History and Prophecies of Mother Shipton, plainly setting forth her Birth, Life, Death, and Burial. 12mo. Newcastle. Chap. 1.—Of her birth and parentage. 2. How Mother Shipton’s mother proved with child; how she fitted the justice, and what happened at her delivery. 3. By what name Mother Shipton was christened, and how her mother went into a monastery. 4. Several other pranks play’d by Mother Shipton in revenge of such as abused her. 5. How Ursula married a young man named Tobias Shipton, and how strangely she discovered a thief. 6. Her prophecy against Cardinal Wolsey. 7. Some other prophecies of Mother Shipton relating to those times. 8. Her prophecies in verse to the Abbot of Beverly. 9. Mother Shipton’s life, death, and burial.

Let us try. In his second century, prediction 66, he says:

“What is this,” a believer might exclaim, “but the escape of Napoleon from Elba—his changed fortune, and the occupation of Paris by the allied armies?”

Let us try again. In his third century, prediction 98, he says:

Some Lillius Redivivus would find no difficulty in this prediction. To use a vulgar phrase, it is as clear as a pikestaff. Had not the astrologer in view Don Miguel and Don Pedro when he penned this stanza, so much less obscure and oracular than the rest?

Hermippus Redivivus, p. 142.

Jovii Elog. p. 320.

Les Anecdotes de Florence, ou l’Histoire secrÈte de la Maison di Medicis, p. 318.

It is quite astonishing to see the great demand there is, both in England and France, for dream-books, and other trash of the same kind. Two books in England enjoy an extraordinary popularity, and have run through upwards of fifty editions in as many years in London alone, besides being reprinted in Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dublin. One is Mother Bridget’s Dream-book and Oracle of Fate; the other is the Norwood Gipsy. It is stated, on the authority of one who is curious in these matters, that there is a demand for these works, which are sold at sums varying from a penny to sixpence, chiefly to servant-girls and imperfectly-educated people, all over the country, of upwards of eleven thousand annually; and that at no period during the last thirty years has the average number sold been less than this. The total number during this period would thus amount to 330,000.

Spectator, No. 7, March 8, 1710-11.

See Van der Mye’s account of the siege of Breda. The garrison, being afflicted with scurvy, the Prince of Orange sent the physicians two or three small phials, containing a decoction of camomile, wormwood, and camphor, telling them to pretend that it was a medicine of the greatest value and extremest rarity, which had been procured with very much danger and difficulty from the East; and so strong, that two or three drops would impart a healing virtue to a gallon of water. The soldiers had faith in their commander; they took the medicine with cheerful faces, and grew well rapidly. They afterwards thronged about the prince in groups of twenty and thirty at a time, praising his skill, and loading him with protestations of gratitude.

Mummies were of several kinds, and were all of great use in magnetic medicines. Paracelsus enumerates six kinds of mummies; the first four only differing in the composition used by different people for preserving their dead, are the Egyptian, Arabian, Pisasphaltos, and Libyan. The fifth mummy of peculiar power was made from criminals that had been hanged; “for from such there is a gentle siccation, that expungeth the watery humour, without destroying the oil and spirituall, which is cherished by the heavenly luminaries, and strengthened continually by the affluence and impulses of the celestial spirits; whence it may be properly called by the name of constellated or celestial mummie.” The sixth kind of mummy was made of corpuscles, or spiritual effluences, radiated from the living body; though we cannot get very clear ideas on this head, or respecting the manner in which they were caught.—Medicina Diatastica; or, Sympathetical Mummie, abstracted from the Works of Paracelsus, and translated out of the Latin, by Fernando Parkhurst, Gent. London, 1653, pp. 2, 7. Quoted by the Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. xii. p. 415.

Reginald Scott, quoted by Sir Walter Scott, in the notes to the Lay of the last Minstrel, c. iii. v. xxiii.

Greatraks’ Account of himself, in a letter to the Honourable Robert Boyle.

Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism, by Baron Dupotet de Sennevoy, p. 315.

Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism, p. 318.

Dictionaire des Sciences MÉdicales—Article Convulsionnaires, par MontÉgre.

An enthusiastic philosopher, of whose name we are not informed, had constructed a very satisfactory theory on some subject or other, and was not a little proud of it. “But the facts, my dear fellow,” said his friend, “the facts do not agree with your theory.”—“Don’t they?” replied the philosopher, shrugging his shoulders, “then, tant pis pour les faits;”—so much the worse for the facts!

Rapport des Commissaires, rÉdigÉ par M. Bailly. Paris, 1784.

Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism, by Baron Dupotet, p. 73.

See Foreign Review and Continental Miscellany, vol. v. p. 113.

See the very clear, and dispassionate article upon the subject in the fifth volume (1830) of The Foreign Review, p. 96 et seq.

Histoire Critique du MagnÉtisme Animal, p. 60.

The above engraving, shewing two soldiers of William the Conqueror’s army, is taken from the celebrated Bayeux Tapestry.—See ante, p. 297.