around his head. A monk who was standing near declared that, as Beelzebub
was the god of flies, the devil was present with Grandier in his dying hour
and wished to bear away his soul to the infernal regions. An account of
this strange and tragic history was published by Aubin in his _Histoire
des diables de Loudun, ou cruels effets de la vengeance de Richelieu_
(Amsterdam, 1693).

Our own country has produced a noted alchemist and astrologer, Dr. Dee,
whose fame extended to many lands. He was a very learned man and prolific
writer, and obtained the office of warden of the collegiate church of
Manchester through the favour of Queen Elizabeth, who was a firm believer
in his astrological powers. His age was the age of witchcraft, and in no
county was the belief in the magic power of the "evil eye" more prevalent
than in Lancashire. Dr. Dee, however, disclaimed all dealings with "the
black art" in his petition to the great "Solomon of the North," James I.,
which was couched in these words: "It has been affirmed that your
majesty's suppliant was the conjurer belonging to the most honourable
privy council of your majesty's predecessor, of famous memory, Queen
Elizabeth; and that he is, or hath been, a caller or invocater of devils,
or damned spirits; these slanders, which have tended to his utter undoing,
can no longer be endured; and if on trial he is found guilty of the
offence imputed to him, he offers himself willingly to the punishment of
death; yea, either to be stoned to death, or to be buried quick, or to be
burned unmercifully." In spite of his assertions to the contrary, the
learned doctor must have had an intimate acquaintance with "the black
art," and was the companion and friend of Edward Kelly, a notorious
necromancer, who for his follies had his ears cut off at Lancaster. This
Kelly used to exhume and consult the dead; in the darkness of night he and
his companions entered churchyards, dug up the bodies of men recently
buried, and caused them to utter predictions concerning the fate of the