Another collection of philosophical conferences of the French virtuosi upon questions of all sorts for the improving of natural knowledg made in the assembly of the Beaux Esprits at Paris by the most ingenious persons of that nation / render'd into English by G. Havers, Gent. & J. Davies ..., Gent.

CONFERENCE CCXXXIII. Of Natural Magick. (Book 233)

NAtural Magick hath degenerated extreamly in these last Ages, wherein it is grown as execrable, even to the very name of it, as it was honourable at the beginning, as those of Tyrant and Sophist were heretofore denominations generally esteem'd, but now they are abhorr'd. The ill use which some have made thereof, is, the true Cause of this treatment of Natu∣ral Magick, which they have fill'd with vanities and impostures, whereas it is in it self not only the noblest, but also the most an∣cient

of all the Sciences. For it is conceiv'd to have begun above four thousand years since in Aegypt, under Zoroaster the Grandson of Noah, whence it was spread among the Babylonians, the Chal∣daeans, and the Persians, among whom the Magi were in so great authority, that, with the Mysteries of Religion, they were in∣trusted with the Civil Government and the conduct and tuition of the Kings, who were never admitted to the Crown, till they had been fully instructed in that Discipline. By this it was that Orpheus and Amphion came to be so powerful, as to draw brute beasts and stones after them; and hereby King Solomon came to be the wisest of all men; and, lastly, by the study of this, Apol∣lonius Tyanaeus, Pythagoras, Socrates, and the other Sages of An∣tiquity acquir'd the esteem they were in. But what adds much to the recommendation of it, is, that by its means the three Magi, or Wise Men in the Gospel, who were Kings, came from the East, where this Science flourished, having found out that the Star which they saw, being different from all the others, yet no Meteor kindled by some Natural Cause, was an extraordinary sign which God had been pleas'd to make appear unto them, to give them notice of the Birth of his Son; there being no rational ground to imagine they were down-right Magicians, as Theophylact con∣ceiv'd in his Commentaries upon Saint Matthew; at least this is certain, that, after the adoration of our Saviour, they absolute∣ly renounc'd that Diabolical Magick, if it be suppos'd they had any tincture of it before. For as to this latter, which is ground∣ed upon some compact with the Devil, who thereby obliges him∣self to do transcendent things for him with whom he hath con∣tracted, being a kind of Idolatry it is generally abhorr'd and con∣demn'd by all, since it makes use of pernicious means to attain its end, which is ever bad. But such is not the other, whose end, and the means it employes to compass it being good and lawful, there is no doubt, but it may be lawfully used. Besides, as Psellus and Proclus, two persons well skill'd in these matters, have very well observ'd this last kind, call'd Natural Magick, is only an exact and perfect knowledge of the secrets of Nature, by means whereof, consequently to the Observations which some emi∣nently-curious persons make of the motions of the Heavens, and the influences of the Starrs, with the Sympathies and Antipathies which are almost in all sublunary bodies, they apply things so justly one to another, and with such an exact consideration of time, place, manner, and proportion, that they work prodigious effects; which, the more credulous, and such as are ignorant of the correspondence there is between these Effects and their Causes, look upon as Miracles and Enchantments. Such as were those of the Magicians of Pharaoh, who could turn their Rods into Serpents, make the Rivers of Aegypt red as blood, and fill the whole Country with Froggs, but were not able to go any further, to imitate the other Miracles of Moses, which they were forc'd to acknowledg wrought by the Finger of God. Nor

are the Effects of Artificial Magick less wonderful, not only in respect of its Predictions observable in Judiciary Astrology, Agriculture, Medicine, the Art of Navigation, and others, grounded upon very probable Conjectures, but also of its ope∣rations, as well true as false, or illusory. The true ones are grounded on the Principles of the Mathematicks, especially on those of the Mechanicks, which are the noblest and most ne∣cessary part thereof, and on which do depend all the Water-Engines, Machins moving of themselves, and other Inventions wherewith the Ancients wrought such Effects as were accounted miraculous. Such were, that Man's Head of brass made by Al∣bertus Magnus, which fram'd an articulated Man's Voice, in imi∣tation of that of Memnon; the glazen Sphere of Archimedes, the motions whereof naturally represented those of the Celestial Orbes; his Burning-glasses, wherewith he burnt the Fleet of the Romans, who besieg'd the City of Saragossa where he then was; the wooden Dove of Archytas, which flew up and down with the other Doves; as did the little Birds of Boëtius made of Copper, which had this further advantage, that they could sing melo∣diously; as could also those which the Emperour Leo caus'd to be made of Gold; Malleable Glass, and such other admirable Effects of this Art, for that reason called by Hero, Thaumaturgica. Those which it produces by illusion and jugling, depend on some sleightness of hand, and cousening tricks, such as are us'd by the Professors of Legerdemain, to delude our Senses, and make things appear otherwise than they are. Such a performance was that mention'd by Josephus, in the xviii. Book of his Antiquities, used by that false Messias, Barchochabas, who to gain himself the esteem of the true one, had the knack of vomiting flames of Fire out of his Mouth as he spoke, by means of a lighted piece of Towe, which he could order as occasion serv'd; which trick, such another Impostor shew'd more cleverly, by means of a nut-shell fill'd with Brimstone and Fire. And it is a thing now gene∣rally known, that, by certain Artifices no way diabolical, one may make a company of people sitting at the Table look as if they were dead, or like so many Tawny-Moors; nay, if we be∣lieve Pliny, in the xxviii. and xxxv. Books of his History, they may be made to look as if they had the Heads of Asses or Horses.

The Second said, That, according to the Doctrine of Paganism, re-advanc'd since the Light of Christianity by the Marcionites and the Manichees, as there were two Gods, one called Oromazus, the Author of all good, who was the Sun; the other, Arimanes, Authour of all mischief; so there were two kindes of Magick whereof one, consisting of an exact knowledge, and application of things in order to a good end, is commend∣able, and known by the simple denomination of Magick, which they affirm to be an invocation of those Genii, who are our Guardians and Benefactors, in order to the procuring of

some good either to our selves or others: The other called Man∣gania, which they exercised by the invocation of the bad Genii or Daemons, was ever condemn'd as pernicious, as having no other design then to do mischief by Sorceries and Witchcraft. And though the grounds of that Doctrine are contrary to the Truth of Christian Faith, yet since it assures us that there are good and bad Angels, which were the Genii of Paganism; there is some probability, that as these last incline us to Idolatry, Su∣perstition, and other Impieties, to divert us from the worship of the true God, by the study of the Black Art; so is it the main business of the former, by a discovery of the Secrets of Nature, which is the White and Natural Magick, to incline us to an ac∣knowledgement of the Author of it. In like manner, as we find, according to the Apostle, that, in the order which God observes for the good of his Church and the furtherance of our Salvation, there are divers Gifts, such as are those of knowledge, healing, working of miracles, prophecying, speaking of strange languages, and the like; all which do notwithstanding depend on the same Spirit of God, who dispenses them according to his good pleasure: So the Devil, who endeavours to imitate the Works of God, does the like, in the distribution of those Ta∣lents, which he communicates to his instruments, to employ them upon different occasions, the better to accommodate himself to the diversity of their inclinations, whom he would abuse, which is his principal design. He furnishes those whose restless curiosity will needs know things to come, with Oracles and Predictions; he entertains the vain with impostures and illusi∣ons; the envious with Charms and Sorceries; the revengeful, and such as are inclin'd to such implacable passions, are suggested with all the mischievous contrivances, which that perverse Spi∣rit is at all times ready to teach any who are desirous to be his Disciples, to whom the practice of his instructions prove as fa∣tal, as they are intended, to be to those, against whom they are employ'd.