Books: Lives of the Necromancers

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Many of Faustus's delusions are rather remarkable as tricks of merry
vexation, than as partaking of those serious injuries which we might
look for in an implement of hell. In one instance he inquired of a
countryman who was driving a load of hay, what compensation he would
judge reasonable for the doctor's eating as much of his hay as he
should be inclined to. The waggoner replied, that for half a stiver
(one farthing) he should be welcome to eat as much as he pleased. The
doctor presently fell to, and ate at such a rate, that the peasant was
frightened lest his whole load should be consumed. He therefore
offered Faustus a gold coin, value twenty-seven shillings, to be off
his bargain. The doctor took it; and, when the countryman came to his
journey's end, he found his cargo undiminished even by a single blade.

Another time, as Faustus was walking along the road near Brunswick,
the whim took him of asking a waggoner who was driving by, to treat
him with a ride in his vehicle. "No, I will not," replied the boor;
"my horses will have enough to do to drag their proper load." "You
churl," said the doctor, "since you will not let your wheels carry me,
you shall carry them yourself as far as from the gates of the city."
The wheels then detached themselves, and flew through the air, to the
gates of the town from which they came. At the same time the horses
fell to the ground, and were utterly unable to raise themselves up.
The countryman, frightened, fell on his knees to the doctor, and
promised, if he would forgive him, never to offend in like manner
again. Faustus now, relenting a little, bade the waggoner take a
handful of sand from the road, and scatter on his horses, and they
would be well. At the same time he directed the man to go to the four
gates of Brunswick, and he would find his wheels, one at each gate.

In another instance, Faustus went into a fair, mounted on a noble
beast, richly caparisoned, the sight of which presently brought all
the horse-fanciers about him. After considerable haggling, he at last
disposed of his horse to a dealer for a handsome price, only cautioning
him at parting, how he rode the horse to water. The dealer, despising
the caution that had been given him, turned his horse the first thing
towards the river. He had however no sooner plunged in, than the horse
vanished, and the rider found himself seated on a saddle of straw, in
the middle of the stream. With difficulty he waded to the shore, and
immediately, enquiring out the doctor's inn, went to him to complain
of the cheat. He was directed to Faustus's room, and entering found
the conjuror on his bed, apparently asleep. He called to him lustily,
but the doctor took no notice. Worked up beyond his patience, he next
laid hold of Faustus's foot, that he might rouse him the more
effectually. What was his surprise, to find the doctor's leg and foot
come off in his hand! Faustus screamed, apparently in agony of pain,
and the dealer ran out of the room as fast as he could, thinking that
he had the devil behind him.

In one instance three young noblemen applied to Faustus, having been
very desirous to be present at the marriage of the son of the duke of
Bavaria at Mentz, but having overstaid the time, in which it would
have been possible by human means to accomplish the journey. Faustus,
to oblige them, led them into his garden, and, spreading a large
mantle upon a grass-plot, desired them to step on it, and placed
himself in the midst. He then recited a certain form of conjuration.
At the same time he conditioned with them, that they should on no
account speak to any one at the marriage, and, if spoken to, should
not answer again. They were carried invisibly through the air, and
arrived in excellent time. At a certain moment they became visible,
but were still bound to silence. One of them however broke the
injunction, and amused himself with the courtiers. The consequence was
that, when the other two were summoned by the doctor to return, he was
left behind. There was something so extraordinary in their sudden
appearance, and the subsequent disappearance of the others, that he
who remained was put in prison, and threatened with the torture the
next day, if he would not make a full disclosure. Faustus however
returned before break of day, opened the gates of the prison, laid all
the guards asleep, and carried off the delinquent in triumph.

On one occasion Faustus, having resolved to pass a jovial evening,
took some of his old college-companions, and invited them to make free
with the archbishop of Saltzburgh's cellar. They took a ladder, and
scaled the wall. They seated themselves round, and placed a
three-legged stool, with bottles and glasses in the middle. They were
in the heart of their mirth, when the butler made his appearance, and
began to cry thieves with all his might. The doctor at once conjured
him, so that he could neither speak nor move. There he was obliged to
sit, while Faustus and his companions tapped every vat in the cellar.
They then carried him along with them in triumph. At length they came
to a lofty tree, where Faustus ordered them to stop; and the butler
was in the greatest fright, apprehending that they would do no less
than hang him. The doctor however was contented, by his art to place
him on the topmost branch, where he was obliged to remain trembling
and almost dead with the cold, till certain peasants came out to their
work, whom he hailed, and finally with great difficulty they rescued
him from his painful eminence, and placed him safely on the ground.

On another occasion Faustus entertained several of the junior members
of the university of Wittenberg at his chambers. One of them,
referring to the exhibition the doctor had made of Alexander the Great
to the emperor Charles V, said it would gratify him above all things,
if he could once behold the famous Helen of Greece, whose beauty was
so great as to have roused all the princes of her country to arms, and
to have occasioned a ten years' war. Faustus consented to indulge his
curiosity, provided all the company would engage to be merely mute
spectators of the scene. This being promised, he left the room, and
presently brought in Helen. She was precisely as Homer has described
her, when she stood by the side of Priam on the walls of Troy, looking
on the Grecian chiefs. Her features were irresistibly attractive; and
her full, moist lips were redder than the summer cherries. Faustus
shortly after obliged his guests with her bust in marble, from which
several copies were taken, no one knowing the name of the original
artist.

No long time elapsed after this, when the doctor was engaged in
delivering a course of lectures on Homer at Erfurth, one of the
principal cities of Germany. It having been suggested to him that it
would very much enhance the interest of his lectures, if he would
exhibit to the company the heroes of Greece exactly as they appeared
to their contemporaries, Faustus obligingly yielded to the proposal.
The heroes of the Trojan war walked in procession before the
astonished auditors, no less lively in the representation than Helen
had been shewn before, and each of them with some characteristic
attitude and striking expression of countenance.

When the doctor happened to be at Frankfort, there came there four
conjurors, who obtained vast applause by the trick of cutting off one
another's heads, and fastening them on again. Faustus was exasperated
at this proceeding, and regarded them as laying claim to a skill
superior to his own. He went, and was invisibly present at their
exhibition. They placed beside them a vessel with liquor which they
pretended was the elixir of life, into which at each time they threw a
plant resembling the lily, which no sooner touched the liquor than its
buds began to unfold, and shortly it appeared in full blossom. The
chief conjuror watched his opportunity; and, when the charm was
complete, made no more ado but struck off the head of his fellow that
was next to him, and dipping it in the liquor, adjusted it to the
shoulders, where it became as securely fixed as before the operation.
This was repeated a second and a third time. At length it came to the
turn of the chief conjuror to have his head smitten off. Faustus stood
by invisibly, and at the proper time broke off the flower of the lily
without any one being aware of it. The head therefore of the principal
conjuror was struck off; but in vain was it steeped in the liquor. The
other conjurors were at a loss to account for the disappearance of the
lily, and fumbled for a long time with the old sorcerer's head, which
would not stick on in any position in which it could be placed.

Faustus was in great favour with the Prince of Anhalt. On one occasion,
after residing some days in his court, he said to the prince, "Will
your highness do me the favour to partake of a small collation at a
castle which belongs to me out at your city-gates?" The prince
graciously consented. The prince and princess accompanied the doctor,
and found a castle which Faustus had erected by magic during the
preceding night. The castle, with five lofty towers, and two great
gates, inclosing a spacious court, stood in the midst of a beautiful
lake, stocked with all kinds of fish, and every variety of water-fowl.
The court exhibited all sorts of animals, beside birds of every colour
and song, which flitted from tree to tree. The doctor then ushered his
guests into the hall, with an ample suite of apartments, branching off
on each side. In one of the largest they found a banquet prepared,
with the pope's plate of gold, which Mephostophiles had borrowed for
the day. The viands were of the most delicious nature, with the
choicest wines in the world. The banquet being over, Faustus conducted
the prince and princess back to the palace. But, before they had gone
far, happening to turn their heads, they saw the whole castle blown up,
and all that had been prepared for the occasion vanish at once in a
vast volume of fire.

One Christmas-time Faustus gave a grand entertainment to certain
distinguished persons of both sexes at Wittenberg. To render the scene
more splendid, he contrived to exhibit a memorable inversion of the
seasons. As the company approached the doctor's house, they were
surprised to find, though there was a heavy snow through the
neighbouring fields, that Faustus's court and garden bore not the
least marks of the season, but on the contrary were green and blooming
as in the height of summer. There was an appearance of the freshest
vegetation, together with a beautiful vineyard, abounding with grapes,
figs, raspberries, and an exuberance of the finest fruits. The large,
red Provence roses, were as sweet to the scent as the eye, and looked
perfectly fresh and sparkling with dew.

As Faustus was now approaching the last year of his term, he seemed to
resolve to pamper his appetite with every species of luxury. He
carefully accumulated all the materials of voluptuousness and
magnificence. He was particularly anxious in the selection of women
who should serve for his pleasures. He had one Englishwoman, one
Hungarian, one French, two of Germany, and two from different parts of
Italy, all of them eminent for the perfections which characterised
their different countries.

As Faustus's demeanour was particularly engaging, there were many
respectable persons in the city in which he lived, that became
interested in his welfare. These applied to a certain monk of
exemplary purity of life and devotion, and urged him to do every thing
he could to rescue the doctor from impending destruction. The monk
began with him with tender and pathetic remonstrances. He then drew a
fearful picture of the wrath of God, and the eternal damnation which
would certainly ensue. He reminded the doctor of his extraordinary
gifts and graces, and told him how different an issue might reasonably
have been expected from him. Faustus listened attentively to all the
good monk said, but replied mournfully that it was too late, that he
had despised and insulted the Lord, that he had deliberately sealed a
solemn compact to the devil, and that there was no possibility of
going back. The monk answered, "You are mistaken. Cry to the Lord for
grace; and it shall still be given. Shew true remorse; confess your
sins; abstain for the future from all acts of sorcery and diabolical
interference; and you may rely on final salvation." The doctor however
felt that all endeavours would be hopeless, He found in himself an
incapacity, for true repentance. And finally the devil came to him,
reproached him for breach of contract in listening to the pious
expostulations of a saint, threatened that in case of infidelity he
would take him away to hell even before his time, and frightened the
doctor into the act of signing a fresh contract in ratification of
that which he had signed before.

At length Faustus ultimately arrived at the end of the term for which
he had contracted with the devil. For two or three years before it
expired, his character gradually altered. He became subject to fits of
despondency, was no longer susceptible of mirth and amusement, and
reflected with bitter agony on the close in which the whole must
terminate. During the last month of his period, he no longer sought
the services of his infernal ally, but with the utmost unwillingness
saw his arrival. But Mephostophiles now attended him unbidden, and
treated him with biting scoffs and reproaches. "You have well studied
the Scriptures," he said, "and ought to have known that your safety
lay in worshipping God alone. You sinned with your eyes open, and can
by no means plead ignorance. You thought that twenty-four years was a
term that would have no end; and you now see how rapidly it is
flitting away. The term for which you sold yourself to the devil is a
very different thing; and, after the lapse of thousands of ages, the
prospect before you will be still as unbounded as ever. You were
warned; you were earnestly pressed to repent; but now it is too late."

After the demon, Mephostophiles, had long tormented Faustus in this
manner, he suddenly disappeared, consigning him over to wretchedness,
vexation and despair.

The whole twenty-four years were now expired. The day before,
Mephostophiles again made his appearance, holding in his hand the bond
which the doctor had signed with his blood, giving him notice that the
next day, the devil, his master, would come for him, and advising him
to hold himself in readiness. Faustus, it seems, had earned himself
much good will among the younger members of the university by his
agreeable manners, by his willingness to oblige them, and by the
extraordinary spectacles with which he occasionally diverted them.
This day he resolved to pass in a friendly farewel. He invited a
number of them to meet him at a house of public reception, in a hamlet
adjoining to the city. He bespoke a large room in the house for a
banqueting room, another apartment overhead for his guests to sleep in,
and a smaller chamber at a little distance for himself. He furnished
his table with abundance of delicacies and wines. He endeavoured to
appear among them in high spirits; but his heart was inwardly sad.

When the entertainment was over, Faustus addressed them, telling them
that this was the last day of his life, reminding them of the wonders
with which he had frequently astonished them, and informing them of
the condition upon which he had held this power. They, one and all,
expressed the deepest sorrow at the intelligence. They had had the
idea of something unlawful in his proceedings; but their notions had
been very far from coming up to the truth. They regretted exceedingly
that he had not been unreserved in his communications at an earlier
period. They would have had recourse in his behalf to the means of
religion, and have applied to pious men, desiring them to employ their
power to intercede with heaven in his favour. Prayer and penitence
might have done much for him; and the mercy of heaven was unbounded.
They advised him still to call upon God, and endeavour to secure an
interest in the merits of the Saviour.

Faustus assured them that it was all in vain, and that his tragical
fate was inevitable. He led them to their sleeping apartment, and
recommended to them to pass the night as they could, but by no means,
whatever they might happen to hear, to come out of it; as their
interference could in no way be beneficial to him, and might be
attended with the most serious injury to themselves. They lay still
therefore, as he had enjoined them; but not one of them could close
his eyes.

Between twelve and one in the night they heard first a furious storm
of wind round all sides of the house, as if it would have torn away
the walls from their foundations. This no sooner somewhat abated, than
a noise was heard of discordant and violent hissing, as if the house
was full of all sorts of venomous reptiles, but which plainly
proceeded from Faustus's chamber. Next they heard the doctor's
room-door vehemently burst open, and cries for help uttered with
dreadful agony, but a half-suppressed voice, which presently grew
fainter and fainter. Then every thing became still, as if the
everlasting motion of the world was suspended.

When at length it became broad day, the students went in a body into
the doctor's apartment. But he was no where to be seen. Only the walls
were found smeared with his blood, and marks as if his brains had been
dashed out. His body was finally discovered at some distance from the
house, his limbs dismembered, and marks of great violence about the
features of his face. The students gathered up the mutilated parts of
his body, and afforded them private burial at the temple of Mars in
the village where he died.

A ludicrous confusion of ideas has been produced by some persons from
the similarity of names of Faustus, the supposed magician of
Wittenberg, and Faust or Fust of Mentz, the inventor, or first
establisher of the art of printing. It has been alleged that the exact
resemblance of the copies of books published by the latter, when no
other mode of multiplying copies was known but by the act of
transcribing, was found to be such, as could no way be accounted for
by natural means, and that therefore it was imputed to the person who
presented these copies, that he must necessarily be assisted by the
devil. It has further been stated, that Faust, the printer, swore the
craftsmen he employed at his press to inviolable secrecy, that he
might the more securely keep up the price of his books. But this
notion of the identity of the two persons is entirely groundless.
Faustus, the magician, is described in the romance as having been born
in 1491, twenty-five years after the period at which the printer is
understood to have died, and there is no one coincidence between the
histories of the two persons, beyond the similarity of names, and a
certain mystery (or magical appearance) that inevitably adheres to the
practice of an art hitherto unknown. If any secret reference had been
intended in the romance to the real character of the illustrious
introducer of an art which has been productive of such incalculable
benefits to mankind, it would be impossible to account for such a
marvellous inconsistence in the chronology.

Others have carried their scepticism so far, as to have started a
doubt whether there was ever really such a person as Faustus of
Wittenberg, the alleged magician. But the testimony of Wierus, Philip
Camerarius, Melancthon and others, his contemporaries, sufficiently
refutes this supposition. The fact is, that there was undoubtedly such
a man, who, by sleights of dexterity, made himself a reputation as if
there was something supernatural in his performances, and that he was
probably also regarded with a degree of terror and abhorrence by the
superstitious. On this theme was constructed a romance, which once
possessed the highest popularity, and furnished a subject to the
dramatical genius of Marlow, Leasing, Goethe, and others.--It is
sufficiently remarkable, that the notoriety of this romance seems to
have suggested to Shakespear the idea of sending the grand conception
of his brain, Hamlet, prince of Denmark, to finish his education at
the university of Wittenberg.

And here it may not be uninstructive to remark the different tone
of the record of the acts of Ziito, the Bohemian, and Faustus of
Wittenburg, though little more than half a century elapsed between
the periods at which they were written. Dubravius, bishop of Olmutz
in Moravia, to whose pen we are indebted for what we know of Ziito,
died in the year 1553. He has deemed it not unbecoming to record in
his national history of Bohemia, the achievements of this magician,
who, he says, exhibited them before Wenceslaus, king of the country,
at the celebration of his marriage. A waggon-load of sorcerers arrived
at Prague on that occasion for the entertainment of the company. But,
at the close of that century, the exploits of Faustus were no longer
deemed entitled to a place in national history, but were more
appropriately taken for the theme of a romance. Faustus and his
performances were certainly contemplated with at least as much horror
as the deeds of Ziito. But popular credulity was no longer wound to
so high a pitch: the marvels effected by Faustus are not represented
as challenging the observation of thousands at a public court, and
on the occasion of a royal festival. They "hid their diminished heads,"
and were performed comparatively in a corner.

SABELLICUS.

A pretended magician is recorded by Naudé, as living about this time,
named Georgius Sabellicus, who, he says, if loftiness and arrogance
of assumption were enough to establish a claim to the possession of
supernatural gifts, would beyond all controversy be recognised for
a chief and consummate sorcerer. It was his ambition by the most
sounding appellations of this nature to advance his claim to immortal
reputation. He called himself, "The most accomplished Georgius
Sabellicus, a second Faustus, the spring and centre of necromantic
art, an astrologer, a magician, consummate in chiromancy, and in
agromancy, pyromancy and hydromancy inferior to none that ever lived."
I mention this the rather, as affording an additional proof how highly
Faustus was rated at the time in which he is said to have flourished.

It is specially worthy of notice, that Naudé, whose book is a sort
of register of all the most distinguished names in the annals of
necromancy, drawn up for the purpose of vindicating their honour,
now here [Errata: _read_ no where] mentions Faustus, except once
in this slight and cursory way.

PARACELSUS

Paracelsus, or, as he styled himself, Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus
Bombastus Paracelsus de Hohenheim, was a man of great notoriety and
eminence, about the same time as Dr. Faustus. He was born in the year
1493, and died in 1541. His father is said to have lived in some
repute; but the son early became a wanderer in the world, passing
his youth in the occupation of foretelling future events by the stars
and by chiromancy, invoking the dead, and performing various operations
of alchemy and magic. He states Trithemius to have been his instructor
in the science of metals. He was superficial in literature, and says
of himself that at one time he did not open a book for ten years
together. He visited the mines of Bohemia, Sweden and the East to
perfect himself in metallic knowledge. He travelled through Prussia,
Lithuania, Poland, Transylvania and Illyria, conversing indifferently
with physicians and old women, that he might extract from them the
practical secrets of their art. He visited Egypt, Tartary and
Constantinople, at which last place, as he says, he learned the
transmutation of metals and the philosopher's stone. He boasts also
of the elixir of life, by means of which he could prolong the life
of man to the age of the antediluvians. He certainly possessed
considerable sagacity and a happy spirit of daring, which induced
him to have recourse to the application of mercury and opium in the
cure of diseases, when the regular physicians did not venture on the
use of them. He therefore was successfully employed by certain eminent
persons in desperate cases, and was consulted by Erasmus. He gradually
increased in fame, and in the year 1526 was chosen professor of natural
philosophy and surgery in the university of Bale. Here he delivered
lectures in a very bold and presumptuous style. He proclaimed himself
the monarch of medicine, and publicly burned the writings of Galen
and Avicenna as pretenders and impostors.

This however was the acme of his prosperity. His system was extremely
popular for one year; but then he lost himself by brutality and
intemperance. He had drunk water only for the first five-and-twenty
years of his life; but now indulged himself in beastly crapulence
with the dregs of society, and scarcely ever took off his clothes
by day or night. After one year therefore spent at Bale, he resumed
his former vagabond life, and, having passed through many vicissitudes,
some of them of the most abject poverty, he died at the age of
forty-eight.

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