The same comet made its appearance again in 1456, when Europe was filled with dread5 of the Turks, who had lately become masters of Constantinople, and a line was then added to the litanies of the Church praying for deliverance from “the Devil, the Turk, and the Comet.” At this time Pope Calixtus III. was engaged in a war with the Saracens, and he declared that the comet “had the form of a cross,” and indicated some great event; whereas Mahomet maintained that the comet, “having the form of a yataghan,” was a blessing18 of the Prophet’s.
A comet which attained19 its greatest altitude at the hour of Edward I.’s birth was much discussed, and Eleanor eagerly inquired of the astrologers what it portended21 to her babe. They replied that the bright flames which preceded it promised brilliant fortunes to her new-born son; but the long train of smoke great calamity to his son and successor. And once, it is said, when Queen Elizabeth’s attendants tried to dissuade22 her from looking at a comet, which was supposed to predict evil to her, she ordered the window of her apartment to be set open, and pointing to the comet, she exclaimed, “Jacta est alea (the die is cast); my steadfast23 hope and confidence are too firmly planted in the providence24 of God to be blasted or affrighted by these beams.” And yet it was Elizabeth who preferred Dr. Dee to the chancellorship25 of St. Paul’s Cathedral.{398}
Another comet which caused some consternation26 at Court was seen in 1680, and was said to be the same as that which had preceded C?sar’s death. Hence it is said that when the brother of Louis XIV. saw the courtiers discussing the matter in an unconcerned manner, he sharply rebuked27 them: “Ah, gentlemen, you may talk at your ease, if you please; you are not princes.” It was this comet which gave rise to a curious story, how at Rome a hen had laid an egg on which was depicted28 the comet—a fact which was attested29 by his Holiness, by the Queen of Sweden, and by some of the leading persons in Rome.
But if comets were a source of superstition30, other phenomena31 of the heavens were also supposed to influence the destinies of royalty32; and hence Queen Catherine de Medicis, though a woman of strong mind, was deluded33 with the more ignorant by the vanity of astrological judgments35. The professors of the science were so much consulted in her Court that the most trivial act was not done without an appeal to the stars. One of the most noted37 astrologers under her patronage38 was Nostradamus, a physician of Provence, who to medicine joined astrology, which soon augmented39 his income. He was summoned to Paris by Catherine in 1556, and one of his predictions—which turned out hopelessly wrong—was contained in a small book issued in the year 1572, under this title, “Prognostication touching40 the Marriage of the very honourable41 and beloved Henry, by the grace of God King of Navarre, and the very illustrious Princess Mar17{399}guerite of France, calculated by Master Bernard Abbatio, Doctor in Medicine, and Astrologer to the very Christian42 King of France.” In this astrological calculation he professed43 to show that the couple would “love one another intensely all their lives,” whereas they always hated each other; and he further declared that they would “approach a hundred years,” but Henry IV. died before he was sixty. Many children were to be the outcome of the marriage, whereas there were none, for the marriage was broken off, and Henry married to Marie de Medicis.
But speaking of Catherine de Medicis, there is probably no sovereign in history “of whose persevering44 addiction45 to the occult arts so many singular traditions are preserved.” Anecdotes46 might be told of the amulets48 and talismans50 which she wore; of the observatories52 and laboratories which she fitted up in the Louvre; of the enchanted53 mirror in which she beheld54 the fortunes of her descendants; “and, above all, that singular and sudden change in her disposition55 which history attributes to the cruel insults of her dissolute husband, but which popular superstition ascribed to the malign56 influence of her supernatural allies.”[172]
Louis XI., than whom no man had less of religion or more of superstition, had an amusing adventure with an astrologer. Having heard that one of these prophets had predicted the death of a woman of whom he was very fond, he sent for him and asked him the question, “You, who know{400} everything, when will you die?” The astrologer, somewhat taken aback, and fearing the monarch57’s malicious58 nature, replied, “Sire, three days before your Majesty59.” “Fear and superstition,” it is said, “overcame the monarch’s resentment60, and he took special care of the adroit61 impostor.” But this was only one instance of his contradictory62 character, for, although there was no God in his heaven, strange to say, he “believed in an invisible world of saints, having exclusive power over the events of this life,” and he was ever seeking to propitiate63 them in the most childish manner. Louis XI. further attributed great superstitious worth to the ceremony of his coronation, and “adored the holy oil brought down from heaven for the anointment of Clovis, showed the greatest satisfaction at being anointed with it, and enjoyed the sanctity more than the splendour of the ceremony.”
Marie de Medicis and Louis XIII. were both remarkable64 for the same sort of credulity, and it has been commonly said that the supposed skill of the Maréchale d’Ancre in the occult sciences was in a great measure the source of her influence over the princess.
Anne of Austria, eager to satisfy herself in advance of the fate of the infant to which she was about to give birth, determined65, with the superstition common to that age, to cause its horoscope to be drawn66 by an able astrologer at the moment it was born. Having expressed her wish to Louis XIII., he confided67 the care of discovering the required astrologer to Cardinal68 Richelieu, who, having some{401} previous knowledge of a certain seer named Campanella, he immediately despatched a messenger to command his presence. He was traced to the dungeons70 of Milan, where he was awaiting his trial as a sorcerer, having been seized by the Italian Inquisition, and whence he was allowed to obtain his release. On the birth of the Dauphin, Campanella was requested to proceed with his task without delay, and to speak the truth fearlessly. Accordingly, he announced that his combinations had informed him that “the infant would be as luxurious71 as Henry IV., and of conspicuous72 haughtiness73; that his reign would be long and laborious74, although not without a certain happiness; but that his end would be miserable75, and entail76 both religious and political confusion upon the kingdom”—which proved a very fair forecast.[173]
The conquest of Spain by the Moors77 carried the science of astrology into that country, and, before their expulsion, it was more or less naturalised among the Christian savans. No individual contributed more to the advancement78 of the study of the stars than Alfonso of Castile, whom his friends called “the Wise,” whereas by his foes79 he was known as “Alfonso the Astrologer.” It appears that he summoned a council of the wisest mathematicians81 and doctors of the astral science who were convened82 in the towers of the fabled83 Alcazar of Galiana, when five years were spent in discussion. Alfonso usually presided in the assembly, and after the tables which pass under his name were completed,{402} many noble privileges were granted to the sages84 and their issue, and they returned richly rewarded each to his home. But unfortunately Alfonso endangered his orthodoxy by his opinions; for astrology—when employed as a means of forecasting events—was anathematised by the Church as “a vain, lying, and presumptuous85 art.” But, despite such denunciations, Alfonso was anxious to protect the dignity of his favourite pursuit by giving it such a legal sanction as would distinguish it from deceit and fraud, and he affirmed that the judgments and predictions which are given by this art are discerned in the natural course of the planets, and “are taken from the books of Ptolemy, and the other wise masters, who have laboured therein.” And then he adds, “The other manner of divining is by soothsayers, sorcerers, and wizards; some take their tokens from birds or from the fate-word; others cast lots; others see visions in water, or in crystal, or in a mirror, or the bright sword-blade; others frame amulets; others prognosticate by the hand of a child, or of a maiden87. These ribalds, and such as are like them, are wicked men and lewd88 impostors, and manifold evils arise from their deeds; therefore we will not allow any of them to dwell in our dominions89.”
Eric XIV. of Sweden chafed90 under annoyance91 of any kind; and, as he had been told that all his difficulties would be owing to the treachery of a man with fair hair, he lost no time in casting his brother John into prison, who happened to be fair-{403}haired, on which account Eric bitterly hated him. Indeed, the King would probably have assassinated92 his brother in prison, but for the intervention93 of Charles de Mornay, a French gentleman, whose good counsel prevailed over the fiendish advice of Goran Persson.
Matthias Corvin, King of Hungary, rarely undertook anything without first consulting the astrologers, and the Duke of Milan and Pope Paul were also very largely governed by their advice. Lord Malmesbury in his “Memoirs” speaks of Frederick II.’s superstition and belief in astrology, and on this point we may quote a communication which the King made to his friend Baron94 von de Horst: “Being convinced that truth is often arrived at by most irrational95 ways, and that the most specious96 syllogisms very often lead to the falsest notions, I made inquiries97 in all sorts of quarters. I caused all those to be consulted who pretended to know anything about astrology, and even all the village prophets. The result was that I never found anything but old women’s tales and absurdity98.” But so firmly did the Turkish divan99 believe in astrology, that they attributed Frederick’s tide of success to the help of that science. Accordingly, the Sultan Mustapha sent Resmi to Berlin with instructions to induce the King to cede8 three of his most skilful100 astrologers to the Sultan. But at an audience Frederick led the Turk to a window and pointed101 out his troops to the ambassador, remarking that “his three advisers102 in war and peace were experience, discipline, and{404} economy; these and these only,” he concluded, “are my chief three astrologers.”
Even nowadays the royal astrologer is one of the most important officers at the Court of the Shah, and no Persian minister would venture to conclude a political transaction, or even to arrange a State ceremonial, without obtaining the sanction of the stars.
Among the illustrious believers in astrology who flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries must be added the name of Albert von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland, who was an enthusiast103 in the cause. Kepler was employed by him in making astrological calculations, and was rewarded by his influence with the Court of Vienna, which procured104 the settlement of a large demand. Then there was the astrologer John Gadbury, who in the nativity cast for the illustrious Prince of Denmark, informs us that “it is an aphorism105 nearly as old as astrology itself, that if the lord of the ascendant of a revolution be essentially106 well placed, it declares the native to be pleasant, healthful, and of a sound constitution of body, and rich in quiet of mind all that year, and that he shall be free from cares, perturbations, and troubles.”
Indeed, the drawers of horoscopes in bygone years had a busy and lucrative107 time; and one Thurneysser, a famous astrologer, who lived at the electoral Court of Berlin, was at the same time “physician, chemist, drawer of horoscopes, almanack-maker, printer, and librarian.” His re{405}putation was so widespread that scarcely a birth took place in families of any rank in Germany, Poland, Hungary, or England, without his being announced of the precise moment of birth. And it may be remembered how astrologers were consulted on behalf of Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII., who had predicted that great good fortune would befall her in 1503; a circumstance to which Sir Thomas More, in an elegy108 he wrote for the Queen, alludes109, at the same time noticing the folly110 and vanity of such divinations:—
“Yet was I lately promised otherwise
This year to live in weal and in delight;
Lo! to what cometh all thy blandishing promise,
O false astrology and divinitrice,
Of God’s secrets vaunting thyself so wise!
How true for this year is thy prophecy?
The year yet lasteth, and lo! here I lie”—
the Queen dying on her birthday, February 11, 1502-3, the very day when she completed her thirty-seventh year.
Another delusion112 which excited an extensive and long-continued interest was alchemy, and in the splendid Courts of Almansor and Haroun-al-Raschid the professors of the mystic art found “patronage, disciples113, and emolument114.” Frederick II., in a letter to his friend Baron von de Horst, thus writes concerning the rage of making gold which has deceived so many: “Fredersdorf firmly believed in it, and was soon connected with all the adepts115 in Potsdam. Speedily the report spread through the whole garrison116, so that there was{406} not an ensign who did not hope to pay his debts by means of the philosopher’s stone. Swindling adepts crowded from all quarters, and under all sorts of characters, to Potsdam. From Saxony came a certain Madame von Pfuel with two very handsome daughters, who did the thing in quite a professional style, so that they were considered great prophetesses. I wished to put it down by authority, but I did not succeed. An offer was made to give in my presence every imaginable proof, so that I might convince myself with my own eyes. Considering this the best means to expose the folly, I made this lady alchemist perform her operations under my strict surveillance. To throw gold in the crucibles117, or the like clumsy tricks, would not have done; yet Madame von Pfuel gave the affair such a specious appearance that I could not prove any of the experiments to have failed.” Indeed, the most eminent118 of the alchemic philosophers were not only the companions of princes, but many of them were even kings themselves, who “chose this royal road to wealth and magnificence.”
But in England the dreams of the alchemists never met with much favour, although there seems reason to believe that Raymond Lully—one of the most illustrious of the alchemists—visited this country about the year 1312, on the invitation of Edward II., and was employed here in refining gold and coining rose nobles. In 1455 Henry VI., by the advice of his council and parliament, issued four patents in succession to “certain knights119, London citizens, chemists, monks121, mass-priests, and others,{407} with leave and licence to attempt the discovery of the philosopher’s stone, to the great benefit of the realm, and the enabling of the King to pay all the debts of the crown in real gold and silver.” Prynne afterwards satirically remarked upon the issue of this patent to ecclesiastics123 as well as laymen124, that the King included them because they were “such good artists in transubstantiating bread and wine in the Eucharist, and therefore the more likely to be able to effect the transmutation of baser metals into better.”
Elizabeth amused herself with the chimeras125 of alchemy. Cecil, in his diary, has noted that in January 1567, “Cornelius Lannoy, a Dutchman, was committed to the Tower for abusing the Queen’s Majesty in promising126 to make the elixir127.” This impostor had been permitted to have his laboratory at Somerset House, where he had deceived many by promising to convert any metal into gold. To the Queen a more flattering delusion had been held forth128, even the draught129 of perpetual life and youth, and her strong intellect had been duped into the persuasion130 that it was in the power of a foreign empiric to confer the boon131 of immortality132 upon her. That Elizabeth was a believer in the occult sciences, and an encourager of those who practised the arts of divination111 and transmutation, is evident from the diary of her conjurer, Dr. Dee. On one occasion she condescended133 with her whole Court and Privy135 Council to visit him at Mortlake; but, as his wife had only been buried four hours, she contented136 herself with a peep into his magic{408} mirror. Dr. Dee flattered Elizabeth with promises of perennial137 youth and beauty from his anticipated discovery of the elixir of life, and the prospect138 of unbounded wealth as soon as he had matured his secret of transmuting139 the baser metals into gold. But the encouragement given by Elizabeth to conjurers and star-gazers was inconsistent with her disbelief in the prevailing140 superstitions141 of the age.
Turning to sorcery and magic, Charlemagne, it is said, had a talisman51, to which frequent allusion142 is made in traditional history, and which the late Emperor Napoleon III., when Prince Louis Napoleon, was stated to have in his possession. This curiosity, which was described in the Parisian journals as “la plus belle143 relique de l’Europe,” has long excited much interest in the arch?ological circles on the Continent. It is of fine gold, of a round form, set with gems144, and in the centre are two sapphires145, and a portion of the Holy Cross. This talisman was found on the neck of Charlemagne when his tomb was opened, and was presented to Bonaparte, and by him to Hortense, the former Queen of Holland, at whose death it descended134 to her son Prince Louis, late Emperor of the French.
Similarly, Henry VIII. had so great a superstitious veneration146 for the traditional virtues148 of a jewel which had for ages decked the shrine149 of Thomas à Becket at Canterbury, that he had it set in a ring, which he constantly wore on his thumb. The jewel was known as the “royal of France,{409}” having been presented to the shrine of the murdered archbishop by Louis VII. in the year 1179. Indeed, amulets in one form or another have from early times been used by royalty; and we read in the old French chronicles how Gondebaud, King of Burgundy, in the fifth century sought as a talisman the aid of St. Sergius’s thumb—which, fastened to the right arm of a certain Eastern king, had always made him victorious151—and how, when his request was not granted, he took by force a piece of the saint’s finger. And, likewise, on the death of Tippoo Saib, in the assault on his capital by the English troops, an English officer who was present at the discovery of his body among the slain152, by permission of General Baird, took from the Sultan’s right arm the talisman which contained—sewed upon pieces of fine flowered silk—an amulet49 of a brittle153, metallic154 substance of the colour of silver, and some magic words in Arabic and Persian characters. And, as a further instance of the superstitious tendency of Queen Elizabeth, Lady Southwell relates, “that the Queen, not being in very good health one day, Sir John Stanhope, Vice-Chamberlain, came and presented her Majesty with a piece of gold of the bigness of an angel, full of characters, which he said an old woman in Wales had bequeathed to her—the Queen—on her deathbed; and thereupon he discoursed157 how the said testatrix, by virtue147 of that piece of gold, had lived to the age of 120 years, and at that age, having all her body withered158 and consumed, she died, commanding the said piece of{410} gold to be sent to her Majesty, alleging159, further, that so long as she wore it on her body she could not die. The Queen, in confidence, took the gold and hung it round her neck.”
And it may be remembered how, after the battle of Culloden, the baggage of Prince Charles Edward fell into the hands of the Duke of Cumberland’s army, when many private and curious articles came into the possession of General Bedford—amongst others a stone set in silver attached to a ring which, it has been suggested, “the superstitious prince may have obtained on the Continent as a charm, and carried as a protection in the hazardous160 enterprise in which he was engaged.” It was a ruby161 bloodstone, having on one face the figure of Mars, and on the other face was a female naked figure, probably Isis.[174]
And speaking of ring superstitions in connection with royalty, there were the famous “cramp162 rings” which, when blessed by the sovereign, were regarded as preservatives163 against the cramp or against epilepsy—the earliest mention of which usage occurs in the reign of Edward II., the ceremonial having been discontinued by Edward VI. These rings were of various kinds—sometimes they were made of silver and of gold; and a MS. copy of the Orders of the King of England’s Household—13th Henry VIII., 1521-1522—preserved in the National Library at Paris, contains “the Order of the Kinges of England, touching his coming to service, hallowing of cramp rings, and offering and creeping to the{411} Cross.”[175] On April 4, 1529, Anne Boleyn sent to Stephen Gardiner, Bishop150 of Winchester, who had been despatched to Rome to plead for the divorce of Catherine of Aragon, a present of cramp rings; and the late Cardinal Wiseman had in his possession a manuscript containing both the ceremony for the blessing of the cramp rings, and that for the touching for the king’s evil. At the commencement of the MS. are emblazoned the arms of Philip and Mary, and there is an illumination representing the Queen kneeling, with a dish containing the rings to be blessed on each side of her. It appears that Queen Mary intended to revive the practice, and from this manuscript she probably did so.
Closely allied164 with the “royal cramp rings” was the practice of “touching for the evil,” which is said to have commenced with Edward the Confessor, and was more or less continued to the reign of Queen Anne, for in Lent 1712 we find Dr. Johnson among the persons actually touched. The custom seems to have been at its height in the reign of Charles II., as in the four first years of his restoration he “touched” nearly 24,000 persons. Pepys, in his “Diary,” under June 23, 1666, records how he waited at Whitehall, “to see the King touch people for the king’s evil.” He did not come, but kept the poor persons waiting all the morning in the rain in the garden; but afterwards he touched them in the banqueting-house. And Evelyn records the fact{412} that in the reign of Charles II. several persons were pressed to death in the crowd that surrounded the doors of the Court surgeon, where individuals applied166 for tickets in order to present their children for cure to the King. William III., says Macaulay, “had too much sense to be duped, and too much honesty to bear a part in what he knew to be an imposture167.” “It is a silly superstition,” he exclaimed, when he heard that at the close of Lent his palace was besieged168 by a crowd of the sick; “give the poor creatures some money and send them away.” On one occasion he was importuned169 into laying his hand on a patient. “God give you better health,” he said, “and more sense.” But Queen Anne revived the superstition, and performed the healing-office during her progresses whenever she rested at any provincial170 city.
At a late period the use of certain coins, known as “royal touch-pieces,” was in common vogue171, which, being touched by the King, were supposed to ward20 off evil or scrofula, several of which are preserved in the British Museum; and Mrs. Bray172 speaks of a “Queen Anne’s farthing” being a charm for curing the king’s evil in Devonshire.
The belief prevailed in France so lately as the coronation of Louis XVI., who is reported to have touched 2000 persons afflicted with scrofula. Indeed, this gift of healing was dispensed173 by the early French kings, and Laurentius, first physician to Henry IV. of France, asserts the power to have commenced with Clovis I. Bishop Elphin{413}ston, the founder174 of King’s College, Aberdeen, before his elevation175 to the episcopal dignity, while on an embassy from James III., King of Scots, to Louis XI., in a complimentary176 speech to the French monarch, congratulated him as the only prince to whom God had granted the peculiar177 gift of healing by the touch.
Evil omens with regard to rings have been occasionally the source of alarm to royalty. Thus Atkinson, in his “Memoirs of the Queen of Prussia,” writes: “The betrothal178 of the young couple—Frederick and Sophia Charlotte, King and Queen of Prussia—speedily followed. I believe it was during the festivities attendant upon this occasion that a ring worn by Frederick, in memory of his deceased wife, with the device of clasped hands, and the motto ‘à jamais,’ suddenly broke, which was looked upon as an omen15 that this union was to be of short duration.” And Queen Elizabeth’s coronation ring, which she had worn constantly since her inauguration179, having grown into her finger, necessitated180 the ring being filed off, an incident which was regarded as an unfavourable omen by many. Few, too, were more credulous181 in such matters than Elizabeth herself, who appears to have been a firm believer in the popular superstition of “good luck.”
It has oftentimes been a matter of surprise that a person of so strong a mind as Charles V. of Spain should have yielded to the popular superstition of his day as to put faith in amulets and{414} talismans. But that he did so is evident, writes Prescott,[176] “from the care with which he preserved certain amulets, and from his sending one of them—a bezoar stone—to his Chamberlain, Van Male, when supposed to be ill of the plague.” In his jewelled coffers were stones set in gold, sure styptics for stopping blood; nine English rings, a specific against cramp; a blue stone richly chased, for expelling the gout; four bezoar stones in gold settings, of singular efficacy in curing the plague; and other charms of the same kind. He also collected certain relics182, among which was a bit of the true Cross, which was afterwards passed as a precious legacy183 to Philip, as also did the contents of a casket, and a crucifix which his mother, the Empress Isabella, had in her hands at the hour of death, and which was afterwards to solace184 the last moments of her husband and her son.
In days gone by the unicorn’s horn was considered an amulet of singular virtue, although it is now known that the object shown as such in various museums is the horn of the rhinoceros185. Such an amulet was sold at six thousand ducats, and was thought to be an infallible test of poison, like Venetian glass and certain sorts of jewels. The Dukes of Burgundy kept pieces of them in their wine jugs186, and used others to touch the meat they tasted. And Holinshed tells us how King John, observing a moisture on some precious stones{415} he wore, thought that to be an indication “of some pears he was about to eat containing poison.”
Again, in the dark ages, when magic was publicly professed in the universities, we read of a sovereign who entered boldly into the cheat. Eric XIV. of Sweden, surnamed “Windy Cap,” had his enchanted cap, and pretended by the additional assistance of some magical jargon187 to be able to command spirits to trouble the air, and to turn the winds themselves; so that, when a great storm arose, his ignorant subjects believed that the King had got his conjuring188 cap on; and from this fact, it is said, originated the custom of mountebanks and conjurers playing their tricks in a conjuring cap. But it would seem that this strange and eccentric monarch, who looked upon every man with suspicion, and “interpreted the most natural and insignificant189 of gestures as some dreadful telegraphing of hideous190 treason,” rarely appeared in public, and never without a superstitious dread of impending191 calamity.
The Emperor Basil, who was originally a Macedonian groom192, and whose fortune had been assured by the prophecy of crafty193 and acute monks, anticipated one of the foolish superstitions of later times by applying to the spirit of a deceased son to know how it went with him after death.
Indeed, under a variety of forms, the history of most countries affords many a curious instance of monarchs194 seeking, or deriving195, information by supernatural agency. Thus Louis, eldest196 son of King Philip III. of France by his first wife, Isabel of Aragon, having died somewhat suddenly, his{416} death was attributed to poison. Peter de la Brosse, whom the King had made a confidant, advancing him to high dignities, did not shrink from insinuating197 that the Queen—Maria of Brabant—was guilty of this act, and that she was capable of inflicting199 the same fate upon all the King’s children by Isabel. Accordingly, the King resolved to consult a soothsayer, and of the two or three persons who were mentioned to him as possessing the gift of what nowadays is popularly designated clairvoyance200, a kind of beguine, or begging nun86, from Flanders was selected as having most reputation. Philip sent the Abbot of St. Denis to question her, but her answers he considered too serious to repeat, excusing himself that what he had heard was under the secret of the confessional. The King, in a fit of anger, sent further messengers, who informed the beguine that they came from the King of France, and they received from her the best possible character of the Queen. The King was satisfied, and lost much of his trust and friendship for Peter de la Brosse. Some time was allowed to elapse, when the grandees202, who were bent203 on his ruin, discovered, or pretended to discover, a treasonable correspondence of his which caused him to be hanged.[177]
The astonishing success of Baptiste Bernadotte, Prince of Ponte Corvo, who was selected as heir-presumptive to the crown of Sweden, which he wore—not without dignity—as Charles XIV., is said to have been foretold204 to him by the same celebrated205 fortune-teller who predicted that of{417} Bonaparte, and who so fully206 possessed207 the superstitious confidence of the Empress Josephine. In a biography of his life, published at Pau, we are told that Bernadotte believed in his special and independent destiny, and in a kind of tutelar divinity, who vouchsafed208 to him a special protection. An ancient traditionary chronicle is reported to have contained the prediction of a certain fairy, who had married one of his ancestors, that an illustrious king should spring from her race. Bernadotte never forgot this legend, which had charmed his early days, and possibly it was not without its influence on his future destiny. And how greatly the supernatural guided him is illustrated209 by the following event. Wishing to overcome the difficulties he encountered in Norway by means of the sword, he proposed to despatch69 his son Oscar at the head of an army, for the purpose of reducing the rebels, a proceeding210 which was strongly opposed by the Council of State. One day, after an animated211 discussion on the subject, he mounted his horse and galloped212 some distance from the capital, when suddenly he beheld an old woman, strangely clad. “What do you want?” asked the King. To which the apparition213 replied, “If Oscar goes to the war you meditate214, he will not give but receive the first blow.” The next day, bearing in his countenance215 the traces of a sleepless216 night, he presented himself at the Council, and said, “I have changed my mind; we will negotiate for peace, but I must have honourable terms.”
Amongst some of the cases recorded in this{418} country of royalty consulting supposed prophets, or being brought into their contact, may be mentioned that of Matilda of Flanders, who, hearing that a German hermit217 was possessed of the gift of prophecy, requested his prayers for the reconciliation218 of her jarring son and husband, and his opinion as to what would be the result of their feud219. But William was just as sceptical in such matters, and, when he accidentally put on his hauberk the hind220 part before, he quickly changed it, and said to those who stood by, “I never believed in omens, nor have I ever put my faith in fortune-tellers, or divinations of any kind, for my trust is in God.” And he added, “Let not this mischance discourage you,” knowing full well how easily frightened even the bravest of his followers221 were by ill-omens.
Richard I. was hunting in one of his Norman forests when he was met by a hermit, who prophesied222 that, unless he repented223, his end was close at hand. The King made light of the warning and went his way, but ere long he was seized with an illness which threatened to prove fatal, when, remembering the words of the hermit-prophet, he made public confession201 of his sins, and vowed224 to be reconciled to his queen Berengaria.
Edward IV. had a passion for astrology, divination, and every kind of fortune-telling, in which he imitated the pursuits of Henry V.; and Elizabeth of York relates how “her father, being one day studying a book of magic in the palace of Westminster, was extremely agitated225, even to tears, and, though earls and lords were present, none durst speak to{419} him but herself. She came and knelt before him for his blessing, upon which he threw his arms around her, and lifted her into a high window; and when he had set her there, he gave her the reason or horoscope he had drawn, and bade her show it to no one but Lord Stanley, for he had plainly calculated that no son of his should wear the crown after him. He predicted that she should be queen, and the crown would rest with her descendants.”
In Wyatt’s “Memorials of Anne Boleyn” the following incident is related as having happened previous to her marriage with Henry: A book, assuming to be of a prophetic character, and of a similar class with the oracular hieroglyphic226 almanacs of succeeding centuries, was mysteriously placed in her chamber155 one day, on seeing which she called her principal attendant, Anne Saville.
“Come hither, Nan,” said she. “See, here is a book of prophecies; this is the King, this is the Queen, and this is myself, with my head cut off.”
Anne Saville answered, “If I thought it true, I would not myself have him were he an emperor.”
“Tut! Nan,” replied Anne Boleyn, “I think the book a bauble227, and I am resolved to have him, that my issue may be royal, whatever may become of me.”
But such a forecast of the future was at this period of common occurrence, and was no doubt occasionally adopted as a device for deterring228 the sovereign from some design which his opponents desired to frustrate229.{420}
Another anecdote47 is told of Catherine Parr, illustrative of her power of retort when quite young. It seems that some one skilled in prognostications, casting her nativity, said that “she was born to sit in the highest seat of imperial majesty, having all the eminent stars and planets in her house.” This forecast of her life she did not forget, and, when her mother used at times to call her to work, she would reply, “My hands are ordained230 to touch crowns and sceptres, and not spindles and needles.”
But fortune-tellers have sometimes told uncomfortable things to royalty. There is a singular anecdote of Charles I. traditional at Hampton Court Palace. The story runs that one day he was standing231 at a window of the palace, when a gipsy came up and asked for charity. Her appearance and attitude excited ridicule232, which so infuriated and enraged233 the gipsy, that she took out of her basket a looking-glass and presented it to the King, who saw therein his own head decollated.
Another tradition of a similar nature—of which there is more than one version—is connected with the mode of divination known as the Sortes Virgilian?. According to one account, King Charles when at Oxford234 was shown a magnificent Virgil, and when induced by Lord Falkland to make a trial of his fortune by the Sortes Virgilian?, he opened the volume at the Fourth Book of the ?neid (615 et seq.), which contained the following passage:{421}—
“By a bold people’s stubborn arms opprest,
Forced to forsake235 the land he once possess’d,
Torn from his dearest son, let him in vain
Seek help, and see his friends unjustly slain.
Let him to base unequal terms submit,
In hope to save his crown, yet lose both it
And life at once, untimely let him die,
And on an open stage unburied lie.”
Wellwood adds, “It is said that King Charles seemed concerned at the accident, and that the Lord Falkland, observing it, would also try his own fortune in the same way, hoping that he might fall on some passage that could have no relation to his case, and thereby236 divert the King’s thoughts from any impression that the other had made on him; but the place that Lord Falkland stumbled upon was yet more suited to his destiny than the other had been to the King’s, being the expression of Evander upon the untimely death of his son Pallas, as thus translated by Dryden:—
“O Pallas! thou hast fail’d thy plighted237 word,
To fight with caution, nor to tempt122 the sword.
I warned thee but in vain; for well I knew
What perils240 youthful ardour will pursue;
That boiling blood would carry thee too far,
Young as thou wert in dangers, raw to war!
O curst essay of arms, disastrous241 doom242,
Preludes243 of bloody244 fields, and fights to come!”
It is generally admitted, however, that Charles was very superstitious; and we are told by Lilly, the astrologer, that the King on more than one occasion sent to consult him during his misfortunes. It may be remembered, too, that Henrietta Maria,{422} wife of Charles I., consulted a prophetess—Lady Eleanor, daughter of the Earl of Castlehaven, and married to Sir John Davys, the King’s Attorney-General. The idea that she was a prophetess arose from the discovery that the letters of her name, twisted into an anagram, might thus be read: “Reveal, O Daniel.” But her prophetic pride had on one occasion a rebuff; for one of the King’s Privy Council attacked her with her own weapons, maintaining that the real anagram should be read thus: “Dame Eleanor Davys—Never so mad a lady.”
But the strange conversation that passed between her Majesty Henrietta Maria and the prophetess is thus given in the latter’s own words: “About two years after the marriage of King Charles I., I was waiting on the Queen as she came from mass or evening service, to know what service she was pleased to require from me. Her first question was ‘Whether she should ever have a son?’ I answered, ‘In a short time.’ The Queen was next desirous to know what would be the destiny of the Duke of Buckingham and the English fleet, which had sailed to attack her brother’s realm, and relieve the siege of Rochelle.
“I answered that the Duke of Buckingham would bring home little honour, but his person would return safely, and that speedily. The Queen then returned to her hopes of a son, and I showed that she would have one, and that for a long time she should be happy.
“‘But for how long?’ asked the Queen. ‘For sixteen years,’ was my reply. King Charles coming{423} in at that moment, our discourse156 was interrupted by him. ‘How now, Lady Eleanor,’ said the King, ‘are not you the person who foretold your husband’s death three days before it happened?’ to which his Majesty thought fit to add, ‘that it was the next to breaking his heart.’”
Mary II., having heard that a Mrs. Wise, a noted fortune-teller, had prophesied that James II. would be restored, and that the Duke of Norfolk would lose his head, went in person to her to hear what she had to say regarding her own future destiny. But this witch-woman was a perverse245 Jacobite, and positively246 refused to read futurity for her Majesty.
George I. had been warned by a French prophetess to take care of his wife, as it was fated that he would not survive her more than a year. Such an effect, it is said, had the prediction on his mind, that shortly after his wife’s death, on taking leave of his son and the Princess of Wales, when on the eve of his departure for Hanover, he told them that he should never see them again. “At the same time,” adds Mr. Jesse,[178] “with a contempt of all laws, human and divine, he gave directions that his wife’s will should be burnt, and this for the mere247 purpose, it seems, of depriving his own son of some valuable legacies248 bequeathed to him by his unfortunate mother”—his wife and his only son having, it would appear, been the two persons whom he most disliked.{424}
Divination by cards was in the seventeenth century a fashionable amusement at the Court of France. A well-known anecdote tells of the ominous249 gloom which was on one occasion cast over the circle of Anne of Austria by the obstinacy250 with which the knave251 of spades—the sure emblem252 of a speedy death—persisted in falling to the lot of the young and brilliant Duc de Candale: a prediction which was shortly afterwards verified.
The superstitious fancy of the “divinity that hedges in a king,” and made C?sar encourage his alarmed boatman, “Fear nothing, you carry C?sar and the fortune of C?sar in your boat,” is told of Rufus, who, when the sailors pointed out the danger of putting to sea, exclaimed: “I have never heard of a king who was shipwrecked; weigh anchor, and you will see that the winds will be with us.”
The immunity253 of an anointed king had its influence on the strong-minded German Emperor, William I. A young married couple visited the island of Meinau, where the Emperor was residing with his son-in-law, the Grand Duke of Baden. On their departure, so violent a storm came on that their boatman found it impossible to proceed, and they were forced to return to the island. The Emperor, seeing their plight238, met them on the beach, and ordering steam to be got up in a small iron steam launch, placed it at their service. But the lady, alarmed at her first encounter with the waves, demurred254 somewhat to trusting herself again to their mercies. “Do not be alarmed,{425}” said the Emperor, “the steamer bears my name, and that ought to reassure255 you.”
But Henry I. does not seem to have been of this opinion, for when in June 1131 he had embarked256 from Normandy for England, he was so dismayed by the bursting of a water-spout over the vessel257 and the fury of the wind and waves, that, believing his last hour was at hand, he made a penitent258 acknowledgment of his sins, promising to lead a new life if God should preserve him from the peril239 of death.
Dreams have occasionally exerted a disquieting259 influence on royalty, two or three instances of which may be quoted. Thus Bossuet, in his funeral oration165 on the Princess Palatine, Anne of Gonzaga, attributes her conversion260 to a mysterious dream. “This,” says he, “was a marvellous dream; one of those which God himself produces through the ministry261 of his angels; one in which the images are clearly and orderly arranged, and we are permitted to obtain a glimpse of celestial262 things. The princess fancied she was walking alone in a forest, when she found a blind man in a small cottage. She approached him, and inquired if he had been blind from his birth, or whether it was the result of an accident. He told her that he was born blind. ‘You are ignorant then,’ she said, ‘of the effect of light, how beautiful and pleasant it is; nor can you conceive the glory and beauty of the sun.’ ‘I have never,’ he replied, ‘enjoyed the sight of that beautiful object, nor can I form any idea of it, nevertheless I believe it to be{426} surpassing glorious.’ The blind man then seemed to change his voice and manner, and assuming a tone of authority, ‘My example,’ he continued, ‘should teach you there are excellent things which escape your notice, and which are not less true or less desirable, although you can neither comprehend nor imagine them.’”
Again, a few nights before the fatal day on which Henry IV. of France was assassinated by Ravaillac—Friday, May 14, 1610—the Queen dreamed that all the jewels in her crown were changed into pearls, and that she was told pearls were significant of tears. Another night she started and cried out in her sleep, and waked the King, who, asking her what was the matter, she answered, “I have had a frightful263 dream, but I know that dreams are mere illusions.”
“I was always of the same opinion,” said Henry; “however, tell me what your dream was.”
“I dreamed,” continued the Queen, “that you were stabbed with a knife under the short ribs264.”
“Thank God,” added the King, “it was but a dream.”
On the morning of the fatal day the King more than once said to those about him, “Something or other hangs very heavy on my heart.” Before he entered his carriage he took leave of the Queen no fewer than three times, and had not driven long ere Ravaillac gave him the deadly thrust which deprived France of one of the most humane265 sovereigns she ever had.
A strange illustration of ignorance and supersti{427}tion was that afforded by the Emperor Romanus, who on the night of the death of his son Constantine had a dream, in which he beheld him falling into hell. In a state of alarm he despatched messengers to Jerusalem and Rome to solicit266 the prayers of the faithful, and he summoned the monks of all the adjacent monasteries to assemble around him, three hundred of whom obeyed the invitation. The day was Holy Thursday, and, “at the moment of the elevation of the Host, he divested267 himself of his upper garments and stood in the midst of the assembly with nothing on but his shirt. With a loud voice he read his general confession,” at the conclusion of which he knelt before each monk120 in turn and received absolution. His humiliation268 followed, for the whole assembly then retired269 to partake of the ordinary repast, during which Romanus, still in his shirt, stood in a corner apart, and a little hired boy was occupied in whipping his naked legs, exclaiming, “Get to table, you wicked old fellow! get to table!” That the whole ceremony had divine sanction is proved by the numerous miracles which are said to have taken place, but “of which no ocular witness ever made deposition270.”
It was a dream—so asserted the Sultan Bajazet II.—that directed this ruler when, on the 25th of April 1512, his son Selim appeared in front of the palace at the head of an irresistible271 force, exclaiming, “If you will not yield, we will not touch your life, but we will drag you by your robes on the points of our javelins272 from the throne.” On the{428} following morning he acceded273 to their demands, acknowledging that a dream of the night had taught him the course he was to take. “This was my dream,” said the monarch, who was extricating274 himself from disgrace, to follow the instructions imparted in a dream—“I saw my crown placed by my soldiers on my son Selim’s head. It would be injurious to resist such a sign.”
Numerous further illustrations might be added to show how great an influence dreams, at different times, have exerted over the minds of sovereigns, causing them occasionally to forego undertaking275 certain acts, as being divine interpositions for their special guidance.
At the age of the Reformation, Scotland was sunk into barbarism and ignorance, and on this account never did the witch-mania enter a country better suited for its reception. James VI. of Scotland, before he became the First of England, had taken an active part in several witch-trials, but especially in the inquisition directed to discover the guilt198 of Dr. Fian and others, to whom he had ascribed his stormy passage with his Norwegian consort276 from Denmark. It is unnecessary to enter on a recital277 of the horrible tortures inflicted278 upon the accused, for all the torments279 known to the Scottish law were successively applied. But it is evident that a monarch who had participated in such horrors, and had further committed himself by the publication of his notable work, the “D?monology,” must have come to the English throne decidedly predisposed to foster the popular delu{429}sions respecting witchcraft280. Indeed, as Mr. Lecky observes, James “was continually haunted by the subject,” and “boasted that the devil regarded him as the most formidable of opponents.” The earliest statute281 against witchcraft appears to have been enacted282 in the reign of Henry VI., and additional penal283 laws were passed by Henry VIII. and Elizabeth. But there can be no doubt that in many cases witchcraft was a convenient excuse for carrying out a wicked policy. To this cause, as Sir Walter Scott says, we may impute284 the trial of the Duchess of Gloucester, wife of the good Duke Humphrey, accused of consulting witches concerning the mode of compassing the death of her husband’s nephew, Henry VI. The Duchess was condemned285 to do penance286, and then banished287 to the Isle288 of Man. But the alleged289 witchcraft “was the only ostensible290 cause of a procedure which had its real source in the deep hatred291 between the Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort, his half-brother.” The same pretext292 was used by Richard III. when he brought the charge of sorcery against the Queen-Dowager, Jane Shore, and the Queen’s kinsmen293. The accusation294 in each case “was only chosen as a charge easily made and difficult to be eluded34 or repelled295.”
In the same way Charles, Count of Valois, uncle of Louis X., had much influence over him. Charles believed, or pretended to believe, in sorcery. By making a waxen image of a foe80, which was pricked296 and tortured, the person represented{430} was supposed to pine away and die. It was a belief of the age, and a fearful belief, for who could be secure against an act of malice297 that might be perpetrated in the most profound secrecy298?[179]
And on the Continent we find royalty tacitly in times past pandering299 to the superstitious spirit of their age, by sanctioning and upholding the cruelties to which supposed witches were subjected. And the most terrible scenes occurred in France, till happily the edict of Louis XIV. discharged all future persecutions for witchcraft, after which the crime was heard of no more.
The quarrel of Sancho I. of Portugal with the Bishop of Coimbra is, too, another evidence of the superstitious disposition of even a crusading monarch in those times, for it arose about a so-called witch, whom the King insisted on keeping in his palace.
And, turning to another phase of superstition of a less gloomy nature, may be briefly300 noticed the strong predilection301 displayed by some monarchs for a particular number or day of the year or week. Thus Dubois, in his Mémoire Fidèle, relates how Louis XIII. a few hours before his death—Thursday, May 14, 1643—summoned his physicians, and asked them if they thought he would live until the following day, saying that Friday had always been for him a fortunate day; that all the undertakings302 he had begun on that day had proved successful; that in all the battles fought on that{431} day he had been victorious; that it was his fortunate day, and on that day he would wish to die.
Napoleon’s favourite and lucky day, like that of his nephew, Napoleon III., was the 2nd of the month. He was made consul36 for life on August 2, 1802; was crowned December 2, 1804; won his greatest battle, that of Austerlitz, for which he obtained the title of “Great,” December 2, 1805; and he married the Archduchess of Austria, April 2, 1810.
And going back to earlier days, according to Brant?me, Charles V. was partial to St. Matthias’s Day—February 24—because on that day he was elected emperor, on that day crowned, and on that day Francis I. was taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia. Henry IV. of France, again, considered Friday his lucky day, and began his undertakings by preference on that day.
The Prince of Orange—heir-apparent of the King of Holland—who died somewhat suddenly at Paris, June 11, 1879, was, it is said, very superstitious with regard to the numbers 6 and 11. As a sporting man, he always withdrew his horses when they were classed under the one or the other; and, by a curious coincidence, the Prince died on the eleventh day of the sixth month of the year, and at 11 o’clock. But, according to Fuller, Edward VI. was the exact opposite in point of superstition, for when it was remarked to him that Christ College, Cambridge, was a superstitious foundation, consisting of a master and twelve fellows, in imitation of Christ and His twelve apostles, he was advised by a covetous303 courtier to take away one or two fellowships so as to break that mystic number. “Oh no,” replied the King, “I have a far better way than that to mar their conceit304; I will add a thirteenth fellowship to them”—which he accordingly did, to the disgust of the credulous and the approval of the wise.
The End
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1
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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precursors
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| n.先驱( precursor的名词复数 )；先行者；先兆；初期形式 | |
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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cede
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| v.割让，放弃 | |
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pestilences
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| n.瘟疫， （尤指）腺鼠疫( pestilence的名词复数 ) | |
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afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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astronomically
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| 天文学上 | |
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presage
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| n.预感，不祥感；v.预示 | |
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tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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omens
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| n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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portended
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| v.预示( portend的过去式和过去分词 )；预兆；给…以警告；预告 | |
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dissuade
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| v.劝阻，阻止 | |
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steadfast
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| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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chancellorship
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| 长官的职位或任期 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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deluded
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| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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eluded
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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persevering
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| a.坚忍不拔的 | |
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addiction
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| n.上瘾入迷，嗜好 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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48
amulets
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| n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 ) | |
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amulet
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| n.护身符 | |
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talismans
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| n.护身符( talisman的名词复数 )；驱邪物；有不可思议的力量之物；法宝 | |
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talisman
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| n.避邪物，护身符 | |
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observatories
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| n.天文台，气象台( observatory的名词复数 ) | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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malign
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| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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60
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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61
adroit
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| adj.熟练的，灵巧的 | |
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62
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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63
propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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64
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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65
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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66
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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67
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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68
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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69
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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70
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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71
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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72
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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73
haughtiness
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| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
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74
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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75
miserable
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|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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76
entail
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| vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要 | |
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77
moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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78
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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79
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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80
foe
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|
| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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81
mathematicians
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| 数学家( mathematician的名词复数 ) | |
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82
convened
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| 召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合 | |
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83
fabled
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|
| adj.寓言中的，虚构的 | |
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84
sages
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| n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料） | |
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85
presumptuous
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|
| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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86
nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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87
maiden
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|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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88
lewd
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| adj.淫荡的 | |
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89
dominions
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|
| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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90
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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91
annoyance
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|
| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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92
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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93
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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94
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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95
irrational
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| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
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96
specious
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|
| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
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97
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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98
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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99
divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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100
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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101
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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102
advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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103
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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104
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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105
aphorism
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| n.格言，警语 | |
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106
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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107
lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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108
elegy
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| n.哀歌，挽歌 | |
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109
alludes
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| 提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 ) | |
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110
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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111
divination
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| n.占卜，预测 | |
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112
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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113
disciples
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|
| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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114
emolument
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| n.报酬，薪水 | |
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115
adepts
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| n.专家，能手( adept的名词复数 ) | |
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116
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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117
crucibles
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| n.坩埚，严酷的考验（ crucible的名词复数 ） | |
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118
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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119
knights
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|
| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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120
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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121
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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122
tempt
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|
| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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123
ecclesiastics
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| n.神职者，教会，牧师( ecclesiastic的名词复数 ) | |
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124
laymen
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| 门外汉，外行人( layman的名词复数 )； 普通教徒（有别于神职人员） | |
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125
chimeras
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|
| n.（由几种动物的各部分构成的）假想的怪兽( chimera的名词复数 )；不可能实现的想法；幻想；妄想 | |
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126
promising
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|
| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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127
elixir
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| n.长生不老药，万能药 | |
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128
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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129
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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130
persuasion
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|
| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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131
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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132
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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133
condescended
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|
| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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134
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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135
privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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136
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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137
perennial
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|
| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
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138
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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139
transmuting
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| v.使变形，使变质，把…变成…( transmute的现在分词 ) | |
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140
prevailing
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|
| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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141
superstitions
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|
| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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142
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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143
belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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144
gems
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|
| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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145
sapphires
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| n.蓝宝石，钢玉宝石( sapphire的名词复数 )；蔚蓝色 | |
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146
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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147
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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148
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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149
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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150
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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151
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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152
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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153
brittle
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| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
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154
metallic
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|
| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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155
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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156
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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157
discoursed
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| 演说（discourse的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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158
withered
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|
| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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159
alleging
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| 断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 ) | |
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160
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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161
ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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162
cramp
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| n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚 | |
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163
preservatives
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| n.防腐剂( preservative的名词复数 ) | |
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164
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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165
oration
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| n.演说，致辞，叙述法 | |
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166
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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167
imposture
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| n.冒名顶替，欺骗 | |
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168
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169
importuned
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|
| v.纠缠，向（某人）不断要求( importune的过去式和过去分词 )；（妓女）拉（客） | |
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170
provincial
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|
| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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171
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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172
bray
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| n.驴叫声, 喇叭声；v.驴叫 | |
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173
dispensed
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| v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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174
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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175
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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176
complimentary
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|
| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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177
peculiar
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|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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178
betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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179
inauguration
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| n.开幕、就职典礼 | |
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180
necessitated
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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181
credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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182
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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183
legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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184
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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185
rhinoceros
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| n.犀牛 | |
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186
jugs
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| （有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 ) | |
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187
jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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188
conjuring
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| n.魔术 | |
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189
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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190
hideous
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|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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191
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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192
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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193
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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194
monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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195
deriving
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| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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196
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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197
insinuating
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| adj.曲意巴结的，暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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198
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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199
inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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200
clairvoyance
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| n.超人的洞察力 | |
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201
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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202
grandees
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| n.贵族，大公，显贵者( grandee的名词复数 ) | |
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203
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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204
foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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205
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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206
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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207
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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208
vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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209
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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210
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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211
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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212
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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213
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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214
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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215
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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216
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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217
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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218
reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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219
feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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220
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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221
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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222
prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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223
repented
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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224
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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225
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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226
hieroglyphic
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| n.象形文字 | |
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227
bauble
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| n.美观而无价值的饰物 | |
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228
deterring
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 ) | |
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229
frustrate
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| v.使失望；使沮丧；使厌烦 | |
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230
ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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231
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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232
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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233
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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234
Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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235
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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236
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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237
plighted
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| vt.保证，约定（plight的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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238
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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239
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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240
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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241
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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242
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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243
preludes
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| n.开端( prelude的名词复数 )；序幕；序曲；短篇作品 | |
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244
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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245
perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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246
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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247
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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248
legacies
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| n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症 | |
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249
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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250
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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251
knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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252
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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253
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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254
demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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255
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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256
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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257
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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258
penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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259
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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260
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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261
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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262
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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263
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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264
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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265
humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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266
solicit
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| vi.勾引；乞求；vt.请求，乞求；招揽(生意) | |
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267
divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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268
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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269
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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270
deposition
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| n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物 | |
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271
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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272
javelins
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| n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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273
acceded
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| v.（正式）加入( accede的过去式和过去分词 )；答应；（通过财产的添附而）增加；开始任职 | |
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274
extricating
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| v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的现在分词 ) | |
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275
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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276
consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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277
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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278
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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279
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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280
witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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281
statute
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| n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例 | |
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282
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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283
penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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284
impute
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| v.归咎于 | |
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285
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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286
penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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287
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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288
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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289
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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290
ostensible
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| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
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291
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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292
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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293
kinsmen
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| n.家属，亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
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294
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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295
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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296
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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297
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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298
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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299
pandering
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| v.迎合（他人的低级趣味或淫欲）( pander的现在分词 )；纵容某人；迁就某事物 | |
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300
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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301
predilection
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| n.偏好 | |
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302
undertakings
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| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
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303
covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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304
conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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