The

magnaries, mackanopoceticks, poliorceticks, &c., &c. chapter, however, well merits attention, as including a curious epitome of ancient art and ingenuity. Thus, mention is made of" bulls daunsing by themselves, candles making their own weekes;" an artificial animal drinking, and representing the motions of a living creature; speaking and moving images of high antiquity;-a dove of wood, that" rose up on high and flewe."-Archimedes' "heaven of brasse, with so great workmanshippe, that therein the motions of all the planets were most manifestly perceyved," and the revolutions" of all the heavenly sphere."

Under the head of" the arte of opticke," or perspective, we have an enumeration of the various ancient theories of light and sight; most of which prove their authors to have been much in the dark upon a subject little understood. Cornelius satisfies himself with his enumerations, unable or unwilling to say a word of "the vanitie of it" as a science.

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Painters, too, come off pretty well; and, possibly, the art of graving and moulding might have been equally fortunate but for the second commandment, which is introduced with fatal effect against its professors, who have brought in an " idolatrie very odiouse to God," and for which they shall be "accursed" and "suffer tormentes." The invention of the art is attributed to the "vanitie of menne, for the temptation of menne's soules, and to beguile the ignorante, and the invention of them is the corruption of life;" never omitting an opportunity of handling the monks roughly. An anecdote is introduced in this chapter, more applicable, indeed, to painting than sculpture; "I learned," saith Cornelius, that, in tyme past, there was, in pictures and images, an authoritie greatly to be esteemed; for, whereas there was an obstinate strife betweene the Augustine friers and the vulgar chanons, before the Pope, concerning the habite or apparel of St. Augustine, i. e. to say whether he did weare a black weede upon a white coate, or a white weede upon a black coate; and finding nothing in the scriptures whiche made to the ending of the strife, the Roman judges thought good to preferre the whole matter to painters and image-makers." Accordingly, paintings and statues innumerable were searched and examined for authorities, but in vain; for in no place" saw I a frier's cowle:" at length, however, in the forepart of a certain picture," the divell" was found" painted with a cowle, to witte, he which wente to tempte Christe in the deserte."" At the which," adds Cornelius, I "rejoyced exceedingly," that " I had found, that the divel was the first author of a cowle; of whom, afterwarde, I suppose that other monkes and friers took up the fashion under divers colours; or, perhaps, have retained it as a thing left to them

by inheritance." Chapter XXVI. is upon " the arte of seeingglasses;" an art accused of deceit, inasmuch as, hereby, things might be magnified, lessened, or multiplied beyond the truth. In speaking of the extent of knowledge upon this subject, it would appear that telescopes were little known in his days, as he expresses himself rather mysteriously respecting a secret of making glasses, by which," when the sun shineth, all things may very plainely be seene a great space off, as three or foure miles !"

Of the measure of the worlde," comprising geography and cosmography. This affords him scope for alluding to the absurd ideas broached in various ages, by various persons, concerning the extent, magnitude, and height of the globe; where was its middle, and where its extremities? The orthodox reasoning reminds us of some scriptural passages urged in our days, in favour of contested points. "The divines, also," he says, "putting their hookes among this corne," (i. e. entering into the question of the middle point of the earth,) will have Jerusalem to be the middle point of the earth, because it is written by the prophet, God hath wrought salvation in the middest of the earth." " His conclusion is, that, "whylest this arte endeavoureth to teache us the greatnesse of the earth, &c., we get no other fruite thereof, but that whylest we overgreedily searche out other menne's matters, doe learne not to know our selves, or, as St. Augustine sayeth in his confessions, men goe to wonder at the highnesse of the mountains, the great surges of the sea, and the broad running of the ryvers, the circuite of the ocean sea, and the compasse of the starres, and do forsake themselves."

"There is no doubte but that architecture bringeth us very greate profite and ornamente;" and having said thus much in its favour, he laments over the folly of those who are never satisfied with what they have, but "do desire to enlarge the roome of their houses with some newe thing, being already well built," a hint of some value in these overbuilding days, when the homes, in which our ancestors dwelt comfortably, are turned out of windows by their dissatisfied posterity. Architecture, according to our author's view, includes hewing of stones and excavations of rocks; he connects it with the "acte of finding metals," which affords ample scope for rebuking men's avidity for earthly pelf. By this acte, all worldly wealth is maintained, for the greedinesse whereof such a fantasie came in menne's brains, that they go even unto hel alive, and with the great decaie of nature do search riches where damned soules do dwell; and I would to God that men woulde applie themselves to heavenlye thinges, as they do searche out the entrailes of the earth."

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Two long and tedious chapters occur, connecting astronomy and astrology; the substance of which is, that astrologers know nothing about the matter: he confesses, after long experience, that he himself lost much time and labour therein; learning, at length, that " the arte was builte wholly and altogether upon no other foundation but upon mere trifles and fancyings of imagination;" and bitterly he repents having listened to" the importunate prayers of noble personages, (which are wonte oftentimes to abuse passing good wittes, in doing many unworthie actes.") So much for his patroness, Louisa of Savoy.

Having despatched astrology and various other arts closely or remotely connected with it, he at Chapter XII. commences upon "magicke in generall;" after all, a sister art, since he, which professeth magicke without astrologie, doth nothing but wander out of the way." He defines it to be that "whiche, having intentively beheld the forces of all naturall things and celestiall, doth publish abroade the hidden and secret powers of nature, bringing the thinges which be prepared by nature, applying and setting active things to passive, very oftentymes before the tyme by nature appoynted to bring forth effectes, whiche of the common sort be accounted miracles whereas, for all that, they be but naturall workes.”—But, withal, magicians are very presumptuous persons, with having gone farre to do all thinges, especially with the favor of that auncient and terrible serpent, the promiser of sciences, that like to him, as apes, they endeavour to counterfeit God and nature."

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Sometimes, indeed, the crime carries its own punishment, as it is on record that a certain Demarchaus Pharrhasius, venturing to taste the "inwardes of a childe" which he was sacrificing, was turned into a wolf. We mention this as a caution to those who feel inclined to dabble with these works of "darknesse and bookes of damnable reading," thus becoming "damnable artificers of damnation."-To guard against these "necromanticall magitiers, the ancient fathers skilled in spiritual things, not without cause, have ordeyned that deade men's bodies should be buried in a holy place, and shoulde be accompanied with lightes, sprinkled with holy water, perfumed, purged, and prayed for as long as they were above the earth;" for, as the "Masters of the Hebrews say, all our carnall creature" is left to Azayeli the serpent, for "meate, whiche is lord of fleshe and bloode." Respecting Theurgie, a branch of magic by many deemed not " prohibited," as under the government of "good angelles," we shall merely give Cornelius's own opinion; he declaring it to be an arte the " more damnable," as it appears to the "ignorant more

divine."

The mysteries of the "Cabala" claim considerable respect from their high origin, they being a "kinde of magicke which the Jews saie were the gift of God to Moses in the mounte." But we must confess Agrippa combats this argument with great force, insisting upon it, that, if its origin was divine, it never would have been hidden from the mother church," whiche truly hath knowledge of all things.”—Cabala, therefore, must be "nothing else but a certain most pestilent superstition."-Under the article" Jugling," we have instances of skill far beyond the powers of the best Indian professors of the art, or the very king of conjurors himself. One Pasetes, being wont to shew to strangers "a verie sumptuous banket, and, when it pleased him, to cause it to vanishe away;" all they which sat as guests were, with good reason, much surprised, being thus disappointed "both of meate and drinke." Philosophy, in general, excites disapprobation on account of the want of unanimity amongst its leaders. Wherefore, "I knowe not whether I should accompt philosophers among beastes, or among men; they seeme to surmount brutish beasts, because they have reason and understanding: but why shall they be accompted menne, whose reason cannot perswade no constant and certaine thing, but doth alwayes waver in mutable opinions?" Some of their dilemmas are noticed; for instance, that puzzling question, whether the egg or the birde be firste engendered? seeing that it is not possible that an egge shoulde be layde without a birde, and a birde begotten without an egge." The question of the soul's origin is largely discussed: we will pass over the opinion of the heathen philosophers and briefly touch upon some maintained by Christian divines, amongst whom there is "growne a discorde touching the beginning of soules." Thus "one Origines, a very well learned man, hath it, that the soules of men were made in heaven from the beginning of the worlde. Augustine supposed the soul to have been a sort of itinerante pilgrim of ancient growth, in search of an abode, and, beholding in the bodie a dwelling-place meet for himselfe, he chose it willingly;" others supposed that" one soule is begotten of another, as a bodie of a bodie;" others, again, that there was a constant manufacture, and that " all soules be dayly created:" this was the doctrine of Thomas Aquinas. In short, there is no end to the diversified opinions of souls, which were made to partake, as best suited the theories of each, of a singular, dual, or plural number, of every form and fashion one conclusion, albeit of pagan authority, will at least be admitted by all, viz. oft times, reasonable souls do get into very unreasonable bodies. The pagan, indeed, alludes to their being occasionally incarcerated in such things as plants and

animals; but we believe experience will bear us out, as Christians, in the verity of the belief, that bodies and souls in this world do not always live in harmony and accordance with each other. The prolific jargon, flowing from metaphysical views of these and similar topics, affords our author abundant weapons against philosophy in general, as adverse to religion. "For what heresies soever have beene at any time, they all have flowed out of the fountaines of philosophie as from theyr very seede plotte," reducing "playne divinitie to caveling and sophisticall babling."

He complains, that moral philosophy is censurable in its fundamental principles, "taking place by right or wrong, according to the use of time and agreement of menne; whereof it cometh to passe, that that which, at one tyme, was vice, at another tyme is accounted virtue; and that whiche to one is honest, to another is dishoneste; that whiche to us is juste, to other is unjuste, according to the opinion or lawes of time, of place, of estate, and of men." Is Master Cornelius quite wrong in this statement? Reader, look around you: we speak as to wise men-judge ye. How far we really feel inclined to go with our author, needs not to be exactly defined, but certainly, not to the full extent of his conclusion, "that moral philosophy is altogyther repugnant to good law, and to Christe himselfe; that the glorie thereof is due to none other, than to Sathau.”

And now for his politics—a tender subject at all times, full of Gordian knots on both sides, Whig, and Tory, and Radical; alike disinclined to argue the matter calmly and dispassionately. In giving, therefore, our selection, we beg only that it be remembered, the reasons are Cornelius Agrippa's, not the Retrospective Reviewer's.-"Kinglinesse,” saith he, (for we may as well begin at the head,) "hath this pestilent mischiefe in it, that they also, which in time paste, were very good men and allowed by all men's consent, as sone as they had rule in hande, as it were licence to offend, became presumptuouse and very wicked." He gives a curious instance illustrative of the old adage, that private vices are public benefits; as he expresses it, the "multitude of transgressors is the ritches of princes. I had in time past, in Italie, verie familiar conversation with a mightie prince, whome when I exhorted to appease and mitigate the seditions of the Gibellins and Guelfins, he confessed, that, by the occasion of that broyle and taking of partes, he hadde as good as twelve thousande ducates in condemnations yearely brought into his treasure."-So much for monarchy; at which, lest the radical should chuckle over much, we forthwith proceed to popular governments. What says Cornelius, then, of the mighty majesty of the people?-this-"that it is their propertie to understande