user; of the witnesses produced against
him; even of the crimes of which he was accused. He was examined
generally, whether he knew why he was arrested, and was conscious of
any guilt that might deserve the notice of the holy office? He was
examined as to his country, his life, his habits, his pursuits, his
actions, and opinions. The old man was frank and simple in his
replies; he was conscious of no guilt, capable of no art, practised in
no dissimulation. After receiving a general admonition to bethink
himself whether he had not committed any act deserving of punishment
and to prepare, by confession, to secure the well known mercy of the
tribunal, he was remanded to his cell.

He was now visited in his dungeon by crafty familiars of the
inquisition, who, under pretence of sympathy and kindness, came to
beguile the tediousness of his imprisonment with friendly
conversation. They casually introduced the subject of alchymy, on
which they touched with great caution and pretended indifference.
There was no need of such craftiness. The honest enthusiast had no
suspicion in his nature: the moment they touched upon his favourite
theme, he forgot his misfortunes and imprisonment, and broke forth
into rhapsodies about the divine science.

The conversation was artfully turned to the discussion of elementary
beings. The alchymist readily avowed his belief in them; and that
there had been instances of their attending upon philosophers, and
administering to their wishes. He related many miracles said to have
been performed by Apollonius Thyaneus, through the aid of spirits or
demons; insomuch that he was set up by the heathens in opposition to
the Messiah; and was even regarded with reverence by many Christians.
The familiars eagerly demanded whether he believed Apollonius to be a
true and worthy philosopher. The unaffected piety of the alchymist
protected him even in the midst of his simplicity; for he condemned
Apollonius as a sorcerer and an impostor. No art could draw from him
an admission that he had ever employed or invoked spiritual agencies
in the prosecution of his pursuits, though he believed himself to have
been frequently impeded by their invisible interference.

The inquisitors were sorely vexed at not being able to inveigle him
into a confession of a criminal nature; they attributed their failure
to craft, to obstinacy, to every cause but the right one, namely, that
the harmless visionary had nothing guilty to confe