e times,
the more numerous and brilliant became the stories of alchemy. It was
proposed by an enthusiastic worshipper of Gustavus Adolphus, to make
gold out of lead; and in the presence of the Emperor Ferdinand III.
many pounds of gold were to be made, by one grain of red powder, from
quicksilver; a gigantic coin also was to be struck from the same metal.
After the peace, the adepts resided at all the courts; there were few
dwellings where the hearth and the retorts were not heated for secret
operations. But every one had to beware how he trifled with the
reigning powers, as the paws of the princely lions might be raised
against him for his destruction. Those who could not make gold were
confined in prison, and those who were under suspicion, yet could
fabricate something, were equally put in close confinement. The Italian
Count Cajetan was hanged in a gilded dress, on a gallows at Kuestrin the
beams of which were adorned with cut gold; the German Rector von
Klettenberg was beheaded at Koenigstein, where fourteen years before,
Boettiger was kept in strict cloistral confinement, because he had
produced innocent porcelain instead of gold. There is no doubt that it
was the case with the adepts and astrologers, as it ever has been with
the leaders of a prevailing superstition, that they were themselves
convinced of the truth of their art; but they had strong doubts of
their own knowledge, and they deceived others as to their success,
either because they were seeking the means to attain to greater
results, or because they wished to appear, to the world, to understand
what they considered of importance. These however were not the worst of
the lot.

The most mischievous of all were, perhaps, the skilful impostors, who
appeared in Germany, France, and England, with foreign titles of
distinction, shining with the glimmer of secret art, sometimes the
propagators of the most disgraceful vices, shadowy figures, who by
their worldly wisdom and the limited intercourse of nations were
enabled to bring themselves into notoriety. Their experience, their
deceptions, their secret successes, for a long period overpoweringly
excited the fancies of Germans. Even Goethe considered it worth his
while to repair to the spot and set on foot serious investigations as
to the origin of Cagliostro.

The changes in the moral diseases of that society, of which we are the
representatives, can be gradually traced. After the war astrology and
horoscope