g special attention to the magical circle
and to the invocation of spirits. Keenly alive to the popular credulity,
he claimed the possession of supernatural powers as a fortune-teller and
soothsayer, largely as a result of the study of the works of noted
astrologers, including the "Ars Notoria" of Cornelius Agrippa.

Becoming a prey to melancholy and hypochondria, he lived in retirement
for five years at Hersham in Surrey, and then returned to London in
1641. At this time, wrote Lilly in his autobiography, "I took careful
notice of every grand action between king and parliament, and did first
then incline to believe that, as all sublunary affairs depend on
superior causes, so there was a possibility of discovering them by the
configuration of the heavens."

In 1644 he published his first almanac, under the title, "Merlinus
Angelicus Junior, the English Merlin Revived, or a Mathematical
Prediction of the English Commonwealth." This publication was issued
annually for nearly forty years, and found a ready sale, being shrewdly
adapted to the popular taste. Lilly was said to have acquired
considerable influence over the credulous monarch, Charles I, who was
wont to consult him regarding political affairs. He was an adept in the
wily arts of the charlatan, achieving notoriety by unscrupulous methods.
Not a few of his exploits, wrote one of his biographers, indicate rather
the quality of a clever police detective, than that of a profound
astrologer.

After the Restoration, Lilly fell into disrepute, and again retired to
his estate at Hersham, where he began the study of Medicine, receiving a
license to practise in the year 1670, when sixty-eight years of age.
Thenceforth he combined the professions of physic and astrology. His
death occurred June 9, 1681.

Among his publications are the following: "Mr. Lillie's Prediction
concerning the many lamentable Fires which have lately happened, with a
full account of Fires at Home and Abroad." 1676. "Strange news from the
East, or a sober account of the Comet or blazing star that has been seen
several Mornings of late." 1677.

GASSNER

JOHANN JOSEPH GASSNER, who was regarded as a thaumaturge by his
partisans, and as a charlatan by his opponents, was born at Bratz, a
village of the Austrian Tyrol, August 20, 1727. He was educated at
Innsbruck and Prague, became a priest, and settled at Coire, the capital
of the Swiss canton of Grisons. Here he remained for some fifteen years,