and Thomas Cromwell had risen from
humble rank to the highest places in the state. Their careers seemed
inexplicable, if not uncanny. It was easy to believe that unfair and
unlawful practices had been used. What had been done before could be
done again. So the dealers in magic may have reasoned. At all events,
whatever their mental operations, they experimented with charms which
were to gain the favor of the great, and some of their operations came
to the ears of the court.

The treasure seekers[27] were more numerous. Every now and then in the
course of English history treasures have been unearthed, many of them
buried in Roman times. Stories of lucky finds had of course gained wide
circulation. Here was the opportunity of the bankrupt adventurer and the
stranded promoter. The treasures could be found by the science of magic.
The notion was closely akin to the still current idea that wells can be
located by the use of hazel wands. But none of the conjurers--and this
seems a curious fact to one familiar with the English stories of the
supernatural--ever lit upon the desired treasure. Their efforts hardly
aroused public interest, least of all alarm. Experimenters, who fifty
years later would have been hurried before the privy council, were
allowed to conjure and dig as they pleased. Henry VIII even sold the
right in one locality, and sold it at a price which showed how lightly
he regarded it.[28]

Other forms of magic were of course practiced. By the time that
Elizabeth succeeded to the throne, it is safe to say that the practice
of forbidden arts had become wide-spread in England. Reginald Scot a
little later declared that every parish was full of men and women who
claimed to work miracles.[29] Most of them were women, and their
performances read like those of the gipsy fortune-tellers today.
"Cunning women" they called themselves. They were many of them
semi-medical or pseudo-medical practitioners[30] who used herbs and
extracts, and, when those failed, charms and enchantments, to heal the
sick. If they were fairly fortunate, they became known as "good
witches." Particularly in connection with midwifery were their
incantations deemed effective.[31] From such functions it was no far
call to forecast the outcome of love affairs, or to prepare potions
which would ensure love.[32] They became general helpers to the
distressed. They could tell where lost property was to be found, an
undertaking closely related to that of