proper to speak of it more fully." "No
men are more clever in hiding their knaveries than magicians;" and in
seven or eight other places he endeavors to expose "their falsehoods,
their deceptions, the uselessness of their art," and laughs at it. But
one thing to which we should pay attention above all, is an invincible
argument which he brings forward against this pretended art. For after
having enumerated the diverse sorts of magic, which were employed with
different kinds of instruments, and in several different ways, and
from which they promised themselves effects that were "quite divine;"
that is to say, superior to all the force of nature, even of "the
power to converse with the shades and souls of the dead;" he adds,
"But in our days the Emperor Nero has discovered that in all these
things there is nothing but deceit and vanity." "Never prince," says
he, a little lower down, "sought with more eagerness to render himself
clever in any other art; and as he was the master of the world, it is
certain that he wanted neither riches, nor power, nor wit, nor any
other aid necessary to succeed therein. What stronger proof of the
falsity of this art can we have than to see that Nero renounced it?"
Suetonius informs us also, "That this prince uselessly employed magic
sacrifices to evoke the shade of his mother, and speak to her." Again,
Pliny says "that Tirdates the Mage (for it is thus it should be read,
and not Tiridates the Great, as it is in the edition of P. Hardouin),
having repaired to the court of Nero, and having brought several magi
with him, initiated this prince in all the mysteries of magic.
Nevertheless," he adds, "it was in vain for Nero to make him a present
of a kingdom--he could not obtain from him the knowledge of this art;
which ought to convince us that this detestable science is only
vanity, or, if some shadow of truth is to be met within it, its real
effects have less to do with the art of magic than the art of
poisoning." Seneca, who also was very clever, after having repeated a
law of the Twelve Tables, "which forbade the use of enchantments to
destroy the fruits of the earth," makes this commentary upon it: "When
our fathers were yet rude and ignorant, they imagined that by means of
enchantments rain could be brought down upon the ground, or could be
prevented from falling; but at this day it is so clear that both one
and the other is impossible, that to be convinced of it it does not
require to be