the confession of sir edward neville.
“Honourable Lords, I take God to record, that I did never commit nor reconcile treason sith I was born, nor imagined the destruction of no man or woman, as God shall save my soul; He knows my heart, for it is He that ‘scrutator cordium,’ and in Him is all trust. I will not danger my soul for fear of worldly punishment; the joy of Heaven is eternal, and incomparable to the joy of this wretched world: therefore, good lords, do by me as God shall put in your minds; for another day ye shall suffer the judgment of God, when ye cannot start from it, no more than I can start from yours at this time. Now to certify all that I can:—William Neville did send for me to Oxford, that I should come and speak with him at ‘Weke,’ and to him I went; it was the first time I ever saw him; I would I had been buried that day.
“When I came, he took me to a littell room, and went to his garden, and there demanded of me many questions, and among all others, asked if it were not possible to have a ring made that should bring a man in favour with his Prince; seeing my Lord Cardinal had such a ring, that whatsoever he asked of the King’s Grace, that he had; and Master Cromwell, when he and I were servants in my Lord Cardinal’s house, did haunt to the company of one that was seen in your faculty; and shortly after, no man so great with my Lord Cardinal as Master Cromwell was; and I have spoke with all them that has any name in this realm; and all they showed me that I should be great with my Prince; and this is the cause that I did send for you, to know whether your saying be agreeable to theirs, or no. And I, at the hearty desire of him, shewed him that I had read many books, and specially the works of Solomon, and how his ring should be made, and of what metal; and what virtues they have after the canon of Solomon. And then he desired me instantly to take the pains to make him one of them; and I told him that I could make them, but I made never none of them, nor I cannot tell that they have such virtues or no, but by hearing say. Also he asked what other works had I read. And I told him that I had read the magical works of Hermes, which many men doth prize; and thus departed at that time. And one fortnight after, William Neville came to Oxford, and said that he had one Wayd at home, at his house, that did shew him more than I did shew him; for the said Wayd did shew him that he should be a great lord, nigh to the partes that he dwelt in. And in that lordship should be a fair castle; and he could not imagine what it should be, except it were the castle of Warwick.”
“And I answered and said to him, that I dreamed that an angel took him and me by the hands, and led us to a high tower, and there delivered him a shield, with sundry arms, which I cannot rehearse, and this is all I ever shewed him, save at his desire, I went thither with him; and as concerning any other man, save at the desire of Sir Gr. Done, Knt. I made the moulds that ye have, to the intent he should have had Mistress Elizabeth’s gear. If any man or woman can say and prove by me, otherwise than I have writed, except that I have, at the desire of some of my friends, ‘cauled to stone,’ for things stolen, let me die for it. And touching Master William Neville, all the country knows more of his matters than I do, save that I wrote a foolish letter or two, according to his foolish desire, to make pastime to laugh at.”
“Also concerning treasure trove, I was oft-times desired unto it, by foolish fellows of the country, but I never meddled with it at all; but to make the philosopher’s stone, I will jeopard my life, so to do it, if it please the king’s good grace to command me to do it, or any other nobleman under the king’s good grace; and, of surety to do it, to be kept in prison till I have done it. And I desire no longer space, but twelve months upon silver, and twelve and a half upon gold, which is better to the king’s good grace than a thousand men; for it is better able to maintain a thousand men for evermore, putting the king’s good grace, nor the realm, to no cost nor charge.”
“Also, concerning our sovereign lord the king’s going over, this I said, ‘If I had been worthy to be his grace’s council, I would counsel his grace not to have gone over at that time of year.’”
One mode of consulting spirits was by the Beryl, by means of a speculator or seer. Having repeated the necessary charms and adjurations, with the invocation peculiar to the spirit or angel he wished to call (for each had his peculiar form of invocation), the seer looked into a crystal or beryl, to see his answer, represented generally by some type or figure; sometimes, though rarely, the angels were heard to speak articulately.
Different kinds of stone were also employed, and occasionally a piece of coal. In Stapleton’s confession,
he mentions the plate he used being left in the possession of Sir Thomas Moore.
Other records of similar proceedings, that have been extracted from the archives of the Record-chamber, make frequent mention of the magic crystals or stones.
The great names mixed up with the curious transactions described in these two documents, give additional interest to them as matters of history, and specimens of the enlightenment prevalent among the very highest circles of society, in the period that so immediately preceded the Elizabethan age. A runaway monk, turning necromancer, was received into communion with some of the noblest of the land; and an educated gentleman, as Sir Edward Neville may be presumed to have been, hoped to win favour by promises to discover the philosopher’s stone.
Three centuries have passed, and the only traces that may be found of these high-born credulities, lurk in the darkest corners of the darkest alleys of poverty and ignorance.
CHAPTER VIII.
conventual remains.
Conventual Remains.—St. Andrew’s Hall.—The Festival.—Music: Dr. Hook, Dr. Crotch.—Churches.—Biographical Sketches: Archbishop Parker, Sir J. E. Smith, Taylor, Hooker, Lindley, Joseph John Gurney.
The sketch of the Cathedral has embraced so much of the early history of the various religious “orders,” as to render but little necessary respecting the origin of the “frères,” or friars, whose settlements, in the city and neighbourhood, once occupied such important place in its limits and history.