Page:Early English prose romances (Thoms, 1858, v. 2).djvu/19

Rh|9}} which the fate of the town of Naples depended was an article of current belief during the middle ages; for by the statutes of the order Du Saint Esprit, instituted in 1352, a Chapter of the knights is appointed to be held annually at the Castle of the Enchanted Egg near the grotto of Virgil. Montfaucon, vol. 2, p. 329. "But since the authors," says Naudeus, "who have made mention of the magic of Virgil are so many that they cannot be examined one after the other, without loss of much time and abundance of repetitions, we must imitate the Civilians who take authorities per saturam, and so digesting all that remains into one article, show that De Loyer de Spectris, lib. 1. c. 6, makes mention of his Echo; Paracelsus, Tractatus de imag. c. 11, of his magical images and figures; Helmoldus, Hist. Slavor. lib. 4. c. 19, of his representation of the city of Naples shut up in a glass bottle; Sibyllus, Peregr. quœst. de cad. 3. c. 2, questione, and the Author of the Image of the World, of the head he made to know things to come by; Petrarch in Itinerario, and Theodrie a Niem, Lib. 3, de schismat. c. 19, of the vault he made at Naples at the request of Augustus; Vigenere, of Cyphers, cap. 19, p. 330, of his alphabets; Trithemius Antipal. lib. 4. c. 3, of his book of Tables and Calculations whereby to find out the genius of all persons; and lastly of