1827.] Agrippa and Aw Dog. 627 



high forehead ; but it was chastened by a shade of melancholy, almost 

 deep enough to be termed gloom indicative, perhaps, as the physiogno- 

 mists of a later period would have said, of 



" the doom 

 Heaven gives its favourites early death." 



He had now been some time in the house, and had heard many stories 

 from the students respecting the canine familiar whose earthly name was 

 Monsieur, but as yet had never so much as seen the mysterious animal. 

 At -length an opportunity of gratifying his curiosity on this point was 

 afforded him. One day, when passing through the hall, he observed the 

 door of his master's study ajar, contrary to the usual custom ; and, over- 

 coming his timidity by a sudden and violent effort, stole quickly to the 

 spot, and looked in. Agrippa was reclining on a couch, engaged in read- 

 ing, and, as Louvet thought, alone; but presently the trembling scholar 

 observed a black paw stretched upwards to the book and, afterwards, a 

 black snout. Agrippa took no notice of the interruption ; and the next 

 moment a dog, black all over from head to foot, with a bushy tail and fierce 

 sparkling eyes, jumped upon his knees. The philosopher now laid down 

 his book, tiiough apparently not too well pleased at the invasion ; and, 

 taking the intruder in his arms, began to fondle and caress him, as one does 

 an infant. He even kissed the dog's lips, drawing his paws round his 

 neck, and suffered him to mumble his ears, laughing ail the while like a 

 tickled child, and replying to the inarticulate sounds of the animal by imi- 

 tative cries. At this frigbtful scene, the student could not help allowing 

 an ejaculation of dismay to escape him ; and Agrippa, on the instant, start- 

 ing up, cried to the dog, " Get thee gone, Sir!" and walked hastily to 

 the door. Louvet had the presence of mind to invent some excuse for his 

 interruption ; and his master, as if on purpose to shew him that he had 

 nothing to conceal, invited him into the room, and began to ask him some 

 questions relative to his studies. The perplexed scholar, however, made no 

 great figure during this examination; his mind was even more occupied 

 with the dog than with his master, and his eyes sought every comer of the 

 chamber for the place of his retreat. But the dog if it be lawful to call 

 him a dog had vanished. There was no place of concealment that he 

 could discover : the table, the sofa, and a couple of chairs comprised the 

 whole of the furniture ; and these were the only things in the apartment 

 that had more than two legs. It would not be easy to describe the state 

 of mind in which Louvet left his master's presence ; but, when the storm of 

 agitated and complicated feelings, which seemed almost ready to overwhelm 

 the very faculty of thinking, had subsided, hope and joy remained upper- 

 most. One step had been gained : he had witnessed the private moments 

 of Agrippa in the solitude of his study; he had received evidence of the 

 most indubitable nature of his power over the spirits of darkness, and his 

 curiosity had escaped without punishment. But where was the benefit, 

 if he were to stop here ? He had already devoured every volume in the 

 occult science which his means permitted him to procure ; he had con* 

 structed innumerable diagrams of the stars ; lie had made himself master 

 of the most approved pentacles (or signs and characters used in magic) ; 

 he had exhausted his slender funds in the purchase of virgin paper for his 

 Secret Book, of the identical sort which Robert Turner, Phil. Med., tho 

 translator of the fourth book of the Ocult Science, informs us in the mar- 

 gin is to be had at Mr. Rook's shop, the Holy Lamb, at the east end of 



4 L 2 



