Path of Alchemy," and was written by Antonio of Florence 

 in the year 1475; being couched in exceedingly obscure and 

 mystical language, hinting only at the secrets of the black 

 art, it was particularly admired by Rudolph who ordered his 

 treasurer to pay the high price demanded for it, and instructed 

 his librarian to add it to his valuable collection. 



The promised exhibition of the magic virtue of the "holy 

 stone" was not arranged until the 20th of March 1585, and 

 the occasion was invested \vith great mystery and solemnity 

 by Dr. Dee, and by Kelley, who made his first appearance 



before the Emperor. The 

 precious crystal was re- 

 moved from its velvet- 

 lined, silver - mounted 

 |if ebony case and laid with 

 due ceremony upon a 



table ; Kelley placed him- 

 DR. DEE'S SHEW-STONE, ir , f , ,, 



self before it and after 



Preserved in the British Museum. 



gazing fixedly at the 



glittering bauble went into a sort trance; Dee sat at an- 

 other table furnished with writing materials; the Emperor 

 for once had to play a subordinate part as onlooker and to 

 await the pleasure of the spirits. The only other persons in 

 the dimly lighted room were the Vice Chancellor Curtius and 

 Martin de Rutzke of the privy chamber. After a devout in- 

 vocation to the Almighty in which Dee besought the good 

 \vill of the angelic host, Kelley, with halting speech and 

 monotonous drawl, began to dictate both the visual and oral 

 mysteries revealed by the spirits in the shew-stone. At first 

 he recited a chaotic mass of absurd rhapsodies in an in- 

 comprehensible jargon well calculated to mystify the credulous 

 Emperor; then followed oracular utterances prophesying 

 Rudolph's success in war, and a dark allusion to a powerful 



38 



