POPULAR" BELIEFS. 



another. A sorceress, put upon her trial, declared that she had held this 

 diabolical infant upon her .knees at a Sabbath, and that he had claws instead 

 of feet, wore no shoes, and could speak every language. 



Miireover, prophecies and presages, the ordinary accessories of all historic 

 events of any importance, always had a great hold upon the popular imagina- 

 tion, which was invariably ready to accept mysterious interpretations of the 

 plainest and most trifling facts. Since the decadence of the false gods, 

 the orators of the pagan temples were mute, but this was made up for by the 

 prophecies attributed to the Sibyls, who continued to be held in honour by 



Fig. 168. The Token of Mace Bonhomme, Printer and Bookseller at Lyons. Taken from tl.e 

 original Edition of the " Prophecies of Michael Nostradamus," 1555, octavo. 



the Christians, for it was firmly believed that they had predicted the birth 

 of Christ. The prophecies of Merlin the Enchanter, a bard of the fifth 

 century, were in special favour. 



The success of the prophecies of Michael Nostradamus surpassed that of 

 all previous soothsayers. Catherine do' Medicis and her son Charles IX., 

 more superstitious than the least enlightened of their subjects, contributed to 

 their popularity by paying visits to this famous astrologer at the little town 

 of Salon, in Provence, to which he had withdrawn. The courtiers naturally 



