roceeds to characterize as the greatest sin a human
being can be guilty of, as, in fact, high treason against God
Himself--_crimen laesae majestatis divinae_.

The conversation closes with a story of how Maximilian's father, the
Emperor Friedrich, who seems to have obtained a reputation for magic
arts, invited a well-known magician to a banquet, and on his arrival
fixed claws on his hands and hoofs on his feet by his cunning. His
guest, being ashamed, tried to hide the claws under the table as long
as he could, but finally he had to show them, to his great
discomfiture. But he determined to have his revenge, and asked his
host whether he would permit him to give proofs of his own skill. The
Emperor assenting, there at once arose a great noise outside the
window. Friedrich sprang up from the table, and leaned out of the
casement to see what was the matter. Immediately an enormous pair of
stag's horns appeared on his head, so that he could not draw it back.
Finding the state of the case, the Emperor exclaimed: "Rid me of them
again! Thou hast won!" Luther's comment on this was that he was always
glad to see one devil getting the better of another, as it showed
that some were stronger than others.

All this belongs, roughly speaking, to the side of the matter which
regards popular theology; but there is another side which is connected
more especially with the New Learning. This other school, which sought
to bring the somewhat elastic elements of the magical theory of the
universe into the semblance of a systematic whole, is associated with
such names as those of Paracelsus, Cornelius Agrippa, and the Abbot
von Trittenheim. The fame of the first-named was so great throughout
Germany that when he visited any town the occasion was looked upon as
an event of exceeding importance.[12] Paracelsus fully shared in the
beliefs of his age, in spite of his brilliant insights on certain
occasions. What his science was like may be imagined when we learn
that he seriously speaks of animals who conceive through the mouth of
basilisks whose glance is deadly, of petrified storks changed into
snakes, of the stillborn young of the lion which are afterwards
brought to life by the roar of their sire, of frogs falling in a
shower of rain, of ducks transformed into frogs, and of men born from
beasts; the menstruation of women he regarded as a venom whence
proceeded flies, spiders, earwigs, and all sorts of loathsome vermin;
night was caused, n