f those who addressed
him, the sight of the king must have quickly undeceived him, as the
conclusion of the story proves he well knew to whom he spoke when he
delivered his prediction. However this may have been, he was no sooner
alone with the marchioness, than he commenced the necessary preparations
for the performance of his sorceries and enchantments; he burned
perfumes, offered prayers, and with loud invocations adjured the powers
of hell to answer him; and in the midst of a wild and agitating sound
which pervaded the whole building, during the heavy swell of noises
too dreadful to have arisen from mortal sources, and whilst a thousand
visions were flitting to and fro, he drew the horoscope of the king and
madame de Maintenon. He promised Louis XIV that he should succeed in all
his undertakings; and that, on the very day on which he spoke the
words (the 2nd of October) one of his children had been called to the
inheritance of an immense fortune. Then giving him a small packet,
wrapped in new parchment, 'The day in which you form the fatal
resolution of acquainting yourself with the contents of this packet,'
said he, 'will be the last of your prosperity; but if you desire to
carry your good fortune to the highest pitch, be careful upon every
great festival, that is to say, Easter, Whit-Sunday, the Assumption,
and Christmas, to plunge a pin in this talisman, so that the point shall
pass directly thro' it; observe to do this, and you will live perfectly
happy.'

"The king accepted this fatal present, and swore upon the Gospel never
to open the packet; he richly rewarded the priest, who from that period
lived in a retreat so well concealed as to evade the most diligent
researches of those who sought to discover it.

"Some time after news was received, that on the very 2nd of October,
1700, named by the priest, Charles II, king of Spain, had appointed in
his will Philip of France, son of the dauphin, his successor and heir,
an inheritance truly immense, as the astrologer had foretold. You may
well think how highly this realization of the prediction inspired the
king with confidence as to the fulfilment of the remainder: and, on his
part, he never failed upon any saint's day or other solemn festival to
stick the mysterious pin in the talisman upon which so much depended.

"Nevertheless, spite of all these observances, his undertakings d id not
invariably succeed, which astonished him greatly; when one day the great
Bo