n it was given to the cattle, to preserve them
from disease. Such charms were common in Scotland, England, and
Ireland. Lilly describes a conjuring beryl or crystal. It was, he
tells us, as large as an orange, and set in silver with a cross at the
top, and round about it were engraved the names of the angels Raphael,
Gabriel, and Uriel. A delineation of another charm is engraved in the
frontispiece to Aubrey's _Miscellanies_. A mode of making inquiry by
charms is imputed to Dr. Dee, the celebrated mathematician. The stone
used by him came into the possession of Horace Walpole, and was long,
if not now, in the Strawberry Hill collection. Sorcerers or magicians,
says Grose, did not always employ their art to do mischief, but, on
the contrary, frequently exerted it to cure diseases inflicted by
witches, to discover thieves, recover stolen goods, to foretell future
events, and the state of absent friends. A favourite method of
consultation was this: The conjuror having repeated the necessary
adjuration, and applied the proper charms, with the litany or
invocation peculiar to the spirits or angels whose assistance was to
be asked, the seer looked into a crystal or beryl, wherein he saw, or
pretended he saw, the answers to his interrogatories, represented
either by types or figures. Sometimes the spirits or angels answered
audibly.

This part of our subject would be incomplete without reference to the
Coronation Stone, the history of which is as interesting as it is
curious. We have made mention of a stone or stones, under various
names--Jacob's Pillow, Lia-Fail, Stone of Destiny, Marble Chair,
Coronation Stone, etc. Writers on archaeological subjects are not
agreed as to whether all these are or are not different names for one
and the same relic. On the whole, we are inclined to think that there
was but one coronation stone, but we leave that point to be definitely
settled by others. From the information before us, we assume there was
but one stone, and therefore proceed on this assumption, which is
supported by tradition.

The Stone of Destiny, we are told, formed Jacob's pillow on the plain
of Luz, and consequently was regarded as a sacred relic by the Jews.
It was carried to Egypt, thence to Spain, and from the latter country
it was conveyed by Simon Breck to Ireland, where it became known as
the "Lia-Fail" or "Stone of Destiny" of the Irish kings. Ireland is
often, from this stone, called by the priests Innis-phail. Th