fterwards in that of Paris, in which he
received the degree of doctor of divinity. Returning to England in 1240,
he became a monk of the order of St. Francis. He was by far the most
learned man of his age; and his acquirements were so much above the
comprehension of his contemporaries, that they could only account for them
by supposing that he was indebted for them to the devil. Voltaire has not
inaptly designated him "De l'or encroute de toutes les ordures de son
siecle;" but the crust of superstition that enveloped his powerful mind,
though it may have dimmed, could not obscure the brightness of his genius.
To him, and apparently to him only, among all the inquiring spirits of the
time, were known the properties of the concave and convex lens. He also
invented the magic lantern; that pretty plaything of modern days, which
acquired for him a reputation that embittered his life. In a history of
alchymy, the name of this great man cannot be omitted, although unlike
many others of whom we shall have occasion to speak, he only made it
secondary to other pursuits. The love of universal knowledge that filled
his mind, would not allow him to neglect one branch of science, of which
neither he nor the world could yet see the absurdity. He made ample amends
for his time lost in this pursuit by his knowledge in physics and his
acquaintance with astronomy. The telescope, burning-glasses, and
gunpowder, are discoveries which may well carry his fame to the remotest
time, and make the world blind to the one spot of folly--the diagnosis of
the age in which he lived, and the circumstances by which he was
surrounded. His treatise on the _Admirable Power of Art and Nature in the
Production of the Philosopher's Stone_ was translated into French by
Girard de Tormes, and published at Lyons in 1557. His _Mirror of Alchymy_
was also published in French in the same year, and in Paris in 1612, with
some additions from the works of Raymond Lulli. A complete list of all the
published treatises upon the subject may be seen in Lenglet du Fresnoy.

POPE JOHN XXII.

This prelate is said to have been the friend and pupil of Arnold de
Villeneuve, by whom he was instructed in all the secrets of alchymy.
Tradition asserts of him, that he made great quantities of gold, and died
as rich as Croesus. He was born at Cahors, in the province of Guienne, in
the year 1244. He was a very eloquent preacher, and soon reached high
dignity in the Church. He wrote a