Part 19 (1/2)

[48] Poor Robin's Almanack was first published in 1661 or 1662, and was ascribed to Robert Herrick, the poet.

[49] See Rev. xviii. 4.

[50] Jonah iii. 4.

[51] Flavius Josephus, the author of the History of the Jewish Wars. He is supposed to have died in the last decade of the first century A.D.

[52] So called because many Frenchmen lived there. In Westminster there was another district with this same name.

[53] ”Gave them vapors,” i.e., put them into a state of nervous excitement.

[54] Soothsayers.

[55] In astrology, the scheme or figure of the heavens at the moment of a person's birth. From this the astrologers pretended to foretell a man's destiny.

[56] Roger Bacon, a Franciscan friar of the thirteenth century, had a knowledge of mechanics and optics far in advance of his age: hence he was commonly regarded as a wizard. The brazen head which he manufactured was supposed to a.s.sist him in his necromantic feats; it is so introduced by Greene in his play of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1594).

[57] A fortune teller who lived in the reign of Henry VIII., and was famous for her prophecies.

[58] The most celebrated magician of mediaeval times (see Spenser's Faerie Queene and Tennyson's Merlin and Vivien).

[59] Linen collar or ruff.

[60] Him.

[61] The interlude was originally a short, humorous play acted in the midst of a morality play to relieve the tedium of that very tedious performance. From the interlude was developed farce; and from farce, comedy.

[62] Charles II. and his courtiers, from their long exile in France, brought back to England with them French fas.h.i.+ons in literature and in art.

[63] To be acted.

[64] Buffoons, clowns.

[65] About 62 cents.

[66] About twenty-five dollars; but the purchasing power of money was then seven or eight times what it is now.

[67] Strictly speaking, this word means ”love potions.”

[68] Exorcism is the act of expelling evil spirits, or the formula used in the act. Defoe's use of the word here is careless and inaccurate.

[69] Bits of metal, parchment, etc., worn as charms.

[70] Making the sign of the cross.

[71] Paper on which were marked the signs of the zodiac,--a superst.i.tion from astrology.

[72] A meaningless word used in incantations. Originally the name of a Syrian deity.

[73] Iesus Hominum Salvator (”Jesus, Savior of Men”). The order of the Jesuits was founded by Ignatius de Loyola in 1534.