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Article ACCOUNT OF DR. DEE, THE ASTROLOGER. ← Page 6 of 6
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Account Of Dr. Dee, The Astrologer.
m his nefarious designs . He was much patronised and encouraged by Henry Earl of Northumberland , the Earl of Oxford , Sir Christopher Hatton , Sir Henry Sidney , and other great men-belonging to the court . So great was his reputation abroad , that he was offered great salaries by various foreign princes , if he would settle in thencourts . The Emperor of Russia in particular sent him a rich present , with an offer of conveying him aud all his family to Petersburghand
, promising to settle an annuity of 2000 I . per annum upon him , and to grant him the rank of a privy counsellor . These offers , it must be observed , were made before his kit unsuccessful journey to the Continent . Notwithstanding the Queen ' s patronage , and the various and rich presents which he was constantly in the habit of receiving , his
unbounded extravagance kept him always poor . His journey from Bohemia in 1589 , which cost him near 800 I . will afford some idea of his ostentation . Pie was attended by a guard of horse , and travelled with three coaches , besides baggage-waggons . The coaches , with harness for twelve horses , he bought new upon the occasion . When he arrived in England , he appears not to have been worth a penny , and to have subsisted for the next three years upon the precarious bounty of liis friends . During this period he received 500 I . in money , besides vessels of wine , whole sheep , pigs , . wheat , sugar , and other
commodities ; he sold his wife ' s jewels , his own rarities , and whatever could be spared oirt of his house ; at the end of the three years he was 333 I . in debt . With these expenditures , which according to the present value of money we must estimate at more than ioool . per annum , he tells us ,- that " with great parsimony used , he preserved himself and his family from hunger , starving , and nakedness . " Dr . Dee carried on his conversation with spirits till the before
year his death , at which time he seems to have applied his pretended art to the discovery of hidden treasure and stolen goods , probably with the view of procuring some present subsistence from those who were silly enough to employ him . A portrait of Dr . Dee , taken at the age of 6 7 , as appears by an inscription upon the canvas , is in the Ashmoleait Museum at Oxfordwhere many of his MSS . are- deposited
, . Dr . Dee bore for his arms Gules , a lion rampant , Or , within a border indented of the second . The following crest was granted him in 1 J 7 6 : A lion seiant gardant , Or , holding in his dexter gamb a cross formee fitchee , Azure ; on the cross , a label with this motto , " Hie labor ; " and his sinister gamb on a pyramid , Argent ; on it a label with this motto" Ploc opus . " Francis DeeBishop of
Peterbo-, , rough , was cousin of Dr . Dee , being descended from his grandfather Bedo , called , in the Visitation ofthe county of Salop ; the Great Bedo Dee .
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Account Of Dr. Dee, The Astrologer.
m his nefarious designs . He was much patronised and encouraged by Henry Earl of Northumberland , the Earl of Oxford , Sir Christopher Hatton , Sir Henry Sidney , and other great men-belonging to the court . So great was his reputation abroad , that he was offered great salaries by various foreign princes , if he would settle in thencourts . The Emperor of Russia in particular sent him a rich present , with an offer of conveying him aud all his family to Petersburghand
, promising to settle an annuity of 2000 I . per annum upon him , and to grant him the rank of a privy counsellor . These offers , it must be observed , were made before his kit unsuccessful journey to the Continent . Notwithstanding the Queen ' s patronage , and the various and rich presents which he was constantly in the habit of receiving , his
unbounded extravagance kept him always poor . His journey from Bohemia in 1589 , which cost him near 800 I . will afford some idea of his ostentation . Pie was attended by a guard of horse , and travelled with three coaches , besides baggage-waggons . The coaches , with harness for twelve horses , he bought new upon the occasion . When he arrived in England , he appears not to have been worth a penny , and to have subsisted for the next three years upon the precarious bounty of liis friends . During this period he received 500 I . in money , besides vessels of wine , whole sheep , pigs , . wheat , sugar , and other
commodities ; he sold his wife ' s jewels , his own rarities , and whatever could be spared oirt of his house ; at the end of the three years he was 333 I . in debt . With these expenditures , which according to the present value of money we must estimate at more than ioool . per annum , he tells us ,- that " with great parsimony used , he preserved himself and his family from hunger , starving , and nakedness . " Dr . Dee carried on his conversation with spirits till the before
year his death , at which time he seems to have applied his pretended art to the discovery of hidden treasure and stolen goods , probably with the view of procuring some present subsistence from those who were silly enough to employ him . A portrait of Dr . Dee , taken at the age of 6 7 , as appears by an inscription upon the canvas , is in the Ashmoleait Museum at Oxfordwhere many of his MSS . are- deposited
, . Dr . Dee bore for his arms Gules , a lion rampant , Or , within a border indented of the second . The following crest was granted him in 1 J 7 6 : A lion seiant gardant , Or , holding in his dexter gamb a cross formee fitchee , Azure ; on the cross , a label with this motto , " Hie labor ; " and his sinister gamb on a pyramid , Argent ; on it a label with this motto" Ploc opus . " Francis DeeBishop of
Peterbo-, , rough , was cousin of Dr . Dee , being descended from his grandfather Bedo , called , in the Visitation ofthe county of Salop ; the Great Bedo Dee .
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