Lamb
Dr. Lamb was a noted sorcerer in the time of Charles the First. The famous Richard Baxter, in his Certainty of the World of Spirits, printed in 1691, has recorded an appropriate instance of the miraculous performance of this man. Meeting two of his acquaintance in the street, and they having intimated a desire to witness some examples of his skill, he invited them home with him. He then conducted them into an inner room, where presently, to their no small surprise, thev saw a tree spring up in the middle of the apartment. They had scarcely ceased wondering at this phenomenon, when in a moment there appeared three diminutive men, with little axes in their hands for the purpose of cutting down this tree. The tree was felled; and the doctor dismissed his guests, fully satisfied of the solidity of his pretensions. That very night, however, a tremendous hurricane arose, causing the house of one of the guests to rock from side to side, with every appearance that the building would come down, and bury him and his wife in the ruins. The wife in great terror asked "Were you not at Dr. Lamb's to-day?" The husband confessed it was true. And did you not bring something away from his house ? The husband owned that, when the little men felled the tree, he had picked up some of the chips, and put them in his pocket. Nothing now remained to be done but to produce the chips, and get rid of them as fast as they could. This ceremony performed, the whirlwind immediately ceased, and the remainder of the night passed quietly. 66 دو Dr. Lamb at length became so odious by his reputation for these infernal practices, that the populace rose upon him in 1640, and tore him to pieces in the streets. Nor did the effects of his ill-fame terminate here. Thirteen years after, a woman, who had been his servant maid, was apprehended on a charge of witchcraft, was tried, and in expiation of her crime was executed at Tyburn.
Lamps, Magic: There dwelt at Paris in the time of St. Louis, a famous Jewish Rabbi called Jachiel, a great manufacturer of prodigies, who was regarded by the Jews as one of their saints, and by the Parisians as a sorcerer. During the night when everyone was asleep, he was wont to work by the light of a magic lamp which cast through his chamber a glow like that of day itself. He never replenished this lamp with oil, nor otherwise attended to it, and folks began to hint that he had acquired it through diabolic agencies. If anyone chanced to knock at his door during the night they noticed that the lamp threw out sparks of light of various colours, but if they continued to rap the lamp failed and the Rabbi turning from his work touched a large nail in the middle of his table which connected magically with the knocker on the street-door, giving to the person who rapped upon it something of the nature of an electric shock. (See France.) Lamps of this description were supposed to be known to the Rosicrucians, and it is said that in opening the tomb of a daughter of Cicero several lamps were found burning upon it. It is of course possible that the light from these was luminous or phosphorescent and not living flame. The magic lamp of Aladdin will occur to everyone in this connection; and romance abounds in such vehicles of light.