of Gabalis.

of that group original: "Gang". I quickly achieved more success than I could have possibly hoped for. Because all these gentlemen, however mysterious and reserved they may seem to be, desire nothing more than to give voice to their imaginations and the "new discoveries" which they pretend to have made in nature. Within a few days, I was the confidant of the most prominent original: "Considerable" among them, and every day I had one or another of them in my study, which I had purposefully decorated original: "garnish'd" with their most fantastical authors. There was never a learned virtuoso virtuoso: an intellectual or person with a specialized interest in the arts or sciences; here, an expert in esoteric or occult knowledge of this kind with whom I did not have some correspondence. In short, because of my zeal for this "science," original: "Science" — here referring to the study of the occult, alchemy, and the hermetic arts I quickly found that I was well-regarded by all. I had as my companions princes, great lords, men of the law gown-men: members of professional classes, such as lawyers, judges, or clergy, who wore professional robes, handsome ladies (and plain ones too), doctors, and prelates,