CHAPTER IV

THE ALCHEMISTS {continued) (b. PARACELSUS AND AFTEr)
§ 46. That erratic genius, Paracelsus — or, to give
him his correct name, PhiHp (?) Aureole (?) Theo-
phrast Bombast von Hohenheim —
a493^1^n ^^^^^ portrait forms the frontispiece to the present work — was born at Einsiedeln in Switzerland in 1493. He studied the alchemistic and medical arts under his father, who was a physi- cian, and continued his studies later at the University of Basle. He also gave some time to the study of magic and the occult sciences under the famous Trithemius of Spanheim. Paracelsus, however, found the merely theoretical ** book learning " of the university curriculum unsatisfactory and betook him- self to the mines, where he might study the nature of metals at first hand. He then spent several years in travelling, visiting some of the chief countries of Europe. At last he returned to Basle, the chair of Medical Science of his old university being bestowed upon him. The works of Isaac of Holland had inspired him with the desire to improve upon the medical science of his day, and in his lectures (which were,
58
§ 46] THE ALCHEMISTS 59
contrary to the usual custom, delivered not in Latin, but in the German language) he denounced in violent terms the teachings of Galen and Avicenna, who were until then the accredited authorities on medical matters. His use of the German tongue, his coarse- ness in criticism and his intense self-esteem, combined with the fact that he did lay bare many of the medical follies and frauds of his day, brought him into very general dislike with the rest of the physicians, and the municipal authorities siding with the aggrieved apothecaries and physicians, whose methods Paracelsus had exposed, he fled from Basle and resumed his former roving life. He was, so we are told, a man of very intemperate habits, being seldom sober (a state- ment seriously open to doubt) ; but on the other hand, he certainly accomplished a very large number of most remarkable cures, and, judging from his writings, he was inspired by lofty and noble ideals and a fervent belief in the Christian religion. He died in 1541.
Paracelsus combined in himself such opposite characteristics that it is a matter of difficulty to criticise him aright. As says Professor Ferguson : '' It is most difficult ... to ascertain what his true character really was, to appreciate aright this man of fervid imagination, of powerful and persistent convic- tion, of unbated honesty and love of truth, of keen insight into the errors (as he thought them) of his time, of a merciless will to lay bare these errors and to reform the abuses to which they gave rise, who in an instant offends by his boasting, his grossness, his want of self-respect. It is a problem how to reconcile his ignorance, his weakness, his superstition, his crude
60 ALCHEMY [§ 47
notions, his erroneous observations, his ridiculous inferences and theories, with his grasp of method, his lofty views of the true scope of medicine, his lucid statements, his incisive and epigrammatic criticisms of men and motives." ' It is also a problem of con- siderable difficulty to determine which of the many books attributed to him are really his genuine works, and consequently what his views on certain points exactly were.
§ 47. Paracelsus was the first to recognise the desirability of investigating the physical universe
with a motive other than alchemistic. Paracelsus ^^ taught that '* the object of chemistry
is not to make gold, but to prepare medicines," and founded the school of latro-chemistry or Medical Chemistry. This synthesis of chemistry with medicine was of very great benefit to each science ; new possibilities of chemical investigation were opened up now that the aim was not purely alchemistic. Paracelsus's central theory was that of the analogy between man, the microcosm, and the world or macrocosm. He regarded all the actions that go on in the human body as of a chemical nature, and he thought that illness was the result of a dispro- portion in the body between the quantities of the three great principles — sulphur, mercury, and salt — which he regarded as constituting all things ; for example, he considered an excess of sulphur as the cause of fever, since sulphur was the fiery principle, &c. The basis of the iatro-chemical doctrines, namely, that the healthy human body is a particular combination of
^ John Ferguson, M.A. : Article "Paracelsus," Encyclopcedia Britannica, 9th edition (1885), vol. xviii. p. 236.
§ 48] THE ALCHEMISTS 61
chemical substances : illness the result of some change in this combination, and hence curable only by chemical medicines, expresses a certain truth, and is un- doubtedly a great improvement upon the ideas of the ancients. But in the elaboration of his medical doctrines Paracelsus fell a prey to exaggeration and the fantastic, and many of his theories appear to be highly ridiculous. This extravagance is also very pronounced in the alchemistic works attributed to him ; for example, the belief in the artificial creation of minute living creatures resembling men (called *' homunculi ") — a belief of the utmost absurdity, if we are to understand it literally. On the other hand, his writings do contain much true teaching of a mystical nature ; his doctrine of the correspondence of man with the universe considered as a whole, for example, certainly being radically true, though fantastically stated and developed by Paracelsus himself.
§ 48. Between the pupils of Paracelsus and the
older school of medicine, as might well be supposed, a
battle royal was waged for a considerable
latro- ^jj^^ which ultimately concluded, if not Chemistry.
with a full vindication of Paracelsus s
teaching, yet with the acceptance of the fundamental
iatro-chemical doctrines. Henceforward it is necessary
to distinguish between the chemists and the alchemists
— to distinguish those who pursued chemical studies
with the object of discovering and preparing useful
medicines, and later those who pursued such studies
for their own sake, from those whose object was the
transmutation of the ''base" metals into gold, whether
from purely selfish motives, or with the desire to
62 ALCHEMY [§ 49
demonstrate on the physical plane the validity of the doctrines of Mysticism. However, during the follow- ing century or two we find, very often, the chemist and the alchemist united in one and the same person. Men such as Glauber and Boyle, whose names will ever be remembered by chemists, did not doubt the possibility of performing the magnum opus. In the present chapter, however, we shall confine our atten- tion for the most part to those men who may be regarded, for one reason or another, particularly as alchemists. And the alchemists of the period we are now considering present a very great diversity. On the one hand, we have men of much chemical know- ledge and skill such as Libavius and van Helmont, on the other hand we have those who stand equally as high as exponents of mystic wisdom — men such as Jacob Boehme and, to a less extent, Thomas Vaughan. We have those, who, although they did not enrich the science of Chemistry with any new discoveries, were, nevertheless, regarded as masters of the Hermetic Art ; and, finally, we have alchemists of the Edward Kelley and George Starkey type, whose main object was their own enrichment at their neighbours' expense. Before, however, proceeding to an account of the lives and teachings of these men, there is one curious matter — perhaps the most remarkable of all historical curi- osities— that calls for some brief consideration. We refer to the ** far-famed " Rosicrucian Society.
§ 49. The exoteric history of the Rosicrucian Society commences with the year 1614. In that year there was published at Cassel in Germany a pamphlet entitled The Discovery of the Fraternity of the Meritorious Order of the Rosy Cross y addressed to
§ 49] THE ALCHEMISTS 63
the Learned in General and the Governors of Europe,
After a discussion of the momentous question of the
general reformation of the world, which
^^® was to be accomplished throuerh the
Rosicmcian ,. ^ - , r i
Society. medium oi a secret confederacy of the
wisest and most philanthropic men, the pamphlet proceeds to inform its readers that such an association is in existence, founded over one hundred years ago by the famous C.R.C., grand initiate in the mysteries of Alchemy, whose history (which is clearly of a fabulous or symbolical nature) is given. The book concludes by inviting the wise men of the time to join the Fraternity, directing those who wished to do so to indicate their desire by the publica- tion of printed letters, which should come into the hands of the Brotherhood. As might well be expected, the pamphlet was the cause of considerable interest and excitement, but although many letters were printed, apparently none of them were vouchsafed a reply. The following year a further pamphlet appeared, The Confession of the Rosicrucian Fraternity, addressed to the Learned in Eur ope y and in 1616, The Chymical Nuptials of Christian Rosencreutz, This latter book is a remarkable allegorical romance, describing how an old man, a lifelong student of the alchemistic Art, was present at the accomplishment of the magnum opus in the year 1459. An enormous amount of contro- versy took place ; it was plain to some that the Society had deluded them, whilst others hotly main- tained its claims ; but after about four years had passed, the excitement had subsided, and the subject ceased, for the time being, to arouse any particular interest. Some writers, even in recent times, more gifted for
64 ALCHEMY [§ 49
romance than for historical research, have seen in the Rosicrucian Society a secret confederacy of immense antiquity and of stupendous powers, consisting of the great initiates of all ages, supposed to be in posses- sion of the arch secrets of alchemistic art. It is abundantly evident, however, that it was nothing of the sort. It is clear from an examination of the pamphlets already mentioned that they are animated by Lutheran ideals ; and it is of interest to note that Luther's seal contained both the cross and the rose — whence the term '' Rosicrucian." The generally accepted theory regards the pamphlets as a sort of elaborate hoax perpetrated by Valentine Andrea, a young and benevolent Lutheran divine; but more, how- ever, than a mere hoax. As the late Mr. R. A. Vaughan wrote : " . . . this Andrea writes the Discovery of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood, a jeu-cC esprit with a serious purpose, just as an experiment to see whether some- thing cannot be done by combined effort to remedy the defect and abuses — social, educational, and religious, so lamented by all good men. He thought there were many Andreas scattered throughout Europe — how powerful would be their united systematic action ! . . . He hoped that the few nobler minds whom he desired to organize would see through the veil of fiction in which he had invested his proposal ; that he might communicate personally with some such, if they should appear ; or that his book might lead them to form among themselves a practical philanthropic con- federacy, answering to the serious purpose he had embodied in his fiction." ^ His scheme was a
* Robert Alfred Vaughan, B.A. : Hours with the Mystics (yth edition, 1895), vol. ii. bk. 8, chap. ix. p. 134.
§ 50] THE ALCHEMISTS 65
failure, and on seeing its result, Andrea, not daring
to reveal himself as the author of the pamphlets, did
his best to put a stop to the folly by writing several
works in criticism of the Society and its claims. Mr.
A. E. Waite, however, whose work on the subject
should be consulted for further information, rejects
this theory, and suggests that the Rosicrucian Society
was probably identical with the Militia Crucifera
Evangelica, a secret society founded in Nuremburg by
the Lutheran alchemist and mystic, Simon Studion.3
§ 50. We must now turn our attention to the lives
and teachings of the alchemists of the period under
consideration, treating them, as far as
Thomas possible, in chronoloe^ical order ; whence Charnock i ^ i i • i
ri524r-1581). ^"^ ^''^^ alchemist to come under our
notice is Thomas Charnock. Thomas Charnock was born at Faversham (Kent), either in the year 1524 or in 1526. After some travels over England he settled at Oxford, carrying on experiments in Alchemy. In 1557 he wrote his Breviary of Philosophy. This work is almost entirely autobiographical, describing Charnock's alchemistic experiences. He tells us that he was initiated into the mysteries of the Hermetic Art by a certain James S. of Salisbury ; he also had another master, an old blind man, who instructed Charnock on his death-bed. Unfortunately, however, Thomas was doomed to failure in his experiments. On the first attempt his apparatus caught fire and his work was destroyed. His next experiments were ruined by the negligence of a servant. His final misfortune shall be described
3 Arthur Edward Waite : The RealHistory of the Rosicrucians^
(1887).
6
66 ALCHEMY [§ 51
in his own words. He had started the work for a third time, and had spent much money on his fire, hoping to be shortly rewarded. . . .
"Then a Gentlemen that oughte me great mallice Caused me to be prest to goe serve at Calfys : When I saw there was no other boote, But that I must goe spight of my heart roote ; In my fury I tooke a Hatchet in my hand, And brake all my Worke whereas it did stand." *
Thomas Charnock married in 1562 a Miss Agnes Norden. He died in 158 1. It is, perhaps, unneces- sary to say that his name does not appear in the history of Chemistry.
§ 51. Andreas Libavius was born at Halle in
Germany in 1540, where he studied medicine and
practiced for a short time as a physician.
Andreas ^^ accepted the fundamental iatro- Libavms 1 • 1 1 • 1
(1540-1616.) chemical doctrmes, at the same time,
however, criticising certain of the more
extravagant views expressed by Paracelsus. He was
a firm believer in the transmutation of the metals,
but his own activities were chiefly directed to the
preparation of new and better medicines. He
enriched the science of Chemistry by many valuable
discoveries, and tin tetra-chloride, which he was the first
to prepare, is still known by the name of spiritus
fumans Libavii, Libavius was a man possessed of
keen powers of observation ; and his work on
Chemistry, which contains a full account of the
knowledge of the science of his time, may be
^ Thomas Charnock : The Breviary of Naturall Philosophy (see Theatrum Chemicum Britannicumy edited by Ashmole, 1652, p. 295.)
§ 52] THE ALCHEMISTS 67
regarded as the first text-book of Chemistry. It
was held in high esteem for a considerable time,
being reprinted on several occasions.
§ 52. Edward Kelley or Kelly (see plate 9) was
born at Worcester on August i, 1555. His life
_ is so obscured by various traditions
Edward , . . .../ . . .
Kelley ^^^^ ^^ ^^ very dimcult to arrive at the
(1555-1595) truth concerning it. The latest, and
^as^^^sT F^b^^^y *^ best, account will be found in Miss Charlotte Fell Smith's JoAn Dee (1909). Edward Kelley, according to some accounts, was brought up as an apothecary. 5 He is also said to have entered Oxford University under the pseudonym of Talbot.^ Later, he practised as a notary in London. He is said to have committed a forgery, for which he had his ears cropped ; but another account, which supposes him to have avoided this penalty by making his escape to Wales, is not improbable. Other crimes of which he is accused are coining and necromancy. He was probably not guilty of all these crimes, but that he was undoubtedly a charlatan and profligate the sequel will make plain. We are told that about the time of his alleged escape to Wales, whilst in the neighbourhood of Glastonbury Abbey, he became possessed, by a lucky chance, of a manuscript by St. Dunstan setting forth the grand secrets of Alchemy, together with some of the two transmuting tinctures, both white and red, 7
5 See, for example, William Lilly : History of His Life and Times (1715, reprinted in 1822, p. 227).
^ See Anthony A Wood's account of Kelle/s life in Athence Oxonienses (3rd edition, edited by Philip Bliss, vol. i. col. 639.)
^ William Lilly, the astrologer, in his History of His Life and
68 ALCHEMY [§ 52
which had been discovered in a tomb near by. His friendship with John Dee, or Dr. Dee as he is generally called, commenced in 1582. Now, John Dee (see plate 9) was undoubtedly a mathematician of considerable erudition. He was also an astrologer, and was much interested in experiments in ** crystal- gazing," for which purpose he employed a speculum of polished cannel-coal, and by means of which he believed that he had communication with the inhabitants of spiritual spheres. It appears that Kelley, who pro- bably did possess some mediumistic powers, the results of which he augmented by means of fraud, interested himself in these experiments, and not only became the doctor's " scryer," but also gulled him into the belief that he was in the possession of the arch-secrets of Alchemy. In 1583, Kelley and his learned dupe left England together with their wives and a Polish nobleman, staying firstly at Cracovia and afterwards at Prague, where it is not unlikely that the Emperor Rudolph II. knighted Kelley. As instances of the belief which the doctor had in Kelley 's powers as an alchemist, we may note that in his Private Diary under the date December 19, 1586, Dee records that Kelley performed a transmutation for the benefit of one Edward Garland and his brother Francis ; ^ and
Times (1822 reprint, pp. 225-226), relates a different story regarding the manner in which Kelley is supposed to have obtained the Great Medicine, but as it is told at third hand, it is of little importance. We do not suppose that there can be much doubt that the truth was that Dee and others were deceived by some skilful conjuring tricks, for whatever else Kelley may have been, he certainly was a very ingenious fellow.
® The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee (The Camden Society, 1842), p. 22.
PLATE
r" """''""iiJMi
■■
191
[|||i|i|iiiwiinW||ffiH|M w.^^S
Wf
■
^^,,_gg^
ml -^'^
Pii'i:! !;{ iiPII
Jo face i>a&e 68]
§52] THE ALCHEMISTS 69
under the date May lo, 1588, we find the following recorded: "E.K. did open 'the great secret to me, God be thanked ! " 9 That he was not always without doubts as to Kelley's honesty, however, is evident from other entries in his Diary. In 1587 occurred an event which must be recorded to the partners' lasting shame. To cap his former impositions, Kelley in- formed the doctor that by the orders of a spirit which had appeared to him in the crystal, they were to share " their two wives in common " ; to which arrange- ment, after some further persuasion. Dee consented. Kelley's profligacy and violent temper, however, had already been the cause of some disagreement between him and the doctor, and this incident leading to a further quarrel, the erstwhile friends parted. In 1589, the Emperor Rudolph imprisoned Kelley, the price of his freedom being the transmutative secret, or a substantial quantity of gold, at least, prepared by its aid. He was, however, released in 1593 ; but died in 1595) according to one account, as the result of an accident incurred while attempting to escape from a second imprisonment. Dee merely records that he received news to the effect that Kelley '' was slayne."
It was during his incarceration that he wrote an alchemistic work entitled TAe Stone of the Philo- sophers, which consists largely of quotations from older alchemistic writings. His other works on Alchemy were probably written at an earlier period. '°
9 The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee (The Camden Society, 1842), p. 27.
'° An English translation of Kelley's alchemistic works were pub- lished under the editorship of Mr. A. E. Waite, in 1893.
70 ALCHEMY [§ 54
§ 53. Henry Khunrath was born in Saxony in the
second half of the sixteenth century. He was a
follower of Paracelsus, and travelled
Henry about Germany, practising as a physician.
(1560-1605). " This German alchemist," says Mr.
A. E. Waite, "... is claimed as a hiero-
phant of the psychic side of the magnum opus, and
. . . was undoubtedly aware of the larger issues of
Hermetic theorems " ; he describes Khunrath's chief
work, Amphitheatrum> Sapientice ^terncBy &c., as
"purely mystical and magical." "
§ 54. The date and birthplace of Alexander Sethon, a Scottish alchemist, do not appear to have been recorded, but Michael Sendivogius s^th^ was probably born in Moravia about
(7-1604) and i S^^- Sethon, we are told, was in posses- Michael sion of the arch-secrets of Alchemy. He (l^^'^-^l^) visited Holland in 1602, proceeded after a time to Italy, and passed through Basle to Germany ; meanwhile he is said to have performed many transmutations. Ultimately arriving at Dresden, however, he fell into the clutches of the young Elector, Christian II., who, in order to extort his secret, cast him into prison, and put him to the torture, but without avail. Now, it so happened that Sendivogius, who was in quest of the Philosopher's Stone, was staying at Dresden, and hearing of Sethon's imprison- ment obtained permission to visit him. Sendivogius offered to effect Sethon's escape in return for assist- ance in his alchemistic pursuits, to which arrange- ment the Scottish alchemist willingly agreed. After some considerable outlay of money in bribery, Sen- " A. E. Waite ; Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers {\%ZZ), p. 159.
§ 54] THE ALCHEMISTS 71
divogius's plan of escape was successfully carried out, and Sethon found himself a free man ; but he refused to betray the high secrets of Hermetic philosophy to his rescuer. However, before his death, which oc- curred shortly afterwards, he presented him with an ounce of the transmutative powder. Sendivogius soon used up this powder, we are told, in effecting trans- mutations and cures, and, being fond of expensive living, he married Sethon's widow, in the hope that she was in the possession of the transmutative secret. In this, however, he was disappointed ; she knew nothing of the matter, but she had the manuscript of an alchemistic work written by her late husband. Shortly afterwards Sendivogius printed at Prague a book entitled The New Chemical Light under the name of ** Cosmopolita," which is said to be this work of Sethon's but which Sendivogius claimed for his own by the insertion of his name on the title-page, in the form of an anagram. The tract On Sulphur which was printed at the end of this book, however, is said to have been the genuine work of the Moravian. Whilst his powder lasted, Sendivogius travelled about, performing, we are told, many transmutations. He was twice imprisoned in order to extort the secrets of Alchemy from him, on one occasion escaping, and on the other occasion obtaining his release from the Emperor Rudolph. Afterwards, he appears to have degenerated into an impostor, but this is said to have been a finesse to hide his true character as an alchemistic adept. He died in 1646.12
The New Chemical Light was held in great esteem by the alchemists. The first part treats at
" SeeF. B. : Lives of Alchemy stical Philosophers (1815), pp.66-69.
72 ALCHEMY [§ 55
length of the generation of the metals and also of the Philosopher's Stone, and claims to be based on practical experience. The seed of Nature, we are told, is one, but various products result on account of the different conditions of development. An imagi- nary conversation between Mercury, an Alchemist and Nature which is appended, is not without a touch of humour. Says the Alchemist, in despair, " Now I see that I know nothing ; only I must not say so. For I should lose the good opinion of my neighbours, and they would no longer entrust me with money for my experiments, I must therefore go on saying that I know everything ; for there are many that expect me to do great things for them. . . . There are many countries, and many greedy persons who will suffer themselves to be gulled by my promises of mountains of gold. Thus day will follow day, and in the mean- time the King or the donkey will die, or I myself." '3 The second part treats of the Elements and Principles (see §§ 17 and 19).
§ 55. Michael Maier (see plate 10) was born at Rendsberg (in Holstein) about 1568. He studied medicine assiduously, becoming a most Michael successful physician, and he was en- (1568-1622). nobled by Rudolf II. Later on, how- ever, he took up the subject of Alchemy, and is said to have ruined his health and wasted his fortune in the pursuit of the alchemistic i^-ms fatuus — the Stone of the Philosophers — travelling about Germany and elsewhere in order to have converse with those who were regarded as adepts in the
'3 The New Chemical Light, Part I. (see The Hermetic Museum^ vol. ii. p. 125).
PLATE 10.
m m m
TrX5 5CHOLA.TRE5 COESAPv TITVL05 DE>
dit;hi^c mihi restant. Posse bene in chri^to vivere, posse mori Michael iMAi£RV5 come5 imperialis coNv
5I5TORII ctcPHILOSOPH. £T MEDICINARVM DOCTOR. R C C NOBIL. EXEMPTVS FOROLIM MEDICV5 CJ^S:ck:
*^3^
[by J. BriuinJ
PORTRAIT OF MICHAEL MAIER.
§55J THE ALCHEMISTS 73
Art. He took a prominent part in the famous Rosi- crucian controversy (see § 49), defending the claims of the alleged society in several tracts. He is said, on the one hand, to have been admitted as a member of the fraternity ; and on the other hand, to have himself founded a similar institution. A full account of his views will be found in the Rev. J. B. Craven's Count Michael Maier : Life and Writings (1910). He was a very learned man, but his works are some- what obscure and abound in fanciful allegories. He read an alchemistic meaning into the ancient fables concerning the Egyptian and Greek gods and heroes. Like most alchemists, he held the supposed virtues of mercury in high esteem. In his Lusus Serins: or. Serious Passe-time, for example, he supposes a Parlia- ment of the various creatures of the world to meet, in order that Man might choose the noblest of them as king over all the rest. The calf, the sheep, the goose, the oyster, the bee, the silkworm, flax and mercury are the chosen representatives, each of which discourses in turn. It will be unnecessary to state that Mercury wins the day. Thus does Maier eulogise it : " Thou art the miracle, splendour and light of the world. Thou art the glory, ornament, and supporter of the Earth. Thou art the Asyle, Anchor, and tye of the Universe. Next to the minde of Man, God Created nothing more Noble, more Glorious, or more Profitable.'* '4 His Sudt/e Allegory concerning the Secrets of Alchemy, very useful to possess and pleasant to read, will be found in the Hermetic Museum, together with his Golden Tripod,
^4 Michael Maier : Lusus Serius : or Serious Passe-time (1654), p. 138.
74 ALCHEMY [§ 56
consisting of translations of '* Valentine's " '' Practica " and Twelve Keys, Norton's Ordinal and Cremer's spurious Testament.
§ 56. Jacob Boehme, or Behmen (see plate ii), was born at Alt Seidenberg, a village near Gorlitz, in 1575. His parents being poor, the ri575-1624.') education he received was of a very rudimentary nature, and when his school- ing days were over, Jacob was apprenticed to a shoemaker. His religious nature caused him often to admonish his fellow-apprentices, which behaviour ulti- mately caused him to be dismissed. He travelled about as a journeyman shoemaker, returning, however, to Gorlitz in 1594, where he married and settled in business. He claims to have experienced a wonderful vision in 1598, and to have had a similar vision two years later. In these visions, the first of which lasted for several days he believed that he saw into the inmost secrets of nature ; but what at first appeared dim and vague became clear and coherent in a third vision, which he tells us was vouchsafed to him in 1 6 10. It was then that he wrote his first book, the Auroray which he composed for himself only, in order that he should not forget the mysteries disclosed to him. At a later period he produced a large number of treatises of a mystical-religious nature, having spent the intervening years in improving his early education. These books aroused the ire of the narrow-minded ecclesiastical authorities of the town, and Jacob suffered considerable persecution in consequence. He visited Dresden in 1624, and in the same year was there taken ill with a fever, returning to Gorlitz, where he expired in a condition of ecstasy.
PLATE ti.
PORTRAIT OF JACOB BOEHME.
§ 57] THE ALCHEMISTS 76
Jacob Boehme was an alchemist of a purely tran- scendental order. He had, it appears, acquired some knowledge of Chemistry during his apprentice days, and he employed the language of Alchemy in the elaboration of his system of mystical philosophy. With this lofty mystical-religious system we cannot here deal ; Boehme is, indeed, often accounted the greatest of true Christian mystics ; but although con- scious of his superiority over many minor lights, we think this title is due to Emanuel Swedenborg. The question of the validity of his visions is also one which lies beyond the scope of the present work ; '^ we must confine our attention to Boehme as an alchemist. The Philosopher's Stone, in Boehme's terminology, is the Spirit of Christ which must ** tincture " the individual soul. In one place he says, *' The Phylosophers Stone is a very dark dis- esteemed Stone, of a Gray colour, but therein lyeth the highest Tincture."'^ In the transcendental sense, this is reminiscent of the words of Isaiah : ** He hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. ... He was despised and we esteemed him not," &c.'^
§ 57. John Baptist van Helmont (see plate 12) was born in Brussels in 1577. He devoted himself to the study of medicine, at first following Galen, but
*5 For a general discussion of spiritual visions see the present writer's Matter ^ Spirit and the Cosmos (Rider, 1910), Chapter IV., " On Matter and Spirit." Undoubtedly Boehme's visions involved a valuable element of truth, but at the same time much that was purely relative and subjective.
'^' Jacob Boehme : Epistles (translated by J. E., 1649), Ep. iv. § III, p. 65.
'' The Book of the Prophet Isaiah^ chap, liii., vv. 2 and 3, R.V.
76 ALCHEMY [§ 57
afterwards accepting in part the teachings of Para- celsus ; and he helped to a large extent in the over- throw of the old medical doctrines. His purely chemical researches were also of great
J. B. van value to the science. He was a man ixelmont (1577-1644) of profound knowledge, of a religious
and F. M. van temperament, and he possessed a marked (m&^699 ) li^^"§^ for the mystical. He was inspired by the writings of Thomas a Kempis to imitate Christ in all things, and he practised medicine, therefore, as a work of benevolence, asking no fee for his services. At the same time, moreover, he was a firm believer in the powers of the Philosopher's Stone, claiming to have himself successfully performed the transmutation of the metals on more than one occa- sion, though unacquainted with the composition of the medicine employed (see § 62). Many of his theoretical views are highly fantastical. He lived a life devoted to scientific research, and died in 1644.
Van Helmont regarded water as the primary element out of which all things are produced. He denied that fire was an element or anything material at all, and he did not accept the sulphur-mercury- salt theory. To him is due the word ''gas" — before his time various gases were looked upon as mere varieties of air — and he also made a distinction between gases (which could not be condensed) '^ and vapours (which give liquids on cooling). In particular he investigated the gas that is now known as carbon- dioxide (carbonic anhydride), which he termed gas sylvestre ; but he lacked suitable apparatus for the
'* It has since been discovered that all gases can be condensed, given a sufficient degree of cold and pressure.
PLATE 12.
^ucru^'Sl^
PORTRAITS OF
J. B. AND F. M. VAN HELMONT.
(From the Frontispiece to J. B. van Helmonfs Oriatrikcy
§ 59] THE ALCHEMISTS 77
collection of gases, and hence was led in many cases to erroneous conclusions.
Francis Mercurius van Helmont (see plate 12), the son of John Baptist, born in 16 18, gained the repu- tation of having also achieved the magnum opus, since he appeared to live very luxuriously upon a limited income. He was a skilled chemist and physician, but held many queer theories, metempsychosis included.
§ 58. Johann Rudolf Glauber was born at Karl- stadt in 1604. Of his life little is known. He appears to have travelled about Germany a good ^^^^^T^ deal, afterwards visiting Amsterdam, (1604-1668). where he died in 1668. He was of a very patriotic nature, and a most ardent investigator in the realm of Chemistry. He accepted the main iatro-chemical doctrines, but gave most of his attention to applied Chemistry. He enriched the science with many important discoveries ; and crystal- lised sodium sulphate is still called '* Glauber's Salt." Glauber, himself, attributed remarkable medicinal powers to this compound. He was a firm believer in the claims of Alchemy, and held many fantastic ideas.
§ 59. Thomas Vaughan, who wrote under the name of "Eugenius Philalethes," was born at Newton in Brecknockshire in 1622. He was edu- cated at Jesus College, Oxford, gradu-
Vaughan ating as a Bachelor of Arts, and being
("Eugenius made a fellow of his college. He
^162^-l^^S''^ appears also to have taken holy orders
and to have had the living of St.
Bridget's (Brecknockshire) conferred on him.^^
'^ See Anthony a Wood : Athene^ Oxonienses^ edited by Philip Bliss, vol. iii. (1817), cols. 722-726.
78 ALCHEMY [§ 59
During the civil wars he bore arms for the king, but his allegiance to the Royalist cause led to his being accused of '* drunkenness, swearing, inconti- nency and bearing arms for the King " ; and he appears to have been deprived of his living. He retired to Oxford and gave himself up to study and chemical research. He is to be reofarded as an alchemist of the transcendental order. His views as to the nature of the true Philosopher's Stone may be gathered from the following quotation : " This, reader," he says, speaking of the mystical illumina- tion, "is the Christian Philosophers Stone, a Stone so often inculcated in Scripture. This is the Rock in the wildernesse, because in great obscurity, and few there are that know the right way unto it. This is the Stone of Fire in Ezekiel ; this is the Stone with Seven Eyes upon it in Zacharie, and this is the White Stone with the New Name in the Revelation. But in the Gospel, where Christ himself speakes, who was born to discover mysteries and communicate Heaven to Earth, it is more clearly described. "20 At the same time he appears to have carried out experiments in physical Alchemy, and is said to have met with his death in 1666 through accidentally inhaling the fumes of some mercury with which he was experimenting.
Thomas Vaughan was an ardent disciple of Cornelius Agrippa, the sixteenth-century theosophist. He held the peripatetic philosophy in very slight esteem. He was a man devoted to God, though probably guilty of some youthful follies, full of love
'" Thomas Vaughan ("Eugenius Philalethes ") : Anima Magica Abscondita (see The Magical Writings of Thomas Vaughan^ edited by A. E. Waite, 1888, p. 71).
§ 60] THE ALCHEMISTS 79
towards his wife, and with an intense desire for the solution of the great problems of Nature. Amongst his chief works, which are by no means wanting in flashes of mystic wisdom, we may mention Anthropo- sophia Tkeomagicay Anima Magica Abscondita (which were published together), and Magia Adamica ; or^ the Antiquitie of Magic, With regard to his views as expressed in the first two of these books, a controversy ensued between Vaughan and Henry Moore, which was marked by considerable acrimony. § 60. The use of the pseudonym " Philalethes " has not been confined to one alchemist. The cosmo- politan adept who wrote under the name
"Eiren^us ^f « Eiren«us Philalethes," has been Philalethes" r j ^i. i. j -^u t-i.
(1623?-?) confused, on the one hand, with ihomas
and George Vaughan, on the other hand with George Starkey Starkey (?-i665). His real identity re- ^ '' mains shrouded in impenetrable mys- tery. George Starkey, who graduated M.A. at Harvard in 1646, probably made the acquaintance of the mysterious adept whilst practising medicine in the United States of America, and was to some extent initiated by him into the secrets of Alchemy. In re- turn for this he appears to have stolen his Hermetic master's MS., The Marrow of Alchemy, which he published in 1654-5. Returning to England, Starkey seems to have degenerated into a quack. 21 The works of " Eiraenius Philalethes," which are among the most lucid of alchemistic writings, became immensely popu- lar. His Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King (the most famous of his works) and his Three
" See Mr. A. E. Waite's Lives of Alchemy stical Philosophers^ article, "Eirenseus Philalethes."
80 ALCHEMY [§ 60
Treatises will be found in The Hermetic Museum. Some of his views we have already noted (see §§ I and 22). On certain points he differed from the majority of the alchemists. He denied that fire was an element, and, also, that bodies are formed by mixture of the elements. According to him there is one principle in the metals, namely, mercury, which arises from the aqueous element, and is termed " metalically differentiated water, i.e., it is water passed into that stage of development, in which it can no longer produce anything but mineral substances. "22 Philalethes's views as to ** metallic seed" are also of considerable interest. Of the seed of gold, which he regarded as the seed, also, of all other metals, he says : •* The seed of animals and vegetables is something separate, and may be cut out, or otherwise separately exhibited ; but metallic seed is diffused throughout the metal, and contained in all its smallest parts ; neither can it be discerned from its body : its ex- traction is therefore a task which may well tax the ingenuity of the most experienced philosopher. . . ."23 There appears to be somewhat of a similarity between this view of the seed of metals and modern ideas regarding the electron (see §§80 and 81), which must not be passed over without notice.
" " EiRENvEUS Philalethes " : The Metamorphosis of Metals (see The Hermetic Museum, vol. ii. p. 236). Compare with van Helmont's views, § 57.
^3 " EiRENyEUS Philalethes " : The Metamorphosis of Metals (see The Hermetic Museum, vol. ii. p. 240).