Preface

LIVES OF ALCHEMYSTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. LIVES OF ALCHEMYSTICAL PHILOSOPHERS _BASED ON MATERIALS COLLECTED IN 1815_ _AND_ _SUPPLEMENTED BY RECENT RESEARCHES_ WITH A PHILOSOPHICAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF THE MAGNUM OPUS, OR GREAT WORK OF ALCHEMICAL RE-CONSTRUCTION, AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE SPIRITUAL CHEMISTRY BY ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE AUTHOR OF “THE REAL HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS;” “THE MYSTERIES OF MAGIC: A DIGEST OF THE WRITINGS OF ÉLIPHAS LÉVI,” ETC. TO WHICH IS ADDED _A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ALCHEMY AND HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY_ LONDON GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN 1888 PREFACE. The foundation of this work will be found in “The Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers; with a Critical Catalogue of Books in Occult Chemistry, and a Selection of the most celebrated Treatises on the Theory and Practice of the Hermetic Art,” which was published in the year 1815 by Lackington, Allen, & Company, of Finsbury Square, London. This anonymous book has been attributed by certain collectors to Francis Barrett, author of the notorious treatise entitled “The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer;” but it may be safely affirmed that, alike in matter and treatment, it far transcends the extremely meagre capacities of that credulous amateur in occultism. It is indeed a work of much sense and unpretentious discrimination, and is now a bibliographical rarity which is highly prized by its possessors. The independent researches which have supplemented the biographical materials of the original compilation have produced in the present volume what is practically a new work under an old title; those lives which have been left substantially untouched as to facts have been more or less rewritten with a view to the compression of prolixities and the elimination of archaic forms, which would be incongruous in a work so extensively modified by the addition of new details. The “Alphabetical Catalogue of Works on Hermetic Philosophy” has been considerably enlarged from such sources as Langlet du Fresnoy’s _Histoire de la Philosophie Hermétique_. The preliminary account of the “Physical Theory and Practice of the Magnum Opus” is a slight original sketch which, to readers unacquainted with alchemy, will afford some notion of the processes of accredited adepts. The introductory essay on the object of alchemical philosophy advocates new and important views concerning the great question of psychal chemistry, and appreciates at their true worth the conflicting theories advanced by the various schools of Hermetic interpretation. IMPORTANT NOTE. I am forced to append to this Preface a correction of one or two errors of absolutely vital importance, which were unfortunately overlooked in the text. On page 188, line 18, the date was intended to read 1643; on page 189, line 5, read _anno trigesimo tertio_ for _trigesimo anno_; and on line 6, _anno vigesimo tertio_ instead of _vigesimo anno_. But if these emendations restore the passage to its original integrity, a discovery which I have made while this work was passing through the press has entirely cancelled its value. I have been gratified with a sight of the original edition of Philalethes’ _Introitus Apertus_--a small octavo pamphlet in the original paper cover as it was published at Amsterdam in the year 1667. It definitely establishes that its mysterious author was born in or about the year 1623, or two years later than the Welsh adept, Thomas Vaughan, with whom he has so long been identified. This original edition is excessively scarce; I believe I am the only English mystic who has seen it during the present generation. The reader must please understand that the calculation in the pages referred to was based on the date 1643; this date, in the light of the original edition, has proved erroneous, and by a curious chance, that which was accidentally printed, turns out to be correct at the expense of the calculation. ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. PAGE PREFACE 5 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON THE TRUE PRINCIPLES AND NATURE OF THE MAGNUM OPUS, AND ON ITS RELATION TO SPIRITUAL CHEMISTRY 9 ON THE PHYSICAL THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE MAGNUM OPUS 38 LIVES OF THE ALCHEMISTS. GEBER 44 RHASIS 46 ALFARABI 48 AVICENNA 51 MORIEN 53 ALBERTUS MAGNUS 57 THOMAS AQUINAS 61 ROGER BACON 63 ALAIN OF LISLE 67 RAYMOND LULLY 68 ARNOLD DE VILLANOVA 88 JEAN DE MEUNG 90 THE MONK FERARIUS 92 POPE JOHN XXII. 93 NICHOLAS FLAMEL 95 PETER BONO 118 JOHANNES DE RUPECISSA 119 BASIL VALENTINE 120 ISAAC OF HOLLAND 123 BERNARD TRÉVISAN 124 JOHN FONTAINE 129 THOMAS NORTON 130 THOMAS DALTON 133 SIR GEORGE RIPLEY 134 PICUS DE MIRANDOLA 136 PARACELSUS 137 DENIS ZACHAIRE 140 BERIGARD OF PISA 148 THOMAS CHARNOCK 148 GIOVANNI BRACCESCO 151 LEONARDI FIORAVANTI 153 JOHN DEE 153 HENRY KHUNRATH 159 MICHAEL MAIER 160 JACOB BÖHME 161 J. B. VAN HELMONT 166 BUTLER 168 JEAN D’ESPAGNET 170 ALEXANDER SETHON 171 MICHAEL SENDIVOGIUS 175 GUSTENHOVER 181 BUSARDIER 182 ANONYMOUS ADEPT 184 ALBERT BELIN 186 EIRENÆUS PHILALETHES 187 PIERRE JEAN FABRE 200 JOHN FREDERICK HELVETIUS 201 GUISEPPE FRANCESCO BORRI 208 JOHN HEYDON 210 LASCARIS 211 DELISLE 216 JOHN HERMANN OBEREIT 219 TRAVELS, ADVENTURES, AND IMPRISONMENTS OF JOSEPH BALSAMO 220 AN ALPHABETICAL CATALOGUE OF WORKS ON HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY AND ALCHEMY 274 APPENDIX 307 INDEX 313 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON THE TRUE PRINCIPLES AND NATURE OF THE MAGNUM OPUS, AND ON ITS RELATION TO SPIRITUAL CHEMISTRY. Those unfamiliar with modern alchemical criticism, even if they have some acquaintance with the mystical labyrinth of the _turba philosophorum_, will probably learn with astonishment that the opinions of competent judges are divided not only upon the methods of the mysterious Hermetic science, but upon the object of alchemy itself. That it is concerned with transmutation is granted, but with the transmutation of metals, or of any physical substance, into material gold, is strenuously denied by a select section of reputable students of occultism. The transcendental theory of alchemy which they expound is steadily gaining favour, though the two text-books which at present represent it are both out of print and both exceedingly scarce. In the year 1850 “A Suggestive Inquiry concerning the Hermetic Mystery and Alchemy, being an attempt to recover the Ancient Experiment of Nature,” was published anonymously in London by a lady of high intellectual gifts, but was almost immediately withdrawn for reasons unknown, and which have given occasion, in consequence, to several idle speculations. This curious and meritorious volume, quaintly written in the manner of the last century, originated the views which are in question and opened the controversy. Fifteen years after the appearance of the “Suggestive Inquiry,” an American writer, named Hitchcock, after apparently independent researches arriving at parallel conclusions, made public, also anonymously, in the year 1865, some “Remarks on Alchemy and the Alchemists,” in a small octavo volume of very considerable interest. A psychic interpretation was placed by the previous author on the arcana of Hermetic typology, and Mr Hitchcock, by adopting a moral one, brought the general subject within the reach of the most ordinary readers, and attracted considerable attention in consequence. The views thus enunciated have filtered slowly through, and, combined with the Paracelsian theory of the psychic manufacture of material gold by the instrumentality of the interior magnes, have considerably influenced the revived occultism of the present day. The question in itself, taken at its lowest standpoint, is one of the most curious to be found within the whole circle of esoteric archæology; and for students whose interest in the great alchemical mystery is of another than antiquarian kind, it is truly of palmary interest, and of supreme importance. In an account of the lives and labours of the Hermetic adepts, it calls for adequate consideration; and, after careful researches, I believe myself to have discovered a true alchemical theory which will be equally acceptable to all schools of interpretation. The supreme and avowed object of every hierophant, as well as of every postulant and pretender, in the _ars magna_ discovered by Hermes Trismegistus, has been commonly supposed to be the chemical manufacture of material gold from commercially inferior substances. On the other hand, Hitchcock, marshalling an impressive series of verbatim citations from writers of all ages and all nationalities, undertakes to demonstrate that the concealed subject of every veritable adept is one only--namely, MAN, the triune, and that “the object also is one, to wit, his improvement, while the method itself is no less one, to wit, nature directed by art in the school of nature, and acting in conformity therewith; for the art is nothing but ‘nature acting through man.’” Again, “the genuine alchemists were not in pursuit of worldly wealth or honours. Their real object was the perfection, or, at least, the improvement of man. According to this theory, such perfection lies in a certain unity, a living sense of the unity of the human with the divine nature, the attainment of which I can liken to nothing so well as to the experience known in religion as the NEW BIRTH. The desired perfection, or unity, is a state of the soul, _a condition of Being_, and not a mere condition of KNOWING. This condition of Being is a development of the nature of man from within, the result of a process by which whatever is evil in our nature is cast out or suppressed, under the name of superfluities, and the good thereby allowed opportunities for free activity. As this result is scarcely accessible to the unassisted natural man, and requires the concurrence of divine power, it is called _Donum Dei_.” When the individual man, by a natural and appropriate process, devoid of haste or violence, is brought into unity with himself by the harmonious action of intelligence and will, he is on the threshold of comprehending that transcendent Unity which is the perfection of the totality of Nature, “for what is called the ‘absolute,’ the ‘absolute perfection,’ and the perfection of Nature, are one and the same.” In the symbolism of the alchemists this writer tells us that _sulphur_ signifies Nature, and _mercury_ the supernatural. The inseparable connection of the two in man is called _Sol_, but “as these three are seen to be indissolubly one, the terms may be used interchangeably.” According to Hitchcock, the mystical and mysterious instrument of preparation in the work of alchemy is the conscience, which is called by a thousand misleading and confessedly incongruous names. By means of this instrument, quickened into vital activity under a sense of the presence of God, the matter of the stone, namely, Man, is, in the first place, purged and purified, to make possible the internal realisation of Truth. “By a metonymy, the conscience itself is said to be purified, though, in fact, the conscience needs no purification, but only the man, to the end that the conscience may operate freely.”[A] One of the names given by the alchemists to the conscience, on this theory, is that of a middle substance which partakes of an azurine sulphur--that is, of a celestial spirit--the Spirit of God. “The still small voice is in alchemy, as in Scripture, compared to a _fire_, which prepares the way for what many of the writers speak of as a _Light_.” Hitchcock elsewhere more emphatically asserts that there is but one subject within the wide circle of human interests that can furnish an interpretation of the citations which he gives, and it is that which is known under the theological name of spiritual Regeneration. This gift of God the alchemists investigated as a work of Nature within Nature. “The repentance which in religion is said to begin conversion, is the ‘philosophical contrition’ of Hermetic allegory. It is the first step of man towards the discovery of his whole being. They also called it the black state of the matter, in which was carried on the work of dissolution, calcination, separation, &c., after which results purification, the white state, which contains the red, as the black contained the white.” The evolution of the glorious and radiant red state resulted in the fixation or perfection of the matter, and then the soul was supposed to have entered into its true rest in God. As this interpretation is concerned chiefly with the conscience, I have called it the moral theory of alchemy; but Hitchcock, as a man of spiritual insight, could not fail to perceive that his explanatory method treated of the way only, and the formless light of an “End,” which he could not or would not treat of, is, upon his own admission, continually glimmering before him. For the rest, when the alchemists speak of a long life as one of the endowments of the Stone, he considers that they mean immortality; when they attribute to it the miraculous properties of a universal medicine, it is their intention to deny any positive qualities to evil, and, by inference, any perpetuity. When they assert that the possession of the Stone is the annihilation of covetousness and of every illicit desire, they mean that all evil affections disappear before the light of the unveiled Truth. By the transmutation of metals they signified the conversion of man from a lower to a higher order of existence, from life natural to life spiritual, albeit these expressions are inadequate to convey the real meaning of the adepts. The powers of an ever active nature must be understood by such expressions as “fires,” “menstruums,” &c., which work in unison because they work in Nature, the alchemists unanimously denying the existence of any disorder in the creation of God. In conclusion, Hitchcock states once more that his object is to point out the _subject_ of alchemy. He does not attempt to make its practical treatment plain to the _end_ of the sublime operation. It is, therefore, evident that he, at any rate, suspected the existence of more transcendent secrets which he distrusted his ability to discuss, and declined to speak of inadequately. The author of the “Suggestive Inquiry” had already taken the higher standpoint of psychic interpretation, and developed her remarkable principles, which I must endeavour to reproduce as briefly as possible. According to this work, the modern art of chemistry has no connection with alchemy except in its terminology, which was made use of by the adepts to veil their divine mysteries. The process of the whole Hermetic work is described with at least comparative plainness in the writings of the philosophers, with the exception of the _vessel_ which is a holy arcanum, but without the knowledge of it no one can attain to the magistery. Now, the publication of the writings of Jacob Böhme caused the alchemists who were his contemporaries to fear that their art could not much longer remain a secret, and that the mystic vase in particular would be shortly revealed to all. This vase is the _vas insigne electionis_, namely, MAN, who is the only all-containing subject, and who alone has need to be investigated for the eventual discovery of all. The modern adepts describe the life of man as a pure, naked, and unmingled fire of illimitable capability. Man, therefore, is the true laboratory of the Hermetic art; his life is the subject, the grand distillery, the thing distilling, and the thing distilled; and self-knowledge is at the root of all alchemical tradition. “Modern discoveries are now tending to the identification of light, the common vital sustenant, as in motive accord throughout the human circulatory system with the planetary spheres, and harmonious dispositions of the occult medium in space; and as human physiology advances with the other sciences, the notion of our natural correspondency enlarges, till at length the conscious relationship would seem to be only wanting to confirm the ancient tradition.” In addition to the faculties which he commonly exerts to communicate with the material universe, man possesses within him the germ of a higher faculty, the revelation and evolution of which give intuitive knowledge of the hidden springs of nature. This Wisdom-faculty operates in a magical manner, and constitutes an alliance with the Omniscient Nature, so that the illuminated understanding of its possessor perceives the structure of the universe, and enjoys free perspicacity of thought in universal consciousness. In support of this statement it is argued that the evidence of natural reason, even in the affairs of common life, is intuition, that intuitive faith has a certainty above and independent of reason, that the subsistence of universals in the human mind includes a promise far beyond itself, and is stable proof of another subsistence, however consciously unknown. The true methods and conditions of self-knowledge are to be learned from the ancient writers. The discovery of the veritable Light of alchemy is the reward of an adequate scrutiny of true psychical experience. Alchemy proposes “such a reducation of nature as shall discover this latex without destroying her vehicle, but only the modal life; and professes that this has not alone been proved possible, but that man by rationally conditionating has succeeded in developing into action the Recreative Force.” The One Thing needful, the sole act which must be perfectly accomplished that man may know himself, is the exaltation, by the adequately purified spirit, of the cognising faculty into intellectual reminiscence. The transcendental philosophy of the mysteries entirely hinges on the purification of the whole understanding, without which they promise nothing. The end in view is identical with Hermetists, Theurgists, and with the ancient Greek mysteries alike. It is the conscious and hypostatic union of the intellectual soul with Deity, and its participation in the life of God; but the conception included in this divine name is one infinitely transcendental, and in Hermetic operations, above all, it must ever be remembered that God is within us. “The initiated person sees the Divine Light itself, without any form or figure--that light which is the true _astrum solis_, the mineral spiritual sun, which is the Perpetual Motion of the Wise, and that Saturnian Salt, which developed to intellect and made erect, subdues all nature to His will. It is the Midnight Sun of Apuleius, the Ignited Stone of Anaxagoras, the Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, the Armed Magnet of Helvetius, the Fiery Chariot of Mercaba, and the Stone with the new name written on it which is promised to him that overcometh, by the initiating Saviour of mankind.” This method of interpreting the Hermetic allegories is calculated to exalt the alchemists indefinitely in the estimation of all thinking minds. From possibly avaricious investigators of a by-way of physical science, they are transfigured into dreamers of the sublimest imaginable dream, while if that which they conceived was accomplished, they are divine and illuminated monarchs who are throned on the pinnacles of eternity, having dominion over their infinite souls. A theory so attractive, devised in the interests of men whom romance has already magnified in the auriferous cloud of mystery which envelopes both their claims and their persons, is eminently liable to be accepted on insufficient grounds, because of its poetical splendour, so it will be well to ascertain the facts and arguments on which it is actually based. Both Hitchcock and the unparalleled woman to whom we are indebted for the “Suggestive Inquiry” appeal to alchemical writings in support of their statements. A few of their quotations and commentaries must therefore be submitted to the reader. The first point which strikes the alchemical student is the unanimous conviction of all the philosophers that certain initiatory exercises of a moral and spiritual kind are an indispensable preliminary to operations which are commonly supposed to be physical. Here the incongruity is evident, and it is therefore urged that the process itself is spiritual, and that it was materialised in the writings of the adepts to confuse and mislead the profane, as well as for the protection of esoteric psychologists in the days of the Inquisition and the stake. The following preparation for the study of Antimony is recommended by Basil Valentin. “First, Invocation to God, with a certain heavenly intention, drawn from the bottom of a sincere heart and conscience, pure from all ambition, hypocrisy, and all other vices which have any affinity with these; as arrogance, boldness, pride, luxury, petulancy, oppression of the poor, and other similar evils, all of which are to be eradicated from the heart; that when a man desires to prostrate himself before the throne of grace, for obtaining health, he may do so with a conscience free from unprofitable weeds, that his body may be transmuted into a holy temple of God, and be purged from all uncleanness. For God will not be mocked (of which I would earnestly admonish all), as worldly men, pleasing and flattering themselves with their own wisdom, think. God, I say, will not be mocked, but the Creator of all things will be invoked with reverential fear, and acknowledged with due obedience.... Which is so very true that I am certainly assured no impious man shall ever be partaker of the true medicine, much less of the eternal, heavenly bread. Therefore place your whole intention and trust in God; call upon him, and pray that he may impart his blessing to you. Let this be the beginning of your work, that by the same you may obtain your desired end, and at length effect what you intended. For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The second qualification is contemplation, by which, says Basil, “I understand an accurate attention to the business itself, under which will fall these considerations first to be noted. As, what are the circumstances of anything; what the matter; what the form; whence its operations proceed; whence it is infused and implanted; how generated ... also how the body of everything may be ... resolved into its first matter or essence. This contemplation is celestial, and to be understood with spiritual reason; for the circumstances and depths of things cannot be conceived in any other way than by the spiritual cogitation of man: and this contemplation is two-fold. One is called possible, the other impossible. The latter consists in copious cogitations which never proceed to effects, nor exhibit any form of matter which falls under the touch, as if any should endeavour to comprehend the Eternity of the Most High, which is vain and impossible; yea, it is a sin against the Holy Ghost, so arrogantly to pry into the Divinity itself, which is immense, infinite, and eternal; and to subject the incomprehensible counsel of the secrets of God to human inquisition. The other part of contemplation which is possible is called theory. This contemplates that which is perceived by touch and sight, and hath a nature formed in time; this considers how that nature may be helped and perfected by resolution of itself; how every body may give forth from itself the good or evil, venom or medicine, latent in it; how destruction and confection are to be handled, whereby, under a right proceeding, without sophistical deceits, the pure may be severed and separated from the impure. This separation is made and instituted by divers manual operations ... some of which are vulgarly known by experience, others remote from vulgar experience. These are calcination, sublimation, reverberation, circulation, putrefaction, digestion, distillation, cohobation, fixation, and the like of these; all the degrees of which are found in operating, learned, and perceived, and manifested by the same. Whence will clearly appear what is movable, what is fixed, what is white, what red, black, blue, green, namely, when the operation is rightly instituted by the artificer; for possibly the operation may err, and turn aside from the right way; but that Nature should err, when rightly handled, is not possible. Therefore if you shall err, so that nature cannot be altogether free, and released from the body in which it is held captive, return again unto your way; learn the theory more perfectly, and inquire more practically into the method of your operating, that you may discover the foundation and certainty in the separation of all things; which is a matter of great concern. And this is the second foundation of philosophy which follows prayer; for in that the sum of the matter lies, and is contained in these words:--Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness by prayer, and all other things shall be added unto you.” Perhaps it will be thought, even at this preliminary stage of citation, that there is much to be said for the physical theory of alchemy. A particular appeal is, however, made to the celebrated “Canons of Espagnet,” and to the following passage:--“The light of this knowledge is the gift of God, which by his freeness he bestoweth upon whom he pleaseth. Let none, therefore, set himself to the study hereof, until, having cleared and purified his heart, he devote himself wholly unto God, and be emptied of all affection to things impure. Those that are in public honours and offices, or be always busied with private and necessary occupations, let them not strive to attain to the top of this philosophy; for it requireth the whole man; and being found, possesseth him, and being possessed, challengeth him from all long and serious employments, esteeming all other things as strange unto him, and of no value. Let him that is desirous of this knowledge clear his mind from all evil motions, especially pride, which is abomination to heaven, and the gate of hell. Let him be frequent at prayers and charitable; have little to do with the world; abstain from too much company-keeping, and enjoy constant tranquillity, that the mind may be able to reason more freely in private, and be more highly lifted up; for unless it be kindled with a beam of divine light, it will hardly be able to penetrate the hidden mysteries of truth.... A studious Tyro of a quick wit, constant mind, inflamed with the love of philosophy, very quick in natural philosophy, of a pure heart, perfect in manner, mightily devoted to God, even though ignorant of chemistry, may enter with confidence the highway of Nature, and peruse the books of the best philosophers. Let him seek out an ingenious companion for himself, and not despair of accomplishing his desire.” Here Hitchcock points out that the operation is obviously not chemical, for the chief instrument is determined and concentrated thinking on the loftiest intellectual planes. The inference that skill in natural philosophy is indispensable, is contradicted by the counter-statement that ignorance of chemistry is not necessarily a source of failure. In this connection, it must be remembered that the distinction between alchemy and chemistry can scarcely be said to have existed at the period of Espagnet, and the statement would at first sight seem almost equivalent to asserting that it was unnecessary to be versed in the properties of metals to accomplish the _magnum opus_. “Let a lover of truth,” continues the author of the Canons, “make use of but a few philosophers, but of best note and experienced truth; let him suspect things that are quickly understood, especially in mystical names and secret operations, for truth lies hid in obscurity; nor do philosophers ever write more deceitfully than when plainly, nor ever more truly than when obscurely.” In the same manner, “The New Light of Alchemy,” falsely ascribed to Sendivogius, and which is in high appreciation among Hermetic students, declares that “the most commendable art of alchemy is the gift of God, and truly it is not to be attained but by the alone favour of God enlightening the understanding, together with a patient and devout humility, or by an ocular demonstration from some experienced master.” In _Anima Magica Abscondita_, Eugenius Philalethes gives the following advice to the student, whether of magic or alchemy:--“Attempt not anything rashly. Prepare thyself till thou art conformable to Him whom thou wouldst entertain. Thou hast Three that are to receive, and there are three that give. Fit thy house to thy God in what thou canst, and in what thou canst not, He will help thee. When thou hast set thy house in order, do not think thy guest will come without invitation. Thou must tyre Him out with pious importunities. This is the way in which thou must walk, in which thou shalt perceive a sudden illustration, _eritque in te cum Lumine Ignis, cum Igne Ventus, cum Vento Potestas, cum Potestate Scientia, cum Scientiâ sanæ mentis integritas_. This is the chain that qualifies a magician. This is the place (viz., the abode of the Archetype) where if thou canst but once ascend, and then descend-- “_Tunc ire ad Mundum Archetypum sæpe atque redire, Cunctarumque Patrem rerum spectare licebit_’-- thou hast got that spirit _Qui quicquid portentosi Mathematici, quicquid prodigiosi Magi, quicquid invidentes Naturæ persecutores Alchymistæ, quicquid Dæmonibus deteriores malefici Necromantes promittere audent. Ipse novit discernere et efficere idque sine omni crimine, sine Dei offensâ, sine Religionis injuria._ Such is the power he shall receive, who from the clamorous tumults of this world ascends to the supernaturall still voice, from this base earth and mind whereto his body is allyed, to the spirituall, invisible elements of his Soul.” After the same fashion, the still greater Eirenæus Philalethes declares that God alone communicates the whole secret of the _aqua philosophorum_, that all untaught by Him must wander in mists and error, but that it is revealed to those who labour in study and prayer. Quotation might be continued indefinitely. The _Centrum Naturæ Concentratum_, ascribed to Alipili, and a treatise of some reputation, declares that “The highest wisdom consists in this, for man to know himself, because in him God has placed his eternal word, by which all things were made and upheld, to be his Light and Life, by which he is capable of knowing all things in time and eternity.... Therefore let the high inquirers and searchers into the deep mysteries of nature, learn first what they have in themselves, before they seek in foreign matters without them; and by the divine power within them, let them first heal themselves and transmute their own souls; then they may go on prosperously and seek with good success the mysteries and wonders of God in all natural things.” * * * * * These quotations, some of which are unknown to, or, at any rate, uncited by Hitchcock, do not by any means establish the points which are debated in his book. If the philosophers from whom they are selected were in possession of the whole secret of wealth, they saw fit to conceal it from the profane, and their works, full of practically insoluble enigmas, are proclamations of the fact of their success, rather than lights for those who sought to follow in their steps. Under these circumstances, they saw that in the blind guess-work which their symbols created of necessity, no student would ever attain to the true light of alchemy except by pure chance--in other words, by the favour of Heaven, which, accordingly, they counselled him to supplicate. None of the passages in question are inconsistent with the physical object of alchemy, and in the citation from Alipili, it is evident that the mysteries and wonders referred to include metallic transmutation in the mind of the writer. The investigator of natural secrets was advised to take counsel with the Author of natural secrets after the only possible manner. “Whoever attempteth the search of our glorious stone, he ought, in the first place, to implore the assistance of the all-powerful Jehova, at the throne of his mercy, who is the true and sole author of all mysteries of nature; the monarch of heaven and earth, the King of kings, omnipotent, most true and most wise; who not only maketh manifest in the microcosm, the truth of every science to worthy philosophers, and liberally bestoweth both natural and divine knowledge on the deserving and faithful; but also layeth open his treasures of wealth and riches which are locked up in the abyss of nature to those who devoutly worship him. And forasmuch as none are permitted to touch the mysteries of nature with foul fingers, therefore it behoveth all who attempt such matters, to lay aside their natural blindness from which, by the light of the holy Scripture and a stedfast faith, they may be freed, that being the means by which the Holy Spirit doth clearly make manifest the most profoundly hidden light of nature, which light alone lays open the way to the wisdom of nature, and to unlock the most abstruse mysteries thereof.” Even the subdued imagination which is claimed by the author of “Remarks on Alchemy and the Alchemists,” is likely to go astray in the labyrinth of alchemical symbolism, and some of the interpretations of Hitchcock are exceedingly forced and unnatural. His citations are indiscriminately gathered from the most transcendental writers, and from those who, like George Starkey, have exhausted language in emphatic declarations that their subject and their object are actual metallic gold. “Zoroaster’s Cave, or the philosopher’s intellectual echo to one another from their caves,” is the title of a small work quoted by Hitchcock. It opens thus:--“Dry water from the Philosophers’ Clouds! Look for it and be sure to have it, for it is the key to inaccessibles and to those locks that would otherwise keep thee out. It is a middle nature between fixed and not fixed, and partakes of a sulphureous azurine. It is a raw, cool, feminine fire, and expects its impregnation from a masculine solar sulphur.” Hitchcock’s interpretation is this:--a pure conscience! Look for it and be sure that you have it, &c. It is of a middle nature between soul and body, and partakes of a heavenly spirit. It expects its life from God. It is needless to say that with this method any meaning could be extracted from any allegorical writings. The author of the “Suggestive Inquiry” is far more profound and evinces a far keener insight. It is evident, however, that the truth (or the fallacy) of both methods of interpretation depends on the connection of the alchemists with practical chemistry. On this vital question, the uniocular condition of both writers is utterly astounding. “No modern art or chemistry has anything to do with alchemy, beyond the borrowed terms which were made use of in continuance chiefly to veil the latter.” That is to say, the alchemists did not lay the foundations of the science, the beginnings of which are attributed to them, and in this matter we are not by any means indebted to them. This extreme statement is qualified by the later commentator, who gives a more detailed expression to his views. “That chemistry is indebted for its introduction among the sciences indirectly to the alchemists is certainly true; at least I have no disposition to question it; but not to the immediate labours of the alchemists themselves, whose peculiar work was one of contemplation and not of the hands. Their alembic, furnace, cucurbit, retort, philosophical egg, &c., in which the work of fermentation, distillation, extraction of essence and spirits, and the preparation of salts is said to have taken place, was man--yourself, friendly reader; and if you will take yourself into your own study, and be candid and honest, acknowledging no other guide or authority but Truth, you may easily discover something of Hermetic philosophy; and if at the beginning there should be ‘fear and trembling,’ the end may be a more than compensating peace. “It is a plain case, that, for the most part, the experiments which led the way to chemistry were made by men who were misled by the alchemists, and sought gold instead of truth; but this class of men wrote no books upon alchemy. Many of them no doubt died over their furnaces, ‘_uttering no voice_,’ and none of them wrote books upon the philosopher’s stone, for the simple reason that they never discovered anything to write about. I know that some impostors purposely wrote of mysteries to play upon the credulity of the ignorant, but their works have nothing alchemical about them. It is true also that many books were written by men who really imagined that they had discovered the secret, and were nevertheless mistaken. But this imaginary success could never have had place when gold was the object, because in the _bald fact_ no man was ever deceived: no man ever believed that he had discovered a method of making gold out of inferior metals. The thing speaks for itself. It is impossible that any man can ever be deluded upon this bare fact; but it is quite otherwise with the real object of alchemy, in which men have been deceived in all ages ... for the _subject_ is always in the world, and hence the antiquity claimed for the art by the alchemists.” * * * * * This passage is a long series of simply incredible misstatements. The history of chemistry and the lives of the adepts alike bear witness against it. My object in publishing this book is to establish the true nature of the Hermetic experiment by an account of those men who have undertaken it, and who are shewn by the plain facts of their histories to have been in search of the transmutation of metals. There is no need for argument; the facts speak sufficiently. It is not to the blind followers of the alchemists that we owe the foundation of chemistry; it is to the adepts themselves, to the illustrious Geber, to that grand master Basilius Valentinus, to Raymond Lully, the supreme hierophant. What they discovered will be found in the following pages; here it will be sufficient for my purpose to quote the views of a French scientist who has made a speciality of alchemy, and who is also a high authority on the subject of modern chemistry. “It is impossible to disown that alchemy has most directly contributed to the creation and the progress of modern physical sciences. The alchemists were the first to put the experimental method in practice, that is, the faculty of observation and induction in its application to scientific researches; moreover, by uniting a considerable number of facts and discoveries in the order of the molecular actions of bodies, they have introduced the creation of chemistry. This fact ... is beyond every doubt. Before the eighth century, Geber put in practice the rules of that experimental school, the practical code and general principles of which were merely developed later on by Galileo and Francis Bacon. The works of Geber, the ‘Sum of all Perfection,’ and the ‘Treatise on Furnaces,’ contain an account of processes and operations wholly conformed to the methods made use of to-day in chemical investigations; while Roger Bacon, in the thirteenth century, applying the same order of ideas to the study of physics, was led to discoveries which, for his time, were astounding. It is impossible, therefore, to contest that the alchemists were the first to inaugurate the art of experience. They prepared the arrival of the positive sciences by basing the interpretation of phenomena on the observation of facts, and openly breaking with the barren metaphysical traditions which had so long checked the progress of the human mind.”[B] With all their mystery, their subterfuges, and their symbolism, the testimony of the alchemists themselves to the physical nature of their object is quite unequivocal and conclusive. One of the most celebrated experimental treatises in the English language is that entitled “The Marrow of Alchemy.” It professes to discover the secrets and most hidden mystery of the philosopher’s elixir, both in theory and practice. It was published by Eirenæus Philoponos Philalethes, that is George Starkey, and is generally supposed to be the work of the true Philalethes; at any rate it develops his principles, and derives its inspiration from the author of the _Introitus Apertus._ Now, this little book testifies over and over again, and that in the most emphatic manner, to the physical object of the alchemists, and to the fact that they operated on common gold. “The first matter which we take for our work is gold, and with it mercury, which we decoct till neither will forsake the other, in which work both die, rot by putrefaction, and after that are regenerate in glory. _It is actual gold and nothing else._ What does not equal a metal in weight will never enter it in flux. Nothing but the metalline will dwell with metals.” A severe criticism is passed on the blind folly of those who endeavour to reap the secret stone from strange material subjects. “Gold is the subject of our art alone, since by it we seek gold.” Those who, like the noble son of art, Morien, advise students to descend into themselves to find the true matter, only intended to point out how kind begets kind:-- “As then himself his likeness did beget, So gold must gold, this law’s to Nature set.” Morien adds that the secret stone must be sought in the dunghill, which signifies, says the “Marrow of Alchemy,” that the metal must be brought to putrefaction. “Those who assert that common gold is not the matter are in error. Gold is one. No other substance under Heaven can compare with it. Gold is the noble seed of our art. Yet it is dead. It needs to be unloosed, and must go to water. It must be tempered with its own humidity; it must be blent with our true water, disposed in a due vessel, closed with all caution, settled in a due nest, and with due fire inclined to motion.” It becomes the true gold of the philosophers when by a retrograde motion it tends to resolution. “Then it is our Sun, our Marchasite, and, joined with our Moon, it becomes our bright crystal Fountain.” * * * * * But if the lives and the writings of the alchemists so clearly establish the physical nature of the Hermetic aim and _opus_, it may well be demanded how a psychical or moral interpretation could be reasonably set upon the symbols and the ambition of all the adepts. Such interpretations can never be wholly exonerated from the charge of extravagance, and of a purblind indifference to the most plain and notorious facts, but they may be to some extent justified by a consideration of the allegorical methods of the alchemists and by the nature of the Hermetic theory. The profound subtleties of thought seldom find adequate expression even when the whole strength of a truly intellectual nature is brought to bear upon the resources of language, and where the force of direct appeal is unwillingly acknowledged to be insufficient, the vague generalities of allegory can scarcely be expected to succeed. It is the province of symbolism to suggest thought, and the interpretation of any sequence of typology inevitably varies in direct proportion with the various types of mind. Each individual symbol embodies a definite conception existing in the mind of its inventor, and in that symbol more or less perfectly expressed, but every student of allegory out of every individual symbol extracts his own meaning, so that the significance of typology is as infinite as the varieties of interpreting intelligence. For this reason, the best and truest adepts have always insisted on the necessity of an initiated teacher, or of a special intellectual illumination which they term the grace of God, for the discovery of the actual secret of the Hermetic art. Without this light or guidance the unelected student is likely to be adrift for ever on a chaotic sea of symbols, and the _prima materia_, concealed by innumerable names and contradictory or illusory descriptions, will for ever escape him. It is in this way that a thousand unassisted investigators have operated upon ten thousand material substances, and have never remotely approached the manufacture of the Grand Magisterium, and, after the same manner, outwearied by perpetual failures in the physical process, that others have rejected the common opinion concerning the object of alchemy, and with imaginations at work upon the loftier aspirations expressed by Hermetic adepts, have accredited them with an exclusively spiritual aim, and with the possession of exclusively spiritual secrets. If the authors of the “Suggestive Inquiry” and of “Remarks on Alchemy and the Alchemists” had considered the lives of the symbolists, as well as the nature of the symbols, their views would have been very much modified; they would have found that the true method of Hermetic interpretation lies in a middle course; but the errors which originated with merely typological investigations were intensified by a consideration of the great alchemical theorem, which, _par excellence_, is one of universal development, which acknowledges that every substance contains undeveloped resources and potentialities, and can be brought outward and forward into perfection. They applied their theory only to the development of metallic substances from a lower to a higher order, but we see by their writings that the grand hierophants of Oriental and Western alchemy alike were continually haunted by brief and imperfect glimpses of glorious possibilities for man, if the evolution of his nature were accomplished along the lines of their theory. Eugenius Philalethes enlarges on the infinite capacity of our spiritual nature and on the power of our soul’s imagination. “She has an absolute power in miraculous and more than natural transmutations,” and he clothes his doctrine of human evolution in the terminology of alchemical adepts. In one of the twelve treatises attributed to Sendivogius, there are the following remarkable passages:--“We know the composition of man in all respects, yet we cannot infuse the soul, which is out of the course of nature. Nature does not work before there be material given unto her....” The problem that all composites are subject to dissolution, and that man is composed of the four elements, and how, therefore, he could have been immortal in Paradise, is considered thus. “Paradise was and is a place created of the most pure elements, and of these man also was formed, and thus was consecrated to perpetuity of life. After his fall, he was driven into the corruptible elementated world, and nourished by corruptible elementated elements, which infected his past nature and generated disease and death. To the original creation of man in state immortal the ancient philosophers have likened their stone, and this immortality caused them to seek the stone, desiring to find the incorruptible elements which entered into the Adamic constitution. To them the Most High God revealed that a composition of such elements was in gold, for in animals it could not be had, seeing they must preserve their lives by corrupt elements; in vegetables also it is not, because in them is an inequality of the elements. And seeing all created things are inclined to multiplication, the philosophers propounded to themselves that they would make tryal of the possibility of nature in this mineral kingdom, which being discovered, they saw that THERE WERE INNUMERABLE OTHER SECRETS IN NATURE, OF WHICH, AS OF DIVINE SECRETS, THEY WROTE SPARINGLY.” Here the reference probably intended is to the possibilities which their theory revealed for other than the mineral kingdoms, a theory the truth of which they believed themselves to have demonstrated by accomplishing metallic transmutation. In this connection, it should be noticed that the philosophical stone was generally considered a universal medicine--a medicine for metals and man, the latter, of course, by inference. The occasional presence of these possibilities in the minds of adepts, and the comprehensive nature of the Hermetic theory, fully explain the aberrations of mystical commentators, who have mistaken the side issues for the end in view, not altogether inexcusably, because the end in view sinks into complete unimportance when compared with the side issues, and all that is of value in alchemy for the modern student of occultism is comprised in these same possibilities, in the application of the Hermetic theory to the supreme subject, Man. It is impossible within the limits of a brief introduction to do justice to an illimitable subject, to the art of psychic transmutation, to the spiritual alchemistry, the principles of which are contained in the arcane theory of the adepts, and which principles are by no means dependent for their truth on the actuality of metallic transmutation, so I must confine myself to a few general observations. The admirable lesson which we may learn of the alchemists is the exaltation of things in virtue beyond the unassisted ability of Nature. Such exaltation is possible, according to the adepts, both within and without the metallic kingdom. Man and the animals are alike included by this comprehensive theory of development, and it is therefore conceivable that a few of the Hermetic symbolists taught in their secret and allegorical fashion the method of alchemical procedure when man was the subject, and revealed the miraculous results of this labour in the typewritten books which they bequeathed to posterity. That Henry Khunrath was in search of the transmutation of metals up to a certain point and period is, I think, very clearly indicated by his visit to Dr Dee. That the _Amphitheatrum Sapientiæ Æternæ_, which was published in 1609, treats of a spiritual alchemy, is, however, evidenced by the nature of its symbols and by the general tenor of the strange esoteric commentary on some of the Hebrew psalms. Those who worked in metals may, or may not, have failed; it is by no means a point of importance to the discriminating student of occultism; but they have left behind them a theory which is wholly true in its application to that one substance in Nature which we know to be capable of indefinite perfectibility, and the splendour and glory of the accomplished _Magnum Opus_, when the young King issues from the Everlasting East, from the land of the Morning and of Paradise, “Bearing the crescent moon upon his crest,” though it be a dream--say even, which no one can actually affirm--though it be an impossibility for the metal, is true for the man; and all that is beautiful and sublime in alchemical symbolism may be rigorously applied to the divine flower of the future, the young King of Humanity, the perfect youth to come, when he issues from the Spiritual East, in the dawn of the genuine truth, bearing the Crescent Moon, the woman of the future, upon his bright and imperial crest. I am of opinion, from the evidence in hand, that metallic transmutations did occur in the past. They were phenomena as rare as a genuine “materialisation” of so-called spirits is generally considered at the present day among those believers in physical mediumship who have not been besotted by credulity and the glamour of a world of wonders. Like modern spiritualism, the isolated facts of veritable alchemy are enveloped in a crowd of discreditable trickery, and the trade of an adept in the past was as profitable, and as patronised by princes, as that of modern dealers with familiar spirits. But the fact of an occasional transmutation gives little reason to suppose that the _praxis alchemiæ_ in metallic subjects is ever likely to succeed with modern students of the _turba philosophorum_. The enigmas of the alchemists admit, as I have said, of manifold interpretations. Their recipes are too vague and confused to be followed. They insist themselves that their art can only be learned by a direct revelation from God, or by the tuition of a master. Their fundamental secrets have not only been never revealed in their multitudinous treatises, but they scarcely pretend to reveal them, despite the magnificent assurances which are sometimes contained in their titles. The practical side of alchemy must be surrendered to specialists in chemistry, working quite independently of the books or the methods of the philosophers. Only the theory is of value to neophytes, or initiates, or to any student of the higher occultism; and it is of value, as I have said, because it can be applied outside the kingdom of metals, as the alchemists themselves acknowledge, and as some of them seem to have attempted. The psychic method of interpretation as propounded in the “Suggestive Inquiry” exalted the seekers for the philosophical stone into hierophants of the mystery of God; it endowed them with the _altitudo divitiarum sapientiæ et scientiæ Dei_. They had crossed the threshold of eternity; they had solved the absolute; they had seen Diana unveiled; they had raised the cincture of Isis, and had devoured her supernatural beauties--that is, they had accomplished the manifestation of the incarnate spirit of man, and had invested it with deific glory. They did not grope after physical secrets; they did not investigate, with Paracelsus, the properties of ordure and other matter in putrefaction; they did not work with mercury and sulphur; they did not distil wine; they did not decoct egg-shells. They were soul seekers, and they had found the soul; they were artificers, and they had adorned the soul; they were alchemists, and had transmuted it. Sublime and romantic hypothesis! But we know that they worked in metals; we know that they manipulated minerals; we know that they ransacked every kingdom of nature for substances which, by a bare possibility, through some happy guess, might really transform the baser metals into gold. They were often extravagant in their views, they were generally absurd in their methods; they seldom found their end, but, judged as they actually were, stripped of all glamour and romance, self-educated seekers into Nature at the dawn of a physical science, they are eminently entitled to our respect, because, in the first place, unenlightened and unequipped, with their bare hands, they laid the foundations of a providential and life-saving knowledge, and in the second, because their furnaces were erected, intellectually, “on a peak in Darien”--that is, they worked in accordance with a theory which had an unknown field of application, and through the smoke of their coals and their chemicals they beheld illimitable vistas where the groaning totality of Nature developed its internal resources, and advanced by degrees to perfection, upon lines which were quite in accordance with their vision of mineral culture. “A depth beyond the depth, and a height beyond the height,” were thus revealed to them, and their glimpses of these glorious possibilities transfigured their strange terminology, and illuminated their barbarous symbolism. Eliminating obviously worthless works, the speculations of needy impostors and disreputable publishers, it is from those who have least contributed to the advancement of chemical science that we must seek information concerning the spiritual chemistry--those who have elaborated the theory rather than those who exclusively expound the practice. In all cases, we shall do well to reflect that the object in view was metals, except in such rare instances as are presented by Henry Khunrath and the anonymous author of the treatise concerning Mary of Alexandria, with a few Rosicrucian philosophers. We must read them for what they suggest, and not for what they had in view. The dream of the psycho-chemistry is a grand and sublime scheme of absolute reconstruction by means of the Paracelsian _Orizon Æternitatis_, or supercelestial virtue of things, the divinisation, or deification, in the narrower sense, of man the triune by an influx from above. It supposes that the transmutation or transfiguration of man can be accomplished while he is on this earth and in this body, which then would be magically draped _in splendoribus sanctorum_. The Morning Star is the inheritance of every man, and the woman of the future will be clothed with the sun, and Luna shall be set beneath her feet. The blue mantle typifies the mystical sea, her heritage of illimitable vastness. These marvels may be really accomplished by the cleansing of the two-fold human tabernacle, the holy house of life, and by the progressive evolution into outward and visible manifestation of the infinite potencies within it. In the facts and possibilities of mesmerism and in the phenomena of ecstatic clairvoyance, in ancient magic and modern spiritualism, in the doctrines and experiences of religious regeneration, we must seek the _raison d’être_ of the sublime dream of psycho-chemistry--that, namely, there is a change, a transmutation, or a new birth, possible to embodied man which shall manifestly develop the esotoric potencies of his spiritual being, so that the flesh itself shall be purged, clarified, glorified, and clothed upon by the essential light of the divine pneuma. Those of my readers who are interested in this absorbing subject I must refer to a work entitled, “AZOTH, OR THE STAR IN THE EAST,” which, I trust, will be ready for publication early in 1889, and which will treat of the First Matter of the _Magnum Opus_, of the evolution of Aphrodite Urania, of the supernatural generation of the Son of the Sun, and of the alchemical transfiguration of humanity. FOOTNOTES: [A] There is no need to suppose a metonymy. The conscience is a guide which education easily perverts. Therefore, supposing it to be really the _instrument_ of the alchemists, it may eminently stand in need of purification, and, except in the most general matters, is at best an uncertain guide. [B] “L’Alchimie et les Alchimistes,” p. 93. ON THE PHYSICAL THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE MAGNUM OPUS. The physical theory of transmutation is based on the composite character of metals, on their generation in the bowels of the earth, and on the existence in nature of a pure and penetrating matter which applied to any substance exalts and perfects it after its own kind. This matter is called THE LIGHT by Eugenius Philalethes and by numerous other writers. In its application to animals, it exalts animals; in its application to vegetables, it exalts vegetables, while metals and minerals, after the same manner, are refined and translated from the worst to the best condition. All the elements which enter into the composition of metals are identical, but they differ in proportion and in purity. In the metallic kingdom, the object of nature is invariably to create gold. The production of the baser metals is an accident of the process, or the result of an unfavourable environment. The generation of metals in the earth is a point of great importance, and must be well studied by the amateur, for without this, and the faithful imitation of Nature, he will never achieve anything successful. It is by means of the seed of metals that their generation takes place. Their composite character indicates their transmutable quality. Such transmutation is accomplished by means of the philosophical stone, and this stone is, in fact, the combination of the male and female seeds which beget gold and silver. Now the matters or elements of this stone, and the _prima materia_ above all, are concealed by a multitude of symbols, false and allegorical descriptions, and evasive or deceptive names. According to Baron Tschoudy, all who have written on the art have concealed the true name of the _prima materia_ because it is the chief key of chemistry. Its discovery is generally declared to be impossible without a special illumination from God, but the sages who receive this divine favour and distinction have occasionally perpetuated its knowledge by the instruction of suitable pupils under the pledge of inviolable secresy. The author of _L’Étoile Flamboyante_ supplies an immense list of the names which have been applied to this mysterious substance under one or other of its phases. “As those that sail between Scylla and Charybdis are in danger on both sides,” says D’Espagnet, “unto no less hazard are they subject, who, pursuing the prey of the golden fleece, are carried between the uncertain rocks of the philosophers’ sulphur and mercury. The more acute, by their constant reading of grave and credible authors, and by the irradiant sun, have attained unto the knowledge of sulphur, but are at a stand in the entrance of the philosophers’ mercury, for writers have twisted it with so many windings and meanders, and involved it with so many equivocal names, that it may be sooner met with by the force of the seeker’s intellect than be found by reason or toil.” The _prima materia_ has been defined as a fifth element, or quintessence, the material alpha and omega, the soul of the elements, living mercury, regenerated mercury, a metallic soul, &c. It is designated by such allegorical names as the Bird of Hermes, the Virgin’s Son, the Son of the Sun and Moon, the Virgin’s Head, Azoth, &c. Where it appears to be seriously described the adepts are in continual contradiction, but it is generally allowed to be a substance found everywhere and continually seen and possessed by those who are ignorant of its virtues. “Although some persons,” says Urbiger, “possessed with foolish notions, dream that the first matter is to be found only in some particular places, at such and such times of the year, and by the virtue of a magical magnet, yet we are most certain, according to our divine master, Hermes, that all these suppositions being false, it is to be found everywhere, at all times, and only by our science.”[C] In similar terms, we are told by the “Commentary on the Ancient War of the Knights,” that the matter of the art, so precious by the excellent gifts wherewith Nature has enriched it, is truly mean with regard to the substances from which it derives its original. “Its price is not above the ability of the poor. Tenpence is more than sufficient to purchase the Matter of the Stone.... The matter is mean, considering the foundation of the art, because it costs very little; it is no less mean if one considers exteriorly that which gives it perfection, since in that regard it costs nothing at all, in as much as _all the world has it in its power_, says Cosmopolite, so that it is a constant truth that the stone is a thing mean in one sense but most precious in another, and that there are none but fools that despise it, by a just judgment of God.” The same authority assures us, with regard to the actual nature of the _prima materia_, that it is one only and self-same thing, although it is a natural compound of certain substances from one root and of one kind, forming together one whole complete homogeneity. The substances that make up the philosophical compound differ less among themselves than sorrel water differs from lettuce water. Urbiger asserts that the true and real matter is only “a vapour impregnated with the metallic seed, yet undetermined, created by God Almighty, generated by the concurrence and influence of the astrums, contained in the bowels of the earth, as the matrix of all created things.” In conformity with this, one earlier writer, Sir George Ripley, describes the stone as the potential vapour of metals. It is normally invisible, but may be made to manifest as a clear water. So also Philalethes cries in his inspired way:--“Hear me, and I shall disclose the secret, which like a rose has been guarded by thorns, so that few in past times could pull the flower. There is a substance of a metalline species, which looks so cloudy that the universe will have nothing to do with it. Its visible form is vile; it defiles metalline bodies, and no one can readily imagine that the pearly drink of bright Phœbus should spring from thence. Its components are a most pure and tender mercury, a dry incarcerate sulphur, which binds it and restrains fluxation.... Know this subject, it is the sure basis of all our secrets.... To deal plainly, it is the child of Saturn, of mean price and great venom.... It is not malleable, though metalline. Its colour is sable with, with intermixed argent, which mark the sable field with veins of glittering argent.”[D] The poisonous nature of the stone is much insisted on by numerous philosophers. “Its substance and its vapour are indeed a poison which the philosophers should know how to change into an antidote by preparation and direction.”[E] No descriptions, supplied _ad infinitum_ by the numberless adepts who were moved by unselfish generosity to expound the arcana of alchemy, for the spiritual, intellectual, and physical enrichment of those who deserved initiation, expose the true nature of the _prima materia_, while the _vas philosophorum_ in which it is contained and digested is described in contradictory terms, and is by some writers declared a divine secret. Given the matter of the stone and also the necessary vessel, the processes which must be then undertaken to accomplish the _magnum opus_ are described with moderate perspicuity. There is the Calcination or purgation of the stone, in which kind is worked with kind for the space of a philosophical year. There is Dissolution which prepares the way for congelation, and which is performed during the black state of the mysterious matter. It is accomplished by water which does not wet the hand. There is the Separation of the subtle and the gross, which is to be performed by means of heat. In the Conjunction which follows, the elements are duly and scrupulously combined. Putrefaction afterwards takes place, “Without which pole no seed may multiply.” Then in the subsequent Congelation the white colour appears, which is one of the signs of success. It becomes more pronounced in Cibation. In Sublimation the body is spiritualised, the spirit made corporeal, and again a more glittering whiteness is apparent. Fermentation afterwards fixes together the alchemical earth and water, and causes the mystic medicine to flow like wax. The matter is then augmented with the alchemical spirit of life, and the Exaltation of the philosophic earth is accomplished by the natural rectification of its elements. When these processes have been successfully completed, the mystic stone will have passed through three chief stages characterised by different colours, black, white, and red, after which it is capable of infinite multiplication, and when projected on mercury, it will absolutely transmute it, the resulting gold bearing every test. The base metals made use of must be purified to insure the success of the operation. The process for the manufacture of silver is essentially similar, but the resources of the matter are not carried to so high a degree. According to the “Commentary on the Ancient War of the Knights,” the transmutations performed by the perfect stone are so absolute that no trace remains of the original metal. It cannot, however, destroy gold, nor exalt it into a more perfect metallic substance; it, therefore, transmutes it into a medicine a thousand times superior to any virtues which can be extracted from it in its vulgar state. This medicine becomes a most potent agent in the exaltation of base metals. Among the incidental properties of the perfect mineral agent is the conversion of flints into precious stones, but the manufacture of gold and of jewels is generally declared to be the least of the philosophical secrets, for the spirit which informs the mysterious _prima materia_ of the great and sublime work can be variously used and adapted to the attainment of absolute perfection in all the “liberal sciences,” the possession of the “whole wisdom of nature, and of things more secret and extraordinary than is the gift of prophecy which Rhasis and Bono assert to be contained in the red stone.” FOOTNOTES: [C] Baro Urbigerus--“One Hundred Aphorisms demonstrating the preparation of the Grand Elixir.” [D] Aphorismi Urbigerani. [E] Commentary on the “Ancient War of the Knights.” LIVES OF THE ALCHEMISTS. GEBER. The first, and, according to the general concensus of Hermetic authorities, the prince of those alchemical adepts who have appeared during the Christian era, was the famous Geber, Giaber, or Yeber, whose true name was Abou Moussah Djafar al Sofi, and who was a native of Haman, in Mesopotamia, according to the more probable opinion. He is also said to have been a Greek, a Spanish Arabian born at Seville, and a Persian of Thus. Romance represents him as an illuminated monarch of India. According to Aboulfeda, he flourished during the eighth century, but later and earlier periods have been also suggested. His life is involved in hopeless obscurity; but his experiments upon metals, undertaken with a view to the discovery of their constituent elements and the degrees of their fusibility, led him to numerous discoveries both in chemistry and in medicine, including suroxydised muriate of mercury, red oxyde of mercury, and nitric acid. “It is thus that Hermetic philosophy gave rise to chemistry,” says a writer in the _Biographie Universelle_, “and that the reputation of Geber is permanently established, not upon his search for an impossible chimera, but for his discovery of truths founded on actual experience.” With the characteristic prodigality of the Middle Ages, no less than five hundred treatises have been attributed to the Arabian adept. They are supposed to have embraced the whole circle of the physical sciences, including astronomy and medicine. A few fragments, comparatively, alone remain of all these colossal achievements. Cardan included their author among the twelve most penetrating minds of the whole world, and Boerhave spoke of him with consideration and respect in his celebrated _Institutiones Chemicæ_. According to M. Hoefer, he deserves to be ranked first among the chemists and alchemists who flourished prior to Van Helmont. “He is the oracle of mediæval chemists, who frequently did nothing in their writings but literally reproduce their master. Geber for the history of chemistry is what Hippocrates is for the history of medicine.” The name of Geber has been borne or assumed by several writers subsequent to the Hermetic adept; in this way the few extant facts concerning his life have been variously distorted, and books of later date and less value falsely ascribed to him. An astronomical commentary on the _Syntaxis Magna_ of Ptolemy, in nine books, must be included in this number. It is a work of the twelfth century, as may be proved by internal evidence. The extant works of Geber are, for the most part, in Latin, and are all open to more or less legitimate suspicion. In the library at Leyden there are said to be several Arabic manuscripts which have never been translated, and there is one in the Imperial Library at Paris, together with a _Fragmentum de Triangulis Sphæricis_ which is still unprinted. The most complete edition of Geber is that of Dantzich, published in 1682, and reproduced in the Collection of Mangetus.[F] First in importance among the works of the Arabian adept must be ranked his “Sum of Perfection”--_Summæ Perfectionis magisterii in suâ naturâ Libri IV._ The next in value is the treatise entitled _De Investigatione perfectionis Metallorum_, with his Testament, and a tract on the construction of furnaces. * * * * * The “Sum of Perfection, or the Perfect Magistery,” claims to be a compilation from the works of the ancients, but with the doubtful exception of pseudo-Hermes, we are acquainted with no alchemical authors previous to the supposed period of Geber. A knowledge of natural principles is declared to be necessary to success in the art. The natural principles in the work of nature are a potent spirit, and a living or dry water. The disposition of the philosophical furnace and of the _vas philosophorum_ is clearly described; the latter is a round glass vessel with a flat round bottom, and has several elaborate arrangements. A marginal note, however, declares that the account of it is hard to be understood. Among all the obscurities of the treatise, it is absolutely plain that it is concerned with metals and minerals. The properties of sulphur, mercury, arsenick, gold, silver, lead, tin, copper, iron, magnesia, lut, marchasite, are discussed in such a manner that it is impossible to establish an allegory, or to interpret the words of the writer in other than a physical sense. FOOTNOTES: [F] J. J. Mangeti, “Bib. Chem. Curiosa,” 2 v. fol. 1702. RHASIS. Rhazes, or Rasi, whose true name was Mohammed-Ebn-Secharjah Aboubekr Arrasi, was a celebrated Arabian physician and chemist, who was born about the year 850 at Ray in Irâk, upon the frontiers of Khorassan. In his youth he was passionately devoted to music and to frivolous amusements; he did not begin the study of medicine till he was thirty years of age, but he soon surpassed, both in skill and in knowledge, all the physicians of his time. He devoted himself with equal zeal to philosophy, is said to have journeyed into Syria, Egypt, and even into Spain, and successively took charge of the famous hospital at Bagdad, and of another in his native town. He was naturally good and generous, and he devoted himself to the service of the poor. His oriental panegyrists call him the Imam among the scholars of his time, and western writers describe him as the Galen of the Arabians. By his assiduous attention to the multitudinous varieties of disease he obtained the appellation of the experimenter, or the experienced. No less than two hundred and twenty-six treatises are said to have been composed by him. To some of these Avicenna was largely indebted, and even in Europe he exercised considerable influence, for his writings on medicine were the basis of university teaching up to the seventeenth century. Of the twelve books of chemistry which have been attributed to Rhasis several are probably spurious, and few have been printed. He was an avowed believer in the transmutation of metals, and, having composed a treatise on the subject, he presented it in person to Emir Almansour, Prince of Khorassan, who was highly delighted, and ordered one thousand pieces of gold to be paid to the author as a recompense. However, he desired to witness the marvellous experiments and the prolific auriferous results with which the work abounded. Rhasis replied that he might certainly be gratified in his sublime curiosity if he provided the necessary instruments and materials for the accomplishment of the _magnum opus_. The Emir consented; neither pains nor expenses were spared over the preliminary preparations, but when the time came the adept failed miserably in his performance, and was severely belaboured about the head by the enraged potentate with the unprofitable alchemical treatise. Rhasis was old at the time, and this violence is by some declared to have been the cause of his subsequent blindness. He died in poverty and obscurity, a point which is not supposed to disprove his possession of the powerful metallic medicine. The date of his death is uncertain, but it was probably in the year 932. * * * * * The writings of Rhasis, like those of Geber, enlarge on the planetary correspondences, or on the influence exerted by the stars in the formation of metallic substances beneath the surface of the earth. The explicit nature of the recipes which he gives may be judged by such directions as _Recipe aliquid ignotum, quantum volueris_. It is to him, nevertheless, that we owe the preparation of brandy and several pharmaceutic applications of alcohol. He was the first to mention orpiment, realgar, borax, certain combinations of sulphur, iron, and copper, certain salts of mercury indirectly obtained, and some compounds of arsenic.[G] He was also a zealous promoter of experimental methods. FOOTNOTES: [G] Figuier, _L’Alchimie et les Alchimistes_, pp. 95, 96. ALFARABI. The middle of the tenth century was made illustrious by one of those celebrated men who do honour to the sciences in which they engage. This was Abou-Nasr-Mohammed-Ibn-Tarkan, commonly called Farabi and Alfarabi--a man of universal genius, who penetrated all subjects with equal facility, fathoming the most useful and interesting sciences, and passing for the greatest philosopher of his time. He was born at Farab, now known as Othrar, in Asia Minor. He was of Turkish origin, but repaired to Bagdad to acquire a more perfect knowledge of Arabic; there he devoted himself with zeal and enthusiasm to the study of the Greek philosophers under Abou Bachar Maltey, an expounder of Aristotle. From Bagdad he proceeded to Harran, where John, a Christian physician, was teaching logic. In a short time Alfarabi surpassed all his other scholars, but he left Harran and visited Damas, thence penetrating into Egypt. Early attracted towards the secrets of nature, he spent a great portion of his life in incessant wanderings, collecting the opinions of all the philosophers he could meet with on these and on kindred subjects. He despised the world, and took no pains to acquire wealth, though he wrote upon alchemy, that is, if the Hermetic works which are attributed to him be genuine. His erudition and indefatigable activity are attested by his other writings, which variously treat of philosophy, logic, physics, astronomy, and mathematics. His chief reputation is based on a sort of encyclopædia, where he gives a description, with an exact definition, of all the arts and sciences; and on a celebrated musical treatise, wherein he ridicules the pythagorean speculations upon the music of the spheres, and proves the connection of sound with atmospheric vibrations. According to several authorities, he was protected and supported in his later years by the cultured and enlightened Seïf Eddoula, who is represented as Prince of Damas, but who seems to have been Sultan of Syria, and to have made the acquaintance of the scholar in the following curious manner. Alfarabi was returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, when, passing through Syria, he stopped at the Court of the Sultan, and entered his presence while he was surrounded by numerous sage persons, who were discoursing with the monarch on the sciences. Alfarabi, ignorant of, or else wholly ignoring, the usages of society, presented himself in his travelling attire; and when the Sultan desired that he should be seated, with astonishing philosophical freedom, he planted himself at the end of the royal sofa. The prince, aghast at his boldness, called one of his officers, and in a tongue generally unknown commanded him to eject the intruder. The philosopher, however, promptly made answer in the same tongue: “Oh, Lord, he who acts hastily is liable to hasty repentance!” The prince was equally astounded to find himself understood by the stranger as by the manner in which the reply was given. Anxious to know more of his guest, he began to question him, and soon discovered that he was acquainted with seventy languages. Problems for discussion were then propounded to the philosophers who had witnessed the discourteous intrusion with considerable indignation and disgust, but Alfarabi disputed with so much eloquence and vivacity that he reduced all the doctors to silence, and they began writing down his discourse. The Sultan then ordered his musicians to perform for the diversion of the company. When they struck up, the philosopher accompanied them on a lute with such infinite grace and tenderness, that he elicited the unmeasured admiration of the whole distinguished assembly. At the request of the Sultan he produced a piece of his own composing, sung it, and accompanied it with great force and spirit to the delight of all his hearers. The air was so sprightly that even the gravest philosopher could not resist dancing, but by another tune he as easily melted them to tears, and then by a soft unobtrusive melody he lulled the whole company to sleep. Great was the anxiety of the Sultan to retain so accomplished a person about him, and some say that he succeeded, others that the philosopher declined the most brilliant offers, declaring that he should never rest till he had discovered the whole secret of the philosopher’s stone of which he had been in search for years, and to which, from his discourse, he appeared to be on the point of attaining. According to these biographers, he set out, but it was to perish miserably. He was attacked by robbers in the woods of Syria, and, in spite of his courage, was overpowered by numbers and killed. This occurred in the year 954. Others say that he died at Damas, enjoying the munificence of the Sultan to the last. AVICENNA. Khorassan produced another celebrated adept at the end of the tenth, or, according to an alternative opinion, about the middle of the eleventh century. This was the illustrious Ebn Sina, commonly called Avicenna, who was born at Bacara, the principal city of that province of Persia. The exact date of his birth has been fixed, but in the absence of sufficient authority, at the year 980. He is equally celebrated for the multiplicity of his literary works and for his adventurous life. At an early age he had made unusual progress in mathematics, and his gifted mind soon penetrated the mysteries of transcendental philosophy. He was only sixteen when he passed from the preparatory sciences to that of medicine, in which he succeeded with the same celerity; and great is the sagacity attributed to him in the knowledge of diseases. He is praised in particular for having discovered that the illness of the King of Gordia’s nephew was occasioned by an amorous passion which he had carefully concealed, and for the stratagem by which he discovered the object of the young man’s affections. His credit as a physician and philosopher became so great that the Sultan Magdal Doulet determined to place him at the head of his affairs, and appointed him to the distinguished position of Grand Vizier; but, notwithstanding the religion of Mohammed, which Avicenna professed, he drank so freely, and his intemperance led to so much immorality and disorder, that he was deprived of his dignities in the State, and died in comparative obscurity at the age of fifty-six. He was buried at Hamadan, a city of Persia, which was the ancient Ecbatana. Though his history gave rise to the saying that he was a philosopher devoid of wisdom, and a physician without health, the Arabs long believed that he commanded spirits, and was served by the Jinn. As he sought the philosophic stone, several oriental peoples affirm him to be still alive, dwelling in splendid state, invested with spiritual powers, and enjoying in an unknown retreat the sublime nectar of perpetual life and the rejuvenating qualities of the _aurum potabile_. Six or seven treatises on Hermetic philosophy are ascribed to Avicenna; some of them are undoubtedly spurious. There is a treatise on the “Congelation of the Stone” and a _Tractatulus de Alchimia_, which may be found in the first volumes of the _Ars Aurifera_, Basle, 1610. In 1572 the _Ars Chimica_ was printed at Berne. Two Hermetic tracts are also attributed to Avicenna by the compilers of the _Theatrum Chimicum_, and an octavo volume _Porta Elementorum_, appeared under his name at Basle during the third quarter of the sixteenth century. The grimoires and magical rituals frequently appeal to Avicenna as the authority for their supernatural secrets. The _Tractatulus Alchimiæ_ treats of the nature of the sophic mercury, which contains the sophic sulphur, and wherefrom every mineral substance was originally created by God. This mercury is the universal vivific spirit; there is nothing in the world to compare with it; it penetrates, exalts, and develops everything; it is a ferment to every body with which it is united chemically; it is the grand metallic elixir, both to the white, or silver, and red, or gold producing, degrees. Its potencies develop under the action of fire. Though found in all minerals, it is a thing of the earth. It possesses lucidity, fluidity, and a silverine colour. The perfection and the praise of gold are elaborately celebrated in succeeding pages. The _prima materia_ is declared to be of a duplex nature, and the duplex elixir, which is the result of successful operation, has powers that are beyond nature, because it is eminently spiritual. The strength of the perfect magisterium is one upon a thousand. The chemical knowledge of Avicenna is derived from Geber, as his medical erudition was borrowed from Galen, Aristotle, and other anterior writers. He describes several varieties of saltpetre, and treats of the properties of common salt, vitriol, sulphur, orpiment, sal ammoniac, &c. MORIEN, or Morienus, was a recluse born at Rome in the twelfth century, and who took up his habitation in Egypt, where he became profoundly versed in the chemistry and physics of the period. While his education was still progressing in his native city, and under the eyes of a father and mother who tenderly cherished him, he heard of the reputation of Adfar, the Arabian philosopher of Alexandria, and contrived to get a sight of his writings, when he was immediately seized with a desperate desire to understand their meaning. The first impressions of youth carried him away; he abandoned his home, and set out for Alexandria, where, after some difficulty, he discovered the abode of the philosopher. He made known to him his name, his country, and his religion, and both appeared well contented with each other--Adfar at having found a young man whose docility he could depend on, and Morien that he was under the discipline of a master who promised to unveil to him the source of all treasures. They studied together; the amiability of the pupil encouraged his instructor to make known to him all his secrets, after which, according to one account, Morien went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and then turned hermit. It seems more probable that he tarried with Adfar till his death, which in spite of his immense treasures, his illumination, and his acquirements in arcane philosophy, eventually occurred, and that then Morien, having paid the last duties to his deceased initiator, quitted Alexandria, and proceeded on his pilgrimage. He purchased a retreat near the city of Jerusalem, where he settled in the company of a pupil, whom he doubtless intended to form for science. In the meantime, the papers of the adept Adfar appear to have fallen into the hands of Kalid, the Soldan of Egypt, a wise and curious prince. On the title-page of these manuscripts it was stated that they contained the priceless secret of the philosophical stone. The Soldan studied them with avidity, but made no progress towards their comprehension, and not being able to accomplish the _magnum opus_ in his own person, he instituted a careful search for some one who was qualified to interpret the unintelligible mysteries of the manuscripts. He convened all the philosophers to Cairo, promised to maintain them, and to provide them with all the materials and machinery required for the success of alchemical processes, and guaranteed a magnificent reward to any person who succeeded. As it might happen even at this day, many persons presented themselves who had their minds fixed upon the profits to be derived from such transactions. Morien, hearing with pain how much Kalid was deceived by worthless pretenders, quitted his retreat and repaired in all haste to Egypt, with the ultimate conversion of the Soldan quite as much at heart as the communication of the mysteries of Adfar. The labours of the pretended alchemists had produced nothing, as the initiated hermit had expected, but something in the manner of Morien impressed the prince, who appointed him a house in which he might remain until he had finished the process. The work in due course was brought to its absolute perfection; the philosopher inscribed these words on the vase in which he placed the elixir:--“He who possesses all has no need of others,” and, immediately quitting Alexandria, he returned to his hermitage. Possessed though he now was of the great and supreme elixir, Kalid had no notion how to make use of it for the transmutations he desired to accomplish. He was equally penetrated with regret at the loss of a veritable artist, and filled with indignation at the false alchemists who had promised him all things, but had accomplished nothing, he ordained by an edict the capital punishment of every exposed pretender. Some years passed away, during which the Soldan vainly sought the possessor of the potent secret. At length one day, being at the chase, and accompanied by a favourite slave, an incident occurred which led to the eventual fulfilment of his ambition. The slave, whose name was Galip, riding a little apart, discovered an aged man at prayer in a solitary place. He questioned him, and learned that he came from Jerusalem, where he had been abiding in the hermitage of a holy man. He had heard of the anxiety of Kalid to accomplish the mystery of Hermes, and knowing that the hermit in question was a man of unparalleled skill in the sacred, supernal science, he had quitted Palestine to inform the prince thereof. “Oh! my brother, what do you say?” exclaimed Galip. “No more! I do not wish you to die like those impostors who have vaunted themselves to my master.” “I fear nothing,” returned the hermit. “If you be able to present me to the prince, I will at once go before him with confidence.” Galip accordingly presented him, and the old man informed Kalid that he could enable him to accomplish the Hermetic work, that he was acquainted with an adept hermit of the solitudes of Jerusalem, who, by illumination from the Deity, had received supernatural wisdom, and by his own admission was in possession of the precious gift. The quantity of gold and silver which he brought each year to Jerusalem was a conclusive proof of the fact. The Soldan represented the danger of false promises to the venerable man, and warned him how many deceptive and boasting adventurers had already met their death. The hermit, however, persisted in his confident assertions, and Kalid, hearing the description of Morien, commanded Galip, his slave, to accompany the old man with a sufficient escort to Jerusalem, where they eventually arrived after many labours, and were rejoiced by the discovery of Morien, who beneath his hair-cloth shirt is declared to have preserved a perpetually youthful frame. Galip recognised him at once, saluted him on the part of his master, and persuaded him to return to the prince, who received him with unbounded satisfaction, and would have engaged him in a worldly situation at his court. Morien, however, was intent only on the conversion of Kalid; he made known to him the mysteries of Christianity, but in spite of his wisdom was unable to effect the desired end. He appears, notwithstanding, to have discovered to him the secret of the transcendent science, and the conversation of Morien and Kalid has been written in Arabic, and translated into Latin and French. The subsequent history of Morien is not recorded. In the collections of Hermetic philosophy there are some small tracts attributed to Kalid, and also to Galip, who appears to have participated in the secret. Morien himself is cited as the author of three works, said to have been translated from the Arabic, but their authenticity is, of course, very doubtful. The first is entitled _Liber de Distinctione Mecurii Aquarum_, of which a manuscript copy existed in the library of Robert Boyle. The second is the _Liber de Compositione Alchemiæ_, printed in the first volume of the _Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa_. Finally, several editions have appeared of a treatise entitled _De Re Metallica, metallorum Transmutatione, et occulta summaque antiquorum medicina libellus_. It was first printed at Paris in the year 1559. Bacon and Arnold, who appeared one at the beginning, and the other at the end of the thirteenth century, have cited Morien as an authority among the Hermetic philosophers, and Robertus Castrensis assures us that he translated Morien’s book from the Arabic language in the year 1182. The _Liber de Compositione Alchemiæ_ contains a Hermetic conversation between Morien, Kalid, and Galip. It appeals to the authority of Hermes, whom it states to have been the first who discovered the grand magisterium, the secret of which he transmitted to his disciples. It declares the _prima materia_ to be one, quoting the testimony of the wise king and philosopher Hercules and the adept Arsicanus, with other pseudo authorities, which discredit the date of the dialogue far more than they support the alchemical theory in question. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. The universal genius of Albert, joined to a laudable curiosity in so great a philosopher, say the original “Lives of Alchemysticall Philosophers,” did not allow him to pass by the Hermetic science without giving it due attention. Counter authorities, while admitting that in things scientific he must be counted the most curious and investigating of the children of men, emphatically assert that he has been erroneously included by demonographers among the number of magicians, and that in the twenty-one goodly folio volumes which comprise his _opera omnia_, there is no trace of sorcery. In one place he declares formally that “all those stories of demons prowling in the regions of the air, and from whom the secrets of futurity may be ascertained, are absurdities which can never be admitted by sober reason.” The works on incredible secrets, so numerously attributed to him, are, therefore, condemned as spurious, Albertus Magnus having no more hand in their production than in the invention of the cannon and the pistol, which has been attributed to him by Matthias de Luna. So early, however, as the year 1480 the Great Chronicle of Belgium records him _magnus in magia, major in philosophia, maximus in theologia_. It is futile for the historians of his order to argue that Albert never applied himself to the Hermetic art, says an anonymous writer. His books alone--those which are his incontestably--bear witness to his alchemical erudition, and as a physician he carefully examined what regards Natural History, and above all the minerals and metals. His singular experiments are recorded in the _Secretum Secretorum_, which first appeared at Venice in 1508. Michael Maier declares that he received from the disciples of St Dominic the secret of the philosophical stone, and that he communicated it in turn to St Thomas Aquinas; that he was in possession of a stone naturally marked with a serpent, and endowed with so admirable a virtue that on being set down in a place infested with such reptiles, it would attract them from their hiding places; that for the space of thirty years he employed all his knowledge as a magician and astrologer to construct, out of metals carefully chosen under appropriate planetary influences, an automaton endowed with the power of speech, and which served him as an infallible oracle, replying plainly to every kind of question which could possibly be proposed to it. This was the celebrated Androïd, which was destroyed by St Thomas under the impression that it was a diabolical contrivance. The most marvellous story of his magical abilities is extant in the history of the University of Paris. He invited William II., Count of Holland and King of the Romans, to a supper in his monastic house at Cologne. Although it was midwinter Albertus had tables prepared in the garden of the convent; the earth was covered with snow, and the courtiers who accompanied William murmured at the imprudence and folly of the philosopher in exposing the prince to the severity of such weather. As they sat down, however, the snow suddenly disappeared, and they felt not only the softness of spring, but the garden was filled with odoriferous flowers; the birds flew about as in summer, singing their most delightful notes, and the trees appeared in blossom. Their surprise at this metamorphosis of nature was considerably heightened when, at the end of the repast, these wonders disappeared in a moment, and the cold wind began to blow with its accustomed rigour. The life of Albertus belongs to the history of theology. He was born in Suabia, at Larvigen, on the Danube, in 1205. He is accredited with excessive stupidity in his youth, but his devotion to the Virgin was rewarded by a vision, which was accompanied by an intellectual illumination, and he became one of the greatest doctors of his time. He was made provincial of the Dominicans, and was appointed to the bishopric of Ratisbon, which he subsequently resigned to pursue his scientific and philosophic studies in a delightful conventual retreat at Cologne. In his old age he relapsed into the mediocrity of his earlier years, which gave rise to the saying that from an ass he was transformed into a philosopher, and from a philosopher he returned into an ass. The term Magnus, which has been applied to him, is not the consequence of his reputation. It is the Latin equivalent of his family name, Albert de Groot. Among the spurious works attributed to him is that entitled _Les Admirables Secrets d’Albert le Grand_, which is concerned with the virtues of herbs, precious stones, and animals, with an abridgment of physiognomy, methods for preservation against the plague, malignant fevers, poisons, &c. The first book treats of the planetary influences in their relation to nativities, of the magical properties possessed by the hair of women, of the infallible means of ascertaining whether a child still in the womb is male or female, &c. In the others there is a curious chaos of remarkable superstitions concerning urine, vermin, old shoes, putrefaction, the manipulation of metals, &c. A magical grimoire entitled _Alberti Parvi Lucii Liber de Mirabilibus Naturæ Arcanis_, adorned with figures and talismans, appeared at Lyons, bearing the Kabbalistic date 6516. The composition of philtres, the interpretation of dreams, the discovery of treasures, the composition of the hand of glory, the ring of invisibility, the sympathetic powder, the sophistication of gold, and other marvels, are familiarly explained; but this work is another forgery, and an insult to the memory of a really illustrious man. In the treatise which he wrote upon minerals, Albert informs us that he personally tested some gold and silver which had been manufactured by an alchemist, and which resisted six or seven exceptionally searching fusions, but the pretended metal was reduced into actual scoriæ by an eighth. He recognises, however, the possibility of transmutation when performed upon the principles of Nature. He considers that all metals are composed of an unctuous and subtle humidity, intimately incorporated with a subtle and perfect matter. If the purely alchemical works which are ascribed to Albertus have any claim to authenticity, he must be ranked as a skilful practical chemist for the period in which he flourished. He employed alembics for distillation, and aludels for sublimation; he also made use of various lutes, the composition of which he describes. He mentions alum and caustic alkali, and seems to have been aware of the alkaline basis of cream of tartar. He knew the method of purifying the precious metals by means of lead and of gold, by cementation, likewise the method of testing the purity of gold. He mentions red lead, metallic arsenic, and liver of sulphur. He was acquainted with green vitriol and iron pyrites. He knew that arsenic renders copper white, and that sulphur attacks all the metals except gold.[H] FOOTNOTES: [H] Thomson, “Hist. of Chemistry,” vol. i., pp. 32, 33. THOMAS AQUINAS. If Albertus Magnus must be considered an adept in possession of the philosophic stone, there is little doubt that he discovered it to his favourite pupil, St Thomas, the most illustrious of the kings of intelligence who glorified the scholastic period of Christian philosophy. There are some alchemical treatises ascribed to the angel of the schools which he certainly did not write. “That of the ‘Nature of Minerals’ is unworthy of so great a philosopher,” says a certain anonymous authority, “and so is the ‘Comment on the _Turba_.’ But his _Thesaurus Alchemiæ_, addressed to Brother Regnauld, his companion and friend, is genuine. He cites Albert in this as his master in all things, especially in Hermetic philosophy. He addressed other books to Regnauld on the curious sciences, amongst which is a treatise on Judicial Astrology.” This opinion deserves due consideration, yet in all his theological works St Thomas carefully avoided every suspicion of alchemy, persuaded, says the same writer, that it would bring dishonour to his name as the height of human folly. Moreover, in one of his treatises he distinctly states that “it is not lawful to sell as good gold that which is made by Alchemy,” proof positive that he considered the transmutatory art to be simply the sophistication of the precious metal. On the other hand, the _Thesaurus Alchemiæ_, generally attributed to him by adepts, testifies that “the aim of the alchemist is to change imperfect metal into that which is perfect,” and asserts the possibility of the thing. These contradictions scarcely afford convincing proof of a common authorship; but spurious or otherwise, the works on the Hermetic science which are attributed to the angelic doctor are of importance in the history of alchemy. Their leading character is secrecy, and they insist on the preservation of the sublime operation from unworthy men, only the children of light, who live as in the presence of God, being fit for the knowledge or custody of so supernal a mystery. The _Thesaurus Alchemiæ_ has the brevity which characterised St Thomas, for it is comprised in a very few leaves. The other works attributed to him are _Secreta Alchymiæ Magnalia_ and _De Esse et Essentia Mineralium_, together with the comment on the _Turba_. Some of the terms still employed by modern chemists occur for the first time in these supposititious writings of Thomas Aquinas--_e.g._, the word amalgam, which is used to denote a compound of mercury and some other metal. In the tractates addressed to Brother Regnauld, we learn that the students of alchemy are in search of a single substance which absolutely resists the fierce action of fire, which itself penetrates everything, and tinges mercury. The work is a work of the hands, and great patience is required in it. Instruments are necessary, but in the true Hermetic operation there is but one vase, one substance, one way, and one only operation. ROGER BACON. Roger Bacon was the first Englishman who is known to have cultivated alchemical philosophy. This learned man was born in 1214, near Ilcester, in Somerset. He made extraordinary progress in the preliminary studies of boyhood; when his age permitted he entered the order of St Francis, and passed from Oxford to Paris, where he learned mathematics and medicine. On his return he applied himself to languages and philosophy, and made such progress that he wrote grammars of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew tongues. Pronouncing the panegyric of Bacon, Figuier calls him the greatest intellect which has arisen in England, a student of nature who was more physician than chemist, and a scientist to whom the world owes many extraordinary discoveries. He was almost the only astronomer of his time, and to him we are indebted for the rectification of the Julian Calendar, in regard to the solar year, which in 1267 he submitted to Clement IV., but which was not put in practice till the pontificate of Gregory. The physical analysis of the properties of lenses and convex glasses, the invention of spectacles and achromatic lenses, the theory, and possibly the first construction, of the telescope, are all due to the superior and penetrating genius of Bacon. An adequate notion of his schemes in mechanical science may be gathered from one of his own letters--_Epistola Fratris Rogerii Baconis de Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturæ et de nullitate Magiæ_, Hambourg, 1618. Having undertaken to demonstrate that by the help of natural science it is possible to actually perform the pretended prodigies of magic, he further assures us that machines may be constructed for navigation without the aid of rowers, in such a manner that vessels will be borne through the water with extraordinary velocity, under the direction of a single man. “It is equally possible to construct cars which may be set in motion with marvellous rapidity, independently of horses or other animals. Flying machines may also be made, the man seated in the centre, and by means of certain contrivances beating the air with artificial wings.” In the same way Bacon anticipated the invention of the crane, diving apparatus, suspension bridges, &c. These things, he declares, were known to the ancients, and may still be recovered. “Should we be surprised,” demands one of his biographers, “if all these prodigies obtained for him the name of magician in an age of superstition and ignorance? the friars of his own order refused to let his works into their library, as if he were a man who ought to be proscribed by society. His persecution increased till, in 1278, he was imprisoned and forced to confess his repentance of his pains in the arts and sciences. He was constrained to abandon the house of his order, and to form a retreat where he might work in quiet.” The reputation of Bacon as a magician spread over Western Europe. He was supposed to be indebted for his wisdom to incessant communication with demons. Wierus accuses him of goëtic magic, and erudite persons affirm that Antichrist will make use of his enchanted mirrors for the performance of lying miracles. He really believed in judicial astrology and in the philosophical stone. “By neglecting the lights of experience,” he says, “alchemy can seldom produce gold of twenty-four carats. Few persons have carried the science to so high a point. But with the help of Aristotle’s ‘Secret of Secrets,’ experimental science has manufactured not only gold of twenty-four degrees, but of thirty, forty, and onward according to pleasure.” The application of alchemy to the extension of life was another subject of study with Roger Bacon. The grand secret, he assures us, does not only ensure the welfare of the commonwealth and of the individual, but it may be used to prolong life, for that operation by which the most inferior metals is purged from the corrupt elements which they contain till they are exalted into the purest gold and silver, is considered by every adept to be eminently calculated to eliminate so completely the corrupt particles of the human body, that the life of mortality may be extended to several centuries. A citation by Franciscus Picus from Bacon’s “Book of the Six Sciences” recounts how a man may become a prophet and predict the future by means of a mirror which Bacon calls _Almuchefi_, composed in accordance with the laws of perspective under the influence of a benign constellation, _and after the body of the individual has been modified by alchemy_. On the word of a man who enjoyed his full confidence, he tells us how a celebrated Parisian savant, after cutting a serpent into fragments, taking care to preserve intact the skin of its belly, subsequently let loose the animal, which began immediately to roll upon certain herbs, and their virtues speedily healed him. The experimenter examined these herbs, and found them of a remarkably green colour. On the authority of Artephius, he relates how a certain magician, named Tantalus, and who was attached to the person of the King of India, had discovered by his proficiency in planetary lore, a method of preserving life over several centuries. He enlarges on the potency of theriac in the excessive prolongation of life. He lauds the flesh of winged serpents as a specific against senility in mankind. By the hygiene of Artephius he informs us that that adept lived over a thousand years. If Plato and Aristotle failed to prolong their existence it is not surprising, for they were ignorant even of the quadrature of the circle, which Bacon declares to have been well known at his time, and which is indefinitely inferior to the grand medical doctrine of Artephius.[I] The chemical investigations of the great English Franciscan have proved valuable to the science which he loved. He studied carefully the properties of saltpetre, and if he did not discover gunpowder, he contributed to its perfection by teaching the purification of saltpetre by its dissolution in water and by crystallisation. He also called attention to the chemical rôle played by the air in combustion.[J] Many of Bacon’s works still remain in manuscript, but his _Speculum Alchimiæ_ was done into French by Girard de Tourmes, and published at Lyons in duodecimo and octavo in 1557. _De Potestate Mirabili Artis et Naturæ_, which is merely a chapter of the Epistle already cited, was translated by the same hand. In another work, entitled _Radix Mundi_, the supreme secret of Hermetic philosophy is said to be hidden in the four elements. This treatise, which quotes Paracelsus, is, however, an impudent forgery. The “Mirror of Alchemy,” like other works of the philosophers, appeals to Hermes as to a master-initiate, whose authority is not only sufficient but final. The natural principles of all metals are argent vive, that is, sophic mercury, and sulphur. The various proportions in which these principles are combined, together with their degrees of purity, constitute the sole difference between the best and the basest metal. FOOTNOTES: [I] Nam quadraturam circuli se ignorasse confitetur, quod his diebus scitur veraciter. [J] Figuier, _L’Alchimie et les Alchimistes_, p. 97. ALAIN OF LISLE. An alchemical treatise, entitled _Dicta de Lapide Philosophico_, appeared in octavo at Leyden during the year 1600. It was attributed to Alanus Insulensis, and was reprinted in the _Theatrum Chimicum_, Argentorati, 1662. It is denied that this work is the production of that Alain de Lisle who was called the universal doctor, and who, after a brilliant period passed in the University of Paris, retired to a cloister as a lay brother, in order to be master of his time, and to devote himself entirely to philosophy. Migne’s _Dictionnaire des Sciences Occultes_ asserts that another Alanus flourished at the same period, but the existence of the alchemical volume is the sole ground for this statement. It cannot be shown, on the other hand, that Alain practised the Hermetic Science, but he was the author of a “Commentary on the Prophecies of Merlin.” He was made bishop of Auxerre, and died in 1278. The publishers of alchemical treatises were accustomed to trade upon brilliant reputations of the past by attributing worthless works to great authorities. The name of Alanus Insulensis appearing on the title-page of the _Dicta de Lapide Philosophico_ may perhaps be accounted for in this manner. The treatise itself is short and not of abnormal value. It represents the Hermetic art as the gift of God, and counsels the neophyte to love Him with all his heart and soul. It describes the mysteries of sublimation, and follows preceding authorities on the problem of the _prima materia_. Its generally indefinite and unprofitable character from any practical standpoint should make it an exceptional field for every species of fanciful interpretation. RAYMOND LULLY. The comparison of a brilliant but ephemeral reputation to “the comet of a season” has been transferred from the region of poetry into that of proverb, and is certainly applicable to no figure in the history of literature or science more completely than to the subject of this memoir. The name of Raymond Lully has indeed passed so completely into oblivion that it awakes no recollections whatever except in the minds of certain specialists in history and philosophy. Yet he exercised no small influence on his generation, while for a century after his death all intellectual Europe was acquainted with his method for the acquisition of the sciences and his voluminous literary and evangelistic labours. Raymond Lully united the saint and the man of science, the philosopher and the preacher, the apostle and the itinerant lecturer, the dialectician and the martyr; in his youth he was a courtier and a man of pleasure; in mature age he was an ascetic who had discovered the universal science through a special revelation from God; after his death he was denounced as a heretic, and then narrowly escaped beatification as a saint. While his relics worked miracles in Majorca, colleges were founded in various parts of Europe for teaching the _Ars Lulliana_, which was to replace the scholastic method; but the miracles ceased, the universal science fell into neglect, and, as the last scene in this eventful history, Raymond Lully appears in popular legends as an adept in alchemy, whose age was prolonged through centuries by the discovery of the elixir of life. Having succeeded in rescuing from oblivion and misrepresentation this singular man, whose sanctity was as eminent as his attainments were unique, I shall here present the first true history of his life and works to the reading public of England; the romantic narrative will be as interesting to the general student as to the occultist and the man of letters. The father of Raymond Lully was a gentleman of Barcelona, who, having served under the banner of John I., King of Arragon, at the conquest of the Balearic Isles from the Mohammedans, was gifted with lands in Majorca, and there settled. He was of an old and noble Catalonian family, and was wedded to a lady whose name is not known. Though possessed of considerable wealth, his happiness was marred by the sterility of his wife; but, addressing themselves to the goodness of God, the lady was eventually delivered of a son, who was named, like his father, Raymond Lully. He was born, according to Ségui, in 1229, but according to Jean Marie de Vernon, and other authorities, in 1235, which, on the whole, is the more probable date. When the young Raymond had attained the use of reason, his parents endeavoured to imbue him with love for the liberal arts, but his mercurial and impetuous disposition was unsuited to serious study, and he was permitted to follow his father’s profession of arms. He was made page to the King, with whom he acquired such high favour that he was installed as Grand Prevôt, or Master of the Palace, and subsequently as Seneschal of the Isles; but he employed the advantages of these distinguished positions in the dissipations of a youth without curb or restraint. The flower of his manhood was wasted in the gaieties of court life, in winning the favours of ladies, and in composing amorous verses in their honour. He spared no pains to make himself pleasing to those who were beautiful, and his excesses were so glaring that his parents, and King James II. himself, were forced to make great complaints to him. As a remedy for the irregularities of his life, it was proposed that he should marry, and a wife at once beautiful, virtuous, and wealthy was selected by his advisers and friends. She was named Catherine de Sabots. Though he became much attached to this lady, the bond of marriage did not prove strong enough to confine his errant inclinations, and there was one person in particular for whom he conceived a great passion, though he was already the father of two male children and of one girl. This was the Signora Ambrosia Eleonora de Castello de Gênes, whose virtue was superior to her personal attractions, though she eclipsed in loveliness all the beauties of the Court. She was married to a man whom she loved, but such was the infatuation of Raymond Lully that he paid her the most marked attentions, and on one occasion, lost to all around him except the object of his admiration, he is said to have followed her on horseback into the church of Palma, a town in Majorca, where she had gone one morning to mass. So outrageous an act could not fail to cause great scandal, more particularly on account of the high rank of both parties concerned. The lady, thus suddenly raised to such undesirable notoriety, took counsel with her husband as to the course which she should pursue to put an end to the persecutions of her admirer. In the meantime, Raymond Lully, conscious no doubt that he had exceeded all bounds of moderation, wrote an incoherent apology, accompanied with a sonnet, in which he particularly described the beauty of her neck. To this the lady replied by a letter, written in the presence of her husband, and which is here copied _verbatim_ from the old French writer who relates this portion of the story. LETTER from the SIGNORA DI CASTELLO DE GÊNES to RAYMOND LULLY, which is a civil reply to a lover to dissuade him from profaning love. “SIR,--The sonnet which you have sent me is evidence of the superiority of your genius and the imperfection, or, rather, the perversity of your judgment. With what vivacity would you depict true beauty since by your verses you even embellish ugliness! But how can you employ such exalted talents in the laudation of a little clay briefly tinged with vermilion? Your industry should be employed in eradicating and not in publishing your passion. “’Tis not that you are unworthy of the affection of the noblest woman in the world, but you become unworthy of it by devoting yourself to the service of one who is the least of all. Is it possible that an intelligence created for God alone, and illuminated as it is, can be so blind on this point? “Abandon then a passion which deprives you of your native nobility. Do not tarnish your reputation by the pursuit of an object which you can never possess. I could terribly disillusion you by showing you that what you so much admire should rather be held in aversion. Yet rest well assured that I love you all the more truly because I appear to have no regard for you.” This letter served only to feed the flame in the breast of Raymond Lully, till, other means having failed, the lady, still acting under the advice of her husband, called her lover into her presence, and exposed to him her breast which was almost eaten away by a cancer, whence an offensive odour issued. “Look on what thou lovest, Raymond Lully,” she cried, with tears in her eyes, “Consider the condition of this wretched body in which thy spirit centres all its hopes and pleasures, and then repent of thy useless attempts; mourn for the time which thou hast wasted in persecuting a being whom thou didst fondly deem perfect, but who has so dreadful a blemish! Change this useless and criminal passion into holy love, direct thine affections to the Creator, not to the creature, and in the acquisition of eternal bliss take now the same pains which thou hast hitherto vainly spent to engage me in thy foolish passion!” The sight had already melted the heart of Raymond Lully and restored him to reason. After expressing to the noble-hearted lady how deeply he felt for her misfortune, he withdrew from the house, ashamed of the passion he had conceived, and reaching home, overwhelmed with confusion, he cast himself at the feet of a crucifix, and vowed to consecrate himself henceforth to the service of God alone. He passed a more than usually tranquil night, being filled with this zealous resolution, and the vision of Christ is said to have appeared to him, saying, “Raymond Lully, from henceforth do thou follow me!” This vision was repeated several times, and he judged it to be an indication of the Divine Will. Raymond was at this period about thirty years old; he filled one of the most noble situations at court, and might have aspired to any honour for himself or his family. He resolved, nevertheless, to renounce the world, and soon arranged his affairs, dividing so much of his estate among his family as would enable them to live honourably, retaining a small portion for his personal necessities, and distributing the rest among the poor. His plans in the matter were so punctually fulfilled, that he was accused of plunging from one folly to another. At this period he is said to have made a pilgrimage to St John in Galicia, and a retreat thereat. He returned in due course to Majorca, and took the habit of religion, but did not, however, embrace the religious life. He retired to a small dwelling on the mountain of Randa, a possession which had not been included in the general sale of his estate. Here he fell ill, and was consoled by two visions of the Saviour. After his change of life, the first boon which he asked of God was so to illuminate his mind that he might compose a book capable of completely annihilating the errors of Mahomet, and of forcing the infidels, by good and solid reasoning, to embrace the faith of Jesus Christ. In answer to this prayer, he was conscious, it is asserted, of a perfect spiritual illumination, and became instantaneously capable of reasoning powerfully on all subjects, so that he passed henceforth for a great and subtle doctor both in human and divine sciences. A more sober account informs us that “he prepared himself to labour for the conversion of the Mahometans, by studying their books in the Arabic language,” and that his preparation continued for the space of six years. According to another authority, this missionary zeal did not date from an earlier period than 1268--three years after his reformation--when in another of his visions he beheld upon the leaves of a myrtle or a mastic tree, certain marks which resembled Turkish or Arabic characters. On awaking, he regarded himself as called to a mission among the heathen. Convinced, says one of his biographers, that the Spirit of God had not inspired him with the Celestial Science to let it rest idle, and that he would be betraying his vocation if his light were hidden under a bushel, he resolved to journey to Paris and there publish the eternal truths which had been revealed to him. Others have supposed that in undertaking this journey he was simply seeking instruction in the Latin tongue at one of the centres of learning. Several of his treatises on Philosophy, Theology, Medicine, and Astronomy are, however, referred to this period, as well as some works on alchemy, but this point will receive adequate consideration hereafter. Still imbued with his evangelistic and missionary zeal, he engaged a young Arab as his valet, that he might perfect himself in colloquial Arabic; but he, discovering that his master intended to demolish the divine principles of the Koran, and preach against the holy law of Mahomet, piously resolved to assassinate him, and one day plunged a dagger into his breast. He sought to repeat the blow, but Raymond Lully, wounded and bleeding as he was, contrived to disarm him, perhaps with the assistance of a holy and opportune anchorite, who is advanced at this critical moment by one of the biographers. The young Arab was imprisoned with the reluctant consent of his over magnanimous master, who does not appear to have proceeded further against him; but the unhappy Mohammedan enthusiast was so overwhelmed with vexation at the failure of his heroic design to destroy, at all costs, the implacable foe of the prophet, that he strangled himself in his dungeon in a paroxysm of impotent fury. It was after this episode, and after the recovery of Raymond Lully from the violence of his valet, that, according to another historian, he retired to Mount Randa, and that then, and then only, he received from the Father of Lights that new illumination with which others have accredited him at a much earlier period. This was probably a second visit paid to his Balearic solitude; he tarried there seven months, “always absorbed in prayer, and conversing, as it seemed to him, continually with angels, whose consolations he received--consolations,” says the pious writer, “which the soul can indeed realise, but which the lips cannot worthily describe.” Having left his retreat, he determined to travel to Rome, to exhort his Holiness to establish in Europe several monasteries, where monks should be occupied in acquiring and teaching languages, in order to spread everywhere the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to labour for the conversion of the infidels. But Honorius IV., from whose piety he had everything to hope, died as soon as Lully reached Rome, and he therefore returned to Paris, where he explained publicly his General or Universal Art for the acquisition of all sciences. From Paris he went to Mont Pelin, where he also taught and wrote; thence to Genoa, where he translated his _Art Inventif_ into Arabic. From Genoa he again proceeded to Rome, but seeing that it was impossible to attain his ends on account of the obstacles which presented themselves in the Sacred Court, he returned to Genoa, intending to start for Africa, and personally labour in the conversion of the infidels. He made terms with the owner of a vessel, shipped his books on board, with the other necessities of his journey, but, when he was himself on the point of embarking, a vision of all the dangers he was about to encounter so worked upon his mind, that he was deprived even of the power of walking, and was obliged to renounce his intention. His effects were consequently returned to him, and with these he re-entered Genoa in the midst of a crowd of vagabonds, who derided his weakness. Whether consequent on this raillery, or through shame at his cowardice, he became dangerously ill.[K] On the Vigil of Pentecost, 1291, he was carried to the Convent of Friars Preachers, and received the care which his condition required. He received the last sacraments, and dictated his last will and testament; nevertheless, he was destined to recover, and had scarcely regained his strength when, to repair his previous fault, he embarked upon the first vessel bound for Tunis. During the voyage he composed his “General Tabulation of the Sciences.” Immediately on his arrival at Tunis, he held conferences with those who were most erudite in the law of Mahomet. He proved, at least to his own satisfaction, that they were in error and darkness, and that truth was on the side of Jesus Christ. He was accused before the King of Tunis of seducing the people, was arrested, cast into prison, and ultimately condemned to death. But a learned Arabian priest, overcome by his arguments, obtained his pardon on condition of his instant departure. He left the town amidst the insults and opprobrium of the populace, prohibited to return, on pain of certain death. In 1293 he arrived at Genoa from this disastrous mission, and he appears to have proceeded immediately to Naples, where he remained till the pontificate of Celestin V., teaching publicly his _Ars Magna_ and _Arbor Scientiarum_. In December 1294, he repaired to Rome to persuade the Pope to send missionaries to the infidels, and he appears to have obtained the establishment of several colleges for the study of oriental languages. Moreover, the University of Paris, by an authentic act, adopted and recommended the use of his short method of acquiring knowledge, and some of his more important philosophical doctrines. Still, his missionary efforts were not generally successful, and he again wandered from place to place, confuting heretics. He travelled to Montpellier, where he was received with distinction by Raymond Gauffredy, General of the Order of St Francis. He obtained letters of association, as a benefactor to the order, the superiors of which were put under his direction, and he taught his method in their houses. He preached in Cyprus against the Nestorians and Georgians, striving to bring them back to the bosom of the Church. He addressed himself for assistance in his manifold enterprises to the Kings of France, Sicily, Majorca, and Cyprus, but generally in vain. In 1308 he returned to Paris, where he conversed with the celebrated Johannes Scotus, who is known as the subtle doctor. He had the satisfaction to find that King Philip le Bel had directed the oriental languages to be taught in the University of Paris. This induced Raymond to proceed in the following year to Ferdinand IV., King of Castile, to engage him to unite with the King of France for the recovery of the Holy Land, but this oft-repeated and invariably disastrous and futile enterprise was fortunately not undertaken. He ventured again to Africa, landed at Bona, that ancient Hippo which was the diocese of St Augustine, and despite the opposition of its Mohammedan inhabitants he succeeded in converting seventy followers of the philosopher Averroës. Thence he travelled to Algiers and converted many, which brought down on him the persecution of the authorities. A bridle was put into his mouth, as if he were a horse, and he was deprived by this means of the free use of speech for the space of forty days; he was then publicly beaten, and expelled from the kingdom. He had no other road open to him but to return to Tunis, where sentence of death awaited him, but he remained concealed, and shortly after proceeded to Bugia. There he confounded the doctrines of the Mohammedan priests, successfully avoiding innumerable deadly snares prepared by the people against him at the suggestion of their religious teachers. He was at length cast into a miserable dungeon, where he might well have perished, but the solicitations of certain Genoese merchants obtained him a better prison, in which he was confined for six months. Here the Mohammedan doctors came to him in troops, to persuade him to embrace their law, promising him the most alluring recompences--slaves, palaces, wealth, beautiful women, and the King’s friendship. “The result,” says one of Lully’s biographers, “was that they were almost persuaded to embrace _His_ law, Who alone could promise them eternal beatitude.” The gates of Raymond’s prison were at length thrown open, and, as a disturber of the public peace, he was enjoined to quit those parts at once. The illustrious wanderer embarked in a Genoese vessel with his books and papers, but he was wrecked ten miles from the town of Pisa, escaping hardly with the loss of all his effects. At Pisa he fell sick, and was carefully attended by the Dominicans. On his recovery he resumed his public teaching. The conversion of the Mohammedans and the conquest of the Holy Land were still his chief ends, and he so eloquently solicited the inhabitants of Pisa to institute an order of Christian Knights for the deliverance of Judea, that they sent him with letters to the Holy Father; he was entrusted by the inhabitants of Genoa with similar documents, and bore also the voluntary offer of the ladies in that town to contribute towards such a pious and praiseworthy purpose a considerable sum of money. With these assurances he sought the Pope at Avignon, presented his letters, and added the most powerful reasons of his own to persuade him to proclaim another crusade. Naturally, he obtained nothing from the Papal Court, and he retired to Paris, sorrowful at his failure and at the coldness of the prelates of the Church. He continued writing and teaching, and in October 1311, hearing that a general council would be held at Vienna, he considered this a favourable opportunity and presented himself before it to demand three things:--1. The establishment of several monasteries composed of learned and courageous men, who, willing to expose their lives in the quarrel of Christ, would take pleasure in acquiring languages in order to publish the Gospel more effectually. 2. The reduction of all the Military Orders in the Christian world into a single order, so that living under one religious rule, and inspired with the same desires, they might all do battle with the Saracens, and, suppressing all seeds of jealousy, all selfish interests, by a laudable emulation, with true Christian piety, seek to deliver the Holy Place from the hands of the miscreants. 3. The condemnation, by authority of the Pope and the Council, of all the works of Averroës used in Christian colleges and schools, because they were distinctly and directly opposed to the doctrines of true religion. In order to throw more light on this last point he composed a treatise entitled _De Natale Pueri_. He was again unsuccessful, and returned to Paris without having accomplished anything. With unconquerable perseverance he again set himself more diligently than ever to the composition of books in Latin, Spanish, and Arabic, for the edification of the Faithful and the instruction of the Saracens. He became indeed one of the most voluminous authors in the world, and when weary of the repose of letters he returned to Majorca, far advanced in years, he embarked, despite the peril, for Tunis, hoping to work secretly in the conversion of its inhabitants. According to another account, he publicly proclaimed his return, crying, “Do you not remember that I am the man whom your princes formerly hunted from this country and from Tunis in dread that I should illuminate your souls with the truths of our holy religion, towards which you already had some disposition? The single hope of your salvation, and the resolution I have taken to suffer all the torments of the world for the love of my God, lead me back among you, to do with me as you please.” In either case his return was discovered; as one man the people rose in tumult against him, and having covered him with opprobrium and atrocious injuries, they chased him with stones from the town to the port, where he fell miserably overwhelmed. According to numerous biographers, certain merchants, either of Majorca or Genoa, passing Tunis, saw a great light, in the shape of a pyramid, near to the port, on the night of this catastrophe. This light seemed to issue from a heap of stones, and, curious to discover its cause, they put ashore in a boat, and thus came upon the precious body of Raymond Lully, whom, in spite of his disfigured condition, they immediately recognised. But M. E. J. Delécleuze, writing in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, gives us the same narrative unadorned by the veneer of the miraculous. “The night fell, and the body of Raymond Lully remained on the sea-shore. During the whole of this terrible scene none of the converts, and still less the European Christians then sojourning in the town, had dared to defend the missionary, or even to intercede in his favour. Certain Genoese merchants, however, desiring to pay the last honours to his corpse, came in a boat, under cover of the darkness, to bear it away. In the accomplishment of this pious duty they perceived that Raymond Lully was still breathing. They carried him in haste to their ship, and immediately set sail for Majorca, in sight of which island that holy and learned man expired on the 29th of June 1315, at the age of eighty years.”[L] It has already been stated that Raymond Lully was one of the most prolific writers of his own or of any age. The following list of his works is given by Alfonso de Proaza in 1515, and is reproduced by A. Perroquet:-- Names of Subjects. No. of Treatises. On the _Ars Veritatis Demonstrativus_, 60 Grammar and Rhetoric, 7 Logic, 22 On the Understanding, 7 On Memory, 4 On Will, 8 On Moral and Political Philosophy, 12 On Law, 8 Philosophy and Physics, 32 Metaphysics, 26 Mathematics, 19 Medicine and Anatomy, 20 Chemistry, 49 Theology, 212 --- Total number of treatises, 486 This list is accepted without suspicion or criticism by M. Delécleuze, but as Raymond Lully did not begin writing till 1270, and as he died in 1318 at latest, this calculation requires us to suppose that he produced ten treatise every year without intermission for the space of eight and forty years, which would have been perfectly impossible for the most cloistered, book-devoted student, and Raymond Lully was a man of indefatigable activity, as the facts of his itinerant existence abundantly reveal. A writer in the _Biographie Universelle_, Paris, 1820, has the following pertinent remarks on this subject:--“Some of his biographers have extended the number of his treatises to several thousand.[M] The more moderate have reduced them from five hundred to three hundred, which lie scattered among the libraries of Majorca, Rome, Barcelona, the Sorbonne, St Victor, and the Chatreux at Paris; but scarcely two hundred can be found distinguished by their titles and the first words of the work; and this number must be still further diminished as the difference between some of them is very slight, as chapters have been given for the titles of separate works, and as the explanations of professors or disciples have often been mistaken by uncritical writers for the lessons of the master.” * * * * * Now, the great problem in the chequered life of the illuminated theosophist and possessor of the universal science who died thus violently at Tunis, or Bugia, in the cause of his Master, is this--whether or not he is to be identified with that Raymond Lully whom Éliphas Lévi terms “a grand and sublime adept of Hermetic science,” who is said to have made gold and Rose nobles for one Edward, King of England, and who left behind him, as monuments of his unparalleled alchemical proficiency, those world-famous treatises, testaments, and codicils which, rightly or wrongly, are attributed, under the title “chemistry, 49 treatises,” to the heroic martyr of Majorca. On this important point, the writer, already quoted, in the _Bibliothèque Universelle_, testifies that “the works on alchemy must be referred to another Raymond, of Ferrago, a Jewish neophyte, who lived after 1315, and with whom Abraham Bzovius confounded the first in attributing to him some propositions condemned by Gregory XI.” And again:--“The works on alchemy attributed to him are too opposed to the evangelical poverty of a man who had renounced everything in his zeal for the religion of Jesus Christ, and who protests in many places against the chimera of the philosopher’s stone, sought in his time by Arnaud de Villeneuve, whose disciple he was supposed to be. The circumstances and the dates even in several of these books--of which that on natural wisdom is addressed to Edward III.--prove, moreover, that they must be referred to a later epoch.” The problem is eminently difficult of solution, and must be considered at some length. Raymond Lully repaired to Vienna to be present at a general council of the Church in the year 1311. While in this city it is alleged that he received letters from Edward, King of England, who had ascended the throne in 1307, and from Robert, King of Scotland, who both invited him with much persuasion to visit their realms. Hoping to encourage these princes to assist him in his plans against the infidels, he soon arrived in London in the company of John Cremer, Abbot of Westminster. This ecclesiastic is said to have been one of the most celebrated Hermetic artists of his age. He worked thirty years to attain the end of alchemy, but the obscurities of the Hermetic writers, which he could not clear up, cast him into a labyrinth of errors. The more he read, the more he wondered; at last, tired of the loss of his money, and much more of his precious time, he set out to travel, and had the good fortune to meet with Raymond Lully in Italy. With him he formed a strict friendship, remaining some time in his company, edified by his penitent life, and illuminated by his philosophical conversations. The adept, though he spoke upon alchemy, would not, however, entirely discover the essential points of the operation. Cremer was insinuating and affectionate; he perceived that Lully’s zeal for the conversion of the infidels extended to the false enthusiasm of exciting open war against the Mohammedans, and easily persuaded him to visit England, in the hope of King Edward’s assistance. The adept lodged with his friend in the Abbey of Westminster, where he worked, and perfected the stone which Cremer had so long unsuccessfully sought. He was duly presented to the King, who, previously informed of the talents of the illustrious stranger, received him with regard and attention. When he “communicated his treasures,” the single condition which he made was that they should not be expended in the luxuries of a court or in war with a Christian prince, but that the King should go in person with an army against the infidels. Edward, under pretence of doing honour to Raymond, gave him an apartment in the Tower of London, where the adept repeated his process. He transmuted base metal into gold, which was coined at the mint into six millions of nobles, each worth three pounds sterling at the present day. These coins are well known to antiquarians by the name of Rose Nobles. They prove in the assay of the test to be a purer gold than the Jacobus, or any other gold coin made in those times. Lully in his last testament declares that in a short time, while in London, he converted twenty-two tons weight of quicksilver, lead, and tin into the precious metal. His lodging in the Tower proved only an honourable prison, and when Raymond had satisfied the desires of the King, the latter disregarded the object which the adept was so eager to see executed, and to regain his own liberty Lully was obliged to escape surreptitiously, when he quickly departed from England. Cremer, whose intentions were sincere, was not less grieved than Raymond at this issue of the event, but he was subject to his sovereign, and could only groan in silence. He declares his extreme affliction in his testament, and his monastery daily offered up prayers to God for the success of Raymond’s cause. The Abbot lived long after this, and saw part of the reign of King Edward III. The course of operations which he proposes in his testament, with apparent sincerity, is not less veiled than are those in the most obscure authors.[N] Now, in the first place, this story is not in harmony with itself. If Raymond Lully were at Vienna in 1311, how did John Cremer contrive to meet him in Italy at or about the same time? In the second place, the whole story concerning the manufacture of Rose Nobles is a series of blunders. The King who ascended the throne of England in 1307 was Edward II., and the Rose Nobles first appear in the history of numismatics during the reign of Edward IV., and in the year 1465. “In the King’s fifth year, by another indenture with Lord Hastings, the gold coins were again altered, and it was ordered that forty-five nobles only, instead of fifty, as in the last two reigns, should be made of a pound of gold. This brought back the weight of the noble to one hundred and fifty grains, as it had been from 1351 to 1412, but its value was raised to 10s. At the same time, new coins impressed with angels were ordered to be made, sixty-seven and a half to be struck from one pound of gold, and each to be of the value of 6s. 8d.--that is to say, the new angel which weighed eighty grains was to be of the same value as the noble had been which weighed one hundred and eight grains. _The new nobles to distinguish them from the old ones were called Rose Nobles_, from the rose which is stamped on both sides of them, or ryals, or royals, a name borrowed from the French, who had given it to a coin which bore the figure of the King in his royal robes, which the English ryals did not. Notwithstanding its inappropriateness, however, the name of royal was given to these 10s. pieces, not only by the people, but also in several statutes of the realm.”[O] In the third place, the testament ascribed to John Cremer, Abbot of Westminster, and to which we are indebted for the chief account of Lully’s visit to England, is altogether spurious. No person bearing that name ever filled the position of Abbot at any period of the history of the Abbey. The only coinage of nobles which has been attributed to alchemy was that made by Edward III. in 1344. The gold used in this coinage is supposed to have been manufactured in the Tower; the adept in question was not Raymond Lully, but the English Ripley. Whether the saint of Majorca was proficient in the Hermetic art or not, it is quite certain that he did not visit the British Isles. It is also certain that in the _Ars Magna Sciendi_, part 9, chapter on Elements, he states that one species of metal cannot be changed into another, and that the gold of alchemy has only the semblance of that metal; that is, it is simply a sophistication. As all the treatises ascribed to Raymond Lully cannot possibly be his, and as his errant and turbulent life could have afforded him few opportunities for the long course of experiments which are generally involved in the search for the _magnum opus_, it is reasonable to suppose that his alchemical writings are spurious, or that two authors, bearing the same name, have been ignorantly confused. With regard to “the Jewish neophyte,” referred to by the _Biographie Universelle_, no particulars of his life are forthcoming. The whole question is necessarily involved in uncertainty, but it is a point of no small importance to have established for the first time the fabulous nature of the Cremer Testament. This production was first published by Michael Maier, in his _Tripus Aureus_, about the year 1614. The two treatises which accompany it appear to be genuine relics of Hermetic antiquity. * * * * * The “Clavicula, or Little Key” of Raymond Lully is generally considered to contain the arch secrets of alchemical adeptship; it elucidates the other treatises of its author, and undertakes to declare the whole art without any fiction. The transmutation of metals depends upon their previous reduction into volatile sophic argent vive, and the only metals worth reducing, for the attainment of this _prima materia_, are silver and gold. This argent vive is said to be dryer, hotter, and more digested than the common substance, but its extraction is enveloped in mystery and symbolism, and the recipes are impossible to follow for want of the materials so evasively and deceptively described. At the same time, it is clear that the operations are physical, and that the materials and objects are also physical, which points are sufficient for our purpose, and may be easily verified by research. Moreover, the alchemist who calls himself Raymond Lully was acquainted with nitric acid and with its uses as a dissolvent of metals. He could form _aqua regia_ by adding sal ammoniac, or common salt, to nitric acid, and he was aware of its property of dissolving gold. Spirit of wine was well known to him, says Gruelin; he strengthened it with dry carbonate of potash, and prepared vegetable tinctures by its means. He mentions alum from Rocca, marcasite, white and red mercurial precipitate. He knew the volatile alkali and its coagulations by means of alcohol. He was acquainted with cupellated silver, and first obtained rosemary oil by distilling the plant with water.[P] FOOTNOTES: [K] This illness is referred to by another writer, with details of a miraculous kind. “About 1275 (the chronology of all the biographers is a chaos of confusion) he fell ill a second time, and was reduced to such an extremity that he could take neither rest nor nourishment. On the feast of the Conversion of St Paul, the crucified Saviour again appeared to him, glorified, and surrounded by a most exquisite odour, which surpassed musk, amber, and all other scents. In remembrance of this miracle, on the same day, in the same bed and place where he lived and slept, the same supernal odour is diffused.” [L] The following variation is also related:--“Finding him still alive when they bore him to the ship, the merchants put back towards Genoa to get help, but they were carried miraculously to Majorca, where the martyr expired in sight of his native island. The merchants resolved to say nothing of their precious burden, which they embalmed and preserved religiously, being determined to transport it to Genoa. Three times they put to sea with a wind that seemed favourable, but as often they were forced to return into port, which proved plainly the will of God, and obliged them to make known the martyrdom of the man whom they revered, who was stoned for the glory of God in the town of Bugia (?) in the year of grace 1318.” From this account it will be seen that the place of Lully’s violent death, as well as the date on which it occurred, are both involved in doubt. He was born under the pontificate of Honorius IV., and died, according to Genebrand, about 1304; but the author of the preface to the meditations of the Hermit Blaquerne positively fixes his decease on the feast of the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul, June 29, 1315, and declares that he was eighty-six years old. [M] _E.g._, Jean-Marie de Vernon, who extends the lists to about three thousand, and, following the Père Pacifique de Provence, prolongs his life by the discovery of the universal medicine. [N] “Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers,” ed. 1815. [O] Kenyon, “Gold Coins of England,” pp. 57, 58. [P] Gruelin, _Geschichte der Chemie_, i. 74. ARNOLD DE VILLANOVA. The date and the birthplace of this celebrated adept are alike uncertain. Catalonia, Milan, and Montpellier have been severally named for the locality, and 1245 is, on the whole, the probable period. Arnold studied medicine at Paris for twenty years, after which for ten more he perambulated Italy, visiting the different universities. He subsequently penetrated into Spain, but hearing that Peter d’Apono, his friend, was in the hands of the Inquisition, he prudently withdrew, and abode under the patronage of Frederick, King of Naples and Sicily, writing his tracts on medicine and his “Comment on the School of Salerno.” He is said to have perished in a storm during the year 1314, but a circular letter written by Pope Clement V. in 1311 conjures those living under his authority to discover, if possible, and send to him, the “Treatise on Medicine,” written by Arnold, his physician, who promised it to the Holy Father, but died before he could present it. In this case the date of his decease may be more accurately fixed at 1310. Arnold was, according to the custom of the period, charged with magical practices. François Pegna declares that all his erudition in alchemy was derived from the demon. Mariana accuses him of attempting to create a man by means of certain drugs deposited in a pumpkin. But he is justified by Delrio from these imputations, and the orthodox _Dictionnaire des Sciences Occultes_ considers that Clement V. would not have chosen an initiate of magical arts as his physician. In 1317 the Inquisition of Tarragona condemned his books to be burned, but this was for the heretical sentiments which they contained. He wrote strictures on the monastic state and the service of religion, and maintained that works of divine faith and charity were more agreeable to God than the Sacrifice of the Mass. His skill in Hermetic philosophy has been generally recognised. His contemporary, the celebrated Jurisconsult, John Andre, says of him:--“In this time appeared Arnold de Villeneuve, a great theologian, a skilful physician, and wise alchymist, who made gold, which he submitted to all proofs.” Arnold has also the character of writing with more light and clearness than the other philosophers. His alchemical works were published in 1509, in one folio volume. His _Libellus de Somniorum Interpretatione et Somnia Danielis_ is excessively rare in its original quarto edition. Several alchemical and magical works are gratuitously ascribed to him. Among these must be classed the