III. We find the " Chymical Marriage," like the "Fama"

and " Confessio Fraternitatis," crusading against the
"vagabond cheaters," "runagates and roguish people," who
debased alchemical experiments in the interest of dishonest
speculation; yet the one, under a thin veil of fiction, de-
scribes the proceedings in the accomplishment of the
magnum opus, while the other terms transmutation a great
gift of God. These points of resemblance, however, do not
necessarily indicate a common authorship, for a general belief
in the facts of alchemy was held at that period by many
intelligent men, who were well aware, and loud in their
condemnation, of the innumerable frauds which disgraced
the science. On the other hand, it is plain that the history
of C. E.G., as it is contained in the " Fama," is not the his-
tory, equally fabulous, of that Knight of the Golden Stone,
who is the hero of the " Chymical Marriage."