Part 11.

Treatise
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Treatise on the Great Work.
HE aim of this Art is to discover the source of long C life and riches, two foundations upon which the happi- ness of this human existence rests. It has always beena mys- tery; andthose who have treated ofit, have in all times spoken of it, as a Science, the practice of which contains something surprising, and the result of which partakes of the nature of the miracle in itself and in its effects. God, the Author of Nature, whom the Philosopher proposes to imitate alone, can enlighten and guide the human mind in the search for this inestimable treasure, and in the labyrinth of the operations of this Art. So all these authors recommend one to address one’s self to the Creator, and to demand from Him this favor with much fervor and perseverance.
Should we be surprised that the possessors of such a beau- tiful secret have veiled it in the shadows of hieroglyphics, fables, allegories, metaphors and enigmas, in order to keep the knowledge of it from the multitude? They have written only for those whom God deigns to enlighten concerning it. To decry them, to declaim strongly against the Science, because one has made useless efforts to obtain it, is a low vengeance; it is to hurt one’s own reputation, it is to publish one’s own ignorance, and powerlessness to succeed. Let one
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122 The Great Art.
raise his voice against those vulgar chemists, those souffleurs, those burners of charcoal, who, after having been duped by their own ignorance, seek to make dupes of others. I would willingly join this class of critics. I would even wish for the voice of Stentor to make myself better heard. But who are those who concern themselves with speaking and writing against Hermetic Philosophy? People who are ignorant of it, I wager, even of its definition; people whose ill-humour is excited by prejudice. I appeal to their good faith; let them seriously consider whether they understand that which they criticize; have they read and re-read twenty times and more, the good authors who treat of this subject? Who among them can flatter himself that he knows the operations and processes of this Art? What Cédipus has given them knowl- edge of its enigmas, and its allegories? What sibyl has introduced them into its sanctuary? Let them remain then in the narrow sphere of their knowledge: xe sutor ultra crept- dam. Or, since it is the fashion, let them bark after such a great treasure which they despair of obtaining. Poor -conso- lation, but the only one which remains to them. And would to God that their cries could be heard by all those who waste their wealth in the pursuit of that which escapes them, instead of knowing the simple processes of Nature. , Monsieur de Maupertuis thinks differently of it. Under whatsoever aspect one considers the Philosopher’s Stone, one cannot, says this celebrated Academician, prove the impossibility of obtaining it, but its value, adds he, is not enough to balance the slight hope of finding it, (Lettres).