sound a crucible and a little Ivory box filled with the red ponder of Vermillion the Cheater prayed him to weigh out a grain of the red pouder with his gold weights which he did then he bid him look well upon the crucible if it were a good one and not cracked in the carryage the Goldsmith said it was as sound an one as he had seen and had a good strong bottom then he bid him to put it into the quicksilver and the grain of red pouder and set it into the fire and by degrees melt it down the Goldsmith did so when it was melted he bid him set it by to cool and then break it then he lay down in his bed and after a little while he asked the Goldsmith what he found in the bottom to which the Goldsmith answered that he found a little lump of gold as good as ever he saw so he prayed him to help him to money for it for his money was almost all spent that I will said the Goldsmith presently and went home and weighed it and brought him nineteen shillings in silver and was desirous to know how that red pouder was made he said it was an extract out of gold which he carried with him in his long travels for ease of carriage and that there was no other grain in it or else he would tell it him So the Goldsmith asked him how much he would have again of his half crown and he should have all if he please for he was well enough paid for his work in seeing that tare piece of Art no said the Alchymist take it all and I thank you too so the Goldsmith took his leave with great respect then he laid down in his bed a little while and by and by he knocked for his Hostess who came immediately and he prayed her to call for a porter whilst that he wrote a note she did so when the porter came he sent him to his fellow cheater who lay in the other end of the Town who presently brought him a letter formally framed betwixt them upon the reading whereof he called for his Hostess again and desired her to fetch the Goldsmith again she did so when she brought him he was rising and gruntled and groaned and told the goldsmith that though he was not well yet necessity forced him to go about earnest business and shewed him the Letter and prayed him to read it whilst he put on his cloaths and when the Goldsmith had read it he said you see what a strait I am in for twenty pounds can you furnish me and to morrow or next day you shall work for me and pay your self and I will leave you my box in pawn which now you know how to make five hundred pounds of it as well as I the Goldsmith answered it shall be done and went down and told the Hostess all things and also told her that the Gentleman was in great distress for twenty pounds and that he had promised to furnish him instantly but he had but ten pounds by him if she pleased to furnish him with the other ten pounds she should be sure enough to have it with great advantage for so short a time for saith he we shall have his box in pawn and will make bold with twice as much of his pouder as our money comes to and besides that he will pay us royally I warrant you and all the while I can do the work so well that I should be glad never to hear of him more so she agreed and they brought him up twenty pounds presently whereupon he delivered them the box and made a motion to have it sealed up but at length he said that because they had furnished him in his necessity and because he esteemed them to be honest people in regard of his Host he would not stay to seal it and so took his leave and prayed the Goldsmith to be ready within a day or two to help him to work but from that day to this they never saw him so when he came not again vvithin a vveek or a fortnight they concluded that some misfortone had happened to him or that he had taken cold by going abroad so hastily being not well and so was dead for else he would have sent about it before that time if he were but sick so they resolved to make use of it and fell to work with great alacrity but when they could make no gold their hearts were cold and they found themselves to be miscrably cheated The fourth Cheat. This Cheat is described in old Chawcer in his Canterbury Tale but because everyone hath not that book I will relate it briefly and those that would see it more largely described shall be referred to the said book And thus it was done The Cheater took a charcoal about two inches long and one inch thick and did cleave it through the middle and made a little concavity in the middle thereof and put in a little ingot of gold weighing an ounce into the middle of it and glewed it up again so that it seemed to be nothing but a very coal then before the cheated he put in one ounce of quicksilver into a crucibâ—e and a little red powder with it and bid the cheated to set it into the fire and when it began to smoak oh saith he I must stir it a little to mingle the pouder with the Mercury or else we shall have great loss so he took up a coal from the heap with the tongs like to his coal which he had prepared and let it fall out of the tongs by the side of the heap and dropped down his own coal by it and took it up in room of the other and stirred the quicksilver and the pounder together with it and left the coal in the pot and then bid the cheated to cover the pot with charcoals and to make a good fire and after a little space to blow it strongly with a pair of good hand bellows til it was melted for he assured him that the quicksilver would be fixed and turned into gold by the vertue of that small quantity of pouder which the cheated found by expeperience as he verily thought and so was earnest with the cheater to teach him his Art but what bargain they made I have forgotten for it is twenty years since I read Chawcers book Now whereas I have received the reports of some of these Cheaters in divers manners yet I am sure that they being wrought according to my prescription will cheat almost any man that hath not read this book or Chawcers unless a man should happen upon one that knoweth the great work which is hardly to be found in ten Kingdoms for he knoweth that none of these things can be done unless they be meer albifications or citrinations but are nought else but sophistications and delusions and will abide no triall unless it be the eyes of an ignorant man that hath no skill in mettals Well now
give offence to the Reader of this book seeing it is but in one chapter accidentally handled Neither will I crave pardon of the Muses as it were insinuating to the world to have a far greater knowledge in these trials or conclusions But to satisfie the curiosity of some that it may be with a gaping mouth expect to understand somewhat of the Stuffe put into these glasses I may say as I was informed That in some was the calcined Ore of Silver and Gold in some other Mercury calcined and Sulphur in some other Arsenick for the air Sulphur for the fire Mercury for the water and Sea-cole for the earth were put all together as the four elements In some other Glass was Vitriol and Orpiment and what more I do not now remember concluding That where Nature giveth ability Art giveth facility I have read all the books of Panacelsus that I could find hitherto and in his Book De Transmutatione Rerum I do find to this purpose the Observations following concurring with my friends opinion concerning Ripleys 12 Divisions comprised into six and the seventh is the matter it self and the labour or working resteth wherewith I â—oe end this chapter and proceed to the surer grounds of the Mineâ— of Metals Omne quod in Frigore solvitur continet Aerum spiritum Salis quem in sublimatione vel distillatione acquirit assumit Omne quod in Frigore vel Aere solvitur â—terum calore Ignis coagulatur in Pulverem vel lapidem Solutio vero Caloris solvit omnia pingua omnia Sulphurea Et quicquid Calor ignis seluit hoc coagulat Frig us in massam quicquid calor coagulat hoc soluit rursus Aeer Frigor Gradus ad Transmutationem sunt septem Calcinatio Sublimatio Solutio Putrifactio Distillatio Coagulatio Tintura Sub gradus Calcinaetionis comprehenduntur Reverberatio Cementatio Sub Sublimatione Exaltio Elevatio Fixatio Sub Solutione Dissolutio Resolutio Sub Putrifactione Digestio Circulatio qui transmutat Colores separat purum ab impuro purum superius impurum inferius Sub Distillatione Ascentio Lavatio Fixatio Coagulatio est duplex una Aeris altera Ignis Tinturatingit totum corpus est fermentum massae farinacea panis Secundum est Quod calidius liquescunt co celerius Tintura transcurrit sicut Fermentum penetrat totam massam acetositate inficit c. Sequitur Mortificatio Fixatio Sulphuris in Libro de Resuscitatione Rerum Reductio Metallorum in Mercurium vivum A Translate of the ELEVENTH CHAPTER taken out of a Theosophicall German Treatise printed in the year 1655. under the Title of Postilion or a New Almanack being an Astrological Prophetical Prognostication Touching the end of the present Warres and Power of Rome and that there are many Calamaties yet to come after which there shall be an everlasting Peace and a new World and likewise what unheard of Miracles and such as were never known before shall happen and what shall be the State of the World from this time till the coming of Christ and likewise every Mans Nativity is here cast and his Fortune foretold him THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER A Prognostication of what shall happen to Physitians Chirurgeons Apothecaries and their dependants and Alchymists and Miners WHat Griefs Calamities and Miseries all Men are troubled with from their coming out of their Mothers wombs till their going into their graves none do feel so much as they that are afflicted with diseases and sickness and to recover and preserve the health of such is the business of Physitians and Apothecaries with their dependants nor is there any Calling or profession on earth more usefull for men than is that of Physick next to the Apostolical and Propheticall Calling For if a man were Master of the World and yet had not health what were he the better for all other things Iudeed this profession of Physick hath excellent testimonies not onely in the sacred Scripture but also from Experience Now though this be so yet nevertheless shall there be an end put to the business of physitians Apothecaries and Chyrurgeons and they shall be eased of all their pains and care and let them know this Prognostication that from my watch tower I have heard though not yet seen that within a short time we shall have an universal Medicine which will not onely recover the sick and keep them well but also take away death and for ever swallow it up Can there be any thing more acceptable to Man seeing that death masters every Man though Christ dyed and rose againe and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Majesty of God What a great comfort was it to wretched men in the times of Christ and his Apostles that they were cured of divers diseases and for this reason did Christ and his Apostles and Prophets follow this profession and therefore it is the most honourable of all next to that of Prophesying so that it is a wonder why the uncivil Civilians should take place of the Physitians but perhaps these wise men know not that health is better than all the goods and riches of the World But least you should think I tell you a Fable I would have you understand my Prognostication of the true universall Medicine which shall serve not onely Men but also all Flesh namely that there growes in Paradice a Tree which is and is called the Tree of Life which in the glorious and long expected coming of Jesus Christ our God and Saviour shall be made manifest and then shall it be afforded to men and the fruits of it shall be gathered by which all men and all flesh shall be delivered from death and that as truly solidly and surely as at the time of the fall by gathering the fruit of the forbidden Tree we together withall flesh fell into sin death and all ill And this glory and great joy hath God reserved for Us that live in these latter dayes and hath kept his good Wine untill now Therefore as in these times shall be made manifest whatsoever hath been hidden hitherto and even those things which are kept most secret so now shall the way to the Tree of Life be laid open which time the Apostle Peter hints at when he speaks of the times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord and of the times of restitution namely of that good which was lost and taken away in paradice and the Prophet Daniel 9.24 Acts 3.19 20 21. Of the great Apostle Paul we read that he was rapt into Paradice and heard words not to be uttered or which it was not fit for a man to tell and of this I will glory saith he 2 Cor. 21.4 What do we believe those words were wretch that I am I am farre beneath Paul for what should this befor how should such thoughts arise in my heart but this I may say in the fear of the Lord that
in a liquid glass notwithstanding 1 Cor. 5 37 that which is sowed is not quickned except it die and it is a rule amongst the Philosophers Ad perfectionem omnium Artium requiritur renascentia To like purpose another saith Corpus ad omnes perferandas miserias est ordinatum Oportet enim transire per ignem aquam renasci aliter in requiem eternam ingredi non poterit And another saith Post resurrectionem habemus gloriam fortitudinem sempiternam tunc gaudebunt omnes in prosperitate magnâ qui sciunt nostrum progressum So the end of every intention shews the beginning the Creatures were made perfect and to be perfect for the formal and final cause is the same the difference is in the perfections Some hold that the ancient Philosophers by this holy art have become Prophets And because Adam his dominion of the creatures was the knowledge of their natures and Properties by this Science he knew the world should be twice destroyed For both fire and water are necessarily required to the purification of the creature And as sense is the light of nature so reason is the perfection of sence by example we see with others eys but by reason with our own Notwithstanding we may consider Tubal-Cain Gen 4 32 who was an instructer of every Artificer in brass and iron that is saith the Philosopher a perfect Master in the decoction of Mineral vertue which Daemogerger calleth ferrum Et Aurora consurgens hath these words Ego sum ferrum siccum durum forte pistans pistatum omne bonum Et non est res mundi agens actionem meam Per me enim generatur secretum secretorum quando convalesco à languâ—ribus tunc habeo vitam leonis rugientis c. Etiam Raym Lullius Absque ferro homines suam vitam sustentare non posse Iterum Ferrum potest quod aurum non potest seipsum mortificat seipsum vivificat seipsum rubore decorat And this operative spirit is the regal sulphur which questioneth in Marlin his Allegory Where are mine enemies that would not that I should raign over them bring them hither that I may slay them The Antimonial and Arsenical spirits must be vanquished for onely to the benign gentle and most suffering Mercurial spirit is given absolute victory Lux sata est justo c. Ps 97 11 Therefore sow light and reap perfection sow gold and reap the internal beauty Notwithstanding the Philosophers work is not upon gold no more than a man doth ride upon a block because he mounts a great horse by it but their is use of it And one saith gold is dissolved by wisdom therefore in the power of Art to better yet the fast locked body must not only be made relative and the exterior form destroyed but from the crude nature and confused substance doth naturally arise a subtil white fume which is said to be vita quaedam unica omnia replens colligans connectens that is aqua clarissima putrefactionis and being corporated is clear as a Crystal looking glass and then called ens enti admixtum essentia composita Vrim also by help of the same pure body save that formae ex materia non nascitur is produced a more perfect substance brighter than a carbuncle giving sufficient light to read by which is called essentia simplox ens omnis privationis expers Thummim Rom 8 21 For the creature shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption unto a glorious liberty and the animality being changed into spirituality the corporal and spiritual vertues are eternally fixed Isa Holl de mi Dan 22 3 Some hold a glorified body shall be like a Chrystal Lanthorn with a taper in it and like them men shall differ in glory Certainly the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and the Creator hath given power to men to manifest the redintegration of the world by a lineary and successive course in short time which himself shall make apparent when time shall cease But de entibus â fortuna non potest esse veritas nec scientia Also we must specially remember onely the homogencal nature is capable of so high excellence which Bezaleel did work upon and hath the spirit of knowledge Exo. 38.22 Heb. 8.5 which word in the original is used for sense and experience and he made all the Lord commanded Moses who might make nothing save that he hath seen a pattern of in the Mount Therefore Bezaleel was at least equal to those of the second Temple and the ancient Philosophers Eze. 2â— 5.14 16. Zach. 4. Esay 4.5 Iob 28 v. 5 6. It seems also the Prophets were not ignorant of these things for there is mentioned of the stones of fire attained by wisdome the stone of Tinne in the hand of Zerubabel by the treasures and stone of darkness and as it were fire turned up yet they knew not the order of making the physical and Metaphysical bodies For in nature many things are produced by habitual vertue which seem incredible SIR GEORGE RIPLYE'S EPISTLE TO King Edward unfolded THis Epistle as it was imediately written to a King who was in his generation both wise and valiant so it doth comprise the whole secret both learnedly described and yet Artificially vailed yet as the Author testifieth that in this Epistle he doth plainly untie the main knot So I can and do testifie with him that there is nothing desireable for the true attaining of the mysterie both in the Theory and Practick of it which is not in this short Epistle fully taught This then I intend as a key to all my former writings and assure you on my faithful word that I shall not speak one word doubtfully or mystically as I have in all my other writings seeming to aver some things which taken without a figure are utterly false which we did onely to conceal this Art This key therefore we intend not to make common and shall intreat you to keep it secret to your self and not to communicate it except it be to a sure friend who you are confident will not make it publick And this request we make upon very good grounds knowing that all our writings together are nothing to this by reason of the contradictions which we have vvoven into them which here is not done in the least measure I shall therefore in this Epistle take up a new method and that different from the former and shall first draw up the substance of the Philosophy couched in this Epistle into several Conclusions and after elucidate the same The first Conclusion is drawn from the nineth stave of this Epistle the eight first staves being only complemental and that is That as all things are multiplyed in their kind so may be Mettals which have in themselves a capacity of being transmuted the imperfect into perfect The second Conclusion in the tenth stave is That the main ground for the
the Phylosophers work with that which is purely Natures work that so we might keep the simple in ignorance concerning our true Vinegre which being unknown their labor is wholly lost Let me then for a close say onely thus much Take our Body which is Gold and our Mercury which is seven times acuated by the martiage of it with our Hermaphroditieall Body which is a Chaos and it is the splendor of the soul of the God Mars in the earth and water of Saturn mix these two in such a pondus as nature doth require In this mixture you have our invisible fires for in the water our Mercury is an active Sulphur or mineral fire and in the Gold a dead passive but yet actual Sulphur now when that Sulphur of the Gold is stirred up and quickned there is made between the fire of nature which is as the Gold and the fire against nature which is in the Mercury a fire partly of the one and partly of the other for it partakes of both and by these two fires thus united into one is caused both Corruption which is Hnmiliation and Generation which is Glorification and Perfection Now know that God onely governs this way of the internal fire man being ignorant of the progress thereof onely by his reason beholding its opetations he is able to discern that it is hot that is that it doth perform the action of heat which is decoction In this fire there is no sublimation for sublimation is an exaltation but this fire is such an exaltation as that beyond it is no perfection All our work then is onely to multiply this fire that is to circulate the body so long until the vertue of the Sulphur be augmented Again this fire is an invisible Spirit and therefore not having dimentions is neither above nor below but every where in the Sphere of the activity of our matter in the Vessel So that though the material visible substance do sublime and ascend by the action of the elemental heat yet this spiritual virtue is alway as well in that which remains in the bottom as in that which is in the upper part of the Vessel for it is as the soul in the body of man which is every where at the same time and yet bounded or termined in none This is the ground of one Sophism of ours viz. when we say that in this true Philosophical fire there is no sublimation for the fire is the life and the life is a soul which is not at all subject to the dimensions of Bodies Hence also it is that the opening of the Glass or cooling of the same during the time of working kils the life or fire that is in this secret Sulphur and yet not one grain of the mettal is lost The elemental fire then is that which any child knowes how to kindle and govern but it is the Philosopher onely that is able to discern the true inward fire for it is a wonderful thing which acts in the body yet is no part of the body Therefore the fire is a Celestial virtue it is uniformed that is it is alwaies the same untill the period of its operation is come and then being come to perfection it acts no more for every Agent when the end of its action is come then rests Remember then that when we speak of our fire which sublimes not that thou do not mistake and think that the moisture of the compound which is within the Glass ought not to sublime for that it must do uncesantly but the fire that sublimes not is the metalline love which is above and below and in all places alike Now then for a close to all that hath been said learn and be well advised what matter you take in hand for an evil Crow laies an evil Egg as the proverb hath it let thy seed be pure and thy matrix also pnre then shalt thou see a noble off-spring let the fire without be such as in which our confections may play to fro uncessantly this in a few daies will produce that which thou most longest for the Crows Bill To the Readers WHereas this Book is to be Printed by a well willer to all men that love knowledge more than riches and to be cause red by all men I desire no man to assent unless has reason do move him therefore I am contented that every man upon the reading thereof shall have his free vote if he praise my work that will make me neither fatter nor more proud if de dispraise it that will make me no leaner nor abate the courage of my noble mind for the truth is that my minde is a size too great to value or regard the speeches of the common people more than the chattering of Magpyes or the pratling of Parrots So I take my leave At Westminster this 10. of March 1643. Your loving Friend G. P. A CAVEAT FOR ALCHYMISTS OR A warning to all ingenious Gentlemen whether Laicks or Clericks that study for the finding out of the Philosophers Stone shewing how that they need not to be cheated of their Estates either by the perswasion of others or by their own idle conceits The first Chapter WHereas I am shortly to demonstrate before the High and Honourable Court of Parliament in England that there is such a thing feisible as the Philosophers Stone or to fpeak more properly an Art in the transmutation of Mettals which will cause many a thousand men to undo and begger themselves in the searching for the same I cannot chuse but to publish these advertisements for that is a fundamental point in my Religion to do good to all men as well enemies as friends If I could be satisfied that the publishing thereof would do more good than hurt then the world should have it in plain terms and as plain as an Apothecaries receit But in regard that I have often vowed to God Almighty upon my knees to do the greatest good with it that my understanding could perswade me unto I have craved the advice of the Honourable Parliament for that I have strongly conceived an opinion that by the well contriving of the use of it the worlds ill manners may be changed into better if this can be done then I should break my vow to God if I should not do my best endeavours and therefore I dare not to cheat God Almighty having obtained this blessed science of his free gift and go into a corner and there eat drink and sleep like a swine as many have done before me upon whom this blessed knowledge hath been unworthily bestowed but had rather improve it to his glory if my counsel craved shall so think fit But howsoever my meaning is to do some considerable good with it howsoever that is to make my self a sea-mark to the end that no ingenious Gentleman shall from henceforth be undone by the searching for this noble Art as many have heretofore been Therefore my first Caveat shall be to shew
experiments which are all false upon my certain knowledge and if my purse could speak it should swear it And many others have written upon this subject which knew nothing but what they had collected out of books to what end I know not unless it were to draw other learned men unto them thinking to gain some knowledge by their conference Also another whose name I have forgotten for it is a great while since I read any books wrote a book intituled De interitu Aichymie which is as foolish as any of the other unless that when all his hopes were at an end he thought that some man would have come unto him and confuted him by shewing him the experience of it Well thus much for false books now as for true ones I could name many that could not be written but by those that had made certain trial of the work but for brevity sake and to keep this book within the price promised viz. two pence I will name onely four viz. The Compound of Alchymie written by Georgius Ripleus Anglus The Hierogliphical Figures of Nicholaus Tilamellus whose body lieth buried in Paris The works of Raymundus Lullius The two books of Bernardus Comes Trevisanus These four men shewed by their actions that they had the Art of the transmutation of Mettals For Georgius Ripleus Anglus maintained an Army of souldiers at Rhodes against the Turks at his own charge Nicholaus Tilamellus builded up seven Churches and seven Hospitals at Paris and endowed them with good revenues which may be easily proved Raymundus Lullius made gold in the Tower of London to furnish an Army to go against the Turks Bernardus Comes Trevisanus recovered his Eaâ—ldome again which he had formerly spent in the seeking of this Art And now me thinks I hear every one demanding how shall we do to find out this grat secret But Geber an Arabian Prince and a famous Philosopher shall answer in his own words viz. non per lectionem librorum sed per immensam cognitionem per profundans imaginationem per assiduam praxim and when all this is done he concludeth that est donum Dei Altissimi qui cui vult largitur subtrahit Well now me thinks I hear the cousening Alchymists saying what shall we do now we have no other living To which I answer that I would gladly rid the world of cheaters if I could but if they must needs couzen then let them trade with those that have so little love to art that they cannot afford to read this book to defend themselves and that will improve the wits of the world very much so that it may possibly do more good than hurt for the truth is that the world is unhappy only for want of wit which I have demonstrated in a little book lately printed which sheweth how any Kingdome may live in great plenty prosperity health peace and happiness and the King and Governours may live in great honour and riches and not have half so much trouble as is usual in these times and if any one shall be cheated and lay the fault upon me for discovering of cheats in this book I cannot help it for he that is willing to do good must needs do some hurt unless men were Angels But in this case I see not but my action is justifiable for first I have given every one an antidote against cheating and if they will not take it let them be cheated and then I will shew them a way to recover their losses by an experiment tryed upon my self for till I was soundly cheated of divers hundred pounds I thought my self to be a very knowing man but then I found that I was a fool and so disdained not to learn wit at any bodies hands that could teach me whereby I attained a considerable quantity of knowledge which I will not give or change for any mans estate whatsoever but though I sped so well by being cheated yet I wish all others to take heed for fear least that their fortunes prove not so good as mine The second Chapter VVHereas I have professed my self to be an Anticheator it behoveth me to discover the several ways whereby the world is so universally cheated by the cosening Alchymists and therefore though I could discover fourscore cheats yet at this time I will onely discover fourgrand ones and so conclude The first shall be to discover the knavery of Kelly the grand Impostor of the world whom the Emperour of Germany kept prisoner in a Castle and maintained him honourably thinking either by fair means or by foule to get the Philosophers Stone out of him who God knows had it not but made divers cosening projections before great men which by the report thereof have caused many to spend all that ever they had and it cannot be well estimated how many hundred thousand pounds have been spent in Europe about it since that time more than before And thus one of his projections was made before three great men sent over by Q Elizabeth to see the truth of the business He gave order to them to buy a warming panne which they did accordingly and brought it to him he took a pair of compasses and marked out a round plate in the middle of the cover thereof and with a round chisel he took out the piece then he put it in the fire and when it was red hot he put a little pouder upon it which flowed all over it and made it to look like to gold which is an easie matter to be done but when he came to fit it to the hole he had a piece of good gold taken out of a plate of gold by the compasses not altered and this by a trick of Legerdemain or slight of hand a thing common for I have known a Porter that could have done it he conveyed into the place and delivered the warming panne nto the hands of the spectators who it into England and the noise thereof made almost all mens ears to tingle and their fingers to itch till they were at the businels and raised the price of Alchymie books fearfully Now if he had meant plain dealing he would have given them some of his pouder home to their lodging that they might have done the like again themselves at home but he neither offered it neither did they desire it at which I marvel for if he had denyed that as it is like that he would then the knavery had been presently discovered so that this false news had not been brought into England whereby many men have received great loss Some have reported that he clipped out a sheard with a pair of Goldsmiths sheers and then he took a little more time and cast one of gold like to it which is easily done whethersoever he did the whole scope of the business argueth cheating and his meaning was nothing else but by either of these wayes to make the spectators to be less suspitious like to a jugler that foldeth up his sleeves
for the like purpurpose But admit that he had the true Philosophers Stone and that the body of a Mettal might be altered by it and turned into true gold without reduction of it to the first matter which is altogether unpossble yet he was a detestable villain to publish it in such manner to the great dammage of so many men as were thereby irritated to undoe themselves and not to give them some Advertisements like to these in this book whereby they might be preserved from undergoing any considerable loss But the old saying proved true qualis vita finis ita he lost his ears in London for cheating when he was a young cousener and when he was grown too skilfull to be discovered by men then God Almighty took punishment of him for he bought as much linnen cloth pretending to make shirts and other things as he thought would serve to let him down to the ground out at a window in the Tower of the Castle wherein he was a prisoner and whether his hold slipped or the cloth was too short I could never learn certainly but it is certain that he fell down and broke his bones and died and there was an end of him The second Cheat. A Nobleman in England thought that he had a transmutation of copper into silver shewed to him and thus the cheat was done First the cheater made two ingots of copper both alike then he filed one of them into two equal parts or very neer the middle then he got a piece of silver fashioned like to the longâ—r end but a little longer then he got a Silver-smith to let the one into the other curiously and soder it so that the piecing could not be discerned but that it appeared plainly to be one piece of mettal onely of two colours to wit white and red then he painted it all over with a colour made of copper as is hereafter declared then he dried it and painted it over three times or more till the colour was equal to the other when this was done he brought that which was all copper to the Earl and prayed him to file it at both ends which was done then he took it and went to fetch his white pouder and a very little thereof being made like to a Painters colour with a little vinegar he prayed the Earl to paint it half way over and so it was done the Earl supposing he had painted the same ingot which he formerly filed at both the ends well then it was dried and put into a cast of well tempered clay and when the clay was dry it was put into the fire and there being heated by a little and little till it was red hot and not melted at all it was left red hot till the charcoals were almost burned out which was done in a short space then it was taken out and made clean and that half which was annointed with the Alchymists white Philosophers stone was transmuted into better silver than ever any Alchymist or yet the best Philosopher in the world did ever make for it was all fine silver without any wast at all which was considerable before the refining but if he had meant plain dealing he would have divided his white pouder into two equal parts and have made his ingots but half so big and would have done the first part himself before the Earl and would have left him to do the other part himself in his absence but this he neither offered neither did the Earl desire it whereat I marvel This ingot was shewed to many and caused many a thousand pound to be spent some by the said Earl and some by others that were thereby encouraged and no doubt but that he had a great reward for cousening him for great men will have honourable rewards to a man that can satisfie them in the truth of this Art and that they are satisfied fully so long as the deception is not discovered Now as for the making of the copper colour it might be thus done Take filings of copper and twice as much quicksilver and grinde them upon a Painters maâ—ble stone with a little salt and vinegar and they will come into a Mass then wash away the salt and vinegar with common water till the mass be bright as silvâ—r but â—oft then set it in a gentle heat all night and it will be hard then grinde it with a little more quicksilver not too much to make it very liquid and set it in a gentle heat again till it be very hard and this work reiterate till it will drink up no more quicksilver then are the filings burst into attoms then evaporate the quicksilver in a crucible with a gentle heat first and afterwards make it red hot so will the copper be in red pouder this red pouder must be stamped in a marble morter with warm water and ever as the water is coloured red it must be poured of into a great Jarre glass and new water put to it and so the work must be reiterated till it will colour the water no more then let the water stand a night till the colour be setled to the bottom then poure off the clear water and dry the rest in the Sun or in any gentle heat it will be as fine as any fine wheat flower which must be ground upon a Painters marble stone with gum-water till a Painter may paint with it The third Cheat. An Alchymist travelled with this cheat into many Kingdoms and Countries and it may be done by one that hath not the Art of Legerdemain or slight of hand and thus it was done He filed a twenty shiling piece of gold into dust and put it into the bottom of a crucible or a Goldsmiths melting pot then he made a thin leaf of wax of a fit breadth and raÌ„med it down a little hollow in the middle with an hot iron sodered it then he painted it over with a paint hereafter mentioned and dried it and painted it again and thus did till it was like the crciuble and when he wanted mony he would go to a rich hostess in some City and take a chamber for a week and when he had been there a day or two and had payed royally the next morning he would be sick and keep his bed and when his Hostess came to vifit him he would ask her if she could help him to a Gold smith that would do some business for him and he would pay him for his pains very largely so she was ready and brought one he asked him if he could do him one hours work or two presently the Gold smith answered him yes Sir with all my heart so he took his purse from under his pillow and gave him half a crown and prayed him to buy half an ounce of quicksilver and bring it to him presently the Goldsmith did so then he gave him his key and prayed him to open his portmantle and take out a little box and open it where he
that can know the vertues and pâ—â—perties of every thing in the world The Chymists are of this mind for they hold that all Medicines have their signatures or their peculiar marks and figures by which they resemble the parts or diseases of mans body and that they are writings as it were sealed with the hand of God to teach men their faculties Whence it comes that Lung-wort is good for the ungs Stags tongue for the spleen Poppy and green Nuts for the head Satvrium or Ragwort for the testicies Winter cherry for the Bladder Hart-wort for the Womb and Madder for a broken shinbone Eyebright for the Eyes Salomons seal and Through-leaf for those that are burst because the root of the first is like the Hemia and the stalk of the other passes through its leaf as the gut doth through the cawl the root of Tormentil red Sanders and the Blood-stone for the bloody Hux and Carduus Benedictus and other prickled plants are good against the pricking stitches in the sides A CONFERENCE Concerning the Philosophers-Stone THe first man said That the Poets had reason to say that the Gods had lefs hope formen in the bottom of Pandora's box after all their other goods were flown away for nature dealing gently with man doth so order it that the almost infinite number of accidents of his life and those for the most part troublesome ones cannot on the one hand lay him too low but on the other hope wil rase him again as high For not to speak of Hope as it is the chief of Christian vertues accompanying a man even in death and easing him of the pain of all his evils Is a man in affliction He comforts himself with hope of coming out of it Is he of low birth He hopes by his brave exploits to make himself Noble If poor to enrich himself if sick to heal himself Nay though he want the ordinary means of obtaining these ends yet is he not discouraged But that which most deserves to be laught at by those which think it impossibly or to be admired by those who will search deeper into the whimsies and fancies of men is that an old weak sick poor man should nevertheless hope to be one day attended like a Prince and not onely to grow sound again but also young and handsome How can all this be Why by the Philosophers Stone which is the great work the All-heal the Elivir and the universal Restorative Now this being far from all likelyhood and there being divers other absurdities in that Chymerical Art it makes me believe that there is no use of it but to comfort miserable men with The second said that the Chymists who busie themselves about the Philosophers stone are of two sorts The one sort though they promise transmutation of Mettals by mixing fixing cimenting and other operations yet do nothing but give Tinctures to the Mettals by their Sophistications The other sort call themselves the true Sons of knowledge and meddle not with particulars but onely with this great work at which they all aim though by severall wayes some of these think to get it by blowing and their way is to put gold and quicksilver together which they keep for nine moneths long in a furnace over a lamp Others think it a very easie business call it the work of children and say that to attain it there needs no knowledge but of the matter the Fire the Vessel and the manner for the rest comes as it were of it self after one hath received it by tradition which they say is the onely means to get it There are some also who attribute this work to Revelation and say that we need onely to pray to God for it and these believe that it is conteined in the Scripture where it is said That there needs a great deal of clay to make Pots with whereas a little pouder will make gold and that it was this kinde of knowledge which did so inrich Solomon that Gold as is said in the Scripture was in his reign as common as stones and that the gold of Ophir was that which the Philosophers Stone had changed and made much more excellent than natural gold and what is said of the ships which he sent to fetch it is spoken but Parabollically and figuratively as was that story of the golden Fleece for the golden Fleece was nothing but a Parchment wherein this secret was written but the greatest number of Chymists are of an opinion made up of both these for they say that to obtain it men must work and God must help by an extraordinary grace and favour I do think with them that there is a Philosophers Stone or at least that it is possible to be found out That the matter of it is salt and that its fire is motion For seeing both these are found every where this property fits them very well For salt may be drawn out of all bodies heat likewise proceeds from the rubbing of bodies one upon another in imitation of that heat which the Heavens do cause here below The third said That the Philosophers Stone is a pouder of projection which being in a very small quantity thrown upon imperfect Mettals as all Mettals except gold are imperfect doth purifie and heal them of their Leprosie and uncleanness so that having purged them of their dross and hightned their degrees they obtain a more perfect Nature for Mettals differ from one another onely in degrees of perfection This pouder is of two sorts the white which serves to make silver with and the red which being more concocted is fit to make gold with To obtain this aman needs the perfect knowledg but of three things that is to say of the Agent the Matter and the Proportion requisite to the end that the Agent may draw out the inquired Form out of the very bosome of the Matter duly prepared by the application of Active to Passives The two first of these three are easie to know for the Agent is nothing but heat whether it be of the Sun beams or of our common fire or of the dunghill which they call the Horse besly or of Maries bath or of Animals The Patients are Salt Sulphur Mercury Gold Silver Antimony Vitriol or some few other such like things from which what we have to look for experience will easily shew But the application of the Agent to the Patient the determination of the degrees of heat the last preparation and disposition of the Matter cannot be known but by much pains and long experience which being very difficult from thence it comes that in this Art we see more cheats and impostures than truth and yet Histories do assure us that Hermes Trismegistus Geber Raymundus Lullius Arnoldus de Villâ Novâ Flamellus Trevisanus and some others have had the knowledge of it But whereas this small number of those which they assure have had it an almost infinite number of others have undone themselves by it the search
is of two colours being white and corrupt in the Silver which therefore falleth away but red and pure in the Gold and therefore permanent These diversities of metals being come to passe by accideÌ„tal causes is the cause that Art being Natures Ape by imitation hath endeavoured to perform that wherein Nature was hindered whereupon Aristotle saith Facilius est distruere Accidentale quam Essentiale so that the Accidental being destroyed the Essential remains which should be pure But this cannot be done without projection of the Elixar or Quinteffence upon Metals Hence proceedeth the study of all the Philosophers to make their miraculous stone which I confess is very pleasant and full of expectation when a man seeth the true and perfect transmutation of Metals Lead and Iron into Copper the Ore of Lead into Quick-siâ—ver or Mercury with a small charge to a very great profit as it hath been made for me untill the maker of it died within three months after he had made almost four thousand pound weight as good as any natura Mercury could be and that in six weeks time To return to our Philosophers concerning the essence of metals they have been transcended in the knowledge thereof for they shew the generation of Sulphuâ— and Mercury in this manner The exhalations of the earth being cold and dry and the vapours of the seas being cold and moist according to their natures ascending and meeting in a due proportion and equality and falling upon some hilly or mountainous countrey where the influence of Sun and Moon have continual operation are the cause of generation or properly from it is Sulphur ingendered penetrating into the earth where there are veines of water and there they congeal into Gold or Silver or into the Ores of Silver Copper and all other metals participating or holding alwayes some little mixture of the best or being in nature better or worse according to the said accidental causes So that they do attribute the generation to the operation of the influences of the Sun and Moon where the Book of God sheweth us the creation of all things in heaven and earth and the furniture thereof The earth being the dry part of the globe of the world did appear and was made the third day containing in it the Ores of all Metals and Minerals whereas the Sun and Moon were created afterward on the fourth day whose operation was incident to the things created but not before In like manner say they are Diamonds Rubies and other pretious stones ingendred according to the purity of the matter and the proportionable participation of every element therein if the exhalations being subtill do superabound and prevail over the vapours then hereof is Sulphur ingendered and if this subtil exhalation be mixed with the moist vapours and wanteth decoction as being in a very cold place it becomes Mercury or Quick-silver which can endure no heat or fire at all The first Metal mentioned in the holy Scripture is Gold which was found in the river Pison running through the Garden of Eden into the Countrey of Havilah where Gold doth grow and this was in the East According to which observation all the veins of Mines run from East towards West with the course of the Sun as shall be more deciared To this argument appertaineth the Philosophical study of Prima Materia to be found out by experience for the great work of La pis Philosophorum by the operation of the Sun in seven yeares The practise whereof was made about forty yeares since by a German Doctor of Physick at Dansick in the East Countries as I have been informed by a friend of mine who was also a Physitian and was done in this manner according to the bigness of the body of the Sun being 166 times bigger than the whole Globe of the earth and water making the circumference of the world Whereupon he took 166 vials or glasses wherein he did put of all the Ores of Metals and Minerals and other things which had any affinity with Minerals and some of them mixed and calcined all of them and closing or nipping up all the glasses by fire he did expose them to the Sun in an eminent place for and during the said time of seven yeares and found thereby as it was reported Prima Materia which was reduced to seven glasses howsoever it was certain that he grew very rich bought above an hundred houses in that City before he died Which was an occasion-that my friend imitating him did likewise place not far from London seven glasses with calcined Metals and Minerals upon a house top against the back of a chimney where the repercussion of the Sun did work upon them which was admirable to behold from six moneth to six moneths not onely by the sublimation of colours very variable and Celestial but also of the rare alteration of the stuffe being sometimes liquid another time dry or part of it moist ascending and descending very strange to behold as my self have seen divers times from year to year Some had been there two three four five and one almost seven yeares the colour whereof had been yellow then white in the superficies then as black as pitch afterwards dark red with stars of gold in the upper part of the glass and at last of the colour of Oranges or Lemons and the substance almost dry Many were the questions between him and me but he was confident that there was the Elixar howbeit very doubtful that he should never enjoy the same and it came so to passe for after a long sickness he died of a burning Ague and a Gentleman gave a sum of mony to his wife for that glasse whereof I have not heard any thing these seven yeares In this glass he would shew me the working of this Quintessence according to the description of Ripley who he was assured had the Lapis and so had Frier Bacon and Norton of Bristol Kelley had by his saying some little part to make projection but it was not of his own making The charge to make it was little or nothing to speak of and might be done in seven moneths if a man did begin it on the right day The twelve operations of Ripley he declared unto me were but six and then it resteth for saith he all Philosophers have darkened the study of this blessed Work which God hath revealed to a few humble and charitable men Calcination Dissolution and Separation are but one and so is Conjuction and Putrifaction likewise Cibation and Fermentation then followeth Congelation and at last Multiplication and Projection which are also but one For mine own part seeing that no man can be perfect in any one Science I hold it not amiss for a man to have knowledge in most or in all things for by this study of Alcumy men may attain to many good Experiments of distillations Chymical Fire-works and other excellent observations in Nature which being far from Merchants profession I hope shall not