 Chapter 4 Part 7 of Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Read by Morgan Scorpion Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds Volume 1 by Charles Mackay The Alchemists Part 7 Dr. D. and Edward Kelly John D. and Edward Kelly claim to be mentioned together, having been so long associated in the same pursuits, and undergone so many strange vicissitudes in each other's society. D. was altogether a wonderful man, and had he lived in an age when fallen superstition were less rife, he would, with the same powers which he enjoyed, have left behind him a bright and enduring reputation. He was born in London in the year 1527 and very early manifested a love for study. At the age of 15 he was sent to Cambridge and delighted so much in his books that he passed regularly 18 hours every day among them. Of the other six he devoted four to sleep and two for refreshment. Such intense application did not injure his health and could not fail to make him one of the first scholars of his time. Unfortunately, however, he quitted the mathematics and the pursuit of true philosophy to indulge in the unprofitable reveries of the occult sciences. He studied alchemy, astrology and magic, and thereby rendered himself obnoxious to the authorities at Cambridge. To avoid persecution he was at last obliged to retire to the University of Louisville, the rumours of sorcery that were current respecting him, rendering his longer stay in England not altogether without danger. He found at Louisville many kindred spirits who had known Cornelius a gripper while he resided among them, and by whom he was constantly entertained with the wondrous deeds of that great master of the Hermetic Mysteries. From their conversations he received much encouragement to continue the search for the philosopher's stone, which soon began to occupy nearly all his thoughts. He did not long remain on the continent, but returned to England in 1551, being at that time in the twenty-fourth year of his age. By the influence of his friend Sir John Cheek, he was kindly received at the Court of King Edward VI, and rewarded, it is difficult to say for what, with a pension of one hundred crowns. He continued for several years to practice in London as an astrologer, casting nativities, telling fortunes, and pointing out lucky and unlucky days. During the reign of Queen Mary he got into trouble, being suspected of heresy, and charged with attempting Mary's life by means of enchantments. He was tried for the latter offence and acquitted, but was retained in prison on the former charge and left to the tender mercies of Bishop Bonner. He had a very narrow escape from being burned in Smithfield, but he somehow or other contrived to persuade that fierce bigot that his orthodoxy was unimpeachable, and was set at liberty in 1555. On the accession of Elizabeth a brighter day dawned upon him. During her retirement at Woodstock, her servants appeared to have consulted him as to the time of Mary's death. Which circumstance no doubt first gave rise to the serious charge for which he was brought to trial. They now came to consult him more openly as to the fortunes of their mistress, and Robert Dudley, the celebrated Earl of Leicester, was sent by command of the Queen herself to know the most auspicious day for her coronation. So great was the favour he enjoyed that some years afterwards, Elizabeth condescended to pay him a visit at his house in Mortlake to view his museum of curiosities, and when he was ill, sent her own position to attend upon him. Astrology was the means whereby he lived, and he continued to practice it with great aciduity. But his heart was in alchemy. The philosopher's stone and the elixir of life haunted his daily thoughts and his nightly dreams. The Talmudic mysteries, which he had also deeply studied, impressed him with the belief that he might hold converse with spirits and angels, and learn from them all the mysteries of the universe. Holding the same idea as the then obscure sect of the Rosicrucians, some of whom he had perhaps encountered in his travels in Germany, he imagined that, by means of the philosopher's stone, he could summon these kindly spirits at his will. By dint of continually brooding upon the subject, his imagination became so diseased that he at last persuaded him that an angel appeared to him, and promised to be his friend and companion as long as he lived. He relates that, one day in November 1582, while he was engaged in fervent prayer, the window of his museum looking towards the west suddenly glowed with a dazzling light, in the midst of which, in all his glory, stood the great angel Uriel. Or, and wonder, rendered him speechless, but the angel smiling graciously upon him gave him a crystal of a convex form, and told him that whenever he wished to hold converse with the beings of another sphere, he had only to gaze intently upon it, and they would appear in the crystal, and unveil to him all the secrets of futurity. Note 41. The crystal, alluded to, appears to have been a black stone or a piece of polished coal. The following account of it is given in the supplement to Granger's biographical history. The black stone into which D. used to call his spirits was in the collection of the Earl's of Peterborough, from whence it came to Lady Elizabeth Germain. It was next the property of the late Duke of Argyle, and is now Mr. Walpole's. It appears upon examination to be nothing more than a polished piece of conal coal, but this is what Butler means when he says, Kelly did all his feats upon the devil's looking-glass, a stone. Thus saying, the angel disappeared. D. found from the experience of the crystal that it was necessary that all the faculties of the soul should be concentrated upon it, otherwise the spirits did not appear. He found that he could never recollect the conversations he had with the angels. He therefore determined to communicate the secret to another person, who might converse with the spirit while he, D., sat in another part of the room, and took down in writing the revelations which they made. He had at this time in his service as his assistant, one Edward Kelly, who like himself was crazy upon the subject of the philosopher's stone. There was this difference, however, between them, that while D. was more of an enthusiast than an impostor, Kelly was more of an impostor than an enthusiast. In early life he was a notary, and had the misfortune to lose both his ears for forgery. This mutilation, degrading enough in any man, was destructive to a philosopher. Kelly, therefore, lest his wisdom should suffer in the world's opinion, wore a black skullcap, which, fitting close to his head and descending over both his cheeks, not only concealed his loss, but gave him a very solemn and oracular appearance. So well did he keep his secret that even D., with whom he lived so many years, appears never to have discovered it. Kelly, with this character, was just the man to carry on any piece of roguery for his own advantage, or to nurture the delusions of his master for the same purpose. No sooner did D. inform him of the visit he had received from the glorious Uriel, than Kelly expressed such a fervour of belief that D.'s heart glowed with delight. He set about consulting his crystal forthwith, and on the second of December, 1581, the spirits appeared, and held a very extraordinary discourse with Kelly, which D. took down in writing. The curious reader may see this ferrago of nonsense among the Harleyan manuscripts in the British Museum. The later consultations were published, in a folio volume, in 1659, by Dr. Merrick Cosable, under the title of, A true and faithful relation of what passed between Dr. John D. and some spirits, tending, had it succeeded, to a general alteration of most states and kingdoms in the world. Note 42. Lily the astrologer, in his life, written by himself, frequently tells of prophecies delivered by the angels in a manner similar to the angels of Dr. D. He says, The prophecies were not given vocally by the angels, but by inspection of the crystal in types and figures, or by apparition, the circular way, where, at some distance, the angels appear, representing by forms, shapes, and creatures what is demanded. It is very rare, yea, even in our days, quote that Weisaker, for any operator or master to hear the angels speak articulately, for when they do speak, it is likely Irish, much in the throat. The fame of these wondrous colloquies soon spread over the country, and even reached the continent. D. at the same time pretended to be in possession of the Elixir Vitae, which he stated he had found among the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey in Somersetshire. People flocked from far and near to his house at Mortlake to have their nativities cast, in preference to visiting astrologers of less renown. They also longed to see a man, who according to his own account, would never die. Altogether he carried on a very profitable trade, but spent so much in drugs and metals to work out some peculiar process of the transmutation, that he never became rich. About this time there came into England a wealthy Polish nobleman, came Albert Lasky, Count Palatine of Surat. His object was principally, he said, to visit the court of Queen Elizabeth, the fame of whose glory and magnificence had reached him in distant Poland. Elizabeth received this flattering stranger with the most splendid hospitality, and appointed her favourite Lester to show him all that was worth seeing in England. He visited all the curiosities of London and Westminster, and from thence proceeded to Oxford and Cambridge, that he might converse with some of the great scholars whose writings shed luster upon the land of their birth. He was very much disappointed at not finding Dr D among them, and told the Earl of Lester that he would not have gone to Oxford if he had known that D was not there. The Earl promised to introduce him to the great alchemist on their return to London, and the Pole was satisfied. A few days afterwards, the Earl and Lasky, being in the antechamber of the Queen, awaiting an audience of Her Majesty, Dr D arrived on the same errand, and was introduced to the Pole. Note 43. Albert Lasky, son of Jaroslav, was Palatine of Surat and afterwards of Sendomir, and chiefly contributed to the election of Henry of Valois, the Third of France, to the throne of Poland, and was one of the delegates who went to France in order to announce to the new monarch his elevation to the sovereignty of Poland. After the deposition of Henry, Albert Lasky voted for Maximilian of Austria. In 1583 he visited England where Queen Elizabeth received him with great distinction. The honors which were shown him during his visit to Oxford by the special command of the Queen were equal to those rendered to sovereign princes. His extraordinary prodigality rendered his enormous wealth insufficient to defray his expenses, and he therefore became a zealous adept in alchemy, and took from England to Poland with him two known alchemists. Count Valerian Krasinski's historical sketch of the Reformation in Poland. An interesting conversation ensued, which ended by the stranger inviting himself to dine with the astrologer at his house at Mortlake. Dee returned home in some tribulation, for he found he had not money enough, without pouring his plate, to entertain Count Lasky and his retinue in a manner becoming their dignity. In this emergency he sent off an express to the Earl of Leicester stating frankly the embarrassment that he laboured under, and praying his good offices in representing the matter to her majesty. Elizabeth immediately sent him a present of twenty pounds. On the appointed day Count Lasky came, attended by a numerous retinue, and expressed such open and warm admiration of the wonderful attainments of the host, that Dee turned over in his own mind how he could bind irretrievably to his interests a man who seemed so well inclined to become his friend. Long acquaintance with Kelly had imbued him with all the rugry of that personage, and he resolved to make the pole pay dearly for his dinner. He found out before many days that he possessed great estates in his own country, as well as great influence, but that an extravagant disposition had reduced him to temporary embarrassment. He also discovered that he was a firm believer in the philosopher's stone and the water of life. He was therefore just the man upon whom an adventurer might fasten himself. Kelly thought so too, and both of them set to work to weave a web, in the meshes of which they might firmly entangle the rich and credulous stranger. They went very cautiously about it, first throwing out obscure hints of the stone and the elixir, and finally of the spirits, by means of whom they could turn over the pages of the book of Futurity and read the awful secrets inscribed therein. Lasky eagerly implored that he might be admitted to one of their mysterious interviews with Uriel and the Angels, but they knew human nature too well to exceed at once to the request. To the Count's entreaties they only replied by hints of the difficulty or impropriety of summoning the spirits in the presence of a stranger, or of one who might per chance have no other motive than the gratification of a vain curiosity. But they only meant to wet the edge of his appetite by this delay, and would have been very sorry indeed if the Count had been discouraged. To show how exclusively the thoughts of both Dee and Kelly were fixed upon their dupe at this time, it is only necessary to read the introduction to their first interview with the spirits, related in the volume of Dr. Cosabon. The entry made by Dee under the date of the 25th of May 1583 says that when the spirit appeared to them, I, John Dee and E. K., Edward Kelly, sat together conversing of that noble polonian, Albertus Lasky, his great honour here with us obtained, and his great liking among all sorts of the people. No doubt they were discussing how they might make the most of the noble polonian, and concocting the fine story with which they afterwards excited his curiosity, and drew him firmly within their toils. Suddenly, said Dee, as they were thus employed, there seemed to come out of the oratory a spiritual creature, like a pretty girl of seven or nine years of age, a tie on her head, with her hair rolled up before and hanging down behind with a gown of silk of changeable red and green, and with a train. She seemed to play up and down, and seemed to go in and out behind the books, and she seemed to go between them, the books displaced themselves, and made way for her. With such tales as these, they lured on the pole from day to day, and at last persuaded him to be a witness of their mysteries. Whether they played any optical delusions upon him, or whether by the force of a strong imagination he deluded himself, does not appear, but it's certain it is that he became a complete tool in their hands, and consented to do whatever they wished. Kelly, at these interviews, placed himself at a certain distance from the wondrous crystal, and gazed intently upon it, while Dee took his place in a corner, ready to set down the prophecies as they were uttered by the spirits. In this manner they prophesied to the pole that he should become the fortunate possessor of the philosopher's stone, that he should live for centuries and be chosen king of Poland, in which capacity he should gain many great victories over the Saracens and make his name illustrious over the earth. For this purpose it was necessary, however, that Lasky should leave England and take them with him, together with their wives and families, that he should treat them all sumptuously, and allow them to want for nothing. Lasky at once consented, and very shortly afterwards they were all on the road to Poland. It took them upwards of four months to reach the Count's estates in the neighbourhood of Krakow. In the meantime, they led a pleasant life and spent money with an unsparing hand. When once established in the Count's palace, they commenced the great Hermetic operation of transmuting iron into gold. Lasky provided them with all necessary materials and aided them himself with his knowledge of alchemy, but somehow or other the experiment always failed at the very moment it ought to have succeeded, and they were obliged to recommence operations on a grander scale. But the hopes of Lasky were not easily extinguished. Already in idea the possessor of countless millions he was not to be cast down for fear of present expenses. He thus continued from day to day and from month to month, till he was at last obliged to sell a portion of his deeply mortgaged estates to find ailment for the hungry crucibles of Dee and Kelly, and the no less hungry stomachs of their wives and families. It was not till Ruin stared him in the face that he awoke from his dream of infatuation, too happy even then to find that he had escaped utter beggary. Thus restored to his senses, his first thought was how to rid himself of his expensive visitors. Not wishing to quarrel with them, he proposed that they should proceed to Prague, well furnished with letters of recommendation to the Emperor Rudolf. Our alchemists too plainly saw that nothing more was to be made of the almost destitute Count Lasky. Without hesitation, therefore, they accepted the proposal and set out forthwith to the Imperial residence. They had no difficulty on their arrival at Prague in obtaining an audience of the Emperor. They found him willing enough to believe that such a thing as the Philosopher's Stone existed and fluttered themselves that they had made a favourable impression upon him. But for some cause or other, perhaps the look of low cunning and quackery upon the face of Kelly, the Emperor conceived no very high opinion of their abilities. He allowed them, however, to remain for some months at Prague, feeding themselves upon the hope that he would employ them. But the more he saw of them, the less he liked them, and when the Pope's nuncio represented to him that he ought not to countenance such heretic magicians, he gave orders that they should quit his dominions within four and twenty hours. It was fortunate for them that so little time was given them, for had they remained six hours longer, the nuncio had received orders to procure a perpetual dungeon or the stake for them. Not knowing well whether to direct their steps, they resolved to return to Krakow, where they had still a few friends. But by this time the funds they had drawn from Lasky were almost exhausted, and they were many days obliged to go dino-less and suppol-less. They had great difficulty to keep their poverty a secret from the world, but they managed to bear privation without murmuring, from a conviction that if the facts were known it would militate very much against their pretensions. Nobody would believe that they were possessors of the philosopher's stone if it were once suspected that they did not know how to procure bread for their subsistence. They still gained a little by casting nativities and kept starvation at arm's length, till a new dupe, rich enough for their purposes, dropped into their toils in the shape of a royal personage. Having procured an introduction to Stephen, King of Poland, they predicted to him that the Emperor Rudolf would shortly be assassinated and that the Germans would look to Poland for his successor. As this prediction was not precise enough to satisfy the King, they tried their crystal again and a spirit appeared who told them that the new sovereign of Germany would be Stephen of Poland. Stephen was credulous enough to believe them, and was once present when Kelly held his mystic conversations with the shadows of his crystal. He also appeared to have furnished them with money to carry on their experiments in alchemy, but he grew tired at last of their broken promises and their constant drains upon his pocket, and was on the point of discarding them with disgrace when they met another dupe to whom they eagerly transferred their services. This was Count Rosenberg, a nobleman of large estates at Trebonar in Bohemia. So comfortable did they find themselves in the palace of this munificent patron that they remained nearly four years with him, fearing sumptuously and having an almost unlimited command of his money. The Count was more ambitious and avaricious. He had wealth enough and did not care for the philosopher's stone on account of the gold, but of the length of days it would bring him. They had their predictions accordingly already framed to suit his character. They prophesied that he should be chosen King of Poland and promised, moreover, that he should live for five hundred years to enjoy his dignity, provided always that he found them sufficient money to carry on their experiments. But now, while fortune smiled upon them, while they reveled in the rewards of successful villainry, retributive justice came upon them in a shape they had not anticipated. Jealousy and mistrust sprang up between the two confederates, and led to such violent and ventquels that D was in constant fear of exposure. Kelly imagined himself a much greater personage than D, measuring most likely by the standard of impudent roguery, and was displeased that on all occasions and from all persons D received the greater share of honour and consideration. He often threatened to leave D to shift for himself, and the latter, who had degenerated into the mere tool of his more daring associate, was distressed beyond measure at the prospect of his desertion. His mind was so deeply imbued with superstition that he believed the rhapsodies of Kelly to be in no great measure derived from his intercourse with angels, and he knew not where in the whole world to look for a man of depth and wisdom enough to succeed him. As their quarrels every day became more and more frequent, D wrote letters to Queen Elizabeth to secure a favourable reception on his return to England, whether he intended to proceed if Kelly forestook him. He also sent her a round piece of silver which he pretended he had made of a portion of brass cut out of a warming pan. He afterwards sent her the warming pan also that she might convince herself that the piece of silver corresponded exactly with the hole which was cut into the brass. While thus preparing for the worst, his chief desire was to remain in Bohemia with Count Rosenberg, who treated him well, and reposed much confidence in him. Neither had Kelly any great objection to remain, but a new passion had taken possession of his breast and he was laying deep schemes to gratify it. His own wife was ill-favoured and ill-natured. D's was comely and agreeable, and he longed to make an exchange of partners without exciting the jealousy or ex-shocking the morality of D. This was a difficult matter, but to a man like Kelly, who was as deficient in rectitude and right-feeling as he was of impudence and ingenuity, the difficulty was not insurmountable. He had also deeply studied the character and the foibles of D, and he took his measure accordingly. The next time they consulted the spirits, Kelly pretended to be shocked at their language and refused to tell D what they had said. D insisted and was informed that they were henceforth to have their wives in common. D, a little startled, inquired whether the spirits might not mean that they were to live in common harmony and goodwill. Kelly tried again with apparent reluctance, and said these spirits insisted upon a literal interpretation. The poor fanatic D resigned himself to their will, but it suited Kelly's purpose to appear coy a little longer. He declared that the spirits must be spirits not of good, but of evil, and refused to consult them any more. He thereupon took his departure, saying he would never return. D, thus left to himself, was in sore trouble and distress of mind. He knew not on whom to fix as a successor to Kelly for consulting the spirits, but at last chose his son Arthur, a boy of eight years of age. He consecrated him to this service with great ceremony, and impressed upon the child's mind the dignified and awful nature of the duties he was called upon to perform. But the poor boy had neither the imagination, the faith, nor the artifice of Kelly. He looked intently upon the crystal, as he was told, but he could see nothing and hear nothing. At last, when his eyes ached, he said he could see a vague indistinct shadow, but nothing more. D was in despair. The deception had been carried on so long that he was never so happy as when he fancied he was holding converse with superior beings, and he cursed the day that had put estrangement between him and his dear friend Kelly. This was exactly what Kelly had foreseen, and when he thought the doctor had grieved sufficiently for its absence, he returned unexpectedly, and entered the room where the little Arthur was in vain endeavouring to distinguish something in the crystal. D, in entering the circumstance in his journal, ascribes this sudden return to a miraculous fortune and a divine fate, and goes on to record that Kelly immediately saw the spirits which had remained invisible to little Arthur. One of these spirits reiterated the previous command that they should have their wives in common. Kelly bowed his head and submitted, and D, in all humility, consented to the arrangement. This was the extreme depth of the wretched man's degradation. In this manner they continued to live for three or four months, when, new quarrels breaking out, they separated once more. This time their separation was final. Kelly, taking the elixir which he had found in Glastonbury Abbey, proceeded to Prague, forgetful of the abrupt mode in which he had previously been expelled from that city. Almost immediately after his arrival he was seized by the order of the Emperor Rudolf and thrown into prison. He was released after some months' confinement and continued for five years to lead a vagabond life in Germany, telling fortunes at one place and pretending to make gold at another. He was a second time thrown into prison on a charge of heresy and sorcery, and he then resolved, if he ever obtained his liberty, to return to England. He soon discovered that there was no prospect of this, and that his imprisonment was likely to be for life. He twisted his bedclothes into a rope on stormy night in February 1595 and let himself down from the window of his dungeon, situated at the top of a very high tower. Being a corpulent man, the rope gave way and he was precipitated to the ground. He broke two of his ribs and both his legs, and was otherwise so much injured that he expired a few days afterwards. Dee, for a while, had more prosperous fortune. The warming pan he had sent to Queen Elizabeth was not without effect. He was rewarded soon after Kelly had left him with an invitation to return to England. His pride, which had been sorely humbled, sprung up again to its pristine dimensions, and he set out from Bohemia with a train of attendance becoming an ambassador. How he procured the money does not appear, unless from the liberality of the rich Bohemian Rosenberg, or perhaps from his plunder. He travelled with three coaches for himself and his family, and three wagons to carry his baggage. Each coach had four horses, and the whole train was protected by a guard of four and twenty soldiers. This statement may be doubted, but it is on the authority of Dee himself who made it on oath before the commissioners appointed by Elizabeth to inquire into his circumstances. On his arrival in England he had an audience of the Queen, who received him kindly as far as words went, and gave orders that he should not be molested in his pursuits of chemistry and philosophy. A man who boasted of the power to turn baser metals into gold could not, thought Elizabeth, be in want of money. And she therefore gave him no more substantial marks of her approbation than her countenance and protection. Throne thus unexpectedly upon his own resources, Dee began in earnest to search for the philosopher's stone. He worked incessantly amongst his furnaces with torts and crucibles, and almost poisoned himself with the deleterious fumes. He also consulted his miraculous crystal, but the spirits appeared not to him. He tried one Bartholomew to supply the place of the invaluable Kelly, but he, being a man of some little probity, and of no imagination at all, the spirits would not hold any communication with him. Dee then tried another pretender to philosophy, of the name of Hickman, but had no better fortune. The crystal had lost its power since the departure of its great high priest. From this quarter, then, Dee could get no information on the stone or elixir of the alchemists, and all his efforts to discover them by other means were not only fruitless but expensive. He was soon reduced to great distress, and wrote piteous letters to the Queen praying relief. He represented that after he left England with Count Lasky, the mob had pillaged his house at Mortlake, accusing him of being a necromancer and a wizard, and had broken all his furniture, burned his library, consisting of four thousand rare volumes, and destroyed all the philosophical instruments and curiosities in his museum. For this damage he claimed compensation, and furthermore stated that as he had come to England by the Queen's command, she ought to pay the expenses of his journey. Elizabeth sent him small sums of money at various times, but Dee, still continuing his complaints, a commission was appointed to inquire into his circumstances. He finally obtained a small appointment as Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, which he exchanged in 1595 for the wardship of the College at Manchester. He remained in this capacity to 1602 or 1603 when his strength and intellect beginning to fail him, he was compelled to resign. He retired to his old dwelling at Mortlake in a state not far removed from actual want, supporting himself as a common fortune teller, and being often obliged to sell or pawn his books to procure a dinner. James I was often applied to on his behalf, but he refused to do anything for him. It may be said to the discredit of the King that the only reward he would grant the indefatigable stow in his days of old age and want was the royal permission to beg. But no one will blame him for neglecting such a quack as John Dee. He died in 1608 in the 81st year of his age, and was buried at Mortlake. To volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Memories of extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds, Volume 1 by Charles McKay. The Alchemists, Part 8, The Cusnopollet. Many disputes have arisen as to the real name of the Alchemist who wrote several works under the above designation. The general opinion is that he was a Scotsman named Sutton, and that by a fate very common to Alchemists who boasted too proudly of their powers of transmutation, he ended his days miserably in a dungeon into which he was thrown by a German patente until he made a million of gold to pay his ransom. By some he has been confounded with Michael Sendevog, or Sendevogius, a pole, a professor of the same art, who made a great noise in Europe at the commencement of the 17th century. Langley du Fresnoi, who is in general well-informed with respect to the Alchemists, inclines to the belief that these personages were distinct, and gives the following particulars of the Cusnopollet extracted from George Moorhoff in his Epistola ad Langolotl and other writers. About the year 1600, one Jacob Hosan, a Dutch pilot, was shipwrecked on the coast of Scotland. A gentleman named Alexander Sutton put off in a boat and saved him from drowning, and afterwards entertained him hospitably for many weeks at his house on the shore. Hosan saw that he was addicted to the pursuits of chemistry, but no conversation on the subject passed between them at the time. About a year and a half afterwards, Hosan, being then at home at Inquison in Holland, received a visit from his former host. He endeavored to repay the kindness that had been shown him, and so great a friendship arose between them that Sutton, on his departure, offered to make him acquainted with the great secret of the philosopher's stone. In his presence, the Scotsman transmuted a great quantity of base metal into pure gold and gave it him as a mark of his esteem. Sutton then took leave of his friend and traveled into Germany. At Dresden, he made no secret of his wonderful powers, having, it is said, performed transmutation successfully before a great assemblage of the learned and met in that city. The circumstance coming to the ears of the duke or elector of Saxony, he gave orders for the arrest of the alchemist. He caused him to be imprisoned in a high tower and set a guard of forty men to watch that he did not escape, and that no strangers were admitted to his presence. The unfortunate Satan received several visits from the elector who used every art of persuasion to make him divulge his secret. Sutton obstinately refused either to communicate his secret or to make any gold for the tyrant, on which he was stretched upon the rack to see if the argument of torture would render him more tractable. The result was still the same, neither hope or reward nor fear of anguish could shake him. For several months he remained in prison, subjected alternately to a sedate and violent regimen, till his health broke, and he wasted away almost to a skeleton. There happened at that time to be in Dresden a learned pole named Michael Sandivogius, who had wasted a good deal of his time and substance in the unprofitable pursuits of alchemy. He was touched with pity for the hard fate and admiration for the intrepidity of Sutton and determined, if possible, to aid him in escaping from the clutch of his oppressor. He requested the elector's permission to see the alchemist and obtained it with some difficulty. He found him in a state of great rigidness, shed up from the light of day in a noisome dungeon, and with no better couch or fare than those allotted to the worst of criminals. Sutton listened eagerly to the proposal of escape and promised the generous pole that he would make him richer than an eastern monarch if by his means he were liberated. Sandivogius immediately commenced operations, he sold some property which he possessed near Cracow, and with the proceeds led a merry life in Dresden. He gave the most elegant suppers to which he regularly invited the officers of the guard and especially those who did duty at the prison of the alchemist. He insinuated himself at last into their confidence and obtained free ingress to his friend as often as he pleased, pretending that he was using his utmost endeavors to conquer his obscenity and warm his secret out of him. When their project was ripe a day was fixed upon for the grand attempt and Sandivogius was ready with a post chariot to convey him with all speed into Poland. By dragging some wine which he presented to the guards of the prison he rendered them so drowsy that he easily found means to scale a wall unobserved with Sutton and effect his escape. Sutton's wife was in a chariot waiting him having safely in her possession a small packet of a black powder which was in fact the philosopher's stone or ingredient for the transmutation of iron and copper into gold. They all arrived in safety at Cracow but the fame of Sutton was so wasted by torture of body and starvation to say nothing of the anguish of mind he had endured that he did not long survive. He died in Cracow in 1604 and was buried under the cathedral church of that city. Such is the story related of the author of the various works which bear the name of the cosmopolitan. A list of them may be found in the third volume of the History of the Hermetic Philosophy. Sandivogius. On the death of Sutton Sandivogius married his widow hoping to learn from her some of the secrets of her deceased lord in the art of transmutation. The ounce of black powder stood him however in better service for the alchemists say that by its means he converted great quantities of quicksilver into the purest gold. It is also said that he performed this experiment successfully before the emperor Rudolf II at Prague in that the emperor to commemorate the circumstance caused the marble tablet to be affixed to the wall of the room in which it was performed bearing this inscription. Fasia Hoquisbiam Alius called Fesed Sandivogius Polonis. M. Dresnoyers, secretary to the princess nary of Gonzaga queen of Poland writing from Warsaw in 1651 says that he saw this tablet which existed at that time and was often visited by the curious. The afterlife of Sandivogius is related in a Latin memoir of him by Juan Bardowski, his steward and is inserted by Pierre Borrell in his treasure of Gaulish antiquities. The emperor Rudolf according to this authority was so well pleased with his success that he made him one of his counselors of state and invited him to fill a station in the royal household and inhabit the palace. But Sandivogius loves his liberty and refused to become a courtier. He preferred to reside on his own patrimonial estate of Gravarna where for many years he exercised the princely hospitality. His philosophic powder which his steward says was red and not black he kept in a little box of gold and with one grain of it he could make 500 ducats or a thousand rigs dollars. He generally made his projection upon quicksilver. When he traveled he gave this box to his steward who hung it round his neck by a gold chain next to his skin. But the greatest part of the powder he used to hide in a secret place cut into the step of his chariot. He thought that if attacked at any time by robbers they would not search such a place as that. When he anticipated any danger he would dress himself in his valet's clothes and mounting the coach box put the valet inside. He was induced to take these potions because it was no secret that he possessed the philosopher stone and many unprincipled adventurers were in the watch for an opportunity to plunder him. A German prince whose name Bradoski had not thought to fit to chronicle served him a scurry trick whichever afterwards put him on his guard. This prince went on his knees to send Evogeus and entreated him in the most pressing terms to satisfy his curiosity by converting some quicksilver into gold before him. Send Evogeus, wearied by his importunity, consented upon a promise of inviolable secrecy. After his departure the prince called the German alchemist, named Mulefens, who resided in his house and told him all that had been done. Mulefels entreated that he might have a dozen mounted horsemen at his command, that he might instantly ride after the philosopher and either rob him of all his powder or force from him the secret of making it. The prince desired nothing better. Mulefels, being provided with twelve men well mounted and armed, pursued Send Evogeus in hot haste. He came up with him at a lonely inn by the roadside just as he was sitting down to dinner. He had first endeavored to persuade him to divulge his secret but finding this of no avail he caused his accomplices to strip the unfortunate Send Evogeus. And tie him naked to one of the pillars of the house. He then took from him his golden box containing a small quantity of the powder, a manuscript book on the philosopher's stone, a golden medal with its chain presented to him by the emperor Rudolph and the rich cap ornamented with diamonds of the value of one hundred thousand ricks dollars. With this booty he decamped, leaving Send Evogeus still naked and firmly bound to the pillar. His servants had been treated in a similar manner but the people of the inn released them all as soon as the robbers were out of sight. Send Evogeus proceeded to Prague and made his complaint to the emperor. An express was instantly sent off to the prince with orders that he should deliver up Mulefels and all his plunder. The prince, fearful of the emperor's wrath, caused three large gallows to be erected in his courtyard, on the highest of which he hanged Mulefels with another thief on each side of him. He thus perpetuated the emperor and got rid of an ugly witness against himself. He sent back at the same time the bejeweled hat, the medal and chain and the treaties upon the philosopher's stone which had been stolen from Send Evogeus. As regarded the powder he said he had not seen it and knew nothing about it. This adventure made Send Evogeus more prudent. He would no longer perform the process of transmutation before any strangers, however highly recommended. He pretended also to be very poor and sometimes lay in bed for weeks together that people might believe he was suffering from some dangerous malady and could not therefore by any possibility be the owner of the philosopher's stone. He would occasionally coin false money and pass it off as gold, preferring to be esteemed a cheat rather than a successful alchemist. Many other extraordinary tales are told of this personage by his steward Bradoski, but they are not worth repeating. He died in 1636, aged upwards of 80, and was buried in his own chapel at Gravarna. Several works upon alchemy have been published under his name. End of Chapter 4, Part 8, Recording by Jonna in Washington, DC Chapter 4, Part 9 of Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 1 by Charles McKay The Alchemist, Part 9 The Rosicrucians It was during the time of the last mentioned author that the sect of the Rosicrucians first began to create a sensation in Europe. The influence which they exercised upon opinion during their brief career and the permanent impression which they have left upon European literature claim for them a special notice. Before their time alchemy was but a groveling delusion, and theirs is the merit of having spiritualized and refined it. They also enlarged its sphere and supposed the possession of the philosopher's stone to be not only the means of wealth, but of health and happiness, and the instrument by which man could command the services of superior beings, control the elements to his will, defy the obstructions of time and space, and acquire the most intimate knowledge of all the secrets of the universe. Wild and visionary as they were, they were not without their uses, if it were only for having purged the superstitions of Europe of the dark and disgusting forms with which the monks had peopled it, and substituted in their stead a race of mild, graceful, and beneficent beings. They are sent to have derived their name from Christian Rosencruci, or Rose Cross, a German philosopher, who traveled in the Holy Land towards the close of the 14th century. While dangerously ill at a place called Damkar, he was visited by some learned Arabs, who claimed him as their brother in science, and unfolded to him by inspiration all the secrets of his past life, both of thought and of action. They restored him to health by means of the philosopher's stone, and afterwards instructed him in all their mysteries. He returned to Europe in 1401, being then only 23 years of age, and drew a chosen number of his friends around him, whom he initiated into the new science, and bound by solemn oaths to keep it secret for a century. He is said to have lived 83 years after this period, and to have died in 1484. Many have denied the existence of such a personage as Rosencruci, and have fixed the origin of this sect at a much later epoch. The first dawning of it, they say, is to be found in the theories of Paracelus, and the dreams of Dr. D., who, without intending it, became the actual, though never the recognized founders of the Rosencrucian philosophy. It is now difficult, and indeed impossible, to determine whether D. and Paracelus obtained their ideas from the then obscure and unknown Rosencrucians, or whether the Rosencrucians did but follow and improve upon them. Certain it is that their existence was never suspected till the year 1605, when they began to excite attention in Germany. No sooner were their doctrines promulgated than all the visionaries, Paracelus and Alchemist flocked around their standard, and vaunted Rosencruci as the new regenerator of the human race. Michael Mayer, a celebrated physician of that day, and who had impaired his health and wasted his fortune in searching for the philosopher's stone, drew up a report of the tenets and ordinances of the new fraternity, which was published at Cologne in the year 1615. They asserted in the first place that the meditations of their founders surpassed everything that had ever been imagined since the creation of the world, without even accepting the revelations of the deity, that they were destined to accomplish the general peace and regeneration of man before the end of the world arrived, that they possessed all wisdom and piety in a supreme degree, that they possessed all the graces of nature and could distribute them among the rest of mankind according to their pleasure, that they were subject to neither hunger, nor thirst, nor disease, nor old age, nor to any other inconvenience of nature, that they knew by inspiration and at the first glance everyone who was worthy to be admitted into their society, that they had the same knowledge then which they would have possessed if they had lived from the beginning of the world and had been always acquiring it, that they had a volume in which they could read all that ever was or ever would be written in other books till the end of time, that they could force to and retain in their service the most powerful spirits and demons, that by the virtue of their songs they could attract pearls and precious stones from the depths of the sea or the bowels of the earth, that God had covered them with a thick cloud by means of which they could shelter themselves from the malignity of their enemies and that they could thus render themselves invisible from all eyes, that the first eight brethren of the Rose Cross had power to cure all maladies, that by means of the fraternity the triple diadem of the Pope would be reduced into dust, that they only admitted two sacraments with the ceremonies of the Primitive Church renewed by them, that they recognized the fourth monarchy and the emperor of the Romans as their chief and the chief of all Christians, that they would provide him with more gold, their treasures being inexhaustible, than the king of Spain had ever drawn from the golden regions of eastern and western end. This was their confession of faith, their rules of conduct were six in number and as follow. First, that in their travels they should gratuitously cure all diseases. Secondly, that they should always dress in conformity to the fashion of the country in which they resided. Thirdly, that they should, once every year, meet together in the place appointed by the fraternity or send in writing an available excuse. Fourthly, that every brother, whenever he felt inclined to die, should choose a person worthy to succeed him. Fifthly, that the words Rose Cross should be the marks by which they should recognize each other. Sixthly, that their fraternity should be kept secret for six times twenty years. They asserted that these laws had been found inscribed in a golden book in the tomb of Rosencruz and that the six times twenty years from his death expired in 1604. They were consequently called upon from that time forth to promulgate their doctrine for the welfare of mankind. Footnote. The following legend of the tomb of Rosencruz, written by Eustace Budgel, appears in number 379 of the spectator. A certain person, having occasion to dig somewhat deep in the ground where this philosopher lay interred, met with a small door having a wall on either side of it. His curiosity and the hope of finding some hidden treasure soon prompted him to force open the door. He was immediately surprised by a sudden blaze of light and discovered a very fair vault. At the upper end of it was a statue of a man in armor, sitting by a table, leaning on his left arm. He held a truncheon in his right hand and had a lamp burning before him. The man no sooner set one foot within the vault that the statue, erecting itself from its leaning posture, stood bolt upright and, upon the fellows advancing another step, lifted up the truncheon in his right hand. The man still ventured a third step, when the statue, with a furious blow, broke the lamp into a thousand pieces and left his guest in sudden darkness. Upon the report of this adventure, the country people came with lights to the sepulcher and discovered that the statue, which was made of brass, was nothing more than a piece of clockwork, that the floor of the vault was all loose and underlaid with several springs, which, upon any man's entering, naturally produced that which had happened. Those accrucious, say his disciples, made use of this method to show the world that he had reinvented the ever-burning lamps of the ancients, though he was resolved no one would reap any advantage from the discovery. For eight years these enthusiasts made converts in Germany, but they excited little or no attention in other parts of Europe. At last they made their appearance in Paris and threw all the learned, all the credulous, and all the lovers of the marvelous into commotion. In the beginning of March 1623, the good folks of that city, when they arose one morning, were surprised to find all their walls placarded with the following singular manifesto. We, the deputies of the principal college of the Brethren of the Rose Cross, have taken up our abode, visible and invisible in this city, by the grace of the Most High, towards whom are turned the hearts of the just. We show and teach without books or signs, and speak all sorts of languages in the countries where we dwell, to draw mankind, our fellows, from error and from death. For a long time this strange placard was the sole topic of conversation in all public places. Some few wondered, but the greater number only laughed at it. In the course of a few weeks two books were published, which raised the first alarm respecting this mysterious society, whose dwelling place no one knew, and no members of which had ever been seen. The first was called a history of the frightful compacts entered into between the devil and the pretended invisibles, with their damnable instructions, the deplorable ruin of their disciples, and their miserable end. The other was called an examination of the new and unknown cabala of the Brethren of the Rose Cross, who have lately inhabited the city of Paris, with the history of their manners, the wonders worked by them, and many other particulars. These books sold rapidly. Everyone was anxious to know something of this dreadful and secret brotherhood. The Baudauds of Paris were so alarmed that they daily expected to see the arch enemy walking in appropriate persona among them. It was said in these volumes that the Rosicrucian society consisted of six and thirty persons in all, who had renounced their baptism in hope of resurrection. That it was not by means of good angels as they pretended that they worked their prodigies, but that it was the devil who gave them power to transport themselves from one end of the world to the other with the rapidity of thought, to speak all languages, to have their purses always full of money, however much they might spend, to be invisible and penetrate into the most secret places in spite of fastenings of bolts and bars, and to be able to tell the past and future. These thirty-six Brethren were divided into bands or companies. Six of them only had been sent on the mission to Paris, six to Italy, six to Spain, six to Germany, four to Sweden, and two into Switzerland, two into Flanders, two into Lorraine, and two into François Comte. It was generally believed that the missionaries to France resided somewhere in the Marais du Tamble. That quarter of Paris soon acquired a bad name, and people were afraid to take houses in it, lest they should be turned out by the six invisibles of the Rose Cross. It was believed by the populace and by many others whose education should have taught them better that persons of a mysterious aspect used to visit the inns and hotels of Paris and eat of the best meats and drink of the best wines and then suddenly melt away into thin air when the landlord came with the reckoning. That gentle maidens who went to bed alone often awoke in the night and found men in bed with them, of shape more beautiful than the Grecian Apollo who immediately became invisible when an alarm was raised. It was also said that many persons found large heaps of gold in their houses without knowing from whence they came. All Paris was an alarm, no man thought himself secure of his goods, no maiden of her virginity, or wife of her chastity, while these rose accrucians were abroad. In the midst of the commotion a second placard was issued to the following effect. If anyone desires to see the brethren of the Rose Cross from curiosity only he will never communicate with us, but if his will really induces him to inscribe his name in the register of our brotherhood, we who can judge the thoughts of all men will convince him of the truth of our promises. For this reason we do not publish to the world the place of our abode. Thought alone, in unison with the sincere will of those who desire to know us, is sufficient to make us known to them and them to us. Though the existence of such a society as that of the Rose Cross was problematical, it was quite evident that somebody or other was concerned in the promulgation of these placards which were stuck up on every wall in Paris. The police endeavored in vain to find out the offenders and their want of success only served to increase the perplexity of the public. The church very soon took up the question and the Abbe Gaultier, a Jesuit, wrote a book to prove that by their enmity to the Pope they could be no other than disciples of Luther sent to promulgate his heresy. Their very name, he added, proved that they were heretics, a cross surmounted by a rose being the heraldic device of the archheretical Luther. One Geras said they were a confraternity of drunken imposters and that their name was derived from the garland of roses in the form of a cross hung over the tables of taverns in Germany as the emblem of secrecy and from whence was derived the common saying when one man communicated a secret to another that it was said under the rose. Others interpreted the letters FRC to mean not Brethren of the Rose Cross, but Fractere Rose Cacte or Brothers of the Boiled Dew and explained this appellation by alleging that they collected large quantities of morning dew and boiled it in order to extract a very valuable ingredient in the composition of the philosopher's stone and the water of life. The fraternity thus attacked defended themselves as well as they were able. They denied that they used magic of any kind or that they consulted the devil. They said they were all happy that they had lived more than a century and expected to live many centuries more and that the intimate knowledge which they possessed of all nature was communicated to them by God himself as a reward for their piety and other devotion to his service. Those were an error who derived their name from a cross of roses or called them drunkards. To set the world right on the first point they reiterated that they derived their name from Christian Rosenkreuz, their founder and to answer the latter charge they repeated that they knew not what thirst was and had higher pleasures than those of the palette. They did not desire to meddle with the politics or religion of any man or set of men although they could not help denying the supremacy of the Pope and looking upon him as a tyrant. Many slanders they said had been repeated respecting them the most unjust of which was that they indulged in carnal appetites and under the cloak of their invisibility crept into the chambers of beautiful maidens. They asserted on the contrary that the first vow they took on entering the society was a vow of chastity and that anyone among them who transgressed in that particular would immediately lose all the advantages he enjoyed and be exposed once more to hunger, woe, disease and death like other men. So strongly did they feel on the subject of chastity that they attributed the fall of Adam solely to his want of this virtue. Besides defending themselves in this manner they entered into a further confession of their faith. They discarded forever all the old tales of sorcery and witchcraft and communion with the devil. They said there were no such horrid, unnatural and disgusting beings as the incubi and succubi and the innumerable grotesque imps that men had believed in for so many ages. Man was not surrounded with enemies like these but with myriads of beautiful and beneficent beings all anxious to do him service. The air was peopled with silks, the water with undines or nyads, the bowels of the earth with domes and the fire with salamanders. All these beings were the friends of man and desired nothing so much as that men should purge themselves of all uncleanness and thus be enabled to see and converse with them. They possessed great power and were unrestrained by the barriers of space or the obstructions of matter but man was in one particular their superior. He had an immortal soul and they had not. They might however become sharers in man's immortality if they could inspire one of that race with the passion of love towards them. Hence it was the constant endeavour of the female spirits to captivate the admiration of men and of the male gnomes, silks, salamanders and undines to be beloved by a woman. The object of this passion in returning their love imparted a portion of that celestial fire, the soul and from that time forth the beloved became equal to the lover and both when their allotted course was run entered together into the mansions of felicity. These spirits they said watched constantly over mankind by night and day. Dreams, omens and presentiments were all their works and the means by which they gave warning of the approach of danger but though so well inclined to befriend man for their own sakes the want of a soul rendered them at times capricious and revengeful. They took offence on slight causes instead of benefits on the heads of those who extinguished the light of reason that was in them by gluttony, debauchery and other appetites of the body. The excitement produced in Paris by the placards of the brotherhood and the attacks of the clergy wore itself away after a few months. The stories circulated about them became at last too absurd even for that age of absurdity and men began to laugh once more at those invisible gentlemen and their fantastic doctrines. Gabriele Naudet at that conjuncture in France sur les frères de la Rose Croix in which he very successfully exposed the folly of the new sect. This work, though not well written, was well timed. It quite extinguished the Rosicrucians of France and after that year little more was heard of them. Swindlers in different parts of the country assumed the name at times to cloak their depredations and now and then one of them was caught and hanged for his too great ingenuity in enticing pearls and precious stones from the pockets of other people or for passing off lumps of gilded brass for pure gold made by the agency of the philosopher's stone. With these exceptions, oblivion shrouded them. The doctrine was not confined to a sphere so narrow as France alone. It still nourished in Germany and drew many converts in England. The latter countries produced two great masters in the persons of Jacob Bowman and Robert Flugg, pretended philosophers of whom it is difficult to say which was the most absurd and extravagant. They were divided into two classes. The brothers, Rosier Cruces, who devoted themselves to the wonders of this plenary sphere and the brothers, Arié Cruces, who were wholly occupied in the contemplation of things divine. Flood belonged to the first class and Bowman to the second. Flood may be called the father of the English Rosicrucians and as such merits a conspicuous niche in the Temple of Fali. He was born in the year 1574 at Milge in Kent as a treasure of war to Queen Elizabeth. He was originally intended for the army but he was too fond of study and of a disposition too quiet and retiring to shine in that sphere. His father would not therefore press him to adopt a course of life for which he was unsuited and encouraged him in the study of medicine for which he early manifested a partiality. At the age of 25 he proceeded to the continent and being fond of the abstruse, the marvelous and the incomprehensible he became an ardent disciple and he looked upon as the regenerator not only of medicine but of philosophy. He remained six years in Italy, France and Germany storing his mind with fantastic notions and seeking the society of enthusiast and visionaries. On his return to England in 1605 he received the degree of doctor of medicine from the University of Oxford and began to practice as a physician in London. He soon made himself conspicuous. He Latinized his name from Robert Flood into Robertus afluctibus and began the promulgation of many strange doctrines. He avowed his belief in the philosopher's stone the water of life and the universal alka-hest and maintained that there were but two principles of all things which were condensation, the boreal or northern virtue and rarefaction, the southern or austral virtue. A number of demons he said ruled over the human frame whom he arranged in their places in a rhomboid. A number of demons whose place was directly opposite to his in the rhomboidal figure. Of his medical notions we shall have further occasion to speak in another part of this book when we consider him in his character as one of the first founders of the magnetic delusion and its offshoot animal magnetism which has created so much sensation in our own day. As if the doctrines already imagined were not wild enough he joined the Rosicrucians the fraternity having been violently attacked by several German authors and among others by Libavius Flood volunteered a reply and published in 1616 his defense of the Rosicrucian philosophy under the title of Apologia Compundiaria Fraternitatum de Rosie Cruci Suspecionis on Enfamilie Maculis Aspersem Abluens This work immediately procured him great renown upon the continent and he was henceforth looked upon as one of the high priests of the sect. How much importance was he considered that Kepler and Ghazendi thought it necessary to refute him and the latter wrote a complete examination of his doctrine. Mercen also, the friend of Descartes who had defended that philosopher when accused of having joined the Rosicrucians attacked Dr. Afluktibus as he preferred to be called and showed the absurdity of the brothers of the Rose Cross in general and of Dr. Afluktibus in particular. Fluktibus wrote a long reply in which he called Mercen that alchemy was a profitable science and the Rosicrucians worthy to be the regenerators of the world. This book was published at Frankfurt and was entitled Summon Bonham, Quote S. Magie, Kebalee, Alchemy, Fratum Rosie Crucius Veronum and Edversus Messenium Columniatorum. Besides this he wrote several other works upon alchemy, a second answer to Labavius upon the Rosicrucians and many medical works. He died in London in 1637. At this time there was some diminution of the sect in England. They excited but little attention and made no effort to bring themselves into notice. Occasionally some obscure and almost incomprehensible work made its appearance to show the world that the folly was not extinguished. Eugenius Philolethus, a noted alchemist who has veiled his real name under this assumed one, translated The Fame and Confession of the Brethren of the Rose Cross which was published in London wrote two works on the subject, the one entitled The Wise Man's Crown or The Glory of the Rosie Cross and the other The Holy Guide leading the way to unite art and nature with the Rosie Cross uncovered. Neither of these attracted much notice. A third book was somewhat more successful. It was called A New Method of Rosicrucian Physic by John Hayden, the servant of God and the Secretary of Nature. A few extracts will show the ideas of his attorney practicing to use his own words at Westminster Hall all term times as long as he live and in the vacations devoting himself to the alchemical and rosicrucian meditation. In his preface called by him an apologue for an epilogue he enlightens the public upon the true history and tenets of his sect. Moses, Elias and Ezekiel were, he says, the most ancient masters of the Rosicrucian philosophy. Those few then existing in England as the eyes and ears of the great King of the Universe seeing and hearing all things seraphically illuminated companions of the Holy Company of unbodied souls and immortal angels turning themselves Proteus-like into any shape and having the power of working miracles. The most pious and abstracted brethren could slack the plague in cities silence the violent winds and tempests calm the rage of the sea and rivers walk in the air frustrate the malicious aspect of witches and turn all metals into gold. He had known in his time two famous brethren of the Rosicross named Walford and Williams who had worked miracles in his sight and taught him many excellent predictions of astrology and earthquakes. I desired one of these to tell me, says he, whether my complexion were capable of the society of my good genius. When I see you again, said he, which was when he pleased to come to me for I knew not where to go to him. I will tell you. He prayed to God for a good and holy man can offer no greater or more acceptable service to God than the ablation of himself, his soul. He said also that the good genie were the benign eyes of God running to and fro in the world and with love and pity beholding the innocent endeavors of harmless and single-hearted men ever ready to do them good and to help them. Hayden held devoutly true that dogma of the Rosicrucians which said that neither eating in the same manner as that singular people dwelling near the source of the Ganges of whom mention was made in the travels of his namesake, Sir Christopher Hayden who had no mouths and therefore could not eat but lived by the breath of their nostrils except when they took a far journey and then they mended their diet with the smell of flowers. He said that in really pure air there was a fine foreign fatness with which it was sprinkled by the sunbeams and which was quite sufficient since he had no objection to see take animal food since they could not do without it but he obstinately insisted that there was no necessity why they should eat it. If they put a plaster of nicely cooked meat upon their epigastrium it would be sufficient for the wants of the most robust and voracious. They would by that means let in no diseases as they did at the broad and common gate the mouth as anyone might see by example of drink. In fact, we may easily fast all our life though it be three hundred years without any kind of meat and so cut off all danger of disease. This sage philosopher further informed his wondering contemporaries that the chiefs of the doctrine always carried about with them to their place of meeting their symbol called the RC which was an ebony cross flourished and decked with roses of gold typifying Christ's sufferings upon the cross for our sins and the roses of gold the glory and beauty of his resurrection. This symbol was carried alternately to Mecca, Mount Cavalry, Mount Sinai, Heran and to three other places which must have been in mid-air called Casca, Epemia and Sholotovirasah, Kanuk where the Rosicrucian brethren met when they pleased and made resolution of all their actions. They always took their pleasures whatever had been done was done or should be done in the world from the beginning to the end thereof and these, he concludes are the men called Rosicrucians. Towards the end of the 17th century more rational ideas took possession of the sect which still continued to boast of a few members. They appeared to have considered that contentment was the true philosopher's stone and to have abandoned the insane search for a mere phantom of the imagination. Addison in the spectator number 574 gives an account of his conversation with the Rosicrucian from which it may be inferred that the sect had grown wiser in their deeds though in their talk they were as foolish as ever. I was once, says he engaged in discourse with the Rosicrucian about the great secret. He talked of the secret as of a spirit which lived within an emerald and converted everything that was near it to the highest perfection that it was capable of. It gives a luster, says he to the sun and water to the diamond. It irradiates every metal and enriches lead with all the properties of gold. It heightens smoke into flame, flame into light and light into glory. He further added that a single ray of it dissipates pain and care and melancholy from the person upon whom it falls. In short, says he, its presence naturally changes every place into a kind of heaven. After he had gone on for some time in this unintelligible cant I found that he jumbled natural and moral ideas together into the same discourse that was nothing else but content. End of Chapter 4, Part 9 Chapter 4, Part 10 Of memoirs of extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Scott Beatty Memoirs of extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds Volume 1 by Charles McKay The Alchemist Part 10 Jacob Bowman It is now time to speak of Jacob Bowman who thought he could discover the secret of the transmutation of metals in the Bible and who invented a strange heterogeneous doctrine of mingled alchemy and religion and founded upon it the sect of the Aria Crucians. He was born at Gorlitz in Upper Lusatia in 1575 and followed till his 30th year the occupation of a shoemaker. In this obscurity he remained with the character of a visionary and a man of unsettled mind until the promulgation of the Rosa Crucian philosophy in his part of Germany toward the year 1607 or 1608. From that time he began to neglect his leather and buried his brain under the rubbish of metaphysics the works of Paracelsus fell into his hands and these with the reveries of the Rosa Crucians so completely engrossed his attention that they abandoned his trade altogether sinking at the same time from a state of comparative independence into poverty and destitution but he was nothing daunted by the miseries and privations of the flesh his mind was fixed upon the beings of another sphere and in thought he was already the new apostle of the human race. In the year 1612 after a meditation of four years he published his first work entitled Aurora or The Rising of the Sun embodying the ridiculous notions of Paracelsus and worse confounding the confusion of that writer the philosopher's stone might he contended be discovered by a diligent search of the old and new testaments and more especially of the apocalypse which alone contained all the secrets of alchemy he contended the divine grace operated by the same rules and followed the same methods that the divine providence observed in the natural world and that the minds of men were purged from their vices and corruptions in the very same manner that metals were purified from their dross namely by fire besides the sylphs gnomes undines and salamanders he acknowledged various ranks he pretended to invisibility an absolute chastity he also said that if it pleased him he could abstain for years from meat and drink and all the necessities of the body it is needless however to pursue his follies any further who is reprimanded for writing this work by the magistrates of Gorlitz and commanded to leave the pen alone and stick to his wax that his family might not become chargeable to the parish he neglected this good advice and continued his studies burning minerals and purifying metals one day and mystifying the word of God on the next he afterwards wrote three other works as sublimely ridiculous as the first the one was entitled metallurgia and has the slight merit of being the least obscure another was called the temporal mirror of eternity and the last his theospey revealed full of allegories and metaphors quote all strange and guisen devoid of sense an ordinary reason unquote bowman died in 1624 leaving behind him a considerable number of admiring disciples many of them became of the 17th century as distinguished for absurdity as their master amongst whom maybe mentioned Githyle Wendenhagen John Jacobs Zimmerman and Abraham Frankenberg their heresy rendered them obnoxious to the church of Rome and many of them suffered long imprisonment and torture for their faith one named Coleman David Moskow in 1684 on a charge of sorcery Bowman's works were translated into English and published many years afterwards by an enthusiast named William Law Morimus Peter Morimus a notorious alchemist and contemporary at Bowman endeavored in 1630 to introduce the Holland he applied to the state's general to grant him a public audience that he might explain the tenets of the sect and disclose a plan for rendering Holland the happiest and richest country on the earth by means of the philosopher's stone and the service of the elementary spirits the state's general wisely resolved to have nothing to do with him he thereupon determined to start printing his book which he did at Leiden the same year it was entitled the book of the most hidden secrets of nature and was divided into three parts the first treating of perpetual motion the second of the transmutation of metals and the third of the universal medicine he also published some German works upon the Rosicrucian philosophy at Frankfurt in 1617 poetry and romance are deeply indebted to the Rosicrucians for many a graceful creation the literature of England France and Germany contains hundreds of sweet fictions whose machinery has been borrowed from their daydreams the quote delicate aerial of Shakespeare stands preeminent among the number from the same source Pope drew the airy tenets of Belinda's dressing room in his charming rape of the lock and Lamotte the beautiful and capricious water nymph Undyne around whom he has thrown more grace and loveliness and for whose imaginary woes he has excited more sympathy than ever were bestowed on a supernatural being Sir Walter Scott the white lady of Avanel with many of the attributes of the undynes or water sprites German romance and lyrical poetry team with allusions to sylphs, gnomes, undynes and salamanders and the French have not been behind in substituting them in works of fiction for the more cumbrous mythology of Greece and Rome the sylphs more especially have been so familiar to the popular mind as to be in a manner confounded with that other race of ideal beings the fairies who can boast of an antiquity much more venerable and the annals of superstition having these obligations to the Rosicrucians no lover of poetry can wish however absurd they were that such a sect of philosophers had never existed at the time that Michael Mayer was making known to the world the existence of such a body as the Rosicrucians there was born in Italy a man who was afterwards destined to become the most conspicuous member of the fraternity the alchemic mania never called forth the ingenuity of a more consummate or more successful imposter than Joseph Francis Borey he was born in 1616 according to some authorities in 1627 according to others at Milan where his father the senior Branda Borey practiced as a physician at the age of 16 Joseph was sent to finish his education at the Jesuits College in Rome where he distinguished himself by his extraordinary memory he learned everything to which he applied himself with the utmost ease and continued for his retention and no study was so abstruse but that he could master it but any advantages he might have derived from this facility were neutralized by his ungovernable passions and his love of turmoil and debauchery he was involved in continual difficulty as well with the heads of college as with the police of Rome and acquired so bad a character of it by the aid of his friends he established himself as a physician in Rome and also obtained some situation in the Pope's household in one of his fits of studiousness he grew enamored of alchemy and determined to devote his energies to the discovery of the philosopher's stone of unfortunate propensities he had quite sufficient besides this to bring him to poverty he was as responsive as his studies and both were of a nature to destroy his health and ruin his fair fame at the age of 37 he found that he could not live by the practice of medicine and began to look about for some other employment he became in 1653 private secretary to the Marquis de Mirobi the minister of the Archduke of Innsbruck at the court of Rome he continued in this capacity for two years leading however the same abandoned life as here to for frequenting the society of gamesters, debauchies and loose women involving himself in disgraceful street quarrels and alienating the patrons who were desirous to befriend him all at once a sudden change was observed in his conduct the abandoned break he was a philosopher the scoffing sinner proclaimed that he had forsaken his evil ways and would live thenceforth a model of virtue to his friends this reformation was as pleasing as it was unexpected and Bore gave obscure hints that it had been brought about by some miraculous manifestation of a superior power he pretended that he held converse spirits that the secrets of God and nature were revealed to him and that he had obtained possession of the philosopher stone like his predecessor Jacob Bowman he mixed up religious questions with his philosophical jargon and took measures for declaring himself the founder of a new sect this at Rome itself and in the very palace of the Pope it was a hazardous proceeding and Bore just awoke to a sense of it in time to save himself from the dungeons of the castle of St. Angelo he fled to Innsbruck where he remained about a year and then returned to his native city of Milan the reputation of his great sanctity had gone before him and he found many persons ready to attach themselves to his fortunes entering into the new communion took an oath of poverty and relinquished their possessions for the general good of the fraternity Bore told them that he had received from the archangel Michael a heavenly sword upon the hilt of which were engraven the names of the seven celestial intelligences whoever shall refuse said he to enter into my new sheepfold shall be destroyed by the papal armies of whom God has predestined me to meet the chief to those who follow me all joy shall be granted I shall soon bring my chemical studies to a happy conclusion by the discovery of the philosopher's stone and by this means we shall all have as much gold as we desire I am assured of the aid of the angelic hosts and more especially of the archangel Michael's the way of the spirit I had a vision of the night and was assured by an angelic voice that I should become a prophet in sign of it I saw a palm tree surrounded with all the glory of paradise the angels come to me whenever I call and reveal to me all the secrets of the universe the silphs and elementary spirits obey me and fly to the uttermost ends of the world to serve me and those whom I delight to honor by force of continually repeating such stories as these Bore soon found himself at the head of a very considerable number of adherents as he figures in these pages as an alchemist and not a religious sectarian it will be unnecessary to repeat the doctrines which he taught with regard to some of the dogmas of the church of Rome and which exposed him to the treatment of papal authority they were to the full as ridiculous as his philosophical pretensions as the number of his followers increased he appears to have cherished the idea of becoming one day a new Mohammed and a founding in his native city of Milan a monarchy and religion of which he should be the king and the prophet he had taken measures in the year 1658 for seizing the guards at all the gates of that city formally declaring himself the monarch of the Milanese just as he thought the plan ripe for execution it was discovered 20 of his followers were arrested and he himself managed with the utmost difficulty in the neutral territory of Switzerland where the people displeasure could not reach him the trial of his followers commenced forthwith and the whole of them were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment Borey's trial proceeded in his absence and lasted for upwards of two years he was condemned to death as a heretic and sorcerer in 1661 Borey in the meantime lived quietly in Switzerland indulging himself enrailing at the inquisition and its proceedings he afterwards went to Strasburg intending to fix his residence in that town he was received with great cordiality as a man persecuted for his religious opinions and with all a great alchemist he found that sphere too narrow for his aspiring genius and retired in the same year to the more wealthy city of Amsterdam he there hired a magnificent house established an equipage which eclipsed in brilliancy those of the richest merchants and assumed the title of Excellency where he got the money to live in this expensive style was long a secret the adepts in alchemy after their fashion sensible people were of the opinion they did come by it in a less wonderful fashion for it was remembered that among his unfortunate cycles in Milan there were many rich men who in conformity with one of the fundamental rules of the sect had given up all their earthly wealth into the hands of their founder in whatever manner the man sparing hand and was looked up to by the people with no little respect and veneration he performed several able cures and increased his reputation so much that he was vaunted as a prodigy he continued diligently the operations of alchemy and was in daily expectation that he should succeed in turning the inferior medals into gold this hope never abandoned him even in the worst extremity of his fortunes and in his prosperity it led him into the most foolish expenses but he could not long continue to live so magnificently upon the funds he had brought from Italy and the philosopher stone though it promised all for the wants of the morrow never brought anything for the necessities of today he was obliged in a few months to the trench by giving up his large house his gilded coach and valuable blood horses his livery domestics and his luxurious entertainments but this diminution of splendor came a diminution of renown his cures did not appear so miraculous when he went out on foot to perform them as they had seemed when quote his excellency had driven to a poor man's door in his carriage with six horses he sank from a prodigy into an ordinary man his great friend showed him the cold shoulder and his humble flatterers carried their incense to some other shrine before he now thought at high time to change his quarters with this view he borrowed money in obtaining two hundred thousand florins from a merchant named Demir to aid, as he said in discovering the water of life he also obtained six diamonds of great value on pretense that he could remove the flaws from then without diminishing their weight with this booty he stole away secretly by night and proceeded to Hamburg on his arrival in that city he found the celebrated Christina the ex-queen of Sweden he procured an introduction to her and requested her patronage in his endeavor to discover the philosopher's stone she gave him some encouragement but boring fearing that the merchants of Amsterdam who had connections in Hamburg might expose his delinquencies if he remained in the lighter city passed over to Copenhagen and sought the protection of Frederick III the king of Denmark this prince was a firm believer in the transmutation of metals being in want of money he readily listened to the plans of an adventurer who had both eloquence and ability to recommend him he provided Borey with the means to make experiments and took a great interest in the progress of his operations he expected every month to possess riches that would buy Peru he was disappointed apparently accepted patiently the excuses of Borey who, upon every failure was always ready with some plausible explanation he became in time much attached to him and defended him from the jealous attacks of his courtiers and the indignation of those who were aggrieved to see their monarch the easy dupe of a charlatan Borey endeavored by every means in his power to find the element his knowledge of medicine was useful to him in this respect and often stood between him and his grace he lived six years in this manner at the court of Frederick but that monarch dying in 1670 he was left without a protector as he had made more enemies than friends in Copenhagen and had nothing to hope from the succeeding sovereign he sought an asylum in another country he went first to Saxony and encountered so much danger from the emissaries of the Inquisition that it did not remain there many months anticipating nothing but persecution in every country that acknowledged the spiritual authority of the Pope he appears to have taken resolution to dwell in Turkey and turn Muslim on his arrival at the Hungarian frontier on his way to Constantinople he was arrested on suspicion of being concerned by the conspiracy of the Counts Nadasi and Frangipani which had just been discovered in vain he protested his innocence and divulged his real name and profession he was detained in prison and a letter dispatched to the Emperor Leopold to know what should be done with him the star of his fortunes was on the decline the letter reached Leopold at an unlucky moment and he no sooner heard the name of Joseph Francis Borey than he demanded him as a prisoner of the Holy Sea the request was complied with and Borey closely manacled was sent under an escort of soldiers to the prison of the Inquisition at Rome he was too much of an imposter to be deeply tinged with fanaticism and was not unwilling to make a public recantation of his heresies by save his life when the proposition was made to him he accepted it with eagerness his punishment was commuted into the hardly less severe one of perpetual imprisonment but he was too happy to escape the clutch of the executioner at any price and he made the amende honorable in face of the assembled multitudes of Rome on the 27th of October 1672 he was then transferred to the prisons of the castle of St. Angelo where he remained till his death 23 years afterwards it is said that towards the close of his life considerable indulgence was granted him that he was allowed to have a laboratory to cheer the solitude of his dungeon by searching for the Philosopher's Stone Queen Christina during her residence at Rome frequently visited the old man to converse with him upon chemistry and the doctrines of the Rosicrucians she even obtained permission that he should leave his prison occasionally for a day or two and reside in her palace she being responsible for his return to captivity she encouraged him to search for the great secret of the alchemist and provided him with money for the purpose it may well be supposed that Borey benefited most by this acquaintance and that Christina got nothing but experience it is not sure that she even gained that for until her dying day she was convinced of the possibility of finding the Philosopher's Stone and ready to assist any adventurer either zealous or impudent enough to pretend to it after Borey had been about eleven years in confinement a small volume was published at Cologne entitled the key of the cabinet the chevalier Joseph Francis Borey in which are contained many curious letters upon chemistry and other sciences written by him together with a memoir of his life this book contained a complete exposition of the Rosicrucian philosophy and afforded materials to the Abbey de VR's for his interesting Count de Gabales which excited so much attention to those of the 17th century Borey lingered in the prison of St. Angelo till 1695 when he died in his 80th year beside the key of the cabinet written originally in Copenhagen in 1666 for the edification of King Frederick III he published a work upon alchemy and the secret sciences under the title of the mission of Romulus to the Romans inferior alchemists of the 17th century besides the pretenders to the philosopher stone whose lives have been already narrated this and the preceding century produced a great number of writers who inundated literature with their books upon the subject in fact most of the learned man of that age had some faith in it Van Helmet, Boracus, Gertr, Borheve and a score of others though not professed alchemists were fond of the science and countenanced its professors Helvedius, the grandfather of the celebrated philosopher of the same name asserts that he saw an inferior metal turned into gold by a stranger at the Hague in 1666 he says that sitting one day in his study a man who was dressed as a respectable burger of North Holland and very modest and simple with the intention of dispelling his doubts relative to the philosopher stone he asked Helvedius if he thought he should know that rare gem if he saw it to which Helvedius replied that he certainly should not the burger immediately drew from his pocket a small ivory box containing three pieces of metal of the color of brimstone and extremely heavy and assured Helvedius that of them such as twenty tons of gold Helvedius informs us that he examined them very attentively and seeing that they were very brittle he took the opportunity to scrape off a small portion with his thumbnail he then returned them to the stranger with an entreaty that he would perform the process of transmutation before him the stranger applied that he was not allowed by Helvedius procured a crucible and a portion of lead into which when in a state of fusion he threw the stolen grain from the philosopher stone he was disappointed to find that the grain evaporated altogether weaving the lead in its original state some weeks afterwards when he had almost forgotten the subject he received another visit from the stranger he again treated him with lead the stranger at last consented and informed him that one grain was sufficient but that it was necessary to envelop it in a ball of wax before throwing it on the molten metal otherwise its extreme volatility would cause it to go off in vapor they tried the experiment and succeeded to their hearts content Helvedius repeated the experiment alone and converted six ounces of lead into very pure gold the theme of this event spread all over the Hague and all the notable persons in the town flocked to the study of Helvedius to convince themselves of the fact Helvedius performed the experiment again in the presence of the Prince of Orange and several times afterwards till he had exhausted the whole of the powder he had received for the stranger from whom it is necessary to state he never received another visit nor did he ever discover his name or condition in the following year Helvedius published his golden calf in which he detailed the above circumstances about the same time the celebrated father Kircher published his subterranean world in which he called the alchemist a congregation of naves and imposters and their science a delusion he admitted that he himself had been a diligent laborer in the field had had only come to this conclusion after mature consideration and repeated fruitless experiments all the alchemists were in arms immediately to refute this formidable antagonist one Solomon de Bloustonstein was first to grapple with him and attempted to convict him of a willful misrepresentation by recalling to his memory the transmutations by Sendevogius before the emperor Frederick III and the electorate of Maens all performed within a recent period Swelfer and Glauber also entered into the dispute and attributed the enmity of father Kircher despite and jealousy against adepts who had been more successful than himself it was also pretended that Adolphus transmuted a quantity of Quicksilver into pure gold the learned Boracus relates that he saw coins which had been struck of this gold and Langlett du Fresnois deposes to the same circumstance in the travels of Moncanus the story is told in the following manner a merchant of Lubbock who carried on but little trade but who knew how to change lead into very good gold gave the king of Sweden a lingit which he had made weighing at least 100 pounds the king immediately caused it to be coined into duckets and because he knew positively that its origin was such as has been stated to him he had his own arms graven upon the one side and emblematic figures of Mercury and Venus on the other I continued Moncanus have one of these duckets in my possession and was credibly informed that after the death of the Lubbock merchant who never appeared very rich a sum of no less than 1,700,000 crowns was found in his coffers such stories as these confidently related by men and high station tended to keep up the infatuation of the alchemists of Europe it is astonishing to see the number of works which were written upon the subject during the 17th century alone and the number of clever men who sacrificed themselves to the delusion Gabrielle de Castaigne a monk of the order of St. Francis attracted so much notice in the reign of Louis XIII that that monarch secured him in his household and made him his grand almaner he pretended to find the elixir of life and Louis expected by his means to have enjoyed the crown for a century Van Helmont also pretended to have once performed with success the process of transmuting quicksilver and was in consequence invited by the emperor Rudolph II to fix his residence at the court of Vienna Glauber the inventor of the salts which still bear his name and who practiced as a physician at Amsterdam about the middle of the 17th century established a public school in that city for the study of alchemy and gave lectures himself upon the science John Joaquin Becker of Spire acquired great reputation at the same period and was convinced that much gold might be made out of Flintstones by a peculiar process and the aid of that grand and incomprehensible substance the Philosopher's Stone he made a proposition to the Emperor Leopold of Austria to aid him in these experiments but the hope of success was too remote and the present expense was too great to tempt that monarch and he therefore gave Becker much of his praise but none of his money Becker afterwards tried the state's general of Holland with regard to the innumerable tricks by which imposters persuaded the world that they had succeeded in making gold and of which so many stories were current about this period a very satisfactory report was read by Monsieur Geoffrey the Elder at the sitting of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris on the 15th of April 1722 as it relates principally to the alchemic cheats of the 16th and 17th centuries the following abridgment of it may not be out of place in this portion of our history the instances of successful transmutation were so numerous and apparently so well authenticated that nothing short of so able an exposure as that of Monsieur Geoffrey could disabuse the public mind the trick to which they often as had recourse was to use a double-bottomed crucible the under surface being of iron or copper and the upper one of wax painted to resemble the same metal between the two they placed as much gold or silver dust as was necessary for their purpose they then put in their lead quicksilver or other ingredients and placed their pot upon the fire of course when the experiment was concluded there was a lump of gold at the bottom the same result was produced in many other ways some of them used a hollow wand filled with gold or silver dust and stopped at the ends with the wax or butter with this they stirred the boiling metal in their crucibles taking care to accompany the operation with many ceremonies to divert attention from the real purpose of the maneuver they also drilled holes and poured molten gold and carefully closed the aperture with the original metal sometimes they washed a piece of gold with quicksilver when in the state they found no difficulty in palming it off upon the uninitiated as an inferior metal and very easily transmuted it to find sonorous gold again with the aid of a little aquafortis others imposed by means of nails half iron half gold or silver they pretended that they really transmuted the precious half from iron by dipping it in a strong alcohol to see that Geoffrey produced several of these nails to the Academy of Sciences and showed how nicely the two parts were soldered together the gold or silver half was painted black to resemble iron and the color immediately disappeared when the nail was dipped into aquafortis at one time in the cabinet of the Grand Duke of Tuscany such also said M. Geoffrey was the knife presented by a monk to Queen Elizabeth of England the blade of which was half gold and half steel nothing at one time was more common than to see coins half gold and half silver which had been operated upon by alchemists for purposes of trickery in fact says M. Geoffrey in concluding his long report there is every reason to believe that all the famous histories which have been handed down to us about the transmutation of metals into gold or silver by means of powder or projection or philosophical elixirs are founded upon some successful deception of the kind above narrated these pretended philosophers invariably disappeared after the first or second experiment or their powders or elixirs have failed to produce their effect either because attention being excited they have found no opportunity to renew the trick without being discovered or because they have not had sufficient gold dust for more than one trial the disinterestedness of these would-be philosophers looked at first sight instances were not rare in which they generously abandoned all the profits of their transmutations even the honor of the discovery but this apparent disinterestedness was one of the most cunning of their maneuvers it served to keep up the popular expectation it seemed to show the possibility of discovering the philosopher's stone and provided the means of future advantages which they were never slow such as entrances into royal households maintenance at the public expense and gifts from ambitious potentates too greedy after the gold they so easily promised it now only remains to trace the progress of the delusion from the commencement of the 18th century until the present day it will be seen that until a very recent period there were but slight signs of return to reason end of chapter 4 part 10