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throughout Europe -- how powerful would be their united systematic action! . . . He
hoped that the few nobler minds whom he desired to organize would see through the veil
of fiction in which he had invested his proposal; that he might communicate personally
with some such, if they should appear; or that his book might lead them to form among
themselves a practical philanthropic confederacy, answering to the serious purpose he
had embodied in his fiction." 2 His scheme was a
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failure, and on seeing its result, Andrea, not daring to reveal himself as the author of the
pamphlets, did his best to put a stop to the folly by writing several works in criticism of
the Society and its claims. Mr. A. E. Waite, however, whose work on the subject should
be consulted for further information, rejects this theory, and suggests that the Rosicrucian
Society was probably identical with the Militia Crucifera Evangelica, a secret society
founded in Nuremburg by the Lutheran alchemist and mystic, Simon Studion.3
50. Thomas Charnock.
We must now turn our attention to the lives and teachings of the alchemists of the
period under consideration, treating them, as far as possible, in chronological order;
whence the first alchemist to come under our notice is Thomas Charnock.
Thomas Charnock was born at Faversham (Kent), either in the year 1524 or in 1526.
After some travels over England he settled at Oxford, carrying on experiments in
Alchemy. In 1557 he wrote his Breviary of Philosophy. This work is almost entirely
autobiographical, describing Charnock's alchemistic experiences. He tells us that he was
initiated into the mysteries of the Hermetic Art by a certain James S. of Salisbury; he also
had another master, an old blind man, who on his death-bed instructed Charnock.
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ALCHEMY
53
Unfortunately, however, Thomas was doomed to failure in his experiments. On the first
attempt his apparatus caught fire and his work was destroyed. His next experiments were
ruined by the negligence of a servant. His final misfortune shall be described
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in his own words. He had started the work for a third time, and had spent much money on
his fire, hoping to be shortly rewarded....
"Then a Gentlemen that oughte me great mallice
Caused me to be press to goe serve at Callys:
When I saw there was no other boote,
But that I must goe spight of my heart roote;
In my fury I tooke a Hatchet in my hand,
And brake all my Worke whereas it did stand." 4
Thomas Charnock married in 1562 a Miss Agnes Norden. He died in 1581. It is,
perhaps, unnecessary to say that his name does not appear in the history of Chemistry.
51. Andreas Libavius.
Andreas Libavius was born at Halle in Germany in 1540, where he studied medicine
and practised for a short time as a physician. He accepted the fundamental iatro-chemical
doctrines, at the same time, however, criticising certain of the more extravagant views
expressed by Paracelsus. He was a firm believer in the transmutation of the metals, but
his own activities were chiefly directed to the preparation of new and better medicines.
He enriched the science of Chemistry by many valuable discoveries, and tin tetra-
chloride, which he was the first to prepare, is still known by the name of spiritus fumans
Libavii. Libavius was a man possessed of keen powers of observation; and his work on
Chemistry, which contains a full account of the knowledge of the science of his time,
may be
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regarded as the first text-book of Chemistry. It was held in high esteem for a considerable
time, being reprinted on several occasions.
52. Edward Kelley and John Dee.
Edward Kelley or Kelly (see plate 9) was born at Worcester on August 1, 1555. His
life is so obscured by various traditions that It is very difficult to arrive at the truth
concerning it. The latest, and probably the best, account will be found in Miss Charlotte
Fell Smith's John Dee (1909). Edward Kelley, according to some accounts, was brought
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ALCHEMY
54
up as an apothecary.5 He is also said to have entered Oxford University under the
pseudonym of Talbot. 6 Later, he practised as a notary in London. He is said to have
committed a forgery, for which he had his ears cropped; but another account, which
supposes him to have avoided this penalty by making his escape to Wales, is not
improbable. Other crimes of which he is accused are coining and necromancy. He was
probably not guilty of all these crimes, but that he was undoubtedly a charlatan and
profligate the sequel will make plain. We are told that about the time of his alleged
escape to Wales, whilst in the neighbourhood of Glastonbury Abbey, he became
possessed, by a lucky chance, of a manuscript by St. Dunstan setting forth the grand
secrets of Alchemy, together with some of the two transmuting tinctures, both white and
red,7
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which had been discovered in a tomb near by. His friendship with John Dee, or Dr. Dee
as he is generally called, commenced in 1582. Now, John Dee (see plate 9) was
undoubtedly a mathematician of considerable erudition. He was also an astrologer, and
was much interested in experiments in "crystal-gazing," for which purpose he employed a
speculum of polished cannel-coal, and by means of which he believed that he had
communication with the inhabitants of spiritual spheres. It appears that Kelley, who
probably did possess some mediumistic powers, the results of which he augmented by
means of fraud, interested himself in these experiments, and not only became the doctor's
"scryer," but also gulled him into the belief that he was in the possession of the arch-
secrets of Alchemy. In 1583, Kelley and his learned dupe left England together with their
wives and a Polish nobleman, staying firstly at Cracovia and afterwards at Prague, where
it is not unlikely that the Emperor Rudolph II. knighted Kelley. As instances of the belief
which the doctor had in Kelley's powers as an alchemist, we may note that in his Private
Diary under the date December 19, 1586, Dee records that Kelley performed a
transmutation for the benefit of one Edward Garland and his brother Francis; 8 and
PLATE 9A.
PORTRAIT OF EDWARD KELLEY
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ALCHEMY
55
PLATE 9B.
PORTRAIT OF JOHN DEE
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under the date May 10, 1588, we find the following recorded: "E.K. did open the great
secret to me, God be thanked!" 9 That he was not always without doubts as to Kelley's
honesty, however, is evident from other entries in his Diary. In 1587 occurred an event
which must be recorded to the partners' lasting shame. To cap his former impositions,
Kelley informed the doctor that by the orders of a spirit which had appeared to him in the
crystal, they were to share "their two wives in common"; to which arrangement, after
some further persuasion, Dee consented. Kelley's profligacy and violent temper,
however, had already been the cause of some disagreement between him and the doctor,
and this incident leading to a further quarrel, the erstwhile friends parted. In 1589, the
Emperor Rudolph imprisoned Kelley, the price of his freedom being the transmutative
secret, or a substantial quantity of gold, at least, prepared by its aid. He was, however,
released in 1593; but died in 1595; according to one account, as the result of an accident
incurred while attempting to escape from a second imprisonment. Dee merely records
that he received news to the effect that Kelley "was slayne."
It was during his incarceration that he wrote an alchemistic work entitled The Stone of
the Philosophers, which consists largely of quotations from older alchemistic writings.
His other works on Alchemy were probably written at an earlier period. 10
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53. Henry Khunrath.
Henry Khunrath was born in Saxony in the second half of the sixteenth century. He
was a follower of Paracelsus, and travelled about Germany, practising as a physician.
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