"Under heaven is not such an art, more promoting the honour of God, more conducing to mankind, and more narrowly searching into the most profound secrets of nature, than is our true and more than laudable Chymy."
And at the conclusion of his address he observes:
"Nothing remains but upon our bended knees to return most humble thanks to the Father of Lights, in vouchsafing us this art by the writings of his servants, and the high priests of Nature; without which, it would be beyond the power of man to arrive at so great a degree of knowledge."
Some notion of the extravagance of the language employed may be obtained from his description of a Philosophical Wine, literally, rectified spirits of wine, or alcohol. He assures us that, on opening a vessel of it, "a wonderful scent" should arise: "so as that no fragrancy of the world can be compared to it; inasmuch as putting the vessel to a corner of the house, it can by an invisible miracle draw all that pass in to it; or, the vessel being put upon a tower, draws all birds within the reach of its scent, so as to cause them to stand about it. Then will you have, my son, our quintessence, which is otherwise called Vegetable Mercury, at your will, to apply in Magistery of the transmutation of metals."
How ardent an adept this Alchemist was may be gathered from his exclamation:—"May the God of Heaven put prudence in the heart of evangelical men, for whom I compose this book, not to communicate this venerable secret of God to the reprobates."
Among the remarkable discoveries made by Alchemists, due to the carefully noted and carefully examined failures and accidents, as well as successes, of their endless combinations of matter, under the treatment of fire and water, the most distinguished is that of gunpowder, noted in a recipe left on record by Roger Bacon, who died in the year 1284. He clearly names the mixture of Saltpetre with Sulphur, but the third ingredient, Carbon, is concealed in the form of an anagram.
Lord Bacon, Luther, Spinoza, Leibnitz, and many eminent moderns, were impressed with a belief in the possibility of transmuting lead, tin, copper, or other metals, into gold; in short, as it was supposed there were only four elements, fire, water, earth, and air, it was probably assumed that a fifth might be found in the Philosopher's stone.
But if ever any pursuit was more open to fraudulent practices than another, surely the pretended possession of a transmuting powder or elixir afforded a grand arena for their exercise. In this enlightened age, although we cannot fail to look with charity on the arduous labours of those adepts who honestly mixed devotional exercises with laborious experimental operations, selecting times and seasons for their alchemical work, and noting with accuracy the hours and days of fusions, sublimations, distillations, lixiviations, and so forth; still, it is scarcely possible to refrain from smiling at the docile simplicity of Ashmole in denouncing a certain class of Alchemists, as pretended masters and adepts, seeing "they are mere practisers of legerdemain," while he himself gave credence to the story of the warming-pan, already named as being shown to Queen Elizabeth, which was clearly a flagrant piece of fraud practised by Kelly, a common adventurer, and from his youth remarkable only for his indifferent character.
An easily performed trick was effected by means of nails, or other light articles, made half of gold and half iron, but disguised, so as to appear to be of one metal and colour. Sometimes these knaves employed crucibles, having an interior false bottom, below which a small quantity of gold was placed, which, being reproduced, as was pretended from base materials, was offered as an example of success. Or, by having the gold in a hollow rod, stopped at one end with wax, used to stir up the materials, the gold would naturally enough appear in the crucible. Or, their materials being conveyed into charcoal, a similar result would be obtained on heating the crucible in a furnace. At other times, by the employment of amalgams, or solutions in acids, they could perform a species of electro-plating on common metals. The extent to which these nefarious practices were carried might appear incredible, considering the evident inconsistency of the owner of the pretended golden key to countless wealth, being in such comparative poverty as to be indebted to any one of moderate means for pecuniary assistance. But, it is some apology for such credulity when we call to mind the state of public morals, of education, of political institutions, and the prevalent superstition, not only among common people, but also the higher classes of all countries and creeds, down to the seventeenth century: representing a phase of the human mind, liable to be overawed by impostors, who boldly claimed supernatural aid in abetting their impositions. And the trickery of the designing was further aided by the close secrecy adopted by the adepts in their processes, their conversations, and their writings. Ashmole freely admits that—"Their chief study was to wrap up their secrets in fables, and spin out their fancies in 'vailes' and shadows, whose radii seem to extend every way, yet so that all meet in a common centre, and point only to one thing." It was this very secrecy, this continual mystery from beginning to end, that favoured deceptions of the grossest and most bungling character, as viewed by the light of modern chemistry.
Alchemy no doubt tended to improve Medical science, by the introduction of many new mineral and vegetable preparations, but the healing art treated after the manner of the Hermetic Art, was laid open to every description of quackery. It is not our intention, however, to enlarge on this department, which has steadily advanced at every stage of improvement in chemical science.