half an ounce, or a little more of the lead, for more must not be tinged, then well may. To him I again said: I cannot, easily believe this, viz. that so little of the Tincture will transmute so great a quantity of Lead into Gold. But he, answered; what I say is true. In, mean, while, I, giving him great; thanks, inclosed my diminished and in the Superlative degree concentrated Treasure, in my own Casket, saying: To morrow I will make this Tryal; and give no notice to any Man thereof, as long as I live.Not so, not so, answered; he, but all things, which tend to the Glory of God Omnipotent, ought by us, singularly to be declared to the Sons of Art that we may live Theosophically, and not at all dye Sophistically.

Then, I confessed to him; that when held the Mass of his Medicine, in that short space of time, I attempted to raze something there-from with my Finger Nayl, But I got no more, than a certain invisible Atome; and, when I had cleansed my nayl, and had injected the collected matter, wrapt in paper, upon Lead in Flux, I could see no Transmutation of it into Gold; but almost the whole Mass of Lead vanished into Aire, and the remaining Substance was transmuted into a Glassy Earth. At the hearing of this, he smiling, say'd You could more dexterously play the Thief, than apply the Tincture. I wonder, that you, so expert in the Fire, do no better understand the fuming Nature of Lead. For if you had wrapped your Theft in yellow Wax, that it might have been conserved from the Fume of Lead, then it would so have penetrated into the Lead, as to have transmuted the same into Gold. But now a Sympathetick Operation was performed in Fume, and so the Medicine permixed with the Fume, flew away: For all Gold, Silver, Tin, Mercury, and like Metals, are corrupted by Lead Vapours, and likewise converted to a brittle Glass. While he was thus speaking, I shewed him my Crucible, who, viewing the remaining Substance, perceived a most beautiful Saffron-coloured Tincture, adhering to the sides of the Crucible, and say'd, To-morrow at nine of the Clock, I will return, and shew you; how your Medicine must be used to transmute Lead into Gold. In which promise of him, I rested secure. Yet, in the mean while, I again and again requested information of him, whether this Philosophick Work, required great Charges in the preparing, and a very long Time. O my Friend, answered he, you very accurately affect to know all things, yet I will open this to you; The Charge is not great, nor is the Time long. But, as touching the matter of which our Arcanum is made, I would have you to know; there are only two Metals and Minerals, of which it is prepared. And because the Sulphur of Philosophers is more abundant in these Minerals, therefore it is made of them.

Then I again asked him: What the Menstruum was, and whether the Operations were made in Glasses, or in Crucibles. He answered; The Menstruum is a Celestial Salt, or a Salt of Celestial Virtue, by the benefit of which, Philosophers only dissolve the Terrene Metallick Body, and in dissolving, the noble Elixir of Philosophers is produced. But the Operation is, performed in a Crucible, from the beginning to the end, in an open Fire. And the Whole Work may be begun, and plainly ended in no longer time, then four dayes: Also in this whole Work, no greater Cost is required, then the value of three Florens. Lastly he added; Neither the Mineral, from Which, nor the Salt by Which, is of any great Price. I again said to him: My Master; This is strange, for it is repugnant to the sayings of various Philosophers, Who have writ, that at least seven, or nine Moneths are imployed in this Work. He answered: The true writings of Philosophers are only; understood by the truly Adept. Therefore, touching the Time, they would write nothing certain; yea; I say, no Lover of this Art, can find the Art of preparing this Mystery in his whole Life without the Communication of some true Adept Man. In this respect and for this Cause, I advise you, my Friend, because you have seen the true Matter of the true Work, not to forget your self, and thirsting after the perfection of this Art, to cast away your own Goods; for you can never find it out. Then I say'd: My Master, although I am so unknown to you, as you are unknown to me; nevertheless, since he was unknown to you who shewed you the way of finding out the Operation of this Arcanum, perhaps you may also, if you be willing, notifie to me somewhat, touching this Secret, that the most difficult Rudiments being overcome, I may (as the saying is) happily add somewhat to things already found out; for by the occasion of one thing found, another is not difficultly invented. But the Artist answered: In this Work the matter is not so, For unless you know the thing, from the beginning of the Work to the end, you know nothing thereof. Indeed I have told you enough, yet you are ignorant how the Stone of Philosophers is made, and again, how the Glassy Seal of Hermes is broaken, in which Sol gives forth Splendor from his Metallick Rayes, wonderfully coloured, and in which Speculum, the Eyes of Narcißus behold Metals transmutable, and from which Rayes the Adept gather their fire, by the help of which, Volatile Metals are fixed into most fixed Gold, or Silver. But enough for this time, because (God willing) on the Morrow, we shall have occasion of meeting yet once more, that we may talk together touching this Philosophick matter; and according as I said, at nine a Clock, I will come to your House, and shew you the way of Projecting. But with that happy Valediction for one night, that Elias the Artist hath left me most sad in expectation unto this very day. Yea, the Mercury of Philosophers did with him vanish into Aire; because from him I did no more again hear so much as one word. Yet he, (because he promised that he would come again to me betimes the next morning) half an hour before ten, sent to me another unknown man, signifying, that, that friend, who yesternight promised to revisit me this morning, by reason of other urgent business, could not come, nevertheless, at three of the Clock in the afternoon, he would again see me. But after I had, with a most vehement desire expected him, till almost eight a Clock, I began to doubt in the truth of the matter. Besides, my Wife also, a very curious Searcher in the Art of that Laudable man, came to me, troubling me, by reason of the Philosophick Art, cited in that aforesaid Severe, and Honest man; saying, Go to, let us try, I pray thee, the Verity of the work, ac cording to what that man said. For otherwise, I certainly shall not sleep all this night. But I answered; I pray let us deferr it till to morrow; perhaps the man will come then. Nevertheless, when I had ordered my Son to kindle the fire; these thoughts arose in me; That man indeed, otherwise in his discourses so Divine, is now found the first time guilty of a Lye. A second time, when I would make Experiment of my Stollen Matter hid under my Nayl, but to no purpose, because the Lead was not transmuted into Gold. Lastly a third time, he gave me so very little of the Matter, for tinging so great a Mass of Lead; that he almost drove me to Desperation. Notwithstanding these thoughts, I commanded yellow Wax to be brought, wherein to wrap the Matter, and finding Lead, I cut off half an Ounce, or six Drachmes. My Wife wrapped the Matter of the Stone in the Wax, and when the Lead was in Flux, she cast in that little Mass, which, with Hissing and Flatuosity, so performed its Operation in the Crucible well closed; as in one quarter of an hour, the whole Mass of Lead was transmuted into the best Gold. Certainly, had I lived in the Age of Ovid, I could not have believed, any Metamorphosis more rare, than this of the Chimical Art; but if I could behold things with the hundred Eyes of Argus, I should scarcely see any work of Nature more admirable, for this Lead, mixt with the Stone of the Wise, and in the Fire melted, demonstrated to us a