The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

Dyer remained in Prague through the winter of 1590-91 and worked alongside
Kelley in an attempt to learn his alchemical secrets. 134 If Kelley could not be convinced to
return, surely he would be willing to teach Dyer his process, thereby allowing England the
benefits of alchemical transmutation. Kelley later recalled their collaboration:
what delight we tooke together, when from the Mettall simply calcined into
powder after the vsuall manner, distilling the Liquor so prepared with the
same we converted appropriat bodies (as our Astronomie inferious
teacheth) into Mercury the first matter 135
If Cecil had wanted someone to learn the secret from Kelley for England‘s benefit, Dyer,
with his alchemical experience gained under Dee, would have been the obvious choice.
On 1 May 1591 Cecil once again wrote to Kelley, this time stressing the medical
potential of Kelley‘s alchemical skills. Cecil requested that Kelley send him ―some thing of
your operation to strengthen me afore the next wynter against myne old ennemye the
goute‖. 136 Wilding argued that this may have been a coded message; that a prominent
political figure would be unlikely to reveal a disabling illness via easily intercepted letter. 137
Interpreting Cecil‘s complaints as referring to the political situation in the Holy Roman
Empire, Wilding proceeds to speculate about the possibility of Kelley acting as a spy in the
Imperial Court. 138 This interpretation is unconvincing. Most of Europe knew that Cecil
suffered from gout—endemic throughout the upper strata of European society—as
demonstrated by the offers of cures that Cecil received from throughout Europe.
If Cecil coded any sort of message within the letter, it seems more likely that he was
attempting to disguise an appeal for alchemical gold as a less politically sensitive plea for
alchemical medicine. Without the trustworthy Dyer as a courier, the possibility of
interception would have concerned Cecil. Cecil certainly skirted around any direct mention
of transmutation, writing in more general terms about ―the satisfaction of us all here that
134 Sargent, The Life and Lyrics, p. 112.
135 Kelley to Dyer, quoted in Sargent, p. 112.
136 Cecil to Kelley, May 1591, BL, Lansdowne Vol. 103, No. 72, (Lansdowne Vol. 104, No. 56 is identical
without a concluding sentence begging Kelley to use his gift for the benefit of his own country rather than
for strangers).
137 Wilding, ‗A Biography of Edward Kelly‘, pp. 61-62.
138 Ibid.
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