The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
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patience was clearly wearing thin. He warned Dyer that if Kelley would not return, he<br />
would, ―contrary to my present good opinion <strong>of</strong> hym‖, be forced to think him either a fake<br />
or a traitor. 143 <strong>Cecil</strong> did, however, propose another possibility: if Kelley could not come<br />
home then surely he could<br />
send to hir majesty, for a token, some such portion, as might to hir a some<br />
reasonable to defray hir charges for hir navy, which even now we are<br />
preparing to the seas to withstand a strong Navy <strong>of</strong> Spayn, discovereyed<br />
uppon the cost betwin britany and Cornwale within these ii days 144<br />
This letter reveals the true magnitude <strong>of</strong> <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s hopes for Kelley. If a mere ‗token‘ <strong>of</strong> the<br />
philosopher‘s stone could defray the costs <strong>of</strong> England‘s navy, the extent <strong>of</strong> <strong>Cecil</strong>‘s final<br />
expectations must have been truly massive. <strong>Cecil</strong> may have also had personal hopes for<br />
Kelley‘s abilities. <strong>The</strong> Queen was in the midst <strong>of</strong> a ten day visit to his Hertfordshire<br />
mansion, <strong>The</strong>obolds—at a cost to him <strong>of</strong> £998.13s.4d.—which <strong>Cecil</strong> ―wold be contented<br />
might have bene tripled, if I had but one corn <strong>of</strong> <strong>Sir</strong> Edw Kellyes powder‖. 145<br />
<strong>Cecil</strong>‘s caution in communicating with Kelley proved well founded, as tension in<br />
Prague had finally come to a head. Even while drafting his letter to Dyer, <strong>Cecil</strong> received<br />
reports that Kelley had fled from Prague, although the circumstances were unclear. 146 A<br />
steady trickle <strong>of</strong> information regarding the alchemist‘s troubles, <strong>of</strong>ten ambiguous about<br />
Kelley‘s circumstances or whereabouts, began to reach <strong>Cecil</strong>. Even the well informed<br />
Palavicino could not determine whether Kelley was attempting to return to England at<br />
Dyer‘s instigation, or merely escaping from debt. 147 Edward Wotton forwarded <strong>Cecil</strong> a 15<br />
May letter he had received from an English merchant recently returned from Prague,<br />
almost certainly his half brother Henry Wotton, detailing the swirling rumours surrounding<br />
143 Ibid.<br />
144 Ibid.<br />
145 Ibid; A. G. R. Smith, ‗<strong>Lord</strong> <strong>Burghley</strong> and his Household Biographers: John Clapham and <strong>Sir</strong> Michael<br />
Hickes‘, in Cr<strong>of</strong>t (ed.), <strong>Patronage</strong>, Culture and Power, p. 262.<br />
146 <strong>Cecil</strong> to Dyer, Cotton Titus B. II, no. 110.<br />
147 Horatio Palavicino to <strong>Cecil</strong>, 6 May 1591, TNA, SP 81/6 f.205r.<br />
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