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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According to Page, Kelley had not intended to flee to England; rather he had been<br />
the victim <strong>of</strong> a conspiracy led by the Emperor‘s secretary, who had disputed Kelley‘s new<br />
found status. Page alleged that the secretary had failed in earlier attempts to trick Kelley<br />
into committing treason in order to learn from him the secret <strong>of</strong> the<br />
phylosophers ston which he poseseth wythout question to the contrarye,<br />
wyth which knolledge if god should permyt he is able to perfect all the<br />
imperfect mettals in the worlde, which for my part I not at all marvell at but<br />
hold it as a naturell secret 172<br />
Page‘s view <strong>of</strong> Kelley ―not delighting [in] the worlde but contemplatying hys divenity and<br />
inserchable workes‖ certainly conflicts with the alchemist‘s posthumous reputation. 173<br />
Kelley remained imprisoned until at least October 1593. 174 In the interim, Robert<br />
<strong>Cecil</strong> took over much <strong>of</strong> the responsibility for intelligence operations from his aging father.<br />
Robert held more conservative philosophical beliefs than the elder <strong>Cecil</strong>, and remained<br />
sceptical about the possibility <strong>of</strong> alchemical transmutation. 175 Indeed, the conservative<br />
elements within the English church with whom Robert <strong>Cecil</strong> identified found alchemy<br />
theologically suspicious. According to Francis Bacon, when Edward Dyer later described<br />
Kelley‘s transmutation to the Archbishop <strong>of</strong> Canterbury, he replied ―You had take heed<br />
what you say <strong>Sir</strong> Edward Dyer for here is an infidel at the board‖. 176<br />
<strong>The</strong> information given to him by Kelley‘s former adversary, Christopher Parkins,<br />
further damaged Kelley‘s reputation with Robert <strong>Cecil</strong>. Parkins described those who<br />
believed in Kelley‘s alchemical promises as ―simple‖ and told Robert <strong>Cecil</strong> that the<br />
Emperor‘s best men alleged ―that he maketh trewe transmutation <strong>of</strong> metalls yet in such<br />
sort that he hath thearby losse and no comodityes‖. 177 According to Parkins, Kelley had<br />
financed his lifestyle on credit by borrowing from Prague‘s Jewish community, who<br />
172 Ibid.<br />
173 Ibid.<br />
174 Wilding, ‗A Biography <strong>of</strong> Edward Kelly‘, p. 73.<br />
175 Patrick Collinson, <strong>The</strong> Elizabethan Puritan Movement, London, 1967, pp. 443-47.<br />
176 Francis Bacon, ‗Apophthegms‘, in Basil Montague (ed.), <strong>The</strong> Works <strong>of</strong> Francis Bacon, London, 1823, p. 122.<br />
177 Parkins to Robert <strong>Cecil</strong>, 20 July 1593, TNA, SP 81/7 ff.143r-144v.<br />
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