The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

symbolism, seems tenuous. It ignores both the other alchemical references within the letter,
and the experiment‘s resemblance to that of the seventeenth century alchemist known as
Eirenaeus Philalethes. 122
Eden, born around 1520 into a family of East Anglian cloth merchants, seems to
have intended to join the church, having been elected to a foundation scholarship, intended
for aspirants to holy orders, at Christ‘s College, Cambridge in 1535. 123 Moving to Queens‘
College in 1537, Eden‘s tutor Thomas Smith introduced him to his circle of fellow
humanist scholars, including Cecil, Cheke, Roger Ascham and Gabriel Harvey. 124 Eden‘s
lifelong obsession with alchemical texts and medicines attests to the intellectual interests of
this group. For Eden alchemy formed an integral part of his more general effort to amass
rare knowledge, complementing in the natural realm his interest in global cosmography,
what today we would call geography. After graduating with a Master of Arts degree in
1544, Eden moved to a position at the Treasury ―until the King‘s death; who, when dying,
did not forget him, but assigned to him the office of the distillery‖. 125 While the new Lord
Protector, the Duke of Somerset, assigned the post to someone else, Eden‘s expertise in
distillation, then considered an alchemical technique, had clearly become well known. 126
The alchemical project of Eden and Richard Whalley serves as a good example of
the shared alchemical interests of many Cambridge alumni. Whalley, who had also attended
St. John‘s College, rose to some prominence as a client of Somerset during his time as Lord
Protector. 127 While usually accorded little significance by historians, Whalley did make
useful contacts as chamberlain of the Duke‘s household, forging a close association with
122 Eirenaeus Philalethes, Secrets Reveal’d: or, an Open Entrance to the Shut-Palace of the King, London, 1669, p. 28.
123 Hadfield, ‗Eden, Richard‘.
124 Ibid.
125 Arber, ‗The Life and Labours‘, p. xlv.
126 Ibid.
127 Alan Bryson, ‗Whalley, Richard (1498/9–1583)‘, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, Sept 2004;
online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29161].
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