The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

Thynne also affirmed the importance of religious faith for the effective
employment of his alchemical knowledge. Alchemy must be ―perfectly usd by grace of
hevenly sprite, (for with-oute that, tis subtill vanytie, and mere deceyte unfytte for skilles
wighte)‖. 179 In describing ―what secret mystrye heavenly planetts holde‖ Thynne carefully
displayed his alchemical and astrological knowledge. 180 He explained to Cecil that the dream
could not refer to alchemy, as Saturn, the symbol for the essential alchemical lead was not
present. Thynne, after a series of twisting astrological analogies described his discovery that
the metaphors referred to the Cecil‘s crest,
Not olde foreworne Cecilius, britaine kinge,
almost consum‘d by gnawing tyme & space;
but he whiche did from Auncient Sicill springe,
Lord Burgley, Cecill, borne of gentle race,
whome princely garter, whith his azurd hue
dothe bewtyfye with mede for honor due 181
In mentioning Cecil‘s supposed descent from the legendary British king Sisillius, Thynne
sought to appeal to his pretentions of noble lineage.
By March 1576 Thynne had been imprisoned for debt. He wrote Cecil two letters,
pleading for assistance. The first is similar to many requests Cecil received from prisoners,
offering vague services in return for their release. Thynne only stated that while previously
bad fortune had not allowed him to
make manifest unto you either the perfect knowledge of my persone, or the
dowryes of my mynde ... alwayes in secret [I] hathe wished reasone to
disclose what lyeth burried therin towardes your honor in any service I ame
able to performe. 182
Deceived by his relatives, Thynne looked to Cecil—praising his justice, courtesy and
learning—to free him from an increasingly hopeless situation.
Thynne‘s second letter of 19 March 1576 appears considerably more desperate.
Filled with astrological, alchemical and heraldic analogies, it is easy to understand how the
179 Thynne, ‗A Discourse uppon the Lord Burghleyghe‘, p. 109.
180 Ibid.
181 Ibid., p. 114.
182 Francis Thynne to Cecil, 13 March 1576, BL, Lansdowne, Vol. 21, No. 57.
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