The Alchemical Patronage of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley

patronage, which may have been well known even before Lock‘s move to Russia. Unlike
the other pretenders seeking to take advantage of Cecil‘s fascination with alchemy, Lock
claimed that only ―I knowe it now as it was knowne to philosophers past‖. 115 Lock‘s
reference to alchemists who ―In iron some do think to finde, The philosophers stone, And
worke there one with great expense, Yet better let alone‖, may allude to Cecil‘s
simultaneous patronage of William Medley‘s industrial alchemy, as detailed in Chapter
four. 116 Lock clearly recognised that he had significant competition for alchemical
patronage.
Lock‘s epistle emphasised the medical, rather than financial, benefits to Cecil of his
alchemical knowledge. In return for aiding his return to England, Lock promised to
provide Cecil with ―goulden drink I say, A medicine most of might... In repulsing that, that
is in man, Wheron sickness often doth growe, That bringeth age in youthfull yeares‖. 117
The treatise itself also contains details on the medical and pharmacological aspects of
alchemy, ―especially in that some of the transmutative elixirs are also said to be able to cure
bodily diseases, and prolong life‖. 118 While, according to Peter Grund, ―the treatise seems
to consider the medical virtues of elixirs as secondary‖ to the transformation of base metals
into silver or gold, this could be considered merely a reflection of the source materials from
which the treatise was compiled. 119
There is no record of Lock expressing an interest in alchemy before his time in
Russia. While his vague reference to salt production indicated some level of experience in
industrial chemistry, the dedicatory epistle establishes that Lock developed his alchemical
knowledge whilst in Russia. Despite his persistent complaints, Lock claimed not to repent
―my longe absence, in vaine it have not bin, such knowledge here to me have come, As at
115 Ibid.
116 Ibid.
117 Ibid.
118 Grund, ‗―Misticall Wordes and Names Infinite‖‘, p. 29.
119 Grund, ―Misticall Wordes and Names Infinite‖.
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