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Curious Account Of Edward Kelly, The Alchemist.
CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF EDWARD KELLY , THE ALCHEMIST .
[ FROM GREEN ' S ANTIQUITIES OF WORCESTER , JUST PUBLISHED . ]
T ^ DWARD Kelly was born at Worcester , and bred to the business - " - ' of an apothecary , about the year 1555 . He is sometimes called Talbot . I-Ie was so good a proficient in chemistry , that he felt himself qualified sufficiently to take an active share in the profitable application of that knowkdge , which pretenders , of inferior ability to himself , were daily turning to good account . Nothing despairing thereforehis skilljoined to a competent intrepidity of facesoon
, , , put him at the hea'd of the brazen philosophy of the sixteenth century . He pretended to have the grand elixir ( or philosopher ' s stone ) which Lilly , in his life , tells us he made , or at least received ready made , from a friar in Germany ; whither he travelled with Dr . Dee , * as his chief seer , or skyror , as he calls him . They accompanied AleskiPalatine of Polandwhen he left Englandand were
, , , entertained by him . From Poland they removed to Prague , where the Emperor Radolph received and entertained them ; to whom the 5 ' shewed , as they had already done to Prince Aleski , the wonderful stone , and disclosed its surprising properties to him . Kelly received the honour of knighthood from the Emperor , and has thence been recognized by Mr . Ashmole as Sir Edward Kelly .
Pucel , a learned Florentine , and Prince Rosenberg , of Germany , the Emperor ' s Viceroy in Bohemia , were long of the society with him and Dr . Dee , and often present at their apparitions , as was once the king of Poland himself . But Lilly observes , he was so wicked , that the angels would not appear to him willingly , nor be obedient to him . He offered to raise up devils before Aleski , June 19 , 15 S 1 . His " spirits told him 1 5 S 4 he should die a violent death . Weever allows
, , him to have been a chemist ; that he lost his ears at Lancaster , and raised a dead body in that county by necromancy ; that Queen Elizabeth sent for him out of Germany , but climbing over a wall at Prague , where it is reported he was imprisoned for a chemical cheat put on the Emperor , he broke his legs , and bruised himself so that he died ; this happened in 1587 . '
What an age of philosophical acumen was this for the sarcastic wit of a Ben Jonson to hold up to everlasting ridicule I What an object for the lacerating thongs of Butler ' s satiric scourge to lay bare and whip , as a carted knave through herds of posted fools ! Princes who would be philosophers , ( and of so hopeful a set ;) philosopers who would be princes ; and the multitude , who could neither be phi-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Account Of Edward Kelly, The Alchemist.
CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF EDWARD KELLY , THE ALCHEMIST .
[ FROM GREEN ' S ANTIQUITIES OF WORCESTER , JUST PUBLISHED . ]
T ^ DWARD Kelly was born at Worcester , and bred to the business - " - ' of an apothecary , about the year 1555 . He is sometimes called Talbot . I-Ie was so good a proficient in chemistry , that he felt himself qualified sufficiently to take an active share in the profitable application of that knowkdge , which pretenders , of inferior ability to himself , were daily turning to good account . Nothing despairing thereforehis skilljoined to a competent intrepidity of facesoon
, , , put him at the hea'd of the brazen philosophy of the sixteenth century . He pretended to have the grand elixir ( or philosopher ' s stone ) which Lilly , in his life , tells us he made , or at least received ready made , from a friar in Germany ; whither he travelled with Dr . Dee , * as his chief seer , or skyror , as he calls him . They accompanied AleskiPalatine of Polandwhen he left Englandand were
, , , entertained by him . From Poland they removed to Prague , where the Emperor Radolph received and entertained them ; to whom the 5 ' shewed , as they had already done to Prince Aleski , the wonderful stone , and disclosed its surprising properties to him . Kelly received the honour of knighthood from the Emperor , and has thence been recognized by Mr . Ashmole as Sir Edward Kelly .
Pucel , a learned Florentine , and Prince Rosenberg , of Germany , the Emperor ' s Viceroy in Bohemia , were long of the society with him and Dr . Dee , and often present at their apparitions , as was once the king of Poland himself . But Lilly observes , he was so wicked , that the angels would not appear to him willingly , nor be obedient to him . He offered to raise up devils before Aleski , June 19 , 15 S 1 . His " spirits told him 1 5 S 4 he should die a violent death . Weever allows
, , him to have been a chemist ; that he lost his ears at Lancaster , and raised a dead body in that county by necromancy ; that Queen Elizabeth sent for him out of Germany , but climbing over a wall at Prague , where it is reported he was imprisoned for a chemical cheat put on the Emperor , he broke his legs , and bruised himself so that he died ; this happened in 1587 . '
What an age of philosophical acumen was this for the sarcastic wit of a Ben Jonson to hold up to everlasting ridicule I What an object for the lacerating thongs of Butler ' s satiric scourge to lay bare and whip , as a carted knave through herds of posted fools ! Princes who would be philosophers , ( and of so hopeful a set ;) philosopers who would be princes ; and the multitude , who could neither be phi-