paint-brush
THE ALCHYMISTSby@charlesmackay

THE ALCHYMISTS

by Charles Mackay
Charles Mackay HackerNoon profile picture

Charles Mackay

@charlesmackay

Mackay engaged in journalism in London: in 1834 he was...

August 13th, 2023
Read on Terminal Reader
Read this story in a terminal
Print this story
Read this story w/o Javascript
Read this story w/o Javascript
tldt arrow

Too Long; Didn't Read

ercury (loquitur).—The mischief a secret any of them know, above the consuming of coals and drawing of usquebaugh! Howsoever they may pretend, under the specious names of Geber, Arnold, Lulli, or bombast of Hohenheim, to commit miracles in art, and treason against nature! As if the title of philosopher, that creature of glory, were to be fetched out of a furnace! I am their crude, and their sublimate, their precipitate, and their unctions; their male and their female, sometimes their hermaphrodite—what they list to style me! They will calcine you a grave matron, as it might be a mother of the maids, and spring up a young virgin out of her ashes, as fresh as a phoenix; lay you an old courtier on the coals, like a sausage or a bloat-herring, and, after they have broiled him enough, blow a soul into him, with a pair of bellows! See! they begin to muster again, and draw their forces out against me! The genius of the place defend me!"—Ben Jonson's Masque "Mercury vindicated from the Alchymists."
featured image - THE ALCHYMISTS
1x
Read by Dr. One voice-avatar

Listen to this story

Charles Mackay HackerNoon profile picture
Charles Mackay

Charles Mackay

@charlesmackay

Mackay engaged in journalism in London: in 1834 he was an occasional contributor to The Sun.

Learn More
LEARN MORE ABOUT @CHARLESMACKAY'S
EXPERTISE AND PLACE ON THE INTERNET.

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume III by Charles Mackay, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. THE ALCHYMISTS

BOOK I.—THE ALCHYMISTS

OR, SEARCHERS FOR THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE AND THE WATER OF LIFE.

"Mercury (loquitur).—The mischief a secret any of them know, above the consuming of coals and drawing of usquebaugh! Howsoever they may pretend, under the specious names of Geber, Arnold, Lulli, or bombast of Hohenheim, to commit miracles in art, and treason against nature! As if the title of philosopher, that creature of glory, were to be fetched out of a furnace! I am their crude, and their sublimate, their precipitate, and their unctions; their male and their female, sometimes their hermaphrodite—what they list to style me! They will calcine you a grave matron, as it might be a mother of the maids, and spring up a young virgin out of her ashes, as fresh as a phoenix; lay you an old courtier on the coals, like a sausage or a bloat-herring, and, after they have broiled him enough, blow a soul into him, with a pair of bellows! See! they begin to muster again, and draw their forces out against me! The genius of the place defend me!"—Ben Jonson's Masque "Mercury vindicated from the Alchymists."

About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books.

This book is part of the public domain. Charles Mackay (1996). Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume III. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/884/pg884-images.html

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org, located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

L O A D I N G
. . . comments & more!

About Author

Charles Mackay HackerNoon profile picture
Charles Mackay@charlesmackay
Mackay engaged in journalism in London: in 1834 he was an occasional contributor to The Sun.

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN...

Permanent on Arweave
Read on Terminal Reader
Read this story in a terminal
 Terminal
Read this story w/o Javascript
Read this story w/o Javascript
 Lite