On the Tincture of Gold or True Potable Gold

whom thou hast fashioned.

These men are utterly persuaded that they see the grass growing, yet they do not know the earth, its mother; if everything does not succeed at their beck and call, they do not fear to slander the most pious Philosophers and to accuse them of falsehood, and to cloak their own inertia and ignorance with the nullity of the art: they would judge the matter to be far otherwise if they were not ignorant of the hidden Philosophical sense. But because they are blinded by pride, it is no wonder that they seize the bark in place of the kernel, and therefore do not reach the desired end.

A third class is that of the covetous, who seek riches in idleness from those wandering Chemists, who are as ignorant of alchemy and nature as their own disciples, having no knowledge of minerals and metals, nor understanding the writings of the Philosophers: if one confers with them regarding the nature and properties of metals, they have nothing to answer except what they have read and heard; namely, "It is so written, and thus is our process; thus therefore one must proceed, and such and no other material is required," adhering to the letter, not considering whether the author of their process was himself skilled or unskilled, or whether he borrowed his writings from experience or from the reading of other books.

To such men, even if the true and genuine information regarding nature, minerals, and metals, and the knowledge of Chemical secrets were delivered, they would not believe it, and would despise the simple truth as madness, for their own works are simple, not sumptuous or tedious. From men of this flour