Pretiosa margarita novella de thesauro, ac pretiosissimo philosophorum lapide : artis huius divinae typus, et methodus: collectanea ex Arnaldo, Rhaymundo, Rhasi, Alberto, et Michaele Scoto

and one single rod he fashioned gold, silver, bronze, lead, iron, and tin separately. Are these things base? Are they worthy of mockery?

Lacinius. No one, surely, who is sane and not in need of hellebore a traditional plant used to treat madness, would stain this opinion of yours.

Bonus. Take care, then, that you do not come to this common and rash opinion.

Lacinius. Which one?

Bonus. That it is not fitting for religious men to know this divine science, nor similarly to practice it. If it was fitting for Paul to weave ropes, for Luke to paint, and for Peter and John to fish, then all the Apostles, weary from the meditation of heavenly things, when they ceased from the preaching of the Gospel, always worked at something with their hands. And now, will it not be fitting for religious men to turn their granted leisure into labor? Is not being a religious person about doing something rather than doing nothing?

Lacinius. I do not see what I can say to these things, for you bring as witnesses those whom it is not permitted to oppose, and those also who not only illuminated the world with doctrine and wisdom, but were also a mirror of all justice, faith, innocence, religion, and holiness. Just as stars illuminate the sky, so did all these illuminate the world.

Bonus. Why then do you fear so much, or why do you delay giving to the light such a clear work without any dedication?

Lacinius. I fear lest, through me, these things become too open to the masses, since it has been commanded to us by all the ancients that this holy business should not be given to the impious and profane.

Bonus. This was rightly commanded by the ancients, who did not want the impious to be enriched, lest they be turned away from the paths of justice and from the right end; therefore, they wanted this secret hidden from them so that the wicked, abounding in wealth, might not be the cause of many evils. Now, however, since a new law has been given to us through the Word of God, wealth can in no way hinder living well and happily, provided that the heart is not set upon them when they abound, as the wise man rightly says. These things