Extracted from William Blomberg, An Account of the Life and Writings of Edmund Dickinson, M.D. Physician in Ordinary to King Charles and King James II. London. 1739.
During this Reign [Charles II], the Doctor [Edmund Dickinson] continued in great Esteem and Favour at Court; and upon the Accession of King James II was confirmed in his Place and King's Physician; but this Monarch being more addicted to his Devotions than Chymistry, the Doctor had now Leisure to apply himself to Writing; wherefore, in 1686, he published his Epistola ad Mundanum de Quintessentia Philosophorum. The Occasion of writing which was, a certain Person came to the Doctor's House, and made before him two Projections, as the Adepts term it; that is, converted or transmuted baser Metal into pure Gold, by a Powder or Stone; the Rumour of this spreading, especially amongst the Searchers after this Arcanum, he wrote this little Treatise in Latin, to which he received an Answer in French from Paris, and having it translated into that more universal Language in which his own appeared, published it with that.
Who this certain Person was, is not known, though, that there was an old personal Acquaintance between the Doctor and this Mundanus, is manifest from the Confession of the latter; ‘About twenty Years ago', says he, ‘in making the Tour of England, I came to the famous University of Oxford; during the short Stay I made there, I was so happy to become acquainted with you, and in that Time was thoroughly sensible of the great Charge and Pains you had been at in improving yourself in Chymistry'. Upon this Gentleman's second Appearance in England in 1679, finding the Doctor more addicted to this Art, than he imagined one of his great Practice could find Time for, to give him an undeniable Testimony of the vast Esteem he had for him, and to settle and confirm him in the Belief of a Probability of Success in the great Work, he made before him those two Projections, which he owns, in the Space of above forty Years, in which he had been an Adept, never to have shewn to more than three Persons, except the Doctor.
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“And therefore our ultimate, or highest secret is, by this our water, to make bodies volatile, spiritual, and a tincture, or tinging water, which may have ingress or entrance into bodies; for it makes bodies to be merely spirit, because it reduces hard and dry bodies, and prepares them for fusion, melting and dissolving; that is, it converts them into a permanent or fixed water. And so it makes of bodies a most precious and desirable oil, which is the true tincture, and the permanent fixed white water, by nature hot and moist, or rather temperate, subtile, fusible as wax, which does penetrate, sink, tinge, and make perfect the work. And this our water immediately dissolves bodies (as sol and luna) and makes them into an incombustible oil, which then may be mixed with other imperfect bodies. It also converts other bodies into the nature of a fusible salt which the philosophers call "sal alebrot philosophorum", better and more noble than any other salt, being in its own nature fixed and not subject to vanish in fire. It is an oil indeed by nature hot, subtile, penetrating, sinking through and entering into other bodies; it is called the perfect or great elixir, and the hidden secret of the wise searchers of nature. He therefore that knows this salt of sol and luna, and its generation and perfection, and afterwards how go commix it, and make it homogene with other perfect bodies, he in truth knows one of the greatest secrets of nature, and the only way that leads to perfection.”
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