xii. The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. 



Erfurt. It is further stated that his 

 philosophical "Last Testament" re- 

 mained concealed for a number of years 

 in the high altar of the church belonging 

 to the priory. There seems, at first 

 sight, no reason to challenge the literal 

 veracity of these matters ; the conven- 

 tual institutions of the middle ages were 

 frequently centres of scientific research ; 

 innumerable monks have practised al- 

 chemy ; and works which their authors 

 regarded as too good for the time when 

 they were written, have been entombed 

 for the benefit of a more deserving epoch 

 both before and after the age of Basil 

 Valentine. There is some occasion, not- 

 withstanding, for suspecting that here, 

 as in everything connected with the 

 alchemists, the most simple facts are 

 apparently the most deceptive. " Even 

 unto the points and pricks here are to be 

 found great mysteries." The suspicion is 

 not the result of an over great subtlety 

 on the part of modern mystical criticism, 

 which is accused, and not always un- 

 justly, of everywhere supposing the 



