en them. But here the lucky stars
of our philosopher interposed. Bernard fell in with a merchant to whom
his family was known, and his adventures unknown; and the good man had
the kindness to lend him 8000 florins. This was a trifling debt to
incur at a time when he stood on the very brink of the Secret; and the
two friends set to work with a will. They occupied themselves for
three years in dissolving gold and silver; and then discovered that
their fund was exhausted, and that nothing remained to them of all
their labours but the embers of the fire.

Trevisan applied to philosophy for consolation: he set himself to read
attentively Arnold of Villenova. This 'great theologian, skilful
physician, and learned alchemist,' as we are assured by Andreas, a
celebrated lawyer of his day, was in the habit of making gold at
pleasure; but not satisfied with this triumph, he would needs
interfere in the concerns of religion, and more especially scandalised
the whole orthodox world by affirming, 'that the works of charity and
medicine are more agreeable to God than the services of the altar.' He
was likewise the master in the sublime science of the famous Raymond
Lully, who, as is well known to English history (although the fact is
omitted by the historians), converted in one operation 50,000 lbs.
weight of mercury, lead, and tin, into pure gold, which was coined
into rose nobles. Raymond, like his master, was a great theologian,
and the grand aspiration of his life, to which he finally fell a
martyr, was the conversion of the infidels. In reading him, also--for
Bernard was led naturally from one to the other--he was greatly struck
with that blending of religion with science which is observable in
almost all the Hermetic books, where the practical part of
Christianity, the love of God and man, is inculcated as the
fundamental maxim. On this he pondered for eight years, by which time
he had attained the ripe age of seventy-three, and then at length the
mind of the adept opened to the Secret he had been so long and so
blindly pursuing.

His Search was successful. He was now able to separate the pure spirit
from the material gold that had all his life been harmonising and
fusing, and while reading the books of the alchemists, to collect
their truths, and pass over their errors as dross. It was two years
before he had fairly accustomed his mind to this view of the subject;
but his life was prolonged for five years more, during which t