Page 47 - Scottish Alchemists

of the plague in 1610, but in the year 1606 he confirmed in the minutest
details the account of Dr Dienheim in a Latin letter, which Emmanuel König,
one of the professors at Basle, has printed in his Ephemerides.16 This letter
further states, that before quitting Basle Seton made a second projection in
the house of a goldsmith called Andrew Bletz, where he changed into gold
many ounces of lead. As to the piece of gold which had been given to Dr
Zwinger, it is stated in the Bibliotheca Chemica of Manget, that the family
of that physician preserved it, and showed it for a long time to strangers and
the curious.

After entering Germany, Seton seems to have commenced a career of
adventures. He returned to Strasbourg after leaving Basle. He is also to be
regarded as the unknown alchemist, who was mixed up with an event of
which the results were very sad to a German goldsmith named Philippe
Jacob Gustenhover. This Gustenhover was a citizen of Strasbourg, where he
exercised his calling. In the middle of summer, in the year 1603, a stranger
presented himself at his house, under the name of Hirschorgen, who was no
other than Seton, asking leave to assist him in his labours, which request was
granted. On leaving, the stranger, to recompense his host, gave him a red
powder, of which he showed him the use.

After the departure of his guest, the goldsmith had the vanity to speak of
his treasure, and more unfortunately to use it before several persons, among
whom he wished to pass himself off as an adept. All was in truth done
between neighbours and friends, but, as has been well remarked by
Schmieder, who furnishes this episode, each friend had a neighbour and each
neighbour a friend. The news spread from mouth to mouth and from house
to house, and shortly in the town of Strasbourg every one cried,
“Gustenhover has found the secret of the alchemists Gustenhover makes
gold!”

The fame of this event was rapidly carried to Prague, and it is easy to
believe that the person who brought the news would be well received by the
Emperor Rudolph II, who was himself a great alchemist. At the first rumour
of it the council of Strasbourg deputed three of their number to inquire into
the fact. The names of these delegates have been given, who made the
goldsmith work before their eyes, and who, after seeing his experiments,
operated themselves one after the other with equal success. One of these
three delegates, called Glaser, councillor of Strasbourg, who came to Paris in
1647, showed a morsel of the gold thus made by Gustenhover to Dr Jacob

16 Epistola ad Doctorem Schobinger.

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