16-01-2026, 11:10 PM
(This post was last modified: 16-01-2026, 11:10 PM by Bluetoes101.)
Source of the guard killing and attempt to excuse - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
"Meanwhile the powder, diminished by excessive projection, became exhausted; it was squandered still further in futile attempts to increase it; and when the Emperor commanded his guest to produce it in a becoming quantity, all experiments proved failures. Yet Kelly had boasted that he was an adept; he had everywhere paraded his powers; he was not the mere heir of the Stone ---he was an illuminated and proficient master. The Emperor believed all this, and he believed it even to the end; the impotence of the exhausted alchemist was attributed to obstinacy, and the guest was changed into a prisoner. He is said to have been confined in a dungeon of the castle of Zobeslau. To regain his liberty he promised to manufacture the Stone, on condition that he returned to Prague and took counsel with Dr. Dee. To that city he was consequently permitted to go back, but his house was guarded, and as fresh experiments in the composition of transmuting powder were abortive as ever, the alchemist, seized with rage, made a futile attempt to escape, which ended in the murder of one of his guards. A second imprisonment, this time in the castle of Zerner, followed his violence. Doctor Dee returned alone to England, but at a date which conflicts with many alleged incidents in the life of his seer. The two confederates seem to have parted amicably, and they corresponded after their separation.* At the instance of the philosopher of Mortlake, Queen Elizabeth claimed the alchemist as her subject, but the Emperor excused himself from releasing him on the ground of the homicide. The second imprisonment of Kelly, according to accepted dates, lasted till the year 1597, when he attempted to escape by a rope, but, falling from a considerable height, sustained such injuries as resulted in his death at the age of forty-two."
"the philosopher of Mortlake" refers to Dee.
"Meanwhile the powder, diminished by excessive projection, became exhausted; it was squandered still further in futile attempts to increase it; and when the Emperor commanded his guest to produce it in a becoming quantity, all experiments proved failures. Yet Kelly had boasted that he was an adept; he had everywhere paraded his powers; he was not the mere heir of the Stone ---he was an illuminated and proficient master. The Emperor believed all this, and he believed it even to the end; the impotence of the exhausted alchemist was attributed to obstinacy, and the guest was changed into a prisoner. He is said to have been confined in a dungeon of the castle of Zobeslau. To regain his liberty he promised to manufacture the Stone, on condition that he returned to Prague and took counsel with Dr. Dee. To that city he was consequently permitted to go back, but his house was guarded, and as fresh experiments in the composition of transmuting powder were abortive as ever, the alchemist, seized with rage, made a futile attempt to escape, which ended in the murder of one of his guards. A second imprisonment, this time in the castle of Zerner, followed his violence. Doctor Dee returned alone to England, but at a date which conflicts with many alleged incidents in the life of his seer. The two confederates seem to have parted amicably, and they corresponded after their separation.* At the instance of the philosopher of Mortlake, Queen Elizabeth claimed the alchemist as her subject, but the Emperor excused himself from releasing him on the ground of the homicide. The second imprisonment of Kelly, according to accepted dates, lasted till the year 1597, when he attempted to escape by a rope, but, falling from a considerable height, sustained such injuries as resulted in his death at the age of forty-two."
"the philosopher of Mortlake" refers to Dee.