TO THE READER

...it was reported that he had obtained Pythagoras’s Testament, and to the Supreme Lord of hidden treasures it was told; he immediately committed you to custody, because you had not brought the found Testament of Pythagoras into the open, which ought to be acquired not by theft but by gift. The Lord designated three of his Sages, followers of genuine Science In this context, Science refers to "Scientia," the deep, often alchemical knowledge of the secrets of nature, whom many people of all nations and conditions—indeed, even the magnates of the world—crowded around. He sent them to the place where you were being held, and they addressed you thus:

Be of good courage; you must undergo this Sentence which our Lord has passed upon you, which begins in this manner: By the mandate of your supreme Lord, to whom it is certainly established that you, Mercurius van Helmont, have found by digging up the treasure which he had commanded his subjects to seek out; accused by them, and convicted by certain and full proofs, you are condemned to death, unless you publish that very Testament of Pythagoras complete and intact original: "sartum tectumque," a legal phrase meaning "in good repair" or "entirely preserved", and likewise reveal most fully by what path and knowledge you found it. Once these things are performed, liberty shall be awarded to you throughout all his Empire.

Listening to these things with a sad heart, and then being raised up again with eagerness, you knew for certain that you would not escape death by denial; wherefore you replied to the Delegates in the following way:

I pray you, Lords Sages as well as Prudent ones, if I have any influence with you, witness my grateful mind before our Lord for so merciful a sentence with which he has deigned to honor me. Demonstrate to him that I retained that Testament imprudently, not knowing it was required to be handed over. I now prepare to provide it, with all the experience and Science by which I obtained it, and indeed to whomever it pleases the Lord, provided his Goodness grants me the space of an entire Week, within which I shall satisfy the Lord, so that I may recover my liberty according to the tenor of the Sentence. I hope this will not be refused; for in truth, and according to legitimate computation, I need two days—namely that of Saturn Saturday with that of the Sun Sunday—so that I may begin and perfect the whole web original: "telam," often used metaphorically for a complex work or alchemical process within myself, or arrange each thing in order, which I shall distinctly signify on the coming day of the Moon Monday, and so thereafter through the whole following week.

To which the Sages replied:

Mercurius, we are instructed with a full mandate from our Lord, by whose authority we grant your request based on equity. You shall perform all things according to your own word, so that the Sages of the Lord, being undeceived original: "dedocti" and equitable, may find no fault in you when they hear you on the said day or subject you to examination. Since you have bound yourself by a specific and ample term of days, we shall remain with you continuously to inquire into your concepts, which you will form during these two preceding days.

You rejoiced in that company: for whoever looked upon them gathered from their dress and gestures that they were pious men; since their countenances bore a divine joy, and...