Chemistry Reference
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1817) who called himself “Stilling” and about whom there was a rumor
that he had been an alchemist because he dealt with alchemy in his quasi-
autobiographical novel
Henrich Stillings Jünglings-Jahre
(1778).
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Stil-
ling, then a teacher, describes a cheating alchemist, his colleague Graser,
who tries hard to lead Stilling into temptation to become his companion.
Stilling finally resists, but not without confessing that his own inclination
to alchemy is actually his “inexhaustible hunger for knowledge about the
prime forces of nature” that cannot be satisfied by philosophies of nature
- he names Newton and Leibniz. We also learn that Stilling eventually
drops alchemy altogether in favor of a more promising way, because
alchemy is not in accordance with his primary sources of truth, among
which he names the Bible. Stilling, who later became a leading figure of
a Protestant movement, also had a priest-alchemist, his grandfather
Pastor Moriz, in the first part of his quasi-autobiographical novel,
Henrich Stillings Jugend
(1777), which was, incidentally, published by
Goethe without Stilling's knowledge. The old priest-alchemist, to be sure
not of the gold-making kind, remorsefully confesses that all his life has
been spent in vain, leading to unhappiness. The miserable seeker, not of
gold but of pure knowledge, explains that such a quest is led by egoistic
motives leading to unhappiness as opposed to altruism, which, thanks to
God's blessing, leads to happiness.
Stilling's autobiographical account is interesting not only because of
the early rediscovery of the medieval alchemical figures but also because
of a new emphasis. The cheating alchemist is reduced to a mere criminal
and clearly distinguished from the 'seeking alchemist', who appears to
be, rather, a philosopher of nature. Attractive as the latter appears at first
glance, there are religious and moral reservations that push the seeker in
another direction. Alchemy, or natural philosophy, is rejected because
mere knowledge of nature lacks morality; it is amoral. If there is a true
alchemy, a true 'philosophers' stone', then it must focus on morality and
religion.
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The two autobiographical novels mentioned here were first published by G. J.
Decker: Berlin-Leipzig (1777/1778), and were reprinted along with further autobio-
graphical novels in J. H. Jung-Stilling,
Lebensgeschichte
, ed. G. A. Benrath, 3rd ed.
(Darmstadt: WTB, 1992). On Stilling's religiously motivated publications, see Hahn
1988 and Hirzel 1998.
