why do you think the Englishman would study alchemy in an attempt to understand the "language of the universe"?

The Englishman studdied the religions of the world, then he studdied Esperanto (an international language) and finally he stiddied alchemy. Alchemy is not so much about greed than it is about purifying the soul,

The alchemists spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. They spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. They discovered that the purification of the metals had led to a purification of themselves. pg 184