The Real History of the Rosicrucians (with the Fama and Confessio Fraternitatis)

" We have three that collect the experiments in all books. These we call depredatours. We have three that collect the experiments of all mechanicall arts, liberall sciences, and practices which are not brought into arts. These we call mystery men. We have three that try new experiments, such as themselves think good. These we call pioners or miners. We have three that draw the experiments of the former foure [divisions] into titles and tables, to give the better light for the drawing of observations and of axioms out of them. These we call compilers. We have three that band themselves, looking into the experiments of their fellowes, and cast about how to draw of them things useful for man's life and knowledge, as well for works as for strange demonstration of causes, means of natural divinations, and the easie and cleare discovery of the vertues and parts of bodies. These we call dowry men or benefactors. Then, after diverse meetings and consults of our whole number, to consider of the former labours and collections, we have three that take care out of them to direct new experiments of a higher light, more penetrating into Nature than the former. These we call lamps. W^e have three others that doe execute the experiments so directed and report them. These we call inoculators. Lastly, we have three that raise the former discoveries by experiments into greater observations, axiomes, and aphorismes. These we call interpreters of Nature.

' We have also novices and apprentices, that the succession of the former employed men of our fraternity of the Rosie Crosse do not faile ; also great numbers of servants and attendants, men and women. We have consultations which of the inventions and experiences shall be published and which not. We take all an oath of secrecy for the concealing ©f those which we think fit to keep secret, though some of those we doe reveale sometimes to the State. (Read our l Temple of Wisdom.') " For our ordinances and rites we have two very long and faire galleries in the Temple of the Rosie Crosse. In one of these we place patterns and samples of all manner of the more rare and excellent inventions ; in the other we place the statues of all principal inventours. There we have the statues of the discoverer of the West Indies, also the invention of ships, and the monk that was the inventour of ordinance and gunpowder; the inventours of musick, letters, printing; observations of astronomy, astromancy, and geomancy ; the invention of works in mettal, of glasse, of silke of the worme; of wine, corn, and bread ; the inventour of sugars, and all these by more certain tradition than you have. Then have we divers inventours of our own. Upon every invention of value we erect a statue to the inventour, and give him a liberal and honourable reward. These statues are some of brasse, some of marble and touchstone, some of cedar and other speciall woods gilt and adorned, some of iron, some of silver, some of gold, telesmatically made.

"We have certain hymnes and services, which we say daily, of laud and thanks to God for His marvellous works ; also formes of prayers imploring His ayde and blessing for the illumination of our labours, and the turning of them into good and holy uses. " Lastly, we have circuits or visits of divers principal cities of the kingdome, where we doe publish such news, profitable inventions, as we think good, and we doe also declare natural divinations of diseases, plagues, swarms of hurtfull creatures, scarcity, tempests, earthquakes, great inundations, comets, temperature of the year, and divers other things, and we give counsel thereupon for the prevention and remedy of them." When he had said this, he desired me to give him an account of my life, that he might report it to the Brethren of the Eosie Crosse, after which he stood up ; I kneeled down, and he laid his right hand upon my head, saying, " God blesse thee, my son, and God blesse these relations which we have made ! I give thee leave to publish them for the good of other nations, for we are here in God's bosome, a land unknown." And so he left me, having assigned a value of about two thousand pounds in gold for a bounty to me and my fellows, for they give great largesses where they come upon all occasions.

WHEN the documents of the Fraternity were first published, Professor Buhle tells us that France " had greatly the start of Germany and England " in general illumination, that she was consequently protected against the delusion of her neighbours, and that Rosicrucianism " never had even a momentary success " therein. On the other hand, Gabriel Naude published in 1623 his "Instruction a la France sur la verite de PHistoire des Freres de la RozeCroix," which opens by asserting, without apology of any kind, that the French by their disposition are quick to embrace and to follow every species of novel and ridiculous opinion. They are accused of excessive credulity, and are the laughing-stock of more sober nations. They have credited every absurdity from Postel the resuscitated and mere Jeanne to the rejuvenating Fountain of Borico and the immortality and return of Paracelsus. The history of the Brethren R. C. is declared to be the most outrageous of all ; their books are useless and completely incomprehensible, even when stripped of their enigmas. None but impostors have claimed to be initiated members, and the false reports spread abroad by the society are prejudicial to all kingdoms, and all forms of government.

This book, though dull and verbose, was undoubtedly instrumental in preventing the spread of the new doctrines. De Quincey affirms that France was never wanting in the " ignobler elements of credulity," but that she has always lacked its nobler or imaginative part. " On this account the French have always been an irreligious people. And the scheme of Father Eosycross was too much connected with religious feelings, and moved too much under a religious impulse, to recommend itself to the French." The first appearance of Eosicrucianism in France1 was in the year 1623, when the following mysterious placard was affixed to the walls of Paris : — " We, the deputies of our chief college of the Brethren of the Eosy Cross, now sojourning, visible and invisible, in this town, do teach, in the name of the Most High, towards whom the hearts of the Sages turn, every science, without either books, symbols, or signs, and we speak the language of the country in which we tarry, that we may extricate our fellow-men from error and destruction." There are at least four different versions of this manifesto. Gabriel Naude reads — "By the grace of the Most High ... we teach, without the assistance of books or signs, how to speak the language of every country where we elect to stay, in order that we may rescue our fellowmen from the error of death." A French brochure, published in 1623, and entitled "Effroyables pactions faites entre le diable et les pretendus invisibles, avec leur damnables instructions, perte deplorable de leurs escoliers, et leur miserable fin," presents still more important variations. " We, the deputies of the College of the Eosie-Cross, advise all those who seek entrance into our society and congregation, to become initiated into the knowledge of the Most High, in whose cause we are at this day assembled, 1 See Additional Notes, No. VI.

and we will transform them from visible beings into invisible, and from invisible into visible, and they shall be transported into every foreign country to which their desire may lead them. But, to arrive at the knowledge of these marvels, we warn the reader that we can divine his thoughts, that if mere curiosity should prompt the wish to see us, he will never communicate with us, but if an earnest determination to inscribe himself on the register of our confraternity should actuate him, we will make manifest to such an one the truth of our promises, so that we by no means expose the place of our abode, since simple thought, joined to the determined will of the reader, will be sufficient to make us known to him, and reveal him to us." To this proclamation, in his " Histoire de la Magie," Eliphas Levi adds : " Public opinion concerned itself about this mysterions manifestation, and if any demanded openly who were the Rose-Cross brethren, an unknown personage frequently took the inquirer apart, and said to him gravely : — " Predestined to the reformation which must soon be accomplished in the whole universe, the Rosicrucians are the depositaries of supernatural wisdom, and undisturbed possessors of all Nature's gifts, they can dispense them at pleasure.

" In whatsoever place they may be, they know all things which are going on in the rest of the world better than if they were present ; they are not subject to hunger or thirst, and have neither age nor disease to fear. " They can command the most powerful spirits and genii. " God has covered them with a cloud to defend them from their enemies, and they cannot be beheld except by their own consent, had any one eyes more piercing than are the eagle's. " Their general assemblies are held in the pyramids of Egypt j but, like the rock whence the spring of Moses issued, these pyramids proceed with them into the desert, and follow them into the ' Land of Promise.' ' No authority is given for this statement, and it is in all probability one of those romantic falsifications with which Eliphas Levi took pleasure in mystifying his readers, and which make him absolutely worthless as a sober historian. This manifesto, whatever its original form, attracted general and chiefly hostile attention, and it was accounted for in various ways by the pamphleteers of the period. Naud6 considers it a hoax. "If we seek for the precise origin of this squall of wind which now whistles over our country, we shall find that the report of this fraternity having been spread abroad some short time since in Germany, certain professors, doctors, and students of this city were moved by curiosity to investigate the matter by means of the new books which were made known to them by publishers after their return from the Frankfort fair ; but discovering nothing except chimeras and rodomontade therein, they preferred, while awaiting the farce, to divert themselves by this comedy —

Quam protinus urbi Pandere, res alta sylva et caligine mersas, and compromise their reputation by becoming its first denouncers, judging that there were fools enough in Paris to prevent this folly from stagnating. And, in fact, about three months ago one of these individuals, knowing that the King being at Fontainebleau, the realm tranquil, and Mansfield too remote for daily news, there was a scarcity of topics on 'Change, as well as in all circles, concluded to supply you with gossip by placarding the public places with this notice, containing six lines of manuscript." 1 On the other hand, the anonymous author of an " Examination of the unknown and novel Caballa of the Brethren of the Eose-Cross " accepts the manifesto as authentic, and denounces it with terrible earnestness. " Flagrant blasphemies are to be found in these few lines. In the first place, these sacrilegious wretches pretend to have enrolled themselves under the banner of that cross, which their master, the prince of darkness, abhors beyond anything. In the second place, they assert that they can become invisible at pleasure, a quality incommunicable to any natural body which consists of matter and form, and one which can never be acquired by any legitimate science. In the third place, they boast that they can teach every branch of learning in a moment, without books or signs, which evidently transcends the possibilities of the human intellect, for, though the acquisition of the sciences may be certainly facilitated by means of abridgements and epitomes, it can only be accomplished by degrees and with time.

In the fourth place, they claim to be acquainted with all dialects and with every variety of language — a prerogative never conferred except on the apostles, whose lives were very different from theirs. It remains to be concluded that such persons are not commissioned by God to save us from error and destruction, but are raised up by Satan to drag into the abyss those souls which are carried away by an overweening curiosity."

The most copious information with regard to the strange manifesto is to be found in the " Frightful Compacts between the Devil and the so-called Invisibles," a pamphlet 1 " Instruction & la France," c. iii., p. 26. full of malicious libels, which, however, are so curious that some of them are worth reproducing as briefly as possible. According to this account, the manuscript placard was posted in several parts of Paris, and awakened the curiosity of the learned and illiterate alike. Every one was astounded at the asserted invisibility of the Brethren, and at their gift of tongues. According to some, they must be the messengers of the Holy Ghost, others said that they were persons of eminent sanctity, the rest, that the whole business was one of illusions and of magic. By many the power of discerning the inmost thoughts was admired beyond the other privileges, but that such a faculty was inherent in Deity only, and they were incredulous in this respect. Then it was urged that the devil had knowledge of things both past and present, but that if he had knowledge of things present, thoughts must be included in this class, and that, therefore, the devil might not only know them, but might impart the same knowledge to his emissaries.

A certain lawyer of Paris, says this mendacious chronicle, conceived a violent desire to be enrolled in the new order, on account of the obvious advantages of occasional invisibility, and he had no sooner formed the project than one of the Invisibles appeared before him, and informing him that he could read his thoughts, directed his petrified listener to meet him that evening at eight o'clock opposite a certain market, when he should attain his desire. This said, the mysterious being disappeared as miraculously as he had come thither ; and the lawyer, convinced by his own senses that there was some truth in the claims of the placard, did not fail to repair to the appointed place, where the same personage met him, bandaged his eyes, whirled him through a maze of alleys, and brought him to the abode of the Invisibles. There his eyes were uncovered, and he found himself in the presence of five senatorial persons, who gravely informed him that they too were well acquainted with his aspirations, but before they could gratify them he must be prepared to take the oath of fidelity, and to write four words upon a paper, namely, " I renounce my self." The appropriate preliminary to a new faith was to blindfold one's eyes to the teachings of all the old beliefs. The neophyte complied, after which one of them breathed in his ear, and this breathing he believed to be the wind of the Holy Spirit instead of the devil's respiration.

They caused him to behold innumerable illusions by the operation of the fiends, instructed him in the magical utterances by which he could become invisible at pleasure, in the imprecations which he must pronounce against the Roman Church, and in the homage which he must pay both morning and evening to their master Satan, in recognition of the marvels he had lavished for the benefit of the men of that time. This finished, they caused the lawyer to strip, the magic ointment was rubbed over his body, and having been enjoined to bathe in the river at daybreak, he sat down with them to a sumptuous repast at his own expense, after which his eyes were again bandaged, and he was led back to the meetingplace of the previous evening. Though partially drunk, he determined to fulfil his duty and plunge at once into the river, wherein he attempted to swim, in order to cleanse himself more thoroughly, but the unfortunate man was drowned, and thus, says the anonymous historian, he was truly changed from a visible into an invisible being, yet not, also, from one invisible into one visible, for to this day hath his body been discovered by none, though sought for with diligent anxiety. "Such are the first fruits of the study of the invisible doctors at the end of last July."

Other stories equally credible are told by the same writer to illustrate the tragical consequences of a voluntary connection with the infamous Invisibles. A soldier was commanded by them, on his initiation, to enrol himself among a band of assassins, when he was speedily assassinated. A magistrate of Picardy, in answer to his unexpressed wish, was miraculously visited by one of the mystic six in his own closet, was initiated into the Order, and in two days committed suicide. An Anglo-Frenchman who had entered upon the same unhappy course, wishing to revisit England, was instantaneously translated to Boulogne : and requesting the demon who had brought him to bear him across the Straits to London, he was seized with fury and cast into the sea between Calais and Dover with a frightful noise. This occurred in the presence of two hundred Dutch ships on a voyage from Amsterdam to India. According to this singular and scurrilous pamphlet, the Eosicrucians or Invisibles, who are identical in the mind of the writer, but whom he distinguishes from the Spanish illuminati, numbered in all thirty-six, and they were divided into six bands. Their general assembly was held at Lyons on June 23, 1623, at 10 P.M., which was two hours before the Grand Sabbath of the Witches. There, by the power of an anthropophagous necromancer, Astaroth, one of the princes of the infernal hordes, appeared in light and splendour, and was represented by the magician as a messenger of the Most High. All prostrated themselves before the demon, who asked what they desired, and was informed by their spokesman that they were a little flock which he had assembled, in the name of the master of Astaroth, to serve him henceforth on such conditions as were laid down in the paper which he now offered to the emissary of the king. It

contained the " Articles of Agreement between the Necromancer Eespuch and the Deputies for the establishment of the College of the Eosicrucians." The subscribers certified before the most high to have entered into the following compacts, namely, they promised to receive with submission the orders of the supreme sacrificer, Eespuch, renouncing baptism, chrism, and unction received in the name of Christ ; detesting and abhorring all forms of prayer, confession, sacraments, and all faith in the resurrection of the body; promising to proclaim the teachings imparted to them by Eespuch through all quarters of the globe ; and pledging their honour and their life, without any hope of pardon, grace, or absolution, to perform all this ; in proof of which they had opened each of them a vein in the left arm, and had signed this parchment each with his own blood. The magician, on his part, promised to the deputies, severally and collectively, that he would transport them at any moment from east to west, or from north to south, and cause them to speak naturally every language in the universe. By this agreement he bound himself to enable them to enter and leave all palaces, houses, chambers, and cabinets, through closed and locked doors, to endue them with the most persuasive eloquence, to enable them to cast horoscopes and to read the most secret thoughts, to make them admired by the learned, sought after by the curious, magnified above the prophets of old, and to give each of them, on his signing the parchment, a golden ring enriched by a precious sapphire, under which there should be a demon who would act as their guide. Astaroth, assuming the likeness of a radiant youth, caressed and embraced his victims, who blindly mistook him for the apparition of a powerful deity, and, being promised his continual provi-

dence, they solemnly bound themselves never to derogate from the articles to which they had subscribed, whatever might happen, to turn a deaf ear to the Gospel of Christ, and to publish among all the nations to whom they were transported the truth of the mighty dominion whereof he was the emissary, in order that by their preaching they might dissipate the errors of those men who believed in the immortality of the soul. The articles were then ratified, confirmed, and approved by Astaroth on the part of his master, after which the demon vanished to assist at the Sabbath, which was held, from eleven at night to one in the morning, on the vigil of S. John the Baptist, in the vicinity of the labyrinth among the Pyrenees. The necromancer was left alone with the invisibles, who were to receive the powers promised by being breathed on in the following manner : — All stripped naked and prostrated themselves with their faces flat upon the earth ; the magician, with a pot of grease and unguents, rubbed each of them, after the ancient fashion of Thessalian sorcery, on the upper part of the neck, the arm pits, the lower portion of the spine, the parts of generation, and the fundament ; then he breathed in the right ear of each deputy, saying : "Depart and rejoice in the result of my promises." He gave the demoniacal ring to all of them, and then a sudden blast of wind transported them, at the command of the magician, an hundred leagues, to the great assembly of the sorcerers. Here, as new comers, they received from Satan the mark of magicians ; six of them were sent into Spain, six into Italy, six into France, six into Germany, four to Sweden, two into Switzerland, two into Flanders, two into Lorraine, and the remaining two into Burgoyne. Thus they were commissioned only to go into Catholic countries,

and not into the lands of the heretic and the infidel, who without the pale of the Church, saith the zealous chronicler, are already in the claws of hell. The six who were despatched to France reached Paris on July 14th, each lodged separately to avoid suspicion, and met daily where the first wish carried them, — sometimes on Parnassus, on the columns of Montfaucon, in the quarries of Montmatre, &c. Recognising the difficulties of evangelising Paris, they spent much time in deliberation; their hotel expenses increased, and the devil already failed in his promise that their purses should always be well supplied. They sold their horses in order to buy furniture and hire lodgings, where they would have more liberty to go in quest of pupils. After the sale, however, they changed their mind, and took two furnished rooms in the Marais du Temple, which is actually mentioned in the " Apologia " of Robert Fludd, as the abode of a Rosicrucian, and it was at this period that the manuscript placard was affixed by them to the walls of Paris. The " Examination of the unknown and novel Caballa of the Brethren of the Rose-Cross" agrees with the " Frightful Compacts," in asserting that the chief of this " execrable college " is Satan, that its first rule is the denial of God, blasphemy against the most simple and undivided Trinity, trampling on the mysteries of the redemption, spitting in the face of the mother of God and at all the saints. The second is the abhorrence of the name Christian, renunciation of baptism, the intercession of the Church, and the sacraments. By the third they offer sacrifice to the devil, make compacts with him, commit adultery with him, offer innocent children to him, &c. By the fourth they frequent the Sabbaths, cherish toads, make poisonous powders, dance

with fiends, raise tempests, ravage fields, destroy orchards, assassinate and torture their neighbours by the infliction of innumerable diseases. The spirit which prompted these grotesque calumnies, manufactured from the foulest gutters of black magic, is easily discernible. The writers were Catholics incensed by the Protestantism of the Rosicrucian manifestoes, meeting violence by violence, and doctrines of Papal extermination with charges of blasphemy, atheism, and devil-worship. Gabriel Naude is the most reasonable of all the FrancoRosicrucian critics, but he is unendurably stupid, and splutters in a seething sea of classical quotations. In addition to the privileges and powers which are openly claimed by the Rosicrucians, Naude enumerates the following, some of which are to be found indirectly in their documents, and others he has extracted by a somewhat perverse interpretation : — " They affirm that the contemplations of their founder surpass everything which has been ever known, discovered, or understood, since the creation of the world, through human study, divine revelation, or the ministration of angels. " That they are destined to accomplish the approaching restoration of all things to an improved condition before the end arrives. "That they possess wisdom and piety in a supreme degree, are undisturbed owners of all that is desirable among the bounties of Nature, and can dispense her gifts at will.

" That in whatsoever place they may be they know all that takes place elsewhere better than if they were present. "That they are subject neither to hunger, thirst, age, illness, or other natural inconvenience. " That they learn by revelation of those persons who are worthy of admission into their society. " That it is possible for them always to live as if they had existed from the beginning of the world, or would remain till the end of the ages. " That they possess a book in which they can ascertain all things which are to be found in books now existing, or will be found in the books of the future. "That they can compel the most mighty spirits and demons into their service, and by the power of their incantations can draw pearls and precious stones towards them. "That God has enveloped them in a cloud to conceal them from their enemies, unless, at least, they have eyes more penetrating than the eagle's. " That the first eight Brethren of the Rose-Cross had the gift of healing all diseases to such an extent that they were overwhelmed by the concourse of sufferers, and that one of them, who was an adept in Kabbalistic Mysteries, witness his book called H, cured the young Count of Norfolk of the leprosy when he was in England.

"That God has determined to increase the number of their Fraternity. "That they have discovered a new language to give expression to the nature of all things. " That by their means the triple crown of Peter will be ground into the dust. " That they confess freely and publicly, with no fear of repression, that the pope is Anti-Christ. " That they denounce the blasphemies of East and West, meaning Mahomet and the Pope, and recognise but two sacraments, with the ceremonies of the early Church, renewed by their congregation. "That they acknowledge the fourth monarchy and the Emperor of the Komans as their Lord, and as the head of all Christendom. " That they will furnish him with more gold and silver than the Spanish King derives from both the Indies, the more so as their treasures are inexhaustible. " That their college, which they name the College of the Holy Ghost, can suffer no injury ; even should a hundred thousand persons behold and remark it. " That they possess several mysterious volumes in their library, one of which, that, namely, which they prize next to the Bible, is that which the revered and illuminated father E. C. held in his right hand after death.

" Finally, that they are convinced and certain that the truth of their maxims will abide to the very end of the world." No voice appears to have been raised in France in defence of the persecuted Order. "It is known upon the contemporary authority of the Mercure de France" says a writer in " Chambers' Journal," "that a popular panic " — the natural result of these atrocious calumnies — " was excited by the fear of this mysterious sect, none of whose members had ever been seen The most absurd stories about them were daily reported, and found listeners. An innkeeper asserted that a mysterious stranger entered his inn, regaled himself on his best, and suddenly vanished in a cloud when the bill was presented. Another had been served as scurvy a trick by a similar stranger, who lived upon the choicest fare, and drunk the best wines of his house for a week, and paid him with a handful of new gold coins, which turned into slates on the following morning. It was also said that several persons on awakening in the middle of the night found individuals in their bed chambers, who suddenly became invisible, though still palpable, when the alarm was raised. Such was the consternation in Paris, that every man who could not give a satisfactory account of himself was in danger of being pelted to death ; and quiet citizens slept with loaded muskets at their bedsides, to take vengeance upon any Rosicrucian who might violate the sanctity of their chambers."

In two years the excitement died away; no further manifestoes were attempted, and the mysterious Order of the Invisibles of the Kose- Cross, if it had in reality ever visited Paris, migrated to more tolerant climes, and its very existence was shortly afterwards forgotten in the interests of the next ephemeral novelty. PROFESSOR BUHLE affirms as the " main thesis " of his concluding chapter that " Freemasonry is neither more nor less than Rosicrucianism as modified by those who transplanted it into England." His elegant and interesting hypothesis rests on a microscopical foundation of actual fact. A passage in Fludd's rejoinder to the " Exercitatio Epistolse" of Gassendi states that the Fatres R. C. are thenceforth to be called sapientes or sopJios. The German critic's discriminating commentary on this statement is that the old name was abolished, but as yet a new one had not been conferred, and that the immediate hint for the name Masons was derived from the Rosicrucian legend concerning the " House of the Holy Ghost," an allegorical building which typified the secret purpose of the Society. Having fathered Freemasonry on the renowned Kentish Rosicrucian, Professor Buhle enters on a Quixotic quest through the folios of his victim in search of corroborating passages, and discovers in the " Summum Bonum," which Fludd disowned, as we have seen, that Jesus was the lapis angularis of the human temple in which men are stones, and that the author calls upon his students to be transformed from dead into living philosophical stones.1 " Transmutemini, trans-

crucian Society to a German neophyte, which was printed in the " Summum Bonum," but for which neither Fludd nor the unknown Joachim Fritz are responsible. mutemini, de lapidibus mortals in lapides vivos philosophicos." On this foundation rests his whole hypothesis concerning the transfiguration of the Eosicrucian Fraternity and its reappearance as the Masonic Brotherhood. It is needless to say that it is slender and unsatisfactory in the extreme. I do not propose to discuss the origin of Freemasonry. That vexatious question has been perpetually debated with singularly unprofitable results. All I am concerned with proving is that there is no traceable connection between Masonry and Rosicrucianism. The former is defined by its initiates to be " a science of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols," and again as " a system of doctrines taught, in a manner peculiar to itself, by allegories and symbols. ... Its ceremonies are external additions, which affect not its substance." The two doctrines of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul constitute " the philosophy of Freemasonry." It has never been at any period of its history an association for scientific researches and the experimental investigation of Nature, which was a primary object with the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. It has not only never laid claim to the possession of any transcendental secrets of alchemy and magic, or to any skill in medicine, but has never manifested any interest in these or kindred subjects. Originally an association for the diffusion of natural morality, it is now simply a benefit society. The improvement of mankind and the encouragement of philanthropy were and are its ostensible objects, and these also were the dream of the Rosicrucian, but, on the other hand it has never aimed at a reformation in the arts and sciences, for it was never at any period a learned society, and a large proportion of its members have been chosen from illiterate

classes. It is free alike from the enthusiasm and the errors of the elder Order, for though at one time it appears to have excluded Catholics from its ranks, as at this day the Catholic Church excommunicates and denounces its members, it has been singularly devoid of prejudices and singularly unaffected by the crazes of the time. It has not committed itself to second Advent theories ; it does not call the Pope Antichrist ; it does not expect a universal cataclysm. It preaches a natural morality, and has so little interest in mysticism that it daily misinterprets and practically despises its own mystical symbols. Those who believe in the hypothesis of Professor Buhle cannot shew that Fludd was either a Rosicrucian or a Freemason. There is some reason to believe that the former Brotherhood did split up subsequently into different sections, but there is no tittle of evidence to prove that they developed into Freemasons. Mackey says that they protracted their existence till the middle of the eighteenth century, and then ceased to meet on account of the death of one of their chiefs named Burn, but he does not state his authority. He also tells us that out of the Kosicrucian Fraternity there was established in 1777 that association called " The Brothers of the Golden Cross," whose alchemical processes are described by Sigmund Eichter. " This Society was very numerous in Germany, and even extended into other countries, especially into Sweden. A second schism from the Rosicrucians was the society of ' The Initiated Brothers of Asia,' which was organised in 1780, and whose pursuits, like those of the parent institution, were connected with alchemy and the natural sciences. In 1785, it attracted the attention of the police, and, two years later, received a fatal blow, in the revelation of all its

secrets by one, Kolling, a treacherous member of the association." These statements must be taken at their value, but even doubtful facts are of equal weight with hypotheses founded on assumptions of the most gratuitous kind, and supported by tortured quotations. It is, however, on the universal concensus of competent Masonic opinion that I should found the rejection of the Buhlean view. Mackey, in the " Synoptical Index " to his " Symbolism of Freemasonry," says that the Eosicrucian Society resembled the Masonic in its organization and in some of the subjects of its investigation, " but it was in no other way connected with Free Masonry." In the " Lexicon " he again tells us that " the Eosicrucians had no connection whatever with the Masonic fraternity," and that it is only malignant revilers, like Baruel in his " Memoirs of Jacobinism," who attempt to identify the two institutions. Other authorities are not less pronounced in their opinions. It is to the institution of the Eose-Cross degree in Freemasonry that the confusion of opinion on this point is to be mainly traced. When ill-informed persons happen to hear that there are " Sovereign Princes of Eose-Croix," " Princes of Eose-Croix de Heroden," &c., among the Masonic Brethren, they naturally identify these splendid inanities of occult nomenclature with the mysterious and aweinspiring Eosicrucians. The origin of the Eose-Cross degree is involved in the most profound mystery. Its foundation has been attributed to Johann Valentin Andreas, but this is an ignorant confusion, arising from the alleged connection of the theologian of Wirtemberg with the society of Christian Eosencreutz. There is no trace of its existence before the middle of the eighteenth century, though the

11 Dictionnaire Ma9onnique " J declares that it was created in Palestine by Godfrey de Bouillon in the year 1100, and that the Kose was emblematic of secrecy and the Cross of immortality. It professes to deal with the spiritual side of alchemy, and to seek that same mysterious Stone which was the object of Basil Valentin, Paracelsus, Khunrath, and the true turbo, philosophorum of psycho-chemical transmutations. But the shallow pretence has deceived no one, for the sublime tradition of the veritable magnum opus exclusively points to transcendent spiritual secrets, and not to the eternal commonplace of moral and masonic platitudinarians — that is to say, the illiterate initiations of Masonry, ignorantly adopting a garbled alchemical terminology, have fallen into the gross and porcine error of interpreting alchemical symbolism morally instead of pneumatically. Sovereign chapters and sovereign princes of Rose-Croix, Knight Princes of the Eagle and the Pelican, and Prince Perfect Masters, should continue to dine sumptuously ; no one will dispute their proficiency as initiates of the gastronomical mystery, but, in the name of the Grand Architect, let them leave the morally unsearchable mystery of the philosophick gold to the true Sons of the Doctrine. The Eose-Cross degree is represented by Carlile as the ne plus ultra of Masonry. It has three points, of which the two first are called Sovereign Chapters, and the third the Mystic Supper, which is held four times a year. The presiding officer is dignified with the sublime title of " Ever Most Perfect Sovereign ; " the two Wardens are " Most Excellent and Perfect Brothers." There is also a Master of

1 Mackey 's "Lexicon of Freemasonry," p. 2C9. IT is an opinion entertained by the elect in modern theosophical circles, that the true Rosicrucian Brotherhood migrated into India, and this notion is said to be countenanced by a Latin pamphlet of Henricus Neuhusius, published in 1618, under the title "Pia et utilissima Admonitio de Fratribus Rosae Crucis," and which was afterwards translated into French. They have developed into Thibetan Brothers, have exchanged Protestant Christianity for esoteric Buddhism, and are no longer interested in the number of the beast. Their violent antipathy to the pope still remains : they have not yet torn him in pieces with nails, but probably expect to accomplish this long-cherished project about the period of the next general cataclysm. This is an interesting theory which might be debated with profit. I have not personally discovered much trace of the Rosicrucians in India, but the absence of historical documents on this point affords a fine field for the imagination, which writers like Mr Hargrave Jennings should not allow to lie fallow. In my prosaic capacity as a historian, I have not been able to follow in the footsteps of the Fraternity further than the Island of Mauritius. Thanks to the late Mr Frederick Hockley, whose valuable library of books and manuscripts, treating of all branches of occultism, has been recently dispersed, I have discovered that a certain

Comte de Chazal accomplished the magnum opus in that place at the close of the last century, and that he initiated another artist into the mysteries of the Eosicrucian Fraternity. The Comte de Chazal was possessed of vision at a distance, and witnessed the horrors of the French Eevolution from a vast distance, with amazing perspicuity, by means of the mind's eye. The following curious document will be read with no ordinary interest : — Copy of the Admission of Dr Bacstrom into the Society of the Rosa Croix by Le Comte de Chazal at the Island of Mauritius, with the Seal of the Society. ISLE or MAURITIUS, DISTRICT OF PAMPELAVUSO, 12th Sept. 1794. In the name of arnta rnrv the True and only God Manifested in Trinity. I, Sigismund Bacstrom, do hereby promise, in the most sincere and solemn manner, faithfully to observe the following articles, during the whole course of my natural life, to the best of my knowledge and ability; which articles I hereby confirm by oath and by my proper signature hereunto annexed. One of the worthy members of the august, most ancient, and most learned Society, the Investigators of Divine, Spiritual, and Natural Truth (which society more than two centuries and a half ago (i.e., in 1490) did separate themselves from the Free-Masons, but were again united in one spirit among themselves under the denomination of Fratres Rosce Crucis, Brethren of the Eosy Cross, i.e. the Brethren who believe in the Grand Atonement made by Jesus Christ on the Eosy Cross, stained and marked with His blood, for

the redemption of Spiritual Natures), having thought me worthy to be admitted into their august society, in quality of a Member Apprentice and Brother, and to partake of their sublime knowledge, I do hereby engage in the most solemn manner— 1. That I will always, to the utmost of my power, conduct myself as becomes a worthy member, with sobriety and piety, and to endeavour to prove myself grateful to the Society for so distinguished a favour as I now receive, during the whole course of my natural life. 2. That derision, insult, and persecution of this august society may be guarded against, I will never openly publish that I am a member, nor reveal the name or person of such members as I know at present or may know hereafter. 3. I solemnly promise that I will never during my whole life publicly reveal the secret knowledge I receive at present, or may receive at a future period from the Society, or from one of its members, nor even privately, but will keep our Secrets sacred. 4. I do hereby promise that I will instruct for the benefit of good men, before I depart this life, one person, or two persons at most, in our secret knowledge, and initiate and receive such person (or persons) as a member or apprentice into our Society, in the same manner as I have been initiated and received ; but such person only as I believe to be truly worthy and of an upright, well-meaning mind, blameless conduct, sober life, and desirous of knowledge. And as there is no distinction of sexes in the Spiritual World, neither among the Blessed Angels, nor among the rational immortal Spirits of the human race ; and as we have had a Semiramis, Queen of Egypt ; a Myriam, the

prophetess ; a Peronella, the wife of Flammel ; and, lastly, a Leona Constantia, Abbess of Clermont, who was actually received as a practical member and master into our Society in the year 1736; which women are believed to have been all possessors of the Great Work, consequently Sorores Roseau Crucis, and members of our Society by possession, as the possession of this our Art is the key to the most hidden knowledge ; and, moreover, as redemption was manifested to mankind by means of a woman (the Blessed Virgin), and as Salvation, which is of infinitely more value than our whole Art, is granted to the female sex as well as to the male, our Society does not exclude a worthy woman from being initiated, God himself not having excluded women from partaking of every felicity in the next life. We will not hesitate to receive a worthy woman into our Society as a member apprentice (and even as a practical member, or master, if she does possess our work practically, and has herself accomplished it), provided she is found, like Peronella, Flammel' s wife, to be sober, pious, discreet, prudent, and reserved, of an upright and blameless conduct, and desirous of knowledge.

5. I do hereby declare that I intend, with the permission of God, to commence our great work with mine own hands as soon as circumstances, health, opportunity, and time will permit; 1st, that I may do good therewith as a faithful steward ; 2nd, that I may merit the continued confidence which the Society has placed in me in quality of a member apprentice. 6. I do further most solemnly promise that (should I accomplish the Great Work) I will not abuse the great power entrusted to me by appearing great and exalted, or seeking to appear in a public character in the world by hunting after vain titles of nobility and vain glory, which are all fleeting and vain, but will endeavour to live a sober and orderly life, as becomes every Christian, though not possessed of so great a temporal blessing ; I will devote a considerable part of my abundance and superfluity (multipliable infinitely to work of private charity), to aged and deeply-afflicted people, to poor children, and, above all, to such as love God and act uprightly, and I will avoid encouraging laziness and the profession of public beggars. 7. I will communicate every new or useful discovery relating to our work to the nearest member of our Society, and hide nothing from him, seeing he cannot, as a worthy member, possibly abuse it, or prejudice me thereby ; on the other hand, I will hide these secret discoveries from the world.

8. I do, moreover, solemnly promise (should I become a master and possessor) that I will not, on the one hand, assist, aid, or support with gold or with silver any government, King, or Sovereign, whatever, except by paying taxes, nor, on the other hand, any populace, or particular set of men, to enable them to revolt against the government ; I will leave public affairs and arrangements to the government of God, who will bring about the events foretold in the revelation of St John, which are fast accomplishing \ I will not interfere with affairs of government. 9. I will neither build churches, chapels, nor hospitals, and such public charities, as there is already a sufficient number of such public buildings and institutions, if they were only properly applied and regulated. I will not give any salary to a priest or churchman as such, to make him more proud and insolent than he is already. If I relieve a distressed worthy clergyman, I will consider him in the light of a private distressed individual only. I will give no charity with the view of making my name known to the world, but will give my alms privately and secretly.

10. I hereby promise that I will never be ungrateful to the worthy friend and brother who initiated and received me, but will respect and oblige him as far as lies in my power, in the same manner as he has been obliged to promise to his friend who received him. 11. Should I travel either by sea or by land, and meet with any person who may call himself a Brother of the Rosy Cross, I will examine him whether he can give me a proper explanation of The Universal Fire of Nature, and of our magnet for attracting and magnifying the same under the form of a salt, whether he is well acquainted with our work, and whether he knows the universal dissolvent and its use. If I find him able to give satisfactory answers, I will acknowledge him as a member and brother of our Society. Should I find him superior in knowledge and experience to myself, I will honour and respect him as a master above me. 12. If it should please God to permit me to accomplish our Great Work with my own hands, I will give praise and thanks to God in humble prayer, and devote my time to the doing and promoting all the good that lies in my power, and to the pursuit of true and useful knowledge.

13. I do hereby solemnly promise that I will not encourage wickedness and debauchery, thereby offending God by administering the medicine for the human body, or the aurum potabile, to a patient, or patients, infected with the venereal disease. 14. I do promise that I will never give the Fermented Metallic Medecine for transmutation to any person living, no, not a single grain, unless the person is an initiated am received member and Brother of the Rosy Cross. To keep faithfully the above articles as I now receive them from a worthy member of our Society, as he received them himself, I willingly agree, and sign this with my name, and affix my seal to the same. So help me God. Amen. S. BACSTROM, L.S. I have initiated and received Mr Sigismund Bacstrom, Doctor of Physic, as a practical member and brother above an apprentice in consequence of his solid learning, which I certify by my name and seal,— Mauritius, 12 Sept. 1794. DU CHAZEL, F.R.C. The Philosophic Seal of the Society of the Rosicrucians. Among Mr Hockley's manuscripts there is also the " Diary of a Eosicrucian Philosopher " during the first period of the work. It describes the preparation of the first matter, and breaks off abruptly after a few leaves. Whether this unnamed philosopher was a true Rosicrucian,

and whether the Comte de Chazal could lay claim to that distinction, are problems which cannot be solved. Individual pretenders and fraudulent associations have occasionally appeared ever since the publication of the " Fama" and " Confessio Fraternitatis." It is certain that a pseudo-society existed in England before the year 1836, for in that year we find Godfrey Higgins saying that he had joined neither the Templars nor the Eosicrucians. " I have abstained from becoming a member of them, that I might not have my tongue tied or my pen restrained by the engagements I must have made on entering the chapter or encampment. But I have reason to believe that they have now become, in a very particular manner, what is called exclusively Christian Orders, and on this account are thought, by many persons, to be only a bastard kind of masons. They are real masons, and they ought to be of that . . . universal Christianity or Creestianity, which included Jews, Buddhists, Brahmins, Mohamedans." He identifies the Templars and Eosicrucians with Manichsean Buddhists, and asserts the Rosicrucians of Germany to be ignorant of their origin, " but, by tradition, they suppose themselves descendants of the ancient Egyptians, Chaldeans, Magi, and Gymnosophists ; and this is probably true."

The present Eosicrucian Society of England, on its remodelling some thirty years ago, cut off by mutual consent its connection with the few ancient members then existing, who were probably representatives of the " Eosicrucians " referred to by Higgins, and established itself as a public body, in so far as the fact of its existence was not itself a secret. A previous initiation into Masonry is an indispensable qualification of candidates, as will be seen in the Ordinances of the Society. The reason for this regulation is that certain masonic secrets are revealed to the accepted, and it would otherwise be unfair to Masonry. Thus, on his admission as a novice, the postulant is required to repeat the Masonic arcana. I am enabled to present to my readers, from sources hitherto unpublished, the Rules and Ordinances of the Rosicrudan Society of England. The Society of Brethren of the Eosy Cross is totally independent, being established on its own basis, and as a body is no otherwise connected with the Masonic Order than by having its members selected from that fraternity. I. That the meetings of the Society shall be held in London, at such house as the majority of members shall select, on the second Thursday in January, April, July, and October in each year. The brethren shall dine together once a year, at such time and place as the majority may select. The first meeting in the year shall be considered as the obligatory meeting, and any member unable to attend on that occasion, or at the banquet meeting, shall be required to send a written excuse to the SecretaryGeneral. Each brother present at the banquet shall pay his quota towards the expenses thereof.

II. The Officers of the Society shall consist of the Three Magi, a Master-general for the first and second orders, a Deputy Master-general, a Treasurer-general, a Secretarygeneral, and seven Ancients, who shall form the Representative Council of the Brotherhood. The Assistant Officers shall be a Precentor, a Conductor of Novices, an Organist, a Torch Bearer, a Herald, a Guardian of the Temple, and a Medallist. III. The Master-general and the Officers shall be elected annually at the obligatory meeting, and shall be inducted into their several offices on the same evening. The Mastergeneral shall then appoint the Assistant Officers for the year. IV. No brother shall be eligible for election to the office of Master-general or Deputy Master-general unless he shall have served one year as an Ancient, and have attained the third Order ; and no brother shall be eligible for the offices of Treasurer-general, Secretary-general, or Ancient unless he be a member of the second Order. V. The Society shall, in conformity with ancient usage, be composed of nine classes or grades ; and the number of brethren in each class shall, in conformity with ancient usage, be restricted as follows : — 1st, or grade of Zelator . . . 33

2nd, ,, Theoricus ... 27 3rd, „ Practicus . . . 21 4th, „ Philosophus . . 18 The above shall form the First Order. 5th, or grade of Adeptus Junior . 15 6th, „ Adeptus Major . 12 7th, „ Adeptus Exemptus . 9 These brethren shall compose the Second Order. 8th, or grade of Magister Templi . 6 9th, „ Magus . . 3 These shall be considered as the Third (or highest) Order, and shall be entitled to seats in the Council of the Society. The senior member of the ninth grade shall be designated " Supreme Magus," and the other two members Senior and Junior Substitutes respectively. The grand total of members shall thus be limited to 144, or the square of 12. The numbers of registered Novices or Aspirants shall not be restricted, but members only shall be permitted to be present at the ceremonial meetings of the Society. VI. The distinction of Honorary Member may be conferred upon eminent brethren, provided that their election to such membership shall be unanimous, and that their number be strictly limited to 16, or the square of 4. An Honorary President, who must be a nobleman, and three Vice-Presidents, shall be elected from the honorary members. A Grand Patron may also be elected in like manner.

VII. No aspirant shall be admitted into the Society unless he be a Master Mason, and of good moral character, truthful, faithful, and intelligent. He must be a man of good abilities, so as to be capable of understanding the revelations of philosophy and science ; possessing a mind free from prejudice and anxious for instruction. He must be a believer in the fundamental principles of the Christian doctrine, a true philanthropist, and a loyal subject, names of aspirants may be submitted by any member at the meetings of the Society, and if approved after the usual scrutiny, they shall be placed on the roll of Novices, and balloted for as vacancies occur in the list of members. VIII. Every Novice on admission to the grade of Zelator shall adopt a Latin motto, to be appended to his signature in all communications relating to the Society. This motto cannot under any pretence be afterwards changed, and no two brethren shall be at liberty to adopt the same motto. IX. The fee for admission to each Order shall be ten shillings, and the annual subscription from every member to defray the contingent expenses of the society shall be five shillings. The registry fee for a novice or aspirant shall be seveu shillings and sixpence.

X. As vacancies occur in each grade, by death, resignation, or otherwise, the members of such grade shall elect brethren from the next grade to supply the vacancies thus created. XI. The Master-general shall have the superintendence and regulation of the ordinary affairs of the Society j subject, however, to the veto of the Magi in matters relating to the ritual. He shall be assisted in the discharge of his duties by the Council, and shall be empowered to arrange for the due performance of each ceremony, by appointing well-qualified brethren to assist as Celebrant, Suffragan, Cantor and Guards, in the various grades of the first and second Orders. The M. G-. shall preside at the general meetings of the brotherhood, and shall at all times be received with the honours due to his important office. XII. The Deputy Master-general shall, as the representative of the chief, preside at all meetings in his absence, and in the absence of any Past Master-general, and on such occasions shall be vested with equal authority for the time being; subject, however, to appeal being made from his decisions to the Master-general and his Council. XIII. The Treasurer-general shall receive from the Secretary-general all moneys belonging to the Society, and shall keep an account of his receipts and disbursements, which shall be audited before the obligatory meeting in January, by the Ancients, under the supervision of the Master-general. No expenses shall be incurred without

the knowledge of the chief or his deputy. The proceedings of the Society shall be printed quarterly, under the title of THE ROSICRUCIAN, and a copy shall be sent to every subscribing and honorary member by the Secretary-general. The record shall be conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Magus. XIV. — The Secretary-general shall convene all meetings of the Council and general body ; record the proceedings in the minute book, register the names, residences, and mottoes of all members, with dates of admission to each grade; collect all fees and subscriptions when due, and forthwith pay them over to the Treasurer. XV. The Council of Ancients shall attend the meetings of the Society, and in the absence of the M. G., P. M. G., and D. M. G., the Senior Ancient present shall preside. They shall generally assist the Chief in the discharge of his duties, more especially with reference to the ceremonials of the several Orders. XVI. The Precentor and Organist shall have the direction of all musical arrangements at the meetings of the Society. XVII. The Conductor of Novices shall examine all aspirants, and report to the Council as to their qualifications for admission to the grade of Zelator ; he shall also perform all the duties appertaining to his office in the

XVIII. The Torch Bearer shall discharge the peculiar duties allotted to him, more especially those which relate to the ceremonies in the first grade. XIX. The Herald and Guardian shall defend the entrance of the Temple, and permit no one to enter without first •acquainting the Conductor. XX. The Jewels for the Magi, Officers, and Brethren, are to be worn at all ceremonial meetings. Jewel of the Supreme Magus. An ebony Cross, with golden roses at its extremities and the jewel of the Rosie Cross in the centre. It is surmounted by a crown of gold for the Supreme Magus alone, as represented in the engraving below, and the jewel is to be worn round the neck, suspended by a crimson velvet ribbon. Jewel of the two Junior Magi. As above, but without the crown, and worn in the same manner. Jewel of the Grand Officers. A lozenge-shaped plate of gold enamelled white, with the Rosie Cross in the centre, surmounted by a golden mitre, on the rim of which is enamelled in rose-coloured characters LUX, and in its centre a small cross of the same colour. This jewel is worn suspended from the button-hole by a green ribbon an inch in width, and with a cross also

embroidered on it in rose-coloured silk, as shown in the engraving below, which is as nearly as possible one-third of the actual size of the jewel. Jewel of the Fraternity. The lozenge-shaped jewel of the Rosie Cross, as above, without the mitre, suspended by a green ribbon an inch in width, and without the embroidered cross. This information is transcribed from a secret record of the association, entitled " The Rosicrucian," which was iirst published in 1868, appearing as an infinitesimal quarterly of twelve small pages, and subsequently continued as a monthly magazine, which subsisted till the year 1879, when it accomplished another transformation, whose history I have failed to trace. There is much curious material contained in the two series. An early number announces the objects of the society which it represents. It is "calculated to meet the requirements of those worthy Masons who wish to study the science and antiquities of the Craft, and trace it, through its successive developments, to the present time ; also to cull information from all the records extant, of those mysterious societies which had their existence in the dark ages of the world when might meant right, when every man's hand was against his brother, and when such combinations were necessary to protect the weak against the strong."

These objects appear to have been fulfilled in a very desultory manner, so far, at least, as the organ of the association is concerned. Eeports of Masonic meetings, long serial stories of an occult character, and somewhat feeble poetry by supreme magi and worthy fratres, permanently occupied a large proportion of an exceedingly limited space for a period of ten years. In 1871 the society informed its members that it was entirely non-masonic in character, with the sole exception that every aspirant was required to belong to the masonic Brotherhood. The assigned reason is the numerous points of resemblance between the secrets of Rosicrucians and Freemasons. The object of the association was then stated to be purely literary and antiquarian, and the promulgation of a new masonic rite was by no means intended. " The society is at present composed of 144 Fratres, and is ruled over by three brethren, who have attained to the ninth degree, or Supreme Magus. Seventy-two of these compose the London College, and thirty-six is the statutory number of each of the two subordinate colleges " at Bristol and Manchester. Every College, excepting the Metropolitan, was restricted in 1877 to thirty-six subscribing members, exclusive of those of the ninth grade ; the following numbers being permitted in each grade : —

1. Magister Templi . or VIII0. 2. Adeptus Exemptus . or VII0. 3. Adeptus Major . . or VI°. 4. Adeptus Minor . . or V°. 5. Philosophus . . or IV°. 6. Practicus . . or III0. 7. Thearicus . . or 11°. 8. Zelator ... or 1°. The numbers were doubled in the Metropolitan College, but these arrangements were practically abrogated by the admission of supernumerary members until the occurrence of i( substantive vacancies." A Yorkshire College was consecrated in 1877 ; a college in Edinburgh to represent the East of Scotland had been established some time previously. The prime mover in this Association was Robert Wentworth Little, who died in the year 1878, at the age of thirty-eight ; he was the Supreme Magus, and the actual revival of the Rosicrucian Order in England was owing to his instrumentality. The Honorary Presidentship has been conferred upon various noblemen, the late Lord Lytton was elected Grand Patron, and among the most important members must be reckoned the late Frederick Hockley, Kenneth Mackenzie, and Hargrave Jennings. The most notable circumstance connected with this society is the complete ignorance which seems to have prevailed amongst its members generally concerning everything connected with Rosicrucianism. This is conspicuous in the magazine which they published. Frater William Carpenter complains that he has not obtained much light from the work of Frater Jennings, and that he himself is " an untaught speculator." Frater William Hughan is acknowledged as an adept, but he does not seem to have been aware that the "Fama" and " Confessio Fraternitatis " originally appeared in Germany. Frater Carpenter inclines to the opinion that the question had better be left to itself, as " an inquiry into the matter is destined to get every one who attempts it into an entanglement. He humbly con-

fesses that it is too wonderful for him, too high, and that he cannot attain it. At the same time he hazards a new definition of the much-abused term Eosicrucian, which he believes to have been assumed by the Brotherhood not because they sought light by the assistance of ros, dew, but in rus, solitude, which is conclusive as to the philological abilities of this "untaught speculator." By the year 1872, the members seems to have discovered that their organ and indeed their society had scarcely borne out its original intention, for " the general body of members have done little to promote the elucidation of Eosicrucian lore ; " but, in spite of resolutions to the contrary, matters continued in much the same condition, though glowing expectations were entertained on the initiation of one Frater Kenneth Mackenzie VI0., a burning and a shining light of occultism, somewhat concealed beneath the bushel of secresy. I gather from various casual statements that the balance of opinion in the camp of the " Eosicrucian Brotherhood in Anglia " is to the following effect — That Andreas was in some way connected with the authorship of the u Fama " and " Confessio Fraternitatis," that the fraternity of Christian Eosencreutz as described therein and in the "Chymical Marriage" had no tangible existence, but that they gave rise to the philosophic sect of Eosicrucianism, which name became, in the words of Thomas Vaughan, a generic term, embracing every species of mystical pretension.

This harmless association deserves a mild sympathy at the hands of the students of occultism. ' ' It has not done much harm, nor yet much good ; It might have done much better if it would. " 1 "Hours with the Mystics," ii., 104. Its character can hardly have deceived the most credulous of its postulants. Some of its members wrap themselves in darkness and mystery, proclaiming themselves Kosicrucians with intent to deceive. These persons find a fewvery few — feeble — in truth very feeble — believers and admirers. Others assert that the Society is a mask to something else — the last resource of cornered credulity and exposed imposture. There are similar associations in other parts of Europe and also in America, e.g., the Societas Eosicruciana of Boston. In concluding this notice of modern Eosicrucian associations, I beg leave to warn my readers that all persons, whether within or without the magic circles of public libraries, who proclaim themselves to be Kosicrucians are simply members of pseudo-fraternities, and that there is that difference between their assertion and the facts of the case " in which the essence of a lie consists." Though the true Eosicrucians, supposing such a society to have had at any period a tangible and corporate existence, disappeared very suddenly from the historical plane, the glamour of the mystery which surrounded them proved a prolific prima materia for the alchemical transfigurations of romance and poetry, and insured them a place in legend. Two curious traditions are noticed by Hargrave Jennings, but his mental tortuosity has, in both cases, induced him to pervert the story which he recounts by the introduction of worthless and untruthful details manufactured by his own imagination, and prudently ascribed to other, of course unnamed, sources of information. One of these is the alleged discovery of the tomb of Eosicrucius. Mr Jennings cites Plot's " History of Staffordshire " as his authority for this legend ; I have carefully looked through

the large folio volume of this "painstaking antiquary," but have failed to verify the reference ; the Spectator for May 15, 1712, cites the story in the words of the original narrator, and this version I present, for comparison, to the students of the " distinguished esoteric litterateur's " pseudo-history. Mr Hargrave Jennings says that it is " poor and ineffective," an opinion not uncommon to other interpreters of history who manipulate their materials in the interests of their private opinions. " A certain person having occasion to dig somewhat deep in the ground, where this philosopher lay interred, met with a small door, having a wall on each side of it. His curiosity, and the hopes of finding some hidden treasure, soon prompted him to force open the door. He was immediately surprised by a sudden blaze of light, and discovered a very fair vault. At the upper end of it was a statue of a man in armour, sitting by a table, and leaning on his left arm. He held a truncheon in his right hand, and had a lamp burning before him. The man had no sooner set one foot within the vault, than the statue, erecting itself from its leaning posture, stood bolt upright ; and, upon the fellow's advancing another step, lifted up the truncheon in its right hand. The man still ventured a third step, when the statue, with a furious blow, broke the lamp into a thousand pieces, and left his guest in a sudden darkness.

" Upon the report of this adventure, the country people soon came with lights to the sepulchre, and discovered that the statue, which was made of brass, was nothing more than a piece of clock-work ; that the floor of the vault was all loose, and underlaid with several springs, which, upon any man's entering, naturally produced that which had happened. " Rosicrucius, say his disciples, made use of this method to show the world that he had re-invented the ever-burning lamps of the ancients, though he was resolved no one should reap any advantage from the discovery." The second story has suffered still further outrage. Mr Hargrave Jennings asserts that it is related upon " excellent authority." This authority is a work by Dr John Campbel, entitled "Hermippus Redivivus; or, the Sage's Triumph over Old Age and the Grave," and the reference therein is " Les Memoires Historiques " for the year 1 687, tome i. p. 365, which no one has been able to identify, and which, according to William Godwin,1 had perhaps no other existence than in the fertile brain of the compiler. "There happened in the year 1687, an odd accident at Venice, that made a very great stir then, and which I think deserves to be rescued from oblivion. The great freedom and ease with which all persons, who make a good appearance, live in that city, is known sufficiently to all who are acquainted with it;

such, therefore, will not be surprised that a stranger who went by the name of Signer Gualdi, and who made a considerable figure there, was admitted into the best company, though nobody knew who or what he was. He remained at Venice some months, and three things were remarked in his conduct. The first was, that he had a small collection of fine pictures, which he readily showed to anybody that desired it ; the next, that he was perfectly versed in all arts and sciences, and spoke on every subject with such readiness and sagacity, as astonished all who heard him -} and it was in the third place observed, that he never wrote or received any letter ; never desired any credit, or made use of bills of exchange, but paid for every thing in ready-money, and lived decently, though not in splendour. 1 Preface to " The Travels of St Leon."

1 ' This gentleman met one day at the coffee-house with a Venetian nobleman, who was an extraordinary good judge of pictures : he had heard of Signor Gualdi's collection, and in a very polite manner desired to see them, to which the other very readily consented. After the Venetian had viewed Signor Gualdi's collection, and expressed his satisfaction, by telling him that he had never seen a finer, considering the number of pieces of which it consisted, he cast his eyes by chance over the chamber-door, where hung a picture of this stranger. The Venetian looked upon it, and then upon him. 'This picture was drawn for you, sir/ says he to Signor Gualdi ; to which the other made no answer but by a low bow. 'You look,' continued the Venetian, ' like a man of fifty, and yet I know this picture to be of the hand of Titian, who has been dead one hundred and thirty years, how is this possible 1 ' ' It is not easy,' said Signor Gualdi gravely, ' to know all things that are possible, but there is certainly no crime in my being like a picture drawn by Titian.' The Venetian easily perceived, by his manner of speaking, that he had given the stranger offence, and therefore took his leave.

" He could not forbear speaking of this in the evening to some of his friends, who resolved to satisfy themselves by looking upon the picture the next day. In order to have an opportunity of doing so, they went to the coffee-house about the time that Signor Gualdi was wont to come thither -, and not meeting him, one of them, who had often conversed with him, went to his lodgings to enquire after him, where he heard that he had set out an hour before for Vienna. This affair made a great noise, and found a place in all the newspapers of that time." The mysterious Signor Gualdi was "' suspected to be a Rosicrucian." The acknowledged fictions of a later period occasionally introduce the Society to the novel-reading public. Among these may be mentioned the incoherent and worthless romance, entitled " St Irvyne ; or, The Rosicrucian," which was written by Shelley at the age of seventeen; Lord Lytton's "Zanoni;" "The Rosicrucian's Story," by Paschal R. Randolph, an American half-breed of no inconsiderable talent, who translated the " Divine Pomiander," formed an ephemeral Rosicrucian publishing company, and crowning a chequered existence with a sudden suicide, is still much respected among certain spiritual circles, occasionally " communicating " with quite the average veracity of other " controls" performed by the " choir invisible." The official organ of the English Societas Rosicrudana has also provided its select and esoteric circle of " antiquarian " illuminati with " Leaves from the Diary of a Rosicrucian," a romance of considerable ability by Kenneth Mackenzie, F.R.C., IX°.

"THERE is a point," quoth a grandiloquent pseudoEosicrucian in an impressive and tragedy voice, ' ' there is a point," he repeated in the conventional whisper of the unexplainable mystic, " beyond which we inevitably must keep silence. We are driven to take refuge in portentous darkness and in irretrievable mystery." The godless and incorrigible scepticism of a coarse, unsubdued intelligence, surrendered to a reprobate sense, and basely and wilfully grovelling in the blind alleys of natural causes, begs leave to believe that this is because extremes meet, that the heights of the inexpressible are closely approximate to the abysmal depths of bathos. But the unsubdued intelligence is known to have covered the shame of its naked ignorance with the " filthy rags " of a posteriori methods. Anathema maranatha. Let it have no part in the life to come ! Nevertheless, I have found it superfluous to "keep guard over " the secrets of the Eosicrucians, or to veil their mysteries in inviolable silence, and this is for a simple reason, namely, that they have never revealed any. If the manifestoes I|have published emanated in reality from a secret society, it has stood guard over its own treasures, and as neither Mr Hargrave Jennings nor myself can "boast of having ever — really and in fact — seen or known any supposed (or suspected) member in the flesh," we have nothing to reveal or to withhold. " The recondite systems connected

with the illustrious Kosicrucians " are, of course, enveloped in darkness, and, in common with other students of esoteric lore, I am inclined to consider that this darkness does cover a real and, possibly, a recoverable knowledge. But it is not of our making and in our age, which has nothing to fear from the rack or the faggot, and but little from the milder agonies of eternal Coventry, it is no longer worth preserving. Nihil est opertum quod non revelabitur, et occultum quod won scietur. The time has come when that which was muttered in darkness may be declared plainly in the full face of day, and when that which was whispered in the ear can be proclaimed on the house-top. The tremendous secrets of spiritual alchemy are about to surrender at discretion to the searching investigations of the sympathetic and impartial student at work in the cause of truth. On the faith of a follower of Honnes, I can promise that nothing shall be held back from those true Sons of the Doctrine, the sincere seekers after light who are prepared to approach the supreme arcana of the psychic world with a clean heart and an earnest aim. True Rosicrucians and true alchemical adepts, if there be any in existence at this day, will not resent a new procedure when circumstances have been radically changed. The pontiffs of darkness and mystery will probably discover that it is too late to make use of that policy of assassination which is supposed to have been applied in the case of the Abb4 de Villars. I appeal, therefore, to those students of occultism who are men of method as well as of imagination, of reason as well as of intuition, to assist me in clearing away the dust and rubbish which have accumulated during centuries of oblivion, misrepresentation, and calumny in the silent sanctuaries of the transcendental sciences, that the traditionary secrets of Nature

unencumbered by evasive veils, which preserved them perhaps in the past from the violence of tyrants and intellectual task -masters in the high places of religion and science, but which are rent on every side, and " execrable from the moment that they are useless," may shine forth in the darkness of doubt and uncertainty, to illuminate the strait and narrow avenues which communicate between the seen and the unseen. While this work was passing through the press, Mr Hargrave Jennings has issued the third edition of " The Eosicrucians, their Kites and Mysteries." It is spread over the space of two large volumes of an imposing and handsome appearance. It embodies some new but wholly irrelevant materials, and does not contain one syllable of additional information on its ostensible subject. The additional illustrations are quite beside the question, having no reference, however esoteric and remote, to the Eosicrucian mystery. This edition, in fact, justifies still further the severe criticism which I have been forced to make on the purposeless and rambling speculations of its eccentric author. NUMBER I. (p. 17). ACCORDING to the " Kabbala Denudata " of the Baron Knorr de Eosenroth, the Eose signifies the Shecinah. The reason is given in the Zohar, sect, ^mor., " Quod sicut Rosa crescit ad aquas, et emittit odorem bonum, sic Makhuth hoc gaudet nomine, cum influxum assugit a Binah, quce bonum elevat odorem"

The definition of John Heydon concerning the letters E. C. comes too late to be of much value on historical grounds. " But some may ask what I mean by E. C. The ceremony is an Ebony Cross, flourisht and decked with Eoses of Gold. The Cross typifies Christ's sufferings upon the Cross for our sins ; the Eoses of Gold shew the glory and beauty of his resurrection from death to life. This is carried to Mesque, Cascle, Apamia, Chaulatean, Virissa Caumich, Mount Calvery, Haran, and Mount Sinai, where they meet when they please and make resolution of all their actions, then disperse themselves abroad, taking their pleasure alwayes in one of these places, where they resolve also all questions of whatsoever hath been done, is done, or shall be done in the world, from the beginning to the end thereof. And these are the men called Eosicrucians," NUMBER II. (p. 18). It is the sign of Mercury, but its position in the twelfth clavis of Basil Valentine indicates a further and more arcane importance. " The vivific gold, the vivific sulphur, or the true fire of the philosophers, is to be sought in the house of Mercury" says Eliphas Levi (" Mysteries of Magic," p. 202). The " sulphur, mercury, and salt of the philosophers," says the same adept, " condensed and volatilized by turns, compose the azoth of the philosophers." The alchemical " balm of sulphur," according to the Baron Tschoudy's " Catechism for the Grade of Adept, or Sublime and Unknown apprentice Philosopher" (see "L'Etoile Flamboyante "), is identical with the " radical moisture," which is also the mercury of the philosophers, the base of every species in the three kingdoms of Nature, but more particularly the seed and base of metals when it is prepared philosophically by the extraction of what is superfluous and the addition of what is wanting for the performance of the Hermetic opus. On this point, see Pernetz, " Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermetique."

NUMBER III. (p. 57). This is a common and significant superstition. Perhaps it originated in the Phoenix legend ; it is dear to mystical writers, at any rate, and has prompted some curious and abstruse reasoning. The bee is especially a subject of folklore, and is a symbol of the ungenerating and sexless spirit of man, which yet presents itself to the mind under a male aspect. NUMBER IV. (p. 169). The symbolical representation of the tetrad under the figure of a four-square garden, enclosure, house, or city is very common among mystical writers. A familiar instance is found in the Apocalypse, .where the New Jerusalem is represented as a perfect square descending out of heaven. Compare the " Eoman de la Rose " — ' ' Haut fiit li mur et tons quarres Si en fu bien clos et bar-re's, En leu de haies, uns vergiers, On one n'avoit entr6 bergiers." This passage is rendered by Chaucer in the following manner : — " Square was the wall, and high somedele Enclosed, and ybarred wele, In stead of hedge, was that gardin, Come never shepherde therein." NUMBER V. (p. 223). The appendix to a series of epistles, entitled " Selenia Augustalia," and written by Johann Valentin Andreas, contains an account, thus arranged, of the offspring of this marriage : —

1. Christina Patientia, nat. 1644, 24Decem.; obiit 2. Job. Valentin, nat. 1646, 17 Mart. 3. Gottliebin, nat. 1647, 3 Nov. 4. Augustus Gottlieb, natus 1649, 16 Jan. 5. Jacob Erasmus, nat. 1650, 3 August ; obiit 6. Maria Barb. Elisab., nat. 1652, 13 Apr. VI. Ehrenreich, nat. 1624, 10 Julii; obiit 1634, 21 Septemb. VII. Wahrermund, nat. 1627, 27 Nov. ; obiit 1629, 6 Febr. VIII. Johan Valentin, nat. 1631, 9 Aug.; obiit 1632, 5 IX. Patientia, nat. 1632, 25 Octob. ; obiit 1632; 6 Decemb. NUMBER VI. (p. 388). In the first volume of his "Philosophical Dictionary" Voltaire, however, recounts what he considered to be the best exploit ever performed in alchemy, and which was that of a Rosicrucian, who, as early as the year 1620, paid a visit to Henri I., due de Bouillon, of the house of Turenne, and the sovereign prince of Sedan, with the object of informing him that his power and dominion were in no way proportioned to his valour, and that he, the stranger in question, was fired with the disinterested design of making him as wealthy as an Emperor. " I can remain no longer than two days on your estate," said the impostor ; " I must then proceed to Venice and be present at the grand assembly of my brethren. In the first place, you must keep my secret inviolable ; in the second, send to the first apothecary in the town and purchase a quantity of litharge ; cast but one grain of this red powder therein, and in less than a quarter of an hour it will be transformed into gold."

The prince performed the operation, and repeated it three times in the presence of the virtuoso. This personage had previously purchased all the litharge which was to be found at the apothecaries in Sedan, and had resold it to them, tinctured with several ounces of gold. The adept on departing presented all his powder of projection to the due de Bouillon, who did not doubt for a moment that, having manufactured three ounces of gold with three grains, he would make one hundred thousand ounces with a proportionate quantity of this priceless and mysterious powder. The philosopher was in haste to quit the town ; he declared that he had given all his powder to the prince, and that he needed some coin of the realm to repair to Venice for the inauguration of the assembly of Hermetics. A man of moderate tastes, he asked simply for twenty thousand crowns, but was forced by his princely disciple to accept twice that sum ; but when the unfortunate duke had exhausted all the litharge in Sedan he could no longer manufacture gold, nor could he anywhere discover his philosopher. By an error of transcription the preface to the " Fama Fraternitatis " was omitted from the text of the present revised version. It is addressed to " the wise and understanding reader."

Wisdome (sayeth Solomon) is a treasure unto men that never faileth, for she is the breth of the power of God and an inherence flowing from the glory of the Almighty ; she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of His goodness. She teacheth civility with righteousness and strength, she knoweth things of old, and conjectureth aright what is to come ; she knoweth the subtleties of speaches and can expound darke sentences ; she foreseeth signes and wonders, with the advent of seasons and times. With this treasure was our first father Adam before his fall fully indued ; hence it doth appear that after God had brought before him all the creatures of the field and the fowls under the heavens, he gave to everyone of them theyr proper name, accordinge to their Nature. Although now, through the sorrowfull fall into sinn, this excellent Jewell wisdome hath bene lost, and mere darkness and ignorance is come into the world, yet, notwithstanding, the Lord God hath sometimes hetherto bestowed and made manifest the same to some of his friends ; the wise Kinge Solomon doth testifie of himself that he upon his

earnest prayer and desire obtained such wisdome of God that thereby he knew how the world was made, understood the operation of the elements, the beginninge, endinge, and middest of the times,- the alterations, the dayes of the turning of the sunne, the change of seasons, the circuits of yeres and the positions of stars, the natures of livinge creatures and the furies of wild beasts, the violence of winds, the reasonings of men, the diversities of plants, the vertues of roots, and all such things as are either secret or manifest, them he knewe. Now, I doe not think that there can be found anyone whoe would not wish and desire with all his heart to be partaker of this noble treasure, but seinge the same felicity canne happen to none except God Himself give wisdome and send His Holy Spirit from above, we have sett forth in print this little treaty, to wit, the Famam and Confessionem of the Laudable Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, to be read by every one, because in them is clearly shewn and discovered what concerning it the world hath hereafter to expect. Although now these things may seem somewhat strange, and many might esteme it to be a philosophical showe and no true historic which is published and spoken of the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, it shall therefore sufficiently appear by our Confession that there is more in recessu then may be imagined, and it shall also be easily understood and observed by everyone, (yf he be not altogether void of understandinge) what now adayes is meant thereby.

Those who are true disciples of wisdome and true followers of the spirituall arte will consider better of these things, and have them in greater estimation, as also judge farr otherwise of them, as hath been done of some principall persons but espetially of Adam Haselmeyer, Notarius Publicus to the Archduke Maximilian, whoe likewise hath made an extract ex scriptis Theologids Theophrasti, and written a treatise under the title Jesuits, wherein he willeth that every Christian should be a true Jesuite, that is, should walke, live, and be in Jesus. He was but ill rewarded of the Jesuites, because in his answer written upon the Famam he did name those of the Fraternity of the Eosy Cross, " the highly illuminated men and undeceiving Jesuites," for they, not able to brook this, layde hands on him and put him into the gallies, for which they likewise are to expect theyr reward. Blessed Aurora will now begin to appeare, whoe (after the passing away of the darke night of Saturne) with her brightness altogether extinguished the shinninge of the moon, or the small sparkles of the heavenly wisdome which yet remaines with men, and is a fore runner of pleasant Phoebus, whoe, with her cleare and fiery glisteninge beam.es, brings forth that blessed day, long wished for of many truehearted, by which daylight then shall truely be knowne and scene, all heavenly treasures of godly wisdome, as also the secrets of all hidden and invisible things in the world, according to the doctrine of our forefathers and auncient wise men.

This will be the right Kingly Rubie, most excellent shining Carbuncle, of the which it is sayd that he doth shine and give light in darkenes, and is a perfect medecine of all imperfect metaline bodyes, to change them into the best gould and to cure all diseases of men, easing them of theyr paynes and miseries. Be therefore gentle reader admonished, that with me you doe earnestly pray to God, that it may please Him to open the harts and eares of all ill-hearing people, and to grant unto them His blessing, that they may be able to know Him in His omnipotency, with admiring contemplation of Nature, to His honor and praise, and to the love, helpe, comfort, and strengthening of our neighbours, and to the restoring of health of all the diseased. Amen. There is a mountain situated in the midst of the earth or centre of the world, which is both small and great. It is soft also above measure, hard and strong. It is far off and near at hand ; but, by the Providence of God, it is invisible. In it are hidden most ample treasures, which the world is not able to value. This mountain, by the envy of the devil, is compassed about with very cruel beasts and ravenous birds, which make the way thither both difficult and dangerous ; and, therefore, hitherto, because the time is not yet come, the way thither could not be sought after by all, but only by the worthy man's self-labour and investigation.

To this mountain you shall go in a certain night, when it comes most long and dark, and see that you. prepare yourself by prayer. Insist upon the way that leads to the mountain, but ask not of any man where it lies ; only follow your guide, who will offer himself to you, and will meet you in the way. This guide will bring you to the mountain at midnight, when all things are silent and dark. It is necessary that you arm yourself with a resolute, heroic courage, lest you 1 See the preface to Heydon's " Holy Guide " ; also " A Suggestive Inquiry concerning the Rosicrucian Mystery." fear those things that will happen, and fall back. You need no sword or other bodily weapon, only call upon your God, sincerely and heartily seeking Him. When you have discovered the mountain, the first miracle that will appear is this — a most vehement and very great wind will shake the whole mountain and shatter the rocks to pieces. You will be encountered by lions, dragons, and other terrible wild beasts ; but fear not any of these things. Be resolute and take heed that you return not, for your guide who brought you thither will not suffer any evil to befall you. As for the treasure, it is not yet discovered, but it is very near. After this wind will come an earthquake, which will overthrow those things which the wind had left.

Be sure you fall not off. The earthquake being passed, there shall follow a fire that will consume the earthly rubbish and discover the treasure, but as yet you cannot see it. After all these things, and near daybreak, there shall be a great calm, and you shall see the day-star arise, and the darkness will disappear. You will conceive a great treasure ; the chiefest thing and the most perfect is a certain exalted tincture, with which the world, if it served God and were worthy of such gifts, might be tinged and turned into most pure gold.

Oh Thou everywhere and good of all, whatsoever I do remember, I beseech Thee, that I am but dust, but as a vapour sprung from earth, which even Thy smallest breath can scatter. Thou hast given me a soul and laws to govern it ; let that fraternal rule which Thou didst first appoint to sway man order me ; make me careful to point at Thy glory in all my wayes, and where I cannot rightly know Thee, that not only my understanding but my ignorance may honour Thee. Thou art all that can be perfect ; Thy revelation hath made me happy. Be not angry, 0 Divine One, O God the most high Creator ! If it please Thee, suffer these revealed secrets, Thy gifts alone, not for my praise but to Thy glory, to manifest themselves. I beseech Thee, most gracious God, they may not fall into the hands of ignorant envious persons that cloud these truths to Thy disgrace, saying they are not lawful to be published because what God reveals is to be kept secret. But Eosie Crucian philosophers lay up this secret into the bosome of God which I have presumed to manifest clearly and plainly. I beseech the Trinity it may be printed as I have written it that the truth may no more be darkened with ambiguous language.1 Good God, besides Thee nothing is ! 0 stream Thyself into my soul, and flow it with Thy grace, illumination and revelation !

Make me to depend on Thee. Thou delightest that man should account Thee as his King, and not hide what honey of knowledge he hath revealed. I cast myself as an honourer of Thee at Thy feet, and because I cannot be defended by Thee unless I believe after Thy laws, keep me, 0 my. soul's Soveraign, in the obedience of Thy will, and that I wound not my conscience with vice and hiding Thy gifts and graces bestowed upon me, for this, I know, will destroy me within, and make Thy illuminating Spirit leave me. I am afraid I have already infinitely swerved from the revelations of that Divine Guide which Thou hast commanded to direct me to the truth, and for this I am a sad prostrate and penitent at the 1 The speaker is John Hey don, in " The Holy Guide."

foot of Thy throne. I appeal only to the abundance of Thy remissions, 0 God, my God. I know it is a mysterie beyond the vast soul's apprehension, and therefore deep enough for man to rest in safety in ! 0 Thou Being of all beings, cause me to work myself to Thee, and into the receiving arms of Thy paternal mercies throw myself. For outward things I thank Thee, and such as I have I give unto others, in the name of the Trinity, freely and faithfully, without hiding anything of what was revealed to me and experienced to be no diabolical delusion or dream, but the Adjectamenta of Thy richer graces — the mines and deprivation are both in Thy hands. In what Thou hast given me I am content. Good God, ray Thyself into my soul ! Give me but a heart to please Thee, I beg no morethen Thou hast given, and that to continue me uncontemnedly and unpittiedly honest. Save me from the devil, lusts, and men, and from those fond dotages of mortality which would weigh down my soul to lowness and debauch - ment. Let it be my glory (planting myself in a noble height above them) to contemn them. Take me from myself and fill me but with Thee. Sum up Thy blessings in these two, that I may be rightly good and wise, and these, for Thy eternal truth's sake, grant and make grateful.