Mysteries of the Rosie Cross

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ce did any peculiar tenets they may have held, or practices they may have indulged in, exercise upon the world? We shall endeavour to answer these queries as disti

re than a bare reminder that they were a mystic sect to be found in a few European countries about the middle of the fifteenth century. That such a sect did exist is b

vain, however, the secret, if such he really possessed, remained locked up in his own breast, and he lay for months in prison subjected to treatment which reduced him to mere skin and bone, and well nigh killed him. A Pole, named Sendivogius, also an alchemist, an enthusiast like the rest of the fraternity, who had spent time and fortune in the wild and profitless search, then came upon the scene. The sufferings of Seton aroused his sympathy, and he resolved to bring about, if possible, his escape from the tyrant. After experiencing a deal of difficulty he obtained permission to visit the prisoner, whom he found in a dark and filthy dungeon, in a condition well nigh verging upon absolute starvation. He immediately acquainted the unhappy man with his proposals, which were listened to with the greatest eagerness, and Seton declared that, if he succeeded in securing his liberation, he would make him one of the wealthiest of living men. Sendivogius then set about his really difficult task; and, with a view to its accomplishment, commenced a curious and artful series of movements. His first move was to procure some ready money, which he did by the sale of some property near Cracow. With this he began to lead a gay and somewhat dissipated life at Dresden; giving splendid banquets, to which he invited the officers of the guard, particularly selecting those who were on duty at the prison. In the course of time his hospitality had its expected effect; he entirely won the confidence of the officials, and pretending that

o his steward, insists, contrary to other writers, that the magic powder was red and not black; that he kept it in a box of gold, and that with one grain of it he could make a hundred ducats, or a thousand rix dollars, generally using quicksilver as the basis of his operations. When travelling this box was carried by the steward, who hung it round his neck by a golden chain; the principal part of the powder, however, was hidde

ns to be overcome; and, upon the promise of secrecy by the prince, showed him what he was so anxious to witness. No sooner, however, had the alchymist left, than the prince entered into a conspiracy with another alchymist, named Muhlenfels, for robbing Sendivogius of the powder he used in his operations. Accompanied by twelve armed attendants, Muhlenfels hastened a

express to the prince, ordering him to deliver up Muhlenfels and his plunder. Alarmed at the aspect that things were now assuming, the prince, treacherous to one man as he had been to the other, erected

to be excessively poor, and would sometimes keep his bed for weeks together, to make the people conclude it was impossible

k in Europe, and cause anything approaching to a sensation. A modern writer says:-"The influence which they exercised upon opinion during their brief career, and the permanent impression which they have left upon European literature, claim for them especial notice. Before their time alchemy was but a grovelling delusion; and theirs is the merit of having spiritualised and refined it

capitals of Europe. The new sect taught a doctrine less repulsive. They sprang up in Germany, extended with some success to France and England, and excited many angry controversies. Though as far astray in their notions as the Demonologists and witch believers, the creed was more graceful. They taught that the elements swarmed not with hideous, foul and revengeful spirits, but with beautiful creatures, more ready t

authority, that it is a compound of ros (dew) and crux (cross). Mosheim contends that it is abundantly attested that the title of Rosicrucians was given to the chemists who united the study of religion with the search after chemical sec

w. Moreover, this sect applied the term Lux to the seed or menstruum of the Red Dragon, or to that crude and corporeal light which, being properly concocted and

for the sake of imposing on others who were hostile to their religious views. The true import of this title, he says, was perceived by the sagacity of Peter Gassendi, Examen

or Chaos of Opinions respecting the Fraternity of the Rosy-Cross, in which he represents the

led, by Divine revelation, to explain the most important secrets, both of nature and grace; that they were appointed to correct the errors of the learned world, particularly in philosophy and medicine; that they were possessed of the philosopher's stone, and understood both the art of transmuting metals and of prolonging human life; and, in fine, by their means the golden age would return. As soon as these grand secrets were divulged, the whole tribe of the Paracelsists, Theosophists and Chemists flocked to the Rosicrucian standard, and every new and unheard-of mystery was referred to this fraternity. It is impossible to relate how much noise this wonderful discovery made, or what different opinions were formed concerning it. After all, though the laws and statutes of the society had appeared, no one could tell where the society itself was to be found, or who really belonged to it. It was imagined by some sagacious observers, that a certain important meaning was concealed under the story of the Rosicrucian fraternity, though they were wholly un

t is to make use of hard words before a lady; but it is so much the concern of a poet to have his works un

for one by mistake. According to these gentlemen, the four elements are inhabited by spirits, which they call sylphs, gnomes, nymphs and salamanders. The gnomes, or demons of earth, delight in mischief; but the sylphs, whose habitation is

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d him was only fit for use, his admirable invention soon supplied. There was but one systematic extravagance in all nature which was to his purpose, the Rosicrucian Philosophy; and this by the effort of a well-directed imagination, he presently seized. The fanatic Alchemists, in the search after the great secret, had invented a means altogether to their end: it was a kind of Theological Philosophy, made up in a mixture of almost equal parts of Pagan Platonism, Christian Quietism and the Jewish Cabbala; a mixture monstrous enough to frighten reason from human commerce. This system, he tells us, he took as he found it in a little French tract called, La Comte de Gabalis. This book is written in dialogue, and is a delicate and very ingenious piece of

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forsakes his Rosicrucian system; which, in this p

peculiar to that wild philosophy, was founded on a principle very unfit to be employed in such a sort of po

random, when they light upon a fruitful ground, will multiply far beyond either the hopes or imagination of the sower. And, therefore, in order to promote so useful a work, I will here take leave to glance a few inuendos, that may be of great assistance to those sublime spirits, who shall be appointed to labour in a universal comment upon this wonderful discourse. And, first, I have couched a very profound mystery in the number of O's multiplied by seven and divided by nine. Also, if a devout brother of the rosy cross will

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, Part I,

ple-the 'House of the Holy Spirit,' with the inscription on his grave-'Post CXX. annos patebo.' The laws of the order, thus made known in the fulness of time, were that its members should heal the sick gratis, should meet once every year in a certain secret place, should adopt as their symbol R. C. (i.e. Rosea Crux), or a rose springing from a cross (the device, be it observed, of Luther's seal), and should assume the habit and manners of whatsoever country they might journey to. It is now supposed that Andre? simply intended a hoax upon the credulity of the age, and that Chri

alked of the secret as of a spirit which lived within an emerald, and converted everything that was near it to the highest perfection it is capable of. 'It gives a lustre,' says he, 'to the sun, and water to the diamond. It irradiates every metal, and enriches lead with all the properti

found that he jumbled natural and moral ideas together in the same