IV. SCHOL ASTERIU ML CHRISTIANUM seu Ludus

credentium, quo tsedium horarum seu temporis molestia abigitur et levatur. Anno mdcxxiv.
pp. 217-274.
—Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh.
This work may be regarded as a sort of memorial volume to the memory of the deceased. In the preface to reader, the friend who publishes it refers to Maier as “ quern in vivis adhuc esse certo sibi persuadebant,” and says that his honoured friend, “ anni MDCXXII., tempore sestivo, Magdeburgi naturse debitum pie persolvisse omnes et singulos certiores redderem.” That, when still alive, he had given this little work called Ulysses into the hands
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of his friend. It being but a small item, the editor has added to it two other tracts, the “ Colloquium ” and the ‘‘ Echo,” both now translated from the German into the Latin tongue. He then moots the question, Was he, Doctor Maier, ever the defender of the brotherhood of the Rosy- Cross during his life? “in ordinem istuin receptus fuerit. Ad hoc me illud nescire, respondeo. Hoc tamen minime ignoro, quomodo videlicet ad extremum cum ipso quodam- modo comparatum fuerit.” But whether or not he was admitted a brother of the Rosy Cross, certain it is that he was “ Religionis Christi, vel Regni Christi Fratrem fuisse, notum est.” He was also, it is to be noted, a regular attendant at the house of God and a Christian in life and convei'sation. He gloried in the profession of religion, and practised that charity which is exhibited to us in the person of Christ, as shown in the parable of the good Samaritan. To love God and his neighbour was his aim, as it should be that of the reader. The preface is “ dabantur Francofurti ad Maenum.” No date is given. The work, “ Ulysses,” begins with the statement, no one is happy except the wise, that yet unhappiness can be turned into joy, bad transformed to good. It is the mind which deter- mines our happiness. It is said of Ulysses that, when tried by ill fortune, he was neither cast down nor turned back by the breeze, by the rain, by the cold, or by the motion of the sea. Let us follow in the way of Ulysses — consider his great gifts, intelligence, and wisdom.
1. Ulysses was a man “ astutissimus.” He was not easily deceived, nor did danger or ambush overcome him. He was guided by truth, virtue, and piety. He had the eye of the serpent and the heart of the dove. Astute, so that no foxy ways could deceive him ; others might be taken in, but even the fox, using a lion’s skin as a covering, could not frighten Ulysses.
2. “ Facundia autem Ulyssem imprimis ornavit.” In his speech “ pro armis Achillis contra Ajacem,” this char- acteristic is more than once observable.
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3. Prudence, as Ovid sang : —
“ Non dubia est Ithaci prudentia sed tamen optat,
Futnum de patriis posse videre focis.”
A prudence seen both in words and deeds, joined with craft transferred to action, and combined with eloquence. This prudence was well seen in his conduct in the Trojan expedition ; or, again, when he slew Polyphemus and de- livered his companions. Then, too, “ Septimo, Sirenes navis malo adalligatus prseteriit.” His prudence was amply proved by his conduct during his wanderings after the destruction of Troy. Maier cannot pass over the reference to the Mower or herb moly, that which had a white Mower and a black root— a sweet, lovely Mower, but a bitter root. “ Per angustas ad augusta, per laborem ad gloriam, per virtutem ad immortale nomen tenditur et pervenitur.” This moly is that which is referred to by Gratian the Philosopher “ in arte,” its beginning miserable and sharp, its end joy and gladness.
The other characteristics of Ulysses. “ 4. Ingeniosis- simus vir; 5. In bello egregius; 6. In consiliis dandis expeditissimus ; 7. Laborum et periculorum patientissimus.” Great in war against his enemies, “ pro aris et focis, pro parentibus et liberis.” There is also a war against wild beasts, the lion and the bear. Hear the song of Ulysses (Ovid, “ Metam.,” xiii) : —
“ ‘ My task performed, with praise I had retir’d ;
But not content with this, to greater praise aspir’d ;
Invaded Rhesus and his Thracian crew,
And him and his in their own strength I slew ;
Returned a victor, all my vows complete,
With the king’s chariot, in his royal seat :
Refuse me now his arms, whose fiery steeds Were promised to the spy for his nocturnal deeds.
Nor want I proofs of many a manly wound,
All honest, all before ; believe not me ;
Words may deceive, but credit what you see.’
At this he bar’d his breast and show’d his scars,
As of a furrow’d field, well ploughed with wars.”
Maier now draws out a simile. The medical man fights
n
with death, but has exactly to know where and how the
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danger lies. “ Taurina enim non sunt nunc in usu, sed Leonina quae astu et strategemate not carent, bella.” Ulysses was the wisest of counsellors, not in frivolous things, but in those of the greatest moment. See his constancy against the Cyclops, the Sirens, Tartarus — “ Con- stantissimus est Ulysses.” He despises Boreas. In all kinds of fortune he is equal, and conquers by reason of his indomitable patience. Ulysses, then, is the symbol of perfect human wisdom, that wisdom which adorns manners, gives riches, and tempers virtues. Of its excellences, proof is given from the Wisdom of Sol. vii. : — “ Neither compared I unto her any precious stone, because all gold in respect of her is as a little sand, and silver shall be counted as clay before her.” Wisdom, therefore, is greater riches than gold or silver. Crowns may indeed be the exterior ornaments of kings, but wisdom is the interior rule by which all actions of life must be regulated. Wisdom is like the palm tree — like the clinging, evergreen ivy. It is the equilateral cube. It is that which brings near to us the sun, the moon, heaven and earth, annuls distance. Wisdom has no enemy but ignorance. Pallas, that came from the brain of Jupiter, was the embodiment of wisdom. Vulcan and Pallas had but one altar. Wisdom and fire go together. Wisdom brought forth all useful arts and sciences ; and was it not Ulysses that
“ from Troy conveyed
The fatal image of their guardian maid.
That work was mine.”
He found “ where the secret lay. But Ulysses was not the only one who left his fatherland and by long journeys- sought to find out truth and wisdom. Pythagoras, Plato, Democritus, Homer, Euclid, Apollonius, and innumerable others sought for knowledge not only in Egypt but in India. Apollonius of Tyana, gained secrets from the Brachmans there by arcane magic and sacrifices. Some even sought the Tartarean region and by most desolate and difficult wanderings : —
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“Ilium Scylla rapax canibus subscincta molosis ^tnae usque lacus, et squallida tartara torrent.”
What Horace sings in his love for Lalage may be better sung in praise of wisdom : —
“ Place me where never summer breeze Unbinds the glebe, or warms the trees ;
Where ever low’ring clouds appear,
And angry Jove deforms the inclement year.
“ Place me beneath the burning ray,
Where rolls the rapid car of day ;
Love and the nymph shall charm my toils — ■
The nymph who sweetly speaks, and sweetly' smiles.”
Whoever thus will live, with a spark of what is divine in his mind, can fan it into the flame of wisdom by study and the exercise of virtue, and spend life, not in lukewarm perversity and deception (like the most of men), but in the way of truth, justice, piety, and all virtue, and as life declines and flows softly away, will near the port of true tranquility and eternal safety (Christo Salvatore duce), and there abide for ever. May He light us thither, who is the Triune, yet one God, blessed for evermore. Amen.
The three treatises affixed to the “ Ulysses ” are only interesting to us so far as they refer to “ Maier.” The first, the “ Colloquium,” is a series of conversations on the Society of the Rosy Cross, by Quirinus, Polydorus, Tyro- sophus, Promptutus, and Politicus. Mention is made (p. 93) by Tyrosophus of the “ Symbol um Aurese Mensae,” in con- nection with the possibilities of “ the Stone,” as to the arcane studies of the “Collegia” in Maier’s “ Silentium ” (p. 138). A list is afterwards given of approved books — in theology, Thomas a Kempis, Tauler, Lewis Carbo, Gerhard, Savanarola ; in chemistry, Trevisan, 12 keys of Basil, &c. ; Robert Castrensis’ “ Speculum,” the works of Paracelsus and of Agrippa. Again, as to the “ habitation ” of the society, Maier is quoted (p. 144), “ ex sua Themide Aurea, pag. 42.”
In the “ Echo,” the passage occurs which has given rise to the opinion that at length and shortly before his death Maier was admitted into the Order of the R.C. It occurs
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(p. 168) where, after enumerating several of the works of Maier, “ vir scripta etiain a Domino Authore ipso non frustra scripta esse debent, sed ilium, haud immerito, ante mortem ipsius, tarn ingentibus honorariis, quam non minus singularium mysteriorum communicatione, beabimus.”
The writer (p. 173) declared that neither Luther, Calvin, or Weigel ius, or any others, whatever their names may be, are to be defended in all things. It is but human to err, but the Society teaches heavenly truths and the right understanding of the Divine Word. The date at conclusion of the “ Echo ” is “ inense Martio, anno 1622.” So it must have been issued immediately after the death of Maier.
More interesting are the “ Canones declaratorii ” affixo.d as “Ergon et Parergon, Fr. C. R.” They are in number ten, and “ define God to be the Eternal Father, incorruptible fire, and everlasting light, discuss the generation of the invisible and incomprehensible Word of God, and the tetradic manifestation of the elements.” (Waite, “ Real Histy.,” p. 273.) “ Pater, Filius, Spiintus Sanctus, Spiritus, Anima, Corpus, Spiritus ab «evo, Ignis, Aqua, Terra, Sulphur, Mercurius, Sol.
The first three treat of the Persons in the Trinity. The fourth relates to the Divine love, “ in verbo erat spiritus super aquam agitans.” The Divine fire is the cause of and in all motion. It produces all, and it is the perpetual connection with the Divine Essence that holds life. One hundred and twenty new chemical propositions follow. For instance, under the name and story of Demogorgon, are to be seen the material and method “ hujus artis” (97). “ The ancient chaos is our Saturn ” (98). By the Phoenix, which always revives, is to be understood the multiplica- tion of the Elixir (96). Under the fables of Hercules and Antheus we are to see the preparation of tlie Sulphur (76). The whole are worthy of study and consideration. These propositions are followed by a poem in seven verses-
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At page 202 we have the next part — the sum of the Christian religion, by Diaz. This little treatise is of the Reformed or Lutheran faith, admitting, indeed, the three creeds, four general councils, the doctrine of the orthodox fathers, but denying the virtue of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and granting the admission of clergy by the " ministri ” and the civil magistrate, the “ Minister or Pastor ” being the designation given.
Diaz, a Spaniard, who had embraced the reformed opinions, was murdered at the instance of his own brother, a doctor of the Roman Court, in 1546. The whole tragic story may be read in McCrie, “ Reformation in Spain,” 87, et seq. The treatise here given was first published in French, Lyons, 1562.