CHAPTER VI.

Hermes Stella ........ 397

Bacon's Astrological MSS. Notes, 1603, with strange Parallels
from the Rosicrucian, Robert Fludrl — The German text of the
sixth chapter of Fludd's "Tractatus Apologeticus," 1617, showing
how in 1603 the planet Jupiter was in conjunction with Saturn,

Appendix ......... 419

Cipher Tables — Notes upon the mispag-ing in the 1640 "Ad-
vancement of Learning " — English words in the text of the first
edition of the ' ' Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosy Cross, " 1616
— Maier's locality of the Rosicrucians — Plainly the Hesperides
or Atlantis.

INTRODUCTION.

This work is the result of some few months' close study. It is.
certain anybody giving himself up to complete devotion to this
work, might easily double or treble the number of parallels I
adduce. The chief difficulty is the recognition of parallelism,
for a student must have Shakespeare or Bacon by heart first,
since we cannot read the two authors at the same time, and an
ordinary remembrance of the chief passages in the plays is not
sufficient for discovery. The works have to be read and re-read
thousands of times, and recognition of the same thoughts dis-
guised under different language requires practice and a quick eye
to detect them. It is certain there is hardly a line, certainly
not a simile, illustration, or metaphor, which may not be found
repeated by both writers. This may seem a bold assumption,
but let any one doubting it, read Mr Donnelly's parallels, then
the vast collection adduced by Mrs Pott, and the Journal of the
Bacon Society, together Avith mine, and it is not too much to say
they must amount to thousands — certainly to at least five hundred
complete and perfect ones. Those who refuse to acknowledge
this evidence must be prejudiced, and are determined evidently to
defend Shakespeare's prescriptive claim to the authorship of the
plays, at the point of the bayonet. They belong to a class who
would have the star Lyra rise and set by authority. But
how long will fashion, passion, and prejudice hold out against
Truth ?

It is indeed astonishing to find both Mr Aldis Wright and Dr

xvi INTR on UCTION.

Abbott, in their editions of the "Advancement of Learning" and
"Essays," filling their notes ami glossaries with illustrations
from Shakespeare to parallel the English of Lord Bacon's prose
writings !

I have endeavoured to avoid repeating parallels already pub-
lished by others, but it is quite impossible to entirely escape a
charge of plagiarism on this point. It is impossible to guard
against repetition of parallels which are daily being discovered,
or to be acquainted with the entire range of Bacon-Shakespeare
literature, which threatens to become enormous. Some of my
parallels already have appeared, biit I hope they are illustrated
anew, and I think the greater part are original ; I may truly
say, all have been independently arrived at.

Professor Fowler points out in his work, the "Novum Or-
ganum," the marvellous resemblance in style, thought, and
literary genius in every direction, in all which no other author
can be compared to Bacon, except it be Shakespeare. Testi-
monies of this sort, without any theory or thought behind to
suggest that Bacon wrote the plays and is Shakespeare's double,
a,re highly valuable on account of their perfect immunity from
any suspicion of bias or prejudice. We find Dr Kuno Fischer
pointing out in like manner how the " Want of ability to take an
historical survey of the world is to be found alike in Bacon and
Shakespeare together, with many excellences common to them
both. To the parallel between them, which Gervinus with his
peculiar talent for combination has drawn in the concluding
remarks to his ' Shakespeare,' and has illustrated by a series of
appropriate instances, belongs the similar relation of both to
antiquity, their affinity to the Roman mind, and their diversity
from the Greek.

" The great interest that Bacon took in portraits of character
is proved by the fact that he attempted to draw them himself.
With a few felicitous touches he sketched the characters of Julius
and Augustus Cajsar, and his view of both was similar to that of
Shakespeare. In Julius Caesar he saw <!ombined all that the

INTRODUCTION. xvii

Roman genius had to bestow in the shape of greatness, nobility,
culture, and fascination, and regarded his character as the most
formidable that the Roman world could encounter. And giving
what always serves as the proof of the calculation in the analysis
of a charactei', Bacon so explains the character of Csesar, as to
explain his fate also. He saw, like Shakespeare, that Csesar was
naturally inclined to a despotic feeling, that governed his great
qualities and also their aberrations, rendering him dangerous to
the Republic and blind with respect to his enemies. He wished,
says Bacon, ' not to be eminent amongst great and deserving
men, but to be chief among inferiors and vassals. He was so
much dazzled by his own greatness that he no longer knew what
danger was.' This is the same Csesar into whose mouth Shake-
speare puts the words —

' Danger knows full well

That C?esar is more dangerous than lie.
We were two lions litter'd in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible.'

('Julius Cffisar,' act ii. sc. 2.)

" AYhen Bacon, at last, attributes the fate of Csesar to his
forgiveness of enemies, that by this magnanimity he might
impose upon the multitude, he still shows the dazzled man, who
heightens the expression of his greatness at the expense of his
security " (" Francis Bacon of Verulam," Kuno Fischer, p. 207).

The Standard oi the 31st December 1888 concludes its summary
of the year's literature thus : "By dint of copious advertising,
Mr Ignatius Donnelly's labours to prove that Bacon was the
author of the plays attributed to Shakespeare had attracted con-
siderable attention. But Avhen ' The Great Cryptogram ' ap-
peared, in tAvo huge volumes, it Avas clear that the ' Baconian
theory ' was no more than a colossal mare's nest, scarcely worth
the trouble of serious examination."

Of the writer of this article I know nothing. AVhoever he is
I can only exclaim with Prince Hal, " Thou art a blessed fellow
to think as every man thinks ; never a man's thought in the

b

xviii INTR OD UCTION.

world keeps the roadway iDctter than thine." Archdeacon Farrar
in the Forum for May, under the title, " Literary Criticism,"
writes: "The very demigods of literature — Dante and Shake-
speare, and Bacon and Milton — have not escaped these methods.
Horace Walpole called Dante ' extravagant, absurd, disgusting ;
in short, a Methodist parson in Bedlam ! ' Samuel Pepys, Esq.,
thought ' Othello ' ' a mean thing,' and ' Midsummer Night's
Dream ' ' the most insipid, ridiculous play I ever saw in my life.'
Bacon's ' Instavu-atio Magna ' was described by an eminent con-
temporary as ' the silliest of printed books.' Hacket, in his ' Life
of Lord Keeper Williams,' calls Milton ' a petty schoolboy
scribbler ' ; and another contemporary spoke of him as ' the
author of a profane and lascivious poem called ' Paradise
Lost.'"

To this list I might add the names of Mesmer derided as a
charlatan, Galileo, Harvey, Newton, for the hostile criticism the
theory of gravitation met with lasted twenty years, even
Leibnitz opposing it. If such great names as these passed
through the fiery ordeal of criticism not unscathed, their dis-
coveries at first derided, to be finally universally accepted as
commonplace matter of course, surely the Bacon theory can Avait
profound er consideration and a better verdict at the hands of the
public 1 The criticism c^uoted from the Standard must indeed
amuse Mr Donnelly, recalling Goethe's description of literary
Philistines : —

Daran erkenn ich den gelehrten herni,
Was ihr niclit tastet, steht euch meilenfern ;
Was ihr niclit fasst, das fehlt euch ganz und gar
Was ihr nicht rechnet, glaubt ihr, sei nicht wahr
Was ihr nicht wiigt war fiir euch kein gewicht,
Was ihr nicht miinzt, das nieint eucli, gelte nicht.

It is astonishing how little general, or even private interest as

yet is excited around this Bacon-Shakespeare problem, seeing it

promises more real romance than all the Avildest fiction ever

written. It is a common remark to hear said, " What, after all,

if Bacon did write these plays ? " If the problem ended here with

INTRODUCTION. xix

simply a claim to authorship, I confess I should not care much
either whose name the plays carried. But it is certain this is
perhaps the least part of the problem, and only the entrance to a
complete system of cipher revelatory matter. Any doubt as to
the existence of a cipher in the 1623 Folio plays can only remain
in minds who have not studied the problem. It is the fashion to
laugh at this theory, as it is miscalled, in the same way Harvey
and Mesmer's discoveries were laughed at by incredulous and
ignorant critics, who cannot imagine such a thing being done at
all. But it is certain (and I write the v/ord certain Avith a full
sense that it is wise not to be too sure or confident whilst an ele-
ment of doubt exists) the Eosicrucians are at the bottom of the mijstery.
In this work the reader \n\\ find a few I think striking parallels
pointing this way, and I am certain the first earnest student who
has access to the genuine writings of the Fraternity will discover
a great many more, and that easily. For myself I can trace the
influence of Lord Bacon throughout the works of the great Eng-
lish Rosicrucian, Thomas Vaughan. All the curious and recondite
doctrines held by the Eosicrucians are repeated by Bacon, and
are also to be found in the plays. One is the Music of the
Spheres, another that the Mind of man is a mirror or glass reflecting
Nature* A third a Eestu ration of Knowledge is repeated by Bacon
and the Eosicrucians as a leading or opening object they had in
view. The comparison of Nature to a Book or Volume of God's
creatures, with its alphabet of particulars, is repeated frequently by
Bacon and the Eosicrucians ; also hinted at in the plays. The
participation of Matter with Form in the sense of seal and imprint,
as "signatura rerum,^' is a favourite simile of Bacon's and the Eosi-
crucians. Bacon's theory of Fascination and Divination is entirely
borrowed from the great Eosicrucian forerunner and authority
Paracelsus, and his disciple, Petrus Severinus. Bacon attributed
to the Seven Chief Planets or Stars an occult and extraordinary

* Der Makrokosmus ist der spiegel, in ■welchem der Mikrokosmus geschant
wird. Beide siud eins nnd dasselbe dem Wesen iiiid der innerii Porm nach ;
in der iiusseren Form sind sie verschieden " (p. 53, "Job. Yal. Andreas nnd sein
Zeitalter," Wm. Rossbacli, 1819).

XX JNTR OD UCTION.

influence in the dispensation of things. This is a leading Eosi-
crucian tenet, and is repeated by Fludd almost in identical
words in context with Pan as by Bacon.

The Eosicrucians deduced everyfliii/tj from Light, and I leave
those acquainted with Bacon's writings to judge how far this
idea enters into his style and governs the " Novum Organum."
A philosophical or ideal Eepul^lic, imitated from Plato's " At-
lantis," was a Eosicrucian dream, and betrays one of their ends
to be the reformation of society. Campanella's " City of the
Sun," and John Valentine Andreas' " Christianopolitanae Eei-
publicse," are examples of these Utopias, and Bacon, as the
Solomon of the Order, ^^Tites his " New Atlantis." The proofs
pointing to Bacon as the head of the Society are far more
abundant and striking to those who choose to seek for them
or to reflect over what Ave adduce than is supposed. It is no
ingenious theory caught from some fancied parallels or imaginaiy
resemblances I liring forward.

This work had almost gone through the printer's hands, when I
received from Germany a collection of rare and geniiine Eosicru-
cian works of the early part of the seventeenth century. I am
therefore under the necessity of introducing here evidence other-
wise intended for the body of this work, which I venture to think is
important. It may therefore as well stand first as last, although
not strictly l^elonging to the character of an introduction. This
work as a whole is a painstaking attempt to furnish commonplace
rather than startling evidence of Bacon's authorship of the plays
and of his connection with the Eosicrucian fraternity. Eeaders
who do not care about the somewhat Avearisome investigation of
parallels may be interested in the second part of my work, in
which I have collected some evidence as to the affinity existing
between Bacon's writings and the tenets of the Eosicrucians.
This is such a difficult subject, so wrapjjed in mystery, the
literature so scarce and obscure, that the indulgence of the reader
is begged for the sul)ject, which is only in its infancy. Space
forbids my doing l)are justice to the subject, but I am sure

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INTR OD L CTION. xxi

the impartial critic Avill see that there is more in my theory than
fanciful ingenuity or desire to adduce eclectic ideas.

Before me lays open an original copy of the " Fama Frater-
NiTATis oder Entdeckung der Bruderschaflft dess loblichen Ordens
des Rosen Creutses, beneben der Confession oder Bekenntniss
derselben Fraternitet, an alle Gelehrte und Haupter in Europa
geschrieben" (Franckfurt am Mayn, bey Joh. Bringern, 1617).
Upon pages 52, 53 we read the accompanying reference to a stage,-
player, whom I most thoroughly believe is meant for Williaji
Shakespeare, who figures as a stage-player, in a list of twenty-
six actors' names,* attached to the 1623 first edition plays. Upon
the Stratford Shakespeare monument Ave read : —

Ivdicio Pylivm, genio Socratem, arte Maronem,
Terra tegit, popvlvs mferet, Olympvs habet.

Stay, passenger, why goest tliov by so fast ?
Read, if thov canst, whom enviovs Death hath plast
Within this monvment, Shakspeare ; with whome
Quick natvre dide ; wliose name doth deck y'* tombe

* Facsimile from the Folio Shakespeare, 1623.

The Workes of William Shakespeare,

containing all his Comedies, Histories, and

Tragedies : Trnely set forth, according to their first
ORIGIN ALL.

The Names of the Principall Actors
in all these Plays.

IViUiam Shakespeare.
Richard Rurbadge.
John Heinmings.
Augustine Phillips.
William Kempt.
Thomas Poopc.
George Rryan.
Henry Condcll.
William Shje.
Richard Coichj.
John Loivine.
Samuel Crosse.
Alexander Cooke.

Samuel Gilhurne.
Robert Aj-min.
William Ostler.
Nathan Field.
John Uiidericood.
Nicholas Toolcy.
William Ecclestone.
Joseph Taylor.
Rohei-t Bcnfield.
Robert Goiighe.
Richard Robinson.
John SJianckc.
John Rice.

xxii INTRODUCTION.

Far more then cost ; sieli (sitli) all y* he hath writt
Leaves living art bvt page to serve his witt.

Obiit Alio Do' 1616,
iEtatis 53, die 23 Ap.

This monument * Avas erected whilst the widow of Shakespeare
was alive, his daui^hters and his son-in-law, Dr Hall, also acces-
sories to the erection. Here then is proof Shahespeare dud in his
Jiff //-third year. As has been already by others pointed out, we
do not know the exact date of Shakespeare's birth. All we
possess is the record of his baptism upon the 26th day of April
1564. This has sriven rise to the tradition he died on his birth-
day anniversary.! The testimony of a monument erected by his
surviving relatives must outweigh auricular traditions, based on
no evidence whatever, beyond repetition of a blunder or guess,
perpetrated by unenquiring minds. Now the passage I am
about to cpiote from the "Fama Fraternitatis " of 1617 is upon
pages 52 and 53, corresponding Avith Shakespeare's full age and
the age he had just entered when he died, 1616 !

The reference to the stage-player is upon page 53. I cannot
believe this coincidence only. The reflective reader will, I am
sure, find this reference to a stage-player or actor by the Iiosicrucians,
as an impostor highly suspicious, because the Fraternity was a
deeply religious sect, and it is difficult to imagine their connec-
tion with the stage at all. The question also propounds itself —
how was this stage-player an impostor 1

The context of this passage points to a Book, in connection with
a stage-player or actor/ It is evident this stage-player (Histrio und

* As to the time of the erection of this monument Dyce writes : — "A monu-
ment to his memory, said to be from tlie chisel of Gerard Johnson, was
subsequently erected against the north wall of the chancel, at what time is
not known, but earlier than 1623, as it is mentioned in the verses by Leonard
Digges, prefixed to the folio of Shakespeare's dramatic Avorks published in
that year.

t " William Shakspere was born in A[iril 1564. Upon what day we cannot
be ceitain ; but ui)on the 26th he was baptised ; and there is a tradition that
the day of his death was the anniversary of his birthday. Allowing for the
diflerence between old style and new, 23rd April corresponds with our 3rd of
May" (Dowden's " Shakespeare," p. 13).

INTRODUCTION. xxiii

Comediant) is connoted with some j^ublished work/ ylnd I tJdnk it
is plainly implied Ids fraud is therefore connected with writings!

I now give Mr Waite's translation : " For conclusion of our
Confession we must earnestly admonish you, that you cast away,
if not all, yet most of the worthless books of pseudo chymists, to
whom it is a jest to apply the Most Holy Trinity to vain
things, or to deceive men with monstrous symbols and enigmas,
or to jDrofit by the curiosity of the credulous ; our age doth pro-
duce many such, one of the greatest being a stage-player, a man
with sufficient ingenuity for imposition ; such doth the enemy of
human welfare mingle among the good seed, thereby to make
the truth more difficult to be believed, which in herself is simple
and naked, while falsehood is proud, haughty, and coloured with
a lustre of seeming godly and humane wisdom " (p. 96, " Real
History of the Rosicrucians ").

The reader will note the date of the edition of the " Confes-
sion" (from which I quote) is 1617 — the year folloioing Shake-
speare's death, and that it was published at Frankfort on the Maine,
where Robert Flvdd was at the same date, 1617, publishing his defence
of the Bosicrucian Fraternity (agcdnst the attacks of Libavius) in his
" Tractatus Apologetici" (Fi-ankfort, 1617), of which I possess an
original copy. Here is instantaneous and irrefutable evidence,
connecting England and Germany with these manifestoes. Mr
Waite states : " The ' Confessio Fraternitatis ' aj)peared in the
year 1615 in a Latin work, entitled, ' Secretioris Fhilosophice
Consideratio Brevis a Bhillipo a Gabella, philosophice conscripta ; et
nunc primiim una cum Confessione Fraternitatis B. C. in lucem edita,
Cassellis, excudebat. G. JFesselius a 1615, Quarto.'""^

The same year Shakespeare died, 1616, Michael Maier pub-
lished at Frankfort a Avork entitled "Examen Fucorum Pseudo-

Tlie Latin text of this edition runs: " Unum its 2»'ceci2nium Amphithea-
TRALEM HisTBioNEM, liotiiincm cicl impone?idu7)i satis ingeniosum, etc.," page
61. (Bacon was born in 1561.)

* I should like to know who PMlliim d, GabcJla was ? In John Black-
bourne's edition of Lord Bacon's works, amongst the characters of Lord Bacon

xxiv INTR on UCTION.

Chymicorum Detectorum, et in Gratiam ventafh amantinm succinde
refutatorum " (Francof . Typis Nicolai Hoffmanni, sumptibus Theo-
dori de Brii. Anno mcdxvii.). At the conclusion of the preface
we read, " Vale, Daham Francofvrti Mcenum, Mense Septemhi Anno
1616." So we find he wrote this five months after Shakespeare's
death, Avhich occiu-red April 23, 1616. This work, as its title
demonstrates, is an examination and exposure of the different
claims of false alchymists, briefly refuted for the benefit of lovers
of truth. Evidently it was insfired hij Maier's visit to England ;
for in the preface he writes : " Cum aliquando in Anglia pmcis
ah hinc annis nonnihil, bills in ejusmodi fucos Alchymicos, aut
potius Pseudo-Chymicos, collegerim, non potui quiescere, quin
eorum delineationum, calamo arrepto, instituerem, turn ut animo
meo pro tempore indulgerem, tum ut bonis omnil^us banc quasi
facem incenderem, ne facile in tenebricosis illorum cryjDtis pedem
lapidi, aut verticem trabi illiderent, hoc est, se circumveniri ab
illis hirudinibus et crabonibus (qui non solum sanguinem, opumque
substantiam exugere, sed et dolores acerrimos animo corporique
infligere tentant) paterentur " (page 4). The reader may gather
from this the purpose of the author, whose feelings lieing stirred
with wrath at the memory of certain alchymical drones or pseudo-
alchymists he had encountered in England, he determines to
undertake their description and portraiture with his pen, partly

we come upon tlie following nnexplainahle panegyi'ic npon Bacon by one
Burrhus, who calls Bacon — Phillip Bacon !

BuRUHi. Impetus Juveniles, p. 72.
Lectori.

" Phillipus Baconus mortiras est, Esto, in(|nies, qnid hoc ad me ? Imo
ad te quisquis qnisquis es. Phillipus ille Baconns claris ortis majoribus ; ab
ineunte ictate sancte institutus ; ad bonarum artium apicem provectus. Adol-
escens moribus niveis ; virtute jjrtestans ; religioni parens : Cui music in
pectore, in viiltu gratife, in ore suada : Cni vegetum corpus ; mens vivida ;
retas florida ; qui numen, homines, sei})snm novit : Quo nemo unquam sanctius
amicitiam coluit," &c. (" Characters of the Lord Bacon," p. 201, vol. i., Black-
bourne's edition of Bacon's works, 1730).

There Avere four Frankfort editions of the " Fama Fraternitatis " l>y 1617,
the " Confcssio" being bound up witli the former. (Waite's "Real History of
the Rosicrucians," p. 64.)

INTR on UCTION. xxv

to relieve his feelings or mind, and partly in order to light a
torch for others, lest in dark obscnrity they may slip over the
same stnmbling block, or break their head against the same beam,
therefore they are to allow themselves to be fortified from these
horseleeches and wasps, who not only iixick up the blood and substance
of others, but even endeavour to inflict the acutest sufferings in the mind
as well as the body. At first, on reading this, as well as the cau-
tion in the " Fama Fraternitatis," already quoted, the tevrnpseudo-
chyniist seemed to possess little that was pertinent or applicable
to Shakespeare. But great was my astonishment upon commenc-
ing this tract, to find Maier opening with poetry, and evidently,
by his allusions to Helicon and Parnassus, pointing at the society
of the Rosicrucians themselves. Presently I found him identifying
Poetry under the title Chymistry, in most unmistakable terms. I
cannot therefore do better than give the Latin text itself, by
which the reader will be convinced Maier turote this tract to expose
some impostor Poet, as a Drone (Fucus) living upon the work of
others. The Preface commences : —

" Quod Poetse antiqui de suo Helicone finxerunt, quod ex
diversis hominum generibus ad ejus apicem tendentibus paucis-
simi eo, quo destinarint, perveniant, multi in medio haereant, des-
perantes ad summa ascendere. Maxima autem pars, ad radices
imas subsidens, ne cogitet quidem pedem altius efFerre, id de
Chymica arte revera absque ulla translatione aut figura intelligi
debet. Est enim Helicon mons Boeotise, non procul a Parnasso,
Musis sacer, in quo Lapis ille a Saturno pro love devoratus,
ejectus, Pko monumento perpetuo servatus est, ut testatur
Hesiodus : Ad Hunc Lapidem videndum et pro summo mira-
culo amplectendum contendunt ad dictum montem multa homi-
num millia : verum vix unus ex myriade ad istum pervenit,
ceteris, ut ante relatum, circa media et ima occupatis. Causa
vero tam difficilis adscensus in hunc montem est multiplex, de qua
alias. De artificibus, qui evictis difficultatibus omnibus verticem
superarunt, dictum est in Symbolis Aure.e MenS/E. Illis, qui
circa media latera morantur, et viam ignorant, cui insistant,

XX vi INTR OD UCTION.

ViATORUM, instar Ai'iadncs Philosophicse, dicavimus, utpote Philo-
sophis, et doctis viris, qui extra septem illas portas, sen montes
planetarum non evagantur : Cceteri, qui ad injiimi loca abjedi, circa
planitiem existentes, partim otiosi lurcones, pignque ventres, partim
nebulones ineptis nugis, et dolis satagentes, excurrunt in aliorum res it
bona genio pii'^'^datorio, aut certe ingenio proditmio, ad hunc iractatiim
reservati sunt. Pnmi<, Gloria et honos pro ai'tis documentis, veluti
didactron debitum, cessit. Seciindis, Instrumentum vel filum noii
inconcinnum ad artis penetralia viam monstrans a nobis adminis-
tratum est, ut quasi a carceribus ad calcem, ab initio ad finem,
feliciter perveniant. Ultimis, utpote fucis admonitio et castigatio in
Examine prsescribitur. Fucos autem eos omnes vocatos velim, non
qui in arte simpliciter errant et decepti sunt ab aliis, sed qui alios
animo decipiendi invadunt, tentant, irretiunt, et fallaciis captant,
sua cum utilitate et illorum damno. Quod genus hominum cum
tarn Reipublic^, quam Chymicas sit valde noxium, inprimis agnos-
cendum et praecavendum erit " (p. 10, "Examen Fucorum Pseudo-
chymicorum," 1617).

The reader will now be surprised to find Maier classing Poetry
and Poets under the head of Chymistry and Chy mists (upon
page 15), with the marginal note " Chjmico necessaria Poetica" : —
" Absque omni dubio, qui velit et speret ex doctrina propria
indagare banc artem et non tumultuaria quadam materiarura ex-
perimentatione, ille opus habebit arfibus dicendi et Unguis, quarum
ambitu ars Chymica comprehenditur : ac inprimis Poetica, quce de
mdlo alio siibjecto, quam de Chymicis allegoriis et figmentis primitus
introducta est, quemadmodum in nostris Hieroglyphicis per omnes libros
et fabulas demonstravimus. Nam qui corticem rerum inclusarum
non penetrat, is minimc ad has perveniet, sed semper ha^robit in
superficie et literali interpretatione, quae etiamsi satis nota esset,
tamen non prodesset, nisi et figuras et allegorias, seu metaphoras
dicendi, quibus saepissime utuntur authores, omnes perspectas
habeat." The reader will see that Maier includes Poetry under the
title of Alchymistry, and refers to his Hieroglyphicis ("Arcana Arcanis-
sima hoc est Ilieroglyphica /Egyptio-Grceca "), in which he expounds

JNTR on UCTION. xxvi i

the allegories concealed behiiul the gods of Egypt and Greece in
a profound manner, closely resembling Lord Bacon's " Wisdom of
the Ancients." (This book, of which I possess a copy, is very
curious and rare. It treats of Osiris, Isis, Apis, &c., and the whole
Greek Pantheon, most abstrusely.)

In September 1616, again, — that is, five months after Shake-
speare's death, — I find Michael Maier published also a humorous
dialogue entitled "Lusus Serius, quo Hermes sive Mercurius
Eex, Mundanorum omnium sub homine existentium, post longam
(lisceptationem in concilio Octovirali habitam, homine rationali
arbitro, Judicatus et constitutus est" (Oppenheim, Sumptibus
Lucffi lennis. Bibliop., 1616). It is dedicated to —

Dn. Francisco Antonio, Londin. Anglo, Seniori.

Dn. Jacobo Mosano, lUustris Mauri tii Hassise Landgi'avii,

Archiatro digniori.
Dn. Christiano Eumphio Electrolai Palatino ad Ehenum

Med. ordinario circumspecto.

The Dedicatory Epistle to these three persons is as follows :
— " Viri, Virtute, Doctrina veraq; animi Nobilitate longe
conspicui, cum usu receptum sit inter vere amicos, ut alter
alteri donaria, etiam cjuoad precium exigua, uti sunt poma,
nuces, aliave esculenta, potulenta seu utensilia, non tarn propter
se, suamve dignitatem, quam grati animi, nullo loci vel temporis
spacio interrupti, significationem, mittat et ab invicem recipiat,
hinc non dubitavi, vobis nonnihil ex vernis meis, et quasi
raptim ex ingenii lusu (dum in Anglia aliquando in hujusmodi
mentem post seria Chymica inciderem) natum et productum,
non quidem instar Minervse (Phidiae) ex Jovis Cerebro prosilientis,
sed potius Hebes (quam Juventutem Latini appellant, quasi
jucunditati praefectam et Jovi a poculis) ex Junonis citta, pica
seu malacia, hoc est, esu lactucse agrestis, cum ab Apolline
convivio accepta esset, absque ullo cum mare concubitu, mons-
tros6 edita3, mittere et oflferre ; quod scriptionis genus, si seriis
indulgens studiis, ut ludibundum, si animi recreationi, ut non

xxviii INTRODUCTION.

minus serium, pro Yestro in me amore, meoqiie in vos candore
miituo, recipiatis, etiam atque etiam rogo. Nee vero velim, \\t
tam doni precium, quod quia chartaceum, vile est nimis, quam
donantis animum, qui vobis nunquam non addictus, respiciatis
et veluti nuces aut poma, ab arnica manu profecta, sestimetis.
Interim quomodocunque sit, me vobis Regem et preciosissima
fere mundi omnia dedicasse et obtulisse, si non quoad formam,
tamen materiam, agnoscetis, meque inter Yestri amantissimos,
ut hactenus (quod ego vicissim) numerabitis. Yalete, dabam
Francofurti ad Moenum, ipso ex Anglia reditu, Pragam abituriens ;
Anno 1616, Mense, Septembri."

This epistle demonstrates the fact Maier had written or
conceived this tract whilst in England. The work is disposed
in the form of a dialogue, and might be called a serio-comic
play. The Cow, the Sheep, the Goose, the Bee, the Silkworm,
the Oyster, together with Mercury, as representatives of the
animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, appear before an
appointed judge, and respectively lay claim to be selected kings
of the world. Each recounts the benefits conferred by its
species upon man. The cow supplies milk, the goose pens,
the bee wax and honey, the silkworm silk, the flax cloth,
and so on; all this being argued at length and in detail by
each, very plausibly in his own favour-. That there is some
undermeaning implied in this fable cannot be questioned. But
what, indeed, is important and most striking is, Avhen the
silkworm comes to recount the services it renders humanity,
the story of the Waking Man's Dream (which is rej^eated in
the Induction of the " Taming of the Shrew " by the sup-
posed Shakespeare, in the humorous character of Christopher
Sly), is repeated verbatim. It is given by Maier exactly as
Hazlit gives the story of Phillip, Duke of Burgundy, in his
Shakespeare Library.

The Silkworm {Bomhyx) boasts of the splendour of the silks
it spins, and how indebted man is to his works, and (upon page
35) thus addresses the judge before whom it is speaking : —

INTRODUCTION. xxix

''Tu ipse optimc novisti, vel doctissimura in literis et scientiis
absolutissimum virum in nullo vel saltern cxigno haberi precio,
si non bene vestitus fuerit, nee ut talem decebat, se prajbuerit ;
Ac quemcunque vis semihominem, si mentem spectes, serico
indutum magnifice, literatissimo illi ante ferri. Tantum tela
nostri operis prsestare potest, de quo si dubites, vol vera historia
rem tibi ob oculos ponam. Phillipus Bonus Burgundi?e Dux
aliquando noctu invenit quendam ex infima plebe cerdonetn
Grandavi in foro sonino vindque sepultum, quera a niinistris
suis attoUi et gestari secum in aulam Ducalem, ubi hominem
vestibus suis vilissimis et immundis exui, et indutum indusio
lineo in Ducalem lectum reponi jussit, donee villum, quod
biberat, edomiret. Mane adfuerunt ipsi pueri Nobiles eleganti
facie et vestitu, qui expectarent, dum homo evigilaret, quem
interrogarunt, ut ipsum Ducem soliti errant, gestibus et dictis
ad blanditias et reverentiam corapositis, quo modo vellet vestiri,
et simul diversa genera vestium ipsi, ut inde delectum haberet,
proposuerunt. Homo multis modis de statu suo ab initio dubit-
avit,ut et de loco, secumque diu disputavit,an esset ille, qui habere-
tur, an ver5 alius ille, qui fuerat. Cum vero animadvertisset et
nobile viros adesse, qui sibi ad nutum adstarent et quaererent ;
An non vellet surgere et ad consueta officia redire, facile sihi-
persiiacleri jmssus, sese esse Ducem, qui haberetur. Indutus itaque
restihus clucalibiis, cum liac sibi convcnientes sentiret, non aliter jmfavit,
qiutm sese esse tot famulorum Dominum et (necio, quo fata, factum)
totius regionis potentissimum Piincipem. D^icitur magna comitatu
ad viridaria aulse proxima, hinc ad vivaria piscium, deinde ad
jentaculum ; a quo tempus teritur ambulando ad alia diversa
loca, confabulando de rebus variis, in quibus omnibus, homo,
([uoad corpus et habitum, se pra^buit (qui non erat) Ducem,
quoad mentem et cpetera omnia (qui erat) cerdonem. Post ad
prandium adducitur, in quo ipsi pulcherrimte foeminse adjunguntur
et optimates aulse quicunque. Hinc ad venationem ferarum
cum equis et canibus, multisque aulicis contendit, unde ad coenam,
in qua cum opiparis et varii generis ferculis tractaretur, ac

XXX INTR OD UCTION.

interim in sanitatem ipsius ah omnibus optimi vini pocula

propinarentur, facilime, cur id genus vini impense amaret,

iterum inebriatus est, ut prius, ac in profundissimum somnum

conjectus. Turn ipse Dux Phillipus (qui hactenus inter aulicos

fictitio inserviverat liunc hominem, qui hue usque Principis

personam sustinuerat, iterum pristino suo loco in medium fori,

unde desumptus fuerai, suis propriis vestibus indutum, reportari

mundavit ; ul:)i cum noctem peregisset, ac mane se eo in loco

animadvertisset, diu dubitavit de statu suo ; an esset ille, qui

nunc videretur, an, vero dux ille, qui visus erat. Verum cum

aliter sibi persuadere non posset, prsesentibus omnibus signis,

inprimis vestibus laceris et vetustis, quae cerdonem ilium viliorem

declararent, et absentibus, quae ducem, tandem domum rediens,

uxori su3e veluti somnium, quod ea nocte viderat, quomodo in

duels aula fuisset et qua ratione tractatus, ambulationi et venationi,

reliquisque rebus omnibus operam dederit, narravit. Ex quibus

apparet, vestes ex nostris telis confectas maximam vim habere ad

persuadendum hominibus illis, qui eas gestant, et aliis, qui eas

gestari cernunt, qualis et quantus quisque sit. Nam plerique,

qui vident se bombycinis exuviis indutos, etiamsi sint ex infima

sorte homines et nullo nobilitatis aut doctrinse colore imbuti,

mox sibi persuadent, quod sint tales, quales habentur (ut ille

cerdo) cum videant ab omnibus sibi ad nutum dici, applaudi et

faveri. Sic et alii, qui cernunt quendam sei'iceis fills circumsep-

tum, non ilium pro verme bombycino habent, at pro ave, cujus-

nidum molliores texturse ornent, imu pro eo, cui, ut fortiori as-

surgendum, ut formoso abblandiendum, ut erudito in sermonibus

concedendum, ut seniori locus commodior relinquendus sit. Tan-

tam vim inesse nostris telis animadvertis, ut magis, quam Magnes

ferrum, ilhie attrahant hominum oculos ad sese, sibique eos pro-

pitios reddunt. Inde versiculi : —

Ilunc homilies decorant, ([uem vestimenta decoraiit :

111 vili veste nemo tractatiir honeste :

Vir bene vestitus pro vestibus esse peritus

Creditui- a niille, quamvis Idiota sit ille :

Si careas veste, nee sis vestitus lioneste,

Nullins es laudis, (^namvis scis oimic, (^uod audis."

INTR OD UCTION. xxxi

I need hardly translate this extract at length. Briefly para-
phrased the Silkworm declares dress to be everything, though
only appearance.* To illustrate this he relates how Phillip, the
Good Duke of Burgundy, discovered one night a certain tanner
(cobbler or artisan) asleep dead drunk on the market-place, whom
he caused to be lifted up and carried to his Ducal Palace, his
rags taken oflF, and clothed in a linen shirt, then put in the Duke's
bed. A number of noble youths or pages of elegant appearance
and dress were present, who, upon his awaking, asked him
Avith the same flattery and reverence of words they were accus-
tomed to use to the Duke, how he would dress, and at the same
time proffered him diff'erent suits of clothes to dress himself in.
The man was at first doubtful as to his own condition or where
he was, and for a long time disputed with himself whether he
was the person he was considered to be, or truly himself. But
indeed when he perceived that there were really noblemen
present, who waited upon his pleasure and inquired whether he
would not get up and betake himself to his duties, he easily
allowed himself to be persuaded that he was the real duke, as he
was held. Clothed in the ducal garments, which he felt were
agreeable and beseeming him, he soon believed, since he was the
lord of so many domestics, he must be a prince of power and
importance. Then he is led by a great crowd of courtiers to the
ducal garden, next to the fish ponds, and thence to breakfast,
after which the time is spent in strolling about to other various
spots, conversing upon various things, in all of which the man
appeared to be, as far as concerned his dress, the Duke himself
(which he was not), but in mind and all other things a tanner
(which indeed he was). Later on he is led to dinner, at which
the most beautiful ladies and the highest in rank were present.
After that he goes out to hunt with horses and dogs, then to a
banquet, at which dainties and dishes of various sorts are served

* The reader Avill recognise in the moral of this passage the ' ' Clothes Philo-
sophy " so abundantly satirised in the plays — " The world is still deceived by
ornament."

xxxii INTRODUCTION.

to him, and meanwhile is primed easily Avith wine, drunk in
his honour, the result being that he again gets intoxicated as
before, and falls into the profoundest slumber. Then Duke
Phillip (who hitherto had waited, disguised with the courtiers,
upon this man, who up to the moment had played the character
of the prince) ordered him to be carried to the same spot in the
market-place where he had been first found, and his own clothes
restored to him. AVhen he had passed the night, early in the
morning perceiving where he was, for a long time he was in
doubt as to his own identity, whether indeed he was what he
seemed, or the Duke he had appeared to be. But persuaded by
outward signs, and by his torn and old clothes, which declared
him to be a peasant, he at length returned home and related to
his wife what he had seen that night — how he had been to the
ducal palace, how treated there, the walking and hunting, and the
rest, as if it had been a dream. From which it is manifest the
garments spun from our Avebs possess an extraordinary force in
persuading those who wear them, and those who perceive us
wearing them, who and what each one is. For very many who
see themselves clothed in the skins of the silkworm, even though
they be of low extraction, and possessing no colour of nobility or
learning, presently persuade themselves that they are those they
are held to be (like this tanner), since they behold themselves
flattered and applauded by all.

The reader will perceive this is the story of Christopher Sly
which Hazlitt long ago pointed out was repeated by this tale of the
Duke of Burgundy, entitled the " Waking Man's Dream." Con-
sider Maier conceives this '■^Lusiis Serins" in England, and publishes
it a few months after Shakespeare's death, dedicating the piece to
an Englishman whom / suspect was Bacon himself ! Wlu) was Dr
Francisco Antonio ? Here are the two Christian names of Lord Francis
Bacon and his brother Anthony Bacon. Why is he a Lord
(seigniori) 1 This story related by Maier is upon pages 35, 36 of
the tract, corresponding with the two play numbers, 35, 36 (cata-
logue and full number) of the 1623 Folio! The evidence taken

INTRODUCTION. xxxiii

altogether is considerable. The other piece upon false Chymists
is written at the same time exactly, as the preface informs us — •
September 1616. The " Fama Fraternitatis " was rewritten (the
one we cite from), 1617, published at Frankfort, voliere, Maier and
Robert Fbidd were also both publishing. The prefaces to both the
"Lusus Serius" and "Examen Fucorum" conclude, Daharn Franco-
furti ad mcenum. Anno 1616, Mense Septembri." The " Fama " I
cite from is also published at Frankfort, 1617, and in the preface it
states it has been rewritten and improved. In my work, " Bacon,
Shakespeare, and the Rosicrucians," I pointed out how wonder-
fully adapted the story of Sly, in the " Taming of the Shrew,"
was to represent a man of low extraction like Shakespeare set up
by a nobleman like Bacon in his own place with regard to plays
or players. Sly, in " The Taming of the Shrew," remains un-
restored to his former condition, and the joke is therefore left un-
conchded, as if to suggest it is still in act of perpetration respect-
ing Shakespeare's false position with regard to the plays.

That the Rosicrucians were closely connected with Poetry can
be proved from their writings. Two of the works of John Valen-
tine Andreas, the Rosicrucian Protagonist (which I possess), con-
tain upon the title-page —

" Helicone Juxta Parnassum."
These works are : " Menippus sive Dialogorum Satyricorum
Centuria," 1617, and " Turbo, sive Moleste et Frustra per cuncta
Divagans Ingenium," 1616. Upon page 158 of Michael Maier's
" Themis Aurea" (or " LaAvs of the Rosicrucian Fraternity," 1618),
I find this : " Augar non sum, neque vates, licet laurum aliquando
momorderim et in Parnassi umbra paucas horulas dormierim,
nihilominus, nisi fallor, eorum characterum R. C. expositionem in
aenigmatiljus, HI) 6, Symbolorum auree, mense satis evolvi : R. n,
Pegasum, et C. Julium, si ad mentem non sonum verbi resj)icia-
tur : Sit til)i clavis, Arcanorum Cognitio : En dabo Arcanum :
d.wmml. zii. w. fgqqhka. x. Si potes aperi : Nee pluribus, nee
clarioiibus opus est. An non hie est unguiculus Rosei illius
Leonis gutta Pegasese Hippocrenes ? " (Copied from a genuine and

xxxiv INTRODUCTION.

original copy })rinted at Frankfort, Typis Nicolai HofFmanni,
1618.) Mr Waite translates this thus : —

" 'I am no augur nor prophet, notwithstanding that once I par-
took of the laurel, and reposed a few brief hours in the shadow of
Parnassus ; nevertheless, if I err not, I have unfolded the signifi-
cance of the characters R. C. in the enigmas of the sixth book of
the Symbols of the Golden Table. E signifies Pegasus, and C, if
the sense not the sound be considered, lilium. Let the Know-
ledge OF THE Arcana be the key to thee. Lo, I give thee the
Arcanum ! d. wmml. zii. w. sgqqhka. x. Open if thou canst. . , .
Is not this the hoof of the Red Lion * or the drops of the Hippo-
crene fountain 1 ' Beneath this barbarous jargon we discern,
hoM^ever, an analogy with the Rose symbolism. Classical tradi-
tion informs us that the Red Rose sprang from the blood of
Adonis, but Pegasus was a Avinged horse which sprang from the
blood of Medusa, and the fountain of Hippocrene was produced
by a stroke of the hoof of Pegasus " (Waite's " Real History of
the Rosicrucians ").

Now compare what the same writer, Michael Maier (who
visited England in 1616, and was friends with Robert Fludd),
writes in his " Arcana Arcanissima " ("Secret of Secrets," from
which I cojiy), under the marginal note, "Forts Heliconis imde":
" Ejusdem Pegasi unguldfons Hippocrene in bicipiti Parnasso excltatus
traditur, ex quo Mmce; Apollo, poetce et omnes literati hibunt et eniditiores
evadunt : Sic eruditio poetarum ex f ante Parnassi, hie ex ungida Pegasi,
Pegasus ex cruore Medusa', Medusa ex monstro marina progenita, a
Perseo trucidata, Perseus e Jave, Jupiter h Saturno, Saturnus h Coelo,
ta7iquam aurea cathena dependet, &c." (p. 157, Oppenheim, 1616).

The reader, I think, will see the society was probably con-

* " This is evidently the Mithraic Lion of Persia (the Lion of the Clierubim
of the Chaldees) — the /ttoJ Z/o«. of the Chaldees. Porphyry names this Lion
Perses (Perseus, Brightness, the sun born) or the Sun incarnate as man" {vide
" Enoch," vol. ii. p. 49, Kenealy). Mr "Waite lias made the mistake of substi-
tuting in his translation "Lilium "for "Julium." " .Tulium " is evidently
a reference to the house of the sun Leo in July. Pegasus was the seal of the
KnigJit Templars (p. 189, "The Gnostics," King).

INTRODUCTION. xxxv

nected with Poetry, and particularly with the fount Helicon,
which flowed from Parnassus to the fountains of the muses
called Aganippe and Hippocrene. Castalia was also a fountain
of Parnassus sacred to the muses and Apollo. It is remarkable
to find the "_/zV.S'/ heir" of the supposed Shakespeare's invention carry-
ing this motto—

Yilia miretur valgus ; milii flavus Apollo
Pocula Castalia plena miiiistret aqua.

("Venus and Adonis.")

Here is direct connotation with Apollo, Parnassus, and the foun-
tain of Castalia, close to Helicon, if not identical with it. The emblem
upon the title-page of Lord Bacon's Collection of Apophthegms
(published 1671, " Eesuscitatio ") is a tvinged horse — Pegasus.^

It is again remarkable to find Bacon, in his explanation of the
fable of Perseus (VII. " Wisdom of the Ancients "), writing : —
" The conclusion of the war is followed by two effects : first the
birth and sj^ringing up of Pegasus, which obviously enough
denotes Fame, flying abroad and celebrating the victory." This
he again introduces and repeats in his "De Augmentis " (1623,
1638, 1640), Book II.; the Fable of Perseus being selected by
him to illustrate Parabolical Poesy. If the reader will turn to the
catalogue of " A New World of Sciences " (always found at the
end of the " De Augmentis "), he will find the sixth " Deficient,"
entitled " Sapientia Veterum, Philosophy according to Ancient
Parables." If now he "will turn to the Second Book of the " De
Augmentis," 1623, he will find this Sixth Deficient introduced,
page 108 (1640), as an examp)le of the Fables of the Poets in connec-
tion with Parabolical or Allusive Poetry, and in touch with the entire
subject of the Drama and Stage-Plays upon the previous pages 106, 107.
Let me earnestly entreat the student's attention to this, w^hich is
a decided proof, Bacon's "Wisdom of the Ancients" was Avritten
parabolically, and in connection with Allusive Poetry or Stage-Plays,
— the Theatre. It is not in merely reading my statements, but
in testing them, the reader will appreciate the truth and value
of what I adduce. He will see, in a moment, Avhy Bacon has

xxxvi INTR OD UCTION.

reserved the titles of his Deficients for a catalogue at the end of
the work, — evidently with a view to concealment and safety, — these
Deficients being only coasted along. " But these are but coastings
along the shore j^;re??2e?if?o litus iniquum" (page 123, Book II.
"Advancement of Learning," 1605, Wright). This shows Bacon
thought these Deficients dangerous subjects to do more than hint
at. In his " Distribution Preface " he writes : " Wherefore we
■wall not neglect to side along (as it were in passage) the coasts of
accepted Sciences and Arts, and to import thither something useful
and profitable" (p. 22, "Advancement," 1640).

But to return to our citation, it is certainly remarkable to find
Bacon connoting Fame vnth the springing up of Pegasus, seeing it
is a hint for Poetry, if not for the " Fama Fraternitatis " itself.

In Bacon's " Resuscitatio," 1671, is to be found a fragment
entitled Fame, this being printed in type of extraordinary and
remarkable size, quite out of agreement with the other chapter
headings, and advertising itself as a singularity of the work, evi-
dently done to attract notice. Directly Ave examine this Essay
fragment, we find the first part entirely borrowed from Virgil's
description of Fame (fourth book, "JEneid," 173 1.).

Extemplo Libyre magnas it Fama per uibes ;
Fama, malum, quo non aliud velocius uUum :
Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit euudo.
Parva metu primo ; mox sese, attollit in auras,
Ingrediturque solo, et caput inter uubila condit.
lUam Terra parens, ira irritata deoruni,
Extremam, ut perhibent, Coeo Enceladoque sororem
Progenuit, pedibus celerem, et pernicibus alis.
Monstrum horrendum, ingens ; cui, quot sunt corpore 2)lumm,
Tot vigiles oculi suhtcr, mirabile dictu.
Tot linyuoe, totidcm ora sonant, tot subrigit aurcs.
Nocte volat coeli medio terrreque, per umbram.
Stridens, nee dulci declinat lumina somno.
Lvice sedet custos aut surami culmine tecti,
Turribus aut altis, et magnas territat urbes.*

" The Poets make Fame a Monster. They describe her in part,

* Virgil borrowed his pbantom from tlic^ Eris of Homer, and lines 176, 177
are directly imitated from the Greek poet (" Anthou's Virgil," 410).

INTRODUCTION. xxxvii

finely and elegantly, and in part gravely and sententiously.
They say, look how many feathers she hath, so many eyes she
hath underneath. So many tongues ; so many voices ; she
pricks up so many ears. This is a flourish : there follow excel-
lent Parables ; as that she gathereth strength in going ; that she
goeth upon the ground, and yet hideth her head in the clouds.
That in the day time she sitteth in a watch tower, and flyeth both
by night. That she mingleth things done with things not done :
and that she is a terror to great cities ; but that Avhich passeth
all the rest is : they do recount that the earth, mother of the giants,
that made war against Jupiter, and were by him destroyed, there-
upon in anger brought forth Fame. For certain it is, that Rebels
figured by the giaitts and Seditious Fames and libels, are but
brothers and sisters ; masculine and feminine. But now if a man
can tame this Monster, and bring her to feed at the hand, and
govern her, and with her fly other ravening fowl, and kill them,
it is somewhat Avorth. But we are infected Avith the style of the
Poets. To speak noAV in a sad and serious manner ; there is not
in all the politics a place less handled, and more worthy to be
handled, than this of Fame. We will therefore speak of these
points. What are false Fames; and what are true Fames ; and
how they may be best discerned ; how Fames may be sown
and raised ; how they may be spread and multiplied ; and how
they may be checked and laid dead"(ix 212, " Eesuscitatio,"
1671, Pars.I).

The first part is entirely a paraphrase of the passage cited from
Virgil. Directly we turn to the Rosicrucian Romance known as
the " Chemical Marriage of Christian Rosy Cross," published at
Strassburg, 1616, Ave read at the commencement: "Now the
same thing still tAviching me several times by the coat, I glanced
back and behold it was a fair and glorious lady, Avhose garments
Avere all skye-colour, and curiously bespangled with golden stars.
In her right hand she bare a trumpet of beaten gold, whereon a
Name Avas ingraven Avhich I could Avell read but am forbidden as
yet to reveal. In her left hand she had a great bundle of letters

xxxviii INTRODUCTION.

in all languages, which she (as I afterwards understood) was to
carry into all countries. She had also large and heautiful uings,
full of eyes throughmif, wherewith she could mount aloft, and fly-
swifter than any eagle " (p. 100, "Waite's "Real History of the
Rosicrucians ").

Compare Bacon : " The Poets make fame a Monster. They de-
scribe her in part finely and elegantly ; and in part gravely and
sententiously. They say look how many feathers she hath, so many
eyes she hath tmderneath ; so many Tongues ; so many voices ; she
pricks up so many ears. This is a flourish." John Valentine
Andreas, in his description of his own life, declared he composed
the "Chemical Marriage of Christian Rosy Cross" in 1602 and
1603, and his own words are, " Ludihium cum monstrorum fcecundo
fo'tu, quod mireris a nonnullis aestimatum et subtili indagine ex-
plicatum, plane futile et quod inanitatem curiosorum prodat "
(p. 99, " Joh. Val. Andreas und sein Zeitalter," Rossbach,
1819). The reader will see the term monster used by both this
writer and Bacon in connection with Fame. The trumfpet is con-
stantly introduced in the Rosicrucian manifestoes in connection
with Fame, as may be seen in the above extract from the
" Marriage of Christian Rosenkreutz." Ujion the frontispiece
engraving of Sir Walter Raleigh's " History of the World," 1614,
may be recognised an engraved symbol of this Fame — a woman
with wings, the latter covered underneath with eyes. She holds
a trumpet she is blowing to her lips. Beneath she is described
by the title " Fama Bona." It may be seen Bacon evidently is
describing this allegorical figure. It is very curious Sir Walter
Raleigh's " History of the AVorld," containing this highly
masonic engraving, bears date 1614 — that is the same year the
" Fama Fraternitatis of the Meritorious Order of the R. C." saw
light.

" And this kind of merit was lively set forth in that famed
relation of Orpheus Theatre, where all beasts and birds assembled,
which, forgetting their proper natui'al appetites of pre)', of game,
of quarrels, stood all sociably and lovingly together, listening

INTRODUCTION. xxxix

unto the airs and accords of the harp " (p. 49, " Advancement of
Learning," 1640). The next page, 50, is mispaged 52 (Shake-
speare's age, 1616), and constitutes the first false page in the
work. (The words Orpheus Theatre are the 49th and 50th in
italics from the top of the page, and the 23rd likewise from the
bottom upwards).

P. 49, J Orpheus, 49, 24.

1640 "Advancement of Learning," [ Theatre, 50, 23.

Evidently this connotation of the word Theatre with the
number fifty is to call attention to the next page fiftij mispaged
fifty-two, that is Shakespeare's full years when he died, 1616, and
thus to suggest the Shakespeare Theatre I Directly we read Bacon's
Fahle of Orpheus (in his " Wisdom of the Ancients ") we find the
following reference to Helicon, which the Rosicrucians called
their sacred spring !

" Orpheus himself was torn to pieces by the women in their
fury, and his limbs scattered about the fields : at whose death.
Helicon (river sacred to the Muses) in grief and indignation bimed his
waters under the earth, to reappear elseivhere" ("Wisdom of the
Ancients," XL, Orpheus).

Bacon explains this fable thus : " The singing of Orpheus is of
two kinds ; one to propitiate the infernal powers, the other to
draw the wild beasts and the woods. The former may be best
understood as referring to natural philosophy ; the latter to
philosophy moral and civil. For natural philosophy proposes
to itself, as its noblest work of all, nothing less than the restitution
and renovation of things corruptible, and (what is indeed the same
thing in a lower degree) the conservation of bodies in the state
in which they are, and the retardation of dissolution and putre-
faction.

"But howsoever the works of wisdom are among human things
the most excellent, yet they too have their periods and closes.
For so it is that after kingdoms and commonwealths have

xl INTR on UCTION.

flourished for a time, there arise perturbations and seditions
and wars ; amid the uproars of which, first the laws are put to
silence, and then men return to the depraved conditions of
their nature, and desolation is seen in the fields and cities.
And if such troubles last, it is not long before letters also and
philosophy are so torn in pieces that no traces of them can be
found but a few fragments, scattered here and there like plmih
from a shipwreck; and then a season of barbarism sets in, the waters
of Helicon being sunk imcler the ground, until, according to the
ajypointed vicissitude of things, they break out and issue forth again,
perhaps among other nations, and not in the places where they were
before " (Orpheus XL, or Philosophy).

The Latin text runs : " Adeo ut fragmenta tantum ejixs, in
paucis locis, tanquam Naufragii Tabulae, inveniantur et barbara
tempora ingruant ; Heliconis aquis sub terra mersis ; donee
debita rebus vicissitudine, non iisdem fortasse locis, sed apud
alias Nationes erumpant et emanent" (1638, "Opera Moralia ").

Upon page 91, ch. vi., "Advancement of Learning," 1640,
Bacon again introduces this subject in the same words : —
"Antiquities, or the Eenuiins of Histories, are, as we said, tanquam
TabiUa Naufragii ; when industrious and understanding persons
(the memory of things being decayed and almost overwhelmed
with oblivion) by a constant and scrupulous diligence, out
of Genealogies, Calendars, Inscriptions, Monuments, Coins,
Proper Names and Styles, &c., &c., recover and save somewhat
from the dehige of Time." There are exactly fifty-two words in
italics upon this page in the 1640 "Advancement of Learning,"
as if to suggest some connection with Shakespeare or 1616.

It is very well worthy note, the three ancient fables Bacon
introduces in his " De Augmentis " in order to illustrate Para-
bolical Poesy, are the fables of Pan, Perseus, Dionysus, because
these three are closely connected Avith Rosicrucian mysteries.
Pan and Perseus especially being introduced by Robert Fludd
("Tractatus Apol.," 1617) and Michael Maier ("Arcana Arcanis-
sima ") in the same way as by Bacon.

INTRODUCTION. xli

The author of " Nimrod " writes : " Roger Bacon's Avritings are
scarcely distinguishable in their character from those of the Rosi-
crucians, and the latter avow that the name and fable of Demigorgon
conceals the secret of their art " {vide " Echo Colloquii," p. 97 ;
" Mmrod," vol. iv., p. 223). It is very striking to find Lord
Bacon giving this story of Pegasus and Medusa in his " Advancement
of Learning" (upon page 73 of the 1638 edition, and pages 120,
121, "Advancement of Learning," 1640), almost in the same
words as it is related by the great Rosicrucian, Michael Maier
(upon page 157), in his "Arcana Arcanissima." "Perseus, a
Prince of the East, is reported to have been employed by Pallas
for the destroying of Medusa, who was very infestious to the
western parts of the world, about the uttermost coasts of Iberia.
A monster, huge and fierce, of an aspect so dire and horrid, that
Avith her very looks she turned men into stones. Of all the Gor-
gons this Medusa alone was mortal, the rest not subject to death.
Perseus, therefore, preparing himself for this noble enterprise,
had arms and gifts bestowed on him by three of the gods. Mer-
cury gave him wings, fitted for his feet, not his arms; Pluto, a
helmet; Pallas, a shield and a looking-glass. Notwithstanding,
although he was thus well furnished, he Avent not directly to
Medusa, but turned into the Grese, which, by the mother's side,
were sisters to the Gorgon. These Gre^e, from their birth, were
hoary headed, resembling old women. They had but one only eye,
and one tooth among them all, — this eye and tooth they lent to
Perseus." Compare Maier : " Dum Perseus par ere cogitur, ad iter
sese accingit; A Pallade itaque; scutum et speculum, a Mercurio
Harpen seu falcatum eusem, a Phitone peram et galeam, a Nymphis
talaria seu calceos volucres mutuatus est : quibus instrumentis
Perseus instructus ad Medusam, multos homines in saxa conver-
tentem unam Gorgonum contendit. Primo autem ad Greas Per-
seus profectus est, quce erant sorores Gorgonum, munero tres oculum et
clentem unicum communem, habentes, quos ab illis mutuo acceptos tarn,
diti retiiiuit donee illce Nijmphas, qua: alatos calceos habererit indi
cassent, etc." (p. 155, "Arcana Arcanissima").

xlii INTR on UC TION.

The reader ■will perceive the singular parallelism of these
trifling details, which space forbids my illustrating further.
Maier gives all this in coniext loifh the fountain of Helicon, evi-
dently (as he shows in his " Aurea Themis ") connected uith the
Ilosicnician fraternity. Bacon's account of this fable is included
in what he calls the Theatre, viz., the second book of the " De
Augmentis," 1623, which he concludes Avith the words, ^^ Bid we
stay too long in the Theatre, let us now pass on to the palace of the
mind" (p. 130, 1640 "Advancement of Learning").

Amongst the few valuable and genuine Eosicrucian works to
l)e found, there is one little known, with the title " CONSPICTLIUM
NOTITL^ inserviens OCULIS ^GRIS qui lumen veritatis Ratione
medii subjecti, objecti et finis ferre recusant, oppositum Admoni-
tioni Futili Henrici Neuhusii de Fratribus R. C. An sint 1 Quales
sint ? Unde nomen illud sibi asciverent ? Etc ab. Euchario
Cygn^o." The date is 1614. The author's name is evidently
only a pseudonym. I find in this tract some extraordinary
parallels to Bacon's MTitings. For example, in Bacon's Sixth
Book of the 1623 " De Augmentis," he obsciu^ely discusses a
method of the delivery of secret knowledge, which he entitles
"Traditio Lajmpadis,* sive methodus ad Filios." " The delivery of the
Lamp, or the method bequeathed to the sons of Sapience." If the readei*
wiW turn to Bacon's " Redargutio," Avhich is laid at Paris, he will
find the address interspersed with the expression " sons," which
shows Bacon belonged to some brotherhood or craft. Cygnjeus,
in replying to the question as to the natm^e of the Rosicrucian
1)rotherhood, writes : " Certitudo et continua series Collegiorum,
([Wie antiquitus occulta similis artificii et rerum naturalium, non
sine admiratione, professionis variis in locis et nationibus floruer-
unt, et tandem quasi per manus ad nos Germanos pervenerunt,
ne haberemus, absit scandalum, incusare Deum, quasi omnia

* Michael Maier writes in his "Laws of the Rosicrucian Fraternity"
("Themis Aurea," p. 26): — "Deinde habent successionem ab eodem ad se
nsr^ue et L.\mpaua sibi in cursu traditam acceperunt a noto dicti« Frater-
nitatis consorte sen foederis membi'o IcKitimo."

INTRODUCTION. xliii

primis Patribus ex Jure primogeniturse donarit, et in ultima setate
manum prsecluserit. De qua injuria aeque conqueritur Fernel.
in prefat. lib. de. addit. rer. quasi nostrum seculum tiinti stuporis
tantseque tarditatis vellemus insimulare, nil novum ut cudere
posset, nullarum artium afFerre proventum. Ut autem ignorantes
ambulatorium illud munus videant, visum mihi est stricte ordi-
nem recensere, quomodo una natio alteri lampada tradiderit "
(p. 8).

Cygnseus then proceeds to point out that the Egyptians had
their secret college ; that there followed the Cabiri of Samothrace,
the Eleusinians, the Magi of Persia, the Brahmans of India, the
Gymnosophists of Ethiopia, the Pythagoreans in Greece, &c.,
and he concludes with the Rosicrucians themselves as the last
link in this chain of tradition. Upon the title page (bis) of the
1640 "Advancement of Learning," there is this motto at the foot
of the page : —

Deus Omnia

In mensura, et numero,et ordine

Disposuit.

(p. 61.)

Now compare Cygnaeus : " Nam primus Creator amat harnio-
niam et odit dissonantiam, qui omnia in numero, 'pondere et mensura
teste Salomone Saj) 7 disposuit" &c. (p. 18). Cygnseus tells us the
Rosicrucians were a militia who borrowed their symbol of the Cross
from Constantine. " Verum quod quidam duos characteres R. C.
interpretentur Roseam Crucem, non caret ratione : quia inde opti-
mus typus confessionis et prof essionis elucesit. Nam cruce que est
sigillum et symbolum veri Christiani, volunt testari, se militare
sub vexillo Christi, contra, mundum, carnem, et Satanam. Et
Christus ipse Matth. 10, Mark 8, Luke 9, admonet, si quis vult me
sequi, deneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me.
Legimus quoque ; c. 9, Ezech. in populi clade Dominum curam
gessisse eorum, qui litera T, id est, cruce signati erant super
frontem, a viro lineis induto, et atramentarium scriptoris in
lumbis suis habente. Prseterea, hoc symbolum non multum

xliv INTR OD UCTION.

abludit a Lutheri sigillo, in quo continebatiu- criix in corde, et
cor comprehendebatur a Eosa. Quid referam de Constantino,
cui dubitanti an Eomam duceret exercitum, ostendit Deus
illustre signum \actori8e : Nam medio die in clara " luce, vidit
Constantinus in coelo igneam crucem, cum literis EN TOTTii
NIKA (In hoc vinces)," p. 27.

This pi'oves the Society was related to the Templars, who
adopted the Ked Cross from this vision of Constantine. More-
over, the reader will perceive in Bacon's " Holy "War " this motto
repeated, and there is no question the Rosicrucians were, like, the
Salvation Army of to-daij, soldiers of the Cross. Upon the title page
of the " Sendbrieif " (or " Missive to the Fraternity of the Rosicru-
cians "), by Julian de Campis, published with the " Fama Frater-
nitatis," 1617, Frankfort, I find this at the bottom, " MiLiTA
BONAM MILITIAM, servans fidem et accipies coronam glorise."
Bacon's' " Holy War " is, I am convinced, entirely written in the
spirit of a Peacefid Soldiery, and should be studied as a Rosicru-
cian tract for the initiated alone. Cygnseus, " Quoad Rosas, illse
sunt signum victorise : Nam Scipio ex Africa reversus, et primus
de Hannibale triumphaturus, militibus octavse legionis, qui primum
Carthaginensium castra oppugnassent, ac Ducis eorum insignia
abstulissent fasciculum Rosarum gestandum, imo clypeis depictas
Rosas ferendas concessit. Sane ajjud Homerum Achillis scutum
legitur, necnon Cassides Hectoris et ^nese. Arminius Germanise
Princeps Rosam in Insignibus habebat. Marchiones Branden-
burgenses Comitesqiie de Eherstein, necnon plurimse familiie, strenua
nobilitate clarse, Rosas inter sua insignia gloriose locatas habent :
Nam Rosa principibus merito gestanda videtur. Prreterea Rosa
Auroras est dicata, signum habetur silentii, laetitiae, et omnium
florum Regnia. Ex Rosa apis mel, aranea venenum parat, juxta
Brisardi emblema —

Toxica ab hoc carpit sublimis aranea flore,
Dulcia (|uo parvic mella parantur api.

Rosa Cantharidcs interficit, et juxta allium plantata, odoratior
evadit juxta Camerarii emblema : —

INTRODUCTION. xlv

Livor iners stiraulos generosis mentibus addit :
Sic per foeda Rosis allia crescit odor."

(p. 29.)

Those Avho are acquainted with Baden-Baden and its neigh-
bourhood doubtless will remember the castle of Eberstein in the
Murg Thai, idtli its stone boar and rose crest. In Bacon's " Redar-
gutio " I find him introducing this sly hint for the Fraternity : —
" Certe, Jilii, facultates artium et scientiarum omnium consensu
aut empiricse aut rationales sunt. Has autem bene commistas et
copulatas adhuc videre non licuit. Empirici enim, formicae more,
congerunt tantum et utuntur. Rationales autem, aranearum more,
telas ex se conficiunt. Ajns ratio media est, quce maieriam exfloribus
tani horti quam agri elicit, sed sirnul efiam earn propria facuUate vertit
et digerit " (" Redargutio Philosophiarum," p. 583, vol. iii., Phil.
Wk., E. and S.).

This emblem of the Bee and honey I find Fludd, Vaughan,
and Cygnaeus introducing in the same manner. The emblem to
Fludd's " Summum Bonum " is a Rose with a Bee alighting upon
it, and the motto, Dat rosa mel apibus.

This shows the Rosicrucians borrowed from the Essenes. But
the reader will note that Bacon has laid the " Redargutio," toitli
its address to fifty persons, styled sons, at Paris. It is here again we
hear of a great Rosicrucian meeting of thirty-six members in 1623,
the date of the Folio Plays and " De Augmentis."

Christopher Murr writes : " The Phoenix is a favourite Rosicru-
cian idea," and in 1616 we find Michael Maier publishing a work
upon his retm*n from England to Bohemia. The title is " Jocus
Severus, h, e Tribunal sequum quo Xoctua Regina avium,
Phoenice arbitro, post varias disce'otationes et querelas volucrum
earn infestantium pronunciatur, etc." Francof., 1617. In the
Preface we read: "Dabam Francofurti ad moenum, mense Sep-
tembri a 1616 transitu ex Anglia in Bohemiain." The reader will
see Maier actually published three works all bearing date Sep-
tember 1616, after his return from England, five months after
Shakespeare's death. Consider the last poem of the sujjposed

xlvi INTRODUCTION.

Shakespeare bears the mysterious title " The Phcenix and the
Turtle," and is evidently in connection with Chester's " Love's
Martyr," * where a gi'eat many more poems upon the same
subject may be found. Professor Buhle maintains Maier wrote
this work, " Jocus Severus," during his sojourn in England.

Buhle points out there were no lodges and no Rosicrucians in
Germany, Avhere it never took hold at all, but the case in England
was different, for there it gave rise to Freemasonry. I maintain Maier
obtained inspirations in England, which is proved by his three
works, " Lusus Serius," " Examen Fucorum," and " Jocus
Severus," all bearing the same date, September 1616, published
upon his return home. Theg must have been written in England.

* In this work we find Shakespeare's poem, "The Phcenix and the Turtle."
Two pages previous to it tliere is an Invocation to AjioUo and the Muses —
" Invocatio ad ApoUinem et Picrides" (p. I7l). An allusion pointing to
Helicon and ParnassTis.