Chapter 3
CHAPTER I.
Who and whai were the Rosi€rucian& ?
THE questions which present themselves on the threshold of
this enquiry are : — Who and what were the Rosicrucians 1
When and where did they flourish, and what influence did any
peculiar tenets they may have held, or practices they may have
indulged in, exercise upon the world 1 We shall endeavour to
answer these queries as distinctly as so mysterious and extrava-
gant a subject wiU allow of, and illustrate the whole by copious
extracts &om the writings of recognized leaders and disciples.
Comparatively very little is known about these people ; and, if
we open any of our works of general reference, such as dictionaries
and encyclopsedias, we find little more 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 beyond question, and the opinion that what is left of it exists at
the present time in connection with modem Freemasonry, seems
not altogether destitute of foundation.
They appear to have a close connection with the Alchemists ;
springing into existence as a distinct body when those enthusiastic
seekers after the power of transmuting the baser into the nobler
metals were creating unusual sensation. Somewhere about the
end of the fifteenth century, a Dutch pilot named Haussen, had
the misfortune to be shipwrecked off the coast of Scotland. The
vessel was lost, but Haussen was saved by a Scotch gentleman,
one Alexander Seton, who put off in a boat and brought the
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2 WHO AND WHAT WERE THE R0SICRUCIAN8 1
drowning mariner to land. A warm friendship sprang up between
the two, and, about eighteen months after, Seton went to Holland,
and paid a visit to the man whom he had rescued. During this
visit he informed the Dutchman that he was in possession of the
secret of the philosopher's stone, and report says that in his presence
he actually transmuted large quantities of base metal into the finest
gold, which he left with him as a present. Seton in due course took
leave of his friend, and prosecuted his travels through various
parts of the continent. He made no attempt to conceal the
the possession of his boasted secret, but openly talked of it
wherever he went and performed certain experiments, which he
persuaded the people were actual transmutations of base metal
into gold. Unfortunately for him, the Duke of Saxony heard the
V report of these wonders, and immediately had him arrested and
put to the torture of the rack to extract from him the precious
secret, or to compel him at least to use it in his especial service. 4II
was in 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 fortime in the wild and profitless search, then
came upon the scene. The sufferings of Seton aroused his sym-
pathy, 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. Sendivo-
gius then set about his really difficult task ; and, with a view to
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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 pre-
tending that he was endeavouring to overcome the obstinacy of the
captive, and worm out his secret, was allowed free access to him.
It was at last resolved upon a certain day to make the attempt at
escape ; and, having sent the guard to sleep by means of some
dragged wine, he assisted Seton over a wall, and led him to a post-
chaise, which he had conveniently waiting, to convey him into
Poland. In the vehicle Seton found his wife awaiting him, having
with her a packet of black powder, which was said to be the
phflosopher's stone by which iron and copper could be transmuted
into gold. They all reached Cracow in safety, but Seton's suffer-
ings had been so severe, and had so reduced his physical strength,
that he did not survive many months. He died about 1603 or 1604,
leaving behind him a number of works marked Cosmopolite. Soon
after his death Sendivogius married the widow ; and, according to
the accounts which have come down to us, was soon initiated into
the methods of turning the conmioner metals into the finer. With
the black powder, we are told, he converted great quantities of
quicksilver into the purest gold, and that he did this in the pre-
sence of the Emperor Rudolph II. at Prague, who, in commemo-
ration of the fact, caused a marble tablet with an inscription to
be fixed in the wall of the room where the experiment was
performed. Whether the experiment was a cheat or not, the tablet
was really fixed in the said waU, and was seen and described by
Desnoyens, secretary to the Princess Mary of Gonzaga, Queen of
Poland, in 1651. b 2
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4 WHO AND WHAT WERE THE BOBICRUCIANS ?
Kudolph, the Emperor, seems to have been perfectly satisfied
with the success of the alchymist, and would have heaped the
loftiest honours upon him had he been disposed to accept of them ;
this, however, did not accord with his inclination ; he, it is said,
preferred his liberty, and went to reside on his estate at Gravama,
where he kept open house for all who responded to his invitations.
His biographer, Brodowski, who was also 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 hidden in a secret place cut in the step of his
chariot ; this being deemed a secure place in the event of being
attacked by robbers. He appears to have lived in constant fear
of being robbed, and resorted to all manner of precautions to
secure his treasure when on a journey ; for it is said that he was
well known as the possessor of this philosopher's stone, and
that many adventurers were on the watch for any opportunity to
rob him.
Brodowski relates that a German prince once served him a
scurvy trick, which ever afterwards put him on his guard. The
prince was so anxious to see the wonderful experiments, of which
he had heard so much, that he actually fell upon his knees before
the alchymist, when entreating him to perform in his presence.
Sendivogius, after much pressing, allowed his objections to be over-
come ; 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
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WHO AND WHAT WERB THB ROSICRUCIAKS ? 5
armed attendants, Mublenfels hastened after Sendivogius, and over-
taking him at a lonely inn, where he had stopped to dine, forcibly
took from him his golden box containing a little of the powder ; a
manuscript book on the philosopher's stone ; a golden medal, with
its chain, presented to him by the Emperor Rudolph ; and a rich
cap, ornamented with diamonds, of the value of one hundred
thousand rix-dollars.
Sendivogius was not at all disposed to put up with such treat-
ment without an effort to obtain redress, so he went at once to
Prague, and laid his complaint before the Emperor. The Emperor
at once sent an 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 gallows in his courtyard and hanged
Muhlenfels with a thief on either side of him. He sent back the
jewelled hat, the medal and chain, and the book in manuscript ;
the powder, he said, he knew nothing o£
Sendivogius now adopted a different mode of living altogether
to that which he had formerly been addicted to ; he pretended to
be excessively poor, and would sometimes keep his bed for weeks
together, to make the people conclude it was impossible for him
to be the owner of the philosopher's stone. He died in the
year 1636, upwards of eighty, and was buried at Gravama.
Now, it is commonly held by most people, who have studied
the subject, that there is a close and intimate connection between
the Alchymists and the Rosicrucians ; probably this is true, and
a perusal of the works of John Heydon, and others of a similar
charaoter, will deepen the impression. It was, indeed, during the
the life of Sendivogius that the Rosicrucians first began to make
a mark in Europe, and cause anything approaching to a sensation.
A modem writer says : — " The influence which they exercised upon
opinion during their brief career, and the permanent impression
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6 WHO AND WHAT WERE THE ROSICRUCIANSi
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. They also enlarged its sphere, and supposed the pos-
session of the philosopher's stone to be, not only the means of
wealth, but of health and happiness, and the instrument by which
man could command the services of superior beings, control the
elements to his will, defy the obstructions of time and space, and
acquire the most intimate knowledge of all the secrets of the
universe."*
It is a fact well known to all well-informed readers, that at this
time the European continent was saturated with the most de-
grading superstitions. Devils were supposed to walk the earth,
apd to mingle in the affairs of men ; evil spirits, in the opinion even
of the wise and learned, were thought to be at the call of any
one who would summon them with the proper formalities ; and
witches were daily burned in all the 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 to do man service than to inflict injury.
They taught that the earth was inhabited by Gnomes, the air by
Sylphs, the fire by Salamanders, and the water by Nymphs or
Undines ; and that man, by his communication with them, might
learn the secrets of nature, and discover all those things which
had puzzled philosophers for ages —Perpetual Motion, the Elixir
of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Essence of Invisibility.
Respecting the origin and signification of the term Rosicrucian
* Mackay, Pop. Delusions.
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WHO AND WHAT WERE THE BOSIQRUCIANS 1 7
different opinions have been held and expressed. Some have
thought it was made up of rosa and crux (a rose and a cross) but
it is maintained by others upon apparently good authority, that
it is a compound of ros (dew) and crux (cross). Mosheim contends
that it is abundantly attested that the title of Kosicrucians was
given to the chemists who united the study of religion with the
search after chemical secrets, the term itself being chemical, and
not to be imderstood without a knowledge of the style used by
the chemists. We shall give some extracts from very old Rosi-
crucian works presently which will enlighten our readers in such
matters.
A cross in the language of the fire philosophers is the same
as Lux (light), because the figure of a + exhibits all the three
letters of the word Lux at one view. Moreover, this sect applied
the term Lvx to the seed or menstruum of the Red Dragon^ or to that
crude and corporeal light which, being properly concocted and
digested, produces gold. A Rosicrucian, therefore, is a philosopher
who, by means of dew seeks for light — that is, for the substance of
the philosopher's stone.
Mosheim declares the other interpretations of this name to be
false and deceptive, being the inventions of the chemists them-
selves, who were exceedingly fond of concealment, 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 Philosophias Fluddanse, sec. 15, in his 0pp.
iii, 261 ; though it was more lucidly explained by the celebrated
French physician Eusebius Renaudot, Conferences FMiqueSy iv. 87.
In 1619 Dr. Jo. Valentine Andreae, a celebrated Lutheran
divine, published his Tower of Babel, or Chaos of Opinions
respecting the Fraternity of the Rosy-Cross, in which he represents
the whole history as a farce, and gave intimations that he was
himself concerned in getting it up.
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8 WHO AND WHAT WbRB THE R0SICRUS1AN8 1
Brucker says to the class of Theosophists has been commonlj
referred the entire society of Rosicrucians, which, at the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century, made so much noise in the
ecclesiastical and literary world. The history of this society^
which is attended with some obscurity, seems to be as follows : —
" Its origin is referred to a certain German, whose name was Rosen-
creuz who, in the fourteenth century, visited the Holy Sepulchre ;
and. In travelling through Asia and Africa, made himself acquainted
with many Oriental secrets ; and who, after his return, instituted
a small fraternity, to whom he communicated the mysteries he
had learned, under an oath of inviolable secrecy. This society
remained concealed till the beginning of the seventeenth century,
when two books were published, the one entitled, Fama Fratemi-
tatis lavdahilis Ordinis Rosascnma : " The report of the laudable
Fraternity of Rosicrucians;" the other, Gonfessio Fratemitatis^
" The Confession of the Fraternity." In these books the world
was informed that this fraternity was enabled, by Divine reve-
lation, 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 Paracel-
sists, Theosophists and Chemists flocked to the Rosicrucian
standard, and every new and unheard-of mystery was referred to
this fiutemity. 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
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WHO AXD WHAT WERE THE BOSICRUCIANS 1 9
was concealed under the story of the Rosicrucian fraternity,
though they were wholly unable to say what it was. One con;
jectured that some chemical mystery lay hid behind the all^orical
tale ; another supposed that it foretold some great ecclesiastical
revolution. At last Michael Breler, in the year 1620, had the
courage publicly to declare that he certainly knew the whole
story to. have been the contriyance of some ingenious persons
who chose to amuse themselves by imposing upon the public
credulity. This declaration raised a general suspicion against the
whole stoiy; and, as no one undertook to contradict it, this
wonderful society daily vanished, and the rumours, which had
been spread concerning it, ceased. The whole was probably a
contrivance to ridicule the pretenders to secret wisdom and
wonderful power, particularly the chemists, who boasted that they
were possessed of the philosopher's stone. It has been con-
jectured— ^and the satirical turn of his writings, and several
particular passages in his works, &vour the conjecture — that this
fiEuice was invented and performed, in part at least, by John
Valentine Andrea of Wartenburg."*
Pope, in the dedication of his Rape of the Lock to Mrs.
Arabella Fermor, wrote : — " I know how disagreeable it is to make
use of hard words before a lady ; but it is so much the concern
of a poet to have his works understood — and particularly by your
sex — ^that you must give me leave to explain two or three difficxdt
terms.
" The Rosicrucians are a people I must bring you acquainted
with. The best account I know of them is in a French book
called Le Comte de Crabalis, which, both in its title and size, is
so like a novel, that many of the &ir sex have read it for one
by mistake. According to these gentlemen, the four elements are
inhabited by spirits, which they call sylphs, gnomes, nymphs and
* Hist of PhUoBophy, ii. 462.
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10 WHO AND WHAT WERE THE ROSICRUCIANS 1
salamanders. The gnomes, or demons of earth, delight in mischief ;
but the sylphs, whose habitation is in the air, are the best con-
ditioned creatures imaginable j for they say any mortals may
enjoy the most intimate familiarities with these gentle spirits,
upon a condition very easy to all true adepts, an inviolate preser-
vation of chastity."
On the lines (verse 20, canto 1) : —
" Belinda still her downy pillow prest,
Her guardian sylph prolonged the balmy rest."
in Pope's Rape of the Lock, Warburton thus comments : —
" When Mr. Pope had projected to give the Rape of the Lock
its present form of a mock-heroic poem, he was obliged to find it
with its machinery. For, as the subject of the Epic consists of
two parts, the metaphysical and the civil ; so this mock epic, which
is of the satiric kind, and receives its grace from a ludicrous
mimicry of other's pomp and solemnity, was to have the like
compounded nature. And as the civil part is intentionally debased
by the choice of a trifling action ; so shoiild the metaphysical by
the application of some very extravagant system. A rule which,
though neither Boileau nor Garth had been careful enough to
attend to, our author's good sense would not suffer him to over-
look. And that sort of machinery which his judgment informed
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
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WHO AND WHAT WERE THE ROSICRUCIANS ? 11
called. La Comte de Gabalis, This book is written in dialogue,
and is a delicate and very ingenious piece of raillery on that
invisible sect by the Abb^ ViUiers ; the strange stories that went
about of the feats and adventures of their adepts making, at that
time, a great deal of noise at Paris. But, as in this satirical dia-
logue, Mr. P. found several whimsies of a very high mysterious
nature, told of their elementary beings, which were unfit to come
into the machinery of such a sort of poem, he has, in their stead, with
great judgment, substituted the l^endary stories of Guardian An-
gels, and the nursery tales of the Fah-ies, and dexterously accommo-
dated them to the rest of the Rosicrucian Sytsem. And to this artful
address (unless we will be so uncharitable to think he intended to
give a needless scandal) we must suppose he referred in these two
lines,
" If e'er one Vision toach'd thy infant thoogfat,
Of all the nurte and all the priett haTe taugfatw**
Thus, by the most beautiful invention imaginable, he has con-
trived that (as in the serious Epic, the popular belief supports
the machinery) in his mock Epic the machinery (taken from a
circumstance the most humbling to reason in all philosophical
fismaticiBm) should serve to dismount learned pride and arro-
gance."
On verse 45, canto 1, he remarks : — " The Poet here forsakes
his Bosicrucian system ; which, in this part, is too extravagant
even for ludicrous poetry."
On verse 68, canto 1, he continues : — " Here, again, the author
resumes the Rosicrucian system. But this tenet, peculiar to that
wild philosophy, was founded on a principle very unfit to be
employed in such a sort of poem, and, therefore suppressed,
though a less judicious writer would have been tempted to expa-
tiate upon it."
Swift, in the "Tale of a Tub," says:— "Night being the
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12 WHO AND WHAT WERB THE BOSICRUCIANS 1
universal mother of things, wise philosophers hold all writings to
be fruitful, in the proportion they are dark ; and therefore the true
illuminated (that is to say, the darkest of all) have met with such
numberless commentators, whose scholastic midwifery has deli-
vered them of meanings, that the authors themselves perhaps
never conceived, and yet may very justly be allowed the lawful
parents of them ; the words of such writers being like seed, which,
however scattered, at 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 veiy 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 pray fervently for sixty-three morn-
ings, with a lively faith, and then transpose certain letters and
syllables, according to prescription, in the second and fifth section,
they will certainly reveal into a full receipt of the opus magnum.
Lastly, whoever will be at the pains to calculate the whole number
of each letter in this treatise, and sum up the difference exactly
between the several numbers, assigning the true natural cause for
every such diffierence, the discoveries in the product will plentifully
reward his labour."
** For Mystic Learniog, wondrous able
In magic Talisman and Cabal,
Whose primitive tradition reaches
As far as Adam's first green breeches ;
Deep sighted in Intelligences,
Ideas, Atoms, Influences ;
And much of Terra-Incognita,
Th' intelligible world, could say ;
A deep Occult Philosopher,
As learned as the wild Irish are,
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WHO AND WHAT WERB THB B0SICBUC1AK8 1 13
Or Sir Agrippa, for profound
And solid lying much renowned.
He AnthropoaophuB and Fludd,
And Jacob Behmen understood ;
Knew manj an amulet and charm,
That would do neither good nor harm ;
In Roey-Crusian lore as learned
As he that veri adeptuM earned.'*
^HuoiBRAS, Part I, Canto I.
The Globe Encyclopsedia, under article Rosicrucians, says : —
** A mystic brotherhood revealed to the outer world in the Fama
Fraiemitatis R, C. (1614), the Confesno Fratemitatis R C. (16 1 5),
and the Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Ro8enkreuz(1616), which
last was acknowledged by, as the two former works were commonly
ascribed to, Johann Valentin Andrese. From them we learn that
a German noble of the 14 th century, one Christian Rosenkreuz,
after long travel in the East, founded on his return a brotherhood of
seven adepts, the JR., and dying at the age of 106 was buried in
their temple — 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. (t.e. Eoseu 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 Andrese
simply intended a hoax upon the credulity of the age, and that
Christian Rosenkreuz and all the attendant mysteries were wholly
the coinage of his fertile brain. However, the hoax, if hoax there
were, was taken seriously, and as early as 1622, societies of alche-
mists at the Hague and elsewhere assumed the title R., while
Rosicrucian tenets powerfully influenced Cabalists, Freemasons,
and lUuminati, and were professed by Cagliostro and similar
impostors. Even to-day a Rosicrucian lodge is said to exist in
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14 WHO AND WHAT WERE THE ROSICRUCIANS 1
London, whose members claim by asceticism to live beyond the
allotted a^e of man, and to which the late Lord Lytton sought
entrance vainly."
" I was once engaged in discourse with a Rosicrucian about the
* great secret.' As this kind of men, I mean those of them who
are not professed cheats, are over-run with enthusiasm and philo-
sophy, it was very amusing to hear this religious adept descanting
on his pretended discovery. He talked 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 o£ * It gives a lustre/
says he, * to the sun, and water to the diamond. It irradiates
every metal, and enriches lead with all the properties of gold. It
heightens smoke into flame, flame into light, and light into glory."
He further added, that a single ray of it dissipates pain, and care,
and melancholy, from the person on whom it falls. In short,
says he, ' its presence naturally changes every place into a kind of
heaven.'
" After he had gone on for some time in this unintelligible cant,
I found that he jumbled natural and moral ideas together in the
same discourse, and that his great secret was nothing else but
content"
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s