V. Clavis Philosophiaj et Alchymia). Franc, 1633. The MS. catalogue of the Brit. Mus. Library aUbrds, so far as I

am aware, the only complete list of Fludd's works.

' Ante, p. 81 ; Athenie Oxonienses, vol. ii., col. 620. ' Athense Oxonienses, vol. ii., col. 621.

* "The brethren of the R. C. who were formerly, at least, called by this name, but whom we now term the wise ;
the former name being omitted and almost buried by mankind in oblivion, since unhappy mortals are covered by such a
thick veil of ignorance."

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 113

organisation which could go over, as it were, in a body — for the Eosicvucians never formed a
separate fraternity in England any more than elsewhere ; and, secondly, because there is no
evidence of the English Freemasons ever having been called " Sapientes " or Wise Men.

Buhle, however, goes on to say that the immediate name of " ]\Iasons " was derived from
the legend, contained in the Fama Fratcrnitatis, or the " Home of the Holy Ghost." Some
have been simple enough to understand by the above expression a literal house, and it was
inquired after throughout the empire. But Andrea has rendered it impossible to understand
it in any but an allegorical sense. Theophilus Schweighart spoke of it as " a building with-
out doors or windows, a princely, nay, an imperial palace, everywhere visible, yet not seen
by the eyes of man." This building, in fact, represented the purpose or object of the Eosi-
crucians. And what was that ? It was the secret wisdom, or, in their words, magic — viz.,
(1) Philosophy of nature, or occult knowledge of the works of God ; (2) Theology, or the
occult knowledge of God Himself; (3) Religion, or God's occult intercourse with the spirit
of man ; — which they fancied was transmitted from Adam through the Cabbalists to themselves.
But they distinguished between a carnal and a spiritual knowledge of this magic. The
spiritual being Christianity, symbolised by Christ Himself as a rock, and as a building, of
which He is the head and foundation. 'What rock, says Fludd, and what foundation ? A
spiritual rock and a building of human nature, in which men are the stones, and Christ the
corner stone. But how shall stones move and arrange themselves into a building ? Ye
must be transformed, says Fludd, from dead into living stones of philosophy. But what is
a living stone ? A living stone is a mason who builds himself up into the wall as part of the
temple of human nature. " The manner of tliis transformation is taught us by the Apostle,
•where be says, ' Let the same mind be in you which is in Jesus.' In these passages
we see the rise of the allegoric name of masons," and the Professor goes on to explain
his meaning by quotations from other passages, which, as he has not given them quite
fully, and perhaps not quite fairly, I shall hereafter quote at length. He says that, in
effect, Fludd teaches that the Apostle instructs us under the image of a husbandman or an
architect, and that, had the former type been adopted, we should have had Free-husbandmen
instead of Free-masons} The society was, therefore, to be a masonic society, to represent
typically that temple of the Holy Ghost which it was their business to erect in the heart of
man. This temple was the abstract of the doctrine of Christ, who was the Grand Master;
" hence the light from the East,^ of which so much is said in Eosicrucian and Masonic books.
St John was the beloved disciple of Christ, hence the solemn celebration of his festival." Having,
moreover, once adopted the attributes of masonry as the figurative expression of their objects,
they were led to attend more minutely to the legends and history of that art ; and in these
again they found an occult analogy with their own relations to Christian wisdom. The first
great event in the art of masonry was the building of the Tower of Babel ; this exjiressed

' He does not tell us why the prefix /i-cc should have been added in eitlier case, nor did he probably know that
as attached to masons it has several derivations all perfectly reasonable, though of course they cannot all be true, and
all long anterior to the era of which he is speaking.

' According to Soane, both the Kosicrucians and the Freemasons " derived their wisdom from Adam, adopted tho
same myth of builtling, connected themselves in tlio same unintelligible way with Solomon's temple, alfecting to be
seeking lUjldfrom the Bust, — in other words, the Cabbala, — and accepted the heathen Pythagoras amongst their adepts "
(New Curiosities of Literature, vol. ii., p. 91).

VOL. U. P

114 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.

figuratively tlie attempt of sooie unknown Mason to build up the Temple of the Holy Ghost
in anticipation of Christianity, which attempt, however, had been confounded by the vanity of

the builders.^

"The buUding of Solomon's Temple, the second great incident « in the art, had an obvious
meaning as a prefiguration of Christianity. Hiram,^ simply the architect of this temple to the
real professors of the art of building, was to the English Eosicrucians a type of Christ ; and
the legend of Masons, which represented this Hiram as having been murdered by his fellow-
workmen, made the type still more striking. The two pillars also, Jachin and Boaz,* strength
and power, which are among the most memorable singularities in Solomon's Temple,^ have an
occult meaning to the Freemasons. This symbolic interest to the English Eosicrucians in the
attributes, legends, and incidents of the art exercised by the literal masons of real life naturally
brought the two orders into some connection with each other. They were thus enabled to
realise to their eyes the symbols of their own allegories ; and the same building which accom-
modated the guild of builders in their professional meetings, offered a desirable means of secret
assemblies to the early Freemasons. An apparatus of implements and utensils, such as were
presented in the fabulous sepulchre of Father Eosycross, was here actually brought together.
And accordingly, it is upon record that the first formal and solemn lodge of Freemasons, on
occasion of which the very name of Freemasons was first publicly made known, was held in
Mason's Hall, Mason's Alley, Basinghall Street, London, in the year 1646. Into this lodge it
was that Ashmole the antiquary was admitted. Private meetings there may doubtless have
been before ; and one at Warrington is mentioned in the Life of Ashmole [it will be observed
that here Buhle and De Quincey become totally lost] ; but the name of a Freemason's lodge
with all the insignia, attributes, and circumstances of a lodge, first came forward in the page
of history on the occasion that I have mentioned. It is perhaps in requital of the services at
that time rendered in the loan of their hall, etc., that the guild of Masons, as a body, and
where they are not individually objectionable, enjoy a precedency of all orders of men in the
rio'ht of admission, and pay only half fees. Ashmole, who was one of the earliest Freemasons,
appears from his writings to have been a zealous Eosicruciau."

The Professor here pauses to explain that " when Ashmole speaks of the antiquity of
Freemasonry, he is to be understood either as confounding the order of the philosophic
masons with that of the handicraft masons, or simply as speaking the language of the
Eosicrucians, who carry up their traditional pretensions to Adam as the first professor of the

1 If this were really the case, there must have beeu a very long succession of Babels, which woulJ, in a double
sense, mean confusion, from the original to our own day.

' It is unfortunate that the two first great incidents should relate the one to brick-laying and the other to metal
working, for the Temple was nothing else but wood overlaid with gold plates, the platform, like that of Baalbec, was
formed of huge stones dragged together by mere manual labour. Hiram, King of Tyre, was half tributary prince, half
contractor, and doubtless managed to make the one fit in with the other. As for the other Hiram, he was clearly a
metal founder.

' A footnote to the essay, explains that Hiram was understood by the older Freemasons as an anagram, H. I. R. A. M. —
Homo Jesus Redemptor AnimaruM ; others made it Homo Jesus Rex Altissimus Mundi ; whilst a few, by way of
simplifying matters, added a C to the Hiram, in order to make it CHristus Jesus, etc.

* See the account of these pillars in the first Book of Kings, vii. 14-22, where it is said — "And there stood upon
the pillars, as it were, liases." Compare 2d Book of Chron. iii. 17.

' The pillars were probably mere ornamental adjuncts to the facade like the Egyptian obelisks, the famous masts at
Venice, and numerous other examples that might be cited, including the Eleanor Cross in the station yard at Charing Cross.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 115

secret wisdom." ^ " Other members of the lodge were Thomas "WTiarton, a iDhysician ; George
Wharton; Oughtred, the mathematician; Dr Hewitt; Dr Pearson, the divine ; and William
Lilly, the principal astrologer of the day. All the members, it must be observed, had annually
assembled to hold a festival of astrologers before they were connected into a lodge bearing the
title of Free-masons. This previous connection had no doubt paved the way for the latter." ^

So far, Buhle, De Quincey, and also Soane. A very pretty and ingenious theory, but
unfortunately not quite in harmony with the facts of history. The whole of the latter part of
the story is, as will be plainly demonstrated, a pure and gratuitous fabrication. The initiation
of Elias Ashmole is stated to have taken place at the Mason's Hall, London, in 1646, and
" private meetings " — for example, one at Warrington — are mentioned as having been held at
an even earlier date. The truth being, as the merest tyro among masonic students well knows,
that it was at the Warrington meeting which took place in 1646, Ashmole was admitted.
The lodge at the ^Mason's Hall not having been held until 1682, or thirty-five years later.

The details of Ashmole's initiation will be considered hereafter at some length; but, before
proceeding with my examination of the passages in Fludd's writings, upon wliich so much has
been based by his German commentator, I shall introduce some observations of a learned
Masonic writer, which, though much quoted and relied upon by a large number of authorities,
tend to prove that he had then (1845) advanced little beyond the theory of Professor Buhle
(1804), and that he was unable to prop up that theory by any increase of facts. The
following extracts are from the " Encyclopajdia Metropolitana," ^ the article of which they form
a part, being, without doubt, the very best on the subject that has ever appeared in any
publication of the kind.

" It appears that Speculative Masonry, to which alone the term ' Free-^Iasonry ' is now
applied, was scarcely known before the time of Sir Christopher Wren ; that it was engrafted
upon Operative Masonry, which at that time was frequently called Free-Masonry, adopting
the signs and symbols of the operative Masons, together, probably, with some additional
customs, taken partly from the Eosicrucians of the seventeenth century, and partly imitated
from the early religious rites of the Pagans, with the nature of which Ashmole and his friends
(some of the first framers of Speculative IMasonry) were well acquainted.

" Elias Ashmole was made a Mason at Warrington in the year 1646. At the same time, a
society of Eosicrucians had been formed in London, founded partly on the principles of those
established in Germany about 1604, and partly perhaps on the plan of the Literary Society,
allegorically described in Bacon's ' New Atlantis,' as the House of Solomon. Among other
emblems, they made use of the sun, moon, compasses, square, triangle, etc. Ashmole and some
of his literary friends belonged to this society, which met in the Mason's Hall, as well as to the
Masons [company], and they revised and added to the peculiar emblems and ceremonies of the

' As Dr Armstrong has well observed : — " The Livys of the Masonic commonwealth are far from willing to let their
Rom'! have either a mean or unknown beginning." According to Preston, — "from the commencement of the world,
we may trace the foundation of Masonry;" "but," adds Dr Oliver, "ancient Masonic traditions say, and I think
jiislly, that our science existed le/we the creation of this globe, and was diffused amidst the numerous systems with
which the grand empyreuin of universal space is furnished " I I (Illustrations of Masonry, 1792, p. 7 ; Antiquities of
Freemasonry, 1823, p. 26).

' Professor Buhle then proceeds to sum up the results of his inquiry. These I have already given at p. 84, q. v.

'Vol. x.\ii., 1845, s. v. Masonry-Free, by William Sandys, F.A.S. and F.G.S., pp. 11-23. Mr Sandys, also the
author of " A Short History of Freemasonry," 1829, was a V. JI. of the Grand Master's Lodge, No. 1.

ii6 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.

latter, wliich were simple, and liad been handed down to them through many ages. They
substituted a method of initiation, founded in part, on their knowledge of the Pagan rites, and
connected partly with the system of the Eosicrucians, retaining, probably in a somewhat
varied form, the whole or greater part of the old Masonic secrets ; and hence arose the first
Degree, or Apprentice of Free and Accepted or Speculative Masonry, which was, shortly after,
followed by a new version of the Fellow Craft Degree."

" These innovations by Ashmole were not perhaps immediately adopted by the fraternity in
general, but Speculative Masonry gradually increased and mingled with Operative Masonry,
until the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it was agreed, in order to support the
fraternity, which had been on the decline, that the privileges of Masonry should no longer
be restricted to Operative Masons, but extended to men of various professions, provided they
were regularly approved and initiated into the Order." ^

From what has gone before, it will be very apparent that if Sandys can be taken as the expo-
nent of views, at that time generally entertained by the Masonic fraternity, the hypothesis of tlie
Gottingeu Professor, or at least his conclusions, — for the two writers arrive at virtually the same
goal, though by slightly different roads, — were in a fau- way of becoming traditions of the Society.

This I mention because, for the purposes of this sketch, it becomes necessary to lay stress
upon the prevalence of the belief, that in some shape or form, the Eosicrucians, including ia
this term the fraternity, or would-be fraternity, strictly so-called, together with all members
of the Hermetic ^ brotherhood — have aided in the development of Freemasonry.

I do not wish to be understood, as confounding the devotees of the Hermetic philosophy
with the brethren of the Eosy Cross, but the following passage from the life of Anthony a
Wood will more clearly illustrate my meaning : —

1663. " Ap. 2.3. He began a Course of Chimistry under the noted Chimist and Eosicrucian,
Peter Sthael of Strasburgh in Eoyal Prussia, and concluded in the latter end of May following.
The club consisted of 10 at least, whereof Franc. Turner of New Coll. was one (since Bishop
of Ely), Benjam. Woodroff of Ch. Ch. another (since Canon of Ch. Ch.), and Joh. Lock of the
same house, afterwards a noted writer. This Jo. Lock was a man of a turbulent spirit,
clamorous and never contented. The Club wrot and took notes from the mouth of their master,
who sate at the upper end of a table, but the said J. Lock scorn'd to do it ; so that while eveiy
man besides, of the Club, were writing, he would be prating and troblesome. This P. Sthael,
who was a Lutheran and a great hater of women,^ was a very useful man, had his lodging in

^ The resolution here referred to, which rests on the authority of Preston, will be considered at a later stage.

^ Amongst the works not previously cited which will repay perusal in connection with the subject before us, I take
the opportunity of mentioning Figuier's L'Alchimie et les Acliimistes, 1855 ; A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic
Mj-stery (anonymous), 1850 ; and the Histoire de la Philosophic Hermetique of Lenglet Du Fresnoy, 1742. The curious
reader, if such there be, who desires still further enlightenment, will find it in "The Lives of the Alchemystical
Philosophers," where at pp. 95-112 a list is given of seven htindred and fifty-one Alchemical Books; and in Walsh's
Bibl. Thcol. Select., 1757-65, vol. ii., p. 96 ct scq., which enumerates nearly a hundred more, more than half being
devoted to the Eosicrucian controversy. Of course, but a small proportion of both these lists relates to English works,
but the mere number will serve to show the extent of the mania.

^ This seems to have been a characteristic of all the tribe, and the feeling was probably very heartily reciprocated
by the fair sex. It will be recollected that the original followers of C. R. were "all of vowed virginity." "It was
a long received opinion amongst the Schoolmen and doctors, that no good angel could appear in the shape of a woman,
and that any apparition in the form of a female must be at once set down as an evil spirit" (James Crosslcy, editorial
note, Clutham Soc. Pub., vol. xiii., p. 361).

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. \\7

University Coll. in a Chamber at the west end of the old chappel. He was brought to Oxon.
by the honorable Mr. Kob. Boyle, an. 1659, and began to take to him scholars in the house
of Joh. Cross next, on the W. side, to University Coll., where he began but with three scholars ;
of which number Joseph WilHamson of Queen's Coll. was one, afterwards a Knight and one
of the Secretaries of State under K. Ch. 2. After he had taken in another class of six there,
he translated himself to the house of Arth. Tylliard an apothecary, the next dore to that of
Joh. Cross saving one, which is a taverne : where he continued teaching till the latter end of
1662. The chiefest of his scholars there were Dr Joh. Wallis, jSIr Christopher Wren, after-
wards a Knight and an eminent Virtuoso, Mr Thorn. Millington of Alls. ColL, afterwards an
eminent Physitian and a Knight, Nath. Crew of Line. Coll., afterwards Bishop of Durham, Tho.
Branker of Exeter Coll., a noted mathematician, Dr Ealph Bathurst of Trin. Coll., a physitian,
afterwards president of his coUege and deane of Wells, Dr Hen. Yerbury, and Dr Tho. Janes,
both of iAIagd. CoU., Rich. Lower, a physitian, Ch. Ch., Rich. Griffith, M.A., feUow of University
Coll., afterwards Dr of phys. and fellow of the CoU. of Physitians, and severall others."

" About the beginning of the yeare 1663 IMr Sthael removed his school or elaboratory to a
draper's house, called Joh. BoweU, afterwards mayor of the citie of Oxon., situat and being in
the parish of AUsaiuts, commonly called AllhaUowes. He built his elaboratory in an old haU
or refectory in the back-side (for the House itself had been an antient hostle), wherein A. W.
[Anthony a Wood] and his feUowes were instructed. In the yeare following Mr Sthael was
called away to London, and became operator to the Royal Society, and continuing there till
1670, he return'd to Oxon in Nov., and had several classes successively, but the names of them
I know not ; and afterwards going to London againe, died there about 1675, and was buried
in the Church of S. Clement's Dane, within the libertie of Westminster, IMay 30. The
Chimical Club concluded, and A. W. paid Mr Sthael 30 sliill., having in the beginning of tho
class given 30 shillings beforehand. A. W. got some knowledge and experience, but his mind
still hung after antiquities and musick." ^

From the preceding extract, we learn that both John Locke, the distinguished philosopher,
and Sir Christopher Wren, pursued a course of study under the guidance of a " noted Rosi-
crucian;" and by some tliis circumstance may seem to lend colour to the masonic theories
wliich have been linked with their respective names. Passing on, however, I shaU proceed
with an examination of the passages in Fludd's writings, upon which Professor Buhle has so
much relied. The following extracts are from the " Summum Bonum : " "-

1. " Let us be changed," says Darnfeus, " from dead blocks to living stones of philosophy ;
and the manner of this change is taught us by the Apostle when he says : ' Let the same mind
be in you which is in Jesus,' " and this inind he proceeds to explain in the following words :
" For when He was in the form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But
in order that we may be able to apply this to the Chymical degrees, it is necessary that we
should open out a little more clearly the meaning of the Chymical philosophers, by which

' AtheniE Oxonienses, vol. i., p. Hi.

» Ante, p. 112, note 1. The following is a translation of its description on the title-page :—

"The Supreme Good, which is the Truth, consists of Magic, the Cabbala, Alchymy, the Fraternity of the Kosy
Cross, which are concerned with Tnith.

" In praise of the above-named sciences, and for the disgrace of the notorious calumniator, Fra. Mar. Mersenne ;
1629."
(Fludd's Works, collected edition, Brit. Mus. Lib., vol. iv., pp. 3C, 39, 17, 49.)

ii8 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.

means you will see that these philosophers wrote one thing and meant another" [the hidden or
esoteric wisdom]. ^

2. " We must conclude, then, that Jesus is the corner-stone of the human temple, by whose
exaltation alone this temple will be exalted ; as in the time of Solomon, when his prayers were
ended, it is said that he was filled with the glory of God ; and so from the death of Capha or
Aben, pious men became living stones, and that by a transmutation from the state of faUen
Adam to the state of his pristine innocence and perfection,— that is, from the condition of vile
and diseased [lit. leprous] lead to that of the finest gold, and that by the medium of this living
gold, the mystic philosopher's stone [whatever Fludd may have dreamt, the generality took it
in a much more practical sense], I mean wisdom, and by the divine emanation which is the
gift of God and not otherwise." ^

3. " But in order that we may treat this brotherhood in the same way as we have the three
special columns of wisdom,— namely : Magic, the Cabbala, and Chymistry,— we may define
the Eosicrucian fraternity as being either

Or-

True or essential, and which ")

> ■
deals rightly with the truth, j

Bastard and adulterine, by which
others give a false explanation of
this society, or else because they
are led away by a spirit J

/-Magic or wisdom.
with -I The Cabbala.
V Chymistry.

Of want or avarice, by which the
common people are deceived.

Of pride, so that they should appear
}• of 1 to be what they are not.

Of malice, so that, by living a vicious
life, they may give the worst pos-
sible character to the society." *

' " Transmutemini [ait Darnseus] de lapidibiis mortiiis in lapides vivos Pliilosopliicos ; viara hujusmodi transmuta-
tionis, no8 docet Apostolus dura ait: Eadem mens sit in vobis, quae est in Jesu, mentem autem explicat in sequentibus,
nimirum cum in forma, Dei esset, non rapinam arbitratus est se sequalem esse Deo. Sed ut Chymicis gi-adibus hoc prastare
possumus, necesse est, ut Sapientum Chymicorum sensum, paulo accuratiori intuitu aperiamus, quo videatis aUud
scripsisse, alind intellexissc Sajiicntes" (pp. 36, 37).

a " Concludimns, igitur quod Jesus sit templi humani lapis angularis, cujus exaltatione non aliter exaltabitur ejus
templum, quam tempore Salomonis, finitis ejus precibus, gloria Domini, dictum est fuisse repletum, atque ita ex Cffipha
sen Aben mortuis, lapides vivi facti sunt homines pii, idque transmutatione reali, ab Adami lapsi statu in statum sua;
innocentia; ct perfectionis, hoc est h. vili et leprosi plumbi conditione in aiiri purissimi perfectionem, idque mediante auro
illo vivo, lapide Philosophorum mystico, Sapientia dico, et emanatione divina quae est donum Dei et non aliter" (p. 37).
3 "Sed ut rem pari methodo cum Fraternitate ista ac cum praicedentibus tribus pra;cipuis Sapientia columnis
videlicet, Magia Cabbala atque Chymia asquamus, dicimus quod

Vera ct essentials, 1 f Magia sen Sapientia.
qua; recti versatur J- — <( Cabala.

L

in vera.

Fraternitas
Eosse Crucis sit aut

/• Adultcrina et nothua -^
I atque hujus sectoe alii talem I
1 falso induunt denomina- f
Mionem, aut anima ducti J

\ Alcliymia.
Avara, seu iudigcnte, quo

vulgus decipiant.

Superba, ut scilicet videantur

tales quales revera non sunt.

Malitiosa, ut vitam vitiosam

ducentes pessimam in

veram Fraternitatis famam

(^ iuducant" (p. 30).

EA RL Y BRITISH PRE EM A SONR Y— ENGL A ND. 1 1 9

4. " Finally, the sacred pages show us how we ought to work in investigating the [nature
of] this incomparable gem, namely, by proceeding either by general or particular form [or
' method ']. The Apostle teaches us the general, where he says, ' \Ve beseech you, brethren,
that ye take heed that ye be at peace and conduct your own business, labouring with your
hands as we have taught you, so that you seek nothing of any one.' In his particular
instruction he teaches you to attain to the mystical perfection, using the analogy of either an
luishandman or an architect. Under the type of an husbandman, he speaks as follows : — ' I
have planted, Apollos watered, but the Lord will give the increase.' For we are the
helpers of and fellow-workers with God, hence he says, ' Ye are God's husbandry ' " [or
' tillage.' ^ See 1 Cor., ch. iii., v. 10].

5. " Finally, a brother labours to the perfecting of this task under the symbol of an architect.
Hence the Apostle says in the text, 'As a wise architect have I laid the foundation according
to the gi-ace which God has given me, but another builds upon it, for none other can lay the
foundation save that which is laid, who is Christ alone.' It is in reference to this architec-
tural simUe that St Paul says, ' We are the fellow-labourers with God, as a wise architect
have I laid the foundation and another builds upon it ; ' and David also seems to agree with
this when he says, ' Except the Lord build the house the workmen labour but in vain.' All
of which is the same as what St Paul brings forward under the type of an husbandman, ' For
neither is he that planteth anything nor he that watereth but God who gives the increase, for
we are the fellow-labourers with God.' Thus, although the incorruptible Spirit of God be in
a grain of wheat, nevertheless it can come to nothing without the labour and arrangements of
the husbandman, whose duty it is to cultivate the earth, and to consign to it the seed that it
may putrefy, otherwise it would do no good to that living grain that dwells in the midst [of
the seed]. And in like manner, under the type of an architect, the prophet warns us, ' Let
us go up into the mountain of reason and build there the temple of wisdom.' " ^

I shall not attempt to discuss the vexed question, and one which, after all, is impossible of
any clear solution, whether some of the ideas inculcated by Fludd, and adopted doubtless
more or less in their entirety by numerous visionaries, may not have found their way, may
not have percolated, as it were, into the Masonic ranks ; but it is, I think, tolerably clear that

'4. " Denique ; qualiter debent operari ad gemmE istiusmodi incomparabilis inquisitionem, nos docet pagina sancta,
videlicet, vel generali forma, vel particulari. Generaliter nos instruit Apostolus sic : ' Rogamus vos fratres ut operam
detis, ut quieti sitis, et ut vestrum negotium agatis, et operamini manibus vestris, sicut prjecepimus vobis, ut nuUius
aliquid desideretis.' In particulari sui instructione more analogico discurrens, nos docet ad mysterii perfectionem, vel sub
Agricolce vel sub Architecti tyjio pertingcre. Sub Agiicolse, inquam, titulo. Unde sic loquitur ' Ego plantavi, Appollos
rigavit, sed Deus incrementum dabit. Dei enim sum us adjutores et operatorcs : unde dixit Dei agricultura estis ' " (p. 49).

" 5. "Denique; «i6 arcAttedt'^jurii operatur frater ad hujus operis perfectionem, unde Apostolus ait loco citato
Secundum gratiam Dei quije mihi data est, ut sapiens Architectus, fundamentum posui, alius antem supersedificat,
fundamentum enim nemo aliud potest ponere prster id quod positum est, quod est solus Christus. De hujusmodi
Architecture intelligens Paulus, ait ' Dei sumus adjutores, ut sapiens arcliitectus fundamentum posui ; alius tamen
supenedificat, cui etiam David astipulari videtur dicens : Domura nisi aidificavcrit Deus in vanum laboraverunt qui earn
superaidificaverunt. Quod est idem cum illo i, Paulo sub typo AgricoliE prolato.' Neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque
qui rigat, sed qui increiaentum dat, Deus, Dei autem sumus adjutores. Sic etiam licet incorruptibilis Dei spii-itus sit
in grano tritici, nihil tamen praistare potest sine Agricolaj adaptatione et dispositione, cujus est terram cultivare, et
semen in c4 ad putrefactionem disponere aut granum illud vivam in ejus centro habitans nihil operabitur. Atque
sub istiusmodi Architecti typo nos monet Propheta, 'ut ascendamus moutem rationabilem ut a-dilicemus donium
sapientiie ' " (p. 49).

I20 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.

not only was there no deliberate adoption of the Eosicrucian, or rather Fluddian tenets by tlie
Masons, and no taking of the old masonic name and organisation as a cloak for the new
society, but no possibility of such a thing having occurred.

The expression "living stones" — upon which so much has been founded— or "living
rock " {vivam rupem), occurs very frequently in the old chronicles.^ The title " Magister de
Lapidibus Vivis," according to Eatissier,^ was given in the Middle Ages to the chief or principal
artist of a confraternity — "master of living stones," or "pierres vivantes." On the same
authority we learn that the official just described was also termed " Magister Lapidum," and
some statutes of a corporation of sculptors in the twelfth century, quoted by a certain " Father
Delia Valle," ^ are referred to on both these points.

It is tolerably clear that no Eosicrucian Society was ever formed on the Continent. In
other words, whatever number there may have been of individual mystics calling themselves
Eosicrucians, no collective body of Eosicrucians acting in- conjunction was ever matured and
actually established in either Germany or France.* Yet it is assumed, for the purposes of a
preconceived argument, that such a society existed in England, although the position main-
tained is not only devoid of proof, but conflicts with a large body of indirect evidence, which
leads irresistibly to an opposite conclusion.

The literature of the seventeenth century abounds with allusions to the vagaries of
Alchymists and Astrologers. There was an Astrologers' feast, if indeed an Astrologers' College
or Society was not a public and established institution, and sermons, even if not always
preached, were at least written on their side.^ A school certainly existed for a time at Oxford,
as I have already shown, presided over by a noted Eosicrucian. In fact, there seems to have
been no kind of concealment as regards the manner in which all descriptions of what may,
without impropriety, be termed the " black art " were prosecuted. There is, however, no trace
whatever of any Eosicrucian Society, and it is consonant to sound reason to suppose that
nothing of the kind could either have been long established, or widely spread, without at least
leaving behind some vestiges of its existence, in the writings of the period.

It is worthy of note, moreover, that perhaps the most ardent supporter of that visionary
scheme, a Philosophical College, with which so many minds were imbued by Bacon's " New
Atlantis"" — Samuel Hartlib'' — of whom a full mcmou- is still a desideratum in English

1 Church Historians of England, 1852-56, vol. i., pt. ii., p. 554 ; W. H. Rylauds, The Legend of the Introduction
of Masons into England, pt. iii. (Masonic Monthly, Nov. 1882).

' Elements d'Archajologie, 1843 ; Freemason, July 8, 18S2, note 19.

^ In the opinion of Woodford, he is the same person who -wi-ote, in 1791, the "Storia del Duomo d'Orvieto,"
published at Rome (Freemason, loc. cit.).

* It is true that, according to the preface of the "Echo of the Society of the Rosy Cross," 1615, "meetings were
held in 1597 to institute a Secret Society for the promotion oi Alchymy." See ante, p. 87, note 3.

^ Stella Nova, a new Starre, Preached before the learned Society of Astrologers, August 1649, by Robert Gell,
D.D. ; Astrology Proved Harmless, Useful, Pious, Being a Semion written by Richard Carpenter, 1657. The latter, a
discourse on Gen. i. 14, "And let them be for signs," was dedicated to Elias Ashniolo. The author, according to Wood,
"was esteemed a theological mountebank."

* The late Mr James Crossley alludes to two continuations of that fine fragment. Bacon's "New Atlantis" — one by
R. H., Esquire, printed in 1660 ; the other (in his own possession) written by the celebrated Joseph Glauvill, and still
in MS. (Chetham Soc. Pub., vol. xiii., p. 214).

' A friend of Evelyn and Dr Worthington. Milton's "Tractate on Education" was addressed to him. According
to Evelyn, ho wa.s a "Lithuanian" (Diary, Nov. 27, 1655) ; whilst Wood styles him "a presbyteriau Dutchman, a
witness against Laud" (Athens Oxonienses, vol iii., col. 965).

MA. I I .RORGE S.TUDO

1' .:::1AI, <TRAND MASTER OF STAFFORBSHIRE

Tboin«s C Jack . Loiuion & Edinbtu

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 121

biography, speaks of the Eosicrucians ^ in such terms as to make it quite clear that, in the
year 1660, they occupied a very low position in the estimation of the learned. In letters
addressed by him to Dr Worthington, on June 4 and December 10 respectively, he thus
expresses himself, — " I am most willing to serve him [Dr Henry More], by procuring if I can
a transcript of a letter or two of the supposed Brothers Ros.[e:e] Crucis ; " and writing under
a later date, he says, " the cheats of the Fraternity of the Holy [Eosy] Cross (w'' they call
mysteries) have had infinite disguises and subterfuges." ^

Macaria — from p.S.K&p'ia, " happiness " or " bliss " — was the name of the Society, the
establishment of which Hartlib appears to have been confidently expecting throughout a
long series of years. It was to unite the great, the wealthy, the religious, and the philo-
sophical, and to form a common centre for assisting and promoting all undertakings in the
support of which mankind were interested. Somewhat similar schemes were propounded by
John Evelyn and Abraham Cowley ; whilst John Joachim Becher or Beccher, styled by
Mr Crossley " the German Marquis of Worcester," in his treatise " De Psychosophia," put
forward the idea of what he calls a Psychosophic College, for affording the means of a
convenient and tranquil life, and which is much of the same description as those planned by
Hartlib and the others.

A similar society seems also to have been projected by one Peter Cornelius of Zurichsea.'

It is not likely that the Freemasons had any higher opinion of the Eosicrucians — i.e., the
fraternity — than was expressed by Hartlib. Freemasons, and Freemasonry more or less
speculative, existed certainly in Scotland, and inferentially in England, long before its
supposed introduction by Fludd, as I shall presently show, and if we cannot distinctly trace
back to a higher origin than the sixteenth century, it is only to be inferred that 'proof of a
more remote antiquity may be yet forthcoming. " Old records " of the craft, as I have already
had occasion to observe, are oftener quoted than produced ; but a few are still extant, and from
these few we learn, that Masonic Societies were in actual existence at the time of theii* beinc
written (or copied), and were not merely in embryo.

It will not be difficult to carry back the history of the Freemasons beyond the point
of contact with the Eosicrucians, which is the leading feature of Buhle's hypothesis. He
says: — 1. "I affirm as a fact established upon historical research that, before the beginnino-
of the seventeenth century, no traces are to he viet with of the Eosicrucian or Masonic orders ; "
and 2. " That Free-Masonry is neither more nor less than Eosicrucianism as modified by those
who transplanted it into England."

As regards the first point, "traces of the Masonic order," as Buhle expresses it, are
certainly "to be met with" before the period which he has arbitrarily assigned for its
inception. It is abundantly clear that Speculative Masonry — meaning by this phrase the
membership of lodges by non-operative or geomatic masons — existed in the sixteenth century.*
The fate of the second proposition is involved in that of its predecessor. It is not, indeed,
even as an hypothesis, endurable for an instant that Freemasonry made its first appearance iri
South Britain as a Eosicrucian {i.e., German) transfusion, circa 1633-46 — herein slightly

• Meaning, of course, the so-called /mtem%.

' Diary and Correspondence of Dr Worthington, Chetham Soc. PuK, vol. xiii., pp. 197, 239.
' Ibid., pp. 149, 1C3, 239, 284; Boyle's Works, 1744, vol. v., p. 347.

* Vide Chap. VIII., ante, passim,

VOL. II. Q

122 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.

anticipating the other but equally chimerical theory of a Teutonic derivation through the
Steiumetzen — unless we adopt Horace's maxim —

"Milii res, non me rebus subjungere conor,"

in a sense not uncommon in philosophy, and strive to make facts bend to theory, rather than
theory to fact.

Hence, the dispassionate reader will hardly agi-ee with Soane — whose faith in Buhle no
doubt made it easier for him to suppose, that what was probable must have happened, than to
show that what did happen was probable — " that Freemasonry sprang out of decayed Eosi-
crucianism just as the beetle is engendered from a muck heap " ^ — a phrase which, however
lively and forcible, errs equally against truth and refinement.

Extending the field of our inquiry, there can be but little doubt that Hermeticism — and
my reasons for employing this word will be presently stated — only influenced Freemasonry, if
at all, in a very remote degree ; for there does not seem even the same analogy — fanciful as it
is — as can be traced between the tenets of Fludd and those espoused by the Freemasons.
Here, however, I deprecate the hasty judgment of my friend, the Eev. A. F. A. Woodford,
whose known erudition, and the indefatigable ardour with which he dives into the most
obscure recesses of book learning, entitle his opinions to our utmost respect ; inasmuch as
any 'present opinion upon the subject under discussion, must necessarily rest on purely circum-
stancial evidence, and is liable, therefore, to be overthrown at any moment, by the production
of documentary proof bearing in any other direction.

It has been laid down by the authority I have last named, that "the importance of
Hermeticism in respect of a true History of Freemasonry is very great ; " also the opinion is
expressed, " that an Hermetic system or grade flourished synchronously with the revival of
1717," and "that Elias Ashmole may have kept up a Eose Croix Fraternity" is stated to be
" within the bounds of possibility." ^

Three points are here raised — 1. What is Hermeticism ? 2. Was Freemasonry influenced
by Elias Ashmole ? and 3. Upon what evidence rests the supposition that Hermetic grades
and Masonic degrees existed side by side in 1717 ?

These points I shall now proceed to consider, though not exactly in the order in which
they are here arranged. For convenience sake, and before summing up the final results of
our inquiry, I shall cite some evidence, which has been much relied on, by Mackey, Pike,
Woodford, and other well-known Masonic students, as proving the existence of Hermetic
sodalities certainly iu 1722, and inferentially before 1717. This occurs in the preface to a
little work called "Long Livers," published in 1722, and my object in here introducing it, is
to obviate the necessity of dealing with the general subject, as it were, piecemeal — i.e., in
fugitive passages, scattered throughout this history; it being in my judgment the sounder
course to take a comprehensive glance at the entire question of Hermeticism or Eosi-
crucianism, within, however, the limit of a single chapter. The points, therefore, which
await examination in my concluding remarks are as follows ; — 1. Hermeticism ; 2. The
evidence of " Long Livers ; " and 3. Ashmole as an Hermetic Philosopher.

' New Curiosities of Literature, vol. ii., p. 35.

= Masouic ilontlily (1S82), vol. i., pp. 139, 292; and Cf. Keuning's Cyclopaedia, pp. 302, 303.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 123