July 30. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



107 



and is the source whence modern writers have drawn 

 their information. It called into existence a host of 

 pamphlets for and against the very existence and tenets 

 of the society.] 



Histoire de la Philosophic Hermetique, accom- 

 pagnee d'un Catalogue raisonne des Ecrivains de cette 

 Science, par I'Abbo Lenglet du Fresnoy. 3 vols. 12mo. 

 Paris, 1742. 



Theomagia, or the Temple of Wisdom, containing 

 the Occult Powers of the Angels of Astromancy in 

 the Telesmatical Sculpture of the Persians and ^Egyp- 

 tians ; the knowledge of the Rosie- Crucian Physick, 

 and the Miraculous in Nature, &c., by John Heydon. 

 8vo. 1664. [The works of this enthusiast are ex- 

 tremely curious and rare. He is also the author of 

 the following.] 



The Wiseman's Crowne, or the Glory of the Rosie- 

 Crosx, &c. ; with the Regio Lucis, and Holy House- 

 hold of Rosie- Crucian Philosophers. 8vo. 1664. 



Elhavarevna, or the English Physitian's Tutor in 

 the Astrabolismes of Mettals Rosie- Crucian, Mira- 

 culous Sapphiric Medicines of the Sun and Moon, &c., 

 all Harmoniously United, and Operated by Astro- 

 mancy and Geomancy, in so Easie a Method that a 

 Fine Lady may practise and compleat Incredible, 

 Extraordinary. Telesmes (and read her Gallant's de- 

 vices without disturbing her fancy), and cure all 

 Diseases in Yong and Old, whereunto is added Pson- 

 thonphancia, &c. 8vo. 1665. 



Dictionnaire Infernal ; ou Repertoire des Etres, 

 Apparitions de la Magique, des Sciences occultes, 

 Impostures, &c., par Collin de Plancy. 8vo. Paris, 

 1844, 



To render this list more complete, a great num- 

 ber may be added, the titles of which -will be found 

 in the following essays, from which much inform- 

 ation on the subject will be gained : — 



New Curiosities of Literature. By George Soane, 

 B. A. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1849. [In vol. ii, p. 135. 

 is an able and interesting essay entitled " Rosicrucian- 

 ism and Freemasonry," in which the author, with 

 considerable success, endeavours to show that Rosi- 

 crucianism had no existence before the sixteenth 

 century, and is a mere elaboration of Paracelsian 

 doctrines : and that Freemasonry is nothing more than 

 an offspring from it, and has, consequently, no claim 

 to the antiquity of which it boasts.] 



Swift's Tale of a Tub, [In Section X. of this won- 

 derful book will be found a caustic piece of satire on 

 the futility of the Rosicrucian philosophy.] 



Butler's Hudibras. [Gray's notes to part I., 

 passim. ] 



Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions, By 

 Charles Mackay, LL. D. 2 vols. 8vo. [In the section 

 devoted to the Alchymists, is a carefully compiled 

 account of the Rosicrucians.] 



Chambers's Papers for the People, No, S3,, vol. v., 

 " Secret Societies of the Middle Ages." 



Idem, No. 66., " Alchemy and the Alchemists," 



The Guardian, No. 166, 



The Spectator, No. 574. 



Idem, No. 379, [This number contains Budgell's 

 Lege7id of the Sepulchre of Rosicrucius.'] 



The Rosicrucian : a Novel. 3 vols, 8vo, 

 Zanoni, By Sir E. L, Bulwer, 



After the slumber of a century, with new ob- 

 jects and regulations, Rosia^ucianism (so to 

 speak) was revived in the country of its birth, 



A very curious volume was published fifty years 

 ago, entitled Proofs of a Conspiracy against all 

 the Religions and Govemmevts of Europe, carried 

 on in the secret meetings of Freemasons, lUuminati, 

 and Reading Societies, by John Robinson, A.M., 

 &c., 8vo., London, 1798. This volume is chiefly 

 occupied by a history of the origin, proceedings, 

 and objects of the lUuminati, a sect which had 

 rendered important services to revolutionary in- 

 terests, and laid the foundations of European 

 propagandism. Much curious matter relative to 

 this sect will also be found in George Sand's 

 Comtesse de Rudolstadt, vol, ii, ; upon, or just 

 before, its extinction, a new political association 

 was formed at Baden and Carlsruhe, under the 

 auspices of Baron von Edelsheim, prime minister 

 of the Elector, under the title oi Die Rosenhrietzer. 

 This society was called into existence by a re- 

 actionary dread of that republicanism in politics, 

 and atheism in morals, which seemed at that time 

 to prey upon the vitals of European society. The 

 society soon spread, and had its affiliations in 

 various parts of Germany, giving such uneasiness 

 to Buonaparte, to the accomplishment of whose 

 projects it exercised an adverse influence, that he 

 despatched a secret messenger for the purpose of 

 obtaining information as to its projects and de- 

 velopments. He did everything in his power to 

 destroy the association, which, however, survived, 

 until his murder of Palm, the bookseller, for pub- 

 lishing the Geist der Zeit, seeming to call for a 

 new and modified association, led to its extinction, 

 and the creation of a new secret society, the cele- 

 brated Tungen-Bund, in its place. 



It will be seen that in the foregoing I have 

 confined myself to that part of your correspon- 

 dent's Query which relates to " the Brethren of 

 the Rosy-Cross," I have not ventured to allude 

 to the Alchymists, or the writings of Paracelsus, 

 his predecessors and followers, which form a 

 library, and demand a catalogue for their mere 

 enumeration. If Mr. E. S. Tayxob, however, is 

 desirous of farther information, and will favour 

 me with his address, I shall be happy to assist his 

 researches in Hermetic philosophy to the extent 

 of my ability. William Bates. 



Birmingham. 



The Society of Rosicrucians, or Rosecroix (whom 

 Collier calls a sect of mountebanks), first started 

 into existence in Germany in the seventeenth 

 century. They laid claim to the possession of 

 divers secrets, among which the philosopher's 

 stone was the least. They never dared to appear 

 publicly, and styled themselves The Invisible. 



