810 



BOBETTA 



ROSICKUCIANS 



tli.- death <>f Kit-hard HI. on Bosworth field (1485), 

 his linn rinm- ith Elizabeth.daughter of Edward I V. 

 (1486), ami tin- blending of tin- red mid white rose 

 in the Tudor Uidge, marked the termination of the 

 Ware of the Hoses, although the reign of Henr\ . 

 whose own title was not BOM, was from time to lime 

 disturbed by the pretensions of Yorkist impostors. 



See Sir J. H. tUinsay, Lanauttr and Yuri 

 turv <>f Knylah Hitturu < _' rob. 18U2) : Wylie, /;;,/<"' 

 inuler Henry IV. (4 v "1 the articles on 



IV.-VI.. KDWAKU IV., Ao. 



Rosetta, town of the Nile delta, on tin- nlil 

 Holhiiic arm, !l miles hum tin- Mediterranean and 

 44 miles hy rail XK. of Alexandria, which out- 

 stripped it. In the time of the Crusades it was 

 a place of great strength ; and St Louis made it the 

 l>a.sU of his crusading operations. Sultan Beybers, 

 after that ( in 1251 ) founded the present city farther 

 inland. The Arabs call it Jiascnid, Mieving that 

 ll.iioiin al-Kaschid founded the old city. Pop. 

 (1882) 16,666. A few miles to the north of the 

 town won discovered the Kosetta Stone, which 

 gave the first clue to the interpretation of the 

 Hieroglyphics (q.v.). At Rosetta too are barrage 

 works for holding up the Nile water until it can be 

 directed into the irrigation channels. These works, 

 originally constructed by Mougel Hey (1843-61), 

 were almost entirely rebuilt by Sir C. Scott Mon- 

 crieff in 1886-90. The barrage is 508 yards long, 

 and has 61 arches. 



Rose-water. See PERFUMERY. 



Rose-window, a circular window with tracery, 

 such as is shown in our illustrations to the articles 

 Amiens and Paris. 



Rosewood. The most valuable rosewood 

 comes from Brazil. Two kinds, or t wo qualities, are 

 known in commerce. These much resemble each 

 other, the one, which is usually rather the better 

 figured of the two, coming from Kio de Janeiro, 

 and the other from llahia. Although Brazilian 

 rosewood has been used for making furniture in 

 Europe for more than two hundred years, the 

 species of tree or of trees which yield it are not 

 known to European botanists. Mr Itentham, judg- 

 ing by the appearance of the wood and of the 

 leaves of the tree, or of one of those rosewood trees, 

 hits assigned it to the genus Dalliergia. This view 

 is probably correct. At all events there are three 

 well-known Indian species of this genus called 

 respectively D. latifolta, D. sixsoo, anil D. niltrntn, 

 all of which, except that they want the dark 

 blotchy veining, closely resemble the Ura/.ilian 

 rosewoods. The cellular structure of the wood is 

 similar in the whole of them. They are all rich in 

 resinous colouring matter, and all except /'. Ittti- 

 folia, which is slightly lighter, have a specific 

 gravity ranging In-tween "900 and 1-000, so that 

 they just float in water. Since at least 1830 

 the D. latifolia has been known in England as 

 Indian rosewood. The South American and Indian 

 kin Is mimed .iliove are all hard and durable, and 

 take a fine polish. They are in every way excellent 

 furniture wood.-, the Itra/.ilian kinds being only 

 more valuable )>ecause they are more beautifully 

 figured. The Indian rosewood is often elaborately 

 carved by native workmen, and for this purpose it 

 is well suited. Of lute yearn miii-li of the furniture, 

 even of a superior kind, made of mahogany in 

 I Meat Kiitain. ha-s been stained of a rose-wood 

 colour. An inferior kind of rosewood is brought 

 from Honduras. The name is said to have lieen 

 given because of a striking rose like odour that the 

 wood gives out when freshly cut. 



Rosherville Gardens, ' the place to spend a 

 happy day,' were formed near (iravescnd by Mi 

 Roslier, the original proprietor, in worked-ont 

 chalk quarries. Music, a theatre, a zoological 



collection, as well as the pleasant ueighl>ourhood, 

 attract visitors. 



RosirriK-ian*. The mystery which has snr- 



rounilfd till.- blullielhood of Helluctic philosophers 



has afforded a wide field to romanlie liction, and 

 him much exaggerated their own pretensions. A 

 (ieinian pamphlet, t'niini fmt. i -nitnlix of the 

 Miriin:i"ii.i Order of the Rosy I'm**. paUiuMd at 

 Cassel in 1614, a<lvertised for the lirsl lime the 

 existence of such an association, which then claimed 

 an anti<|tiity of over 120 years. From MbMqMBt 

 jiiiblii-ations it IB inferred that the fraternity 

 was established, on its own showing, by Christian 

 Kosencreutz in 1459. On this point there is no 

 evidence outside Kosicrucian manifestoes, and all 

 that concerns the founder is of fabulous or allegori- 

 cal character. If the society existed JL-S a corp.i 

 liody when the Fama Fratcniitnf, .< appeare<l. that 

 date may be accepted as marking at least the 

 beginning of its public history. The other docu- 

 ments which claim to have been issued by the 

 Kosicrucians are Confessio Frattrmtatit !!.<'., 

 addressed to the Learned of Europe (Cassel, 1615) ; 

 I'ii ii in inil Mnrriage of Christian JZOMMTMti 

 (Stiasburg, 1616); Perfect and True I'n iMinitmn 

 of the Philosophical Stone, according to the Secret 

 of the Brotherhoods of the Golden and Rosy Cross 

 (Breslau, 1710; contains the unabridged laws of the 

 order); and Secret Symbols of tit,- ] t ':ixirrurinnx "f 

 the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Altona, 

 1785-88). Whether the later publications emanaird 

 from the original society it is not jMwsible to say, 

 but it has been supposed that associations in imi- 

 tation of the fraternity, bearing its name and 

 emblems, were formed soon after the appearance 

 of the first manifestoes. By these documents the 

 Uosieruciaiis are represented as adepts in Hermetic. 

 mysteries, including metallic transmutation, power 

 over elemental spirits, and knowledge of magical 

 signatures the signiituni rerinn of Paracelsus. 

 They aimed at a general reform in arts and sciences, 

 especially alchemy and medicine, and posed chiefly 

 as professors of the healing art. They invited all 

 students of nature to join them ; but, as they gave 

 no clue to their wherealmuts, the manifestoes were 

 I iy snme regarded as a laborious hoax, an opinion 

 which does not seem justified by a review of the 

 entire evidence. An immense controversy took 

 place at the time in Germany, whose literary 

 centres became a battle-ground for rival pain 

 phleteers on the merits of Kosicrucian pretensions. 

 The foremost defenders of the order were Michael 

 Maierin (iermany, Koliert Fludd, Thomas Vaiighon, 

 and afterwards John Heydon, in England. Among 

 its adverse critics were Andrew l.ihavins, who 

 afterwards changed his standpoint, and Johann 

 Valentin Andrea (q.v.). The authorship of the 

 original manifestoes lias, at the same time, been 

 generally attributed to Andreii, and he certainly 

 wrote the Chymical Marriage of Christian Hoxen- 

 creut:. The question of the authorship oilers a 

 curious lield for investigation, and has exercised 

 the controversial skill of many ingenious critics; 

 but no satisfactory solution has ever been reached. 

 Ki.-i. im ians llourishcd in France during the period 

 of the Involution: there was a lodge in Mauritius 

 alxmt 1794 ; and there are traces of such a frater- 

 nity at the iM-ginning of the 19tb century 1-otK 

 in England and Cermaiiy. A Xocietax Rosicruciutm 

 nlhii wax formed as an offshoot of masonry by 

 Kolier't \Vent worth Little about 1857, which is to 

 )>< distinguished from the original order, and from 

 the Rose-cross degree in freemasonry. The lai 

 notwithstanding its name and symliolism, disclaims 

 all connection with the objects and history of the 

 alchemical brotherhood. 



Among works to be consulted on the nubject of the 

 Kotioruciau mystery a first place should bu given to 



