know that Thing which I may call Impossible I am sure there are in Nature powers of all sorts and answerable to all Desires and even those very powers are subject to Us Behold I will declare unto thee their Generation and their secret Descents even to this Earth It is most certain that God works by the Idea's of his own minde and the Idea's dispence their Seals and communicate them dayly to the Matter Now the Anima Mundi hath in the fixed starrs her particular Forms or Seminal Conceptions answerable to the Idea's of the Divine minde and here doth she first receive those spiritual Powers and Influences which originally proceed from God From this place they are conveyed to the Planets especially to the Sun and Moon and these two great Lights impart them to the Air and from the Air they pass down to the Belly or Matrix of the Earth in prolific spirited Winds and Waters Seeing then that the Visible Heavens receive the Brightness of the Spiritual World and this Earth the Brightness of the Visible Heavens why may not we find something on Earth which takes in this Brightness and comprehends in it self the Powers of the two superior Worlds Now if there be such a Subject to be found I suppose it will not be denyed but the Powers of the Angelical and Celestial Worlds are very strange Powers and what that is which they cannot do is hard to determine The Subject then is the Salt I have spoken of formerly it is the Body of the Universal Spirit {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} It is the Sperm of Nature which she prepares for her own Light as if we should prepare Oyl for a Lamp A strange Substance it is but very common and of some Philosophers most properly called Salina virens Mirabilis And here it will not be amiss to speak something of the Cabalists Linea viridis or green Line a Mystery not rightly apprehended even by some of the Mekkubalim but certainly the Modern Rabbins know it not at all It is the last Midah or Propriety of the Sephiroths for it receives and includes all the Influences of the Sphirstical Order It compasseth the Heavens and in them the Earth like a green Rain-bow or one vast Sphere of Viridity and from this Viridity the divine Influences are showr'd down like Rain through the Aether into the Globes of the fixed Stars for what the Air is to the Globe of the Earth such is the Aether to the Globes of the Stars and here lies a Secret of the Mekkubalim for they tell us there is a double Venus in duplici Aere But of this enough I will now speak of the Philosophers Secret and blessed Viridity which is to be seen and felt here below It is the Proteus of the old Poets for if the Spirit of this green Gold be at Liberty which will not be till the Body is bound then will he discover all the Essences of the Universal Center Tum variae illudent species atque ora Ferarum Fiet enim subito sus horridus atraque Tigris Squamosusque Draco falvâ cervice Leaena Aut acrem flammis sonitum dabit atque ita Vinclis Excidet aut in Aquas tenues dilapsus abibit Omnia transformat sese in miracula Rerum Ignemque Horribilemque ferā Fluviumque liquentē But this is Poetry let us now hear the same Scene described by a most excellent and withall a severe Professor of Philosophy Ubi vero spiritus saith he excessit è fragilibus per quos sparsus erat meatibus estque ab omni prorsum Colluvie purgatus in infinitas sese attollit formas modo in Herbam modo in Lapidem aut in Insolitum quoddam Animal Interdum in Aequor aut Unionem aut Gemmam aut Metallum dulceque rubentibus jam Flammis emicans in multas statim colorum Myriadas transit vivitque portentorum semper Effector ac Magus isto nequaquam fatiscens labore sed vigore ac viribus indies adoloscens Thus he And now Reader I must tell thee that all these Miracles grow out of a certain Earth a soft red Clay which is to be found every where It may be thou art much troubled at these Appearances which I have mentioned but what wilt thou say to Jamblichus who tells us seriously that this Earth will attract Angels I mean good Spirits for so did he But let us hear this Auditor of Anebo for thus he writes from Aegypt to Porphyrius Omnium prima saith he Antiquissima Entia in Ultimis quoque subrutilant Immaterialiaque principia materialibus adsunt Nemo itaque miretur si quam materiam esse dicimus puram atque Divinam Nam ipsa quoque materia quum ab Opifice Patreque Omnium facta sit merito perfectionem sui quandam acquisivit aptam ad Deos suscipiendos Quinetiam quum nihil prohibet superiora Lumen suum ad Inferiora diffundere neque igitur materiam permittunt expertem fore Superiorum Quapropter quantumcunque materiae perfectum purum est atque deiforme ad Deorum susceptionem non est ineptum Nam quum oportuerit etiam Terrena nullo modo Divinae Communionis expertia fore ipsa quoque TERRA divinam quandam portionem suscepit ad capiendos Deos sufficientem Non ergo fas est omnem Materiam detestari sed solam quae Diis fuerit aliena Propriam vero ad illos decet eligere utpote quae consentire possit Neque enim aliter Terrenis locis hominibus hic habitantibus possessio portiove ulla ex Divinis contingere potest nisi TALE quiddam prius factum fuerit FUNDAMENTUM Arcanis itaque Sermonibus credendum est Testantibus a DEIS per Beata Spectacula Traidtam fuisse MATERIAM QUANDAM Haec ergo illis ipsis Tradentibus cognata est Talis ergo Materia Deos excitat ut se demonstrent c. These are the words of Jamblichus in that profound Discourse of his where he gives Porphyrius an Accompt of the Aegyptian Caldean and Assyrian Mysteries I know the Philosophical Earth discovers not those Forms I have spoken of in the common ordinary Process which if any man knows I shall not therefore call him a Philosopher There are several ways to use this Mystery both first and last and some of them may be communicated but some not To conclude I say that this clarified Earth is the Stage of all Forms for here they are manifested like Images in a Glass and when the Time of their Manifestation is finished they retreat into that Center out of which at first they came Hence came all Vegetables all Minerals and all the Animals in the World even Man himself with all his Tumult and Principality This Soft Clay is the Mother of them all and what the Divine Virgil sometimes said of Italy may be very properly applyed to this our Saturnine and Soveraign Earth Haec dedit Argenti Rivos Aerisque Metalla
Ciprus and so never came to Jerusalem yet our Brother C. R. did not return but shipped himself over and went to Damasco minding from thence to go to Jerusalem but by reason of the feebleness of his body he remained still there and by his skill in Physick he obtained much favour with the Turks In the mean time he became by chance acquainted with the Wise men of Damasco in Arabia and beheld what great Wonders they wrought and how Nature was discovered unto them hereby was that high and noble Spirit of Brother C. R. so stired up that Jerusalem was not so much now in his mind as Damasco also he could not bridle his desires any longer but made a bargain with the Arabians that they should carry him for a certain sum of money to Damasco he was but of the age of sixteen years when he came thither yet of a strong Dutch constitution there the Wise received him as he himself witnesseth not as a stranger but as one whom they had long expected they called him by his name and shewed him other secrets out of his Cloyster whereat he could not but mightily wonder He learned there better the Arabian Tongue so that the year following he translated the Book M. into good Latin which he afterwards brought with him This is the place where he did learn his Physick and his Mathematicks whereof the World hath just cause to rejoyce if there were more Love and less Envy After three years he returned again with good consent shipped himself over Sinus Arabicus into Egypt where he remained not long but only took better notice there of the Plants and Creatures he sailed over the whole Mediterranean Sea for to come unto Fez where the Arabians had directed him And it is a great shame unto us that wise men so far remote th'one from th' other should not only be of one opinion hating all contentious Writings but also be so willing and ready under the seal of secrecy to impart their secrets to others Every year the Arabians and Affricans do send one to another inquiring one of another out of their Arts if happily they had found out some better things or if Experience had weakened their Reasons Yearly there came something to light whereby the Mathematica Physic and Magic for in those are they of Fez most skilful were amended as there is now adays in Germany no want of learned Men Magicians Cabalists Physicians and Philosophers were there but more love and kindness among them or that the most part of them would not keep their secrets close only to themselves At Fez he did get acquaintance with those which are commonly called the Elementary Inhabitants who revealed unto him many of their secrets As we Germans likewise might gather together many things if there were the like unity and desire of searching out of secrets amongst us Of these of Fez he often did confess that their Magia was not altogether pure and also that their Cabala was defiled with their Religion but notwithstanding he knew how to make good use of the same and found still more better grounds of his Faith altogether agreeable with the Harmony of the whole World and wonderfully impressed in all Periods of times and thence proceedeth that fair Concord that as in every several kernel is contained a whole good tree or fruit so likewise is included in the little body of Man the whole great World whose Religion policy health members nature language words and works are agreeing sympathizing and in equal tune and melody with God Heaven and Earth and that which is dis-agreeing with them is error falshood and of the Devil who alone is the first middle and last cause of strife blindness and darkness in the World Also might one examine all and several persons upon the Earth he should find that which is good and right is always agreeing with it self but all the rest is spotted with a thousand erroneous conceits After two years Brother C. R. departed the City Fez and sailed with many costly things into Spain hoping well he himself had so well and so profitably spent his time in his travel that the learned in Europe would highly rejoyce with him and begin to rule and order all their Studies according to those sound and sure Foundations He therefore conferred with the Learned in Spain shewing unto them the Errors of our Arts and how they might be corrected and from whence they should gather the true Inditia of the Times to come and wherein they ought to agree with those things that are past also how the faults of the Church and the whole Philosopia Moralis was to be amended He shewed them new Growths new Fruits and Beasts which did concord with old Philosophy and prescribed them new Axiomata whereby all things might fully be restored But it was to them a laughing matter and being a new thing unto them they feared that their great Name should be lessened if they should now again begin to learn and acknowledg their many years Errors to which they were accustomed and wherewith they had gained them enough Who so loveth unquietness let him be reformed The same Song was also sang to him by other Nations the which moved him the more because it happened to him contrary to his expectation being then ready bountifully to impart all his Arts and Secrets to the Learned if they would have but undertaken to write the true and infallible Axiomata out of all Faculties Sciences and Arts and whole Nature as that which he knew would direct them like a Globe or Circle to the onely middle Point and Centrum and as it is usual among the Arabians it should onely serve to the wise and learned for a Rule that also there might be a Society in Europe which might have Gold Silver and precious Stones sufficient for to bestow them on Kings for their necessary uses and lawful purposes with which such as be Governors might be brought up for to learn all that which God hath suffered Man to know and thereby to be enabled in all times of need to give their counsel unto those that seek it like the Heathen Oracles Verily we must confess that the world in those days was already big with those great Commotions laboring to be delivered of them and did bring forth painful worthy men who brake with all force through Darkness and Barbarism and left us who succeeded to follow them and assuredly they have been the uppermost point in Trygono igneo whose flame now should be more and more brighter and shall undoubtedly give to the World the last Light Such a one likewise hath Theophrast us been in Vocation and Callings although he was none of our Fraternity yet nevertheless hath he diligently read over the Book M whereby his sharp ingenium was exalted but this man was also hindered in his course by the multitude of the learned and wise-seeming men that he was never able peaceably to confer with others of
hath happened where we might rehearse what alterations he hath seen in the World these one hundred six years of his life which he hath left to our Brethren and us after his decease to peruse But brevity which we do observe will not permit at this present to make rehearsal of it till a more fit time At this time it is enough for these which do not despise our Declaration having therefore briefly touched it thereby to prepare the way for their acquaintance and friendship with us Yea to whom it is permitted that he may see and for his instruction use those great Letters and Characters which the Lord God hath written and imprinted in Heaven and Earths Edifice through the alteration of Government which hath been from time to time altered and renewed the same is already although as yet unknown to himself ours And as we know he will not despise our inviting and calling so none shall fear any deceit for we promise and openly say That no mans uprightness and hopes shall deceive him whosoever shall make himself known unto us under the Seal of Secrecy and desire our Fraternity But to the false Hypocrites and to those that seek other things then Wisdom we say and witness by these presents publikely we cannot be made known and be betrayed unto them and much less they shall be able to hurt us any manner of way without the Will of God but they shall certainly be partakers of all the punishment spoken of in our Fama so their wicked Counsels shall light upon themselves and our Treasures shall remain untouched and unstirred until the Lion doth come who will ask them for his use and imploy them for the confirmation and establishment of his Kingdom We ought therefore here to observe well and make it known unto every one that God hath certainly and most assuredly concluded to send and grant to the World before her end which presently thereupon shall ensue such a Truth Light Life and Glory as the first man Adam had which he lost in Paradise after the which his successors were put and driven with him to misery Wherefore there shall cease all servitude falshood lyes and darkness which by little and little with the great Worlds Revolution was crept into all Arts Works and Governments of Men and have darkened the most part of them For from thence are proceeded an innumerable sort of all manner of false Opinions and Heresies that scarce the wisest of all was able to know whose Doctrine and Opinion he should follow and embrace and could not well and easily be discerned seeing on the one part they were detained hindered and brought into Errors through the respect of the Philosophers and learned men and on the other part through true experience All the which when it shall once be abolished and removed and in stead thereof a right and true Rule instituted then there will remain thanks unto them which have taken pains therein but the Work it self shall be attributed to the Blessedness of our Age As we now willingly confess that many principal men by their Writings will be a great furtherance unto this Reformation which is to come so we desire not to have this honour ascribed to us as if such Work were only commanded and imposed upon us but we confess and witness openly with the Lord Jesus Christ that it shall first happen that the stones shall arise and offer their service before there shall be any want of Executors and Accomplishers of Gods Counsel yea the Lord God hath already sent before certain Messengers which should testifie his Will to wit some new Stars which do appear and are seen in the Firmament in Serpentario and Cygno which signifie and give themselves known to every one that they are powerful Signacula of great weighty matters So then the secret hid Writings and Characters are most necessary for all such things which are found out by Men Although that great Book of Nature stand open to all Men yet there are but few that can read and understand the same For as there is given to Man two instruments to hear likewise two to see and two to smell but only one to speak and it were but vain to expect speech from the ears or hearing from the eyes So there hath been Ages or Times which have seen there have also been Ages that have heard smelt and tasted now there remains yet that which in short time honour shall be likewise given to the Tongue and by the same what before times hath been seen heard and smelt now finally shall be spoken and uttered forth viz. when the World shall awake out of her heavy and drowsie sleep and with an open heart bare-head and bare-foot shall merrily and joyfully meet the now arising Sun These Characters and Letters as God hath here and there incorporated them in the holy Scripture the Bible so hath he imprinted them most apparently into the wonderful Creation of Heaven and Earth yea in all Beasts So that like as the Mathematician or Astronomer can long before see and know the Eclipses which are to come so we may verily fore-know and fore-see the darkness of Obscurations of the Church and how long they shall last From the which Characters or Letters we have borrowed our Magick writing and have found out and made a new Language for our selves in the which withall is expressed and declared the Nature of all Things So that it is no wonder that we are not so eloquent in other Languages the which we know that they are altogether disagreeing to the Languages of our forefathers Adam and Enoch and were through the Babylonical Confusion wholly hidden But we must also let you understand that there are yet some Eagles Feathers in our way the which do hinder our purpose Wherefore we do admonish every one for to read diligently and continually the holy Bible for he that taketh all his pleasures therein he shall know that he prepared for himself an excellent way to come in to our Fraternity For as this is the whole sum and content of our Rule That every Letter or Character which is in the World ought to be learned and regarded well so those are like unto us and are very near allyed unto us who do make the holy Bible a Rule of their life and an aim and end of all their studies yea to let it be a Compendium and Content of the whole World And not only to have it continually in the mouth but to know how to apply and direct the true understanding of it to all times and Ages of the World Also it is not our Custom to prostitute and make so common the holy Scriptures for there are innumerable Expounders of the same some alledging and wresting it to serve for their Opinion some to scandal it and most wickedly do liken it to a Nose of Wax which alike should serve the Divines Philosophers Physicians and Mathematicians against all the which we do openly
THE FAME AND CONFESSION OF THE FRATERNITY OF R C Commonly of the Rosie Cross WITH A Praeface annexed thereto and a short Declaration of their Physicall Work By EUGENIUS PHILALETHES Jarch apud Philostrat {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Veritas in Profundo London Printed by J. M. for Giles Calvert at the black spread Eagle at the West end of Pauls 1652. THE Publisher to the Reader IT is the Observation of such as skill Dreams That to travel in our sleep a long way and all alone is a sign of Death This it seems the Poet knew for when the Queen of Carthage was to dye for Love he fits her with this Melancholy Vision Longam Incomitata videtur Ire Viam Now the use I make of it is this I would be so wise as to prognosticate I do therefore promise my present Work not only Life but Acceptance for in this my Dream and I know you will call it so I travel not without Company There were some Gentlemen besides my self who affected this Fame and thought it no Disparagement to their own but it was their pleasure it should receive light at my hands and this made them defer their own Copies which otherwise had past the Press I have Reader but little more to say unless I tell thee of my Justice and now thou shalt see how distributive it is The Translation of the Fama belongs to an unknown hand but the Abilities of the Translator I question not He hath indeed mistaken Damascus for Damcar in Arabia and this I would not alter for I am no Pedant to correct another mans Labours The Copy was communicated to me by a Gentleman more learned then my self and I should name him here but that he expects not either thy thanks or mine As for the Preface it is my own and I wish thee the full Benefit of it which certainly thou canst not miss if thou com'st to it with clear eyes and a purged spirit Consider that Prejudice obstructs thy Judgment for if thy Affections are engag'd though to an Ignis fatuus thou dost think it a Guide because thou dost follow it It is not Opinion makes Things False or True for men have deny'd a great part of the World which now they inhabit and America as well as the Philosophers Stone was sometimes in the Predicament of Impossibilities There is nothing more absurd then to be of the same mind with the Generality of Men for they have entertain'd many gross Errors which Time and Experience have confuted It is indeed our Sluggishness and Incredulity that hinder all Discoveries for men contribute nothing towards them but their Contempt or which is worst their Malice I have known all this my self and therefore I tell it thee but what use thou wilt make of it I know not To make thee what Man should be is not in my power but it is much in thy own if thou know'st thy Duty to thy self Think of it and Farewell E. P. TO THE Wise and Understanding READER WIsdom saith Solomon is to a man an infinite Treasure for she is the Breath of the Power of God and a pure Influence that floweth from the Glory of the Almighty she is the Brightness of Eternal Light and an undefiled Mirror of the Majesty of God and an Image of his Goodness she teacheth us Soberness and Prudence Righteousness and Strength she understands the Subtilty of words and Solution of dark sentences she foreknoweth Signs and Wonders and what shall happen in time to come with this Treasure was our first Father Adam fully endued Hence it doth appear that after God had brought before him all the Creatures of the Field and the Fowls under Heaven he gave to every one of them their proper names according to their nature Although now through the sorrowful fall into sin this excellent Jewel Wisdom hath been lost and meer Darkness and Ignorance is come into the World yet notwithstanding hath the Lord God sometimes hitherto bestowed and made manifest the same to some of his Friends For the wise King Solomon doth testifie of himself that he upon earnest prayer and desire did get and obtain such Wisdom of God that thereby he knew how the World was created thereby he understood the Nature of the Elements also the time beginning middle and end the increase and decrease the change of times through the whole Year the Revolution of the Year and Ordinance of the Stars he understood also the properties of tame and wilde Beasts the cause of the raigning of the Winds and minds and intents of men all sorts and natures of Plants vertues of Roots and others was not unknown to him Now I do not think that there can be found any one who would not wish and desire with all his heart to be Partaker of this noble Treasure but seeing the same Felicity can happen to none except God himself give Wisdom and send his holy Spirit from above we have therefore set forth in print this little Treatise to wit Famam Confessionem of the Laudable Fraternity of the Rosie Cross to be read by every one because in them is clearly shewn and discovered what concerning it the World hath to expect Although these things may seem somewhat strange and many may esteem it to be but a Philsophical shew and no true History which is published and spoken of the Fraternity of the Rosie Cross it shall here sufficiently appear by our Confession that there is more in recessu then may be imagined and it shall be easily understood and observed by every one if he be not altogether voyd of understanding what now adays and at these times is meant thereby Those who are true Disciples of Wisdom and true Followers of the Spherical Art will consider better of these things and have them in greater estimation as also judg far otherwise of them as hath been done by some principal Persons but especially of Adam Haselmeyer Notarius Publicus to the Arch Duke Maximilian who likewise hath made an Extract ex scriptis Theologicis Theophrasti and written a Treatise under the Title of Jesuiter wherein he willeth that every Christian should be a true Jesuit that is to walk live be and remain in Jesus He was but ill rewarded of the Jesuits because in his Answer written upon the Famam he did name those of the Fraternity of the Rosie Cross The highly illuminated men and undeceiving Jesuits for they not able to brook this layd hands on him and put him into the Calleis for which they likewise have to expect their reward Blessed Aurora will now henceforth begin to appear who after the passing away of the dark Night of Saturn with her Brightness altogether extinguisheth the shining of the Moon or the small Sparks of Heavenly Wisdom which yet remaineth with men and is a Forerunner of pleasant Phebus who with his clear and fiery glistering Beams brings forth that blessed Day long wished for of many
distinguish'd not the Greeks and the Sages but the rest of the world they discriminated with a certain Sheep-mark of their own and branded them with the name of Barbarians How much an Aspersion this is we shall quickly understand if we attend the Prince in his Discourse for thus he instructs Apollonius Amongst us Indians saith he there are but few admitted to Philosophy and this is the manner of their Election At the Age of eighteen years the person to be elected comes to the River Hyphasis and there meets with those Wise men for whose sake even you also Apollonius are come into these parts There he doth publiquely profess a very ardent desire and affection to Philosophy for such as are otherwise disposed are left to their own Liberty to follow what Profession they please This done the next consideration is whether he be descended of honest parents or no and here they look back even to three Generations that by the Disposition and Qualities of the Ancestors they may guess at those of the Child If they find them to have been men of a known Integrity then they proceed to his Admission but first they try him and prove him with several Tentations For example Whether he be naturally modest or rather acts a counterfeit Bashfulness for a time being otherwise impudent and lascivious Whether he be sottish and gluttonous or no Whether he be of an insolent bold spirit and may prove Refractory and disobedient to his Tutors Now those that are appointed to examine him have the skill to read his Qualities in his countenance for the Eyes discover most of mens Manners and in the Brows and Cheeks there are many excellent Indicia whereby Wise men and such as are skill'd in the Mysteries of Nature may discover our minds and dispositions as Images are discovered in a glass And certainly since Philosophy amongst the Indians is had in very great Honor it is necessary that those who would know the secrets of it should be tempted and proved by all possible Tryals before ever they be admitted This was then the Discipline of the Brachmans and indeed of all the Magi in the Election and Proof of their Pupils But all this was News to Apollonius and therefore he asks Phraotes if these Wise-men mentioned in his Discourse were of the same order with those who did sometimes meet Alexander the Great and had some Conference with him {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} concerning Heaven for it seems they were Astrologers To this the Prince answers that these Planet-mongers were the {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} who were a people disposed to the Wars {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} And for Knowledg saith he they make a great Profession of it but indeed they know nothing that is Excellent But he proceeds {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} c. Those Wise-men saith he who are truly such dwell between the River Hyphasis and Ganges into which place Alexander never came not that he durst not attempt it {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} but as I think saith the Prince the Reverence due to their Mysteries kept him off To this he adds that Alexander knew the River Hyphasis was passable and that he might with ease beleagure the City wherein these Magi did dwell {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} but their Tower saith he had he brought with him a thousand such Souldiers as Achilles was and three thousand such as Ajax he could never have taken it To this he gives his Reason namely that the Magi did not make any sallies to beat off their Enemies but keeping quietly within their gates they destroyed them with Thunder and Lightening Here was a story might have startled Apollonius who knew not the power of Gun-powder but in these our days there is nothing more familiar and credible But notwithstanding the Improvements of this fatal Invention are not known even to the present Generations for the Pyrography of Cornelius Agrippa and the Powder of Friar Bacon were never yet brought to the Field And now let us hear the Friar himself who discoursing of several wonderful Experiments tells us amongst the rest of a secret Composition which being form'd into Pills or little Balls and then cast up into the Air would break out into Thunders and Lightenings more violent and horrible then those of Nature Praeter vero haec saith he sunt alia stupenda Naturae nam Soni velut Tonitrûs Coruscationes possunt fieri in Aere imo majori horrore quam illa quae fiunt per Naturam Nam modica materia adaptata scilicet ad quantitatem unius pollicis sonum facit Horribilem Coruscationem ostendit vehementem et hoc fit multis modis quibus Civitas aut Exercitus destruatur Mira sunt haec si quis sciret uti ad plenum in debitâ quantitate materiâ Thus he But let us return to Apollonius for now he trots like a Novice to the River Hyphasis and carries with him a Commendatory Letter to the Brachmans having requested the Prince to tell them he was a good Boy Here these admirable Eastern Magicians present him with such Rarities as in very truth he was not capable of First of all they shew him as Philostratus describes it a certain Azure or Sky-colour'd Water and this Tincture was extreamly predominant in it but with much Light and Brightness This strange Liquor the Sun shining on it at Noon attracted the Beams or Splendor to it self and did sink downwards as if coagulated with the Heat but reflected to the Eyes of the Beholders a most beautiful Rain-bow Here we have a perfect Description of the Philosophers Mercury but there is somthing more behind Apollonius confesseth how the Brachmans told him afterwards that this Water was {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a certain secret Water and that there was hid under it or within it {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a Blood-red Earth In a word they told him that none might drink or taste of that Liquor neither was it drawn at all for any ordinary uses After this most mysterious Water they shew him also a certain mysterious Fire and here for my part I do not intend to comment From this Fire he is brought to certain Tubs or some such Vessels whereof the one was called the Vessel of Rain and the other the Vessel of Winds all which are most deep and excellent Allegories But these Rarities imply no more then the Rudiments of Magic Let us now come to the Medecine it self and the admirable Effects thereof The Brachmans saith Apollonius anointed their Heads {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} with a gummy Medicine and this made their Bodies to steam at the pores and sweat in that abundance as if saith he they had purged themselves with Fire This is enough to prove them Philosophers And now let us see what kind of Habitation they had and how much
his Knowledg and Understanding he had of Nature And therefore in his writing he rather mocked these busie bodies and doth not shew them altogether what he was yet nevertheless there is found with him well grounded the aforenamed Harmonia which without doubt he had imparted to the Learned if he had not found them rather worthy of subtil vexation then to be instructed in greater Arts and Sciences he then with a free and careless life lost his time and left unto the World their foolish pleasures But that we do not forget our loving Father Brother C. R. he after many painful Travels and his fruitless true Instructions returned again into Germany the which he by reason of the alterations which were shortly to come and of the strange and dangerous contentions heartily loved There although he could have bragged with his Art but specially of the transmutations of Metals yet did he esteem more Heaven and the Citizens thereof Man then all vain glory and pomp Nevertheless he builded a fitting and neat habitation in the which he ruminaated his Voyage and Philosophy and reduced them together in a true Memorial In this house he spent a great time in the Mathematicks and made many fine Instruments ex omnibus hujus art is partibus whereof there is but little remaining to us as hereafter you shall understand After five years came again into his mind the wished for Reformation and in regard he doubted of the ayd and help of others although he himself was painful lusty and unwearisom he undertook with some few adjoyned with him to attempt the same wherefore he desired to that end to have out of his first Cloyster to the which he bare a great affection three of his Brethren Brother G. V. Brother J. A. and Brother J. O. who besides that they had some more knowledg in the Arts then at that time many others had he did binde those three unto himself to be faithful diligent and secret as also to commit carefully to writing all that which he should direct and instruct them in to the end that those which were to come and through especial Revelation should be received into this Fraternity might not be deceived of the least sillable and word After this manner began the Fraternity of the Rosie Cross first by four persons onely and by them was made the Magical Language and writing with a large Dictionary which we yet dayly use to Gods praise and glory and do finde great wisdom therein they made also the first part of the Book M but in respect that that labor was too heavy and the unspeakable concourse of the sick hindred them and also whilst his new building called Sancti spiritus was now finished they concluded to draw and receive yet others more into their Fraternity to this end was chosen brother R. C. his deceased fathers brothers son brother B. a skilful Painter G. and P. D. their Secretary all Germains except J. A. so in all they were eight in number all batchelors and of vowed virginity by those was collected a book or volumn of all that which man can desire wish or hope for Although we do now freely confess that the World is much amended within an hundred years yet we are assured that our Axiomata shall unmovably remain unto the Worlds End and also the world in her highest last Age shall not attain to see any thing else for our Rota takes her beginning from that day when God spake Fiat and shall end when he shall speak Pereat yet Gods Clock striketh every minute where ours scarce striketh perfect hours We also stedfastly beleeve that if our Brethren and Fathers had lived in this our present and clear light they would more roughly have handled the Pope Mahomet Scribes Artists and Sophisters and had shewed themselves more helpful not simply with sighs and wishing of their end and consummation When now these eight Brethren had disposed and ordered all things in such manner as there was not now need of any great labour and also that every one was sufficiently instructed and able perfectly to discourse of secret and manifest Philosophy they would not remain any longer together but as in the beginning they had agreed they separated themselves into several Countries because that not only their Axiomata might in secret be more profoundly examined by the learned but that they themselves if in some Country or other they observed any thing or perceived some Error they might inform one another of it Their Agreement was this First That none of them should profess any other thing then to cure the sick and that gratis 2. None of the Posterity should be constrained to wear one certain kind of habit but therein to follow the custom of the Country 3. That every year upon the day C. they should meet together at the house S. Spiritus or write the cause of his absence 4. Every Brother should look about for a worthy person who after his discease might succeed him 5. The word C. R. should be their Seal Mark and Character 6. The Fraternity should remain secret one hundred years These six Articles they bound themselves one to another to keep and five of the Brethren departed only the Brethren B. and D. remained with the Father Fra R. C. a whole year when these likewise departed then remained by him his Cousen and Brother J. O. so that he hath all the days of his life with him two of his Brethren And although that as yet the Church was not cleansed nevertheless we know that they did think of her and what with longing desire they looked for Every year they assembled together with joy and made a full resolution of that which they had done there must certainly have been great pleasure to hear truly and without invention related and rehearsed all the Wonders which God hath poured out here and there through the World Every one may hold it out for certain that such persons as were sent and joyned together by God and the Heavens and chosen out of the wisest of men as have lived in many Ages did live together above all others in highest Unity greatest Secrecy and most kindness one towards another After such a most laudable sort they did spend their lives and although they were free from all diseases and pain yet notwithstanding they could not live and pass their time appointed of God The first of this Fraternity which dyed and that in England was J. O. as Brother C. long before had foretold him he was very expert and well learned in Cabala as his Book called H. witnesseth In England he is much spoken of and chiefly because he cured a young Earl of Norfolk of the Leprosie They had concluded that as much as possibly could be their burial place should be kept secret as at this day it is not known unto us what is become of some of them yet every ones place was supplyed with a fit successor but this we