Chapter 4

For MYSTIC LEARNING wondrous able, In magic _Talisman_ and _Cabal_, Whose primitive tradition reaches As far as ADAM'S first green breeches; Deep-sighted in INTELLIGENCES, IDEAS, ATOMS, INFLUENCES; And much of TERRA-INCOGNITA, Th' intelligible world could say; A deep OCCULT PHILOSOPHER, As learned as the wild Irish are, Or SIR AGRIPPA; for profound And solid lying much renowned. He ANTHROPOSOPHUS and FLUDD, And JACOB BEHMEN understood; Knew many an amulet and charm, That would do neither good nor harm; In ROSY-CRUCIAN lore as learned As he that _vere adeptus_ earned." _Hudibras_, Part i. Canto 1.

These lines enumerate, in a scarcely satirical form, the objects and results of a study of _Rosicrucianism_, in so far as it differs from that of alchemy and the occult sciences. The history of the _Rosicrucians_,--or rather the inquiry as to whether actually existed at any time such a college or brotherhood, and, if so, to what degree of antiquity can it lay claim,--forms another and, perhaps, somewhat more profitable subject of attention. This question, however, having been fully discussed elsewhere, I will conclude by a _catalogue raisonne_ of such books and essays (the most important of which are readily obtainable) as will enable your correspondent to acquire for himself the information he seeks.

Allgemeine und General Reformation der ganzen weiten Welt, beneben der Fama Fraternitatis, oder Enstehung der Bruederschaft des loeblichen Ordens des _Rosenkreutzes_, &c. 8vo. Cassel, 1614. [Ascribed to John Valentine Andrea. In this pamphlet occurs the _first_ mention of the society; no allusion being made to it in the works of Bacon, Paracelsus, Agrippa, &c. It was republished at Frankfort in 1617 under a somewhat different title. Appended to it is a tract entitled "Sendbrieff, oder Bericht an Alle welche von den _neuen_ Bruederschafft des Ordens von _Rosen-Creutz_ genannt etwas gelesen," &c. This work contains a full account of the origin and tenets of the brotherhood, {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 Philosophie Hermetique, accompagnee d'un Catalogue raisonne des Ecrivains de cette Science, par l'Abbe 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 Aegyptians; the knowledge of the _Rosie-Crucian_ Physick, and the Miraculous in Nature, &c., by John Heydon. 8vo. 1664. [The works of this enthusiast are extremely curious and rare. He is also the author of the following.]

The Wiseman's Crowne, or the Glory of the _Rosie-Cross_, &c.; with the Regie Lucis, and Holy Household of _Rosie-Crucian_ Philosophers. 8vo. 1664.

Elhavarevna, or the English Physitian's Tutor in the Astrabolismes of Mettals _Rosie-Crucian_, Miraculous Sapphiric Medicines of the Sun and Moon, &c., all Harmoniously United, and Operated by Astromancy and Geomancy, in so Easie a Method that a Fine Lady may practise and compleat Incredible, Extraordinary Telesmes (and read her Gallant's devices without disturbing her fancy), and cure all Diseases in Yong and Old, whereunto is added Psonthonphancia, &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 number may be added, the titles of which will be found in the following essays, from which much information 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 "_Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry_," in which the author, with considerable success, endeavours to show that _Rosicrucianism_ 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 wonderful book will be found a caustic piece of satire on the futility of the _Rosicrucian_ philosophy.]

Butler's Hudibras. [Grey'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. 33., 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 _Legend 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 objects and regulations, _Rosicrucianism_ (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 Governments of Europe, carried on in the secret meetings of Freemasons, Illuminati, 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 _Illuminati_, a sect which had rendered important services to revolutionary interests, 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 van Edelsheim, police minister of the Elector, under the title of _Die Rosenkrietzer_. This society was called into existence by a reactionary 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 developments. He did everything in his power to destroy the association, which, however, survived, until his murder of Palm, the bookseller, for publishing 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 celebrated _Tungen-Bund_, in its place.

It will be seen that in the foregoing I have confined myself to that part of your correspondent'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. TAYLOR, 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_. {108}

In 1622 they put forth the following advertisement:

"We, deputed by our College, the principal of the brethren of the Rosicrucians, to make our visible and invisible abode in this city, through the grace of the Most High; towards whom are turned the hearts of the just: we teach without books or notes, and speak the languages of the countries wherever we are, to draw men like ourselves from the error of death."

The Illuminati of Spain were a branch of this sect. In 1615 one John Bringeret printed a work in Germany containing two treatises, entitled _The Manifesto and Confession of Faith of the Fraternity of the Rosicrucians in Germany_.

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

* * * * *

INSCRIPTIONS ON BELLS.

(Vol. vi., p. 554. Vol. vii., p. 633.)

My note-book contains a considerable number of inscriptions on bells; some extracted from books, but others transcribed from the bells themselves. I send you a few of the most remarkable inscriptions, with one or two notes on the subject.

Chesterton, Cambridgeshire:

1. "God save the Church."

2. "Non sono animabus mortuorum, sed viventium."

S. Benet's, Cambridge (see Le-Keux' _Memorials_):

1. "Of all the bels in Bennet, I am the best, And yet for my casting the parish paid lest. 1607."

2. "Non nomen fero ficti, Sed nomen Benedicti. 1610."

3. "This bell was broke, and cast againe, by John Draper, in 1618, as plainly doth appeare: Churchwardens were, Edward Dixon, for one, who stood close to his tacklyn, and he that was his partner then, was Alexander Jacklyn."

Girton, Cambridgeshire:

"Non clamor sed amor cantat in aure Dei."

Stoneleigh, Warwickshire:

1. "Michaele te pulsante Winchelcombe a petente daemone te libera.

2. "O Kenelme nos defende ne maligni sentiamus focula."

Eastry, Kent:

"One bell inscribed with the names of the churchwardens and the maker; a shilling of William III., and other coins are let into the rim."

Erith, Kent:

"A tablet in the belfry commemorates the ringing of a peal of 726 changes in twenty-six minutes."

S. Clement, Sandwich, Kent:

"In the ringing chamber of this noble tower is a windlass for lowering the bells in case of repairs becoming necessary, with a trap-door in the floor opening into the church."

S. Mary, Sandwich, Kent:

"This bel was bought and steeple built, A.D. 1718. J. Bradley, R. Harvey, Ch. wardens. R. P. F."

S. Andrew, Histon, Camb.:

"Coins of Queen Anne in the rim of one bell; but dated 1723."

S. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster (Weever, _Fur. Mon._, p. 491., edit. fol. 1631):

"King Edward the Third built in the little sanctuarie a clochard of stone and timber, and placed therein three bells, for the vse of Saint _Stephen's_ Chappel. About the biggest bell was engrauen, or cast in the metall, these words:

'King Edward made mee thirtie thousand weight and three: Take mee downe and wey mee, and more you shall fynd mee.'

But these bells being to be taken downe, in the raigne of King _Henry_ the Eight, one writes vnderneath with a coal:

'But _Henry_ the Eight will bait me of my weight.'"

If any farther extracts may interest you, they are very much at your service.

W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

* * * * *

WAS COOK THE DISCOVERER OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS?

(Vol. viii., p. 6.)

MR. WARDEN will find this question discussed by La Perouse (English 8vo. edit., vol. ii. ch. 6.), who concludes unhesitatingly that the Sandwich group is identical with a cluster of islands discovered by the Spanish navigator Gaetan in 1542, and by him named "The King's Islands." These the Spaniard placed in the tenth, although the Sandwich Islands are near the twentieth, degree of north latitude, which La Perouse believed was a mere clerical error. The difference in longitude, sixteen or seventeen degrees, he ascribed to the imperfect means of determination possessed by the early navigators, and to their ignorance of the currents of the Pacific.

Allowing for the mistake in latitude, the King's Islands are evidently the same as those found on some old charts, about the nineteenth and twentieth degrees of north latitude, under the names of _La Mesa_, _Los Mayos_, and _La Disgraciada_; which Capt. Dixon, as well as La Perouse, sought for in vain in the longitude assigned to them. They appear to have been introduced into the {109} English and French charts from that found in the galleon taken by Commodore Anson, and of which a copy is given in the account of his voyage. Cook, or Lieutenant Roberts, the compiler of the charts to his third voyage, retained them; and La Perouse was the first to erase them from the map. There can, indeed, be little doubt of their identity with the Sandwich Islands. But although Cook was not actually the first European who had visited those islands, to him rightly belongs all the glory of their discovery. Forgotten by the Spaniards, misplaced on the chart a thousand miles too far to the eastward, and unapproached for 240 years, their existence utterly unknown and unsuspected, Cook was, to all intents and purposes, their real discoverer.

C. E. BAGOT.

Dublin.

* * * * *

MEGATHERIUM AMERICANUM.

(Vol. vii., p. 590.)

Is not the cast of a skeleton in the British Museum, recently alluded to by A FOREIGN SURGEON, and which is labelled _Megatherium Americanum_ Blume., better known to English naturalists by its more correct designation of _Mylodon robustus_ Owen; and if so, why is the proper appellation not painted on the label? If that had been done, _A Foreign Surgeon_ would not have fallen into the error of confounding the remains of two distinctly different animals.

Might I beg leave to add, for the information of your correspondent, that no British naturalist "of any mark or likelihood," has ever assumed that (though undoubtedly sloths) either the _Mylodon_, _Scelidotherium_, or _Megatherium_, were climbers. Indeed, the whole osseous structure of those animals proves that they were formed to uprend the trees that gave them sustenance. By no other hypothesis can we intelligibly account for the immense expanse of pelvis, the great bulk of hind-legs, the solid tail, the massive anterior limbs furnished with such powerful claws, and the extraordinary large spinal chord--all these the characteristic features of the _Mylodon_.

Whether there were palms or not at the period of the telluric formation, I cannot undertake to say; but as A FOREIGN SURGEON assumes that a palm is an exogenous tree (!), I am induced to suspect that his acquaintance with geology may be equally as limited as his knowledge of botany. Besides, what can he mean by speaking of a sloth "the size of a large bear?" Why, the _Mylodon_ must have been larger than a rhinoceros or hippopotamus. The veriest tyro in natural history would see that at the first glance of the massive skeleton.

It is a painful and ungracious task to have to pen these observations, especially, too, in the case of a stranger. But "N. & Q." must not be made a channel for erroneous statements, and we "natives and to the manner born" must be allowed to know best what is in our own museums.

W. PINKERTON.

Ham.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Stereoscopic Angles._--Like many of your correspondents, I have been an inquirer on the subject of stereoscopic angles, which seems to be still a problem for solution. What is this problem? for until that be known, we cannot hope for a solution. I would ask, is it this?--_Stereoscopic pictures should create in the mind precisely such a conception as the two eyes would if viewing the object represented by the stereograph._ If this be the problem (and I cannot conceive otherwise), its solution is simple enough, as it consists in placing the cameras _invariably_ 2-1/2 inches apart, on a line parallel to the building, or a plane passing through such a figure as a statue, &c. In this mode of treatment we should have two pictures possessing like stereosity with those on the retinas, and consequently with like result and as our eyes enable us to conceive perfectly of any solid figure, so would the stereograph. I believe, therefore, that this is, under every circumstance, the correct treatment; simply because every other mode may be proved to be false to nature.

Professor Wheatstone recommends 1 in 25 when objects are more than 50 feet distant, and this rule seems to be pretty generally followed. Its incorrectness admits of easy demonstration. Suppose a wall 300 feet in extent, with abutments, each two feet in front, and projecting two feet from the wall, at intervals of five feet. The proper distance from the observer ought to be 450 feet, which, agreeably with this rule, would require a space of 18 feet between the cameras. Under this treatment the result would be, that both of the _sides, as well as the fronts_, of the three central abutments would be seen; whilst of all the rest, only the front and one side would be visible. This would be outraging nature, and false, and therefore should, I believe, be rejected. The eyes of an observer situated midway between the cameras, could not possibly perceive either of the sides of the buttress opposite to him, and only the side next to him of the rest. This seems to me conclusive.

Again, your correspondent [Phi]. (Vol. vii., p. 16.) says, that for portraits he finds 1 in 10 a good rule. Let the sitter hold, straight from the front, _i.e._ in the centre, a box 2-1/2 inches in width. The result would be, that in the stereographs the box would have both its sides represented, and the front, instead of being horizontal, consisting of two inclined lines, _i.e._ unless the cameras were {110} placed on _one line_, when it would be horizontal. In such treatment the departure from both is as great as in the first example, and the outrage greater, inasmuch as, under these circumstances (I mean a boy with a box), to any person of common sense, the caricature would be at a glance obvious. This rule, then, although it produces stereosity enough, being false, should also be rejected.

I believe that 2-1/2 inches will be found to be right under any circumstance; but should sufficient reasons be offered for a better rule, I trust I am open to conviction, and shall hail with great pleasure a demonstration of its correctness.

Should it, however, turn out that I have given a right definition, and a correct solution of this most interesting problem, I shall rejoice to know that I have rendered an essential service to a great number of anxious students in photography.

T. L. MERRITT.

Maidstone.

_Yellow Bottles for Photographic Chemicals._--The proposal of your correspondent CERIDWEN to employ yellow glass bottles for preventing the decomposition of photographic solutions has been anticipated. It was suggested by me, in some lectures on Photography in November 1847, and in January of the present year, that yellow bottles might be so used, as well as for preventing the decomposition, by light, of the vegetable substances used in pharmacy, such as digitalis, ipecacuanha, cinchona, &c. For solutions of silver, however, the most effectual remedy against precipitation is the use of very pure water, procured by slow redistillation in glass vessels at a temperature much below the boiling point.

HUGH OWEN.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Earth upon Earth, &c._--I think the information which has been elicited in connexion with the so-called "Unpublished Epigram by Sir W. Scott," "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 498., sufficiently curious to justify an additional reference to the sentiment in question; the more so as I have to mention the name of its putative author. In Montgomery's _Christian Poet_, 3rd edit. p. 58., he gives, under the title of "Earth upon Earth," five verses, which it would appear are substantially the same as those published by Weaver (whose _Funeral Monuments_, his only publication, I have not within reach), but they exhibit considerable verbal difference in the verses corresponding with those cited in "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 576. Montgomery tells us in a note that this extract, given under the name of William Billyng, along with another from a poem entitled "The Five Wounds of Christ," by the same author, were from "a manuscript on parchment of great antiquity, in possession of William Bateman, Esq.," of which a few copies had been printed at Manchester, and "accompanied by rude but exceedingly curious cuts." Now who was William Billyng? And when did he live? Montgomery says "the age of this author is well known." The death of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to whom Weaver (_Fun. Mon._ 1631) applies the Stratford epigraph, is temp. Edward III. Is Mr. Bateman's MS. in a hand indicating so early a date?

J. H.

_Picalyly_ (Vol. viii., p. 8.).--In Barnaby Rich's _Honestie of this Age_, p. 37. of the Percy Society reprint, we find this passage:

"But he that some fortie or fifty yeares sithens should haue asked after a Pickadilly, I wonder who could haue understood him, or could haue told what a Pickadilly had beene, either fish or flesh."

Little did the writer think that in future years the name would become a "household word;" though his prophecy as to the meaning of the word has been fulfilled by the appearance of the Query in the pages of "N. & Q."

The editor of the work, Mr. Peter Cunningham, has a long note on the above passage; and I am indebted to him for the following.

"Ben Jonson (_Works_ by Gifford, viii. 370.) speaks of a _picardill_ as a new cut of band much in fashion:

'Ready to cast at one whose band stands still, And then leap mad on a neat _picardill_.'

"But Middleton, _The World tost at Tennis_, 1620, speaks of a _pickadill_ in connexion with the shears, the needle, &c. of the tailor; from which it appears to have been an instrument used for plaiting the picked vandyke collar worn in those days.

"Mr. Gifford, in a note on another passage in Ben Jonson, says:

'_Picardil_ is simply a diminutive of _picca_ (Span. and Ital.), a spear-head; and was given to this article of foppery from a fancied resemblance of its stiffened plaits to the bristled points of these weapons. Blount thinks, and apparently with justice, that _Picadilly_ took its name frown the sale of the 'small stiff collars so called,' which was first set on foot in a house near the western [eastern] extremity of the present street by one Higgins, a tailor.'"

The bands worn by the clergy and judges, &c., at the present day, are lineal descendants of the old _picadils_, reduced to a more sober cut; and the picked ornament alluded to by your correspondent no doubt derived its name from its resemblance in shape to these tokens of ancient fashion.

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

_Mr. Justice Newton_ (Vol. vii., pp. 528. 600.; Vol. viii., p. 15.).--I did not answer MR. F. KYFFIN LENTHALL'S first Query, because it was {111} palpable, from the context, that the "Mr. Justice Newton" he inquired after could not possibly be the Chief Justice who flourished in the fifteenth century; and because I am not aware of any judge of the superior courts of that name, during the time of the Commonwealth, or the years which immediately preceded or followed that period. Indeed, his designation as "Mr. Justice Newton, _of the Middle Temple_," plainly proves that he could not have been a judge upon the Bench at Westminster. He may perhaps have been a Welsh judge; or, remembering that "Mr. Justice" was the common title for a Justice of the Peace, it is still more probable that he was merely a magistrate of the county in which he resided.

EDWARD FOSS.