8vo. London, 1650.
---- Magia Adamica. Whereunto is added a perfect and full Discovery of
the _Cœlum Terræ_. 8vo. London, 1650.
---- Lumen de Lumine. 8vo. Lond., 1651.
---- Aula Lucis. 1652.
---- Euphrates; or, The Waters of the East. 8vo. Lond., 1655.
---- Fame and Confession of the Fraternity of R. C. With a Declaration
of their Physicall Work. 8vo. Lond., 1659.
---- (Eirenæus Philoponos, _i.e._, George Starkey)--Marrow of Alchemy.
12mo. Lond., 1709.
---- (B. P.)--Enchiridion Alchemiæ. Lond., 1692.
Philalethæ--Tractätlein von Verwandelung der Metallen, &c. 12mo. Ham.,
1675.
Philaleta (T.)--Theosophischer Wunder Saal. 8vo. 1709.
Philosophus Gallus--De Arbore Solari. 8vo. Arg., 1659.
Picus de Mirandola (J. F.)--De Auro. 4to. Venet., 1586.
Pietra de Philosopha Catala. Ascoli, 1737.
Pinæus (V.)--De Concordia Hipoc et Parcels. 8vo. Arg., 1569.
Pittore (M. G.)--Dialogi. Venet., 1550.
Plan--Projet du Plan de la Création. 8vo. Paris, 1653.
Planis Campi (D.)--L’École Transmutatoire. 8vo. Paris, 1633.
---- De la Médecine Universelle. 8vo. Paris, 1633.
Platt (H.)--Jewel House of Art. 4to. Lond., 1594.
Politii (A.)--Libri duo de Quinta Essentia Solutiva. 4to. Panormi, 1613.
Pontanus (John, _adept_)--Sophic Fire. 24mo. Lond., 1624.
---- De Rebus Celestibus. Fiorenza, 1520.
Poppii (J.)--Hodogeticus Chemicus. (_German._) 1627.
Poppius (H.)--Basilica Antimonii. 4to. Fran., 1618.
Porta (J. B.)--De Æris Transmutationibus. 4to. Romæ, 1610.
---- Magia Naturale. Napo., 1611.
Potier (M.)--Apologia Hermetico-Philosophica. 4to. Franc., 1630.
---- De Vera Materia et Processu Lapidis. 8vo. Franc., 1617.
---- Philosophia Pura. 8vo. Francof., 1617.
---- Fons Chimicus, _id est_, Vera Auri Conficienda. 4to. Col., 1637.
---- (P.)--Opera Omnia. (_Disesteemed._) 4to. Franc., 1692.
Privy Seal of Secrets, or First Matter. Lond., 1680.
Processes for the Philosophical Stone. (_German._) 8vo. Jena, 1704.
Prudhomme (P.)--Deux Merveilles. 12mo. Paris, 1669.
Pruggmayr (M.)--De Vero Elixire Vitæ. 8vo. Salisburgi, 1687.
Quercetan (J.)--Hermetical Physic. 4to. London, 1605.
Rabbard’s (Raphael) Book of Alchemy. 4to. Lond., 1591.
Ramsaia (C. A.)--Observationes, J. Kunkell. Rott., 1678.
Rantæ (Mariani), _English Prophetess_--Apocaliptica Clavis Auri
Facturum Brevi Promittens. (_Rare._) 8vo. Tolosæ.
Raphælis (S.)--De Sale, Sulphure, et Mercurio. 12mo.
Rattri (Silv.)--Theatrum Sympatheticum. Norim., 1658.
Reconditiorum Opulentiæ, sapientæque mundi magni, &c. (_Esteemed._)
Amst., 1666.
Regio Salutifera--Prima Materia. 8vo. Fran., 1708.
Reinecerri Thesaurus Chimicus. 8vo. Lipsiæ, 1609.
Renaudot (E.)--De L’Antimoine Justifié. 4to. Paris, 1653.
Respom--Sur L’Esprit Minérale. 12mo. Paris, 1668.
Reyheri (S.)--De Juridice Philosophica. 4to. Kibiæ, 1692.
Rhenani (J.)--Aureus Tractatus. 4to. Franc., 1612.
---- Decades Duæ, seu Syntagma harmoniæ Chimicorum--Rhasis, Merlin,
Guido, Saure, Wittich, Dumbel, Gratian, Antonio, Aquinas, Dastin,
Salamon, Small Rosary. 8vo. Fran., 1625.
---- De Solutione Materiæ. 8vo. Fran., 1635.
Rhodagiri (L.)--De Solutione Philosophica. 8vo. Lugd., 1566.
Richebourg (J. M.)--Bibliothèque. Eighteen tracts. Artephius, Azot,
Ancient War, Bernard, Basil, Flamel, Geber, Hermes, Hortulain, Morien,
Mary, Turba, Zachary. 3 vols. 12mo. Paris, 1741.
Riplei (Georgii, _adept_)--Opera Omnia. 8vo. Casselis, 1649.
---- Treatise of Mercury. Lond., 1680.
---- Bosom Book, Accurtations. 8vo. Lond., 1680.
Riviere (Cesare della)--Il Mondo Magico. Milano, 1605.
Robertus (Valensis)--De Antiquitate Artis Chemiæ. 8vo. Lugd., 1602.
Rochas (H.)--La Physique Demonstrative. 8vo. Paris, 1643.
Rodostanticum Speculum. (_German._) 4to. 1618.
Rodocanacis (C.)--Of Antimony. 4to. Lond., 1664.
Rolfincius (G.)--Mercurius Metallorum et Mineralium. 4to. Jena, 1670.
Rosarium Novum--De Lapide Benedicto. 4to. Germ., 1668.
ROSICRUCIANS.
Communis et Generalis Reformatio Totius Mundi. (_German._) 8vo.
Casselis, 1614.
Fama Fraternitatis of the meritorious order of the R. C. (_German._)
8vo. Casselis, 1614.
Secretioris Philosophiæ Consideratio Brevis à Philippo à Gabella,
Philosophiæ studioso, conscripta; et nunc primum unà cum CONFESSIONE
FRATERNITATIS R. C., in lucem edita. 4to. Cassellis, 1615.
Exercitatio Paracelsica Nova de Notandis ex Scripto Fraternitatis de
Rosea Cruce. (_See_ Andreas Libavius’ Examen Philosophiæ Novæ, quæ
veteri abrogandæ opponitur.) Fol. 1615.
Analysis Confessionis Fraternitatis de Rosea Cruce pro admonitione et
instructione eorum, qui, quia judicandum sit de ista nova factione
scire cupiant. Fol. 1615.
Chymische Hochzeit: Christiani Rosencreutz. Anno 1459. 8vo. Strasbourg,
1616.
Echo of the God-illuminated Brotherhood of the Worthy Order R. C. (? By
Julius Sperber). 8vo. Dantzig, 1615.
Julianus de Campis--An Open Letter or Report addressed to all who have
read anything concerning the new Brotherhood of the R. C. (_German._)
8vo. 1616.
Andreas Libavius--Well wishing Objections concerning the Fame and
Confessions of the Brotherhood of the R. C. (_German._) 8vo. Francfurt,
1616.
Fama Remissa ad Fratres Roseæ Crucis. (_German._) 8vo. 1616.
Radtichs Brotoffer--Elucidarius Major, oder Ekleuchterunge über die
Reformatio der Ganzen Weiten Welt. 8vo. 1617.
Fraternitatis Rosatæ Crucis Confessio Recepta. (Written by A. O. M. T.
W.) 8vo. 1617.
Fredericus G. Menapius (_i.e._, Johann Valentin Alberti)--Epitimia F.
R. C. The Final Manifestation or Discovery of the worthy and worshipful
Order R. C.... Written by command of the above-mentioned Society by
Irenæus Agnostus (Menapius). _An attack on the Society._ (_German._)
8vo. 1619.
---- I. Menapius Roseæ Crucis, to wit: Objections on the part of the
Unanimous Brotherhood against the obscure and unknown writer, F. G.
Menapius. (_With other matters. Is also a covert attack written by
Menapius._) 8vo. 1619. (_German._)
Florentinus de Valentia--Rosa Florescens contra F. G. Menapii
Calumniis. 8vo. 1617.
Judicia de Statu Fraternitatis de Rosea Cruce. 12mo. 1617.
Responsum ad Fratres Rosaceæ Crucis Illustres. 12mo. 1618.
F. R. C.--Fama e Scanzia Redux. 12mo. 1618.
φλενοθιονρεδας.--Hoc est Redintegratio. (_Addressed to the Brotherhood
of the Rose Cross._) 8vo. 1619.
Johann Valentin Andreas--Turris Babel, sive Judicium de Fraternitatis
Roseæ Crucis Chaos. 24mo. Argentorati, 1619.
S. R. (_i.e._, Sincerus Renatus, a pseudonym of Sigmund
Richter)--Perfect and True Preparation of the Philosophical Stone,
according to the Secret of the Brotherhood of the Golden and Rosy
Cross. With the Rules of the above-mentioned Order for the Initiation
of New Members. 8vo. Breslau, 1710.
Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries. Fol. Altona, 1785-88.
Joachim Fritz (? Robert Fludd)--Summum Bonum, quod est verum subjectum
veræ magicæ, cabalæ, alchymiæ Fratrum Roseæ Crucis verorum in dictarum
scientiarum laudem, et insignis calumniatoris ... M. Mersenni dedecus
publicatum. Fol. Francfurt, 1629.
Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes)--The Fame and Confession of
the Fraternity of R. C., with a Preface annexed thereto, and a short
declaration of their Physicall Work. 8vo. London, 1652.
John Heydon--The Rosie Crucian Infallible Axiomata. 12mo. London, 1660.
---- The Holy Guide, leading the Way to the Wonder of the World. 8vo.
London, 1662.
---- Theomagia; or, The Temple of Wisdome. In three parts--spirituall,
celestiall, and elementall. 8vo. London, 1662-3-4.
---- The Wise Man’s Crown, or The Glory of the Rosy Cross. 8vo. London,
1664.
---- El Havarevna; or The English Physitian’s Tutor in the
Astrobolismes of Mettals Rosie Crucian. 8vo. London, 1665.
Hargrave Jennings--The Rosicrucians: Their Rites and Mysteries. With
chapters on the Ancient Fire and Serpent Worshippers, and Explanations
of the Mystic Symbols Represented on the Monuments and Talismans of the
Primeval Philosophers. 8vo. London, 1870.
Arthur Edward Waite--The Real History of the Rosicrucians. Founded on
their own Manifestoes and on Facts and Documents collected from the
writings of Initiated Brethren. 8vo. London, 1887.
* * * * *
Rosnel (P.)--Le Mercure Indien. (_Curious._) 4to. Paris, 1672.
Rossello (T.)--Secreti Universali. 8vo. Venet., 1574.
Rossinus (H.)--De Opera Dei Creationis. 4to. Fran., 1597.
Rothscoltzii (F.)--Bibliotheca Chimica. 4to. 1719.
---- Bibliotheca Chemia Curiosa Adornata. 12mo. Noren., 1720.
Rouillac (P.)--Practica Operis Magni. 8vo. Lugd., 1582.
Rousselet--La Chrysospagirie. 8vo. Lyons, 1582.
Rudenius (M.)--Bendencten Von der Alchimistichen Artzen Kunst. 8vo.
Lip., 1605.
Ruelli (J.)--De Natura Stribium. 2 vols. 8vo. Venet., 1538.
Rullandi (M.)--Progymnasmata Alchimiæ. 8vo. Fran., 1607.
Rullandi (M.)--Lexicon Alchimiæ. 4to. Fran., 1612.
Rupecissa (Johan, _adept_)--Cœlum Philosophorum. 8vo. Parisiis, 1543.
---- De Quinta Essentia Rerum Omnium. 8vo. Basil, 1561.
---- De Secretis Alchemiæ. 4to. Col. Agi., 1579.
---- Livre de Lumière. 16mo. Paris.
Sabor (Chr. Fer.)--Practica Naturæ vera Preparatio Lapidis Mineralis de
Antimonio. (_German._) 8vo. 1721.
Saignier (J.)--Magni Lapidis Naturalis Philosophia. 4to. Brem., 1664.
Saint Romain--Effets de la Pierre Divine. 12mo. Paris, 1679.
Salæ (Angeli)--Opera Medico-Chymica Omnia. 4to. Rothomagi, 1650.
Sale (De)--De Secreto Philosophorum. 8vo. Cass., 1651.
Salmon (William, M.D.)--Hermes, Kalid, Pontanus, Artephius, Geber,
Flamel, Bacon, Ripley. 8vo. Lond., 1692.
---- Bibliothèque. Containing twelve tracts by reputed adepts. 12mo.
Paris, 1672.
Saltzhal (S.)--De Potentissima Medicina Univali. 8vo. Argent., 1659.
Sapientia--Clavis Majoris Sapientiæ (Artephius). 8vo. Paris, 1609.
Sawtree (John)--Of the Philosopher’s Stone. 4to. Lond., 1652.
Schennemannus (H.)--De Medecina Reformata seu denario
Hermetico-Chemico. 8vo. Fran., 1617.
Schleron (H.)--De Lapide Philosophorum. 8vo. Marpus, 1612.
Schlussel--Zur Findung dess Steins der Weissen. 8vo. Leip., 1706.
Scholzii (L.)--Summum Philosophiæ. Fol. Hano., 1610.
Schotti (C.)--Physica Curiosa cum Figuris. 4to. Herb., 1667.
---- Mirabilia Artis. 2 v. 4to. Norim., 1664.
Schuleri (C.)--De Miraculo Chemico. 1616.
Schwertzer (Sibald)--Chrysopœiæ. (_Esteemed._) 8vo. Hamb., 1618.
Scientia Exemplar (_ex Lagneo_). 4to. Ulm., 1641.
Scot (Patrick)--Tillage of Light. 8vo. Lond., 1623.
Scoti (Michael)--De Secretis Naturæ. 12mo. Fran., 1614.
Sebilista (W.)--Manuale Hermeticum. 4to. Wolf., 1655.
Secrets Disclosed of the Philosopher’s Stone. 24mo. 1680.
Seilerus--Of a Transmuting Powder Found. 4to. Lond., 1633.
Sel--Du Sel de Sapience. (_Disesteemed_). 8vo. Paris, 1619.
Semita Rectitudinis de Alchemia. 8vo. Gratianopoli, 1614.
Sendivogius (Mich.)--De Vero Sale. (_Spurious._) Franc., 1651.
---- New Light of Alchymy.
Senfrid (J. H.)--Medulla Naturæ. 8vo. Taltzlach, 1679.
Sennertus (D.)--Institutions of Chemistry. 8vo. London.
Severini (Petri)--Totius Philos. Adeptæ. 8vo. Basil, 1572.
Severino (Scipione)--Triomfo d’Ell Alchimia. 8vo. Venet., 1691.
---- Filosofia Alchemia. Venet., 1695.
---- Commentary on Lully. (_Italian._) 1684.
Seyfarti (A.)--Klar und Deutliche Luorterung. 8vo. Leypsich, 1723.
Sferza (La)--De Gli Alchemisti. Lion., 1665.
Sidrach--Le Grand Fontaine de Science. 4to. Paris, 1514.
Simpson--Of Fermentation. Lond., 1675.
Snoyus (R.)--De Arte Alchimiæ. Fol. Francof., 1620.
Sol Sine Vesta (_anonymous adept_). Amst., 1684.
Spacheri (S.)--Alchimia, cum Figuris. 4to. 1616.
Sperberi (J.)--Argumentum in Veram Triunius Dei et Naturæ. 8vo. Hamb.,
1672.
---- De Materia Lapidis. 8vo. Hamb., 1674.
Stahli (G. E.)--Fundamenta Chimiæ. 4to. Norim., 1723.
Starky (G.)--Pyrotechny Asserted. 12mo. Lond., 1658.
---- Nature’s Explication. 1658.
---- Marrow of Chemical Physic. 12mo. 1661.
Steebe (I. S.)--Elixir Solis. 12mo. Francof., 1672.
---- Cœlum Sephiroticum. Fol. Moguntiæ, 1679.
Stisseri (J. A.)--Acta Laboratorii Jesiæ. 4to. Helen., 1701.
Stolcii (D.)--Viridiarium Chimicum, cum Figuris. Franc., 1624.
---- Hortulus Hermeticus, cum Figuris. 8vo. Franc., 1627.
Struthius (J.)--Medecina Priscorum. Lugd., 1600.
Struvius (E. G.)--Chimicum sine Igne. 8vo. Jenæ, 1715.
Surmiti (J.)--Physica Electiva. 4to. Nor., 1697.
---- In Collegium Experimentale Curiosum. 4to. Norim., 1701.
Suchten (Alex.)--Clavis Alchemiæ. (_German._) 8vo. Montis., 1614.
---- Secrets of Antimony. 8vo. Lond., 1670.
Sudum Philosophicum. 8vo. Hamb., 1660.
Swedenburgii (Em.)--Regnum Minerale. 3 v. Fol. Liq., 1734.
Synes--De Sapientia Divina. 12mo. Lutet., 1635.
T. W.--Marrow of Chemical Physic. Lond., 1659.
Tabulæ Septem Synopsim Lapidis. Erph., 1598.
Tachemius (Oth)--De Liquore Alkæst. 4to. Hamb., 1655.
---- Hippocrates’ Viperine Salt. 4to. London, 1677.
Tackii (J.)--Triplex Phasis Sophicus Solis arbe expiditus. 4to. Franc.,
1673.
Tankins (J.)--Collection of Alchemy in German. Leipsic, 1610.
Teichmeyeri (H. F.)--Institutiones. Jenæ, 1729.
Tenzelius (A.)--Medecina Diastatica. 12mo. Jenæ, 1629.
Theatrum Chimicum. Two hundred and nine treatises by Arnold, Albert,
Augmelli, Aristotle, Aquinas, Alanus, Alvetanus, Alphonso, Avicenna,
Artephius, Aphorisms, Bacon, Balbius, Bernard, Bernaud, Bona,
Brentzius, Brosse, Blawenstein, Caravantis, Colleson, Christopher, Dee,
Dornea, Democritus, Egidius, Eck, Ficinus, Fanian, Flamel, Ferarius,
Gaston, Greverius, Grossius, Haymonis, Hermes, Hogheland, Hornius,
Isaac, Kalid, Lagneus, Lasinoro, Lavinius, Lacinius, Lampsprink, Lully,
Muffetus, Mary, P. Mirandola, Micreris, Meneus, Monachus, Nigrius,
Orthelius, Odomar, Ortholan, Ponlanus, Penotus, Pantheus, Plato,
Phedio, Quercetan, Rhedargii, Rupecissa, Ripley, Richard, Rosary,
Phasis, Sendivogius, Silento, M. Scott, Trithemius, Turba, Troginani,
Vogelius, Ventma, Vallensis, Vigenerus, Zacharia, Zonetus, Zadith. 6 v.
8vo. Argent., 1662.
Theobaldi (Zach.)--Arcana Naturæ. 4to. Norin., 1628.
Thomæ Aquinatis--Secreta Alchemiæ. 4to. Colon., 1579.
---- Thesaurus Alchemiæ. 8vo. Lugd., 1602.
---- De Esse et Essentia Mineralium. (_Spurious._) 4to. Venet., 1488.
Thor (G.)--Cheiragogia Heliana. (_English._) 8vo. Lond., 1659.
Thornburgh (John)--Nihil, aliquid, omnia in gratiam eorum qui artem
auriferam Phisico-chimice et pie profitentur. 4to., Oxon., 1621.
Thurneyssers (Leo.)--Hoechste sublilitad der Alchimia. 4to. Munst.,
1569.
Tombeau de la Pauvreté, par Atramont. 12mo. Par., 1673.
Tombeau de Semiramis. 8vo. Par., 1689.
Tractat--Gulden Rose Chit der Natur, &c. 8vo. 1706.
Tractatus Antiquorum Arcanorum. 8vo. 1612.
Tractat. 7 Von Stein der Weissen. 8vo. Ham.
Tranas Facilis ad Hermetis Artem. 12mo. Corolopili, 1686.
Transformation Métallique. 8vo. Paris, 1651.
Transfiguratione Metallorum (De). 8vo. Hanov., 1593.
Treasure of Treasures. 24mo. Lond., 1680.
Tres Tractatus de Metallorum Transmutatione. Amst., 1668.
Trinum--Koffski, Alphidius, and Lully. 8vo. Arg., 1699.
Triomphe Hermétique (_i.e._, Ancient War of the Knights). 12mo. Amst.,
1689.
Trifolium Hermeticum. (_German._) 1629.
Trimosin (S., _adept_)--La Toison d’Or. 8vo. 1611.
Trithemius (J.)--De Lapide Phil. 8vo. 1611.
Trinum Magicum Opus Secretorum. 12mo. Tran., 16, 1809.
Trompette de Philosophie Hermétique. 12mo. Paris.
Tubicum Conviviale Hermeticum. 4to. Gedani, 1682.
Tymme (J.)--Nature’s Closet Opened. 4to. Lond., 1612.
Ulstadii (P.)--Cœlum Philosophorum. 12mo. Lugd., 1553.
Untzerus (M.)--Anatomia Mercurii. 4to. Hale Sax., 1620.
Urbigero (Baro., _adept_)--Aphorisms. 12mo. Lond., 1690.
Vallensis (R.)--De Veritate et Antiquitate Artis Chemicæ. 16mo. Par.,
1651.
Valentine (Basil, _adept_)--Last Will, Practica, Twelve Keys, Manual,
Natural and Supernatural Things, Microcosm, &c. 8vo. Lond., 1671.
---- Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. 8vo. 1656.
---- Scripta Chimica. 8vo. Hamburgi, 1700.
Vallerlis (V.)--Lulliam Explicano. 4to. August., 1589.
Vanderlinden--De Scriptis Medecis. 4to. Norim., 1686.
Vanner (T.)--Way to Long Life. 4to. Lond., 1623.
Vannucio Pyrotecnia della Minere. 4to. Venet., 1540.
Vargas (B. P.)--De Re Metallica. 8vo. Madrid, 1569.
Vigam of Verona--Medulla Chymiæ. Lond., 1683.
Vigenerus (B.)--Of True Fire and Salt. Lond., 1649.
Vigani (J. A.)--Medulla Chymiæ. Lug. Bat., 1693.
Villanova (Arnoldus de)--Opera Omnia--Conversion of Metals, Rosary,
Speculum, Questions, Flos Florum, &c. Fol. Lugd., 1520.
Villanovani (Petri), _compiler_--Speculum. Duæ, 1626.
Vittestein--De Quinta Essentia. 8vo. Basil, 1582.
Vogelii (Ewal.)--De Lapide Physici. Colon., 1575.
Vonderbeet (D.)--Experimenta. Ferrariæ, 1688.
Wallerus--Chemia Physica. 8vo. Lond.
Water--The Water Stone of the Wise. 8vo. Lond., 1659.
Webster’s History of Metals. 4to. Lond., 1671.
Wecker (Dr, of Basle)--Secrets. 8vo. Lyons, 1643.
Weidenfeld (J. J.)--Secrets of the Adepts. 4to. Lond., 1685.
Weidnerus (J.)--De Arte Chimica. 4to. Basil, 1610.
Wickffbain (J. P.)--Salamandra. Norimb., 1683.
Williams (W.)--Occult Physics. 8vo. Lond., 1660.
Willis (T.)--Theophisical Alchemy. 8vo. Lond., 1616.
---- Opera Omnia Medicin. 2 v. Lugd., 1681.
Wilson (G.)--Three Hundred Unknown Experiments. Lond., 1699.
Wirdig (Sebas.)--Medicina Spiritum. Norimberg, 1675.
Wittestein (C.)--De Quinta Essentia. 8vo. Basil, 1583.
Wittichius (J.)--De Lapide Philos. 8vo. Francof., 1625.
Zacharia--Clavis Spagirica. 4to. Venet., 1611.
Zacharii (D., _adept_)--La Vraie Philosophie des Metaux. 8vo. Anvers.,
1567.
---- De Chimico Miracule. 8vo. Basil, 1583.
Zadith--Antiquissimi Philos. 8vo. Argent., 1566.
Zelator (J.)--Alchemistici. 8vo. Basil, 1606.
* * * * *
_Note._--The titles of some of the treatises enumerated above have been
mutilated by the original bibliographers, and owing to the extreme
rarity of most alchemical books, it has been impossible to correct all
errors.
APPENDIX.
I.
The life of Denis Zachaire has been made the subject of an interesting
and well-written novel--“A Professor of Alchemy”--by “Percy Ross,”
recently published by Mr George Redway. The life of the great adept,
after his accomplishment of the Magnum Opus, is detailed at some
length, M. Louis Figuier being apparently the authority for the bare
facts of the case. The alchemist is represented by the French writer
as having travelled to Lausanne, where he became enamoured of a young
and beautiful lady, whom he carried from Switzerland into Germany, and
then abandoned himself completely to a life of dissipation and folly,
which closed tragically at Cologne in the year 1556. He was strangled
in the middle of a drunken sleep by the cousin who had accompanied
him in his travels, and who coveted his wealth and his mistress. The
murderer effected his escape with the lady, who appears to have been
his accomplice. The sole authority for this narrative appears to be a
poem by Mardoché de Delle, who was attached, as a sort of laureate, to
the court of Rodolph II. It is not improbably a mere invention of the
versifier; there is nothing in the sober treatise of Denis Zachaire,
written at the period in question, to give colour to the account of his
extravagance.
II.
The manuscript volume entitled “Egyptian Freemasonry” fell, with
the other papers of Cagliostro, into the hands of the Inquisition,
and was solemnly condemned in the judgment as containing rites,
propositions, a doctrine and a system which opened a broad road to
sedition and were calculated to destroy the Christian religion. The
book was characterised as superstitious, blasphemous, impious, and
heretical. It was publicly burnt by the hands of the executioner, with
the instruments belonging to the sect. Some valuable particulars
concerning it are, however, preserved in the Italian life; they are
reproduced from the original proceedings published at Rome by order of
the Apostolic Chamber.
“It may be necessary to enter into some details concerning Egyptian
Masonry. We shall extract our facts from a book compiled by himself,
and now in our possession, by which he owns he was always directed in
the exercise of his functions, and from which those regulations and
instructions were copied, wherewith he enriched many mother lodges. In
this treatise, which is written in French, he promises to conduct his
disciples to perfection by means of physical and moral regeneration,
to confer perpetual youth and beauty on them, and restore them to that
state of innocence which they were deprived of by means of original
sin. He asserts that Egyptian Masonry was first propagated by Enoch
and Elias, but that since that time it has lost much of its purity
and splendour. Common masonry, according to him, has degenerated into
mere buffoonery, and women have of late been entirely excluded from
its mysteries; but the time was now arrived when the grand Copt was
about to restore the glory of masonry, and allow its benefits to be
participated by both sexes.
“The statutes of the order then follow in rotation, the division of
the members into three distinct classes, the various signs by which
they might discover each other, the officers who are to preside over
and regulate the society, the stated times when the members are to
assemble, the erection of a tribunal for deciding all differences that
may arise between the several lodges or the particular members of each,
and the various ceremonies which ought to take place at the admission
of the candidates. In every part of this book the pious reader is
disgusted with the sacrilege, the profanity, the superstition, and the
idolatry with which it abounds--the invocations in the name of God, the
prostrations, the adorations paid to the Grand Master, the fumigations,
the incense, the exorcisms, the emblems of the Divine Triad, of the
moon, of the sun, of the compass, of the square, and a thousand other
scandalous particulars, with which the world is at present well
acquainted.
“The Grand Copt, or chief of the lodge, is compared to God the Father.
He is invoked upon every occasion; he regulates all the actions of
the members and all the ceremonies of the lodge, and he is even
supposed to have communication with angels and with the Divinity. In
the exercise of many of the rites they are desired to repeat the _Veni_
and the _Te Deum_--nay, to such an excess of impiety are they enjoined,
that in reciting the psalm _Memento Domine David_, the name of the
Grand Master is always to be substituted for that of the King of Israel.
“People of all religions are admitted into the society of Egyptian
Masonry--the Jew, the Calvinist, the Lutheran, are to be received into
it as well as the Catholic--provided they believe in the existence of
God and the immortality of the soul, and have been previously allowed
to participate in the mysteries of the common masonry. When men are
admitted, they receive a pair of garters from the Grand Copt, as is
usual in all lodges, for their mistresses; and when women are received
into the society, they are presented by the Grand Mistress with a
cockade, which they are desired to give to that man to whom they are
most attached.
“We shall here recount the ceremonies made use of on admitting a female.