216 HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS. and which Kenealy himself would disown. Doubtless these things are connected in the mind of Mr Hargrave Jennings with his mysterious and ubiquitous Brotherhood, for his diseased imagination perceives Rosicrucianism everywhere, “as those who believe in witchcraft see sorcery and en- chantment everywhere.” This connection, however, he nowhere attempts to establish, and it is incredible to sup- pose that the shallow pretence has ever imposed on anyone. The few statements which he makes concerning the Fra- ternity must be rejected as worthless ; for example, he tells us that the alchemists were a physical branch of the Rosi- eruciana, whereas the Rosicrucians were a theosophical sect among the alchemists. T have deemed it unnecessary to consider the alleged connection between the Templars and the Brethren of the Rose-Cross, for this hypothesis depends upon another, now generally set aide, namely, the connection of the Free- masons with the foregoing orders. It is sufficient to say that tho Templars were not alchemists, that they had no scientific pretensions, and that their secret, so far as can be ascertained, was a religious secret of an anti-Christian kind. ‘The Rosicrucians, on the other hand, were pre-eminently a learned society, and they were also » Christian sect.Alas OF ANDREAS. CHAPTER VIII, THE CASE OF JOHANN VALENTIN ANDREAS. Most existing theories as to the authorship of the Rosi- erucian manifestoes are founded upon plausible assumptions or ingenious conclusions drawn from the doubtful materials of merely alleged facts. Each investigator has approached the subject with an ambitions determination to solve the problem connected with the mysterious Order, but, in the absence of adequate materials, has evolved a new hypothesis, where the supposititious has transfigured what is certain for the satisfaction of individual bias. Asa simple historian working in the cause of truth, it is neither my inclination nor my duty to contrive a fresh theory, but rather to state the facts which are in conflict with all theories, and to draw no conclusion unwarranted by the direct evidence in hand. The Rosicrucian theorists may be broadly divided into three bands—I. Those who believe that the history of Christian Rosencreutz is true in fact, and that the society originated in the manner recounted in the ‘‘ Fama Frater- nitatis.” II. Those who regard both the society and its founder as purely mythical, and consider with Liebnitz, “ que tout ce gue Pon a dit des Fréres de la Croix de la Rose, est une pure invention de quelque personne ingeniense.” LUI, Those who, without accepting the historical truth of the etory21g HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS. of Rosencreutz, believe in the existence of the Rosicrucians as a secret society, which drew attention to the fact of its existence by a singular and attractive fiction. In the first division are gathered the men of large imagi- nation and abundant faith, who, unawed by historical diffi- culties, unaffected by discrepancies of fact, and despising the terra damnata of frigid critical methods, are bewitched. by romantic associations and the glamour of impenetrable mystery. They love to contemplate the adepts of the Rose- Cross moving silently among the ignorant and vulgar mul- titude, diffusing light and healing, masters of terrific secrets, having nothing in appearance and yet possessing all things, ever inscrutable, ever intangible, ever vanishing suddenly. The sublime dreams produced by their mystical hachish are undisturbed by the essential shallowness and commonplace of Rosicrucian manifestoes, for they reject authoritative documents, or interpret objectionable passages in an inverted sense, Insuperable dificulties prevent us from supposing that the “Fama” and “ Confessio Fraternitatis”. emanated from a secret society whose literal history is contained in them. These difficulties are, for the most part, inherent in the nature of the alleged history, which I undertook in the in- troduction to prove mythical, It will be unnecessary for this purpose to consider the scientific foundation of Rosi- erucian claims. The purse of Fortunatus—that is, the Stone of the Philosophers—the power of transmutation, the exist- ence of elementary spirits, the doctrine of signatures, ever- burning lamps, and vision at a distance, may be possibilities, however remote on the horizon of natural science, There are many things in heaven and on earth which are un- dreamed of in the philosophy of Horatio, and occultism