Freemasonry In The Seventeenth Century: Warrington, 1646.

itself , is almost as astonishing as this circumstance . He says " it deserved the pains that both Dr . Everard and Mr . Ashmole bestowed upon it , for beyond all doubt , in the genuine edition of our author , it is the best and most sensible book in our language . " I rather agree with Dr . Dibdin , who pronounced it " a work invincibly dull , " and " a farrago of sublime nonsense . " " Biblomania , " p . 387 . Probably neither of us have the true Hermetic vein , which only "Pauci quos sequus amavit Jupiter" are blessed with . Dr . Campbell might be one of those more favoured readers of Avhom Ashmole speaks , ( " Fasciculus Chemicus , " Lond ., 1650 , 12 mo ., prolegomena . ) " It is a cause of much wonder , when he that reads ,

though smatteringly acquainted with nature , should not meet with clear satisfaction ; but here is the reason : Many are called but few are cliosen ,. 'Tis a haven towards which many skilful pilots have bent their course , yet few have reached it . For , as amongst the people of the Jews , there was but one who might enter into the holy of holies , ( and that but once a year ) , so there is seldom more in a nation whom God lets into the sanctum sanctorum of philosophy , yet some there are . But though the number of the elect are not many , and generally the fathom of most men's fancies that attempt the search of this most subtle mystery is too narrow to comprehend ittheir strongest reason too weak to pierce the depth ,

, it lies obscured in , being indeed so unsearchable and ambiguous , it rather exacts the sacred and courteous illuminations of a cherub that the weak assistance of a pen to reveal it , yet let no man despair . " The address to the " Way to Bliss , " which is dated April , 1658 , was a kind of farewell to Hermetic Philosophy on the part of Ashmole . He had fortunately by this time discovered that readier way of acquiring the elixir , which old Anthony Wood , with his usual dry humour , and , though Ashmole was a man after his own heart , Anthony could not forbear the joke , has indicated . "But , " observes he , ( "Athen . " Oxon II ., 891 ) after enumerating his Hermetic collections , "the best elixir that he enjoyed , which was the

foundation of his riches , wherewith he purchased books , rarities , and other things , were the lands and jointures which he had with his second wife Mary , and widow of Sir Thomas Mainwaring , of the Inner Temple , Knt ., sometime steward of Beading . " From the references in his diary to his disputes and litigations with this second wife , it may be surmised that Ashmole occasionally found to his sorrow that the possession of the elixir is not always the " way to bliss . " Of Ashmole , who was connected by his two first marriages with the Cheshire family of Manwaring or Mainwaring , and who in too interesting a subj ect to be compressed within the few lines at present allowed , a fitter opportunity will occur to speak in the preface to Dr . Dee's " Autobiographical Correspondence . " ( This refers to a future volume of the Chetham Society . )

The above is a short sketch of some of the principal events in the life of this extraordinary man , who has been called " the greatest virtuoso and curioso that ever was known or read of in England . " The time of Ashmole ' s introduction to Lilly marks the period of his life most interesting to Freemasons —the year 1646 , as it was during the same visit to Cheshire that he was made a Freemason at Warrington . After Worcester was surrendered by the King ' s troops , Ashmole , as mentioned above , rode out of the toAvn and went to stay Avith his father-in-law , Mr . Peter Mainwaring , in Cheshire . The following entry occurs immediately after that recording his initiation at Warrington . The next entry is Dec . 3 rd .

1646 , Oct . 25 . —I left CHESHIRE and came to LONDON about the End of this Month , viz . the 30 Day , 4 Eor ., Post Merid . About a Fortnight or three Weeks before I came to LONDON , Mr . JONAS MOORE brought and acquainted me with Mr . WILLIAM LILLY ; it was on a FRIDAY Night , and I think on the 20 TH of Nov . This was the beginning of a friendship which so much influenced the thoughts and actions of Ashmole , ancl some notices of which occur in this diary .

1670 , Octob . 8 th . —I moved my Lord Archbishop of CANTERBURY for a License for Mr . LILLY to practise Physick , which he granted . 1672 , July 20 . —I and my Wife went to Mr . LILLY ' S , where we stayed till SEPTEMBER the 2 nd . * Besides the libraries , & c , of Milbourn , Hawkins , John Booker , and Dr . Dee , Ashmole bought that of William Lilly , who died 1681 , as he records in his diary : — 1681 , June 12 . —I bought Mr . LILLY ' S Library of Books of his Widow for £ 50 .