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Article ANCIENT WRITERS AND MODERN PRACTICES Page 1 of 7 →
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Ancient Writers And Modern Practices
ANCIENT WEITEES AND MODEEN PEACTICES
( Continued from page 606 . ) We now come to the circumstances which , according to De Quincey , first " gave occasion to the rise of the Eosicrucian Order , and of the earliest authentic records of history which relate to it . " As we have reason , to believe that the majority of our readers do not belong to this Order , w e pass over this portion of the history with less detail than that which relates to the Craft in general , and merely give an abstract of it , leaving it to the judgment of our Brethren of
the Order of the Eose Croix . Towards the end of the sixteenth century , ( continues our author ) cabbalism , theosophy , and alchemy , had overspread the whole of Western Europe , and especially of Germany . To this mania , wdiicii infected all classes , no writer had contributed so much as
Theophrastus Paracelsus ; and in or about the year 1610 were published three books , which , according to De Quincey , led to the foundation of the Eosicrucian Order as a distinct society . The first of these , serving as a kind of introduction to the two others , is entitled , " The Universal Eeformation of the whole Wide World , and is a tale , not without some wit and humour . The seven wise men of Greece , with
M . Cato and Seneca , and a secretary named Mazzomus , are summoned to Delphi by Apollo , at the desire of the Emperor Justinian , and there deliberate on the best mode of redressing human misery . Thales proposes a window in every man ' s breast , in order to detect , with a view to extinguish them , hypocrisy and vice in the heart .
Solon proposes an equal division of all property . Chilo proposes the banishment of those two infamous and rascally metals , gold and silver , which w ould , in his opinion , prevent war . Pittacus insists upon more rigorous laws , which should make virtue and merit the sole passports to honour ; to which , how ever , Periander objects that there has never been any scarcity of such laws or of princes to
execute them , but scarcity enough of subjects conformable to good laws . Bias suggests , in order to keep all people and nations to their own homes and countries , tljat all bridges be demolished , ipountains rendered insurmountable , and navigation totally forbidden . Cato , who , in our friend ' s opinion , is the wisest (!) of the party , wishes that all ioomen could be swept off the face of the earth by another deluge ,
and the male sex , only , continued by some new arrangement . This , however , creates the greatest indignation ; and at length , after a long debate , the idea of Seneca prevails , viz ., that out of all ranks of men a society be formed , having for its object the general welfare of mankind , and pursuing it in secret , though without much hope of its success on the part of the deputation , on account of the desperate condition of " the -Age , " who appears before them in person , and describes bis own wretched state of health .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ancient Writers And Modern Practices
ANCIENT WEITEES AND MODEEN PEACTICES
( Continued from page 606 . ) We now come to the circumstances which , according to De Quincey , first " gave occasion to the rise of the Eosicrucian Order , and of the earliest authentic records of history which relate to it . " As we have reason , to believe that the majority of our readers do not belong to this Order , w e pass over this portion of the history with less detail than that which relates to the Craft in general , and merely give an abstract of it , leaving it to the judgment of our Brethren of
the Order of the Eose Croix . Towards the end of the sixteenth century , ( continues our author ) cabbalism , theosophy , and alchemy , had overspread the whole of Western Europe , and especially of Germany . To this mania , wdiicii infected all classes , no writer had contributed so much as
Theophrastus Paracelsus ; and in or about the year 1610 were published three books , which , according to De Quincey , led to the foundation of the Eosicrucian Order as a distinct society . The first of these , serving as a kind of introduction to the two others , is entitled , " The Universal Eeformation of the whole Wide World , and is a tale , not without some wit and humour . The seven wise men of Greece , with
M . Cato and Seneca , and a secretary named Mazzomus , are summoned to Delphi by Apollo , at the desire of the Emperor Justinian , and there deliberate on the best mode of redressing human misery . Thales proposes a window in every man ' s breast , in order to detect , with a view to extinguish them , hypocrisy and vice in the heart .
Solon proposes an equal division of all property . Chilo proposes the banishment of those two infamous and rascally metals , gold and silver , which w ould , in his opinion , prevent war . Pittacus insists upon more rigorous laws , which should make virtue and merit the sole passports to honour ; to which , how ever , Periander objects that there has never been any scarcity of such laws or of princes to
execute them , but scarcity enough of subjects conformable to good laws . Bias suggests , in order to keep all people and nations to their own homes and countries , tljat all bridges be demolished , ipountains rendered insurmountable , and navigation totally forbidden . Cato , who , in our friend ' s opinion , is the wisest (!) of the party , wishes that all ioomen could be swept off the face of the earth by another deluge ,
and the male sex , only , continued by some new arrangement . This , however , creates the greatest indignation ; and at length , after a long debate , the idea of Seneca prevails , viz ., that out of all ranks of men a society be formed , having for its object the general welfare of mankind , and pursuing it in secret , though without much hope of its success on the part of the deputation , on account of the desperate condition of " the -Age , " who appears before them in person , and describes bis own wretched state of health .