Bannockburn, which took place on St. John the Baptist's day, 1314, that monarch instituted the " Royal Order of Herodom and Knights of the Rosy Cross," and established the chief seat of the Order at Kilwinning. To this tradition, however, we, for our part, attach very little importance. The Order said thus to have been instituted by Bruce on the field of Bannockburn was, most probably, a very different thing from the Degree of Rose Croix. Amongst the earliest known to have belonged to the Rose Croix Brotherhood, says a late English writer, was John Gower, the friend of Chaucer, whose splendid monument in St. Mary Overes' Church, or, as it is now called, St. Saviours, Southwark, shows the recognition of the Degree in the purple and gold band, with fillets of roses, which encircles his head. The Degree may be also traced in Gower's works. Those initiated in the Rose Croix Degree will also, says our author, find allusions to it in the poems of Chaucer. Now Chaucer died in 1460 and Gower in 1402.

Having thus given the views of various writers on the subject, we proceed to examine the evidence upon which our own view of the origin of the Rose Croix Order is founded, premising at once that even the internal evidence, to which we shall refer in the first place, incontrovertibly demonstrates that it was originally a Christian, religious Order, and not pure. ly a Masonic one. Let us then see what are the esoteric character and symbols of the Degree, for these afford the most important of all internal evidence in a matter of this kind.

The occult forms of the Degree arc of the most imposing and impres sive character, and all its ceremonies are eminently devotional and Christian. Its Ritual is remarkable for elegance of diction, while the symbolic teaching is not only pleasing, but intimately cognate to, and consistent with the Christian Faith, figuratively expressing or representing the pas sage of man through the valley of the shadow of death, accompanied and sustained by the no less Christian than Masonic virtues of FAITH, HOPE and CHARITY;-together with his final reception into the abode of Life, Light and Immortality.

The Jewel includes the most important symbols of the Degree. It is a golden Compass, extended on an arc to twentytwo and a half degrees, or the sixteenth part of a circle. The head of the Compass is surmounted by a Crown with seven emerald points. It encloses a Cross of Calvary, formed of rubies or garnets, having on its centre a full blown rose, whose stem twines round the lower limb of the Cross. At the foot of the Cress is a Pelican, wounding her breast to feed her young, which are in a nest beneath. On the reverse, instead of a Pelican, there is a figure of an Eagle. On the arc of the Circle is engraven in cipher a Word of the

Degree. It will be seen that the symbols of which the Jewel is composed are symbolically Christian in their character. The Eagle on the Jewel is said to be a symbol of Christ in his divine character, bearing the children of his adoption on his wings, and teaching them, with unequalled love and tenderness, to spread their new-fledged wings, and to soar from the corruptions of earth to a higher and holier sphere.

The Pelican is appropriately adopted as an emblem of the Incarnate Saviour, who shed his blood for the salvation of the human race, from the custom attributed by the poets to this bird, of tearing open its own breast to feed its offspring with its blood. Ragon says that, in the hieroglyphic monuments of the ancients, the Eagle was the symbol of a wise, and the Pelican of a benevolent man:-he therefore considers the Eagle and Pelican of this Degree to be intended respectively to symbolize perfect wisdom and perfect charity. The 102nd Psalm, which was written towards the end of the Captivity, touchingly alludes to the lonely situation of the Pelican in the Wilderness, as illustrative of the poignancy of the writer's grief at witnessing the desolation of his country and the prostration of her sacred altars" My heart is smitten and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a Pelican of the Wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert." In this view then the Pelican is a fitting symbol for the Degree.

The Cross was from the earliest ages, with the Egyptians, a symbol of eternal life; but, since the Crucifixion, it has been peculiarly adopted as an emblem of Him who suffered upon it," the just for the unjust." It is only in this latter signification that it is adopted as an emblem in this Degree; and hence its form. The Rose, in Holy Scripture, is used as a figurative appellation of the Messiah, as in the Canticles, where He is called the Rose of Sharon. As the Cross then symbolizes the mode of His death, so the Rose on the Cross is an emblem of the Saviour suffering death thereon for the sins of mankind. The Rose, in ancient mythology, was consecrated to Harpocrates, the god of silence, and, in the mysterics, the hierophant wore a crown of roses, as emblematic of silence and secrecy. Following out this idea, Ragon suggests that, as the Cross was, in Egpyt, an emblem of immortality and the Rose of secrecy, the Rose followed by the Cross was the simplest mode of writing "the secret of Immortality." In this connection it may be remarked that the initials of the Latin inscription placed upon the Cross, I.N.R.I., representing" Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judæorum," were used by the Rosicrucians as the initials of one of their Hermetic secrets :-" Igne Natura renovatur integra”By fire, Nature is perfectly renewed." They also used the same let

L

ters to express the names of their three elementary principles, Salt, Sulphur, Mercury, by making them the initials of the sentence "Igne Nitrum Rois Invenitur." A learned Masonic writer finds au equivalent in the initials of the Hebrew names of the ancient elements, which he gives as Janinim, water-Nour, fire-Ruach, air-and Jebschah, earth.

Although in this digression we have referred to the Rosicrucians, we must remind our readers that those alchemical visionaries had no connection with the Order of the Rose Croix-not even in the origin of the name, for Rosicrucian, as we have shown, was derived from ros, dew, and crux, the cross, as a chemical emblem of light, whereas Rose Croix is from the Rose on the Cross.*

The preceding sketch of the esoteric character of the Degree is sufficient to indicate its sentiment, and to show that it must have originated among Christians and for high religious purposes. But it does not in any way authorize the conclusion that it was originally instituted as a Masonic Degree, or, in fact, that it was at first, at all connected with Masonry. The conclusion by inference tends very strongly in the opposite direction, for, in proportion as we find either internal or external evidence of the Christian and purely religious character of the Rose Croix Order, the fur

*Roscili, in his work on the Secret Societies which preceded the Reformation, has the following:

"St. Paul, in the 2d Chapter of his Epistle to the Galatians, calls the three Apostles, who attended their Divine Master in his most divine moments, and who witnessed his transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and devotion in the Garden, Pillars; and following that passage of the Apostle, the Paulicians* made them three Pillars, emblematic of the three theological virtues: St Peter was Faith, St. James, Hope, and St John, Charity. In a Rite, which is supposed to have descended from the Albigenses,† three Pillars appear, with the names of those virtues on them The candidate is obliged to travel for thirtythree years, (thus they call the thirtythree turns he takes, in allusion to the age of our Lord,) to learn the beauties of the New Law. His leader takes round the three columns, repeating successively the name of each virtue, and afterwards asks him what he has learnt in his pilgrimage? To which he answer, that he has learnt the three virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, and that by them he intends to govern himself. The Master assures him that they are the principles and Pillars of the New Mys'ery. In these same rites the pilgrimage undertaken by the candidate, who is thirtythree years of age, which extends through thirtythree years, the tragedy of Good Friday, and the events of the following days, are rehearsed, and Christ dies and rises again under his eyes. This new mystery, or new law, is the essence of Dante's Vita Nuova, In the Paradise, we find this rite described exactly. Before the last vision, St. Peter examines him on faith. St. James on hope, and St. John on charity; relating to the three pilgrimages of the Palmers, or Templars to St John of Jerusalem; of the Pilgrims, or A bɛgenses, to St James m Gallicia; and of the Romei, or Ghibbe:ines, to St. Peter's in Rome; and at the exammation presides Beatrice, who, by a far fetched comparison, is likened to Christ, when transfigured before the eyes of his three Apostles.”

*The aulicians, who are generally considered to be a branch of the Manichæans, first appea.ed in Armenia in the seventh century.

for Paulicians, a sect in the eastern church, A. D. 666.

ther do we remove it from any connection with the cosmopolitan Order of Freemasonry, which, though entirely coinciding with many of the best and purest principles of Christianity, could not, from its very nature, consent to be restricted within the limits of any one religion or sect, however virtuous, good, and holy that religion might be. In seeking the probable origin of the Order then, we have these facts as a basis for our speculations. First, we have clear, historic evidence that the Order has existed, under its present title, at least some five or six hundred years. Secondly, that in its Symbols, Ritual, and Teaching, it bears internal evidence of being religious and Christian in its whole character. Thirdly, we all well know that this symbolizing of Divine and Holy things was a peculiar characteristic of very ancient times, and that, in the course of a very few centuries after the establishment of Christianity, although the old symbols were retained, the invention of new ones was almost, if not quite, done away with. For these reasons it seems to us more than probable that it originated, at a very early period, in the Christian Church, and was handed down by certain religious Bodies to later ages, when at last the nobleness and purity of its principles, together with a strongly felt sympathy and "accord," caused it to be adopted by Masonry as one of its highest Orders. Before proceeding to examine the proofs of this however, let us first briefly give what seems to us the correct and simple explanation of the term Heredom, Heroden, &c., referred to in the earlier part of this article. The correct orthography is undoubtedly Harodim, a Hebrew word signifying rulers or princes. Hence, Rose Croix de Harodim may be correctly rendered "Princes (or Rulers) of the Rose Cross"-the word "Princes" being used in the Scriptural sense, as Chiefs of the Priests (Is. xlii.): as men of superior worth and excellence (Eccles. x.): the chief men of families or tribes (Num. xvii.); or the chiefs of any body of men. This explanation of the term will be found to have a close connection with what follows, and therefore we have reserved it for this place.

That various secret societies and mysteries-meaning by the term simply higher esoteric teachings to which the unprepared and uninitiated multitude were not admitted—were adopted by the Christians at a very early period, we are assured by very convincing evidence, to parts of which we will revert presently and when we consider that this idea of mystery and of an esoteric philosophy, restricted to the initiated, was so familiar to the Indians, the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Romans, at the time when Christianity was first preached, we shall not be surprised that such was the case. The origin of the mystic associations and ceremonies of those ancient nations, is doubtless to be sought for (as a learn

ed writer on the subject has observed) in the nature of religion, and in the feelings of awe and reverence with which its objects are regarded. We would add that its source lies in the innate feelings of man's heart. Mystery, in one form or another, is inherent in religion, and will never disappear from it, for mysterious ceremonies, doctrines, and language are coördinate developments of the same religious feeling. Mysticism (says another) is always a protest-if frequently a blind one-in behalf of what is highest and best in human nature and its voice is continually heard in an age of formalism and moral degradation. It is a reaction against a spirit of scepticism, and is fostered by that weariness of the world, that shrinking from conflict, that passionate longing for unattainable rest, which the crushed and cowed spirit so frequently displays. The fascination of mystery also, which attends all forms of this spiritual development, exerts a powerful influence over the earnest imagination. The earliest mystic associations known are probably those of India, while those of Egypt and Greece were eventually more fully and perfectly developed, and attained the greatest popularity and influence. The great purpose of all such associations was the cultivation and transmission of the esoteric religious doctrines peculiar to each. This was accomplished by means of symbols and solemn ceremonies known only to the initiated, and which they were bound by the most awful obligations to conceal from the vulgar. Egyptian priests, we are told, at an early period, introduced their doctrines into Greece under the veil of the Mysteries, instructing the few, who, by submitting to the necessary probation, showed themselves worthy of being instructed in the doctrines of the Unity of God, the immortality of the soul, its emanation from the Supreme, &c.

Ouvaroff, in his "Essai sur les mystéres d'Eleusis," asserts that the initiated not only acquired just notions on the Deity and his relations to man on the primitive dignity of human nature, and its fall: on the im mortality of the soul and the means of its reconciliation with God; but that oral and even written traditions were also revealed to them. It is a point well worthy of notice here that the Eleusinian mysteries continued to be celebrated and patronized long after the establishment of Christianity; in fact, until the 5th Century, when Theodosius issued an edict for their abolition.

That the early Christians had among them a secret society similiar in its machinery to the "mysteries" of the Paganism which they had renounced, and probably designed to accomplish a like purpose in the Christian Church, is a well attested fact. According to Clement, the fellow-laborer of St. Paul, those who were initiated into it were required to be "irreproachable and well reported: of a sound mind and body, hav