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224
HISTORY OF THE ROS1CRUCIANS.
desolation of Germany," the redress of the abuses and evils
in which had been the main object of his life
"
it is not
to be wondered that he ... sank into deep despondency
and misanthropy." At his own earnest importunity he was
permitted to resign his post, and died abbot of Adelberg and
Lutheran almoner to the Duke of Wirtemberg in the year
1654, "after a long and painful illness."
All authorities are agreed upon one important point in
the character of Andreas, and that is his predilection in
favour of secret societies as instruments in the reformation
of his age and country. According to Buhle, he had a profound
and painful sense of the gross evils and innumerable
abuses which afflicted the German fatherland, and which
were revealed, not eradicated, by the lurid fire-brand of
Luther's reformation. These abuses he sought to redress
by means of "secret societies." The ambition of his boyhood
appears to have been the labour of his after days.
"The writings of Andreas, issued during his life-time, are
full of arguments on the necessity of forming a society solely
devoted to the reformation of sciences and manners. . . .
Three of his works, namely, '
tanse Descriptio '
;
Fraternitate Kosacese Crucis Chaos '
'
Reipublicse Christianopoli-
Turris Babel, sive Judiciorum de
;
'
Christianse Socie-
tatis Idea/ all published at Strasbourg in the years 1619
and 1620, offer the clearest indications of his project to
form a secret society.
It is impossible not to perceive that
he is always aiming at something of the kind. Some also
appeal to his frequent travels as having no other object. 1
A writer in the " Dictionnaire des Sciences Occultes "
speaks with even greater emphasis. "The works of
Andreas, to the number of one hundred, preach promiscu-
1 " Biblioth&que Universelle," tome ii., pp. 126-128.