Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

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14 FRANCIS BACON
during the last stage of perfecting the book. They tally with
each other, and also form a complete chain of evidence as to
the workings of a secret society. Say that they are printers'
marks ;
yet they are secret marks produced with cunning, skill,
and forethought, and not without expense as well as trouble.
13. All these secret signs are traceable, variously modified,
and ingeniously introduced to suit the exigencies of modern
printing and publishing, from the time of Bacon to the present
day. The chain of connection seems to be complete. Inquiries
amongst notable printing-firms and printers, and researches into
books, supposed authorities on the subject, fail to produce definite
information ; but the facts are not denied nor these statements
refuted. The impossibility of getting a straightforward answer
to the questions, "Are these things true?" or "Are these
things untrue? " confirms the long-growing conviction that the
same system which was set going in the time of Bacon is at the
present time in full working order ; and that the Freemasons
form the Arts and Crafts, the later-established and lower degrees
of the society which, at the eighteenth degree, rises into the
literary and religious society of "Rose Croix," or the " Rosicrucians,
^ as they were called by Andreas.
14. The Rosicrucians and the Freemasons speak in their books
of the necessity for a " universal language. " This language is to
be partly by signs, but also largely by symbols or emblems. It
is the language of the " Renaissance. " A collation of passages
shows that all the metaphors, similes, symbols, and emblems of
the Rosicrucians and Masons, and of all the works which we
connect with them, are included in the ivorks of Bacon. The
greater contains the less, and the language is his. No one has
since improved upon it, although many have paraphrased and
diluted his words, as well as his original thoughts.
15. Bacon's most intimate friends, relations, and correspondents
seem to have been all either Rosicrucians, Freemasons, or
Uluminati, as, in Italy and parts of Germany, they were sometimes
called. Their names continually appear in connection
with the works produced under the auspices of these
societies
their portraits often include the recognized marks of distinction;