Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

356 FRANCIS BACON
the tree of knowledge did darken and obscure the superior portions,
but awaked and stirred up the sinful nature.
this is — man." 1
The writer winds up his treatise
The sum of
by " saluting the memory of
Cornelius Agrippa." "He is indeed my author, and next to
God I owe all that I have to him. " The Poet-philosopher then
concludes with some verses to this " great, glorious penman "
!
" The spirits of his lines infuse a fire
Like the
World's Soul, which makes me thus aspire."
In another Rosicrucian document, or treatise (which we also
attribute directly to Bacon), the same thoughts are returned to,
in different language.
It is not enough, says the writer, to call
the inward principle of life " a form, and so bury up the riches
of nature in this narrow and most absurd formality. ... To
be plain, then, this principle (of rational intelligence) is the soul
of the world, or the universall spirit of nature." 2
In Timon of Athens there is a satirical allusion to the sad fall
of man from the first " pure intellectual essence in which he was
created, " free from all fleshly and sensual affections. Noting
the ingratitude, the " monstrousness of man," in days " when
men must learn to dispense with pity, for policy sits above conscience,"
the First Stranger exclaims
" Why, this is the World's Soul ; and just of the same piece
Is every flatterer's sport."
The pitcher, destined to receive and then pour forth the
heavenly liquor, must be of rare and precious materials, finely
wrought, and made in just proportions.
The dew or manna must be gathered before the full rising of
the sun, lest it should be melted and dissipated by too great
lSee Anthroposophia Theomagica, "Magical Writings of Thos. Vaughan,"
edited in English by Arthur E. Waite, p. 2(5-33 (Redway), Kegau, Paul, Trubner
& Co., 1688. It is not a difficult work, as the alarming title might lead us to
suppose ; on the contrary, highly interesting with a view to the present subject.
2 See Anima Magica Abscondita, also edited by A. E. Waite — in the same
yol. as Anthroposophia. Published under the title of "The Magical Writings of
Thos. Vaughan."