The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-05 00:00:00

BRITISH MAGAZINE.

The religion of the Rosicrucians, it might rea-
sonably have been thought, had altogether lost
its vitality, in the persons of its latest disciples,
Reuchliu and Prince Mirandulanus. Several
papers, however, of late, in this Magazine, ma-
nifest its embers to he still on the sparkle and
the present article, " Macrocosm and Micro-
cosm," forms part of a series. This school,
known long on the Continent as that of " Rosy
Cross," and whose disciples were once multitu-
dinous in the East, has been greatly deteriorated
in modern times by its triple admixture with
astrology, freemasonry, and the Welch bardism.
These have muffled its originally clear features
in enigma and intricacy, and the doctrines ap•
pertaining to it have been 'so thoroughly dis-
guised, and . their textual readiness interpolated,
that it has become scarcely possible to discover
among them, the intelligent system aticiently
taught under the orange-shades of Babylon and
Jerusalem, by the elders and rabbis of those
people. An elaborate paper on the "Times of
the Reformation?" adduces proofs from the
Contemporary pulpit, on the spread of immo-
rality among the London population at that
period. The complaints of the clericals of the
day form a perfect' Jeremiad. The books then
read are wofully stigmatised; most particularly
those little black-letter duodecimos, full of
popish legends and tales of enchantment, which
changed hands with incredible rapidity, and
were " cheaply purchased for their weight in
gold." The poets were inspired by no holy
thoughts, but had their fancieS sublimed only by
" sack and claret." Eight. theatres were open'
every Sunday—the Theatre, the Curtain, the
Globe; and five others playing twice and thrice a
week, realised a revenue of 2,0001. a year, and
were little " palaces of pleasure" that swarmed
with depravity. On this day also "silver-games,
drinking, dancing, and dicing" were among the
cornrnonestprofanities, and the only penalty of the
offenders ,herein, was a flap with a fox's tail.
Even the. Queen, whose accession was hailed by
Reformers as the rising of a "bright accidental
star" fell under the general ban. Elizabeth was
found to lead no life of faith. " The field, the
dance, the bear-garden, and the stage, succeeded
so constantly and rapidly on, her morning studies
in theology, that it seems -,strange how any but
courtiers could imagine that they had calmed
her mind, and made her happiness. She was a
gay, worldly, scheming woman. The Papists
hated her for what :she did : the Reformers
doubted her for what she did not. The Queen's
popularity in the early part of her reign was itself
an evil, when it made 'fashionable the oaths she
swore, and the dilapidation and sacrilege she in-
dulged in." Lastly, to consummate the scene,
there existed, even among the clergy themselves,
a species of " diVisum imperium" on the score of
conduct and immorality. While one Bishop
blesses the English Church in its then present
state, and comfortably believes that it is " crown-
ed with infinite stars, who are the good professors
of the word," a rival Archdeacon pitiably com-
plains that " a man now-a-days makes himself
minister to get a piece of a living, and sings
stoutly for the stipend only." The "Christmas
Rose," being a charming subject, should have
inspired more glow and colour to the lines.
" The Five Articles of Perth" give an historic
sketch of the introduction of a few religious crot-
chetsamong the Scottish Episcopalians by James
I. They certainly appear very innocent ordinan-
ces, and only the most ludicrous fanaticism could
find in them anything to deprecate. Neverthe-
less Calderwood, the chronicler, states that when
the Perth articles were touched by the sceptre
for ratification, lightning flashed; that the day
was marked as "Black Saturday;" and the cannon
from the Castle of Edinburgh, in their discharges,
" began with fire from the earth in the morn-
ing, and ended with fire from Heaven in the
evening." It is agreeable to observe that Spot-
tiswood, whom the Presbyterians assailed with
lampoons and libels to perpetuity, is otherwise
regarded by the writer as a pious, mild, and vir-
tuous prelate. Among its medley of correspon-
dence the Editor denies the charge made by Mr.
Golightly, of this Magazine being an engine in
the hands of the Oxford tractarians : it has dis-
cussed many Puseyite convictions, and refuted
more: