the french mystic and the story of modern martinism

8/4/2019 The French Mystic and the Story of Modern Martinism

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THE FRENCH MYSTIC AND THE STORY OF

MODERN MARTINISM

BY ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE

CHAPTER I

THE GREAT DAY OF SAINT-MARTIN

DURING the second half of the eighteenth century it may be said without exaggerationthat the intellectual, historical and political centre of all things was in the kingdom of

France !he statement obtains not only because of the great uphea"al of re"olution which

was to close the epoch, but because of the acti"ities which prepared thereto I know not

what gulfs dispart us from the scheme and order of things signified by the name of#oltaire, by Diderot and the $ncyclopaedists at large, or what are the points of contact

between the human understanding at this day and that which was concei"ed by %ondorcetin his memorable treatise &ut about the import and conse'uence of their place and time Isuppose that no one can 'uestion !he same land and the same period were the centre also

of occult acti"ities and occult interests, which I mention at once because they belong to

my sub(ect, at least on the external side, since it happens 'uite often that where occultismis about on the surface there is mysticism somewhere behind )e may remember in this

connection that a %hristian mystical influence had been carried o"er in France from the

last years of the se"enteenth century through certain decades which followed* it was that

of +ort Royal, Fenelon and adame Guyon, owing something - almost unawares - to the.panish school of /uietism, as this in its turn reflected, without being aware of the fact,

from pre-Reformation sources

0s regards occult acti"ities, if I say that their seeds were sown prior to 1234, it will beunderstood that I am speaking of de"elopments which were characteristic in a particular

manner of the years that followed thereon 5ccultism is always in the world, and among

the French people especially there has been always some disposition to be drawn in thisdirection In the eighteenth century, howe"er, the sources for the most part are not to be

found in France !he persuasi"e illuminations of .wedenborg the deep searchings of

6acob &ohme into God, man and the uni"erse, the combined theosophy and magicrepresented by earlier and later kabalism, and a strange new sense of the ysteries

coming out from a sleep of the centuries with the ad"ent of .ymbolical Freemasonry

these and some others with a root of general likeness were foreign in respect of theirorigins, but they found their homes in France .o also were certain splendid historical

ad"enturers who tra"elled in the occult sciences, as other merchants tra"el in the wares ofthe normal commercial world

I refer of course to .aint-Germain and %agliostro, but they are signal examples or types,

for they did not stand alone !here were men with new gospels and re"elations of all

kinds7 there were alchemists and magi in the byways, as well as on8 the public roads andin the 9ing:s palaces +erhaps abo"e all there were those who tra"elled in Rites, meaning

asonic Rites, carrying strange charters and making claims which had ne"er been heard

of pre"iously in the age-long chronicle of occult things


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)hen one comes to reflect upon it, the great, many-sided asonic ad"enture may be said

to stand for the whole, to express it in the world of signs, as actually and historically

speaking there came a day, before the French Re"olution, when it seemed about to absorbthe whole 0ll the occult sciences, all the ready-made e"angels, all philosophies, the e"er-

transpiring new births in time ceased to be schemes on paper and came to be embodied in

Grades.o also the past, though it may be thought to ha"e buried its dead, began to gi"e them

back to the Rites, and not as sheeted ghosts, but as things so truly risen and so much

affirming life that they denied their own death and e"en that they had fallen asleep 5fsuch was the Rosy %ross It came about in this manner that our $mblematical Institution,

which was born, so to speak, at an 0ppIe- !ree !a"ern and nursed in its early days at the

Rummer and Grapes or the Goose and Gridiron, may be said to ha"e passed through asecond birth in France It underwent otherwise a great transformation, was clothed in

gorgeous7 "estments and decorated with magnificent titles It contracted in like manner

the adornment of innumerable spiritual marriages, which were fruitful in spiritualprogeny I ha"e pronounced its encomillm elsewhere and that of the Rites and Grades, the

memorable 5rders and %hi"alries which came thus into being ;1< ore numerous stillwere the foster sons and daughters, being things connected with asonry but not

belonging thereto, e"en in the widest sense of its $mblematic 0rt 5f illegitimate childrenby scores, things of rank imposture or gross delusion, I do not need to speak It is

sufficient to say that =oly =ouses of asonry were e"erywhere in the land of France,

and e"erywhere also were its royal standards unrolled !here is no 'uestion, from onepoint of "iew, that all the claims belonged to a world of dreams, that from old-world

history they drew only its fables, from anti'ue science its myths, that the dignities

conferred in proceedings were deli"ered in a glass of faerie, and that the embla>onedprogrammer of high intent and purpose were apt to fade strangely and seem written in

in"isible ink under the cold light of fact &ut the reality behind the dreams must be sought

in the spirit of the dreamers, for whom something had happened which opened all the thedoors and unfolded ama>ing "istas of possibility on e"ery side about them

!he man who held the keys and indeed had forged them was no other than #oltaire, who

in this connection stands of course for an intellectual mo"ement at large, whichmo"ement meant emancipation from the fetters of thought and action !o summari>e the

situation in a sentence, apart from the %hurch and its dogma, all things looked possible

for a moment !he peculiar asonic ?system of morality, "eiled in allegory and

illustrated by symbols,? might lead humanity either back to the perfection which it hadlost or forward to that which it desired and could in mind descry dimly, howe"er far

away

!he new prophets and their "aunted re"elations might ha"e God behind their gospels, andthe darkness of the occult sciences might "eil unknown asters, rather than emissaries of

perdition %ondemned practices, forbidden arts might lead through clouds of mystery into

light of knowledge, and in this light history might call to be written out anew )e know atthis day that asonic legends are matters of fond in"ention, but some of them are old at

the root, and we can understand in the eighteenth century how they came to pass as fact,

more especially since the root of some was a .ecret !radition in Israel


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)hen it came about, under circumstances which cannot be recited here, that asonic

attention was drawn to the old 5rder of 9nights !emplar, which had been brought to the

rack and the faggot as possessors of a strange knowledge drawn from the $ast, a Rite or abudget of Rites which claimed that the 5rder had ne"er passed out of being was like a

fortune to those who de"ised

It is from this point of new that we must sur"ey the ama>ing growth of asonry in all itsmultitude of forms )e shall conclude that it was pursued >ealously, with a heart turned

towards the truth, and as one who belie"es that he may not stand alone, I am not

unprepared to think that some of the traditional histories, to us as monstrous growths,represented to the makers their "iews on the probability of things presented in the guise

of myth It was sa"ed in this manner for them from the common charge of fraud !his is

my (udgment of the time, and there is one thing more on the wonderside of the sub(ect,the expectations and the "istas seen in front 0s the time drew on for #oltaire to be called

away and when the chief =igh Grades of asonry connoted a reaction from much that is

typified by his name, there rose up another personality holding one key only, but itlooked like cla"is abeconditorum a constitutione mundi

!his was 0nton esmer, prominent in +arisian circles, a ason like the rest of them, and

destined presently to ha"e more than one Grade enshrining his disco"ery and designedfor the spread of its tenets Granting the fact of his unseen but "ital fluid, there was a root

of truth at least in the long past of agia, in the entrancements of "estal and pythoness,

abo"e all in occult medicine .o opened some other doors, and when +uysegurdisco"ered clair"oyance again as it might be for a moment - the mystery of all the

hiddenness looked on the point of un"eiling &ut the doors shut suddenly, the dreams and

the epoch closed in the carnage of the French Re"olution, and thereafter rose the baleful

cresset of %orsica

I ha"e dwelt upon French Freemasonry because it is impossible to pass o"er it in

presenting a picture of the period, but more especially because the life of the mystic.aint-artin is bound up therewith for a certain number of years 0mong the Rites whichmattered at the moment his name connects with two, being the glory of the .trict

5bser"ance and the problematical 5rder of $lect +riesthood;1ed, though it is a sub(ect of fre'uent allusion in the

correspondence of artines de +as'ually and .aintartin In the year 1B3 +apus,

otherwise Dr Gerard $ncausse, testified that the ?Rituals of the $lect +riests,? with othernumerous and important archi"es, had been transmitted as follows*

1. !o 6& )illermo>, a merchant of @yons, circa 12BE =e was one of the successors

of +as'ually and Grand +rior of 0u"ergne in the .trict 5bser"ance ;E< From)illermo> to his nephew ;< From this nephew to his widow ;C< From her to

%a"ernier, an unattached student of occultism !here are other documents held by

the descendants of 6ac'ues atter, one of the early and most competentbiographers of .aint-artin &y the mediation of $lie .teel, a bookseller of

@yons, +apers was placed in communication with %a"ernier, and was enabled to

copy ?the principal documents? ;1a< )hether these included the Rituals does not

appear, nor is it possible to indicate the present locality of the originals It iscertain, howe"er, that +apus transcribed the %atechisms attached to six out of the

se"en Grades, as he published them at the date mentioned, ;Ea< and I ha"e full

e"idence also that he conferred the Grade of Rose %rois on at least one occasion,

some years subse'uently, as we shall see more particularly at the close of thepresent monograph

2. In the absence of the Rituals, which ha"e ne"er been printed, while I ha"e failedto find manuscript copies in $ngland, either in pri"ate hands or in any asonic or

other library, our a"ailable knowledge of the Grades is confined to the %atechisms

and to the correspondence mentioned abo"e I will take these sources separately,as the first is concerned with the doctrine and symbolism of the Rite, and the


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second with its peculiar practices ;1< 0pprentice $lect +riest - !he instruction of

this Grade imparted perfect knowledge - en hypothesi - on the existence of the

Grand 0rchitect of the Uni"erse, on the principle of man:s spiritual emanation andon has direct correspondence with his aster It is ob"ious that the knowledge in

'uestion was con"eyed dogmatically 0s regards the origin of the 5rder, it deri"ed

from the %reator himself and had been perpetuated from the days of 0dam, that isto say, from 0dam to Noah, from Noah to elchisedek, and afterwards to

0braham, oses, .olomon, erubbabel and %hrist !he meaning is that there has

been always a .ecret !radition in the world, and its successi"e epochs are markedby successi"e custodians It is in this sense also that the purpose of the 5rder is

said to be the maintenance of man in his prime"al "irtue, his spiritual and di"ine

powers ;E< %ompanion $lect +riest - =a"ing been told of our ?first estate? in the

pre"ious Degree, the %andidate hears in the next concerning the Fall of an andpersonifies it in his own case =e has passed from the perpendicular to the

triangle, or from union with his First +rinciple to the triplicity of material things

!he Grade of %ompanion typifies this transition !he %andidate is engaged to

counteract the work of the Fall, in which has own spirit has been undone, and hiswhole world is in tra"ail thereupon, to ?ac'uire the age of perfection? !he root of

all is in a li"ing reali>ation of what is implied by the first estate of man, hisambition, his lapse and his punishment !here is one allusion to the pouring out of

a more than human blood, but this sub(ect is reser"ed to some later stage of

ad"ancement in the 5rder ;< +articular aster $lect +riest In the con"entionalsymbolism, the %andidate passes from the triangle to the circles* he is at work in

the circles of expiation, which are said to be six and in correspondence with six

conceptions employed by the Great 0rchitect in constructing the Uni"ersal

!emple

1. !he symbolism of the !emple of .olomon is explained in this Degree, and its

members are called to the practice of charity, good example and all duties of the5rder, for the reintegration of their indi"idual principles, their ercury, .ulphurand .alt, in that unity of Di"ine +rinciples from which they first came forth =ere

is the only distinct =ermetic reference found in the memorials of the Rite ;Ce with light !here are four )ardens, who

represent the four symbolical 0ngels of the four 'uarters of hea"en, recalling the occult

mystery of the $nochian !ablets, according to the memorials of Dr 6ohn Dee in !heFaithful Relation !he ordination whate"er its form - is said to be operated by the thought

and will of the $ternal, and by the power, word and intention of =is deputies !he

members of this Grade are occupied with the purification of their physical senses so thatthey may participate in the work of the spirit !hey are engaged otherwise in constructing

new !abernacles and rebuilding old !here are said to be four kinds of !abernacles in the

Uni"ersal !emple, being ;1< the body of man, ;E< the body of woman, ;< the !abernacleof oses, and ;C< that of the .un, or the ?temporal spiritual? !abernacle which the Great

0rchitect of the Uni"erse ?has destined to contain the sacred names and words of

material and spiritual reaction, distinguished by wisdom as by a torch of uni"ersaltemporal life? !here is no further allusion to this .piritual .un !he %andidate now hears

the Name of %hrist, apparently for the first time in his progress through the Rite It mustbe said that the %atechisms are rather obscure documents, and inferences drawn

therefrom as to procedure in the Rituals are therefore precarious, but it would seem thatthe %andidate in this Degree begins to take part in those magical operations which are the

chief concern of the Rite, as we shall see ;A< Grand $lect of erubbabel - !he +rince of

the +eople is represented as a type of %hrist and his work as typical of redemption

In the asonic Grade known as the Royal 0rch the %andidate testifies that he belongs to

the tribe of 6udah, but a Grand $lect on the contrary protests against such an imputation

=e is of the tribe of $phraim, described as ;1< that which has always en(oyed freedom,and ;E< the last of the tribes of Israel but the first of the $lect =is earthly age is defined

to be se"enty years, while that of his spiritual election is se"en !he se"enty years of

capti"ity are those of material life, or life apart from election and from the ordination oftrue priesthood !he election attained by the %andidate imposes on him the

spirituali>ation of his material passions, the con'uest of the enemies of truth and those

also of liberty =is rank is friend of God, protector of "irtue and professor of truth It is tobe noted that he has had no part in the building of the .econd !emple, because it was a

type only of that !emple of our humanity which none but the .pirit can rebuild !his

being so, it is difficult to see why members of the Grade are called Grand $lects of

erubbabel ;2< Grade of Rose %roix - particulars of which are wanting, as already seen,there being no %atechism extant &ut the true Rose %roix is of %hrist, and without it

+as'ually:s Rite would ha"e been left at a loose end, for it looked through all its Grades

to that Di"ine $"ent which ushered in the %hristian $ra

In the abo"e enumeration respecting the content of the Rite I ha"e taken its %atechisms as

my gliide, but it remains to add that there is some confusion on the sub(ect 0 letter of the

Grand .o"ereign has been 'uoted under date of 6une 1A, 12A4, in which the Grades areset out according to the following list* ;1< 0pprentice, ;E< %ompanion, ;< +articular

aster, ;C< Grand $lect aster, ;3< 0pprentice +riest, ;A< %ompanion +riest, ;2< aster

+riest, ;B< Grand aster 0rchitect ;1a< !o these Ragon added a Grade of 9night%ommander, ;Ea< which +apus seeks to identify with that of Rose %rois I find no trace of


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the letter in published +as'ually memorials, and the date is certainly wrong 0s regards

Ragon, his mammoth lists of Degrees, Rites and 5rders are utterly uncritical, but the fact

that in this case he produces an enumeration which is corroborated somewhere in theunpublished correspondence of the Grand .o"ereign may (ustify us in thinking that there

is authority for the ninth item and that the entire scheme may ha"e represented an early

state of +as'ually:s asonic plan !here is in any case the fullest e"idence that his Ritewas at work when se"eral of its %eremonies were only in an embryonic stage I obser"e

also that in a letter of .aintartin dated ay E4, 1221, ;1a< there is reference to a Degree

under the initials GR, which corresponds to no title extant in either scheme, as it iscertainly not Rose %roix, this being always represented by R ;picture of %ross< in .aint-

artin:s correspondence 0midst "ariations and uncertainties, we are, I think, (ustified in

regarding the Grade-Names at the head of the se"eral %atechisms as those appertaining to

the Rite in its completed form

5n the surface of these documents there is nothing to suggest that the Grades to which

they are attributed were connected with %eremonial agic !hey belong to the part ofdoctrine and the part also of symbolism, the latter including official secrets signs, tokens,

words and similar accidents of purely asonic con"ention For the practical part we mustha"e recourse to the correspondence of +as'ually ;Ea< and - as it may seem, perhaps

curiously to that of .aint-artin

!he letters of both were addressed to 6ean-&aptiste )illermo>, the merchant of @yons,

who appears to ha"e held the rank of Inspector- General in 12A2, though more than a yearlater he is denominated 0pprentice Rose %roix* it would seem therefore that the

(urisdiction implied by the broader title could ha"e been exercised only o"er lower

Grades of the 5rder 5n 0ugust 1, 12AB, the Grand .o"ereign began to instruct

)illermo> in occult or magical procedure, and continued to do so at long inter"als until122E, the communications in all being ten in number, so far as they ha"e become

a"ailable in published works !he operations imposed were to be performed by

)illermo> in the solitude of a pri"ate room, and ha"e therefore nothing to do withceremonial obser"ance in @odge or !emple !he practice in these - for it appears that

there was a practice - seems to ha"e been performed by +as'ually himself, looking

forward presumably to that time when some of his disciples would ha"e de"eloped occultpowers under his tuition and would be 'ualified to operate on their own part in public, so

to speak, with some assurance of success

!he %eremonial agic was %hristian and presupposed throughout the efficacy ofreligious formulae consecrated from time immemorial by the usage of the @atin %hurch

!he instructions reduced into summary form may be presented thus* ;1< !he No"ice was

co"enanted to abstain from flesh meat, apparently of all kinds, for the rest of has life ;Eed the manifestations, so that they (ustified .aint-artin in the extraordinary

"iew which he held concerning them, not in the first flush of occult experiences, but at a

mature period of life


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eanwhile I ha"e sketched his position and en"ironment at the beginning of his

intellectual career 0s a result of exchanging the profession of law for that of arms, he had

entered a circle which brought him to the gates of certain Instituted ysteries, then atwork about him7 he had been initiated, passed and raised in the parlance of &lue

asonry7 he had recei"ed the ordination of the $lect +riesthood7 and had attained its

highest Grade, being that of Rose %roix It remains to add that he had left the army andwas now approaching a point where the road which he had tra"elled di"ided* he had

therefore to choose a path

CHAPTER III

THE SEARCH AFTER TRUTH

!=$ correspondence between .aint-artin and )illermo> had continued for two years

and fi"e months, but they had ne"er seen one another In the early part of .eptember,

122, .aint-artin repaired to @yons and was domiciled in that town for somethingapproaching a year, during part of which he was apparently the guest of his rich asonic

brother =is own resources were small, and there are indications that he was not on thebest terms with his father, no doubt owing to the fact that for the second time he hadabandoned a career in life )e ha"e seen that there was a !emple of the $lect +riesthood

at @yons, which was also an historically important centre of Freemasonry in France, and

)illermo> was an acti"e member and officer of all the Rites .aint-artin, on the other

hand, cared little or less than nothing for ceremonial procedure, for Ritual which he foundempty and for the hollow pomp of titles &y his own e"idence, the offices of %eremonial

agic were only less distasteful, notwithstanding his high opinion of the influences at

work among them in the circle to which he belonged =e affirms that he had no?"irtuality? in acti"ities of that kind7 that he had little ?talent? for its operations7 that he

?experienced at all times so strong an inclination to the intimate secret way that this

external one ne"er seduced me further, e"en in my youth?7 and that he exclaimed morethan once to has aster* ?%an all this be needed to find GodH? ;1a< .uch being the case,

there need be no cause for surprise that .aint-artin put on record long after has opinion

that the ?first so(ourn at @yons in 122? was not much more ?profitable? than otherswhich he made later and especially in 12B3 ;Ea< It was important, howe"er, in another

and "ery different way, for it marked the beginning of his literary life ?It was at @yons,?

he tells us, ?that I wrote the book Des $rreurs et de la #erite, partly by way of occupation

and because I was indignant with the philosophers so called, ha"ing read in &oulangerthat the origin of religions was to be sought in the terror occasioned by the catastrophes

of Nature I wrote some thirty pages at first, which I showed to a circle that I was

instructing at the house of )illermo>, and they pledged me to continue It was

composed towards the end of 122 and at the beginning of 122C, in the space of fourmonths and by the kitchen-fire, for there was no other at which I could warm myself

=e was not therefore in residence during those months with his asonic friend* he wasprobably en pension somewhere, and not too well situated because of his means !he task

was executed with great expedition, ha"ing regard to its sub(ect and the deep searching

demanded throughout its length* indeed, his application must ha"e been unremitting, theresult comprising nearly fi"e hundred pages !he next point which it is re'uisite to note,

for reasons which will appear immediately, is that it is written in the first person, which


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indeed recurs continually, so that the +hilosophe Inconnu whose name appears on the title

is with the reader from beginning to end !he indi"idual note was characteristic of .aint-

artin:s writings throughout his literary life, but it is to be obser"ed that though e"erpresent it was ne"er insistent and was ne"er touched by egotism

=e spoke from the fullness of the heart, as from an unfailing fountain, and has e"en put

on record his feeling that there was not enough paper in the world to contain all that hehad to deli"er, could he only reduce it to writing =e had also a certain sacred tenderness

towards the children of his mind, e"en when he dwelt on their imperfections In a word,

he was a typical literary man of the better kind, as well as a true mystic

)e are told elsewhere that his works, and especially the earliest in time, were the fruit of

his affectionate attachment to man, and that as regards Des $rrears et de la #erite, being

concerned only with making war on materialistic philosophy, he could not permit thereader to see precisely where he was being led, because it would ha"e set him at once in

opposition, ?the .criptures ha"ing fallen into such discredit among men? ;1a< It follows

not only that they are not 'uoted in the work7 but that %hrist =imself is referred to in a"eiled manner, as the 0cti"e and Intelligent %ause, the 0gent, Guide of an, etc It

would be easy to enumerate other points, showing that .aint-artin:s first work was

schemed and excogitated and written from has own basis, under one reser"e only, that theroot-matter of its doctrine is presented as coming from a secret source, that he was under

pledges concerning it and that owing to these a reser"ation was imposed upon him, so

that his elucidations could be carried only to a certain point =ere is a clear issue, and asregards the source itself we are not in doubt concerning it, since the year 1B, when

artmes de +as'ually:s important !raite de la Reintegration des $tres was published for

the first time in France It is practically possible to check e"ery point of reticence

registered by .aint-artin and to see what lies behind it by reference to this treatise, itbeing understood that +as'ually on his own part deri"ed from other teachers, to us

unknowns with whom he seems to ha"e been in personal communication, but whether in

the body or out of the body we cannot tell

=a"ing presented the literary history of Des $rreurs in this manner, I ha"e now to

contrast with it the counter-"iew put forward by Dr +apus on the alleged authority of his

artinistic archi"es =e affirms, ;1< that the book Des $rreurs was due almost entirely toan ?in"isible origin?7 ;E< that the being whom in 1B3 he had certified as ?always

designated under the enigmatic name of @a chose? was called the Unknown +hilosopher7

;< that it was he who ga"e forth the work as regards the ma(or part7 ;C< that he dictated1AA cahiers d:instruction7 ;3< that some of these were transcribed by .aint-artin7 ;A< that

the ?Unknown +hilosopher? ga"e orders for .aint-artin to assume this name7 and that

;2< the said ?0gent? himself destroyed about eighty cahiers in 124 to pre"ent them

falling into the hands of Robespierre:s emissaries, ?who were making unheard-of effortsto ac'uire them? It follows that .aint- artin has gi"en an altogether misleading account

of his first book, and that in spite of its strong and pre"ailing personal note it cannot be

called his work I ha"e, howe"er, collated his statements, and those who know him arelikely to prefer his "ersion of the matter to archi"es largely unpublished and not a"ailable

for inspection, as Dr

+apus refers expressly ;1a< to documents reser"ed for the sole use of the directing

%ommittee at the head of his .upreme %ouncil )hen, therefore, he states further that the


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archi"es include "arious sheets of instructions communicated by ?the Unknown 0gent?

and annotated by the hand of .aint artin we ha"e to regard it in the light of later

re"elations supplied by the +resident of the artinist 5rder, remembering that in 1B hepromised to produce proofs in a "olume de"oted to the mystic !hat "olume appeared in

14E and contained fifty unpublished letters of .aint-artin, to some of which I ha"e

referred !hey are prefaced by a biographical summary written around the documents Inneither one nor the other is any ray of light cast upon the pre"ious claims* they are indeed

the sub(ect of allusion only in a single sentence &ut we obtain unexpected enlightenment

in other respects )hereas there is no e"idence whate"er of communications dictated bythe Unknown 0gent during the life of +as'ually or for o"er ten years after his death, we

are told by Dr +apus, though there is no allusion to the fact in .aint-art>:s letters, that

in 12B3, the 0gent in 'uestion, who seems to ha"e remained in abeyance since the death

of the Grand .o"ereign, began to manifest at @yolls, where he dictated ?nearly onehundred folios,? being those precisely of which the ma(ority were burned in 124 !he

archi"es of the 5rder, it is added, include the bulk of those that were sa"ed In place,

moreo"er, of lea"ing seen, transcribed and annotated a mass of written instructions prior

to 12B3, we are told only of teachings that are likely to ha"e been ?heard? and to ha"ebeen incorporated into his work by the author of Des $rreurs

It will be seen that the ground "s changed completely and that we are getting nearer to theprobable facts of the case I do not doubt that )illermo> and his circle recei"ed psychic

communications in one or another psychic condition, induced by prolonged operations

inspired by that intent, or with the aid of ?lucids,? the inter"ention of whom is admitted;Ea< I do not doubt that they were reduced into writing, and as the news of what was

takings place brought .aint-artin to @yons with all possible speed, it is certain that he

read, he may well ha"e transcribed and annotated, but all this was years subse'uently tothe publication of Des $rreurs et de la #erite I am preferring no charge whate"er against

Dr +apus, who sealed a laborious life by a heroic death in the cause of the sick and

wounded during the Great )ar )e were, moreo"er, personally ac'uainted, and ourrelations were always cordial &ut he was unfortunately a most inaccurate writer, and thepresent monograph might be extended to twice its si>e if I analysed the errors which fill

his three books dealing with artinistic sub(ects 0s regards the archi"es, he tells us in

1B3 that he had been permitted to see those which were in the possession of a certain %a"ernier and had transcribed some of them, de"oting one week to the task ;1a< In 1B

it looks as if some originals had come into his possession, though he does not explain

how I concei"e that in this year he was in confusion as to the dates, extent and precisenature of the psychic communications &y 14E he had made better progress with them

and modified his affirmations accordingly, but without o"ertly withdrawing anything

I concei"e that in this manner the 'uestion may be permitted to rest, unless and until the

present custodians of the archi"es may decide to proceed further with the work of theirpublication It seems to me that I ha"e adopted a reasonable and middle ground which

accounts for the facts without accusing anyone Under the aegis of +as'ually the Rite ofthe $lect +riesthood was one of occult instruction as well as occult practice and the

pageant - such as it may ha"e been - of cumulati"e Grades !he teaching was of course

under pledges, and that part of it which .aint-artin felt permitted to unfold was put

forward in his first book @a chose may refer to +as'ually:s Guide in the unseen,howsoe"er communication was established -supposing that +apus is correct in his


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understanding of this term &ut the pledges may ha"e co"ered also instruction from other

sources, the ?+redecessors? about whom +as'ually we ote to )illermo> on 0pril 1,

12AB ;1a< I take it that the sum of instruction recei"ed from all sources is enshrined inthe Grand .o"ereign:s !reatise on Reintegration

)e ha"e seen that it is reflected also into the first work of .aint-artin, as through the

alembic of an original mind, disposed already to the higher elections of the human soul 0work of collation would bear this fact in mind, but there is no opportunity to attempt it in

the present place .aint-artin:s theory of good and e"il is based on the doctrine of two

une'ual principles, between which there is no co-operation and no analogy 5f these twothe inferior became e"il by the sole act of its own will, being one of opposition to the

$ternal )ill of Goodness, wherein is essential unity an in his primal estate is the most

ancient of all beings in that which is understood as Nature, but he was the last whichentered into its scheme =e came forth from the centre, that is to say, from the Di"ine

Goodness, but abode in the presence thereof, and his function was intended to be that of

leading all things back into unity &ut he fell from this high estate, was depri"ed of all hisancient rights, while another 0gent was commissioned to take his place !his 0gent is the

0cti"e and Intelligent %ause, and thereunto, as the Great %hief and Guide, is committedthe order of the uni"erse !he inference is that this order was intended originally to ha"e

been in the hands of man until ad that is in separation shall ha"e been reconciled with itsone and only source It is to be inferred that =e or !hat which has been called to rule in

substitution for man has become the @eader into unity, otherwise the Reconciler and

Repairer, while =is most important charge since that which is termed the Fall is thereconciliation of our fallen race )e ha"e passed from unity into separation by the work

of our own will, ha"e renounced our own "ocation and forfeited all our titles7 but =e who

repairs restores, in "irtue of a capacity for restoration which has always remained with usIt follows that at the time of reintegration the estate of man will be in "irtual unity smith

that of the Repairer, )hose true name is %hrist, whereas .aint-artin says that in respect

of our potencies we are all %hrists ;1a< .aint-artin:s expositions are like %raftFreemasonry, ?"eiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols? !he nature of the Fall isclouded in this manner, for it is said that man descended into the region of fathers and

mothers, otherwise into the circle of physical generation, in place of those generations

which are spiritual

It is a parable of original unity and subse'uent di"orce, of the separation between sub(ect

and ob(ect, or of the lo"er and belo"ed in another form of imagery Now, the way of

di"ision is the way of errors, but that of truth is the way of union, or this at least is how Iunderstand .aint-artin in the testimonies which he bears to reality In a sense his first

work is de omnibus rebus, but here is the root of all =a"ing regard to its suggesti"e

presentation, to its originality of thought and style, and - not least of all - to its studied

reser"ations and allusions to a hidden source of knowledge, I can understand itsextraordinary effect upon prepared minds of France in the year 122A

CHAPTER IV

A DOCTRINE OF CORRESPONDENCES


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)$ ha"e seen that .aint-artin completed his literary experiment in the early part of

122C, and in the autumn of that year he paid a short "isit to Italy, in the company of a

brother of )illermo> !hey returned apparently to @yons, where .aint-artin must ha"ebeen occupied for some time in seeing his work through the press It appeared in 1223

under the pseudonym of ?the Unknown +hilosopher,? and bearing the imprint of

$dinburgh, which, howe"er, must be understood as @yons )e do not know when he leftthat city, but he was in +aris at the end of 6uly, at @yons again in the autumns at !ours on

a flying "isit, and then at &ordeaux in 122A =e had returned to +aris in arch 1222

+as'ually had died at +ort- au-+rince on .eptember E4, 122C, ha"ing nominated %aignetde @estere as his successor, he also being resident in the )est Indies !he !emples of the

$lect +riesthood were left to their own de"ices, and the mighty pageant of the .trict

5bser"ance drew se"eral under that obedience )illermo> becames - as stated pre"iously

- Grand +rior of 0u"ergne, and ha"ing profited nothing in attempting to follow+as'ually:s instructions concerning %eremonial agic, he was presumably more and

more immersed in asonry, especially its =igh Grades )hate"er sympathy may ha"e

existed originally between him and .aint-artin when they were merely correspondents -

their paths were now di"iding, and the born mystic was disposing of the occult yokeplaced upon him by his early aster !here is e"idence of strained relations when .aint-

artin wrote from +aris on 6uIy 4, 1223, to dissuade )ilIermo> from supposing that hewas seeking the latter:s con"ersion to his own "iews or was presuming to pronounce

(udgment upon him 0t the same time certain matters, the nature of which does not

emerge in the letter, made it necessary for the peace of both that he should no longer be aguest of has friend, though for the sake of the 5rder and its - members he must return to

@yons and remain there a gi"en time It should not appear, in other words, that there was

estrangement between himself and )illermo> )hen, therefore, he took a lodging in

isolation, it would be explained that he was following up chemical experiments )hetherthe de"ice ser"ed its purpose we do not know, but after it reached a term the two

correspondents do not seem to ha"e met one another for ten years !hey continued to

write occasionally, and they remained friends

It has been suggested that Des $rreurs filled the purse of .aint- artin, but the e"idence

of his impro"ed position cannot be accounted for by reference to that source its

considerable measure of success notwithstanding

5n the contrary, there are indications that he was on better terms with his father, and I

infer that thenceforward he was not without modest means It has been suggested also

that the authorship of the book was kept a profound secret this is unlikely in the nature ofthings, for it was ob"iously well known at @yons prior to publication It has been said by

one of his biographers that he ?became known widely and was in re'uest e"erywhere?

=is own memorial notes bear witness to the distinguished circle of his ac'uaintance, and

so also do his letters It is unnecessary to labour the point, and as, for the rest, his life insocial and intellectual circles during the se"en years between 1223 and 12BE has left little

trace behind it, I pass on to the latter date, to which his second book belongs In one ofthose uncon"erted intimations which seem to open for a moment his whole heart of

purpose, .aint-artin says that his work has its fount and course in the Di"ine;1a< =e is

alluding to work of life rather than books, but it is true of all that he wrote, and the

!ableau Naturel des Rapports 'ui existent entre Dieu, I:=omme et Uni"ers was assuredlyundertaken for the (ustification by means of their unfoldment of the ways of God to man


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It was written at +aris, as he tells us, partly in the @uxembourg at the house of the

ar'uise de @usignan and partly in that of the ar'uise de Ia %roix ;1a< +ublication

took place in two parts appearing, as pre"iously, in one "olume elated 12BE - at thesymbolical $dinburgh, which on this occasion is more likely to mean +aris than @yons

though the latter place is understood by bibliographers )e ha"e seen that Des $rreurs

confessed to recurring reser"ations, and it has all the atmosphere of a truncated documentissued from a !emple of the ysteries, or at least a .ecret %ollege !he - Natural .cheme

of %orrespondences, on the surface, withholding nothing, yet it adopts another air of

mystery !he entirely anonymous publishers state in a prefatory note ;1< that theyrecei"ed the . from an unknown person7 ;E< that it had numerous marginal additions

in- a different hand7 ;< that they seemed different from the rest of the work7 and ;C< that

in printing they had been placed in 'uotation commas, to distinguish them from the rest

of the text

)hen asked on the sub(ect by &aron de @iebistorf, .aint-artin admitted ;1< that the

passages referred to were his7 ;E< that the publisher regarded them as out of keeping withthe rest of the work7 ;< that he ga"e the explanation which he did to prepare readers7 and

;C< that he was allowed to ha"e his way It happens that the paragraphs in 'uotations arethe most enigmatical parts of the work, and suggest deri"ation from +as'ually:s occult

instructions7 it happens also that .aint-artin was replying to a correspondent who wasnot initiated7 and if, therefore, what he says does not 'uite co"er the facts, we may take it

as the best that he could do without disco"ering his source In any case, the paragraphs

were written - ie expressed - by himself, and, for the rest, their conse'uence is not inproportion to their obscurity

!he !ableau compares the uni"erse to a great temple* ?the stars are its lights, the earth is

its altar, all corporeal beings are its holocausts, and man, who is priest of the $ternal,offers the sacrifices?

It follows from the logic of the symbolism that he himself is the chief holocaust, and thismust be the sense in which it is said also that the uni"erse is ?like a great fire lightedsince the beginning of things for the purification of all corrupted beings? Finally, it is ?a

great allegory or fable which must gi"e place to a grand morality? )hen it is affirmed

elsewhere that the external world is illusory, the reference presumably is to its surfacesense, apart from the inward meaning God is the meaning and God the grand morality7

creation is not merely =is "isible sign, but a channel through which =is thoughts are

communicated to intelligent beings =ere is the only mode of communication for fallenman, namely, through signs and emblems &ut these and the whole signifying uni"erse

are earnests of God:s lo"e for corrupted creatures and e"idence that =e is at work

unceasingly ?to remo"e the separation so contrary to their felicity? 0s it is certain that =e

does not world in "ain, it follows that a day will come when there shall be noseparateness thenceforward .o does the end emerge with all true thought implying -

when it does not express - the doctrine of unity, all true paths being paths that lead

thereto, and God =imself - 5ne, Immutable and $ternal - the )itness from e"erlasting tothis our end of being =ere is the Great )ork, and it is to be performed ?by restoring in

our faculties the same law, the same order, the same regularity by which all beings are

directed in Nature,? or, in other words, by acting no longer in our own name, but in thatof the li"ing God It is a work of the will in its redirection, for this is ?the agent bar which


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alone man and e"ery free being can efface within them and round them the traces of error

and crime !he re"indication of the will is therefore the chief work of all fallen creatures

!he same lesson is con"eyed in symbolical language when it is said that ?the ob(ect of

man on earth is to employ all rights and powers of his being in rarefying as far as possible

the inter"ening media between himself and the true .un, so that - the opposition being

practically none there may be a free passage, and that the rays of light may reach himwithout refraction? It will be seen that, as in Des $rreurs, the instrument by which we

fall is that-also by which we must rise* the e"il in man originated in the will of man, and

thereby it must be stamped out =is ?crime? is defined as ?the abuse of the knowledge hepossessed concerning the union of the principle of the uni"erse with the uni"erse? =is

penalty was the pri"ation of this knowledge !he definition is dogmatic, and it is ob"ious

that .aint-artin can throw no light on the real nature of the alleged knowledge*otherwise he must ha"e undone the crime in his own person =e is least con"incing when

discussing the legendary Fall, and most when con"eying his own thoughts apart from any

formal system )hen he tells us that truth is in God, that it is written in all about us, thatits messages are meant for our reading, that the light within leads to the light without7 that

the principle of being and of life is within us, that it cannot perish, that the regenerationof our ?"irtues? is possible7 and that we can ascend to a demonstration of the 0cti"e and

In"isible +rinciple, from which the uni"erse deri"es its existence and its @aws* we arethen in the presence of the mystic who is speaking on the warrants of his proper insight

CHAPTER V

THE MAN OF DESIRE

0F!$R the publication of @e !ableau Naturel .aint-artin remained less or more at

+ares, and his intermittent correspondence with )illermo> is at times scarcely intelligible

in the absence of the latter:s communications )illermo> e"idently was passing through a

strenuous period, connected perhaps with embroilments conse'uent on the asonic%on"ention of )ilhelmsbad, held in 12BE, and the fate of the .trict 5bser"ance !here is

one allusion which suggests "aguely the his torical transformation of that Rite at @yons

prior to 122B, and the creation thereby of the 9nights &eneficent of the =oly %ity &utthere is no certainty on the sub(ect, and for the rest we learn only of .aint-artin:s brief

interest in the disco"ery of esmer, hts con nection with a society instituted by that great

comet of a season, and his presence at certain cures operated magnetically by +uysegur 0single remark informs us that he would take no part in the %on"ention of +aris,

summoned by the Rite of the +hilalethes

)e reach in this manner the month of 0pril, 12B3, when .aint artin had recei"ed suchnews from )illermo> that in his reply of the Eth ;1< he expresses his rapture on learning

that the sun has risen on Israel7 ;E< he affirms that the man so chosen is for him

henceforward a man of God whom he will "enerate as the anointed one of the .a"iour7;< he entreats him to pardon whate"er wrongs he may be thought to ha"e committed

against him on his own part7 ;C< he ascribes all differences which ha"e arisen between

them to his own ignorance ;3< he condemns himself for his temerity in ha"ing published

anything7 ; A< he asks )illermo> to intercede for him with something which appears to becalled @a chose, whose place he has taken unasked7 ;2< he prays to be enlightened on the


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faults of his own heart the errors of his mind and of his works, ;B< he places himself

under has orders and terms him has master, holy friend, father in God and %hrist 6esus

It looks e"ident in a word that .aint-artin stood ready to set aside all his pre"ious "iews

and inferentially those which had always disposed him towards the inward way of the

mystics rather than that of his first aster )hat, therefore, had occurred H I ha"e

forestalled the e"ent una"oidably in my third chapter 0ccording to Dr +apus, thearchi"es in his possession show that after prolonged failure )illermo> reached the end of

his labours, that he obtained ?phenomena of the highest importance,? which culminated

in 12B3, or ?thirteen years after the death of his initiator artines de +as'ually? oreexplicitly, the &eing who is said to be described by )illermo> as ?the Unknown 0gent

charged with the work of initiation? - otherwise, perhaps, @a chose - materialised at

@yons and ga"e instructions which - as we ha"e seen were reduced to writing

5ccurrences of this kind being innumerable at the present day, I suppose that we are not

in a position to sympathi>e with the raptures of .aint-artin, his tears or his changing

front =is next letter, dated ay 1, indicates that he had been reassured and consoled by)illermo>, for which he praises God =e waits now on a summons to @yons, that he may

see and hear for himself eanwhile he and his correspondent will remain united through

time and eternity 5n 6une 4 he has made preparations for the (ourney and is looking togreet )illermo> soon after the letter under that date 5f what followed we know little and

nest to nothing, except that fifteen months later .aint-artin is at +aris, bewailing his

imprudence in ha"ing spoken too freely to certain brethren and thus pre(udiced the?en(oyments? of has friend ;Ea< In 6anuary, 12B2, he is in @ondon, where he remained for

some six months, making the ac'uaintance of )illiam @aw and the astronomer =erschel,

the %omte de Di"onne, Dutens and the Russian +rince Galit>in, with whom he was

domiciled It was in @ondon also, as he tells us, that he wrote his third book, @:=omme deDesir, though it was not published till 124, and then at @yons It is important not only in

itself, as one of .aint-artin:s most inspired writings, but as showing beyond debate that,

whate"er experiences had awaited him at @yons, they cooled the ardour kindled by theirfirst indications, and he had returned to his own path with an increased sense of

declication I can say only that the hunger and thirst after God are in all its pages !his is

not, howe"er, to suggest that he is denuded of all interests in the @yons phenomena* hisonly letter written to )illermo> while in $ngland offers a contrary indication7 but the

interest appears detached

In 6uly, 12B2, .aint-artin passed through +aris on has way to 0mboise, where his fatherhad been stricken with paralysis In .eptember he was again at @yons, but it was in the

absence of )illermo> !hereafter he paid a second "isit to Italy, "isiting .iena and Rome

In the early part of 12BB +apus reports that the apparitions of the 0gent had ceased,

according to a letter of )illermo> ;1a< In 0pril of that year .aint-artin is at +aris andabout to "isit his father, who is still ali"e, at the nati"e place of both In 6une he

proceeded to .trasbourg, where he resided for three years, the happiest of all his life 0s I

said long ago* ?It was here, under the auspices of Rodolphe .al>mann, also mysticallydisposed, and of adame de &oecklin, his most intimate and cherished woman friend,

that he made his first ac'uaintance with the writings of 6acob &ohme7 here he became

intimate with the %he"alier de .ilferhielm, a nephew of .wedenborg7 and all his hori>onwidened under the influence of the !eutonic theosopher 5n December 1A, 12B, he


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asked )illermo> whether he could participate in the ?initiation? attached to the Regime

Rectifie without belonging to its .ymbolical @odge I do not think that +apus knew what

this meant, and therefore wisely offered no word of comment &ut the Regime $cossais0ncien et Rectifie was the .trict 5bser"ance as transformed at @yons and ratified at

)ilhelmsbad7 more especially it was the %raft Degrees of this Rite and their supplement

the Grade of .t 0ndrew &eyond it were the no"itiate and chi"alry of the =oly %ity, andthese again beyond were two final Grades, which I do not propose to specify by name, as

they were and are in the hiddenness

It is to these that .aint-artin refers under the "ague title of ?initiations? =e did notapparently get a straight answer, and on 6uly C, 124, he asked )illermo> to ad"ise the

proper 'uarter of his resignation from the Interior 5rder - ie, the no"itiate and chi"alry -

and from all lists and registers in which his name may ha"e been inscribed since 12B3=e points out that in the spirit he had ne"er been integrated therein =is intention

apparently was to remain among the %oens - ie, the $Iect +riesthood - but how

nominally we call imagine from the utter detachment of his letter, ;1a< the references tohis simple mode of life, and abo"e all his closing words, in which he registers a hope that

he has separated for e"er from those complicated paths which had always wearied him

It is an elo'uent commentary on the manifestations of @yons, the dictated instructions of@a chose, the astral tra"ellings of D:=auteri"e, and the clair"oyances of the ?lucids? who

seem to ha"e assisted at the operations !here are no further letters from .aint-artin to

)illermo>, and already during this year, in some early month, the 0gent had recei"ed ?ondemand? and had destroyed ?more than eighty folios? of his dictated instructions, the

same not ha"ing been ? published,? as )illermos states in a letter 'uoted by +apus

It follows that ::the Unknown 0gent charged with the work of initiation? had undone thatwork, and whether or not, as suggested- but +apus seems doubtful - the manifestations

continued at inter"als till 12A, it would seem that there is no record of proceedings, and

the whole thing sagged out !he $lect +riesthood missed its mark7 with all hisceremonial, all his occult powers, +as'ualIy scored a failure, and the aster whoemerged from the unseen, carrying such high ascribed warrants, permitted himself,

through sheer lack in resources, to be circum"ented by as the emissaries of Robespierre?

eanwhile the star of .aint-artin:s influence grew from more to more @:=omme deDesir was reprinted se"eral times, and in the highest circles of society, at .trasbourg and

+aris, in the palace of the Duchesse de &ourbon, amidst the con"ulsions of the

re"olutions he taught the way of the mystics

CHAPTER VI

LATER LIFE AND WRITINGS

I! was at .trasbourg and, I think, towards the end of his so(ourn in this city of blessed

memories that .aint-artin wrote another of his most suggesti"e treatises, @e Nou"el=omme, ?the aim of which,? as he tells us, ?is to describe what we should expect in

regeneration? ;1a< It presents three epochs of symbolism* the first corresponds to the

history of Israel, regarded as that of uni"ersal election, man:s own nature being the+romised @and, whence it is necessary to cast out the wicked and idolatrous nations that

ha"e ruled therein, after which the altars of the @ord must be set up instead and the @aw


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proclaimed by the higher part of our nature !he second epoch is that of the %hrist-@ife,

which must be concei"ed and born within us for the work of our redemption 0ll stages

of the Di"ine @ife in +alestine are marshalled to illustrate the story of the New an fromthe moment of =is birth within us to that of mystical death, and from the descent into the

underworld to the last and greatest mystery on the ountain of 0scension !o the .econd

0d"ent belongs the third epoch of symbolism, being that of the 0pocalypse, the newhea"en and the new earth declared within us, the tabernacle of God with men, the

%elestial 6erusalem built up into our spiritual being

!he so(ourn at .trasbourg came to an end in 121, and for perhaps a year .aint-artinwas chiefly at +aris, where he wrote his neat book, entitled $cce =omo7 ?to forewarn

people against the wonders and prophecies of the time,? to indicate the ?degree of

abasement? into which man has fallen and of which the passion for lower mar"els, likethose of somnambulism, appears to be the prime example !he thesis in this sense is a

strange but pregnant commentary respecting the transmutation of interests on the part of

one who for a moment was integrated in a school of esmer and was a friend or fellow-worker of +uysegur

$cce =omo was partly written as a counsel for the Duchesse de &ourbon and "ery likely

in her own house It appeared prior to @e Nou"el =omme, though composedsubse'uently* both worlds, howe"er, were published in 12E, the Reign of !error

notwithstanding .aint-artin was still in +aris during that dread ordeal ?!he streets near

the house I was in were a field of battle7 the house itself was a hospital where thewounded were brought and, moreo"er, was threatened e"ery moment with in"asion and

pillage In the midst of all this I had to go, at the risk of my life, to take care of my sister,

half a league from my dwelling? ;1a< It is to be inferred from a later record that the

?dwelling? was that of the Duchesse

!here is no space here to speak of .aint-artin:s political theories, of his feelings

towards the French Re"olution, of certain things without importance or conse'uencewhich occurred to him therein I am concerned only with the deeper issues of his life andthoughts 0 writer on errors and truths had ob"iously something to say on the basis of

go"ernments, the authority of so"ereigns and on (urisprudence, while a searcher of

religion and theosophy, who had passed through the world-crisis at the end of theeighteenth century at its "ery heart and centre, could neither fail to ha"e his part therein

nor to lea"e us reflections thereon )e ha"e +hilosophical and Religious %onsiderations

on the French Re"olution, @ight on =uman 0ssociation and a few other pamphlets whichdo not call to be named

.aint-artin had also some actinties of another kind imposed upon him, as, eg, when he

was called to the $cole Normale, instituted to train teachers for public instruction !hese

things did not last and left no mark behind them In .eptember, 12E, the health of hasfather called him again to 0mboise, where he remained for a year, or a considerable time

after the father:s death )e hear of him then at +etit &ourg, a country house of theDuchesse de &ourbon, and afterwards at +aris till the spring of 12C, when ?a decree

against the pri"ileged and proscribed classes, amongst which it was his lot to be born,

enforced his return to 0mboise till it was cancelIed in his respect in 6anuary, 123, whenthework of @:$cole Normale brought him back to the capital for a period =is time

appears to ha"e been di"ided between +aris and his nati"e town till the end of 12, and I


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mention this year because on December EC .aint-artin lost so much by the death of the

&aron 9irchberger de @iebistorf, a kindred spirit with whom he had maintained for fi"e

years what I described long ago as ?the most memorable, the most beautiful, the mostfascinating of all theosophical correspondences ;1a< It became a"ailable in $nglish so far

back as 1BA, but the edition has been out of print for decades, and I 'uestion whether

there could be a better gift than an annotated translation at the present day by one whoknows .aint-artin, his work and has period It contains the true marrow, spirit and

'uintessence of the French mystic, and has been referred to often in my notes

=is de"otion to 6acob &ohme was the chief mental characteristic of his later life7 it is e"erpresent in his correspondences abo"e described, but I ha"e ne"er been able to see that it

changed his own "iews* it may be true to .ay that it deepened them, but hewas on sure

mystic ground already before the !eutonic theosopher ga"e him has own light

I do not think that it would ha"e helped him to alter for the better one line of @:=omme

de Desir, though he has left it on record that in the light of 6acob &ohme he should ha"e

written @e Nou"el =omme differently, or perhaps not at all In the year 1B44 @:$sprit des%hoses appeared at +aris in two "olumes, with a @atin epigraph on the title in which it

was affirmed that ?man is the mirror of the totality of things? %oncerning this suggesti"e

work .aint-artin has offered three points of information* ;1< !hat it was pro(ectedoriginally under the title of Natural Re"elations, collected from original notes, with

additions thereunto7 ;E< that it embraces the whole circle of things physical and scientific,

spiritual and Di"ine7 ;< that it is a kind of introduction to the works of 6acob &ohme!he last in its final reduction must be called indicati"e of intention, and .aint-artin, I

do not doubt, was conscious that his own intimations were in bonds of spiritual espousals

with his great German peer, but in their contributions tothe higher literature of the soul

there are no two mystics so utterly unlike each other in all their former and modes It is a'uestion, therefore, of penetrating below the surface, when that which we reach is the

heart of union common to all who ha"e followed the great 'uest of experience in God It

is certain that .aint-artin grew daily in the consciousness of such union with &ohme,and when he continued in his own manner to deli"er his own message it seemed to him

doubtless that he was, following the message of his precursor For @:$sprit des %hoses,

man is the organ of Di"ine 5rder, man is the mirror of all things Nature is insomnambulism and we are in"ol"ed therein, whence I suppose it may be inferred that

she waits on our awaking and passes out of sleep in us !hese things andmany others are

notions which were with .aint-artin from the beginning

5ccasionally there are higher and deeper things than those which we ha"e heard

pre"iously, but they are not of &ohme nor of any other than the French mystic himself -

as, eg, that the soul becomes the Name of the @ord, and the Name is declared within it

!hereare practically no materials for the external life of .aint- artin after the year127 the +ortrait =istori'ue tellsus practically nothing, and we know of him only by his

books In the closing years of his life he wasworking >ealously at translations of &ohme,0urora, !he !hree +rfruciples, Forty /uestions and !hreefold Idle of an, but he had

made a beginning much earlier )e are notconcerned with these "ersions, but @e

inistere de l:=omme-$sprit, ;1a< published in 1B4E, his last original work, is in somerespects the most important of all and from his own-point of "iew was written more

clearly than the rest, though he felt its remoteness from common human notions and


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human interests It has been held to illustrate his intention of marrying his ?first school? to

the !eutonic theosopher, but again the kind of marriage is that of the amity at the root of

all the great mystics and their great sub(ects For the rest, the book is built on the basis ofhis own anterior writings, the substance of which he presents in the opening pages, as he

gi"es also a summary of &ohme and indicates unawares certain salient points of doctrinal

correspondence between the latter and artines de +as'ually exhibited in @aReintegration des $tres 0part from all systems and all authorities, the ministry is a book

of innumerable detached lights, some of which belong to the order of first magnitude It

is possible to name only its ?intimations of immortality,? of death and the gate of life, ofthe path which is opened in regeneration, of spiritual life and its communication, of the

.abbath attained by Nature, the .abbath of the soul and the .abbath of the )ord !here is

also the doctrine of the $ternal )ord, as it passed through the alembic of the French

mystic:s mind, its relation to the uni"erse and man, how it is the measure of all things andis the "ery )ord of @ife, in opposition to that which .aint-artin calls the )ord of

Death

!he inistry has been termed his swan:s song, but it is rather his last contemplation, in

which he opened many wells of thought and looked across many paths of "ision 5n6anuary 1B, 1B4, he recorded in his notes that this date completed his sixtieth year and

that it had opened to him a new world

?y spiritual hopes proceed in growth continual I ad"ance, thanks be to God, towards

those great beatitudes which were shown forth to me long ago, and shall crown all (oyswith which I ha"e been encompassed continually in my, earthly life? ;1a< 0 note added

in the summer says that he had recei"ed certain warnings of a physical enemy and

thought that it would carry him of as it had done with his father before him =e asked

only the help of +ro"idence, that he might hold himself prepared for the e"ent ;Ea< 5n5ctober 1, 1B4, at 0ulnay, near .ceaux, in the house of a friend - %omte @enoir @a-

Roche - after an apoplectic stroke, he passed painlessly away in a final act of prayer

CHAPTER VII

MODERN MARTINISM

I! will be seen that I ha"e depended throughout on printed documents, no others beinga"ail able to research in $ngland, but that the sources of many which ha"e been 'uoted

are in the archi"es of the artinist 5rder !hey would appear to form, howe"er,

comparati"ely a small part of those which ha"e been certified as extant at differentperiods )e are told ;1a< ;1< that the archi"es of the $lect +riesthood were deposited in

12B1 with .a"alette de @anges, who was the +resident of the +hilalethes7 ;E< that after his

death they were sold indiscriminately, together with those of the +hilalethes and the Rite

$cossais +hilosophi'ue, and were purchased for next to nothing by three asonic

&rethren, who returned them to the proper 'uarters, two of them retaining these of the$lect +riesthood, as they had been members of the Rite7 ;< that this restitution took place

in 1B4A7 ;C< that the two custodians deli"ered them in 1B4 to another member, namedDestigny, on his return from .t Domingo, he being a legatee of +as'ually, and ha"ing

otherwise a greater claim upon them7 ;3< that Destigny was already in possession of the

sur"i"ing )est Indian archi"es7 ;A< that in 1B1E his collection was enriched by those ofthe 5rient of 0"ignon, which had been taken into Italy prior to the Re"olution7 ;2< that

the whole remained in his keeping till 1BAB, when he transferred them to #illarial, a


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year before his death, in whose possession they continued at least till the end of 1B

!hey comprised the records of ele"en 5rients - otherwise @odges - of the 5rder, those of

@eogana in the )est Indies ha"ing been lost in a fire, and those of @yons ha"ing comeinto the hands of +apus otherwise of the artinist 5rder

0s regards-the archi"es of @yons we are told by +apus whence and how they or their

transcripts were deri"ed by him =is account has been summari>ed in my second chapterI ha"e specified also the documents in the hands of atter:s descendants, he being

himself a descendant of Rodolphe de .al>mann, whom I ha"e mentioned pre"iously as

one of the .trasbourg circle !hey are said to include the correspondence of.aint-artinwith .al>mann himself, with me de &oecklin, the %omte de Di"onne and others, as

also that of .al>mann &ut there are owners of other collections D:$ffinger, !oumyer,

unier ;1a< - who are not e"en names to us

5f each and all it has to be said that nothing has been heard of them for o"er twenty years

and that the Great )ar has inter"ened )e ha"e been promised for the same period a

=istoire Generale de l:5rdre des $Ius %oens and a study of )illermo> based on thearchi"es of @yons, but they ha"e not appeared and we are not likely to see them In "iew

of the wealth of material it may well be that the definiti"e life of .aint-artin and of has

earlier if not later concerns still remains to be done I ha"e presented a mere outline, andin some sense a supplement to my former extended work

It remains to speak briefly of @:5rdre artiniste )e learn from %amille Flammarion that

between 1BA4 and 1B24 he was ac'uainted with a litterateur named =enri Delaage, whois mentioned also by $liphas @e"i7 that he heard much from Delaage concerning de

%haptal, his grandfather, who knew .aint-artin, apparently fairly well ;1a< !hese are

the bare facts, to which it may be added that at the beginning of his occult life +apusseemingly got to know Delaage and recei"ed from him, some months before the latter:s

death, what is termed a pau"re depot ;Eaeal among the workers and something

colourable or attracti"e on which they could act oreo"er, there were no fees of any


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kind !here is no 'uestion that @:5rdre artiniste spread rapidly in France, and in

addition to the delegates constituted automatically by the !hird Degree there were

@odges in "arious towns !here was membership also in other countries, $ngland itselfnot excepted, while the 5rder was specially successful in North and .outh 0merica )e

hear also of propagation in $gypt and e"en 0sia In 1B1 a .upreme %ouncil was

constituted at +aris and ruled the whole 5rderIt became a centre also for numerous collateral interests, all carefully organi>ed,

including esoteric groups and Faculties of .cience and +hilosophy, which held

examinations apparently and granted degrees at their "alue +apus was an indefatigableworker, and before the century was out it must be acknowledged that he was at the head

of a mo"ement which may be almost called colossal in respect of its magnitude !he

reasons are not far to seek* it was a form of initiation and it made no claim on asonry7 itreceded both sexes7 it had a distinct religious side, apart from dogmata and - outside all

sectarianism it was in some sense a %hristian thing 0s such, it must ha"e appealed to

multitudes in France who had lost faith in the @atin %hurch and yet had spiritual interestsoreo"er, it carried the seals and talismans of occult sciences, which it claimed: to teach

and also to reconcile with the regnant science of the day 0s such, its apparent(ustifications, if not its warrants, were in .piritism, +sychical Research, the .chools of

Nancy and .alpetiere not to speak of the less recogni>ed though not less momentousschool of 0nimal agnetism &ut ha"ing offered this appreciation I ha"e "irtually set

@:5rdre artiniste at the poles asunder from .aint- artin the mystic In late and early

writings +apus affirmed continually that when the disciple of +as'ually followed his ownpath, ha"ing left that of his aster, he not only established a asonic Rite, as others had

said pre"iously, but also an 5rder of his own which spread e"en into Russia Now, has so-

called e"idences are out of court in e"ery case I ha"e examined them long since and setthem utterly aside* there is no need to retrace the ground !he asonic historians were

blundering o"er terms and titles when they foisted a Rite on .aint-artin, and +apus was

reading in a glass of "ision whence saw the mystic at the head of an 5rder propagatedlike his own I lea"e it at this, though it is difficult to understand how he could ha"edecei"ed himself =e has not escaped criticism of a rougher kind, but to me it seems that

he had a constitutional incapacity for pronouncing "alidly on 'uestions of e"idences and

that anything passed for proof in respect of has own bias

!he fact remains that in 1B or thereabouts @:5rdre artiniste may be said to ha"e

reached its >enith, but it had sown, I think, already the seeds of its own destruction It had

begun to encroach on the asonic field, and was approaching perilously the position ofan unauthori>ed aspect of the %raft +ractically the entire branch of the 5rder in North

0merica, extending to thousands, broke away from the .upreme %ouncil at +aris and

reincorporated independently on this account alone 0 few only continued under the old

obedience, among others the no"elist argaret & +eeke, who was rewarded by +apuswith the Grade of Rose %roix ;1a< !here are no statistics before me, but it seems certain

that in France - where Freemasonry, such as it is, must be called exceedingly strong thecourse taken could ha"e been scarcely less than disastrous7 yet it was not amended in

conse'uence !he years went on, and I think that @:Initiation, an official artinist

publication, came to an end before the )ar &ut the Great )ar came, which broke up

e"erything belonging to occult interests of the organi>ed kind !he Grand aster +apusdied in the course of it, in the heroism of a physician:s ser"ice


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!he peace of #ersailles was at last signed, and at no long time thereafter the old interests

began to lift up their heads* it seemed also as if the released tension itself ga"e birth

automatically to new ad"entures by the score in thought and dream 5ccultism in +ariswas characteri>ed by acti"ities of e"ery kind - new mo"ements, new associations, new

periodicals, including many official organs for one or another dedication, but most of

them mushroom growths )e can imagine that @:5rdre artiniste did not remain inabeyance, but it seems now a shadow of its former self, is split up by ri"al obediences

and has entered into union with decried asonic Rites )hether it will emerge into

clearer light no one remote from the centre can dare to say, but to all appearance at leastits time is o"er 5nce at the head of most French mo"ements of the occult kind, it is now

but one of a score7 and I do not know in what sense the gracious spirit of .aint-artin

can be said to abide therein If e"er a time shall come when those who mo"e in its circle

and those who rule at its centre will ha"e reali>ed that he left for e"er the occult andasonic sanctuaries for the %hurch ystic of %hristian !heosophy, they may find his

directing light shining towards the end of true ysticism7 but in the 5rients of emphis

ne"er, and ne"er in those of i>raim, or in any substituted form of Freemasonry which is

without God in the world eanwhile I tend to belie"e that men and women of spiritualmind in France, who are not under the obedience of Rome, will remember .aint-artin

as one who after his own manner belongs to that great chain which began in the %hristianworld with Dionysius the 0reopagite and added link to link through all the ages

subse'uent

!ext $nd

the french mystic and the story of modern martinism

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