the end of five years' meditation there "came again into his mind the wished-for Reformation: accordingly he chose some few adjoyned with him," the Brethren G.V., I.A., and I.O.--the last of whom "was very expert and well learned in Cabala as his book H witnesseth"--to form a circle of initiates. "After this manner began the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross." Five other Brethren were afterwards added, all Germans except I.A., and these eight constituted his new building called Sancti Spiritus. The following agreement was then drawn up:
First, that none of them should profess any other thing than to cure the sick, and that gratis. Second, none of the posterity should be constrained to wear one certain kind of habit, but therein to follow the custom of the country. Third, that every year, upon the day C., they should meet together at the house Sancti Spiritus, or write the cause of his absence. Fourth, every Brother should look about for a worthy person who, after his decease, might succeed him. Fifth, the word C.R. should be their seal, mark, and character. Sixth, the Fraternity should remain secret one hundred years.
Finally Brother C.R. died, but where and when, or in what country he was buried, remained a secret. The date, however, is generally given as 1484. In 1604 the Brethren who then constituted the inner circle of the Order discovered a