As regards the teaching of the Order it has been inherited through a valid and unbroken succession; it is the custodian of things hitherto regarded a… - A. E. Waite

The Turba Philosophorum is indisputably the most ancient extant treatise on Alchemy in the Latin tongue, but it was not, so far as can be ascertained, originally written in Latin; the compiler or editor, for in many respects it can scarcely be regarded as an original composition, wrote either in Hebrew or Arabic; however, the work, not only at the present day, but seemingly during the six or seven centuries when it was quoted as an authority by all the alchemical adepts, has been familiar only in its Latin garb. (preface)

A tract entitled Clypeum Veritatis, otherwise The Shield of Truth, which appeared early in 1618, is a typical deliberation on the pro et contra side, and I am taking it out of due order as it connects with the next tract. It claims (i) to deal with everything which “hereunto has been set forth openly, either for or against the Most Honourable and Blessed Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross,” and (2) to exhibit once and for all that which zealous disciples may expect confidently therefrom. The author in this case also was Irenaeus Agnostus, who subscribes himself (1) as writing from Tunis on February 21 of the year mentioned, (2) by special command of the glorious Brotherhood, he being (3) its “unworthy notary” through- out Germany. It affirms (1) that our highest good and way to the blessed life lies in the knowledge of God; (2) that the man who is devoted to the word of God is ever proceeding further in the quest of wisdom; and (3) that learning must be maintained for the propagation of celestial doctrine. (Development of Rosicrucian Literature)

Not only are great subjects encircled, for the most part by an external penumbra which, in comparison with them- selves, is a region of trifles, but the subjects themselves, when approached, not so much in an unserious spirit as in the mood of the light mind, seem, under such auspices, to abdicate their proper office and to manifest on their fantastic side. They enter to this extent the region of comedy, and as he must be a cross-grained poet who cannot be diverted by the skilful parody of his own work, so it is in no sense outside the law that the true mystic-— who is saved by many things, including a sense of humour — should be the first perhaps to appreciate the motley appear- ance of his own interests, when seen under the reflections of travesty. (Chapter XXII, A Kabalistic Order of the Rose-Croix)