B.
1st October 1832.
My very dear Sir,
... It is impossible to continue without exhibiting the most intimate mysteries of the sect, seeing that the entire poem of Dante, all the lyrics of Petrarca, almost all the works of Boccaccio, and, in fine, all the old writings of that class, are nothing else than downright doctrine and practice of the Freemasons, in the strictest acceptation of the word. Such was the Gay Science, such the Platonic love, such the sect of the Templars, and that of the Paulicians. How true this is you will find in the published volume,[83] with numberless manuscript additions which I have made to it.... There you will see developed the God of the Sect—viz. Man in Freedom; there, also, the Sectarian Trinity, the Incarnation, Transubstantiation, and other matters.... But it is dangerous to consign the work to the public, and the chief danger is this: The demonstration cannot be rightly founded, so as to defy confutation, without citing in confirmation the writings of St Paul and those of St John. One might make use of protests, dexterity, or even hypocrisy, but none the less one must state the thing which is; and, if one will not state this, one is compelled to stop short at the effects, and leave the cause unexplained, which makes less visible and tangible the reality of the assumption....
I see with regret that the assertion of many Sectarian writers, and among others of Swedenborg, is not without foundation—namely, that the religion founded upon the New Testament is, in fact, the religion which they profess, of which we practise the letter, and they possess the spirit: we are the outer church, and they form the hereditary priesthood. Be this true or false, great indeed is the illusion which it assails;[84] and to bring this to light would be an offence against the human society in which we exist....
I now comprehend why the Mysterium Magnum was never manifested to the world. It is confided to very few persons, of well-approved prudence, and at an age of thorough maturity; and to discover it by one’s own scrutiny is a work of immense labour, and (I will venture to say) of no ordinary talent.... I know that Mr Frere belongs to the secret order; and, having perceived what it is that I have already discovered by analysis and reasoning, he fears lest I should reveal it to the world. I am not so mad as to plan detriment to society, and to myself....
With regard to the chapter, Dante personified in Adam, this, though not demonstrated in full, has none the less a great basis of proofs in other chapters; and its substance is that Dante was the inventor of that simulated religious language. Perhaps, on reading some additions which I have made, you will more strongly feel the reality of the thesis....
Your much obliged Servant,
Gabriele Rossetti.