Pope would be reduced into dust; that they only admitted two sacraments, with the ceremonies of the Primitive Church, renewed by them: that they recognised the Fourth Monarchy and the Emperor of the Romans as their Chief, and the Chief of all Christians; that they would provide him with more gold, their treasures being inexhaustible, than the King of Spain had ever drawn from the golden regions of Eastern and Western India. Things went on pretty quietly for some time, converts being made with ease in Germany, but only with difficulty in other parts. In 1623, however, the brethren suddenly made their appearance in Paris, and the inhabitants of the city were surprised on the 3rd of March to find placarded on the walls a manifesto to this effect:--"We, the deputies of the principal college of the brethren of the Rosie Cross, have taken up our abode, visible and invisible, in this city, by the grace of the Most High, towards whom are turned the hearts of the just. We show and teach without any books or symbols whatever, and we speak all sorts of languages in the countries wherein we deign to dwell, to draw mankind, our fellows, from error and to save them from death." Whether this was a mere joke on the part of some of the wits of the day, it is certain that it created a very wide-spread sensation, and no little wonder and alarm, particularly amongst the clergy. Very soon pamphlets in opposition, and intended to warn the faithful, began to make their appearance. The earliest was called "A History of the Frightful Compacts entered into between the Devil and the Pretended Invisibles, with their Damnable Instructions, the Deplorable Ruin of their Disciples, and their Miserable End." This was followed by another of a far more ambitious character, pretending to ability to explain all the peculiarities and mysteries of the strange intruders. It was called "An examination of the New Cabala of the Brethren of the Rosie-Cross, who have lately come to reside in the city of Paris, with the History of their Manners, the Wonders worked by them, and many other particulars." As the books sold and circulated the sensation and alarm in the breasts of the people largely increased, approaching almost to a kind of panic. Ridicule and laugh as some would, it was impossible to disguise the fact that a vast number of the population went in bodily fear of this mysterious sect, whose members they had never seen. It was believed that the Rosicrucians could transport themselves from place to place with the rapidity almost of thought, and that they took delight in cheating and tormenting unhappy citizens, especially such as had sinned against the laws of morality. Then very naturally came the wildest and most unlikely stories, which, as is usual with such things, in spite of all their folly, were soon propagated far and wide, and increased the general alarm.