The Theoretical Brothers, or the Second Stage of the Rosicrucians

Danisch. I thought it necessary, Sire, to prefix some historical reports, in order to —

In order to instruct us? said the Sultan, smiling — but do continue, dear doctor —

Danisch. It is a misfortune of humanity that even the most sacred things, in the hands of men, can never remain long in their original purity; so too here the virtuous intentions of the first founders were corrupted, and from the legislation of virtue arose despotism and superstition, and from skeptical naturalists naturalists: "Naturforscher," scholars who study the physical world through observation and reason, and their conjectures, [arose] the most wretched delusions delusions: "Schwärmereyen," a term often used in the 18th century to describe irrational religious fervor or fanatical mysticism. Men gifted with a heated imagination, fanatics and frauds banded together, and soon gained a following, because nothing is easier than selling nonsense as truth to gullible people, especially when one knows how to shroud this nonsense in enigmatic language —

I wish my Imam Imam: A religious leader; Shah Gebal is suggesting a satirical comparison between the historical frauds described by Danisch and the religious authorities in his own court. were here — said Shah Gebal —