The instinct of self-defense and of self-preservation
is part of it; the idea that one has any
right or rights, either as a citizen, or man, or
individual, the pleasant consciousness of self-respect
and of virtue. These are hard sayings
to many; yet they are true. For these words
that I am writing now, and those which I have
written on this subject, are not in any sense
my own. They are drawn from the traditions
of the lodge of the great Brotherhood, which
was once the secret splendor of Egypt. The
rules written in its ante-chamber were the same
as those now written in the ante-chamber of
existing schools. Through all time the wise
men have lived apart from the mass. And
even when some temporary purpose or object
induces one of them to come into the midst of
human life, his seclusion and safety is preserved
as completely as ever. It is part of his
inheritance, part of his position, he has an
actual title to it, and can no more put it aside
than the Duke of Westminster can say he does
not choose to be the Duke of Westminster. In
the various great cities of the world an adept
lives for a while from time to time, or perhaps
only passes through; but all are occasionally
aided by the actual power and presence of one
of these men. Here in London, as in Paris and
St. Petersburgh, there are men high in development.
But they are only known as mystics by