The reputation of Born now began to extend, and he was honoured with the correspondence of some of the first mineralogists of the age. He was elected a member of the Royal Societies of Stockholm, Sien na, and Padua ; and in 1774 he was chosen a fellow of the Royal Society of London.
The talents of Born were not confined to mineralo gy alone. He had a taste for general literature, which he displayed, not only in his writings, hut in the active zeal with which lie laboured to inspire his countrymen with a taste for learning. He contribu ted largely to a work entitled Abbrldungen 13ohmis cher and Mahrischer Gelehrten and Kunstler, or, Por traits of the learned Men and Artists of' Bohemia and Moravia. He likewise wrote in the Ada Lit erarin 13ohemice et Moravim. He induced government to form a public cabinet for the use of the students at Prague and Vienna ; and, in 1775, he founded a lite rary society at Prague, which has published several volumes, under the title of Abhancllungen ciner Privatbesellsclsaft in Bohnien, or, Memoirs of a private Society in Bohemia.
The fame of Born was now so great, that, in the year 1776, he was called to Vienna by the Empress Maria Theresa, to arrange and describe the imperial collection. In 1778, he published the conchology of this collection in a splendid work, the expense of which was partly defrayed by the empress herself. On the death of the empress the work was disconti nued, in consequence of the parsimony of her succes sor, Joseph II. Some time afterwards, Born was chosen to instruct in natural history the Archdu chess Maria Anna, for whom he formed an elegant museum. In consequence of these services, he was, •promoted to the office of actual counsellor to the.
court chamber in the department of the mines and ' mint.
The he had met with at Felso banya now began to produce the most dangerous symptoms. He was attacked with the most excru ciating colics, and having, in one of his paroxysms of pain, swallowed an immense quantity of opium, a le thargy was brought on, which lasted 21. hours. The disease now attacked his lower extremities ; his feet withered by degrees, and he was unable to walk du ring the rest of his life.
It was about this time that the freemasons, for saking the dark mysteries of their order, began to diffuse that light which had hitherto shone in their own lodges, and to take an active part in reforming the abuses and corruptions of society ; and Born took an active and prominent part in all their measures.
It is impossible to form any idea of a German lodge from those in our own country. The most distin guished literary characters frequented these meetings ; and, instead of being regaled with good fare for their appetites, they were instructed by dissertations on his tory, ethics, and moral philosophy, or on the ancient amtmodern mysteries of the association. The car- • ruptions of the Romish church, and the exactions of arbitrary power, were among the evils which this so eitty pretended to discuss and ieform. Into such societies a few desperate individuals may have gained admission, who were the .enemies of all government and of all religion ; but these men neverdirected the fo reign lodges, and it never was the object of the German masons to overturn either the church or the state. In the reign of Maria Theresa, these meetings were dis couraged; but, upon the accession ofJoseph I I. the free masons received complete toleration, and Baron Born founded at Vienna the lodge called the True Concord. The dissertations which were read at the lodges were afterwards published in the Journal no. Freyn2aurer, or, Diarg for Freemasons, and were also the foun dation of another periodical work, entitled, Physica lische Arbeiten der eintrachtigcn Freunde in Wien a tykesammelt von Born. Vienn. 1783--7 ; which was .conducted by Baron Born and some of the other brethren of the order.
Born was also admitted a member of the Society of the Illuminati ; and such was his zeal for the in stitution, that, when the elector of Bavaria ordered all in his service to renounce the order, Born sent back to the academy at Munich the diploma which he received when admitted among its members.
In the year 1783, when the emperor was making some reforms in the chnich, Born published a singular work entitled Monachologia ; which is a severe satire on the monks, whom he describes in the technical lan guage 'of natural history. This production is so full of admirable satire, that we cannot resist the tempta tion of laying before our readers the description of an animal, which, in the course of a few years, may be completely extinct.