CHAPTER XV

THE ILLUMINATI
In the year 1776 the Chair of Canon Law at the Bavarian University of Ingolstadt was filled by a young man of twenty- eight named Adam Weishaupt. He had been educated by the Society of Jesus, but had so far fallen away from the doctrines taught him in youth as to have become a most advanced thinker in all matters where religion and politics were concerned, and was, moreover, an avowed and bitter enemy of his own early instructors. Contemporary accounts show him to have been a man of great intellectual powers, a brilliant lecturer, and exercising much influence over the young men with whom he came in contact at the University. This predominance in a small circle was, however, far from contenting him, and his ambition was to become the directing genius of a vast social movement that should alter the whole condition of the world.
His projects were, broadly speaking, to sweep away all existing monarchies and creeds, establishing in their stead republics where the desire to do good to one’s fellow-man should take the place of all natural or revealed religions and subordinations of rank. Bavaria and all Germany were well prepared to listen to the preaching of such doctrines in an attractive and forcible form, for his theories were no fresh meat, but merely a skilful rechauffe of what eleutheromaniac pamphleteers had been vending for years in catchpenny attacks upon the petty courts of Germany and the sloth and corruption of the clergy. Weishaupt was therefore certain of finding a sympathetic audience, but he wished to make those who listened to his message subservient as well, and hence for the purpose of publishing
106
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it to the world he established a secret society of which he intended to remain the chief, if not the sole director.
The association was launched at Ingolstadt on the 1st May, 1776, and was at first given the name of The Order of Perfectibilists, but this title was, no doubt wisely, soon changed to one that was to become world-famous, the Illuminati.
The purpose of the society, as expounded by the founder, was to create a luminous centre for the promotion of national and religious enlightenment, a purpose that would become increasingly effective as the society grew in members whose opinions had been moulded in advance to suit the ends it contemplated. To ensure that none should deviate from the strict standard of perfectibility devised by Weishaupt, the society was so designed as to secure from every admitted member the rejection of all religious dogmas, a pledge in favour of republican doctrines, and the habit of implicit obedience to whatever commands might be issued by the Areopagus or Supreme Council.
In order to find suitable material out of which to fashion the body of the Illuminati it was necessary to gain an. influence over groups of the young and enthusiastic, and Weishaupt decided that his best recruiting-ground would lie in the Masonic Lodges. With this object in view he sought and obtained initiation as a Freemason in the Lodge Theodore of Good Counsel ( Theodor zum guten Rat) in Munich some little time after he had established the society of Illuminati.
Freemasonry since its introduction to Germany from England had fallen far away from its original simplicity and become the victim of a host of impostors and quacks, so that half a dozen different systems held the field in that country in the seventeen-seventies, each declaring itself to be the only true Church and all others heterodox. In France the three Craft degrees of the primitive English rite had almost from their first appearance there been looked upon as far too simple and low-class to deserve the serious attention of a people with a passion for military rank, titles and decorations; so these three steps had been dubbed
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symbolical, as merely a preparation for something better — this something being evolved in due course as endless ladders of chivalric degrees with high-sounding titles, attended by picturesque rituals and glittering decorations. From France all these Masonic adjuncts had been imported into Germany and added in one rite or another to the body of Freemasonry; but the German Masons had also evolved a new idea of their own about the society, which was that somewhere aloof, unknown, perhaps on the Mountain of Harodin, wherever that might be, perhaps in the hardly less mythical caves of Old Aberdeen, undisclosed superiors were watching the progress of the Lodges all over the world, and would from time to time manifest themselves to such junior Brethren as had merited their favour and seemed worthy of advancement in Masonry. What particular knowledge or advantage was to be gained by the happy recipient of such notice from the unseen superiors no one had the least idea; but many Freemasons believed in the existence of such unknown and unnamed hierarchs, and it was on this belief that Weishaupt reckoned when he set him¬ self to ransack the Masonic Lodges for revolution-fodder.
He also reckoned on another factor. Most of the contin¬ ental Lodges had completely broken away from the English rule prohibiting any discussion on religion or politics at the meetings; so much so indeed, that in many German Lodges it was in those days the custom for the Brother Orator to hold forth at length on debatable questions of theology and statecraft; and what might be euphemistically termed “advanced opinions” were those received with most applause in the Bavarian Lodges at this time.1
Yet an additional reason for invading the Masonic Lodges was that the searcher would find there many young men of wealth, leisure and position, the classes most to be desired as instruments by a dictator who aimed at ruling a nation. Nor, as events proved, had Weishaupt miscalculated when he chose as baits such prospects as the hope of learning a secret shared by few, the opportunity of redressing anomalies
1John Robison, Proofs of a Conspiracy, etc., 1798. Robison had belonged to and visited many continental Lodges, and is an excellent authority for facts, though inclined to exaggerate the influence in world-affairs of the Illuminati.
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and injustices, the obligation to use one’s wealth and rank in the service of the commonwealth and in doing good to one’s fellow-man — the young, the generous-hearted, are easy game when hunted down behind such stalking-horses.
Before proceeding with Weishaupt’s Masonic adven¬ tures, however, some account must first be given of the Illuminati system itself, so far as can be gathered from the confessions of its author or the revelations of its opponents.
The grades of the Order were theoretically arranged in this scale :
1 . Preparation.
2. Novice.
3. Minerval.
4. Illuminatus Minor.
This series was known as the Nursery, after which came the second group known as Masonry.
f 1. Apprentice.
Symbolic \ 2. Fellow-craft.
[3. Master
„ , r4. Illuminatus Major or Scotch Novice.
{5. Illuminatus Dirigens or Scotch Knight.
Scotch
There is evidently some conflict between this ideal arrangement and the actual organization, for most, if not all, the members of the Illuminati had passed through the symbolic Craft degrees before ever becoming acquainted with Weishaupt’s society. The scheme formulated above, therefore, must merely represent the model intended to be established when the Illuminati should have captured the control of all Masonic Lodges, which was one of Weishaupt’s main objectives.
The third group comprised what was known as The Mysteries, divided into Lesser and Greater.
The Lesser
The Greater
Presbyter or Priest. Prince or Regent. Magus.
Rex.
IIO FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
The method of obtaining membership involved, in theory at all events, much difficulty and delay. In the Masonic Lodges Minervals were to be met who hinted at their immense superior knowledge that raised them above the common herd. When a likely candidate approached such a Minerval and expressed the wish to share the secret, the latter reported the matter to his Superior, who passed it on to the Council. After a time the candidate was invited to a conference with a person unknown to him who ad¬ ministered the following oath:
“ I, A.B., hereby bind myself by my honour and good name, forswearing all mental reservations, never to reveal by hint, word, writing, or in any manner whatever, even to my most trusted friend, anything that shall now be said or done to me respecting my wished-for reception, and this whether my reception shall follow or not, I being previously assured that it shall contain nothing contrary to religion, the state, or good manners. I promise that I shall make no intelligible extract from any papers which shall be shown me now or during my novitiate. All this I swear as I am, and as I hope to continue, a man of honour.”
The taking of this oath constituted him a Minerval.
The candidate was then introduced to an Illuminatus Dirigens as his future instructor, who, in theory, led him through a course of study lasting many weeks ; but there is little doubt that this novitiate was greatly curtailed in the case of any very eligible recruit. The neophyte was im¬ pressed with the importance of the Order and told it existed for the purpose of doing good to others; and he was counselled to abandon all his prejudices. If after three years the Minerval had received no further advancement it was because he was considered unfit. He had then to be con¬ tent to remain a Freemason of the highest class. This was known as a Sta Bene. Should he, however, have found favour, he was advanced to be an Illuminatus Minor. He was told in this grade that he must now look upon himself as an instrument to be used by his Superiors for the noblest purposes. In taking the oath he swore that he would “oppose
THE ILLUMINATI
I I I
the enemies of the human race and of society,” and that he would observe unshaken loyalty and submission to the Order “in the person of my Superiors,” and make a com¬ plete surrender of his private judgment . . . and so on at considerable length.
A drawn sword was then pointed at his breast, and he was threatened with vengeance should he ever betray the Order. Four questions were then put to him to discover: What aim he wished the Order to have? What means he would adopt to gain that end? Whom he wished debarred from the Order? What subjects he wished discussed in it? All this was followed by an elaborate ritual ceremony of admission.
The Illuminatus Minor as such now learnt a little about the real doctrines of the Order, but these were communicated with great caution. He was told that their chief end was to unite all mankind into one great society ruled over by his Superiors, whose authority must be considered greater than that of any king or prince or existing system of govern¬ ment.
All this time the Illuminatus Minor had met only a few of his own rank, and throughout it was impressed on him that all mention of the society must be carefully avoided, “for the Order wishes to be secret, and to work in silence; for thus it is better secured from the oppression of the ruling powers, and because this secrecy gives a greater zest to the whole.”
On attaining the rank of Illuminatus Dirigens, the aspirant was instructed to be all things to all men; to endeavour to acquire as much property as possible; and to plot to get a commanding position in his Masonic Lodges, by obtaining control of their funds, and by endeavouring to have the degree of Scotch Knight introduced into their ceremonies.
In his oath the Illuminatus Dirigens promised never to flatter the great nor to be the servant of princes, but to strive for “virtue, wisdom, and liberty”; to “oppose super- stitition, slander, and despotism”; and to “follow up the traces of the pure and true religion pointed out to me in my
I 1 2 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
instructions, and in the doctrines of Masonry; and I will faithfully report to my Superiors the progress I make therein.”
The Love Feast that attended this degree was a parody of the Eucharist, and in it “J. of N.” was referred to as the Grand Master of the Order and as having instituted this Agape the night before His Passion.
The Priest’s degree was remarkable for a long harangue delivered to the candidate, and in it some of the doctrines of the Order were displayed much more openly than hither¬ to. It suggested that the best way of getting rid of irksome rulers was by means of a secret society that should aim at capturing all the power in the State. Princes and priests were to be exterminated. Patriotism must yield place for ever to cosmopolitanism or, as we should term it nowadays, Internationalism. “Whoever spreads general Illuminism augments mutual security; Illumination and security make princes unnecessary” — such was the clinching syllogism.
The subsequent ceremonies of the degree disclosed that the objects of the Order included the design of securing the control of education, of the Church, of the Universities and of the Press, particularly of reviewers.
Two versions of this degree are said to have been current; in the bowdlerized one the more offensive attacks on Church and State were omitted. No doubt the Superiors knew beforehand which version would best suit the quality of the candidate.
The degree of Regent was supposed to be reserved for men who were dissatisfied with existing governments, and wished to see a change. The candidate was introduced to the meeting dressed as a slave, and on being questioned what had brought him into such a miserable condition was instructed to reply: “ Society — the State — Submissiveness — False Religion.” In what followed after the new Regent was given some very enlightening instructions about behaviour, the main points of which can be condensed as follows :
To let the underlings imagine that the Order controlled all Masonic Lodges, and were the secret advisers of the greatest kings. That he should study to make himself
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agreeable to women, because they are the best means of influencing men; therefore, l'et women be his principal study — flatter them, and they will eat out of your hand, says Weishaupt, though in more pompous language. Then the “common people” must be won by schools, condescension, and a pandering to their prejudices. Writers hostile to the principles of the Order must be bribed into becoming its supporters, or, if incorruptible, decried as scribblers. Veneration for kings must be killed by ridicule and the circulation of scandalous stories about their vices and follies. Since the great strength of the Order lies in its concealment, let it always be covered by another name — Freemasonry is a useful cloak to borrow. Then as grand climax:
“The power of the Order must surely be turned to the advantage of its members. All must be assisted. They must be preferred to all persons otherwise of equal merit. Money, services, honour, goods, and blood must be ex¬ pended for the fully proved Brethren, and the unfortunate must be relieved by the funds of the society.”
In the degree of Magus or Philosophus a form of materialism or pantheism was openly preached. “ God and the world are the same thing, and all religions whatever are without foundation, and merely the contrivances of ambitious men.”
In the Rex or supreme degree the teaching was that the meanest citizen is himself a sovereign “as in the Patriarchal state, and that nations must be brought back to that state, by whatever means are conducible — peaceably if it can be done; but if not, then by force — for all subordination must vanish from the face of the earth.”
It was the custom of the Illuminati to adopt the names of ancient celebrities: thus Weishaupt was known as Spartacus, the slave who headed an insurrection in the days of Pompey the Great; Baron von Knigge, of whom more later, was Philo; Judge Zwackh, Cato, etc., etc. Some celebrities, such as Mirabeau, are said to have become members, but their assumed names have not been discovered ; while the originals
I 1 4 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
of some of the assumed names of active propagandists such as Euclides, Mahomet, and Socrates have yet to be disclosed. These assumed names were of course used in all correspondence about the concerns of the Order. Simi¬ larly the names of ancient places were given to modern German ones; thus Munich became Athens, and Bavaria, Grecia.
Weishaupt, as has been said, established his Order in 1776, and within two years it had increased considerably in numbers; therefore the lengthy period of novitiate must have been waived to begin with, but perhaps it was never strictly enforced. In 1778 Zwackh, alias Cato, a Criminal Court judge, a member high in the Order, suggested “to suit the taste of many of our truest members” the in¬ stitution of an allied Sisterhood, to consist of two classes, “the virtuous, and the freer-hearted, i.e., those who fly out of the common track of prudish manners”; but ap¬ parently the adoption of this proposal was not deemed advisable — or perhaps necessary.
To the question of the morals of the Illuminati we shall return later.
It would appear that the system as a whole was evolved gradually, and did not spring, Athena-like, all at once out of the head of Weishaupt. Thus to Baron von Knigge, who did not join the Order till 1782, was entrusted the compilation of the ritual for the degree of Priest; and in Spartacus’s opinion he spoilt it by introducing too much religion. Whatever ceremonies were in vogue, however, the Order spread rapidly from the start. At its apogee in 1783 the Grand Lodge of Illuminati was situated at Munich, and there were six other Circles functioning in Bavaria, which alone contained 600 Illuminati. Other Circles were said to be scattered all over Europe; the Order was supposed to have reached even America; while England was credited with eight Circles and Scotland with two. The Duke of Orleans, later Philippe Egalite, Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France, was claimed as a member, and so was Mirabeau, and though doubt exists about these names, it is certain that the Order had won the approval
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I!5
if not the participation of such eminent literary men as Goethe and Herder, and of soverigns such as Ernest II of Gotha and Karl August of Weimar. Its membership throughout Germany ran into thousands.
The progress of the Order was undoubtedly greatly forwarded by the acquisition as a member in 1 782 of Baron von Knigge, a Masonic enthusiast who spent his life in acquiring new degrees and searching into the hidden meanings of the ceremonies. In pursuance of his usual occupation he had attended the Congress held at Wilhelms- bad in 1782, to which all the different Masonic systems of the continent sent delegates to decide by wrangling what was pure and genuine in Freemasonry, and who possessed the best rite. From such futile discussions Knigge was diverted by his conversion to Illuminism through the good offices of the Marquis Constanza, whose name in the Order was Diomedes.
Knigge was rapidly advanced to a post of trust and authority in the Order, and by his Masonic connexions and infectious enthusiasm gained it many supporters. He became head of the Circle that comprised Westphalia.
Philo, as Knigge was named in the Order, was not, however, disposed to accept Spartacus as a supreme dictator; and the latter termed him “fanatical and prudish,” because he introduced too much religion into a ritual which, as we have seen, he was given to draft; but Philo had an excuse ready, which ran: “It is all one whether it be true or false, we must have it, so that we may tickle those that have a hankering for religion” — all of which savours of the rankest hypocrisy rather than of high purpose. Undoubtedly, however, Philo was of a gentler disposition than the bulk of his associates, and had more respect for the prejudices of others.
His connexion with the Order did not last very long, for in less than two years Philo got disgusted with Spartacus, and withdrew from the Illuminati with this parting vale¬ diction addressed to Cato Zwackh: “I abhor treachery and profligacy, and leave him [Spartacus] to blow himself and his Order into the air.”
1 1 6 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
Warned by this defection, Spartacus at once made an addition to the ritual, and demanded a pledge from the neophyte that he would engage himself for ever to the Order, and bind himself by oath never to draw back.
But the mischief had already been done. Knigge’s defection took place in 1 784, but the society had previously become the subject of inquiries undertaken by command of the Elector of Bavaria, who had got an inkling that somewhere or other in his dominions a new movement was afoot directed against the established order of things.
Whatever had happened about the other maxims taught in their ceremonies, the Illuminati had failed hopelessly over the one that inculcated discretion and concealment of their designs. Several offensive pamphlets had been traced to members of Lodge Theodor zum guten Rath, and the Elector directed that an inquiry should be held about its proceedings. The result of this was to disclose that Lodge Theodor and other Masonic bodies had become breeding- grounds for a novel kind of Freemason, who called himself an Illuminatus, and whose express aim was to abolish Christianity and overthrow all civil government. No highly placed Illuminati were run to earth at first, but one or two Minervals were discovered who, when questioned, sang the Order’s praises and refused to disclose what they had been taught concerning it. A decree followed ordering the closing of all Masonic Lodges. Lodge Theodor showed itself truculent, and continued to hold its regular meetings.
It was at this juncture, in July, 1784, that Knigge aban¬ doned the Illuminati, and the thunder of his disapproval which rumbled through the ranks as he banged the door behind him terrified a junior member of the Order who was a professor at Marienburg. He communicated his doubts to three other professors who were also members, and in the upshot the four volunteered to disclose to the Elector all that they knew about Illuminism. Two of them were only Minervals, and the others had not advanced much farther; their revelations, however, were sufficiently damaging to the Illuminati. The Order was declared by these recanting Brethren to abjure Christianity and refuse advancement
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to anyone who professed belief in this creed; epicurean pleasures were condoned; suicide justified; patriotism and loyalty deprecated as narrow-minded prejudices; the holding of private property declared a crime; to do evil that good might come of it was enjoined as a duty; and the advantage of the Order was held superior to every other consideration.
Weishaupt and his supporters hastened into print anony¬ mously to deny these assertions, and a pamphlet-war began, only to be cut short in 1785 by an edict which abolished the Order of Illuminati.
Weishaupt was discovered to be the head of the offending body, and he was deprived of his chair and banished from Bavaria with a pension of some £40, which he refused to accept. He went first of all to Regensburg, where he pub¬ lished a defence of the Order, and thence to the court of Saxe-Gotha. Still later he became a professor at Gottingen, where he died in 1830. Cato Zwackh and a couple of noble¬ men who had been connected with the Order were also banished.
What were the real aims of the Order of Illuminati? The account given of its rituals is perhaps sufficient indica¬ tion, but this and other evidence cannot be considered of equal weight with Weishaupt’s own apology; so some excerpts from this defence of his will be pertinent.
“I have contrived,” he writes, “an explanation [of Freemasonry] which has every advantage, is inviting to Christians of every communion, gradually frees them from all religious prejudices, cultivates the social virtues, and animates them by a great, a feasible, and a speedy prospect of universal happiness, in a state of liberty and moral equality, freed from the obstacles which subordination, rank, and riches continually throw in our way. My explanation is accurate and complete; my means are effectual and irresistible. Our secret association works in a way that nothing can withstand, and man shall soon be Jree and happy. . . .
“To fit man by Illumination for active virtue, to engage him to it by the strongest motives, to render the attainment of it easy and certain . . . this indeed will be an employ-
1 1 8 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
ment suited to noble natures, grand in its views, and delight¬ ful in its exercise. . . .
“And what is the general object? The happiness oj the human race. . . . When we see the wicked so powerful and the good so weak, and that it is in vain to strive singly and alone against the general current of vice and oppression, the wish naturally arises in the mind that it were possible to form a durable combination of the most worthy persons, who should work together in removing the obstacles to human happiness . . . and by fettering lessen vice; means which at the same time should promote virtue, by rendering the inclination to rectitude, hitherto so feeble, more power¬ ful and engaging. Would not such an association be a blessing to the world?”
Truly, here be noble sentiments, even if expressed with a longwindedness of which the German language is pecu¬ liarly capable; they are a trifle too idealistic perhaps for a workaday world, but who will deny that such sublime altruism when embodied in the lives of the founder and his disciples would have formed a golden example to the great advantage of humanity?
The abolition of all rank and subordination, the confisca¬ tion of private property, and the proscription of religious beliefs in a state have become common enough during the past few years to have lost most of their power to shock or surprise ; so some of us might almost be inclined to forgive the Illuminati their iconoclastic doctrines about property and statecraft for the sake of the civic virtues they professed. For if there was one thing the Brotherhood preached, it was virtue, moral and social; and how well they practised their own lessons will now be shown from intimate correspondence that passed between the leaders.
Spartacus Weishaupt writing to Cato Zwackh in August 1783 complains that his associates are so engrossed in their private concerns that “I am deprived of all help. Socrates, who would insist on having a position of responsibility amongst us, and who really is a man of talent, of the right way of thinking , is eternally drunk. Augustus’s reputation could not be worse. Alcibiades does nothing but sit all day
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n9
long with the vintner’s pretty wife and spends his whole time in sighing and pining with love. Then a few days ago at Corinth Tiberius attempted to ravish the wife of Democides, and her husband took them in the act.” Spartacus goes on to say that he is expecting a very highly placed personage to arrive in Munich, and that this bigwig will probably fight shy of entering an association of “disso¬ lute, immoral wretches, whoremasters, liars, bankrupts, braggarts, and vain fools . . . when the chiefs raise the highest expectations, and then exhibit such wretched examples. ...”
No wonder that a distressed Spartacus calls upon his Cato to deplore with him the presence of such members in the Order. In another letter, however, Cato’s own toga is found to have become much too soiled for washing in public. We have already heard of his projected Sisterhood “to consist of two classes,” and now the gossip of his fellow- Illuminati exhibits him as having received a bribe of 250 florins when acting as judge in the criminal court.
In another letter Spartacus tells Marius, a clergyman Canon Hertel, that a “worthy Brother of the highest rank in the Order” had stolen some jewellery from Brutus (Count Savioli), so would Marius please endeavour to recover the lost property before the theft was discovered, because the culprit was a most excellent man and of vast use to the Order.
Such were the disappointments of the idealist who had formed an Order to give employment suited to noble natures. How grieved too must Canon Marius Hertel have been at receiving so many deplorable confidences. Did he ascribe these lapses from rectitude to the inadequacy of the existing moral and social laws? Did he look forward to an ameliora¬ tion, when everything under the sun should be directed by the Illuminati? We are not in a position to answer these questions nor yet to describe what his feelings were when, in September, 1783, he received one more and cul¬ minating illustration of the founder’s determination to jit man by Illumination for active virtue. Spartacus then wrote to him in the agony of personal despair: “I am in danger
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of losing at once my honour and reputation by which I have long had such influence,” and disclosed the cause, that he had got his sister-in-law with child. “We have tried every method in our power to destroy the child,” he complained, “but it looks as if marriage will be the only means of hushing up the business. ... I cannot con¬ ceive what devil has made me go astray — me who have always been so careful on such occasions .”
The prophecy “Man shall soon be free and happy” was not to be realized yet awhile for Spartacus, for attempts to procure abortion having failed, and the expectant mother having refused to commit suicide, an act that seemed an easy way out of the difficulty to her paramour, he was ultimately obliged to obtain a dispensation and marry his sister-in-law, though this event was delayed till some little time after the arrival in the world of Spartacus Junior.
This story of his betrayal of the woman who loved him, and his futile attempt to evade responsibility by criminal means is no pleasant reading, but yet hardly so nauseous as the defence of his own conduct published years later by Weishaupt. The incident of endeavouring to destroy the unborn child was, he declared, far from proving any depravity of heart; and speaking of himself in the third person he continues his defence: “In his condition, his honour at stake, what else was left him to do? . . . He had become a public teacher, and was greatly followed; this example might have ruined many young men. The eyes of the Order also were fixed on him . . . had he fallen, he could no longer have been in a condition to treat the matters of virtue so as to make a lasting impression. It was chiefly his anxiety to support the credit of the Order which determined him to take this step.”
The reader has now been put in the position to answer for himself the rhetorical question of the Founder of Illum- inism: “Would not such an Association be a blessing to the world?” He can also decide for himself the still hotly debated problem whether the Illuminati were as dangerous to the State and to morals as they seem in the face of the evidence, or whether the buckets of whitewash that have
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been poured over them during the course of the last century and a half have really been effective either as a decoration or as a deodorizer; but another question still remains to be considered: did the Illuminati continue to exist as an organized body after the dissolution in 1785?
The “German Union,” a kind of reading-club, member¬ ship of which was obtainable only through reading-societies and on taking an oath of secrecy, is still held by many to be merely a continuation of the Illuminati under a new form; but it is improbable that this society which arose shortly before the fateful year 1 789, had anything in common with Illuminism but its advanced doctrines, and these were, after all, the fashionable cant of the years preceding the French Revolution. Other writers have traced a con¬ tinuity of Illuminsim in every revolutionary event that has happened in Europe from 1789 to the present day; but in so far as this theory connotes any unbroken “laying on of hands” from Weishaupt to Lenin, it would seem to be far-fetched, and unproven by any evidence hitherto pro¬ duced.
But is not the converse position equally untenable? That Weishaupt and his associates had no influence on the course of the world beyond their own day, and but little in that? Let us hearken to a relucent parable from Heine, the poet of revolt, who dreamt that he was being followed about everywhere by the shadowy form of an executioner carrying an axe, and that when he challenged the spectre to say what it was and why it dogged his footsteps, the answer came: “I am the deed that follows on your thoughts!”
Thoughts, even as flames spreading through a city, can leap over barren spaces to material ripe for the burning, and during the last four hundred years have become more indestructible than ever in the written word; nor is there anything impossible or too fantastic in the suggestion that the bold speculations of the Illuminati may from time to time have caught the attention of those spiritual brethren of theirs who have in various epochs and divers countries been seeking to change the moral and civic bases of society, and caught it, moreover, without the intervention of any
122 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
secret association to preach the lesson, a printed page being quite potent enough for the purpose.
We who are to-day spectators of what is perhaps the most daring social experiment in the history of the world would need to shut our eyes to the picture of modern Russia before declaring that the Illuminism of Adam Weishaupt had faded out into dull lifeless ashes as assuredly as did his own fiery soul in the dust and cobwebs of a Gottingen class-room.