I. " Would the fociety be objectionable which

" fhould (till the greater revolution of nature diould '^ be ripe) put monarchs and rulers out of the condi- " tion to do harm ; which ihould in hlence j^revent " the abufe of power, by furrounding the great with
T *"' its
14^ THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II ,
*' its members, and thus not only prevent their doing " milchiefj but even make them do good ?"
1. '^ Is not the objection unjuft. That fuch a Soci- ^^ ciety may abufe its power ? Do not our rulers fre- ^^ quently abufe their power, though we are filent ? " This power is not fo fecurc as in the hands of our *^ Members, whom we train up with fo much care, *' and place about princes after mature deliberation " and choice. If any government can be harmlefs '' which is erecSted by man, furely it mufl be ours^ '' which is founded on morality, forefight, talents, li- ^^ berty, and virtue," &c.
The candidate is prefented for reception in the cha- ra6ter of a fiave ; and it is demanded of him what has brought him into this mofl: milerable of all conditions. He anhvers — Society — the State- — Submifiivenefs — Falfe Religion. A fkeleton is pointed out to him, at the feet of which are laid a Crov/n and a Sword. He is afked, whether that is the fl bleman, or a Beggar? As he cannot decide, the Pre- fident of the meeiing fays to him, '^ the character of *^ being a Man is the only one that is of importance." In a long declamation on the hackneyed topics, we have here and there fome thoughts which have not yet come before us.
'' We mufl allow the underlings to imagine, (but ^^ without telling them the truth,) thsc v/e dirc6c ail *' the Free Maibn Lodges, and even ail other Orders, *^ and that the greateft monarchs are under our guid- '^ ance, which indeed is here and there the cafe.
There is no way of influencing men fo powerful- ly as by m.eans of the women. Thefe fhould there- '' fore be our chief ftudy ; we fhould infinuate our- '^ felves into their good opinion, give them hints of " emancipation from the tyranny of public opinion, " and of itanding up for thcmfelvesi it will be an im-
'^ mcnfe
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. 14?
*^ mcnfe relief to their enflaved minds to be freed from ^^ any one bond of reftraint, and it will fire them the " more, and caufe them to work for us with zeal> *^ without knowing that they do fo ; for they will only *^ be indulging their own defire of perfonal admira-
" tion.
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*^ We mud win the common people in every cor- ^^ ner. This will be obtained chiefly by means of the " fchools, and by open, hearty behaviour, mow, con- '* defcenfion, popularity, and toleration of their pre- judices, which we fhall at leifure root out and difpel. If a writer publiflies any thing that attracts notice,\ " and is in itfelf juft, but does not accord with our " plan, we mufl endeavour to win him over, or decry
'* Achicf objedt of our care muft be to keep down *' that {laviili veneration C&r princes which lo much *' difgraces all nations. Even in i\\eJoi-difa?it free En- '^ gland, the filly Monarch fays. We are gracioufiy pleafed, and the more fimple people fay, Amen. Thefe men, commonly very weak heads, are only th£ far- " ther corrupted by this fervile flattery. But let us ac " once give an example of ourfpirit by our behaviour " with Princes ; we mufl; avoid all familiarity — never " entrufl: ourfelves to them — behave with precifion, " but with civility, as to other men — fpeak of them " on an equal footing — this will in time teach them ^^ that they are by nature men, if they have fenfe and " fpirit, and that only by convention they are Lords, ^^ We muil afliduoufly coUe^l anecdotes, and the ho- '^ nourable and mean a6^ions, both of the leafl: and " the greatefij and w^hen their names occur in any re- " cords which are read in our meetings, let them ^^ ever be accompanied by thefe marks of their real " worth.
'' The
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I4B THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. Il,
'' The great flrength of our Order lies in its conceal- ment j let it never appear in anyplace in its own
** name, but always covered by another name, and
cc .u^. ^.„ .:::^-^-^— ■ -- - - - -
another occupationv At;;
dcgi^ecs cf Free Majlnry ; the fuhlic is accuftomed to it ; '^ exfe^s little f rem it, and therefore take^ little notice of it, '* Next to this the form of a learned or literary fociety *' is bell fuited to our purpofe, and had FrecMafonry ^' not exifced^ this cover would have been employed i *' and it may be much more than a cover, it may be a " powerful engine in our hands. By efiahlifding reading '' Jbcieties, and Jidfcrlpticn libraries:, and taking theje under " cur direrticn, andfupplying them through our labours, wt
" h\ like manner we mud try to obtain an influence '' in the military academies, (this may be of mighty ** confequence,) theprinting-houfesjbookfellers fnops, ** chapters, and in Ihort in all offices which have any '^ eife6l, either in forming, or in managing, or even *' in direding the mind of man: painting and cngrav- '^ ing are highly worth our care*."
'' Could our Prefed" (obfervc it is to the Illuminati Regcntes he is fpeaking, whofe officers are Prefect) '' fill the judicatories of a flate with our worthy mem- " bcrs, he does all that man can do for the Order. It
is better than to gain the Prince himfelf. Princes
iliouki never get beyond the Scotch knighthood.
They either never profecute any thing, or they twift *^ every thing to their ov/n advantage.
'' A Literary Society is the moll proper form for «' the introdudion of our Order into any (late where " vv^e arc yet firangers.'* (Mark this !)
'' The
* (Thev were ilrongly fufpe-aed of having publifhed fome fcan- daious caricatures, snd i'ome very immoral prints.) They fcrup- led at no mean, however bafc, for corruj;.ting the nation. Mira- beaa had dore the fame tning at Berlin. £y political caricatures and fJthy print?, ihcy vorru::'t even fuch as cnnaot read.
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CHAP. 11. THE ILLUMINATI. J^g
" The power of the Order muft furely be turned to " the advantage of its Members. All muft be affifted. " They mud be preferred to all perfons otherwife of ^^' equal merit. Money, fervices, nonour, goods, and ^' blood, mud be expended for the fully proved Bre- *^ thren, and the unfortunate muft be relieved by the " funds of the Society."
As evidence that this was not only their inftrudlionSg but ahb their affiduous pra6lice, take the following re- port from the overfeer of Greece (Bavaria),
In Cato's hand-writing,
^* The number (about 600) of Members relates to
^f Bavaria alone.
" In Munich there is a well-conftituted meeting of
" Illuminati MajoreSj a meeting of excellent /////;;2//?^/i Minores, a refpe6table Grand Lodge, and two Mi- nerval AlTemblies. There is a Minerval AiTembly at Frcyfling, at Landfberg, at Burghaufen, at Straf- burg, at Ingollladt, and at laft at Regenfburg*. *^ At Munich we have bought a houfe, and by cle- ver meafures have brought things fo far, that the citizens take no notice of it, and even fpeak of us with eilcem. We can openly go to the houfe every day, and carry on the bufmels of the Lodge. This is a great deal for this city. In the houfe is a good mufeum of natural hiftory, and apparatus for ex- periments: alfoa library which daily inereafes. The garden is well occupied by botanic fpecimens, and the Vv'hole has the appearance of a focicty of zealous *^ naturalifts.
" We get all the literary journals. We take care, " by well-timed pieces, to make the citizens and the
Princes
* In this fmall turhulejit city there were eleven fccret fucieties of Mafons, Kofvcrucians^ Clair- vovants, &c.
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(C
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(C


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I^O tHE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
.*^ Princes a little more noticed for certain little flips. " We oppofe the monks with all our might, and with *' great iliccefs.
" The Lodge is conftituted entirely according to our *^ fyftem, and has broken oft entirely from Berlin, and *^ we have nearly finifhed our tranfadions with the *^ Lodges of Poland, and fliali have them under our* " direction.
*f By the adtivity of our Brethren, the Jefuits have *^ been kept out of all the profeiTorial chairs at Ingol- *^ ftadt, and our friends prevail.'*
" The widow Duchefs has fet up her academy en- ** tirely according to our plan, and we have all the '^ ProfclTors in the Order. Five of them are excellent, " and the pupils will be prepared for us.
" We have got Pylades put at the head of the Fife, «* and he has the church-money at his difpofal. By «' properly ufing this money, we have been enabled
" to put our brother 's houfehold in good order ;
" which he had deftroyed by going to the Jews. We " have fupported more Brethren under fimilar misfor- *^ tunes.
*' Our Ghoflly Brethren have been very fortunate «^ this lail year, for we have procured for them feveral " good benefices, parifhes, tutorlhips, &c.
" Through our means Arminius and Cortes have " gotten Profeflbrfhips, and many of our younger
" We have been very fuccefsful againft the Jefuits, " and brought things to fuch a bearing, that their re- " venues, fuch as the MifTion, the Golden Alms, the " Exercifes, and the Converfion Box, are now under *' themanagementofourfricnds. So arc alfo their con- *f cernsin theuniverfityand the German fchool founda- ** tions. The application of all will be determined " prefently, and we have fix members and faur friends
" in
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CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. ' I^t
'^ in the Court. This has coft our fenate fome nights want of Deep. m
'^ Two of our befl youths have got journies from the Courts and they will go to Vienna, where they will do us great fervice. " All the German Schools, and the Benevolent So- ^^ ciety, are at laft under our direction.
'' We have e:ot feveral zealous members in the courts " of juftice, and we arc able to afford them pay, and '■^ other good additions.
'^ Lately, we have got pofTefTionof the Bartholomew " Inftitution for young clergymen, having fecured ali *^ its fupporters. Through this we fh ail be able to " fupply Bavaria with fit priefts.
" By a letter from Phiio we learn, that one of the *^ highefl dignities in the church was obtained for a " zealous lUuminatus, m oppofition even to the au- " thority and right of the Bilhop of Spire, who is re- ^' prefented as a bigoted and tyrannical prieft."
Such were the leffer myileries of the Iliuminati. But there remain the higher myileries. The fyfrem of thefe has not been printed, and the degrees were conferred only by Spartacus himfelf, from papers which he never entrufted to any peribn. They were only read to the candidate, but no copy was taken. The publiflier of the Neuefte Arheltung fays that he has read them (lb fays Grollman). He fays, *' that in the firil degree of *^ Magus or Philosophus, the doctrines are the fam.e with thofe of Spinoza, where all is material, God and the world are the fame thing, and all re- ligion whatever is v/ithout foundation, and, the con- *'■ trivance of ambitious micn." The fecond degree/ or Rex, teaches, '^ that every peafant, citizen, and *^ houfeholder is a fovereign, as in the Patriarchal ^^ Hate, and that nations muii be brought back to that *^ ftate, by v/hatever means are conducible — peace- ably.
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152
TH£ ILLUMINATT.
CHAP. JI.
€6
ably, if It can be done; but, if not, then by force " — for all fubordination mult vanilh from the face of " the earth."
The author fays further, that the German Union was, to his certain knowledge, the work of the iUu- minati.
The private correfpondence that has been publifhed is by no means the whole of what was difcovered at Landfhut and BafTus HofF, and government got a great deal of ufeful information, which was concealed, both out of regard to the families of the perfons concerned, and alfo that the reft miojht not know the utmoft ex- tent of the difcovery, and be lefs on their guard. A third collc6lion was found under the foundation of the houfe in which the Lodge Tbeodor vom guteyi Rath had been held. But none of this has appeared. Enough furely has been difcovered to give the public a very juft idea of the dcfigns of the Society and its connect tions.
Lodges were difcovered, and are mentioned in the private papers already publifhed, in the following places.
Munich
Ing'olftadt
Frankfort
Echftadt
Hanover
Brunfwick
Calbe
Magde burgh
CaiTel
Ofnabruck
Weimar
Upper Saxony (feveral)
Auftria (14)
Weftphalia (feveral)
Heidelbero:
Manheim
Strafourgh (5)
Spire
Worms
Dufleldorff
Cologne
Bonn (4)
Livonia (many)
Courland (many)
Frankendahl
Alface (many)
Vienna
CHAP. II.
THE ILLUMINATI.
IS3
Vienna (4) HciTe (many) Buchenwerter Mompcliard Stutgard (3) Carifruhc Anfpach Neuwied (2) Mentz (2) Poland (many) Turin
England (8) Scotland (2) WaiTaw (2) America (fcveral.)
Deiixponts Coufel Treves (2) Aix-la-Chapelle (2) Bartfchicd Hah re n berg Switzerland (many) Rome Naples Ancona Florence France
Holland (many) Drefden (4) N. B. This was before 1786.
j|».
I have picked up the names of the following mem-
ben
Spartacus^ Philo,
Araelius, Bayard, Diomedes, ' Gato,
U
Weiiliaupt, Profeflbr. Knigge, Freyherr, i. e.
Gentleman. Bode, F. H. Bufche, F. H. Conflanza, Mara. Zwack, Lawyer. Torrin^, Count. Khreitmaier, Prince. Utfchneider, ProfeiTor. ColTandey, ProfeiTor. Renner, Profeilbr. Grunberger, ProfefTor. Balderbufch, F. FI. Lippert, Counfelior. Kundl, ditto. Bart, ditto.
Leiberhauer,
^54
THE ILLUMINATI.
CHAP. 11^
Pythagoras,
Hannibal,
Brutus,
Lucian,
Zoroafler, Confucius, Hermes Trifmegiftus,
Sulla,
Pythagoras, (2cl,) Marius,
Saladin,
Leiberhauer, Prieft. Kundler, ProfeiTor. Lowling, ProfeiTor. Vachency, Counfellor. Moraufl^y, Count. Hoffftetter, Surveyor of
Roads. Strobl, Bookfeller. Weflenrieder, Profefibr, Babo, ProfeiTor. Baader, ProfeiTor. Burzes, Prieft. Pfruntz, Prieft. BafTus, Baron. Savioli, Count. Nicholai, Bookfeller. Bahrdt, Clergyman. Baierhamer.
Socher, School Infpe6lor. Dillis, Abbe. MeggenhofT, Paymafter. Danzer, Canon. Braun, ditto. Fifcher, Magiftrate. Frauenberger, Baron. Kaltner, Lieutenant. Drexl, Librarian. Hertel, Canon. Dachfel.
Billing, Counfellor. Seefeld, Count. Gunflieim, ditto. Morgellan, ditto. Ecker, ditto. Ow, Major. Werner, Counfellor.
Cornelius,
CHAP. II.
THE ILLUMINATI.
J 55
Cornelius Scipio,
Tycho Brahe,
Thales,
Actila,
Ludovicus BavarnSj
Shafteibury,
Coriolaniis^
Timon,
Tamerlane,
Liviiis,
Cicero,
Ajax,
Berser, Coimfellor.
Worcz, Apothecary.
Mauvillon, Colonel,
Mirabeau, Count.
Orleans, Duke.
Hochinaer.
Gafpar, Merchant.
Kapfinger.
Sauer.
Lofi.
Steger.
Tropponera, Zufchvvartz,
Michel.
Lange.
BadorfFer.
Pfefr.
MafTenhaufen, Count.
I have not been able to find who perfonatcd Minos, Euriphon, Celfius, Mahomet, Hercules, Socrates, Philippo Strozzi, Euclides, and fome others who have been uncommonly adive in carrying forward the great eaufe.
The chief publications for giving us regular accounts of the whole, (befides the original writings,) are,
1. Groffe Alyficht des Illuminaten Or dens.
2. Nachtrages (3.) an denfelben.
3. IVeiJhaupfs improved Syft em.
4. Syftem des Ilium. Or dens aus dem Original-fchriften gezcgen.
I may now be permitted to make a few reflections on the accounts already given of this Order, which has fo diftindly concentrated the cafual and fcattered ef- forts of its prompters, the Chevaliers Bienfaijants^ the Philalethes^ and Amis Reunis of France, and carried on the fyflem of enlightening and reforming the world.
The
,'*
1^6 THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
The great aim profelTed by the Order is to make men happy ; and the means profeiled to be employed, as ' the only and furely effective, is making them good ; and this is to be brought about by enlightening the mind, and freeing it from the dominicn of fuperjiition and prejudices. This purpofe is eite61:ed by its producing ajuft andfteady TiiGrality. This done, and becoming univerlal, there can be little doubt but that the peace of fociety will be the confcquence, — that government, fubordination, and all the difagreeable coercions of civil governments will be unneceffary^ — and that fociety may go on peaceably in a ftate of perfe6l liberty and equality.
But furely it requires no angel from heaven to tell us that if every man is virtuous, there will be no vice; and that there wifi be peace on earth, and good-v/ill between man and man, whatever be the differences of rank and fortune \ fo that Liberty and Equality feem not to be the neceffary confequences of this juft Mora- litVi nor neceffary requifites for this national happinefs. We may quedion, therefore, whether the Illumination which makes this a neceffary condition is a clear and a pure light. It miay be a falfe glare Hiowing the ob- je6b only on one fide, tinged with partial colours thrown on it by neighbouring objedts. We fee fo much wif- dom in the general plans of nature, that we are apt to think that there is the fame in what relates to the hu- man mind, and that the God of nature accompliihes his plans in this as well as in other inftances. We are even difpofed to think that human nature v^/ould fuffer by it. The racional nature of man is not contented with meat and drink, and raiment, and lliclter, but is alfo pleafed \\»ih exerting many powers and faculties, mid vvith gratifying many talles, which could hardly have exificnce in a fociety where all are equal. We fay that there can be no doubt but that the pleafure arifing from the contemplation of tlie works of ait —
the
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. ' I57
the pleafure of intelieclual cultivation, the pleafiire of mere ornament^ are rational, diitinguifh man from a brute, and are fo general, that there is hardly a mind fo rude as not to feel them. Oi all thefe, and of all the difficult fciences, all mofl rational, and in them- felves miOfc innocent, and mod delightful to a culti- vated mind, we fiiouid be deprived in a focicty where all are equal. No individual could give employment to the talents necefTary for creating and improving thefe ornamental comforts of life. We are abfolutely cer- tain diat, even in the m.oft favourable fuuations on the face of the earth, the mofh untainted virtue in every bread could not raife man to that degree of cultivation that is polfeiled by citizens very low in any of the Hates of Europe i and in the fituation o[ moft countries we are acquainted v/ith, the itate of man w^ould be much lower: for, at our very fetting out, we muft grant that the liDerty and equality here fpoken of mult be com.plete j for there mufb not be fuch a thing as a far- mer and his cottager. This would be as unjufl:, as much the caufe of difcontcnt, as the gentleman and the farmer.
This fcheme therefore fcems contrary to the deligns of our Creator, who has every where placed us in thofe fituations of inequality that are here fo much reproba- ted, and has given us ftrong uropenfities by which we reiiih thofe enjoyments. We alfo find that they may be enjoyed in peace and innocence. And laflly, we ima- gine that the villain, who, in the fcation of a profeiTor, would plunder a prince, would alfo plunder the farmer if he were his cottaoer„ The Illumination therefore that appears to have the bed chance of making mankind hap- py is that which will teach us the Morality which will re- fpe6l the comforts of cultivated Society, and teach us to protedlthe poirciforsin theinnocent enjoyment of them ; that will enable us to perceive and admire the tafle and
elegance
158 THE ILLUMINATI. CHA?. If.
elegance of Architefbure and Gardening, without any wilh to fwcep the palaces, the gardens, and their owner, from off the earth, merely becaufe he is their owner.
We are therefore fufpicious of this Illumination, and apt to afcribe this violent antipathy to Princes and fubordination to the very caufe that makes true Illumi- nation, and juft Morality proceeding from it, fo ne- ceffary to public happinefs, namely, the vice and in- juftice of thofe wh^o cannot innocently have the com- mand of thofe offenfive elegancies of human life. Lux^ urious tafte, keen defires, and unbridled pafTions, would prompt to all thisj and this Illumination is, as we fee, equivalent to them in eife^t. The aim of the Order is not to enlighten the mind of man, and (hew him his moral obligations, and by the pradice of his duties to make fociety peaceable^ poiTeifion fccurcj and coercion iinneceffary, fo that all may be at refl: and happy, even though all were equal; but to get rid of the coercion which muft be employed in the place of Morality, that the innocent rich may be robbed with impunity by the idle and profligate poor. But to do this, an unjuil ca- fuiftry muft' be employed inilead of a juft Morality; and this muft be defended or fuggefted, by mifrepre- fenting the true ftate of man, and of his relation to the univerfe, and by removing the reftridlions of religion, and giving a fuperlative value to all thofe conftituents of human enjoyment, which true Iliumioation fiiews us to be but very fmall concerns of a rational and vir- tuous mind. The more clofely we examine the prin- ciples and practice of the Illuminati, the more clearly do we perceive that this is the cafe. Their iirft and immediate aim is to get the pofTefTion of riches, power, and inPiuence, without induftry ; and to accompliPa this, they want to abolifn Chriftianity; and then dif- folute manners and univcrfal profligacy will procure them the adherence of ajj the wicked, and enable them
to
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMlNATI. i ^^
to overturn all the civil governments of Europe ; after which they will think of farther conquefts, and extend their operations to the other quarters of the globe, till they have reduced mankind to the ilatc of one undif- tinguifhable chaotic mafs.
But this is too chimerical to be thought their real aim. Their Founder, I dare fay, never entertained fuch hopes, nor troubled himfelf with the fate ofdiftans lands. But it comes in his way when he puts on the mafk of humanity and benevolence: it mutl embrace all mankind, only becaufe it muft be llronger than pa- triotifm and loyalty, which (land in his way. Obferve that Weifhaupt took a name exprefiive of his princi- ples. Spartacus was a gladiator, who headed an in- furredlion of Roman flaves, and for three years kept the city in terror. Weifhaupt fays in one of his let- ters, " I never was fond of empty titles ; but furely " that man has a childifh foul who would not as rea- " dily chufe the name of Spartacus as that of 0(Sta- '* vius Au2;u{lus.'' The names which he o-ives to fe- veral of his gang exprefs their differences of fenti- ments. Philo, Lucian, and others, are very fignifi- cantly given to Knigge, Nicholai, &c. He was vain of the name Spartacus, becaufe he confidered himfelf as employed fomewhat in the fame way, leading flaves to freedom. Princes and Priefts are mentioned by him on all occafions in terms of abhorrence.
Spartacus employs powerful means. The (lyle of the Jefuits, (as he fays,) he confiders every m.ean as confecrated by the end for which it is employed^ and he fays with great truth,
" Fk^ireftneqiiecJuperoSy Acheronta movelo,^^
To fave his reputation, he fcruplcs not to murder his innocent child, and the woman whom he had held in his arms with emotions of fondnefs and affedion.
But
•»•
l6o THE ILLUMlNAtl. CHAP. II.
But left this fhould appear too feiiifli a motive, he fays, " Had I fallen, my precious Order would have fallen " with me y the Order which is to blefs mankind. I *' fliouldnot again have been able to fpeak of virtue fo " as to make any lafting imprefiion. My example " might have ,ruined miany young men." This he thinks will excufe, nay fandify any thing. '^ My " letters are my greateft vindication.'* He employs the Chriftian Religion, which he thinks a falfehood, and which he is afterwards to explode, as the mean for inviting Cnrifdians of every denomination, and gradually cajoling them, by clearing up their Chriftian doubts in fucceflion, till he lands them in Dcifm -, or if he finds them unfit, and too religious, he gives them a StahenCy and then laughs at the fears, or perhaps madnefs, in which he leaves them. Having got them the length of Deifm, they are declared to be fit, and he receives them into the higher rnyfteries. But left they fhould ftill ihrink back, dazzled by the Pandemonian glare of Illumination which vvill now burft upon them, he ex- a6ls from them, for the firft time, a bond of perfe- verance. But, as Phiio fays, there is little chance of tergiverfation. The life and honour of moft of the candidates are by this tim.e in his hand. They have been long occupied in the vile and corrupting office of fples on all around them, and they are found fit for their prefent honours, becaufe they have difcharged this office to his fatisfadion, by the reports which they have given in, containing ftcries of their neighbours, nay even of their own gang. They may be ruined in the world by difclofing thefe, either privately or pub- licly. A man who had once brought himfelf into this perilous fituation durft not p;o back. He mi^rht have been left indeed in any degree of Illumination ; and/ if Religion has not been c|uite eradicated from his mind, he muft be in that condition of painful anxiety and
doubt
€'
CHAP. II. THE ILLtTMINATI. l6l
doubt that makes him defperatc, fit for the full opera- tion of fanaticifm, and he may be engaged, in the cauje of God y '' to commit all kind of wickednefs and greedi- " nefs." In this (late of mind, a man ihuts his eyes, andrufhes on. Had Spartacus fuppofcd that he was dealing wirh good men, his conduit would have been the reverfe of all this. There is no occafion for this bond from a perfon convinced of the excellency of the Order. But he knew them to be unprincipled, and that the higher myfteries were fo daring, that even fome of fuch men would ftart at them. But they mud not blab.
Having thus got rid of Religion, Spartacus could with more fafety bring into viev/the great aim of all his efforts — to rule the world by means of his Order. As the immediate mean for attainine this, he holds out the pro fpe6t of freedom from civil fubordination. Per- fed Liberty and Equality are interwoven with every thing ; and the flattering thought is continually kept up, that " by the wife contrivance of this Order, the '' mofl comolete knowledo-e is obtained of the real "^ worth of every perfon ; the Order will, for its own ^^ Jake, and therefore certainly, place every man in *' that fituation in which he can be mofl effective. The ''^ pupils are convinced that the Order will rule the ** world. Every member therefore becomes a ruler." We all think ourfelves qualified to rule. The difiicult tafk is to obey with propriety i but we are honcftly generous in our profpeds of future comm^and. It is therefore an alluring thought, both to good and bad men. By this lure the Order v;illfprcad. If they are a6live in infmuating their members into offices, and in keeping out others, (which the private correfpon- dence fnews to have been the cafe,) they may have had frequent experience of their fuccefs in gaining an influ- ence on the world. This mud whet their 2eal. If
X Wcilliaupc
It2 THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II,
Weirnaupc was a Hncere Cofrno-polit?, he had the pleaiure of Teeing " his work, prolpering in his hands."
It furely needs little argument now to prove, that the Order of Illimiinaii had for its immediate objedl the aboliQiing of Chrifcianity, (at leaft this was the in- tention of the Founder,) with the f)le view of over- turning the civil government, by introducing univerfal dilTolutends andprofiig^^cyof mannejs, and then getting tlie affidance of the corrupted lubjedLS to overi'et the throne. The whole condu(ft in the preparation and inftrudlion of the Prefoyter and Regens is diredted to this point. Philo lays, " I have been at unwearied *^ pains to remove the fears of fome who imagine that '' our Superiors want to abolifh Chrifcianity j but by ** and by their prejudices will wear off, and they will *' be more at their eafe. Were I to let them know '^ that our General holds all Religion to be a lie, and '^ ufes even Deifm, only to lead m.en by the nofe — «f Were I to connedl myfclf again with the Free Ma- *^ ions, and tell them our defigns to ruin their F'ra- ^^ ternity by this circular letter (a letter to the Lodge " in Courland) — Were I but to give the leaft hint to " any of the Princes of Greece (Bavaria) — No, my ^^ anger fl:all not carry me lo far. — An Order, forfooth, *^ which in this manner abufes human nature — which ^^ will fubjedt men to a bondage more intolerable than '^ Jrfuirifm — I could put it on a refpe(5table footing, '^ and the world would be ours. Should I mention *^ our fundamental principles, (even after all the pains *^ I have been at to mitigate them,) lo unqueftionably *' dangerous to the world, who would remain ? What - '^ fignifies the innccf^nt ceremonies of the Prieft's de- gree, r-s I have compofed it, in comparifon with your m.5xim., that we m .means winch t-ie wicked employ for a bafe purpofe ?'•
Brutus
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. 163
Brutus writes, *' Numenius now acquiefces in the " mortality of* the foul; but, I fear wc fhall lofe Lu- *^ dovicus Bavarus. He told Spartacus, that he was *^ miftaken when he thougiu that he had fwallowcd ** his ftupid Mafonry. No, he law the trick, and did *' not admire the end that required it. 1 don't know " what to do ; a Sta bem would make him mad, and ^^ he will blow us all up.
" The Order muft pollefs the power of life and " death in confequcnce of our Oarh ; and with pro- ^^ priety, for the fame reafon, and by the fame right, *' that any government in the world poffcfTes it : for " the Order comes in their place, making them un- " necelTary. When things cannot be otherwifc, and ^^ ruin would enfue if the x^fTjciation did not emiploy *^ this mean, the Order rnuft, as well as public rulers, '^ employ it for the good of miankind ; therefore fjr *^ its own prefervati.on." (N. B. Obfcrve here vcit cafuiftry.) " Nor will the political conftitutions fuf- '^ fer by this, for there are always thoufands equally " ready and able to fupply the place."
We need not wcnder that Diomedes told the Pro- feflbrs, ^^ that death, inevitable death, from which no *' potentate couid prote6l them, awaited every traitor " of the Order;" nor that the French Convention propofcd to take off the German Princes and Generals by fword or poifon, &c.
Spartacus might tickle the fancy of his Order with the notion of ruling the world ; but I imagine that his own imimcdiate objed v/as ruling the Order. The happinefs of mankind was, like Weifhaupt's Chrifli- anity, a mere tool, a tool which the Regentes made a joke of. But Sparcacus v/ould rule the Regentes ; this he could not fo eafily accomplifli. His defpotifm v^^as infupportable to moft of them, and finally broug.ht all to light. When he could not perfuade them by his
own
t64 the illuminati. chap. ii.
own firmnefsj and indeed by his fuperior talents and difintereiledneis in other refpedlsj and his unwearied ac- tivity, he employed jcfuitical tricks, caufing them to fall out with each other, fetting them as fpies on each other, and Icparating any tv^o that he faw attached to each oiher, by making the one a Mafler of the other; and, in iliort, he left nothing undone that could fecure his uncontrolled command. This caufed Philo to quit the Order, and niade Bajfus^ Ton Torring^ Kreitmaier^ and feveral other gentlemen, ceale attending the meet- in2;s; and it was their mutual diffenfions which made them fpeak too freely in public, and call on them- feives lb much notice. At the time of the difcovery, the party of Weifhaupt confided chiefly of very mean people, devoted to him, and willing to execute his orders, that by being his fervants, they might have the pleafure of commanding others.
The objecls, the undoubted objects of this AfToci- ation, are furely dangerous and deteilable ; namely, to overturn the prefent conllitucions of the European States, in order to introduce a chimera Vv^hich the hiftory of mankind fhevvs to be contrary to the nature of man. '
Naturayn expellas furcd, tamen ufque recurret.
Suppofe it poilible, and done in peace, the new fyftem could not ftand unlefs every principle of a(2:ivity in the human mind be enthralled, all incitement to exertion and indufiry removed, and man brought into a condi- tion incapable of improvement; and this at the ex- pence of every thing that is valued by the beft of men . — by mifery and devaftation — by loofening all the bands of fociety. To talk of morality and virtue in coniun6lion with fuch fchemes is an infult to common fenfe ; dilTolutenefs of manners alone can bring men to think of it.
Is
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. 165
Is ic not aflonillilng, therefore, to hear people in this country exprefs any regard for this inftitution ? Is it not mod mortifying to think that there are Lodges of Illuminated among us ? I think that nothing bids fairer for weaning our inconfiderate countrymen from having any conneflio'n with them, than the faithful ac- count here given. I hope that there are few, very few of our countrymen, and none v,/hom we call friend, who can think that an Order which held fuch doctrines, and which praftifed fuch things, can be any thing elfe than a ruinous AlTociacion, a gang of profligates. All their profelTions of the love of mankind are vain i their Illumination mud be a bewildering blaze, and totally 'incfFedlual for its purpofe, for it has had no fuch influ- ence on the leaders of the band ; yet it feems quite adequate to the edecls it has produced -, for fuch arc the charafters of thofe who forget God.
If we in the next place attend to their mode of edu- cation, and examine it by thofe rules of common fenfe that we apply in other cafes of conduct, we iLali find it equally unpromifmg. The fyftem of lliuminatifni is one of the explanations of Free Mafonry 3 and it has gained many partifans. Thefe explanations reft their credit and their preference on their own merits. There is fomething in themfelvcs, or in one of them as dif- tinguifhed from another, which procures it the prefer- ence for its own fake. Therefore, to give this Order any dependence on Free Mafonry is to degrade the^ Order. To introduce a Mafonic Ritual into a manly inftitution, is to degrade it to a frivolous amufcment for great children. Men rcail)^ exerting rhemfelves to reform the world, and qualified for the taflc, muft hai^e been difgufted with fuch occupations. They betray a frivolous conception of the tafl: in which they are real- ly engaged. To im,agine that men engaged in the ftruggle and rivalftiip of life, under the influence of
feififh,
j66 the illuminati. chap, ir,
felfifli, or mean, or impetuous palTionSj are to be wheedled into candid fentiments, or a generous con- dud, as a froward child may fometimes be made gen- tle and tradable by a rattle or humming-top, betrays a great ignorance of human nature, and an arrogant Iclf-conccit in thofe who can imagine that all but themfelves are babies. The further we proceed, the more do we fee of this want of wijdom. The whole procedure of their inRru6tion fuppofes fuch a complete furrender of freedom of thought, of common fenfe, and of common caution, that it feems impoiTible that it fliould not have alarmed every fenfiblc mind. This indeed happened before the Order was feven years old. It was wife indeed to keep their AreopagitcC out of fight; but who can be lb filly as to believe that their unknown Superiors were all and always faultlefs men ? But had they been the men they were reprefented to be,— If I have any knowledge of my own heart, or any capacity of drawing juft inferences from the condud of others, I am perfuaded that the knowing his Supe- riors would have animated the pupil to exertion, that he might exhibit a pleafmg fpedacle to fuch intelligent and worthy judges. Did not the Stoics profefs them- felves to be encouraged in the fcheme of life, by the thought that the immortal Gods were looking on and pafiing their judgments on their manner of ading the part afTigned them ? But what abjed fpirit will be con- tented with working, zealouHy working, for years> after a plan of which he is never to learn the full mean- ing ? In fhort, the only knowledge that he can per- ceive is knowledge in its wonl form. Cunning. This mud appear in the contrivances by which he will foon find that he is kept in complete fubjedion. If he is a true and zealous Brother, he has put himfelf in the power of his Superiors by his refcripts, which they required of him on pretence of their learning his own
charader,
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATl. 1 67
chara6ler, and of his learning how to know the cha- radlers of other men. In thele rtfcripts they have got his thoughts on many delicate points, and on the con- du(St of others. His Direflors may ruin him by be- traying him ; and this without being feen in it. I IJiould think that wife men would know that none buc weak or bad men would fubjedt rhemfelves to fuch a tafk. They exclude the good, the manly, the only fit perfons for affifting them in their endeavours to in- form and to rule the world. Indeed I may fay that this exclufion is almoft made already by connecting the Order with Free Mafonry. Lodges are not the reforts of fuch men. They may fometimes be found there for an hour's relaxation. But thefe places arc the haunts of the young, the thoughtlefs, the idle, the weak, the vain, or of defigning Literati i and accord- ingly this is the condition of three-fourths of the Iliu- minati whofe names are known to the public. I own that the reafons given to the pupil for prefcribing thefe tafks are artful, and Nvell adapted to produce their ef- fcd:. During the flurry of reception, and the glow of expectation, the danger may not be fufpedled ; but I hardly imagine that it will remain unperceivcd when the pupil firs down to write his firft lelTon. Mafon Lodges, however, were the mod likely places for finding and enliftino; members. Youno- men, warmed by declamations teeming with the fiimfy moral cant of Cofmo-poiitirm, are in the proper frame of mind for this Illumination. It now appears alfo, that the.dif- fenfions in Free Mafonry mull have had o^reat influence in promoting this fchemc of Weifnaupt's, which was, in many particulars, io unpromifing, bccaufe it pre- fuppofes fuch a degradation of the mind. But when the fchifmatics in Mafonry difputed with warmth, tri- fles came to acquire unfpeakable importance. The hardccring after wonder was not in the lead abated by
ixk
»!
i68 THE ILLUMINATI. , CHAP. II.
all the tricks which had been detefted, and the impof- fibility of the vvilhed-for difcovery had never been de- monftrated to perfons prepoflefTed in its favour. They iliil chcje to believe that tht fymbois contained fome important fecret ; and happy will be the man who finds it out. The more frivolous the fymbois, the more docs the heart cling to the myftery j and, to a mind in this anxious ilate, Weifhaupt's proiTer was enticing. He laid before them a fcheme which was foiPiewhat feafible, was magnificeni:, furpalTmg our conceptions, but at the fame time fuch as permitted us to expatiate on the fubjeci:, and even to amplify it at pleafure in our imaginations without abfurdity. Ic does not appear to 'me wonderful, therefore, that fo many were fafcinated till they became at lafl: regardiefs of the abfurdicy and inconfifcency of the means by which this fplendid objecl was to be attained. Hear what Spartacus himfelf fays of hidden myileries. " Of '^ all the means I know to lead men, the moil effec- *^ tuai is a concealed myftery. The hankering of the ^' mind is irrefiftibie ; and if once a man has taken it *' into his head that there is a myftery in a thing, it **' is impofiible to get it out, either by argument or *' experience. And then, we can fo change notions " by merely changing a word. What m^ore contempti- " bie ih^n fanatiajm ; but call it enthnfiafm ; then add '^ the little word nohle^ and you may lead him over '' the world. Nor are we, in thefe bright days, a bit *^ better than our fathers, who found the pardon of " their fins myfterioufiy contained in a much greater " fin, viz. leaving their family, and going barefooted " to Rome.''
Such being the employment, and fuch the difciples, fiiould we expe6t the fruits to be very precious ? No. The do6lrines which were gradually unfolded were fuch as fjited thofe xvho continued in the Curjus Aca-
demicus.
CHAF*. ir. THE ILLUMINATi. 169
demicus. Thofe who did not^ becaufe they did not like them, ^oK. a Sta bene; they were not fit for advance- ment. The numbers however were great i Spartacus boafted of 600 in Bavaria alone in 1783. We don't know many of them ; few of thofe we know were in the upper ranks of life ; and I can fee that it required much wheedling, and many letters of long worded German compliments from the proud Spartacus, to win even a young Baron or a Graf juPc come' of age. Men in an eafy fituation in life could not brook the employment of a fpy, which is bafc, cowardly, and corrupting, and has in all ages and countries degraded the perfon who engages in it. Can the perfon be call- ed wife v/ho thus enflaves himfelf ? Such perfons give up the right of private judgment, and rely on their un- known Superiors with the blindeft and moft abje61: confi- dence. For their fakes, and to rivet ftill faflier their own fetters, they engage in the moft corrupting of all em.- ployments — and for what ? — To learn fomething more of an Order, of which every degree explodes the doc- trine of a former one. Would it have hurt the young Illuminatiis to have it explained to him all at once ? Would not this fire his miind — when he fees with the fame glance the great object, and the firnefs of the means for attaining it ? Would not ^{\^ exalted charac- ters of the Superiors, fo much excelling himfelf in ta- lents, and virtue, and happinefs, (otherwife the Order is good for nothing,) warm his heart, and fijl him with emulation, fince he fees in them, that what is {o ftrongly preached to him is an attainable thing ? No^ no — it is all a trick j he miuft be kept like a child, amufed with rattles;, and ftars, and ribands — and all the fatisfa-flion he obtains is, like the Mafons, the di- v^x{\on of feeing others running the fame gauntlet.
Weiiliaupt acknowledges than the Q;reat influence of the Order mav be abufed. Surelv, in no v/av fo eafily
Y 'or
lyO THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. U.
or fo fatally as by corrupting or fediKftive kflbns in the beginning. The miltake or error of the pupil is un- difcoverable by himfelf, (according to the genuine principles of Illumination,) for the pupil n-,ull believe his Mentor to be infallible — with him alone he is con- ne6Led — his leffons only muil he learn. Who can teli him that he has p-one wrong — or who can fct him right ?
HerCj therefore, there is confufion and deficiency. There muft be fome ftandard to which appeal can be made ; but this is inacceflible to all within the pale of the Order; it is therefore without this pale, and inde- pendent of the Order — ^and it is attainable only by abandoning the Order. The Qui bus Licet, the Primo, the Soli, can procure no light to the perfon M'ho does not know that he has been led out of the right road to virtue and happinels. The Superiors indeed draw much ufeful infoimation from thefe re- ports, though they affed to ftand in no need of it, and they make a cruel return.
All this is fo much out of the natural road of infcruc- tion, that, on this account alone, we may prefume that it is wrong. We are generally fafe when we fol- low nature's plans. A child learns in his father's houfe, by feeing, and by imitating, and in common domeftic education, he gets much ufeful knowledge, and the chief habits which are afterwards to regulate his conduft. Example does almofl every things and, with refpe^l to what may be called living, as diftin- guifhable from profefTion, fpeculation and argumenta- tive inftrudion are fcldom employed, or of any ufe. The indifpenfablenefs of mutual forbearance and obe- dience, for domeftic peace and happinefs, forms mod of thefe habits -, and the child, under good parents, is kept in a fituation that makes virtue eafier than vice,
and
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. IJ I
and he becomes wife and good without any exprefs iludy about the matter.
But this Illumination plan is darknefs over all — it is too artificial — -and the topics, t1rom which counfel is to be drawn, cannot be taken from the peculiar views of the Qrder — for thefe are yet a fecret for the pupil — and muft ever be a fecret for hirn while under tuition. They muft therefore be drawn from common fources, and the Order is of no ufe ; all that can naturally be effectuated by this AlTociation is the forming, and afli- duoully foftcring a narrov/, Jevv^ifn, corporation fpirit, totally oppofite to the benevolent pretenfions of the Order. The pupil can fee nothing but this, that there is a fet of men, whom he does not know, who may acquire incpntroulable power, and may perhaps make lift of him, but for what purpofe, and in what way, he does not know ; how can he know that his endea- vours are to make man happier, any other way than as he might have known it without having put this collar round his own neck ?
Thefe refle6tions addrefs themfelves to ail men who profefs to comiiudf: themfelves by the principles and dic- tates of common fenfe and prudence, and who have the ordinary fl:iare of candour and good-will to others. It requires no fmgular fenfibility of heart, nor great ge- . nerofity, to make fuch people think the do6trines and views of the Iliuminati falfe, abfurd, foolifli, and ru- inous. But I hope that I addrefs them to thoufands of my countrymen and friends, who have much higher notions of human nature, and who cherifh with care the affe6lions and the hopes that are fuited to a rational, a benevolent, and a high-minded being, capable of cndlefs improvement.
To thofe who enjoy the cheering confidence in the fuperintendance and providence of God, who confider themfelves as creatures whom he has made, and whom
he
1/2 TX-IE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II,
he cares for, as the fubjecLS of his moral government, this. Order muft appear with every charadler of falfe- hood and abfurdity on its countenance. What can BE MORE IMPROBABLE than this, that He, whom we look up to as the contriver, the maker, anddiredtor of this goodly frame of things, fliould have fo far miirakcn his own plans, that this world of rational creatures fliould have fubfifted for thoufands of years, before a way could be found out, by which his intention of mak- ing men good and happy could be accomplifhed 3 and that this method did not occur to the great Arcift him- feir, nor even to the wifeft, and happieft, and beil men upon earth ; but to a few infignificant perfons at Mu- nich in Bavaria, who had been trying to raife ghofls, to change lead into gold, to tell fortunes, or difcover trea- fures, but had failed in all their attempts ^ men who hd-d been engaged for years in every whim which cha- racle'rifes a weak, a greedy, or a gloomy mind ? Find- ing all thefe beyond their reach, they combined their powers, and, at once, foand out this infinitely more important secret — for fecret it muft ftill be, other- wile not only the Deity, but even thefe philofophers, will ftill be difappointed.
Yet this is the do6lrine that mufc be fwallowed by the Mi nervals and the Illuminati Minor es^ to whom it is not yet fafc to difclofe the grand fecret, that there is no Juch Juperintendance of Deity. At lafl:, however, when the pupil has conceived fuch exL?Jted notions of the knowledge of his teachers, and fuch low notions of the blundering projector of this world, it may be no difficult r^iatter to perfuade him that all his former no- tions were only old wives tales. By this time he muft have heard much about fuperftition, and how men's minds have been dazzled by this fplendid pidlure of a Providence and a moral government of the univerfe. it now appears incompatible with the great object of
the
CHAP.. II, THE ILLUIvIINATI. I73
the Order, the principles of univerfal liberty and equa- lity— it is therefore rcje6ted without farther examina- tien, for this reafon alone. This was precifely the ar- gument ufed in France for rejedling revealed religion. It was incompatible with their Rights of Man.
It is richly worth obferving how this principle can warp the judgment, and give quite another appearance to the fame objed. The reader will not be difpleafed with a moil remarkable inflance of it, which 1 beg leave to give at length.
Our immortal Newton, whom the philofophers of Europe look up to as the honour of our fpecies, whom even Mr. Bailly, the Prefident of the National AiTem- bly of France, and Mayor of Paris, cannot find words fufiiciently energetic to praife j this patient, fagacious/ and fuccefsfui obferver of nature, after having exhibit- ed to the wondering world the chara6leriflic property of that principle of material nature by which all the bo- dies of the folar fyftem are made to form a connedted and permanent univerle -, and after having fliown that this law of action alone was adapted to this end, and that if gravity had deviated but one thoufandch part from the inverfe duplicate ratio of the diftances, the fyftem mufl, in the courfe of a very few revolutions, have gone into confufion and ruin — -he fits down, and viewstiie goodly fcene, — and then clofcs his Principles of Natural Fhilofophy with this refledion {h\s Schclium generate) : ,
^^ This moft elegant frame of things could not have arifcn, unlcfs by the contrivance and the direction of a wife and powerful Being; and if the fixed fears are the centres of fyftems, thefe fyfbems muft befimilar; " and all thefe, conftrudled according: to the fame plan, are fubjcct to the government of one Being. All thefe he governs, not as the foul of the v/orld, '* but as the Lord of all ; therefore, on account of his
government.
cc
cc
174 THE ILLUMINATI. chap. li.

governmcnrj he is calJed the Lord God- — Pcvitckra- " tor ; for God is a relative term, ajid refers to fubjecls. ^^ Deity is God's government, not of his own body, as " thofc think who confider him as the ibul of the *^ world, but of his fervants. The fupreme God is a *' Being eternal, infinite, abfolutely pcrfed:. But a be- ing, however perfc6t:, without government, is not God; for we i^a.y,my God, your God, the God of '^ Ifrael. We cannot fay f,'?)' eternal, ;;7y infinite. We " may have fome notions indeed of his attributes, but *^ can have none of his nature. With refped to bodies, *' we fee only fhapes and colour — hear only founds — ^ " touch only furfaccs. Thefe are attributes of bodies ; ^' but of their effence we know nothing. As a blind '^ man can form no notion of colours, we can form ^^ none of the manner in vvhich God perceives, and *^ underftands, and influences every thing.
^* Therefore we know God only by his attributes. ^^ W^hat are thefc ? The wife and excellent contri- *' vance^, ftruclure, and final aim of all things. In thefe his perfedions we admire him, and we wonder. In his dirc6lion or government, we venerate and worfliip him — we worfiiip him as his fervants , and God, without dominion, without providence, and final aims, is Fate — not the objed either of reve- rence, of hope, of love, or of fear. But mark the emotions which affcded the mind of another excellent obferver of Nature, the admirer of Newton, and the perfon who has put the finilhing ftroke to the Newtonian philoiophy, by fhov^ing that the acceleration of the moon's mean motion, is the genuine refult of a gravitation decreafing in the precife duplicate ratio of the diflance inverfely ; I mean Mr. Deiaplace, one of the moft brilliant ornaments of the French academy of fciences. He has lately publiflied the Syftcme da Monde ^ a moft beautiful compend of
aftromoffV
cc cc cc cc cc cc
CMAP, II. THE ILLUMINATI. I75
aflronomy and of the Newtonian philofophy. Having finilhed his work with the fame obfervation, '^ That a *^ gravitation invcrfely proportional to the fquares of '' the diftances was the ofily principle which could ^' unite material Nature into a permanent fyftem ,** he alfo fits down — furveys the fcene — points out the parts which he had brought within our ken — and then makes this rcfledion : *' Beheld in its totality, aftro- '' nomy is the nobleft monument of the human mind, " its chief title to intelligence. But, feduced by the '' illufions of fenfe, and by felf-conceit, we have long '^ confidered ourfelves as the centre of thefe motions -, '' and our pride has been punifhed by the groundlefs «^ fears which we have created to ourfelves. We *' imagine, forfooih, that all this is for us, and that «^ the ftars influence our dedinies 1 But the labours of *^ ages have convinced us of our error, and we find '' ourfelves on an infignificant planet, almoft imper- ^' cepcible in the immenfity of fpace. Bun the fub-, *^'lime difcoveries we have made richly repay this *^ humble fituation. Let us cherifn thefe with care, as *^ the delight of thinking beings — they have deftroyed '^ our millakes as to our relation to the refc of the uni- ^' verfe ; errors which were the more fatal, becaufe ««^ the focial Order depends on juilice and truth alone. *f Far be from us the dangerous maxim, that it is fome- times ufeful to depart from thefe, and to deceive men, in order to infure their happinefs ; but cruel experience has fhewn us that thefe laws are never to- *' rally exnin(^t.''
There can be no doubt as to the meanins: of thefe laft words — they cannot relate to ailrology— this was en- tirely out of date. The '-'attempts to deceive men, '' in order to infure their happinefs,*' can only be thofe bv v/hich we are made to tiiink too hio;hlv of our- fclves. '* Inhabitants of this pepper-corn, v/e think
'-^ ourfelves
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176 tHE ILLUMINATI. CHAF. 11/
" OLirfeives the peculiar favourites of Heaven, nay the chief objects of care to a Being, the Maker of all ; and then we imagine that, after this life, we are to be happy or miferable, according as we accede or not to this fubjugation to opinions which enfiave us. But truth and juilice have broken thefe bonds/' — ' But where is the force of the argument which entitles this perfe6ler of the Newtonian philofophy to exult fo much ? It all refls on this. That this earth is but as a grain of muilard-feed. Man would be more worth at- tention had he inhabited Jupiter or the Sun. Thus may a Frenchman look down on the noble creatures who inhabit Orolong or Pelew. But whence arifes the abfurdity of the inteliedlual inhabitants of this pepper- corn being a proper object of attention ? it is becaufe our fhallow comprehenfions cannot, at the fame glance, fee an extenfive fcene, and perceive its mofl: minute detail.
David, a King, and a foldier, had fome notions of this *kind. The heavens, it is true, pointed out to him a Maker and Ruler, which is more than they feem to have done to the Gallic philofopher^ but David was afraid that he would be forgotten in the crowd, and cries out, " Lord what is man that thou art mindful of " him?'' But David gets rid of his fears, not by be- coming a philofopher^ and difcoverino; all this to be abfurd,— he would dill be forgotten,-— he at once thinks of what he is — a noble creature — high in the fcale of nature. " But," fays he, ''^ I had forgotten myfeif. " Thou haft made man but a little lower than the an- *' gels — thou haft crowned him v/ith glory and honour " — thou haft put all things under his (cci.'' Here are exalted fentiments, fit for the creature whofe ken pierces through the immenfity of the vifible univerfe, and who fees his relation to the univerfe, being nearly allied to its Sovereign, and capable of riling con- tinually
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. 1/7
tiniially in his rank, by cultivating thofe talents which ciiftinguifh and adorn it.
Thoiifands, I truil, there are^, who think that this life is but a preparation for another, in which the rnind of man will have the whole wonders of creation and of providence laid open to its enraptured view — v/here it will fee and comprehend with one glance what New- ton, the moft patient and fuccefsful of all the obfervers of nature, took years of meditation to find out — where it will attain that pitch of wiiliom, goodnefs^ and en- joyment, of which our confciences tell us we are ca- pable, though it far fr.rpaffes that of the wifeft, the bell, and the happieil of men. Such perfons will con- fider this Order as degrading and de tellable, and as in diredl oppoficion to their moil confident expe6lations : For it pretends to what is impofiibie, to perfect peace and happinefs in this life. They believe, and they feel, that man mud be made perfect through fufferings, which fliali call into adliion powers of mind thatother- v^ife would never have unfolded themfeives — powers which are frequently fources of the pureil and moft foothing pleafures, and naturally make us refb our eyes and hopes on that ftate where every tear fhall be wiped away, and where tlie kind aife6Lions fhall become the never-faiiinof fouixes of pure and unfadins; delio-ht. Such perfons fee the palpable abfurdity of a prepara- tion which is equally necefiary for ail, and yet muft be confined to the minds of a few, who have the low and indelicate apoetite for frivolous play -things, and for grofs fenfual pleafures. Such minds will turn away from this boaded treat with loathing and abhorrence.
I am well aware that fome of my readers may Imile at this, and think it an cnchufiaMical working up of the imagination, fimilar to what I reprobate in the cafe of Utopian happinefs in a ftare of univerfal Liberty and Equality. It is like, they will fay, to the decla-
Z mation
i7S ^ THE ILLUMINATI. , CHAP. II.
matlon in a rermon I y perlons of the trade, who are
trained up to fineffe, by which tliey allure and tickle weak minds.
. 1 acknowledge that in the preient cafe I do not ad- drefs myfelt to the cokl hearts, who contentedly
" Sink andjlumher in their cells cf ch-y ;
Peace to all fuch ; — — but to the ^'^ f dices anim^y
" qiiihlis hcec cogmjcere cura ;''' — to thole who have en- joyed the pieafurcs of fcience, who have been fuccefs- ful — who have made difcoveries — who have really il- luminated the v/orld — lo the Bacons, the Newtons, the Lockes. — Allow me to mention one, Daniel Bernoul- li, the moil elegant mathematician, t\\t only philofo- pher, and the m.oft worthy man, of that celebrated family. Fie faid to a gentlem.an, (JJr. Staehling,) v/ho repeated it to m,e, that '' Vs^hen reading fome of " thofe wonderful gijelles of Sir Ifaac Newton, the " fubfequent demonfiration of which has been the ** chief fource of fame to his mod celebrated comimen- ^^ tators — his mind has fometimes been fo overpower- *' ed by thrilling emotions, that he has wifhed that ^^ moment to be his laft; and that it v/as this which *^ gave him the clearefl: conception of the happinefs *^ of heaven." l( fuch delightful emotions could be excited by tlie perception of m^ere truth, what muft they be when each of thefe truths is an inftance of wif- dorn, and when v/e recollect, that what we call wifdom in the works of nature, is always the nice adaptation of means for producing /^^^/^^t'd';z/ ends i and that each of thefe affcdting qualities is fufceptible of degrees which are boundlefs, and exceed our higheft concep- tions ? What can this complex emotion or feeling be but raptrire ? But Bernoulli is a Do61or of Theology — and therefore a fufpicious pcrfon, perhaps one of the
combination
CHAP. ir. THE ILLUMINAII. I^C^
cofPibination hired by defpots to enilave us. I will take another nran, a gentleman of rank and family, a foldier, who often fignalifrd himJelf as a naval com- mander— who at one time forced his way through a powerful fleet of the Venetians with a fmall fquadron, and brou2;ht relief to a diilrefTed p-arrifon. I would defire the reader to oerufe the conclufion of Sir Ken- helm Digby's ire^lifes on Body cnni Mrnd ; and after having refiected on the fiate of fcience at the time this author v/rote^ let him coolly v^eigh the incitements to iiianly condu6l v>'hich this foldier Bnds in the difrerences obferved betv/een body and mind \ and then let him fay, on his confcience, whether they arc more feeble than thcfe which he can draw from the eternal Oeep of death. \i\\t thinks that they are — he is in the pro- per frame for initiation into Spartacus's higher, myfie- ries. He may be either jVIagus or Rex.
Were this a proper place for confidering the quef- tion as a queii:ion of fcience or truth, I would fay, that every man who has been 2l Juccefsful {Indent of nature, and who will reft his conclufions on the fam.e maxims of probable reafoning that have procured him fuccefs in his pair refearches, ¥/ill confider it as next to certain that there is another ftate of exiftence for rational man. For he mull own, that if this be not the cafe, there is a moil: fingula'r exception to a propofition which the whole courfe of his experience has made him confider as a truth founded on univerfal indu6lion, viz. that noAure ace omfl'ifhes all her flans ^ and that every clafs of beings attains all the improvement of which it is capa- ble. Let him but turn his thoughts inward, he will feel that his intellecl: is ciipable of improvement, in comparifon with which Newton is but a child. I could purfue this argument very far, and (I th.ink) warm the heart of every m..m vviiom I fnould wifh to call n)y friend.
What:
l80 THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II,
What Opinion will be formed of this i^ffociation by the mode't, the iowly- minded, thc^ candid^ who ac- knowledge that they too often feel the fuperior force of prefent and fcnfible pleafures, by which their minds are drav/n off from the contemplation of what their confciences tell them to be right, — to be their dutiful and filial kntiments and emotions refpecling their great and Rood Parent— -to be their dutiful and neip-hbourly affections, and their proper condudl to all around them ' — and which diminiih their veneration for that purity of thought and moderation of appetite which becomes their noble natures ? What rnuft ^bey think of this Or- der f Confcious of frequent faults, v/hich would offend themfelves if committed by their deareft children, they look up to tlieir Maker with anxiety — are grieved to have fo far forgotten their duty, and fearful that they may again forget it. Their painful experience tells them that their reafon is often too weak, their in- formation too fcanty, or its light is obfcrudtcd by paf- iion and prejudices, which diilort and difcolour every thing i or it is unheeded during their attention to pre- fent objects. Happy fnoukl they be, if it iliould pleafe ' their kind Parent to remind them of their duty from time to time, or to influence their mind in any way that v/ould compenfate for their own ignorance, their own weaknefs, or even tiieir indolence and negle6l. They dare not exped: fuch a favour, wliich their mo- dci^iy tells them they do not deferve, and Vvhich they fear may be unfit to be granted ; but when fuch a com- fort is held out to them, with eager hearts they re- ceive it — they blefs the kindnefs that granted it, and
the hand that brings it. Such amiable ciiaradcrs
have appeared in ail ages, and in ail fituations of man- kind. They have not in all infcances been v/ife — often have they been precipitate, and have too readily caught at any thing which pretended to give rhem the fo much
wilhcd-
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. iSj
widied-for affiances ; and, unfortunately, there have been enthufiafts, or villains, who have taken advan- tage of this, univerfal wiili of anxious man: and the world has been darkened by cheats, who have mifre- prefented God to mankind, have filled us with vain terrors, and have then quieted our fears by fines, and facritices, and mortifications, and fervices, which they faid were more than fufficienu to expiate all our faults. Thus was our duty to our neighbour, to our own dio-- nity, and to our Maker and Parent, kept out of fight, and religion no longer caine in aid to our fenfe of right and wrong; but, on the contrary, by thefe fuperfti- tions it opened the dooi's of heaven to the worthlefs
JL
and the wicked. — But I wifn not to fpeak of thefe men, but of the good, the candid, the modest, the HUMBLE, who know their failings^ who love their du- ties, but wiih to know, to perceive, and to love them uill more. Thefe are they who think and believe that " the Gofpel has brought life and immortality to *' light," that is, within their reach. They think it v/orthy of the Father of mankind, and they receive it with thankful hearts, adiTiirins: above all thinf?s the fimplicity of its morality, comprehended in one fen- tence, '^ Do to another what you can reafonably wifh " that another ihould do to you," and that purity
OF THOUGHT AND MANNERS WHICH DISTINGUISHES IT FROM ALL THE SYSTEMS OF MORAL INSTRUCTION THAT HAVE EVER BEEN OFFERED TO MEN. HcFC
they find a ground of refignation under the troubles of life, and a fupport in the hour of death, quite fuited to the diffidence or their own character. Such men are ready to grant that the Stoics were perfons of no~ bie and exalted minds, and that i\\^y had worthy con- ceptions of the rank or man in the fcale of God's works; but they confcfs that they themfeives do not feel all that; iupport from Stoical principles which man
too
lS2 THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
too frequently needs ; and they fay that they are not fingular in their opinions, but that the bulk of man- kind are prevented, by their want of heroic fortitude, by their iituation. or their want of the opportunities of cultivating their native ilrength of mind, from ever attaining this hearty fubmilTion to the v^ill of the Deity. They maintain, that the Stoics were but a few, a very few, from among many miliions— and therefore their being fatisfied was but a trifle amidft the general dif- content, and anxiety, and defpair.~Such men will mofc certainly ftart back from this Illumination with horror and fright— from a Society which gives the lie to their fondett expedlations, makes a fport of their grounds of hope, and of their deliverer; and which, after laughing at their credulity, bids them fhake off all religion whatever, and denies the exiftence of that Supreme Mind, tlie pattern of all excellence, who till now had iilled their thoughts with admiration and love — from an Order which pretends to U't^ them from fpiritual bondage, and then lays on their necks a load ten times more oppreflive and intolerable, from v/hich they have no power of ever efcaping. Men of fenfe and virtue will fpurn at fuch a propofal ; and even the profligate, vvho trade with Deity, muft be fcnfible that they will be better off v/ith their priefts, whom they know, and among whom they may make a feltcStion of fuch as will with patience and gentlenefs clear up their doubts, calm their fears, and encourage their hopes.
And all good men, ail lovers of peace and of jufcice, will abhor and reject the thought of overturning the prefcnt conftitution of things, faulty as it may be> merely in the endeavour to eilablifli another, which the vices of mankind may fubvert again in a twelve- month. They muft fee, that in order to gain their point, the propofers have found it neceffary to dellroy the grounds of morality, by permitting the moil wick-.
^ ed
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. • i Sj
cd means for accomplifhing any end that our fancy, warped by paffion or intereft, may reprefent to us as of great Imporrance. They fee, th^t inftead of mora- lity, vice mull prevail, and that therefore there is no fecurity for the continuance of this Utopian felicity ; and, in the mean time, defolation and mifery muil lay the v;orld wafte during the fcruggle, and half of thofe for whom we are ftriving will be fwept from the face of the earth. We have but to look to France, where, in eight years there have been more executions and fpoliations and difireffcs of every kind by th^ pouvoir revGluticnnairey than can be found in the long records of that dcfpotic monarchy.
There is nothing in the whole conllitution of the Illuminati that ilrikes m.e with more horror -than the propofals of Kcrcules and Minos to cnlift the v/omen in this fiiocking warfare v/ith all that '' is good, and ^^ pure, and lovely, and of good report." They could not have fallen on any expedient that will be more ef- fectual and fatal. If any of m.y countrywomen fhall honour thefe pages with a reading, I w^ould call on them, in the moft earneft manner, to confider this as an affair of the utmoft importance to themfeives. I would conjure them by the regard they have for their own dignity, and for their rank in fociety, to join againft thefe enemies of human nature and profligate degradcrs of the fex ; and I would alTure them that the prefent fiate of things alm.oil puts it in their power to be the faviours of the world. But if they are remifs, and yield to the fedudlion, they Vvill fall from that high (late to which they have arifen in Chriitian Europe, and again fink into that infignificancy or Oavery in which the fex is found in ail ages and countries out of the hcarino; of Chriftianitv.
I hope that my countrywomen v^ill confider this fo- lemn addrefs to them as a proof of the high eileem in
which
^4
THL ILLUMrNATI. CHAI>. 11.
which I hold them. They will not be offended then if, in this fcafon of alarm and anxiety, when 1 wifh to impreis their minds with a ferious truth, I ihali v/ave ceremony, which is always defi gning, and fpeak of them in honefl: but decent plainnefs.
Man is immerfed in luxury. Our accommodations are now fo numerous that every thing is pleafure. Even in very fober ficuations in this highly-cultivated Soci- ec)% there is hardly a thing that remains in the form oi a necelfary of lite, or even of a mere conveniency — every thing is ornamented— it mud not appear of ufc — it muft appear as giving (ome fcnfible pieafure. I do not fay this by way of blaming — it is nature — man is a refining creature, and our moll: boalled acquire- ments are but refinements on our necelTary v/ants. Our hut becomes a palace, our blanket a fine drefs, and our arts become fciences. This difcontent with the natural condition of things, and this difpofition to re- finement, is a chara6Leri(tic of our fpecies, and is the great employment of our lives. The direftion Vv'hich this propenfity chances to take in any age or nation, marks its characfler in the m.oft: confpicuous and inte- refting manner. AlJ have it in fome degree, and it is very conceivable that, in fome, it may confticute the chief obje6l of attention. It this be the cafe in any na- tions, it is furely moil likely to be io in thofe where the accommodations of life are the moii numerous — therefore in a rich and luxurious nation. I may furely, without exaggeration or reproach, g've that appella- tion to our own n tion at this moment. If you do not go to the very iov/eii clafs of people, who muil; labour all day, is it not the chief obje6l of all to procure jD^";'- ceptible pleafure in one v/ay or another ? The fober and bufy ftruggle in the thoughts and hopes of gf*tting the means of enjoying the fo?/;'7/V/ J- of life without fartlier labour — and many have no other objecl than pleafure.
Then
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. l8jfe~
Then let us reflect that it is woman that is to grace the whole — It is in nature, it is the very conftitution of man, that woman, and every thing conneded with woman, mull appear as the ornament of life. That this mixes with every other focial fentiment, appears from the condu6t of our fpecies in all ages and in eveiy fituation. This I prefume would be the caic even though there w^erc no qualities in the fex to judify it. This fentiment refpedling the fex is neceflary, in order to rear fo helplefs, fo nice, and fo improveable a crea- ture as man ; without it, the long abiding talk could not be performied :— and I think that I may venture to fay that it is performed in the dif7erent Paces of fo- ciety nearly in proportion as this preparatory and indil- penfable fentiment is in force.
On the other hand, I think it no h^s. evident that it is the defire of the women to be agreeable to the men, and that they will model themfelves according to what they think will pleafe. Without this adjuftment of fentiments by nature, nothing would go on. We ne- ver obferve any fuch want of fymmetry in the works of Godc If, therefore, thofe who take the lead, and give the fafhion in fociety, were wife and virtuous, I have no doubt but that the women would let the brighteft pattern of every thing that is excellent. But if the men are nice and fafcidious fenfualiiLS, the women will be refined and elegant voluptuaries.
There is no deficiency in the female mind, either in talents or in difpofitions ^ nor can we fay with certainty that there is any fubjedl of intelledcual or moral difcuf- flon in which women have not excelled. It the deli- cacy of their confticution, and other phyiical caufes, allow the female fex a fmaller fliare of fome mental powers, they poflefs others in a fuperior degree, which are no lefs refpe6lable in their own nature, an.l ot as great importance to fociety. Inftead of dcfcanting at
2 A lar-c
l86 THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
large on their powers of mind, and fupporting my af- fertions by the indances of a Hypatia, a Schurman, a Zenobia, an Elizabeth, &c. I may repeat the account given of the fex by a perfon of uncommon experience, who faw them without difguife, or any motive that could lead them to play a feigned part — Mr. Ledyard, who traverfed the grcatefi: part of the world, for the mere indulgence of his tafte for obfervation of human nature ; generally in want, and often in extreme mi- fery.
*^ I have (fays he) alv/ays remarked that women, '^ in all countries, are civil, obliging, tender, and hu- mane : that they are ever inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modeil; and that they do ^^ not hefitate, like men, to perform a kind or gene- rous adion. — Not hau^rhtv, not arroo-ant, not fu- percilious, they are full of courtefy, and fond of fo- ^^ ciety — more liable in general to err than man, but " in general, alfo, more virtuous, and performing miore good a6lions than he. To a woman, whether civilized or favage, I never addrelTed myfelf in ehe language of decency and friendfhip — without receiv- '^^ ing a decent and friendly anfwer-— with man it has " often been otherwife.
In v;andering over the barren plains of in- hofpitable Denmark, through honefl Sweden, and frozen Lapland, rude and churlifh Finland, unprin- cipled Rufija, and the wide fpread regions of the wan- *' dering Tartar,— if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or fick, '^ the women have ever been friendly to me, and uni- formly fo ; and to add to this virtue, (fo worthy of the appellation of benevolence,) thefe adlions have ' been performed in fo free and fo kind a manner, that " if I was thirlly, I drank the fweeteft draught, and if hungry, I ate the coarfe meal with a double
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relilli."
" And
CHAP. II- THE ILLUMINATI. iSj
And thefc are they whom Weilhanj3t would cor- rupt ! One of thefe, whom he had embraced with fondnefs, would he have murdered^ to fave his honour, and qualify himfeif to preach virtue ! But let us not be toofcvere on Weifhaupt — let us wafh curfelves clear of allftain before we think of reprobating him. Are wc not guilty in fome degree, when v/e do not culti- vate in the women thofe powers of mind, and thofe difpofitions of heart, which would equally dignify them in every ilation as in thofe humble ranks in which Mn Lcdyard mod frequently faw them ? I cannot think that we do this. They are not only to grace the whole of cultivated fociety, but it is in their faithful and af- fedionate perfonal attachment that we are to find the fweeteft pleafures that life can give. Yet in all thefc fituations where the manner in which they are treated is not di6lated by the ftcrn laws of necefiity, are they not trained up for mere amufement — are not ferious occupations confidered as a taflc which hurts their love- linefs ? What is this but felfiilinefs, or as if they had no virtues'worth cultivating? Their h{/ine/s is fuppofed' to be the ornamiennng themfelves, as if nature did noc didlate this to them already, with at lead as much force as is neceflary. Every thing is prefcribed to them hecauje it makes them more lovely — even their moral leifons are enforced by this argument, and Mifs Wool- iloncraft is perfe6lly right when (lie lays that the fine lelTons given to young women by Fordyceor RouiTeau are nothing but feififh and refined voluptuoufnels. This advocate of her fex purs her fifcers in the proper point of view, when fhe tells them that they are, like man, the fubje6ls of God's moral governm.ent,— like man, preparing themfelves for boundlefs improvement in a better ftate of exillence. Had fhe adhered to this view of the matter,* and kept it conflantly in fight, her book (which doubtlefs contains many excellent things, highly
deferving
l88 THE ILLUMINATI. ^HilP.IU
deferving of their ferious confideration) would have been a nioft valuable work. She juftly obferves, that the virtues of the fex are great and refpe6t:able, but that in our mad chace of piealure, only pleafure, they are little thou^i^ht of or attended to. Man trufts to his own uncontroulable power, or to the general goodnefs of the fex, that their virtues will appear when we have occafion for them ;— '' but we will fend for thefe fome " otiier time •/' — Many noble difplays do they make of the molt difficult attainments. Such is the patient bearing up under misfortunes, which has no brilliancy to fupport it in the effort. This is more difficult thaa braving danger in an adive and confpicuous fituation. How often is a woman left with a family, and the fliat- tered rem.ains of a fortune, loft perhaps by diffipation or by indolence — and how feldom, how very feldom, do we fee woman fhrink from the tafk, or difchargc it with negligence ? Is it not therefore folly next to mad- nefs, not to be careful of this our greateft bleffmg — of things which fo^ nearly concern our peace — nor guard ourfeives, and thefe our beft companions and friends, from the effcds of this fatal Illumination? It has in- deed brought to light what dreadful lengths men will, go, when under the fanatical and dazzling glare of hap- pinefs in a ftate of liberty and equality, and fpurred on by infatiable luxury, and not held in check by moral feelings and the reftraints of religion — and mark, reader, that the women have here alfo taken the complexion of the men, and have even gone beyond them. If wehavefcena fon prefent himfelf to the National Affembly of France, profcffing his fatisfadion with the execution of his fa- ther three days before, and declaring himfelf a true citizen, who prefers the nation to all other confidera- tions i we have alfo fcen, on the fame day, wives de- nouncing their hufbands, and (O fhocking to human nature !) miOthers denouncing their fons, as bad ci- tizens
CHAP. 11. THE ILLUMINATI. 189
tizens and traitors. Mark too what return the women have met with for all their horrid fcrvices, where, to cxprefs their fentiments of civiim and abhorrence of royalty, they threw away the chara(f(;er of their fex, and bit the amputated limbs of the'.r murdered coun- trymen*. Surely thefe patriotic women merited that the rights of their fex fiioukl be confidered in full coun- cil, and they were well entitled to a feat -, but there is not a finglc a6l of their government in which the fex is confidered as having any rights whatever, or that they are things to be cared for.
Are not the accurfed fruits of Illumination to be (c^n in the prefenthumiliating condition of woman in France? pampered in every thing that can reduce them to the mere inftruments of animal pleafure. In their prefent ftate of national moderation (as they call it) and fe- curity, fee Madame Tailien come into the public thea- tre, accompanied by other beautiful women, (I was about to have mifnamed them Ladies,) laying afide all modefty, and prefcnting themfclves to the public view, with bared limb?, a la Sauvage^ as the alluring ohjedls of defire. I make no doubt but that this is a ferious matter, encouraged, nay, prompted by government. To keep the minds of the Parifians in the prefent fe- ver of difiblute gaiety, they are at more expence from the national treafury for the fupportof the fixty theatres, than all the penfions and honorary offices in Britain, three times cold, amount to. Was not their abomina- ble farce in the church of Notre Dame a bate of the fame kind in the true fpirit oC^^tVArxw^i's E'roterion?
** We
* I fay this on the authority ofa young gentleman, an emigrant, ^ho faw it, and who laid, that they were women, not of the dregs of the Palais Royal, nor of infamous charader, but well drelTed. — t am forry to add, that the relation, accompanied with looksof hor- ror and dif;i^uft, only provoked a contemptuous fmile froju an illumi- nated Britifh Fair-one.
x'
igO THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
**■ We do not," fald the high priefb, '^ call you to the
n ' c ' ■' fc'Ji 'Oil'' fi. '
(C
worfliip of inanimate idols. Behold a mafter-piece
of nature, (lifting up the veil which concealed the " naked charms oi the beautiful Madmf. Barbier) : " This Tacred image fnould inflame all hearts." And it did fo ; the people fliouted out, '' No more altars, *■' no more prieds, no God but the God of Nature."
Orleans, the firfl; prince of the blood, did not fcruple to proilitute his daughter, if not to the embraces, yen to the wanton view of the public, with the precife in- tention of inflaming their defires. (See the account given of the dinners at Sillcry's, by Camille Defmou- lines, in his fpeech againft the Briilotins.) But what will be the end of all this ? Tht fondlings of the w^eal- thy will be pampered in all the indulgences which fafl:idious volupcuoufnefs finds neceffary for varying or enhancing its pleafures , but they will either be flighted as toys, or they will be immured ; and the companions of the poor will be drudges and flavcs.
I am fully perfuaded that it was the enthufiafbic ad- miration of Grecian democracy that recommended to the French nation the drefs a la Grecque, which exhibits not the elegant, ornamented beauty, but the alluring female, fully as well as Madame Tallien*s drefs ^ / Sauvage. It was no doubt with the fame adherence to Jerious principle, that Mademoifelle Therouanne was moll: beautifully drefl^ed a V Amazonne on the 5th of Oclober 1789, when fne turned the heads of fo many young officers of the regiments at Verfailles. The Cythera, the borninitm divunqiie vduptas, at the cathe- dral of Notre Dame, v/as alfo drelfed a la Grecque : There is a moil evident and charadteriftic change in the whole fyftem of female drefs in France. The Filles de V Opera always gave the ton, and were furely withheld by no rigid principle. They fometimes produced very extravagant and fantailic forms, but thefe were
aim oft
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATJ. I^I
almoft always in the (lyle of the highefl: ornament, and they triift^d, for the reil of tlie imprelTion which they willifd ro make, to the fafcinaringcxp^'cflion of elegant movements. This indeed was wonderful, and hardly conceivable by any who have not fcen a grand ballet performed by good a6lors. I have fhed tears of the mod fincere and tender forrow during the exhibition of Antigone, fet to mufic by Traecta, and performed by Madame Mcilcour and S^^ Toreili, and Zantini. 1 can cafily conceive the impreiTion to be dill (Irongcr, though perhaps of another kind, when the former fuperb dref- fes are changed for the expreffive fim.plicity of the Grecian. I cannot help thinking that the female orna- ments in the reft of Europe, and even among ourfelves, have k'fs elegance fmce we loft the fancStion of the French court. But fee how all this will terminate, when we fliall have brought the fex fo lov/, and will not even wait for a Mahometan paradife. What caa we expe6t but fuch adiflblutenefs of manners, that the endearing ties of relation and family, and mutual con- fidence within doors, will be flighted, and willceafe ; and every man muft ftand up for himfclf, fingle and alone ?
Fcecunda culfd: Jacula nuptias Primum inqidnavere, et genusy et dc?nos^ Hccfcnte derivata clades
In patriampo'pulumque fluxit , Hor. iii. 6. 17.
This is not the fuegeftion of prudifh fear, I think it is the natural courfe of things, and that France is at this moment giving to the world the fulleft proof of Weifhaupt's fagacity, and the judgment with which he has formed his plans. Can it tend to the improvement of our morals or nianners to have our ladies frequent the gymnaftic theatres, and fee them decide, like the • Roman
l^t THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
Roman matrons, on the merits of a naked gladiator or wredler ? Kave we not enough of this already with our vaulters and pr^fture-maftcrs, and fhould we admire any lady who had a rage for fuch fpedtacles ? Will it improve our taflc to have our rooms ornamented with fuch paintings and fculpturcs as filled the ccnaculum, and the ftudy of the refined and elegant moralift Ho- race, who had the arc — ridendo dtce.e verum ? Shall we be improved when fuch indulgences are thought compatible with fuch leiTons as he generally gives for the condudl of life ? The pure Morality of Illumina- tifm is nov/ employed in ftripping Italy of all tbofe pre- cious remains of ancient art and voluptuoufnefs; and Paris will ere long be the depofit and the refort of ar- tills from all nations, there to ffudy the works of an- cient mafters, and to return from thence panders of public corruption. The plan is maflerly, and the low- born Scatefmen and Generals of France may in this ref- pe6t be fet on a level wich a Colbert or a Conde. But the confcquences of this Gallic dominion over the minds of fallen man will be as dreadful as their domi- nion over their lives and fortunes.
Recol]e6L in what manner Spartacus propofed to corrupt his fillers (for we need not fpeak of the manner in which he expe6led that this would promote his plan — this is abundantly plain). It was by deftrcying their moral fentiments, and their fentiments of religion. Re- coiled what is the recommendation that the Atheifl Minos gives of his ilep-daughters, when he fpeaks of them, as proper perfons for the Lodge of Sillers, *' They have got over all prejudices, and, in matters ^' of religion they think as I do." Thefe profligates judged rightly that this affair required much caution, and that the utmod attention to decency, and even de- licacy, mufl be obferved in their rituals and ceremo- nies, otherv^ife the \Tomen would be difgujled. This
was
CHAP. ir. THE ILLUMINATI. I9J
was judging fairly of the feelings of a female mind^ But they judged falfely, and only according to theirs own coarfe experience, when they attributed their dif- guft and their fears to coynefs. Coyncfs is indeed the inftindlive attribute of the female. In woman it is very great, and it is perhaps the genuine fource of the dijgufl of which the Illuminati were fufpicious. But they have been dim-fighted indeed, or very unfortunate in their acquaintance, if they never obferved any other fource of repugnance in the mind of woman to what is im- moral|or immodeil — if they did not fee diflike — moral difapprobation. Do they mean to infmuate, that in that regard which modeil women exprefs in all their words and a6lions, for what every one underftands by the terms decency, modefty, and the difapprobation of every thing that violates thofc feelings, the women only fliow female coynefs ? Then arc they very blind inftruQors. But they are not fo blind. The account given of the initiation of a young Sifler at Frankfort, under the feigned name FJychariGn^ fhows the mofl fcrupulous attention to the moral feelings of the fex; and the confufion and diilurbance which, after all their care, it occafioned among the ladies, fliows, that when they thought all right and delicate, they had been bun coarfe judges. Minos damns the ladies there, becaufe they are too free, too rich, too republican, and too wife, for being led about by the nofe (this is his own expreffion). But Philo certainly thought more cor- redlly of the fex in general, when he fays. Truth is a modeft girl : She may be handed about like a lady, by good fenfe and good manners, but mud not be bullied and driven about like a ftrumpet. I would here infert the difcourfes or addrefles which were made on thac occafion to the different clafTes of the affembly, girls, young ladies, wives, young men, and fbrangers, which
* 2 B are
194- THE ILLUMINATJ. GHAP. If.
a^e really ingenious and well ccmpofed, were they not fuch as would offend my fair countrywomen.
The religious fentiments by which mortals are to be affifted, even in rhe difcharge of their moral duties, and frill more, the fentiments \\!/hich are purely reli- gious, and have no reference to any thing here, are precifely thcfc which are moil eadly excited in the mind of woman. Affedion, admiration, filial reve- rence, are, if I m.iilake not exceedingly, thofe in which the v.omen fir furpafs the .men ; and it is on this account that we generally find them fo much dif- pofed to devotion, which is nothing but a fort of fond indulgence of thofe affedions without limit to the ima- gination. The enraptured devotee pours out her foul in expreffions of thefe feelings, juft as a fond mother mixes the careiTes given to her child v/ith the m.oft ex- travagant exprefficns of love. The devotee even en- deavours to excite higher degrees of thefe affections, by expatiating on fuch circumHances in the divine condudl with refpeci: to man as naturally awaken them; and he does this without any fear of exceedino:: be- caufe Infinite Wiidom and Goodnefs will always juftify the fentiment, and free the expreffion of it from all charge of hyperbole or extravagance.
I am convinced, therefore, that the female mind is well adapted to cultivation by means of religion, and that their native foftnefs and kindnefs of heart will al- ways be fufficient for procuring it a favourable recep- tion from them. It is therefore with double regret that I fee any of them join in the arrogant pretenfions of our Illuminated philofophers, who fee no need of
iuch aiTiilances for the knowledo-e and difcharore of
... "-^
their duties. There is nothincr fo unlike that general modefty of thought, and that diiiidence, which wc are difi}ofcd to think the charader of the female mind. I
am
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. IQ
«.
am inclined to think, that fuch deviations from the ge- neral condudl of the fcx are marks of a harfner cha- ra6ler, of a heart that has lefs fenfibility, and is on the whole lefs amiable than that ot others. Yet it muit be owned that iherc are fome luch among us. Much, if not the whole of this pcrverfion, has, 1 am perfiiad-^ ed, been owing to the contagion of bad example in the men. They are made familiar with fuch expref- iions — their firft horror is gone, and (would to heaven that I were miitaken !) fome of them, have already wounded their confciences to fuch a degree, that they have fome reafon to wiili that religion may be without foundation.
But I would call upon all, and theje v/om.en in parti- cular, to confider this matter in a.'iother iisrht — as it may afl'cdl themfeives in this life ; as it may afteft their rank and treatment in ordinary fociety. I would fay to them, that if the world fliallonce adopt the bellc-f that this life is our all, then the true maxim of rational condudl will be, to ^"' eat and to drink, fmce to-mor- ** row v/e are to die 3'* and that when they have no- thing to truft to but the fondnefs of the men, they will foon find themfeives reduced to flavery. The crown which they now wear will fall tl-om their heads, and they will no longer be the arbiters ot what is lovely in human life. I'he empire of beauty is but fhort; and even in republican France, it will not be many years that Madame Tallien can fafcinate the Parifian Theatie by the exhibition of her charm.s. Man is faf- tidious and chaneeable, he is the ihonercr animal, and can always take his own will with refped: to w( man. At prefent he is vvith-heid by refped for her moral worth — and many are with -held by religion — and m^a- ny more are with-held by public laws, which laws were fram.ed at a time when religious truths iniiuenced
the
196 THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
the minds and the condu6t of men. When the fenti- ments of men change, they will not be fo foolifh as to keep in force laws which cramp their flrongeft defires. Then will the rich have their Harems, and the poor their drudges.
Nay, it is not merely the circnmilance of woman's being confidered as the moral companion of man that gives the fex its empire among us. There is fome- thing of this to be obferved in all nations. Of all the diftinftions which fet our fpecies above the other fen- tient inhabitants of this globe, making us as unlike to the beft of them as they are to a piece of inanimate matter, there is none more remarkable than the differ- ences obfervable in the appearances of thofe defires by which the race is continued. As I obferved already, fuch a diilindion is indifpenfably neceflary. There muft be a moral conne6lion, in order that the human fpecies may be a race of rational creatures, improve- able, not only by the increafing experience of the in- dividual, but alfo by the heritable experience of the fuccefTive generations. It may be obferved between the foiitary pairs in Labrador, where hum:in nature ftarves, like the ftunted oak in the crevice of a baron rock j and it is feen in the cultivated focieties of Eu- rope, where our nature in a feries of ages becomes a majeftic tree. Whatever may be the native powers of mind in the poor but gentle Efquim.aux, fhe can do nothing for the fpecies but nurfe a young one, who cannot run his race of life without inceflant and hard labour to keep foul and body together — here therefore her ftation in fociety can hardly have a name, becaufe there can hardly be faid to be any aflbciation, except what is neceflary for repelling the hoilile attacks of Indians, who feem to hunt them without provocation as the dog does the hare. In other parts of the world,
■ we
CHAP. 11. THE ILLUMINATI. 1^7
we fee that the confideration in which the fex is held, nearly follows the proportions of that aggregate of ma- ny different particulars, which we confider as confti- tuting the cultivation of a ibciety. We may perhai s err, and we probably do err, in our efliim.ation of tho'e degrees, becaufe we are not perfe6lly acquainted with what is the real excellence of man. But as far as wc can yad&Q of it, I believe that my affcrtion is acknow- ledged. On this authority, I might prefume to lay, that it is in Chridian Europe that man bas attained his
A.
highelf degree of cultivation — and it is undoubtedly here that the women have attained the highefl rank. I may even add, that it is in that part of Europe wliere the elTential and diftinguifhing dodtrines of Chriftian morality are moft generally acknowledged and attended to by tne laws of the country, that woman acls the highefl part in general fociety. But here we muft be very careful how we form our notion, cither of the fociety, or of the female rank — it is furely not from the two or three dozens who fill the highefl ranks in the flate. Their number is too fmail, and their fitu- ation is too particular, to afford the proper average. Befides, the fituation of the individuals of this clafs in all countries is very much the fame — and in all it is very artificial — accordingly their character is fantaili- cal. Nor are v/e to take it from that clafs that is the moft numerous of all, the lowefl clafs of fociety, for thefc are the labouring poor, whofe conduct and oc^ cupations are fo much dictated to them by the hard circumflances of their fituation, that fcarcely any thing is left to their choice. The fituation of women of this clafs muft be nearly the fame in all' nations. But this clafs is flill fufceptible of fome variety — and we fee it — and I think that even here there is a perceptible fu- periority of the female rank in thole countries wliere
the
198 THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
the pureft Chriilianity prevails. We mufl however take our meafures or proportions from a numerous clafs, buc ah'b a ciafb in Ibmewhat of ealy circum- ilances, where meral fentiments call fome attention, ^nd pcrfons have fome choice in their condud:. And here, although I cannot pretend to have had many opportunities of obfervation, yet I have had fome. I can venture to fay that it is not in Ruifia, nor in Spain, that woman is, on the whole, the mod im- portant as a member of the community. I would fay, that in Britain her important rights are more ge- nerally refpe6led than any where elfe. No where is a man's character fo much hurt by conjugal infide- lity— no where is it fo difHcult to rub off the fligma of bailardy, or to procure a decent reception or foci- ciety for an improper conne6tion ^ and I believe it will readily be granted, that the fhare of the women in fucceifions, their authority in all matters of domef- tic trufr, and even their opinions in what concerns life and manners, are fully more rcfpected here than in any country*
I have long been of the opinion, (and every obfer- vation that 1 have been able to make fince I firfl formed it confirms me in it,) that v^oman is indebted to Chriftianity alone for the high rank fne holds in fociety. Look into the writings of antiquity — into, the works of the Greek and Latin poets — into the num.berlefs panegyrics of the fex, to be found both in profe and verfe — I can find little, very little in- deed, where woman is treated with refped: — there is no want of love, that is, of fondnefs, of beauty, of charms, of graces. But of woman as the equal of man, as a moral companion, travelling with him the road to felicity — as his advifcr — his folace in misfor- tune— as a pattern froin which he may fometim.es
copy
CHAP. H. THE ILLUMINATI.
9f
copy with advantage ; — of ail this there is hardly a trace. Woman is always mentioned as an objedt of padion. Chaftity, modeily, fbber-mindcdnefs, are all confidered in relation to this finglc point; or fome- times as of importance in refpe^t of economy or do- meflic quiet. RecolleCl the famous fpeech of Metel- tellus Numidicus to the Roman people, when^, as, Cenfor, he was recommendinp- marriao;e.
'^ Si fine uxore poiTemus Quirites tiTc, omncs ea moleftia careremus. Sed quoniam ita nacura tradi- dit, ut nee cum illis commode, nee fine ilHs ullo modo vivi polfet, faluti perpetuse potius quam brevi voluptati confuiendum."
Jd. Cell, No^. Att. I, 6.
What does Ovid, the great panegyrifl of the fex, fay for his beloved daughter, whom he had praifed for her attra6Lions in various places of his Triftia and other compofirions ? He is writing her Epitaph — and the only thing he can fay of her as a rational creature is, that (lie was — Domifida — not a Gadabout. — Search Aouleius, where you will find manv female characters- in ahftrdofc — You will find that his little Photis (a cook- maid and firumpet) was neareil to his heart, af- ter all his philofophy. Nay, in his pretty (lory of Cupid and Pfyche, which the very wife will tell you is a fine lefibn of moral philofophy, and a reprefenta- tion of the operations of the intclleftual and moral fa- culties of the human foul, a fbory which gave him the fined opportunity, nay, almofc made it necefiTary for him to infert whatever can ornam.ent the female character i what is his Pfyche but a beautiful, fond, and filly girl ; and what are the v/hole fruits of any acquaintance with the fex ?— Pleafure. Bat why take more pains in the fcarcli ? — Look at their ini mortal
goddcfics —
200 THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
croddeiTes — is there one amonff them v/hom a wife man would ielccl for a wire or a friend ? — I grant that a Lucretia is praifcd — a Portia, an Arria, a Zenobia— but thefe are individual charadlers — not reprefentatives of the fex. The only Grecian ladies who made a figure by intelleftual talents, were your Afpafias, Sap- phos, Phrynes, and other nymphs of this caft, who had emerged from the general infignificance of the fex, by throwing away what we are accuRomed to call its greatefc ornament.
I thini tured as a refpeftable chara6ter, is the oldeft novel that 1 am acquainted with, written by a Chriftian Bi- Hiop, Heliodorus — I mean the Adventures of Thea- crenes and Chariclea. I think that the Heroine is a greater chara6ler than you will meet with in all the annals of antiquity. And it is worth while to obferve what was the efFi:(5i of this painting. The poor Bi- jQiop had been depofed, and even excommunicated, for dodrinal errors, and for drawing fuch a pi6lure of a heathen. The magiflrates of Antioch, the mod voluptuous arxd corrupted city of the Eaft, wrote to the Emperor, telling him that this book had reformed the ladies of their city, where Julian the Emperor and his Sophifts had formerly preached in vain, and they therefore prayed that the good Bifhop might not be deprived of his mitre. — It is true, we read of Hypatia, daughter of Theon, the mathematician at Alexandria, who was a prodigy of excellence, and taught philofo- phy, i. e. the art of leading a good and happy life, with great applaufe in the famous Alexandrian fchool. — But ?i\t alio was in the times of Chriftianity, and was the intimate friend of Syncellus and other Chriftian Bifhops.
It
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINATI. 201
It is undoubtedly Chriflianity that has fet woman on her throne^, making her in every refped the equal of man^ bound to the fame duties, and candidate for the fame happinefs. Mark how woman is defcribed by a Chriftian poet,
•" Yet when I approach
Her lovelinefs, fo abfoiute Ihe feems, And in herfelf complete, fo well to know Her own, that what fhe wills to do or fay Seems "u;//^, virtnoufijl^ difcrectefl^ be/}.
Neither her uutfide, form'd fo fair,-
So much delights me, as thofe graceful a£}sj Thofe thoufand decencies that daily flow From all her words and actions, mix'd with love And fweet compliance, which declare unfeign'd Union of mind ^ or in us both one foul,
-And, to confummate all,
Greatnefs ofmind^ and noblenefs^ their feat Build in her lovelieft, and create an aws About her J as a guard angelic ■plac'dr
Milton.
This IS really moral painting, v/ithout any abatement of female charms.
This is the natural confequence of that purity of heart, which is fo much infifted on in the Chriitian mo-- rality. In the inftru6tions of the heathen philofophers, it is either not mentioned at all, or at mod, it is recom- mended coldly, as a thing proper^ and worthy of a mind attentive to great things. — But, in Chriitianity, it is infilled on as an indifpenfable duty, and enforced by many arguments peculiar to itfelf
It is worthy of obfervation, that the moft prominent fuperftitions which have difnonoured the Chriftian churches, have been the exceffive retinements which
* 2 C ' the
202 THE ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II,
the enthufiaflic admiration of heroic purity has allow- ed the holy trade to introduce into the manufa61:ure of our Ipirituai fetters. Without this enthufiafm, cold expediency v/ould not have been able to make the Mo- nadic vow fo general, nor have given us fuch numbers of convents. Thefe were generally founded by fuch enthufiafls- — the rulers indeed of the church encouraged this to the utniofc, as the befl: levy for the fpiritual power — but they could not enjrAn fuch foundations. From the fame fource we may derive the chief influ- ence of auricular confefTion. When thefe were firmly eftablifnedj and were venerated, almoll all the other corruptions of Chriflianity followed of courfe. I may almcft add, that though it is here that Chriflianity has fuffered the iBofl violent attacks, it is htre that the place is mofl tenable. — Nothing tends fo much to knit all the ties of fociety as the endearing connediions of family, and whatever tends to lefTen our veneration for the marriage-contrad:, weakens them in the moil effcc- tual manner. Purity of manners is the mod effedual iupport, and pure thoughts are the only fources from which pure manners can flow, I readily grant that in former times this veneration for perfonal purity was carried to an extravagant height, and that feveral very ridiculous fancies and cuftoms arofe from this. Ro- mantic love and chivalry are flrong inftances of the ftrange vagaries of our imagination, when carried along by this enthufiaflic admiration of female purity ; and fo unnatural and forced, that they could only be tem- porary failiions. But I believe that, with all their ri- dicule, it would be a happy nation vs^here this was the general creed and pradlice. Nor can I help thinking a nation on its decline, when the domeftic connc6tions ceafe to be venerated, and the illegitimate offspring of a nabob or a nobleman are received with eafe into good
company.
Nothing
CHAP. II. THE ILLUMINaTI. 20J
Nothing is more clear than that the defign of the II- luminati was to abolifii Chriftianity'— and we now fee how effe6lual this would be for the corruption of the fair fex, a purpofe which they eagerly v/iihed to gain^ that they might corrupt the men. But if the women would retain the rank they now hold, they will be careful to preferve in full force on their minds this re- ligion^ fo congenial to their difpofitions, which nature has m.ade affectionate and kind.
And with refpeCl to the men^ is it not egregious folly to encourage any thing that can tend to blafl our fweetefl enjoyments ? Shall we not do this moft effec- tually if we attempt to corrupt what nature will always make us confider as the higheft elegance of life ? The divinity of the Stoics was^, '^ Mensjana in cor "pore Jam y^
" Gratior eft pidchro veniens e corpore virtus.
it
If, therefore, inftead of profclTedly tainting w^hat is of itfelf beautiful, we could really work it up to
^' That fair form, which, wove in fancy's loom, '' Floats in light vifions round the poet's head,"
and make woman a patrern of perfection, we fnould undoubtedly add more to the heartfelt happinefs of life than by all the difcoveries of the Illuminati. See wkat was the effect of Theagenes and Chariclea.
And vv'e fhould remember that with the fate of wo- man that of man is indiffolubly knit. The voice of nature fpoke through our immortal bard, when he mads Adam fay,
-" From thy flate
," Mine never fhall be parted, blifs or woe."
Shoi Id
^04 TffiC ILLUMINATI. CHAP. II.
Should we fufFer the contagion to touch our fair part- ner^ ail is gone, and too late ihall we fay,
'' O faireft of creation 1 laft and beO:
" Of ail God's works, creature in whom excell'd
^^ Whatever can to fight or thought be form'd,
^' J^oiy^ divine J good^ amiable^ orjhveet !
^ Hov/ art thou loft, — and now to death devote?
' ' And me with thee haft ruin'd ; for with thee
'^ Certain my refoiution is to die.''
I ^97 ]
CHAP. Ilii
Th^ German Union.
W
HEN fuch a fermentation had been ex- cited in the public mind, it cannot be fuppofed that the formal fuppreffion of the Order of the lilumi^ nati in Bavaria, and in the Duchy of Wirtemberg, by the reigning princes, would bring all to refl again. By no means. The minds of men were predifpof- ed for a change by the reftlefs fpirit of fpeculation in every kind of enquiry, and the leaven had been carefully and fkilfuily diffeminated in every quarter of the empire, and even in foreign countries. Weif- haupt faid, on good grounds, that " if the Orders fhould be difcovered and fuppreffed, he would re- ftore it with tenfold energy in a twelvemonth." Even in thofe ftates where it was formally abolifhed, no- thing could hinder the enlifting new members, and carrying on all the purpofes of the Order. The Areopagitae might indeed be changed, and the feat of the direclion transferred to fome other place, but the Minerval and his Mentor could meet as former- ly, and a ride of a few miles into another State, would bring him to a Lodge, where the young would be amufed, and the more advanced would be engage ed in ferious mifchief. \¥ei{haupt never liked chil- dren's play. He indulged Philo in it, becaufe he faw him taken with fuch rattles : but his own pro- jeds were dark and folemn, and it was a relief to him now to be freed from that m^ummery. He foon found the bent of the perfon's liiind on whom he had fet his talons, and, he fays, that ** no man ever efcaped him whom he thought it worth v^hile to fe- cure." He had already filled the Ijfls wkh enough

IgS THE GERMAN UNION. CHAP. lii.
of the young and gay, and when the prefent condition of the Order required fly and experienced heads, he no longer couried them by play-things. He commu- nicated the ranks and the inflrudions by a letter, without any ceremony. The correfpondence with Phiio at the time of the breach with him, thews the fuperiority of Spartacus. Philo is in a rage, provok- ed to find a pitiful profeflbr difcontented with the immenfe fervices which he had received from a gen- tleman of his rank, and treating him with authority, and with difingenuity. — He tells Spartacus v/hat fliil greater fervices he can do the Order, and that he can alfo ruin it with a breath. — But in the midft of this rage, he propofes a thoufand modes of reconcile- ment. The fmallefl: concelTion would make him hug Spartacus in his arms. But Spartacus is deaf to ail his threats, and firm as a rock. Though he is con- fcious of his own vile condud, he abates not in the fmailefi: point, his abfolute authority — requires the mod implicit fubmifiion, which he fays '' is due not to him, but to the Order, and without which the Order mull: immediately goto ruin." — He does not even deign to ch?.llenge Philo to do his word, but allows him to go out of the Order without one angry word. This (hows his confidence in the energy of that fpirit of reliefs difcontent, and that hankering after reform which he had fo fuccefsfully fpread a- broad.
This had indeed arifen to an unparalleled height^ unexpeded even by the feditious themfelves. This Appeared in a remarkable manner by the reception given to the infamous letters on the conflitution 6f the PrufTian States*
The general opinion was, that Mirabeau was the author oFthe letters themfelves, and it was perfedly underllood by every perfon, that the tranflation into French was a joint contrivance of Mirabeau and Ni-
cholai.
€HAP. 111. THE GERMAN UNION. igg
cholai. I vvas affuredof this by the Brltifli MInifter at that Court. There, are fome blunders in refped of names, which an inhabitant of the country could hardly be guilty of, but are very confiftent with the felf-conceit and precipitancy of this Frenchman — There are feveral inftances of the fame kind in two pieces, which are known for certain to be his, viz. the Chronique fcandaleiife and the Hifloire Jecrette de la Cour de Berlin, Thefe letters were in every h^nd, and were mentioned in every converfation, even in the Pruflian dominions — and in other places of the empire thev were quoted, and praifed, and com- mented on, although fome of their contents were nothing Ihort of rebellion.
Mirabeau had a large portion of that felf-conceit which diftinguifhes his countrymen. He thought himfelf qualified not only for any high office in ad- miniflration, but even for managing the whole af- fairs of the new King. He therefore endeavoured to obtain fome poft of honour. But he was difap- pointed, and, in revenge, did every thing in his power to make thofe in adminiflration the objeds of public ridicule and reproach. His licentious and profligate manners were fuch as excluded him from the fociety of the people of the firft claffes, whom it behoved to pay fome attention to perfonal digni- ty. His opinions were in the highefl: degree cor- rupted, and he openly profeffed Atheifm. This made him peculiarly obnoxious to the King, who was determined to corred the difturbances and difquiets which had arifen in the Pruffian ftates from the in- difference of his predeceflbr in thofe matters. Mi- rabeau therefore attached himfelf to a junto of wri- ters and fcribblers, who had united in order to dif- feminate licentious principles, both in refped of re- ligion and of government. His wit and fancy were great, and he had not perhaps his equal for eloquent
and
20Q THE GERMAN UNION, CHAP, ill,
and biting fatire. He was therefore careffed by thofe writers as a moft valuable acquifition to their Society. He took all this deference as his jafl due ; and was fo confident in his powers, and fo foolifh^ as to advife, and even to admonifh, the King. Highly obnoxious by fuch condud, he was excluded from any chance of prefernient, and was exceeding- ly out of humour. In this flate of mind he was in a fit frame for Illumination. Spartacus had been eyeing him for fome time, and at lafl: communicated this honour to him through the intermedium cf Mau- villon, another Frenchman^ Lieutenant-Colonel in the fervice of the Duke of Brupfwick. This perfon had been niofl adive during the formal exi Hence of the Order, and had contributed much to its recep- tion in the Proteflant ftates — he remained long con- cealed. Indeed his Illumination was not known till the invafion of Holland by the French. Mauvillon then ftepped forth, avowed his principles, and re- commended the example of the French to the Ger- mans. This encouragement brought even Philo again on the flage, notwithflanding his refentment againfi Spartacus, and his folemn declaration of hav- ing abjured all fuch focieties. — Thefe, and a thou- fand fuch fads, fhow that the feeds of licentious Cofmopolitifm had taken deep root, and that cut- ting down the crop had by no means deflroyed the baneful plant.-— But this is not all — a new method of cultivation had been invented, and immediately adopted, and it was now growing over all Europe in another form.
I have already taken notice of the general perver- fion of the public mind which co-operated with the fchifms of Free Mafonry in procuring a liflening ear to Spartacus and his affociates. It will not be doubted but that the machinations of the Illuminati iricreafed this, even among thofe who did not enter
inJo
CHAP, iili THE GERxMAN UNION. ^Ol
into the Order. It was eafier to diminni the refped for civil ellablifliments in Germany than in almoil any other country. The frivolity of the ranks and court-offices in the different confederated petty llares made it impoffible to combine dignity with the ha- bits of a fcanty income. — It was ftill eaher to expofe to ridicule and reproach thofe numberlefs abufes which the foily and the vices of men had introdu- ced into religion. The influence on ihe public mind which natural! V attaches to the venerable office of a moral infirucior, was prodigioufly diminiihed by the continual difputes of the Catholics and Proteilanis, which were carried on with great heat in every little principality. The freedom of enquiry, vn'hich was lupported by the ftate in Proteflant Germany, was terribly abufed, (for what will the folly of man not abufe?) and degenerated into a wanton licentiouf- nefs of thought, and a rage for {peculation and fcep- ticifm on every fubjedt whatever. The ftruggle, which was originally between the Catholics and the Proteflanls, had changed, during the gradual progrefs of luxury and immorality, into a contefi: between reafon and fuperftition. And in this conteft the denomination of fuperftition had been gradually ex- tended to every doi^rine which profefied to be of divine revelation, and reafon was declared to be, for certain, the only way in which the Deity can inform the human mind,
Some refpectable Catholics had publifhed v.orks filled with liberal fentiments. Thefe weie repre- fented as villainous machinations to inveide Protef- tants. On the other hand, fome Proteftant divines had propofed to imitate this liberality by making con- cefhons which might enable a good Catholic to live more at eafe among the Proteftants, and might even accelerate an union of faiths. This was hooced be- yond meafure, as Jefuitical, and big with danger.
"While
202 THE GERMAN UNION. CHAP. ill.
While the fceptical junto, headed by the editors of the Deutfchc Bibliothek and the Berlin Monatjchrift^ were recommending e'^ery performance thatwasliof- tileto the eftabliflied faith of the country, Leuchtfen- ring was equally bufy, finding Jefuits in every corner, and went about with all the inquietude of a madman, picking up anecdotes. Zimmerman, the refpe(5\abie phyiician of Frederick King of Pruflia, gives a di- verting account of a vifit which he had from Leucht- fenring at Hanover, all trembling with fears of Je- fuits, and wifhing to perfuade him «that his life was in danger from them. Nicholai was now on the hunt, and during this crufade Philo laid hands on him, being introduced to his acquaintance by Leucht- fenring, who was, by this time, cured of his zeal for Protedanifm, and had become a difciple of Illumi- natifm. Philo had gained his good opinion by the vi- olent attack which he had publifhed on the Jefuits and RofjTrucians by the orders of Spartacus. — He had not far to go in gaining over Nicholai, who was at this time making a tour through the Lodges. The fparks of Illumination which he perceived in many of them pleafed him exceedingly, and he very cheer- fully received the precious fecret from Philo.
This acquifition to the Order was made in Janua- ry 1782. Spartacus was delighted with it, confider- ed Nicholai as a mofi: excellent champion, and gave him the name of Lucian^ the great fcoffer at all reli- gion, as aptly exprelling his character.
Nicholai, on his return to Berlin, publidied many volumes of Ijis difcoveries. One would imagine that not a Jefuit had efcaped him. He mentions many flrange fchifmatics, both in religion and in Mafonrv — -But he never once mentions an Illumina' tus. — When they were fiifl: checked, and before the difcovery of the fecret correfpondence, he defended them, and ifrongly reprobated the proceedings of the
Eiedor
Chap, iii* the German union. 203
Elc'ilor of Bavaria, calling it vile perfecution. — » Nav, after the difcovery of the letters found in Zwack's houfe, he perfiRed in his defence, vindica- ted the poiTefiion of the abominable receipts, and highly extolled the character of Weifhaupt. — But when the difcovery of papers in the houfe of Batz informed the public that he himfelf had long been an Illuminatus^ he was fadly put to it to reconcile his
defence with any pretenfions to religion*.
Weifhaupt faved him from difgrace, as he thought, by his publication of the fyftem of liluminarifm' — Nicholai then boldly faid that he knew no more of the Order than was contained in that book, tliat is, only the two firft degrees.
But before this, Nicholai had made to himfelf a mod formidable enemy. The hiftory of this con- teft is curious in itfelf, and gives us a very inQrudive pidure of the machinations of that conjuration des philofopbes^ or gang of fcribblers who were leagued againfl the peace of the v/orld. The reader will therefore find it to our purpofe. On the autl:ority »f a lady in Courland, a Countefs von der Recke, Nicholai had accufed Dr. Stark of Darmiladt (who made fuch a figure in Free Mafonry) of Jeiuitifm, and of having even fubmitted to the ionfure. Stark was a moft reftlefs fpirir — had gone through every myflery in Germany, liluminatifm excepted, and had ferreted out many of Nicholai's hidden tranfac-
* He impudently pretended that the papers contaluing the fyftem and doftrines of Ilkinfiinatifm, came to him at Berlin, from an unknown hand. But no one beheved him — it was inconfiltent with what is faid of him in the fccret correfpondence. He had faid the fame thing concerning the French tranilation of the Let- ters on the Conftitution of the PrulTian States. Fifty copies were found in his ware-houfe. He faid that they had been fent from Straf- burg, and that he had never fold one of them. — Suppofing both thefe afTertlons to be true, it appears that Nicholai was cdniidered as a very proper hand for difperfmg Xuch poifon.
tions.
204 THfe GERMAN UNIOW. CHAP, ili^
tions. Be was alfo an unwearied book-maker, and dealt ouc thefe dircovevies by degrees, keeping the eye of the public continually upon Nichoiai. He I'iad ftifpeded his Illumination for fome time pall, and when the fecret came our, by Spartacus' letter, where he boalls of his acquiii.ion, calling Nichoiai a moll: ifurdv combatant, and laying that he was conteniij]hnus^ Stark left no ftone unturned till he difcjvered that Nichoiai had been initiated in all the horrid and moll profligate mvfteries of Iliuminatifm, and that Spartacus had at the very fiiTc entrufted him Vvith his moil darling fecrets, and advifed with him on raanv occafions*.
\ his complete blading of his moral charadet could not be paiientiy borne, and Nichoiai was in his turn the bitter enemy of Stark, and, in the pa-^
* Cf this we have complete proof In the private correfpond* ence. Philo, fpeaklng in one of his letters of the gradual change which was to be produced in the minds of their pupils from Chrifti- anity to Deifm, fays, *' Nichoiai informs me, that even the pious ** Zollikofer has nov^ been convinced that it would be proper to fet " up a deidical church in Berlin." It is in vain that Nichoiai fays that his knowledge of the Order was only of what Weiihaupt had piibliihed ; for Philo fays that that corre been introduced into it when he quitted it in 1784.. But Nichoiai deferves no credit — he is one of the molt fcandalous examples of the operation of the principles of Weiihaupt. He procured ad- miffion into the Lodges of Free Mafons and Rofycrucians, merely to a£t the difhonourable part of a fpy, and he betrayed their fecrets as far as he could. In the appendix to ^.he 7th volume of his journey, he declaims againft the Templar Mafons, Rofycrucians, and Jcfuits, for their blind fubmiflion to unknown fuperiors, for their fuperllitions, their priefthoods, and their bafe principles- — and yet had been five years in a fsciety in which all thefe were carried to the crveateft hei'jht. He remains true to the liluminati alone, becaufe they had the fame object in view with himfelf and his atheiiUcal aHbciatcs, His defence of Protedantifm is all a cheat ; and perhaps he maybe confidered as an enemy equally formidable with Weiihaupt himfelf. This is the reafon v*'hy he occupies fo many of thefe pages.
roxyfms
CUA?. 111» THS GERMAN UNlOiV. 305
roxyfms of his anger, pub! iuied every idle tale, al- though he Vv^i-^s often obliged to contradict them in the next Review. In the coiirfe of this attack and de- fence, Dr. Stark di-covered the revival of the lihi- minati, or ac leail a iocie^v which carried on the fanie great work in a fomtrwhat different way.
Dr. Stark had written a defence againd one of Ni- choiai'saccufations, and wifbed to have it printed at Leipzig. He therefore fent the manufcript to a friend, who relided there. This friend immediate- ly propofed it to a moil improper perfon, Mr. Pott, who had written an anonymous commentary on the King of PrulTia's edid for the uniformity of religious worlhip in his dominions. This is one of the moft ihamelefs attacks on the efiabiiihed faith of the na- tion, and the authority and ccnducl of the Prince, that can be imagined. Stark's friend was ignorant of this, and fpoke to Polt, as the partner of the grea.t piiblifher Walther. They, without hehtation, undertook the publiihing ; but when fix weeks had paffed over, Stark's friend found that it was not be- gun. Some exceptionable parages, which treated with difrefpect the religion of Reafon, were given as the cauie of delay ; and he was told that ths au- thor had been written to about them, but had not yet returned an anfvv^er. This was afterwards found to be falfe. Then a pr.dlige in the preface was objed- ed to, as treating roughly a lady inCourland, v.^hich Walther could not print, becaufe he hadconnedlions with that court. The author muft be entreated to change his expreffions. /Vfter another delay, paper was wanting. The MS. was withdrawn. Walther now faid that he v/ould print it immediately, and again got it into his hands, promiling to fend the fheets as they came from the prefs. Thefe not ap- pearing for a long time, the agent made enquiry, and found that it was fent to Michaelisat H^lie, lo
2C ' be
2o6 THE GERMAN UNIONi CHAP. ilL"
be printed there. The agent immediately went thither, and found that it was printing with great al- terations, another title, and a guide or key, in which the work was perverted and turned into ridicule by a Dr. Bahrdt, who refided in that neighbourhood. An adion of recovery and damages was immediately commenced at Leipzig, and after much conteft, an interdid was put on Michaeiis's edition, and a pro- per edition was ordered immediately from Walther, with fecuritty that it fhould appear before Eahrdi's key. Yet when it VJ3S produced at the next fair, the bookfellers had been alieady fupplied with the fpurious edition ; and as this was accompanied by the key, it was much more faleabie ware, and com- pletely fupplanted the other.
This is lurely a ftrong inllance of the machina- tions by which the Illuminati have attempted to deftroy the Liberty of the Prefs, and the power they have to difcourage or fupprefs any thing that is not agreeable to the taPce of the literary junto. It was in the courfe of this tranra£lion that Dr^ Stark's agent found people talking in the cofFee- houfes of Leipzig and Halle of the advantages of public libraries, and of libraries by fubfcription^ in every town, where perfons could, at a fmall ex- pence, lee what was palling in the learned w^orld^ As he could not but acquieice in thefe points, they who held this language began to talk of a gene- ral Aflociation, which flioulcl aft in concert ovel' all Germany, and make a full communication of its numerous literary producftions by forming Ib- cietic^ for reading and infbrudiion, which diou'Id .be regularly fupplied with every publication. Fly- ing Qieets and pamphlets were afterwards put into his hands, dating the great ufe of fucli an Alfoci- ation, and the efftft which it would fpeedily pro- duce by enliphtenirig the nation. By and by he
learned
€HAP. ill. THE GERMAN UNION. ^.Q-J
learned that fuch an Aflociation did really exift, and that it was called the German union, for
ROOTING OUT SUPERSTITION AnD PREJUDICES, AND ADVANCING TRUE CHRISTIANITY. On
enquiry, however, he found that this was to be a Secret Society, becaufe it had to combat pi*ejudi- ces which were fupported by the great of this world, and becaufe its aim was to promote that general information wdiich priefts and defpots dreaded above ail things. This Alfociation was acceffible only through the reading focieties, and oaths of lecrecy and fidelity were required. In (hort, it apppeared to be the old fong of the Illu- minati.
This dlfcovery was immediately announced to the public, in an anonymous publication in defence of Dr. Stark. It is fuppofed to be his own per- formance. It difclofes a fcene of complicated villiany and folly, in w^hich the Lady in Courland makes a very llrange figure. She appears to bs a wild fanatic, deeply engaged in magic ana ghofl- raifmg, and leagued with Nicholai, Gedicke, and Biefter, againft Dr. Stark. He is very conipletely cleared of the fa£ls ailedged againft him ; and his three male opponents appear void of all principle ^nd enemies of all religion. Stark however would, in Britain, be a very fingular character, confider- ed as a clergyman. The frivolous fecrets of Ma- fonry have either engroffed his whole mind, or he has laboured in them as a lucrative trade, by which he took advantage of the folly of others. The conteft between Stark and the Triumvirate at Berlin engaged the public attention much more than we Ihould imagine that a thing of fo private a nature would do. But the chara£lers were very notorious ; and it turned the attention of the pub- lic to thofe clandefline attacks which were made
in
Qo8 The GERMAN UNION* CHAP, u'l,
ill every quarter on the civil ar.d religious eftablifli- ments. It was obvious to every perjon^ that theie reading I'ccleties had all on a iuddeii become very numerous; and the charadlers of thoie who pa- troniled them only increalcd the iufpicions which were nov/ railed.
l-'hefiriL v/ork that ipeaivs exprefsly of the Ger- man Union, h a very lenlible performance "" On *' i'/ie Right of Princes to dirtCi the Rtligion of thtir *' ZuhjcChr The ne:h;t is a curious Vv'ork, a fort of narrative Dialogue on the Charaiiers cf Nicho- lai^ Gtdicke^ and Biejlcr, it is chiefiy occupied with the conteft v/ith Dr. Stark, but in the 5th part, it treats particularly of the German Union,
About the fame time appeared fome farther ac- count, in a book called Archives of Faiiaiicifmand Illirminatijm, But all thefe accounts are very vague and unfatisfadory. The fullefl account is to be had in a Vv'ork pubiifhed at I^ipzig- by Goi- chen the bookfeller. It is entitled, ^'' Merc Notes " than Text^or the GtrmanUnion of XX 1 1 ^ a new ^' Secret Society for the Good of Mankind^' Ltip^ zig 1789. The publiilicr fays that it v/as fent him by an unknown hand, and that he publilhcd it v/ith all fpeed, on account of the many mif- chiefs which this Societv, ioi which he had be- fore heard feverai reports,) might do to the world ^ and to tlie trade, if allowed to go on working in fecret. L'r;.m this work, therefore, we may form a notion of this redoubtable Society, and judge how far it is pra£ticable to prevent fuch ibcret machinations againil tlie peace and happinefs of mankind.
Tbeie is another work, " Further information *' concerning the German Union , (Nahere Beleuch- '• tung der Beutfche Union,) alfo JhovAng .hou\ " for a moderate price ^ one viay become a Scotch
'* Free
GKAP. iii* T>KE GERMAM UNION. 9,09
" Free Mfffon^ Frank ford and Lehzi^. \ 780, The author fays th::* he had all the papers in his hands : whsfeas the a'Jthcr of More Notes titan Text acknowledges the want of fonie. But ven/ little additional light is thrown on the fiibjetl by this work, and the firil is fciii the inoft iniliudtlve, and will chiefly be followed in the account which is now^ to be laid before the reader.
The book More Notes than Text contains plans and letters, which the Twenty-two United Bre- thren iiave allowed to be given oiit, and of which the greateft part v/ere printed, bnt were entruiled •oniv' to ail u red members.
No, I. is the firR plan, printed on a fmgle quar- o page, and is addreifed, To all the Friends cfF^ea- fon^ of Truths and of Virtue, It is pretty v/ell written, and Hates among other things, that " be- ' caufe a great number of perfons are labouring, ' with united elfort, to bring Reafon under the ' yoke, and to prevent all infrru^lion, it is there- ' fore neceiTary that there be a comb!*iation which ' (hall work in oonofition to them fo that man- ' kind may not fmk anew into irrecoverable bar- ' barifm, when Reafon and Virtue fiiall have been ' completely fubdued, overpovrered by the re-
' fliaints v^^hich are put on oar opinions.'*'
' For this noble purpofe a company of tv.'enty- • two perfons, public inftrucStors, and men in pii- ' vate ftations, have uhited themlelves, according ' to a plan v/hich they have had under confidera- ' tion for more than a year and a half, and which, ' in their opinion, contains a method that is fair ' and irrcfiriible bv any human power, for pro- ' motinjy the enlip-htening- and forming- of m.an- ' kind, and that will gradually remove all the ob- ' (lades which fuperilition fupported by force ' has hitherto put in the v>^ay."
This
21 &
THE GERMAN UNION.
CHAP. iii.
This addrefs is intended for an enlifling adver-^ tifemenL, and, after a few infignificant remarks on the AlTociation, a rix-dahler is required along with the fubfcription of acquiefcence in the plan, as a compenfation for the expences attending this mode of intimation and confent.
Whoever pays the rix-dahler, and declares his "wiili to join the AfTociation, receives in a few days, No. II. which is a form of the Oath of fecrecy, alfo printed on a fingle Ato page. Having fubfcrib- ed this, and given a full defignation of himfelf, he returns it agreeably to a certain addrefs ; and foon after, he gets No. III. printed on a 4to flieet. This number contains what is called the Second Plan, to which all the fubfequent plans and circu- lar letters refer. A copy therefore of this will give us a pretty full and juft notion of the Order, and its mode of declaration. It is intitled,
\^/ie Plan of the Twenty-Two^
and bep^ins with this declaration : " We have unit- ed, in order to accomplidi the aim of the ex- alted Founder of Chriftianity, viz. the enlighten- ing of mankind, and the dethronement of fu- perdition and fanaticifm, by means of a fecret fraternization of all who love the work of God, " Our liril: exertion, which h^s already been very extenfive, confifts in this, that, by means of cociidentiai perfons, we allow ourfeives to be announced every where as a Society united for the above-mentioned purpofe; and we in- vite and admit into brotherhood with ourfeives every perfon who has a fenfe of the importance of this matter, and wiflies to apply to us and fee our plans.
ilHAP. iii. THE GERMAN UNION. 21^
" We labour fird: of all to draw into our Aflb- ciation all good and learned writers. This we imagine will be the eafier obtained, as they mud derive an evident advantage from it. Next to fuch men, we feek to gain the mailers and fecretaries of the Poll-offices, in order to facilitate our corr.eipondence. *' Befides thefe, we rece-ive perfons of every condition and ftation, excepting princes and their minillers. Their favourites, however, may be admitted, and may be ufeful by their influence in behalf of Truth and Virtue. '* When any perfon writes to us, we fend him an oath, by which he mufl abjure all treachery or difcovery of tlie AiTociation, till circum- {lances fliall make it proper for us to come for- ward and diow ourielves to the world. Vv"hen he fubfcribes the oath, he receives the plan, and if he finds this to be what fatisfies his mind as a thing good and honourable, he becomes our friend only in fo far as he endeavours to gain over his friends and acquaintances. Thus we learn who are really our zealous friends, and our numbers increafe in a double pro- portion.
" This procedure is to continue till Provi- dence iliall fo far blefs our endeavours, that we acquire an active Brother and coadjutor in every place of note, v\^here there is any lite- rary profeffion ; and for this purpofe we have a fecretary and proper office in the center of the AiTociation, where every thing is expedit- ed, and all reports received. When this happy epoch arrives, we begin our fecond operation.*' That is to fay.
We intimate to all the Brotherhood in every quarter, on a certain day, that the GsKMAif
" Union
212
THE GKRIviAN UNION.
€HAP llli
' Union has now acquired a conjiflcnce^ and we ' now divide the fraternifed part of the nation ' into ten or twelve Provinces or Diccefcs^ each ' direcled by its Diocefan at his ofuce ; and thefe ' are io arranged In due fubordinaiion, that all ' biilincls comes into the Union-eouse as irito ' the center of the whiole.
*'• Agreeably to this manner of proceeding there ' are twn clalTes of the Brotherhood, the Grdi- ' ?!a?y and the Managing Brethren, The latter ' alone know the aim of the affociation, and all ' the means for attaining it; and they alone
• conilitate the UNi07>r, the name, and the con- ' neclion of vv'hich is not intended to be at all
• conlpicuous in the world.
'• To this end the bufinefs takes a new exter- nal form. The Brethren, to wit, fpeak not of the Union in the places where thev refide, nor
.- r^C
or a bocicty, nor ot enlightening the people ; but they ailcmble, and act together in every quarter, merely as a Literary Society, bring into it all the lovers of reading and of ufefiu knowledge; and fuch in fa6£ are the Ordinary Bretlireii, who only know that an AiTociation exifcs in their place of refidence for the encouragement of literary men, but bv no means that it has any connexion witii ciny other limilar Society, and that they all conPtitute one vvliole. But thefe Societies will naturally point out to tlie intelligent Brethren fuch perfons as are proper to be felected for carrying forward the great work. For per- fons of a fcrious turn of mind are not mere loungers in fuch company, but fnow in their converfatioa the intcred tiiey take in real in- (Iruaion. And the call of t]:eir reading, v/hich mud not be checked in the beginning in the
*' fmalled
CHAP. iii. THE GERMAN UNION. 2l3
f nailed degree, although it may be gradually directed to proper fubjects of information, will point out in the moH: unequivocal manner their peculiar ways of thinking on the important iiibjccfts conne therefore, the a£live Brethren will oblerve in fecret, and will ielcA thofe whom they think valuable acquifitions to the facred Union, They will invite fuch perions to unite with them- felves in their endeavours to enlighten the reft of mankind, by calling their attention to profitable fubje^ls of re^ading, and to proper books, lieacing Societies, therefore, are to be formed in every quarter, and to be furnilhed with pioper books. In this provifion attention muft be paid to two things. The tafte of the public muft be complied with, that the So- ciety may have any effcd at all in bringing men together who are born for fomewhat more than juft to look about them. But the general tafte may, and muft alfo be carefully and fldl- fully dire(fted to fubje£ls that will enlarge the comprehenfion, will fortify the heart, and, by habituating the mind to novelty, and to fuc- cefsful difcovery, both in phyfics and in morals, will hinder the timid from being ftartled at docftrines and maxims which arc ftngular, or perhaps oppofite to thofe which are current in ordinary fociety. Commonly a man fpeaks as if he thought he was uttering his own fen- ti merits, while he is only echoing the general found. Our minds are drefted in a prevailing faftiion as much as our bodies, and with ftuif as little congenial to fentiment, as a piece of woollen cloth is to the human ficin. So care- lefs and indolent are men, even in what they call fi-rious converfation. Till refle£lion be-
2 D *' comes
214 THE GERMAN UNION. CHAT. IIU
*' comes a habit, what is really a thought ftartles, '* however fimple, and, if really uncommon, it " aftonidies and confounds. Nothing, therefore, " can fo powerfully tend to the improvement of '' the human character, as well-managed Read- '* ing Societies.
'' When thefe have been eftablilhed in different *' places, we mud endeavour to accomplifh the " following intermediate plans; i. To introduce " a general literary Gazette or Review, which, " by uniting all the learned Brethren, and com- *' bining with judgment and addrefs all their " talents, and ileadily proceeding according to " a diftind and precife plan, may in time fup- *' plant every other Gazette, a thing which its " intrinfic merit and comprehenfive plan will «' eafily accomplifh. 2. To felecl a fecretary for " our Society, who fliall have it in charge to '' commiilion the books which they (hall feie6t ^* in conformity to the great aim of the Affocia- " tion, and who (hall undertake to commiilion *' all other books for the curious in his neigh- " bourhood. If there be a bookfeller in the place, " who can be gained over and fworn into the *« Society, it will be proper to choofe him for *' this ofRce, fmce, as will be made more ^' plain afterwards, the trade will gradually " come into the plan, and fall into the hands ** of the Union.
*' And now, every eye can perceive the pro- " greffive moral influence which the Union will " acquire on the nation. Let us only conceive *' w^hat fupcrllition will loie, and what inftruc- " tion muft gain by this; when, i. In every " Reading Society the books are (elected by our '- Fraternity. 2. When we have confidential ^^ perfons in every quarter, v/ho v/ill make it
^* their
CHAP. iii. THE GERMAN UNION* 2I5
*^ their ferioiis concern to fpread fuch perform- ** ances as promote the enlightening of mankind, *' and to introduce them even into every cot- " tage. 3. When we have the loud voice of the " public on our fide, and fince we are able, *' either to banifn into the fhade ali the fanatical *' writings which appear in the reviews that are ** commonly read, or to warn the public againfl *' them ; and, on the other hand, to bring into *' notice and recomm.end thofe performances " alone v/hich give light to the human mind. " 4. When we by degrees bring the whole trade *' of bookfelling into our hands, (as the good '^ writers will fend all their performances into *' the market through our means) we (hall bring " it about, that at lail: the writers who labour in *' the caufe of fuperfiition and redraint, will " have neither a publiflier nor readers. 5. When, ' laftly, by the fpreading of our Fraternity, ali *' good hearts and fenfible men will adhere to '' us, and by our means will be put in a con- *' dition that enables them to work in filence ' upon ail courts, families, and individuals in *' every quarter, and acquire an influence in the '* appointment of court-ofRcers, (lewards, fecre- '* taries, parifli-priefts, public teachers, and pri- *' vate tutors.
" Remark, That we fnall fpeedily get the trade *' into our hands, (which was formerly the aim " of the Affcciation called the Gelth'ttrihuch- " hand lung ) is conceivable by this, that every writer who unites with us immediately acquires a triple number of readers, and finds friends in every place who promote the fale of his perform.ance; fo that his gain is increafed ma- '' nifold, and confequently all will quit the book- " fellers, aiid accede to us by degrees. Had the
" above

(
^l6 TUE GERMAN UNIONT. CHAP, lil*
*' above named Alfociation been confl:ru£led in ** this manner, it would, long ere now, have *' been the only fhop in Germany,"
The book called Fuller Information^ &c. gives a more particular account of the advantages held forth to the literary manufa(£iurers of Germany by this Union for God's incrk. The clafs of lite- rary Brothers, cr writers by trade, was divided into Mejopolites^ Aldermen^ Men, and Cadets,
The Mesopolites, or Metropolitans, are to be attached to the archive-office, and to be taken care of in the Union-houfe, when in flraits through age or riiisfortune. They will be occupied in the department of the fciences or arts, which this AlTociation profefs principally to cherifh. They are alfo Brethren of the third degree of Scotch Free Mafonfy, a qualification to be explaineil af- terwards. The Union-houfe is a building which the oftenfible Founder 6f the Union profeffed to
have acquired, or fpeedily to acquire at ^ ,
through the favour and protection of a German Prince, who is not named.
Aldermen are perfons who hold public of- fices, and are engaged to exercife their genius and talents in the fciences, Thefe alfo are Brothers of the third rank of Scotch Free Mafonry, and out of their number are the Diocefans and the Direc- tors of the Reading Societies feleCled,
The members who are defigned fimply Men, are Brothers of the feCond rank of Mafonry, and have alfo a definite fcientific occupation alTigned them.
The Cadets are writers who have not yet merited any particular honours, but have exhi* bited funic lent difpcfitions and talents for differ- ent kinds of literary manufadure.
Every
CHA?. Ill* THE GERMAN UNION. ^I'J
Every member is bonnd to bring the produc- tions of his genius to maiket through the Union, An Alderrriai! receives for an original work do per cent, of the returns, and 70 for a tranfiatioii. \hc member of the next clals receives 60, and tiie Cadet ^o. As to tiie expence of printing, the Al- derman pays nothing, even thou^^h the woik (hould he on hand unfold ; but the Man and the Cadet muil pay one-half. ^1 hree months after pubHcation at the fairs an account is brouglit in, and after this, yearly, when and in what manner the author Ihfill deiire.
In every Diocefe wiJl be eflabhihed at leaPc one Reading Society, of which near 800 arc pro- pofed. To each of thefe will a copy of an slider- man s work be fcnt. The fanie iavour will be fhown to a dilTcrtation by a Man, or by a Cadet, provided that the manincript is documented bv an Alderman, or formally approved by him upon ferious perufal. This i?nprh}iatu7\ which mud be confidered as a powerful recommendation of the work, is to be pnbliOied in the General P^tviexv or Gazette, This is 10 be a vehicle of political as well as of literary news ; and it is hoped that, by its intrinfic worth, and the recommendation of the members, it will foon fiipplant all others, (With refped: to afiairs of the Union, a fort of cypher was to be employed in it. Each Dlocefan was there defigned by a letter, of a (ize that marked his rank, and each member by a number. It was to appear weekly, at the very fmaii price of five-and-twenty fniUings.)---But let us return to the plan.
When every thing has been eftablidied in the manner fet forth above, the Union will aifume the following republican form, (the reader al- ways recoUedling that this is not to appear to
the
2l8 THE GERxMAN UNION. CHAP. ill.
the world, and to be knovvn only to the manag- ing Brethren,
Here, however, there is a great blank. The above-named fl^etch of this Conuitution did mot come to the hands of the perfon who furnilhed the bookfeller with the reft of the information. But v/e have other documents which give fuffi- cient information for our pnrpofe. In the mean time, let usjiift take the papers as they ftand.
No. IV. Contains a lift of the German Union^ v/hich the fender received in manufcript. Here wc find many names which we (hould not have expected, and mifs many that were much more likely to have been partners in this patriotic fcheme. There are feveral hundred names, but very few defignations ; fo that it is diificult to point out the individuals to the public. Some however are defigned, and the writer obfervcs that names are found, which, when applied to fome individuals whom he knows, accord furprif- ingly with the anecdotes that are to be feen in the private correfpondence of the llluminati, and in the romance called Materials for the Hiftory of Socratifm (Illuminatifm)*. It is but a difagree- able remark, that the lift of the Union contains
* This, by the by, is a very Cdiious and entertaining work, and, had the whole affair been better known in this country, would have been a much better antidote againft the baneful efFeds of that Affociation than any thing that I can give to the pubh'e, being written with much accutenefs and knowledge of the human mind, and agreeably diverfified with anecdote and ironical exhibition of the affeded wifdom and philanthropy of the knavilli Foimder and his coadjutors. If the prefent imper- fed and defultory account fhall be found to intereft the public, I doubt not but that a transition of this novel, and fome other fanciful performances on the fubjcft, will be read with entertain- ment and prcfiu
the
CHAP. iii. THE GERMAN UNION. *2 1 ^
the names of many public teachers, both from the pulpit, and from the accademic chair in all its degrees; and among thefe are feveral whofe cy- phers fnow that they have been active hands. Some of thefe have in their writings given evi- dent proofs of their mifconception of the fimple truths, whether dogmatical or hifiorical, of re- vealed religion, or of their inclination to twift and manufafture them fo as to chime in with, the religion and morality of the Sages of France. But it is m^ore diltrefiing to meet with unequivocal names of fome who profefs in their writings to confider thele fubje(fts as an honeil man (hould confider them, that is, according to the plain and common fenfe of the words; whereas we have demonflrative proofs that the German Union had the diametrically oppofite purpofe in view. The" only female in the lift is the Crafin von dcr Rccke^ the Lady who gave Dr. Stark of Darmftadt fo much trouble about his Tonfure, This Lady, as we have already feen, could not occupy herfelf with the frivolity of drefs, flirtation, or domci- tic cares. " F'emina f ante pat tt, vir pecforej^ She was not pleafed however at finding her name in fuch a Plebeian lift, and gave oath, along with Biefter at the centre, that (he was not of the h.i- ibciation. I fee that the public was not fatisfied with this denial. The Lady has pubiifhed fome more fcandal againft Stark fince that time, and takes no notice of it; and there have appeared many accounts of very ferious literary connec- tions between thefe two perfons and the man wiio was afterwards difcovered to be the chief agent of the Union.
No. V. is an important document. It is a letter addreUed to the fworn members of the Union, re- minding the beloved feiiovv-workers that " the by-
" gone
it
22,0 THE GERMAN UNION. CMAP. ill.
*' pone manaeement of the bufmefs has been ex- peniive, and that the XXII. do not mean to make any particular charge for their own compenfation. *' But that it was neceiTary that ail and each of the '' members ihould know precifely the objedt of the *•' Aflbciation, and the way which mature confidera- tion had pointed out as the mofl effectual method of attaining thisobjed. Then, and not till then, could the worthy members acl by one plan, and confequentiy with united force. To accomplifh this purpofe, one of their number had compofed a Treatil'e on Inftrutlion^ and the means of promot- ing if^'' This work has been revifed by the whole number, and may be conlidered as the refult of their deepefl: refieclion. They fay, that it would be a fignal misfortune fhould this AlTociation, this under- taking, fo important for the happinefs of mankind, be cramped in the very beginning of its brilliant progrefs. They therefore propofe to print this work, this Holy Scripture of their faith and pradice, by fubfcription, (They here give a fliort account of the work.) And they requell the members to encourage the work by fubicribing, and by exerting more than their ufual aclivity in procuring fubfcrip- tions, and in recommending the performance in the newfpapers. Four perfons are named as Dioceians, who are to receive the money, which they beg may be fpetdhy advanced in order to purchafe paper, thit the work may be ready for the firlt fair (Eaiter
J788.), \
iNo. VI. is a printed paper (as is No. V.) without date, farther recommending the Eifay on Iniirudion. No. VII. is in manufcript, Vv'ithout date. It is ad-
* Ueler ausfklarung unJ Jeren BefordeningS']\IitteI. The only proptr tra'iil'Htion of this word would be, clearing up or enlighten' in*. Injiruction feems the fn:gle word that comes ncared to the Drtz\{
drcficd
/
CHAP. 111. THE GERMAN UNION. 221-
dreffed to "" a worthy man," intimating that the like are fent to others, to whom will alfo fpeedily be for- warded an icnproved plan, with a requeil to cancel or deflroy the former contained in No. III. It is added, that the Union now contains, among many others, more than two hundred of the moft refpec- table perfons in Germany, of every rank and condi- tion, and that in the coarfe of the year, (1788,) a general lift will be fent, with a requefl that the re- ceiver will point cut luch as he does not think wor- thy of perfect confidence. It concludes with ano- ther recommendation of the book on In/lru^ion. on the returns from which firfl work of the German Union the fupport of the fecretary's office is to de- pend.
Accordingly No. VIIL contains this plan, but it is not entitled The Improved Plan. Such a denomi- nation would have called in doubt the infallibility of the XXII. It is therefore called the Progrefftve (vorlaufig) plan, a title which leaves room for every fubfequent change. It ditfers from the former only in fome unimportant circumftances. Some expref- fions; which had given offence or raifed fufpicions, are foftened or cancelled. Two copies of this, which we may call A and B, are given, differing alfo in fome circumflances.
" The great aim of the German Union is the good ** of mankind, which is to be attained only by means " of mental illumination (^Auffklarung) and the de- *' throning of fanaticifm and moral defpotifm." Neither paper has the expreffion which immediately followed in the former plan, '' that this had been *' the aim of the exalted founder of Chriflianity." The paper A refers, on the prefent fubjed, to a dif- fertation printed in 17B7, without a name. On the freedom of the Prefs and its Liynitation, This is one of the moft licentious pieces that has been publifhed
1^ on
%22 tHE GERMAN UNION. CHAP. lUs
on the fubjecl, not only enforcing the inoft unquali- fied liberty of publifliing every thing a man pleafes, but exemplifying it in the n)ofl fcanclaloas manner ; libelling charaders of every fort, and perfons of eve- ry condition, and this frequently in the nioft abu- five language, and exprelTions ih coarfe, as fhewed t\v^ author to be either habituated to the coarfeft cora- pat\iy, or determined to try boldly once for all, what the public eye can bear. The piece goes on : ''The Union conliders it as a chief part of its feci et plan of operation, to include the trade of bookfelling in their circle. By getting hold of this, they have it in their power to increafe the number of writings which prom.ote inibuclion, and to lefTen that of thofe which mar it, fmce the authors of the latter will by degrees lofe both their publifh- ers and their readers. That the prefent book- fellers may do them no harm, they will by degrees draw in the greater part of them to unite with them." — The literary newfpaper is here llrongly infifled on, and, in addition to what was faid in the former plan, it is faid, '' that they will include po- *' litical news, as of mighty influence on the public '^ mind, and as a fubjed that merits the clofeft at- '* tention of the moral inftruclor. For what illumi- nation is that mind fulceptible of, that is fo blind- ed by the prejudice created and nurfed by the habits of civil fubordination, that it worlhips flu- pidity or wickednefs under a coroilet, and neglecls talents and virtue under the bearfkin cap of the boor ? We muft therefore reprefent political tranfadions, and public occurrences, not as they *' affed that artificial and fantaflical creature of ima- *' gination that we fee every where around us wheel- " ed about in a chariot, but as it aflfeds a man, ra- *' tional, adive, free born man. By thus Gripping " the tranfadion of all foreign circumlbnces, we
'' lee
41 IS
(C
It
it. (I il
CHAP. iii. THE GERMAN UNION. QQj
fee it as it affeds, or ought to affed, ourfelves. Be allured that this new form of political intelli- gence will be highly interefling, and that the Gazette of the Union will foonfuperfedeall others, and, of itfelf, will defray all our necefl'ary ex- *' pences."
This is followed by fome alluficns to a fecret cor- refpondence that is quick, unfufceptible of all dif- covery or treachery, and attended with no expence, by which the bulinefs of the fecret plan (^different from either of thoje comjnumcated\ to the fworn Bre- thren at large) is carried on, and which puts the members in a condition to learn every thing that goes on in the world, for or againft their caufe, and alfo teaches them to know mankind, to gain an in- fluence over all, and enables them effecTlually to pro- mote their beft fubjedls into all offices, &:c. and finally, from which every member, whether ftatefman, mer- chant, or writer, can draw his own advantages. Some pafTages here and in another place make me imagine that the Union hoped to get the command of the poft-oifices, by having their Brethren in the di- redion.
It is then faid, that '' it is fuppofed that the levy will be fufnciently numerous in the fpring of the enfuing year. When this takes place, a general fynod will be held, in which the plan of fecret operations will be finally adjufled, and accommo- dated to local circumflances, fo as to be digefled into a law that wdll need no farther alteration. A proper perfon will fet off from this fynod, with full powers to vifit every quarter where there are fworn Brethren, and he will there eftablifh a Lodge after the ancient iimple ritual, and will communicate verbally the plan of fecret opera^ ration^ and certain inflru(flions. Thefe Lodges will then efiablifh a managing fund or box. Each
*' Lodge
(I (I
It (I
224 "^"^ GERMAN UNION. CHAP, ill.
(I It
11
Lodge will alfo eflablifh a Reading Society, under the management of a bookfeller refiding in the place, or of fome perfon acquainted with the me- chanical condud of things of this nature. There mud alfo be a colledor and agent, (Expediteur^) *' fo that in a moment the Union will have its of- '' fices or comptoirs in every quarter, through which it carries on the trade of bookfelling, and guides the ebb and flow of its correfpondence. And thus '' the whole machine will be fet in motion, and its '^ adivity is all directed from the centre."
I remark, that here we have not that excluiion of Princes and miniflers that was in the former plan ; they are not even mentioned. The exclufion in ex- prefs terms could not but furprife people, and ap- pear fomewhat fufpicious.
No. IX. is a printed circular letter to the fworn Brethren, and is fubfcribed *' by their truly afibciat- '' ed Brother Barthels, Oheramtfman (firfl bailiff) " for the King of Pruflia, at Halle on the Saal."
In this letter the Brethren are informed that '' the *' XXII. were wont to meet fometimes at Halle, and *' fometimes at Berlin. But unavoidable circum- flances oblige them not only to remain concealed for fometime, but even to give up their relation " to the Union, and withdraw themfelves from anv fliare in its proceedings. Thefe circumflances are but temporary, and will be completely ex- plained in due time. They trull, however, that *' this necelfary Hep on their part will not abate the " zeal and adivity of men of noble minds, engag- " ed in the caufe by the convidion of their own *' hearts. They liave therefore communicated to *' their worthy Brother Barthels all necelfary in- " formations, and have unanimoufly conferred on *' him the diredion of the feci etary's office, and " have provided him with every document and
*' mean
IC
44 41 44 44 44
fcHAP. iii. THE GERMAN UNION. 225
" mean of carrying on the correfpondence. Ke has *' devoted himfelf to the honourable office, giving " up all other employments. They obfeive that by " this change in the manner of proceeding, the Af- *' fociation is freed from an objedion made with " juftice to all other fecret focieties, namely, that " the members fubjedl themfelves to blind and un- qualified fubmifiion to unknown fuperiors." — 1 he Society is now in the hands of its own avow- ed members. Every thing will ioon be arranged according to a confliiution purelv republican ; a Diocefan will be chofen, and will direct in every province, and report to the centre every fecond month, and inflrudions and other informations " will ilTue in like manner from the centre.
" If this plan fhall be approved of by the Affo- ciated, H. Earthels will tranfmit to all the Dio- cefes general lifts of the Union, and the Plan of Secret Operation, the refult of deep medita- *' tion of the XXII. and admirably calculated for carrying on with irrefiftable efied their noble and patriotic plan. To (lop all cabal, and put an end to all flander and fufpicion, H. Barthels thinks it proper that the Union fhall flep forward, and de- clare itfelf to the world, and openly name fome of its moft refpedabie members. The public muft however be informed only with refpect to the exterior of the Society, for which purpofe he had written a fheet to be annexed as an appendix to the work. On InflruSIion^ declaring that to be
the work of the Societv, and a fufficient indica-
■J '
' tion of its moil honourable aim. He dtfires " fuch members as choofe to fliare the honour *' with him, to {^cud him their names and proper dcfignations, that they may appear in that Ap- pendix. Andj laUiy, he requefts them to in- ftrudt him, and co-operate with him, according
*' to
44 44 (4

41 C4
44 44
b4 44 44 44
44
14
• • •
226 THE GERMAN UNION. ^ CHAP. Ill,
" to the concerted nilesof the Union, in promot- ** ing the caiifc of God and the happineis of man- *« kind.''
The appendix now alluded to makes No. X. of the packet fent to the Bookfeller Gofciien of Leip- zig, and is dated December 1788. It is alfo found in the book On Inpru^ion^ Sec, printed at Leipzig in 1789, by Waither* Here, however, the Appen- dix is dated January 1789. This edition agrees in the main with that in the book from which I have made fuch copious extracts, but differs in fome particulars that are not unworthy of remark, " In the packet it is written, " The Under- " 7%^^^ ^-^ il^ *' Union, in order to redtify feveral miftakes and *' injurious llanders and accufations, thinks it ne- *' celTary that the public itfelf (liould judge of their '* obje(^ and conduct.'' — Towards the end it is faid, *' and all who have any doubts may apply '' to thofe named below^ and are invited to write " to them." No names however are fubjoined. In the Appendix to the book it is only faid, *' the agent of the German Union," Sec, and " per- fons who wifh to be better informed may write *• to the agent, under the addrefs, To tkc*^erman Union — under cover to the (hop of Walther, bookfeller in Leipzig." — Here too there are no names, and it does not appear that any perfon has chofen to come from behind the curtain*.
* Wakher is an eminent bookfeikr, and carries on the bufinefsof publifhing to a great extent, both at Leipzig and other places. He was the publifher of the moft virulent attacks on the King of Pruflia's Edid; on Religion, and was brought into much trouble about the Commentary by Pott which is mentioned above. He alfo pubiiihes many cf the fceptical and licentious, writings which have fo much diftnrbed the peace of Germany.
There
it
CHAP. ill. THE GERMAN UNION. 227
There has already been fo much faid about En- lightening^ that the reader mufi: be almoii tired of ic. He is allured in this performance that the Illumina- tion propofed by the Union is not that of the fVoI- fenbuttle Fragments^ nor that of Horus, nor that of Bahrdt. The Fragments and Horus tuq books wliich aim direcflly, and without any concealment, to de- liroy the authority of our Scriptures, either as hiflo- rical narrations or as revelations of the intentions of providence and of the future profpeds of man. The Theological writings of Bahrdi are grofs perverfions, both of the fenfe of the text, and of the moral in- flruclions contained in it, and are perhaps the moil exceptionable pertormances on the fubjcd. They are iligmatifed as abfurd, and coarfe, and indecent, even by the writers on the fame fide ; yet the work recommended fo often as containing the elem.ents of that liiamination which the world has to expeci from the Union, not onlv coincides in its general princi- ples with thefe performances, but is almofl an ab- flrad of fome of them, particularly of his Popular Religion^ his Parapbrafe on the Sermon on the Mounts and his Morality of Religion. We have alfo {tQ,T\. that the book on the Liberty of the Prefs is quoted and recommended as an elementary book. Nay both the work on Infft uction and that on the Liber- ty of the Prefe^ are now known to be Bahrdt's.
But thefe principles, exceptionable as they may be, are probaoly not the worit of the inftitution. We fee thac the outfide alone of the Union is to be fhewn to the r)ublic. Barthels felicitates the public that there is no fubordmation and blind obedience to unknown Superiors; yet, in the fame paragraph, he tells us that there is a fecret plan of operations, that is known only to the Centre and the Confiden- tial Brethren. The author of Fuller Information fays that he has this plan, and would print il, were
he
225 ^ THE GERMAN UNION. CHAP. iil.
he not re{lralned by a promife*. He gives us enough however to (how us that the higher myfteries of the Union are precifeiy the fame with thofe of the Illu- minati. Chriftianity is exprefsiy faid to have been a Myliical AiTociation, and its founder the Grand Maifer of a Lodge. The Apodles, Peter, James, John, and Andrew, were the Ele^^ and Brethren of the Third Degree, and initiated into all the myfte- ries. The remaining Apoftles were only of the Second Degree ; and the Seventy-two were of the Firfl degree. Into this degree ordinary Chriflians may be admitted, and prepared for further advance- ment. The great miftery is, that J C was a
Naturalift, and taught the dodlrine of a Supreme Mind, the Spedator, but not the Governer of the World, pretty nearly in the fenfe of the Stoics. The Initiated Brethren were to be inflruded by read- ing proper books. Thofe particularly recommend- ed are Baf dozvs P radical Knowledge^ Eherhard's Apology for Socrates^ Bahrdfs Apology for Reafon^ Steinbardf 5 Syftem of Moral Education^ Meiners An- cient Myfteries, Bahrdfs Letters on the Bible ^ and
Bahrdfs Completion of the Plan and Aim of J
C . Thefe books are of the moft Antichriftian
charader, and fome of them aim at fhaking off all moral obligation whatever.
Along with thefe religious dodrines, are incul- cated the moft dangerous maxims of civil condudi. The defpotifm that is aimed at over the minds of men, and the machinations andantrigues for obtain- ing poffeftion of places of truft and influence, are equally alarming; but being perfedly fimilar to thofe of the Illuminati, it is needlefs to mention them.
The chief intelligence that we ' get from this author is that the Centre of the Union is at a
* This I find to be falfe, and the book a common job.
houfe
#
GHAF. ill. THE GERMAN UNION; 22g
houfe in the neighbonrliood of Halle. It is a fort of tavern, in a vineyard immediately without the city. This was bought by Doctor Karl Frie- DERICH Bahrdt, and fitted up for the amufement of the Univerfity Students. He calls it Bahrdt's RUHE (Bahrdt's Ptepofe). The author thinks that this muit have been the work of the AiTociation, becaufe Bahrdt had not a farthing, and was total- ly unable for iuch an undertaking. He may how- ever have been the contriver of the inftitution. "tie has never affirmed or denied this in explicit terms ; nor has he ever faid who are the XXH co- adjutors. Wucherer, an eminent bookfeller at Vienna, feems to have been one of the mofl active hands, and in one year admitted near two hun- dred members, among whom is his own fhoe- maker^ He has publiQied fome of the mofl profli- gate pamphlets which have yet appeared in Ger- many,
The publication of the lift of members alarmed the nation ; perfons were aftonifhed to find them- felves in every quarter in the midft of villains who were plotting againft the peace and happinefs of the country, and deflroying every fentiment of re- ligion, morality, or loyalty. Many peribns pub- liihed in the newfpapers and literary journals affir- mations and proofs of the falfe iniertion of their names. Some acknowledged that curiofity had made them enter the AfTociation, and even conti- nue their correfpondence with the Centre, in or- der to learn fomething of what the Fraternity had in view, but declared that they had never taken any part in its proceedings. But, at the fametime^ it is certain that many Heading Societies had been fet up during thefe tranfadions, in every quarter of Germany, and that the oftenfible managers were in^'general of very fufpiciouscharadters, both
2 F as
23® f"HE GERMAN' 'JMION. CHAF. Ill-
as to morals and loyalty. The Union had actual- ly fet up a prets of their own at Calbe, in the neighbourhood of Halberdadt, Every day there appeared ilroriger proofs of a combination of the lournalifts, Reviewers, and even of the publidiers knd bookfellers, i^ fupprefs tlie w^ritings which appeared in defence of the civil and ecclefiallical conftitutions of the States of Germany. The ex- tenfive literary manufa£lure of Germany is carri- ed on in hich a manner that it is impodibh for any thing Icls than the joint operation of the whole federated powers to prevent this. The fpirit of freethinking and innovating in religious matters had been remarkably prevalent in the dominions of the King of Prudia, having been much encou- raged by the indifference of the late King. One of the vileft things publifhed on this occaiion was an a- bominable farce, called the Religion Edid. This was traced to Bahrdt's Rube, and the Doclor was ar- reted, and all his papers feized and ranfacked. The civil Magidrate was glad of an opportunity of expif- cating the German Union, which common fame had alfo traced hither. The correfpondence was ac- cordingly examined, and many difcoveries were made, which there was no occafion to communicate to the public, and the profecution of the bufinefs of the Union was by this means Hopped. But the per- fons in high office at Berlin agree in faying that the AfTociation of writers and other turbulent perfons in Germany has been but very faintly hit by this blow, and is almoft as active as ever.
The German Union appears a mean and precipi- tate Affociation. The Centre, the Archives, and the Secretary are contemptible. All the Archives; that were found were the plans and lifts of the mem- bers and a parcel of letters of correfpondence. The correfpondence and other bufinefs Vv^as managed by
an
CHAP. ill. THE GERMAN UNION. ^3!
an old man in feme very inferior office or judicato- ry,, who lived at bed and 'Doard in Bahidt's houfe for about fix (hillings a week, having a cheit of papers and a vvriting-defi room of the houfe.
Bahrdt gives a long narration of his concern in Jhe affair, but we can put little confidence in what he fays : yet as v;e have no better authority, I fhall give a very Ihort abftra
He faid, that he learned Cofmo-political Free Mafonry in England, when he was there getting pu- pils for his academy — but negleded it on his return to Germany. Some time after his fettlement he was roufed by a vifit from a firanger who paffed for an Engliftiman, but whom he afterwards found to be a Dutch officer — (he gives a defcription which bears confiderable refemblance to the Prince or Ge- neral Salms who gave fo much difturbance to the States General)— He was Hill more excited by an anonymous letter giving him an account of a Society which was employed in the infirudion of mankind, and a plan of their mode of operations, nearly the fame with that of No. HI. He then fet up a Lodge of Free Mafonry on Cofmo-political principles, as a preparation for engaging in this great plan— he was llopped by the National Lodge, becaufe he had no patent from it.— -1 his obliged him to vjork in fe- cret.— He met with a gentleman in a coffee houfe, who entreated him to go on, and promifed him gieat afiiiiance — this he got from time to time, as he Hood moft in need of it, and he now found that he was working in concert with many powerful though un- known friends each in his own circle. The plan of operation of the XXn. was gradually unfolded to him, and he got folemn promiies of being made ac- quainted with his colleagues. But he now touiid, that after he had fo effentially fcrved their noole
cauie
" • ♦
«3'2 THE GERMAN UNION. CHAP. 111.
caufe, he was dropped by them in the hour of dan- ger, and thus was made the facrifice for the public good. The lad packet which he received was a re- quefl; from a Friend to the Union to print two per- formances fent hjm, with a promife of loo dahlers for his trouble. Thefe were the abominable farce called the Religion Edid, and fome Diflertations on that Royal Proclamation.
He then gives an account of his fyflem of Free Mafonry, not very different from Weifliaupt's Ma- fonic Cbriftianity— and concludes with the follow- ing abftrad of the advantages of the Union — Ad- vancement of Science— A general intereft and con- cern for Arts and Learning— Excitement of Talents- Check of Scribbling- — Good Education — Liberty — -. Equality — Hofpitaiity — Deli very of many from Mis- fortunes— Union of the Learned—- and at lafl-— per- haps—Amen.
What the meaning of this enigmatical conclufion is we can only guefs— and our conjedures cannot be very favourable.
The narration, of which this is a very fhort in- dex, is abundantly entertaining; but the opinion of the mod intelligent is, that it is in a great meafure fiditious, and that the contrivance of the Union is moftly his own. Although it could not be legally proved that he was the author of the farce, every perfon in court was convinced that he was, and in- deed it is perfedly in Bahrdt's very lingular manner. This invalidates the whole of his ilory — and he af- terwards acknowledges the farce (at lead by impli- cation) in feveral writings, and boafts of it.
For thefe reafons I have omitted the narration in detail. Some information, however, which I have received hnce, feems to confirm his account, w-hilc it diminiihes its importance. I now find that the