Notes to Vernon L. Stauffer’s "European Illuminati" (original) (raw)

The European Illuminati
Notes

1 Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière et la Franc-Maçonnerie allmande, p. 103. This author, upon whose recent painstaking researches much reliance is placed in this chapter, relates that one traveller who was in Bavaria at this time, found 28,000 churches and chapels, with pious foundations representing a total value of 60,000,000 florins. Munich, a city of 40,000 inhabitants, had no less than 17 convents. When a papal bull, issued in 1798, authorized the elector to dispose of the seventh part of the goods of the clergy, the Bavarian government, in executing the pope’s directions, deducted 25,000,000 florins, and it was remarked that this amount did not equal the sum which had been agreed upon. Cf. ibid., pp. 103 et seq. ^
2 Forestier, op. cit., p. 108: "Dans aucun pays du monde, si l'on excepte le Paraguay, les fils de Loyola n'avaient obtenu urne victoire plus compdète, ni conquis une autorité plus grande." Cf. Mounier, De l'inflnuennce (attribuée aux Philosophes aux franc-maçons et aux illuminés sur la révolution de France, p. 189. ^
3 Ibid., pp. 109, 100. Duhr, B., Geschichte der Jesuiten in den Ländern deutscher Zunge im 16, Jahrhundert, Freiburg, 1907, discusses the earlier development. The work of F. J. Lipowsky, Geschichte der Jesuiten in Baiern, München, 1816, 2 vols., is antiquated and is little more than a chronicle. ^
4 Engel, Geschichte des IIIuminaten-Ordens, p. 29. ^
5 The suppression of the Jesuits by Pope Clement XIV, in 1773, did not greatly diminish the influence and power of the order in Bavaria. Refusing to accept defeat, the new intrigues to which they gave themselves inspired in their enemies a new sense of their cohesion, and the result that they appeared even more formidable than before their suppression. ^
6 Forestier, op. cit., pp. 105 et seq. ^
7 Forestier, op. cit., p. 19 et seq. ^
8 Ibid., p. 18. Cf. Engel, op. cit., pp. 19, 28, 29. ^
9 In the person of Maximilian Joseph, Bavaria found an elector whose earlier devotion to liberal policies gave promise of fundamental reforms. Agriculture and manufactures were encouraged; judicial reforms were undertaken; the despotism of the clergy was resisted. The founding of the Academy of Science at Munich, in 1759, represented a definite response to the spirit of the Aufklärung. However, the elector was not at all minded to break with the Catholic faith. All efforts to introduce Protestant ideas into the country were vigorously opposed by the government. In the end the elector’s program of reform miscarried. At the time of his death, in 1777 (the date given by Forestier, p. 106, is incorrect; cf. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. xxi, p. 30; also Brockhaus, Konversations-Lexikon, vol. xi, p. 683.), the absolute power of the clergy remained unshattered. ^
10 Forestier, op. cit., p. 107. ^
11 As a result of this effort, George Weishaupt, father of Adam, came to the University of Ingolstadt as professor of imperial institutions and criminal law. ^
12 Engel, op. cit., pp. 19 et seq. ^
13 Forestier, op. cit., pp. 19 et seq. Cf. Engel, op. cit., pp. 20 et seq. ^
14 Ibid., pp. 22 et seq. ^
15 Forestier, op. cit., pp. 16 et seq. ^
16 I Forestier, op. cit., p. 18. ^
17 Ibid. ^
18 Ickstatt withdrew from direct participation in the affairs of the University of Ingolstadt in 1765, but he continued to exercise a controlling influence over the policies of the institution for some time to come. The son of one of his former pupils, Lori, a man of liberal notions, was later chosen co-director of the institution, and with him Weishaupt made common cause in his campaign against the Jesuits. ^
19 Forestier, op. cit., p. 21 Cf. Engel, op. cit., p. 33. ^
20 No clearer illustration of Weishaupt’s lack of nobility is needed than his treatment of his protector and patron, Ickstatt. Owing to a marriage which he had contracted in 1773 against the wishes of Ickstatt, a decided chill came over the relations between the two men. All considerations of gratitude were carelessly tossed aside by Weishaupt. Later, in utter disregard of the anticlericalism of his benefactor, Weishaupt entered into an intrigue with the Jesuit professor Stadler, to obtain a coveted ecclesiastical position for the latter. Ickstatt, hearing of this, renounced Weishaupt as an ingrate. Forestier, op. cit., pp. 22 et seq. ^
21 Engel, op. cit., p. 31. ^
22 Forestier, op. cit., p. 21. ^
23 Ibid. Cf. Engel, op. cit., p. 32. ^
24 Ibid., p. 22. ^
25 Ibid., p. 25. ^
26 Ibid. ^
27 The motives which led Weishaupt to consider the formation of a secret organization of the general character indicated were not all of a kind. In part they were creditable, in part discreditable. That he had a genuine interest in the cause of liberalism and progress, born largely of the personal discomfort and injury he had experienced at the hands of intolerance and bigotry, there can be no honest doubt. But a thirst for power was also a fundamental element in his nature. The despotic character of the order which he attempted to build up is in itself a sufficient proof of this. Besides, the cast of his personal affairs at the time the organization was launched smacks loudly of the man’s over-weening vanity and yearning for personal conquest. His break with Ickstatt had been followed by a breach between him and Lori on account of the constant recriminations in which Weishaupt engaged against his enemies in the university. The secret alliance he had formed with the Jesuit Stadler likewise soon dissolved. His complaints because of alleged infringements of his freedom of speech as a teacher were vehement. His interference in university affairs outside the proper sphere of his authority was frequent and involved him in numerous acrimonious verbal battles. (Engel seeks to relieve Weishaupt of part of the odium of these charges by shifting somewhat of the burden to other shoulders. (Cf. Geschichte des Illuminaten-Ordens, pp. 29-54.) His partiality is, however, sufficiently accounted for by the fact that at the time his work was published, he was the head of the revived Order of the Illuminati. Cf. op. cit., p. 467; cf. Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. iii: article, "Illuminaten "). Yet none of these experiences brought home to the mind of Weishaupt that he was to blame. As to the matter of motive, Forestier’s comment is much to the point: "Ainsi le hardi confesseur de la vérité se trouvait seul à lutter visière levée contre la tourbe des bigots. Une volonté moins bien trempée aurait laissé sombrer dans une résignation inerte ou dans la manie de la persécution ce modeste professeur d'une Université sans prestige, perdu dans un coin de la Bavière, mal payé, mal vu de la majorité de ses collègues, mal noté par le Curateur surveillé, soupçnné par tous ceux que scandalisait le radicalisme de ses opinions. Mais l'àme de Weishaupt disposait de deux puissants ressorts: la soif du prosélytisme,et la volonté de puissance." (Op. cit., pp. 25 et seq.) The view adopted by Kluckhohn is not essentially different: "Rachsucht, Ehrgeiz, Herrschbegier mischten sich in ihm mit dem Drange, grosses zu wirken und ein Woltäter der Menschheit zu werden." (Herzog-Plitt, Real Encyclopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche, 2. Aufl., vol. vi, Leipzig, 1880: article, "Illuminaten," p. 699.) ^
28 Forestier, op. cit., p. 28. Weishaupt readily detected the disparate character of current Freemasonry, and for a brief time he was enthusiastic over the project of developing a rarified type of Masonry to which only men of superior talents should be admitted. For the reasons given, the idea was abandoned. ^
29 Ibid., p. 29. ^
30 1 Forestier, op. cit., p. 75. The teaching function of the order is well set out by Forestier in the following: "Faire de l'homme actuel, resté sauvage et férocement éégoïste sous le vernis d'une civilisation apparante, un être véritablement sociable, c'est-à-dire respectueux des droits de ses semblables et amàne dans ses rapports avec eux, enseigner à ses membres 'l'art de réaliser le bien sans trouver d'opposition, de corriger leurs défauts, d'ecarter les obstacles, d'attaquer le mal à la racine, de faire en un mot ce que jusqu'à présent l'éducation, l'enseignement de la morale, les lois civiles et la religion ê�me ont été incapables d'accomplir,' leur apprendre 'à soumettre leurs désirs au contröle de la raison,' tel est donc en dernière analyse ce que l'Ordre considère comme sa fin suprême. Société d'enseignement par les occupations qu'il impose à ses adeptes, il est essentiellement, par le but qu'il se propose, un institut d'éucation sociale." (Op. cit., p. 78.)^
31 It was Weishaupt’s original purpose to style the new order the "Perfectibilists", but this he later renounced as too bizarre and lacking in the element of mystery.^
32 Forestier, op. cit., p. 46: "Au moment où Weishaupt avait fondé son Ordre, l'organisation de tout le Systèmie était à peine ébauchée dans son esprit. Quand il s'était subitement décidé à jeter les bases de son édifice, il avait hâtivement rédigé des Statuts provisiores, se promettant de les remanier et d'arrâter définitivement dans le silence du cabinet le plan général." Cf. Engel, op. cit., p. 90: " Die ersten Ordensstatuten, welche einen Einblick geben über das, was Weishaupt wollte, bestanden nur kurze Zeit; sie waren recht dürftig und unklar." It was not until Baron Knigge came to his assistance, four years later, that Weishaupt was able to rescue the organization of the society from the mire of puerility into which his impractical nature had plunged it. ^
33 Engel, op. cit., pp. 56 et seq. The recruiting of women, Jews, pagans, monks, and members of other secret organizations was forbidden. Weishaupt preferred the enrollment of men who were between the ages of 18 and 30.^
34 Cf. Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens, pp. 49, 50, 56. ^
35 Ibid. p. 26. ^
36 Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens, pp. 61-65. ^
37 Ibid., p. 63. From time to time the Novice was required to submit to his superiors notations he had made upon interesting portions of books which he had read, in order that his instruction might be properly directed. Cf. ibid., pp. 62, 65. In the pursuit of the art or science that he had chosen as his principal occupation, he was expected to keep in close touch with his enroller. ^
38 Ibid., p. 31. ^
39 Forestier, op. cit., p. 61. ^
40 Ibid., pp. 61-64. ^
41 Forestier, op. cit., p. 64. ^
42 Ibid., p. 65. ^
43 Ibid. ^
44 Ibid., p. 66. It was in the mind of Weishaupt to make a sort of free university out of this grade. He himself declared: "In der nächsten Klasse [i. e., Minervals], dächte ich also eine Art von gelehrter Academie zu errichten: in solcher wird gearbeitet, an Karakteren, historischen, und lebenden, Studium der Alten, Beobachtungsgeist, Abhandlungen, Preisfragen, und in specie mache ich darinnen jeden zum Spion des andern und aller. Darauf werden die Fähigen zu den Mysterien herausgenommen, die in dieser Klasse etliche Grundsätze und Grunderfordernisse zum menschlichen glückseligen Leben sind." (Quoted by Engel from Weishaupt’s correspondence with Zwack, p. 76.) The grade Minerval is therefore to be regarded as designed to supply the opportunity par excellence for imparting the revolutionary ideas of which the founder of the order boasted. Under the direction (of their superiors the Minervals were to continue the study of the humanities which they began as Novices; they were to study the world of the ancients, to prepare dissertations upon subjects in those fields to which their special talents were suited, etc., —in a word, to show themselves worthy of membership in an academy of savants. Cf. Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens, p. 216. Cf. Forestier, op. cit., p. 74. Weishaupt entertained extremely ambitious notions of a system of special libraries under the control of the order, and in which the literary and scientific productions of the order should be assemble and preserved. Cf. Der äehte Illuminat, p. 46. ^
45 Forestier, op. cit., p. 66. ^
46 The fantastic element in Weishaupt’s mind is well illustrated at this point. In view of the fact that he particularly sought the recruitment of youths between the ages of 15 and 20 years (cf. Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens, p. 261), it is difficult to see the possibility of sustained satisfaction in such associations. We shall see later that Baron Knigge substantially modified the character of the organization in this particular. Weishaupt did not scruple to employ outright deception with reference to the reputed age and power of the order to enhance in the minds of the members the sense of the value of these secret associations. Forestier, op. cit., p. 82. ^
47 Ibid., p. 66. ^
48 Der ächte Illuminat, p. 94. The notion that the supreme head of the order, whose identity of course was concealed from the members, were individuals of exceptional purity, was kept before the minds of the "illuminated" Minervals as an added incentive. ^
49 From two to four Minervals were given to each Illuminated Minerval, to receive his instructions in the principles and objects of the order. The selection of these pupils in a given instance was supposed to be based upon their openness to the influence of their particular instructor. Cf. Forestier, op. cit., p. 70 et seq. ^
50_Ibid.,_ p. 71. The principle of espionage was an important element in the administration of the order. Weishaupt acknowledged his indebtedness to the ideal of organization which the Society of Jesus had set before him (Cf. Endliche Erklärungen, pp. 60, et seq. Cf. Forestier, pp. 97-99), and the principle of one member spying upon another was apparently borrowed from that source. It was Weishaupt’s theory that dissimulation and hypocrisy could best be eradicated by proving to the members of the organization the inutility of such courses of life in view of the incessant surveillance under which all the members lived. (Cf. Der äche Illuiininat, p. 102.) Accordingly the Novice was left to surmise just how many eyes of unknown superiors might be upon him. The duty imposed upon the Illuminated Minerval of informing upon his disciples has been noted above. Weishaupt seems never to have surmised that this policy of espionage would tend to kill mutual confidence and fraternal regard at the roots. ^
51 Forestier, op. cit., p. 71. ^
52 Weishaupt’s conception of the content of these terms left room for a recognition of the benefits to be derived from society, but denied the value of the state. Man had moved forward, not backward, from his primitive condition. The satisfaction of his needs had supplied the motive force to his progress. In the state of nature, it is quite true, man enjoyed the two sovereign goods, equality and liberty. However, his disposition and desires were such that a continuance in the state of nature was impossible. The condition of misery into which he came resulted from his failure to acquire the art of controlling his faculties and curbing his passions, and from the injustice which he suffered the state to impose upon him. With the erection of the state had come the notions of the subjection of some men to the power and authority of others, the consequent loss of the unity of the race, and the replacement of the love of humanity with nationalism, or patriotism. But political revolutions were not needed to accomplish the emancipation of the race; such revolutions had always proved sterile because they touched nothing deeper than the constitutions of states. Man’s nature needed to be reconstituted. To bring life under the control of reason would enable men again to possess themselves of equality and liberty. A return to man’s primitive state is both impossible and undesirable. Social life is a blessing. Only let men learn to govern themselves by the light of reason, and, civil authority, having been found utterly useless, will quickly, disapear. Forestier, op. cit., pp. 311-316. ^
53 Der ächte Illuminat, pp. 110, 123. ^
54 Forestier, op. cit., p. 78. ^
55 Forestier, op. cit., p. 80. ^
56 I In view of the connections which the enemies of the order later made between the Illuminati and the French Revolution, it is worthy of particular emphasis that Weishaupt eschewed the principle of effecting reform by political revolution, and definitely committed himself to the ideal of moral and intellectual reformation. The slow process of ameliorating the unhappy condition of humanity through the leavening influence of the ideas propagated in the order, i.e., by reshaping private and public opinion, was the pathway which Weishaupt chose. Der ächte Illuminat, pp. 10, 205. Such, at least, was the theory in the case. In practise the order abandoned the policy of non-intervention and sought to influence government by putting its members in important civil positions. Forestier, op. cit., pp. 329 et seq. ^
57 Einige Originaischriften des Illuminaten Ordens, p. 339. ^
58 Ibid., p. 279. ^
59 Forestier, op. cit., p. 88. The anticlerical spirit of the order did not receive an official emphasis commensurate with its importance and weight, doubtless because of Weishaupt’s desire to work under cover against his enemies as completely as possible. Forestier’s comment seems thoroughly just: "Il ne faut pas oublier que Weishaupt en fondant sa Societé n'avait pas songé seulement à faire le bonheur de l'humanité, mais qu'il avait cherché aussi à trouver des alliés dans la lutte qu'il soutenait à Ingolstadt contre le parti des ex-Jésuites, A côté du but officieldement proclamé, l'Ordre avait un autre but, auquel on pensait d'autant plus qu'on en parlait moins." (Op. cit., p. 87. Cf. ibid., pp, 92, 110.) ^
60 Ibid., p. 90. ^
61 Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens, p. 216. The order was to be used in the circulation of anticlerical and antireligious books and pamphlets, and the work of the priests and the monks was to be held in mind as constituting the chief obstacle to intellectual and moral progress. Forestier, op. cit., pp. 91, 92. ^
62 Ibid., p. 317. ^
63 Ibid., p. 318. ^
64 Forestier, p P. 318. This was treated as the esoteric doctrine of Christ, coming to the surface here and there in His teachings and acts, and revealed in the disciplina arcani of the early church. It is only when this secret teaching is grasped that the coherence of Jesus' utterances and the significance of the true doctrines of man’s fall and his resurrection can be understood. It was because man abandoned the state of nature that he lost his dignity and his liberty. In other words, he fell because he ceased to fight against his sensual desires, surrendering himself to the rule of his passions. His work of redemption will be accomplished when he learns to moderate his passions and to limit his desires. The kingdom of grace is therefore a kingdom wherein men live in reason’s light. ^
65 "Par ses divers caractères avoués ou secrets, l'Ordre des Illuminés était l'expression d'une époqu~e et d'un milieu. Le Systènhe né dans le cerveau de Weishaupt avait trouvé des adeptes en Bavière parce qu'il répondait aux aspirations et satisfaisait les haines de la classe cultivée dans ce pays." (Ibid., p. 99.) ^
66 These new centers were Munich, Regensburg, Freising, and Fichstdtt. For data concerning the early enrollment of recruits, cf. ibid., pp. 30 et seq. ^
67 Ibid., p. 45. ^
68 The term Areopagite was applied to the men who shared with Weishaupt the supreme direction of the order. Each was assigned a pseudonym. With one exception, Xavier Zwack (Danaus), they seem to have been men of very ordinary ability. Forestier, op. cit., p. 232. ^
69 Ibid., pp. 231 et seq., 112 et seq. ^
70 Weishaupt’s original plan had been to leave the matter of financial support to the discretion of the members. Eittige OriginaIschriften des Illuminaten Ordens, p. 16. Time, however, proved the imprudence of this arrangement, and hence fixed dues, very modest in their character, were imposed. Forestier, pp. 130 et seq. ^
71 Ibid., pp. I32 et seq. ^
72 Engel gives the date of the admission of Knigge as July, 1780. Cf. Geschichte des Illuminaten-Ordens, p. 114. Forestier is less specific. Les Illuminés de Bavière, &c., p. 217. ^
73 Baron Knigge (born near Hannover, October 16, 1752; died at Bremen, May 6, 1796) was a man of considerable distinction in his day. He had studied law at Göttingen, and later had been attached to the courts of Hesse-Casset and Weimar. Retiring subsequently to private life, he made his home successively at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Heidelberg, Hannover, and Bremen. He was an author of note, a writer of romance, popular philosophy, and dramatic poetry. His best known work, Ueber den Umgang mit Menschen (Hannover, 1788), a volume filled with a discussion of practical principles and maxims of life and characterized by a narrow and egoistical outlook, enjoyed a considerable notoriety in its time. (Knigge’s complete works were assembled and published in twelve volumes at Hannover, 1804-1806). He had a decided bias for secret societies, and at the earliest moment that his age permitted had joined a lodge of the Strict Observance, one of the Masonic branches of the period. The Strict Observance was particularly devoted to the reform of Masonry, with special reference to the elimination of the occult sciences which at the time were widely practised in the lodges, and the establishment of cohesion and homogeneity in Masonry through the enforcement of strict discipline, the regulation of functions, etc. (Later, the leaders of the Strict Observance found themselves compelled to yield to the popular clamor for the occult sciences which were all but universal in European Freemasonry, and adopted them. Their presence and practice had been influential in attracting Knigge to the Masonic system. Cf. Forestier, op. cit., p. 207.) Knigge’s Masonic career proved to be of such a nature as to leave him restless and unsatisfied. Because he was not permitted to enjoy the advancement in the order of the Strict Observance that he coveted, he temporarily lost his interest in Masonry only to have it revived a little later by being chosen to assist in the establishment of a new Masonic lodge at Hanau. Meantime his interest in the subjects of theosophy, magic, and particularly alchemy, grew apace. On this account he was led to make an effort to affiliate himself with the Rosicrucians, a branch of Freemasonry notorious for the absurdity of its pretensions and its shameless pandering to the popular desire for occultism. Knigge’s advance did not happen to be received with favor; and the result was that, finding himself compelled for the moment to be content with his membership in the Strict Observance, he renounced his interest in alchemy and devoted his reflections to the development of a form of Masonry which should teach men rules of life by the observance of which they might gradually regain that perfection from which their original parents fell. It was at the moment when Knigge’s mind was occupied with this project that his membership in the Order of the Illuminati was solicited. Cf. Forestier, pp. 214 et seq. As to the personality of the man, the following estimate hy Forestier is excellent: ". . . gentilhomme democrate, dilettante par temperament, homme de lettres par necessité, ecrivain abondant et mediocre, publiciste, moraliste, romancier sentimental et satirique, . . . un personnage interessant moins encore en lui-meme que comme representant d'une caste en dissolution." (Op. cit., p. 202.) &c., p. 217. ^
74 Weishaupt himself, overcoming his earlier antipathy to Freemasonry, had joined the Masons at Munich, in 1777, influenced particularly by his desire to find suggestions for the working out of the higher grades of his order. Out of this connection, and under the persuasion of Zwack, the plan of forming an alliance between the Illuminati and Freemasonry had occurred to Weishaupt’s mind before Knigge joined the order. One Masonic lodge, that of Theodore of Good Counsel, located at Munich, had, by the middle of 1779, come so completely under the influence of members of the Illuminati that it had come to be regarded as a part of the order. Cf. Forestier, p. 200. But here again the situation waited upon the energetic leadership of Knigge. ^
75 Ibid., pp. 133 et seq. Cf. Engel, op. cit., pp. 114 et seq. Soon after Knigge was admitted to the order, Weishaupt found himself driven to make to the former a most humiliating confession. Knigge hesitated for some time before becoming a member, and to bring him to a decision, Weishaupt painted the objects and character of the order before him in flaming colors. The Illuminati represented the greatest advancements in science, the most marvelous speculative philosophy, and a truly wonderful system to carry its purposes into effect. Having joined the order, Knigge’s suspicions were aroused, on account of the feeble and trifling character of its organization; and Weishaupt, upon being repeatedly pressed for an explanation concerning the nature of the so-called higher grades, had finally to confess to Knigge that they did not exist. Cf. Forestier, pp. 218-226. Knigge’s resolution was staggered, but his courage was finally rallied because of the confidence which Weishaupt and the other leaders reposed in him. Cf. ibid., pp. 228 et seq. ^
76 Nachtrag von weiteren Originalschriften, vol. i, p. 108. Cf. Forestier, op. cit., p. 250; Engel, op. cit., p. 117. ^
77 The ligament to bind the Illuminati and Freemasonry together was supplied by Knigge in the grades of the second class. Cf. Engel, op. cit., p. 115. ^
78 Apparently these grades were never worked out. See Forestier, p. 250. ^
79 Forestier devotes more than forty well-packed pages to a discussion of this phase of the subject. Ibid., pp. 251-294. ^
80 Der ächte Illuminat, p. 14. Pages 17-37, ibid., contains the description of this grade as revised by Knigge. ^
81 Ibid., pp. 39-78. ^
82 Ibid., pp. 82-138. ^
83 Knigge had, of course, to provide a new ritual and code for these grades. These have not been preserved. They were doubtless similar to those of other Masonic systems, in their Blue Lodge features. "La Franc-Maçonnerie bleue étant le sol commun où poussaient les végétations luxuriantes et diverses des hauts grades et le terrain où tous les Franc-Maçons pouvaient se rencontrer, les diffèrents Systèmes, pré0ccupés eétablir leur authenticité et aussi pour ne pas dérouter les transfuges des autres sectes, avaient soin de respecter les formes et les usages traditionnels. La Franc-Maçonnerie Illuminée obéit vraiseinbdablement aux mêmes considérations." (Forestier, op. cit., p. 262.) ^
84 Forestier, op. cit., p. 272. Der ächte Illuminat, pp. 139-212, contains the ritual and statutes of this grade. ^
85 The initiatory rites of this grade were followed by a banquet, which in turn was concluded by a ceremony fashioned after the pattern of the Christian Eucharist. Bread and wine were given to the members, and an effort was made to throw an atmosphere of great solemnity about the observance. Cf. Forestier, pp. 278 et seq. Christian enemies of the order took special umbrage at this ceremony. ^
86 The Chapter was placed under obligation to see that Blue Lodges, not to exceed thirty all told, were established in all the important centers of its district. They had also to see that the Order of the Illuminati secretly obtained a preponderating influence in the lodges of other systems, to reform them if possible, or, failing in this, to ruin them. A Prefect, or Local Superior, who furnished regular reports to his superiors, presided over the Chapter. Cf. Forestier, pp. 279-281. ^
87 The members of this class were usually referred to as Epopts, and their immediate superiors as Hierophants. These superiors were technically known as Deans. Ibid., pp. 287, 281. ^
88 Their admission to the rank was further conditioned upon their advancement in Masonry and the effectiveness of their service in the lower grades of the Illuminati. Cf. ibid., p. 281. ^
89 The rites of initiation into this grade expressed a growing tendency in the direction of sacerdotal pomp. Cf. ibid., pp. 283-286. ^
90 "Comme toutes les demandes de renseignements leur étaient transmises, ils devaient s'efforcer de satisfaire leurs gens et d'établir des théories solidement construites en faisant étudier et élucider par leurs subordoinnés les points restés obscurs." (Ibid., p. 288.) Free entrée to all the assemblies of the inferior grades of the order was accorded the Priests, but only in the ceremony of reception into the grade of Scottish Knight did they appear in costume. On other occasions they were not obliged to make their official character known. ^
91 The prefectures were grouped together into provinces, of which there seem to have been twelve, to each of which, as to the prefectures and their capitals, pseudonymous names were given. For the geographical divisions of the Illuminati system, cf. Forestier, pp, 295 et seq. ^
92 The title of Regent was also used in this connection. ^
93 Provincials, as the term suggests, had control over the various provinces. ^
94 An important modification in the government of the order was made by Knigge with respect to its general form. Knigge found the order a despotism, and this he regarded as a fundamental weakness and error. The Areopagites, who chafed excessively under Weishaupt’s immoderate zeal to command, and between whom and their leader constant and perilous divisions arose, eagerly sided with Knigge in his efforts to distribute authority. At the latter’s suggestion a congress was called at Munich, in October, 1780, at which the position and authority of the Areopagites were definitively settled. The territory, present and prospective, of the order was divided into twelve provinces, each of which was to be governed by a Provincial. The posts of Provincials were thereupon distributed among the Areopagites. Each Provincial was to be left free to administer his province, without direct interference on the part of Weishaupt, who remained the supreme head. Cf. Forestier, pp. 231-234; cf. ibid., p. 244. Knigge was thus permitted to take pride in the fact that whereas he found the order a monarchy, he left it under "une espèce de gouvernement républicain." (Cf. ibid., p. 305.) ^
95 To illustrate: The teaching function of the order was fully worked out and made effective by centering its direction in the grade of Priests. Forestier also notes Knigge’s retention of the founder’s insistence upon the knowledge of man as "la science par excellence." The principle of espionage was likewise retained. Cf. Forestier, pp. 298-304. ^
96 The remodeling of the order in order to graft it on to the stem of Freemasonry has already been indicated. No practical result of Knigge’s work exceeded this. ^
97 Certainly at this point Knigge’s feet were planted more solidly upon the earth than those of his fanciful predecessor. Cf. Forestier, pp. 240 et seq. ^
98 The practical considerations which impelled Knigge to adopt this position were dictated by diplomatic rather than by conscientious reasons, although the latter were not wholly wanting. Knigge was well aware of the conditions in Catholic countries like Bavaria which gave rise to the violent anticlerical sentiments that the leaders of the Illuminati echoed. Nor was he out of sympathy with the men of his time who protested against religious intolerance and bigotry. But a spirit of anticlericalism readily enough becomes transmuted into a spirit essentially anti-religious, and Knigge saw that any manifestation of this sort would seriously embarrass the propaganda of the order in Protestant as well as in Catholic lands. Knigge’s personal religious views appear to have been liberal rather than ultra radical. For a full and lucid discussion of the whole topic, cf. Forestier, pp. 238 et seq. ^
99 Knigge’s proposed modifications of the organization and principles of the order were adopted by the Areopagites, July 9, 1781. Cf. Forestier, p. 240. This action amounted to a virtual defeat for Weishaupt and a corresponding triumph for Knigge. In other words, a new epoch had begun. Engel’s observations on the significance of the new policies and the respective services rendered by the two men is characteristically biased: "Weishaupt war tatsächlich der einzige im Orden, der streng darauf achtete, sein System der Notwendigkeit unterzuordnen, wohl wissend, dass dadurch allein der Bestand des Ordens gesichert würde. Phantastische Grade entwerfen, ohne eine Spur der Notwendigkeit, dass durch diese der Zweck der Vereinigung sicherer erreicht werde, dann die Mitglieder in die Aeusserlichkeit dieser Form einpressen und einschnüren, ist leider ein vielfach noch jetzt angewandtes, unbrauchbares Rezept, dem auch Knigge huldigte. Letzterem war es, ebenso wie vielen Areopagiten nur darum zu tun,, viele Mitglieder zu haben, um dadurch Eindruck zu erzielen, die geistige Qualitët stand in zweiter Linie." (Geschichte des Illumillaten-Ordens, pp. 123 et seq.) Knigge brought more than organizing skill to the languishing order. His accomplishments as a winner of recruits materially helped to fan the smouldering fires of enthusiasm among the earlier leaders. As early as November, 1780, he had begun to enroll adepts (the term commonly applied to members of the order, new and old), and some of these turned out to be most effective propagandists. Cf. Forestier, pp. 343 et seq. ^
100 Forestier is disposed to explain the power of appeal which the new system had for the members of rival Masonic systems on the following grounds: (1) it at least pretended to take more seriously the doctrines of equality and liberty; (2) it emphasized the period of adolescence as the best of all ages for the winning of recruits; (3) it made appreciably less of financial considerations; and (4) it tended to turn attention away from such chimeras as the philosopher’s stone, magic, and knight-templar chivalry, which filled with weak heads and visionary spirits the high grades of most of the other systems. Cf. ibid., p. 340. German Freemasonry was far from being in a wholesome and promising condition when the order of the Illuminati emerged. From its introduction into that country sometime within the second quarter of the eighteenth century, it had developed two general types; viz., English Freemasonry and the French high grades. The former was generally disposed to be content with simple organizations. Its lodges were little more than secret clubs whose members had their signs of recognition and their simple rituals, and whose ideals were represented by the terms fraternity and cooperation. The latter developed an excess of ceremonies and "mysteries", and thus opened the door for the introduction of impostures of every sort. Visionaries and charlatans flocked to the French lodges, and alchemy and thaumaturgy found in their secret quarters a veritable hot-house for their culture. It is Forestier’s opinion that this activity and influence of dreamers and mountebanks within the Masonic lodges is to be regarded as a reaction from the dreariness and sterility of current rationalism. Cf. ibid., p. 146. However that may be, in the third quarter of the eighteenth century German Freemasonry generally was catering to a popular thirst for mystery, and the order of the Illuminati was able to draw advantage from that fact. Certainly the very novelty of the new system had much to do with its attractiveness. ^
101 Forestier, op. cit., p. 344. Engel’s treatment of the situation would seem to be inadequate and lacking in accuracy. Cf. Engel, op. cit., p. 352. Forestier submits ample proofs of the expansion of the order to include Austria and Switzerland, notably the former. Cf. Forestier, op. cit., pp. 346 et seq., 398 et seq. ^
102 Ibid., pp. 349 et seq. ^
103 Engel identifies Dalberg as the last elector of Mainz, and, in the time of Napoleon I, grand duke of Frankfort. See Ibid., p. 354. Forestier extends the list of civil notables to include Count Metternich, imperial ambassador at Coblenz; Count Brigido, governor of Galicia; Count Leopold Kolowrat, chancellor of Bohemia; Baron Kressel, vicechancellor of Bohemia; Count Poelffy, chancellor of Hungary; Count Banffy, governor of Translyvania; Count Stadion, ambassador at London; and Baron Van Swieten, minister of public instruction. (The last seven were members of the lodge established at Vienna.) Cf. Ibid., pp. 400 et seq. ^
104 Goethe’s connection with the order is fully established by both Engel (cf. Ibid., pp. 355 et seq.) and Forestier (cf. Ibid., pp. 396 et seq.,). The question whether Schiller belonged to the Illuminati is answered in the negative by Engel. Cf. Ibid., p. 356. ^
105 Un pédagogue célèbre, Pestalozzi, figurait parmi les membres de I'Église Minervale de Lantern." (Forestier, p. 349.) ^
106 Ibid., p. 399. ^
107 In its efforts to obtain a decisive triumph over rival systems of Freemasonry, substantial progress had been made. At Munich, the Secret Chapter of the dominant Masonic fraternity in that city capitulated to the new system. At Vienna, Masons eagerly enrolled as Illuminati with a view to blocking the attempt of the Rosicrucians to extend the hegemony of that branch. The important general congress of Freemasons, held at Wilhelmsbad, in July, 1782, for the purpose of arriving at some conclusion concerning the claims of rival systems, yielded to the Illuminati a double advantage: the pretensions of the Order of the Strict Observance, its most dangerous rival, were disallowed and the opportunity which the congress offered in the form of a field for winning new recruits was adroitly seized by representatives of the Illuminati, with the result that its emissaries retired from the congress completely satisfied. Further, the Order of the Illuminati had apparently put itself on the high road to a complete victory in the Masonic world by securing the enlistment of the two most important personages in German Freemasonry, Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick and Prince Carl of Hesse. The full extent of the order’s conquests among the various branches of Masonry is impossible of full and accurate statement, for the principal reason which Engel gives: "Nur wenige Dokumente existieren als Nachweis, denn es ist natürlich, dass solche in der Verfolgungszeit in Bayern vernichtet wurden, um nicht verdächtigt zu werden und äussere Verbindungen ziemlich schroff abgebrochen wurden, als sich die Skandalsucht erhob und, dem Orden und deren Leiter all erdenlichen Schlechtigkeiten andichtete. Im Laufe der Zeit sind dann die betreffenden Schriften von den Logen als minderwertig missachtet und beseitigt worden, so dass eine Aufklärung heute ungemein erschwert ist." (Op. cit., pp. 349 et seq.,) Still, Forestier, in his chapter on "L'Action sur les Loges Allemandes" (pp. 343-388), from which the foregoing isolated facts are drawn, gathers together a very considerable body of evidence, all tending to show that Illuminated Freemasonry was permitted to enjoy a very gratifying, though brief, period of prosperity. ^
108 Writing of the condition of the order at the hour of its apogee, in 1784, Forestier says: "La situation de l'Ordre à cette époque parait donc des plus prospères. Solidement établi en Bavière, il s'étend sur toute l'Europe Centrale, du Rhin à la Vistule et des Alpes à da mer du Nord et à la Baltique. Il compte au nombre de ses membres des jeunes gens qui appliqueront plus tard les principes qu'il leur a inculqués, des fonctionnaires de tout ordre qui mettent leur influence à son service, des membres du clergé auxquels il enseigne la tolérance, des princes dont il peut invoquer la protection et qu'il espère diriger. Il semble que le Grand Architecte de l'Univers ait spécialement veillé sur lui...." (Op. cit., p. 401) ^
109 The term was no longer in official use, but the men remained. In other words, Weishaupt’s Areopagites were Knigge’s Provincials. ^
110 Forestier, op. cit., pp. 411-413. ^
111 Engel asserts that the chief apple of discord was the grade of Priest. Weishaupt believed that Knigge had injected into the ritual of the order at that point expressions of radical religious sentiment which, if once discovered to the public, would be found extremely injurious to the order. Cf. Ibid., pp. 133 et seq., Cf. Forestier, op. cit., p. 415. But this was only one of many bones of contention. At bottom the two men were inordinately jealous, both as to their positions in the order and the systems which they had worked out. ^
112 Knigge withdrew from the order April 20, 1784. in July of the same year he put his name to an agreement, pledging himself to restore such papers of the order as he possessed and to maintain silence concerning what he knew of the order’s affairs. Cf. Forestier, p. 428. Freed from his responsibilities to the order, Knigge resumed his work as a writer, by which he managed to maintain himself very indifferently in funds. He was finally accorded a government post, as inspector of schools, at Bremen, where he died. Cf. Ibid., pp. 549-551. ^
113 Carl Theodore, successor to Maximilian Joseph, as Elector Palatinate had been ruler of the provinces of the Rhine since 1742. When he became duke of Upper and Lower Bavaria in 1777, he had established a reputation as a liberal-minded sovereign. The first two years of his rule in Bavaria gave promise of a tolerant reign; but reactionaries, in the persons of his confessor, the ex-Jesuit Frank, a certain Baron Lippert, who was devoted to the cause of ultramontanism, and the duchess dowager of Bavaria and sister of the duke, Maria Anna, worked upon his spirit and easily persuaded the well-meaning but weak-willed monarch to reverse his former policy and come to the defence of the cause of clericalism. See the comments of Professor August Kluckhohn, quoted by Engel, p. 4. ^
114 Cf. Engel, op. cit., p. 161, where the edict in full may be found. Cf. Forestier, p. 453. The Bavarian monarch’s bold and, at first blush, precipitate action is explained by the following facts: Flushed with a sense of their growing influence and power, the Bavarian Illuminati for some time past had been guilty of extremely impertinent utterances which had excited the public mind. To certain of their critics, notably the priest Frank and the canon Dantzer, director of the schools of Bavaria, they had not deigned to make a specific reply. (Dantzer, not wholly unfairly, charged the members of the order with interference in the affairs of the public school system of the country). A lofty tone of assumed indifference characterized the leaders; but a spirit of boasting which led the members to profess the exercise of a controlling influence in civil affairs, together with less guarded expressions respecting the extreme religious and political ideals of the order, served to arouse public suspicion. To this extent the Bavarian Illuminati had themselves to blame for the ruin of the order. Cf. Forestier, pp. 430-438. On the part of the government, the situation in its main outlines developed somewhat as follows: Early in October, 1783, the duchess dowager, Maria Anna, was made the recipient of a document that contained detailed accusations against the Illuminati of Bavaria charging them with holding such vicious moral and religious sentiments as that life should be controlled by passion rather than reason, that suicide is justifiable, that one may poison one’s enemies, and that religion should be regarded as nonsense and patriotism as puerility. Finally, and much more seriously from the particular point of view of the duchess, the Bavarian Illuminati were accused of being in the service of the government of Austria, whose efforts at the time to extend its hegemony over Bavaria had created considerable tension in the latter country. For a copy in full of the famous letter, cf. Engel, pp. 183-187. Cf. Forestier, pp. 440 et seq., The author, or at least the inspirer of the document seems to have been one Joseph Utzschneider (Engel disallows this; see op. cit., pp. 187 et seq. ) who, discontented on accuunt of his slow advancement and enraged by exactions imposed upon him to prove his loyalty, had withdrawn from the Order of the Illuminati, in August, 1783. Later, Utzschneider persuaded several other members, among them Grünberger and Cosandey, fellow professors with him in the Academy of Santa Maria, to follow him in the course he had taken. Obtaining from his associates the ritual of the higher grades of the order, he prepared and despatched his presentment to the duchess. Cf. Forestier, pp. 444 et seq., The latter, greatly alarmed by the document, carried the accusations, particularly the charge of intrigues in the interests of Austria, to the duke, who thus far had manifested an attitude of indifference to the suspicions that had been engendered concerning the order. His fear being awakened by the considerations of danger to his person and throne that were urged, the duke resolved to bring matters to an immediate crisis. Cf. Ibid., p. 452. ^
115 Engel, op. cit., p. 161. The leaders of the order in Bavaria exerted themselves to disarm the suspicions of the government with reference to any lack of loyal submission to the interdict. Circular letters containing copies of the edict and commanding the lodges to suspend their labors were addressed to the brethren. A lack of sincerity showed itself, however, in the efforts of the leaders to convey the impression to their subordinates that the sudden tempest would soon pass and that care therefore must be observed to preserve the cohesion of the order. In one important particular this effort to allay suspicion over-reached itself. In July, 1784, certain members of the order inserted an article in a Bavarian journal, the Realzeitung of Erlangen, of the nature of a counter-attack upon the Jesuits, and claiming that the latter, in defiance of the government, were continuing their secret associations. To this a recriminating answer was promptly made, and a war of newspaper articles and pamphlets was soon on. All of this tended, of course, to lend color to the suspicion that the operations of the order continued unabated. Cf. Forestier, pp. 454 et seq., Cf. Engel, pp. 240 et seq., The duchess, Maria Anna, moreover, continued her efforts to strengthen the purpose of the duke. Cf. Forestier, p. 467. ^
116The precise occasion, if any existed, for the launching of the second edict remains wholly in doubt. In a final effort to clear the order from the suspicions and calumniations raised against it, an appeal was made to Carl Theodore, in February, 1785, to permit representatives of the order to appear before him and furnish proofs of its innocence. This last desperate device failed. Cf. Engel, pp. 283-290, for a copy of this letter. Cf. Forestier, pp. 465 et seq., ^
117Engel, as in the former instance, copies the second edict in full. Cf. op. cit., pp. 161-164. Cf. Forestier, pp. 468, 469. The terms of the second interdict provided that, in view of the alleged degenerate character of the Order of the Illuminati, as well as of the disorders it had occasioned, all its financial resources should be confiscated, half to be given to the poor and half to the informer against the order, "wenn er gleich selbst ein Mitglied wäre . . und solcher keineswegs geoffenbart, sondern in Geheim gehalten werden solle." (Engel, p. 164.) ^
118 Forestier’s comment is trenchant: "Par une ironie du sort, le gouvernement, si indifferent ou si tolerant jusqu'alors, ne commença à servir que lorsque le danger était passé et, après avoir respecté si longtemps l'organisme vivant, il s'acharna sur le cadavre." (Op. cit., p. 469.) ^
119 Cosandey and Renner (the latter also a professor associated with Cosandey on the faculty of the Academy of Santa Maria) were two of the men who supplied important information in this manner. Engel, pp. 291-304, prints their declarations. In this way, also, lists of names of members of the order came into possession of the government. Cf. Engel, pp. 303 et seq., ^
120 A considerable amount of the most valuable papers of the order were either carefully concealed or devoted to the flames immediately after the launching of the second edict. Cf. Forestier, p. 469. Later, the government obtained important assistance in its campaign by coming into possession of a considerable portion of those that were spared. Cf. Engel, pp. 259 et seq.,, 276 et seq., ^
121 Cf. Forestier, p. 475. Weishaupt was well out of harm’s way when the inquiry began in his home city. He brought lasting discredit upon himself by resorting to precipitate flight two weeks before the proclamation of the second ban. It is evident that he saw the storm gathering, and was resolved to put himself beyond personal danger, whatever might happen to his associates. The excuse he seems to have trumped up to justify his early flight had reference to a difficulty that arose between him and the librarian of the University of Ingolstadt over the latter’s failure to purchase two books which Weishaupt held he needed for his classes. He fled across the border to Regensburg, and finally settled at Gotha. ^
122 Cf. Engel, op. cit., p. 305, for a copy of the order. This measure seemed to be rendered necessary by the fact that the lists of Illuminati which Cosandey and Renner furnished the government contained the names of several officers and other military personages. A later decree called upon ex-members of the order in the army to furnish information concerning the teachings and membership of the order, and to present such papers and insignia as might be at hand. Cf. Forestier, p. 481. ^
123 Those who made a frank acknowledgment of their membership in the order were to be pardoned, while those who hesitated or showed themselves contumacious were not only to lose their positions but to suffer other penalties. Cf. Forestier, p. 478. ^
124 Ibid. ^
125 Ibid. ^
126 Ibid., p. 475. ^
127 Forestier gives the title of nine such productions that came from Weishaupt’s pen within the space of a few months. Cf. op. cit., p. 484. The most notable of these were: Apologie der Illuminaten, Frankfort and Leipzig, 1786, and Vollständige Geschichte der Verfolgung der Iluminaten in Bayern, Frankfort and Leipzig, 1786. The latter was planned to consist of two volumes, but only one appeared. ^
128 Zwack’s name had been on the list of members which Renner had put into the hands of the government. He was at the time a councillor of state. A short time before his house was invaded by the police and his papers seized, he had been deposed from his position on account of his relations with the Illuminati. At the time of the seizure he was living at Landshut in circumstances of disgrace and suspicion. Cf. Engel, p. 303; Forestier, pp. 480, 498. ^
129 These documents were published by the Bavarian government, under the title: Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens, Munich, 1787. Engel, pp. 259-262, publishes the list compiled by the government. ^
130 Among these papers were found two smaller packets which gave a foundation for the most inveterate hostility to the order. These contained intimations of the order’s right to exercise the law of life and death over its members, a brief dissertation entitled, Gedanken über den Selbstmord, wherein Zwack, its author, had recorded his defence of suicide (cf. Engel, p. 262), a eulogy of atheism, a proposal to establish a branch of the order for women, the description of an infernal machine for safeguarding secret papers, and receipts for procuring abortion, counterfeiting seals, making poisonous perfumes, secret ink, etc. (Cf. Forestier, pp. 499 et seq.) The receipts for procuring abortion were destined to have a very ugly personal association in the public mind. Weishaupt, while still a resident of Ingolstadt, had stained his private life because of a liaison with his sister-in-law. On the 8 of February, 1780, his first wife had died. Her sister, who was his house-keeper at the time, continued in the household, and during the time that Weishaupt was waiting for a papal dispensation, permitting his marriage with her, she was found to be with child. Thrown into a panic on account of the failure of the dispensation to arrive (as a matter of fact it did not reach Ingolstadt until three years after it was first applied for), Weishaupt contemplated recourse to the method of procuring an abortion, in order to extricate himself from his painfully embarrassed position. In August, 1783, he wrote Hertel, one of the prominent members of the order, admitting the facts just stated. This letter fell into the hands of the authorities and was published by them in the volume entitled, Nacktrag von weiteren Originalschriften, Munich, 1787, vol. i, p. 14. The stigma of a new disgrace was thus attached to the order. Weishaupt made a pitifully weak effort to suggest extenuating circumstances for his conduct, in his volume Kurze Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten, 1787, pp. 1,3 et seq. Taken in connection with the objectionable papers referred to above, this private scandal of the head of the order made the accusation of gross immorality on the part of the Illuminati difficult to evade. A spirit of intense revulsion penetrated the public mind. ^
131 Other secret documents of the order were seized by the police in a search of the quarters of Baron Bassus, whose membership in the order on account of his close friendship with Zwack, brought him under the government’s suspicion. The police visitation referred to yielded no very important result, apart from establishing more solidly the government’s claim that the order had not obeyed the first edict. The papers seized in this instance were published by the government under the title, Nachtrag von weiterein Originalschriften ... Zwei Abtheilungen, Munich, 1787. ^
132 Forestier, pp. 504 et seq., ^
133 Mädl, in the most cowardly fashion, charged the order with unmentionable practices. He seems to have been the Judas in the order’s inner circle. Cf. Forestier, pp. 505 et seq., Cf. Engel, pp. 3,31 et seq., ^
134 Massenhausen was Ajax in the order. The papers seized by the police identified him as one of Weishaupt’s intimates. ^
135 The "revelations " of Mändl appear to have been immediately responsible for the edict. Cf. Forestier, P. 507. ^
136 Engel, op. cit., p. 280. ^
137 "Unter der nemlichen confiscations—und relegations Straf werden die illuminaten Logen, sie mögen gleich auf diesen oder anderen Namen umgetauft seyn, ebenfalls verbothen, worauf man auch allenthalben gute Spehr' ,Späher] bestellen, und die Gesellschaften, welche entweder in Wirth—oder Privathähusern mit versperrten Thüren oder sonst auf verdächtige Weise gehalten werden, als wahre Logen behandeln lassen, und die so leer als gewöhnliche Ausrede, das es nur ehrliche Compagnien von guten Freunden sind, zumal von jenen, welche sich des Illuminatismi und der Freygeisterei vorhin schon suspect gemacht haben, nicht annehmen wird...." Quoted by Engel, p. 280. ^
138 Forestier, op. cit., p. 509. ^
139 Forestier, op. cit., pp. 511 et seq., Cf. Engel, op. cit., pp. 378 et seq., ^
140 Ibid., p. 369. Cf. Forestier, pp. 511 et seq., ^
141 Ibid., P. 512. ^
142 Ibid., pp. 512 et seq., An effort to secure the extradition of Weishaupt was defeated by an appeal to Duke Ernst. Cf. Engel' pp. 231 et seq., ^
143 The most significant of these were the following: Einleitung zu meiner Apologie, 1787; Bemerkungen uber einige Originalschriften, published soon after the former; Das verbesserte System der Illuminaten mit allen seinen Graden Einrichtungen, also soon after the first mentioned work; Kurze Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten, 1787; Nachtrag zur Rechtfertigung meinier Absichten, 1787. ^
144 A sympathetic and moving account of the last years of Weishaupt’s life appears in Engel, op cit., pp. 380-402. ^
145 Forestier. op cit., pp. 543 et seq. ^
146 "Es muss die Furcht vor dem verschrieenen Illuminatismus geradezu wei ein Druck in der Luft gehangen haben, den der Orden selbst existierte in seiner festeren Organisation schon lange nicht mehr, als sich die Gespensterfurcht vor ihm in so allgemeiner Weise breit machte." (Engel, op. cit., p. 425.) ^
147 Forestier, op. cit., p. 613. ^
148 Ibid., pp. 613 et seq. ^
149 As late as November 15, 1790, incited thereto by the priest Frank, the duke of Bavaria proclaimed a new interdict against the order. The threat of death as a punishment for membership in the order or activity on its behalf was again imposed. Cf. Engel, p. 371; Forestier, pp. 614 et seq., The following year the police of the city of Munich compiled a list of ninety-one names (Forestier gives the number as ninety-two, Cf. Ibid., p. 615), of members of the order who were supposed to be still active, and proceeded to apply the policy of banishing those who were held to be most dangerous. A number suffered in this way. Cf. Engel, pp. 371 et seq. Cf. Forestier, pp. 615 et seq., A spirit of reckless denunciation ruled in Munich, because of which no suspected man’s person was safe. Not until the death of Carl Theodore, in 1799, did this period of hostility to the order on the part of the Bavarian government finally come to an end. ^
150 A reorganization of the Rosicrucian system had taken place in 1767, which stressed the antiquity, sanctity, and superior character of the order in its relations to the rest of the Masonic fraternity. According to their claims, the Rosicrucians alone were able to explain the hieroglyphics, symbols, and allegories of Freemasonry. The structure of the order was greatly elaborated at the time indicated, and thus supplementing its traditional appeal to the thirst for alchemy and magic, the order grew rapidly. Cf. Forestier, pp. 187-191. Cf. Engel, p. 240. ^
151 Vehse, in his Geschichte des Preussischent Hofes, vol. ii, p. 35, puts the matter thus: "In den Ländern nun, wo sie aufgehoben waren, brauchten die Exjesuiten das Mittel in den geheimen Gesellschaften Aufnahme zu suchen. Sie bildeten hier eine schleichende und deshalb um so sichere Opposition gegen alle Aufklärungstendenzen. In dem Freimaurerorden stifteten sie die sogenannten 'inneren Systeme.' Hier waren sie als Proselytenmacher ganz in der Stille tätig und arbeiteten mit Macht darauf hin, das obscurante Pfaffentum und die despotische Hierarchie in beiden Konfessionen, im Protestantismus sowohl als Katholizismus wieder herzustellen." (Quoted by Engel, pp. 241 et seq.,) ^
152 Forestier, op. cit., p. 191. Engel, op. cit., p. 242. ^
153 Ibid., p. 242. ^
154 Ibid., pp. 247 et seq., Forestier brings into connection with this effort of the king of Prussia to check the supposed operations of the Illuminati, a further reproach which came upon the order on account of the course pursued by the Rosicrucians in spreading the report in the Masonic world that the Eclectic Alliance, an ill-fated effort to unite and dominate German Freemasonry, launched in 1783, was a survival of the Order of the Illuminati. The unpopularity and suspicion which the Eclectic Alliance incurred were due in part to its attempts to eliminate the high grades of Masonry, but more especially to the charges made against it by representatives of rival Masonic Systems that it had at heart the undermining of the Christian religion. Cf. Ibid., pp. 617 et seq.,, 383-388. The Iluminati had had affiliations witih the Eclectic Alliance, and hence a certain justification had been given for the accusations which were transferred from the former to the latter. ^
155 The loose use of the term "Illuminati" involved in these statements is only partially illustrated in the following comment of Mounier: "On a donné par dérision la qualité d' Illuminés à tous les charlatans mystiques de ce siècle, à tous ceux qui s'occupent d'alchimie, de magie et de cabale, de revenans, de relations avec des esprits intermédiaires, tels que les Saint-Germain, les Cagliostro, les Swedenborg, les Rosecroix et les Martinistes: mais il a existé une autre espèce d'illuminés en Allemagne" (i.e., Weishaupt’s system). (De l'influence attribuée aux philosophes, aux franc-maçons et aux illuminés, sur la révolution de France, p. 169.) Not these systems alone, but the representatives of the diffused forces of the Enlightenment were appointed to share the mantle of the ambiguous term. ^
156 Baron Knigge. In responding to Bahrdt’s appeal to assist him in working out the system of the German Union, Knigge violated the pledge he had made to the Bavarian government not to concern himself again with secret organizations. For his indiscretion he paid the penalty of an unpleasant notoriety. Cf. Forestier, p. 629. ^
157 Bahrdt’s career was objectionable from almost every point of view. He had been first a pastor, and later a professor of sacred philology at the University of Leipzig. Here, as at Erfurt, the place of his next professional labors, his dissolute conduct involved him in public scandals which lost him his post. In 1771 be went to Giessen as preacher and professor of theology. Later, after numerous changes of location and in the character of his educational activity, he took refuge at Halle, where he conducted courses in rhetoric, eloquence, declaimation, and ethics. A man of low tastes, his life was without dignity and solid convictions. Cf. Forestier, pp. 624 et seq., ; Mounier, pp. 201 et seq.; P. Tschackert, in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädic, 3. Aufl., ii, (1897) pp. 357-359. ^
158 These associations were to be divided into six grades: Adolescent Man, Elder, Mesopolite, Diocesan, and Superior. A ritual was provided and the low initiation fee of one thaler imposed. The system, never fully developed, conveys the impression of crudeness and absurdity. ^
159Mounier, pp. 201 et seq., Forestier makes the added suggestion that Bahrdt saw in the formation of the Union a chance to further his own literary ambitions and pecuniary interests. Cf. Forestier, p. 627. ^
160 Ibid., pp. 629, 630. ^
161 Ibid. ^
162 Mounier, p. 186. ^
163 "Die merkwürdigste, aber auch gleichzeitig groteskeste Beschuldigung, die jemals dem Illiminatenorden nachgesagt worden ist, war die, dass er die französische Revolution zur Explosion gebracht habe. Es gehörte recht viel Kombinationsvermögen und Taschenspielerei in der Logik dazu, um den Beweis für these wundersame Behauptung zusammenzuleimen, aber in jener Zeit wurde tatsächlich alles geglaubt, sobald es sich darum handelte, dem Illuminatismus eine neue Schurkerei auf zuhalsen." (Engel, pp. 402, 404 _Cf._Mounier, pp. 124, 215 et seq.,) ^
164 Published anonymously at Munich, in 1794. ^
165 Title in full: Illuminatus Dirigens oder Schottischer Ritter. Ein Pendant zu der nicht unwichtigen Schrift: Die neuesten Arbeiten, etc., Munich, 1794. ^
166 The grades of Priest and Regent were reproduced in the first of these two works. The most objectionable principles of the order were reserved to these two grades. ^
167 Forestier brings into connection with the publication of these pamphlets the appearance of certain brochures of Knigge’s, wherein he espoused with great ardor the cause of the French Revolutionists. The special import of this requires no comment. Cf. Ibid., pp. 636 et seq., ^
168 Hoffman had himself been a member of the Illuminati, at Vienna. Cf. Forestier, op. cit., p. 646. ^
169 The date was early in 1792 (!). Cf. Ibid., p. 646. ^
170 Forestier, whose treatment at this point is characteristically thorough, gives the titles, or otherwise refers to not less than fourteen pamphlets or brochures, in addition to numerous magazine articles. Cf. Ibid., pp. 649-658. ^
171 Forestier, op. cit., pp. 649-658. ^
172 Johann Joachim Christoph Bode (1730-1793), by no means a distinguished representative of the German literati of his period, occupied a fairly important rôle in the history of the Order of the Illuminati. After Weishaupt’s flight to Ingolstadt he was the most active leader in the ranks of the persecuted order. Cf. Forestier, pp. 543 et seq., He was profoundly interested in Masonry. In 1790 he projected a plan for the union of all the German lodges of Masonry. The effort proved futile. ^
173 The Philalèthes were conspicuous among French Freemasons for their unequalled devotion to alchemy and theurgy. The order was founded about 1773. ^
174 Staack, in his Der Triumph der Philosophie im 18. Jahrhuttdert (1803), vol. ii, p. 276, represents von dem Busche as a military official, in the service of the Dutch government, and as a member of Weishaupt’s order. Mounier (p. 212) refers to him as a major in the service of the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. His figure is of no historical importance apart from its chance connection with the Illuminati legend. ^
175 This bizarre and preposterous explanation of the genesis of the French Revolution was a favorite with contemporary German and French writers of the special-pleader type. It was used, as we shall see later, by both Robison and Barruel in their discussions of the rôle played by the Illuminati in the great French political and social debacle. Its classic statement was made a few years later by Staack, in his Der Triumph der Philosaphie im 18 Jahrhundert, vol- ii, pp. 348 et seq.
A more silly exposition of the relation of the Illuminati to the French Revolution is that found in the fabulous tale related by the notorious Sicilian impostor, Giuseppe Balsamo ("Count" Allessandro Cagliostro) who, in 1790, having been arrested at Rome and interrogated by officials respecting his revolutionary principles, attempted to divert suspicion by recounting experiences he claimed to have had with two chiefs of the Illuminati, at Mitau, near Frankfort, Germany. Revelations had been made to him at that time (1780), he alleged, to the effect that the Order of the Illuminati was able to number 20,000 lodges, scattered through Europe and America; that its agents were industriously operating in all European courts, particularly, being lavishly financed with funds drawn from the immense treasures of the order; and that the next great blow of the order was to be delivered against the government of France. Cf. Sierke, Schwärmer und Schwindler zu Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts, pp. 407 et seq., Both Engel (pp. 420 et seq.,) and Forestier (pp. 658 et seq.,) devote an unnecessary amount of space to Cagliostro’s foolish "revelations". It is sufficient for our purpose to remark in passing that, in any case, Cagliostro was not discussing the affairs of Weishaupt’s order, but the affairs of the Strict Observence whose growing credulity and occultism caused the term "Illuminati" sometimes to be applied to them. ^
176 "Ses principes étaient directement contraires à ceux des illuminés; il n'était pas homme à placer ses espérances dans une intervalle de mille ans. Il n'a jamais pensé qu'un peuple pût devenir assez vertueux pour se passer de lois et de magistrats. Il a soutenu la vraie théorie de la balance des pouvoirs, et combattu le despotisme populaire, toutes les fois que l'amour de la célébrité et l'intérêt de son ambition ne le faisaient pas agir contre sa propre doctrine, et les illuminés n'auraient été capables, ni d'ajouter à ses lumières, ni de changer sa théorie, ni de corriger ses vices." (Mounier, pp. 216 et seq.) This judgment of a sensible and impartial critic of the French Revolution, first submitted to the public in 1801, is as valid now as then. ^
177Without citing his authority, Forestier makes the statement that von dern Busche’s interest in the reform of the debased order of the Philalèthes led him not only to accompany Bode but to offer to pay his expenses. Cf. Forestier, p. 666. ^
178 The theories and séances of the empiric, Mesmer, were greatly agitating Paris at the time and attracting attention throughout Europe. ^
179 Mounier, pp. 212 et seq. Cf. Forestier, pp. 664 et seq. While Bode was in Paris he kept in close correspondence with his German friend, Frau Hess, of Hirschberg. Engel, who made an examination of this correspondence in the Royal Library at Dresden, was unable to discover the slightest intimation that Bode’s mind, while he was in Paris, was occupied with anything more revolutionary than the turning of the Philalèthes away from their craze for alchemy, cabala, theosophy, and theurgy, or in Mesmer’s theories. Cf. Engel, pp. 409~415. When Bode returned to Germany it is undeniable that he carried with him an unfavorable opinion of French Masonry. Cf. Forestier, p. 668. ^
180 In addition to the two elaborated upon in the remainder of this chapter, the following are most worthy of note: Staack, Der Triumph der Philosophie im 18. Jahrhundert, vols. i, ii, 1803 (already noted) ; Proyard, Louis XVI et ses vertus aux prises avec la perversité du siècle, Paris, 1808 (4 vols.) ; De Malet, Recherches politiques et historiques qui prouvent l'existence d'une secte révolutionnaire, son antique origine, ses moyens, ainsi que son but, et dévoilent entièrement l'unique cause de la Révolution Française, Paris, 1817; De Langres, Des Sociétés Secrètes en Allemagne et dans d'autres contrées, de la Secte des Illuminés, du Tribunal Secret, de l'assassinat de Kotzebue, 1819; Le Couteulx, Les Sectes et Sociétés politiques et religieuços, Paris, 1863; Deschamps, Les Sociétés Secrètes et la Société, vols. i, ii, iii, Avignon, 1874-1876. As late as 1906, in an article in the Edinburgh Review of July of that year, Una Birch traversed much of the ground covered thus far in this and proceeding chapter and, on the theory that an event as spontaneous (?) as the French Revolution must have originated in a definite coordination of ideas and doctrine, reaffirmed the general notion that the Masonic lodges of France, having been innoculated with the doctrines of the Illuminati, became the principal points of associative agitation for, and thus the direct cause of, the French Revolution. This essay may also be found in the volume of essays entitled, Secret Societies and the French Revolution (London and New York, 1911), by the same author. ^
181 Later editions of this work, which in their number and geographical extent strongly suggest the degree of interest the subject had for the reading public, appeared as follows: second edition, London, 1797; third edition, London, 1798; fourth edition, London and New York, 1798; a French translation, London, 1798-99 (2 vols.) ; a German translation, Königslutter and Hamburg, 1800; a Dutch translation, Dordrecht (n.d.). See Wolfstieg, Bibliographic der Freimaurerischen Literatur, vol. i, pp. 192, 193. ^
182 Robison was a mathematician, scientific writer, and lecturer in the field of natural philosophy, of considerable ability and distinction. The son of a Glasgow merchant, he was born in Scotland in 1739. He received the benefits of a thorough education, graduating from Glasgow University in 1756. The connections he enjoyed throughout his life were of the best. Subsequent to his graduation he became tutor to the son of Sir Charles Knowles, the English admiral, and later was appointed by the government to service in the testing out at sea of the newly completed chronometer of John Harrison, the horologist. Still later he went to Russia as private secretary to Sir Charles. While in Russia he was called to the chair of mathematics established in connection with the imperial sea-cadet corps of nobles. Abandoning this post, he returned to Scotland, and in 1773 became professor of natural philosophy in Edinburgh University, lecturing on such subjects as hydro-dynamics, astronomy, optics, electricity, and magnetism. His distinction in this general field seems clearly demonstrated by the fact that he was called upon to contribute to the third edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica articles on seamanship, the telescope, optics, waterworks, resistance to fluids, electricity, magnetism, music, etc., as well as by the fact that when the Royal Society of Edinburgh was organized under royal charter in 1783, Robison was elected general secretary of that distinguished organization, an office he continued to hold until within a few years of his death. The versatility of the man is further evidenced by the fact that he was deeply interested in music, attaining the mastery of several instruments, and in the writing of verse. His reputation was not confined to Great Britain. In 1790 the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. (Cf. General Catalogue of the College of New Jersey, 1746-1896, p. 177. The Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xlix, p. 58, incorrectly gives the date for the bestowal of this degree as 1798.) Later, his alma mater, Glasgow University, bestowed upon him a like honor.
In addition to his encyclopaedia articles and his book on the Illuminati, Robison edited and published the lectures of Dr. Black, the chemist, and the following scientific works, the product of his own intellectual activity: Outlines of a Course of Lectures on Mechanical Philosophy, Edinburgh, 1797, and, Elements of Mechanical Philosophy, Edinburgh, 1804. The latter was intended to be the initial volume of a series, but its successors were not forthcoming. A posthumous work of four volumes entitled, A System of Mechanical Philosophy, with Notes by David Brewster, LL.D., was published at Edinburgh in 1822. The death of Robison occurred in 1805. (For the material incorporated in the foregoing the writer is chiefly indebted to the Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xlix, pp. 57, 58, and to casual references in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vols. i-v.) ^
183 "Die Neuesten Religionsbegebenheiten mit unpartheyischen Anmerkungen mit Beihülfe mehrerer von H.M.G. Köster, Professor in Giessen, herausgegeben Jg. 1-20, Giessen, 1778-97 verfolgten gleichfalls den Zweck, von den wichtigsten Vorfälen aus der Religionsgeschichte der Gegenwart eine deutliche, gründliche und nützliche Beschreibung zu liefern, doch beschränkten sie sich dabei vornehmlich auf Deutschland und richteten sich in erster Linie an Laien und Nichttheologen" (Herzog-Hatick, Realencyklopädic, 3rd ed., vol. xxiv, Leipzig, 1913, p. 673). ^
184 Though a Mason, Robison was by no means an ardent supporter of Freemasonry. The English Masonic lodges with which he was acquainted impressed him as having no higher function than that of supplying "a pretext for passing an hour or two in a sort of decent conviviality, not altogether void of some rational occupation." He found the lodges on the continent, however, "matters of serious concern and debate." _Cf._Proofs of a Conspiracy, etc., pp. 1 et seq. (The edition of Robison’s book here as elsewhere referred to is the third [London] edition of 1798.) Robison professed to have visited lodges at Liège, Valeinciennes, Brussels. Aix-la-,Chapelle, Berlin, Königsberg, and St. Petersburg. Everywhere he found an elaboration of ritual, joined with a spirit of grave interest in the affairs of Freemasonry, which filled him with astonishment and seemed to call for explanation. Cf. Ibid., pp. 2 et seq. ^
185 Robison, op. cit., p. 7. Robison also made use of several of the works which the disturbances occasioned by the Bavarian Illuminati called forth on the continent. Conspicuous among these were the documents of the order published by the Bavarian government. Cf. Ibid., pp. 133, 185, 186, 205, etc. He also made use of Hoffman’s violently hostile sheet, the Wiener Zeitschrift. Cf. Ibid., pp. 358, 393. Robison’s knowledge of the German language was, however, far from perfect, as he himself freely admitted (Cf. Ibid., pp, 14, 499), so that his handling of his sources must be viewed as neither capable nor complete. The meagerness of his resources is perhaps best illustrated in his treatment of the conspiracy which he assumed underlay the French Revolution. Such "proofs" as he made use of in this connection amounted to little more than the political manifestoes of certain secret lodges and clubs, fugitive revolutionary documents which chanced to blow across his path, current historical conjecture and gossip, etc. The whole was pieced together in the spirit of one who ventured to hope that his "scattered facts" might be of some service to his generation. (Cf. Ibid., pp. 493-496.) ^
186 Robison, op. cit., pp. 10, 11, 15. ^
187 An illustration of the carelessness with which Robison handled his dates is found on pages 15 and 133 (Cf. p. 103) of the Proofs of a Conspiracy, etc., in the matter of the date of the founding of the Order of the Illuminati. Far more serious in its reflection on the author’s lack of accuracy and insight is such looseness and general unsoundness of treatment as permitted him to represent the Jesuits as frequenters of English and French Masonic lodges, while at the same time indicting the latter as fully committed to a free-thinking propaganda which sought nothing less than the eradication of religion, not to speak of its institutions. Cf. Ibid., pp. 22 et seq. Robison’s superficial explanation of the anticlericalism of Weishaupt might be cited as another illustration of the blundering method pursued in the book. Cf. Ibid., pp. 101, 103 et seq. His weak and practically pointless digression in order to find opportunity to comment on the educational projects of Basedow will serve to illustrate the discursive quality in his work. Cf. Ibid., 85 et seq. ^
188 Robison’s exposition of the elements of uncontrolled curiosity and conjecture as elements in his purpose in writing the book is not without significance: "I must entreat that it be remembered that these sheets are not the work of an author determined to write a book. They were for the most part notes, which I took from books I had borrowed, that I might occasionally have recourse to them when occupied with Free Masonry, the first object of my curiosity. My curiosity was diverted to many other things as I went along, and when the Illuminati came in my way, I regretted the time I had thrown away on Free Masonry. (But, observing their connection, I thought that I perceived the progress of one and the same design. This made me eager to find out any remains of Weishaupt’s Association. I was not surprised when I saw marks of its interference in the French Revolution.) In hunting for clearer proofs I found out the German Union—and, in fine, the whole appeared to be one great and wicked project, fermenting and working over all Europe." (Ibid., pp. 493 et seq.) Encouraged by his friends, Robison "set about collecting my [his] scattered facts." (Ibid., p. 494.) ^
189 Ibid., pp. 28 et seq. ^
190 Robison does not wholly miss the true point in his survey of the backgrounds of the French Revolution. He points out numerous "cooperating causes" which served to make the Revolution inevitable. "Perhaps there never was a nation where all these cooperating causes had acquired greater strength than in France. Oppressions of all kinds were at a height. The luxuries of life were enjoyed exclusively by the upper classes, and this in the highest degree of refinement; so that the desires of the rest were whetted to the utmost. Even religion appeared in an unwelcome form, and seemed chiefly calculated for procuring establishments for the younger sons of insolent and useless nobility. For numbers of men of letters were excluded, by their birth, from all hopes of advancement to the higher stations in the church. These men frequently vented their discontents by secretly joining the laics in their bitter satires on such in the higher orders of the clergy, as had scandalously departed from the purity and simplicity of manners which Christianity enjoins. Such examples were not unfrequent, and none was spared in those bitter invectives. . . . The faith of the nation was shaken; and when, in a few instances, a worthy Curé uttered the small still voice of true religion, it was not heard amidst the general noise of satire and reproach. The misconduct of administration, and the abuse of the public treasures, were every day growing more impudent and glaring, and exposed the government to continual criticism." (Robison, pp. 60 et seq. Cf. ibid., 1)ln. 362 et seq.) These "cooperating causes" receive little emphasis, however, in Robison’s zealous effort to trace the revolutionary spirit to its lair in the Masonic lodges of France. ^
191 Ibid., pp. 40 et seq. ^
192 Robison, Op. Cit., pp. 43 et seq. ^
193 Ibid., p. 51. Robison’s account of this phase of the situation has little to commend it. Upon his own unsupported assertions many of the Revolutionary leaders, as, for example, Mirabeau, Sieyès, Despremenil, Bailly, Fauchet, Maury, Mouunier, and Talleyrand, are brought into direct connection with one or another of the French Masonic systems. Cf. Robison, pp. 49 et seq. Similarly, it is maintained, it was among Masonic lodges that the ideas contained in such books as Robinet’s La Nature, ou l'Homme moral et physique, Condorcet’s Le Progrès de l'Esprit humain, Lequinio’s Les préjugés vaincus par la raison, and the book Des Erreurs et de la Vérité, were first disseminated. Indeed, some of these books are said to have sprung out of the very bosom of the lodges. Cf. Ibid., pp. 43 et seq. ^
194 Ibid., pp. 67 et seq. Comparison with Forestier, pp. 141 et seq., will make clear the paucity of the data upon which Robison drew in attempting to write the earlier chapters of the history of German Freemasonry. ^
195 Robison, op. cit., p. 64. ^
196 Robison’s language is absurdly strong. "In half a year Free Masonry underwent a complete revolution all over Germany." (Ibid., p. 70.) ^
197 The sheer puerility of the treatment is indicated by the following: "A Mr. Rosa, a French commissary, brought from Paris a complete wagon-load of Masonic ornaments, which were all distributed before it had reached Berlin, and he was obliged to order another, to furnish the Lodges of that city. It became for a while the most profitable business to many French officers and commissaries dispersed over Germany, having little else to do." (Robison, op. cit., pp. 69 et seq.) ^
198 Ibid., p. 73. ^
199 Ibid., pp. 65 et seq. ^
200 Ibid., pp. 78, 79. Robison read into this situation a deliberate effort on the part of the leaders of French Freemasonry to extend the hegemony of the latter. He surmised that political uses and benefits were thus aimed at. Cf. ibid. ^
201 Robison’s term for the representatives of the Aufklärung. Cf. Robison, p. 81. ^
202 Ibid., p. 80. This declension of faith and morals Robison, more wisely than he was aware, traced in part to the clash between the Roman Catholic and Protestant systems in Germany and the spirit of free inquiry which was thus promoted. See Robison, pp. 85 et seq. ^
203 It is in this connection that Basedow is brought into relations with Robison’s devious exposition. Cf. ibid., pp. 85 et seq. ^
204 Ibid., pp. 82 et seq. ^
205 Robison, op. cit., pp. 92 et seq. Germany has experienced the same gradual progress, from Religion to Atheism, from decency to dissoluteness, and from loyalty to rebellion, which has had its course in France. And I must now add, that this progress has been effected in the same manner, and by the same means; and that one of the chief means of seduction has been the Lodges of the Free Masons. The French, along with their numerous chevaleries [_sic_], and stars, and ribands, had brought in the custom of haranguing in the Lodges, and as human nature has a considerable uniformity everywhere, the same topics became favorite subjects of declamation that had tickled the ear in France; there were the same corruptions of sentiments and manners among the luxurious or profligate, and the same incitements to the utterance of these sentiments, wherever it could be done with safety; and I may say, that the zealots in all these tracts of freethinking were more serious, more grave, and fanatical. These are assertions a priori. I can produce proofs." (Ibid., pp. 91 et seq.) The "proofs" here referred to concern the Masonic career of Baron Knigge, whose antagonism to orthodx Christianity Robison distorts both as to its temper and its effect. ^
206 Ibid., pp. 126 et seq. ^
205 Ibid., pp. 100 et seq. ^
207 Ibid., pp. 101 et seq. These connections Robison almost wholly misconceived. Cf. supra, pp. 150, 163 et seq. ^
208 Robison op. cit., p. 103. ^
209 Ibid., p. 105. The ulterior object of the order is later stated by Robison in the following manner: "Their first and immediate aim is to get possession of riches, power, and influence, without industry; and, to accomplish this, they want to abolish Christianity; and then dissolute manners and universal profligacy will procure them the adherence of all the wicked, and enable them to overturn all the civil governments of Europe; after which they will think of further conquests, and extend their operations to the other quarters of the globe, till they have reduced mankind to a state of one indistinguishable chaotic mass." Robison, pp. 209 et seq. ^
210 Ibid., p. 126. ^
211 Ibid., p. 212. ^
212 Robison omitted nothing in his effort to fasten the stigma of moral obliquity upon the order. The published papers of the order were appealed to to show that crimes of bribery, theft, and libertinism were not uncommon on the part of the leaders. See Robison,, pp. 144 et seq. The unsavory documents of the order referred to on page 181 of this dissertation likewise received Robison’s zealous attention. Cf. Ibid., pp. 138 et seq. Weishaupt’s personal immorality in his relations with his sister-in-law is made to do full duty as "a brilliant specimen of the ethics which illuminated" the leaders. Cf. Ibid., pp. 164 et seq. (If a particular illustration of Robison’s bungling way of handling his German sources were needed, that might be found in the fact that our author identified the victim of Weishaupt’s lust as the sister-in-law of Zwack. Cf. Ibid., p. 167.) ^
213 To Robison’s mind this constituted the crowning infamy of the order. "There is nothing in the whole constitution of the Illuminati that strikes me with more horror than the proposals of Hercules and Alinos to enlist women in this shocking warfare with all that 'is good, and pure, and lovely, and of good report'. . . . Are not the accursed fruits of Illumination to be seen in the present humiliating condition of women in France? . . In their present state of national moderation (as they call it) and security, see Madam Tallien come into the public theatre, accompanied by other beautiful women, (I was about to have misnamed them Ladies), laying aside all modesty, and presentingthemselves to the public view, with bared limbs, a la Sauvage, as the alluring objects of desire . . . Was not their abominable farce in the church of Notre Dame a bait of the same kind, in the true spirit of Weishaupt’s Eroterion?" (Robinson, pp. 243, 251, 252.) ^
214 Robison, op. cit., pp. 110-200. ^
215 Ibid., pp. 201 et seq. ^
216 Ibid., Although offered to the public with every show of confidence, Robison’s list was largely chimerical. He had depended upon isolated references in the papers of the Order, many of which he must have misread. Doubtless in numerous cases he took the hopes of the ambitious leaders of the order as sober statements of fact. The importance of the reference to America will, of course, appear later. ^
217 Ibid., p. 272. ^
218 Ibid., p. 286. ^
219 Ibid., p. 290. ^
220 Robison, op. cit., pp. 315 et seq. ^
221 Ibid., p. 322. ^
222 Ibid., p. 321. ^
223 Ibid., p. 317. "All the Archives that were found were the plans and lists of the members, and a parcel of letters of correspondence. The correspondence and other business was managed by an old man in some inferior office or judicatory, who lived at bed and board in Bahrdt’s house for about six shillings a week, having a chest of papers and a writing-desk in the corner of the common room of the house." (Ibid.) ^
224 Ibid., pp. 291, 296, 297. ^
225 Ibid., p. 299. Bahrdt’s fantastical program called for the division of these societies into Provinces or Dioceses, each directed by its Diocesan, and subordinate to a central organization. Cf. ibid., p. 292. ^
226 Ibid., p. 294. ^
227 Robison, op. cit., p. 297. ^
228 Ibid., pp. 322 et seq. "...although I cannot consider the German Union as a formal revival of the Order under another name, I must hold those United, and the members of those Reading Societies, as Illuminati and Minervals. I must even consider the Union as a part of Spartacus’s work." (Ibid.) ^
229 Ibid., pp. 355 et seq. "Thus I think it clearly appears, that the suppression of the Illuminati in Bavaria and of the Union in Brandenburgh were insufficient . . . The habit of plotting had formed itself into a regular system. Societies now acted everywhere in secret, in correspondence with similar societies in distant places. And thus a mode of cooperation was furnished to the discontented, the restless, and the unprincipled in all places, without even the trouble of formal initiations, and without any external appearances by which the existence and occupations of the members could be distinguished." (Ibid.) ^
230 Ibid., p. 355. Cf. Ibid., p. 286. ^
231 Ibid., p. 358. ^
232 Robison, op. cit., p. 371. ^
233 Ibid., pp. 393 et seq. ^
234 Ibid., pp. 397 et seq. ^
235 Ibid., p. 374. ^
236 Ibid., p. 398. ^
237 The Grand Orient, according to Robison, represented the associatin of all the improved Masonic lodges of France. Its Grand Master was the Duke of Orbéans. Cf. ibid., p. 381. ^
238 Ibid., pp. 400, et seq. ^
239 Ibid., p. 376. ^
240 Ibid., pp. 376 et seq. ^
241 Robison, op. cit., p. 405. ^
242 Ibid., p. 402. Robison regarded the famous Jacobin Club in Paris as "just one of those Lodges." (Robison, p. 406. Cf. Ibid., p. 402.) He allowed his statement to stand, however, without making any effort to substantiate it. Further, he held that the political committees in these "illuminated" lodges of France were in correspondence with similar committees in Germany, Holland, Austria, and Switzerland. Cf. Ibid., pp. 406 et seq., 414 et seq., 420. The contradictory character of his "evidence" is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that he treats the Masonic lodges of Paris as trying to seduce the lodges of German Freemasons. Cf. Ibid., p. 418. ^
243 Ibid., p. 402. ^
244 Ibid., p. 405. ^
245 The London edition of 1797-8 (4 vols.) was reprinted in five volumes at Hamburg, Augsburg and Braunschweig; and a new edition, revised and corrected by the author, was issued at Lyons in 1818. Barruel himself put forth an English translation at London in 1798; and this was reprinted at Hartford, Conn., New York, and Elizabeth-town, N.J., the following year. Continental allies of the ex-Jesuit must have been responsible for translations into Polish, Dutch and Portuguese, which enjoyed but one printing apiece, as well as for the three editions of the Spanish translation, and for two of the three Italian editions. During the anti-Masonic campaign of the swindler Leo Taxil (1887), the Italian translation was reprinted at Rome by the Tipografia de Propaganda Fide.
Abridgements and excerpts were also circulated in several languages, including English. In this connection the following titles may also be noted: Applications of Barruel’s Memoirs of Jacobinism to the Secret Societies of Ireland and Great Britain, London, 1798; The Anti-Christian and Antisocial Conspiracy. An extract from the French of Barruel, to which is prefixed "Jachin and Boaz," Lancaster, (U.S.), 1812.
Cf. Sommervogel, C., Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jêsus, i, Bruxelles, 1890, coll. 938-941; also Wolfstieg, Bibliographie der Freimaurerischen Literatur, vol. i, pp. 324, 325. ^
246 Augustin Barruel (1741-1820) was a French controversialist and publicist, whose zeal was aroused in the defence of traditional ecclesiastical institutions and doctrines, in opposition to rationalistic tendencies manifest in the eighteenth century. Barruel entered the Society of Jesus in 1756 and was later driven from France when that order was suppressed by the French government in 1773. Permitted the next year to terminate his exile, he gave himself to literary pursuits. As might be expected, the turbulent condition of public affairs in France drew him into the currents of political discussion. His loyalty to the interests of the church would brook no silence. The civil oath demanded of ecclesiastics and the promulgation of the civil constitution in the earlier period of the Revolution specially roused his spirit, and led to the publication of a number of pamphlets from his pen. His ecclesiastical loyalties and political antagonisms were such that when the full fury of the revolutionary storm broke, Barruel became an emigré and sought asylum in England. There he continued his literary employments, and published in 1794 his well-known Histoire du clergé de France, pendant la révolution française. In that same year he brought out an English translation at London. This work Barruel dedicated to the English people in grateful recognition of the hospitable treatment which they accorded the persecuted ecclesiastics of his own land. Later, and while still in England, he wrote his Memoirs of Jacobinism. The number of editions through which this work passed is in itself a gauge of its claim upon popular interest. After the fall of the Directory, and after he had given his pledge of fidelity to the new government, Barruel again was permitted to return to France. With a view to healing the schism in the French church which the Revolution had produced, be championed the cause of the government in a work entitled, Du Pape et ses droits religieux, 1803. As the Napoleonic régime drew towards its close, Barruel came to be regarded as an emigré priest, and suffered arrest at the hands of the government. In August, 1816, Barruel was allowed to make his profession in the Society of Jesus. Shortly before this he wrote to its General: "Je m'étais toujours regardé comme lié par mes voeux, sans cesser d'être vraiment Jésuite, ce qui heureusement a fait pour moi une douce illusion dans laquedle je remercie Dieu de m'avoir laissé vivre jusqu' au mliment où vous vous prêtez avec tant de bonté à la demande que j'ai faite pour ma profession." (La Compagnie de Jésus en France, Histoire d'un siècle, 1814-1914, Par Joseph Burnichon, S.J., Tome 1er, Paris, 1914, pp. 74 et seq.) The last years of Barruel’s life were spent in retirement. A list of his writings may be found in Quérard’s La France Littéaire, Tome Premier, pp. 196, 197, and a more elaborate one, in Sommervogel, op. cit., i, Coll. 930-945. ^
247 Barruel, op. cit., pp. i, vi. ^
248 Ibid., pp. xiii et seq. ^
249 Barruel’s term was Sophistes. ^
250 Barruel, op. cit., pp. xiv, xv. ^
251 Ibid., p. 2. ^
252 Ibid., p. 1. ^
253 Barruel’s main reliance is the correspondence of Voltaire, as published in the edition of Kehl. ^
254 Barruel, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 25 et seq. ^
255 Ibid., pp. 26, 27, 33. ^
256 Ibid., pp. 54 et seq. Barruel represents the Encyclopedists as arguing that force could not be employed until there had first been a revolution in all religious ideas; hence L'Encyclopédie, with all its insinuating doubts, its artful cross-references, its veiled impiety, was planned to give the first great impulse in that direction. Thus the old forms of thought would perish "as it were, by inanition;" later, the laying of the axe to the altar would not be hazardous. ^
257 Ibid., pp. 75 et seq. ^
258 Ibid., pp. 127 et seq. ^
259 Ibid., pp. 163 et seq. According to Barruel, the conspirators numbered among their adepts the following: Joseph II of Germany, Catherine Il of Russia, Christian VII of Denmark, Gustave III of Sweden, Poniatowski, king of Poland, and the landgrave Frederick of Hesse-Cassel. ^
260 Ibid., p. 154. ^
261 Barruel, op. cit., p. 157. ^
262 Ibid., pp. 321 et seq. ^
263 Ibid., vol. ii, pp. 9, 10, 13 et seq., 21. ^
264 Ibid., pp. 52 et seq., 66, 76. Barruel labors hard to save himself from the cruel necessity of including Montesquieu in the list of conspirators. He finds it "painful to, apply such a reproach to this celebrated writer." (Ibid., p. 76.) With some cleverness he remarks: " He [Montesquieu] did not conspire by setting up his systems, but his systems formed conspirators." (Ibid., p. 98.) ^
265 Ibid., p. 101. ^
266 Barruel, op. cit., pp. 130, 131, 157 et seq. ^
267 Ibid., pp. 159 et seq. ^
268 Barruel contended that the popular uprisings of the period in Geneva, Bohemia, Transylvania, and even among the negroes of St. Domingo, were all directly due to the conspiracy. Cf. Barruel, pp. 203 et seq., 255 et seq., 260 et seq., 271. ^
269/A> Barruel’s estimate of Freemasonry was appreciably lower than that of Robison. Its mysteries were to be traced to Manes, and to the introduction of Manichaeism into Europe in the period of Frederich II (1221-1250). Condorcet was appealed to for proof in this connection. Cf. Barruel, pp. 399 et seq. The general idea that the Freemasons were responsible for the campaign against monarchy and the Catholic religion which, many believed, characterized the greater part of the eighteenth century, had already been made familiar to the French by the ecclesiastics Larudan and Lefranc. Cf. Forestier, pp. 684 et seq. ^
270 By the occult lodges Barruel meant those whose members had received the higher mysteries and degrees. Cf. Barruel, vol. ii, p. 293. ^
271 Ibid., pp. 276, 277, 278, 279. ^
272 Ibid., pp. 436 et seq. ^
273 Ibid., p. 436. ^
274 Ibid., p. 438. ^
275 Ibid., pp. 444 et seq. ^
276 Ibid., pp. 455 et seq. ^
277 Ibid., pp. 471 et seq. Cf. Ibid., p. 437. ^
278 "Under the name of ILLUMINES a band of Conspirators had coalesced with the Encyclopedists and Masons, far more dangerous in their tenets more artful in their plots, and more extensive in their plans of devastation. They more silently prepared the explosions of the Revolutionary volcano, not merely swearing hatred to the Altar of Christ and the Throne of Kings, but swearing at once hatred to every God, to every Law, to every Government, to all society and social compact; and in order to destroy every plea and every foundation of social contract, they proscribed the terms MINE and THINE, acknowledging neither Equality nor Liberty but in the entire absolute and universal overthrow of all PROPERTY whatever." Barruel, op. cit., p. 478. Cf. vol. iii, pp. 17, 22 et seq.) ^
279 Barruel attributed little or no success to the efforts which Weishaupt’s associates made to strip him of much of his despotic power. Cf. Barruel, ch. xviii. ^
280 The discussion of the character of the order fills the entire third volume of the Memoirs. It is not too much to say that Barruel’s analysis of the organization is characterized by no little soundness of judgment as well as by literary skill. The documents on which he draws are not only those published by the Bavarian goverment, but also the apologetic writings of Weishaupt and Knigge as well as a considerable part of the polemical literature which developed after the suppression of the order. Yet it need scarcely be said, the author’s bias is nowhere obscured. On page after page he conveys the impression that he is dealing with the sum of all villainies. His judgment of Weishaupt was, of course, severe: "An odious phenomenon in nature, an Atheist void of remorse, a profound hypocrite, destitute of those superior talents which lead to the vindication of truth, he is possessed of all that energy and ardor in vice which generates conspirators for impiety and anarchy. Shunning, like the ill-boding owl, the genial rays of the sun, he wraps around him the mantle of darkness; and history shall record of him, as of the evil spirit, only the black deeds which he planned or executed. . . . Scarcely have the magistrates cast their eyes upon him when they find him at the head of a conspiracy which, when compared with those of the clubs of Voltaire and D'Alembert, or with the secret committees of D'Orléans [_sic_], make these latter appear like the faint imitations of puerility, and show the Sophister and the Brigand as mere novices in the arts of revolution." (Barruel, op. cit., pp. 2, 3, 7.) ^
281 Ibid., p. 293. Cf. Ibid., p. 413: "Will not hell vomit forth its legions to applaud this last Spartacus, to contemplate in amazement this work of the Illuminizing Code? Will not Satan exclaim, 'Here then are men as I wished them" [?]. ^
282 Ibid., vol. iv, p. 379. Cf. Ibid., p. 387: "...in this den of conspirators . . . we find every thing in perfect union with the Occult Lodges, to which it only succeeds. Adepts, object, principles, all are the same; whether we turn our eyes towards the adepts of impiety, of rebellion, or of anarchy, they are now but one conspiring Sect, under the diastrous name of Jacobin. We have hitherto denominated some by the name of Sophisters, others by that of Occult Masons, and, lastly, we have described those men style Illuminees. Their very names will now disappear; they will in future all be duly described by the name of Jacobin." ^
283 Barruel, op. cit., ch. ix. ^
284 Ibid., ch. x. ^
285 Ibid., p. 326. ^
286 Ibid., ch. xi. ^
287 Ibid., p. 370. ^
288 Ibid., pp. 370 et seq. ^
289 Ibid., pp. 375 et seq. ^
290 Ibid., p. 376. ^
291 Ibid., p. 377. ^
292 Ibid., p. 379. ^
293 Barruel, op. cit., passim. ^
294 Ibid., pp. 468 et seq. ^
295 Ibid., pp. 472 et seq. ^
296 Ibid., pp. 476 et seq. ^
297 Ibid., pp. 482 et seq. ^
298 Ibid., pp. 493-551. Barruel found no difficulty in making the conspiracy broad enough in Prussia to take in Imnmanuel Kant. Cf. Ibid., pp. 523 et seq. The Professor of Königsberg and the Professor of Ingolstadt developed systems which ultimately lead to the same end (!). Cf. Ibid., p. 526. ^
299 Ibid., pp. 493 et seq. ^
300 The reference is to the United Irishman, an organization whose affairs got somewhat mixed with the discussion of the Illuminati in America. Cf. infra, pp. 271 et seq. ^
301 A foot-note connects the French minister, Adet with the Iluminati campaign in North America. Cf. ibid., p. 494. ^
302 Robison, op. cit., p. 535. ^
303 Ibid., p. 537. ^
304 Ibid., p. 538. ^
305 Barruel, op. cit., vol. iii, p. xiv. ^
306 Barruel, op. cit., vol. iii, p. xiv. ^
307 Ibid., p. xv. ^
308 Ibid., pp. xv, xvi. ^
309 Ibid., p. xviii. ^