THE EUROPEAN ORDER OF THE ILLUMINATI
1. THE RISE AND THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ORDER
That great European movement in the direction of the secularization
of thought to which the expressive term, the _Aufklärung_ or
Enlightenment, has been applied, and which reached its apogee in
the latter half of the eighteenth century, encountered a stubborn
opposition in southern Germany in the electorate of Bavaria. The pivot
of Bavarian politics, particularly from the beginning of the sixteenth
century, had been the alliance which had been effected between the
clerical party and the civil power. The counter reformation which
followed in the wake of the Lutheran movement was able to claim the
field in Bavaria without the necessity of a combat.
In the third quarter of the eighteenth century Bavaria was a land
where sacerdotalism reigned supreme. Religious houses flourished in
abundance; the number of priests and nuns was incredibly large.[299]
So easy were the ways of life in that fertile country that a lack of
seriousness and intensity of feeling among the masses flung open the
door for superstitious practices which made the popular religion
little better than gross fetichism. So-called “miraculous” images
were commonly paraded through the streets; innumerable statues and
sacred relics were exposed to the gaze of crowds of the faithful; the
patronage of the saints was assiduously solicited. Among the educated
there was a widespread conviction that the piety of the people was
ignorant and that their trustful attitude made them the prey of many
impostors.
The degree of power to which the representatives of the Society of
Jesus had been able to attain in Bavaria was all but absolute.[300]
Members of the order were the confessors and preceptors of the
electors; hence they had a direct influence upon the policies of
government. The censorship of religion had fallen into their eager
hands, to the extent that some of the parishes even were compelled to
recognize their authority and power. To exterminate all Protestant
influence and to render the Catholic establishment complete, they had
taken possession of the instruments of public education. It was by
Jesuits that the majority of the Bavarian colleges were founded, and by
them they were controlled. By them also the secondary schools of the
country were conducted.[301]
The prevailing type of education in Bavaria had little more to commend
it than the popular type of religion.[302] The pedagogical aim of
the Jesuits was the development of the memory with scant regard for
other faculties of the mind. To learn the catechism, or in the case of
advanced pupils to receive unquestioningly the dogmatic instruction
offered by clerical pedagogues, was the ideal honored throughout the
Bavarian schools. Books which bore the slightest taint of Protestant
influence, or which in any other way gave evidence of a liberalizing
spirit, were ruthlessly banned.[303]
Such were the conditions of life under which the great mass of
the people lived. There was, however, a relatively small group of
cultivated people in Bavaria who, despite the clerical oppression
and bigotry from which they suffered, had contrived to share in the
liberalizing spirit of the larger world. The censorship exerted by the
Jesuits had found no adequate means to guard against the broadening
influences of travel or of contact with travelers from other lands, or
even to prevent the introduction of all contraband journals and books.
The effect of the former had been to create a humiliating and galling
sense of inferiority on the part of liberal-minded Bavarians,[304]
while the latter had served to stimulate a thirst for the new knowledge
which the rationalism of the age made available. To this small group of
discontented and ambitious spirits the ancient faith had ceased to be
satisfactory, and the burden of clericalism had become insufferable.
The University of Ingolstadt, established in 1472, was destined to
become a rallying point for these radical tendencies. In the middle of
the sixteenth century the Jesuits had gained control of its faculties
of philosophy and theology, and for two centuries thereafter the
university had been counted upon as the chief fortress of clericalism
in Bavaria.[305] By the middle of the eighteenth century the deadening
effect of the rigorous censorship exerted by the Jesuits had produced
its full fruitage at Ingolstadt. The university had fallen into a state
of profound decadence.[306]
With the accession of Maximilian Joseph[307] as elector, in 1745, the
breath of a new life soon stirred within its walls. For the position of
curator of the university the elector named a well-known and resolute
radical of the day, Baron Johann Adam Ickstatt, and charged him with
the responsibility of reorganizing the institution upon a more liberal
basis.[308] Measures were adopted promptly by the latter looking to the
restoration of the prestige of the university through the modernization
of its life. The ban was lifted from books whose admission to the
library had long been prohibited, chairs of public law and political
economy were established, and recruits to the faculty were sought in
other universities.[309]
It was, of course, not to be expected that the clerical party, whose
power in the university, as has been intimated, was particularly
well entrenched in the faculties of philosophy and theology, would
retire from the field without a struggle.[310] A sharp contest arose
over the introduction of non-Catholic books, into which the elector
himself was drawn, and which in addition to the substantial victory
that Ickstatt won, had the further effect of aligning the two parties
in the university squarely against each other.[311] It was only a few
years after this episode, when the Jesuits were still chafing under the
sharp setback which their policies had suffered, that the name of Adam
Weishaupt first appeared (in 1772) on the roll of the faculty of the
university as professor extraordinary of law.
Weishaupt (born February 6, 1748; died November 18, 1830) entered upon
his professional career at Ingolstadt after an educational experience
which had made him a passionate enemy of clericalism. His father
having died when the son was only seven, his godfather, none other
than Baron Ickstatt, compelled doubtless by the necessities of the
case, had turned the early training of the boy over to the Jesuits. The
cramming process through which he thus passed was destined to prove
unusually baneful in his case[312] on account of certain influences
which penetrated his life from another quarter. Accorded free range
in the private library of his godfather, the boy’s questioning spirit
was deeply impressed by the brilliant though pretentious works of
the French “philosophers” with which the shelves were plentifully
stocked.[313] Here was food for the fires of imagination just beginning
to flame up in this unsophisticated and pedantic youth. Here, also,
were ready solvents for the doubts with which his experience with
Jesuit teachers had filled his mind. The enthusiasm of the most
susceptible of neophytes seized him: he would make proselytes, he would
deliver others from their bondage to outworn beliefs, he would make it
his duty to rescue men from the errors into which the race had long
been plunged.[314] His object in life thus early determined, he threw
himself with great zeal into the study of law, economics, politics,
history, and philosophy. He devoured every book which chanced to fall
into his hands.[315]
After graduating from the University of Ingolstadt in 1768, he served
for four years in the capacity of tutor and catechist until his
elevation to the rank of assistant instructor took place. The favor he
was permitted to enjoy as the protégé of Ickstatt[316] brought him more
rapid advancement than that to which his native abilities entitled him.
In 1773 he was called to the chair of canon law, which for a period
of ninety years had been held by representatives of the Jesuits.[317]
Two years later, when he was but twenty-seven years of age, he was
made dean of the faculty of law. Such a rapid improvement in his
professional standing proved far from salutary. The young man’s vanity
was immensely flattered and his reforming resolution unduly encouraged.
His sense of personal worth as the leader of the liberal cause in the
university quite outran his merit.[318]
Meantime the Jesuits, observing with deep resentment Weishaupt’s
meteoric rise,[319] together with a growing disposition on his part to
voice unrestrained criticism of ecclesiastical intolerance and bigotry,
entered into intrigues to checkmate his influence and undermine his
position.[320] The payment of his salary was protested and the notion
that he was a dangerous free-thinker industriously disseminated.[321]
On his part, Weishaupt did not scruple to furnish Ickstatt’s successor,
Lori, with secret reports calculated to put the Jesuit professors in
the university in an unfavorable light.[322] A disagreeable squabble
resulted, marked on the one hand by clerical jealousy and pettiness and
on the other by Weishaupt’s imprudence of speech[323] and indifference
to considerations of professional honor.
The effect of this unseemly strife upon Weishaupt was to establish
firmly in his mind the conviction that as the university’s most
influential leader against the cause of ecclesiastical obscurantism
he was being made a martyr for free speech.[324] In no way disposed
to be sacrificed to the animosity of enemies whose power he greatly
over-estimated, he arrived at the conclusion that a general offensive
against the clerical party ought immediately to be undertaken.
A secret association was needed which, growing more and more
powerful through the increase of its members and their progress in
enlightenment, should be able to outwit the manœuvres of the enemies
of reason not only in Ingolstadt but throughout the world. Only by a
secret coalition of the friends of liberal thought and progress could
the forces of superstition and error be overwhelmed. Over the scheme
of such an association consecrated to the cause of truth and reason,
the self-esteem of Weishaupt kindled anew as he contemplated none other
than himself at its head.[325]
His imagination having taken heat from his reflections upon the
attractive power of the Eleusinian mysteries and the influence exerted
by the secret cult of the Pythagoreans, it was first in Weishaupt’s
thought to seek in the Masonic institutions of the day the opportunity
he coveted for the propagation of his views. From this original
intention, however, he was soon diverted, in part because of the
difficulty he experienced in commanding sufficient funds to gain
admission to a lodge of Masons, in part because his study of such
Masonic books as came into his hands persuaded him that the “mysteries”
of Freemasonry were too puerile and too readily accessible to the
general public to make them worth while.[326] He deemed it necessary,
therefore, to launch out on independent lines. He would form a model
secret organization, comprising “schools of wisdom,” concealed from
the gaze of the world behind walls of seclusion and mystery, wherein
those truths which the folly and egotism of the priests banned from
the public chairs of education might be taught with perfect freedom to
susceptible youths.[327] By the constitution of an order whose chief
function should be that of teaching, an instrument would be at hand for
attaining the goal of human progress, the perfection of morals and the
felicity of the race.[328]
On May 1, 1776, the new organization was founded, under the name of
the Order of the Illuminati,[329] with a membership of five all told.
The extremely modest beginning of the order in respect to its original
membership was more than matched by the confusion which existed in
Weishaupt’s mind as to the precise form which the organization had
best take. Only three elementary grades, or ranks, had been worked
out by him, and these only in a crude and bungling fashion, when
the enterprise was launched. A feverish regard for action had full
possession of the founder of the order; the working-out of his hazy
ideas of organization might wait for quieter days.[330]
Out of the voluminous and rambling expositions which Weishaupt at
various times made of the three primary grades, _viz._, Novice,
Minerval, and Illuminated Minerval, the following brief descriptions
are extracted.
To the grade of Novice youths of promise were to be admitted,
particularly those who were rich, eager to learn, virtuous, and docile,
though firm and persevering.[331] Such were to be enrolled only after
their imaginations and desires had been artfully aroused by suggestions
concerning the advantages to be derived from secret associations
among like-minded men, the superiority of the social state over that
of nature, the dependence of all governments upon the consent of the
governed, and the delight of knowing and directing men.[332] Once
enrolled, the instruction of each Novice was to be in the hands of
his enroller, who kept well hidden from his pupil the identity of the
rest of his superiors. Such statutes of the order as he was permitted
to read impressed upon the mind of the Novice that the particular
ends sought in his novitiate were to ameliorate and perfect his moral
character, expand his principles of humanity and sociability, and
solicit his interest in the laudable objects of thwarting the schemes
of evil men, assisting oppressed virtue, and helping men of merit to
find suitable places in the world.[333] Having had impressed upon him
the necessity of maintaining inviolable secrecy respecting the affairs
of the order, the further duties of subordinating his egoistic views
and interests and of according respectful and complete obedience to his
superiors were next enjoined. An important part of the responsibility
of the Novice consisted in the drawing-up of a detailed report (for
the archives of the order), containing complete information concerning
his family and his personal career, covering such remote items as the
titles of the books he possessed, the names of his personal enemies
and the occasion of their enmity, his own strong and weak points of
character, the dominant passions of his parents, the names of their
parents and intimates, _etc._[334] Monthly reports were also required,
covering the benefits the recruit had received from and the services
he had rendered to the order.[335] For the building-up of the order
the Novice must undertake his share in the work of recruitment, his
personal advancement to the higher grades being conditioned upon the
success of such efforts.[336] To those whom he enrolled he became in
turn a superior; and thus after a novitiate presumably two years in
length,[337] the way was open for his promotion to the next higher
grade.
The ceremony of initiation through which the Novice passed into the
grade Minerval was expected to disabuse the mind of the candidate
of any lingering suspicion that the order had as its supreme object
the subjugation of the rich and powerful, or the overthrow of civil
and ecclesiastical government.[338] It also pledged the candidate to
be useful to humanity; to maintain a silence eternal, a fidelity
inviolable, and an obedience implicit with respect to all the superiors
and rules of the order; and to sacrifice all personal interests to
those of the society.[339] Admitted to the rank of Minerval, the
candidate received into his hands the printed statutes of the order,
wherein he learned that in addition to the duties he had performed as
novice, his obligations had been extended with special reference to his
studies.[340] These were to be more highly specialized, and the fruits
of his researches from time to time turned over to the superiors. In
the prosecution of difficult labors of this character, he was to be
free to call to his assistance other Minervals in his district.[341]
He might also count upon the assistance of his superiors in the form
of letters of recommendation in case he undertook travels in the
pursuit of his studies; and should he form the resolve to publish his
material, the order pledged itself to protect him against the rapacity
of booksellers who might show themselves disposed to overcharge him
for the works he wished to consult, as well as to render assistance in
attracting the attention of the public to his work.[342]
In the assemblies of this grade the Minerval for the first time
came into contact with the members of the order. In other words,
his life within the society actually began.[343] The thirst for the
sense of secret association with men of like interests and aims,
which the members long novitiate had developed, began to find its
satisfaction.[344] Ordinary Minervals and “illuminated” Minervals
mingled together in these assemblies[345] and mutually devoted their
deliberations to the affairs of the order.
To the grade Illuminated Minerval were admitted those Minervals who in
the judgment of their superiors were worthy of advancement. Elaborate
initiatory ceremonies fixed in the candidates mind the notions that the
progressive purification of his life was to be expected as he worked
his way upward in the order,[346] and that the mastery of the art of
directing men was to be his special pursuit as long as he remained in
the new grade. To accomplish the latter, _i. e._, to become an expert
psychologist and director of men’s consciences, he must observe and
study constantly the actions, purposes, desires, faults, and virtues
of the little group of Minervals who were placed under his personal
direction and care.[347] For his guidance in this difficult task a
complicated mass of instructions was furnished him.[348]
In addition to their continued presence in the assemblies of the
Minervals, the members of this grade came together once a month by
themselves, to hear reports concerning their disciples, to discuss
methods of accomplishing the best results in their work of direction
and to solicit each other’s counsel in difficult and embarrassing
cases.[349] In these meetings the records of the assemblies of the
Minervals were reviewed and rectified and afterwards transmitted to the
superior officers of the order.
Such, in brief, was the system of the Illuminati as it came from the
brain of Weishaupt, its founder. By means of such an organization he
proposed to effect nothing less than the redemption of the world. In
its assemblies the truths of human equality and fraternity were to be
taught and practised.[350] Its members were to be trained to labor for
the welfare of the race; to strive for a civilization, not like that of
the present, which left men savage and ferocious under its thin veneer,
but one which would so radically change their moral dispositions as
to put all their desires under the control of reason—the supreme end
of life, which neither civil nor religious institutions had been able
to secure.[351] The study of man was to be made at once so minute, so
comprehensive, and so complete[352] that two immense advantages would
result: first, the acquisition of the art of influencing favorably the
wills of one’s fellows, thus making social reformation possible; and
second, self-knowledge.[353] That is to say, the thorough scrutiny of
the instincts, passions, thoughts, and prejudices of others, which
the order imposed upon him, would react in turn upon the member’s
judgment of his own personal life. As a result his conscience would be
subjected to frequent examination, and the faults of his life might be
expected to yield to correction. From both of these advantages, working
together, a moral transformation of the whole of society would result,
thus securing the state of universal well-being.[354]
But this conception of the order as essentially an instrument of
social education requires to be balanced by another, _viz._, its
anticlericalism. Its founder professed that at the time when the idea
of the order was taking shape in his mind he was profoundly influenced
by the persecutions which honest men of unorthodox sentiments had been
compelled to suffer on account of their views.[355] Considerations
growing out of his own personal embarrassments and imagined peril on
account of his clashings with the Jesuits were also admittedly weighty
in his thought.[356] It is therefore to be regarded as a substantial
element in his purpose to forge a weapon against the Jesuits, and in a
larger sense to create a league defensive and offensive against all the
enemies of free thought.[357]
Accordingly, the expression of utterances hostile to Christian dogmas
was early heard within the assemblies of the order,[358] and only the
difficulty experienced in working out the supreme grade of the order
inhibited Weishaupt’s intention of converting it into a council of war
to circumvent and overwhelm the advocates of supernaturalism and the
enemies of reason.[359] The pure religion of Christ, which, doctrinally
conceived, had degenerated into asceticism and, from the institutional
standpoint,[360] had become a school of fanaticism and intolerance,
was pronounced a doctrine of reason, converted into a religion for
no other purpose than to make it more efficacious.[361] To love God
and one’s neighbor was to follow in the way of redemption which Jesus
of Nazareth, the grand master of the Illuminati, marked out as
constituting the sole road which leads to liberty.[362]
The objects of the order were such as to appeal to the discontented
elements in a country suffering from intellectual stagnation due to
ecclesiastical domination.[363] Despite this fact, its growth during
the first four years of its existence was anything but rapid. By that
time four centers of activity, in addition to Ingolstadt, had been
established, and a total of possibly sixty members recruited.[364]
While its visionary founder considered that a solid basis for
encouragement had been laid,[365] as a matter of fact at the
termination of the period just indicated the organization was seriously
threatened with failure. Fundamental weaknesses had developed from
within. Chief among these was the tension which existed almost from
the first between Weishaupt and the men whom he associated with him in
the supreme direction of the affairs of the order.[366] The thirst
for domination, which was native to the soul of Weishaupt, converted
the order into a despotism against which men who had been taught by
their leader that they shared with him the innermost secrets of the
organization, rebelled. The result was the constant breaking-out of
a spirit of insubordination and a series of quarrels between the
founder and his associates which rendered the future progress of the
order very precarious.[367] The extreme poverty of the organization
constituted another serious obstacle to its rapid growth. With a view
to demonstrating the genuine disinterestedness of the society, an
effort had been made from the beginning to emphasize the financial
interests of the order as little as possible.[368] The rules of the
organization were far from burdensome in this regard, and it is by no
means surprising that many of the proposed measures of the leaders
in the interests of a more extensive and effective propaganda proved
abortive for the very practical reason that funds were not available to
carry them into effect.[369]
A decidedly new turn in the wheel of fortune came some time within the
compass of the year 1780,[370] with the enrollment of Baron Adolf
Franz Friederich Knigge[371] as a member.
In the recruiting of this prominent North German diplomat Weishaupt
and his associates found the resourceful and influential ally for
which the organization had waited, a man endowed with a genius for
organization and so widely and favorably connected that the order
was able to reap an immense advantage from the prestige which his
membership bestowed upon it. Two weighty consequences promptly followed
as the result of Knigge’s advent into the order. The long-sought higher
grades were worked out, and an alliance between the Illuminati and
Freemasonry was effected.[372]
Such was the confidence which Knigge’s presence immediately inspired
in Weishaupt and his associates that they hailed with enthusiasm
his admission to the order, and gladly abandoned to him the task of
perfecting the system, their own impotence for which they had been
forced to admit.[373] Manifesting a zeal and competency which fully
justified the high regard of his brethren, Knigge threw himself into
the task of elaborating and rendering compact and coherent the childish
ideas of organization which Weishaupt had evolved.
The general plan of the order was so shaped as to throw the various
grades or ranks into three principal classes.[374] To the first class
were to belong the grades Minerval and Illuminatus Minor; to the
second,[375] (1) the usual three first grades of Masonry, Apprentice,
Fellow, and Master, (2) Illuminatus Major, and (3) Illuminatus
Dirigens, or Scottish Knight; and to the third class were reserved the
Higher Mysteries, including (a) the Lesser Mysteries, made up of the
ranks of Priest and Prince, and (b) the Greater Mysteries, comprising
the ranks of Magus and King.[376]
A detailed description of the various grades of Knigge’s system would
far outrun the reader’s interest and patience.[377] The present writer
therefore will content himself with making such comments as seem best
suited to supply a general idea of the revised system.
The grade Novice (a part of the system only in a preparatory sense)
was left unchanged by Knigge, save for the addition of a printed
communication to be put into the hands of all new recruits, advising
them that the Order of the Illuminati stands over against all other
forms of contemporary Freemasonry as the one type not degenerate, and
as such alone able to restore the craft to its ancient splendor.[378]
The grade Minerval was reproduced as respects its statutes but greatly
elaborated in its ceremonies under the influence of Masonic usages
with which Knigge was familiar.[379] The grade Illuminatus Minor was
likewise left identical with Weishaupt’s redaction, save in unimportant
particulars as to special duties and in the working-out and explanation
of its symbolism.[380]
The three symbolic grades of the second class seem to have been devised
solely for the purpose of supplying an avenue whereby members of the
various branches of the great Masonic family could pass to the higher
grades of the new order.[381] Membership in these grades was regarded
as a mere formality, the peculiar objects and secrets of the order
having, of course, to be apprehended later.
A candidate for admission to the grade of Illuminatus Major was first
to be subjected to a rigorous examination as respects his connections
with other secret organizations and his objects in seeking advancement.
His superiors being satisfied upon these points, it was provided that
he should be admitted to the grade by means of a ceremonial highly
Masonic in its coloring. His special duties were four in number: (1)
to prepare a detailed analysis of his character, according to specific
instructions furnished him; (2) to assist in the training of those
members of the order who were charged with the responsibility of
recruiting new members; (3) to put his talents and his social position
under tribute for the benefit of the order, either by himself stepping
into places of honor which were open or by nominating for such places
other members who were fitted to fill them; and (4) to coöperate with
other members of his rank in the direction of the assemblies of the
Minervals.[382]
Advanced to the grade of Illuminatus Dirigens, or Scottish Knight,
the member bound himself with a written oath to withhold his support
from every other system of Masonry, or from any other secret society,
and to put all his talents and powers at the disposition of the
order.[383] His obligations in this rank were purely administrative in
their character. The inferior grades of the order were territorially
grouped together into prefectures, and upon these the authority of
the Illuminatus Dirigens was imposed. Each Illuminatus Dirigens had a
certain number of Minerval assemblies and lodges assigned to him, and
for the welfare of these he was responsible to the superiors of the
order. The members of this grade constituted the “Sacred Secret Chapter
of the Scottish Knights,” from which issued the patents of constitution
for the organization of new lodges.[384]
To the first grade of the third class, that of Priest,[385] were
admitted only such members as, in the grade Minerval, had given proof
of their zeal and advancement in the particular sciences which they
had chosen.[386] The initiatory ceremonies of the grade emphasized the
wholly unsatisfactory character of existing political and religious
systems and sounded the candidate’s readiness to serve the order in
its efforts to lead the race away from the vain inventions of civil
constitutions and religious dogmas from which it suffered.[387]
Relieved entirely of administrative responsibilities, the members of
this grade devoted themselves exclusively to the instruction of their
subordinates in the following branches of science: physics, medicine,
mathematics, natural history, political science, the arts and crafts,
and the occult sciences. In brief, the final supervision of the
teaching function of the order was in their hands, subject only to the
ultimate authority of their supreme heads.[388]
Knigge’s statutes provided that only a very small number of members
were to be admitted to the grade of Prince.[389] From this group
the highest functionaries of the order were to be drawn: National
Inspectors, Provincials,[390] Prefects, and Deans of the Priests. Over
them, in turn, at the apex of the system and as sovereign heads of the
order, ruled the Areopagites.[391]
So much for the external structure of the system which Knigge reshaped.
With respect to the aims and principles of the order the modifications
introduced by him were considerable, although scarcely as comprehensive
as in the former case.[392] In certain instances the ideas of Weishaupt
were retained and developed;[393] in others significant alterations
were made or new ideas introduced. Of the new ideas the two following
were unquestionably of greatest weight:[394] the notion of restricting
the field of recruiting solely to the young was abandoned, and this
phase of the propaganda was widened so as to include men of experience
whose wisdom and influence might be counted upon to assist in attaining
the objects of the order;[395] the policy was adopted that henceforth
the order should not occupy itself with campaigns against particular
political and religious systems, but that its energies should be
exerted against superstition, despotism, and tyranny.[396] In other
words, the battle for tolerance and enlightenment should be waged
along universal and not local lines. Accordingly, the esoteric teaching
of the order, under Knigge’s revision, was reserved to the higher
grades.
The progress of the order from 1780 on[397] was so rapid as to raise
greatly the spirits of its leaders. The new method of spreading
Illuminism by means of its affiliation with Masonic lodges promptly
demonstrated its worth. Largely because of the fine strategy of seeking
its recruits among the officers and other influential personages in
the lodges of Freemasonry, one after another of the latter in quick
succession went over to the new system.[398] New prefectures were
established, new provinces organized, and Provincials began to report
a steady and copious stream of new recruits.[399] From Bavaria into
the upper and lower Rhenish provinces the order spread into Suabia,
Franconia, Westphalia, Upper and Lower Saxony, and outside of Germany
into Austria[400] and Switzerland. Within a few months after Knigge
rescued the order from the moribund condition in which he found it, the
leaders were able to rejoice in the accession of three hundred members,
many of whom by their membership immensely enhanced the prestige of
the order. Students, merchants, doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, judges,
professors in _gymnasia_ and universities, preceptors, civil officers,
pastors, priests—all were generously represented among the new
recruits.[401] Distinguished names soon appeared upon the rosters of
the lodges of the new system. Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, Duke Ernst
of Gotha, Duke Karl August of Saxe-Weimar, Prince August of Saxe-Gotha,
Prince Carl of Hesse, Baron Dalberg,[402] the philosopher Herder, the
poet Goethe,[403] the educationist Pestalozzi,[404] were among the
number enrolled. By the end of 1784 the leaders boasted of a total
enrollment of between two and three thousand members,[405] and the
establishment of the order upon a solid foundation seemed to be fully
assured.[406]
But just at the moment when the prospects were brightest, the knell of
doom suddenly sounded.[407] Dangers from within and from without, with
bewildering celerity and concurrence, like a besom of destruction swept
from the earth the order which Adam Weishaupt, with such exaggerated
anticipations, had constituted out of a little group of obscure
students at Ingolstadt, on May Day, 1776.
The internal difficulties were of the nature of dissensions among
the chiefs. The old jealousies that existed between Weishaupt and
the Areopagites[408] before Knigge reconstructed the order were not
eradicated by the introduction of the new system, and in course of
time they flamed forth anew.[409] But ugly in temper and subversive
of discipline and order as these petty contentions were, they were
of little importance as compared with the fatal discord which arose
between Weishaupt and Knigge. The spirit of humility that the former
manifested in 1780, when in desperation he turned to Knigge for
assistance, did not long continue. Aroused by the danger of seeing
his personal control of the order set aside and himself treated as a
negligible factor, Weishaupt sought opportunities of asserting his
prerogatives, and the ambition of Knigge being scarcely less selfish
than that of Weishaupt, the two men quarreled repeatedly and long.[410]
So bitter and implacable the spirit of the two became that in the end,
exercising a discretion dictated by despair rather than generosity,
Knigge withdrew from the field, leaving Weishaupt in undisputed
possession of the coveted headship of the order.
But the fruits of his victory the latter had little chance to
enjoy.[411] On June 22, 1784, Carl Theodore[412] launched the first
of his edicts against all communities, societies, and brotherhoods in
his lands which had been established without due authorization of law
and the confirmation of the sovereign.[413] The edict, to be sure, was
general in its character, and the Bavarian Illuminati were glad to
believe that their system was not specially involved: by lying low for
a season the squall would speedily blow over and the activities of the
order might safely be resumed.[414] These anticipations, however, were
doomed to disappointment. Having surrendered himself completely to the
spirit of reaction, and spurred by reports of the covert disobedience
of the order which his _entourage_ spread before him,[415] the Bavarian
monarch, on March 2 of the following year, issued another edict that
specifically designated the Illuminati as one of the branches of
Freemasonry, all of which were severely upbraided for their failure to
yield implicit obedience to the will of the sovereign as expressed in
the previous edict, and a new ban, more definite and sweeping in its
terms than the former, was thereby proclaimed.[416]
A fixed resolution on the part of the government to give full force
to the provisions of the interdict left no room for evasion.[417]
In response to the call of its enemies, former members of the order
who, either because of scruples of conscience or for less honorable
reasons, had withdrawn from its fellowship, came forward to make
formal declarations respecting their knowledge of its affairs.[418] In
this direct manner the weapons needed for the waging of an effective
campaign against the society were put into the government’s hands.[419]
Judicial inquiries were inaugurated, beginning at Ingolstadt.[420]
Measures of government, all aimed at nothing short of the complete
suppression and annihilation of the order, followed one another in
rapid succession. Officers and soldiers in the army were required to
come forward and confess their relations with the Illuminati, under
promise of immunity if ready and hearty in their response, but under
pain of disgrace, cassation, or other punishment if refractory.[421]
Members and officers of consular boards were subjected to similar
regulations.[422] Officers of state and holders of ecclesiastical
benefices who were found to have connections with the order were
summarily dismissed from their posts.[423] Professors in universities
and teachers in the public schools suffered a like fate.[424] Students
who were recognized as adepts were dismissed, and in some cases were
banished from the country.[425]
As a system the order was shattered, but its supporters were not wholly
silenced. Weishaupt particularly, from his place of security in a
neighboring country, lifted his voice against the men who had betrayed
the order and the government which had ruined it. Taking recourse to
his pen, with incredible rapidity he struck off one pamphlet and volume
after another,[426] in a feverish effort, offensive and defensive,
to avert if possible total disaster to the cause which, despite all
his frailties, he truly loved. The one clear result of his polemical
efforts was to draw the fire of those who defended the denunciators
of the afflicted order and who supported the clerical party and the
government. A war of pamphlets developed, the noise and vehemence of
which were destined to add, if possible, to the embarrassment and pain
of those members of the order who still remained in Bavaria. Once more
the suspicions of the government were aroused; a search was made by
the police for further evidence, and in the month of October, 1786,
at Landshut, in the house of Xavier Zwack,[427] one of the order’s
most prominent leaders, decisive results were achieved. A considerable
number of books and papers were discovered,[428] the latter containing
more than two hundred letters that had passed between Weishaupt and
the Areopagites, dealing with the most intimate affairs of the order,
together with tables containing the secret symbols, calendar, and
geographical terms belonging to the system, imprints of its insignia,
a partial roster of its membership, the statutes, instruction for
recruiters, the primary ceremony of initiation, _etc._[429] Here was
the complete range of evidence the authorities had long waited for.
Out of the mouths of its friends, the accusations which its enemies
made against the order were to be substantiated. By the admissions
of its leaders, the system of the Illuminati had the appearance of
an organization devoted to the overthrow of religion and the state,
a band of poisoners and forgers, an association of men of disgusting
morals and depraved tastes. The publication of these documents amounted
to nothing less than a sensation.[430] New measures were forthwith
adopted by the government. Leading representatives of the order, whose
names appeared in the telltale documents, were placed under arrest and
formally interrogated. Some of these, like the treasurer, Hertel, met
the situation with courage and dignity, and escaped with no further
punishment than a warning to have nothing to do with the organization
in the future under fear of graver consequences.[431] Others, like
the poltroon Mändl,[432] adopted the course of making monstrous
“revelations” concerning the objects and practices of the order. Still
others, like Massenhausen, against whom the charge of poison-mixing was
specifically lodged,[433] sought safety in flight.
As a final blow against the devastated order, on August 16, 1787,
the duke of Bavaria launched his third and last edict against
the system.[434] The presentments of the former interdicts were
reëmphasized, and in addition, to give maximum force to the sovereign’s
will, criminal process, without distinction of person, dignity,
state, or quality, was ordered against any Illuminatus who should be
discovered continuing the work of recruiting. Any so charged and found
guilty were to be deprived of their lives by the sword; while those
thus recruited were to have their goods confiscated and themselves
to be condemned to perpetual banishment from the territories of the
duke.[435] Under the same penalties of confiscation and banishment,
the members of the order, no matter under what name or circumstances,
regular or irregular, they should gather, were forbidden to assemble as
lodges.[436]
The end of the order was at hand. So far as the situation within
Bavaria was concerned, the sun of the Illuminati had already set.[437]
It remained for the government to stretch forth its hand as far as
possible, to deal with those fugitives who, enjoying the protection
of other governments, might plot and contrive to rebuild the ruined
system. Accordingly, Zwack, who had sought asylum first in the
court of Zweibrücken and had later obtained official position in
the principality of Salm-Kyburg, was summoned by the duke of Bavaria
to return to that country. The summons was not accepted,[438] but
the activities of Zwack as a member of the Illuminati, as the event
proved, were over. Count (Baron) Montgelas, whose services on behalf
of the order do not appear to have been significant, but who, upon
the publication of the correspondence seized in the residence of
Zwack, had likewise sought the protection of the duke of Zweibrücken,
found the favor of that sovereign sufficient to save him from the
power of the Bavarian monarch.[439] As for Weishaupt, whose originary
relation to the order the Bavarian government had discovered in the
secret correspondence just referred to, his presence in Gotha, outside
Bavarian territory but in close proximity to the Bavarian possessions,
added greatly to the concern of Carl Theodore.[440] Efforts were made
by the latter to counteract any possible influence he might exert to
rehabilitate the Illuminati system.[441] They were as futile as they
were unnecessary. Broken in spirit, making no effort to regain the
kingdom which his vanity insisted he had lost, contenting himself with
the publication of various apologetic writings,[442] permitted for a
considerable period to enjoy the bounty of his generous patron, Duke
Ernst of Gotha, he sank slowly into obscurity.[443]
As for the fortunes of the order outside of Bavaria, the measures
adopted by the government of that country proved decisive. Here and
there, especially in the case of Bode,[444] a Saxon Illuminatus,
efforts were made to galvanize the expiring spirit of the order, but
wholly without result.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: The amount of literature, chiefly polemical
in character, which has sprung up about the subject of the European
Illuminati is astonishingly large. Wolfstieg, _Bibliographie der
Freimaurerischen Literatur_, vol. ii, pp. 971–979, lists ninety-six
separate titles of principal works, not counting translations,
new editions, _etc._ In the same volume (pp. 979–982) he lists
the titles of one hundred and fourteen “kleinere Schriften”. In
addition, he also lists (_ibid._, p. 982) three titles of books
occupied with the statutes of the order, and the titles of five
principal works devoted to the order’s ritual (_ibid._, p. 983),
together with the titles of nine smaller works likewise occupied
(_ibid._). No student penetrates far into the study of the general
topic without being made aware that not only were contemporary
apologists and hostile critics stirred to a fierce heat of literary
expression, but that a swarm of historians, mostly of inferior
talents, have been attracted to the subject.
In view of the thoroughgoing work which bibliographers like
Wolfstieg have performed, no necessity arises to repeat the task.
For the benefit of the student who may wish to acquaint himself at
first hand with the principal sources of information respecting
the order, the following abbreviated list has been compiled. For
convenience the titles are grouped in three principal divisions.
I. Apologetic writings.
Weishaupt, _Apologie der Illuminaten_
Frankfort and Leipzig, 1786.
“ _Vollständige Geschichte der Verfolgung der
Illuminaten in Bayern, I_,
Frankfort and Leipzig,1786.
“ _Das verbesserte System der Illuminaten mit allen
seinen Graden und Einrichtungen_,
Frankfort and Leipzig, 1787.
“ _Kurze Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten_,
Frankfort and Leipzig, 1787.
“ _Nachtrag zur Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten_,
Frankfort and Leipzig, 1787.
Bassus, _Vorstellung denen hohen Standeshäuptern der
Erlauchten Republik Graubünden_,
Nuremberg, 1788.
Knigge, _Philo’s endliche Erklärung and Antwort auf
verschiedene Anforderungen und Fragen_,
Hanover, 1788.
II. Documents of the order, published by the Bavarian government or
otherwise, and hostile polemics.
_Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens_,
Munich, 1787.
_Nachtrag von weiteren Originalschriften_,
Munich, 1787.
_Der ächte Illuminat, oder die wahren, unverbesserten Rituale
der Illuminaten_,
Edessa (Frankfort-on-the-Main), 1788.
Cosandey, Renner, and Grünberger, _Drei merkwürdige Aussagen
die innere Einrichtung des Illuminatenordens_,
Munich, 1786.
Same (with Utzschneider), _Grosse Absichten des Ordens der
Illuminaten mit Nachtrag, I, II, III_,
Munich, 1786.
_Der neuesten Arbeiten des Spartacus and Philo_, Munich, 1793.
_Illuminatus Dirigens, oder Schottischer Ritter, Ein Pendant,
etc._,
Munich, 1794.
III. Historical treatments of the precise character and
significance of the order.
Mounier, _De l’influence attribuée aux philosophes, aux
franc-maçons et aux illuminés, sur la révolution de France_,
Tübingen, 1801.
Mounier, J. J., _On the Influence attributed to Philosophers,
Freemasons, and to the Illuminati, on the Revolution of
France.... Translated from the Manuscript, and corrected
under the inspection of the author, by J. Walker_,
London, 1801.
Engel, _Geschichte des Illuminaten-Ordens_,
Berlin, 1906.
Forestier, _Les Illuminés de Bavière et la Franc-Maçonnerie
allemande_,
Paris, 1915.
FOOTNOTES:
[299] Forestier, _Les Illuminés de Bavière et la Franc-Maçonnerie
allemande_, p. 103. This author, upon whose recent painstaking
researches much reliance is placed in this chapter, relates that
one traveler 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._
[300] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 108: “Dans aucun pays du monde, si l’on
excepte le Paraguay, les fils de Loyola n’avaient obtenu une victoire
plus complète, ni conquis une autorité plus grande.” _Cf._ Mounier, _De
l’influence attribuée aux Philosophes aux franc-maçons et aux illuminés
sur la révolution de France_, p. 189.
[301] _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.
[302] Engel, _Geschichte des Illuminaten-Ordens_, p. 29.
[303] 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,
with the result that they appeared even more formidable than before
their suppression.
[304] Forestier, _op. cit._, pp. 105 _et seq._
[305] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 19.
[306] _Ibid._, p. 18. _Cf._ Engel, _op. cit._, pp. 19, 28, 29.
[307] 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.
[308] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 107.
[309] 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.
[310] Engel, _op. cit._, pp. 19 _et seq._
[311] Forestier, _op. cit._, pp. 19 _et seq._ _Cf._ Engel, _op. cit._,
pp. 20 _et seq._
[312] _Ibid._, pp. 22 _et seq._
[313] Forestier, _op. cit._, pp. 16 _et seq._
[314] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 18.
[315] _Ibid._
[316] 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.
[317] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 21. _Cf._ Engel, _op. cit._, p. 33.
[318] 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._
[319] Engel, _op. cit._, p. 31.
[320] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 21.
[321] _Ibid._ _Cf._ Engel, _op. cit._, p. 32.
[322] _Ibid._, p. 22.
[323] _Ibid._, p. 25.
[324] _Ibid._
[325] 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 mans 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, soupçonné par tous
ceux que scandalisait le radicalisme de ses opinions. Mais l’âme 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-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche_, 2. Aufl.,
vol. vi, Leipzig, 1880: article, “Illuminaten,” p. 699.)
[326] 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.
[327] _Ibid._, p. 29.
[328] 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 égoïste sous le vernis d’une
civilisation apparante, un être véritablement sociable, c’est-à-dire
respectueux des droits de ses semblables et amène 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 même ont été incapables d’accomplir,’ leur
apprendre ‘à soumettre leurs désirs au contrôle 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’éducation sociale.” (_Op. cit._, p. 78.)
[329] 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.
[330] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 46: “Au moment où Weishaupt avait fondé
son Ordre, l’organisation de tout le Système 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 provisoires,
se promettant de les remanier et d’arrêter 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.
[331] 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.
[332] _Cf._ _Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens_, pp. 49,
50, 56.
[333] _Ibid._, p. 26.
[334] _Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens_, pp. 61–65.
[335] _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.
[336] _Ibid._, p. 31.
[337] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 61.
[338] _Ibid._, pp. 61–64.
[339] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 64.
[340] _Ibid._, p. 65.
[341] _Ibid._
[342] _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 works 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
assembled and preserved. _Cf._ _Der ächte Illuminat_, p. 46.
[343] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 66.
[344] 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.
[345] _Ibid._, p. 66.
[346] _Der ächte Illuminat_, p. 94. The notion that the supreme heads
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.
[347] 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._
[348] _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 ächte Illuminat_, 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.
[349] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 71.
[350] 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
disappear. Forestier, _op. cit._, pp. 311–316.
[351] _Der ächte Illuminat_, pp. 110, 123.
[352] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 78.
[353] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 80.
[354] 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._
[355] _Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens_, p. 339.
[356] _Ibid._, p. 279.
[357] 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 officiellement proclamé, l’Ordre avait un autre but, auquel
on pensait d’autant plus qu’on en parlait moins.” (_Op. cit._, 87. _Cf.
ibid._, pp. 92, 110.)
[358] _Ibid._, p. 90.
[359] _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.
[360] _Ibid._, p. 317.
[361] _Ibid._, p. 318.
[362] Forestier, _op. cit._, 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.
[363] “Par ses divers caractères avoués ou secrets, l’Ordre des
Illuminés était l’expression d’une époque et d’un milieu. Le Système 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.)
[364] These new centers were Munich, Regensburg, Freising, and
Eichstätt. For data concerning the early enrollment of recruits, _cf.
ibid._, pp. 30 _et seq._
[365] _Ibid._, p. 45.
[366] 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.
[367] _Ibid._, pp. 231 _et seq._, 112 _et seq._
[368] Weishaupt’s original plan had been to leave the matter
of financial support to the discretion of the members. _Einige
Originalschriften 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._
[369] _Ibid._, pp. 132 _et seq._
[370] 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.
[371] 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-Cassel 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
by 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.)
[372] 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.
[373] _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._
[374] _Nachtrag von weiteren Originalschriften_, vol. i, p. 108. _Cf._
Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 250; Engel, _op. cit._, p. 117.
[375] 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.
[376] Apparently these grades were never worked out. See Forestier, p.
250.
[377] Forestier devotes more than forty well-packed pages to a
discussion of this phase of the subject. _Ibid._, pp. 251–294.
[378] _Der ächte Illuminat_, p. 14. Pages 17–37, _ibid._, contains the
description of this grade as revised by Knigge.
[379] _Ibid._, pp. 39–78.
[380] _Ibid._, pp. 82–138.
[381] 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 différents Systèmes,
préoccupés d’établir 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
vraisemblablement aux mêmes considérations.” (Forestier, _op. cit._, p.
262.)
[382] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 272. _Der ächte Illuminat_, pp.
139–212, contains the ritual and statutes of this grade.
[383] 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.
[384] 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.
[385] 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.
[386] 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.
[387] The rites of initiation into this grade expressed a growing
tendency in the direction of sacerdotal pomp. _Cf. ibid._, pp. 283–286.
[388] “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 subordonnés 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.
[389] 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._
[390] The title of Regent was also used in this connection.
[391] Provincials, as the term suggests, had control over the various
provinces.
[392] 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.)
[393] 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.
[394] 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.
[395] 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._
[396] 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._
[397] 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 Qualität stand
in zweiter Linie.” (_Geschichte des Illuminaten-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._
[398] 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.
[399] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 344.
[400] 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._
[401] _Ibid._, pp. 349 _et seq._
[402] 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,
vice-chancellor of Bohemia; Count Poelffy, chancellor of Hungary; Count
Banffy, governor of Transylvania; 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._
[403] 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.
[404] “Un pédagogue célèbre, Pestalozzi, figurait parmi les membres de
l’Église Minervale de Lautern.” (Forestier, p. 349.)
[405] _Ibid._, p. 399.
[406] 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.
[407] 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 paraît
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 la 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.)
[408] The term was no longer in official use, but the men remained. In
other words, Weishaupt’s Areopagites were Knigge’s Provincials.
[409] Forestier, _op. cit._, pp. 411–413.
[410] 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.
[411] 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.
[412] 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.
[413] _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 imprudent
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 account 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.
[414] 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.
[415] The 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._
[416] Engel, 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.)
[417] 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.)
[418] 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._
[419] 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._
[420] _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.
[421] _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.
[422] 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.
[423] _Ibid._
[424] _Ibid._
[425] _Ibid._, p. 475.
[426] 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 Illuminaten in Bayern_, Frankfort and Leipzig, 1786. The
latter was planned to consist of two volumes, but only one appeared.
[427] 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.
[428] 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.
[429] 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,
_Nachtrag 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. 13 _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.