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(page 89 thru 101)
It was necessary that some members of the order should be known as such,
that they might serve as guides
to those who should have a desire to be initiated.
These are the Minervals,
who are the only visible members of the society.
A candidate for admission must make his wish known to some Minerval;
he reports it to a superior, by whom, in an appointed channel,
it is communicated to the council.
No farther notice is taken of it for some time.
The candidate is observed in silence,
if judged unfit for the order no notice is taken of his request;
but if otherwise, he receives privately an invitation to a conference,
and upon signing the declaration required of the preparation class,
is admitted to the Noviciate. *
* Robison's Proofs, p.94.
But the Insinuators are the principal agents for propagating the order.
These are invisible spies, seeking whom they may devour,
who enter on their tablets, with which they are always to be furnished,
the names of such as they judge would be useful to the order,
with the reasons for or against their admission.
The directions of the insinuator teach him
to seek after young men from eighteen to thirty,
those in particular who have not completed their education,
and those whose exterior prepossesses one in their favor.
His attention is likewise directed to men of rank, wealth, and influence.
Men of an insinuating, intriguing disposition,
mechanics of all professions, booksellers, school masters,
post masters, those who keep post horses,
and the discontented of every class of people.
Of these minutes the Insinuator is required to make a return
twice every month to his superiors,
who form a list of such as they judge suitable prey,
and put it into the hands of an Insinuator,
not the one perhaps who sent in the name,
but one whom the superiors of the order shall see fit to appoint.
And he now begins the labor of gaining over his pupil to the society.
The person thus marked as the object of seduction,
though he has expressed no desire of uniting with the order,
is placed in the grade of ...
Preparation.
It would be a task indeed to trace minutely the arts of insinuation,
and the cautious steps by which the Recruitor is to proceed.
In general, the curiosity of the subject is to be excited by suggestions,
made as by accident,
of the existence and power of such a society;
his mind is to be impressed with the most honorable views
of the design of this institution;
his affections and confidence are to be gained by every art of insinuation;
the power of secret societies,
and the pleasure of secretly reigning,
are to be presented to his imagination,
and books provided by the society,
and corresponding with its views, are to be put into his hands.
Should he break from all these snares,
he is marked for an enemy
whose character and influence
the society is henceforth concerned to destroy.
They must be gained, or ruined in the public opinion,
is the law of the order.
But should the candidate, by these arts,
be led to express a desire to join this invisible combination,
he is required to subscribe an express and solemn declaration,
"never to reveal, by sign, word, or any other way,
even to the most intimate friend,
whatever shall be entrusted to him
relative to his entrance into a secret society,
and this whether his reception take place or not;
and that he subjects himself to this secrecy the more willingly,
as his introducer assures him, that nothing is ever transacted
in this society hurtful to religion, morals or the state. *
* Robison's Proofs, p.94.
Barruel's Memoirs, Vol.III. Chap. 3.
The candidate having subscribed this declaration commences...
Novice.
He is now introduced to an instructor,
the only one perhaps of the order whom he is permitted to know.
By this instructor he is taught,
that silence and secrecy are the very soul of the order,
and enjoined never to speak of anything belonging to it,
even before those whom he may suppose to be initiated,
without the strongest necessity.
He is also furnished with a new supply of books and writings,
calculated for his advancement.
Here a cautionary direction is introduced,
which extends to all the different degrees,
that if any of the brotherhood fall sick,
the other brethren are to visit him,
to prevent his making any unfavorable declarations,
and to secure any papers with which he may have been entrusted.
To qualify the Novice for the practice of that secrecy
which has been represented as of such importance,
he is furnished with what may be called the
Dictionary of Illuminism.
He here learns that no brother bears the same name in the order
which he does in the world.
He receives a name for himself,
and is made acquainted with that of his instructor,
and with those of the other brethren,
as he is admitted to know them.
The following is a brief sample of this vocabulary.
The fictitious name of Weishaupt, was Spartacus;
of Knigge, Philo;
of the Marquis Constanza, Diomedes;
of Zwack, Cato;
of Baron Bassus, Hannibal;
of Count Savoli, Brutus;
of Nicolai, Lucian;
of Count Massenhausen, Ajax;
of Councillor Hoheneicher, Alcibiades;
of Merz, Tiberius; &c. *
* Barruel's Memoirs, Vol.III. Chap.4. and Vol. IV. p. 173.
Robison's Proof, p. 169.
The Novice is also put upon the study of a new Geography,
from which he learns, that places, as well as persons, bear a new name.
Bavaria, is denominated Achaia,
and Austria Egypt;
Munich is called Athens,
and Vienna, Rome, &c.
Time too, he finds, has undergone a new arrangement,
and he must again study his calendar.
The Persian era, beginning A.D. 630, is adopted by the Illuminees.
The months are known by new names, and are of very different lengths;
Pharavardin has no less than forty one days,
while Asphandar has only twenty.
Nor is the candidate yet qualified to correspond with his new brethren,
until he has acquired the cypher of the order.
A simple one is prepared for the lower grades,
but the superiors make use of hieroglyphics.
He now begins the study of the statutes of the society,
and a morality extracted from heathen writers;
but is told that the knowledge of mankind
is above all other things important,
and to acquire this, tracing characters,
and noticing occurrences, are strenuously recommended;
his observations are to be submitted to the review of his superiors.
In this stage of his noviciate,
he is required to present the order with a written account of his name,
place of birth and residence, age, rank, profession, favorite studies,
books, secret writings, revenues, friends, enemies, parents, &c.
A similar table is prepared by his instructor,
of whatever he has been able to discover;
and from a comparison of these,
and his answers to a number of interesting questions,
the superiors judge of the expediency of admitting him
to the last proofs.
His admission being agreed upon,
in the dead of the night he is led to a gloomy apartment,
and being repeatedly questioned
respecting his readiness to devote himself to the order,
he confirms his consent with a solemn oath,
of which the following is a part,
"I vow an eternal silence,
an inviolable obedience and fidelity to all my superiors,
and to the statutes of the order.
With respect to what may be the object of the order,
I fully and absolutely renounce my own penetration,
and my own judgment.
I promise to look upon the interests of the order as my own;
and as long as I shall be a member of it,
I promise to serve it with my life, my honor, and my estates."
Having signed this oath,
and with a sword pointed at his breast,
being threatened with unavoidable vengeance,
from which no potentate on earth can defend him,
should he betray the order, he commences ...
Minerval,
and becomes a member of a lodge. *
* Barruel's Memoirs, Vol.III. Chap.4.
Here illuminism commences its connection with Masonry;
and here those, who do not discover a disposition
fully compliant with the views of their guides,
are left to divert themselves with the three degrees
of apprentice, fellowcraft, and master,
and never attain any further acquaintance with Illuminism.
But this, it was found, would not satisfy all candidates,
and in particular, those who had previously been members of lodges;
some intermediate degrees were therefore added,
as the minor and major Illuminee, and Scotch Knight.
The Minervals hold frequent meetings
under the direction of some more illuminated superior.
These meetings are professedly devoted to literary pursuits,
but particular care is taken to give the discussions a direction
which shall coincide with the designs of Illuminism.
That suicide is lawful under pressing dangers and calamities;
that the end sanctifies the means,
or that theft and murder become commendable
when committed to advance a good cause,
are sentiments frequently brought into view
in the meetings of the Minervals.
From these discussions the superiors judge
of the propriety of advancing the candidate to the next degree,
which is that of... *
* Robison's Proofs, p.98.
Barruel's Memoirs, Vol.III. Chap. 5.
Illuminatus Minor.
The members of this class have meetings similar
to those of the former degree,
but their instructors are taken only from among those
who have attained the rank of priest,
and who are directed to labor to remove what,
in the language of Illuminism,
is termed political and religious prejudices.
The candidates are now to be formed for useful laborers.
They are put upon studying the secret arts
of controlling the mind,
of seizing the favorable moment,
of discovering and addressing the ruling passion,
of acquiring a pliancy and versatility of address,
and of concealing their views and feelings from others.
As they are found qualified,
they have more or less of the minerval degree
committed to their inspection.
Previous to his advancement to the next degree,
the candidate is subjected to another scrutinizing examination
respecting his views, and devotedness to the interests of Illuminism.
He is likewise required to give the order a new proof of his confidence,
by exhibiting
an exact record of his whole life written without reservation.
The design of the Institutor in requiring this,
appears from his own remarks on this part of his code;
"Now I hold him;
if he should wish to betray us, we have also his secrets."
The history which the candidate gives of himself, is
compared with the one already formed, in the records of the order,
from the returns made by his Instructor,
and the discoveries of invisible spies,
in which, every thing relating to his character, abilities, weaknesses,
passions, prospects, attachments, aversions, education,
and even language, gait, and physiognomy,
are noticed in perhaps fifteen hundred particulars.
To impress the mind of the adept
with the strongest sense of the activity of the order,
and the folly of expecting to escape its vigilance,
this portrait of himself is put into his hands,
and he is again questioned respecting his disposition
to unite with such a society.
The disposition of the candidate
being founded by a new series of questions,
and having repeated the former oaths of secrecy,
and devotedness to the order,
he passes through the initiating forms, by which he becomes... *
* Robison's Proofs, p. 102-106. Barruel's Memoirs, Vol. III. Chap. 6 and 7.
Illuminatus Major, or Scotch Novice.
It is impossible, I find, in this brief sketch,
to give a full view of the slow, artful, and insidioius process
by which the mind is powerfully, though insensibly,
drawn from the possession of its former principles,
and fired with a fanciful idea
of soon attaining the regions of sublime wisdom.
The adept has still an Intructor, who now calls him to
attend to the miseries under which mankind are groaning,
and the inefficacy of all the means used for their relief.
This is attributed to the restraints to which they are subjected
by princes and the priesthood.
The importance of surrounding the powers of the earth
with invisile agents, and insensibly binding their hands,
and the necessity of union among the friends of suffering humanity,
to accomplish this desirable end, are strongly inculcated.
The tractable pupil has but one grade more to ascend
before he enters the secrets of Illuminism.
This is termed by the sect the ... *
* Barruel's Memoirs, Vol. III. Chap.7.
Scotch Knight.
In the late masonic revolution,
this new degree, which had been brought from France,
was adopted by several of the German lodges.
The welcome reception which those of this degree met with in all the lodges,
determined the Illuminees to unite it with their system.
This becomes a Sta bene, or stationary degree,
to such as they see fit to advance
above the common degrees of Masonry,
but are not judged worthy of being admitted to the higher secrets.
Instead of the scenes of darkness and horror
which attended the introduction to the other degrees,
the candidate is now introduced into a splendid lodge,
where all the Knights are present in the habiliments of their order;
and here, he is told, is a part of those unknown legions,
united by indissoluble bands, to defend the cause of humanity.
In the course of the ceremonies,
Jesus Christ is declared to be the grand master of the order,
the enemy of superstition, and asserter of reason;
and in commemoration of him,
a mock representation is exhibited of the Lord's Supper.
The instructions given the new Knight,
direct him to promote the increase of Eclectic Masonry;
to endeavor to gain an ascendancy in all other masonic lodges,
either to reform or destroy them;
and, as far as possible, to convert their funds
to the advancement of the cause of Illuminism. *
* Proofs, p. 141 to 145. Memoirs, Vol. III. Chap. 8.
Here we come to the door which leads to the mysteries of Illuminism;
and here we must leave behind all those, who,
though pleased with romantic ideas of Cosmopolitism,
and of undermining what appeared to them superstition,
and who, under these impressions,
might actively discharge the instructions last received,
yet were not to be trusted
with the higher mysteries of Illuminism.
The reader will naturally conclude,
that all who were admitted to this order,
were not subjected to these tedious preparatory forms;
some were found (as Knigge for instance)
who met the warmest wishes of the society,
and without any preparation
were introduced to its mysteries.
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