Chapter III. Of the Brother Insinuator, or the Recruiter

Code of the Illuminati: Part III of Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, by A Barruel, tr. Robert Edward Clifford [1798], at sacred-texts.com

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CHAP. III.

First Part of the Code of the Illuminees.—Of the Brother Insinuator, or the Recruiter.

By the appellation of Brother Insinuator, is to be understood the Illuminee whose peculiar office is to make proselytes for the Sect. Some brethren were more particularly instructed for that end; they might, indeed, be called the Apostles or Missionaries of the Order, being those whom the superiors sent to the different towns and provinces, and even into distant countries, to propagate its doctrines and to establish new Lodges. These had received, in addition to the common rules, farther instructions peculiar to the higher degrees. "These (as Weishaupt writes) may sometimes be the most imbecile, and at other times the most ingenious of the Brotherhood." From the former he can depend on a blind obedience to the rules he lays down, which are never to be deviated from; and with respect to the latter, provided they be zealous and punctual, should they even transgress any of the laws, it would not be in such a manner as to commit either their own safety or that of the Order; and they would soon make amends for their indiscretion by some new artifice. But, whatever may be the sense of the Illuminee, he is obliged once or twice in his life to act the part of Brother Insinuator, and that with a certain success, by the acquisition of two or three proselytes, under pain of perpetually remaining in the lower degrees. Some Brethren of high rank may have been dispensed from this formality; but as to the generality of them there exists a positive law on that point. ¹ To stimulate the zeal of the Brethren, the Insinuator is by the laws of the code established superior over every novice that he has gained to the Order: It is expressed as follows: "Every Illuminee may form to himself a petty empire; and from his littleness, emerge to greatness and power." ²

Such then is the first duty imposed upon every Illuminee for the propagation of the Sect; and this is the part which first claims our attention, in order that we may be able to form an idea of the immensurable powers of Weishaupt for seduction.

This part may be said to be subdivided into three. The rules laid down are, first, those which are to guide the Brother Insinuator in the choice of persons to be admitted or excluded; then follow those which are to teach him how to entice into the order those persons whom he has judged proper for it;

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and lastly come those rules and arts by which novices are to be formed, and even involved in Illuminism before they are officially admitted.

In order to judge of the qualifications of the persons whom he may enlist, every Illuminee is to begin by procuring tablets, which he is to keep in the form of a Journal; and this is his Diary. Assiduously prying into every thing that surrounds him, he must vigilantly observe all persons with whom he becomes acquainted, or whom he meets in company, without exception of relations, friends, enemies, or entire strangers; he must endeavour to discover their strong and their weak side; their passions and prejudices; their intimacies, and above all, their actions, interests, and fortune; in a word, every thing relating to them: and the remarks of every day he must enter in his Diary.

A twofold advantage is to be reaped from these particulars of information; first, by the Order in general and its superiors; secondly, by the adept himself. Twice every month he will make a general statement of his observations, and he will transmit it to his superiors. By these means the Order will be informed what men, in every town or village, are friendly or inimical to it. The means of gaining over the one or destroying the other will naturally occur. With respect to the Insinuator, he will learn how to judge of those who are proper persons to be received or rejected, and he will carefully insert his reasons for the admission or rejection of those persons in his monthly statements. ³

The Recruiting Brother will carefully guard against giving the most distant hint that he is an Illuminee. This law is peremptory for the Brethren, but more particularly for all the Insinuators, whose success may often essentially depend on it. It is to them that the legislator so strongly recommends all that exterior of virtue and of perfection, that care of shunning all public scandals which might deprive them of their ascendancy over the minds of those whom they seek to entice into the Order. ⁴ The law expressly says, "Apply yourselves to the acquiring of interior and exterior perfection;" but lest they should conceive that this perfection even hinted at the mastering of their passions, and at renouncing the pleasures of the world, he adds, "Attend particularly to the art of dissembling and of disguising your actions, the better to observe those of others, and to penetrate into their inmost thoughts. "Die kunst zu erlernen sich zu verstellen, andere zu beobachten, and aus zu forschen." It is for that reason that these three great precepts are to be found in the summary of the Code: hold thy tongue—be perfect—disguise thyself—almost following each other in the same page, and serving as an explanation of each other. ⁵

Having made himself perfect master of these precepts, and particularly of the last, the Insinuator is next to turn his attention to those persons whom he may admit or ought to reject. He is not to admit into the Order either Pagans or Jews; but he is equally to reject all religious; and above all to shun the Ex-Jesuits as he would the plague. Ordens geistliche dürfen nie aufgenommen werden, und die Ex-Jesuiten soll man wie die pest fliehen. ⁶

The cause of such exclusions is obvious. To speak of religion, and admit, without any precaution, Jews, Turks, and Pagans, would be too open a

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manifestation of what their religion was; and not to reject religious, would be exposing themselves to be betrayed by their own adepts.

Unless they gave evident signs of a sincere amendment, all indiscreet talkers were to be rejected; and also those men whose pride, or headstrong, interested, and inconstant minds denoted that it would be impossible to infuse into them that zeal so necessary for the order; all those again, whose drunken excesses might injure that reputation of virtue which the Order was to acquire; all those, in short, whose meanness and grossness of manners would render them too untractable to give hope for their ever becoming pliant and useful. ⁷

"Leave those brutes, those clownish and thickheaded fellows!" he exclaims in his Chapter on Exclusions; but, though he excluded these thickheaded fellows, Weishaupt was aware that there existed a good sort of being which some might call stupid, but who are not to be told so, as advantage may be taken of their stupidity. Such were, for example, a Baron D’Ert, and many others, who holding a certain rank in the world, though destitute of common sense, have at least their riches to recommend them. "These are a good sort of beings," says our illuminizing legislator; "they are necessary beings. They augment our number and fill our coffers, augent numerum et ærarium. Courage then! and make these gentry swallow the bait; but beware of communicating to them our secrets; For this species of adept must always be persuaded that the degree they are in is the highest. ⁸

Indeed, there is a sort of half exclusion for princes. The Code ordains that they shall seldom be admitted, and even when they are, shall scarcely ever rise beyond the degree of Scotch Knight; or, in other words, they are never to pass the threshold of the mysteries. Hereafter we shall see the Legislator finding an expedient for introducing them beyond that degree, but still without giving them any further insight into the mysteries; ⁹ and being particularly careful to hide from them certain laws of the Order. ¹⁰

I cannot take upon myself to say, whether a similar expedient had been found as an exception to the general rule which excluded women; but it is certain, that this law was, during a long time at least, only provisional; and many of the brethren sought to revoke it. Freemasonry had its female adepts, and the Illuminees wished to have theirs. The plan is written in Zwack's own hand-writing, and he was the most intimate friend and confidant of Weishaupt, in short, his incomparable man. It is couched in the following terms:

"Plan for an Order of Women.—This Order shall be subdivided into two classes, each forming a separate society, and having a different secret. The first shall be composed of virtuous women; the second, of the wild, the giddy, and the voluptuous, auschveifenden.

"Both classes are to be ignorant that they are under the direction of men. The two superiors are to be persuaded that they are under a mother Lodge of the same sex, which transmits its orders; though in reality these orders are to be transmitted by men.

"The Brethren who are intrusted with this superintendance shall forward their instructions without making themselves known. They shall conduct the

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first, by promoting the reading of good books, but shall form the latter to the arts of secretly gratifying their passions, durch begnügung ihrer leidenschaften im verborgenen."

A preliminary discourse prefixed to this plan points out the object and future services of these illuminized sisters. "The advantages which the real Order would reap from this female Order would be, first, the money which the sisterhood would pay at their initiation; and, secondly, a heavy tax upon their curiosity, under the supposition of secrets that are to be learned. And this association might moreover serve to gratify those brethren who had a turn for sensual pleasure." ¹¹

A list and description of eighty-five young ladies of Manheim accompanied this project of Zwack, very properly surnamed the Cato of Illuminism; from among whom, in all probability, the founders of these two classes were to be chosen. Circumstances not having favoured our modern Cato's views, we observe several other adepts proposing similar plans. An assessor of the Imperial Chamber at Wetzlaar of the name of Dittfurt, known among the Illuminees by that of Minos, and who rose to the degree of Regent, and to the dignity of Provincial, seemed to dispute the honor of this invention, both with Brother Hercules and even with Cato himself: We must allow, at least, that nobody was more anxious for the execution of the project than he was. He had already submitted his ideas to the Baron Knigge, and he applies anew to Weishaupt. He even despairs of ever bringing men to the grand object of the order without the support of the female adepts. Indeed, so ardent is his zeal, that he makes an offer of his own wife and his four daughters-in-law to be the first adepts. The eldest was exactly the person for the philosophized sisterhood; she was four-and-twenty years of age, and with respect to religion her ideas were far above those of her sex; they were modelled on her father's. He had attained to the degrees of Regent and Prince of the Illuminees, and she would have been Regent and Princess. In the higher mysteries, together with Ptolemy's wife, we should have seen the one corresponding with her father, the other with her husband. These illuminized Princesses would be the only two persons of the order who should know that they were all under the direction of men. They would preside over the trials and receptions of Minervals, and would initiate those whom they judged worthy into the grand projects of the sisterhood for the reform of governments and the happiness of mankind. ¹²

But, notwithstanding all the plans and zeal of the Brethren, it does not appear that the legislator ever consented to the establishment of the Sisterhood. Yet he supplied the want of such an institution by secret instructions which he gave the Regents on the means of making the influence of women over men subservient to the order, without initiating them in any of the secrets. He says, that the fair sex having the greatest part of the world at their disposition, "no study was more worthy of the adept than the art of flattery in order to gain them; that they were all more or less led by vanity, curiosity, the pleasures or the love of novelty; that it was on that side they were to be attacked, and by that they were to be rendered serviceable to the order." ¹³ He nevertheless

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continued to exclude great talkers and women from all the degrees, nor was the sixth article of his instructions for the Insinuator rescinded.

Notwithstanding all these exclusions, the legislator leaves a sufficient scope wherein the Insinuator may exercise his zeal. He recommends generally young men of all stations from eighteen to thirty; but more particularly those whose educations were not completed, either because he thought they would more easily imbibe his principles, or would be more grateful and more zealous for doctrines for which they were indebted solely to him. ¹⁴

But this preference is not an exclusion for men of a certain age, provided they are not past service, and are already imbued with the principles of Illuminism. ¹⁵ This, however, chiefly regards those persons whose rank in life can give consequence and afford protection to the order. The Recruiters are particularly instructed to insinuate themselves into the good opinion of such persons, and if possible to entice them into the Order.

There is yet another species of men, who have speech as it were at command; such are attornies, counsellors, and even physicians. "Those are worth having," says Weishaupt; "but they are sometimes real devils, so difficult are they to be led; they however are worth having when they can be gained over. ¹⁶

The Insinuator is also to admit artists, mechanics of all professions, painters, engravers, white-smiths and black-smiths; but above all booksellers, those who keep post-horses, and school-masters. Hereafter the reader will see the use for which these men were intended. ¹⁷

To yet another class of men our legislator often calls the attention of the Insinuator: "Seek me out, for example," says Weishaupt, "the dexterous and dashing youths. We must have adepts who are insinuating, intriguing, full of resource, bold and enterprising; they must also be flexible and tractable, obedient, docile, and sociable. Seek out also those who are distinguished by their power, nobility, riches, or learning, nobiles, potentes, divites, doctos, quærite—Spare no pains, spare nothing in the acquisition of such adepts. If heaven refuse its aidance, conjure hell.

With respect to religions, he prefers the disciples of Luther and Calvin to the Roman Catholics, and greatly prefers the former to the latter. This distinction should alone suffice to open the eyes of many who wish to persuade themselves that the whole of the revolutionary fury is aimed at the Roman Catholic religion. This motley crew certainly did the Catholics the honour of directing their shafts more pointedly at them, as strenuous opponents of their impiety and of their religious and civil anarchy; but was it to preserve the Protestant religion that Weishaupt gives them such a preference, in hopes of making them subservient to his plots? That he did give such a preference cannot be doubted, when we see him expressly writing to an adept whom he had commissioned to look out for a person proper to be received into the higher mysteries and to found a new colony of Illuminees—were this man a Protestant I should like him much better.—Wäre es ein Protestant,

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so wäre es mir um so Lieber. ¹⁹ Weishaupt's most famous adept constantly manifests the same predilection; he even wishes to retrench certain parts of the mysteries that he may not alarm the Catholics, and seems always to hint at Frederic the IId’s saying, We Protestants go on brisker. ²⁰ Most certainly this proves beyond a possibility of doubt, that the destruction of all Protestant laws, whether civil or religious, had place in their plans. Nor were the Protestants of Germany the dupes of such a policy, as many of the most determined antagonists of Illuminism were of that religion.

Further, he wishes to entice men into his order who have fixed residences in towns, such as merchants and canons, who might assiduously propagate his doctrines, and establish them in their neighbourhoods. ²¹

The Recruiter must use every art (for an obvious reason) to engage schoolmasters, and to insinuate his doctrines into, and gain adepts in the military academies, and other places of education; he is even to attempt the seduction of the superiors of ecclesiastical seminaries. ²²

"He will spare no trouble to gain the Prince's officers, whether presiding over provinces, or attending him in his councils. He that has succeeded in this has done more," says the code, "than if he had engaged the Prince himself. ²³ In fine, the Provincial, or the chief Insinuator, is to recruit every thing that can be tainted with Illuminism, or can be serviceable to its cause." ²⁴

The following extraordinary instructions are also given by Weishaupt respecting the choice of adepts: "Above all things (he says to his Insinuators) pay attention to the figure, and select the well-made men and handsome young fellows. They are generally of engaging manners and nice feelings. When properly formed, they are the best adapted for negotiations; for first appearances prepossess in their favour. It is true, they have not the depth that men of more gloomy countenances often have. They are not the persons to be entrusted with a revolt, or the care of stirring up the people; but it is for that very reason that we must know how to chuse our agents. I am particularly fond of those men whose very soul is painted in their eyes, whose foreheads are high, and whose countenances are open. Above all, examine well the eyes, for they are the very mirrors of the heart and soul. Observe the look, the gait, the voice. Every external appearance leads us to distinguish those who are fit for our school." ²⁵

"Select those in particular who have met with misfortunes, not from accidents, but by some act of injustice; that is to say, in other words, the discontented; for such are the men to be called into the bosom of Illuminism, as into their proper asylum." ²⁶

Let not the reader already exclaim, How deep are the views of this illuminizing Sophister? How has he foreseen every point! With what discernment does he lay his snares to entrap those who are to be the future agents of his plots! The reader has as yet seen merely a schedule of those persons who may be admitted or rejected; but that does not sufficiently secure the order with respect to the elections which the Insinuator may have made. Before he undertakes the initiation of any person whom he may have thought

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proper, he is to make a statement from his diary of every thing that he may have observed with respect to his morals, opinions, conduct, and even of his connections in life. He is to submit this statement to his superiors, who will compare it with the notes they are already in possession of, or may acquire from other adepts, respecting the candidate, or even with a new statement, in case they judge the last to be insufficient. Even when the choice made by the Insinuator is approved of, all is not settled; the superiors have to determine which of the Insinuators is to be entrusted with the care of enticing the approved person into the Order: for all this is foreseen in the code. It is not allowed to all the brethren to exercise promiscuously so important a trust among the prophane, though they may have pointed out the person proper for reception. The young adept is not to measure his strength with the man who has the advantage over him in years and experience, nor is the tradesman to undertake the magistrate. The superior is to name the most proper Insinuator, judging from the circumstances, age, merits, dignities, or talents of the future candidate. ²⁷ At length, when the mission is given, the Insinuator begins to lay his snares.—Such is the second part of this extraordinary functionary, and all his subsequent steps are regulated by the code.

Candidate, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, means a person who has shown a desire or taken some steps into some order, or to acquire some dignity. In Illuminism it means the person on whom the Order has fixed its attention. It often happens, that the candidate is ignorant of the very existence of the sect. It is the Insinuator's business to inspire him with the wish of entering it. To accomplish this grand object, two different methods are inculcated. The first is for the Insinuator who has some candidate in view remarkable for his science or of a certain age. The second, for him who is entrusted with young men from eighteen to thirty, and who are susceptible of a second education. A third method was proposed for workmen, and those clownish fellows whose education had been but little attended to. We may observe Weishaupt consulting with his confidant Zwack on this part of the code; but whether it was never digested, or that he saw the Insinuators could easily supply the defect, no further mention is made of the third method. Let us then examine the essence of the first two.

To exemplify the first method, let us suppose one of those men who have gone through a complete course of modern Philosophism, who, should they not scoff at Christianity, would at least hesitate at every thing which is called religion; for the code forewarns the Insinuator, that his efforts would be vain should he attempt to seduce Philosophers of another stamp, men of sound judgment, and who would never be partizans of doctrines which could not endure the light of broad day. But when he shall have discovered one of the former who has already pretty well imbibed the principles of the sect, he will assume the character of a Philosopher well versed in the mysteries of antiquity. He will have little difficulty in acting such a part, as he will find ample instructions in the code. To follow those instructions faithfully, he must begin "by descanting on the supreme felicity of being versed in sciences which few

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can approach, of walking in the paths of light while the vulgar are groping in darkness. He must remark, that there exist doctrines solely transmitted by secret traditions, because they are above the comprehension of common minds. In proof of his assertions he will cite the Gymnosophists in the Indies, the Priests of Isis in Egypt, and those of Eleusis and the Pythagorean school in Greece."

He will select certain sentences from Cicero, Seneca, Aristides, and Isocrates; and, lest he should ever be taken unawares, he will learn those by heart which the legislator has carefully inserted in the code. Though it would be very easy to demonstrate from those very authors, that the ancient mysteries laid down no fixed principles on the important points of the Providence of God, and of the origin and order of the universe, the Insinuator is nevertheless to quote those texts to prove that there exists a secret doctrine on these objects, and above all a doctrine calculated to render life more agreeable, and pain more supportable; and to enlarge our ideas on the majesty of God. "Let him add, that all the sages of antiquity were acquainted with these doctrines; let him insist on the uncertainty that man is in with respect to the nature of the soul, its immortality, and its future destiny. He will then sound his candidate, to know whether he would not rejoice at having some satisfactory answers on objects of such great importance. At the same time he will hint that he has had the happiness of being initiated into these doctrines, and that, should the candidate wish it, he would do his best to procure him the same felicity; but that it was a science gradually imparted, and that certain men possessed the talent of guiding him from a distance, of leading him to the discovery of this new world, and that without being ever in his presence. ²⁸

When the Insinuator has by such language succeeded in exciting the curiosity of his candidate, he must then ascertain his opinions on some particular articles. He will propose the discussion of certain questions in writing, and of certain principles, as the groundwork on which they are in future to proceed. The code does not determine what these questions are to be, because they vary according to the political and religious dispositions which the Insinuator may have observed in the candidate. Should these dissertations noway agree with the principles of the sect, the Insinuator will abandon his prey. Should the sophisticated candidate, or the man of importance, be found properly disposed, he will be admitted to the very threshold of the mysteries. The Insinuator will simply explain the inferior degrees to him, and mention the divers trials which the order has dispensed with in consideration of his merit. ²⁹

Notwithstanding the artifice observable in this method, it is still reserved for those who need only to be acquainted with Illuminism to adopt its tenets. But should the Insinuator be entrusted with a young candidate, or with one whose principles noway coincide with those of the sect, and who is yet to be formed; it is then that Weishaupt developer that immense theory of art and cunning by which he is insensibly to ensnare his victims. "Let your first care," he says to the Insinuators, "be to gain the affection, the confidence, and the

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esteem of those persons whom you are to entice into the Order—let your whole conduct be such, that they shall surmise something more in you than you wish to show—hint that you belong to some secret and powerful society excite little by little, and not at once, a wish in your candidate to belong to a similar society—Certain arguments and certain books which the Insinuator must have, will greatly contribute to raise such a wish; such are, for example, those which treat of the union and strength of associations." The Legislator then carefully adds a list of those books, and the Order charges itself with the care of furnishing a certain number of them to the adepts. The works of Meiners, and particularly of Bassadows, are frequently recommended by Weishaupt, as the best fitted to inspire their readers with the love and principles of secret societies. But nothing can equal the art with which he himself has drawn up the reasons, by the help of which the Insinuator is to persuade his young candidate of the pretended necessity for these mysterious associations.

"One represents, for example," says the code, "a child in the cradle; one speaks of its cries, its tears, its weakness—One remarks how this child, abandoned to itself, is entirely helpless; but that by the help of others it acquires strength—One shows how the greatness of Princes is derived from the union of their subjects—One exalts the advantages of the state of society over the state of nature—Then one touches on the art of knowing and directing mankind—How easily, you will say, could one man of parts lead hundreds, even thousands, if he but knew his own advantages. This is evidently proved by the organization of armies, and the amazing power which princes derive from the union of their subjects."

After having descanted on the advantages of society in general, touch upon the defects of civil society, and say how little relief is to be obtained even from one's best friends,—and how very necessary it would be to support each other in these days. Add, that men would triumph even over heaven were they but united—That it is their disunion which subjects them to the yoke.—This is to be explained by the fable of the wolf and the two dogs, the latter of whom could only be vanquished by the former after he had parted them; and by many other examples of the same kind which the Insinuator will collect. ³⁰

As a proof of what great and important things secret societies can effectuate, he will adduce the examples of the Freemasons, of the mysterious societies of antiquity, and even of the Jesuits. He will assert, that all the great events of this world are dependent on hidden causes, which these secret societies powerfully influence; he will awake in the breast of his pupil the desire of secretly reigning, of preparing in his closet a new constitution for the world, and of governing those who think they govern us. ³¹

"When you shall have got thus far," says the code, "begin to show (as it were unguardedly) that you are not entirely ignorant of those secrets; throw out some half sentences which may denote it. Should your candidate take the hint, press him, and return to the charge, until you see him betray symptoms of a desire instantaneously to unite with such a society.

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"The Insinuator, however, who has thus far succeeded in inspiring his pupil with such a wish, has not played off every engine with which the code has furnished him. To sound the very bottom of his mind, he will pretend to consult him as if he had been entrusted with certain secrets, he will make objections on the secrecy of these societies; but should they make too much impression he will resolve them himself. At other times, to stimulate the curiosity of his pupil, he will hold a letter in his hand written in cypher, or he will leave it half open on his table, giving his candidate sufficient time to observe the cypher, and then shut it up with all the air of a man who has important correspondences to keep secret. At other times studying the connections and actions of his pupil, he will tell him of certain circumstances which the young man will think he has learned by means of these secret societies, from whom nothing is hidden, though they are concealed from all the rest of the world." ³²

These artifices may be greatly abridged, according as the friendship or communicative disposition of the candidate shall have laid him more open; but on the other hand, should they not suffice, the Insinuator is not on that account to abandon his purpose; let him try to accomplish by others what he has failed in himself—Let him examine his own conduct, and see if he has not neglected some one or more of the rules prescribed in the code; let him redouble his attention and his complaisance. Should it be necesssary to humble himself in order to command, let not the Insinuator forget the formal precept of his legislator, "Learn also to act the valet in order to become master." Auch zu weilen den knecht gemacht, um dereinst herr zu werden. ³³

After such a long series of condescensions and discussions the candidate at length must pronounce. If he submit to all these insinuations, he is admitted among the novices of the order; but should he persist in his refusal, let him learn the fate which awaits him from those who have experienced it. "Unhappy, supremely wretched is the youth whom the Illuminees have sought in vain to entice into their sect. Should he even escape their snares, do not let him flatter himself with being proof against their hatred; and let him take care. The vengeance of secret societies is not a common vengeance; it is the hidden fire of wrath. It is irreconcilable, and scarcely ever does it cease the pursuit of its victims until it has seen them immolated." ³⁴ Such at least is the account which history gives us of those who have been guarded enough to withstand the insinuations of the Sect, and particularly of those who, after having gone the first steps with the Insinuator, have refused to proceed any farther with him.

I could cite divers examples; though I once thought that I had met with one of a quite opposite nature, in the person of Camille de Jourdan, the same deputy who was to have been involved in the sentence of transportation against Barthelemy and Pichegru after the revolution of the 4th of September, but who luckily escaped from the grasp of the triumvirate. I hear him speaking in the highest terms of one of these Insinuators, who had for a long time endeavoured to entice him into the order. He was much astonished at hearing me speak of these men as consummate in all the artifices of the most villanous

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hypocrisy. He maintained that his Illuminee was mild, modest, and moderate; full of respect for the Gospel, in a word, one of the most virtuous men he had ever known. In reply, I enumerated all the proceedings of the Insinuator, and the artifices he had played off before he quitted his prey. To all that Mr. Camille answered, "It is true; such was his behaviour; but it was his zeal for the sect which blinded him, and made him have recourse to such expedients in order to work what he called my conversion; yet, with all that, it was impossible for any body to speak of virtue and religion in so impressive a manner as he did without being at least an honest man."—"Well," said I, "I will venture to assert, that the last attempt of your Insinuator was as follows. He proposed to you to give your thoughts in writing on certain questions; you did so; your opinions proved directly opposite to his; he never saw you after, became your implacable enemy, and has never since ceased calumniating you." "All that again," answered Mr. Camille, "is very true; nor was it his fault that I did not lose both friends and fortune. Before that affair he used to praise me; afterwards, however, he represented me as a most dangerous man. You cannot conceive what lies he invented about me, and I was unfortunate enough to observe that they had made impression."—Is it possible to be believed? Mr. Camille could not yet be persuaded but that his Insinuator was a virtuous man; so profound are the arts of hypocrisy which are to be imbibed from Weishaupt's laws! I was acquainted with two bishops, who had as completely mistaken the characters of their Insinuators as Mr. Camille de Jourdan.

But I will cite the example of Mr. Stark. I never could conceive what this Mr. Stark was whom I saw perpetually abused by the Illuminees. Nicolai and Mirabeau spared no pains to render him odious to the Protestants in Germany; they said he had received the Catholic orders of priesthood privately, ³⁵ though every thing seemed to denote that he was a Protestant. I took some pains to inform myself who this Mr. Stark was, and I found him one of the most learned Protestant ministers in Germany; that his zeal for his religion had acquired him the degree of Doctor, and had preferred him to be Grand Almoner and Counsellor to the Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt; but that in common with several other learned men, such as Hoffman and Zimmerman, he had had the misfortune of being sought after by the Illuminees; that he would not hearken to them; that the Illuminees had expressed a wish to have an Adept near the person of the prince, and that he had been bold enough to answer his Insinuator, "If you seek support, I am too little and my prince too great to protect you."—And every candidate who will make the same resolute stand against the agents of the order must expect to be repaid with similar calumnies. The law of the order is invariable and precise, particularly with respect to those whose talents may be obnoxious to Illuminism. They must be gained over, or ruined in the public opinion. Such is the text, so soll man den schrift steller zu gewinnen suchen, oder verschreyen. ³⁶ But it is now time to follow the candidate who has shown himself more docile through the various preparatory degrees.

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Footnotes

426:1 Original Writings. The Statutes reformed, Art. 18.

426:2 Ibid.

426:3 Original Writings.—The Statutes reformed, Art. 9, 13, and following.—Instructions for the Insinuators, Sect. XI, No. I.—for the Insinuated Nos. 1, 3, 5, &c.—Let. the 4th to Ajax.

426:4 See Original Writings, Vol. II. Lett. 1, and 9.

426:5 Original Writings, Vol. I. p. 40. Nos. 4, 6, and 8.

426:6 The Last Works of Spartacus and Philo.—Instruction for the Stationary Prefects and Superiors, Page 153, Let. the 2d.—And Original Writings, Instructio pro Recipientibus, Nos. 1, and 5.

426:7 Instructio pro Recipientibus, page 94, and Weishaupt's Letters, passim.

426:8 Original Writings. See the first Letters to Ajax and Cato.

426:9 See Degree of Regent, page 154, Letter N.

426:10 See Instructions for the Provincial, No. 16.

426:11 Original Writings, Vol. I. Sect. V.

426:12 Original Writings, Vol. I. Let. of Minos, p. 169.

426:13 See the New Works of Spartacus and Philo, and Instructions for the degree of Regent, No. 6.

426:14 Orig. Writ. Instructiones pro Recipientibus, Page 54, No. 4; and Page 55, No. 18.

426:15 Ibid. Vol. II. Part the 2d, Section and Degree of Regent.

426:16 Orig. Writ. Vol. I. Let. to Ajax.

426:17 See Instructions for the Insinuator, No. 4.—Weishaupt's Letters, passim-and the Degree of Regent.

426:18 Ibid. Let. 3d to Ajax.

426:19 Orig. Writ. Vol. I. Let. to Tiberius, P. 223.

426:20 See Vol. I. page 33.

426:21 Instructions for the Provincial and Orig. Writ. Vol. I. Part II, No. 3, page 26.

426:22 Ibid. Nos. 11 and 13.

426:23 Ibid. No. 15.

426:24 Ibid. No. 18.

426:25 Let. 11th to Marius and Cato.

426:26 Instruction for the Local Superiors, Letter H.

426:27 Instructiones pro Recipientibus. Orig. Writ. Vol. I. Nos. 1 and 7, page 54.

426:28 Original Writings, Vol. II. Part II. Sect. I.

426:29 Original Writings, Vol. II. Part II. Sect. I.

426:30 Extract of the Instructions for the Brethren charged to enroll and receive the candidates—Original Writings, Vol. I. Sec. IX. and XII.—Also in the degree of Illuminatus Major; instructions on the same object, Document A.

426:31 Original Writings, ibid. No 11 and 12. Illuminatus Major, Document A, and Letters K, L.

426:32 Original Writings, ibid. No. 17 to 22.

426:33 Ibid. Let 3d, to Ajax.

426:34 Important Advice, &c. by Hoffmann. Preface to Vol. II.

426:35 Mirabeau Monarchie Prussienne, Vol. V. art. Religion.

426:36 Instructions for the Regent, No. 15.