Do you realize sufficiently what it means to rule--to rule in a secret Society? Not only over the lesser or more important of the populace, but over the best men, over men of all ranks, nations, and religions, to rule without external force, to unite them indissolubly, to breathe one spirit and soul into them, men distributed over all parts of the world?...[571]
And finally, do you know what secret societies are? what a place they occupy in the great kingdom of the world's events? Do you really think they are unimportant, transitory appearances?[572] etc.
But the admission of political aims is reserved only for the higher grades of the Order. "With the beginner," says Weishaupt, "we must be careful about books on religion and the State. I have reserved these in my plan for the higher degrees."[573] Accordingly the discourse to the "Minerval" is expressly designed to put him off the track. Thus the initiator is to say to him:
After two years' reflection, experience, intercourse, reading of the graduated writings and information, you will necessarily have formed the idea that the final aim of our Society is nothing less than to win power and riches, to undermine secular or religious government, and to obtain the mastery of the world, and so on. If you have represented our Society to yourself from this point of view or have entered it in this expectation, you have mightily deceived yourself....[574]
The initiator, without informing the Minerval of the real aim of the Society, then goes on to say that he is now free to leave it if he wishes. By this means the leaders were able to eliminate ambitious people who might become their rivals to power and to form their ranks out of men who would submit to be led blindly onward by unseen directors. "My circumstances necessitate," Spartacus writes to Cato, "that I should remain hidden from most of the members as long as I live. I am obliged to do everything through five or six persons."[575] So carefully was this secret guarded that until the papers of the Illuminati were seized in 1786 no one outside this inner circle knew that Weishaupt was the head of the Order. Yet if we are to believe his own assertions, he had been throughout in supreme control. Again and again he impresses on his intimes the necessity for unity of command in the Order: "One must show how easy it would be for one clever head to direct hundreds and thousands of men,"[576] and he illustrates this system by the table reproduced on the next page, to which he appends the following explanation:
I have two immediately below me into whom I breathe my whole spirit, and each of these two has again two others, and so on. In this way I can set a thousand men in motion and on fire in the simplest manner, and in this way one must impart orders and operate on politics.[577]
Thus, as in the case of Abdullah ibn Maymūn's society, "the extraordinary result was brought about that a multitude of men of divers beliefs were all working together for an object known only to a few of them."
Enough has now been quoted from the correspondence of the Illuminati to show their aims and methods according to their own admissions. We shall now see how far their apologists are justified in describing them as "men of the strictest morality and humanity."[578] Doubtless there were many excellent people in the outer ranks of the Order, but this is not the contention of Mr. Gould, who expressly states that "all the prominent members of this association were estimable men both in public and in private life." These further extracts from their correspondence may be left to speak for themselves.
Character of the Illuminati
In June 1782 Weishaupt writes to "Cato" as follows:
Oh, in politics and morality you are far behind, my gentlemen. Judge further if such a man as Marcus Aurelius[579] finds out how wretched it [Illuminism] appears in Athens [Munich]; what a collection of immoral men, of whoremongers, liars, debtors, boasters, and vain fools they have amongst them. If he saw all that, what do you suppose the man would think? Would he not be ashamed to find himself in such an association, in which the leaders arouse the greatest expectations and carry out the best plan in such a miserable manner? And all this out of caprice, expediency, etc. Judge whether I am not right.[580]
[Illustration: Diagram of Weishapt's System. From Nachtrag von weitern Originalschriften der Illuminatensekte, p. 32. München, 1787.]
From Thebes [Freysing] I hear fatal news; they have received into the lodge the scandal of the whole town, the dissolute debtor Propertius, who is trumpeted abroad by the whole "personnel" of Athens [Munich], Thebes and Erzerum [Eichstadt]; D. also[Pg 234] appears to be a bad man. Socrates who would be a capital man [ein Capital Mann] is continually drunk, Augustus in the worst repute, and Alcibiades sits the whole day with the innkeeper's wife sighing and pining: Tiberius tried in Corinth to rape the sister of Democedes and the husband came in. In Heaven's name, what are these for Areopagites! We upper ones, write, read and work ourselves to death, offer to ⊙ our health, fame and fortune, whilst these gentlemen indulge their weaknesses, go a whoring, cause scandals and yet are Areopagites and want to know about everything.[581]
Concerning Arminius there are great complaints.... He is an unbearable, obstinate, arrogant, vain fool![582]
Let Celsus, Marius, Scipio, and Ajax do what they will ... no one does us so much harm as Celsus, no one is less to be reasoned with than Celsus, and perhaps few could have been so much use to us as Celsus.... Marius is obstinate and can see no great plan, Scipio is negligent, and of Ajax I will not speak at all.... Confucius is worth very little: he is too inquisitive and a terrible chatterer [ein grausamer Schwatzer].[583]
Agrippa must be quite struck off our list, for the rumour goes round ... that he has stolen a gold and silver watch together with a ring from our best fellow-worker Sulla.[584]