“XIII. That the Provincial may not be overburdened with too extensive a correspondence, all the Quibus Licets, and all the letters of the Regents, shall pass through the hands of the Prefect, unless the Provincial gives Orders to the contrary.
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“XIV. But the Prefect shall not open the letters of the Regents. Those he must transmit to the Provincial, who will forward them to their proper destination.
“XV. The Provincial has the power of convoking the whole of his Regents, or merely those whom he may think proper, considering the exigencies of the Province. He who cannot attend according to his summons must give the proper notice at least four weeks prior to the meeting. Beside, he is always to be ready to give in an account of what he has done for the Order until that period, and show willingness to fulfil the intentions of his Provincial and of his high Superiors. The convocation of Regents must take place at least once a year.
“XVI. The following instruction (B) will point out more particularly to the Regents those objects to which they must chiefly attend.
“XVII. It has been already observed, that great attention is to be paid to the gradually procuring of funds for the Order. This may be accomplished by attending to the following rules:
“Each province is to be entrusted with the expenditure of its own monies, and only remit small contributions to the Superiors for the expences of postage. Each Lodge also is to enjoy the full propriety of its funds (eigenthümlich)—when for any great enterprize the assembly of the Regents levy contributions on the funds of the different Lodges, they shall be considered but as loans, and shall be made good to the Lodges with full interest.”
Has the Illuminizing Legislator then forgotten, that it was property which gave the first deadly blow to Equality and Liberty? Certainly not; but more than onegreat enterprize will be necessary to prepare the last, which is to annihilate all property whatsoever; meanwhile the Order is glad to enjoy its own, and to make the inferior Lodges believe that they are not to be pillaged of any thing that belongs to them.
“The Provincial has no fund allotted to him, but he has an exact return of all those of his province.”
“The general receipts will consist—1°. In the contributions paid on the receptions of Masons (freymaurer-receptions-gelder)—2°. In the over-plus of the monthly contributions—3°. In voluntary subscriptions—4°. In fines—5°. In legacies and donations—6°. In our commerce and traffic (handel und gewerbe).”
“The expences are—1°. The expences of the meetings, postage, decorations, and some few journeys—2°. Pensions to the poor brethren who have no other means of subsistence—3°. Sums paid for the promotion of the grand object of the Order—4°. Sums paid for the encouraging of talents—5°. The expences of experiments and trials—6°. For widows and children—7°. For foundations.”
Thus terminates the first part of the instructions for the Regent. After the reading of this, which takes place on the day of his inauguration, his attention is called to the following:
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Instruction B for the whole degree of Regent
The reader has seen (ut supra, art. xvi.) the Regent forewarned to pay a particular attention to this second part of the instructions. Let the reader also profit of the hint. He will see that many of the arcana of the Sect still remain to be revealed.
“I. The object of the Order being to render man more happy, virtue more attractive, and vice less powerful, it is necesssary that our brethren, the teachers and governors of mankind, should publicly assume an unimpeachable character. A Regent of Illuminism therefore will be the most perfect of men. He will be prudent, provident, ingenious, irreproachable, and of manners so urbane that his company shall be courted with avidity. He is to acquire the reputation of being enlightened, benevolent, honest, disinterested, and full of ardour for great and extraordinary enterprises, all contributing to the general good.”
It would be useless to recall to the mind of my reader what is to be understood, in the language of Illuminism, by virtue, vice, or public good. He will therefore on reflection be the less surprised at perusing the following instructions framed for these virtuous teachers and governors of mankind.
Moe is the founder of GnosticWarrior.com. He is a father, husband, author, martial arts black belt, and an expert in Gnosticism, the occult, and esotericism.
