What an ample field already opens itself to the commentating genius of the young adept! The Minor Illuminee will begin by investigating those general crimes to which the Sect wishes to put an end. And what are the crimes, who are the wicked persons that disturb the peace of mankind by means of power exercised over the good? What Secret Societies are they which are destined to consummate the wishes of the sages, not by partial insurrections, but by the greatest degree of force of which human nature is capable? In a word, what is that new order of things, which are by such unheard of exertions to be substituted in place of existing institutions?

The greater progress the adept shall make, and the nearer his commentaries shall coincide with the spirit of the Order, so much the more worthy shall he be judged to fulfil the second object of this degree. He is not yet to preside over a Minerval Academy, he is too inexperienced in the arts of a Superior; and the Order only entrusts him with two or three of those pupils; but, as a consolation for the smallness of his flock, he reads in his instructions, that should he have only formed one or two men for the Order during his whole life he will have done a noble act.

Small as this mission is, still the adept is not left to his own prudence in the execution of it; he receives instructions by which he is to be guided. I forewarned my reader, that in this part of my Memoirs on Jacobinism, my object was, not solely to prove the Conspiracy of the Illuminees, but to render conspicuous the dangers which threatened society, while I was unveiling the means adopted by the Sect. Among these means, the laws laid down by Weishaupt for the Minor Illuminees are to be eminently distinguished; as the authority given, and the manner in which it is to be exercised (at first over two or three adepts only), naturally prepare them for more extensive

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commands. These laws and these instructions seem to be traced with the venom of the prudent serpent, unfortunately so much more active and ingenious in the arts of vice and seduction than good men are in the cause of virtue. This part of Weishaupt’s Code is called—Instructions for forming useful labourers in Illuminism, and from it I shall make a large extract. Let the reader meditate on the tendency and probable consequences of such precepts, such laws, and artifices, all designed to form adepts for the most general, most astonishing, and most dreadful Conspiracy that ever existed.

“Assiduously observe (say these instructions) every Brother entrusted to your care; watch him particularly on all occasions where he may be tempted not to be what he ought to be; that is precisely the moment when he must show himself; it is then that the progress he has made is to be discovered. Observe him again at those times when he least suspects it, when neither the desire of being praised, the fear of being blamed, nor the shame of, or reflexion on the punishment, can actuate his conduct. Be exact on such occasions in making your notes and observations. You will gain much both with respect to yourself and to your pupil.

“Be careful lest your own inclinations should bias your judgment. Do not think a man excellent because he has a brilliant quality, nor judge him to be wicked because he has some striking defect: for that is the grand failing of those who are captivated at first sight.

“Above all, guard against believing your man to be a transcendent genius because his discourse is brilliant. We are to judge by facts alone, whether a man is deeply interested.

“Have little confidence in rich or powerful men; their conversion is very slow.

“Your chief object must be to form the heart. He that is not deaf to the cries of the unfortunate; he that is constant though in adversity, and unshaken in his plans; he that feels his soul glow for great enterprizes; and he, particularly, who has formed his mind to observation, is the man of whom we are in quest. Reject those feeble and narrow minds who know not how to quit their usual sphere.

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