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Mirabcaii^s Secret Mission to Berii)i 243 professor of the University of Ingolstadt, Weisshaupt by name. The principal object of the association was, if the truth be told, to concentrate as much power as possible in the hands of its founder. But to those initiated into its highest grades and most solemn mys- teries, the doctrines of the equality of men, of the falsity of religion, and of the foundation of the universal republic were gradually un- folded. Illuminism spread with tremendous rapidity, chiefly in masonic circles, and received accessions from even the highest ranks ; for some years it flourished unsuspected. Finally the Elec- tor of Bavaria first suspected, then discovered it, and it was osten- sibly suppressed in 1783. But the only result of the steps taken by the Elector was to break up the centre of the society, to put an end to the leadership of Weisshaupt ; the Illumines continued to flourish in various parts of Germany under a variety of forms for some years, and included among their members representatives of all classes, even of royalty, though the latter, it may be guessed, never reached the highest grades. From among the Illumines arose the less important but very curious " German Union." The pro- gramme and the doctrines of the latter resembled closely those of the former, but it had a business side. It included all the principal publishers of Germany, and their aim was to convert it into a secret trade-guild giving them a monopoly of public opinion and of pub- lishing profits. It was to be a secret continuation under a some- what more convenient style of the ancient Gelelirtenbiichhandlung. Under cover of the reading-rooms and literary clubs which the Ger- man Union instituted, it was sought to control the thinking public by decrees issued from Leipzig. The AUgcmeine Deutsche Bibtio- tliek and the Bertiiiisclie Monatsclirift were the organs of the German Union ; Mirabeau assiduously studied both these publications. The importance of this curious society was short-lived and never very great ; the scandal of Dr. Barth finished it. Among the Masons and their offshoots on both sides of the frontier, Mesmer, Cagliostro, Lavater, St. Germain and all the quacks and spiritualists prospered. But it is a mistake to identify any of these men, or the movements they exploited, with any or all of the societies named. Some lodges and many Masons, Illumines and others, doubtless fell under their influence, while they were always ready to enroll and proclaim themselves members of these societies. But other lodges, other Masons and Illumines despised and ridiculed them. Men with hard heads like Mirabeau, Weiss- haupt, Talleyrand and Nicolai, were not to be taken in by jugglery and charlatanism, even if King Frederick William and Fraulein von Voss were.