The Illuminati;

The first chapter is an essay on the tendency of men to adopt visionary projects , and notices the most prominent in different stages of modern history . The second chapter is devoted to an examination of the morality of the European nations ; neither this or the third chapter , on the system of the Jesuits , need any remark , as society , since the date of the author , has undergone such marvellous changes , The fourth chapter is headed— " Of Freemasonry considered as the Institution most useful to the Illuminati ; " and proceeds as follows : —

" This institution , commanding respect from its antiquity , and from its primary bases equality and charity , has by turns experienced proscription and the most firm support ; it has never failed to receive the respect of the multitude , the indifference of the wise , and toleration from rational governments . Apparently their secret , so much sought but never betrayed , consists merely of certain ceremonies which give solidity to this association from which humanity has never derived aught but benefits . I speak of the Masonry of

France and England—a body of men neither very select nor highly organized , composed of individuals as ignorant of the physical as of the occult sciences- ^ innocent of statecraft as of the evocation of spirits—as little acquainted with mysticism as with magic . _ "In this order is found a sure means of putting men to the test—an essen * tial point for a sect compelled to make use of instruments most perfect in the in the art of deceiving the vulgar . It is not every mortal who has sufficient

ability to carry even vice to the highest pitch . " The labours of the Freemasons , ( whatever they may be ) have produced an association , which in due time convened its assemblies . These latter have been filled with eloquent speeches ; from the eloquence of religion to that of fanaticism there is but one step—these orations excite the desire of further knowledge . Instruction is given in each grade ; the grade is bestowed as the reward of zeal—zeal leads to devotion to the order—this devotion to a solemn oath ; and after this the proselyte is prepared for anything .

Ineir ceremonies are combined with festivals , with ceremonies , with banquets . Men in their convivial moments allow but too often their secret thoughts to escape them . The careful observer , who never loses sight of his object , seizes on these various shades of character , through their different expressions , and having from time to time repeated his examination , acquires at last a certainty that he is in no danger of confiding his secret to an unworthy recipient .

"An order which does not recognise those distinctions without which society believes it cannot exist , is very certain to impose distinctions of its own upon the masses . Men of rank are actuated by a species of vanity in descending to mix with the lower orders ; and these , on the other hand , feel a satisfaction in meeting princes and nobles on a footing of equality . Those peculiar characteristics which mark the existence of brotherly affection , are more developed among Masons than in any other confraternity .

" There is no resemblance between the Freemasons and the Jesuits . The one body is all coldness , the other all cordiality ; no banquet , no familiar greeting , no kindly grasp of the hand , arc found among the followers of Loyola ; festive meetings and friendly sympathy are the characteristics of the Masons . From each of these bodies , the Illuminati have taken something ; while they have revived the initiatory ceremonies of anti quity and the order of Templars of . the twelfth century , they have not neglected to preserve the four institutions of the Jesuits , and to bend them to their