[355] _Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens_, p. 339.
[357] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 88. The anticlerical spirit of the order did not receive an official emphasis commensurate with its importance and weight, doubtless because of Weishaupt’s desire to work under cover against his enemies as completely as possible. Forestier’s comment seems thoroughly just: “Il ne faut pas oublier que Weishaupt en fondant sa Societé n’avait pas songé seulement à faire le bonheur de l’humanité, mais qu’il avait cherché aussi à trouver des alliés dans la lutte qu’il soutenait à Ingolstadt contre le parti des ex-Jésuites. A côté du but officiellement proclamé, l’Ordre avait un autre but, auquel on pensait d’autant plus qu’on en parlait moins.” (_Op. cit._, 87. _Cf. ibid._, pp. 92, 110.)
[359] _Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens_, p. 216. The order was to be used in the circulation of anticlerical and antireligious books and pamphlets, and the work of the priests and the monks was to be held in mind as constituting the chief obstacle to intellectual and moral progress. Forestier, _op. cit._, pp. 91, 92.
[362] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 318. This was treated as the esoteric doctrine of Christ, coming to the surface here and there in His teachings and acts, and revealed in the _disciplina arcani_ of the early church. It is only when this secret teaching is grasped that the coherence of Jesus’ utterances and the significance of the true doctrines of man’s fall and his resurrection can be understood. It was because man abandoned the state of nature that he lost his dignity and his liberty. In other words, he fell because he ceased to fight against his sensual desires, surrendering himself to the rule of his passions. His work of redemption will be accomplished when he learns to moderate his passions and to limit his desires. The kingdom of grace is therefore a kingdom wherein men live in reason’s light.
[363] “Par ses divers caractères avoués ou secrets, l’Ordre des Illuminés était l’expression d’une époque et d’un milieu. Le Système né dans le cerveau de Weishaupt avait trouvé des adeptes en Bavière parce qu’il répondait aux aspirations et satisfaisait les haines de la classe cultivée dans ce pays.” (_Ibid._, p. 99.)