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order of freemasons , and all that its founders knew of ceremonies , consecrations , and pretended secrets was very insignificant : Knigge was the first who Rave the order a form , which he borrowed from that of the freemasons . This nobleman and bon-vivant was very for indeed from having any tendency towards mysticism and a contemplative life , since he , as welt as Weishaupt and Ton Zwackh , troubled himself very little about morality ; but he was thoroughly acquainted wi&h outward life and all its mtriafues . Moreover , in the tkea existing © audition of things ia Bavaria , it might hav * been expedient and useful to found another order for the promotion o £ enlightenment , after the model , but expressly in opposition to that of the Jesuits and mystics ; and these
cireumstaiurea induced many of the noblest me * otoux German plains , whose names are t < j be faw * d ia the lists of the illuminati , to unite with suclx persons as Weishaupt , Zwackh , and Knigge . Among the names of those Bavarians who were persecuted as illuminati , there will be found those of the most distinguished and best men of the country , but at the same time many , such as that of Montgelas and others , of a very different description . The principles of the illuminati , however , even opened the eyes of those last mentioned , for they afterwards combated with success the prevalence of the monkish spirit in the high offices of state , which from the earliest times had proved ruinous to Bavaria . In May , 1776 , Weishaupt and his anti-jesuitical friends and hearers in
Landshut first conceived the idea of founding a new order , which in its first , or what was called its miaerval degree , was to be an institution for the cultivation of a free spirit in a country in which no man durst venture to utter a free word . In consequence of Von ZwackhV exertions among the young men and students , the order not only soon obtained many members , but as soon as two other persons , contemporaneously with Von Zwackh , began to make a business of seeking for recruits for the order , it was extended amongst other classes and ranks . " Von Zwackh had procured some knowledge of the external forms of freemasonry , of its symbols , degrees , and initiation , with whichWeishaupt was wholly unacquainted . The founders of the new order proceeded , according to their imperfect knowledge of masonry , which was then in Bavaria in a melancholy condition , to establish gradations and classes in the new order , which , at first
deceived many freemasons , and led them to look upon it as a branch of freemasonry . The order of the illuminati , which was instituted in this manner as one of the numerous sects of freemasonry , which was then very widely extended , included in its ranks , as early as 1778 , twelve lodges in Catholic Bavaria , Franconia , and the Tyrol . Such distinguished men as Born and Sonnenfels in Vienna were received into the order , and these were the persons who afterwards , under Joseph II ., gained great renown by the extension of a system of education in Austria in accordance with the demands and improvement of the age . The order first obtained a completel ^ new form when Herr von Knigge , who was a Hanoverian baron , devoted his attention to its constitution , and applied his accurate knowledge of the order of freemasons in such a way to that of the illuminati , that he and such like men were afterwards enabled to avail
themselves of the freemason lodges , as all the fanatics , visionaries , ghost-seers , alchymists , martinists , and magnetizers had long previously done . " This Herr von Knigge , who became so prominent a member of the illuminati in 1780 , and was discreditably known under the name of I'hilo , which he adopted r . s his appellation in the order , was , like his antagonist Zimmerman , a native of Berne ; he , however , lived as councillor and court physician in Hanover , and became one of those German celebrities who knew well how to practise upon and deceive the world ; an art which , as is well known , is a much surer path to renown than truth ,
which only a few persons either understand or respect Both of these mm , by their connection with the world , their access to fashionable life , their knowledge of tne means of flattering their ( patrons , and a superficial style of writing suited for the usual class of sentimental novelreaders , understood how to obtain a name and to exercise an influence in society , which has given them an importance in history which is precisely in the inverse ratio of their merit . Knigge , by liin residence as chamberlain in Weimar , and his Hojournin Frankfort and Heidelberg , had been in the very centre of mysticism and freemasonry , anil made hiiusr-lf minutely acquainted with everything
which was calculated to promote Huch objects as those which pt'rnoiiH like Zimmerman and Kniggp repaid as the hig hest , and most important in life . In order to make trial of everything , ICnigxe even became a Catholic , and then aguin a Protestant ; mysticism and orders , priestcraft ami enlig htenment , were equally welcome mid acceptable to liim for the realization of his designs , whilst they were hut . i < I by Zimmerman for the advancement , of hut , and towards tin end of the century they haunted
him like a f > host , till he was dually diiven actually mad . Iloth lvnif <;; c . mil / linimerinun attained their respective iiims , — their names liecame universally known . Kni ^ e first pl . syod it prominent part , in all the ; orders , and then he becMuio almost , an celebrated a writer an Kotzebue , with whon . hi' mi ^ ht bi * compared , except , in the department of the popular drama . He spent his whole life in gomi ? from place to place and in the indulgences of the tat > lc , and at length di < d as captain and tscholarch in Hirmcn Ziuunei nii'tn received orders or distinctions
from several princes ; he was in correspondence wit . h Catherine ninl Ficdei irk , wioleaf firat only upon milijectH which ho understood , but at last , upon nil possible nutijcctH of which !><• knew nothing , and it was precisely thes < - wriliiiRH by which he guim dthe highest , reputation . All the lU'WupuprrH teemed with praises upon his thick volume on Solitude ; Ilie great world regarded him an a piopliet ; whilst every honest man , every iiiiin who wu . s a miiHter of Htjlc , or capable of dc < p thought or true feeling , looked upon hint iih it miserable wi ^ ht ; and Lir . U'iihci'K of ( J «» t » ii » K < ' " , the greiitcHt tiutijiiit of ( jcrinuny , treated him n » such . "
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liIVES _ OF MISERS . Lives and Jnecdotes of Miser * : or the Passion of Avarice > Displayed . By F . Somner Merryweather , author of Bibliomania in the Middle Ages , "" Glimmerings in the Dark . &c . Simpkiu , Marshall , and Co . We had recently to commend Mr . Menryweather for a pleasant unpretending book of antiquarian gossip , and have now to thank him for another aroDUsiog volume . His Anecdotes of Miser ? , though far the most part neither rare nor extremely curious , have a sort of collective importance . But it would have beea well had he limited his task tot that of simple compilation ;; » U that he offers in the way of philosophy heing so feeble that its absence would bift a charm . The passion of avarice with , all its varieties and collaterals is a subject to task the psychologist ; and had Mr . Merryweather been a psychologist he might have made the present amusing volume an important one ; not possessing the requisite moral observation and analytic power to render his remarks suggestive , it is a pity he allowed himself to fall into trite commonplace . Take this as a sample : — «• It is difficult to- discover the motives of hoary avarice —with limbs bending beneath the weight of yeans—with hair blanched by the snows of many winters—sans sightsans teeth—sans everything- —yet gloating over gold which he can never live to want , and greedy for acquisitions which can procure no happiness . We can only imagine that the mind , so absorbed by avajfice , is rendered imbecile to all other feelings ; or that the thoughts become so engrossed in , their mamfl&on . worship as to forget the flight of years , and the p hantom of the tomb !"
This kind of rhetoric is simply fatiguing . Ask its meaning and you will see at once that the author had little or none when he wrote it . The " motives" of avarice are " difficult" to discover ; and Mr . Merryweather can only imagine these motives to he the " absorption of the mind by avarice" which renders it " imbecile to all other feelings . " Avarice is thus the motive of avarice ; it is avarice because avarice forgets " the flight of years and the phantom of the tomb . " Enough of this philosophy . The anecdotes are better than the commentary . Here is one of
A PENTXttlOUS DUK . E . "If the reader will take the trouble to enquire , he may glean some curious anecdotes of a ' noble ' miser of the present day , whose parsimony is so great that he deprives his domestics of their perquisites , and has been known to have sold the refuse fat from his own kitchen for the trifle which it produced . This descendant of a valiant race may be seen , in the locality of his own mansion , with a huge basket on his arm , wandering from shop to shop , and from stall to stall , to pick up bargains or thrifty provender for his household . He not only attends to the economy of his kitchen , but even to the
most minute alt lira of his farm ; his dairy receives no small share of his attention , and he will sometimes condescend to measure out and sell his milk in rtt ; ul to the neighbouring villagers . One morning , it is ielated , a little furl presented herself at the castle , and giving in her jug and penny , was served by his grace , who , pleased with her appearance , gave the little damsel a kuss , telling her at the same time that she would always now be able to say that she had been kissed by a duke . ' Yes , ' replied the little rustic , ' but you took the penny , though !' We could jtoint to many such instances of aristocratic p / 'iiury , but we do not wish to draw , our illustration ^ from contemporary characters . " , '
Surely the concluding assertion is a little exaggerated ? Does the author really know iwiny such instances of aristocratic penury ? The following story suggests strange reflections : — " In the year 1702 an extraordinary instance of avarice occurred in . France . A miser , of the name of l'Vm-ue , who had amassed enormous wealth by the most sordid parsimony and the HiOHt discreditable extortion , wan requested hy the Government to advance a num of money iih a loan . The miser , to whom a lair intercut was not inducement , sufiiciuntly tttrnug to enable him to part with his treasured gold , declared his incapacity to meet , this
demand ; be pleaded seveie Iohhcs and the utmost poverty . Kcarinn , however , that . Hume of las neighbours , among whom he wiih very unpopular , would report bin hnmin . se wealth to the ( Jovc . rnuicnt , he applied ilis ingenuity to discover Home effectual way of hi < lin < j ; hitj gold , should they attempt to institute a Kcarch to ascertain the truth or falsehood of his plea . Wit . h great ; ear « and secrecy he dug a deep cave in bin cellar ; to thin receptacle for bin treasure he descended hy a ladder , and to the trup door he . attached a Hpring lock , so t . hiit , on shutting , it would fasten of knell " . Ity-und-byr the
miser disappeared ; enquiries were , made ; the house was searched ; woods were explored , and the ponds were ( irngged ; bin . no Foseue could they hud ; and gossip : * he ^ im to conclude lh . it . llic miuur had IIud with his K ° 'd loHOiuo put t , wh . ri ! , hy living incognito , he would be fre < f fpom the demand . ( ( f ( lie ( ioveinnient . Nome time pasucd on ; the house in which he had lived wus sold , and woikmen were Imsily employed in itm rcpsiir . In the progr < us oJ' their work ihuy met wild l . h « dooi of the hccicL cave , iyi , tli the key in the lock , ouUinlu . Titty threw batik . th « door and defended with , a ljtfht . The Him . object upon which thtt Umjj wum icuectcd was the ghastl y bod y of
Foscue tb , e miser , and scattered around him were heavy bags of gold and ponderous chests of untold treasure ; a candlestick lay beside him on the floor . This worshi pper of mammon had gone into his cave to pay his devoirs to his golden god and became a sacrifice to his devqtion I What must have been the sensations of th , at miserable man—what the horrors of his situation , when he heard the door close after him , and the spring lock effectuall y imprison him within his secret mine ! How bitter must have been the last struggles of that avaricious soul ! How terrible must have been the appeals of conscience within that sordid si » n « r !• Hew each bag must have disgorged its treasure , and , each pieee of gold have danced , in . imagination , around hir » as a demon ! How hated , when the gnawing pangs of starvation came slowly upon him ,, must have been that yellow vision ; his very heart must have grown sick at that which , he ouce so dearly loved ! Gold in bags ; gold in chestsgold piled in heaps ; gold for a pillow ; gold strewed upon the ground fo * him to lie upon ! Whilst his taper lasted , turn where he would his eyes , nothing met them , but his gold . But when the last flicker died away , and th « r aiser was left in darkness to dwell upon his coming death , and upon his many Bins , how awful must have been the agonies o > f conscience , ! How , suiely , amidst the gloom of that sepulchre of gold , must ths poor whom he had oppressed , and the unfortunate whom , he . had ruined by his avarice , have rose up to reproach him ; and , when the mind beeame fevered by its last deadly struggles , how the faces of haggard poverty , of hate , and loathing for the miser , must , in one loud , discordant chorus , have cried for vengeance and retribution upon his guilty soul ! " One of the best things in the book is the following epitaph on a miser : — HERE LIES JEMMY TAYLOR , alias Gripus , the Southwark Miser , Who lived and died single to save Expences . HIS MA 1 CHLESS ( ECONOMY Could only be compared to his singular Resolution in SELF-DENIAL . He was so disinterested in his Disposition , that he never Preferred one Person to another , but cast an equal Eye upon all bis Acquaintance . His mind was of such a peculiar Cast , that he oould neither Hear the Tale nor behold the Face of the Wretched ; And , to avoid mistaken Acts of Charity , Never bestowed the smallest Mite upon the Poor , until Death , that shakes the strongest Head , whispered , "TAYLOR , give something- to the CHUHCH . " Envied by the Avaricious for his vast Wealth , Detested by the malicious World for his severe Virtues , And regretted by none of his FRIENDS UPON THE 'CHANGE , He gave up this Life , with Fears of a Better , In the Skvbntieth Yeak of his Existence ; And lias left his Relations perfectly resigned To the Will of Heaven . For having withdrawn , in good Time , the Accumulator of their Fortunes .
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wilson ' s catholicity . Ca-tholicity—Spiritual and Intellectual . A Seiies of Discourses , By Thomas Wilson , M . A ., late Minister of St . Peter's Mancroft , Norwich . John Chapman , We have already briefly noticed these eloquent and significant discourses , which f aithfully reflect the spiritual struggles of a conscientious and devout mind after a more Catholic creed than is to be found within the pale of the Church . We hope and believe that the manly protest which is made in these pages against the absolute ignoring of Natural Religion in favourof merely Historical Faith ,
which distinguishes the established theology , will induce many others of the clergy to look with fresh eyes on the anomalous position in which they are placed . We fearlessly assert that , not only is the inculcation of Nicene and Tridentine theologyof Puseyism and Vopery—impossible in the present age , but that the time is not far distant when all such authoritative teaching in matters of faith will be rejected by the enlightened consciences of the people . The utt « F degradation of what we call Protestantism at the present moment , its open
violation of all the principles upon which it is professedly founded , its false and untenable position , its sophistical balancings between the rival claims of reason and authority , have nearly destroyed i !« H |) iritual character , 'llie conduct of Protestant l > iHsenterH at the present crisis is , moreover , marked hy a total oblivion , of all the rational principles of dissent , and the descendants of the Puritans ami of Milton , whose noble dream was a theocracy , are found lighting in the ranks of episcopacy for the spiritual supremacy of I he Crown !
Many and various and profoundly significant ait the events daily passing around us , casting their deep shadows before them on the fated establishment . The whole id <> a of a priesthood is abandoned by the . evangelical clergy in general , and the Dean of Bristol , in a speech reported in the Timas , amidst the rapturous cheers of his audience , brands the assumption as " the substitution of the agency of man for the workings of the iVeu spirit , of <» od . "
Mr . Wilson has , in these discourses , fearlessly appended the logical conclusions to these dangerous premises , fit ; 1 ms ably exposed the iini """
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64 H %$ &ta 9 tt . Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 18, 1851, page 64, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1866/page/16/
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