Note 348 — Chapter III

Ibid., p. 71. The principle of espionage was an important element in the administration of the order. Weishaupt acknowledged his indebtedness to the ideal of organization which the Society of Jesus had set before him (Cf. Endliche Erklärungen, pp. 60 et seq. Cf. Forestier, pp. 97–99), and the principle of one member spying upon another was apparently borrowed from that source. It was Weishaupt’s theory that dissimulation and hypocrisy could best be eradicated by proving to the members of the organization the inutility of such courses of life in view of the incessant surveillance under which all the members lived. (Cf. Der ächte Illuminat, p. 102.) Accordingly the Novice was left to surmise just how many eyes of unknown superiors might be upon him. The duty imposed upon the Illuminated Minerval of informing upon his disciples has been noted above. Weishaupt seems never to have surmised that this policy of espionage would tend to kill mutual confidence and fraternal regard at the roots.