er circle of
the Lodge Theodore may not have been first in the field and Weishaupt
all the while an unconscious agent. A very curious light is thrown on
this question by the _Memoires_ of Mirabeau.

Now, in _The French Revolution_ and again in _World Revolution_ I quoted
the generally received opinion that Mirabeau, who was already a
Freemason, was received into the Order of the Illuminati during his
visit to Berlin in 1786. To this Mr. Waite replied: "All that is said
about Mirabeau, his visit to Berlin, and his plot to 'illuminize' French
Freemasonry, may be disposed of in one sentence: there is no evidence to
show that Mirabeau ever became a Mason. The province of Barruel was to
colour everything...."[509] Mr. Waite's statement may also be disposed
of in one sentence: it is a pure invention. The province of Mr. Waite is
to deny everything inconvenient to him. The evidence that Mirabeau was a
Freemason does not rest on Barruel alone. M. Barthou, in his Life of
Mirabeau, refers to it as a matter of common knowledge, and relates that
a paper was found at Mirabeau's house describing a new Order to be
grafted on Freemasonry. This document will be found in its entirety in
the _Memoires_ of Mirabeau, where it is stated that:

Mirabeau had early entered an association of Freemasonry. This
affiliation had accredited him to a Dutch lodge, and it seems that,
either spontaneously or in response to a request, he thought of
proposing an organization of which we possess the plan, written not
by his hand.... but by the hand of a copyist whom Mirabeau had
attached to himself.... This work appears to have been that of
Mirabeau; all his opinions, his principles, and his style will be
found here.[510]

The same work goes on to print the document in full, which is headed:
"Memoir concerning an intimate association to be established in the
Order of Freemasonry so as to bring it back to its true principles and
to make it really tend to the good of humanity, drawn up by the F.
Mi----, at present named Arcesilas, in 1776."

As this Memoir is too long to reproduce in full here, M. Barthou's
_resume_ will serve to give an idea of its contents[511]:

He [Mirabeau] was a Freemason from his youth. There was found
amongst his papers, written by the hand of a copyist, an
international organization of Freemasonry, which no doubt he
dictated in Amsterdam. This project contains on the so