a roundabout way by means of
suspense and expectations, so as first to arouse indefinite, vague
curiosity, and then when the candidate declares himself, present
the object, which he will then seize with both hands.[567]

By this means his vanity will also be flattered, because one will arouse
the pleasure of "knowing something which everyone does not know, and
about which the greater part of the world is groping in darkness."[568]

For the same reason the candidate must be impressed with the importance
of secret societies and the part they have played in the destinies of
the world:

One illustrates this by the Order of the Jesuits, of the
Freemasons, by the secret associations of the ancients, one asserts
that all events in the world occur from a hundred secret springs
and causes, to which secret associations above all belong; one
arouses the pleasure of quiet, hidden power and of insight into
hidden secrets.[569]

At this point one is to begin to "show glimpses and to let fall here and
there remarks that may be interpreted in two ways," so as to bring the
candidate to the point of saying: "If I had the chance to enter such an
association, I would go into it at once." "These discourses," says
Weishaupt, "are to be often repeated."[570]

In the discourse of reception to the "Illuminatus Dirigens," the appeal
to love of power plays the most important part:

Do you realize sufficiently what it means to rule--to rule in a
secret Society? Not only over the lesser or more important of the
populace, but over the best men, over men of all ranks, nations,
and religions, to rule without external force, to unite them
indissolubly, to breathe one spirit and soul into them, men
distributed over all parts of the world?...[571]

And finally, do you know what secret societies are? what a place
they occupy in the great kingdom of the world's events? Do you
really think they are unimportant, transitory appearances?[572]
etc.

But the admission of political aims is reserved only for the higher
grades of the Order. "With the beginner," says Weishaupt, "we must be
careful about books on religion and the State. I have reserved these in
my plan for the higher degrees."[573] Accordingly the discourse to the
"Minerval" is expressly designed to put him off the track. Thus the
initiator is to say to him:

After two years' reflection, exp