Pietists have long been confounded with those
of the Illumines. This error may arise from the denomination of the
sect, which at first suggests the idea of a purely religious
fanaticism and of mystic forms which it was obliged to take at its
birth in order to conceal its principles and projects; but the
Association always had a political tendency. If it still retains
some mystic traits, it is in order to support itself at need by the
power of religious fanaticism, and we shall see in what follows how
well it knows to turn this to account.

The doctrine of Illuminism is subversive of every kind of monarchy;
unlimited liberty, absolute levelling down, such is the fundamental
dogma of the sect; to break the ties that bind the Sovereign to the
citizen of a state, that is the object of all its efforts.

No doubt some of the principal chiefs, amongst whom are numbered
men distinguished for their fortune, their birth, and the dignities
with which they are invested, are not the dupes of these demagogic
dreams: they hope to find in the popular emotions they stir up the
means of seizing the reigns of power, or at any rate of increasing
their wealth and their credit; but the crowd of adepts believe in
it religiously, and, in order to reach the goal shown to them, they
maintain incessantly a hostile attitude towards sovereigns.

Thus the _Illumines_ hailed with enthusiasm the ideas that
prevailed in France from 1789 to 1804. Perhaps they were not
foreign to the intrigues which prepared the explosions of 1789 and
the following years; but if they did not take an active part in
these manoeuvres, it is at least beyond doubt that they openly
applauded the systems which resulted from them; that the Republican
armies when they penetrated into Germany found in these sectarians
auxiliaries the more dangerous for the sovereigns of the invaded
states in that they inspired no distrust, and we can say with
assurance that more than one general of the Republic owed a part of
its success to his understanding with the _Illumines_.

It would be a mistake if one confounded Illuminism with
Freemasonry. These two associations, in spite of the points of
resemblance they may possess in the mystery with which they
surround themselves, in the tests that precede initiation, and in