Frederic in his youth had been initiated himself, at Brunswick, by Major Bielfeld; the emperor Joseph II., the most bold innovator of his time, had also desired to undergo these proofs at Vienna, under the tutelage of the baron de Born, the chief of the freemasons in Austria.

These societies, which had no religious tendency in England, because there liberty conspired openly in parliament and in the press, had a wholly different sense on the Continent.

They were the secret council-chambers of independent thought: the thought, escaping from books, passed into action.

Between the initiated and established institutions, the war was concealed, but the more deadly.
The hidden agents of these societies had evidently for aim the creation of a government of the opinion of the human race, in opposition to the governments of prejudice.

They desired to reform religious, political, and civil society, beginning by the most refined classes.