Documentary Account of the German Union

"...can be achieved as soon as you wish, that is, as soon as you desire the Good alone and—with determination—renounce self-will, curiosity, and selfishness, and content yourself with the joy of contributing in secret to the promotion of the welfare of humanity original: "Beförderung des Wohls der Menschheit" 5)."

"A society of twenty-two members, partly statesmen 6), partly public teachers likely university professors or clergy 7), and partly private individuals, has already agreed upon a plan proposed a year and a half ago. In their opinion, this plan contains an infallible means 8)—one that no human power can hinder—to promote the enlightenment Aufklärung: the 18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason over tradition and education Bildung: a German concept of holistic self-cultivation and moral development of humanity, and to gradually destroy all previous obstacles to the same—a plan which..."

5) To enlighten people, and to Jacobinize original: "jakobinisiren." A derogatory term used by critics to link Enlightenment thinkers to the radical French revolutionaries known as Jacobins them.

6) That was no lie.

7) And this even less so.

8) What do the sovereigns original: "Regenten" say to this?