published, and was probably never written at all. However, Wieland subsequently, despite the horrors of the French Revolution that he strongly rejected, discussed cosmopolitan topics in his writings. Why did Wieland use a description of a non-existent or at least invisible Order as a framework for his ideas on cosmopolitanism? I suggest the following possible reasons.
Within secret societies( such as freemasonry) during the 18 th century ideas on human equality developed together with a principal need for universal solidarity, charity and welfare, dissemination of knowledge, and the introduction of sound principles of government. This general ideological framework comprised the often-cited“ augmentation of felicity” or‘ pursuit of happiness” for mankind in the sense of the US constitution. Through a joint European sociability, a cosmopolitan community was created, yet open only for the initiated and practised only in privacy. Although many of the ideas and items of modern civic society were exercised in the framework of secret societies such as freemasonry( passports, membership records and payment of fees / taxes, democratic voting, etc., see Margaret C. Jacobs ground- breaking work on these topics), there was never a direct adoption of those principles in society as a whole. Wieland surely saw a need for that( he wanted the royal art to be extended to the field of governance) and thus he needed to attack the internal preoccupation of the Orders with themselves and their“ private” matters. As a result, Wieland rejects the secrecy within the act of initiation: he states that cosmopolitan values should be accessible to all( aside from the ignorant Abderites) and should be promoted in public. Another important aspect of the rejection of secrecy within initiatory societies is the habit of taking an oath, the content of which remains unknown to the outside world, especially governments.
Secret societies and Orders were widely discussed in 18 th century European press. The 1780s in particular contained many features that Wieland could draw upon. Already the words secret and Order were constantly found in the press. One of the reasons was that a masonic system called the Strict Observance( SO) had spread throughout Europe between 1754 and 1782. The SO claimed that it had inherited the right to re-establish the defunct Order of the Knights Templar, and thus founded provinces and chapters in many European countries. Its Inner Circle of Knights counted 1,600 members, among them many prominent people from high nobility or royal families, well-known writers, academics and so on. The leader of the SO also claimed that he had received his instructions from a group of“ secret superiors” – the names of whom he was unable to reveal. Within the framework of the SO some of the most Utopian and most irrational traits of enlightened culture can be found. On the one hand, the knights of the SO worked to realise certain groundbreaking innovations such as an all-European pension fund, financed by the contribution of its members and by investments in industrial production.
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