New England and the Bavarian IlluminatiStauffer, Vernon
History
New England and the Bavarian Illuminati
Stauffer, Vernon
Illuminati; New England -- Church history; Thesis (Ph. D.)
The discontinuance of the _Wiener Zeitschrift_ in 1793 by no means
marked the end of the campaign. A deluge of pamphlets[469] had been
precipitated, all based upon the assumption that the order Weishaupt
had founded had subsided only in appearance. Declamation did not wait
upon evidence. It was alleged that the lower grades of the Illuminati
had been dissolved, but the superior grades were still practised. Under
cover of correspondence, recruits of the system were now being sought.
Freemasonry was being subjugated by Illuminism only that it might be
forced to serve the ends of its conqueror. Journalists partial to the
interests of the _Aufklärung_ had been enlisted for the same purpose.
The German Union was thus only one of the enterprises fostered by the
Illuminati to further their designs. The dogmas of the order had been
spread secretly in France by means of the clubs of that country, and
the effectiveness of the propaganda was being vividly demonstrated in
the horrors of the Revolution. Unless German princes should promptly
adopt rigorous measures against the various agents and enterprises of
the order in their territories, they might confidently expect similar
results to follow.[470]
Much more of like character was foisted upon the reading public. As
for contemporary historians who searched for specific evidence of an
alliance between the Illuminati of Germany and the Revolutionists in
France, their energies were chiefly employed in the development of a
clue which had as its kernel the supposed introduction of Illuminism
into France at the hands of the French revolutionary leader, Mirabeau,
and the German savant, Bode.[471] Unfolded, this view of the case may
be stated briefly as follows: Mirabeau, during his residence at Berlin,
in the years 1786 and 1787, came into touch with the Illuminati of that
city and was received as an adept into the order. Upon his return to
Paris he made the attempt to introduce Illuminism into that particular
branch of Masonry of which he was also a member, the _Philalèthes_
or _Amis Réunis_.[472] To give force to his purpose, he called upon
the Illuminati in Berlin to send to his assistance two talented
and influential representatives of the order. The men chosen by the
Illuminati-circle in Berlin, Bode and von dem Busche,[473] arrived
in Paris in the early summer of 1787. To conceal their purpose from
prying eyes, they spread the report that they had come from Germany to
investigate the subjects of magnetism and the extent of the influence
exerted by the Jesuits upon the secret societies of the age. Meantime,
the lodges of the _Philalèthes_, and through them the French Masonic
lodges in general, were inoculated with the principles of Illuminism.
French Freemasonry thus became committed to the project of forcing
the overthrow of thrones and altars. So transformed, these lodges
created secret committees who busied themselves with plans for the
precipitation of a great revolutionary movement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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