Illuminism, he was totally unacquainted with the mysteries of Free Masonry *." Here, then, is an important fact which strikes at the root of all Dr Robison's reasoning, against Free Masonry. Barruel maintains, that Weishaupt was not a mason till two years after the organization of his new institution; and Dr Robison allows, that Illuminism was totally different from Free Masonry. The two institutions, therefore, were totally unconnected; for the members of the one were never admitted into the lodges of the other, without being regularly initiated into the mysteries of both. Upon these simple facts we would arrest the attention of every reader, and those in particular who have been swindled out of their senses, by the united exertions of a priest and a philosopher.

AFTER Weishaupt had organized his institution, he exerted every nerve to disseminate its principles. For this purpose he became a Free Mason in 1777; and, by means of emissaries, he attempted to circulate his opinions among the French and German lodges. In these attempts, indeed, he was sometimes successful. But it should be recollected by those who, on this account, calumniate Free Masonry, that the same objection may be urged against Christianity, because impostors have sometimes gained proselytes, and perverted the wavering minds of the multitude. These doctrines,

* Memoirs of Jacobinism, Part III. Preliminary Observations, p. xv. and p. 12.

trines, however, were not merely circulated by Weishaupt in a few of the lodges, and taught at the assemblies of the Illuminati. They were published to the world in the most fascinating form, by the French Encyclopedists; and inculcated in all the eloquence, with which some of the most celebrated philosophers, on the continent, could adorn them. It can only be said of Weishaupt, therefore, that he was not just such a determined infidel as Voltaire and his associates. Such is a short, and, it is hoped, an impartial view, of the origin and progress of the Illuminati. It may be now proper to attend to the causes from which this association arose, and the advantages and disadvantages which it may have engendered.

About the middle of the eighteenth century, the literati on the continent were divided into two great parties. The one may be considered as Ex-Jesuits, or adherents to the catholic superstition, who were promoters of political and religious despotism, and inculcated the doctrines of non-resistance and passive obedience. The other party was composed of men, who were friends to the reformed religion, enemies of superstition and fanaticism, and supporters of the absurd doctrine of the infinite perfectibility of the human mind. They were dissatisfied with that slavery which was imposed by the despotism of the continental rulers, and the superstition of the church of Rome; and many of them entertained opinions adverse to the Christian religion, and to every

existing

existing form of government. Between these two parties there was a perpetual struggle for power. The Ex-Jesuits accused their opponents as heretics and promoters of jacobinism and infidelity; while the others were constantly exposing the intrigues of priests, and the tyranny of despots. To this latter class belonged Weishaupt and his associates, who instituted the order of the Illuminati for no other purpose, than to oppose those corrupted priests, who would have degraded them as Christians, and those tyrannical despots who have enslaved them as citizens. The collision of these parties was certainly productive of the greatest advantages. While the Jesuits restrained the inclination of one part of the community, to overrate the dignity of the human mind, and anticipate ideal visions of religious and political perfection; the Illuminati counteracted those gloomy opinions which debase the dignity of our nature, which check the energies of the mind, and im, pose the most galling yoke of religious and political servitude. Both these parties were, without doubt, deserving of blame. But had any of them prevailed, the triumph of the Illuminati would. certainly have been most desirable. As a Christian, I would glory in the downfal of that Papal hierarchy which has so long deluded and enslaved the world. As a man,-I would rejoice at the overthrow of every throne which is raised upon the ruins of civil liberty and domestic happiness; and as a Briton,-I would wish that all my brethren of mankind should enjoy those religious and political privileges,

privileges, which have so long been the boast of our friends, and the envy of our foes.

AFTER the French revolution, which, as Mounier has well shown, arose from other causes than those to which Barruel and Robison ascribe it, the plans of these parties were not carried on in Germany so systematically as before; and, notwithstanding, the fabrications with which the Jesuitical Barruel has calumniated the lodges in that country, Free Masonry prevails to this day, respected by the most virtuous and scientific members of the community, and patronized by the most distinguished princes of the Empire.

IN Germany, the qualifications for a Free Mason are great and numerous. No person is initiated into the order without the consent of every member of the lodge; and it frequently happens, that a German even is excluded by a single dissenting voice. On this account, the lodges of that country are filled with persons of the first rank and respectability; and every thing is conducted with the greatest decorum and solemnity. As masonry is there held in the highest estimation, an Englishman will obtain an easier introduction to the chief nobility and literati of Germany in a mason lodge, than in any other place; and will never repent of having been initiated into the order in his native country*.

AFTER

Dr Render's Tour through Germany, Introduction to vol. I, pp. 30, 33. Dr Render maintains, that Free Masonry has greatly

AFTER the publication of the works of Barruel and Robison, the progress of Free Masonry in Britain was retarded by an act of Parliament in 1799, for the suppression of seditious societies, in which the fraternity were virtually prohibited from erecting new lodges in the kingdom. But this act was not prompted by the calumnies of these writers. It became necessary from the political condition of the kingdom; and the exceptions which it contained in favour of Free Masons, are a complete proof that government never credited the reports of these alarmists; but placed the most implicit confidence in the loyalty and prudence of British masons. Dr Robison, indeed, asserts, that the emissaries of corrupted Free Masonry, and Illuminism, were lurking in the British empire, and plotting its destruction. But such monsters of iniquity have never yet been discovered within the circuit of our island; they have never polluted the British lodges. Tell us then no more, that our lodges are the receptacles of sacrilegious and revolutionary miscreants. I see them frequented by men of unaffected piety, and undaunted patriotism. Tell us no more, that our brethren of the order are less holy and virtuous than the uninitiated vulgar. I see them in the church and in the senate, defending, by their talents, the doctrines of our religion, and exemplifying in their conduct the precepts

improved the manners and dispositions of the Germans. See vol. ii. p. 200. note.