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Article THE FREEMASONS' LEXICON. ← Page 7 of 9 →
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The Freemasons' Lexicon.
abolished , for he must have held them to be Freemasons ? Or wh y iii 1775 , when the Jesuits were abolished , was it not thought of to abolish the Freemasons if they were disguised Jesuits ? They remained undisturbed hy the Pope , and in many Catholic states their lodges were not closed , but the cloisters and churches of the Jesuits were . Some casual resemblances in the first letter in various Masonic and Jesuitical words cannot be taken as a proof that both institutions are the same
. Ilhiminaten oder Erleuchtete . llluminati or Enlightened . This order was founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776 , at that time professor of Canonical law in Ingolstadt ; and the cultivation of pure morality among mankind waved dimly before him as his object . This society expanded itself first from Ingolstadt over Munchen and Gichstadt , principally in Catholic districts , and afterwards in some parts of Protestant Germanyandat the time of its greatest bloomcounted above
; , , two thousand members , amongst whom were many men of acknowledged worth and distinguished talent . But afterwards in the year 1785 , when the Bavarian Government apprehended and punished many of the members without going through even the form of a legal process , abolished the Order as dangerous to the State , and forbad it to be continued under severe pains and penalties : it was entirely extinguished . In 1783 the storm of persecution had alreadrisen against itand on
y , the 24 th June , 1784 , appeared a Churfursterlich Bavarian decree , abolishing all sacred societies . Although the llluminati as well as the Freemasons obeyed this decree , there still appeared private denunciations which the imprisoned in vain desired to be proved : they were denounced and punished without trial . A second interdiction followed
on the 2 d March , 1785 , published by Pater Frank and Herr Kreitmeir in the name of the Churfurst . At the same time they commenced without being able to prove a single instance of disobedience to the law , to punish some of the most just or upright members of the society . Weishaupt was deprived of his professorship , but found a refuge in Gotha with the Herzog Ernst . It was now for the first time that Utschneider , Cossandey , and Gruneberger , who had left the order and
had long been the secret denunciators , were called before a secret commission in order to make known in writing all that they knew of the order , and to confirm their evidence with an oath . But before the oath was administered , Kreitmeir published a third Churfurstlichal interdiction . Notwithstanding the pardon which was therein promised , the persecution continued . Many otherwise worthy men were displaced , exiled , or imprisoned . The influence which the llluminati were at
that time said to have had upon the French Revolution has never been proved , and it is probable that it was all imaginary . Weishaupt himself , in speaking of the objects of the order , says : — " It should lastingly unite men from all parts of the world , of all classes of society , and of every religion . It should allow them perfect freedom of thought , nothwithstanding their various opinions , passions , and prejudices . It should make them glow with the hope of possessing something of greater value
—should make them feel , as though present at the greatest distance—as an equal , though in the most subordinate situation ; so that the many might act as if moved by one mind , by one desire , and by one inclination , and that too from sincere conviction of the justness and purity of their action , and thus produce more moral good than compulsion has ever been able to do since the world and man were created . " According to this account , the objects he had in view in forming the society were the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Lexicon.
abolished , for he must have held them to be Freemasons ? Or wh y iii 1775 , when the Jesuits were abolished , was it not thought of to abolish the Freemasons if they were disguised Jesuits ? They remained undisturbed hy the Pope , and in many Catholic states their lodges were not closed , but the cloisters and churches of the Jesuits were . Some casual resemblances in the first letter in various Masonic and Jesuitical words cannot be taken as a proof that both institutions are the same
. Ilhiminaten oder Erleuchtete . llluminati or Enlightened . This order was founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776 , at that time professor of Canonical law in Ingolstadt ; and the cultivation of pure morality among mankind waved dimly before him as his object . This society expanded itself first from Ingolstadt over Munchen and Gichstadt , principally in Catholic districts , and afterwards in some parts of Protestant Germanyandat the time of its greatest bloomcounted above
; , , two thousand members , amongst whom were many men of acknowledged worth and distinguished talent . But afterwards in the year 1785 , when the Bavarian Government apprehended and punished many of the members without going through even the form of a legal process , abolished the Order as dangerous to the State , and forbad it to be continued under severe pains and penalties : it was entirely extinguished . In 1783 the storm of persecution had alreadrisen against itand on
y , the 24 th June , 1784 , appeared a Churfursterlich Bavarian decree , abolishing all sacred societies . Although the llluminati as well as the Freemasons obeyed this decree , there still appeared private denunciations which the imprisoned in vain desired to be proved : they were denounced and punished without trial . A second interdiction followed
on the 2 d March , 1785 , published by Pater Frank and Herr Kreitmeir in the name of the Churfurst . At the same time they commenced without being able to prove a single instance of disobedience to the law , to punish some of the most just or upright members of the society . Weishaupt was deprived of his professorship , but found a refuge in Gotha with the Herzog Ernst . It was now for the first time that Utschneider , Cossandey , and Gruneberger , who had left the order and
had long been the secret denunciators , were called before a secret commission in order to make known in writing all that they knew of the order , and to confirm their evidence with an oath . But before the oath was administered , Kreitmeir published a third Churfurstlichal interdiction . Notwithstanding the pardon which was therein promised , the persecution continued . Many otherwise worthy men were displaced , exiled , or imprisoned . The influence which the llluminati were at
that time said to have had upon the French Revolution has never been proved , and it is probable that it was all imaginary . Weishaupt himself , in speaking of the objects of the order , says : — " It should lastingly unite men from all parts of the world , of all classes of society , and of every religion . It should allow them perfect freedom of thought , nothwithstanding their various opinions , passions , and prejudices . It should make them glow with the hope of possessing something of greater value
—should make them feel , as though present at the greatest distance—as an equal , though in the most subordinate situation ; so that the many might act as if moved by one mind , by one desire , and by one inclination , and that too from sincere conviction of the justness and purity of their action , and thus produce more moral good than compulsion has ever been able to do since the world and man were created . " According to this account , the objects he had in view in forming the society were the