The Final Fate of the Masonic Order

afterward, This sentence continues from the previous page's discussion of what was most difficult to reconcile with the Order's goals. which was most difficult to reconcile with Illuminatism The system and doctrines of the Order of the Illuminati.—since finally many members of the Strict Observance A system of Freemasonry that claimed descent from the Knights Templar and demanded absolute obedience to "Unknown Superiors." were not as easily won over as he had hoped; so Knigge undertook to defame all three in a writing about Jesuits, Freemasons, and Rosicrucians, which he published under the name Aloys Maier A pseudonym used by Baron Knigge for his polemical writings.. "I undermined," he says himself, "the Strict Observance—I wrote against Jesuits and Rosicrucians, who had never offended me; I let myself be used for anything." (*) Yes, the fact that Illuminatism was poured over Masonry by means of the so-called Eclectic Covenant A reformist Masonic movement intended to simplify the higher degrees and resist the influence of the Strict Observance., which had "Liberty and Equality" as its motto to a certain extent—that was primarily his work. (**) Do we not all still remember how the Illuminati Masonic rituals were meant to be foisted upon this lodge—preemptively and with feigned compassion—by Philo's The secret name of Baron Knigge within the Order. closest assistants?

(*) Supplement p. 101. Thus Barère Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac (1755–1841), a prominent figure in the French Revolution and member of the Committee of Public Safety. recently said in the Illuminatist Jacobin Club The most influential political club during the French Revolution, often associated with the Reign of Terror. in Paris:

To the sons of liberty, everything is permitted; they can allow themselves to be used for anything that leads to their goal, Liberty and Equality, and the apparent external harshness of their means is fully justified simply by the inner feeling of the actor, without any further discussion being necessary.

(**) Supplement Vol. I. pp. 110. 111. 210. Vol. II. pp. 135 — 159.