On the Order of the Illuminati

...also consistently condemned as a shameful abuse that contradicted the principles of the Order. On the other hand, there is no shortage of examples where not only individual members but entire lodges demonstrated the best intentions toward religion and the state in various ways, just as there are plenty of examples of members being expelled for immoral behavior. It is therefore one of the strangest phenomena that an Order such as the Freemasons Freymaurer; a fraternal organization that peaked in influence during the Enlightenment was brought into connection with a conspiracy so directly opposed to it as that of the Illuminati Illuminaten; a secret society founded in Bavaria in 1776, often associated with radical Enlightenment goals and political subversion, and could serve as a vehicle for the latter to spread its poison and make it universal; and yet, this did happen.

But before I speak of this, I must note the following: that every new initiate of the Order of the Illuminati was given a new name. Weishaupt Adam Weishaupt (1748–1830), the founder of the Illuminati and a professor of law at Ingolstadt, as the founder, called himself Spartacus A reference to the leader of the famous Roman slave revolt, chosen by Weishaupt to symbolize liberation from intellectual and political "slavery"; and to give the Order an air of greater antiquity, Weishaupt had listed himself as the 776th to be initiated. Furthermore, he had a unique Order cipher, its own system of chronology, and its own geography, according to which countries and cities had different names—all of which was invented for the purpose of concealment, and about which the original writings original: "Originalschriften"; referring to the authentic documents of the Illuminati seized by the Bavarian government during their investigation and crackdown on the society in 1786 and 1787 provide information.