[720] _Ibid._ This secret organization r_New England and the Bavarian Illuminati

in Ireland about 1791. It was in part the outgrowth of republican

sentiments which the French Revolution inspired in the Irish people, in

part of similar sentiments earlier received. _Cf._ Madden, _The United

Irishmen_, vol. i, pp. 3–44. The object of the organization was to

obtain complete emancipation for both Catholics and Dissenters, and to

reform the Irish parliament. The group manifested a bold revolutionary

spirit. When the English government resorted to strong repressive

measures, many of its members came to America. The Irish Rebellion

of 1798 sent other Irish political exiles here; with the result that

by many in this country the situation was adjudged to be alarming.

William Cobbett (“Peter Porcupine”) was one of the most aggressive

opponents of the movement in America. _The Proceedings of the Society

of the United Irishmen of Dublin_ was published at Philadelphia

in 1795. The same year Cobbett published _A Bone to Gnaw, for the

Democrats; or Observations on a Pamphlet entitled “The Political

Progress of Britain.”_ Part ii of Cobbett’s pamphlet was devoted to the

_Proceedings_ just mentioned. Cobbett’s paper, _Porcupine’s Gazette_,

to a considerable extent was devoted to the raising of an alarm against

the United Irishmen. Cobbett urged that the United Irishmen represented

a conspiracy on the part of France to ruin the United States. See

_Porcupine’s Gazette_, May 8, 10, 1798. Since Cobbett was one of the

men in America deeply interested in Robison’s _Proofs of a Conspiracy_

(_cf._ particularly _Porcupine’s Gazette_ for May 18, July 14, and

Aug. 13, 1798), and since Cobbett printed in his paper much that

Morse published on the subject of the Illuminati (see, for example,

_Porcupine’s Gazette_ for Aug. 9 and 13, 1798; Feb. 25, 26, and June

3, 1799), it is at least believable that Morse took from Cobbett the

suggestion about the identification of the Illuminati with the United

Irishmen. _The Commercial Advertiser_ of New York was another newspaper

that gave attention to the subject of the United Irishmen. The issue of

that paper for Nov. 1, 1798, carried an extended article copied from

the _Gazette of the United States_, calling upon the citizens of this

country to be on their guard against the United Irishmen. The author

of this article identified the United Irishmen and the French party in

the United States as one. _Cf._ also the _Commercial Advertiser_ for

Nov. 5, 1798. Thus Morse had abundant warrant in precedent if not in

fact for the suggestion he made at this point in the Appendix to his

thanksgiving sermon.

[721] One may be sure that the following caustic comment of the editor

of the _Independent Chronicle_ is to be set down to instinctive

repugnance and hostility, and is thus representative only of rabid

partisanship: “Actions speak louder than words. If the parish observe

the Minister busy about many things; if they find him more anxious

about the _geographical_ description of the City of Washington or the

Georgia Lands, than the _New-Jerusalem_ or the _Land of Canaan_; if

they find him neglect his parish on a Sunday and employ himself during

the week, to collect ridiculous fables to swell an appendix to a

political publication. If he will do these things, he must expect that

his Flock will not increase, and that at the year’s end, while he is

exploring the territory of the United States, and hunting up Robinson’s

[_sic_] straggling Illuminati, he must not be surprised if some of his

_own sheep_ have strayed across the river, and become the care of a

more attentive shepherd.” (_Ibid._, Jan. 7, 1799.)

[722] _A Memorial of Divine Benefits. In a Sermon, delivered at

Exeter, on the 15th, and at Haverhill, on the 29th of November, 1798,

days of Public Thanksgiving, in New-Hampshire and Massachusetts._

By Abiel Abbot, pastor of the First Church in Haverhill. Haverhill,

Massachusetts, 1798, pp. 18 _et seq._

[723] _A Sermon, delivered on the day of Public Thanksgiving, at

Deerfield; Nov. 29, ’98._ By John Taylor. A. M., pastor of the church

at Deerfield. Greenfield (n. d.), p. 13.

[724] Taylor’s _Thanksgiving Sermon_, p. 13.

[725] _A Sermon, delivered on the Anniversary Thanksgiving, November

29, 1798, with some additions in the historical part._ By Jonathan

French, A. M., pastor of the South Church in Andover. Andover, 1799. p.

23.

[726] _Ibid._, pp. 23 _et seq._

[727] _Ibid._

[728] _A Discourse, delivered on the Public Thanksgiving Day, November

29, 1798._ By Joseph Eckley, D. D., minister of the Old South Church,

Boston. Boston, 1798, pp. 9, 15, 18.

[729] Connecticut kept a state thanksgiving at the same time as

Massachusetts.

[730] _Political Instruction from the Prophecies of God’s Word,—a

Sermon, preached on the State Thanksgiving, Nov. 29, 1798._ By

Nathan Strong, pastor of the North Presbyterian Church in Hartford,

Connecticut. Hartford, 1798. This sermon is characterized by an

ingenious effort to remove the stigma “mother of harlots” from the

Catholic hierarchy and attach it to the Revolutionary leaders in

France. “It is the Talleyrands and their associates,” said Strong,

“whom I conceive to be the most properly designated by the mother of

harlots, in the present period of the great apostacy.” (_Ibid._, p. 17.)

[731] _A Sermon preached at Billerica, November 29, 1798, being the

day of the Anniversary Thanksgiving throughout the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts._ By Henry Cumings, A. M., pastor of the church in said

town. Boston. 1798, p. 22.

[732] _Ibid._

[733] The following excerpt from a letter of Jedediah Morse to Timothy

Pickering, under date of Feb. 11, 1799, is significant in this

connection: “An editn. of 450 of my Sermon and Appendix is nearly

gone—& a second of 800 is in the press. A number of gentlemen in Boston

have thought it might be useful to send a copy to every clergyman in

the commonwealth, & have agreed with the printer to furnish them, &

they will be distributed when the members of the Legislature return

home.” (_Pickering Papers_, vol. xxiv, 71.)

[734] The full title of this journal was _The Columbian Centinel and

Massachusetts Federalist_. Here was an instance in which Masonic

affiliations quite overrode ardent Federalist loyalty. To this the

following letter of editor Benjamin Russell to William Bentley

testifies:

“Boston, Aug. 9, 1798.

... As to Morse, I think him meddling in an affair which but little

concerns him, and of which he has less knowledge. It would be better

to let him flounder on, and he will speedily blow himself out. He

cannot hurt the craft,—and his wit is as pointless, as his holy zeal is

unchangeable. Although I wish not to engage in a controversy, which has

no politick in its ingredients, I should nevertheless have published

your communication had I received it.—As it is it may be best that the

controversy should be carried on in one paper. You will see by this

day’s Mercury, that M. is still floundering.—I intend to barb him a

little at the Installation at Reading, if he is present. If not he

shall _hear_ of a toast or two.” (_William Bentley Correspondence_,

vol. iv, 117).

[735] _Columbian Centinel_, Sept. 8, 1798.

[736] _Ibid._, Sept. 12, 1798.

[737] _Ibid._, Jan. 5, 1799.

[738] _Ibid._

[739] _Columbian Centinel_, Jan. 5, 1799. This communication including

the Böttiger letter, was promptly copied by the _Massachusetts

Mercury_, and thus given a wider publicity. _Cf._ the _Mercury_ of Jan.

11, 1799.

[740] _Op. Cit._

[741] Somewhat later the _Mercury_ offered to its readers relevant

passages from Lathrop’s sermon of the preceding September and from

French’s thanksgiving sermon. _Cf._ the _Mercury_ for Jan. 11 and Feb.

26, 1799.

[742] The attention of Thomas and Abijah Adams, editors of the

_Independent Chronicle_, during the fall and winter of 1798–99 was

mostly occupied with very pressing personal considerations. In October,

1798, Thomas Adams was arrested under the Sedition Act. While his

trial was in progress objectionable comments on the state and federal

governments continued to appear in the _Chronicle_, with the result

that his clerk and acting editor, Abijah Adams, was likewise arrested

and put on trial. Thomas Adams died before his case was concluded; but

Abijah Adams was later convicted and had the sentence of the court

imposed upon him. Duniway, _The Development of Freedom of the Press in

Massachusetts_, pp. 144 _et seq._ These facts supply a new angle from

which to view the relative silence of the _Independent Chronicle_ with

regard to the Illuminati controversy.

[743] _Independent Chronicle_, April 15, 1799. _Cf. ibid._, Jan. 7,

1799.

[744] Outside of Boston the newspapers of Massachusetts appear to have

been generally content to furnish their readers an occasional article

bearing on the controversy, copied in most cases from the columns of

Boston or Hartford journals, or from papers which entered New England

from without, particularly from New York and Philadelphia. Some of

these Massachusetts newspapers are to be noticed later in connection

with the effort that the Masons made to clear themselves of guilt.

[745] _American Mercury_, Aug. 16, 1798.

[746] The following quotation bears upon the topic, and does full

justice to the abilities of the rhymster, although offering only slight

suggestion respecting the variety of subjects which the poem, after the

manner of its kind, touched upon:

“Of late the pulpits roar’d like thunder

To bring the Whore of Bab’lon under;

But now she’s down, the tone is turn’d,

And the old Whore is sadly mourn’d.

This brings us on to Politicks,—

For fruitful argument,—(sweet chicks!)

. . . . . . .

The Jacobin’s head-end we’ve had,

To see his _tail_, most would be glad.

Of late, Old England was a moon,

To bay and snarl at, night and noon:

That’s over:—now her Queenship seems

A splendid Sun with _golden_ beams.

But pauvre Sanscolotte [_sic_] is given

A diff’rent lot, by will of heaven.

. . . . . . .

From _Anno Lucis_ till our time,

Masonic Treason’s been a crime:

Now _Robison’s_ in every pocket,

And up he’s own to fame, like rocket.”

_Cf._ _American Mercury_, Jan. 3, 1799: “Ode on Ends; or, The Boy’s

Address, who carries the _American Mercury_.”

[747] Babcock’s adverse attitude is dealt with on pp. 313 _et seq._ of

this dissertation.

[748] _Cf._ issues of the _Courant_ for July 2, 30, Aug. 6, 13, Sept.

17, 1798; and for May 27, June 10, 17, 24, July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, Aug.

5, 12, 19, 26, Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23, Oct. 7, Dec. 16, 1799.

[749] _Ibid._, Aug. 6, 1798.

[750] _Ibid._, Aug. 13, 1798.

[751] _Ibid._, Sept. 3, 1798. This view that the _Courant_ sought

to turn the agitation over the Illuminati to political account is

confirmed by the following extract from “Guillotina,” the new year’s

poem that the editors of the _Courant_ presented to their patrons early

in 1799.

“O thou who spurn’d monarchial sway,

E’er nature sprang to birth;

Lord of each Jacobinic fray,

In ev’ry clime on earth.

“Tho’ plung’d from thy once high estate,

For turning _Order’s_ foe;

We joy that thou a Prince so great,

Dost rule the world below.

“We joy that when like falling star,

Thy footsteps downward drove;

The _Democratic Cause_, from far,

Came cow’ring from above.

“That _France_ has caught the livid flame,

Affords supreme delight;

And that Genet has spread the same,

To our admiring sight.

. . . . . . .

“May thy Iluminati then

In ev’ry clime be found;

All busy as a clucking hen,

That peeping chicks surround.”

_Connecticut Courant_, Jan. 7, 1799: “Guillotina, for the year 1799,

addressed to the Reader’s of the Connecticut Courant.”

[752] _Porcupine’s Gazette_, April 12, 13, 1798.

[753] _Ibid._, July 14, 1798.

[754] _Porcupine’s Gazette_, July 14, 1798. An illustration of the

dearth of vital data bearing on the existence of the Illuminati,

as well as of the absurd way in which those who sought to prove

their existence grasped at straws, is to be found in this issue of

_Porcupine’s Gazette_. Cobbett published a letter which he had recently

received from a certain William Smith, of Norwalk, Connecticut, who

claimed that the chaplain of the ship of a French Admiral had made

statements in his presence that corroborated Robison’s contentions.

This letter speedily found its way into several New England newspapers,

and passed for evidence in the case. _Cf._ for example, the _Salem

Gazette_, Aug. 7, 1798.

[755] _Ibid._, Aug. 13, 23, 24, 30, 1798.

[756] _Porcupine’s Gazette_, Feb. 25, 1799.

[757] _Porcupine’s Gazette_, Feb. 25, 1799.

[758] _Ibid._, Feb. 26, 1799.

[759] By this abbreviated title Bache’s paper was generally referred to.

[760] _Aurora_, Aug. 3, 1798.

[761] _Aurora_, Aug. 3, 1798.

[762] _Ibid._, Aug. 10, 1798. Bache’s death occurred in September.

3. MORSE SUBMITS HIS INEPT DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

The national skies had by no means cleared of threatening clouds when,

in the early spring of 1799, the time arrived for President Adams to

issue his annual fast day proclamation. In the view of the nations

chief executive the questions of the hour were still of great urgency

and it was a season of imminent danger.[763] Accordingly, in appointing

Thursday, April 25, as the day for the people of the nation to perform

acts of solemn humiliation, fasting and prayer, he justified in part

the issuance of the proclamation on the following grounds:

The most precious interests of the people of the United States are

still held in jeopardy by the hostile designs and insidious acts

of a foreign nation, as well as by the dissemination among them of

those principles, subversive of the foundations of all religious,

moral, and social obligations, that have produced incalculable

mischief and misery in other countries.[764]

Seldom, if ever, has a presidential proclamation breathed deeper

concern for the moral and religious interests of the people.[765]

Its challenge to citizens who were already of fearful heart was

unmistakable.

To the observance of this fast day the Reverend Jedediah Morse must

have turned in no ordinary frame of mind. A spirit of exultation

possessed him. It is impossible to read the sermon which on that

occasion he delivered before his people in the Charlestown meeting

house and avoid the impression that to Morse personally the day had

been anticipated as one of triumph rather than of humiliation.[766]

Not that in any sense he was out of sympathy with the objects for

which the day had been set apart, or with the President’s extremely

solemn language in proclaiming the fast; but it was given him, as he

believed, to make before his people a pronouncement of such a startling

and convincing character as would perform for the country at large

that great and needed service which for months he had been eager to

accomplish. Incidentally, the scoffers who had sought to cry down

the alarm which a year before he had sounded should be put to rout.

Timid apologists for the outcry against the Illuminati were about to

see their case tremendously strengthened. Honest doubters, by the

overwhelming weight of the evidence which was about to be spread before

them, would be forced to acknowledge the folly of their distrust.

The text that Morse employed for the occasion directly echoed a

sentiment in the President’s proclamation, and besides was well

suited to the purpose in view. From the Hebrew Psalms he selected

the following passage: “If the foundations be destroyed, what can

the righteous do?”—Psalm xi:3. With this text he proposed to make an

effective appeal. The Psalm from which it was taken was composed by

David while he was in great peril and distress from the persecuting

hand of Saul; while, too, he was hard pressed to find a way of escape

out of the destructive snares set by his enemies, whose _secret_

machinations involved both his character and his life, and not only

this, but the _foundations_ of his country.[767] What word would better

fit the circumstances of the present hour? Have not the enemies of

David, of Christ his Antitype, and of the Church ... ever possessed

similar _dispositions_, ... had in view similar _designs_, and in like

circumstances, ... adopted and pursued the same means of gratifying the

_former_, and of accomplishing the _latter_?”[768] Might it not be

said that “the present situation is uncommonly critical and perilous?”

Do not all persons of reflection agree upon that judgment, even though

their opinions regarding the sources and degrees of the dangers may

vary greatly?[769]

The “foundations” alluded to in the text were, of course, the

foundations of religion and government.[770] This exegesis paved the

way for the following statement:

With all the frankness and plainness becoming an honest and

faithful watchman, I intend, my brethren, to lay before you what

I humbly conceive to be our real and most alarming dangers; those

which have a malign aspect, both on our religious and our political

welfare. Believing, as I firmly do, that the foundations of all

our _most precious interests_ are formidably assailed, and that

the subtil and secret assailants are increasing in number, and are

multiplying, varying, and arranging their means of attack, it would

be criminal in me to be silent. I am compelled to sound the alarm,

and I will do it, so far as God shall enable me, with fidelity.[771]

Having thus prepared the minds of his auditors for the portentous

revelation, Morse quickly descended to particulars.

It may as well be said plainly, he continued, that the passage in the

President’s fast day proclamation respecting the hostile designs,

insidious arts, and demoralizing principles of a certain foreign

nation, referred to France.[772] Did any one ask for proofs that

the President’s statement was true? The proofs were so abundant and

so evident that the difficulty was to know where to begin. The war

upon the defenceless commerce of the United States; the inhuman and

savage treatment of those citizens of this country who have been so

unfortunate as to fall into the hands of France’s minions by whom

they have been so grossly insulted, beaten, wounded and thrust into

loathsome prisons and dungeons, even murdered; the recent plot of the

French Directory to invade the southern states from St. Domingo, using

an army of blacks to effect an invasion, and by these attempting to

excite to insurrection the blacks of this country;[773] here, surely,

were ample proofs of the hostile and detestable designs of the French

government against our own.[774]

But there was another matter. The disclosure that had recently been

made regarding the secret machinations of the French on the Island

of St. Domingo, focused attention upon a matter of the most serious

moment. The most vigorous, active, and united measures must immediately

be adopted to arouse from their slumber the citizens of this country,

that they may give due attention to a particular aspect of the

insidious and seductive activities of the French in the United States,

of which, Morse averred, he stood prepared to speak with the utmost

definiteness.[775] Continuing:

It has long been suspected that secret societies, under the

influence and direction of France, holding principles subversive

of our religion and government, existed somewhere in this

country. This suspicion was cautiously suggested from this desk,

on the day of the late National Fast, with the view to excite a

just alarm, and to put you on your guard against their secret

artifices. Evidence that this suspicion was well founded has

since been accumulating, and I have now in my possession complete

and indubitable proof that such societies do exist, and have for

many years existed, in the United States. I have, my brethren,

an official, authenticated list of the names, ages, places of

nativity, professions, &c. of the officers and members of a

Society of _Illuminati_ (or as they are now more generally and

properly styled _Illuminees_) consisting of _one hundred_ members,

instituted in Virginia, by the _Grand Orient_ of FRANCE. This

society has a deputy, whose name is on the list, who resides at the

Mother Society in France, to communicate from thence all needful

information and instruction. The date of their institution is

1786, before which period, it appears from the private papers of

the European Societies already published, (according to Professor

Robison), that several societies had been established in America.

The seal and motto of this society correspond with their detestable

principles and designs. The members are chiefly Emigrants from

France and St. Domingo, with the addition of a few Americans, and

some from almost all the nations of Europe. A letter which enclosed

this list, an authentic copy of which I also possess, contains

evidence of a society of like nature, and probably of more ancient

date, at _New-York_, out of which have sprung _fourteen_ others,

scattered we know not where over the United States. Two societies

of the same kind, but of an inferior order, have been instituted

by the society first mentioned, one in Virginia, the other at St.

Domingo. How many of equal rank they have established among us I am

not informed.

You will perceive, my brethren, from this concise statement of

facts, that we have in truth secret enemies, not a few scattered

through our country; how many and, except in three or four

instances, in what places we know not; enemies whose professed

design is to subvert and overturn our holy religion and our free

and excellent government. And the pernicious fruits of their

insidious and secret efforts, must be visible to every eye not

obstinately closed or blinded by prejudice. Among these fruits may

be reckoned our unhappy and threatening political divisions; the

increasing abuse of our wise and faithful rulers; the virulent

opposition to some of the laws of our country, and the measures

of the Supreme Executive; the Pennsylvania insurrection; the

industrious circulation of baneful and corrupting books, and

the consequent wonderful spread of infidelity, impiety, and

immorality; the arts made use of to revive ancient prejudices,

and cherish party spirit, by concealing or disguising the truth,

and propagating falsehoods; and lastly, the apparent systematic

endeavours made to destroy, not only the influence and support, but

the official existence of the Clergy.[776]

The remainder of the sermon is void of originality and interest. Its

utterances pale into insignificance alongside of the sensational and

emphatic statements just recorded.[777]

When the sermon came from the printer’s hands it contained the

“complete and indubitable proof” that Morse had proudly told his

hearers was in his possession. This “proof” was in the form of

documents, conspicuous among which was the following letter:

A L’Ot∴ de Portsmouth, En Virginie le 17.

du 5e. m. en L’an de la V∴ L∴ 5798.⁄:

La R∴ L∴ Pte∴ Fse∴ réguliérement constitué sous

le titre distinctif de la Sagesse No. 2660, par le G∴

La T∴ R∴ L∴ L’union-française No. 14. constituée

par le G∴ Ot∴ de New-York.

S∴ F∴ V∴

TT∴ CC∴ & RR∴ FF∴

La Planche dont vous nous avez favorisés en date du 16e. du 2e. mois

de la presénte année Mque∴, ne nous est parvenuë que depuis peu de

jours; Elle a été mise sous les yeux de notre R∴ L∴ en sa séance

extraordinaire du 14e. du présent.

Nous vous félicitons TT∴ CC∴ FF∴ des nouvelles Constitutions que vous

avez obténuës du G∴ Ot∴ de New-York. Nous avons ferons en consequénce

un plaisir & un devoir d’entretenir avec votre R∴ L∴ la correspondence

la plus fraternelle, comme avec toutes les LL∴ réguliére qui voudront

bien vous favoriser de la leur.

C’est a ce titre que nous croyons devoir vous donner Connoissance de

l’éstablissement de deux nouveaux attellieres maçoniques réguliérement

constitués et installés au rite français par notre R∴ L∴ provincialle,

L’un depuis plus d’un an sous le titre de _L’amitiê_ à L’Ot∴ de

Petersburg, en Virginie; l’autre, plus récent, sous le titre de la

_Parfaite-Egalité_ à L’Ot∴ du Port de Paix isle St. Domingue.

Nous vous remettons cy-joint quelques exemplaires de notre Tableau de

cette année que notre L∴ vous prie d’agréer en retour de ceux qu’elle

a reçu de la votre avec reconnoissance.

Puisse la G∴ A∴ de l’U∴ bénir vos travaux et les couronner de toutes

sortes de succés! C’est dans ces sentiments que nous avons la faveur

d’être,

P∴ L∴ N∴ M∴ Q∴ V∴ S∴ C∴

TT∴ CC∴ et TT∴ RR∴ FF∴

Votre très affectionés F∴

Par Mandement de la T∴

R∴ L∴ Pte∴ de la Sagesse.

Guieu,

Sécrétaire.[778]

Following this letter and its translation appeared a list of the

officers and members, resident and non-resident, of Wisdom Lodge,

Portsmouth, Virginia, with explanatory data in each instance, covering

such points as age, place of birth, profession, _etc._, the whole

concluding with a representation of the seal of Wisdom Lodge and the

following motto: _Amplius Homines oculis quam auribus credunt. Iter

longum est per precepta, breve et efficax per exempla._[779]

Upon these documents Morse saw fit to make and publish certain

“Explanatory Remarks,”[780] of which the following is the gist.

The Lodge Wisdom in Portsmouth, Virginia, is seen to be a branch of the

_Grand Orient_ of France. Its members consist chiefly of foreigners,

that is to say, Frenchmen,—Frenchmen who come either from France or

from the West India possessions of that country. From the seal it

appears that Wisdom Lodge was established as early as 1786. It is

also, as its number shows, “the TWO THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND SIXTIETH

branch from the original stock.”[781] It further appears that there is

a sister lodge in the city of New York, styled the _Grand Orient_ of

New York. The latter, from the name and number of the lodges it has

instituted, is quite likely the first and principal branch that the

Mother Club in France has established in America. This New York lodge

has established the French lodge, Union, to which the letter from the

lodge Wisdom was addressed. As to the other thirteen branches from

the parent stock, for the present there could be nothing more than

conjecture as to their location.[782]

The documents also show that an intimate correspondence is maintained

between the lodges in America and those in St. Domingo; also between

the American lodges and the _Grand Orient_ in France. It further

appears that Wisdom Lodge has a regular deputy in the membership of the

_Grand Orient_ of France. Lists of names are exchanged between the two

societies, so that their members may be fully known to each other.[783]

Masons to whom these documents issuing from Wisdom Lodge have been

shown declare that the organization is not truly Masonic. The titles of

its officers, its seal and motto, they affirm, are not regular. Thus

the lodge in Portsmouth has been pronounced spurious by well-informed

Masons.[784]

Wisdom Lodge, it appears, has one hundred members. Counting all the

others referred to in the documents, there are seventeen lodges in all.

Assuming that these have an equal number of members, it may be said

that there are at least seventeen hundred Illuminati in the United

States, all bound together by oath and intimate correspondence.[785]

Beyond these there are to be considered, of course, the many thousands

of Frenchmen scattered through the United States, all perhaps “combined

and organized (with other foreigners and some disaffected and

unprincipled Americans) in these societies, ... regularly instructed

and directed by their masters in France, and ... systematically

conducting the plan of revolutionizing this country.”[786]

The principles and objects of this organization may be partly deduced

from the motto and seal of Wisdom Lodge. The literal rendering of the

former is not so significant as its spirit, which is best expressed in

the following liberal translation: “Men more readily believe what they

_see_ than what they _hear_. They are taught slowly by _precept_, but

the effect of _example_ is sudden and powerful.”[787] From this it may

be inferred that the organization was formed, “not for _speculation_,

but for activity.” Precepts are scorned; actions are accepted as

the only quick method of teaching mankind and of producing a change

in their opinions. The change in opinions which the organization

contemplates must have to do with government and religion. It cannot

have to do with the minds of its members, for the society is _secret_

and designs to work secretly. “The changes which they can produce by

_secret influence and intrigue_, the novel arts which they can thus

exhibit before the eyes of men, are doubtless to be the _efficaceous_

means of teaching men the new system of philosophy, which sets at

defiance, and contemns all old and settled opinions, by which the

government of nations and the conduct of individuals have heretofore

been directed.”[788]

As to the organization’s seal, no description can do it justice.[789]

A view of its square and compass, pillars, and _skull and cross-bones_

best indicates its horrid nature.[790]

Fortified by these documents, and flanked by the testimonies of

Robison and Barruel,[791] Morse concluded his presentment in the

following energetic manner:

That there are branches and considerably numerous too, of this

infernal association in this country we have now full proof. That

they hold and propagate similar doctrines and maxims of conduct

is abundantly evident from what is passing continually before our

eyes. They even boast that their plans are deeply and extensively

laid, and cannot be defeated, that success is certain. If then,

Americans, we do not speedily take for our motto, _Vigilance, Union

and Activity_, and act accordingly, we must expect soon to fall

victims to the _arts and the arms_ of that nation, “on the title

page of whose laws, as well as on its standards, is written the

emphatic and descriptive motto

HAVOC AND SPOIL AND RUIN ARE OUR GAIN.”[792]

Here, at last, was something reasonably concrete. After a full year,

devoted mostly to the reiteration of vague suspicions and generalities,

of reckless affirmations and denials, here was something which had the

value of a definite point at which a rational investigation of the

subject could begin, should any course so practical as this be thought

of. The hour for the introduction of something tangible in the way of

evidence had fully come, in any event. This was evidenced by the fact

that in connection with the celebration of the national fast other

clergymen, for the most part, had held back, apparently unwilling

to commit themselves further on the subject of the Illuminati until

clearer proof should be at hand.[793] This did not signify that public

interest in the subject had abated; it was rather in suspense.[794]

With the appearance of Morse’s third and last sermon dealing with

the Illuminati,[795] the public discussion of the subject became

immediately possessed of a new energy. In a letter to Wolcott, bearing

date of June 5, 1799, Morse observed to his friend, “I expect that

I have disturbed a hornet’s nest.”[796] There can be no doubt that,

diction conceded, this was an apt estimate of the situation. In view of

the experiences which were ahead of him, it was well that Morse found

his serenity of mind such as to enable him to complete the remark just

recorded, by adding, “Happily, I am fearless of their stings.”[797]

The breaking-out of a heated newspaper discussion supplied the

principal evidence that Morse’s fast day sermon of 1799 inaugurated a

new stage in the Illuminati agitation.

The _Independent Chronicle_, aware of the fact that something tangible

was now before the public, something which might perhaps seriously

influence the popular judgment, promptly abandoned its contemptuous

and indiscriminative policy[798] and violently assailed Morse for his

latest performance. The author of the fast sermon was sharply taken

to task for handling the Illuminati matter as he did. If, in his

judgment, there was substantial justification for the charges he had

made, why then did he not submit the evidence to President Adams, or

lay it before some other proper official of the government, instead

of retailing “the alarming narrative in a nine-penny sermon?”[799] If

it was true that there was a society plotting the overthrow of our

government and Morse could throw any light whatever on the persons

involved, what sense was there in treating the subject “in so loose a

manner as to render it only subservient to a second or third edition

of a political fulmination?”[800] Morse could have only political

ends in view. His “plot” was another Federalist scheme. He wished

to excite jealousies against a certain class of citizens,[801] _i.

e._, the Democrats. Or, was it to be inferred from the way he handled

“the trifling story of the Illuminati,” that he desired to incense

and greatly anger the people of this country against France?[802]

This suspicion would seem to be justified by the fact that Morse had

preached and published a number of sermons, in all of which he had

anathematized the French nation as the authors of the diabolical system

of Illuminatism.[803] But whatever were the motives which animated him,

his statements were not to be trusted. He had forfeited the right to be

taken seriously.[804]

During the two or three months that followed the celebration of the

national fast, a copious flood of contributed articles poured through

the columns of the _Chronicle_.[805] “A Friend to a Real Clergyman,

and an Enemy to Bigotry,” “Bunker Hill,” “Credulity,” “Daniel,” _et

al._, all made their offerings to the airing of what the opposition

unanimously agreed should be styled “the preposterous documents of

Morse.” If a friend and supporter of the Charlestown pastor ventured to

express his respect for the arguments of that gentleman, he had little

to hope for in the face of the withering fire of sarcasm, ridicule,

denial, and defiance that the opposition steadily maintained. Thus,

for example, when “Senex,” an old contributor to the _Chronicle_, made

public profession of the fact that Morse’s evidence had seriously

shaken his earlier distrust of the “Illuminati conspiracy,”[806]

“Credulity” hastened to “pooh-pooh” such anxious fears, and to insist

that they were unworthy of a sensible man. Morse’s declarations on

the subject of Illuminism deserved only to be laughed at. They were

certainly utterly out of reason.[807]

The _American Mercury_ was another newspaper that rallied to the

effort to break down any favorable impressions which Morse’s latest

deliverance upon the subject of Illuminism may have made upon the

public mind. The respectfully attentive and receptive attitude of this

journal during the earlier stages of the agitation has already been

noted.[808] The appearance of the fast day sermon converted this into

a spirit of violent antagonism. Morse’s latest sermon was pronounced

absurd. “His history of the _Lodge of Wisdom_ is equally fabulous

with his story of the ship Ocean,”[809] was the judgment of Editor

Babcock.[810] A few weeks later the _Mercury_ gave to its readers

an article that had first seen the light in the _Farmer’s Weekly

Museum_,[811] a New Hampshire publication. How roughly Morse and the

documentary proofs which he had recently laid before the public were

handled in this article, the following excerpts will suggest:

Every person who had an opportunity of perusing the sermons

which have been published by Dr. Morse, within the space of two

years past, must be sensible how great have been his efforts and

exertions, to sound an alarm amongst the people, and to create in

the public mind the highest degree of astonishment.... From the

assurance with which the Dr. speaks of his discovery and the great

utility which must result from it to mankind, one would imagine

that his name would be enrolled among the _worthies_ of his day,

as the greatest ornament of our country, and the glory of human

nature.... He will undoubtedly do more honour to himself and his

profession, to return again to his old business, “of writing

geography,” and not thus attempt to agitate the public mind, with

such alarming discoveries of Illuminatism.

For trifles, light as air, are to the suspicious,

Strong as proofs of holy writ.[812]

Meanwhile the supporters of Morse were not idle, although it must be

admitted that as far as the press was concerned the amount of sympathy

and support that Morse received from that quarter was by no means

commensurate to the weight of criticism with which his opponents

sought to crush him. Extracts from his recent fast sermon appeared

in such papers as the _Massachusetts Mercury_[813] and the _Salem

Gazette_;[814] and with characteristic loyalty to every interest

which in any way might be able to serve the cause of Federalism, the

_Connecticut Courant_ proclaimed its complete satisfaction with Morse’s

production in the following reckless fashion:

This sermon is worthy the attention of every inhabitant in the

United States on every account, as it contains an authentic

letter from the Grand Lodge of Illuminated Free Masons in France,

to the Grand Lodge of the Illuminated Free Masons in the United

States, together with a list of about one hundred members—their

names—birthplace—age—places of residence, and occupation. Every

person who does not wish to be blind to his own destruction,

will undoubtedly furnish himself with this document; since it

establishes beyond a doubt the existence of that infernal club in

the very heart of our country.[815]

A larger measure of support of Morse and his cause came from the public

declaimers, who, on the occasion of the Fourth of July following,

regaled their audiences with discursive observations on the state of

national affairs. All over New England citizens were solemnly urged to

take serious account of the conspiracy that recently had been partially

dragged into the light.

At Ridgefield, Connecticut, the declaration was made that America

had been caught in the meshes of the net which the Illuminati had

attempted to cast over all the nations.[816] At New Haven it was

asserted that the societies of Illuminism, having wrought fearful

havoc and ruin in Europe, were now known to be extensively engaged in

communicating infection and death to the citizens and institutions of

this nation.[817] At Hartford the society of the Illuminati and the

occult lodges of Freemasonry were represented as having “exhausted the

powers of the human mind, in inventing and combining a series of dread

mysteries, unhallowed machinations, and disastrous plots,” with the

dissemination of the principles of Voltaire and his school as the main

objective in view.[818] At Boston direct connections were made between

the secret affiliated societies which the virtuous frown of Washington

drove into their lurking-places and the newly discovered organizations

which had just been found to be “busily engaged in sapping the

foundations of society, and may ere long spring a mine, which shall

blow up our Constitution and Liberties.”[819] At Portland, Maine, the

unwilling prostitution of the Masonic lodges in Europe to the purposes

of the Illuminati was pointed out as amounting to a threat against

the institutions of America.[820] At Byfield[821] and Roxbury,[822]

Massachusetts, similar warnings were heard.

To a certain extent, the general employment of this anniversary of

national independence to arouse the country against the machinations of

the Illuminati was due to an event, long anticipated, that had occurred

shortly before. Less than a month prior to July 4, 1799, Barruel’s

_Memoirs of Jacobinism_ made its first appearance in New England.[823]

The hopes of the supporters of the agitation were immediately raised.

Before the publication of the documents which Morse gave to the

world in his fast sermon of 1799, Robison’s _Proofs of a Conspiracy_

constituted the chief if not the sole resource of the friends of the

agitation. Barruel had been appealed to, but only in the form of such

scanty excerpts from his writings as percolated to America through the

fingers of his English reviewers and, as we have seen, in settings

which provided ammunition for both sides in the controversy. Now the

hour had come when the supporters of the Illuminati alarm in New

England were to be privileged to make a full and free appeal to their

second great ally from abroad.[824]

The facts regarding the nature of the reception accorded Barruel’s

composition in New England are meagre in the extreme. In this very

circumstance, one may suppose, is found the best of all evidences that

the book failed to fulfil the hopes of its friends. It is true that

within seven weeks after the public announcement of the fact that the

_Memoirs of Jacobinism_ were ready for distribution at Hartford, one

of Morse’s correspondents at that place was able to assure him that

“the facts ... in Du Pan, Robison, and Barruel have got into every farm

house” in that section of the country.[825] It is also true that in

order to insure a wide reading of what were supposed to be the more

significant portions of Barruel’s voluminous work, an abridgment of it

was undertaken and published in the columns of such leading papers as

the _Connecticut Courant_[826] and the _Massachusetts Mercury_.[827]

Nevertheless, the inference is unavoidable that at the most the cause

of the agitators received only a momentary quickening from this

quarter. If anything, the very flatness of the reception accorded

Barruel’s work served to quiet the public mind in New England on the

subject of Illuminism. The precious conceit which the supporters of the

charge of an American conspiracy of the Illuminati had imported from

abroad, _viz._, that the two “great” European writers on the subject

of Illuminism, Robison and Barruel, while working independently had

unearthed the same set of facts and arrived at the same conclusion as

to their import, fell quickly enough to the ground. Whatever the facts

might be regarding the situation in Europe, it speedily became clear

that Barruel had no clear and steady light to throw upon the situation

in America, and even those who hoped most from the publication of the

_Memoirs of Jacobinism_ were soon forced to admit that the American

reading public had little taste for the prolix romancings of the

French abbé.[828]

Early in the fall of 1799 a new twist was given to the controversy.

This developed out of an episode that for the time at least seriously

embarrassed the personal integrity of Morse, and enveloped the issue

generally in such a cloud of pettiness and disagreeable suspicions that

the entire subject of Illuminism assumed an unsavory aspect, with the

result that the public was all the more easily persuaded to turn to

other and more fruitful topics. Compressed as much as the interests of

clarity will allow, the facts were as follows.

The _American Mercury_ of September 26, 1799, published an article

asserting that in his efforts to substantiate his charges against

the Illuminati, Morse had addressed a letter of inquiry to Professor

Ebeling[829] of Hamburg, Germany, to which the latter made response

that Robison’s _Proofs of a Conspiracy_ had no standing in Europe; that

it was regarded there as a farrago of falsehoods, written by its author

to obtain bread rather than in the hope that it would be believed.[830]

It was further asserted that Ebeling’s letter to Morse gave Robison

an unsavory character; he was said to have lived too fast for his

income, to be in trouble with the civil authorities in his native

country, and to have been expelled from a Masonic lodge in Edinburgh on

account of unworthy conduct.[831] This being the true state of affairs,

why, it was urged, ought not “the terrible subject of illumination”

to be dismissed forthwith as a wretched mass of absurdities? Let

Morse publish the letter that he had received from Ebeling and the

public would express itself quickly enough as to the silliness of the

Illuminati conspiracy.[832]

Morse’s rejoinder was spirited. He demanded the name of the author

of the article in the _Mercury_ and vigorously protested that the

Ebeling letter referred to was a fabrication.[833] Denied the comfort

of immediate attention and satisfaction,[834] he addressed the editor

again and with even greater vehemence, insisting that the editor

publicly brand the article referred to as “without foundation and a

tissue of the most vile and calumnious falsehoods.” But for the one

consideration that the letter which he had actually received from

Professor Ebeling was private, he averred that he stood ready to spread

it before the public gaze.[835] As a guarantee of its character,

however, he stood prepared to furnish the affidavits of Professors

David Tappan and Eliphalet Pearson of Harvard, to whom he had submitted

the letter of Ebeling for their inspection, and who were ready to

depose that it was in no sense like the letter whose contents had been

given to the public by the _American Mercury_.[836]

By the time these noisy verbal hostilities had taken place, the leading

newspaper partisans on both sides of the controversy had accepted the

responsibility of advising the public regarding the new issue. The

_Connecticut Courant_ roundly denounced the unprincipled editor of the

_American Mercury_ for having printed such a monstrous fabrication as

its account of the Ebeling-Morse letter,[837] and later, on Morse’s

behalf, undertook to say that while the communication which Morse had

received from Ebeling contained denials of the authenticity of many

of the facts alleged in the _Proofs of a Conspiracy_, at the same

time it was destitute of even the most distant suggestion of moral

or other delinquencies on the part of Robison.[838] The _Columbian

Centinel_ regarded itself in duty bound to spread before its readers

the indignant communication that Morse had sent to the editor of the

_American Mercury_, for the reason that it believed Morse had been

most shamefully treated in the matter.[839] As for the _Massachusetts

Mercury_, one of its contributors felt moved to observe that the

account of the Ebeling-Morse letter which the _American Mercury_ had

published was nothing less than a consummate piece of pure villainy,

intended to ruin Mr. Robison’s character; certainly no candid American

would pay the slightest attention to it until the person who was

responsible for the publication came forward and gave the public his

name.[840]

On the other side, such rampant Democratic journals as the _Bee_ and

the _Aurora_ came ardently to the support of the _American Mercury_ and

directed a searching cross-fire against Morse and his friends. Since

the days of Salem witchcraft, the former observed, no subject had so

much affected the minds of a certain class of people in New England as

this pretended Illuminati conspiracy.[841] Because of the way in which

preachers, orators, essayists, and newsmongers generally had declaimed

upon the subject, a mist had overspread the public mind. Ebeling’s

letter to Morse, however, had given a fatal blow to the strife. It was

now to be expected that the impressions made upon the minds of numerous

over-credulous citizens by an insidious and designing set of men would

be fully eradicated.[842] To give full force to these observations, the

_Bee_ published the text of the letter which, it averred, Morse had

received from Ebeling.[843] This characterized Robison’s _Proofs of a

Conspiracy_ as ridiculous and filled with statements many of which were

faulty and others totally erroneous. Its author had composed the book

in the interests of party and with a special animus against all men who

asserted the use of reason in the sphere of theology. The authorities

to which Robison appealed were declared to be questionable, and

Robison’s own standing as a historian was pronounced to be such that it

was impossible to take his work seriously.[844]

The _Aurora_ steered a similar course. Drawing upon the _Bee_, the

text of the alleged Ebeling-Morse letter was printed[845] and the

accompanying comment made that this effectually disposed of the

Illuminati.[846] It was now fully apparent that Morse had seized upon

the idea of a conspiracy against religion and the state in order to

further selfish and partisan ends. He and Dr. Dwight, who were at

the head of the clerical systems in Massachusetts and Connecticut

respectively, were exhausting all the means in their power to exalt

Federalism and to obtain a religious establishment which would deliver

the consciences and purses of the nation into the hands of their

party.[847] The rancor that these two men had recently stirred up

against the respectable fraternity of Freemasons was due solely to

their bigotry.[848]

Meantime a certain shrewd and none too scrupulous Democratic clergyman

in Massachusetts was deriving such satisfaction as he could out of

Morse’s discomfiture and bitter resentment. The letter that the _Bee_

and the _Aurora_ published as a letter from Ebeling to Morse was in

fact a letter from Ebeling to William Bentley,[849] inveterate hater of

Morse.[850]

Ebeling, it appears, had written the letters to Bentley and to Morse

at about the same time.[851] A little after the receipt of his letter,

Bentley had learned from Ebeling that Doctors Pearson, Tappan, and

Morse all were inquiring of Ebeling concerning Robison’s standing as

a historian, and that the Hamburg professor had addressed Morse at

length upon the subject.[852] Further, he received clear hints from

Ebeling as to the precise nature of the communications to Morse.[853]

Bentley, therefore, had substantial reasons for believing that he was

in full possession of the information that Ebeling had furnished Morse

regarding the subsidence of the Illuminati craze in Europe and the

unfavorable opinions of Robison that were entertained on the other side

of the Atlantic. It certainly was not to his credit, however, that he

should permit a letter which he himself had received from Ebeling to be

published as a communication from Ebeling to Morse.[854]

Under the circumstances, Morse was placed in a position of

embarrassment and humiliation from which he found it impossible wholly

to extricate himself.[855] What is more to the point, the cause which

in his misguided zeal he had been promoting was thus made to suffer an

irreparable blow. With his personal integrity under grave suspicion

and his main European ally held up to public ridicule and scorn,

even Morse’s obdurate spirit must have foreseen that the collapse of

the agitation which he had fostered could not long be deferred. Even

without this tumble into the slough of suspicion and contempt, time

must soon have brushed aside as groundless the alarm that Morse had

sounded. It is not difficult to imagine, however, that time might have

found ways less vindictive and scurvy to dispose of the excited clamor

of Morse.

Driven to undertake some further effort at self-justification,[856]

the belated idea came to Morse to investigate the lodge Wisdom at

Portsmouth, Virginia. Accordingly he addressed a letter to Josiah

Parker, member of Congress for Virginia, soliciting information from

Parker respecting the Portsmouth lodge. Parker responded to the effect

that he had lived in Portsmouth until he went to Congress in 1789;

that the lodge Wisdom was regarded in that city as a reputable Masonic

society, made up of a few worthy people, mostly French; that some

of its members were personally known to the writer to be men warmly

attached to the cause of the government; that a good many Frenchmen

had been admitted to the lodge about the time of the insurrection on

the island of St. Domingo, but that the most of these were not now in

America; that some of the Frenchmen whose names Morse had incorporated

in his fast sermon of April 25, 1799, as members of Wisdom Lodge, were

known to Parker to be honest and industrious men; in a word, that

he, Parker, considered the lodge in question as entirely harmless as

far as fomenting hostility to the institutions of the country was

concerned.[857]

The receipt of Parker’s letter left Morse without further resource.

Promptly he wrote his friend and adviser, Oliver Wolcott, soliciting

his counsel as to whether it would be better for him to remain silent

and let matters take their course or whether he would better offer to

the public such explanations and observations as he could.[858] The

nature of Wolcott’s counsel is unknown; but Morse, in any event, came

to the conclusion that there was no further action he could take in the

case, and his advocacy of the idea of an Illuminati conspiracy against

religion and the government ceased. Henceforth, the reverberations of

the controversy, with a single exception, were to be of the nature of

jibes and flings on the part of irritated and disgusted Democrats who

adopted the position that the controversy over the Illuminati had been

introduced into American politics to serve purely partisan ends.

In 1802, the Reverend Seth Payson,[859] minister of the Congregational

church at Rindge, New Hampshire, made an effort to revive the

agitation. In a volume[860] characterized by dismal mediocrity Payson

fulminated against the public stupor that, he admitted, had taken

the place of the sense of alarm that the discovery of the Illuminati

conspiracy had originally caused.[861] Payson’s book was nothing more

than a revamping of the earlier literature, European and American, on

the subject. There is no evidence that it made the slightest impression

on the country.

FOOTNOTES:

[763] _The Life and Works of John Adams_, vol. ix, p. 172.

[764] _Ibid._, pp. 172 _et seq._

[765] Reverend Ashbel Green, who was chaplain of Congress at the

time, accounts for the presence of this quality in the proclamation

in the following manner. The President requested Green to assist him

by preparing a draft of such a proclamation as the latter deemed

suitable for the purpose. Aware of the complaints that had been made

respecting previous proclamations, on the ground that while they

called the people to the religious duties of thanksgiving and fasting,

they were yet somewhat lacking in the manifestation of “a decidedly

Christian spirit,” Green resolved to prepare for the President’s

benefit a proclamation of such a thoroughgoing evangelical character

that no such objection could possibly be lodged against it. This he

endeavored to do. The President adopted Greens draft and published it,

“with only the alteration of two or three words out of all affecting

the religious character of my [his] production.” (_The Life of Ashbel

Green_, pp. 260 _et seq._) The “decidedly Christian spirit” of the

proclamation did not make the instrument immune from criticism. “An Old

Ecclesiastic” contributed a highly censorious article to the _Aurora_,

sharply rebuking the President for proclaiming the fast, objecting also

to his “very improper and impolitic ... language ... when speaking of

the French nation,” and questioning his right to direct the people

as to what they should pray for. _Cf._ _Aurora_, April 4, 1799. This

article was copied by the _Independent Chronicle_ for the benefit of

New England readers, and drew from “A Real Ecclesiastic” a valiant

defence of the President’s action and language. In the eyes of this

writer, “the observations ... by an Old Ecclesiastic ... are so

artfully fitted to excite groundless suspicions and prejudices against

that GREAT AND GOOD MAN [President Adams], and especially to prepossess

unwary readers against the approaching Fast recommended by him, that

it seems important to defeat the writer’s manifest intention by a few

seasonable remarks.” The nation was a _Christian_ nation, and therefore

the President had a right to _recommend_ the observance of a day of

_Christian_ humiliation and prayer. _Cf._ _Massachusetts Mercury_,

April 16, 1799.

[766] _A Sermon, Exhibiting the Present Dangers, and Consequent

Duties of the Citizens of the United States of America. Delivered at

Charlestown, April 25, 1799, the day of the National Fast._ By Jedediah

Morse, D. D., pastor of the church in Charlestown. Charlestown, 1799.

[767] Morse, _op. cit._, p. 5.

[768] Morse, _op. cit._

[769] _Ibid._, p. 9.

[770] _Ibid._, p. 7.

[771] _Ibid._, p. 9.

[772] _Ibid._, p. 12.

[773] Morse, _op. cit._, pp. 13 _et seq._ Morse gave as his authority

in this instance Robert Goodloe Harper’s “Sketch of the Principal Acts

of Congress during the session which closed the 3d. of March”. See Note

A, p. 33, of Morse’s _Sermon_. Reference to Benton’s _Abridgement of

the Debates of Congress_, vol. ii, pp. 339, 343, discloses the fact

that sentiments embodying this apprehension were expressed in the Third

Congress. The struggle which France and England waged for the control

of the island of St. Domingo, a struggle that had as its principal

development the insurrection of the blacks of the island under the

leadership of Toussaint Louverture, properly enough was full of deep

interest for Americans. _Cf._ Hildreth, _The History of the United

States of America_, vol. v, pp. 269 _et seq._ For a recent discussion

of American policy with respect to St. Domingo and the state of affairs

within the island, see Treudley, Mary, _The United States and Santo

Domingo, 1789–1866_ (doctoral dissertation, Clark University), pp.

125–138.

[774] _Cf._ Morse’s _Sermon_, pp. 12–14.

[775] _Cf._ Morse’s _Sermon_, p. 15.

[776] _Cf._ Morse’s _Sermon_, pp. 15–17. The allusion to a hostile

attitude towards the clergy, with which the extract closes, led Morse

to dwell at length upon the anticlerical spirit of the whole French

system. _Cf. ibid._, pp. 17 _et seq._ Wherever that system operates,

there, Morse asserts, the clergy are the first to feel its power and to

become the victims of its sanguinary revolutionizing spirit. Here in

the United States this same malignant spirit is visibly at work. And

all that the clergy have done to provoke this deadly hostility may be

summed up in the phrase, “they have preached politics.” (_Ibid._, p.

18). They are now “censured and abused, and represented as an expense,

useless, nay even, noxious body of men” for doing what “only twenty

years ago they were called upon to perform as a _duty_.” (_Ibid._,

p. 19). No clergyman of the Standing Order could possibly have felt

keener resentment on account of the growing antagonism to that group

of men than Jedediah Morse. His state of mind is a bit more clearly

revealed by the contents of the following note by which the printed

sermon was accompanied. This note, it should first be explained, was

called out by the fact that a bill had been presented in a recent

session of the Massachusetts legislature, providing for the suspension

of the obligation to support the clergy of the Standing Order in all

cases where it was possible for individuals to produce certificates,

showing that they were otherwise contributing to the support of public

worship. “Had this Bill passed into a law, it is easy to see that it

would have justified and protected (as was no doubt the intention of

the Bill, though by no means of all who may have voted for it) the

disaffected, the irreligious, and the despisers of public worship and

of the Christian Sabbath, in every town and parish, in withdrawing that

support of the Christian ministry which the laws now oblige them to

give.” (Note D, p. 49 of the _Fast Sermon_).

[777] The concluding sections of the sermon were devoted to (a) a

depiction of the awful calamities which would come upon America if

ever French armies were permitted to work their remorseless ravages

here, and (b) an analysis of the duties which arose out of the dangers

that had been presented. The duties named required one (1) to stand

by one’s post of duty, despite the gloomy but not utterly hopeless

aspect of affairs; (2) to avoid all political connections with those

nations which seem devoted by Providence to destruction, and to make

a zealous effort “to watch their movements, and detect and expose the

machinations of their numerous emissaries among us; to reject, as

we would the most deadly poison, their atheistical and destructive

principles in whatever way or shape they may be insinuated among us;”

and, _especially_, (3) to promote the election to offices of trust of

only such men as have “good principles and morals, who respect religion

and love their country, who will be a terror to evil doers, and will

encourage such as do well.”

[778] _Ibid._, p. 34. For the benefit of his readers, Morse supplied

the following translation:

“At the East of the Lodge of Portsmouth in

Virginia, the 17th of the 5th month, in the

ear of (V∴ L∴) True Light 5798./:

The (R∴ L∴ Pte∴ Fse∴) respectable French

Provincial Lodge, regularly appointed under the

distinctive title of WISDOM, No. 2660 by the

GRAND ORIENT OF FRANCE.

The (T∴ R∴ L∴) very respectable French Lodge,

The Union, No. 14, constituted by the _Grand

Orient_ of New-York.

S∴ F∴ V∴

TT∴ CC∴ and RR∴ FF∴

The plate or opening (_la planche_) with which you have favoured us in

date of the 16th of the 2nd month of the current year (Mque∴) Masonic,

came to us but a few days since. It was laid before our (R∴ L∴)

respectable Lodge, at its extraordinary session on the 14th inst.

We congratulate you TT∴ CC∴ FF∴ upon the new Constitutions or

Regulations which you have obtained from the Grand Orient of New York.

We will therefore make it our pleasure and duty to maintain the most

fraternal or intimate Correspondence with your (R∴ L∴) respectable

Lodge; as also with all the regular Lodges who are willing to favour us

with theirs.

It is on this ground (_a ce titre_) that we think it our duty to inform

you of the establishment of two new Masonic workshops (_attellieres_)

regularly constituted and installed according to the French ritual,

by our Provincial (R∴ L∴) respectable Lodge; one, more than a year

since, under the title of Friendship in the East side of Petersburg in

Virginia; the other more recent, under the title of PERFECT EQUALITY,

in the East of Port de Paix in the Island of St. Domingo.

We herewith transmit to you some copies of our List (_Tableau_) for

this year, which our Lodge prays you to accept in return for those

which it hath received from your Lodge with thankfulness.

May the Grand Architect of the Universe bless your labours, and crown

them with all manner of success. With these sentiments we have the

favour to be,

P∴ L∴ N∴ M∴ Q∴ V∴ S∴ C∴

TT∴ CC∴ and TT∴ RR∴ FF∴

Your very affectionate FF∴

By order of the very respectable

Provincial Lodge of Wisdom,

Guieu,

Secretary.”

Morse’s _Sermon_, p. 35.

[779] These documents may be found on pp. 36–45 of Morse’s _Sermon_.

For the motto Morse supplied the following translation: “_Men believe

their eyes farther than their ears. The way by precept is long, but

short and efficaceous by example._” (_Ibid._, pp. 46 _et seq._)

[780] _Ibid._, pp. 46 _et seq._

[781] _Ibid._, p. 46.

[782] Morse’s _Sermon_, p. 46.

[783] _Ibid._

[784] _Ibid._

[785] _Ibid._

[786] Morse’s _Sermon_, p. 46.

[787] _Ibid._, pp. 46 _et seq._

[788] _Ibid._, p. 47.

[789] _Ibid._

[790] _Ibid._

[791] Naturally, Morse had not failed to make use of his European

authorities in preparing his sermon for the eyes of the general public.

There was, of course, no new evidence to be derived from this source.

[792] Morse’s _Sermon_, p. 48. The immediate source from which Morse

obtained the documents of which he made such large and confident use

in this sermon, constitutes an interesting subject of inquiry. Happily

that source is fully disclosed in the following extract from a letter

which Morse addressed to Wolcott, Dec. 6, 1799:

... I wish all the evidence whh can be procured to substantiate the

truth of what I have published. As the documents came through your

hands, I have thought it proper to apply to you on the subject,

as well as for evidence as for your advice as to the manner of

exhibiting it.—I wish only to be assisted in defending myself to

the satisfaction of candid & good men.” (_Wolcott Papers_, vol.

viii, 30.)

The canniness of Oliver Wolcott’s Federalism is quite as much

illuminated by this letter as is Jedediah Morse’s caution and

generosity in assuming responsibility for the publication of the

documents referred to. That Wolcott had been instrumental in furnishing

Morse’s quiver with the arrows which Morse discharged from his bow

on the occasion of the 1799 fast, was soon suspected in Democratic

circles. _Cf._ _Aurora_, Feb. 14, 1800. (In this connection it may be

remarked that Wolcott was not the only New England Federalist who came

into possession of portions of the correspondence of Wisdom Lodge. The

_Pickering MSS._, vol. xlii, 37, presents a copy of another letter

which in this instance was sent by the Portsmouth lodge to the lodge

Verity and Union, in Philadelphia. The letter bears date of April 12,

1798. Its value for the purposes of this investigation is _nil_. How it

came to be in Pickering’s possession is not known. The implication is

strong that the Federalists were eager to exploit the documents to the

utmost.)

[793] As far as the records show, no other minister in New England may

be said to have spoken emphatically upon the subject on the occasion of

the fast. It was Morse alone who galvanized the issue into new life.

The general tenor of the utterances of the clergy on the day of the

fast may be judged from the following typical examples. At Concord,

the Reverend Hezekiah Packard, who made it known that he had read Dr.

Morse’s thanksgiving sermon and its appendix, descanted on the dangers

to be apprehended from the existence of foreign intrigue among the

citizens of this country. His language was general, though certainly

expressive of profound concern. _Cf._ _Federal Republicanism, Displayed

in Two Discourses, preached on the day of the State Fast at Chelmsford,

and on the day of the National Fast at Concord, in April, 1799._ By

Hezekiah Packard, pastor of the church in Chelmsford. Boston, 1799. At

Franklin, Mass., the Reverend Nathaniel Emmons discoursed in similar

vein. The French were pointed out as a nation which had corrupted every

people whom they had subjugated. Further, Emmons asserted that things

were happening in the United States which made it certain “some men

[were] behind the curtain ... pushing on the populace to open sedition

and rebellion.” No direct reference to the Illuminati was made,

however. _Cf._ _A Discourse, delivered on the National Fast, April 25,

1799._ By Nathaniel Emmons, D. D., pastor of the church in Franklin.

Wrentham, Mass., 1799, p. 23. The pastor of the church in Braintree

had also been reading Morse’s thanksgiving sermon. However, he had no

definite word to speak on the subject of the Illuminati. France, he

said, had her secret friends here, and the real truth of her designs

were hidden from the American people. _Cf._ _A Discourse, delivered

April 25, 1799; being the day of Fasting and Prayer throughout the

United States of America._ By Ezra Weld, A. M., pastor of the church

in Braintree. Boston, 1799. At Newburyport, the Reverend Daniel Dana

saw an exceedingly dark and ominous situation confronting him and his

hearers. He spoke of a “deep-laid infernal scheme to hunt Christianity

from the globe.” It was his firm belief that all the foundations of

religion and morality were frightfully imperiled. But he gave no clear

intimation that he was thinking of the Illuminati. _Two Sermons,

delivered April 25, 1799; the day recommended by the President of the

United States for National Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer._ By Daniel

Dana, A. M., pastor of a church in Newburyport. Newburyport, 1799, p.

45. In addition to Morse there was at least one other exception to the

general reticence. A congregation at Sullivan, N. H.(?), heard a sermon

full of wild and hysterical utterances, containing frequent references

to the Illuminati, to Robison and Barruel, with much stress laid upon

the lugubrious idea that the church in America was about to drink a cup

of persecution exceedingly bitter. This sermon, however, was much too

irrational to be of special significance. _The Present Times Perilous.

A Sermon, preached at Sullivan, on the National Fast, April 25, 1799._

By Abraham Cummings, A. M., (n. d.). It would not be altogether

incorrect to observe that the New England clergy, on the occasion of

the national fast of 1799, took their cue direct from the President’s

proclamation rather than from the literature which had previously been

published on the subject of Illuminism.

[794] This is certainly a reasonable inference from the fact that the

interest of the public in Morse’s sermon made necessary four different

issues of it during the year in which it appeared. One of these was

printed at Charlestown, another at Boston, a third at Hartford, and a

fourth at New York.

[795] Here it may be noted that when Morse’s sermon appeared in print,

it was accompanied by a note setting forth the author’s account of

the progress of his thought regarding the Illuminati. In part the

note ran as follows: “In my Discourse on the National Fast, May 9th.,

1798, after giving some account of Robison’s _Proofs of a Conspiracy,

etc._, a work which had just arrived in America, I said, ‘There are too

many evidences that this order [the Illuminati] has had its branches

established, in some form or other, and its emissaries secretly at work

in this country, for several years past.’

“Being often publicly called upon for evidence to support this

insinuation, I engaged, when my health and leisure would permit, to lay

it before the public. This engagement was in part fulfilled, in the

Appendix to my Thanksgiving _Sermon_ of Nov. 29, 1798, Note (F), p. 73,

to which I refer the reader.

“Since this I have received a letter from President Dwight, confirming

the fact which he had asserted in a note to his Discourse of the 4th

of July, 1798, viz, that ‘Illuminatism exists in this country; and the

impious mockery of the Sacramental Supper described by Mr. Robison has

been enacted here.’ ...

“But if all this evidence, added to that which arises _prima facie_

from the existing state of things; from the wonderful and alarming

change which has been suddenly and imperceptibly produced too generally

in the principles and morals of the American people, be insufficient to

convince and satisfy candid minds of the actual existence, and secret

and extensive operation, of Illuminatism in this country, the following

documents which were received through a most respectable channel, and

for the authenticity of which I pledge myself, must, I conceive, remove

every doubt remaining in the minds of reasonable men. If any branches

of this Society are established in this part of the United States, the

members no doubt will feel irritated at this disclosure, and will use

all their secret arts, and open endeavours, to diminish the importance

of these documents and the reputation of him who makes them public.”

(Note B, pp. 33 _et seq._) The note concludes with a solemn statement

by its author to the effect that he stands prepared to sacrifice all,

even his life if necessary, for the cause of religion and his country.

[720] _Ibid._ This secret organization referred to by Morse was founded