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New England and the Bavarian Illuminati

Chapter 1: NEW ENGLAND AND THE BAVARIAN ILLUMINATI
By Vernon Stauffer
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About This Book

The study examines late-eighteenth-century New England anxieties about a purported Bavarian secret society and traces how clergy, politicians, and the press responded to warnings that European conspirators sought to undermine civil and religious institutions. It reconstructs the weakening of orthodox Puritan structures, the spread of religious skepticism and partisan conflict that amplified fears, and the origins and literary transmission of the Illuminati legend from Europe to America. The narrative details a prominent minister’s public accusations, the documentary evidence and disputed proofs presented, the role of Freemasonry and partisan countercharges, and concludes by placing the controversy in the context of wider political and social tensions and its eventual decline.

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Title: New England and the Bavarian Illuminati

Author: Vernon Stauffer

Release date: November 17, 2017 [eBook #55983]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by David Tipple, Mary Glenn Krause, Eric Lehtonen,
University of Toronto's Robarts Library and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW ENGLAND AND THE BAVARIAN ILLUMINATI ***

Transcriber‘s Notes

  • A small number of obvious typos have been corrected. Except for this, the spelling and punctuation of the book have not been changed.
  • The footnotes have been renumbered from 1 to 988 and placed at the end of the text.

NEW ENGLAND AND THE
BAVARIAN ILLUMINATI

BY

VERNON STAUFFER, A. M.

Dean and Professor of New Testament and Church History
Hiram College

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN THE

FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

NEW YORK
1918

COPYRIGHT, 1918
BY
VERNON STAUFFER

To
J. E., R. W., AND R. F.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 9

CHAPTER I

THE UNDERMINING OF PURITAN STANDARDS AND INSTITUTIONS

1. Rapid Disintegration of Puritanism after the Revolution 13
2. Ominous Discontent with the Standing Order 33
3. Alarms due to the Spread of Religious Radicalism and Scepticism 66

CHAPTER II

POLITICAL ENTANGLEMENTS AND HYSTERIA

1. The Situation prior to 1798 103
2. The Situation from 1798 to 1800 122

CHAPTER III

THE EUROPEAN ORDER OF THE ILLUMINATI

1. The Rise and the Disappearance of the Order 142
2. The Legend of the Order and its Literary Communication to New England 186

CHAPTER IV

THE ILLUMINATI AGITATION IN NEW ENGLAND

1. Morse Precipitates the Controversy 229
2. Inconclusive Developments of Morse’s Second Formal Deliverance 261
3. Morse Submits his Inept Documentary Evidence 287
4. Freemasonry’s Embarrassment and Protest 321
5. Attempts of Democrats to Fix the Countercharge of Illuminism upon the Federalists 345
BIBLIOGRAPHY 361