The Illuminati.—Ii.

talent without protection , truth without hommage , their country without glory ( horrible reflection for a Frenchman . ' ) the throne without support , genius without employment , society without harmony , hearts ivithout friendship , intellect without an aim , reason without scope for exercise , the wretched without an asylum , the -wise

without hope , and kings themselves without safety . " To this long list of " withouts , " we may add that this absurd volume appears to have been very much without readers until it was disinterred by Robison ancl others from its well deserved obscurity . However , as an interest has been expressed on the subject of the society of the Illuminati , we thought there might be some among our

readers who would find amusement , and perhaps some little instruction , even from the crudities of a Luchet . In an appendix to the book there are some curious notes , among which we find worthy of notice a critical disquisition upon the origin ancl antiquity of the Order of Freemasons , by a certain Abbe Gvandidier , which is given in the form of a letter to a lady . It runs in this fashion : —

« Strasbourg , Nov . 24 $ , 1778 . " You , madam , have doubtless heard of that celebrated society transmitted to us from England , which bears the name of Freemasonry . Its members are spread throughout Europe , ancl are much more numerous than , perhaps either the honour or the interest of the association require . I shall not here , however , speak of this body in

terms either of eulogy or of satire . I shall not even inquire into the motive for tho inviolable secrecy which it demands , or the peculiar oath which belongs to it . I am not initiated into its secrets , ancl I find myself unworthy to ' see . the light . ' I know not whether all is tranquil , ' as in the valley of Josaphat , where no woman ever tattled . ' The fair sex may indeed complain of the vigorous laws

which exclude them from beholding the ' sun , the moon , and the Grancl Master of the Lodge ; ' it is a , new injury that man has done them in believing them incapable of preserving a secret . But they have lost more than tho women , they have deprived themselves of those innocent pleasures which constitute ! tho happiness of society , by the charms ancl talents of the fair sexof which youmadammay be

, , , quoted as the model . " I may further confess that the founder of Freemasonry was not a Frenchman , such an institution being repugnant to tho heart and character of our countrymen . I shall no longer seek its origin in the construction of the ark of Noah , who they say was ' a most venerable Mason ; ' or in that of the temple of Salomon who passes with them

as ' the most excellent Mason . ' I should take care not to search for it in the history of the Crusades , there to discover the first Masons in those crusading barons who some suppose to have been engaged in the ' divine or royal art' of rebuilding the temple ; nor should I look for it in those ancient soldiers of Palestine who ivere called "Knights ofthe East ' and of Palestine . These ridiculous opinions which the Freemasons themselves do not dare to present excejit under the veil of