Proofs of a Conspiracy

"Proofs of a Conspiracy" is John Robison's depiction of the secret order of the Illuminati, as he describes it ". the Order of the Illuminati, founded in 1775, by Dr. Adam Weishaupt, professor of Canon law in the university of Ingolstadt, and abolished in 1786 by the Elector of Bavaria, but revived immediately after, under another name, and in different form, all over Germany. It was again detected, and seemingly broken up; but it had by this time taken so deep a root that it still subsists without being detected, and has spread into all countries of Europe." His examination of this order, born of freemasonry, has induced him ". to lay before the public a short abstract of the information which [he hopes] sufficient for establishing the fact, that this detestable association exists, and its emissaries are busy among [us]."