My knowledge of the Illuminati letters to Franklin and Adams came about as a result of my conversations with a very high profile Masonic historian, Reinhard Markner. I had contacted him regarding my discovery of the original “Besser als Horus” (Better than Horus). This brochure was listed as a treatise wherein atheism and materialism are defended, on page 118 of EOS. It turns out to be a Deistical piece that attacks a literal interpretation of the Bible and the nuances of
the Catholic faith. The error in description is probably due to a limited understanding of Deism, as it primarily was started in England in the 1730’s. I wanted to know more about the author of this work, and through the course of our conversations, he mentioned that Adams and Franklin had been contacted by the head of the Munich lodge Professor Baader. I wanted to know more about this and he said that the letters themselves had not been located, but were mentioned in Die Korrespondenz des Illuminatenordens on pg. 140. I did about 15 minutes of digging on the internet, and found the letter sent to Franklin listed on the website of the American Philosophical Society under the Franklin papers, in French. Through this discovery we were able to find the Adams letter, as well as Adams’ reply. De Kemtenstrauss it seems was the penname that Baader wrote under. There were three letters sent, one to Adams, one to Franklin, and one to Philadelphia, presumably to the Continental Congress, though I have been unsuccessful in locating it. I have searched the papers of the Continental Congress at the National Archives, the papers of Joseph Reed, the Governor of Pennsylvania, the papers of Samuel Huntington the President of Congress, and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. This letter may be lost forever. If the aforementioned letters are any indication, we can be sure that it was identical in body to the other two, as they are nearly identical copies. I purchased copies of the physical letters, and posted them along with a transcription and translation of them. The reason Baader wrote to Adams and Franklin was that they were in Paris, serving as American envoys to France, and they wished to purchase land and protection in the Southern States.
The most interesting part of the letter and the reply, is that Baader has to be assured that in America, rights are not granted to individuals, but are ‘unallienable’ to all men, even to associations – those that are law abiding, that is. Theocratic Bavaria in the decaying Holy Roman Empire, by comparison, seems like another planet. One wonders if Baader could really wrap his head around what America represented. He certainly wanted to find out! Any thoughts? Another thing, Ferdinand Maria Baader (1747-97) wasn’t just an average Illuminatus, as you are aware. He was an early initiate, on the ruling Areopagite council, the founder and Master of the important Illuminati Lodge St. Théodore du Bon Conseil, and one of the few who would later be privy to Weishaupt’s last degree Rex or Man King (Docetist).
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