by Terry Melanson, Oct. 5th, 2010
Or, how Michael Haupt said, that William Guy Carr said, that Cardinal Caro y Rodriguez of Santiago, Chile said, that The Cause of World Unrest
 said, that the confessed hoaxer Gabriel Jogand-Pagès aka Dr. Bataille 
aka Leo Taxil said about Albert Pike and Giuseppe Mazzini in Le diable au XIXe siècle, v. II, 1892-1894, p. 605 (but actually pp. 594-606). Got it?
I don’t derive any satisfaction from a debunking. I really don’t. Discovering the truth is a reward in itself.
Having a knack for getting to the bottom of a thing also helps with 
maintaining credibility. Historiography is among other things concerned 
with source criticism. And while I’m not an academically trained 
historian, I am quite aware that one should strive to consult the 
primary source as opposed to relying on the word of secondary or even 
tertiary accounts.
The matter at hand deals with an alleged “three world war” prediction
 from famed Mason, Scottish Rite Sovereign Grand Commander Albert Pike. 
William Guy Carr was the key purveyor of the tale which, to me, was 
suspicious to say the least.
Off and on I’ve been working at it. And I’ve finally cracked the case.
The “Three World Wars” website and Carr
Let’s begin with the modern populariser of the Pike/Mazzini, 1871 “letter.”
In 2003, an Englishman by the name of 
 Michael Haupt [fig 1] launched [fig 2] his website 
threeworldwars.com
 in response to Jihadist terrorism and the American invasion of Iraq. 
Backed by the knowledge gleaned from a conspiratorial view of history 
and an obvious impending cataclysm, the words of William Guy Carr, 
attributed to Albert Pike, seemed to precisely predict the dire 
circumstances unfolding in the Middle East.
One message that Albert Pike received from his “spirit guide,” and 
which in reality we know to be a demonic vision, he described in a 
letter that he wrote to Mazzini, dated August 15, 1871. This letter 
graphically outlined plans for three world wars that were seen as 
necessary to bring about the One World Order, and we can marvel at how 
accurately it has predicted events that have already taken place. This 
is not because the devil has powers of prophecy, but because his agents 
have undertaken to manipulate political events to closely follow his 
designs. For a short time, this letter was on display in the British 
Museum Library in London, and it was copied by William Guy Carr, former 
Intelligence Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy.
“The First World War must be brought about in order to permit the 
Illuminati to overthrow the power of the Czars in Russia and of making 
that country a fortress of atheistic Communism. The divergences caused 
by the “agentur” (agents) of the Illuminati between the British and 
Germanic Empires will be used to foment this war. At the end of the war,
 Communism will be built and used in order to destroy the other 
governments and in order to weaken the religions.”
Students of history will recognize that the political alliances of 
England on one side and Germany on the other, forged between 1871 and 
1898 by Otto von Bismarck, co-conspirator of Albert Pike, were 
instrumental in bringing about the First World War.
“The Second World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the 
differences between the Fascists and the political Zionists. This war 
must be brought about so that Nazism is destroyed and that the political
 Zionism be strong enough to institute a sovereign state of Israel in 
Palestine. During the Second World War, International Communism must 
become strong enough in order to balance Christendom, which would be 
then restrained and held in check until the time when we would need it 
for the final social cataclysm.”
After this Second World War, Communism was made strong enough to 
begin taking over weaker governments. In 1945, at the Potsdam Conference
 between Truman, Churchill, and Stalin, a large portion of Europe was 
simply handed over to Russia, and on the other side of the world, the 
aftermath of the war with Japan helped to sweep the tide of Communism 
into China.
“The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the 
differences caused by the “agentur” of the “Illuminati” between the 
political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be 
conducted in such a way that Islam (the Moslem Arabic World) and 
political Zionism (the State of Israel) mutually destroy each other. 
Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be 
constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual
 and economical exhaustion…We shall unleash the Nihilists and the 
atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in 
all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute 
atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil. Then 
everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world
 minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of 
civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose 
deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, 
anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration,
 will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the 
pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view. This 
manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement which 
will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered 
and exterminated at the same time.”
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001, world events in the 
Middle East show a growing unrest and instability between Jews and 
Arabs. This is completely in line with the call for a Third World War to
 be fought between the two, and their allies on both sides. This Third 
World War is still to come, and recent events show us that it is not far
 off.
 
Notice
 the quotes attributed to Carr, who in turn is supposedly citing Pike 
verbatim. Although there is no citation from Haupt, e.g. book and page 
number, it was pretty easy to track down from where it had originated. 
“The First World War must…,” “The Second World War must…,” and “The 
Third World War must…,” is a 
paraphrased excerpt from William Guy Carr’s book, 
Pawns in the Game,
 pp. xv-xvi (a reprint of the 1958 edition). Only Carr doesn’t use 
quotes to signal a direct quote from the letter, as Haupt had deemed 
necessary to insert all by himself. The former does indeed claim that 
three world wars was prophesied in the letter, but he doesn’t actually 
go so far as to put 
quotations around it so as to definitively attribute those specific words as occurring 
verbatim in said letter.
Carr maintains a curious middle ground. Observe the following:
Between 1859, and 1871, he worked out the details of a military 
blue-print, for three world wars, and three major revolutions which he 
considered would further the conspiracy to its final stage during the 
twentieth century.
[…] Pike’s plan was as simple as it has proved effective. He required
 that Communism, Naziism, Political Zionism, and other International 
movements be organized and used to foment the three global wars and 
three major revolutions. The first world war was to be fought so as to 
enable the Illuminati to overthrow the powers of the Tzars in Russia and
 turn that country into the stronghold of Atheistic-Communism. The 
differences stirred up by agentur of the Illuminati between the British 
and German Empires were to be used to foment this war. After the war 
ended, Communism was to be built up and used to destroy other 
governments and weaken religions.
World War Two, was to be fomented by using the differences between 
Fascists and Political Zionists. This war was to be fought so that 
Naziism would be destroyed and the power of Political Zionism increased 
so that the sovereign state of Israel could be established in Palestine.
 During world war two International Communism was to be built up until 
it equalled in strength that of united Christendom. At this point it was
 to be contained and kept in check until required for the final social 
cataclysm. Can any informed person deny Roosevelt and Churchill did not 
put this policy into effect?
World War Three is to be fomented by using the differences the 
agentur of the Illuminati stir up between Political Zionists and the 
leaders of the Moslem world. The war is to be directed in such a manner 
that Islam (the Arab World including Mohammedanism) and Political 
Zionism (including the State of Israel) will destroy themselves while at
 the same time the remaining nations, once more divided against each 
other on this issue, will be forced to fight themselves into a state of 
complete exhaustion physically, mentally, spiritually and economically. 
Can any unbiased and reasoning person deny that the intrigue now going 
on in the Near, Middle, and Far East isn’t designed to accomplish this 
devilish purpose?
– William Guy Carr, 
Pawns in the Game (CPA Book Publisher reprint n. d.; however Carr signs his introduction Oct. 13, 1958), p. XV 
[fig 4]
As is obvious, these are not direct quotes, rather only a claim. And 
there is no citation for these revelations, either: When exactly did 
Pike supposedly lay out his master conspiracy? And where can one read 
the complete unedited original?
On the next page, however, there 
is a small quote from the mysterious alleged letter dated August 15, 1871:
On August 15, 1871, Pike told Mazzini that after World War Three is 
ended, those who aspire to undisputed world domination will provoke the 
greatest social cataclysm the world has ever known. We quote his own 
written words (taken from the letter catalogued in the British Museum 
Library, London, Eng.):
“We shall unleash the Nihilists and Atheists, and we shall provoke a 
formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to
 the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of 
the most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to 
defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will 
exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, 
disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will be from that
 moment without compass (direction), anxious for an ideal, but without 
knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light 
through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer 
brought finally out in the public view, a manifestation which will 
result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the 
destruction of Christianity and Atheism, both conquered and exterminated
 at the same time.”
– William Guy Carr, 
Pawns in the Game (CPA Book Publisher reprint n.d.), p. XVI 
[fig 5]
Here we have a direct quote from the elusive letter, and again, with 
no precise citation – only the assertion that it is held in the British 
Museum.
Carr, Rodriguez and “The Cause of World Unrest”
Apparently, Carr was called out on this, for in his last book published posthumously in 1959, he finally reveals his source:
Pike explained what is intended to happen in a letter he wrote to his
 director (Mazzini) of the W.R.M. August 15, 1871. This letter is quoted
 elsewhere. It is catalogued in the Library of the British Museum, 
London, England [9] and has been quoted from and 
referred to by dozens of authorities and students of the W.R.M., 
including Cardinal Rodriguez of Chile. (See page 118 of The Mysteries of Freemasonry Unveiled, 1925. English translation, 1957.)
[…]
[9] The Keeper of manuscripts recently informed the 
author that this letter is NOT catalogued in the British Museum Library.
 It seems strange that a man of Cardinal Rodriguez’s knowledge should 
have said it WAS in 1925.
– William Guy Carr, 
Satan: Prince of this World (
pdf scan by Haupt), p. 22
 
Let’s consult Cardinal Rodriguez’ book to pin it down further. Here are the relevant passages:
In The Cause, the work of Monseigneur Jouin, concerning 
the Protocols, and the work of Witchl, are given the names of all the 
Jews who have been in the government of the Soviet and thus it is shown 
that the Jews are realizing their plan, for which they counted on 
Masonry as a blind and servile instrument.
The other indication of the participation of Masonry in the Revolution and the present upheaval in Russia is a letter in Le Diable au XIXème Siècle
 (1896), attributed to Albert Pike, “Sovereign Pontiff of Universal 
Masonry”, assisted by ten Ancients of the Grand Lodge of the Supreme 
Orient of Charleston to the very illustrious Joseph Mazzini, dated 
August 15, 1871. What I have said of the document previously mentioned, The Protocols,
 I say of this one: Authentic or not, the letter had been published long
 enough before the events, not to be an invention accommodated post factum. Its publication is catalogued in the British Museum of London and the plan attributed to Pike is also in part in Le Palladisme
 Of Margiotta, p. 186 published in 1895. It is a plan to destroy 
Catholicism, to throw the Pope out of Italy and force him to seek refuge
 in Russia; and then, when the autocratic empire had become the citadel 
of Papal Christianity, “we,” continues the author of the letter, “shall 
unleash the Nihilists and Atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable 
social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the 
nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the 
most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend 
themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will 
exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, 
disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will be from that
 moment without compass, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where
 to render its adoration, will receive the true light through 
the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer brought 
finally out in the public view, a manifestation which will result from 
the general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of 
Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same 
time” (The Cause, p. 77 ff).
– The Cardinal of Chile, 
The Mysteries of Freemasonry Unveiled (Christian Book Club of America, 2006), pp. 115-6 [
fig 6 and 
7]
I was pleased with the discovery that Cardinal Rodriguez provided 
adequate citation for further investigation. Some of the new information
 gleaned includes the fact, that 1) Carr quoted directly from Rodriguez’
 meagre one-paragraph excerpt; 2) the latter mentioned nothing about a 
prediction of three world wars; and that 3) Carr was confused about 
exactly what was “catalogued” in the British Museum. Furthermore, it 
appears that Cardinal Rodriguez was alluding to 
Le Diable au XIXème Siècle — 
“its publication” — as being catalogued at the Museum, not the letter itself (as our next source confirms).
At any rate, 
Le Diable au XIXème Siècle [The Devil in the 19th-century] is 
the source of the alleged letter. Unfortunately, however, Rodriguez omits which volume – Bataille (Dr.), 
Le Diable au XIXe siècle,
 2 volumes (Delhomme & Briguet: Paris-Lyon, 1892-1894), 1800pp – let
 alone which page or pages. Therefore, I had no other choice but to 
consult the secondary work called “The Cause.”
On p. 8 in the aforementioned edition of 
The Mysteries of Freemasonry Unveiled, one encounters a helpful section entitled “References and Abbreviations.” Item number 19, reads: 
“The Cause of World Unrest 1920” [fig 8].
Putting it mildly, both Carr and Rodriguez were hardly amicable 
toward the Jews, and the next source is no exception to the rule.
The Cause of World Unrest is a compilation of articles that appeared in the 
London Morning Post in July of 1920, in the wake of the Bolshevik revolution and the publication of the 
Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. Whoever penned these texts wished to remain anonymous. Certain 
 researchers, however, conclude that its main authors were Ian Colvin, editor of the paper H. A. Gwynne, and Nesta Webster.
The original 1920 copy of the book, as well as a recent reprint of it
 (precise date not specified), reveals that Cardinal Rodriguez was 
incorrect about the page numbers. The information on the Pike letter is 
found from page 50 to 52, as opposed to “77 ff”:
In the year 1896 there appeared in Paris a curious publication called Le Diable au XIXe Siècle.
 It was an attack upon Freemasonry, and came out in parts, illustrated 
with grotesque and repulsive engravings. The name on the title-page is 
Dr. Bataille, but it is stated in the British Museum Catalogue that the real authors were Gabriel Jogand-Pagès and Charles Hacks [TM: this explains the “catalogued” business].
 The book, with evident knowledge and a show of authority, set out to 
trace the connection between Freemasonry and revolutions, but its 
sensationalism and the extremely doubtful character of some of the 
documents produced brought it into disrepute. It is now forgotten, and 
yet it contains a good deal that can be verified from other sources, and
 some things also which seem to be verified by recent events. In 
particular there is a letter – or an alleged letter – said to have been 
written by Albert Pike, the “Sovereign Pontiff of Universal 
Freemasonry,” assisted by the Ten Ancients of the Grand Lodge of the 
Supreme Orient at Charleston, to “the very illustrious brother” Giuseppe
 Mazzini. This letter is dated (in Masonic style) August 15, 1871, and 
sets forth an anti-clerical policy which Mazzini is to follow in Italy. 
The measures proposed, including secular education, the expulsion of the
 religious orders, and so forth, need not detain us. 
What is to our 
purpose occurs towards the end of the letter, on page 605 (vol. ii.). 
The writer explains that owing to the working out of this policy the 
Pope may be driven at some future time out of Italy, and that 
established religion will then find its last refuge in Russia. And the 
letter proceeds:
“That is why, when the autocratic Empire of Russia will have become 
the citadel of Papal Christianity (adonaïsme papiste), we shall unchain 
the revolutionary Nihilists and Atheists, and we shall provoke a 
formidable social cataclysm, which will demonstrate clearly to the 
nations, in all its horror, the effect of absolute unbelief, mother of 
savagery and of the most bloody disorder. Then, everywhere, the 
citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the mad minority of 
revolutionaries, will exterminate these destroyers of civilization, and 
the multitude, disillusioned of Christianity, whose deist soul will up 
to that moment be without compass, thirsting for an ideal, but not 
knowing where to bestow their worship, will receive the True Light, by 
the universal manifestation of the pure Luciferian doctrine, at last 
made public, a manifestation which will arise from the general movement 
of reaction following the destruction of Atheism and Christianity, both 
at the same time vanquished and exterminated.”
Now this letter is at least as old as 1896 (if it is a forgery); if 
it is genuine, it is as old as 1871. It must therefore be considered 
remarkable, whether as a forgery or as a genuine document. For it 
predicts what has happened in Russia, and it claims for its authors that
 they were preparing to bring about what has happened.
– H. A. Gwynne (ed.), 
The Cause of World Unrest (no date, no publisher, no ISBN specified [cover – 
fig 9]), pp. 50-52 [see 
fig 10, 
11, 
12, as well as 
13; also, an OCR PDF scan of the 
original 1920 edition]
Now we’re getting somewhere. The original book, volume, and page number for the letter has finally been identified.
We’ll look at the actual “letter” below. For now, however, it will 
suffice to comment on two things: 1) the confusion over a catalogue in 
the British Museum has been solved; and 2) the “Nihilists and Atheists” 
quotes are nearly identical translations from Carr to Rodriguez to the 
“anonymous” author in 
The Cause. (There are a few minor discrepancies, but this is surely due to Rodriguez’s book being translated from Spanish to English.)
| “The Cause” (1920) | Rodriguez (1957 English edition) | 
| “shall unchain the revolutionary Nihilists and Atheists, and we shall
 provoke a formidable social cataclysm, which will demonstrate clearly 
to the nations, in all its horror, the effect of absolute unbelief, 
mother of savagery and of the most bloody disorder. Then, everywhere, 
the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the mad minority of 
revolutionaries, will exterminate these destroyers of civilization, and 
the multitude, disillusioned of Christianity, whose deist soul will up 
to that moment be without compass, thirsting for an ideal, but not 
knowing where to bestow their worship, will receive the True Light, by 
the universal manifestation of the pure Luciferian doctrine, at last 
made public, a manifestation which will arise from the general movement 
of reaction following the destruction of Atheism and Christianity, both 
at the same time vanquished and exterminated.” 
 | “shall unleash the Nihilists and Atheists, and we shall provoke a 
formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to
 the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of 
the most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to 
defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will 
exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, 
disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will be from that
 moment without compass , anxious for an ideal, but without knowing 
where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the 
universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer brought finally 
out in the public view, a manifestation which will result from the 
general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of 
Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same 
time” 
 | 
| 
 | Carr (1958 edition) | 
| 
 | “shall unleash the Nihilists and Atheists, and we shall provoke a 
formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to
 the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of 
the most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to 
defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will 
exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, 
disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will be from that
 moment without compass (direction), anxious for an ideal, but without 
knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light 
through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer 
brought finally out in the public view, a manifestation which will 
result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the 
destruction of Christianity and Atheism, both conquered and exterminated
 at the same time.” 
 | 
“LE PLAN DES CHEFS SECRETS”
It was precisely 2 years ago that I had acquired the last source in 
the trail. I don’t usually do the inter-library thing: they give me the 
run-around, and endless excuses. I purchase books online, mostly through
 second hand dealers, and 
Le Diable au XIXème Siècle — any volume; any edition — was a little too rich for my blood.
Google Books has indeed scanned 
the volume, searchable though presented only in snippet view. At one point I became aware of Michel Berchmans’ 
Le Diable au XIXe siècle: La mystification du Dr Bataille
 [The Devil in the 19th-century: The Hoax of Dr. Bataille] (Marabout, 
1973), which includes lengthy excerpts along with a critical 
introduction. After getting the book into my hands, however, I quickly 
found that the famed 1871 letter from Pike to Mazzini was unfortunately 
overlooked.
Then, a few weeks ago, I had an idea. What if I type in “15 août 
1871” in the snippet search just get a semblance of what page 605 of the
 volume really contains? Sure enough, 
 it was there. And from that tiny snippet view, I gleaned an entire sentence: “15 août 1871, ère vulgaire.”
You can probably figure out what my next step was. I googled it in 
the hopes that someone, somewhere – surely by now – must have 
transcribed and posted portions, or hopefully the entire alleged letter.
 Voilà!
Exceeding thanks therefore goes to “Hercule” — at a Rennes-le-Château
 research forum of all places! — who, after receiving it in an email, 
posted the entire chapter found in 
Le Diable, v. II, that pertains to the 1871 Pike/Mazzini exchange.
I quickly snatched up the text, consolidated it, and compared it 
sentence by sentence in the search box provided at the Google book scan.
 It was a literal transcription.
Let’s proceed then, with a translation of the twelve pages in 
question before remarking on the merits or validity of its contents or 
lack thereof.
***
The Devil in the 19th-century, by Dr. Bataille, Volume 2, Chapter XXXV, pages 594-606.
[p. 594]
“The Plan of the Secret Chiefs”
At the beginning of August 1871, that is to say less than a year 
after the establishment of Palladism (Supreme Rite), the “learned 
Luciferian Pontiff” Albert Pike received an important letter from 
Mazzini. The political action leader for Universal Freemasonry invited 
the supreme dogmatic leader of the sect to draw up a clear plan with a 
view toward the destruction of Roman Catholicism.
“The unity of Italy, he said, was never considered a goal, rather a means.”
In the solemn hours, Albert Pike assembles his ten advisers, members 
of the Most Serene Grand College of Emerited Masons, and submitted for 
their consideration the question raised by the very illustrious brother 
Giuseppe Mazzini.
This meeting of the eleven highest lumières of the infernal sect, 
this evil cabal which lasted seven days (from August 9th to 15th), after
 careful [p. 595] deliberation, inspired no doubt by Satan himself, left
 the following document (translated from the original Latin text):
“The Serene Grand College of Emerited Masons, convened under the 
chairmanship of the Most Illustrious, Most Powerful and Most Divinely 
Enlightened Brother LIMMUD-ENSOPH, Custodial Grand Master of the Sacred 
Palladium, Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry, received with 
respect the Noble and Dignified Arch from the most illustrious, Most 
Powerful and Most Enlightened Brother EMOUNAH-SHEMED, Head of Political 
Action, Great Dictator and President of the Supreme Executive 
Directorate, dated the first day of the Moon Ab, eighteenth day of the 
fifth month of the year of the True Light 000871, and under the eye of 
the Almighty Divine Master EXCELSUS EXCELSIOR, all things considered, 
exposed and discussed issues of supreme interest, and after 
deliberation, has determined the legitimate requirements that today will
 become law.
“Rihab Sabba, Ahta Ahtnanoc Malog Hcsorem, Lucifer. Alleluia!”
“The destruction of feeble Catholicism, cannot be accomplished all at
 once, and erecting good Catholicism also requires a lot of labour, 
working in tandem, which should be pursued simultaneously, so that, when
 the temple of Adonai, undermined on all sides, is ready to collapse in 
total ruin, the same impulse that annihilates will discover the temple, 
hitherto hidden from our Divine Master, properly prepared in the eyes of
 mankind.
“God-King Lucifer will have the whole world consecrated and worshipping him; his religion will therefore truly be Catholic.
“The title of Catholic does not, in fact, belong to Roman 
superstition. Through revelation, it is certain that its number will 
never reach, at its apogee, a quarter of the world’s population; it is 
written in The Book of the Heavens. On the other hand, the religion of 
Adonai achieved that domination, and it is obvious that she is 
declining.
“It is necessary that we consider the religious situation of 
humanity, if we want to safely proceed with the work of twice-over 
destroying the temple of Adonai and building the temple of Lucifer. This
 preliminary look will give us courage and hope in the realization of 
our divine plight; for we show that the future is ours, and the title 
Catholics is reserved for ourselves. [p. 596]
“One billion, four hundred million inhabitants, this is the 
population of the globe. Of these, Roman Catholicism has only two 
hundred and ten million followers.
“However, we must classify religious followers by groups.
“The Christian group is to be subdivided as follows: Roman Catholics,
 two hundred and ten million; Protestants, one hundred and twenty 
million; Orthodox, whom the pope of superstition called schismatics, 
eighty million.
“The Indian group is subdivided as follows: Buddhists, four hundred 
and twenty million; Brahmanists, one hundred and sixty million.
“We must put aside for the Mohammedans, two hundred million.
“Observe that the truth is known to the priests of Vedism (Indian 
Group), and the Mohammedans, without knowing the truth, have had a large
 number of their priests inspired by it.
“Two hundred and thirty-three million idolaters, fetishists or 
worshipers of various idols, will disappear along with civilization, not
 individually but as religionists. The Roman Catholic missionaries want 
to win them over; yet it will be Roman Catholicism itself that 
disappears even before it attempts the conquest in a meaningful way.
“The Jewish religion has seven million adherents; this small group 
has no tendency toward conversion to Roman Catholicism; revelation has 
promised it to us.
“Finally, statisticians estimate that twenty-eight million deistic 
freethinkers are scattered throughout the globe, while atheists have two
 million. All others are mostly defectors from other Christian groups.
“But it is not appropriate to consider the whole Christian group as 
being alienated from true light to the same degree. Protestantism, its 
various factions, except a tiny minority, are composed of followers of 
reason, who understand and continuously seek truth, and, therefore, find
 it; is from them that we find the most numerous followers of the 
God-Good. On the other hand, the Orthodox schismatics fell prey to the 
promised Evil-God, as written in the Book of the Heavens. But when 
Orthodoxy is reunited with Roman Catholicism, they number less than 
three hundred million adherents.
“The conversion of Protestants to the Temple of True Light will be 
gradual, sayeth the revelation; the fate of the Mohammedans will be 
entirely determined by a large and unexpected event occurring under the 
sixth sovereign pontificate of good Catholicism. It will follow from 
this that – far from being doomed to the cursed darkness of superstition
 – three hundred twenty million souls will be enlightened.
“According to the revelation, Roman Catholicism will always be in 
decline; [p. 597] either desertions or conquest of souls will increase 
the number of free-thinking deists, and we know that they are in a state
 of transition while we are finally promised.
“On the other hand, we needn’t worry about transitioning the state of
 the Indian group, for its priests already possess true light.
“Therefore, at the appointed hour in the Book of the Heavens, that is
 to say, when Roman Catholicism reaches its maximum number of followers 
through by uniting with Orthodoxy or schismatics, more than one billion 
Luciferian Catholics will be found in opposition.
“Consequently, the issue boils down to this: we must be ready when we
 find ourselves a billion or more, finally with our banners flying high,
 producing an explosion that will topple the Temple of Adonai; so, in 
other words, superstition should be weakened and ruined, so much so that
 its followers will themselves merge into our ranks, – we are promised 
that dazzling miracles will open their eyes – and that, if at that time 
some obstinate priests are left still insisting upon preaching the [word
 of the] Evil-God, their extermination can be accomplished without 
difficulty.
“How, then, should this unavoidable end-date, be directed and arrived at gradually and peacefully?
“To speak here of the Christian group, tactics will vary as we 
maneuver in countries dominated by the Roman Catholic element or in 
countries dominated by the Protestant element.
“The main work is one that aims to transform the Roman Catholics into
 freethinking Deists. We need to apply all our strength, and with that, 
persuade many. Experience has shown that too-few are the privileged 
souls who leap from the abyss of obscurantism to take their bold flight 
into the ether of divine and invigorating light.
“For this he must conquer the seats of government of his people; this
 is everything. Whether in the republics or the monarchist states, we 
must enact laws, destroying everywhere the influence of the priests of 
the superstition and their auxiliaries, the monks who mingle with the 
people and the nuns who maintain the soul in error, by the cloak of 
false charity. It will, first, be through the press that we inspire 
writers, demonstrating how the almsgiving of the Evil-Catholics is 
degrading to human dignity, and this by showing that the individual has 
the right to well-being through social reforms and not by routine 
charity; and, secondly, that for parliaments or legislatures to disperse
 unpopular congregations, to skillfully destroy those prejudices [p. 
598] requires still, in a word, first the removal of every monk or nun.
“In the intellectual sphere, especially, the neutrality of the public
 schools must be secured so that it is no longer pervaded by priests, 
nor any of their agents; then, early in the stages of neutralization, we
 divert any thoughts the parents may have to give their children a Roman
 Catholic education outside of the neutralized schools. Indeed, keeping 
new generations from having their intelligence obliterated by the lies 
of evil dogma is crucial. But at the same time we must take serious 
steps to ensure that formal education is neutral and does not fall into 
atheism; neutrality is sufficient, that is to say the suppression of any
 tendency to insinuate young minds into the false dogma of adonaites. In
 fact, their exists in the human soul an innate sense that pushes the 
individual toward a divine ideal, which makes him instinctively 
understand the existence of a Supreme Being, the supernatural factor, 
the organizer and driving force of the universe. 
We’ll let this 
sentiment develop freely, that is to say, without criminally directing 
them against superstition, the religion of the Evil-God, but imported 
from abroad in the half-light of a vague deism, but uncontaminated by 
the pestiferous breath of Roman Catholicism; and when the hour of the 
Good-God manifests, truly worthy of humanity’s worship, the children 
turned men will address their aspirations to Him; and so, by removing 
the childhood and adolescence of Adonai, we devote ourselves to Lucifer,
 simply by natural inclination alone, and the maturity of new 
generations. It is therefore absolutely necessary that the atheist 
teacher clearly be removed from school, lest he try to introduce [his 
own dogma] after we have already driven out the adonaite priest, and the
 instruction books, placed in the hands of children after being purged 
of the lying dogmas of Roman Catholicism, posit, but without precise 
definition, the existence of a Supreme Being.
“While the new generations haven’t yet been moulded, adonaism must be
 fought intellectually by all sorts of publications demonstrating how 
monstrous and ridiculous the idea of the divinity of the priests of 
superstition is. In this struggle, we must not overlook the pamphlet, 
satire, and mockery, which affect the masses easier than learned 
dissertations. We must never forget the good that Voltaire did for our 
cause, by covering the ridiculousness of Roman Catholicism. But it is 
not for fun and laughs that we’ve adopted this perfect tactic: in 
discrediting false doctrines and the cult of the adonaites, we discredit
 the ministers of this detestable religion; we arrive gradually to the 
desertion of its churches. [p. 599]
“In effect, we should not rely solely on the outcome of enacted laws;
 for if we managed to totally deprive the Roman Catholic clergy of 
state-granted subsidies, they would obtain financial compensation 
extracted directly from the fanatics wallowing in an incurable 
credulity. However, by discrediting all the Roman Catholic institutions,
 it does decrease the number of these unfortunate exploits; it is 
necessary for individuals with any sense to realize that, recourse to 
superstition sacraments is ridiculous; in this way, for fear of mockery,
 they may break the habit of consorting with impostor priests. It is 
therefore good to give latitude to charlatans of the worst sort, the 
dregs of false prophets, whose business is an obvious scam; inspired by 
us, the press will make comparisons between them and the priests of 
Adonai, confounding the two with reprobation and ridicule.
“On the other hand, through legislative means or otherwise, 
recruitment of the Roman Catholic priesthood must be restrained. It 
would be beneficial to give young priests actual knowledge of social 
life, falsely portrayed by their teachers. It will be necessary to have 
confident woman who devote themselves to the benefits and initiations of
 the Good-God. The results obtained in this way will be fruitful; for 
one of two things will happen: either the adonaite priest, once he has 
tasted the sweet joys papal barbarism forbade, will resign from the 
clergy, thus demonstrating to the public that nature condemns, 
absolutely, systematic celibacy; or he will remain in the priestly 
caste, secretly with us, not as an ally but entirely ours, rendering the
 most valuable service toward undermining the Temple of Adonai.
“In any case and in all circumstances, we must create a vacuum around
 the Roman Catholic priest, and it is also necessary that the clergy, 
after becoming more and more despised, hated, and scorned, be diminished
 in number, and to stop at nothing to obtain this result. 
First, we 
increase societies, circles, non-religious festivals, etc., for the 
pleasure of urban and rural townspeople; and secondly, we advocate 
boldly and everywhere, like a doctrine, the anti-Roman Catholic motto: 
‘No priest at birth! no priest at marriage! no priest at death!’ while 
favouring the creation of any association established in solidarity with
 this program.
“Finally, we should point out, scandalously, ready-made facts 
authored by a priest of Adonai, which might be liable to discredit the 
priesthood; that is, a fact not detrimental by itself, but in as much as
 it [p. 600] contradicts the cruel law of chastity so pretentiously 
asserted by Papism, who claim their clergy are above nature, and in this
 case, it will be advisable not to make a noise about it unless the 
offender is considered incapable of becoming our secret agent.
“And that will be the way forward throughout all countries of the Christian group.
“In particular, we must pause a moment and concentrate on Italy. 
Here, the Freemasons, while following to the letter the policies we have
 outlined, will have a duty to work tirelessly with the greatest zeal, 
to repeal the law that passed three months ago on which the Chief of 
Political Action has called our attention. We begin by attacking at the 
outset the system of two sovereignties in one country, in one capital; 
we will highlight the difficulties resulting from a dual diplomatic 
corps, half of which is the Italian crown in a state of permanent 
conspiracy against their own homeland. This campaign of Italian masonry 
should be supported by masons of other countries through an ambassador 
to the superstitious Roman Pontiff; to file motions for the removal of 
their embassies; and on this point, we would emphasize the fact that the
 existence of said papal embassies depends only on the magnanimity of 
the Italians who were willing to recognize a cult leader, now without a 
land, and the nature and prerogatives of the sovereign. Then we attack 
the imprudently granted sanctity of the ecclesiastical congregations 
forming the high spiritual administration of the Supreme Headquarters of
 the Roman superstition. It will provoke conflicts between the political
 authorities and any leaders under papal authority. We will spare no 
opportunity to arouse the populace against this person, even of the 
occupant of that cursed seat, so that, if he dared leave the Vatican, 
there would be unrest. It should become the habitual public opinion of 
Italy to regard as a dangerous embarrassment the presence of the Pope in
 their country.
“When public opinion is ripe to accept the Pope’s expulsion passed by
 a parliament comprised of a Masonic majority, we should propose a bill 
akin to something like following:
“Art. 1 – Italy recognizes no state religion.
“Art. 2 – To continue to have the right to exercise its cult, the 
Christian Church, formerly known as Catholic, shall be in Italy 
exclusively Italian. [p. 601]
“Art. 3 – Its bishops are authorized to meet in the national council 
and appoint someone as the Patriarch for the Peninsula, Sardinia and 
Sicily.
“Art. 4 – The present pope is eligible for this dignity, provided he 
relinquishes all superior authority other than the Church in Italy.
“Art. 5 – The Christian Patriarch of Italy has no sovereign status, and no foreign ambassador can be accredited to him.
“Art. 6 – The Sacred College of Cardinals will cease to exist, and 
the Congregations called the Holy Office, the Council, of Propaganda, of
 Rites, of the Index, of Indulgences, and, in a word, all 
ecclesiastically superior Church committees with a view toward universal
 administration, either spiritual or financial.
“Art. 7 – The titles of Cardinal and Archbishop are abolished; 
vis-à-vis the civil power, all the Bishops are on an equal footing, with
 the exception of the Patriarch, who is the first Italian bishop and 
who, in official state ceremonies, takes his place among the Presidents 
of Supreme Courts and the President of the Court of Auditors.
“Art. 8 – Each bishop administers his diocese under state control; 
[p. 602] the Bishops must refer to the Patriarch in issues purely of a 
spiritual or liturgical nature.
“Art. 9 – Any act of the Patriarch, committed in violation of the 
present law, will result in immediate dismissal and banishment.
“Art. 10 – Every bishop who is found complicit in violating the law 
with the Patriarch, shall incur a penalty of imprisonment in a fortress,
 five to ten years, and is also humiliated in the presence of people 
assembled on the public square or the courts of the cathedral of his 
diocese.
“Art. 11 – The Central Commission of Cults, composed of the secular 
members of the diocese, and whose members are appointed by the 
Parliament, centralize all reports of the civilian authorities on 
administrative actions or other documents related to the dioceses and 
form a permanent Superior Council to settle all disputes between the 
bishops and their ecclesiastical subordinates, except for spiritual or 
liturgical matters which are subject to the exclusive supreme 
jurisdiction of the Patriarch.
“Art. 12 – Through secret ballot, Priests will be elected by the 
faithful who remain irremovably attached to their parish; current 
priests, declared eligible by this Act, though not imposed on the 
faithful, will submit within six months from this date a confirmation of
 their position and title, voted on freely by their parishioners.
“Art. 13 – The Bishops are appointed by the Patriarch upon 
presentation of the government’s chosen three candidates; nevertheless, 
the present bishops who accept this religious regulation, will remain in
 office; those bishops not accepted will remain simple priests, and will
 be provided with a rural parish in the vicariate by his successor as 
head of the diocese, but his own vicarage will forever remain out of 
reach.
“At the same time the bill is tabled at the Chamber of Deputies of 
Italy, a copy, which would have previously been sent to all infected 
countries of Roman Catholicism, and to newspapers written by us, will 
soon be published everywhere, and accompanied by high praise. A concert 
of articles will celebrate the wisdom of Italian liberals, crediting 
them for having found a good solution to the religious question. We’ll 
attempt to illuminate the absurdity of the situation up until now: how 
wrong it is for Italy to have one of its citizens conspiring against the
 homeland, while at the same time the holdout is the head of a religion 
claiming to be universal and professing to place himself above the 
country’s legitimate authorities; how wrong it is for other nations to 
have allowed a veritable state within a state, with an entire staff of 
priests who are in reality servants of a foreign sovereign. Newspapers 
will call upon progressive deputies from other countries to promptly 
submit a similar bill, externally emancipating them from the national 
clergy of this cult called catholic, to constitute a liberal priesthood 
of a religion which the faithful have nothing in common [p. 603] with 
those practicing the same creed in another country. Great unrest will 
occur in various countries with numerous followers of Roman Catholicism,
 and, by legal means, through a general agreement emanating from 
Freemasonry, we proceed with the disintegration of the religion of evil.
“These events will not be fulfilled in twenty nor thirty years; we 
bring it about when Roman Catholicism has been totally discredited, when
 old women and a few incurable fools are its sole supporters, and when 
we have secretly acquired a significant portion of its clergy. When 
circumstances are favourable, due to increased legal restrictions in one
 country or another, having already completely abolished the finances of
 the cults and reduced the income of the priests of superstition to mere
 offerings of the faithful, in this case, it will be useful in such 
country or countries, to restore state funding to members of various 
clergy, even to the point of being generous toward the priests of 
Adonaism who accept the new situation. We’ll then proclaim loudly that 
the State, trying to protect religion at the moment when it ceases to be
 an excuse for a foreign conspiracy, only serves to magnify the 
sacerdotal body. No means should be overlooked to ensure the 
disintegration of the religion of Adonai and to weaken its international
 character. This, in effect, is what will empower us to extirpate it 
completely and permanently. Thus it is not possible to be overzealous in
 the struggle to achieve this important result, without ever being 
discouraged by the difficulties of the enterprise.
“Moreover, we must nurture in our hearts not only hope, but even the 
certainty that the successful disintegration of adonaism is not a 
chimera; for it is promised to us by the revelation in the book On Redemption in the Apadno.
“It is also said that the Pope of superstition, based in Rome at the 
time of its disntegration, refused to acquiesce to the new situation in 
his Church; and he will launch his now powerless thunderbolts against 
governments participating in this great work of social salvation. In 
those days a multitude of priests in various countries will abandon the 
church, owing to the fact that many have already been won over [to our 
cause]; and having been expelled in Italy, the Papacy will be cursed, 
wandering, and forced to fall into darkness; because governments will 
impose harsh sentences against those who show continued support and who 
conspire with her.
“But it is also written that, the Wandering Pope, pastor of a 
scattered flock, [p. 604] the helpless vessel of Cephas [Peter], and 
sixth successor of human self-pride, which collapsed under the temporal 
power of the infamous pontificate, will be saved, after numerous 
expulsions, by the Slavic autocrats who will bestow upon him great 
honours. Adonaism will then attempt to reconstitute itself; the 
Wandering Pope being close to death in Russia, with the imperial 
autocrat prostrate at his feet, the nations will convert to orthodoxy, 
that is to say, the schismatic Eastern religion, rallying quickly to the
 cause of old Roman Catholicism purged from Italy. On his deathbed, the 
Wandering Pope will be happy to witness these new believers replace the 
Westerners who had only recently separated from his church, and within 
the nations who’ve taken part in the disintegration of adonaism, some of
 the faithful remain, hidden from view so as to engage in the condemned 
practices of superstition; before dying, he will convene an Episcopate 
with the bishops of the Eastern schismatics, and establish among them 
Greek and Russian Cardinals. 
His successor will be a Slav; the seat of 
the adonaite Papacy will be established in the northern city of Pierre, 
with the intention of reconquering Rome. But it will be in vain that the
 imperial autocrat, in the hopes of extending his rule, becomes a 
crusader for adonaism; his efforts unsuccessful, the former Roman Church
 will remain fragmented in the nations of Western Europe. Thus, Russia 
is the last refuge and bastion of adonaism claiming to be catholic.
“In Western nations, once the new religious regime will be legalized,
 it will drastically suppress these dangerous propagandists who call 
themselves missionaries and preach to our brothers in Asia, and among 
the heathen in Africa and Oceania whom we must convert, carrying 
falsehoods and poisonous sermons. Governments shall prohibit, under 
severe penalties, these detestable emigrations, which are liable to 
provoke incessant conflicts with Asian nations, whose faith has become 
so perfectly illuminated by the efforts of the wise Tibetan priests, 
united with our auxiliary masonry in India and China, and deserving of 
respect. And without waiting for the appointed time of these events, 
every Mason has a duty to fight, through the pen and the word, the 
so-called Catholic missionaries, and trumpet throughout the secular 
world contempt and inextinguishable hatred. These missionaries are our 
mortal enemies. Any Freemason, who refuses to fight, will be deemed a 
traitor; whosoever joins them or supports such action with public 
praise, will be beaten to death.
“Finally, it is useful to maintain in the lower classes of any 
nation, the ferment of revolutionary ideas, even those socialists prone 
to extreme violence. Atheism is bad in itself and to hijack its true 
purpose and work toward humane antichristian restoration, [p. 605] we 
need to channel it and mix it with the most exaggerated social 
doctrines, which are destined for failure, occasioned by a momentary 
disruption, immediately followed by an energetic reaction.
“In the last stage, however, first we discredit the superstitious 
theory of divinity in such a way that those steeped in adonaisme detach 
gradually and eventually no longer believe at all, the last priests of 
adonaisme eroded and fragmented will be entirely won in the era of the 
new religious regime, which will be a state of transition, like 
free-thinking deism; secondly, we’ll take care to not suddenly wrest 
from the multitudes the belief in the supernatural God, but, at every 
opportunity, we’ll remain content to proclaim the existence of a Supreme
 Being, without announcing publicly yet our traditions and our mystic 
revelations. So sayeth the God-Good.
“Therefore, when the autocratic Empire of Russia will become the 
citadel of papist adonaism, we shall unleash the revolutionary nihilists
 and atheists, and provoke a formidable social cataclysm, which will 
demonstrate clearly to the nations, in all its horror, the effect of 
absolute unbelief, mother of savagery and of the bloodiest disorder. 
Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the 
mad minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate these destroyers of 
civilization; and the countless disillusioned adonaites, whose deist 
soul have up until that time remained without a compass, thirsting for 
an ideal, but not knowing which God is worthy of tribute, will receive 
the True Light, by the universal manifestation of the pure Luciferian 
doctrine, at last made public, an event that will arise from a 
reactionary movement following the destruction of atheism and adonaism, 
together at the same time vanquished and exterminated.
“The birth of the religion of the Good-God Lucifer, established and 
unrivalled on the earth, cannot be an instantaneous operation, neither 
in one year nor a century. A lasting achievement is that which is 
created by slow progression. The nineteenth century saw the conception 
of true and good Catholicism; the twentieth century will be the century 
of gestation, and climaxing with parturition at a fixed end in the Book 
of the Heavens (September 29th, 1996 AD when completed).
“Written and delivered under the Solemn Arch, and signed at the foot 
of the Sacred Palladium, by the Sovereign Pontiff of Universal 
Freemasonry, and by the ten elders who comprise the Most Serene Grand 
College of Emerited Masons, at the Supreme Orient of Charleston, in the 
cherished valley of the Divine Master, the 29th and last day of the Moon
 Ab, year 000871 of the True Light (August 15th, 1871, era vulgaris 
[Vulgar Era])
[p. 606]
This is the secret plan and formula which summarizes the tactics and the aspirations of the Masonic and Luciferian sect.
Is there no better way to conclude than to pronounce the mysterious 
response of the sacred word of the Knights of Kadosh? “Pharasch-Chol” 
Everything is explained.

Exactly
 what William Guy Carr was trying to pull, I’ll never know. If you’ve 
bared it until the end, perhaps you’re disappointed to have found 
nothing about a prediction of three world wars, Communism, Nazism and 
Zionist Illuminati – or anything of the sort. A search through the 
entire book, utilizing relevant word combinations, turns up nothing 
either. Instead, what it truly represents is the scurrilous fantasies, 
and militant anti-Catholicism of its author: the impostor 
Leo Taxil aka Dr. Bataille, who profited handsomely while having a million laughs at the 
 expense of both 
 Christians and Masons; who 
confessed that his 
 entire corpus of anti-Masonic works – spanning twelve years and representing thousands of pages (including the translated excerpt above) – were a complete and 
 utter fraud; a colossal yet 
 ridiculously farcical 
hoax.
It is enough having shown that the so-called Pike/Mazzini letter came
 from the Taxil hoax and to have provided a full translation of it. 
However, if the reader is so inclined, there are plenty of resources to 
become familiar with 
all facets of the Leo Taxil case in the above embedded links.
Taxil benefited from the atmosphere in France at that time, which was indeed rife with anti-clericalism, occultism, and 
 outright Satanism.
 The poets and authors of Romanticism had also looked upon Satan and 
Lucifer as a hero, and became more outspoken as anti-clericalism became 
the norm.
“The Devil had a curious rebirth in the nineteenth century,” writes historian Jeffrey Burton Russell.
Conservative Christians of all denominations continued to believe in 
him, but he was also revived by Romantic writers, sometimes as a figure 
of horror, but more often of sympathy, or even a hero. 
Romantics who 
supported popular revolutions from 1789 onward made Satan a symbol of 
liberty. If revolutions were against kings and priests, Romantics 
admired Satan as the enemy of the greatest king and Priest of all, 
Christ himself. Permutations were nearly infinite. In one great poem, 
Victor Hugo portrays Satan as a lonely hero, cast out from the world, 
full of love and longing, thrust out beyond the planets and stars into 
the empty coldness of space. At last he can see only three stars; he 
strains his wings and courage to reach a refuge, but one by one the 
stars die out and he is left in utter darkness. For some Romantics, 
Satan was a redeemer who bought human liberty at the cost of his own 
ruin.
– in The Satanism Scare, Bromley, Best and Richardson (eds.), Aldine Transaction, 1991, p. 47
The late historian of the occult, James Webb, has a detailed chapter 
on the conditions in France during the period, which is highly 
recommended: 
 The Occult Underground,
 “Visions of Heaven and Hell,” (Open Court, 1990), pp. 153-190; there’s 
also a succinct overview of the Taxil affair, pp. 144-7.
Professor Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann describes Taxil’s fortuitous situation quite well:
It is only possible to understand the hysteria caused by Taxil’s 
“revelations” in Germany, France, Italy, and Belgium if we take into 
account the contemporary political conflicts between church and the 
state. Taxil’s horror stories were well suited for an era in which 
people yearned for otherworldly experiences beyond the disenchanted 
modern world. During the final third of the nineteenth century, European
 societies vacillated between modern occultism and the belief in 
miracles, on the one hand, and the belief in Bildung and progress, on 
the other. Taxil’s writings initially satisfied the needs of anticlerics
 and subsequently those of the clerics. In this way, he popularized the 
conflict between liberalism and political Catholicism, appropriating 
many ideas that had long circulated among the Catholic population about 
“satanic” lodges, as well as ideas about sinister Catholicism held by 
the secular and Protestant Bürgertum in Masonic lodges. In occupying 
both liberal and Catholic positions, Taxil mobilized and intensified the
 prejudices of both sides. Only in this way can we explain his enormous 
success, as well as the general popularity of anti-Masonic and 
anti-Catholic pamphlet literature between the 1880s and the First World 
War.
Taxil, for his part, had 
 admitted in typical form:
“The public made me what I am; the arch-liar of the period,” 
confessed Taxil, “for when I first commenced to write against the Masons
 my object was amusement pure and simple. The crimes I laid at their 
door were so grotesque, so impossible, so widely exaggerated, I thought 
everybody would see the joke and give me credit for originating a new 
line of humor. But my readers wouldn’t have it so; they accepted my 
fables as gospel truth, and the more I lied for the purpose of showing 
that I lied, the more convinced became they that I was a paragon of 
veracity.
“Then it dawned upon me that there was lots of money in being a 
Munchausen of the right kind, and for twelve years I gave it to them hot
 and strong, but never too hot. When inditing such slush as the story of
 the devil snake who wrote prophecies on Diana’s back with the end of 
his tail, I sometimes said to myself: ‘Hold on, you are going too far,’ 
but I didn’t. My readers even took kindly to the yarn of the devil who, 
in order to marry a Mason, transformed himself into a crocodile, and, 
despite the masquerade, played the piano wonderfully well.
“One day when lecturing at Lille, I told my audience that I had just 
had an apparition of Nautilus, the most daring affront on human 
credulity I had so far risked. But my hearers never turned a hair. ‘Hear
 ye, the doctor has seen Nautulius,’ they said with admiring glances. Of
 course no one had a clear idea of who Nautilus was I didn’t myself but 
they assumed that he was a devil. Ah, the jolly evenings I spent with my
 fellow authors hatching out new plots, new, unheard of perversions of 
truth and logic, each trying to outdo the other in organized mystification. I thought I would kill myself laughing at some of the 
things proposed, but everything went; there is no limit to human 
stupidity.”
*** FIN ***