this
country, and the spread of these doctrines was greatly feared,
especially by the clergy, and in 1798 one of them, one G. W.
Snyder, of Fredericktown, Maryland, wrote to Washington sending at
the same time a book entitled 'Proofs of a Conspiracy,' etc., by
John Robison,[65] the conspiracy being 'to overturn all government
and all religion'."[66]

This letter, sent to WASHINGTON at Mount Vernon covered no less than six
pages; following is a verbatim copy of the original now in the Library
of Congress.

"TO HIS EXCELLENCY GEORGE WASHINGTON.

"_Sir_,--You will, I hope, not think it a Pre | sumption in a
Stranger, whose Name, | perhaps never reached your Ears, to ad | dress
himself to you, the Commanding | General of a great Nation. I am a |
German, born and liberally educated | in the city of Heydelberg, in
the Pa | latinate of the Rhine. I came to this | Country in 1776, and
felt soon after my | arrival, a close Attachment to the | Liberty for
which these confederated | States then struggled. The same
attachment | still remains not glowing, but burning in | my Breast.
At the same Time that I am | exulting in the Measures adopted by
our | Government, I feel myself elevated in | the Idea of my adopted
Country, I am | attached, both from the Bent of Educa | tion and
mature Enquiry and Search | to the simple Doctrines of Christianity, |
which I have the Honor to teach in | Public; and I do heartily
Despise all the | Cavils of Infidelity. Our present Time | pregnant
with the most shocking Events | and Calamities, threatens Ruin to |
our Liberty and Government. | The most secret Plans are in
Agitation; | Plans calculated to ensnare the Unwary, | to attract the
Gay irreligious, and to | entice even the Well-Disposed to combine
in | the general Machine for overturning all | Government and all
Religion.

"It was some Time since that a Book | fell into my hands, entitled
'Proofs | of a Conspiracy, &c. by John Robison,' which | gives a full
Account of a Society of Free | Masons, that distinguishes itself by
the | name of 'Illuminati,' whose Plan is to over | throw all
Government and all Religion, even | natural; and who endeavor to
eradicate | every Idea of a Supreme Being, and distin | guish Man from
Beast by his shape only. | A Thought suggested itself t