The real purpose of Bode's 1787 trip to Paris, then, was to convince the Philatheses to discard its penchant for useless superstition and mysticism, and instead adopt a the tenants of the more rationalist, anti-religious, egalitarian, utopian schemes of the Bavarian Illuminati - a tall order, to be sure, but one which he felt was essential. After all, the Bavarian Illuminati had been under siege for three years, and he thought that in France there was still a chance to recruit members into the order who still had measurable influence upon society. (In addition to being a perfect opportunity to gain some first-hand knowledge of the mysterious animal magnetism of Mesmer). It turns out that Bode kept a journal. From May to August, 1787 he recorded for posterity his whereabouts, the people he met, and what it was they'd discussed. The second Philalethes Convention had already finished by the time of his arrival in Paris on June 24, 1787. Bode wasn't dissuaded, however. He quickly set his plan in motion and went about trying to convince important members of the Philalethes of the superiority of the system of the Bavarian Illuminati over that of any other. In an interview with the official organ of the Grand Orient of France, Humanisme: Revue des Francs-Macons du Grand Orient de France, historian and Mason, professor Charles Porset of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique [National Scientific Research Center), brings us up to date, and in one fell swoop completely demolishes the Bode-Paris- 1787 "conspiracy theory" debunkers. The interview was conducted in November 1995, by Brother Pierre Ysmal, and published in the December issue. The following is an extract (which I've translated from the original French):
Humanisme: But [ ... ] in your book you explain that the history of the Convents [of the Philalethes: 1785 and 1787 respectively] does not stop there ... it re-establishes the legend of the "conspiracy"?
Charles Porset: In effect; and that has been my great surprise. You know that in his Memoires pour servir a l'histoire du Jacobinisme, Barruel ascribes to Masons the Revolution, or rather, the "arriere-Loges" [occult, or hidden Lodges]. Clearly he is not saying that Freemasonry started the Revolution (he admits to having known masons of excellent character), but he says, to the point of hyperbole, that some of them conspired, and had organized to destabilize the Old Regime. And he cites the Amis Reunis and, of course, our Philalethes. His pronouncements are vague and often inaccurate, but the least we can say is that Barruel was informed. He had been informed by [ Johann Augustus] Starck who, along with others, I'm thinking of [Leopold Alois] Hoffmann, had denounced the collusion between the Bavarian Illuminati and certain French Freemasons. Though we knew that Bode—the German Illuminati—had come to Paris and that he had met with the Philalethes, the exact nature of the encounter, until recently, remained unknown. [Adolf] Rossberg, Nazi Masonic [archivist and] historian ([Freimaurerei and Politik im Zeitalter der franzosischen Revolution] 1942), had made brief remarks concerning the then unpublished Travel Journal of Bode, but the testimony from a well known anti-Mason might appear suspect.
(Cont.)
) are the
most powerful in the world, I would contend that no, mere visible figureheads. Ornamentation for the profane: 
