inner ring under the name of "the secret chapter of the Lodge of St. Theodore," which, after his initiation into Masonry, Weishaupt indicates the necessity of bringing entirely under the control of Illuminism. It is probable that Weishaupt was in touch with this secret chapter before his formal admission to the lodge.
Whether, then, the ideas of Illuminism arose in this secret, chapter of the Lodge Theodore independently of Weishaupt, or whether they were imparted by Weishaupt to the Lodge Theodore after the directions had been given him by Kölmer, it is impossible to know; but in either case there would be some justification for Robison's assertion that Illuminism arose out of Freemasonry, or rather that it took birth amongst a group of Freemasons whose aims were not