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In 1759, <strong>the</strong> order had been banished from Portugal. It was<br />
in 1769 that Clement XIV became Pope, and he expressed <strong>the</strong><br />
view that "sometimes we must cut down <strong>the</strong> mast <strong>to</strong> have a<br />
ship." On July 21, 1773, three years before <strong>the</strong> founding of <strong>the</strong><br />
llluminati, he issued his "Brief of Suppression." Then strangely<br />
enough, he said, "For <strong>the</strong> sake of peace and because <strong>the</strong><br />
society can no longer attain <strong>the</strong> aims for which it was founded,<br />
and on secret grounds which we enclose in our heart, we<br />
suppress <strong>the</strong> said society." No one <strong>to</strong> this very day knows<br />
exactly what <strong>the</strong>se secret grounds were, but Saint Alphonsus<br />
Ligouri declared that it was due <strong>to</strong> a plot of Jansenists and<br />
infidels" or in o<strong>the</strong>r words, llluminati types and mystical radi-<br />
cals, that had infiltrated and dominated <strong>the</strong> Jesuits. 68<br />
In <strong>the</strong> case of <strong>the</strong> Jewish religion, <strong>the</strong> community had been<br />
exposed <strong>to</strong> a very dangerous man, one Jacob Frank (1726-<br />
1791). Frank's s<strong>to</strong>ry begins with Shabbetai Tzvi (1626-1676).<br />
Shabbetai Tzvi claimed that he was <strong>the</strong> Messiah, and that he<br />
would deliver <strong>the</strong> Jews from <strong>the</strong>ir oppressors and return <strong>the</strong>m<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir homeland. In his day, over a million Jews from every<br />
walk of life proclaimed him and hailed him as <strong>the</strong>ir deliverer.<br />
As time went on Shabbetai became more militant in his<br />
Messianic pronouncements and, as <strong>the</strong> "Messiah," started <strong>to</strong><br />
proclaim that certain aspects of Jewish law are no longer<br />
binding. He also began <strong>to</strong> speak out against <strong>the</strong> authority of<br />
<strong>the</strong> Talmud. As his renunciation of certain aspects of Judaism<br />
became more pronounced, so did he begin <strong>to</strong> lose some of his<br />
initial followers.<br />
Shabbetai married a prostitute named Sarah, who had been<br />
an orphan of <strong>the</strong> Polish excesses of <strong>the</strong> Chmielnitsky<br />
massacres that were part of <strong>the</strong> seventeenth century Cossack<br />
rebellion against <strong>the</strong> Polish middle class. This marriage was<br />
consummated <strong>to</strong> conform <strong>to</strong> a legend that <strong>the</strong> Messiah would<br />
marry an unchaste bride.<br />
Shabbetai was born in Turkey, but he moved <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holy<br />
Land where he gained a tremendous following, and<br />
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