Not only the first book by Lefranc, but the first to accuse of a Masonic conspiracy behind the French Revolution,
The Veil Lifted for the Curious
is of enormous historical importance. The book pre-dated Augustin Barruel's
Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism
by six years; the latter became a sensation, in parallel with John Robison's
Proofs of a Conspiracy
. Both were widely available in the English speaking world, the former because it was promptly translated, the latter because the author was a Scotsman. Lefranc's pioneering volume, however, remained untranslated for 231 years. In 2022 we can make it available in English for the very first time. Lefranc traces the origins of Freemasonry, and claims that, even with the Christianity-inflected Rectified Scottish Rite, the ultimate aim was the destruction of the Christian religion-its replacement by a secular fiction concocted by the Freemasons, following their rationalist ideology. He finds proof by lifting the veil from the dark, mysterious, and macabre initiation rituals conducted in the secrecy of the lodges, and the tremendous oaths of loyalty extracted from candidates seeking to join the brotherhood and rise through its ranks. Just as importantly, he traces the astonishing parallels between the arrangements of Masonic lodges and those of the National Assembly, arguing that the latter had derived directly from the former. Lefranc denounces the revolutionaries and the conspirators alike, whom, having promised liberty and equality, made of France a terrifying abattoir, where some citizens were more equal than others, the church was despoiled of its property, the roads made unsafe, violent ideologues forced their beliefs both in the capital and in the provinces, and more restrictions were imposed on travellers than under the ancient régime.