Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism

Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism (French: Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire du Jacobinisme) is a book by Abbé Augustin Barruel, a French Jesuit priest. It was written and published in French in 1797–1798, and translated into English by one Robert Clifford in the same years. In the book, Barruel claims that the French Revolution was the result of a decades-long conspiracy to subvert and then overthrow the European ancien régime of throne, altar and aristocracy. The plot was allegedly hatched by a coalition of philosophes, Freemasons, and Illuminati, creating a system that was eventually brought to fulfillment by the Jacobin revolutionaries. Barruel was the first to allege such a scheme in a fully developed historical context with voluminous documentary evidence. The first three volumes each focus on a separate contributing group of conspirators, and the fourth on their culminating union in the Jacobins. Barruel's Memoirs are representative of the criticism of the philosophes and the Enlightenment that spread throughout Europe in reaction to the Revolution. It was immediately popular, and was read and commented on by most of the important literary and political journals of the day. It was published in a number of languages and remained in print well into the 20th century, stirring debate about the role of the philosophes, their ideas, and the Enlightenment in the Revolution. Barruel wound accusations tightly around his foes and tied them firmly into compromising positions. The work is considered one of the founding documents of the right-wing interpretation of 18th century French history, closely linking the Englightenment and the Revolution, a connection which remains a topic of historical debate.