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freemasonry in the grand lodge era
CHAPTER XII
the arcane schools
John Yarker
"And therefore what I throw of is ideal --
Lower'd, leaven'd, like a history of Freemasons,
Which bears the same relation to the real,
As Captain Parry's voyage may do to "Jason's."
The Grand Arcanum's not for men to see all;
My music has some mystic diapasons;
And there is much which could not be appreciated
In any manner by the uninitiated."
Byron's "Don Juan." "Canto" xiv., Stanza xxii.
The Guild Assembly is supposed to have been revived as
the Grand Lodge of London in 1717, and according to the account of Dr. James
Anderson, by four old Lodges, which met for that purpose at the Apple-tree
tavern; but another account, of 1764, states that six old Lodges took part in
the proceeding but gives no evidence. The first Grand Master may be considered
a member of the old operative body, namely Brother Anthony Sayer, of whom a very
excellently executed portrait has recently been published by Brother Henry
Sadler; the election of this first Grand Master took place at the Goose and
Gridiron on St. John's Day, 1717; he was followed by George Payne, a gentleman
of antiquarian tastes, who was elected G.M. on the 24th June, 1718. In the year
1719 Bro. J. T. Desaguliers was elected Grand Master, he was a man of some
scientific eminence, and visited Lodge Mary's Chapel, Edinburgh, where he was
received, "after due examination;" it has been suggested that he may have
exemplified the London working, but the facts are such that it is much more
probable that he went to learn and not to teach, moreover, the Grand Lodge
terms, "Cowan" and "Fellow-Craft" are Scottisms. {495}
Of late years the more critical
historians have expressed themselves as very dissatisfied with the account which
Anderson has given of himself and of the establishment of his Grand Lodge in
1717, and if the statements which appear in our pages are unassailable, -- as we
believe them to be, -- he had every reason for prevarication and reticence. He
says that the Grand Lodge was established because Wren neglected the Lodges,
that is the Lodges which were established by the dissidents who left the
operative Guilds in 1715. Under the circumstances whatever legitimacy the Grand
Lodge of London had it derived it from the old operative Lodges, chiefly in the
North of England, which united with it. The Guilds assert that it was Anderson
who abrogated the seven years' Apprenticeship and changed the seat of the Master
from West to East.
In 1720 Brother George Payne was
elected for a second time, and compiled a code of regulations for the Grand
Lodge which was passed on the 24th June 1721, and forms the first Constitution.
Several old MSS. were burnt in London by scrupulous brethren in 1720, one of
them being by Nicholas Stone, who is said to have been a Grand Warden of Inigo
Jones. The office of Deputy Grand Master was instituted.
In 1721 the antiquary Dr. William
Stukely was made a Mason and records the circumstance thus in his "Diary:" --
"6th January 1721, I was made a Free-mason at the Salutation Tav., Tavistock
Street, with Mr. Collins and Captain Rowe who made the famous diving engine."
In his "Common-place" Book he records; that: -- "I was the first person made a
Free-mason in London for many years. We had great difficulty to find members
enough to perform the ceremony. Immediately after that it took a run, and ran
itself out of breath through the folly of the members." In his "Autobiography"
he again refers to the matter: "his curiosity led him to be initiated into the
mysteries of Masonry, suspecting them to be the remains of the Mysteries of the
antients." These {496} references are very valuable in the inferences to be
drawn from them. As there were few members in 1721, it is clear that under
Anderson and his friends much progress had not been made, but from some old
members, he must have received the impression of the great antiquity of Masonic
Rites. On the 10th March, 1721, he says -- "I waited on Sir C. Wren." At a
meeting of the 24th June 1721, at which were present the Duke of Montague, Lords
Herbert and Stanhope, and Sir Andrew Fountain, Stukely saw the "Cooke M.S.,"
which he says Grand Master Payne had obtained in the West of England, and
Brother Speth points out that Stukely made a copy of the first and last page.
There exist two other copies of it made at this period; Stukely considered the
MS. 500 years old. Grand Master Payne read over a new set of Articles and Dr.
Desaguliers pronounced an Oration.<<Vide Gould's "Hist. Frem.">> From this we
gather that Speculative Masonry was rising into importance.
On the 24th June, 1721, at the
Grand Lodge held by G. M. Payne at the Queen's Arms, St. Paul's Churchyard, at
the request of the Duke of Montague, Philip Lord Stanhope (afterwards Earl of
Chesterfield), and several gentlemen attended; after usual proceedings the
Brethren adjourned to Stationers' Hall, and in the presence of 150 brethren the
Duke of Montague was proclaimed Grand Master and Brother Beale, Deputy. Dr. J.
T. Desaguliers delivered "an eloquent oration about Masons and Masonry," which
is said to have been printed.
Stukely records that on the 25th
May, 1722, he met the Duke of Queensboro, Lords Dunbarton and Hinchinbroke at
the Fountain's Tavern Lodge to consider the Festival of St. John's. Philip Duke
of Wharton was elected G.M. 25th June, 1722, and Brother J. T. Desaguliers
Deputy. Brother Gould has given good reasons for believing that Anderson's
statements of 1738 on this point, as well as upon others, are unreliable.<<"Ars
Quat. Cor." viii.>> Brother William Cowper was appointed Grand Secretary, {497}
and G.M. Wharton approved a Ceremony for Installing the Master of a Lodge.
Wharton at this time was much embarrassed having inherited an impoverished
estate, and was himself a man reckless in his expenses. Stukely records that on
the 3rd November the Duke of Wharton and Lord Dalkeith visited the Lodge of
which Stukely was Master. In this year J. Roberts printed the version of a MS.,
in which are the "New Regulations," as to one Master and Assembly which his copy
says was passed 8th December, 1663; it contains the Clause that a Freemason must
be fully 21 years of age. At this time the Grand Lodge claimed the sole right
to confer the grade, or grades, of Fellow and Master; it is thought that one
grade is implied, if it is two it indicates the sense in which they regarded the
rights of Assembly given in the "Cooke MS."
In 1723 Francis Earl of Dalkeith
was Grand Master, and in this year Brother James Anderson, a presbyterian
divine, and a genealogist, published the first "Book of Constitutions," which he
had compiled from the old MSS., and other sources, by order of the Grand Lodge.
It was dedicated to the Duke of Montague by J. T. Desaguliers the Deputy Grand
Master, and Brother Gould is of opinion that Anderson, as an Aberdeen Man
introduced Scottish terminology into the English Craft. As a Scottish Antiquary
the author would be well acquainted with the Customs of the Lodges and the
Masters' Incorporations, and whilst the early years of Grand Lodge resembles the
Scottish Lodges, the grant of "Fellowcraft and Master," to the private Lodges,
and the sending of Masters and Wardens to Grand Lodge brings it into line with
the Incorporations, but Desaguliers had also visited the Edinburgh Lodge. This
year an engraved list of Lodges was begun by Brother John Payne, in a small
volume; the "Freemason an Hudibrastic Poem," appeared, and attacks on the
Society began in the Press.
In 1724, 1725, 1726,the Grand
Masters were Charles Lennox Duke of Richmond; James Hamilton Lord {498} Paisley;
and William O'Brian Earl of Inchiquin.In 1724 the office of Grand Treasurer was
instituted. We gave particulars, in our last Chapter of a considerable Lodge at
Chester of which Randle Holme was a member, and it is probable that admissions
were continued, for in the year 1724 three Lodges were accepted at Chester and
Brother F. Columbine was appointed the Provincial Grand Master. On the 27th
November, 1725, Grand Lodge passed a Resolution granting the privilege of
Masters to Private Lodges, -- "the majority of the members being Masters may
make Masters at their discretion." No doubt Grand Lodge found its time fully
occupied with affairs of the government; and this led, a little later, to the
sanction of "Masters Lodges," or meetings for the sole purpose of making
Masters.<<"Ars Quat. Cor." -- Lane.>> The lampoon on the Freemasons and
Gormogons appeared, and in 1726 the "Freemasons' Accusation and Defence."
Anderson seems to have withdrawn from the Grand Lodge until 1730. A copy of the
old Constitutional Charges appeared in 1726 which contains many additions and
the name of Hermes is substituted for Euclid.<<Spencer's "Reprints," 1870.>> In
June 1726 Dr. Stukely removed to Grantham and established a Lodge there.
In Ireland Masonry, as we have
seen, was known at the University in 1688, and there was a Grand Lodge of Dublin
in 1725, having six subordinate Lodges of "gentlemen Freemasons." The first
Grand Master was the Earl of Rosse who was Installed in the Great Hall of King's
Inn 26th June, 1725. There was also a Grand Lodge at Munster in 1726, of which
Brother James O'Brian was Grand Master, and also member of the Horn Lodge in
London. At Cork a Lodge is known to have existed in 1728. The custom of
issuing Charters to Lodges began with the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1729, and
they were the first to Charter military Lodges, the earliest of which is 7th
November, 1732, to the "First Battalion Royal."<<"Cem. Hiber." -- Crawley.>>
{499} A copy of the English Constitutions edited by J. Pennell, with some slight
additions, was printed by J. Watts of Dublin in 1730; and in 1734 Bro. Wm. Smith
issued a "Pocket Companion," of which later versions appeared in England.
In the constant reception of noble
brethren, changes in the Constitutions, and in the qualifications, coupled with
the elimination of Christian references which had obtained admission in the
course of ages we probably see, it is supposed in the first named case
especially, the cause of the attacks made by the press between the years
1723-26, by a class socially inferior, but equally zealous for Masonry, of whom
the old Speculative and Operative body had been previously composed. There are
allusions in the "Praise of Drunkenness" by Robert Samber to catechisms then
known in 1723; another appeared in that year; the "Grand Mystery" and praise of
the Gormogons 1724, and a second edition in 1725; to this a short reply was
printed by Dublin Masons, 1725, in which the Society is held to be of great
antiquity and supported by superior persons. Some years ago the late Brother
Matthew Cooke brought to light a very curious and important MS. book of this
period which is now lying in the British Museum, being Add. MSS. 23002.<<"Frem.
Mag." v, 1861. -- Old Lodges. Now facsimiled by Quat. Cor. Lodge.>> It is a
minute book of the "Philo Musicae et Architecturae Societas" established at the
Queen's Head, near Temple Bar, by seven members of whom two were made Masons by
Mr. Thomas Bradbury and three by the Duke of Richmond. Other Initiates were
afterwards made by the Society and we read under date 1724, -- "Mr. William
Goulston, Court Nevit, Esq., Mr. William Jones, and Mr. Edmund Squire were
regularly pass'd Masters, in the beforementioned Lodge of Hollis Street, and
before we founded this Society a Lodge was held consisting of Masters sufficient
for that purpose, in order to pass Charles Cotton, Esq., Mr. Papillon Ball, and
Mr. Thomas Marshall, Fellow Crafts; in the performance of which Mr. {500}
William Goulson acted as Senior Warden. Immediately after which, viz. the 18th
day of February A.D. 1724, the said Mr. William Goulson was chosen President of
the said Society." These brethren, were visited amongst others by Past Gd.
Master Payne, and the S. Gd. Warden Wm. Sorrel. As there are no minutes in
Grand Lodge of any one being made Masters after 1723, and as it never had an
actual body of "Passed" Masters the ancient Guild ceremony is in evidence. It
is probable that the regulation of passing existed only on paper, for we see
that officers of Grand Lodge were visiting and acting in private Lodges.
In the North of England, following
a meeting evidently operative at Scarborough in 1705, and therefore unminuted;
at Bradford in 1713; there are records of meetings in 1721, 1723, 1725, 1726,
of Private Lodges at York, that mode being used to distinguish the Lodge from
the General Assemblies on St. John's day. At a meeting in 1725 Francis Drake,
the historian was made a Mason by Brother William Scourfield. A Code of
regulations for their meetings was agreed upon and the Society now took the
title of "Grand Lodge of All England." In 1726 Charles Bathurst was appointed
President, and Francis Drake, Warden, and the latter at the Annual Assembly on
St. John's day, 27th December, 1726, gave an address, which has often been
printed, and always held to be of great interest; he speaks of the efforts to
revive the Society in London; addresses the operative Masons, other trades, and
gentlemen, and claims for York the undeniable Mastership of "All England."
Brother Wm. Scourfield in 1726 was suspended for calling an unauthorised
meeting, and making masons, and was probably acting with the operatives. The
old body met till 1744, and then fell into abeyance until the year 1761, when
Drake revived it. Besides York other bodies of an operative and independent
nature existed in the North as at Swalwell, Alnwick, Hexham, Ford, Newcastle,
etc. {501}
At London in 1727, 1728, 1729-30,
the Grand Masters were Henry Clare Lord Coleraine; James King Lord Kingston;
Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk who held the position for two years. On the 27th
May, 1727, Hugh Warburton was appointed Prov. Gd. Master for North Wales; and on
27th December, 1728, George Pomfret opened a Lodge in Bengal. A copper plate of
the "Mystery of Free Masons," was printed by Andrew White -- "Taken from the
papers of a deceased Brother"; and we find Bro. Oakley quoting largely from
Samber's Preface to Long Livers, 1721. Benjamin Cole published in 1728, from
copper-plate, the Constitution of 1726. It is noteworthy as illustrating the
state of things now existing that Past Gd. Master Sayer was censured for
"behaving irregularly," and what he did was probably to attend his old Guild as
he was an operative. Brother Gould thinks he may have been visiting the
Gormogons. In August and September 1730 the "Daily Journal" printed certain
spurious rituals, and the "Grand Whimsey" of Masonry, by F. G., and these were
followed in the same year by a broadsheet reprint entitled, "The Mystery and
Motions of Free-masonry discovered." In this year also Samuel Prichard
published his "Masonry Dissected" (12mo. pp. 31, London, 1730) which led to an
able "Defence," which Brother Gould has proved, from the Minutes of the Lodge at
Lincoln, was written by Brother Martin Clare. Also the censure of Grand Lodge
fell upon a Society of Honorary Freemasons. Also appeared in 1730 "The Perjured
Freemason Detected." In all this there was probably a Jacobite undercurrent
coupled with High grade dissatisfaction, for the sympathies of Grand Lodge was
Hanoverian while York was essentially Jacobite. On the 29th January, 1731, the
Duke of Norfolk presented Grand Lodge with the old sword of Gustavus Adolphus,
to be used as the Sword of State. It is worthy of note that in the few
preserved minutes of Lodge meetings, at this period as in those of Lincoln,
there is but little mention, {502} and sometimes none, of the degree of Fellow,
now termed Fellow-craft, the minutes confining themselves to record the making
of Apprentices and Masters.
Faulkner of Dublin printed in 1731,
Swift's "Letter from the Grand Mistress of Female Freemasons."
There appears in the "Daily
Advertiser" of 16th August, 1731, an advertisement to the public, that there was
on view a fine model of King Solomon's Temple, with 2,000 chambers and windows,
7,000 pillars, and models of the Ark and all the holy utensils; further stating
that a printed description, with 12 fine cuts, might be had. This would be a
model prepared by Councillor Schott of Hamburg between 1718-25 and on exhibition
1725-31. There is mention 22nd September, 1732, of the admission of Jews in the
Rose Tavern in Cheapside, and the "Grub Street Journal" printed letters
attacking Freemasonry.
There are several interesting
notices of meetings at Newcastle-on-Tyne, which we should suppose from "Border
Table Talk," to have had a succession from 1581, a tolerable antiquity for an
English Lodge, if the links were shewn. The Northumberland Calendar states that
1st July, 1674, the Society met in the White Friar's tower; and no doubt the
"Watson MS." written in 1687 by Edward Thompson was their Lodge document. On
the 29th May, 1730, a Lodge of the "Honourable Society of Free and Accepted
Masons" was held at Mr. Barth. Pratt's "at which abundance of gentlemen
assisted, wearing white leathern aprons and gloves." On 28th December, 1734,
the "anniversary of the Most Honourable and Ancient Fraternity of Free and
Accepted Masons," was held at widow Grey's, "the Society consisting of the
principal inhabitants of the town and country;" after this they attended church
to hear a sermon by the Rev. Mr. Robinson, Vicar of Byewell, "their chaplain."
On 27th December, 1737, Walter Blackett, Esq., was W.M.; Mr. Thoresby, Deputy
W.M., Messrs. Newton and Graham, Wardens, for the ensuing year.<<Gould's "Hist.
Freem." ii, p. 261; also "Trans. Newcastle Coll. Ros." pt. I.>> Richardson says
that {503} in, "1742, the Company obtained from the Corporation a grant of the
Cutler's tower in Carliol Croft (now Croft Street), which they repaired, and fit
up in a handsome manner."
We have seen an old Craft
certificate form used in the old Newcastle Lodge, under the Grand Lodge, which
represented two pillars on one of which was engraved "Isk Chotzeb, Isb Sabhal,
Giblim;" and on the other (facing right), "Bonai, Menatzckhim, Harods."
The Lodge of Alnwick preserved its
minutes from 1700-55, and these have been handsomely printed by the Newcastle
College of Rosicrucians. We find mention of the Entering of Apprentices; making
of Free-brothers; of Brothers and Fellows; the annual elections of the Masters
and Wardens; yet no word as to Rites and secrets. But the only inference we can
draw from this is that the brethren were real Masons, not pretenders,
innoculated with the new doctrines of 1717, and knew that such things could not
be written about. Hence in the case of similar omissions in the minutes of
York, Durham, Scotland, etc., no reliance can be placed, or arguments drawn from
obscure allusions to matters of this nature. There was also, at this period a
Lodge at Hexham, which would seem to have died out without at any time coming
under the Grand Lodge of England. There was another at Swalwell, which will be
referred to when it comes under the Grand Lodge in 1735.
We may add a few lines here in
regard to Masonry in Scotland, which had many ancient Lodges at work; and which
were societies sanctioned by law for mutual assistance and the regulation of
business, and over which the Clare family had an hereditary jurisdiction, and
had to be in possession of the "Masons' Word." From early times they had
admitted traders unconnected with building, and gentlemen of position; the one
termed "Domatic" or operative Masons, the other "Geomatic," or Speculative
Masons. These bodies met together in 1736, and established a Grand Lodge upon
the London {504} system, and consolidated it by the election as Grand Master of
Brother William St. Clair, who then resigned the rights if such still existed
which he had from his ancestors who had been appointed in the 16th century Lord
Wardens General, and patrons of the Masonic Craft; with the consent of Lodges,
and sanction of the Kings, Judges of all matters in dispute.<<Vide the "Schaw
Constitution," or rules, also previous chapter.>> From this period, Scotland
gradually conformed to the ritualistic system of England, but as proved by the
"Dumfries MS.," quoted in our last chapter, for a long period retained its
Christian character.
In this condensed account it is
unnecessary to repeat the mere names of the Grand Masters of England; these are
found in any modern Cyclopaedia, or in the Grand Lodge calendars. Various old
Lodges must have united themselves with the Grand Lodge, but as the entries are
made from the date of admission, it is impossible in all cases to trace their
origin by the Grand Lodge Register; one notable exception is Lodge 65, of St.
Rook's hill, Chichester, which is registered as dating from the time of Julius
Caesar. An old Lodge of Swalwell, nr. Gateshead, with minutes from 1725,
accepted a Deputation, or joined the Grand Lodge, 21st March, 1735, and the Earl
of Crawford appointed one of its members, namely Brother Joseph Laycock of
Winlaton, as Prov. Grand Master at the same date with a second Lodge at
Gateshead, 3rd March, 1736, No. 256. The Lodge was frequented by "brethren from
all the surrounding country as the Grand Master conferred the Harodim at his
residence."<<"Freem. Mag." 1794, also "Kneph.">> That these Lodges had the
Harodim is proved by an Address which he gave the Lodge in 1735, and which is
printed in "The Book M, or Masonry Triumphant," Newcastle, 1736, and which
contains subscribers from this Lodge at Swalwell, from Hexham, and Gateshead;
but the minutes do not confirm the statement that Laycock continued the Harodim.
It is the "Pocket Companion" of Brother Smith {505} of Dublin adapted to English
use; its full title being: "The Book M: or Masonry Triumphant. In two parts.
Part I. containing the History, Charges, and Regulations of FREE MASONS, with an
account of Stately Fabrics erected by the Illustrious Society. Part II.
containing the Songs usually sung in LODGES, Prologues and Epilogues spoken at
the Theatres in LONDON in honour of the Craft, with an account of all the places
where Regular Lodges are held. "Be wise as Serpents, yet innocent as Doves."
Newcastle upon Tyne. Printed by Leonard Umfreville and Company. MDDCCXXXVI."
It is dedicated to the Brethren and Fellows, "assembling in Lodges in the
Northern Counties of England." In 1735 Anderson complained to Grand Lodge in
evident allusion to it.
The Grand Lodge of London had now
achieved high prestige, for in 1733 eighteen new Lodges were constituted in the
London district alone, and the powers of the Committee of Charity were
extended. In 1734 Prov. Gd.. Masters were appointed for Lancashire and Durham,
Northumberland we have already named. This would not be likely to give much
satisfaction to the Grand Lodge of All England at York, and may have contributed
to its later relapse, and even in the South, 1735-8, dissatisfaction was
spreading; Freemasons were being admitted in unchartered "St. John's Lodges,"
members dropped off, and Lodges began to be erased.
On the 15th April, 1736, the Earl
of Loudan had Garter and Lyon, the Kings of Arms of England and Scotland,
besides many titled persons, to attend his Installation as Grand Master, but his
appointment of officers seems to have given dissatisfaction. In 1737 the Prince
of Wales was made a Mason, at a private Lodge held at the palace of Kew. Under
the Marquis of Carnarvon the Gd. Master in 1737 a Prov. Gd. Master was appointed
for the West Riding of Yorkshire. A Papal Bull excommunicating the members of
the Society made its appearance in 1738. In the same year Anderson issued a
second {506} edition of the "Book of Constitutions" in which the history of
architecture is much extended, but some changes were made in the wording of the
Charges which were not altogether received with favour. In the same year the "Gentlemens'
Magazine" printed a pretended description of the ceremonies, and J. Wilford, the
printer of Prichard's 7th edition,issued a 6d. pamphlet entitled, "Masonry
further Dissected; or more SECRETS Of that Mysterious "Society" Reveal'd.
Faithfully Englished from the French Original, just publish'd at Paris, by the
Permission and Privilege of M. de Harrant, Lieutenant General of Police" (pp.xvi.
and 32, London, 1738). This work of Heraut is given in "Masonry Trahi." 1745.
In 1739, the Holy Roman Inquisition ordered to be burnt a work, written in
French, entitled, -- "The History of, and Apology for the Society of Freemasons,
by J.G.D.M.F.M. Printed at Dublin by Patrick Odonoko, 1730." Oliver gives a
professed translation in Volume III. of the "Remains;" and it has been
erroneously attributed to the Chevalier Ramsay.
On the 30th June, 1739, Lord
Raymond, G.M., there are complaints of irregular makings, and the laws are
ordered to be enforced; and on the 23rd July, 1740, Earl of Kintore, G.M., there
are complaints of brethren "being present and assisting at irregular meetings."
In the year 1741 the Grand Lodge prohibited the publishing of anything
concerning Freemasonry; and in the following year a mock procession was got up
by people calling themselves Scald Miserable Masons, in imitation of that of the
Grand Lodge which led to the abolition of the annual procession of Freemasons.
A plate of this ridiculous procession was published 27th April, 1742, but this
must not be confounded with Hogarth's embodiment of the Gormogon's slanders
which had a third edition about the same year, and mentioned in our last
chapter. On the 24th June, 1742, three Lodges were erased for not answering
summonses to appear; and between 1743-7 there were 34 more Lodges erased, but
No. 9 restored; {506} next there were five Lodges erased, but two restored.
Thus the basis was laid for the prosperous advent of a rival. A new "Book of
Constitutions," the third edition, appeared in 1746, but Brother Hughan points
out that it is but that of 1738, with a new title.
In 1736 "Le Franc Macon," appeared
at Frankfort and Leipzic, and was dedicated to Count Bruhl. (Scott gives it in
his Pocket Companion of 1757).
In 1737 "The Mysterious Receptions
of the Celebrated Society of Freemasons." Also, in the same year, "The Society
of Masonry made known to all men," by S.P.
In 1738, "Masonry further
Dissected."
In 1745, The Testament of a
Freemason or "Le Testament de Chevalier Graf."
In 1747, "L'Adept Macon, or the
True Secret of Freemasonry."
In a work entitled "Magistracy
settled upon its only True Basis," by Thomas Nairn, Minister of the Gospel at
Abbotshall, printed in the year MDCCXLVII., for which I am indebted to my
Publisher, there is a peculiar "Protestation" in the Appendix. At Kirknewton,
on December 27th, 1739, James Chrystie, James Aikman, Andrew Purdie, and John
Chrystie renounce the Mason-Word, to which John Miller, at Dalkeith, July 27th,
1747, adds his adhesion. All repudiate their oaths as members of "The Society
of Operative Masons in the Lodge at Torphicen to meet at Livingston Kirk." They
declare "When I was young at my admission amongst you, both as an Apprentice and
Fellow Craft, wherein (upon very solemn penalties) I was bound to Secrecy and
also to admit none but operative Masons into the Society." . . . "Kneeling upon
their bare knee with the Bible upon the same, and the naked arm upon the Bible."
. . . "Most of the secrets being idle stuff and lies." . . . "And as a further
aggravation the idle and excessive misspending of precious time and money in
superstitious observation of St. John's Day in idleness, drunkenness and profane
jests and songs." Several particulars {508} of the old Operative Charges are
quoted and they withdraw from the Society in favour of the "Oaths of our
National and Solemn League and Covenant."
In 1750, December 27th, A Sermon
was preached at Gloucester, by F.M.: printed and dedicated to "Henry Toy
Bridgeman, of Prinknach, Esq.," High Sheriff of the County of Gloucester, Master
Mason, and Master of the Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and
Accepted Masons, regularly constituted in the City of Gloucester.
In 1751, "An Answer to the Pope's
Bull, with a Vindication of the Real Principles of Freemasonry." Published by
the assent and approbation of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. "Magna est veritas et
proevalebit." Dublin, printed by John Butler on Cork Hill, for the author,
1751. Small 8vo., 64 pp. Dedicated -- "To the Right Worshipful and Right
Honourable Lord George Sackville, Grand Master of the Ancient and Honourable
Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in Ireland." (Arms plate -- R. Close,
Sculp.)
In the same year, "La Macon
Demasque." By T.W. initiated at the Swan, in the Strand, thro' his friend Mons.
Cowen, a Mr. Fielding being the Venerable or Master. London 1751. (In Berlin
1757).
It is not difficult to see where
the shoe pinched the "Modern Mason." An old broadsheet of 1755 says that, "the
Moderns leave out at least one half of the Lectures" -- and this is confirmed,
later, by a pamphlet of 1765 entitled, -- "A Defence of Freemasonry," the writer
of which states that he visited a Lodge of the "Ancients," and he condemns their
prolixity, and defends the abridged form of Modern ceremonies. In our days the
Guild Free Masons have spoken, to some extent, and we know their process. What
the founders of the G. L. of 1717 did was to do away with all technic, and
revise what was left to make a new system; the Dermott body had Guild Masons to
help them.
The general dissatisfaction thus
shewn to exist, was {509} taken advantage of in the establishment at London of a
rival Grand Lodge of which Brother Lawrence Dermott, an old Irish Mason, became
the Grand Secretary. Their ceremonies were undoubtedly, as he states,
remodelled by Ancient Guild Masons. Their affairs from 1751 were managed by a
Committee of the Lodges until 1753 when Robert Turner, Esq., became Grand
Master, and was succeeded by Robert Vaughan in 1754. In 1755 a Manifesto
entitled "the Masons' Creed" was issued. In 1756 Dermott issued their first
Book of Constitutions under the title of "Ahiman Rezon," and certain rules are
entitled, "Regulations for Charity in Ireland and by York Masons in England."
The Earl of Blessington became Grand Master in 1757. Brother Henry Sadler in
his work entitled "Facts and Fictions" has done much to disentangle the confused
history of the period and he has shewn that this body was established by Irish
Masons, reinforced by dissidents who had been Initiated in the unchartered "St.
John's Lodges," and by members of the Lodges which had been struck from the Roll
of the Grand Lodge of 1717. They claimed to have retained the full ancient work
of York which had been curtailed by the Grand Lodge which they dubbed Modern.
The "Ancient," or the "York
Masonry," by which the new Grand Lodge distinguished itself, was an old
Arch-Templar body, and the same system was worked by the London Grand Lodge of
1751. By their Charters the Arch was worked under Lodge authority, and though
no prominence was given to the Templar, it was usually conferred with the Arch
degree. At York itself, when a revival took place under Grand Master Drake, in
1761, the Arch was recognised by the Grand Lodge and the Templar also,
continuing in active operation until 1792, when they silently expired.
In 1764 Dermott published a second
edition of the "Ahiman Rezon," in which comments are made upon three pamphlets
of the period, namely: "Hiram, or the Master Key to Masonry; The three Distinct
Knocks;" and "Boaz" {510} "and Jachin;" these works seem to have given Dermott
much annoyance, and he brings the author of the two last to untimely ends on the
23rd August, 1762, and 8th September, 1763. The Charity regulations of this new
edition give in parallel columns the Dublin and London rules in force since
1738, and those of 1751 for his own Grand Lodge. In 1772 the Duke of Athol
became Grand Master, after which they were usually designated "Athol Masons,"
and had formal recognition from the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland. A
third and enlarged edition of the "Ahiman Rezon" appeared in 1778.
We will now return to the Grand
Lodge of 1717; and may mention that in 1746 a brother of the name of John
Coustos published an account of the sufferings he had undergone by the Roman
Inquisition for the crime of Freemasonry, and expressing his grateful thanks to
the British Government for claiming his release from his abominable torturers.
Complaints of irregular meetings reappear in 1749, and again in 1752. In 1754-5
there are proceedings against the members of a Lodge held at the Ben Johnson's
Head in Spitalfields as "Ancient" Masons and the Lodge was ordered to be erased;
Dermott says that some of its members had been abroad, where they received much
favour from the fact of their following the traditional rites of the "Ancients,"
and therefore they resolved to practise "Ancient" Masonry every third Lodge
night, to which meetings the ordinary Craft Mason was not admitted. The matter
was not mended by Brother Spenser, who replied to a letter from an Irish
petitioner for his relief that their Grand Lodge was "neither Royal Arch nor
Ancient," and Dermott prints his letter in 1764. The progress of the "Ancients"
has been attributed to the general mismanagement of the affairs of Grand Lodge
and to the absence from England of Lord Byron the Grand Master, 1747-52, and a
proposal was on foot to supersede him in 1751, but Brother Thomas Manningham
interposed so judiciously that the proposal fell through, and he himself was
promoted to the office of Deputy {511} Grand Master in 1752; various Lectures
and Sermons, given between 1735-52, are printed by Oliver in his "Remains," and
Brother Thomas Dunckerley delivered a Lecture "On Masonic Truth and Charity" at
Plymouth in 1757.
A new edition of the "Book of
Constitutions," edited by Brother John Entick, was published in 1756. In 1757 a
list of 14 irregular Masons meeting at the Marlboro's Head in Pelham Street,
Spitalfields, was ordered to be sent to each Lodge; and Brother Henry Sadler
points out that they were working independently of any Grand Lodge. In 1760 J.
Burd published a translation of
"Les Ordre des Franc Macons Trahi"
under the title of "'A Master Key to Freemasonry;" by which all the Secrets of
the Society are laid open, and their pretended Mysteries exposed to the Publick."<<"Ars
Quat. Cor." 1896, p. 85; J. Bird, opposite St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet St.,
MDCCLX. 6d. viii and 48pp. 8vo.>> This led in the same year to the publication
of "The Freemasons' Advocate, or Falsehood Detected." In spite of this untoward
state of affairs Freemasonry made progress. In 1764 appeared a work entitled "Multa
Paucis for Lovers of Secrets," which is the basis on which is grounded the
charge of negligence by Lord Byron. In Scotland Joseph Galbraith, of Glasgow,
in 1765, issued the "Free Masons' Pocket Companion." It contains an account of
the "Acts of the Associate Synod concerning the Masons' Oath," at Stirling in
1745, September 26th, and at Edinburgh in 1755, March 6th, and appended is an
"Impartial Examination of the Associate Synod against Free-masons," reprinted
from the "Edinburgh Magazine" of October, 1759. In 1763 a Lodge at Durham which
had met since 1738 went under the Grand Lodge.
The office of Grand Chaplain was
instituted in 1765, and in this year a Lodge at Ford in Northumberland,
consisting of 40 members, petitioned Grand Lodge for a Charter, "it being of old
standing"; and between 1764-7 seventy-one new Lodges were established. Prince
Edward Duke of York having been made a Mason at Berlin in {512} 1765 was
constituted a Past Grand Master in 1766. The Steward's Lodge this year printed
an "Address" of 16th November, 1763. Entick issued a new edition of the
"Constitutions" in 1767. On the 16th May, 1766, William Henry Duke of
Gloucester received the three degrees in a Lodge held at the Horn Tavern; on the
9th February, 1767, Henry Frederick Duke of Cumberland at the Thatched House
Tavern. Thus the three princes, as Masons, attended a meeting of Grand Lodge
15th April, 1767, and were presented with their clothing, and the Duke of
Cumberland was elected a Past Grand Master. Brother Thomas Dunckerley, who
claimed to be an illegitimate connection of these princes, was present at the
meeting, and from this period was a most active promoter of Freemasonry. The
registration of Initiates commenced in 1768. In the year 1769 Brother Wellins
Calcott, P.M., published "A Candid Disquisition of the Principles and Practises
of the Most Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons;" he
dedicated the work to the Duke of Beaufort, and had the large number of 1,200
subscribers for the edition.
In these years, 1759-70, the
opposition to the Grand Lodge, which had never ceased from the time that they
broke away from the Operative Guild in 1715, was in constant evidence, as
witness the following publications:
In 1759 appeared in jocular
evidence, "The Secrets of Freemasonry Revealed, by a Disgusted Brother."
In 1760 "The Three Distinct
Knocks," by W.O.V.-N., member of a Lodge in England. Also a "Wou'd Be's
Reason," for and against; followed by a "Willingly Wou'd Be," believed to refer
to Dermott's Ahiman Rezon.
In 1762, "Jachin and Boaz,"
followed by "A Freemason's Answer to the Suspected Author of Jachin and Boaz."
In 1764, "Hiram, or the Grand
Master Key, by a member of the Royal Arch." And in the same year, "An Institute
of Red Masonry."
In 1765, "Shibboleth, or every man
a Freemason." {513} Also, in the same year, "Mahabone, or the Grand Lodge Door
Opened."
Also, "The Way to Things by
Words." McClelland.
"Solomon in All his Glory"
professes to be "Translated from the French original published at Berlin, and
burnt by order of the King of Prussia, at the intercession of the Freemasons."
London: Printed for G. Robinson and J. Roberts, at Addison's Head in Paternoster
Row, 22nd April, 1766. 2s. 0d. viii. and 61 p. A second edition appeared in
1768.
In 1766, "Solomon in All his Glory,
by T. W., an Officer in the Army, and late Member of the Swan Tavern Lodge in
the Strand."
In 1767, a second edition of "The
Three Distinct Knocks" appeared at London, Sargeant; the previous edition being
"Printed by and for A. Cleugh, Radcliffe Highway; T. Hughes, 35 Ludgate St.; B.
Crosby, Stationers' Court. Price one shilling." N.D.
In 1769, "The Freemason Stripped
Naked." Isaac Fell.
We may also mention here six
valuable plates by Lanbert de Lintot: 1, Grand Lodge of England. 2, Chapter and
Grand Lodge. 3, Foundation of the Royal Order. 4, Fourth and Last Stone. 5,
Old and New Jerusalem. 6, Night; and also in 1770 appeared in London a Ritual
in French, of the Rose Croix as the 7th degree, the 6th degree being Knight of
the East.
An effort was made at this time to
Incorporate the Society by Act of Parliament and to build a Hall; and, in reply
to a circular letter, 168 Lodges expressed themselves in favour of the proposal
and 48 opposed it. A bill was accordingly promoted in 1771, but the scheme was
finally abandoned. In 1772 under Lord Petrie, G.M., a Committee was appointed
for the purpose of erecting a Hall, and Preston's "Illustrations of Masonry"
received the sanction of Grand Lodge. In 1775, "The Spirit of Masonry" was
published by Brother William Hutchinson, F.A.S., of Barnard Castle; it bears the
sanction of the {514} Grand Officers of England, and is dedicated to the Grand
Lodges of England, Ireland, and Scotland, and the Craft in general. He is said
to have revised the Old York Lectures and his system was used in Manchester.
The foundation of Masonic Hall was laid 1st May, 1775, and was dedicated on the
23rd May, 1776. On 10th April, 1777, the first "Freemasons' Calendar" appeared.
In 1778 a dispute occurred between
the time immemorial Lodge of Antiquity and the Grand Lodge. This resulted in an
application from Brother William Preston addressed to the Grand Lodge of All
England at York, which had met regularly since 1761, for the grant of a Charter
to establish a third Grand Lodge in London. This was accomplished on the 19th
April, 1780, and a Grand Lodge on the Ancient system was constituted, with
jurisdiction south of the Trent, and Preston mentions it briefly in the 1781
edition of his "Illustrations." Now we have three Grand Lodges in London and
one in York.
During the ten years' existence of
this new Grand Lodge it established only two subordinate Lodges in addition to
the "Antiquity," and the authority came to an end with the readmission of
Brother Preston in 1790 by the premier Grand Lodge. In 1783 Brother Captain
George Smith published a work entitled, "The Use and Abuse of Freemasonry." The
death of the Grand Lodge at York following shortly upon that of Brother Wm.
Preston left only the two London rivals of "Ancients" and "Moderns," and efforts
began to be set on foot to unite them. It is asserted by the Rev. Brother A. F.
A. Woodford, on the authority of Mr. Walbran, the editor of the Chartulary of
Fountain's Abbey, that the York Brothers were in possession of a Charter, now
missing, which was supposed to be that of Athelstan; other brethren say the
same, but assert that it was almost illegible.
On the 1st May, 1782, Henry
Frederick Duke of Cumberland was nominated Grand Master, with the Earl of
Effingham as his Deputy. In 1784 a new edition of the "Constitutions" was
issued by Brother John Northouck; the {515} chief change is that the word
"Order" is often used for the customary titles of "Society," or "Brotherhood."
On the 9th March, 1786, Prince William Henry, afterwards Duke of Clarence, was
initiated in Lodge No. 86 at Plymouth; and on the 6th February, 1787, the Prince
of Wales, afterwards King George IV., was initiated by the Duke of Cumberland in
a Lodge held at the Star and Garter, Pall Mall, London; and on the 21st
November, 1788, Frederick Duke, of York was initiated by the same Grand Master,
at the same place, the Prince of Wales, his brother, assisting at the ceremony.
Sir Peter Parker, Admiral of the Fleet, had been appointed Deputy G.M. in
November, 1786. The "Freemasons' School for Girls" was founded 25th March,
1788, mainly by the exertions of the Chevalier Ruspini; it now bears the title
of the "Royal Masonic Institution for Girls."
In 1790 the Grand Lodge met under
the auspices of the Duke of Cumberland, when Edward Duke of Kent and Augustus
Frederick Duke of Sussex, both of whom had been made Masons abroad, were
constituted Past Grand Masters. It was on this occasion that the old Lodge of
"Antiquity" was reinstated. On the death of the Duke of Cumberland, G.M., the
Prince of Wales was elected to the vacant throne, and was Installed Grand Master
2nd May, 1792, when he appointed Lord Rawdon as Acting Grand Master, and Sir
Peter Parker as Deputy. The great extension of Freemasonry under the patronage
of all these Princes is shewn by the fact that the number of Prov. Gd. Masters
had increased, from eleven in 1770, to twenty-four in 1795, when Prince William
of Gloucester was initiated, and Earl Moira appears as Acting Grand Master in
1795. A Masonic publication entitled, "The Freemasons' Magazine" was begun in
1793, and continued for some years with a change of title in 1798. In this year
Bro. Stephen Jones published his "Masonic Miscellanies."
In 1798 the Boys' School was
founded, and continues to the present day. On the 12th July, 1799, an Act was
{516} passed for the better suppression of treasonable Societies, special
exemption being made of the Freemasons' Lodges then existing. Under the
favourable influence of the Prince of Wales and Earl Moira, Freemasonry made
progress, and the possibility of uniting the two rival Grand Lodges began to be
seriously contemplated. On the 10th April, 1799, an Address was received from
the Duke of Sundermania, Chief of the Order in Sweden, and a brotherly reply was
reported by the Earl of Moira to Grand Lodge 9th May, 1799.
The first step towards uniting the
"Ancient" and "Modern" Masons was made at a meeting of the latter body 20th
November, 1801, when a complaint was made against Brother Thomas Harper and
others for frequenting Lodges of the "Athol Masons." Harper then requested a
delay of three months, promising to use the time in exerting himself to promote
a union of the two Grand Lodges, and this delay was conceded. On the 4th May,
1802, the complaint against Harper was rescinded, and a Committee appointed, of
which Lord Moira was a member, to pave the way for a union. From some cause or
other Harper turned his back on this arrangement; the Duke of Athol's name was
used in opposition to the scheme, and no progress resulted. On the 9th
February, 1803, Grand Lodge passed a resolution condemnatory of the "meetings of
persons calling themselves Ancient Masons," and threatening to enforce the laws
against their own members attending such meetings. In 1805 the Duke of Sussex
was elected a Past Grand Master. A pamphlet dated 9th February, 1804, by an
anonymous author was issued entitled, "Masonic Union: An Address to His Grace
the Duke of Athol, on the subject of an Union, etc." Although the writer was a
member of the Grand Lodge of 17I7, he closes his title with a quotation from the
ritual of Templar Priest. He overruns Masonry from the time of Carausius to the
period when Harper was expelled by his Grand Lodge.
Other steps were being taken in the
meantime, and {517} on the 12th February, 1806, the Earl Of Moira reported that
he had exerted his influence with the Grand Lodge of Scotland in favour of the
union of the two bodies; the same course was followed with the Grand Lodge of
Ireland, and a similar report was made on the 23rd November, 1808. On the 12th
April, 1809, a resolution was passed that it was "necessary no longer to
continue in force those measures which were resorted to, in or about the year
1739, respecting irregular Masons; and do therefore enjoin the several lodges to
revert to the ancient landmarks of the Society." This refers to a change which
the Grand Lodge of 1717 had made, during the period, of what they were pleased
to term the advent of "irregular Lodges," and which is referred to in the
pamphlet of 1804, by reversing the words of the Ist degree and 2nd degree, and
which the pamphleteer alludes to as a dispute whether "Gog" and "Magog" were on
the right hand or left, according to the position of the beholder. The reversal
yet continues with many bodies of foreign Masons. This step was followed by the
appointment of a "Lodge of Promulgation" as preparatory to the desired union.
Generally it is considered that this change had given the Athol Masons the first
handle for terming the Grand Lodge "Modern," but the distinction between the two
sects had much wider grounds, as shewn in our last chapter.
On the death of Admiral Sir Peter
Parker, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales appointed his brother, the Duke of Sussex,
11th December, 1811, as Acting Grand-Master, and when the former became Regent
of the Kingdom, the Duke of Sussex was elected Grand Master, and the Regent
Grand Patron.
At a meeting of the Grand Lodge on
the 27th January, 1813, there were present six Royal Dukes -- Sussex, York,
Clarence, Kent, Cumberland, Gloucester; on this occasion Earl Moira, now Marquis
of Hastings, was presented with a magnificent chain and jewel of office, as he
was about to depart for India. The Duke of Sussex was installed {518} Grand
Master on 12th May, 1813; and as Edward Duke of Kent had already become a member
of the Athol Grand Lodge, their Grand Master the Duke of Athol, with the union
in view, resigned his office and recommended as his successor H.R.H. the Duke of
Kent, who was accordingly Installed as Grand Master on the 1st December, 1813,
at Willis' Rooms, St. James' Square.
There now remained no obstacle to
the union of the whole Craft, and the formal "Articles of Union" were drawn up
at Kensington Palace on the 25th November, 1813, and ratified at meetings of the
two Grand Lodges held on 1st December, 1813; these Articles were signed on
behalf of the Grand Lodge of 1717, by Augustus Frederick, G.M.; Waller Rodwell
Wright, P.G.M. of the Ionian Islands; Arthur Tegart, P.G.W.; James Deans, P.G.W.;
William H. White, Gd. Secretary; and on behalf of the Grand Lodge of 1751, by
Edward, G.M.; Thomas Harper, D.G.M.; James Perry, P.D.G.M.; James Agar, P.D.G.M.;
Robert Leslie, Gd. Secretary.
In accordance with this the two
parties met at the Crown and Anchor tavern in Strand, when the Articles were
accepted with Masonic acclamation and unanimously confirmed. A "Lodge of
Reconciliation," composed of nine members of the Constitution of England, with
Brother White as Secretary, and nine members of the old Institution, with
Brother Edward Harper as Secretary, was then constituted with the object of
mutually obligating each other, and affording the necessary instruction for
amalgamating the two usages into one uniform ritual.
Although the 1717, or "Modern"
Masons, had become zealous members of the Royal Arch and Chivalric degrees, yet
such degrees were held to be outside their Grand Lodge. On the other hand the
1751, "Ancient" Masons, had from the first treated the Arch degree as an
essential part of Masonry to be conferred on Past Masters under Craft Charters,
and to meet this the following was made part of the "Articles:" -- "11. It is
declared and pronounced {519} that pure ancient Masonry consists of three
degrees, and no more; viz., those of the Entered Apprentice; the Fellow Craft;
and the Master Mason (including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch). But
this Article is not intended to prevent any Lodge or Chapter from holding a
meeting in any of the Orders of Chivalry, according to the Constitutions of the
said Orders."
By this Article, which is
obligatory upon the Grand Lodge in all time, the Royal Arch is the completion of
the third degree, yet worked as a High-grade, and though all other grades are
excluded from the new Rite, they are not prohibited but they are allowed to be
practised.
At the period of this Chapter the
official Catechisms had become elaborate, the Harodim of Brother Preston being
of some note. They still continued to retain a considerable amount of Christian
symbolism, confined chiefly to the spiritualisation of Solomon's temple, and the
furniture and utensils. {520}
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