The Genesis of Freemasonry by: David Harrison
There is no shortage of histories of Freemasonry but sadly all too often they merely reiterate what has been written before, or they take some partisan position. I can reassure you that David Harrison’s tome is not in that mould. He is first of all a historian and then a Brother, rather than the more traditional starting point of a Brother turned historian. The emergence of Freemasonic history from the straightjacket, largely self imposed, of “traditional Masonic thinking”, was led by Professor David Stevenson and followed up by Jessica Harland-Jacobs and Andrew Prescott. Nowadays, it’s becoming the norm to place Freemasonry in the social context of the time. Harrison’s volume feels as though it marks the coming of age on this concept by the younger generation.
This book is full of characters from history including not only Elias Ashmole but also Inigo Jones, Nicholas Stone and Sir Christopher Wren. We can follow Newtonian philosophy, the influence of men like the Duke of Chandos and of course the towering influence of Desaguliers and Anderson, and the ever present Royal Society seeming to make recurrent appearances. All illuminated against the background of the Jacobite-Hannoverian and Whig-Tory tensions of the times that swirled through England. In the mid 18th century, as Harrison says: “the changes in ritual, the reorganisation, and the centralisation led to rebellions, most notably in York and with the creation of the Antients”.
He continues: “The 18th century seemed to have been a period that saw Freemasonry expand and develop, influencing and inspiring many leading public figures. Such people, found within the society, diverse ideals, with each person finding a different sense of meaning and belonging within the Craft. Before the 1720s, there were only two “degrees” but, as we shall see, these were extended into three degrees by the leaders of the “Moderns”.
The rituals of the first three degrees are today of a non- Christian flavour, and are interlaced with mythical legends, which are linked with ancient Egypt and the Old Testament. King Solomon’s Temple features prominently, and the fate of his chief architect, Hiram Abiff, is revealed as the three degrees are passed. Many works were published in the 18th century that revealed different elements of the Masonic Craft ritual, along with other works, that attempted to explain the meaning and history behind Freemasonry. James Anderson’s Constitutions of the Free-masons, in 1723, the first of many editions to be published as “Modern” Freemasonry developed, put forward an ancient “history” of Freemasonry and presented the regulations of the Premier Grand Lodge in London. This was followed by Samuel Prichard’s Masonry Dissected, in 1730, which was seen as one of the earliest “exposé’s” of the Masonic ritual, revealing that Freemasonry by this time had a ritual consisting of three degrees.
The ritual displayed in Prichard’s exposé, discussed the Entered Apprentice as coming from “the Holy Lodge of St. John” and for the first time described the murder of Hiram in Solomon’s Temple, during the Third Degree. In 1756, Lawrence Dermott, the spiritual leader of the “Antient” Grand Lodge, published Ahiman Rezon, otherwise known as A Help to a Brother, which was the “Antients” version of Anderson’s Constitutions, and in it, Dermott actually commented on the dubious credibility of a number of contemporary Masonic exposés.
Later editions of this became quite antagonistic to the “Moderns”, fuelling the fire of hatred between the two English Grand Lodges. The third edition, launched a brutal attack on the “Moderns”, criticising their claims of superiority and what he calls the “ludicrous description of making Modern Masons”. Masonry also attracted the humorists, especially the engravers, such as William Hogarth, who though a Freemason, indulged in various satirical ventures that parodied the pomp and ceremony of the Grand Lodge, and the hypocrisies of certain Freemasons. John Pine, an associate of Hogarth’s, was another engraver who, as a Freemason, became employed by Grand Lodge, engraving the frontispiece of Anderson’s Constitutions of 1723 and then illustrating A List of Regular Lodges according to their Seniority & Constitution, in 1735.” This is a three dimensional history of the Craft, not only relating to society but especially the tensions that led to these events. The volume takes us to 1813 and the creation of the United Grand Lodge of England.
It adds fascinating explanations of later rebellions, the Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent and the famous William Preston’s role in it, as well as the later Grand Lodge of Wigan. The author describes how and why it was founded: “Another rebellion within Freemasonry led to the formation of another independent Grand Lodge called The Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent, which was formed on 29th March, 1779. One of the leading figures behind this new Grand Lodge was the Masonic historian and writer William Preston.
Ironically, Preston had written his Illustrations of Masonry a few years previously, which was to become a great influence on the Craft ritual of the future United Grand Lodge of England. The name of The Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent, also echoes the desire for greater localised control, and can be seen as an 18th century statement on a north/south divide, as well as reflecting the schismatic theories on the Masonic ritual. The Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent, was short lived though, conforming, in 1789, after an apology from all of the Brethren who had been expelled 10 years earlier, was accepted by the Premier/Modern Grand Lodge, with Preston and his colleagues becoming reconciled.
Preston, died in 1818, and in his will, he left £500 to the Masonic Fund of Benevolence, and £300 to ensure the annual delivery of the Prestonian Lecture, which is dedicated to the history of the Craft, and still continues today. Preston, was born in Edinburgh in 1742, first working as a printer, before moving to London where he entered journalism, becoming the editor of the London Chronicle. Soon after his arrival in London, in 1762, he joined a lodge under the jurisdiction of the “Antients”. This lodge had been formed by a number of Scottish Freemasons, coming from Edinburgh, who had originally planned to create a London lodge under the jurisdiction of theGrand Lodge of Scotland. But the idea was rejected, as it was thought the lodge may interfere with the Premier/Modern Grand Lodge of England, so the Scottish Grand Lodge recommended the Scottish Masons to the “Antient” Grand Lodge instead, who welcomed the them.
In 1772, Preston instigated the change over of the lodge from the “Antients” to the “Moderns”, and in the same year published his Illustrations of Masonry. He proceeded to deliver a series of lectures on Freemasonry, and joined the Lodge of Antiquity, in 1774, where he instantly became Worshipful Master. Preston’s Masonic career became quite colourful and controversial. He reformed Masonic lectures and attempted to create a Grand Chapter in 1787, otherwise known as the Order of Harodim, which, despite its elaborate title, was merely a Lodge of Instruction, especially created to deliver his revised lectures on Masonic ritual. The Grand Chapter, which seems to have been controversial from the outset, died with its creator, in 1818. Preston, perhaps attracted to the more ancient claims being made at the time, developed a liking for the York Grand Lodge, and in his Illustrations of Masonry he stressed the ancient origins of Freemasonry in York, and its subsequent influence all over Europe. He also suggested that there was antagonism between the Premier/Modern Grand Lodge of London and the York Grand Lodge, in the 1730s, which was a result of the increasing influence of the London based Grand Lodge within the territory of the York.
This claim is rejected by Gould in his History of Freemasonry, though Gould seems to be constantly critical of Preston, almost dismissing him as a mere maverick, and continually sided with the Premier/Modern Grand Lodge. Having been a Freemason under the “Antients”, the “Moderns” and the York Grand Lodges, Preston seemed to have been a figure who was constantly searching for something within Freemasonry, and was certainly interested in the historical and more mystical elements of the ritual. His frequent moves between the various Grand Lodges, seems to reflect personal motives, for example, his move from the “Antients” to the “Moderns”, in 1772, coincided exactly with the publication of his first major Masonic work, gaining instant prestige within the Craft.
His Masonic career also attests to the fact that someone who was interested in Freemasonry at this time, had a choice of a number of Grand Lodges, all seemingly official, and all of which were competing against each other for prospective members. The formation of the Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent, erupted from a group of Freemasons from the Lodge of Antiquity, including William Preston, who decided to follow the Grand Lodge of all England held at York, after a dispute within the lodge, which concerned an incident in which the lodge wore Masonic dress during a procession from the local Church to the lodge room. A small number of brethren took offence at this, as Masonic public processions had been banned by the “Premier/Modern” Grand Lodge since the early 1740s, and complained about Preston, who was then threatened with expulsion, and forced to apologise. Despite this, three of those who had complained were subsequently expelled by the majority of the Brethren at the lodge of Antiquity. The lodge was ordered to reinstate the expelled Brethren, by the “Premier/Modern” Grand Lodge, but it did not, moving instead, to join the York Grand Lodge. These rebel Masons from the Lodge of Antiquity, then stole the lodge jewels and furniture, leaving a small minority from the same lodge to complain about their former Brethren, perhaps in a hope of distancing themselves from the rebels and to confirm beyond doubt their firm allegiance to the “Premier/Modern” Grand Lodge.
After joining the York Grand Lodge, the rebels were officially expelled by the Premier/Modern Grand Lodge, creating a bitter feud that lasted for 10 years. They responded to the expulsion with the publication of a pamphlet written by the new rebel Grand Secretary, Sealy, which protested against the “disrespectful and injurous manner” and “the false, mean, and scandalous designations annexed to them”. The rebels then went forward to create a constitution that turned their original Lodge of Antiquity, into the Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent. This Grand Lodge only had three lodges under its influence; the original being the Lodge of Antiquity, the second , the Lodge of Perseverance and Triumph, which was constituted at the Queen’s Head Tavern in Holborn, on 9th August, 1779, and the third, the Lodge of Perfect Observance, constituted a few months later at the Mitre Tavern in Fleet Street, on 15th November, 1779. The early years of the Grand Lodge seemed to have gathered a popular following, but by 1789, a report to the Grand Lodge of all England held at York, commented that “the decayed state of the two Lodges was taken into consideration”.
After an investigation into the apparent grave situation of the Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent, it was stated that “upon the whole, the prospect before us seems to be less gloomy than that we have had for some time past”. A statement, which seems to suggest that reconciliation was being considered.” Our history might not be as gloriously monolithic as some would like but it has great richness and diversity to relish. This is a volume to sit on your bookshelf next to Gould’s History of Freemasonry and Knoop and Jones’s Freemasons Guide and Companion. I can commend its purchase to any curious and enquiring Brother.
Purchase this title online at www.lewismasonic.com
