Chapters of Masonic History | Index:

PART I - FREEMASONRY AND THE CATHEDRAL BUILDERS
PART II - FREEMASONRY AND THE MEN'S HOUSE
PART III - MITHRAISM: FREEMASONRY AND THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES
PART IV - FREEMASONRY AND THE ROMAN COLLEGIA
PART V - THE OLD CHARGES OF FREEMASONRY and What They Mean to Us oldcharg.html
PART VI - FREEMASONRY AND THE COMACINE MASTERS
PART VII - FREEMASONRY AND THE GUILD SYSTEM
PART VIII - THE OPERATIVE MASONS
PART IX - HOW OPERATIVE MASONRY CHANGED TO SPECULATIVE MASONRY: THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION
PART X - THE FIRST GRAND LODGE
PART XI - THE GREAT CLEAVAGE IN FREEMASONRY: AN ACCOUNT OF THE "ANCIENT" GRAND LODGE
PART - XII VARIOUS GRAND LODGES; YORK, IRELAND, SCOTLAND ETC.
PART - XIII VARIOUS GRAND LODGES; FRANCE, GERMANY, ETC.

OF all the chapters in the long and varied history of our Craft not one is more interesting or more important to know than that which relates how there grew up alongside the first Grand Lodge (described last month) a rival Grand Lodge, how the two became bitter rivals, and how at last a union was brought about. Therefrom a reader can learn how certain changes came into the Craft which still puzzle him, and also, to a certain extent, why Masonic ceremonies in America differ from those practiced in England, and also among various American states. Necessarily only a rapid summary of many events can be attempted here; those who would seek details are referred to the books listed at the end of this article, and especially to Masonic Facts and Fictions, by Henry Sadler, the classic in this field.

I. CAUSES THAT LED TO THE RIFT

It is absolutely impossible to work out a connected and detailed history of all the causes that led at last to the formation of a new Grand Lodge, and for the same reasons impossible to lay one's finger on a certain year or place and say, here is where it began. The thing came about gradually and out of many forces at work.

One of the main results of the formation of the first Grand Lodge established at London in 1717 was that Operative Masonry was completely laid aside in favour of Speculative Masonry. Such a radical change in the inmost nature of the Craft could not but arouse opposition. It is supposed, for example, that the difficulties into which Anthony Sayer fell, after he had served as the first Grand Master, may have been due to his dislike of the new regime, he having been an old Operative Mason. How much trouble the great change caused, or long it lasted, is now impossible to determine, but it seems evident that a resentment against the new order of things lasted long in some quarters, and that whole lodges refused for many years to acquiesce in so complete a departure from the old ways.

Another cause of trouble in the early years of the first Grand Lodge was the adoption of the "Paragraph Concerning God and Religion" in Anderson's Constitutions. Prior to 1717 the rank and file of Craftsmen had been of the Christian persuasion and the Craft itself, to judge by its own Constitutions, had been frankly Trinitarian Christian. The new Constitutions, now associated with the name of Anderson, changed all this; according to its somewhat ambiguous wording a Mason was required to be only of that religion "in which all good men agree". This did not please those who wished to see Freemasonry remain specifically Christian, consequently they made trouble about it.

From the records of the first Grand Lodge itself it is evident that all was not smooth sailing. 

There was constant complaint of "irregular makings", but little was done to head off that evil; also it appears that Grand Lodge affairs were managed with laxness, if not sometimes with downright carelessness. A fair example of this is furnished in the case of Lord Byron, who was elected Grand Master April 30, 1747. That gentleman, sometimes known as "the wicked Lord Byron", appeared before his brethren only five times in five years, and seems to have paid little heed to his responsibilities. The carelessness aroused so much feeling that "it was the Opinion of many old Masons to have a consultation about electing a new and more active Grand Master"; they "assembled for that purpose" and would have carried it through had it not been for the intervention of Bro. Thomas Manningham, M.D. From this, and from similar instances that could be named, one may judge that Grand Lodge did not keep a very tight hold of the reins, a fact that will help to explain what came afterwards.


AHIMAN REZON:

OR, 

A Help to a Brother; 

Shewing the 

EXCELLENCY of SECRECY, 

And the first Cause, or Motive, of the Institution of 

FREEMASONRY; 

THE PRINCIPLES of the CRAFT,

And the 

Benefits arising from a strict Observance thereof; 

What Sort of MEN ought to be initiated into the MYSTERY,

And what sort of MASONS are fit to govern LODGES, 

With their Behaviour in and out of the Lodge. 

Likewise the 

Prayers used in the Jewish and Christian Lodges, 

The Ancient Manner of 

Constituting new Lodges, with all the Charges, &c. 

Also the 

OLD and NEW REGULATIONS, 

The Manner of Chusing and Installing Grand-Master and Officers, 

and other useful Particulars too numerous here to mention. 

To which is added, 

The greatest Collection of MASONS SONG ever presented to 

public View, with many entertaining PROLOGUES and EPILOGUES; 

Together with 

SOLOMON'S TEMPLE an ORATORIO, 

As it was performed for the Benefit of 

FREE MASONS. 

By Brother LAURENCE DERMOTT, Sec.

LONDON 

Printed for the EDITOR, and sold by Brother James Bedford, at the 

Crown in St. Paul's ChurchYard. 

MDCCLVI-

(Above is a facsimile, of the Book of Constitutions used by the "Ancient" Grand Lodge. It was composed by Laurence Dermott, in 1756)


INNOVATIONS HAD BEEN MADE

A worse thing "worse", that is, from the point of view of the conservative brethren at the time was that the first Grand Lodge deliberately made a few drastic "innovations" in the old forms, a thing that came about after this wise, so it is believed: after Freemasonry became more or less popular in London numberless men became desirous of making their way into lodges without the troublesome cost of a regular imitation. To meet their needs certain so-called "exposes" were published, the most notable of which was Masonry Dissected, by one Samuel Prichard, described as a "late member of a Constituted Lodge". Upon this, clandestinism became so rife that at last Grand Lodge, in self-defense, determined upon making changes in the esoteric work that would enable regular lodges to detect the frauds. It is now next to impossible to learn with certainty just what these changes were, but according to the enemies of the Grand Lodge of 1717 and to scattered references in Grand Lodge records they were somewhat as follows: The installation ceremony of the Worshipful Master was either abolished or suffered to go by default; the Third Degree was remodeled; the symbolism of the preparation of a candidate was changed; one of the most important secrets of the First Degree was transferred to the Second, and vice versa; some of the old "geometrical secrets" long practiced among "ancient Operative Masons" were either entirely omitted or else changed out of all recognition, etc. As a proof that such charges of innovations were not without foundation in fact is an entry in the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of 1717, 1784 edition, which says, "Some variations were made in the established forms," and this goes on to explain that these changes were made, "more effectually to debar them [i.e., clandestines] and their abettors from the Lodges."

Still another cause that contributed to the new developments has to do with the Royal Arch, a subject peculiarly difficult to deal with, especially on paper and then in short space. Laurence Dermott, the creative genius of the new Grand Lodge (about which more anon), once wrote these words:

"A Modern Mason a member of a lodge under the Grand Lodge of 1717 may safely communicate all his secrets to an Ancient Mason, the member of a lodge under the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge started in 1751, but that an Ancient Mason cannot with safety communicate all his secrets to a Modern Mason without further ceremony."

After quoting these words, and some others not necessary to be included here, Bro. Fred J.W. Crowe, in his revision of Gould's Concise History, page 256, remarks that, "There is little doubt that these differences consist of changes in the Third Degree and the introduction of the Royal Arch."

THE ROYAL ARCH BECAME AN ISSUE

The theory here is that in their re-organization of the Ritual, Desgauliers and his fellows in the early days of the Grand Lodge of 1717 left the Third Degree without its logical conclusion, so that a certain vital secret was lost but not found; and that many of the brethren, in order to complete the symbolism, either adapted or created a supplementary ceremony to make good the loss. In so doing they ran counter to the practices of the Grand Lodge of 1717 and thereby became stigmatized as "irregulars". Firm in their belief that they were right and the Grand Lodge was wrong, they persisted in their course until at last they founded a Grand Lodge of their own. This, as stated above, is a "theory", but there are facts to support it, and it is reasonable on the face of things.

Be the facts what they may, it is certain that after the new Grand Lodge was formed it made use of the ceremony known as the Royal Arch and practiced it as a part of legitimate ancient Freemasonry. The results of this have been succinctly described by W.J. Hughan in a communication quoted on page 1185, Mackey's Revised History of Freemasonry, by Bro. Robert I. Clegg:

"The Royal Arch Degree was not started by these 'Antients' [as the new Grand Lodge came to be styled] but only adapted by them as an authorized ceremony. In self-defence the 'Moderns' [as the Grand Lodge of 1717 was dubbed], who had worked it before the origin of the 'Atholl Masons' [another name for the new Grand Lodge], but not officially, gradually gave it more prominence. In 1767 they formed a Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and issued Warrants for Chapters, pushing the degree more even than the 'Antients', though not recognized by their Grand Lodge; so at the Union of the two Grand Lodges in December 1813, the way was prepared for the inauguration of the 'United Grand Chapter' in 1817, the ceremony being adopted as the completion of the Master Mason's ceremony, not as a separate and independent degree."

The most important of all the theories as to the rise of the new Grand Lodge is that worked out by Henry Sadler, though the word "theory", in view of the many facts he has marshaled in his Masonic Facts and Fictions, is too weak to suggest the cogency and power of his reasoning. I must content myself with giving a very brief resume of the results arrived at in this remarkable book.

The most important result of Sadler's work has been to abolish the old notion that the "Antient" Grand Lodge resulted from a "schism", or "secession" from the older Grand Lodge. The "schismatic" theory was given currency by the older Grand Lodge, and it came to be generally accepted among its supporters and apologists; even Gould, who was usually so independent in his theorizing, clung stubbornly to it long after others had been convinced of Sadler's views, for the which reason it was deemed wise to make a revision of his Concise History. Sadler made it clear that the "Antient" Grand Lodge grew up, not out of a split-off from the Grand Lodge of 1717 but from independent causes, and that in a day before the doctrine of exclusive jurisdiction had been adopted there was no illegality in such a step.

The next most important result of his researches was that the primary inspiration in the founding of the "Antient" Grand Lodge came from Irish Masons who had settled in London, and who had not been recognized by the Grand Lodge of 1717. Sadler shows that a majority of the members of the first lodge warranted by the "Antients" were Irishmen, and that they closely copied the usages and customs of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, and that in the loose talk of the times they were accordingly dubbed "Irish Masons". Most of these men were of the "lower" classes, painters, tailors, mechanics, labourers, and so on, thereby standing in sharp contrast to the membership of the lodges working under the Grand Lodge of 1717.

THE "ANTIENTS" WERE CLOSE TO THE G.L. OF IRELAND

The "Antients" differed much in their practices from the older Grand Lodge and at the same time, in so differing, stood close to the customs of the Grand Lodge of Ireland: Sadler's own summary of this may be given:

"It will doubtless suffice if I merely mention the chief remaining points of connexion and similarly without further comment: The Book of Constitutions, and the By-Laws for private lodges; Craft Warrants recognizing the Royal Arch degree; Grand Lodge Seals, and the method of affixing them with the same coloured ribbons [same, that is, as the Grand Lodge of Ireland], which so far as I know were not used by any other Grand Lodge; Certificates in Latin and English; Constitution of a lodge for Grand Officers only, and the names of the members entered in the front of the register; System of registritation in the books of the Grand Lodge; the fact that the 'Ancients' were designated 'Irish Masons', their lodges 'Irish Lodges', and their warrants 'Irish Warrants', by independent and unofficial writers at various periods, from about fifteen years after their organization in 1751 up to the end of the last century" [that is, the eighteenth century].

After the new Grand Lodge was once under way, and after it had begun to come into conflict with the older body, of course the defenders of the "Antients" began to make up arguments to defend their own position; to a large extent such arguments were merely special pleading, and not now to be taken with much seriousness. Such, by way of example, was Dermott's that the earlier Grand Lodge had been constituted in an illegal manner. In his Ahiman Rezon, 1778 edition, he says that "to form a Grand Lodge there must have been the Masters and Wardens of five regular Lodges," and asserts that "this is so well known to every man conversant with the ancient laws, usages, customs and ceremonies of Master Masons, that it is needless to say more." Dermott must have known at the time that such a statement was groundless; there never had been such a law. As time went on this argument was replaced by another to the effect that the "Antients" had set up house for themselves because the older Grand Lodge had been guilty of innovations, which, though it was doubtless true enough, could not very well stand because the "Antients" themselves had been guilty of many innovations of their own; for they had brought into the Masonic system an entirely new degree, an innovation of the first order, one would suppose.

II. FORMATION OF THE "ANTIENT" GRAND LODGE

It is time to give an account of how the "Ancient" (I shall hereafter give it the modern spelling) Grand Lodge came into existence.

First, however, I shall say a word about Laurence Dermott, who figured so much in all that happened, recommending the reader betimes that he peruse W.M. Bywater's Notes on Laurence Dermott and His Work, published in London, 1884. Dermott was born in Ireland in 1720, twenty-two years before the birth of William Preston, who first saw the light of day in Edinburgh, July 28, 1742, and who alone of all the luminaries in Freemasonry of that generation shares with Dermott an equal fame. Dermott was initiated in Ireland in 1740, and went through the chairs of Lodge No. 26, Ireland, where he was installed Worshipful Master June 24, 1746. It appears that he was fairly well educated for those days, and Gould is of the opinion that he probably knew a little Hebrew, which will account for the fondness he had of covering his papers with Hebrew characters that ancient and difficult language! He moved to London, probably as a youth, with little in his pocket but many schemes boiling in his head, which head was tireless, alert, witty, sarcastic, and often a bit unscrupulous in waging war on his foes, of which his energy made him many. It seems that he engaged himself as a journeyman painter (Preston became a journeyman printer, it will be remembered) and that he prospered so that in after years he spent much money in charity and in his Masonic activities. In late records he was described as a wine merchant, and it appears that he enjoyed the luxury of gout. Once made a Mason he never rested but devoted himself to it as to a mistress, with passionate earnestness, never permitting himself to become discouraged, and always in the front line of battle. Aside from his genius in putting a Grand Lodge under way his greatest achievement was the composition of his Ahiman Rezon (meaning "Worthy Brother Secretary"), the Constitutions of the new Grand Lodge, and afterwards adopted by many other Grand Lodges, our own Pennsylvania, Maryland and South Carolina among them.

THE "GRAND COMMITTEE" IS FORMED

So much for Dermott. The extent of the "irregular makings" so often complained of in the records of the Grand Lodge of 1717 may be shown by the fact that because of these the Grand Lodge erased from its list at least forty-five lodges between 1742 and 1752. Brethren so dealt with, along with many free lances, and also some independent, or "St. John's lodges," (about which many interesting things might be written) came together and formed a "Grand Committee" of "the Most Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons"; this Committee formed itself into "The Grand Lodge of England according to the Old Constitutions," which Grand Lodge afterwards came to be called the "Ancient" Grand Lodge in contradistinction to the "Modern," as the older Grand Lodge became dubbed. The earliest record of the Grand Committee is of date July 17, 1751; on that day Lodges No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 "were authorized to grant Dispensations and Warrants and to act as Grand Master." The office of Grand Master was left vacant until a "noble brother" could be found to accept the position; and the place of Lodge No. 1 was left standing to be occupied by the Grand Master's Lodge, a thing suggested no doubt by the Grand Lodge of Ireland having done the same thing. John Morgan was elected Grand Secretary in 1751 but it appears that he was lax in his duties, therefore Laurence Dermott was elected to take his place Feb. 5, 1752, after which time the Grand Secretary's most bitter enemies could not complain of any laxness whatsoever, because Dermott became the leading spirit in all that followed, and it was to his genius that a group of malcontents, drawn from what at that time were the lower or middle classes, were able to forge ahead and to grow more rapidly, time taken into consideration, than their rival Grand Lodge.

One of the expedients hit on by Dermott was the warranting of military lodges, a thing not done before, and which accounts for the rapid growth of Ancient Masonry in the American Colonies, for owing to the use of warrants to army lodges the British forces in this continent became Masonic missionaries. The Modern Grand Lodge afterwards followed suit in this. Another expedient was the frank and open pushing of the Royal Arch Degree; it is easy to understand that a system offering four degrees would make more appeal to the generality than one offering only three. Also the Ancients were able to secure formal endorsements from the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland, and in addition thereto a certain amount of active support from those influential bodies.

In a list of the Grand Secretaries of the Ancient Grand Lodge it will be noted that Dermott served eighteen years:

1751, John Morgan. 
1752-70, Laurence Dermott. 
1771-76, William Dickey. 
1777-78, James Jones. 
1779-82, Charles Bearblock. 
1783-84, Robert Leslie. 
1785-89, John McCormick. 
1790-1813, Robert Leslie.

More instructive still is the list of Grand Masters elected:

1753, Robert Turner. 
1754-56, Edward Vaughan. 
1756-59, Earl of Blesington. 
1760-66, Earl of Kelly. 
1766-70, Hon. Thomas Mathew. 
1771-74, John, third Duke of Atholl (also spelled Athol, Athole). 
1775-81, John, fourth Duke of Atholl. 
1783-91, Earl of Antrim. 
1791-1813, John, fourth Duke of Atholl. 
1813, Duke of Kent.

It will be observed that of the sixty years during which the Ancients had a Grand Master a Duke of Atholl occupied the throne for thirty-one years; it was for this reason that the Ancients were often called "Atholl Masons," and for a corresponding reason that the Moderns were sometimes called "Prince of Wales Masons."

THEY GREW RAPIDLY

The zeal and energy of the Ancient leaders, in addition to the superior attractiveness of their degree system, is shown in the rapidity with which the new Grand Lodge made headway. In 1753 a dozen or so lodges were on the list; during the next four years, and largely owing to Dermott's activity, twenty-four were added; between 1760 and 1766, while the Earl of Kelly was nominally Grand Master, sixty-four more were taken in charge. By 1813, when the Union was effected, the Ancients claimed a grand total of 359 lodges, though it is certain that in many cases the names of defunct lodges were still carried.

The Ancients adopted as their Book of Constitutions the Ahiman Rezon, largely the work of Dermott, though he closely followed in the main the lines of the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of Ireland and at the same time borrowed with a free hand the Anderson Constitutions used by the Moderns, first published in 1723; the first edition of the Ahiman Rezon appeared in 1756. By closely following the Constitutions already in use Dermott was able to avoid the appearance of too wide a departure from Freemasonry as already practiced, and at the same time, though unwittingly, prepared the way for the Union that came afterwards, a fact of happy augury for the Craft at large.

The existence of two Grand Lodges, both with their headquarters in London, naturally caused a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding among ordinary Masons; in many cases such brethren held no brief for either party, so that in some cases it is of record that a man held office in lodges under both constitutions; but for the most part there was a good deal of bitterness among the partisans, though it must be said that the Ancients were more avid of controversy than the Moderns, and that in almost every instance when all olive branch was extended it was from the latter named camp. An example of the irenic attitude of the Moderns is furnished by Preston, who says that while in 1801 charges were preferred against brethren under the Moderns for their activities in Ancient lodges the matter was suffered to drop.

In 1797 a move was made looking toward union but the project fell through. Two years afterwards, however, the two Grand Masters, the Earl of Moira for the Moderns and the Duke of Atholl for the Ancients, acted together to have the Craft specifically exempted from the Act to Prevent Secret Societies in England. Also, as another step that paved the way for a merger, the Modern Grand Lodge succeeded in securing the endorsements of the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland in such wise as to place the Ancients on a somewhat doubtful footing, a thing that completely reversed the original situation so far as those two Grand Bodies were concerned.

THE UNION IS EFFECTED

As early as 1809 committees met to consider the "propriety and practicability of union." On Oct. 26 of that year the Earl of Moira (for the Moderns) warranted a special lodge to serve as a means for bringing about a merger; this lodge held its first meeting on Nov. 21 and then resolved to call itself "The Special Lodge of Promulgation." On April 10 of the year following the Earl of Moira informed his Grand Lodge that both he and the Grand Master of the Ancients "were both fully of opinion, that it would be an event truly desirable, to consolidate under one head the two Societies of Masons that existed in this country." These proceedings were transmitted to the Grand Lodge of Ancients, where this frank avowal of a desire for union was met with unfeigned cordiality, so that after concessions were made by both sides, though more heartily by the Moderns, it was agreed all the way around that differences should be ironed out, and a union be made. "The Grand Assembly of Freemasons for the Union of the Two Grand Lodges of England" was held Dec. 27, 1813. With due and solemn ceremonies the long wished for merger was consummated, all Grand officers showing, almost without exception, a fine and statesmanlike spirit. During the month preceding the Duke of Atholl had resigned the Grand Mastership of the Ancients in favour of the Duke of Kent, the latter being placed in the chair Dec. 1; at the time of the Union the latter nominated the Duke of Sussex as "Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England" and he was unanimously elected.

Each of the two Grand Lodges participating appointed a committee of nine expert Master Masons or Past Masters and these were then formed into a Lodge of Promulgation, the purpose of which was to work out a form of ritual acceptable to all. This lodge continued its work from 1813 to 1816, often against opposition; but while its work was of consequence and official, the real fusing of the two systems went on according to circumstances in the private lodges, so that the influence of the Lodge of Reconciliation was more academic than real.

The work of preparing a new Code of Regulations for the United Grand Lodge was referred to a Board of General Purposes; its work was approved by a Special Grand Lodge Aug. 23, 1815. Meanwhile, and in order to bring about the closest relations possible between the new United Grand Lodge and the Grand lodges of Scotland and Ireland an International Commission was formed and began its deliberations June 27, 1814, continuing until July 2 following. As a result it was declared that "the three Grand Lodges were perfectly in unison in all the great and essential points of the Mystery and Craft, according to the immemorial traditions and uninterrupted usage of Ancient Masons;" eight resolutions, called the International Compact, were adopted.

IV. BY WAY OF CONCLUSION

The effect of all this re-organization on the ritual has been so well summarized by Bro. W.B. Hextall that I shall quote his paragraph in full from Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Vol. XXIII, page 304: (the reader should consult that entire volume)

"A conclusion to which I personally come, is that for many years after the Union-speaking approximately, until about 1825 a good deal of 'give and take' concerning ritual went on unofficially, in London as well as in the Provinces, and that our Craft ceremonies, as practised from 1830, and earlier, considerably deviated from those which were ascertained in the Lodge of Promulgation, 1809-11; worked in the Lodge of Reconciliation, 1813-16; and approved by Grand Lodge on 5th June, 1816. The material from which we have to draw inferences is slight, but at the same time cogent; and when (to name a few points only) we find duties originally assigned to the Senior Deacon transferred to his Junior colleague; the entrusting with the means of satisfactory proof leading to the second degree otherwise performed; and the admission of a member or visitor 'by proof of his having ascertained the degree in which the Lodge is opened from an inspection of the three great lights at the entrance' (Lodge of Promulgation minutes, January 5th, 1810) fallen into complete disuse; it is difficult to avoid realizing that, to a large extent, the subject of Craft working must have been placed in the melting-pot, and that quite apart from the means of instruction officially provided in 1813."

In order to assist brethren to find their way out of this welter Lodges of Instruction came into existence, some of which grew to be permanent institutions; it was as a result of the influence of these that the various "workings" came into use in England, "Emulation," "Stability," "Oxford," etc.

If one will take a sufficiently wide view of the history of English Freemasonry from 1717 until the Union had been everywhere accepted he will see that the whole period takes on the character of a grand transition, and that in this perspective the mere details and machinery of the Great Cleavage along with the subsequent official act of Union drop into second place as events, great in importance, but of the nature of incidentals. The change from Operative to Speculative Masonry officially made in 1717 was profound beyond our usual understanding of it; and such a change could be completed only after many years, much experiment, and a long evolution. In this view the great result of the Union was that it brought finally about the complete crystallization and solidification of Speculative Freemasonry, fixed its character for generations to come, established in the United Kingdom the firm principle of Exclusive Territorial Jurisdiction, and made possible the establishment inside the Craft of those Powers and Authorities which today prevent the dispersal of its energies and the division of its forces. Even until now that influence is at work; and it will continue at work until, out of its inevitable logic, a way will be found to unite and unify Freemasonry the world over, of which consummation we can all sincerely say, So Mote It Be!