In deference to Voltaire I choose for my non de plume the name of his best known character. Voltaire was a quintessential Enlightenment figure being a penetrative observer of the human situation and a champion against injustice and hypocrisy.

He became a Freemason towards the end of his life. Talking of which, on one side of his deathbed was a priest and on the other side a lawyer. The priest was anxious for Voltaire to make his peace with his maker; the lawyer sought Voltaire’s wishes pertaining to the settling of his estate. Voltaire just wanted to die. It is claimed that his last words were, “I shall die as the Saviour with a thief on either side”.

Candide’s Column shares the view that Freemasonry is a framework with which to make sense of the world and to interpret experience. It is for people who wish to understand a place that can be theirs in the world and provide a role in life’s rich tapestry. Freemasonry teaches the interdependence of humankind and a respect for nature as described by scientific method. In becoming a Freemason a person starts on a journey of personal improvement which, of necessity, makes a positive impact on those who are met upon the way. Freemasonry seeks to avoid those concepts that divide humanity and works for the promotion of justice and fairness in human arrangements. It applies the values of the operative workplace that are necessary for the production of good work, speculatively, to the rest of life for the production of good works. Being its children, Freemasons are practitioners of the Enlightenment, a force for furthering the cause of humanity.

Gerald Reilly

Gerald Reilly was initiated in 1995 into St Osyth's Priory Lodge 2063 UGLE. Within a year he met Brother Sam Allen, a gentleman, scholar and teacher. A handful of masons met with him and he guided critical reading of Margaret Jacob, Frances Yates et al. He inspired an appreciation of scholarship seeing Masonic progress as a potential force for good in general. In 1999 He joined the Rosslyn Chapel e-group and was a founder member of Josh Heller's Allthingsmasonic and Masonic Light. With Josh In 2005, he wrote The Temple That Never Sleeps. This was:- a radical interpretation of Freemasonry as a cultural phenomenon; an empirical examination of the impact that e-communications might be having; and, suggesting positive ways forward. They think that that the readership is emerging from an initial state of shock. Gerald Reilly has recently passed through chairs in HRA and Secret Monitor and whilst hoping to continue support for these additional degrees is very committed to the development of e-masonry and exploring a supra-grand lodge masonic universality.