Post by Tamrin on May 9, 2013 20:35:36 GMT 10
A BODY WITHOUT A SOUL?
THE PHILOSOPHICAL OUTLOOK OF BRITISH FREEMASONRY 1700-2000
[/b]THE PHILOSOPHICAL OUTLOOK OF BRITISH FREEMASONRY 1700-2000
by Dr Andrew Prescott (excerpt: Please click on link for entire article)[/center]
Masonic ceremonies for the laying of the foundation stones of public buildings were commonplace in Britain up to the Second World War. These included not only churches, but also railway stations, bridges, docks, hospitals, schools and even a Turkish bath. However, these ceremonies were most frequently held for churches. The most celebrated masonic foundation stone ceremony took place in 1880 when Edward VII as Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone of Truro Cathedral, the first cathedral to be consecrated in Britain since the Reformation. Similar ceremonies were also held for building works at many other cathedrals in the nineteenth century, such as Rochester, Peterborough and Liverpool, and freemasons gave substantial financial assistance to these works. In 1882, the vicar designate of a new church in Dulwich to the south of London wrote to Grand Lodge requesting that the foundation stone of his church should be laid by freemasons. He explained that he was not a freemason himself, but he wished to ‘enlist and attach for the work of the church a cause which I see binds men so wonderfully together.’ Masonic processions were not held only in connection with foundation stone ceremonies. In 1931, the new Bishop of Hereford was enthroned, and the occasion was marked by four processions in the town. The first consisted of the parochial clergy of the diocese; the second of the mayor and corporation; and the third of the Queen’s representative, the Lord Lieutenant, the Sheriffs, and other high dignitaries. The fourth procession comprised freemasons in regalia, in honour of the new Bishop’s rank as Grand Chaplain.
Such events vividly encapsulate the ideological and philosophical character of British freemasonry. It is rooted in the local community, drawing its membership from the respectable middle classes. It is deeply engaged with the monarchy and aristocracy, and, above all, it has an intimate relationship with the churches, and in England particularly with the established Anglican church. For French freemasons arriving in Britain as refugees after Louis Napoleon’s coup d’etat in 1851, such scenes were astonishing, and in their opinion bore little relationship to freemasonry. Many were republicans and freethinkers, and they objected to the prominence of clergymen in English freemasonry and its support for the monarchy. They also found the cost of English freemasonry prohibitive. Rather than joining craft freemasonry, they continued their masonry by joining the Order of Memphis, which was not recognised by the English Grand Lodge. Keen to encourage English working men to become freemasons, they founded lodges under the Order of Memphis in London, Birmingham and elsewhere. The English Grand Lodge issued a circular barring English freemasons from having anything to do with these lodges or the French masons. Infuriated, the French masons appealed for support from their fellow countrymen, issuing circulars violently denouncing English freemasonry. They decribed how in England the functions performed by an orator in France were fulfilled by clergymen, and described English freemasonry as Jesuitical. Although English freemasonry had built great institutions for its children, the elderly and the infirm, these were closed to anyone who did not believe in God or was a republican. The masonic schools did not offer a purely secular education. English Freemasonry was, in the view of these French freemasons, a body without a soul:
‘Ses travaux sont consacrés a quelques momeries, et surtout à la gourmandaise’. [Its work is devoted to some mummery, and in particular to fine dining]
Such events vividly encapsulate the ideological and philosophical character of British freemasonry. It is rooted in the local community, drawing its membership from the respectable middle classes. It is deeply engaged with the monarchy and aristocracy, and, above all, it has an intimate relationship with the churches, and in England particularly with the established Anglican church. For French freemasons arriving in Britain as refugees after Louis Napoleon’s coup d’etat in 1851, such scenes were astonishing, and in their opinion bore little relationship to freemasonry. Many were republicans and freethinkers, and they objected to the prominence of clergymen in English freemasonry and its support for the monarchy. They also found the cost of English freemasonry prohibitive. Rather than joining craft freemasonry, they continued their masonry by joining the Order of Memphis, which was not recognised by the English Grand Lodge. Keen to encourage English working men to become freemasons, they founded lodges under the Order of Memphis in London, Birmingham and elsewhere. The English Grand Lodge issued a circular barring English freemasons from having anything to do with these lodges or the French masons. Infuriated, the French masons appealed for support from their fellow countrymen, issuing circulars violently denouncing English freemasonry. They decribed how in England the functions performed by an orator in France were fulfilled by clergymen, and described English freemasonry as Jesuitical. Although English freemasonry had built great institutions for its children, the elderly and the infirm, these were closed to anyone who did not believe in God or was a republican. The masonic schools did not offer a purely secular education. English Freemasonry was, in the view of these French freemasons, a body without a soul:
‘Ses travaux sont consacrés a quelques momeries, et surtout à la gourmandaise’. [Its work is devoted to some mummery, and in particular to fine dining]
